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atoi.  e  .  i4\ 


THE  GENERAL 


BIOGRAPHICAL  DICTIONARY. 


A  NEW  EDITION. 


VOL.  VL 


Printed  by  Nichols,  Son,  and  Bentlbv,- 
Rtd  Ubn  PafMC«»  i^cct  fttrett,  London* 


THE  GENERAL 

BIOGRAPHICAL  DICTIONARY: 

CONTAINING 

AN  HISTORICAL  AND  CRITICAL  ACCOUNT 

or  turn 

LIVES  AND  WRITINGS 

OF  THX 

MOST  EMINENT  PERSONS 

IN  EVERY  NATION^ 

PARTICULARLY  THE  BRITISH  AND  IRISH; 
FROM  THE  EARLIEST  ACCOUNTS  TO  THE  PRESENT  TIME. 


A  NEW  EDITION, 

REVISED  AND  ENLARQED  BY 

ALEXANDER  CHALMERS,  F.  S.  A. 


VOL.  VI. 


LONDON! 

I 

I  FftlKTED  FOR  J.  NICHOLS    AMD   SON }     F.   C.    AND  J.  RIVINGTON  |    T.   FAYNX  | 

I  W.  OTRIDGB    AND    SON }      O.   AND     W.    NICOL  ;     WILKIB     AND     ROBINSON } 

; '  J.    WALKER  $       R.    LEA  ;     W.    LOWNDES ;      WHITE,     COCHRANE,    AND    CO.  | 

\  JU  DBJGBTON;  T.  EGERTON;   LACKINGTON,  ALLEN,   AND  CO.  ;  J.  CARPENTERS 

IX>NGMAN,  BURST,  REE8,  ORME,  AND  BROWN  |  CADELL  AND  DAVIES  ;  C.  LAW  { 
I  J.  BOOKER  ;   J.  CUTHELL;  CLARKE  AND  8M«S;   J.  AND  A.  ARCH  ;   J.  HARRIS  | 

I  BLACK,   PARRY,    ilND   CO.;     J.. BOOTH  {     J.  MAWMAN ;     GALE   AND   CURTIS  | 

K.  H.  EVANS;  J.  HATCHARD;  K  HARDING  ;  R.  BALDWIN;  J.  MURRAY |-  J.  JOHN* 

#0N  AND  CO. ;  £•  BRNTLSY  i  AND  J.  FAULDER. 

1812. 


A  NEW  AND  GENERAL 


BIOGRAPHICAL  DICTIONARY. 


xJOHUN  (Edmund),  a  voluminous  political  and  mis-* 
ceilaneous  writer  of  the  seventeenth  century,  was  born  at 
Ringsfield,  in  Suffolk,  the  only  son  of  Baxter  Bohun,  wh6 
with  his  ancestors,  had  been  lords  of  the  manor  of  West- 
hall,  in  that  county,  from  the  25th  Henry  yill.  In  1663, 
he  was  admitted  fellow*cdnjinpn^r  of  Queen's  college, 
Canabridge,  and  continued  th'6re  titttjie  latter  <?nd  of  166.0, 
when  the  plague  obliged  hi(b  a)»  dtbers  to  leave  the  uni- 
versity. In  1675  he  was  niadeji  jjisticf^/of  peace  for  Suf- 
folk, and  continued  in  thitOTCettiU 'the  second  of  J^ 
II.  when  he  was  discharged,  T)ii;^'?pyfes^ -restored  to  that  office 
in  the  first  of  William  and  Mary.  The  time  of  his  death 
is  not  mentioned,  but  he  was  alive  in  1700.  Rewrote, 
1.  **  An  Address  to  the  Freemen  and  Freeholders  of  the 
nation,  in  three  parts,  being  the  history  of  three  sessions 
of  parliament  in  1678,  1682,  and  1683,"  4to.  2.  *«  A  De- 
fence of  the  Declaration  of  king  Charles  IL  against  a 
pamphlet  styled,  A  just  and  modest  Vindication  of  the 
proceedings  of  the  two  last  Parliaments."  This  was  printec} 
with  and  added  to  the  Address.  3.  "  A  Defence  of  Sir 
Robert  Filmer,  against  the  mistakes  and  representations  of 
Algernon  Sydney,  esq.  in  a  paper  delivered  by  him  to  the 
sfaeriflFs  upon  the*  scaffold  on  Tower-hill,  on  Friday,  Ded 
7,  16 as,  before  his  execution  there,"  Lond.  1684.  4.  «  The 
Justice  of  Peace's  Calling,  a  moral  essay,"  Lond.  1684, 
«vo.  5.  "  A  Preface  and  Conclusion  to  Sir  Robert  Filmer's 
Patriarcha,"' ibid.  1685, -Svo;  6;  "A  GeograjAical  Dic- 
tionary," ibid.  1688,  8vo.  7.  "Thq  History  of  the  Deser- 
tion ;  or  an  account  of  all  the  public  affairs  of  Englandj, 
Vol.  VI.  ^       B 


2  B  O  H  U  N. 

from  the  beginning  of  Sept.  1688  to  Feb.  12  following,'* 
ibid.  1689,  8vo.  8.  "  An  Answer  to  a  piece  called  The 
Desertion  discussed  (by  Jeremy  Collier),"  printed  at  the  end  ' 
of  the  '<  History  of  the  Desertion."  9.  "  The  Doctrine  of 
Passive  Obedience  and  Non» Resistance  no  way  concerned 
in  the  controversies  now  depending  between  the  Williamites 
and  the  Jacobites,"  ibid.  1689,  4to.  In  page  24th  is  a 
'  passage  respecting  bishop  Ken,  which  Mr.  Bohun  found  to 
be  untrue,  and  therefore  requests  that  it  may  be  cancelled. 
10.  "  The  Life  of  John  Jewell,  bishop  of  Salisbury,*'  pre- 
fixed to  a  translation  of  his  Apology,  1685.  11.  "Three 
Charges  delivered  at  the  general  quarter  sessions  holden  at 
Ipswich,  for  the  county  of  Suffolk,  in  IC91,  1692,  and 
1693,"  4to.  12.  "The  great  Historical,  Geographical^ 
and  Poetical  Dictionary,"  Lond.  1694,  fol.  He  also  trans- 
lated Sicurus'  origin  of  Atheism — the  Universal  Biblio- 
theque,  or  account  of  books  for  Jan.  Feb.  and  March  1687 
— Sleidan's  History  of  the  Reformation — PuffendorfF's  Pre- 
sent State  of  Germany,  and  Degory  Wheare's  Method  of 
reading  History,  Lond.  1698,  8vo. ' 

BOIARDO  (Matteo-Mauia),  count  of  Scandiano,  an 
Italian  poet,  was  born  at  the  castle  of  Scandiano,  near 
Ileggio  in  Lombardy,  about  the  year  1434.  He  studied  at 
the  university  of  Ferrara,  and  remained  in  that  city  the 
greater  part  of  his  life,  attached  to  the  ducal  court.  He 
was  particularly  in  great  favour  with  the  duke  Borso  and 
Hercules  I.  his  successor.  He  accompanied  Borso  in  a 
journey  to  Rome  in  1471,  and  the  year  following  was  se- 
lected by  Hercules  to  escort  to  Ferrara,  Eleortora  of  Ara- 
gon,  his  future  duchess.  In  1481  he  was  appointed  go- 
vernor of  Reggio,  and  was  also  captain-general  pf  Modena, 
He  died  at  Reggio,  Dec.  20,  1494.  He  was  one  of  the 
most  learned  and  accomplished  men  of  his  time,  a  very 
distinguished  Greek  and  Latin  scholar,  and  at  a  time  when 
Italian  poetry  was  in  credit,  one  of  those  poets  who  added 
to  the  reputation  of  his  age  and  country.  He  translated 
Herodotus  from  the  Greek  into  Italian,  and  Apuleius  from 
the  Latin.  He  wrote  also  Latin  poetry,  as  his  "  Carmen 
Bucolicum,"  eight  eclogues  in  hexameters,  dedicated  to 
duke  Hercules  I.  Reggio,  1500,*4to;  Venice,  1528;  and 
in  Italian,  "  Sonetti  e  Canzoni,"  Reggio,  1499,  4to;  Ve- 
nice, 1501,  4to,  in  a  style  rather  easy  than  elegant,  and 

»  Ath.  Ox.  vol.  n., 


B  O  I  A  R  D  O.  3 

occasionally  betraying  the  aothof  s  learning',  but  withouC 
affectation.  Hercules  of  Este  was  the  first  of  the  Italian 
sovereigns  who  entertained  the  court  with  a  magnificent 
theatre  on  which  Greek  or  Latin  comedies,  translated  into 
Italian,  were  performed.  For  this  theatre  Boiardo  wrote 
his  *^  Timon,"  taken  from  a  dialogue  of  Lucian,  which 
may  be  accounted  the  first  comedy  written  in  Italian.  The 
first  edition  of  it,  according  to  Tiraboschi,  was  that  printed 
at  Scandiano,  1500,  4to.  The  one,  without  a  date,  in 
$vo,  he  thinks  was  the  second.  It  was  afterwards  reprinted 
at  Venice,  1504,  1515,  and  1517,  8vo.  But  Boiardo  is 
principally  known  by  his  epic  romance  of  ^'  Orlando  In^ 
namorato,"  of  which  the  celebrated  poem  of  Ariosto  is  not 
only  an  imitation,  but  a  continuation.  Of  this  work,  he  did 
not  live  to  complete  the  third  book,  nor  is  it  probable  that 
any  part  of  it  had  the  advantage  of  his  last  corrections,  yet 
it  is  justly  regarded  as  exhibiting,  upon  the  whole,  a 
warmth  of  imagination,  and  a  vivacity  of  colouring,  which 
rendered  it  highly  interesting :  nor  is  it,  perhaps,  without 
reason,  that  the  simplicity  of  the  original  has  occasioned 
it  to  be  preferred  to  the  same  work,  as  altered  or  reformed 
by  Francesco  Berni  (See  Brrni).  The  ^'  Orlando  Innamo- 
rato"  was  first  printed  at  Scandiano,  about  the  year  1495, 
and  afterwards  at  Venice,  1500,  which  De  Bure  erro- 
neously calls  the  first  edition.  From  the  third  book  where 
Boiardo's  labours  cease,  it  was  continued  by  Niccolo  Agos* 
tini,  and  of  this  joint  production  numerous  editions  have 
been  published.  ^ 

BOILEAU  (Nicholas  Despeeaux),  an  eminent  French 
poet,  usually  called  by  his  countrymen  Despreaux,  was 
born  on  November  1,  1636.  Hi»  parents  were  Gilles 
Boileaii,  register  of  the  great  chamber,  and  Ann  de  Nielle^ 
his  second  wife ;  but  it  is.  uncertain  whether  he  was  born 
at  Paris  or  Crone.  In  his  early  years,  he  was  the  reverse 
of  those  infantine  prodigies  who  often  in  mature  age  scarcely 
attain  to  mediocrity ;  on  the  contrary,  he  was  heavy  and 
taciturn ;  nor  was  his  taciturnity  of  that  observing  kind 
which  denotes  sly  mischief  at  the  bottom,  but  the  down- 
right barren  taciturnity  of  insipid  good-nature.  His  father, 
on  comparing  him  with  his  other  children,  used  to  say, 
*^  as  for  this,  he  is  a  good-tempered  fellow,  who  will  never 

>  Glngnenk  Hitt  Litt.  d'll«lie.->Ro8COc'i  i:^.— Martri.— Tiimboicbi.«-SMJI 
Ononattioon. 

B  2 


4  B  O  I  L  E  A  0. 

speftkill'of  anyone,"     In  his  infancy,  hdWever,  be  ap- 
pe^.s  to  have  been  of  a  very  tender  constitution,  and  i» 
a^.id  to  have  undergone  the  operation  for  the  «tone  at  the 
^ge  of  eight     Through  compliance  with  the  wishes  of  his 
fp.iaaily,  be  commenced  with  being  a  counsellor;  but  the 
dryness  of  the  Code  and  Digest  soon  disgusted  him  with 
this  pmfessioD,.  which,  his  eulogist  thinks,  was  a  loss  to 
ibe  bar.     When  M.  Dongois,  his  brother-in^l^w,  register 
oi  parliament,  took  him  to  his  house  in  order  to  form  hitn 
to  the  style  of  business,  he  had  a  decree  to  draw  up  in  aa 
ioiportant  cause,    which   he   composed  with    enthusiasm^ 
whdie,  he  dictated  it  to  Boileau  with  an  emphasis  which 
shewed  how  much  he  was  satisfied  with  the  sublimity  of 
his  work;  but  when  he  had  finished,  he  perceived  that 
Boileau  was  fallen  asleep,  after  having  written  but  few 
wou'ds.     Trasksported  with  anger,  he  sent  him  back  to  his 
fj^ther,  assuring  l^im  he  "  would  be  nothing  but  a  block- 
head all  the  rest  of  his  life."     After  this  he  began  to  study 
scbiolastic  divinity,  wliich  was  still  less  suited  to  his  taste, 
9n4  at  length  he  became  what  he  himself  wished  to  be — si 
Poet;  and,  as  if  to  belie,  at  setting  out,  his  father's  pre- 
diction, he  commenced  at  the  age  of  thirty,  with  satire, 
which  let  loose  against  him  the  crowd  of  writers  whom  he 
attacked,  but  gave  him  firiends,  or  rather  readers,  among 
that  very  numerous  class  of  the  pubUc,  who,  through  an 
inconstancy  ciruetly  rooted  in  the  human  heart,  love  to  see 
those  humbled  whom  even  they  esteem  the  most.     But 
whatever  favour  and  encouragement  so  general  a  dispo- 
sition might  promise  Boileslu,  he  could  not  avoid  meeting 
with  censurers  among  men  of  worth*     Of  this  number  was 
the  duke  de  Montaifsier,:  who  valued  himself  upon  an  in- 
flexible and  rigorous  virtue,  d.nd  disliked  satire*     But,  as 
it  was  of  the  greatest  importance  to  Boileau  to  gain  over 
to  bis  interest  one  of  the  first  persons  about  court,  whose 
credit  was  the  more  formidable^  as  it  was  supported  by 
that  personal  consideration  which  is  not  always  joined. to' 
it,  he  introduced  into  one  of  his  pieces  a  pai>iegyrical  no- 
tice of  the  duke  de  Montausier,  which  was  neither  flat  nor 
exaggerated,  and  it  produced  the  desired  effect.     Encou- 
raged by  this  first  success,  Boileau  lost  no  time  in  giving 
the  final  blow  to  the  tottering  austerity  of  his  oensurer, 
by  confessing  to  him,  with  an  air  of  contrition,  how  hu- 
miliated he  felt  himself  at  missing  the  friendship  of  "  tlie 
worthiest  man  at  court."    From  that  moment,  the  wor- 


B  O  I  L  E  A  U.  * 

thiest  mail  dt  court  becstme  the  protector  and  apologist 
of  the   most  caustic  of  all  writers.     Though  we  attach 
less  value  to  the  satires  of  Boileau   than    to  his  other 
works,  and  think  not  very  highly  of  his  conduct  to   his 
patron,  yet  it  must  be  allowed  that  he  never  attacks  bad 
taste  and  bad  writers/  but  with  the  weapons  of  pleasantry ; 
and  never  speaks  of  vice  and  wicked  men  but  with  indig- 
nation.    Boileau,  however,  soon  became  sensible  that  in 
order  to  reach  posterity  it  is  not  suf&cient  to  supply  some 
ephemeral  food   to  the  malignity  of  contemporaries,  but 
to  be  the  writer  of  all  times  and  all  places.     This  led  him 
to  produce  those  works  which  will  render  his  fame  per- 
petual.    He  wrote  his  "  Epistles,"  in  which,  with  delicate . 
praises,  he  has  intermixed  precepts  of  literature  and  mo- 
rality, delivered  with  the  most  striking  truth  and  the  hap« 
piest  precision ;  and  in  1674  his  celebrated  mock-heroic,  the 
^^  Lutrin,''  which,  with  so  small  a  ground  of  matter,  contains 
so  much  variety,  action,  and  grac^ ;  and  his  "  Art  of  Poetry," 
which   is  in  French  what  that  of  Horace  is  in  Latin,  the 
code  of  good  taste.     In  these  be  expresses  in  harmonious 
verse,    full  of  strength  and  elegance,   the  principles  of 
reasoQ  and  good  taste.;  and  was  the  first  who  discovered 
and  developed,  by  the  union  of  example  to  precept,  the 
highly  difficult  art  of  French  versification.     Before  Boi- 
leau, indeed,  Malherbe  had  begun  to  detect  the  secret, 
but  he  had  guessed  it  only  iu  part,  and  had  kept  his  know- 
ledge for  his  own  use ;  and  Corneille,  though  he  had  writ- 
ten "  Cinna"  and  "  Polieucte,"  had  no  other  secret  than 
his  instinct,  aiid  when  this  abandoned  him,  was  no  longer 
Corneille.     Boileau  had  the  rare  merit,  which  can  belong 
only  to  a  superior  genius,  of  forming  by  his  lessons  and 
productions  the  first  school  of  poetry  in  France ;  and  it 
may  be  added,  that  of  all  the  poets  whp  have  preceded 
or  followed  him,  none  was  better  calculated  than  himself 
to  be  the  head  of  such  a  school.     In  fact,  the  severe  and 
decided  correctness  which  characterizes  his  works,  renders 
them  singularly  fit  to  serve  as  a  study  for  scholars  in  poetry. 
In  Racine  he  had  a  disciple  who  would  have  secured  him 
immortality,  even  if  he  had  not  so  well  earned  it  by  his 
ovyn  writings.     Good  judges  have  even  asserted,  that  the 
pupil  surpassed  the  master;  but  Boileaa,  whether  inferior 
or  equal  to  his  scholar,  always  preserved  that  ascendancy 
over  him,  which  a  blunt  and  downright  self-love  will  ever 
assuttt^  over  a  timid  and  delicate  self-love,  such  as  that  of 


6  B  O  I  L  E  A  0. 

Racine.  The  author  of  «  Phsedra''  and  of  "  Athaliah** 
had  always,  either  from  deference  or  address,  the  com- 
plaisance to  yield  the  first  place  to  one  who  boasted  of 
having  been  his  master.  Boileau,  it  is  true,  had  a  merit 
with  respect  to  his  disciple,  which  in  the  eyes  of  the  latter 
must  have  been  of  istestimable  value,  that  of  having  early 
been  sensible  of  Racine^s  excellence;  or  rather  of  what  he 
promised  to  become ;  for  it  was  not  easy^  in  the  author  of 
the  "  Freres  Ennemis,' •  to  discover  that  of  "  Andromache'* 
und  "  Britannicus,''  and  doubtless  perceiving  in  Racine's 
first  essays  the  germ  of  what  he  was  one  day  to  become, 
he  felt  how  much  care  and  culture  it  required  to  give  it 
^  full  expansion. 

Boileau  knew  how  to  procure  a  still  more  powerful  pro- 
tection at  court  than  the  duke  de  Montausier's,  that  of 
Lewis  XIV.  himself.  He  lavished  upon  this  monarch 
praises  the  more  flattering,  as  they  appeared  dictated  by 
the  public  voice,  and  merely  the  sincere  and  warm  ex- 
pression of  the  nation's  intoxication  with  respect  to  its 
king.  To  add  value  to  his  homage,  the  artful  satirist  had 
the  address  to  make  his  advantage  of  the  reputation  of 
frankness  he  had  acquired,  which  served  as  a  passport  to 
those  applauses  which  the  poet  seemed  to  bestow  in  spite 
*of  his  nature ;  and  he  was  particularly  attentive,  while  be- 
stowing praises  on  all  those  whose  interest  might  either 
support  or  injure  him,  to  reserve  the  first  place,  beyond 
comparison,,  for  the  monarch.  Among  other  instances, 
he  valued  himself,  as  upon  a  great  stroke  of  policy,  for 
having  contrived  to  plaoe  Monsieur,  the  king's  brother, 
by  the  side  of  the  king  himself,  in  his  verses,  v<^ithout  ha- 
zard of  wounding  the  jealousy  of  majesty  ;  and  for  having 
celebrated  the  conqueror  of  Cassel  more  feebly  than  the 
subduer  of  Flanders.  He  had  however  the  art,  or  more 
properly  the  merit,  along  with  bis  inundation  of  praises, 
to  convey  some  useful  lessons  to  the  sovereign.  Lewis 
XIV.  as  yet  young  and  greedy  of  renown,  which  he  mis- 
took for  real  glory,  was  making  preparations  for  war  with 
Holland.  Colbert,  who  knew  how  fatal  to  the  people  is 
the  most  glorious  war,  wished  to  divert  the  kitig  from  his 
design.  He  engaged  Boileau  to  second  his  persuasions, 
\>y  addressing  to  Lewis  his  first  epistle,  in  which  he  proves 
th^t  a  king's  true  greatness  consists  in  rendering  his  sub- 
jects happy,  by  securing  them  the  blessings  of  peace.  But 
^tl^ougb  this  epistle  did  not  answer  the  intentions  of  the 


B  O  I  L  E  A  U.  7 

nuiQister  or  the  poet,  yet  so  much  attention  to  please  the 
monanchy  joined  to  such  excellence,  did  not  remain  unre- 
conipensed.     Boileau  was  loaded  with  the  king^s  favour, 
admitted  at  court,  and  named,  in  conjunction  with  Racine, 
Foyal  historiographer.     The  two  poets  seemed  closely  oc- 
cupied in  writing  the  history  of  their  patron ;  they  even 
read  several  passages  of  it  to  the  king ;  hut  they  abstained 
from  giving  any  of  it  to  the  public,  in  the  persuasion  that 
the  history  of  sovereigns,  even  the  most  worthy  of  eulogy, 
cannot  be  written  during  their  lives,  without  running  the  risk 
either  of  losing  reputation  by  flattery,  or  incurring  hazard 
by  truth.     It  was  with  repugnance  that  Boileau  had  un- 
dertaken an  office  so  little  suited  to  his  talents  and  his 
taste.     "  When  I  exercised,"  said  he,  "  the  trade  of  a 
satirist,  which  I  understood  pretty  well,  I  was  overwhelmed 
with  ipsults  and  menaces,  and  I  am  now  dearly  paid  for 
exercising  that  of  historiographer,  which  I  do  not  under- 
stand at  all."     Indeed,  far  from  behig  dazzled  by  the  fa« 
TOur  he  enjoyed,  he  rather  felt  it  as  an  incumbrance.     He 
often  said,  that  the  first  sensation  hi&  fortune  at  court  in- 
.  spired  in  him,  was  a  feeling  of  melancholy.     He  thought 
the  bounty  of  his  sovereign  purchased  too  dearly  by  the 
loss  of  liberty-*-a  blessing  so  intrinsically  valuable,  which 
^l  the  empty  and  fugitive  enjoyments  of  vanity  are  un- 
able to  eompensate  in  the  eyes  of  a  philosopher.     Boileau 
endeavoured  by  degrees  to  recover  this  darling  liberty,  in 
proportion  as  age  seemed  to  permit  the  attempt ;  and  for 
the  last  ten  or  twelve  years  of  his  life  he  entirely  dropped 
his' visits  to  court     '^  What  should  I  do  there?"  said  he, 
*^  I  can   praise  no  longer."     He  might,   however,    have 
found  as  much  matter  for  his  applauses  as  when  he  lavished 
them  without  the  least  reserve.     While  he  attended  at 
court,  lie  maintained  a  freedom  and  frankness  of  speech, 
especially  on  topics  of  literature,  which  are  not  common 
among  courtiers.     When  Lewis  asked  his  opinion  of  some 
verses   which   he  had   written,    be   replied,    "  Nothing, 
sire,  is  impossible  to  your  majesty;  you  wished  to  make 
bad  verses,    and   you  have  succeeded."      He    also   took 
part  with  the  persecuted  members  of  the  Port- royal ;  and 
when   one   of  the  courtiers  declared  that   the  king  was 
making  diligent  search  after  the  celebrated  Arnauld,  in 
order  to  pu(  him  in  the  Bastile,  Boileau  observed,  **  His 
majesty  ift«too  fortunate ;  be  will  not  find  him  :"  and  when 
tlie  king  asked  bim^  what  was  the  reason  why  the  whole 


S  B  O  I  LE  A  U, 

Tsirorld  was  running  after  a  preacher  named  le  Tournenx,  a 
disciple  of  Arnauld,  "  Your  majesty,"  he  replied,  ^*  knows 
how  fond  people  are  of  novelty  : — :this  is  a  minister  who 
preaches  the  gospel."  Boiieau  appears  from  various  cir- 
cumstances, to  have  been  no  great  friend  to  the  Jesuits, 
whom  he  offended  by  his  "  Epistle  on  the  Love  of  God," 
and. by  many  free  speeches.  By  royal  favour,  he  was  ad- 
mitted unaiiimously,  in  1684,  into  the  French  academy, 
with  which  he  had  made  very  free  in  his  epigrams ;  and 
he  was  also  associated  to  the  new  academy  of  inscriptions 
9nd  belles-lettres,  of  which  he  appeared  to  be  a  fit  mem- 
ber, by  his  "  Translation  of  Longinus  on  the  Sublime." 
To  science,  with  which  he  had  little  acquaintance^^  he 
rendered,  however,  important  service  by  his  burlesque 
**  Arret  in  favour  of  the  university,  against  an.  unknown 
personage  called  Reason,"  which  was  the  means  of  pre- 
venting the  establishment  of  a  plan  of  intolerance  in  mat- 
ters of  philosophy.  His  attachment  to  the  ancients,  as 
the  true  models  of  literary  taste  and  excellence,  occasioned 
a  controversy  between  him  and  Perrault  concerning  the 
comparative  merit  of  the  ancients  and  moderns,  which, was 
prosecuted  for  some  time  by  epigrams  and  mutual  re* 
preaches,  till  at  length  the  public  begaa  to  be  tired  with 
their  disputes,  and  a  reconciliation  was  effected  by  the 
good  offices  of  their  common  friends.  This  controversy 
laid  the  foundation  of  a  lasting  enmity  between  Boiieau 
and  Fontenelle,  who  inclined  to  the  party  of  Perrault. 
Boiieau,  however,  did  not  maintain  his  opinion  with  the 
pedantic  extravagance  of  the  Daciers  ;  but  he  happily 
exercised  his  wit  on  the  misrepresentations  of  the  noted 
characters  of  antiquity,  by  the  fashionable  romances  of  the 
time,  in  his  dialogue  entitled  "  The  Heroes  of  Romance," 
composed  in  the  manner  of  Lucian.  In  opposition  to  the 
absurd  opinions  of  father  Herdouin,  that  most  of  the  clas- 
sical productions  of  ancient  Rome  bad  been  written  by  the 
monks  of  the  thirteenth  century,  Boiieau  pleasantly  re- 
marks, ^<  I  know  nothing  of  all  that ;  but  though  I  am  not 
very  partial  to  the  monks,  I  should  not  have  been  sorry 
to  have  lived  with  friar  Tibullus,  friar  Juvenal,  Dom  Vir- 
gil, Dom  Cicero,  and  such  kind  of  folk."  After  the  death 
of  Racine,  Boiieau  very  much  retired  from  court;  induced 
partly  by  bis  love  of  liberty  and  independence,  and  partly 
by  his  dislike,  of  that  adulation  which  was  expected,  an4' 
for  which  the  close  of  Lewis's  reign  afforded  oiorer  scanty 


BO  ILEA  U.  » 

materials  than  its  cotnmencement.  Sepai^ted  in  a  great 
<}agree  from  spciety,  be  indulged  that  austere  and  misan^^ 
thrppical  dispositiou^  from  which  he  was  never  wholly 
exempt.  His  conversation,  however,  was  more  mild  and 
gentle  than  his  writings ;  and,  as  he  used  to  say  of  him- 
self, without  "  nails  or  claws,"  it  was  enlivened  by  occa- 
sional sallies  pf  pieasantry,  and  rendered  instructive  by 
judicious  opiniQns  of  autboifs  and  their  works.  He  was  re- 
ligious without  bigotry ;  and  he  abhorred  fanaticism  and 
liypocrisy.  His  circumstances  ^were  easy ;  and  his  pru- 
dent economy  has  been  charged  by  some  with  degenerating 
into  avarice.  Instances,  however,  occur  of  bis  liberality 
and  beneficence.  At  the  death  of  Colbert,  the  pension 
wbiqh  he  had  given  to  the  poet  Corneille  was  suppressed, 
though  he  was  poor,  old,  infirm,  and  dyings  Boileaii  in- 
terceded with  the  king  for  the  restoration  of  it,  and  offered 
to  transfer  his  own  to  Corneille,  telling  the  monarch  that 
he  should  be  ashamed  to  receive  his  bounty  while  such  a 
man  was  in  want  of  it.  He  also  bought,  at  an  advanced 
price,  the  library  of  Patru,  reduced  in  his  circumstances, 
and  left  him  in  the  possession  of  it  till  his  death.  He  gave  to 
the  poor  all  the  revenues  he  had  received  for  eight  years 
from  a  benefice  he  had  enjoyed  without  performing  the 
duties  of  it.  To  indigent  men  of  letters  his  purse  was 
s^ways  open ;  and  at  his  death  he  bequeathed  almost  all 
his  possessions  to  the^  poor.  Up&n  the  whole,  his  tepciper, 
tbough  naturally  austere,  was  on  many  occasions  kind  and 
benevolent,  so  that  it  has  been  said  of  him,  that  he  was 
**  cruel  only  in  verse ;"  and  his  general  character  was 
distinguished  by  worth  and  integrity,  with  some  alloys  of 
literary  jealousy  and  injustice.  Boileau  died  of  a  dropsy 
in  the  breast,  March  U,  1711,  and  by  Us  will  left  almost 
all  bis  property  to  the,  poor.  His  funeral  was  attended  by 
a  very  numerous  company,  which  gave  a  woman  of  the 
lower  cla/5s  occasion  to  say,  ^'  He  had  many  friends  then! 
yet  they  say  t;h?it  he  spoke  ill  of  every  body." 

Boileau's  character  as  a  poet  is  now  generally  allowed 
to  he  that  of  taste,  judgment,  and  good  sense,  which  pre- 
dominate in  the  best  of  his  works  as  they  do  in  the  most 
fiopulav  of  Pope's  writings.  The  reseniblance  between 
tjsese,  two  poets  is. in  many  respects  very  striking,  and  in 
one  respect  continues  to  be  so ;  they  are,  in  France  and 
England,  mote  read  and  oftener  quoted  than  any  other 
poets.     Both  were  accused  of  stealing  from  the  ancients ; 


10  '  B  O  I  L  E  A  a 

but  says  an  elegant  critic  of  our  nation,  those  who  flat- 
tered themselves  that  they  should  diminish  the  reputation 
of  Boileau,  by  printing,  in  the  manner  of  a  commentary 
at  the  bottom  of  each  page  of  his  works,  the  many  lines  he 
has  borrowed  from  Horace  and  Juvenal,  were  grossly  de- 
ceived.    The  verses  of  the  ancients  which  he  has  turned 
into  French  with  so  much  address,  and  which  he  has  hap- 
pily made  so  homogeneous,  and  of  a  piece  with  the  rest  of 
the  work,  that  every  thing  seems  to  have  been  conceived 
in  a  continued  train  of  thought  by  the  very  same  person^ 
confer  as  much  honour  on  him,  as  the  verses  which  are 
purely  his  own.     The  original  turn  which  he  gives  to  his 
translations,  the  boldness  of  his  expressions,  so  little  forced 
and  unnatural,  that  they  seem  to  be  born,  as  it  were,  with 
his  thoughts,  display  almost  as  much  invention  as  the  first 
production  of  a  thought  entirely  new.  '  The;same  critic, 
Dr.  Warton,  is  of  opinion  that  Boileau's  **  Art  of  Poetry** 
is  the  best  composition  of  that  kind  extant.     *^  The  brevity 
of  his  precepts,"  says  this  writer,  "  enlivened  by  proper 
imagery,  the  justness  of  his  metaphors,  the  harmony  of 
his  numbers,  as  far  as  alexandrine  lines  will  admit,  the 
exactness  of  his  method,  the  perspicuity  of  his  remarks, 
and  the  energy  of  his  style,  all  duly  considered,  may  ren-* 
der  this  opinion  not  unreasonable.     It  is  to  this  work  he 
owes  his  immortality,  which  was  of  the  highest  utility  to 
his  nation,  in  diffusing  a  just  way  of  thinking  and  writings 
banishing  every  species  of  false  wit,  and  introducing   a 
general  taste  for  the  manly  simplicity  of  the  ancients,  on 
whose  writ^ings  this  poet  had  formed  his  taste.^' 

Of  the  numerous  editions  of  Boileau^s  works,  the  best 
are,  that  of  Geneva,  1716,  2  vols.  4to,  with  illustrations 
by  Brossette  ;  that  of  the  Hague,  with  Picart's  cuts,  1718, 
2  vols.  fol.  and  1722,  4  vols.  12mo;  that  by  Allix,  with 
Coohin's  cuts,  1740,  2  vols.  4to;  that  of  Durand,  1745, 
5  vols.  8vo ;  and  lastly,  a  beautiful  edition  in  3  vols.  8vo. 
or  3  vols.  12mo,  Paris,  1809,  with  notes  by  Daunou,  a 
member  of  the  Institute.  * 

BOILEAU  (James),  one  of  the  brothers  of  the  prece- 
ding,' a  doctor  of  the  Sorbonne,  was  born  in  1635,  studied 
in  the  university  of  Paris,  took  his  degree  of  doctor  in 
theology  in  1662,  was  appointed  dean  of  Sens,  and  vicar 

1  D'Alembert's  Eulogies  translated  by  AiKin^i  2  Tolt.  8YQ.->*GeQ.  Dict-^War"' 
ten's  Essay  on  Pope,  ^c,> 


B  O  I  L  E  A  U.  11 

of  the  archbishop  Gondoin,  in  1667;  and  in  1694,  was 
presented  by  the  king  with  a  canonry  in  the  liqly  chapel  of 
Paris.  He  died  dean  of  the  faculty  of  theology  in  17 16, 
He  is  well  known  by  a  number  of  works  in  a  peculiar  style, 
some  of  which  were  not  remarkable  for  decency ;  but  these 
be  wrote  in  Latin,  ^^  lest  the  bishops/'  he  said,  ^^  should 
condemn  them.''  He  was  not  more  a  fciend  to  the  Jesuits 
than  his  brother ;  and  he  described  them  as  ^^  men  who 
lengthened  the  creed,  and  shortened  the  commandipents.'* 
As  dean  of  the  chapter  of  Sens,  he  was  appointed  to 
harangue  the  celebrated  prince  of  Cond6,  when  he  passed 
through  the  city.  This  great  commander  took  particular 
pleasure  on  these  occasions  in  disconcerting  bis  panegy^ 
rists ;  but  the  doctor,  perceiving  his  intention,  counter- 
feited great  confusion,  and  addressed  him  in  the  following 
manner :  "  Your  highness  will  not  be  surprised,  I  trust, 
at  seeing  roe  tremble  in  your  presence  at  the  head  of  a 
company  of  peaceful  priests ;  I  should  tremble  still  more, 
if  I  was  at  the  head  of  30,000  soldiers."  He  manifested  a 
contempt  of  fanaticism,  as  well  as  of  decorum,  by  bis 
*^  Historia  Flagellantium,  &c."  or,  an  account  of  the  ex- 
travagant, and  often  indecent,  practice  of  discipline  by 
flagellation,  in  the  popish  church.  It  was  translated 
into  French  ;  and  not  many  years  ago  {viz.  1777,  4to.  and 
s^in  in  1782,  Svo.)  by  M.  deXolme,  into  English.  In 
his  treatise  "  De  antiquo  jure  presbyterorum  in  regimine 
ecclesiastico,"  he  endeavours  to  shew,  that  in  the  primi- 
tive times  the  priests  participated  with  the  bishops  in  the 
government  of  the  church.  He  was  also  the  author  of  se- 
veral other  publications,  displaying  much  curious  learning 
and  a  satirical  turn,  which  are  now  consigned  to  oblivion.  . 

GiLLES,  the  eldest  brother  of  Qoileau  Despreaux,  was 
born  in  1631,  and  had  a  place  in  the  king's  household. 
He  was  a  man  of  wit  and  learning,  and  published  a  trans- 
lation of  Arrian's  Epictetus,  with  a  life  of  the  philosopher, 
Paris,  1655,  8vo.  He  also  published  a  translation  of  Dio- 
genes Laertius,  1668,  in  2  vols.  12mo;  and  two  disserta- 
tions against  Menage  and  Costar.  His  **  Posthumous 
Works"  were  published  in  1670.  He  also  wrote  verses, 
in  no  high  estimation.  ^ 

©OILEAU  (John  James),  canon  of  the  church  of  St. 
Honorg  at  Paris,  was  of  the  diocese  of  Agen,  in  which  he 

1  D'Alembert's  Eulogies  translated  by  Aikin,  2  ^Is.  Svo.— den.  Diot^-*War« 
Ion's  Essay  on  Pope^  &c.  and  Diet,  Hist, 


IS  B  O  I  L  E  A  U. 

enjoyed  a  curacy.  The  delicacy  of  his  constitution  hating 
obliged  him  to  quit  it,  he  repaired  to  Paris.  The  cardinal 
de  Noailles  afforded  him  many  marks  of  his  esteemr  He 
died  the  10th  of  March,  1735,  aged  86.  There  are  by 
him^  1.  Letters  on  various  subjects  of  morality  and  devo- 
tion, 2  vols.  12mo.  2.  The  life  of  the  duchess  of  Lian- 
court,  and  that  of  madame  Comb^,  superior  of  the  house 
of  the  Bon  Pasteur.  Ail  these  works  evince  a  fund  of 
^nse  and  good  sentinients ;  but  his  style  is  too  much  in- 
Hated.  * 

.  BOINDIN  (Nicholas),  born  at  Paris  in  1676,  the  son 
of  an  attorney  in  the  office  of  the  finances,  entered  into  the 
regiment  of  musqueteers  in  1696.  The  weakness  of  his 
constitution,  unable  to  resist  the  fatigues  of  the  service, 
obliged  him  to  lay  down  his  arms  and  take  to  his  studies. 
He  was  received  in  1706  into  the  academy  of  inscriptions 
and  belles-lettres,  and  would  have  been  of  the  French 
academy,  if  the  public  profession  he  made  of  atheism  had 
not  determined  his  exclusion.  He  was  affiicted  towards 
the  latter  end  of  his  days  with  a  fistula,  which  carried  him 
off  the  30th  of  Nov.  1751,  at  the  age  of  75.  He  was  de- 
nied the  honours  of  sepulture;  being  inhumed  the  day 
following  without  ceremony  at  three  o  clock  in  the  morn- 
ing. M.  Parfait  the  elder,  who  inherited  the  works  of 
Boindin,  gave  them  to  the  public  in  1753,  in  2  vols.  12mo. 
In  the  first  we  have  four  comedies  in  prose:  and  a  me- 
moir on  his  life  and  writings,  composed  by  himself.  This 
man,  who  plumed  himself  on  being  a  philosopher,  here 
gives  himself,  without  scruple,  all  the  praises  that  a  dull 
panegyrist  would  have  found  some  difficulty  in  affording 
him.  There  is  also  by  him  a  memoir,  very  circumstantial 
and  very  slanderous,  ii)  which  he  accuses,  after  a  lapse  of 
forty  years,  la  Motte,  Saurin,  and  Malaifaire  a  merchant, 
of  having  plotted  the  stratagem  that  caused  the  celebrated 
9nd  unhappy  Rousseau  to  be  condemned.  Boindin,  though 
an  atheist,  escaped  the  punishment  due  to  his  arrogance, 
because,  in  the  disputes  between  the  Jesuits  and  their  ad- 
versaries, he  used  frequently  to  declaim  in  the  coffee- 
bouses  against  the  latter.  M.  de  la  Place  relates,  that  he 
said  to  a  man  who  thought  like  him,  and  who  was  threat-* 
ened  for  his  opinions,  "  They  plague  yo*i,  because  you 
ure  a  Jansenistic  atheist;  but  th^y  let  me  alone,  because 

*  PLct.  Hist.— Morecw 


B  O  I  N  D  I  N.  It 

I  am  a  Molinhtlc  atheist/'  Not  that  be  incUned  more  to 
Molina  than  to  Janseuius ;  but  he  found  that  he  should  get 
more  by  speaking  in  behalf  of  those  that  were  then  Ul 
favoiir.  * 

BOIS  (Gerard  1>u),  of  the  Oratory,  a  native  of  Orleans^ 
was  bom  in  1629,  and  died  July  15,  1696.  He  succeeded 
father  le  Cointe  his  friend  in  the  place  of  librarian  to  the 
bouse  of  St.  HoDord,  and  inherited  his  papers,  which  were 
not  useless  in  bis  hands.  He  revised  the  eighth  volume  of 
the  '^  Ecclesiastical  Annals  of  France,"  and  published  it  ia 
1683.  This  work  procured  him  a  pension  of  a  thousand 
livres  granted  him  by  the  clergy.  He  afterwards  under-^ 
took,  at  the  entreaty  of  Harlay,  archbishop  of  Paris,  the 
Hiistory,of  that  church;  1690,  2  vols,  folio.  The  second 
did  not  appear  till  eight  years  after  his  death,  by  the  cars 
of  father  de  la  Rippe,  and  father  Desmolets  of  the  oratory^ 
He  frequently  mingles  civil  with  ecclesiastical  history,  and 
these  digressions  hare  lengthened  his  work ;  but  they  have 
also  diversified  it.  The  dissertations  with  which  he  has 
accompanied  it  evince  great  sagacity  in  discerning  what  i% 
true  from  what  is  false.  His  history  is  written  in  Latin^ 
and  the  style  is  pure  and  elegant. ' 

BOIS.     See  DUBOIS— and  BOYS  or  BOY8E. 

BOISROBERT  (FRAN501S  Metel  de),  of  the  French 
academy,  to  the  establishment  whereof  he  contributed 
greatly,  abbot  of  Chatilly-sur- Seine,  was  born  at  Caen  ill 
1592,  and  died  in  1662.  He  was  remarkably  brilliant  in 
conversation,  but  with  his  natural  and  borrowed  powers^ 
often  repeating  scraps  from  many  of  the  tales  of  Boc- 
cace,  of  Beroald,  and  especially  the  "  Moyen  de  parvenit'* 
of  the  latter.  His  imagination,  fostered  early  by  the 
writings  of  all  the  facetious  authors,  furnished  him  with  the 
means  of  amusing  and  of  exciting  laughter.  Citois,  first 
physician  to  the  cardinal  de  Richelieu,  used  to  say  to  that 
minister,  when  he  was  indisposed,  <^  Monseigneur,  all  our 
drugs  are  off  no  avail,  unless  you  mix  with  them  a  dram  of 
Boisrobert."  The  cardinal  for  a  long  time  was  never 
happy  without  his  company  and  jokes, .  and  employed  him 
as  his  buifoon^  When  Boisrobert  fell  into  disgrace  with 
the  cardinal,  he  had  recourse  to  Citois,  who  put  at  the 
bottom  of  his  paper  to  the  cardinal,  as  if  it  had  been  a  pre« 
scription.  Recipe  BoisaaBERT.    This  jest  had  its  effect, 

^  Dict«  Hist.  s  Kox&'u-^UcX.  ai8U-a>upin.---Nk}emi. 


1*  BOISROBERT. 

by  causing  him  to  be  recalled. — Boisrobert  pubtisbed^ 
1.  Divers  poems ;  the  first  part  1647,  4to,  and  the  second 
1659,  8vo.  2.  Letters  in  the  collection  of  Faret;  8vo* 
3.  Tragedies,  comedies,  and  tales,  which  bear  the  name 
of  his  brother  Antoine  le  Metel,  sieur  d'Ouville.  4.  "  His- 
toire  Indienne  d^Anasandre  et  d'Orasie;"  1629,  8vo. 
5.  "  Nouvelles  h^roiques,"  1627,  8vo.  His  theatrical 
pieces,  applauded  by  cardinal  Richelieu  and  by  some  of 
his  flatterers,  are  now  totally  forgot.  All  his  friends,  in- 
deed, were  not  flatterers,  if  the  following  anecdote  may  be 
relied  on.  Boisrobert,  among  his  other  follies,  was  a 
gamester,  and  on  one  occasion  lost  ten  thousand  crowns  to 
the  duke  de  Roquelaure,  who  loved  money,  and  insisted 
upon  being  paid.  Boisrobert  sold  all  he  had,  which 
amounted  to  four  thousand  crowns,  which  one  of  his  friends 
carried  to  the  duke,  telling  him,  he  must  forgive  the  rest, 
and  that  Boisrobert,  in  return,  would  compose  a  panegy- 
rical ode  upon  him,  which  would  certainly  be  a  bad  one* 
**  Now,"  added  this  friend,  "  when  it  is  known  that  your 
grace  has  rewarded  a  paltry  piece  with  six  thousand  crowns, 
every  one  will  applaud  your  generosity,  and  will  be  anxious 
to  know  what  you  would  have  given  for  a  good  poem.'* 
It  is  most  to  his  honour,  however,  that  he  contributed  to 
the  establishment  of  the  French  academy,  and  always  em- 
ployed his  interest  with  cardinal  Richelieu  in  behalf  of  men 
of  merit.  * 

BOISSARD  (John  James),  a  famous  French  antiquary, 
was  born  at  Besangon,  1528,  and  published  several  collec- 
tions, which  tend  to  illustrate  the  Roman  antiquities,  on 
which  he  had  bestowed  great  attention,  having  drawn  plans 
of  all  the  ancient  monuments  in  Italy,  and  visited  all  the 
antiquities  of  the  isles  of  Corfu,  Cephalonia,  and  Zaute. 
He  went  also  to  the  Morea,  and  would  have  proceeded  to 
Syria,  had  he  not  been  prevented  by  a  dangerous  fever, 
which  seized  him  at  Methone.  Upon  his  return  to  his  own 
country,  he  was  appointed  tutor  to  the  sous  of  Anthony  de 
Vienne,  baron  de  Clervaut,  with  whom  he  travelled  into 
Germany  and  Italy.  He  had  left  at  Montbeliard  bis  anti- 
quities, which  he  had  been  collecting  with  so  much  pains ; 
and  had  the  misfortune  to  lose  them  all  when  the  people 
of  Lorraine  ravaged  Franche  Comt6.  He  had  now  none 
left  except  those  which  he  had  transported  to  Metz,  where 

^  Mo»ri«— Diet.  Hist.— Biog.  Gallica,  vol.  1.— BaiUet  Jugemens  de  SavaQS» 


BOISSARD.  1$ 

he  himself  bad  retired ;  but  as  it  was  well  known  that  be 
intended  to  publish  a  large  collection  of  antiquities,  there 
were  sent  to  him  from  all  parts  many  sketches  and  draughts 
of  old  monuments^  by  which  means  he  was  enabled  to  fa- 
vour the  public  with  his  work,  entitled^  ^^  De  Romans^ 
urbis  topographia  et  antiquitate."  It  consists  -of  four  vo- 
lumes in  folio,  which  are  enriched  with  several  prints,  by 
Theodore  de  Bry  and  his  sons,  1 597-— 1602.  He  pub- 
lished also  the  lives  of  many  famous  persons,  with  their 
portraits,  entitled,  <^  Theatrum  vitae  humauae,"  divided  into 
four  parts,  in  4to:  the  first  printed  at  Francfort,  1597; 
the  second  and  third  in  1598;  and  the  fourth  in  1599. 
His  treatise,  ^^  De  divinatione  et  magicis  prsestigiis,''  was 
not  printed  till  after  his  death,  which  happened  at  Metz, 
Oct.  30,  1602.  There  have  been  two  editions  of  it:  one 
at  Hainan  in  1611,  4to;  another  at  Oppenheim  in  1625, 
folio.  He  wrote  also  a  book  of ''  Emblems,^'  with  de  Bry's 
engravings,  Francfort;  1595,  4to;  '^Parnassus  Biceps,'* 
ibid,  1627,  fol.  a  very  rare  book  ;  and  ^^  Habitus  variarum 
orbis  gentium,''  1581,  fol.  with  plates.  He  published  also 
some  *' Poemata,  Epigrammata,  &c.".  157^,  16m6;  but 
these  are  not  so  much  esteemed  as  his.  other  performances. 
His  adventure  in  a  garden  of  cardinal  Carpi  at  Rome, 
shews  him  a  genuine  antiquary.  This  garden  was  fuir  of 
ancient  marbles,  and  situated  on  the  Mons  Quirinalis, 
Boissard  went  thither  one  day  with  his  friends,  and  imme- 
diately parted  from  them,  let  them  return  home,  and  con- 
cealed himself  in  some  of  the  alleys.  He  employed  the 
rest  of  the  day  in  copying  inscriptions  and  drawing  the 
monuments ;  and  as  the  garden  gates  were  shut,  he  staid^ 
there  all  night.  The  next  morning,  the  cardinal,  finding 
him  at  this  work,  could  not  imagine  how  a  stranger  should 
get  into  his  garden  at  an  unseasonable  hour ;  but  when  he 
knew  the  reason  of  Boissard's  staying  there  all  night,  he 
ordered  him  .a  good  breakfast,  and  gave  him  leave  to 
copy  and  draw  whfktsoever  he  should  think  curious  in  his 
palace.  ^ 

BOISSI  (Louis  de),  a  celebrated  French  comic  writer 
of  native  wit  and  g^ni^ine  humour,  was:  born  at  Vic  in 
Auvergne  in  1694.  He  came  early  to  Paris,  and  began  to 
write  for  the  stage*  The  r^st  of  his  li£e  is  a  moral  As 
has  often  been  the  fate  of  e^xtraordinary  favourites  of  the 

*  Moreri — Diet  Hist.— Qeo.   Diet:— Baillet  J«if«m«ns  d«    SaT»ns,««-SaxU 
Oaamastiooii.  t.  ,     .    .. 


16         •  B  a  t  s  s  t 

mtiMi^y  though  he  kboured  incessantly  for  the  public,  hh 
works  procured  him  only  a  competency  of  fame — he 
wanted  bread,  and  while  the  theatres  and  coffee-houses  of 
Paris  were  ringing  with  plaudits  on  his  uncommon  talents 
to  promote  their  mirth^  he  was  languishing,  with  a  wife 
and  child,  under  the  pressures  of  the  extreftiest  poverty. 
Yety  melancholy  as  bis  situation  was,  he  lost  nothing  of 
that  pride,  which  forbid  him  to  creep  and  fawn  at  the  feet 
of  a  patron.  Boissi  had  friends,  who  would  readily  have 
relieved  him  ;  but  they  were  never  made  acquainted  with 
his  i*eal  condition,  or  had  not  that  friendly  impetuosity 
which  forces  assistance  on  the  modest  sufferer.  He  at 
length  became  the  prey  of  distress,  and  sunk  into  despon- 
dency. The  shortest  way  to  rid  bittiself  at  once  of  his 
load  of  misery  seemed  to  hifti  to  be  death,  on  which  hk 
speculated  with  the  despair  of  a  man  who  has  none  of  the 
consolations  of  religion.  His  wife,  who  was  no  less  weary 
of  life,  listened  with  participation  as  often  as  he  declaimed^ 
in  all  the  warmth  of  poetic  rapttire,  on  the  topic  of  deliver*- 
ance  from  this  earthly  prison,  and  the  smiling  prospects  of 
futurity ;  till  at  length  she  took  up  the  resolution  to  ac- 
company him  in  death.  But  she  could  not  bear  to  think 
of  leaving  her  beloved  son,  of  five  years  old,  in  a  world  of 
misery  and  sorrow ;  it  was  therefore  agreed  to  take  the 
child  along  with  them,  on  their  passage  into  another  and  a 
better,  and  they  made  choice  of  starving.  To  this  end, 
they  shut  themselves  up  in  their  solitary  and  deserted 
apartment,  vinaiting  their  dissolution  with  immovable  forti- 
tude. When  any  one  came  and  knocked,  they  fled  trem- 
bling into  a  corner,  for  f^ar  of  being  discovered.  Their, 
little  boy,  who  had  not  yet  Iciairned  to  silence  the  calls  of 
hunger  by  artificial  reasons,  whimpering  and  crying,  asked 
for  bread;  but  they  always  found  means  to  quiet  him.- 

It  occurred  to  one  of  Boissi's  friends,  that  it  was  very 
extraordinary  he  should  never  find  him  at  home.  At  first 
he  thought  the  family  had  changed  their  lodgings;  but,  ort 
assuring  himself  of  the  contrary,  he  began  to  be  alarmed. 
He  called  several  times  in  one  day,  and  at  last  burst  open 
the  door,  when  he  saw  his  friend,  with  his  wife  and  son, 
extended  on  the  bed,  pale  and  emaciated,  scarcely  able  to 
utter  a  sound  !  The  boy  lay  in  the  middle,  and  the  hus- 
band and  wife  had  their  arms  thrown  over  him.  Tlie  child 
stretched  out  his  little  hands  towards  his  deliverer^  and  his 
first  word  was — Bread  1     It  was  now  the  third  day  that  nol 


B  O  I  S  S  I.  17 

a  morsel  of  food  had  entered  his  lips.  The  parents  lay 
still  in  a  perfect  stupor  ;  they  had  never  heard  the  bursting' 
open  of  the  door,  and  felt  nothing  of  the  embraces  of  theifr 
agitated  friend.  Their  wasted  eyes  were  directed  towards 
the  boy ;  and  the  tenderest  expressions  of  pity  were  in  the 
look  with  which  they  had  last  beheld  him,  and  stili  saw 
him  dying.  Their  friend  hastened  to  take  measures  for 
their  recovery ;  but  could  not  succeed  without  difficulty. 
They  thought  themselves  already  far  from  the  troubles  of 
life,  and  were  terrified  at  being  suddenly  brought  back  to 
them.  Void  of  sense  and  reflection,  they  submitted  to  the 
attempts  that  were  made  to  recall  them  to  life.  At  length 
a  thought  occurred  to  their  friend,  which  happily  suc- 
ceeded. He  took  the  child  from  their  -  arms,  and  thus 
roused  the  last  spark  of  paternal  and  maternal  tenderness. 
He  gave  the  child  to  eat ;  who,  with  one  hand  held  his 
bread,  and  with  the  other  alternately  shook  his  father  and 
mother.  It  seemed  at  once  ta  rekindle  the  love  of  life  in 
their  hearts,  on  perceiving  that  the  child  had  left  the  bed 
and  their  embraces.  Nature  did  her  office.  Tiieir  friend 
procured  them  strengthening  broths,  which  he  put  to  their 
lips  with  the  utmost  caution,  and  did  not  leave  them  till 
every  symptom  of  restored  life  was  fully  visible. 

This  transaction  made  much  noise  in  Paris,  and  at  length 
reached  the  ears  of  the  marchioness  de  Pompadour.  Boissi's 
deplorable  situation  moved  her.  She  immediately  sent 
him  a  hundred  louis-d'ors,  and  soon  after  procured  him 
the  profitable  place  of  editor  of  the  Mercure  de  France, 
with  a  pension  for  his  wife  and  child,  if  they  outlived  him. 
— His  CEuvres  de  Theatre"  are  in  9  vols.  8vo.  His  Italian 
comedy,  in  which  path  he  is  the  author  of  numerous  pieces, 
has  not  the  merit  of  the  above.  His  early  satires,  of  which 
he  had  written  many,  being  remembered,  prevented  his 
admission  into  the  French  academy  till  he  was  sixty  years  of 
*ge,  though  he  was  well  entitled  to  that  honour,  by  his 
labours  and  talents,  twenty  years  sooner.  He  died  April, 
1658,  complaining  in  his  last  moments,  that  his  misery 
was  not  shortened  by  an  earlier  death,  or  his  felicity  ex- 
tended by  longevity,  * 

BOIVIN  (Fkancisde),  baron  of  Villars,  bailifof  Gex, 
in  which  offiice  he  was  living  in   1618,  maitre  d^hotel  to 

^  Diet.  Hist. — D*Aiembert'8  Hist,  of  the  Members  of  the  French  Academy.-— 
Cbaufepie. — ^Hidtory  of  the  Mftrchiouess  de  Pomptadour,  Part  III.  Lond.  l^mo. 
1760. 

You  VI.  C 


IS  B  O  I  V  I  N. 

queea  dowager  Loaisa  of  France,  was  also  secretary  to  the 
nmrechal  de  Brissac,  and  accompanied  him  into  Pi^monrt 
under  Henfy  II.  We  have  by  him,  "L'Histoire  des  Guerre* 
de  Pi^mont,  depuis  1550  jusqu'en  1561  ;'•' Paris,  1607, 
4to,  and  8vo.  This  historian  is  neither  elegant  nor  accu-* 
rate  in  general ;  but  he  may  be  consulted  with  safety  on 
the  exploits  that  passed  under  his  own  observation.  Boi- 
vin  died  very  old,  but  at  what  time  is  not  kiwwn. '  His. 
History,  continued  by  CI.  Malinger,  appeared  in  1630, 
2  vols.  8vo.  * 

BOIVIN  (John),  professor  of  Greek  in  the  royal  col- 
lege of  Paris,  was  born  at  Montreuil  TArgil^,  in  Upper 
Normandy.  Being  sent  for  to  Paris  by  his  elder  brother, 
young  Boiviu  soon  made  great  progress  in  literature,  ia 
the  languages,  and  especially  in  the  knowledge  of  the 
Greek.  He  died  October  29,  1726,  aged  64,  member  of 
the  French  academy^  and  of  that  of  belles  lettres,  and 
keeper  of  the  king's  library.  He  profited  by  this  literary 
treasure,  by  drawing  from  it  a  variety  of  information,  and 
to  a  great  extent  In  his  private  character  he  was  of 
gentle  manners,  and  truly  amiable.  He  wrote,  1.  "  The 
Apology  for  Homer,  and  the  Shield  of  Achilles,  in  12mo. 

2.  Translation  of  the  Batrachomyomachia  of  Homer  into 
French  verse,  under  his  name  Latinised  into  Biberimero. 

3,  The  CEdipus  of  Sophocles,  and  the  Birds  of  Aristo- 
phanes, translated  into  French,  in  12mo.  4.  Pieces  of 
Greek  poetry.  5.  The  edition  of  the.  "  Mathematici  ve- 
teres,"  1693,  in  folio.  6.  A  Latin  life  of  Claude  le  Pele- 
tier,  in  4to,  written  in  a  style  rather  too  inflated.  7.  A 
translation  of  the  Byzantine  history  of  Nicephorus  Gre- 
goras,  correct,  elegant,  and  enriched,  with  a  curious  pre* 
face,  and  notes  replete  with  erudition.  ^ 

BOIVIN  (Louis),  brother  to  the  preceding,  a  distin- 
guished scholar  and  pensionary  of  the  academy  of  belles 
lettres,  was  born  at  Montreuil  TArgil^,  and  educated,  first 
under  the  Jesuits  at  Rouen,  and  afterwards  at  Paris,  where 
he  settled.  His  acquirements  in  literature  were  various 
and  extensive ;  but  his  temper,  according  to  his  own  ac- 
count, was  intractable  and  unsocial,  enterprising,  vain,  and 
versatile.  He  was  employed  by  several  eminent  magis- 
trates as  the  associate  and  director  of  their  private  studies ; 
but  the  litigiousness  of  his  disposition  involved  him  ia 

1  Moreri.<-Dict,  Hist  '  Ibid. 


H  0  lY  1  ij.  ^       19 

^reait  trouble  and  expeDce.  He  published  some  iearhed 
dissertations  on  historical  subjects,  in  the  ^*  Memoirs  of 
the  Academy  of  Belles  Lettres,"  and  made  great  progress 
towards  a  new  edition  of  Josephus,  He  died  in  1724,  aged 
75  years.  *  \  ,    . 

BOLD  (John),  a  pious  and  useful  clergyman  of  Leices« 
tershire,  was  born  at  Leicester  in  1679,  and  at  the  age  of  . 
fifteen  had  made  such  progress  in  letters  as  to  be  matricu-* 
lated  at  St  John's  college,  Cambridge.  Having  taken  the 
degree  of  B.  A.  in  1698,  he  retired  to  Hinckley  in  Leices-^ 
tershire,  where  he  engaged  in  teaching  a  small  endowed 
school,  and  retained  that  employment  until  1732,  at  the 
humble  salary  of  10/.  per  annum.  At  the  usual  age^  he 
was  admitted  into  holy  orders  to  serve  the  curacy  of  Stoney 
Stanton  near  Hinckley.  It  appears  from  the  parish  regis'* 
ter,  that  he  commenced  his  parochial  duties  in  May  1702  ; 
and  the  care  of  the  parish  was  confided  to  him,  his  rector 
then  residing  on  another  benefice.  His  stipend  was  only 
30/.  a  year,  as  the  living  was  a  small  one,  being  then  in  the 
open-field  state.  Nor  does  it  appear  that  he  had  made 
any  saving  in  money  from  the  profits  of  his  school — all  the 
property  he  seems  to  have  brought  with  him  to  his  curacy 
was,  his  chamber  furniture^  and  a  library,  more  valuable 
for  being  select  than  extensive.  When  Mr.  Bold  was  ex- 
amined for  orders,  his  diocesan  (Dr.  James  Gardiner, 
bishop  of  Lincoln)  was  so  much  pleased  with  hia  profi- 
ciency in  sacred  learning,  that  he  had  determined  to  make 
Mr.  Bold  his  domestic  chaplain  :  but  the  good  bishop's 
death  soon  after  closed  his  prospect  of  preferment  as  soon 
as  it  was  opened  in  that  quarter  ;  and  Mr.  Bold  framed  his 
plan  of  life  and  studies  upon  a  system  of  rigid  qecohomy 
and  strict  attentioa  to  his  professional  duties^  which  never 
varied  during  the  fifty  years  he  passed  afterwards  on  his 
curacy.  Remote  from  polished  and  literary  society,  which 
he  was  calculated  both  ^p  enjoy  and  to  adorn,  he  dili- 
gently performed  the  duties  of  an  able  and  orthodox 
divine;  a  good  writer;  an  excellent  preacher,  and  au 
attentive  parbh  priest.  He  appears,  from  the  early  age  of 
24  years,  to  have  formed  his  plan  of' making  himself  a 
living  sacrifice  for  the  benefit  of  his  flock;  and  to  have  de- 
clined preferment  (which  was  afterward  offered  to  him) 
with  a  view  of  making  his  example  and  doctrine  the  more 

I  Moreri,— Diet.  HUt. 
C  2  ' 


so      '  BOLD.. 

« 

striking  and  efFective,  by  his  permanent  residence  and  la- 
bours in  one  and  the  same  place.  He  appears  to  have  be«- 
gun  his  ecclesiastical  labours  in  a  spirit  of  self-denial, 
humility,  chari^,  and  piety.  He  had  talents  that  might 
have  rendered  him  conspicuous  any  where,  and  an  impres- 
sive and  correct  delivery.  His  life  was  severe  (so  far  as 
respected  himself) ;  his  studies  incessant ;  his  spiritual 
labours  for  the  church  and  his  flock,  ever  invariably  the 
same.  His  salary,  we  have  already  mentioned,  was  only 
30/.  a  year,  which  was  never  increased,  and  of  which  he 
paid  at  firsts/,  then  12/.  and  lastly  16/.  a  year,  for  his 
board.  It  needs  scarcely  be  said  that  the  most  rigid  oeco- 
nomy  was  requisite,  and  practised,  to  enable  him  to  sub- 
sist;  much  more  to  save  out  of  this  pittance  for  beneficent 
purposes^  Yet  he  continued  to  give  away  annually,  51. ; 
and  saved  5l.  more  with  a  view  to  more  permanent  chari- 
ties :  upon  the  rest  he  lived.  His  daily  fare  consisted  of 
water-gruel  for  his  breakfast ;  a  plate  from  the  farmer's 
table,  with  whom  he  boarded,  supplied  his  dinner ;  after 
dinner,  one  half  pint  of  ale,  of  his  own  brewing,  was  his 
only  luxury ;  he  took  no  tea,  and  his  supper  was  upon 
milk-pottage. '  With  this  slender  fare  bis  frame  was  sup- 
ported under  the  labour  of  his  various  parochial  duties.  In 
the  winter,  he  read  and  wrote  by  the  farmer's  fire-side ;  in 
the  summer,  in  his  own  room.  At  Midsummer,  be  bor- 
rowed a  horse  for  a  day  or  two,  to  pay  short  visits  beyond 
a  walking  distance.  He  visited  all  his  parishioners,  ex- 
horting, reproving,  consoling,  instructing  them. 

The  last  six  years  of  his  life  he  was  unable  to  ofEciate 
publicly;  and  was  obliged  to  obtain  assistance  from  the 
Rev.  Charles  Cooper,  a  clergyman  who  resided  in  the 
parish  on  a  small  patrimonial  property,  with  whom  he  di- 
vided his  salary,  making  up  the  deficiency  from  his  savings. 
Mr.  Bold's  previous  saving  of  5/.  annually,  for  the  pre- 
ceding four  or  five  and  forty  years  (and  that  always  put  out 
to  interest)  enabled  him  to  procure  this  assistance,  and  to 
continue  his  little  charities,  as  well  as  to  support  himself, 
though  the  price  of  boarding  was  just  doubled  upon  him 
from  his  first  entrance  on  the  cure,  from  8/.  to  1 6/.  a  year. 
But,  from  the  annual  saving  even  of  so  small  a  sum  as  5/. 
with  accumulating  interest  during  that  term,  he  not  only 
procured  assistance  for  the  last  years  of  his  life,  but 
actually  left  by  his  will  securities  for  the  payment  of  be- 
quests to  the  amount  of  between  two  and  three  hundred 


BOLD,  2t 

pouDcb:  of  which  100/.  was  bequeathed  to  some  of  his 
nearest  relatione;  100/.  to. the  farmer's  family  in  which  he 
died;  to  requite  their  attendance  in  his  latter  end,  and  with 
which  a  son  of  the  family  was  enabled  to  set  up  in  a  little 
farm ;  and  40/.  more  he  directed  to  be  placed  out  at  inte*- 
rest,  of  which  interest  one  half  is  paid  at  Christmas  to  the 
poorer  inhabitants  who  attend  at  church ;  and  the  other, 
for  a  sermon  once  a  year,  in  Lent,  <^  on  the  duty  of  the 
people  to  attend  to  the  instructions  of  the  minister  whom 
the  bishop  of  the  diocese  should  set  oyer  them/' 

This  very  singular  and  exemplary  clergyman,  whose 
character  it  is  impossible  to  contemplate  without  admira- 
tion, died  Oct.  29,  1751.  He  wrote  for  the  use  of  his 
parishioners  the  following  practical  tracts:  1,  ^<The  sin 
and  danger  of  neglecting  the  Public  Service  of  the  Church," 
1745,  8vo,  one  of  the  books  distributed  by  the  Society  for 
promoting  Christian  knowledge.  2.  *'  Religion  the  most 
delightful  employment,  &c."  3.  "  The  duty  of  worthily 
communicating.  ^ 

BOLEN,  or  BOLEYN  (Anne),  second  wife  of  king 
Henry  VIII.  was  born  in  1507.  She  was  daughter  of  sir 
Thomas  Bolen,  afterwards  earl  of  Wiltshire  and  Ormonde, 
by  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Thomas  Howard,  duke  of  Nor- 
folk. When  she  was  but  seven  years  of  age,  she  was  carried 
over  to  France  with  the  king's  sister  Mary,  who  was  mar- 
ried to  Lewis  XII.  And  though,  upon  the  French  king's 
death,  the  queen  dowager  returned-  to  England,  yet  Anne 
Bolen  was  so  highly  esteemed  at  the  court  of  France,  tha( 
Claude,  the  wife  of  Francis  L  retained  her  in  her  service 
for  some  years;  and  after  her  death  in  1524,  the  duchesR 
of  Alenzon^  the  king's  sister,  kept  her  in  her  court  during 
her  stay  in  that  kingdom.  It  is  probable,  that  she  returned 
from  thence  with  her  father,  from  bis  embassy  in  .1527  ;  and 
was  soon  preferred  to  the  place  of  maid  of  honour  to  the 
queen.  She  continued  without  the  least  imputation  upon 
her  character,  till  her  unfortunate  fall  gave  occasion  to 
some  malicious  writers  to  defame  her  in  all  the  parts  of  it. 
Upon  her  coming  to  the  English  court,  the.  lord  Percy, 
eldest  son  of  the  earl  of  Northumberland,  being  then  a 
domestic  of  cardinal  Wolsey,  made  his  addresses  to  her, 
and  proceeded  so  far,  as  to  engage  himself  to  marry  her ; 
and  her  consent  shews,  that  she  bad  then  no  aspirings  to 

>  Nichols'*  Hiit.  of  Leic©«ter|hire,  vol.  IV.  Part  IL 


e«  B  O  L  E  K. 

the  crown.  But  tlie  cardinal,  upon  some  private- reascni^ 
using  threats  and  other  methods,  with  great  diffictilty  put 
an  end  to  that  nobleman's  design.  It  was  probably  Sibout 
1528,  that  the  king  began  to  shew  some  favour  to  her, 
which  caused  many  to  believe,  that  the  whol^  process  with 
regard  to  his  divorce  from  queen  Catherine  was  moved  by 
.the  unseen  springs  of  that  secret  passion.  But  it  is  not  rea^ 
^onableto  imagine,  that  the  engagement  of  the  king's  affec- 
tion to  any  other  person  gave  the  rise  to  that  affair  ;  for  so 
sagacious  a  courtier  as  Wolsey  would  have  infallibly  dis- 
covered it,  and  not  haye  projected  a  marriage  with  the 
French  king's  sister,  as  he  did  not  long  before,  if  he  had 
seen  his  master  prepossessed.  The  supposition  is  much 
more  reasonable,  that  bis  majesty,  conceiving  himself  in  a 
manner  discharged  of  his  former  marriage,  gave  a  full 
liberty  to  his  affections,  which  began  to  settle  upon  Mrs. 
Bolen  ;  who,  in  September  1532,  was  created  marchioness 
of  Pembroke,  in  order  that  she  might  be  raised  by  degrees 
to  the  height  for  which  she  was  designed  ;  and  on  the  25th 
of  January  following  was  married  to  the  king,  the  office 
being  performed  by  Rowland  Lee,  afterwards  bishop  of 
Coventry  and  Licbtield,  with  great  privacy,  though  in  the 
presence  of  her  uncle  the  duke  of  Norfolk,  her  father, 
Inother,  and  brother.  On  the  1st  of  June,  1533,  she  was 
crowned  queen  of  England  with  such  pomp  and  solemnity, 
as  was  answerable  to  the  magnificence  of  his  majesty's 
temper ;  and  every  one  admired  her  conduct,  who  had  so 
long  managed  the*spirit  of  a  king  so  viqlpnt,  as  neither  to 
surfeit  him  with  too  much  fondness,  nor  to  provoke  with  too 
much  reserve.  Her  being  so  soon  with  child  gave  hopes  of 
a  numerous  issue ;  and  those^  who  loved  the  reformation^ 
entertained  the  greatest  hopes  from  her  protection,  as  they 
knew  she  favoured  them.  On  the  1 3th  or  14th  of  Septem- 
ber following,  she  brought  forth  a  daughter,  christened 
Elizabeth,  afterwards  the  renowned  queen  of  £nglandj| 
Cranmer,  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  being  her  god-father. 
But  the  year  1536  proved  fatal  to  her  majesty  ;  and  her 
ruin  was  in  ail  probability  occasioned  by  those  who  began 
to  be  distinguished  by  the  name  of  the  Romish  party.  For 
the  king  now  proceeding  both  at  home  and  abroad  in  the 
point  of  reformation,  they  found  that  the  interest  which 
the  queen  had  in  him  was  the  grand  support  of  that  cause. 
She  had  risen,  not  only  in  his  esteem^  but  likewise  in  tHat 
pf  the  nation  in  'general ,  for  in  the  last  nine  months  of 


B  O  L  £  N.  SS 

lier  life,  she  gave  above  fourteen  thousand  pounds  to  the 
poor,  and  was  engaged  in  several  noble  and  public  designs. 
Biu  these  virtues  could  not  secure  her  against  the  artifices 
of  a  bigoted  party,  wHich  received  an  additional  force 
from  several  other  circumstances,  that  contributed  to  her 
destruction.  Soon  after  queen  Catharine^s  death  in  Jafi^ 
153.5-6,  she  was  brought  to  bed  of  a  dead  son,  which  was 
believed  to  have  made  a  bad  impression  on  the  king's  mind; 
and  as  be  had  concluded  from  the  death  of  his  sons  by 
his  former  queen,  that  the  marriage  was  displeasing  to 
God,  so  he  might  upon  this  misfortune  begin  to  have  the 
same  opinion  of  his  marriage  with  queen  Anne.  It  was 
also  considered  by  some  courtiers,  that  now  queen  Catha- 
rine was  dead,  his  majesty  might  marry  another  wife,  and 
be  fully  reconciled  with  the  pope  and  the  emperor,  and 
the  issue  by  any  other  marriage  would  never  be  questioned ; 
whereas,  while  queen  Anne  lived,  the  ground  of  the  con« 
troversy  still  remained,  and  her  marriage  being  accounted 
Dull  from  the  beginning,  would  never  be  allowed  by  the 
court  of  Rom/e,  or  any  of  that  party.  With  these  reasons 
of  state  the  king's  own  passions  too  much  concurred  ;  for 
he  now  entertained  a  secret  love  for  the  lady  Jane  Sey- 
mour, who  had  all  the  .charms  of  youth  and  beauty,  and 
^n  humour  tempered  between  the  gravity  of  queen  Catha- 
rine, and  the  gaiety  of  queen  Anne.  Her  majesty  there- 
fore perceiving  the  alienation  of  the  king^s  heart,  used  all 
possible  .arts  to  recover  that  affection,  the  decay  of  which 
she  was  sensible  of ;  but  the  success  was  quite  contrary  to 
what  she  designed.  For  be  saw  her  no  more  with  those 
eyes  which  she  had  formerly  captivated ;  but  gave  way  to 
jealousy,  and  ascribed  her  caresses  to  some  other  criminal 
passion,  of  which  be  began  to  suspect  her.  Her  chearful 
tenaper  indeed  was  not  always  limited  within  the  bounds  of 
exact  decency  and  discretion ;  and  her  brother  the  lord 
Rochford^s  wife,  a  woman  of  no  virtue,  being  jealous  of 
her  husband  and  her,  possessed  the  king  with  her  own  ap- 
prehensions. Henry  Norris,  groom  of  the  stole,  William 
Brereton,  and  sir  Francis  Weston,  who  were  of  the  king^s 
privy  chamber,  and  Mark  Smeton,  a  musician,  were  by 
the  queen's,  enemies  thought  too  officious  about  her ;  and 
something  was  pretended  to  have  been  sworn  by  the  lady 
Wiqgfield  at  her  death,  which  determined  the  king  :  but 
^e  particulars  are  not  known.  It  is  reported  likewise, 
that  w^ep  the  king  held  a  tournament  at  Greenwich  oq  the 


«  B  O  L  E  N. 

l8t  of  May,  1536,  he  was  displeased  at  the  queen  fof 
lettiacr  her  handkerchief  fall  to  one,  who  was  supposed  a 
favourite,  and  who  wiped  his  face  with  it.  Whatever  the 
case  was,  the  king  returned  suddenly  from  Greenwich  to 
Whitehall,  and  immediately  ordered  her  to  be  confined  to 
her  chamber,  and  her  brother,  with  the  four  persons  above- 
mentioned,  to  be  committed  to  the  Tower,  and  herself  to 
be  bent  after  them  the  day  following.  On  the  river  some 
privy  counsellors  came  to  examine  her,  but  she  made  deep 
protestations  of  her  innocence  ;  and  as  she  landed  at  the 
Tower,  she  fell  down  on  her  knees,  and  prayed  Heaven 
•'  so  to  assist  her,  as  she  was  free  from  the  crimes  laid  to 
her  charge."  The  confusion  she  was  in  soon  raised  a  storm 
of  vapours  within  her ;  sometimes  she  laughed,  and  at 
other  times  wept  excessively.  She  was  also  devout  and 
light  by  turus ;  one  while  she  stood  upon  her  vindication, 
and  at  other  times  confessed  some  indiscretions,  which 
upon  recollection  she  denied.  All  about  her  took  advan- 
tage from  any  word,  that  fell  from  her,  and  sent  it  imme- 
diately to  court.  The  duke  of  Norfolk  and  others,  who 
came  to  examine  her,  the  better  to  make  discoveries,  told 
her,  that  Norris  and  Smeton  had  accused  her;  which, 
though  false,  had  this  effect  on  her,  that  it  induced  her  to 
own  some  slight  acts  of  indiscretion,  which,  though  no  ways 
essential,  totally  alienated  the  king  from  her.  Yet  whe- 
ther even  these  small  acknowledgments  were  real  truths, 
or  the  effects  of  imagination  and  hysterical  emotions,  is 
very  uncertain.  On  the  12th  of  May,  Norris,  Brereton, 
Weston,  and  Smeton,  were  tried  in  Westminster-hall. 
Smeton  is  said  by  Dr.  Burnet  to  have  confessed  the  fact ; 
but  the  lord  Herbert^s  silence  in  this  matter  imports  him  to 
have  been  of  a  different  opinion  ;  to  which  may  be  added, 
that  Cromwell's  letter  to  the  king  takes  notice,  that  only 
some  circumstances  were  confessed  by  Smeton.  However, 
they  were  all  four  found  guilty,  and  executed  on  the  17th 
of  May.  On  the  15th  of  which  month,  the  queen,  and  her 
brother  the  lord  Hochford,  were  tried  by  their  peers  in 
the  Tower,  and  condemned  to  die.  Yet  all  this  did  not 
satisfy  the  enraged  king,  who  resolved  likewise  to  illegiti- 
mate his  daughter  Elizabeth ;  and,  in  order  to  that,  to  an- 
nul his' marriage  with  the  queen,  upon  pretence  of  a  pre- 
contract between  her  and  tlie  lord  Percy,  now  earl  of  Nor-? 
thumberland,  who  solemnly  denied  it ;  though  the  queen 
was  prevailed  upon  to  acknowledge,  that  there  were  some 


B  O  L  E  N.  25 

jUst  and  lawful  impedimeDtg  against  her  marriage  with  the 
king ;  and  upon  this  a  sentence  of  divorce  was  pronounced 
by  the  archbishop,  and  afterwards  confirmed  in  the  conyo**- 
cation  and  parliament.  On  the  19th  of  May,  she  was 
brought  to  a  scaffold  within  the  Tower,  where  she  was 
prevailed  upon,  out  of  regard  to  her  daughter,  to  make  no 
reflections  on  the  hardships  she  had  sustained,  nor  to  say 
any  thing  touching  the  grounds  on  which  sentence  passed 
against  her ;  only  she  desired,  that  ^'  all  would  judge  the 
best.^'  Her  head  being  severed  from  her  body,  they  were 
both  put  into  an  ordinary  chest,  and  buried  in  the  chapel 
in  the  Tower. 

Her  death  was  much  lamented  by  many,  as  die  had  been 
an  eminent  patroness  of  men  of  learning  and  genius,  and 
in  all  other  respects  of  a  most  generous  and  charitable  dis- 
position ;  and  it  is  highly  probable,  that,  if  she  had  lived, 
the  vast  sums  of  money,  which  were  raised  by  the  sup* 
pression  of  religious  bouses,  would  have  been  employed  in 
the  promotion  of  the  most  public  and  valuable  purposes.  ^ 

BOLLANDUS  (John),  a  learned  Jesuit,  was  born  at 
Tillemont,  in  the  Netherlands,  Aug.  13,  1596,  and  at 
sixteen,  a  very  usual  age,  entered  the  society  of  the  Je- 
suits, and  soon  became  distinguished  as  a  teacher,  both  in 
the  Netherlands,  and  in  other  countries.  What  entitles 
him  to  notice  here,  is  the  share  he  had  in  that  voluminous 
work,  the  "  Lives  of  the  faints,"  or  **  Acta.  Sanctorum.'* 
The  history  of  this  work  is  not  uninteresting,  although  the 
work  itself,  otherwise  than  for  occasional  consultation, 
defies  time  and  patience.  The  design  of  this  vast  collect 
tion  was  first  projected  by  father  Hesibert  Roseweide,  a 
Jesuit  of  the  age  of  sixty,  and  consequently  too  far  ad* 
vanced  to  execute  much  of  bis  plan,  which  was  to  extend 
no  farther  than  eightieen  volumes  folio,  a  trifle  in  those 
days,  bad  he  begun  earlier.  In  1607,  however,  he  began 
by  printing  the  manuscript  lives  of  some  saints,  which  he 
happened  to  find  in  the  Netherlands ;  but  death  put  an 
end  to  his  labours  in  1629.  It  was  then  entrusted  to  Bol-^ 
landus,  who  was  about  this  time  thirty-ibur  years  of  age, 
and  who  removed  to  Antwerp  for  the  purpose.  After  exa- 
mining Roseweide^s  collections,  he  established  a  general 
correspondence  over  all  Europe,  instructing  his  friends  to 

1  Birch's  Lives  to  HoaHra1cen*»  Heads. — ^Lodge's  Liveg  to  Holbein's  ditto.— 
Burnet's  Hisit.  of  the  Reformation.<>~Rapin,  Hume,  and  Henry's  Hist,  of  Eng' 
land,  itc, — Park's  edition  of  Waipole's  Royal  and  Noble  Authors. 


56  BOLLANDUS. 

search  cv€ry  library,  register,  or  repository  of  any  kind, 
ivhere  information  might  be  found;  but  becoming  soon 
sensible  of  the  weight  of  his  undertaking,  he  called  in  the 
assistance  of  another  Jesuit,  Henschenius  of  Guelderland, 
younger  than  himself,  more  healthy,  and  equally  qualified 
in  other  respects.  With  this  aid  he  was  enabled  in  1641 
to  publish  the  first  two  volumes,  folio,  which  contain  the 
lives  of  the  saints  of  the  month  of  January,  the  order  of 
the  Kalendar  having  been  preferred.  In  1658  he  pub- 
lished those  of  February ;  and  two  years  after,  his  labours 
still  encreasing,  he  had  another  as30ciate,  father  Daniel 
Paperbroch,  at  that  time  about  thirty-two  years  old,  whom 
he  sent^ith  Henschenius  to  Italy  and  France  to  collect 
manuscripts,  but  he  died  before  the  publication  of  another 
volume,  Sept.  12,  1665.  After  his  death  the  work  was 
continued  by  various  hands,  called  Bollandists,  until  it 
amounted  to  forty-two  folio  volumes,  the  last  published 
1753,  which,  after  all,  bring  down  the  lives  only  to  the 
fourteenth  of  September.  In  such  an  undertaking,  much 
legendary  matter  must  be  expected,  and  many  absurdities 
and  fictions.  Dupin  allows  Uiat  BoUandus  was  more  parr 
tial  to  popular  traditions  than  Henschenius  and  Paperblroch, 
yet  it  would  appear  that  they  found  it  difficult  (p  please 
the  taste  of  the  different  orders  of  monks,  &c.  who  were 
to  be  edified  by  the  work.  Bollandus  published  separately: 

1.  "  Vita   S.   Liborii  Episcopi,'*    Antwerp,    1648,    8vo, 

2.  "Brevis  Notitia  Italiae,"  ibid.  1648.  3.  "Breves No- 
titise  triplici  status,  Ecclesiastici,  Monastici  et  Saecularis,^^ 
ibid.  1648.* 

BOLLIOUD-MERMET  (Louis),  a  French  writer,  was 
born  at  Lyons,  Feb.  13,  1709,  of  a  distinguished  family, 
and  died  there  in  1793.  He  wrote,  1.  ^^  De  la  corruption 
du  gout  dans  la  Musique  Frangaise,-*  1745,  12mo.  2.  "De 
la  BiBUOMANiE,"  1761,  8vo,  ^  subject  since  so  ably 
handled  by  Mr.  Dibdin.  3.  "  Discours  sur  I'Emulation,** 
1763,  8vo.  4.  "  Essai  sur  la  lecture,"  1763,  8vo.  He 
left  in  manuscript  a  history  of  the  s^c^demy  of  Lyons,  of 
which  he  wak  secretary,  and  after  fifty  years  attendance  at 
their  sittings,  pronounced  a  discourse  entitled  ^*  Reno-* 
vation  des  voeux  litteraires,^'  which  was  afterward^  pub-* 
Ushed.  * 

1  Dupin.— Morcri^^Foppen  Bibl.  Belgic— Saxii  Onomast 
*  Diet.  Hist 


B  O  L  S  E  C.  27 

ftOLOGNESE.     See  GRIMALDI. 

BOLSEC  (JEROM£)y  a  writer,  whose  whole  merit  wa^ 
inventing  abominable  lies  and  absurdities  against  the  first 
reformers  in  the  sixteenth  century ;  and,  by  this  means 
'Supplying  popish  missionaries  with  matter  of  invective 
against  them,  he  was  often  quoted,  and  became  respected. 
He  was  a  CarmeHte  of  Paris,  who,  having  preached  some- 
.what  freely  in  St.  Bartholomew's  church,  forsook  his  order, 
and  fled  into  Italy,  where  he  set  up  for  a  physician, 
and  married;  but  soon  after  committed  some  crime,  for 
which  be  was  driven  away.  He  set  up  afterwards  in 
Geneva  as  a  physician ;  "but  not  succeeding  in  that 
profession,  he  studied  divinity.  At  Urst  he  dogma* 
tized  privately  on  the  mystery  ^of  predestination,  ac- 
cording to  the  principles  of  Pelagius;  and  afterwards 
had  the  boldness  to  make  a  public  discourse  against 
the  received  opinion.  Upon  this,  Calvin  went  to  see 
him,  and  censured  him  mildly.  Then  he  sent  for  him 
to  his  house,  and  endeavoured  to  reclaim  him  from  his 
error ;  but  this  did  not  hinder  Bolsec  from  delivering  in 
public  an  insulting  discourse  against  the  decree  of  eternal 
predestination.  Calvin  was  among  his  auditors;  but, 
hiding  himself  in  the  crowd,  was  not  seen  by  Bolsec, 
which  made  him  the  bolder.  As  soon  as  Bolsec  had  ended 
his  sermon,  Calvin  stood  up,  and  confuted  all  he  had  been 
saying.  '*  He  answered,  overset,  and  confounded  him,'* 
.says  Beza,  ^'  with  so  many  testimonies  from  the  word  of 
God,  with  so  many  passages,  chiefly  from  St.  Augustine-—^ 
in  short,  with  so  many  solid  arguments,  that  every  body 
was  miserably  ashamed  for  him,  except  the  brazen-faced 
monk  himself."  On  this,  a  magistrate  who  was  present 
in  that  assembly,  sent  him  to  prison.  The  cause  was  dis- 
cussed very  fully,  and  at  last,  with  the  advice  of  the  Swiss 
churches,  the  senate  of  Geneva  declared  Bolsec  convicted 
of  sedition  and  Pelagianism;  and  as  such,  in  1551,  ba- 
nished him  from  the  territory  of  the  republic,  on  pain  of 
being  whipped  if  he  should  return  thither.  He  retired 
into  a  neighbouring  place,  which  depended  on  the  canton 
of  Bern,  and  raised  a  great  deal  of  disturbance  there,  by 
accusing  Calvin  of  making  God  the  author  of  sin.  Calvin, 
to  prevent  the  impressions  which  such  complaints  might 
make  upon  the  gentlemen  of  Bern,  caused  himself  to  be 
deputed  to  them,  and  pleaded  his  cause  before  them.  He 
W9S  so  fortunate^  that  though  he  could  not  get  a  deter- 


CS  B  O  L  S  E  C. 

xnination  upon  his  doctrine,  whcfther  it  was  true  or  false, 
yet  Bolsec  was  ordered  to  quit  the  country. 

He  returned  to  France,  and  applied  himself  to  the  Pro-- 
testants ;  first  at  Paris,  afterwards  at  Orleans.  He  shewed 
a  great  desire  to  be  promoted  to  the  ministry,  and  to  be 
reconciled  to  the  church  of  Geneva ;  but  the  persecution 
that  arose  against  the  Protestants,  made  him  resolve  to 
take  up  his  first  religion,  and  the  practice  of  physic.  He 
went  and  settled  at  Autun,  and  prostituted.his  wife  to  the 
canons  of  that  place ;  and  to  ingratiate  himself  the  more 
with  the  Papists,  exerted  a  most  flaming  zeal  against  the 
reformed.  He  changed  his  habitatron  often :  he  lived  at 
Lyons  in  1582,  as  appears  by  the  title  of  a  book,  which 
he  caused  to  be  printed  then  at  Paris  against  Beza,  and 
died  there  in  the  same  year.  The  book  just  mentioned  is 
entitled  "  The  history  of  the  life,  doctrine,  and  behaviour 
of  Theodorus  Beza,  called  the  spectable  and  great  minister 
of  Geneva.**  This  was  preceded  by  the  "  History  of  the 
life,  actipus,  doctrine,  constancy,  and  death  of  John 
Calvin,  heretofore  minister  of  Geneva,"  which  was  printed 
at  Lyons,  in  1577.  Both  these  histories  are  altogether 
unworthy  of  credit,  as  well  because  they  are  written  by  an 
author  full  of  resentment,  as  because  they  contain  facts 
notoriously  false.  ^ 

BOLSWERT,  or  BOLSUERD  (Boetius  Adam  a^), 
was  an  engraver,  of  Antwerp,  who  flourished  about  1620; 
but  by  what  master  he  was  instructed  in  the  art  of  en* 
graving,  does  not  appear.  He  imitated  the  free  open 
style  of  the  Bloemarts  with  great  success ;  and  perhaps 
perfected  himself  in  their  school.  When  he  worked  from 
Rubens,  he  altered  that  style ;  and  his  plates  are  neater, 
fuller  of  colour,  and  more  highly  finished.  The  two  fol- 
lowing from  this  master  may  be  here  mentioned:  1.  The 
Resurrection  of  Lazarus,  a  large  upright  plate.  2.  The 
Last  Supper,  its  companion.  Basan,  speaking  of  this  print, 
says,  that  it  proves  by  its  beauty,  and  the  knowledge  with 
which  it  is  engraved,  that  Boetius  could  sometimes  equal 
his  brother  Scheltius. ' 

BOLSWERT,  or  BOLSUERD  (Scheltius  a^),  an  ad- 
mirable  engraver,  was  the  brother  of  the  preceding.  The 
time  of  his  birth  and  of  his  death,  and  the  name  of  the 
master  he  studied  under,  are  equally  unknown.     Bolswert, 

1  Gen.  Diet — Moslieim.'^Moreri. — Beza'i  lif<  of  Calvio.-«-Sa»t  Ooomiist. 
9  Strntt's  Dictionary* 


BOLSWERT.  29 

• 

like  his  brother,  worked  entirely  with  the  graver.  His 
general  character  as  an  an  artist  is  well  drawn  by  Basan, 
who  says  :  ^^  We  have  a  large  number  of  prints,  which  are 
held  in  great  esteem,  by  this  artist,  from  various  masters ; 
but  especially  fro^i  Rubens,  whose  pictures  he  has  copied 
with  all  possible  knowledge,  taste,  and  great  effect.  The 
freedom  with  which  this  excellent  artist  handled  the  graver, 
the  picturesque  roughness  of  etching,  which  he  could 
imitate  without  any  other  assisting  instrument,  and  the 
ability  he  possessed  of  distinguishing  the  different  masses 
of  colours,  have  always  been  admired  by  the  connoisseurs, 
and  give  him  a  place  in  the  number  of  those  celebrated 
engravers  whose  prints  ought  to  be  considered  as  models 
by  all  historical  engravers,  who  are  desirous  of  rendering 
their  works  as  useful  as  they  are  agreeable,  and  of  ac* 
quiring  a  reputation  as  lasting  as  it  is  justly  merited.'*  He 
drew  excellently,  and  without  any  manner  of  his  own ; 
for  his  prints  are  the  exact  transcripts  of  the  pictures  he 
engraved  from.  His  best  works,  though  not  always 
equally  neat  or  finished,  are  always  beautiful,  and  mani- 
fest the  hand  of  the  master.  Sometimes  we  find  his  en- 
gravings are  in  a  bold,  free,  open  style ;  as  the  Brazea 
Serpent ;  the  Marriage  of  the  Virgin,  &c.  from  Rubens. 
At  other  times  they  are  very  neat,  and  sweetly  finished ; 
as,  the  Crowning  with  Thorns,  and  the  Crucifixion,  &c» 
from  Vandyck.  Mr.  Strutt  observes,  that  his  boldest  en- 
gravings are  from  Rubens,  and  his  neatest  from  Vandyck 
and  Jordan.  How  greatly  Bolswert  varied  his  manner  of 
engraving  appears  from  some  prints,  which,  like  the 
greater  part  of  those  of  his  brother  Boetius,  bear  great  re- 
semblance to  the  free  engravings  of  the  Bloemarts,  and  to 
those  of  Frederic  Bloemart  especially  ;  and  form  a  part  of 
the  plates  for  a  large  folio  volume  entitled  *^  Academie  de 
I'Espfie,'*  by  Girard  Thibault  of  Antwerp,  where  it  was 
published  A.D.  1628;  and  to  these  he  signs  his  name 
"  Scheltius,"  and  sometimes  "  Schelderic  Bolswert,'*  ad- 
ding the  word  Bruxelle.  His  works  are  pretty  numerouS| 
and  his  name  is  usually  affixed  to  his  plates  in  this  manner: 
"S.  A.  Bolswert."* 

BOLTON,  or  BOULTON  (Edmund),  an  ingenious 
writer  and  antiquary,  in  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth 
century,  was  a  retainer  to  the  great  George  Villiers,  duke 
of  Buckingham,  under  whom  he  probably  enjoyed  some 

1  .Strutt'f  Dictionarj. 


.. —   .  1... , 


30  S  0  L  f  O  N. 

ofiice.  He.  was  a  Roman  catholic  ;  and  distinguiished  bitn-j 
self  by  the  following  curious  writings;  l."The  Life  of 
king  Henry  II."  intended  to  be  inserted  in  Speed's  Chro- 
nicle; but  the  author  being  too  partial  to  Thomas  Becket/ 
another  life  was  written  by  Dr.  Barcham.  2.  "  The  Ele- 
ments of  Armories,"  Lond.  1610,  4to.  3,  A  poem  upon 
the  translation  of  the  body  of  Mary  queen  of  Scots,  from 
Peterburgh  to  Westminster-abbey,  in  1612,  entitled  "  Pro- 
sopopoeia Basilica,"  a  MS.  in  the  Cottonian  library.  4^ 
An  English  translation  of  Lucius  Florus's  Roman  History. 
5.  "  Nero  Caesar,  or  Monarchic  depraved.  An  historical! 
worke,  dedicated  with  leave  to  the  duke  of  Buckingham, 
lord-admiral,"  Lond.  1624,  fol.  This  book,  which  con- 
tains the  life  of  the  emperor  Nero,  is  printed  in  a  neat 
and  elegant  manner,  and  illustrated  wilh  several  eurious 
medals.  In  recapitulating  the  affairs  of  Britain^  from  the 
time  of  Julius  Caesar  to  the  revolt  under  Nero,  he  relates 
the  history  of  Boadicea,  and  endeavours  to  prove  that 
Stonehenge  is  a  monument  erected  to  her  memory.  How 
much  he  differs  from  the  conjectures  of  the  other  anti- 
quaries who  have  endeavoured  to  trace  the  history  of 
Stonehenge,  it  would  be  unnecessary  to  specify.  He 
wrote  also,^  6.  "  Vindiciae  Britannicae,  or  London  righted 
by  rescues  and  recoveries  of  antiquities  of  Britain  in  gene- 
ral, and  of  London  in  particular,  against  unwarrantable 
prejudices,  and  historical  antiquations  amongst  the  learned ; 
for  the  more  honour,  and  perpetual  just  uses  of  the  noble 
island  and  the  city."  It  consists  of  seven  chapters.  In 
the  first,  he  treats  "  of  London  before  the  Britann  rebells 
sackt  and  fired  it  in  hatred  and  defiance  of  Nero."  In  the 
second  he  shows,  that  "  London  was  more  great  and  fa- 
mous in  Nero's  days,  than,  that  it  should  be  within  the 
description,  which  Julius  Cassar  makes  of  a  barbarous  Bri- 
tann town  in  his  days."  In  the  third,  he  proves,  "  that 
the  credit  of  Julius  Caesar's  writings  may  subsist,  and  yet 
London  retain  the  opinion  of  utmost  antiquity."  In  the 
fourth,  '^  the  same  fundamental  assertion  is  upholden  with 
other,  and  with  all  sorts  of  arguments  or  reasons."  Th*e 
fifth  bears  this  title,  "  The  natural  face  of  the  seat  of 
London  (exactly  described  in  this  section)  most  sufficiently 
proved,  that  it  was  most  antiently  inhabited,  always  pre- 
supposing reasonable  men  in  Britain."  The  sixth  contains 
*^  a  copious  and  serious  disquisition  about  the  old  book  of 
Brute,  aiid  of  the  authority  thereof;  especially  so  far  forth 


BOLTON-  31 

Its  concerns  the  present  cause  of  the  honour  and  antiquity 
of  London,  fundamentally  necessary  in  general  to  our  na- 
tional history .''  The  last  chapter  is  entitled,  '^  Special,  aa 
well  historical,  as  other  illustrations,  for  the  use  of  the* 
coins  in  my  Nero  Ceesar,  concerning  Lotidon  in  and  before 
that  time."  This  MS.  {for  it  never  was  printed)  was  in  the 
possession  of  Hugh  Howard,  esq.  and  afterwards  sold  among 
Thomas  Rawlinson's  to  Endymion  Porter.  Mr.  Bolton  was 
also  author  of  "  Hypercritica,  or  a  rule  of  judgement  for 
writing  or  reading  our  histories.  Delivered  in  four  super- 
censorian  addresses  by  occasion  of  a  censorian  epistle^ 
prefixed  by  sir  Henry  Savile,  knt.  to  his  edition  of  some 
of  our  oldest  historians  in  Latin,  dedicated  to  the  late 
queen  Elizabeth.  That  according  thereunto,  a  complete 
body  of  our  affairs)  a  Carpus  Rcrum  Anglicarum  may  at 
last,  and  from  among  our  ourselves,  come  happily  forth  in 
either  of  the  tongues.  A  felicity  wanting  to  our  nation, 
now  when  even  the  name  thereof  is  as  it  were  at  an  end.^' 
It  was  published  by  Dr.  Hall,  at  the  end  of  "  Triveti  An- 
nales,"  Oxford,  1722,  8vo.  Bolton  likewise  intended  to 
compose  a  '^  General  History  of  England,  or  an  entire  and 
complete  body  of  English  affairs ;"  and  there  is  in  the 
Cottonian  collection,  the  outline  of  a  book  entitled  ^^  Agon 
Heroicius,  or  concerning  Arms  and  Armories,"  a  copy  of 
which  is  in  the  Biog.  Britannica.  The  time  and  place  of 
his  death  are  unknown.  ^ 

BOLTON  (Robert),  an  eminent  puritan  divine,  and 
one  of  the  best  scholars  of  his  time,  was  born  at  Blackburn 
in  Lancashire,  in  1572,  and  educated  in  queen  Elizabeth's 
free-school  in  that  place,  where  he  made  such  proficiency 
as  to  be  accounted  a  young  man  of  extraordinary  talents 
and  industry.  In  his  eighteenth  year  he  went  to  Oxford, 
and  entered  of  Lincoln  college,  under  the  tuition  of  Mr. 
John  Randal,  where  he  went  through  a  course  of  logic  and 
philosophy  with  distinguished  approbation,  and  particu- 
larly ,took  pains  to  acquire  a  critical  knowledge  of  Greek, 
transcribing  the  whole  of  Homer  with  his  own  hand.  By 
this  diligence  he  attained  a  greater  facility  than  was  then 
usual,  writing,  and  even  disputing,  in  Greek  with  great 
correctness  and  fluency.  From  Lincoln  he  removed  to 
Brazen-nose,  in  hopes  of  a  fellowship,  as  that  society  eon*- 

1  Biog.  Brit.^Warton'8  Hist.  9f  Poetry,  vol.  IIJ.  p.  275— S73.-^Bitson»i 
fiiblios^.  Poetics. 


32  BOLTON. 

listed  most  of  Lincolnshire  and  Cheshire  m6ii.  In  1596 
he  took  his  bachelor^s  degree  in  this  college,  and  was 
Jcindly  supported  by  Dr.  Brett  of  Lincoln,  himself  a  good 
« Grecian,  and  who  admired  the  proficiency  Boiton  had 
made  in.  that  language,  until  1602,  when  he  obtained  a 
fellowship,  and  proceeded  M.  A.,  the  same  year.  His  re- 
putation advancing  rapidly,  he  was  successively  chosen 
reader  of  the  lectures  on  logic,  and  on  moral  and  natural 
philosophy  in  his  college.  In  1605,  when  king  JamesL 
came  to  Oxford,  the  vice-chancellor  (Abbot,  afterwards 
archbishop  of  Canterbury)  appointed  him  to  read  in  natural 
philosophy  in  the  public  schools,  and  to  be  one  of  the 
disputants  before  his  majesty.  Afterwards  he  increased 
his  stock  of  learning  by  metaphysics,  mathematics,  and 
scholastic  divinity.  About  this  time,  one  Anderton,  a 
countryman  and  schoolfellow,  and  a  zealous  Roman  ca- 
tholic, endeavoured  to  seduce  him.  to  that  religion,  and  a 
place  of  private  conference  was  fixed,  but  Anderton  not 
keeping  his  appointment,  the  affair  dropped.  Mr.  Bolton, 
with  all  his  learning,  had  been  almost  equally  noted  for 
immorality,  but  about  his  thirty>fourth  year,  reformed  his 
life  and  manners,  and  became  distinguished  for  regularity 
and  piety.  In  1609,  about  two  years  after  he  entered  into 
holy  orders,  which  he  did  very  late  in  life,  he  was  pre- 
sented to  the  living  of  Broughton  in  Northamptonshire,  by 
Mr.  afterwards  sir  Augustine  NicoUs,  seijeant  at  law,  who 
sexit  for  him  to  his  chambers  in  Serjeant's  Inn  and  gave 
him  the  presentation.  Dr.  King,  bishop  of  London,  being 
by  accident  there  at  the  same  time,  thanked  the  serjeant 
for  what  he  had  done  for  Broughton,  but  told  him  that  he 
had.  deprived  the  university  of  a  singular  ornament.  He 
then  went  to  his  living  and  remained  on  it  until  his  death, 
Dec*  17,  1631.  He  was,  says  Wood,  a  painful  and  con- 
stant preacher,  a  person  of  great  zeal  in  his  duty,  cha- 
ritable and  bountiful,  and  particularly  skilled  in  resolving 
the  doubts  of  timid  Christians.  Of  his  works,  the  most 
popular  in  his  time,  was  •"  A  Discourse  on  Happiness." 
Lond.  1611,  4to,  which  was  eagerly  bought  up,  and  went 
through  six  editions  at  least  in  his  lifef-time.  He  published 
.also  various  single  and  volumes  of  sermons,  a  list  of  which 
may  be  seen  in  Wood.  After  his  death  Edward  Bagshaw, 
esq.  published  **  Mr.  Bolton's  last  and  learned  work  of  the 
Four  last  Things,  Death,  Judgment,  Hell,  and  Heaven, 
with  an  Assize  Sermon,  and  Funeral  Sermon  for  his  patron 


BOLTON.  33 

iudge  Nichols/'  Lond.  1633.  Prefixed  to  this  is  the  life 
of  Mr.  Bbltoi),  to  which  all  his  subsequent  biographers 
have  been  indebted.  ^ 

BOLTON  (Robert),  dean  of  Carlisle,  was  born  in  Lon- 
don in  April  1697,  and  was  the  only  surviving  child  of 
Mr.  Jobn  Bolton,  a  merchant  in  that  city,  whom  he  lodt 
when  he  was  but  three  years  old.  He  was  first  educated  in 
a  school  ^t  Kensington,  and  was  admitted  a  commoner  at 
Wadham  college,  Oxford,  April  12,  1712;  He  was  after- 
Wards  elected  a  scholar  of  that  house,  where  he  took  his 
degree  of  B.  A;  in  1715^  and  of  M.  A.  June  13,  1718,  ex- 
pecting to  be  elected  fellow  in  his  turn  ;  but  in  this  he  was 
disappointed,  and  appealed,  without  success,  to  the  bishop 
of  Bath  and  Wells,  the  visitor.  In  July  1719  he  removed 
to  Hart  Hall ;  and  on  the  20th  December  following,  was 
ordained  a  deacon,  in  the  cathedral  church  of  St.  Paul,  by 
Dr.  John  Robinson,  bishop  of  London,  He  then  went  to 
reside  at  Fiilham,  and  seems  to  have  passed  two  years  there : 
for  he  was  ordained  priest  by  the  same  bishop  in  the  cha- 
pel of  Fulham  palace>  April  11,  1721.  While  at  Fulhain 
he  became  acquainted  with  Mrs.  Grace  Butler  of  Rowdell 
in  Sussex,  on  whose  daughter  Elizabeth  he  wrote  an  epi- 
taph, which  is  placed  in  Twickenham  church-yard,  where 
she^  was  buried*  This  epitaph  gave  occasion  to  some  verses 
by  Pope,  which  appear  in  KufFhead's  life  of  that  poet, 
and  were  communicated  to  the  author  by  the  hon«  Mr. 
Yorke,  who  probably  did  not  know  that  they  first  appeared 
in  the  Prompter,  a  periodical  paper.  No.  VUL  and  after-* 
wards  in  the  works  of  Aaron  Hill,  who  by  mistake  ascribes 
the  character  of  Mrs.  Butler  to  Pope. 

Being  chosen  senior  fellow  of  Dulwich  college,  he  went 
to  reside  there,  March  10,  1722,  where  he  repiained  three 
years,  and  resigned  his  fellowship  May  1,  1725.  About 
this  time  he  removed  to  Kensington,  living  upon  a  small 
fortune  he  possessed  ;  and  here  he  appears  to  have  become 
acquainted  with  the  celebrated  Whiston  ;  and  partly,  as  it 
is  said,  by  his  recommendation ^  became  known  to  sir  Jo-* 
seph  Jekyil,  master  of  the  roils,  by  whom  he  was  ap- 
pointed his  domestic  chaplain^  and^  in  1729,  preacher  at 
the  Rolls,  on  the  resignation  of  Dr.  Butler, ^afterwards 
bishop  of  Durham.     This  connection  introduced  him  to 

'  Life  ubi  supra — Ath.  Ox.  I. — Fuller's  Worthies  and  Abel  Kedivivus.-— 
Clark's.  Eccl.  History  .---Grander,  aad  a  blunder  comuiiUed  by  bim*  corrected  ia 
«ent  Mag.  vol.  XLVJIL  p.  75.  '  .  . 

Vol.  VI.  D 


34  BOLTON. 

the  patronage  of  lord  Hardwicke,  by  whose  means,  in  1754, 
he  was  promoted  to  the  deanery  of  Carlisle,  and,  in  1738, 
to  the  vicarage  of  St  Mary's  Reading.    He  had  bis  degree 
of  doctor  of  civil  la;y^  from  the  archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
Jan.  13,  1734,  and  went  to  reside  at  Carlisle  in  1736.   Both 
these  preferments,  the  only  ones  he  ever  received,  he  held 
until  the  time  of  his  death.     He  was  an  excellent  parish- 
priest,  and  a  good  preacher,  charitable  to  'the  poor,  and 
having  from  his  own  valetudinary  state  acquired  some  know- 
ledge of  physic,  he  kindly  assisted  them  by  advice  and 
medicine.     He  was  greatly  beloved  by  his  parishioners, 
and  deservedly;  for  he  performed  every  part  of  his  duty 
in  a  truly  exemplary  manner.     On  Easter  Tuesday  in  1739 
he  preached  one  of  the  spital  sermons  at  St.  Bride's,  Fleet* 
street,  which  was  afterwards  printed  in  4to,    but  we  do 
not  find  that  he  aspired  to  the  character  of  an  author, 
though  so  well  qualified  for  it,  until  late  in  life.     His  first 
performance  was  entitled  "  A  Letter  to  a  lady  on  Card- 
playing  on  the  Lord's  day,  8vo,  1748  ;  setting  forth  in  a 
lively  and  forcible  manner  the  many  evils  attending  the 
practice  of  gasfing  on  Sundays,  and  of  an  immoderate  at- 
tachment to  that  fatal  pursuit  at  any  time.     In  1750  ap- 
peared "  The  Employment  of  Time,  three  essays,"  8vo^ 
dedicated  to  lord  Hardwicke;    the  most  popular  of  our 
author's  performances,  and,  on   its   original  publication, 
generally  ascribed  to  Gilbert  West.     In  this  work  two  dis- 
tinguished and  exemplary  female  characters  are  supposed 
to  be  those  of  lady  Anson  and  lady  Heathcote,  lord  Hard- 
wicke's  daughters.   The  next  year,  1751,  produced  "  The 
Deity's  delay  in  punishing  the  guilty  considered  on  the 
principles  of  reason,"  8vo  ;  and  in  1755,  "An  answer  to 
the  question,  Where  are  your  arguments  against  what  you 
call  lewdness,  if  you  can  make  no  use  of  the  Bible  ?"  8vo. 
Continuing  to  combat  the  prevailing  vices  of  the  times,  he 
published  in  1757,  "A  Letter  to  an  officer  of  the  army 
on  Travelling  on  Sundays,"  8vo ;  and,  in  the  same  y«ear, 
**  The  Ghost  of  Ernest,  great  grandfather  of  her  royal 
highness  the  princess  dowager  of  Wales,  with  some  ac- 
count of  his  life,"  8vo.     Each  of  the  above  performances 
contains  good  sense^  learning,  philanthropy,  and  religion, 
and  each  of  them  is  calculated  for  the  advantage  of  society. 
The  last  work  whiqh  Dr.  Bolton  gave  the  public  was  not 
the  least  valuable.     It  was  entitled  "  Letters  and  Tracts  on 
the  Choice  of  Company,  and  other  subjects,"   1761,  8va 


BOLTON.  35 

This  he  dedicated  to  his  early  patron,  lord  Hardwicke^  to 
whom  he  had  inscribed  The  Employment  of  Time,  and 
who  at  this  period  was  no  longer  chancellor.  In  his  address 
to  this  nobleman  he  says,  "  An  address  to  your  lordship  om 
this  occasion  in  the  usual  style  would  as  ill  suit  your  incli- 
nations as  it  doth  my  age  and  profession.  We  are  both  of 
us  on  the  confines  of  eternity,  and  should  therefore  alike 
make  truth  our  care,  that  truth  which,  duly  influencing  our 
practice,  will  be  the  security  of  our  eternal  happiness. 
Distinguished  by  my  obligations  to  your  lordship,  I 
would  be  so  by  my  acknowledgments  of  them  :  I  would  not 
he  thought  to  have  only  then  owned  them  when  they  might 
have  been  augmented.  Whatever  testimony  I  gave  of 
respect  to  you  when  in  the  highest  civil  office  under  your 
prince,  I  would  express  the  same  when  you  have  resigned 
it ;  and  shew  as  strong  an  attachment  to  lord  Hardwicke  as 
I  ever  did  to-  the  lord  chancellor*  Receive,  therefore, 
a  tribute  of  thanks,  the  last  whiqh  I  am  ever  likely  in  this 
manner  to  pay.  But  I  am  hastening  to  my  grave,  with  a 
prospect  which  must  be  highly  pleasing  to  me,  uqless  di- 
vested of  all  just  regard  to  those  who  survive  me.'* 

Dr.  Bolton  was  originally  of  a  valetudinarian  habit, 
though  he  preserved  himself  by  temperance  to  a  consi- 
derable age.  In  the  preface  to  the  work  now  under  con- 
sideration, he  speaks  of  the  feeble  frame  he  with  so  much 
difficulty  supported ;  and  afterwards  says,  "  My  decay  id 
now  such,  that  it  is  with  what  I  write,  as  with  what  I  act ; 
I  see  in  it  the  faults  which  1  know  not  how  to  amend.*'  He 
however  survived  the  publication  of  it  two  years,  dying  in 
London,  where  he  came  for  Dr.  Addington's  advice,  on 
the  26th  Nov.  1763,  and  was  buried  in  the  porch  between 
the  first  and  second  door  of  the  parish-church  of  St  Mary. 
Reading.  Since  his  death  a  plain  marble  has  been  erected 
to  his  memory. 

Dr.  Bolton  was  a  very  tall  man,  very  thin,  very  brown. 
He  understood  well,  Hebrew,  Greek,  Latin,  Spanish,'  Ita* 
lian,  and  French.  Mr.  Whiston,  jun.  says  that  it  was  a 
long  time  before  he  could  prevail  on  himself  to  subscribe 
to  the  thirty*nine  articles  for  preferment ;  but  at  last,  as 
articles  of  peace,  and  so  far  as  authorised  by  scripture^ 
he  did  ;  for  it  was  generally  supposed  he  did  not  approve 
of  all  the  Athanasian  doctrine.  There  is  nothing  of  this» 
however,  to  be  deduced  from  his  works,  and  he  appears 
to  have  accepted  his  preferments  when  offered.     He  mar«« 


36  BOLTON. 

ried  Mrs.  Holmes,  a  widow-lady,  with  whom  he  lived 
about  twenty-five  years  in  great  domestic  happiness,  but 
left  no  children  by  her.  Besides  the  several  performances 
already  mentioned,  he  wrote  and  printed  a  '^  Visitation 
sermon*'  in  1741 ;  and  under  his  inspection,  Mr.  David 
Henry,  then  printer  at  Reading,  abridged  "  Twenty  Dis- 
courses" from  Abp.  Tillotson's  works,  to  which  Dr.  Bolton 
is  said  to  have  prefixed  a  preface,  and  added  a  sermon  of 
his  own,  but  the  sermon  on  Sincerity  is  supposed  to  have 
been  abridged  by  Mr.  Wray,  his  son-in-law.  Mr.  Wray, 
now  rector  of  Darley,  in  Derbyshire,  published  "  A  Ser- 
mon occasioned  by  the  death  of  Robert  Bolton,  LL.  D. 
&c."  1764,  with  an  affectionate  tribute  to  his  memory.  * 

BOLZANIO  (UftBANO  Valeriano),  one  of  the  revivers 
of  letters  in  the  fifteenth  century,  was  born  in  1440,  and 
is  said  by  his  nephew  Pietro  Valeriano  to  have  been  the 
earliest  instructor  of  Leo  X.  in  the  knowledge  of  the  Greek 
tongue.  Although  an  ecclesiastic  of  the  order  of  St.  Fran- 
cis, he  quitted  the  walls  of  his  monastery  with  the  laudable 
curiosity  of  visiting  foreign  parts ;  and,  having  had  an 
opportunity  of  accompanying  Andrea  Gritti,  afterwards 
doge  of  Venice,  on  an  embassy  to  Constantinople,  he  thence 
made  an  excursion  through  Greece,  Palestine,  Egypt, 
Syria,  Arabia,  and  other  countries ;  always  travelling  on 
foot,  and  diligently  noting  whatever  appeared  deserving  of 
observation.  His  nephew  adds,  that  he  travelled  also  into 
Sicily,  where  he  twice  ascended  the  mountain  of  ^Etna, 
and  looked  down  its  crater.  The  disinterestedness  of  Ur- 
bano  is  also  strongly  insisted  on  by  his  nephew,  who  in- 
forms us  that  he  rather  chose  to  suffer  the  inconveniencies 
of  poverty,  than  to  receive  a  reward  for  those  instructions 
which  he  was  at  all  times  ready  to  give,  and  that  he  always 
persevered  in  refusing  those  honours  and  dignities  which 
Leo  X.  would  gladly  have  conferred  upon  him.  His  ac- 
tivity, temperance,  and  placid  disposition,  secured  to  him 
a  healthful  old  age ;  nor  did  he  omit  to  make  frequently 
excursions  through  Italy,  until  he  was  disqualified  from 
these  occupations  by  a  fall  in  his  garden  whilst  he  was 
pruning  his  trees.  His  principal  residence  was  at  Venice, 
where  he  not  only  assisted  Aldus  in  correcting  the  editions 
which  he  published  of  the  ancient  authors,  but  gave  im- 

.1  Coatei's  Hist,  of  Reading. — Former  edition  of  this  Diet.  |H-incipaIly  from  ft 
MS  account  by  the  late  Mr!  John  Whiston. 


B  O  L  Z  A  ^f  I  O.  37 

• 

structions  in  the  Greek  language  to  a  great  number  of 
scholars ;  and  there  was  scarcely  a  person  in  Italy  distin- 
guished by  his  proficiency  in  that  language  who  had  not  at 
some  time  been  his  pupil.  His  grammar,  ^^  Urbani  Gram- 
matica  Graeca/'  Venice,  1497,  4to,  was  the  first  attempt 
to  explain  in  Latin  the  rules  of  the  Greek  tongue,  and 
was  received  with  such  avidity,  that  Erasmus,  on  inquiring 
for  it  in  1499,  found  that  not  a  copy  of  the  impression 
remained  unsold.  He  died  in  the  convent  of  St  Niccolo, 
at  Venice,  in  1524,  and  bequeathed  to  that  convent  his 
valuable  library.  His  funeral  oration,  by  Alberto  da  Cas- 
telfranco,  was  printed  at  Venice  in  the  same  year,  4to.  * 

BOMBERG  (Daniel),  a  celebrated  printer  of  the  six- 
teenth century,  was  a  native  of  Antwerp,  but  settled  at 
Venice,  where  he  commenced  business  by  printing  a  He- 
brew Bible,  which  was  published  in  2  vols.  fol.  1518,  and 
reprinted  by  him  in  4to  and  8vo.  He  learned  Hebrew 
from  feWx  Pratenois,  an  Italian,  who  engaged  him  to  print 
a  Rabbinical  Bible,  which  appeared  in  1517,  fol.  dedicated 
by  Bomberg  to  Leo  X.  The  Jews,  however,  not  appro- 
ving of  this  edition,  the  rabbi  Jacob  Haum  suggested  an-- 
other,  which  Bomberg  published  in  4  vols.  fol.  in  1525.  He 
also,  in  1520,  began  an  edition  of  the  Talmud,  which  be 
finished,  ^fter  some  years,  in  11  vols.  fol.  This  he  re- 
printed twice,  and  each  edition  is  said  to  Jiave  cost  him  an 
hundred  thousand  crowns.  These  two  last  editions  are 
more  complete  and  beautifully  printed  than  the  first,  and 
are  in  more  estimation  than  the  subsequent  editions  of 
Bragadin  and  Burtorf.  Bomberg  appears  to  have  been  a 
man  highly  zealous  for  the  honour  of  his  art,  spared  no 
cost  in  embellishments,  and  is  said  to  have  retained  about 
an  hundred  Jews  as  correctors,  the  most  learned  he  could 
find.  In  printing  only,  in  the  course  of  his  life,  he  is 
thought  to  have  expended  four  millions  in  gold  (Scaliger 
says,  three  millions  of  crowns),  and  Vpssius  seems  to  hint 
that  he  injured  his  fortune  by  his  liberality.  He  died  at 
Venice  in  1549.* 

BONA  (John),  an  eminent  cardinal  of  the  church  of 
Rome,  and  author  of  several  devotional  pieces,  was  bom 
the  19th  of  October,  1609,  at  Mondovi,  a  little  city  in 
Piedipont,  of  a  noble  family^     Having  finished  his  first 

1  Kofcoe'f  Leo  K. 

s  Moreri.— Foppen,  Bibl.  fi^lf.— Le  LoDg,  Bibl.  Sftc.-*-»Baill6tJugemeni  de« 
SsTani,— Saxii  Onomait. 


3S  BONA. 

studies  with  great  success,  he  entered  himself  in  a  monas- 
tery of  the  order  of  St.  Bernard  near  Pignerol  in  July  1625, 
when  he  was  but  fifteen  years  of  age,  and  was  professed 
there  the  2d  of  August  the  year  following,  according  to 
Bertolot,  who  wrote  his  Life;  though  Moroti,  in  "  Cistercii 
feflorescentis  Historia,"  places  this  in  1627.     He  was  sent 
that  year  to  Monte  Grosso  near  Asti  to  study  philosophy, 
and  having  passed  through  a  course  of  it,  he  returned  to 
Pignerol,  where  he  applied  himself  to  divinity  without  the 
assistance  of  any  master  for  two  years,  and  afterwards  went  to 
Rome  to  perfect  himself  in  that  science  under  a  professor. 
*  Being  ordained  priest  at  the  proper  age,  the  sentiments  of 
piety  which  had  influenced  him  in  liis  youth,  and  which 
appear  through  all  his  writings,  wer^  heightened  and  im- 
proved.    He  had  been  scarce  three  years  in  his  course  of 
divinity,  when  he  was  sent  to  Mondovi  to  teach  it  there. 
He  had  some  reluctance  against  accepting  of  that  post  on 
account  of  his  aversion  to  disputes  ;  but  obedience,  which 
was  the  rule  of  all  his  actions,  obliged  him  to  submit  to  it. 
He  was  afterwards  made  prior  of  Asti ;  and  eight  months 
after  he  was  nominated  abbot  of  the  monastery  of  St.  Mark 
at  Mondovi ;  but  he  was  so  importunate  in  his  solicitations 
to  the  general  of  the  congregation  to  be  discharged  from 
that   office,  that  his  request  was  granted.     He  was  sent, 
therefore,  to  Turin,  where  he  spent  five  years  in  collect- 
ing the  materials  for  his  book  of  Psalmody.     He  was  after- 
wards appointed  again  prior  of  Asti,  abbot  of  Mondovi,  and 
general  of  his  order  in  1651.     While  he  held  the  last  post, 
he  had  occasion  to  speak  with  cardinal  Fabio  Chigi,  who 
entertained  a  very  great  esteem  for  him,  of  which  he  af- 
terwards gave  him  signal  proofs.     When  the  tinie  of  his 
being  general  x)f  the  order  was  expired,  he  left  Rome,  and 
returning  to  Mondovi  in  order  to  profess  divinity,  cardinal 
Chigi,  who  was  chosen  pope  under  the  name  of  Alexander 
Vn.  appointed  our  author  general  of  the  order  again  of 
his  own  accord,  the  plague,  which  then  raged  in  many 
parts  of  Italy/  preventing  any  assembly  of  the  general 
chapter.     He  made  him  afterwards  consultor  of  the  con- 
gregation of  the  index,  and  then  qualificator  of  the  sacred 
office ;  which  place  he  resigned  for  that  of  consultor  in 
the  same  court.     The  pope,  who  had  a  particular  friend- 
ship for  him,  and  made  him  his  confident  in  all  his  secrets, 
would  have  raised  him  to  the  dignity  of  a  cardinal^  if  the 
humility  of  Bona  bad  not  prevented  him  from  accepting 


BONA.  39 

t 

it,  and  be  had  not  made  use  of  his  interest  with  the  pope 
in  order  to  avoid  it.  But  pope  Clement  IX.  his  successor, 
thought  himself  under  an  obligation  to  reward  his  virtues 
by  making  him  a  cardinal  the  29th  of  November,  accord- 
ing to  Moroti,  or  of  December,  according  to  Bertolot,  in 
1669.  Upon  the  death  of  this  pope,  cardinal  Bona  was 
proposed  to  be  elected  his  successor  ;  which  gave  occasion 
to  this  pasquinade.  Papa  Bona  sarebbe  solecisvio,  upon 
which  father  Daugieres,  the  Jesuit,  wrote  an  ingenious 
epigram,  which  our  Latin  readers  are  aware  will  not  bear 
a  translation  : 

Grammaticae  leges  plerumque  eedesia  spemit : 

Forte  erit  ut  liceat  dicere  Papa  Bona. 
Vana  soloecismi  ne  t^  conturbet  imago : 

Esset  Papa  bonus^  si  Bona  Papa  foret. 

He  died  at  Rome  the  20th  of  October,  according  to  Ber- 
tolot, or  the  28th  of  that  month,  according  to  Moroti,  in 
1674,  being  seventy-four  years  of  age.  He  directed  him- 
self, that  he  should  be  interred  in  the  monastery  of  his 
own  order,  called  St.  Bernard  at  the  Baths,  with  the  fol- 
lowing inscription  upon  his  tomb :  ^^  D.  O.  M.  Joannes 
Bona  Pedemontanus,  Congreg.Sancti  Bernardi  Monachus 
et  hujus  ecclesiae  translato  hue  titulo  S.  Salvatoris  in  Lauro, 
Primus  Presbyter  Cardinalis,  vivens  sibi  posuit.''  Baillet, 
Labbe,  and  Sallo,  bestow  high  praises  on  his  principal  work, 
^/  De  Divina  Psalmodia,  deque  variis  ritibus  omnium  ec- 
clesiarum  in  psallendis  Divinis  Officiis,''  Rome,  1663,  4to, 
which  includes  a  complete  history  of  church  music,  and 
has  been  often  celebrated  and  quoted  by  musical  writers. 
Yet  Dr.  Burney,  an  authority  of  great  importance  in  ques- 
tions of  this  kind,  informs  us  that  he  was  constantly  dis- 
appointed when  he  had  recourse  to  it  for  information,  as 
the  author  ^^  never  mounts  to  the  origin  of  any  use  that  has 
been  made  of  music  in  the  church,  or  acquaints  us  in  what 
it  consisted,"  and  appears  to  have  profited  vjesy  little  by 
the  information  which  at  that  time  must  have  been  within 
his  reach.  His  other  distinguished  work  was  "  Rerum  Li- 
turgicarum.  Lib.  duo,"  Rome,  1671,  foL  and  often  re- 
printed. The  best  edition  is  that  by  Sala,  printed  at  Tu- 
rin, in  3  vols.  4to,  1747 — 1753.  In  1755  Sala  addedv  an- 
other volume  of  Bona's  select  epistles  with  those  of  his 
correspondents.  The  rest  of  his  works  are  of  the  ascetic 
kind.     He  carried  on  a  controversy  for  some  time  with 


40  BONA. 

Mabillon  concerning  the  consecration  of  leavened  or  UQf 
leavetied  bread. ' 

BONAMY  (Peter-Nicholas),  a  French  antiquary  and 
miscellanjeous  writer,  was  born  at  Louvres,  in  the  district 
of  Paris,  in  1694,  and  educated  for  the  ecclesiastical  pro- 
fession ;  but,  devoting  himself  entirely  to  literature,  he 
became  under«librarian  of  St.  Victor,  and  distinguished 
both  by  the  politeness  of  his  manners,  and  the  variety  as 
well  as  assiduity  of  his  studies.  In  1727,  he  was  admitted 
a  member  of  the  academy  of  inscriptions  and  belles  lettres, 
and  made  many  valuable  contributions  to  its  memoirs.  His 
papers  are  characterised  by  simple  but  correct  language, 
variety  of  erudition,  clearness  of  argument,  and  solidity 
of  criticism.  At  the  instigation  of  M.  Turgot,  a  place  was 
created  of  historiographer  of  Paris,  and  Bonamy  being 
appoiuted  to  occupy  it,  was  led  to  write  various  memoirs 
relative  to  the  history  and  antiquities  of  the  city ;  and  on 
occasion  of  the  bequest  of  a  curious  library  to  the  city,  he 
was  made  librarian.  From  the  year  1747,  he  conducted  the 
"Journal  of  Verdun"  with  the  strictest  propriety  and  de- 
corum, and  indeed  in  every  thing  displayed  candour  and 
probity,  as  well  as  learning.     He  died  at  Paris  in  1770.  * 

BONANNI.  (PHiUP),  a  learned  Jesuit,  who  (died  at 
Rpme  in  1725,  at  the  age  of  eighty-seven,  after  having 
honourably  filled  different  ppsts  in  his  order,  left  several 
works  of  various  kinds,,  principally  relating  to  natural  his- 
tory, which  was  his  favourite  pursuit.  He  was  engaged  in' 
1698  to  put  in  order  the  celebrated  cabinet  of  father  Kir- 
cher;  and  he  continued  to  employ  himself  in  that  business 
and  the  augmentation  of  \t  till  his  death.  The  chief  of  his 
works  are,  1.  "  Recreatio  mentis  et  oculi  in  observatione 
Animalium  Testaceorum,"  Rome,  1684,  4to,  with  near  500 
figures.  He  first  composed  this  book  in  Italian,  and  it  was 
printed  in  that  language  in  1681  in  4to;  and  translated  by 
the  author  into  Latin  for  the  benefit  of  foreigners.  2. 
*^  History  of  the  Church  of  the  Vatican  ;  with  the  plans 
both  antient  and  modern,''  Rome^  1696,  folio,  in  Latin. 
3.  "  Collection  of  the  Medals  of  the  popes,  from  Martin 
V.  to  Innocent  XII."  Rome,  1699,  2  vols.  fol.  in  Latin. 

>  Oejf),  Diet.— -Moreri. — ^Fabroni  Vitae  Italorum. — Baill«t  Jugemens  des  Sa? 
I'aos  r— Durney's  Hist,  of  Music,  vol.  11. 

«  J)i<'f.  Hifet. — Rees's  Cyclopaedia. — Saxii  Onomast.  where  U  a  list  of  his  11^ 
tciary  cuntribtitions. 


B  O  N  A  N  N  I.  41 

4.  '^  Catalogue  of  the  Orders^  Religious,  Military,  and 
Equestrian,  with  plates  representing  their  several  habili- 
meots,^'  in  Latin  and  in  Italian,  Rome,  1706, 1707, 17  in,  and 
1711,  4  vols.  4to.  The  plates  in  particular  render  thi^  last 
work  highly  interesting  and  much  in  request.  5.  "  Obser- 
vationes  cirga  viventia  in  non  viventibus,"  Rome,  1691, 
4to.  6.  ^^  Musffium  collegii  Romani  Kircherianum,''  Rome, 
1709,  fol.  7.  "A  Treatise  on  Varnishes,"  in  Italian,  Pa- 
ris, 1713,  12mo.     8.  Gabinetto  armonico,*'  1723,  4to.^ 

BONARELLI  (Guy  Ubaldo),  was  born  December  25, 
1563,  at  Urbino,  of  one  of  the  most  ancient  and  noble 
families  in  the  city  of  Ancona,  and  was  sent  into  Frslnce 
at  the  age  of  fifteen,  to  be  educated  suitably  to  his  birth 
and  the  customs  of  that  time.  Bonarelli  was  but  nineteen 
when  he  was  offered  a  philosophical  professorship  of  the 
Sorbonne,  in  the  college  of  Calvi ;  but,  his  father  having 
sent  for  him  home,  he  was  satisfied  with  having  merited 
that  honour,'  and  declined  accepting  it.  He  attached  him- 
self, for  some  time,  to  cardinal  Frederick  Borromeo  (ne- 
phew of  St.  Charles  Borromeo)  who  had  a  regard  for  men 
of  letters,  and  who  founded  the  famous  Ambrosian  library 
at  Milan.  He  went  afterwards  to  Modena,  to  which  place 
his  father  had  removed.  After  his  death,  the  duke  Al- 
phonso,  knowing  the  merit  oJF  Bonarelli,  employed  him  in 
several  important  embassies,  and  the  success  of  these  ne- 
goci^tions  proved  how  well  they  had  been  carried  on. 
Bonarelli  went  to  Rome  with  the  hope  of  recovering  the 
marquisate  of  Orciano,  of  which  his  father  had  been  de- 
prived ;  but  an  attack  of  the  gout  obliged  him  to  stop  at 
Fano,  where  he  died  January  8,  1608,  aged  forty -five,* 
with  the  character  of  an  able  politician,  a  distinguished 
bel  esprit,  and  a  good  philosopher  for  the  age  he  lived  in. 
The  pastoral  poem  for  which  he  is  best  known  is  entitled 
^^  Filli  di  Sciro,'*  and  was  printed  first  at  Ferrara,  1607, 
4to,  with  plates  :  there  have  been  many  editions  since,  the 
best  of  which  are  that  of  the  Elzevirs,  1678,  4to,  those  of 
London,  1725,  or  1728,  and  of  Glasgow,  1763,  8vo  ;  but 
with  ail  its  merit  it  is  full  of  unnatural  characters  and  dis- 
torted conceits.  His  shepherds  are  courtiers,  and  his  shep- 
herdesses are  frequently  prudes,  whose  conversation  fa- 
vours of  the  toilette.  The  author  was  censured  for  having- 
made  Celia^  who  has  so  great  a  share  in  the  piece,  nothing 

1  Diet.  Hist.— Maoget  Bibl.  Med. 


42  B  O  N  A  R  B  L  L  I. 

ifxoxe  than  an  episodical  personage,  but  still  more  for  giv« 
ing  her  an  equally  ardent  love  for  two^  shepherds  at  once. 
He  attempted  to  excuse  this  defect  in  a  tract  written  on 
purpose ;  ^^  Discorsi  in  difesa  del  doppio  amore  della  sua 
Celia,"  but  this  was  rather  ingenious  than  conclusive.  We 
have  likewise  some  academical  discourses  of  his.  ^ 

BONASONE  (Julius),  called  sometimes  Bolognese, 
from  the  place  of  his  birth,  flourished  in  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury, and  is  better  known  as  an  engraver  than  as  a  painter. 
He  is  supposed,  but  without  sufficient  authority,  to  have 
beeji  a  scholar  of  Sabbatini.     Some  remaining  oil-pictures 
of  bis^  on  canvas,  which  are,  in  general,  weak,  and  of  dif- 
ferent styles,  make  it  probable,  says  Lanzi,  that  he  re- 
solved to  be  a  painter  when  he  had  passed  youth.     There 
is,  however,  in  the  church  of  St.  Stephano,  in  Bologna, 
a  Purgatory  of  his,  which  has  great  beauties,  and  is  sus- 
pected to  have  been  done  with  the  assistance  of  Sabbatini. 
As  an  engraver,  he  worked  from  tjie  pictures  of  Raphael, 
Julio  Romano,  and  other  great  masters ;  and  occasionally 
from  his  own  designs.     Mr.  Strutt's  opinion  is,  that  ex- 
cepting one  or  two  subjects,  in  which  he  called  in  the 
assistance  of  the  point  (the  use  of  which,  however,  he  ne- 
ver well  understood),  his  plates  are  executed  chiefly  with 
the  graver,  in  a  manner  though  much  varied  from  that  of 
his  tutor.  Marc  Antonio  Raiifiondi,  yet  evidently  founded 
upon  it,  although  neither  so  firm,  clear,  or  masterly.     His 
drawing  is  often  heavy,  and  the  extremities  of  his  figures 
frequently  neglected;  the  folds  of  his  draperies  are  seldom 
well  expressed,  and  the  back  grounds  to  his  prints,  espe- 
cially his  landscapes,  are  extremely  flat  and  stiff.  However, 
with  all  these  faults  (which  are  not  always  equally  conspi- 
cuous), his   best  prints  possess   an   uncommon  share  of 
merit;  and  though  not  equal  to  those  of. his  master,  are 
deservedly  held  in  no  small  degree  of  estimation  by  the 
greatest  collectors.     Bonasone  has  lately  found  an  inge- 
nious and  able  advocate  in  George  Cumberland,  esq.  who, 
in  1793,  published  *^  Some  Anecdotes'*  of  his  life,  with  a 
catalogue  of  his  engravings,  &c.  * 

BONA  VENTURE  (John  Fidauza),  a  celebrated  doc- 
tor^, cardinal,  and  saint  of  the  church  of  Rome,  was  born 
^t  Bagnarea  in  Tuscany,  1221.     He  was  admitted  into  the 

*  Moreri. — ^Erythraei  Pinac. — ^Baillet  Jugemens  des  Savaiut. 
9  Pilkin^^ton.— Struts,— Cunoberland,  as  above. 


I 
I 


BONAVeNTURE.  45 

order  of  St.  Francis,  about  1243 ;  and  studied  diviuity  at 
the  university  of  Paris  under  the  celebrated  Alexander  de 
Hales,  with  so  much  success,  that  at  the  end  of  seven 
years  he  was  thought  worthy  to  read  public  lectures  upon 
the  Sentences.     He  was  created  doctor  in  1255  along  with 
St.  Thomas  Aquinas,  and  the  year  after  appointed  general 
of  his  order,  in  which  office  he  governed  with  so  much 
zeal  and  prudence,  that  he  perfectly  restored  the  discipline 
of  it,  which  had  been  greatly  neglected.  Pope  Clement  IV. 
nominated  him  to  the  archbishopric  of  York  in  England  ; 
but  Bonaventure  disinterestedly  refused  it.  After  the  d#ath 
of  Clement  the  see  of  Rome  lay  vacant  almost  three  years, 
and  the  cardinals  not  being  able  to  agree  among  themselves 
who  should  be  pope,  came  at  length  to  a  most  solemn  en- 
gagement,  to  leave  the  choice  to  Bonaventure ;  and  to 
elect  whoever  he  should  name,  though  it  should  be  even 
bimself,  which,  from  his  modest  character,  was  not  very 
probable.     Accordingl}'^,  he  named  Theobald,  archdeacon 
of  Liege,  who  was  at  that  time  in  the  Holy  land,  and  who 
took  the  title  of  Gregory  X.     By  this  pope  he  was  made  a 
cardinal  and  bishop  of  Albano ;  and  appointed  to  assist  at 
a  general  council,  which  was  held  at  Lyons  soon  after.    He 
died  there  in  1274,  and  was  magnificently  and  honourably 
conducted  to  his  grave ;  the  pope  and  whole  council  at-> 
tending,  and  the  cardinal  Peter  of  Tarantais,  afterwards 
pope  Innocent  V.  making  his  funeral  oration.     Sixtus  IV, 
canonized  him  in  1482.     He  has  had  the  good  fortune  to 
be  almost  equally  praised  by  popish  and  protestant  writers., 
Bellarmine  has  pronounced  Bonaventure  a  person  dear  to 
God  and  men  ;   and  Luther  calls  him  '^  vir  prastantissU 
muSj'*  a  most  excellent  man.     His  works  were  printed  at 
Rome  in  1588,  ia  8  vols,  folio.     Excepting  his  commen* 
tary  upon  the  master  of  the  Sentences,  they  are  chiefly  on 
pious  and  mystical  subjects,  and  have  gained  him  the  name 
of  the   Seraphic  doctor.     Brucker  gives  us  the  following 
account  of  his  method  of  philosophizing,  from  his  treatise 
"  De  reductione  Artium  ad  Theologiam;"  on  the  *' appli- 
cation of  Learning  to  Theology  ;"    Human  knowledge  he 
divides  into  three  branches,  logical,  physical  and  moral. 
Each  of  these  he  considers  as  the  effect  of  supernatural 
illumination,  and  as   communicated  to  men  through  the 
mediam  of  the  holy  scriptures.     The  whole  doctrine  of 
scripture  he  reduces  to  three  heads ;  that  which  respects 
the  eternal  g.eneration  and  incarnation  of  Christ,  the  study 


44  BONAVENTURE. 

of  which  is  the  peculiar  province  of  the  doctors  of  the 
church  ;  that  whicli  concerns  the  conduct  of  life,  which  is 
the  subject  of  preaching;  and  that  which  relates  to  the 
union  of  the  soul  with  God,  which  is  peculiar  to  the  mo* 
nastic  and  contemplative  life.  Physical  knowledge  he  ap^ 
plies  to  jbhe  doctrine  of  scripture  emblematically.  For  ex- 
ample,  the  production  of  the  idea  of  any  sensible  object 
frpin  its  archet3rpe,  is  a  type  of  the  generation  of  the  Logos ; 
the  right  exercise  of  the  senses  typifies  the  virtuous  con- 
duct of  lif|8 ;  and  the  pleasure  derived  from  the  senses  re^ 
presents  the  union  of  the  soul  with  God.  In  like  manner, 
logical  philosophy  furnishes  an  emblem  of  the  eternal 
generation  and  the  incarnation  of  Christ :  a  word  con- 
ceived in  the  mind  resembling  the  eternal  generation ;  its 
expression  in  vocal  sounds,  the  incarnation.  Thus  the 
multiform  wisdom  of  God,  according  to  this  mystical  wri- 
ter, lies  concealed  through  all  nature;  and  all  human 
knowledge  may,  by  the  help  of  allegory  and  analogy,  be 
spiritualised  and  transferred  to  theology.  How  wid^  s^ 
door  this  method  of  philosophising  opens  to  the  absurdities 
of  mysticism  the  reader  will  easily  perceive  from  this  spe? 
cimen.  * 

BONAVENTURE  of  Padua,  a  cardinal,  was  born  it^ 
that  city  June  22,  1332,  and  descended  from  a  noble  and 
illustrious  family.  He  studied  divinity  at  Paris,  whe^re  he 
distinguished  himself  by  his  uncommon  parts  and  applica- 
tion, and  afterwards  taught  divinity.  He  was  of  the  order 
-  of  St.  Augustin,  of  which  he  was  made  general  in  1377,  on 
the  death  of  Beauregard.  Pope  Urban  VI.  gave  him  a 
cardinal's  cap  the  year  after,  or  as  some  say,  in  1384. 
This  engaging  him  to  stand  up  for  the  rights  of  the  church 
against  Francis  de  Carrario  of  Padua,  that  petty  tyrant 
contrived  to  have  him  murdered.  He  was  dispatched  with 
the  shot  of  an  arrow,  as  he  was  passing  St.  Angelo's  bridge 
at  Rome.  This  event  some  place  in  1385,  others  in  1389, 
1396,  and  1398.  The  manner  of  his  death  gave  occasion 
to  the  following  Latin  distich,  which  cannot  be  translated 
so  as  to  be  intelligible  to  an  English  reader  : 

'^  Qam  Bona  tarn  cupide  coelo  vbntura  rogabas. 
In  te  livoris  missa  sagitta  dedit.** 

.  He  was  the  author  of  several  works :  as.  Commentaries 
upon  the  Epistles  of  St.  John  and  St.  James,  Lives  of  the 

*  Butler's  Lives  of  the  Saints. — Dupio. — Cave,  vol.  II.-^Fabric.  Bibl.  Lat. 
Med.— 'Bruckeip. — Freheri  Theatrum.— SaxiiOnomastJcoo. 


BONAVENTURE.  45 

Saints,  Sermons,  &c.  Some  improperly  attribute  to  bion 
the  "  Speculum  de  laudibus  B.  Mariae,"  Nuremberg^  1476 ; 
but  Fabricius  gives  it  to  the  preceding  cardinal,  in  whose 
works  it  appears,  vol.  VI.  He  had  a  very  close  and  inti- 
mate friendship  with  the  celebrated  Petrarch,  whose  fune- 
ral oration  he  pronounced  in  1369.  ^ 

BONAVENTURE.     See  GIRAUDAU. 

BONCIARIUS  (Mark  Anthony),  a  distinguished  La- 
tin scholar  and  poet,  was  born  at  Perugia  in  1555,  became 
a  disciple  of  the  celebrated  Muretus,  and  afterwards  prin- 
cipal teacher  of  the  schools  of  Perugia.  He  appears  next 
to  have  been  professor  of  eloquence  at  Bouonia,  keeper 
of  the  Ambrosian  library,  and  professor  of  rhetoric  at  Pisa, 
where  he  had  the  misfortune  to  lose  his  sight.  During  his 
career  of  teaching,  his  father,  who  was  a  poor  shoemaker^ 
having  lost  his  wife,  had  an  inclination  to  join  the  society 
of  the  Jesuits,  and  lest  he  should  be  rejected  for  his  igno- 
rance of  Latin,  became  one  of  .his  son's  scholars,  and  made 
very  considerable  proficiency.  Bonciarius  died  Jan.  9, 
1616,  leaving  many  works,  which  are  very  scarce,  except 
bis  Latin  Grammar,  which,  being  adopted  in  the  schools, 
was  frequently  reprinted.  Hi^  "  Epistojae**  were  first 
printed  in  1603,  8vo,  and  reprinted  1604,  at  Marpurg,  of 
which  last  edition  Freytag  gives  an  analytical  account. 
They  are  written  in  an  elegant  style.  His  Latin  poems 
are  among  the  *^  Carmina  Poetarum  Italorum,'*  Florence, 
J  7 1 9,  vol.  n. ' 

BOND  (Jojhn),  a  celebrated  commentator  and  gram- 
marian, was  born  in  Somersetshire  in  1550.  He  was  edu- 
cated at  Winchester  school,  and  in  1569  was  entered  a 
student  at  New  college  in  Oxford,  where  he  became 
highly  esteemed  for  his  academical  learning.  In  1578  he 
took  the  degree  of  B.  A.  and  in  1579  that  of  M.  A.  and 
soon  after  the  warden  and  fellows  of  his  college  appointed 
him  master  of  the  free-school  of  Taunton  in  Somersetshire. 
Here  he  continued  many  years,  and  several  of  his  scholars 
became  eminent  both  in  church  and  state.  Being  at 
length,  however,  tired  with  the  fatigue  of  this  irksome 
^employment,  he  turned  his  thoughts  to  the  study  of  physic, 
and  practised  it  with  great  reputation,  although  without 
taking  any  degree  in  that  Acuity.     He  died  at  Taunton  the 

*  Dapin.—'Moreri.— Fabric.  Bibl.  Med.  et  Infim.  Latin, 
s  Freytag.  Adparat   Litt — ^Moreri.— Erythrai  Pinacotheca,— -Gen.  Diet.— 
iazU..Oiioiiiaati 


46  BOND. 

3d  of  August)  1612,  and  was  buried  in  the  chancel  of  the 
church,  with  the  following- epitaph  over  his  grave  : 

Qui  medicus  doctus^  prudentis  nomine  clarus, 

Eloquii  splendor^  Pieridumque  decus^ 
Yirtutis  cultor,  pietatis  vixit  amicu»> 

Hie  jacet  in  tumulo  -,  spiritus  alta  tenet. 

Mr.  Bond  has  left  "  Annotationes  in  po^mata  Quinti 
Horatii,''  Lond.  1606,  8vo.  Han.  1621,  8vo,  and  Ley  den, 
1653,  8vo.  The  best  edition  is  that  of  Amst.  1636,  12ino. 
His  Persius  was  not  printed  till  two  years  after  his  death, 
iu  8vo,  under  the  following  title,  **  Auli  Persii  Flacci  Sa- 
tyrdB  sex,  cum  posthumis  commentariis  Johannis  Bond,^* 
1614,  8vo.  It  was  published  by  Roger  Prowse,  who  h#d 
married  his  daughtei"  Elizabeth,  and  who,  in  the  dedication 
to  Dr.  Montague,  bishop  of  Bath  and  Wells,  informs  us, 
that  his  father-in-law  had  not  put  the  last  hand  to  these 
Commentaries ;  which  may  be  the  reason  of  those  con- 
siderable defects  in  some  points  of  history  and  philosophy 
which  are  to  be  found  in  them.  Mr.  Wood  is  of  opinion 
that,  besides  these,  he  wrote  several  other  pieces,  which 
were  never  published.  * 

BOND  (John),  LL.  D.  was  the  son  of  DeiTnis  Bond, 
esq.  of  Dorchester,  a  violent  adherent  of  the  republican 
party  in  the  seventeenth  century,  and  at  whose  death,  a 
little  before  that  of  the  protector,  the  wits  said  Oliver 
Cromwell  had  given  the  devil  Bond  for  his  appearance. 
Our  author  was  educated  under  John  White,  commonly 
called  the  patriarch  of  Dorchester,  and  was  afterwards  en- 
tered, not  of  St.  John's  college,  Cambridge,  as  Wood  re- 
ports, but  of  Catherine-hall,  of  which  he  was  afterwards 
chosen  fellow,  and  took  the  degree  of  B.  A.  in  16SI,  com- 
menced M.  A.  in  1635,  was  nominated  LL.  D.  in  164i?, 
and  completed  the  year  following,  while  he  was  yet  a  mem- 
ber of  that  society.  But,  although  he  took  his  doctor's  de- 
gree in  law,  he  was  by  profession  a  divine,  and  had  before 
this  preached  for  some  years,  first  as  a  lecturer  in  Exeter, 
and  frequently  afterwards  before  the  long  parliament  at 
Westminster.  In  1643,  both  he  and  his  tutor,  Mr.  White, 
were  chosen  of  the  assembly  of  divines ;  and  when  Mr. 
White  took  the  rectory  of  Lambeth,  Dr.  Bond  succeeded 
him  as  minister  of  the  Savoy,  and  on  Dec.  11,  1645,  he 
was  made  master  of  the  Savoy  hospital  under  the  great 

»  Blog.  Brit— Wood's  AUi.  vol.  I.— Birch's  Life  of  Prince  Henry,  p.  73, 


BOND.  47 

seal.  On  the  decease  of  Dr.  Eden,  master  of  Trinity- hall,' 
Cambridge,  the  fellows  made  choice  of  the  celebrated 
Selden,  and  the  choice  was  confirmed  by  parliament,  but 
be  dechning  the  office,  Dr.  Bond  was  chosen,  chiefly  by 
the  authority  or  interference  of  parhament,  March,  1646. 
In  1649  he  was  chosjen  law  professor  of  Gresham  college, 
and  in  1654  was  made  assistant  to  the  commissioners  of 
Middlesex  and  Wesminster,  for  the  ejection  of  scandalous 
and  ignorant  ministers;  and  in  1653  served  as  vice-chan- 
cellor of  Cambridge.  He  held  his  mastership  and  law 
professorship  until  the  restoration,  when  he  was  ejected 
from  both  for  his  adherence  to  the  politics  by  which  he 
had  obtained  them.  He  then  retired  into  Dorsetshire,  and 
died  at  Sandwich  in  the  isle  of  Purbeck,  July  1676. 
Wood,  who  has  committed  several  mistakes  in  his  life, 
corrected  by  Dr.  Ward,  gives  a  list  of  his  works,  which 
are  few:  1.  "A  Door  of  Hope,"  Lond.  1641,  4to.  2. 
**  Holy  and  Loyal  Activity,*'  Lond.  1641,  4to,  and  some 
sermons  preached  before  the  long  parliament,  to  whose 
measures  be  adhered  with  great  zeal.  He  appears,  h'ow- 
ever,  to  have  been  a  man  of  i*eal  learning.  Calamy,  we 
know  not  why,  has  mentioned  his  name,  without  one  word 
of  life.* 

BOND  (William),  a  native  of  Suffolk,  translated  Bu- 
chanan's history,  and  was  concerned  with  AaVon  Hill  in 
the  "  Plain  Dealer,"  a  periodical  paper  of  inferior  merit. 
Hill  appears  to  have  had  a  friendship  for  him,  and  devoted 
the  profits  of  his  tragedy  of  Zara  to  his^use.  Bond  him- 
self played  the  character  of  Lusignan,  but  only  for  one 
nigh^  being  seized  with  a  fit  on  the  stage,  which  ter- 
minated his  life  the  following  morning,  some  time  in  1735.  ^ 

BONEFACIO,or  BONIFAZIO,  called  VENEZIANO, 
whom  Ridolfi  believes  to  have  been  a  scholar  of  Palma, 
but  Boschini  numbers  among  the  disciples  of  Titian, 
and  says  he  followed  him  as  the  shadow  the  body.  He  is, 
indeed,  often  his  close  imitatpr,  but  oftener  has  a  charac- 
ter of  his  own,  a  free  and  creative  genius,  unborrowed 
elegance  and  spirit.  The  public  offices  at  Venice  abound , 
in  pictures  all  his  own,  and  the  ducal  palace,  amongst 
others,  possesses  an  Expulsion  of  the  Publicans  from  the 
Temple,  which  for  copiousness  of  composition,  colour,' 
^nd  admirable  perspective,  might  be  alone  sufficient  t^ 

1  Ward's  Lives  of  the  Gresham  Professors.— Wood's  Ath.  vol.  I. 
9  Bioip.  Dram, 


48  B  O  N  E  F  A  C  I  O. 

make  his  name  immortal,  had'  bis  own  tiiifes  and  record 
not  plained  him  with  Titian  and  Palma.  Lanzi  ascribes  to 
Bonifazio,  what  he  styles  the  celebrated  pictures  from  the 
'Triumphs  of  Petrarch,  once  at  Naples  in  a  private  collec- 
tion, and  now,  he  says,  in  Engliand  ;  it  matters  little,  says  Mr. 
Fuseli,  where  they  are  :  of  powers,  such  as  he  ascribes  ta 
Bonifazio,  those  meagre^  dry,  and  worse  than  Peruginesque 
performances,  can  never  be  the  produce.  He  died  in 
1553,  aged  sixty-two.  ^ 

BONEFONIUS.     See  BONNEFONS. 

BONET,  or  BONNET  (Theophilus),  an  eminent  phy- 
sician and  medical  writer,  was  born  at  Geneva,  March  5, 
1620,  and  following  the  steps  of  his  father  and  grandfather^ 
early  attached  himself  to  the  practice  of  physic.  After  vi- 
siting several  foreign  academies,  he  was  admitted  doctor 
in  medicine  at  Bologna,  in  1643,  and  was  soon  after  made 
physician  to  the  duke  de  Longueville.  Though  he  soon 
attained  to  high  credit  in  his  profession,  and  bad  a  large 
share  of  practice,  he  dedicated  a  considerable  portion  of 
his  time  to  reading,  and  to  dissecting  such  subjects  as  the 
hospital  afforded  him,  with  a  view  qf  discovering  the  seat» 
of  diseases,  minuting  every  deviation  he  observed  from  the 
natural  structure;  of  the  viscera,  or  other  parts  of  the  bodyy 
and  thus  opening  a  new  road  for  improving  the  science  be 
cultivated.  He  also  appears  to  have  made  extracts  of  every 
thing  he  deemed  worthy  of  notice,  from  the  various  works 
he  read.  His  hearing  from  some  accident  becoming  de- 
fective, he  withdrew  from  practice,  and  employed  the  last 
ten  or  twelve  years  of  his  life  in  arranging  the  materials  he 
had  collected.  The  first  fruit  of  his  labour,  which  he  gave 
to  the  public  in  1668,  was  "  Pharos  Medicorum,"  2  vols, 
12mo.  This  was  printed  again,  much  improved  and  en- 
larged, in  1679,  in  4to,  under  the  title  of  "  Labyrinthi 
Medici,  extricati,^'  &c.  compiled  principally  from  Bellonius 
and  Septalius.  In  1675,  ^*  Prodromus  Anatomise  practical, 
sive  de  abditis  morborum  causis,"  fol. ;  the  precursor  of 
his  principal  work,  "  Sepulchretum,  seu  Anatome  practica, 
ex  cadaveribus  morbo  denatis  proponens  historias  et  obser- 
vationes,"  &c.  Genev.  1679,  2  vols*  fol.  which  far  exceeded 
the  expectation  raised  by  the  Prodromus.  It  was  enlarged 
hy  nearly  a  third  part,  and  republished  by  Manget,  ^700,  2 
Tpls.  fol.  and  was  afterwards  taken  by  Morgagni,  as  the  basis 
•f  his  work,  "  De  sedibus  et  causis  Morborum,"  by  which 

j  PUkiD|fton« 


B  O  N  E  T.  49 

the  "  Sepnlcbretum"  is  in  a  great  measure  superseded. 
The  author  begins  with  observations  on  the  appearances  of 
the  brain  and  other  parts  of  the  bead ;  then  of  the  con- 
teats  of  the  thorax,  abdomen^  and  pelvis ;  and  lastly,  of 
the  extremities ;  forming  an  immense  body  of  dissections, 
which  he  has  illustrated  by  many  pertinent  and  ingenious 
observations.  **  Cours  de  medicine,  et  de  la  chirurgie," 
1679,  2  vols.  4to.  An  epitome  of  the  art  of  surgery,  with 
some  sections  relating  to  the  practice  of  medicine  selected 
from  the  most  accredited  authors  of  the  age.  *^  Medicina 
septentrionalis,  coUectitia,''  1684,  2  vols.  foi.  shewing  how 
largely  the  practitioners  of  the  northern  parts  of  Europe, 
Sweden,  Denmark,  Germany,  Holland,  and  England,  have 
contributed  to  the  improvement  of  anaton^y,  surgery,  and 
medicine,  by  extracts  and  accounts  of  the  works  of  the 
principal  writers  of  those  countries.  '^  Mercurius  compi* 
latitius,  seu  index  medico-practicus,''  1682,  fol.  A  most 
useful  work,  shewing  under  the  name  of  every  disease  or 
affection  where  cases  or  observations  may  be  found,  and 
what  authors  have  written  upon  them.  Such  an  index 
continued  to  the  present  time,  though  very  voluminous, 
would  be  highly  useful.  Bonet  also  published  *^  Epi- 
tome operum  Sennerti,"  1685,  fol.  "J.  D.  Turqueti  de 
Mayerne,  de  Aithritide,"  1671,  12mo,  and  **  Rohaulti  trac- 
tatus  physicus,  e  Gallico  in  Latinam  versus,"  1675,  8vo. 
He  died  of  a  dropsy,  March  3,   1 689.  * 

BONFADIO  (JaMes),  an  elegant  Italian  scholar  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  was  born  at  Gorzano  in  the  Brescian 
territory,  but  in  what  year  is  not  known.  He  was  three 
years  secretary  to  cardinal  Bari  at  Rome;  but  lost  the 
fruits  of  his  services  by  the  death  of  his  master.  He  then 
served  cardinal  Glinucci  in  the  same  capacity ;  but  ion^ 
sickness  made  him  incapable  of  that  employment.  When 
he  was  recovered,  he  found  himself  so  disgusted  with  the 
court,  that  he  resolved  to  seek  his  fortune  by  other  means* 
He  continued  a  good  while  in  the  kingdom  of  Naples,  then 
went  to  Padua,  and  to  Genoa;  where  he  read  public  lee- 
tures  on  Aristotle's  politics.  He  was  ordered  to  read  some 
likewise  upon  his  rhetoric,  which  he  did  with  great  suc- 
cess to  a  numerous  auditory.  His  reputation  increasing 
daily,  the  republic  of  Genoa  made  him  their  historio- 
grapher, and  assigned  him  a  handsome  pension  for  ;that 

>  Haller  BiM,  Med.—Mang^t. — ^R«es's  Cyclopwdia. — Moreri. 

Vol.  VI.  E 


so  B  O  N  F  A  D  I  O. 

office.     He  now  applied  himself  laboriously  to  compose' 
the  annals  of  that  state,  and  published  the  five  first  books  ; 
^   but  by  speaking  too  freely  and  satirically  of  some  families, 
he  created  himself  enemies  who  resolved  to  ruin  him,  by  a 
prosecution  for  an  unnatural  crime,  and  being  convicted, 
he  was  condemned  to  be  first  beheaded,  and  then  burnt, 
or  as  some  say,  sentence  of  burning  was  changed  into  that 
of  beheading.     Some  have  attributed  this  prosecution  to 
the  freedom  of  his  pen  ;  but  the  generality  of  writers  have 
agreed  that  Bonfadio  was  guilty,  yet  are  of  opinion,  that 
be  had  never  been  accused,  if  he  had  not  given  offence  by 
something  else.     He  was  executed  in  1560.     Upon  the 
day  of  his  execution  he  wrote  a  note  to  John  Baptist  Gri* 
maldi,  to  testify  his  gratitude  to  the  persons  who  had  en-» 
deavoured  to  serve  him,  and  recommended  to  them  his 
nephew  Bonfadio,    who  is  perhaps  the  Peter  Bonfadio, 
author  of  some  verses  extant  in  the  ^'  Gareggiamento  poe* 
tico  del  confuso  accademico  ordito,^'  a  collection  of  verses, 
divided  into  eight  parts,  and  printed  at  Venice  in  1611. 
The  first  five  books  of  Bonfadio's  history  of  Genoa  were 
printed  at  Padua,  1586,  4to,  under  the  title  "  I.  Bonfadii 
annales  Genuensium  ab  anno  1528,  ubi  desinit  Folieta,  ad 
annum  1550,"  and  was  in  1597  published  in  Italian.     He 
also  published  an  Italian  and  very  elegant  translation  of 
Cicero's  oration  for  Milo,  an  edition  of  which  was  pub«* 
lished  at  Bologna  in  1744,  with  his  letters  and  miscella- 
neous works,  '^  Lettere  famigliari,  &c."  8vo,  dedicated  to 
pope  Benedict  XIV.  with  a  life  of  the  unfortunate  author, 
and  a  curious  Latin  poem  by  Paul  Manutius,  in  honour  of 
those  persons  who  used  their  interest  to  save  Bonfadio 
from  punishment.  ^ 
''BONFINIUS  (Anthony),  an  historian  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  was  born  at  Ascoli  in  Italy.     Mathias  CorviniiSj^ 
king  of  Hungary,  having  heard  of  his  abilities  and  learn- 
ing, sent  for  him  to  his  court,  and  Bonfinius  paid  his  re* 
spects  to  him  at  Rees,  a  few  days  before  that  prince  made 
bis  public  entry  into  Vienna.     At  his  first  audience,  as  he 
bimself  tells  us,  he  presented  him  with  his  translations  of 
Hermogenes  and  Herodian,  and  his  genealogy  of  the  Cor* 
vini,  which  he  dedicated  to  his  majesty ;  and  two  other 
works  addressed  to  the  queen,  one  of  which  treated  of  vir* 
ginity  and  conjugal  chastity,  and  the  other  was  a  history  of 

>  Oen.  DicU— M oreri.-— Saxii  Onomast 


B  O  N  F  I  N  1  US.  SI 

Afi^oli.     He  had  dedicated  also  a  small  collection  of  epi- 
grams to  the  young  prince  John  Corvinus,  to  which  there 
is  added  a  preface.     The  king  read  bis  pieces  with  great 
pleasure,  distributed  them  among  his   courtiers  in  high 
terms  of  approbation,  and  would  not  allow  him  to  return 
to  Italy,  but  granting  him  a  good  pension,  was  desirous 
that  he  should  follow  him  in  bis  army.     He  employed  hini 
to  write  the  history  of  the  Huns,  and  Bonfinius  accordingly 
set  about  it  before  the  death  of  this  prince;  but  it  was  by 
order  of  king  Uladislaus  that  he  wrote  the  general  history 
of  Hungary,  and  carried  it  down  to  1495.     The  original 
of  this  work  was  deposited  in  the  library  of  Buda.    In  i  543 
Martin  Brentier  published  thirty  books  from  an  imperfect 
copy,  which  Sambucus  republished  in   1568,  «in  a  more 
correct  state,  and  with  the  addition  of  fifteen  more  books, 
a  seventh  edition  of  which  was  printed  at  Leipsic,  in  1771, 
fol.    Sambucus  also  published  in  1572  Bonfinius's  ^'  Sym* 
posion  Beatricis,  seu  dialog,  de  fide  conjugali  eb  virginitate, 
lib.  III."     Bopfihius  wro,te  a  history  of  the  taking  of  Bel- 
grade by  Mahomet  IL  in  1456,  which  is  printed  in  the 
"  Syndromus  rerum   Turcico-Pannonicarum,"    Francfort, 
1627, 4to;  and,  as  already  noticed,  translated  the  works  of 
Philostratus,  Hermogenes,  and  Herodian.     His  Latin  style 
was  much  admired,  as  a  successful  imitation  of  the  ancients. 
The  time  of  his  death  has  not  been  ascertained.  * 

BONFRERIUS  (James),  a  learned  Jesuit  and  com- 
meutator,  was  born  at  Dioau  in  Liege,  1573.  He  was 
admitted  into  the  society  of  Jesuits  in  1592,  and  taught  at 
Doway,  philosophy,  divinity,  and  the  Hebrew  tongue, 
which,  as  well  as  Greek,  he  understood  criticklly.  He 
died  at  Tournay,  May  9,  1643.  Dupin  says  that  of  all  the. 
Jesuits  who  have  been  commentators  on '  the  scriptures, 
there  is  no  one  superior  in  learning,  and  clearness  of  me-> 
tliod,  to  Bonfrerius.  His  "  Commentary  on  the  Penta- 
teuch*' was  published  at  Antwerp  in  1625>  and  his  ^^  Ono* 
masticon"  of  the  places  and  cities  mentioned  in  the  Bible, 
composed  by  Eusebius^  and  translated  by  Jerome,  with 
learned  notes^  was  published  along  with  his  '^  Commen* 
taries  on  Joshua,  Judges,  and  Ruth,"  at  Paris  in  163],  but 
the  most  complete  edition  of  his  works  appeared  in  1 736.  * 

BONGARS  (James),  an  able  classical  scholar  and  nego- 
tiator, was  born  at  Orleans  of  a  protestant  family  in  1554  ^ 

\  Gen.  Dict—^Moreri.^'sS'axii  Onomast 

*  MorerL— J>iipiii«— I^oppen  BibL  Belg.*— Saxti  Onomast 

S  2 


52  B  O  N  G  A  R  S. 

and  studied  at  Strasburgin  1571,  but  in  1576^  he  studied 
the  civil  law  under  the  celebrated  Ciijacius.     During  this 
time  he  applied  much  to  critical  learning ;  and  though^ 
says  Bayle,  he  went  not  so  far  as  the  Lipsiuses  and  Casau- 
bons,  yet  he  acquired  great  reputation,  and  perhaps  would 
have  equalled  them  if  he  had  not  been  engaged  in  poli- 
tical affairs.     He  was  employed  near  thirty  years  in  the 
most  important  negociations  of  Henry  IV.  for  whom  he 
was  several  times  resident  with  the  princes  of  Germany, 
and  afterwards  ambassador,    but   however   published   his 
edition  of  Justin  at  Paris,   1581,  in  8vo.     He  had  a  critical 
and  extensive  knowledge  of  books,  both  manuscript  and 
printed  ;  and  made  a  very  great  collection  of  them,  some 
of  which  came  afterwards  to  the  library  of  Berne  in  Swis-^ 
serland,  and  some,  with  his  manuscripts,  to  the'  Vatican* 
Besides  an  edition  of  Justin,  he  was  the  author  of  other 
works ;  which,  if  they  did  not  shew  his  learning  so  much, 
have  spread  his  fame  a  great-deal  more.     Thuaous  highly 
commends  an  answer,  which  he  published  ip  Germany,  to 
a  piece  wherein  the  bad  success  of  the  expedition  of  1587 
was  imputed  to  the  French,  who  accompanied  the  Ger- 
mans ;  and  the  world  is  indebted  to  him  for  the  publication 
of  several  authors,  who  wrote  the  history  of  the  expeditions 
into  Palestine.     That  work  is  entitled  ^^  Gesta  Dei  per 
Francos;^'  and  was  printed  at  Hanau  in  1611,  in  two  vo- 
lumes,  folio.     He   published  also  in   1j600,  at  Francfort, 
<*  Aerum  Hungaricarum  Scriptores,"  fol.     There  are  let- 
ters of  Bongars,  written  during  his  employments,  which 
are  much  esteemed  ;  and  upon  which  Mr.  Bayle  remarks, 
that  though -he  did  not,  like  Bembo  and  Manucius,  reject 
all  terms  that  are  not  in  the  best  Roman  authors,  yet  bis 
style  is  elegant.     Hi«  letters  were  translated,  when  the 
dauphin  began  to  learn  the  Latin  language  ;  and  it  appears 
by  the  epistle  dedicatory  to  that  young  prince,  and  by  the 
translator's  preface,  that  nothing  was  then  thought  more 
proper  for  a  scholar  of  quality,  than  to  read  this  work  of 
Bongars.     Bongars  died  at  Paris  in  1612,  when  he  was  58 
years  of  dge:  and  the  learned  Casaubon,  whose  letters 
shew  that  be  esteemed  him  much,  laments  in  one  of  them, 
that  ^'  the  funeral  honours,  which  were  due  to  his  great 
merit,  and  which  he  would  infallibly  have  received  from 
the  learned  in  Germany,  were  not  yet  paid  him  at  Paris.'* 
Mr.  Bayle  thinks  that  Bongars  was  never  married  :  yet  tells 
us,  that  he  was  engaged  in  1597,  to  a  French  lady,  who 
had  the  misfortune  to  die  upon  the  very  day  appointed  for 


B  O  N  G  A  R  S.  53 

wedding,  after  a  <;ourtship  of  near  six  years.  This 
fioogars  speaks  of  in  his  letters,  and  appears  to  have  been 
exceedingly  afflicted  at  it.  His  Latin  letters  were  pab« 
lished  at  Leyden  in  1647,  and  the  French  translation  above 
mentioned  in  1668^  along  with  the  originals^  2  vols,  i2mOf 
but  that  of  the  Hague  in  1695  is  the  most  correct.  Hii 
edition  of  Justin  is  rare  and  valuable.  It  was  printed  from 
eight  manuscripts^  accompanied  with  learned  notes,  various 
readings,  and  chronological  tables ;  but  the  Bipont  editors 
seem  to  think  be  sometimes  took  unwarranted  liberties 
with  the  text.  ^ 

BONIFACE  (St.),  a  celebrated  saint  of  the  eighth  cen- 
tury, and  usually  styled  the  Apostle  of  Germany,  was  an 
Euglishmajn,  named  Wilfrid,  and  born  at  Crediton  or  Kir- 
ton  in  Devonshire,  about  the  year  6  SO.     He  was  educated 
from  the  age  of  thirteen  in  the  monastery  of  Escancester 
or  Exeter,  and  about  three  years  after  removed  to  Nutcell, 
in  the  diocese  of  Winchester,  a  monastery  which  was  afker^ 
wards  destroyed  by  the  Danes,  and   was  never  rebuilt. 
Here  he  was  instructed  in  the  sacred  and  secular  learning 
of  the  times  ;  and  at  the  age  of  thirty,  was  ordained  priest, 
and  became  a  zealous  preacher.    The  same  zeal  prompted 
him  to  undertake  the  functions  of  a  missionary  among  the 
pagans ;  and  with  that  view  he  went  with  two  monks  into 
Friezeland,  about  the  year  716  ;  but  a  war  which  broke  out 
between  Charles  Martel,  mayor  of  the  French  palace,  and  ^ 
fiadbod,  king  of  Friezeland,  rendering  it  impracticable  to 
preach  the  gospel  at  that  time,  he  returned  to  England 
with  his  companions.     Still, ^however,  zealously  intent  on 
the  conversion  of  the  pagans,  he  refused  being  elected 
abbot  of  Nutcell,  on  a  vacancy  which  happened  on  his  re- 
turn ;  and  having  received  recomniendatory  letters  from 
the  bishop  of  Winchester,  went  to  Rome,  and  presented 
himself  to  the  pope  Gregory  II.  who  encouraged  his  de- 
sign, and  gave  him  a  commission  for  the  conversion  of  the 
intideis,  in  the  year  719.     With  this  he  went  into  Bavaria 
and  Thuringia,  and  had  considerable  success :  and  Rad- 
bod,  king  of  Friezeland,  being  now  dead,  he  had  an  oppor- 
tunity of  visiting  that  country^  where  he  co-operated  with 
Wilhbrod,   another  famous   missionary,   who  would  have 
appointed  him  his  successor,  which  Wilfrid  refused,  be- 
cause the  pope  had  particularly  enjoined  him  to  preach  in 
the  eastern  parts  of  Germany.    Through  Hesse,  or  9  con* 

^  Gen.  Pict.— Moreri.— Dibdin's  Classics.— >Saxii  OnomasU 


5i  BO  N  I  F  A  C  E. 

'  fttderable  part  Gf  it,  even  to  the  confines  of  Saxony,  he 
extended  his  pious  labours,  and  had  considerable  success, 
although  he  suffered  many  hardships,  and  was  often  ex- 
posed to  danger  from  the  rage  of  the  intideis. 

After  some  time  he  returned  to  Rome,  where  Gregory 
II.  consecrated  him  bishop  of  the  new  German  churches, 
by  the  name  of  Boniface,  a  Roman  name,  which  Gregory 
probably  thought  might  procure  from  the  German  con- 
verts more  respect  to  the  pope,  than  an  English  one. 
Solicitous  also  to  preserve  his  dignity,  Gregory  exacted 
from  Boniface  an  oath  of  subjection  to  the  papal  authority, 
drawn  up  in  very  strong  terms.  Boniface  then  returned  to 
the  scenes  of  his  mission,  and  had  great  success  in  Hesse, 
encouraged  now  by  Charles  Martel,  the  dominion  of  the 
French  extending  at  this  time  a  considerable  way  into  Ger- 
many. We  do  not,  however,  find  that  he  derived  any 
other  assistance  from  the  civil  authority,  than  personal 
protection,  which  doubtless  was  of^reat  importance.  If 
he  complied  with  the  instructions  sent  from  England,  he 
employed  no  means  but  what  became  a  true  missionary. 
These  instructions,  or  rather  advice  sent  to  him  by  Daniel, 
bishop  of  Winchester,  about  the  year  723,  afford  too 
striking  an  instance  of  good  sense  and  liberality  in  that 
dark  age,  to  be  omitted.  Daniel's  method  of  dealing  with 
idolaters  was  conceived  in  these  words,  ^'  Do  not  contra- 
dict in  a  direct  manner  their  accounts  of  the  genealogy  of 
their  gods ;  allow  that  they  were  born  from  one  another 
in  the  same  way  that  mankind  are  :  this  concession  will 
give  you  the  advantage  of  proving,  that  there  was  a  time 
when  they  had  no  existence. — Ask  them  who  governed  the 
world  before  the  birth  of  their  gods,  and  if  these  gods  have 
ceased  to  propagate  i  If  they  have  not,  shew  them  the 
consequence ;  .namely,  that  the  gods  roust  be  infinite  in 
number,  and  that  no  man  can  rationally  b^  at  ease  in  wor- 
shipping any  of  tjiem,  lest  he  should,  by  that  means,  offend 
one,  who  is  more  powerful. — Argue  thus  with  them,  not 
in  the  way  of  insult,  but  with  temjper  and  moderation  :  and 
take  opportunities  to  contrast  these  absurdities  with  the 
Christian  doctrine  :  let  the  pagans  be  rather  ashamed  than 
incensed  by  your  oblique  mode  of  stating  these  subjects. — 
Shew  them  the  insufficiency  of  their  pleai  of  antiquity  ;  in- 
form  them  that  idolatry  did  andently  prevail  ovier  the 
world,  but  that  Jesus  Christ  was  manifested,  in  order  to 
reconcile  men  to  God  by  his  grace.'*  From  this  same  pre- 
late be  re<3eived  other  instructions  respecting  reforming  the 


BONIFACE.  $5 

church,  and  exercising  discipline  with  the  refractory,  and 
scandalous  priests,  who  occasioned  much  obstruction  to 
his  mission.  In  the  mean  time,  the  report  of  his  success 
induced  many  of  his  countrymen  to  join  him,  who  dispersed 
themselTes  and  preached  in  the  villages  of  Hesse  and  Thu« 
ringia. 

In  the  year  732,  he  received  the  title  of  archbishop  from 
Gregory  III.  who  supported  his  mission  with  the  same 
spirit  as  his  predecessor  Gregory  II. ;  and  under  this  en* 
couragemeht  he  proceeded  to  erect  new  churches,  and 
extend  Christianit}',  At  this  time,  he  found  the  Bavarian 
churches  disturbed  by  one  Eremvolf,  who  would  have  se- 
duced the  people  into  idolatry,  but  whom  he  condemned, 
according  to  the  canons,  and  restored  the  discipline  of  the 
church.  In  the  year  738,  he  again  visited  llome ;  and 
after  some  stay,  he  induced  several  Englishmen  who  re- 
sided there,  to  join  with  him  in  his  German  mission.  Re* 
turning  into  Bavaria,  he  established  three  new  bishoprics, 
at  Saltzburgh,  Frisinghen,  and  Ratisbon.  At  length  he 
was  fixed  at  Mentz,  in  the  year  745,  and  although  after- 
wards many  other  churches  in  Germany  have  been  raised 
to  the  dignity  of  archbishoprics,  Mentz  has  always  re- 
tained the  primacy,  in  honour  of  St.  Boniface.  He  also* 
founded  a  monastery  at  Fridislar,  another  at  Hamenburgh, 
and  one  at  Ordorfe,  in  all  which  the  monks  gained  their 
livelihood  by  the  labour  of  their  hands.  In  the  year  746, 
he  laid  the  foundation  of  the  great  abbey'  of  Fulda,  which 
continued  long  the  most  renowned  seminary  of  reUgioii 
and  learning  in  all  that  part  of  the  world.  The  abbot  is 
now  a  prince  of  the  empire.  In  the  mean  time  his  con- 
nection with  England  was  constantly  preserved ;  and  it  is 
in  the  epistolary  correspondence  with  his  own  country, 
that  the  most  striking  evidence  of  his  pious  views  appears. 
Still  intent  on  his  original  design,  although  now  advanced 
in  years,  he  determined  to  return  intq  Friezeland,  and 
before  his  departure,  acted  as  if  he  had  a  strong  presenti- 
ment of  what  was  to  happen. «  He  appointed  LuUus,  ati 
Englishman,  his  successor  as  archbishop  of  Mentz,  a  privi- 
lege which  the  pope  had  granted  him,  and  ordained  him 
with  the  consent  of  king  Pepin.  He  went  by  the  Rhine  to 
Friezeland,  where,  assisted  by  Eoban,  whom  he  had  or- 
dained bishop  of  Utrecht,  he  brought  great  numbers  of 
pagans  into  the  pale  of  the  church.  ,  He  had  appointed  a 
day  to  confirm  those  whoni  be  had  baptized ;  and  io  wait- 


<6  BONIFACE. 

* 

ing  for  them,  eneamped  with  his  followers  on  the  banks  erf 
the  Bordue,  a  river  which  then  divided  Eas^  and  West 
Friezeland.  His  intention  was  to  confirm,  by  imposition 
of  bands,  the  converts  in  the  plains  of  Dockum.  On  the 
appointed  day,  he  beheld,  in  the  morning,  not  the  new 
converts  vyhom  he  expected,  but  a  troop  of  enraged  pa- 
gans, armed  with  shields  and  lances.  The  servants  went 
out  to  resist ;  but  Boniface,  with  calm  intrepidity,  said  to 
his  followers,  **  Children,  forbear  to  fight ;  the  scripture 
forbids  us  to  render  evil  for  evil.  The  day  which  I  have 
long  waited  for  is  c6me ;  hope  in  God,  and  he  will  save 
your  souls."  The  pagans  immediately  attacked  theoi 
furiously,  and  killed  the  whole  company,  fifty-two  in 
number,  besides  Boniface  himself.  This  happened  on 
June  5,  755,  in  the  fortieth  year  after  his  arrival  in  Ger- 
many. His  body  was  interred  in  the  abbey  of  Fulda,  and 
was  long  regarded  as  the  greatest  treasure  of  that  monas- 
tery. Boniface's  character  has  been  strangely  misrepre- 
sented by  Mosheim,  and  by  his  transcribers,  but  ably  vin- 
dicated by  Milner,  who  has  examined  the  evidence  on 
both  sides  with  great  precision.  His  works,  principally 
sermons  and  correspondence,  were  published  under  the  title 
**  S.  Bonifacii  Opera,  a  Nicolao  Serraiio,"  Mogunt.  1605, 
4to.  ^ 

BONIFACIO  (Balthasar),  the  son  of  a  lawyer  of  the 
same  name,  was  born  at  Crema,  in  the  Venetian  state 
about  1584.  In  his  thirtieth  year  he  went  to  study  at  Padua, 
and  made  such  proficiency  as  to  be  created  doctor  of  laws 
at  the  age  of  eighteen.  About  two  years  after  he  was  ap- 
pointed law  professor  in  the  college  of  Rovigo,  where  he 
first  lectured  on  the  institutes  of  Justinian.  He  afterwards 
accompanied  the  pope's  nuncio  Jerome  Portia,  as  secre- 
tary, and  was  himself  employed  in  some  aifairs  of  import- 
ance. On  his  return  to  Venice,  he  had  several  prefer- 
ments, and  among  others  that  of  archpriest  of  fiovigo.  In 
Oct.  1619,  he  was  elected  Greek  and  Latin  professor  at 
Padua,  but  declined  accepting  the  office.  In  1620,  he 
assisted  at  Venice,  in  the  establishment  of  an  academy 
for  the  education  of  the  young  nobility,  and  gave  lectures 
on  the  civil  law.  Pope  Urban  VIII.  bestowed  on  him  the 
archdeaconry  of  Trevisa,  which  he  held,  with  the  office  of 
grand  vicar  of  that  diocese,  under  four  successive  bishops. 

*  Milper's    Church  Hist.  vol.  III.   p.  189. — Dupin. — Mosheim. — Cave- 
Fabric.  Bibl.  Med.  Lat,— Saxii  Ouonaast, — ^Tanner  in  Wilfrid, 


BONIFACIO.  5» 

He  assUted  also  very  essentially  in  founding  a  new  academy 
at  Padua  for  the  Venetian  nobility,  in  1636,  and  was  the 
first  director  or  president  of  it,  and  founded  a  similar  es- 
tablishment at  Trevisa.  In  1653  he  was  appointed  bishop 
of  Capo  d'Istria,  which  he  held  until  his  death  in  1659, 
He  was  a  man  of  various  learning,  as  appears  by  bis  ^^  His^ 
toria  Trevigiena,"  4to,  his  "  Historia  Ludicra,"  1656,  4to, 
a  collection  of  singular  narratives  from  authors  of  every 
description.  He  published  also  some  ^*  Latin  poems*'  in 
1619,  i2mo.  "  De  Komanae  Historise  Scriptoribus  ex- 
cerpta  ex  Bodino,  Vossio  et  aliis,*'  Venice,   1627,  4to.  * 

BONIFACIO  (John),  an  eminent  Italian  lawyer,  poet, 
and  historian,  was  bom  in  1547,  at  Rovigo  in  the  state  of 
Venice,  and  educated  at  Padua,  where,  during  his  law- 
studies,  he  composed  some  pieces  for  the  theatre  which 
were  much  approved.     After  marrying  at  Trevisa,  or  Tre- 
vigni,  Elizabeth  Martinagi,  the  daughter  and  heiress  of 
Marc  Antonio^  he  settled  in  that  place,  of  which  he  wrote 
the  history,  and  acquired  so  much  reputation  that  the  re- 
public of  Venice  bestowed  on  him  the  office  of  judge'$ 
counsellor  or  assessor,,  the  duties  of  \^hich  he  executed 
with  great  probity ;  and  during  his  holding  it  wrote  bid 
law  tracts.     In  1588,  he  published  his  commentary  on  the 
feudal  law  of  Venice,     After  the  death  of  his  wife,  he 
married  a  lady  of  Padua,  where  he  was  admitted  to  the 
rank  of  citizenship,  and  where  he  resided  for  the  remain-^ 
der  of  his  life.     He  died  June  23,   1635,  at  a  very  ad- 
vanced age,  and  was  buried  in  the  church  of  St.  James, 
with  a  modest  inscription  written  by  himself  in  1 630.     His 
principal  writings  are,   1.  "  Storia  Trevigiana,"  Trevisi, 
1591,  4to,  but  a  better  edition,  Venice,   1744,  4to.     2, 
5*  Lettere  Famigliari,"*'  Rovigo,  1624,  4to.     3.  "  Orazione 
&c.  per  dirizzare  una  Statua  a  Celio  Ricchiero  Rodigino,'* 
ibid.  1624,  4to.     4.  "  Lezione  sopra  un  Sonetto  del  Pe* 
trarca/*  ibid.  1624,  4to.     5.  "  Lezione  sopra  un  altro  So - 
netto   del  Petrarca,"   ibid.  1625,    4to.      6.   "  L^arte  de 
Cenni,"  Vicenza,  1616,  4to,  one  of  the  earliest  attempts 
to  instruct  the  deaf  and  diAnb.     7.  ^^  Discorso  del  niodo 
di  ben  formare  a  questo  tempo  una  Tragedia,"  Padua,, 
l£24,   4to.      8.    ^^  Discorso   sopra  la   sua  Impresa  nelP 
AccademJa  Filarmonica/'  ibid.   1624,  4to.     9.  '^  La  Re-> 
publica  delle  Api,  con  la  quale  si  dimostra  il  modo  di  bea 

J  Moreri. — ^Nicerottj  vol,  XVI.  ?ind  XX.— ^axii  OnomasticoQ. 


«8  BONIFACIO. 

formare  uii  nuovo  Governo  Democratico,"  Rovigo,  1627, 
4to.  10.  *^  Comentario  sopra  la  legge  dell'  Senato  Veneta, 
&c."  ibid.  1624,  4to.  Freher  also  mentions  "  Comment 
de  Furtis,  et  de  componendis  Epitaphiis,"  but  without 
giving  the  exact  tij:les  or  dates.  ^ 

.  BONJOUR  (William),  a  learned  Augustin,  was  born 
at  Toulouse  in  1670;  and  at  Rome,  whither  he  was  sent 
£c>r  by  cardinal  Norris  in  1695,  be  became  dj!^tinguished 
by  bis  learning  and  piety.  He  was  employed  by  pope 
Clement  XL  in  several  matters  of  importance,  and  parti- 
cularly in  the  examination  of  the  Gregorian  calendar. 
Bonjour  had  also  the  superinteudeiice  of  the  seminary 
established  by  cardinal  Barbarigo  at  Montefiascone,  and 
denominated  the  academy  of  sacred  letters'.  He  was  ac- 
quainted with  almost,  all  the  oriental  tongues,  and  espe- 
cially with  the  Coptic,  or  ancient  Egyptian.  Actuated  by 
a  zeal  for  acquiring  knowledge,  and  for  propagating  the 
gospel,  be  visited  China,  where  he  died  in  February  1714, 
whilst  he  was  employed  in  forming  a  map  of  that  empire, 
which  he  undertook  to  conciliate  the  favour  of  the  empe- 
ror, and  thereby  pfomote  the  objects  of  his  mission.  He 
published,  1.  ^^  Dissertatio  de  nomine  patriarcbi  Josephi  a 
Pharaone  imposito,  in  defensionem  vulgatse  editionis,  et 
patrum  qui  Josephum  in  Serapide  adumbratuni  tradide- 
runt,"  &c.  Rome,  1696,  fol.  2.  "  Selectee  dissertationes 
in  Sac.  Scripturam,"  Rome,  170J,  fol.  which  prove  his 
acquaintance  with  the  oriental  languages,  and  with  ancient 
history  and  chronology.  '3.  ^^  In  monumenta  Coptica,  seu 
^gyptiacae  bibliothecsB  Vaticanae  brevis  exercitatio,"  ibid. 
1699,  fol.  4.  ^^  Calendarium  Romanum  chronologorum 
causa  constructum,  &c."  ibid.  1701.* 

PONNEFONS  (John),  or  Bonnefonius,  a  Latin  poet, 
was  born  in  1554,  at  Clermont  in  Auvergne,  and  filled  the 
post  of  lieutenant-general  of  Bar-sur-Seine.  His  *^  Pan- 
charis,"  in  the  style  of  Catullus,  is  of  all  modern  per- 
formance?,  the  nearest  to  the  graces,  the  easy  pencil,  the 
delicacy  and  softness  of  that  ancient  poet.  La  Bergerie 
has  translated  the  Pancharis  into  French  verse,  very  infe- 
rior to  the  Latin.  The  poems  of  Bonnefons  are  at  the  end 
of  those  of  Beza,  in  the  edition  of  that  author  given  at 
Paris  by  Barbou,  1757,  12mio.    There  is  also  one  of  Lon* 

1  Freheri  Theatrum. — ^Moreri. — Saxii  Onoihast. 
•  Moreri. — Le  Clerc  Bibl.  Choisie,  vol.  XV, 


B  O  N  N  E  F  O  N  S.  69 

dody  1720  and  1121^  12mo.  Bonnefons  died  in  1614) 
leaving  a  son,  who  likewise  cultivated  Latin  poetry,  but 
his  performances^  enumerated  by  Moreri,  are  in  less  re<» 
quest.  * 

BONN  ELL  (James),  a  man  celebrated  for  piety  and 
virtue,  was  born  at  Genoa,  Nov.  14,  1653,  being  the  son 
of  Samuel  Bonneil,  merchant,  who  resided  some  time  at 
Genoa,  and  of  Rebecca,  daughter  of  Thomas  Sayer,  near 
Norwich,  esq.  His  grandfather  was  Daniel  Bonneil  of 
London,  merchant,  and  his  great-grandfather,  Thomas 
Bonneil,  a  gentleman  of  good  family  near  Ipres  in  Flan- 
ders, who,  to  avoid  the  duke  of  Alva's  persecution,  re- 
moved with  bis  family  into  England,  and  settled  at  Nor* 
wich,  of  which,  before  his  death,  he  was  chosen  mayor. 
Samuel  Bonneil,  father  of  James  Bonneil,  being  bred  up 
under  that  eminent  merchant,  sir  William  Courteen,  knt. 
applied  himself  to  the  Italian  trade,  at  Leghorn  and  Ge- 
noa, with  such  success,  that  about  1649,  he  was  worth  at 
least  10,000/.  and  his  credit  much  greater  than  his  fortune. 
But  both  were  soon  impaired  by  several  accidents,  by 
great  losses  at  sea,  and  particularly  by  his  zeal  for  king- 
Charles  IL  during  his  exile,  and  the  rest  of  the  royal 
family,  whom  he  privately  supplied  with  large  sums  of 
money.  About  1655,  he  removed  with  his  family  into 
England ;  and,  at  the  restoration,  on  account  of  the  ser- 
vices he  had  done  the  royal  family,  and  as  a  compensation 
for  the  large  sums  he  had  advanced  them  (which^  it  seems, 
were  never  repaid  otherwise)  there  was  granted  him  a  pa- 
tent to  be  accomptant-general  pi  the  revenue  of  Ireland,  a 
place  worth  about  800/.  a  year,  his  son's  life  being  included 
in  the  patent  with  his  own.  But  this  he  was  not  long  pos- 
sessed of,  for  he  died  in  1664,  leaving  his  son  and  one 
daughter. 

After  this  son,  the  object  of  the  present  article,  had 
been  instructed  in  the  first  rudiments  of  learning  at  Dublin, 
he  was  sent  to  Trim  school,  where  he  was  eminent  for 
sweetness  of  temper,  and  for  a  most  innocent,  gentle,  and 
religious  behaviour.  At  fourteen  years  of  age  he  left  that 
place,  and  was  sent  to  a  private  philosophy  school  at  Nettle- 
bed  in  Oxfordshire,  kept  by  Mr.  William  Cole,  who  bad 
formerly  been  principal  of  St.  Mary  Hall  in  Oxford,  and 
remained   there  two  years  and  a  half.     But  finding  I^is 

1  Morerr,—BailIet  Jugemens  des  Savant. 


60  .     B  O  N  N  £  L  I^ 

inaster  was  too  remiss  in  matters  of  morality  and  religion  ^^ 
9.  cbing  quite  unsuitable  with  bis  strict  temper;  and  ob- 
serving, there  were  in  that  place  all  the  dangers  and  vices 
bf  the  university,  without  the  advantages,  he  removed  to 
Catherine-hall  in   Cambridge,    where  he  prosecuted  bis 
Studies  with  indefatigable  diligence,  and  performed  all  his 
exercises  with  general  approbation.     After  taking  the  de- 
grees of  A.B.  in  1672,  and  A.  M.  1676,  he  removed  into 
the  family  of  Ralph  Freeman  of  Aspenden-^hall  in  Hert- 
fordshire, esq.  as  tutor  to  his  eldest  son,  and  there  conti- 
nued till  1673,  when,  going  with  his  pupil  into  Holland, 
he  stayed  about  a  year  in  sir  Leoline  Jenkyns's  family  at 
>}imeguen.    From  Nimeguen  he  went,  in  the  ambassador's 
company,  through  Flanders  and  Holland :  and  returning 
to  England,  continued  with  his  pupil  till  168S,  when  Mr. 
Freeman  was  sent  into  France  and  Italy.     In  1684,  Mr. 
Bonnell  went  into  France,  and  met  Mr.  Freeman  at  Lyons^ 
and  in  his  company  visited  several  parts  of  that  country. 
From  thence,  however,  he  went  directly  to  Ireland,  and 
took  his  employment  of  accountant-general  into  his  own 
hands,  which  had,  since  bis  father^s  death,  been  managed 
by  others  for  bis  use.     In  the  discharge  of  it  he  behaved 
with  so  much  diligence  and  fidelity,  that  he  soon  acquired 
the  esteem  of  the  government,  and  the  love  of  all  who 
vrere  concerned  with  him.     During  the  troublesome  reign 
^f  king  James  II.  he  neither  deserted  his  employment,  as 
others  did,  nor  countenanced  the  arbitrary  and  illegal  mea- 
sures of  the  court,  and  yet  was  continued  in  bis  office, 
which  proved  a  great  advantage  to  the  protestant  interest  ^ 
in  Ireland,  for  whatever  he  received  out  of  his  office,  he 
^  liberally  distributed  among  the  poor  oppressed  protestants. 
He  also  took  every  opportunity  to  relieve  the  injured,  and 
boldly  to  plead  their  cause  with  those  who  were  iti  power. 
But  though  his  place  was  very  advantageous,  and  furnished 
him  with  ample  means  of  doing  good,  yet  either  the  weighi 
of  the  employment,  or  his  ill  state  of  health,  or  perhaps 
his  desire  of  entering  into  holy  orders,  which  he  had  long 
designed,  but  never  effected,  made  him  resolve  to  quit  it ; 

*  This  Cole  was  ejected  from  Ox-  Against  this  ht  is  defended  in  Mr.  S. 

ford  at  the  Restoration,  and  continued  Palmer's  Nonconformists*    MemoriaU 

afterwards  a  nonconformist.  Mr.  Wes-  vol.  I.  p.  249;  but  Mr.  P.  appears  not 

ley,  the  father  of  the  celebrated  John  to  have  seen  Mr.  Bonnell'ft  statement. 

Wesley,  accused  him  of  being  an  en-  Life,  p.  9. 
courager  of  immorality  ia  bis  family. 


BONNELL.  «i 

and  be  accordingly  parted  with  it  to  another  person  in 
1693.  In  the  whole  course  of  his  life  be  behaved  in  so 
upright  and  worthy  a  manner,  that  he  was  courted  by  his 
superiors  and  reverenced  by  his  equals.  In  piety,  jus- 
tice, charity,  sobriety,  and  temperance,  few  have  excelled 
him.  His  devotion  was  confined  within  the  strictest  bounds 
of  sobriety  and  reason,  and  free  from  tbe  least  appearance 
of  affectation.  He  commonly  gave  aTway  the  eigbth  part 
of  his  yearly  income  to  the  poor,  and  his  charity  was  not  * 
only  extensive  but  impartial.  His  learning  was  very  con-, 
siderable ;  he  thoroughly  digested  the  Greek  and  Roman 
authors,  understood  French  perfectly,  and  had  made  great 
progress  in  the  Hebrew  language.  In  philosophy  and 
oratory  he  exceeded  most  of  his  contemporaries  in  the 
university,  and  applied  himself  with  success  to  mathe- 
matics and  music.  In  the  course  of  his  studies  he  read 
several  of  the  fathers,  and  translated  some  parts  of  Sy- 
nesiujs  into  English.  There  is  nothing,  however,  of  his 
published,  but  some  Meditations  and  Prayer»iiiserted  in 
his  Life,  and  a  "  Harmony  of  the  Gospels,"  written  ^y 
another  hand,  but  ^^  improved  by  James  Bonnell,  esq.  for 
his  own  use,"  Loud.  1705,  8vo.  This  excellent  man  died 
of  a  malignant  fever,  April  28,  1699,  and  was  buried  in 
St.  John's  church  in  Dublin.  In  1693  he  married  Jane, 
daughter  of  sir  Albert  Conyngham,  by  whom  be  had  three 
children,  of  whom  only  one  daughter  survivcKl  him  a  very 
short  time.  A  neat  monument  was  erected  to  his  memory 
by  his  relict.  "  Such  a  character,"  says  Mr.  Granger, 
*^  may,  perhaps,  be  overlooked  by  some,  because  there  is 
npthing  remarkably  striking  in  it  But  tbe  man  who  is 
uniformly  good,  and  that  to  such  a  degree  as  Mr.  Bonnell 
was,  ought  to  stand  high  in  our  opinion,  and  to  be  esteem- 
ed what  he  certainly  was,  a  great  man."  ^ 

BONNER  (Edmund),  bishop  of  London,  proverbial  for 
his  cruelty,  was  the  son  of  an  honest  poor  man,  and  born 
at  Hanley  in  Worcestershire,  although  some  have  very 
eagerly  reported  that  be  was  tbe  natural  son  of  one  George 
Sava^,  a  priest,  as  if  the  circumstance  of  bis  birth  could 
have  had  any  effect  on  his  future  disposition.  He  was 
maintained  at  school  by  an  ancestor  of  Nicholas  Lechmere, 
esq.  a  baron  of  the  exchequer  in  the  reign  of  king  WiU 

*  Biog.  Brit. — Life  of  Bonnell,  by  Wm.  Hamilton,  A.  M.  Archdeacon  of 
Armagh,  and  Funeral  Sermon  for,  by  Bishop  Wetenhall,  Lond.  8vo,  1703 — 18, 
and  veprinted  by  Metnrs.  Rivingtons,  1807,  being  the  fifib  edition. 


62  BONNER. 

liam;  afidin  1512,  ^he  was  entered  at  Broadgate*lian  in 
Oxford,  now  Pembroke  college.  On  June  12y  1519j  be 
was  admitted  bachelor  of  the  canon,  and  the  day  following 
bachelor  of  the  civil  law.  He  entered  into  orders  about 
the  same  time,  and  had  some  employment  in  the  diocese 
of  Worcester ;  and  on  the  12th  of  July  1525,  was  created 
doctor  of  the  canon  law.  He  was  a  man  of  some,  though 
not  great  learning,  but  distinguished  himself  chiefly  by 
his  skill  and  dexterity  in  the  management  of  aflaira, 
which  made  him  be  taken  notice  of  by  cardinal  Wolsey, 
who  appointed  him  his  commissary  for  the  faculties ;  and 
he  was  with  this  prelate  at  Cawood,  when  he  was  arrested 
for  high  treason.  He  enjoyed  at  once  the  livings  of  Blay- 
don  and  Cherry  Burton  in  Yorkshire,  Ripple  in  Worcester*- 
shire.  East  Dereham  in  Norfolk,  and  the  prebend  of  Chis'- 
wick  in  the  cathedral  church  of  St.  Paul :  but  the  last  be 
resigned  in  1539,  and  East  Dereham  in  1540.  He  was 
installed  archdeacon  of  Leicester,  October  17,  1535. 

After  the  cardinal's  death,  be  got  into  the  good  graces 
of  king  Henry  VIII.  who  appointed  him  one  of  his  chap* 
lains.     On  this  he  began  his  career  in  a  manner  not  very 
consistent  with  his  after-conduct.     He  was  not  only  a  fa- 
vourer  of  the  Lutherans,  but  a  promoter  of  the  king's  di* 
vorce  from  queen  Catherine  of  Spain,  and  of  great  use  to 
his  majesty  in  abrogating  the  pope's  supremacy.     He  was 
also  in  high  favour  with  lord  Cromwell,  secretary  of  state, 
by  whose  recommendation  he  was  employed  as  ambassador 
at  several  courts.     In  1532,  he  was  sent  to  Rome,  along- 
with  sir  Edward  Karne,  to  excuse  king  Henry's  personal 
appearance  upon  the  pope's  citation.     In  1533,  he  was 
again  sent  to  Rome  to  pope  Clement  VII.  then  at  Mar->> 
seilles,  upon  the  excommunication  decreed  against  king 
Henry  VIII.  on  account  of  his  divorce ;  to  deliver   that 
king's  appeal  from  the  pope  to  the  next  general  council. 
But  in  this  he  betrayed  so  much  of  that  passionate  temper 
which  appeared  afterwards  more  conspicuously,  and  exe- 
cuted the  order  of  his  master  in  this  affair  with  so  much 
vehemence  and  fury,  that  the  pope  talked  of  throwing  him 
into  a  caldron  of  melted  lead^  on  which  he  thought  proper 
to  make  his  escape.     He  was  employed  likewise  in  other 
embassies  to  the  kings  of  Denmark  and  France,  and  the 
emperor  of  Germany.     In  1538,  being  then  ambassador 
in  France,  he  was  nominated  to  the  bishopric  of  Hereford, 
^QV.  27  J .  but  before  consecration  he  was  translated  to 


BONNER.  6» 

London,  of  which  he  was  elected  bishop  Oct.  SO,  1539> 
and  consecrated  April  4,   1540. 

At  the  time  of  the  king's  death  in  1547,  Bonner  was 
ambassadoir  with  the  emperor  Charles  V.;  and  though  dur- 
ing Henry's  reign  he  appeared  zealous  against  the  pope, 
and  had  concifrred  in  all  the  measures  taken  to  abrogate  his 
supremacy,  yet  these  steps  he  appears  to  have  taken  merely 
as  the  readiest  way  to  preferment ;  for  his  principles,  as 
far  as  such  a  man  can  be  said  to  have  any,  were  those  of 
popery,  as  became  evident  from  his  subsequent  conduct. 
On  the  1st  of  September  1547,  not  many  months  after 
the  accession  of  Edward  VI.  he  scrupled  to  take  an  oath, 
to  renounce  and  deny  the  bishop  of  Rome,  and  to  swear 
obedience  to  the  king,  and  entered  a  protestation  against 
the  king's  injunetion  and  homilies.  For  this  behaviour  h6 
was  committed  to  the  Fleet;  but  having  submitted,  and  re- 
canted his  protestation,  was  released,  and  for  sometime  com* 
plied  outwardly  with  the  steps  taken  to  advance  the  refor- 
mation, while  he  used  privately  all  means  in  his  power  to 
obstruct  it.  After  the  lord  Thomas  Seymour's  death,  he  ap- 
peared so  remiss  in  putting  the  court  orders  in  execution, 
particularly  that  relating  to  the  use  of  the  common  prayer 
book,  that  he  was  severely  reproved  by  the  privy  council. 
He  then  affected  to  redouble  his  diligence :  but  still,  through 
his  remissness  in  preaching,  and  his  connivance  at  the 
mass  in  several  places,  many  people  in  his  diocese  being 
observed  to  withdraw  from  the  divine  service  and  com- 
munion, he  was  accused  of  neglect  in  the  execution  of  the 
king's  orders.  He  was  summoned  before  the  privy  coun- 
cil on  the  11th  of  August,  when,  after  a  reproof  for  his 
negligence,  he  was  enjoined  to  preach  the  Sunday  three 
weeks  after  at  Paul's  cross,  on  certain  articles  delivered  to 
him ;  and  also  to  preach  there  once  a  quarter  for  the  fu- 
ture, and  be  present  at  every  sermon  preached  there,  and 
to  celebrate  the  communion  in  that  church  on  all  the  prin- 
cipal feasts :  and  to  abide  and  keep  residence  in  his  house 
in  London,  till  he  had  licence  from  the  council  to  depart 
elsewhere.  On  the  day  appointed  for  his  preaching,  he 
delivered  a  sermon  to  a  crowded  audience  on  the  points  as- 
signed to  him.  But  he  entirely  omitted  the  last  article, 
the  king^s  royal  power  in  his  youth ;  for  which  contempt 
he  was  complained  of  to  the  king  by  John  Hooper,  .after* 
wards  bishop  of  Worcester  r  and  archbishop  Cranmer, 
bi$hop  Ridleyi  sir  Wiiliam  Petre,  and  sir  Thomas.  Smith, 


t4  B  a  N  N  E  R. 

secretaries  of  state^  and  William  May,  LL.  D.  and  deaii 
of  St.  Paul's,  were  appointed  commissioners  to  -  proceed 
against  him.  Appearing  before  them  several  days  in  Sep- 
tember, he  was,  after  a  long  trial,  committed  to  the  Mar* 
shalsea ;  and  towards  the  end  of  October  deprived  of  bis 
bishopric.  * 

On  the  accessioji  of  queen  Mary,  Bonner  bad  an  oppor- 
t&nity  of  shewing  himself  in  his  proper  character,  which 
indeed  had  been  liitherto  but  faintly  concealed.  He  wa^ 
restored  to  his  bishopric  by  a  commission  read  in  St. 
PauPs  cathedral  the  ^th  of  September  1553  ;  and  in  1554, 
he  was  made  vicegerent,  and  president  of  the  convocation, 
in  the  room  of  archbishop  Cranmer,  who  was  committed 
to  the  Tower.  The  same  year  he  visited  his  diocese,  in 
order  to  root  up  all  the  seeds  of  the  Reformation,  ,and  be- 
haved in  the  most  furious  and  extravagant  manner;  at 
Hadham,  he  was  excessively  angry  because  the  bells  did 
not  ring  at  his  coming,  nor  was  the  rood-loft  decked,  or 
the  sacrament  hung  up.  He  swore  and  raged  in  the  dbiurch 
at  Dr.  Bricket,  the  rector,  and,  calling  him  jicnave  and 
heretic,  went  to  strike  at  him ;  but  the  blow  fell  upon  sir 
Thomas  Joscelyn's  ear,  and  almost  stunned  him.  On  his 
return  he  set  up  the  mass  again  at  St.  Paul's,  before  the 
act  for  restoring  it  was  passed.  The  same  year,  he  was  in 
commission  to  turn  out  some  of  the  refonned  bishops.  In 
1555,  and  the  three  following  years,  he  was  the  occasion 
of  above  two  hundred  of  innocent  persons  being  put  to 
death  in  the  most  cruel  manner,  that  of  burning,  for  their 
firm  adherence  to  the  Protestant  religion.  On  the  14th  of 
February  1555-6^  he  came  to  Oxford  (with  Thirlby  bishop 
of  Ely),  to  degrade  archbishop  Cranmer,  whom  he  used 
with  great  insolence.  The  2dth  of  December  following  he 
was  put  into  a  commission  to  search  and  raze  all  registers 
and  records  containing  professions  against  the  pope,  scru- 
tinies taken  in  religious  houses,  &c«  And  the  8th  of  Feb* 
ruary  1556-7,  he  was  also  put  in  another  commission,  or 
kind  of  inquisition,  for  searching  after  and  punishing  all 
heretics. 

Upon  queen  Elizabeth's  accession,  Bonner  went  to  meet 
her  at  Highgate,  with  the  rest  of  the  bishops;  but  she 
looked  on  him  as  a  man  stained  with  blood,  and  therefore 
would  shew  him  no  mark  of  her  favour.  For  some  months, 
however,  he  remained  unmolested ;  but  being  called  be- 
fore the  privy  council  pn  the  30th  of  May  1559,  he  re- 


BONNER.  65 

fused  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  and  supremacy :  for 
which  reason  only,  as  it  appears,  he  was  deprirTed  a  second 
time  of  his  bishopric  the  29th  of  June  following,  and  com- 
mitted  to  the  Marshalsea.  After  having  lived  in  confine* 
ment  some  years,  oe  died  Septembers,  1569,  and  three 
days  after  he  was  buried  at  midnight,  in  St.  George's  church-* 
yard,  Southwark,  to  prevent  'any  disturbances  that  might 
have  been  made  by  the  citizens,  who  hated  him  extremely. 
He  had  stood  excommunicated  several  years,  and  might 
have  been  denied  Christian  burial ;  but  of  this  no  advan** 
tage  was  taken.  As  to  his  character,  he  was  a  violent,  furious^ 
and  passionate  man,  and  extremely  cruel  in  his  nature; 
in  bis  person  he  was  very  fat  and  corpulent,  the  conse- 
quence of  excessive  gluttony,  to  which  he  was  much  ad- 
dict^. He  was  a  great  master  of  the  canon  law,  being 
excelled  in  that  faculty  by  very  few  of  his  time,  and  well 
skilled  in  politics,  but  understood  little  of  divinity.  Se- 
veral pieces  were  published  under  his  name,  of  which  the 
following  is  a  list :  J .  Preface  to  the  Oration  of  Stephen. 
Gardiner,  bishop  of  Winchester,  concerning  true  Obedi* 
ence.  Printed  at  London,  in  Latin,  1534,  1535,  and  at 
Hamburgh  in  1536,  8vo.  Translated  into  English  by  Mi- 
chael Wood,  a  zealous  Protestant,  with  a  bitter  preface  to 
the  reader,  and  a  postscript,  Roan,  1553,  8vo.  It  is  also 
inserted  in  J.  Fox's  book  of  Martyrs.  In  the  preface  Bon- 
der speaks  much  in  favour  of  king  Henry  the  Vlllth's 
marriage  with  Ann  Boleyn,  and  against  the  tyranny  exer- 
cised by  the  bishop  of  Rome  in  this  kingdom.  2.  Several 
letters  to  the  lord  Cromwell.  3.  A  declaration  to  lord 
Cromwell,  describing  to  him  the  evil  behaviour  of  Stephen 
(bishop  of  Winchester),  with  special  causes  therein  con- 
talaed,  wherefore  and  why  he  misjiked  of  him.  4.  Letter 
of  his  about  the  proceedings  at  Rome  concerning  the  king's 
divorce  from  Catherine  of  Arragon.  5.  An  admonition  and 
Advertisement  given  by  the  bishop  of  London  to  all  readers 
of  the  Bible  in  the  English  tongue.  6.  Injunctions  given 
hy  Bonner,  bishop  of  London,  to  his  clergy  (about  preach- 
ing, with  the  names  of  books  prohibited).  7.  Letter  to 
Mr.  Lechmere.  8.  Responsum  &  exhortatio,  Lond.  1553, 
S^o.  Answer  and  exhortation  to  the  clergy  in  praise  of 
priesthood  :  spoken  by  the  author  in  St.  Paul's  cathedral, 
the  i6th  October,  1553,  after  a  sermon  preached  before 
the  clergy,,  by  John  Harpesfield.  9.  A  letter  to  Mr.  Lech- 
Vot.  VL  F 


65  B  O  N  N  E  It 

mere,  6th  September,  1553.  10.  Articles  to  be  enqairecl 
of  in  the  general  visitation  of  Edmund  bishop  of  London, 
exercised  by  him  in  1554,  in  the  city  and  diocese  of  Lon- 
don, &c.  To  ridicule  them,  John  Bale,  bishop  of  Ossory^ 
wrote  a  book,  entitled,  A  declaration  of  Edmund  Bonner's 
articles,  concerning  the  clergy  of  London  diocese,  whereby 
that  execrable  anti-christ  is  in  his  right  colours  retealed^ 
1554,  and  1561,  8vo.  1 1.  A  profitable  and  necessary  doc- 
trine, containing  an  exposition  on  the  Creed,  seven*  Sacra-^ 
mei^ts,  ten  Commandments,  the  Pater  Noster,  Ave  Maria, 
with  certain  homilies  adjoining  thereto,  for  the  instruction 
and  information  of  the  diocese  of  London,  Lond.  1554*5, 
4to.  This  book  was  drawn  up  by  his  chaplains  John 
Harpesfield  and  Henry  Pendleton ;  the  former  part  of  it, 
which  is  catechism,  is  mostly  taken  out  of  the  Instittition 
of  a  Christian  man,  set  out  by  king  Heiiry  VIIL  only  va- 
ried in  some  points.  12.  Several  letters,  declarations,  ar- 
guings,  disputes,  &c.  of  his  are  extant  in  John  Fox*s 
book  of  Martyrs,  vol.  last.  13.  His  objections  against  the 
process  of  Robert  Horn,  bishop  of  Winchester,  who  had 
tendered  the  oath  of  supremacy  to  him  a  second  time,  are 
preserved  by  Mr.  Strype  in  his  Annals  of  the  Reformation. 
The  character  of  bishop  Bonner  is  so  familiar  to  our  rea- 
ders as  to  require  little  illustration,  or  any  addition  to  the 
preceding  account  from  the  former  edition  of  this  Diction* 
'  ary  ;  yet  some  notice  may  be  taken  of  the  defence  set  up* 
by  the  Roman  Catholic  historians.  Dodd,  alluding  to  his 
cruelties,  says,  that  ^'  Seeing  he  proceeded  according  to 
the  statutes  then  in  force,  and  by  the  direction  of  the  le- 
gislative power,  he  stands  in  need  of  no  apology  on  that 
score.^'  But  the  history  of  the  times  proves  that  Bonner'si 
character  cannot  be  protected  by  a  reference  to  the  sta- 
tutes, unless  his  vindicator  can  likewise  prove  that  he  had 
no  baud  in  enacting  those  statutes ;  and  even  if  this  were 
eonceded,  his  conduct  will  not  appear  less  atrocious,  be- 
cause,  not  content  with  the  sentence  of  the  law  carried  into 
execution  by  the  accustomed  officers,  Bonner  took  fre- 
quent opportunities  to  manifest  the  cruelty  of  his  disposi- 
tion by  anticipating,  or  aggravating,  the  legal  punishments^ 
He  sometimes  whipped  the  prisoners  with  his  own  bands, 
till  he  was  tired  with  the  violence  of  the  exercise ;  and  oa 
one  occasion  he  tore  out  the  beard  of  a  weaver  wlio  refused 
to  relinquish  his  religion ;  and  that  he  might  give  him  a 
specimen  of  burning,  he  held  his  hand  to  a  candle,  till 


BONNER.  6> 

the  stuews  and  veins  shrunk  and  burst  *.  The  fact  is,  that 
Bonner  was  constitutionally  cruel,  and  delighted  in  the 
sufferings  he  inflicted.  Granger  very  justly  says,  that 
^^  Nature  seems  to  have  designed  him  for  an  executioner,^' 
and  as,  wherever  he  could,  he  performed  the  character,  how 
can  he  be  defended  by  an  appeal  to  the  statutes  ?  The 
most  remarkable  circumstance  in  his  history  is  the  lenity 
shown  to  him  after  all  this  bloody  career.  There  seems 
no  reason  to  think  that  he  would  have  even  been  de- 
prived of  his  bishopric,  had  he  consented  to  take  the  oaths 
of  allegiance  and  supremacy,  a  circumstance  which  is 
surely  very  extraordinary.  His  compliance,  had  he  taken 
that  step,  could  have  been  only  hypocritical,  and  what  an 
object  it  would  have  been  to  have  seen  the  duties  and 
power  of  a  protestant  prelate  intrusted  to  such  a  monster, 
and  in  that  diocese,  where  st  many  families  preserved  the 
bitter  remembrance  of  his  cruelty  1  ^ 

BONNET  (Charles),  an  ^uinent  natural  philosopher, 
was  bom  at  Geneva,  on  the  13  th  of  March,  1720.  His 
ancestors,  who  were  compelled  to  emigrate  from  France, 
in  1572,  after  the  dreadful  slaughter  of  St.  Bartholomew's 
day,  established  themselves  at  Geneva,  where  his  grand;^ 
father  was  advanced  to  the  magistracy.  His  father,  who 
preferred  the  station  of  a  private  citizen,  paid  unremitted 
attention  to  the  education  of  his  son,  which  the  latter  re« 
compensed,  at  a  very  early  period,  by  the  amiableness  of 
his  disposition,  and  the  rapid  progress  he  made  in  general 
literature.  When  about  sixteen  years  of  age,  he  applied 
himself  with  great  eagerness,  to  the  perusal  of  '<  Le 
Spectacle  de  la  Nature,*'  and  this  work  made  such  a  deep 
impression  on  his  mind,  that  it  may  be  saiflTto  have  di* 
rected  the  taste  and  the  studies  of  his  future  life.  What 
that  publication  had  commenced,  was  confirmed  by  the 
work  of  La  Pluche ;  but  having  accidentally  seen  the  trea- 
tise of  Reaumur  upon  insects,  be  was  in  a  transport  of  joy. 
He  was  very  impatient  to  procure  the  book,  but,  as  the 

*  There  it,  says  Granger,  a  wooden  on  the  fool,  how  could  he  get  my  pic* 
print  of  hioiy  whipping  Thomas  Hin-  ture  drawn  so  right !"  There  is  ano- 
shawe,  iu  the  first  edition  of  Pox's  ther  print  of  him  in  that  book,  burning 
'*  Acts  and  Monuments."  Sir  John  a  man's  bands  with  a  candle.  With  re* 
Harrington  tells  us  that  **  when  Bon-  gard  to  his  corpulence,  a  punster  of 
■er  WBS  shown  this  print  in  the  Book  of  the  times  said  of  htm,  that  **  ha  was 
Martyrs  on  purpose  to  vex  him,  be  full  of  guts,  but  empty  of  bowels." 
laughed  at  it,  saying,  "  A  vengeance 

'  Biog.  Brit — ^Burnet's  Hist,  of  the  Reformation. — Strype's  Life  of  Cranmer, 
Amiais  and  Memorial^.— ^jPox^s  Acts  and  Monom^Dts.— Dodd's  Qi.  Hist.  vol.  1. 

F  3 


^8  BONNET. 

only  copy  in  Geneva  belonged  to  a  public  library,  and  as 
the  librarian  was  reluctant  to  entrust  it  in  the  bands  of  a 
youth,  it  was  with  the  utmost  difficulty  that  he  could  ob- 
tain his  end.  By  the  possession  of  this  treasure,  our  as« 
siduous  youth  was  enabled  to  make  several  new  and  curi- 
ous experiments,  which  he  communicated  to  Reaumur  him- 
self; and  the  high  applause  be  gained,  from  so  great  a 
naturalist,  added  fresh  vigour  to  his  assiduity. 

In  compliance  with  bis  father's  desires,  be  applied  him- 
self, though  with  much  reluctance,  to  the  study  of  the 
Jaw.  The  works  of  Burlamaqui  pleased  him  the  most,  on 
account  of  the  perspicuous  and  philosophic  manner  in 
which  the  subject  was  treated ;  the  institutes  of  Heinec- 
cius  gave  him  some  courage  also,  as  he  perceived  order 
and  connection ;  but  the  Roman  law  terrified  him.  Not- 
withstanding his  application  tp  these  authors,  he  still  con- 
tinued attached  to  natural  history,  and  was  very  active  in 
making  experiments.  Some  experiments  respecting  tree- 
lice  happening  to  be  communicated  by  Reaumur  to  the 
academy  of  sciences,  occasioned  an  epistolary  correspon- 
dence between  M.  Bonnet  and  that  great  naturalist,  a  cir- 
cumstance, doubtless,  very  flattering  to  a  youth  of  twenty 
years,,  and  the  letter  of  Reaumur  was  accompanied  with  a 
present  of  that  very  book  which  he  had  borrowed,  with  so 
much  difficulty,  two  years  before. 

Animated  by  such  distinguished  marks  of  approbation, 
he  diligently  employed  every  moment  her  could  steal  from 
the'  study  of  jurisprudence  to  the  completion  of  his  natural 
history  of  the  tree-louse  ;  to  experiments  on  the  respira- 
tion of  caterpillars  and  butterflies,  which  he  discovered  to 
be  effected  b^  stigmata,  or  lateral  pores  ;  to  an  examina- 
tion of  the  construction  of  the  tinea,  or  tapeworm ;  in  fre- 
quent correspondence  with  Reaumur;  and  in  assisting 
Trembley  in  his  discoveries  and  publication  concerning 
millepedes,  &c.  Having,  in  1743,  obtained  the  degree 
of  doctor  of  laws,  he  relinquished  a  pursuit  which  he  had 
commenced  with  so  much  reluctance.  In  the  same  year 
he  was  admitted  a  member  of  the  royal  society  of  Lon- 
don, to  which  he  had  communicated  a  treatise  on  insects. 

Bonnet  being  now  liberated  from  his  other  pursuits,  ap- 
plied himself,  without  intermission,  to  collecting,  together 
bis  experiments  and  observations  concerning  the  tree-louse 
and  the  worm,  which  he  published  in  1744,  under  the* 
title  of  ^^  Insectology."     This  work  acquired  deserved  ap- 


BONNET,  60 

probation  from  the  public,  and  was  honoured  by  the  com- 
mendation  of  the  celebrated  B.  de  Jussieu.  He  was  re- 
proached, however,  as  some  other  naturalists  have  de* 
served,  with  having  paid  too  little  attention  to  the  delicacj 
of  his  reader,  though  his  patience  and  accuracy  were  ac- 
knowledged to  be  deserving  of  praise.  Such  unremitted 
application  and  labour  could  not  fail  of  becoming  injurious 
to  bis  health.  Inflammations,  nervous  fever,  sore  eyjes,  &c. 
compelled  him  to  relinquish  the  use  of  the  microscope  and 
the  study  of  insects.  This  prevention  was  so  extremely 
mortifying  to  a  man  of  his  taste  and  activity  of  mind,  that 
be  was  thrown  into  a  deep  melancholy,  which  could  only 
be  subdued  by  the  resolution  inspired  by  philosophy,  and 
the  consoTations  Qf  religion ;  these  gradually  roused  him 
from  a  dejected  state  of  mind.  About  the  end  of  1746, 
he  was  chosen  member  of  the  literary  institution  at  Bo- 
logna, which  introduced  him  to  a  correspondence  with  the 
celebrated  Zanotti,  who  may  be  deemed  the  Fontenelle  of 
Italy. 

la  1747,  he  undertook  a  very  difficult  work  on  the 
leaves  of  plants ;  which,  of  all  his  publications  in  natural 
history,  bore  the  strongest  marks  of  originality,  both  with 
respect  to  the  manner  in  which  his  experiments  were  made, 
and  the  discoveries  resulting  from  them.  But  from  this 
extreme  attachment  to  natural  history,  he  was  gradually  led 
to  a  study  of  a  very  diiFerent  nature ;  and  speculative  phi- 
losophy now  engaged  his  whole  attention.  The  first  result 
of  his  meditations  in  this  department  was  his  '^  Essay 
on  Psychology,"  in  which  the  principal  facts  observable 
in  human  nature,  and  the  consequences  resulting  from 
them,  are  stated  in  a  concise  and  perspicuous  manner*  He 
contemplated  man,  from  the  first  moment  of  his  existence, 
and  pursued  the  developement  of  his  sensies  and  faculties, 
from  simple  growth  up  to  intelligence.  This  work,  which 
was  published  without  his  name,  met  with  great  opposi- 
tion, and  was  criticised  with  severity ;  but  the  censures 
were  directed  more  against  his  expressions  than  his  prin- 
ciples, nor  were  they  of  sufficient  importance  to  impede 
the  general  acceptance  of  the  performance.  His  ^^  Analy- 
sis of  the  mental  faculties"  was  simply  a  developement  of 
the  ideas  contained  in  the  preceding  work.  It  engaged 
his  incessant  attention  for  the  space  of  five  yeiurs;  nor  was 
it  completed  before  1759.  It  is  somewhat  singular,  that 
both  he  and  the  abb^  de  Condillac  should  have  illustrated 


70  BONNET. 

• 

tbeir  principles  by  the  supposition  of  a  statue,  organized 
like  the  human  body,  which  they  conceived  to  be  gradu- 
ally inspired  wilh  a  soul,  and  the  progressive  enlargement 
of  whose  powers  they  carefully  traced.  In  1760  this  work 
was  published  at  Copenhagen  by  order  and  at  the  expence 
of  Frederic  v.;  and  it  was  followed  in  1762  by  "Con- 
siderations on  organized  bodies/'  in  which  the  author  had 
three  principal  objects  before  him ;  the  first  was  to  give  a 
concise  view  of  every  thing  which  appears  interesting  in 
natural  history,  respecting  the  origin,  growth,  and  re- 
production of  organized  bodies ;  the  second  was  to  confute 
the  two  different  systems  founded  upon  the  Epigenesis; 
and  the  third  was  to  explain  the  system  of  Germs,  indicate 
the  ground  upon  which  it  was  founded,  its  correspondence 
with  facts,  and  the  consequences  resulting  from  it.  This 
work  was  received  with  much  satisfaction  by  natural  philo- 
sophers. The  academy  of  Berlin,  which  had  proposed  the 
same  subject,  as  a  prize-question  for  1761,  declared  that 
they  considered  this  treatise  as  the  offspring  of  close  obser- 
vation and  profound  reasoning ;  and  that  the  author  would 
have  had  an  undubitable  right  to  the  prize,  if  he  had  confined 
bis  labours  to  the  precise  statement  of  the  question,  and 
Malesherbes  reversed  the  interdict  which  the  public  censor 
had  laid  upon  this  book,  as  containing  dangerous  princi- 
ples. 

The  **  Contemplations  of  Nature"  appeared  in  1764* 
In  this  work,  the  author  first  enlarged  upon  the  comnion 
conceptions' entertained  concerning  the  existence  and  per- 
fections of  God  5  and  of  the  order  and  uniformity  obser^^^- 
able  in  the  universe.  He  next  descends  to  man,  examines 
the  parts  of  his  composition,  and  the  various  <;apacities 
with  which  he  is  endowed.  He  next  proceeds  to  the 
plants  :  assembles  and  describes  the  laws  of  their  Geco-» 
nomy ;  and  finally,  he  examines  the  insects,  indicates  the 
principal  circumstances  in  which- they  differ  from  large 
animals,  and  points  out  the  philosophical  inferences  that 
may  legitimately  be  deduced  from  these  differences ;  and 
he  concludes  with  observations  respecting  the  industry  of 
insects.  This  work  being  of  a  popular  nature,  the  author 
apared  no  pains  in  bestowing  upon  it  those  ornaments  of 
which  it  was  susceptible.  The  principles  which  he  thus 
discovered  and  explained,  induced  him  to  plan  a  system 
of  moral  philosophy ;  which,  according  to  his  ideas,  oon-^ 
pisted  solely  in  the  observance  of  that. relation  in  which 


BONNET.  71 

.  mantis  placjsd,  respecting  all  the  beings  that  surround  him. 
The  first  branch  would  have  comprehended  various  means, 
which  philosophy  and  the  medical  science  have  discovered, 
for  the  prevention  of  disease,  the  preservation  and  aug- 
mentation of  the  corporeal  powers,  and  the  better  exertion 
of  their  force :  in  the  second,  he  proposed  to  show,  that 
natural  philosophy  has  a  powerful  tendency  to  embellish 
and  improve  our  mind,  and  augment  tbe  number  of  our 
rational  amusements,  while  it  is  replete  with  beneficial  ef- 
fects respecting  the  society  at  large.  To  manifest  the. 
invalidity  of  opinions,  merely  hypothetical,  he  undertook, 
in  the  third  place,  to  examine,  whether  there  were  not 
truths  within  the  compass  of  human  knowledge,  to  which 
the  most  sceptical  philosopher  must  be  compelled  to  yidd 
his  consent,  and  which  might  serve  as  the  basis  of  all  our 
reasonings  concerning  man  and  his  various  relations.  He 
then  would  have  directed  his  attention  to  a  first  cause, 
and  have  manifested  how  greatly  the  idea  of  a  deity,  and  su- 
preme law'giver,  favoured  tbe  conclusions  which  reason 
had  drawn  from  the  nature  and  properties  of  things ;  but 
his  ill  health,  impaired  by  incessant  labour,  would  not 
permit  him  to  complete  the  design.  His  last  publication 
was  the  "  Palingenesis,'*  which  treats  of  the  prior  exist* 
ence  and  future  state  of  living  beings. 
~  Of  his  publications  in  natural  history,  those  deemed  the 
most  excellent,  are,  his  Treatise  on  the  best  means  of  pre- 
serving Insects  and  Fish  in  cabinets  of  Natural  History.; 
a  dissertation  on  the  Loves  of  the  Plants;  sundry  pieces 
on  the  experiments  of  Spalianzani,  concerning  the  repro- 
duction of  tbe  head  of  the  Snail ;  a  dissertation  on  the  Pipa, 
or  Surinam  Toad ;  and  different  treatises  on  Bees. 

In  1783,  he  was  elected  honorary  member  of  the  aca- 
demy of  sciences  at  Paris,  and  of  the  academy  of  scien- 
ces and  the  bielles  lettres  at  Berlin.  Much  of  his  time  was 
employed  in  a  very  extensive  correspondence  with  some  of 
the  most  celebrated  natural  'philosophers  and  others.  Of 
this  number  were  Reaumur;  De  Geer,  the  Reaumur  of  Swe- 
den ;  Du  Hamel ;  the  learned  Haller ;  the  experimental 
philosopher  Spalianzani ;  Van  Swieten*;  Meriail ;  and  that 
ornament  of  Swit;zerland,  the  great  Lambert,  He  enter- 
tained,  however,  the  utmost  aversion  to  controversy.  He 
thought  that  no  advantage  to  be  obtained  by  it  could  com- 
pensate for  the  loss  of  that  repose  which  he  valued,  with 
.^Newton,  as  the  rem  prorms  substantiakm.     He  never 


72  bonnet: 

answered  remarks  that  were  made  to  the  prejudice  of  his 
writings,  but  left  the  decision  with  the  public :  yet,  ever 
ready  to  acknowledge  his  errors,  he  was  sincerely  thankful 
to  every  one  who  contributed  to  the  perfection  of  his  works. 
He  was  used  to  say,  that  one  confession,  ^^  I  was  in  the 
wrong,''  is  of  more  value  than  a  thousand  ingenious 
confutations.  His  literary  occupations,  and  the  care  he 
was  obliged  to  take  of  his  health,  prevented  him  from  tra^ 
veiling.  He  delighted  in  retirement,  and  every  hour  was 
occupied  in  the  improvement  of  his  mind.  The  last 
twenty-five  years  of  his  life  were  spent  in  the  same  rural 
situation  where  he  had  passed  the  greater  part  of  his  early 
days;  yet,  notwithstanding  the  pursuit  of  literature  was 
his  supreme  delight,  he  never  refused  to  suspend  his  stu- 
dies, when  the  good  of  his  country  seemed  to  demand  his 
services. 

He  was  chosen,  in  1752,  member  of  the  grand  council, 
in  the  republic  of  Geneva ;  and  he  assisted  regularly  at 
their  deliberations,  till  1768,  where  he  distinguished  him- 
self by  his  eloquence,  his  moderation,  united  with  firm- 
ness ;  by  his  good  sense  and  penetration,  in  cases  of  difE- 
culty ;  and  by  the  zeal  with  which  he  endeavoured  to  re- 
claim his  fellow  citizens  to  that  ancient  simplicity  of  man- 
ners which  had  been  so  conducive  to  the  welfare  of  the 
state,  and  to  the  love  of  virtue,  so  essential  to  the  exist- 
ence of  genuine  liberty.  His  conduct,  in  every  case,  was 
consistent  with  his  principles.  He  took  no  pains  to  accu- 
mulate wealth,  but  remained  satisfied  with  a  fortune,  equal 
tb  his  moderate  wants,  and  to,  the  exercise  of  his  benevo- 
lence. The  perfect  correspondence  between  his  extensive 
knowledge  and  virtuous  deeds,  procured  him  universal 
»  esteem. 

In  the  year  1788,  evident  symptoms  of  a  dropsy  of  the 
chest  manifested,  themselves  ;' and  from  this  time  he  gra- 
dually declined.  He  sustained  his  indisposition  with  un- 
remitted cheerfulness  and  composure.  After  various  fluc- 
tuations, usual  in  that  complaint,  he  died,  on  the  20th  of 
May,  1793,  in  the  seventy-third  year  of  his  age;  retaining 
his  presence  of  mind  to  the  last  moment;  administering 
comfort  to  surrounding  friends  and  relatives ;  and  attempt- 
ing to  alleviate  the  distress  of  his  disconsolate  wife,  in 
whose  arms  he  expired. 

As  a  demonstration  of  the  high  value  placed  upon  his 
labours  and  talents,  by  the  literati,  we  have  only  to  add, 


B  O  N  N  ET  T.  73 

that  lie  was  member  of  most  of  the  learned  societies  of  Eu* 
rorpe.  The  latter  part  of  his  life  was  employed  in  revising 
his  works,  of  which  a  complete  edition  was  published  at 
Neuchatel  in  9  vols.  4to,  or  18  vols.  Svo,  containing,  be- 
sides these  already  noticed,  several  smaller  pieces  in  na** 
taral  history  and  metaphysics.  Notwithstanding  the  high 
praises  bestbwed  on  Bonnet  by  his  countrymen,  there  are 
many  parts  of  his  works  which  must  be  read  with  caution, 
nor,  where  there  is  not  much  danger  iu  his  speculations, 
is  he  always  a  very  conclusive  reasoner.  ^ 

BONNEVAL  (Claudius  Alexander  de),  count,  known  * 
in  the  latter  part  of  his  life  by  the  name  of  Osman  Bashaw, 
descended  from  a  family  related  to  the  blood  royal  of 
France,  was  born  in  1672,  and  entered  himself  at  the  age 
of  sixteen,  in  the  service  of  that  crown,  and  married  the 
daughter  of  marshal  de  Biron.     He  made  the  campaign  in 
Flanders  in  1690,  but  soon  after  left  the  French  army, 
and  entered  into  t}^  Imperial  service  under  prince  Eugene, 
who  honoured  him  with  an  intimate  friendship.    The  in-p 
trigues  of  the  marquis  de  Pri£,  his  inveterate  enemy,  mined 
his  credit  however  at  the  court  of  Vienna,  and  caused  him 
to  be  banished  the  empire.     He  then  offered  his  service  to 
the  republic  of  Venice,  and  to  Russia ;  which  being  de- 
clined, his  next  tender  was  to  the  grand  Signior,  who 
gladly  received  him :  it  was  stipulated  that  he  should  have 
a  body  of  30,000  men  at  his  disposal ;  that  a  government 
should  be  conferred  on  him,  with  the  rank  of  bashaw  of 
three   tails;  a  salary  of   10,000  aspers  a  day,  equal  to 
45,000  livres  a  year;  and  that  in  case  of  a  war,  he  should 
be  commander  in  chief.     The  first  expedition  he  engaged 
in  after  his  arrival  at  Constantinople,  was  to  quell  an  in- 
surrection in  Arabia  Petrsea,  which  he  happily  effected  ; 
and  at  his  return,  had  large  offers  made  him  by  Kouli 
Khan,  which  he  did  not  choose  to  accept.     Some  time 
after,  he  commanded  the  Turkish  army  against  the  em- 
peror, over  whose  forces  he  gained  a  victory  on  the  bank^ 
of  the  Danube.     But  success  does  not  always  protect  a    , 

Serson  against  disgrace ;  for  Bonneval,  notwithstanding 
is  service,  was  first  imprisoned,  and  then  banished  to  the 
island  of  Chio*  The  sultan,  however,  continued  his  friend; 
and  the  evening  before  bis  departure  made  him  bashaw 
general  of  the  Archipelago,  which,  with  his  former  apr 

V  1  MemoireAour  servhr  a  Phistoirey  &c.  de  M.  Charles  Bonnet,  BerOi  Svo* 


74  B  O  N  N  E  V  A  L. 

pointment  of  beglerbcg  of  Arabia,  rendered  hiiri  one  of  the 
most  powerful  persons  in  the  Ottoman  empire.  In  this 
island,  he  found  a  retirement  agreeable  to  his  wishes,  but 
did  not  long  enjoy  it,  being  sent  for  back,  and  made  to- 
pigi  or  master  of  the  ordnance,  a  post  of  great  honour  and 
profit.  He  died  in  this  employment,  aged  75,  in  1747; 
and  wrote  the  memoirs  of  his  own  life,  which  were  pub- 
lished in  London  in  1755,  2  vols.  12aK),  and  give  but  an 
indifferent  idea  of  his  personal  character.  ^ 

BONONE   (Carlo),    an  eminent  artist,   was  born   at 
Ferrarain  1569,-  and  died  in  1632.     He  was  the  scholar  of 
Bastaruolo,  and  the  rival  of  Scarselliuo,  whose  suavity  of 
manner  he  attempted  to  eclipse  by  energy  and  grandeur. 
He  studied  at  Bologna,  for  that  purpose,  the  Carracci ;  at 
Rome,  with  nature  and  the  antique,  perhaps  the  Roman 
style;    at  Venice,  Paolo,  and   at  Parma,    Corregio.     In 
compositions  of  a  few  figures  only,   he  resem-bles   Lod. 
Carracci  sometimes  to  a  degree  of  delusion  ;  but  in  works 
of  numerous  grouping,  suph.  as  the  "Feast  of  Herod,'* 
and  the  "  Nuptials  of  Cana,"  at  Ferrara,  and  chiefly  in 
.  the  "  Supper  of  Ahasuerus,'*    at  Ravenna^  he  rivals   in 
abundance  and  aiTangement  the  ornamental  style  of  Paolo* 
At  St.  Maria  in  Vado  at  Fen*ara,  his  science  in  Corre* 
giesque  fore-shortening  and  forcible  effects  of  chiaroscuro^ 
itxed  and  astonished  the  eye  of  Guercino.     His  cabinet 
pictures  possess  a  high  degree  of  finish.     That  such  powers 
should  not  hitherto  have  procured  Bonone  an  adeqi!kate  de-- 
gree  of  celebrity  in  the  annals  of  painting,  proves  only, 
tiiat  no  felicity  of  imitation  can  ever  raise  its  possesisors  to 
the  honours  of  originality  and' invention.  * 

BONOSUS,  an  ancient  prelate  of  the  fourth  century, 
is  known  in  church  history  as  the  heretical  bishop  of 
Naissus  in  Dacia,  though  some  authors  say  of  Sardica^  the 
metropolis  of  that  province.  In  the  year  391  he  was  ac* 
cused  of  crimes  against  the  canons  of  the  church  and  the 
law  of  God,  and  was  reported  for  heresy  at  the  council  of 
Capua,  which  met  the  latter  end  of  that  year.  The  par- 
ticulars of  his  crimes  cannot  now  be  known,  but  his  heresy 
may  be  gathered  from  St.  Augustih  and  St.  Ambrose.  He 
had, 'before,  been  condemned  by  Damasus,  bishop  of  Rome, 
who  died  A.  D.  384.  The  council  of  Capua  committed  the 
hearing  of  his  cause  to  the  bishops  of  Mecodon,  his  neighs 

1  Memoire.— Diet.  Hist  *  PilkiD^toxi  by  FuselK 


B  O  N  O  S  U  S.  75 

hours,  under  their  metropolitan  Anysius,  hishop  of  Thes- 
salonica.  The  bishops  assembled,  agreeably  to  the  order 
of  the  council,  and  Bonosus  appeared  before  them ;  after 
examination,  they  were  so  well  convinced  of  the  truth  of 
the  charge,  that  they  immediately  suspended  him  from 
all  episcopal  functions ;  at  the  same  time  writing#a  letter 
to  Syricius  bishop  of  Rome,  declaring  their  abhorrence  of 
the  detestable  error,  that  the  virgin  Mary  should  have  other 
children  than  Christ.  Bonosus  died  A.  D.  410;  but  his 
doctrine  did  not  die  with  him,  being  maintained  by  some 
200  years  aftes  his  death.  Pope  Gregory  makes  mention 
of  the  Bonosians  in  the  latter  end  of  the  sixth  century.' 

BONTEMPI  (Akgeuni),  a  native  of  Perugia,  and  au- 
thor of  the  first  history  of  music  in  the  Italian  language 
with  which  we  are  acquainted,  was  nn  able  professor,  of 
considerable  learning,  who  flourished  about  the  middle  of 
the  seventeenth^  century.  His  work,  which  has  for  title 
*^  Historia  Musica  di  Gio.  And.  Angelini  Bontempi,''  was 
published  at  Perugia,  in  small  folio,  1695.  It  is  become 
somewhat  scarce,  which  enhances  its  value  with  collectors 
of  books;  but  Dr.  Bqrney^s  opinion  is  unfavourable.  He 
says  that  with  great  parade  of  his  learning,  science,  and 
acquaintance  with  the  Greek  theorists,  that  are  come  down 
to  us,  he  leaves  us  in. as  utter  darkness  concerning  the 
practice  of  ancient  music  as  ever,  and  has  furnished  us 
with  but  little  information  concerning  the  modern  of  his 
own  time,  with  which,  however,  as  a  contrapuntist,  he 
seems  to  have  been  perfectly  well  acquainted.  Indeed,  by 
the  frequent  use  he  makes  of  scientific  terms,  his  book, 
when  casually  opened,  has  more  the  appearance  of  a  dry 
mathematical  treatise,  than  the  history  of  an  elegant  art. 
The  most  curious  and  interesting  pari  of  his  work  is,  the 
account  which  he  gives  of  the  discipline  of  the  college  of 
singers  in  the  service  of  the  pontifical  chapel,  and  of  the 
great  masters  who  then  flourished  at  Rome,  who  had  dis- 
tinguished themselves  in  writing  '^  Alia  Palestrina^*  for  the 
church  :  secular  music  was  then  but  little  cultivated,  and 
less  respected  there',  till  operas  and  oratorios  had  made 
some  progress  in  polishing  melody,  and  in  the  just  ac« 
centuation  and  expression  of  words.  ^ 

BONTEMS  (Madame),  a  lady  who  was  born  at  Paris 
in  1718,  and  died  in  the  same  city  April  18,  1768,  had 

^  Burney'K  and  Hawkins's  Hist,  of  Music. — Rees's  Cyclopsedia. 


76  B  O  N  T  E  M  S. 

received  from  nature  a  good  understanding  and  an  excel<- 
lent  taste,  which  were  cultivated  by  a  suitable  education. 
She  possessed  the  foreign  languages,  and  was  mistress  of 
all  the  delicate  turns  of  her  o\vn.  It  is.  to  her  that  the 
French  are  indebted  for  a  translation,  said  to  be  accurate 
and  elegant,  of  Thomson's  Seasons,  1759,  12mo.  Madame 
Bontems  had  a  select  society  that  frequented  her  house, 
and  though  she  had  a  great  talent  for  wit,  she  only  made 
use  of  it  for  displaying  that  of  others.  She  was  not  less 
esteemed  for  the  qualities  of  her  heart  than  those  of  her 
mindJ 

BONTIUS  (Gerard),  professor  in  medicine  at  the  uni- 
rersity  of  Leyden  in  the  latter  part  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury^ was  a  man  of  profound  erudition,  and  critically 
versed  in  the  Greek  language.  He  was  born  at  Ryswick, 
a  small  village  of  Guelderland,  and  died  at  Leyden,  Sept. 
15,  1599,  sixty-three  years  old.  Bontius  is  the  inventor 
of  a  composition  of  pills,  which,  from  his  name,  are  called 
Pilulse  tartar^se  Bontii.  The  Dutch  for  a  long  time  kept 
this  composition  a  secret;  but  they  have  been  analysed  by 
the  industry  of  some  physicians,  and  the  ingredients  are 
now  well  known.  He  wrote  some  commentaries  on  Hipr- 
pocrates,  but  published  no  part  of  them.  He  left  two 
sons,  both  eminent  in  the  medical  art,  James  and  Heyner.  * 

BONTIUS  (James),  called  by  some,  JoHL>f,  a  native  of 
I^eyden,  was  educated  in  philosophy  and  medicine  under 
his  father,  Geraixl ;  and  being  sent  to  the  East  Indies, 
practised  physic  at  Batavia  about  the  middle  of  the  seven- 
teenth century.  On  his  return  to  Europe  he  wrote  several 
valuable  works  on  the  diseases  and  practice  of  medicine  of 
India.  These  are,  ^*  De  conservanda  Valetudine,  ac  dieta 
sanis  in  India  observandis  ;*'  ^'  Methodus  medendi,  quiL 
oportet  in  India  orients^li  uti;'*  "  Observationes  selectae 
ex  dissectione  cadaverum  ac  autopsia  descriptse.*'  He  also 
published  curious  observations  relating  to  the  botany  and 
natural  history  of  those  regions,  especially  the  vegetables 
used  in  medicine  and  diet,  in  his  work  entitled  **  De  Me- 
dicina  Indorum,'*  in  1642,  and  afterwards,  with  Alpinus's 
work,  "  De  Medicina  iEgyptiorum,'*  1718,  4to.  He  also 
published  "  Historia  Nat.  et  Med.  Indi®  orientalis,''  1658,- 
fbl.     His  brother  Reyner  was  many  years  professor  of  me- 

1'  Di«*t.  Historique. 

%  Freber^  Tbeatruin.<^IcoaeB  aQ  ViUe  Rect.  Acad*  Lei(^n>  4to,  HI 4^ 


B  O  N  W  I  C  K  E.  77 

dicine  at  Leyden,  and  rector  of  the  university.     He  died 
in  1623.* 

BONWICKE  (Ambrose),  a  nonjuring  clergyman  of 
great  piety  and  learning,  son  of  the  rev.  John  Bonwicke, 
rector  of  Mickleham  in  Surrey,  was  born  April  2 9>  1652, 
and  educated  at  Merchant  Taylors  school.  Thence  he  was 
elected  to  St.  John^s  college,  Oxford,  in  1668,  where  he 
was  appointed  librarian  in  1670  ;  B.  A.  1673  ;  M.  A.  March 
18,  1675;  was  ordained  deacon  May  21,  1676;  priest, 
June  6  (Trinity  Sunday),  i680  ;  proceeded  B.  D.  July  21, 
1682  ;  and  was  elected  master  of  Merchant  Taylors  school 
June  9,  1686.  In  1689,  the  college  of  St.  John's  peti- 
tioned the  Merchant  Taylors  company,  that  he  might  con- 
tinue master  of  the  school  (which  is  a  nursery  for  their 
college)  for  life;  but,  at  Christmas  1691,  he  was  turned 
out  for  refusing  to  take  tne  oath  of  allegiance,  and  was 
afterwards  for  many  years  master  of  a  celebrated  school  at 
Headley,  near  Leatherhead  in  Surrey,  where  he  bad  at 
one  time  the  honour  of  having  the  poet  Fenton  for  his 
usher^  and  Bowyer  (who  was  afterwards  the  learned  prin- 
ter) for  a  sgholar. 

Mr.  Nichols  has  in  MS.  a  curious  correspondence  of 
Mr.  Bonwicke  with  Mr.  Blecbynden,  on  occasion  of  his 
ejection  from  the  Merchant  Taylors  school,  with  many  of 
his  college  exercises,  and  letters  to  his  father.  Some  let- 
ters, which  convey  an  admirable  idea  of  his  unaffected 
piety  and  goodness,  may  be  seen  in  the  Life  of  Bowyer. 
A  copy  of  his  verses,  whilst  fellow  of  St.  John's,  is  printed 
in  an  Oxford  collection,  on  the  death  of  king  Charles  II. 
1685.  By  his  wife  (Elizabeth  Stubbs)  Mr.  Bonwicke  had 
twelve  children,,  one  of  whom  furnished  the  subject  of  a 
very  interesting  little  volume,  entitled  "  A  Pattern  for 
Young  Students  in  the  University,  i^et  forth  in  the  Life  of 
Mr.  Ambrose  Bonwicke,  some  time  scholar  of  St.  John's 
College,  Cambridge,'*  1729,  12mo,  of  which  Mrl  Nichols 
has  given  an  excellent  analysis,  with  additions,  in  his  late 
Literary  History.  * 

BOOKER  (John),  one  of  those  impostors  who  amused 
the  public  in  the  seventeenth  century,  was  born  at  Man- 
chester in  1601,  and  was  bred  a  haberdasher  in  Lawrence- 
lane,  London,  but  quitted  this  employment  and  followed 

1  Freheri  Tbeatrum.«-Icones  ac  Vile  Rect.  Acad.  Leidea,  4to,  1714. ^Reel's 
CyclapoMlia. 
*  Kicholi'ji  Bowyer,  ro\u  I.  and  V. 


TS  B  O  0  K  £  R. 

that  of  a  writing-master  at  Hadley  in  Middlesex,  and  ^M 
afterwards  for  some  time  clerk  to  the  sitting  aldermen  at 
Guildhall.  He  in  a  few  years  rendered  himself  so  eminent, 
that  he  was  appointed  licenser  of  mathematical  books,  under 
which  were  included  all  those  that  related  to  the  Celestial 
sciences.  Lilly  tells  us,  that  he  once  thought  him  the 
greatest  astrologer  in  the  world ;  but  it  appears  that  he 
afterwards  sunk  in  his  esteem,  and  that  he  thought  himself 
a  much  greater  man.  We  are  told  by  the  same  author, 
that  ^^  he  had  a  curious  fancy  in  judging  of  thefts,  and 
was  as  successful  in  resolving  love  questions,*'  which  was 
a  capital  branch  of  his  trade.  George  Wharton,  who  was 
formerly  one  bf  his  astrological  friends,  had  a  great  quarrel 
with  him,  which  occasioned  bis  publishing  **  Mercurio- 
Ccelico  Mastix  ;  or  an  Anti-caveat  to  all  such  as  have  here- 
tofore  had  the  misfortune  to  be  cheated  and  deluded  by 
that  great  and  treacherous  impostor  John  Booker ;  in  an 
answer  to  his  frivolous  pamphlet,  entitled  Mercurius  Ccer- 
licusy  or  a  Caveat  to  all  the  people  of  England ;"  Oxon. 
1644,  4to.  The  only  work  of  Booker's  worth  notice  is, 
his  "  Bloody  Irish  Almanac,'*  which  contains  some  me- 
morable particulars  relative  to  the  war  in  Ireland.  He 
died  April  1667,  and  his  books  were  sold  to  Elias  Ashmole, 
who,  as  Lilly  informs  us,  and  we  may  readily  believe,  gave 
more  for  them  than  they  were  worth.  * 

BOONEN  (Arnold),  a  portrait-painter,  was  born  at 
Dort,  in  1669,  and  after  having  been  for  some  time  a 
disoiple  of  Arnold  Verbuis,^  placed  himself  under  Godfrey 
Schalcken,  who  recommended  to  him,  after  having  re- 
ceived his  instructions  for  six' years,  to  study  nature.  By 
following  this  advice,  Boonen  obtained  the  reputation  of  a 
great  master  at  the  age  of  twenty*five  years.  His  style  of 
colouring  was  extremely  good  ;  the  attitudes  of  his  figures 
were  elegantly  disposed ;  his  touch  neat.  The  whole  pos-, 
sessed  such  harmony,  and  his  portraits  maintained  such  a 
striking  likeness,  that  he  was  ranked  among  the  ablest 
artists  of  his  time ;  he  had  a  number  of  admirers,  and  a 
greater  demand  for  works  than  he  was  able  to  execute.  He 
had  the  honour  of  painting  the  portraits  of  the  czar  of 
Muscovy,  of  Frederick  I.  king  of  Prussia,  of  the  victorious 
duke  of  Marlborough,  as  well  as  of  many  of  the  princes  of 
Germany,  and  most  of  the  noblemen  who  attended  the 

1  Granger.— Lilly's  life  and  Times,  p.  40,  edit  1774.  •  ' 


B  O  O  N  E  N.  7§ 

(pear.  His  health  was  impaired  by  his  excessive  appUca* 
tioD,  and  be  died  rich  in  1729.^ 

BOOT,  or  BOETIUS  (Gerard),  of  a  noble  family,  was 
bom  at  Gorcum,  in  Holland,  in  1604.  After  taking  his 
degree  of  doctor  in  medicine,  be  came  to  England,  and  was 
in  such  estimation  for  his  skill  in  his  profession,  that  he 
was  made  physician  to  king  Charles  I.  On  the  death  of 
that  prince  be  settled  in  Dublin,  but  died  soon  after,  viz. 
in  1650.  In  16S0  he  published  "  Heures  de  Recreation,'' 
4to,  in  the  Dutch  language;  and  in  1640,  ^^  Philosophia 
Naturalis  reformata,"  which  are  not,  howerer,  much  esteem- 
ed. His  brother  Arnold,  likewise  a  ph3;sician,  was  well 
versed  in  the  Latin,  Greek,  Hebrew,  and  Syriac  languages. 
After  taking  his  degree  of  doctor  in  medicine,  he  came  also 
to  London  ;  but  on  the  breaking  out  of  the  troubles  here^ 
be  removed  to  Ireland,  where  be  practised  with  success 
and  reputation  for  some  years.  Tired  at  length  with  the 
hurry  aud  confusion  incident  to  civil  commotions,  and  hav- 
ing experienced  some  losses,  he  went  to  Pari#,  and  there 
passed  the  reminder  of  his  life  in  retirement  and  study. 
He  died  in  1653.  He  published,  in  1649,  ^^  Observationes 
Medicae  de  affectibus  a  veteribus  omissis,''  12mo.  Haller 
gives  a  particular  account  of  this  volume,  which  contains 
many  interesting  and  curious  observatit)os. ' 

BOORDE.     See  BORDE. 

BOOTH  (Abraham),  a  pious  and  popular  dissenting 
minister  of  the  Baptist  persuasion,  was  born  at  Black  well 
in  Derbyshire,  May  20,  1734,  of  poor  parents,  who  were 
unable  to  give  him  any  education.  He  spent  a  consi- 
derable part  of  his  youth  in  the  farming  business,  and  that 
of  the  stocking  frame,'  but  appears  to  have  during  this  time 
read  much,  and  at  length  began  to  preach  among  the  sect 
called  the  general  baptists,  throughout  the  towns  and  vil- 
lages in  his  neighbourhood.  In  his  twenty-third  year  he 
married ;  and  this  producing  a  numerous  family,  be  opened 
a  school  at  Sutton- Asb  field.  At  this  time  he  held  the 
doctrine  of  universal  redemption,  and  disliked  predestina- 
tion to  such  a  degree^ as  to  ridicule  it  in  a  poem  (of  which 
he  was  afterwards  ashamed),  but  he  now  changed  bis  sen- 
timents and  became  a  zealous  Calvinist  in  that  and  othei 
points  supposed  to  constitute  the  Calvinistic  system.    The 

4 

'■  Pilkingtoa. — Descamps,  vol.  IV. 

•  Haller,  Bibl.  Med. — Reel's  Cyclopaedia,— Moreri. 


/ 


80  BOOTH. 

consequence  of  this  change  was,  an  avowal  and  defence  of 
his  new  opinions  in  bis  first  publication,  *^  The  Reign  oi 
Grace,"  in  which  be  was  encouraged  by  the  late  rev.  Henry 
Venn,  vicar  of  Huddersfield,  who  wrote  a  recommendatory 
preface  to  it.  It  appeared  in  1768,  and  led  to  a  new  and 
important  aera  in  his  life,  being  so  much  approved  by  the 
congregation  of  particular  baptists  in  Prescot-street,  Good* 
man's  fields,  whose  pastor  was  just  dead,  that  they  invited 
Mr.  Booth  to  succeed  him.  This  invitation  he  accepted, 
and  in  Feb.  1769,  took  possession  of  bis  pulpit,  after  being 
regularly  ordained  for  the  first  time.  Here  he  appears  for 
some  years  to  have  spent  what  time  he  could  spare  from 
his  public  labours  in  laying  in  a  stock  of  knowledge ;  and 
although  he  always  lamented  the  want  of  a  regular  educa* 
lion,  his  proficiency,  and  the  extent  of  his  reading  were  so 
great  as  in  some  measure  to  redeem  his  time,  and  place 
him  on  a  footing,  both  as  a  scholar,  prwcher,  and  writer, 
with  the  ablest  of  his  bretbren.  He  knew  Greek  and 
Latin  usefully,  if  not  critically  :  the  Greek  Testament,  he 
went  through  nearly  fifty  times  by  the  simple  expedient 
of  reading  one  chapter  every  day.  General  science  and 
literature,  history,  civil  and  ecclesiastical,  he  investigalied 
with  acuteness  in  the  ablest  writers^  English,  French, 
Dutch,  and  Germany  and  his  works  show  that  he  particu* 
larly  excelled  in  a  knowledge  of  controvemal  divinity, 
and  of  those  arguments,  pro  and  con,  which  were  con- 
nected with  his  opinions^  as  a  baptist.  After  exercising 
his  ministry  in  Prescot- street  for  nearly  thirty-seven  years, 
he  died  Monday,  Jan,  27,  1806,  and  his  memory  was  ho* 
noured  by  a  tablet  and  inscription  in  his  meeting-house, 
recording  his  virtues  and  the  high  respect  his  congrega* 
tion  entertained  for  him.  Besides  the  work  already  men* 
tioned,  he  published,  1. '^  The  Death  of  Legal  Hope,  the 
Life  of  Evangelical  Obedience,''  1770,  12mo.  2.  "-The 
Deity  of  Jesus  Christ  essential  to  the  Christian  Religion,*' 
a  translation  from  Abbadie,  and  occasioned  by  the  sub* 
scription  controversy,  1770.  3.  "  An  Apology  for  the  Bap- 
tists— in  refusing  communion  at  the  Lord's  Table  to  Pse- 
dobaptists,''  1778.  4.  '^  Psedobaptism  examined,  on  the 
principles,  concessions,  and  reasonings  of  the  most  learned 
Pasdobaptists,''  1784,  and  enlarged  1787,  2  vols,  a  work 
which  his  sect  consider  as  unanswerable.  He  published 
also  some  lesser  tracts  and  occasional  sermons^^ 

1  £May  on  his  Life  and  Writings,  by  William  Jones^  1808,  Bvo, 


BOOTH.  81 

•    Booth  (BARraN),  a  celebrated  tragic  actor,  was  bora 
in  the  county  palatine  of  Lancaster,  1681:     At  the  age  of 
nine  jears  he  was  put  to  Westminster  school,  under  the 
tuition  of  the  famous  Dn  Busby,  where  he  soon  discovered 
an  excellent  genius  and  capacity.     He  had  a  peculiar  turn 
for  Latin  poetry,  and  had  fixed  many  of  th^  finest  passages 
of  the  antients  so  firmly  in  his  memory,  that  he  could 
repeat  them  with  such  propriety  of  emphasis,  and  grace-> 
fulness  of  action,  as  to  charm  every  body  who  heard  him. 
Thence  it  was^  that  when^  according  to  custom^  a  Latin 
play  was  to  be  acted,  one  of  the  first  parts  was  given  to 
young  Booth ;  who  performed  it  in  such  a  mahner  as  gained 
him  universal  applause^  and  particular  respect  from  the 
doctor;     This  first  gave  him  an  inclination  for  the  stage. 
His  father  intended  him  for  the  church :  but  when  Barton 
reached  the  age  of  seven teeii,  and  was  about  to  be  sent  to 
the  university,  he#tole  away  from  school,  and  went  over 
to  Ireland  in  1698,  with  Mr.  Ashbury,.  master  of  the  com-^- 
pany.     Here   he  was   soon  distinguished  greatly  by  his 
theatrical  abilities,    especially  in  tragedy^  for  which   he 
seemed  to  be  formed  by  nature ;  for  he  had  a  grave  coun- 
tenance and  a  good  person^  with  a  fine  voice  and  a  manly 
action.     When  he  had  been  three  seasons  in  Dublin,  in 
which  time  he  had  acquired  a  great  reputation^  he  resolved 
to  return  to  England;  which  )ie  accordingly  did  in  1701^ 
and  was  recommended  to  Mr.  Betterton^  who  behaved  to 
him  with  great  civility,,  and  took  him  into  bis  company. 
The  first  character  in  which  he  appeared  on   the  Eng-* 
hsh  stage,  was  that  of  Maximus,  in  the  tragedy  of  Va- 
lentinian ;  and  it  was  scarce  possible  for  a  young  actor  to 
meet  with  a  better  reception.     The  Ambitious  Stepmother 
coming  on  soon  after,  he  performed  the  part  of  Artaban, 
which  added  considerably  to  the  reputation   he  had  ac- 
quired, and  made  him  esteemed  one  of  the  first  actors. 
Nor  was  his  fame  less   in  all  the  succeeding  characters 
which  he  attempted ;  but  he  shone  with  greatest  lustre  in 
the  tragedy  of  Cato-,  which  was  brought  on  the  stage  in 
1712.     <' Although  Cato  (says  Mr.  Gibber)  seems  plainly 
written  upon  what  are  called  whig  principles,  yet  the 
tortes  at  that  time  had  sense  enough  ^ot  to  take  it  as  the 
least  reflection  on  their  administration;  but^  on  the  con- 
trary, seemed  to  brandish,  and  vaunt  their  approbation  of  - 
every  sentiment  in  favour  of  liberty,  which,  by  a  public 
act  of  their  ^  generosity^  was  carried  so  high,  tl^at  one  day 
Vql.  VL  Q 


S2         ^  BOOTH. 

while  the  play  was  acting,  they  collected   50  guineas  in 
the  boxes,  and  made  a  present  of  them  to  Booth,  with  this 
compliment — For  his  honest  opposition  to  a  perpetual  dic- 
tator, and  his  dying  so  bravely  in  the  cause  of  hberty.'* 
The  reputation  to  which  Booth  was  now  arrived  seemed  to 
entitle  him  to  a  share  in  the  management  of  the  theatre ; 
but  this  perhaps  his  merit  would  never  have  procured,  had 
it  not  been  through  the  favour  of  lord  Bolipgbroke,  who, 
in  1713,  recalling  all  former  licences,  procured  a  new  one, 
in    which  Booth's  name  was   added  to  those  of  Cibber, 
Wilks,  and  Dogget.     Dogget,  however,  was  so  much  of- 
fended at  this,  that  he  threw  up  his  share,  and  would  not 
accept  of  any  consideration  for  it ;  but  Cibber  tells  us,  he 
only  made  this  a  pretence,  and  that  the  true  reason  of  his 
quitting  was  his  dislike  to  Wilks,  whose  humour  was  be- 
come insupportable  to  him.     When  Booth  came  to  a  share 
in  the  management  of  the  house,  he  wA  in  the  thirty-third 
year  of  his  age,  and  in  the  highest  reputation  as  an  actor ; 
nor  did  his  fame  as  a  player  sink  by  degrees,  as  sometimes 
has  happened  to  those  who  have  been  most  applauded,  but 
increased  every  day  more  and  more.     The  health  of  Booth, 
however,  beginning  to  decline,  he  could  not  act  so  often 
as  usual ;  and  hence  became  more  evident  the  pubUc  fa-^ 
Tour  towards  him,  by  the  crowded  audiences  his  appear- 
ance drew,  when  the  intervals  of  his  distemper  permitted 
him  to  tread  the;  stage:  but  his  constitution  broke  now 
very  fest,  and  he  was  attacked  with  a  complication  of  dis<« 
tempers,  which  carried  him  off,  May  10,  1733. 

His  character  as  an  actor  has  been  celebrated  by  some 
of  the  best  judges.  Mr.  Aaron  Hill,  a  gentleman,  who  by 
the  share  he  had  in  the  management  of  the  play-house, 
could  not  but  have  suflEicient  opportunities  of  becoming 
well  acquainted  with  his  merit,  has  given  us  a  very  high 
character  of  him.  ^*  Two  advantages  (says  this  gentleman), 
distinguished  him  in  the  strongest  light  from  the  rest  of  his 
fraternity  ;  he  had  learning  to  understand  perfectly  wha(« 
ever  it  was  his  part  to  speak,  and  judgment  to  know  how 
far  it  agreed  or  disagreed  with  his  character.  Hence  arose 
a  peculiar  grace,  which  was  visible  to  every  spectator, 
though  few  were  at  the  puns  of  examining  into  the  cause 
of  their  pleasure.  He  could  soften,  and  slide  over  with  a 
kind  of  elegant  negligence,  the  improprieties  in  a  part  he 
acted ;  while,  on  the  contrary,  he  would  dwell  with  energy 
upon  the  beauties,  as  if  he  exerted  a  latent  spirit^  whichi 


fi  O  O  T^  m  8S 

had  been  kept  back  for  such  an  occasion,  that  he  might 
alarm,  awaken,  and  transport  in  those  places  only  where 
the  dignity  of  his  own  good  sense  could  be  supported  by 
that  of  his  author*    A  little  reHectiori  upon  this  remarkable 
quality  will  teach  u8  to  account  for  that  manifest  languor, 
which   has  sometimes   been   observed  in   his  action,  and 
which   was  generally,  though  I  think  falsely,  imputed,  to 
the  natural  indolence  of  his  temper.     For  the  same  reason, 
though  in  the  customary  rounds  of  his  business  he  would 
condescend  to  some  parts  in  comedy,  he  seldom  appeared 
in  any   of  them   with   much  advantage  to  his  character. 
The  passions  which  he  found  in  comedy  were  not  strong 
enough  to  excite  his  fire,  and  what  seemed  want  of  quali- 
fication, was  only  absence  of  impression.     He  had  a  talent 
at  discovering  thfe  passions,  where  'they  lay  hid  in  some 
celcibrated  parts,  b^the  injudicious  practice  of  other  actors^ 
which  when  he  hln  discovei^ed,  he  soon  grew  able  to  ex* 
press  :  and  his  secret  for  attaining  this  great  lesson  of  the 
theatre  was  an  adaption  of  his  look  to  his  voice,  by  which 
artful  imitation  of  nature,  the  variations  in  the  sound  of  his 
words  gave  propriety  to  every  change  in  his  countenance. 
So  that  it  was  Mr.  Booth's  peculiar  felicity  to  be  heard  an4 
seen  the  same-^whether  as  the  pleased,  the  grieved,  the 
pitying,  the  reproachful,  or  the  angry.  One  would  almost  be 
tempted  to  borrow  the  aid  of  a  very  bold  figure,  and,  to  ex- 
press this  excellence  the  more  significantly,  beg  permission 
to  affirm,  that  the  blind  might  have  seen  him  ifi  his  voice, 
and  the  deaf  have  heard  him  in  his  visage.     His  gesture^ 
or^  as  it  is  commonly  called,  his  action,  was  but  the  result 
and  necessary  consequence  of  his  dominion  over  his  voice 
and  countenance;    for  having,  by  a  concurrence  of  twa 
such  causes,  impressed  his  imagination  with  such  a  stamp 
and   spirit  of  passion,  he  ever  obeyed  the  impulse  by  a 
kind  of  natural  dependency,  and  relaxed  or  braced  sue-* 
cessively  into  all  that  fine  expressiveness,  with  which  he 
painted  -What  he  spoke  without  restraint  or  affectation.'' 

Mr.  Cibber  has  also  taken  particular  notice  of  Booth, 
nor  has  he  omitted  either  his  excellencies  or  defects :  this 
Writer,  speaking  of  Wilks  and  him^  says,  **  they  were  ac- 
tors so  opposite  in  their  manner,  that  if  either  of  them 
could  have  borrowed  a  little  of  the  other's  fault,  they 
would  both  have  been  improved  by  it.  If  Wilks  had  some- 
times too  great  a  vivacity,  Booth  as  often  contented  him- 
^If  t?ith  too  grave  a  dignity.     The  latter  seemed  too 

G  2 


84  BOOTH. 

much  to  heave  up  his  words,  as  the  other  to  dart  them  ta 
the   ear  with  too  quick  and  sharp  a  vehemence.     Thu^ 
Wiiks  would  too  frequently  break  into  the  time  and  mea- 
sure of  the  harmony  by  too  many  spirited  accents  in  one 
line  ;  and  Booth,  by  too  solemn  a  regard  to  harmony,  would 
as  often  lose  the  necessary  spirit  of  it :  so  that  (as  I  have 
observed)    could  we   have  sometimes  raised  the  one  and 
sunk  the  other,    they  had  both   been   nearer  the   mark. 
Yet  this  could  not  be  always  objected   to  them  ;  they  had 
their  intervals  of  unexceptionable  excellence,  that  more 
than  balanced  their  errors.     The  master-piece  of  Bootti 
was  Othello ;  then  he  was  most  in  character,  and  seemed 
not  more  to  sinimate  and  please  himself  in  it  than  his  spec- 
tators.    It  is  true  he  owed  his  last. and  highest  advance- 
ment to  his  acting  Cato  ;  but  it  was  the  novelty  and  critical 
appearance  of  that  character,  that  chiofly  swelled  the  tor- 
rent of  his  applause ;  for,  let  the  sentiments  of  a  declaim- 
.    ing  patriot  have  all  the  sublimity  of  poetry,  and  let  them 
be  delivered  with  all  the  utmost  grace  and  elocution,  yet 
this  is  but  one  light  wherein  the  excellence  of  an  actor 
can  shine ;  but  in  Othello  we  may  see  him  in  the  variety 
of  nature.     In  Othello,  therefore,  I  may  safely  aver,  that 
Booth  shewed  himself  thrice  the  actor  that  he  could  in 
Cato,  and  yet  his  merit  in  acting  Cato  need  not  be  di- 
minished by  this  comparison.     Wilks  often  regretted,  that 
in  tragedy  he  had  not  the  full  and  strong  voice  of  Booth, 
to  command  and  grace  his  periods  with.     But  Booth  used 
to   say,  that  if  his  ear  had  been  equal  to  it,  Wilks  had 
voice  enough  to  have  shewn  himself  a  much  better  trage- 
dian.    Now,  though  there  might  be  some  truth  in  this,  yet 
these  two  actors  were  of  so  mixed  a  merit,  that  even  in 
tragedy  the  superiority  was  not  always  on  the  same  side. 
In  sorrow,  tenderness,  or  resignation,  Wilks  plainly  had 
the  advantage,  and  seemed  more  pathetically  to  feel,  look, 
and  express  his  calamity.    But  in  the  more  turbulent  trails 
sports  of  the  heart.  Booth  again  bore  the  palm,  and  left 
all  competitors  behind  him.'* 

Besides  his  professional  merit.  Booth  was  a  man  of  let- 
ters, and  an  author  in  more  languages  than  one.  He  had 
a  taste  for  poetry,  which  discovered  itself  when  he  was 
very  young,  in  translations  from  several  Odes  of  Horace; 
and  in  his  riper  years,  he  wrote  several  songs  and  other 
original  poems,  which  were  very  far  from  injuring  his  re- 
putation.   He  was  also  the  author  of  a  mask  or  dramatic 


BOOTH.  85 

entertainment  called  "  D\do  and  ^neas/*  that  was  very 
well  received  upon  the  stage ;  but  his  best  performance 
was  a  Latin  inscription  to  the  memory  of  a  celebrated 
actor,  Mr.  William  Smith,  one  of  the  greatest  men  of  his 
profession,  and  of  whom  Mr.  Booth  always  spoke  in  rap- 
tures. This  short  elogy  has  much  strength,  beauty,  and 
elegance.  In  his  private  life  he  had  many  virtues,  r  id 
few  of  the  failings  so  common  to  his  profession.  He  had 
no  envy  in  bis  composition,  but  readily  approved,  and  as 
readily  rewarded,  merit,  as  it  was  in  his  power.  He  was 
something  rough  in  his  manner,  and  a  little  hasty  in  his 
temper,  but  very  open  and  free  to  speak  his  sentiments, 
which  he  always  did  with  an  air  of  sincerity,  that  procured 
him  as  much  credit  with  people  at  first  sight,  as  he  had 
with  those  to  whom  he  had  been  long  known.  He  was 
kind  to  all  the  players  whose  circumstances  were  indifferent, 
and  took  care  not  to  make  them  uneasy,  either  in  point  of 
salary  or  of  usage.  He  was  no  great  speaker  in  company, 
but  when  he  did,  it  was  in  a  grave  lofty  way,  not  unlike 
his  pronunciation  on  the  stage.  He  had  a  great  venera- 
tion for  his  parents  while  they  were  living,  and  was  also 
very  useful  to  his  brother  and  sister  after  their  decease^ 
Booth  was  twice  married;  first  in  1704,  to  Miss  Frances 
Barkljam,  daughter  of  sir  William  Barkham,  of  Norfolk, 
hart,  who  died  in  1710,  without  issue;  and  secondly,  to 
Mrs.  Santlowe,  an  actress,  who  survived  him  forty  years, 
and  in  1772,  erected  a  monument  to  his  memory  in  West- 
fninster  abbey.  In  1737  she  married  Mr.  Goody er,  a 
gentleman  of  fortune  in  Essex. ' 

BOOTH  (George),  Lord  Delamer,  the  son  of  Wijliam 
Booth,  esq.  and  grandson  of  sir  George  Booth,  bart.  ren-!- 
dered  himself  remarkable  by  heading  an  insurrection  in 
Cheshire,  about  a  year  after  the  death  of  Oliver  CromwelU 
He  received  a  commission  from  king  Charles  II.  under  hisf 
signet  and  sign-manual,  bearing  da^e  July  22,  1659,  by 
which  he  was  constituted  commander  in  chief  of  all  forces 
to  be  raised  for  l^is  ipajesty's  service  in  Cheshire,  Lan^ 
cashire,^  and  North  AVales.  A  duplicate  of  this  was  dated 
at  Brussels,  Aug.  9,  the  same  year,  but  .sir  George  did 
not.  opeiijy  profess  to  act  by  the  king's  authority,  or  with 
a  view  tp  his  restoration,  but  only  in  opposition  to  the 

'  ^  fiiog.  5rit. — ^Biog.  Dram. — Cibber»8  Lives. — Life  by  Theophilus  Cibber, 
•1*753,  Svo.^Viotor'B  Works,  vol  L  p.  79,  96,  316.-i-Bowle8*8  edit,  of  Pope'g 
IfTorks^-rr^ent,  Ma^.  vol.  VII.  y,  252,  • 


86  BOOTH. 

tyranny  of  the  parliament.  He  assembled  about  four  thouv 
sand  men,  took  possession  of  Chester,  and  was  joined  by 
the  earl  of  Derby,  sir  Thomas  Middleton,  and  major  Brook, 
But  the  parliamentary  forces  pursued  sir  George  and  h\% 
adherents  so  closely,  that  they  could  not  avoid  coming  to 
an  action ;  and,  after  a  sharp  cpntest,  on  the  1 9th  of  Aur 
gust,  1659,  Lambert  totally  routed  sir  George  Booth** 
troops,  pursiied  them  a*  considerable  way,  and  killed  and 
took  many  of  them.  Ludlow  informs  us,  that  "  Sir  George 
Booth,  after  his  defeat,  put  himself  into  a  woman^s  habit, 
and  with  two  servants  hoped  to  escape  to  London,  riding 
behind  one  of  them.  The  single  horseman  going  before, 
went  to  an  inn  on  the  road ;  and,  as  he  had  been  ordered, 
bespoke  a  supper  for  his  mistress,  who,  he  said,  was 
coming  afterK  The  pretended  mistress  being  arrived, 
either  by  alighting  from  the  horse,  or  some  other  action, 
raised  a  suspicion  in  %he  master  of  the  house,  that  there 
was  som^  mystery  under  that  dress.  And  thereupon  rer 
solving  to  make  a  full  inquiry  into  the  matter,  he  got  tOr 
gether  some  of  his  neighbours  to  assist  him,  and  with  thei^t 
entered  the  rooip  where  th6  pretended  lady  was.  But  sir 
George  Booth  suspecting  their  intentions,  and  being  un-» 
willing  to  put  them  to  the  trouble  of  a  farther  search,  dis- 
covered himserf.  Whereupon  they  took  him  into  their 
custody,  "and  sent  him  up  to  London,  where  the  parlia-' 
ment  committed  him  prisoner  to  the  Tower."  Sir  George 
made  applications  to  many  of  the  parliament  and  council, 
by  his  friends,  for  favour;  was  examined  by  Has^lrig  and 
Vane,  who  referred  his  examination  to  the  council  of  state; 
and  applications  were  made  from  the  lord  Say,  and  others, 
to  save  his  life. 

He  was  afterwards  set  at  liberty,  upon  giving  bail ;  and 
being  member  of  parliament  for  Chester,  he  was  the  first 
of  the  twelve  members  sent  by  the  house  of  commons,  in 
May  1660,  to  carry  to  king  Charles  IL  the  answer  of  that 
house  to  his  majesty's  letter,  as  appears  by  tde  journals  of 
the  house  of  commons,  May  7,  1660.  And  on  the  I3th  of 
July  following,  the  house  of  commons  ordered,  that  the 
sum  of  ten  thousand  pounds  should  be  conferred  on  him, 
as  a  mark  of  respect  for  his  eminent  services,  and  great 
suflFerings  for  the  public.  In  this  resolution  the  lords  after- 
wards concurred.  '  It  appears,  that  the  first  motion  was  ^r 
twenty  thousand  pounds,  which  the  house  of  commont 
was  about  to  agree  tb,  had  not  sir  George  Booth  himself. 


BOOTH.  ?7 

in  hl^  place,  requested  of  the  house,  that  it  might  be  no 
more  than  ten ;  declaring,  that  what  he  had  done  was 
purely  with  intention  of  serving  his  king^nd  country,  as 
became  him  in  duty  to  do,  without  view  of  any  reward. 
After  the  restoration,  his  services  were  also  considered  as 
so  meritorious,  that  the  king  gave  him  liberty  to  propose 
six  gentlemen  to  receive  the  honour  of  knighthood,  and 
two  others  to  have  the  dignity  of  baronet  conferred  on 
them.  He  was  also  himself  created  baron  Delamer  of  Dun* 
bam-Massey  ;  and  on  the  30th  of  July,  16'60,  he  was  ap- 
pointed custos  rotulorum  for  the  county  of  Cheshire,  but 
on  the  30th  of  May,  1673,  he  resigned  this  office  to 
Henry,  his  son  and  heir.  "  After  this,"  says  Collins,  "  he 
not  being  studious  to  please  the  court  in  those  measures 
which  were  taken  in  some  parts  of  that  reigp,  both  he  and 
his  family  were  soon  afterwards  disregarded  by  the  king, 
and  ill  used  by  his  successor  king  James  the  Second."  His 
lordship  died  at  Dunham- Massey,  in  the  63d  year  of  his 
age,  on  the  8th  of  August,  1684,  and  was  buried  in  a  very 
splendid  manner  at  Bowdon,  in  the  burial-vault  of  the 
family.  He  was  twice  married  :  his  first  wife  was  the  lady 
Catherine  Clinton,  daughter  and  co-heir  to  Theophilus 
earl  of  Lincoln,  who  died  in  child-bed  in  1643,  by  whom 
he  had  issue  one  daughter,  Vere,  who  died  unmarried  at 
Canonbury-house,  in  1717,  in  th^  seventy-fourth  year  of 
her  age,  and  was  buried  in  Islington  church.  His  second 
wife  was  the  lady  Elizabeth  Grey,  eldest  daughter  of 
Henry  earl  of  Stamford,  by  whom  he  had  issue  seven  sons 
Itnd  five  daughters.  His  eldest  son,  William,  died  youngs 
and  he  was  succeeded  in  his  honours  and  estate  by  his  se- 
cond son,  Henry,  who  is  the  subject  of  the  following 
article.  * 

300TH  (Henry),  earl  of  Warrington,  and  baron  Dcr 
lamer  of  Dunham  Massey,  an  upright  senator  and  distin- 
guished  patriot,  was  born  on  the  l3th  of  January,  1651« 
He  was  the  second  son  of  the  preceding  George  lord  De- 
lamer, by  the  lady  Elizabeth  Grey.  In  the  life-time  of 
his  father,  he  was  custos  rotulorum  for  the  county  palatine 
of  Chester,  and  also  knight  of  the  shire  for  that  county,  in 
several  psirliaments  during  the  feign  of  king  Charles  the 
Second.  He  very  early  rendered  himself  conspicuous  by 
his  zeal  for  the  protestant  religion,  and  the  liberties  of  his 

>  Biog.  BriU 


8S  BOOT  H. 

country.  When  the  bill  for  eKcluding  the  duke  of  York 
from  the  throne  was  brought  into  parliament^  Mr.  Booth, 
was  very  active  in  the  promotion  of  it,  and  also  made  a 
spirited  speech  in  support  of  the  necessity  of  frequent  par-* 
liaments,  and  against  governing  by  favourites  ;  and  he  op^ 
posed,  with  a  becoming  spirit,  the  unjust  and  arbitrary 
power  assumed  by  the  privy  council,  of  imprisoning  men 
contrary  to  law. 

As  he  was  solicitous  for  frequent  parliaments,  so  he  was 
also  anxious  that  they  should  be  preserved  incorrupt.  >  He 
was,  therefore,  desirous  of  procuring  an  act  for  the  punish* 
ment  of  those  who  had  received  bribes  from  the  court,  as 
members  of  that  parliament  which  was  styled  the  pension* 
parliament.  He  proposed,  that  a,  bill  should  be  brought 
in,  by  which  these  prostituted  senators  should  be  rendered 
incapable  of  serving  in  parliament  for  the  future,  or  of 
enjoying  any  office,  civil  or  military ;  and  that  they  shouU 
be  obliged,  as  far  as  they  were  able,  to  refund  all  the  money 
that  they  had  received  for  secret  services  to  the  crown. 

He  made  likewise  a  speech  in  parliament  against  the 
corruption  of  the  judges,  in  which  be  affirmed,  that,  in  a 
variety  of  cases,  they  bad  sold,  denied,  or  delayed  justice. 
**  Our  Judges,'*  said  he,  "  have  been  very  corrupt  and 
)ordly,  taking  bribes,  and  threatening  juries  and  evidenced; 
perverting  the  law  to  the  highest  degree,  turning  the  law 
upside  down,  that  arbitrary  power  may  come  in  upon  their 
shoulders."  He  therefore  recommended,  that  an  inquiry 
should  be  made  into  their  conduct,  and  that  such  of  them 
as  were  found  guilty  might  receive  the  punishment  they 
merited. 

Mr.  Booth  was  also  extremely  zealous  against  the  pa-^ 
pists ;  and  this  circumstance,  together  with  the  vigorous 
opposition  that  he  made  in  parliament  to  the  arbitrary 
measures  of  the  court,  occasioned  him  to  be  put  out  of  the 
commission  of  the  peace,  and  removed  from  the  office  of 
custos  rotulorum  of  the  county  of  Chester,  In  1684,  by 
the  death  of  his  father,  be  became  lord  Delamer ;  but 
about  this  time  he  was  committed  close  prisoner  to  the 
Tower  of  London.  The  pretence  probably,  was,  that  he 
was  suspected  of  being  coocerned  in  some  practices  against 
the  crown ;  but  we  have  met  with  no  particular  accoi^nt  of 
the  accusation  against  him  :  and  as  no  parliament  w%$,  tbeu 
sitting,  it  may  be  presumed,  that  less  attention  was  paid 
to  any  illegality  in  the  proceedings  respecting  himt«     He 


BOOTH.  8» 

0 

was,  however,  set  at  liberty,  after  a  fevr  months  imprison-^ 
meiit.     But  soon  after  the  accession  of  king  James  IL  he 
was  again  committed  prisoner  to  the  Tower.     After  being 
confined  for  some  time,  he  was  admitted  to  bail;  but  was, 
shortly  after,  a  third  time  committed  to  the  Tower.     This 
was  on  the  26th  of  July,  1685 ;  and  a  parliament  being 
assembled  in  the  November  following,  on  the  first  day  of 
the  session  he  stated  his  case  in  a  petition  to  the  house  of 
peers.     He  represented  to  their  lordships,  that  the  king, 
by  his  proclamation,  had  required  him  to  appear  before 
him  in  council  within  ten  days.     He  had  accordingly  sur<» 
rendered  himself  to  lord  Sunderland,  then  principal  secre- 
tary of  state  ;  and  being  brought  before  his  majesty,  then 
sitting  in  council,  he  was  neither  confronted  by  any  per- 
son who  accused  him,  nor  otherwise  charged  with  any 
kind  of  treason,  but  only  questioned  about  some  inferior 
matters,  and  which  were  of  such  a  nature,  that,  if  he  had 
i>een  really  guilty  of  them,  he  ought  by  law  to  have  been 
admitted  to  bail :    notwithstanding  which,   he  had  been 
committed  close  prisoner  to  the  Tower,  by  a  warrant  from 
the  secretary  of  state,  in  which  he  was  charged  with  high 
treason.    After  some  debate,  it  was  resolved,  that  the  lords 
.Mth  white  staves  should  wait  upon  his  majesty,  ^^  to  know 
.the  reason  why  the  lord  Delamer,  a  member  of  their  house^ 
was  absent  from  his  attendance  there."     The  day  follow- 
ing, the  earl  of  Rochester,  lord  treasurer,  reported  to  the 
•house,  ^^That  he,  with  the  other  lords,  having  waited  on 
.  his  majesty  with  their  message,  his  majesty  was  pleased  to 
answer.  That  ^he  lord  Delamer  stood  committed  for  high 
treason,    testified  upon  oath;   and  that  his  majesty  had 
already  given  directions,    that  he.  should  be  proceeded 
r  gainst  according  to  law." 
.  After  the  parliament  was  broken  up,  lord  Delamer  was 
)>rought  to  his  trial,  before  a  select  number  of  the  peers, 
pn  the  14th  of  January,  1685-6.     The  peers  who  tried 
him  were,  the  dukes  of  Norfolk,  Somerset,  Beaufort,  and 
jGrafton;  the  earls  of  Rochester,  Sunderland,  Mulgrave, 
Oxford,     Shrewsbury,    Uuutingdop,    Pembroke,    Bridg- 
water,    Peter|)orough,    Scarsdale,    Craven,     Feversham, 
JBerk($ley»  Npttingbam,  and  Plymouth  ;  the  viscounts  Fal- 
conberg  and  Newport ;  and  the  lords  Ferrers,  Cromwell, 
.  Maynard,  Dartmouth,   Godolphin,  and  Churchill.     Jef- 
feries,    then  lord  chaucellor,    was  appointed   lord   high 
Meward  on  the  occasion.    He  was  known  to  be  a  personal 


90  BOOTH. 

enemy  of  lord  Delamer,  who  bad  arraigned  in  parliament 
the  conduct  of  Jefferies  as  chief  justice  of  Chester.  Lord 
Delamer,  after  the  indictment  against  him  was  read,  ob- 
jected against  the  jurisdiction  of  the  court ;  alleging,  that 
be  ought  no(  to  be  tried  by  a  select  number  of  the  peers, 
but  by  the  whole  body  of  the  house  of  peers  in  parliament, 
because  the  parliament  was  then  only  under  a  prorogation, 
and  not  dissolved.  But  HU  plea  was  overruled.  In  Jef^ 
feries^s  charge  to  the  peers,  previous  to  tbe  opening  of  the 
evidence  against  lord  Delamer,  he  threw  Out  some  hints 
relative  to  me  share  his  lordship  had  in  promoting  the  bill 
p{  exclusion,  and  introduced  an  eulogium  on  the  conduct 
pf  king  James  the  Second,  Tbe  only  positive  evidence 
against  lord  Delamer  was  one  Thomas  Saxon,  a  man  of  a 
very  bad  character,  and  who  in  the  course  of  the  trial  was 
proved  to  be  perjured.  Jefferies  maintained,  that  there 
was  no  necessity,  in  point  of  law,  that  there  should  be  two 
positiye  witnesses  to  convict  a  man  of  treason ;  and  that 
where  there  was  only  one  positive  witness,  additional  cir- 
cumstances might  supply  tbe  place  of  a  second.  Lord 
pelamer  made  a  very  able  defence ;  and  by  tbe  lords  who 
were  appointed  to  try  him  he  was  unanimously  acquitted. 

After  this  he  lived  for  some  time  in  a  retired  manner, 
^t  his  seat  at  Dunham-M assey  ;  but  matters  being  at  length 
ripe  for  the  revolution,  he  exerted  himself  in  the  promo- 
tion of  that  great  event.  Upon  the  prince  of  Grangers 
landing,  he  raised>  in  a  very  few  days,  a  great  force  in^ 
Cheshire  and  Lancashire,  with  which  he  marched  to  join 
that  prince.  On  his  first  appearance  in  arms,  besides  as- 
signing other  reasons  for  his  conduct,  he  is  said  to  have 
snade  this  declaration  :  ^M  am  of  opinion,'  that  when  the 
nation  is  delivered,  it  must  be  by  force,  or  miracle :  it 
would  be  a  great  presumption  to  expect  tbe  latter;  and, 
therefore,  our  deliverance  must  be  by  force  ;  and  I  hope 
this  is  tbs  time  for  it."  After  he  bad  joined  the  prince, 
be  was  sent  by  his  highness,  together  with  the  marquis  of 
Halifax,  and  the  earl  of  Shrewsbury,  on  the  17th  of  De- 
cember, 1688,  with  a  message  to  king  James,  intimating 
to  him,  that  he  must  remove  from  Whitehall.  Lord  Dela« 
mer,  though  little  attached  to  that  prince  in  his  prosperity^ 
was  too  generous  to  insult  him  in  his  distress ;  and  ^ere^- 
fore,  on  this  occasion,  treated  him  with  respect.  And 
James  wais  so  sensible  of  this  instance  of  bis  lordship^s  civi- 
lity to  him,  that,  after  his  retirement  into  France,  be  said, 


BO  O  T  H-  9i- 

that  **  the  lord  Pelamer,  whom  be  had  used  ill,  bad  then' 
treated  him  with  much  more  regard  than  the  other  two 
lords,  to  whom  he  had  been  ki^ndi  and  from  whom  he 
might  better  have  expected  it.** 

Lord  Deiamer,  however,  had  no  inclination  that  an  ac- 
commodation should  take  place  between  king  James  and 
the  nation.  For  in  a  debate  in  the  house  of  peers,  the 
31st  of  January,  1688-9,  relative  to  declaring  the  thronef 
vacant,  lord  Delanier  said,  that  ^^  it  was  Ipng  since  he 
thought  himself  absolved  from  his  allegiance  to  king  James; 
that  he  owed  him  none,  and  never  would  pay  him  any; 
and,  if  king  James  came  again,  he  was  resolved  to  fight 
against  him,  and  would  die  single  with  his  sword  in  his 
band,  rather  than  pay  him  any  obedience.**  It  is  inti- 
mated by  sir  John  Dalrymple,  that  lord  Delamer  was  not 
sufficiently  ei^peditious  in'  joining  the  prince  of  Orange 
when  be  first  landed  in  England ;  and  that  gentleman 
affirms,  that  this  was  never  forgiven  by  king  William  :  but' 
this^is  an  assertion  unsupported  by  any  proper  evidence; 
It  is  certain,  that  his  services  in  the  promotion  of  the  revo- 
lution were  thought  so  meritorious  at  that  period,  that  on- 
the  13th  of  February,  1688-9.  he  was  sworn  a  privy  coun- 
sellor; on  the  9th  of  April  following,  he  was  appointed 
chancellor  and  under  treasurer  of  the  exchequer;  en  the 
12th  of  the  same  montb>  made  lor4*lieutenant  of  the  city 
and  county  of  Chester;  and  on  the  19th  of  July  made 
custos  rotulorum  of  the  same  county.  These  last  offices^ 
together  with  that  of  privy  counsellor,  he  enjoyed  for  life  : 
but  he  continued  in  the  others  only  for  about  a  year.  The 
reason  appears  to  have  been,  that  lord  Delamer  seems  tp 
have  wished  for  more  retrenchments  of  the  regal  preroga- 
tive, than  were  made  at  the  revolution.  That  he  was  de- 
sirous of  some  new  limitations  of  the  prerogative,  is  evi- 
dent from  a  protest  signed  by  him,  relative  to  a  clause 
proposed  to  be  added  to  the  bill  of  rights.  He  also  signed ' 
a  protest  respecting  an  amendment  to  the  bill  for  recog- 
nizing king  William  and  queen  Mary. 

Though  lord  Delamer  was  removed  from  the  administra- 
tion, it  was  thought  necessary  to  confer  on  hini  some  mark 
of  royal  favour.  Accordingly,  by  letters-patent,  bearing 
date  at  Westminster,  April  17,  1690,  he  was  created  ean 
of  Warrington,  in  the  county  of  Lancaster,  to  continue  to 
him  and  the  heirs-male  of  his  body.  *  A  peniiion  likewise  of 
two  thousand  pounds  per  annum  was  granted  to  himi  for 


92  BOOTH. 

the  better  support  of  that  dignity.  And  it  was  said,  in  the 
preamble  of  the  patent  for  bis  earldom,  that  it'  was  con- 
ferred on  him,  *^  for  his  great  services  in  raising  and  bring- 
ing great  forces  to  his  majesty,  to  rescue  his  country  and 
religion  from  tyranny  and  popery."  On  the  3d  of  January, 
1692*3,  the  earl  of  Warrington  signed  a  protest  against 
the  rejection  of  the  bill  for  incapacitating  persons  in  office 
under  the  crown,  either  civil  or  military,  from  sitting  in' 
the  house  of  commons.  Two  other  protests  were  also 
signed  by  him  on  different  occasions.  But  this  patriotic 
peer  did  not  live  long  to  enjoy  his  new  dignity  ;  for  he 
died  at  London  on  the  2d  of  January,  1693-4,  having  not 
quite  completed  the  forty -second  year  of  his  age.  He  was 
interred  in  the  family-vault  in  Bowdon  church,  in  the 
county  oi  Chester,  on  the  14th  of  the  same  month.  Mr. 
Grander  says,  that  lord  Delamer  was  "a  man  of  a  gene- 
rous and  noble  nature,  which  disdained,  upon  any  terms, 
to  submit  to  servitude;  and  whose  passions  seemed  to 
centre  in  the  love  of  civil  and  religious  liberty.'*  In  every 
part  of  his  life,  indeed,  he  appears  to  have  been  actuated 
by  the  same  principles;  and  in  his  ^^  Advice  to  his  Chil- 
dren," printed  in  his  works,  he  says,  "There  never  yet 
was  any  good  man  who  had  not  an  ardent  zeal  for  his 
country.**  He  was  not  only  illustriously  distinguished  by 
his  public  spirit,  and  his  noble  ardour  in  defence  of  the 
liberties  of  his  country ;  but  in  his  private  life  he  appears 
to  have  been  a  man  of  strict  piety,  and  of  great  worth,  ha- 
nour,  and  humanity.  He  married  Mary,  sole  daughter 
and  heiress  to  sir  James  Langham,  of  Cottesbrooke,  in  the 
county  of  Northampton,  knight  and  baronet,  by  whom  be 
had  four  sons,  and  two  daughters.  His  first  son  died  an 
infant,  and  his  second  son,  George,  upon  the  death  of  his 
father,  became  earl  of  Warrington.  He  died  on  the  2d 
of  August,  1758,  and  leaving  no  heirs  male,  the  earldom 
became  extinct,  but  was  revived  in  his  daughter's  husband. 

The  works  of  Henry  earl  of  Warrington,  the  subject  of 
this  article,  were  published  in  1694,  in  one  volume  8v6. 
They  consist  chiefly  of  speeches  made  by  him  in  parlia- 
ment, prayers  used  by  his  lordship  in  his  family,  some 
short  political  tracts,  and  the  case  of  William  earl  of  De- 
vonshire. He  published  also,  ^^  The  late  lord  R^ssePs 
case,  with  observations  upon  it,'*  1689,  fol. 

The  son  of  the  preceding,  who,  we  have  just  mentioned, 
died  in  1758,  has  obtained  a  place  among  the  royal  and 


BOOT  tt:  9$ 

noble  authors/'for  faavirtg  published,  but  without  bis  name, 
"  Considerations  upon  the  institution  of  Marriage,  with 
some  thoughts  concerning  the  force  and  obligation  of  the 
marriage  contract;  wherein  is  consiidered,  how  £ar  divorces 
may  or  ought  to  be  allowed.  By  a  gentleman.  Humbly 
submitted  to  the  judgment  of  the^ impartial,"  Lond.  print- 
ed for  John  Whiston,  1739.  It  is  an  argument  for  di* 
vorte  on  disagreement  of  temper,  which  was  the  aim  of 
Milton  in  his  **  Tetrachordon,"  and  would,  if  we  may  con- 
jecture from  the  effects  of  the  experiment  in  a  neighbour- 
ing nation,  create  more  dissoluteness  and  misery  than  it 
was  intended  to  remove.  He  also  wrote  a  letter  to  the 
writer  of  the  "  Present  state  of  the  Republic  of  Letters"  in 
August  1734,  vindicating  his  father  from  some  reflections 
cast  on  him  in  Burnett's  **  History  of  his  own  times." 
His  only  daughter  married  Henry  earl  of  Stamford,  in 
whose  son,  the  title  of  Earl  of  Warrington  was  revived  in 
1796.* 

BOQUINE   (Peter),  9r   BOQUINUS,  a  French  di- 
vine, and  one  of  the  contributors  to  the  reformation,  was 
born  in  Aquitaihe,  and  educated  in  a  monastery  at  Bourges, 
of  which  be  became  prior,  and  in  high  estimation  with  his 
brethren.     Having,  however,  perused  some  of  the  writings 
of  Luther,  Bucer,  &c.  he  imbibed  their  sentiments,  and 
went  to  Wittemberg,  where  he  became  acquainted  with 
Luther  and  Melancthon,  and  at  Basil  he  attended  the  lec- 
tures  of  Myconius,  Carlostadt,  v  and  Sebastian   Muncer. 
Melancthon  aftervpards  recommended  him  as  a  proper  per- 
son to  supply  Calvin's  place  at  Strasburgh,  who  had  gone 
back  to  Geneva ;  and  there  he  gave  lectures  on  the  epistle 
to    the  Galatians,  and   soon  after  had  for  his  coadjutor 
Peter  Martyr.     Boquine  being  at  some  distance  of  tim^e 
invited  by  his  brother,  who  was  a  doctor  in  divinity,  and 
not  an  enemy  to  the  reformation,  removed  to  Bourges,  iu 
hopes  that  the  French  churches  were  friendly  to  his  doc- 
trine, and  there  he  publicly  read  and  expounded  the  He- 
brew Bible.     About  this  time,  Francis,  king  of  France, 
bj6ing  dead,  the  queen  of  Navarre  came  to  Bourges,  when 
Boquine  presented  her  with  a  book  he  had  written  on  the 
necessity  and  use  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  which  she  re- 
ceived very  graciously,  allowed  him  a  yearly  stipend  out 

1  Biojf.  Brit.— Park's  edit,  of  Walpok's  Royal  and  Noble  Authors;  vol.  IIU 
•ad  IV. 


»4  B  0  Q.  U  I  N  E* 

of  her  tresLsllry^  and  appointed  him  to  preadb  a  public  I^ci^ 
tiire  in  the  great  church  of  Bourges^  with  the  consent  of 
the  archbishop.  He  remained  in  like  favour  with  her  sue- 
cessor,  king  Henry's  sister;  but  the  enemies  of  the  re- 
formation threatening  his  life>  he  was  obliged  to  desistt 
irom  his  labours,  and  went  back  to  Strasburgh,  where  he 
was  appointed  pastor  to  the. French  churcbi  This  office^ 
however,  he  filled  only  about  four  months^  and  in  1557 
went  into  Heidelberg,  at  the  invltattion  of  Otho  Henry^ 
prince  elector  Palatine,  who  was  carrying  on  the  reforma- 
tion in  his  churches.  Here  he  was  appointed  professor  of 
divinity,  and  continued  in  this  office  about  twenty  years, 
under  Otho  and  Frederic  HL  After  the  death  of  the  lat- 
ter in  1576,  the  popish  party  again  prevailing,  drove  him 
and  the  rest  of  the  reformed  clergy  firom  the  place,  but 
almost  immediately  be  was  invited  to  Lausanne^  where  he 
remained  until  his  death  in  1582.  He  left  various  works^ 
the  dates  of  which  his  biographers  have  not  given,  except 
the  following  *f  Oratie  in  'obitum  Frederici  IIL  Comit* 
Palatini,"  Leyden,  1577,  4to;  but  their  titlesare,  I.  "  De- 
fensio  ad  calumnias  Doctoris  cujusdam  Avii  in  Evangelii 
professores.**  2.  "  Examen  libri  quern  Heshusius  in- 
scripsit  de  prsesentia  corporis  Christi  in  cceua  Domini.^ 
3.  "  Theses  in  coena  Domini."  4.  "  Exegesis  dtvinaft 
communicationis."  5.  "  Adsertio  veteris,  ac  veri  Chris* 
tianismi  adversus  novum  et  ficttim  Jesuitismum."  This 
appears  to  have  been  one  of  his  ablest  works,  and  was 
translated  into  English  under  the  title,  "  A  defence  of  the 
old  and  true  profession  of  Christianitie  against  the  new 
counterfeite  sect  of  Jesuites,  by  Peter  Boquine,  translated 
by  T.  G."  London,  1581,  8vo,  by  John  Wolf,  city  printer. 
6.  ^^  Notatio  prsecipuarum  causarum  diuturnitatis  contro* 
versiae  de  cosna  Domini,"  &c.  * 

BORBONIUS.     See  BOUBJBON. 

BORCHT,  or  BORGT  (Henry  Vander,)  a  paititer, 
engraver,  and  antiquary,  was  born  at  Brussels  in  1583,  but 
when  in  his  third  year,  the  war  obliged  hi^  parents  to  re« 
move  into  Germany.  From  his  earliest  years  he  discovered 
a  taste  for  painting,\  which  induced  his  father  to  place  him 
und^r  Giles  Van  Valkenberg.  He  afterwards  studied  in 
Italy^  and  travelling  over  Germany,  settleci  first  at  Fi^anhen* 
dal^  and  in  1627  at  Francfort  on^he  Maine.     His  paint*' 

'  Melchior  Adam  d«  Yitis  Theolog. — ^Freberi  Theatrum» 


B  O  R  C  H  T,  9i 

ings,  principally  fruit  and  flowers,  were  much  admired,  but 
he  perhaps  had  more  reputation  as  an  antiquary,  in  which 
capacity,  the  eari  of  Arundel  sent  him  into  Italy  to  Mr. 
Petty,  who  was  J:ben  collecting  for  his  lordship,  and  re- 
tained him  in  his  service  as  long  as  he  lived.  After  the 
death  of  this  patron,  Vander  Borcht  was  employed  by  the 
prince  of  Wales  (afterwards  Charles  II.)  and  lived  in  esteem 
at  London  several  years,  till  he  returned  to  Antwerp,  where 
he  died  in  1660.  As  an  engraver  we  have  some  few  etch»- 
ings  by  him  ;*  among  the  rest  the- "  Virgin  and  Child,'*  a 
small  upright  print,  from  Parmigiano,  engraved  at  London 
in  1637;  a  **  Dead  Christ,  supported  by  Joseph  of  Arima* 
thea,''  from  the  same  master,  and  <^  Apollo  and  Cupid,"  a 
small  upright  oval  from  Perin  del  Vago^ 

BORDA  (John  Charles),  a  celebrated  French  mathe* 

matician  and  natural  philosopher,  was  born  at  Dax,  in  the 

department  of  the  Landes,  May  4,  1733.     His  mother  was 

Maria  Theresa  de  Lacroix,  and  his  father  John  Anthony 

Bord^,  whose  ancestors  had  acquired  considerable  dtstinc*- 

tion  in  the  French  army.     He  began  his  studies  in  the  coN 

lege  of  the  Bamabites  at  Dax,  where  he  gave  early  indica* 

tions  of  his  future  genius.     He  was  a  considerable  time  after 

put  under  the  charge  of  the  Jesuits  of  La  Fleche,  and  by 

bis  ardour  for  study  and  superior  talents,  frequently  carried 

off  the  prizes  .which  were  held  out  as  the  reward  of  youthful 

genius.     This  induced  the  Jesuits  to  endeavour  to  press 

him  into  their  order,  but  his  attachment  to  geometry  was 

too  powerful  to  be  weakened  by  their  persuasions.    He  en* 

€M>untered  afterwards  a  more  formidable  opposition  from  his 

father,  who  was  hostile  to  the  prosecution  of  what  he  called 

unprofitable  studies,  and  endeavoured  to  please  him  by 

proposing  to  enter  into  the  engineer  service  of  the  army^ 

where  the  objects  of  his  profession  would  necessarily  re«> 

quire  a  knowledge  of  geometry  and  physics.     His  father^ 

however,  having  eleven  children,  and  being  obliged  to  sup«< 

port  two  of  his  sons  who  were  already  in  the  army,  was  anx-> 

bus  that  Charles  should  look  forward  to  some  situation  in 

the  magistracy,  which  might  be  obtained  without  much  ex^* 

pence  and  trouble.     To  these  views  Borda  reluctantly  sub*'- 

mitted ;  but  after  having  thus  lost  some  of  the  most  precious 

years  of  his  youth,  a  Ariar,  who  was  a  particular  friend  of 

his  father,  obtained,  by  earnest  solicitation,  that  he  shouM 

*  £>eMampt,  rol.  I.— PUkrngton  And  Stmtt.— Oribrd*'s  Btof  raT«ri« 


96  B  O  R  D  A. 

be  allowed  to  devote  himself  to  his  fgiFOurite  ^iencfe;  sn^^ 
every  restraint  being  now  removed,  he  was  in  1753,  when 
only  twenty  years  of  age,  introduced  to  D'Alembert,  who 
advised  him  to  remain  in  the  capital,  and  look  forward  to  a 
situation  in  the  academy.  Borda  accordingly  entered  die 
light  horse,  and  continuing  his  mathematical  studies,  he  be* 
came  professor  to  his  comrades. 

In  1756,  he  laid  before  the  academy  a  memoir  on  the 
motion  of  projectiles,  which  was  pairticularly  mentioned  in 
the  history  of  its  proceedings ;  and  in  the  same  year  he  was 
appointed  an  associate  of  the  academy.  In  the  following 
year  he  was  called  into  active  service,  and  was  present  at 
the  battle  of  Hastembeck,  July  26,  1757,  as  aid-^de-camp 
to  M.  de  Maillebois.  He  willingly  returned,  however, 
from  a  species  of  duty  which  interrupted  the  progress  of 
his  studies ;  and,  upon  his  arrival  at  Paris,  he  became  a 
candidate  for  a  situation  in  the  engineer  service  :  and  such 
was  the  estimation  in  which  his  talents  were  held,  that  he 
was  received  without  examination,  and  immediately  em* 
ployed  as  an  inspector  of  the  dock-yards.  This  new  ap* 
pointment  was  highly  favourable  for  calling. into  action  the 
peculiar  talents  of  Borda.  It  inspired  him  with  a  fondness 
for  every  thing  that  related  to  the  naval  service :  and,  what 
seldom  happens  to  the  man  of  genius,  he  found  himself  ia 
a  situation  in  which  he  was  led  both  by  his  profession  and 
by  his  inclination  to  the  same  line  of  study. 

The  first  object  of  his  research  was  an  examination  of  the 
theories  of  the  resistance  of  fluids,  a  subject  intimately 
connected  with  the  advancement  and  perfection  of  naval 
architecture.     The  experiments  upon  this  subject  made  by 
the  academy  of  sciences,  were  by  no  means  fitted  to  de* 
termine  the  resistance  of  bodies  that  were  wholly  immersed 
in  the  fluid.     Borda,  however,  employed  a  method  which 
was  susceptible  of  great  accuracy,  and  had  also  the  ad  van* 
tage  of  ascertaining  accurately  the  velocity  of  the  motion. 
The  surfaces  upon  which  his  experiments  were  made  were 
of  various  forms,  and  the  experiments  were  made  both  in 
air  and  water.     The  results  of  these  inseresting  experi- 
ments are  given  at  length  in  the  Memoirs  of  the  Academy 
for  1763  and  17^7.     The  apparatus,  however,  employed 
by  Borda,  was  not  of  his  own  invention.     A  machine  of  the 
same  kind  had  been  used  some  time  before  by  our  inge* 
nious  countryman,  Benjamin  Robins,  in  his  admirable  ex*. 
perimentson  the^ resistance  of  air.    Yet  we  are  indebted. 


B  O  R  D  A.  97 

to  Borda  for  many  ingenious,  experiments  and  obser- 
vations on  the  motion  of  fluids  through  different  orificea. 
He  prepared  a  theory  of  the  motion  of  fluids  diflerent  from 
that  which  had  been  given  by  Bernouilli  and  D'Alembert^ 
and  be  made  new  experiments  on  the  vena  cantracta. 

In  1767,  he  published  an  excellent  dissertation  in  the 
Memoirs  of  the  Academy,  entitled  ^^  Memoire  sur  les  Roues 
.Hydrauliques/'  shewing  that  an  undershot  wheel  produces 
a  maximum  efliect  when  its  velocity  is  one-half  that  of  the 
current,  though  in  practice  the  velocity  is  never  more  than 
three-eighths  that  of  the  current.  He 'proved^  after  De- 
parcieuzy  from  theory,  before  Smeaton  had  determined  it 
by  experiment,  that  the  effect  of  overshot  wheels  increases 
with  the  slowness  of  their  motion  :  that  they  are  capable  of 
raising,  through  the  height  of  the  fall,  a  quantity  of  water 
equal  to  that  by  which  they  are  driven ;  that  undershot  ver- 
tical wheels  produce  only  three-eighths  of  this  efiect ;  that 
horizontal  wheels  produce  about  one-half  of  this  efiect  with 
plain  float-boards,  and  a  little  more  than  one  half  with  curvi* 
lineal  float-boards.  This  memoir  was  followed  by  another, 
in  1768,  oh  the  construction  of  vrater-pumps.  About 
this  time  Borda's  attention  was  directed  to  isoperimetricai 
problems,  in  which  he  obtained  the  same  results  as  La- 
grange, though  by  a  diflerent  method.  His  last  work,  in 
the  Memoirs  of  the  Academy,  was  a  dissertation  on  the 
"  Theory  of  Projectiles." 

These  labours  induced  M.  Prasslin,  the  minister  of  the 
Sparine,  to  wish  for  the  aid  of  his  talents  in  the  French  navy, 
and  after  some  opposition  from  official  etiquette,  he  ap- 
.pointed  him  sub-lieutenant,  in  which  character  he  first  ap* 
peared  in  1768 ;  but  nothing  occurred  of  consequence  un« 
til  1771,  when  the  French  and  English  were  employed  in 
many  inve^ntions  for  the  discovery  of  the  longitude  at  sea, 
and  the  French  government  having  determined  to  try  the 
accuracy  of  some  improved  chronometers,  the  academy  of 
sciences  appointed  Borda  and  Pingre  to  sail  for  that  pur* 
pose  in  the  Flora  frigate.  The  result  of  their  voyage  was 
published  at  Paris  in  1778,  entitled,  ^'Voyage  fait  par 
ordre  du  Roy  en  1771  et  1772,  &c."  2  vols.  4to.  He 
was  afterwards  employed  to  determine  the  position  of  the 
Capaiy  Isles,  and  being  promoted  to  the  rank  of  lieutenant^ 
sailed  in  1776,  and  in  the  course  of  his  voyage,  performed 
its  ibimediate  object,  with  others.  Being  appointed  major* 
general  to  the  naval  armament  which  served  under  Count 
.  Vol.  VI.  H 


98  B  O  R  D  A. 

D'Estaign  in  America,  his  experience  led  him  to  disc^ijnreif 
many  defects  in  the  construction  of  vessels,  which  he  thought 
might  be  easily  remedied.  He  considered  the  want,  of 
uniformity  in  the  construction  of  ships,  which  were  to  act ' 
together,  as  a  great  defect,  because  9.  great  discordance 
arose  in  their  movements  and  in  the  execution  of  signals; 
Upon  his  return  to  France  he  communicated  this  idea  to 
government,  who  immediately  resolved  to  carry  it  into  ef- 
f(»ct,  and  his  profound  knowledge  and  patriotic  exertionii 
did  not  fall  to  be  acknowledged  not  only  by  France,  but  by 
the  best-informed  men  in  England.  The  reputation. which 
he  had  npw  acquired  enabled  him  to  be  further  serviceable 
to  his  country,  by  drawing  up  a  plan  for  the  schools  of  na- 
tal architecture^  of  which  he  may  justly  be  termed  the 
founder j  as  he  not  only  suggested  the  idea^  but  formed  the 
scheme  for  regulating  these  seminaries,  and  laid  down  die 
rules  for  the  instruction  of  the  pupils  admitted  into  them^ 

As  a  naval  officer,  however,  Borda  acquired  little  ikme,r 
and  being  captured  by  the.  English^  though  after  a  very 
brave  resistance,  he  determined  to  devote  the  remainder  of 
his  days  to  science  arid  philosophy.  During  hi*  voyage 
along  with  Pingre  in  1771,  Borda  found  h[y  experience 
that  Hadley's  quadrant  was  susceptible  of  great  tmpi'ove- 
ment.  The  celebrated  Tobias  M:tyer  had  already  endea* 
voured  to  remove  its  imperfections,  but  the  merit  of  this 
Borda's  biographer  has  transferred  to  him,  declaring  that 
Mayer's  idea  was  never  carried  into  effect,  which  is  com* 
pletely  false  :  one  of  Mayer's  circles  was  made  fgt  Admiral' 
Campbell  by  Bird ;  and  Mayer  had  himself  used  an  instru-* 
ment  for  measuring  terrestrial  angles  upon  the  repeating 
principle^  which  is  described  in  "Commentaries  of  the 
Royal  Society  of  <5ottingen"  for  1752.  Borda  having  ex^* 
uno^ined,  with  the  utmost  attention,  the  construction  pro- 
posed by  Mayer,  pointed  out  its  defects,  and  in  a  great 
measure  removed. them  by  a  circle  of  his  pwn  invention  in 
1777,  known  by  the  name  of  the  "  Circle  of  Borda,"  but 
atill  it  was  Hot  witbcHit  its  numerous  imperfections,  and  i% 
was  reserved  to  put*  ingenious  countryman  Troughton  to 
bring  to  perfection  one  of  the  happiest  inventions  that  was 
ever  made. 

,  To  Borda  J^rance  is  indebted  for  the  invention  of  the 
mensuration -rod,  with  which  the  new  station-lines  were 
lately  ascertained.  He  was  also  a  zealous  promoter  of  the 
reform  in  weights  and  measures;  and  in  order  to  assist  ia 
this^  he  published  ^^  Tables  ^f  Sines  in  the  decimal  sy 9* 


B  O  R  D  A;  99 

tem/^  at  bis  own  expence.  One  of  his  last  labours  was| 
tbe  accurate  determination  of  the  length  of  the  pendulum 
vibrating  seconds  at  Paris.  Such  were  the  acknowledged 
reputation  and  patriotism  of  Borda,  that  the  highest  ofBce« 
iuthe  state  were  not  deemed  too  great  for  merit  such  as 
fais  ^  and  we  accordingly  find  the  name  of  a  man  who  bad 
been  decorated  with  the  cross  of  merit  during  the  raor 
narcby,  entered  in  the  list  of  candidates  for  the  office  of 
Director  under  the  republic.  This  occurred  in  1797,  and 
on  tbe  20th  of  February  1799,  the  National  Institute  lost 
one  of  its  greatest  ornamenis  and  most  assiduous  sup- 
porters, in  consequence  of  his  death,  which  was  occasioned 
by  a  dropsy,  that  cut  him  off  Feb.  20,  17i)9,  in  the  ^4th 
year  of  fais  age.  ' 

At  tlie  interment  of  his  corpse,  nearly  the  whole  of  his 
colleagues  attended.-^Notwitbstandinrg  a  h^avy  rain,  up* 
wards  of  one  hundred  members  of  the  National  Institute 
walked  on  foot  to  Montmartre,  ^wo  a- breast,  with  a  black 
crape  round  their  arms,  and  with  the  eyes  of  nearly  all  suf- 
fused in  tears.  On  their  arrival  at  the  place  of  interment, 
Bougainville,  a  man  no  less  distinguished  in  arms  than  in 
letters,  spoke  an  oration  in  honour  of  the  deceased.^ 

BORDE,  or  BOORDE  (Andrew),  or  as  he  styles  him- 
9^  in  Latin,  Andreas  Perforatus,  was  a  very  singular 
character,  and  the  reputation  he  acquired  among  his  con- 
temporaries must  be  considered  in  a  great  measure  as  a 
proof  of  the  ignorance  and  credulity  of  the  times.  He  was 
born  at  Pevensey  in  Sussex  about  1500,  and  was  educated 
at  Oxford;  but  before  he  had  taken  a  degree,  entered 
among  the  Carthusians  in  or  near  London.  He  afterwards 
left  them,  and  studied  physic  at  Oxford ;  and  then  tra- 
velled over  most  parts  of  Europe  and  Africa.  On  his  re- 
turn be  settled  at  Winchester,  where  he  praotisg^d  physic 
with  considerable  reputation,  and  in  this  capacity  he  is  said 
to  have  served- Henry- VIII.  In  1541  and  1542  he  was  at 
Montpellier,  where  he  probably  took  the  degree  of  doctor, 
in  which  he  was  soon  after  incorporated  at  Oxford.  He 
lived  then  for  some  time  at  Pe^vensey,  and  afterwards  re- 
turned to  Winchester,  still  observing  all  the  austerities  of 
the  order  to  which  he  formerly  belonged ;  though  he  has 
beedi.  accused  of  man}^  iri;egularitie8.     It  is  oertain  that  hi« 

I  Principally  from  Brewster's  £ncyclopedia.-^ee  alsa  Lalande's  History  »iF 
AstioDoiDyi. 


100  B  O  R  D  E. 

-character  was  very  odd  and  whimsical,  as  appears  from  the 
books  he  wrote ;  yet  he  is  said  to  have  been  a  man  of  great  wk 
^and  teaming,  and  an  *' especial  physician.**  That  he  was  not 
of  consequence  eminent  enough  to  rank  with  the  first  of  his 
profession,  may  be  inferred  from  his  dying  insolvent  in  the 
-Fleet,  April  1549.  Bale  intimates  that  he  hastened  his  end 
by  poison*  on  the  discovery  of  his  Ireeping  a  brothel  for  his 
brother  bachelors.  His  works  are  very  various  in  their 
subjects',  one  of  the  most  considerable  is  intituled,  <^  A 
book  of  the  introduction  of  knowledge,"  black  letter,  im- 
printed by  William  Coplande,  without  date.  He  there  pro- 
fesses to  teach  all  langoages|  the  customs  and  fashions  of 
all  countries,  and  the  value  of  every  species  of  coin.  This 
is  a  motley  piece,  partly  in  verse  and  partly  in  prose  ;  and 
is  divided  into  thirty-nine  chapters,  before  each  of  which  is 
a  wooden  cut,  representing  a  man  in  the  habit  of  some  par* 
ticular  country.  His  well  known  satire  on  the  Englisbanan, 
who,  to  express  the  inconstancy  and  mutability  of  his 
fashions,  is  drawn  naked*with  a  cloth  and  a  pair  of  sheers  in 
his  hand,  is  borrowed  from  the  Venetians,  who  characterised 
the  French  in  that  manner.  Before  the  7th  chapter  is  the 
effigies  of  the  author,  under  a  canopy,  with  a  gown,  a  lau- 
rel on  his  head,  and  a  book  before  htm.  The  title  of  thb 
chapter  shews  how  the  author  dwelt  in  Scotland  and  other 
islands,  and  went  through  and  round  about  Christendom. 
An  edition  of  this  singular  work  was  printed  in  London  iii 
1 542.  His  "  Breviary  of  Health,"  which  is  a  very  trifling, 
coarse,  and  weak  performance,  ivas  published  in  1547,  and 
IS  supposed  by  Fuller  to  be  the  first  medical  piece  written 
in  English.  As  a  specimen  of  the  style,  take  what  follows^ 
•which  is  the  beginning  of  the  Prologue,  addressed  to  phy- 
sicians :  **  Egregious  doctors  arid  maisters  of  the  eximious 
and  arcane  science  of  physicke,  of  your  urbanity  exasperate 
hot  yourselves  against  me  for  making  this  little  volume.'' 
This  work,  with  a  second  part  called  the  **  Extravagartts,** 
was  reprinted  in  4to,  1 575.  He  was  also  author  of  the  fol- 
lowing; "  Compendyouse  Regimente,  or  Dietaiy  of 
"Healthe  made  in  Mounte  Pyllor,**  an  edition  of  whicn  was 
printed  several  years  after  his  death,  in  1 562.  A  famous 
jest  book  called  the  ^*Merrye  tales  of  the  madmen  of  Go* 
tham  ;'*  **  The  historye  of  the  miller  of  Abingdon  and  the 
Cambridge  scholars,'*  the  same  with  that  related  by 
Chaucer  in  his  Canterbury  Tales;  a  book  of  ^'  ProgQostics,^' 


B  O  R  D  E.  101 

and  another  of  Urines,  &c.     It  is  said  that  the  phrase 
**  Me;-ry  Andrew"  is  derived  from  him.  * 

BORDE  (John  Benjamin  de  la),  a  French  historical  and 
miscellaneous  writer  of  considerable  fame,  was  born  at  Pa* 
ris  in  1734,  of  an  opulent  family,  and  devoted  himself  in 
bis  youth  to  high  life  and  the  fine  arts.  From  being  first 
valet  de  chambre  to  Louis  XV.  he  became  his  favourite, 
and  on  (he  death  of  that  monarch,  he  obtained  the  place  of 
farmer-general,  the  duties  of  which  unpopular  office  he 
performed  with  great  assiduity,  employing  his  leisure  hours 
in  cultivating  music  and  general  literature.  He  became  one 
of  the  most  celebrated  composers  of  songs,  and  his  *^  Re- 
eueil  d'airs,''  4  vols.  8vo,  ornamented  with  fine  engravings^ 
is  in  high  esteem.  He  composed  also  the  music  of  the 
opera  of  "  Adela  de  Ponthieu,'*  which  was  peirformed  with 
considerable  success.  '  Happe;uing  to  read  in  De  Bure,  thrt 
there  had  been  only  thirty  copies  published  of  the  CoUec- 
, tion  of  antient  paintings  of  Rome,  coloured  after  Bartoli's 
designs,  he  made  inquiry  for  thcf  coppers,  had  theatre- 
paired,  and  published  a  second  edition  of  that  work.  His 
other  works  are :  I .  ^^  Essais  sur  la  Musique  ancienne  et  mo- 
derne,'*  1780,  4  vols.  4to,  a  vast  mass  of  useful  materials, 
hxit  many  part^  of  it  are  written  in  the  spirit  of  system  and 
partiality,  and  many  valuable  passages  of  considerable 
length  are  borrowed  from  Dr.  Burney  and  other  authors  of 
eminence,  without  any  acknowledgment.  The  best  part 
is  that  which  treats  of  the  Frefich  lyric  music  and  poetry. 
2.  ^'  £ssai  snr  I'bistoire  chronologique  de  plus  de  quatre- 
vingts  peuples  de  Tantiquit^,"  1788,  8vo.  3. '^Memoires 
historiques,  de  Coucy,"  2  vols.  8vo.  4.  **  Pieces  interes- 
saotes  pour  servir  4  Thistoire  des  regnes  de  Louis  XIII.  et 
de  Louis  XIV."  12mo,  5.  "  Lettres  sur  la  Suisse,"  1781, 
^  vols.  Bvo.  6^  ^^  Abregi  chronologique  des  principaux 
faits  arrives  depuis  Henoch  jusqu'a  Jesus  Christ,'*  1789, 8vo. 
'^.  ^'Eecueil  de  vers  dedies  a  Adelaide  par  le  plus  heureux 
des  epoux,''  16mo,  a  tribute  to  conjugal  happiness,  so  seU 
dom  celebrated  by  poets,  La  Borde  also  published  a  trans- 
lation x]f  Swinburne's  Travels ;  a  fine  edition  of  the  Histo* 
rical  ilomances  of  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries, 
printed  by  Didot,  in  1 1  vols,  12mo. ;  <<  Tableaux  topogra- 

1  AUi.  Ox.  vol.  I.— rHeanie's  Pre£ice  to  Benedictus  Abbas  Petrobur^nsit.— t 
Dodd's  Ch.  Hiat.  vol.  I.— WartoQ*8  Hist,  of  Poetry,  vol.  III.  p.  70— 78.— Gent. 
Mag.  voUXVIfU  aadXIX—^Rilson**  Blbl.  Poet«««-Cooper'$  M^seg  Library,  p. 
i6,-tPl|ilips'f  'Fheatnua  Poet,  A«sL 


102  iB  O  R  D  E. 

%  • 

/ 

.phiques  et  pittoresqlies  de  la  Suisse,**  with  letter-press  and 
beautiful  engravings  by ^  Robert :  and  lastly^  in  1792, 
♦*  L^Histoire  abreg^e  de  la  m^r  du  Sud,"  3  vols.  8vo,  con- 
taining an  analysis  of  all  the  voyages  to  that  sea  from  the 
time  of  Goneville,  in  the  fifteenth  century,  to  that  of  our 
countryman,  Capt,  Riou,  in  1789.  In  this  also  he  urges  the 
Spaniards  to  widen  the  passage  of  Nicaragua,  which  is  only 
three  leagues,  and  make  it  navigable,  and  a  communication 
between  the  North  and  South  Seas,  pointing  out  the  ad^ 
vantages  this  would  be  attended  with  in  voyages  from  £u^ 
rope  to  China,  .  During  the  Convention,  la  Borde  retired 
.to.  Rouen  where  he  hoped  to  be  overlooked,  but  the  spies 
of  the  reigning  tyrants  discovered  him,  and  conducted  him 
to  Paris,  where ;he  was  beheaded  July*  22,  179^.  His  wife 
was  the  authoress  of  some  "  Poems"  imiUted  from  the  En- 
glish, and  printed  by  Didot  in  1785,  l8mo.  * 
.  BORDENAVE  (TousiJAiNT,)  regius  professor  and  di^ 
rector  of  the  academy  of  surgery,  veteran  associate  of  the 
academy  of  sciences  of  Paris,  and  member  of  the  imperial 
academy  of  Florence,  was  born  at  Paris  April' 10,  1728. 
:Hi2>  father,  who  was  also  a  surgeon,  destined  him  for  the 
same  profession,  which  had  long  -heeh  followed  by  the 
branches  of  his  family,  but  began  with  giving  him  the  or*- 
dinary  course  of  a  learned  education  that  he  might  acquire 
the  languages  in  which  the  most,  celebrated  anatomists  of 
)i)rmer  ages  wrote,  and  sonae  of  those  principles. of  phi^ 
losophy*  which  are  the  foundation  of.  all  sciences  and  arts, 
.Young  Bordenave's  proficiency  fully  answered  bis  father's 
expectation V  sind  he  soon  filled  the  disitinguisbed  situations 
iilready  mi^ntioned,  and  contributed  noiany  valuable  papers 
to  the  Memoirs  of  the  academy  of  sui^ery,  on  extraordinary 
oases  which  occurred  in  his  practice :  the  I2reatmentt)f  gun- 
shot wounds,  and  anatomical  subjects.  He  also,  in  175t 
made  some  experiments  to  illustrate  Ualler's^c^ioion  ontt^ 
<li0erence  between  sensible  or  irritable  parts,  and  wrote  a 
>Tork  in  defence  of  that  celebrated  anatomist's  opinion  oa 
|be  formation  ot  the  bones,  against  that  of  DubamjeL  Ha 
also,  in  1768i  translated  Haller^s  Elements  of  Physiology 
for  the  use  of  bis  students,  but  he  had  previously,  m  18^56, 
pubiisbed  a  n€[w  work  on  the  same  subject,  admiredrfor 
precision  of  method.  Bordenave  had  long  wished  for  a 
place  in  the  academy  of  sciences,  and  in  1774  was*  elected 

'  Diet.  Hi8t.-:*-Barn<y's  Hist  of  Music,  vol.  IV.^^and  an  article  iivthe  Cfit« 

llev.  voL  L.  p.  378.  probably  by  the  same  pep. .  .  «■ 


B  O  R  D  E  N  A  V  E.  103 

a  veteran  as^ciate.  This  title,  it  sjeems,  indicates  that  the 
party  has  been  chosen  contrary  to  the  statutes,  and  that  thie 
academy  did  not  choose  him  of  their  o^rn  will ;  but  for  this  he 
was  not  to  blame,  as  such  an  election  was  totally  contrary  to  / 
his  .wish*  In  a, short  time,  however,  the  academicians  were 
reconciled,  and  Bordenave  enriched  their  memoirs  with 
some  important  papers.  Bordenave  also  became  echevin^ 
:or  sheriff,  of  Paris,  an  office  never  before  conferred  on  a 
i(urgeon,  but  which  he  filled  in  a  manner  highly  creditable, 
•and  directed  his  attention,  as  a  magistrate,  chiefly  to  the 
health  of  the  city.  On  the  birth  of  Louis  XVIL  be  was  ho- 
noured with  the  ribbon  of  the  order  of  St«  Michael,  in  cpn^ 
sideration  of  his  talents  and  services,  but  did  not  long  enjoy 
this  honour,  beine  seized  i#ith  *  a[n  apoplexy,  which  after 
<eight  days  proved  fatal,  March  12,  1782.  Besitles  the 
works  ali^ady  noticed,  he  published,  *<  Dissertations  sur 
Jes  Antiseptiques,*'  1769^  8vo;  and  '^Memoires  sur  le 
danger  ties  Caustiques  pour  la  cure  radicale  des  Hernies^^' 

:1774.> 

BORDEU  (Anthony,)  a  French  physician  of  consider* 
rable  eminence^  wasborn  at  Iseste,  in  Beam,  in  1693.  A& 
ter  being  initiated  in  the  study  of  medicine  by  his  father, 
he  went  to  Montpellier,  where  he  was  admitted  doctor  in 
thai:  faculty  in  1 7 1 9*  Invited,  in  1723,  to  Pau,  the  oapi*- 
jfcal  of  tiie  profvince,  he  acquired  so  much  reputation,  as  to 
•be  appointed  physician  to  the  military  hospital  at  Barege^ 
and  inspector  of  the  mineral  waters  there.  To  the  waters 
Jie  paid  great  attention,  and  in  1750,  he  published  a  small 
jbreatise,  shewing  the  effects,  he  bad  experienced  from  them 
in  a  variety  of  diseases.  He  lived  to  an  advanced  age,  but 
the  precise  time  of  his  death  is  not  known.  * 
.  BORDEU  (ThbOphilus OE),  son  to  the  preceding,  was. 
born  Feb«  22,  1722,  at  laeste  in  the  valley  of  Ossan  in  Beam, 
and  at  die.  age  of  twenty,  for  hi»  degree  of  bachelor  in  the 
university  of  Montpellier,  where  be  was  then  a  student,  he 
lield  a  thesis  '^  De  sensu  generice  consideratu,"  which  contains 
the  ground*  work  of  ail  the  publications  he  afterwards  gave. 
jSnch  early  knowledge  determined  his  professors  to  dispense 
with  several,  acts  usual  before  admission  to  practice.  In 
)743,  he  was  created  M.  D.  at  Montpellier,  and  two  years 
after  succeeded  his  father^  as  inspector  of  the  mineral  wa* 
ter^  and  professor  ojf  anatomy.     In  1747|  he  was  mad« 

*  ^loges  deff  Acadcmtciens,  vol.  in.«P»Haller  Bibl.  Cbirui^, 
.  >  nict.  Hist.-— aew's  Cyclopcditik 


104  B  O  R  D  E  U. 

corresponding  member  of  the  royal  academy  of  Sciences  at 
Paris/  whither  be  soon  after  went,  and  where  be  acquired 
^reat  reputation.  Having  taken  out  bis  licence  in  tbat  city 
in  I754y  be  was  appointed  physician  to  the  b6pital  de  la 
charit6.  He  died  of  an  apoplexy,  Nov.  24,  m&,  A 
deep  melancholy,  occasioned  by  the  flying  gout,  was  the 
fore*runner  of  his  end.  He  was  found  dead  in  his  bed. 
One  of  the  faculty,  jealous  of  bis  fame,  and  who  had  tried 
to  ruin  him  by  a  prosecution,  kaid  on  the  occasion:  ^^  I 
should  never  have  thought  he  would  have  died  in  a  horizon- 
tal position.'*  But  a  witty  lady  retorted  by  observing 
**  that  death  was  so  much  afraid  of  him,  that  he  wais  obliged 
to  catch  him  napping."  The  facility  with  which  be  exer- 
cised his  profession,  his  reluctance  to  give  medicines,  and 
his  great  confidence  in  nature,  sometimes  drew  upon  him 
the  reproach  that  he  had  not  much  faith  in  medicine ;  but 
bis  doubts  were  so  much  the  less  blameable,  as  he  was  con- 
tinually occupied  in  rendering  the  resources  of  his  art  more 
certain*  He  never  disputed  at  all  towards  the  latter  end  of  his 
life,  because  probably  he  bad  disputed  much  to  no  purpose 
in  his  youth.  Nobody  knew  better  bow  to  doubt,  and  he 
had  little  confidence  in  his  own  knowledge,  and  trusted  with 
difficulty  to  that  of  others.  Seeing  the  great  number  of 
courses  of  lectures  in  all  branches  of  science,  advertised 
every  day,  he  observed  once  to  a  friend :  **  Will  na  one 
ever  give  a  course  of  good  sense  ?"  As  he  expressed  him- 
self at  times  with  rather  too  much  acerbity  on  the  merits 
of  others,  some  of  his  professional  brethren  have  called  his 
own  into  question.  His  works,  however,  sufficiently  attest 
his  abilities.  The  principal  are,  1.  *^  Cbyiifieationis  histo* 
ria,"  1742,  reprinted  at  Paris,  1752,  Idmo.  with  his 
**  Recherches  sur  les  Glandes."  He  thought  he  observed  a 
duct  passing  from  the  thyroid  gland  to  the  trachasa ;  ad 
opinion  which  he  repeats  in  another  of  bis  works,  but  witfa^ 
put.  sufficient  ground.  3.  '^'Dissertatio  pfaysiologica  de 
sensu  generice  considerate,"  Monspelii,  1743;  8vo ;  Paris, 
1751,  with  his  "  Chylificationis  historia."  4.  "  Lettrescon^ 
tenant  des  essais  sur  Thistoire  des  Eaux  minerales  du  Beam^ 
&c.  1746, 12mo.''  In  these  he  treats  of  the  properties  of 
the  waters,  and  6f  the  geografphy  of  Beam.  5.  "Re* 
cherches  anatomiques  sur  la  position  des  /Glandes,  et  sur  leur 
actions,"  Paris,  1751,  8vo.  6. '*  Recherches  sur*  le  poub 
par  raport  aux  crises,"  Paris,  1756,  12mo;  in  which  he 
has  gone  much  beyond  Solano  in  his  discrimination  of 


B  O  R  D  E  U.  105 

pulses,  and  beyond  what  cah.be  foUpured  in  practice^  7. 
^^  Recfaerches  sur  le  tissu  muqueuz,  et  Torgane  cellulaire/* 
Paris,  1766,  12mo.  Haller  accuses  him  of  disingenuity  in 
attributing  to  himself  the  discovery  of  some  properties  of 
the  cellular  membrane,  which  bad  been  before  described 
by  bim  and  others,  but  allows  the  work  to  have,  on  the 
whole,  considerable  merit.  ^ 

BQRDEU  (Francis),  brother  to  Theophilus,  and  edct- 
<^ated  und^  his  father  and  him,  was  born  at  Pau,  in  1737. 
Having  taken  bis  degree  of  doctor  in  medicine  at  Montpel* 
lier,  in  1756,  he  returned  to  Pau,  and  was  appointed  to 
supply  the  place  of  his  brother,  as  inspector  of  the  waters 
there*  In  1757,  he  published  ^^  De  sensibilitate  et  con- 
tractibilitate,partium  in  corpore  humane  sano,''  MonspelL; 
and  in  1760,  ^<  Precis  d'observations  sur  les  Eaux  de  Bare- 
ges,*' &c.  12mo,  collected  principally  from  the  works  of 
his  father,  brother,  and  other  writers  on  the  subject  ^^  Re- 
cherches  sur  les  maladies  chroniques,  leur  rapports  avec  les. 
maladies  aigues,''  &c.  1775,  Svo;  principally  with  the 
view  of  shewing  the  utility  and  the  manner  of  administer*- 
iag  mineral  waters  in  the  cure  of  chronical  complaints.  * 

fiORDONE  (Paris),  an  Italian  artist,  was  born  atTrevigi^ 
IB  1513,  and  at  eight  years  of  age  was  conducted  to  Venice^, 
where  be  was  carefully  educated  by  one  of  his  relations. 
At  a  proper  age  he  was  placed  as  a  disciple  with  Titian^ 
under  lyhom  he  made  so  happy  a  progress,  that  he  di4  not 
cqatinue  with  him  many  years  y  especially  as  he  observed 
that  Titian  was  not  so  communicative  as  be  wished,  or  in- 
deed had  just  reason  to  expect,  and  he  lamented  that 
Giorgione  was  not  then  alive  to  instruct  bim,  because  he 
preferred  the  manner  of  that  master  to  all  others.  How« 
ever,  to  the  utmost  of  his  power,  he  studied  and  imitated 
the  style  of  Giorgione,  and  very  soon  rose  into  such  repu« 
tation,  that  he  was  appointed  to  paint  a  picture  in  the 
church  of  St  Nicholas,  when  he  was  only  eighteen  years 
of  age.  Some  time  after  he  received  an  invitation  to  Vin« 
ceoaa,  to  adorn  a  gallery  with  paintings  in  fresco,  part  of 
which  had  been  formerly  enriched  by  the  hand  of  Titian, 
with  a  design  representing  the  <^  Judgment  of  Solomon.'* 
Bordone  engaged  in  the  undertaking  with  an  inward  satis- 
faetioQ,  as  his  work  was  to  be  contrasted  with  the  work  of 
lus  mastery  and.  he  composed  the  history  of  ^^  Noah  and 

1  Diet  Hist— Halier  BiU  Anat— Hees's  Cyclopaedi*.  *  Ibid. 


106  B  O  R  DO  N  E. 

his  Sons/'  which  be  finished  with  his  titmost  care;  nor 
was  it  esteemed  infi^ior  to  the  work  of  Titian,  both  per- 
formances seeming  to  have  been  the  product  of  on^  pencil. 
He  likewise  finished  several  considerable  works  at  Venice 
and  Trevigi,  and  in  each  city  painted  many  portraits  of  the 
nobility  and  persons  of  distinction.     But,  in  the  j^ar  1538, 
he  entered  into  the  service  of  Francis  L  of  France,  and 
added,  continually  to  his  reputation,  by  every  historical 
.subject  and  portrait  which:  he  finished,  as  they  were  ex* 
-cellently  designed,  and  had  a  charming  tone  of  colour  to 
'recommend  them.     On  his  quitting  Frauee,  lie  visited  the 
^principal  cities  of  Italy,  and  left  a  number  of  memoraU^ 
works,  as  monuments  of  his  extraordinary  abilities.     His 
.colouring  has  all  the  appearance  of  nature, ^  nor  can  any 
thing  be  more  lively  or  more  admired  than  the  portraits  of 
Bordone.     Sereral  of  them  are  still  preserved  in  tbe.Pa^ 
lazzo  Pltti,  at  Florence,  of  which  the  jcolouviog  is  exees« 
si vely  clear,  fresh,  ai>d  truly  beautiful*     He  di^  in  1588 
according  to  Vasari,  but  in.  1578  according  to  f  elibien 
•and  Argenville.  * 

BOREL  (Pjster),  a  French  physician,  naturalist,  and 
^^hemist,  was  boni  atCastres,  in  Languedoc,  about  1620. 
After  studying  medicine,  he  received  his.  doctor's  degree, 
as  is  supposed,  in  .1641,  and  began  practice  at  his  native 
place.  ^  He  collected  a  very  fine  museum  of  natural  cario- 
sities, of  which  he, published  a  catalogue,  ^' Catalc^ue  des 
Haretes  de  Pierre  Borel  de  Castres,"  ibid.  16.45^  4ito. 
Niceron  thinks  he  published  this  to  get  a  name  and  prac* 
tice  :  it  appears,  indeed,  from  the  dedication  of  his  <^  Bib* 
liodseca  Chimica,''  that  he  was  not  ricb^  as  he  there  com- 
plains that  he  could  not  afford  to  print  his  works,  iln  1 65*3, 
he  came  to  Paris,  .and  some  time  after  was  appointed  phy- 
sician to  the  king,  but  it  is  thought  this  was  merely  an.  bau 
Borary  title,  and  we  are^  not  certain  whether  he  remained 
afterwards  at  Paris.  He  was,  however,  elected  in  1674 
into  the  academy  of  sciences,  as  a  chemist.  Niceron  sayit 
he.  died  in  L689,  but  a  letter  addressed  to  Bayle  in  16.78 
speaks  of  him  as  then  just  dead.  He  published,  1 .  <^  Les 
Antiquit^s,  Raretes,  &c;  de  la  ville  et  comte.de  Castres, 
&c.**  Castres,  1649,  8vo.  2.  ^^  Historiarum  et  observa. 
tionum  Medico-Physicarum,  centuria  prima. et  aecunda,^' 
ibid*.  16 A3,  8vo,   and  often >  reprinted.     %.  ^  Bib^othMa 

y  Ptlkiostoii.'-*«>Aif«nTilk.— Vssari. 


B  O  R  E  ^  IDT 

rchimkay  seu  caialogus  Ubrorum  philosophieorumhenneli- 
,€aruin,  in  quo  qoatuor  millia  circiter  authorum  ofaemico* 
rum,  &c^  cum  eorum  editionibus,.,  usque  ad  annum  1653 
/coatinentur,"  Paris,  1654;  Heidelberg,  1656,   12mo.     la 
'this  work  he  gives  the  titles  of  these  chemical  works,  bot 
very  rarely  the  dates.     4.  *^  De  vero  Telescopii  Inventore, 
cum  brevi  omnium  oonspicillocum  bistoria,"  &c.«  Hague, 
J  655,  4ta.      5.  <^  Tresor  des   Recherches  et  Antiquitds 
Gauloises^  reduites  en  ordre  alpbabetique,  et  enrichiee  de 
beaucoup  d'origines,  epitapbes,  et  autres  choses  rares  et 
<:urieuses,  comme  aussi  de  beaucoup  dermots  de  la  langpue 
<Tbyoiae  ou  Tiieutfranque/*  Paris,.  I  €55^  4to.     This  is  a 
very  curious  and  rare  work,  much  priced  by  the  French 
antiquaries.     6.  /^  Poeme  a  la  louange  de  rimprimerieJ* 
,7.  '^  Carmina  in  laudem  regis,,  reginae,  et  eardinalis  Ma^a- 
riai,^^  4to.     8,  *^  Auctarium  ad  Vitam  Peirescii,'*  in  the 
.^Hague    edition    of    that  life    published    in    1655,    4to^ 
r9,  ^'Commenium  in  antiquum  pbilosi^bum.Syrum,^'  1655. 
10,  f^  Hortus  seu  Armamentarium  simplicium  Planiarum  et 
Animalium  ad  artem  medicam  spectantium,"  &c.  Castres, 
16j67,8vq.     U.  ^' De  Curationibus  Sympatbeticis,*'  priiited 
in  the  ^^Theatrum  Sympathetlcum,^'  -Nuriipberg,    1662, 
4to.     12.  ^' Discourse  nouveau,  prouvant  la  Plurality  :d^ 
Mondes,"  Geneva,  8vo,  and  translated  into  English  by  O. 
.Sashott,  Lond.   165.B.     13.  ^^  Vitse  Renati  Cartesii  coai- 
pendiuiB,^'  Paris,  1656,  8vo.     Borel  appi^ars  to  have  been 
a  man  of  great  learning,  and  indefatigable  in  his  researches, 
but  in  medicine  somewhat  credulous.     Hi$entiquariaD  pro- 
ductions are  most  esteemed.  ^         •  i 
.    BORELLI  (John  ALPHONsa),  a  celebrated  philosopher 
and  mathematician,  was  born  at  Naples  the  28th  of  Janu- 
ary, 1606.     He  was  professor  of  philoaopby  and  mathemii- 
tics  in  some  of  the  most  celebrated  miiyersities  of  Italy, 
particularly  at  Florence  and  Pisa,  where  he  became  higfafy 
in  favourwitb  the  princes  of  the  hou^  of  Medici*    -But 
.Jiaving%been  concerned  in  the  revolt  of  Messina,  be  was 
obliged  to  retire  to  Rome,  -where  he  spent  the  remainder 
i>f  bis  life  under  the  protection  of  Christina  queen  of  Sive- 
den,  who  honoured  him  with  her  friendship,  and  by  her 
Ubejpality.  to  wards  him  softened,  the  rigour  of  his  hard  for- 
tune.    He  continued  two  years  -in  the  convent  of  the  regu« 
Jar  clergy  of  St.  Pantalepn,  called  the  Pious  Scboolg,  wbeie^ 

'  Chaofcpic's  Dicr.-*NicenN}.-— Eloges  jdeg  AcademiciensV  toI.  I.  p.  ]80«— 
^H anget  mmI  UaHer;*— Saxti  Oiioiiwsi)coo» 


lOB  B  O  R  E  L  L  I. 

lie  instructed  the  youth  iu  mathematical  studies.    And  this 
study  fare  prosecuted  with  great  diligence  for  many  years 
aftersvard,  as  appears  by  his  correspondence  with  several 
ingenious  mathematicians  of  his  time,  and  the  frequent 
mention  that  has  been  made  of  him  by  others,  who  havi^ 
endeavoured  to  do  justice  to  his  memory.     He  wrote  a  let- 
ter to  Mr.  John  Collins,  in  which  he  discovers  his  great 
desire  and  endeavouA  to  promote  the  improvement  of  those 
sciences :  he  also  speaks  of  bis  correspondence  with,  and 
great  affection  for,  Mr.  Henry  Oldenhurgh,  secre^ry   of 
the  royal  society ;  of  Dr.  Wallis ;  of  the  then  late  learned 
Mr.  Boyle^  and  lamented  the  loss  sustained  by  bis  death  to 
the  common weahh  of  learning.    Mr.  Baxter,  in  his  <<  En- 
quiry into  the  Nature  of  the  Hiiman  Soul^**  makes  frequent 
mse  of  our  author's  book  <*  De  Motu  Animalinm^*'  aiMJl 
telld  us,  that  he  was  the  first  who  discovered  that  the  force 
exerted  within  the  body  prodigiously  exceeds  the  weight 
to  be  moved  without,  or  that  nature  employs  an  immense 
power  to  move  a  small  weight.     But  he  acknowledges  that 
Dr.  James  Keil  had  shewn  that  Borelli  was  mistaken  in  hia 
calculation  of  the  force  of  the  muscle  of  the  heart  i  b^t 
that  he  nevertheless  ranks  him  with  the  most  authentic  writ^ 
ers,  and  says  he  is  seldom  mistaken :  and,  having  remarked 
that  ittris  so  far  irom  being  true,  that  great  things  arei 
brought  about  by  small  powers,  on  the  contrary,  a  stu- 
pendous power  is  manifest  in  the  most  ordinary  operar 
tions  of  nature,  he  observes  that  the  ingenious  Borelli  first 
remarked  this  in  animal  motion ;  and  that  Dr.  Stephen 
Hales,  by  a  course  of*  experiments  in  his  ^*  Vegetable 
Statics,^'  bad  shiswn  the  same  in  the  force  of  the  ascend<^ 
ing  sap  in  vegetables.    j\  er  a  course  c^  unceasing  labours^* 
Borelli  died  at  Pan  talc-on  of  a  pleurisy,  the  31st  of  De« 
'Cember  1679^  at  72  years  of  age,  leaving  the  following 
works:  1.  ^ Delle cagioni delle febri  maligni,**  1649,  12mo* 
2.  "  Euclides  restitutus,'*  &c.  Pisa,  1658,  4to.     3.  "  ApoU 
lonii  Pergeei  conicorum,  libri  v.  vi.  &  vii.  parapbraste  AbaU 
phato  Aspahanensi  nunc  primum  editi,'^  &c.  Floren.  16^1^ 
fol.     4.  **  Theories  Medicorum  Planetarum  ex  causis  pby^ 
sicis  deductae,"  Flor.  1666^  4to.   5.  "  De  Vi  Percussionis,** 
Bologna,  1667,  4to.     This  piece  was  reprinted,  with  bi^ 
•fiamous  treatise  ^^  De  Motu  Aoimalium,'*  and  that  ^  De 
Motionibus  Naturalibus,'^  in  1^86.     6.  **  Osservazione  in« 
torno  alia  virtu  ineguali  degli  occbi.**     This  piece  was  in-t. 
serted  in  the  Journal  of  Rome  for  the  year  1669*    2^^!^Jd» 


B  O  R  £  L  L  I.  109 

motioiubus  naturalibus  e  gravitate  pendentibus/*  ttegiQ 
Julio,  1670,  4to.  8.  "  Meteorologia  ^tnea,"  &c.  Re- 
gioJalio,  1670,  4t6.  9.  <<  Ossetvazione  deir  ecclissi  lu^ 
pare,  fatta  in  Roma,**  1675.  Inserted  in  the  Journal  of 
'Borne,  1675,  p.  34.  10.  "  Elementa  conica  ApoUonii  Per- 
gaei  et  Archiniedis  opera  nova  et  breviori  metbodo  demon^. 
strata,"  Rome,  1^79,  12mo,  at  the  end. of  the  3d  edition 
bf  his  Euclides  restitutus.  11.  '' De  Motu  Animalium: 
pars  prim'ay  et  pars  altera,"  Romaet,  1681,  4to.^  This  was 
r&printed  at  Leyden,  revised  and  corrected ;  to  which  wa$ 
9ukled  John  Bernouilli's  mathematical  meditations  concern* 
ing  theinotiott  of  the  muscles.  1 2.  At  Leyden,  1686,  in  4to^ 
a  more  correct  and  accurate  edition,  revised  by  J.  Broen^ 
M,  D.  of  Leyden,  of  his  two  pieces  ^^  De  vi  percussionis, 
^t  de  motionious  de  gravitate  pendentibus,"  &c.  13.  ^^  De 
renum  usu  judicium  f'  this  had  been  published  with  Bel* 
4iui*s  book  ^^  De  structura  renum,"  at  Strasburgb,  1664, 
Svo. » 

BOREMAN  (RoBEaT),  D.  D.  a  piou«  and  learned  di« 
^ne  of  tb6  seventeenth  century,  and  brother  to  sir  William 
Boreman,  clerk  of  the  green  cloth  to  Charles  IL  was  fel<« 
low  of  Trinity  college,  Cambridge,  S.  T.  P.  peY  literas 
regias,  1661,  and  afterwards  rector  of  St.  Giles's  in  the 
Fields,  London.  He  died  in  November,  1675,  at  Green«> 
wich,  where  he  was  buried.  He  published,  1.  ^f  The 
Churehman^s  Catechism :  or  the  Church's  plea  for  Tithes,'* 
Lend.  1651^  4to.  2.  <<  The  Triumphs  of  learning  over 
ignorance,  and  of  truth  over  falsehood ;  being  an  answer 
to  four  queries,  first,  whether  there  be  any  need  of  uni- 
versities," &c.  ibid.  1663,  4to..  3.  "  A  Panegyrick  and 
Sermon  at  the  funeral  of  Dr.  Comber,  master  of  Trinity 
collie,  and  dean  of  Carlisle,"  1^54,  4to.  4.  ^^  Life  and 
death  of  Freeman  Sends,  esq."  and  *'  Relation  of  sir 
George  Sends'  narrative  of  the  passages  on  the  death  of 
bis  two  sons,"  ibid.  4to.  This  Freeman  Sends  was  exe* 
cuted  for  the  murder  of  his  brother.  5.  '*  Life  and  death 
of  Alice  dutchess  Dudley,'*  ibid.  1669,  4to$  and  two  or 
three  occasional  sermons, ' 

•   BORGHINI  (Vincent),  was  born  at  Florence  in  1515 
of  a  noble  family,  and  became  a  Benedictine  monk  in  1531. 

He  was  one  of  the  persons  appointed  to  correct  the  Deca- 

•~  "  ■  » 

.  ^  Pahroni  VitiB  Italoinm. — Martin's  Bios*  Philosophica.— >Qea.  Dict.^— Hallcr 
Bibl.  4iiat.;r-Saxii  OnomasticOn. — Hutton's  Math.  Diet. 
^  ^  Atli.  Ox.  rol.  H.  Flitti.«— Xyfom'f  Satlrom,  toK  IV. 


116  B  O  R  G  H  I  N  L 

meron  of  Boecace,  by  order  of  the  council  of  Trent,  anil 
performed  this  curious  task  for  the  edition  of  Ftorence^ 
1573,  8to.     But  the  best  Jcndwli  of  his  works,  and  which 
did  him  the  most  honour,  is  that  entitled,  **  Disconsi  di 
M.  Vincenzo  Borghini,'*  printed   at   Florence    1584   and 
1S85,  in  2  vols.  4to,  and  reprinted  at  the  same  place   in 
1755,  with  annotations.     In  these  dissertations  he  treats  of 
the  origin  of  Florence,  and  of  several  interesting  partitju- 
lars  of  its  history,  of  its  families,  of  its  cofns^  &c.     Borg^ 
hini  died  in  1680,  after  having  refused,  through  humility; 
the  archbishopric  of  Pisa,  which  was  offered  to  bim  soin« 
time  before  his  death.     His  only  promotion  was  that    of 
prior  of  the  hospital  of  St.  Maria  degli  Innocenti  in  Fl<>»v 
rence.  Another  writer  of  the  same  name  [Rafaello  Boro* 
HiNfj,  was  author  of  several  comedies,  and  of  a  traA   on 
painting  and  sculpture,  in  some  estimation,  under  the  title 
of  **  Riposo  della  Pittura,  e  della  Scultura,'*  published   at 
Florence  in  1584,  8vo.*  t 

BORGIA  (CiESAR),  a  monster  of  ambition  and  cruelty, 
was  a  natural  son  of  pope  Alexander  VI«  What  year  h^ 
was  borh  in,  we  do  not  find  r  but  he  was  at  his  studi^  ii) 
the  university  of  Pisa,  when  Alexander  was  elected  pope, 
HI  August  1492.  Upon  the  news  of  his  father's  advance^ 
ment,  he  banished  all  thoughts  of  his  former  private  con* 
dition  of  life ;  and,  full  of^mbition,  as  if  himself  was  to  be 
made  emperor  of  the  world,  he  haistened  directly  to  Rome^ 
ivfaere  Alexander  received  him  with  formaHty  and  coldncsss, 
but  whether  it  was  real  or  but  a^Gected,  is  not  easy  to  deter- 
mine. Caesar,  however,  took  it  to  be  real ;  and,  greatly 
disgusted  as  well  as'  disappointed,  went  immediately  ainct 
complained  to  his  mother  Vanozza,  who  bid  him  not  be 
cast  down  ;  and  told  him,  that  she  knew  tlie  pope's  mind 
better  than  any  body,  and  for  what  reasons  his  holiness  had 
given  bim  that  reception.  In  the  mean  time  the  coinrt^ 
flatterers  8o|icited  the  pope  to  make  Ccesar  a<  cardinal'^ 
which  he  absolutely  refused ;  but,  that  he  might  not  seem 
altogether  forgetful  of  bim,  he  created  htm  archbishop  at^ 
Valenza,  a  benefice  which  bis  holiness  bad  enjoyed  in  hin 
younger  days.  This  preferment  was  by  no  means  accept- 
able  to  Coesar,  yet  he  affected  to  be  content,  since  the 
pope,  he  found,  was  determined  to  confer  the  best  of  hi«  * 
secuhuT' dignities  on  his  eldest  sou  Francis,  who  at  that  time 

*  PipU  Hist.— SftxU  OuomastiooQ. 


•  M   >  • 


I 


BORGIA.  lit 

Wks  made  duke  of  Gandia'  by  Ferdmand  king  of  Castile 
W)d  Arragon. 

Alexander  VI.  had  five  childten  by  his  mistress  Vanoz- 
2a;  Francis  and  Caesar,- already  mentioned,  tvfro  other  sons^ 
and  a  daughter  named  Lucretia.  Francis  was  a  gentleman 
of  good  disposition  and  probity,  and  in  every  respect  op- 
posite to  his  brother  Csesar ;  but  Ceesar  seems  to  Intve  pos- 
sessed abilities  superior  to  those  of  Francis  :  which  made  a 
certain  historian  say,  *'  that  Ceesar  was  great  among  the 
wicked,  and  Francis  good  among  the  great.'*  Caesar  how* 
e?er  was  the  mother^s  favourite,  as  having  a  temper  anxl 
principles  more  conformable  to  hers  :  for  which  reason,  at 
the  time  when  Alexander  was  undetermined  on  which  of 
these  brothers  he  should  bestow  the  cardinal's  cap,  Va- 
fil)zfhi  declared  herself  in  favour  of  Caesar,  who  was  accord«> 
ingly  made  a  cardinal  in  the  second  year  of  Alexander's 
pontificate.  From  this  time  he  acted  in  concert  with  his 
father,  and  was  an  useful  instrument  in  executing  all  th6 
schemes  of  that  wicked  pope,  as  he  had  no  scruples  of 
honour  or  humanjity,  nor  was  there  any  thing  too  atrocious 
for  him  to  perpetrate,  to  promote  his  insatiable  ambition. 
This  is  said  to  have  even  incited  him  to  the  murder  of  his 
elder  brother  Francis,  duke  of  ;Gtindia.  All  the  secular 
dignities,  which  then  were  much  more  coveted  than  the 
ecclesiastical,  were  heaped  upon  Francis,  which  obstructed 
Ca&sar's  projects  so  entirely,  that  he  was  resolved  at  all  ad- 
ventures to  remove  him.  The  story  is,  th^t  in  1497,  hir- 
ing assassins,  he  caused  him  to  be  murdered,  and  throwit 
into  the  Tiber ;  where  his  body  was  found  ^spme  days  after, 
full  of  wounds  and  extremely  mangled.  The  pope  was 
afflicted  to  the  last  degree ;  for  though  he  made  use  of 
Csesar  as  the  ablier,  he  loved  Francis  as  the  better  man.  He 
caused  therefore  strict  inquiry  to  be  made  after  the  mur- 
derers; upon  which  Vanozza,  who  for  that  and  other  reasonji 
was  justly  suspected  to  be  privy  to  the  affair,  went  privately 
to  the  pope,  and  used  all  the  arguments  she  could,  to  dis- 
suade him  from  searching  any  furthen  Some  say,  that  she 
went  so  far  as  to  assure  his  holiness,  that  if  he  did  not  desist, 
the  same  person  who  took  away  his  son's  life  would  not  spare 
his  own.  The  whole  of  this  story,  however,  appears  doubtful ; 
nor,  indeed,  is  there  any  positive  proof  that  Borgia  was'eveu' 
prjyy  to  his  brother's  death,  Gordon,  only,  has  asserted 
it  with  accompanying  proofs,  but  the  latter  appear  to  b^' 
historic?  fictions.     Jt  cannpt  be  necessary  to  add  to  Cwsar'* 


114  B  O  R  G  I  A, 

either  to  his  errors  or  his  crimes.     If,  however,  he  haiJ 
been  too  indiscriminately  condemned  by  one  historian,  he 
has  in  another  met  with  as  zealous  and  as  powerful  an  en- 
eomiast,  and  the  maxims  of  the  politician  are  only  the 
faithful  record  of  the  transactions  of  his  hero.     On  the 
principles  of  Machiavelli,  Borgia  was  the  greatest  man  of 
the  age.     Nor  was  he,  iu  fact,  without  qualities  which  in 
some  degree  compensated  for  his  demerits.     Courageous^ 
magnificent,  eloquent,  and  accomplished  in  all  the  exer- 
cises of  arts  and  arms,  he  raised  an  admiration  of  his  eti« 
dowments  which  kept  pace  with  and  counter-balanced  the 
abhorrence  excited  by  his  crimes.    That  evefli  these  crimes 
have  been  exaggerated,  is  highly  probable.     His  enemies 
were  numerous,  and  the  certainty  of  his  guilt  in  some  in- 
stances gave  credibility  to  every  imputation  that  could  be 
devised  against  him.     That  he  retained,  even  after  he  had 
survived  his  prosperity,  no  inconsiderable  share  of  public 
estimation,   is  evident  from  the  fidelity  and  attachment 
shewn  to  him  on  many  occasions.     After  his  death,   his 
memory  and  achievements  were  celebrated  by  (Strozza) 
one   of  the  most  elegant  Latin  poets  that  Italy  has  pro- 
duced.    The  language  of  poetry  is  not  indeed  always  that 
of  truth;  but  we  may  at  least  give  credit  to  the  accoune 
of  the  personal  accomplishments  and  warlike  talents   of 
JBorgia,  although  we  may  indignantly  reject  the  spurious 
praise,  which  places  him  among  the  heroes  of  antiquity, 
and  at  the  summit  of  fame." 

The  evidence  of  a  poet  is  certainly  inconclusive,  and 
although  the  *^  personal  accomplishments  and  warlike  ta- 
lents" may  be  proved,  and  have  not  been  lessened,  yet 
.they  weigh  little  against  those  crimes  which  stand  uncon- 
tradicted,  and  form  one  of  the  vilest  characters  in  history.  * 

BORGIA  (Stephen),  a  learned  Roman  cardinal,  was 
J[>orn  of  a  noble  family  at  Velletri,  in  IT^i  ;  and  as  the  se- 
cond son  of  the  family,  was  from  his  birth  destined  for  the 
clerical  dignities.  In  youth  he  appears  to  have  been  stu-^ 
dious,.  and  particularly  attentive  to  historic  and  diplomatic 
science,  and  modern  and  ancient  languages.  In  1770,  he 
was  appointed  secretary  to  the  congregation  of  Propa- 
ganda, the  purposes  of  which  are  to  furnish  missionaries  to 
propagate  Christianity,  on  popish  principles ;  and  into  this 

1  Gen.  Diet — Gordon's  Lives  of  Alexander  VI.  and  his  son,  1728-9,  fol.-^ 
Roscoe's  Leo,— Seward's  Anecdotes,  &c. 


BORGIA.  11.5 

college  children  are  admitted  from  Asia  and  Africa,  ia 
order  to  be  instructed  in  religion,  and. to  diffuse  it,  oik 
their  return,  through  their  native  countries,  A  more  fit 
person  could  not  be  selected  than  Borgi^,  as  be  bad  both 
zeal  and  learning.  In  1771,  the  abb6  Amaduzzi,  director 
of  the  printing-house  of  the  college,  procured  the  casting 
of  the  Malabar  types,  and  published  some  works  in  that 
language,  as  well  as  in  those  of  the  Indians  of  Ava  and  of 
Pegu.  By  the  care  of  this  new  secretary  also,  an  Etruscan 
alphabet  was  published,  which  soon  proved  of  the  highest 
benefit  to  Passeri :  for,  by  its  means,  this  celebrated  anti- 
quary, in  the  latter  part  of  his  life,  could  better  explain 
than  he  had  ever  done  some  Etruscan  monuments  of  the 
highest  interest.  ^  About  this  time  he  began  to  lay  the 
foundation  of  the  family  museum  at  Vellecri,  which,  be- 
fore 1780,  exhibited  no  less  than  eighty  ancient  Egyptian 
statues  in  bronze  or  marble,  many  Etruscan  and  Greek 
idols,  numerous  coins,  inscriptions,  &c.  To  form  some 
idea  of  the  total  of  this  museum,  it  may  be  observed  that 
only  a  small  part  of  it,  relative  to  Arabic  antiquity,  was  the 
subject  of  the  description  which,  in  1782,  was  published 
under  the  title  of  "  Musaeum  Cusicum."  He  had  long 
before  this  published  "  Monumento  di  Giovanni  XVL 
summo  Pontifice  illustrato,"  Rome,  1750,  8vo.  "  Breve 
Istoria  delP  antica  citta  di  Tadino  nell'  Umbria,  &c."  ibid. 
1751,  8vo.  "  Dissertatione  sopra  un'  antica  Iscrizione 
rinuentaneir  Isoladi  Malta  nell'  anno  1749,"Fermo,  1751, 
and  ^<  Dissertatione  Filologica  sopra  un'  antica  gemma  in- 
tj^liata." 

About  1782;  he  gave  a  new  proof  of  his  attention  to  the 
interests^  of  learning  and  religion,  on  the  following  occa- 
sion. An  island,  near  Venice,  is  inhabited  by  Armenian 
monks ;  and  those  fathers  make  no  use  of  any  language 
but  their  own,  printing  rituals  and  d|bvotional  books  in 
Armenian,  and  carrying  on  a  considerable  commerce  in 
such  books  through  the  East,  No  one,  however,  had 
thought  of  going  to  pass  some  time  among  these  fathers, 
with  a  view  of  learning  their  language,  until  Borgia,  fore- 
seeing the  advantages  that  might  result  from  it,  sent  one 
Gabriele,  a  Capuchin,  to  spend  some  time  with  these 
monks  in  learning  the  Armenian ;  and  afterwards  engaged 
him  to  go  on  a  mission  to  Astracan,  to  preach  in  Arme- 
nian, and  to  avail  himself  of  that  opportunity  to  compiler 
an  Italian- Armenian,  and   Armenian-Italian  Dictionary. 

-   I  2 


116  BORGIA. 

Father  Gabriele  fulfilled  these  injunctions,  and,  on  his  re* 
turn,  he  delivered  the  Dictionary  into  the  hands  of  the 
librarian  of  the  Propaganda. 

In  1788  he  published  his  "  Vindication  of  the  rights  of 
the  Holy  See  on  the  kingdom  of  Naples,"  4to,  a  work  now 
of  little  importance,  and  relating  to  a  dispute  which  will 
probably  never  be  revived.     On  the  30th  of  March,  1789^ 
he  was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  cardinal,   and  about  the 
game  time  was  appointed  prefect  of  the  congregation  of 
the  Index  ;  and,  what  was  more  analogous  to  his  pursuits, 
he  held  the  same  office  in  the  Propaganda,  and  in  the 
congregation  for  the  correction  of  the  books  of  the  oriental 
churches.     After  these  promotions,  he  continued  to  be  the 
liberal  patron  of  all  who  had  any  connection   either  with 
his  offices  or  with  his  literary  pursuits,  until  Italy  was  in« 
Taded  by  the  French,  when,  like  the  greater  part  of  his 
X  colleagues,  he  was  involved  in  losses  and  dangers,  both 
with  respect  to  his  fortune  and  to  his  pursuits.     He  for- 
feited all  his  benefices,  and  was  near  witnessing  the  de- 
struction of  all  the  establishments  committed  to  his  care, 
especially  the  Propaganda.     He  was  soon,  however,  extri- 
cated from  his  personal  difficulties;  and,  by  his  timely 
measures,  the  invaluable  literary  treasures  of  the  Propa- 
ganda were  also  saved.     He  was  allowed  a  liberal  pension 
irom  the  court  of  Denmark,  and  he  soon  obtained  the  re- 
moval of  the  establishment  of  the  Propaganda  to  Padua,   a 
city  which,  being  then  under  the  dominion  of  the  emperor 
of  Germany,  was  thought  to  be  sheltered  from  robbery. 
Here  he  remained  till  the  death  of  pope  Pius  VI.  after 
which  he  repaired,  with  his  colleagues,  to  Venice,  to  at- 
tend the  conclave ;  and,  a  new  pope  being  elected,  he 
returned  to  Rome.     When  the  coronation  of  the  emperor 
of  France  was  ordered,  cardinal  Borgia  was  one  of  those 
individuals  who  were  selected  by  the  pope  as  the  compa- 
nions of  his  intended  journey  to  Paris,  but  having  caught 
a  violent  cold  on  his  way,  he  died  dt  Lyons,  Nov.  23,  1804. 
Cardinal  Stephen  Borgia  was  not  much  favoured  by  na- 
ture  with  respect  to  person.     He  was  so  clumsy,  add  his 
motions  so  much  embarmssed,  as  to  have  little  of  the  ap« 
pearance  of  a  person  of  birth  and  rank.     He  was  far,  also, 
from  being  nice  in  his  bouse  or  equipage.     These  little 
defects,  however,  were  compensated  by  the  superior  qua- 
lities of  his  mind.     From  the  time  of  Alexander  Albani, 
mo  Roman  cardinal  had  so  many  distinguished  connections 


BORGIA.  117 

mud  correspondents  in  every  part  of  Europe :  and  a  great 
similarity  (elegance  of  manners  excepted)  was  remarked 
between  the  character  of  tliat  illustrious  prelate  and  bis 
own.  The  Borgian  MS.  so  called  by  Michaelis,  i^.  a  frag- 
ment of  a  Coptic-Greek  manuscript,  brought  by  a  monk 
from  Egypt,  consisting  of  about  twelve  leaves,  and  sent  to 
cardinal  Borgia.  The  whole  of  it  is  printed  jn  "Georgii 
Fragmentum  Graeco-Copto-Thebaicum,"  Rome,  1789, 
4to.  * 

BORGIANNI  (Horatio),  a  painter  and  engraver,  was 
born  at  Rome,  in  1630,  and  learned  design  from  Giulio 
Borgian ni  his  brother  ;  but  improved  himself  by  studying 
the  capital  performances  of  the  ancient  and  modern  artists, 
which  he  was  enabled  to  contemplate  every  day  in  bis  na« 
tive  city.  Having  had  an  offer  from  a  nobleman,  of  travel- 
ling with  him  in  a  tour  through  Europe,  he  willingly  ac«- 
cepted  it,  .from  a  desire  of  being  acquainted  with  the  dif- 
ferent customs  and  manners  of  different  nations.*  But  his 
pi:ogress  was  stopped  by  his  falling  in  love  with  a  young 
woman  in  Spain,  to  whom  be  was  afterwards  married ;  and 
finding  his  circumstances  reduced  to  a  narrow  compass,  he 
applied  himself  to  his  profession  with  double  diligence,  to 
procure  a  comfortable  support.  His  endeavours  were  soon 
successful ;  and  he  was  happy  enough  to  find  many  friends, 
admirers,  and  employers,  and  was  accounted  one  of  the 
best  painters  in  Spain.  After  the  death  of  his  wife,  hav- 
ing then  no  attachment  to  that  country,  he  returned  to 
Rome,  and  painted  some  historical  subjects  larger  than 
life;  but  the  figures  being  above  his  accustomed  size, 
shewed  a  want  of  correctness  in  several  of  the  members, 
which  made  his  pictures  not  quite  acceptable  to. the  re- 
fined taste  of  the  Roman  school.  He  was,  however,  en- 
gaged in  some  great  works  for  the  chapels  and  convents, 
and  s^lso  to  paint  portraits,  by  which  he  acquired  honour, 
and  lived  in  affluence.  He  died  in  1681,  of  a  broken 
heart,  in  consequence  of  the  ill  treatment  be  received, 
through  the  envy  and  villainy  of  one  Celio,  a  painter,  who 
proved  a  most  malicious  competitor,  and  to  whom  he  had 
been  often  preferred,  by  the  best  judges  of  painting  at 
Rome  ;  but  he  died  lamented  and  pitied  by  every  worthy 
man  of  his  profession. 

'  AtheoaBuni)  vol.  V.«-Saxii  Oaomaaticon.— Rees's  Cyclopedia,  art.  Borgian 
MS. 


118  B  O  R  G  I  A  N  N  I. 

As  an  engraver,  he  is  probably  best  known  to  many  of 
our  readers,  for  his  engravings  of  the  Bible  histories, 
which  were  painted  by  Raphael  in  the  Vatican,  commonly 
called  "  Raphael's  Bible,"  small  plates,  length-ways, 
dated  1615,  wfeich  are  very  slight,  and  seem  to  be  the 
hasty  productions  of  his  point.  Mr.  Strutt  says,  that  his 
most  finished  etching  is  ^*  a  dead  Christ,"  a  small  square 
plate,  the  figure  greatly  foreshortened,  and  behind  ap- 
pear the  two  Mary's  and  St.  John,  who  is  kissing  Qne  of 
the  hands  of  our  Saviour.  His  etchings  are,  in  general, 
in  a  bold,  free  manner,  and  more  finished  than  usual,  wheii 
considered  as  the  works  of  a  painter,  but  in  some  the 
drawing  is  not  correct.* 

BORLACE  (Dr.  Edmund),  son  of  sir  John  Borlace, 
master  of  the  ordnance,  and  one  of  the  lords  justices  of 
Ireland,  was  born  in  the  seventeenth  century,  and  educated 
at  the  university  of  Dublin.  Then  he  travelled  to  Leyden, 
where  he  commenced  doctor  of  physic  in  1650,  and  was 
afterwards  admitted  to  the  same  degree  at  Oxford.  At 
last  he  settled  at  Chester,  where  he  practised  physic  with 
great  reputation  and  success;  and  where  he  died  in  1683. 
Among  several  books  which  he  wrote  and  published,  are, 
1.  "  Latham  Spaw  in  Lancashire  :  with  some  remarkable 
cases  and  cures  effected  by  it,'*  Lond.  1670,  8vo,  dedi- 
cated to  Charles  earl  of  Derby.  2.^^  The  Reduction  of 
Ireland  to  the  Crown  of  England :  with  the  governors 
since  the  conquest  by  king  Henry  II.  anno  1 172,  and  some 
passages  in  their  government,  A  brief  account  of  the  re- 
bellion, ann.  Dom.  1641.  Also  the  original  of  the  univer- 
sity of  Dublin,  and  the  college  of  physicians,"  Lond.  1675, 
a  large  octavo.  3.  "  The  History  of  the  execrable  Irish 
Rebellion,  traced  from  many  preceding  acts  to  the  grand 
eruption,  Oct.  23,  1641  ;  and  thence  pursued  to  the  act  of 
settlement,  1672,"  Lond.  1680,  folio.  Wood  tells  us,  that 
much  of  this  book  is  taken  from  another,  entitled  "  The 
Irish  Rebellion;  or,  The  History  of  the  beginnings  and 
first  progress  of  the  general  rebellion  raised  within  the 
kingdom  of  Ireland,  Oct.  23,  1641,''  Lond.  1646,  4to, 
written  by  sir  John  Temple,  master  of  the  rolls,  one  of  his 
majesty'^  privy  council  in  Ireland,  and  father  of  the  cele- 
brated sir  William  Temple,  4.  "  Brief  Reflections  on  the 
^rl  of  Castlebaven's  Memoirs  of  his  engagement  and  c|^r- 

1  Pilkington  and  Strutt. 


B  O  R  L  A  C  E. 


lid 


tiage  in  the  War  of  Ireland.  By  which  the  government  of 
that  time,  and  the  justice  of  the  crown  since,  are  vindi- 
cated from  aspersions  cast  upon  both,"  Lond.  1682,  8vo.  * 

BORLASE  (William),   a  learned   English  antiquary, 
was  b6rn  at  Pendeen,  in  the  parish  of  St.  Just,  Gornwall, 
February  2,  1695-6.    The  family  of  that  name,  from  which 
he  was  descended,  had   been  settled   at  the  place  from 
whence  they  derived  it  (Borlase),  from  the  time  of  king 
William  Rufus.     Our  author  was  the  second  son  of  John 
Borlase,  esq.  of  Pendeen,  in  the  parish  before  mentioned, 
byLydia,  the  youngest  daughter  of  Christopher  Harris, 
esq.  of  Hs^yne  in  the  county  of  Devon  ;  and  was  put  early 
to  school  at  Penzance,  from  which  he  was  removed,  iii 
1 709,  to  the  care  of  the  rev.  Mr.  Bedford,  then  a  learned 
school-master  at  Plymouth.     Having  completed  his  gram* 
matical  education,  he  was  entered  of  Exeter  college,  Ox- 
ford, in  March  1712-13;  where,  on  the  1st  of  June  1719, 
he  took  the  degree  of  master  of  arts;     In  the  same  year, 
Mr.  Borlase  was  admitted  to  deacon^s  orders,  and  ordained 
priest  in  1720.     On  the  22d  of  April,  1722^  he  was  in- 
stituted, by  Dr.  Weston,  bishop  of  Exeter,  to  the  rectory 
of  Ludgvan  in  Cornwall,  to  which  he  had  been  presented 
by  Charldis  Duke  of  Bolton  *.     On  the  28th  of  July,  1724, 
he  was  married   in  the  church  of  lUuggan^  by  his  dder 
brother.  Dr.  Borlase  of  Castlehorneck,  to   Anne,    eldest 
surviving  daughter   and  coheir  of  William  Smith,  ]yi.  A* 
rector  of  the  parishes  of  C^mborn  and  Illuggan.     In  1732, 
the  lord  chancellor  King,  by  the  recommendation  of  sir 
William  Morice,  hart,  presented  Mr.  Borlase  to  the  vicar* 
age  of  St.  Just,  his  native  parish,  and  where  his  father 
had  a  considerable  property.     This  viqarage  and  the  rec- 
tory of  Ludgvan  were  the  only  preferments  he  ever  re- 
ceived. 

When  Mr.  Borlase  was  fixed  at  Ludgvan,  which  was  a 
retired,  but  delightful  situation,  he  soon   recommended 


*  This  was  not  precisely  the  case. 
His  father  purchased  for  him,  of  the 
rev.  Mr.  Ct)arles  Wrougbton,  then  pro* 
prietor  of  the  next  turn,  as  well  as  in- 
cumbeot,  the  next  presentation  to  the 
rectory  of  Ludgvan;  but  the  then 
grantor,  Charles  duke  of  Bolton,  ori- 
ginal proprietor  of  the  church  of  Ludg- 
van, dying  before  the  grantee,  the  pur* 
t^se  was  void,    Mr.  Wroughton  died 


soon  after  (viz.  Mar.  172 1)»  and^by 
the  application  of  his  father,  then  de- 
puty recorder  of  St.  Ives,  strengthened 
by  a  recommendation  of  sir  John  Ho« 
bart,  bart  afterwards  earl  of  Bucking- 
faam,  added  to  that  of  the  corporation 
of  St.  Ives,  W.  B.  was  presented  by 
Charles,  the  subsequent  duke  of  Bol- 
ton, to  the  rectory  of  Ludgvan.-*M^ 
account  by  Dr.  Borlase. 


&  Wood's  Ath.  ypl.  II.  Fasti* 


120  B  0  R  L  A  S  C: 

•  •         • 

binaself  as  a  pastor,  a  gentleman,  and  a  man  of  learning. 

The  duties  of  his  profession  he  discharged  with  the  most 
rigid  punctuality  and  exemplary  dignity.  He  was  esteemed 
and  respected  by  the  principal  gentry  of  Cornwall,  and 
lived  on  the  most  friendly  and  social  terms  with  those  of 
his  neighbourhood.     In  the  pursuit  of  general  knowledge 
he  was  active  and  vigorous ;  and  his  mind  being  of  an  in- 
quisitive turn,  he  could   not   survey   with  inattention  or 
indifference  the  peculiar  objects  which  his  situation  pointed 
to  his  view.     There  were  in  the  parish  of  Ludgvan  rich 
copper  works,  belonging  to  the  late  earl  of  Godolphin. 
These  abounded  with  mineral  and  metallic  fossils,  which 
Mr«  Borlase  collected  from  time  to, time;  and  his  collec- 
tion increasing  by  degrees,  he  was  encouraged  to  study 
at  large  the  natural  history  of  his  native  county.     While 
be  was  engaged  in  this  design,  he  could  not  avoid  being 
struck  with  the  numerous  monuments  of  remote  aqtiquity 
that  are  to  be  met  with  in  several  parts  of  Cornwall;  and 
which  had  hitherto  been  passed  over  with  far  less  examina- 
tion than  they  deserved.     Enlarging,  therefore,  his  plan^ 
he  determined  to  gain  as  accurate  an  acquaintance  as  pos- 
sible with  the  Druid  learning,  and  with  the  religion  and 
customs  of  the  ancient  Britons,  before  their  conversion  to 
Christianity.     To  this  undertaking  he  was  encouraged  by 
several  gentlemen  of  his  neighbourhood,  who  were  men  of 
literature  and  lovers  of  British  antiquities ;  and  particu- 
larly by  sir  John  St.  Aubyn,  ancestor  of  the  present  ba- 
ronet of  that  family,  and  the  late  rev.  Edward  Collins^ 
vicar  of  St.  Earth.     In  the  year  1748,  Mr.  Borlase,  hap- 
pening to  attend  the  ordination  of  his  eldest  son  at  Exeter, 
commenced  an  acquaintance  with  the  Rev.  Dr.  Charles 
Lyttelton,    late  bishop  of  Carlisle,   then  come  to  be  in- 
stalled into  the  deanry,  and  the  Rev.  Dr.  Milles,  the  late 
dean,  two  eminent  antiquaries,  who,  in  succession,  hav^e 
so  ably  presided  over  the  society  of  antiquaries  in  London. 
Our  author's  correspondence  with  these  gentlemen  was  a 
gr^at  encouragement  to  tiie  prosecution  of  his  studies ;  and 
he  has  acknowledged  his  obligations  to  them,  in  several 
psMTts  of  his  works.     In  1750,  being  at  London,  he  was 
admitted  a  fellow  of  the  royal  society,  into  which  he  had 
been. chosen  the  year  before,  after  having  communicated 
an  ingenious  Essay  on  the  Cornish  Crystals.    Mr.  Borlase 
having  completed,  in  1753,  his  manuscript  of  the  Anti- 
quities of  Cornwaiiy^arried  it  to  Oxford,  where  he  finished 


B  O  R  L  A  S  E.  181 

the  whole  impression,  in  folio,  in  the  February  following. 
A  second  edition  of  it,  in  the  same  form,  was  published 
at  London,  in  1769.  Our  author^s  next  publication  was, 
*^  Observations  on  the  ancient  and  present  slate  of  the 
Islands  of  Scilijr,  and  their  importance  to  the  trade  of 
Great  Britain,  in  a  letter  to  the  reverend  Charles  LytteU 
ton,  LL.  D.  dean  of  Exeter,  and  F.  R.  S,'*  This  work, 
which  was  printed  likewise  at  Oxford,  and  appeared  in 
1756,  in  quarto,  was  an  extension  of  a  papeV  that  had 
been  read  before  the  royal  society,  on  the  8th  of  February 
1753,  entitled,  '^  An  Account  of  the  great  Alterations 
which  the  Islands  of  Scilly  have  undergone,  since  the  time 
of  the  ancients,  who  mention  them,  as  to  their  number, 
extent,  and  position.^'  It  was  at  the  request  of  Dr.  Lyt* 
telton,  that  this  account  was  enlarged  into  a  distinct 
treatise.  In  1757,  Mr.  Borlase  again  employed  the  Ox* 
ford  press,  in  printing  his  "  Natural  History  of  Corn- 
wall,** for  which  he  had  been  many  years  making  coUec-^ 
tions,  and  which  was  published  in  April  1758.  After  this, 
be  sent  a  variety  of  fossils,  and  remains  of  antiquity,  which 
he  had  described  in  his  works,  to  be  placed  in  the  Ash- 
molean  museum ;  and  to  the  same  repository  he  continued 
to  send  every  thing  curious  which  fell  into  his  hands* 
For  these  benefactions  he  received  the  thanks  of  the  uni« 
versity,  in  a  letter  from  the  Vice-chancellor,  dated  Novem- 
ber 18,  1758  ;  and  in  March,  1766,  that  learned^body  con* 
ferred  on  him  the  degree  of  doctor  of  laws,  by  diploma^ 
the  highest  academical  honour. 

.  Though  Dr.  Borlase,  when  h6  had  completed  his  three 
principal  works,  was  become  more  than  sixty  years  of  age, 
he  continued  to  exert  his  usual  diligence  and  vigour  in 
quiet  attention  to  his  pastoral  duty,  and  the  study  of  the 
Scriptures.  In  the  course  of  this  study,  he  drew  up  para- 
phrases  on  the  books  of  Job,  and  the  books  of  Solomon, 
and  wrote  some  other  pieces  of  a  religious  kind,  rather,  how- 
ever, for  his  private  improvement,  than  with  a  view  to  pub- 
lication* His  amusements  abroad  were,  to  superintend  the 
care  of  his  parish,  and  particularly  the  forming  and  re- 
forming of  its  roads,  which  were  more  numerous  than  in 
any  parish  of  Cornwall.  His  amusements  at  home  were  the 
belles  lettres,  and  especially  painting ;  and  the  correction 
and  enlargement  of  his  "  Antiquities  of  Cornwall,"  for  a 
second  edition,  engaged  some  part  of  his  time ;  and  when 
this  business  was  completed,  he  applied  bis  attention  to  a 


122  B  O  R  L  A  S  E. 

minute  revision  of  his  "  Natural  History."  After  thi»,  he 
prepared  for  the  press  a  treatise  he  bad  composed  some 
years  before,  concerning  the  Creation  and  Deluge.  •  But  a 
.  violent  illness,  in  January  1771,  and  the  apprehensions  of 
entangling  himself  in  so  long  and  close  an  attention  as  the 
correcting  of  the  sheets,  solely,  and  at  such  a  distance  from 
London,  would  require,  induced  him  to  drop  bis  design, 
and  to  recal  the  manuscript  from  bis  bookseller,  when  only 
a  few  pages  of  it  had  been  printed  From  the  time  of  his 
illness,  he  began  sensibly  to  decline^  the  infirmities  of  old 
age  came  fast  upon  him ;  and  it  was  visible  to  all  his  friends 
that  his  dissolution  was  approaching.  This  expected  event 
happened  on  the  31st  of  August,  1772,  in  the  77th  year  of 
bis  age,  when  he  was  lamented  as  a  kind  father,  an  affec-* 
tionate  brother,  a  sincere  friend,  an  instructive  pastor,  and 
a  man  of  erudition.  He  was  buried  within  the  communion 
rails  in  Ludgvan  church,  by  the  side  of  Mrs.  Borlase,  who 
had  been  dead  above  three  years. 

The  Doctor  had  by  his  lady  six  sons,  two  of  whom  alone 
survived  him,  the  rev.  Mr.  John  Borlase,  and  the  rev.  Mr. 
George  Borlase,  who  was  Casuistical  Professor  and  Regis- 
trar of  the  university  of  Cambridge,  and  died  in  1809. 

Besides  Dr.  Borlase's  literary  connections  with  Dr.  Lyt- 
telton  and  Dr.  Milles,  before  mentioned,  he  corresponded 
with  most  of  the  ingenious  meA  of  his  time.  He  had  a  par- 
ticular intercourse  of  this  kind  with  Mr.  Pope ;  and  there  is 
still  existing  a  large  collection  of  letters,  written  by  that 
celebrated  poet  to  our  author.  He  furnished  Mr.  Pope 
with  the  greatest  part  of  the  materials  for  forming  his  grotto 
at  Twickenham,  consisting  of  such  curious  fossils  as  the 
county  of  Cornwall  abounds  with :  and  there  might  have 
been  seen,  before  the  destruction  of  that  curiosity.  Dr. 
Borlase's  name  in  capitals,  composed  of  crystals,  in  the 
grotto.  On  this  occasion  a  very  handsome  letter  was  written 
to  the  Doctor  by  Mr.  Pope,  in  which  he  says,  "  1  am  much 
obliged  to  you  for  your  valuable  collection  of  Cornish  dia- 
monds. I  have  placed  them  where  they  may  best  represent 
yourself,  in  a  shad^e^  but  shining  ;'*'*  alluding  to  the  obscurity 
of  Dr.  Borlase's  situation,  and  the  brillianpy  of  his  talents. 
— The  papers  which  he  communicated  at  different  times 
to  the  iloyal  Society  are  numeroi^s  and  curious.  ^ 

1  Biog.  Brit,  corrected  by  a  MS.  account  written  by  himself  and  inserted  inNU 
«l^ols's  B«wyer,  vol.  V.  aud  Gent.  Ma|;.  1803. — Son's  deatb,  ibid.  1809. 


BORN.  123  • 

•    BORN  (Ignatius),  Baron^  an  eminent  mineralogist,  was 
born  of  a  noble  family  at  Carlsburg,  in  Transylvania,  Dec. 
26,   1742,     He  came  early  in  life  to  Vienna,  and  studied 
under  the  Jesuits,  who,  perceiving  his  abilities,  prevailed 
on  him  to  enter  into  their  society,  but  he  remained  a  mem- 
ber only  about  a  year  and  a  half.    He  then  went* to  Prague, 
where,  as  it  is  the  custom  in  Germany,  he  studied  law,  and 
having  cQmpleted  his  course,  made  a  tour  through  a  part 
of  Germany,  Holland,  the  Netherlands,  and  Francte,  and 
returning  to  Prague,  he  engaged  in-  the  studies  of  natural 
history,  mining,    and  their  connected  branches,  and   in 
1770,  he  was  received  into  the  department  of  the  mines 
and  mint  at  Prague.     Tlie  same  year  he  visited  the  princi- 
pal mines  of  Hungary  aftd  Transylvania,  and  during  this 
tour  kept  up  a  correspondence  with  the  celebrated  Ferber, 
who,  in  1774,  published   his  letters.     It  was  in  this  town 
also  that  he  so  nearly  lost  his  life,  and  where  he  was  struck 
with  the  disease  which  embittered  the  rest  of  his  days.     It 
appears  from  his  eighteenth  letter  to  Mr.  Ferber  that,  when 
at  Felso-Banya,  he  descended  into  a  mine,  where  fire  was 
used  to  detach  the  ore,  to  observe  the  efficacy  of  this  means, 
but  too  soon  after  the  Bre  had  been  extinguished,  and  while 
the  mine  was  full  of  arsenical  vapours  raised  by  the  heat. 
How  greatly  he  suffered  in  his  health  by  this  accident  ap-* 
pears  from  his  letter,  in  which  he  complained  that  he  could 
hardly  bear  the  motion  of  his  carriage.     After  this  he  was 
appointed  at  Prague  counsellor  of  the  mines.     In  1771,  he 
published  a  small  work  of  the  Jesuit  Poda,  on  the  machinery 
used  about  mines,  and  the  next  year  his  "  Lithophylacium 
Borueanum,''  a  catalogue  of  that  collection  of  fossils,  which 
be  afterward  disposed  of  to  the  hon.  Mr.  Greville.     This 
work  drew   on  him    the  attention  of  mineralogists,    and 
brought  him  into  correspondence  with  the  first  men  in  that 
study.     He  was  now  made  a  member  of  the  royal  societies 
of  Stockholm,  Sienna,  and  Padua;  and  in  1774,  the  same 
honour  was  conferred,  on    him  by  the   royal  society  of 

l^ondon* 

During  his  residence  in  Bohemia,  his  active  disposition 
induced  him  to  seek  for  opportunities  of  extending  know- 
ledge, and  of  being  useful  to. the  world.  He  took  a  part 
jn  the  work,  entitled  ^'  Portraits  of  the  learned  men  and 
artists  of  Bohemia  and  Moravia."  He  was  likewise  con- 
cerned in  the  "Literary  transactions,  or  Acta  Litteraria,  of 
^phemia  find  Mor^'Via,"  and  the  editor  of  the  latter  puhr 


12*  B  O  R  N. 

iicly  acknowledges  in  the  preface,  how  much  Bohemian  li- 
terature is  indebted  to  him.  Prague  and  Vienna  were 
both  without  a  public  cabinet  for  the  use  of  the  students  : 
it  was  at  bis  instigation  that  government  was  induced  to 
form  one,  which  he  assisted  by  his  contributions  and  hig 
labours.  In  1775»  he  laid  the  foundation  of  a  literary  so- 
ciety, which  published  several  volumes  under  the  title  of 
^  Memoirs  of  a  private  Society  in  Bohemia."  His  fame 
reaching  the  empress  Mary  Theresa^  in  1776,  she  called 
him  to  Vienna  to  arrange  and  describe  the  Imperial  collec- 
tion, and  about  two  years  after,  he  published  the  splendid 
work  containing  tlie  Conchology :  in  the  execution  of 
which  he  had  some  assistance.  The  empress  defrayed  the 
e^^pences  for  a  certain  number  of  copies.  On  the  death  of 
this  patron  the  work  was  discontinued,  her  successor,  the 
emperor  Joseph,  not*  favouring  the  undertaking.  He  had 
likewise  the  honour  of  instructing  the  arch-duchess  Maria 
Anna  in  natural  history,  who  was  partial  to  this  entertain- 
ing study  ;  and  he  formed  and  arranged  for  her  a  neat  mu« 
seum.  In  1779,  he  was  raised  to  the  office  of  actual  coun- 
sellor of  the  court-chamber,  in  the  department  of  the 
mines  and  mint.  This  office  detained  him  constantly  in 
Vienna,  and  engaged  the  chief  part  of  his  time. 

The  consequences  of  his  misfortune  at  Felso-Banya  be- 
gan now  to  be  felt  in  the  severest  manner ;  he  was  attacked 
with  the  most  excruciating  cholics,  which  often  threatened 
a  speedy  termination  of  his  life  and  miseries.  In  this  depth 
of  torment,  he  had  recourse  to  opium,  and  a  large  portion 
of  this  being  placed  by  his  side,  which  he  wa3  ordered 
only  to  take  in  small  doses^  oti  one  occasion,  through  the 
intensity  of  his  pain,  he  swallowed  the  whole,  which 
brQught  on  a  lethargy,  of  four  and  twenty  hours ;  but  when 
he  awoke  he  was  free  of  his  pains.  The  disorder  now  at- 
tacked his  legs  and  feet,  particularly  his  right  leg,  and  in 
this  he  was  lame  for  the  rest  of  his  life,  and  sometimes  the 
lameness  was  accompanied  by  pain.  £iut  his  feet  by  de- 
grees withered,  and  he  was  obliged  to  sit,  or  lie,  or  lean 
upon  a  sopha ;  though  sometimes  he  was  so  well  as  to  be 
able  to  sit  upon  a  stool,  but  not  to  move  from  one  room  to 
the  other  without  assistance. 

His  free  and  active  genius  led  him  to  interest  himself  in 
all  the  occurrences  of  the  times,  and  to  take  an  active 
part  in  all  the  institutions  and  plans  which  professed  to 
enlighten  and  reform  mankind.    With  these  benevolent 


BORN.  125 

intentions  he  formed  connexions  with  the  free-masons^ 
whose  views  in  this  part  of  the  world  occasioned  the  laws 
and  regulations  made  against  masoniy  by  the  emperor  Jo- 
seph. Under  Theresa,  this  order  was  obliged  to  keep  it- 
self very  secret  in  Austria ;  but  Joseph,  on  his  coming  to 
th^  throne,  tolerated  it,  and  the  baron  founded  in  the 
Austrian  metropolis,  a  lodge  called  the  "  True  Concord,'* 
a  society  of  learned  men,  whose  lodge  was  a  place  of  ren- 
dezvous for  the  literati  of  the  capital.  The  obstacles  these 
gentlemen  found,  to  the  progress  of  science  and  use- 
ful knowledge,  had  the  tendency  to  draw  their  attention 
to  political  subjects;  and  subjects  were  really  discussed 
here  which  the  church  had  forbidden  to  be  spoken  of,  and 
to  which  the  government  was  equally  averse.  At  their 
meetings,  dissertations  on  some  subject  of  history,  ethics^ 
or  moral  philosophy,  were  read  by  the  members;  and 
commonly  something  on  the  history  of  ancient  and  modern 
mysteries  and  secret  societies.  These  were  afterward  pub- 
lished in  the  Diary  for  Free-masons,  for  the  use  of  the  ini- 
tiated,  and  not  for  public  sale. — In  the'  winter  they  met 
occasionally,  and  held  more  public  discourses,  to  which 
the  members  of  the  other  lodges  were  allowed  access.  A^ 
most  of  the  learned  of  Vienna  belonged  to  this  lodge,  it 
was  very  natural  to  suppose,  that  many  of  the  dissertations 
read  here,  were  not  quite  within  the  limits  of  the  original 
plan  of  the  society.  It  was  these  dissertations  which  gave 
rise  to  another  periodical  work,  which  was  continued  for 
some  time  by  the  baron,  and  his  brother  masons.  He  wsus 
likewise  active  in  extirpating  what  he  reckoned  supersti- 
tions of  various  kinds,  which  had  crept  into  the  other 
lodges,  and  equally  zealous  in  giving  to  these  societies 
such  an  organization,  as  might  render  them  useful  to  the 
public. 

The  baron,  and  many  others  of  his  lodge,  belonged  to 
the  society  of  the  illuminated.  This,  says  his  biographer, 
was  no  dishonour  to  him  :  the  views  of  this  order,  at  least 
at  first,  seem  to  have  been  commendable ;  they  were 
the  improvement  of  mankind,  not  the  destruction  of  so- 
ciety. Such  institutions  are  only  useful  or  dangerous,  and 
to  be  approved  of  or  condemned,  according  to  the  state  pf 
society ;  and  this  was  before  the  French  revolution,  and 
in  a  country  less  enlightened  than  almost  any  other  part  of 
Germany.  But  this  was  before  the  French  revolution  as  a 
cause  is  before  its  effect^  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  ths^t 


126  born: 

much  of  the  misery  inflicted  on  Europe  is  to  be  traced  to 
these  societies.  So  zeabus,  however,  was  the  baron  in 
favour  of  the  illuminati,  that  when  the  elector  of  Bavaria 
ordered  all  those  in  his  service  to  quit  this  order,  he  was  so 
displeased  that  he  returned  the  academy  of  Munich  the 
diploma  they  had  sent  him  on  their  receiving  him  among 
them,  pubhcly  avowed  his  attachment  to  the  order,  and 
thought  it  proper  to  break  off  all  further  connexion  with 
Bavaria,  as  a  member  of  its  literary  society.  The  free- 
masons did  not  long  retain  the  patronage  of  their  sove- 
reign :  the  emperor  Joseph  soon  became  jealous  of  their 
influence,  and  put  them  under  such  restrictions,  and  clog- 
ged them  with  such  incumbrances,  as  to  amount  almost  to 
a  prohibition ;  and  the  society  found  it  necessary  to  dis- 
solve. • 

What  raised  the  baron  more  justly  high  in  the  public 
opinion,  was  his  knowledge  of  mineralogy,  and  his  success- 
ful experiments  in  metallurgy,  and  principally  in  the  pro- 
gress of  amalgamatiop.  The  use  of  quick-silver  in  extract- 
ing the  noble  metals  from  their  ores,  was  not  a  discovery 
of  the  baron's,  nor  of  the  century  in  which  he  lived  ;  yet 
he  extended  so  far  its  application  in  metallurgy  as  to  form 
a  brilliant  epoch  in  this  most  important  art.  After  he  had 
at  great  expence  made  many  private  experiments,  and  was 
convinced  of  the  utility  of  his  method,  he  laid  before  the 
emperor  an  account  of  his  discovery,  who  gave  orders  that 
a  decisive  experiment  on  a  large  quantity  of  ore  should  be 
made  at  Schemnitz,  in  Hungary,  in  the  presence  of  Char- 
pentier  from  Saxony,  Ferber  from  Russia,  Elhujar  from 
Spain,  Poda,  and  other  celebrated  chemists,  which  met 
with  universal  approbation,  and  established  the  utility  of 
his  discovery.  In  1786,  Born  published,  at  the  desire  of 
the  emperor,  his  treatise  on  Amalgamation  ;  and  in  the  fol- 
lowing year,  a  farther  account  of  it  was  published  by  his 
friend  Ferber.     As  a  considerable  saving  in  wood,  time,,  ] 

and  labour,  attended  his  process,  the  emperor  gave  orders 
that  it  should  be  employed  in  the  Hungarian  mines ;  and 
as  a  recompence  to  the  inventor,  a  third  of  the  sum  that 
should  be  saved  by  adopting  his  method  was  granted  to 
him  for  ten  years,  and  for  ten  years  more  the  interest  of 
that  sum.  Such,  however,  was*  the  hospitality  of  Born, 
and  his  readiness  to  admit  and  entertain  all  travellers,  and 
to  patronize  distressed  talents  of  every  kind,  that  his  ex- 
peuces  exceeded  his  income,  and  he  was  at  last  reduced  to 


BORN.  127 

^'Bt^te  of  insolvency.  Amidst  all  his  bodily  infirmities  and 
pecuniary,  embarrassments,  and  notwithstanding  the  variety 
of  his  official  avocations,  he  was  indefatigable  in  his  literary  . 
pursuits;  and  in  1790,  he  published  in  two  volumes^a 
•'  Catalogue  methodique  raisonn6,"  of  Miss  Raab^s  collec- 
tion of  fossils,  which  is  regarded  as  a  classical  work  on  that 
subject.  He  employed  himself  also  in  bleaching  wax  by  a 
new  chemical  process,,  and  in  boiling  salt  with  half  the 
(irood  <?ommonly  used  for  that  purpose.  Whilst  he  was  en- 
gaged in  writing  the  "  Fasti  Leopoldini,"  or  a  history  of 
the  reign  of  Leopold  II.  in  classical  Latin,  and  a  work  on 
Mineralogy,  his  disease  rapidly  advanced,  and  being  at- 
tended with  violent  spasms,  terminated  his  life  on  the  28th 
of  August,  179  L  His  treatise  on  Amalgamation  was  trans- 
lated into  English,  and  published  by  K.  £.  Raspe,  Lond. 
1791,  4 to,  and  his  travels  through  the  Bannat  of  Temeswar^ 
&c.  were  published  in  1787.* 

BOROUGH  (Sir  John).    See  BURROUGHS. 

BORRI  (Joseph  Francis),  a  famous  chemist,  quack, 
and  heretic,  was  a  Milanese,  and  born  in  the  beginning  of 
the  seventeenth  century.    He  finished  his  studies  in  the  se^^ 
miaary  at  Rome,  where  the  Jesuits  admired  him  as  a  pro-* 
digy  for  his  parts  and  memory.     He  iapplied  himself  to 
chemistry,  and  made  some  discoveries ;  but,  plunging  him-* 
self  into  the  most  extravagant  debaucheries,  wa»  obliged 
at  last,  in  1654,  to  take  refuge  in. a  church.     He  then  set 
up   for  a  pietist;  and,  affecting  an  appearance  of  great 
zeal,  lamented  the  corruption  of  manners  which  prevailed 
at   Rome,  saying,  that  the  distemper   was   come  to    the 
height,  and  that  the  time  pf  recovery  drew  near :  a  happy 
time,  wherein   there  would   be  but  one  sheepfold  on  the 
earth,  whereof  the  pope  was  to  be  the  only  shepherd. 
*^  Whosoever  shall  refuse,  said  he,  to  enter  into  that  sheep- 
fold,  shall  be  destroyed  by  the  pope's  armies.     God  has 
predestinated  me  to  be  the  general  of  those  armies :  I  am 
sure,  that  they  shall  want  nothing.     I  shall  quickly  finish 
my  chemical  labours  by  the  hap^y  production  of  the  phi- 
losopher's stone ;  and  by  that  means  I  shall  have  as  much 
gold  as  is  necessary  for  the  business.     I  am  sure  of  the 
;assistauce  of  the  angeb,  and  particularly  of  that  of  Michael' 
the  archangel.     When  I  began  to  walk  in  the  spiritual  life, 
I  bad  a  vision  in  the  night,  attended  with  an  angelical 

*  Townson*s  Travels  in  Hungary,  1797.  4to. 


128  B  O  R  R  L 

Toice,  which  assured  me,  that  I  should  become  a  prophet. 
The  sign  that  was  given  me  for  it  was  a  palm,  that  seemed 
to  me  surrounded  with  the  light  of  paradise.^' 

He  communicated  to  his  confidants,  in  this  manner,  the 
revelations  which  he  boasted  to  have  received :  but  after 
the  death  of  Innocent  X.  finding  that  the  new  pope  Alex- 
ander XII.  renewed  the  tribunsils,  he  despaired  of  succeed- 
ing,  left  Rome,  and  returned  to  Milan.  There  too  he 
acted  the  devotee,  and  gained  credit  with  several  people, 
wh6m  he  caused  to  perform  certain  exerc'ses,  which  car- 
ried a  wonderful  appearance  of  piety.  He  engaged  the 
members  of  his  new  congregation,  to  take  an  oath  of  se- 
crecy to  him ;  and  when  he  found  them  confirmed  in  the 
belief  of  his  extraordinary  mission,  he  prescribed  to  them 
certain  vows,  one. of  which  was  that  of  poverty;  for  the 
performance  of  which  he  very  ingeniously  caused  alf  the 
money  that  every  one  had  to  be  consigned  to  himself.  The 
design  of  this  crafty  impostor  was,  in  case  he  could  get  a 
s;ufficien|  number  of  followers,  to  appear  in  the  great 
square  of  Milan ;  there  to  represent  the  abuses  of  the 
eccleiiiastical  and  secular  government ;  to  encourage  the 
people  to  liberty ;  and  then,  possessing  himself  of  the  city 
and  country  of  Milan,  to  pursue  his  conquests.  But  hi» 
design  miscarried,  in  consequence  of  the  imprisonment  of 
some  of  his  disciples ;.  and  as  soon  as  he  saw  that  first  step  of 
the  inquisition,  he  fled,  on  which  they  proceeded  against  him 
for  contumacy  in  1659  and  1660;  and  he  was  condemned 
as  an  heretic,  and  burnt  in  effigy,  with  his  writings,  in  the 
field  of  Flora  at  Rome,  on  the  3d  of  January  1661.  He 
is  reported  to  have  said,  that  he.  never  was  so  cold  in  his 
life  as  on  the  day  that  he  was  burnt  at  Rome :  a  piece  of 
wit,  however,  which  has  been  ascribed  to  several  others. 
He  had  dictated  a  treatise  on  his  system  to  his  followers  : 
but  took  it  from  them  as  soon  as  he  perceived  the  motions 
of  the  inquisition,  and  hid  all  his  papers  in  a  nunnery, 
from  which  they  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  inquisition,  and 
were  found  to  contain  doctrines  very  absurd  and  very  im-*. 
pious. 

Borri  staid  some  time  in  the  city  of  Strasbnrgh,  to  which 
he  had  fled ;  and  where  he  found  some  assistance  and 
support,  as  well  because  he  was  persecuted  by  the  inqui- 
sition, as  because  he  was  reputed  a  great  chemist  But 
this  was  not  a  theatre  large  enough  for  Borri :  he  went 
therefore  to  Amsterdam^  where  he  appeared  in  a  stateljr 


B  O  R  R  K  121^ 

Ahd  splendid  equipage,  and  took.tipoti  him  the  title  of 
Excellency :  people  flocked  to  him,  as  to  the  physiciah 
who  could  cure  all  diseases ;  and  proposals  were  concerted 
for  marrying  him  to  great  fortunes,  &c*  But  his  reputa- 
tion began  to  sink,  as  his  impostures  became  better  under- 
stood, and  he  fled  in  the  night  from  Amsterdam,  with  a 
•great  many  jewels  and  sums  of  money,  'which  he  had  pil- 
fered. He  then  went  to  Hamburgh,  -whefe  queen  Chris- 
tina was,  and  put  himself  tinder  her*  protection  :  persuad-^* 
ing  her  to  venture  a  great  sum  of  money,  in. order  to  find 
out  the  philosopher's  stone.  Afterwards  he  w&tit  to  Co^i 
penhagen,  and  inspired  his  Danish  majesty^-  to'  search  fo^ 
the  same  secret ;  by  which  means  he  acquired  that  prince's 
favour  so  far,  as  to  become  very  odious  to  all  the  great 
persons  of  the  kingdom.  Immediately  after  the  death  of 
the  king,  whom  he  IkuI  cheated  out  of  lai*ge  sums  of  money^ 
he  left  Denmark  for  fear  of  being  imprisoned,  and  resolved 
tm  go  into  Turkey.  Being  come  to  ^e  frontiers  at  a  time 
when  the  conspiracy  of  Nadasti,  Serini,  and  Frangipatii, 
jivas  discovered,  he  was  secured,  and  his  name  sent  to  his 
Imperial  majesty,  to  see  if  he  was  one  of  the  conspirators^ 
The  pope's  nuncio,  who  happened  to  be  present,  as  soon  as 
be  heard  Borri  mentioned,  demanded,  in  the  pope's  uame^ 
that  the  prisoner  should  be  delivered  to  him.  The  em- 
peror consented  to  it,  and  ordered  that  Borri  should  b^ 
sent  to  Vienna;  and  afterwards,  having  first  obtained  from 
the  pope  a  promise  that  he  should  not  be  put  to  death,  he 
seat  him  to  Rome ;  where  he  was  tried,  and  condemned 
to  perpetual  confinement  in  the  prison  of  the  inquisition* 
He  made  abjuration  of  hi$  errors  in  the  month  of  October^ 
J  672.  Some  years  after  he  obtained  leave  to.  attend  the 
duke  d'£str6e,  whom  all  the  physicians  h^d  given  over ; 
and  the  unexpected  cure  he  wrought  upon  him  occasioned 
it  to  be  said,  that  an  arch-heretic  had  done  a  great  miracle 
in  Rome.  It  is  said  also,  that  the  queen  of  Sweden  sent 
for  him  sometimes  in  a  coach ;  but  that,  after  the  death  of 
that  princess,  he  went  no  more  abroad,  and  that  none 
could  speak  with  him  without  special  leave  from  the  pope. 
The  Utrecht  gazette,  as  Mr.  Bayle  relates,  of  the  dth  of 
September,  1695,  informed  the  public,  that  Borri  was 
lately  dead  in  the  castle  of  St.  Angelo,  being  79  years  of 
age.  It  seems  that  the  duke  d'E^tr^e,  as  a  recompence 
for  recovering  him,   had  procured  Borri' s  prison  to  be 

Vol.  VI.  K 


ISO  B  O  B  R  t 

cfaanged,  from  tihat  of  the  inqubition  to  the  castte  of  St 
Angelo. 

Some  pieces  were  printed  at  Geneva  in  1681,  which  are 
ascribed  to  him ;  as,  1.  ^*  Letters  concerning  Chemistry  ;*' 
and  2.  *^  Political  reflections."  Hie  first  of  these  works  is 
entitled,  ^'  La  chiave  del  gabinetto ;"  th^  second,  *^  Istm- 
zioni  politichi/'  We  learn  from  the  life  of  Born,  that  when 
he  was  at  Strasburg,  be  publii^ed  a  letter,  which  went  aU 
over  the  world.  Two  other  of  his  letters  are  said  to  have 
been  printed  at  Cop^hagen  in  1699,  and  inscribed  to  Bar- 
tholinus ;  one  of  them,  ^^  De  ortu  cerebri,  et  usu  medico;" 
the  other^  ^^.De  artificio  oculorum  humores  restituendi." 
The  Journal  des  Savans,  of  the  2d  of  September,  1 669, 
speaks  fully  of  these  two  letters.  Konig  ascribes  also  ano^ 
ther  piece  to  him,  entitled,  ^^  Notitia  gentis  Burrhonun." 
Sorbiere  saw.Borri  at  Amsterdam^  and  has  lefft  us^a  de^ 
scription  and  character  of  him.  He  says,  that  '^  he  was  a 
tall  black  man,  well  shaped,  who  wore  good  clotheis,  and 
spent  a  good  deal  of  money :  that  he  did  not  want  partly 
and  had  some  learning,  was  without  doubt  somewhat  skilled 
in  chemical  preparations,  had  sotne  knowledge  in  metais, 
some  methods  of  imitating  pearls  or  jewels,  and  some  pur- 
gative and  stomachic  remedies  :  but  that  he  was  a  quack, 
an  artful  impostor,,  who  practised  upon  the  credulity  of 
those  whom  he  stood  most  in  need  of ;  of  merchants,  as 
well  as  princes,  whom  he  deluded  out  of  great  sums  of 
money,  under  a  pretence  of  discovering  the  pUlosppher'n 
atone,  and  other  secrets  of  equal  importance :  and  that, 
the  better  to  carry  on  this  scheme  of  knavery,  he  had  as* 
aumed  the  mask  of  religion."  ^ 

BORRICHIUS,  or  BORCH,  a  very  learned  physician, 
son  of  a  Lutheran  minister  in  Denmark,  was  born  1626,  and 
setit  to  the  university  of  Copenhagen  in  1 644,  where  he 
remained  six  years,  during  which  time  he  applied  himself 
chiefly  to  physic.  He  taught  publicly  in  his  college,  and 
acquired  the  character  of  a  man  indefatigable  in  labour, 
and  of  excellent  morals.  He  gained  the  esteem  of  Caspar 
Brochman,  bishop  of  Zealand,  and  of  the  chancellor  of 
the  kingdom,  by  the  recommendation  of  whom  he  obtained 
the  canonry  of  Lunden.  He  was  offered  the  rectorship  of 
the  famous  school  of  Heslow,  but  refused  it,  having  formed 
a  design  of  travelling  and  perfecting  his  studies  in  physici 

1  Geo.  Diet — Mosheim's  EccJ.  Hist. — Sorbiere^  Relation  d*iin  Voyage  ed 
ADgleterre,  p.  155,  * 


B  O  R  R  I  C  H  I  U  S.  131 

He  began  to  practise  as  a  physician  duritig  a  most  terrible 
plague  in  Denmark,  and  the  contagion  being  ceased,  he 
pr*epared  for  travelling  as  he  intended  ;^  but  was  obliged  to 
•defer  it  for  some  time^  Mr,  Gerstorf,  the  first  minister  of 
state,  having  insisted  on  his  residing  in  bis  house  In  the 
fluality  of  tuto]^  to  his  ^children.     He  continued  in  this  ca- 

^ai;rity  five  years,  and  then  set  out  Upon  his  travels ;  but 
ifiifore  bis  departure,  he  was  appointed  professor  in  poetry, 
cnemistry,  and  botany.  He  left  Copenhagen  in  Novem- 
ber 16j60,  «nd,  after  having  visited  several  eminent  physi- 
cians at  Hamburgh,  went  to  Holland,  the  Low  Countries, 
to  England,  and  to  Paris,  where  he  remained  two  years. 
He  visited  also  several  other  cities  of  France,  and  at  An- 
^ars  bad  a  doctor? s  degree  in  physic  conferred  upon  him. 
He  afterwards  passed  the  Alps,  and  arrived  at  Rome  ia 
October  1665,  where  he  remained  till  March  1666,  when 
he  was  obliged  to  set  out  for  Denmark,  where  he  arrived 
in  Octobear  1666.  The  advantages  which  Borrichius  reaped 
in  his  travels  were  very  considerable,  for  he  had  made  him- 
self acquainted  with  all  the  learned  men  in  the  different 
cities  through  which  he  passed.  At  his  return  to  Denmark 
b»  resumed  his  professorship,  in  the  discharge  of  which  he 
acquired  great  reputation  for  his  assiduity  and  universal 
learning.  He  was  made  counsellor  in  the  supreme  council 
of  justice  in  1686,  and  counsellor  of  the  royal  chancery  in 
1689.  This  same  year  he  had  a  severe  attack  of  the  stone, 
and  the  pain  every  day  increasing,  he  was  obliged  to  be 
cut  for  it ;  the  operation  however  did  not  succeed,  the 
atone  being  so  big  that  it  could  not  be  extracted.  He 
bore  this  affliction  with  great  constancy  and  resolution  till 
hk  death,  which  happened  in  October  1 690. 

Borrichius  died  rich,  and  made  a  most  liberal  use  of  bis  mo« 
ney.  After  satisfying  his  relations  (who  were  all  collateral,  as 
he  bad  no  family)  with  bequests  to  the  amount  of  fifty  thou- 
sand crowns,  he  left  twenty-six  thousand  crowns  to  found 
a  college  for  poor  students,  consisting  of  a  house,  com« 
pletely  furnished  for  sixteen  students,  with  library,  che^* 
mical  laboratory,  garden,  &c.  to  be  called  the  Mediceaa 
college.  His  principal  medical  productions  consist  of  ob- 
servations published  in  the  Acta  Flaffniensia,  and  other 
similar  collections,  and  of  the  letters  sent  by  him  while  on 
his  travels,  to  F.  Bartholine,  under  whom  he  had  been 
educated.  The  letters  are  the  most  valuable  of  those  pub- 
lished by  Bar^ioline  in  bis  ''  Epistolae  Medicae }"  but  the 

K2 


,W2  B  O  R  R  I  C  H  I  U  S. 

wojks  by  whi^h  he  acquired  his  principal  celebrity,  viete 
."  De  ortu  et.progr^ssu  Chemiae,"   published  in  1668,  4ta^ 
,and  ki^  ^^  H^rot^tis  iEgyptiorum  et  Ghemicorutii  sapietitia> 
ab  H.   ConrAngio  vindicata,"  1674.     In  this  very  learned 
and  elaborate  work)  the  author  defends  the  character  of  the 
.ancient  Egyptians againat  the. strictures  of  Conringius:  at- 
trit)uting  to  tbem  fii^-  inyention  and  perfection  of  che- 
mi&try^  ^and   even,  of,  alchemy  ;    persuading  himself  that 
.among  their  secrets  they  possessed  the  art  of  transmuting 
metals.     Bq.t  eithei;  from  infaluatbn,  or  a  desire  of  victory, 
be  cite$  several  p^nps^ripts,  since  .known  to  be  spurious, 
^s  genviiji^,;a|>d.s<;xme  written  since  the  time  of  our  Saviour, 
,as  of  ipuqh  highejr  antiquity..  .  He  shews,  however,  from 
undoubted  i^^thpr.ity,  that  the  Egyptians  were  eariy  ac- 
^aioted  with  the  medical  properties  of  several  of  their. 
;p]sii)Jts3  that  they,  usod  saline,  .and  e^en  .mineral  pr&para^ 
tiot^Sj  some  of  them  prepared,  by  chemistry ;  that  incnba- 
;tionj  or  the  miel^od  pf  hatching  eggs  by  artificial  heat,  was 
first  used  by  them ;  in.  fine,  that  the  art  of  medicine,  in- 
vented by  .((leip,  passed  from  them  to  the  Grecians.     Bor<>* 
richius  was  .also  author   of  ^^  Conspectus  prssstantioruin 
.scripto^um  lingua  Latins;"  16SIB,  4to;  "  Cogitationes  de 
variis  linguapi   {^atiQ;8&  aetatibus,"  1675,  4to;     ^*  Analecta 
philolqgiciay  ,et  judicium  de  lexicis   Latinis  Graecisque," 
1682,  4to;  a^id  various  other  philological  works.' 

BORROMEO  (Charles),  an  eminent  Romish  saint  and 
cardinal,  was  born  the  2d  of  .October  1538,  of  a  good  fa* 
mily,  in, the  castle  of  Ajrona,  upon  lake  Major  in  the  MUa^* 
n€sse.  He  addicted  himself  at  an  early  period  to  retirement 
and  study.  His  maternal  uncle,  Pius  lY.  sent  for  hij»  to 
the  court  of  Rome,  made  him  cardinal  in  1 560,  and  afters- 
wards  archbishop  of  Milan.  Charles  was  then  but  22 
years  of  age,  but  conducted  the  affairs  of  the  church  with 
disinterested  zeal  and  prudence.  The  Romans  were  at 
that  time  ignorant  and  lazy :  he  therefore  formed  an  aca«^ 
demy  composed  of  ecclesiastics  and  seculars,  whom,  by  his 
.example  and  his  liberality, .  he  animated  to  study  and  to 
virtue.  Each  of  them  was  to.  write  upon  some  chosen  sub^ 
ject,  either  in  prose  or  verse,  and  to  communicate  to  each 
other  in  frequent  conferences  the  fruits  of  their  studies. 
The  works  produced  by  this  society  have  been  published  in 

1  Gen.  Diet — ^Borricbius  de  Vita  sua,  io  vol.  II.  of  Delicie  Poetarum  Dano- 
tvim,  Leydeii,  1693,'-Haller  and  Manget. — Saxii  Onomast — Reee's  Cyclopsdia. 


B  O  R  R  O  M  £  O.  Hi 


99r 


Hiany  volumes,  undex  the  title  of  ^^Noctes  Vaticanee, 
their  assemblies  being  held  in  tbe  Vatican,  and  at  night, 
after  the  business  of  the  day  was  over.  About  the  same 
time  he  also  founded  the  jcollege  at  Pavia,  which  was  dedi- 
cated to  Si;..  JufitiivsL. 

In  tbe  mean  while,  hjoweyer,  the  young  cardinal,  in  the 
midst  of  a  brilliant  court,  went  along  with  the  torrent,  fitted- 
up  grand  apartments,  furnished  them  magjnificently,  and  kept 
splendid  equipages.    His  t^ble  was  sumptuously  served ;  his^ 
house  was  never  empty  of  nobles  and  scholars.     His  uncle, 
delighted  with'' this  magnificence,  gave  him  ample  reve- 
Bues  to  support  it.     In  a  very  short  time  he  was  at  once 
grand  penitentiary  of  Rome,  archpriest  of  St.  Maiy  Major;' 
protector  of  several  crowns,  and  of  various  orders,  religioua^ 
and  military  ;  legate  of  Bologna,  of  Romania,  and  of -the 
marcbe  of  Ancona.     It  was  at  that  time  that  the  famous 
council  of  Trent  was  held^     Much  was  said  about  the  re- 
formation of  the  clergy,  and  Charles,  after  having  advised 
it  to  others,  gave  an  example  of  it  in  his  own  conduct.     He 
suddenly  discharged  no  less  than  eighty  liveiy  servants,' 
left  off  wearing  silk,  and  imposed  on  himself. a  weekly  fast* 
OB  bread  atnd  water,  .  From  this  beginning  he  soon  pro-* 
ceeded  greater  lengths.     He  held  councils  for  confirming 
the   decrees  of  that. of  Trent,  terminated  partly  by  his 
means.     He  made  his  house  into  a  seminary  of  bishops ;  he 
established  schools,  colleges,  communities;   re-modelled' 
his  clergy  and  the  monasteries;  made  institutions  for  the' 
poor  and  orphans,  and  for  girls  exposed  to  ruin,  who  were* 
desirous  to  return  to  a  regular  life.     His  zeal  was  the  ad"** 
miration  of  good  men,  but  was  far  from  acceptable  to  the« 
corrupt  clergy.     The  order  of  tbe  Humiliati,  which  he 
attempted  to  reform,  elicited  against  him  a  friar,  Fatioa,  a 
sbooking  member  of  that  society,  who  fired  a  gun  at  the 
good  man  while  he  was  at.  evening  prayer  with  his  domes* 
tics.     The  ball  having  only  grazed  his  skin,  Charles  peti- 
tioned for  the  pardon  of  his  assassin,  who  was  punished  with 
death,  notwithstaudiog  his  solicitations,  and  his  order  was 
suppressed.     These  conlxadictions  did  not  abate  the  ardour 
of  the  good  archbishop-     He  visited  the  desolate  extremi-^: 
ties  of  his  province,  abolished  the  excesses  of  the  carnival,! 
preached  to  his  people;  and  shewed  himielf  every  where  as 
their  pastor  and  father.     During  tbe  ravages  of  a  cruel - 
pestilenpe,  he  assisted  tbe  poor  in  their  spiritual  concerns 
by  his  ecclesiastics  and  bis  personal  attentions,  sold  the  fur* 


.134  JBORROMEO. 

mture  of  bfs  house  to  relieve  tfae  sick,  put  up  prdiyers  and 
made  processions,  in  wkich  he  walked  barefoot,  and  with  a 
rope  round  his  neck.  His  heroic  charity  was  repaid  with- 
ingratitude.  The  governor  of  Milan  prevailed  on  the  ma- 
gistrates of  that  city  to  prefer  complaints  against  Charl^^ 
whom  they  painted  in  the  blackest  colours.  **  They  ac- 
cused him  (says  Baillet)  of  having  exceeded  the  limits  of 
his  authority  during  the  time  of  the  plague ;  of  having  in- 
troduced dangerous  innovations ;  of  having  abolished  the 
public  games,  the  stage-plays,  and  dances;  of  having 
revived  the  abstinence  on  the  first  Sunday  in  Lent,  in  vio-' 
lation  of  the  privilege  granted  to  that  town  of  including  th&t 
day  in  the  carnival."  They  published  an  injurious  and  in- 
sulting manifesto  against  him  :  but,  contented  with  the  tes- 
timony of  his  own  conscience,  he  resigned  the  care  of  his 
justification  to  the  Almighty.  At  length,  worn  oi^t  by  the 
labours  of  an  active  piety,  he  finished  his  course  the  3d  of 
November  1 594,  being  only  in  his  47th  year.  He  was  ca- 
nonized in  1610.  He  wrote  a  very  great  number  of  works^ 
on  doctrinal  and  moral  subjects,  which  were  printed  1747 
at  Milan,  in  5  vols,  folio,  and  the  library  of  St.  Sepulchre 
in  that  city  is  in  possession  of  thirty-one  vols,  of  his  manu- 
script letters.  The  clergy  of  France  reprinted  at  their  ex- 
pence  the  Institutions  he  composed  for  the  use  of  confes- 
sors. Among  his  works  are  manyjiomilies  and  sermons^ 
as  he  thought  it  incumbent  on  him  to  preach  the  word  oiF 
God  himself  to  his  people,  notwithstanding  the  various  bu- 
siness  and  government  of  so  large  a  diocese.  The  edition 
of  ^'Acta  EcclesisB  Mediolanensis,"  Milan,  1599,  fol.  is 
much  valued. 

Upon  the  whole. St.  Charles  Borromeo  appears  entitled 
to  the  praises  bestowed  on  him.  His  piety,  however  mis^ 
taken  in  some  points,  was  sincere,  and  he  practised  with 
perfect  disinterestedness  and  true  consistency  what  he  re- 
commended to  others.  His  life  was  written  by  Austin  Va- 
lerio,  bishop  of  Verona,  Boscape,  bishop  of  Novara,  and  by 
Giussano,  a  Milanese  priest ;  but  the  best  life  of  him,  and 
the  most  free  from  superstitious  narrative^  is  that  of  the 
abb^  Touron,  <*La  Vie  et  Tesprit  de  St.  Charles  Borromeo,'* 
Paris,   1761,  Svols.  12mo.^ 

BORROMEO  (Frederic),  cousin  german  to  the  pre- 
ceding, and  also  a  cardinal  and  archbishop  of  Milan^  was 

1  Diet.  Hist. — Butler's  Lives  of  the  Saints.— Touron  abridged,  Gent  Mag. 
1 769.—- Moreri.— Frobwi  Tlwatruin. 


B  0  R  R  O  M  E  O.  n$ 

^TBt  educated  under  St.  Charles^  who  aftervrards  placed 
bim  in  his  Dewly-founded  college  at  Favia.  In  ISST,  pope 
Pius  V.  made  bim  a  cardinal,  and  in  1595,  Clement  VIII. 
promoted  him  to  the  archbishopric  of  Milan.  He  died  ii| 
1632,  leaving  various  pious  works,  written  in  Italian,  the 
principal  of  which  is  '<  Sacri  Ragionamenti,''  Milan,  1632 
— 1  C4€,  4  vols,  folio,  and  "  Ragionamenti  Spirituali,'* 
ibid.  1673 — 1676  ;  **  De  Piacire  della  mente  Christiatia,*^ 
ibid.  1625.  All  his  works  are  said  to  be  scarce,  but  litera- 
ture was  most  indebted  to  him  as  the  founder  of  the  cele- 
brated Ambrosian  library  at  Milan,  which  was  enriched  in 
his  time  with  ten  thousand  manuscripts  collected  by  An-' 
tony  Oggiati,  whom  he  made  librarian,  and  by  a  large 
collection  of  books  from  the  Pinelli  library.  ^ 

BORROMINI  (Francis),  an  eminent  French  architect, 
was  born  at  Bissona  in  the  diocese  of  C6mo  in  1599,  and 
acquired  great  reputation  at  Rome,  where  he  was  more 
employed  than  any  architect  of  his  time.  A  great  num- 
ber of  his  works  are  seen  in  that  city,  but  the  major  part 
are  by  no  means  models  for  young  artists.  They  abound 
in  deviations  irom  the  received  rules,  and  other  singulari- 
ties ;  but,  at  the  s&me  time,  we  cannot  fail  of  perceiving 
in  thera  talents  of  a  superior  order,  and  strong  marks  of 
genius.  It  was  in  bis  violent  efforts  to  outdo  Bernini,  whose 
&me  he  envied,  that  he  departed  from  that  simplicity 
which  is  the  true  basis  of  the  beautiful,  in  order  to  give  ex« 
travagant  ornaments  in  that  taste;  which  have  induced  some 
4:o  compare  his  style  in  ^trchitecture  to  the  literary  style  of 
Seneca  or  MarinL  With  bis  talents,  had  he  studied  the  great 
masters  in  their  greatest  perfections,  he  would  have  been 
the  fint  architect  of  his  time,  merely  by  following  their 
track ;  but  he  unfortunately  deviated  into  the  absurdities  of 
singularity,  and  has  left  us  only  to  guess  from  the  college 
of  the  Propaganda,  and  a  few  other  buildings  at  Rome^ 
what  he  might  have  been.  Even  in  his  own  time,  his  false 
taste  was  decried,  and  it  is  supposed  that  the  mortifications 
he  met  with  brought  on  a  derangement  of  mind,  in  one  of 
the  fits  of  which  he  put  an  end  to  his  life  in  1667.  From  a 
vain  opinion  of  his  superiority,  he  is  said  to  have  destroyed 
all  bis  designs,  before  his  death,  lest  any  other  architect 
should  adopt  them.  There  was  published,  however,  in 
1725,  at  Rome,  in  Italian  and  Latin,  his  **  Description  of 

^  Moreri. — Le  GaUois  TraU4,des  plus  belles  Bibliotheques de PEurope,  1685, 
12ffio.— Morboff  Polybist.— Saxii  Ooonusticoo.— Freberi  Tbeatrum. 


ISA  B ..p  n  R  X>  M  I  N  I. 


*  ^    i 


the  church  .pf  VaUicela,''  which '  he  b^iilt,  with  the  plaiii 
and  desigifs^jand  9.  piaa  of  the  church  of  Sapienza,  at 
Rome. ' 

BORSETTI,.    See  CORNAZZANO. 

I  1^0  S  (j£ROM£)y  an  artist  of  singular  taste,  was  bom  a^ 
Bois-le'Duc.  -  lie  seemed  to  have  a  peculiar  pleasure  iu. 
paip ting  spectres,  devils^  and  enchantments :  and  although 
he  possessed  considerable  powers  as  a  painter,  both  in  free- 
dom of  touch  and  strength  of  colouring,  his  pictures  camber 
excite  a  horror  mixed  with  admiration  than  any  degree  of 
real  delight.     Among  the  singular  objects  which  he  chose, 
there  is, one  which  represents  the  Saviour  delivering  the  Pa* 
triarchs  from  hell.     The  fire  and  flames  are  painted*  with 
great  truth.     Judas  in  the  atteippt  of  slyly  escaping  with  the^ 
Saints,  is  seized  in  the  neck  by  the  devils,  who  are  going 
to  hang  him  up  in  the  air.     A  most  remarkable  painting  of' 
this  master's  hand,  among  several  others  in  the  Escurial,  is 
an  allegory  of  the  pleasures  of  the  flesh:  in  which  he. repre- 
sents the  principal  figure  in  a  carriage  drawn  by  monstrous^ 
imaginary  forms,  pieceded  by  demons,  and  followed  by 
death.     As  to  his  manner,  it  was. less  stiff. than  that  of  most 
of  the  pointers  of  his  time ;  and  his  draperies  were  in  a  bet<« 
ter  taste,  tnore  simple,  and  with  less  sameness,  than  any 
of  his  contemporaries.     He  painted  on  a  white  ground, 
which  he  so  managed  as  to  give  a  degree  of  transparent^ 
to  his  colours,  and  the  appearance  of  more  warmth.     He 
laid  on  his  colours  lightly,  and  so  placed  them,  even  a.t  the 
first  touch  of  bis  pencil,  as  to  give  them  their  proper  ef-; 
feet,  without  disturbing  them :  and  hi«  touch  was  full  of. 
spirit.     Bos  was  also  an  engraver,  and,  as  Strutt  thinks, 
the  first  artist  who  attempted  to  engrave  in  the  grotesque 
style.     His  engra^vings  have  that  stiffness  which  so  strongly 
characterises  the  works  of  the  early  German  masters,  and 
prove  that  he  possessed  a  great  fertility  of  invention,  thougl^ 
perhaps  but  little  judgment.     He  died  in  1500,* 
;  BOS  (Lambert),    a  learned   philologist,  was^  boirn  at 
Worcum   in   Friesland,  Nov.  23,    1670.     His  father  who 
was  rector  or  principal  regent  of  the  schools,,  and  accusr 
tomed  to  mark  the  early  appearance  of  talents,  soon  dis- 
covered his  son's  aptitude  for  lei^rning,  land  taught  him 
Greek  and  Latin.     His  mother,  a  woman  of  ahiht^es^iand. 
aunt  to  yitringa,  when  she  saw  the  l£^tter,.  tfien  ft  very^ 

»  Di«t.  Histi-rD'Argenvillc.  2  Pilkington  aad  Strutt. 


^^^. 


BOS.  m 

young  many  advanced  to  the  professorship  of  Oriental  Ian* 
guages,  exclaimed  with  maternal  fondness  that  she  hoped 
to  see  her  son  promoted  to  a  similar  rank.     In  this,  how-< 
ever,    she  was  not  gratified,  as  she  died   before   he  had 
fiDished  his  studies.     When  he  had  gone  through  tlie  ordi* 
nary  course  of  the  classes  in  his  father^ s  school,  he  conti- 
nued adding  to  his  knowledge  by  an  attentive  perusal  of  the 
Greek  and  Latin  authors,  and  had  many  opportunities  for 
this  while  he  lived  with  a  man  of  rank,  as  private  tutor  to 
bis  children.     Cicero,  above  all,  was  his  favourite  Latin 
author,  whom  he  read  again  and  again.     In  1694  he  went 
to  the  university  of  Franeker,  where  his  relation,  Vitringa, 
encouraged  him  to  pursue  the  Greek  and  Latin  studies^  to 
which  he  seemed  so  much  attached.     In  October  1696  he 
waS'  permitted  to  teach  Greek  in  the  university,  and  in  Fe-. 
bruary  of  the  following  year,  the  curators  honoured  him, 
with  the  title  of  prelector  in  that  language.     In  1 704,  when. 
the  Qreek  professorship  became  vacant  by  the  death  of 
Blancard,   Mr.  Bos  was  appointed  his  successor,  and  on 
taking  the  chair,  read  a  dissertation  on  the  propagation  of 
Greek  learning  by  their  colonies,  ^^  de  eruditione  GraBCO* 
»im  per  Colonias  eorum  propagata."     About  the  end  of 
1716  he  was  attacked  with  a  malignant  fever,  ending  in  a 
consumption,  a  disorder  he   inherited  from  his   mother, 
which  termipated  his  life  Jan.  6,  1717.     Bos  was  a  man  of 
extensive  classical  learning,  a  solid  judgment,  and  strong 
memory..    In  his  personal  character  he  was  candid,  amia- 
ble, and  pious  ;  in  his  studies  so  indefatigable  that  he  re-, 
gretted  every  moment  that  was  not  employed  in  them. 
About  five  years  before  his  death  he  married  the  widow  of 
a  clergyman,  by  whom  he  left  two  sons. 

I}43  published,  1 .  ^^  Exercitationes  Philologicas,  in  quibus 
Kovi  Foederis  nonnuUa  loca  e  profanis  maxim^  auctoribus 
Graecis  illustrantur,"  Franeker,   1700,   8vo;  and  in    1713. 
much  enlarged,  particularly  with  an  ingenious  etymplogi** 
cal  dissertation,  on  which,-  as  well  as  on  the  work  itself,  Le 
Clerc  bestows  high  praise  in  his  "  Bibliotheque  Choisie,'* 
vol.  XV.  and  his  "  Bibl.  Anc.  et  Moderne,"  vol.  II.  2. "  Mys- 
terii    ElUpsios  Graecai  expositi    Specimen,"    ibid,    1702, 
12mo.     There  have  been  many  editions  of  this  useful  work 
to   Greek  students.     3.  ^^  Observationes   Miscellanea^   ad 
Ipcaqusdam  cum  Novi  Foederis,  turn  externonim  Scripto- 
rum  GraBCorum,"  ibid.  1707,  8 vo.     4.  An  edition  of  the 
Septuagint/*^  1709,  2- vols.  4to,  with  Prolegomena,  &c. 


it 


118  BOS. 

which  Breitingcr,  who  published  another  edition  in  1730— 
1732,  has  criticised  with  considerable  severity  in  the  "Jour* 
Hal  Litteraire/'  vol.  XVIII.  which  the  reader  may  compare 
with  what  is  said  of  Breitinger^s  edition  in  vol.  XI.  of  the 
**  Bibliotheque  Raisonn6e."    5.  •*  Antiquitatum  GraBcamm, 
prsecipue  Atticarum,  brevis  Description'  Franeker,   1713, 
]2mo.     Of  this  there  have  been  several  editions,  as  it  be- 
came a  school  book.    That  of  Leisner,  at  Paris,  1769,  was 
in  1772  translated  into  English  by  our  countryman,  the  late 
rev.  Percival  Stockdale,  and  published  in  octavo,  in  hopes 
that  it  might  supply  young  scholars  with  a  manual  more 
useful  than  Pottef  s  Antiquities,  but  it  did  not  answer  the 
translator's  expectations  in  this  respect.     6.  **  Animadver- 
siones  ad  Scriptores  quosdam  Grsccos.    Accedit  specimen 
animadversionum  Latinarum,"  Franeker,  1715,  8vo.    The 
same  year  he  published  a  new  edition  of  Weller's  Greek 
Grammar,  adding  two  chapters  on  accentuation  and  syn- 
tax, shorter  and  more  methodical  than  those  of  Weller. 
F.  H.  Schoefer  published  a  variorum  edition  of  his  **  Ellip- 
ses," in   1809,  Leipsic.     Saxius  only,  of  all  his  biogra- 
phers, notices  a  work  by  Bos  which  appears  to  have  been 
his  first,  "  Thomae  Magistri  Dictionum  Atticarum  Ecloga,** 
Franeker,  1698,  8vo.* 

BOS  (Lewis  Janssen,  or  John  Lewis),  an  artist,  was 
bom  at  Bois-le-Duc,  and  having  been  carefiilly  instructed 
in  the  art  of  painting  by  the  artists  of  his  native  city,  he 
apphed  himself  entirely  to  study  after  nature,  and  ren- 
dered himself  very  eminent  for  truth  of  colouring  and 
neatness  of  handling.  His  favourite  subjects  were  flowers 
and  curious  plants,  which  he  usually  represented  as 
grouped  in  glasses,  or  vases  of  chrystal,  half  filled  with 
water,  and  gave  them  so  lively  a  look  of  nature,  that  it 
seemed  scarcely  possible  to  express  them  with  greater 
truth  or  delicacy.  In  representing  the  drops  of  dew  on 
the  leaves  of  his  subjects,  he  executed  them  with  uncom- 
mon tninsparence,  and  embellished  his  subjects  with  but- 
terflies, bees^  wasps,  and  other  insects,  which,  Sandrart 
says,  were  superior  to  any  thing  6f  that  kind  performed  ^^by 
his  contemporary  artists.  He  likewise  painted  portraits 
with  very  great  success.  • 

BOSC   (Claude  du),   an  engraver,  was  a  native  of 
France,  and  being  invited  to  England  by  Nicholas  Do- 

'  Chaufepie  Noaveau  Diet,  vol.  IL<— Fabric.  Bibl.  Ci3»c,— ^SaxiiOoomast. 
P  PilkiD^ton.     ^ 


I  • 


B  O  S  C.  19^ 

ngny,  assisted  bim  for  some  time  in  engraving  tbe  car* 
tooas  of  Raphael ;  ^nd  afterwards  separating  from  Dorigny, 
he  undertook  to  engrave  the  cartoons  for  tbe  printseliers. 
He  also  engraved  the  duke  of  Marlborough's  battles^  for 
which  be  received  80/.  per  plate ;  and,  assisted  first  by 
Du  Guernier,  and  afterwards  by  Beauvais  and  Barofi,  he 
completed  them  within  two  years,  in  1717.  He  then  be- 
ca^ne  a  printseller,  and  published,  by  subscription,  the 
translation  of  Picart's  Religious  Ceremonies.  As  an  en- 
graver, he  possessed  no  great  merit:  his  style  is  coarse 
and  heavy,  and  the  drawing  of  the  naked  parts  of  the 
figure  in  his  plates  is  very  defective.  The  **  Continence 
of  Scipio,^'  from  a  picture  of  Nicholas  Poussin,  in  the 
Houghton  collection,  is  one  of  his  plates.  He  flourished 
in  1714.* 

BOSC  (P£TER  DU),  a  French  minister,  and  the  greatest 
preacher  in  his  time  among  the  protest  ants,  was  son  of 
William  du  Bosc,  advocate  to  the  parliament  of  Roan,  and 
born  at  Bayeux,  February  21,  1623.  He  made  such  pro- 
gress, after  having  studied  divinity  eighteen  months  at 
Montauban,  and  three  years  at  Saumur,  that  although  he 
i^as  but  in  his  three  and  twentieth  year,  he  was  qualified  to 
serve  the  church  of  Caen,  to  which  he  was  presented  Nor. 
15,  1645,  and  received  the  imposition  of  hands  Dec.  17^ 
the  same  year.  The  merit  of  his  colleagues,  and  above  all 
that  of  Mr.  Bochart,  did  not  hinder  Mr.  du  Bosc  from  ac* 
quiring  speedily  the  reputation  of  one  of  the  first*  men  of 
his  function ;  and  his  eloquence  became  so  famous 
throughout  tbe  whole  kingdom,  that  the  church  of  Cha- 
reofton  would  have  him  for  their  minister,  and  sent  to  de* 
sine  him  of  his  churchy  in  the  beginning  of  1656..  The 
strongest  solicitations  were  made  use  of;  but  neither  the 
eloquence  of  the  deputies  of  Paris,  uor  the  letters  of  per* 
sons  of  the  greatest  eminence  in  France  amongst  t^e  pro- 
testants,  could  engage  the  church  of  Caen  to  part  with 
him,  nor  him  to  quit  his  flock.  It  was  impossible  that  such 
talents  and  fame  should  not  give  umbrage  to  the  enemies 
of  the  protestant  religion,  which  tbey  shewed  in  1664,  by 
procuring  a  Uttre  de  cachet,  which  banished  him  from  Cha- 
lons till  a  new  order,  for  having  spoke  disrespectfully  of 
auricular  confession.  Mr.  du  Bosc,  as  he  passed  through 
Paris  to  go  to  the  place  of  his  banishment,  eKplained  to 

}  Strutt — Walpole's  EngraTen* 


140  BOS  C. 

Mr.  le  Tellier  his  opinion  on  confession,  and  in  wnat 
ner  be  liad  spoken  of  it,  with  which  Le  Telii^r  was  satis^* 
fied,  and  told  him  that  he  had  never  doubted  of  the  false* 
Bess  of  the  accusation.  Mr.  du  fiosc  recovered  the  liberty 
of  returning  to  his  church  October  15,  1664,  and  the  joy 
which  was  at  Caen  among  the  brethren^  when  he  caoae 
there,  November  8,  was  excessive.  A  great  many  honbur**' 
able  persons  of  the  other  party  congratulated  him  ;  and' 
there  was  a  catholic  gentleman  who  celebrated  the  event 
in  a  velry  singular  manner,  as  thus  related  by  Du  Bosc^s 
biographer.  ^*  A  gentleman  of  the  Roman  religion,  of 
distinction  in  the  province,  whose  life  was  not  very  regu<* 
lar,  but  who  made  open  profession  of  loving  the  pastors* 
who  bad  particular  talents,  and  seemed  particularly  ena- 
moured with  the  merit  of  Mr.  du  Bosc,  having  a  mind  to- 
solemnize  the  feast  with  a  debauch,  took  two  Cordeliers 
whom  he  knew  to  be  honest  fellows,  and  made  them  drink 
so  much,  that  one  of  them  died  on  the  spot.  He  went  to 
see  Mr*  du  Bosc  the  next  day,  and  told  him  that  he  thoug^ht 
himself  obliged  to  sacrifice  a  monk  to  the  public  joy  ;  that 
the  sacrifice  would  have  been  more  reasonable,  if  it  had 
been  a  Jesuit;  but  that  his  o6fering  ought  not  to  displease' 
him,  though  it  was  but  of  a  Cordelier.  This  tragical  ac- 
cident, of  which  he  was  only  the  innocent  occasion,  did 
not  fail  to  disturb  the  joy  which  he  had  upon  seeing  him« 
self  again  in  his  family  and  amongst  his  flock."  During 
the  prosecutions  of  the  protestant  churches  in  1665,  he 
defended  that  of  Caen,  and  many  others  of  the  province^ 
against  the  measures  of  the  bishop  of  Bayeux,  The  king 
having  published  in  1666  a  severe  proclamation  against 
the  prQtc:  tants,  all  the  churches  sent  deputies  to  Paris  to 
make  humble  remonstrances  to  his  majesty.  The  churches 
of  Normandy  deputed  Mr.  du  Bosc,  who  departed  from 
Caen  July  3,  16bS,  As  soon  as  he  was  arrived  at  Pari«^ 
the  other  deputies  chose  him  to  draw  up  several  menK>Irs«- 
It  being  reported  that  the  king  would  suppress  some  cham- 
bers of  the  edict,  all  tije  deputies  ran  to  Mr.  de  Ruvigrni, 
the  deputy  general,  to  speak  with  him  about  so  important 
an  atfa;r,  m  hopes  of  procuring  leave  to  throw  themselves 
at  his  majesty's  leei ;  but  Mr.  du  Bosc  only  was  admitted 
to  the  audience.  He  harangued  the  king,  who  was  alone 
in  his  clo.SLt,  November  27,  1668 ;  and  after  having  ended 
his  discourse,  he  had  the  courage  to  represent  several 
things,  and  succeeded  so  well  as  to  make  all  the  court 


3  O  S  C.  141 

speak  of  bis  eloquence  and  prudence.  After  several  con« 
fereoces  with  Mr.  le  Tellier,  and  many  evasions  and  delays, 
in  April  1669,  he  obtained  some  relaxation  of  the  declara- 
tion of  166'6.  After  that  time  Mr.  du  Bosc  went  several 
journies  about  the  churches'  affairs^  and  supported  them 
before  the  ministers  of  state  and  the  iutendants,  with 
great  force  and  ability,  until  he  was  commanded  himself^ 
by  aix  act  of  the  parliament  of  Normandy  Jane  6,  1685, 
•not , to  exercise  his  ministry  any  more  in  the  kingdom*  It 
was,  however,  universally  acknowledged,  that  if  it  had 
beeii  possible  to  preserve  the  reformed  church  of' France 
by  the  means  of  negotiation,  he  was  more  likely  to  suc- 
ceed than  any  one  that  could  bei  employed.  He  retired 
into  Holland  after  his:  interdiction,  and  was  minister  of 
the  church  of  Rotterdam,  until  his  death,  which  happened 
January  2,  1692,  He  published  some  volumes  of  ser- 
mons ;  and  after  hi^  dc^th,  P.  Le  Gendre,  his  soh-^in4aw,' 
published  his  "  Life, .  Letters,  Poems,  Orations,  IHsser- 
tatjions,*'  and  qtbier  cprious  documents  respecting  the  his- 
tory of  the  reforipoed  churches  iu;  his  time,  Rotterdam, 
1694,  8vo,  dedicated  to  lord  viscount  Galloway.^. 

BOSCAN(JoHN  Almogaver),  a  Spanish  poet,  of  a 
noble  family,  was  born  at  Barcelona,  about  the  end  of  the 
fifteenth  century,  and  is  supposed  to  have  died  about  1543« 
He  was  bred  to  arms,  and,  having  served  with  distinction, 
was  afterwards  a  great  traveller.  From  the  few  accounts 
we  have  of  him,  as  well  as  from  what  appears  in  bis  work$, 
he  seems  to  have  been  a  very  good  classical  scholar ;  and 
be  is  said  to  have  bee^n  highly  successful  in  the  education 
of  Ferdinand,  the  great  duke  of  Alba,  whose  singular  qua- 
lities were  probably  the  fruit  of  our  poet's  attention  to  himr 
He  married  Donna  Anna  Giron  di  JleboUedo,  an  amiable 
woman,  of  a  noble  family,  by, whom  he  had  a  very  nume- 
rous offsprii^g.  Garcilaso  was  his  coadjutor  in  his  poetical 
labours,  and  their  works  were  published  together,  under 
the  title  ^^Obras  de  Boscan  y  Garcilaso,"  Medina,  1544, 
4to,  and  at  Venice,  1553,  12mo.  The  principal  debt 
which  Spanish  poetry  owes  to  Boscan,  is  the  introduction 
of  the  bendecasyllable  verse,  to  which  it  owes  its  true 
grace  and  elevation.  His  works  are  divided  into'  three 
books,  the  first  of  which  contains  his  poetry  in  the  redon- 
^iglia  metre,  and  the  other  two  his  hendecasyllables.     In 

1  Qtn.  Diet— Le  Qendre'a  Life,  at  supra. 


Ut  B  O  S  C  A  N. 

these  he  seems  to  have  made  the  Italian  poet^  his  inodeId> 
imitating  Petrarch  in  bis  sonnets  and  canzoni ;  Dante  and 
Petrarch  in  his  terzine ;  Politian,  Ariosto,  and  Bembo,  in 
bis  ottaye  rime ;  and  Bernardo  Tasso,  tHe  father  of  Tor- 
quato,  in  his  versi  sciotti.  It  is  said  be  also  translated  a 
play  of  Euripides,  which  is  lost ;  but  he  has  left  us  a  prose 
iranslation,  no  less  admirable  than  his  poetry,  of  the  fa* 
mous  II  Gortegiano,  or  the  Courtier  of  Castiglione.  M. 
Conti,  in  his  "« Collecion  de  Poesias,  &c."  or  collection  of 
Spanish  poems  translated  into  Italian  verse,  has  grren  as 
specimens  of  Boscan,  tvro  canzoni,  six  sonnets,  and  a 
iamiliar  epistle, to  Don  Hurtado  de  Mendoza.  * 

BOSCAWEN  (Right  Hon.  Edward),  a  brave  English 
admiral,  the  second  son  of  Hugh,  lord  viscount  Falmouth, 
was  born  in  1711,  and  having  early  embraced  the  naval 
service^  arose,  through  the  usual  gradations,  to  be  captain 
of  the  Shoreham  of  20  gtins^  in  1740,  and  distinguished 
himself  as  a  volunteer  under  admiral  Vernon,  in  Novem- 
ber, at  the  taking  and  destroying  the  fortifications  of  Porto 
Bello.  At  the  siege  of  Carthagena  in  March  1741,  he 
had  the  command  of  a  party  of  seamen,  who  resolutely 
attacked  and  took  a  fascine  battery  of  fifteen  twenty-four 
pounders,  though  exposed  to  the  fire  of  another  fort  of 
five  guns,  which  they  knew  nothing  of.  Lord  Aubrey 
Beauclerk  bei/ig  kiiled[  March  24,  at  the  attack  of  Boca- 
chica,  capt.  Boscawen  succeeded  him  in  the  command  of 
the  Prince  Frederic  of  70  guns  ;  and  on  thte  surrender  of 
that  qastle,  was  entrusted  with  the  care  of  its  demolition. 

In  December  following,  after  his  return  home^  he  mar- 
ried Frances,  daughter  of  William  Glanville,  esq.  of  St. 
Clere  in  Kent ;  and  the  same  year  was  elected  member  of 
parliament  for  Truro  in  Cornwall.  In  1744,  he  was  made 
captain  of  the  Dreadnought  of  sixty  guns,  and  on  the  29th 
of  April,  soon  after  war  had  been  declared  against  France, 
he  took  the  Medea,  a  French  man  of  war  of  2 6*  guns  and 
240  men,  commanded  by  M.  Hoquart,  being  the  first 
king^s  ship  taken  that  war.  In  January  1745,  he  was  one 
of  the  court-t martial  appointed  to  inquire  into  the  conduct 
of  capt.  Mostyn :  and,  during  the  rebellion,  an  invasion 
being  apprehended,  he  commanded  as  commodore  on 
board  the  Royal  Sovereign  at  the  Nore,  whence  he  sent  ^ 

>  Antotuo  Bibl.  flisp,— BaiUet  Jugemens  des  Savans.-^Maty^s  Reylew,  vol. 
V.  ^.  I,  *^ 


3  O  S  C  A  W  E  N.  14S 

away  several  of  the  nevr^pressed  men  that  were  brought  to 
hitOy  in  company  with  some  e^cpeiienced  seameiiy  ia  fri<- 
gates  and  small  vi^ssels,  to  the*  mouths  of  many  of  the 
creeks  and  rivers  oh  the  coasts, of. Kent  and  Sussex,  to 
guard  in  those  partsu 

In  November  1746,  being,  then  captain  of.  the  Namur^ 
of  seventy-four  guns,  he  chased  into  admiral  A  nson^$  fleet 
the  Mercury^  formerly  a  French  ship  of  war,  of  fifty-eight 
gnns^  bat  then  serving  as  an  hospital  ship  to  M.  d'AnviUe's 
«^uadron.  On  May  3,  1747,  he  signalized  himself  under 
jthe  admirals  Anson  audWarcen,  in  An  engagement  with  a 
French  fleet  off  Cape  Finisterre,  aud  was  wounded  in  the 
shoalder  by  a  musquet^ball.  Here  M.  Qoquart,  jthen  com- 
mandiug  the  Diamant  of  flfty-six  guns,  again  became  his 
prisoner,  and  all  the  French  ships  of  war^  ten  in  number, 
were  taken.  In  July  of  the  same  year^  he  was  appointed 
rear-admiral  of  the  blue,  and  commander  in  x;bief  of  the 
land  and  sea-forces  employed  on  an ;  expedition  to  the 
East  Indies.  Nov.  4,.  he  sailed  from  St«  Heleu's,  with  six 
ahips  of  the  line,<  five  frigates,  and  two  thousand  soldiers: 
and  though  the  wind  soon  proved  contrary,  .the  admiral 
was  so  anxious  of  clearing  the  channel,  jtfaat  he  rather 
chose  to  tmrn  to  the  wmdward  than  put  back.  After  re^^ 
freshing  his  men  some  weeks  at  the  Cape  of  Good 
Hope,  where  he  arrived  March  29,.  1748,  he  made  the 
island  of  Mauritius,  belonging  to  the  French,  on  June  2S. 
Biit  on  reconnoitering  the  landiiig  .place,  and  finding  it 
impracticable,  without  great  loss,  it  was  determined  by  a 
council  of  war,  to  proceed  on  the  voyage,  that  not  being 
the  principal  design  of  the  expedition.  July  29,  he  ar- 
rived at  Fort  St  David's,  where  the  siege  of  Pondicherry 
being  ijonunediately  resolved  on,  the  admiral  took  the  com«- 
mand  of  the  army,  and  marched  with  them,  August  8th, 
and  on  the  27th  opened  trenches  before  the  town  :  but  the 
men  growing  sickly,  the  monsoons  being  expected,  the 
chief  engineer  killed,  and  the  enemy  being  stronger  ia 
garrison  than  the  besiegers,^  the  siege  was  raised  Oct  6th, 
and  in  two  days  the  army  reached  for  St.  David's,  Mr* 
Boscawen  shewing  himself,  in  the  retreat  as  much  the  ge«* 
neral  as  the  admiral.  Soon  after  the  peace  was  concluded, 
and  Madras  delivered  up  to  him  by  the  French. 

«In  April  1749,  he  lost  in  a  violent  storm  his  own  ship 
the  Namur,  and  two  more^  but  was  himself  providentially 
op  shore.     In  April  1750  he  arrived  at  St  Helen's,  in  the 


144  B  O  S  C  A  W  E  N. 

Exeter^  having,  in  his  absence,  been  appointed  reair^ad* 
miral  of  the  white.  In  June  1751,  he  was  appointed  one 
of  the  lords  commissioners  of  the  admiralty,  and  in  July 
was  chosen  an  elder  brother  of  the  Trinity-house.  In  May 
1754,  he  was  re-elected  for  the  borough  of  Truro. 

In  February  1755  he  was  appointed  vice-admiral  of  the 
blue,  and  on  April  19,  he  sailed  from  Spithead  with  a 
strong  fleet,  in  order  to  intercept  the  French  squadroik 
bound  to  North  America.  June  lOtb,  he  fell  in,  off  New- 
foundland, with  the  Alcide  and  Lys,  of  sixty-four  guns 
^each,  which  were  both  taken  by  the  Dunkirk  and  Defiance, 
being  the  first  action  of  that  war.  On  thh  occasion,  it  was 
very  extraordinary,,  that  M.  Hoquart  became  a  third  time 
his  prisoner.  In  November,  the  admiral  arrived  at  Spit* 
.head  with  his  prizes,  and  fifteen  hundred  prisoners.  In 
1756  he  commanded  the  squadron  in  the  Bay;  and  in 
December  was  appointed  vice-admiral  of  the  white.  In 
'  1757  he  again  commanded  in  the  Bay;  and  in  1758  was 
appointed  admiral  of  the  blue,  and  commander  in  chief  of 
the  expedition  to  Cape  Breton.  ^  Feb.  1 5,  he  sailed  from 
St.  Helen's,  and  in  conjunction  with  general  (afterwards 
lord)  Amherst,  took  the  important  fortress  of  Louisburgb> 
July  27th,  with  die  islands  of  Cape  Breton  and  St.  John. 
.On  Nov.  1st.  the  admiial  arrived  at  St.  Helen's  with  four 
ships,  having  fallen  in,  off  Scilly,  with  six  French  ships 
from  Quebec,  which  escaped  him  in  the  night;  but  in 
chacing  one  of  them,  tliB  Belliqueux  of  sixty-four  guns, 
having  carried  away  her  fore  top-mast,  was  forced  up 
Bristol  Channel,  where  she  was  taken  by  the  Antelope. 
December  1 2th,  on  his  coming  to  the  house  of  commons, 
the  thanks  of  that  august  assembly,  the  greatest  honour 
that  can  be  conferred  on  any  subject,  were  given  him  by 
the  speaker. 

In  some  French  memoirs,  admiral  Boscawen  is  repre- 
sented as  havings  at  the  siege  of  Louisburgfa,  wholly  gives 
himself  up  to  the  direction  of  a  particular  captain  in  that 
arduous  and  enterprising  business.  This,  however,  was 
not  the  case.  Whoever  knew  Mr.  Boscawen's  knowledge 
in  his  profession,  with  his  powers  of  resource  upon  every 
occasion,  his  intrepidity  of  mind,  his  manliness  and  inde- 
pendence of  conduct  and  of  character,  can  never  give  the 
least  degree  of  credit  to  such  an  assertion.  The  admiral, 
however,  upon  other  occasions,  and  in  other  circumstancest 
deferred  to  the  opinions  of  those  with  whom  be  was  pror 


B  O  S  C  A  W  E  N.  14$ 

fessioDally  connected.  When  once  sent  to  intercept  n 
St.  Domingo  fleet  of  merchantmen,  and  while  waiting  near 
the  track  which  it  was  supposed  tjhey  would  take,  one  of 
his  seamen  came  to  tell  him  that  the  fleet  was  now  in  sight 
The  admiral  took  his  glass,  and  from  his  superior  power  of 
eye,  or  perhaps  from  previous  information,  said,  that  the 
sailpr  was  mistaken,  and  that  what  he  saw  was  the  grand 
French  fleet.  The  seaman,  however,  persisted.  The  ad* 
miral  desired  some  others  of  his  crew  to  look  through  the 
glass ;  who  all,  with  their  hrains  heated  with  the  prospect 
of  a  prize,  declared,  that  what  they  saw  was  the  St.  Do« 
mingo  fleet.  He  nobly  replied,  "  Gentlemen,  you  sliall 
never  say  that  I  have  stood  in  the  way  of  your  enriching 
yourselves :  I  submit  to  you ;  but,  remember,  when  you 
find  your  mistake,  you  must  stand  by  me.''  The  mistake 
was  soon  discovered  ;  and  the  admiral,  by  such  an  exertioa 
of  manoeuvres  as  the  service  has  not  often  seen,  saved  his 
ship. 

In  1759,  being  appointed  to  conmiand  in  the  Mediter* 
ranean,  he  sailed  from  St.  Helen's  April  14th.  TheTou* 
lon  fleet,  under  M.  de  la  Clue,  having  passed  the  Streights, 
with  an  intent  to  join  that  at  Brest,  the  admiral,  then  at 
Gibraltar,  being  informed*of  it  by  his  frigates,  immediately 
got  under  sail,  and  on  Aug.  13th,  discovered,  pursued^ 
and  engaged  the  enemy,  His  ship,  the  Namur,  of  ninety 
guns,  having  lost  her  mainmast,  he  instantly  shifted  his 
flag  to  the  Newark,  and,  after  a  sharp  engagement,  took 
three  large  ships,  and  burnt  two,  in  Lagos-bay.  On  Sept» 
15th  he  arrived  at  Spithead  with  his  prizes,  and  two  thou-r 
sand  prisoners.  In  December  of  the  following  year,  he  was 
appointed  general  of  the  marines,  widi  a  salary  of  3000^ 
per  annum,  and  was  also  sworn  of  his  majesty's  most  ho- 
pourable  privy-council.  In  the  same  year  he  commanded 
in  the  Bay,  till  relieved  by  admiral  Hawke :  and,  returning 
home,  died  at  his  seat  at  Hatchland  park,  near  Guildford^ 
of  a  bilious  fever,  Jan.  10,  1761.  A  monument  was  after* 
wards  erected  to  him  in  the  church  of  St.  Michael  Pett-» 
kevel  in  Cornwall,  where  he  was  buried,,  with  an  elegai;it 
inscription  said  to  have  been  written  by  his  widow. 

This  excellent  officer  was  so  anxious  for  the  honour  of 
the  sea-service,  and  his  own,  that  when  lord  Anson,  tbea 
first  lord  of  the  admiralty,  refused  to  confirm  his  promo- 
tion of  two  naval  officers  to  the  rank  of  post-captains,  in 
consequence  of  their  having  distinguished  themselves  at 
Voi.  VI.  L 


^4«  B  O  S  C  A  W  E  N. 

4he  siege  of  Louisburgh  (Laforey  and  Balfour,  if  we  itiis- 
take  not),  be  threatened  to  give  up  his  seat  at  the  board  of 
admiralty,  and  lord  Anson,  rather  than  lose  the  advice 
and  experience  of  this  great  seaman,  thought  fit  to  retract 
liis  opposition.  Admiral  Boscawen  was  so  little  infected 
with  the  spirit  of  party,  that  when,  on  his  return  from  one 
of  his  expeditions,  he  found  his  friends  out  of  place,  and 
another  administration  appointed,  and  was  asked  whether 
he  would  continue  as  a  lord  of  the  admiralty  with  them, 
he  replied,  "  the  country  has  a  right  to  the  services  of  its 
professional  men  :  should  I  be  seqt  again  upon  any  expe- 
dition, my  situation  at  the  admiralty  wilt  facilitate  the 
equipment  of  the  fleet  I  am  to  command."  He  probably 
thought,  with  his  great  predecessor,  Blake,  "  It  is  not  for 
us  to  miud  state  affairs,  but  to  prevent  foreigners  from 
fooling  us."  No  stronger  .testimony  of  the  merit  of  ad- 
miral Boscawen  can  be  given,  than  that  afforded  by  the  late 
lord  Chatham,  when  prime  minister :  "  When  I  apply,** 
fiaid  he,  '^  to  other  officers  respecting  any  expedition  I 
may  chance  to  project,  they  always  raise  difficulties ;  you 
always  find  expedients."  * 

:  BOSCAWEN  (William),  an  English  miscellaneous 
writer,  and  poet  of  considerable  merit,  was  nephew  to  the 
preceding,  bfeing  the  younger  son  of  general  George  Bos- 
cawen, third  son  of  lord  Falmouth*  He  was  born  August 
28,  1752,  and  was  sent  to  Eton  school  before  he  was  seven 
years  old,  where  he  obtained  the  particular  notice  and 
favour  of  the  celebrated  Dr.  Barnard.  From  school  he  was 
removed  to  Oxford,  where  he  became  a  gentleman  com- 
moner of  Exeter  ^college,  but  l^ft  it,  as  is  not  unusual  with 
gentlemen  intended  for  the  law,  without  taking  a  degree. 
He  then  studied  the  law,  as  a  member  of  the  Middle  Tern* 
pie,  and  the  practice  of  special  pleading  under  Mr.  (after* 
wards  judge)  Buller  :  was  called  to  the  bar,  and  for  a  time 
went  the  Western  circuit.  Nor  were  his  legal  studies  un- 
fruitful, as  he  published  an  excellent  work  under  the  title 
of  "  A  Treatise  of  Convictions  on  Penal  Statutes ;  with 
approved  precedents  of  convictions  before  justices  of  the 
peace,  in  a  variety  of  cases ;  particularly  under  the  Game 
Laws,  the  Revenue  Laws,  and  the  Statutes  respecting  Ma* 
amfactures,  &c."  1792,  8vo,     He  was  also  appointed  one 

.    *  Gent..  Mag.  vol.  XXXL— Sewanrs  ABecdotes«  toI.  U.^^-SmoUctt's  Histor|w 
i-AMiaal  Register,  to!.  L  IL  III.  IV, 


B  0  S  C  A  W  £  N.  14T 

^  the  comniissioners  of  bankrupts,  which  situation  he  held 
till  his  death.  On  Dec.  19,  1785,  he  was  appointed  by- 
patent  to  the  situation  of  a  commissioner  of  the  victualling 
office,  in  consequence  of  which,  and  of  his  marriage  in 
April  1786,  he  soon  after  quitted  the  bar.  He  married 
Charlotte,  second  daughter  of  James  Ibbetson,  D.  D.' arch- 
deacon of  St.  Alban's,  and  rector  of  Bushey.  By  Mrs. 
Boscawen,  who  died  about  seven  years  before  him,  he  had 
a.  numeroiu  family,  five  of  whom,  daughters,  survived  both 
parents. 

Being  an  excellent  classical  scholar,  and  warmly  at* 
tached  to  literary  pursuits,  he  publtsheil,  in  1793,  the 
first  volume  of  a  new  translation  of  Horace,  containing  the 
''  Odes,  Epodes,  and  Carmen  Seculare."  This  being  much 
approved,  was  followed,  in  1798,  by  his  translation  of  the 
^^  Satires,  Epistles,  and  Art  of  Poetry,"  thus  completing 
a  work,  which,  though  Francis's  translation  still  holds  its 
popularity,  is,  in  the  judgment  of  all  classical  men,  very 
greatly  superior  to  it,  in  many  essential  points  of  merit. 
In  1801  he  published  a  small  volume  of  original  poems^ 
in  which,  if  he  does  not  take  a  lead  among  his  contem-^ 
poraries,  he  at  least  discovers  an  elegant  taste,  a  poetical 
mind,  and  a  correct  versification.  He  was  for  several  years 
before  his  death  a  constant  and  able  assistant  in  the  ^^  British 
CriMt."  He  is  also  the  supposed  writer  of**  The  Progress 
of  Satice,  an  essay,  in  verse,  with  notes,  containing  re- 
marks on  *  The  Pursuits  of  LiteratureV  1798,  and  "A 
Supplement  to  the  same,"  1799,  two  pamphlets  occa-^ 
stoned  by  some  freedontts  taken  with  eminent  characters  in 
the  "  Pursuits." 

Mr.  Boscawen's  constitution  was  delicate,  and  probably 
not  improved  by  close  confinement  to  the  duties  of  his 
commissionership.  He  had,  consequently,  for  several  years 
suffered  much  by  asthmatic  affections  of  the  lungs,  which 
gradually  exhausted  the  powers  of  life,  aud  in  the  begin* 
iring  of  May,  1811,  from  an  accidental  accession  of  cold, 

Koved  fatal  on  the  sixth  of  that  month.  The  character  of 
r.  Boscawen,  says  a  writer,  whom  we  know  to  have 
been  one  of  his  intimate  friends,  could  it  be  truly  drawn^ 
would  exhibit  a  consummate  picture  of  every  thing  that  is 
,2ttniable  and  estimable  in  human ,  nature,  improved  by 
knowledge  and  exalted  by  religion.  lu  every  possible  re- 
Jation  of  life,  whatever  was  kind,  whatever  was  affectionate, 
whatever  was  benevolent,  might  with  certainty  be  expected 

L  2 


148  B  O  S  C  A  W  E  N. 

from  him.  That  excellent  institution,  the  Literary  Futfd^ 
he  considered  almost  as  his  child ;  and  his  affection  to  it 
was  testified,  not  only  by  contributions,  but  by  annual 
verses  in  its  praise,  and  assiduous  attendance  on  its  meet- 
ings. Within  five  days  of  his  death  he  wrote  a  copy  of 
Terses  for  its  anniversary,  and  even  contemplated  the  de- 
sign of  attending  it.  A  new  edition  of  his  Horace,  much 
improved  by  his  long  continued  attention,  is  intended  to 
be  brought  forward,  accompanied  by  the  original,  and  by 
many  additional  notes.  * 

BOSCH  (Balthasar  Vandin),  an  artist,  was  hotn  at 
Antwerp,  in  1675,  and  was  placed  under  the  care  of  one 
Thomas,  whose  subjects  were  apartments  with  figures,  in 
the  manner  of  Teniers;  and  be  decorated  the  insides  of 
those  apartments  with  bustos,  vases,  pictures,  and  other 
curiosities,  which  sort  of  subjects  were  at  that  time  in  great 
request.  Bosch  studied  the  same  manner  of  painting,  and 
with  great  success ;  but  the  connoisseurs  and  his  friend^ 
advised  him  to  employ  his  pencil  on  subjects  of  a  more 
elegant  and  elevated  kind  ;  because  it  seemed  a  little  ab- 
surd, to  see  apartments  designed  with  so  much  magni- 
ficence, and  so  richly  ornamented,  occupied  by  persons  so 
mean  and  vulgar  in  their  appearance  as  the  figures  gene>- 
rally  represented.  Bosch  profited  by  the  advice,  and  soon 
acquired  a  different  style  of  design  and  elegance  in  bis 
composition,  which  afforded  more  pleasure  to  the  eye, 
and  more  value  to  his  productions.  He  also  painted  por- 
traits with  a  great  deal  of  reputation,  particularly  a  portrait 
of  the  duke  of  Marlborough  on  horseback,  which  gained 
him  all  the  applause  that  he  could  possibly  desire.  The 
horse  was  painted  by  Van  Bloemen.  His  paintings  rose  to 
a  most  extravagant  price,  and  were  at  that  time  more  dear 
than  those  of  Teniers  or  Ostade.  Some  of  his  works  have 
true  merit,  being  very  good  in  the  composition  and  design, 
and  also  in  respect  of  the  colouring;  and  the  forms  of  his 
figures  were  more  elegant  than  most  of  his  contemporaries. 
His  subjects  were  judiciously  chosen,  and  for  the  most 
part  they  were  sculptors  or  painters,  surrounded  with  pic- 
tures or  bustos  of  marble,  brass,  or  piaster,  to  which  he 
gave  abundance  of  variety,  and  a  great  degree  of  truth. 
His  pencil  is  light,  his  touch  spirited,  and  his  figures  are 

»  Gent  Mag.  1811.--NeTr  Cat.  of  Living  Authors^  toI,  L  1799.— Brit.  Crit. 
toU  XXXVII.  p.  468. 


BOSCH.  14f 

diressed  in  the  mode  of  the  time.  However,  notwithstand- 
ing he  possessed  so  much  merit,  as  is  generally  and  justly 
ascribed  to  hiqn,  his  works  cannot  enter  into  competition 
with  those  of  Ostade  or  Teniers  ;  nor  is  be  now  esteemed 
as  he  formerly  had  been^  even  by  his  own  countrymen. 
He  died  of  excess,  in  1715.^ 

BOSCOLI  (Andr£a),  an  historical  painter,  was  born  at 
Florence,  in  1553,  and  educated  under  Santi  di  Titi.  He 
was  the  first  person  who  had  a  just  notion  of  the  cbiaro 
scuro,  and  used  it  successfully  in  the  Florentine  school ; 
where,  though  it  had  been  happily  practised  by  Giorgione, 
at  Venice,  and  also  by  Titian,  it  was  not  well  understood 
before  bis  time.  He  possessed  great  freedom  of  hand,  and 
gave  a  surprising  force  of  colour;  and  both  in  design  and 
composition  the  grandeur  of  his  style  resembled  that  ofhis 
master.  He  studied  after  nature ;  and  in  his  travels  hd 
drew  sketches  of  any  particular  objects  that  struck  him  ; 
but  pursuing  this  practice  at  Loretto,  with  regard  to  the 
fortifications  of  the  city,  he  was  seized  by  the  officers  of 
justice,  and  condemned  to  be  hanged ;  but  he  happily  es^ 
caped,  within  a  few  hours  of  execution,  by  the  interposition 
of  signior  Bandini,  who  explained  to  the  chief  magistrate 
his  innocent  intention.  He  was  also  an  engraver;  but  the 
subjects  ofhis  plates  are  not  specified  either  by  Marollesor 
Florent  le  Comte.     He  died  in  1606.* 

BOSCOVICH  (Roger  Joseph),  one  of  the  most  emi- 
nent mathematicians  and  philosophers  of  the  last  century, 
was  born  May  II,  1711,  in  the  city  of  Ragusa,  and  studied 
Latin  grammar  in  the  schools  of  the  Jesuits  in  his  native 
city,  where  it  soon  appeared  that  he  was  endued  with  su- 
perior talents  for  the  acquisition  of  learning.  In  the  begin- 
ning of  his  fifteenth  year^  he  had  already  gone  through  the 
grammar  classes  with  applause,  and  had  studied  rhetoric 
for  some  months,  and  as  it  now  became  necessary  to  deter- 
mine on  his  course  of  life,  having  an  ardent  desire  for  learn- 
ing, he  thought  he  could  not  have  a  better  opportunity  of' 
gratifying  it,  than  by  entering  the  society  of  the  Jesuits ; 
and,  with  the  consent  of  his  parents,  he  petitioned  to  be 
received  among  them.  .  It  was  a  maxim  with  the  Jesuits 
to  place  their  most  eminent  subjects  at  Rome,  as  it  was  of 
importance  for  them  to  make  a  good  figure  on  that  theatre; 
and  as  they  had  formed  great  expectations  from  their  new 
pupil^  they  procured  his  being  called  to  that  city  in  172^ 

*  Pilkington. — Descamps,  vol.  IV,   .        «  Pilkington  and  Strutt. 


150 


B  O  S  C  O  V  I  C  H. 


where  he  entered  his  noviciate  with  great  alacrity.  After 
this  noviciate  (a  space  of  two  years)  had  passed  in  the  ttsnal 
prdbationary  exercises,  he  studied  in  the  schools  of  rheto- 
ric, became  well  acquainted  with  all  the  classical  author:*', 
and  cultivated  Latin  poetry  with  some  taste  and  zeal. 

After  this  he  removed  from  tiie  noviciate  to  the  Roman 
college,  in  order  to  study  philosophy,  which  he  did  for 
three  years,  and  as  geometry  made  part  of  that  course,  he 
soon  discovered  that  his  mind  was  particularly  turned  to 
this  science,  which  he  cultivated  with  such  rapid  success,  as 
to  excel  all  his  condisciples,  and  had  already  begun  to  give 
private  lessons  in  mathematics.     According  to  the  ordmary 
course  followed  by  the  Jesuits,  their  yoiing  men,  after  stu- 
dying philosophy,  were  employed  in  teaching  Latin  and 
the  belles  lettres  for  the  space  of  five  years,  as  a  step  to 
the  study  of  theology  and  the  priesthood  at  a  riper  age  ; 
but  as  Boscovich  had  discovered  extraordinary  talents  for 
geometrical  studies,  his  stiperiors  dispensed  with  the  teach- 
ing of  the  schools  *,  and  commanded  him  to  commence  the 
study  of  divinity,  which  he  did  for  four  years,  bat  without 
neglecting  geometry  and  physics,  and  before  that  space 
was  ended,  he  was  appointed  professor  of  mathematics,  an 
office  to  which  he  brought  ardent  zeal  and  first-rate  talents. 
Besides  having  seen  all  the  best  modern  productions  on  ma-^ 
thematical  subjects,  he  studied  diligently  the  antient  geo- 
metricians, and  from  them  learned  that  exact  method  of 
reasoning  which  is  to  be  observed  in  all  his  works.     Al- 
though he  himself  easily  perceived  the  concatenation  of  ma- 
thematical truths,  and  could  follow  them  into  their  most  ab- 
struse recesses,  yet  he  accommodated  himself  with  a  fa^ 
therly  condescension  to  the  weaker  capacities  of  his  scho- 
lars, and  made  every  demonstration  clearly  intelligible  to 
them.     When  he  perceived  that  any  of  his  disciples  were 
capable  of  advancing  faster  than  the  rest,  he  himself  would 
propose  his  giving  them  private  lessons,  that  so  they  might 
not  lose  their  time ;  or  he  would  propose  to  them  proper 
books,  with  directions  how  to  study  by  themselves,  being 
always  ready  to  solve  difficulties  that  might  occur  to  them. 
He  composed  also  new  elements  of  arithmetic,  algebra. 


*  Our  account  of  Boscovich  ii  taken 
from^  TariouB  authorities,  as  will  be 
specified,  but  we  have  fo«ind  it  some- 
what difficult  to  reconcile  their  diffe* 
rences..  The  above  fact,  with  respect 
to  the  dispensation  from  teacbiog  thu 
schools,  18  taken  from  a  life  c^  Bosco* 


▼ieh,  written  by  a  dignified  clergyman 
of  the  church  of  Rome  for  Dr.  Gleig^a 
Supplement  j  but  every  other  account 
we  have  teen,  particularly  that  by  Faf 
broni,  expresaly  asserts  that  he  did 
taach  thete  inihools«  «t  kaat  tlur«» 
years* 


B  O  S  C  O  V  I  C  H.  isi' 

jrfam  and  solid  geometry,  &c.  and  although  these  subjects 
had  been  well  treated  by  a  great  many  authors,  yet  Bosco- 
vich^s  work  will  always  be  esteemed  by  good  judges  as  a, 
masterly  performance,  well  adapted  to  the  purpose  for  which 
it  was  intended.  To  this  he  afterwards  added  a  new  expo^ 
sition  of  Conic  Sections,  the  only  part  of  his  works  which 
has  appeared  in  English.  It  was  within  these  few  years 
translated,  abridged,  and  somewhat  altered,  by  the  rev.  Mr. 
Newton  of  Cambridge. 

According  to  the  custom  of  the  scbopls,  every  class  in- 
the  Roman  college,  towards  the  end  of  the  scholastic  year, 
gave  public  specimens  of  their  proficiency.  With  this  view 
Boscovich  published  yearly  a  dissertation  on  some  interest- 
ing physico-mathematical  subject,  the  doctrine  of  which 
Was  publicly  defended  by  some  of  his  scholars,  assisted  by: 
their  master,  and  in  the  presence  of  a  concourse  of  the 
most  learned  men  of  Rome.  His  new  opinions  in  philosophy 
were  here  rigorously  examined  and  warmly  controverted  by 
persons  well  versed  in  physical  studies :  but  he  proposed 
nothing  without  solid  grounds :  he  had  foreseen  all  their 
objections,  answered  them  victoriously,  and  always  came 
off  with  great  applause  and  increase  of  reputation.  Ha 
published  likewise  dissertations  on  other  occasions:  and 
these  works,  though  small  in  size,  are  very  valuable  both 
for.  matter  and  manner.  It  was  in  some  of  them  that  he  firstr 
divulged  his  sentiments  concerning  the  nature  of  body,^ 
which  he  afterwards  digested  into  a  regul|ir  theory,  and 
which  is  justly  become  so  famous  among  the  learned. 

Father  Noceti,  another  Jesuit,  and  one  of  his  early.pre-* 
ceptors,  had  composed  two  excellent  poems  on  the  rainbow 
and  the  aurora  borealis,  which  were  published  in  17479 
with  learned  annotations  by  Boscovich.  His  countryman^ 
Benedict  Stay,  after  haviug  published  the  philosophy  of 
Descartes  in  Latin  verse,  attempted  the  same  with  regard 
to  the  more  modern  and  more  true  philosophy,  and  has  ex- 
ecuted it  with  wonderful  success.  The  first  two  volumes  of 
this  elegant  and  accurate  work  were  published  in  1755,  and 
1760,  with  annotations  and  supplements  by  Bosjcovich^ 
These  supplements  are  short  dissertations  on  the  most  im- 
portant parts  of  physics  and  mathematics.  In  these  he  af- 
fords a  solution  of  the  problem  of  the  centre  of  oscillation, 
to  which  Huygens  had  come  by  a  wrong  method ;  confutes 
Euler,  who  bad  imagined  that  tEe  vis  inertia  was  aecessary 


153  B  O  S  C  O  V  I  C  H.. 

in  matter ;  and  refutes  the  ingenious  efforts  of  Riccati  on 
the  Leibnitzian  opinion  of  the  forces  called  living. 

Benedict  XIV.  who  was  a  great  encourager  of  learning, 
and  a  beneficent  patron  of  learned  men,  gave  Boscovich 
many  proofs  of  the  esteem  he  bad  for  him  ;  and  both  he 
and  his  enlightened  minister,  cardinal  Valenti,  consulted 
Boscovich  oh  various  important  objects  of  public  economy, 
the  clearing  of  harbours,  and  the  constructing  of  roads  and 
canals.  On  one  occasion,  he  was  joined  in  a  commissioa 
with  other  mathematicians  and  architects,  invited  from  dif- 
ferent parts  of  Italy,  to  inspect  the  cupola  of  l^t.  Peter^s, 
in  which  a  crack  had  been  discovered.  They  were  divided 
in  opiniori ;  but  the  sentiments  of  Boscovich,  and  of  the 
marquis  Poleni,  prevailed.  In  stating,  however,  the  re- 
sult of  the  consultation,  which  was  to  apply  a  circle  of 
iron  round  the  building,  Poleni  forgot  to  refer  the  idea  to 
its  real  author,  and  this  omission  grievously  offended  Bos- 
covich, who  was  tenacious  of  fame,  and  somewhat  irritable 
in  temper.  About  the  same  time  other  incidents  had  con- 
curred to  mortify  his  pride ;  and  he  became  at  last  dis- 
gusted with  his  situation,  and  only  looked  for  a  convenient 
opportunity  of  quitting  Rome. ,  While  in  this  temper  of 
mind,  an  application  was  made  by  the  court  of  Portugal  to 
the  general  of  the  Jesuits,  for  ten  mathematicians  of  the 
society  to  go  out  to  Brazil,  for  the  purpose  of  surveying 
that  settlement,  and  ascertaining  the  boundaries  which  di- 
vide it  from  the  Spanish  dominions  in  America.  Wishing 
to  combine  with  that  object  the  mensuration  of  a  degree  of 
latitude,  Boscovich  offered  to  embark  in  the  expedition, 
and  his  proposition  was  readily  accepted.  But  cardinal 
Valenti,  unwilling  to  lose  his  services,  commanded  him, 
in  the  name  of  the  pope,  to  dismiss  the  project,  and  per- 
suaded him  to  undertake  the  same  service  at  home  in  the 
Papal  territory.  In  this  fatiguing,  and  often  perilous  ope- 
ration, he  was  assisted  by  the  English  Jesuit,  Mayer,  an 
excellent  mathematician,  and  was  amply  provided  with  the 
requisite  instruments  and  attendants.  They  began  the 
work  about  the  close  of  the  year  1750,  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Rome,  and  extended  the  meridian  line  northwards, 
across  the  chain  of  the  Appennines  as  far'as  Rimini.  Two 
whole  years  were  spent  in  completing  the  various  measure- 
ments, which  were  performed  with  the  most  scrupulous 
accuracy.  The  whole  is  elaborately  described  by  Bosco- 
vich in  a  quarto  volume^    full  of  illustration  and  minute 


B  O  S  C  O  V  I  C  H.  13a 

details,  and  with  several  opuscules,  or  detax^hed  essaysp 
which  display  great  ingenuity,  conjoi&ed  with  the  finest 
geometric  taste.  We  may  instance^  in  particular,  the  dis« 
course  on  the  rectification  of  instruments,  the  elegant  syn- 
thetical investigation  of  the  figure  of  the  earth,  deduced 
both  from  the  law  of  attraction,  and  from  the  actual  mea- 
surement of  degrees,. and  the  nice  remarks  concerning  the 
curve  and  the  conditions  of  permanent  stability.  This  last 
tract  gave  occasion,  however,  to  some  strictures  from 
D'Alembert,  to  which  Boscovich  replied,  in  a  note  an- 
nexed to  the  French  edition  of  his  works.  The  arduous 
service  which  Boscovich  had  now  performed  was  but  poorly 
rewarded.  From  the  pope  he  received  only  a  hundred  se- 
quins, or  about  forty-five  pounds  sterling,  a  gold  box,  and 
^'  abundance  of  praise."  He  now  resumed  the  charge  of 
the  mathematical  school,  and  besides  discharged  faithfully 
the  public  duties  of  religion,  which  are  enjoined  by  bis  order* 
A  trifling  circumstance  will  mark  the  warmth  of  his  tem- 
per, and  his  love  of  precedence.  He  had  recourse  to  the 
authority  of  cardinal  Valenti,  to  obtain  admission  into  the 
oratory  of  Caravita,  from  which  his  absence  excluded  him, 
and  which,  yet  afforded  only  the  benefit  of  a  free,  but  fru- 
gal supper.  In  presiding. at  that  social  repast,  the  philo- 
sopher relaxed  from  the  severity  of  his  studies,  and  shone 
by  his  varied,  his  lively,  and  fluent  conversation. 
•  At  this  time  a  dispute  arose  between  the  little  republic 
of  Lucca,  and  the  government  of  Tuscany,  on  the  subject 
of  draining  a  lake.  A  congress  of  mathematicians  was 
palled,  and  Boscovich  repaired  to  the  scene  of  content-ion^ 
in  order  to  defend  the  rights  of  the  petty  state.  Having 
waited  three  months  in  vain,  expecting  the  commissioners^ 
and  amused  with  repeated  hollow  promises,  he  thought  it 
better  for  the  interest  of  his  constituents,  to  proceed  at 
once  to  the  court  of  Vienna,  which  then  directed  the  affairs 
of  Italy.  The  flames  of  war  had  been  recently  kindled  on 
the  continent  of  Europe,  and  Boscovich  took  occasion  to 
celebrate  the  first  successes  of  the  Austrian  ai*ms,  in  a 
poem,  of  which  the  first  book  was  presented  to  the  em- 
press Theresa ;  but  the  military  genius  of  Frederic  the 
Great  of  Prussia  soon  turned  the  scale  of  fortune,  and  our 
poet  was  reduced  to  silence.  More  honourably  did  he 
employ  some  leisure  in  the  composition  of  his  immortal 
work,  *'  Theoria  philosophicB  naturalis  reducta  ad  unicam 
legend  virium  in  natur^  e:pst^ntium/'  printed  at  Vienna  in 


154 


B  O  S  C  O  V  I  C  a 


1758^.  This  he  drew  up,  it  is  alledged,  in  the  very  short 
space  of  thirty  days,  having  collected  the  naterials  a  con* 
siderable  time  before ;  yet  we  must  regret  the  ai^earance 
of  haste  and  disorder,  which  deforms  a  production  of  such 
rare  and  intrinsic  excellence.  ' 

After  a  successful  suit  of  eleven  months  at  Vienna,  Bos* 
covich  returned  to  Rome,  and  received  from  the  senate  of 
Lucca,  for  his  zealous  services,  the  handsome  present  of 
a  thousand  sequins,  or  about  450/.  Thus  provided  witbv 
the  means  of  gratifying  his  curiosity,  he  desired  and  obw 
tained  leave  to  travel.  At  Paris  he  spent  six  months,  ia 
the  society  of  the  eminent  men  who  then  adorned  the 
French  capital ;  and,  during  his  stay  in  London,  he  waa 
elected,  in  1760,  a  fellow  of  the  Royal  Society,  and  h« 
dedicated  to  that  learned  body  his  poem  on  eclipses,  which 
contains  a  neat  compendium  of  astronomy  ^,  and  was  pub- 
lished at  London  the  same  year.  The  expectation  of  the 
scientific  world  was  then  turned  to  the  transit  of  Venus, 
calculated  to  happen  in  the  following  year.  Boscovicb, 
eager  to  observe  it,  returned  through  Holland  and  Flan- 
iiers  to  Italy,,  and  joined  his  illustrious  friend,  Correr,  at 
Venice,  from  whence  they  sailed  to  Constantinople,  hav« 
ing  on  their  way,  visited  the  famous  plain  of  Troy.  In 
Turkey,  he  scarcely  enjoyed  one  day  qf  good  health,  and 
his  life  was  repeatedly  despaired  of  by  the  physicians. 
After  spending  half  a  year  in  this  miserable  state,  he  re- 
turned in  the  train  of  sir  James  Porter,  our  ambassador  at 
the  Porte ;  and  having  traversed  Bulgaria  Moldavia,  and 
pait  of  Poland,  his  intention  was  to  penetrate  into  Russia^ 
if  the  agitation  which  there  prevailed,  on  the  death  of  the 
emperor  Peter,  had  not  deterred  him  from  executing  the 
project.  The  diary  of  his  journey,  which  he  published  in 
Italian  and  French,  is  inferior  to  any  of  his  works^  and 
contains  many  trifling  and  insipid  remarks.     The  truth  was. 


*  The  occasion  of  bis  coming  to 
London  is  thus  related  in  his  life  in  Dr. 
Qleig's  Supplement:  The  British  niniis- 
Iry  had  been  informed,  that  ships  of 
war,  for  the  French,  had  been  built 
and  fitted  oyt  in  the  sea-p6rt8  of  Ra-  ' 
guia,  and  had  signified  their  displea- 
sure ou  that  account.  This  occasioned 
uneasiness  to  the  senate  of  Ragusa,  as 
their  subjects  ave  very  sea-faring,  and 
much  employed  ia  the  carrying  trade  i 
and  therefore  it  would  have  been  in- 
ttonveoient  for  tbam  to  have  caused 


any  disgust  against  them,  in  the  prin* 
cipal  maritime  power.  Their  country, 
man  Boscoricb  was  desired  to  go  to 
London,  in  order  to  satisfy  that  court 
on  the  above-mentioned  head ;  and 
with  this  desire  he  complied  cheerftilly 
on  many  accounts.  His  success  at 
London  was  equal  to  that  at  Vienna, 
He  pleaded  the  cause  of  his  country- 
sen  effectually  there,  and  that  without 
giving  offence  to  the  French,  with 
whom  Ra^fusa  soon  after  entered  iot# 
a  treaty  of  cemneree. 


BOSOOVICH.  155 

feoscovich  began  his  travels  at  too  late  a  period  of  life  ta 
profit  much  by  tliem. 

At  Rome  his  arrival  was  welcomed,  and  he  was  agaiti 
consulted  on  various  plans  of  public  improvement.  But  in 
the  spring. of  1764,  he  was  called  by  the  Austrian  gover- 
nor of  Milan,  to  fill  the  mathematical  chair  in  the  utiiver* 
sity  of  Pavia.  The  honours  which  he  received  provoked 
ibe  jealousy  of  the  other  professors,  who  intrigued  to  un- 
dermine his  fame.  He  took  the  most  effectual  mode,  how* 
ever,  to  silence  them,  by  publishing  his  dissertations  oa 
o]^tics,  which  exhibit  an  elegant  synthesis  and  well-devised 
set  of  experiments.  These  essays  excited  the  more  atten- 
tion, as,  at  this  time,  the  ingenuity  of  men  of  science  wai 
particularly  attracted  to  the  subject,  by  Dollond's  valuable 
discovery  of  achromatic  glasses. 

The  expulsion  of  the  Jesuits  from  the  dominions  of 
Spain  prevented  Boscovich  from  going  to  California,  to 
observe  the  second  transit  of  Venus,  in  1769,  and  which 
expedition  the  royal  society  of  London  had  strongly  so- 
licited him  to  undertake.     And  as  his  rivals  began  now  to 
stir  themselves  again,  he  sought  to  dispel  the  chagrin,  by 
a  second  journey  into  France  and  the  Netherlands.     At 
Brussels  he  met  with  a  peasant,   famous  for  curing  the 
gout,  and  from  whose  singular  skill  he  received  most  es- 
sential benefit.     On  his  return  to  Italy  in   1770,  he  was 
transferred  from  the  university  of  Pavia  to  the  Palatine 
schools  at  Milan,  and  resided  with  those  of  his  order,  at 
the  college  of  Brera,  where  he  furnished,  mostly  at  his 
own  expence,  an  observatory,  of  which  he  got  the  direc- 
tion.    But  he  was  still  doomed  to  experience  mortification. 
Some  young  Jesuits,  who  acted  as  his  assistants,  formed  a 
conspiracy,  and,  by  their  artful  representations,  prevailed 
with  the  government  to  exclude  his  favourite  pupil  and 
friend  from  holding  a  charge  of  trust.     This  intelligence 
was  communicated  to  him  at  the  baths  of  Albano,  and  filled 
him  with  grief  and  indignation.     He  complained  to  princo 
Kaunitz,  but  implored  his  protection  in  vain.     To  the  go« 
vernor  of  Milan  he  wrote,  that  he  would  not  return,  un- 
less things  were  restored  to  their  former  footing.     He  re** 
tired  to  Venice,  where,  having  staid  ten  months  in  fruitless 
expectation  of  obtaining  redress,  he  meditated  spending 
the  remainder  of  his  days  in  honourable  retirement  at  hi9 
native  city  of  Ragusa.     But  while  he  waited  for  the  oppor- 
tunity of  a  vessel  to  convey  him  thither,  he  received  the 


15«  BOSCOVICH. 

afflicting  news  of  the  suppression  of  bis  order  in  Italy.  He 
now  renounced  his  scheme,  and  seemed  quite  uncertain 
what  step  he  should  take.  Having  come  into  the  Tuscan 
territory,  he  listened  .to  the  counsels  and  solicitation  oi 
Fabroniy  who  held  forth  the  prospect  of  a  handsome  ap« 
pointment  in  the  I^yceum  of  Pisa.  In  the  mean  time  he 
accepted  the  invitation  of  La  Bord^  chamberlain  to  Louis 
]^V.  accompanied  him  to  Paris  in  1773,  and  through  his 
influence  obtained  the  most  liberal  patronage  from  the 
French  monarch ;  he  was  naturalized,  received  two  pen- 
sions, amounting  to  8000  livres,  or  333/.  and  had  an  office 
expressly  created  for  him,  with  the  title  of  "  Director  of 
optics  for  the  marine.'*  Boscovich  might  now  appear,  to 
have  attained  the  pinnacle  of  fortune  and  glory ;  but  Paris 
was  no  longer  for  hiin  the  theatre  of  applause,  and  his  ar* 
dent  temper  became  soured  by  the  malign  breath  of  jea- 
lousy and  neglect.  Such  extraordinary  favour  bestowed 
on  a  foreigner  could  not  fail  to  excite  the  envy  of  the 
sgavansy  who  considered  him  as  rewarded  greatly  beyond 
biB  true  merit.  The  freedom  of  his  language  gave  offence, 
his  perpetual  egotism  became  disgusting,  and  his  repetition 
of  barbarous  Latin  epigrams  was  most  grating  to  Parisian 
ears.  Besides,  the  name  of  a  priest  and  a  Jesuit  did  not 
now  command  respect ;  and  the  sentiments  of  austere  de- 
votion, which  he  publicly  professed,  had  grown  unfashion- 
ahle,  and  were  regarded  as  scarcely  befitting  the  charp,cter 
of  a  philosopher. 

But,  notwithstanding  these  discouragements,  Boscovich 
applied  assiduously  to  the  improvement  of  astronomy  and 
optics ;  revised  and  extended  his  former  ideas,  and  struck 
out  n^w  paths  of  discovery.  His  solution  of  the  problem 
,to  determine  the  orbit  of  a  comet  from  three  observations, 
is  remarkable  for  its  elegant  simplicity;  being  derived 
from  the  mere  elementary  principles  of  trigonometry. 
Not  less  beautiful  are  his  memoirs  on  the  micrometer,  and 
on  achromatic  telescopes.  But  his  situation  becoming 
more,  irksome,  in  1783,  he  desired  and  obtained  leave  of 
absence.  Two  years  he  spent  at  Bassdno,  in  the  Venetian 
state,  where  he  published  his  opuscules,  in  five  volumes, 
4to,  composed  in  Latin,  Italian,  and  French,  and  contain- 
ing a  variety  of  elegant  and  ingenious  disquisitions  con- 
fiected  with  astronomical  and  optical  science.  During  tjbat 
time  he  lived  with  his  editor  Remondini,  and  occupied 
himself  in  superintending  the  press.     After  finishing  hi^ 


B  O  S  C  O  V  I  C  H.  US'? 

« 

tast,  he  came  to  Tuscany,  and  passed  some  months  at  the 
convent  of  Valombrosa.  Thence  he  went  to  Milan,  and 
issued  a  Latin  prospectus,  in  which  he  proposed  to  reprint 
the  remaining  two  voluhies  of  the  philosophical  poem  of 
Stay,  enriched  with  his  annotations,  and  extended  to  ten 
books.  But  very  few  subscribers  appeared  ;  his  opusculeis 
experienced  a  slow  sale  ;  and  the  Imperial  minister  neither 
consulted  nor  employed  him  in  some  mathematical  operas 
tions  which  were  carrying  on ;  all  symptoms  that  he  was  no 
more  a  favourite  of  the  Italian  public.  These  mortifica- 
tions preyed  upon  his  spirits,  and  made  the  deeper  im- 
pression, as  his  health  was  much  disordered  by  an  inflam- 
mation of  the  lungs.  He  sunk  into  a  stupid^  listless  me- 
lancholy, and  after  brooding  many  days,  he  emerged  int6 
insanity,  but  not  without  lucid  intervals,  during  which  re- 
ligion suggested  topics  of  consolation,  and  he  regretted 
having  spent  his  time  in  curious  speculation,  and  con- 
sidered the  calamity  with  which  he  was  visited  as  a  kind  of 
chastisement  of  heaven  for  neglecting  the  spiritual  duties 
of  his  profession.  In  this  temper  of  resignation,  he  ex- 
pired on  the*  13th  of  February,  1787.  He  was  interred 
decently,  but  without  pomp,  in  the  parochial  church  of 
S.  Maria  Pedone.  **  Such  was  the  exit,"  says  Fabroni, 
**  of  this  sublime  genius,  whom  Rome  honoured  as  her 
master,  whom  all  Italy  regarded  as  her  ornament,  and  to 
whom  Greece  would  have  erected  a  statue,  had  she  fot 
want  of  space  been  obliged  even  to  throw  down  some  of 
her  heroes." 

Boscovich  was  tall  in  stature,  of  a  robust  constitution, 
but  pale  complexion.  His  countenance,  which  was  rather 
long,  was  expressive  of  cheerfulness  and  good  humour. 
He  was  open,  sincere,  communicative,  and  benevolent 
We  have  already  noticed  that  with  all  these  qualities,  he 
was  too  irritable,  and  too  sensible  of  what  he  thought  a 
neglect,  which  gave  him  unnecessary  uneasiness.  He  was 
a  man  of  strict  piety,  according  to  his  views  of  religion. 
His  great  knowledge  of  the  works  of  nature  made  him  en- 
tertain the  highest  admiration  of  the  power  and  wisdom  of 
the  Creator.  He  saw  the  necessity  and  advantages  of  a 
divine  revelation,  and  was  sincerely  attached  to  the  Chris- 
tian religion,  having  a  sovereign  contempt  for  the  pre- 
sumption and  foolish  pride  of  infidels. 

Zamagna,  his  countryman,  and  also  a  Jesuit,  published 
a  panegyric  on  him  in  elegant  Latiu;^  and  a  short  encomima 


B  O  S  C  O  V  I  C  H. 

of  him  is  to  be  found  in  the  ^'  Estratto  delia  Litteratuni 
£aropa  ;^*  and  another,  in  the  form  of  a  letter,  was  di<* 
rected  by  Lalande  to  the  Parisian  journalists.  A  more  full 
life  and  eulogium  is  in  Fabroni^s  collection  ;  another  is  in 
the  Journal  of  Modena ;  a  third  was  published  at  Milan  by 
the  abbate  Ricca ;  and  a  fourth  at  Naples  by  Dr.  Julius 
Bajamonte.  Fabroni  has  given  the  most  complete  cata- 
logue of  his  works*  ^ 

fiOSIUS  (James),  a  native  of  Milan,  and  servitor  of  the 
order  of  Malta,  lived  about  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  cen<- 
tury,  when  he  was  appointed  agent  for  the  religion  of 
Malta  at  Rome,  and  discharged  the  duties  of  this  office 
with  fidelity.  The  knowledge  he  found  it  necessary  to  ac>« 
quire,  appears  to  have  suggested  the  design  of  writing  a 
history  of  that  celebrated  order,  which  was  published  under 
the  title  ^^  Historia  delP  ordine  di  S.  Giovanni  Gieroso- 
limitano,^*  in  three  parts  or  volumes,  the  vfirst  two  at 
Rome,  1594,  and  the  third  in  1602,  a  work  in  which  he  is 
said  to  have  been  assisted  by  two  monks,  and  which  coii'^ 
tains  many  curious  facts,  that  have  been  highly  servicer 
able  to  the  subsequent  historians  of  Malta.  It  happened 
that  Bosius  resided  with  Petrochini  at  Rome,  and  when  be 
was  made  cardinal  by  Sixtus  V.  Bosius  attached  himself 
to  him,  in  hopes  of  being  4>romoted  to  the  same  honoajp, 
when  Petrochini  should  be  pope ;  Lut  the  latter  being 
overlooked  at  the  next  election  for  the  papal  chair,  Bosius 
went  home  and  passed  the  remainder  of  his  days,  how 
many  we  are  not  told,  in  exercises  of  devotion.  He  appears 
to  have  had  much  of  the  superstition  of  his  order,  and  of  the 
age  in  which  he  lived,  a:^  he  wrote  a  history  of  the  sacred 
cross  on  which  our  Saviour  suffered,  from  its  discovery  in 
the  reign  of  Constantino  the  great;  and  decorated  the 
church  of  St.  Blaise  with  this  choice  morsel  of  authentic 
.history.     His  nephew, 

BOSIUS  f  Anthony),  and  the  inheritor  of  his  property^ 
was  educatea  by  him,  studied  law,  and  by  his  uncle's  in- 
terest was  appointed  agent  to  the  order  of  Malta.  He 
was  a  very  little  man,  of  a  dark  countenance,  resembling 
that  of  his  mother,  who  had  been  an  African  slave,  whom 
his  father  married.  In  bis  youth  he  was  very  wild,  but  re- 
formed, lest  his  uncle  should  disinherit  him,  and  addicted 
himself  to  the  study  of  antiquities,  producing  the  ^^  Romja 

1  Fabroni  Vitae  Ilalorum,  vol.  XIV.— >Dr.  Glei|^*s  Supplement  to  the  Encyclop^ 
Brii. — Dr,  Rees't  Cydop«dia. 


B  O  S  I  U  S.  «5f 

Sotteraneii/'  Rome,  1632,  foL  a  description  of  the  tombi 
and  the  epkapbs  of  the  early  Chrii^tians  which  are  found  in 
the  catacombs  at  Rome.  For  this  purpose  be  investigated 
them  with  great  care,  often  remaining  five  or  six  dayi 
together  under  ground,  but  he  did  not  lire  to  put  the  fi« 
nishing  hand  to  the  work,  which  was  published  by  John 
Severani,  a  priest  of  the  oratory.  Father  Aringhi,  another 
of  the  oratory,  translated  and  published  it  in  Latin^  165 1, 
l>^ols.  fol,  an  edition  in  more  request  than  the  original,  and 
more  full  and  correct.  * 

BOSIUS  ^OHN  Andrew),  an  eminent  pbilologer  and 
historian,  was  born  at  Leipsic,  June  17,  1626^  and  suc- 
ceeded so  rapidly  m  his  first  studies,  that  he  was  admitted 
to  his  bachelor's  degree  in  the  college  of  his  native  city 
when  he  had  scarcely  attained  his  fifteenth  year ;  and  af« 
terwards  wrote  and  defended  some  theses,  as  is  the  custom 
at  Leipsic.  In  1643  he  went  to  study  at  Wittemherg, 
lodg^ing  first  with  Balthasar  Cellarius,  and  afterwards  with 
J.  C.  Seldius,  two  learned  men,  by  whose  assistance  he 
was  enabled  to  improve  what  he  heard  from  the  public 
lecturers*  In  1645  he  returned  to  Leipsic,  and  again  at- 
tended some  of  the  able  professors  under  whom  he  was 
first  educated,  particularly  Muiler  and  Rivinus ;  and  the 
following  year,  after  a  public  disputation,  in  which  he  ac** 
quifbted  himself  with  great  applause,  he  was  admitted  t^ 
his  master's  degiee.  In  1647  he  went  to  Strasburgh,  and 
studied  divinity  and  ecclesiastical  history,  and  the  modern 
languages,  until  he  was  recalled  to  Leipsic,  where,  after 
two  disputations  on  the  solar  spots,  he  was,  in  1655,  ad* 
mitted  assessor  of  philosophy.  The  following  year  he  was 
invited  to  be  professor  of  history  at  Jena,  and  acquired 
the  greatest  reputation  as  a  teacher,  while  he  employed 
his  leisure  hours  in  composing  his.  own  works,  or  editing 
some  of  those  of  the  ancients,  making  considerable  pro- 
gress in  an  edition  of  Josephus^  and  spme  of  the  Byzantine 
historians.  For  five  years,  he  was  dean,  and,  in  1661,  rec- 
tor of  the  college,  and  in  1672  he  founded  the  society  of 
ioquirers,  ^*  Societas  dlsquirentium,"  at  Jena.  He  died  of 
zepeated  attacks  of  the  gout,  which  had  undermined  his 
constitution,  on  April  29,  1674.  Bosius  was  the  particular 
iriend  of  Heinsius  and  Grsevius,  both  of  whom  speak  highly 
pf  bis  talents.     Among  his  works  may  be  enumerated,  1. 

>  Moreri.'—ErythTaii  Piiiacotbtca. 


1€0  B  O  S  I  U  & 

<' Dissertiatio  de  Teterum  adoratioQe,'V  Leipsic,  1646,  4tOL 
^  His  edition  of  ^^  Cornelius  Nepos,''  1657,  and  again  at 
Jena,  1675,  8vo,  which  gave  such  general  satisfaction  to 
the  learned  men  of  his  day,  that  few  subsequent  editors 
ventured  to  depart  from  his  text.    3.  ^<  Dissertado  de  Pon^ 
tificatu   Maximo  Imperatorum.praecipue  Christianorum,'' 
Jena,  1657,  4to^  reprinted  by  Graevius  in  the  fifth  vol.  of 
his  Thesaurus.     4.'*^  De  ara  ignoti.Dei  ad  Act  17,"  Jena^ 
J659,  4t6.     5.  "De  Tiberio,"  ibid.  1661.     6.  "  Exerci* 
tatio  historica  de  Clinicis  Ecclesiae  veteris,"  ibid.  1664j 
4to.     7.  An  edition  of  Tacitus,  *^  De  Vita  Agricolae,  Jena, 
1664,  8vo.    8.  "  Schediasma  de  comparanda  notitia  Scrip*- 
torum  Ecclesiasticorum,"    ibid,    1673,    4to,  reprinted   by 
Crenius  in   his  "  Tractatus   de  eruditione  eomparanda,'* 
Leyden,  1699,  4to,  and  by  J.  G.  Walch,  Jena,  1723,  sVo. 
After  his  death  were  published,  9.  "  Introductio  in  noti- 
tiam  rerum  publicarum,''  with  his  Essay  on  the  state  of 
Europe,  Jena,  1676,  4to.     10.  "  Dissertatio  Isagogica  de 
eomparanda  prudentia  civili,  deque  scriptoribus  et  librk 
ad  earn  rem  maxime  aptis,"  ibid.  1679,  4to,  and  reprinted 
by  Crenius.    1 1.  "  Ejusdem  et  Reinesii  Epistolae  .mutti®,'* 
ibid.  1700,  12mo.   12.^^Petronii  Satyriconpuritatedonauiat 
cum   fragmento  Traguriensi  et  AlbsB  Grseca;,  &c."  ibid. 
1701,  8vo.     13.    '^  HispanisB,  Ducatus   Mediolanensi^,  et 
itegni  Neapolitan!  Notitia,"  Helmstadt,  1702,  4to.^      t 

BOSQ.UET  (Francis),  bishop  of  Lodeve,  and  after- 
wards of  Montpellier,  was  one  of  the  most  learned  French 
prelates  in  the  seventeenth  century.  He  was  born  at  Nar^ 
bonne.  May  28,  1605,  and  studied  atThoulouse*  He  was 
afterwards  appointed  judge  royal  of  Narbonne,  intendant 
of  Guienne  and  Languedoc,  solicitor  general  to  the  par* 
liament  of  Normandy,  and  counsellor  of  state  in  ordinary^ 
For  his  services  in  this  last  pffice  he  was  promoted  to  the 
bishopric  of  Lodeve,  Jan.  1650.  When  the  a£&ir  of  the 
five  propositions  was  agitated  at  Rome,  Bosquet  was  ap- 
pointed deputy  on  the  part  of  the  king  and  clergy  of 
France,  and  while  there,  the  cardinal  Este  appointed  him 
bishop  of  Montpellier.  He  was  exemplary  for, piety,  dis*- 
interestedness,  and  charity,  and,  like  the  best  of  his  bre- 
thren at  that  time,,  practised  rigorous  austerities.  He  as'>' 
sisted  at  the  general  assembly  of  the  clergy  held  at  Paris 

1  Freheri  Theatnim»— Baillet  Jugemens  des  Sayans.— Saxii  Onomast— nDib« 
clia's  Classics. 


BOSQUET-  J6l 

tn  1670,  and  was  distinguished  for  hi«  learning  and  elo- 
quence. An  apoplexy  carried  him  off  July  24,  1676,'  and 
he  was  interred  in  the  cathedral,  with  an  epitaph  cele- 
brating bis  many  virtues.  The  first  w<)rk  he  published 
waff  "  PselU  Synopsis  Legum^'*  1632^  apiece  never  be- 
fore printed,  and  written  in  Greek  '^e««se  by  Psellus  fat 
the  use  of  bis  pupil  IMicbael  Ducas,  in  the  eleventh  century. 
Bosquet  translated  it  into  Latin,  and  added  notes  to  it. 
He  then  published,  2.  <<  EcolesioB  Gallicanse  Historiarum 
Kber  primus,"  1636,   4to.     3.   "  Pontificum   Romanorumi 

.  qui  e  Gallia  oriundi  in  ea  sederunt,  historia,  ab  anno  1315 
ad  ann.  1394  ex  MSS.  edita,"  Paris,  1632.  The  second 
edition  of  his  history  of  the  Gallican  Chunch,  the  one 
above  mentioned  in  1636,  was  much  enlarged,  but  some 
passages  were  omitted  that  had  appeared  in  the  first  octavo 
edition^  which  archbishop  Usher  has  transcribed i  By 
Ihese  it  appears  that  Bosquet  was  of  opinion  that  the 
anistaken  zeal  of  the  monks  was  the  chief  cause  of  those 
fabulous  traditions  which  have  destroyed  all  con^dence  in 
the'  early  history  of  the  Gallican  churchy  and  while  he 
makes  some  apology  for  the  credulous  believers  of  those 
aiAories,  he  makes  none  for  lliose  who  originally  invented 
ihem,  a  concession  of  great  liberality  from  a  prelate  of  the 
Romish  church.  * 

BOSSE  (Abraham),  a  French  engraver,  was  bora  at 
Tours,  and  gave  the  first  lessons  of  perspective  in  the 
academy  of  painting  at  PjUris.  He  had  great  judgement  iix 
that  brsnch  as  well  as  in  architecture.  He  left,  1.  Three? 
good  tracts,  on  the  manner  of  drawing  the  orders  of  ar- 
chitecture, 1684,  folio;  on  the  art  of  engraving,  1645, 
8vo  ;  on  perspective,  1682,  8vo.  2.  Representation  of  di- 
vers human  figures,  with  their  measures,  taken  from  the 
antiques  at  Rome,  Paris,  1656;  a  pocket  volume  all  en- 
graved* His  plates  in  aqua  fortis,  but  in  a  peculiar  me<^ 
thod,  are  agreeable.  The  work  of  Bosse  on  the  art  of 
engraving  was  re-published  some  years  ago,  with  the  re* 
marks  and  augmentations  of  M.  Cochin  the  younger.  Bosse 
died  in  his  own  country  about  the  year  1660,  according  to 
Jombert.     Bosse  was  a  turbulent  character,  and  created 

,  many  enemies,  particularly  owing  to  his  having  published 
some  pieces  of  Desargues  on  perspective,  and  having 
adopted  the  opinions  of  this  writer,  which  were  adverse 

1  Gen.  Diet.— Moreri.<U(;tferitts  ia  Pref.Biit,  Eocles*  Anti^.-*-«Saxii  Otiom»st. 

Vol..  VI.  M 


I6t  B  O  9  S  £. 

to  ^hose  of  Le  Brun  and  the  ablest  academiciansv  TUm 
produced  a  controversy,  in  which  he  so  displeased  the 
academicians  that  they  expelled  him  from  their  society* ' 

BOSSO  (Matthew),  an  Italian  scholar  and  writer  of 
considerable  eminence,  was  bom  at  Verona  in  1427,  and 
in  1451  entered  the  congregation  of  the  regular  canons  of 
St.  John  of  Lateran,  where  he  bore  several  employments, 
as  visitor  of  the  order,  procorator-general,   and  abbot  of 
Fiesole  in  Tuscany.     Cosmo  de  Medici,  who  had  a  high 
respect  for  him,  spent  seventy  thousand  crowns  in   the 
repairs  of  that  monastery,  and  it  was  in  the  church  be^ 
longing  to  it  that  j6osso  delivered*  the  ensigns  of  the  car- 
dinalsbip  to  John  de  Medici,  afterwards  pope  Leo  X.   Six«» 
tus  VI.  also  employed  him  in  many  important  affairs,  parn 
ticularly  in  reforming  the  religious  houses  of  Genoa,  and 
other  neighbouring  districts,  and  he  thrice  oSered  hixn  .a 
valuable  bishopric,  which  he  refused.     He  vigorously  op>^ 
posed  the  decree  of  pope  Innocent  VIII.  which  .ordered 
all  sorts  of  monks  to  pay  part  of  their  yearly  revenues  to 
the  clerks  of  the  apostolic  chamber.     Hermolaus  Barbaras 
was  his  pupil  and  guest  at  Fiesole,  and  Picusof  Miraadula^ 
his  friend.     He  died  at  Padua  in  1502.    Mr.  Roscoe  says 
he  was  a  profound  scholar,  a  close  reasoner,  and  a  cou#^ 
vincing  orator ;  and  to  these  united  a  candid  mind,  an  ip^ 
flexible  integrity,  and  an  interesting  simplicity  of  life  and 
manners.     His  literary  productions  were,  l.'^De  Insti«>< 
tuendo  Sapientia  animo/'  Bologna^  1495»     2.  '^  De  veris, 
et  saiutaribus  animi  gaudiis,*'  Florence,  149^^1.     3.  <<  £pis- 
tolar.  Lib.'  tres,"  or  rather  three  volumes,  printed  1493^ 
1498,  1502. — Some  orations  of  his  are  in  the  .collection- 
entitled  ^'  Recuperationes  FsesulansB,'*  a  rare  and  beauti-. 
ful  book,  said  to  have  been  printed  in  14S3.     His  whole 
works  were  published  by  P.  Ambrosini,  at  Bologna,  1627^ 
with  the  exception  of  the  third  book,  orvolume,  of  letters^ 
which,  on  account  of  its  extreme  rarity,  was  at  that  time 
unknown  to  the   editor.     His  moral  writings  were   very 
highly  esteemed ;  and  one  of  his  pieces  on  female  dress, 
**  de  vanis  mulierum  ornameiuis,*'  excited  a  considerable 
interest.     The  editor  of  Fabricius  throws  some  doubts  on 
the  date  of  the  *^  Recuperationes,"  and  if  there  be  lettera 
in  it  dated  1492  and  1493,  it  is  more  probable  that  it  is  a 
typographical  error  for  1493.  * 

»  Diet.  Hist.— StmU. 

«  Moreri.— MafftJi    degli  Scittori  Veronesi.— Roscoe*s  Loreozo  ^nd  L%9,  ,m 
Fabricii  BibU  Xcd.  et  Inf.  Utin.— GrsMwelPi  Politian.— -Saxii  Oaonust. 


3  O  S  S  U.  168 

'    BOSSU  (Rene  LE),  a  distinguished  French  fcrittc,  was 
born  at  Paris,  March  16,  1631.     He  began  his  studies  at 
Nainterre,  where  he  discovered  an  early  taste  for  polite 
literature,  and  soon  made  surprising  progress  in  all  the 
valuable  parts  of  learning.     In  1649  he  left  Nanterre,  was 
admitted  a  canon  regular  in  the  abbey  of  St,  Genevieve, 
and  after  a  year's  probation  took  the  habit  in  this  abbey. 
Here  he  applied  to  philosophy  and  divinity,  in  which  he 
made  great  proficiency,  and  took  upon  him  priest^s  orders 
ill  1657}  but,  either  from  inclination,  or  in  obedience  to 
bis  superiors,   he  resumed  the  belles  letters,  and  taught 
polite  literature  in  several  religious  houses.     After  twelve 
years,  being  tired  of  the  fatigue  of  such  an  employment, 
he  gave  it  up,  with  a  resolution  to  lead  a  quiet  and  retired 
life.     Here  be  published  his  **  Parallel,    or  comparison 
betwi:Kt  the  principles  of  Aristotle's  natural  philosophy,  and 
those  of  Des  Cartes,"  Paris,  1674.     His  intention   in  this, 
piece  was  liot  to  shew  the  opposition  betwixt  these  two 
philoisophers,  but  to  prove  that  they  do  not  differ  so  much> 
as  is  generally  thought ;  y^t  this  production  of  his  was 
but  indifferently  received,  either  because  these  two  phi- 
Ibsopbers  differ  too  widely  to  be  reconciled,  or  because 
Bossu  bad  not  made  himself  sufficiently  acquainted  with  ^ 
their  opiqions,  and  it  is  of  little  consequence  now,  since 
both  hav6  given  way  to  a  more  sound  system.     The  next 
treatise  be  published  was  that  on  "  epic  poetry,"   which 
gained  him  great  reputation  :  Boileau  says  it  is  one  of  the 
best  compositions  on  this  subject  that  ever  appeared  in  the 
French  language.     Bossu  having  met  with  a  piece  wrote 
by  St.  Sorlin  against  this  poet,  be  wr6te  a  confutation  of 
iV  for  which  favour  Boileau  was  extremely  grateful;  and 
if  produced  an  intimate  friendship  betwixt  them,  which 
continued  till  our  author's  death,  March  14,  1680.     He 
led  a  vast  number  of  manuscript  volumes,  which  are  Jcept 
in  the  abbey  of  St.  John  de  Chartres. 

.  Bossu's  treatise  on  the  epic  was  long  thought  ^  stan- . 
dard   book,  even  in   this  country,  being   translated  into. 
EhgUsb  in  1719,  2  vols.  8vo,  and  there  are,  undoubtedly, 
m^ny  just  remarks  in  it,  but  he  is  too  visionary  and  fan*, 
tastiq'  for  the  present  more  refined  state  of  public  taste. 
His  notion  that  Homer  fixed  on  some  moral  truth  or  axiom, ; 
and  then  added  a  fable  or  story,  in  which  it  was  of  little 
consequence  whether  ^raen  or  beasts  were  the  heroes  and 
ipeakers,  has  been  acutely  exposed  by  Drs.  Blair  and. 

M  2 


164  BOSS  U. 

'Wartoii.  The  first  edition  of  this  ^  Trait^  de  poemc 
^pique^Vwas  published  at  Paris  in  1675,  and  it  went  through 
fievj^ttl  other  editions.  There  was  one  printed  at  the  Hague 
inlYT4,  which  F.  Le  Courayer  had  the  care  of,  and  to  which 
he  p'^efeed  a  discourse  to  the  abb6  de  Morsan,  containing* 
an  account  of  the  treatise,  and  some  encomiums  upon  it^ 
and  ^me  memoirs  concerning  Bossu's  life. ' 

BOSSUET  (James),  bishop  of  Meaux,an  eminent Fretttjh 
writer  and  preacher,  was  born  at  Dijon,  27tb  of  Septem- 
'  ber  1627.    He  received  the  first  rudiments  of  his  education 
'  there,  and  in  1642  was  sent  to  Paris  to  finish  bis  studies  at 
the  college  of  Navarre.     In  1652  he  took  hi^s  degreefs  in 
divinity,  and  soon  after  went  to  Metz,  where  be  was  made 
a  canon.     Whilst  he  resided  here,  he  applied  himself 
<^iefiy  to  the  study  of  the  scriptures,  add  liie  reading  of 
the  fathers,  especially  St.  Augustine.     In  a  Kttlfe  time  he 
became  a  celebrated  preacher,  and  was  invited  to  Paris^ 
where  he  had  for  his  hearers  many  of  the  most  Itarned  men 
of  his  time,  and  several  persons  of  the  first  rank  at  cOurt* 
In  1669  he  was  created  bishop  of  Condom,  and  the  same 
month   was  appointed  preceptor  to  the   dauphin  ;'  upon 
which  occasion,  and  the  applause  he  gained  in  the  dis- 
charge of  so  delicate  an  office,  pope  IniJoc^nt  XI.  con- 
gratulated him  in  a  very  polite  letter.     When  he  had  al- 
most finished  the  education  of  this  prince,  he  addressed 
to  him  his  "Discours  surTHistoire  Universelle,"  i^hieh  waft 
published  in  1681,  and  is  by  far  the  best  of  his  perform- 
ances.    About  a  year  after  he  was  made  preceptor  he  gav« 
up  his  bishopric,  because  be  could  not  reside  in  his  dlo- 
cese>  on  account  of  his  engagement  at  court.     lit  1680  the 
king  appointed  him  first  almoner  to  the  dauphiness,  and 
the  year  after  gave  him  the  bishopric  of  Meaux.     In  1697 
he  was  made  counsellor  of  state,  and  the  year  foHowing 
first  almoner  to  the  duchess  of  Burgundy.     Nor  did  the 
learned  world  honour  him  tess  than  the  coui^t ;  for  he  had 
been  admitted  a  member  of  the  French  academy ;  andf  in 
1695,  at  the  desire  of  the  royal  college  of  Navarre,   of 
which  he  was  a  member,  the  kipg  constituted  him  th^^ir 
superior. 

The  writings  of  Bossuet  gained  him  no  less  fame  tHan 
bis  sermons.     From  the  year  1655  he  had  entered  the  lists 

I  Moreri — ^Dict.  Hist— -Blair's  Lectur09.--'Bo«les?f  SdUk  of  Fo^^t  WnkkM^r^, 
6ea.  pict— BaiUet  J^puflM. 


B  O  S  S  U  E  T.  16S 

•  * 

ag^ost  the  pixHeatants ;  and  the  mo^t  famous  piece  he  > 
wrote  against  them  was  his  '^  Refutation  du  catechisme  4^ 
Paul  Ferri."  In  1671  be  wrote  another,  intituled  **L'ex- 
fiosition  de  la  doctrine  de  T^glise  catholique  sur  le^pigjREi^' 
tieres  de  controverse.''  This  had  the  approbation^.ofr^ifae 
bishops  of  France,  as  well  as  of  the  prelates  and  ciardinals 
of  Rome.  Innocent  XL  wrote  bim  two  letters  on  the  sub«' 
jecty  and  the  work  was  translated  into  most  of  the  Euro* 
pean  Iftoguages :  M.  Pabb^  Montague,  a  relation  of  the 
Sandwich  family,  was  the  author  of  the  English  translation. 
He  is  said  to  have  brought  back  several  to  the  Romish 
church  who  had  embraced  the  protestant  religion  ;  and  it 
was  for  the  benefit  of  such  that  in  1682  he  published  his 
^'  Traite  de  la  communion  sous  les  deux  especes,"  and  his 
^^  Lettre  pastorale  aux  nouveaux  catholiques.*'  In  1686  hie 
published  his  ^'  Histoire  des  ^glises  protestantes/'  for 
wtiich,  as  well  .as  several  other  of  his  writings,  he  was  sue- 
<^S9fully  attacked  by  Mess.  Jurieu,  Burnet,  Basnage,  and 
several  pther  protestant  ministers.  He  always  distinguished 
himself  jas  a  zealous  advocate  for  t;h^  catholic  religion  ;  and 
so  great  was  his  desire  to  bring  about  a  re-.union  of  the  pro- 
itestants  with  the  church  of  Roo^,  that  for  this  purpose  h(e 
voluntarily  offered  to  travel  into  foreign  countries.  Ha 
foraged,  several*  schemes  for  this  purpose,  which  were  ap« 
|>roved  of  by  the  churohof  Rome,  but. the  succeeding  .war:S 
prevented  his  putting  them  in  execution.  His  writings  in 
.controversy  with  the  protestants,  and  against  quietism,  the 
jreligioQ  of  Madame  Guion,  Fenelon,  and  many  pf  the  pious 
FrencJ),  make  several  volumes. 

There  ^e  still  extant  several  of  his  very  celebrated  fu.- 
neral  orations,  particularly  those  on  the  queen-mother  qf 
f  r^nce  in  1667,  on  the  queen  of  Englalid  1669,  on  the 
fdauphiness  1670,  on  the  queen  of  France  1683,  on  the 
princess  Palatine  1685,  on  chancellor  le  Tellier  1686,  ou 
(the  prince  de  Cond6,  Louis  de  Bourbon  1687.  These  are 
printed  in  the  '^  Recueil  de  Diverses  Oraisons  Funebres,V 
3  vols.  1712,  a  neglected  book,  but  containing  the  bei^: 
specimens  of  French  oratory.  Nor,  amidst  all  the  great  af- 
fairs in  which  he  was  eqiployed,  did  he  neglect  the  duty  of 
his  diocese.  The  '*  Statuts  Synodaux,*'  which  he  published 
in  .162^1,  and  several  ocher  of  his  pieces,  shew  bow  attentive 
he  was  to  maintain  regularity  of  discipline.  After  having 
Vf&BkX,  a  UHe  io  the  service  of  the  church,  he  died  at  Paris, 
April  12|  1704^  and  was  buried  .^t  Mea^xj  where, his  far 


^ 


166  B  O  S  S  U  E  T. 

nefal  was  honoured  with  the  presence  of  m&ny  prelates  his 

friends,  and  an  oration  pronounced  in  his  praise  by  fsitfaer 

de  la  Rue  the  Jesuit.     The  same  honour  was  likewise  paid 

to  his  memory  at  Paris,  in  the  college  of  Navarre,  where 

cardinal  Noailles  performed  the  pontifical  ceremonies^  and 

the  funeral  oration  was  spoken  by  a  doctor  of  the  house. 

"Nor  was  Rome  silent  in  his  praise ;  for  an  eulogium  was 

spqken  to  his  niemory  ;  and,  what  was  unusual,  was  deli** 

▼ered  in  the  Italian  tongue,  at  the  college  De  propaganda, 

by  the  chevalier  MafFei,  in  presence  of  several  cardinats^ 

prelates,  and  other  persons  of  the  first  rank.     It  was  after* 

wards  printed,  and  dedicated  to  his  illustrioilis  pupil  the 

dauphin.  ' 

In  estimating  the  character  of  this  celebrated  prelate^  we 

must  not  be  guided  by  d'Alembert's  desultory  and  artful 

Eloge,  who,  however,   struggles   in  vain  to  conceal  the 

truth,  that  Bossuet  was,  with  all  his  taste  and  talents,  a  f  u« 

rious  bigot  in  favour  of  the  Catholic  religion,  and  while  be 

affected  to  dislike  persecution,  either  submitted  to  the  ex^ 

ercise  of  it,  or  promoted  it  by  the  asperity  of  his  writings* 

We  shall  come  nearer  the  truth  by  adopting  Bossuet's  cha^ 

racter  as  contrasted  with  that  of  Fenelon  by  the  writer  of 

the  ^*  Letters  concerning  Mythology,"  who  represents  hind 

as  a  prelate  of  vast  parts,  learned,  eloquent,  artful,  Afid 

aspiring.     By  these  quaHties  he  rose  to  the  first  dignities  in 

the  Galilean  church  :    while  another  of  finer  fency  and 

better  Heart   (Fenelon),   humble,  holy,  and  sincere,  «va9 

censured   at  Rome,  and  disgraced   at  the  French  court; 

Both  were  intrusted  with  the  education  of  princes,  and  ac*^ 

quitted  themselves  of  those  duties  in  a  very  different  man^^ 

ner.     The  one  endeavoured  to  make  his  royal  pupil  noble, 

virtuous,  and  just,  a  father  to  his  people,  and  a  friend  to 

mankind,  by  the  maxims  of  his  inimitable  Telemaqne.  The 

other  in  bis  disco \^rses  upon  universal  history,  is  perpetually 

turning  bis  princess  eyes  from  mankind  to  tlie  church,  as 

the  sacred  object  of  his  care,  from  whosd  everlasting  stem 

whoever  separates  is  lost :  and  for  whose  interests,  in  the 

extirpation  of  heresy,  and  aggrandizement  of  her  ministers, 

he  is,  like  his  father  Lewis  XIV.  to  exert  all  the  power  be 

has  received  from  God. 

His  celebrated  ^^  Exposition  of  the  Roman  Gathoiic 
Faith,**  ipentioned  above,  was  designed  to  show  •  the  pro« 
-testants,  that  their  reasons  against  returning  to  the  Romi«h 
ph^rch  ipi^ht  be  easily  removed^  if  they  would  v|ew't|i^. 


B  O  S  S  U  E  T.  1^7 

dot^uies  of  that  church  in  their  true  light,  «nd  not  as 
they    bad    been  erroneously  represented  by    protestant 
writers.     Nine  yean,  however,  passed  before  this  book 
could  obtain  the  pope's  approbation.     Clement  X.  refused 
it  positively ;  and  several  catholic  priests  were  rigorously 
treated  and  severely  persecuted,  for  preaching  the  doctrine 
contained  in  the  exposition  of  Bossuec,  which  was  likewise 
formally  condemned  by  the  university  of  Louvain  in  the 
year  1685,  and  declared  to  be  scandalous  and  pernicious. 
All  this  we  should  have  thought  a  proof  of  the  merit  of  the 
work,  if  it  had  i)ot  been  at  length  licensed  and  held  up  as 
unanswerable  by  the  prot<;stants.     The  artifice,  however, 
employed  in  the  composition  of  it,  and  the  tricks  that  were 
used  in  the  suppression  and  alteration  of  the  first  edition, 
bsive  been  detected  with  great  sagacity  by  archbishop  Wake 
in  the  introduction  to  bis  **  Exposition  of  the  Doctrine  of 
the  Church  of  England,'*  and  in  his  two  '^  Defences"  of 
that  Exposition,  in  which  the  perfidious  sophistry  of  Bos- 
suet  is  unmasked  and  refuted  in  the  most  satisfactory  man- 
ner.   There  was  also  an  excellent  answer  to  Bossuet's  book 
fay  M.  de  la  Bastide,  one  of  the  most  eminent  protestant 
ministers  in  France.    'Of  this  answer  the  French  prei^ate 
(took  no  notice  during  eight  years :  at  the  end  of  which  he 
|>Qhlished  an  advertisement,  in  a  new  edition  of  his  ^'  £x- 
pos}tk>n,'*  which  was  designed  to  remove  the  objections  of 
La  Bastide.    The  latter  replied  in  such  a  demonstrative 
maoner,  that  the  learned  bishop,  liotwitbstanding  all  his 
eloquence  and  art,  was  obliged  to  quit  the  field  of  contro* 
versy.    There  is  a  very  interesting  account  of  this  insidi- 
otts  work  of  Bos8uet,and  the  controversies  it  occasioned,  in 
the  '^  BibUotheque  des  Sciences,"  published  at  the  Hague, 
vol.  XVIIL     This  account,  which  is  curious,  ample,  kccu* 
rate,  and  learned,  was  given  partly  on  occasion  of  a  new 
edition  of  the  ^^  Exposition"  printed  at  Paris  in  1761,  and 
accompanied  with  a  Latin  translation  by  Fleury,  and  partly 
on  occasion  of  Burigny's  ^^  Life  of  Bossuet,"  published  the 
same  year  at  Paris. 

Had  the  French  press,  however,  remained  open,  the 
controversy  between  the  catholics  and  protestants  might 
have  soon  been  brought  to  a  conclusion :  but  other  mea* 
«ire0  were  to  be  adopted,  more  cliaracteristic  of  the  genius 
of  popery^  Bossuet  has  been  praised  by  must  French 
writers  for  his  laudable  attempts  to  promote  an  union  be< 
tweep  tb^  catholic  and  refocmed  churches  of  France.     Thf 


I6S  B  O  S  S  U  ^  T. 

I  ■ 

basis  of  tbb  union  was  not  very  promisiDg.  The  reformeli 
were  to  give  up  every  thing,  the  catholics  nothing,  and  the 
subsequent  practice  was  worse  tb»n  this  principle.  In  th^ 
*^  Memoirs  pour  servir  ^  Thistoire  des  Refugies  Franigois  4aas 
}es  etats  ^xi  Koi,"  or  Memoirs  of  the  French  refugees  in 
the  dominions  of  the  king  of  Prussia,  by  Messrs.  Erman 
9indReclam,  published  at  Berlin  in  1782,  we  have  a  curious 
developement  of  the  plan  of  union,  as  detected  by  the 
celebrated  Claude.  The  reformed  church  of  Paris,  which 
was  a  considerable  edifice,  was  to  be  surrounded  with 
troops;  the  archbishop  of  Paris  aud  the  bishop  of  Meaux 
(Bossuet)  accompanied  with  a  train  of  priests  'and  the  Ueu*v 
tenant  of  the  police,  were  to  march  thither  in  procession^ 
during  divine  service  :  one  of  these  prelates  was  to  mount 
the  pulpit  and  summon  the  congregation  to  submit  to  the. 
mother  church  and  re-unite;  a  number  of  Roman  Catholic^ 
posted  for  the  purpose  in  different  parts  of  the  church,  as 
if  they  belonged  to  it,  were  to  answer  the  prelate's .  sum* 
mons,  by  crying  out  ^^re-uniouP'  after  which  the  other 
prelate  was  to  give  the  congregation  a  public  absolution 
from  the  charge  of  heresy,  and  to  receive  the  new  pre** 
tended  converts  into  the  bosom  o£  the  church ;  and  this 
scandalous  farce  was  to  be  imposed  upon  the  would  for  aift 
actual  re-union.  This  plan  affords  a  tolerable  specimen  of 
Bossuet  as  a  prelate,  and  a  man  of  candour ;  and  it  is  wor- 
thy of  notice,  that  his  associate  in  this  ex^pedition,  was  the 
libertine  Harlai,  archbishop  of  Paris,  whose  life  and  death 
were  ^o  scandalous,  that  not  a  single  curate  could  be  founds 
among  the  most  unprincipled  part  of  the  Romish  clergy, 
who  would  undertake  to  preach  his  funeral  sermon, 

Bpssuet's  works  were  published  in  1 743,  in  20  vols,-  ^tq, 
and  some  of  them  have  been  often  reprinted  in  variou« 
forms.  His  controversial  works  are  no  longer  read,  but  his 
Essay  oh  universal  history,  and  his  Sermons,  particularly 
the  funeral  orations  above-mentioned,  still  preserve  their  re«<* 
putation.  In  1800  Mr.  Jemingbam  translated  and  pub^ 
Jished  some  *^  Select  Sermons,"  and  very  recently  the^x^ 
pectations  of  the  French  public  were  raised  by  the  publi-r 
cation  of  some  inedited  pieces  by  Bossuet,  which,  howeveiv 
ere,  thought  to  be  spurious.  ^ 

BOSTON  (John),  a  monk  of  St.  Edmund's  bury  in  the 
fourteenth  century,  and  who  is  thought  to  have  died  in 

»  J)ict  Hist.— Moreri.— D'Aletobert'6  Eulogy.— Month.  Rev.  vol.  XXVllW 
atui  LXVnL-^Moslieim's  Eccl.  Hi»t,— life  by  BarisDy.-*SaxU  Onomait 


BOSTON,  I6f 

14 1  a,  was  one  of  the  first  collectors  of  the  lives  of  English 
writers,  and  the  precursor  of  Leland,  Bale,  and  Pitts.     Ha 
^searched  indefatigabiy  all  the  libraries  of  the  kingdocn,  and 
wiote  a  catalogue  of  the  authors,  with  short  opiuions  of 
theoi.  Archbishop  Usher  bad  the  most  curious  MS  qopy  of 
this  book,  which  becaaie  afterwards  Mr.  Thomas  Gale's  pro- 
perty.    Wood  mentions^  another  smaller  catalogjue  of  his 
writing.     He  wrote  also    ^^  Speculum  ccenobitarum,''    in 
which  be  gives  the  origin  and  progress  of  monacbism  ; 
and  a  history  of  bis  own  monastery.     '^  De  rebus  coenobit 
mi/'    which  last  is  lost,  but  the  former  was  printed  at 
Oxford  1722,  8vo,  by  Hall  at  the  end  of  "  Trivet.  Annal."  * 
BOSTON  (TaoMAS),  a  popular  and  learned  Scotch  di« 
vine,  was  born  in  the  town  of  Dunse,  March   17,  1676, 
and  educated  at  the  grammar  school  of  that  place,,  where 
he  was  taught  the  elements  of  Latin,  Greek,  rhetoric,  and 
aritfa«aetic.     In  1692,  be  went  to  the  university  of  Edin- 
burgh, where  be  went  through  the  usual  courses  for  three 
years,  and  entered'on  the  study  of  divinity.     In  1695,  he 
returned  home  with  ample  testimonials  of  his  diligence  and 
good  character.     Next  year  he  taught  school  at  Glencairn 
for  a  short  time,  and  then  was  appointed  tutor  to  a  young 
gentleman  of  family  at  Edinburgh,  where  he  continued  the 
study  of  divinity,  until  be  accompanied  his  pupil  into  the 
country.     In  1699,  after  the  usual  trials  before  the  presby- 
tery, he  was  licenced  to  preach  the  gospel,  as  a  probationer 
for  the  ministry,  agreeably  to  the  forms  of  the  church  .of 
'  Scotland,  and  in  September  of  that  year  was  ordained  to  the 
living  of  Simprin,  one  of  the  smallest  in  Scotland.     In  the 
following  year  be  married  Katherine  Brown,  whom  he  de- 
scribes as  a  woman  possessed  of  many  valuable  qualifica* 
tions.     In  May  1707,  he  exchanged  the  living  of  Simprin 
for  that  of  Etterick,  on  which  he  remained  until  his  death. 
Aboot  this  tia>e  he  began  to  improve  his  knowledge  in  the 
Hebrew,  having  before  only  read  the  Psalter,   but  1771 
was,  according  to  his  own  account,    ^*  the  happy  year 
wherein  he  was  first  jooaater  (possessor)  of  a  Hebrew  Bible, 
and  b^an  the  study  of  it  *,''  aiul  some  day,  which  he  for- 
got, in  Oct.  1712,  was  the  happiest  day  in  his  life,  for  be 
then  borrowed  ^*  Crosses  Taghmical  Art.'^     More  than  half 
his  cares  and  anxieties  after  this  related  to  the  Hebrew  ac- 
4^nts«    About  this  time,  he  was  one  of  the  clergy  of  Scot* 

* 

1  Bale  and  PitU.-oTsnner.-^FttUti's  Worthief . 


170  BO  S  TO  isT. 

lAnd,  who  refused  taking  the  oath  of  abjuration,  and  in 
dread  of  the  penalty,  made  over  his  little  property  to  one  of 
his  sons,  and  another  person,  but  it  does  not  appear  that 
the  penalty  was  ever  levied.  Returning  in  1715  to  the 
study  of  the  "  Taghmical  Art,"  after  incredible  pains,  he 
found  that  he  could  make  nothing  of  it ;  but  still  perse* 
vering,  he  became  persuaded  that  the  accents  are  the  key 
to  the  true  version  of  the  Hebrew  text,  and  the  intrinsic 
light  which  illuminates  it.  Compared  to  this,  as  to  him, 
the  digging  in  the  mines  of  Peru  was  but  a  trifle.  From 
this  time  he  began  to  write,  as  leisure  j>ermitted,  a  work 
t)n  the  accents,  accompanying  his  labours  with  constant 
prayer,  particularly  that  he  might  be  instructed  in  the  se- 
crets of  double  accentuation,  which  he  had  not  been  able  to 
comprehend.  All  this  zeal  and  industry  at  length  produced 
an  ^'  Essay  on  the  Hebrew  accentuation,^'  which  he  exhibited 
in  manuscript  to  some  learned  friends,  who  gave  him  various 
degrees  of  encouragement,  but  he  often  met  with  delays 
and  evasions  which  occasioned  great  uneasiness  to  the  good 
man.  It  being  supposed  that  there  were  few  persons  in 
Great  Britain  very  much  interested  in  the  Hebrew  accents, 
he  was  advised  to  translate  it  into  Latin  that  it  might  circu* 
late  among  the  learned  on  the  continent.  Accordingly  he 
began  bis  translation,  and  as  a  help  to  his  style,  he  men- 
tions the  following  expedient,  which  perhaps  others  have 
made  use  of  on  similar  occasions.  ^^  Ais  I  went  on,  I  read 
something  of  Cicero,  in  my  leisure  hours,  for  the  lan- 
guage, and  noted  in  a  book  some  terms  and  phrases,  taken 
from  him  and  others :  particularly  out  of  Calepin's  dic- 
tionary, which  Providence  had  in  the  year  1724  laid  to  my 
hand,  when  1  knew  not  for  what  use  it  was  designed,  and 
to  this  collection  1  had  frequent  recourse,  while  I  wrote 
that  book :  and  found  it  to  be  of  good  use  to  me.  I  had 
formerly,  upon  occasion  of  appearing  in  print,  done  the 
same  as  to  the  English  tongue  :  by  which  means  my  style, 
that  I  had  been  careless  of  before,  was  now  somewhat  re* 
fined.''  This  work,  which  he  pursued  with  uncommon  en- 
thusiasm, and  which  was  to  prove  the  antiquity  and  diviniK 
authority  of  the  Hebrew  accents,  was  occasionally  inter- 
rupted by  his  public  services,  and  the  publication  of  some 
of  his  practical  works,  particularly  "The Fourfold  State," 
in  1 720.  Tiiat  on  the  Hebrew  accents  did  not  appear  until 
1738,  when  it  was  published  at  Amsterdam  under  the  care 
of  the  learued  David  Mill,  professor  of  Oriental  languages 


.BOSTON.  171 

in  the  uniirersity  of  Utrecht,  in  a  quarto  irolome  entitled 
*^  Thomas  Boston  ecclesise  A^ricensis  apod  Scotos  pastoris^ 
Tractatus  Stigmologicus  Hebr»o*Biblicus,"  dedicated  to 
sir  Richard  Ellys,  who  had  been  very  frigidly  to  Boston  in 
the  prosecution  of  bis  studies  on  this  subject.  Mr.  Boston 
died  May  20,  1732.  His  works  in  practical  divinityi,  which 
iHre  still  well  known  and  popular  in  Scotland,  were  collected 
in  a  large  fol.  Tolume  in  1768,  and  siace  that  time  others, 
particularly  his  "  Body  of  Divinity,"  3  vols.  8vo.  1773,  have 
been  published  from  his  MSS.  but  this  last  mentioned  work 
is  eked  out  by  extracts  from  other  authors  without  acknow* 
ledgment,  a  disingenuous  artifice  of  which  the  author  never 
would  have  been  guilty.  The  most  remarkable  of  bis 
posthumous  pieces  is  the  ^'  Memoirs  of  his  Life,  Time,  and 
Writings,"  written  by  himself,  a  closely  printed  octavo 
volume,  1 776.  This  is  in  the  form  of  a  diary,  tedious  and 
mmute  beyond  all  precedent,  but  evincing  a  wonderful 
aimplicity  of  heart,  ignorance  of  the  world,  and  a  mind 
continually  harrassed  by  conscientious  scruples  about  the 
merest  trifles ;  much  of  it,  however,  may  be  interesting  to 
curious  inquirers,  as  e^^hibiting  characteristics  of  the  man- 
ners and  sentiments  of  the  Scotch  clefgy  of  the  seventeenth 
and  part  of  the  eighteenth  century.  ^ 

BOS  WELL  (James),  the  friend  and  biographer  of  Dr. 
Johnson,  was  the  eldest  son  of  Alexander  Boswell,  lord 
Attchinleck,  one  of  the  judges  in  the  supreme  courts  of 
session  and  justiciary  in  Scotland.  He  was  born  at  Edin* 
burgh,  Oct  29,  1740,  and  received  the  first  rudiments  of 
education  in  that  city.  He  afterwards  studied  civil  law  in 
the  universities  of  Edinburgh  and  Glasgow.  During  his 
residence  in  these  cities,  he  acquired  by  the  society  of  the 
English  gentlemen  who  were  students  in  the  Scotch  col- 
leges, that  remarkable  predilection  for  their  manners, 
which  neither  the  force  of  education,  or  national  prejudice^ 
cooid  ever  eradicate.  But  his  most  intimate  acquaintance 
at  this  period  was  the  rev.  Mr.  Temple,  a  worthy,  learned, 
and  pious  divine,  whose  well-^written  character  of  <  Gray  has 
been  adopted  both  by  I>r.  Johnson  and  Mason  in  the  life 
of  that  poet.  Mr.  Boswell  imbibed  early  the  ambition  of 
distinguishing  himself  by  his  literary  talents,  and  had  the 
good  fortune  to  obtain  the  patronage  of  the  late  lord  So*> 
merviUe.     This  nobleman  treated  him  with  the  most  flat* 

I  Mcmoiii  ttbi  lupra. 


172  B  O  S  W  E  L  L. 

teriog  kindness;  and -Mr.  Bos  well  ever  iremenbered  widi 
gratitude  tbe  friendship  he  so  long  enjoyed  with  this  wor* 
tby  peer.  Haviag  always  entertained  an  exalted  idea  of 
the  felicity  of  Londan,  ii>  tbe  year  1760  he  visited  that  ca^ 
pital ;  in  the  noanners  and  amusements  of  which  be  fouiid 
ao  much  that  was  congenial  to  his  own  taste  ,and  feelings^ 
that  it  became  ever  after  his  favourite  residence,  whither 
he  always  returned  /rotn  his  estate  in  Scotland,  and  from 
his  various  rambles  in  different  parts  of  Europe,  with  ia«> 
creasing  eagerness  and  delight;  and  we  fiad  him,  nearly^ 
twenty  years  afterwards,  condemning  Scotland  as  too  narrow 
a  sphere,  and  wishing  to  make  his  chief  residence  in  London, 
which  he  calls  the  great  scene  of.  ambition  and  instruction. 
He  was,  doubtless,  confirmed  in  this  attachment  to  the  me*^ 
tropolis  by  the  strong  predilection  entertained  towards  it 
by  his  friend  Dr.  Johnson^-  Whose  sentiments. on  tliis  sub- 
ject Mr.  Boswell  details  in  various  parts  of  his  life  of  that 
great  man,  and  which  are  corroborated  by  every  one  in 
pursuit  of  literary  and  intellectual  attainments. 

The  politeness,  af^OE^bility,  and  insinuating  urbanity  of 
BKUQuers,  which  distinguished  Mr.  Boswell,  introduced  him 
into  tbe  company  of  many  eminent  and  learned  men,  whose 
acquaintance  and  friendship  he  cultivated  with  the  greatest 
assiduity.  In  truth,  the  esteem  and  approbation  of  learned 
men  $eemto  have  been  one  chief  abject. of  bis  liteiuryam«< 
bition  ;  and  we  find  him  so* successful  in  pursuing  his  end^ 
that  be  enumerated  some  of  the  greatest  men  in  Scotland 
among  his  friends  even  before  he  left  it  for  the  first  time; 
Notwithstanding  Mr.  Boswell  by  his  education  was  intended 
for  the  bar,  yet  be  was  himself  earnestly  bent  at  this  pe^ 
ciod  upon  obtaining  a  commission  in  the  guards,  and  soli* 
cited  ilord  Auchinleok's  acquiescence ;  but  returned,  how* 
ever,  by  his  desire,  iaaito  8cotland,  whereherecei^Med  avd^ 
gular  course  of  instruction  in  the  law,  and  passed  iiis  tnatt 
asta  .civilian  at  Edinburgh.  Still,  however,  ambitious  of 
displaying  himself 'as  one  of  the  ^^  raanly  hearts  who  guard 
^he  fair,*'  he*  visited  London  a  seoond  time  in  1762  ;  and, 
yaKious  oocurrenceis  delaying  the  purchase  of  a  commis* 
aion,  he  was  at  length  persuaded  by  lord  Auchinleck  to  re* 
linquish  his  pursuit,  and  become  an  advocate  at  the  Scoteh 
bar.  In  compliance,  therefore,  with  his  father's  wishes, 
he  consented  to  goto  Utrecht  the  ensuing  winter,  to  hear 
the  lectures  of  an  excellent  civilian  in  that  university;  after 
which  he  had  permission  to  mak^  his  grand  tour  of  Europe; 


B  O  S  W  EL  L.  *7I 

The  year   i76S  leay  be  cdnftidteved  the  most  ioaportint 
epocha  in  Mn  Bosuveirs  life,  as  he  had^  what,  be  thought  ai 
singular  felioity^  an   iutroduotiou  to.  Dr.  Johnson.     Thia 
eyent,  so  ainspioions  for  Mr.  Boswell^.  and  eyentually  so 
lortijuiate  for  the   poblic,    happened  on  May    16,   1763« 
Having  continued  one  winter  at  Utrecht,  during*  which 
time  he  visited  several  parts  oi  the  Netherlands,  he  com^ 
m^iced  bis  projected  travels*     Passing  from  Utrecht  into 
Germany,  be  pursued  his  ronte  through  Switzerland  to  Ge*« 
neva ;  whence  he  crossed  the  Alps  into  Italy,  having  vasitcfd 
on  his  journey  Voltaire  at  Ferney,  and  Rousseaia  in  the 
wilds  of  NeufchateL     Mr.  Boswell  continued  some  time  m 
Italy,  where  he  met  and  associated  with  lord  Mouifitstnarti. 
to   whom  be  afterwards  dedicated  bis  Theses  Juridicsv 
Having  visited   the  most  remarkable  cities  in  Italy,  Mr. 
Boswell  sailed  to  Corsica,  travelled  over  every  part  of  tbao. 
island,,  and  obtained  the  friendship  of  the  illustrious  Pas« 
quale  de  Paoli,  in  whose  palace  he  resided  during  bis  stay 
at  Corsica.     He  aft^wards  went  to  Paris,  whence  he  re*- 
turned  to  Scotland  in  1766,  and  soo(i  after  became  an  ad* 
yocate  at  the  Scotch  ban     The  celebrated  Dongias  cause 
was  at  that  time  a  subject  of  general  discussion.     Mr.  Bos-t 
weU  published  the  ^^  Essence  of  the  Douglas  cause ;''  a 
pan^phlet  which  contributed  to  procure  Mr.  Douglas  the 
popularity  which  he  at  that  time  possessed.     In  176d  Mr, 
Boswell  published  his  *^  Account  of  Corsica,  with  memotra 
of  General  Paoli."   Of  this  printed  performance  Dr.  Joho-'> 
son  thus  expresses  himself:  ^*  Your  journal  is  curious  and 
daligktftil.     I  know  not  whether  I  could  name  any  narra- 
tiva  by  which  curiosity  is  better  excited  or  better  gratified*'^ 
This  book  has  been  translated  into  the  German,  Dutch,. 
Italian,  and  Freacb  languages ;  and  was  received  with  ex- 
traordinary approbation.     In  the  following  winter,  the.  the- 
atre-royal at  Edinburgh,  hitherto  restrained  by  party-spirit^ 
was  opened.     On  this  occasion  Mr.  Boswell  was  solicited 
by  David  Ross,  esq;  to  write  a  prologue.     The  effect  of 
this  prologue  upoii  the  audience  was  highly  flattering  to  the 
autbor^  and  beneficial  to  the  manager ;  as  it  secured  to  the 
*  latter^.,  by  the  annihilation  of  the  opposition  which' bad 
been  tiU  .that  time  too  suocessfully  exerted  against  him, 
the  uninterrupted  possessicm  of  his  patent,  which  he  en- 
joyed till  his  death,  which  happened  in  September  1790. 
Mx.  Boswell  attended  his  funeral  as  chief  mourner,  and 
p^d  the  last  bonouni  to  a  man  with  whom  be  bad  spent 
n^any  a  pleasant  hour. 


17*  B  O  S  W  E  L  L. 

In  1769,  wat  celebrated  at  Stratford  on  Aron  the  jubiteif 
in  honour  of  Shakspeare.     Mr.  Boswell,  an  enthusiastic  ad-^ 
Boirer  of  the  writings  of  our  immortal  bard,  and  ever  ready 
to  jotii  the  festive  throng,  repaired  thither,  and  appeared 
at  the  masquerade  as  an  armed  Corsican  chief;  a  character 
he  was  eminently  qualified  to  support.     This  year  he  mar*- 
ried  miss  Margaret  Montgomery,  a  lady  who,  to  the  ad- 
vantages of  a  polite  education,    united  admirable  good 
sense  and  a  brilliant  understanding.     She  was  daughter  4>f 
David  Montgomery,  esq.  related  to  the  illustrious' famiiiy 
of  Eglintoone,  and  representative  of  the  antient  peerage 
of  Lyle.     The  death  of  this  amiable  woman  happened  iH 
June  1790.     Mr.  Boswell  has  honoured  her  memory  with 
an  affectionate  tribute.     She  left  him  two  sons  and  three^ 
daughters ;    who,    to  use  Mr.  BoswelPs  own   words,  *^  il 
they  inherit  her  good  qualities,  will  have  no  reason  W 
complain  of  their  lot.     Dos  magna  parentum  virtas.'*     Ii¥ 
1782  lord  Auchinleck  died.     In  1783,  Mr.  Boswell  piib^ 
lished  his  celebrated  Letter  to  the  People  of  Scotlaitd;! 
which  is  thus  praised  by  Johnson  in  a  letter  to  the  authors 
"  I  am  very  much  of^^your  opinion — ^your  paper  contains 
very  considerable  knowledge  of  history  and  the  conistitnw 
tion,  very  properly  produced  and  applied."     Mr:  Boswell^ 
communicated  the  pamphlet  to  Mr.  Pitt,  who   naturally' 
gave  it  his  approbation.     This  first  letter  was  followed  by^ 
a  second,  in  which  Mr.  Boswell  displayed  his  usual  Energy- 
and  political  abilities.     In   1785,   Mr.  Boswell  publisbeid^ 
^'  A  journal  of  a  tour  to  the  Hebrides"  with  Dr.  Johnson;- 
'which  met  a  success  similar  to  his  entertaining  accountof 
Corsica,  and  to  wiiich  we  owe  bis  life  of  that  illustrious- 
character.     This  year  Mr.  Boswell  removed  to  London, 
and  was  soon  after  called  to  the  English  bar,  but  his  pm*^ 
fessional  business  was  interrupted  by  preparing  his  mtist 
celebrated  work,  ^*  The  life  of  Samuel  Johi^son,  LL.  D. 
which  was  published  in  1790,.  and  was  received  by  the 
world  with  extraordinary  avidity.     It  is  a  faithful  history 
of  Johnson^s  life  ;  and  exhibits  a.  most  interesting  picture 
of  the  character  of  that  illustrious  moralist,  delineated  with 
a  masterly  hand.     The  preparation  of  a  secoud  edition  of 
this  work  was  the  last  literary  performance  of  Mr.  BoswelL 
Mr.  Boswell  undoubtedly  possessed  considerable  intelleo- 
tual  powers;-  as  he  could  never  have  displayed  his  coUec-* 
tion  of  the  witticisips  of  his  friend  in  «o  lively  a  manner  a:s 
be  has  done,  without  Ijiiaving  a  picturesque  imagination; 


^K 


B  O  S  W  E  L  L.  175 

fud  a  turn  for  peetry  as  weil  as  humour.  He  hi(d  a  con-* 
siderable  share  of  melancholy  in  his  temperament;  and, 
though  the  general  tenor  of  his  life  was  gay  and  active,  he 
frequently  experienced  an  unaccountable  depression  of 
spirits.  In  one  of  these  gloomy  moods  he  wrote  a  series 
of  essays  under  the  title  of  "  The  Hypochondriac,"  which 
appeared  in  the  London  Magazine,  and  end  with  No.  63 
in  1782.  These  he  had  thoughts  of  collecting  into  a  vo- 
lume, but  they  would  have  added  little  to  his  reputation, 
being  in  general  very  trifling.  Soon  after  his  return  from 
a  visit  to  Auchinleck,  he  was  seized  with  a  disorder  which 
put  an  end  to  his  life,  at  his  house  in  Portland-street,  on 
the  19th  of  June  1795,  in  the  55th  year  of  his  age.  Of 
his  own  character  he  gives  the  following  account  in  his 
journal  of  the  tour  to  the  Hebrides  :  "  I  have  given  a 
sketch  of  Dr.  Johnson.  His  readers  may  wish  to  know  a 
little  of  his  fellow-traveller.  Think,  then,  of  a  gentleman 
of  ancient  blood ;  the  pride  of  which  was  his  predominant 
passion.  He  was  then  in  his  33d  year,  and  had  been  about- 
four  years  happily  married :  his  inclination  was  to  be  a 
%oldier ;  but  his  father,  a  respectable  judge,  had  pressed 
him  into  the  profession  of  the  law.  ,  He  bad^travelied  a 
good  deal,  and  seen  many  varieties  of  human  life.  He 
bad  thought  more  than  any  body  supposed,  and  had  a 
pretty  good  stock  of  general  learning  and  knowledge.  He 
bad  ail  Dr.  Johnson's  principles,  with  some  degree  of  relax- 
ation. He  had  rather  too  little  than  too  much  prudence  ; 
and,  bis  imagination  being  lively,  he  often  said  things  of 
which  the  effect  was  very  different  from  the  intention.  He 
resembled  sometimes  '  The  best  good  man,  with  the  worst- 
natured  muse.'  He  cannot  deny  himself  the  vanity  of 
finishing  with  the  encomium  of  Dr.  Johnson,  whose  friendly 
partiality  to  the  companion  of  this  toiir  represents  him  as 
one  *  whose  acuteness  would  help  my  enquiry,  and  whose 
gaiety  of  ccmversation,  and  civility  of  manners,  are  suffi- 
cient to  counteract  the  inconveniencies  of  travel,  in  coun- 
tries less  hospitable  than  we  have  passed'.*' 

His  character  in  all  its  lights  and  shades  is,  however, 
best  delineated  in  his  life  of  Dr.  Johnson,  a  work  of  un- 
common merit  and  of  still  increasing  popularity.  An 
anonymous  biographer  has  justly  said  of  it,  that  it  was. 
"  found  to  exhibit  an  inimitably  faithful  picture  of  the 
mingled  genius  and  weakness,  of  the  virtues  and  the  vices, 
fhe  sound  sense  and  the  pedantry,  the  benignity  and  the 


pa&isioitatd  hawhness,  of  the  great  and  djtcejlent,  ahhongli 
•  not  confsutnittately  perfect  man,  the  wairt  ot*  wfrose  life  it 
endeavowed'to  uiifoM.  Icaptieait?*  to  be  filledr  with  a 
rich  store  oP  hie  genuine  di^ctates,  se  eloquent  and  wise, 
that  they  need  hardly  shun  comparison  with  the  most  ela- 
borate of  those  works  which  he  hiihself  published.  John- 
son, was  seen  in  it,  not  as  a  solitary  figure,  but  associated 
wiih  those  groupes  of  his.  distinguished  contemporaries  , 
with  whicb  it  was  his  good  fortune,  in  air  the  latter  and 
nore  illustriotis  years  of  his  life,  often  to  meet  and  to  con- 
verse. It  displayed  many  fine  specimcins  of  that  propor- 
tion, in  whicb,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  eighteenth  century^ 
literature  and  philosophical  wisdom  were  liable  to  be  care- 
lessly intermingled  in  the  ordinary  conversation  of  the  best 
company  in  Britaiii.  It  preserved  a  thousand  precious 
anecdotical  memorials  of  the  state  of  arts,  manners,  and 
policy  among  us  during  this  period,  such  as  must  be  in- 
valuable to  the  philosophers  and  antiquaries  of  a  future 
age.  It  gave,  in  the  most  pleasing  mode  of  institution^ 
and  in  many  different  points  of  view,  almost  all  the  ele- 
mentary practical  principles  both  of  taste  and  of  moral 
science,  k  showed,  the  colloquial  tattle  of  Boswell  duly 
chastened  by  the  grave  and  rounded  eloquence  of  Johnson.* 
It  presented  a  collection  of  a  number  of  the  most  elaborate 
of  Johnson's  smaller  occasional  compositions,  which  might 
otherwise  perhaps  have  been  entirely  lost  to  future  times. 
Shewing  Boswell's  skill  in  literary  composition,  his  general 
acquaintance  with  learning  and  science,  his  knowledge  of 
the  manners,  the  fortunes,  and  the  actuating  principles  of 
mankind,  to  have  been  greatly  extended  and  improved 
since  the  time  when  he  wrote  his  account  of  Corsica,  it 
exalted  the  character  of  his  talents  in  the  estimation  of  the 
world  ;  and  was  reckoned  to  be  such  a  master-piece  in  its 
particular  species,  as  perhaps  the  literature  of  no  other 
ns^tioiiy  ancient  or  moderh,  could  boast.  It  did  not  indeed 
present  its  author  to  the  world  in  another  light  than  as  a 
genius  of  the  second  class ;  yet  it  seemed  to  rank  him 
nearer  to  the  first  than  to  the  third.  This  estimation  of  the 
character  of  Boswell's  life  of  Johnson,  formed  by  the  best 
critics  soon  after  its  f>ublication,  seems  to  have  been  sinca 
fully  confirmed."  * 

}  Gentleman*8>  European,  and  Monthly  Magazioev  pftniiiu 


B  O  r  A  L  L  U  S.  177 

BOTALLUS  (LEONARD),  an  eminent  physician  of  Pied- 
mont, who  flourished  about  the  middle  of  the  16th  cen- 
tuty,  was  a  disciple  of  Fallopius,  and  took'  his  degree  of 
doctor  in  medicine  at  Padua..  It  appears  by  his  writings, 
that  he  was  a  diligent  observer,  and  enjoyed  a  considera- 
ble share  of  practice.  He  was  in  succession  physician  and 
aulic  counsellor  to  Charles  IX.  Henry 'II.  of  France,  and 
to  William  prince  of  Orange.  He  was  also  skilled  in  th^ 
practice  of  surgery^  and  published,  <'  De  curandis  vulne- 
ribus  sclopetorum,^'  Venet.  1560,  8vo.  This  has  been 
frequently  reprinted,  and  continued,  for  a  long  time,  to  be, 
esteemed  the  most  useful  manual  that  had  been  published 
on  the  subject.  He  wrote  also  '^  Commentarioli  dtio,  alter 
de  medici,  alter  de  aegroti,  munere,"  Lion.  1565,  8vo; 
containing  rules  for  the  conduct  of  the  physician,  the  sur- 
geon, and  the  apothecary,  in  their  attendance  upon  the 
sick.  But  the  work  by  which  he  is  most  known,  and 
which  produced  an  important  revolution'  in  the  practice  of 
medicine,  is  his  ^'  De  curatione  per  sanguinis  missione,  de 
incidendse  venaB,  cutis  scarificandae,  et  hirudin^um  affigen- 
darum  modo,"  Antw.  1583,  8vo.  Though  bleeding  had. 
always  been  occasionally  used  in  the  cure  of  diseases,  yet 
in  his  time  it  was  nearly  constantly  superseded  by  purging 
medicines,  or  it  was  too  sparingly  used,  and  seldom  re« 
peated.  Our  author  made  frequent  recourse  to  it,  lyith 
complete  success,  he  says,  in  .diarrhoea,  dysentery,  in 
fever,  the  plague,  and  during  pregnancy ;  and  flattered 
with  success,  he  became,  as  he  advanced  in  life,  more  and 
more  bold  and  free  in  the  use  of  the  lancet,  and  bleeding 
became  a  general  remedy  all  over  Europe;  but  in  no 
country  was  it  carried  to  such  excess  as  in  f^rance,  where 
the  professors  of  medicine,  for  their^too  frequent  recur- 
rence to  it,  were  held  up  to  ridicule  by  Le  j$age,  in  bis 
inimitable  novel  of  Gil  Bias.  The  works  of  Botallus  were 
collected,  and  published  under  the  title  of  ^'  Opera  Om- 
iia,'*  in  1660,  at  Leyden,  by  I.  V.  Home.* 

BOTH  (John  and  Andrew},  were  two  eminent  Dutch 
painters  and  engravers ;  John  was  born  at  Utrecht,  in  1 6  iO, 
and  was  the  disciple  of  Abraham  Bloemart,  who  at  the 
same  time  instructed  Andrew ;  but  to  perfect  themselves 
in  a  good  taste  of  design,  they  went  together  to  Rome, 
and  resided  there  for^a  great  many  years.    The  genius  of 

>  Gen.  Diet—- MQreri.-*-HaU^  and  Maof  et*^IU«s's  Cydopsdia. 

Vol.  VL  N 

i 


178  BOTH. 

John  directed  him  to  the  study  of  landscape^  in  which  he' 
rose  almost  to  the  highest  perfection,  making  the  style  of 
Claude  Lorraine  his  model ;  and  by  many  his  works  are 
mentioned  in  competition  even  with  those  of  Claude.  The 
warmth  of  his  skies,  the  judicious  and  regular  receding  of 
the  objects, .  and  the  sweetness  of  his  distances,  afford  the 
eye  a  degree  of  pleasure,  superior  to  what  we  feel  on 
viewing  the  works  of  almost  any  other  artist.  John  and 
Andrew  had  very  different  talents,  and  each  of  them  were 
admirable  in  their  different  way.  The  former  excelled  in 
landscape,  the  latter  inserted  the  figures,  which  he  de- 
signed in  the  manner  of  Bamboccio  ;  and  those  figure^  are 
always  so  well  adapted,  that  every  picture  seemed  only  the^ 
work  of  one  master.  The  works  of  these  associate  brothers 
are  justly  admired  through  all  Europe  $  they  are  ^univer- 
sally sought  for,  and  purchased  at  very  large  prices. 
Most  of  his  pictures  are,  for  size,  between  two  and  five 
feet  long ;  but  in  those  that  are  smaller,  there  is  exquisite 
neatness.  They  generally  express  the  sunny  light  of  the 
morning,  breaking  out  from  behind  woods,  hills,  or  moun- 
taidis,  and  diffusing  a  warm  glow  over  the  skies,  trees,  and 
the  whole  face  of  nature ;  or  else  a  sun-set,  with  a  lovely 
tinge  in  the  clouds,  every  object  beautifully  partaking  of 
a  proper  degree  of  natural  illumination.  And  it  is  to  :be 
observed,  that  even  the  different  hours  of  the  day  are  per- 
ceptible in  his  landscapes,  from  the  propriety  of  the  tints  , 
which  ,he  uses.  By  some  connoisseurs  he  is  censured  for 
having  too  much  of  the  tawny  in  his  colouring,  and  that 
the  leafings  of  his  trees  are  too  yellow,  approaching  to 
saffron ;  but  this  is  not  a  general  fault  in  his  pictures, 
though  some  of  them,  accidentally,  may  justly  be  liable 
to  that  criticism,  for  he  corrected  that  fault;  and  many  of 
his  pictures  are  no  more  tinged  with  tbosc^  colours^  than 
truth  and  beautiful  nature  will  justify;  and  his  colouring 
obitained  for  bim  the  distinction  which  he  still  possesses,  of 
being  called  Both  of  Italy. 

Descaaq)s,  in  the  life  of  Both,  after  having  said  that 
John  painted  landscapes,,  and  Andrew  figures,  in  the  maa^ 
net  of .  Bamboccio,  asserts  that  Andrew  was  drowned  in  a 
canal  at  Venice,  and  John  returned  to  Utrecht.;  in  which 
account  he  appears  to  follow  Sandrart ;  though  other  writers- 
agree,  that  it  was  the  landscape-painter  who  was  drowned, 
and  Andrew,  returning  to  his  own  country,  painted  con- 
versations and  portraits  as  long  as  he  livedo  of  which  the 


BOTH;  179 

Other  was  incapable.  The  two  brothers  inutoally  assisted 
each  other  till  the  death  of  John  in  1650;  and  thed  An* 
drew  retired  from  Italy,  settled  at  Utrecht,  and  continued 
to  paint  sometimes  portraits,  sometimes  landscapes,  in  the 
manner  of  his  brother,  and  also  conversations,  and  players 
at  cards,  in  the  manner  of  Baipboccio.  Both  of  those 
masters  had  extraordinary  readiness  of  hand,  lind  a  free, 
light,  sweet  pencil ;  and  that  they  were  expeditious,  may 
be  evident  from  the  great  number  of  pictures  which  they 
finished.  Andrew,  during  the  remainder  of  his  life,  had 
as  much  employment  as  he  could  possibly  execute;  but 
was  so  affected  by  the  melancholy  death  of  his  brother, 
that  he  survived  him  only  a  few  years,  dying  in  1656. 
Strutt  mentions  a  few  engravings  by  both  these  artists, 
but  neither  aJrrived  at  any  great  perfection  in  the  art.  * 

BOTONER  (William),  or  William  Worcester,  an 
ancient  English  writer,  acquainted  with  history,  antiquities, 
heraldry,  physic,  and  astronomy,  was  born  at  Bristol 
about  1415;  his  father's  name  was  Worcester,  and  his 
mother^s  Botoner,  hence  he  often  names  himself  William 
Wyrcester,  alias  Botoner;  and  hence  the  error  in  Pits, 
and  others,  of  inaking  two  distinct  persons  of  the  two  names. 
He  studied  at  Hart-hall,  Oxford,  1434.  He  had  been  exer- 
cised in  wars  above  44  years ;  and  had  so  faithfully  served 
sir  John  FastolfF  that  he  left  him  one  of  his  executors.  He 
wrote  many  books,  the  first  of  which,  that  was  printed,  was 
his  translation  from  the  French,  of  *^  Cicero  de  Senec- 
tute,"  which  he  a4dressed  to  William  Wainfleet,  bishop  of 
Winchester.  He  tells  us  that  he  presented  it  to  the  bishop 
at  Asher  [Esher]  August  10,  1475,  but  received  no  reward 
{'nullum  regardum  recepide  episcopoj.  He  wrote  also  *'  An- 
tiquities of  England  ;"  "  Abbreviations  of  the  Learned ;" 
"  Medicinal  collections  ;'*  a  book  of  Astrology ;  another 
of  Astronomy  ;  besides  a  particular  treatise,  gratefully  pre- 
serving the  life  and  deeds  of  his  master,  under  the  title  of 
'^  Acta  Domini  Johannis  FastolfF;"  "  the  Acts  of  John  duke 
of  Bedford  ;'*  "  Polyandrium  Oxoniensium,  or  mettioirs  of 
Oxford  Students  ;"  and  other  lesserpieces ;  of  which  see 
Tanner  Bibl.  Brit.  p.  115.  His  "Annals  of  England'* 
were  printed  by  Hearne  at  the  end  of  his  "  Liber  Niger 
Scaccarii,"  p.  424— 451.  His  "  Itinerary'*  was  published 
from  a  MS.  not  improbably  the  original,  in  the  library  at 

^  Pilkington.<— Strutt.'— D'Argeaville.^Descamps,  toU  II. 

N  2 


ISO  BO  TONER. 

Corpus  Christi  college,  Cambridge,  by  Mr.  James  Na»- 
mith,  fellow  of  the  said  college,  Cantab.  1778,  8vo.  FuU 
ler  cites  a  boot  of  Botoner's,  containing  all  the  ancient 
gentry  of  the  county  of  Norfolk,  lopg  preserved  in  the 
county,  but  not  now  extant.  He  also  wrote  something  in 
poetry,  as  that  humorous  ballad  in  Nasmith's  edition  of  his 
Itinerary,  called  "  Comedia  ad  M onasterium  Hulme,"  &c. 
and  a  long  cbronographical  epitaph  in  verse,  on  the  lady 
Milicent  Fastolf ;  in  the  possession  of  Richard  Foley,  esq. 
late  prothonotary  of  the  common  pleas.  He  is  supposed 
to  have  died'  about  1490.  The  son  of  this  Worcester, 
among  other  things,  also  made  a  collection  of  several  au- 
thentic instruments  relating  to  the  English  wars  and  gb^ 
vemment  in  France ;  which  he  dedicated  to  king  Edward 
ly.  containing  a  catalogue  of  the  princes,  dukes,  earls, 
barons,  bannerets,  knights,  and  other  persons  of  eminence, 
who  were  of  the  regent's  court  A  copy  of  this  collection, 
in  quarto,,  was  some  time  in  the  custody  of  the  late  Brian 
Fairfax,  esq.  one  of  the  commissioners  of  the  customs.  ^ 

BOTT  (John  de),  an  architect,  who  was  born  in  France 
in  1670,  of  protestant  parents,  quitted  his  country  early  in 
life,  and  went  into  the  service  of  William  of  Orange,  after-* 
wards  king  of  Great  Britain.  After  the  death  of  that 
prince,  he  attached  himself  to  the  elector  of  Brandenbourg, 
who  gave  him  a  post  of  captain  of  the  guards,  which  did 
not  slacken  his  industry  in  architecture.  His  first  edifice 
was  the  arsenal  at  Berlin,  and  he  afterwards  signalized 
himself  by  various  monuments  of  his  art.  Frederic  I.  being 
dead,  Bott  conciliated  the  favour  of  Frederic  William,  who 
raised  him  to  the  rank  of  major-general.  The  fortifica- 
tions of  Wesel,  of  which  place  he  was  commandant,  were 
constructed  under  his  direction.  In  1728  he  went  into 
the  service  of  the  king  of  Poland,  elector  of  Saxony,  in 
quality  of  lieutenant-general  and  chief  of  the  engineers. 
In  Dresden  are  several  edifices  of  his  erection,  where  he 
died  in  1745,  with  great  reputation  for  probity,  intelli- 
gence, and  valour.  * 

BOTT  (Thomas),  an  English  clergyman  of  ingenuity 
and  learning,  was  descended  from  an  ancient  family  in 
Staffordshire,  and  born  at  Derby  in  1688.  His  grand- 
father had  been  a  major  on  the  parliament  side  in  the  civil 
wars  3  his  father  had  diminished  a  considerable  paternal 
estate  by  gaming ;  but  his  mother,  a  woman  of  great  pru* 

>  Biog.  Brit  art.  Fastolf,  vol.  V.  p.  706,  note^ — ^Arcbeolof  i«|  irol.  IX.  p.  957. 
— Tanoer.— Warton'i  HisU  of  Poetry,  toI,  IL  p.  119,  486.  i  Diet.  H»t. 


•• 


B  O  T  T.  181 

• 
^Qce,.  contrived  to  give  a  good  education  to  six  childrent 
Thomas  the  yo\ingest  acquired  his  grammatieal  learning  as 
Derby;  had  his  education  among  the  dissenters  ;  and  wat 
appointed  to  preach   to  a  presbyterian   congregation   a 
Spalding  in  Lincolnshire.     Not  liking  this  mode  of  life,  he 
removed  to  London  at  the  end  of  queei;!  Anne's  reign,  with 
a  view  of  preparing  himself  for  physic ;  but  changing  his 
measures  again,  he  took  orders  in  the  church  of  England, 
aoon  after  the  accession  of  George  L  and  was  presented  to 
the  rectory  of  Winburg  in  Norfolk.     About  1725  he  was 
presented  to  the  benefice  of  Reymerston;  in  1734,  to  the 
reejtory  of  Spixwortb;    and,  in   1747,  to  the  rectory  of 
£dgefield ;  all  in  Norfolk.     About  1750,  his  mental  powers 
began  to  decline;  and,  at  Christmas  1752^  he  ceased  to 
appiear  in  tl^e  pulpit.     He  died  at  Norwich,  whither  he  had 
jremoved,  in  1753,  with  his  family,  Sept.  23,  1754,  leav- 
ing a  wife,  whom  he  married  in  1739  ;  and  also  a  son,  Ed- 
mund Bott,  esq.  of  Christ  church  in  Hampshire,  a  fellow 
of  the  Antiquarian  society,  who  published,  in  1771,  A  col- 
lection of  cases  relating  to  the  Poor  laws.     Dr.  Kippis, 
who  was  his  nephew  by  marriage,  has  given  a  prolix  article 
on  hinf/  and  a  minute  character,  in  which,  however,  there 
appeans  to  have  been  little  of  the  amiable,  and  in  his  reli- 
gious opinions  he  was  capricious  and  unsteady.     His  works 
were,   I.  "The  peace  and  happiness  of  this  world,  the 
immediate  design  of  Christianity,  on  Luke  ix.  56,''  a  pam- 
phlet in  8vo,  1724.     2.   A  second  tract  in  defence  of  this, 
1730,  8vo.     3.  "  The  principal  and  peculiar  notion  of  a 
late  book,  entitled.  The  religion  of  nature  delineated,  con-, 
.flidered,  and  refuted,'*  1725.     This  was  against  Wollas- 
ton's  notion  of  moral  obligation.     4.  A  visitation  sermon, 
preached  at  Norwich,    April  30th,    1730^     5.  A    30th  of 
January   sermon,    preached    at  Norwich,  and  printed  at 
the  request  of  the  mayor,  &c.     6.  "  Remarks  upon  But- 
ler's 6th  chapter  of  the  Analogy  of  Religion,  &c.  concern- 
ing Necessity,"   1730.     7.  Answer  to  the  first  volume  of 
Warburton's  Divine  Legation  of  Moses. 

Among  other  learned  acquaintance  of  Mr.  Bott  was  Dr. 
Samuel  Clarke,  of  whom  he  relates,  that  he  was  not  only 
of  a  cheerful,  but  of  a  playful  disposition.  Once,  when 
Mr.  Bott.  called  upon  him,  he  found  him  swimming  upon 
%  table.  At  another  time,  when  several  of  them  were 
amusing  themselves  with  diverting  tricks.  Dr.  Clarke,  look- 
ing out  of  the  window,  and  seeing  a  grave  blockhead  ap- 


182  B  O  T  T. 

proacbingi  called  out,  "  Boys,  boys,  be  wise;  here  comes 
a  fool."  We  have  heard  the  like  of  Dr,  Clarke  froQi  other 
quarters,  and  are  not  sure  that  the  "  grave  blockhead" 
may  not  have  been  the  most  decorous  character.  * 

BOTTARI  (John),  a  very  learned  prelate  of  the  court 
of  Rome,  was  born  at  Florence,  Jan.  15,    1689,  and  be- 
came early  distinguished  for  the  purity  of  his  style,  and 
bis  intimate  knowledge  of  the  Tuscan  dialect.     He  studied 
rhetoric  and  Latin  under  Antonio-Maria  Biscioni,  who  was. 
afterwards  dictator  of  the  Mediceo-Lorenzian  library.  (See 
Biscioni).     He  then  studied  philosophy,  divinity,  mathe^ 
matics,  and  Gree.k,  the  latter  under  the  learned  Salvini, 
His  proficiency  in  these  branches  of  knowledge  soon  made 
him  noticed^  and  he  was  appointed  by  the  academy  della 
Crusca,  to  superintend  the  new  edition  of  their  diction- 
ary, in  which  labour  he  was  assisted  by  Andrea  Alamaorni 
and  Rosso  Martini.     He  had  afterwards  t^e  direction  of  the 
printing-office  belonging  to  the  Grand  Duke,  from  which 
several  of  his  works  issued.     Clement  XH.  made  him  li- 
brarian of  the  Vatican,  in  which  he  arranged  a  cabinet  of 
medals,  which  that  pope  wished  to  be  considered  as  a  part 
i)f  the  library.     On  his  death,  Bottari  entered  the  conclave 
Feb.  6,  1740,  with  the  cardinal  Neri  Corsini.     Next  year 
was  published  by   P.  Marmoreus,  the  edition  of  Virgil, 
Rome,  1741,  fol.  a  fac-simile  of  the  famous  Codex  Vati- 
canus,  to  which  Bottari  prefixed  a  learned  preface.     He 
was  the  first  who  had  the  curiosity  to  examine  tfbis  valuable 
manuscript,  which  belonged  formerly  to  Pontanus,  after* 
wards  to  Bembus,  and  lastly  to  Fulvius  Ursinus,  who  der 
^  posited  it  in  the  Vatican,  when  he  became  librarian  there. 
Benedict  XIV.  being  elected  pope,  who  had  long  been 
the  friend  of  Bottari,  he  conferred  on  him  the  canonry  of 
St.  Maria-Transteverini,  and  that  he  might  reside  in  his 
palace,  appointed  him  his  private  almoner.     He  was  ^so 
a  me|uber  of  all  the  principal  academies  of  Italy;  and  Fon^ 
tanini,  Apostolo  Zeno,  Gori,  and  others,  have  written^his 
eloges,  having  ail  profited,    in   the  publication  of  their 
works,  by  his  valuable   communications.     His   long   and 
studious  life  terminated  June  3,   1775,  in  his  eighty-sixth 
year.     Among  his  works,  of  which  Mazzuchelli  has  given  a 
long  list,  are,  1.  Vita  di  Francesco  Sacchetti,''  Vicenza 
(Naples)  1725,  with  Sacchetti's  "  Nov^Ue,"  8vo*  2."  L'Er: 

>  Biog.  Brit. 


B  O  T  T  A  R  I.  183 

colano,  dialogo  di  Benedetto  Varchi,"  Florence,  1730,  4to. 
S,  *^  Lezione  tre  sopra  il  tremuoto/*  Rome,  1733  and  1748, 
4to.  4.  "  Sculture,  e  Pitture  sacre  estratte  dai  cimeteri 
diRoma,   6cc."  Rome,   1737,   1747,   1753,  3  vols.  fol.     5. 

I  "  Vocabularia  della  Crusca,"  Florence,  1738,  6  vols.     6. 

I  The  Virgil  already  noticed.     7.  "  De  Museo  CapitoUno,** 

i  1750,  3  vols.  fol.     8.  "  RaccoUa  di  lettere  suUa  Pittura, 

Scuhura,  ed  Architettura,"  Rome,  1754,  1757,  and  1759, 
3  vols.  4to;  and  again,  an  enlarged  edition  ^t  Naples^ 
1772.  9.  <<  Dialogbi  sopra  tre  arti  del  Disegno,"  Lucca, 
1754,  4to.     He  also  contributed  to  a  new  edition  bfVa- 

I  sari  and  Passori^s  Lives  of  the  Painters.  ^ 

BOTTICELLI  (Alexander,  or  Sandro,), an  Italian 
painter  and  engraver,  was  born  at  Florence,  in  1437  ;  and 
being  placed  as  a  disciple  with  Filippo  Lippi,  he  imitated 
that  master,  as  well  in  his  design  as  colouring.  He  per- 
formed several  considerable  works  at  Florence,  and  several 
at  Rome,  by  which  he  gained  great  reputation ;  at  the  for- 
mer, a  Venus  rising  from  the  sea,  and  also  a  Venus  adorned 
by  the  graces ;  and  at  the  latter,  he  painted  sacred  sub- 
jects  from  the  New  Testament,  which  at  that  time  were 
very  much  commended.  He  obtained  great  honour  by  his 
performances  in  the  chapel  of  Sixtus  IV.  for  which  he  was 
very  amply  rewarded;  and  for  the  family  of  the  Medici  he 
finished  some  portraits,  and  many  historical  compositions. 
It  was  customary  with  this  master  to  introduce  a  great  num« 
ber  of  figures  in  all  the  subjects  he  designed,  and  he  dis- 
posed them  with  tolerable  judgment  and  propriety;  but  in 
one  of  bis  designs,  representing  the  Adoration  of  the  Magi, 
the  variety  and'multitude  of  his  figures  are  astonishing.  He 
received  large  sums  of  money  for  his  works,  all  of  which 
he  expended,  and  died  in  1 5 1 5  in  great  distress,  and  far 
advanced*  in  years. 

Mr.  Strutt  has  introduced  him  in  chap.  Vl.-of  his  "Ori- 
gih  and  Progress  of  Engraving,"  to  which  we  refer  the 
reader.  Baldini,  according  to  the  general  report,  com- 
municated to  him  the  secret  of  engraving,  then  newly  dis- 
covered by  their  townsman  Finiguerra.  The  curious  edi- 
tion of  Dante  printed  at  Florence  in  1481  (or  1488)  and  to 
wbieb,  according  to  some  authors,  Botticelli  undertook  to 
write  notes,  was  evidently  intended  to  have  been  orna- 
mented with  prints,  one  for  each  canto :  and  these  prints 

1  Diet.    Hist^Haym  Bibl.  ltaliaii.*-MazztrcheUi,   Vol.  II.  part  III.— Saxii 
OaomasticoD. 


V 


184  BOTTICELLI. 

(as  many  of  them  as  were  finished)  were  designed,  if  not 
engraved,  by  Botticelli.  Mr.  Roscoe,  however,  says,  that 
they  were  designed  by  Botticelli,  and  engraved  by  Baldini. 
It  is  remarkable,  that  the  tirst  two  plates  only  were  printed 
upon  the  leaves  of  the  book,  and  for  want  of  a  blank  space 
at  the  head  of  the  *  first  caitto,  the  plate  belonging  to  it  is 
placed  at  the  bottom  of  the  page.  Blank  spaces  are  lefc 
for  all  the  rest,  that  as  many  of  them  as  were  finished 
might  be  pasted  on.  Mr.  Wilbraham  possesses  the  finest 
copy  of  this  book  extant  in  any  private  library ;  and  the 
number  of  prints  in  it  amounts  to  nineteen,  the  first 
two,  as  usual,  printed  on  the  leaves,  and  the  rest  pasted 
on ;  and  these,  Mr.  Strutt  thinks,  were  all  that  Botticelli 
ever  executed.  Mr.  Roscoe  describes  another  copy  as  in 
bis  possession,  formerly  in  the  Pinelli  library.  ^ 

BOTTONI  (Albertino),  a  physician,, descended  of  an 
illustrious  family  of  Parma,  was  born  at  Padua  in  the  be- 
ginning of  the  sixteenth  century,  and  in  1555  became  pror 
fessor  of  medicine  in  that  city,  where  he  was  esteemed  for 
his  talents  and  success  as  a  practitioner.  He  died  in  1596, 
leaving  behind  him  an  immense  property,  an  elegant  hbuse^ 
&c..  He  published,  l.^^De  Vita  conservanda,"  Padua, 
1582,  4to.  2.  ^'De  morbis  muliebribus,^'  ibid.  1585., 
and  twice  reprinted,  beside^  in  the  collections  of  Bauhine 
and  Spachius.  3.  ^^  ConsiUa  medica,"  Francfort,  1605, 
4to«  in  Lautenbach's  collection.  4.  '^  De  modo  discurrendi 
circa  morbos  eosdem  curandi  tractatus,'^  ibid.  1607,  12ma. 
with  the  Pandects  of  John  George  Schenck.  An  edition 
was  afterwards  published  at  Francfort  in  1695,  Syo,  with 
the  title,  **  Methodus  medicinales  .dute,^'  &c. ' 

BOTTONI  (Dominic),  the  son  of  Nicholas  Bottom,  a 
celebrated  philosopher  and  physician  of  Leontini,  in  Si- 
cily, was  born  the  6  th  of  October  1641,  and  received  hi^ 
education  under  Peter  Castello.  In  1658,  he  was  admitted 
to  the  degree  of  doctor,  and  was  soon  aft^r  ina«le  physician 
to  the  marquis  De  Villa  Franca,  viceroy  of  Sicily,  physi- 
cian to  the  royal  hospital  of  Messina,  and  superintendant  of 
the  physicians  there,  with  a  pension  of  50  crowns  per 
month.  He  afterwards  enjoyed  a  similar  situation  under 
the  viceroy  of  Naples,  iu  1697,  he  was  made  corresipond- 
ing  or  honorary  member  of  the  royal  society  of  London,  to 
which  he  had  previously  sent  his  ^^  Idea  historico-physica 

^  Pilkington^-Stnitt — Roecoe's  Leo. 
•*  Diet.  Hist. — Moreri.— Ualler  and  Manget.  .    -  • 


B  O  T  T  O  N  I.  185 

de  magno  tiitiacriae  terrse  motu,**  which  is  published  in 
their  transactions.  He  was  the  first  Sicilian  physician  who 
had  received  that  honour.  He  wrote  also  ^^Pyrologia  to- 
pographica,  id  est,  de  igne  dissertatio,  juxta  loica,  cum 
eorum  descriptione/' Neapoli,  1692,  4to,  "Febrisrheu- 
matica^  roahgns,  historia  medica/*  Messina,  1712,  8vo, 
**  Preserve  salutari  contro  il  contagioso  malore/'  Messina^ 
1621,  4to.     He  died  about  the  year  1731.  * 

BOUCHARDON  (Edmund),  a  French  sculptor,  was 
the  son  of  a  sculptor  and  architect,  and  born  at  Chaumont 
in  Bassigni  in  169S.  He  was  drawn  by  an  irresistible  pas- 
sion for  these  two  arts,  but  confined  himself  at  length  to 
the  former.  After  having  passed  some  time  at  Paris  under 
the  younger  Coustou,  and  obtained  the  prize  at  the  aca- 
demy in  1722,  he  was  carried  to  Rome  at  the  king's  ex:- 
pence.  Upon  his  return  from  Italy,  where  his  talents  had 
been  greatly  improved,  he  adorned  Paris  with  his  works  : 
a  list  of  tbem  may  be  seen  in  a  life  of  him,  published  in 
1762,  lj2mo,  by  the  count  de  Caylus,  but  some  of  them  no 
longer  exist,  particularly  his  fine  equestrian  statue  of  Louis 
XV.  formerly  in  the  square  named  after  that  monarch.  In 
1744  he  obtained  a  place  in  the  academy ;  and,  two  years 
after,  a  professorship.  He  died  July  17,  1762,  a  loss 
to  the  arts,  and  much  lamented ;  for  he  is  described  as  a^ 
man  of  great  talent,  disinterested  spirit,  and  of  mos^  ami- 
able manners.  Music  was  his  object  in  the  hours  of.  recre- 
ation, and  his  talents  in  this  way  were  very  considerable. 
Count  Caylus,  in  his  ^^  Tableaux  tir^s  de  Tlliade  et  de 
rOdysse.d'Homere,''  mentions  Bouchardon,  with  honour, 
among  the  tew  artists  who  borrowed  their  subjects  from  Ho- 
mer, and  relates  the  following  anecdote :  ^^  This  great  ar- 
tist having  lately,  read  Homer  in  an  old'  and  detestable 
French  translation,  came  one  day  to  me,  his  eyes  sparkling 
with  fire,  and  said,  ^  Since  I  have  read  this  book,  men 
seem  to  be  fifteen  feet  high,  and  all  nature  is  enlarged  in 
my  sight*.'^  This  anecdote,  however,  does  not  give  a  very 
high  idea  of  the  education  of  a  French  artist,  and  a  profes- 
sor of  the  art ' 

BOUCHAUD  (Matthew  Anthony),  a  law-writer  of 
great  reputation  in  France,  was  born  at  Paris,  April  16, 
1719,  of  an  honourable  family.  His  father,  who  was  also 
a  lawyer,  spared  no  expence  in  his  education.     From  the 

1  Diet.  HifW-rMoreri,— Haller  ^nd  Manget  *  Diet.  Hist,— ArgenviUe. 


186  B  O  U  C  H  A  U  D. 

age  of  sixteen  he  studied  jurisprudence  ^th  such  persever- 
ance and  success  as  to  be  admitted  to  a  doctor's  degree  in 
1747.  Being  employed  to  prepare  the  articles  on  jurispru- 
dence and  canon  law  for  the  Encyclopaedia,  he  wrote  those 
on  council,  decretals,  &'.  bat,  for  what  reason  we  are 
j)ot  told,  they  gave  offence  to  the  encyclopedists,  who  be- 
came on  that  account  his  enemies,  and  prevented  him  for 
some  time  from  attaining  the  rank  of  professor,  wiiich  was 
tbeobjectof  his  ambition.  Bouchaud,  however,  consoled 
himself  by  cultivating  a  taste  for  modern  poetry.  He 
translated  several  of  the  dramas  of  Apostolo  Zeno  into 
French,  and  published  them  in  175$,  2  vols.  12mo,  and  in 
1764  he  translated  the  English  novel  of  '^  Lady  Julia  Man- 
deville."  In  the  interval  between  these  two,  he  published 
**  Essai  sur  la  poesie  rhythmique,'*  1763,  which  was 
thought  a  work  of  great  merit.  This  was  followed  by  the 
first  of  his  more  professional  labours,  "  Trait6  de  Timpot 
du  vingtieme  sur  les  successions,  et  de  Timpot  ^ur  les  mar- 
chandises  chez  les  Romains,''  a  very  curious  history  of  the 
taxes  which  the  ancient  emperors  imposed.  In  1766,  on 
the  death  of  M.  Hardron,  he  was  elected  into  the  French 
academy,  notwithstanding  the  opposition  of  the  encyclope- 
dists, whose  dislike  seems  not  ill  calculated  to  give  us  a  fa- 
vourable idea  of  the  soundness  of  his  principles.  This  was 
followed  by  a  law  professorship,  and  some  years  after  he 
•was  advanced  to  the  professorship  of  the  law  of  nature  and 
nations  in  the  royal  college  of  France.  He  was  nominated 
to  this  by  the  king  in  1774,  and  was  the  first  professor,  it 
being  then  founded.  On  this  he  wrote  in  the  memoirs  of 
the  academy,  a  curious  paper  concerning  the  societies  that 
were  formed  by  the  Roman  publicans  for  the  receipt  of  the 
taxe&r  The  body  of  the  publicans  was  taken  from  the  or^ 
der  of  knights,  and  had  great  influence  and  credit.  They 
were  called  by  Cicero  **  the  ornament  of  the  capital,"  and 
the  "  pillars  of  the  state."  The  knights,  though  rich,  entered 
into  associations,  when  the  taxes  of  a  whole  province  were 
farmed  out  by  the  senate,,  because  no  individual  was  opulent 
enough  to  be  responsible  for  such  ex^tensive  engagements; 
and  the  nature  of  these  societies  or  associations,  and  the 
various  conventions,  commercial  and  pecuniary  engage-r 
ments,  occupations,  and  offices,  to  which  they  gave  rise, 
form  the  subject  of  this  interesting  paper,  which  was  fol- 
lowed by  various  others  on  topics  of  the  same  nature.  In 
1777  he  published  his  ^^Theorie  des  trait6s  de  commerce 


B  O  U  C  H  A  U  D.  187 

eotre  les  nations,^'  the  principles  of  which  seem  to  be 
founded  on  justice  and  reciprocal  benefits.  In  1784  ap- 
peared another  curious  work  on  the  ancient  Roman  laws  and 
policy,  entitled,  *^  Recherches  historiques  sur  la  Police  des 
Romains,  concernant  les  grands  chemins,  les  rues,  et  les 
marches/'  His  ^^  Commentaire  sur  les  lois  des  douze  ta* 
hies,"  first  published  in  1767,  was  reprinted  in  1803,  with 
improvements  and  additions,  at  the  expense  of  the  French 
government,  and  he  was  employed  in  some  treatises  in- 
tended for  the  national  institute,  when  he  died,  Feb.  1, 
1804,regretted  as  a  profound  and  enlightened  law-writer.  It 
is  remarkable  that  in  his  essay  on  commercial  treaties  above- 
mentioned,  he  tfontends  for  our  Selden's  Mare  Clgusumj 
as  the  opinion  of  every  man  who  is  not  misled  by  an  immo- 
derate zeal  for  his  own  country.  * 

BOUCHER  (Francis),  first  painter  to  Louis  XV.  was 
born  at  Paris  in  1706,  and  was  educated  under  Le  Moine, 
after  which  he  studied  at  Rome.     On  his  return  to  Paris, 
he  employed  himself  on  every  species  of  the  art,  but  espe- 
cially in  the  light  and  agreeable.     His  Infant  Jesus  sleep- 
ing, is  finely  coloured,  and  designed  with  a  most  flowing 
contoun     The  Shepherd  asleep  on  the  knees  of  his  shep- 
herdess, is  a  little  landscape  of  singular  merit     Many  of 
his  other  landscapes  are  peculiarly  happy.     His  other  most 
noted  pieces  are  pastorals  for  the  manufacture  of  tapestry, 
at  Beauvais  ;  the  musses  in  the  king's  library ;  the  four 
seasons,  in  the  figure  of  infants,  for  the  ceiling  of  the 
council-room  at  Fontainbleau ;  a  hunt  of  tigers,  &c.     He 
was  usually  called  the  painter  of  the  graces,  and  the  Aha« 
creon  of  painting  ;  but  his  works  did  not  justify  these  high 
encomiums,  and  seem  to  have  rather  sunk  in  the  estimation 
of  his  countrymen.     He  died  of  premature  old  age  ia 
1770.* 

BOUCHER  (Jonathan),  a  learned  English  clergyman 
and  philologer,  was  born  at  Blencogo,  in  the  county  of 
Cumberland,  March  .12,  1738 ;  and  after  receiving  his 
education  at  Wigton,  under  the  rev.  Joseph  Blaine,  went 
in  his  sixteenth  year  to  North  America.  At  the  proper  age 
he  returned  to  England  to  be  ordained,  previously  to 
which,  in  1761,  the  vestry  of  the  parish  of  Hanover,  in  the 
county  of  King  George,  Virginia,  had  nominated  him  to 
:^e  rectory  of  that  parish.     He  afterwards  exchanged  this 

»  Diet.  Hist—Month.  Rev.  vol.  LIV.  and  LXIV.— Grit.  iUv.  vol.  XLIU.-^ 
Saxii  Dnoraast.  vol.  Vlli.  ^  Diet.  Hist. 


ISS  BOUCHER. 

for  the  parish  of  St.  Mary's  in  Caroline  county,  Virginia, 
When  the  late  sir  Robert  Eden,  bart.  became  governor  of 
Maryland,  he  appointed  Mr.  Boucher  rector  of  St.  Anne^s 
in  Annapolis,  and  afterwards  of  Queen  Anne's  in  Prince 
George's  county,  where  he  faithfully  and  zealously  dis- 
charged the  duties  of  a  minister  of  the  church  until  1775. 
Of  his  exemplary  conduct  in  the  discharge  of  his  minis- 
terial functions  in  the  western  hemisphere,  abundant 
proof  is  furnished  by  a  work  published  by  him  in  the  year 
1797,  intituled,  "A  View  of  the  Causes  and  Consequences 
lof  the  American  Revolution,  in  thirteen  discourses, 
preached  in  North  America  between  the  years  1763  and 
1775."  In  the  preface  to  that  work,  which  contains  anec- 
dotes and  observations  respecting  the  writers  and  most  emi-r 
nent  persons  concerned  in  the  American  Revolution,  he 
observes,  that,  ^^cast  as  his  lot  was  by  Providence, ,  in 
a  situation  of  difficult  duty,  in  such  an  hour  of  dan* 
gei',  it  would  have  been  highly  reproachful  to  have 
slept  on  his  post.  Investigations  on  the  important  sub- 
jects of  religion  and  government,  when  conducted  with 
sobriety  and  decorum,  can  never  be  unseasonable;  but 
they  seem  to  be  particularly  called  for  in  times  like  tho$e 
in  which  these  discourses  were  written — times  when  the 
kings  of  the  earth  stood  up,  and  the  rulers  took  counsel  against 
the  Jjord  and  against  his  anointed,  saying.  Let  us  break  their 
bonds  asunder,  and  cast  away  their  cords  from  us.*^  fie 
adds,  in  the  words  of  Bishop  Wetenhall's  preface  to  his 
Royal  Sermons,  printed  in  Ireland  in  1695,  that  his  Diis- 
courses  in  America  were  preached  by  him  *^  with  a  sincere 
intention  of  conscientiously  performing  his  duty,  and  ap- 
proving himself  to  God,  in  his  station,  by  doing  what  lay  in 
him  (at  a  time  of  exigence)  to  confirm  the  wavering,  to 
animate  the  diffident,  to  confirm,  excite,  and  advance  all 
in  their  loyalty  and  Hrm  adhesion  to  his  gracious  majesty, 
our  present,  alone,  rightful  liege  lord  and  sovereign/' 
Indeed,  these  sermons  unequivocally  demonstrate  that 
their  pious  author  was  not  to  be  deterred,  by  the  personal 
difficulties  in  which  the  schism  and  faction  that  then  pre-; 
vailed  had  placed  him,  from  maintaining,  with  undaunted 
resolution,  those  doctrines,  political  and  religious,  in  which 
be  had  been  educated. 

In  1784,  long  after  his  return  to  England,  he  was  pre- 
sented by  the  rev.  John  Parkhurst,  editor  of  the  Greek  and 
Hebrew  Lexicons,  to  the  vicarage  of  Epsom  in  Surrey ;  but 
the  same  year  he  had  the  misfortune  to  lose  bis  first  wife, 


B  O  U  C  H  E  R.  I8f 

who  was  a  native  of  Marylandi  of  genteel  connections,  and 
of  the  same  name  and  fam^y  as  the  celebrated  Josepb  Ad- 
dison, whom  in  many  of  the  great  points  of  his  character 
she  resembled. — Through  life  Mr.  Boucher  enjoyed  the 
society  and  friendship  of  men  of  erudition  and  science ;  and 
on  various  occasions  employed  his  pen,  not  only  in  defence 
o(  those  political  principles  on  which  the  British  monarchy 
is  founded,  but  in  critical  inquiries,  and  in  theological  du* 
ties.  Of  his  discourses  from  the  pulpit  in  Great  Britain, 
two  Assize  Sermons,  preached  in  1798,  have  been  printed, 
and  fully  justify  the  request  of  the  Grand  Juries  to  whon^ 
We  are  indebted  for  their  publication.  He  was  also  an  am- 
ple contributor  to  Mr.  Hutchinson's  History  of  Cumberland, 
The  account  of  the  parish  of  Bromfield,  and  the  very  inte- 
resting biographical  sketches  of  eminent  Cumberland  men, 
Eublished  in  the  same  work,  and  marked  ^^Biographia  Cum« 
tiensis,"  were  written  by  him.  Mr.  Boucher  was  a  patriot 
in  the  best  sense  of  the  word:  he  was  ever  anxious  to  pro- 
mote the  happiness  of  his  fellow  countrymen ;  atid  in  many 
instances  personally  contributed,  either  by  pecuniary  or 
literary  exertions,  to  meliorate  the  condition  of  society. 
In  1792,  he  published  an  anonymous  pamphlet,  subscribed 
*'  A  Cumberland  Man,''  which  was  reprinted  in  the  Ap- 
J)endix  to  sir  Frederick  Morton  Eden's  "  State  of  the  Poor,'* 
published  in  1797^  This  pamphlet  is  addressed  to  the  in- 
habitants of  Cumberland,  and  has  for  its  object  the  im- 
provement of  that  county  in  every  point  which  can  render 
a  country  opulent  and  happy. 

During  the  last  fourteen  years  of  his  life,  Mr.  Boucher's 
literary  labours  were  chiefly  dedicated  to  the  compilation  of 
a  Glossary  of  Provincial  and  Archseological  words,  intended 
as  a  "  Supplement  to  Dr.  Johnson's  Dictionary,"  the  pro- 
posals for  which  he  issued  in  1802,  und^r  the  title  of 
**  LingUGB  Anglicans  Veteris  Thesaurus,"  The  printed 
aid  which  he  collected  for  this  work  appeacred  suffi(:iently 
by  the  library  he  left,  and  which  was  spld  by  auction  after 
his  death.  Few  collections  are  more  copious  in  early 
printed  literature.  A  part  of  this  undertaking  was  pub- 
lished in  1S07,  containing  words  under  the  letter  A.  by 
which  it  appeared  that  the  author's  plan,  including  Scotch 
words,  was  more  extensive  than  originally  intended.  The 
encouragement  given  to  this  specimen  has  not  been  suffi*^ 
cient  to  induce  his  relatives  to  publish  more,  or  to  encou- 
rage any  gentleman  of  adequate  talents  to  attempt  the  com- 


190  BOUCHER. 

pldtion  oJF  the  work.  Mr.  Boucher  died  April  27,  1804, 
leaving  eight  children  by  his  second  wife  Mrs«  James,  wi- 
dow of  the  rev.  Mr.  James,  rector  of  Arthuret,  &c.  in  Cum- 
berland, whom  he  married  in  1789.* 

BOUCHIER.     See  BOURCHIER. 

BOUETTE  DE  BLEMUR  (jAcauELiNE),  a  lady,  who 
merits  some  notice  as  a  specimen  of  French  female  piety  in 
former  days,  was  born  Jan.  S,  1618.  Her  parents,  who 
were  of  noble  rank,  and  distinguished  for  tiieir  piety,  gave 
her  a  suitable  education,  and  from  the  age  of  five  she  was 
brought  up  with  one  of  her  aunts  in  the  abbey  royal  of  the 
Holy  Trinity  at  Caen.  When  eleven,  at  her  owii  earnest  re- 
quest, she  was^admitted  to  take  the  habit,  and  such  was  her 
wise  conduct,  that  only  four  years  after,  she  was  appointed 
mistress  of  the  novices.  She  was  sotn  after  chosen  prio- 
ress, and  then  commenced  her  great  work,  the  *^  Annte  Be- 
nedictine,'* or  lives  of  the  saints,  the  application  to  which, 
however,  did  not  make  her  relax  from  tbe  duties  of  her  of- 
fice. One  of  the  consequences  of  her  biographical  labours, 
was  a  more  enlarged  sense  of  what,  in  her  opinion,  she 
'ought*  to  do,  and  to  be,  after  the  example  of  the  Saint? 
whose  Itves  she  was  writing.  She  blushed,  we  are  told,  to 
praise  and  to  record  what  she  did  not  practise  (not  a  com- 
mon feeling  among  biographers),  and  although  she  knew 
that  the  kingdom  of  heaven  was  not  to  be  gained  by  ab- 
stinence from  certain  meats,  yet  she  firmly  believed  that  in 
order  to  be  the  exact  imitator  of  St  Benedict,  she  must 
join  that  privation  to  her  other  rules :'  and  had. an  occasion 
to  bring  her  principles  to  the  test,  when  the  duchess  of 
Mecklenburgh  formed  the  design  of  a  new  establishment  at 
Chatillon  of  the  female  Benedictines  of  the  Holy  Sacra- 
ment, and  requested  her  to  be  one  of  the  number.  Ma- 
dame Bouette  assented,  although  then  sixty  years  old,  and 
from  the  rank  of  prioress  in  the  abbey  of  St.  Trinity,  con- 
descended to  the  humble  state  of  a  novice  in  this  new  es- 
tabli^ment,  and  afterwards  jsreferred  the  lowest  place  in  it 
to  the  rank  of  abbess  which  was  afterwards  offered  to  her. 
In  her  last  dayS,  her  strength,  bodily  and  mental,  decayed: 
she  became  blind,  ^d  lame,  and  lost  the  use  of  speech, 
in  which  state  she  died  March  24,  1696,  leaving  the  fol* 
lowing  momuments  of  her  industry:  J.  '*  UAnn6e  Bene- 
dictine, ou,  Les  Vies  des  Saints  de  Tordre  de  St.  Benoit,'* 

}  Life  in  Qent  Mag.  1804,drtva  up  by  ike  late  sir  Frad.  Morton  fidao,  bart; 


B  O  U  E  T  T  E.  X9i 

I 

\ 

Paris,  1667,  7  vols.  4to.     2.  ^^  Eloges  de  plusieurs  per* 
sonnes  illustres  en  piet6  de  Pordre  de  St.  Benoit/*  2  vols. 
4to.     3,  "Vie  de  Fourrier  de  Matincourt."     4.  "Exer- 
cices  dela  Mort.'*     5.  **  Vies  des  Saintes,"  2  vols.  fol.    6.- 
"  Monologue  historique  de  la  Mere  de  Dieu,"  Paris,  1682, 
4to.     These  works  are  written  with  some  degree  of  elegance 
of  style,  but  her  lives  are  replete  with  those  pious  fables 
which  amused  the  religious  houses,  and  those  superstitious 
austerities  which  regulated  their  conduct  in  former  tifmes.  ^ 
BOUFLERS  (Louis  Francis,  duc  de),  peer  and  mar6- 
chal,  distinguished  in   the  French  history^  was  born  Jan. 
10,  1644.     His  dispositions  for  the  art  of  war  having  dis- 
played themselves  at  a  very  early  period,  he  was  chosen 
in  1669  to  be  colonel  of  a  rc^ment  of  dragoons,  at  the 
head   of  which  he  demonstrated  his   bravery  under  the 
marechal  deCrequi,  and  under  Turenne.     He  received  a 
dangerous  wound  at  the  bstttle  of  Voerden  ;  and  another  in 
the  affair  of  Entsheim,  to  the  capture  whereof  he  contri- 
buted much,  by  the  cojifession  of  Turenne.     After  several 
signal  exploits,  be  gained  immortal  renown  by  the  defence 
of  Lille  in  1708.     The  siege  lasted  near  four  months. 
Bouflers  said  to  his  officers,  *^  Gentlemen,  I  trust  to  you  ; 
but  I  aniNrer  for  myself."     Prince  Eugene  carded  on  the 
siege   With  so  much  vigour  that  it  was  obliged  to  submit. 
^*  I  am  very  vfin,"  said  he  to  Bouflers,  "  on  having  taken 
Lille;  bilit  I  had  rather  still  have  the  glory  of  having  de- 
fended it  like  you."     The  king  rewarded  him  for  this  ser-^' 
vice  as  if  he  had  gained  a  battle.     He  was  created  a  peer 
of  France  ;  had  the  honours  of  first  gentleman  to  the  king, 
and  the  reversion  of  the  government  of  Flanders  for  his 
eldest  son.'-  When  he  entered  the  parliament  for  his' first 
reception  in   it,  turning  to  a  croyvd  of  officers  who  had 
defended  LiHe  with  him,  he  said,    "  It  is  to  you  that  I  am 
indebted  for  all  the  favours  that  are  heaped  upon  me,  and 
on  you  I  reflect  them  ;  1  have  nothing  to  glory  in  but  the 
honour  of  h'avi^ig  been  at  the  head  of  so  many  brave  nnren.'* 
During  the  siege,  one  of  his  party  having  proved  to  him 
that  he  could  easily  kill  prince  Eugene,  "  Your  fortune  is 
made,"  returned  Bouflers,  "  if  you  can  take  him  prisoner :' 
but  you  shall  be  punished  with  the  utmost  severity  if  you. 
make  an  attempt  on  his  life  ;  and  if  I  but  suspected  that 
you  bad  any  such  intention,  I  would  have  you  shut  up  for 

1  Morcri.— Dict.Jlist. 


I9i  BO  U  F  L  E  ft  S. 

the  rest  of  your  life."  This  generosity,  which  formed  t 
part  of  his  character,  induced  him  to  ask  permission  to 
serve  under  the  orders  of  marechal  de  ViUars,  though  he 
was  his  senbr.  At  the  battle  of  Malplaquet  in  1709,  be 
made  the  retreat  in  such  good  order,  that  he  left  behind 
him  neither  cannon  nor  prisoners.  The  marquis  de  Bouflers 
united  the  virtues  of  a  good  citizen  with  the  activity  of  a 
gi^neral;  serving  his  prince  as  the  ancient  Romans  served 
their  republic ;  accounting  his  life  as  nothing  when  the 
safety  of  his  country  was  in  question.  The  king  having 
ordered  him  to  go  and  succour  Lille,  and  having  left  to 
himself  the  choice  of  his  lieutenants ;  he  set  out  that  in- 
stant, without  settling  his  affairs,  or  taking  leave  of  his 
family,  and  chose  for  his  officers  a  man  that  had  been  dis- 
graced, and  a  prisoner  of  the  Bastille.  His  magnificence 
was  equal  to  his  love  for  his  country  and  his  sovereign. 
When  Louis  XIV.  formed  the  camp  of  CompiSgne,  to 
serve  as  a  lesson  to  his  grandson  the  duke  of  Burgundy, 
and  as  a  spectacle  to  the  court,  Bouflers  lived  there  in 
such  a  splendid  style,  that  the  king  said  to  Livri,  his 
maitre-d'hotel,  "  The  duke  of  Burgundy  must  not  keep  a 
table ;  we  cannot  outdo  the  marechal ;  the  duke  of  Bur* 
gundy  shall  dine  with  him  when  he  goes  to  the,  camp/* 
This  patriot  general  died  at  Fontainbleau,  Aug.  22,  1711, 
aged  68.  ^^  In  him  (writes  madame  de  IVj^ntenon)  the 
heart  died  last.'*  We  read  in  the  continuation  of  the 
history  of  England  by  Rapin,  an  anecdote  too  honourable 
to  the  memory  of  this  great  man  to  be  passed  over  here  in 
silence.  King  William  having  taken  Namur,  in  169S, 
made  Bouflers  prisoner,  in  violation  of  the  articles  that 
had  been  agreed  on.  Surprised  at  so  unjust  a  pro- 
ceeding, the  marechal,  fresh  from  the  glorious  defence  he 
bad  made,  demanded  the  reason  of  this  perfidious  treat- 
ment. He  was  answered  that  it  was  by  w^y  of  reprisals 
for  the  garrison  of  Dixmude  and  of  Deiiise,  which  the 
French  had  detained  contrary  to  capitulation.  **  If  that  be 
the  case  (said  Bouflers),  then  my  garrison  >  ought  to.be 
arrested,  and  not  V^  ^^  Sir  (he  was  answered),  you  are 
valued  at  more  than  ten  thousand  men.'' ' 

BOUGAINVILLE  (John  Peter  de),  born  at  Paris 
Dec*  1,  1722,  was  educated  with  gr^at  care.  His  talents 
thus  improved  procured  him  celebrity  at  an  early  period^ 

*  Diet.  Hut— Moreri. 


BOUGAINVILLE.  19$ 

antl  obtained  for  him  the  places  most  Battering  to  literary 
men  at  Paris.  He  became  pensionary  and  secretary  to 
the  royal  academy  of  inscriptions,  member  of  the  French 
academy^  and  some  other  foreign  societies,  censor-royal, 
keeper  of  the  hall  of  antiquities  at  the  Louvre,  and  one  of 
the  secretaries  in  ordinary  to  the  duke  of  Orleans.  His 
extraordinary  industry  impaired  bis  health,  and  brought 
on  premature  old  age,  of  which  he  died  at  the  chateau  de 
Loches,  June  22,  17^3,  at  the  age  of  forty-one.  His  ta- 
lents and  personal  virtues  acquired  him  zealous  patrons 
and  affectionate  friends.  In  his  writings,  as  in  his  man- 
ners, all  was  laudable,  and  yet  nothing  shewed  the  desire 
of  being  praised.  With  the  talents  that  contribute  to 
fame,  he  principally  aspired  at  the  honour  of  being  useful. 
Nevertheless,  literary  ambition,  which  is  not  the  weakest 
of  ambitions,  found  him  not  insensible.  Accordingly  he 
was  desirous  of  being  admitted  of  the  French  academy ;  he 
made  vigorous  application  to  Duclos,  at  that  time  secre- 
tary ;  mentioning,  among  other  thin'gs,  that  he  was  af* 
flicted  with  a  disorder  that  was  sapping  his  constitution,^ 
and  that  consequently  his  place  would  soon  be  vacant  again; 
the  secretary,  an  honest  man,  but  of  a  bard  and  rough 
character,  replied,  with  more  wit  than  feeling,  that  it  was 
not  the  business  of  the  French  academy  to  administer  ex- 
treme unction.  He  wrote,  1.  A  translation  of  the  Anti- 
Lucretius  of  the  cardinal  de  Polignac,  2  vols.  8vo,  or  one 
vol.  12mo,  preceded  by  a  very  sensible  preliminary  dis- 
course. 2.  Parallel  between  the  expedition  of  Koiili  Khan 
in  the  Indies,  and  that  of  Alexander,  a  work  of  great 
learning,  abounding*  iu  ideas,  flights  of  imagination  and 
eloquence;  but  sometimes  rather  bombastic.  He  also 
wrote  several  papers  of  very  superior  merit  in  the  Memoirs 
of  the  French  Academy.  In  his  twenty-fifth  year  he  wrote 
a  tragedy  on  the  death  of  Philip,  father  of  Alexander, 
which  is  said  to  evince  considerable  talents  for  poetry;  and 
in  the  Maga^in  Encyclopedique  was  lately  published  a 
metrical  translation  by  him '  of  the  Hymn  of  Cleanthes, 
which  appears  to  have  suggested  to  Pope  his  Universal 
Prayer.^ 

BOUGEANT  (William  Hyacinth),  a  French  Jiistorian 
and  miscellaneous  writer,  was  born  at  Quimper,  Nov.  4, 
I690y  and  entered  among  th^  Jesuits  in  1706.     In  1710, 

1  Diet.  Hist.— iSaxii  QnoniftsticoD,  whert  t|  a  ^it  9t  hit  academical  pajj^r^ 

Vot.  VI.  Q 


194  B  O  U  G  E  A  NT. 

after  finishing  bis  course  of  philosophy,  be  taught  Latin  at 
Caen,  and  afterwards  rhetoric  at  Nevers.  From  that  time 
be  remained  principally  in  the  college  of  Louis  le  Grand 
at  Paris,  until  his  deaths  Jan.  7,  1743,  employing  himself 
in  writing.  Besides  the  part  which  be  took  for  many  years 
in  the  "  Memoires  de  Trevoux,"  he  wrote  :  1.  "  Anacreon 
and  Sappho,*'  dialogues  in  Greek  verse,  Caen,  1712,  8vo. 
2.  ^^  Recueil  d* observations  physiques  tiroes  des  meilleurd 
ecrivains,"  Paris,  1719,  12mo,  to  which  were  added  two 
more  volumes,  1726  and  1750,  by  Grozelier.  3.  *^  Histoire 
des  guerres  et  des  negociations  qui  precedereqt  le  trait6 
de  Westphalie  sous  le  regne  de  Louis  XIIL  &q.'*  1727, 
4to,  and  2  vols.  12mo,  taken  from  the  Memoirs  of  count 
d'Avaux,  the  French  ambassador.  This  history  still  en- 
joys high  reputation  in  France.  4.  **  Exposition  de  la 
Doctrine  Chretienne  par  demandes  et  par  reponses,'*  1741, 
4to,  and  some  other  theological  tracts  that  are  now  for- 
gotten. 5.  "  Histoire  du  traits  de  Westphalie,'*  2  vols.  4to, 
and  4  vols.  12mo,  a  superior  work  to  that  mentioned  before, 
and  highly  praised  by  all  French  historians.  It  did  not 
appear  until  after  his  death,  in  1744.  Besides  these  be 
wrote  several  pieces  of  a  lighter  kind,  as  an  ingenious 
romance,  entitled  "Voyage  Merveilleux  du  prince  Fan- 
Feredin  dans  la  Romancie,  &c."  1735,  12mo ;  **  Amuse- 
ment philosophique  sur  leLangagedes  Betes,''1739,12mo, 
which,  being  censured  for  its  satire,  the  author  was  ba- 
nished for  sonie  time  to  la  Fleche,  and  endeavoured  to  de- 
fend himself  in  a  letter  to  the  abb6  Savaletta.  He  wrote 
also  some  comedies  of  very  little  merit,  but  his  reputation 
chiefly  rests  on  his  historical  works.  *  ' 

BOUGEREL  (Joseph),  a  French  biographer,  descended 
from  an  honourable  family  in  Provence,  was  a  priest  of 
the  oratory,  and  born  at  Aix  in  1680,  where  he  was  also 
educated.  The  love  of  a  retired  life  induced  him  to  be- 
come a  member  of  the  congregation  of  the  oratory,  wh^re 
be  taught  the  belles  lettres  with  fame  and  success,  and 
filled  the  several  posts  of  his  profession  with  great  credit. 
Happening  to  be  at  Marseilles  during  the  plague  in  1719 
and  1720,  he  risked  his  life  in  administering  relief  to  the 
diseased.  He  appears  to  have  been  in  that  city  also  in 
1726,  but  sotoe  time  after  came  to  Paris,  where  he  passed 
his  life  in  the  house  belonging  to  his  order,  in  high  esteem 

•      -  *  Mweri.— Diet,  Hist. 


>  0  U  G  E  R  E  L.  195 

tfrith  all  who  knew  him.     iHe  died  of  a  stroke  of  apoplexy^ 
March  19,  1753.     Just  before  his  death  he  had  prepared 
for  the  press  his  lives  of  the  illustrious  men  of  Provence, 
which  was  to  have  formed  four  volumes  4to,  and  was  to 
be  published   by  subscription,  but  we  do  not  find  that  the 
scheme  was  carried  into  execution  by  his  friends.     During 
his  life  he  published  in  the  literary  journals,  various  me- 
moirs of  eminent  men,  and,  in  separate  publications,  the 
Life  of  Gassendi,  Paris^  1737,  of  John  Peter  Gibert,  ibid* 
1737,  I2mo;  and  apart  of  his  great  work,  under  the  title 
of  "  Memoires  pour  servir  a  Thistoire  des  hommes  illustres 
de  Provence,"  ibid.  1752,  12mo,  containing  fourteen  lives.* 
BOUGUER  (Peter),  a  celebrated  French  mathema- 
tician, was  born  at  Croisic,  in'  Lower  Bretagne^  the  10th 
of  February  1698.     He   was  the  son  of  John  Bouguer, 
professor  royal  of  hydrography,  a  tolerable  good  mathe«» 
matician,  and  author  of  "  A  complete  Treatise  on  Naviga-*- 
tion."     Young  Bouguer  was  accustomed  to  learn  mathe^' 
matics  from  his  father,  from  the  time  he  was  able  to  speak, 
and  thus  became  a  very  early  proficient  in  those  sciences. 
He  was  sent  soon  after  to  the  Jesuits'  college  at  Vanncs, 
where  he  had  the  honour  to  instruct  his  regent  in  the  ma« 
tbematics,  at  eleven  years  of  age.     Two  years  after  this  he 
had  a  public  contest  with  a  professor  of  mathematics,  upoa 
a  proposition  which  the  latter  had  advanced  erroneously; 
and  he  triumphed  over  him ;  upon  which  the  professor, 
unable  to  bear  the  disgrace,  left  -the  country.     Two  years 
after  this,  when  young  Bouguer  had  not  yet  finished  bis 
studies,  he  lost  his  father,  whom  he  was  appointed  to  suc- 
ceed in  his  office  of  hydrogra|)her,  after  a  public  examina- 
tion of  his  qualifications,  being  then  only  fifteen  years  of 
age ;  an  occupation  which  he  discharged  with  great  respect 
and  dignity  at  that  early  age. 

In  1727,  at  the  age  of  twenty-nine,  he  obtained  the 
prize  proposed  by  the  academy  of  sciences,  for  the  best 
way  of  masting  of  ships.  This  ftrst  success  of  Bouguer  was 
soon  after  followed  by  two  others  of  the  same  kind ;  he 
successively  gained  the  prizes  of  1729  and  1731 ;  the  for^^ 
mer,  for  the  best  manner  of  observing  at  sea  the  height  of 
the  stars,  and  thp  latter,  for  the  most  advantageous  way  of 
observing  the  declination  of  the  magnetic  needle,  or  the 
tariation  of  the  compass.     In  1729,  he  gave  an  ^*  Optical 

A  Moreri. 
Q  2 


196  B  O  U  G  U.E  R. 

Essay  upon  the  Gradation  of  Light ;''  a  subject  quite  netr^ 
in  which  he  examined  the  intensity  of  light,  and  deter* 
mined  its  degrees  of  diminution  in  passing  through  dif- 
ferent  pellucid  mediums,  and  particularly  that  of  the  sun 
in  traversing  the  earth's  atmosphere.  Mairan  gave  an  ex- 
tract of  this  first  essay  in  the  Journal  des  Savans,  in  173X), 
In  this  same  year,  1730,  he  was  removed  from  the  port 
of  Croisic  to  that  of  Havre,  which  brought  him  into  a 
nearer  connection  with  the  academy  of  sciences,  in  which 
he  obtained,  in  1731,  the  place  of  associate  geometrician, 
vacant  by  the  promotion  of  Maupertuis  to  that  of  pen- 
sioner; and  in  1735  he  was  promoted  to  the  office  of 
pensioner*astronomer.  The  same  year  he  was  sent  on  the 
commission  to  South  America,  along  with  messieurs  Godin, 
Condamine,  and  Jeussieu,  to  determine  the  measure  of 
the  degrees  of  the  meridian,  and  the  figure  of  the  earth. 
In  this  painful  and  troublesome  business,  of  ten  years  du* 
ration,  chiefly  among  the  lofty  CordeFier  mountains,  our 
author  determined  many  other  new  circumstances,  beside 
the  main  object  of  the  voyage ;  such  as  the  expansion  an4 
contraction  of  metals  and  other  substances,  by  the  sudden 
and  alternate  changes  of  heat  and  cold  among  those  moun- 
tains ;  observations  on  the  refraction  of  the  atmosphere 
from  the  tops  of  the  same,  with  the  singular  phenomenon 
of  the  sudden  increase  of  the  refraction,  when  the  star  can 
be  observed  below  the  line  of  the  level ;  the  laws  of  the 
density  of  the  air  at  different  heights,  from  observations 
made  at  different  points  of  these  enormous  mountains ;  a 
determination  that  the  mountains  have  an  effect  upon  a 
plummet,  though  he  did  not  assign  the  exact  quantity  of 
it;  a  method  of  estimating  the  errors  committed  by  navi- 
gators in  determining  their  route;  a.  new  construction  of 
th^  log  for  measuring  a  ship's  way ;  with  several  other 
useful  improvements.  Other  inventions  of  Bouguer,  mad# 
upon  different  occasions,  were  as  follow  :  the  helibmeter, 
being  a  telescope  with  two  object-glasses,  affording  a  good 
method  of  measuring  the  diameters  of  the  larger  planets 
with  ease  and  exactness  :  his  researches  on  the  figure  i|i 
which  two  lines  or  two  long  ranges  of  parallel  trees  j^p- 
pear :  his  experiments  on  the  famous  reciprocation  of  the 
pendulum:  and  those  upon  the  manner  of  measuring,  the 
force  of  the  light :  &c.  &c. 

The  close  application  which  Bpuguer  gave  jbo  study, 
undermined  his  health,  and  terminated  his  life  the  I5ik  of 


B  O  U  G  U  E  R.  197 

August  1758,  at  60  years  of  age.— His  chief  works,  that 
have  been  published,  are,  1^  "  The  Figure  of  the  Earth, 
determined  bv  the  observations  made  in  South  America/' 
1749,  in  4to.  2.  "Treatise  on  Navigation  and  Pilotage," 
Paris,  1752,  in  4to.  This  work  was  abridged  by  M.  La 
Caille,  in  1  vol.  1768,  8vo,  and  was  reprinted  in  1769  and 
1781,  and  in  1792  with  th6  notes  of  Lalande.  3.  "Trea- 
tise  on  Ships,  their  construction  and  motions,*'  1756,  4to. 
4.  "  Optical  treatise  on  the  Gradation  of  Light,"  first  in 
'1729  ;  then  a  new  edition  in  1760,  in  4to. 

His  papers  that  were  inserted  in  the  Memoirs  of  the 
Academy,  are  very  numerous  and  important.     They  ap- 
pear in  their  volumes  from  1726  to  1757. 
*    In  his  earlier  years,  Mr.  Bouguer  had  lived  in  a  state  of 
seclusion  from  general  intercourse  with  the  world,  and  he 
had  thus  acquired  a  cast  of  temper,  which  marked  his  cha« 
racter  in  more  advanced  life.     Although  he  was  universally 
acknowledged  to  possess  superior  talents,  and  to  be  distin- 
guished by  an  assiduity  and  zeal,  no  less  successful  than 
indefatigable,  in  various  departments  of  useful  science,  he 
'  indulged  a  degree  of  suspicion  and  jealousy,  with  regard 
to  his  reputation,  which  disgusted  some  of  those  with  whom 
he  was  under  a  necessity  of  associating,  and  which  dis- 
quieted his  own  mind.     Fully  sensible  of  the  importance 
and  utility  of  his  own  performances,  he  was  apt  to  con- 
sider others,  who  were  engaged  in  similar  pursuits,  as  com- 
petitors with  himself,  and  to  grudge  them  the  reputation 
vhich  they  justly  Acquired,  from  an  apprehension  that  hid 
own  credit  would  be  thus   diminished.     Hence  arose  his 
disputes  with  La  Condamine,  one  of  the  companions  of  his 
voyage,  and  associate  in  his  labours  in  America ;  and  the 
mortification  he  experienced  from  the  public  sufJPrage  that 
seemed  to  have  been  bestowed  on  that  academician.     His 
character  in  other  respects  was  distinguished  for  modesty 
and  simplicity.     The  truths  of  religion  were  instilled  into  - 
him  along  with  the  first  principles  of  geometry,  and  had 
made  «uch  an  impression  upon  his  mind,  as  to  regulate  and 
adorn  his  moral  conduct.     On  his  death-bed  he  cherished 
the  same  ViCws  which  had  thus  guided  him  through  life, 
and  he  closed  his  career  with  philosophical  fortitude,  and 
with  a  piety  and  resignation  truly  Christian. — In  the  year 
1784,  a  very  singular  book  was  published  at  Paris,  eii^ 
titled  "  Relation  de  la    conversion  et   de  mprt  de  Bou«- 
guer,"  by  P.  La  Berthonie.     His  piety  naturally  offended 


199  B  O  U  G  U  E  R. 

ft 

Lalande,  who,  iu  noticing  this  book,  ascribes  his  piety  tn 
fear ;  this  was  a  common  opinion  with  the  French  deists, 
and  had  very  pernicious  influence  on  the  minds  of  theif 
disciples.     Lalande,  however,  if  our  information-  be^  no^ 
incorrect,  lived  to  experience  the  fear  he  once  ridiculed.* 
BOUHIER  (John),  president  ^  mortier  of  the  parlia- 
jnent  of  Dijon,  and  a  menyber  of  the  French" academy,  was 
born  March  16,  1673.     He  began  his  studies  under  the 
direction  of  his  father  (who  was  also  president  a  mortier  of 
the  same  parliament)  at  the  Jesuits'  college  of  Dijon,  and 
finished  them  in   1633  with  great  approbation.     Being  as 
y«t  too  young  for  the  law  schools,  he  studied  the  elements 
pf  that  science  in  private,  and  perfected  himself  at  the 
same  time  in  the  Greek  language.     He  also  learned  Ita- 
lian, Spanish^  and  acquired  some  knowledge  of  the  He<r 
brew.     After  two  years  thus  usefully  employed^  he  went 
through  a  course  of  law  at  Paris  and  Orleans ;  and  in  1 692 
be  became  counsellor  of  the  parliament  of  Dijon.  In  J  7^4 
he  was  appointed  president,  the  duties  of  which  office,  he 
executed  until  1727,  and  with  an  assiduity  and  ability  not 
very  common.     In  this  latter  year  he  was  elected  into  the 
^cademy,  on  the  condition  th^t  he  would  quit  Dijon  and 
settle  at  Paris,  to  which  condition  he  acceded,  but  was 
unable  to  perfprm  his  promise,  for  want  of  health.  Though 
remote,  however,  frcun  the  capital,  he  could  not  remain  in 
pbscurity ;  but  from  the  variety  and  extent  of  his  learning, 
}ie  was  courted  and  consulted  by  the  lit^r^ti  throughout 
Europe  :  and  many  learned  men,  who  %ad  availed  tbeiki«!' 
pelves  of  his  advice,  dedicat^ed  their  works  to  him.     A^ 
length,  his  constitution  being  worn  out  with  repeated  at? 
tacks  of  the  gout,  be  died  March  17,   1746.     A  friend  ap* 
preaching  his  bed,  within  an  hour  of  bis  death,  found  him 
in  a  seemingly  profound  meditation.     He  made  a  sign  tha^ 
be  wished  not  to  be  disturbed,  and  with  difEculty  pro- 
nounced  the  words  J^epie  la  mort-^^^  1  am  watching  death.^' 
Notwithstanding  his  business  and  high  reputation  as  a 
lawyer,  he  contrived  to  employ  much  of  his  time  in  the 
cultivation  of  polite  literature,  and  wrot:e  many  papers  ou 
pritical  and  classical  subjjscts  in  the  literary  journals.     Se^ 
parately  be  published,  1.  A  poetical  translation,  not  iur 
Kplegant,  but  somewhat  careless,  of  Petronius  on  the  CivU 
»  ,' 

1  Hutton's  Mathematical  Diet.— Rees'f  Cyclopaidia.— •Brewster^s  £diiib«r||1| 
]SncyclopecUa.7-Dict.  Hist. 


B  O  U  H  I  E  R.  199 

I 

1 

War  between  Cse^r  and  Pompey,  with  two  epistles  of 
Ovid,  &c.  Amst  1737,  4to.  Alluding  to  the  negligence 
which  sometimes  appears  in  his  poetry,  his  wife,  a  very 
ingenious  lady,  used  to  say,  *^  Confine  yourself  to  think- 
ing, and  let  tne  write."  2.  "  Remarques  sur  les  Tuscu- 
'lanes  de  Ciceron,  avec  une  dissertation  sur  Sardanapale, 
dernier  roi  d'Asyrie,"  Paris,  1737,  12mo.  3.  "  Des  Let-^ 
tres  sur  les  Therapeutes,"  1712.  4.  '*  Dissertations  sur 
Herodote,"  with  memoirs  of  the  life  of  Bouhier,  1746,  Di-» 
jon,  4ta  5.  <<  Dissertation  sur  le  grand  pontificat  des 
empereurs  Romains,"  1742,  4to.  6.  *^  E^icplications  de 
quelqutes  marbres  antiques,"  in  the  collection  of  M.  Le 
Bret,  1733,  4to.  7.  ^'  Observations  sur  la  Coutume  de 
Bourgogne,"  Dijon,  2  vols.  fol.  A  complete  edition  of 
his  law  works  was  published  in  1787,  fol.  by  M.  de  Bevy» 
He  wrote  a  very  learned  dissertation  on  the  origin  of  the 
Greek  and  Latin  letters,  which  is  printed  in  Montfaucon^d 
Palaeography,  Paris,  1708,  p.  553 ;  and  his  <*  Remarques 
sur  Ciceron"  were  reprinted  at  Paris  in  1746.  * 

BOUHOURS  (Dominick),  a  celebrated  French  critic, 
was  born  at  Paris  in  1628 ;  and  has  by  some  been  consi- 
dered as  a  proper  person  to  succeed  Malherbe,  who  died 
about  that  time.  He  entered  into  the  society  of  Jesuits  at 
sixteen,  and  was  appointed  to  read  lectures  upon  polite 
literature  .in  the  college  of  Clermont  at  Paris,  where  he 
had  studied ;  but  he  was  so  incessantly  attacked  with  the 
faead-acb,  that  he  could  not  pursue  the  destined  task.  He 
{afterwards  undertook  the  education  of  two  sons  of  the  duke 
of  Longueville,  which  he  discharged  to  the  entire  satisfac- 
tion of  the  duke,  who  had  such  a  regard  for  him,  that  he 
would  need^  die  in  his  arms ;  and  the  ^^  Account  of  the 
pious  and  Christian  death"  of- this  great  personage  was  the 
first  work  which  Bouhours  gave  the  public*  He  was  sent 
to  Dunkirk  to  the  popish  refugees  from  England  ;  and,  in 
the  piidst  of  his  missionary  occupations,  found  time  to 
compose  and  publish  many  works  of  reputation.  Among 
these  were  **  Entretiens  d'Ariste  &  d'Eugene,"  a  work  of 
a  critical  nature,  which  was  printed  no  less  than  five  times 
at  Paris,  twice  at  Grenoble,  at  Lyons,  at  Brussels,  at  Am-s ' 
9terdam,  at  Leyden,  &c.  and  embroiled  him  with  a  great 
number  of  critics,  and  with  Menage  in  particular ;  who,; 
hpwever,  lived  io.  friendship  with  our  author  before  and 

)  Morerk— Diet  Hist.— Saxu  Onomasticoi).— Hontb.  Rer.  LXXX. 


«00  B  O  U  H  O  U  R  S. 

« 

after.  There  is  a  passage  in  this  work  which  gave  great 
offence  in  Germany,  where  he  makes  it  a  question, 
**  Whether  it  be  possible  that  a  German  could  be  a  wit  ?" 
The  fame  of  it,  however/ and  the  pleasure  he  took  in  read- 
ing it,  recommended  Bouhours  so  effectually  to  the  cele- 
brated minister  Colbert,  that  he  trusted  him  with  the  edu- 
cation of  his  son,  the  marquis  of  Segnelai.  The  Remarks 
and  Doubts  upon  the  French  language  has  been  reckoned 
one  of  the  most  considerable  of  our  author^s  works ;  and 
may  be  read  with  great  advantage  by  those  who  would  per- 
fect themselves  in  that  tongue.  Menage,  in  his  Observa- 
tions upon  the  French  language,  has  given  his  approbation 
of  it  in  the  following  passage  :  "  The  book  of  Doubts,** 
says  he,  ^^  is  written  with  great  elegance,  and  contains 
many  fine  observations.  And,  as  Aristotle  has  said,  that 
reasonable  doubt  is  the  beginning  of  all  real  knowledge ;  so 
we  may  say  also,  that  the  man  who  doubts  so  reasonably 
as  the  author  of  this  book,  is  himself  very  capable  of  de- 
ciding. For  this  reason  perhaps  it  is,  that,  forgetting  the 
title  of  his  work,  he  decides  oftener  than  at  first  he  pro- 
posed." Bojjihours  was  the  author  of  another  work,  "  The 
art  of  pleasing  in  conversation,*'  of  which  M.  de  la  Grose, 
who  wrote  the  eleventh  volume  of  the  Bibliotheque  Uni- 
verselle,  has  given  an  account,  which  he  begins  with  this 
elogium  upon  the  author:  "  A  very  little  skill,*'  says  be, 
**  in  style  and  manner,  will  enable  a  reader  to  discover  the 
author  of  this  work.  He  will  see  at  once  the  nice,  the 
ingenious,  and  delicate  turn,  the  elegance  and  politeness 
of  father  Bouhours.  Add  to  this,  the  manner  of  writing  in 
dialogue,  the  custom  of  quoting  himself,  the  collecting 
strokes  of  wit,  the  little  agreeable  relations  interspersed, 
and  a  certain  mixture  of  gallantry  and  morality  which  is 
altogether  peculiar  to  this  Jesuit.  This  work  is  inferior  to 
nothing  we  have  seen  of  father  Bouhours.  He  treats  in 
twenty  dialogues,  with  an  air  of  gaiety,  of  every  thing 
which  can  find  a  way  into  conversation ;  and,  though  he 
avoids  being  systematical,  yet  he  gives  his  readfer  to  under^ 
stand,  that  there  is  no  subject  whatever,  either  of  divinity, 
philosophy,  law,  or  phasic,  &c.  but  may  be  introduced 
into  conversation,  provided  it  be  done  with  ease,  polite- 
ness, and  in  a  manner  free  from  pedantry  and  affectation.** 
He  died  at  Paris,  in  the  college  of  Clermont,  upon  the 
27th  of  May  1702;  after  a  life  spent,  says  Moreri,  under 
such  constant  and  violent  fits  of  the  head-ach,  that  he  bad 


B  O  U  H  O  U  R  S.  201 

but  few  intervals  of  perfect  ease.  The  following  is  a  list 
of  his  works  with  their  dates  :  1.  **  Les  Entretiens  d^Ariste 
et  d'Eugene,"  1671,  12mo.  2.  "  Remarques  et  Doutes 
Bur  ia  iangue  Fran^iise,"  S  vols.  12mo.  3.  **  La  Manier 
de  bien  penser  sur  les  ouvrages  d' esprit/'  Paris,  1692,, 
12mo.  4.  ^'  Pens^es  ingenieuses  ded  aii/ciens  et  des  mo- 
dernes,"  Paris,  1691,  12mo.  In.  this  work  he  mentions 
Boileau,  whom  he  had  omitted  in  the  preceding;  but  when 
be  expected  Boileau  would  acknowledge  the  favour,  he 
coolly  replied,  *'  You  have,  it  is  true,  introduced  me  in  your 
new  work,  but  in  very  bad  company,'*  alluding  to  the  fre- 
quent mention  of -some  Italian  and  French  versifiers  whom 
Boileau  despised.  5.  "  Pens^es  ingenieuses  des  Peres  de 
I'Eglise,**  Paris,  1700.  This  he  is  said  to  have  written  as 
an  answer  to  the  objection  that  he  employed  too  much  of 
bis  time  on  profane  literature.  6.  '*  Histoire  du  grand- 
maitre  d'Aubusson,"  1676,  4to,  1679,  and  lately  in  1780. 
7.  The  lives  of  St.  Ignatius,  Paris,-  1756,  l2mo,  and  of 
St.  Francis  Xavier,  1682,  4to,  or  2  vols.  12mo.  Both  these 
are  written  with  rather  more  judgment  than  the  same  lives 
by  Ribadeneira,  but  are  yet  replete  with  the  miraculou3 
and  the  fabulous.  The  life  of  Xavier  was  translated  by 
Dryden,  and  published  at  London  in  168S,  with  a  dedica- 
tion to  king  James  II.'s  queen.  Dryden,  says  Mr.  Malone, 
doubtless  undertook  this  task,  in  consequence  of  the  queen, 
when  she  solicited  a  son,  having  recommended  herself  to 
Xavier  as  her  patron  saint.  8,  **  Le  Nouveau  Testament," 
translated  into  French  from  the  Vulgate,  2  vols.  1697 — ^ 
1703,  .12mo.' 

BOUILLAUD.     See  BULLIALDUS. 

BOUILLE'  (Mauquis  de),  a  French  nobleman,  and 
officer  of  bravery  and  honour,  was  a  native  of  Auvergne, 
and  a  relative  of  the  marquis  La  Fayette.  After  having 
served  in  the  dragoons,  he  became  colonel  of  the  regiment 
of  Vexin  infantry.  Having  attained  the  rank  of  major- 
general,  the  king  appointed  him  governor-general  of  the 
Windward  islands.  In  1778  he  took  possession  of  Domi- 
nica, St.  Eustatia,  and  soon  after  St.  Christopher's,  Nevis, 
and  Montserrat.  His  conduct  while  in  that  command  wa» 
allowed  by  the  English  commanders  to  be  honourable  and 
disinterested.  On  his  return,  he  was  made  lieutenant- 
general.     On  the  breaking  out  of  the  revolution  in  1789, 

1  Baill«t  Jogemens  des  SaTaDB.«-Moreri.— iDict.  Hist,— Saicii  OnoDast. 


SM  B  O  U  I  L  L  E; 

finding  that  he  oommanded  in  the  three  bishoprics,  he 
brought  back  to  its  duty  the  revolted  garrison  of  Metz,  and 
on  that  occasion  saved  the  life  of  M.  He  Pont,  intendant  of 
the  province.  He  afterwards  caused  Francois  de  Neuf- 
chateau,  and  two  other  electors,  arrested  by  order  of  the 
king's  attorney,  to  be  set  at  liberty.  On  the  5th  of  Sep- 
tember the  same  year,  the  national  assembly  was  informed 
by  one  of  its  members,  Gregoire,  that  M.  de  Bouille  bad 
^ot  administered  the  civic  oath  individually,  and  a  decree 
was  passed  obliging  him  to  do  so,  la  1790,  he  was  com* 
jyiissioned  to  bring  under  subjection  the  garrison  of  Nancy, 
which  had  risen  against  itd  chiefs ;  accordingly  he  advanced 
upon  the  town  with  four  thousand  men,  and  succeeded  in 
this  enterprize,  in  which  be  shewed  much  bravery,  and 
virhich  at  first  gained  him  great  praises  from  the  natipnal 
assembly,  and  afterwards  as  many  reproaches.  Being 
chosen  by  the  unfortunate  Louis  XVI.  to  facilitate  his 
escape  from  Paris  in  June  1791^  he  marched  at  the  head 
of  a  body  of  troops  to  protect  the  passage  of  the  royal 
family  ;  but  this  design  failed  from  reasons  now  well  known, 
^nd  which  he  has  faithfully  detailed  in  bis  memoirs :  and 
the  marquis  himself  had  some  difficulty  in  making  bis  es- 
cape. From  Luxembourg  he  wrote  his  memorable  letter 
to  the  assembly,  threatening,  that  if  a  hair  of  the  king's 
bead  were  touched,  he  would  not  leave  one  stone  upon 
another  in  Paris.  This  served  only  to  irritate  the  revolu- 
tionists, who  decreed  that  he  should  be  tried  for  contumacy; 
but  he  was  fortunately  out  of  their  reach.  From  Vienna 
whither  he  had  at  first  gone,  hQ  passed  to  the  court  of 
Sweden,  where  he  was  favourably  received  by  Gustavus  IIL 
but.after  his  death,  M.  de  Bouille  found  it  necessary  to 
retire  to  England^  where  he  passed  the  remainder  of  his 
days  in  security,  and  much  esteemed  for  his  fidelity  to  his 
sovereign.  He  died  in  London  Nov.  14,  1800.  In  1797 
be  published  in  English,  *^  Memoirs  relating  to  the  French 
Revolution,^'  8vo ;  one  of  those  works  of  which  future  his^ 
torians  may  avail  themselves  in  appreciating  the  characters 
and  events  connected  with  that  important  period  of  French 
history*  ^ 

BOUILLET  (John),  a  French  medical  writer,  was  born 
at  Servian,  in  the  diocese  ofBeziers,  May  14,  1690,  and 
<;reat^d  doctor  in  medicine,  at  Montpellier,  in  1717.    En-. 

<  Biog.  Mod«riie.«*Dict.<-*Hi8t.  botb  enoneone  in  the  time  of  bii  dMth« 


BOUILLET,  203 

joying,  during  the  course  of  a  long  life,  a  considerable  por^ 
jtion  of  reputation,  he  was,  in  succession,  made  professor  ia 
inathematics,  and  secretary  to  the  academy  at  Beziers^ 
member  of  the  royal  society  at  Montpellier,  and  corre^ 
sponding  member  of  the  academy  of 'sciences  at  Paris.  He 
was  also  author  of  several  ingenious  dissertations :  ^^  On 
^he  properties  of  Rbnbarb/'  published  at  Beziers,,  1717, 
4to,  probably  his  ''  Inaugural  Thesis.'^  **  Sur  la  cause  de 
la  Pesaateur,^  1720,  12mo,  which  obtained  for  him  a  prize 
from  the  academy  at  Bourdeaux ;  ^*  Avis  et  remedes,  con- 
tre  la  Peste,*' Beziers,  1721,  dvo.  ^^On  Asthma  and  on 
the  Gout,"  in  wh^ch  complaints  he  recommends  the  Venice 
so^  as  a  powerful  auxiliary ;  ^^  Sur  la  maniere  de  traiter 
]a  Petite  Verole,'*  Beziers,  1736,  4to;  and  some  years 
after,  ^'  On  the  best  method  of  preserving  the  district  of 
Beziers  from  that  disease  ;"  ^^  Recueil  des  lettres,  etautres 
pieces  pour  servir  k  Thistoire  de  Pacademie  de  Beziers," 
1736,  4to,  with  several  other  publications.  He  died  in 
]L770,  leaving  a  son,  Henry  Nicholas  Bouillet,  who  was 
made  doctor  in  medicine  at  Montpellier,  and  member  of 
^he  academy  of  Beziers.  He  published,  in  1759,  in  4t0) 
^'  Observations  sur  I'anasarque,  le  hydropesielS^  de  poitrine, 
des  pericarde,  &c."  * 

BOULAI  (CiESAR  Egasse  de),  the  historian  of  the  uni- 
versity of  Paris,  was  born  at  St.  EUier  or  Helier,  and  be- 
came professor  of  rhetoric  in  the  college  of  Navarre,  and 
afterwards  register,  historiographer,  and  rector  of  the  uni- 
versity of  Paris,  where  he  died  Oct.  1 6,  1678.  Of  all  his 
works,  his  history  of  the  university  of  Paris,  ^*  Historia 
Universitatis  Parisiensis,^'  6  vols.  1665-«-1673,  foL  contri- 
buted most  to  his  fame.  The  publication  of  this  vast  un- 
dertaking was  at  first  interrupted  by  some  objections  from 
the  theological  faculty  of  Paris,  who  carried  their  remon- 
strances to  the  king;  but  the  commissic>ners,  whom  his 
majesty  etnployed  to  inspect  the  work,  having  reported 
^hat  they  saw  no  reason  why  it  should  not  be  continued,  he 
proceeded  to  its  completion,  and  in  1667  published  an  an- 
swer  to  their  objections,  entitled  <<  Notse  ad  censuram.'' 
Not  entirely  satisfied  with  this  triumph,  he  also  published 
j^  poetical  satire  against  them,  with  the  title  of  ''  Ad  Zoilo- 
sycophantam,  sive  Bulseistarum  obtrectatorem,"  a  work  of 
ppQsiderable  spirit  and  elegance  of  style.     His  history  h 

^  IHct.  Hist.  —Reel's  Cyclopedia. 


204  B  O  U  L  A  L 

an  useful  repository  of  facts  and  lives  of  learned  men  con« 
nected  with  the  revival  of  literature,  and  especially  the  pro- 
gress of  learning  in  that  eminent  university,  and  is  blame* 
able  only  for  the  fabulous  accounts,  in  which  our  awn  uni- 
versity-historians have  not  been  wanting,  respecting  the 
early  history  of  schools  of  learning.  Boulai^s  other  writ- 
ings are,  1.  "Tresor  des  antiquit^s  Romaines,"  Paris, 
1650,  fol.  2.  "  Speculum  eloquentiae/'  ibid.  1658,  12mo. 
3.  "  De  Patronis  quatuor  nationum  universitatis  Parisi-. 
ensis,'*  Paris,  1662,  8vo.  4.  "  Remarques  sur  la  diguit^^ 
rang,  preseance,  autorit6,  et  jurisdiction  du  recteur  de  I'uni* 
versit6  de  Paris,"  ibid.  1668,  4to.  5.  "  Recueil  des  Pri- 
vileges de  r  University  de  Paris  accord6s  par  les  rois  de' 
France  depuis  sa  fondation,  &c."  ibid.  1674,  4to.  6. 
**  Fondation  de  I'universit^,  &c."  1675,  4to.  Boulai  was 
frequently  involved  in  disputes  with  the  members  of  the 
university  respecting  the  election  of  officers,  &'c.  which 
occasioned  the  publication  of  many  papers  on  these  sub-« 
jects,  which,  if  we  may  judge  from  his  extensive  labours, 
he  must  have  understood  very  accurately  ;  and  from  these 
disputes,  and  the  general  bent  of  his  researches,  he  ap^ 
pears  to  have  very  closely  resembled  the  celebrated  histo-^ 
rian  of  the  university  of  Oxford.  * 

BOULAINVILLIERS  (Henry  de),  comte  de  St.  Saire, 
where  he  was  born  October  21,  1658,  of  a  noble  and  au^ 
cient  family,  was  educated  at  Jiiilli,  by  the  fathers  of  the 
oratory,  and  gave  proofs  of  genius  and  abilities  from  hit 
childhood.  His  chief  study  was  histoi*y,  which  he  after* 
wards  cultivated  assiduously.  He  died  January  28,  1722, 
at  Paris,  having  been  twice  married,  and  left  only  daugh- 
ters. He  was  author  of  a  History  of  the  Arabians,  and 
Mahomet,  12mo,  '^  Memoires  sur  Tancien  Governement  de 
France  ;  ou  14  lettres  sur  les  anciens  Parlemens  de 
France,"  3  vols,  12mo;  ^*  Histoire  de  France  jusqu'a 
Charles  VIII."  3  vols.  l2mo;  and  "I'Etatde  la  Francp,"' 
6  vols.  12mo,  in  the  Dutch  edition,  and  eight  in  the  edi-. 
tion  of  Trevoux,  "  Memoire  pr&entS  a  M.  le  due  d'Or- 
leans,  sur  T  Administration  des  Finances,"  2  vols.  12mo ; 
*^  Histoire  de  la  Pairie  de  France,"  12mo ;  V  Dissertations 
sur  la  Noblesse  de  France,"  12mo.  All  his  writings  on 
the  French  history  have  been  collected  in  3  vols.  fol.  They 
are  not  \Vritten  (says  M.  de  Montesquieu)  with  all  the  free^ 

I  Moreri. — Geo.  Diet— »SailIet  Jii|;emtiisde  SftTaiif.^Saxii  Oooma^U 


BOULAINVIJLLIERS.         205, 

dom  and  simplicity  of  the  ancient  nobility,  from  which  he 
descended.  M.  Boulainvilliers  left  some  other  works  in 
MS.  known  to  the  learned,  who  have,  with  great  reason^ 
been  astonished  to  find,  that  he  expresses  in  them  his 
doubts  of  the  most  incontestable  dogmas  of  religion,  while 
he  blindly  gives  credit  to  the  reveries  of  judicial  astrology ; 
an  inconsistency  common  to  many  other  infidels.  Mosheim 
informs  us  that  Boulainvilliers  was  such  an  admirer  of  the 
pernicious  opinions  of  Spinosa,  that  he  formed  the  design 
of  expounding  i^nd  illustrating  it,  as  is  done  with  respect  to 
the  doctrines  of  the  gospel  in  books  of  piety,  accommo- 
dated to  ordinary  capacities.  This  design  he  actually  exe- 
cuted, but  in  such  a  manner  as  to  set  the  atheism  and  im-> 
piety  of  Spinosa  in  a  clearer  light  than  they  had  ever  ap- 
peared before.  The  work  was  published  by  Lenglet  da 
Fresnoy,  who,  that  it  might  be  bought  with  avidity,  and 
read  without  suspicion,  called  it  a  Refutation  of  the  Errors  of 
Spinosa,  artfully  adding  some  separate  pieces,  to  which  this 
title  may,  in  some  measure,  he  thought  applicable.  The 
whole  title  runs,  "  Refutation  des  Erreurs  de  Benoit  de 
Spinosa,  par  M.  de  Fenelou,  archeveque  de  Cambray,  par 
le  Pere  Lauri  Benedictiu,  et  par  M.  Le  Comte  de  Boulain- 
villiers, avec  la  Vie  de  Spinosa,  ecrite  par  Jean  Colerus, 
minister  de  TEglise  Lutherienne  de  la  Haye,  augment^e 
de  beaucoup  de  particularites  tiroes  d'une  vie  manuscrite 
de  ce  philpsopbe,  fait  par  un  de  ses  amis,'*  (Lucas,  the 
atheistical  physician),  Brussels|,  1731,  12mo.  The  ac* 
Qount  and  defence  of  Spinosa,  given  by  Boulainvilliers, 
under  the  pretence  of  a  refutation,  take  up  the  greatest 
part  of  this  book,  and  are  placed  first,  and  not  last  in  or- 
der, as  the  title  would  insinuate ;  and  the  volume  concludes 
with  what  is  not  in  the  title,  a  defence  of  Spinosa  by  Bre- 
denburg,  and  a  refutation  of  that  defence  by  Orobio,  a 
Jew  of  Amsterdam. — It  remains  to  be  noticed,  •  that  his 
Life  of  Mahomet,  which  he  did  not  live  to  complete,  was 
published  at  London  and  Amsterdam,  in  1730,  8vo  ;  and 
about  the  same  time  an  English  translation  of  it  appeared. 
His  letters,  also,  on  the  French  parliaments,  were  translated 
and  published  at  London,   17S9,  2  vols.  8vo.  ^ 

BOULANGER  (Nicholas  Anthony),  one  of  the  earliest 
French  infidels,  who  assumed  the  name  of  philosophers 
W9S  born  at^  Paris  in  1722,  and  died  there  in  1759,  aged 

1  MQi»ri,^Dict.  Hist^-oMosheim'i  Eccl.  Hiit.--SaicU  Onomait, 


»06  B  O  U  L  A  N  G  E  R, 

only  thirty-seven.  Dtiring  his  education,  he  is  said  ta 
have  come  out  of  the  college  of  Bea^vais  aiinost  as  ignorant 
a<  he  went  in  ;  butj  struggling  hard  against  his  inaptitude 
to  study,  he  at  length  overcame  it.  At  seventeen  yes^rs  of 
age  he  began  to  apply  himself  to  mathematics  and  archi-^ 
tecture ;  and,  in  three  or  four  years  made  such  progress 
as  to  be  useful  to  the  ba^on  of  Thiere,  whom  he  accom- 
panied to  the  army  in  quality  of  engineer.  Afterwards  he 
had  the  supervision  of  the  highways  and  bridges,  and  exe- 
cuted several  public  works  in  Champagne,  Burgtindy,  and 
LoiTain.  In  cutting  through  mountains,  directing  and 
changing  the  courses  of  rivers,  and  in  breaking  up  and 
turning  over  the  strata  of  the  earth,  he  saw  a  multitude  of 
diQerent  substances,  whieh  (he  thought)  evinced  the  great 
antiquity  of  it,  and  a  long  series  of  revolutions  which  it 
must  have  undergone.  From  the  revolutions  in  the  globe, 
he  passed  to  the  changes  that  must  have  happened  in  the 
manners  of  men,  in  societies,  in  governments,  in  religion  ; 
and  formed  many  conjectures  upon  all  these.  To  be  far- 
ther satisfied,  he  wanted  to  know  what,  in  the  history  of 
ages,  had  been  said  upon  these  particulars ;  and,  that  he 
might  be  informed  from  the  fountain-^head,  he  learned 
first  Latin,  and  then  Greek.  Not  yet  content,  he  plunged 
into  Hebrew,  Syriac,  Chaldaic,  and  Arabic:  and  from 
these  studies  accumulated  a  vast  mass  of  singular  and  pa^ 
tadoxical  opinions  which  he  conveyed  to  the  public  in  the 
following  works:  l.**Trait6  duDespotisme  Oriental,'*  2 
vols;  12mo,  2.  **  L'antiquit6  d6voil6,  par  ses  usages,*'  5 
vols.  12mo.  This  was  posthumous.  3.  Another  work,  en- 
titled ^*  Le  Christianisme  d^masqu^,''  8vo,  is  attributed 
to  him,  but  it  is  not  certain  that  he  was  the  author  of  it* 
4.  He  furnished  to  the  Encyclopedie  the  articles  D6iuge> 
Corvee,  and  Soci6t6.  5^  A  dissertation  on  Elii^a  and 
Enoch.  6.  He  left  behind  him  in  MS.  a  dictionary,  which 
may  be  regarded  as  a  concordance  in  antient  and  modern 
languages.  Voltaire,  theharon  D'Holbach,  and  other  dis- 
seminators of  infidelity,  made  much  use  of  Boulanger'st 
works,  and  more  of  his  name,  which,  it  is  supposed,  they 
prefixed  to  some  of  their  own  compositions.  Barruel  gived 
some  reason  for  thinking  that  Boulanger  retracted  hi« 
opinions  before  his  death.  His  name,  however,  still  re- 
mained of  consequence  to  the  party ;  and  as  late  as  179], 
an  edition  of  his   works,  entitled  the  Philosophical  Li« 


BOULANGER.  W7 

braiy,  was  published  at  the  philosophic  press  in  Swisitor- 
land. ' 

BOULANGER  (John),  an  engraver,  who  flourished 
about  the  year  1657,  was  a  native  of  France.  His  first 
manner  of  engtavlng  was  partly  copied  from  that  of  Francis 
de  Poilly ;  but  he  afterwards  adopted  a  manner  of  his  own, 
which,  though  not  original,  he  greatly  ifnpix>ved ;  and, 
accordingly,  he  finished  the  faces,  hands,  and  all  the  naked 
parts  of  his  figures  very  neatly  with  dots,  instead  of  strokes^ 
or  strokes  and  dots.  This  style  of  engraving  has  been  of 
'late  carried  to  a  high  degree  of  perfection,  particularly  in 
England.  Notwithstanding  several  defects  in  the  naked 
parts  of  his  figures,  and  in  his  draperies,  his  best  prints 
are  deservedly  much  esteemed.  Such  are  "  A  Holy  Fa- 
mily,'* from  Fran.  Corlebet ;  "  Virgin  and  Child,"  firom 
Simon  Vouet;  "The  Pompous  Cavalcade,'*  upon  Lpui$ 
the  XlVth  coming  of  age,  from  Chativeau ;  **  The  Virgin 
with  the  infant  Christ,"  holding  some  pinks,  and  therefore 
called  "  The  Virgin  of  the  Pinks,"  from  Raphael ;  "  The 
Virgin  de  Passau,"  from  Salario ;"  *'  Christ  carrying  his 
Cross,"  from  Nicolas  Mignard ;  "  A  dead  Christ,  sup- 
ported by  Joseph  of  Arimathea."  He  also  engraved  many 
portraits,  and,  among  others,  that  of  Charles  H.  of  Eng* 
land.  He  likewise  engraved  from  Leonardo  de  Vinci, 
Cuido,  Champagne,  Stella,  Coypel,  and  other  great  mas- 
ters, as  well  as  from  his  own  designs. 

There  was  another  John  Boulanger,  a  painter,  who 
was  bom  in  1606,  and  died  in  1660.  Mr.  Fuseli  informs 
us  that  be  was  a  pupil  of  Guido,  became  painter  to  the 
court  of  Modena,  and  master  of  a  school  of  art  in  that 
city.  What  remains  of  his  delicate  pencil  in  the  ducal 
palace,  proves  the  felicity  of  his  invention,  the  vivid  har- 
mony of  his  colour,  and  in  the  attitudes  a  spirit  bordering 
/on  enthusiasm.  Such  is  the  Sacrifice  (if  it  be  his,  as  fame 
asserts)  of  Iphigenia ;  though  the  person  of  Agamemnon  is 
veiled  in  a  manner  too  whimsical  to  be  admitted  in  a  heroic 
subject.  Of  his  scholars,  Tomaso  Costa  of  Sassuolo,  and 
Sigismondo  Caula  a  Modenese,  excelled  the  rest  Costa, 
a  vigorous  colourist,  laid  his  hand  indiscriminately  on 
every  subject  of  art,  greatly  employed  at  Reggio,  his  usual 
residence^  and  much  at  Modena,  where  jie  painted  the 


/ 


iO«  B  O  U  L  A  N  G  E  R. 

cupola  of  S.  Vicenzo.  Caula  left  his  home  only  to. improve 
himself  at  Venice,  and  returned  with  a  copious  and  well* 
toned  style;  but  sunk  to  a  more  languid  one  as  ^e  advanced 
in  life.  * 

BOULLONGNE  (Louis  de),  the  elder,  painter  to  the 
king,  and  professor  in  the  French  academy,  was  born  at 
Paris  in  1609,  and  was  principally  distinguished  for  his 
ability  in  copying  the  works  of  the  most  famous  ancient 
painters,  which  he  did  with  astonishing  fidelity.  Taqre 
are  also  in  the  church  of  Notre  Dame  at  Paris  three  pic- 
tures of  his  own  of  considerable  merit.  He  died  at  Paris 
in  1674,  leaving  the  two  following  sons  : 

BOULLONGNE  (Bon  de),  eldest  son  of  the  preceding, 
was  born  at  Paris  in  1649,  and  acquired  the  principles  of 
painting  from  his  father,  whom  he  resembled  in  bis  talent 
of  imitating  the  works  of  the  greatest  masters.  After  a  re- 
sidence of  five  years  in  Italy,  he  was  admitted  into  the 
academy,  of  which  he  became  a  professor,  and  employed 
by  Louis  XIV.  at  Versailles  and  Trianon.  He  excelled  in. 
history  and  portrait;  his  designs  were  accurate,  and  his 
colouring  good.  Besides  his  paintings  in  fresco,  in  two 
of  the  chapels  of  the  Invalids,  he  painted  several  pieces 
for  the  churches  and  public  buildings  of  Paris,  several  of 
which  have  been  engraved.  We  have  also  three  etchings 
done  by  him,  from  his  own  compositions,  viz.  a  species  of 
"  Almanack ;"  "  St.  John  in  the  Des;ert ;"  and  "  St.  Bruno 
in  a  landscape;"  its  companion.  He  died  at  Paris  in 
1717.  His  brother  Louis  de  Boullongne  the  younger, 
was  born  at  Paris  in  1654,  and  educated  under  his  father, 
by  whose  instruction  he  made  such  improvement,  that  he 
obtained  the  prize  of  the  academy  at  18.  His  studies  were 
completed  at  Rome,  where  he  particularly  studied  the  works 
of  Raphael,  and  from  his  copies  which  were  sent  home,  th,e 
Gobelin  tapestries  were  executed.  After  his  return  he  was 
received  into  the  academy  in  1680  ;  and  his  works  in  the 
churches  of  Notre  Dame  and  the  Invalids,  and  particularly 
his  frescos  in  the  chapel  of  St.  Augustin,  were  so  much 
esteemed,  that  Louis  XIV.  honoured  him  with  his  special 
patronage,  allowing  him  a  considerable  pension  ;  confer- 
ring upon  him  the  order  of  St.  Michael ;  choosing  him  de- 
signer of  medals  to  the  academy  of  inscriptions,  after  the 
death  of  Anthoby  Coypel ;  appointing  him  his  principal 

i  Strutt  and  PUkkigtom 


BOULLONGNE.  209 

painter,  and  etinobting  him  and  all  his  descendants.  The 
acadeipy  of  painting  also  chose  him  first  for  its  rector,  and 
afterwards  director,  which  place  he  occupied  till  his  death. 
He  chiefly  excelled  in  historical  and  allegorical  subjects* 
From  his  performances  it  appeared,  that  he  had  carefully 
studied  the  most  eminent  masters;  his  colouring  was 
strong,  his  composition  was  in  a  good  style,  the  airs  of  his 
heads  had  expression  and  character,  and  his  figures  were 
correctly  designed.  His  regular  attendance  at  the  aca- 
demy, and  his  advice  to  the  students,  commanded  respect : 
and  the  general  mildness  and  affability  of  his  disposition 
engaged  esteem  among  those  who  knew  him.  He  raised  a 
considerable  fortune  by  his  profession,  and  died  in  1734* 
Two  sisters  of  this  family,  **  Genevieve"  and  "  Magdalen,'* 
painted  well,  and  were  members  of  the  royal  academy  in 
1669.  * 

BOULTER  (Hugh),  D.  D.  archbishop  of  Armagh,  pri- 
mate and  metropolitan  of  all  Ireland,  was  born  in  or  near 
London,  Jan.  4,  1671,  of  a  reputable  and  opulent  family, 
received  his  first  rudiments]  of  learning  at  Merchant-Tay- 
lor's school,  and  was  admitted  from  thence  a  commoner  of 
Christ-church,  Oxford,  some  time  before  the  Revolution. 
His  merit  became  so  conspicuous  there,  that  immediately 
after  that  great  event,  he  was  elected  a  demi  of  Magdalen- 
college,  with  the  celebrated  Mr.  Addison,  and  Dr.  Joseph 
Wilcox,  afterwards  biskop  of  Rochester  and  dean  of  West- 
minster, from  whose  merit  and  learning  Dr.  Hough,  who  was 
then  restored  to  the  presidentship  of  that  college  (from  which 
he  had  been  unwarrantably  ejected  in  the  reign  of  king  James 
IL)  used  to  call  this  election  by  the  name  of  the  golden 
election^  and  the  same  respectful  appellation  was  long  after 
made  use  of  in  common  converjfation  in  the  college*. 
Mr.  Boulter  was  afterwards  made  fellow  of  Magdalen-col- 
lege. He  continued  in  the  university  till  he  was  called  to 
London,  by  the  invitation  of  sir  Charles  Hedges,  principal 
Jiecretary' of  state  in  1700,  who  made  him  his  chaplain; 

'  *  i>r.  Welsted,  a  physician,  was  also  The  primata  maintained  a  son  of  the 

of  this  goldea  election,  and  when  he  doctor's,  as  a  commoner,  at  Hart-hall 

became  poor  in  the  latter  part  of  his  in  Oxford ;  and  would  effectually-  have 

life,  the  archbishop,  though  he  was  no  provided  for  him,  if  the  young  gentie- 

relation,  gave  him,  at  the  least,  two  man  had  not  died  before  he  had  taken 

hundred  pounds  a  year,  till  his  death,  a  degree.    Dr.  Weisled  was  one  of  the 

Nor  did  his  grace's  kindness  to  the  editors    of   the  *  Oxford    Pindar,    and 

doctor's  family  end  with  bis  decease,  esteemed  an  excellent  Qreek  schol^, 

1  Pilkington.-~StrMtt.— *Abreg4  des  Vies  des  Peintres,  voL  IV. 

Vol.  VI.  P 


2JIO  BOULTER. 

and  some  tii&e  after  he  was  preferred  to  the  same  bonots? 
by  Dr.  Thomas  Tenison,  archbishop  of  Canterbury.     In 
these  stations  he  was  under  a  necessity  <^(  appearing  often 
at  court,  where  his  merit  obtained  him  the  patronage  of 
Charles  Spencer,  earl  of  Sunderland,  principal  secretary 
of  state,  by  whose  interest  he  was  advanced  to  the  rectory 
of  St.  Olave  in  Southwark,  and  to  the  archdeaconry  of 
Surrey.     The  parish  of  St.  Olave  was  very  populous,  and 
for  the  most  part  poor,  and  required  such  a  liberal  and  vi- 
gilant pastor  as  Dr.  Boulter,  who  relieved  their  wants, 
and  gave  them  instruction,  correction,  and  reproof.     When 
king  George  I.  passed  ovev  to  Hanover  in  1719,  Dr.  Boul- 
ter was  recommended  to  attend  him  in  quality  of  his  chapr 
lain,  and  also  was  appointed  tutor  to  prince  Frederic,  to 
instruct  him  in  the  English  tongue ;  and  for  that  purpose 
drew  up  for  his  use  "A  set  of  Instructions."     This  so  re- 
commended him  to  the  king,  that  during  his  abode  at 
Hanover,  the  bishopric  of  Bristol,  and  deanery  of  Christ-  - 
church,  Oxford,  becoming  vacant,    the  king  granted  to 
him  that  see  and  deanery,  and  he  was  consecrated  bishop 
of  Bristol,  on  the  fifteenth  of  November,   1719.     In  this 
last  station  he  was  more  than  ordinarily  assiduous  in  the 
visitation  of  his  diocese,  and  the  discharge  of  his  pastoral 
duty ;  and  during  one  of  these  visitations,  he  received  a 
letter  by  a  messenger  from  the  secretary  of  state,  acquaint- 
ing him,  that  his  majesty  had  nominated  him  to  the  arch- 
1>ishopric  of  Armagh,  and  primacy  of  Ireland,  then  vacant 
by  the  death  of  Dr.  Thomas  Lindsay,  on  the  13  th  of  July, 
1724,  and  desiring  him  to  repair  to  London  as  soon  as 
^possible,  to  kiss  the  king's  hand  for  his  promotion.     After 
some  consultation  on  this  affair,  to  which  he  felt  great  re- 
pugnance, he  sent  an  answer  by  the  messenger,  refusing 
the  honour  the  king  intended  him,  and  requesting  the  se- 
cretary to  use  his  good  offices  with  his  majesty,  in  making 
his  excuse,  but  the  messenger  was  dispatched  back  to  him 
by  the  secretary,  with  the  king's  absolute  commands  that 
he  should  accept  of  the  post,  to   which  he  ^bmitted, 
though  not  without  some  reluctance,  and  soon  after  ad- 
dressed himself  to  his  journey  to  court.     Ireland  was  at 
that  juncture  not  a  little  inflamed,   by  the  copper-coin 
project  of  one  Wood,  and  it  was  thought  by  the  king  and 
ministry,  that  the  judgment,  moderation,  and  wisdom  of 
the  bishop  of  Bristol  would  tend  much  to  allay  the  ferment. 
He  arrived  in  Ireland  on  the  third  of  November,  1724, 


BOULTER;  ;?lt 

iftid  had  no  sooner  passed  patent  for  the  primiicy,  than  he 
appeared  at  all  the  public  boards,  and  gave  a  weight  and' 
rigour  to  them ;  and,  in  every  respect,  was  indefatigable 
in  promoting  the  real  happiness  of  the  people.     Among 
his  other  wise  measures,  in  seasons  of  great  scarcity  in 
Ireland,  he  was  more  than  once  instrumental  in  averting  a 
pestilence  and  famine^  which  threatened  the  nation.     When 
the  scheme  was  set  on  foot  for  making  a  navigation,  by  a- 
canal  to  be  drawn  from  Longh-Neagh  to  Newry,  not  only 
for  bringing  coal  to  Dublin,  but  to  carry  oh  more  effec- 
taally  an  inland  trade  in  the  several  counties  of  the  north 
of  Ireland,  he  greatly  encouraged  and  promoted,  the  de-* 
sign,  not  only  with  his  counsel  but  his  purse.     Drogheda 
is  a  large  and  populous  town  within  the  diocese  of  Armagh^ 
and  bis  grace  finding  that  the  ecclesiastical  appointments 
were  not  sufficient  to  support  two  clergymen  there,  and 
the  cure  over-burthensome  for  one  effectually  to  discharge^ 
he  allotted  out  of  his  own  pocket  a  maintenance  for  a  se- 
cond curate,  whom  he  obliged  to  give  public  service  every 
Sunday  in  the  afternoon,  and  prayers  twice  every  day; 
He  had  great  compassion  for  the  poor  cUrgy  of  bis  dio- 
cese^ who  were  disabled  from  giving  their  children  a  pro- 
pier  education^    and  maintained  several   of  the   sons  of 
such  in  the  university^  in  order  to  qualify  them  for  future 
preferment.     He  erected  four  houses  at  Drogheda  for  the 
reception  of  clergymen^s  widows,  and  purchased  an  estate 
for  the  endowment  of  them,  after  the  model  of  primate 
Marsh's  charity  i  which  be  enlarged  in  one  particular  :  for 
as  the  estate  he  purchased  for  the  maintenance  of  the 
widows,  amounted  to  twenty-four,  pounds  a  year  more  than 
he  had  set  apart  for  that  usej  he  appointed  that  the  surplus 
should  be  a  fund  for  setting  out  the   children  of  such 
widows  apprentices,  or  otherwise  to  be  disposed  of  for  the 
benefit  of  such  children^  as  his  trustees  should  think  proper. 
He  also  by  his  will  directed^  which  has  since  been  perr 
formed,  that  four  houses  should  be  built  for  rlergymen's 
widows  at  Armagh,  and  endowed  with  fifty  pounds  a  year. 
During  his  life,  he  contracted  for  the  building  of  a  stately 
market-house  at  Armagh,  which  was  finished  by  his  ex^- 
cutors^  at  upwards  of  eight  hundred  pounds  expence.     He 
was  a  benefactor  also  to  Dr.  Stevens's  hospital  in  the  city 
of  Dublin^  erected  for  the  maintenance  and  cure  of  the 
poor.     His  charities  for  augmenting  small   livings^   an4 
huymg  of  glebesy  amounted  to  upwards  of  thirty  thousand 

P2  ! 


^12  B  O  U  L  T  £  H* 

pound?,  besides  what  he  devised  by  his  will  fbr  the  like 
purposes  in  England.     Though  the  plan  of  the  iucorpor' 
rated  society  for  promoting  English   protestant  working 
schools,  cannot  be  imputed  to  primate  Boulter,  yet  he 
was  the  chief  instrument  in  forwarding  the  undertaking, 
which  he  lived  to  see  carried  into  execution  with  consider* 
able  success.     His  private  charities  were  not  less  munifi- 
cent, but  so  secretly  conducted,  that  it  is  impossible  to 
give  any  particular  account  of  them :  it  is  affirmed  by 
those  who  were  in  trust  about  him,  that  he  never  suffered 
an  object  to  leave  his  house  unsupplied,  and  he  often  sent 
them  away  with  considerable  sums,  according  to  the  judg- 
ment he  made  of  their  merits  and  necessities.-^ With  respect 
to  his  political  virtues,  and  the  arts  of  government,  when 
his  health  would  permit  him  he  was  constant  in  his  attend- 
ance at  the  council-table,  and  it  is  well  known  what  weight 
and  dignity  h<^  gave  to  the  debates  of  that  board.     As  be 
alvirays  studied  the  true  interest  of  Ireland,  so  he  judged^ 
that  the  diminishing  the  value  of  the  gold  coin  would  be  a 
means  of  increasing  silver  in  the  country,  a  thing  very 
much  wanted ;  in  order  to  effect  which,  he  supported  a 
scheme  at  the  council- table,  which  raised  the  clamours  of 
unthinking  people,  although  experience  soon  demonstrated 
its  wisdom.     He  was  thirteen  times  one  of  the  lords  justices, 
or  chief  governors  of  Ireland ;  which  office  he  administered 
oftener  than  any  other  chief  governor  on  record.     He  em- 
barked for  England  June  2,  1742,  and  after  two  days  ill- 
ness died  at  his  house  in  St.  James's  place^,  Sept.  27,  and 
was  buried  in  Westminster-abbey,  where  a  stately  monu- 
ment has  been  erected  to  his  memory. — His  deportment 
was  grave,  his  aspect  venerable,  and  his  temper  meek  and 
humble.     He  was  always  open  and  easy  of  access  both  to 
rich  and  poor.     He  was  steady  to  the  principles  of  liberty, 
both  in  religion  and  politics.     His  learning  was  universal, 
yet  more  in  substance  than  shew ;  nor  would  his  mode^y 
permit  him  to  make  any  ostentation  of  it.     He  always  pre- 
served such  an  equal  temper  of  mind  that  hardly  any  thing 
could  ruffle,  and  amidst  obloquy  and  opposition,  steadily 
maintained  a  resolution  of  serving  his  country,  embraced 
every  thing  proposed  for  the  good  of  it,  though  by  persons 
remarkable  for  their  opposition  to  him  :  and  when  the  most 
public-spirited  schemes  were  introduced  by  him,  and  did 
not  meet  with  the  reception  they  deserved,  he  never  took 
offence,  but  was  glad  when  any  part  of  his  advice  for  thc^ 


BOULTER,  813 

public  good  was  pursued,  and  was  always  willing  to  drop 
some  points,  that  he  might  not  lose  all;  often  saying, 
'*  he  would  do  all  the  good  to  Ireland  he  could,  though 
they  did  not  suffer  htm  to  do  all  he  would."  His  life  was 
mostly  spent  in  action,  and  therefore  it  is  not  to  be  ex* 
pected  that  he  should  have  left  many  remains  of  his  learn'? 
IDg  behind  him ;  nor  do  we  know  of  any  thing  he  hatii 
written,  excepting  a  few  Charges  to  his  clergy  at  his  visit^^^ 
tions,  which  are  grave,  solid,  and  instructive,  and  elevea 
Occasional  Sermons,  printed  separately.  In  1769,  however, 
were  published,  at  Oxford^  in  two  volumes  Syo,  ^^  Letter^ 
written  by  his  excellency  Hugh  Boulter,  D.  D.  lord  pri«» 
mate  of  all  Ireland^  &c.  to  several  ministers  of  state  in 
England,  and  some  others.  Containing  an  account  of  th^ 
most  interesting  transactions  which  passed  in  Ireland  from 
1724  to  1738."  The  originals,  which  are  deposited  in  the 
library  of  Christ  church,  in  Oxford,  w(*re  collected  by 
Ambrose  Philips,  esq.  who  w^s  secretary  to  his  grace,  and 
lived  in  his  bouse  during  that  space  of  time  in  which  they 
bear  date.  They  are  entirely  letters  of  business,  and  are 
all  of  them  in  I>r.  Bonlter's  band-writing,  excepting  some 
few,  which  are  fair  copies  by  his  secretary.  The  qditor 
justly  remarks,  that  these  letters,  which  could  not  be  in* 
tended  for  publication,  have  been  fortunately  preserved, 
as  they  contain  the  most  authentic  history  of  Ireland,  for 
the  period  in  which  they  were  written ;  "  a  period,''  be 
adds,  *^  which  will  ever  do  honour  to  his  grace's  memory, 
aiid  to  those  most  excellent  princes  George  the  first  and 
second,  who  had  the  wisdom  to  place  confidence  in  so 
worthy,  so  able,  and  so  successful  a  minister ;  a  minister 
who  bad  the  rare  and  peculiar  felicity  of  growing  still 
more  and  mdre  into  the  favour  both  of  the  king  and  of  the 
people,  until  the  very  last  day  of  his  life."  It  is  much  to 
be  regretted  that  in  some  of  his  measures,  be  was  opposed 
by  de^n  Swift,  particularly  in  that  of  diminishing  the  gold 
coin,  as  it  is  probable  that  they  both  were  actuated  by  an 
earnest  desire  of  serving  the  country.  In  one  affair,  that 
pf  Wood's  halfpence,  they  appear  to  have  coincided,  and 
in  that  they  both  happened  to  encourage  a  public  clamour 
which  had  little  solid  foundation. — ^The  writer  of  archbishop 
Boulter's  Life  in  Ithe  Biog.  Brit,  seems  to  doubt  whether 
he  assisted  Ambrose  Philips  in  the  paper  called  the 
**  Freethinker  j"  but  of  this  we  apprehend  there  can  be  no 


tl4  BOULTER. 

doubt     It  was  published  while  he  held  the  living  of  S^, 
Olave's. 

His  widow  died  March  3,  1754.  On  the  contingency  of 
his  having  no  issue  by  her,  which  was  the  case,  he  had 
bequeathed  five  hundred  pounds  to  Magdalen-college  in 
Oxford,  to  be  applied  towards  rebuilding  the  same ;  and  a 
thousand  pounds  to  Christ-church  in  the  same  university, 
to  be  applied  to  the  pui'chase  of  an  estate  for  founding  five 
exhibitions  of  equal  value,  to  be  distributed  among  five  of 
the  poorest  and  most  deserving  of  the  commoners  of  that 
college,  to  be  enjoyed  by  them  for  four  years  from  the 
time  of  their  election  ;  and  directed,  that  no  commoner  of 
sabove  three  years  standitig  should  be  elected  into  the  said 
exhibitions.  He  vested  the  said  election  in  the  dean  and 
canons  of  that  house,  and  directed  that  the  exhibitioners 
should  be  chosen  upon  a  public  examination  in  the  ball, 
and  recommended  the  sons  of  clergymen  to  be  in  the  first 
place,  cateris  paribus,  considered.  He  also  bequeathed  the 
further  sum  of  five  hundred  pounds  to  the  last  n:cntioned 
college,  to  buy  an  estate,  to  be  distributed  in  equal  exhi- 
bitions to  five  servitots  of  the  said  college,  of  whom  none 
were  to  be  capable  of  election  who  were  of  above  two  years 
standing,  nor  to  enjoy  the  exhibition  longer  than  for  three 
years ;  and  he  vested  the  right  of  election  in  the  dean  and 
chapter.  * 

BOULTON  (Matthew),  who  justly  ought  to  be  classed 
among  public  benefactors,  the  son  of  Matthew  Boulton,  by 
Christian,  daughter  of  Mr.  Peers,  of  Chester,  was  born  sit 
Birmingham  Sept.  3,  1728,  and  was  principally  educated 
at  a  private  grammar  school,  kept  by  the  rev.  Mr.  Ansted. 
He  learned  drawing  under  Worlidge,  and  mathematics  tin- 
der Cooper,  and  laid  in  a  stock  of  that  useful  knowledge 
by  which  he  was  enabled  so  highly  to  improve  the  manu- 
factures of  his  country.  So  early  as  the  year  1745,  Mr. 
Boulton  invented  and  brought  to  great  perfection,  the  in- 
laid steel,  buckles,  buttons,  watch  chains,  &c.  Great 
quantities  of  these  were  exported  to  France,  from  whence 
they  were  re-purchased  with  avidity 'by  the  English,  as  the 
offspring  of  Erench  ingenuity.  His  manufactory  at  Bir- 
mingham, however,  being  inadequate  to  his  extensive  im- 
provements, and  further  experiments,  he,  in  1762,  pur- 
chased a  lease  of  the  Soho,  at  Handsworth,  in  the  county 

1  Biog.  Brit.«-Pr6face  to  hit  Letters. 


B  O  U  L  T  O  N.  215 

of  Stafford,  distant  about  two  miles;  at  that  time,  a  bar* 
reH  heathy  on  the  bleak  summit  of  which  stood  a  naked 
hut,  the  habitation  of  a  warrener.  These  extensive  tracts 
of  common  were  converted  by  Mr.  BouUon  into  the  present 
superb  manufactory,  which  was  finished  in  1765,  at  the 
expence  of  9000/.;  and  in  the  year  1794,  he  purchased  the 
fee  simple  of  Soho,  and  much  of  the  other  adjoining  lands. 

Impelled  by  an  ardent  attachment  to  the  arts,  and  by  the 
patriotic  ambition  of  bringing  his  favourite  Soho  to  the 
highest  perfection,  the  ingenious  proprietor  soon  esta- 
blished a  seminary  of  artists,  for  drawing  and  modelling ; 
and  men  of  genius  were  sought  for,  and  liberally  patronized, 
ivhich  shortly  led  to  the  successful  establishment  of  an  ex- 
tensive manufactory  of  ornaments,  in  what  the  French  call 
crmoulu;  and  these  ornaments  not  only  found  their  wiiy 
into  the  apartments  of  his  majesty,  but  also  into  those  of 
the  nobility  and  curious  of  this  kingdom,  France,  and  the 
greatest  part  of  £urope. 

Finding  that  the  mill  which  he  had  erected  fell  infinitely 
short,  even  with  the  aid  of  horses,  of*  the  force  which  was 
necessary  for  the  completion  of  his  vast  designs,  Mr.  fioul- 
ton,  in  1767,  had  recourse  to  that  master- piece  of  human 
ingenuity,  the  steam  engine.  This  wonderful  machine  was 
yet  in  its  infancy,  and  did  not  at  first  answer  the  expecta- 
tions that  had  been  formed  of  it.  In  1769,  Mr.  James  Watt, 
of  Glasgow,  obtained  a  patent  for  a  prodigious  improve- 
ment in  the  steam  engine.  This  induced  Mr.  Boulton  to 
form  connexions  with  Mr.  Watt,  and  invited  him  to  settle 
at  Soho,  to  which  the  latter  consented.  In  1775,  parlia- 
ment granted  a  prolongation  of  the  patent  for  twenty -five 
years ;  and  Messrs.  Boulton  and  Watt  entering  into  a  part- 
nership, established  a  very  extensive  manufactory  of  these  . 
engines  at  Soho,  whence  most  of  the  great  mines  and  ma- 
nufactories in  England  continue  to  be  supplied,  and  they 
are  now  applied  in  almost  every  mechanical  purpose,  where 
great  power  ie  requisite. 

Amongst  the  various  applications  of  the  steam  engine, 
that  of  coining  se^ms  to  be  of  considerable  importance,  as 
by  its  powers,  all  the  operations  are  concentrated  on  the 
same  spot.  It  works  a  number  of  coining  machines  with 
greater  rapidity  and  exactness  by  a  few  boys  from  twelve  to 
fourteen  years  of  age,  than  could  be  done  by  a  great  num« 
ber  of  strong  men,  without  endangering  their  fingers,  as 
the  machine  itsdf  lays  the  bliinks  upon  the  die  perfectly 


UIB  B  O  U  L  T  O  N. 

conceiitral  with  it,  and,  when  struck,  dj$place$  one  piece 
and  replaces  another.  The  coining  mill,  which  was  erected 
in  1788,  and  has  since  been  greatly  improved,  is  adapted 
to  work  eight  machines,  and  each  is  capable  of  striking 
from  sixty  to  an  hundred  pieces  of  money  in  a  minute,  the 
size  of  a  guinea,  which  is  equal  to  between  30,000  and 
40,000  per  hour,  and  at  the  same  blow,  which  strikes  the 
face  and  reverse,  the  edge  of  the  piece  is  also  struck,  either 
plain  or  with  an  inscription. 

About  the  year  1773,  the  ingenious  art  of  copying  pic- 
tures in  oil  colours,  by  ^  mechanical  process,  was  invented 
at  Soho;  and  was  brought  to  such  a  degree  of  perfection 
that  the  copies  were  taken  for  originals  by  the  most  expe«- 
vienced  connoisseurs.  This  art  was  brought  to  perfection 
under  the  management  of  the  late  ingenious  Mr.  F.  Egin- 
ton,  who  was  no  less  celebrated  for  his  paintings  on  glass. 

In  1788,  Mr.  Boulton  struck  a  piece  of  gold,  the  size  of 
a  guinea,  as  a  pattern,  the  letters  of  which  were  indented 
instead  of  a  relief;  and  the  head  and  other  devices,  although 
in  relief,  were  protected  from  wear  by  a  flat  border ;  and 
from  the  perfect  rotundity  of  shape,  &c.  with  the  aid  of  a 
steel  guage,  it  may  with  great  e&se  and  certainty,  by  as- 
certaining its  specific  gravity,  be  distinguished  from  any 
base  metel.  Previous  to  his  engagement  to  supply  go^ 
vernment  with  copper  pence,  in  order  to  bring  his  appara- 
tus to  perfection,  he  exercised  it  in  coining  silver  money 
for  Sierra  Leone  and  the  African  Company ;  and  copper 
for  the  East  India  Company  and  Bermuda.  Various  beau- 
tiful medals,  also,  of  superior  workmanship  to  any  of  the 
modern  money  of  this  country,  of  our  celebrated  naval  and 
other  officers,  have,  from  time  to  time,  been  struck  here  by 
Mr.  Boulton,  for  the  purpose  of  employing  and  encouraging 
ingenious  artists  to  revive  that  branch  of  sculpture. 

Since  the  demise  of  the  late  empress  Catherine  of  Russia, 
Mr.  Boulton  presented  her  successor,  the  late  emperor 
Paul  I.  with  some  of  the  curious  articles  of  his  manufactory, 
Und  in  return  received  a  polite  letter  of  thanks  and  appro- 
bation, together  with  a  splendid  collection  of  medals,  mi- 
nerals from  Siberia^  and  specimens  of  all  the  modem  mo- 
pey  of  Russia*  Aaong  the  medals  which^  for  elegance  of 
design  and  beauty  of  es:ecution,  have  never  yet  been 
equalled  in  this  or  any  other  country^  is  a  maasy  one  of 
'  gold,  impressed  with  a  striking  likeness,  it  is  said,  of  that 
iponafcb*    This  uiurif  aUed  piece  was  struck  from  a  dip  en- 


B  O  U  L  T  O  N.  SIT 

fraved  fay  the  present  empress  dowager,  who  has,  from  her 
youth,  taken  great  delight  in  the  art  of  engraving  on  steel. 

With  a  view  of  still  further  improving  and  facilitating 
the  jBanufactory  of  steam  engines,  Messrs.  Boulton  and 
Watt,  have  lately,  in  conjunction  with  their  sons,  esta- 
blished a  foundery  at  Smethwick,  a  short  distance  from 
Soho.  Here  that  powerful  agent  is  employed,  as  it  were, 
to  multiply  itself,  and  its.  various  parts  are  fabricated  and 
adapted  together  with  the  same  regularity,  neatness,  and 
expedition,  which  distinguish  all  the  operations  of  their  ma- 
nufactory. Those  engines  are  afterwards  distributed  to  all 
parts  of  the  kingdom  by  the  Birmingham  canal,  which  com- 
municates with  a  wet  dock  belonging  to  the  foundery. 

In  a  national  view,  Mn  Boulton^s  undertakings  have  been 
highly  valuable  and  important     By  -collecting  around  him 
artists  of  various  descriptions,  rival  talents  have  been  called 
forth ;  and,  by  successive  competition,  have  beeu  multi- 
plied to  an  extent  highly  beneficial  to  the  public.     A  bar- 
ren heath  has  beeu  covered  with  plenty  and  population ; 
and  these  works,  which  in  their  infancy  were  little  knowa 
and  attended  to,  now  cover  several  acres,  ffive  employment 
to  more  than  six  hundred  persons,  and  are  indubitably  the 
first  of  their  kind  in  Europe.   No  expence  has  been  spared 
to  render  these  works  uniform  and  handsome  in  architec- 
ture, as  well  as  neat  and  commodious.    The  same  liberal 
spirit  and  taste  have  been  displayed  on  the  adjoining  gar-^ 
dens  and  pleasure  grounds,  which  at  the  same  time  that 
they  form  an  agreeable  separation  from  the  proprietor's 
residence,  render  Soho  a  much  admired  scene  of  piotu** 
resque  beauty.     As  bis  great  and  expanded  mind  formed 
and  brought  to  perfection  the  wonderful  works  thus  briefly 
described,  so  he  felt  no  greater  felicity,  than  that  of  diffus- 
ing happiness  to  all  around  him:     Mr.  Boulton  was  not  only 
a  fellow  of  the  royal  societies  of  London  and  Edinburgh, 
but  likewise  o(  that  which  bears  the  title  of  the  free  and 
oecooomical  at  St.  Petersburg,  and  many  other  foreign 
institutions  of  the  highest  celebrity  in  Europe.    He  died  ia 
his  eighty *first  year,  at  Soho,  August  17,  1809,  regretted 
as  an  illustrious  contributor  to  the  wealth  and  fitme  of  his 
country,  aod  a,  man  of  amiable  and  generous  charactetr 
file  was  succeeded  in  estate  and  talents  by  his  only  son^  the 
piqeaept  proprietor    of    Soho,     in  conjunction  with  his 
^artoers.  ^ 

*  frook  **  JMemoirs  of  M.  Bonltoti,  esq.*'  printed  at  Birmiog^ham  1809. 


»18  BOUQUET. 

BOUQUET  (DoM  Martin),  an  eminent  French  histow 
rian  and  antiquary^  was  a  Benedictine  of  the  congrega<- 
tion  of  St.  Maur,  and  born  at  Amiens,  Aug.  6,  1685.  Af- 
ter finishing  his  course  of  philosophy  and  divinity,  he 
^udied  the  learned  languages  with  great  success,  and  his 
superiors  observing  his  <lecided  taste  for  literature,  made 
him  librarian  of  St.  Germain* des-prez.  He  afterwards 
assisted  the  celebrated  Montfaucon  in  some  of  his  works, 
and  undertook  himself  an  edition  of  Josephus.  When, 
however,  he  had  made  considerable  progress  in  this,  he 
understood  that  a  man  of  learning  in  Holland  was  em- 
ployed on  a  similar  design,  and  therefore,^.with  a  liberality, 
not  very  common,  sent  to  him  all  the  collections  he  had 
formed  for  the  work.  On  the  death  of  father  Le  Long,  of 
the  oratory,  in  1721,  Bouquet  was  employed  in  making 
a  collection  of  the  historians  of  France.  Of  this  important 
work,  a  brief  account  will  not  be  uninteresting. 

The  first  who  attempted  a  collection  of  the  kind  was  the 
famous  Peter  Pithou.  It  was  his  intention  to  have  pub- 
lished a  complete  body  of  French  historians;  extracted 
from  printed  books  and  M8S.  but  be  died  in  1596,  having 
published  only  two  volumes  on  the  subject,  one  in  8vo, 
the  other  in  4to.  These  carried  the  history  no  lower  than 
the  year  1285.  Nothing  more  was  done  till  1635,  when 
Du  Chesne,  who  is  called  the  Father  of  French  history, 
took  up  the  subject  again,  and  published  a  prospectus  for 
a  history,  to  be  comprised  in  fourteen  volumes  fol.  and 
end  with  the  reign  of  Henry  II.  The  first  two  volumes  ac- 
cordingly came  out' in  1636,  bu^  the  author  died  whilst  the 
two  next  were  in  the  press.  These,  however,  were  pub- 
lished in  1641,  by  his  son,  who  added  a  fifth  volume,  end- 
ing with  the  life  of  Philippe  le  Bel,  in  1649.  The  next 
attempts  were  vain,  though^  made  under  the  auspices  of 
such  men  as  Colbert,  Louvois,  and  chancellor  D'Aguesseau: 
the  plan  proposed  by  the  first  miscarried  through  the  ob- 
stinacy of  the  famous  Ducange  (who  would  have  the  work 
done  in  his  own  way,  or  have  nothing  to  do  with  it)  and 
the  modesty  of  Mabillon.  Another  was,  as  we  have  just 
mentibned,  put  a  stop  to  by  the  death  of  Le  Long,  who, 
having  pointed  out  the  materials  in  his  ^'  Bibliothequie 
Historique  de  la  France,"  was  the  fittest  to  have  made  use 
of  them.  In  this  state  of  things  the  Benedictine  congFe* 
gation  of  St  Maur  recommended  Bouquet,  who  accord- 
ingly went  to  work  under  the  inspection  of  a  socie^  of 


BOUQUET.        '  %\9 

learned  men  named  by  the  chancellor,'  in  whose  presence 
the  plan  of  the  work,  and  the  materials  fit  to  be  made  use 
of,  were  discussed.  Bouquet  was  so,  assiduous  in  his  la* 
bour,  that  about  the  end  of  the  year  1729  he  was  ready 
with  two  volumes ;  but,  owing  to  his  removal  to  the  abbey 
of  Stp  John  de  Laon,  they  were  not  published  until  1738, 
when  the  chancellor  D'Aguesseau  called  him  to  Paris,  and 
he  then  prbceeded  so  rapidly,  that  the  eighth  was  published 
in  1752.  He  had  begun  the  ninth,  in  which  he  hoped  to 
have  completed  what  regarded  the  second  race  of  the 
French  kings;  but,  in  1754,  was  seized  with  a  violent  dis- 
order, which  ptoved  fatal  in  tour  days,  April  6.  He  was 
a  man  of  extensive  learning,  connected  with  all  the  learned 
men  and  learned  societies  of  his  time,  and  beloved  for  his 
personal  virtues.  For  many  years  the  work  was  continued 
by  the  congregation  of  St.  Maur,  but  without  the  name  of 
any  editor.  Seven  more  volumes  have  appeared  since 
Bouquet^s  death,  and  the  sixteenth  is  now  in  the  press, 
^nd  almost  ready  for  publication.  * 

BOUQUIN      See  BOQUINE. 

BOURBON,  or  BORBONIUS  (Nicholas),  a  Latin 
poet  of  France,  was  born  in  1503  at  Vandeuvre,  near  Lan«. 
gres,  the  son  of  a  rich  torge-masteh  Margaret  de  Valoi^ 
appointed  him  preceptor  to  her  daughter  Jane  d'Albret  de 
Navarre,  mother  of  Henry  IV.  He  retired  afterwards  to 
Cond^,  where  he  had  a  benefice,  and  died  there  about  1550. 
Bourbon  left  eight  books  of  epigrams,  and  a  didactic  poem 
on  the  forge  entitled  "  Ferrarie/'  1533,  8vo;  "  De  puero- 
rum  moribus,''  Lyons,  1536,  4to,  a  series  of  moral  dis* 
tichs^  with  a  commentary  by  J.  de  Caures.  He  was  ex- 
tremely well  acquainted  with  antiquity  and  the  Greek 
language.  Erasmus  praises  his  epigrams,  and  he  appears 
to  have  been  the  friend  and  correspondent  of  Erasmus, 
Scaliger,  Latimer,  Carey,  Harvey,  Saville,  Norris,  Dud-> 
ley,  &c.  having  frequently  visited  England,  where  he  was 
patronized  by  Dr,  Butts,  the  king^s  physician,  and  William 
Boston,  abbot  of  Westminster,  an  hospitable  man,  with 
whom  he  speaks  of  having  passed  many  pleasant  hours  in 
archbishop  Cranmer's  garden  at  Lambeth.  He  treats  sir 
Thomas  More  with  great  asperity  in  one  of  his  epigrams, 
from  which  we  may  probably  conclude  that  he  inclined  to 
protestantism,  although  this  is  not  consistent  with  his  his* 

}  Moreri.— Diet.  Hist.-*Maty'f  Review,  vol.  11.  p.  472. 


._ 


$tO  BOURBON. 

tory.  His  epigrams  were  published  under  the  title  of 
^'  Nugarum  libri  octo,"  Paris^  1 53 3,  and  often  reprinted,  par** 
ticularly  by  Scaliger,  1577;  in  1608  by  Passerat,  with  notes; 
and  lastly,  by  the  abb6  Brocbard  in  1723,  a  handsome 
quarto  edition,  printed  at  Paris.* 

BOURBON  (Nicholas),  nephew  to  the  above,  and 
superior  to  him  as  a  Greek  and  Latin  poet,  was  the  son  of 
a  physician.  He  taught  rhetoric  in  several  colleges  at 
Paris,  and  cardinal  du  Perron  appointed  him  professor  of 
eloquence  at  the  royal  college.  He  was  also  canon  of 
Langres,  and  one  of  the  forty  of  the  French  academy.  He 
retired  at  last  among  the  fathers  of  the  oratory,  where  he 
died'  August  7,  1644,  aged  seventy.  Bourbon  is  justly 
considered  as  one  of  the  greatest  Latin  poets  whom  France 
has  produced.  His  poems  were  printed  at  Paris,  l&5lf 
12mo.  The  ^*  Imprecation  on  thfe  Parricide  of  Henry  IV.^** 
i^  his  chef-d'oeuvre.  He  wrote  the  two  beautiful  lines 
which  are  upon  the  gate  of  the  arsenal  at  Paris^  in  honour 
of  Henry  the  Great : 

/Etna  hsec  Henrico  Vukania  tela  ministrat^ 
Tela  Gigantasos  debellatura  furores.  * 

BOURCHIER  (Sir  John),  lord  BERNERS,  was  bom 
about  1467,  son  and  heir  of  sir  Humphrey  Bourchier  by 
Elizabeth,  daughter  and  heir  of  sir  Frederick  Tilney 
(widow  of  sir  Thomas  Howard),  which  Humphrey  was 
killed  at  Barnet-field,  on  Edward  IVth's  part,  and  buried  in 
Westminster  abbey,  during  the  life  of  his  father,  who  was 
sir  John  Bourchier,  K.  G.  fourth  son  of  William  earl  of 
Ewe,  and  baron  Berners,  by  marriage  with  Margery, 
daughter  and  heir  of  Richard  lord  Berners.  Lord  Bour- 
chier succeeded  his  grandfather.  May  16,  1474,  being 
then  only  seven  years  old.  He  was  educated  in  Baliol 
college,  Oxford,  and  afterwards  travelled  abroad,  and  re* 
turned  a  master  of  seven  languages,  and  a  complete  gen- 
tleman. In  1495  he  obtained  the  notice  of  Henry  VH.  by 
his  valour  in  quelling  the  fury  of  the  rebels  in  Cornwall 
and  Devonshire,  under  the  conduct  of  Michael  Joseph,  a 
blacksmith.  In  1513  he  was  captain  of  the  pioneers  at 
the  siege  of  Therouenne.  In  1514,  being  made  chancellor 
of  the  king's  exchequer  for  life,  he  attended  the  lady 
Mary,  the  king's  sister,  into  France,  to  her  marriage  with 

1  Moreri. — Lounger's  Common-pi  ace-book,  toI.  I. 
'  Moreri.— Baiilet  Jog«men$  des  Savank 


B  O  U  R  C  H  I  E  R,  221 

king  Lewis  XII.  and  in  1527  obtained  a  grant  from  the 
king  of  several  manors.     Afterwards  he  was  made  lieute- 
nant of  Calais  and  the  marches  adjoining  to  France,  and 
spending  most  of  his  time  there,  wrote  several  learned 
works  in  that  situation.     There  he  made  his  will,  March 
3,  1532,  bequeathing  his  body  to  be  buried  in  the  chancel 
of  the  parish  church  of  our  lady,  within  the  town  of  Calais, 
and  appointing  that  an  honest  priest  should  sing  mass  there 
for  his  soul,  by  the  space  of  three  years.     He  died  March 
16th  following,  leaving  by  Katherine  his  wife,  daughter  of 
Jdfhn  duke  of  Norfolk,  Joane  his  daughter  and  heir,  mar- 
ried to  Edmund  Knyvet  of  Ash'welthorpe  in  Norfolk,  esq. 
Lord  Berners  is  now  principally  known  for  his  transla- 
tion of  "  Froissart's  Chronicle,"  which  he  undertook  by 
command  of  the  king,  and  was  published  by  Pinson,  1523, 
1 525,  2  vols.  fol.     It  is  unnecessary  to  add  how  much  this 
translation  has  been  superseded  by  that  of  Thomas  Johne^^ 
esq.  which  lately  issued  from  the  Hafod  press,    and  has 
passed  through  two  editions  since   1803.     Others  of  lord 
Berners's  works  were  a  whimsical  medley  of  translations 
from  the  French,  Italian,  and  Spanish  novels,  which  seem 
to  have  been  the  mode  then,  as  they  were  afterwards  in  the 
reign  of  Charles  II.     These  were,  "  The  Life  of  Sir  Ar- 
thur, an  Armorican  Knight ;"  "  The  famous  exploits  of 
sir  Hugh  of  Bourdeaux: ;"  **  Marcus  Aurelius ;"  and  the 
**  Castle  of  Love."     He  also  composed  a  book  "  Of  the 
duties  of  the  inhabitants  of  Calais,"  and  a  comedy  entitled 
**  Ite  in  Vineam."     Of  all  these  an  ample  account  may  be 
seen  in  our  authorities.  ^ 

BOURCHIER,  or  BOWSCHYRE,  or  BOWCER  (Tho- 
mas), archbishop  of  Canterbury,  in  the  successive  reigns  of 
Henry  VL  Edward  IV.  Edward  V.  Richard  III.  arid  Henry 
VII.  was  son  of  William  Bourchier  earl  of  Ewe  in  Nor- 
mandy, and  the  countess  of  Stafford,  and  brother  of  Henry 
earl  of  Essex,  and,  consequently,  related  to  the  preceding 
lord  Berners.  He  had  his  education  in  Neville^s-inn  at 
Oxford,  and  was  chancellor  of  that  university  three  years, 
viz.  from  1433  to  1437.  His  first  dignity  in  the  church 
was  that  of  dean  of  the  collegiate  church  of  St.  Martin's  in 
London^  from  which,  in  1433,  he  was  advanced,  by  pope 
Eugenius  IV,  to  the  see  of  Worcester :  but  his  consecration 

1  Censura  Literariat,  Tol.  I»— Park't  Royal  and  Noble  Author8,«-*Wo0cl*f 
Ath.  TOl.  I. 


Mi  B  O  U  R  C  H  I  E  Rj 

was  deferred  to  May  15,  1436,  by  reason  (as  is  supposed^ 
of  a  defect,  in  age.     He  had  not  sat  a  full  year,  before  hef 
was  elected  by  the  monks  of  Ely  bishop  of  that  see,  and 
confirmed  by  the  pope  :  but^  the  king  refusing  his  consent, 
Bourchier  did  not  dare  to  comply  with  the  election,  for 
fear  of  incurring  the  censure  of  the  laws,  which  forbad^ 
under  very  severe  penalties,  the  receiving  the  pope's  bull 
without  the  king's  leave.     Nevertheless,  seven  or  eight 
years  after,  the  see  of  Ely  still  continuing  vacant,  and  the 
king   consenting,  he  was  translated  thither,  the  20th  of 
December  1443.     The  author  of  the  "  Historia  Eliensis" 
speaks  very  disadvantageousl^  of  him,  as  an  oppressor^ 
and  neglectful  of  his  duty  during  his  residence  on  that  see, 
which  was  ten  years  twenty-three  weeks  and  five  days*    At 
last  he  was   elected  archbishop  of  Canterbury,    in   the 
room  of  John  Kemp,  .the  23d  of  April  1454.     This  election 
was  the  more  remarkable,    as   the  monks  were  left  en- 
tirely to  their  liberty  of  choice,  without  any  interposition 
either  from  the  crown  or  the  papal  chair.     On  the  con-* 
trary,  pope  Nicolas  Vth's  concurrence  being  readily  ob- 
tained, the  archbishop  was  installed  with  great  solemnity. 
In  the  month  of  December  following,  he  received  the  red 
hat  from  Rome,  being  created  cardinal-priest  of  St.  Cyria- 
cu^s  in  Thermis,  but  Bentham  thinks  this  was  not  till  ]464. 
The  next  year,  he  was  made  lord  high  chancellor  of  Eng- 
land, but  resigned  that  office  in  October  the  year  follow- 
ing.    Soon  after  his  advancement  to  the  see  of  Canterbury^ 
be  began  a  visitation  in  Kent,  and  made  several  regula* 
tioiis   for  the   government  of  his  diocese.     He  likewise 
published  a  constitution  for  restraining  the  excessive  abuse 
of  papal  provisions,  but  deserved  most  highly  of  the  learned 
world,  for  being  the  principal  instrument  in  introducing 
the  noble  art  of  printing  into  England.     Wood's  account,,  . 
although  not  quite  correct,  is  worth  transcribing.     Bour^ 
chier  "  being  informed  that  the   inventor,  •  Tossan,   alias 
John  Guthenberg,  had  set  up  a  press  at  Harlem,  was  ex- 
tr^^mely  desirous  that  the  English  might  be  made  masters 
of  so  beneficial  an  art.     To  this  purpose  he  persuaded 
king   Henry  VL  to  dispatch   one  Robert  Tournour,  be- 
longing to  the  wardrobe,  privately  to  Harlem.     This  man, 
furnished  with  a  thousand  marks,  of  which  the  archbishop 
supplied  three  hundred,  embarked  for   Holland,   and,  to 
disguise  the  matter,  went  in  company  with  one  Caxton,  a 
joiercbaot  gf  London,  pretending  himself  to  be  of  the  same 


BO  U  R  C  H  I  E  R.  223 

profession.  Thus  concealing  his  name  and  his  business,  he 
went  first  to  Amsterdam,  then  to  Ley  den,  and  at  last  settled, 
at  Harlem  ;  where  having  spent  a  great  deal  of  time  and 
money,  he  sent  to  the  king  for  a  fresh  supply,  giving  bia 
Highness  to  understand,  that  he  had  almost  compassed  the 
enterprize.  In  short,  he  persuaded  Frederic  Corselli,  one 
of  the  compositors,  to  carry  off  a  set  of  letters,  and  embark 
vvithhim  in  the  night  for  London.  When  they  arrive^,  the 
archbishop,  thinking  Oxford  a  more  convenient  place  for 
printing  than  London,  sent  Corselli  down  thither.  And, 
lest  he  should  slip  away  before  he  had  discovered  the  whole 
secret,  a  guard  was  set  upon  the  press.  And  thus  the  mys- 
tery of  printing  appeared  ten  years  sooner  in  the  university 
of  Oxford  than  at  any  other  place  in  Europe,  Harlem  and 
Mentz  excepted.  Not  long  after,  there  were  presses  set  up 
at  Westminster,  St.  Alban's,  Worcester,  and  other  monas- 
teries of  note.  After  this  manner  printing  was  introduced 
into  England,  by  the  care  of  archbishop  Bourchier,  in  the 
year  of  Christ  i464,  and  the  third  of  king  Edward  IV." 

Bourchier,  we  are  told,  was  strangely  imposed  upon  by 
the  specious  pretences  of  Richard  duke  of  Gloucester, 
when  he  undertook  to  persuade  the  queen  to  deliver  up  the 
duke  of  York,  her  son,  into  the  protector's  hands.  He 
presided  over  the  church  thirty-two  years,  in  the  most 
troublesome  times  of  the  English  government,  those  of 
Henry  YI.  and  Edward  IV.  ^  He  also  performed  the 
marriage  ceremony  between  Henry  VII.  and  the  daugh- 
ter of  Edward  IV. ;  and  had  the  happiness  to  be  con- 
temporary with  many  prelates  of  distinction  in  English 
history.  He  was  certainly  a  man  of  learning;  though 
nothing  written  by  him  has  come  down  to  us,  if  we 
except  a  few  Synodical  decrees.  Dart  tells  us,  he 
founded  a  chantry,  which  was  afterwards  surrendered  to 
king  Henry  VIII.  Archbishop  Bourchier  died  at  his  pa« 
lace  of  Knowle,  on  Thursday  the  thirtiethof  March  1486,> 
and  was  buried  on  the  north  side  of  the  choir  of  his  cathe-- 
dral,  by  the  high  altar,  in  a  tomb  of  marble,  on  which  is  an 
inscription  merely  recording  the  event. 

Archbishop  Bourchier's  benefactions  are  stated  by  Mr. 
Bentham  as  follows  :  He  gave  to  the  prior  and  convent  of 
Christ  Church  in  Canterbury,  the  alien  priory  of  Cranfield 
in  Essex,  a  grant  of  which  he  had  obtained  from  the  crown 
in  the  time  of  Edward  the  Fourth.  To  the  church  of  Can- 
terbury, besides  the  image  of  the  Trinity,  he  bequeathed 


22«  B  O  U  R  C  H  1  E  R* 

twenty-seven  copes  of  red  tissue,  and  left  to  his  sitccessor,  in 
recompence  for  dilapidations,  2000/w ;  also  1251.  to  each  of 
the  universities,  to  be  kept  ^n  chests,  for  the  support  of  the 
poor  scholars.  The  chest  at  Cambridge,  which  was  united 
with  Biilingford^s,  was  in  being  in  1601,  when  100/.  was 
borrowed  out  of  it  for  the  use  of  the  univei*8ity  ;  but  this^' 
fund  was  afterward  embezzled,  through  the  iniquity  of  the 
times.  The  archbishop  left  also  legacies  to  several  mo- 
nasteries. ' 

BOURDALOUE  (Lewis),  a  Jesuit,  and  one  of  the  most 
eloquent  preachers  France  ever  produced,  was  born  at 
Bourges,  Aug.  20,  163*2,  and  entered  the  society  of  the 
Jesuits  in  1648.  After  having  passed  some  years  in  teach-  * 
ing  grammar,  rhetorick,  philosophy,  and  divinity,  his  ta- 
lents pointed  him  out  for  the  office  of  preacher,  and  the  ex- 
traordinaiy  popularity  of  bis  sermons  in  the  country,  deter- 
mined his  superiors  to  call  him  to  Paris  in  1669,  to  take 
the  usual  course  of  a  yearns  preaching  in  their  church  of.St« 
Louis,  which  soon  became  crowded  with  multitudes  of  both 
sexes  both  from  the  court  and  <»ty ;  nor  was  this  a  trans- 
ient impression,  as  whoever  heard  him  once  wished  td  hear 
Iiim  again,  and  even  Louis  XIV.  listened  with  pleasure,  al- 
though he  appears  to  have  introduced  subjects  in  his  dis- 
courses which  could  not  be  very  acceptable  in  his  conrt. 
On  the  revocation  of  the  edict  of  Nantz,  the  king  sent  him 
into  Languedoc  to  strengthen  the  new  or  pretended  con- 
verts from  the  heresies  of  the  protestant  faith,  and  we  are 
told  the  effect  of  his  eloquence,  was  great.  His  eloquence 
was  undoubtedly  superior  to  that  qf  his  contemporaries,  and 
he  has  justly  been  praised  for  introducing  a  more  pure 
style  than  was  customary  in  the  French  pulpits.  One  ef- 
fect of  his  preaching  was,  that  great  numbers  of  his  hearers 
requested  him  to  take  their  souls  into  his  hands,  and  be  the 
director  of  their  consciences,  in  other  words,  to  turn  father 
confessor,  with  which  he  complied,  and  frequently  sat  five 
or  six  hours  in  the  confessional,  completing  there,  says  his 
biographer,  what  he  had  only  sketched  in  the  pulpit.  He 
was  yet  more  admired  for.  his  charitable  attentions  and  the 
sick  and  poor,  among  whom  he  passed  much  of  his  time,  in 
religious  conference  and  other  acts  of  humanity.  He  died 
at  Paris  May  13,  1704,  universally  lamented  and  long  re- 
jmembered  as  the  most  attractive  and  eloquent  of  preachers. 

I  Biogr  Brit— BmUi»m'«  Ely* 


BOURDEILLES.  225 

He  Irad  preached  thirty 'four  years  at  court  and  in  Paris. 
Father  Bretonneau  published  two  editions  of  bis  works,  the 
first  of  16  vols*  Svo.  1716,  reckoned  the  best,  or  at  least, 
tbe  most  beautifully  printed ;  and  the  second  in  18  vols. 
12fno«  Comparisons  have  been  formed  between  hiin  and 
Massillon,  "but  several  are  still  inclined  to  g^ive  him  the  pre«» 
ference.  There  is  warmth,  zeal,  and  elegance  in  his  style 
and  reasoning,  but  he  is  frequently  declamatory  and  ver-* 
bose.  It  is  difficult,  however,  for  English  critics  to  appre- 
ciate the  merits  of  his  sermons,  calculated  as  they  were  for 
a  class  of  hearers  with  whose  taste  we  are  unacquainted* 
Of  his  catholic  spirit  we  have  an  instance  on  record,  that 
in  an  interview  with  bishop  Burnet  at  Paris,  he  told  tbe 
English  prelate  that  he  beUeved  ^'  all  honest  protestants 
would  be  saved.'* ' 

BOURDEILLES  {Peter  de),  better  known  by  the  name 
of  Brant6me,  of  which  he  was  abbot,  added  to  that  title 
those  of  lord  and  baron  of  Richemont,  chevalier,  gentle-* 
ii>aii  of  the  chamber' to  the  kings  Charles  IX.  and  Henry 
III.  and  chamberlain  to  the  duke  of  Alen9on.  He  had  the 
design  of  being  created  a  knight  of  Maltha  in' a  voyage  he 
made  to  that  isle  during  tbe  time  of  the  siege  in  1565.  He 
returned  to  France,  where  he  was  fed  with  vain  expecta- 
tions ;  but  he  received  no  other  reward  (as  he  tells  us  him- 
self) than  being^welcomedbythe^ kings  his  masters,  great 
lords,  princes,  sovereigns,  queens,  princesses,  &c.  He 
died  Julys,  1614,  at  the  age  of  87.  His  memoirs  were 
printed  in  ten  volumes,  l^mo,  viz.  four  of  the  French 
commsmdersj  two  of  foreign  commanders ;  two  of  women 
of  gallantry;  one  of  illustrious  ladies;  and  one  of  duels. 
There  is  another  edition  of  the  Hague,  1741,  15  vols.  12mOy 
on  account  of  the  supplement,  which  makes  five,  and  also 
a.  Paris  edition  1787,  8  vols.  Svo.  These  menK^irs  may  be 
of  some  use,  if  read  cautiously,  by  those- who  would  know 
tbe  private  history  of  Charles  IX.  of  Henry  III.  and  of 
Henry  IV.  Here  the  man  is  more  represented  than  the 
prince.  The  pleasure  of  seeing  these  kings  in  their  pecu- 
liarities in  private  life,  added  to  the  simplicity  of  Brant6me'« 
style,  renders  the  reading  of  his  memoirs  extremely  agree- 
able. But  some  of  his  anecdotes  are  grossly  indecent,  and 
jnany  of  them  fictions. 

^<  Braiitomeji"  (says  M.  Anquetil)  *'  is  in  the  bands  of 

^  Mor«ij.«-Biog.  Q all  ica«<— -Diet.  Hist. 

Vol.  VI.  Q. 


826         ^       B  O  U  R  D  E  I  L  L  E  S. 

m. 

ev^ry  body.  All  the  world  pretends  to  have  read  him ;  but 
he  ought  particularly  to  be  put  into  the  hands  of  princes^ 
that  they  may  learn  how  impossible  it  is  for  them  to  hide 
themselves ;  they  they  have  an  importance  in  the  eyes  ^f 
their  courtiers,  which  draws  attention  to  all  their  actions ; 
and  that,  sooner  or  later,  the  most  secret  of  them  are  re* 
vealed  to  posterity.  The  reflections  that  would  occur,  on 
seeing  that  Brantdme  has.  got  together  all  the  little  transact* 
*tions,  all  the  idle  words  that  have  escaped  them,  all  •the 
actions  pretended  to  be  indifferent,  which  were  thought  to 
be  neglectisd-  and  lost,  and  which  nevertheless  mark  the 
character,  would  render  them  more  circumspect. — In  read* 
ing  Brantdme  a  problem  forces  itself  on  the  mind,  which 
it  is  difficult  to  «olve.^  It  is  very  common  to  see  that  author 
joining  together  the  most  discordant  ideas  in  regard  to  mo-« 
rals.  Sometimes  he  will  represent  a  woman  as  addicted  to 
the  most  infamous  refinements  of  libertinism,  and  then  will 
conclude  by  saying  that  she  was  prudent,  and  a  giood^Chris« 
tian.  So  likewise  of  a  priest,  of  a  monk,  or  any  other  ec'^ 
clesiastic,  he  will  relate  anecdotes  more  than  waiiton  ;  and 
will  tell  us  very  gravely  at  the  end,  that  this  man  lived  re* 
gularly  according  to  his  station.  Almqst  all  his  memoirs 
are  full  of  similar  contradictions  in  a  sort  of  epigran».  On 
which  1  have  this  questipn  to  propose :  Was  Brantdme  a  li- 
bertine ;  who,  in  order  to  sport  more  securely  with  religion 
and  morals,  affects  in  the  expression  a  respect  to  which  the 
very  matter  of  the  recital  gives  the  lie?  or.  Was  he  one  of 
those  persons  who  generally  go  under  the  name  of  amiable 
fops ;  who,  without  principles  as  without  design,  confound  vir-» 
tue  and  vice,  making  no  real  difference  between  one  character 
and  another?  Whatever  judgment  we  may  form  of  him,  we 
^ust  always  blame  him  for  omitting  to  observe  a  proper  re<>> 
verence  for.  decorum  in  his  writings,  and  for  frequently 
putting  modesty  t6  the  blush*  We  perceive  in  Brantdme 
the  character  of  those  young  men,  who,  making  a  p^rt  of 
the  court  by  their  birth,  pass  their  lives  in  it  without  pre* 
tensions  and  without  desires.  They  amuse  themselves  with 
every  thing :  if  an  action  has  a  ridiculous  side,  th^  seizQ 
it;  if  it  has 'not,  they  give  it  one,  Brantdme  only  ^kimj^ 
along  the  surface  of  a  subjects  he  knows  nothing  of  diving 
into  an  action,  and  unfolding  the  motives  that  gave  it  birtb» 
Re  gives  a  good  picture  of  what  he  has  seen,,  relates  in  sim-^ 
pie  terms  what  he  has  heard  ^  but  it  is  nothing  uncommon 
to  see  him  quit  bis  main  object^  return  to  it,  quit  it  again. 


BOURDEILLES.  227 

ft 

ud  ctonclude  by  thinking  no  more  of  it    With  all  this  irr 
xegularity  he  pleases,  because  he  amuses.*'  ^ 

BOURDEILLES  (Claude  de),  grand-nephew  of  the 
former,  comte  de  Montresor,  attached  to  Gaston  of  Or- 
leans, both  while  he  was  in  favour,  and  when  he  had  lost 
it,  was  several  times  deprived  of  his  liberty  for  serving  that 
prince.  Disgusted  with  the  tumult  and  the  artifices  of  the 
court,  he  took  up  the  resolution  of  enjoying  the  sweets  of 
prii^cy.  He  died  at  Paris  in  1663.  He  left  memoirs^ 
known  under  the  name  of  Montr^sor,  2  vols.  12mo,  which 
are  curious,  as  containing  many  particulars  of  the  history 
of  bis  time,  Montresor  makes  no  scruple  of  relating  the 
projects  he  formed  against  the  life  of  cardinal  Richelieu '. 

BOURDELOT  (John),  a  learned  French  critic,    who 
distinguished    himself    iu    the     republic  of   letters   by 
writipg   notes  upon   Lucian,  Petronius^  and  Heliodorus^ 
lived  St  the  end  of  the  16th,  and  in  the  beginning  of  the 
17th  century,  was  of  a,  good  family  Qf  Sens,  and  educated 
with  care.     He  applied  himself  to  the  study  of  the  belles 
lettres  and  of  the  learned  languages;  and  Baillet  tells  us, 
that  he  passed  for  a  great  connoisseur  in  the  oriental 
tongues,  and  in  the.  knowledge  of  manuscripts.  These  pur* 
9uics  did  not  hinder  him  from  being  consummate  in  the  law. 
He   exercised  the  oiEce  of  advocate  to  the  parliament  of 
Paris  in  1627,  when  Mary  of  Medicis,  hearing  of  his  un- 
common merit,  made  him  master  of  the  requests.    He  died 
suddenly  at  Paris  in   1638.     His  edition  of  Heliodorus, 
*  which  is  one  of  th6  best,  was  published  in  1619,  Svo: 
That  of  Lucian  at  Paris,  1615,  fol.  with  the  notes  of  Mi* 
cyllus,  Guerinus,  Marsilius,  and  Cognatus,  and  some  short 
and  learned  ones  by  himself,  at  that  time  a  very  young 
man.     Among  the  sources  from  which  Bourdelot  professes 
to  have  compiled  his  edition,  are  two  ancient  MS3.  in  the 
royal  library  at  Paris,  the  existence  of  which  Faber  (ad  Lu-* 
cianiTimonem,  c.  I.)  denies  in  the  most  positive  terms.  His 
Petronius  was  first  published  at  Paris,  12mo,  in  1618,  a 
very  scarce  edition^  and  reprinted  in   1645,  1663^  and 
1677.* 

BOURDELOT  (Peter  Michon),  nephew  to  the  above, 
and  educated  by  him,  was  a  very  celebrated  physician  at 
Paris,  where  he  died  Feb.  9,  1685,  aged  seventy-six.  In 
1634,  he  obtained  leave  to  adopt  the  name  of  Bourdelot, 

>  Morerir-^Sict.  Hiit.  *  Ibid.  »  Ibid.-rPibdin'i  Cluiiw. 

<12 


128  BOURDELOT, 

pursuant  to  his  uncle's  desire,  who  on  that  condition  left 
him  his  library  and  fortune.  He  wrote  some  treatises 
on  "  the  Viper,"  on  "  Mount  Etna,"  "  La  relation  des 
appartmens  de  Versailles,"  &c.  with  three  volumes,  of 
"  Conferences,"  which  were  pubUshed  by  M.  le  Gallois.  * 

BOURDELOT  (Peter  Bonnet),  physician  inordinary 
to  Louis  XIV.  and  first  physician  to  the  dnchess  of  Bur- 
gundy, was  sister's  son  to  the  preceding  P.  Miction  Bour- 
delot,  who  enjoined  him  to  change  his  name  from  Bonnet 
to  Bourdelot,  on  the  same  terms  that  himself  adopted  that 
name,  viz.  his  library  and  fortune.  P.  Bonnet  Bourdelot 
was  a  skilful  physician,  and  a  man  of  geqeral  literature. 
He  wrote  some  useful  notes  on  the  ^^  Bibliotheque  choisie 
de  M.  Colonii6s,"  which  were  added  to  the  Paris  edition  of 
173],  and  left  a  manuscript  catalogue  of  all  printed  medi- 
cal works,  with  lives  and  criticisms  on  the  authors.  He 
wrote  also  some  papers  on  the  history  of  music,  whiJh  were 
used  by  his  brother  Bonnet  in  his  "  Histoire  de  la  Mu- 
ftique,"  1715.'   He  died  in  1 709,  aged  fifty-four.  * 

BOURDON  (Sebastian),  a  very  celebrated  French 
painter,  was  boi^  at  Montpellier  in  1616.  His  father,  who 
was  a  glass-painter,  gave  him  the  first  instructions  in  his 
art.  When  only  seven  years  old,  one  of  his  uncles  brought 
him  to  Paris,  and  placed  him  with  a  very  indifferent  painter, 
whose  defects,  however,  were  supplied  by  young  Bour- 
don^s  natural  genius.  Returning  to  Bourdeaux  at  the  age 
of  fourteen,  he  painted  the  cieling  of  a  neighbouring  cha- 
teau, and  then  went  to  Toulouse.  Finding  here  no  em- 
ployment, he  went  into  the  army  ;  but  his  captain,-  a  man 
of  some  taste,  judging  that  he  would  one  day  excel  in  bis 
profession  as  an  artist,  gave  him  his  discharge.  He  was 
eighteen  when  be  went  to  Italy,  and  .became  acquainted 
with  Clande  Lorrain,  whose  manner,  as  well  as  that  of 
Sacchi,  Caravagio,  and  Bamboccio,  he  imitated  with  great 
success.  After  a  residence  of  three  years  here,  be  hap- 
pened to  have  a  difference  with  a  painter,  who  threatened  to 
inform  against  him  as  a  Calvinist,  and  Bourdon  immediately 
set  out  for  Venice,  and  thence  to  France.  At  the  age  of 
twenty -seven  he  painted  his  famous  Crucifixion  of  St,  Peter 
for  the  church  of  Notre  Dame  at  Paris,  which  could  not  fail 
to  raise  his  reputation.  Du  Guernier,  a  miniature  painter, 
much  employed  at  court,  and  whose  sister  he  married,  ^ts^ 

^  Morcri.  >  Ibid.«— Hawkios^s  Uist,  of  Music. 


B  O  U  R  D  O  N.  229 

sisted  him  with  bis  advice,  and  procured  him  work.  But 
the  civil  wars  interrupting  the  progress  of  the  fine  arts,  in 
1652  he  v^ent  to  Sweden,  where  queen  Christina  appointed 
him  her  first  painter.  While  employed  on  many  works  for 
her,  chiefly  portrait's,  she  mentioned  to  him  one  day  some 
pictures  which  the  king  her  father  had  found  when  he  took 
Prague;  these  had  till  now  remained  unpacked,  and  she  de- 
sired Bourdon  to  examine  them.  Bourdon  reporied  fa- 
vourably of  them,  particularly  of  some  by  Corregio,  on 
which  the  queen  requested  he  would  accept  them  as  a  pre- 
sent from  her.  Bourdon,  with  corresponding  liberality  and 
disinterestedness,  represented  that  they  were  some  of  the 
finest  paintings  in  £urope,  and  that  her  majesty  ought  ne- 
ver to  part  with  them,  as  a  fit  collection  for  a  crowned  head. 
The  queen  accordingly  kept  them,  and  took  them  with  her 
to  Rome  when  she  abdicated  the  throne.  After  her  death, 
the  heirs  of  Don  Livio  Odeschalchi,  who  had  purchased  tbeonl, 
sold  them  to  the  regent  duke  of  Orleans ;  and  they  after- 
wards made  part  of  the  fine  collection  known  in  this  coun- 
try by  the  name.of  the  Orleans  Collection. 

Bourdon,  however,  not  findiilg  much  exercise  for  his  ge- 
nius in  Sweden,  and  the  queen  having  become  Roman 
catholic  after  her  abdication,  he  returned  to  France,  then 
more  favourable  to  the  arts,  and  soon  had  abundance  of 
employment.     Among  his  first  performances  after  his  re- 
turn, were  a  "  Dead  Christ,"  and  the  "  Woman  taken  in 
adultery.*'    Some  business  occasioning  him  to  go  to  Mont- 
pellier,  during  his    short  i^ay  there  he  painted  several 
portraitsof  persons  of  fashion.  A  n  anecdote  is  told,  that,  when 
in  this  place,  a  taylor  who  had  a  great  esteem  for  him^  and 
knew  he  was  not  rich,  sent  to  him,  by  the  hand  of  one 
Francis,  a  painter,  a  complete  suit  of  clothes,  cloak,  and 
bonnet.     Bourdon,  in  return,  sent  him  his  portrait  dressed 
in  this  suit ;  but  Francis,  thinking  it  a  very  fine  specimen 
of  the  art,  presented  the  taylor  with  *a  copy,  and  kept  the 
original.     In  1663  he  returned  to  Paris,  where  he  conti- 
nned  to  execute  many  fine  pictures,  until  his  death  in 
1671. 

He  bad  an  uncommon  readiness  of  hand,  though  he  was 
frequently  incorrect,  and  was  particularly  so  in  the  extre- 
mities of  his  figures.  As  a  proof  of  his  expeditious  n^an- 
ner  of  painting,  it  is  reported,  that  in  one  day  he  painted 
twelve  portraits  after  life,  as  large  as  nature,  and  those  not 
the  worst  of  his  performances*    His  touch  is  extremely 


«30  B  O  U  R  D  O  K. 


lightj  his  colouring  good,  his  attitudes  are  full  of  variety, 
and  sometimes  graceful,  and  his  expression  is  lively  and 
animated.  However,  it  must  be  confessed,  that  his  con- 
ceptions v^ere  often  extravagant,  nor  would  many  of  his 
compositions  abide  a  critical  examination.  His  landscapes 
are  in  the  taste  of  Titian,  but  they  seem  rather  designed 
from  imagination  than  after  nature  ;  yet,  in  several  of  them, 
the  product  of  that  imagination  has  a  beautiful  effect ;  and 
he  usuajly  enriched  his  pastoral  scenes  with  a  great  num- 
ber of  figures  and  animals.  His  pictures  are  seldom  finish- 
ed, and  those  which  appear  most  so,  are  not  always  his  best. 
The  most  esteemed  work  of  Bourdon  is  the  Martyrdom  of 
St.  Peter,  in  the  church  of  Notre  Dame  at  Paris,  which  is 
considered  as  a  curiosity.  Sir  Joshua  Reynolds  had  his 
**  Return  of  the  Ark  from  captivity,*'  which  he  bequeathed 
to  sir  George  Beaumont.  Sir  Joshua  in  his  fourteenth 
discourse  speaks  very  highly  of  this  picture.  As  a  proof 
of  the  value  of  Sebastian  Bourdon^s  pictures  in  this  country, 
we  may  mention  that  in  1770,«  a  holy  family  by  him  was 
sold  by  the  late  Mr.  Christie,  for  341/.  5s. 

Sebastian  Bourdon  has  also  a  place  among  engravers. 
His  etchings,  which  are  numerous,  are  executed  in  a  bold, 
masterly  style  ;  and  convey  a  clear  idea  of  his  manner  of 
painting.  The  lights  are  broad,  the  draperies  are  formed 
with  great  taste,  and  the  folds  well  marked,  though  some- 
times too  dark  and  hard  upon  the  lights ;  the  heads  are 
very  expressive  ;  the  back-grounds  are  finely  conceived, 
and  executed  in  a  grand  style.  Some  of  the  principal  from 
his  own  compositions  are  the  following ;  the  **  Seven  acts 
of  mercy ;"  the  "  Flight  into  Egypt,"  and  the  "  Return 
from  thence  ;'*  several  subjects  of  the  **  Virgin  and  Child  ;'• 
in  one  of  which  is  seen  a  woman  washing  linen,  hence  dis- 
tinguished by  the  name  of  the  washer- woman  ;  the  **  Re- 
turn of  the  ark,"  from  the  above-mentioned  picture,  said 
to  be  very  scarce ;  the  "  Baptism  of  the  eunuch ;"  **  Twelve 
large  landscapes,"  very  spirited  and  fine  prints.  * 

BOURG.     SeeDUBOURG. 

BOURGELAT  (Claude),  veterinary  surgeon,  was  a 
native  of  Lyons,  and  in  his  youth  a  soldier,  after  which  he 
studied  law,  but  quitted  that  pursuit  on  being  appointed 
chief  of  the  riding-school  of  Lyons,  where  he  seems  to 
have  discovered  the  employment  for  which  he  was  best 

1  I)'ADscrvUio.-4'Uluostoih-*Strutt. 


r 


B  0  U  R  G  E  L  A  T.  SSI 

fitted.  '  From  this  time  he  applied  himself  to  the  principles 
of  horsemansjiip,  which  he  detailed  in  his  "  Nouveau 
Newcastle,  ou  Trait6  de  Cavalerie,"  Lausanne,  1747,  8vo. 
He  laboured  no  less  assiduously  to  rescue  the  veterinary 
art  from  the  hands  of  ignorance  and  empiricism,  and  with 
that  view  published  in  1750,  his  **  Elemens  d'hippiatrique, 
ou  Nouveaux>principes  sur  la  connoissance  des  chevaux,^' 
Lyons,  3  vols.  8vo.  The  knowledge  he  displayed  in  this 
work  probably  rendered  it  easy  for  him  to  obtain  the  leave 
of  government  to  establish  a  veterinary  school  at 'Lyons,  of 
the  great  utility  of  which  the  public  soon  became  sensible, 
and  many  able  scholars  educated  under  Bourgelat  extended 
,  this  new  branch  of  the  medical  art  to  every  part  of  the 
kingdom.  In  1765,  he  published  hiii  ^^Matiere  medicale 
raisonn^e  a  Pusage  de  Tecole  veterinaire,"  Lyons,  8vo. 
His  success  at  Lyons  induced  the  government  to  invite  him 
to  Paris,  and  he  founded  a  second  school  at  Alford,  near 
Charenton,  and  published  several  elementary  treatises  for 
the  use  of  his  scholars,  such  as  '^  Cours  theorique  et pra- 
tique des  bandages ;""  Trait6  de  la  ferrure,"  1776,  l^o; 
**  L*Anatomie  compar^e  de  tons  les  animaux,"  and  "  Me- 
moire  sur  les  maladies  contagieuses  du  betail,''  1776,  4to« 
After  a  life  spent  on  this  important  science,  he  died  ia 
1779,  aged  sixty-seven.  At  his  death  he  bore  the  titles 
of  inspector-general,  of  the  veterinary  schools,  and  com- 
missary-general of  the  stud.  Besides  his  favourite  pursuit, 
he  was  a  man  of  general  knowledge.  ^ 

BOURGEOIS  (Sir  Francis),  knight  of  the  Polish  or- 
der of  Merit,  and  an  artist  of  distinguished  reputation,  was 
the  descendant  of  a  considerable  family  in  Switzerland^  but 
was  born  in  London  in  1756.  His  early  destination  was 
the  army,  under  the  patronage  of  lord  Heathfield,  who  was 
his  father's  friend ;  but  having  been  instructed  while  a 
child  in  the  rudiments  of  painting,  by  a  foreigner  of  incon-* 
siderable  merit  as  a  horse-painter,  be  became  so  attached 
to  the  study,  as  soon  to  relinquish  the  military  profession, 
and  devote  himself  wholly  to  the  pencil.  For  this  purpose 
he  was  placed  under  the  tuition  of  Loutherbourg,  and  hav- 
ing, from  his  connexions  and  acquaintance,  access  to  many 
of  the  most  distinguished  collections,  he  soon  acquired 
considerable  reputation  by  his  landscapes  and  sea-pieces. 
In  1776,  be.  travelled  through  Italy,  France,  and  Holland, 

^  Diet,  Hist, 


/ 


SS2  BOURGEOIS. 

'where  lii»  correct  knowledge  of  the  language  of  each  couH'* 
try,  added  to  the  politeness  of  his  address, .  and  the  plea- 
sures of  his  conversation,  procured  him  an  introduction  to 
the  best  society,  and  most  valuable  repositories  of  the  arts 
on  the  continent.  At  his  return  to  England,  be  ejshibited 
several  specimens  of  his  studies  at  the  royal  academy,  which 
obtained  him  reputation  and  patronage.  In  1791  he  watf 
appointed  painter  to  the  king  of  Poland,  whose  brother, 
the  prince  primate,  had  been  much  pleased  with  his  per- 
formances during  his  residence  in  this  country ;  and  at  the 
same  time  he  received  the  honour  of  knighthood  of  the 
order  of  Merit,  Which  was  afterwards  confirmed  by  his  pre- 
sent majesty,  who,  in  1794,  appointed  him  landscape* 
painter  to  the  king.  Previous  to  this  he  had,  in  1792, 
been  elected  a  member  of  the  royal  academy.  Some  time 
before  bis  death,  by  the  will  of  the  late  Noel  Desenfans, 
esq.  an  eminent  picture-dealer,  he  became  possessed  of 
sufficient  property  to  render  a  laborious  application  to  his 
profession  no  longer  necessary,  and  from  that  time  be  lived 
in  the  circle  of  his  friends,  highly  respected  for  his  talents 
and  agreeable  manners.  .He  died  Jan.  8,  1811,  at  his  bouse 
in  Portland- street,  bequeathing  his  fine  collection  of  pic- 
tures, and  his  fortune,  to  Pulwich  college.  According  to 
the  terms  of  his  will,  he  leaves  the  whole  of  Jtbese  pictures, 
besides  10,000/.  to  keep  them  in  dpe  preservation,  and 
2,000/'for  the  purpose  of  repairing  the  gallery  in  the  col- 
lege for  their  reception.  He  also  bequeathed  legacies  of 
1000/.  each  to  the  master  of  the  college,  and  to  the  chap- 
>  lain  :  and  the  fellows  of  the  college  are  to  be  the  residuary 
legatees,  and  are  to  possess,  for  its  advantage,  all  the  rest 
of  his  property,  df  every  denomination.  Most  part  of  this 
will,  however,  does  not  take  effect  until  after  the  death  of 
Mrs.  Desenfans,  the  widow  of  his  benefactor;  and  after 
that  event  he  directs  that  the  body  of  the  late  Noel  Oesen* , 
fans,  which  is  now  deposited  in  a  sarcophagus  within  a 
niausoleuip  in  a  chapel,  attached  to  his  late  house  in  Char- 
lotCe-street,  Portland-place,  shall  be  removed,  together 
with  his  own  body  (which  has,  by  his  desire,  been  depo- 
sited in  the  same  mausoleum),  and  entombed  in  a  sarco- 
phagus, to  be  placed  in  the  chapel  of  Dulwich  college. 
So  singular  a-  will)  with  respect  at^  least  to  the  place 
chosen  for  this  collection,  excited  ipuch  surprise.  The 
following  circumstances,  however,  which  have  been  c6m- 
municated  by  an  intimate  friend  of  the  testator^  may  ia 


BOURGEOIS.  233 

* 

some  measure  account  for  it.  After  sir  Francis  became 
possessed  of  the  Desenfans  c6llection,  by  the  ownet's 
friendly  will  in  his  favour,  he  wished  to  purchase  the  fee 
simple  of  his  fine  house  in  Charlotte-street,  enlarge  it,  and 
endow  it  as  a  perpetual  repository  for  the  collection,  easily 
accessible  to  the  public,  and  particularly  to  students  as  a 
school  of  art ;  but  unluckily,  his  landlorc^  a  nobleman  lately 
deceased,  refused  his  consent,  although  he  afterwards  ex« 
pressed  an  inclination  to  grant  it,  when  too  late.  Sir  Fran- 
cis then  conceived  the  design  of  bequeathing  the  collectioii^ 
to  the  British  Museum,  but  did  not  execute  it,  from  a  feir 
that  the  pictures  might  not  be  kept  entire  and  unmixed,  he 
being  told  that  it  was  in  the  power  of  the  trustees  to  jdis-  • 
pose  of  what  might  appear  superfluous  or  inferior.  Such 
was  his  respect  for  his  deceased  friend,  that  his  only  am-* 
bition  was  to  discover  a  place  where  the  collection  might 
he  kept  together,  and  known  in  perpetuum,  not  as  his,  but 
as  the  Desenfans  Collection.  By  whom  Dulwich  col- 
lege, an  hospital  for  poor  men  and  women,  remote  from 
the  residence  of  artists  and  men  of  taste,  was  suggested, 
we  know  not.  It  was  a  place  sir  Francis  had  probably  never 
before  seen ;  but,  having  once  visited  it,  and  been  informed 
that  his  terms  might  be  complied  with  therfe,  without  risk  of 
alteration,  he  disposed  of  his  property  as  we  have  related. 
'  As  an  artist,  sir  Francis  may  be  placed  in  the  second 
rank.  He  was  a  close  imitator  of  Loutherbourg.  His  con- 
ception of  bis  subject,  as  well  as  the  grouping  of  his 
figures,  was  happy,  and  in  conformity  with  nature ;  but  he 
was  often  defective  in  his  finishing,  and  so  much  a  man- 
nerist in  his  colouring,  that  his  paintings  may  be  recog- 
nized by  a  very  distant  glance.  * 

BOURGET  (DoM  John),  was  born  at  the  village  of 
Beaumains  near  Falaise,  in  the  diocese  of  Seez,  in  1724. 
He  was  educated  at  th^  grammar-school  at  Caen,  whence 
he  was  removed  to  that  university,  and  pursued  his  studies 
with  great  diligence  and  success  till  17453^  when  he  be- 
came a  Benedictine  monk  of  the  abbey  of  St.  Martin  de 
Seez,  then  en  regk,  that  is,  under  the  direction  of  a  con- 
ventual abbot.  Some  time  after  this,  Dom  Bourget  was 
appointed  prior  claustral  oif  the  said  abbey,  and  continued 
six  years  in  that  office,  when  he  was  nominated  prior  of 
Tiron  en  Perche ;  whence  being  translated  to  the  abbey 

>  Gent  Mag.  isn.— *Lysons*i  Snviroas,  Suppl  VoUme. 


554  B  O  U  R  G  E  T. 

6f  St  Stephen  at  Caen,  in  the  capacity  of  sub-prior,  be 
manage^  the  temporalities  of  that  religious  house  during 
two  years,  as  he  did  their  spiritualities  for  one  year  longer  ; 
affter  which,  according  to  the  custom  of  the  house,  he  re- 
signed his  office.     His  superiors,  sensible  of  hi&  merit  and 
learning,  removed  him  thence  to  the  abbey  of  Bee,  where 
he  resided  till  1764.     He  was  elected  an  honorary  member 
of  the  society  of  antiquaries  of  London,  Jan.  10,  1765 ;  in 
which  year  he  returned  to  the  abbey  of  St.  Stephen  at 
Caen,  where  he  contiaiued  to  the  time  of  his  death.  These 
honourable  offices,  to  which  he  was  promoted  on  account 
of  his  great  abilities,  enabled  him  not  only  to  pursue  bis 
favourite  study  of  the  history  and  antiquities  of  some  of-  the 
principal  Benedictine  abbies  in  Normandy,  but  likewise 
"gave  him  access  to  all  their  charters,  deeds,  register-books, 
&c.  &c.     These  he  examined  with  great  care,  and  left  be- 
hind him  in  MS.  large  and  accurate  accounts  of  the  abbies 
of  St.  Peter  de  Jumieges,    St.  Stephen,  and  the  Holy 
Trinity  at  Caen  (founded  by  William  the  Conqueror  and 
his  queen  Matilda),  and  a  very  particular  history  of  the 
abbey  of  Bee.     These  were  all  written  in  French.     The 
History  of  the  royal  abbey  of  Bee  (which  he  presented  to 
Dr.  Ducarel  in  1764)  is  only  an  abstract  of  his  larger  work. 
This  ancient  abbey,  (which  has  produced  several  arch- 
bishops of  Canterbury  tmd  other  illustrious  prelates  of  this 
kingdom)  is  frequently  mentioned  by  our  old  historians. 
The  death  of  this  worthy  Benedictine  (which  happened  on 
new-year's  day,  1776)  was  occasioned  by  his  unfortunate 
neglect  of  a  hurt  he  got  in  his  leg  by  falling  down  two  or 
three  steps  in  going  from  the  hall  to  the  cloister  of  the 
abbey  of  St.  Stephen  at  Caen,  being  deceived  by  the  am- 
biguous feeWe  light  of  a  glimmering  and  dying  lamp  that 
was  placed  in  that  passage.   He  lived  universally  esteemed, 
and  died  sincerely  regretted  by  all  those  who  were  ac- 
quainted with  him ;  and  was  buried  in  the  church  of  the 
said  abbey,  Jan.  3,   1776.  * 

BOURGUET  (Louis),  who  was  born  at  Nimes  in  1678, 
became  celebrated  for  his  proficiency  in  natural  history. 
The  revocation  of  the  edict  of  Nantes  having  forced  bis 
family  to  go  and  seek  an  asylum  in  Switzerland,  Zurich 
was  indebted  to  them  for  its  manufactures  of  stockings, 
muslins,  and  several  silk  stufFs;.     Young  Bourguet  w^nt 

1  Memoirs  by  Dr,  IHtcarelj  prefixed  to  the  History  of  the  alibey  of  B««w 


B  O  U  R  G  U  E  T.  235 

ihrough  a  course  of  study  there;  afterwards  married  at 
Berne,  and  settled  at  Neufch&tel,  where  he  became  pro- 
fessor of  philosophy  and  mathematics.  He  died  Dec.  31, 
2742,  at  the  age  of  64,  after  publishing,  1.  A  Letter  on 
the  formation  of  salts  and  crystals;  Amsterdam,  1729, 
12mo.  2.  *^  La  bibliotheque  Italique,""  16  vols.  8vo.  This 
journal,  begun  at  Geneva  iii  1728,  found  a^*welcome  re- 
ception among  the  learned,  as  a  soKd  and  useful  book  de- 
serving to  be  continued,  although  deficient  in  style,  and 
hastily  written.  He  wrote  also,  "  Trait6  des  petrifactions," 
Paris,  1742,  4to,  and   1778,  Svo.     Many  of  his  learned 

!>apers  on  subjects  of  natural  history  were  inserted  in  the 
iterary  journals^  and  bis  eloge  is  in  the  Helvetic  Journal 
for  1745.* 

.  BOURIGNON  (Antoinette),  a  famous  female  enthu- 
siast, was  born  Jan.  13,  1616,  at  Lisle  in  Flanders.  She 
came  into  the  world  so  very  deformed,  that  a  Qonsultation 
was  held  in  the  family  some  days  about  stifling  her  as  a 
monstrous  birth.  But  if  she  sunk  almost  (>eneath  humanity 
in  her  exterior,  her  interior  seems  to  have  been  raised  as 
much  above  it.  For,  at  four  years  of  age,  she  not  only 
took  notice  that  the  people  of  Lisle  did  not  live  up  to  the 
principles  of  Christianity  whicb  they  professed,  but  ear- 
Jiestly  desired  to  be  removed  into  some  more  Christian 
country ;  and  her  progress  was  suitable  to  this  beginning. 
Her  parents  lived  unhappily  together,  Mr.  Bourignon  using 
his  spouse  with  too  much  severity,  especially  in  hi^passion: 
.upon  which  occasions,  Antoinette  endeavoured  to  soften 
•him  by  her  infant  embraces,  which  bad  some  little  effect ; 
but  the  mother's  uuhappiness  gave  the  daugl^ter  an  utter 
aversion  to  matrimony.  Thisr  falling  upon  a  temper  strongly 
tinctured  with  enthusiasm,  she  grew  a  perfect  devotee  to 
virginity,  and  became  so  immaculately  chaste,  that,  if  her 
own  word  may  be  taken,  she  never  had,  in  all  her  life,  not 
even  by  temptation  or  surprise,  the  least  thought  unworthy 
4)f  the  purity  of  the  virgin  state :  nay,  she  possessed  the 
gift  of  chastity  in  so  abundant  a  manner,  that  her  presence 
and,  her  conversation  shed  an  ardour  of  continence  over  all 
who  knew  her. 

Her  father,  however,  to  whom  all  this  appeared  unna- 
tural, considered  her  as  a  mere  woman ;  and,  having  found 
ap  agreeable  match,  promised  her  in  marriage  to  a  French- 
••♦ 

>  3d[ererL««*Dict.  Hist. 


\ 


S36  B  O  U  R  I  G  N  O  N. 

man.     Easter-day,  1636,  was  fixed  for  the  nuptials ;  but,  to 
avoid  the  execution,  the  young  lady  fled,  under  the  disguise 
of  a  hermit,  but  was  stopped  at  Blacon,  a  village  of  Hai- 
nault,  on  suspicion  of  her  sex.     It  was  an  officer  of  horse 
quartered  in  the  village  who  seized  ber ;  he  had  observed 
something  extraordinary  in  her,  and  mentioning  her  to  the 
archbishop  df  Cambray,  that  prelate  came  to  examine  her, 
and  sent  her  home.    Bdt  being  pressed  again  with  proposals 
of  matrimony,  she  ran  away  once  more :  and,  going  to  the 
archbishop,  obtained  his  licence  to  set  up  a  small  society  in 
the  country,  with  some  other  maidens  of  her  taste  and  tem- 
per.    That  licence,  however,  was  soon  retracted,  and  An- 
toinette obliged  ta  withdraw  into  the  country  of  Liege, 
whence  she  returned  to  Lisle,  and  passed  many  years  there 
privately  in  devotion  and  great  simplicity.     When  her  patri- 
monial estate  fell  to  her,  she  resolved  at  first  to  renounce  it ; 
but,  changing  her  mind,  she  took  possession  of  it ;  and  as 
she  was  satisfied  with  a  few  conveniences,  she  lived  at  little 
expence :  and  bestowing  no  charities,  her  fortune  increased 
apace.     For  thus  taking  possession  of  her  estate,  she  gave 
three  reasons :  first,  that  it  might  not  come  into  the  hands 
of  those  who  had  no  right  to  it ;  or  secondly,  of  those  who 
would  have  made  an  ill  use  of  it ;  thirdly,  God  shewed  her 
that  she  should  have  occasion  for«  it  to  his  glory.     And  as 
to  charity,  "she  says,  the  deserving  poor  are  not  to  be  met 
vwith  in^this  world.     This  patrimony  must  have  been  some- 
thing considerable,  since  she  speaks  of  several  maid  ser- 
vants in  her  houses.     What  she  reserved,  however,  for  this 
purpose,  became  a  temptation  to  one  John  de  Saulieu,  the 
son  of  a  peasant,  who  resolved  to  make  his  court  to  her ; 
and,  getting  admittance  under  the  character  of  a  prophet, 
insinuated  himself  into  thelady^s  favour  by  devout  acts 
and  discourses  of  the  most  refined  spirituality.     At  length 
be  declared  his  passion,  modestly  enough  at  first,  and  was 
easily  checked ;  but  finding  her  intractable,  he  grew  so 
insolent  as  to  threaten  to  murder  her  if  she  would  not  com- 
ply.    Upon  this  she  had  recourse  to  the  provost,  who  sent 
two  men  to  guard  her  house ;  and  in  revenge  Saulieu  gave 
out,  that  she  had  promised  him  marriage,  and  even  bedded 
with  him.     But,  in  conclusion,  they  were  reconciled  ;  he 
retracted  his  slanders,  and  addressed,  himself  to  a  young 
devotee  at  Ghent,  whom  he  found  more  tractable.     This, 
however,  did  not  free  her  from  other  applications  of  a 
similar  nature.     The  parson's  nephew  of  St,  Andrew's  pa* 
rish  near  Lisle  fell  ip  love  with  her;  and  as  her  hous^ 


B  O  U  R  I  G  N  a  N,  «?7 

stood  in  the  neighbourhood,  he  frequently  environed  it. 
In  order  to  force  an  entrance.  Our  recluse  threatened  to 
quit  her  post,  if  she  was  not  delivered  from  this  trouble^ 
«ome  suitor,  and  the  uncle  drove  him  from  his  house: 
upon  which  he  grew  desperate,  and  sometimes  discharged 
a  aiusquet  through  the  nun's  chamber,  giving  out  that  she 
was  his  espoused  wife.  This  made  a  noise  in  the  city ; 
the  devotees  were  offended,  and « threatened  to  af&ont 
Bourignon,  if  they  met  her  in  the  streets.  At  length  she 
wa3  relieved  by  the  preachers,  who  published  from  their 
pulpits,  that  the  report  of  the  marriage  was  a  scandalous 
falsehood. 

Some  time  afterwards  she  quitted  her  house,  and  put 
herself  as  governess  at  the  head  of  an  hospital,  where  sh^ 
locked  herself  up  in  the  cloister  in  1658,  having  taken  the 
order  and  habit  of  St.  Austin.  But  here  again,  by  a  very 
singular  fate,  she  fell  into  fresh  trouble.  Her  hospital  was 
f&und  to  be  infected  with  sorcery  so  much,  that  even  all 
the  little  girls  in  it  had  an  engagement  with  the  devil. 
This  gave  room  to  suspect  the  governess ;  who  was  ac- 
cordingly taken  up  by  the  magistrates  of  Lisle,  and  exa- 
mined :  but  nothing  could  be  proved  against  her.  How« 
ever,  to  avoid  further  prosecutions,  she  retired  to  Ghent 
in  1662  :  where  she  no  sooner  was,  than  she  professed  that 
great  secrets  were  revealed  to  hen  About  this  time  she 
acquired  a  friend  at  Amsterdam,  who  proved  faithful  to 
her  as  long  as  he  lived, .  and  left  her  a  good  estate  at  his 
death  :  his  name  was*  De  Cordt :  he  was  one  of  the  fathers 
of  the  oratory,  and  their  superior  at  Mechlin,  and  was  di- 
rector also  of  an  hospital  for  poor  children.  This  prose- 
lyte was  her  first  spiritual  birth,  and  is  said  to  have  given 
her  the  same  kind  of  bodily  pangs  and  throes  as  a  natural 
labour,  which  was  the  case  also  with  her  other  spiritual 
children ;  and  she  perceived  more  or  less  of  th^se  pains, 
according  as  the  truths  which  she  had  declared  operated 
more  ot  less  strongly  on  their  minds.  Whence  another  of 
her  disciples,  a  certain  archdeacon,  talking  with  De  Cordt 
before  their  mother  on  the  good  and  new  resolution  which 
they  had  taken,  the  latter  observed,  that  her  pains  were 
much  greater  for  him  than  for  the  former :  the  archdeacon, 
looking  upon  De  Cordt,  who  was  fat  and  corpulent, 
whereas  he  was  a  little  man  himself,  said,  smiling,  <'  It  is 
no  wonder  that  our  mother  has  had  a  harder  labour  for  you 
than  for  me,  since  you  are  a  great,  huge  child,  whereas  I 


M8  B  O  U  R  I  G  N  O  n: 

^sm  but  a  little  one ;"  which  discomposed  the  gravity  of  a$ 
the  faces  ptesent :  This  has  been  recorded  as  a  proof  that 
our  Antoinette's  disciples  sometimes  descended  from  the 
sublimity  of  their  devotion  to  the  innocent  raillery  of  peo- 
ple of  the  world. 

Our  prophetess  staid  longer  than  she  intended  atAmster" 
dam,  where  she  published  her  book  of  "The  Ught  of  the 
world,"  and  some  others ;  and  finding  all  sorts  crowd  to 
▼iisit  her,  she  entertained  hopes  of  seeing  her  doctrine  ge- 
nerally embraced;  but  in  that  she  was  sadly  deceived. 
For,  notwithstanding  her  conversations  with  heaven*  were, 
as  it  is  said,  frequent,  so  that  she  understood  a  great  num- 
ber of  things  by  revelation,  yet  she  composed  more  books 
there  than  she  had  followers.  The  truth  is,  her  visions 
and  revelations  too  plainly  betrayed  the  visionary  and  en- 
thusiastic temper  of  her  mind,  and  many  of  them  were  to« 
grossly  indecent  to  proceed  from  a  mind  that  was  not 
tainted  with  insanity.  She  had  likewise  some  qualities  not 
very  well  calcalated  to  attract  proselytes  ;  her  temper  wslb 
morose  and  peevish ;  and  she  was  extremely  avaricious  smd 
greedy  of  amassing  riches.  This  quality  rendered  her  ut^ 
terly  uncharitable  as  to  the  branch  of  almsgiving,  andsoim** 
placably  unforgiving  to  such  poor  peasants  as  had  robbed 
her  of  any  trifle,  that  she  used  to  prosecute  them  with  the 
utmost  rigour* 

Her  stay  at  Amsterdam  was^  chiefly  owing  to  the  happi- 
ness she  had  in  her  dear  De  Cordt :  that  proselyte  had  ad-«» 
Tanc6d  almost  all  his  estate  to  some  relations,  in  order  to 
drain  the  island  of  Noordstrahdt  in  Holstein,  by  which 
means  he  had  acquired  some  part  of  the  island^  together 
with  the  tithes  and  government  of  the  whole.  He  aold  also 
an  estate  to  madanie  Bourignon,  who  prepared  to  retijre 
thither  in  1668 ;  but  she  rejected  the  proposal  of  Labadio 
and  his  disciples  to  se^le  themselves  there  with  hen  It 
seems  they  had  offered  t)e  Cordt  a  large  sum  of  money  to 
purchase  the  whole  island,  and  thereby  obtained  his  x^n- 
sent  to  their  settlement  in  it :  this  was  cutting  the  grasd 
under  her  feet,  an  injury  which  she  took  effectual  care  to 
prevent.  Accordingly  De  Cordt  dying  on  the  l'2th  of  No-» 
vember   1669,  made  her  his  heir^:    which  inheritance, 

*  This  fanatic  designed  Noordstrandt  He  bad  sold  them  a  part,  giving  up  att 

for  the  persecuted  saints  of  God  ;  and  the  rest,  with  his  rights  and  pretensions 

taking  the  Jansenists  to  be  snch,  he  to  the  oratory  of  Mechlin,  under  cer- 

drew  them  from  ^11  parts  into  the  iyle,  uia  couditiont,  which  m%  being 


r 


B  O  U  R  I  G  N  O  N: 


ii9 


Itowever,  brought  her  into  new  troubles.  Many  law-suitil 
were  raised  to  binder  her  from  enjoying  it :  nor  were  her 
doctrine  and  religious  principles  spared  on  the  occasion* 
However,  she  left  Holland  in  1671,  to  go  into  Noordstrand€. 

But  stopping  in  her  way  at  several  places  of  Holstein, 
where  she  dismissed  smne  disciples  (who  followed  her,  she 
found,  for  the  sake  of  interest)  she  plied  her  pen,  which 
was  so  prolific  tbat  she  found  it  convenient  to  provide  her- 
self with  a  press,  where  she  printed  her  books  in  French, 
Dutch,  and  German.  Among  others  she  answered  all  her 
adversaries  in  a  piece  entitled,  "  The  testimony  of  truth^** 
in  which  she  handled  the  ecclesiastics  in  a  severe  manner. 
In  these  controversial  pieces  she  demonstrated  her  want  of 
the  first  fundamental  of  all  religion  both  natural  and  re- 
vettled,  humility.  Two  Lutheran  ministers  raised  the 
adarm  against  her  by  some  books,  in  which  they  declared, 
chat  people  had  been  beheaded  and  burnt  for  opinions 
more  supportable  than  hers.  The  Labbadists  also  wrote 
against  her,  and  her  press  was  prohibited.  In  this  distress 
she  retired  to  Hensbergin  1673,  but  was  discovered,  and 
treated  so  ill  by  the  people  under  the  character  of  a  sor- 
ceress, that  she  was  very  happy  in  getting  secretly  away. 
Afterwards,  being  driven  from  city  to  city,  she  was  at  length 
forced  to  abandon  Uolstiein,  and  went  to  Hamburgh  ia 
1676,  as  a  place  of  more  security  ;  but  her  arrival  was  no 
ftooner  known,  than  they  endeavoured  to  seize  her.  On 
this  she  lay  hid  for  some  days,  and  then  went  to  East  Fries- 
land,  where  she  got  protection  from  the  baron  of  Lat2- 
bourg,-  and  was  made  governess  of  an  hospital. 

It  is  observable, '  that  all  other  passions  have  tlieir  holi-« 
days,  but  avarite  never  suffers  its  votaries  to  rest.  When 
our  devotee  accepted  the  care  of  this  charity,  she  declared 
tbat  she  consented  to  contribute  her  industry  both  to  the 
building  and  to  the  distribution  of  the  goods,  and  the  in- 
i^ection  of  the  poor,  but  without  engaging  any  part  of  her 


•erved,  he  recovered  his  estate,  but  not 
without  great  law>suits;  whereby  he 
was  imprisoDed  at  Amsterdam,  la 
March  1669,  at  the  suit  of  the  fomous 
Jansenist  Mr.  St.  Amour. .  Before  he 
went  to  prison,  he  was  severely  cen- 
sored by  a  bishop,  who  treated  him  as 
a  heretic,  and  as  a  man  who  coveted 
the  goods  of  this  world,  te  the  detriment 
of  those  whom  he  had  deceived,  by 
MlHog.them  lands  in  Noordstrandty  ai 


a  man  given  to  drinking ;  suspected  of 
having  lost  both  faith  and  charity ;  and 
who  had  even  Suffered  himself  to  be  se- 
duced by  a  woman  of  Lisle,  with  whom 
he  U^ed,  to  the  great  scandal  of  every- 
one. He  continued  ^x  months  in  pri- 
son, and  came  out  only  by  accident; 
he  went  into  his  own  island,  and  died 
of  poison,  in  1669.  Vie  continu6e  d? 
M,  de  Bourignon,  p.  290,  331, 


840  B  O  U  R  I  G  NO  N. 

•  • 

estate ;  for  which  she  alleged  two  reasons,  one,  that  her 
goods  had  already  been  dedicated  to  God  for  the  use  of 
those  who  sincerely  sought  to  become  true  Christians ;  the' 
other,  that  men  and  all  human  things  are  very  inconstant. 
On  this  principle,  she  resolved  never  to  part  with  any 
thing,  but  refer  all  donations  to  her  last  will  and  testa* 
jneot ;  and  accordingly,  when  she  had  distributed  among 
these  poor  people  certain  revenues  of  the  place  annexed 
to  this  hospital  by  the  founder,  being  asked  if  she  would 
not  contribute  something  of  her  own,  she  returned  an  an- 
swer in  writing,  that  because  these  poor  lived  like  beasts, 
who  had  no  souls  to  save,  she  had  rather  throw  her  goods, 
which  were  consecrated  to  God,  into  the  sea,  than  heave 
the  least  mite  there.  It  was  on  this  account  that  she  found 
persecutors  in  East  Friesland,.  hotwitfastanding  the  baron 
de  Latzbourg's  protection ;  so  that  she  took  her  way  to 
Holland  in  1680,  but  died  at  Franeker,  on  the  30th  of 
October  the  same  year. 

We  have  already  mentioned  the  crookedness  of  her  out* 
ward  form,  which  probably  wa^  the  reason  why  she  would 
never  suffer  her  picture  to  be  taken  :  however,  her  con- 
stitution was  so  tough,  that,  in  spite  of  all  the  fatigues  and 
troubles  of  her  life,  she  seemed  to  be  but  forty  years  of 
age,  when  she  was  above  sixty:  and,  though  she  was  al- 
most continually  wearing , her  eyesight,  both  by'readiog 
and  writing,  yet  she  never  made  use  of  spectacles.  She 
was  lucky  enough  to  have  the  three  most  remarkable 
periods  of  her  life,  as  her  birth,  her  arriving  to  the  rank 
f)f  an  author,  and  her  death,  characterised  by  comets ;  a 
circumstance  greatly  favourable  to  a  prophet  and  a  teacWr 
of  a  new  religion.  Her  writings  were  volumipous,  but  it 
would  be  impossible  to  draw  from  them  an  accurate  and 
consistent  scheme  of  religion  ;  for  the  pretended  '^  Di- 
vine light,"  that  guides  people  of  this  class,  does  not  pro- 
ceed in  a  methodical  way  of  reasoning  and  argument  -,  it 
discovers  itself  by  flashes,  which  shed  nothing  but  thick 
darkness  in  the  minds  of  those  who  investigate  truth  with 
the  understanding,  and  do  hot  trust  to  the  reports  of  fancy^ 
that  is  so  often  governed  by  sense  and  passion.  Madame 
Bourignon^s  intellect  was  probably  in  a  disordered  state. 
One  of  her  principal  followers  was  Peter  Poiret,  a  man  of 
bold  and  penetrating  genius,  who  was  a  great  master  of  the 
Cartesian  philosophy,  and  who  proves  in  his  own  example, 
that  knowledge  and  ignorance^  reason  and  superstition,  are 


B  d  U  R  I  G  N  O  N.  241 

ofteh  divided  bj^  thin  partitions,  and  that  they  sometimes 
not  only  dwell  together  in  the  same  person,  but  also,  by 
an  unnatural  and.  unaccountable  union,  afford  mutual  as- 
sistance, and  thus  engender  monstrous  productions. 

Antoinette  Bourignon  had  more  disciples  in  Scotland  than 
in  any  othei'  couiltry  perhaps  of  the  world.  Not  only  lay* 
men,  but  some  of  their  ecclesiastics,  embraced  Bourig- 
Yionism  :  and  one  of  Antoinette's  principal  books  was  pub- 
lished, entitled  "  The  light  of  the  wond,"  in  English,  in 
1'69€  ;  to  which  the  translator  added  a  long  preface,  to 
prove  that  this  maid  ought  at  least' to  pass  for  an  extraor- 
dinary prophetess^  Her  tenets  at  one  time  gained  sd 
much  ground  in  Scotland,  as  to  become  an  object  of  great 
jealousy  vtrith  the  church,  and  measures  were  adopted  by 
the  Genieral  Assembly  for  checking  the  growth  of  this  blas-» 
phemous  heresy.  Dr.  George  Garden,  a  minister  of  Aber- 
deen, was  deposed  in  1701,  for  teaching  its  "damnable 
errors,"  and  all  candidates  for  orders  are  to  this  day  re- 
quired to  abjure  and  renounce  the  Bourignian  doctrine. 
Mr.  Charles  Lesley,  in  the  preface  to  the  second  edition 
of  his  "  Snake  in  the  grass,"  observed  the  errors  of  this 
sect ;  and  they  were  refuted  at  large  by  Dr.  Cockburn,  in 
a  piece  entitled^  Bourignonism  detected,  against  messieurs 
Poiret,  De  Cordt,  and  the  English  translator  of  the  "  Lux 
Mulidi,'*  who  endeavoured  to  shew  that  she  was  inspired, 
and  had  received  a  commission  from  God  to  reform  Chris- 
tianity. This  was  answered  by  the  Bourignonists  in  an 
apology  for  their  leader ;  who  has  still  a  remnant  left  in 
some  parts  of  North  Britain.  *  ' 

BOURNE  (Immanuel),  the  son  of  a  clergyman,  was. 
born  in  Northamptonshire,  Dec.  27,  1590,  and  was  edu- 
cated at  Christ  church,  Oxford,  where  he  took  his  master's 
degree  in  1616.  -  About  that  time  he  preached  under  Dr. 
Piers,  rector  of  St  Christopher's,  Threadneedle- street, 
London,  and  was  much  encouraged  in  his  studies  and  pro- 
fession by  sir  Samuel  Tryon,  knt.  and  inhabitant  of  that 
parish.  In  1622,  be  got  the  living  of  Ashover,  in  Derby- 
shire, which  he  retained  niany  years.  During  the  rebel- 
lion, he^sided  with  the  predominant  party,  duel  removed  to 
London,  where  he  became  preacher  of  St.  Sepulchre's, 
and  was  much  followed.  In  1656,  he  became  rector  of 
Waitham  in  Leicestershire,  and  having  conformed  at  tb^ 

1  Gm.  Diet. — Mosb«tiDy  &c. 

Vol.  VI.  R 


I 

[ 


242  BOURNE. 

restoration,  was  instituted  to  the  rectory  of  Ailston  in  the 
same  county.  Wood  says  he  was  well  acquainted  with 
the  fathers  and  schoolmen.  He  died*  Dec.  27,  1672,  and 
was  buried  in  the  chancel  of  the  church  of  Ailston.  Besides 
some  occasional  sermons,  he  published,  1.  **  A  Light  from 
Christ,  &c."  or  a  preparatory  to  the  Sacrament,  London, 
1645,  8vo.  2.  "  Defence  of  Scriptures,"  ibid.  1656,  4to. 
3.  **  Defence  and  justification  of  ministers'  maintenance 
by  tithes,  &c."  ♦against  the  Anabaptists  and  Quakers,  ibid. 
1659,  4to.  4.  "  A  Gold  Chain  of  directions  with  twenty 
Gold  Links  of  love  to  preserve  fini>  love  between  husband 
and  wife,"  ibid.  1669,    12mo.* 

BOURNE  (Vincent),   an  elegant  Latin  poet,    and  a 
tery  amiable  man,  of  whom  we  regret  that  our  memoirs 
are  so  scanty,  was  admitted  a  scholar   of  Westminster- 
schojl  in  1710,  from  whence  he  was  elected  to  the  univer- 
sity  of  Cambridge  in   1714,  where,  in  Trinity  college,  he 
took  his  degree  of  A.  B,   ni7,  and  A.M.  1721,  and  ob- 
tained a  fellowship.     He  was  afterwards  for  several  year* 
an  usher  in  Westminster-school,  and  died  of  a  lingering 
disorder  December  2,  1747.     He  married  ;  and  in  a  letter 
which  he  wrote  to  his  wife  a  few  weeks  before  his  death, 
gives  the  following  reasons  why  he  did  not  take  orders: 
"  Though  I  think  myself  in  strictness  answerable  to  none 
but  God  and  my  own  conscience,  yet,  for  the 'satisfaction 
of  the  person  that  is  dearest  to  me,  I  own  and  declare,  that 
the  importance  of  so  great  a  charge,  joined  with  a  mistrust 
of  my  own  sufficiency,  made  me  fearful  of  undertaking  it ; 
if  I  have  not  in  that  capacity  assisted  in  the  salvation  of 
souls,  I  have  not  been  the  means  of  losing  any ;  if  I  have 
not  brought  reputation  to  the  function  by  any  merit  of 
mine,  I  have  the  comfort  of  this  reflection,  I  have  given 
no  scandal  to  it,  by  my  meanness  and  unworthiness.    It 
has  been  my  sincere  desire,  though  not  my  happiness,  to 
be  as  useful  in  my  little  sphere  of  life  as  possible :  my  own 
inclinations  would  have  led  me  to  a  more  likely  way  of 
being  serviceable,  if  I  might  have  pursued  them  :  however, 
as  the  method  of  education  I  have  been  brought  up  in  was, 
I  am  satisfied,  very  kindly  intended,  I  have  nothing  to 
find  fault  with,  but  a  vnrong  choice,  and  the  not  knowing 
those  disabilities  I  have  since  heen  truly  conscious  of: 
those  difficulties  I  have  endeavoured  to  get  over  i  but  found 

1  Wood'5  Mh.  Yol.  II. 


BOURNE.  243 

them  insuperable.  It  has  been  the  knowledge  of  these  dis- 
couragements, that  has  been  the  chief  subject  of  my  sIeep-« 
ing,  as  well  as  my  waking  thoughts,  a  fear  of  reproach  and 
contempt."  While  we  admire  the  conscientious  motives 
which  induced  him  to  contemplate,  with  reverential  awe, 
the  duties  of  a  clergyman,  we  must  regret  the  concurrence 
of  events  which,  according  to  the  conclusion  of  this  letter, 
seems  to  haye  led  him  into  a  way  of  life  not  agreeable  to 
bis  inclinations.  Cowper,  however,  in  one  of  his  excellent 
letters,  throws  some  light  on  those  peculiar  habits,  which 
were  not  certainly  very  happily  adapted  to  his  situation  as 
a  public  teacher.  "  I  love,"  says  Cowper,  "  the  memory 
of  Vinny  Bourne.  I  think  him  a  better  Latin  poet  thaa 
Tibullus,  Propertius,  Ausonius,  or  any  of  the  writers  in 
his  way,  except  Ovid,  and  not  at  all  inferior  to  him.  I 
love  him  too,  with  a  love  of  partiality,  because  he  was  usher 
of  the  fifth  form  at  Westminster  when  I  passed  through  it. 
He  was  so  good-natured,  and  so  indolent,  that  I  lost  more 
than  I  got  by  him  ;  for  he  made  me  as  idle  as  himself.  He 
was  such  a  sloven,  as  if  he  had  trusted  to  his  genius  as  a 
cloak  for  every  thing  that  could  disgust  you  in  his  per- 
son ;  and  indeed  in  his  writings  he  has  almost  made  amends 
for  all.  His  humour  is  entirely  original — he  can  speak  of 
a  magpie  or  a  cat,  in  terms  so  exquisitely  appropriated  to 
the  character  he  draws,  that  one  would  suppose  him  ani- 
mated by  the  spirit  of  the  creature  he  describes.  And 
with  all  his  drollery,  there  is  a  mixture  of  rational,  and 
even  religious  reflection,  at  times,  and  always  an  air  of 
pleasantry,  good  nature,  and  humanity,  that  makes  him,  in 
my  mind,  one  of  the  most  amiable  writers  in  the  world.  It 
is  not  common  to  meet  with  an  author  who  can  make  you 
smile,  and  yet  at  nobody's  expence ;  who  is  always  enter- 
taining, and  yet  always  harmless  ;  and  who,  though  always 
elegant  and  classical,  to  a  degree- not  always  found  in  the 
classics  themselves,  charms  more  by  the  simplicity  and 
playfulness  of  his  ideas,  than  by  the  neatness  and  purity  of 
his  verse*:  yet  such  was  poor  Vinny.  I  remember  seeing 
the  duke  of  Richmond  set  fire  to  his  greasy  locks,  and  box 
his  ears  to  put  it  out  again." 

His  waitings,  thus  char9.Gte#ised,  were  published  in  1772, 
under  the  title  of  "  Mfscellan^us  Poems,  consisting  of 
originals  and  translations,"  4to,^  and  certainly  will  be  a 
lasting  testimony  of  bis«  talents.  ;'He  was,  perhaps,  at  the 
time  he  Wrote,  the  besi  Latin  j)oet  in  Europe.     Most  ef 

R  i 


244  ia  o  U  ^  N  E. 

the  pieces  in  this  volume  had  been  printed  in  his  life-time, 
if  we  mistake  not,  in  a  smaller  volume.  Dr.  Beattie,  after 
'noticing  that  Boileau  did  not  know  that  there  were  any 
good  poets  in  England,  till  Addison  made  him  a  present  of 
the  *^  Musa3  Anglicana;,"  remarks  that  "  those  foreigners 
inust  entertain  a  high  opinion  of  our  pastoral  poetry,  who 
Have  seen  the  Latin  translations  of  Vincent  Bourne,  par- 
ticularly those  of  the  ballads  of  *  Tweedside,'  '  William 
and  Margaret,'  and  Rowe's  *  Despairing  beside  a  clear 
isftream,'  of  which  it  is  no  compliment  to  say,  that  in  sweet- 
ness of  numbers,  and  elegant  expression,  they  are  at  least 
equal  to  the  originals,  and  scarce  inferior  to  any  thing  ia 
Ovid  or  tibullus."  * 

BOURSAULT  (Edmund),  a  French  dramatic  writer 
and  satirist,  was  born  in  1638,  at  Mussi-l'6veque  in  Bur- 
gundy. He  was  not  brought  up  at  school,  and  could  only 
speak  the  rude  provincial  dialect  of  his  country,  when  he 
came  to  Paris  in  1651,  yet,  .by  the  perusal  of  good  books, 
with  his  good  memory,  he  was  soon  able  to  converse  and 
to  write  elegantly  in  French.  Having  composed,  by  or- 
'  der  of  Louis  Xl V.  a  book  of  no  great  merit,  entitled  "  Of 
t^e  proper  study  of  sovereigns,"  1671,  12mo,  the  king 
was  so  well  pleased  with  it,  that  he  would  have  appointed 
ibim  sub-prefceptor  to  Monseigneur,  if  Boursault  had  been 
master  of  the  Latin  language.  The  duchess  of  Angoulerae, 
widow  of  a  natural  son  of  Charles  1X«  having  taken  him  to 
pe  her  secretary,  he  was  engaged  to  turn  every  week  the 
gazette  into  rhyme,  which  procured  him  a  pension  of  2000 
livres.  Louis  XIV.  and  his  court  were  much  entertained 
with  him ;  but,  having  employed  his  satire  against  the 
Franciscans  and  the  Capuchins,  he  was  silenced.  The 
queen^s  confessor,  a  Spanish  cordelier,  caused  both  the 

f'  azette  and  the  pension  to  be  suppressed  ;  and  would  have 
ad  him  imprisoned,  had  it  not  been  for  the  interest  exert- 
ed in  his  behalf  by  his  patrons.  He  shortly  after  obtained 
a  new  licence,  and  published  his  gazette  under  th^  title  of 
the  "  Merry  Muse ;"  but  it  was  again  suppressed.  He 
afterwards  got  into  favour  once  more,  and  was  made  re- 
ceiver of  the  excise  at  Montlugon,  where  he  died  of  a  vio- 
lent colic,  aged  63,  Sept.  5,  1701.  He  wrote  several 
theatrical  pieces,  and  other  works.     The  chief  of  them 

»  Critical  Kev.  vol.  XXXIII.— Beattie's  Essays,  p.  733.— Haylry's  Life  of 
f  owper. — Welch*!  Wcstmiuster  scholar!, — Caatabrigiensei  Gradoati. 


B  O  U  R  S  A  U  L  T.  i45 

aVe,  "jEsop  in  the  citjV'  and  <*  iEsbp  at  court;'*  which 
long  remained  to  the  stage.     These  two  pieces  and  the' 
follow-ing  are  an  agreeable  satire  on  the  ridiculous  manners 
of  the  several  ages  and  conditions  of  life.     His  verse  in 
general  is  harmonious,  but  his  style  sometimes  negligent, 
yet  in  general  easy  and  suitable  to  the  subject.     2.  The' 
"  Mercure  galante,"  or  "  La  comedie  sans  titre,"  in  which 
he  ingeniously  ridicules  the  rage  for  getting  a  place  in  the' 
Mercure  galant.     3.  "  La  satyre  des  satyres,"  in  one  act. 
Boileau's  satirical  notice  of  Boursault,  to  avenge  Molifire, 
with  whom  he  had  had  a  difference,  gave  occasion  to  this*^ 
piece,  which  Boileau  had  interest  enough  and  meanness 
enough  to  prevent  being  played.     The  satirist  being  soifie'' 
years  afterwards  at  the  baths  of  Bourbon,  Boursault,  at  that' 
tiqae  receiver  of  the  excise  at  Montlugon,  repaired  thither^ 
on  purpose  to  offer  him  his  purse  and  his  services.    At  this 
act  of  generosity  J^oileaii  was  much  affected;  ani  they 
immediately   engaged  in   a  mutual  friendship,  of  which 
Boursault  was  highly  deserving  by  the  gentleness  of  his ' 
manners,  and  the  cheerfulness  of  his  disposition.     He  be- 
haved with  less  tolerance,  however,  towarcis  his  other  cen- 
sors ;  and  was  able  s6nietimes  to  chastise  them  with'effect. 
A  cabal  having  prevented  the  success  of  the  first  repre- 
sentation of  "  iEsop  in  the  city,"  the  author  added  to  it  a 
fable  of  the  dog  and  the  ox,  applying  the  moral  of  it  to 
the  pit;  which  so  effectually  silencied'the  cabal,  that  the 
piece  had  a  run  of  forty-three  nights  without  interruption. 
Thomas  Corneille  had  a  sincere  regard  ifor  Boursault,  whom 
he'  used  to  call  his  son,  and  insisted  on  his  applying  to  be 
admitted  a  member  of  the  academy.     Boursault  desired  to 
be  excused  on  account  of  his  ignordnce,  adding  with  his 
us^al  simplicity,  "  What  would  the  acadiemy  do  with  an 
ignorant  and  illiterate  (ignare  &  non  lettr6)   member,  who 
knows  neither  Latin  nor  Greek  ?"    "  We  are  not  talkinop" 
(returned  Corneille)  of  a  Greek  or  Latin  academy,  but  of 
a  French  academy;  and  who  understands  French  better 
than   you?"     There  are   likewise  by  him,    1.  Sonie  ro- 
mances, "  The  marquis  de  Chavigny,'*  "  The  prince  de 
Cond6;"  which  afe  written  with  spirit;  "Artemisia  and 
Polyanthus ;  aild,  "  We  should  only  believe  what  we  see.'* 
2.  A  collection  of  letters  on  subjects  of  respect,  obligation, 
and  gallantry ;  known  under  the  name  of  ^^  Lettres  k  Ba- 
bet  ;**  now  forgotten.     3.  "  Lettres  nouvelles,"  with  fa- 
bles, tales,  epigrams,  remarks,  bon-mots,  &c.  3  vols.  12mo, 


246  B  O  U  R  S  A  U  L  T. 

several  times  reprinted,  though  mostly  written  in  a  loose 
and  inelegant  style  :  a  miscellany,  which  was  very  popu- 
lar when  it  first  came  out ;  but  is  much  less  at  present,  as 
the  tales  and  bon-mots  which  Boursault  has  collected,  or 
put  into  verse,  are  found  in  many  other  books.  His  fables 
liave  neither  the  simplicity ,of  those  of  La  Fontaine,  nor 
the  elegant  precision  of  Phaedrus.  There  is  an  edition  of 
the  "  Theatre  de  Boursault,"  in  3  vols.  1746,  l2mo. ' 

BOUBSIER  (Lawrence  Francis),  doctor  of  the  Sor- 
bonne,  was  born  at  Ecoven  in  the  diocese  of  Paris,  in 
1679,  and  died  at  Paris  in  1749,  at  the  age  of  70.  He 
published,  1.  "  L'action  de  Dieu  sur  les  creatures,"  Paris, 
2  vols.  4to,  or  6  vols.'  12mo.  This  treatise,  in  which  he 
endeavours  to  establish  physical  premotjon  by  argument, 
was  attacked  by  Malebranche  ;  but  it  discovers  the  powers 
of  a  profopnd  metaphysician.  2.  A  memoir  presented  to 
Peter  the  Great  by  the  doctors  of  Sorbonne  for  the  re* 
union  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  churches.  When  the  tzar 
appeared  in  the  Sorbonne,  Boursier  addressed  hiqi  on  the 
subject  of  this  memoir.  The  monarch  immediately  an- 
swered, that  he  was  but  a  soldier.  Boursier  replied,  that 
he  was  a  hero  ;  and  that,  as  a  prince,  he  was  a  protector  of 
religion. — "  This  re-union  is  not  so  easy  a  matter  (said  the 
tzar) ;  there  are  three  points  that  divide  us  :  the  pope,  the 

procession  of  the  Holy  Ghost "  As  he  had  forgot  the 

third  point,  which  is  the  unleavened  bread  and  the  cup, 
Boursier  recalled  it  to  his  mind.  "  As  for  that  article,**  re- 
turned the  emperor,  *^we  shall  have  no  difficulty  in  coining 
to  an  agreement."  At  the  end  of  tjie  conversation,  the 
Russian  sovereign  asked,  for  a  memorandum  of  it :,  it  was 
given  him  ;  but  nothing  more  was  ever  heard  of  it.  3.  An 
enormous  quantity  of  publications  on  subjects  of  eccle- 
siastical controversy,  enumerated  by  Moreri.  There  was 
another  of  thp  name,  almost  a  contemporary,  Philip  Bour- 
sier, deacon  of  Paris,  where  he  was  born  in  1693,  and  died 
in  1768,  aged  77.  He  was  the  first:  author,  in  1727,  of 
the  "  Nouvelles  eccl^siastique*;"  in  which  work  he  nad 
several  coadjutors,  as  Messrs.  d'Etemare,  d^  Fernanville, 
Berger.  de  Russy6,  de  Troya,  Fontaine,  But  he  alone 
composed  the  greatest  part  of  the  discourses  that  annually 
precede  this  periodical  work. ' 

« 

*  Mortri.— Dict»  Hist.^-Gen.  Diet.— Niceron,    vol.  XIV.^Bio^.    Gallica, 
vol.  1 1.  s  Diet.  Hi8t.-:^>1  or^ri. 


B  O  U  V  A  R  T.  247 

• 

BOUVART  (Michael  Phiup),  physician  and  doctor 
regent  of  the  faculty  of  Paris,  and  associate-veteran  of  the 
academy  of  sciences,  was  born  atChartres  Jan.  11,  1717, 
Many  of  his  ancestors  having  been  physicians,  he  deter- 
mined on  the  same  profession,  which  he  practised  at  Pa- 
ris with  so  mnoh  success  that  no  physician  was  more  con* 
suited  ;  yet  this  did  not  prevent  his  being  jealous  of  Tron- 
chin,  Bordeu,  and  some  others,  of  whom  he  spoke' very 
illiberally,  but  he  was  a  man  otherwise  of  great  kindness 
and  benevolence.  One  anecdote  is  recorded  as  character- 
istic. A  banker,  who  had  experienced  some  heavy  losses, 
was  taken  ill,  and  Bouvart,  who  was  called  in,  suspected 
that  this  weighed  on  his  mind,  but  could  not  obtain  the  se- 
cret from  him.  The  banker's  wife,  however,  was  more 
communicative,  and  told  him  that  her  husband  had  a  pay- 
ment of  twenty  thousand  livres  to  make  very  shortly,  for 
which  he  was  unprovided.  Bouvart,  without  making  any 
professions  of  sorrow  or  assistance,  went  immediately  home 
and  sent  the  money  to  his  patient,  who  recovered  surpris- 
ingly. Bouvart  wrote  only  two  or  three  small  tracts  :  one  a 
critique  on  Tronchin's  book,  *Me  colica  Pictonum,"  1758, 
8vo ;  a  "  Consultation  sur  une  naissance  tardive,"  against 
the  anatomists  Petit  and  Bertin,  1765,  Svo;  and*  a  "Me- 
moire  au  sujet  de  Thonoraire  des  medicines,"  1768,  4to, 
all  written  in  a  keen,  controversial  style.  He  was  also  an 
opponent  of  inoculation  for  the  small  pox.  He  introduced 
the  use  of  the  polygalaof  Virginia  in  cases  of  the  bite  of  ve- 
nomous reptiles,  and  this  was  the  subject  of  the  only  paper 
he  contributed  to  the  academy ;  but  the  remedy,  although 
said  to  be  successful  in  his  hands,  fell  into  disrepute.  He 
died  Jan.  19,   1787.* 

BOWER  (Archibald),  a  person  of  a  very  celebrated, 
but  dubious  character,  was  a  native  of  Scotland,  born  on 
the  17th  of  January  1686  at  or  near  Dundee,  of  an  ancient 
family,  by  his  own  account,  which  had  been  for  several 
hundred  years  possessed  of  an  estate  in  the  county  of  An- 
gus in  Scotland.  In  September  1702,  at  the  age  of  six- 
teen, he  was  sent  to  the  Scots  college  of  Douay,  where  he 
studied  until  the  year  1706,  to  the  end  of  his  first  year  of 
philosophy.  From  thence  he  was  removed  to  Rome,  and 
on  the  9th  day  of  December  1706,  was  admitted  into  the 
^rder  of  Jesus.     After  a  noviciate  of  two  years,  he  went^ 

y  Diet.  Hist.— Eloi^ei  cl«8  Academiciens^  toI.  IV. 


24S  BOWER- 

in  the  year  17.12,  to  Fano,  \ybpre  he  tapght  huq9anitie9 
during  the  space  of  two  years.     He  then  removed  tp.Fer- 
rnp,  and  resided  there  three  years,  until,  the  year   1717> 
when  he  was  recalled  to  Rome  to  study  divinity  in  the  Ro- 
man college.     There   he  remained  until  tfie  year,  1721, 
when  he  was  sent  to  the  college  of  Arezzo,  where  he  staid- 
until  the  year  1723,  and  became  reader  of  philosophy,  and 
consultor  to  the  rector  of  the  college.     He  then  was  sent 
to  Florence,  where  he  remained  but  a  short  titae,  being  iu 
the  same  year  removed  to  Macerata,  at  which  place  he  con* 
tinned  until  the  year  1726.     Between  the  two  latter  periods 
it  seems  probable  that  he  made  his  last  vows,  his  own  ac^ 
count  fixing  that  event  in  the  month  of .  March  1722,  at 
Florence  ;  though,  as  he  certainly  was  th^t  year  sit  Arezzo^ 
it  is  most  likely  to  have  been.a  yeiir  later. 

Having  thus  been  confirmed  in  the  ordex  of  tbei  Jesuits, 
and  arrived  at  the  age  of  almost  forty  yeajs,  it  was?  rpason^ 
able  to  suppose  that  Mr.  Bower  would  have  passed  tbrpugl^ 
life  with  no  other  changes  than  such  as  are  usual  vyith  pe^*- 
sons  of  the  same  order;  but  this  uniformity. of,  life  was  ndt 
destined  to  be  his  lot.     To  whatever  cause  it  is  to  be  as-r 
cribed — whether,  according  to  his  own,  account,  to  his  dis- 
gust at  the  enormities  committed  by  the  inquisitiop,  in 
whigh  he  perfprmed  the  office  of -counsel  lor.;  or,  as  his  ene? 
inies  assert,  to  his  indulgence  of  his  passions,  particuiarly 
with  a  nun  to  whom  he  was  ghostly  father  ;  certain  it  is, 
that  in  the  year  1 726  he  was  removed  ftom  Macerata  to  Pe-r 
rugia,  and  from  thence  made  his  escape,  into  Eiigland,  where 
he  arrived  at  the  latter  end  of  June  or  July,  after  various 
adventures,  which  it  now  becomes  our  duty  to  communicate 
to  the  reader,  and  which  we  shall  do  in  his  own  words  j 
premising,  however,  that  the  truth  of  the  narrative,  has 
been  impeached  in  several  very  material  circumstances. 
Having  determined  to  put  into  execution  his  design^  of 
quitting  the    inquisition    and  bidding  for  ever  adieu  to 
Italy,  he  proceeds  :  "  To  execute  that  design  with  some 
safety,  I  purposed  to  beg  leave  of  the  inquisitor  to  visit  the 
Virgin  of  Loretto,  but  thirteen  miles  distant,  and  to,  pass 
a  week  there ;  but  in  the  mean  time  to  make  the  best  of 
my  way  to.  the  country  of  the  Grisons,  the  nearest  country 
to  Macerata,  out  of  the  reach  of  the  inquisition.     Having 
therefoi'e,  after  many  conflicts  with  myself,  asked  leave  to 
visit  the  neighbouring  sanctuary,  and  obtained  it,  I  set  out 
on  horseback  the  very  next  morning,  leaving,  as  I  purposed 
to  keep  the  horse,  his  full  value  with  the  owner,    I  topk 


BOWER.  249 

jthe  road  to  Loretto^  but  turaed  out  of  it  at  a  small  distance 
f^oin  RecaDati,  after  a  most  violent  struggle  with  myself^ 
the  attempt  appearing  to  uie,  at  that  juncture,  quite  de- 
sperate and  iaipracticable ;  and  the  dreadful  doom  reserved 
for  me,  should  I  miscarry,  presenting  itself  to  my  mind  in 
the  strongest  light.     But  the  reflectiun  that  I  had  it  in  my 
power  to  avoid  being  taken  alive,  and  a  persuasion  that  a 
,man  in  my  situation  might  lawfully  avoid  it,  when  every 
pther  means  failed  him,  at  the  expence  of  his  life,  revived. 
my  staggered  resolution ;  and  all  my  fears  ceasing  at  once, 
I  steered  my  course,  leaving  Loretto  behind  me,  to  Calvi 
iq  the  dukedom  of  Urbino,  and  from  thence  through  the 
Romagna  into  the  Bolonese,  keeping  the  by-roads,  and  at 
a  good*  distance  fron^  the  cities  of  Fano,  Pisaro,  Rimini,. 
Forli,  F^enza,  and   Imola,  through  which   the  high  road 
passed*     Tiius  I  advanced  very  slowly,  travelling,  generally^ 
speaking,  in  very  bad  roads,  and  often  in  places  where 
jthere  was  no  road  at  all,  to  avoid  not  only  the  cities  and 
towns,  but  even  the  villages.     In  the  mean  time  I  seldom 
h^d  any  other  support  than  some  coarse  provisions,  and  a 
very  small  quantity  even  of  them,  that  the  poor  shepherds, 
tbe  countrymen,  or^  wood -cleavers,  I  met  in  those  unfre- 
quented by-places,  could*  spare  me.     My  horse  fared  not 
much  better  than  myself;  but  in  choosing  my  sleeping* 
place  I  consulted  bis  convenience  as  much  as  my  own ; 
passing  the  night  where  I  found  most  shelter  for  myself, 
and  most  grass  for  him.     In  Italy  there  are  very  few  soli- 
tary farm-houses  or  cottages^  the  country  people  there  all 
living  together  in  villages ;  and  I  thought  it  far  safer  to  lie 
where  I  could  be  any  way  sheltered,  than  to  venture  into 
any  of  them.     Thus  I  spent  seventeen  days  before  I  got  out 
of. the  Ecclesiastical  State;  and  I  very  narrowly  escaped 
being  taken  or  murdered  on  the  very  borders  of  that  statet 
It  happened  thus : 

^*  I  bad  passed  two  whole  days  without  any  kind  of  sub- 
nistence-  whatever,  meeting  nobody  in  the  by-roads  that 
would  supply  me  with  any,  and  fearing  to  come  near  any 
bouse,  as  I  was  not  far  from  the  borders  of  the  dominions  > 
of  tbe  pope — I  thought  I  should  be  able  to  hold  out  till  I 
got  into  the  Modenese^  where  I  believed  I  should  be  in  less  * 
danger  than  while  1  remained  in  the  papal  dominions ;  but ' 
finding  myself  about  noon  of  the  third  day  extremely  weak» 
and  ready  to  faint,  I  came  into  the  high  road  that  leads 
fcom  Bologna  to  Florence^  at  a  few  miles  distance  from  the 


250  •  BOWER. 

former  city,  and  alighted  at  a  post  house  that  stood  qnite 
by  itself.  Having  asked  the  woman  of  the  house  whether  she 
bad  any  victuals  ready,  and  being  told  that  she  had,  I  went 
to  open  the  door  of  the  only  room  in  the  house  (that  being  a 
place  where  gentlemen  only  stop  to  change  horses),  and 
saw,  to  my  great  surprise,  a  placard  pasted  on  it  with  a 
most  minute  description  of  my  whole  person,  and  the  pro- 
mise of  a  reward  of  800  crowns,  about  200/.  English  money, 
for  delivering  me  up  alive  to  the  inquisition,  being  a  fugi- 
tive from  the  holy  tribunal,  and  600  crowns  for  my  head. 
By  the  same  placard  all  persons  were  forbidden,  on  the  pain 
of  the  greater  excommunication,  to  receive,'  harbour,  or  en- 
tertain me,  to  conceal  or  to  screen  me,  or  to  be  any  way 
aiding  and  assisting  to  me  in  makingmy  escape.  This  greatly 
alarmed  me,  as  the  reader  may  well  imagine ;  but  I  was 
still  more  affrighted  when  entering  the  room  I  saw  two  fel- 
lows drinking  there,  who,  fixing  their  eyes  upon  me  as 
soon  as  I  came,  continued  looking  at  me  very  steadfastly.  I 
strove,  by  wiping  my  face,  by  blowing  my  nose,  by  look- 
ing out  at  the  window,  to  prevent  their  having  a  full  view 
of  me.     But  one  of  them  saying,  *  The  gentleman  seems 
afraid  to  be  seen,'  I  put  up  my  handkerchief,  and  turning 
to  the  fellow  said  boldly,  *  What  do  you  mean,  you  rascal  ? 
Look  at  me ;  I  am  not  afraid  to  be  seen.'     He  said  nothing, 
but,  looking  again  steadfastly  at  me,  and  nodding  his  head, 
went  out,  and  his  companion  immediately  followed  him.     I 
watched  them ;  and  seeing  them  with  two  or  three  more  in  close 
conference^  and,  no  doubt,  consulting  whether  they  should 
apprehend  me  or  not,  I  walked  that  moment  into  the  stable, 
mounted  my  horse  unobserved  by  them,  and,  while  tBey 
were  deliberating  in  an  orchard  behind  the  house,  rode  off 
full  speed,  and  in  a  few  hours  got  into  the  Modenese,  tvhere 
I  refreshed  both  with  food  and  with  rest,  as  I  was  there  in 
no  immediate  danger,  my  horse  and  myself.     I  was  indeed 
surprised  to  find  that  those  fellows  did  not  pursue  me ;  nor 
can  I  any  other  way  account  for  it  but  by  supposing,  what  is 
not  improbable,  that  as  they  were  strangers  as  well  as  my- 
self, and  had  all  the  appearance  of  banditti  or  rufEans  flying 
out  of  the  dominions  of  the  pope,  the  woman  of  the  h6use 
did  not  care  to  trust  them  with  her  horses.     From  the  Mo- 
denese  I  continued  my  journey  more  leisurely  through  the 
Parmesan,  the  Milanese,  and  part  of  the  Venetian  territory, 
to  Chiavenna,  subject,  with  its  district,  to  the  Grisons,  who 
abhor  the  very  nan^e  of  the  inquisition,  and  are  ever  ready  to 


BOWER.  251 

receive  and  protect  all  who,  flying  frodi  it,  take  refuge,  as 
majiy  {talians  do,  in  their  dominions.  However,  as  I  proposed 
getting  as  soon  as  I  could  to  the  city  of  Bern,  the  metropo- 
lis of  that  great  protestant  canton,  and  was  informed  that  my 
best  way  was  through  the  cantons  of  Uiy  and  Underwald, 
and  part  of  the  canton  of  Lucern,  all  three  popish  cantons^ 
I  carefully  concealed  who  I  was  and  from  whence  I  came. 
For  though  no  inquisition  prevails  among  the  Swiss,  yet  the 
pope's  nuncio,  who  resides  at  Lucern,  might  have  per- 
suaded the  magistrates  of  those  popish  cantons  to  stop  me 
as  an  apostate  and  deserter  from  the  order. 

*^  Having  rested  a  l^w  days  at  Chiavenna,  I  resumed  my 
journey  quite  refreshed,  continuing  it  through  the  country 
of  the  Grisons,  and  the  two  small  cantons  of  Ury  and  Un- 
derwald to  the  canton  of  Lucern.  There  I  missed  my  way, 
as  I  was  quite  unacquainted  with  the  country,  and  discover- 
ing a  city  at  a  distance,  was  advancing  to  it,  but  yery 
slowly,  as  I  knew  not  where  I  was ;  when  a  countryman 
whom  I  met  informed  me  that  the  city  before  me  was  Lu- 
cern.. Upon  that  intelligence  I  turned  out  of  the  road  as 
soon  as  the  countryman  was  out  of  sight ;  and  that  night 
I  passed  with  a  good-natured  shepherd  in  his  cottage,  who 
supplied  me  with  sheep's  milk,  and  my  horse  with  plenty  of 
grass.  I  set  out  very  early  next  morning,  making  the  best 
of  my  way  westward,  as  I  knew  that  Bern  lay  west  of  Lu- 
cern. But  after  a  few  miles  the  country  proved  very  moun- 
tainous; and  having  travelled  the  whole  day  over  moun- 
tains, I  was  overtaken  amongst  them  by  night.  As  I  was 
looking  out  for  a  place  where  I  might  shelter  myself  during 
the  night  against  the  snow  and  rain,  for  it  both  snowed  and 
rained,.  I  perceived  a  light  at  a  distance ;  and,  making  to- 
wards it,  got  into  a  kind  of  footpath,  but  so  narrow  and 
rugged  that  I  was  obliged  to  lead  my  horse  and  feel  my  way 
with  one  foot,  having  no  light  tp  direct  me,  before  I  durst 
move  the  other.  Tbu$  with  much  difficulty  I  reached  the 
place  where  the  light  was,  a  poor  little  cottage  ;  and, 
knocking  at  the  door,  was  askiEid  by  a  man  within  who  I 
was,  and  what  I  wanted.  I  answered  that  I  was  a  stranger, 
and  had  lost  my  way.  ^  Lost  your  way  !'  replied  the  man ; 
*  there  is  no  way  here  to  lose.'  I  then  asked  him  in  what 
canton  I  was ;  and  upon  his  answering  that  I  was  in  the 
canton  of  Bern,  *  I  thank  God,'  I  cried  out,  transported 
with  joy^  *  that  1  am.'  The  good  man  answered,  *  And  so 
do  V     I  thea  told  him  who  I  was,  and  that  I  was  going  to 


252  BOWER. 

Bern,butbad  quite  lost  myself  by  keeping  out  of  all  the  high^ 
roads  to  avoid  falling  into  the  hands  of  those  who  sought  my 
destruction.     He  thereupon  opened  the  door,  received  and' 
entertained  ifle  with  all  the  hospitality  his  poverty  would' 
admit  ot^  regtaled  me  with  sour-kYdut  and  some  new-laid 
eggs,  the  only  provisions  he  had,  and  clean  straw  with  a^ 
kind  of  rug  for  my  bed,  he  having  no  other  for  himself  and 
bis  wife.     The  good  woman  expressed  as  much  satisfaction' 
and  good-nature  in  her  countenance  as  her  husband^  and^ 
said  many  kind  things  in  the  Swiss  language,  which  her' 
husband  interpreted  for  me  in  the  Italian  ;  for  that  language 
hie  well  understood,  and  spoke  so  as  to  be  understood,  hav- 
ing learnt  it  as  he  told  me  in  his  youth  while  servant  in  a 
public-house  on  the  borders  of  Italy,  where  both  languages 
are  spoken.     I  never  passed  a  more  comfortable  night;  and' 
.  no  sooner  did  I  begin  to  stir' in  the  morning,  than  the  good 
man  and  his  wife  came  both  to  know  how  I  rested,  and 
wishing  they  had  been  able  to  accommodate  me  better, 
obliged  me  to  breakfast  on  two  eggs,  which  Providence, 
they   said,  had  supplied   the'm    with  f6r  that  purpose:     I' 
then  took  leave  of  the  wife,  who,  With  her  eyes  lifted  up  to 
heaven,  seemed  most  sincerely  to  wish  me'  a'  good  j6urney. 
As  for  the  husband,  he  would  by  all  means  attend  me  to 
the  high  road  leading  to  Bern;  which  road,  hesaid,  was  but 
two  miles  distant  from  that  place.     But  he  insisted  on  my 
first  going  back  with  him*  to  see  the  way  I  had  come  the 
night  before,  the  only  way,  he  said,  I  cbuld  have  possibly 
come  from  the  neighbouring  canton  of  Lucern.     I  saw  it, 
and  shuddered  at  the  danger  1  •  had  escaped ;  for  Ifound 
that  I  bad  walked  and  led  my  horse'  a  good  way  along  a 
very  narrow  path  on  the  brink  of  a  dreadnil  precipice.   The 
man  made  so  many  pious  and  pertinent  retoaAs  on  the  oc- 
casion, as  both  charmed  and  surprised  nie.     I  no  le^s  ad- 
mired his  disinterestedness  than  his  piety :  for,  upon  our ' 
parting,  after  he  had  attended  m&  till  I  was  out  of  all  dan- 
ger of  losing  my  way,  I  could  by  no  meaiis  prevail  upoti ' 
him'  to  accept  of  any  reward  for  his  trouble.     He  had  the  sa- 
tisfaction, he  said,  of  having  relieved  me  in  the' greatest 
distress,  which  was  in  itself  a  sufficient  reward,  and  he  cared 
for  no  other. 

**  I  reached  Bern  that  night,  and  purposed  istaying  some 
time^here ;  but  being  inforriied  by  the  priricipar minister  of 
the  place,  to  whom  I  discovered  myself,  that  boats  went 
frequently  down  the  Rhine  at  that  time  of  th^  year  wfCk'* 


BOWER.  255 

foods  and  passengers  from  Basil  to  Holland,  and  advised 
y  him  to  avail  myself  of  that  opportunity,  1  set  out  accord- 
ingly the  next  day,  and  crossing  the  popish  canton  of  So- 
leurre  in  the  night,  but  very  carefully  avoiding  the  town  of 
that  name,  I  got  early  the  next  morning  to  Basil.  There  I 
met  with  a  most  friendly  reception  from  one  of  the  minis- 
ters of  the  place,  having  been  warmly  recommended  to  him 
by  a  letter  I  brought  with  me  from  his  brother  at  Bern* 
As  a  boat  was  to  sail  in  two  days,  he  entertained  me  very 
elegantly  during  that  time  at  his  house ;  and  I  embarked 
the  third  day,  leaving  my  horse  to  my  host  in  return  for 
his  kindness. 

*^  The  company  in  the  boat  consisted  of  a  few  traders,  of 
a  great  many  vagabonds,  the  very  refuse  of  the  neighbouring 
nations^  and  some  (Criminals  flying  from  justice.  But  I  was 
uot  long  with  them  ;  for  the  boat  striking  against  a  rock 
not  far  from  Strasburgb,  I  resolved  not  to  wait  till  it  was  re- 
fitted (as  it  was  not  my  design  to  go  to  Holland),  but  to , 
pursue  my  journey  partly  in  the  common  diligence  or  stage 
coach,  and  partly  on  post-horses,  through  France  into 
Flanders. 

*^  And  here  I  must  inform  the  .reader,  that^ •though  the 
cruelties  of  the  inquisition  had  inspired  me  with  great  hor- 
ror at  their  being  encouraged  under  the  name  of  religion, 
and  I  had  thereupon  begun  to  entertain  many  doubts  con- 
cerning other  doctrines  that  I  had  till  that  time  implicitly 
swallowed,  as  most  Italian  catholics  do,  without  examina- 
tioii ;  nevertheless,  as  I  had  not  thoroughly  examined  them, 
nor  had  an  opportunity  of  examining  them,  being  employed 
in  studies  of  a  quite  difte rent  nature,  I  was  not  yet  deter- 
mined to  quit  either  that  church  or  the  order.  Having 
therefore  got  safe  into  French  Flanders,  I  there  repaired  to 
the  college  of  the  Scotch  Jesuits  at  Douay ;  and  discover- 
ing mysplf  to  the  rector,  I  acquainted  him  with  the  cause 
of  my  sudden  departure  from  Italy,  and  begged  him  to 
give  immediate  notice  of  my  arrival,  as  well  as  the  motives 
of  my  flight,  to  Michael  Angelo  Tamburini,  general  of  the 
order,  and  my  very  particular  friend.  My  repairing  thus 
to  a  college  of  Jesuits,  and  putting  myself  in  their  power, 
is  a  plain  proof,  as  may  be  observed  here  by  the  way,  that 
it  was  not  because  I  was  guilty  of  any  crime,  or  to  avoid  the 
punishment  due  to  any  crime,  that  I  had  fled  from  Italy; 
for,  had  that  been  the  case,  no  man  can  think  that  instead 
uf  rejpairing  to  Holland  or  England,  as  I  might  have  easily 


254  B  O  W  fe  It. 

done,  arid  bid  the  whole  order  defiance,  I  would  have  tbits 
delivered  myself  up  to  them,  and  put  it  in  their  power  to 
indict  on  me  what  punishment  soever  they  pleased.  - 

"The  rector  wrote,  as  I  had  desired  him,  to  the  general ; 
and  the  general,  taking  no  notice  of  my  flight  in  his  an^* 
swer  (for  he  could  not  disapprove  it,  and  did  ndt  think  it 
»afe  to  approve  it),  ordered  me  to  continue  where  I  was 
till  further  orders.     I  arrived  at  Douay,.  early  in  May,  and 
continued  there  till  the  latter  end  of  June  or  the  beginning 
of  July,  when  the  rector  received  d  second  letter  from  the 
general,  acquainting  him,  that  he  had   beeri  commanded 
by  the  congregation  of  the  inquisition  to  order  liie,  wherevet 
I  was,  back   to  Italy  ;  to  promise  me  in  their  fiame  full 
pardon  and  forgiveness,  if  I  obeyed  ;  but  if  1  did  not  obey, 
to  treat  me  as  an  apostate.     He  added,  that  tlie  same  order 
had  been  transmitted  soon  after  my  flight  to  the  nuncios 
at  the  different  Roman  catholic  courts ;  and  he  therefore 
advised  me  to  consult  my  own  safety  without  farther  delay. 
"  It  is  to  be  observed  here,  that  it  is  deemed  apostacy 
in  a  person  of  any  religious  order  to  quit  his  habit,  and 
withdraw,  without  the  knowledge  of  his  superiors,  from 
the  college,  convent,   or  monastery,  in  which  they  have 
placed  him ;  and  that  all  bishops  are  not  only  impowefed, 
"but  bound  to  apprehend  such  an  apostate  within  the  limits 
of  their  respective  jurisdictions,  and  deliver  him  Up  to  his 
superiors  to  be  punished  by  them.     As  1  had  quitted  the 
habit,  and  withdrawn  from  the  college  of  Macerata,  with- 
out leave  from  n)y  superiors  who  had  placed  me  there,  I 
should  have  been  treated  as  an  apostate,  had   I  been   dis- 
covered in  my  flight  in  a  Roman  catholic  country,  even 
where  no  inquisition  prevailed.     But  my  returning  volun- 
tarily, and  resuming  the  habit,  cleared  me  from  the  guilt 
of  apostacy  at  the  generals  tribunal,  nay,  and  at  that  of 
the  inquisition  itself.     However,  the  congregatipn   of  the 
inquisition  had  it  still  in  their  power  to  obhge  the  general 
to  recal  me  to  Italy,  and  to  treat  ine  as  an  apostate  if  I 
did  not  obey ;  disobedience  to  an  express  command  of  a 
lawful  superior  being  deemed  apostacy,  and  punished  as 
such  with  close  confinement,  and  with  bread  and  water  for 
food  till  the  order  is  complied  with.     That  order  the  gene- 
ral received ;  but  his  friendship  for  me,  of  which  he  had 
given  me  some  remarkable  instances,  and  his  being  fully 
convinced  of  my  indocence,  the  inquisitor  himself  having 
nothing  to  lay  to  my  charge  but  my  flight,  prompted  huu 


^ 


B  O  W  E  R.  255 

to  warn  me  of  the  danger  that  threatened  me.  Indeed  I 
thought  myself  quite  safe  in  the  dominions  of  France;  and 
should  accordingly  hav^  lived  there  unmolested  by  the  in- 
quisition,  what  crime  soever  I  had  been  guilty  of  cogniz- 
able by  that  tribunal  alone ;  but  as  I  had  belonged  to  it, 
and  was  consequently  privy  to  their  hellish  proceedings, 
they  were  apprehensive  I  should  discover  them  to  the 
world,;  and  it  was  to  prevent  me  from  ever  discovering 
them,  that  they  obliged  the  general  to  order  me  back  to 
Italy,  and  promise  me,  in  their  name,  a  free  pardon  if  I 
complied,  but  to  confine  me  for  life  if  I  did  not  comply 
with  the  order. 

**  Upon  the  receipt  of  the  general's  kind  letter,  the  rec- 
tor was  of  opinion,  that  I  should  repair  by  all  means,  and 
without  loss  of  time,  to  England^  not  only  as  the  safest 
asylum  I  could  fly  to  in  my  present  situation,  but  as  a 
place  where  I  should  soon  recover  my  native  language, 
and  be  usefully  employed,  as  soon  as  I  recovered  it,  either 
there  or  in  Scotland.     I  readily  closed  with  the  rector's 
opinion,  being  very  uneasy  in  my  mind,  as  my  old  doubts 
in   point  of  religion  daily  gained  ground,  and  new  ones 
arose  upon  my  reading,  which  was^my  only  employment, 
the  books  of  controversy  I  found  in  the  library  of  the  col- 
lege.    The  place  being  thus  agreed  on,  and  it  being  at 
the  same  time  settled  between  the  rector  and  me  that  I 
should  set  out  the  very  next  morning,  I  solemnly  pro- 
mised, at  his  request  and  desire,  to  take  no  notice,  after 
my  arrival  in  England,  of  his  having  been  any  ways  privy 
to  my  flight,  or  of  the  general's  letter  to  him.     This  pro- 
mise I  have  faithfully  and^  honourably  observed ;  and   I 
should  have  thought  myself  guilty  of  the  blackest  ingrati- 
tude if  I  had  not  observed  it,  being  sensible  that,  had  it 
I^een  known  at  Rome  that  either  the  rector  or  general  had 
been  .accessary  to  my  flight,  the  inquisition  would  have  re- 
sented it  severely  on  both.     For  thou t>h  a  Jesuit  in  France 
or  in  Germany  is  out  of  the  reach  of  the  inquisition,  the 
general  is  not ;  and  the  high  tribunal  not  only  have  it  in 
their  power  to  punish  the  general  himself,  who  resides 
constantly  at  Rome,    but  may  oblige  him  to  inflict  what 
punishment  they  please  on  any  of  the  order  ^ obnoxious  to 
them. 

**  The  rector  went  that  very  night  out  of  town  ;  and  in 
his  absence,  but  not  without  his  privity,  I  took  one  of  the 
horses  of  jthe  college  early  next  morning,  as  if  I  were 


2  5€  BOWER. 

* 

going  for  change  of  Bjr,  being  somewbat  indisposed,  id 
pass  a  few  days  at  LisIeJ  But^steering  a  different  course, 
I  reached  Aire  that  night,  and  Calais  the  next^lay.  I  was* 
there  in  no  danger  of  being  stopped  and  seized  at  the  pro- 
secution of  the  inquisition,  a  tribunal  no  less  abhorred  in 
France  than  in  England.  But  being  informed  by  the  gene- 
ral, that  the  nuncios  at  the  different  courts  had  been  or- 
dered, soon  after  my  flight,  to  cause  me  to  be  apprehended 
in  the  Roman  catlKtlic  countries  through  which  I  might 
pass,  as  an  apostate  or  deserter  from  the  order,  I  was 
iiuder  no  small  apprehension  of  being  discorelred  and  ap-» 
prehended  as  such  even  at  Calais.  No  sooner,  therefore, 
did  I  alight  at  the  inn,  than  I  went  down  to  the  quay ;  tind 
there,  as  I  was  very  little  acquainted  with  the  sea,  and 
thought  the  passage  much  shorter  than  it  is,  I  endeavoured 
to^ engage  some  fisliermen  to  carry  me  that  very  night  in 
one  of  their  small  vessels  over  to  England.  Thi:$  alarmed 
the  guards  of  the  harbour;  and  I  shoAild  certainly  have 
been  apprehended,  as  guilty  or  suspected  of  some  great 
crime,  flying  from  justice,  had  not  lord  Baltimore,  whom 
I  had  the  good  luck  to  meet  at  the  inn,  informed  of  my 
danger,  and  pitying  my  condition,  attended  me  that  mo- 
ment with  all  his  company  to  the  port,  and  conveyed  me 
immediately  on  board  his  yacht.  There  I  lay  that  night, 
leaving  every  thing  I  had  but  the  clothes  on  my  back  in 
the  inn ;  and  the  next  day  his  lordship  set  me  on  shore  at 
Dover,  from  whence  I  came  in  the'common  stage  to  Lon- 
don." 

This  is  the  narrative  which,  after  thirty  years,  Mr* 
Bower  gave  the  public  as  a  genuine  account.  Whether 
owing  to  the  inaccuracy  of  those  who  had  formerly  heard 
it,  to  the  variations  to  which  a  tale  frequently  repeated  is 
always  liable,  or  to  the  neglect  of  veracity. in  the  writer,  it 
certainly  differed  from  accounts  which  had  been  orally 
given  by  him  too  much  not  to  furnish  some  suspicion^  of 
the  author.  On  his  arrival  in  England  it  appears  to  have 
been  his  6rst  object  to  procure  an  introduction  to  some 
persons  of  respectability  in  the  country  destined  for  his 
future  residence.  He  had  heard  of  Dr.  Aspinwall  soon 
after  bis  arrival ;  and  that  divine  having  formerly  belonged 
to  the  ord^r  of  Jesuits,  he  waited  on  him,  and  was  kindly 
received.  By  this  gentleman  he  was  introduced  to  Dr. 
Clarke ;  and  to  them  both  he  opened,  as  he  says,  his 
ipind,  without  disguise,  respecting  his  doubts  relative^  ta 


BOWER.  "  «A7 

hi$  fja|th.  After  several  conferences  with  these  gentlenpen, 
and  some  with  Berkeley,  the  bishop  of  Cloyne,  then  dean 
of  Londoiiderry,  added  to  \w  own  reading  an^  reasoning, 
he  obtained,  as  he  says,  the  fullest  conviction  that  many 
'  of  the  favourite  doctrines  of  Rome  were  not  only  evidently 
repugnant  to  scripture  and  reason,  but  wicked,  blasphe- 
mous, and  utterly  inconsistent  with  the  attributes  of  thp' 
supreme  and  infinite  being*  He  therefore  withdrew  him- 
self from  the  communion  of  the  church  without  further  de« 
lay,  took  leave  of  the  provincial,  quitted  the  order,  and 
broke  off  all  connection  with  those  of  the  communiou. 
This  happened  in  the  month  of  November,  1726. 

'He  did  not,  however,  become  immediately  a  member 
of  any  other  church.  ^*  I  declined,"  says  he,  "  conform- 
ing to  any  particular  church ;  but,  suspecting  all  alike, 
after  I  had  been  so  long  and  so  grossly  imposed  upon,  I 
foriped  a  system  of  religion  to  myself,  and  continued  a  prO'- 
te&tant  for  the  space^  I  think,  of  six  years,  but  a  protestant 
of  no  particular  denoqiination:  At  last  I  conformed  to  the 
church  of  England,  as  free  in  her  service  as  any  r^form^d 
church  from  the  idolatrous  practices  and  superstitions  of 
popery,  and  less  inclined  than  many  others  to  fanaticisgi 
and  enthusiasm." 

By  Dr.  Aspinwall's  means  he  was  introduced  to  all  that 
gentleman's  friends  and  acquaintance ;  and  among  others 
to  Dr.  Goodman  (physician  to  king  George  the  first),  who 
procured  hiip  to  be  recommended  to  lord  Aylmer,  who 
wanted  a  person  to  assist  him  in  reading  the  classics.  With 
this  nobleipan  he  continued  several  years  on  teems  of  the 
greatest  intimacy  ;  and  was  by  him  made  known  to  all  his 
lordship^s  cp,nnectionS|  and  particularly  to. the  family  of 
lord  Lyttelton,  who  afterwards  became  his  warm,  steady^ 
and  to  the  last,  when  deserted  by  almost  every  other  per- 
son, his  unalterable  friend. 

During  the  time  he  lived  with  lord  Aylmer,  he  under- 
took, for  Mr.  Prevost,  a  bookseller,  the  "  Historia  Lite- 
;raria,''  a  monthly  publication  in  the  nature  of  a  review, 
the  first  number  of  which  was  published  in  the  year  1730. 
He  wrote  the  preface  to  that  work,  and  several  of  the  ar- 
ticles, in  Italian ;  not  being,  as  he  asserts,  yet  sufficiently 
acquainted  with  the  English  to  write  in  that  language  .^^ 

*  The  preface  wai  translated  by  Mr.     ley,  who  kept  afterwards  a  boardini^* 
.WVman,  aod  the  rest  by  Mr*  Bark-     school  at  Liule  Chelsea. 

Vot.VIi  s 


«58  BOWER. 

In  the  mean  time  he  closely  applied  to  the  study  of  th6 
EngKsh  tongue,  and  after  six  months  began  to  think  diat 
he  had  no  further  occasion  for  a  translator^  and  he  em- 
ployed him  no  more. 

While  he  was  yet  engaged  in  writing  the  Historia  Lite- 
raria,  the  proprietors  of  the  "  Universal  History"  would 
have  engaged  him  in  that  undertaking.  But  though  some 
advantageous  offers  were  made  him,  he  declined  them, 
until  the  Historia  Literaria  was  relinquished  in  1734.  In 
the  next  year  he  agreed  with  the  proprietors  of  the  **  Uni- 
versal History,"  and  was  employed  by  them  to  1744,  being 
the  space  of  nine  years  *. 

"JVhile  he  was  engaged  in  the  **  Universal  History,"  he 
undertook,  at  the  request  of  Mr.  Charlton,  of  Apley  castled, 
in  Shropshire,  the  education  of  young  Mr.  Thompson,  son 
iof  Mr.  Thompson,  of  Cooley,  in  Berkshire :  but  the  bad 
state  of  his  health  at  that  time  did  not  allow  him  to  coo" 
tinue  more  than  a  twelvemonth  in  that  family  ;  and  upon 
his  recovery,  lord  Aylmer  engaged  him  to  educate  two  of 
his  children,  one  of  whom  afterwards  became  a  captain  in 
colonel  tree's  regiment,  and  the  other  a  prebendary  of 
Bristol. 

By  the  emolaments  arising  from  his  tuition  and  his  writ- 
ings,  it  appears  that  in  the  year  1740  he  had  saved  the  sum 
of  1100/.  in  the  Old  South  Sea  annuities,  with  which  be 
bad  resolved  to  purchase  a  life-annuity.  In  the  disposition 
of  this  money  he  was  engaged  in  a  negociatiou  for  the  loan 
of  it,  which  afterwards  proved  fatal  to  his  character.  We 
shall  again  have  recourse  to  Mr.  Bower*s  own  accotrnt. 
Having  determined  to  purchase  this  annuity,  he  proceeds 
in  this  manner :  **  This  resolution  I  imparted  to  several  of 

*  The  part  which  he  wrote  of  this  find  most  reigpis  contained  in  as  maof 

work  was  the  Roman  history ;  in  the  short  paragraphs  as  they  would  have 

execution  of  which  he  is  charged  by  his  required  sheets ;  which  is  so  much  the 

fellow-labourer,  George  Psalmanazar,  greater  loss  to  the  public,  inasmuch 

with  the  blame  of  some  material  parts  as  the  Reman  history,  being  so  veil 

of  the  work,  and  particularly  of  the  By-  known,  and  written  bjr  so  many  bands, 

zantine  history,  being  curtailed.   "  The  was  the  fittest  to  have  been  epitomized  { 

truth  is,"  says  that  author,  '*  that  the  whereas  the  Byzantine,  though  equally 

author  of  the  Roman  history  having  curious  and  instructive,    is    so   littk 

wire-drawn  it  to  above  three  times  the  known,  that  it  ought  to  have  been  writ* 

length  it  was  to  have  been,  there  was  ten  in  a  more  copious  manner,  espe* 

•n  absolute  necessity  of  curtailing  that  cially  as  it  abounds  with  the  most  ia- 

of  the  Constantinopolitan  emperors,  to  teresting  incidents  to  the  church  a^weA 

prevent  the  work  swelling  into  an  enor-  as  the  state :  so  that  the  author  hath 

mons  bulk;  and  he  himself  hath  a-  done,  in  both  respects,  the  very  reverse 

bridged  it  insiich  a  manner  as  hath  of  what  he  ought  to  have  done."  Pialv 

^ttite  marred  it,  since  the  reader  will  manazar's  Life,  p.  309. 


BOWER. 


'259 


(p\y  protestant  friends ;  and,  among  the  rest,  to  sir  Thomas 
Mostyn^s  lawyer,  and  to  sir  Thomas  himself,  offering  at 
the  same  time  the  above-mentioned  sum  to  him,  as  he  well 
remenibers,  and  is  ready  to  attest  But  neither  sir  Tho^ 
mas,  nor  any  of  my  other  protestant  friends,  caring  to 
.burthen  their  estates  with  a  life-rent,  I  left  my  mon^  in 
the  funds  till  August  1741,  when  being  informed  that  an 
act  of  parliament  had  passe/1  for  rebuilding  a  church  in  th^ 
city  of  London,  St.  Botolph^s  Aldgate  *,  upon  life*annui* 
ties,  at  seven  per  cent  I  went  upon  that  information  into 
th^  city,  with  a  design  to  dispose  of  my  money  that  way. 
That  this  was  my  intention,  Mr.  Norris,  eldest  son  to  the 
Jate  sir  John  Norris,  with  whQm  I  advised  about  it  at  the 
time,  still  remembers,  and  is  ready  if  required  to  declare* 
But  I  came  too  late,  and  found  the  subscription  was  closed. 
This  disappointment  I  mentioned  to  Mn  Hill,  whom  I  ac^ 
cidentaily  met  in  WilPs  coffee-house,  near  the  Royal  Ex*- 
change  ;  and  upon  his  offering  me  the  same  interest  that 
was  given  by  the  trustees  of  the  above-mentioned  churchy 
the  bargain  was  concluded  in  a  few  meetings,  and  the  sun^ 
of  1100/.  transferred,  Aug.  21,  1741,  not  to  Mr.  Shirburn^ 
as  is  said  in  the  letter  from  Flanders,  p.  64,  but  to  Mr* 
Wright,  Mr.  Hill's  banker,  as  appears  from  the  books  of 
the  Old  South  Sea  annuities.  Mr.  Hill  was  a  Jesuit,  but 
transacted  money  matters  as  an  attorney,  and .  was  in  that 
way  a  very  noted  man,  bore  the  character  of  a  fair  dealer^ 
and  dealt  very  largely  in  affairs  of  that  nature  with  protes* 
tants  as  well  as  with  papists.  It  was  with  him  I  immedi* 
ately  dealt ;  as  is  manifest  from  the  orders  on  his  banker 
or  cashier,  Mr.  Wright,  in  p.  72  of  the  libel,  which  were 
all  signed  by  him,  and  by  nobody  else ;  and  he  paid  me  so 
punctually,  that  some  time  after  I  added  250/.  to  the  sum 
already  in  his  hands,  and  received  for  the  whole  94/.  10^. 
^  year.    I  afterwards  resolved  to  marry ;  and  it  was  chiefly 


<  *  fn  this  circumstance,  howerer,  he 
iras  mistaken.  His  Answer  says :  "  I 
can  now  take  upon  me  to  assure  the 
public,  that  Mr.  Bower's  journey  into 
the  city  to  lend  his  money  at  St.  Bo- 
tolph's,  his  coming  too  late,  and  finding 
the  subscription  closed,  and  his  acci- 
dental meeting  with  Mr.  Hill  at  Will's 
cofitee-house,  as  related  in  his  Defence* 
are  fictions  of  the  inventive  imagina- 
tion of  a  man  who  appears  to  be  ca- 
pable of  saying  any  tbiogf  whei^  he 


thinks  he  shall  not  be  traced.*'  Full 
Confutation  of  Mr.  Bower,  p.  6S^— la 
reply  to  which  Mr.  Bower  says,  **  It 
mi^ht  he  St.  Catherine's  Coleman,  Fen* 
church-street,  or  any  other;  that  the 
point  of  importance  was,  that  he  meant 
to  subscribe  to  a  church,  though  his 
memory  at  such  a  distance  of  time 
might  mistake  ,the  particular  one." 
Mr.  Bower's  Reply  to  the  Full  Coofiita« 
tion,  p.  33. 

S2 


^60  BOWER. 

upon  that  consideration^  though  not  upon  that  alone,  I 
«tppllfed»tb  Mr.  Hill  to  know  upon  what  terms  he  would 
return  me  the  capital.  Thie  terms  he  proposed  were  as  easy 
^s  I  could  expect :  for  he  agreed  at  once  to  repay  it,  only 
*cteductins:  what  I  had  received  over  and  above  the  com- 
iioh  intferest  of  four  per  cent,  during  the  time  it  had  been 
in  his  hands;  and  he  did  so,  accordingly,  as  soon  as  he 
'conveniently  could.  Thus  did  tliis  money  transaction  begin 
Avith  Mr.  Hill,  was  carried  On  by  Mr.  Hill,-  and  with  Mr. 
«iH  did  it  end.'* 

The  account  of  this  transaction  given  by  his  opponents 
Ss  niaterially  different.  By  them  it  is  asserted,  that  after 
%.  time  he  wished  to  return  into  the  arms  of  the  church  he 
had  renounced,  and  therefore,  in  order  to  recommend 
inmself  to  his  superiors,  he  had  recourse  to  a  method 
which  he  thought  would  effectually  prove  his  sincerity  to- 
ivards  them.  He  proposed  to  father  Shirburn,  then  pro- 
vincial in  England,  to  give  up  to  him,  as  representative  of 
the  society,  the  money  he  thien  possessed^  on  condition 
of  being  paid  for  it,  during  his  life,  an  annuity  at  the  rate 
•of  seven  per  cent.  This  offer  was  accepted ;  and  on  the 
-Slst  of  August  1741,  he  paid  to  father  Shirburn  1100/.; 
andFon  the  27th  of  February  1741-2,  he  paid  to  the  same 
person  150/.  more  upon  the  same  conditions.  Nor  did  bis 
oonfidence  rest  here ;  for,  on  the  6th  of  August  1 743,  be 
added  another  100/.  to  the  above  sums,  now  augmented  to 
1350/.  when  the  several  annuities  were  reduced  into  one, 
amounting  to  94/.  10^.  for  which  a  bond  was  given.  This 
negotiation  had  the  wished  effect ;  and  otir  author  wad 
re-admitted  in  a  formal  manner  into  the  order  of  Jesus,  at 
luondon,  about  the  end  of  1744  or  beginning  of  1745. 

It  seems  difficult  to  assign  a  sufficient  reason  why^  after 
having  been  re-admitted  to  the  order,  he  should  again 
grow  dissatisfied  with  his  situation ;  though  some  conjec- 
tures have  been  offered  to  account  for  it.  Certain  it  is, 
however,  he  once  more  determined  to  break  with  the  Jesuit^ 
and  obtain  his  money  again.  To  accomplish  this  point, 
he  engaged  in  the  correspondence  which  afterwards  was 
$o  much  canvassed.  It  answered,  however,  his  purpose; 
and  he  received  his  money  back  from  the  borrowers  on  the 
20thof  June  1747. 

The  success  of  the '' "  Universal  History"  in  its  first 
edition,  encouraged  the  proprietors  to  venture  on  a  se* 


BOWER. 


asi 


cond;  and  tbey  had  recourse^  unluckily  for  themselves^ 
and  the  credit  of  the  work,  to  the  aid  of  Mr.  Bower^i  to 
revise  and  correct  it.  For  thi»  service  he  received  the  sum 
of  300/.  though  it  is  asserted  he  did  very  little  to  the  work ; 
and  that  even  upon  collating  the  two  editions,  so  far  as 
Mr.  Sale  wrote,  where  he  professed  to  have  done  much,  it- 
appeared  he  had  not  made  a  single  alteration,  only  substi- 
tuted in  a  few  places  the  Hebrew  chronology  in  the  room 
of  the  Samaritan. 

Being  thus  disengaged  from  his  literary  employmen.ty 
though  he  had  not  then  received  back  his  money  from  the 
J^esuits,  he,  on  the  25th  of  March  1747,  put  forth  the 
proposals  for  his  "  History  of  the  Popes  ;'*  a  work,  which, 
he  says,  he  undertook  some  years  since  at  Rome,  and  theii( 
brought  it  down  to  the  pontificate  of  Victor,  that  is,  to 
the  close  of  the  second  century.  In  the  execution  of  this 
work  at  that  period  he  professes  to  have  received  the  first 
"unfavourable  sentiments  of  the  pope's  supremacy.  On 
the  13th  of  May  1748,  ]xe  presented  to  the  king  the  first 
volume ;  and  ou  the  deatli  of  Mr.  Say,  keeper  of  queen 
Caroline's  library  (10th  of  September),  one  of  his  friends 
(Mr.  Lyttelton,  afterward^  lord  Lyttelton)  applied  to  Mr* 
Pelham  for  that  place  for  him,  and  obtained  it.  The  next 
year,  1749,  on  the  4th  of  August,  he  married  a  piece  of 
bishop  Nicolson,  and  daughter  of  a  clergyman  of  th^ 
church  of  England,  a  yeunger  son  of  a  gentleman's  family 
in  Westmoreland,  who  haa  a. fortune  of  4000/.  sterlings 
and  then  had  a  child  by  a  former  husband ;  which  child  h§ 
afterwards  deposed  on  oath  was  no  way  injured  by  his  mar^ 
riage.  He  had  been  engaged  in  a  treaty  of  marriage, 
which  did  not  take  effect,  in  1745.  In  1751,  the  second 
volume  of  the  History  of  the  Popes  made  its  appearance  f. 


•  •*  With  respect  to  the  manage' 
meat  of  the  partners  about  this  second 
^itiop,  tbey  were  guilty  of  two  fatal 
errors  :  the  first  in  comoiitting  so  great 
a  share  of  the  work,  as  well  as  the  re- 
visal  of  the  whole,  to  a  man  who  thay 
had  all  reason  to  believe  aimed  chiefly 
^t  gain  and  dispatch  ^  and  to  agree 
with  him  by  the  lump,  as  they  did, 
which  would  only  prove  a  temptation 
lo  him  to  hurry  it  off  as  fast  as  he 
could ;  and  as  he  accordingly  did,  to 
their  no  small  mortification,  as  well  as 
^urt  to  themselVes  and  to  the  work*    I 


might  add,  that  as  he  was  and  owne4 
himself  quite  unacquainted  with  the 
eastern  languages,  he  was  the  mos^ 
unqualified  for  several  parts,  that  fell 
to  his  lot  of  any;  and  if  care  had  not 
been  taken,  would  haire  committed 
sucll  mistakes  in  the  very  spelling  of 
'the  proper  names,  as  would  quite  have 
discredited  it."— Psalmanazar's  Xafc, 
p.  329.  ..  See  also  p.  320. 

f  In  a*  letter  from  lord  Xyttelton  to 
Dr.  Doddridge,  dated  OcU  XiSl,  ho 
says,    **  Vou  have  brought  ou  yqnr 

distemper  t>y  to^  cqntJBvisd  study^  s^nd 


262 


B  6  W  E  R. 


In  the  same  year,  1751,  Mr.  Bower  published  by  way  of 
stipplement  to  his  second  volume,  seventeen  sheets,  which 
were  delivered  to  his  subscribers  gratis ;  and  about  the 
latter  end  of  1753  he  produced  a  third  volume,  which 
brought  down  his  history  to  the  death  of  pope  Stephen,  in 
757.  His  constant  friend  Mr.  Lyttelton,  at  this  time  be- 
come a  baronet,  iii  April  1754  appointed  him  clerk  of  the 
buck  warraints,  instead  of  Henry  Read,  esq.  who  held  that 
place  under  the  earl  of  Lincoln.  This  office  was  probably 
of  no  great  emolument.  Kis  appointment  to  it,  how- 
ever, serves  to  shew  the  credit  he  was  in  with  his 
patron. 

It  was  in  this  year  the  first  serious  attack  was  made  upon 
him  on  account  of  his  "History  of  the  Popes,*'  in  a 
pamphlet  printed  at  Douay,  entitled  *^  Remarks  on  the 
two  first  volumes  of  the  late  Lives  of  the  Popes.  In  letters 
from  a  gentleman  to  a  friend  in  the  country,'*  8vo ;  and 
written,'  as  Mr.  Bower  asserted,  by  a  popish  priest,  Butler, 
one  of  the  most  active  and  dangerous  emissaries  of  Rome 
in  this  kingdom.  His  correspondence  with  the  Jesuits  at 
last  came  to  light ;  and  falling  into  the  hands  of  a  person 
who  possessed  both  the  sagacity  to  discover,  and  the  in-« 
jdustry  to  pursue  and  drag  to  public  notice  the  practices 
of  our  historian,  the  warfare  began  in  1756,  and  ended  in 
the  total  disgrace  of  Mr.  Bower.  After  a  careful  perusal 
of  the  controversy,  a  list  of  which  is  here  added  in  a  note, 
we  are  compelled  to  believe  that  our  author  (who,  shock- 
ing as  it  may  be  to  observe,  made  an  affidavit,  denying 
the  authenticity  of  letters  we  think  fully  proved)  was 
clearly  convicted  of  the  material  charges  alleged  against 
him.  He  repelled  the  attack,  however,  made  on  him,  with 
great  spirit;  and  continued  to  assert  his  innocence,  and  to 
charge  his  eneories  with  foul  practices,  long  after  bis 
**  History  of  the  Popes,"  as  well  as  his  own  veracity,  had 
fallen  into  contempt.  We  find,  in  the  course  of  this  con- 
troversy, he  ran  some  hazard  of  being  brought  on  the  stage 
.by  Mr.  Garrick,  on  account  qf  the  manner  in  ^ich  he 


* 

labour  in  your  spiritual  functions,  and 
an  entire  remission  of  mind  is  abso- 
lutely necessary  for  your  recovery.  ^I 
therefore  request  it  of  you  not  to  write 
the  f>refi^ce  to  Bower's  book:  it  will 
do  more  bartn  to  you  than  good  to  him : 
it^e  inerit  of  the  work  will  bear  it  up 


against  all  these  attacks;  and  aa  to 
the  ridiculous  story  of  my  having'  dis- 
carded him,  the  intimate  friendship  in 
which  we  continue  to  live  will  be  a  suf- 
ficient answer  to  that,  and  better  than 
any  testimony  formally  given." — Do^n 
4ridge*s  Letters^  p^  471,  870/^790^ 


B  O  W  £  R.  263 

iV)entioned  that  incomparable  actor  and  his  lady  in  one  oif 
his  works*. 

JFrom  this  period  bis  whole  time  seems  to  have  been 
spent  in  ineffectual  attacks  upon  his  enemies,  and  equally 
vain  efforts  to  recover  the'  reputation  of  himself  and  his 
"  History  of  the  Popes ;"  which  points  he  pursued  with 
great  spirit,  considering  the  age  to  which  he  had  then  at- 
tained. Before  the  controversy  had  ended,  he  published 
his  fourth  volume  ;  and  in  J  757  an  abridgment  of  the  first 
four  volumes  of  his  work  was  published  in  French  at  Am- 
sterdam. In  L761  he  seems  to  have  assisted  the  author  of 
**  Authentic  Memoirs  concerning  the  Portuguese  Inquisi- 
tion, in  a  series  of  letters  to  a  friend/'  8vo ;  and  about 
the  same  time  produced  the  fifth  volume  of  his  History  of 
the  Popes.  To  this  volume  he  annexed  a  summary  view 
of  the  controversy  between   himself  and  the  papists,  iu 

*  This  was  in  his.  <<  Summary  view  his  friendship,  and  his  lordship  had, 
of  the  Controversy  between  the  Papists  notwithstanding  all  that  had  been  said 
and  the  Author,''  4to,  p.  16S;  where-  and  written  against  Bower,  continued 
in,  after  taking  notice  of  an  observa-  to  countenance  and  protect  him,  he 
tioa  of  his  antagonist,  that  he  had  not  thought  it  an  act  of  decency  to  ac- 
ventnred  of  laie  to  visit  the  gentleman  quaint  his  lordship  with  his  intention* 
^nd  lady  mentioned  in  one'  of  the  Mr.  Garrick  read  his  own  letter,  to  me»; 
pamphlets  published  against  him,  he  as  well  as  his  lordship's  answer.  The 
replies:  *' Now,  that  foreigners,  and  first  contained  complaints  of  Bower's 
they  who  live  at  a  distance  from  Lon-  ill  behaviour  to  Mr.  GarricK;  his  reso- 
don,  may  not  think  that  I  dare  not  lution  to  write  a  farce,  with  a  short 
$hew  my  face  at  the  house  of  any  real  outline  of  it,  in  which  Bower  was  to  be 
gentleman  or  real  lady  where  I  was  introduced  on  the  stage  as  a  mock  con- 
once  honoured  with  admittance,  I  beg  vert,  and  to  be  shewn  in  a  variety  of 
leave  to  inform  them  who  the  gentle-  attitudes,  in  which  the  profligacy  of  his 
man  and  lady  are.  The  gentleman,  character  was  to  be  exposed.  How- 
then,  is  Mr.  Garrick,  an  actor  who  ever,  be  submitted  the  matter  to  his 
BOW  acts  upon  the  stage.  The  lady  lordship,  and  declared,  that  be  should 
is  his  wife,  Mrs.  Garrick,  alias  Violetti,  not  proceed  a  step  in  his  intended  re- 
who  within  these  few  years  danced  sentment  without  his  permission.  The 
■u|)on  the  stage.  To  do  them  justice,  answer,  I  remember  perfecUy  weU^ 
they  are  both  eminent  in  tbeir  way,  was  comprised  in  very  condescending 
The  gentleman*  though  no  Koscius,  is  and  polite  terms:  but,  at  the  same 
as  well  known  and  admired  for  his  act<v  time,  he  declined  the  countenancing  ao 
ing  as  the  lady  for  ber  dancing ;  and  attempt  which  would  be  attended,  per* 
the  lady  was  as  well  knqwn  and  ad-  haps,  with  some  little  uneasiness  to 
mired  for  her  dancing  as  the  gentle*  himself^  He  expressed  himself  in  the 
man  is  for  his  acting;  and  they  are  most  obliging  and  friendly  terms  to  Mr. 
in  that  sense  pqr  nobile,^^  -^  <*  This  Garrick  i  and,  as  far  as  I  can  recoU 
contemptuous  notice,"  as  Mr.  pa-  lect,  recommended  the  suppressingiiis 
yie^  observes,  "alarmed  the  spirits  lateodeJchastisemeotof Bower.''^— Life 
find  iired  the  resentment  of  our  mft-  of  Garrick,  vol.  I.  p.  272.  Mr,  Davies 
nagerj  he  determined  to  make  an  ex-  adds,  that  "  Mr.  Garrick,  in  conse- 
,  ampljB  of  the  impostor,  and  to  bring  quence  of  lord  Lyttelton's  letter,  gave 
^Is  character  upon  the  stage.  But  as  up  all  further  thoughts  of  introdo^ii^ 
jord  J^yttelton  bad  honoured  him  wiUi  BQwer  to  the  public," 


264 


B  O  W  E  R. 


0^ 


J 80  pages;  a  performance,  v^rhich,  from  the  virulence  of 
his  abuse,  was  more  calculated  to  impress  the  reader  with' 
the  conviction  of  his  guilt,  than  to  afibrd  any  satisfaction 
6f  his  innocence. 

Whether  through  the  neglect  of  the  work  by  the  public, 
or  his  age,  declining  abilities,  or  to  whatever  other  cause 
it  is  to  be  ascribed,  the  remainder  of  his  history  did  ndb 
make  its  appearance  until  just  before  the  author's  death, 
when  the  sixth  and  seventh  volumes  were  published  to- 
gether, and  these  in  so  hasty  and  slovenly  a  manner,  that 
the  whole  period  from  1600  to  1758  was  comprehended  in 
twenty-six  pages. — He  died  on  the  3d  September  1766,  at 
the  age  of  eighty  years,  and  was  buried  in  Mary-le-bone 
church-yard,  with  an  inscription  maintaining  his  purity 
^nd  innocence.  By  his  will,  made  on  the  1st  of  August 
1749,  which  does  not  contain,  &s  might  be  expected,  any 
declaration  of  his  religious  principles  ^,  he  bequeathed  all 
his  property  to  his  wife,  who,  some  time  after  his  death, 
fittested  bis  having  died  in  the  protestant  faith  f  \. 


^  Thill  is  the  more  remarkable,  as 
it  was  very  much  the  practice  of  the 
times,  and  as  from  the  peculiarity  of 
Mr.  Dower's  situation  it  seems  to  have 
been  particularly  incumbetat  on  him, 
on  that  solemn  occasion,  to  have  given 
the  world  that  satisfaction.  In  his 
i\nswcr  to  Bower  and  Tillemont  com- 
pared, p.  3,  he  says  he  was  married 
SOih  of  August  1749.  From  the  date 
of  hi$  will  it  appear^  he  was  married 
earlier  than  August. 

f  This  we  remember  to  have  seen 
in  tiie  London  Chronicle. 

t  The  following  is  a  Hst  of  the  pieces 
published  in  consequence  of  the  His- 
tory of  the  Popes:  I.  A  Dialogue  be- 
tween Archibald  and  Timothy;  or, 
iome  observations  upon  the  dedicatiou 
^nd  preface  to  the  History  of  the 
Popes,  &c.  1*748,  8vo.  2.  A  faithful 
Account  of  Mr.  A.  B— r's  motives 
Ibr  leaving  his  oiUce  of  secretary,  &c. 
1750,  8vo.  3.  Remarks  on  the  two 
first  volumes  of  the  late  Lives  of  the 
Popes,  in  letters  from  a  gentleman 
to  a  friend  in  the  country,  Douay; 
1754, 8vo.  4.  Six  Letters  from  A  'd 
JB — ^r  to  father  Sheldon,  provincial 
of  the  Jesuits  in  England.  Illustrated 
with  several  remarkable  facts,  tending 
to  ascertain  the  authenticity  of  the  said 
letters,  and  the  true  character  of  the 
vriteri  1756j  8vo.    5.  Mr.  Archibald 


> 


Bower's  affidavit  in  answer  to  the  False 
accusations  brought  again<:t  him  by  the 
papists,  ^c.  1756v  8vo.    6.  Bower  vin-^ 
dicated  from  the  false  insinuations  and 
accusations   of  the  papist s^     tVith  a 
short  account  of  his  character,    &c. 
By  a  country  neighbour,  1756,  8vo. 
7.  Mr.  Bower's  answer  to  a  scurrilous 
pamphlet  entitled  Six  Letters,  &c.  Part 
I.  1757,  8vo.    8.  Bower  and  Tillemont 
compared  j  or,  the  first  volume  of  the 
pretended  original  and  protestant  His- 
tory of  the  Popes  shewn  to  be  cliiefly  a 
translation  from   a   popish   one,   &:c« 
1757,  Bvo.     9.  Mr.  Bower's  Answer  to 
a  new  charge  broiight  against  him  in  a   - 
libel  entitled  Bower  and  Tillemont  comf- 
pared,  1757,    8vo.     10.   The    sec'aftf 
Part  of  Mr.  Bower's  Answer  to  a' sour-    » 
rilous  pamphlet,  &c.  1757,  8vo.     1'^^  jj 
A  f^uU  Confutation  of  all  the!  fadt^  iid; 
vanced  in  Mr.  Bower's  three  def^ces^ 
&c.  1757,  8vo.     12.  Mr.  Bower'^  Rev, 
ply  to  a  scurrilous   Libel,  entitled  1^', 
full  Confutatiou,  &c,  1757,' 8 vo.  '  13. -v 
A  complete  and  final  detectioif ofAfrcfii"-/^ 
j^owcr,  &c.  1758,  8vo.    14.  One  vefjf 
remarkable  fact  more  relathig  to'^lid^ 
conduct  of  the  Jesuits,  &c,    "By  Mr. 
Bower,  1758,  8vo.    15.  Some  very  re- 
markable' facts  lately  discovered,  re&' 
lating  to  the  conduct  of  the  Jesuifi 
with  regard  to  Mr.  Bower,  which  will, 
greatly  contribute  to  unravel  the  mpf^\ 


7  O  W  L  E.  fidS 

BOWLE  (Johk),  an  ingenious  soholaf^  who,  from  his 
ittacfament  to  Spanish  literature,  was  usually  called  by  his 
friends  Don  Bowie,  was  a  descendant  from  Dr.  John  Bowle^ 
bishop  of  Rochester  in  the  early  part  of  the  seventeenth 
Cientury.  He  was  born  in  1725,  and  educated  at  Oriel 
coltege>  OxfcNTd,  where  he  took  his  master^s  degree  in 
1750,  and  having  Entered  into  holy  orders,  was  presented 
tO'the  vicarage  of  Idtnisfon,  Wiltshire.  In  1776  he  was 
elected  F.  S.  A.  He  was  a  man  of  great  erudition,  and 
much  respected  for  his  various  researches  in  itntiquity^ 
>nd  various  other  lucubrations  in  obsCure  literature.  H6 
had  the  honour  of  beling  one  of  ihe  first  detectors  of  Lau^ 
der's  forgeries,  and  according  to  Dr.  Douglas's  account^ 
had  the  justest  claim  to  be  considered  as  the  original  de- 
tector 'of  that  unprincipled  impostor.  In  1765,  he  was 
editor  of  "  Miscellaneous  pieces  of  ancient  English  Poesiie,'* 
contttining  Sbaktspeare's  ^^King  John,''  and  some  of  the  sa* 
lires  of  Marston.  To  a  very  accurate  and  extensive  fund 
of  classical  learning,  he  had  added  a  comprehensive  know« 
ledge  of  most  of  the  modem  languages,  particularly  of  thd 
Spani^,  Italian,  and  French;  and  in  the  course  of  his 
reading  contacted  a  fondness  for  Cervantes'  admirable 
romance,  which  could  scarcely  be  said^to  be  kept  within 
Reasonable  bounds.  Don  Quixote  himself  did  not  sally 
forth  with  more  enthusiasm  than  Mr.  BoWle,  when,  in  1777 
he  published  "  A  Letter  to  the  rev.  Dr.  Percy,  concerning 
\  a  new  and  classical  edition*  of  Historia  del  valoroso  Caval* 
lero'  Don  Quixote  de  la  Mancha,  to  be  illustrated  by  an*- 

tejy  of  that  affair,  &c.    By  the  rev.  A      '  -d,  coacerning  hie  motives  for  r«« 

J.ohn  Corpe,  r«ctor  of  Way  ford,  Somer-  nonncing  the  popish  and  re-embjracing 

set,  1738,  8\'o.    16.  Bower  detected  as  tke  protestabt  relig^HMi,  1758,  Svo.    19. 

ao  historian,   or  his  many   essential  Suauiiary    view    Of    the   cof^trovenv 

omissions,  and  more  essential  perver-  between  the  Papists  and  the  Author, 

sions  of  facts  in  favour  of  popei'y  de-  1761,  4to.    20.  A  brief  refutatien  of 

^  tBonstrated,   by  oemparing  the  three  the  principal  charges  broitght  against 

"^  tolomesof  bis  History  with  the  first  Mr.  Bower  by  his  enemies,  extracted 

volume  of  the  French  History  of  tiie  from  the   Summary   View,  4to.     21* 

Popes  now  translating.     By  the  rev.  The  reverend  Detector:  or,  the  dis- 

Temple  Henry  Croker,  175$,  8vo.   17.  guised  Jesuit  detected,  or  proved  out 

Bfr.  A d's  motives  for  reuounoing  of  his  own  mouth    a  liar  and  a  sian- 

^ihe  popish  and  re-embracing  the  pro*  derer,  4to.     22.  The  Seven  Letters  to 

t«staAt  religion,  in  M'hidh  he  was  eda-  fktber 'Sheldon  proved  to  be  forgeriei         ^ 

cated,  with  several  fresh  instances  of  by  the  tesllmony  of  a  professed  Jesuit,        (^ 

the  unchristian  principles  of  the  papists  4to.     Of  the  above,  the  articles  No.  4, 

in  genera),  and  the  Jesuits  in  parti*  8,  and^lS^.  were  written  by  Dr.  Dong-      //' 

oillar«  1766,  8vo.    18.  A  Letter  to  Mr.  ■  las,  late  bishop  of  Saiitbory.  ^ 

1  Life  oomptied  from  the  above  pamphlets  for  the  last  edition  of  this  Dio- 
tionary. — See  Gent.  Mag.  and  Month.  Rev.  Indexes.  See  also  some  favourable 
ipetticulitrs,  Oeot.  Mag.  i^.  lia?  j  L2^L  1  IS  i  IXXXX,  509. 


««  BOW  L  E. 

notations  and  extracts  from  the  historiatis,  poets,  and  fd^ 
mances  of  Spain  and  Italy,  and  other  writers  ancient  and 
modem,  with  a  glossary  and  indexes,  in  which  are  occa- 
sionally interspersed  some  reflections  on  the  learning  and 
genius  of  the  author,  with  a  map  of  Spain  adapted  to  the 
history,  and  to  every  translation  of  it,'^  4to.     He  gave  ako 
an  outline  of  the  life  of  Cervantes  in  the  Gent.  Mag.  for 
1731,  and  circulated  proposals  to  print  the  work  by  subn 
scription  at  three  guineas  each  copy.     It  appeared  accord'* 
ingly  in  1781,  in  six  quarto  volumes,  the  first  four  consist*- 
ing  of  the  text,  the  fifth  of  the  anaotations,  and  the  sixth 
is  wholly  occupied  by  the  index,  but  the  work  did  nol 
answer  his  expectations.     The  literary  journals  were, either 
silent  or  spoke  slightingly  of  his  labours  ;  and  the  public 
sentiment  seemed  to  be  that  annotations  on  Cervantes  were 
not  quite  so  necessary  as  on  Shakspeare.^    He  appears, 
however,  to  have  taken  some  pains  to  introduce  them  to 
the  public  in  a  favourable  light.     In  1784  (Gent.  Mag. 
LIV.  p.  565)  we  find  him  bmenting  certain  ^^  unfair  prac- 
tices respecting  the  admission  of  an  account  of  the  work 
into  two  periodical  publications  to  which  he  had  some 
reason  to  think  he  was  entitfed."     He  adds,  that  the  per-* 
petrators  of  these -practices  were   ''  a  false  friend,  and 
another,  whose  encomium  he  should  regard  as  an  affront 
and  real  slander ;  the  one  as  fond  of  the  grossest  flattery, 
as  the  other  ready  to  give  it,  and  both  alike  wholesale 
dealers  in  abuse  and  detraction.*^'     Nor  was  this  all ;  in 
17;85  he  published  **  Remarks  on  the  extraordinary  con- 
duct of  the  Knight  of  the  Ten  Stars  and  his  Italian  Squire, 
to  the  editor  of  Don  Quixote.     In  a  letter  to  I.  S.  D.  D.'* 
8vo.  This  produced  an  answer  from  the  **  Italian  Squire,'* 
Baretti,  not  of  the  most   gentleman^like   kind,   entitled 
**  Tolondron.  Speeches  to  John  Bowie,  about  his  edition  of 
Don  Quixote,"  8vo,  1786,  ^nd  with  this  the  controversy 
ended.     Mr.  Bowie  contributed  many  valuable  hints  and 
corrections  to  Granger's  History,  and  many  criticisms  and 
illustrations  to  Johnson  and  Steevens's  edition  of  Shakspeare^ 
and  Warton's  History  of  Poetry.     His  course  of  reading 
well  qualified  him  £pr  literary  aid  of  this  description.     In 
the  Arch8eologia,voj.  VL  VII.  and  VIH.  are  four  papers  by 
him,  on  the  ancient  pronunciation  of  the  French  language^ 
on  some  musical  instruments  mentioned  in  ^^  Le  Roman  d« 
la  Rose  ;''  on  parish  registers ;  and  on  cards.    He  was  also, 
under  various  signaturesi  a  frequent  contributor  to  tUf^ 


B  O  W  Y  E  R.  267 

<l€titlan^Q'8  Magazine,  but  as  a  divine  he  was^  not  known' 
to  the  public.     He  died  Oct.  26,  1788. ' 

BOWYER  (William),  the  most  learned  English  printer 
of  whom  we  have  any  account,  was  born  in  Dogwell-court, 
White  Fryars,  London,  on.  the  19th  of  December,  1 699.  His 
father,  whose  name  was  also  William,  was  of  distinguished 
eminence  in  the  ftame  profession  ;  and  his  maternal  grand- 
&dber  (Thomas  Dawte)  was  employed  in  printing  the  cele- 
bvited  Polygtett  Bible  of  bishop  Walton.     At  a  proper 
age,  he  was  placed,  for  grammatical  education,  under  the 
care  of  Mr.  Ambrose  Bonwicke,  a  non-juring  clergyman  of 
known  "piety  and  learning,  who  then  lived  at  Headley,  near 
Leatberhead  in  Surrey.     Here  Mr.  Bowyer  made  such  ad- 
vances in  literature  as  reflected  the  highest  credit  both  on 
himself  and  his  preceptor ;  for  whose  memory,  to  his  latest 
years^  he  entertained  the  sincerest  respect ;  and  to  whose 
family  he  always  remained  an  useful  friend.     The  attach- 
ment, indeed,  was  mutual ;  and  the  following  instance  of 
the  good  school-master^s  benevolence  made  an  indelible 
impression  on  the  mind  of  his  pupil.     On  the   30th  of 
January,   1712-13,  the  whole  prcfperty  of  the  elder  Mr, 
Bowyer  was  destroyed  by  a -dreadful  fire  ;  on  which  occa- 
sion, Mr.  Bonwicke,    with  great  generoisity,  and  no  less 
delicacy  (endeavouring  to  conceal  its  being  his  own  act  of 
.kindness),  took  upon  him,  for  one  year,  the  expences  of 
his  scholar's  board  and  education.    In  June  1716,  young 
Mr.  Bowyer  was  admitted  as  a  «izar  at  St.  John's  college, 
Cambridge,  of  which  Dr.  Robert  Jenkin  was  at  that  time 
master.     The  doctor  had  been  a  benefactor  to  the  elder 
IVf  r.  Bowyer  in  the  season  of  his  calamity  ;  and  the  son,  at 
the.  distance  of  sixty  years,  had  the  happiness  of  returning 
the  favour  to  a  relation  of  the  worthy  master,  in  a  manner 
by  which  the  person  obliged  was  totally  ignorant  to  whom 
Ive  was  indebted  for  the  present  he  received.'  Mr.  Bowyer 
continued  at  Cambridge  under  the  tuition,  first^  of  Dr.  An<* 
fitey,  and  afterwau*ds  of  the  rev.  Dr.  John  Newcome,  till 
June  1722,  during. which  time  he  obtained  Roper^s  exhi- 
bition, and  wrote^  in  1719,  what  he  called  '^  Epistola  pro 
iSodalitio  A  rev.  vtro  F*  Roper  mihi  legato ;"  but  it  does  not 
appear  that  he  took  his  degree  of  bachelor  of  arts.     Not- 
.witbstanding    an  habitual  shyness  of  disposition,    which 
was  unfavourable  to  him  at  bis  first  appearance,  the  re- 

*  .      " 

1  Nichols's  Life  of  Bowyer.— Gra|ij;er'9  L&ti^n,  o,  ^7«¥47.^WoQlP8  Life  nC 
"^ayton,  p,  399/  402. 


t6S  B  O  W,Y  E  R. 

gularity  of  bis  conduct,  and  bis  application  to  study,  pii5« 
cured  bim  tbe  esteem  of  many  very  respectable  memben 
of  tbe  university.  Here  it  was  that  he  formed  an  intimacy 
with  Mr.  Markland  and  Mr.  Clarke,  two  learned  friendb 
with  whom  he  maintained  a  regular  correspondenee 
through  life ;  and  their  letters  contain  a  treasure  of  po<r 
lite  literature  and  sound  oriticitfrn.  On  the  death  of  Mr. 
Bonwicke,  bis  grateful  scholar  had  an  opportunity  of  Te-> 
quiting,  in  some  measure,  tbe  obtigfttions  he  bad  received, 
by  officiating,  for  a  time,  in  the  capacity  of  a  tchooU 
master,  for  the  benefit  of  the  family ;  but  before  this,  be 
had  entered  into  the  printing  business,  together  with  hia 
father,  in  June  1722  ;  and  one  of  tbe  first  books  which  te^ 
ceived  the  benefit  of  his  correction^  was  tbe  complete  edi* 
tion  of  Selden  by  Dr.  David  Wilkius,  in  three  volumes, 
folio.  This  edition  was  begun  in  1722,  and  finished  in 
1726  ;  and  Mr.  Bowyer's  great  attention  to  it  appeared  in 
his  drawing  up  an  epitome  of  Selden  ^^  de  Syn^edriis,?'  as 
he  read  the  proof-sheets,  and  the  several  memoranda 
from  '^  The  privileges  of  tbe  Baronage"  and  '^Judicature 
in  Parliament,''  i&c.  which  are  now  printed  in  bi^  *^  Mis-» 
cellaneous  Tracts."  In  1727,  tbe  learned  world  was  in- 
debted to  him  for  an  admirable  sketch  of  William  Baxter's 
-Glossary  of  tbe  Roman  Antiquitiea.  Tbe  sketch  was 
called  **  A  View  of  a  Book,  entitled,  '  Beliquis  Bax* 
teriansB.*  la  a  Letter  to  a  Friend ;"  a  single  sheet,  8vo. 
*  Very  few  copies  were  printed  ;  and,  having  never  been 
published,  it  is  seldom  found  witbtbe  Glossary;  but  it  was 
reprinted  in  tbe  "  Miscellaneous  Tracts."  Dr.  Wotton  and 
Mr.  Clarke  were  highly  pleased  with  this  first  public  prpof 
given  by  Mr.  Bowyer  of  bis  literary  abilities.  •  On  the  ^Oth 
of  December,  1727,  he  lost  an  affectionate  mother,  upon 
which  occasion  he  received  a  letter  of  pious  consolation, 
from  Mr.  ChisbuU,  the  learned  editor  of  tbe  ^^  Antiquitates 
AsiaticsB*" 

Very  highly  to  his  own  and  his  father's  aatisfactioQ,  he 
entered,  on  tbe  9th  of  October,  1926,  into  the  marriage 
atate,  with  Anne  Prudom,  his  mother's  nieoe.  His  hap- 
piness, however,  with  this  ao^omplisbed  woman,  lasted 
but  little  more  than  three  years ;  he  being  deprived  of  her> 
by  death,  on  the  17tb  of  October,  1731.  Of  two  soot, 
whom  be  bad  by  her,  William  died  an. infant,  and  Thomas 
survived  him.  His  friends  Mr.  Clarke  and  Mr.  ChishuU 
wrote  him  very  affectionate  md  Christian  letters  on  tM^ 
melancholy  event 


B  O  W  Y  E  R.  J6f 

r 

',  In  1729,  he  ushered  into  the  world  a  carious  treatise^ 
entitled  **  A  Pattern  for  yonng  Students  in  the  University, 
set  forth  in  the  Life  of  ^*  Mr.  Ambrose  Bonwicke,  some 
time  scholar  of  St  John's  college,  Cambridge."  (See  Bon* 
Wicke).  This  little  volume  was  generally  ascribed  to  our 
learned  printer,  though  it  was  in  reality  the  production  of 
Mr.  Ambrose  Bonwicke  the  elder,  but  the  preface  was  pro- 
bably Mr.  Bowyef^s.  About  the  same  time,  it  appears, 
Irom  a  letter  of  Mr.  Clarke,  that  Mr.  Bowyer  had  written  a 
pamphlet  agamst  the  Separatists  ;  but  neither  the  title  nor 
tile  occasion  of  it  are  at  present  recollected.  Through  the 
friendship  of  the  right  honourable.  Arthur  Onslow,  he  was, 
likewise,  appointed,  in  1729,  printer  of  the  Votes  of  the 
House  of  Commons ;  an  office  which  he  held,  under  three 
successive  speakers,  for  nearly  fifty  years.  In  1730,  he 
^  was  avowedly  the  editor  t)f  "  A  Discourse  concerning  the 
Confusion  of  Languages  at  Babel,  proving  it  to  have  been 
luiraculous,  from  the  essential  difference  between  tbem, 
<:ontrary  to  the  opinion  of  M.  Le  Clerc  and  others.  With 
9Xi  Enquiry  into  the  primitive  language  b^efore  that  won* 
derful  event.  By  the  late  learned  WiUiam.Wotton,  D.D. 
i&c."  In  1731,  he  took  part  in  a  controversy  occasioned 
bya«ermon  of  Mr.  Bowman,  a  clergyman  in  Yorkshire, 
entitled  <<  The  Traditions  of  the  Clergy  destruotive  of  Re* 
ligion,  with  an  Enquiry  into  the  Grounda^  and  Reasons  of 
such  Traditions.^*  This  performance,  which  was  charged 
with  containing  some  of  the  sentiments  that  had  been  adt* 
tranced  by  Dr.  Tindal  in  his  <^  Rights  of  the  Christian 
)Church,^*  and  by  Mr.  Gordon  in  his  ^*  Independent  Whig,^* 
excited  no  small  degree  of  offence ;  and  several  answers 
were  written  to  it,  and  strictures  made  upon  it,  both  of  a 
•serious  and  ludicrous  nature.  Mr.  Bowyer,  upon  this  oc- 
casion, printed  a  pamphlet,  called  '^  The  Traditions  of 
-the  Clergy  not  destructive  of  Religion ;  being  Remarki 
on  Mr.  Bowman's  Sermon  ;  exposing  that  gentleaoan's  de«- 
fieiencyin  Latin  and  'Greek,  in  ecclesiastical  histoiy,  and 
troe  reasoning.^  .^he  dispute,  like  many  others  of .  a 
similar  kind,  is  now  sunk  into  oblivion.  In  1733,  he  pub- 
lished <<  The  Beatv  and  Academick,''  two  sheets,  in4to; 
atraiiskitionfiX)m>*BellusHomo.&  Academicus,  &Ci''  apoem 
'  recited  that  year  at  the  Comitia  in  the  Sheldonian  theatre, 
«iid' afterwards  printed  in  bisTracts.  On  the  7th  of  July^ 
^1756,  Mr.  Bowyer  was  admitted  into  the  Society  of  Anti- 
paries,  of  wbioh  heiuid  been  chosen  printer  in  May  pne^ 


fl70  B  P  W  Y  E  R. 

ceding ;  and  he  was  an  active,  as  well  as  an  early  member 
of  that  respectable  body,  regularly  attending  tbeir  meel^ 
ings,  and  frequently  comiifunicating  to  them  matters  of 
utility  and  curiosity,  which  were  reprinted  in  his  "Tracts*** 
In  conjunction  with  Dr.  Birch,  he  was,  also,  materially 
concerned  in  instituting  "  The  Society  for  the  Encourage- 
ment of  Learning/'  Of  this  Mr.  Nichols  has  given  an  in- 
teresting account.  It  was  certainly  well-meant,  but  inju- 
dicious, and  became  diss|olved  by  its  own  insufficiency. 
On  the  27th  of  December,  1737,  Mr.  Bowyer  lost  his  fa- 
ther, at  the  age  of  seventy- four ;  and  it  is  evident,  from  hia 
scattered  papers,  that  he  severely  felt  this  affliction  ;  ap-*^ 
plying  to  himself  the  beautiful  apostrophe  of  JEneaa  td 
Anchises,  in  Virgil : 

■  ^*'  Hie  me,  pater  optime,  fessum 

«   Deserisy  heu  !  tantis  nequicquam  erepte  periclis  ?*' 

His  friend  Mr.  Clarke  again  addressed  to  him  a  letter  of 
Sjrmpatfay  and  consolation.  In  1741,  Mr,  Bowyer  correct- 
ed, and  put  into  a  convenient  form,  Heuset's  **  Sele^tae  g 
Veteri  Testamento  Historian,"  and  "  Select®  ex  Profanis^ 
&c."  The  prefaces  to  both  these  volumes  were  translated 
by  Mr.  Bowyer,  and  are  inserted  in  his  **  Miscellaneous 
Tracts.''  In  1742,  he  published  a  translation  of  Trapp*i 
**  Latin  Lectures  on  Poetry,"  with  additional  notes.  In 
translating  this  work,  be  had  not  only  the  advice,  but  the 
assistance,  of  his  friend  Mr.  Clarke :  and  yet  this  gentle-' 
man  had  no  high  opinion  of  the  original  "performance.  He 
thought  it  a  very  superficial  book ;  and.  was  particularly 
offended  with  Trapp  for  affecting  to'find  fauh  with  Vossiua 
on  every  little  occasion. 

.  Though  it  is  uot  our  intention  to  notice  the  works  print*- 
ed  by  Mr.  Bowyer,  excepting  when  he^  himself  contri*^ 
buted  to  them  by  prefaces,  notes,  or  other  additions,  yet 
we  shall  mention  his  having  been  the  printer,  in  1742,  of 
the  additional  book  of  the  Dunciad ;  as  he  received,  on  this 
occasion,  testimonies  of  regard  both  from  the  great  poet 
and  .his  learned  commentator.  Among  other  friendly  ex- 
pressions of  Dr.  Warburton,  he  says,  "  I  have  never  more 
pleasure  when  there  (in  London),  than  when  I  loll  and 
talk  with  you  at  my  ease,  de  gualibet  ente^  in  your  dining-, 
room  :'*  And  again,  **  The  Greek  I  know  will  be  well 
printed  in  your  edition,  notwithstanding  the  absence  afScri-' 
blerus?*  The  same  celebrated  writer  had  long  before  told 
•Mr.  Bowyer,  ^^  No  one's  thoughts  will  have  greater  weightr 


B  O  W  Y  E  R.  571 

-^ith  me  than  your  own,  in  whom  I  have  experienced  so 
iduch  candour,  goodness,  and  learning.''  It  is  not,  how- 
ever, to  be  concealed,  that  a  difference  afterwards  arose 
between  them,  in  which,  as  is  qommonly  the  case,  each 
party  was  confident  that  he  was  right.  Mr.  Bowyer,  who 
thought  hioisetf  slighted,  used  often  to  remark,  that,  "  after 
the  death  of  the  English  Homer,  the  letters  of  his  learned 
friend  wore  a  different  complexion."  "  But,  perhaps,** 
as  Mr.  Nichols  candidly  and  judiciously  observes,  '^  this 
may  be  one  of  the  many  instances,  which  occur  through 
life,  of  the  impropriety  of  judging  for  ourselves  in  cases 
^hich  affect  our  interest  or  our  feelings."  Mr.  Bowyer, 
indeed,  had  a  great  sensibihty  of  temper  with  regard  to 
any  neglects  which  were  shewed  him  by  his  literary  friends, 
in  the  way  of  his  business.  This  did  not  proceed  from  a 
principle  of  avarice^  but  from  a  consciousness  of  the  respect 
^hich  was  due  to  him  from  bis  acquaintance,  as  the  first 
of  his  profession :  for  be  expressed  his  resentment  as 
strongly  in  cases  where  profit  could  be  no  material  object, 
as  he  did  in  more  important  instances.  Dr.  Squire,  then 
deai^of  Bristol,  not  having  appointed  him  to  print  a  sermon 
which  had  been  preached  before  the  house  of  commons, 
on  the  general  fast  day,  Feb.  IS,  1761,  Mr.  Bowyer  wrote 
to  the  doctor,  upon  the  occasion,  an  expostulatory  letter. 
JNor  was  this  the  only  evidence  he  gave  how  much  he  was 
offended,  when  he  thought  that  a  slight  had  been  put  upon 
bim  from  a  quarter  where  he  imagined  he  had  a  natural 
claim  to  favour. 

In  1744,  Mr.  Bowyer  is  supposed  to  have  written  a  small 
pamphlet  on  the  present  state  of  Europe,  taken  principally 
firom  Pufendorff.  In  1746,  he  projected,  what  during  his 
>wbole  life  he  had  in  view,  a  regular  edition  of  Cicero's 
Letters,  in  a  chronological  order,  on  a  plan  which  it  is  to 
he  lamented  that  he  did  not  coinplete ;  as  an  uniform  series 
"thus  properly  arranged  would  have  formed  a  real  history  of 
Tully's  life,  and  those  which  cannot  be  dated  might  be 
thrown  to  the  end  without  any  inconvenience.  In  the  same 
year  he  published  "  The  Life  of  the  Emperor  Juliap/' 
translated  from  the  French  of  M.  Bleterie,  and  improved 
mth  twelve  pages  of  curious  notes,  and  a  genealogical 
table.  The  notes  were  not  entirely  Mr.  Bowyer's,  but 
were  drawn  up,  in  part,  by  Mr.  Clarke  and  other  learned 
mea.  The  translation,  by  Miss  Anne  Williams  (Dr.  John^ 
fon's  UmaX^)f  and  the  two  sister^  of  the  name  of  Wilkin* 


372  p  o  w  Y  j:  H. 

t 

I 

SOD,  was  m^de  uoder  l^r.  Bpwyer's  imaiedii^  iii«pectiofr« 
In  this  ye$kr  also,  he  printed,  and  is  supposed  to  have  aus^ 
sisted  in  the  copiposition  of,  ^' A  Pi^ssertation,  in  lybicii  the 
objections  of  a  late  pamphlet  (by  bishop  ^o^^)  to  the  writ* 
logs  of  tlie  ancient^,  after  the  mapner  of  Mr.  MarkUody 
are  clearly  answered :  those  pas^^iges  in  Ta^l>  porrectedy 
on  whict)  sojne  of  the  objections  are  founded ;  wi^ 
Amendments  of  a  few  pieces  of  criticism  ip  Mr.  Marklaad's 
Epiatola  Critica/'  8vo.  On  the  9d  of  August,  ^47,  Mr. 
Bowyer  entered  a  secqnd  time  into  the  nuatrirnQoial  atal^, 
with  a  most  benevolent  and  worthy  wooa^n,  Mrs.  JElizabe^ 
Billy  by  whom  he  had  nc  cbUdren.  In  1750,  he  had  the 
honour  of  sharing,  with  Dr.  Burton,  in  (be  inve^^iyes  most 
liberally  bestowed  by  Dr.  King,  in  his  ^^  JClpgium'  Faow 
inserviens  Jacci  £toni^asis,  siv.e  Gigantis :  ov,  the  PraiMS 
of  Jack  of  Eaton,  jcommonly  caLbed  4a.ok  the  Qianit*'*  Dr. 
King's  abuse  was  probably  owing  t^  his  having  heard  that 
our  learned  printer  had  hinted,  iii  conyers^ktigni  his  doubts 
concerning  the  doctor's  Latioity.  Mr.  Bowyer  drew  iip 
strictures  in  his  own  defence,  which  he  ioAended  ,to  insert 
at  the  conchisioa  of  a  preface  to  Mon(e§quien'iS  Re0ec* 
tions,  iu:^;  but^  in  consequence  of  Mr.  Clarke's  adiriice>  thsgr 
were  omitted.  In  the  tame  year,  a  pf  efatqry  critical  dia* 
sertation,  and  some  valuable  notes,  wsece  a^oe^M^d,  ky  onr 
author,  to  Kuater's  Treatise  ^^  De  verp  usu  Veri^onw 
Mediorum;"  a  new  edition  of  which  work,  witji  further 
improvements,  appeared  in  1773.  £(e  wrote,  likewise, 
about  the  same  time,  a  Latin  preface  to  Leiede^'s  ^  Vetecids 
Poet®  citati,  &c.'  Being  soon  after  employed  to  print  an 
edition  of  colonel  Bladen^s  translation  oiCm^^'^  iCommeor 
taries,  that  work  received  coo^iderable  improvements  from 
Mr.  Bowyer's  hands,  and  the  additiqn  of  .^ch  note.s  in  it 
as  are  sigaed  Typogr.  Iu  the  subsequent  edition^  of  this 
work,  though  printed  by  another  peiison,  and  in  our  au'- 
thor's  life*time,  the  same  signature,  ^xnntrary  to  deoorumt 
and  even  justice,  was  still  retained.  In  17^1,  Jb^  wrote  it 
long  prefiiice  to  Montesquieu's  ^^  BefleoticHis  .cm  the  Rise 
end  FaH  of  the  Roman  Empioe  ;*'  translated  the  Dialogue 
t^etween  Sylla  and  Socrates ;  made  several  corrections  ta 
the  work  from  the  Baron's  ^^  Spirit  of  Laws/'  andimproviad 
it  wi^th  his  own  notes.  A  uew  edition,  with  many  j^om 
potes,  was  printed  in  1759.  He  gave  likewise  ^  ^the 
public,  in  175J,  with  a  preface,  the  first  trauida^ion. that 
jvas  ffiade  of  RoasseauUt  potadoxicalocatioii  gfi  »tfaia  is&oii 


B  O  W  Y  E  R.  27i 

of  the  arts  and  sciences,  which  gained  the  prize  at  the  aca- 
demy of  Dijon,  in  1750;  apd  which  first  announced  that 
singular  genius  to  the  attention  and  admiration  of  Europe. 
Oil -the  publication  of  the  third  edition  of  lord  Orrery?s 
"  Remarks  on  the  Life  and  Writings  of  Dr.  Swift,"  in  1752, 
Mr.  Bowyer    wrote  and  printed,    but    never   published, 
**T\Vo  Lietters  from  Dr.  Bentley  in  the  shades  below,  to 
lord  Orrery  in  a  land  of  thick    darkness.'*     The  notes 
signed  B,  in  the  ninth  quarto  volume  of  Swift's  works,  are 
extracted  from  these  Letters,  which  are  reprinted  at  large 
in  his  **  Tracts."     In  1752,  when  Bp.  Clayton  published 
his  **  Vindication  of  the  Histories  of  the  Old  and  New  Tes- 
tament, in  answer  to  the  Objections  of  Lord  Bolingbroke,'* 
M^.  Bowyer  drew  up  an  analysis  of  the  same,  with  an  inten- 
tion of  sending  it  to  the  Gentleman's  Magazine  :  it  is  no^ 
printed  in  Mr.  Nichols's  "Anecdotes."     In  1753,  to  allay 
the  ferment  occasioned  by  the  Jew  bill,  he  published,  in 
qusferto,  **  Remarks  on  a  Speech  made  in  Common  Council, 
on  the  Bill  for  permitting  persons  professing  the  Jewish  Re-' 
ligioh  to  be  naturalized,  so  far  as  Prophecies  are  supposed 
to  be  affected  by  it."  The  design  of  this  sensible  little  tract, 
whi(;h  was  written  with  spirit,  and  well  received  by  those 
who -were  superior  to  narrow  prejudices,  was  to  shew,  that 
wbati^ver  political  reasons  might  be  alleged  against  the 
Bill,-   Christianity  would  in  no  degree  be  prejudiced  by 
the  indulgence  proposed  to  be  granted  to  the  Jews.     In. 
the  same  year,  some  of  Mr.  Bowyer's  notes  were  annexed 
to  bishop  Clayton's  translation  of  "  A  Journal  from  Grand 
Cailro  to  Mount  Sinai,  and  back  again."     In  1754,  witi^ 
a  Tiew  of  lessening  his   fatigue,   he  entered  into  part-.* 
nei'ship  with  a  relation ;  but  some  disagreements  arising^ 
the  connection  was  dissolved  in  1757,  and  he  resumed  tha 
Active  part  of  business.    In  1760  he  superintended  a  second 
edition  of  Arnald's  **  Commentary  on  the  Book  of  Wis- 
dom," and  enriched  it  with  the  remarks  of  Mr.  Markland. 
Upon  the  death  of  Mr.  Richardson,  in  1761,  Mr.  Bowyer, 
through  the  patronage  of  the  late  earl  of  Macclesfield,  was 
appointeid  printer  to  the  Royal  Society;  and,  uncler  the 
friendship  of  five  successive  presidents,  had  the  satisfaction. 
of  continuing  in  that  employment  till  his  death.     In  the 
«amfe  year  (1761),  appeared  "Verses  on  the  Coronation 
of  thieir  late  majesties,  king  George  the  Second  and  queen 
Caroline,    October  4,  1727,    spoken   by  the   Scholars*  of 
Westminster  school  (some  of  them  now  the  ornamentt  of 
Vol.  VI.  T 


474  ^  O  W  Y  E  It 

* 

the  Nation)  on  January  15th  following,  being  the  Day  <ft, 
the   Inauguration  of  Queen  Elizabeth,   their  foundress; 
with   a  Translation  of  all  the  Latin  copies:  The  whole 
placed  in  order  of  the  transactions  of  tliat  important  day. 
Adorned  wi^  the  Coronation  Medals  of  the  Royal  Pair^- 
and  a  bust  of  our  present  king.     To  which  is  subjoined 
the  Ceremonial  of  the  august  Procession,  very  proper  to 
be  compared  with  the  approaching  one ;  and  a  Catalogue 
of  the  Coronation  Medals  of  the  Kings  and  Queens  of  Eng« 
iandt"  The  original  part  of  this  pamphlet,  in  which  a  great 
<ieai  of  humour  is  displayed,  was  entirely  Mr«  Bowyer^s : 
the  LaUn  verses  were  translated  partly  by  him,  but  prinr. 
cipally  by  Mr.  Nichols,     Our  learned  printer^s  next  pub-* 
lication  was  of  a  more  serious  and  weighty  nature,  an  ex* 
cellent  edition  of  the  Greek  Testament,  in  two  volumes, 
1763,  12mo,  under  the  following  title:  "  Novum  Testa- 
mentum  Grsecum,  ad  Fidem  Grsecorum  solium  Codicuoi 
MSS.  nunc  prinHum  expressum,  adstipulante  Joanne  Ja-» 
c.obo  Wetstenio,  juxta  Sectiones  Jo.  Alberti  Bengelii  di* 
visum;  et  nova  Interpunctione  seepius  illustratum.     Ac« 
cessere  in  altero  Volumine  Emendationes  conjecturales  vi-. 
rorum  doctorum  undecunque  collects^."     This  sold  with, 
great  rapidity ;  though  Mr.  Bowyer,  in  his  advertisements 
of  it  in  the  public  papers,  was  pleased  to  add,  that  it 
boasted  neither  elegance  of  type  nor  paper,  but  trusted  to 
other  merits.     The  conjectural  emendations  are  a  very 
valuable  addition  to  the  Greek  Testament,  and  were  ex-- 
tremely  well  received  by  the  learned.  In  a  letter  of  thanks^ 
from  the  president  and  fellows  of  Harvard  college,  in  Cam* 
'  bridge,  New-England,  to  Mr.  Bowyer,  in  1767,  for  seve- 
ral benefactions  of  his  to  that  college,  they  express  them- 
selves as  follows :  ^^  It  is  a  particular  pleasure  to  us  to 
mention  your  very  curious  edition  of  me  Greek  Testa-- . 
ment,  in  two  volumes,  with. critical  notes,  and  many  happy 
conjectures,  especially  as  to  the  punctuation,  an  afiair  of 
the  iitmost  importance  as  to  ascertaining  the  sense.     This 
work,  though  small  in  bulk,  we  esteem  as  a  rich  treasurer 
pf  sacred  learning,  and  of  more  intrinsic  value  than  many, 
large  volumes  of  the  commentators.'^     A  second  edition  of 
^he  Conjectures  on  the  New  Testament,  with  very  consi- 
derable enlargements,  was .  separately  published,  in  one 
volume,  8vo,  in  1772,  a  third  in  4to,   1782,  and  a  fourth 
from  the  interleaved  copy  of  Dr.  Owen,  which  he   be- 
queathed to  the  honourable  and  right  reverend  Dr.  Shute 
Sarrington,  bishop  of  Durham,  is  just  published  (1812). 


B  6  W  X  *^  R.  S75 

Bisbop  Warburton  having  censured  apassage  in  the  first  edi- 
tion, Mt.  Bowyer  sent  him  a  copy  of  the  second,  with  a  con- 
ciliatory letter.     In  1765,  at  the  request  of  Thomas  HoUis, 
esq.  our  learned  printer  wrote  a  short  Latin  preface  to  Dr. 
Wallis's  "  Grammatica  Linguae  AngUcanae.**  A  larger  Eng- 
lish preface,  which  was  written  by  him,  and  intended  for 
that  work,  is  printed  in  his  "  Tracts."     Some  copies  of  thia 
book  were  sent  by  him  to  the  rev.  Edward  Clarke,  whea 
chaplain  to  the  earl  of  Bristol  at  Madrid,  to  be  given  to  the 
Spanish  literati.     Towards  the  latter  end  of  the  same  year, 
in  consequence  of  overtures  from  a  few  respectable  friends 
at  Cambridge,  Mr.  Bowyer  had  some  inclination  to  have 
undertaken  the  management  of  the  University  press,  by 
purchasing  a  lease  of  its  exclusive  privileges.     He  went^ 
accordingly,  to  Cambridge  for  this  purpose  ;  but  the  treaty 
proved  fruitless^  and  he  did  not  much  regret  the  disappoint- 
ment.    In  the  beginning  of  1766,  by  engaging  in  a  part- 
nership with  Mr.  Nichols,  h6  was  again  enabled  to  with- 
draw,  in  some  degree,  from  that  close  application,  which 
had  begun  to  be  prejudicial  to  his  health*     His  new  asso- 
ciate had  been  trained  by  him  to  the  profession,  and  had 
assisted  him  several  years  in  the  management  of  busi- 
ness.    He  was  very  happy  in  this  connection ;  and  it  is  un« 
necessary  to  add  how  successfully  Mr.  Nichols  has  trod  in 
the  steps  of  his  worthy  and  learned  friend  and  partner.     la 
that  year  (1766)  Mr.  Bowyer  wrote  an  excellent  Latin  pre- 
face to  ^*  Joannid  Harduini,  Jesuitee,  ad  Censuram  Scrip- 
torum  veterudi  l^rolegomena ;  juxta  Autographuixi.^'     la 
this  preface  he  gives  an  account  of  the  nature  of  the  work, 
and  of  the  manner  in  which  it  had  been  preserved.     Mr.  D^ 
Missy's  remarks  on  the  celebrated  Jesuit^s  extraordinary  pro- 
duction were  published  about  the  same  time^  in  a  letter  to 
Mr.  Bowyer,  written  in  Latin.     In  1767,  he  was  appointed 
to  print  the  Journals  of  the  House  of  Lords,  and  the  Rolls 
of  Parliament.     The  noble  peer  to  whom  he  was  indebted 
for  this  appointment,  arid  his  gratitude  to  whom  is  testified 
in  the  inscription  which  he  left  behind  him,  to  be  placed  in 
Stationers  Hall,  was  the  earl  of  Marchmont.     Mh  Bowyer 
was  now  compelled,  from  the  want  of  sufficient  room,  to 
exchange  White  Fryars  for  Red  Lion-passage ;  and  it  was 
not  without  reluctance  that  he  quitted  a  residence  to  which 
he  had  been  acchstomed  from  his  infancy.     His  new  print- 
ing-house was  opened  with  the  sign  of  his  favourite  Cicero's 
Head :  under  which  was  inscribed,  «  m,  t.  cjcero,  a  qu^ 

T  2 


27<5  B  O  W  Y  E  R. 

IPRIM'ORDIA  PRELI,"  in  allusion  to  the  welUknown  early  edi- 
tions of  Tully's  Offices.  Having  printed  this  year  Mr. 
Clarke's  excellent  and  learned  work  on  **The  Connexion 
of  the  Roman,  Saxon,  and  English  Coins,"  he  wrote  some 
notes  upon  it,  which  are  interspersed  throughout  the  vo- 
lume with  those  of  the  author.  Part  of  the  dissertation  on 
the  Roman  Sesterce  was,  likewise,  Mr.  Bowyer's  produc- 
tion ;  and  the  index,  which  is  an  uncommonly  good  one, 
6nd  on  which  he  did  nqt  a  little  pride  himself,  was  drawn  up 
entirely  by  him.  On  the  14th  of  January,  1771,  he  lost 
his  second  wife,  who  died  at  the  age  of  seventy.  His  old 
friend,  Mr.  Clarke,  who  had  administered  consolation  to 
him,  on  a  similar  occasion,  nearly  forty  years  before,  again 
addressed  him  with  tenderness  on  this  event.  In  the  Philo- 
sophical Transactions  for  1771,  was  printed  a  very  inge- 
nious "  Enquiry  into  the  value  of  the  antient  Greek  and  Ro- 
man Money,"  by  the  late  Matthew  Raper,  esq.  The  opi- 
nions advanced  by  this  respectable  gentleman,  on  these 
subjects,  not  coinciding  with  those  of  Mr.  Bowyer,  he 
printed  a  small  pamphlet,  entitled,  *^  Remarks,  occasioned 
by  a  late  Dissertation  on  the  Greek  and  Roman  Mo- 
ney." The  pamphlet  was  intended  as  an  appendix 
to  Mr.  Clarke's  Treatise  on  Coins.  The  opinions  of  many 
excellent  writers  in  Germany  and  France  having  been  ably 
controverted  in  that  elaborate  work,  Mr.  Bowyer  transmitted 
a  copy  of  it  to  the  French  king's  library,  and  inscribed  his 
little  appendix, 

**  Reoi  Chxistiakissimo 

GULIELMVS  BOWYEB^  TyFOGRAPHUS  AngLICANUS. 

**  Judicium  ut  subeat  magis  sequum  candidiusve> 
Qai  poni  potuit  commodiore  loco  }*' 

He  was  very  desirous  that  Mr.  Clarke's  book  should  be 
translated  and  reprinted  in  France  ;  and  he  took  some  pains, 
though  without  success,  to  get  it  accomplished.  In  1773, 
three  little  tracts  were  published  by  him,  under  the  title  of 
"  Select  Discourses  :  1.  Of  the  Correspondence  of  the  He» 
brew  months  with  the  Julian,  from  the  Latin  of  Professor 
Michaelis.  2.  Of  the  Sabbatical  years,  from  the  same.  3. 
Of  the  years  of  Jubilee ;  from  an  anonymous  writer,  in 
Masson's  Histoire  Critique  de  la  Republique  des  Lettres.'* 
In  1774,  he  corrected  a  new  edition  of  Schrevelius's  Greek 
Lexicon,  to  which  he  added  a  number  of  words  (dis- 
tinguished by  an  asterisk)  he  had  himself  collected  in  the 
course  of  his  own  studies.     Considerable  additions^  which 


fl  P  W  Y  E  R.  277 

are  strll  in  maimscript^  were  made  by  him  to  the  Lexicons 
of  Hederic  and  of  Buxtorf,  the  Latin  ones  of  Faber  and  of 
Littleton,  and  the  English  Dictionary  of  Bailey  ;  and  he 
left  behind  him  many  other  proofs  of  his  critical  skill  in  the 
learned  languages.  His  Greek  and  Latin  grammars  in  ge« 
neral  are  filled  with  such  curious  explanatory  notes,  asf 
bear  the  most  convincing  proofs  of.  consummate  critical 
knowledge  in  those  languages,  and  that  knowledge  he  ap- 
plied particularly  to  the  advancement  of  sacred  learning. 
It  was  his  constant  custom,  in  the  course  of  his  read- 
ing, to  note  down  every  thing  which  he  thought  might 
contribute  to  illustrate  any  passage  of  Scripture,  espe- 
cially of  the  Greek  Testament,  In  pursuance  of  this 
method,  it  is  hardly  to  be  coqceived  what  a  number  of  use- 
ful and  curious  remarks  stand  inserted  in  the  margins  of 
bis  theological  books,  which  may  greatly  contribute  to  im- 
prove future  editions.  In  1774,  was  pubhshed  "The  Ori- 
gin of  Printing,  in  two  essays.  1.  The  substance  of  Dr. 
Middletoo's  Dissertation  on  the  Origin  of  Printing  in  Eng- 
land. 2.  Mr.  Meermau's  Account  of  the  Invention  of  the 
Art  at  Harlem,  and  its  progress  to  Mentz,  with  occasional 
remarks  ;  and  an  app"fendix."  (See  Richard  Atkins.)  The 
original  idea  of  it  was  Mr.  Bowyer's;  but  it  was  completed 
by  Mr,  Nichols.  The  two  learned  friends,  whose  assistance 
is  acknowledged  in  the  preface,  were  the  rev.  Dr.  Henry 
Owen,  and  the  late  Mr.  Caesar  de  Missy.  Tliough  this 
work  appeared  without  a  name,  it  was  immediately  judged 
to  be  Mr.  Bowyer's,  and  was  well  received  in  the  world  of 
letters,  and  justly  spoken  of  in  terms  of  great  commenda- 
tion, both  at  home  and  abroad.  A  second  edition,,  with 
very  considerable  improvements,  was  published  in  1776, 
and  a  Supplement  in  1781.  When  Mr.  Nichols  was  engaged 
in  printing  the  "  Original  Works  of  Dr.  King  of  the  Com- 
mons," and  the  *'  Supplement  to  Swift,*'  Mr.  Bowyer,  by 
suggesting  useful  hints,  and  adding  some  illustrations,  as- 
sisted him  in  both  these  undertakings.  Our  eminent  printer 
now  drew  to  the  end  of  his  literary  career,  which  he  closed 
with  a  new  edition,  in  1777,  of  Dr.  Bentley's  "Disserta- 
tion on  the  Epistles  of  Phalaris."  Dr.  Bentley  was  a  writer 
whom  he  had  always  held  in  the  highest  estimation.  In  the 
republication  of  this  great  critic's  Dissertation,  Mr.  Bowyer 
inserted  the  remarks  which  had  occurred  to  him  in  the 
course  of  many  years  attention  to  the  subjects  there  treated 
of;  an4  ^scribed  theopi  to  the  respegtiv^  authors  from  whose 


278  B  O  W  y  E  R. 

books  or  personal  communication  they  were  selected.  H« 
wias  touch  indebted,  on  this  occasion,  to  the  friendly  Assist- 
toceof  Dr.  Salter  and  Dr.  Qwen, 

Mr.  Bowyer  had  always  been  subject  to  a  bilious  colic ; 
and  during  the  last  ten  years  of  his  life,  he  was  afflicted 
with  the  pally  and  the  stpne.  But,  notwithstanding  tfaese 
xn(irmitie9,  he  preserved,  in  general,  a  remarkable  cheer- 
fulness of  disposition ;  and  received  great  satisfaction  from 
the  conyer^tion  of  ^  few  literary  friends,  by  whom  he  con- 
tinued to  be  visited.  The  faculties  of  his  mind,  though 
somewhat  impaired,  were  strong  enough  to  support  the  la- 
bour of  almost  incessant  reading,  whiqh  l^ad  ever  been  his 
}>rincipal  amusement  j  and  he  regularly  corrected  the 
earned  works,  and  especially  the  Greek  books,  which  came 
from  his  press.  This  he  did  till  within  a  very  few  weeks  of 
his  death;  which  happened  on  the  18th  of  November, 
1777,  when  he  had  nearly  completed  his  78th  year.  The 
publications  of  Mr.  Bowyer  are  an  incontrovertible  evidence 
of  his  abilities  and  learning ;  to  which  may  be  added  that 
he  was  honoured  with  the  friendship  and  patronage  of  many 
of  the  most  distinguished  ornaments  of  his  age.  We  al- 
ready have  had  occasion  to  mention  the  earls  of  Maccles- 
field and  Marchmont^  Dr.  Wottpn,  Mr.  Pope,  Mr.  ChishuII^ 
Mr.  Clarke,  Mr.  Markland,  bishop  Wafburton^  the  right 
honourably  Arthur  Onslow,  Mr.  HoUis,  Dr.  Salter,  Mr. 
De  Missy,  Dr.  Owen,  and  Dr.  Heberden.  To  these,  among 
other  respectable  names,  might  be  added  those  of  archbi- 
shop Seeker,  bishop  Kennett^  bishop  Tanner,  bishop  Sher- 
lock, bishop  Hoadly^  bishop  Lyttelton,  bishop  Pearce,  bi- 
shop Low^h,  bishop  Barrington,  bishop  Hurd,  bishop 
Percy,  lorfi  Lyttelton,  lord  Sandys,  dean  Prideaux,  doctors 
Robert  and  John  Freind,  deitn  ^reind,  dean  Miiles,  the  very 
learned  Dr.  Taylqr,  chf^ncellor  of  Lincoln,  Dr.  Barnard,  Dr. 
Powell,  Dr.  \yilkins,  Mr.  Maittaire,  Messrs.  R.  and  S. 
Gale,  Mr.  Browne  Willis,  Mr.  Spelman,  Mr.  Morant,  Dr. 
Ducarel,  Dir.  Pegge,  Mr.  Garrick,  s^nd'mostof  the  distin- 
guished scholars  and  antiquaries  of  his  time.  His  connec- 
tion with  the  late  eminent  and  excellent  Richard  Gough, 
esq.  so  well  known  by  bis  acquaintance  with  British  topo- 
graphy and  antiquities,  is  apparent  from  his  last  will; 
where  his  obligations  to  Dr.  Jenkin,  dean  Stanhope,  and 
Mr.  Nelson,  are  acknowledged.  The  late  excellent  Dr. 
Robert  Clayton,  bishop  of  Clogher,  so  highly  esteemed  hia 
friendship,  that  be  not  only  honoured  him  by  l^  regular  ep1»% 


B  O.  W  Y  E  B. 


«7t 


telary  intercoursei  but  presented  bim  with  the  copy^right 
of  all  his  valuable  writings.     Mr,  Bowyer  stood  unrivalled^ 
for  more  than  half  a  century,  as  a  learned  printer ;  and 
"some  of  the  most  easterly  productions  of  this  kingdom  have 
undoubtedly  appeared  from  his  press.    To  his  literary  and 
professional  abilities,  he  added  an  excellent  moral  character. 
His  regard  to  religion  was  displayed  in  his  publications,  and 
in  the  course  of  his  life  and  studies ;  and  he  was  particularly 
distinguished  by  bis  inflexible  probity,  and  an  uncommon 
alacrity  in  assisting  the  necessitous.    His  liberality  in  reliev** 
ing  every  species^of  distress,  and  bis  endeavours  to  conceal 
his   benefactions,    reflect  great  honour  on  his   memory.. 
Though  he  was  naturally  fond  of  retirement,  an<^  seldom 
.entered  into  company,  excepting  with  men  of  letters,  he 
was,  perhaps,  excelled  by  few  in  the  talent  of  justly  discri- 
minating the  real  characters  of  mankind.,    He  judged  of  the 
persons  he  saw  by  a  sort  of  intuition;  and  his  judgments 
were  generally  right     From  a  consciousness  of  literary  su-^ 
periority,  he  did  not  always  pay  that  particular  attention  to 
the  booksellers  which  was  expedient  in  the  way  of  his  busi- 
ness.   Too  proud  to  solicit  the  favours  in  that  way  which  he 
believed  to  be  his  due,  he  was  often  disappointed  in  his  ex- 
pectations.    On  the  other  hand,  he  frequently  experienced 
friendships  in  cases  where  he  bad  ftiuch  less  reason  to  have 
hoped  for  them ;  so  that,  agreeably  to  his  own  expression, 
^^  in  what  he  had  receivedi  and  what  he  had  been  denied, 
he  thankfully  acknowledged  the  will  of  Heaven."    The  two 
great  objects  of  Mr.  Bowyer^^s  view,  in  the  decline  of  his 
life,  were  to  repay  the  benefaictions  bis  father'  bad  met 
with,  and  to  be  himself  a  benefactor  to'tbe  meritorious  of 
)iis  own  profession.     These  purposes  are  fuUy  displayed  in 
his  last  will :.  for  which  reason,  and  because  it  illustrates 
the  turn  of  his  mind  in  other  respects,  w^  shall  insert  it  at 
large.    After  a  liberal  provision  for  his  son,  a^iong  other 
legacies  are  these :  ^^  I  likewise  give  to  my  son  all  my  plate ; 
except  the  small  silver  cup  which  was  given  to  my  father 
(after  his  loss  by  fire)  by  Mrs.  James^  and  which  I  give  to 
the  Company  of  Stationers  in  London,  hoping  they  will 
preserve  it  as  a  memorial.     Having  committed  my  body  to 
the  earth,  I  would  testify  my  duty  and  gratitude  to  my  few 
relations  and  numerous  benefactors  after  my  fatber^s  loss  by 
fire.     I  give  and  bequeath  to  my  cousin  Scott,  lately  of 
Westminster,  brewer,  and  to  his  sister,  fifty  pouiids  each^ 
I  give  ^d  bequeath  to  my  relations  I^r.  Thomas  l«inley  aa^Jl 


«80  B  0  W  Y  E  R. 

bis  wife  one  thousand  pou  nds  four  percent,  consolidated  annu- 
ities, to  be  transferred  to  them,  or  to  the  survivor  of  them ; 
and  which  I  hope  they  will  take  care  to.  settle,,  at  their 
deaths,  for  the  benefit  of  their  son  and  daughter.  I  give 
to  the  two  sons  and  one  daughter  of  the  late  reverend  Mr. 
Maurice  of  Gothenburgh  in  Sweden,  who  married  the  only 
daughter  of  Mr.  Richard  WilUanison,  book<sellor  (in  return 
for  her  father's  friendship  to  mine),  one  thousand  pounds 
four  per  cent,  consolidated  annuities,  to  be  divided  equally 
between  them.  Among  my  father^s  numerous  benefactors^ 
there  is  not,  that  I  can  hear  of,  one  alive:  to  several  of 
them  I  made  an  acknowledgement.  But  one  respectable 
body  I  am  still  indebted  to,  the  University  of  Cambridge  ; 
to  whom  I  give,  or  rather  restore,  the  sum  of  fifty  pounds, 
in  return  for  the  donation  of  forty  pounds  made  to  my  father 
at  the  motion  of  jthe  learned  and  pious  master  of  Saint  John's 
college,  doctor  Robert  Jenkin:  to  a  nephew  of  his  I  have 
already  given  another  fifty  pounds,  as  appears  by  his  receipt 
of  the  thirty-first  of  May,  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
seventy.  The  benefactions  which  my  father  received  from 
Oxford  I  can  only  repay  with  gratitude ;  as  he  received 
them,  not  from  the  university  as  a  body,  but  from  particu- 
lar members.  I  give  thirty  pounds  to  the  dean  and  chapter 
of  Canterbury,  in  gratitude  for  the  kindness  of  the  worthy 
doctor  Stanhope  (sometime  dean  of  Canterbury)  to  my  fa- 
ther ;  the  remembrance  of  which  amongst  the  proprietors  of 
his  works  I  have  long  out-lived,  as  I  have  experienced  by  not 
being  employed  to  print  them:  the  like  I  might  say  of  the 
works  of  Mr.  Nelson,  another  respectable  friend  and  patron  of 
my  father's,  and  of  many  others.  I  give  to  doctor  William 
Heberden  my  little  cabinet  of , coins,  with  Hickes's  Thesaurus, 
Tristan,  and  the  odd  volume,  Spanheim's  Numismata,  Har- 
duin's  Opera  Selecta,  in  folio,  Nummi  Populorum  et  Ur« 
fcium,  in  quarto,  and  any  other  of  my  books  he  chooses  to 
accept :  to  the  reverend  doctor  Henry  Owen,  such  of  my 
Hebrew  books  and  critical  books  on  the  New  Testament, 
as  he  pleases  to  take  :  to  Richard  Gough,  esq.  in  like  man- 
ner, my  books  on  topographical  subjects:  to  Mr.  John 
Nichols,  all  books  that  relate  to  Cicero,  Livy,and  the  Roman 
history,  particularly  the  *  Cenotaphia'  of  Noris  and  Pig- 
hius^  my  grammars  and  dictionaries,  with  Swift's  and 
Pope's  works :  to  my  son,  whatever  books  (not  described 
above)  he  thiuks  proper  to  take. — ^And  now  I  hope  I  may 
^e  allowed  to  leave  somewhat  for  the.  benefit  of  printing. 


J 


B  O  W  Y  E  R;  231 

To  this  end^  I  give  to  the  master  and  keepers  or  wardens 
«nd  commonalty  of  tbe  mystery  or  arc  of  a  stationer  of  the 
£ity  of  London,  such  a  sum  of  money  as  will  purchase  two 
thousand  pounds  three  per  cent,  reduced  Bank  annuities, 
upon  trust,  to  pay  the  dividends  and  yearly  produce  thereof, 
to  be  divided  for  ever  equally  amongst  three  printers,  com- 
positors or  pressmen,  to  be  elected  from  time  to  time  by 
the  master,  wardens,  and  assistants,  of  the  said  company, 
and  who  at  the  time  of  such  election  shall  be  sixty-three 
years  old  or  upwards,  for  their  respective  lives,  to  be  paid 
half-yearly;  hoping  that  such  as  shalt  be  most  deserving 
will  be  preferred.  And  whereas  I  have  herein  before  given 
to  my  son  the  sum  of  three  thousand  pounds  four  per  cent, 
^consolidated  annuities,  in  case  he  marries  with  the  consent 
of  aiy  executors :  Now,  I  do  hereby  give  and  bequeath  the 
dividends  and  interest  of  that  sum,  till  such  marriao^e  takes 
place,  to  the  said  company  of  stationers  to  be  divided 
equally  between  six  other  printers,  compositors  or  press- 
meUj  as  aforesaid,  in  manner  as  aforesaid ;  and,  if  my  said 
son  shall  die  unmarried,  or  married  without  such  consent  as 
aforesaid,  then  I  give  and  bequeath  the  said  capital  sum  of 
three  thousand  pounds  to  the  company  of  stationers,  the 
dividends  and  yearly  produce  thereof  to  be  divided  for  ever 
equally  amongst  six  other  such  old  printers,  compositors  or 
pressmen,  for  their  respective  lives,  to  be  qualified,  chosen, 
and  paid  in  manner  as  aforesaid.  It  has  long  been  to  me 
matter  of  concern,  that  such  numbers  are  put  apprentices 
as  compositors  without  any  share  of  school-learning,  who 
ought  to  have  the  greatest :  in  hopes  of  remedying  this, 
I  give  and  bequeath  to  the  said  company  of  stationers  such 
a  sum  of  money  as  will  purchase  one  thousand  pounds  three 
per  cent,  reduced  bank  annuities,  for  the  use  of  one  journey- 
man compositor,  such  as  shall  hereafter  be  described  ;  with 
this  special  trust,  that  the  master,  wardens,  and  assistants, 
shall  pay  the  dividends  and  produce  thereof  half-yearly  to 
such  compositor  :  the  said  master,  wardens,  and  assistants 
of  the  said  company,  shall  nominate  for  this  purpose  a  com- 
positor who  is  a  man  of  good  life  and  conversation,  who  shall 
usually  frequent  some  place  of  public  worship  every  Sun- 
day unless  prevented  by  sickness,  and  shall  not  have  worked 
on  a  newspaper  or  magazine  for  four  years  at  least  before 
such  nomination,  nor  shall  ever  afterwards  whilst  he  holds 
this  annuity,  which  may  be  for  life,  if  he  continues  a  jour- 
Deyoian:  he  shall  be  abiie  to  read  aud  construe  Latin,  and  at 


^82  B  O  W  V  E  Rk 

least  to  read  Greek  fluently  with  accents ;  of  which  he  shall 
bring  a  testimonial  from  the  rector  of  St.  Martin's  Ludgate 
for  the  time  being :  1  could  wish  that  he  shall  have  been 
brought  up  piously  and  virtuously,  if  it  be  possible,  at  Mer* 
chant  Taylors,  or  some  other  public  school,  from  seven 
years  of  age  till  he  is  full  seventeen,  and  then  to  serve  se-* 
ven  years  faithfully  as  a  compositor,  and  work  seven  yean 
more  as  a  journeyman,  as  I  would  not  have  this  annuity  be* 
stowed  on  any  one  under  thirty -one  years  of  age  :  if  after 
he  is  chosen  he  should  behave  ill,  let  him  be  turned  out, 
and  another  be  chosen  in  his  stead.  And  whereas  it  may 
be  many  years  before  a  compositor  may  be  found  that  shall 
exactly  answer  the  above  description,  and  it  may  at  some 
times  happen  that  such  a  one  cannot  be  found;  I  would 
have  the  dividends  in  the  mean  time  applied  to  such  |>erson 
as  the  master,  wardens,  and  assistants,  shall  think  approaches 
nearest  to  what  I  have  described.  And  whereas  the  above 
trusts  will  occasion  some  trouble :  I  give  to  the  said  com« 
pany,  in  case  they  think  proper  to  accept  the  trusts^  two 
hundred  and  fifty  pounds.**  It  is  almost  superfluous  to  add, 
that  the  trust  was  accepted,  and  is  properly  executed. 

Mr.  Bowyer,  agreeably  to  his  own  directiob,  was  buried 
at  Low  Leyton  in  Essex,  where  a  neat  monument  is  erected 
in  the  church  to  his  father^s  memory  and  his  own,  with  a 
Latin  inscription  written  by  himself.  A  bust  of  him  is 
placed  in  Stationers'  Hall,  with  a  good  portrait  of  his  fa- 
ther, and  another  of  his  patron  Mr.  Nelson ;  all  which,  with 
good  portraits  of  Steele  and  Prior,  were  presented  to  the 
Company  of  Stationers  by  Mr.  Nichols. 

Early  in  1778,  Mr.  Nichols  printed  twenty  copies  of 
some  short  *^  Biographical  Memoirs  of  Mr.  Bowyer,"  an  oo- 
tavo  pamphlet  of  fifty-two  pages,  which  were  given  in  pre-* 
sents  to  his  friends^  and  reprinted  in  the  Gent.  Mag.  vol. 
XLVin.  These  memoirs,  although  interesting  in  them- 
selves, were  not  sufficient  to  gratify  the  friends  and  eon* 
temporaries  of  Mr.  Bowyer,  who  foresaw  that,  with  continued 
industry  and  research,  Mr.  Nichols  mighterect  a  more  sump<» 
tuous  monument  to  the  memory  of  his  learned  predecessor. 
Accordingly  from  many  valuable  materials  in  bis  possession, 
and  the  aid  of  some  literary  friends,  he  produced  in  178^, 
in  a  handsome  quarto  volume,  closely  printed,  *<  Biographi- 
cal and  Literary  Anecdotes  of  William  Bowyer,  Printeiv 
F.  S.  A.  and  of  many  of  his  learned  friends,  containing. an 
incidental  view  of  the  progress  apd  advancement  of  liteja* 


B  O  W  Y  E  R.  23^ 

ture  in  this  kingdom  from  the  beginning  of  the  present  cen- 
tury to  the  end  of  the  year  1 777."  The  importance  of  this 
work  was  soon  acknowledged  by  men  of  learning  and  curio- 
sity. It  contained  memoirs  of  several  liundreds  of  eminent 
scholars  who  had  been  unnoticed  or  imperfectly  noticed  in 
biographical  compilations^and  opened  so  many  new  and  rich 
sources  of  information  and  inquiry,  that  the  author  was  fur- 
ther urged  to  extend  his  labour^  and  improve  upon  his  own 
plan  so  as  to  include  a  larger  portion  of  literary  history, 
-With  this  view,  during  the  intervals  he  could  spare  from  an 
extensive  business,  and  the  publication  of  many  useful 
works,  among  which  bis  elaborate  *  History  of  Leicestershire* 
stands  prominent,  amidst  too  his  indefatigable  attention  to 
the  affairs  of  the  corporation  oi  London,  of  which  he  was 
ifor  many  years  a  distinguished  member,  he  was  enabled  in 
the  present  year  to  publish  a  new  edition  of  his  Memoirs  of 
Bowyer,  under  the  title  of  **  Literary  Anecdotes  of  the 
Eighteenth  Century;  comprizing  Biographical  Memoirs 
of  William  Bowyer,'*  &c.  extended  to  six  copious  and 
closely  printed  volumes  in  octavo,  illustrated  by  a  ^e* 
Ties  of  engraved  portraits.  Of  this  work  the  editor  of 
this  Dictionary,  or  of  any  compilation  of  the  kind,  cannot 
speak  without  gratitude.  It  will  appear,  indeed,  by  our 
references,  that  our  obligations  are  numerous  and  impor- 
tant, nor  should  we  be  content  with  this  brief  acknowledge 
ment,  but  from  a  motive  of  delicacy,  it  being  known  to 
our  readers  that  the  author  to  whom  we  are  so  much  indebted 
is  at  the  same  time  the  medium  of  conveying  our  praises  to 
the  public.  We  cannot  help  adding,  however,  that  where 
we  refer  to  Mr.  Nichols's  "  Anecdotes,"  we  wish  it  to  be  under- 
stood that  it  is  for  the  purpose  of  more  ample  information 
than  we  have  usually  extracted,  and  that  ho  book  has  perhaps 
^ver  been  published  in  this  or  any  country  by  which  lite- 
rary curiosity  is  so  much  excited,  or  so  pleasingly  gratified. 
BOXHORN  (Mark  Zuerius),  an  eminent  philologer, 
Historian,  and  antiquary,  born  Sept  12,  1612,  was  the  son 
of  James  Zuerius,  minister  at  Bergen-op-Zoom,  by  Anne 
Boxhorn,  the  daughter  of  Henry  Boxhorn,  a  minister  of 
*Breda,  originally  a  Roman  Catholic,  but  who  embracing  the 
reformed  religioi),  became  minister  firist  in  the  duchy  of 
Cleves,  then  at  Woorden  in  Holland,  and  lastly  at  Breda, 
which  place  he  left  in  1625  when  the  Spaniards  took  it,  and 
retired  to  Leyden  :  here  he  superintended  the  education  of 
bis  grandson,  the  subject  of  the  present  article,  who  lost 


484  B.D  X  H,0  R  N. 

bis  father  wh^n  only  six  j^vlts  old,  and  as  he  had  n6  male 
children,  gave  young  Zuerio?  bis. name  of  Boxhorn.  -Under 
his  tuition,  the  youth  nmde  great  progress  in  bis  .studies, 
and  in  1629  published  §ome.  good  poetry  on  the  taking  of 
Boisledoc,  and  some  othbr  victories  which  the  Dutch  bad 
gained.  This  was  when  he  was  only  seventeen  years  old, 
and  be  was  but  twenty  when  he  published  some  more  consi- 
derable works,  as  will  appear  in  our  list,  which  induced  the 
curators  of  the  university  of  Leyden  in  the  same  year,  1632, 
to  promote  him  to  the  professorship  of  eloquence.  His  re- 
putation extending,  chancellor  Oxeustiern,  the  Swedish 
ambassador,  made  him  great  offers  in  queen  Christina'^ 
name,  but  preferring  a  residence  in.  his  own  country,  he 
was  afterwards  appointed  professor  of  politics  and  history 
in  the  room  of  Daniel  Heinsius,  now  disabled  by  age.  For 
some  time  he  carried  on  a  controversy  with  Salmasius,  but 
they  were  afterwards  apparently  reconciled.  Besides  his 
numerous  works,  he  contributed  frequently  to  the  labours 
Qf  bis  learned  friends:  bis  career,  however,  was  short,  as 
be  died,  after  a  tedious  illness,  at  Leydeo,  Oct.  3,  1653,  at 
the  age  of  only  forty -one.  How  industriously  this  time  was 
employed  will  appear  from  the  following  list  of  his  publica- 
tions. I.  "Poemata,'*  1629,  12mo.  2.  "  Granatarum 
encomium,'*  Amsterdam,  1631,  4to.  3.  "Historiae  Au- 
gustsB  Scriptores,"  a  new  edition  with  bis  notes,  Leyden, 
1631,  4  vols.  12mo,  which  Harwood  calls  beautiful  but  in- 
correct.' 4.  "Theatrum,  sive  Descriptio  Comitatus  et  Ur- 
bium  HollandisB,^'  ibid.  1632,  4to.  and  translated  into  Ger- 
man the  same  year  by  Peter  Montanus.  5.  An  edition  of 
*^Plinii  Panegyricus,'*  Leyden,  1632  and  1648,  Amsterdam, 
1649,  L2mo.  6.  A  ni  mad  version  es  ad  Suetonium  TranquiU 
lum,"  Leyden,  1632  and  1645,  12mo.  7.  "  Poetse  Satirici 
minores,  cum  Commentariis,"  ibid.  1632,  8vo.  8.  "Res- 
.publica  Leodieusium/'  ibid.  1633,  24mo.  9.  "Apolo- 
gia pro  Navigationibus  Hollandorum,  adversus  Pontum 
Heuterum,"  ibid.  1633,  24mo,  and  reprinted  at  Lou- 
don, 1636,  8vo.  10.  "  Emblemata  Politica,  et  Disser«- 
tationes  Political,''  Amsterdam,  1634  and  1651,  12mo. 
11.  ^^Julii  Csesaris  Opera,  cum  commentariis  variorum,'* 
ibid.  1634,  fol.  12.  "  Grammatica  regia,  &c.  pro  Chris- 
tina Suecorum  regina,"  Holm.  1635,  12mo,  Leyden,  1650. 
13.  "  Catonis  Distioha,  Gr.  Lat.  cum  Notis,"  Leyden, 
1635,  8vo.  14.  "  Orationes  duae  de  vera  Nobilitate  et  in- 
eptiis  saeculi,*'  ibid.  1635,  fol.  15.  ^H)ratio  inaugura^lis  de 
Biajestate    eloqueutiis  liomanse/'   ibid.    1636,    4to.      \§» 


»  O  X  H  O  R  If,  28« 

^*  Orationes  Tres,  de  theologia  paganorum,  fabuHs  poeta-* 
rum,  et  aninmrum  immortalitate,''  ibid.  1636,  4to.  17. 
^*  Oratio  funebris  in  obitum  Dominici  Molini,"  ibid.  1636, 
fol.  1 8.  "  Character  capsarum  Patroni,"  ibid.  1637,  4to.  1 9. 
"  Character  Amoris,"  ibid.  1637,  4to.  20.  "  Panegyricus 
Principi  Fred.  Henrico,  post  Bredam  oppugnatam  dictus,'* 
Leyden,  1637,  fol.  21.  **  QusBstiones  Romanae,  cum  Plu- 
tarchi  quoBtionibus  Romanis,  commentario  uberrimo  expli* 
catis,'*  ibid.  1637,  4to,  and  reprinted  in  Graevius,  vol.  V, 
22.  **  Monunienta  illustrium  virorum  aeri  incisa  et  elogia/* 
>bid.  1633,  fol.  23.  "Justinus,  cum  iiotis,'*  Amsterdam, 
1638.  24.  "  Panegyricus  in  classem  Hispanorum  profli- 
gatam,"  Leyden,  1639,  fol.  25.  *^  Oratio  de  Somniis/' 
ibid.  1639,  4to.  26.  "  Historia  obsidionis  Bredanae, 
&c.''  ibid.  1640,  fol.  27.  "  De  Typographicae  artis  in- 
ventione  et  inventoribus,  Dissertatio,"  ibid.  1640,  4t(>. 
In  this  he  is  inclined  to  think  that  the  art  of  printing 
was  first  discovered  at  Haerlem,  and  not  at  Mentz,  as  he  first 
supposed.  28.  "  Dissertatio  de  Trapezitis,  vulgo  Longo-^ 
bardis,"  ibid.  1640,  8vo,  and  Groningen,  1658,  4to.  29. 
**  Panegyricus  in  Nuptias  principis  Arausionensium  Guli- 
elmi,  et  Marise,  Britanniae  regis  fiiiae,''  Leyden,  1641,  foL 
30.  "Oratio  in  excessum  Cornelii  Vander  Myle,"  ibid. 
1642,  fol.  31.  "  Oratio  qua  Ser.  Henricae  Mariae,  rai^gnae 
Britanniae  reginae  urbem  Leydensem*  subeuntis  adventum 
veneratur,"  ibid.  1642,  fol.  This  compliment  to  our  exiled 
queen,  and  a  subsequent  publication,  Bayle  inforais  us, 
was  disliked  by  some  republicans.  32.  "  Oratio  in  exces- 
sum principis  Const.  Alexandri,"  ibid.  1642,  fol.  33. 
"  Commentarius  in  vitam  Agricolae  Corn.  Taciti,"  ibid. 
1642,  12mo,  and  an  Apology  for  this  edition,  *'adversu» 
Dialogistam,'*  Amsterdam,  1643,  12mo.  34.  "  Animad- 
versiones  in  Corn.  Tacitum,  Amsterdam,"  1643,  and  oftea 
reprinted.  35.  The  Belgic  History  to  the  time  of  Charles 
V.  in  Dutch,  Leyden,  1644,  1649,  4to.  36.  «  Chronicon 
Zelandiae,"  Middleburgh,  1644,  4to.  37.  On  the  worship 
of  the  goddess  Nehalennia,  in  Dutch,  Leyden,  1647,  4to. 
38.  "  Plinii  Epistolae  cum  ejus  Panegyrico,'*  ibid.  1648, 
and  Amsterdam,  1659,  12mo.  39.  "Dissertatio  de  Am- 
nestia,"  ibid.  1648,  12mo.  40.  "  Dissertatio  de  successione 
et  jure  primogenitorum,  in  adeundo  priricipatu,  ad  Carolum 
IL  MagnsB  Britanniae  regem,''  ibid,  1649,  4to.  41.  "  De 
Majestate  Regum,  Priqcipumque  liber  singularis,V  a  defence 
of  the  former,  ibid.  1 649, 4to.  42, "  Commentariolusde  Statu 


isa  B  Q  X  H  O  R  N. 

Fcederataruni  Provinciarum  Belgii,  Hague^  1 649.  Some 
oilence  taken  by  the  States  of  Holland  obliged  the  author  to 
alter  part  of  this  work  in  the  editidn  1650,  43.  "  Orati<> 
funebris  in  exeessum  Adriani  Falkoburgii  Med.  Doct.*'  Ley- 
den,  1650,  4te.  44.  **  Haymonis  Hist  ecclesiasticse  Brevia-» 
rium/^  ibid.  1650, 12mo.  45.  ^^  Disquisitiones  Politicse,  ex 
•mni  historia  selectae/'  Hague^  1654^  Erfidrt,  1664^  12itio. 
46.  ^^Dissertatio  de  GrsDcae,  Romans,  et  GermanicaB  Lingua- 
rum  hamionia/^  Leyden,  1650^  47.  "  Historia  Univer- 
salis Sacra  et  Profana  ai  nato  Christo  ad  annum  1650,'^  ibid. 
1651,  1652,  4to,  and  Leipsic,  1675,  4to.  Mencke,  the 
continuator,  speaks  of  this  as  an  excellent  account  of  the 
origin  and  rights  of  nations.  48.  ^  Orationes  varti  ai^- 
menti,"  Amst.  1651,  12mo.  49.  ^*  Oratio  in  exeessum 
Gul.  principis  Arausiee,  comitis  Nassoni,  Leyd.  1651,  foK 
5O4  ^*  Metamorphosis  Anglonim/'  Hague,  1653,  l2mo^ 
51.  ^*  Originum  Gallicarum  liber j^'  Amst.  1654,  4to.  This 
critical  history  of  ancient  Gaul  procured  him  much  repu- 
tation* He  was  employed  on  it  in  his  latter  days,  but  did 
not  live  to  publish  it.  The  following  are  also  posthumous : 
S2»  ^^  Ideae  orationum  i  selectiori  materia  moderni  statui» 
politic!   desumptie/'  Leyden,  1657,    ]2mo,  and   Leipsic^ 

1661,  12mo.  53.  *' Institutionum  seu  dbqutsitionum  Po- 
liticarum  Libri  Duo,'^  Leipsic,  1659,  Amst.  1663.  54. 
^<  Chronologia  sacra  et  prophana,^'  edited  by  Bosius, 
£rancf.   1660,    fol.     55^  *^  Epistolffi  et   Poemata,"   Amst. 

1662,  12mQ,  with  his  life  written  by  James  Baselius,  a  Cal- 
vinist  minister,  and  reprinted  at  Leipsic  in  1679,  with  a 
preface  by  Tbomasius.  56.  ^*  Dissertatio  de  Imperio  Ro- 
mano/^ Jena,  1664,  12mo.* 

BOYCE  (William),  an  eminent  English  musician,  cha* 
pel-master  and  organist  to  George  H.  and  ItL  was  the  son 
of  William  Boyce,  a  joiner  and  cabinet-maker,  and  house* 
keeper  of  Joiners'-hall,  where  our  musician  was  born,  Feb. 
7,  1710.  He  was  at  first  a  singing-boy  at  St.  PauPs,  and 
afterwards  apprenticed  to  the  celebrated  Dr.  Greene,  who 
bequeathed  to  him  his  manuscripts.  In  1734  he  was  a 
candidate  for  the  place  of  organist  of  St.  Michael's  church, 
Cornhill,  with  Froud,  Young,  James  Worgan,  and  Kelway ; 
but  though  unsuccessful  in  this  application,  Kelway  being 
elected,  he  was  appointed  the  same  year  to  the  place  of 
organist  of  Oxford  chapel ;  and  in  1736,  upon  the  death 

1  Gen.  Diet  yol.  X  art.  Zaeriu8.*^Foppeu  Bibl.  Belg^. — Saxii  Onomasticon. 


B  O  T  C  B.  287 

^{  Weldotii  when  Kelway  being  elected  organiist  of  St. 
Martin's  in  the  Fields,  resigned  his  place  at  St.  MichaeVs 
Conihill,  Boyce  was  not  only  elected  organist  of  that 
churchy  but  organist  and  composer  in  the  chapel  royaL 
The  same  year  he  set  David's  ^^  Lamentation  over  Saul  and 
Jonathan,'/  which  was  performed  at  the  Apollo  Society. 
About  the  year  1743,  he  produced  his  serenata  of  ^^  Solo^ 
mon,"  which  was  not  only  long  and  justly  admired  as  a 
pleasing  and  elegant  composition^  but  still  affords  great, 
delight  to  the  friends  of  English  music  whenever  it  is  per- 
formed. His  next  publication  was  ^^  Twelve  Sonatas  or 
Txios  for  two  violins  and  a  base/'  which  were  longer  and 
more  geaerally  purchased,  performed,  and  admired,  than 
any  productions  of  the  kind  in  this  kingdom,  except  those 
of  CorelU.  They  were  not  only  in  constant  use,  as  cham* 
ber  music,  in  private  concerts,  for  which  they  were  ori- 
ginally, designed,  but  in  our  theatres,  as  act-tunes,  and 
public  gardens,  as  favourite  pieces,  during  many  years. 

In  1749,  he  set  the  ode  written- by  the  rev.  Mr.  Mason^ 
for  the  installation  of  the  late  duke  of  Newcastle,  as  chan-^^ 
cellor  of  the  university  of  CaP^bridge,  at  which  time  be 
was  honoured  with  the  degree^f  doctor  in  music  by  that 
university.  Soon  after  this  eyent,  he  set  the  "  Chaplet,'* 
a  musical  drama,  written  by  the  late  Mr.  Mendez,  for 
Drury-lane  theatre,  which  had  a  very  favourable  reception, 
and  long  run,  and  continued  many  yjears  in  use.  Not  long 
after  the  first  performance  of  this  drama,  his  friend  Mr. 
Beard  brought  on  the  same  stage  the  secular  ode,  written 
by  Dryden,  and  originally  set  by  Dr.  Boyce  for  Hickford's 
room,  or  the  Castle  concert,  where  .it  was  first  performed, 
in  still  life.  This  piece,  though  less  successful  than  the 
Chaplet,  by  the  animated  performance  and  friendly  zeal 
of  Mr.  Beard,  was  many  times  exhibited  before  it  was 
wholly  laid  aside.  These,  coippositions,  with  occasional 
single  songs  for  Vauxhall  and  Ranelagh,  disseminated  the 
fame  of  Dr.  Boyce  throughout  the  kingdom,  as  a  dramatic 
and  miscellaneous  composer,  while  his  choral  compositions 
for  the  king's  chapel,  for  the  feast  of  the  sons  of  the  clergy 
at  St.  Paul's,  and  for  the  triennial  meetings  at  the  three 
cathedrals  of  Worcester,  Hereford,  and  Gloucestei^  at  the 
performances  in  all  which  places  he  constantly  presided 
1^11  the  time  of  his  death,  established  his  reputation  as  an 
ecclesiastical  composer,  and  able  master  of  harmony.  Dr. 
Boyce  was  one  of  thfe  few  of  our  church  composers,,  who 


28g  BOY  C  tf. 

neither  pillaged  or  servilely  imitated  Handel.    There  is  ai»* 
original  and  sterling  merit  in  his  productions)  founded  as  . 
much  on  the  study  of  our  own  old  masters,  as  on  the  best 
models  of  other  countries,  that  gives  to  all  bis  works  a  pe-- 
euliar  stamp  and  character  of  his  own,  for  strength,  clear* 
ness,  and  facility,  without  any  mixture  of  styles,  or  ex- 
traneous and  heterogeneous  ornaments.     On  the  decease  . 
of  Dr  Greene,  in  1757,  he  was  appointed  by  the  duke  of 
Devonshire,  master  of  the  king's  band ;  and,  in  1758,  on 
the  death  of  Travers,  organist  of  the  chapel-royal.     He 
published,  at  a  great  expence  to  himself,  three  volumes 
of  cathedral  music,  b6ing  a  collection  in  score  of  the  most 
valuable  compositions  for  that  service  by  the  several  Eng- 
lish masters  of  the  preceding  two  centuries,    which  wa»  • 
designed  to  have  been  published  by  Dr.  Greene :  and  in 
this  Dr.  Boyce  was  assisted  by  the  first  Dr.  Hayes,  of  Ox- 
ford, and  by  Dr.  Howard.     Dr.  Boyce  died,  of  repeated 
^attacks  of  the  gout,  Feb.  7,   1779,  and  was  interred  in  St* 
Paul's  cathedral.     An   anonymous  biographer   records  a  . 
very  singular  circumstance  in  Dr.  Boyce's  history,  oamely, 
that  he  was  from  his  youth  incurably  deaf. ' 

BOYD  (Hugh,  or  Hugh  Macauley),  a  writer  who 
would  scarcely  have  deserved  notice,  if  he  had  not  been 
obtruded  on  the  public  as  the  author  of  J unius's  Letters^ 
was  the  second  son  of  Alexander  Macauley,  esq.  of  the 
county  of  Antrim,  in  Ireland.  He  was  born  in  1746;  was 
educated  at  Trinity  college,  Dublin;  and  was  designed 
for  the  bar ;  but,  instead  of  prosecuting  his  original  views, 
came  over  to  London,  where,  under  the  patronage  of  Mr. 
Richard  Burke,  he  soon  became  known  both  in  the  literary 
and  faslxionable  world.  A  propensity  to  extravagance  had 
already  reduced  him  to  considerable  embarrassments, 
when,  in  1777,  he  married  a  lady  of  good  fortune;  but 
this  relief  was  only  teipporary;  for  the  same  expensive 
habits  still  continued,  and  at  length  obliged  him  to  ac-- 
company  lord  Macartney  to  Madras,  in  the  capacity  of  a 
second  secretary.  He  remained  there  after  bis  lordshipV 
return,  and  died  in  1791,  having  for  some  years  previously 
to  his  death,  held  the  lucrative  office  of  master  attendant, 
with  little  advantas:e  to  his  circumstances.  He  wrote  in 
Ireland,  a  political  periodical  paper,  called  ^^  The  Free-i 
holder,"    in    1772;    an   Introduction   to   lord   Chathain^» 

>  Barney '«  Hist,  of  Music,  toI.  2X1.--- Londm  Cbfowcle,  Feb.  18,  1779. 


b  O  Y  D.  Qi$ 

•^ecbe^  oti  the  American  war,  reported  and  published  bj 
him  ;  and  the  **  Whig/'  published  in  Almon's  newspaper^ 
the  London  Courant,  in  1780.     In  1794,  he  also  wrote  a 
few  periodical  essays  called  "  The  Indian  Observer,**  pub- 
lished at  Madras.    These  were  reprinted  in  an  8vo  volume* 
in  1798,  by  the  late  Mr.  Laurence  Dundas  Campbell,  with 
a  view  to  establish  an  assertion  which  Almon  first  made^ 
if  we  mistake  not,  purporting  that  A|r.  Boyd  was  the  au- 
thor of  Junius  ;  but  unfortunately  the  reader  has  ^^  the 
bane  aud  antidote*'  both  before  him  in  this  volume,  and 
few  attempts  of  the  kind  can  be  conceived  more  injudici- 
ous than  a  comparison  between  the  styles  of  Boyd  and  Ju- 
nius.    Boyd  wrote  after  Junius,  and,  like  most  political 
writers,  aims  at  his  style ;  and  the  only  conclusion  which 
his  friends  have  arrived  at  amounts  to  this  absurdity,  that 
an  imitator  must  be  an  original  writer ;  and  even  this  in  the 
case  of  Mr.  Boyd  is  peculiarly  unfortunate,  for  his  imita-^ 
tions  are  among  the  most  feeble  that  have  been  ever  at^** 
tempted. — ^Mr.  Campbell  returned  to  the  charge,  however, 
in  1 800,  with  a  publication  of  '^  The  miscellaneous  works 
of  Hugh  Boyd,  the  author  of  the  Letters  of  Junius  :  with 
an  account  of  his  Life  and  Writings,**  2  vols.  8vo.  ^ 

BOYD  (Maek  Alexander),  a  Scotch  writer  of  cousin 
derable  reputation  in  the  sixteenth  century,  the  son  of 
Robert  Boyd,  of  Pinkill  in  Ayrshire,  was  born  Jan.  13^ 
1562.  Having  lost  his  father  early,  he  was  educated  undef 
the  inspection  of  his  uncle,  Mr.  James  Boyd,  of  Trochrig, 
who^  with  the  then  unpopular  title  of  ^^  Archbishop  of 
Olasgow,"  performed  the  offices  of  minister  of  the  Barony 
parish  in  that  city.  Young  Boyd,  in  his  nature  lively 
and  headstrong,  soon  grew  weary  of  academical  discipline^ 
quarreled  with  his  preceptors,  renounced  bis  studies,  and, 
eager  to  become  a  man  of  the  world,  presented  himself  at 
court.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  in  this  scheme  he  relied  chiefly 
on  the  patronage  of  Robert,  fourth  lord  Boyd,  who  was 
probably  the  cousin-german  of  Boyd*s  fiaither.  All,  bow- 
ever,  that  we  learn  of  his  proficiency  at  court  is,  that  he 
fought  one  duel,  and  was  engaged  in  numberless  broils* 
His  relations  advised  him  to  follow  the  profession  of  artxis 
in  the  Low  Countries,  for  they  could  not  moderate  his  im-» 
petuous  and  unruly  teniper,  and  perhaps  they  were  little 

1  The  above  publications.— Monthly  Review,  N.  S.  toL  XXVIl.  aocl  XXXiV. 
— <-See  also  another  advocate  for  Mr*  Boyd,  ifr  Mr.  G.  Chalmerses  "  A.  p«;iidix  tp 
ibe  Suppiemeotal  Apolofyi  9f,c.*^  1800. 

VOL.VL  U 


290  BOYD. 

inclined  or  little  able  to  support  bim  in  a  manner  of  life 
which  had  no  determined  object  or  aim.  Boyd  i^eadily 
consented  to  become  a  soldier ;  but  be  chose  France  rather 
than  the  Low  Countriesi  for  the  theatre  of  his  future 
acfaievements.  He  went  therefore  to  Paris,  furnished  with 
a  small  # tock  of  money,  all  of  which  be  soon  lost  at  dice. 
This  the  author  of  his  life  ascribes  to  some  secret  fate, 
**  occulto  veluti  fato  ;*'  but  says  his  more  recent  biogra- 
pher, lord  Hailes,  we  may  absolve/fl/^,  for  when  the  raw 
and  self-suf&cient  go  amongst  sharpers,  they  ought  to  as- 
cribe their  ruin  io folly, 

Boyd,  observing  that  young  pek'sons  of  quality,  and  even 
military  men,  were  wont  to  attend  academical  lectures 
at  Paris,  resumed  his  stuclies.  The  teachers  to  whom 
he  attached  himself  were,  J.  Marius  d'Amboise,  profes- 
sor of  philosophy ;  J.  Passerat,  professor  of  eloquence,  nut 
only  a  scholar,  but  a  wit  also,  and  a  poet;  and  Gilb.  Franc. 
Genebrand,  professor  of  the  Hebrew  language,  who  after- 
wards by  his  zeal  for  the  French  league,  tarnished  the  re- 
{>utation  that  he  had  gaiiied  by  his  literary  abilities.  Guil- 
onius  also  is  mentioned  amongst  the  professors  under 
'whom  Boyd  studied.  He  next  resolved  to  apply  himself 
to  the  civil  law,  and  went  to  the  university  of  Orleans, 
where  that  science  was  taught  by  J.  Robertus,  a  man  prin- 
cipally known  for  having  dared  to  become  the  rival  of  Cu- 
jacius.  But  he  soon  quitted  Orleans,  and  went  to  the 
university  of  Bourges.  Cujacius,  who  taught  the  civil 
law  there,  received  him  with  kindness,  and  possibly,  not 
with  the  less  kindness  because  bis  new  scholar  had  quitted 
Orleans  and  professor  Robertus.  It  was  said  that  Boyd  ob- 
tained the  friendship  of  Cujacius,  by  writing  some  verses 
in  the  obsolete  Latin  language.  Perhaps  that  learned  man 
liked  those  verses  best  which  approached  nearest  to  the 
standard  of  the  Twelve  Tables. 

While  at  Bourges,  however,  Boyd  applied  his  mind  to 
serious  study,  with  more  earnestness  than  could  have  been 
looked  for  from  a  person  of  his  age  and  desultory  temper. 
But  unfortunately  his  studies  were  interrupted,  not  by  the 
constitutional  fickleness  of  his  own  disposition,  but  by  a 
public  calamity.  The  plague  broke  out  at  Bourges,  and 
Boyd,  dreading  the  infection,  fled  to  Lyons,  and  on  its 
appearance  at  Lyons,  he  went  into  Italy.  There  he  be- 
came acquainted  with  a  person  whom  he  calls  Cornelius 
Varus,  but  having  been  seized  with  an  ague,  be  returned 


BOYD.  291 

to  L5^ons  for  change  of  air.  It  is  said  that  the  being  de^ 
prived  of  the  conversation  and  salutary  advices  ^  of  hi^ 
friend  Varus  was  the  only  regret  which  be  had  in  quitting 
Italy.  Varus  flattered  him  with  all  the  extravagancy  of 
Italian  hyperboles,  and  finding  that  Boyd  prided  himself 
on  the  excellence  of  his  Latin  poetry ^  addressed  some 
verses  to  him  in  which  he  asserts  that  Boyd  surpassed  Bu^^ 
chanan  and  all  other  Bi'itish  poets  in  a  greater  degree  than 
Virgil  surpassed  Lucretius,  Catullus,  and  all  other  Roman 
poets.  / 

In  1587,  a  numerous  army,  composed  of  mercenary 
Germans  and  Swiss,  invaded  France,  in  support  of  thtt 
king  of  Navarre.  Boyd  joined  the  troops  that  marched 
from  Auvergrie  to  reinforce  the  army  of  Henry  III.  His 
commander  was  a  Greek  by  birth,  an  officer  of  cavalry* 
Boyd  mentions  not  his  name ;  but  describes  him  as  one 
who,  with  the  specious  advantages  of  elocution,  and  a 
noble  figure,  was  volatile,  forward,  easily  provoked,  and 
of  ungovernable  passion.  The  temerity  of  this  commander 
exposed  his  soldiers  to  more  hazards  in  skirmishes  with 
the  peasants,  than  they  would  have  found  in  storming  of 
towns.  Boyd  received  a  shot  in  the  ancle,  and  this  is  a\\ 
we  know,  with  certainty,  of  his  niilitary  services. 

In  1588,  Boyd  fixed  his  residence  at  Toulouse,  and 
again  applied  himself  to  the  study  of  the  civil  law  under 
Fr.  Rouldes,  a  celebrated  professor.  It  appears  that, 
about  this  time,  he  wrote  some  tracts  on  that  science,  and 
projected  others;  and  that  he  even  had  it  in  view  to  com*- 
pose  a  system  of  the  law  of  nations.  Toulouse  having, 
about  this  time,,  by  means  of  a  popular  insurrection,  fallei\ 
into  the  hands  of  the  faction  of  the  league,  Boyd,  who  had 
assisted  the  royal  cause,  was  thrown  into  prison;  and^ 
from  the  hatred  of  the  Jesuits,  was  iii  great  danger  of  his 
life.  When  be  had  obtained  his  liberty,  which  was  granted 
him  at  the  solicitations  of  the  learned  men  of  Toulouse,  he 
went  first  to  Bourdeaux,  and  thence  to  Rochelle.  In  thi$ 
last  journey  he  was  attacked  by  robbers,  and  with  difficulty 
escaped  being  assassinated  by  them,  after  ha^yirxg  lost  all 
the  property  he  had  with  him.  Disliking  the  air  of  Ro-. 
ciielle,  he  retreated  to  the  borders  of  Poictou,  ^her^ 
he  enjoyed  an  agreeable  rural  retirement;  devoting  hi$ 
time  partly  to  polite  literature,  and  partly. ta  the  aid  of  big 
friends,  when  they  were  occasionally  exposed  to  the  incur^ 
*  »iqifi9  of  tb^  enemies.     He  so  equally  applied  himself  tt^ 

V  2 


ft92  6  O  Y  D. 

thm  study  of  learning  and  war,  that  it  was  not  ea^  to  say 
•ivliich  be  most  preferred ;  but  bis  character  appears  now  to 
luAre  been  more  decided  than  when  in  youth.  Among  men 
4d  tbe  sword  be  appeared  to  be  the  accomplished  soldier^ 
and  as  eminently  the  scholar  among  those  of  the  gowii. 
la  his  person  he  was  tall,  compact,  and  well  prop(5rt]oned  ; 
4iis  countenance  was  beautiful,  sprightly,  and  engaging ; 
jmd  there  was  a  singularly  tio\}le  air  in  his  discourse,  aspect^ 
voice,  and  gesture.  He  was  polite,  pleasant,  acute, 
courteous,  a  ready  speaker,  and  entirely  free  from  envy 
and  avaiice.  He  could  easily  bear  with  the  boasting  of 
die  ignorant,  but  extremely  disliked  the  abusive  manner 
of  writing  which  prevailed  so  much  among  the  learned  of 
his  time.  He  thought  it  unworthy  of  a  Christian,  in  a  li- 
terary controversy,  to  throw  out  any  thing,  either  in  speech 
or  writing,  which  should  hurt  the  reputation  of  an  adver- 
sary. In  injuries  of  an  atrocious  nature,  he  chose  to  do 
himself  justice  by  having  recourse  to  tbe  laws  of  arms. 
Among  the  ancients,  Xenophon  was  bis  favourite  as  a  pbi«« 
losopber,  Caesar  as  an  bistorianf,  and  Virgil  as  a  poet.  So 
admirably  was  he  skillied  in  the  Greek  language,  that  he 
eouid  write,  dictate,  and  converse  in  it,  with  copiousn^ 
and  elegance.  He  despised  the  centos,  which  were  then 
not  a  little  in  fashion  ;  and  said,  that  however  learned  th« 
authors  of  them  might  be,  they  were  dull  and  ignorant 
jnen.  Besides  his  epistles  after  the  manner  of  Ovid,  and 
bis  hymns,  he  wrote  a  variety  of  Latin  poems,  which  have 
■iiot  been  printed.  He  was  the  author  of  notes  upon  Pliny, 
and  published  an  excellent  little  book,  addressed  to  Lip* 
sius,  in  defence  of  cardinal  fiembo  and  the  ancient  elo- 
eiienoe.  He  translated,  likewise,  Caesar's  Commentaries. 
into  Greek,  in  tbe  style  of  Herodotus ;  but  would  not  per* 
mit  bis  translation  to  appear  in  public.  He  afterwards  aj)- 
/plied  himself  to  the  cultivation  of  poetry  in  his  native  Ian* 
guage^  and  arrived  at  considerable  excellence  in  it.  In  all 
his  eomponliionS)  genius  was  more  apparent  than  labour. 

.Boyd,  at  length,  returned  into  Scotland,  where  be  soon 
aftee  died,  «f,a  flow  fever,  in  April  1€01,  at  Pinkill, 
Ins  fadierV  seat,  in  the  5Sth  or  Sdth  year  of  bis  age ;  and 
«ns  'buried  with  bis  ancestors  in  the  church  ot  Daiie  or 
iDarile.. '  Among  tbe  manuscripts  which  he  left  behind  hiin, 
the  following  were  in  sir  Robert  Sibbald's  possession: 
^In  Instituttbnes  Istiperatorts  Commenta,''  1591,  folio. 
<^  L'Estat  du  Royauwe  4'£seoflse  i  present^'^  foK    <<  PoU« 


BOYD.  S9t 

fcicufl^    a4  Joannem    Metellanum,   cancellarium  Scdtiae.'^ 
,**  Scriptum  de  Jurisconsulto,  ad  Franciscum  BalduiniHn/' 
'*  Poeta,  ad  Cornelium  Varum  Florentinum,"     "  Poemala 
varia.'^     *'  Epistolse/'     But  of  these,  the  only  works  novr 
fenown  are  his  "  Epistolse  Hcroidum,"  and  his  "  Hjrmni/' 
These  are  inserted  in  the  "  Delitias  Poetarum  Scotoruai^*^ 
Anist.  1637,  in  two  volumes  12mo;  and  a  great  character 
has  beefi  given  of  them  by  several  authors.     His  biogra- 
pher questions  whether  lany  of  the  ancients  have  excelled 
|iim  in  elegiac  poetry,  and  is  positive  that  none  of  the 
Latins   have   equalled  his  hymns.     Olaus   Borrichius,  an 
eminent  critic,  in  his  *'  Dissertationes  Academics  de  Poe^ 
tis,*'  says,  ^^  In  Marco  Alexandro  Boclio,  Scoto,  redivivmn 
fipectamus  Nasonem ;  ea  est  in  ejusdeiii  Epistolis  Heroi* 
^um,  lux,  candor,  dexteritas.*'     The  same  critic  speaks  as 
)iighly   of  Boyd's  Hymns,  but  modern  taste  will  not  coin*^ 
cide  with  these  praises.     Boyd  undoubtedly  was  a  man  of 
genius  and  elegant  accomplishments,  yet  we  learn  this 
rather  from  his  history  than  his  writings.  ^ 
y.    BOYD    (Robert),  a  nobleman  of  Scotland,  of  whose 
/early  years  we  have  no  account,  began  to  make  a  figure  ia 
,  pubtip  life  towards  the  end  of  the  reign  of  James  II.  of 
Scotland.     Being  a  man  of  great  penetration  and  sound 
judgment,  courteous  and  affable,  he  acquired  the  esteem 
.  find  confidence  of  all  ranks  of  people,  as  well  as  of  bis 
prince,  who  created  him  a  baron  by  the  title  of  lord  Boyd, 
..pf  Kilmarnock.     In  1459,  he  was,  with  several  other  no- 
blemen, sent  to  Newcastle,  with  the  character  of  plenipo- 
tentiary, to  prolong  the  truce  with  England,  which  bad 
i*ust  then  expired.     On  the  death  of  James  II.  who  was 
illed  at  the  siege  of  Roxburgh,  lord  Boyd  was  made  jus- 
ticiary, and  one  of  the  lords  of  the  regency,  in  whose 
bands  the  administration  was  lodged  during  the  minority 
of  the  young  king.     His  lordship  had  a  younger  brother 
who  had  received  the  honour  of  knighthood,  tiiir  Alexander 
Boyd  of  Duncow,  a  man  in  great  credit  with  the  king, 
whom  he  was  appointed  to  teach  the  rudiments  of  military 
discipline ;   and   between   them,  the  two  brothers  found 
ineans  to  engross  most  of  the  places  and  preferments  about 
the  court.     Sir  Alexander  began  to  instil  into  the  yeutig 
king,  then  twelve  years  old,  that  he  was  now  capable^  of 
governing  without  the  help  of  guardians  and  tutors^  and 

l^  Sketch  of  the  life  of  Btfytt,  by  L6r<I  Hailes,  Edin.  Il%3,  8yo.— Biog,  Brit 


t94  BOY  D. 

that  he  might  free  himself  from  their  restraint     Thi«  ad- 
vice was  readily  listened  to,  and  the  king  resolved  to  take 
«pon  himself  the   government,  which,    however,  was  no 
other  than  transferring  the  whole  power,  from  the  other 
regents,  to  the  Boyds.     The  king  was  at  this  time  at  Lin- 
lithgow, and  it  was  necessary  to  remove  him  to  Edinburgh, 
to  take  iipan  him  the  regt^l  government,  which  the  Boyds 
effected,  partly  by  force,  and  partly  by  stratagem.     Hav- 
ing got  the  king  to  Edinburgh,  lord  Boyd  began  to  pro- 
vide for  his  own  safety,  and  to  avert  the  danger  which 
threatened  him  and  his  friends,  for  what  they  had  done  in 
the  face  of  an  act  of  parliament ;  and  accordingly  prevailed 
*ipon  the  king  to  call  a  parliament  at  Edinburgh,  in  Octo- 
•ber  1466;  in  which  lord  Boyd  fell  down  upon  his  -kneei 
before  the  throne,  where  the  king  sat,  and  in  an  elaborate 
harangue,  complairted  of  the  hard  construction  put  upon 
the  king's  removal  from  Linlithgow,  and  how  ill  this  was 
interpreted  by  his  enemies,  who  threatened  that  the  ad-? 
visers  of  that  affair  should  one  day  suffer  punishment; 
humbly  beseeching  his  majesty  to  declare  his  own  sense 
^nd  pleasure  thereupon,  and  that  if  he  conceived  any  ill- 
will  or  disgust  against  him  for  that  journey,  that  he  would 
t)penly  declare  it.     The  king,  after  advising  a  little  with 
•the  lords,  made  answer,  that  the  lord  Boyd  was  not  his 
'  adviser,  but  rather  his  companion  in  that  journey;  and 
therefore  that  he  was  more  worthy  of  a  reward  for  his  cour* 
isesy,  than  of  punishment  for  his  obsequiousness  or  com-* 
pliance  therein ;  and  this  he  was  willir\g  to  declare  in  a 
public  decree  of  the  estates,  and  in  the  same  decree  pro- 
vision should  be  made,  that  this  matter  should  never  be 
prejudicial  to  the  lord  Boyd  or  his  companions.     His  lord^ 
«hip  then  desired,  that  this  decree  might  be  registered  in 
the  acts  of  the  assembly,  and  confirmed  by  letters  patent 
under  the  great  seal,  which  was  also  complied  with.     At 
the  same  time  also  the  king,  by  advice  of  Ms  council, 
'gave  him  letters  patent,  whereby  he  was  constituted  sole 
regent,  and  had  the  safety  of  the  king,  his  brothers,  sisters, 
towns,  castles,  and  aH  the  jurisdiction  over  bis  subjects, 
coiftmitted  to  him,  till  the  king  himself  arrived  to  the  age 
,pf  twenty-one  years.     And  the  nobles  then  present  so- 
•lemnly  promised  to  be  assistant  to  the  lord  Boyd,  and  also 
Jtjo  his^brother,  in  all  their  public  actions,  and  that  they 
woiTild  be  liable  to  punishment,  if  they  did  not  carefully, 
f^i}d  with  faithfulness,  perform  what  thpy  then  promisefd, 


B  O  Y  I>.  295 

to  which  stipulation  the  king  also  subscribed.  Lord  Boyd 
next  contrived  to  be  made  lord  great  chamberiam^  and 
after  this  had  the  boldness  to  procure  the  lady  Mary  Stew^ 
arty  the  late  king's  eldest  daughter,  in  marriage  for  his  son 
sir  Thomas  Boyd,  notwithstanding  the  care  and  precaution 
of  the  parliament  The  lord  Boyd's  son  was  a  most  ac- 
complished gentleman,  and  this  match  and  near  alliance 
to  the  crowuj  added  to  his  own  distinguished  merit,  raised 
him  to  a  nearer  place  in  the  affection  as  well  as  confidence 
of  his  sovereign,  by  whom  he  was  soon  after  created 
earl  of  Arran,  and  was  now  himself  considered  as  the 
fountain  from  whence  all  honours  and  preferments  must 
flow.  The  lord  chamberlain,  by  this  great  accession  of  ho« 
nour  to  his  family,  seemed  to  have  arrived  at  the  highest 
pinnacle  of  power  and  grandeur ;  but  what  seemed  to  esta- 
blish bis  power,  proved  the  very  means  of  its  overthrow. 
About  this  time,  a  marriage  having  been  concluded,  by 
ambassadors  sent  into  Denmark  for  that  purpose,  between 
the  young  king  of'  Scotland,  and  Margaret,  a  daughter  of 
the  king  of  Denmark,  the  earl  of  Arran  was  selected  to  go 
over  to  Denmark,  to  espouse  the  Danish  princess  in  the 
king  his  brother-in-law's  name,  and  to  conduct  her  to  Scot- 
land. The  earl  of  Arran,  judging  all  things  safe  at  home, , 
willingly  accepted  this  honour ;  and,  in  the  beginning  of 
the  autumn  of  1469,  set  sail  for  Denmark  with  a  proper 
convoy,  and  a  noble  train  of  friends  and  followers.  This 
was,  however,  a  fatal  step,  for  the  lord  chamberlain,  the 
earPs  father,  being  now  much  absent  from  the  court  in 
the  necessary  discharge  of  his  office,  as  well  as  through 
age  and  infirmities,  which  was  the  case  also  of  his  brother 
sir  Alexander  Boyd  ;  the  earl  of  Arran  had  no  sooner  set 
out  on  his  embassy,  than  every  endeavour  was  tried  to 
alienate  the  king's  a&ction  from  the  Boyds.  Every  pub- 
lic miscarriage  was  laid  at  their  door ;  and  the  Kennedies, 
their  ancient  enemies,  industriously  spread  abroad  reports, 
to  inflame  the  people  likewise  against  them^t  They  repre- 
sented to  the  king,  that  the  lord  Boyd  had  abused  his 
^^  power  during  his  majesty's  minority ;  that  his  matching  his 
9on,  the  earl  of  Arran,  with  the  princess  Mary,  was  stain- 
ing the  royal  blood  of  Scotland,  was  an  indignity  to  the 
crown,  and  the  prelude  to  the  execution  of  a  plot  they  had 
contrived  of  usurping  even  the  sovereignty  itself;  for  they 
represented  the  lord  chamberlain  as  an  ambitious,  aspiring 
man,  guilty  of  the  highest  ofifences,  and  capable  of  con^ 


*W  BOY  D. 

trivitig  and  eteCuting  the  worst  of  yillanies:  with  what 
justice,  history  does  not  inform  us.  Buehanan  only  says 
the  Boyds  were  the  occasion  of  the  king's  degeneracy  into 
all  manner  of  licentiousness,  by  their  indulgence  of  his 
pleasures.  The  king,  however,  young,  weak,  credulou9, 
and  wavering,  and  naturally  prone  to  jealousy,  began  to 
be  alarmed,  and  was  prevailed  on  to  sacrifice,  not  only  the 
earl  of  Arran,  but  all  bis  family,  to  the  resentment  of  their 
enemies,  notwithstanding  their  ancestors*  great  services  to 
the  crown,  and  in  spite  of  the  ties  of  blood  which  united 
tliem  so  closely.  At  the  request  of  the  adverse  faction, 
the  king  summoned  a  parliament  to  meet  at  Edinburgh, 
the  20th  of  November,  1469,  before  which  lord  Boyd,  tbe 
earl  of  Arran,  though  in  Denmark,  and  sir  Alexander. Boyd 
of  Duncow,  were  sumnioned  to  appear,  to  give  an  account 
of  their  administration,  and  answer  such  charges  as  should 
be  exhibited  against  them.  Lord  Boyd,  as^tonished  at  this 
sudden  blow,  betook  himself  to  arms ;  but,  finding  it  im« 
possible  to  stem  the  torrent,  made  his  escape  into  England.; 
but  his  brother,  sir  Alexander,  being  then  sick>  and  trust- 
ing to  his  own  integrity,  was  brought  before  the  parlia- 
ment, where  he,  the  lord  Boyd,  and  his  son  the  earl  of 
Arran,  were  indicted  of  high-treason,  for  having  laid  hands 
on  the  king,  and  carried  him,  against  an  act  of  parliament, 
f^nd  contrary  to  the  king's  own  will,  froqi  Linlithgow  to 
Edinburgh,  in  1466.  Sir  Alexander  alleged  in  bis  de- 
fence, that  they  had  not  only  obtained  the  king^s  pardon 
for  that  oiFence  in  a  public  convention,  but .  it  was  even 
declared  a  good  service  by  a  subsequent  act  of  parliament; 
but  no  regard  was  had  to  this,  because  it  was  obtained  by 
the  Boyds  when  in  power,  and  masters  of  the  king's  per- 
son :  and  the  crime  being  proved  against  them,  they  were 
found  guilty  by  a  jury  of  lords  and  barons;  and  sir  Alext 
ander  Boyd,  being  present,  was  condemned  to  lose  his 
^ead  on  the  Castle-hill  of  Edinburgh,  which  sentence,  wai^ 
executed  accordingly.  The  lord  Boyd  would  have  Under-^ 
gone  the  same  fate,  if  be  had  not  made  his  escape  into 
England,  where,  however,  be  did  not  long  survive  his 
great  reverse  of  fortune,  dying  at  Alnwick  in  1470.  The 
^arl  of  Arran,  though  absent  upon  public  businesa,  was 
declared  a  public  enemy,  without  being  granted  a  hear- 
ing, or  allowed  the  privilege  of  defending  himself,  and  hi« 
estates  confiscated.  Things  w^re  in  this  situation,  wbeof 
lie  arrived  from  Denmark^  With  the  espoused  queen^  ip  tt\f 


BOYD.  S91 

FHth  of  Forth.  Before  be  landed  he  received  iiltelUgenee 
of  the  wreck  and  ruin  of  bis  family,  and  resolved  to  retire 
into  Denmark ;  and  without  staying  to  attend  the  cere-* 
isionial  df  the  queen^s  landing,  be  took  the  opportunity  of 
one  of  those  Danish  shipis  which  convoyed  the  queen,  and 
were  linder  his  command,  and  embarking  his  Udy,  set  sail 
for  Denmark,  where  he  met  with  a  reception  suitable  to 
his  high  birth.  From  thence  be  travelled  through  Ger- 
many into  France,  and  went  to  pay  a  visit  to  Charles  duke 
of  Burgundy,,  who  received  him  most  graciously,  and 
being  then  at  war  with  his  rebellious  subjects^  the  unfortu- 
nate lo«  d  oiFered  him  his  service,  which  the  duke  readily 
accepted,  and  finding  him  to  be  a  brave  and  wise  man,  h« 
honoured  and  supported  him  and  his  lady  in  a  manner  be- 
coming their  rank.  But  the  king  their  brother,  not  yet 
satisfied  with  the  miseries  of  their  family,  wrote  over  to 
Flanders  to  recal  his  sister  home ;  and  fearing  she  would 
not  be  iddi!iced  to  leave  him,  he  caused  others  to  write  to 
her,  aiid  give  her  hopes  that  his  anger  towards  her  husband 
might  be  appeased,  and  that  if  she  would  come  over  and 
plead  for  him  in  person^  there  was  no  doubt  but  she  might 
prevail  with  her  brother  to  restore  him  again  to  his  favour^ 
The  countess  of  Arran,  flattered  with  these  hopes,  returned, 
and  was  no  sooner  arrived  in  Scotland,  than  the  king  urged 
her  to  a  divorce  firom  her  husband,  cruelly  detained  .her 
from  going  back  to  him,  and  caused  public  citations,  at- 
tested by  witnesses,  to  be  fixed  up  at  Kilmarnock,  the 
seat  of  the  Boyds,  wherein  Thomas  earl  of  Arran  was  com- 
manded to  appear  in  sixty  days,  which  he  not  doing,  his 
marriage  with  the  king^s  sister  was  declared  null  and  void^ 
and  a  divorce  made  (according  to  Buchanan),  the  earl  still 
absent  and  unheard ;  and  the  lady  Mary  was  compelled,  by 
the  king,  to  marry  James  lord  Hamilton,  a  man  much  in- 
ferior to  her  former  husband  both  in  point  of  birth  and 
fortune.  This  transaction  was  in  1474;  and  the  earl  of 
Arran,  now  in  the  last  stage  of  his  miseries,  and  borne 
down  with  the  heavy  load  of  his  misfortunes,  soon  after 
4died  at  Antwerp,  and  was  honourably  interred  there.  The 
character  of  him  and  of  his  father  i^  variously  represented. 
That  they  were  ambitious,  and  regardless  of  the  means  of 
gratifying  that  ambition,  cannot  well  be  denied,  nor  are  we 
permitted  to  censure  with  great  asperity  their  enemies  who 
effected  their  ruin  by  similar  measures  and  with  similar 
^motives.    Their  fall  undoi^btedly  holds  out  an  useful  les^-» 


598  BOYD. 

son,  but  the  e:9rperiei)ce  of  others,  especially  of  example^ 
.  in  history,  seldom  checks  the  progress  of  that  ambition  that 
has  once  commenced  in  success.  ^ 

BOYD  (William),  a  descendant  of  the  preceding,  and 
fourth  and  last  earl  of  Kilmarnock,  was  born  in  1704,  and 
was  but  thirteen  years  old  when  his  father  died :  he  dis*- 
covered  early  a  genius  not  unequal  to  his  birth,  but  found 
the  family  estate  pretty  much  encumbered,  and  great  part, 
of  the  patrimony  alienated,  which  was  by  no  means  an- 
swerable to  his  lordship^s  generous  and  noble  disposition. 
It  was  also  his  misfortune  to  bo  too  soon  let  loose  among^ 
the  gaieties  and  pleasures  of  life.  As  he  grew  up,  instead 
of  applying  himself  to  study,  he  launched  out  into  the 
world  in  pursuit  of  pleasures  which  were  more  expensive 
than  his  fortune  could  support,  and  by  this  means  consi-* 
derably  reduced  his  estate,  which,  from  the  most  probable 
conjecture,  was  the  true  reason  of  his  taking  up  arms  against 
the  king.  Indeed,  his  lordship  himself  owns  in  his  confes- 
sion to  Mr.  Foster  (while  under  sentence),  that  his  rebellion 
was  a  kind.of  desperate  scheme,  proceeding  originally  from 
his  vices,  to  extricate  himself  from  the  distress  of  his  cir« 
'  cumstances ;  for  he  says,  *^  the  true  root  of  all  was  his  care«* 
less  and  dissolute  life,  by  which  he  had  reduced  himself  to 
great  and  perplexing  difficulties ;  that  the  exigency  of  his 
affairs  was  in  particular  very  pressing  at  the  time  of  the 
rebellion ;  and  that,  besides  the  general  hope  he  had  of 
mending  bis  fortune  by  the  success  of  it,  he  was  also 
tempted  by  another  prospect  of  retrieving  his  cia:cum«- 
stances,  by  following  the  Pretender^s  standard.''  It  does 
not  appear  that  his  lordship  was  in  the  original  design  of 
the  rebellion :  on  the  contrary,  he  declared  both  in  his 
speech  at  the  bar  of  the  house  of  lords,  and  in  his  petition 
to  the  king  after  his  sentence,  that  it  was  not  till  after  the 
battle  of  Preston  Pans  that  he  became  a  party  in  it,  having, 
till  then,  neither  influenced  his  tenants  or  followers  to 
/  assist  or  abet  the  rebellion;  but,  on  the  contrary,  in- 

fluenced the  inhabitants  of  the  town  of  Kilmarnock, 
and  the  neighbouring  boroughs,  to  rise  in  arms  for  his 
majesty's  service,  which  had  so  good  an  effect,  that  two 
hundred  men  from  Kilmarnock  very  soon  appeared  m 
arms,  and  remsvned  so  ail  the  winter  at  Glasgow  and  other 
places.     It  is  said^  that  when  the  earl  joined  the  Pret^o* 

»  Biog.  Briu 


f 


BOYD.  219^ 

Aer*s  standard,  be  was  received  by  him  with  great  marks 
of  esteem  and  distinction  ;  was  declared  of  his  privy-coun- 
cil, made  colonel  of  the  guards,  and  promoted  to  the  de- 
gree of  a  general  (though  his  lordship  himself  says,  he  was 
far  from  heing  a  person  of  any  consequence  among  them). 
How  he  behaved  in  these  stations  (quite  new  to  him,  and 
foreign  from  his  former  manner  of  life),  we  cannot  deter- 
mine ;  but  common  fame  says,  he  displayed  considerable 
courage  till   the  fatal  hattle  of  Cuiloden,  when  he  was    , 
taken^  or  rather  surrendered  himself,  prisoner,  to  the  king's 
troops,  though  involuntarily,  and  with  a <  design  to  have 
facilitated  his  escape:  for  be  acknowledged  to  Mr.  Foster, 
whilst  under  sentence,  that  when  he  saw  the  king's  dra- 
goons, and  made  towards  them,  he  thought  they  had  been 
Fitz-James's  horse ;  and  that  if  he  could  have  reached 
them  by  mounting  behind  one  of  the  dragoons,  his  escape 
would  have  been  more  certain,  than  when  he  was  on  foot. 
Yet,  in  his  speech  to  the  house  of  lords,  he  made  a  merit 
of  having  surrendered  himself,  at  a  time  when  he  said  he 
could  easily  have  made  his  escape,  and  in  this  he  owned, 
^ben  in  a  state  of  repentance,  that  he  had  not  spoken 
truth.     His   lordship  was  brought  to  the  Tower,  and  on 
Moaday  the  28th  of  July,  1746,  was,  together  with  the 
earl  of  Cromartie,  and  lord  Balmerino,  conducted  to  West- 
fiiinster-hall,  and  at  the  bar  of  the  lord'^  high-steward's 
icoiirt,  arraigned,  and  pleaded   guilty  to  his  indictment, 
submitting  himself  to  his  majesty's  mercy  and  clemency. 
On  the  Wednesday  following,  the  three  lords  were  agaih 
brought  from  the  Tower  to  receive  sentence,  when  the 
lord  Kilmarnock  being  asked  by  the  lord  high-steward,  if 
he  had  any  thing  to  offer  why  sentence  of  death  should  not 
>be  passed  upon  him,  his  lordship,  addressing  himself  tb 
his  grace  and  the  whole  august  assembly,  then  consisting 
.of  an  hundred  and  thirty-six  peers,  delivered  an  eloquent 
•speech,  after  which,  sentence  of  death  was  pronounced 
-upon  him,  and  he  returned  to  the  Tower.     After  this,  he 
presented  petitions  to  the  king,  the  prince  of  Wales,  and 
iduke  of  Cumberland,  wherein  he   set   forth  his  family's 
constant  attachment  to  the  revolution  interest,  and  that  of 
the  iUnstrious  house  of  Hanover;   his  father's  zeal  and 
activity  in  support  of  both  in  the  rebellion  in  1715,  and 
his  own  appearing  in  arms  (though  then  but  young)  under 
his  father,  and  the  whole  tenour  of  his  conduct  ever  since 
that  time.     But  the  services  of  his  forefathers  could  not 


Joa  BOYD. 

satisfy  the  ptibtic  demand  for  justice,  nor  av^sil  hint  8<H&r 
as  to  procure  him  pardon.  He  was  bebeiided  on  Towen- 
bill,  August  18,  1746,  and  was  interred  m  the  Towar 
church,  with  tbis  inscription  upon  his  coffin,  viz*  ^^  Guliel^i 
mus  Comes  de  Kilmarnock,  decollat.  18  Augusti,  1746, 
a^tat.  suas  42.*  -  His  iordsbip^s  whole  deportment,  from  the 
tune  he  was  condemned  till  his  execution,  was  suitable  to 
one  in  his  unhappy  circumstances.  He  gave  the  most 
lively  marks  of  a  sincere  humiliation  and  repentance  for 
all  his  miscarriages,  and  his  behaviour  in  the  hour  of  death 
was  resigned,  but  strictly  decent  and  awful.  He  had  hiio* 
self  observed,  with  great  truth,  that  for  a  man  who  bad  led 
a.  dissolute  life,  and  yet  belieted  the  consequences  of 
death,  to  put  on  an  air  of  daringness  and  jsibsolo&e  iiitre-* 
pidity,  must  argue  him  either  to  be  very  stupid- ori^fjr 
impious.  He  was  a  nobleman  of  fine  address  and. polite 
behaviour ;  his  person  was  tall  and  graceful }  his  eouo- 
tenance  mild,  but  bis  com  pie  xioti  paid;  and  he  had  abi- 
lities, which,  if  they  had  been  properl^y,  applied,  flught 
have  rendered  him  capable  of  bringing  an  increaso  of  bo^ 
nour  to  his  family,  instead  of  ruin  and  disgxaoe.  v  His 
lordship  lived  and  died  in  the  public  profession  of  the 
church  of  Scotland,  and  left  behind  bima«  widow  (who 
was  the  lady  Anne  Livingston,  4anghierof  Jamea  eartaaf 
Linlithgow  and  Callander  (attainted  in  1715),  with  .Whom 
he  had  a  ccnsiderable  fortune),  and  three  sons,  the  . eldest 
of  whom  his  lordship  had  educated  in  the  principles  of 
duty  and  loyalty  to  his  majesty^  and  in  whose  serviee  iie 
fought  against  the  rebels.  He  succeeded^: upon  tb«^esth 
of  Mary,  countess  of  Errol,  in  1758,  to*  her  estate 'mud 
honours,  his  mother  having  been  undoubted  heir  of  dioei^f 
that  noble  family,  and  be  was  the  sixteenth  earl  of  Emil. 
He  died  June  3,  1778,  leaving  issue**'        i-  ...    W 

BOYD  (Robert),  an  eminent  ScoIgIi  divine,,  ofc  the 
same  family  as  the  preceding,  being  a  descendant  of  Ke- 
bert  Boyd,  earl  of  Arran,  sometime  protector  of  Scotland, 
from  whom  descended  James  Boyd,  baroo  of'Trochrig^jfcke 
father  of  the  subject  of  this  article.  -He  was  bora'in  l#^, 
and  educated  at  the  university  of  Edinburgh,  wherec^e 
took  his  master's  degree;  In  1604,  according  tor  the- ei^^ 
torn  of  the  times,  he  travelled  into  Firance,  aod.atuiliadvjfor 
soine  time  under  Rivet,  improving  himself  io  Greek  and 


^  Biog.  Brit    See  art.  Jam^9  Fot^ei;^ 


)t«.».^'  •* 


BOYD.  «0l 

Hetirew,  and  in  French,  which  be  spoke  with  great  fluency. 
He  was  afterwards  invited  by  the  university  of  Montauban 
to  be  professor  of  philosophy,  and  in  the  mean  time  him- 
self studied  divinity,  and  was  ordained  according  to  the 
ibrais  of  the  French  reformed  church.  In  1608  he  wa« 
removed  to  a  professorship  at  Saumur,  which  he  filled  un- 
til 1614,  and  both  as  a  preacher  and  teacher  was  much 
admired  and  eagerly  followed.  His  f^me  reaching  the  ears 
of  his  sovereign,  king  James,  he  sent  him  a  pressing  in- 
vitation to  fill  the  divinity  chair  in  the  university  of  Glas- 
gow, in  consequence  of  which  he  removed  thither  in  1615^ 
to  the  great  sorrow  of  his  friends  at  Saumur,  and  the  uni- 
versity at  large.  He  was  enabled  soon,  in  conjunction 
with  some  able  colfeagues,  to  raise  the  reputation  of  the 
Glasgow  university,  the  mode  of  study  in  which  he  re- 
formed from  the  useless  and  disputatious  modes  of  the 
•ehools.     His  situation,  however,  afterwards  became  em- 

-barrassed  from  the  disputes  which  arose  respecting  the 
Upheme  of  king  James  to  assimilate  the  churches  of  Eng« 
land  and  Scotland,  which  was   highly  unpopular  in  the 

Jatter  country.  Boyd^s  education,  and  especially  his  as- 
focietions  -  abroad,  had  inclined  him  to  the  presby terian 
fbrm  of  church  government,  and  finding  that  he  could  not 

?  under  such  circumstances  retain  his  situation  as  preacher 
and  professor  at  Glasgow,  he  resigned  both,  and  went  to 
Uve  p'ivateiy  on  an  estate  which  he  possessed.  Endea- 
vour^ were  made  to  fix  him  in  Edinburgh,  and  afterwards 

'to  recall  him  to  Glasgow,  but  these  not  being  successful, 

i  lie  finally  retired  from  public  life  to  Carrick,  his  estate, 
where  be  died  Jan.  5,  1627.  He  wrote  in  very  elegant 
Latin,  a  commentary  on   the  epistle  to  the  Ephesians, 

.whi^h  was  published  under  the  title  ^^  Robert!  Bodii  Scoti 
Prselectiones  in  Epistolam  ad  Ephesios,*^  Lond>  1652,  foL' 

'  '  BOYDELL  (John),  a  liberal  patron  of  the  arts,  and  an 
lionour  to  his  country,  was  born  at  Stanton  in  Shropshire, 

/JwQ.  19,  1719.  His  grandfather  was  the  rev.  John  Boy- 
dell,  D.  p.  vicar  of  Ashbourne,  and  rector  of  Mapleton  in 
l)erbysbire  *,  whose  son  Josiah  married  Mary  Milnes,  eld- 
est daughter  of  Samuel  Milnes,  esq.  of  Ash-house  near 
Taniditch,  Derbyshire,  Jan.  22,  1718.  Dr.  Boydell  was 
an  excellent  scholar,  and  for  some  time  superintended  the 

•  See  ^MM  ¥eniM  by  this  gentleman,  pnUUhtd  by  Ibe  A14enne»  in  119$, 
Qmu  Meg.  1^09,  vol.  LXXVlil^  B.  771. 
i  GUcke't  Ijfefl,  foL  i^as. 


a03  BOYD  EL  L. 

education  of  bis  graLndson,  intending  him  for  the  chufctr^ 
but  dying  in  1731,  the  youth  was  brought  up  by  his  fatberi 
a  land-surveyor,  who  very  naturally  intended  hin>  for  his 
own  profession,  and  as  a  taste  for  drawing  generally  dis-^ 
covers  itself  very  .early,  he  might  probably  tbresee  great 
advantages  from  his  son^s  possessing  this  talent.  For* 
tunately,  however,  for  young  Boydell,  and  for  the  arts,  a 
trifling  accident  gave  a  more  decided  direction  to  his  mind^ 
and  led  him  to  aim  at  higher  efforts  in  the  art  than  the 
mere  mechanism  of  ground-plans  and  outlines.  This  ,wa9 
no  othec  than  the  sight  of  a  print  by  Toms,  a  very  indif- 
ferent artist,  of  sir  John  Glynne's  seat  and  the  old  castle 
attached  to  it,  in  "  Baddeley^s  Views  of  different  Country 
Seats.'*  An  exact  dellheation  of  a  building  that  he  had 
so  often  contemplated,  afforded  him  pleasure,  and  excited 
8ome  reflections  which  gave  a  new  turn  to  his  ambition* 
Considering'  it  as  an  engraving,  and  from  the  copper  of 
which  might  be  taken  an  almost  indefinite  number  of  im* 
pressions,  he  determined  to  quit  the  pen,  and  take  up 
the  graver,  as  an  instrument  which  would  enable  him  to 
disseminate  whatever  work  he'  could  produce,  in  so  much 
wider  a  circle.  This  resolution  was  no  sooner  made,  than 
it  was  put  in  execution ;  for,  with  that  spirit  and  perse- 
verance which  he  manifested  in  every  succeeding  scene  of 
life,  he,  at  twenty-one  years  of  age,  walked  up  to  the 
metropolis,  and  bound  himself  apprentice  for  seven  years 
to  Mr.  Top^,  the  engraver  of  the  print  which  had  so  fbrcir- 
bly  attracted  his  attention.  These,  and  accidents  equally 
trifling,  sometimes  attract  men  of  strong  minds  into  the 
path  that  leads  direct  to  fame,  and  have  been  generally 
considered  as  proving  that  they  were  born  with  some  pe- 
culiar genius  for  some  peculiar  study.  Sir  J.  Reynolds 
had  the  first  fondness  for  his  art  excited  by  the  perusal  of. 
**  Richardson's  Treatise  on  Painting ;"  and  Mr.  Boydell 
was  induced  to  learn  the  art  of  engraving,  by  a  coarse 
print  of  a  coarse  artist,  representing  a  mis-shapen  gothic 
castle. 

This  step,  however,  gave  bis  father  no  little  uneasiness, 
and  every  argument  and  remonstrance  of  himself  and  his 
friends  were  employed  to  divert  him  from  a  pursuit  which 
they  cqnsid^red  as  likely  to  Ibe  very  unprofitable.  But 
this  producing  no  effect,  his  father  took  into  business 
with  him  a  younger  son,  Thomas,  who  succeeded  htm, 
and  who  d^ed  a  few  years  before  the  subject  of  the  present 


B  O  Y  D  E  L  L.  J0« 

article,  at  Trevallyn  Hall,  Denbighshire,  where  lis  father 
had  lived  before  him,  but  did  not  live  long  enough  to  wit- 
ness  the  success  of  his  son  John,  in  the  pursuit  he  so  much 
disapproved. 

His  conduct  during  his  apprenticeship  was  eminently 
assiduou&i    Eager  to  attain  all  possible  knowledge  of  an 
art  on  which  his  mind  was  bent,  and  of  every  thing  that 
could  be  useful  to  him,  and  impelled  by  an  industry  that 
seemed  inherent  in  his  nature,  he,  whenever  he  could, 
attended  the  academy  in  St  Martin*s-lane  to  perfect  him- 
self in  drawing ;  his  leisure  hours  in  the  evening  were  de- 
voted to  the  study  of  perspective,  and  to  the  learning  of 
French  without  the  aid  of  a  master.     After  very  steadily 
V  pursuing  his  business  for  six  years,  and  finding  himself  a 
better  artist  thai%his  teacher,,  he  bouj^ht  from  Mr.  Toms 
the  last  .year  of  his  apprenticeship,  and  became  his  own 
master.     In  1745  or  1746  he  published  six  small  land- 
scapes, desigped  and  engraved  by  himself.  ^  This  publi- 
cation, from  his  having  in  most  of  the  views  chosen  a  si- 
tuation in  which  a  bridge  formed  part  of  the  scenery,  was 
entitled  **  The  Bridge  book,**   and  sold  for  a  shilling* 
Small  as  ^his  sum  was,  he  sometimes  spoke  with  apparent 
pleasure  of  a  silversmith  in   Duke*s-court,    St.  Martinis 
lane,  having  sold  so  many,  that  when  he  settled  his  annual 
account,  he  thought  it  would  be  civil  to  take  a  silver  pint 
mug  in  part  of  payment,  and  this  mug  he  regained  until 
his  dying  day.     He  afterwards  designed  and  engraved 
many  other  views,  generally  of  places  in  and  about  Lon- 
don, and  published  the  greater  part  of  them  at  the  low 
price  of  one  shilling  eachu     But  even  at  this  early  period 
.  he  was  so  much  alive  to  fame,  that  after  having  passed 
several  mobths  in  copying  an  historical  sketch  of  Corio- 
ianus  by  Sebastian  Concha,  he  so  much  disliked  his  own 
engraving,  that  he  cut  the  plate  to  pieces.     Besides  these, 
he  engraved  many  prints  fcom  Brocking,  Berchem,  Sal- 
vator  Rosa,  &c. .  The  manner  in  which  many  of  them  are 
executed,  is  highly  .xespectable  ^   and,  being  done  at  a 
iime  when  the  artist  had  much  other  business  to  attend  to^ 
.  displays  an  industry  rarely  to  be  paralleled,  and  proves 
>that  had  he  devoted  all  his  time  to  engraving,  he  would 
/have  ranked  high  in  the  profession.     His  facility  of  exe* 
/cution^  and  unconquerable  perseverance,  having  thus  en- 
abled him  to  complete  one  hundred  and  fifty-two  prints, 
kui  collected  the  whole  in  one  port-fglio,  aod  publishedit 


f04  B  O  Y  D  E  L  L. 

at  five  guineas.     He  modestly  allowed  that  he  himself  bad 
not  sit  that  time  arrived  at  any  eminence  in  the  art  of  en- 
gravings and  that  those  prints  are  now  chiefly  valuable 
from  a  comparison  of  them  with  the  improved  state  of  the 
art  within  the  last  fifty  years.     In  fact,  there  were  at  that 
time  BO  eminent  engravers  in  England,  and  Mr*  Boydell 
saw  the  necessity  of  forcing  the  art  by  stimulating  men  of* 
genius  with  suitable  rewarciU.     With  the  profits  of  the  folio 
volume  of  prints  above-mentioned,  he  was  enabled  to  pay 
very  liberally  the  best  artists  of  bis  time,  and  thus  pre-* 
sented  the  world  with  English  engravings  from  the  works  of^ 
the  greatest  masters.     The  encouragement  that  he  ex* 
perienced  from  the  public  was  equal  to  the  spirit  and  pa<p 
triotism  of  his  undertaking,  and  soon  laid  the  foundation 
of  an  ample  fortune.     He  used  to  observe^  that  he  believed 
the  book  we  have  alluded  to  was  the  first  that  had  ever 
made  a  lord  mayor  of  London;  and  that  when  the  small* 
ness  of  the  work  was  compared  with  what  had  followed,  it 
would  impress  all  young  men  with  the  truth  of  what  be 
bad  often  held  out  to  them,  ^^  tliat  industry,  patieujce,  and 
perseverance,  if  united  to  moderate  talents,  are  certain 
to  surmount  all  difficulties.'*      Mr.  Boydell,    though  he 
never  4iim$elf  made  any  great  progress  as  an  engraver,  was 
certainly  the  greatest  encourager  of  the  art  that  this  country 
ever  knew.     The  arts  were  at  the  .time  he  began,^at  a 
very  low  ebb  in  this  country.  Wotton*s  portraits  of  hounds 
and  horses,  grooms  and  squires,  with  a  distant  view  of  the  , 
dog-kennel  and  stable;  and  Hudson's  portraits  of  gentle- 
men in  great  coats  and  jockey  caps,  were  in  high  repute* 
Inferior  prints  from  poor  originals  were  almost  the  only 
works  our  English  artists  were  thought  capable  of  per*  , 
forming ;  and,  mortifying  as  it  must  be  to  acknowledge  it, 
yet  it  must  be  admitted,  that  (with  the  exception  of  the 
inimitable  Hogarth,  and  two.  or  three  others)  the  gene*- 
rality  of  them  were  not  qualified  for  much  better  things. 
The  powers  of  the  artists  were,  however,   equal  to  the^ 
Jtaste  of  a  great  majority  of  their  cu&tomers  ;  and  the  few 
people  of  the  higher  order  who  had  a  relish  for  better 
productions,    indulged  it  in  the  purchase  of  Italian  and 
Flemish  pictures  and  French  prints;  for  which,  even  at 
that  time,  the  empire  was  drained  of  immense  sums  of 
money.     To  check  this  destructive  fashion,  Mr.  Boydell 
^ugbt  for  an  English  engraver  who  could  equal,  if  not 
excel  them ;  aod  in  Woollett  he  found  one.    The  Temple 


B  O  Y  D  B  L  L;  ii}i 

•f  Apollo,  from  Claude,  and  two  premium  pictures  fiom 
the  Smiths  of  Chichester,  were  amongst  the  first  large 
works  which  this  excellent  artist  engraved ;  but  the  Niobe 
and  the  Phaeton,  from  Wilson,  established  his  fame.  For 
the  first  of  them  the  alderman  agreed  to  give  the  engraver 
fifty  guineas,  and  when  it  was  completed  paid* him  a 
hundred.  The  second,  the  artist  agreed  to  engrave  for 
fifty  guineas,  and  the  alderman  paid  him  one  hundred  and 
(wenty.  The  two  prints  were  published  by  subscription^ 
at  five  shillings  each.  Proof  prints  were  not  at  that  time 
considered  as  having  any  particular  value  ;  the  few  that 
were  taken  off  to  examine  the  progress  of  the  plate  were 
delivered  to  such  subscribers  as  chose  to  have  them,  at  the 
subscription  price.  Several  of  these  have  since  that  time 
been  sold  at  public  auctions,  at  ten  and  eleven  guineas 
.  each.  By  these  and  similar  publications  he  had  the  satis- 
faction to  see  in  his  own  time  the  beneficial  effects  of  his 
exertions.  We  have  before  observed,  that  previous  to  his 
establishing  a  continental  correspondence  for  the  exporta* 
tion  of  pnnts,  immense  soms  were  annually  sent  out  of, 
the  country  for  the  purchase  of  those  that  were  engraved 
abroad ;  but  he  changed  the  course  of  the  current,  and 
for  many  of  the  later  years  of  his  life,  the  balance  of  the 
print-trade  with  the  continent  was  very  much  in  favour  of 
Great  Britain. 

On  the  5th  of  August  1782,  Mr.  Boydell  was  chosen 
alderman  of  London,  for  the  ward  of  Cheap,  in  the  room 
of  alderman  Crichton,  deceased.^  In  the  year  1785  he 
berved  the  office  of  sheriff;  and  in  1790,  was  chosen  lord 
mayor  of  London,  an  office  of  which  he  discharged  the 
duties  and  the  honours  with  a  diligence,  uprightness, 
and  liberality,  that  may  be  equalled,  but  will  rarely  be  ex- 
ceeded. 

Having  been  so  successful  in  promoting  the  art  of  en* 
graving  in  this  country,  he  resolved  to  direct  his  next 
efforts  to  the  establishing  an  English  school  of  historical 
pafnting;  and  justly  conceiving  that  no  subject  could  be 
more  appropriate  for  such  a  national  attempt  than  £ng« 
land's  inspired  poet,  and  great  painter  of  nature,  Shak- 
•peare,  he  projected,  and  just  lived  to  see  completed,  a 
most  splendid  edition  of  the  works  of  that  author,  illus^ 
(rated  by  engravings  from  paintings  of  the  first  artists  that 
the  country  could  furnish,  and  of  whichtbe  expence  was 
prodigious.    These  paintings  afterwards  formed  what  was 

Vol.  VJ.  X 


30«  B  O  Y  D  E  L  L, 

termed  **  The  Shakspeare  gallery,'*  in  Pall  Mall  5  anJ  ure 
believe  there  are  few  individual  possessed  of  the  least 
taste,  or  even  curiosity,  who  have  not  inspected  and  been 
delighted  by  them. 

It  is  always  interesting  to  trace  the  origin  of  a  great  un-  . 
dertaking.     The  Shakspeare  gallery  arose  from  a  conver- 
sation at  the  dining-^table  of  Mr.  Josiah  Boydell  (the  alder-^ 
man's  nephew  and  successor)  in  Novermber   1786,  in  the^ 
presence  of  Mr.  West,  Mr-  Romney,  and  Mr.  P.  Sandby^ 
artists,  and  Mr.  Haylcy,  Mr.  Hoole,  Mr.  Braithwaite^  Mn 
Nicol,  and  the  alderman.     The  literary  part  of  the  com- 
pany were  joining  with   the  professional  gentlemen   in 
complimenting  the  alderman  on.  having  lived  to  see  the 
'whole  tide  of  the  commerce  in  prints  with  the  continent 
entirely  changed  from  importing  to  exporting,  and  that 
effected  in  the  space  of  one  life,  by  the  alderman's  great 
and  munificent  exertions.     The  only  answer  the  aldermaa 
made  to  these  compliments  was,  that  he  was  not  yet  sa- 
tisfied with  what  he  had  done  ;  and  that,  old  as  he  was,  he 
should  like  to  wipe  away  th^  stigma  which  pM  foreign 
critics  threw  on  this  nation,  ^^  that  we  had  no  genius  for 
•    historical  painting."     He  said  he  was  certain  from  his  suc- 
*      cess  in  encouraging  engraving,  that  Englishmen  wanted 
nothing  but  proper  encouragement  and  subjects  to  excel 
in  historical  painting,  and  this  encouragement  be  himself 
would  endeavour  to  find,  if  a  proper  subject  was  pointed 
out.     Mr.  Nicol  (his  majesty's  bookseller,  and  afterwards 
the  alderman's  nephew;  by  marriage)   replied  that  there 
was  one  great  national  subject,  concerning  which  there 
could  be  no  difference  of  opinion,  and  mentioned  Shak- 
speare I    The  proposition  was  received  with  acclamation 
by  the  alderman  and  the  whole  company ;  and  on  Decem- 
'   ber  1  of  the  same  year,  the  plan  being  considered,  was 
laid  before  the  public  in  a  printed  prospectus. 

After  having  expended  in  his  favourite  plan  of  advancing 
the  fine  arts  in  England  no  less  a  sum  than  3^0,000/.  this 
worthy  and  venerable  character  was  necessitated,  by  the 
.stoppage  of  his  foreign  trade  during  a  dozen  years  of  war, 
to  apply  to  parliament,  in  the  beginning  of  1804,  for  per- 
mission to  dispose  of  the  Shakspeare  gallery,  and  hi^  other 
coljectjions  of  pictures  and  prints,  by  way  of  lottery.  His 
letter  to  sir  John  William  Anderson,  bart.  on  the  occasion 
of  bis' introducing  a  petition  for  that  purpose  to  the  bouse 
of  commons^  is  a  document  of  too  much  curiosity  and  iu** 


B  Q  Y  D  E  L  L, 


307 


terest  to  the  feelings  to  be  omitted.     We  have  therefore 
thrown  it  into  a  note.  * 

The  act  of  parliament  being  passed,  to  sanction  this  lot- 
tery, the  worthy  alderoian  had  the  gratification  of  living 


*  **  To  sir  John  William  Anderson, 
bart.  one  of  the  representatives  of  the 
city  of  London* 

«*  Dear  Sir,     Cheapside,  Feb.  4, 1 804. 

"  The  kindness  with  which  you  have 
undertaken  to  represent  my  case,  calls 
upon  me  to  lay  open  to  you,  with  the 
utmost  candour,  the  circumstances  at- 
tending it,  which  I  will  now  endeavour 
to  do  as  briefly  as  possible. 

•*  It  is  above  sixty  years  since  I  be- 
gan to  study  the  art  of  engraving,  in 
the  course  of  which  time,  besides  em- 
ploying that  long  period  of  life  in  my 
profession,  with  an  industry  and  assi- 
duity tbat  would  be  im proper  in  me  to 
describe,  I  have  laid  out  with  mv 
brethren  in  promoting  the  commerce 
of  the  flue  .artjs  in  this  country,  above 
three  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
pounds. 

**  When  I  first  began  business,  the 
whole  commerce  of  prints  in  this  country 
consisted  in  importing  foreign .  prints, 
principally  from  France,  to  supply 
the  cabinets  of  the  curious  in  this 
kingdom.  Impressed  with  the  idea 
that  the  genius,  uf  our  own  countrymen, 
%i  properly  encouraged,  was  equal  to 
that  of  foreigners,  I  set  about  estab- 
lishing a  School  of  Engraving  in  Eng- 
land ;  with  what  success  the  public 
are  well  acquainted.  It  is,  perhaps, 
at  present,  sufficient  to  say  that  tlie 
whole  course  of  that  commerce  is 
•hanged,  very  few  prints  being,  now 
impojpted  into  this  country,  while  the 
foreign  market  is  principally  supplied 
with  prints  from  England. 

*'  In  efiecting  this  favourite  plan, 
I  have  not  only  spent  a  long  life,  but 
have  employed  near  forty  years  of  the 
labour  of  my  nephew,  Josiah  Boy  del  I, 
who  has  been  bred  to  the  business, 
and  whose  assistance  during  that  pe- 
riod has  been  greatly  instrumental  i^ 
pfombtiug  a  School  of  Engraving  in 
this  country.  By  the  blessing  of  Pro- 
iridence,  these  exertions  have  been 
Tery  siaccessful ;  not  only  in  that  re- 
spect,, but  in  a  commercial,  point  of 
view  ;'  for  the  large  sums  I  regularly 
received  from  the  continent,  previous 
to  the  French  revolution,  for  impres- 
«ioBt  taken  from  the  numerous  plates 


engraved  in  England,  encouraged  me 
to  attempt  also  an  English  Sdhool  of 
Historical  Painting. 

*'  I  had  observed  with  indignation  that 
the  want  of  such  a  school  had  been 
long  made  a  favourite  topic  of  oppro- 
brium against  this  country,  among 
foreign  writers  on  national  taste.  No 
subject,  therefore,  could  be  more  ap- 
propriate for  such  a  national  attempt, 
than  England's  inspired  poet,  and 
great  painter  of  nature,  Shakspeare  ; 
and  I  flatter  myself  the  most  preju- 
diced foreigner  must  allow  thaV  the 
Shakspeare  gallery  will  convince  the 
world  that  Englishmen  want  nothing 
but  the  fostering  hand  of  encourage- 
ment, to  bring  forth  their  genius  in 
this  line  of  art.  I  might  go  further, 
and  defy  any  of  the  Italian,  Flemish, 
or  French  schoolsj  to  show  in  so  short 
a  space  of  time,  such  an  exertion  as 
the  Shakspeare  Gallery ;  and  if  they 
could  have  made  such  an  exertion  in 
so  short  a  period,  the  pictures  would 
have  been  marked  with  all  that  mo- 
notonous sameness  which  distinguishes 
those  different  schools.  Whereas,  in 
the  Shakspeare  Gallery,  every  artist* 
partaking  of  the  freedom  of  his  coun*- 
try,  and  endowed  with  that  originality 
of  thinking  so  peculiar  to  its  natives, 
has  chosen  his  own  road  to  what  ho  - 
conceived  to  be  excellence,  unshackled 
by  the  slavish  imitation  and  uniformity 
that  pervade  all  the  foreign  schools. 

"  This  Gallery  I  once  flattered  my- 
self with  being  able  to  leave  to  that 
generous  public  whp  have  for  so  long 
a  period  encouraged  my  undertakings  > 
but,  unfortunately  for  ail  those  cout 
nected  with  the  fine  arts,  a  Vandalick 
revolution  has  arisen,  which,  in  con- 
vulsing all  Europe,  has  entirely  ex- 
tinguished, except  in  this  happy  island, 
all  those  who  hkd  the  taste  or  the 
power  to  promote  the  fine  arts  ;  .while 
the  Tyrant  that  at  present  governs 
France  tells  that  believing  and  be- 
sotted  nation,  that,  in  the  midst  of  all 
his  robbery  and  rapine,  he  is  a  great 
patron  and  promoter  of  thie  fine  arts  ; 
just  as  if  those  arts,  that  humanise  and 
polish  mankind,  could  be  promoted  by  ' 
such  means,  and  by  such  a  man,  ^ 

2 


»0S  »  O  Y  D  E  L  L. 

to  see  every  ticket  sold.  We  are,  at  first  sight,  ineliifed  t^ 
lament  that  he  did  not  live  to  see  the  prizes  drawn,  and 
the  whole  terminated.  But  for  him  to  have  witnessed  his 
gallery  transferred  to  other  hands,  besides  a  number  of 
pictures,  for  the  painting  of  which  he  had -paid  immense 
Sums,  scattered  like  the  Sybill's  leaves,  might  possibly 
have  given  him  many  a  heart-rending  pang.  It  may  be 
Sufficient  in  this  place  to  notice  that  the  gallery  of 
paintings,  in  one  lot,  and  consequently  the  highest  prize^ 
became  the  property  of  Mr.  Tassie,  of  Leicester-square, 
nephew  to  the  late  welUknown  imitator  of  ancient  cameos 
and  intaglios,  and  by  him  the  pictures  were  afterwards  sold 
by  auction. 

.Mr.  BoydelPs  death  was  occasioned  at  last  by  a  too 
scrupulous  attention  to  his  official  duties.     Always  early 

'*  You  will  excuse,  I  am  sure,  my  ders,    Holland,   and    Germany,   (and 

dear  Sir,  some  warmth  in  an  old  man  these  countries  no  doubt  supplied  the 

on  this  subject,  when  I  inform  you  rest  of  Europe)  were  Uie  great  marts ; 

that  this  unhappy  reyolution  lias  cut  but,  alas  !    they  are  now  no   more, 

up  by  the  roots  that  revenue  from  the  The  convulsion   that   has   disjointed 

coiktinent  which  enabled  me  to  under-  and  ruined  the  whole  continent  I  did 

take  such  considerable  works  in  this  not  foresee — I  know  no  man  that  did. 

country.    At  the  same  time,  as  I  am  On  that  head,  therefore,  though  it  haft 

laying  my  case  fairly  before  you,  it  ^nearly  ruined  me  and  mine,  I  can  take 

lihould  not  be  disguised,  that  myna-  but  little  blame  to  myself. 

'  tural  enthusiasm  for  promoting  the  fine  "  In  this  state  of  things  I  throw  my* 

arts  (perhaps  buoyed  up  by  success)  self  with  confidence  upon  that  public 

made  me   improvident.     For   had   I  who  have  always  been  but*  too  partial 

laid  by  but  ten  pounds  out  of  every  to  my  poor  endeavours,   for  the  dis- 

hundred  pounds  my  plates  produced,  posal  of  that,  which,  in  happier  days, 

I  should  not  now  have  had  occasion  to  I  flattered  myself  to  have  presented  to 

trouble  my  friends,  or  appeal  to  the  them. 

public  ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  I  flew  "  I  know  of  no  means  by  which  that 
Wiih  impatience  to  employ  some  new  can  be  effected,  just  now,  but  by  a  Lot- 
hrtist,  with  the  whole  gains  of  my  for-  iery;  and  if  the  legislature  will  have  the 
Uer  undertakings.  I  see  too  late  my  goodness  to  grant  a  permission  for  that 
elTor;  for  1  have  thereby  decreased  my  purpose,  they  will  at  least  hare  the 
ready  money,  and  increased  my  stock  assurance  of  the  even  teneur  of  a  long 
of  copper-plates  to  such  a  size,  that  life,  that  it  will  be  fairly  and  honour- 
all  the  print-sellers  in  Europe  could  ably  conducted.  The  objects  of  it  are 
not  purchase  it,  especially  at  these  my  pictures,  galleries,  drawings,  &c. 
times,  so  unfavourable  to  the  arts.  &c.  which,  uncounected  with  my  cop* 

''Having  thus  candidly  owned  my  per-plates  and  trade,  are  much  mora 

error,  I  have  but  one  word  to  say  in  than  sufllcient  to  pay,  if  properly  dit« 

extenuation.   My  receipts  from  abroad  posed  of,  all  I  owe  in  the  world, 

bad  been  so  large,  and  continued  so  **  I   hope  you,    my  dear  Sir,   and 

regular,  that  I  at  all  times  found  them  every  honest  man,  at  any  age,  will 

fully  adequate  to  support  my  under-  feel  for  my  anxiety  to  discharge  my 

takings  at  home.— I  could  not  calcu-  debts;    but  at  my.  advanced  age,  of 

late  on  the  present  crisis,  which  has  eighty-five,  I  feel  it  becomes  doabl/ 

totally  annihilated  them. — ^I  certainly  desirable. 

calculated  on  some  defalcation  of  these  *^  I  am,  JOear  Sir,  with  great  regan), 

ireci  ipts,  by  a  French  or  Spanish  war,  your  obedient  and  obliged  ServanL 

•r  both  ;  but  with  France  or  Spam  I  !.>««  «««.«.,  *» 

•anried  op  but  little  commerce."  Flam-  ^pwi  iJoyMt*., : 


B  Q  T  D  E  L  U  809 

in*  hU  attendance  on  public  business^  he  arrired  at  the 
aessionS'-hoase  in  the  Old  Bailey,  on  Friday  the  7th  De« 
eember,  1804,  before  any  of  the  other  magistrates,  and 
before  the  fires  were  lighted.  Standing  near  a  grate  while 
this  was  done,,  the  damps  were  drawn  out,  and  he  took  a 
cold  :  this*produced  an  inflammation  of  the  lungs,  which 
terminated  his  life  on  the  Tuesday  following.  He  was  in- 
terred with  great  civic  pomp  (the  spontaneous  result  of; 
private  friendship  and  public  respect),  on  the  19th  of  the 
same  month,  in  the  church  of  St.  Olave,  Jewry ;  leaving 
behind  him  for  the  instruction  of  mankind  a  striking  ex* 
ample  to  what  heights  of  fame  and  fortune  men  may  attain 
by  the  united  efforts  of  persevering  industry,  prudent  en^ 
terprize,  and  honourable  dealing. 

The  alderman  bad  long  before  bis  death  arrived  at  that 
period  of  life  which  demands  additional  repose  ;  and  cer- 
tain it  is,  he  could  not  have  carried  on  his  business  in  the 
manner  it  was  carried  on,  without  the  active  and  unremit- 
ting exertions  of  his  nephew  and  partner,  Mr.  Josiah  Boy- 
dell;  whose  professional  qualifications  enabled  him  to  ap-^ 
preciate  the  value  and  merits  of  the  different  works  sub- 
mitted to  his  inspection ;  and  to  point  out  the  errors  which 
ought  to  be  corrected  ;  and  whose  own  productions,  even 
at  the  very  early  period  when  he  made  a  great  number  of 
drawings  from  the  Orford  collection,  gave  weight  to  his 
remonstrances. 

;  It  yet  remains  to  be  added  to  the  character  of  alderman 
Boydell,  that  in  his  magisterial  capacity,  though  inflexibly 
just,  he  was  constitutionally  merciful ;  and  when  masters 
came  before  him  with  complaints  of  their  apprentices,  or 
husbands  with  complaints  of  their  wives,  he  always  at- 
tempted, and  very  often  successfully,  to  accommodate 
their  differences;  and,  when  he  could  with  propriety, 
usually  recommended  the  complaining  party  to  amend  his 
own  conduct,  as  an  example  to  those  whom  he  accused* 
Wishing  to  disseminate  a  taste  for  the  fine  arts,  he  has 
within  these  few  years  presertted  to  the  corporation  of  the 
qity  of  London,  several  valuable  pictures,  which  now  orna- 
ment the  council  chamber  at  Guildhall.  Some  of  them 
commemorate  the  actions  of  our  military  distinguished  cha- 
racters, and  others  are  calculated  to  impress  upon  th^ 
minds  of  the  rising  generation,  the  sentiments  of  industry^ 

{prudence,  and  virtue.     Several  of  these  well-imagined  al* 
egorical  delineations  by  Rtgajid,  Smirk^^  Westail^  &c.  h^ 


310  B  O  Y  D  E  L  L. 

has  had  eugraired,  and  in  the  dissemination  of  either  priut^. 
or  books  which  had  a  moral  tendency  he  always  appeared 
to  take  great  pleasure*. 

In^l748,  he  married  Elizabeth  Lloyd,  second  daughter , 
pi  Edward   Lloyd,  esq.   of  the  Fords   near  Oswestry  in 
/Shropshire,  by  whom  he  had  no  issue.  * 

BOYER  (Abel),  a  lexicographer  and  miscellaneous  wri- 
ter, was  born  June  13,  1667,  at  the  city  of  Castres  in  Upper 
Languedoc.  His  great-grandfather  and  grandfather  were 
masters  of  the  riding-school  at  Nismes ;  his  father  was  . 
president  of  the  supreme  court  at  Castres,  and  his  mother 
was  Catherine,  daughter  of  Campdomerius,  a  celebrated 
physician,  circumstances  which  have  been  recorded  to 
prove  that  he  was  of  a  good  family.  He  was  certainly  of  a 
conscientious  one,  his  relations  being  exiles  for  their  ad- 
herence to  the  protestant  religion.  He  was  first  educated 
by  his  mother's  brother,  Campdomerius,  a  noted  divine 
and  preacher  of  the  reformed  church,. and  then  was  sent  to 
the  protestant  s(  hool  at  Puy  Laurent,  where,  he  applied 
assiduously,  and  exceUed  ail  his  schoolfellows  in  Greek 
and  Latin.  In  1685,  when  the  persecution  prevailed 
against  the  protestants  in  France,  he  followed  his  uncle  to 
Holland,  and  pressed  by  want,  was  obliged  to  enter  into 
the  military  service  in  1687;  but  soon,  by  the  advice  of 
his  r<^lations,  returned  to  his  studied,  and  w^ent  to  the  uni- 
versity of  Franeker,  where  he  went  through  a  regular  coursQ 
of  education,  and- added  to  philosophy,  divinity,  history, 
&c.  the  study  of  the  (nathematics.  In  1689  he  came  over 
to  England,  and  the  hop^^s  of  being  able  to  return  to  France, 
which  the  protestants  in  general  entertained,  being  disap- 
pointed, be  was  obliged  to  have  recourse  to  his  pen  for  a 
livelihood.  His  first  employment  appears  to  have  been  to 
transcribe  and  prepare  for  the  press  Camden's  letters  from 
the  Cottonian  library,  for  Dr.  Smith,  yvho  afterwards  pub* 
lished  them.  In  1692,  he  became  French  and  Latin  tutor 
to  Allen  Bathurst,  esq.  eldest  son  of  sir  Benjamin  Bathurst, 
who,  being  much  in  favour  with  the  princess  Anne  of  Den- 
mark, afterwards  queen  of  Great  Britain,  he  had  hopes  of 
norae  preferment  £^t  court.     With  this  view  he.  gaid  grea^ 

*  Ip  1779  be  presented  to  the  worshipful  company  of  Stationers,  West's  fiae 
picture  of  "Alfred  dividing*  the  loafi"  and  afrerwards,  Graham's  *•  Escape  of 
>fary  qiieen  of  Scots,"  and  a  whole  length  portrait  of  himself;  all  which  are  m 
ike  court^room  of  that  company. 

J  Various  periodical  publications,  and  from  information  obligingly  commiK 
fiJcated  by  the  family. — See  also  Nichols'9.  Life  of  Bowyer, 


B  O  Y  E  R.  311 

mtt^ntiofi  to  his  pupils  education  (who  was^afterwards  lord 
Bathurst),  and  for  his  use  composed  two  compendious 
^  grammars,  the  one  Latin,  the  other  French ;  but  the  latter 
only  was  printed,  and  to  this  day  is  a  standard  book.  His 
hopes  of  preferment,  however,  appear  to  have  been  fal- 
lacious, which  his  biographer  attributes  to  his  siding  with 
a  different  party  from  the  Bathurst  family  in  the  political 
divisions  which  prevailed  at  that  time  in  the  nation,  Boyer, 
like  the  rest  of  his  countrymen  who  had  fled  hither  for  re- 

,  ligion,  being  a  zealous  whig.  After  this,  having  made 
himself  master  of  the  English  tongue,  he  became  an  author 
by  profession,  and  engaged  sometimes  alone,  and  some- 
liimes  "in, conjunction  with  the  booksellers,  in  various  com* 
pilatioifs,  and  periodical  works  of  the  political  kind,  parti* 
Gularly  a  newspaper  called  the  "  Post-Boy  ;"  the  "Political 
State  of  Great  Britain,"  published  io  volumes  from  17  lO 
to  1729  ;  a  '*  History  of  William  III."  5  vols.  8vo;  "An* 
nals  of  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne,"  11  vols.  8vo,  and  a 
*^  Life  of  Queen  Anne,"  fol.  all  publications  now  more 
useful  than  when  published,  as  they  contain  many  state 
papers,  memorials,  &c.  which  it  would  be  difficult  to  find 
elsewhere  ;  but  his  name  is  chiefly  preserved  by  his  French 
Dictionary,  1699,  4to,  and  a  French  Grammar,  of  both 
which  he  lived  to  see  several  editions,  and  which  still  con- 
tinue to  be  printed.     His  political  principles  involved  him 

•  with  Swift,  who  often  speaks  contemptuously  of  him,  and 
with  Pope,  who  has  given  him  a  place  in  the  Dunciad.  He 
died  Nov.  16,  J  729,  at  a  house  he  had  built  in  Five  Fields, 
Chelsea,  and  was  buried  in  Chelsea  church-yard.  * 

BO\ER  (Claude),  of  the  French  academy,  was  born 
at  Alby  in  1618.  He  came  young  to  Paris,  where  he  cul- 
tivated his  talent  for  eloquence  ;  but,  having  preached  with 
little  success,  he  quitted  the  pulpit  tor  the  stage,  which  he 
had  been  declaiming  against,  and  now  devoted  himself  k> 
it  for  life,  ahyays  satisfied  with  himself,  but  seldom  with 
the  public.  Born  with  an  imagination  which  submitted  to 
no  restraint,  he  made  choice  pf  subjects  strangely  compH* 
cated,  and  equivocal  heroes  who  had  no  character  what- 
ever. Aiming  always  at  the  sublime,  where  the  simplicity 
of  nature  was  required,  he  fell  into  a  strain  of  boniibast^ 
unintelligible  perhaps  to  himself.  He  is  the  author  of 
tW0'*-and-twenty  dramatic  pieces,  full  of  fustian,  and  coq^ 

»  B'log.  Pramatica, — Mor^ri,— Swifi'i  Works ;  set  Index^ 


3U  B  O  Y  E  R. 

ducted  without  any  knowledge  of  the  drama.  His  Jaditb 
had  a  transient  success.  The  epigram  it  produced  from 
Racine  is  generally  known.  '^  Je  pleure,  h^las !  pour  ce 
pauvre  Holopherne,  si  m^chamment  mis  a  mort  par  Judith.^' 
This  piece,  applauded  during  a  whole  Lent,  was  hissed  off 
the  stage  in  the  Easter  holidays.  Champmesl^e,  asking 
the  reason  of  the  fickleness  of  the  pit,  was  answered,  thai 
the  hissers  bad  been  at  Versailles  at  the  sermons  of  the 
abbe  Boileau,  who  had  ridiculed  him.  Boyer,  at  length 
disheartened  by  this  constant  run  of  ill-success,  brought 
out  his  tragedy  of  Agamemnon  under  a  borrowed  Bame^ 
and  Racine,  his  grand  tormentor,  applauded  the  piece. 
Boyer  could  not  refrain  from  crying  out  in  the  pit,  ^^  It  is 
however  Boyer^s,  in  spite  of  Mons.  de  Racine;"  but  this 
transport  cost  him  dear,  for  his  tragedy  was  hissed  at  the 
next  performance.  He  died  at  Paris,  July  22,  1698,  aged 
eighty.  * 

BOYER  (John  Baptist  Nicholas),  a  learned  French 
physician,  was  born  at  Marseilles,  Augusts,  1693.  His 
father,  intending  to  bring  him  up  to  business,  gave  him  a 
suitable  education,  and  afterwards  sent  him  to  Constan- 
tinople, to  his  uncle,  who  was  consul  there ;  but  finding 
him  inclined  to  literature,  and  to  the  study  of  medicine,  he 
sent  him,  on  his  return  from  the  Levant,  to  the  university 
at  Montpellier.  In  1717,  he  took  the  degree  of  doctor, 
and  gave  for  his  inaugural  thesis,  **  A  dissertation  on  Ino* 
eulation  of  the  Small  Pox,"  which  he  had  seen  practised 
at  Constantinople.  On  the  plague  breaking  out  at  Mar- 
seilles, in  1720,  he  was  sent  there  with  five  other  physi- 
cians ;  and  his  conduct  on  that  occasion  having  been  ap- 
proved, he  was  rewarded  by  the  king  with  a  pension,  and 
was  made  physician  to  a  regiment  of  guards.  He  was  some 
years  after  invited  to  Hunspruche,  a  town  in  the  bishopric 
cf  Treves,  where  an  infectious  fever  was  making  great  ra- 
vages, and,  in  1742,  to  Paris,  on  a  similar  occasion.  His 
success  at  these  places  occasioned  him  to  be  sent  for  to 
Beauvais,  in  1750,  where  by  his  judicious  management  he 
prevented  the  spreading  of  ain  infectious  fever,  infesting 
that  country.  For  these  services  he  was  honoured  by  the 
king  with  letters  of  nobility,  and  invested  with  the  order  of 
St.  Michael.  He  died  at  Paris,  April  2,  1768.  His  work^t 
lire;  ^^  Methode  indiquee  centre  la  maladie  epidemique  qui" 

}  Pict,  Hist.«^Moreri, 


B  O  V  E  K.  tit 

^ent  dib  regner  2I  Beauvais/'  Paris,  1750,  a  quarto  pam* 
phlety  of  only  ten  pages.  ^'  Methode  a  suivre  dans  le 
traitement  de  differentes  maladies  epidemiqaes  qui  regnent 
le  plus  ordinairement  dans  la  generality  de  Paris/'  1761, 
12010.  He  wrote,  in  1745,  a  "Memoir'*  on  the  disease 
infesting  the  cattle  at  that  time,  which  was  sent  to  the 
royal  society  in  London,  and  procured  him  a  place  ia 
the  list  of  their  foreign  members.  He  also  gave  a  nevr 
edition  of  the  **  Codex  medicamentarius,"  seu  "  Pharma-** 
copceia  Parisiensis,"  4to,  a  very  useful  and  well  digested 
vmk.  * 

BOYLE  (Richard),  a  celebrated  statesman,  descended 
from  an  ancient  and  honourable  family,  and  distinguished 
by  the  title  of  the  great  earl  of  Cork,  was  the  youngest 
son  of  Mr.  Roger  Boyle  of  Herefordshire,  by  Joan,  daugh« 
ter  of  Robert  Naylor  of  Canterbury,  and  born  in  the  city 
of  Canterbury,  Oct.  3,  1566.  He  was  instructed  in  gram*^ 
mar  learning  by  a  clergyman  of  Kent ;  and  after  having 
been  a  scholar  in  Ben'et  college,  Cambridge,  where  he 
was  remarkable  for  early  rising,  indefatigable  study,  and 
great  tempefance,  became  student  in  the  Middle  Temple- 
He  lost  his  father  when  he  was  but  ten  years  old,  and  his 
mother  at  the  expiration  of  other  ten  years ;  and  being 
unable  to  support  himself  in  the  prosecution  of  his  studies, 
he  entered  into  the  service  of  sir  Richard  Manwood,  chief 
baron  of  the  exchequer,  as  one  of  his  clerks :  but  per* 
ceiving  few  advantages  from  this  employment,  he  resolved 
to  travel,  and  landed  at  Dublin  in  June  1588,  with  a  very  . 
scanty  stock,  his  whole  property  amounting,  as  he  himself 
informs  us,  to  27/.  3s.  in  money,  two  trinkets  which  his 
mother  gave  him  as  tokens,  and  his  wearing  apparel.  He 
was  then  about  two-and-twenty,  had  a  graceful  person, .  , 
and  all  the  accomplishments  for  a  young  man  to  succeed  in  , 
a  country  which  was  a  scene  of  so  much  action.  Ac- 
cordingly he  made  himself  very  useful  to  some  of  the 
principal  persons  employed  in  the  government,  by  penning 
for  them  memorials,  cases,  and  answers ;  and  thereby  ac* 
quired  a  perfect  knowledge  of  the  kingdom  and  the  state 
of  public  affairs,  of  which  he  knew  well  how  to  avail  him- 
self. In  1595  he  married  at  Limeric,  Joan,  the  daughter 
and  coheiress  of  William  Ansley  of  Pulborough,  in  Sussex, 
issq.  nho  had  fallei^  in  love  with  him.     This  lady  died  1599, 

'  Diet,  Hjfit*  T-Moreri^^^-Bees's  CyclbpjBBdia, 


314  B  O  Y  L  E. 

in  labour  of  her  first  child  (born  dead)  leaving  her  bos* 
band  an  estate  of  500/.  a  year  in  lands,  which  was  the  be- 
ginning of  his  fortune.     Some  time  after,  sir  Henry  Wal- 
lop, of  Wares,  sir  Robert  Gardiner,  chief  justice  of  the 
king's  bench,  sir  Robert  Dillam,  chief  justice  of  the  com- 
mon pleas,  and  sir  Richard  Bingham,  chief  commissionet 
of  Connaught,  envious  at  certain  purchaser  he  had  made  in 
the  province,  represented  to  queen  Elizabeth  that  he  was 
in  the  pay  of  the  king  of  Spain  (who  had  at  that  time  some 
thoughts  of  invading  Ireland),  by  whom  he  had  bfeen  fur* 
nished  with  money  to  buy  several  large  estates ;  and  that 
he  was  strongly  suspected  to  be  a  Roman  catholic  in  his 
heart,    with,  many   other    malicious  suggestions   equally 
groundless.      Mr.  Boyle,   having  private  notice  of    this, 
determined  to   come  over  to  England  to  justify  himself : 
but,    before  he  could  take  shipping,  the  general  rebellion 
in  Muuster  broke  out,  all   his  lands  were  wasted,  and  he 
had  not  one  penny  of  certain  revenue  left.     In  this  distress 
he  betook  himself  to  his  former  chamber  in  the  Middle 
Temple,  intending  to  renew  his  studies  in  the  law  till  the 
rebellion  should  be  suppressed.     When  the  earl  of  Essex 
was  .nominated  lord-deputy  of  Ireland,  Mr.  Boyle,  being 
recommended  to  him  by  Mr.  Anthony  Bacon,  was  received 
by  his  lordship  very  graciously  ;  and  sir  Henry  Wallop, 
treasurer  of  Ireland,  knowing  that  Mr.  Boyle  had  in  his 
custody   several  papers   which  could   detect  jjis  roguish 
manner  of  passing  his  accounts,  resolved  utterly  to  depress 
liim,   and   for  that  end  renewed   bis   former  complaint^ 
against  him  to  the  queen.     By  her  majesty's  special  direc- 
tions, Mr.  Boyle  was  suddenly  taken  up,  and  committed 
close   prisoner  to  the   Gatehouse  :    all  bis  papers  were 
seized  and  searched;  and  although  nothing  appeared  to 
his  prejudice,  yet  his  confinement  lasted  till  two  months 
after  his  hew  patron  the  earl  of  Essex  was  gone  to  Ireland, 
At  length,  with  much  difficulty,  he  obtained  the  favpur  of 
th^  queen  to  be  present  at  his  examination ;  and  having 
fully  answered  whatever  was  alledged  against  him,  he  gave 
.  ^  short  account  of  his  behaviour  since  he  firat  settled  in 
Ireland,  and  concluded  with  laying   open  to  the  queen 
and  her  council  the  conduct  of  his  chief  enemy  sir  Henry 
Wallop.     Upon  which   her  majesty   exclaimed  with  her 
iisuql  intemperance  of*  speech,  ^^  By  God's  death,  these  arQ 
but  inventions  against  this  young  man,  and  all  his  suffer- 
ings' are  for  being  able  to  do  us  service,  and  these  com^ 


BOYLE.  515 

pkUita  urged  to  forestal  him  thereio.  But  we  find  him  to 
be  a  man  fit  to  be  employed  by  ourselves ;  and  we  will  em- 
ploy, him  in  our  service  :  and  Wallop  and  his  adherents 
shall  know  that  it  shall  not  be  in  the  power  of  any  of  them, 
to  wrong  him.  Neither  shall  Wallop  be  our  treasurer  any 
longer."  Accordingly,  she  gave  orders  not  only  for  Mr. 
Boyle's  present  enlargement,  but  also  for  paying  all  the 
charges  and  fees  his  confinement  had  brought  upon  him, 
and  gave  him  her  hand  to  kiss  before  the  whole  assembly. 
A  lew  days  after,  the  queen  constituted  him  clerk  of  the 
council  ol"  Munster,  and  recommended  him  to  sir  George 
Carew,  afterwards  earl  of  Totness,  then  lord  president  of 
Munster,  who  became  his  constant  friend  ;  and  very  sooa 
after  he  was  made  justice  of  the  peace  and  of  the  quorum, 
throughout  all  the  province.  He  attended  in  that  capacity 
the  lord  president  in  all  his  employments,  and  was  sent  by 
his  lordship  to  the  queen  with  the  news  of  the  victory 
gained  in  Deceml)er  1601,  near  Kinsale,  over  the  Irish 
and  their  Spanish  auxiliaries,  who  were  totally  routed, 
1200  being  slain  in  the  field,  and  800  wounded.  "  I 
made,"  says  he,  "  a  speedy  expedition  to  the  court,  for  I 
left  my  lord  president  at  Shannon -castle,  near  Cork,  on 
the  Monday  morning  about  two  of  the  cl6ck  ;  and  the  next 
day,  being  Tuesday,  I  delivered  my  packet,  and  supped 
with  sir  Robert  Cecil,  being  then  principal  secretary  of 
state,  at  his  house  in  the  Strand.;  who,  alter  supper^  held 
me  in  discourse  till  two  of  the  clock  in  the  morning ;  and 
by  seven  that  morning  *  called  upon  me  to  attend  him  to 
the  .  court,  where  he  presented  me  to  her  majesty  in  her 
bedchamber."  A  journey  so  rapid  as  this  would  be  thought, 
even  in  the,  present  more  improved  modes  of  travelling, 
requires  all  his  lordship's  authority  to  render  it  credible. 

Upon  his  return  to  Ireland,  he  assisted  at  the  siege  of 
Donboy,  nej^r  Beer-haven,  which  was  taken  by  storm,  and 
the  garrison  put  to  the  sword.  After  the  reduction  of  the 
western  part  of  the  province,  the  lord  president  sent  Mr. 
Boyle  again  to  England,  to  procure  the  queen's  leave  for 
Jiis  return  ;  and  having  advised  him  to  purchase  sir  Walter  . 
Raleigh's  lands  in  Munster,  he  gave  him  a  letter  to  sir 

^  Poor  Budgell,  who,  when  he  wrote  hotirs  our  ministers  keep  at  present, 

bis  **  Lives  of  the  Boyles,'*  was  out  of  we  shall  be  the  less  surprised  to  (ind 

humour  with  ^11  mankiod.  and  espe-  that  our  affairs  are  not  managed  alto-  , 

cially  with  ministers  of  state,  says  on  gether  so  sucoessfuMy  as  in  the  day0 

Ufa  ^afly  vi^it,  **  If  w^  reflect  upop  the  of  queeu  pixabetb.*'  Lives,  p.  \5f 


sm 


BOYLE. 


* 

Robert  Cecil,  secretary  of  state,  containing  a  rery  advaii'* 
tageous  account  of  Mr.  Boyle^s  abilities,  and  of  the  ser« 
Tices  he  had  done  his  country ;  in  consideration  of  which, 
he  desired  the  secretary  to  introduce  him  to  sir  Walter, 
and  recommend  him  as  a  propor  purchaser  for  his  lands  ia 
Ireland,  if  he  was  disposed  to  part  with  them.  He  wrote 
at  the  same  time  to  sir  Walter  himself,  advising  him  to 
sell  Mr.  Boyle  all  his  lands  in  Ireland,  then  untenanted, 
and  of  no  value  to  him,  having,  to  his  lordship's  know* 
ledge,  never  yielded  him  any  benefit,  but,  on  the  contrary, 
stood  him  in  200/.  yearly  for  the  support  of  his  titles.  At 
a  meeting  between  sir  Robert  Cecil,  sir  Walter  Raleigh, 
and  Mr.  Boyle,  the  purchase  was  concluded  by  the  medial 
tion  of  the  former  *. 

In  1602,  Mr.  Boyle,  by  advice  of  his  friend  sir  George 
Carew,  paid  his  addresses  to  Mrs.  Catherine  Fenton, 
daughter  of  sir  GeofFry  Fenton,  whom  he  married  on  ihe 
25th  of  July,  1603,  her  father  being  at  that  time  principal 
secretary  of  state.  "  I  never  demanded,'^  says  he,  **  any 
marriage  portion  with  her,  neither  promise  of  any,  it  not 
being  in  my  considerations ;  yet  her  father,  after  my  mar- 
riage, gave  me  one  thousand  pounds  in  gold  with  her.  But 
that  gift  of  his  daughter  to  me,  I  must  ever  thankfully  ac- 
knowledge as  the  crown  of  all  my  blessings  ;•  for  she  was 
a  most  religious,  virtuous,  loving,  and  obedient  wife  to  me 
all  the  days  of  her  life,  and  the  mother  of  all  my  hopeful 
children  t.'*  He  received  on  his  wedding  day,  July  23, 
1603,  the  honour  of  knighthood  from  his  friend  sir  George 
Carew,  now  promoted  to  be  lord-deputy  of  Ireland  :  March 
12,  1606,  he  was  sworn  a  privy  counsellor  to  king  James, 
for  the  province  of  Munster :  Feb.  15,  1612,  he  was  sworn 
a  privy  counsellor  of  state  of  the  kingdom  of  Ireland  : 
Sept.  29,  1616,  be  was  created  lord  Boyle,  baron  of  Youg- 
hall:  Oct.  16,  1620,  viscount  of  Dungarvon,  and  earl  of 
Cork.    Lord  Falkland,  the  lord-deputy,  having  represented 


*  Sir  Walter  Ra1eigb*s  estate  con- 
tisted  of  twelve  thousand  acres  in  the 
counties  of  Cork  and  Waterford  (Cox's 
Hist,  of  Ireland,  vol.  T.  p.  352),  which 
was  so  much  improved  in  a  few  years 
by  Mr.  Boyle's  diligence^  that  it  was  not 
only  well  tenanted,  but  in  the  most 
thriving  condition  of  any  estate  in  Ire- 
land. Coz*B  History  of  Ireland,  vol. 
tl.  Pref. 

t  Aq  absard  story  Is  told  by  Dr. 


Anthony  Walker  in  his  fttoeral  sermon 
on  the  countess  of  Warwick,  daughter 
to  our  nobleman,  that  Mr.  Boyle 
happening  to  call  on  sir  Geoffry  Pen* 
ton  who  then  was  engaged,  amused 
himself  with  au  infant  in  th6  nurse'& 
arms ;  and  on  sir  Geoffry's  appearance 
told  him  he  would  be  happy  to  marry 
her  when  grown  up,  &c.  Dr.  Birch 
has  shewn  how  little  foundatioa  XU^ 
Walker  bad  for  tbk  account.  ' 


B  O  Y  L  5.  811 

^is  services  in  a  just  light  to  king  Charles  L  his  majesty 
$.ent  bis  ej(cellency  a  letter,  dated  Nov,  30,  1627,  direct- 
ing him  to  confer  the  honours  of  baron  and  viscount  upoa 
the  earl's  second  surviving  son  Lewis,  though  he  was  th^a 
only  eight  years  old,  by  the  title  of  Baron  of  Bandon-* 
bridge,  and  viscount  Boyle  pf  Kinalmeaky  in  the  county 
ofCorL 

On  the  departure  of  lord-deputy  Falkland,  the  earl  of 
Cork,  in  conjunction  with,  lord  Loftus,  was  appointed  one 
of  the  lords  justices  of  Ireland,  Oct.  26,  1629,  and  held 
that  office  several  years.     Feb.  16th  following,    the  eaii 
lost  his  countess,  by  whom  he  had  fifteen  children.  Nov.  9, 
1631,  he  was  constituted  lord  high  treasurer  of  Ireland, 
and  had  interest  enough  to  get  that  high  office  mdde  here- 
ditary  in  his  family.     Nevertheless,  he  suffered  many  mor- 
tifications during  the  administration  of  sir  Thomas  Went- 
worth,  afterwards  earl  of  Strafford,  who,  befoi^e  he  went  ta 
Ireland,  had  conceived  a  jealousy  of  his  authority,  and  io^ 
terest  in  that  kingdom,  and  no.w  conceived  that  if  he  could 
humble  the  great  earl  of  Cork,  nobody  in  that  country 
could  give  him  much  trouble.     On  the  breaking  out  of  thd 
rebellion  in  Ireland  in  1641,  the  earl  of  Cork,  as  soon  as  he 
returned  from  England  (where  he  was  at  the  time  of  the 
carl  of  StraflFord's  trial),  immediately  raised  two  troops  of 
horse,  which  he  put  under  the  command  of  his  sons  the 
lord  viscount  Kinalmeaky  and  the  lord  Broghill,  maintain- 
ing them  and  400  foot  for  some  months  at  his  own  charge. 
In  the  battle  which  the  English  gained  at  Liscarrol,  Sept. 
3,  lb42,  four  of  his  sons  were  engaged,  and  the  eldest  was 
slain  in  the  field.     The  earl  himself  died  about  a  year 
after,  on  the  1 5th  of  September,  in  the  78th  year  of  his 
age ;  having  spent  the  last,  as  he  did  the  first  year  of  bis 
life,  in  the  support  of  the  crown  of  England  against  Irish 
rebels,  and  in  the  service  of  his  country.     Though  he  was 
no  peer  of  England,  he  was,  on  account  of  his  eminent 
abilities  and  knowledge  of  the  world,  admitted  to  sit  in  the 
bouse  of  lords  upon  the  woolpacks,  ut  consiliarius.     When 
Cromwell  saw  the  prodigious  improvements  he  had  made> 
which  he  little  expected  to  find  in  Ireland,  he  declared, 
that  if  there  had  been  an  earl  of  Cork  in  every  province,  it 
would  have  been  impossible  for  the  Irish  to  have  raised  a 
rebellion. 

•    He  affected  not  places  and  titles  of  honour  until  he  wa9 
toll  able  to  maintain  them,  for  be  was  in  the  37th  year  of 


818  ,  B  O  Y  L  E.^ 

his  age  when  knighted,  and  in  his   50th  when   made   s 
baron.     He  made  Ia|^ge  purchases,  but  not  till  he  was  able 
to  improve  them  ;  and  he  grew  rich  on  estates  which  had 
ruined  their  former  possessors.     He  increased  his  wealth, 
not  by  hoarding,  but  by  spending ;  for  he  built  and  walled 
several  towns  at  his  own  cost,  but  in  places  so  well  situated, 
that  they  were  soon  filled  with  inhabitants,  and  quickly  re- 
paid the  money  he  had  laid  out,  with  interest,  which  he  as 
readily  laid  out  again.     Hence,  in  the  space  of  forty  years, 
'  he  acquired  to  himself  what  in  some  countries  would  have 
been  esteemed  a  noble  principality;  and  as  they  came,  to 
years  of  discretion,   he  bestowed  estates  upon  his  sons, 
and  married  his  daughters  into  the  best  families  of  that 
country.     He  outlived  most  of  those  who  had  known  the 
meanness  of  his  beginning ;  but  he  delighted  to  remember 
it  himself,  and  even  took  pains  to  preserve  the  memory  of 
it  to  posterity  in  the  motto  which  he  always  used,  and 
which  he  caused  to  be  placed  upon  his  tomb,  viz.  "  God^s 
prov^idence  is  my  inheritance." 

It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  so  faithful  a  servant  of 
the   public    should    have  lived  at  variance  with  the  earl 
of  Strafford,  himself  a  man  of  virtue,    talents,   and  pa- 
triotism, and  afterwards  a  sacrifice  to  the  fury  of  the  re- 
publican party  in  England ;  yet  it  cannot  be  denied  that 
the  earl   of  Strafford   behaved   in    a  very   arrogant   and 
haughty  manner  to  the  earl  of  Cork ;  and  that  the  conduct 
of    the   lord   deputy  was  such,  as  it  could   npt  reason- 
ably be  expected  any  man  6f  spirit  would  patiently  sub- 
mit  to,    and   especially   a  man   of   so   much   worth    and 
merit  as  the  nqble  subject  of  this  article.     His  lordship 
gave  evidence  at  Strafford's  trial,  that  when  he  had  com* 
menced  a  suit  at  law,  in  a  case  in  which  he  apprehended 
himself  to   be   aggrieved,  the   earl   of  Strafford,    in   the 
most  arbitrary   manner,    forbad  his  prosecuting  his  suit, 
saying  to  him,  "  Call  in  your  writs,  or  .if  you  will  not, 
I  will  clap  you  in  the  castle ;  for  I  tell  you,  I  will  not  have 
my  -orders   disputed   by   law,   nor  lawyers."     We  have, 
however,  already  seien  that  lord  Cork  had  otbeir  enemies, 
who  took  various  opportunities  of  displaying  their  jealousy 
of  his  power  and  talents.     One  singular  opportunity  was 
taken  on  the  death  of  his  second  lady,  which  we  shall  de- 
tail, as  including  some  traits  of  the  taste  and  prejudices  of 
the  times.     This  lady  was  privately  interred  on  the  27th  of 
.  February  1629-30,  but  her  funeral  was  publicly  solemnized 


BO  Y  L  E*  8 If 

on.  the  nth  of  March  following  ;  soon  after' which,  the 
earl  of  Cork  purchased  from  the  dean  and  chapter  of  St. 
Patrick^s  church,  the  inheritance  of  the  upper  part  of  the 
chancel  where  the  vault  was,  in  which  the  bodies  of  her 
grandfather  by  the  mother's  side,  the  lord  chancellor  Wes- 
ton, and  of  her  father  sir  GedfFry  Fenton,  were  laid,-  over 
which  the  earl  her  husband  caused  a  fine  marble  tomb  to 
be  erected.     This  presently  gave  offence  to  some  people, 
who  suggested  that  it  stood  where  the  altar  ought  to  standi, 
of  which  they  complained  to  the  king,  who  mentioned  it 
to  Dr.  Laud,  then  bishop  of  London  ;  who  after  the  lord 
Wentworth  was  made  lord  deputy  of  Ireland,  and  himself 
archbishop  of  Canterbury,    moved  him  that  it  might  be 
inquired  into,  as  it  was,  and  this  affair  made  afterwards  a 
very  grieat  noise.     The  earl  of  Cork  procured  a  letter  from 
Dr.  Usher,  tbep  lord  primate  of  Ireland,  and  also  from  Dr. 
Launcelot  Bulkeley,  then  archbishop  of  Dublin,  justifying, 
that  the  tomb  did  not  stand  in  the  place  of  the  altar,  and 
that  instead  of  being  an  inconvenience,  it  was  a  great  or- 
.  nament  to   the   church  \   which  letters  archbishop   Laud 
transmitted  to  the  lord  deputy,  and  at  the  same  time  ac- 
quainted hii^  that  they  did  not  give  himself  any  satisfac- 
tion.     The  postscript  to  this  letter,  dated  Lambeth,  March 
II,   1634,  is  very  remarkable,  and  shews  both,  the  rise  and 
the  falsehood  of  the  common  opinion,  that  it  was  the  lord 
deputy,  afterwards  earl  of  Strafford,  whg  set  this  matter  on 
foot  out  of  prejudice  to  the  earl  of  Cork.     '^  I  had  almost 
forgot  to  tell  you^  that  all  this  business  about  demolishing 
my  lord  of  Cork's  tomb  is  charged  upon  you,  as  if  it  were 
done  only  because  he  will  not  marry  his  son  to  my  lord 
Clifford's  daughter,  and  that  I  do  it  to  join  with  you; 
whereas  the  complaint  came  against  it  to  me  out  of  Ireland, 
and  was  presented  by  me  to  the  king  before  I  knew  that 
3'pur  lordship  was  named  for  deputy  there.     But  jealousies 
know  no  end."     The  archbishop  afterwards  wrote  in  very 
strong  terms  to  the  earl  of  Cork  himself,  in  which  he  af- 
firms the  same  thing,  and  deals  very  roundly  with  his  lord- 
.i^bip  upon  that  and  other  subjects,  advising  him  to  leave 
the  whole  to  the  lord  deputy  and  the  archbishops.     As  to 
the  issue  of  the  affair,  it  appears  clearly  from  a  letter  of 
the  lord  deputy  Wentwortb's,  dated  August  23,  1634,  to 
.   the  archbishop,   in  which  he  delivers  himself  thus :  <*  I 
,  have  issued  a  commission,  according  to  my  warrant,  for 
vjewijig  the  earl  of  Cork's  tomb;  the  two  archbishops  and 


ii6  fi  O  Y  L  E. 

himself,  with  four  bishops^  and  .the  two  deans  and  cbapK 
ters,.  were  present  when  we  met,  and'  made  them  ail  so 
ashamed,  that  the  earl  desires  he  may  have  leave  to  pult  it 
down  without  reporting  further  .into  England;  so  as  I  am 
content  if  the  miracle  be  done,  though  Mohammed  do  it^ 
and  there  is  an  end  of  the  tomb  before  it  come  to  be  en* 
tombed  indeed. — And  for  me  that  my  lord  treasurer  do 
wh^t  he  please ;  I  shall  ever  wish  his  ways  may  be  those  of 
'  honour  to  himself,  and  dispatch  to  my  master's  affairs ;  but  * 
go  it  as  it  shall  please  God  with  me,  believe  me,  my  lord, . 
I  will  be  still  thorow  and  thorowout  one  and  the  same,  and 
with  comfort  be  it  spoken  by  myself,  and  your  grace's 
commendations/'     It  may  be  added  that  though  the  tomb 
has  been  taken  away  above  a  century,  yet  the  inscription  . 
that  was  upon  it  is  still  extant  * 

BOYLE  (Roger),  earl  of  Orrery,  fifth  son  of  Richard 
earl  of  Cork,  was  born  April  25,  1621,  and  created 
baron  Broghill  in  the  kingdom  of  Ireland  when  but  seven 
years  old.  I^e  was  educated  at  the  college  of  Dublin,  and 
about  the  year  1636,  sent  with  his  elder  brother  lord. 
Kinalmeaky  to  make  the  tour  of  France  and  Italy.  After 
his  return  he  married  lady  Margaret  Howard,  sister  to  the 
earl  of  Suffolk.  During  the  rebellion  in  Ireland,  he  com- 
manded a  troop  of  hbrse  in  the  forces  raised  by  bis  father, 
and  on  many  occasions  gave  proofs  of  conduct  and  cou- 
rage. After  the  cessation  of  arms,  which  was  concluded 
in  1643,  he  came  over  to  England,  and  so  represented  to 
the  king  the  Irish  papists,  that  his  majesty  was  convinced 
they  never  meant  to  keep  the  cessation,  and  therefore  sent 
a  commission  to  lord  Inchiquin,  president  of  Munster,  to 
prosecute  the  rebels.  Lord  Broghill  employed  his  interest 
in  that  county  to  assist  him  in  this  service ;  and  when  the 
government  of  Ireland  was  committed  to  the  parliament, 
he  continued  to  observe  the  same  conduct  till  the  king  was 
put  to  death.  That  event  shocked  him  so  much,  that  be 
immediately  quitted  the  service  of  the  parliament;  and^ 
looking  upon  Ireland  and  his  estate  there  as  utterly  lost, 
embarked  for  England,  and  returned  to  his  seat  at  M arston 
in  Somersetshire,  where  he  lived  privately  till  1649.  In 
this  retirement,  reflecting  on  the  distress  of  his  country^^ 
and  the  personal  injury  he  suffered  whilst  bis  estate  waa 

held  by  the  Irish  rebels,  he  resolved,  under  pretence  of 

• 

1  Biog.  Brit— Bu4j^ell*s  Lives  of  the  Boylei— Birch's  life  of  Ro^ject  Boyle. 


BOYLE.  42^ 

ft 

going  to  the  Spa  for  his  health,  to  cross  tie  s6^s,  and  a^<* 
ply  to  king  Charles  IL  for  a  commission  to  raise  forces  m 
Ireland,  in  order  to  restore  his  majesty^  and  recover  hi^ 
own  estate.  He  desired  the  earl  of  Warmck,  who  had  an 
ifiterest  in  the  prevailing  party,  to  procure  a  licence  foif 
him  to  go  to  the  Spa#  He  pretended  to  the  earl,  that. his 
iiole  view  was  the  recovery  of  bis  health ;  but,  to  sonie  of 
his  friends  of  the  royal  party,  in  whom  be  thought  he  could 
eonfide,  he  discovered  his  real  design ;  and  having  raised 
a  considerable  sum  of  mpney,  came  to  Londoi)  to  prose- 
cute his  voyage.  The  committee  of  state,  who  spared  no 
pains  to  get  proper  intelligence,  being  soon  informed  of 
his  whole  design,  determined  to  proceed  against  him  witb 
the  utmost  severity.  Cromwell,  at  that  time  general  o0 
the  parliament's  forces,  and  a  member  of  the  conimittee^ 
was  no  stranger  to  lord  BroghilPs  merit ;  and  considering 
that  this  young  nobleman  inight  be  of  great  use  to  himt  in 
reducing  Ireland,  be  earnestly  entreated  the  cotnniittee, 
that  he  might  have  leave  to  talk  with  him,  and  endeavout 
to  gain  bkn,  before  they  proceeded  to  extremities.  Hav- 
ing, with  great  difficulty,  obtained  this  permission,  he  im*-' 
mediately  dispatched  a  gentleman  to  lord  Broghill,  to  letf 
him  know  that  he  intended  to  wait  upoii  him.  Broghili 
was  surprised  at  this  miessage,  having  never  had  the  least 
acquaintance  with  Cromwell,  and  therefore  desired  the 
gentleman  to  let  the  general  know  that  he  would  wait  upon 
his  excellency.  But  while  he  was  expecting  the  return  of 
the  messenger,  Cromwell  entered  the  room ;  and,  aftet 
mutual  civilities,  told  him  in  few  words,  that  the  committee 
of  state  were  apprised  of  his  design  of  going  over,  and  ap- 
plying to  Charles  Stuart  for  a  commission  to  raise  forces  in, 
Ireland  ;  and  that  they  had  determined  to  make  an  exam« 
pie  of  him,  if  he  had  not  diverted  them  from  that  resolu- 
tion; The  lord  Broghill  interrupted  him,  and  assured  him 
that  the  intelligence  which  the  committee  had  received 
was  false ;  that  he  was  neither  in  a  capacity,  nor  had  any 
inclination,  to  raise  disturbances  in  Ireland ;  and  concluded 
with  entreating  his  excellency  to  have  a  kinder  opinion  of 
him.  Cromwell,  instead  of  making  any  reply,  drew  some 
papers  out  of  his  pocket,  which  were  the  copies  of  several 
letters  sent  by  lord  Broghill  to  those  persons  in  whom  he 
most  confid^,  and  put  them  into  his  hands.  Broghill, 
finding  it  was  to  no  purpose  to  dissemble  any  longer,  asked 
his  excellency's  pardon  ifor  what  he  had  said,  returned  \xm 
Veil.  VL  Y 


i 


322  B  O  Y  L  E. 

bis  humble  tbanks  for  bis  protection  against  the  eommitlee, 
and  entreated  bis  advice  bow  be  ougbt  to  bebave  in  so  deli* 
catea  conjiinc^ure.  Cromwell  toldhim,  tbat  thougb  till  this 
time  be  had  been  a  stranger  to  his-  person,  he  was  not  so 
to  his  merit  and  character  >  tbat-he  had  heard  how  gallantly 
bis  lordship  bad  already  behaved  in  *tbe  Irish  wars ;  and 
therefore,  since  he  was  named  lord  lieutenant  of  Ireland, 
and  the  reducing  tbact  kingdom  was  now  become  bis  prd*^ 
vince,  that  be  bad  obtained  leave  of  the  t^ommittee  to  ofG^r 
bis  lordship  the  command  of  a  general  officer,  if  be  would 
aerve  in  that  war :  tbat  he  should  have  no  oaths  or  engage- 
ments imposed  upon  him,  nor  be  obliged  to  draw  bis  sword 
against  any  but  the  Irish  rebels.  Lord  Broghill  was  in- 
finitely surprised  at  so  generous  and  unexpected  an  offer^ : 
he  saw  himself  at  liberty,  by  all  the  rules  of  honour,  to 
serve  against  the  Irish,  whose  rebellion  and  barbarities 
were  equally  detested  by  the  royal  party  and  the  parlia- 
ment :  be  desired,  however,  the  general  to  give  him  some 
time  to  consider  of  what  be  bad  proposed  to  him.  Crom- 
ivell  briskly  told  him,  that  he  must  come  to  some  resolu-' 
tion  that  very  instant ;  that  he  himself  was  returning  to  the 
committee,  who  were  still  sitting ;  and  if  bis  lordship  re- 
jected their  offer,  they  had  determined  to  send  him  to  the 
Tower.  Broghill,  finding  that  his  life  and  liberty  were  in 
the  utmost  danger,  and  charmed  with  the  frankness  and 
generosity  of  CromwelFs  behaviour,  gave  him  his  word 
and  honour,  that  he  would  faithfully  serve  him  agains^f  the 
Irish  rebels;  upon  which,  Cromwell  once  more  assured 
him,  tbat  the  conditions  which  be  had  made  with  him 
should  be  punctually  observed  ;  and  then  ordered  him  t6 
repair  immediately  to  Bristol,  to  which  place  forces  should 
be  sent  him,  with  a  sufficient  number  of  ships  to  transport 
him  into  Ireland. 

He  soon  raised  in  tbat  kingdom  a  troop  and  a  regiment 
I  '  of  1500  men,  with  which  be  joined  Cromwell  on  his  ar- 
rival; and,  acting  in  the  course  of  the  war  conjointly  with 
Cromwell  and  Ireton,  contributed  greatly  to  the  reduction 
of  the  Irish.  Cromwell  was  so  exceedingly  struck  with  his 
conduct  and  courage,  that  after  be  was  declared  protector, 
he  sent  for  lord  Broghill,«made  him  one  of  his  privy  coun- 
cil, and  allowed  him  as  great  a  share  of  his  confidence 
as  any  man,  except  Thurloe*.     In  1656,  the  protector, 

*  In  1654,  be  w«s  chosen  knight  for     paHiament  men  of  Ireland  among  the 
the  county  of  Cork,  to  sit  with  other     EngUth  knight*  and  burgesies  atWeni^ 


..* 


BOYLE.  S2J 

either  suspecting  MonVs  attachment  to  his  pers9n,  or  de- 
iiroas  of  relieving  the  people  of  Scotland,  who  complained 
of  thi^  man^s  severity,  proposed  to  lord  Broghill  to  go  to 
that  kingdom  with  an  absolute  authority  ;  to  which  his 
lordship  consented,  upon  condition  that  he  should  have. a 
discretionary  power  to  act  as  he  should  see  proper ;  that 
no  credit  should  be  given  to  any  complaints,  tilt  he  had 
*  an  opportunity  of  vindicating  himself;  and  that  he  should. 
be  recalled  in  a  year.  Cromwell  kept  his  word  to  him ; 
for  though  the  complaints  against  Broghill  were  more  nu-, 
merous  than  those  against  Monk^  upon  giving,  at  his  re* 
turn  to  London  when  the  year  was  expired,  an  account  of 
the  reasons  of  his  conduct,  Cromwell  conceived  a  higher 
esteem  for  him  than  ever. 

.  After  the  death  of  Cromwell,  Broghill  did  his  utmost  to 
serve  his  son,  to  whom  his  lojrdship,  in  conjunction  with 
lord  Howard  and  some  others,  made  an  oiFer,  that  if  he 
would  not  be  wanting  to  hiinself,  and  give  them  a  sufficient 
authority  to  act  under  him,  they  would  either  force  his 
enemies  to  obey  him,  or  cut  them  off.  Richard,  startled 
at  diis  proposal,  answered  in  a  consternation,  that  he 
thanked  them  for  their  friendship,  but  that  he  neither  had 
done,  nor  would  do,  any  person  any  harm ;  and  that  ra- 
ther than  that  a  drop  of  blood  should  be  spilt  on  his  ac- 
<^ount,  he  would  lay  down  that  greatness  which  was  aurbur- 
den  to  him.  He  was  so  fixed  in  his  resolution,  that  what*- 
ever  the  lords  could  say  was  not  capable  of  making  him 
alter  it ;  and  they  found  it  to  no  purpose  to  keep  a  man  in 
power  who  would  do  nothing  for  himself.  Lord  Broghill, 
therefore,  finding  the  family  of  Cromwell  thus  laid  aside» 
and  not  being  obliged  by  any  ties  to  serve  those  who  as* 
sumed  the  government,  whose  schemes  too  he  judged  wild 
and  ill -concerted,  from  this  time  shewed  himself  most  ac-^ 
tive  and  zealous  to  restore  the  king,  and  for  that  purpose 
repaired  forthwith  to  his  command  in  Munster;  where, 
finding  himself  at  the  head  of  a  considerable  force,  he  de* 
termined  to  get  the  army  in  Ireland  to  join  with  him  in  the 
design,  to  gain,  if  possible,  sir  Charles  Coote,  who  had 
great  power  in  the  north,  and  then  to  send  to  Monk  ia 

iQamter.     He  yn%  likewise  appointed  Cork  m  another  parliament,  which  met 

ope  of  the  protector'!  council  in  Soot-  at  Westmiitsier  the  tame  year.     He 

tflnd,  which  was  worth  to  him  1474/.  was  likewise  made  one  of  the  protec- 

p$f  awmiw.    And  iw  ld56,  he  was  not  tor's  lords,  and  a  member  of  the  olher*^ 


opljrckosen  parliament  man  Ibr  fidin-     boose.  Borlase'a  History  of  iht  Ra^M* 
k«rf h,  but  kntj^ltf  for  the  coimty  of    tion  of  Ireland.    BudgeU. 

Y2 


324  BOYLE, 

Scotland.     Whilst  meditating  this  design,  a  summons  caiti€; 
to  him  from  the  seven  commissioners,   sent  over  by  the 
committee  of  safety  to  take  care  of  the  affairs  of  .Ireland, 
i^equiring  him  to  attend  them  immediately  at  the  castle  of 
Dublin.     His  friends  advised  hiin  to  be  upon  his  guard, 
ftnd  not  put  himself  in  the  power  of  his  enemies ;  but,  as 
be  thought  himself  not  strong  enough  yet  to  take  such  a 
«ltep,  he  resolved  to  obey  the  summons.     Taking,  there-    . 
fore,  his  own  troop  with  him  as  a  guard",  he  set  out  for 
i)ublin.     When  be  came  to  the  city,  leaving  his  troop  in 
tbe  suburbs,    he  acquainted   the   commissioners,  that,  in 
obedience  to  their  commands,  he  was  come  to  know  their 
farther  pleasure.     Next  day,  on  appearing  before  them, 
they  told  him,  that  the  state  was  apprehensive  h^  would 
practise  against  their  government,  and  that  therefore  they 
had  orders  to  confine  him,  unless  he  would  give  su,ffigient 
security  for  his  peaceable  behaviour.     He  desired  to  know 
what  security  they  expected.    They  told  him,   that  since 
he  ha4  a  great  interest  in  Munster^  they  only  desired  him 
to  engage,  on  the  forfeiture  of  bis  life  and  estate,  that, 
there  should  be  no  commotion  in  that  province.     He  if ow 
plainly  perceived  the  snare  which  was  laid  for  him;,  and. 
that,  if  he  entered  into  such  an  engagement,  his  enemies 
themselves  might  raise  some  commotions  in  Munst;er.     He 
saw  himself,  however,  in  their  power,  anil  made  no  man- 
ner of  doubt  but  that  if  he  refused  to  give  them  the  secu- 
rity they  demanded,  they  would  immediately  put  him.  up 
in  prison.     He  therefore  desired  some  time  to  consider  of 
their  proposal ;  but  was  told,  they  could  give  him  no  time, 
and  expected  his  immediate  answer.   .  Finding  himself  thus 
cflosely  pressed,  he  hurpbly  desired  to  be  satisfied  in  one 
point,  namely,  whether  they  intended  to.  put  the  whole 
power  of  Munster  into  his  hands  ?  if  they  did,  he  said,  he 
was  ready  to  enter  into  the  engagement  they  demanded  ; 
but  if  they  did  not,  he  must  appeal  to  all  the  world  hpw 
cruel  and  unreasonable  it  was,  to  expect  he  should  answer 
for  the  behaviour  of  people  over  whom  he.  had  no  com- 
mand.    The  commissioners  found  themselvq^  so  much  em- 
barrassed  by  this  question,  that  they  ordered  him,  to  with-> 
draw;  and  fell  into  a  warm  debate  in  what  manner  to  pro- 
ceed with  him*     At  last  Steel,  one  of  the  commissioners, 
who  was  also  lord  chancellor  of  Ireland,  declared  himself 
afraid,  that  even  the  honest  party  in  Ireland  would  think  it, 
^eky  bard  to  see  a  man  thrown  into  prison,  who  ^ad  done 


BOYLE.  325 

Ipuch  signal  services  to  the  Protestants ;  but  that,  on  the 
other  band,  he  could  never  consent  to  the  increase  of  lord 
Broghill*8  power,  which  the  state  was  apprehensive  might 
one  day  be  employed  against  them.  He  therefore  pro- 
posed that  things  should  stand  as  they  did  at  present ;  that 
his  lordship  should  be  sent  back  to  his  command  in  Mun- 
ster  in  a  good  humour,  and  be  suffered  at  least  to  continue 
there  till  they  received  further  instructions  from  England. 
This  proposal  was  agreed  to  by  the  majority  of  the  board, 
and  lord  Broghill  being  called  in,  was  told  in  the  most 
obliging  manner,  that  the  board  was  so  sensible  of  the 
gallatit  actions  he  had  performed  in  the  Irish  wars,  aiid 
had  so  high  an  opinion  of  his  honour,  that  they  would  de- 
pend upon  that  alone  for  his  peaceable  behaviour.    . 

Upon  his  return  to  Munster,  he  applied  himself  as  closely 
as  ever  to  form  a  party  for  the  king's  restoration.  After 
making  sure  of  his  own  officers,  the  first  person  of  weight  h0 
engaged  in  the  design  was  colonel  Wilson,  governor  of  Li- 
merick^ in  which  place  there  was  a  garrison  of  200D  men ; 
and  having  now  secured  all  Munster,  he  sent  a  trusty  agent 
to  sir  Charles  Coote,  to  persuade  that  gentleman  to  do  in 
the  north  of  Ireland,  what  he  himself  had  done  in  the 
south.  Sir  Charles,  who  had  taken  disgust  at  the  supe- 
riority of  lieutenant-general  Ludlow,  and  the  parliament'^} 
commissioners^  and  thought  his  eminent  services  not  suf- 
ficiently rewarded  by  the.  presidency  of  Coimaught,  canfie 
readily  into  the  design.  Lord  Broghill  being  empowered 
by  most  of  the  chief  officers  in  Ireland  u{ider  their  hands, 
dispatched  his  brother,  the  lord  Shannon,  to  the  king, 
then  in  Flanfders,  with  a  letter  quilted  in  the .  neck  of  his 
doublet,  to  acquaint  his  majesty  with  the  tn^asures  he  had 
taken,  and  inviting  him  to  come  into  his  kingdom  of  Ire- 
land ;  assuring  him  that  if  he  pleased  to  land  at  Cork,  Hfe 
Ihould  be  received  with  a  sufficient  force  to  protect  him 
against  all  his  enemies.  At  the  same  time  he  dispatched 
a  messenger  to  general  Monk,  then  on  his  march  frond 
Scotland,  to  let  him  know  what  they  wei^e  doing  in  Ire- 
land, and  to  persuade  him  to  do  the  like.  Shannon  was 
scarce  embarked  for  Flanders,  when  lord  Broghill  received 
ft  letter  from  sir  Charles  Coote,  to  acquainit  him  that  theit 
design  of  declaring  for  the  king  had  taken  air,  and  that  h6 
bad  therefore  been  obliged  to  declare  somewhat  sooner 
than  they  had  agreed  upon  ;  and  to  conjure  his  lordship  to 
d^clfire  himself  likewise ;  which  Broghill  did  imiai'edi^el;^^ 


i26  BO,YL,J;^ 

that  he  might  not  desert  his  fri^qdi  though  he  was  a  little ' 
appreheDsive  that  sir  Charles's  precipitancy  might  rain, 
their  design.  By  this  means  those  who  had  assumed,  the 
government  of  Ireland,  finding  themselves  in  the  midst  of 
two  powerful  parties,  made  littje  or  no  resistance;  and 
lord  Brogbiil  and  sir  Charles  Coote  secured  that  kingdooi 
for  his  majesty.    , 

Upon  the  king^s  restoration,  lord  Broghill  came  to  Eng-* 
land;  but,  instead  of  being  thanked  for  his  service  in 
Ireland,  be  was  received  with  the  utmost  coldness.  Upon 
inquiry,  be  learnt  that  sir  Charles  Coote  bad  assured  the  king 
tbs^t  he  was  the  first  man  who  stirred  for  him  in  Ireland ;  that 
lord  Broghill  opposed  his  majesty^s  return,  and  was  not  at 
last4)rougbt  to  consent  to  it  without  much  difficulty*  His 
lordship,  recollecting  that  he  had  still  by  him  sir  Charles's 
letter,  in  which  were  these  words,  ^*  Remember,  my  lord^ 
that  you  first  put  me  on  this  design  ;  and  1  beseech  you^ 
forsake  me  not  in  that  which  j'ou  first  put  me  upon,  which 
was,  to  declare  for  kiug  and  parliament,"  desired  his 
lorother  Shannon  to  put  it  into  the  hands  of  the  king;  who 
being  fully  convinced  by  it  how  sierviceable  Broghill  had  ; 
been  to  hina,  looked  upon  him  with  as.  gracious  an  eye  as 
he  could  himself  desire  or  expect  His  lordship  waasooa  . 
after  (Sept.  5,  1660,)  made  earl  of  Orrery,  sworn  of  the 
king's  privy-council,  appointe^^.o^^  ^  ^^  lords  justices^  ^ 
and  lord  president  of  Munster. 

After  the  king^s  return  the  Irish  Roman  catholics  sent 
over  sir  Nicholas  Plunket,  ^nd  some  other  commissioners^ 
with  a  petition  to  his  majesty,  praying  to  be  restored  to 
their  estates.  As  this  would  in  effect  have  ruined  the  . 
Protestants,  they  therefore  chose  the  earl  of  Orrery, 
^ontratb,  and  six  more,  to  oppose  their  adversaries  be* 
fore  the  king  and  his  council.  The  Irish  commissionert 
were  so  apprehensive  of  the  earPs  eloquence  and  address 
upon  this  occasion^  that  they  offered  him  eight  thousan4 
pounds  in  money,  and  to  settle  estates  of  .seven  thousand 
pounds  a  year .  upon  him,  if  he  would  not  appear  against 
them;  which  proposal  the  earl  rejected  with  proper  disr 
dain.  When  the  cause  came  to  a  hearing,  after  the  Irish 
commissioners  had  offered  all  they  thought  proper,  the 
earl  of  Orrery,  boldly  affirmed  to  the  king  that  his  Pro* 
testapt  subjects  in  Ireland  were  the  first  who  formed  ap 
fff^ctual  pafty  for  restoring  him ;  that  the  Irish  had  broken 
all  the  treatief  f(^hi<;h  had  been  piade  with  them  -,  ^hat  th^ 


J 


BO  Y  L  E.  827 

liftd  foi^t  against  the  authority  both  of  the  late  and  pre-^ 
sent  king ;  and  bad  offered  the  kingdom  of  Ireland  to  the- 
pope,  to  the  king  of  Spain,  and  the  king  of  France. 
Lastly,  to  the  great  surprise,  ndt  only  of  the  Irish,  but  of 
his  own  brother-comniission<?rs,  he  proved  his  assertions 
by  producing  several  original  paper,s  sigfied  by  the  Irish 
supreme  council,  of  which  sir  Nicholas  Plunket  himself 
was  one.  This  lust  unexpected  blow  decided  the  dispute 
in  favour  of  the  Protestants ;  and  obliged  his  majesty  to 
dismiss  the  Irish  commissioners  with  some  harsher  eispres* 
sions  than  be  commonly  made  use  of. 

Soon  after  this  affair,    his  lordship,    with  sir  Charles 
Coote,    lately  ntade  earl  of  Montrath,  and  sir  Maurice 
Eustace,  were  constituted  lords  justices  of  Ireland,  and 
commissioned  to  call  and  bold  a  parliament.     Some  time 
before  the  meeting  of  the  parliament,  he  drew  with  his 
own  hand  the  famous  act  of  settlement,  by  which  he  fixed 
the  property,  and  gave  titles  to  their  estates  to  a  whole  na- 
tioQr.     When  the  duke  of  Ormond  was  declared  lord  lieu- 
tenant, the  earl  of  Orrery  went  into  Munster,  of  which 
province  he  was  president.     By  virtue  of  this  office,  he 
heard  and  determined  causes  in  a  court  called  the  resi- 
dency-court;  and  acquired  so  great  a  reputation  in  his^ 
judicial  capacity,  that  he  was  offered  the  seals  both  by  the 
king  and  the  duke  of  York  after  the  fall  of  lord  Clarendon ; 
but^  being  very  much  afflicted  with  the  gout,  he  declined 
a  post  that  required  constant  attendance.     During  the  first 
Dutch  war,  in  which  France  acted  as  a  confederate  with 
Holland,  he  defeated  the  scheme  formed  by  the  duke  de 
B^Kifort,  admiral  of  France,  to  get  possession  pf  the  har- 
bour of  Kinsale^  and  took  advantage  of  the  fright  of  the 
people,  and  the  alarm  of  the  go\*ernment,  to  get  a  fort 
erected  Under  bis  own  directions,  which  was  named  Fort^ 
Charles.     He  promoted  a  scheme  for  inquiring  into,  and 
improving  the  king's  revenue  in  Ireland;  but  hi^  majesty - 
having  applied  great  sums  out  of  the  revenue  of  that  king- 
dom which  did  not  come  plainly  into  account,    the  in- 
quiry-was ndver  begun.    Ormond,  listening  to'some  ma- 
licious insinuations,    began    to    entertain   a  jealousy  of 
Orrery,  and  prevailed  with  the  king 'to  direct  him  to  lay 
dowD' his  residential  court;  as  a  compensation  for  which, 
his  majesty  made  him  a  present  of  8000/.     Sir  Thomas^ 
Clifford,  who  had  been  brought  into  the  ministry  in  Eng- 
land, apprehensive  that  he  could  not  oarrjr  his  ends  i^' 


32$  B  O  Y  L  K, 

Ireland  whilst  Orrery  contiDued  president  of   Munster,^ 
p/ocijijred  articles  of  impeachment  of  high. treason  and  mis* 
dejoaeaiiours  to  be  exhibited  against  him  in  the  Englkb 
^pusp  of  commons ;  but  his  lordship  being  beard  in  his 
place>   gave  an  ansiyer  so  clear,  circumstantial,  and  in-<- 
g^nuous,  that  the  affair  was  dropt.     The  king  laboured  in 
vain  to  reconcile  him  t,o  the  French  alliance,  and  the  re- 
ducing of  the  D.utch.     At.  the  desire  of  the  king  and  the 
<}i|ke  of  York,  he  drew  the  plan  of  an  act  of  limitation^ 
by  which  the  successor  would  have  been  disabled  from  en^ 
croaching  on  civil  and  religious  liberty ;  but  the  proposing 
thereof  being  postponed  till  after  the  exclusiot^bill  was 
set  on  foot,  the  season  for  making  use  of  it  was  past.     The 
](ing,  to  hinder  his  returning  to  Ireland,  and  to  keep  faint  ^ 
^bout  his  person,  offered  him  the  place  of  lord-treasurer  ; 
but  the  earl  of  Orrery  plainly  told  his  majesty  tbat.he  was* 
guided  by  unsteady  counsellors,  with  whom  be  ocniid  not 
act.     He  died,  in  October  1679,  aged  fifty ^eight;<  leaving 
behind  him  the  character  of  an  able  general,  statesman^ 
s^pd  writer.     He  had  issue  by. his  lady,  two  sons  and  five 
d$^yghters.     His  writings  are  these :  1.  ^*  The  Irish  oolotnra 
displayed ;  in  a  reply  of  an  English  Protestant  to  a  letter 
of  an  Irish  Roman  catholic,"  Londoifi,  1663,  4iOi    2.  ^^An 
answer  to  a  scandalous  letter  lately  printed,  and  subscribed 
by  P^ter  Walsh,  procurator  for  the  secular  and  regular 
popish  priests,  of  Ireland,  entitled  A  letter  desiring  a  jmt 
z^d  merciful  regard  of  the  Roman  catholics  of  Irehind,' 
given  about  the  end  of  October  1 660,  to  the  then  mavqiits, . 
j>ow  duke  of  Ormond,  and  the  second  time  lord  lieutenantof 
ithsit  kingdom.     By  the  right  honourable  the  earl  of  Or^ 
rery,  jic.  being  a  full  discovery  of  tb^  treachery  of  >the 
Irish  rebels  since  the  beginning  of  the  rebellion  tiiere,  ne* 
qessary  to  be  considered  by  all  adventuvers,   and  other* 
persons  e^tated  in   that  kingdom,"    Dublin,    166^,   4to*' 
S,  *^  A  poem  on  his  majesty's  happy  restoratioR."     4.  *^  A 
poem  on  the  death  of  the  celebrated  Mr.  Abrahaifi  Cew«* 
ley,"  London,   1667,  fol.     5.  "The  histopyof  Henry  V, 
a  tragedy,''  London,  16^8,  fol.     6.  ^  Mustapha,  t^e  son 
of  Spliman  the  ^Magnificent^  a  tragedy,''  London^  16^7, 
fol.  and  H68.      7.  "  The   Black    Prince,    a  tragedy/^ 
I^ondon,  1672,  fol.,.  8.  "  Xriphon,   a  tragedy,"  London*, 
1672,  fol.     These  four  plays  were  collected  and  published 
togeiiiec  in  1690,  folio,  and  i^ake  now  the  entire  first  vo- 
lume o£  the  new  edition  of  the  earl's  dramatic  woriuw 


BOYLE,  $UJ 

9,  '^  PartbenisaA^  «  romance  in  tliree  ibliiines^''  London, 
1665,  4t05  1667,  fol.      10.  '<  A  Dream.*'     In  this  piece 
be  introduces  the  genius  of  France  persuading  Charier  IL 
to  promote  the  interest  of  that  kingdom^  and  act  uponi 
French  principles.     He  afterwards  introduces  tbe  ghost  of 
bis  father,  dissuading  him  from  it,  answering  all  the  argu^ 
ments  tbe  genius  of  France  bad  urged/  and  proving  to  him 
6x>m  bis  own  misfortunes  and  tragical  end,  that  a  king's 
chief  treasure,  and  only  real  strength,  is  the  affections  of 
his  |)eople.     11.  "A  treatise  upon  the  Art  of  War.**     12. 
Poems  on  the  Fasts  and  Festivals  of  the  Church.''     His 
posthumous  works  are:    1.  ^^  Mr.  Anthony,   a  comedy ,'T 
1692,     2.  *<  Guzman,  a  comedy,"  1693.     3.  "  Herod  the 
Ipreat,    a  tragedy,"   1694.     4.    "  Ahemira,    a  tragedy," 
brought  upon  the  stage  by  Mr.  Francis  Manning,  in  1702, 
with  a  prologue  by  Henry  St  John,  esq.  afterwards  lord 
viscount  Bolingbroke,  and  an  epilogue  by  the  hon.  Charles 
QoyJe,  escj-  the  late  earl  of  Orrery,  who  also  interspersed 
seireial  songs  in  the  work  itself.     5.  ^^  State  letters,"  pnb- 
lished  in  1742,  tbl.     Mr.  Morrice  the  editor,  who  was  his 
biographer  and  chaplain,  says  that  his  patron  drew  up  a 
very  curious  aceomit  of  what  was  done  in  tbe  court  or 
camp,  in  which  he  had  kny  part,  or  could  speak  of  with 
ciBrtainty.    But  this  has  never  been  published.     The  duke 
of  Oroiottd  having  by  his  majesty's  command  consulted 
with  the  earl  of  Orrery  upon  the  propositions  to  be  laid 
before  the  parliametrt  of  Ireland,  in  1677,  his  lordship  de-, 
livered  to  him  five  sheets  of  paper  containing  the  most  ef- 
fectual methods  of  protecting  tbe  nation  from  foreign  and 
4otfieatfc  enemies,  ackemcing  tbe  Protestant  interest,  in- 
qreasing  the  revenue,  and  securing  ]!>rivate  property.     But 
these,  with  other  papers,  were  destroyed  when  lord  Or- 
irery's  hotise  was  borut  to  the  ground  in  1690,  by  a  party  of 
king  James's  soldiers,  with  the  duke  of  Berwick  at  their 
head;  Lionel,  then  earl  of  Orrery,  and  grandson  to  our 
author,  being  a  minor,  and  abroad  on  his  travels. 
.  There  is  some  use  i»  retaining  this  list  of  his  lordship's. 
H/vitings,  aitbough  it  must  be  confessed  that  be  does  not 
appear  to  ncHveh  advantage  ais  a  writer.     The  charge  made 
by  lord  Oribird,  that  the  Biographia  Britannica  is  a  ^^  de-^ 
fence   of  every  body,'*    never  appeared   bettef  founded: 
than  in  the  high   character  given  of  lord  Orrery's  po- 
etry, a  character  probably  borrowed  from  such  critics  as 
Aubrev  and  Winstanley^    It  would  have  been  quite  suf- 


y 


S3o  B  O  Y  L  E. 

ficient  to  have  vindicated  his  poems  from  the  general  con- 
tempt with  which  they  have  sometimes  been  mentioned. 

It  is  more  pleasing  to  recur  to  his  private  character, 
which  Dr.  Campbell  has  described  with  more  truth.  ,  He 
was,  says  this  biographer,  a  kind  and  good,  as  well  as«a 
very  well-bred  and  courteous  husband:  and  lady  Orrery 
was  esteemed  one  of  the  handsomest  and  most  prudent 
women  about  the  court.     He  was  a  tender,  and  even  a 
fond  parent ;  but  very  attentive  to  the  education  and  beha- 
viour ofhis  children,  by  which  the  benefit  they  received  was 
not  small.     As  a  landlord,  he  was  both  attentive  to  his  own 
interest,  and  indulgent  to  his  tenants.     If  a  man  was  op- 
pressed, no  one  more  readily  relieved  him  ;  if  a  farmer- s 
family  was   numerous,    or  his   circumstances  narrow,    his 
assistance  was  never  wanting ;  but  he  was  in  all  cases  so- 
licitous that  the. people  should  thrive,  as  well  as  obtain 
subsistence ;  and  bis  saying  was,  ^'  that  the  greatest  cha^ 
rity  coiisisted  in  keeping  people  from  needing  it.'*     With 
this   view,    he  procured    by  the  royal  favour,    grants  of 
fairs  and  inarkets  for  Rathgogran  and  Ballymaathra,  two 
villages  of  his,  which  by  this  means  were  so  far  improved 
that  be  afterwards  obtained  charters,  by  which  they  were 
erected  into  boroughs,  each  sending  two  members  to  the 
Irish  parliament,  and  established  besides  manufactures  in 
tbem  for  their  better  supfK>rt.     But  in  nothing  his  good- 
ness and  beneficence  of  heart  appeared  more  than  in  his 
treatment  of  bis  domestics.     He  was  alike  careful  of  their 
-bodies,    estates,    and   minds;    they  lived  in  the  utmost 
plenty^  but  be  suffered  no  waste  ;  and  for  debauchery,  he 
bad  the  utmost  abhorrence.     He  provided  for  them  ac- 
cording to  their  several  capacities,  that,  having  lived  well 
with  him,  they  might  not  fall  into  indigence  after  they 
left  him. .   He  frequently  observed,  that  the  meanest  of 
them  had  a  soul  to  be  saved,  as  well  as  himself;  and 
therefore,  he  not  only  obliged  his  chaplain  to  have  a  due 
attention  to  their  spiritual  concerns,    but  frequently  in- 
spected the  discharge  of  his  duty  in  this .  particular.     His 
lordship  loved  company,  and  kept  always  an  open  table, 
to  which  all  the  gentlemen  in  the  country  were  welcome; 
and  this  was  a  public  benefit,  the  conversation  on  such  oc-^ 
casions  being  as  delicate  as  the  provisions.^ 

1  Biog.  Brit— Park'i  Royal  and  Noble  Apthon.— Gibber's  Lives,  ml.  W^ 
Ath.  Ox.  Tol.  U.— Granger,  vol.  lll.wMorrice's  life  and  Sute  Letters. 


BOYLE.  ^Zt 

■_  BOYLE  (Robert),  the  most  illustrious  philosopher  of 
modern  times,  was  the  seventh  son,  and  the  fourte^itk 
child  of  Richard  earl  of  Cork,  and  born  at  Lismore,  in 
the  province  of  Munster,  in  Ireland,  the  25th  of  Jan. 
1 626-7.  He  was  committed  to  the  care  of  a  country  nurse, 
with  instruction^^  to  bring  him  up  as  hardy  as  if  he  had 
been  her  own  son ;  for  his  father,  he  tells  us,  **  had  a  per- 
fect aversion  for  the  fondness  of  those  parents  which  made 
them  breed  their  children  so  nice  and  tenderly,  that  a  hot 
sun  or  a  good  shower  of  rain  as  much  endangers  them  as 
if  they  w^re  made  of  butter  or  of  sugar.'^  By  this  he  gained 
a  j9trong  and  vigorous  constitution,  Inrhich,  however,  he 
afterwards  lost,  .by  its  being  treated  too  tenderly.  He 
acquaints  us  with  several  misfortunes  which  happened  to 
him  in  his  youth.  When  be  was  about  three  years  old, 
he  lost  his  mother,  who  was  a  most  accomplished  woman, 
and  whom  he  regrets  on  that  account,  because  he  did  not 
know  her.  A  second  misfortune  was,  that  he  learned  to 
stutter,  by  mocking  some  children  of  his  own  age;  of 
which,  though  no  endeavours  were  spared,  he  could  never 
perfectly  be  cured.  A  third,  that  in  a  journey  to  Dublin, 
he  had  like  to  have  been  drowned,  if  one  of  his  father's 
gentlemen  had  not  taken  him  out  of  a  coach,  which,  in 
passing  a  brook  raised  by  some  sudden  showers,  was  over* 
turned  and  carried  away  with  the  stream. 

While  he  continued  at  home,  he  was  taught  to  write  a 
very  fair  hand,  and  to  speak  French  and  Latin  by  one  of 
the  earl's  chaplains,  and  a  Frenchman  that  he  kept  in  the 
house.  In  1635,  his  father  sent  htm  over  to  England,  in 
order  to  be  educated  at  Eton  schdol  under  sir  Henry  Wot- 
ton,  who  was  the  earl  of  Cork's  old  friend  and  acquaintance. 
Here  he  soon  discovered  a  force  of  understanding  which 
promised  great  things,  and  a  disposition  to  cultivate  and 
improve  it  to  the  utmost.  While  he  remained  at  Eton, 
there  were  several  extraordinary  accidents  that  befel  him^ 
of  which  he  has  given  us  an  account ;  and  three  of  whicb 
were  very  near  proving  fatal  to  him.  The  first  was,  the 
sudden  fall  of  the  chamber  where  he  lodged,  when  himself 
was  in  bed;  when,  besides  the  hazard  he  ran  of  being 
crushed  to  pieces,  he  had  certainly  been  choked  with  the 
dust  during  the  time  be  lay  under  the  rubbish,  if  he  had 
not  had  presence  of  mind  enough  to  have  wrapped  his  head 
up  in  the  sheet,  which  gave  him  an  opportunity  of  breath- 
ing without  hazard.     A  little  after  this^   he  had  been 


382  6  O  V  L  El 

crushed  to  pieces  by  a  starting  horse  that  rose  tip  suddefniy 
and  threw  himself  backwards,  if  he  had  nbt  happily  disen- 
gaged his  fbet  from  the  stirrups,  and  cast  himself  from  hi^ 
back  before  he  fell.  A  third  accident  proceeded  from 
the  carelessness  of  an  apothecary's  servant;  who,  mis- 
taking the  phials,  brought  him  a  strong  emetic  instead  of 
a  cooUrig  julep. 

He  remained  at  Etpn  between  three  and  four  years ; 
after  which,  his  father  carried  him  to  his  own  seat  at  Stal* 
bridge,  in  Dorsetshire,  where  he  remained  isome  time 
under  the  care  of  the  rev.  William  Dotich,  one  of  his  chap- 
lains, who  was  the  rector  of  the  places.  •  In  the  autumn  of 
1638,  he  attended'  his  father  to  London,  and  remained 
with  him  at  the  Savoy,  till  his  brother  Mr.  Fratlcis  Boyle 
espoused  Mrs.  Elisabeth  Killegrew ;  and  then,  towards  th^ 
end  of  October,  within  four  days  after  the  matriage,  the  two 
brothers,  Francis  and  Robert,  were  sent  abroad  upon  their 
travels,  under  the  care  of  Mr.  Marcombcs.  They  em- 
barked at  Rye,  in  Sussex,  and  from  thence  proceeded  tb 
Dieppe,  in  Normandy;  thfen  they  travelled  by  land  to 
Rouen,  to  Paris,  and  from  tbence  to  Lyons ;  from  which  city 
tiiey  continued  their  journey  to  Geneva,  where  his  go-» 
vernor  bad  a  family ;  atid  there  th^  two  gentlemen  pursued 
their  studies  quietly,  and  without  interruption.  Mr.  Boyle, 
during  his  stay  here,  resumed  hts  acquaintance  with  the 
mathematics,  or  ^t  lea:st  with  the  elements  of  that  science, 
of  which  he  had  before  gained  some  knowledge.  For  be 
telh  us  in  his  own  memoirs,  that  while  he  was  at  Eton,^ 
and  afflicted  with  an  ague,  before  he  was  ten  years  old, 
by  way  of  diverting  his  melancholy,  they  made  him  read 
Amadis  de  Gaul,  and  other  romantic  books,  which  pro- 
dueed  such  redtles^ness  in  him,  that  he  was*  obliged  to 
apply  himself  to  the  extraction  of  the  square  and  cube 
roots,  and  to  the  more  laborious  operations  of  algebra,  in 
order  to  fix  and  settle  the  volatility  of  his  fancy. 

While  he  remained  at  Geneva,  he  made  some  excursions 
to  visit  the  adjacent  country  of  Savoy,  and  even  proceeded 
so  far  as  to  Grenoble  in  Dauphin6.  He  took  a  view  idso 
df  those  wild  mountains,  where  Bruno,  the  first  author  of 
the  Carthusian  monks,  lived  in  solitude^  and  Where  the 
first  and  chief  of  the  Carthusian  abbies  is  seated.  Mr^ 
Boyle  relattes,  that  ^'  the  devil,  taking  advantage  of  that 
deep  raving  melancholy,  so  sad  a  place,  his  own  humour,^ 
which  was  naturally  grs^ve  and  serious^  a^nd  thQ  ^.trang^ 


B  O  Y  L  E»  333 

•     » *  •  .    •  • 

slories  and  pictiires  he  found  there  of  Bri^t^o^  s^geste4 
such  strange  and  hidepus  (jistra^tiAg  doubts,  pf^ome, of  th)^ 
fundamentals  of  Christianity,  that  thougb>  he  says^  his  looks 
did  little  betray  his  thoughts,  nothing  but  the  forbidden- 
ness  of  self-despatch  hindered  his  acting  it/^ .  He  labcmred 
under  this  perplexity  and  melancholy  many  months  :  bijt 
at  length  getting  out  of  it,  he  set  about  inquiring  ^nta  the. 
grounds  and  foundation  of  the  Chrlstiaa  religioa^  '^  that 
so/*  says  he,  "  though  he  believed  niore  than  be  cauj<i 
comprehend,  h^  niight  not  believp  ojiore  than  be  cpuld, 
prove;  and  owe  ^he  steadfastness  of  hi?  fai,tb  to  so  ppor  a. 
cause,  as  the  ignoraace  of  what  niight  be  objected  agaip^t 
it**  He  became  confirmed  in  the  b^ief  of  Chi;istian^y, 
and  in  a  convictiion  of  its  truth ;  yet,  iipi  spp  he  say^,  but, 
that  '^  the  fieetipg  clouds  of  doubt  aud  disbj^lief  did  n^veC 
after  cease  ijiow  and  then  to*  darken,  th,e  serenity  of  his 
quiet;  which  made  hioi  often  say,  that  iiijectiqns  of  .this 
nature  were  such  a  disease  to  hjU  faith,  as  the  t9otlf-a^t;v  i^ 
to  the  body;  for  though  it  be  not  mortal^  it  is  very  trou« 
blesome.*' 

September  1641,  he  quitted  Geneva,  after  havipg  s^ent. 
oDe*and-tweuty  months  in  that  city ;  and,  passing  through 
Switzerland,  and  the  country  of  the  Grisons,  entered  Lom- 
bardj.     Then,  taking  his  route  through  Bei'gamo,,  Bres* 
cia,  and  Verona,    he,  arrived  at  Venice ;    where  having 
made  a  short  stay^  h^  returned  to^the  continent,  and  ^pent 
the  winter  at  Florence^    Here  he  employed  his  spare  hours 
in  reading  the  n^odern  history  jn .  Italian,  and  the  works  of . 
the  celebrated  astronomer  Galileo^  who  died  at  a  .village 
near  this  city  durii^g  Mr.  Boyle's  residence  in  it.     It  was  at 
Florence  that  he  acquired  the  Itali.aq  language;  which  he^ 
underst9od  perfectly,  though  he  never,  spoke  it  so  fluently 
as  the  French.     Of  this  indeed  he  was  such  a  master,  that, . 
as  occasion  required,  he  passed  for  a  native  of  that  country 
in  more  places  tha^  ;one  during/ his  travels. 

March  1642,.  hp  began,  his  journey  frQm  Florence,  to 
Rom^,  which  took  up  but  five  days.     He  surveyed  the  nu- 
merous curiosities  of  that,  city  ;  among  which,  he  tells  ns, 
**  he  had  the  fortune  to  see  pope  Urban  VUI.  at  chapel, 
with    the  cardinals ;    who,    severally   appearing    mighty 
prinqes,  in  that  asaeipnbly  looked  like  a  company  of  com* . 
mon  fiiars.**     He  visited  the  adjacent  villages,  which  had. 
any  tiling  cur^ovis  or  antique  belonging  to  them  ;  and  bad^ 
fffpbably  vo^de  ^  longer  $t*y,  hftd  J»9t  the  beat  of  ttje  olj-i 


334  B  O  Y  L  E. 


mate  disagreed  with  his  brother.  He  returned  to  Florenc^i 
from  thence  to  Leghorn,  and  so  by  sea  to  Genoa.  Then 
passing  through  the  county  of  Nice,  he  crossed  the  sea  at 
Antibes,  where  h^  incurred  some  danger  for  refusing  to 
honour  the  crucifix :  from  whence  he  went  to  Marseilles 
by  land.  He  was  in  that  city  in  May  1642,  when  he  re« 
ceived  his  father's  letters,  which  informed  him  of  the  re- 
bellion broke  out  in  Ireland,  and  how  difficultly  he  had 
procured  the  250/.  then  remitted  to  them,  in  order  to  help 
them  home.  But  they  never  received  this  money ;  and 
were  obliged  to  go  to  Geneva  with  their  governor  Mar- 
combes,  who  supplied  them  with  as  much  at  least  as  car- 
ried them  thither.  They  continued  there  a  considerable 
time,  without  either  advices  or  supplies  from  England  : 
upon  which  Mr.  Marcbmbes  was  obliged  to  take  up  some 
jewels  on  his  own  credit,  which  were  afterwards  disposed 
of  with  as  little  loss  as  possible ;  and  with  the  money  tlius 
raited,  they  continued  their  journey  for  England,  whither 
they  arrived  in  1 644.  On  his  arrival  Mr.  Boyle  found  h& 
father  dead ;  and  though  the  earl  had  made  an  ample  pro- 
vision for  him,  as  well  by  leaving  him  his  .manor  of  Stal- 
bridge  in  England,  as  other  considerable  estates  in  Ireland, 
yet  it  was  some  time  before  he  could  receive  any  money. 
However,  he  procured  protections  for  his  estates  in  both 
kingdoms  from  the  powers  then  in  being ;  from  whom  also 
he  obtained  leave  to  go  over  to  France  for  a  short  space, 
probably  to  settle  accounts  with  his  governor  Mr.  Mar- 
combes  :  but  he  could  not  be  long  abroad,  since  we  find 
him  at  Cambridge  the  December  following. 

March  1646,  he  retired  to  his  manor  at  Stalb ridge,, 
where  he  resided  for  the  most  part  till  May  1650.  A  room 
is  still  shown  here,  in  which  our  author  studied,  and  where 
he  is  said  to  have  made  his  earliest  experiments  in  natural 
philosophy  and  chemistry.  He  made  excursions,  sometimes 
to  London,  sometimes  to  Oxford  ;  and  in  February  \  647, 
be  went  over  to  Holland ;  but  he  made  no  considerable 
stay  any  where.  During  his  retirement  at  Stalbridge,'  he 
applied  himself  with  incredible  industry  to  studies  of  va* 
rious  kinds,  to  those  of  natural  philosophy  and  chemistry 
in  particular,  and  omitted  no  opportunity  of  obtaining  the 
acquaintance  of  persons  distinguished  for  parts  and  learn- 
ing, to  whom  he  was  in  every  respect  a  ready,  useful,  ge- 
nerous assbtant,  and  with  whom  he  held  a  constant  cor- 
respondence.    He  was  also  one  of  the  first  members  df 


5  O  Y  L  E.  835 

that  smull,  but  learned  body  of  men,  which,  when  alt  aca- 
demical studies  were  interrupted  by  the  civil  wars,  567 
creted  themselves  about  1645  ;  and  held  private  meetings, 
first  in-  LondQn,  afterwards  at  Oxford,  for  the  sake  of  can- 
vassing subjects  of  natural  knowledge,  upon  that  plan  of 
experiment  which  lord  Bacon  had  delineated.  They  styled 
themselves  then  the  Philosophical  College  ;  and  after  the 
restoration,  when  they  were  incorporated  and  distinguished 
evenly,  took  the  name  of  the  Royal  Society.  His  retired 
course  of  life,  however,  could  not  hinder  his  reputation 
from  rising  to  such  a  height,  as  made  him  be  taken  notice 
of  by  some  of  the  most  eminent  members  of  the  republic 
of  letters;  so  that,  in  1651,  we  find  Dr.  Nathanael  High- 
more,  a  very  eminent  physician,  dedicating  to  him  a  book, 
under  the  title  of  ^^  The  history  of  Generation  :"  examin- 
ing the  several  opinions  of  divers  authors,  especially  that 
of  sir  Kenelm  Digby,  in  his  Piscourse  upon  Bodies. 

In  1652,  he  went  over  to  Ireland,  in  order  to  visit  and 
settle  his  estates  in  that  kingdom ;  and  returned  from 
thence  in  August  1653.  He  was  soon  after  obliged  to  go 
over  to  Ireland  again ;  where  he  had  spent  his  time  very 
unpleasantly,  if  it  had  not  been  for  his  intimate  friend  and 
acquaintance,  sir  William  Petty,  in  whose  conversation  he 
w^s  extremely  happy.  In  the  summer  of  1654,  he  re« 
turned  to  £ugiand,  and  put  in  execution  a  design  he  had 
formed  some  time,  of  residing  at  Oxford ;  where  he  con* 
tinued  for  the  most  part  till  April  1668,  and  then  heset* 
tied  at  London  in  the  house  of  his  sister  lady  Ranelagh  in 
Pall  Mall.  At  Oxford  he  chose  to  live  in  the  honse  of 
Mr.  Crosse,  an  apothecary,  rather  than  in  a  college  ;  for 
the  sake  of  his  health,  and  because  be  had  ihore  room  to 
make  experiments.  Oxford  was  indeed  at  that  time  the 
only  place  in  England  where  Mr.  Boyle  could  have  lived 
with  much  satisfaction;  for  here  he  found  himself  sur- 
rounded with  a  number  of  learned  friends,  such  as  WiU 
Rins,  Wallis,  Ward^  Willis,  Wren,  &c.  suited  exactly  to 
his  taste,  and  who  had  resorted  thither  for  the  same  reasons 
tliat  he  had  done;  the  philosophical  society  being  now 
removed  from  London  to  Oxford.  It  was  during  his  resi- 
dency here  that  he  invented  that  admirable  engine,  the 
air-pump ;  which  was  perfected  for  him  by  the  very  inge- 
nious Mr.  Robert  Hooke,  in  i678  or  1679.  By  this  he 
made  several  experiments,  and  was  enabled  to  discover  and 
dcimonstrate  several  qualities  of  th,e  air>  so  aa^  to  lay  a  fouu* 


33^    '  B  O  V  L  E. 

dation  for  9  completer  theory.     He  was,  iK>t,  hoit^eVer,  s^ii^ 

fied  with  this,  biit  laboured. incessantly  in  collectiogt aa^ 
digestiug,  chiefly  from  h,h  owq  experimei^s,  th^  .i^ateriiriA 
requisite  ibr  this  pqrppse.  He  declared  against  the  pbil<>>- 
sophy  of  Aristotle,  as  having  in  it  more  of  words  tbaj^ 
things,  promising  much  apd  performing  littl^ ;  and, as  gi^f^^ 
ing  the  uiT^nxions  of  men  for.  indubitable  proofs,  .i(is^9^ 
of  building  upoa  observation  and  experiment  He  w^  so 
zealous  for,  and  so  careful  about,  this  true  method  .q£ 
learning  by  expierime.nt;,  that,  though, the  Cartesian  ph.i-^ 
losophy  then  made  a  great  noise  in  the  world,  ^^t  h^  wQui4 
never  be  persuaded  to  read  the  works,  qf  I>^cartes  j^  for 
fear  he  should  be  amused  and  led  away  b|y  plausibJi^Q  ,^i^ 
counts  of  things,  founded  011  fancy,  aud  laer/^y- bypQH 
thetical.  ..  .  ..    ■  v- 

But  philosophy  and.  inquiries  into  natur^^  though,  theji 
engaged  bvs  , attention  .cj^.^p'y^  ^i^  not  occupy  it  e^ifiirely  ^ 
i^nc^  we  find,  that  he  stiU  continue^. ,  to^  pursue  critipf^jt 
and  theological  studies.  In  these  be  had  th^  assistan^^^ 
sooie  great  n»ep>  particularly .  Dr.  £dwaf:d  I^pcQ<pk,>i]\^ 
'^homas  Hyde,  and  M^.  Sam^uel  Clarke,  ^\\  of  gneaA  ^w^ 
nence  for  their  skill  in  the  oriental  lang[i:^g.es,.  ..He  had( 
also  a  strict  intimacy  with  Dr.  Thomas  .Qarl^w^^.^i  ^hat.Ujao^ 
head-keeper  of  the  Bodleian  library,  .and  afterward^  bishopr 
of  Lincoln,  a  man  of  yarioi^s  and  extensive  leaf  ni^g. .  Jo^ 
1656^,.  Dr,  Wallis,  so  distinguished  for  his  mathemati<c^v 
and  philosophical  learning,  dedicated  to  him  his  ^c^^ljLei^ 
treatise  pn  the  Cyclpid.  This  year  also  Mr.  Boy}e,  ibeiii^ 
acquainted  with  the  unhappy  circumstances  pf  the,}.^arAf^. 
Sanderson,  afterwards  bishop  of  jLincoln,  who  bad  iost.^^ 
his  preferments  for  his  attachment  to  the  royal  p^rtyi;  co|ir$ 
fenced  upon  him  an  honorary  st;ipend  of  SoLs^  year...  Thia.^ 
stipend  was  given  as  an  encouragement  to  that  excelleat; . 
master  of  reasoning,,  to  apply  Jtiimself  to  the.writing.of  c?is^ 
of  conscience :  and  accordingly  he  printed  his  l^cturesl 
**  de  obligatione  conscientiae,"  which  he  r^ad  ^t  Oxfpi^ ' 
1647,  and  dedicated  them,  to  his  friend  ajad  patron.  Xhi9tl 
dedipation  bears  date  Nov.  22,  1659.         .      ,  -^     •..- 

Upon  the  restoration  of  Cbj^rles  H.  he  was  tr^^ted  wjjJb* 
girjsat.  civility  and  respect  by. the  king,  as  weU%as.  by  the^ 
two  gre^t  ministers,  Southarppton  and  Cjaf^ndon.^.  Ji/t£i 
w^  siolicited  by  the  latter. to  enter  into  orders,  fpr  Mito* 
Boyle's  distinguished  learning  and  unblemished  r^p^ti^^prj^ 
tion  iXidtUP^  k>rd  Clarendon  to  think  that  so  very^j^e^f^^^ 


BOYLE.  S3t 

ftble  a  personage  would  do  great  honour  to  the  clergy. 
Mr.  Boyle  considered  all  this  with  due  attention  i  but  re- 
flected, that  in  his  present  «ituation^  whatever  he  wrote 
upon  religion,  would  have  so  much  the  greater  weight,  as 
coining  from  a  layman ;  since  he  well  knew,  that  the  irre- 
ligious fortified  themselves  against  all  that  the  clergy  could 
offer,  by  supposing  and  saying  that  it  was  their  trade,  and 
that  they  were  paid  for  it  He  considered  likewise  that^ 
in  point  of  fortune  and  character,  he  needed  no  accessions ;' 
and  indeed  he  never  had  any  appetite  for  either.  But 
bishop  Burnet,  who  preached  his  funeral  sermon,  and  to 
whom  Mr.  Boyle  communicated  memorandums  concerning 
his  own  life>  tells  us,  that  what  had  the  greatest  weight  in 
determining  his  judgment  was,  ^^  the  not  feeling  within 
himself  any  motion  or  tendency  of  mind  which  he  could 
safely  esteem  a  call  from  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  so  not  ven-^ 
turing  to  take  holy  orders,  lest  he  should  be  found  to  have 
lied  unto  it.'*  He  chose  therefore  to  pursue  his  philoso-^ 
phical  studies  in  such  a  manner  as  might  be  most  effectual 
lor  the  support  of  religion  ;  and  began  to  communicate  to 
the  world  the  fruits  of  those  studies.  The  first  of  them 
was  printed  at  Oxford,  1660,  in  8vo,  under  the  title  of 
1.  '^  New  experiments,  physico-mechanical,  touching  the 
Upring  of  the  Air  and^its  effects,  made  for  the  most  part 
in  B  new  pneumatical  engine:  addressed  to  his  nephew 
the  loifd  Dungarvan."  This  work  was  attacked  by  Fran- 
ciseus  Linus  and  Mr.  Hobbes,  which  occasioned  Mr.  Boyle 
to,  subjoin  to  a  second  edition  of  it,  printed  at  London^ 
r662,  in  4to,  "  A  Defence,"  &c.  in  which  he  refuted  the 
objections  of  those  philosophers  with  equal  candour^  clear- 
ness, and  civility.  A  thitd  edition  was  printed  in  1682^ 
4to.  2.  "  Seraphic  Love ;  or,  some  motives  and  incen-^ 
tives  to  the  Love  of  God,  pathetically  discoursed  of  in  a 
letter  to  a  friend,*'  1660,  8vo.  This  piece,  though  it  did 
u^t  appear  till  now,  was  finished  as  early  as  the  year  1648* 
It  has  run  through  many  editions,  and  been  translated  into 
Latin.  The  fame  of  Mr.  Boyle's  great  learning  and  abi* 
lities  extended  itself  even  at  this  time  beyond  the  bounds 
of  our  island,  so  that  the  grand  duke  of  Tuscany,  a  prinpe 
distinguished  for  learning,  was  extremely  desirous  of  a 
cOrretpondence  with  him  r  df  which  he  was  advertised  in 
a  letter,  dated  Oct.  10,  1660,  from  Mr.  Southwell^  then 
resident  at  Florence.  3.  <<  Certain  physiologicar  Essays 
and  other  Tracts,**  1661,  4to»  They  were  printed  again 
Vol.  VL  Z 


9St  BOY  L  E. 

in  Ufid,  4tt9  with  largfi  %al<iitiw9,  wpeei^Vy  of  ^  A  Dbf* 
coi]f9fi  a{)out  (tfa«  abaoliita  i^sf  of  bodies  :^'  md  were  trans* 
Iftted  into  Latin,  i.  *^  Saeptijcal  Gfaembt/*  ififie,  Svo,  • 
i^itry  cpri49U6  aad  esxeUent  ivork ;  reprinted  in  1679,  Sw, 
with'  tbe  addition  of  divers  experiments  aud  naten  afa&ut 
the  pro^ucit>Ieness  of  aheaiiical  principles. 

In  1662,  a  graai  of  the  forfeited  itPfMroprialienf  iq  lh« 
]^ingiloin  of  Ireland  was  obtained  from  the  king  in  Mr. 
T^oyWs  nanae,  though  without  bis  knowledge ;  which  ae^ 
yertheless  did  not  hinder  him  from  interesting  bimseif  velry 
warmly  for  procuring  the  application  of  thpse  impropria9> 
tions  to  the  promoting  religion  and  learning.  He  iBter-»> 
p!0se4  likewise  in  favour  of  the  corporation  for  propagating 
the  gosp/el  in  New  England ;  and  was  y^y  instrumental  in 
obtaining  a  decree  in  the  court  of  chancery,  f^r  re&toiirtg 
to  that  corporation  an  estate  which  bad  been  injnribusljr 
repossessed  by  one  col.  Bedingfield,  a  pi^isl;,  wb9  hdid 
sold  it  to  them  fojT  a  valuable  consideration.  His  actimji 
in  matters  of  this  nature  was  so  much  the  more  honourable, 
as  bis  inclination  led  him  generally  to  be  privi|te  and  ni^ 
tired.  But  whenever  the  cause  of  virtue,  learning, .  or  j^-^ 
ligion,  required  it,  his  interest  and  endeavours,  were  newe 
wanting ;  and  what  is  very  remarkable,  were  seldom  eni-a 
ployed  but  with  success.  In  16G3,  the  royal  society  l^eing* 
incorporated  by  king  Charles  II.  Mr.  Boyle  was  appointed 
one  of  the  council ;  anil,  as  he  might  be  justly  redEoned 
among  the  founders  of  that  learned  body,  so  he  continued 
qne  of  its  ^most  useful  and  industrious  isiembers  during  tbe 
whole  course  of  bis  life. 

In  Jqne  1663  he  published,  5.  ^^  Considerations  touching 
t)ie  usefulness  of  experimental  Natural  Philosophy,'*  4tOy 
reprinted  the  year  following.  6.  <^  Experiments  and  cob-» 
^derations  upon  Colours ; '  to  which  was  added  a  letter^ 
containing  observations  on  a  diamond  tbat  shines  in  th« 
dark,*'  1663,  8vo,  reprint^  in  the  same  size  in  1670.  It 
was  also  translated  into  Latin.  This  treatise  is  full  di  , 
curious  and  useful  reqasurks  on  the  hitherto  uaaxplained 
doBtrine  of  light  and  colours ;  in  which  he  sJiewa-gre^t 
judgment,  accuracy,  and  penetration,  and  mti^  he  said  to. 
have  led  the  way  to  that  mighty  genius,  the  gneaJ:  sir  Isaac 
Newton,  who  has  since  set  that  important  point  in  tb^ 
clearest  and  most  convincing  light  7.  ^^  Considc^cationa. 
upon  tlie  style  of  tjse  Holy  Scriptures,'^  1663,.  8vo.  A 
Lat^i  translation  of  it  waa  printed  at  Oxfpix),  where  mosi. 


9  0 1 1;'  It  §»9 

1^  hk  wtiiiogs  wprte  p^iblirfi^d  19  1  g€#.    U  .WW  m  mismt 
from  *  Uirg^r  w^rfc:  #nutl^  «  An  E^s^y  oa  $triptooe  f^ 

WMr.  Boyte. 

la  (^4  he  wi^  felect^^  intQ  lii9  g^oopftoy  of  the  rojr^l 

Ultn^;  ftml  W9^  all  1^  yedl*  tali^n  up  in  the  proiiecutifw 

pf  >^oiid  good  imgns,  Yfkieh  probably  was  the  r^ui^ 

\^y  bt  di^  not  send  fijbwi^  any  tr^atbe^  either  of  rdigioa 

or  philosophy.    Tjbe  year  following,  bsiwev^^  appeared^ 

§,  ^*  Occasional  EeflectioDs  »pon  «9v«tral  ^vfyjwtfi  ;  wk&teto 

19  pr«fi»e4  a  dipcoursa  about  meh  kind  of  itbongbts^'^ 

JP#5^  ^TOj  reprinted  io  1P69,  8vq.    Tbis  piec^  is  ad*» 

iire^^Qd  itp  Sophroma^  pud^r  whose  Bi»ni/e  b^  coan^eialed  tbat 

#f  bU  bt^j^vcid  ^6ter^  die .  vi^onnless  of  Ranelagh.    Jh^ 

^OM^t^  timm^lvfSA  are  on  la  ^Mt  variety  of  sulHecta^  wriif 

t#D  i^aoy  y^ars  beforie ;  $09ie  indc^uposi  trmaioecaj$i39n<^ 

jbiit  all  witti  gr^At  accuracy  pf  IwguagK^  much  wit,,  famtm 

Jeai^uiog,  and  in  a  wonderful  stndo  of  inoril  a^d  pious  fe«- 

£b^lion.     Yet  chi«  exposed  bim  to  the  ooly  ^vere.oeiaiaurt 

Ibial:  i^pt  was  pasted  upoo  hicn,  and  tb«t  too  from  no  le«a 

H.  man  i:h$tn  the  <^elebrated  dean  Sivifl; ;  who,  to  ridicule 

these  diaeourses,  wrote  '^  A  pious  meditatioD  upon  a  Broomf^ 

fiti^k,  in  the  style  of  the  booonrable  Mr.  Boyle.'^  A  certada 

^HTfter^  by  w^j  of  mabing  r^^riaaU  upon  Sfvift  lor  bis  ti^eatr 

x»ent  of  Mr.  Boyle,  which  he  affirms  to  he  as  cru^l  ani 

liojustasit  is  trivial  and  indecent,  baaob^rved^  that,froiia 

this  very  tiiealise,  which  he  has  thus  turned  into  ridicule^ 

be  borrowed  the  first  hint  of  bis  GiiUiv«^'s  Travels,    fit 

f^Oimds.  his  coojecture  upon  itb^  following  passage^  to  b^ 

lottod  in  the  Occasional  Heflections:  ^^  You  put  ine  xm 

tmnd.  of  a  ^ncy  of  your  frit^d  Mr.  Boyle,  who  was  saying 

l^at  he  bad  thoughts  of  making  a  short  roaiancic  story^ 

.ivbere   the  scene  ahould  be  laid  in  son^e  island  of  lih^ 

xoMtbem  oceanf  govei;ned  by  some  such  ratioaal  biwia  and 

Customs  as  those  of  the  Utopia  or  the  Njew  AtaUotis.    Aii4 

in :  this  country  ha  would  introduce  an  obsenung  qatii^^ 

}k»Jt^  upon  his  return  home  from  his  travels  made  in  EUc- 

jSQpe^  should  give  an  account  of  oiir  countries  and  mannem 

jLioder  feigned,  names ;  and  frequently  intimate  in  his  rer 

JiatioRSy  or  in  his  answers  to  questions  that  should  be  mftde 

hWy  the  reasons  of  his  wondmng  to  fiod  our  custofua  so 

extravagancy  and  differing  from  those  oi  bis  ovm  countrjf, 

JFor  your  frien4  imagined  that,  by  such  a  way  of  exposing 

xaany  of  our  praoticea^  we  aboold  lourselvea  be  brougbit 

'   Z  2 


y 


»4d  8i  d  ^  L  ^    ' 

tmawares  to  condemn,  or  perhaps  to  laugh  at  them ;  an^ 
should  at  least  cease  to  woAder,  to  find  other  nations  think 
them  as  extravagant  as  we  think  the  manners  of  the  Dutch 
and  Spaniards,  as  they  are  represented  in  our  travellers^ 
books.^'  The  same  year  Mr.  Boyle  published  an  important 
work,  entitled^  9.  "  New  experiments  and  observations 
upon  Cold ;  or,  an  experimental  history  of  Cold  begun  :. 
.with  several  pieces  thereunto  annexed,"  1665,  8vo,  re- 
printed in  1683,  4to. 

His  excellent  character  in  iaill  respects  had  procured  hiofi 
so  much  esteem  and  afFection  with  the  king,  as  well  as 
with  every  body  else,  that  his  majesty,  unsolicited,  no- 
minated him  to  the  provostship  of  Eton  college  in  Augi^t 
1665.     This  was  thought  the  fittest  employment  for  niin 
in  the  kingdom ;  yet,   aftet*  mature   deliberation,  though 
contrary  to  the  advice  of  all  his  friends,  he  absolutely  de- 
dined  it,  for  which  he  had  several  reasons.     He  thought 
the  duties  of  that  employment  might  interfere  with  his 
studies :  he  was  unwilling  to  quit  that  course  of  life,  which, 
by  experience,  he  found  so  suitable  to  his  temper  and 
constitution  :  and,  above  all,  he  was  unwilling  to  enter 
into  orders :  which  he  was  persuaded  was  necessary  to  qua- 
lify himself  for  it.     In  this  year  and  the  next,  he  was  much 
interested  in  an  affair  that  made  a  very  great  noise  in  the 
Worl^ ;  and  the  decision  of  which,  from  the  high  reputa**- 
tion  he  had  gained,  was  in  a  manner  universally  expected 
from  him.     The  case  was  this :  one  Mr.  Valentine  Great- 
racks,  an  Irish  gentleman,  persuaded  himself  that  he  had 
$1  peculiar  gift  of  curing  diseases  by  stroking ;  in  which 
though  he  certainly  succeeded  often,  yet  he  sometimes 
failed ;  and  this  occasioned  a  great  controversy^  in  which 
most  of  the  parties  concerned  addressed  themselves  to  Mr. 
Boyle.     Among  the  rest,  the  famous  Mr.  Hennr  Stubbe 
wrote  a  treatise  upon  this  subject,  entitled  *^  The  mira- 
culous "Conformist ;  or,  an  account  of  several  marvellous 
cures,  performed  by  the  stroking  of  the  hands  pf  Mr.  Vu- 
Jentine  Greatracks ;  with  a  physical  discourse  thiereupon, 
in  a  letter  to  the  honourable  Robert  Boyl^,  esq.*'     Mn 
Boyle  received  this  book  upon  the  8th  of  Mareh  1666  ; 
and  wrote  a  letter  to  Mr.  Stubbe  the  next  morning,  which 
shews  how  extremely  tender  Mr.  Boyle  was  of  religion ;  and 
how  jealous  of  admitting  and  countenancing  any  principle 
or  opinions  that  he  thought  might  have  a  tendency  to  hUrt 
or  discredit  it.    But  what  is  most  incumbent  ua  us  to  ob« 


B  O  t  L  E;  m 

-  serve  at  presient  is,  tb?it  this  letter  is  certainly  one  of  the 
clearest  testimonies  of  Mr.  Boyle's  vast  abilities  and  ex-^* 
tensive  knowledge;  that  is  apy  where  extant     It  is  a  very 
long  letter,  upwards  of  twenty  pages  in  8vo  ;  very  learned 
and  very  judicious;  wonderfully  correct  in  the  diction  and. 
style,  remarkably  clear  in  the  method  and  form,  highly 
exact  in  the  obseiVations  and  remarks,  and  abounding  in 
pertinent  and  curious  facts  to  illustrate  his  reasoning.     Yet 
,it  appears  from  the  letter  itself,  that  it  was  written  within 
the  .compass  of  9,  single  morning  ;  a  fact  we  should  have, 
imagined  next  to  impossible,  if  it  had  not  been  attested^ 
^  by  one  whose  veracity  was  i>ever.  questioned,  that  is,  by 
Mr.  Boyle  himself.     In  1^66,  Dr,  Wallis  addressed  to  Mn 
Boyle  his  piece  upon  the  Tides;  as  did  the  famous  phj-^ 
sician,  Br.  Sydenham,  his  method  of  curing  fevers,  grounq>r. 
ed  upon  his  owp  observations.     Mr.  Boyle  likewise  pub- 
lished that  year,  10. ':^tIydrosta^ical  par4d9xes  madeout 
by  new  experiments^  for  the  most  part  physical  arid  e^sy,^'* 
8vo,  which  he  printed  at  the  requesj:  of  the.  royal  society, 
,  those  experiments  having  been  made  at  their  desire  about 
two  years  before.  1 1.  "  The  Origin  of  Forms  and  Qualities, 
according  to  the  Corpuscular .  philosophy,   illustrated  by 
Qonsiderations  a^d  experiments/'  16616,  4tp,  and  reprinted^ 
|he  yeair  following,  in  8vo.     Thi3  treatise  did  great  honoi|r. 
to  Mr.  Boyle,  whether  we.  consider  the  quickness  of  his. 
>yit,  the  depth  ;of  his  judgment,  or  his  indefatigable  pains, 
'in  searching  after  truth*     We  must  not  forget  to  observe, 
that,  both  in.  this  and  the  former  year,  he  communicated 
to  nis.  friend  Mr.  Oldenburg,  who  was  secretary  to  tlie. 
royal  society,  several  curious  and  excellent  short  treatises 
of  his  own,  upon  a  great  variety  of.  subjects,  and  others 
transmitted^  to  bioi  by  his  learned  friends  both  at  hofne 
and  abroad,  which  are  printed  and  preserved  in  the  Phi-, 
losophical  Transactions^    Another  thing  it  may  not  be  im- 
^  proper  to  observe>  that,  in  the  warm  controversy  raised  by 
JMLr.'Stubbe  at  this  time  about  the  royal  society,  Mr.  Boyle 
'  (Reaped  all   censiire ;   and   though  Mr.   Stubbe,    among 
others,  attacked  it  in  several  pamphlets  with,  all  the  fmry 
\  iip^ginable,  yet  he  preserved  a  just  respect  for  Mr.  Boyle'sr 
,  great  learning  and  abilities,  who,  ou  his  part,  shewed  a 
sing^lax'  goodness  of  temper  in  bearing,  as  he  did,  with  st> 
much  indecent  treatment  from   a  person  whom  he  had 
highly,  obliged,  because  he  thought  him^  with  all  hisfaults^^ 
cjipable  of  being  useful  to  the  world,  i 


S4t  B  d  Y  t  R 

Abti>iii  thh  t^^y  nkm4ty,  iist^  Mr.  Boyle  resdlvai  eo 
^tU  hifnNrtl  in  Lotifdon  fet  life }  and  removed,  for  tba^ 

?tirpo«e$'  14)  tW  bous^  o(  bis  ^kter,  tb^  lady  Ranetagb^  tn 
M  Mai).  Tbiff  ikU  io  tb^  inftfiifo  benelil  ^  tbe  learned 
>a  #etl€ra),  and  ^rtidtiWIy  to  tbe  advantage  of  the  royak 
^OQiety ;  to  wboM  b^  gate  great  a<«d  coiuinoal  assistacnaejr 
» tke  setteral  pieces^  €fomi^aakeited  to  them  from  time  to 
liniie,  and  prmted  ii)  tbeir  Trafisaotie<n«y  abundaotly  testify^ 
Those  v$(bo  dppkted  to  bimi  ekh^r  to  dei»pe  bis  help,  or  to 
ifo4»«nuoi*6ate  to  bim  amy  iie«r  dittcoveriies  in  science,  hef 
llad  bi»  o#l  hMTs  for  reoeivif^;  otherwise  it  is  easy  to 
idonoeiv^^  that  he  would  bav<^  bad^  vety  little  of  bis  time  t0 
bitns^N:  Bat,  besMles  tbese^  be  kept  a  very  extensivo 
eovrdsj^denoe  with  per$(ms  of  the  gresstest  figure^  and 
litost  famous  for  learning,  m  all  parta  of  £uro{^. 

In  1669  be  pi»blisbed,  12.  ^^  A  eontrnuation  of  n^MP 
4t]iieri«nents  touebing  tbe  spring^  atld  weigbli  of  the  Air;*' 
to  trbich  i#  added  a  dis^otirs^  of  the  atmospfaer^s  ol  con-* 
sitfent  bodieil  ;^  ^id  the  ^odio  year  hH  revised  and  mad# 
lHany  additiotia  to  se^er*)  ^  bts  fofUktt  tracts,  some  of 
which,  9&  we  h^re  b«^6r#  observecf,  were  iv^rw  transtateit 
ilftto  Latm,  in  order  to  graM^fy  tbe  e»ridiu9  abroiNJi.  I3v 
^'^Ti^aets^  about  the  eostnical.qu«ilities  of  things;  cosmical 
'  suspidons ;  tbe  temperatiiFe  of  Ifae  ^ubtefi»anean^  regfons  i 
ate  bpttocn  Of  tbe  sea ;-  to  whicb  is  prefixed  ao  imrodoctionf 
•a  tl^  history  of  parti^lar  qoabeies/*  1670,  3vo.  Tbki 
b06k  ocfd^iOned  mucb  speeukition,  aA  i«  ^eeoneidf  w  6«n» 
tMi  a  vast  treasure  of  new  knowledge  wbicb  bad  nereis, 
be^n  eotiaotanreated  to  tbe  world  before;  and  tbi»  to<v 
gi^oMKi^  ttpon  actoa)  etitpei'irnentd  and  argutnema  justljf 
drawn  fre^  tb^iti,  instead  of  that  notional  and  eon^eetaral 
^iki»^y,  whieb  in  tbe  beginning  of  the  seventeeivdi 
eentury  hdd  beea-  so  nfiiieb  in  fasbi6n. 

In  tbe  midst  of  all  tb^se  studies  an4  libe«fs>fer  A^  put^f 
hfd,  he  was  attack^  by  a  severe  p*#alyti^  distetilper,  of 
wbicb,  though  no«  witbout  great  d^ffieullty,'  be  got  the  bet-^. 
ts^9  by  strictly  adhering^  todf^rOper  r^gi<ilien^;ai>d  rotdrvHtig 
to  hi^  pursuits',  m  1679,  he  p>ufb{ish^d,»  14.  ^  eonskiei^ 
fion^o*  ^  asefu^btes9  of  experimental  and  ttatu<raf  (AIih 
josopby,  the  seeond  part,*'  4to.  And^  IJ^  ^  A  c6&0^ 
Sfon  of  tFaets  vpon  sieveral  tfsef£rl  and  importaiM  poiMa  of 
-fi^meticnl  j^bffosopby,^*  4to;'  both  wbieh  work&were  r^ceivoA 
as  new  ai>d  valuable gffts  to  the  teamed  w^rld.  16.  **  Am^ 
^ssay  about  the  origin*  and  viftae  of  6ie$l«i*^  (f72>  »ttd^ 


B  Q  T  L  B.  34S 

17.  <<A  eoltectkm  of  tracts  upon  the  re1iitk)if  b^twMh 

fitoi^  and  air ;  and  several  other  i9sreful  and  cmrknis  svb- 

jeete )"  i>eside9  ftirnishingy  in  this  and  mtbe  former  year^  a 

great  number  o^  short  dissertations  upon  d  vstst  rtri&tj  of 

ttrpit»t    iddi'esled  t^  tb^    royal  soetetj,   and  inserted  in 

tbeif  TralRsaetions^     18.  "  Essays  on  the  strawge  subtlety, 

gireat  ^caeyy  and  del^rrninate   nature  of  EfBoria;'*  t6 

wbieb  were  add<^  variety  of  ^x|[x^rinehts  on  other  subjects, 

167^^  8v6.    The  ftame  yeai^  Anthony  le  Grand,  the  famous 

Gartesiai)  phildsopUer^  printed  hi^  <^  Histqria  Ntturaef,'*  &o. 

at  Loi>don,  and  dedicated  it  to  Mr.  Boyle^     H^  doesjus^ 

tice  to  Mr.  Boyle's  universal  reputation  for  extensive  tearii^ 

ir^  ik,nd  amazing  slsg^ky  in  evei^  branch  of  experimental 

pbiiesof^by  ;  and  says  of  biuay  ithat  Avefrroei  sard  of  Aris- 

feotle,  that  naiture  bad  formed  bin^  as  an  6xefinr]ailAr  or  patter^ 

ef  the  highest  perfectionf  to  which  humarnCy  can  attam. 

i9j  '*  A  colh^tion  of  tracts  upon  the  saltness  of  the  sea,. 

the  iMistuve  of  the  atry  the  natural  and  ^ret^rnatuvalf  stmt 

af  boeKes;  to  whi(^h  is  pi^efixed  a  dialogue  concerning  dold/' 

167*,  8vo;     20.  "  The  excellency  of  theology  cotopvred 

with  natural  philosofpby,?*  1673,  8yo.     21.  **AooHectid«l 

of  trirctsy  e6ntaitiing  suspicions  about  bidden  4°^^^^  ^ 

the  air  ^  with  an  appendix  toucfaihg  celestial  magnnets;  2sHi^ 

daadvetdiotis  upon  Mr.  Hobbes's  pfoblenlk  about  a*  vaemiiA ; 

a  discourse  of  the  eause  of  attraction  dnd  s^hetsom,"  1674^ 

BVo.     ^.  **  Some  coosidei^ti6ns'  abou^  the  rebonciletble- 

ness  of  reasort  ^d  religion;   By  T.  E.  a  laymfan;    T6'  whidi 

is  annexed,  a  discourse  about  the  possibility  of  the  lElesur- 

rection  by  Mr.  Boyle/'  1675,  8to;  both  these  j^ieces  v^ere 

of  his  writing ;  only  h^  thbught  fit  to  mAik  the  for&er  HWk 

the  final  letters  of  his  name.     Among  other  papers  that  he 

communicated  this  yent  fo  the  royal  spciety,  ihei€^\^€t6 

two'  di'^coursies,  connectedt  into  one,  that  deserve*  particular 

notice.     The  former  wa^  entitled  "  An  experitnenftal  dSfS^ 

cotit**ef  of  quicksilver  growing  hot  i^ith  gold ;''  the  other*  re* 

lated  to  the  same  subject ;  and  both  of  them  eot^tained 

diseot<6):ie$  of  the  utmost  impo«atice  *.    In  1676,  he  pnlf^ 

4^  To  lie  d6iiVlhced'of  tVis,  the  rea-  "  Ye<terday,  reading  the  two  last 

^f  may  peruse  the  followiag  passages  Philosophical  Transactions,  I  had  an 

cf  a  letter  written  by  Mr.  (afterwards  opportunity  to   consider  Mr.  Boyle's 

ihf  IJfaac  I^ewtoh  to  NFr.  Otdenbuig,  uncommon  experiment  about  the  in* 

tfe  secretary  of   the   Itoyal  Society^  calescence  of  gold  and  mercury.      ( 

■dri^di&k  odcasion  of  it.    The  letter  is  Believe  the  fingers  of  ipany  will  itch  U^ 
dted    ffosi    Caoobrldgey     Xprll    2^,  '  be  at  the  knowledge  of  the  preparation 

H^76«  of  such  a  oierciuy  ^  itnd  for  that  nd 


9U 


BOYLE. 


lisbed^  23.  ^'Experimeiits  and  notes  about  the  meohantoal 
origin  or  production  of  particular  qualities,  in  several  dis* 
courses  on  a  great  variety  of  subjects,  and,  among  therest^ 
of  Electricity."  ,  ; 

He  had  bean  many  years  a  director  of  the  East  India 
company,  and  very  useful  in  this  capacity  to  that  great 
body,  especially  in  procuring  their  charter ;  and  the  onl^ 
return  be  expected  for  his  labour  was,  the  engaging  tb^ 
company  to  come  to  some  resolution  in,  favour  of  the  pro4 
pagation  of  the  gospel,,  by  means  of  their  flonrisbing  fac^ 
tories  in  that  part  of  the  world.  As  a  proof  of  his  own  in** 
clination  to  contribute,  as  far  as  ia  him  lay,  for  that  pur- 
pose, he  caused  five  hundred  copies  of  the^gospels  ami  acts 
of  the  apostles,  in  the  Malayan  tongue,  to  be  printed  at 
Oxford  in  1677,  4to,  and  to  be  sent  abroad,  at  his  owii 
iexpence.  This  appears  from  the  dedication,  prefixed  by 
his  friend  Dr.  Thomas  Hyde^  to  that  translation,  which  wan 
published  under  his  direction.  It  was  the  same  spirit  and 
principle,  which  made  him  send,  about  three  years  before^ 
several  copies  of  Grotius  ''  de  Veritate  Christians^  religio- 
nis,^' .  translated  into  Arabic  by  Dr.  Edward  Pocock,  intj^ 
the.  Levant,  as  a  means  of  propagati^ig  Christianity,  fihere^ 
There  was  printed  in  }677,  at  Geneva,  a'  misceiianeoat 
collection  of  Mr.  Boyle's  works  in  Latin,'  without  bis  ooa- 
sent,  or  even  knowledge;  of  which  there  is  a  large  account 
given  in  the  Philosophical  Transactions.  In  1678,  he 
communicated  to  Mr.  Hooke  a  short  memorial  of  some  ob^ 


'i 


pome  will  not  be  wmiting  to  nqre  for 
the  publishing  of  it,  by  prging  the  good 
It  may  do  to  the  world.  But,  in  my 
•imple  judgment,  the  noble  author, 
since  he  has  thought  fit  to  levei^l  bia^* 
>e1f  so  far,  •  does  prudently  in  being 
reserTed  in  the  rest  Net  that  1  think 
any  great  excellenoe  in  such  a  mer- 
cury, either  for  medicinal  or  chemical 
operations;  for  it  seems  to  me,  that 
the  metalline  particles  with  which'  that 
merpury  is  impregnated,  may  be 
grosser  than  the  particles  of  the  mer* 
cary,  &c. — Bat  yet,  because  the  way 
liy  which  mercury  may  be  so  impreg- 
nated has  been  thought  fit  to  be  con- 
cealed  by  others  that  have  known  it, 
and  therefore  ipay  possibly  be  an  inlet 
to  something  more  noble,  not  to  be 
communioat6d  without  immense  da- 
loage  to  the  w^rld,  if  there  should  be 
foy  verity  in  the   hermetic  writers  j 


therefore  I  quettioii  not  b^i  that,  tb^ 
great  wittdooi  of  the  noble  aotbor-  w,iU 
sway  him  to  high  silence,  (ill  he  shall 
be  resolved  of  wJiAt  eonse^^ueQce  th# 
thing  may  be,  either  by  his  own  evpe* 
rience,  or  the  judgment  of  some  other^ 
that  thorj^ghly  understands  what  1i^ 
speaks  about;  that  is^  of  a  'true  .ber<» 
metic  philosopher,  whose  judgment,  if 
there  be  ^ny  such,  would  be  more  to 
ke  rtgardied  in  this  point,  tium  thikt  of 
ail  the  world  beside  to  the  contrary  | 
there  being  other  things  beside  the 
transmutation  of  metals,  if  thoee  grMit 
pretenders  brag  not,  which  none  but 
they  understand.  Sir,  because  the 
author  seems  desirous  of  the  sense  df 
others  in  tbi^  point;  I  bare  been  ao 
free  as  to  shoot  my  bolt;  but  pray 
keep  thi^  letter  private  to  yourself 
Your  lervant, 

Isaac  Nswroir;**  V 


B  O  y  L  Ei  845 

i»rviitiofi9  made  ti|k>n  an  artificial  substance  that  shines 
without  aay  preceding  illustration ;  which  that  gentleman 
thought  6t  to  publish  in  his  ^*  Lectiones  Cutlerianse.*'     He 
published  the  same  year,  24,  ^*  Historical  account  of  a,  de- 
{^.adatiou  of  gold  made  by  an  anti-elixir  j  a  strange  che- 
mical narrative/'  4to,  reprinted  in  the  same  size  1739. 
^Xbis  excited  great  attention  both  at  home  and  abroad,  and 
is  looked  upon  as  one  of  the  most  remarkable  pieces  that 
ever  fell  from  his  pen ;  since  the  facts  contained  in  it  would 
have  been  esteemed  incredible,  if  they  had  been  related  by 
a  man  of  less  integrity  and  piety  than  Mr.  Boyle. 
'    The  regard  which  the  great  Newton  had  for  Mr.  Boyle^ 
•I^ears  from  a  very  curious  letter,  which  the  former  wrote 
to  him,  at  >he  latter  end  of  this  year,  for  the  sake  of  laying 
before  hiin  his  sentiments  upon   that  ethereal  medium, 
which  he  afterwards  proposed,  in  his  Optics,  as  the  mecha- 
uiGal  uDause  of  gravitation.     This  letter  is  to  be  found  in  the 
life  of  our  author  by  Dr.  Birch.    In  1680,  Mr. .Boyle  pub- 
lished, 25.  ^'  The  Atrial  Noctiluca ;  or  some  new  phsno- 
mend>  and.  a  process  of  a  factitious  self-shining  substance,'* 
Sso.     26.  ^^  Discourse  of  things  above  reason ;  inquiring, 
whether  a  philosopher  should  admit  there  are  any  such  V* 
J6S1,  8vo.     27.  ^'  New  experiments  and  observations  made 
upon  tlie  Icy  Noctiluca ;  to  which  is  added  a  chemical  pa- 
rados, grounded  upon  new  experiments,  making  it  proba- 
l^le,  that  chemical  principles  are  transmutable,  sa  that  out 
o£  one  of  them  others  may  be.  produced,*'   1682,  8vo.     28. 
^^  A.  continuation  of  new  experiments  physico-mechanical^ 
touching  the  spring  and  weight  of  the  Air,  and  their  effects/* 
Jp82,  8y6, 

./It  was  upon  the  30th  of  November  1680,  that  the  royal 
society,  as  a  proof  of  the  just  sense  of  his  great  worth, 
i^nd  of  the  constant  and  particular  services  which  through  a 
course  of  many  years  he  had  done  them,  made  choice  of 
him  for  their  president ;  but  he  being  extremely,  and,  as  he 
^ys,  peculiarly  tender  in  point  of  oaths,  declined  the  ho- 
notir  dope  him,  by  a  letter  addressed  to  his  much  respected 
frjiend  Mi**  flobert  Hooke,  professor  of  mathematics  at 
Gresham  college,  About  tfeis  time.  Dr.  Burnet  being  em- 
ployed iu  compiling  his  admirable  History  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, Mr.  Boyle  contributed  very  largely  to  the  expence  of 
-  publishing  it ;  as  is  acknowledged  by  the  doctor  in  his  pre** 
face  to  the  second  volume.  It  was  probably  about  the  be- 
ginning of  the  year  1681,  that  he  wa3  engaged  in  promot^ 


94e  S  O  r  L  e. 

ing  tbepff^ohftrg  Md  jlropagsKtiiigf  of  Ib^  gofpei  srnmng  tfi^ 
InHdialis ;  tiMs^  the  letc^,  whiiih  he  wi'ot^  ttpoit  that  ^ab- 
ject,  wasi  in  answer  to  tme  ftbm  Mf.  i^n  Elfiot  of  Ne#  - 
England^  dat^d  Nar«  4^  leSO/  Tt»$  letlet  of  Mr.  Boyf^ 
is  preserted  by  bid  bistOriaif ;  an<d  it  »He#9f^  thatt  lie  had  a 
great  dislike  to  persecoiio^  6^ip  account  of  opink>n9  itt  reh- 
gion.  He  published  in  tdS9^  nothing  btK  a  short  letter  to 
Dr.  Beal^.  in  rektioii  to  thd  narking  a(  ffesh  tftiiter  out  of 
i^k ;  but  ia  1684  be  printed  ttr^  ve#y  edn^iddti^fe^  t(rbrk$  i 
2&,  ^  Af eaioirs  for  the  natural  hi«tdry  of  htrman  blobd,  es-^ 
pecially  the  spirit  of  tbacliqwor/'  §v6.  SW.  "  Eii^eriittenta 
and  conskfevatiom  about  Che  polity  of  bodies/^  9to. 

Mp.  Boyle's  writings  grc^  iww  ^o  yibrf  rmxnttbtis^  that 
Df.  Ralph  Cndteortb,  the  celebrate  amhor  of  **T6e  Iff- 
telleelanl  SysteniV'.  ^rote  tt^  him  in-  fifosl  pres^irfg  terms,  to^ 
make  an  eivtfre  eollection  of  biu^  s^efri[  treatises,  and  to 
pnblish  them  together  in^  the  Latin  tortgne ;  and  **  them/^ 
says  b^  .^^  what  yon  shcitt  superadd^  vtiH  be^  easily  eolfecteci 
and  added  afterwards.  And  1  pray  God  ednttnui6  your  lifer 
tod  beaitfaytbaii  yo«  may  stii)  eitfieh  tbe  world  with  more. 
The  writers  of  hypotheses  in  na^irai-  philosophy  will  be 
£onfiitin|¥  one  anocfaer  a  long  ticne  before  the  world  will 
ever  agrees  if  ever  it  do.  Birt  your  pieces-  of  natural  his- 
tory are:  unconfutable^  and  wil'l  aifei^  tbe  'best;  grotmds  to 
build  hypotheses  upon.  Ydtk  h^e  niucb  outdone  sir  Fran- 
cis Ba(i6n  ia  your  nattwal  expeyin^^ts ;  and  yon-  hare  not 
ifisinuated  a;ny  things  as  be  iis  tibotight  to  have  done,  tend* 
iftg  to  irwrtigiton,  but  the  conCftify.*^  This  fetter  is  dat^d 
October  1 6y  1684. 

In  1685,  he  ohliged  the  world  with,  31.  <*  Short  me- 
ihoirs  fet  tbe  natural  experimental  history  of  miiieral  wa-« 
ta*Sy  with  direttiioivs  as  to  th«  several  m-ethod^  of  trying 
them,  inoltfding  abundance  of  new  and  useful  remarks,  as( 
well  as  several  curioiis  experiments."  32.  *^  An  essay  ott 
tbe  great  effecfta  of  even,  languid,  and  unheeded  motion  ; 
whereunto  is  aniTex«d  an  experimental  discourse  of  some' 
hitherto  little*  regardi^  causes  of  the  salubrity  and  insalUr 
brity  of  the  «r«  and  its  e^dts;*^  repriirted  in  i6do,  $vo^ 
Nose  of  his  treatises,  it  is  said,  were  ever  received  with 
greater  or  more  general  applause  than  this.  S3.  **Of  the 
reconcileableness  of  specific  medrcines  to  tB6  corpuscular' 
philosophy ;  to  which  is  anneseed,  a  Discfourse  about  the* 
advantages  of  the  use  of  simpie  nfiedfcrnes,'^  8vo.  Beisitlesc 
these  p^losophical  l^ractSj  he  gafve  tbe'  world  likewise,  illx^ 


&  O  T  L  I.  S0 

s^tmejem^  an  ^xcelldnt  tbedagioa}  o&e^  3#.  '^Ofthetfigh 
veaerationr  ^man^s  intellect  owtis  to  Gadj  petwikaxly  for  bf« 
msdcym  and  power/*  Srd.  This  if  as  part  of  »  nifvch  iatfgtt 
wotky  which  he  mentiofied  in  an  adveT^iaemeniy  txf  pr^etit 
SBj  exception  from  beiiig  taken  at  the  abrupt  manner  df  ft* 
bej^iming.  At  the  eniranae  of  the  aitceeadtng  yeoty  estfgkt 
abroad  bis^  %i,  ^<  Free  inquiiy  into^  tke  vnlgaiiy  recerml 
BiOiiOD  of  Natote/'  aipiec^  wtmb  wad  tben^  and  vriU  dl<- 
ways  bey  greatly  aAaateedl  by  tboee  wbg  baveatrtie  iS&A  umA 
relish  for  pure  retigiett  and  sound  pinlasefltHyw  It  waa  tram^ 
hsb^  into  Latin,  and  reprinted  in  1  tcno  tne  year  tifter^ 

1b  Jooe  1696^  iii»  friend  ]>r.  Gilbert  Burnet^  afi^wareh 
hMKvp  o<  Salisbtofy^  tsutsflaitted  ta  bim  frMi  the  Hague  the 
teaBRasoripi  aeci)vn>&  of  bis  ttatekv  vhieb  be  bad  drawrt  v^ 
m  the  form  ei  letters^  addraaied  tar  Mr.  Boyk^:  ttbo,  id 
kk  answer  to  the  docter,  dated  the  14itbef  thea  mMtib,  ex* 
(yreapta  fats  sattsfaetien  in  >'  finding,  dael  sAl  v^vn  do  not 
travret^  as  avost  do^  to  ebsenre  bmlidini^  aaA  gardeiwy  aird 
Biod^,  and  <Aher  amusememst  of  a  snpeffkiit)^  9ad  aluvo^ 
msigwMcmm  oorimity  ;  lea  yoot  jradreima  t eiaarka  and  rth 
flectioBis^  nyt  he,  may  aet  a  litde  impota  bath  a  statea^ 
in»ai,  a  crkic,.  and  a  diviaie^  as  wcit  as  ttsey  w^A  malee  th4 
writer  paos  W  aUi  three/'  In  I6«t,  Mr.  Beyle  pobKehed^ 
^^  ^^Tfae  martyrdom  of  Theodoita  ^d Dydiriiia^"  Sim;  S 
#ork  be  bad  drawa  wp  in.  hii  yootk  37v  ^*Jk  dtsqnirtiiott 
aboiit  the  final  Muses  of  iiaituraL  tbiaga ;  wfaerevo  it  is  &i^ 
^iredv  whetbcf,  and,  if  at  all,  witb  whatt  caution,  a  mtm^ 
Telm  sbawld  admit  tbem..'^  Wiih<%a  appeiidiity  about  n* 
tHfatedH^y  1688,.  »vo. 

in  the  month  of  May  thist  year,  our  autbor^  though  vifty 
imwiHxa^,.  waa  constrained  te^  mabe  hh  eoia|]iiaint  to  tfa^ 

CfbkrCi  oS  sK>]lie  ineeiwewieaees  aoder  whick  be  had  }er»g 
bour4Rl  9  and  tbi»  be  did  by  ^  aiv  ad«^ ttiteitr^yt  abeutt  Ami 
ktta  etf  QMiay  of  bta  writiaga  addressed  to  J.  W.  to  be  cetn*^ 
Itufiin^aited  to  tlioie  of  fcie  friendb  tbat  are  nrtuotfi  ^  ^bkil 
Hay  serve  aa  a  bind  of  a  pvefaee  te  rnest  of  hn  motiliated 
and  unfinished  writings."'  He  complabia  in  this  advertise*' 
tfi^iat  ei  tbe  ttMtaleM  he  taet  ^t^ith  fwrli^  th«  p^iaries, 
baidi  tit  home!  and  abroad ;  aifd  diougb  it  migbt  hate  beett 
difficult  ii»  any  otber  maa  to  hzpe  do^te  so,  trrthoar  iac<ir^ 
j0*g  tba  iaipaeaeieti  el  stitf^e^n*^  and  vanity,  yet  Mf# 
TiefM^^  abMMWtt  m  socta^  aa  ei4y  to  raise  in  us  an  h«gfhef 
€fmmit  end  iMJhnivatiea  ei?  hiM*.  Tl^isr  8dtertiMit«ne  it  itt^ 
anriMid  «t  bMpfch  i^  hk  IMb. 


848  BOYLE. 

He  now  began  to  find  that  bis  health  and  strength,  not^ 
mthstanding  all  his  care  and  caution,  gradually  declined^ 
as  be  observes  in  a  letter  to  M.  le  Clerc,  dated  May  30, 
1689  ;  which  put  him  upon  using  every  possible  method  of 
ihusbanding  bis  remaining  time  for  the  benefit  of  the 
learned.  Jn  doing  this,  as  a  certain  writer  says,  he  pre- 
ferred generals  to  particulars;  and  the  assistance  of  the 
whole  republic  of  letters  to  that  of  any  branch,'  by  what 
l&es  soever  he  might  be  connected  therewith.  It  was  with 
this  view,  that  be  no  longer  communicated  particular  dis^ 
courses  or  new  discoveries  to  the  royal  society ;  because 
this  could  not  be  done,  without  withdrawing  bis  thoughts 
from  tasks  which  he  thought  of  still  greater  importaaq^. 
It  was  the  more  steadily  to  attend  to  these,  that  be  resigned 
bis  post  of  governor  of  the  corporation  for  propagating  the 
gospel  in  New  England ;  nay,  be  went  so  far  as  to  signi^ 
to  the  world,  that  he  could  no  longer  receive  visits  as  usual^ 
in  ah  advertisement,. which  begins  in  the  following  mann<sr. 
^f  Mr.  Boyle  finds  himself  obliged  to  intimate  to  those  of  hfs 
friend3  and  acquaintance,  that  are  wont  to  do  him  the  ho^ 
bour  and  favour  of  visiting  him,.  1.  That  he  has  by  somp 
tinlucky  accidents,  namely,  by  his  servant's  breaking  a  bptr 
tie  of  oil  of  vitriol  over  a  chest  which  contained  bis 
papers,  had  many  6f  his  writings  corroded  here  an^ 
there,  or  otherwise  so  maimed,  that  without  be  himself  fill 
up  the  lacun®  out  of  bis  memory  or  invention,  they  will  not 
^e  intelligible.  2.  That  his  age  and  sickliness  have  for  a 
good  vvhile  admonished  him  to  put  his  scattered,  and  partly 
defaced,  writings  into  some  kind  of  order,  that  they  may 
|iot  remairi  quite  useless.  And^  3.  That  his  skilful  and 
friendly  physician,  sir  Edmund  King,  seconded  by. Mr. 
Boyle^s  best  friends,  has  ^plressingly  advised  him.  against 
Speaking  daily  with  so  many  persons  as  are  wont  to  Visit 
bim,  representing  it  as  what  cantiot  but  much  waste  bis  spi- 
rits/' &c.  He  ordered  likewise  a  board  to  be  placed  pver 
his  door,  with  an  inscription  signifying  when  be  did  wa 
did  not  receive  visits. 

Among  the.  other  great  works,  which  by  this  means  he 
gained  time  to  finish,  ther^  is  reason  to  believe,  that  on^ 
was  a  collection  of  elaborate  processes  in  cheppistry ;  con* 
periling  wjiich  he  wrote  a  letter  to  a  friend,  which  i^  still 
extant ;  but  the  piece  itself  was  never  published»  though 
we  read  in  the  letter^  <.<  that  be  left  it  as  d  kind  of  hermetio- 
legacy  to  the  studious  disciples  of  that  aru'^     Se^id^s  thes«: 


B  0  Y  L  8.  34J 

papers,  committed  to  the  care  of  oae  whom  he  esteemed 
his  friend,  hie  left  also  very  many  behind  him  at  the  timci 
"of  his  death,  relating  to  chemistry*;  \^hich,  as  appears  by  a 
letter  directed  to  one  of  his  executors,  he  desired  might 
l>e  inspected  by  three  physicians  whom  he  named,  and  that 
some  of  the  most  valuable  might  be  preserved.  •*  Indeed,'* 
says  the  writer  of  his  life,  "  it  is  highly  reasonable  to  sup- 
pose, that  many  important  discoveries  were  contained  in 
them ;  chemistry  being  his  favourite  study,  and  opening 
to  him  perpetually  such  a  new  scene  of  wonders,  as  easily 
persuaded  him  of  the  possibility  of  transmuting  metals  into 
gold.  This  persuasion  of  his  is  evident  from  several  parts 
of  his  writings,  and  was  avowed  by  himself  to  the  gVeat  Dr. 
Halley,  the  late  royal  astronomer,  who  related  to  me  his 
'conversation  with  him  upon  that  su\>ject.  And  it  was  pro** 
%ably  in  consequence  of  this  opinion,  that  he  took  so  much 
pains  to  procure,  as  he  did  ih  August  1689,  an  act  for  the 
Tfepeal  of  a  statute  mad^in  the  fifth  year  of  kittg  Henry  IV, 
against  the  multiplying  of  gold  and  silver.*' 

In  the  mean  time  Mr.  Boyle  published  some  other  works 
lefore  his  death;  as,  38.  "  Medicina   Hydrostatica :  or, 
'Hydrostatics  applied  to  the  materia  medico,  shewing  how^ 
fey  the  weight  that  divers  bodied  used  in  physic  have  in  wa- 
ter, one  may  discover  whether  they  be  genuine  or  adulte-* 
Yate,     To  which  is  subjoined  a  previous  hydrostatical  wajr    , 
'iof  estimating  ores,*'  1690,  8vo.     He  informs   us^   in  the 
postscript  of  this  treatise,  that  he  had  prepared  inateriarB 
for  a  second  volume,  which  he  intended  to  publish ;  but  it 
iiever  appeared.     89.  "The  Chrfs^lin  virtuoso.;  shewing 
ihat,  by  being  addicted  to  experii^ental  philosophy,  a  man 
Ik  rather  assisted  than  indisposed  to  be  a  good  Christian.^ 
"^he  first  part.    To  which  are  subjoined,  1.^  A  discourse 
iibout  the  distinction  that  represents  some  things  as  above 
Vi^ason,  but  not  contrary  to  reason.     2.  The  first  chapter 
of  a  discourse,  intituled.  Greatness  of  mind  promoted  hf 
^Christianity,   1690,  8va     In  the  advertisement  prefixed  tp 
this  work,  he  mentions  a  second  part  of  the  Christian  vii> 
tuoso;  which,  however,  he  did  noc  live  to  finish.     But. the 
papers  he  left  behind  him  for  that  purpose  are  printed,  im- 
perfect as  they  ^re,  in  the  edition  of  his  collected  workl. 
^He  last  work^  which  he  published  iiimself,  wais  in  the  sprine 
'iof  1691;  and  is  intituled,  40.  "  Experiirienta  &  observa- 
tiones  pJiysigsB ;  wherein  are  briefly  treated  of,  sieyeral  sub- 
jects relating  to  natural  philosophy  in  "an  experimental  way^ 


9t9  B  0  r  L  f. 

To  iirbte&  »  ftddedj   n  Amajil  coll^Qtio^  of  ^trimge  ra^ 
porta,"  6yo. 

About  the  entranpe  of  ihe  yum^er,  be  b^f  n  t^  feel  ^ufsji 
M  aU^ration  in  bis  beaith,  as  induced  bim  to  think  of  3^^ 
iHog  bis  s^fiatirs;  sp-nd  ajccordingly,  on  the  18tb  of  July,  hf 
sigiied  find  sealed  bis  l^st  will,  to  wbicb  be  ^fterw^rds  added 
several  codicils.     In  Oetober  his  distempers  increased/ 
wbicb  might  perhaps  b^  Qwing  to  bi$  tender  concern  for  tb^ 
tedious  illness  6f  bis  dear  sister  the  lady  R^eb|gb>  wijKb 
vbom  be  bad  lived  n)any  years  in  the  greatest  barntony 
tad.  fi*iend$hip9  and  whose  indisposilion  bfrougbt  ber  to  tb^ 
grave  on  the  23d  of  December  fo{Ipnrii>g.     He  did  not  sfurr 
yive  her  above  a  we^k ;  for,  pa  the  00th  of  I>eceBQ;bmr 
169  if  be  departed  tbif»  life  in  the  $5th  year  of  his  age. 
-    He  vras  bnri^d  in  St-  ftiartiji's  church  in  1^  Field^t  Westf 
muf/ketf  on,  |:be  7th  of  Januarys  fpllowiog  :  and  bi»  funergj 
sermon  wds  preached  by  bit  fjriefid  Dr-  filbert  Burnet,  bir 
shop  of  Sali^bul'y*    The  bishop  Piiade  pboice  ispoo  this  ogt^ 
casion  of  a' text  very  jq.pf)0^ite  to  bis  3abjept,    ntmi^Wg 
^^  For  God  givetb  to  a  man,  that  is  good  in  bis  sight,  wiS;' 
^om,  knowledge,  and  joy.'*     Eccles,  xi.  26.    Aft§r  eni 
plaining  the  meaning  of  the  words^  he  applies  the  dectriii^ 
to  the  bonnurable ,  person  dei^eased ;  <?f  whooi^  he  telU,  yg^, 
h$  wao  the  better  abk  to  giye  a  character,  fpomi  the  ma^y 
bappy  b^urs  be  bad  spent  i^  conversation  yrith  himi  in  the 
©emrae  gf  ninfj-aiid-t«i^nty  years,     Pe  gives  a  large  ap^ 
WWt  «rf  Mr.  Boyle's  sirice^^  and  ]ai^|i^ete4  piety,  and 
wore  e^psecMiMy  of  bis  seal  for  the  Christian  reiigiot),  witbr 
•tout  -Imying  any  narrpw  options  ^oneerBing  i%  or  inistaking^ 
lis  sp  jnAoy  do^  a  bigoted  b^at  in  favour  of  a  particular  sect, 
fppibat  2eal  wbicb  i$  the  f^rnameii^  iof  a  trae  Cbristjati.  He 
meniiiina^^^s  a  proof  of  4ii^,  bi^  noW^  foun^fttion  ff>r  lee* 
Dare^  in  defeope  of  the  gc^el  ftga^n^t  infid^  ^f  all  sortii ; 
Ifae  effects  of  wbiph  bav^  been  W  CQn^picuQnp  in  the  many 
foluMVieA  of  i^xpeiknt  diseot^s^  wb^^b  have  been  published 
m  conaequeiiee  el  tWt  nobh  wd  pipus  foyndation  *•    Hw 

^  *  T^ve  design  of  th/tap  lecture^,  as  within  tl^  )}\\\9  of  ayprtality,    jt^  ^ 

expressed  by  the  rounjer,  is,  to  prov^  elected  for  a  terni  not  evceeding  three 

the   truth    of   thd  Cbn«tiap    veligioii  years,  Ibytbe  lata  arehbishop  Tenlsoq^ 

fsgf^in^t  jnQd«l)i,  JPfHjWut  4es€«i?d»g  to  ^n4  f th^.    ^ut  ibs  jhp^  t^r^vinf  |*fpr 

gny  cont/Qv^rf  if!^  amoiw  Christians  >  carious,  the  ssUary  was  ill  pani  3  to  ivr 

and  tbanswernewdi^cunies,  scruples,  medy  wliieh  incoDt[emeii^e»   fhe  said 


Swr    For  ttia  support  of  tbi$  loctin-e,     arcllwliop  pipcnrej  s  ye^ity 

^^  iL^stguad  tbu  vei^t  ^f  bjs  fiQiise  i^,   9f  ^0  ponndSt  for  .eyer.   to  b^  pa^ 

Crooked-lane  to  some  learned  Civipd     qpiirterly ;  chirg^  ou  n  furm  in  th# 


BOYLE.  SSi 

i»Ay  sap .  our  pffdate,  desigo^d  k  in  bi»  life-tinier  diougk 
some  accidents  did,  upon  great  considerations,  divert  him 
from  settling  it ;  but  not  from  ordering  by  bis  last  will,  that 
«  liberal  pr<yirision  should  be  laade  for  one  who  ^lould,  in  a 
very  few  well«>digested  sermons,  every  year  set  forth  tfaf 
truth  of  the  Cluistian  religion  in  geaer^lf  without  descend'- 
,  ing  to  the  aubdivisions  among  Christians.  He  was  at  the 
diarge  of  the  translation  and  impression  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment into  the  Malayan  tongue,  which  he  sent  oa^er  ail  the. 
£aat  Indies.  He.  gave  ^  noble  reward  to  him. that  translated 
Crotius's  incomparable  book  of  the  truth  of  the  Chriatiaa 
.religion  into  Arabic  :  and  was  ^t  the  charge  of*  whole  ioi'- 
.preasion,  which  he  took  care  should  be  dispersed  in  all  the 
countries  where  that  language  is  understood.  He  was  re** 
^solved  to  have  carried  on  the  impnesakm  of  the  New  Testar 
ment  in  the  Turkish  language  ;  but  the  coaipany  tfaoaght 
it  became  them  to  be  the  4ic^ers  of  it,  and  so  suiiei1»d  him 
only  to  give  a  large  share  towards  it.  He  was  at  700( 
cjiarge  in  the  edition  of  the  Irish  Bible,  which  he  cindered 
tQ  be  distributed  in  (reland :  and  he  contribu^d  liberally, 
iMDth  to  the  impression  of  the  Welsh  Bible,  and  of  the  frish 
^ible  Sot  gcodandr  He  gave^  during  his  life,  $QOL  to.ad«» 
vance  thedesigpof  propagatii^  the  Christian  rehgion  in Ame^ 
rica^  and,  as  soon  ^  be  heard  that  tfae^  East  Iildia  com<* 
pany  were  emertaining  propositions  for  the  like,  design  in 
the  East,  he  presently  sent  a  hundred  pounds  for  a  fa^in^ 
ning,  as  an  example ;  nut  intended  to  carcy  it  much  farther 
when  it  should  be  set  on  foot  to  purpose.  When  he  under ;« 
^tood  bow  large  a  ahare  he  had  ua  impvopriaiions,  b^  or^ 
dered  consid^psble  »fuiia  to  be  given  to  the  iaaumbeaAs  in 
tl^ae  parishes,  and  evep  to  the  widowjs  of  those  wba  were 
dead  before  this  distribution  of  hia  bounty.  He  did  thia 
twice  in  hisNlife^time,  to  the  am^Mint  of  above  ^<002.  andx)c« 
dered  another  distnbution,  as  far  as  his  estate  would  beat^ 
by  his  wiU.     In .  other .  vespeots.  his  ebarkies  were  so  hpunri 

tifui  and  ext^ipfiiiie^  that  they  aooounted,  as  this  prelate  teUa 

«  *  ,  ■ 

o^fisll  of  BriU,  p  i\^  CQ^ty  pf  Bucl^ft.  ^r9  ^V(f  been  prlqted  and  publi§h$4  i(^ 

Tb'  tbis  appoiptment  W^  ar^  hidebted  distinct  volomes.     An  abfidgemept  or 

4&r  n^onf  elaborate  dcf^pc^a  bot)i  of  na«  these  lectures  in  4  rols.  S9o.  vas  pabi 

tfivat  fiod  revfia.1e4  religion.    X  collec-  limbed  bir  tb#  rev.  Mr.  Gilbert  BufneU 

tion  of  these  seripons  ^rpm  the  year  vicarofCo^^eshali,  in  Essex,  who  diiea 

ten  to  1739,  was'  printed  in    1739,  in  1746 ;  and  a  complete  list  of  ali  tb* 

i||ri4er  tbe  title  of  *♦,  A  defenpe  of  nat.«i-  prr^^Jtens  ^iqce  il)#  fpnpfl^tiQp  tft  t|i|^ 

iSfl  »n4  levealed  religion;."  jn  3  viyU,  present  tipip  may  b^  seen  in  Nioh9k'% 

fol.;  and  those  pf  nevaral  ^f  the  prea6h-'  Ut^  ,of  B<>wyer,  voL  V I.  p.  453r^45^. 


852  BOYLE. 

US,  from  his  dwn  knowledge^  to  upwards  of  1000/.  pG^ 
annum.  « 

But  that  part  of  his  discourse  which  concerns  us  mosf^ 
is^  the  copious  and  eloquent  aocount  he  has  given  of  this 
great  man's  abilities^  **  His  knowledge,"  says  he,  **  was 
of  so  vast  an  extent,  that  if  it  were  not  for  the  variety  of 
vouchers  in  their  several  sorts^  I  should  be  afraid  to  say^ 
all  I  know.  He  carried  the  study  of  the  Hebrew  very  far 
into  the  rabbinical  writings,  and  the  other  briental  tongues. 
He  had  read  so  much  of  the  fathers^  that  he  had  fonned  ft 
clear  judgment  of  all  the  eminent  ones.  He  had  read  a 
vast  deal  on  the  scriptures,  had  gone  very  nicely  through- 
the  various  controversies  in  reUgion,  and  was  a  true  knaster 
of  the  wh6le  body  of  divinity.  He  read  the  whole  com-* 
pass  of  the  mathematical  sciences ;  and,  though  he  did  nof 
set  himself  to  spring  any  new  game,  yet  he  knew  the  ab-^  ^ 
fitrusest  parts  of  geometry.  Geography^  in  the  several 
parts  of  it  that  related  to  navigation  or  travelling ;  history 
and  books  of  novels,  were  his  diversions.  He  went  very 
nicely  through  all  the  parts  of  physic  ;  only  the  tenderness 
of  his  nature  made  him  less  able  to  endure  the  exactness 
of  anatomical  dissections^  especially  of  living  animals^ 
though,  he  knew,  these  to  be  mo^t  instructing.  But  for  the 
faistdi'y  of  nature,  ancient  and  modern,  pf  the  productions 
of  all  countries,  of  the  virtues  and  improvements  of  pUnts, 
of  ores,  and  minerals,  and  all  the  varieties  that  are  in  then» 
in  different  climates,  he  was  by. much,  by  very  much^  the 
readiest  and  the  perfectest  I  ever  knew,  in  the  greatest 
compass,  and  with  the  nicest  exactness.  This  put  him  in 
the  way  of  making  all  that  vast  variety  of  experiments  be*' 
yond  any  man,  as  far  as  we  know,  that  ever  lived.  And 
in  these,  as  he  made  a  great  progress  in  new  discoveries 
so  he  iised  so  nice  a  strictness,  and  delivered  them  with  so 
serupulons  a  truth,  that  all  who  have  examined  them  have 
found  how  safely  the  world  may  depend  upon  them.  But 
his  peculiar  and  favourite  study  was  chemistry,  in  which  he 
was  engaged  with  none  of  those  ravenous  and  ambitious 
designs  that  drew  many  into  it.  His  design  was  only  ta 
find  out  nature,  to  see  into  what  principles  things  might 
be  resolved,  and  of  what  they  were  compounded^  and  to 
prepare  good  medicaments  for  the  bodies  of  men.  He 
spent  neither  his  time  nor  fortune  upon  the  vain  pursuits 
of  high  promises  and  pretensions.  He  always  kept  himself 
within  the  compass  that  his  estate  might  well  bear  y  and^ 


BOYLE.  s« 

Hii^'lie  made  dueinistry  Tnuch  the  better  for  his  dealing  in  it, 
so  he  nevel*  made  himself  either  worse  or  the  poorer  for  iu 
It  was  a  charity  to  athers,  as  well  as  an  entertainment  to 
himself;  for  the  produce  of  it  was  distributed  by  his  sister 
«ad  others,  into  whose  hands  he  put  it.^'  To  thiseulogium 
of  the  bijdiop,  we  will  only  add  that  of  the  celebrated  phy- 
sietan^  philosopher,  and  chemist,  Dr.  Herman  Boerhaave  ; 
who^  after  baling  declared  lord  Bacon  to  be,  the  father  of 
€i&perimeQt^  philosophy,  asserts,  that  *^  Mr.  Boyle,  the 
oraame^l  of  his  age  and  country,  succeeded  to  the  genius 
avd  ^enquiries,  »of  the  great-chancellor  Verulam.  Whichi'V 
snys  he,  ^^  of  all;^Mr.  Boyle's  writings  shall  I  recommend  ? 
AlLofi'themi  To  him  we  owe  the  secrets  of  fire,  air,  water, 
ammalsy  vegetables,,  fossils :  so  that  from  his  works  may  be 
dedui&ed  .4he  ,whole  system  of  natural  knowledge."  The 
render^  perhaps  i^collects,  that  Mr.  Boyle,  was  born  the 
stoc/ year  ill;  which, lord  Bacon  died*  .  ^^  Sol  oceubuit, 
mK  nulla  seciita  est.'? 

'^  As  to  Ae  person  of  4bhis  ^reat  man, ,  we  are  told  that  he^ 
PUi8''taU,t  but  slender;  and. his  countenance  pale  and  ema^^ 
4d»ted«.  His  constitution  was  so  tender  and  delicate,  that 
b^  had  divers  sorts  of  tloaks  to  put  on  when  he  went  abroad, 
aooording  tn  theiteonperatuire^^of  the  air; ; and  in  this  he  go»* 
ipvurnied  himself  by  his  Iberaiometeri^  He  escaped  indeed 
tbaisoiallrpox  ducing  his  life;  but. for  almost  forty  years  he 
l;sb9ilred  under  such  a  feebleness  of  body,  and  such  lowr 
neiter  of  alren^hand  spirits,  that  it  was  astonishing  how  he. 
could  ff^d,!:  meditate,  make  experiments,  and  write  as  be 
did. i> ' Ha  had'likewise  a  weakness  in  his  eyes,  which  raade^ 
Ittfntvarjrtendfr  of  thesn,  and  extremely  apprehensive  ^ 
^teb  dissemperS'  as  -might  aiFect  ihem.  He  imagined  also,^ 
that  ;if'«8i€hiia8St should  epnfi^e-hiin  to  his  bed,  it  might 
nuboitbe  pains  of  the  stone  to  a  degree  which  might  be; 
above  his. stnesgth  to  support;  so  that  he  feared  lest  his 
last'^'minutea  should  be  too  hard  for  him.  This  was  the 
gwiiiAd'0§  all  the  caution  and  apprehension  with  which  he 
mas  obsiSFved  to  Uven  but  as  to  life  itself,  he-had  that  just 
indifference-  for'  it,  which  became  a  philosopher  and  a 
GiiHstiaB;  ^However,  his  sight  began  to  grow. dim,  not 
alM>ve.£our  hours  before  he  died ;  and,  when  death  came 
\xpbki  him^  it  was.  with  so  little  pain,^  that  the  flame  ap* 
peared'tp  go  out  merely  for  want  of  oil  to  maintainit.  The 
rdader:may  wonder  that  Mr.  Boyle  was  never  mude  a  peer^ 
e^lpecsii^Iy  when  it  is.  remembered^  t^at^  hia  four  elder  biso** 

Vol.  VI.  A  a 


354  B  O  Y  L  £. 

thers  were  all  peers.  A  peerage  was,  however,  often  offered 
him,  and  as  often  refused  by  him.  It  is  easy  to  iqaagine, 
that  he  might  have  had  any  thing  he  should  express  an  in- 
clination for.  He  was  always  a  favourite  at  court :  and 
king  Charles  II.  James  II.  and  king  William,  were  so 
highly  pleased  with  his  conversation,  that  they  often  used 
to  discourse  with  him  in  the  most  familiar  manner.  Not 
that  Mr.  Boyle  was  at  any  time  a  courtier  ;  he  spake  freely 
of  the  government,  even  in  times  which  he  disliked,  and 
upon  occasions  when  he  was  obliged  to  condemn  it ;  but 
then  he  always  did  it,  as  indeed  he  did  every  thing  of  that 
nature,  with  an  exactness  of  respect. 

Mr.  Boyle  was  never  married  :  but  Mr.  Evelyn  was  as- 
sured, that  he  once  courted  the  beautiful  and  ingenious 
daughter  of  Gary,  earl  of  Monmouth ;  and  that  to  this  pas- 
sion was  owing  his  Seraphick  Love.  In  the  memorandum 
of  Mr.  Boyle's  life,  set  down  by  bishop  Burnet,  it  is  re- 
marked, that  he  abstained  from  marriage,  at  first  out  of 
policy,  afterwards  more  philosophically  5  and  we  find,  by 
a  letter  of  Dr.  John  Wallis  to  him,  dated  at  Oxford,  Julj 
17,  1669,  that  he  had  an  overture  made  him  with  respect 
to  the  lady  Mary  Hastings,  sister  to  the  earl  of  Hunting- 
don. But  it  does  not  appear  from  any  of  his  papers,  that 
he  had  ever  entertained  the  least  thoughts  of  that  kind ; 
nay,  there  is  a  letter  of  his,  written  when  he  was  young  to 
the  lady  Barrymore  his  niece,  who  had  informed  him  of  a. 
report  that  he  was  actually  married,  which  almost  shews 
that  he  never  did.  The  letter  is  written  with  great  polite- 
ness, and  in  the  true  spirit  of  gallantry ;  and  is  a  clear 
proof,  that  though  Mr.  Boyle  did  not  choose  to  marry,  yet 
it  was  no  misanthropic  cynical  humour  which  restrained 
'him  from  it.  It  is  impossible  to  entertain  the  reader  better, 
than  by  presenting  him  with  that  part  of  it  which  concerns 
the  point  in  question. — "  It  is  high  time  for  me  to  hastea 
the  payment  of  the  thanks  I  owe  your  ladyship  for  the  joy 
you  are  pleased  to  wish  me,  and  of  which  that  wish  possi- 
bly gives  me  more  than  the  occasion  of  it  would.  You 
•have  certainly  reason,  madam,  to  suspend  your  belief  of  a 
carriage,  celebrated  by  no  priest  but  fame,  and  made  un- 
>known  to  the  supposed  bridegroom.  I  may  possibly  erm 
long  give  you  a  fit  of  the  spleen  upon  this  theme ;  but  at 
present  it  were  incongruous  to  blend  such  pure  raillery,  as 
I  ever  prate  of  matrimony  and  amours  with,  among  thingt 
i  am  00  serious  in,  as  those  this  scribble  presents  you.    jl 


BOYLE.  355 

shall  therefore  only  tell  you,  that  the  little  gentleman  and 
1  are  still  at  the  old  defiance.  You  have  carried  away.too 
many  of  the  perfections  of  your  sex,  to  leave  enough  in 
this  country  for  the  reducing  so  stubborn  a  heart  as  mine  ; 
whose  conquest  were  a  task  of  so  much  difficulty,  and  is  so 
little  worth  it,  that  the  latter  property  is  always  likely  to 
deter  any,  that  hath  beauty  and  merit  enough  to  overcome 
the  former.  But  though  this  untamed  heart  be  thus  insen- 
sible to  the  thing  itself  called  love,  it  is  yet  very  accessible  to 
things  very  near  of  kin  to  that  passion ;  and  esteem,  friend- 
ship, respect,  and  even  admiration,  are  things  that  their 
proper  objects  fail  not  proportionably  to  exact  of  me,  and 
consequently  are  qualities,  which,  in  their  highest  degrees, 
are  really  and  constantly  paid  my  lady  Barry  more  by  her 
most  obliged  humble  servant,  and  affectionate  uncle, 

"  Robert  Boyle.'* 
Mr.  Boyle's  posthumous  works  are  as  follow  :  1.  "  The 
general  history  of  the  Air  designed  and  begun,'*  1692,  4to. 
Concerning  the  nature  and  value  of  this  work,  we  have 
the  testimonies  of  two  of  the  most  ingenious  and  able  men 
of  that  age,  Mr.  Locke  and  Mr.  Molineux.  Mr.  Locke,  in 
a  letter  to  Mr.  Molineux,  dated  December. 2 6,  1692,  ob- 
serves, that,  though  this  treatise  was  left  imperfect,  "  yet 
I  think,"  says  he,  "  the  very  design  of  it  will  please  you  ; 
and  it  is  cast  into  a  method,  that  any  one  who  pleases  may 
add  to  it  under  any  of  the  several  titles,  as  hi^  reason  and 
observation  shall  furnish  him  with  matter  of  fact.  If  such 
men  as  you  are,  curious  and  knowing,  would  join  to  what 
Mr.  Boyle  had  collected  and  prepared,  what  comes  in 
their  way,  we  might  hope  in  some  time  to  have  a  consider- 
able history  of  the  air,  than  which  I  scarce  know  any  part 
of  natural  philosophy  would  yield  more  variety  and  use* 
But  it  is  a  subject  too  large  for  the  attempts  of  any  one 
man,  and  will  require  the  assistance  of  many  hands,  to 
make  it  an  history  very  short  of  complete."  To  which  Mr, 
Molineux  answered  :  "  I  am  extremely  obliged  tp  you  for 
•Mr.  Boyle's  book  of  the  air,  which  lately  came  to  my  hands. 
It  is  a  vast  design,  and  not  to  be  finished  but  by  the  united 
labours  of  many  heads,  and  indefatigably. prosecuted  for 
many  years ;  so  that  I  despair  pf  seeing,  any  thing  com- 
plete therein.  However,  if  m^ny  will  lend  the  same  help- 
ing hands  that  you  have  dpne,  I  should  b,e  in  hopes;  and 
certainly  there  is  not  a  chapter  ip  all  natural  philosophy  of 
.greater  use  to  jn^nkiiid  than  what  is  here  proposed." 

A  A  i 


356  B  O  Y  L  fi- 

ll. "  General  heads  for  the  natural  history  of  a^  country^ 
great  or  small ;  drawn  ont  for  tbe  use  of  travellers  and  na- 
vigators. To  which  a^-e  added,  other  directions  for  iiavi- 
gators,  &c.  with  particular  observations  on  the  most  noted 
countries  in  the  world.  By  another  hand."  1692,  l;<2mo. 
TTiese  general  heads  were  first  printed  in  the  Philosophical 
Transactions,  being  drawn  up  by  Mr.  Boyle,  at  the  request 
of  the  royal  society.  The  other  directions  added  in  this 
edition  were  drav\n  up  by  various  persons  at  divers  times, 
by  order  of  the  royal  society,  and  printed  in  different 
numbers  of  the  Philosophical  Transactions  ;  but,  being  in 
pursuance  of  the  plan  sketched  out  by  Mr.  Boyle,  were 
very  properly  annexed  to  the  preceding  ones.  3.  A  paper 
of  the  honourable  Robert  Boyle's,  deposited  with  the  se- 
cretaries of  the  royal  society,  October  14,  1680,  and 
opened  since  his  death ;  being  an  account  of  his  making 
the  phosphorus,  l^ept.  30,  1680;  printed  in  the  Piiiloso- 
phical  Transactions.  4.  An  account  of  a  way  of  exanjin- 
ing  waters,  as  to  freshness  or  saltness.  To  be  subjoined 
as  an  appendix  to  a  lately  printed  letter  about  sweetened 

''water,  Oct.  30,  1683;  printed  in  the  Philosophical  Trans- 
actions. 5.  "  A  free  discourse  against  customafy  swear- 
ing, and  a  dissuasive  from  cursing,"  1695,  8vo.  6.  "Me- 
dicinal experiments :  or,  a  collection  of  choice  remedies, 
chiefly  simple,  and  easily  prepared,  useful  in  families,  and 
fit  for  the  service  of  the  country  people. .  The  third  and 
last  volume,  published  from  the  author's  original  manu- 
script ;  whereunto  are  added  several  useful  notes,  explica- 
tory of  the  same,'*  1698,  12mo.  The  first  edition  of  this 
book  was  printed  in  1688,  under  the  title  of  Receipts  sent 
to  a  friend  in  America  :  in  1692,  it  was  reprinted  with  the 
addition  of  a  second  part,  and  anew  preface  ;  and  in  1698, 
as  we  now  observe,  was  added  the  third  and  last  volume. 
They  have,  been  all  several  times  reprinted  since  in  a  single 
volume,  and  justly  accounted  the  best  collection  of  the 
kind. 

These  posthumous  works,  joined  to  those  before  men- 
tioned, together  with  'many  pieces  in  the  Philosophical 
Transactions,  which  we  bad  not  room  to  be  particular 

^abont,  were  all  printed  in  one  collection,  at  London,  in 
5  volumes  folio,  and  6  volumes  4to.  Dr.  Shaw  also  pub- 
lished in  3  volumes  4tO)  the  same  works  *^  abridged,  me- 
thodized, and  disposed  under  the  general  heads  of  Physics, 
Statics,  Pneumatics,  Natural  History,  Chymistry,  and  Me- 


BOYLE.  357 

dicine  ;^'  to  which  he  has  prefixed  a  short  catalogue  of  the 
philosophical  writings^  according  to  the  order  of  time  when 
ihey  were  first  published,  &c.* 

BOYLE   (Charles),    earl  of    Orrery,    second  son  of 
Roger  second  earl  or   Orrery,    by  lady   Mary  Sackviile^ 
dauoriiter  to   ilichard  earl  of  Dorset  and  Middlesex,  was 
boru  in  August  1676,  at  his  father's  house  in  Chelsea; 
and   at  fifteen  entered  a  nobleman  of  Christ-church,  in 
Oxford,  under  the  care  of  Dr.  Francis  Atterbury,  after- 
wards bibhop  ol"  Rochester,  and  Dr.  Freind.     Dr.  Aldrich, 
the  head  of  that  society,  observing  his  uncommon  appli- 
cation, drew  up  for  his  use   that  compendium  of  logic 
whirh  is  now  read  at  Christ-church,  wherein  he  styles  him 
^*  the  great  ornament  ol  our  college."     Having  quitted  the 
university,  be  was  in  1700  chosen  member  for  the  town  of 
Huntington.     A  petition  being  presented  to  the  house  of 
commons,  complaniing  of  the  illegality  of  his  election,  he 
spoke  in  support  of  that  election  with  great  warmth  ;  and 
this  probably  gave  rise  to  his  duel  with  Mr.  Wortley,  the 
other  candidate,  in  which,  though  Mr.  Boyle  had  the  ad« 
vantage,  the  wounds  he  recei\ed  threw  him  into  a  dan- 
gerous fit  of  sickness  that  lasted  for  many  months.     On  the 
death  of  his  elder  brother,  he  became  fourth  earl  of  Orrery : 
soon  after,  he  had  a  regiment  given  him,  and  was  elected 
a  knight  of  the  Thistle.     In  1706  he  married  lady  Eliza- 
beth Cecil,  daughter  to  the  earl  of  Exeter.     In  1709  he 
was  promoted  to  the  rank  of  major-general,  and  sworn  of 
her  majesty's  privy  council.     He  was  envoy  extraordinary 
from  the  queen  to  the  states  of  Flanders  and  Brabant,  with 
an  appointoient  of  ten   pounds  a  day,  at  a  very  critical 
juncture,  namely,  during  the  treaty  of  Utrecht.     There, 
some  in  autnority  at  Brussels,  knowing  they  were  soon  to  be- 
come the  emperor's  subjects,  and  that  bis  imperial  majesty 
was  not  on  good  terms  with  the  queen,  shewed  less  respect  to 
her  minister  toan  they  bad  formerly  done :  upon  which| 
Orrery,  who  consiaered  their  behaviour  as  an  indignity  to 
the  crown  of  Great  Britain,  managed  with  so  much  feso- 
lution  and  dexterity,  that,  when  they  thought  his  power 
was  declining,  or  mther  that  he  had  no  power  at  all,  he 
got  every  one  of  them  turned  out  of  his  post.     Her  n^a- 
jesty,  in  the  tenth  year  of  her  reign,  raised  him  to  the 
dignity  of  a  British  peer^  under  the  title  of  lord  Boyle, 

1  Birch's  Life.— Biog.  Brit. 


S58  BOYLE. 


» 


baron  of  Marston,  in  Somersetshire.  On  the  accession  of 
king  George  I.  he  was  made  a  lord  of  the  bedcbamber, 
and  lord -lieutenant  £ind  custos  rotulorum  of  the  county 
of  Somerset.  His  frequent  voting  against  the  ministers 
gave  rise  to  a  report  that  he  was  to  be  removed  from  all 
his  posts ;  upon  which  he  absented  himself  from  the  court : 
but  his  friends  assuring  him  that  they  had  ground  to  be- 
lieve the  king  h^d  a  personal  esteem  for  him,  he  wrote  a 
letter  to  his  majesty,  signifying  that  though  he  looked 
upon  his  service  as  a  high  honour,  yet,  when  he  first  en- 
tered into  it,  he  did  not  conceive  it  was  expected  from 
him  that  he  should,  vote  against  his  conscience  and  his 
judgment;  that  he  must  confess  it  was  his  misfortune  to 
differ  widely  in  opinion  from  some  of  his  majesty's  mi- 
nisters ;  that  if  those  gentlemen  had  represented  this  to 
his  majesty  as  a  crime  not  to  be  forgiven,  and  his  majesty 
himself  thought  so,  he  was  ready  to  resign  those  posts  he 
enjoyed,  frpm  which  he  found  he  was  already  removed  by 
a  common  report,  which  was  rather  encouraged  than  con- 
tradicted by  the  ministers.  The  king  going  soon  after  to 
Hanover,  lord  Orrery's  regiment  was  taken  from  him ; 
which  his  lordship  looking  upon  as  a  mark  of  displeasure^ 
resigned  his  post  of  lord  of  the  bedchamber. 

On  the  28th  of  September  1722,  he  was  committed 
close  prisoner  to  the  Tower,  by  warrant  of  a  committee  of 
the  lords  of  the  privy  council,  upon  suspicion  of  high 
treason,  and  of  being  concerned  in  Layer's  plot.  His 
confinement  brought  on  such  a  dangerous  fit  of  sickness, 
that,  as  Dr.  Mead  remonstrated  to  the  council,  unless  he 
was  immediately  set  at  liberty,  he  would  not  answer  fot 
his  life  twenty-four  hours :  upon  which,  after  six  months 
imprisonment,  he  was  admitted  to  bail.  Upon  the  strictest 
inquiry,  no  sufficient  ground  for  a  prosecution  being 
found,  he  was,  after  passing  through  the  usual  forms,  ab- 
solutely discharged.  After  this  he  constantly  attended  in 
his  place  in  the  house  of  peers,  as  he  had  done  before,  and 
though  he  never  spoke  in  that  assembly,  his  pen  was  fre- 
quently employed  to  draw  up  the  protests  entered  in  its 
journals.  He  died  after  a  short  indisposition,  on  the  21st 
of  August,  1731.  He  had  a  g6od  relish  for  the  writingSj 
of  the  ancients,  and  gave  sonie  productions  of  his  own. 

Lord  Orford,  in  enumerating  his  works,  attributes  to  him 
a  translation  of  the  life  of  Lysander  from  Plutarch,  which 
he  says  is  published  in  the  English  edition  of  that  author  \ 


BOYLE*  S5f 

bat  the  life  of  Lysander  in  that  edition  is  given  to  one 
leoian,  a  Cambridge  man.  His  first  appearance  as  an 
author,  was  when  Dr.  Aldrich,  dean  of  Christ-church, 
finding  him  to  be  a  good  Grecian,  put  him  upon  publishing 
a  new  edition  of  the  epistles  of  Phalaris,  which  appeared 
in  the  beginning  of  1695,  under  the  title  of  "  Phalaridis 
Agrigentinorum  tyranni  epistolae.  Ex  MSS.  recensuit, 
versione,  annotationibus,  &  vita  insuper  auctoris  donavit 
Car.  Boyle,  ex  aede  Christi,  Oxon,"  8vo.  In  this  edition 
he  was  supposed  to  have  been  assisted  by  Aldrich  and  At- 
terbury.  The  authenticity  of  these  epistles  being  called 
in  question  by  Dr.  Bentley,  Mr.  Boyle  wrote  an  answer, 
entitled  "  Dr.  Bentley's  Dissertation  on  the  epistles  of  Pha- 
laris examined.''  In  laying  the  design  of  this  work,  in  re- 
viewing a  good  part  of  the  rest,  in  transcribing  the  whole, 
and  attending  the  press,  half  a  year  of  Atterbury's  life 
was  employed,  as  he  declares  in  his  "  Epistolary  Cojrespon- 
dence,"  1783,  vol.  II.  p.  22,*  His  lordship  wrote  a  comedy, 
called  "  As  you  find  it,"  printed  in  the  second  volume  of 
the  works  of  Roger  earl  of  Orrery.  He  was  also  author 
of  a  copy  of  verses  to  Dr.  Garth,  upon  his  Dispensary,  and 
of  a  prologue  to  Mr.  Southerne's  play,  called  "  The  Siege 
of  Capua.'* 

The  instrument  called  the  Orrery  obtained  his  name 
from  the  following  circumstance  :  Rowley,  a  mathematical 
instrument-maker,  having  got  one  from  Mr.  George  Gra- 
ham, the  original  inventor,  to  be  sent  abroad  with  some 
of  his  own  instruments,  be  copied  it,  and  made  the  first 
for  the  earl  of  Orrery ;  sir  Richard  Steele,  who  knew  no- 
thing of  Mr.  Graham's  machine,  thinking  to  do  justice  to 
the  tirst  encourager,  as  well  as  to  the  inventor  of  such  a 
curious  instrument,  called  it  an  Orrery,  and  gave  Rowley 
the  praise  due  to  Mr.  Graham. ' 

BOYLE  (John),  earl  of  Cork  and  Orrery,  a  nobleman 
who  added  fresh  lustre  to  his  name  and  family,  was  the 

'  *  See  Bevtley,  and  Atterdury.  wrote  the  body  of  the  criticisms ;  and 
Pope  gave  VVarburton  the  following  that  Dr.  King  of  the  Commoas  wrote 
account  of  this  celebrated  composition  ^  the  droll  argument  to  prove  Dr.  Bent- 
lie  said,  "  that  Boyle  wrote  only  the  ley  was  not  th^  author  of  the  Disserta^* 
narrative  of  what  passed  between  him  tioQ  on  Phalaris,  and  the  Index.  And 
and  the  bookseller,  which  too  was  cor-  a  powerful  cabal  gave  it  a  surprising 
rected  for  him ;  that  Freind,  the  mas-  run.*' 
ier   of  Westminster,    and   Atterbury,  *     Warburton's  Letters,  Bvo.  p.  1 1 . 

»  Biog.  Brit.—Ath.  Ox.  vol.  II.— Swift's  Works.— Life  by  Budgell.— Nichols's 
P«ems,  voK  IV.-^Nichols's  Atterbury. — Park'$  Royal  and  Noble  Autbon« 


860  BOYLE. 

only  son  and  heir  of  Charles,  the  fourth  earl  of  Orrery  (ihe 
subject  of  the  preceding  article),  by  the  lady  Elizabeth 
Cecil,  daughter  of  John  earl  of  Exeter.  He  was  born  on 
the  2d  of  January,  1706-7,  and  put  early  under  the  tuition 
of  Mr.  Fenton,  the  author  of  Mariamne,  and  one  of  the 
coadjutors  of  Mr.  jpope  in  the  translation  of  the  Odyssey, 
by  whom  he  was  insh'ucted  in  English  ;  and  carried  through 
the  Latin  tongue  from  the  age  of  seven  to  thirteen.  Be- 
tween this  amiable  -  poet  and  bis  noble  pupil  a  constant 
friendship  subtiisted  ;  and  his  lordship  always  spoke  of  him 
after  his  decease,  and  often  with  tears,  as  *^  one  of  the 
worthiest  and  modestest  men  that  ever  adorned  the  court 
of  Apollo.'*  After  passing  through  Westminster  school, 
lord  Boyle  was  admitted  as  a  nobleman  at  Christ-church, 
Oxford,  of  which  college,  as  we  have  already  seen,  hia 
father  bad  been  a  distinguished  ornament.  One  of  his 
first  poetical  essays  was  an  answer  to  some  verses  by  Mrs. 
Rowe,  on  an  unsuccessful  attempt  to  draw  his  picture. 

When  the  earl  of  Orrery  was  committed  prisoner  to  the 
Tower  on  account  of  Layer's  plot,  such,  was  the  filial  pifety 
of  his-  son,  that  he  earnestly  entreated  to  be  shut  up  with 
his  noble  father  ^  but  this  indulgence  was  thought  too  con* 
siderable  to  be  granted.  Not  long  after  he  had  completed 
the  twenty-first  year  of  his  age,  he  married,,  on  the  9th 
of  May  17.28,  lady  Harriet  Hamilton,  the  third  and 
youngest  daughter  of  George  e^rl  of  Orkney.  Though 
this  marriage  had  the  entire,  approbation  of  lord  Orrery, 
it  unfortunately  happened  that  a  dissension  arose  between 
the  two  earls,  which  placed  the  young  couple  in  a  very 
delicate  and  difficult  situation  ;  but  lord  Boyle  maintained 
at  the  same  time  the  tenderest  affection  for  his  wife,  and 
the  highest  attachment  to  his  father.  The  earl  of  Orrery, 
however,  was  too  much  irritated  by  the  family  quarrel,  to 
see  at  first  his  son's  conduct  in  a  proper  point  ot  light,  al- 
though his  excellent  understanding  could  not  fail  in  the 
end  to  get  the  better  of  his  prejudices,  when  a  reconciliar 
tion  tov)k  place,  and  the  little  coldness  which  had  subsisted 
between  them  served  but  the  more  to  endear  them  to  each 
Other*.  The  earl  of  Orrery  was  now  so  niuch  pleased 
with  lord  Boyle,  that  he  could  scarcely  be  easy  without 

*  In  the  addenda  to  the  Biog.  Brit,  at  table  with  his  father's  mistress.    If 

ve  are  told  that  the  dissensions  between  this  be  true,  it  must  greatly  dimioish 

the  earl  and  his  son  originated  in  the  his  lojrdship/s  character. 
Utter  refusing  to  suffer  bis  wife  to  sit 


BOYLE.  .361 

liim ;  and  when  in  town,  they  were  seldom  asunder.  It 
is  to  be  lamented,  that  this  happiness  was  rendered  very 
transient  by  the  unexpected  death  of  lord  Orrery ;  and 
that  the  stroke  was  embittered  by  a  circumstance  pecu- 
liarly painful  and  affecting  to  his  noble  son  and  successor. 
The  father,  whilst  under  the  impression  of  his  dissension 
with  the  earl  of  Orkney,  had  made  a  will,  by  which  he 
had  bequeathed  to  Christ-church,  Oxford,  his  valuable 
library,  consistiug  of  above  ten  thousand  volumes,  toge- 
ther with  a  very  fine  collection  of  mathematical  instru- 
ments. The  only  exceptions  in  fovour  of  lord  Boyle  were 
the  Journals  of  the  House  of  Peers,  and  such  books  as 
related  to  the  English  history  and  constitution.  The  earl 
of  Orrery  left,  besides,  though  he  was  greatly  in  debt, 
several  considerable  legacies  to  persons  nowise  related  ta 
him.  Upon  his  reconciliation  with  his  son,  he  determined 
to  alter  his  will,  and  had  even  sent  for  his  lawyer  with  that 
view,  when  the  suddenness  of  his  decease  prevented  the 
execution^f  his  just  and  reasonable  design.  The  young 
lord  Orrery,  with  a  true  filial  piety  and  generosity,  in- 
stead of  suffering  his  fieither's  effects  to  be  sold,  took  his 
debts  upon  himself,  and  fulfilled  the  bequests,  by  paying . 
the  legacies,  and  sending  the  books  and  mathematical  in- 
struments within  the  limited  time  to  Christ-church.  The 
loss,  however,  of  a  parent,  thus  aggravated  and  embittered, 
left  a  deep  impression  upon  his  mind,  and  was  succeeded 
by  a  fit  of  illness  which  endangered  his  life,  and  obliged 
him  to  repair  to  Bath.  Whilst  he  was  in  that  city,  he  re- 
ceived a  letter  from  a  friend,  with  a  copy  of  verses  in- 
closed, exhorting  him  to  dispel  his  grief  by  poetry,  and  ' 
to  shew  that  Bath  could  inspire,  as  well  as  Tunbridge ; 
from  which  place  he  had  written  some  humorous  verses 
the  year  before.  To  this  letter  his  lordship  returned  the' 
following  answer : 

*'  Nor  Bath,  nor  Tunhridge,  can  my  lays  inspu^e^ 
Nor  radiant  beauty  make  me  strike  the  lyre: 
Far  from  the  busy  crowd  1  sit  forlorn. 
And  sigh  in  secret,  and  in  silence  mourn : 
Nor  of  my  anguish  ever  find  an  end ; 
I  weep  a  &ther>  but  I  've  lost  a  fiiend." 

In  a  few  months  lord  Orrery  so  far  recovered  bis  health 
and  spirits  as  to  be  able  to  attend  his  public  duty  as  an 
English  baron.  He  took  his  seat  in  the  house  of  peers  in 
the  session  of  parliament  which  opened  on  the  iStb  of 


562  BOYLE. 

January,  173 1  -2,  and  soon  distinguished  himself  by  a  speeck 
in  opposition  to  the  ministry,  against  the  mutiny -bill ;  the 
inconsistency  of  a  standing  army  with  the  liberties  of  a 
free  people  being  at  that  period  the  topic  constantly  in- 
sisted upon  by  the  patriotic  party.     Though  no  notice  is 
taken  of  his  lordship's  speech  in  Timberland's  Debates,  it 
is  certain  that  he  acquired  considerable  credit  on  this  oc- 
casion.    Mr.  Budgell,  in  the  dedication  to  his  Memoirs  of 
the  Family  of  the  Boyles,  published  in   1732,  celebrates 
Our  noble  lord  as  having  displayed  the  united  forces  of 
reason  and  eloquence ;  and  Mr.  Ford,  in  a  letter  to  Dr. 
Swift,  written  in  the  same  year,  mentions  with  pleasure  a 
character  which  the  dean  had  given  of  the  earl  of  Orrery, 
^nd  says,  that  he  was  extremely  applauded  for  a  speech 
he  made  against  the  army- bill.     The  approbation  which 
his  lordship  received  in  this  first  exertion  of  his  parlia-* 
mentary  talents,  did  not  encourage  him  to  become  a  public 
speaker ;  and  we  meet  with  only  another  instance  in  which 
he  took  any  active  part  in  a  debate,  on  the  13th  of  Fe- 
bruary, 1733-4,  in   favour  of  the  duke  of  Marlborough's 
bill  for  preventing  the  of&cers  of  the  land  forces  from  being 
deprived  of  their  commissions,  oth*erwise   than  by  judg- 
ment of  a  court  martial  to  be  held  for  that  purpose,  or  by 
address  of  either  house  of  parliament.     The  delicacy  of 
lord  Orrery's  health,  his  passion  for*  private  life,  and  the 
occasions  he  had  of  sometimes  residing  in  Ireland,  seem 
to  have  precluded  him  from  a  very  constant  and  regular 
Bttendance  in  the  English' house  of  peers.     However,  he 
,    did  not  fail  to  go  thither  when  he  apprehended  himself  to 
be  called  to  it  by  particular  duty ;  and  we  find  his  name 
to  a  considerable  number  of  the  protests  which  were  so 
frequent  during  the  grand  opposition  to  sir  Robert  Wal- 
pole's  administration. 

In  the  summer  of  1732  the  earl  of  Orrery  went  over  to 
Ireland  to.  rerestablish  his  affairs,  which  were  much  em- 
barrassed by  the  villainy  of  his  father's  agent.  As  the 
family  seat  at  Charleville  had  been  burnt  to  the  ground  by 
•  a  party  of  king  James's  army  in  1690,  his  lordship  resided 
sometimes  with  a  friend  at  that  place,  and  sometimes  at 
Cork.  Whilst  he  was  in  this  city,  he  met  with  a  most  se- 
vere affliction,  in  the  loss  of  his  countess,  who  died  on  the 
22d  of  August,  1732.  The  character  of  this  amiable  lady 
has  been  drawn  by  lord  Orrery  himself,  in  his  Observa-  . 
tions  on  Pliny.    The  countess  was  interred  with  her  sls\^ 


BOYLE.  863 

cestors,  at  Taplow,  in  Bucks ;  and  Mr.'  S.  Wesley,  in  a 
poem  on  her  death,  fully  displayed  her  excellent  qualities 
and  virtues.  Mr.  Theobald  did  the  same,  in  his  dedication 
of  Shakspeare^s  Works  to  the  earl.  The  dedication,  it 
seems,  was  originally  intended  for  lier  lad3'ship  ;  and 
therefore  lord  Orrery  is  represented  as  succeeding  to  it  by 
the  melancholy  right  of  executorship.  Mr.  Theobald  pro- 
fesses to  have  borrowed  many  hints  from  hearing  his  patron 
converse  on  Shakspeare ;  and  adds,  "  Your  lordship  may 
reasonably  deny  the  loss  of  the  jewels  which  I  have  dis- 
paraged in  the  unartful  setting."  Such  language,  how- 
ever, must  be  considered  as  partly  complimentary;  for 
if  the  earl  of  Orrery  had  contributed  any  material  criti- 
cisms upon  our  great  dramatic  poet,  they  would  undoubt- 
edly have  been  distinctly  specified.  Some  pathetic  verses 
on  the  death  of  the  countess,  dated  Marston,  Dec.  17, 
1734,  were  addressed  by  his  lordship  to  Mrs.  Rowe,  who 
lived  in  his  neighbourhood,  and  with  whom  he  had  ati 
intimate  friendship  during  the  latter  part  of  her  life.  How 
much  this  ingenious  and  excellent  lady  valued  his  esteem 
and  regard,  is  evident  from  her  observing,  that  ^^  his  ap- 
probation would  be  her  vanity  and  boast,  if  she  could  but 
persuade  herself  she  deserved  it."  The  house  where  she 
was  born  belonged  to  him ;  and  he  always  passed  by  it, 
after  her  decease,  with  the  utmost  veneration.  It  appears 
from  Mrs.  Howe's  posthumous  letter  to  his  lordship,  that 
he  had  charged  her  with  ^^a  message  to  his  Henrietta 
(Harriet),  when  she  met  her  gentle  spirit  in  the  blissful 
regions." 

Whilst  our  noble  lord  resided  in  Ireland,  he  commenced 
a  friendship  with  dean  Swift,  which  produced  also  that  of 
Mr.  Pope.  The  earl  having  sent  a  copy  of  verses  to  the 
dean  on  his  birth-day,  they  were  so  pleasing  to  that  cele- 
brated genius,  that  he  begged  the  author  ^*  to  accept  his 
most  bumble  thanks  for  the  honpur  done  him  by  so  ex- 
cellent a  performance  on  so  barren  a  subject."  "In  spite," 
says  the  dean,  '^  of  those  who  love  me  not,  it  will  be  said 
in  future  ages,  that  one  of  lord  Orrery's  first  essays  in 
poetry  was  these  verses  on  Dr.  Swift."  There  are,  in- 
deed, several  evidences  in  Pope's  and  Swift's  letters,  of 
the  sincere  esteem  they  entertained  for  his  lordship. 

In  October  1783,  lord  Orrery  returned  to  England,  and 
Slaving  now  no  attachment  to  London,  he  disposed  of  his 
))ouse  in  Downing-street,  Westminster,  as  likewise  of  l^i^ 


364  BOYLE. 

seat  at  Britwell,  near  Windsor,  and  retired  to  his  seat  at 
Marstou>  in  Somersetshire.  As  this  place  had  been  much 
neglected  by  his  ancestors^  and  was  little  more  than  a  shell 
of  a  large  old  house,  be  amused  himself  in  building  offices, 
in  fitting  out  and  furnishing  apartments,  and  laying  out 
gardens  and  other  plantations.  Study  and  retirement 
being  his  principal  pleasures,  he  took  care  to  supply  the 
loss  he  bad  sustained  from  his  father's  will,  by  furnishing 
his  library  anew  with  the  best  authors.  In  the  summer  of 
1734,  probably  in  liis  way  to  France,  where  he  sometimes 
went,  he  yisited  the  tomb  of  his  ancestors,  Roger  Boyle, 
esq.  and  Joan  his  wife,  in  Preston  church,  near  Feversbam. 
This  monument,  when  the  title  of  earl  of  Cork  devolved 
upon  him,  he  fntended  to  have  repaired,  if  his  life  had  been 
prolonged,  in  the  middle  of  the  year  1735,  we  find  him 
again  in  Ireland.  On  the  3ist  of  October,  in  the  same 
year,  an  amiable  relation,  and  a  most  promising  youth, 
Edmund  duke  of  Buckingham,  died  at  Rome,  upon  which 
melancholy  event,  lord  Orrery  paid  a  just  tribute  to  the 
memory  of  the  young  nobleman,  in  an  elegiac  poem.  It 
was  printed  in  1736,  and  is  one  6f  the  most  pleasing  spe- 
cimens which  our  author  has  afforded  of  his  poetical  abili- 
ties. In  the  winter  of  1735-6,  the  duke  of  Dorset  being 
then  lord  lieutenant  of  Ireland,  the  earl  of  Orrery  neg- 
lected no  opportunity  of  endeavouring  to  render  bis  ad- 
ministration easy.  If  D/.  Swift  is  to  be  credited,  Irelsmd 
was  about  that  time  in  a  wretched  condition.  As  a  proof 
pf  it,  the  dean  asserted  in  a  letter  to  Mr  Pope,  that  lord 
Orrery  had  3000/.  a  year  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Cork, 
and  that  more  than  three  years  rent  was  unpaid*  In 
April  1737,  his  lordship,  who  was  then  at  Cork,  earnestly 
pressed  Dr.  Swift  to  accompany  him  to  England  ;  but  the 
doctor,  who  never  saw  Marston,  did  not  accept  the  invi- 
tation. Lord  Orrery  took  over  with  him  to  Mr.  Pope  all 
the  letters  of  that  great  poet  to  Swift,  which  the  dean  had 
preserved  or  could  find,  which  were  not  more  in  number 
than  twenty-five.  About  this  time,  our  noble  author, 
that  his  sons  might  be  educated  under  his  own  eye,  and 
also  have  the  benefit  of  attending  Westminster-scbool^ 
took  a  small  house  in  Duke-street,  Westminster.  On  the 
SOtbofJune,  1738,  the  earl  of  Orrery,  after  having  been 
six  years  a  widower,  married,  in  Ireland,  Mrs.  Margaret 
Hainilton,  only  daughter  and  heiress  of  John  Hamiltoo, 


BOYLE.  36* 

esq.  of  Caledon,  in  the  county  of  Tyrone,  grand-daughter 
of  Dr.  Dopping,  bishop  of  Meuth,  and  niece  of  Dr.  Dop- 
ping,  bishop  of  Ossory.  Swift,  in  a  letter  to  Miss  Ha- 
milton, on  her  intended  nuptials,  after  pretending  a  prior 
claim,  as  she  had  made  so  many  advances  to  him,  and 
confessed  "  herself  to  be  nobody's  goddess  but  his,"  archly 
waves  it,  and  politely  "  permits  lord  Orrery  to  ujake  him- 
self the  happiest  man  in  the  world ;  as  I  know  not," 
he  a4ds,  **  any  lady  in  this  kingdom  of  so  good  sense  or 
so  many  accomplishments."  He  gives  a  great  character 
of  her,  likewise,  in  his  last  printed  letter  to  Mr.  Pope* 
In  this  lady,  the  earl  of  Orrery,  with  gratitude  to  Heaven, 
acknowledged  that  the  loss  of  bis  former  countess  was  re- 
paired, lyi  1739  he  published  a  new  edition,  2  vols.  8vo, 
of  the  dramatic  works  of  his  great-grandfather.  Though 
these  volumes  cannot  be  particularly  valuable,  they  are 
now  become  exceedingly  scarce.  In  1741  he  published 
separately,  in  folio,  "  The  first  Qde  of  the  first  book  of 
Horace  imitated,  and  inscribed  to  t|;ie  earl  of  Chesterfield;" 
and  "  Pyrrha,  an  imitation  of  the  fifth  Ode  of  the  first 
book  of  Horace."  In  the  preface  to  the  last,  lord  Orrery 
characterises  Dacier's  and  Sanadon^s  translations,  and 
makes  some  observations  on  Horace,  which  shew  that  he 
entered  with  taste  and  spirit  into  the  peculiar  excellencies 
or  that  poet  In  1742  he  published  in  one  volume,  folio, 
the  "  State  Letters'*  of  his  great-grandfather,  the  first 
earl ;  to  which  were  prefixed  Morrice's  memoirs  of  that 
eminent  statesman.  On  the  25th  of  August,  1743,  his  lord- 
ship was  presented  by  the  university  of  Oxford  to  the 
honorary  degree  of  D.  C.  L.;  and  he  was,  likewise,  F.R.  S. 
Lord  Boyle,  in  1746,  being  settled  at  Oxford,  and  Mr, 
Boyle  in  the  college  at  Westminster,  their  father  quitted 
London,  and  fixed  his  residence  at  (Jaledon,  in  Ireland. 
During  one  of  his  occasional  visits  to  England,  after  the 
publication  of  the  second  volume  of  the  Biographia  Britan* 
nica,  he  thanked  Dr.  Campbell,  ^^  in  the  name  of  all  the 
Boyles,  for  the  honour  he  had  done  to  them,  and  to  his 
own  judgment,,  by  placing  the  family  in  such  a  light  as  to 
give  a  spirit  of  emulation  to  those  who  were  hereafter  to 
inherit  the  title."  Lord  Orrery  resided  in  Ireland,  with 
very  little  intermission,  from  1746  to  1750  ;  happy  in  that 
domestic  tranquillity,  that  studious  retirement  and  inac- 
tivity, from  which,  as  he  himself  expressed  it,  he  was 
scarcely  ever  drawn,   hiit  with  the    utmost   reluctance. 


366  BOYLE. 

*^  Whenever,"  as  he  observed  in  a  private  letter,  "we  sJt^ 
out  of  domestic  life  in  search  of  felicity,  we  come  back 
again  disappointed,  tired,  and  chagrined.  One  day  passed 
under  our  own  roof,  with  our  friends  and  our  family,  is 
worth  a  thousand  in  any  other  place.  The  noise  and 
bustle,  or,  as  they  are  foolishly  called,  the  diversions  of 
life,  are  despicable  and  tasteless,  when  once  we  have  ex- 
perienced the  real  delight  of  a  fire-side."  These  senti- 
ments, which  do  so  much  honour  to  the  rectitude  of  his 
lordship's  understanding,  and  the  goodness  of  his  heart, 
reflect,  at  the  same  time,  a  just  reproach  on  the  absurd  and 
criminal  dissipation  that  prevails  for  the  most  part  among 
persons  of  rank  and  fortune.  During  the  earl  of  Orrery's 
^  residence  in  Ireland,  he  employed  his  leisure  in. laying  out 
gardens  and  plantations  at  Caledon,  and  in  improving  and 
adorning  its  fine  situation.  On  his  return  to  Marston,  he 
continued .  his  alterations  and  improvements  in  the  house 
and  gardens  at  that  place,  many  of  the  plans  for  which 
were  designed  by  lord  Boyle,  who  had  a  taste  for  architec- 
ture. In  the  mean  while,  the  amusement  of  our  noble 
author's  winter  evenings  was  his  translation  of  "  The  Let- 
ters of  Pliny  the  Younger,  with  observations  on  each  letter, 
and  an  Essay  on  Pliny's  life,  addressed  to  Charles  lord 
.  Boyle."  The  essay  is  dieted  Leicester-fields,  January  27, 
1750-1;  and,  together  with  the  translation,  was  published 
at  London,  in  the  following  April,  in  2  vols.  4to.  This 
work  met  with  so  good  a  reception  from  the  public,  that 
thi'ee  editions  of  it  in  octavo  have  since  been  printed.  In 
the  summer  of  the  same  year,  lord  Orrery  addressed 
to  his  second  son  Hamilton  a  series  of  letters,  containing 
"  Remarks  on  the  Life  and  Writings  of  Dr.  Swift,  dean  of 
St.  Patrick's,  Dublin."  This  work  gave  rise  to  many  stric- 
tures and  censures  on  his  lordship  for  having  professed 
himself  Swift's  friend  while  he  was  exposing  his  weak- 
nesses. Subsequent  inquiries  into  Swift's  character  have 
proved,  that  the  portrait  he  drew  was  not  unfaithful.  To 
this,  however,  we  shall  have  occasion  to  recur  in  our  ac- 
count of  Swift. 

On  the  3d  of  December,  1753,  by  the  death  of  Richard 
the  third  earl  of  Burlington,  and  fourth  earl  of  Cork, 
without  issue  male,  lord  Orrery  succeeded  to  that  noble- 
man's Irish  titles,  viz.  earl  of  Cork,  viscount  Dungarvan,  and 
lord  Boyle,  baron  of  Youghall.  About  this  time,  Mr. 
^loore  uijdertoqk  the  periodical  publication  called,  "  The 


B  O  Y  L  E.  3«7 

World;"   to  which  bur  noble   author  contributed  three 
papers,  viz.  No.  47,  68,  161.     The  two  first  are  papers 
of  some  humour,  intended  to  ridicule  the  practice  of  duel- 
ling, as  it  prevailed  in  th6  last  age;  and  the  third  is  a 
father's  account  of  his  son,  Charles  lord  Dungarvan,  whose 
weakness  of  temper  was  such,  that  he  could  not  resist  the 
temptation  to  indulgences  which  at  last  proved  fatal.     The 
earl  of  Cork  was  a  contributor,  likewise,  to  the  *' Con- 
noisseur," carried  on  by  Mr.  Thornton  and  Mr.  Colman. 
In  the  last  numl;)er  of  this  publication,  G,  K.  which  was  his 
lordship's  signature,   is   distinguished,   by  the  ingenious 
authors,  as  their  "  earliest  and  most  frequent  correspond- 
ent;" and  ^*  we  are  sorry,"  they  add,  **  that  he  will  not 
allow  us  to  mention  his  name  ;  since  it  would  reflect  as 
much  credit  on  our  work,  as  we  are  sure  will  redound  to 
it  from   his  compositions."     His  communications  to  the- 
**  Connoisseur"  were  the  most  part  of  No.  14  and  17  ;  the 
letter  signed  Goliah  English,    in  No.   19;  great  part  of 
No.  33  and  40 ;  and  the  letters,  signed  **  Reginald  Fitz- 
worni,"  "  Michael  Krawbridge,"  "  Moses  Orthodox,"  and 
"Thomas  Vainali,"  in  No.  102,  107,  113,  and  129.  These 
papers  are  chiefly  of  the  humourous  kind  ;  and  they  con* 
firm,  in  no  small  degree,  Mr.  Duncombe's. character  of 
ouir  author,  that  '^  for  humour,  innocent  humour,  no  one 
had  a  truer  taste,  or  better  talent."     On  the  20th  of  Sep- 
tember,  1754,  the  earl  and  countess  of  Cork,  with  their 
daughter  lady  Lucy  Boyle,  began  a  tour  to  Italy.     Hitf 
lordship's  chief  object  was  Florence,  in  which  city  and  its 
neighbourhood  he  resided  nearly  a  year.     Whilst  he  was 
at  that  place,  he  presented  to  the  academy  della  Crusca, 
his  friend  Dr.  Samuel  Johnson's  English  Dictionary.     His 
inveterate  enemy,' the  gout,  introduced  by  a  severe  winter, 
overtook  him  even  in  Italy,  and  prevented  his  attendance 
on  the  exercises  of  the  academy.     He  enjoyed,  at  Flo- 
rence, a  general  esteem ;  and,  by  a  free  conversation  with 
books  and  men,  and  the  assistance  of  manuscripts,  col- 
lected materials  for  the  History  of  Tuscany,  which  he 
intended  to  write  in  a  series  of  Letters,  twelve  of  which 
only  be  lived  to  finish.     In  November  1755,  he  arrived  at 
Marston,  having,  in  his  return  to  England,  on  account  of 
the  commencement  of  the  war  with  France,  gone  through 
Germany  and  part  of  Holland.     The  situation  of  public 
affairs,  in  this  country,  at  the  beginning  of  the  year  1757, 
being  such  as  required,    in  our  national  councils,    the 


Ui  BOYLE. 

most  exertion  of  wisdom  and  integrity,  one  of  lord  Cork's 
friends  urged  him,  in  an  ode>  to  exchange  his  retiremeat 
for  a  more  active  scene. 

When  Dr.  Swift's  "  History  of  the  four  last  years  of 
Queen  Anne''  appeared  in  1758,  and  it  was  reported  that 
our  noble  lord  had  consented  to  the  publication  of  that 
work,  he  requested  his  friends  to  contradict  the  report. 
His  opinion  was,  that  the  more  the  work  was  examined, 
the  less  it  would  answer  the  end  either  of  the  author  or  of 
the  publisher.  In  that  year  he  sustained,  by  the  death 
of  his  excellent  lady,  Margaret  countess  of  Cork  and  Or« 
rery,  the  severest  domestic  affliction  which  could  befal 
him.  She  departed  this  life,  after  a  short  illness,,  on  the 
24th  of  November,  in  lodgings  at  Knightsbridge,  to  which^ 
she  had  been  removed,  at  her  own  request,  a  few  days' 
before,  from  a  tender  apprehension  that  her  lord  would 
quit  his  house,  just  taken,  in  Marlborough-street,  if  she 
died  there.  This  shock,  however,  he  supported  with  the 
resignation  becoming  a  man  and  a  Christian.  We  have 
air^dy  seen  the  high  opinion  which  Dr.  Swift  entertained 
of  her  ladyship.  The  earl  of  Cork,  in  his  distress^  took 
refuge,  like  Pliny,  in  his  studies,  as  the  best  retreat  from 
grie^  sutid  published,  in  the  beginning  of  1759,  in  one 
volume,  octavo,  from  an  original  manuscript  presented 
to  him  by  a  relation,  f^  Memoirs  of  the  Life  of  Robert 
Cary,  earl  of  Monmouth,"  with  a  preface,  and  explanatory 
notes,  and  a  short  but  tender  dedication  to  his  youngest 
son.  It  is  dated  Marlborough-street,  January  13,  1759, 
aiid  signed,  '^Now,  alas!  your  only  parent."-  Therein 
also,  as  a  frontispiece,  engraved  from  an  old  painting  by 
Marc  Garrard,  ^'The  Royal  Procession  of  queen  Elizabeth, 
to  visit  her  cousin  german,  Henry  lord  Hunsdon,  governor 
of  Berwick."  A  second  editic^n  of  ^e  Memoirs  appeared 
in  1760.  Mrs.  Lennox  was  considerably  indebted  to  lord 
Cork,  in  her  translation  of  Brumoy's  Greek  Theatre,  pub« 
lisfaed  in  1759.  The  preface  was  written  by  him;  and  he 
also  translated  ^^  The-Discourse  upon  the  Theatre  of  the 
Greeks,"  "  The  Original  of  Tragedy,"  and  <^  The  Par 
rallel  of  the  Theatres."  Some  smaller  things,  of  hi^  lordf^ 
lip's  writing,  are  in  the  Gent.  Mag.  *'    On  September 


*  In  Uie  Qentleman's  Magazine,  for  Several  of  his  letters  are  to  be  met  witli 

1741,  p.  3^,  are  some  verses  by  lord  in  Swift's  Works.    In  Derrick's  Let* 

Orrery,  to  Mrs.  Csssar.    In  115 1  he  ters,  voL  II.  p.  17,  there  is,  likewise, 

wrote  the  prologue  to  Mallei's  Alfred*  one  from  his  lordship  to  that  gentle- 


BOYLE.  t6§ 

m 

t^e  16th,  1759,  the  earl  of  Cork  lost  his  elde&t  son, 
Charles  lord  viscount  Dungarvan,  already  mentioned.  The 
earl  survived  him  about  three  years,  during  which  he  di- 
vided his  lime  between  his  house  in  Great  Georsre-streetj 
Westminster,  and  his  seat  in  Somersetshire*  An  heredi*- 
tary  gout,  which  all  his  temperance  could  only  parry,  not 
subdue,  put  a  comparatively  early  period  to  his  life,  at 
Marston  house,  on  the  16th  of  November,  1762,  in  the 
56th  year  of  his  age.  His  remains  were  deposited  near  to 
those  of  his  second  lady,  in  the  burial-place  of  his  family 
in  Frome  church. 

His  last  work  was  posthumous,  "  Lettei's  from  Italy,'* 
written  in  1754  and  1755,  to  William  Duncombe,  esq.  and 
published,  in  1774,  by  the  rev.  Mr.  John  Duncombe,  who 
well  knew  and  highly  esteemed  lord  Cork's  talents  and 
virtues.  Mr.  Duncombe  has  prefixed  a  life  of  his  lord* 
ship,  with  the  following  particulars  of  his  character:  <*  The 
character  of  John  earl  of  Cork,  as  a  writer  and  as  a  man, 
may  partly  be  collected  from  his  owil  works,  and  partly 
from  the  testimonies  which  have  been  given  of  him  by  some 
.of  the  most  distinguished  among  his  contemporaries.  I 
shall  only  beg  leave  po  add,  that,  in  every  domestic  and 
social  relation,  in  all  the  endearing  connections  of  life,  as 
a  husband,  a  father,  a  friend,  a  master,  he  had  few  equals. 
The  lustre  which  he  received  from  rank  and  title,  and  from 
the  personal  merit  of  his  family,  he  reflected  back,  unim- 
paired and  undiminished  ;  and  though  ^  the  post  of  honour' 
which  he  chose  and  preferred  was  *  a  private  station,* 
though  he  was  neither  a  statesman  nor  a  soldier,  like  the 
first  lord  Cork,  the  frrst  lord  Orrery,  and  his  own  father; 
the  rival  of  Palladio,  like  the  late  lord  Burlington  ;  or  the 
rival  of  Bacon,  like  Mr.  Robert  Boyle  ;  yet  in  a  general 
taste  for  literature,  or,  as  they  are  commonly  called,  po- 
lite studies,  he  was  by  no  means  inferior  to  his  ancestors. 
Being  much  in  the  great  world  at  the  beginning  of  his  life, 
be  despised  and  detested  it  when  he  arrived  at  years  of  re- 
flection. His  constitution  was  never  strong,  and  he  was 
very  thankful  that  it  was  not  so  ;  as  his  health  was  a  true 
and  no  very  irksome  excuse  to  avoid  those  scenes,  by 

man,  dated  November  25,    1760,   and  a  poetical  version  of  a  number  of  pas- 

io  the  G«nt.  Mag.  vol.  LXII.  one  from  sages  quoted  from  the  ancient  classics, 

him  to  Dr.  Birch  on  Johnson's  Die-  there  are  interspersed   several  small 

tionary.  original  pieces. —Sec  also  Nichols** 

Jn  his  Translation  of  Pliny,  betides  roemj»,  vol.  VII. 

Vol,  VI.  B  b 


870  BOYLE. 

which  his 'body  virould  have  been  hurt,  and  his  mind  oiFefid^ 
«d.  .  He  loved  truth  even  to  a  degree  of  adoration.  H^ 
w^s  a  real  Christian  ;  and.  as  such,  constantly  hoped  for  a 
better  Hfe,  there  trusting  to  know  the  real  causes  of  thos0 
effects,  which  here  struck  him  with  Wonder,  but  not  with 
doubt.'* 

Dr.  Johnson,  less  biassed  by  firi€ndshi|),  and  more  dis- 
criminating, said  of  him,  "My  friend,  the  late  earl  of 
Cork,  had  a  great  desire  to  maintain  the  literary  characteic 
df  his  fktnily :  he  was  a  genteel  mmi,  but  did  not  keep  up 
the  dignity  of  his  rank.  He  was  so  geiierally  civil,  that 
liobody  thanked  him  for  it."  Warbnrton,  in  his  letters  to 
bishop  Hurd,  lately  published,  employs  the'  full  measure, 
of  his  coarse  censure  on  him  for  publishing  his  character  of 
Swift.  V 

BOYLE  (Richard),  third  earrof  Burlington  and  fourth 
earl  of  "Cork^  another  branch  of  the  illustrious  family  of 
Boyle,  was  bom  oft  the  25th  of  April,  1695;  and  was  marr. 
ried  on  the  2lBt  of  March,  1720-1,  to  the  lady  Dorothy 
8avile,  the  eldest  of  the  two  daughters  and  co-heirs  of 
William  Savile,  marquis  of  Halifax.     By  this  lady  he  had 
three  daughters,  the  youngest  of  whom,  Charlotte,  alone 
survived  him.    She  was  married  to  the  dukie  of  Devonshire, 
and  was  itiothelr  to  the  late  duke,  and  grandmother  to  th^ 
.present.     On  the  18th  of  June,  1730,  the  earl  of  Burling- 
ton was  installed  one  of  the  knights*  companions  of  the 
mostnoble  order  of  the  garter;  and  in  June  l73l,  he  was 
constituted  captain  of  the  band  of  gentlemen  pensioners. 
In  1732,  being  at  the  city  of  York,  the  lord  mayor,  alder- 
men, and  corporation,  sent  a  deputation  to  return  tbehr 
thanks  to  him  for  the  favour  he  had  done  them  in  building 
their  assembly*room,  and  for  his  other  benefactions  to  the 
city,   and  to  beg  his  acceptance  of  the  freedom  of  it; 
which  was,  accordingly,  presented  to  him  in  a  gold  box. 
In  1733,  he  resigned  his  place  of  captain  of  the  band  of 
pensioners.     After  this  he  lived  retired,  employing  him- 
self in'  adorning  bis  gardens  at  Chiswick,  and  in  construct- 
ing several  pieces  of  architectui-e.     Never,  says  lord  Orr 
ford,  were  protection  and  great  Wealth  more  generously 
and  n^ore  judiciously  diffused  than  by  this  great  person, 
who  had  every  quality  of  a  genius  and  artist,  except  envy. 

*  Biog.  Brit, — Nichols's  Bowyer. — Nichols's  Poems. — Bosweirs  Life  of  Johti- 
son,  and  Journey. — Swift's  Works,  passim — Park's.  Rovai  and  ^oble  Autboik 
»i-Warburtou's  Letters^  p.  66,  69,  19,  129,  4to  edit. 


BOYLE.  m 

Though  his  own  designs  were  fnore  chaste  and  classic  than 

KenCsy  he  entertained  him  in  bis  house  till  bis  deaths  and 

tvas  more  studious  to  extend  bis  friend's  fame  than  bisowti» 

Nor  was  bis  munificence  conikied  to  himself,  and  bis  own 

hottaes  and  gardens.     He  spent  great  Mma  in  contributing 

to  public  works,  and  was  known  to  choose  that  the  exf>efio€ 

should  fall  on-  himself,  rather  than  that  bis  country  should 

be  deprired  of  some  beautiful  edifices.     His  eniThcrsiaiiiii 

for  the  works  of  Inigo  Jones  was  so  active^  that  he  repaired 

the  jehuFch  of  Covent-garden,  because  it  was  the  produc- 

^on  of  that  great  master,  and  purchased  a  gate-'Way  of  bis* 

at  Beaufort-garden  in  Chelsea,  and  transported  the  ideii« 

tical  atones  to  Chiswiek  with  religious  attachment.     With 

the  same  zeal  for  pure  architecture,  he  assisted  Kent  in, 

publishing  the  designs  for  WhitehaH,  and  gave  a  beamifiil 

edkiiM  of  t-be  antique  baths  from  the  drawings  of  Paliadioy 

whose  papers  he  proctired  with  great  cost.     Besides  his 

works  on  bis  own  estate  ac  Lanesborough  in  Yorkshire,  be 

new  fronted  his  bouse  in  Piccadilly,  built  by  his  lathery 

and  added  the  grand  colonnade  within  the  court.     It  is 

recorded  that  bis  father  being  asked,  why  he  built  his  house 

so  far  out  of  town  ?  replied,  because  he  was  determined 

to  have  no  buildiiig  beyond  him.     This  is  now  in  the  heart 

of  that  part  of  the  town.     Our  nobility  formerly  wished 

Tor  towh-houses,  and  not  for  town-neigkbourkoodsj  but  the 

latter  being   now  obtruded   upon   them  is  probably  the 

cause  of  their  paying  so  little  itttenticm  to  the  keep  of  their 

London-palaces.     Bedford-boiise  has  been  levelled  to  the 

ground  some  years,  and  Burlington-bouse  is  likewise  ^d 

to  be  doomed  to  destruction. 

Lord  Burlington's  house  at  Chiswiek,  the  idea  of  which 
tvas  borrowed  from  a  well-known  villa  .of  Palladio,  is  a 
toodel  of  taste,  though  not  without  faults.  Other  works 
designed  by  lord  Burlington  were,  the  dormitory  at  West- 
tainster- school,  the  assembly-room  at  Yoric,  lord  Harring- 
ton's at  Petersham  (afterwards  lord  Camelford's),  except 
the  octagon  buildings  at  each  end,  which  were  added  by 
Shepherd ;  the  duke  of  Richmond's  house  at  Whitehall^ 
and  general  Wade's  in  Cork-street.  Both  these  last  were 
ill-contrived  and  inconvenient ;  but  the  latter  has  sq  beau- 
tiful a  front,  that  lord  Chesterfield  said,  "  as  the  general 
could  not  live  in  it  to  his  ease^  he  had  better  take  a  bouse 
oper  against  it,  and  look  at  k^  Pope  dedicated  to  faim  his 
Epistle  IV.  and  addressed  to  him  his  incomparable  letter  on 

BB  2 


372  BOYLE. 

a  Jouilfiey  td  Oxford  with  Lintot.  He  is  also  to  be  na^ 
ticed  with  honour  as  the  first  patron  of  bishop  Berkeley, 
ivhom  he  loved  for  his  taste  in  architecture.  He  died 
December  1753,  and  by  his  death  the  title  of  Earl  of  Bur- 
lington became  extinct. — His  lady,  Dorothy  Saville,  had  no 
less  attachment  to  the  arts  than  her  lord.  She  drew  in 
crayons,  and  succeeded  admirably  in  likenesses,  but  work- 
ing with  too  much  rapidity,  did  not  do  justice  to  her 
genius.  ^ 

BOYLE  (Hamilton),  earl  of  Cork  and  Orrery,  the  se- 
cond son  of  John,  earl  of  Orrery,  the  subject  of  the  last 
article  but  one,  was  born  in  February  17S0,  and  educated 
at    Westminster-school,    where  the   masterly  manner  in 
which  he  acted  the  part  of  Ignoramus,  and  spoke  the  epi^ 
logue,  did  great  credit  to  his  genius.     In  June  1748,   he 
was  matriculated  at  Oxford,  and  December  following  was 
admitted  student  of  Christ-church,  and  proceeded  regularly 
to  the  degree  of  LL.  B.     In  1762  he  succeeded  his.  fa- 
ther in  the  earldom,  his  elder  brother  having  deceased 
three  years  before.     In  1763,  he  was  created  LL.  D.  by 
diploma,  and  at  the  same  time  appointed  high  steward  of 
the  university  of  Oxford.     He  continued  student  of  Christ 
church  on  a  faculty  till  his  death,  which  happened  at  Mars- 
ton   house,  Jan.  17,   1764.     He  is  recorded  as  an  author 
from  having   contributed   two   papers  to  the    "World,'* 
drawn  up  with  vivacity,  elegance,  and  humour,  and  affording 
a  proof  that  if  his  life  had' been  continued,  be  would  have 
added  new  literary  honour  to  his  celebrated  name  and  fa- 
mily*.    These  papers  are  No.  60  and  170.* 

BOYLE  (Henry),  Lord  Carleton,  and  lord  president  of 
the  council  in  the  reign  of  king  George  I.  was  descended 
from  Richard  Boyle,  first  earl  of  Cork  in  Ireland,  and  was 
third  son  of  Charles  lord  Clifford  of  Lanesborough  in  the 
county  of  York,  by  Jane,  youngest  daughter  of  William 
Seymour,  duke  of  Somerset.  Being  elected  a  member  of 
the  bouse  of  commons,  he  soon  distinguished  himself  to 

*  Among  many  bon-mots  of  Hamil-  weddings,  his  son,  then  lord  Dungar* 
ton  Boyle,  Mr.  Duncombe  recollected  van,  replied,  that  neither  cou(d  he 
the  follonring :  his  father  once  wonder-  conceive  the  reason,  ualesa  it  were 
ing  why  the  Irish  peers  were  allowed  that  the  Irish  peer4  were  expected  to 
to  walk  at  royal  funerals,  but  not  at  Aoici/. 

*  Biog,  Brit,  note  on  the  preceding. — Walpole's  Painters. — Bowleses  Pope's 
Works. 

'^  Biog.  Brit.  Vol.  II.  p.  523.-- Bi^^tish  Essayists,  Profafie  to  the  Woridi  vol. 
XXVI.  .   , 


B  O  Y  L  E.  37S 

such  advantage,  that  in  March  1700-1,  he  was  appointed 
chancellor  and  under- treastirer  of  the  exchequer  by  king, 
William,  and  was  admitted  into  a  high  degree  of  favour  and 
conBdence  with  that  prince.  He  continued  ip  that  post 
till  the  1 1th  of  Februar)',  1707-8,  when  he  was  m^de  one 
of  the  principal  secretaries  of  state,  in  the  room  of  Robert 
Hariey,  esq.  and  was  consequently  one  of  the  ministry 
when  the  reputation  of  England  was  carried  to  so  great 
an  height,  and  when  the  queen  obtained  so  many  successes 
in  defence  of  the  common  cause  of  Europe.  In  this  sta- 
tion he  took  all  occasions  of  shewing  his  regard  for  men  of 
genius  and  learning  ;  and  soon  after  the  battle  of  Blen- 
heim, was  employed  by  the  lord  treasurer  Godolphin,  at 
the  solicitation  of  the  lord  Hahfax,  to  go  to  Mr.  Addison, 
and  desire  him  to  write  some  piece,  which  might  transmit 
the  memory  of  that  glorious  victory  to  posterity.  Mr.  Ad- 
disdn,  who  was  at  that  time  but  indifferently  lodged,  was 
surprised  with  this  visit  from  a  person  of  Mr.  Boyle's  rank 
and  station ;  who,  after  having  acquainted  him  with  his 
business,  added,  that  the  lord  treasurer,  to  encourage  him 
to  enter  upon  this  subject,  had  already  made  him  one  of 
the  commissioners  of  the  appeals ;  but  entreated  him  to 
look  upon  that  post  only  as  an  earnest  of  something  more 
considerable.  In  short,  Mr.  Boyle  said  so  many  obliging 
things,  and  in  so  graceful  a  manner,  as  gave  Mr.  Addison 
the  utmost  spirit  and  encouragement  to  begin  that  poem, 
which  he  entitled  *'  The  Campaign  ;"  soon  after  the  pub- 
lication of  which,  he  was,  according  to  Mr.  Boyle's  pro* 
mise,  preferred  to  a  considerable  post.  In  1710,  Mr. 
Boyle  was  one  of  the  managers  at  the  trial  of  Dr.  Sache- 
verell ;  but  upon  the  general  change  of  the  ministry,  not 
long  after,  was  dismissed  from  the  post  of  secretary  of  state ; 
in  which  he  was  succeeded  by  Henry  St.  John,  esq.  after- 
wards lord  viscount  Bolingbroke.  "  I  never,"  says  Swift, 
**  remember  such  bold  steps  taken  by  a  court ;  I  am  al- 
most shocked  at  it,  though  I  did  not  care  if  they  were  all 
banged."  Upon  the  accession  of  his  late  majesty  king 
George  I.  in  1714,  he  was  created  a  baron  of  this  kingdom, 
by  the  title  of  baron  Carletoh^  of  Carleton,  in  the  county 
of  York,  and  was  soon  after  made  lord  president  of  the 
council,  in  which  post  he  continued  till  his  death,  which 
happened  on  Sunday  the  14th  of  March,  1724-5,  at  his 
house  in  Pall-mall,  now  the  residence  of  his  royal  high- 
ness the  Prince  Regent. 


37*  B  O  Y  L  E. 

Mn  'BaigM  tells  ui^  that  he  was  endowed  wHk  gf^^ 
prudence  and  a  wioNiing  addiesa;  and  tbat  biaiong  expe-^ 
rience  in  pobKc  affdirs  had  given  him  a  thorough  know- 
ledge in  bosiness.     He  spoke  frequently  mrbile  be  was  s 
niembte  of  the  house  of  eoiBmon&;  and  it  was  allowed  hy 
very  good  judges^  that  he  was  never  once  known  to  say 
an  ifnpnideiYt  thing  in  a  public  delKite,  or  to  buit  the 
caose  which  be  engaged  in;  a  circurosianee  pecmltar  to 
himself  above  tnoat  other  speakers  in  so  public  an  assendoly* 
The  author  of  the  *^  Spectator/^  in  the  dedication  to  bim 
of  the  third  volume  of  that  work,  €>bscTves  likewise,  that 
there  wos  no  person,   whose  merit  was  more  universally 
acknowledged  by  all  parties,  and  who  bad  made  hioisdif 
more  friends  and  few^r  enemies  :  that  bis  great  ahiUtiea. 
and  un<)uestioned  integrity  in  thoae  high  employ menty 
which  he  had  passed  through,  would  not  have  been  abie^ 
tehave  raised  this  general  approbation,  had  they  net  been 
accompanied  with  that  moderation  in  a  high  fortime^  and 
that  affability  of  manneri$,   which  were  so  conspicuous 
through  all  pans  ^f  his  life :  that  his  aversion  to  any  osten-* 
iatious  arts  of  setting  to  show  those  great  services  whkb 
be  had  done  the  public,  contributed  likewise  not  a  little  tor 
that  universal  acknowledgment  which  was  paid  him  by  his: 
country  :  and  that  he  was  equally  remarkaUe  for  the  gi>eat  - 
figure  which  he  made  in  the  senate,  as  for  that  elegance 
a^  politeness,  which  appeared  in  bis  more  retired  coa** 
veliMitiian.     Davis,  in  his  characters  published  under rthe 
nam^  ^f  Maekay,  says  of  him,  ^^  He  is  a  good  companion 
in  contersation ;  agreeable  amoa^  the  ladies^  serves  die. 
qneen  very  assiduously  in  council ;  makes  a  coaaidefiahiA : 
figure  in  tjbe  house  of  commons;  by  his  pfudent  adrnfam^ 
traiion  obliges  every  body  in  the  exchequer ;  and  in  tioiei 
viny  prove  a  great  man."     To  this  Swift  added  in  hk  copj 
of  the  book,  ^^had  some  very  scurvy  qudities,  puroeulady^ 
nyaricek''* 

'  BOYS  (EbWaKD),  ii  leetfied  ck»rglrniim  of  the  seveaN 
te^th  century,  and  i^phew  to  the  dean  of  Cantedraiy^ . 
hereafter  tnentionisd,  was  of  &  good  fiimily  in  Kent^  and* 
was  edticated  at  Eton  school,  inm  which  he  was  admitted  ^^ 
d,  scholar  of  Corpus  Clmsti  ooUege,  OEiflotbridgei  in  Hay 
1^20.     Here  he  took  th^  degree  of  A.  8.  in  1623^  of  A.  ftC  * 

>  BirdhHi  LiTes.-«-BudgelI*s  Lire^  of  the  ^oyle^.— Swift's  Wofits,  Jtk  2lV« 
p.  905,  ^VIH,  Si30,  edit  180^ 


BOY  ST;  Z19 

1$9T,  and  wa»  elected  fellow  in  16SU  He  proceeded 
B-  O.  and  was  appointed  one  of  the  univer$itiy  preachers  ia 
lS%4fi  a&d  in  1640,  was  preseoted  to  the  rectory  of  Maut- 
h«»y  in  Norfolk}  upon  the  death  of  Mr.  Tbooti^  B^£ngayne ; 
but  before  he  left  college,  he  gave  to  its  library  a  fiue  set 
vf  Binnius's  Councils.  His  patron  wa9  Wmiam  Paaton, 
^sq»  hfs  friend  and  conlemporary  at  college,  to  whose  sou 
air  Robert  Paston,  bart.  of  Oxnead  in  that  county,  a  volume 
Qf  ^li^  '^Sermons,"  Lond.  1672,  4to,  was  dedicated  some- 
time a^er  his  decease,  by  his  friend  the  editor,  Roger 
Flynt,  who  had  likewise  been  of  Bene't  college.  He  die^ 
either  in  166^  or  ld67,  March  10.  He  was  a  much  ad-* 
imred^  preacher,  a  favourite  of  the  bishop  of  Norwich  (the 
celebrated  Hali),  and  a  chaplain  to  Charles  I.  His  editor, 
ia  the  prefij^e  to  the  above  ^^  Seri^oiis,"  informs  us  that  it 
waft  wilh  difficulty  be  obtained  leave  of  the  dying  author  to 
m^e  them  public^  and  obtained  it  only  upon  co&dition  that 
b0  should  say  nothing  of  him.  He  ha$»  however,  given  a 
nhort,  but  excellent  character  of  him*  - 

BOYS,  orBOIS  (John),  one  of  the  translators  of  the  Bible 
in  the  reign  of  Jame^  L  was  soa  of  William  Bois,  rector  of 
West-Stowe,  near  St.  Edmundsbury,  in  Suffolk,  and  born 
at  Nettlestead  iD^  that  cpuiity,  Jan.  1,  1560.  He  was  taught 
the  first  Ytidiments  of  learning  by  his  father ;  and  his  ca« 
paoiiy  W9S  such,  that  ^t  the  ^ge  of  five  years  he  read  the 
Bible  in  Hebrew,  and  before  he  was  six  could  write  it  in 
an  elegant  hand*  He  went  afterwards  to  Hadley  school^ 
andnt  f<Hirtem  was  admitted  of  St.  John's  college,  Cam^ 
btidge,  where  be  distingnisbed  himself  by  his  ^Ull  ia  the 
Gvei^;  and  such  was  hip  diligence  that  we  are  told  be 
woold  g^^  tQ  (he  university  library  in  summer,  at  four  in 
t^  mornings  and  remain  till  eight  in  the  evening  without 
a)iy'int^r|niisiQn.  Happening  to  have  the  smalUpox  when 
be  was  elected  fellow, .  to  preserve  bis  seniority,  be  caused 
himself  to  be  carried,  wrapped  up  in  blankets,  to  be  ad^ . 
initted.  He  applied  himself  for  some  time  to  the  study  of 
medieine,  but  fansying  himself  affected  with  every  disease 
be  read  pfi  he  quitted  th<M^  i^cience*  June2i,  1583,  he 
was  ordained  de^cop,  and  next  day,  by  virtue  of  a  dispen-;* 
iiktion,  priest.  He  was  ten  years  chief  Greek  lecturer  in 
hii  coUeg^  and  read  every  day.  He  voluntarily  read  a 
Crreek  lecture  fpr  fiome  year:;,  at  four  in  the  morning,  in 

1  ]4«sters's  Hist,  of  C.  C.  C.  C. 


iie  BOYS. 

his  own  chamber^  which  was  frequented  by  many  of  the 
fellows.     On  the  death  of  his  father,  he  succeeded  him  in 
the  rectory  of  West  Stowe ;  but  his  mother  going  to  live 
with  her  brother,  he  resigned  that  preferment,  though  he. 
might  have  kept  it  with  his  fellowship.     At  the  age  of 
thirty- six,  he  mamed  the  daughter  of  Mr.  Holt,  rector  of 
Boxworth,  in  Cambridgeshire,  whom  he  succeeded  in  that 
living,  1596.     On  quitting  the  university,  the  college  gave 
him  one  hundred  pounds.     His  young  wife,  who  was  be- 
queathed to  him  with  the  living,  which  was  an  advowson, 
proving  a  bad  economist,  and  himself  being  wholly  im- 
mersed in  his  studies,  he  soon  became  so  much  in  debt, 
that  he  was  forced  to  sell  his  choice  collection  of  books  to 
a  prodigious  disadvantage.     The  loss  of  his  library  afflicted 
him  so  much,  that  he  thought  of  quitting  his  native  couht 
try.     He   was,  however,  soon   reconciled  to  his  wife,  and 
he  even  continued  to  leave  all  domestic  affairs  to  her  ma- 
nagement.    He  entered  into  an  agreement  with  twelve  of 
the  neighbouring  clergy,  to  meet  every  Friday  at  one  of 
their  houses  by  turns,  to  give  an  account  of  their  studies. 
He  usually  kept  some  young  scholar  in  his  house,  to  in- 
struct his  own  children,  and  the  poorer  sort  of  the  town, 
as  well  as  several  gentlemen's  children,  who  were  boarded 
with  him.     When  a  new  translation  of  the  Bible  was,  by 
James  I.  directed  to  be  made,  Mr.  Bois  was  elected  one  of 
the  Cambridge  translators.     He  performed  not  only  his 
i)wn,  but  also  tha  part  assigned  to  another  (part  of  the 
Apocrypha),  with  great  reputation,  though  with  little  profit  j 
for  he  had  no  allowance  but  his  commons.     The  king  in- 
deed nominated  him  one  of  the  fellows  of  his  new  college 
at  Chelsea,    but  he  never  derived   any  benefit,    as   the 
scheme  was  not  executed.     He  was  also  one  of  the  six  who 
met  at  Stationers-hall  to  revise  the  whole  translation  of  the 
Bible,  which  task  they  went  through  in  nine  months,  hav- 
ing each  from  the  company  of  stationers  during  that  time 
thirty  shillings  a  week.     He  afterwards  assisted  sir  Henry 
Saville  in  publishing  the  works  of  St.  Cbrysostom,  and  re- 
ceived a  present  of  one  copy  of  the  book,  for  many  years 
labour  spent  upon  it :  which  however  was  owing  to  the 
death  of  sir  Henry  Saville,  who  intended  to  have  nrtade 
him  fellow  of  Eton.     In  1^15,  Dr.  Lancelot  Andrews,  bi- 
shop of  Ely,  bestowed  on  him,  Mnasked,  a  prebend  in  his 
church.     He  died  1643,  in  the  84th  year  af  his  age  ;  lea?-? 
ing  a  great  many  manuscripts  behind -him,  particularly  a 


B  6  Y  S.  i77 

CDlIation  of  tfce  text  of  the  Gospels  and  Acts.  When  he 
was  a  young  student  at  Cambridge,  he  received  from  the 
learned  Dr.  Whitaker  these  three  rules,  for  avoiding  those 
di^empers  which  usually  attend  a  sedentary  life,  to  which 
be  constantly  adhered :  the  first  was,  to  study  always  stand- 
ing; the  second,  never  to  study  in  a  window;  the  third, 
never  to  go  to  bed  with  his  feet  cold  *.  The  work  men- 
tioned above,  which  Wolfius  says  is  "  Liber  infrequentissi- 
mus  et  rarissime  occurrens,"  owing  to  very  few  copies'  hav- 
ing been  printed,  was  entitled  "  Veteris  interpretis  cum 
Beza  aliisque  recentioribus  Collatio  in  Quatuor  Evange- 
liis '  et  Apostolorum  Actis,  autore  Johanne  Boisio,  Eccl. 
Eiiensis  Canonico,  opus  auspiciis  rev.  Prsesulis  Lancelot), 
Winton.  Episc.  cseptum  et  perfectum,"  Lond.  1655, 
l^ofio.  ^ 

BOYS  (John),  dean  of  Canterbury,  descended  from 
John  de  Bosco,  who  entered  England  with  the  Conqueror, 
atid  allied  to  a  family  so  opulent  and  extensive  as  to  be  di- 
vided into  eight  branches,  each  residing  in  their  respective 
seats  in  the  county  of  Kent,  was  born  in  1571.  He  was 
the  foiirth  son  of  Thomas  Boys  of  Eythorne  in  that  county, 
esq.  by  Christian,  daughter  and  co-heiress  of  John  Searles, 
of  Wye,  esq.     Having  inost  probably  received  the  earlier 

^.  The  author  of  his  life  Iniving  he  learned  from  Tully,  viz.  "  a  inis« 
sbewQ  how  indefatigable  he  was  in  his  spent  youth  leaves  a  spent  body  to 
studies,  enters  into  a  very  curious  ac-  old  age."  According  to  this  rule,  his 
^ount  of  his  manner  of  living,  which,  person,  even  at  the  time  of  his  de- 
fox  the  sake  of  sedentary  persons,  de-  cease,  gave  evidence  of  his  having 
serves  to  be  taken  notice  of.  He  made  lived  virtuously  and  soberly  in  the 
but  two  meals,  dinner  and  supper,  days  of  his  youth;  for  his  brow  was 
beiweeo  which,  if  well,  he  never  so  without  wrinkles,  his  sight  was  quick» 
much  as  drank.  After  meat  he  was  his  bearing  sharp,  his  countenance 
very  careful  in  picking  and  rubbing  fresh,  his  head  not  bald,  and  his  body 
his  teeth,  by  which  means  he  carried  perfectly  sound,  a  rupture  only  ex- 
them  almost  all  to  his  gr^ve.  After  cepted ;  which  accident,  when  it  first 
dinner  he  either  sat  or  walked  an  hour  befel  him,  a  person  skilled  in  the  cure 
before  he  went  into  his  ^tudy.  Fasting  of  that  distemper,  told  him  he  could 
he  used  occasionally,  sometimes  twice  not  survive  half  a  year,  in  hopes  of 
in  a  week,  sometimes  once  in  three  getting  a  considerable  sum  out  of  him 
weeks.  Towards  the  latter  end  of  his  for  renewing,  which  he  pretended  wa*^ 
life  he  would  not  study  after  supper,  in  his  power,  of  a  lease  so  near  expir- 
l^at  diverted  himself  wiih  cheerful  con-  ing.  But  the  doctor,  either  having  no 
vefsalion  fcr  two  hours,  at  which  opinion  of  this -man's  skill,  or  not  think- 
ttnoe  he  would  divert  his  friends  with  ing  his  own  case  so  desperate,  declined' 
barmleiis  and  entertaining  stories,  of  his  assistance,  aud  defeated  his  pre- 
wbich  he  had  a  great  fund.  He  had  a  diction,  by  living  twenty  years  with* 
saying  in  his  mouth  frequently,  which  out  any  great  inconvenience. 

*  Biog.  Brit. — Peck's  Desiderata,  vol.  II.  where  is  his  Life  by  Dr.  Anthony 
Walker,  a  very  curious  and  interesting  work. — Peck's  Cromwel),  CoUecUflni^' 
p.  P4.--W*t8pft'B  Halifax,  p.  460.— Wood's  Fasti,  voU  I, 


S7»  ^  O  t  & 

psrt  of  bis  edo<;ation  at  the  king'ii  scbool  in  Canterbntyi  ba 
waot  ta  Caoibrklge  in  1566^  wliere  be  became  a  scholar  <tf 
Corpus  Cbristi  college,  and  proceeded  to  the  degree  of 
M.  A.  in  1593.  He  wa9  aboiit  this  lime  elected  to  afel- 
loNvship  of  Clare* ball,  wbicb  is  appropriated  to  a  native  of 
Kent. 

He  entered  on  the  duties  of  a  parish  priest  first  at  Hoi- 
lingbourne  in  bis  natii^e  county,  of  which  place,  howe^^i, 
he  was  not  the  vicarr,  as  Mr.  Masters  conjedures ;  and  to' 
the  inhabitants  of  it  he  dedicated  bis  £xpositioo  of  the 
Festival  Epistles  and  Gospels.    In  1  $91,  he  was  pteferred ' 
hy  bis  uncle>  sir  John  Boys,  who  bad  been  the  patro&i  of 
his  studies  at  the  university,  to  the  rectory  of  Bettisbangef^ 
near  Deal.     In  the  same  year  be  was  also  collated  by  arch<^ 
bishop  Whitgift  to  the  mastership  of  East^bridge  boapita) 
ia  Canterbury.     In  li^^,  the  same  patron  presented  him' 
to  the  vicarage  of  Tilmanstone,  adjoining  to  Bettisbanger« 
He  had  now  acquired  the  character  of  a  distinguished  the** 
ologist,  and  proceeded  soon  afterwards  to  the  degree  of 
D.  D.     He  was  likewise  what  then  was  termed  ^'  a  painltil 
preacher,^'  one  who  in  preaching  was  frequent  and  labori«< ' 
ou%  as  liis  works  testify,  wbicb  were  all  delivered  ori- 
ginally in  the  pulpit.  * 

His  merit  becoming  known  to  James  I.  he  was  appointed 
one  of  the  first  fdlows  of  Chelsea-eOllege ;  but  that  scheme^ 
as  we  have  had  occasion  to  remark  in  the  preceding  arti-  ' 
cWi  never  having  been  carried  into  execution,   bis  title 
wts  onlv  nominal.     Of  this  college  we  ishall  give  some  ae-  • 
count  m  the  life  of  Dr.  Sutclifl'e  the  founder.     In  1618, 
JDr.  Boys  was  collated  by  archbishop  Abbot  to  the  rectory 
of  Qreat  Mongebam,  adjoining  also  to  his  benefice  of  Bet- 
tishanger,  ainl  resigned  the  vicarage  of  Tilmanstone.     On 
the  death  of  Mr.  Fotherby,  king  James  promoted  him  to 
the  deanry  of  Catiterbury,  to  which  he  was  admitted  May  ^ 
3,  1619;  but  this  preferment  he  did  not  enjoy  long,  ^J^^S 
suddenly  in  .bis  study  Sept,  :26,  1625,  aged  fifty-four.  . 

If  we  examine  his  "  Postils,"  or  the  Defence  of  oor 
Liturgy,  we  shall  have  reason  to  admire  his  unwearied  di- 
ligence, and  bis  profound  knowliedge ;  to  respect  buu  asf  a 
scholar  and  a  divine.  His  style,  indeed,  partakes  of  the  ' 
quaintness  of  the  age,  but  upon  the  whole  we  think  hua 
less  blameable  on  this  score  than  some  of  his  contemppra* 
ries.  His  main  object  was  opposition  to  popery.  He  ao*- 
"cordingly  attacks  the  pope  both  with  unsparing  ridiciiles  ' 


B  a  Y  a  wsr 

and  with  elaborate  argument.  lo  a  $ermon  preached  on 
the  Gunpowder  treason,  be  introduced  a  parody  oii  the 
Lord's  Prayer  io  Latin,  **  Papa  noster  qui  es  RomcB,  ma- 
ledicetur  nomen  touoi,  iotereat  reguum  tuum,  impediatur 
voluntas  tua,  sicut  in  co&lo  sic  et  in  terra.  Potum  nosliruin 
in  coena  dominica  da  nobis  hodie,  et  remitte  nammotf 
nostros  qi^oa  tibi  dedimus  ob  indulgentias,  et  ne  noa  in- 
ducasin  faaeresin,  $ed  libera  nos  a  miseria,  quoniasD  tauaa 
est  inferoutti,  pix  et  sulphur  in  sstcuia  sa^culoruoi.'*  Giiaa«< 
ger  gives  this  prayer  in  l^glisb,  as  if  Dr.  Boy4  had  used 
it  in  that  language,  and  adds,  what  he  certainly  could  not 
koowy  that  *^  he  gained  gr6at  applause  by  turaing  the 
Lord's  Prayer  into  an  execration.''  The  truth  is,  he  only  * 
quQted  it,  saying  *^  I  have  another  prayer,  and  forasmuch 
as  it  is  in  Latin,  &c."  It  occurs  in  a  MSw  of  sir  Henry 
Fynes,  who  says  he  found  it  in  an  old  book.  Sir  Henry 
Fy^ies  was  bom  in  \S%1,  and  Dr.  Boys's  works  could  not 
be  deemed  an  old  book  in  his  time. 

His  '^  Postils,"  a  series  of  Sermons  on  the  book  of  Com* 
mo^  Prayer,  Epistles,  and  Gospels,  &c.  were  first  pub* 
lisbed  in  1614,  4to;  and  afterwards  reprinted  in  foli^,' 
1622  and  1629,  with  some  additional  lectures.  The  edi« 
tions  of  1622  and  1629  have  an  engraved  frontispiece,  with 
fqur  portraits  of  the  author  in  different  attitudes.  After 
his  death  vhis  remains,  viz.  ^'  Certaine  Sermons,^  were 
printed,  1631,  4to.  He  is  also  said  to  have  written  a 
*^.  Defence  of  bishop  Andrews's  TorturaTorti,*'  against  Be-^ 
canus  the  JesQit  The  manuscript  of  bis  Postils  was  de^ 
posited  by  his  nephew  Edward  in  the  library  of  Bene't  coU* 
lege,  Cambridge. 

He  nuurried  Angela,  the  daughter  of  Robert  Bargrave 
of  Bridge,  in  the  county  of  Kent,  esq.  and  sister  to  bis 
successor  dean  Bargrave.  She  survived  him  many  years, 
au,d  was  rudely  treated  by  the  rebels  in  1642,  at  the  age 
of.  eighty.  To  his  memory  a  very  fine  monument  was 
placed  by  her,  in  the  dean's  chapel,  in  Canterbury  cathe* 
draly  where  he  was  buried.  ^ 

BOYS  ( WfUiAM),  esq.  F.  A.  and  L.  S.  S.  was  borti  at 
D^al  in  Kent,  Sept  7,  1735;  and  was  for  many  years  an' 
eminent  aurgeon  at  Sandwich,  in  the  same  county.  He 
waa theeUest  of  two  sons  of  the  late  William  Bays,  esq. 

»  Todd%  Deang  of  Canterbury .^Mastcre'a  Hkt  •f  C.  C.  C.  C— FuUee*  Wor* 
Unet.— -Wood's  Fasti,  vol,  I. — Granger's  History  uid  Letters,  p.  121,  204.**. 
OtOU  Msf.  ▼•L  XLII.  JN  60,  tf I. 


aao  BOYS. 

commodore  by  commission  in  the  royal  navy,  and  lieute- 
nant-governor of  Greenwich  hospital,  by  his  wife  Eliza- 
beth Pearson  of  Deal ;  and  was  descended,  paternally, 
from  an  ancient  and  knightly  family,  who  were  seated  at 
Bonnington,  in  the  parish  of  Goodnestone,-  in  Kent,  at 
the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century. 

Mr.  Boys,  early  in  life,  shewed  a  strong  propensity  to 
cultivate  literature  and  science.  Every  moment  he  could 
spare  from  his  professional  duties  was  devoted  to  some  use- 
ful pursuit  Residing  within  a  mile  of  Richborough,  (the 
ancient  Mhutupium^)  he  was  soon  led  to  investigate  the 
history  of  his  neighbourhood.  He  acquired  an  uncommon 
facility  in  decyphering  ancient  MSS.  and  inscriptions ; 
and  being  fortunately  in  very  easy  circumstances,  inde- 
pendently of  his  professional  income,  he  was  enabled  to 
gratify  his  taste  at  no  inconsiderable  expence ;  and  gradu- 
ally collected  together  many  valuable  and  curious  books, 
manuscripts,  coins,  and  other  antiquities.  He  likewise  ap- 
plied himself  with  great  zeal  and  success  to  the  study  of 
natural  history ;  to  mathematics,  astronomy,  and  other 
branches  of  philosophy.  In  1786  he  circulated,  among 
bis  friends,  proposals  to  print,  privately,  "  Collections  for 
a  History  of  Sandwich,  with  notices  of  the  other  Cinque 
ports ;  and  of  Richborough."  Disclaiming  all  views  of 
profit,  he  proposed  to  fix  such  a  price  on  the  work^'as 
should  merely  defray  the  expence  of  printing  and  engrav- 
ing ;  and  so  conscientiously  did  he  adhere  to  this  proposal, 
that,  after  the  distribution  of  the  book,  he  found  himself 
a  considerable  loser.  A  part  of  the  volume  (printed  at  the 
Canterbury  press)  appeared  in  1788;  and  a  second  part, 
completing  this  elaborate  and  valuable  work,  in  1792  ; 
inaking  together  a  volume  in  quarto  of  877  pages. 

This  was  his  principal  literary  production ;  but  being  of 
a  most  liberal  and  communicative  disposition,  be  was  at 
all  tiipes  ready  to  assist  his  friends  with  hints  and.  observa- 
tions on  any  subject  which  had  engaged  his  attention. 
Thus,  in  17S3,  we  find  him  communicating  to  the  late  ifev. 
Johq  Duncombe  some  "  Observations  on  the  Antiquities 
of  Reculver;"  which  are  inserted  by  that  writer  in  his  His- 
tory of  Reculver  and  Heme;  and,  in  1784,  appeared  a 
small  work  of  25  pages  in  quarto,  with  three  plates,  en- 
titled "  A  Collection  of  the  minute  and  rare  Shells  lately 
discovered  in  the  sand  of  the  sea-shore  near  Sandwich,  by 
William  Boys,  esq.  F.  S.  A.  considerably  augment^,  and 


BOYS.  381 

ikU  their  figures  accurately  drawn,  as  magnified  with  the 
inicroscope.  by  George  Walker,  bookseller  at  Faversham  ;** 
which  in  the  preface  is  candidly  acknowledged,  by  the 
editor,  to  be  the  joint  production  of  Mr.  Boys  and  hiiTiself> 
assisted  by  their  common  friend,  the  late  Edward  Jacob, 
esq.  of  Faversham.  Plancus,  in  a  treatise  "  De  Conchis 
minus  notis,"  printed  at  Venice  in  1739,  is  the  only  writer 
who  had  Before  described  shells  so  minute  as  those  which 
are  the  subject  of  Mr.  Walker's  work. 

In  1787,  Mr.  Boys  printed,  in  40  pages  quarto,  an  af- 
fecting  narrative,  drawn  up  by  his  father,  lieutenant-go- 
vernor Boys,  and  left  by  him  in  manuscript  (a  copy  of 
which  has  since  been  inserted  in  the  History  of  Greenwich 
Hospital),  entitled,  "  An  account  of  the  Loss  of  the  Lux- 
borough  Galley  by  Fire,  on  her  voyage  from  Jamaica  to 
London,  with  the  sufferings  of  her  crew,  in  the  year  1727; 
by  William  Boys,  second  mate  ;"  to  which  he  added  a 
preface  and  an  appendix  containing  some  additional  anec- 
dotes of  the  sufferers. 

In  1792,  Mr.  Boys  communicated  to  the  society  of  anti- 
quaries "  Observations  on  Kits-Coity  house  in  Kent,"  which 
have  been  inserted  in  the  Archseologia,  vol.  XL  ;  and  Mr. 
Pennant,  Dr.  Latham,  and  many  other  antiquaries  and  na- 
turalists in  their  respective  works  acknowledge  their  obli* 
gations  for  assistance  contributed  by  him.  Dr.  Latham,  iu 
his  Index  Ornithologicus,  has  given  his  name  to  a  new  spe- 
cies of  Feru  communicated  by  Mr.  Boys.  In  1787  Mr.' 
JBoys  was  appointed  surgeon  to  the  sick  and  wounded  sea- 
men at  Deal ;  but  this  appointment,  during  the  progress  of 
the  late  war,  was  found  to  require  so  much  of  his  time 
and  attention  that  in  1796  he  was  induced  to  relin- 
quish entirely  his  medical  practice  at  Sandwich,  and  to 
reside  near  the  naval  hospital  at  Walmer  till  1799,  when 
the  commissioners  of  the  sick  and  hurt  office  accepted  his 
resignation  of  the  office  of  surgeon  of  the  hospital,  and  ap- 
pointed to  it  his  fourth  son,  Edward  Boys,  M.  D.  who  now 
holds  it.  At  this  period  he  returned  to  Sandwich,  but  with 
very  impaired  health.  In  the  month  of  February  of  that 
year,  he  had  a  slight  attack  of  apoplexy,  and  in  December 
following,  another  and  more  alarming  paroxysm  occurred, 
from  the  effects  of  which  he  did  not  recover  for  nine  or  ten 
months.  On  the  2d  of  March  18d3,  his  servant,  on  coming 
into  the  parlour  where  he  was  sitting  after  breakfast,  foynd 
him  fallen  back  in  his  chair  in  a  state  of  apoplexy.     He 


»Bfi  BOY  a 

renained  in  this  state,  but  with  symptoms  which,  for  soni^ 
daysp  at  intervals,  encouraged  his  friends  to  hope  that  he 
might  still  recover,  till  the  15th  of  the  same  month  in  the 
afternoon,  when  he  placidly  breathed  his  last. 

He  was  for  many  years  a  very  useful  magistrate  of  the 
town  ill  which  he  resided ;  having  been  elected  a  jiirat  of 
Sandwich  in  1761,  and  served  the  office  of  mayor  in  1767 
and  1782.  In  1775,  when  the  corporation  found  it  expe^ 
d^ent  to  oppose  an  intended  act  of  parliament  for  draining 
the  general  raileys  of  East  Kent,  on  the  grounds  that  the 
remedy  proposed  to  be  adopted  might,  without  effecting 
the  professed  object  of  the  bill,  prejudice,  if  not  totally 
destroy,  ^e  haven  and  harbour  of  Sandwich ;  Mr.  Boys 
drew  up  a  very  sensible  memorial  on  the  subject,  which 
«ias  pridorted  in  4to  at  the  Canterbury  press,  ImH  withoat  his 
name,  under  the  title  of  **  The  Case  of  the  inhabitants  and 
corporation  of  the  town  and  port  of  Sandwich,  in  the 
MUQty  of  Kent,  touching  a  bill  lately  brought  into  the 
house  of  commons,  to  enable  the  commissioners  of  sewersy 
for  several  limits  in  the  eastern  parts  of  the  county  of  Keiit, 
ttiore  eflFeotualiy  to  drain  and  improve  the  lands  within  the. 
general  vaUeys."  The  attention  be  paid  to  this  subject  ren- 
<lered  him  afterwards  very  useful  as  one  of  the  commis- 
sioners of  sewers  for  East  Kent,  at  whose  meetings  he  waa 
a  constant  attendant  as  long  as  his  health  permitted. 

He  was  twice  married,  first  in  1759,  to  Elizabeth,  daugh- 
ter of  Mr.  Henry  Wise,  jurat  of  Sandwich,  who  died  in 
1761,  by  whom  he  had  a  son  and  daughter  :  and  secondly, 
in  1762,  to  Jane,  daughter  of  Thomas  Fuller,  esq.  and  co- 
heiress of  her  uncle  John  Paramor,  esq.  of  Htatenborough^ 
who  died  in  i78S,  atnl  by  whom  be  had  eight  children.  An 
elegant  mural  monument  has  been  erected  in  tlie  parish 
church  of  St.  Clement  at  Sandwich,  by  his  family,  with  a 
Latin  iascription  \ 

BOYSE  (Joseph,)  a  protestant  dissenting  minister,  was 
horn  at  Leeds  in  Yorkshire,  in  January,  1659^60:  After 
eaiiy  instruction  under  the  care  of  his  parents,  he  received 
the  first  part  of  Jus  education  for  the  ministry  at  the  private 
aieademy  of  the  rev.  Mr.  Frankland,  near  Kendal,  in  West- 
moueland^  and  completed  it  under  the  tuition  of  the  rer. 
Mr.  Edward  Veal,  who  kept  a  private  academy  at  Stepney, 
near  London.  Having  continued  in  these  seminaries  fire 
years,  and  availed  faiasseflf  of  the  opportunities  which  he 

>  Qent.  Mag.  toI.  UCXW.  p.  293,  421,  andiroU  LXXXU.  part  L  p.  307. 


B  O  Y  S  K.  MS 

enjoyed  in  the  latter  situation  of  attending  on  the  preaching 
of  many  able  divines,  both  conformists  and  non-conformistSy 
he  entered  on  the  exercise  of  his  ministry  about  the  yeat 
1680.     In  1683^  finding  that  be  could  not  discharge  the 
duties  of  his  function  in  England  without  molestation,  he 
Accepted  an  invitation  to  be  joint  pastor  with  Mr.  (after* 
ilirards  Br.)  Daniel  Williams,  in  Dublin;  and  had  afterwards 
for  his  coadjutor  the  rev.  Mr.  Thomas  Bmlyn,  so  well  known, 
for  his  writings  and  his  sufferings.     This  connection  subf- 
listed  for  more  than  ten  years  with  mutual  friendship  and 
tininterrupted  harmony  ;  but  it  was  at  length  dissolved  in 
€ionsequence  of  Mr.  Emlyn^s  sentiments  concerning  the 
doctrine  of  the  Trinity.     On  this  occasion  the  zeal  of  Mr. 
Boyse  for  the  orthodox  led  him  to  take  some  steps  that  were 
thought  injurious  to  his  former  colleague,  and  inconsistent 
with  the   friendship  that  had  subsisted  between   them ; 
though  he  disapproved  the  prosecution  which  Mr.  Emiyn 
suffered,  and  behaved  towards  him  with  a  greater  degree  of 
iLindness  than  any  of  the  other  dissenting  ministers  of  Dub- 
4in.     The  latter  years  of  Mr^  Boyse's  life  were  embittered 
hy  1[>odily   disorders  and   straitened   circumstances.     His 
(funeral  sermon  was  preached  in  December,  1728 ;  but  the 
precise  time  of  bis  death  h  not  known.     He  was  considered 
as  a  pious,  learned,  and  useful  divine ;  assiduous  inr  the  ear-, 
ercise  of  his  ministry,  and  in  his  conduct  generally  es-> 
teemed.     He  had  a  principal  concern  in  promoting  the  act 
of  toleration  in  Ireland.     His  works  were  published  in  1729, 
in  2  vols.  fol.     The  first  contains  7 1  sermons,  6  disserta- 
tions on  the  doctrine  of  justification,  and  a  paraphrase  on 
those  passages  of  the  New  Testament  which  chiefly  relate  to 
that  doctrine.     One  of  his  sermons,  originally  printed  se- 
parately, on  "  the  Office  of  a  Christian  Bishop,"  was  or- 
dered to  be  burnt  by  the  Irish  parliament  in  Nov.  1711. 
*l^he  second  volume  contains  several  pieces,  of  which  the 
principal  isa^*  Vindication  of  the  true  Deity  of  our  blessed 
Saviour,'*  in  answer  to  Mr.  Emiyn's  "  Humble  inquiry  into, 
the  Scripture    account  of   Jesus  Christ,    &c."     As  Mr. 
Boyse's  answer  was  published  at  the  time  when  Mr.  Emlyn 
was  ander  prosecution  for  his  sentiments,  his  conduct  did 
not  escape  censure  from  the  friends  of  Emlyn>  who  did  not 
thinkitcandid,  liberal,  or  ingenuous  ^ 

BOYSE  (Samuel),  the  only  son  of  the  preceding,  and 
whose  life  affords  an  excellent  moral,  was  born  an  the  year 

1  E»os.  Brit— Swift's  Works,  yo^  2^  |>.  19^     , 


584  B  O  Y  S  E. 

1708,  and  after  receiving  the  rudiments  of  education  in 
a  private  school  in  Dublin,  was  sent  at  the  age  of  eigbteeu 
to  the  university  of  Glasgow.     His  father's  intc'ntion  was| 
that  be  might  cultivate  the  studies  that  are  preparatory  to 
entering  into  the  ministry,  but  before  he  had  resided  many, 
months  at  Glasgow,  he  contracted  an  attachment  for  a  MLs^^ 
Atchenson,  the  daughter  of  a  tradesman  in  that  city,  and 
married  her  about  a  year  after,  probably  without  the  con- 
sent of  the   parents   on  either  side.     By  this  imprudent, 
match  his  studies  were  in  some  measure  interrupted,  and 
his  expenses  increased.    The  family  of  his  yvife  were  either 
unwilling  or  unable  to  support  their  new  relation^  and  he 
soon  found  it  necessary  to  repair  to  Dublin  in  hopes  of  re- 
ceiving assistance  from  his  father.     On  this  expedition  ]ip 
was  accompanied. by  his  wife  and  her  sister;  but  notwitbr 
standing  this  additional  incumbrance,  and  the  genei^  le« . 
vity  of  his  conduct,  his  father  received  him  with  kindness, 
and  out  of  the  scanty  and  precarious  income  which  be  de,- 
rived  from  bis  congregation  by  voluntary  subscriptions,  and 
from  a  small  estate  of  eighty  pounds  a  year  in  Yorkshir^i, 
endeavoured  to  maintain  his  son,  and  to  reclaim  bi«n  to  the 
prosecution  of  his  studies.     Tendern.ess  like  thi§,  howeyqi;, 
which  only  to  n^entioii  is  to  excite  gratiti\de,.  produced  no 
corresponding  effects  oq  ourppet,  wb9  alpandpned  his  mind 
and  time  to  dissipation  and  idleness,  without  a  thought. qf 
what  he  owed  to  his  father  or  to  himself.     In  this  caurse  too 
he  was  unhappily  encouraged  by  the  girl  he  married,  who, 
while  she  imposed  upon  the. good  old  man  by  a  show  of  cj,e-.. 
c^ncy,  and  even  ,sanctity,  became  in  fact  devoid  pf  all 
shame,   and  at  length  shared  her  favours,  with  other.  n)ei\, 
and  that  not  without  the  knowledge;. of  her  husband,  who  is  , 
said  to  have  either  wanted  resolution  to  resent  hpr  infitlelity^ 
or  was  reconciled  by  a  share  of  the  profits  of  his  dishonour. 
Such  a  qounection  and  such  a  mind,  at  an  age  w)ieu  the  \ 
manly  and  ingenuous  feelings  are  usually' strongest,  roay^ 
easily  account  for  the-  miseries  of  his  subsequent  life.    .  , 

His  father  died  in  the  year  1*3128,  and  his  whole  property >• 
havipgbeen  exhausted  in  the  support  of  his  soil,  the  latter 
repaired  in  1730  to  Edinburgh,  where  his  poetical  g€\nju;^ 
raised  him  jnany  friends  and  some  patrons  of  consid^a^l^ 
eminence,    particularly   the    lords   Stair,  Twe^dale, .  aftjl  • 
Stprmont;  and  there  is  some  reason  to  think  that  be  was . 
occasionally  entertained  at  their  houses.     In  1731,  he  pu^-». 
lished  a  volume  of  poems^  to  v^hich  was  subjoined  a  tjransla*- 


fi  d  Y  s  i;.  isi 

tibil  of  the  Tablature  of  Cebes,  and  ^  Letter  updn  Liberty 
which  had  been  before  published  in  the  Dublin  Journal. 
This  volume,  which  was  addressed  to  the  coiiritess  of  Eg- 
linton,  a  lady  of  gretit  accom{)Iishments,   pi'dcurdd   hini 
lAuch  reputation.  He  also  wrote  an  elegy  on  the  viscountess 
Stormont,  entitled,  "  The  Teat's  of  the  Muses,"  in  com- 
pliment to  her.  laldyship^s  taste  as  a  patroness  of  poets." 
Lord  Stormont  was  so  mUch  pidased  with  this  mark  of  re-  ' 
spect  to  the  memory  of  his  lady,  that  hfe  ordered  a  hand-' 
s6me  present  to  be  made  to  the!  diithor,  whom,  however,  it 
Was  not  easy  to  find.     Such  was  Boys^^s  unsocial  iufti  jlrid 
aversion  to  decent  company,  that  his  peisod  was  kiiowti 
only  among  the  lower  orders,  and  Lord  Stormont*s  genfe-' 
rbus  intentibn  would  have  been  frustrated,  if  his  agent  had 
not  put  an  advertisement  into  the  papers  desiring  the  author 
of  "  The  Tears  of  the  Muses"  to  call  upon  him.  By  means 
of  lady  Eglinton  and  lord  Stormont,  Boyse  became  krtoWa 
to  the  duchess  of  Goi*don,  who  likewise  was  a  petson  of  li- 
terary taste,  and  cultivated  the  cbrrespdrid^tlce  of*  some  of 
the  most  eminent  poets  of  her  time.     She  was  60  desirOua 
to  raise  Boyse  above  necessity,  that  she  employed  her  in- 
terest in  procuring  the  promise  of  a  place  for  him ;  and  * 
iitcordihgly  gave  him  a  letter,  which  he  was  next  day  to 
deliver  to  one  of  the  commissioners  Of  the  customs  at  Edin- 
burgh*    "  But  it  unluckily  happened  that  he  wa!$  then  some 
miles  distant  from  the  city,  and  the  motning  on  which  he 
was  to  have  ridden  to  town  with  her  grace's  letter,  proved 
to  be  rairty.     This  trivial  circumstance  Was  sufficient  to  dis-' 
courage  Bbyi^e,  who  Was  tiever  accustomed  to  look  beyond' 
the  present  moment  t  he  declined  going  to  town  on  account 
of  the  rainy  weather ;  and  while  he  let  slip  the  opportu- 
liity,  the  place  was  bestowed  upon  another,  which  the  com- 
missionei"  dedared  he  kept  for  ^om^  //mc  vacant,  in  expecta-'^ 
tion  of  seeing  a  person  tecommended  by  the  duehess  of 
Gordon.*' 

Such  is  the  story  of  this  disappointment  in  which  all 
Bdjrse's' biographers  have  acquiesced^  although  it  is  not' 
veiry  consistently  told.  If  the  commissioner  kept  the  place 
open  for  some  tinier  which  seems  to  imply  weeks^  fibyse** 
m%ht  have  easily  repaired  the  neglect  of  not  presenting  his 
letter  ndjrt  day ;  but  the  truth  perhaps  was  that  he  disliked 
the  offer  of  regular  employment^  and  loitered  about  uiitil 
he  could  pretend  that  it  was  no  longer  in  his  choice.    It  is 

Vol.  VL  €0 


SS6  BO  Y  S  E. 

certaia  th^X  thisias'  well  as  every  other  kind  iiukeotipn  of  bii^ 
patrons  in  Scotbindy  were  defeated  by  bis  perverse  coiiducl^ 
and  that  be  remained  at  Edinburgh  until  contempt  and  po- 
verty were  followed  by  tbe  dread  of  a  jail. 

VVhile  any  prospect,  however,  remained  of  araoreadvan* 
tageous  lot,  be  could  still  depend  on  the  friends  who  first; 
noticed  him,  and  he  had  no  sooner  communic9.ted  bis  design 
of  going  to  England,  than  the  duchess  of  Gordon  gave  hiai 
a  recommendatory  letter  to  Mr.  Pope,  and  obtained  another 
fpr  him  to  sir  Peter  Kin^,  then  lord  chancellor.     Lord  Stor« 
iQoht  also  recommended  him  to  his  brother,  the  soltcitbr  ge-^ 
iijeral,  afterwards  the  celebrated  turd  Mansfield..    On  bis  ar-*> 
rival  in  London,  in  1737,  he  waited  on  Pope^,  but,  a3he  hap-*, 
pened.to  be  from  home,  he  never  repeated  the  visit  By  t(ii3 
lord  chancellor  he  is  said  to  have  been  received  with  kindDe$^^ 
and  to  have  occasionally  been  admitted  to  bis  lordship's  tsu 
ble:  so  sordid  were  bis.  habits,  however,  and  such  hisaVer« 
sion  to  polite  company,  that  this  latter  part  of  his  historji^ 
which  he  used  to  relate  himself,  has  been  doubted  by  thos,^ 
who  lived  near  enough  to  the  time  to  have  known  the  facti 
But  whatever  advantage  be  derived  from  the  recoinmenda^ 
tions  he  brought  from  Scotland,  it  does  not  appear  that  it 
inad|9  any  alteration  in  his  habits.     In  London  he  was  soon, 
reduced  to  indigence,  from  whicb  be  attetapted  no  meana 
of  extricating  himself,  but  by  writing  complimentary  pp*- 
ems,  or  mendicant  letters,  except  thajt  he  frequently  zp^ 
plied  for  assistance  to  some  of  the  more  eminent  dissenters^ 
from  whom  he  received  many  benefactions,  in  consequenca 
0^  tbe  respect  which  they  paid  to  the  memory  of  his. father^ 
But  such  supplies  were  soon  dissipated  in  the  lowest  gratis* 
cations,  and  his  friends  were  at  length  tired  of  exerting  their 
bounty  that  was  so  useless  to  the  object  of  it.     The  authot* 
of  bis  life  in  Cibber^s  work  informs  us,  that  often,  wbi^ 
he  had  received  half  a  guinea,  in  consequence  of  a  suppli- 
eating  letter,  he  would  go  into  a  tavern,  order  a  supper  tO) 
be  prepared,  drink  of  the  richest  wines,  and  spend  all  tbe 
iQoney  that,  h^d  been  just  given  him  in  charity,  wi^MmW 
baving  anyone  to  participate  and  regale  with  hi^i,  a^^jL 
^hile  his  wife^and  child  were  starving  at  home* 

About  the.  year  1738  he  published  a  second  volun^s  p]f 
mems^  but  witb  what  success  is.  not  known;  and,  ^,£iidiili 

'*  There  ii  some  reason  to  think  that  heen  ashamed  to  bare  written.    Boyae 

^m  >vai  afterwards  kiiosvn  to  P<jpe>  who  complaiad  io-  cue  of  hit  co«retyMiid«ifia 

ackno-vledgpfi  thai  there  were  lines   in  that  nothing  was  .approved  ofi  >  uiikais 

hit  Deity  abidk  ha  ihoold  not  hare  •anclioned  by,tbe  infitUibititjr  of « IN»nu 


B  O  Y  S  K.  S8t 

tiot  pot  his  name  to  this  volume^  bis  hid^j:ffa^it  hiis  jnol 
been  fkble  to  find  any  memioii  df  it.     tn  the  year  1740  hd 
was  reduced  to  the  lowest  state  <^f  povettfi  having  ho  clothei 
left  In  which  be  could  appeal*  abroad ;  and  what  bare  stlb*^ 
^istence  he  procured  wds  by  writitig  'dceasional  podnls  f6¥ 
the  magazines.     Of  the  disposition  of  bis  apparel,  IWr.  Nt^ 
chbls  received  frotn  Dr.  Johnson,  who  knew  him  well,  the 
following  account.     He  used  to  pawn  what  he  had  of  tfait 
sore,  and  it  was  no  sooner  redeemed  by  his  friends,  than 
pawned  again.     On- one  occasion  Dn  Johnson  collected  a 
sum  of  money  for  this  purpose*,  a^d  in  two  days  the  clothes 
were  pawned  again.     In  this  state  he  remained  in  bed,  with 
iio  other  covering  than  a  blanket,  with  two  holes,  through 
which  he  passed  his  arms  when  he  sat  up  to  write.  The  au- 
thor of  his  life  in  Cibbi^r,  adds^  that  when  his  distresses 
were  sp  pressing  as  to  induce  him  to  dispose  of  his  shirt,  he 
used  to  cut  some,  white  paper  in  slips,  which  he  tied  round 
Iiis  wrists,  .anid  in  the  same  manner  supplied  his  neck.    In 
this,  plight  he  frequently  appeared  abroad,  while  bis  odier 
apparel  was  scarcely  sufficient,  for^tb^^purposes  of  deo^cy. 
^    While  in  this  wretched  state,  h«^  published  *^Tbe  QiffTY^^* 
%  poemf,  which  was  highly  praised  <.  by  soQae  of^tliie  besC 
critic^  of^the  age.   .  Ap^ong  tbos^.  >whose  praise. was  of  con- 
sidei;2^bl!S  y^i^,Hervey  introduced  the  n^ntioft  of  it  ii>  his 
Meditations^  .'^  as  a  beautiful  and  instroctive  poem-V'  '9^^^ 
Fielding,  ip.iiisTom  4^^s,  after  extracting- a* fevrUno9» 
adds  that  they  ar^  A?^ken  from  '^  a  very  ooble  poeai  called 
the  Deity,  published  about  nine  years  ago.  (i  749),  and  long 
si^ce  buried  inoblivion;  a  proof  that  good  books  tid  more 
than  good  men,  do  alyvays, survive  the  bjui/V    These  etico- 
ixiiqms  tended  to  revive  the  poem^  of  whipha  third  editioii 
yras  published,  in  1752  ;  and  it  has  since  b^n  repriittdd  in 
various  collections  %,  An  account  of  the  Dbity  was  sent  to 
ibe  Gentleman's  Magazine,   andj  aitb<»ug)i  not  inserted^ 

* '  '^^ttit  ttnA  (Mid  JdhnlBoD)  wad  cc^I^  16  gentlemen  likely  to  make  hiin  a  pr«* 

^y!lflti>y  gjn^itocet,  at  la  time  wheki  to  lent,  hekftt  tbe  time  of  general  ^b(i« 

file  sixpence  was  a  serious  coosidem*'  cation.    Jbis  lett^r^.  it  mi)|t  be  Ridded* 

tfon."    Bosweil*8  Life  of  Johnson.  concludes    with    returning  ,  a  shillinc 

f  Tht  Obiiy  was  pobtisb^  in  1740,  which  sir  Hans  Sloane  had-  se6t  hiiD» 

m  mpji^ry.by  the  notices  of  books  in  m  it  was  not  a  good  oof. 

the  Gentleman's  Magazine,  yet  in  a  X  'Pi^lding's  respect  for  this  p^eni 

''letter  from  the    author  to  sir  Hans  was  uniform.     He  pfaiseditih  aperio* 

Sloane,  now  in  the  British  Museum,  dieal  paper  called  Tbe  Champion,  dated 

4ated  Feb.  14,  n3S-9,  he  reminds  sir  Feb.  12,  1739-40,  but  at  the  same  timt 

Hans,  who  denied  any  knowledge  of  points  out  its  defects,  and  seems  to  ob* 

.liira,  that  be  had  sent  him  this  poem,  ject  to  tbe  author's  oitbodoxy. 

{^bablyjk>yieifiiitcppieiia  this  way  : 

CC2 


tyss  ]B  O  t  1^  C 

was  prabably  the  meaos  of  Boyse^s  introduction  to  Mr*. 
Cave,  from  whom  he  obtained  some  si^pplias  for  writing 
and  translating  in  that  journal  between  the  years  1741  and 
1743.  Cave's  practice  was  to  pay  by  the  hundred  lines^ 
which  after  a  while  he  wanted  poor  Boyse  to  make  what  is 
called  the  long  hundred.  .  His  usual  signature  for.  bis  .poems 
was  Y.  or  Alatas,  When  in  a  spuuging-hpuse  in  Grocer* s- 
alley,  in  the  Poultry,  be  wrote  the  following  letter  to  Cave» 
which  was  communicated  by  the  late  Mr.  Astle  to  tbe  edi*» 
tor  of  the  Biographia  Britannic.a.  ^ 

**  Inscription  for  St  Lazarus' Cave*.  ■ 

Hodie^  teste  coelo  summo^ 

Sinepanno^  sinehununo,  ^        •    .>;>' 

Sorte  positns  infest^, 

■Seribo  tibi  doleas  mcsst^  ; 

Fame^  bile^  tuxnet  jecur. 

Urbane^  mitteopem^  precor; 

Tibi  enim  cor  humanum 

Non  k  pialis  alienimi : 

Mihi  mens  nee  male  gratsi,  ^  : 

Pro  k  te  favore  data.    ; 
'  Ex.  gebenaa  deibitoda»  Alc£us«  ' 

Vulgo  domo  ^poDgiatariar 

"Sir,  -y'  .  ••       .•^'        .      ,., 

"  I  wrote  you  yesterday  an  aceeunt  of  my  uniiappy  case* 
I  am  eveiy  moment  threatened  to  be  turned  out  here^  be-r 
cause  I  have  not  money  to  pay  for  my  bed  two  nights  past^ 
wiiieh  ia  usually  paid  before-hand,  and  I  am  loth  to  go  into 
the  Compter  'till  I  can  see  if  my  affair  can  possibly  be  n^d^ 
up :  I  hope  therefore  you  iii^iU  have  the  humanity  to  send  me 
half  a  guinea  for  support,  'till  I  finish  your  papers  in  my 
bands.-^The  Ode  to  the  British  Nation  I  hope  to  have  done 
fo^day,  and  want  a  proof  copy  of  that  part  of  Stowe  yoa 
design  for  the  present  mftgazine,  that  it  maybe  improved 
as  £av  as  possible  from  your  assistance.  Yoor  papen  are  bat 
ill  transcribed.  I  agree  with  you  as  to  St.  Augustine^s  Cavif^ 
I  bumbly  entreat  your  answer,  having  not  tasted  any  diing 
since  Tuesday  evening  I  came  here,  and  my  ooat  will  be 
taken  off  my  back  for  &e  charge  of  the  bed,  so  that  1  jnuat 
go  into  prison  naked,  which  is  too  shocking .  for  me  to 
think  of. 

^^lam,  with  sincere  regard,  Sir,  . 

Your  unfortunate  bumble  servaiit,  . 
Crown  Coflfee-house,  Grocers-  S^  Boyse. 

alley.  Poultry,  July  21,  1742, 


B  0  T  »  El  38^ 

V      .  ^*  July  21,   1742. 

•  ^^  Eeceived  from  Mr.  Cave  the  sum  of  half  a  guinea,  by 
me,  ia  coofinement.  S.  Boyse. 

;      ''IQs.  6d;    Sent. 
i'.  ^^  I -send  Mr.  Van  Haren's  Ode  on  Britain.^* 

•*^Td  Mr.  Cave,  at  St.  John*8-gate,  Clerkenwell." 

. '  Yhe  Ode  oh  the  British  Nation,  mentioned  here,,  is  a 
translation  from  Vsmv  Haren,  a  Dutch  poet,  from  whose 
works'  he  translated  some  other  passages.  The  <^  part  of 
Stowe^*  was  a  part  of  his  poem  on  lord  Cobham's  gardens. 

The  greater  number  of  the  poems  which  he  wrote  for  the 
Gentleman^s  Magazine  during  the  years  above  mentioned, 
are  reprinted  in  the  late  edition  of  the  English  Poets ;  but 
all  of  his  fugitive  pieces  were  not  written  for  the  magazine> 
$ome  of  them  having  been  composed  long  before  he  had 
formed  a  connection  with  Cave,  and,  as  there  is  reason  to 
believe,  sent  in  manuscript  to  such  persons  as  were  likely 
^9  inatke  him  a  pecuniary  return. 

By  a  letter  to  Dx.  Birch*,  dated  Oct  23,  1742,  it  ap- 
pears that  h^  hj^,  among  many  similar  projects,  an  in- 
tention \}f  pvibUshing  a  translation  of  Voltaire's  poetical 
works,  and  seht  to  the  DocjtQta  specimen  of  three  of  his  Ethic 
epistles.  On  the  next  day,  he  sent  another  letter  suppli- 
cating assistances  and  assuring  j^r^fiiirch  that  his  distress 
vm^  QcHt  in  any  way  th.e  effect  of  his  own  misconduct !  In  a 
letter  datsed  Nov.  5^  after  acknowledging  Do  Birch's  kind- 
ness, tp  him,  and  urging  him  to  make  his  ca3e  known  to 
ckhetSf  he  gives  the  following  account  of  himself :  .     ' 

•  ^^I  tun.  Sir,  the  bnly  son  of  Mn  Boyse  of  Dublin,  a  man 
whose  ch8uracteif''a|id  writings  are  wel^  known.  My  father 
^led  in  1728  in  veiry  ii^volv^*  civcumstances,  sq  that  I  had 
isochiiig  left  to  trust  to,  but  a  liberal  education.  In  173Q  I 
Iremoved  to  Edinburgh,  where  I  published  a  Collection  of 
Poems  with  a,  translation  of  the  Tablatare  of  Cebes.  After 
s<>me  yeai'S  stayiher^,  and  many  disi^jpointmisnts,  I  came 
in  >I737  to  LondoDy  vi^re  I  have  done  several  essays  in  th^ 
Uierary  way  (chiefty  poetry)  with  but  slender  encourage^* 
Inent.  Mr.  Cave^  for  whos^.  magazine  |  have  done  many 
things,  and  at  whose  desire  I  nemoved  tp  this  neighboiir-" 
hood  (St  Jphn's-court,  Clerkenwell,)  has  not  used  me  so 
kindly  as  the  sense  h^  expressed  of  my  services  gave  me 
reason  to  expect    Learning,  however  it  may.  be  a  conso- 

«  MSS.  Birch,  4301,  in  Brit  Mos. 


999  B  O  Y  6  C« 

Is^tion  under  affliction,  is  no  security  against  the  conimdW 
calamities  of  life.     I  think  myself  capable  of  business  ia 
t)ie  literary '  way,  but  by  my  late  necessities  am  unh^^ 
pily  reduced  to  an  incapacity  of  goiog  abroad  to  seek'it. 
I  have  reason  to  believe,  coutd  i  wait  on  lord  Halifax 
(which  a  small  matter  would  enable  me  to  do)  I  should  re^ 
ceive  some  gratuity  for  my  dedication,  so  as  to  make  me 
easy.     This  is  all  the  liope  I  have  left  to  save!  me  from  tKe 
ruin  that  seems  to  threaten  me  if  I  continue  Idnger  in  tK'e 
condition  I  am  in :  and  as  I  should  be  willing  most  grate- 
fully to  repay  any  assistance  I  might  receive  out  of  my 
lord's  bounty,  so  I  should  ever  retain  a  deep  impression  of 
the  obligation.     I  humbly  beg  you  will,  forgive  this  liberi^^ 
and  believe  me,  with  the  greatest  gratitude  and  esteem^  ' 

"  Yours,  &c.  ''■ 

**  P.  8.  Mrs.  boyse  has  so  deep  a  sense  of  your  goodni^ 
that  it  is  with  diflScuUy  she  undertakes  this." 
X  Mrs.  Boyse  wjk  generally  employed  in  conveying  his  let- 
.ters  of  this  description,  and  if  she  felt  so  much  on  deliver- 
ing the  above,  her  feelings  were  again  tried  on  the  16th  of 
the  ^ame  month,  when  Boyse  sent  another  importunate 
letter,  which  Dr.  Birch  probably  found  it  necessary  16  dfs* 
regard.  When  he  had  thus  exhausted  the  patience  of  Som^e^ 
he  made  attempts  on  the  humanity  of  others  by  yet  mieaner 
expedients.  One  of  the^e  was  to  empldy  his  wife  ^n  ciir- 
culating  a  report  that  be  was  just  expiring;  and  many  bf 
his  ftiends  were  surprized  to  meet  the  man  in  th6  streets 
to-day,  to  whom  they  had  yesterday  sent  i^elief,  as' td  a 
person  on  the  verge  of  dissolution.  Proposals  for  woi4ls 
written,  or  to  be  written,  was  a  more  common  trick  :  bclsides 
^he  translation  of  Voltaire,  we  find  him^  in  one  6f  hisf  let* 
ters,  thanking  sir  Hans  Sloane's  goodness  in  encouraging 
his  proposals  for  a  life  of  sir  Francis  Drake.  But  these  ek* 
pedients  soon  lost  their  effect :  his  friends  became  ^shambd 
of  his  repeated  frauds^  and  general  meanness  of  conduct^ 
and  could  only  mix  with  their  contempt  some  hbpe  that  his 
brain  was  disordered.  "  [  '■'    '"''' 

In  1743,  he  published  without  his  nanie,  an  ode  t)b  tfie 
battle  of  Dettingen,  entitled  <*  Albion's  Ti'iunipb,'*  a  fig- 
ment of  which  is  printed  in  the  last  editioi!  of  the'Pdclt& 
In  1745  ue  find  him  at  Reading,  where  lie  was  employed^ 
by  the  late  Mr.  David  flenry  in  coihpilihg  a  wotk,  'pub- 
lished in  1747,  in  two  volumes  octavo,  under  thd  tilJe^of 
**  An  historical  Bev;iew  of  the  Tcaitt^iitipns  of  Eutd^^ 


B  O  Y  S  E.  ^1 

jImi  tlMe.«iiiiiiwii6ettieilt  of  tk^  waif  with  Spain  in  It 39  te 

.the  imiKrection  in  Scotlaod  id  1745  ;  with  the  proceeding^ 

in  ps^rliament,  and  the  most  remarkable  domestic  occur- 
rences during  that  period.  To  which  isadded.  An  impar- 
'pMi  History  of  the  late  Rebellion,  intehspersed  with  cha-^ 

^K^cers  and  memoirs,  and  illustrated  with  notes/'  To  this 
.Jb^  affixed  Mb  name,  with  the  addition  of  M.  A.  a  degr^id 
-Yfhich  it  is  probable  he  assumed  .without  authority.  Tbia 
.  work)  however,  considered  as  a  compilation  of  recent  and 
.  c^anequentiy  very  iniperfectiy<»known  events,    is  said  to 

possess  ooDsiderable  merit     hi  a  letter,  published  by  Mr. 

Ni<?bols)  we  have  somd  information  relative  to  it,  and  to 
^  ^he  present  state  of  his  mind  ami  situation. — '^  My  salary 

is  wretchedly  small  (half  a  guinea  a  week)  both  for  writing 

the  history  and  correcting  the  press ;  but  I  bless  God  I 
,^apjoy   a  greater  degree  of  health  than  I  have  known  foi^ 

many  years,  and  a  serene  melancholy,  which  J  prefer  to 
,  the  moit  poiguant  sensations  of  pleasure  I  eirer  knew. — All 

I  sigh  for  is  a  settlement,  with  some  degree  of  iridepend<& 
<  ^nce,  for  my  last  stage  of  life,  that  1  may  have  the  comfort 

of  my  poor  dear  girl  to  be  near  me,  and  close  my  eyes. 
^i  should  be  glad  to  know  if  you  have  seen  my  history,  from 

,^hich  ypu.  must  not  expect  great  things,  as  I  have  been 
^  pver-persuaded  to  put  my  nanie  to  a  composure,  for  which 

we  ought  to  have  had  at  least  more  time  and  better  ma- 
r  terials,  and  from  which  I  have  neither  profit  nor  reputation 

•to  expect.     I  am  now  beginning   *  The  History  of  th6 

;  Rfbellio^n,"  a  very  ditficult  and  invidious  task.     All  thet 

..  apcounts  I  have  yet  seen  are  either  defective,  confused^ 

-,-^  heavy,     I  tbiuk  myseif,  from  my  long  residence  in  Scot« 

^  land,'  not  unqualified  for  the  attempt,  but  I  apprehend  it 

1 18)  premature ;  and,  by  waiting  a  year  or  two,  better  ma«* 

teriais  would  offer.     Sdme  account,  I  think,  will  probably 

be  published  abroad,  and  give  us  light  into  many  things 

W6  are  now  at  a  loss  to  account  for.  1  am  about  a  trans* 
^  lation  {b^x  my  leisure  hours)  of  an  invaluable  French  work^ 

entitled  '  L*Histoire  Uhiverselle,*  .by  the  late  M.  Bossuet, 
.•  bistioph  ^^  Meaux,  and  preceptor  to  the  dauphin,  eldest 

son  of  Lewis  XIV.    I  propose  only  to  give  his  dissertations 

on  the  ancient  empires,  viz.  the  Egyptian,  Assyrian,  Gre- 
,   eian,  and  lioman,  which  be  has  described  with  surprising 

conciseness^  and  with  equal  judgment  and  beauty.  I  de« 
,  >ign  to  inscribe  it  to  the  right  honourable  Mr.  Lyttelton, 

ime  of  the  lords  of  t^e  treasury,  one  af  the  otiost  amiablo 


393  B  0  Y  S  JB. 

men  I. have  ever  koown,  and  tQ  whose  uncomitKHi  good^* 

nassy  if  you  knew  my  obligations^  you  would  esteem  him 
as  much  as  he  des^^rves.'*     ^  / 

.During  his  residence  at  Reading,  his  wife  died,  and 
notwithstanding  the  gQod  sense  expressed  in  the  above 
letter,,  he  put  on  airs  of  concern  on  this  occasion,  which  : 
inclines  us  to  think  that  ifitemperance  had  in  some  degree  - 
injured  his  reason*.  Seing  unable  to  purchase  moumiog^ 
he  tied  a  piece  of  blaick  ribbofi  round  the  neck  of  a.  lap*-  . 
^og  which  he  carried  about  in  his  arms  ;  and  when  in  h^ 
quor,  he  always  indulged  a  dream  of  his  wife's  being  still  ' 
^live,  and  would  talk  yery  spitefully  of  those  by*  whom  he 
suspected  she  was  entertained,  .  This  he  never  mentioned^ 
however,  but  in  his  cups,  which  was  as  often  as  he  had 
money  to  spend.  The  manner,  it  is  added,  by  bis  bio* 
gcapher,  of  his  hecpniing  intoxicated^  wns  very  particuian 
As  he  had  no  spirit  to  keep  good  company,  he  retired  to 
some  obscure  alehouse^  ^.nd  regaled  himself  with  hot  two- 
penny,' which,  though  he  drank  in ,  very  great  quantities^ 
yet  he  had  never  more  than  ^  pennyworth  at  a  time.  Such 
a  practice  rendered  him  so  completely  sottish,  th^t  bi$ 
abilities,  as  an  author,  were  sensibly  iujpaired. 
,  After  bis  ];e(uj*n  fcpfu  Reading,  bis  behaviour,  it  is  said^ 
became  so  decent,  jtha|  hopes  were. entertained  of  {his  re«  ' 
formation.  He  now  obtained  some  employment  from  the 
book:;elleiCs  in  translating,  of  which^  from  the  French  Ian*? 
guage  at  least,  be  was  very  capable;  but  his  former  irre-^ 
gularities  bad  gradually  undermined  his  constitution,  and 
enfeebled  his  powers  both  of  body  and  mind.  He  died^ 
after  a  lingering) illness,  in  obscure  lodgings  near  Shoe- 
lane,  in  the  month  of  May  1 749*  The  manner  of  his  deatb 
is  variously  related.  Mr.Qiles,  .^.cQliector  of  poems,  says 
he  was  informed  by  Mr.  3andby,  the  bookseller,  that  fioyse 
yras  fqupd  ()e^d  in  his  bed,  with  a  pep  in  his  hand,  and  in 
the  act  of  writing  ;  and  Pr.  Johnson  informed  Mr,  Nichols  * 
that  he  \yas  run  over  by,a  coach,  .when  in  a  fit  of  intoxica- 
tion f  or  that  he  w^s  brought  home  in  such  a. condition  as 
to  make  this  probable,  h\x%  top  f^r  gofie.1to.be  able  to  give* 
f^ny  account  of  the  accident. 

.   Another  pf  Mr.  .Nichols's  correspondents  produces  »  • 
letter  frq^i.  IVlr.  Stewart,  the  son  of  a  bookseller  at  Edin* 
burgh,  who  had  long  been  intimately  acquainted  with  Mr^ 
Boyse,  in  which  the  particulars  of  his  death  are  rehited  in 
a  different  naanuer,  . . 


B  O  Y  S  E.  399 

.  f*  Poor  Mr.  Boyse  w?ls  owe  evening  last  winter  attacked 
\n  Westminster  by  two  or  t)iree  soldiers,  who  not'  only 
robbed  him,  but  used  him. so  barbarously,  that  he  never 
recovered  the  bruises  he  received,  which  might  very  pro- 
bably induce  the  consumption  of  which  he  died.  About 
uine  months  before  his  death  he  married  a  cutler^s  widow, 
a  native  of  Dublin,  with  whom  h^  had  no  money ;  but  she 
pconred  a  very  careful  nurse  to  him  during  his  lingering 
indisposition.  She  told  me,  tliat  Mr.  Boyse  never  ima- 
gined be  was  dying,  as  he  always  was  talking  of  his  reco- 
very ;  but,  perl»»ps,  his  design  in  this  might  be  to  comfort 
ber^  for  one  incident  makes  me  think  otherwise.  About; 
fofir  or. five  weeks  before  he  breathed  his  last,  his  wife 
>vettt  out  in  the  morning,  and  was  surprised  to  find  a  great 
(le^  of  burnt  papers  upon  the  hearth,  which  he  told  her 
were  old  bills  smd-accompts;  but  I  suppose  wefre  bis  ma- 
minscripts,  \yhich  he  had  resolved  to  destroy,  for  nothing 
of  that  kind  could  be  found  after  his  death.  Though  from 
this  circumstance  it  may  be  inferred  that  he  was  appre- 
Jiefiaire  of  death,  yet,  I  must  own,  that  he  never  intimated 
it;  to  .me,  nor  did  he  seem  in  the  least  desirous  of  any 
spiritual  advice.  For  some  months  before  his  end,  he  had 
leib.ofF  drinking  all  fermented  liquors,  except  now  and 
then  a  glass  of  wine  to  support  his  spirits,  and  that  he 
p(M>k*  very  moderately.  After  bis  death  I  endeavoured  all 
I  could  to  get  him  decently  buried,  by  soliciting  those 
disinters  who  were  the  friends  of  him  and  his  father,  but , 
to.no  purpose;  for  only  Dr.  Grosvenor,  in  Hoxton-square, 
a  dissenjUng  teacher,  offered  to  join  towards  it.  He  had 
quite  tired  out  those  friends  in  his  life-timip ;  and  the  ge- 
neral answer  tjii^t  I  received  was,  ^^  That  such  a  contribu- 
tion w^  of  no  service  to  him,  for  it  was  a  matter  of  no  im- 
portance how  or  where  he  was  buried."  As  I  found  no- 
thing could  be  dpiie,  our  last  resource  was  an  application 
to  the  parish ;  nor  was  it  without  some  difficulty,  occa- 
sioned by  the  malice  of  his  landlady,  that  we  at  last  got 
him  interred  on  the  Saturday  after  he  died.  Three  more  of 
Air.  Johnson's  amanuenses,  and  myself,  attended  the  corpse 
to  the  grave. .  Such  y^as  the  miserable  end  of  poor  Sam, 
wW  was  oblig^  to  be  buried  in  the  same  charitable  man- 
ner  with  his  first  wii^ ;  a  burial,  of  which  he  had  often 
mentioned  his  ^horrence.*' 

Although  there  is  too  much  reason  to  believe  that  no 
part  of  Boyse' s  character  has  been  misrepresented  in  the 


S94  BOY  S  E. 

preceding  nanrfttive,  he  must  not  te  di^rired  of  ikeiri^ 
dence  which  Mr.  Nicholses  Gorridspofident  has  advanced  iti 
his  favour.  He  assures  va  that  he  knew  him  from  the  yenr 
1732  to  the  time  of  hisd^h  ;  and  that  he  never  taw  any 
thing  in  bis  wife's  conduct  that  deserved  censure;  that  ke 
was  a  man  of  learning;  and  when  in  company  with  those 
by  whom  he  was  not- awed,  an  entertaining  companion; 
but  so  irregular  and  inconsistei>t  in  bis  conduct,  that  it 
appeared  as  if  he  had*heen  actuated  by  two  different  so^ls 
on  different  occasions.  These  last  accounts  are  in  soma 
degree  confirmed  by  the  writer  of  l^b'  life  in  Cibber's  col- 
lection, who  says  that  while  Boyse  was  in  hia  last  illness 
the  bad  no  notion  of  his  approaching  end^  nor  ^^  did  he 
expect  it  until  it  was  almost  past  the  thinking  of.'^^  Hu 
mind,  indeed,  was  often  religioosly  disposed ;  he  fre- 
quently thought  upon  that  subjt^ct ;  and  probably  suffered 
a  great  deal  from  the  remorse  of  his  consciente.  The  e&Hy 
impressions  of  bis  good  education  were  never  entirely 
obliterated ;  and  his  whole  life  was  a  continual  struggle 
between  his  will  and  reason,  as  be  was  always  violating  bis 
duty  to  the  one,  while  he  fell  under  the  subjection-  of  the 
othtT.  it  was,  adds  the  same  author,  in  consequence  of 
this  war  in  bis  mind^  that  he  wrote  a  beautiful  poem  caUed 
**  Recantation  *i** 

Such  was  the  life  of  a  man  whose  writings,  ,as  far  as  W)^ 
have  btfenable  to  discover  them,  are  uniformly  mfavourof 
virtue,  remarkable  for  jui^ness  of  senttmetit  on  every  sttb« 
ject  in  which  the  moral  character  is  ^dncenied,  and  not 
uni'requently  for  the  loftiness  and  dignity  which  mark  the 
effusions  of  a  pure  and  independent  mind.  To  reconciled 
such  a  train  of  thought  with  bis  life,  with  actions  utl^erly 
devoid  of  shame  ordelieacy,  or  to  apologize  for  the  tatter 
with  a  view  to  renK>ve  the  inconsistency  between  the  man 
and  his  writings,  if  not  impossible,,  must  at  least  be  left  td 
those  who  have  uo  scruple  td  tell  us  that  genius  is  an  apo-< 
logy  for  all  moral  defects,  dnd  that  none  but  the  ploddtog 
pruiient  sons  of  diulness  would  reveal  or  Censure  the  vices 
of  a  favourite  poet  Such  is  already  the  influenee  of  this 
perversion  of  the  powers,  of  reasoning,  that  if  it  m  much 
fanger  iiululgcd,  no  men  will  be  thought  worthy  of  coea- 
passion  or  apuk>gy,  but  those  who.  err  against  knowledge 
and  principle,  who  act  wrong  and  know  better. 

*  This  fK>em,  like  many  ot)iev  productions  sl  tliis  Writer^  it  not  now  ta  b* 
fouudi  unless  by  accidlr»U 


B  O  Y  g  E.  S9S 

^    TheliliB  o(tkiy%e,  howerety  as  it  has  been  handed  down 
.to  us,  without  any  afiiected  palliation,  will  not  be  wholly 
-useiesfii  if  it  in  any  degree  con^bute  to  convince  the  dis- 
rated and  thoughtless  of  what  dissipation  and  thought- 
lessness must  inevitably  produce.     It  is  much  to  be  re« 
rgretted,  that  they  who  mourn  over  the  misfortunes  of  ge- 
^.niiis'have  been  too  frequently  induced  by  the  artifice  of 
partial  biogri4>hers,  to  suppose  that  misery  is  the  inse- 
parable lot  of  men  of  distinguished  talents,  and  that  the 
:world  has  no  rewards  for  those  by  whom  it  has  been  in- 
iltrueted  cn'-delighted,  except  poverty  and  neglect.     Such 
isthe  propensity  of  some  to  murmur  without  reason,  and 
'lef 'otiier!^  to  S3rmpathize  without  discrimination,  that  thia 
mhfair  opinion  of  mankind  might  be  received  as  unanswer- 
able, a  we  had  no  means*  oi  looking  more  closely  into  the 
lived  of  those  who  are  said  to  have  been  denied  that  ex- 
traordinary indulgence  to  which  they  laid  claim.     Where 
4he  truth  has  been  honestly  divulged,  hov^'ever,  we  shall 
dSnd  that  of  the  complaints  which  lenity  or  affectation  have 
encouraged  and  exaggerated  in  narrative,  some  will  appear 
isct  have' veiy  little  foundation,  and  others  to  be  trifling 
/and  capricious.     Men  of  genius  have  no  right  to  expect 
jviore  alvo^raMe  consequences  from  imprudence  and  vice 
than  what  are  common  to  the  m^nest  of  mankind.     What- 
ever estimate  they  may  have  formed  of  their  superiority, 
: if  they  pass  the  limits  allotted  to  character,  happiness,  oir 
beedth,  they  mttst  not  hope  that  the  accustomed  rules  of 
society  are  to  be  broken,  or  the  common  process  of  nature 
:^is  to  be  suspended,  in  order  that  they  may  be  idle  widiout 
poverty,  or  intemperate  without  sickness.     Yet  the  lives  of 
men  cdebrated  for  literary  and  especially  for  poetical  ta- 
lents, afford  many  melancholy  examples  of  these  delusions, 
which,   if  perpetuated  by  mistaken  kindness,  cannot  add 
any  thing  to  genius  but  a  fictitious  privilege,  which  it  is 
impossible  to  vindicate  with  seriousness,  or  exert  with 
impuni<jy. 

If  the  life  of  Boyse  be  considered  with  a  reference  to 
these  remarks,  it  will  be  found  that  he  was  scarcely  ever 
in  a  situation  of  distress,  of  which  he  could  justly  complain. 
He  exhausted  the  patience  of  one  set  of  friends  after 
enodier,  with  ^such  unfeeling  contempt  and  ingratitude, 
that  we  are  not  to  wonder  at  his  living  the  precarious  life 
of  an  outcast,  of  a  man  who  belongs  to  no  society,  and 
whom  no  society  is  baund  to  maiutaiu.    Ansiong  his  patronc 


996  BOYSE. 

■ 

prere  ni;any  p^sons  ci^f  high  rank  and  opolence,  whom  be 
rendered  ashamed  of  their  patronage,  and  perhaps  pre- 
vented from  die  exercise  of  general  kindness,  lest^itmigbt 
be  disgraced  by  the  encourageoient  of  those  who  diss^ate 
^very  favour  in  low  and  wanton  excesses.  -    >< 

What  can  be  urged  in  his  favour  from^  internal  evidence 
ought  not  to  be  concealed.  We  do  not  find  in  his  woirk» 
Biuch  of  the  cant  of  complaint:  and,  althot^h  he  sub-%. 
mitt^d  to  every  mean  art  of  supplication,  be  does  not  seem 
to  have  resented  a  denial  as  an  insult,  ixor  to  have  takefi^ 
much  pains  to  make  the  worse  appear  the  better  cause.  <  Jn: 
his  private  letters^  indeed,  he  soddetimes  endeavoured  b^ 
false  professions  and  imaginary  misfortunes,  to  impo&d 
upon  others,  but  he  did  not  impose  upon  himself^  He 
had  not  perverted  his  own  mind  by  any.  of  the  impi^u» 
sophistries  which  by  frequent  repetition  become  mistakea 
for  right  reason*  He  was  notj  therefore,  without  his  \jumt» 
of  ren^rse ;  and  towards  the  latter  part  of  his  life,  wheor 
his  heart  was  softened  by  a  sense  of  inward  decay,  >  he  re<» 
solved  in  earnest  to  retrieve  his  character. 

As  a  poet,  his  reputation  has  been  chiefly- fixed  i>n  >the 
production  entitled  ^^DfiiTY,''  which,  although  ip^gisilar 
and  monotonous,  contains  numycstriking  proofs  of-  poetieal 
genius.  The  effort  indicates  no  small  elevation  <  of  mkid,' 
even  while  we  must  allow  that  success  is^beyc»Ml  all  humaa' 
power.  His  other  pieces  may  be  regarded  as  cunosides^' 
as  the  productions  of  a  man  who  Qever  enjoyed  the  undi&^ 
turbed  exercise  of  his  powers,  who  wrote  in  circumstances! 
of  peculiar  distress,  heightened  by  the  consciousness  th^^ 
he  could  obtain  only  temporary  relief,  thai  he  had  foofeitect^ 
the  respect  due  to  genius,  and  could  expect  to  b^'re^ 
warded  only  by  those  to  whom  he  was  least  )u[|ow^«  We 
are  told  that  he  wrote  ^11  bis  poems  with  e^e  ^nd  even 
rapidity.  That  many  of  his  lines  ar^  incorrect  will  not^ 
therefpre,  ei^cite  surprize,  espfscially:  wh^n  we  consider 
that  he  wrote  for  immediate  relief,  and  not  for. fame,  .aiM| 
l3iat  when  one  piece  had  produced  him  a  benefaction;  h^ 
generally  dismissed  it  from  bis  mind,  a^d  began  ano^ei^' 
about  which  he  had  no  other  car0  than  that  it  might  aaiswer 
the  same  purpose.  ^  '      >  •   i 

BOZE  (Claude  Gros  be),  a  Frentb  antiqusiry,  waa. 
boirn  at  Lyons,  Jan.  28,  1680,  of  parents  who  gave  hiid 


»v 


•  English.  Hocts  by  Johnson  an^  Chalmers,  Bvo,   X810,  ToL  XlV.-»-Bi^E» 
Brh.--Cibl)er'S  Lira,  V6l.V.--.NichoVfl  Poems,  Ice.  - 


m  exoelleat  education;  He  attached  hidlself  at  first  to 
jurisprudeneey  but  antiquities  and  medals  spoa  occupied 
him  entirely.  The  chancellor  de  Pontchartrain,  the  abb6 
Bigiiion^  Vaillanty  Hardouin,  admired  him  for  the  amia^ 
bleness  of  his  manners,  and  the  depth  of  his  learning.  In 
1705  he  published  some  ingenious  dissertations  upon 
medals  and  other  monuments,  which  procured  him  to  be 
admitted  into  the  academy  of  inscriptions  and  belles-lettres^^ 
under  the  title  of  pupil-;  and  the  year  following  be  became 
perpetual  secretary.  The  French  academy  too  admitted 
him  of  their  society  in  17 15,  as  successor  to  M.  Fenelon. 
He  wasxnadte  keeper  of  the  royal  cabinet  of  medals  ini 
lli^>^  and  the  year  after  he  set  out  for  Holland,  with  the 
yp&w  of  augmenting  that  grand  collection.  On  returning 
to  'Paaris'  he  devoted  the  whole  of  his  time,  to  the  academy 
o£'bellefi-lettres>  to  which  he  contributed  a  greal  many 
memoirs,  and  the  cabinet  of  medals*  He  had  the  inspec-* 
tienof.the  hbrary  in  1745,  diiring  the  illness  of •  M»  Ma* 
boul,  i)efore  whieh  time  he  resigned  the  place  of  seci^etary 
to  the  academy.  .He  died  Ae  10th  >of  September^  1753^ 
aged  serenty-four.  He  was^  as  estimable  for  the  sweetness 
ollhis  temper  as.  for  the  depth  of  his  knowledge.  Among 
lM»wovks^  ate::  1.  Tbeediiidiifof tbefirst  15  vols^.  of  the. 
'^MVfemoires  de  *  Pa^ademie  rdes  inscriptions  et  belles'- 
lettres.^V  The  historical  panegyrics  which  embellish 
these  memoirs  were  printed  separately  in  2  vols.  ]2moi 
They  are  ingenious  and  agreeable  ;  they  may  contaioi 
fewer  of  those  delicate  strokes  with: which  the  6loges 
q£  Fontenelle  abound,  but  pcbrhaps  they  exceed  them 
itt>  ^elegance  aiid<ta£fte.  Tliey  are^  however,  unequal. 
2.  The  second,  edition  of  the  ^>  Medallic  history  <^  Loui» 
XIV.'*  brcmghtdown  tohis  death,  17^3',  foliOi  He  givea^ 
^edrawings<  and  impresses  of  many  of  them.  -3.  1' The 
history  of  the  emperor  Tetricus  illustrated  by  medals*'' 
4 .'^veral  dissertations  on  the  ancient -medals,  dispersed 
fotVithe  most  part  throughout  the  .*^  Memoires  de  Tacademie^ 
dies  bellesrlettres*''  5..  He  published  the  .-^^  Catalogue  of 
bis  library^''  174)5,  foil,  which  was  well  chosen,  and  full  of 
mre!»ixd  cwoufi. books.  This  catalogue  is  very  much  in: 
request  among  the  bibliographers,  and  sells  at  a  high  pri^e.: 
Another  was  published  irflter  bis  death,  Paris,  175S,  8vo. 
There  is  also  attrtbnted  to  hini  a  work  called  the  '^*  Yellow^ 
Book,"  "  Livre  jaune,  contenant  quelques  conversations 
jiur  les  logomachies,  disputes  de  mots,  abus  de  termes/V 


»»  B  O  Z  E/ 

&c.  Bale,    ]748|  8vO|  of  whicb  only  thti^'  copies  werv 
printed^  on  what  b  eaiied  vegetable  paper.  ^ 

BRACCIOLINI  (Fkangis),  an  Italian  poet  of  seme  ce- 
lebrity, knovm  by  the  name  of  BiucciOLmi  dbll'  ApI|  ft 
surname  given  bim  by  the  pope,  was  born  at  Pistoiai  •iiv 
Tuscany,  1566,  and  was  fellow-^student  with  MafFei  Bar-( 
berini,  whose  love  of  poetry  and  p<dtte  UteraJtor e  resenbbled 
his  own,  and  increased  their  friend^ip.     When  Barberini 
was  afterwards  appointed  mmcio  in  France,   under  the* 
pontificate  of  Ctement  VIII.  he  engaged  Braceiolioi  as  bi< 
secretary,  who  accepted  the  office  in  hopes  that  bis  patroa 
might  beeome  a  cardinal,  and  serve  his  inlierest  more  es<^, 
sentiaUy,  for  BraccioUm  was  not  free  from  the  ujipbeticai 
failings  of  avarice ;  bat  this  event  not  taking  place  so  sooii, 
as  he  expected,  he  retired  to  Pistoia,  where  he  composed 
a  part  of  bis  works.    Barberini,  however,  being  not  only: 
made-cardinal,  bo^  ^Iso  pope  iii  16212,  tinder  the  title  of 
Urban  y III.  Bracciolini  waited  ifpoii  him  with  a  poem  of 
coograaukktioB,  amounting  to  twenty^three  books,   whica 
the  pope- liked  90  well,  thaft  h^  ordered' him  to  adopt  tber 
surname  dell^  Api,  and  to  add  to  hb  arms  tbsee  bees,' 
which  are  th0  arma  of  the  Barberini  fiunily.     He  gave  hia^ 
at  the  same  time  itio^e  substantial  rewards,  and  placed  hioi^ 
as  secretary  under  his  brother,  cardinal  Antonio  BarberiniZ 
After  the  death  oi  Urban  VIII.  in   1644,  Bracciolini  agaii% 
retired  to  Pistoia,  Where  he  died  the  following  year.     He 
wfote  a  great  number  of  poems  of  every  species,  epics,  tra- 
gedies comedies,  pastorals,  lyrics,  satires^  and  burlesque 
verses.     Of  thesei  the  only  ones  worthy  of  notice,  seem  t€| 
be :  1.  ^'  La  Croce  Racquistata,'*  a  heroic  poem  in  fifteen 
cantos,  Paris,  1605, 12mo;  and  again,  enlarged  and  divide^ 
into  thirty-five  cantos^  Venice,  1611,  4to.    This,  his  coun-^^ 
trymen  once  did  not  hesitate  to  rank  imin^diately  after  the 
works  of  Ariosto  and  Tasso^  but  modenrcritics'have  placed 
a  greater  distance  between  them.     2.  ^*  Lo  Schemo  degll 
Itei,'*  a  mock-heroic,  in  ridicule  of  the  heathen  mythor; 
logy,  Florence,  ]618,  4to,  a  better  edition  in  1625,  4to^' 
This  poem  haa  given  him  some  title  tp  the  invention  of  th^ 
mock-heroic,  because  in  the  preface  it  is  asserted  that  the 
*'  Lo  Schema^'  although  printed  some  years  after  Tassoni'a 
**  La  Secchia  Rapita,''  was  written  many  years  sooner.    1^ 
is,  however,  a  poem  of  considerable  merit  in  thiU;  style.** 

•  .  ■"* 

1  Moreri. — Diet.  Hist.— locidental  notices  of,  in  Nicholses  Bowyer.-^Sant 
Onomasu       *  Moreri. — Bftiitet  Jugemens  d«a  SavaBS.— Erythnei  Pioacotheca. 


B  R  A  0  E  L  L  I.  a» 

^  BRACCIpUNJ.  See  POQGIO, 
'  BRACE LLI  (Jam^s), ,  an  Ualiao  bfetoriaii  and  antiquary^ 
was  a  native  of  Sarzano,.  in  Tuscany,  in  the  fiUeenih  cen- 
tury, .  He  was  secretary  to  tbe.irepubUc  of  Genoa,  but  re- 
fused the  honour  of  that  appointraent  when  offered  by  pope 
Kicbolas  V.iwho  was  his  countrymaii.  tie  died  in  1460^^ 
He  wrote  in  elegant  Latin  five  books,  **  De  Belio  inter 
Hispanos  et  Genuen^es/'  from  14^2  to  1444,  which  weri 
publishe4  at  Paf is  in  ,  1 520,  ito,  and  afterwards  at  Ha^ 
guenau,  1530,  and  4^pme,  1537,  and  1573,  and  were  af- 
terwards inserted  in  Greeviif^'s  Tb^sau^ps.  He  wrote  alsor 
a  biography  of  emiueut  m^n  of  CeuQik,  ^^  De  Claris  Ge^ 
nuensibus,'*  apd  /'  Oraa  LigustioflB  4Q^*^ipt*^f"  Rome^ 
1573,  4tq,  inserted. likewise  in  CrseTMlMi"  and  in  S€hottus\ 
collections.  Mabillon^  in  bis  *^  (ter  ItaliQum,''  has  printed 
a  small  work  by  BraceUiy  <<  De  prseGipi\iM  Qenuensis  urbis 
familiis."  His  letters,  ^>  Epistolsp,''  ivere  printi^d  at  Paris^ 
15.20.  All  these  wece  collected  by.  A  ugusUn  J.iistiaian^ 
and  published  at  Paris,  in  1  vol.  4t0>  in  the  last-mentioMd. 
year,  with  a  preface  cont^oing,  soo^  brief  uouc^;of  the: 
author.* 

BiRACTQN  (Henry  DE)»^,:felebrat«dr  English  lawyer 

in  the  thirteenth  .century j*  wai^,  a9(<50r4iP!g.to  Mr,.Prince,> 

born  in  Devonshire;  and  studied  at. Oxford,  ^^ ere  betook 

the  degree  of  LL.  D.    Applying  himsdf  afterw^xdjR  to  the 

study  of  the  laws  of , England,  he  rose  to  gr^at  eminen^i^ei  atk 

the  bar  ;  and,  in  124/i^,  ws^s  by  king  Heury  IIL  ipada<one 

df  th6  j udges  itinerant.    4^  present  be  is  chiefly ik«own  by> 

bis*  learned  work,  "  Delegibi^s  et  cpnsvtctji^iiHbul  Anglioe^* 

the  &rst  printed  edition  of  it  w^s.ui  1^69,  foiiQ.j    In  1640> 

iiwas  printed  in  4tQ,  and  great  p^ips,  was  taken  to  collate 

various  MSS.     One  of  the  most  a4itbentic  manuscripts  o£ 

tn^  wo^k  was  burnt  in  the  fir^  which  consumed  a  parto€ 

l^e  Cotton. library,  Ocf.  23,  17ai«     It  is  a  finished  and 

systematic  performance,  giving  a  complete  view  of  the  law^ 

ill  all  its  titles,  as  it  stood  at  the  tiijnie  it  was  wjritten*     It  ia 

divided  in  to  five  books,  and  these  into  tracts  and  chapters^ 

Consistently  with  the  extensiveness  and  regularity  of  the 

flan^  the  seyeral  parts  of  it  are  filled  with  a  curious  and 

accurate  detail    of   legal   learning,    so    that   the    reader 

Oever  fails,  of  deriving  instruction  or  amusen^ent  from  the 

1  Mnreri.— 'F»l»r«  Bibl.  Lat.  Aled.  et  Iiif.^^.usdeiii  Conspectus  Thes.  Li- 
^rar.  iteiiii. 


400  ti  R  A  C  t  6  N. 

study  of  this  scientific  treatise  on  our  ancient  ]a\vs  Una 
oUstoms.     It  is  written  in  a  style  much  beyond  the  gene- 
rality of  the  writers  of  that  age ;  being  though  not  always' 
polished,  yet  sufficiently  clear,  expressive,   and  nervous.' 
The  excellertce  of  Bracton's  style  must  be  attributed   td' 
his  acquaintance  ^ith  the  writings  of  the  Roman  lawyers 
and  canonists^    from  whom  likewise  he  adopted  greater 
helps  than  the  language  in  which  he  wrote.     Many  of 
those  pithy  sentences  which  hare  been  handed  down  fromi 
him  as  rules  and  maxims  of  our  law,  are  to  be  found  in  the 
volumes  of  the  imperial  and  pontifical  jurisprudence.    The' 
familiarity  with  which  Bf acton  re<;urs  to  the  Roman  code' 
has  struck  many  readers  m6re  forcibly  thati  any  other  partT* 
of  bis  character ;   and  some  have  thence  pronounced  a 
hasty  judgment  upoti  his  fidelity. as  a  writer  upon  the 
English  law.     It  seetns,  indeed,  to  be  a  fasliion  to  discredit 
Bracton,  on  a  supposition  of  his  having  mingled  too  much 
of  the  civilian  and  canonist  with  the  common  lawyer ;  any 
liotion  that  has  got  into  vogue  on  such  a  subject  is  likely* 
to^  have  many  to  retail  it,  and  few  to  examine  its  justness. 
Among  others  who  have  most  decidedly  declared  against 
Bractbn^  we  find  M.  Houardj  the  Ndrtnim  advocate  :  this 
gentlemat)  was  at  the  pains  to  give  an  edition  of  GlanvilleV 
Pleta,  and  Britton ;  but  has  omitted  BrftctoUj  because  his 
writings  had  corrupted  the  law  of  England.     But  his  con- 
ceptions about  the  purity  of  the  law  of  England  have  se- 
duced him  into  a  very  singular  theory.     He  lays  it  down 
that  Littleton's  tenures  exhibit  the  system  introduced  by 
William  the  Conqueror  in  all  its  genuine  purity ;  that  this 
system  was  corrupted  by  a  mixture  from  other  polities  irir 
the  writings  of  Britton,  Fleta,  and  Glanville,   but  more 
particularly  in  those  of  Bracton.     Full  of  this  preposterous 
idea^  he  published  au  edition  of  Littleton,  with  a  pommen-' 
tary,  and,  to  decide  the  point  without  more  debate,  has 
entitled  it  **  Anciennes  Loix  des  Fran5ois.'*     After  this, 
the  admirers  of  Bracton  will  not  apprehend  much  from  this 
determined  enemy  to  his  reputation  as  an  English  lawyer. 

The  value  set  on  this  work  soon  after  its  publication  is: 
evinced  by  the  treatises  of  Britton,  and  Fleta,  which  are 
nothing  more  than  appendages  to  Bracton.  The  latter  was 
intended  as  an,  epitome  of  that  author ;  an^  the  merit  of 
the  former  is  confined  to  the  single  ofHce  of  supplying 
some  few  articles  that  had  been  touched  lightly  by  bim» 
with  the  addition  of  tbe,«tatuti6s  made  since  he  wrote.    In 


BR  ACT  ON.  401 

^Gter-times  he  continued  the  great  treasure  of  ouv  ancient 
jurisprudence.  Thus  was  Bracton  deservedly  looked  up 
to  as  the  first  source  of  legal  knowledge,  even  so  low 
down  as  the  days  of  Jord  Coke,  who  seems  to  have  made 
this  author  his  guide  in  all  his  inquiries  into  the  foundation 
of  our  law.' 

Bradbury  (Thomas),   a  facetious  preacher  among 
the  dissenters,  whose  oddities  are  still  traditionary,  was 
born   in    1677,    at  Wakefield,   in  Yorkshire.     His  father 
belonged  to  a  dissenting  meeting  at  Alverthorp,  wear  that 
town,  of  which  Mr.  Peter  Naylor,  an  ejected  minister,-  was 
pastor.     Under  his  care,  and  at  the  free-school  at  Leeds, 
he  received  the  first  rudiments  of  learning.    .He  was  after* 
ViLfds  sent   to  an  academy  kept  by  Mr.  JoUie,  at  Atter- 
cUffe.     He  b^an  to  preach  at  the  early  age  of  eighteen, 
a!?out  the  year  1696,  when  his  juvenile  figure  ptdcured 
him  some  rebuffs,  which. he  soon  disregarded,  and  con- 
vinced his  hearers  that  he  was  a  boy  only  in  appearance. 
Hjs  conquest  over  tbes^  remarks  at  this  time  se^ras  to  have 
formed  an  sera  in  his  history,  as  he  used  to  *^  bless  God 
that  from  that  hour  he  had  never  known  the  fear  of  man.'* 
He  spon  after  left  the  academy,  and' was  taken  into  the 
family  of  Mr.  Whitaker,  who,  according  to  his  biographer, 
checked  bis  ardour^  at  least  so  far  that  he  preached  but 
seldom. .,  In  1*697  he  went  to  Beverley,  where  he  continued 
two  years,  and  then  bepame  assistant  to  Dr.  Gilpin;  at 
Newcastle-upon-Tyne,   and  remained  there  three  years, 
with  almost  unbounded  popularity.     He  then  removed  to 
Stepney, .  near  London,  and  in  1707  was  chosen  pastor  of 
a  meeting  in  Fetter-lane,  vacant  by  the  death  of  Mr.  Be- 
tioii;  Rowe.     After  preaching  here  to  a  crowded  congrega- 
tion for  twenty  years,  a  quarrel  took  place  ;  about  what,  his 
biographer  docs  not  inform  us  ;  but  Mr.  Bradbury  was  im- 
mediately invited  to  succeed  the  noted  Daniel  Burgees,  in 
the  meetii^  at  New^court,  Carey-street,  and  in  less  th^n 
a  fortnight    exchanged   his  former  for  his  latter  pulpit, 
carrying  with  himr  such  of  bis  Fetter-lane  hearers  as  ad-» 
bered  to  him  in  the  late  contest.     Here  he  succeeded 
Dapiel  Burgess  as  a  wit  as  well  as  a  divine,  and*  his  bio- 
grapher.  gravely  informs  us,  that ^' this  pulpit  a  second 
tinie  presenti^d  a  phenomenon  as  rare  as  it  is  beneficial, 

1  Reeves'*  History  of  the  English  Law.  —  Prinoe'f  Wofthiaaof  Devon.-«» 
Brooke^Bihl.  LeguiBj  vol.  II.  p.  60. — Biog.  firit.---BaIe,  PiU,  andTaaner.        , 

Vol.  VI.  Dd 


40^  BRADBURY. 

wit  consecrated  to  the  service  of  serious  and  eternal  truths'' 
Of  this  wit,  however,  Mr.  N.  Neal,  in  a  letter  to  Dr. 
Doddridge,  (1749,)  gives  a  different  opinion.  "  I  have 
seen  Mr.  Bradbury's  sermons,  just  published,  the  non* 
sense  and  buffoonery  of  which  would  make  one  laugh,  if 
bis  impious  insults  over  the  pious  dead  did  not  .make  one 
tremble."  After  entertaining  the  public  by  this  species 
9f  comic  preaching  for  thirty -two  years,  he  died  at  War- 
Vi^ick-court,  Gray's-inn^  Sept.  9,  1759,  aged  eighty-two. 
Of  his  character  it  is  said,  that  ^^  had  he  possessed  as  much 
judgment  as  quickness  of  wit,  and  as  much  temper  as  zeal, 
he  would  have  been  a  man  of  much  greater  consideration. 
His  usefulness  was  much  abated  after  the  Salters'-hall 
synod,  for  though  he  was  warm  on  the  orthodox  side,  his 
ill-conducted  zeal  did  much  mischief."  Among  his  other 
differences  of  opinion  from  his  brethren,  he  made  it  hia 
business  in  the  pulpit  to  lampoon  and  satirize  the  hymns 
and  psalms  of  Dr.  Watts.  It  is  said,  indeed,  that  when- 
ever he  gave  out  one  of  the  former,  it  was  prefaced  with 
**  Let  us  sing  one  of  Watts's  whims.^'*  Among  the  nu- 
merous anecdotes  of  Tom  Bradbury,  as  he  was  familiarly- 
called,  we  shall  give  only  the  following,  which  contains 
some  characteristic  features.  "  Tom  generally  gave  au- 
dience at  supper-time,  aud  the  ceremony  was  thus  con- 
ducted. On  a  little  table  lay  two  pocket  bibles,  one  of 
which  was  taken  up  by  Bradbury,  and  the  other  by  his 
daughter,  and  each  having  read  a  portion,  one  of  the  vi- 
siting ministers  was  desired  to  pray :  they  then  adjourned 
to  supper;  after  which,  Tom  entertained  the  company 
with  *  The  roast  beef  -of  old  England,'  which,  it  is  said, 
'  he  sung  better  than  any  man  in  England."  His  printed 
works  amply  justify  the  character  usually  given  of  him, 
that  with  much  zeal  he  was  totally  destitute  of  judgment, 
and  regardless  of  the  dignity  of  his  sacred  caUing,  dwelling 
perpetually  on  political  topics,  and  enforcing  them  in  ^ 
strain  of  ridicule  totally  unfit  for  the  place  in  which  he 
istood.  These  works  consist. of  "  Fifty-four  Sermons,!' 
17^62,  in  3  volumes  octavo,  all  of  which,  except  seven, 
liad  been  printed  separately.  They  are  principally  of  the 
political  kind,  and  it  was  justly  remarked  of  them  at  the 
time  of  publication,  that  ^^  from  the  great  number  of  sa- 
tred  texts  applied  to  the  occasion,  one  would  imagine  the 
liible  was  written  only  to  confirm,  by  divine  authority,  the 


.— .». 


BRADBURY.  «o« 

beniefits  accruing  to  this  nation  from  the  accession  of  king 
Waiiam  III.* 

BRADFORD  (John),  one  of  the  most  eminent  of  the 
protestant  divines  who  suffered  martyrdom  in  the  reign  of 
queen  Mary,  was  born  in  the  former  part  of  Henry  VIIL's 
Ifeign  in  Manchester,  where  he  was  educated  in  grammar^ 
Latin,  and  accounts,  in  which  last  he  was  reckoned  so  ex- 
pert that  be  was  employed  as  clerk  or  secretary  to  sir  John 
Harrington,  treasurer  and^ paymaster  of  the  English  forces 
in  France  ;  and  in  this  employment  he  lived  many  years  in 
great  credit.  His  exchanging  so  profitable  a  situation  fbr 
the  clerical  profession  is  rather  obscurely  accounted  for  by 
his  biographers,  some  attributing  it  to  his  having  imbibed 
the  principles  of  the  reformers,  and  being  encouraged  to 
join  their  number;  others  to  certain  abuses  in  sir  John 
Harrington^s  office,  in  which  he  either  participated,  or  at 
which  he  connived,  and  the  iniquity  of  which  first  struck 
him  on  hearing  a  sermon  of  bishop  Latimer  upon  the  sub- 
ject of  restitution  as  constituting  the  only  basis  of  repent- 
ance. There  is  much  reason,  however,  ta  doubt  whether 
this  sermon  was  not  subsequent  to  the  restitution  he  made 
of  about  500/.  which  be  apprehended  the  king  had  lost  by 
some  error  in  his  and  sir  John  Harrington's  acc*ounts.  The; 
author  of  his  life  in  the  Biog.  Brit,  dwells  with  tiresome 
prolixity  on  this  affair,  as  a  new  discovery  of  greater  im- 
portance than,  upon  a  perusal  of  the  whole,  we  have  been 
able  to  attach  to  it.  The  fact  seems  to  have  been,  that 
Bradford  was  a  man  of  great  tenderness  of  conscience,  and 
where  he  imagined  he  had  done  an  injury,  was  restless 
until  he  had  made  restitution ;  and  lamented  his  crime  on 
this  occasion  ^  with  more  bitterness  than  will  be  thought 
tiecessary  by  many  persons  who  have  been  intrusted  with 
much  larger  public  accounts. 

It  appears  that  after  he  left  the  army,  he  studied  for 
gome  time  in  the  Inner  Temple,  but  is  said  to  have  heard 
tRote  sermons  than  law-lectures,  and  at  length  determined 
to  study  divinity.  With  this  view  he  went  to  Cambridge 
'-li&bout  the  month  of  August  1548,  and  took  his  degree  of 
'  toaster  of  arts  at  Katherine-hall,  and  not  Queen^s  college, 
'is  some  authors  have  reported.  Dr.  Ridley,  bishop  of  Ro- 
chester, and  afterwards  of  London,  being  then  master  of 
Pembroke-hall,    invited  him   and  his  pious   companion 

1  .Sogue's  Hist,  of  the  Dissenters. — Doddridge's  Letters,  &c. 

DD  2 


401  BRADFORD. 

Thomas  Horton,  to  become  fellows  of  that  hall,  to  whicii 
he  was  chosen.  When  urged  by  Bucer  to  take  orders,  he 
pleaded  his  inability,  notwithstanding  the  high  reputation 
for  learning  which  he  had  established  in  college ;  but  Bur 
cer  reconciled  him  by  saying,  **  Though  thou  couldst  not 
feed  the  ilock  with  fine  cakes  and  white  bread,  yet  should 
thou  satisfy  them  with  barley-bread.'*  In  1550,  when 
Ridley  was  translated  to  the  see  of  London,  he  sent  for 
him  to  take  upon  him  deacon's  orders,  after  which  he  be- 
came one  of  the  most  celebrated  and  popular  preachers  of 
his  time,  and  was  made  one  of  the  king's  chaplains.  The 
bishop  afterwards  gave  him  a  prebend  in  St.  Paul's,  and 
lodged  him  in  his  house. 

For  some  time  after  the  death  of  Edward  VI.  Bradford 
continued  his  public  services ;  but  a  man  of  such  zeal 
against  popery  could  not  be  long  safe,  and  the'  method 
that  was  taken  to  bring  him  to  the  stake  is  one  of  the  most 
tyrannical  measures  of  Mary^s  reign.  It  is  thus  related  by 
his  biographers :  On  the  1 3th  of  August,  in  the  first  year 
of  queen's  Mary's  reign,  Gilbert  Bourne,  then  preacher  at 
Paul's  Cross,  but  not  then  bishop  of  Bath  as  Fox  mistakes^ 
he  not  being  elected  to  that  see  before  the  beginning  of 
the  next  year,  made  a  seditious  sermon  at  the  said  cross  ; 
wherein  he  so  much  traduced  the  late  king,  and  harangued 
so  intolerably  in  favour  of  popery,  that  the  auditory  were 
ready  to  pull  him.  out  of  the  pulpit.  Neither  could  the 
reverence  of  the  place,  nor  the  presence  of  the  bishop  of 
London,  nor  the  authority  of  the  lord  mayor,  restrain  their 
rage.  Bourne,  seeing  himself  in  this  peril,  and  bis  life 
particularly  aimed  at  by  a  drawn  dagger  that  was  burled  at 
him  in  the  pulpit,  which  narrowly  missed  him,  turned 
about,  and  perceiving  Bradford  behind  him,  he  earnestly 
begged  him  to  come  forwards  atid  pacify  the  people* 
Bradford  was  no  sooner  in  his  room,  and  recommended 
peace  and  concordto  them,  than  with  a  joyful  shout  at  the 
sight  of  him,  they  cried  out,  ^  Bradford,  Bradford,  God 
save  thy  life,  Bradford!'  and  then,  with. profound  atten- 
tion to  his  discourse,  heard  him  enlarge  upon  peaceful  and 
Christian  obedience;  which  when  be  had  finished,  the 
tumultuous  people,  for  the  most  part, .  dispersed.;  but, 
among  the  rest  who  persisted,  there  was  a  certain  gentle- 
man, with  his  two  servants,  who,  coming  up  the  pulpit- 
stairs,  rushed  against  the  door,  demanding  entrance  upon 
Bourne ;  Bradford  resisted  him,  till  he  had  secretly  given 


BRAD  FORD.  405 

Bourne  warning,  by  his  servant,  to  escape ;  who,  flying  to 
the  oiayQr,  once  again  escaped  death.     Yet  conceiying  the 
danger  not  fully  over,  Bourne  beseeched  Bradford  not  to 
leave  him  till  he  was  got  to  some  place  of  security ;  in 
which  Bradford  again  obliged  him,  and  went  at  his  back, 
shadowing  him  from  the  people  with  his  gown,  while  ths 
mayor  and  sheriffs,  on  each  side,  led  him  into  the  nearest 
house,  which  was  Paul's  school ;  and  so  was  he  a  third 
time  delivered  from  the  fury  of  the  populace.     It  is  added 
that  one  of  the  mob,  most  inveterate  against  Bourne,  ex- 
claimed,   ^  Ah !    Bradford,  Bradford,    dost  thou   save  his 
life  who  will  not  spare  thine  ?    Go,  I  give  thee  his  life ; 
but  were  it  not  for  thy  sake,  I  would  thrust  iiim  through 
with  Qiy  sword.^     The  same  Sunday,    in   the  afternoon^ 
Bradford   preached  at  Bow  church    in  Gheapside,    and 
sharply  rebuked  the  people  for  their  outrageous  behaviour. 
Three  days  after  this  humane  interposition,  Aug.  16,  he 
was  summoned  by  the  council  and  bishops  to  the  Tower  of 
London,  where  the  queen  then  was,  and  charged  with  se- 
dition, and  preaching  heresy ;  and  notwithstanding  the  de- 
fence he  made,  was  committed  to  prison  in  the  Tower^ 
where  he  lay  for  a  year  and  a  half.     This  forbearance  is 
the  more  remarkable,  because,   when   in  the   Tower,   or 
other  prisons,  by  his  discourses,  exhortations,  and  espe- 
cially by  his  letters,  he  did  nearly,  if  not  quite  as  much 
service  to  the  protestant  cause,  as  when  he  was  at  large. 
In  his  letters,  he  evinced  a  spirit  of  inflexible  constancy  in 
his  principles,  a  primijtive  and  apostolic  zeal  for  the  pro- 
pagation of  truth,  and  a  sincere  abhorrence  of  the  delusions 
of  the  church  of  Rome ;  and  strengthened  the  minds  of  the 
adherents  of  the  reformation  to  such  a  degree  that  his  ene- 
mies at  last  determined  to  cut  him  off.     In  1554,  he  was 
removed  to  the  court  of  king's  bench,  Southwark,  and  on 
Jan.  22,  examined  before  Gardiner,  bishop  of  Winchester 
and  chancellor,  Bonner  bishop  of  London,  and  others.   For 
this  and  his  other  examinations  we  refer  to  Fox.     After 
it  was  over,  he  was  sent  back  to  the  same  prison  under 
stricter  restraint  than  before,  especially  as  to  the  exercise 
of  his  pen  :  but  the  sweetness  of  his  comportment  towards 
his  keepers  so  won  upon  them,  that  it  defeated  the  severity 
of  his  enemies'  copimands  in  that  particular ;  and  his  argu* 
ments,  thus  discharged  out  of  prison,  did  their  cause  more 
hurt,  than  all  the  terror  of  their  tyrannical  treatment  did 
U  good.    A  week  after,  on  the  29  th,  he  was  brought  beforo 


40^  B  R  A  D  F  O  R  D. 

tl^em  in  the  church  of  St.  Mary  Overies  to  his  second  exa- 
mination, and  next  day  to  a  third,  in  all  which  he  acknow^ 
ledged  and  adhered  to  his  principles  with  undaunted  con- 
stancy, and  answered  every  thing  offered  in  the  shape  of 
argument  with  authority  from  the  scriptures,  and  every  re- 
proach with  meekness.     He  was  now  condemned  to  die^ 
but  he  lay  after  this  in  the  Poultry  couiHer  for  five  months 
visited  constantly  by  some   of  the  popish  bishops,  their 
chaplains  or  priests,  so  desirous  were  they  to  gain  over  a 
champion  of  his  consequence.      We  are  told  that  both 
while  he  lay  in  the  king^s  bench,  and  in  the  counter,  he 
preached  twice  a-day,  unless  sickness  hindered  him.     The 
Sacrament  was  often  ministered  ;  and,  through  his  keeper^s 
indulgence,  there  was  such  a  resort  of  pious  people  to 
liim,  that  his  chamber  was  usually  almost  filled  with  them. 
He  made  but  one  short  meal  a-day,  and  allowed  himsejf 
but  four  hours  rest  at  night.     His  gentle  nature  was  ever 
relenting  at  the  thoughts  of  his  infirmities,  and  fears  of 
being  betrayed  into  inconstancy ;  and  his  behaviour  was 
so  affecting  to  all  about  him,  that  it  won  even  many  papists 
to  wish  for  the  preservation  of  his  life.     His  very  mien  and 
ILspect  begat  veneration ;  being  tall  and  spare,  or  some- 
what macerated  in  his  body ;  of  a  faint  sanguine  com* 
plexion,  with  an  auburn  beard  ;  and  his  eyes,  through  the 
intenseness  of  his  pious  contemplations,  were  often  so  so-» 
leipnly  settled,  that  the  tears  would  silently  gather  in  them, 
,tili  he  could  not  restrain  them  from  overflowing  their  banks, 
and  creating  a  sympathy  in  the  eyes  of  his  beholders.    The 
portions  of  his  time  he  did  not  spend  in  prayer  or  preach- 
ing, he  allotted  to  the  visitation  of  his  fellow-prisoners  ; 
exhorting  the  sick  to  patience,  and  distributing  bis  money 
to  the  poor,   and  to  some  who  had  been  the  most  violent 
opposers  of  his  doctrines ;  nor  did  he  leave  the  felons 
themselves  without  the  best  relief  they  were  capable  of 
receiving,  under   the  distresses   they  had  brought  upon 
themselves,  which  excited  them  to  the  most  hearty  and 
sincere  repentance.     On  the  last  day  of  June   1555,  he 
was  carried  to  Newgate,  attended  by  a  vast  multitude  of 
people,  who,  because  they  had  heard  he  was  to  suffer  by 
break  of  day,  that  the  fewer  spectators  might  be  witnesses 
of  his    death,    either    stayed  in  Smithfield  all  night,    or 
returned  in  greater  numbers  thither  by  four  o'clock  the 
next  morning,  the   1st  of  July;   but   Bradford   was   not 
iDrought  thither  till  nine  o'clock,  and  then  came  iMider  ^ 


BRADFORD.  407 

stronger  guard  of  halberdeers  than  was  ever  known  on  the 
like  occasion.  As  be  came  out  of  Newgate,  he  gave  his 
velvet  cap  and  his  handkerchief  to  an  old  friend,  with, 
whom  he  had  a  little  private  talk.  Such  was  the  inveteracy 
of  his  enemies,  that  his  brother-in-law,  Roger  Beswick,. 
for  only  taking  leave  of  him,  had  his  head  broke,  till  the 
blood  ran  down  his  shoulders,  by  the  sheriff  Woodrofe. 
When  he  came  to  Smithfield,  and  in  his  company  a  York- 
shire youth,  who  was  an  apprentice  in  London,  named 
John  Lyefe,  and  to  be  burnt  at  the  same  stake  with  hiniy 
fpr  maintaining  the  like  faith  in  the  sacrament,  and  deny- 
ing that  priests  had  any  authority  to  exact  auricular  con- 
fession^  .Bradford  went  boldly  up  to  the  stake,  laid  him 
down  flat  on  his  face  on  one  side  of  it,  and  the  said  young 
man,  John  Lyefe,  went  and  laid  himself  on  the  other; 
where  they  had  not  prayed  to  themselves  above  the  space 
of  a  minute,  before  the  sheriff  bid  Bradford  arise,  and 
make  an  end ;  for  the  press  of  the  people  was  very  great. 
When  they  were  on  their  feet,  Bradford  took  up  a  faggofc 
and  kissed  it,  and  did  the  like  to  the  stake.  When  he 
pulled  off  his  clothes,  he  desired  they  might  be  given  to 
his  servant ;  which  was  granted.  Then,  at  the  stake, 
holding  up  his  hands  and  his  face  to  Heaven,  he  said 
aloud,  "  O  England,  England,  repent  thee  of  thy  sins ! 
Beware  of  idolatry,  beware  of  antichrists,  lest  they  deceive 
you."  Here  the  sheriff  ordered  his  hands  to  be  tied  ;  and 
one  of  the  fire-rakers  told  him,  if  he  had  no  better  learn- 
ing than  that,  he  had  best  hold  his  peace.  Then  Bradford 
forgiving,  and  asking  forgiveness  of,  all  the  world,  turned 
his  head  about,  comforted  the  stripling  at  the  same  stake 
behind  him,  and  embracing  the  flaming  reeds  that  were 
near  him,  was  heard  among  his  last  words  to  say,  ^^  Strait 
is  the  way,  and  narrow  is  the  gate/'  &c. 

Bradford's  writings  were  very  numerous :  besides  hi* 
letters,  &c.  which  are  in  Fox  and  other  Martyrologiesj 
particularly  seventy-two  letters  in  Coverdale's  collection, 
J.  "  Primitiae,"  translations,  1548.  2.  **A  godly  treatise 
of  Prayer,"  translated  from  Melancthon,  printed  by  Wight,i 
no  date.  3.  "  Sermon  of  Repentance,"  1553,  1558,  16mo. 
4.  "Meditations,"  1553,  1558,  and  1561.  5.  Complaint 
of  Verity,"  1559,  8vo.  6.  "  Three  examinations  before 
the  commissioners,  and  his  private  talk  with  the  priests, 
with  the  original  of  his  life,"  1561,  8vo.  7.  The  hurt  of 
bearing  masse,"  written  in  the  Tower,  no  date,  reprinted 


40S  B  R  A  D  F  O  R  D. 

1580  and  15S8.  8.  "Two  notable  serinons,"  1574,  1581, 
and  1631,  8vo.  9.  "  A  short  and  pithie  defence  of  the 
doctrine  of  the  holy  Election  and  Predestination  of  God, 
1562.  JO.  "  Fruitful  treatise  against  the  Feare  of  Death, 
no  date,  printed  by  Singleton,  and  by  Wolf  in  1583.  11. 
"  Godly  Meditations  upon  the  Ten  Commandments,  15^2, 
and  1567,  8vo.  There  are  some  other  works  ascribed  to 
him  on  doubtful  authority.  * 

BRADFORD  (Samuel),  D.  D.  bishop  of  Rochester,  was 
a  native  of  London,  the  son  of  William -Bradford,  of  whom 
it  is  recorded,  that  being  a  parish-ofBcer  in  the  time  of  the 
plague,  he  looked  upon  it  as  his  duty  to  take  care  in  per- 
son both  of  the  dead  and  living,  although  tie  removed  his 
family  to  Islington.  The  subject  of  this  article  was  born 
Dec.  20,  1652,  in  St.  Anne's  Blackfriars,  and  was  educated 
at  St.  PauPs  school,  and  afterw^ards  in  the  Charter-house; 
In  1669,  he  was  admitted  a  student  of  Bene't  college,  Cam- 
bridge, and  matriculated  March  27,  1672,  but  left  it 
without  taking  a  degree,  having  at  that  time  some  scru- 
ples of  conscience  respecting  the  subscriptions,  declara- 
tions, and  oaths  then  required.  He  pursued  his  studies, 
however,  in  private,  and  after  studying  divinity,  having 
overcome  his  scruples  by  a  careful  examination  of  the  mat- 
ters in  controversy,  he  became  desirous  of  orders  in  the 
church  of  England  ;  but  as  he  was  then  twenty-eight  years 
old,  and  could  not  return  to  the  university  and  go  regu- 
larly on  in  the  statutable  course  of  taking  his  degrees, 
archbishop  Sancroft  procured  him  a  royal  mandate  for 
M.  A.  in  1680,  and  he  was  admitted  to  the  same  at  Oxford 
in  1697.  As  the  state  of  affairs,  however,  was  critical  at 
the  time  he  received  his  degree  at  Cambridge,  he  declined 
proceeding  in  his  design,  living  as  a  private  tutor  to  gen- 
tlemen's families,  until; after  the  revolution,  when  he  was 
ordained  deacon  and  priest  in  1690,  and  in  the  spring  fol- 
lowing was  elected  minister  of  St.  Thomas's  church,  South- 
wark,  by  the  governors  of  that  hospital. 

He  was  soon  aften  chosen  lecturer  of  St.  Mary-le-Bow, 
and  engaged  by  archbishop  Tillotson  to  educate  his  grand- 
sons, which  occasioned  him  to  reside  at  Carlisle-house  in 
Lambeth.  While  here,  the  rector  of  St.  Mary-le-Bow 
died,    and  the  parishioners   were   so  pleased   with   IVIr. 

•  Biog.  Brit-r-Fox''s  Acta  and   Monuments. — Fuller's   Abel,  Redivivus   and 
Worthies — -Strype's  Cranmer,  p.  301,  323,  341,  345,  350,  363.— Strypc's  Me- 


BRADFORD;  409 

Bradford)  as  to  solicit  the  archbishop  to  give  him  the  living, 
with  which  his  grace  complied,  but  not  without  acquaint- 
ing them  with  the  informality  of  such  applications.  On 
this  Mr.  Bradford  resigned  St.  Thomas's,  and  the  lecture- 
ship of  Bow ;  but  soon  after  accepted  that  of  Allhallows, 
in  Bread-street.  In  1698,  he  preached  on  the  30th  of 
January  before  king  William,  who  was  so  well  pleased  with 
the  'sertnon,  as  to  command  it  to  be  published ;  and  ^Iso, 
in  March  following,  appointed  him  one  of  his  chaplains  in 
ordinary,  in  whidh  office  he  was  retained  by  queen  Anne. 
In  1 705,  when  she  visited  Cambridge,  he  was  made  D.  D. 
and  in  1707,  her  majesty  gave  him  a  prebend  of  Westmin- 
ster. He  now  was  exemplary  in  a  diligent  and  conscien- 
tious discharge  of  his  parochial  duties,  and  enjoyed  the 
esteem  of  his  superiors,  the  good  opinion  and  friendship 
of  his  brethren  the  clergy,  and  the  affection  of  his  parish- 
ioners. In  1710,  he  refused  the  bishoprick  of  St.  David's, 
as  the  then  ministry  would  not  suffer  him  to  hold  his  pre- 
bend in  commendam,  nor  the  rectory  of  Bow,  either  of 
which  was  necessary  to  enable  him  to  keep  up  his  rank  as 
a  bishop.  In  1716,  he  was  unanimously  elected  master  of 
Bene'c  college,  and  in  1718  was  consecrated  bishop  of 
Carlisle,  whence  in  1723  he  was  translated  to  Rochester, 
which  he  held  with  the  deanry  of  Westminster.  About  a 
year  afterwards  he  resigned  the  mastership  of  the  college. 
He  died  May  17,  1731,  and  was  buried  in  Westminster- 
abbey.  His  character  appears  to  have  been  excellent,  ac- 
cording to  every  account.  His  Boylean  lectures  were 
published  in  4to,  1699,  under  the  title  of  "  The  Credibility 
of  the  Christian  Religion  from  its  intrinsic  evidence,  being 
eight  sermons,  &c.  with  a  ninth  as  an  appendix,  in  reply 
to  an  objection  from  the 'imperfect  promulgation  of  the 
gospel,"  4to.  He  published  also  separately  twenty-three 
sermons  preached  on  public  occasions,  and  assisted  in  the 
publication  of  Tillotson's  works.  He  left  two  daughters, 
one  married  to  Dr.  Reuben  Clarke,  archdeacon  of  Essex, 
and  the  oth^*  to  Dr.  John  Denne,  archdeacon  of  Rochester.  * 
BRADLEY  (James),  D.  D.  Savilian  professor  of  astro- 
nomy in  Oxford,  F.  R.  S.  and  member  of  the  academies  of 
sciences  and  belles-lettres  of  Paris,  Berlin,  Petersburgh, 
and  Bologna,  was  born  at  Shireborn  in  Gloucestershire  in 
1692,  and  educated  at  Northleach  in  the  same  county. 

1  Masters*^,  Hist,  of  C.  C.  C.  C— Birqh's  Life  of  Tillotson.— Whiston^s  Lift, 
wbere  is  a  curious  aooount  of  his  attention  to  discipline. 


410  BRADLEY. 

Thence  he  was  admitted  a  commoner  of  Balliol-college  in 
Oxford,  March  15,  1710:  where  he  took  the  degree  of 
B.  A.  Oct.  14,  1714,  and  of  M.  A.  Jan.  21,  1716.  He  was 
ordained  deacon  and  priest  in  1719,  and  instituted  the 
same  year  to  the  vicarage  of  Bridstow  in  Iterefordshire. 
He  never  had  any  other  preferment  in  the  church,  except 
the  small  rectory  or  sinecure  of  Landewy  Welfry^  in  the 
county  of  Pembroke,  and  diocese  of  St.  David :  and  his 
institution  to  this  bears  date  the  1st  of  March  1719.  It  is 
presumed  that  the  bishop  of  Hereford,  to  whom  he  was 
chaplain,  was  his  patron  to  the  vicarage ;  and  Mr.  Moly* 
neuxy  who  was  then  secretary  to  the  prince  of  Wales,  pro- 
cured him  the  sinecure. 

It  appears  that  thus  early  in  life  he  had  many  friends ; 
and  it  is  probable  that  by  some  of  them  he  might  have  risen 
to  eminence  in  the  church,  had  not  his  natural  inclination 
led  him  to  pursue  other  studies,  in  which  he  afterwards 
shone  so  conspicuously.  He  received  his  first  rudiments  , 
of  the  mathematics  from  his  uncle  Dr.  James  Pound,  who 
resided  at  his  living  of  Wanstead  in  Essex,  where  our 
astronomer  was  some  time  curate :  this  gentleman  was  his 
mother's  brother,  a  man  of  singular  capacity  and  genius, 
and  eminent  as  a  divine,  a  physician,  and  a  mathematician. 
In  the  two  former  capacities  he  went  to  the  East- Indies  in 
the  company's  service ;  and  was  one  of  those  who  had  the 
.  good  fortune  to  escape  from  the  massacre  of  the  factory, 
on  the  island  of  Pulo  Condore,  irt  Cochin  China.  An  ac- 
count of  this  shocking  scene  remains  amongst  Dr.  Bradley's^ 
papers,  written  by  Dr.  Pound,  together  with  a  journal 
iept  by  him  on  board  the  Rose  sloop,  until,  after  many 
difficulties  and  distresses,  they  arrived  at  Batavia  the  18th 
of  April  1705.  The  public  suffered  much  in  this  cata- 
strophe, by  the  loss  of  Dr.  Pound's  papers,  and  other  va- 
luable curiosities  collected  by  him,  which  all  perished  in 
the  conflagration ;  as  he  had  no  time  to  save  any  thing 
but  his  own  life.  With  this  relation,  to  whom  "he  was  dear 
even  more  than  by  the  ties  of  blood,  he  spent  all  his  vaca- 
tions from  other  duties  :  it  was  whilst  with  him  at  Wan- 
stead,  that  he  first  began  the  observations  with  the  sector, 
which  led  to  his  future  important  discoveries. 

On  the  death  of  John  Keill,  M.  D.  he  was  chosen  Sa- 
Tilian  professor  of  astronomy  it)  Oxford,  Oct.  SI,  1721. 
On  this  promotion,  so  agreeable  to  his  taste,  he  resigned 
the  living  of  Bridstow,  and  also  the  sinecure  of  Landewy 


BRADLEY.  411 

Welfry,  and  henceforward  devoted  his  time  and  studies  t<^ 
his  beloved  science ;  nor  was  he  sooner  known,  than  dis« 
tinguished  by  the  friendship  of  lord  Macclesfield,  sir  Isaac 
Newton,  his  colleague  in  the  Savilian  professorship,  Dr. 
Halley,  and  other  great  mathematicians,  astronomers,  and 
patrons  of  science.     In  the  course  of  his   observations^ 
which  were  innumerable,  he  discovered  and  settled  the 
laws  of  the  alterations  of  the  fixed  stars,  from  the  progres* 
sive  motion  of  light,  combined  with  the  earth's  annual  mo- 
tion about  the  sun,  and  the  nutation  of  the  earth*s  axis,'- 
arising  from  the  unequal  attraction  of  the  sun  and  moon  on* 
the  different  parts  of  the  earth.     The  former  of  these 
effects  is  called  the  aberration  of  the  fixed  stars,  the  theory 
of  which  he  published  in  1121 ;  and  the  latter  the  nutaiwi> 
of  the  earth's  axis,  the  theory  of  which  appeared  in  1737  : 
;50  that  in  the  space  of  about  10  years,  he  communicated 
to  the  world  two  of  the  finest  discoveries  in  modern  astro- 
nomy  ;  which  will  for  ever  make  a  memorable  epoch  in  the 
history  of  that  science.     In  1730,  he  succeeded  Mr.  White- 
side, as  lecture-reader  of  astronomy  and  experimental  phi- 
losophy in  Oxfdrd :  which  was  a  considerable  emolument 
to  himself^  and  which  he  held  till  within  a  year  or  two  of 
his  death,  when  the  ill  state  of  his  health  made  it  necessary 
to  resign  it.     At  the  decease  of  Dr.  Halley,  he  was  ap- 
pointed astronomical  observator  at  the  royal  observatory 
at  Greenwich, '  February  3,  1741-2.     From  letters  found 
amongst  his  papers,  it  appears  that  Dr.  Halley  was  very 
.desirous  that  our  astronomer  should  succeed  him;    and 
lU  one  letter,  when  he  found  himself  declining,  he  de- 
sires his  leave  to  make  interest  Jor  him  :  but  he  owed  this 
new  acquisition  chiefly  to  the  friendship  of  lord  Maccles- 
field, the  late  president  of  the  royal  society.     Upon  this 
pVomotipn  he  was  honoured  with  the  degree  of  doctor  of 
divinity,  by  diploma  from  Oxford. 

In  1747,  he  published  his  Letter  to  the  earl  of  Maccles- 
field, concerning  an  apparent  motion  observed  in  some  of 
the  fixed  stars ;  on  account  of  which  h'e  obtained  the  an- 
nual gold  prize-medal  from  the  royal  society.  It  was  in 
consequence  of  the  royal  society's  annual  visit  to  the  ob- 
servatory at  Greenwich,  during  which  he  represented  to 
them  the  necessity  of  repairing  the  old  instruments,  &c. 
that  in  1748  George  II.  by  his  sign  manual,  directed  to 
the  commissioners  and  principal  officers  of  his  navy,  or- 
ci^red  the  payment  of  1000/.  to  James  Bradley,  D.  D.  hi» 


412  BRADLEY- 

astronomer,  and  keeper  of  the  royal  ob/jervatory,  in  order 
to  repair  the  old  instruments  in  the  said  observatory,  and 
to  provide  new. ones.     This  enabled  him  to  furnish  it  witb 
the  noblest  and   most  accurate  apparatus  in  the  known 
world,  suited  to  the  dignity  of  the  nation  and  the  royal 
donor:  in  the  executive  part  of  .this  useful  work,  those 
eminent  artists,  Mr.  George  Graham  and  Mr.  Bird,  desire 
honourable  mention,    who  contributed  much  towards  the 
perfection  of  those  instruments,  which  enabled  Dr.  Brad- 
ley to  leave  behind  him  the  greatest  number  of  the  most 
s^cGurate  observations  that  were  perhaps  ever  made  by  any 
one  man.     Nor  was  this  the  last  instance  by  which  bis  late 
majesty  distinguished  his  royal  astronomer ;  for,  upon  his* 
refusing  to  accept  the  living  of  Greenwich  from  a  coa- 
scientious  scruple,  ^^  that  the  duty  of  a  pastor  was  incoHQ'- 
patible  with  his  other  studies  and  necessary  engagements,'*^ 
his  majesty  granted  him  an  annuity  or  yearly  pension  of 
250/.  during  pleasure  :  in  consideration  (as  the  sign  manual, 
dated  Feb.  15,   1752,  expresses  it)  of  his  great  skill  and 
knowledge  in  the  several  branches  of  astronomy,  and  other 
parts  of  the  mathematics,  which  have  proved  so  useful  to 
the  trade  and  navigation   of  this  kingdom.     This  pension 
was  continued  to  the  demise  of  the  late,  and  renewed  by 
tlie  present  king.     The  same  year  he  was  chosen  one  of 
the  council  of  the  royal  society. 

About  1748,  he  became  entitled  to  bishop  Crew's  bene* 
faction  of  30/.  per  ann.  to  the  lecture  reader  in  experiment 
tal  philosophy  in  Oxford.  He  was  elected  member  of  the 
royal  society  in  1752 ;  of  the  academy  of  sciences  at  Paris, 
in  1748;  of  that  at  Petersburg,  in  1754;  of  the  academy 
of  sciences   at  Bologna,  in  1757;  and  also  of  the  royal  | 

Prussian  academy  of  sciences  and  belles  lettfes,  but  the 
time  when  does  not  appear  amongst  his  papers.  *  ; 

By  too  close  application  to  his  observations  and  studies,  | 

as  is  probable,  he  was  afflicted'  for  near  two  years  before 
bis  death,  with  a  grievous  oppre«»sion  on  his  spirits,  which 
quite  put  an  end  to  his  labours:  his  chief  distress  arose 
from  an  apprehension,  that  he  should  survive  his  rational 
faculties  ;  but  this  so  much  dreaded  evil  never  came  upon 
him.  In  June  1762,  he  was  taken  with  a  suppression  of 
urine,  occasioned  (as  it  afterwards  appeared)  by  an  inflam- 
mation in  his  kidnies,  which  proved  fatal  the  13th  of  July 
following.  ,  He  died  at  Chalford  in  Gloucestershire,  in  the 
70th  year  of  his  age,  and  lies  interred  at  Minchinhampton 


BRADLEY.  413 

In  the  same  connty,  near  to  the  remains  of  his  wife  and 
tnother.  In  1744,  he  had  married  a  daughter  of  Samuel 
Peach,  of  Chalford,  esq.  by  whom  he  left  one  daughter, 
who  in  1769,  gave  her  father's  portrait,  by  Hudson,  to  the 
picture  gallery,  Oxford. 

Dr.  Bradley  was  extremely  amiable  in  his  private  cha- 
racter, as  well  as  illustrious  for  his  scientific  knowledge. 
His  temper  was  gentle  and  placid,  and  he  was  emmently 
^characterised  by  his  modesty.  He  appears  to  have  taken 
little  pains  to  attract  the  notice  of  mankind,  and  it  was  his 
lingular  merit  alone  which  procured  him  the  general  esteem 
and  regard  of  the  friends  of  learning  and  science.  Among 
his  acquaintance  and  friends  were  many  of  the  first  per- 
sons in  this  kingdom,  both  for  rank  and  abilities  ;  and  it  is 
4MLid,  that  there  was  not  an  astronomer  of  any  eminence  in 
the  world,  with  whom  he  had  not  a  literary  correspondence. 
He  spoke  well,  and  expressed  his  ideas  with  great  preci- 
sion and  perspicuity ;  but  in  general  was  silent,  and  seldom 
spoke,  except  when  he  conceived  it  absolutely  necessary. 
He  was,  however,  very  ready  to  communicate  useful 
knowledge  to  others,  and  especially  in  that  science  which 
he  more  particularly  professed,  whenever  he  thought  there 
i^ras  a  proper  opportunity.  He  also  encouraged  those  who 
attended  his  lectures  to  propose  questions  to  him^  by  the 
•exactness  with  which  he  answered  them,  and  his  obvious 
solicitude  to  accommodate  himself  to  every  capacity.  He 
was  censured  by  some,  for  having  withheld  his  observations 
from  the  public  use  ;  but  this  charge  i^pears  not  to  have 
been  well  founded  :  and  it  has  been  alleged,  on  the  con- 
trary, that  an  improper  use  was  made  of  the  facility  with 
which  he  made  his  communications  ;  that  his  observations 
were  very  ungenerously  transmitted  abroad  ;  and  that,  by 
such  practices,  foreigners  have  been  enabled  to  gain  repu- 
tation, and  to  adopt  the  fruits  of  his  labour  as  their  own. 
He  was  extremely  temperate,  even  to  abstinence  ;  and  he 
enjoyed  a  great  share  of  health,  and  was  active  and  robust, 
till  towards  the  close  of  his  life.  Eminently  remarkable  for 
the  equanimity  of  his  temper,  he  was  yet  in  a  very  great 
dBgree  compassionate  and  liberal ;  and  was  extremely  ge- 
jaerous  to  such  of  his  relations  as  needed  his  assistance. 
Though  he  was  unquestionably  one  of  the  greatest  astrono- 
mers of  the  age,  he  has  published  very  little;  which  seems 
to  have  arisen  from  his  natural  diffidence,  and  from  that  so* 
licitous  accuracy,  which  made  him  always  apprehensive 


414  BRADLEY.      . 

that  his  workd  were  imperfect.  His  papers  which  have  beetr 
inserted  in  the  Philosophical  Transactions  are,  !•  Observa* 
tions  on  the  comet  of  1703;  vol.  33,  p.  41.  2.  The  lon- 
gitude of  Lisbon  and  of  the  fort  of  New  York  from  Wan- 
sted  and  London,  determined  by  the  eclipse  of  the  first  sa- 
tellite of  Jupiter  ;  vol.  34,  p.  85.  3.  An  account  of  a  new 
discovered  motion  of  the  fixed  stars;  vol.  35,  p.  637«  4. 
On  the  going  of  clocks  with  isochronal  pendulums;  vol. 
"38,  p.  302.  5.  Observations. on  the  comet  of  1736-7  ;  vol. 
40,  p.  1 1 1.  6.  On  the  apparent  motion  of  the  fixed  stars; 
vol.  45,  p.  1.  7.  On  the  occultation  of  Venus  by  the 
moon,  the  15th  of  April  1751  ;  vol.  46,  p.  201.  8.  Oa 
the  comet  of  1757 ;  vol.  50,  p.  408.  9.  Directions  for 
using  the  common  micrometer ;  vol.  62,  p.  46*  His  ob- 
servations made  at  the  royal  observatory  during  20  years, 
comprized  in  13  folio  and  two  quarto  volumes,  unfortunately 
for  the  interests  of  science,  were  taken  away  at  his  death 
by  his  representatives*,  who,  upon  preparations  being 
^ade  by  government  for  recovering  them  by  process  of  law, 
(and  an  actual  commencement  of  a  suit  for  that  purpose,) 
presented  them  to  lord  North,  by  whom  they  were  trans- 
ferred, in  1776,  to  the  university  of  Oxford,  of  which  he 
.was  chancellor,  on  condition  of  their  printing  and  publish^ 
ing  them.  Accordingly  the  first  volume  was  published  in 
1798,  by  the  late  Dr.  Hornsby,  in  a  splendid  form,  enti- 
tled **  Astronomical  Observations  made  at  the  Royal  Ob- 
servatory at  Greenwich,  from  the  year  1750  to  the  year 
1762,"  fol.     The  remainder  are  in  the  possession  of  Dr. 

*  We  leare  this  story  as  it  has  been  self,  the  suit  being  then  undetermined, 

generally  told,  but  as  it  conveys  a  re-  upon  the  generosity  of  government,  and 

ilectien  upon  the  representatives  of  Dr»  presented  them  to   lord    North,  then 

£radley>  it  is  but  justice  to  add  the  ac-  chaocellor  of  the  exchequer,  who  being 

count  given  by  Mr.  Lysons,  Dr.  Brad-  at  that  time  chancellor  also  of  the  uni- 

ley's  relation.     "  After  Dr.  Bradley's  versity  of  Oxford,  gave  them  to  that 

decease,    the    guardians  of  his    only  learned  body."  Lysons's  Environs,  vol. 

daughter,  then  a  minor,  thinking  that  IV.  p.  457.     It  is  absurd,  therefore,  as 

she  had  a  right  to  any  profits  which  well  as  unjust  to  say  that  this  conduct 

migh^  accrue  from  her  father's  labours,  on  the  part  of  Dr.  B.'s  representativos 

took  possession  of  his  MSS.     A  suit  wa)^  "  unfortunate  for  the  interests  of 

being  instituted  against    them  a  few  science,"  since  the  MSS  could  be  of ao 

years  afterwards,  in  his  majesty's  name,  use  to  them  unless  published.     A  full 

for  -the  recovery  of  these  papers  as  the  account  of  the  proceedings  of  govern- 

property  of  the  public,  they  were  ad»  ment  and  of  the  university  on  this  af- 

vised  by  eminent  counsel  not  to  aban-  fair  may  be  seen  in  a  pamphlet  pub* 

don  their  claim :  but  in  the  year  1777,  lished  in  1796,  "  Proceedings  «f  the 

the  rev.  Samuel  Peach  having  married  Board  of  Longitude,  in  regard  to  the 

Z)r.  Bradley's  daughter  and  sole  heir,  recovery  of  the  late  Dr.  Bradley's  Obr 

and  being  in  consequence  possessed  of  servations,  &c."     See  also  Dr.  Horns* 

the  right  which  she  might  have  in  her  by's  preface  to  the  Observations* 
father's  MS  observations,  threw  him- 


BRADLEY.  415 

Hornsby's  very  learned  successor  in  the  astronomidal  chair. 
Dr.  Abraham  Robertson.  ^ 

BRADLEY  (Richard),  a  poplular  and  very  voluminous 
writer  on  gardening  and  agriculture  in  the  last  century,  was 
one  of  the  first  who  treated  these  subjects  in  a  philosophical 
manner,    and  certainly  possessed  .considerable    botanical 
knowledge,  although  his  general  conduct  was  little  entitled 
to  respect.     He  first  made  himself  known  to  the  public  by 
two  papers  printed  in  the  Philosophical  Transactions  :    one 
on  the  motion  of  the  sap  in  vegetables^  the  other  on  the 
quick  growth    of   mouldiness  in  melons.     He    became  a 
fellow  of  the  royal  society,  and  was  chosen,  Nov.  10,   1 724, 
professor  of  botany  at  Cambridge,  but  in  a  xnanner  which 
reflects  little  credit  on  him.     His  election  was  procured  by 
^  pretended  verbal  recommendation  from  Dr.  Sherrard  to 
Dr.  Bentley,  and  pompous  assurances  that  he  would  pro- 
cure the  university  a  public  botanic  garden  by  his  own  pri- 
vate purse  and  personal  interest.     The  vanity  of  his  pro- 
mises was  soon  discovered,  as  well  ias  his  almost  total  ig-- 
norance  of  the  learned  languages ;  and  as  he  neglected  to 
read  lectures,  the  university  made  no  difficulty  in  permitt- 
ing Dr.  Mar,tyn  to  do  it.     Mr.  Bradley,  however,  read  a 
course  of  lectures  on  the  Materia  Medica  in  1729  at  th^ 
Bull  inn,  which  he  published  next  year  at  London,  8vo, 
and  of  which  the  reader  may  see  a  humorous  criticism  in  the 
Orub-street  Journal,  No.  11.*     In  1731,  his  conduct  be* 
came  so  scandalous,  that  it  was  in  agitation  to  dismiss  him 
from  his  professorship,  but  he  died   soon  after,  Nov.  5, 
1732.     He  was  the  author  of  several  publications,  chiefly 
on  gardening  and  agriculture,  consisting  of  two  folio  vo- 
lumes, four  quarto,  and  nearly  twenty  in  octavo,  which  are 
enumerated  in  Mr.  Nichols's  Life  of  Bowyer.     His  **  New. 
Improvement  of  Planting  and  Gardening,  both  philosophi- 
cal and  practical,*'   1717,  8vo,  went  through  repeated  im- 
!pressions,  as  did  his  **  Gentleman's  and  Gardener's  Kalen- 
dar."     His  *^  Philosophical  Account  of  the  Works  of  Na- 
Iture,'*  1721,  4 to,  was  a  popular,  instructive,  and   enter- 
taining work,  and  continued  in  repute  several  years.     The 
s4me  may  be  said  of  his  "  General  Treatise  of  Husbandry 


••  *  In  the  same  publication  we  are  this  picture  t   Mr.  Bradley  is  created 

itAd  ot  '*  a  curious  print  of  Ciare-hall,  M.  D.  and  the   sun  is  placed  in  the 

drawn  by  the  hand  of  Mr.  Professor  North."    N9.  36. 
"Mndkf,    There  ar^  two  new  tbinj^s  in 

»  Blog.  Brit. 


416  BRADLEY. 

and  Gardening,"*  1726,  2  vols.  8vo;  and  of  his  "Practical 
Discourses  concerning  the  four  elements^  as  they  relate  to; 
the  growth  of  plants,"  1727,  8vo.     His  "  Dictionarlum  Bo-*, 
tanicum,''   1728,    8vo,  Dr.  Pulteney  thinks,  was   the  fir3% 
attempt  of  the  kind  in  England.     Exotic  botany  was  in^. 
debted  to  him  for  an  undertaking,  which  there  is  reason  to. 
regret  he  was  not  enabled  to  pursue  and  perfect.     This 
work  was  entitled  "  Historia  plantarum   Succulentarum,". 
1716,  4to,  published  in  decads  from  1716  to  1727,  but  only 
five  were   completed.     The  industry  and  talents  of  Brad-». 
ley  were  not  mean ;  and  though  unadprned  by  learning, 
were  sufficient  to  have  secured  him  that  reputable  degree^ 
of  respect  from  posterity,  which  it  will  ever  justly  with-| 
hold  from  him  who  fails  to  recommend  such  qualifications- 
by  integrity  and  propriety  of  conduct,  but  in  thesie,  •ua*'j; 
happily,  Bradley  was  deficient.     Among  his  other  publica*  i 
tions  appears  a  translation  of  Xenophon's  CEconomicks  from, 
the  Greek.     It  was,  however,  only  an  old  translation  mo-, 
dernized,  to  pass  off  which  the  booksellers  paid  him  a  suui, 
of  money  for  his  name,  then  a  popular  on6.     There;  ^re 
obvious  coincidences  between  his  character  and  that  of  r^e^ 
.   more    recently    celebrated    botanical  and    miscellaneous V 
^writer,  sir  John  Hill.  *  •     i 

BRADSHAW  (Henry),  an  early  English  poet,  was  ^i 
native  of  Chester,  where  he  was  born  about  the  middle  «ofi 
the  fifteenth  century.    Discovering  an  early  pr-opensity  Co', 
religion  and  literature,  he  was  received,  while  a  boy,  into 
the  monastery  of  St.  Werbergh,  in  that  city ;  and  having 
there  imbibed  the  rudiments  of  his  education,,  be  was  sent ; 
afterwards  to  Gloucester  college  (now  Worcester)  in  the- 
suburbs  of  Oxford,  where,  for  a  time,  he  studied  thejology, 
with  the  novices  of  his  order,  and  then  returned  to  his 
convent  at  Chester:  here  in  the  latter  part  of  his  life,  he 
applied  himself  chiefly  to  the  study  of  history,  and  wrote 
several  books.     He  died  either  in  1508,  or  in  151 S.     Be- : 
fore  the  year  1500,  he  wrote  the  **  Life  of  St.  Werburgh^" 
in  English  vers^,.  declaring  that  he  does  not  mean  to  ^rivaL  . 
Chaucer,.  Lydgate,  Barklay,  or  Skelton,   which  two   las^> 
were  his  contemporaries,  and  his  versification  is  certainly 
inferior  to  Lydgate's  worst  manner.     Thi^  piece  was  first  - 
printed  by  Pinson  in  1521,  4to.  a  volume, of.  great  rarityt 
but  amply  analysed  by  Mr.  Dibdin  in  his  second  volume  of 

,   1  Pulteney's  Sketches. — Preface  to  Martyn's  Dissertatioosoa  theJEseidft^ 
Vurgil.->-Nichols'8  Bowyer.  V 


- 1 


B  R  A  D  S  H  A  W,  417 

Typographical  Antiquities^  who  thinks  that  he  may  stand 
foremost  in  the  list  of  those  of  the  period  wherein  he  wrote. 
His  descriptions  are  often  happy  as  well  as  minute :  and 
there  is  a  tone  of  moral  purity  and  rational  piety  in  his 
thoughts,  enriched  by  the  legendary  lore  of  romance,  that 
renders  many  passages  of  his  poem  exceedingly  interesting. 
It  comprehends  a  variety  of  other  subjects,  as  a  descriptioa 
of  the  kingdom  of  the  Mercians,  the  lives  of  St.  Ethelred 
and  St.  Sexburgb,  the  foundation  of  the  city  of  Chester^ 
and  a  chronicle  of  our  kings.  * 

BRADSHAW  (John),  president  of  what  waa  called  thft 
''  high  court  of  justice^'  in  which  Charles  I.  was  condemned 
to  be  beheaded,  was  one  of  an  antient  family  in  the  county 
of  Lancaster,  but  of  a  branch  seated,  some  say,  at 
Bradshaw,  or  Bradshaigh,  in  Derbyshire,  others  at  Mar« 
pie,  in  Cheshire  :  where  he  was  educated  is  not  recorded  \ 
the  first  notice  we  have  of  him  is  that  he  studied  law  in 
Gray's-inn,  and  after  being  admitted  to  the  bar,  had  much 
chamber  practice  among  the  partizans  of  the  parliament^ 
to  which  he  was  zealously  devoted.  Lord  Clarendon  says 
he  was  not  without  parts,  but  insolent  and  ambitious.  In 
1644,  he  was  appointed  by  the  parliament  to  prosecute  lord 
Macquire  and  Macmahon,  the  Irish  rebels.  '  In  Oct.  1646t 
he  was  a  joint  commissioner  of  the  great  seal  for  six 
mondis,  by  a  vote  of  the  house  of  commons,  stnd  in  Feb, 
following,  both  houses  voted  him  chief  justice  of  Chester^ 
In  June  of  the  saine  year  (1647)  be  was  named  by  parlia*^ 
ment  one  of  the  counsel  to  prosecute  the  loyal  judge  Jen-* 
kins ;  and  was  called  to  the  rank  of'serjeant  Oct.  12,  164S. 
When  the  death  of  the  king  was  determined  upon.  Brad* 
diaw  was  one  of  the  few  lawyers  who  could  be  prevailed, 
upon  (o  act,  and  was  appointed  President,  an  office  v^ch 
had  he  declined,  there  is  some  reason  to  think  it  would  have, 
been  difficult  to  find  a  substitute.  When  called  upon,  Jan. 
1 2, 1 648,  by  the  court  to  take  his  seat  as  President,  he  affected 
to  make  an  earnest  apology  and  excuse.  Lord  Clarendon 
says  that  he  seemed  much  surprized  and  v^  resolute  to 
Mfose  its  and  even  required  time  to.  consider  of  it,  but 
next  day  accepted  the  office,  and  soon  demonstrated  that 
he  was  exactly  fitted  for  it,  by  his  contemptuous  treatment 
4>f  bis  unhappy  sovereign.    The  court  then  bestowed  on 

»  Bale,^  Pits  and  Tamier.f^Warton's  Hist  of  Poetry,— Dibiin,  ubi  supra.— . 
•Fuller's  Wortbies.«-PbIliips'8  Tbeatrum^  edit.  1800»-«-Atb.  Qx,  Tol.  I.-<^Podd's 
Church  HrstoVy. 

YoL,  VI.  E  s 


418  3  R  A  D  S  H  A  W, 

him  the  title  of  Lord  President,  without  iis  well  as  withifi 
the  court,  during  the  commission  and  sitting  of  the  court. 
A  retinue  of  officers  was  appointed  to  attend  him,  going 
land  returning  from  Westminster-hall ;  lodgings  were  pro- 
vided for  him  in  New  Palace-yard ;  he  was  to  be  preceded 
by  a  sword  and  a  mace,  carried  by  two  gentlemen,  and  in 
court  be  had  a  guard  of  two  hundred  soldiers ;  he  had  a 
jchair  of  crimson  velvet  in  the  middle  of  the  court;  he  wore 
his  hat  when  his  majesty  appeared,  and  was  highly  offended 
that  his  sovereign  should  not  be  uncovered  in  his  presence^ 
which  was,  however,  after  the  first  day  of  the  trial,  duly 
enjoined.     Besides  these  pompous  honotirs,  he  was  re- 
warded for  his  coarse  and  brutal  behaviour  on  his  maj^stVsi 
trial,  with  the  deanery  house  in  Westminster,  as  his  resi- 
dence ;  the  sum  of  5000^.  was  given  him  to  procurfe  ati^ 
equipage  suitable  to  his  new  rank:  he  received  lalso  Xh& 
seat  of  the  duke  of  St.  Alban^s  called  Summer-hill,  and. 
lord  Cottington*s  estate  in  Wiltshire,  valued  at  iSOOLper 
annuniy  with  other  landed  property,  amounting*  in  all  to 
about  4000/.  p^r  annuniy  to  him  and  his  heirs.     lie  was 
also  made  chancellor  of  the  duchy  of  Lancaster.     Those 
writers,  therefore,  who  represent  him  as  no  more  accessary 
to  the  murder  of  Charles  L  than  any  other  members  of  the 
council,  or  court,    must  see  from  these    circumstances, 
which  would  not  otherwise  be  worth  repeating,  that  the  re- 
publicans attached  the  greatest  importance  to  the  part  he 
had  to  perform,  and  considered  it  as  worthy,  tiot  only  to 
be  honoured  with  the  most  splendid  accompaniments,  but 
to  be  rewarded  with  the  richest  gifts  and  grants.   Bradshu^ 
was  in  truth  a  more  thorough  republican  than  most  of  th6 
party,  and  became  obnoxious  to  Cromwell  for  disapproving 
of  the  latter  placing  himself  at  the  head  of  the  government. 
This  occasioned  frequent    disputes  between  them,    and 
Cromwell  at  length  prevailed  in  depriving  him  of  the  office"' 
of  chief  justice  of  Chester.     On  the  death  of  Cromwellj 
when  the  long  parliament    was  restored,    Bradshaw  6b-. 
tained  a  seat  in  the  council,  was  elected  president,  and" 
9    would  have  been  appointed  commissioner  of  the  great  s^al, 
but  his  infirm  state  of  health  obliged  him  to  decline  the 
latter.     He   died  Nov.  22,   J  659,  declaring,  consistently 
enough  with  his  former  principles,  that  if  the  king* were  to 
be  tried  and  condemned  again,  he  would  be  the  first  mart' 
.-  that  should  do  it.     He  was  pompously  interred  in  W^t- 
minster  abbey,  from  whence  his  body  was  taken,  up,  at  the 
—restoration,  and  exposed  on  the  gibbet  with  those  of  tJrom- 


B  R  A  D  S  H  A  W.  419 

yM\  and  Ireton.  Doubts  have  been  entertained  as  to  this 
fact,  and  some  have  supposed  he  went  abroad  and  died  at 
Jamaica,  because  a  cannon  was  found  there  with  an  inscrip- 
tion signifying  that  his  dust  was  deposited  near  it.  No- 
thing, however,  can  be  better  ascertained  than  his  death  in 
England.  * 

BRADSHAW  (William),  an  eminent  puritan  divine^ 
was  born  in  1571  at  Market- Bos  worth,  in  Leicestershire^  of 
an  ancient  but  reduced  family,  and  was  first  educated  at 
Worcester  free  school,  at  the  expense  of  an  uncle,  on 
whose  death  he  was  obliged  to  retufn  to  Bosworth,  but  af- 
terwards found  a  friend  in  Mr.  Ainsworth,  schoolmaster  at 
Ashby-de-la-Zouch,  who  continued  his  education  in  that 
school.  In  1589,  he  was  admitted  along  with  Joseph  Hall, 
afterwards  the  celebrated  bishop  of  Exeter,  into  J^mma- 
nuel  college,  Cambridge,  and  took  in  course  his  degree  of 
]Ef.  A.  and  M.  A.  but  could  not  obtain  a  fellowship,  accord* 
ing  to  the  statutes,  which  allow  but  of  one  of  a  county  at 
time^  and  that  for  Leicestershire  was  gained  by  Mr. 
Halh  The  master  of  the  college,  however.  Dr.  Cha^ 
derton,  who  had  a  high  respect  for  him,  first  procured  him 
to  be  ti^tor  to  the  children  of  sir  Thomas  Leighton,  gover- 
nor of  Guernsey,  and  afterwards  to  be  fellow  of  Sidney 
Sussex  college,  then  newly  founded.  He  then  entered 
into  holy  orders,  and  preached  first  as  a  lecturer  at  Abing- 
ton,  near  Cambridge,  and  at  Steeple  Morton.  Afterwards, 
by  the  recommendation  of  Dr.  Chaderton,  he  was  in  1601 
skittled  at  Chatham^  in  Kent;  but  before  he  had  been  there- 
a  year,  he  was  sent  for  by  the  archbishop  of  Canterbury 
(Whitgift)  and.  commanded  to  subscribe,  which  he  refusing, 
was  suspended.  He  therefore  was  obliged  to  remove,  but 
was  afterwards  licensed  by  the  bishop  of  Litchfield  and  Co-, 
ventry  (Dr.  Overton)  to  preach  any  where  in  his  dioc<^e, 
and  at  length  coming  to  London,  was  chosen  lecturer  of 
Obrist  Church,  Newgate-street.  Here,  however,  he  pubr 
l^bed  a  treatise  against  the  Ceremonies,  which  obliged  him 
tor  leave  the  city  and  retire  to  the  house  of  his  friend  a^d 
patroQ,  Mr,  Redriche,  at  Newhall,  in  Leicestershire,  and  he. 
r^main^d  here  qntil.  near  his  death,  which  happened  whea 
oaa  visit  at  Chelsea  in  1618.  Bishop  Hall  says  of  him^ 
tha^  he  was  ^^  of  a  strong  brain  and  of  a  free,  spirit,  not 

^  Koble't  Lives  of  the  Regicicles.--*Gent.  Mag.  (see  index,)  where  are  many 
Htqairies  and  discos^ons  op-  his  history. -^Barwick't  Ltf«.«— Peck's  Deiiiderata«, 
vel.iI,  and  Qent.  JM»g.  YoM^lV.  p.  115. 


#20  B  R  A  D  S  H  A  W.  ^ 

suffering  himself  for  small  differences  of  judgment  to  be 
alienated  from  his  friends,  to  whom,  notwithstanding  hi$ 
seeming  austerity,  he  was  very  pleasing  in  conTersation, 
being  full  of  witty  and  harmless  urbanity.  He  was  very 
strong  and  eager  in  arguing,  hearty  in  friendship,  regardless 
of  the  world,  a  despiser  of  compliments,  a  lover  of  reality^ 
full  of  digested  and  excellent  notions,  and  a  painful  labourer 
in  God's  vineyard.''  The  rev.  Thomas  Gataker,  of  Bother* 
bithe,  wrote  his  life,  a  long  and  not  uninteresting  account* 

Of  his  works  we  know  only  f*  Several  Treatises  of  Wor- 
ship and  Ceremonies,"  fhst  printed  in  1601,  aftenwards 
that  on  ceremonies,  as  mentioned  above,  and  the  whole 
reprinted  1660:  <<  English  Puritanism,  containing  the  leaia 
opinions  of  the  rigidest  sort  of  those  that  went  by  that  name 
in  the  realm  of  England,"  1605.  This  is  valuable,  as 
showing  the  difference  between  the  principles  of  the  ancient 
and  modem  non-conformists ;  Neal  has  given  an  abstract 
of  it,  and  Dr.  Ames  translated  it  into  Latin.  Mr.  Brad- 
shaw  also  wrote  ^^  Dissertatio  de  justificatione,"  printed  at 
Leyden  the  year  of  his  death,  1618,  l2mo,  and  "  A  plaine 
and  pithy  Exposition  of  the  Second  Epistle  to  the  Thessa* 
lenians,"  1 620,  4to,  published  by  Gataker.  ^ 

BRADWARDINE  (Thomas),  archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
is  supposed  to  have  been  born  at  Hortfield,  in  Cheshire, 
about  the  middle  of  the  reign  of  king  Edward  I.  in  the  four:-, 
teenth  century.  He  was  of  Merton  college,  Oxford,  and 
was  one  of  the  proctors  of  that  university  in  1325.  He 
excelled  in  mathematical  knowledge,  and  was  in  general 
^distinguished  for  his  accurate  and  solid  investigations  in  di- 
vinity, which  procured  him  the  title  of  the  "  profound  Doc- 
tor." He  was  confessor  to  Edward  IIL  and  attended  that 
monarch  in  his  French  wars,  often  preaching  before  the 
army.  Sir  Henry  Savile  informs  us  that  some  writers  of 
ihat  time  attributed  the  signal  victories  of  Edward,  rather 
to  the  virtues  and  holy  character  of  his  chaplain,  than  tQ> 
the  bravery  or  prudence  of  the  monarch  or  of  any  other 
person.  He  made  it  his  business  to  calm  and  mitigate  the 
'fierceness  of  his  master's  temper  when  he  saw  him  either 
immoderately  fired  with  warlike  rage,  or  improperly  flushed 
with  the  advantages  of  victory.  He  also  often  addressed  * 
the  army,  and  with  so  much  meekness  and  persuasive  dis- 
cretion, as  to  restrain  them  from  those  insolent  excesses 
tvhich  are  too  frequently  the  attendants  of  military  success. 

1  Life  by  jQataker  m  Clafke'«  Iav«9  of  Tbirty-tw9  PWioes.— Nftal't  Piuritaas^ 
tol.  1. 4to  edh. 


^     BRADWARDINE. 


421 


When  the  see  of  Canterbury  became  vacant,  the  inonks> 
fsf  that  city  chose  him  archbishop,  but  Edward,  who  was 
fond  of  hisnsompany,  refused  to  part  with  him.  Another  va-* 
cancy  happening  soon  after,  the  monks  again  elected  him, 
and  Edward  yielded  to  their  desires.  The  modesty  and  in- 
nocence of  his  manners,  and  his  unquestionable  piety  and 
iRtegrity,  seem  to  have  been  the  principal  causes  of  his  ad- 
yancement.  He  was,  however,  by  no  means  adapted  to 
a'court,  where  his  personal  manners  and  character  became 
an  object  of  derision,  the  best  proof  history  can  afford  us^ 
of  their  excellence.  Even  when  he  was  consecrated  at 
Avignon,  cardinal  Hugh,  a  nephew  of  the  pope,  ridiculed 
the  prelate  by  introducing  into  the  hall  a  person  in  a  pea- 
aMvt's  habit,  riding  on  an  ass,  petitioning  the  pope  to  make 
him  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  but  the  jest  was  so  ill  re* 
lished  that  the  pqpe  and  cardinals  resented  the  indignity^ 
and  frowned  on  the  insolent  contriver.  Bradwardine  was 
consecrated  in  1349 ;  but  not  many  weeks  after  his  conse« 
cration,  and  only  seven  days  after  his  return  into  England^ 
he  died  at  Lambeth.  His  principal  work  '^  De  Causa  Dei,'* 
against  the  Pelagian  heresy,  was  edited  from  the  MS.  in 
IMerton  college  library  by  sir  Henry  Savile,  1618,  fol.  with, 
a  biographicial  preface,  in  which  he  informs  us  that  Brad- 
wardine devoted  his  principal  application  to  theology  and 
mathematics;  and  that  particularly  in  the  latter  he  dis^ 
fanced,  perhaps,  the  most  skilful  of  his  contemporaries* 
These  mathematical  works  are,  1.  ^^  Astronomical  tables/* 
in  MS.  in  the  possession  of  Sir  Henry.  2.  ^^  Geometria 
Speculativa,  cum  Arithnietica  speculativa,*'  Paris,   1495^ 

1 504,  fol.  The  arithmetic  had  been  printed  separately  in 
1502,  and  other  editions  of  both  appeared  in  1512  and 
1530.     3.  "De   proportionibus,"    Paris,    1495,    Venice^ 

1 505,  foL  4.  "  De  quadratura  circuli,"  Paris,  1495,  fol. 
Sir  Henry  Savile  informs  us  that  the  treadse  against  Pelar 
gius  was  first  delivered  in  lectures  at  Oxford,  and  the  au-^^ 
thor,  at  the  request  of  the  students  of  Merton  college,  ar- 
ranged, enlarged,  and  polished  them,  while  he  was  chan- 
cellor of  the  diocese  of  London.  As  Bradwardine  was  A 
very  excellent  matheniatician,  he  endeavoured  to  treat  the* 
ological  subjects  with  a  mathematical  accuracy,  and  was 
the  first  divine,  as  far  as  I  know,  says  sic  Henry,  who  pur* 
sued  that  method.  Hence  this  book  against  Pelagianism  is 
one  jegular,  connected  series  of  reasoning,  from  princi- 
ples or  conclusions  which  have  been  demonstrated  before ; 


♦22  B  R  A  D  W  A  R  DINE.      * 

and  if,  in  the  several  lemmas  and  propositions,  a.  matbe- 
matical  accuracy  is  not  on  ail  occasions  completdy  pre- 
served, the  reader  must  remember  to  ascribe  tbe  defect  to 
the  nature  of  the  subject,  rather  than  to  the  author.  ^ 

BRADY  (Dr.  Nicholas),  an  English  divine  of  good 
parts  and  learning,  the  son  of  Nicholas  Brady, ,  an  <^oer 
in  the  king's  army  in  the  civil  wars  of  1^41,  was  born  at 
Bandon,  in  the  county  of  Cork,  Oct.  the  2 8tb,  1659;  and 
continued  in  Ireland  till  he  w^s  12  years  of  age.  Then  he 
w^s  sept  over  to  England  to  Westminster-scliool ;  and  from 
thence  elected  student  to  Christ-church  in  Oxford.  After 
continuing  there  about  four  years,  he  weat  to  Dublin, 
where  his  fs^ther  resided ;  at  which  university  he  immedi- 
ately commenced  B.  A.  When  he  was  of  du0  standiqg, 
his  diploma  for  the  degree  of  D.  D.  was,  on  account  of  Jiis 
uncommon  merit,  presented  to  him  by  that  university  while 
he  was  in  England  ;  and  brought  over  by  Dr.  Pratt,  then 
senior  travelling  fellow,  afterwards  provost  of  that  college. 
His  first  ecclesiastical  preferment  was  to  a  prebend  in  the 
cathedral  of  St.  Barry,  at  Cork ;  to  which  he  was  collated 
by  bishop  Wettenhal,  whose  domestic  chaplain  be  was. 
He  was  a  zealous  promoter  of  the  revolution,  ^nd  in  eon- 
sequence  of  his  ze^^l  suffered  for  it.  In  1690,  when  the 
troubles  broke  out  in  Ireland,  by  his  interest  with,  king 
Jameses  general,  M'Carty,  he  thrice  prevented  the  burn- 
ing ^f  the  town  of  Bandon,  after  three  several  orders  given 
by  that  prince  to  destroy  it.  The  same  year,  having  been 
deputed  by  the  people  of  Bandon,  he  went  over  to  Eng- 
land, to  petition  the  parliament  for  a  redress  qf  some  griev-r 
ances  they  had  suffered  while  king  Jam^s  wfis  in  Irebrn^ ; 
and  afterwards  quitting  his  preferments  in  Ireland,  he  set- 
tied  in  London  ;  where,  being  celebrated  for  his  abilities  in 
tbe  pulpit,  he  was  elected  minister  of  St.  Catherine  Cree 
church,  and  lecturer  of  St.  MichaeVs  Wood-street.  He 
afterwards  becaqie  minister  of  Richmond  in  Surry,  and 
Stratford  upon  Avon  in  Warwickshire,  and  at  length  rector 
of  Clapham  in  Sprry;  which  last,  tpgether  with  Rich-^ 
mond,  he  held  till  his  death.  His  preferment  amounted 
to  600/.  a  year,  but  lie  was  so  little  of  an  (Economist  as  tq 
be  obliged  to  keep  a  school  at  Richmond.  He  ws^  al^o 
chaplain  to  the  duke  of  Ormond's  troop  of  horse-guards,  as 

»  Tanner. — Milner's  Church  History,  vol.  IV.  p.  82. — Henry's  History  tt 
England,  fourteenih  century. — ^Fabric.  Bibl.  Med.adlDf.iEt&t,<r-I>ap)ii.-rfCaTe^ 
"fol.  ^.— Blount's  Ceo9ura.-r-Saxii  Onoinaiiticon.  _ 


BRADY.  42i 

her  was  to  their  majesties  king  William  and  qtieen  Maiy; 
He  died  May  20,  1726,  aged  66^  leaving  behind  him  the 

>  character  of  being  a  person  of  an  agreeable  temper^  a  po- 
lite gentionan,  an  excellent  preacher,  and  a  good  poet. 
He  has  no  high  rank,  however,  among  poets,  and  would 
'  have  long  ere  now  been  forgotten  in  that  character,  if  liis 
nanse  was  not  so  familiar  as  a  translator  of  the  new  version 
of  the  "  Psalms,"  in  conjunction  with  Mr.  Tate,  which  ver- 
sion was  licensed  1696.  He  translated  also  the  JEneids  of 
Virgil,"  published  by  subscription  in  1726,  4  vols.  Svo^ 
and  a  tragedy,  called  ^^The  Rape,  or  the  Innocent  Impos- 

,  tors,''  neither  performances  of  much  character.  His  prose 
work»  consist  of  "  Sermons,"  three  volumes  of  which  were 

<  ;.pablished  by  himself  in  1704,  1706,  and  1713,  and  three 
others  by  his  eldest  son,  who  was  a  clergyman  at  Tooting, 
inSurryi,  London,  1730,  8vo.* 

*  BRADY  (Robert),  a  noted  historian  and  physician  of 
tbe  seventeenth  century,  was  born  in  the  county  of  Norfolk, 
and  admitted  in  Caius  college  in  Cambridge,  February  20, 

.:  1643.  He  took  his  degree  of  bachelor  of  physic  in  1653, 
and  was  created  doctor  in  that  faculty  September  5,  1 660, 

~ .  by  virtue  of  the  king^s  mandatory  letters.     On  the  first  of 

V  December  the  same  year,  he  was,  in  pursuance  of  king 

;  ;  Charles's  mandate,  elected  master  of  his  college,  upon  the 
resignation  of  Dr.  Bachcroft     About  the  year  1670,  or  as 

'  90tne  think  not  until  1685,  he  was  appointed  keeper  of  the 
records  in  the  Tower  of  London ;  in  which  office  he  em- 
ployed himself  in  perusing  those  most  valuable  monuments 
in  bis  possession,  with  a  view  to  his  historical  works.  Some 

.  Vtime  after,  he  was  chosen  regius  professor  of  physic  in  the 
viniversity  of  Cambridge.  In  1679,  he  wrote  a  letter  to 
Dr.  Sydenham^  on  the  influence  of  the  air,  &c.  which  is 
published  among  that  learned  person's  works.  But  his 
:  largest  and  ipost  cgnsiderable  performance  was,*  ^^  An  In- 
t^'oduetion  tp  the  old  Enghsh  History,"  in  which  he  main- 
tains these  three  propositions  :  l.  That  the  representatives 
r  x}{  the  commons  in  parliament,  viz.  knights,  citizens,  and 
burgesses,    were  not  introduced  till    the   forty-ninth   of 

-  Henry  III.  $  2.  That  William,  duke  of  Normandy,  made 
an  absolute  conquest  of  the  nation  ;  3.  That  the  succession 
to  the  crown  of  England  is  hereditary  (descending  to  the 
nearest  of  blood),    and  not  elective :  And  ^^  A  complete 

^  '*•»  Biog,  Brit— Cibbcr'B  Lives,  vol*  IV.— Nichols'i  Poems,  vol.  V.— Bio|r*  Dram. 
—Spectator,  8vo  edit,  with  notei,  No,  168. 


\ 


424  BRAD  Y, 

Histoiy  of  England,  from  tiie  first  entrance  of  the  E«iiiAfi%' 
unto  the  end  of  the  reign  of  king  Richard  II.''  in  three  vols. 
£d1.  about  which  he  was  employed  several  years,  and  which 
was  printed  1685  and  1700,  usually  bound  in  two  volumes. 
In  the  year  1681  he  was  chosen  one  of  the  representatives 
for  the  university  of  Cambridge,  in  that  parliament  which 
met  at  Oxford ;  and  again  in  1685,  in  the  parliament  of 
Idng  James  XL  He  was  likewise  physician  in  ordinary  to 
this  king;  and,  on  the  twenty-second  of  October,  1688, 
was  one  of  those  persons  who  gave  in  their  depositions  con- 
cerning the  birth  of  the  pretended  prince  of  Wales.  He 
died  on  tj:ie  nineteenth  of  August,  1700.  He  was  an  ac« 
curate  writer,  and  a  curious  and  diligent  searcher  into  our 
ancient  records ;  but  his  impartiality  has  been  called  ia 
question,  particularly  by  those  who  contend  for  the  higher 
antiquity  of  parliaments,  and  a  larger  proportion  of  popu- 
lar influence  in  the  constitution,  Tyrell  wrote  his  "  Ge- 
neral History  of  England/'  in  opposition  to  that  of  Brady*. 
Dr.  Gilbert  Stuart,  who  hated  all  Scotch  historians  ex^ 
cept  himself,  maintains  that  Hume  executed  his  History 
on  Brady's  principles ;  allowing  Brady  to  possess  an  ex- 
cellent understanding  and  admirable  quickness.  Dr.  Stu- 
art asserts  also,  that  he  was  the  slave  of  a  faction.  Dr. 
Brady's  other  publications  were,  "  An  Answer  to  Mr.  Pe- 
tyt's  Book  on  Parliaments,"  London,  1681,  8vo;  and 
**An  Historical  Treatise  of  Cities  and  Burghs  or  Boroughs,'* 
ibid.  1690,  fol.  reprinted  1704.* 

BRAHE  (Tycho),  a  very  celebrated  astronomer,  de- 
scended from  a  noble  and  illustrious  Danish  family,  was 
born  in  1546  at  Knudstorp,  a  small  lordship  near  Helsing- 
borg,  in  Scania.  His  father,  Otto  Brahe,  having  a  large 
family,  Tycho  was  educated  under  the  care  and  at  the  ex* 
pence  of  his  uncle  George  Brahe,  who,  having  no  chil" 
dreh,  adopted  him  as  his  heir.  Finding  his  nephew  a  boy 
of  lively  capacity,  and  though  only  seVen  yexrs  of  age, 
strongly  inclined  to  study,  he  had  him  instructed  in  the 
Latin  tongue  unknown  to  his  father,  who  considered  lite- 
rature as  inglorious,  and  was  desirous  that  all  his  sons 
should  follow  the  profession  of  arms.  In  the  twelfth  year 
of  his  age,  Tycho  was  removed  to  the  academy  of  Copen- 
hagen ;  and  his  mind,  which  had  not  yet  taken  any  direc- 
tion, was  casually  incited  to  the  study  of  astronomy  by 
an  eclipse  of  the  sun,  which  happened  on  Aug.  21,  1560, 


B  It  A  H  E.  425 

He  had  for  some  time  examined  the  astrological  diaries 
or  almanacks,  which  pretended  to  predict  future  events 
jficom  the  inspection  of  the  stars  ^  but  when  he  observed 
that  the  eclipse  happened  at  the  precise  time  at  which  it 
was  foretold,  he  considered  that  science  as  divine,  which 
could  thus  so  thoroughly  understand  the  motions  of  the 
heavenly  bodies  as  to  foret^l  their  places  and  relative  po- 
sitions :  and  from  that  moment  he  devoted  himself  to  astro* 
nomy. 

In  1562,  he  was  sent  to  Leipsic  for  the  purpose  of  study^ 
ing  civil  law ;  but  attending  to  it  no  farther  than  he  was 
compelled,  continued  his  astronomical  pursuits,  and  from, 
hils  tutor's  remonstrances  conceived  a  greater  disgust  for 
law  studies.  All  the  money  his  uncle  allowed  him  for 
pocket-expences,  he  laid  out  in  the  purchase  of  astronomic 
cai  books ;  and  having  obtained  a  small  celestial  globe,  he 
took  the  opportunity,  while  his  preceptor  was  in  bed,  of 
examining  the  heavenly  bodies,  and  before  a  month  had 
elapsed,  be  made  himself  acquainted  with  all  the  stars 
which  at  that  tifne  appeared  above  the  horizon.  Inspired 
with  the  same  ardent  zeal  in  pursuit  of  his  favourite 
science,  he  learned  geometry  and  mathematics  without  a 
master,  and  invented  a  radius,  and  several  mathematical 
instruments. 

Having  passed  three  years  at  Leipsic,  he  was  preparing 
to  pursue  his  travels  though  Germany ;  but  the  death  of 
his  uncle  obliged  him  to  return  to  his  native  country,  in 
order  to  superintend  and  settle  his  estates,  which  he  largely 
inherited.  Instead  of  finding  himself  encouraged  and 
esteemed  for  the  wonderful  progress  which  at  his  early 
age  he  had  made  in  the  science  of  astronomy  and  its  con- 
comitant studies,  he  was  mortified  at  being  treated  with 
contempt  by  his  relations  and  and  acquaintance  for  follow*? 
ing  a  science  which  they  considered  as  degrading,  and  who 
reproached  him  for  not  pursuing  the  study  of  the  law.  Dis- 
gusted at  their  behaviour,  he  settled  his  affairs,  and  before 
a  year  had  elapsed  set  out  upon  his  travels.  He  proceeded 
to  Wittenberg,  and  afterwards  to  Rostoc,  where  an  acci- 
dent happened  which  had  nearly  occasioned  his  death. 
Being  invited  to  a  wedding  feast,  he  had  a  dispute  with  a 
Danish  nobleman  relative  to  some  subject  in  mathematics ; 
and  as  they  were  both  of  choleric  dispositions,  the  dispute 
ended  in  a  duel.  In  the  conHict  part  of  Tycho's  nose  was 
cut  off*    In  order  to  remedy  this  defect,  Tycho  contrived 


45^  BRAKE. 

a  hose  made  of  gold  and  silver,  >ifirhich  he  fastened  by 
means  of  a  glue,  so  artfully  formed,  it  is  said,  as  to  bedr 
the  appearance  of  the  real  member,  and  to  deceive  many 
who  were  not  acquainted  with  his  loss. 

From  Rostoc  Tycho  continued  his  travels,  and  prose- 
cuted his  studies  in  the  principal  towns  of  Germany  and 
Italy,  and  particularly  at  Ausburgh,  where  he  formed  an  ac- 
quaintance with  the  celebrated  Peter  Ramus  ;  invented  aiid 
improved  various^  matheoiatical  instruments,  superintended 
the  building  of  an  observatory  at  the  expence  of  the  bur- 
gomaster Paul  Hainzell,  after  a  plan  communicated  by 
himself,  and  formed  a  series  of  astronomical  observations 
and  discoveries,  which  astonished  and  surpassed  all  who 
had  hitherto  been  considered  as  the  greasest  proficients  tn 
that  science.  On  his  return  to  Copenhagen,  in  1 570,  he 
was  soon  disgusted  with  the  necessity  of  going  to  court; 
and  meeting  with  innumerable  interruptiohs  of  his  studies, 
he  removed  to  Herritzvold,  near  Kriudstorp,  the  seat  of  his 
maternal  uncle,  Steno  Bille,  who  alone  of  all  his  rehttions 
encouraged  him  to  persevere  in  his  astronomical  labours. 
Steno  consigned  to  his  nephew  a  commodious  apartmeht, 
and  a  convenient  place  for  the  construction  of  his  observa- 
tory and  laboratory.  Here  Tycho,  besides  his  astronomi- 
cal researches,  seems  to  have  followed  with  no  less  zeal 
the  study  of  chemistry,  or  rather*  of  alchemy,  fromi  the 
chimerical  view  of  obtaining  the  philosopher^ s^  stone,  that 
he  might  amass  sufficient  riches  to  settle  in  some  foreign 
country,  but  neither  his  philosophy,  or  the  unwearied  zeal 
with  which  he  prosecuted  his  studies,  could  exempt  him 
from  the  passion  of  love.  Being  a  great  admirer  of  the 
fair  sex,  he  conceived  a  violent  inclination  for  Christina,  a 
beautiful  country  girl,  the  daughter  of  a  neighbouring 
peasant,  and  alienated  his  family,  who  conceived  them- 
selves disgraced  by  the  alliance,  and  refused  to  hold  any 
intercourse  with  him,  until  Frederick  II.  commanded  them 
to  be  reconciled.  Tycho,  who  chose  her  because  she 
might  be  more  grateful  ^nd  subservient  than  a  lady  of 
higher  birth,  never  seems  to  have  repented,  but  ever 
found  his  Christina  an  agreeable  companion  and  an  obedi- 
ent wife. — About  this  period,  he  first  appeared  as  a  public 
teacher,  and  read  lectures  on  astronomy  at  the  express  de-» 
aire  of  the  king.  He  explained  the  theory  of  the  planets, 
and  preceded  his  explanation  by  a  very  learned  oration 
concerning  the  history  and  excellency  of  astronomy  and  it» 


•BRAKE.  4?7 

sister  sciences,  with  some  remarks  in  favour  of  judicial  as- 
trology, a  study  as  congenial  to  the  time  as  to  the  inciina"* 
tioiis  pf  our  philosopher. 

Offended  with  his  relations,  and  disgusted  with  bis  coun- 
trymen, h^  had  long  determined  to  quit  Denmark,  and  to 

.  settle  abroad ;  and  after  travelling  through  Germany  and 
Italy,  he  at  length  fixed  upon  Basil:  which  he  preferred, 
for  the  wholesomeness  of  the  air,  the  cheapness  of  the 
living,  and  the  celebrity  of  the  university ;  and  from  whence 
be  might  hold  a  correspondence  with  the  astronomers  of 

.France,  Germany,  and  Italy.  On  his  return  to  Denmark 
be  was  preparing  with  the  utmost  secrecy  to  transport  his 
library,  &c.  but  was  prevented  by  an  unexpected  summons 
from  the  king,  who,  in  order  to  retain  him,  offered  him 

.bis  protection  and  encouragement,  presented  him  with  the 
island  of  Huen  as  a  proper  retirement,  and  promised  to 
erect,  at  his  own  expence,  whatever  buildings  and  jEippa- 
ratus  should  be  found  necessary  for  bis.iistronomical  pur« 
$uits.  He  .settled  upon  him  likewise  a  pension  of  a  thou* 
s^nd  crowns  a  year,  and  gave  him  a  canonry  of  Roschild, 
worth  two  thousand  more.  Tycho,  delighted. with  this  li- 
bei;ality,  did  not  hesitate  to  accept  the  king's  offer,  but 
jimnie/diately  repaired  to  Huen,  Aug.^  8,  1576,  and  was 
present  at  the  foundation  of  a  magnificent  house,  which  he 
afterward^  called  Uranienburgh,  or  the  Castle  of  the  Hea- 
yens,  and  which  contained  a  large  suite  of  apartments,  an 
pbservatory,  and  a  subterraneous  laboratory  ;  and  although 
the  king  supplied  100,000  rix-doUars,  Tycho  Brahe  did  not 
expend  less  than  the  same  sum.  He  afterwards  constructed 
a  detached  building,  which  he  called  Stiernberg,  or  the 
Mountain,  of  the  Stars. 

In  this  retreat  Tycho  Brabe  passed  twenty  years,  and 
greatly  improved  the  science  of  astronomy  by  the  diligence 

.  ^nd  exactness  of  his  observations.  He  maintained  several 
scholars  in  his  house  for  the  purpose  of  instructing  them 
in  geometry  and  astronomy,'  some  of  whom  were  sent  and 
their-expeuces  /defrayed  by  the  king ;  others,  who  volun- 
tarily offered  tiiemselves,  he  received  and  supported  at 
his  own  expence.  He  lived  at  ^e  same  time  in  a  most 
sumptuous  manner,  kept  an  open  house  with  unbounded 
hospitality,  and  was  always  happy  to  <^ntertain  and  receive 
all  persons,  who  flocked  in  crowds  to  pay  their  respects 
to  a  person  of  his  renown. 


42S  BRAKE. 

During  his  residence  in  the  island  of  Hnen,  he  receirerf 
numerous  visits  from  persons  of  the  high^t  rank.  Among- 
these  must  be  particularly  mentioned  Ulric  duke  of  Meek-, 
lenburgh,  in  company  with  his  daughter  Sophia,  queen  of 
Denmark ;  William,  landgrave  of  Hesse  Cassel,  whose  cor- 
respondence with  Brahe  on  astronomical  subjects  has  been 
given  to  the  public,  and  who  had  shewn  himself  a  constant 
patron  to  the  Danish  astronomer.  In  1590  Tycho  was 
honoured  with  a  visit  from  James  the  First,  then  king  of 
Scotland,  when  that  monarch  repaired  to  the  court  of  Co- 
penhagen to  conclude  his  marriage  with  the  princess  Anne,^ 
and  was  so  delighted  with  Brahe's  apparatus  and  conver- 
<iation,  that  he  remained  eight  days  at  Uranienburgh.  On 
retiring  he  presented  Tycho  with -a  magnificent  present, 
and  afterwards  accompanied  his  royal  licence  for  the  pub- 
lication of  Tycho  Brahe's  works  with  the  following  flatter- 
ing testimony  of  his  abilities  arid  learning :  **  Nor  am  I 
acquainted  with  these  things  from  the  relation  of  others, 
or  from  a  mere  perusal  of  your  works ;  but  I  have  seen'tbemi 
with  my  own  eyes,  and  heard  them  with  my  own  ears,  ia 
your  residence  at  Uranienburgh,  during  the  various  leamiSd 
and  agreeable  conversations  which  I  there  held  with  you^ 
which  even  now  affect  my  mind  to  such  a  degree,  that  it 
is  difficult  to  decide,  whether  I  recollect  them  with  greater' 
pleasure  or  admiration ;  which  I  now  willingljr  testify  by: 
this  licence  to  present  and  future  generations,  &c.^  His 
majesty  also,  at  his  particular  request,  composed,  in  ho- 
nour of  the  Danish  astronomer,  some  Latin  verses,  more 
expressive  indeed  of  his  esteem  and  admiration  than  re- 
markable for  classic  elegance. 

In  1592  he  was  honoured  with  a  visit  from  his  twn  so- 
vereign. Christian  the  Fourth,  then  in  the  fifteenth  year 
of  bis  age,  who   continued  some  days  at  Uranienburgh. 
That  promising  young  prince  shewed  great  curiosity  in: 
examining  the  astronomical  and  chemical  apparatus,  ex*^ 
pressed  the  highest  satisfaction  in  receiving  explanations' 
and  instructions,    proposed  various   questions  on   several 
points  of  mathematics  and  mechanics,  to  which  his  majesty 
was  attached,  and  particularly  on  the  principles  of  fortifi- 
cation, and  the  construction  of  ships.     He  was  also  highly- 
delighted  with  a  gilt  tin  globe,  which  represented  the  face 
of  the  heavens,  and  so  contrived,  that,  being  turned  on 
its  own  axis,  it  shewed  the  rising  and  setting  of  the  sun,- 
the  motions  of  the  planets  and  heavenly  bodies ;  a  won* 


BRAKE.  429 

derful  coDtrivance  for  that  age.  Tycho,  observing  the 
de^ght  which  the  young  king  shewed  in  observing  these 
phenomena,  presented  it  to  him,  who  in  return  gave  him 
1^  gold  chain,  and  assured  him  of  his  unalterable  protection 
and  attachment. 

Notwithstanding, ,  however,  these  assurances,  the  king's 
youth,  was  worked  upon  by  those  courtiers  who  were  en- 
vious of  Brahe's  merit,  or  who  had  been  offended  by  the 
violence  of  his  temper,  and  the  severity  of  his  satire,  and 
-^nder  various  pretences,  prevailed  upon  Christian,  to  de- 
prive him  of  bis  pension,  and  the  canonry  of  Roscbild. 
Being  thus  deprived  of  the  means  of  supporting  his  esta- 
blishment at  Uranienburgh,  he  repaired  to  his  House  at 
Copenhagen,  and  having  afterwards  transported  from  Ura- 
nienburgh all  such  instruments  as  could  hPe  removed,  he 
left  Copenhagen,  landed  at  Rostock,  and  remained  a  year 
at  Wansbeck  with  his  learned  friend  Henry  Rantzau.  Hav* 
ing  dedicated  a  treatise  on  astronomy  to  the  emperor 
Rhodolph  II.  who  was  extremely  addicted  to  astronomy, 
chemistry,  and  judicial  astrology,  he  at  length  received  a 
yery  flattering  invitation  from  that  monarch,  which  he 
accepted  without  hesitation,  and  repaired  to  Prague  in 
1599.  The  emperor  received  him  in  the  kindest  and  piust 
honourable  manner,  built  for  him  an  observatory  and  ela- 
boratory,  settled  on  him  an  ample  pension,  and  treated- 
him  with  the  highest  marks  of  deference  and  respect. 

.  In  the  service  of  Rhodolph  be  passed  the  remainder  of 
bis  days,  but  did  not  live  lo^ng  to  enjoy  his  protection. 
He  had  had  a  good  state  of  health' till  the  year  previous  ta 
his  death,  when  his  constitution,  somewhat  weakened  by 
the  intenseness  of  his  application,  was  still  fa^rther  shattered 
by  the  chagrin  occasioned  by  his  removal  from  Uram^n- 
burgb.  At  that  period  he  began  to  experience  symptoms 
of  complaints  which  announced  his  approaching'  dissblu* 
tion,  but  which  be  concealed  as  much  as  possible  from  his 
friends.  He  was  reduced,  however,  to  so  low  a  state  as  to 
b^  afffect^d  with  the  most  trifling  circumstances,  which  he 
considered  as  prodigies,  and  would  frequently  interrupt. 
his  sallies  of  wit  with  sudden  reflections  on  death.  The 
immediate  cause  of  hi3  death  was  a  strangury,  occasioned 
by:;^u  imprudent  retention,  from  delicacy,  while  in  com* 
pany^  which  being  attended  with  the  most  excruciating 
torments,  brought  on  a  violent  fever,  and  a  temporary 
4eUcium>  in  the  midst  of  which  be  was  heard  repeatedly 


430^  BRAKE. 

to  cry  out,  **  Ne  frustra  vixisse  videar.'*     His  deliriiuti  ii> 
length  subsiding,    be  became  calm  and   composed,  and 
perfectly  sensible.     Being  extremely  debilitated   by  tbe 
violence  of  bis  disorder,   he  perceived  that  he  had  not 
many  hours  to  live.     Accordingly  he  gave  orders  with  the 
utmost  coolness   and  resignation;   even   amused  himself' 
with  composing  an  extempore  copy  of  verses,  sung  various 
hymns ;  oiBPered  up  prayers  and  supplications  to  the  Sii  *^ 
preme  Being ;  recommended  to   his  family  and   friends 
piety  and  resignation  to  the   divine   will ;   exhorted  his  ' 
pupils  to  persevere  in  their  studies;  and  conversed  with' 
Kepler  on  the  most  abstruse  parts  of  astronomy.     Thu», 
amidst  prayers,  exhortations,   and  literary   conversation^ 
he  expired  so  peaceably,  that  he  was  neither  hea;rd  nor  ' 
seen,  by  any  of  those  who  were  present,  to  breathe  his 
last     He  died  in  October  1601,  in  the  fifty-fifth  yeai"  ^ 
his  age. 

It  is  remarkable,  that  so  sensible  a  man,  and  so  accu^ 
rate  an  observer  as  Tycho  Brahe,  should  be  so  infected 
with,  the  rage  of  system-making  as  to  reject  the  simple  and 
beautiful  system  of  Copernicus,  established  by  the  most 
incontrovertible  proofs,  and  to  endeavour  to  reconcile  the  " 
absurdities  of  the  Ptoleitiaic  system.  He  was,  indeed,  too 
well  acquainted  with  the  motions  of  the  heavenly  bodies^ 
noli  to  be  sensible  that  the  sun  was  the  centre  of  the 
system  ;  and  though  he  was  struck  with  the  simplicity  and 
harmony  of  the  Pythagorean  system,  which  Copernicus 
had  lately  revived,  yet,  out  of  respect,  it  is  said,  for  se-* 
Teral  passages  in  scripture,  he  absurdly  endeavoured  to 
reconcile  (what  were  never  intended  to  be  reconciled)  his 
learning  with  his  faith :  he  rejected  the  diurnal  rotation  of  ' 
the  earth  on  its  own  axis ;  supposed  that  the  earth  wai^ 
quiescent;  that  the  sun,  with  all  the  planets,  was  car]!||ed 
about' the  earth  in  the  space  of  a  year;  and  that  the 
planets,  by  their  proper  motions,  revolved  round  the  sun 
in  their  several  periods ;  thus  retaining  the  most  absurd', 
part  of  the  Ptolemaic  hypothesis,  which  makesL  the  whole 
planetary  system  revolve  round  the  earth  in  the  space  of 
every  twenty-four  hdurs.  Tycho,  indeed,  was  so  bigat- 
ted  to  his  own  hypothesis,  and  shewed,  even  in  his  last 
moments^  such  an  attachment  to  his  own  system,  as  to 
desire  his  favourite  scholar,  the  great  Kepler,  to  follow 
bii  system  rather  than  that  of  Copernicus. 
,If  we  were  to  estimate  the  merks  of  Tycho  Brahe  as  ai| " 


B  K  A  H  E.  431 

a^tfonomery  we  should  compare  the  science  as  he  left  it 

with  the  state  in  which  he  found  it.     His  great  merit  con* 

sisted  in  his  inventions  and  improvements  of  mathematical 

iu^trume.nts.    and   in  the   diligence  and.  exactness     with 

which  he  made  astronomical  observations  for  a  long  series. 

of  years.    And  as  his  instruments  were  remarkably  good,  he 

composed  a  catalogue  of  777  fixed  stars,  all  observed  by 

hin^selfy  with  an  accuracy  unknown  to  former  astronomers. 

He  likewise  discovered  the  refraction  of  the  air ;  demon* 

strated,  against  the  prevailing  opinion  of  those  times,  that 

the  comets  were  higher  than  the  moon  ;  and  from  his  ob-« 

servations  on  the  moon  and  the  other  planets,  the  theories 

of  tbe;ir  motions  were  afterwards  corrected  and  improved. 

He  was  also  the  first  astronomer  who  composed  a  table  of 

refrfLccions,  and  shewed  the  use  to  be  made  of  them  in 

astronomy.     Such   is  the  reputation  of  Tycho  Brahe,  for 

his  great  proficiency  in  that  science,  that  Costard,  in  his 

History  of  Astronomy,  has  fixed  upon  his  name  as  marking 

%]\e  beginning  of  a  new  period. 

.  He  seems  to  have  embraced  a  large  circle  of  the  arts 
aqd  sciences*  He  cultivated  poetry,  and  wrote  Latin  verses, 
P9t  without  some  degree  of  classic  elegance.     He  drew 
the  plan  Cor  building,  the  castle  of  Cronberg,  and  sketched 
the. design,  for  the.  noble  mausoleum  of  Frederic  the  Se-* 
cpncl?  which  was  executed  in  Italy,  ^.nd  is- erected  in  the 
cathedral  of  Roschiid.     He  dabbled  also  in  physic.     He 
was  fond  of  being  consulted,  and  readily  gave  bis  advice 
ah4  medicines  gratis   to  those  who  consulted  him.     He 
indented  an  elixir,  which  he  calls  an  infallible  cure  for 
epidemic. disorders,  of  which  he  has  published  the  recipe 
in,  a  letter  to  the  emperor  Rhodolph.     He  was  a  good  me*" 
chanic.     He  possessed  several  automates,  and  took  great 
delight  in  showing  them  to  the  peasants,  and  was  always 
pleased  if  they  took  them  for  spirits.     He  was  no  less  fond 
pf  being  consulted  as  a  fortune-teller,  and  willingly  en-^^ 
cci^raged  an  opinion,  that  his  knowledge  of  the  heavenly 
bq^ie^.  enabled  him   to  observe  horoscopes,  and   foretel 
eve^its.     Many  traditional  fables  of  his  predictions  have 
bei^n  handed  down  to  posterity,  which  shew  his  pronen«ss- 
to.  ji^dipial.  asprology,  and  the  weakness  of  those  who  be* 
lieyed  his.  .predictions.     In  many  instances  astrological  pre-, 
dictidos,  by  alarming,  occasion  the  event  which  they  fone- 
tel,  and  have  thus  gained  a  false  credit  from  the  weak  or 
the  unwarjT.    Thus  ;Tycto>  Brahe's  astrological  predictioa^ 


432  B  R  A  H  £. 

proved  fatal  to  tbe  empeior  Rhodolph  II.  fb/,  being  ii«^ 
formed  by  Tycho^  that  a  star  which  presided  at  his  nativity 
threatened  him  with  some  sinister  designs  to  ii»  prejudice, 
from  his  relations,  he  was  thrown  into  sach  •  a  patiie,  tbtft 
lie  did  not  venture  to  quit  his  palace,  or  appear  befenre  aD^^ 
person ;  and,  as  the  conduct  of  his  brother  Matthias  coi^ 
firmed  the  astrologer's  informations,  he  fell  at  last  a  pKejr 
to  bis  grief,  and  died  18th  of.  Januaiy  1612,  aged  fi%v 
fiine  years. 

At  Ursnienbuigh  Tyoho  Brahe  had  several  contrivances 
calculated  to  deceive  and  astonish  tlu>se  viiioucaiiipe^to  visit 
and  consult  him.  Among  others,  several  bells,  commil* 
xiicating  with  the  rooms  in  the  upper  story^  whsimeAobj 
bis  scholars,  tbe  bandies  of  which  were  concealed  inr 'his 
own  apartments.  Frequently,  when  .company  maa  mith 
him,  he  would  pretend  to  want  something,  and  havinig 
secretly  puUed  the  bell,  would  cry  .out,  <^  Gome^ hither 
Peter,  come  hither  Christian/'  and  was  pleased  to  observe 
the  astonishment  of  the  company,  who  not  hearing  the  bellsi 
were  surprized  at  the  appearance  of  Che  persott^who  Was 
thus  summoned.  He  was  no  less  devoted-  to  the  study  ^ 
chemistry  than  to  astronomy^  and  expended  as  much  on  th« 
terrestrial,  astronomy,  as  he  styles  it,^' as  on  the  eeleatiak 
He  left,  indeed,  no  writings  upon  that  science,  altfaoiigh 
it  seems  to  have  been  bis  intentiea  to  have  given*  to > the 
public  a  selection  of  bis  experiments,  which  1m9  bad  mode 
with  so  much  labour  and  expence ;  yet,  he  adds,  in  the 
true  cant  of  alcbymy,  ^^  On  consideration,  and  by  the  ad* 
vice' of  the  most  illustrious  as  well  as  the  most  leamed 
men,  he  thought  it  improper  to  unfold  ^e  secrets  of  tbe 
art  to  the  vulgar,  as  few  people  were  capable  of  usiolg  its 
mysteries  to  advantage,  and  without  detriment.^' 

His  foibles  were  as  prominent  as  his  virtue  and  capaci^i 
He  was  of  a  morose  and  unbending  disposition,  indulged 
himself  in  too  great  freedom  of  speech,  but  while  be  ralHed 
Others  was  not  pleased  to  be  rallied  himself.  He  was 
greatly  addicted  to  judicial  astrology,  and  prone  toacfe-it 
dulity  and  superstition .  below  his  learning  and  judgmeifti 
If  be  met  ad  old  woman  in  going  out  of  his  houses  he^ 
would  instantly  return  home;  and  considered  an  hace  as 
an  ill  omen.  While  be  lived  at  Uranienburgfa  he  bad  »■ 
fool,  whose  name  was  Sep,  who  was  accustomed  during 
dinner  to  sit  at  his  feet,  and  whom  he  used  to  feed  with 
his  own  band.    This  man  was  coatinually  utteiipg^  inco^ 


B  R  A  H  £.  4S3 

Jheretit  expressions,  which  Tycho  observed  and  noted 
down,  from  a  persuasion  that  the  mind,  in  a  state  of  emo- 
ti<Mi,  was  capable  of  predicting  future  events,  and  he  even 
believed,  if  any  inhabitant  of  the  island  was  taken  ill,  that 
this  madman  could  predipt  whether  he  should  live  or  die. 
He  maintained,  that  the  cabala  and  magic,  if  they  did 
not  act  to  the  offence  of  God  or  man,  could  lay  open 
many  abstruse  things  by  figures,  images,  and  marks.  But 
upon  the  whole,  with  all  these  weaknesses,  we  may  assent 
to  the  truth  of  the  euicgium  given  in  his  **  Oratio  fune- 
bris,"  that  to  him  bis  studies  were  life;  meditation  his 
delight ;  science  riches ;  virtue  nobility ;  and  religion  his 
eonstamt  direction.  \' 

-  Gassendus,  in  his  '^  Equitis  Dani  Tychonis  Brahe  Astro- 
Bomorum  Coryphsei  vita,"  gives  the  following  list  of  his 
principal  writings :  1.  ><  An  account  of  the  new  star  which 
appeared  Nov.  12th,  1572,  in  Cassiopeia,'^  Copenhagen, 
1573,  4to.  2.  ^^  An  oi'ation  concerning  the  mathematical 
sciences,  pronounced  in  the  university  of -Copenhagen,  in 
J  574/'  published  by  Conrad  Aslac,  of  Bergen,  in  Nor- 
way- 3.  "'A  treatise  on  the  comet  of  the  year  1577,  im- 
mediately after  it/  <  disappeared."  Upon  revising  it  nine 
years  afterwards,  he  kdded  a  tenth  chapter,  printed  at 
Uraniburgh,  15S9.  4.  **  Another  treatise  on  the  ^  new 
phcenomena  of  the  heavens ;"  in  the  first  part  of  which  he 
treats  of  the.restitution,  as  he  calls  it,  of  the  sun,  and  of 
ike  fixed  stars ;  and  in  the  second  part,  of  a  new  star 
which  had  then  made  its  appearance.  5.  ^*  A  coUectioii 
of 'astronomical  epistles,"  Uraniburgh,  1596,  4to;*  Nu« 
remberg,  1602,  and  Francfort,  1610.  It  was  dedicated 
to  Maurice,  landgrave  of  Hesse,  because  it  contains  a 
considerable  number  of  letters  of  the  landgrave  William,* 
his  father,  and  of  Christopher  Rothmann,  the  mathema- 
iacian  of  that  prince,  to  Tycho,  and  of  Tycho  to  them. 
6.  *^  The  mechanical  principles  of  Astfonomy  r^stoi'ed,'*' 
Wandesburg,  1598,  folio.  7.  "  An  answer  to  the  letter  of 
a  certain  Scotchman  concerning  the  confet  in  the  year 
1^577."  S.'  ^*  On  the  composition  of  an  elixir- for  the  piaghe; 
addressed  to  the  emperor  Rodolphus."  9.  *^  An  elegy  upon- 
his  «xiie,^'  Rostock,  1614,  4to.  10.  ♦*  The  Rodolphine 
tablesr/*  revised  and  published  by  Kepler,  according 
tb.  Xycbo's  desire.  11.  ^^  An  accurate- enumeration  of 
the  fixed  stars,  addressed  to  the  emperor  Rodolphus.^ 
12«^5^A  complete  catalogue  of  1000  of  the 'fixed  stars, 
which  Kepler  has  inserted  in  the  Rodolphine  tables." 
Vol.  VI.  F  f 


4S4  BRA  H% 

)  3.  '<  Hisioria  ea&lestis ;  or  a  history  of  the  heavens,  in; 
two  parts ;''  the  fir$t  containing  the  observations  he  had 
made  at  Uraniburgh,  in  16  books;  the  latter  containing 
the  observations  macjie  at  Wandesburg,  Wittenberg,  Prague^ 
&c.  in  four  books,  14.  *^  An  epistle  to  Caster  Pucer," 
printed  at  Copenhagen,  1668. 

The  apparatus  of  Tycho  Brahe,  after  having  been  tran»* 
ported  from  place  to  place  during  his  hfe,  was,  after  his 
death,  purchased  of  his  heirs  by  the  emperor  Rodolph,  for 
22,000  crowns  of  gold.  The  persons  to  whose  custody  he 
committed  them,  concealed  them  from  inspection ;  and 
thus  they  remained  useless  till  the  time  of  the  troubles  of. 
Bohemia,  when  the  army  of  the  elector  palatine  plundered 
them,  breaking  some  of  them,  and  applying  others  to  dif- 
ferent uses.  The  great  celestial  globe  of  brass  was  pre- 
served, carried  from  Prague,  and  deposited  with  the 
Jesuits  of  Neyssa,  in  Silesia,  whence  it  was  afterwards 
taken,  about  the  year  1633,  by  Udalric,  son  of  Christian, 
Hing  of  Denmark,  and  placed  in  the  hail  of  the  royal  aca-« 
demy  at  Copenhagen.  * 

BRAMANTE  Dl  URBINO,  or  Donato  Lazzaki,  but 
celebrated  under  the  former  name,  a  painter  and  architect,, 
was  born  at  Castel  Durante,  in  the  territory  of  Urbino,  in 
1444,  and  at  Urbino  studied  the  works  of .  Fra  Carnevale, 
or  Corradini.  His  fame  as  an  architect  has  nearly  oblite- 
rated his  memory  as  a  painter,  though  many  of  his  worka 
remain  at  Milan  and  its  district,  a^d  are  repeatedly  men-^ 
tioned  by  Cesariani  and  Lomazzo,  who  observe  that  his 
style  on  the  whole  resembled  that  of  Andrea  Mantegna»: 
He  painted  portraits,  sacred  and  profane  history,  in  dis- 
temper and  in  fresco.  He  too,  like  Mantegna,  studied 
much  after  casts,  thence  perhaps  the  too  salient  lights  of 
bis  ilesh.  Like  him,  he  draped  models  in  paper  or  glued 
linen,  to  avoid  stiffness.  Lomazzo,  who  cleaned  one  of 
his  pictures  in  distemper,  found  that,  like  Mantegna,  he 
made  use  of  a  viscous  liquid.  The  public  frescoes  of' 
Bramante  at  Milan,  mentioned  by  Lomazzo  and  Scara- 
muccia,  are  either  no  more,  or  spoiled ;  but  a  considerable 
number  of  private  ones  still  remain  in  certain  apartments 
of  the  palaces  Borri  and  Castiglioni.  In  the  Certosa  of 
Pavia  there  is  likewise  a  chapel  said  to  have  beeo  painted 
by  him :  the  proportions  are  square, -and  i*ather  heavy  ^  the 

1  Principally  from  Coxe's  TrareU  into  Poland,  Rusria,  Sweden,  and  Den«- 
nark,  yol.  III.  4to  edit.  1791.— *Rees*s  Cyclopedia. — Oen.  Diet. — Moreri.— 
Saxii  Qnoipast.  « 


E  R  A  M  A  N  T  E.  435^ 

faces  fully  the  aged  heads  grand ;  the  colour  vivid  and  sa* 
lient,  not  without  some  crudity.  The  same  style  prevaila 
in  a  picture  of  his  belonging  to  the  Melzi  family,  repre- 
senting several  saints  and  a  beautiful  perspective ;  it  recura 
again  in  an  altar-piece  of  the  Incpronata  at  Lodi^  a 
charming  temple  built  from  the  design  of  Bramantei  by 
Gio.  Bataggio,  a  native  of  the  place ;  but  his  master-piece 
at  Milan  is  at  the  church  of  S.  Sebastian,  the  patron^ 
saint,  in  whose  style  no  trace  of  Quattrocento  appears. 

His  talents,  however,  being  more  strongly  turned  for 
architecture,  he  devoted  himself  to  it  with  great' success. 
His  first  patron,  after  his  arrival  at  Rome,  was  cardinal 
Oliver  Caraffa,  for  whom  he  designed  and  completed  the 
choir  in  the  convent  of  the  Frati  della  pace*  This  speci-> 
pien  of  his  talents  recommended  him  to  the  notice  of  Alex« 
ander  VL  in  whose  service  he  executed  many  designs. 
Under  Julius  II.  he  was  employed  as  superiptendant  of  hia 
buildings,  in  accomplishing  the  grand  project  of  joining 
tlie  Belvidere  with  the  Vatican,  by  means  of  two  galleriea 
extended  across  a  valley.  In  1504  he  accompanied  pope 
Julius  to  Bologna,  and  was  engaged  in  fortifying  the  town} 
and  during  the  war  of  Mirandola,  he  had  several  opportu- 
nities of  exercising  his  talents  in  the  military  art  After 
bis  return  to  Rome,  he  adorned  the  city  with  many  fine 
buildings ;  ahd  at  length  undertook  to  demolish  the  ca<T  ^ 
thedral  of  St.  Peter's,  and  to  supply  its  place  with  another 
edifice  suited  to  the  capital  of  the  Christian  world.  His 
plan  for  this  purpose  was  adopted ;  and  before  the  death 
of  the  pope,  in  1513,  the  new  structure  was  advanced  as 
far  as  the  entablature  ;  and  at  the  time  of  his  own  death, 
in  1514,  the  four  great  arches  for  the  support  of  the  dome 
were  erected.  The  origi^al  design  was  abandoned  by  the 
architects  who  succeeded  him,  not  without  injury  to  the 
structure ;  but  the  prosecution  of  the  work  was  entrusted 
with  Michael  Angelo,  who  praised  his  plan,  and  conformed 
as  much  as  possible  to  his  ideas.  Bramante  was  no  less 
estimable  for  his  general  character  than  for  his  extr^ordi* 
sary  talents  as  an  artist.  Obliging  in  his  disposition,,  he 
took  pleasure  in  encouraging  young  persons  of  the  pro* 
fe$sion ;  and  he  invited  the  celebrated  Raphael,  who  was 
his  cousin,  to  Rome,  instructed  him  in  architeqture,  and 
procured  for  him  employment  in  the  Vatican.  He  was 
also  skilled  in  poetry  and  music,  and  composed  extempo- 
raneously for  his  harp.    To  him  is  ascribed  the  inventiou 

F  F  2 


436  B  R  A  M  A  N  T  E. 

of  constructing  arches  by  casting  in  wooden  moulds  a  tht^^ 
ture  of  lime,  marble  dust,  and  water,  supposed  to  hat 
revival  of  the  stucco  of  the  antients.  His  poetical  works 
were  printed  at  Milan,  in  1756.  The  knowledge  attd 
practice  of  the  art  of  engraving  may  also  be  added  to  his 
other  accomplishments.  This  art  he  probably  acquired  at 
Milan,  and  his  execution  of  it  exactly  resembles  the  style 
of  Andrea  Mantegna,  that  is,  with  the  strokes  running 
from  one  corner  of  the  plate  to  the  other,  without  any 
crossing.     He  died  in  1514.* 

BRAMER  (Leonard],  a  Flemish  historical  painter,  was 
born  at  Delft,  in  1596,  and  acquired  the  litt  of  paitifting 
in  the  school  of  Rembrandt,  whose  manner  in  'stnall'i^ 
imitated.  At  the  age  of  18  years  he  went  to'  Rom<i  fir 
further  improvement,  but  could  never  wholly  divest tiM- 
self  of  the  Flemish  style.  With  a  fine  taste  6f  design  he 
combined  an  expression  generally  good,  and  Occasionally 
noble.  His  pencil  is  delicate,  and  his  colouring  v^n^  pe- 
culiar in  the  tints,  and  by  great  skill  in  the  mstnagesi^t 
of  the  chiaro-scuro,  light,  bold,  and  full  of  lustre, 'j^atti- 
cularly  ip  the  vases,  which  he  was  fond  of  introduchit|;, 
and  to  which  he  gave  a  rich  and  fitie  relievo'.  To  his  pic- 
tures he  was  accustomed  to  give  a  great  degree  of  tfiitts- 
parence,  by  painting  with  a  very  thin  body  of"  colcJttr, 
especially  in  the  brown  and  shadowy  parts.  His  name  Was 
famous,  not  only  at  Rome,  but  in  several  other  cities  'of 
Italy,  and  his  works,  out  of  Italy,  are  scarce;  but  when 
they  occur  in  an  undamaged  state,  they  fetch  high'pyifb^ 
Among  his  most  capital  pictures  are  the  "  Raising  of  La- 
aarus,"  exhibiting  a  charming  contrast  of  light  and^ado\v ; 
his  **  Denial  of  St.  Peter,**  both  exectited  in  his^  best 
manner,  and  preserved  at  Rome;  and  particularly  a  suiall 
picture  on  copper,  representing  the'**  Story  of  Pyramus 
andThisbe."« 

BRAMHALL  (John),  an  eminent  prelate,  was  'de^ 
scended  from  the  antient  fapily  of  the  Bramhtilisr/-  of 
Cheshire,  and  bom  at  Pontefract,  in  Yorkshire,  'kitbut 
1593.  He  received  his  school  education'  it  the  pla^&  of 
his  birth,  and  was  removed  from  thence  to  Sidhey-fcollege, 
Cambridge,  in  1608.  After  taking^  the  degrees^  of  Sj  A. 
and  M.A.  he  quitted  the  university;  arid,  el^teritig  kito 

-  >  Pilkiogton.— Stnitt.— Boicoe's  Leo.— Rees*s  Cyclopedia. 
*  PilkUi^toii. — ^Ai9en^Ue.«-I)e«cainiMi|  toI.  Ill, 


*  « 


Si  R  A  M  H  A  L  L.  4h 

Of  4ers»  ,h*ci  a  jiving  given  him  in  the  city  of  York.    About 
ilhe  saoie  time  he  married  a  clergyman's  widow  of  the 
JQally^  family,  with  whom  he  received  a  good  fortune, 
|Ui.d  a  valuable  librarj',  left  by  her  former  husband.     In 
;1623hehad  two  public  disputations,  at  North-AHerton, 
,4^itha  secular  priest  and  a  Jesuit.     The  match  between 
^ince  Charles  and  the  infanta  of  Spain  was  then  de- 
pending; and  the  papists  expected  great  advantages  and 
countenance  to  their  religion  from  it.    These  two,  there- 
fore, by  way  of  preparing  the  way  for  them,  sent  a  public 
icballeogp  .to  all  the  protestant  clergy  in  the  county  of 
llC^k^  and  when,  none  durst  accept  it,  our  author,  though 
,tli€ipi  \^}xt9>  stripUug  in  the  school  of  controversy,  under- 
:ii^Ii(;f|^QiCombat.     His  success  in  this  dispute  gained  him 
.fiQtPi^h  reputation,  and  so  recommended  him  in  particur 
lar  to  Matthews,  archbishop;  of  York,  that  he  made  him 
his  chaplain^  and  took  him  into  his  confidence.     He  was 
^ft^rwards .  ji^ade  a  prebendary  of  York  *,    and  then  of 
.ftjippojn^; .  at  which  last  place  he  went  and  resided  after  the 
^rol^bisbop's  death,    which  happened  in  1628,    and  ma- 
faag^d  most  of  tl;ie  affairs  of  that  church,  in  the  quality  of 
.  j^\^b^dean.     He  bad  great  political  influence,  especially  in 
-,.fi^tiqni?,.,in  tbe^town  of  Kippon,  and  was  also  appointed 
it^tiei^f^his  n^sy^sty's  high  commissioners,  in  the  administra* 
.t  tioQ,Qf .  wbiich  office  he  was  by  some  accounted  severe,  al« 
Vt  .though  far  less  so  than  some  of  his  brethren, 
i'-,.   In. 1630  be  took  a  doctor  of  divinity's  degree  at  Cain- 
vjb^iridge ;  and  soon  after  was  invited  to  Ireland  by  the  lord 
-  J,  Tfifiwjpu^t  Wentworth,    deputy  of  that  kingdom,    and  sir 
;  .,Cb.ris*opbei:-Wandesford,  roaster  of  the  rolls.     He  went 
pver  ^n  1633,.  having  first  resigned  all  his  church  prefer* 
...ments  in.  England;  and  a  Uttle  while  after  obtained  the 
..  jarchdeaconry  of  Meath,  the  best  in  that  kingdom.     The 
'    first  public  service  he  was  employed  in  was  a  royal  visita- 
,.   iiojj,..  when,  fiuding  the  revenues  of  the,  church  miserably 
:^  waati^d,  the  bishoprics,   in  particular,  wretchedly  dilapi- 
r .  .dated  by  fee^^farms  and  long  leases,  and  small  rents,  the 
dificipUi^e  scandalously  despised,    and   the  ministers   but 
_   ^fiveanly  provided,  he  applied  in  process  of  time  proper  re- 
medies to.  these  several  evils.     In  1634  he  was  promoted 

V-  to  tb6  bishopric  of  Londonderry ;  and  improved  that  see 

.... 

*  His  biographer  says  he  was  made  Willi's,  'he  did  not  receive  this  piece  of 
jpre^ndary  of  York  during  the  Hfe  of  prefennent  until  five  years  after  thQ 
liiefu-cbl^ifbop,  but  4«GonliDg  to  Browne    deatbofarobbisbopMatU^ewi.  * 


X 


|S8  B  R  A  M  H  A  L  L. 

very  niucb,  not  only  by  advancing  the  rents,  but  also  by 
recovering  lands  detained  from  his  predecessors.  But  the 
greatest  service  he  did  the  church  of  Ireland,  was  by  get- 
ting, with  the  lord  deputy's  assistance,  several  acts  passed 
in  the  parliament  which  met  in  that  kingdom  on  the  14th 
of  July,  1634,  for  the  abolishing  fee-farms,  recovering 
impropriations,  &c.  by  which,  and  other  means,  he  re- 
gained to  the  church,  in  the  space  of  four  years,  30  or 
40,000/.  a  year.  In  the  convocation  that  met  at  the  same 
time,  he  prevailed  upon  the  church  of  Ireland  to  be  united 
in  the  same  faith  with  the  church  of  England,  by  em- 
bracing the  thirty-nine  articles  of  religion,  screed  upon 
in  the  convocation  holden  at  London  in  1562.  He  would 
fain,  also,  have  got  the  English  canons  established  in  Ire- 
land; but  could  obtain  no  more  than  that  such  of  our 
canons  as  were  proper  for  the  Irish  should  be  extended 
thither,  and  others  new  framed,  and  added  to  them.  Ac- 
cordingly, a  book  of  canons  was  compiled,  chiefly  by  our 
bishop,  and  having  passed  in  convocation,  received  the 
royal  confirmation ;  but  these  ^£Ports  were  either  misundcF- 
stood  or  misrepresented,  and  his  zeal  for  uniformity  of 
opinion  was  branded  by  one  party  as  Arminianism,  and 
by  another^  as  Popery,  neither^of  which  charges,  however, 
iliverted  him  from  his  steady  purpose. 
^  In  1637,  he  took  a  journey  into  England,  and  was  there 
surprised  with  the  news  of  an  information  exhibited  against 
him  in  the  star-chamber,  ^^  for  being  present  at  Rippon 
when  one  Mr.  Palmes  had  made  some  reflecting  discourse 
upon  his  majesty,  and  neither  reproving  nor  informing 
against  bim.''  The  words  deserved  no  very  great  punish^ 
nient  if  they  had  been  true,  being  no  more  than,  that 
^  he  feared  a  Scottish  mist  was  come  over  their  town,"  be- 
cause the  king  had  altered  his  lodgings  from  Rippon, 
where  he  had  designed  them,  to  sir  Richard  Graham's 
bouse,  not  far  from  that  place.  But  the  bishop  easily- 
cleared  himself  and  the  whole  company.  After  having  re- 
ceived much  honour  from  Charles  I.  and  many  civilities 
from  archbishop  Laud  and  other  persons,  he  returned  to 
Ireland,  and,  with  6000/.  for  which  he  sold  his  estate  in 
England,  purchased  another  at  Omagh,  in  the  county  of 
Tyrone,  and  began  a  plantation,  which ,  the  distractions 
of  that  kingdom  hindered  him  from  peiiecting.  In  March 
)641  articles  of  high  treason  were  exhibited  against  him 
ip  Jr§land^  wherein  he  was  charged. with  hitvin^  coos|piied 


B  R  A  M  H  A  L  L. 


mB 


'With  others  to  subvert  the  fundamental  laws  of  that  king* 
dom,  to  introduce  an  arbitrary  and  tyrannical  governmenty 
&c.  The  bishop  was  at  Londonderry,  when  he  received 
intelligence  of  this  accusation.  All  his  friends  wrote  to 
him  to  decline  the  trial ;  but,  thinking  it  dishonourable  to 
fly^  he  went  directly  to  Dublin,  and  was  made  a  close 
prisoner  by  the  parliaments  In  this  distress  he  wrote  to 
the  primate  Usher,  then  in  England,  for  his  advice  and 
comfort;  who  mediated  so  effectually  in  his  behalf  with 
the  king,  that  his  majesty  sent  a  letter  to  Ireland,  to  stop 
proceedings  against  him.  This  letter  was  very  slowly 
obeyed  ;  however,  the  bishop  was  at  length  restored  to 
liberty,  but  without  any  public  acquittal,  the  charge  lying 
8till  dormant  against  him,  to  be  awakened  when  his  enie- 
mies  pleased.  Shortly  after  his  return  to  Londonderry, 
sir  Phelim  O'Neil  laid  a  plot  to  affecthis  life,  in  the  fol«- 
Jowing. manner.  He  directed  a  letter  to  him,  wherein  he 
desii*ed,  ^^  that,  kccording  to  their  articles,  such  a  gate  of 
the  city  should  be  delivered  to  him ;''  expecting  tiiat  the 
Scotch  in  the  place  would,  upon  the  discovery,  become 
his  executioners  :  but  the  person  who  was  to  manage  the 
matter,  ran  away  with  the  letter.    .But,  though  this  de- 

.  sign  failed,  the  bishop  did  not  find  any  safety  there  :  the 
city  daily  being  crowded  with  discontented  persons  out  of 
Scotland,  he  began  to  be  afraid  lest  they  should  deliver 
him  up.  One  night  they  turned  a  cannon  against  his  house 
to  affront  hitn ;  and,  being  persuaded  by  his  friends  to 
consider  that  as  a  warning,  he  took  their  advicCi^  and  pri^ 
vately  embarked  for  England.  Here  he  continued  active 
in  the  king's  service,  till  his  majesty's  affairs  were  grown 
desperate ;  and  then,  embarking  with  several  persons  of 
distinction,  he  landed  at  Hamburgh  on  July  8,  1644. 
Shortly  after,  at  the  treaty  of  Uxbridge,  the  parliaments 
of  England  and  Scotland  made  this  one  of  their  prelimi- 
nary demands,  that  bishop  Bramhall,  together  with  arch- 
,  bishop  Laud,  -&c.  should  be  excepted  out  of  the  general 

pardon. 

From  Hamburgh  he  went  to  Brussels,  where  he  con- 
tinued for  the  most  part  till  1648,  with  sir  Henry  de  Vic, 
the  king's  president ;  constantly  preaching  every  Sunday, 
and  frequently  administering  the  sacrament.    In  that  year 

,  he  returned  to  Ireland ;  from  whence,  after  having  under- 
gone several  difficulties,  he  narrowly  escaped  in  a  little 
bark :  all  the  while  he  was  there,  his  life  was  in  continual 


^     i 


440 


B  R  A  M  H  A  L  L. 


danger.     At  Limerick  he  was  threatened  with  deatb^  if  he-* 
did  not  suddenly  depart .  the  town.     At  Portumnagh,  iq* 
deedy  he  afterwards  enjoyed  more  freedom,  and  an  allow-  :' 
ance  of  the  church  service,  under  the  protection  of  the 
marquis  of  Clanrickard  :  but,  at  the  revolt  of  Cork,  be  had  - 
a  very  narrow  deliverance ;  which  deliverance,  -  however^ 
troubled  Cromwell  so,  that  he  declared  he  would  ha^e 
given  a  good  sum  of  money  for  th^t  Irish  Canterbury,  as 
he  called  him.    His  escape  from  Ireland  is  accounted  won- 
derful :  for  the  vessel  he  was  in  was  closely  chased  by  two 
of  the  parliament  frigates,  and  when  they  were  come  so 
near,  that  all  hopes  of  escape  vanished,  on  a  sudden  ibe 
wind  sunk  into  a  perfect  calm,  by  which  it  happened  won- 
derfully that  bis  ship  got  off,  while  the  frigates  were  uii«  , 
able  to  proceed  at  all.     During  this  second  time  of  being 
abroad,   he  had  many  disputes  about  religion  with   the 
learned  of  all  nations,  sometimes  occasionally,  at  other 
times  by  appointment  and  formal  challenge ;   and  wrote 
several  things  in  defence  of  the  church  of  England.  -  He 
likewise  purposed  to  draw  a  parallel  between  the  liturgy  of 
the  church  of  England,  and  the  public  forms  of  the  pro- 
testant  churches  abroad  ;  and  with  this  view  be  designed 
to  travel  about     But  be  met  with  a  very  unexpected  in*  * 
terruption  in  his  first  day^s  journey  :  for  he  no  sooner 
came  into  the  house  where  he  intended  to  refresh  himself, 
but  he  was  known  and  called  by  bis  name  by  the  hostess. 
While  the  bishop  was  wondering  at  his  being  discovered, 
she  revealed  the  secret  by  shewing  him  his  picture*,  and 
assured  him  there  were  several  of  them  upon  the  road,  that, 
being  known  by  them,  he  might  be  seized ;  and  that  her 
husband,  among  others,  had  power  to  that  purpose,  which 
he  would  certainly  make  use  of  if  he  found  him.     The 
bishop  saw  evidently  he  was  a  condemned  man,  being 
already  hanged  in  eiBgy;  and  therefore,  making  use  of 
this  intelligence,  prudently  withdrew  into  safer  quarters* 

Upon  the  restoration  of  the  church  and  monarchy,  he. ^ 
returned  to  England,  and  was  from  the  first  designed  for 


*  Granger  introduces  this  story, 
merely  to  remark  on  this  word  **  pic- 
ture," that  it  was  **doubUess  his  print, 
which  he  never  saw.''  Sir  William 
JVIusgrave  in  his  MS  *'  Adversaria/'  in 
the  British  Museum,  observes  that  it 
was  neither,  a  painting  nor  an  en- 
graving, but  a  descriptioa  of  the  per- 


son by  words»  which  was  usually  drawn 
up  by  a  painter,  and  was  therefore 
called  a  picture.  But  the  etpressioa 
of  **  being  hanged  in  effigy,**  whioli*  at 
Granger  does  not  mention  it,  sir  Wil- 
liam probably  tfever  saw,  seems  to 
imply  some  land  of  engraving,  « 
caricature. 


B  R  A  M  H  A  L  L.  441 

Iii^her  pirontotion.  Most  people  Imagined  it  would  be  the 
archbishopric  of  York  ;  but  at  last  he  was  appointed  arch* 
bishop  of  Armagh,  to  which  he  was  translated  upon  the 
18th  of  January,  1660-1.  The  same  year  he  visited  his 
diocese,  where  he  found  great  disorder ;  some  having  com- 
mitted ^horrible  outrages,  and  many  imbibed  very  strong 
prejudices,  both  against  his  person  and  the  doctrine  and  / 
discipline  of  the .  church ;  but,  by  argument,  persuasion^ 
and  long  suffering,  he  gained  upon  them  even  beyond  his 
own  expectation.  His  biographer  affords  one  instance  of  ' 
hii^  prudence,  in  turning  the  edge  of  the  most  popular  ob« 
jeetion  of  that  time  against  conformity.  When  the  bene* 
fiees  were  called  over  at  the  visitation,  several  appeared, 
and  *  exhibited  only  such  titles  as  they  had  received  from 
the  late  powers.  He  told  them,  "  they  were  no  legal  titles, 
but  in  regard  he  heard  well  of  them,  he  was  willing  to  make 
them  such  to  them  by  institution  and  induction  ;*^  which 
they  thankfully  accepted  of.  But  when  he  desired  to  see 
their  letters  of  orders,  some  had  no  other  but  their  certi- 
ficates of  ordination  by  some  presbyterian  classes,  which^ 
he  told  them,  did  not  qualify  them  for  any  preferment  in 
the  church.  Upon  this,  the  question  arose,.  "  Are  we  not 
ministers  of  the  gospel  ?'*  To  which  his  grace  answered^ 
That  is'  not  the  question ;  at  least,  he  desired  for  peace 
sake,  that  might  not  be  the  question  for  that  time.  *^  I 
dispute  not,'*  said  he,  "  the  value  of  your  ordination,  nor 
those  acts  you  have  exercised  by  virtue  of  it ;  what  you 
ape,  or  might  be  here  when  there  was  no  law,  or  in  other  ' 
churches  abroad.  But  we  are  now  to  consider  ourselves  as  a 
national  church  limited  by  law,  which  among  other  things 
take»  chief  care  to  prescribe  about  ordination :  and  I  do 
not  know  how  you  could  recover  the  means  of  the  church, 
if  any  should  refuse  to  pay  you  yonr  tithes,  if  you  are  not 
ordained  as  the  law  of  this  church  requireth ;  and  I  am 
desirous  that  she  may  have  your  labours,  and  you  such 
portions  of  her  revenue,  as  shall  be  allotted  you  in  a  legal 
anfd  assured  way.'*  By  this  means  he  gained  such  as  were 
of  the  moderate  kind,  and  wished  to  be  useful.  As  he  wa^ 
by  his  station  president  of  the  convocation,  which  met  upon 
the. 8th  of  May,  166 1,  so  was  he  also  chosen  speaker  of  the 
house  of  lords,  in  the  parliament  which  met  at  the  same 
time :  and  so  great  a  value  had  both  houses  for  him,  that 
they  appointed  committees  to  examine  what  was  upon  re- 
cord in  their  books  concerning  him  and  the  earl  of  Straf- 


442  BRAMHALL. 

ford,  and  ordered  the  scandalous  charges  against  them  t# 
be  torn  out,  which  was  accordingly  done.  In  this  parlia- 
ment many  advantages  were  procured,  and  more  designed, 
for  the  church,  in  which  he  was  very  industrious.  About 
this  time  he  had  a  violent  sickness,  being  a  second  fit  of 
the  palsy,  which  was  very  near  putting  an  end  to  his  life ; 
but  he  recovered.  A  little  before  his  death,  he  visited  his 
diocese ;  and  having  provided  for  the  repair  of  his  cathe- 
dral, and  other  affairs  suitable  to  his  pastoral  office,  he  re- 
turned to  Dublin  about  the  middle  of  May  1669.  The  lat- 
ter end  of  June,  he  was  seized  with  a  third  fit  of  the  palsy  j 
of  which  he  soon  died,  being  then  70  years  old.  At  this 
time  he  had  a  trial  for  some  part  of  his  temporal  estate  at 
Omagh,  with  sir  Audley  Mervyn,  depending  in  the  court 
of  claims;  and  there,  at  the  time  of  hearing,  the  third  fit 
of  the  palsy  so  affected  him,  that  be  sunk  in  the  court,  was 
carried  out  senseless,  and  never  recovered.  The  cause^ 
.  howeTer,  was  determined  in  his  favour. 

Of  his  person  and  character,  his  biographer  informs  us 
that  be  ^^  was  of  a  middle  stature,  and  active,  but  bis  mien 
and  presence  not  altogether  so  great  as  his  endowments  of 
mind.  His  complexion  was  highly  sanguine,  pretty  deeply 
tinctured  with  choler,  which  in  his  declining  years  became 
predominant,  and  would  sometimes  overflow,  not  without 
some  tartness  of  expression,  but  it  proceeded  no  farther. 
As  he  was  a  great  lover  of  plain-dealing  and  plain-speak- 
ing, so  his  conversation  was  free  and  familiar,  patient  of 
any  thing  in  discourse  but  obstinacy ;  his  speech  ready  and 
intelligible,  smooth  and  strong,  free  from  affectation  of 
phrase  or  fancy,  saying  it  was  a  boyish  sport  to  hunt  for 
wards,  and  argued  a  penury  of  matter,  which  would  always 
find  expression  for  itself.  His  understanding  was  very 
good,  and  greatly  improved  by  labour  and  study.  As  a 
scholar,  his  excellency  lay  in  the  rational  and  argumenta- 
tive part  of  learning.  He  was  also  well  acquainted  with 
ecclesiastical  and  other  histories  ;  and  in  the  pulpit  an  ex- 
cellent persuasive  orator.  He  was  a  firm  friend  to  the 
church  of  England,  bold  in  the  defence  of  it,  and  patient  in 
suffering  for  it ;  yet  he  was  very  far  from  any  thing  like 
fcigotry."  He  had  a  great  allowance  and  charity  for  men  df 
different  persuasions,  looking  upon  those  churches  as  in  a 
tottering  condition  that  stood  upon  nice  opinions.  Ac- 
cordingly, he  made  a  distinction*  between  articles  neces- 
sary for  peace  aud  order,  and  those  that  are  necessary  to 


L 


B  R  A  M  H  A  L  L.  44) 

-salvation  ;  and  he  often  deiclared,  that  the  church  was  not 
to  be  healed  but  by  general  propositions.'* 

His  various  works,  published  at  different  times,  were 
reprinted  at  Dublin  in  1677,  in  one  vol.  fol.  with  his  Life 
by  the  editor,  Dr.  Vcsey,  bishop  of  Limerick.  His  fu- 
neral sermon,  with  a  shorter  account  of  his  life,  was 
IM*eached  and  published  by  Dr.  Jeremy  Taylor,  bishop  of 
Down  and  Connor,  Dublin,  1663,  4to.  His  works  are  chiefly 
levelled  at  the  Roman  catholics  and  the  sectaries,  some  of 
both  parties,  in  his  opinion,  uniting  for  the  destruction  of 
the  established  government  and  church.  But  perhaps  the 
most  valuable  part  of  his  works  is  that  in  which  he  con- 
tended with  Hobbes.  He  argued  with  great  acuteness 
against  Hobbes's  notions  on  liberty  and  necessity,  and 
attacked  the  whole  of  his  system  in  a  piece  called  the 
'^  Catching  of  the  Leviathan,*'  originally  published  in  ISSS^ 
in  which  he  undertakes  to  demonstrate,  out  of  Hobbes's 
own  works,  that  no  sincere  Hobbist  can  be  a  good  Christian, 
or  ^  good  Common- wealth's-man,  or  reconcile  himself  to 
himself.  For  some  time  an  answer  to  Milton's  **  Defen$io^ 
populi,"  was  attributed  to  archbishop  Bramhall,  but  with 
what  injustice  Mr.  Todd  has  lately  shewn,  in  his  accurate 
and  valuable  Life  of  Milton.  ^ 

BRAMSTON  (James),  vicar  of  Starting  in  Sussex.  Of 
this  ge^ntlemat)  we  have  only  been  able  to  discover  that  he 
was  educated  at  Westminster-school,  whence  he  was  elected 
to  Christ  church,  Oxford,  in  1713,  and  took  his  degree  of 
A.  M.  in  that  university,  April  5,  1720.  He  died  March 
16,  1744.  He  wrote  two  excellent  poetical  satires,  "  The 
Art  of  Politics,"  in  imitation  of  Horace's  Art  of  Poetry, 
and  "  the  Man  of  Taste,"  occasioned  by  Pope's  Epistle  on 
that  subject;  both  in  Dodsley's  Collection,  vol.  L;  and 
**The  Crooked  Sixpence,"  in  imitation  of  Phillips's  Splen^ 
did  Shilling,  inserted  in  the  "  Repository,"  vol.  L  Dr. 
Warton  objects  to  his  "  Man  of  Taste,"  that  be  has  made 
hi^  hero  laugh  at  himself  and  his  own  follies.  The  satire, 
however,  in  other  respects,  is  truly  legitimate.  * 

BRANCAS  ViLLENEuvE  (Andrew  Francis),  abb6 
d'Aulnay,  who  was  born  in  the  comtat  Yenaissin,  and  died 
April  U,  1758,  is  known  by  several  woi'ks  in  physics  and 
Itstronomy.     The  abundance  of  words,  the  frequent  repe^ 

»   Life  prefixed  to  his  Works.— Biog.  Brit—BarwicVs  Life,  p.  174, 424,  439. 
.-TodcPs  Life  of  Milton,  2d  edit.  1809,  p.  82,  &c, 
I  Dodffley's  Toems,  vol.  L  ^c» ' 


444  B  R  A  N  C  A  S. 

ikfons,  the  great  number  of  insignificant  ideas  perceiviedl 
in  bis  writings,  bave  disgusted  many  readers ;  tbpugb  tbej 
contain  much  excellent  matter.  The  principal  ai^^.  1. 
**  Letters  on  cosmography,'*.  1744,  4to.  2.  "  Moderp 
system  of  cosmography  and  general  physics/'  i747»  4tt. 
3.  ^^  Explication  of  the  flux  and  reflux  of  the  sea,"  1739^ 
4to.  4.  ^^  Cosmographical  ephemerides,"  1750,  12mo^ 
5*  ^^  History  or  police  of  the  kingdom  of  Gala,'^  1754^ 
12 mo,  pretendedly  translated  from  the  Italian  into  £ng]is))i^ 
and  from  English  into  French.^  .     , 

BRANCKER  or  BR  ANKER  (Thomas),  an  emind^^t 
matheoyatician  of  the  seventeenth  century,  son  pf  Thpipa^ 
Brancker,.  some  time  bachelor  of  art^  in  Exeter  cpllegi^, 
Oxford,  was  born  in  Devonshire  in  1636^  and  was  .adipifiti^ 
batler  (and  vnotbtUUr^  assoipe  late  biographical  oompilaiipi^s 
jblunderingly  assert),  of  the  said  college,  I^ov,  8,  1^52,  in 
the  seventeenth  year  of  bis  age.  In  1655»  June  15,  Ij^e 
took  the  degree  of  bachelor  of  arts,  and  was  elected  pro- 
bationary felloav  the  30th  of  the  same  month«  In  .1658, 
^April  3ij,  he  took  the  degree  of  master  of  arts,  and  becaqie 
a  preacher;  but  9if tier  the  restoration,  refusing  to  conform 
to  the  ceremonies  of  the  church  of.  England,  be^quitj^d 
his  fellowship  in  1662,  and  retired  to  Chester ;  .but.  iipt 
long  after,  be  became  reconciled  to  the  service  of  tHe 
church,  took  orders  from  a  bishop,  ai^d  was.  made  a  minis-^ 
.  ter  of  Whitegate.  He  had,  however,  for  some  time,  .en- 
joyed grciat  opportunity  and  leisure  for  pursuing  tiae  beiit 
of  his.  genius  in  the  mathematicfU  sciences ;  and.  bis  skill 
both  in  the  mathematics  and  chemistry  procured  l^im.  ^e 
favour  of  lord  Brereton,  who  gave  him  the  rectory  of  Tj51- 
stoQ.  He  was  afterward  chosen  master  of  the  well-endowed 
achool  at  Macclesfield,  in.  that  county,  where  he  spent  tbe 
remaining  years  of  his  life,  which  was  terminated  by  a  sbprt 
illness  in  1676,  at  40  years  of  age ;  and  he  was  interred ^n 
the  church  at  Macclesfield.  .  ;f 

Brancker  wrote  a  piece  on  the  doctrine  of  tbe  spberei»^Jn 
Latin,  which  was  published  at  Oxford  in  1662  ;  and^^in 
1668,.be  pubUshed  at  London,  in  4to,  a  translatipu.of 
Rhonius's  Algebra,  with  the  title  of  "  An  Introduction  to 
Algebra;"  which  treatise  having  communicated  to  Dn  Jonn 
Pell,  he  received  from  him  some  assistance  towards  imy 
proving  it  ;*  which  he  generously  acknowledges  in  a  letter 

1  X.»Avocat«— Diet  Hist 


BR  AN  C  K  E  R.  445 

to  Mr.  John  Collins ;  with  whom,  and  some  other  gentle- 
itien,  proficients  in  this  science,  he  continued  a  corre- 
fti^ondence  during  his  life,  ^ 

BRAND  (John),  secretary  ta  the  society  of  antiquaries, 
&nd  rector  of  the  united  parishes  of  St.  Mary-hill  and  St. 
Andrew  Hubbard,  in  the  city  of  London,  was  born  a(  New- 

'  castle-upou-Tyne,  about  1743,  and  educated  at  Lincoln 
college,  Oxford,  where  he  took  his  bachelor^s  degree,  but 
left  college  in  1774,  on  being  presented  by  Matthew  Rid- 
ley, esq.  to  the  cursicy  of  Cramiington,  a  chapel  of  ease 
to  St.  Nicholas  at  Newcastle,  from  which  it  is  distant  abouc 
eight  miles.  While  at  the  university,  be  published  a  poem 
*^  Oil  IlUdit  Love ;  written  among  the  Ruins  of  Godstow 
f!hiu'nftevy,^  1775,  4to.    The  spot  where  this  poem  was 

^written  is  the  burial-place  of  the  celebrated  Rosamond, 
'sbistress  of  Hehty  IL  who^e  history  hds  afforded  subject 
for  various  productions  both  of  the  amorous  and  elegiac 
Idnd ;  but  perhaps  none  in  which  the  criminality  of  an 
unlawful  passion  is  more  forcibly  exposed,  or  chastity  rer 
commended  in  a  warmer  strain  of  poetry  than  in  this  pro- 
duction by  Mr.  Brand.     The  sentiments  are  glowing  and 

Just,  the  imagery  is  animated,  and  the  poem  is  in  general 
beautiful,  pathetic,  and  moral.'    Mr.  Brand,  however,  does 

'  not' appear  to  have  much  cultivated  his  poetical  talent,  and 
had  already  begun  to  devote  himself  to  researches  into  the 
antiquities  of  his  native  country.  In  1777  he  evinced  a 
general  knowledge  of  ancient  manners  and  customs,'  by 

^  publishing    "Observations  on  Popular  Anti5}uitiefs,  '  in- 

'  eluding  the  whole  of  Mr.  Bourne^s  Antiquitates  Vulgares, 

"'  with  Addenda  to  every  chapter  of  -  that  work ;  as  also  an 
Appendix,  contslining  such  articles  on  the  subject  as  have 
been  omitted  by  that  author,"  8vo.  This  work  is  dated 
from  Westgatie-street,  Tyne,  where  the  author  then  re^ 
sided.     He  afterwsirds  continued  to  augment  his  materials 

"  by  subsequent  and  more  extensive  researches,  and  left  a 
much  enlarged  edition  in  MS.  which  is  now  iti  the  hands  of 

'aar  eminent  antiquaty,  and  is  intended  for  pubiication. 
About  the  time  of  the  publication  of  his  **  Popular  Anti- 
^quitles,"**  he  was  admitted  a  member  of  the  society  of  An- 

^  tiqu^ries,  and  in  1784  was  presented  by  the  duke  of  Nor- 
thumberiatid,  who,  if  we  mistake  not,  bad  been  his  earliest 

^  %.Gan.  Diet  tdU  X.  p.  543.-*Mariin*s  Lives  oC  the  ?hi}o8opUrs.-^Hutton*f 
MaUieniatical  Dictionary.— Ath.  Ox.  vol.  II. 


446  B  R  A  N  D. 

friend  and  patron,  to  the  rectory  of  St  Mary-hill.  In  the 
sanae  year  he  was  elected  resident  secretary  to  the  Society 
of  Antiquaries,  on  the  death  of  Dr.  Morell,  the  duties  of 
which  office  be  performed  with  uncommon  ability,  and  to 
the  entire  satisfaction  of  the  society,  who  continued  to 
re-elect  him  annually  until  his  death. 

In  1789,  he  published  "The  History  and  Antiquities 
of  the  Town  and  County  of  Newcastle-upon-Tyne/'  2  vols, 
4 to,  a  very  elaborate  work,  embellished  with  views  of  the 
public  buildings^  engraved  by  Fittler,  at  an  expence  of 
500/.  In  the  sale,  however,  from  various  circumstances^ 
and  particularly  the  death  of  his  bookseller,  he  was  pecu-^  ' 
liarly  unfortunate,  notwithstanding  its  high  merit  as  a 
piece  of  local  history.  Mr.  Brand  also  communicated  many 
papers  on  subjects  of  antiquity  to  the  society,  the  princi-» 
pal  of  which  are  printed  in  the  Archasologia,  vols.  VIIL 
X.  XIII.  XIV.  and  XV. 

He  was  twice  prosecuted  by  common  informers  for  non- 
residence,  having  let  his  parsonage-house  when  he  went 
to  reside  in  the  society's  apartments  at  Somerset-house ; 
although  none  could  exceed  him  in  the  punctual  discharge 
of  his  parochial  duties,  both  on  Sundays  and  week-days. 
After  the  late  regulations  refspecting  residence,  he  con- 
stantly slept  in  the  rectory-house.  He  always  took  much 
exercise,  and  on  the  day  before  his  death,  had  a  long  ram- 
ble with  two  much-valued  friends,  with  whom  he  parted  in 
the  evening  apparently  in  perfect  health,  Sept.  10,  1806. 
He  rose  next  morning  about  seven  o'clock,  his  usual  hour, 
and  went  into  his  study,  when  his  servant  took  him  an  egg, 
which  he  usually  ate  before  he  went  to  Somerset- house. 
The  servant  afterwards  wondering  at  his  remaining  sd  long 
in  his  study,  went  into  the  room  and  found  him  lying  oa 
the  floor  lifeless.  He  died  unmarried,  and  without  leaving 
any  relation  except  a  very  aged  aunt.  He  was  buried  in 
the  chancel  of  his  church  Sept.  24.  In  him  the  Society  of 
Antiquaries  sustained  a  very  great  loss.  Although  his  pub- 
lications were  few,  his  knowledge  of  antiquities  was  very 
extensive,  and  he  had  accumulated  a  very  numerous  and 
curious  library,  rich  in  old  English  literature;  which  was 
sold  by  auction  some  time  after  his  death.  His  manners, 
somewhat  repulsive  to  a  stranger,  became  easy  on  closer 
acquaintance,  and  he  loved  to  communicate  to  men  of  lite** 
rary  and  antiquary  taste,  the  result  of  his  researches  on 
any  subject  in  which  they. might  require  information.  Many 


B  RAN  D;  447, 

cf  bis  books  were  supplied  with  portraits  drawn  by  him* 
self  in  a  style  not  inferior  to  the  originals,  of  which  they 
were  at  the  same  tioie  perfect  imitations.     A  small  sil^ 
houette  likeness  of  him  is  in  the  frontispiece  to  his  *^  His- 
tory of  Newcastle*"  * 

BRAND  (John),  M.  A.  rector  of  St.  George  the  Mar- 
tyr, Southwark,  and  vicar  of  Wickham-Skeith,  a  political 
writer,  who  has  been  sometimes  mistaken  for  the  subject 
of  our.  last  article,  was,  however,  probably  of  thq  same  age, 
akhougb  we  have  no  account  of  bis  early  life^  He  was  of 
Caius  college,  Cambridge,  where  he  proceeded  B.  A.  11^6^ 
and  M.  A.  1769.  When  he  had  obtained  the  latter  de-- 
gree,  he  wrote  an  ethical  essay,  entitled  "  Conscience,'* 
intended  for  one  of  the  Seatonian  prizes  ;  but  an  accident 
tal  delay. which  it. met  with  on  the  road,  occasioned  its 
being  presented  to  the  vic^-chancellor  two  days  after  the 
appointed  time,  and  on  that  account  it  could  not  be  ad-^ 
Qiitted  to  the  competition.  Mr.  Brand,  however,  pub- 
lished his  poem  in  a  quarto  pamphlet  in  1772,  and  it  was 
allowed  to  possess  considerable  merit,  but  not  enough  %» 
prpcure  it  a  place  ^mong  the  favourite  poems  of  the  day*. 
From  this  time  we  find  him  devoting  his  attention  to  politic 
cal  subjects,  which  produced  in  succession;  1.  ^^  Observa- 
tions on  some  of  the  probable  effects  of  Mr.  Gilbert's  bill» 
with  remarks  deduced  from  Dr.  Price's  account  of  the  na-^ 
tional  debt,'M776,  8vo.  2-  "  The  Alteration  of  the  Con- 
atitution  of  the  House  of  Commons,  and  the  inequality, 
of  the  Land- Tax,  considered  conjointly,"  1793,  8yo.  3.  **A. 
Defence  of  the. pamphlet  ascribed  to  John  Reeveai  esq,  and 
entitled  ^  Thoughts  on  the  English  government,'  addressed 
to  the  members  of  the  loyal  associations  against  republicans 
and  levellers,'*  1 7^6,  8  vo ;  a  clear  and  methodical  tract,  but 
exceeded  in  general  utility  by^  4,  "  An  historical  essay 
on  the  principles  of  Political.  Associations  in  a  state;  chieiljr 
deduced  from  the  French,  English,  and  Jewish  Histories.; 
with  an  application  of  those  principles,,  in  a  comparative 
view  of  the  associations  of  the  year  1792,  and  that  recently 
instituted  by  the  Whig  Club,"  1796,  8vo.  5.  f*  A  deter^ 
inination  of  the  average  depression  of  the  price  of  wheat 
in  war,  below  that  of  the  preceding  peace;  and  of  its  re-^ 
advance  in  the  following ;  accprding  to  its  yearly  rule^;^ 
from  the  Kevolution  to  the  end  of  the  last  peace ',  with 

1  OentMaif.  1806.  . 


.4*S  P  H  A  ^  J). 

remark3  on  thejir  greater  vfLti^tions  io  thatciitire^peiiod^^' 
.1800,  8vo.  6.  "A  Letter  to  ****  Jf****#^,  esq.  on- Bo- 
naparte^s  proposaU  for  opening  a  negociation  foir  peace^^^m 
which  the  £ritisti  guarantea  of  the  crown  of  France  to  ^ae 
house  of  Bourboni  contained  in  the  ti*iple  and  qufiuJru}^ 
alliance^  and  renewed  by  the  treaty  of  l7d3^.is  con&idered; 
together  with  the  conduct  of  qiir  national  |:MUPties  rdaiiag 
to  it,''  1800,,  Qvo,  s|n  argmsient  ii^pre  ingenioui  ihan  satis* 
factory,  and  unfortunately  leading  to  an  impractioable^ 
conclusion;  7..  ^^  A  Refutat^oa<  of  the .< Charge  brought 
against  the  marquis  Wellesley,  ^on  aoeovni^^f  this  conchK^ 
to  the  nabob  of  Oude.  From  authentic docHpents^'!  1607, 
Svo.  This  was  the  last  of  Mr.  Brand'a  politic^;  Worfes.-  Aft 
a  divine^  we  know  only  of  a  ^^  Fasp  S^mon^'VpubUlshed 
by  him  in  1794,  and  a  "  Visitatidn  SertQon^','  lj8(KX :  lA 
1797,  he  was  presented  by  tha  lard:rchano6Uori  (liQugli-^ 
boropgh)  to  the  rectory  of  St.  George's. in  Soul^wark,  ya* 
cant;  by ..  the  death  ,pf  the  rev^.  Joseph  Pote,  itfae-  value^of 
which  Mr.lBrand  procured  to  be  increased . by  act tofpar'^ 
hament,^  in  1807,  but  did  not  live  loi>g  enough  t^  profit 
by  It,  as  he  died  Dec.  23,  .1808|  leaving  a  nutnerote 
femily.,*  .  .  ,    '. 

BRANDEL  (P£T£b),  a  painter  of  portrait  and  bastoiy^ 
was  born  at  Prague>  in  1(6^0;.  an4  havingr^spent  abotit  foilf 
years  in  the  school  of  John  ,Scbroet^r,.  prineipfd  ptdfit^ab 
that  court,  a  kind  of  jealousy  of  Ms  vi^ng  merit. waa^^ex-c 
cited  in. the  mind  of  his  nmster)  which  Brandel  reseniedp 
and  r^mOjVed  £rojD%  him ;  and  at  the  age  of  about  ^9>yeitfs^ 
commenced  a  jipaai^ter  himself.  3iPhro9ter's;j^pi^y^»is  $haa 
accountecj  for  by  one  of,  Br^nd^l's.biogjfaphejj^^  WMih  iof 
the  fourth  yiear.  pf  his  app^entiG6^bip,:he4vi^s^^d^r/sd^tJ9' 
paint  an  altar-piece^  whi^  ba^4ng  -ep&^Qiited  in  '/W^^'daj:!^^ 
he  devoted  the  remainder  of  the.tixQeallowed*  t<ithis  pl^ot?* 
sures,,  and  wheQ  his  master  upbraided  him.^h  thfts.  appuni 
rent  negligence  qf  his  orders,  he  pr^aee^^-  the  p^tur^^-. 
which  e;cciced  in  i^lchroet^:  equal  jealousy- ^id  ,pist;Q!iishV 
ment.  Most  of  th^cbiH^ehes  at  Prague^  i^drBcesl^li^iief 
embellished  with  his  works;  and  the  prif)p^:pf  Haf^^in. 
said  to  have  giyep  100  duca(S'for  one  pLptureof  Si^  jwamfi: 
at  halP  length.  0e  spent  mpst  of  his  time  .al  P^^etif^. 
where  tlye.  wealth  which  be  Required  was.disi^ato^  kf  pmbh 

^Gent  MagrVol.lixXyin.  and  LXXiXl    Frotn  this  we  have  given  Mr.*^ 
Brand's  academical  degrees,  ^ut  bis  name  does  not  occur  amoog  the  Cambridft 
Graduates/-  >       '•    -"     ^■^-'■-    -•    /.-^v..-. .  v- ■..-T-  .'^^  v-lfn^''   • 


B  R  A  N  D  E  L.  -44^ 

fusion 'atfd  irregitlat  conduct;  so  that  bef  died  poor,  in 
1739,  and  was  buried  by  charitable  contributions.  The 
Jesuits 'and  monks,  however,  honoured  his  memory  by 
appointing  for  him  a  solemn  ftineral  procession,  in  which 
>S0O  tapers  of  wax  were  carried  by  ecclesiastics.  Brandel 
.was  distinguished  by  a  ready  invention,  an  expeditious 
iDBfiner  of  painting,  and  natural  colouring,  except  that  his 
sbiadows  were  sometimes  too  black.  His  pencil  was  broad^ 
easy,  and  free.  *  '  ' 

^  BRANDER  (Gustavus),  esq.  F.  R.  S.  and  F.  S.  A.  and 
a  trustee  of  tb^  British  Museum^  was  a  Swede  by  family, 
bom  about  the  year  1720,  and  brought  up  to  trade,  which 
iie  carried  on^  so  successfuUv  as  to  fill  the  honourable  office 
^Director  of  the^  Bank  for  many  years ;  and  having  in- 
terited  the  accumulated  fortune  of  his  uncle,  Mr.  Spicker, 
he  indulged  bis  faVourke  pursuits  in  literature  and  the  fine 
^o'Xs.  He  held  a  mind  strongly  tinctured  with  the  love  of 
literature,  and  a  heart  which  was  always  most  gratified  in 
empploying  his  great  fortune  in  acts  of  beneficence,  and  in 
forming  those  collections  which  administer  to  the  researches 
of  literary  men.  Among  his  principal  curiosities  was  the 
magnificent  chair  in  which  the  first  emperors  of  Germany 
used  to  be  crov^ned';  Which  being  taken  by  Gustavus  AdoU 
phu^  in  his^wairs,  and  carried  iwto  -  Sweden,  was  brought 
dver  foom  ihfence,  and  purchased  by  Mr.  Brander;  and 
afterwards  sold  t?o  lord  Folkestone,  on  his  going  to  Christ- 
chuh^h.  It  contained  all  the  Roman  history,  from  its  be- 
gimiitig  to  the  emperors,  wrought  in  polished  iron.  In 
1'7€6  he  removed  from  London  to  Westminster,  and  after- 
wards into  Hampshire,  where  he  purchased  the  site  of  the 
old  prioiyat  Christ-church,  in  removing  the  ruins  of  which 
fi^eral  euri^us  dis^dveries  were  made,  some  of  which  are 
tfiserted  in  the  ArcfaaN>logia,  vol.  IV.  Having  completed 
hii  villa  and  gardens  iti  this  beautiful  spot,  comimanditig 
an  extensive  view  of  the  British  channel,  and  the  Isle  of 
Wight,  he  married  Jan.  1780,  Elizabeth,  widow  of  John 
I^oyd,  vicfe- admirtfl  of  the  blue,  daughter  of  — *—  Gulston 
G^Widdtal,  Hertforddiire ;  and  spent  the  greatest  part  of 
theyear  in  the  society  of  his  friends  and  neighbours  of  the 
adftitiieti^  counties j  and  of  olfhers  who  visited  him  from  Ldn« 
dotv.  {ti  %he^ winter  of  1786,  he  hiad  just  coinpleted  ther' 
purchase  of  a  capital  bous^  in  St,  Alban'^.  street,  when  be 

S' l^ilkingtoh.— Effigies  Viroruiii,  &c.  Bohemi«l»  toT.  t  1773,  Svo, 

Vol.  VL  Go 


*;. 


450  ^  |l  A  N  D  |;  R. 

jwas  uoexpectecUy  aeized  with  »  strangury,  which  Cftme4 
hirtioff,  Jan.  31,  1787. 

.     A  singular  accident  happened  to  him  in  1768,  which 
had  »o  strong  an  effect  upon  his  mind,  that  it  infused  into 
^is  character  an  ardent  sense  of  piety,  and  a  peculiar  telu 
fince  upon  the  superintendance  of  Providence,  both  which 
be  preserved  to  the  last.     As  his  carriage  was  passing  down 
^emple^-laiie,  the  horses  suddenly^  took  fright,   and   ran 
with  the  most  violent  rapidity  down  three  flights  of  st^pn 
,  into  tiie  Thames,  and  would  have  proceeded  into  the  mid* 
die  of  it,  if  the  wheels  had  not  been  sq  clogged  by  the 
naud,  that  the  horses  could  not  drag  them  any  further. 
The  servant  behind  was  so  absorbed  in  terror,,  that  be  was 
unable  to  throw  himself  from  the  carriage  ;  but  as  soon  9S 
it  stopped  he  jumped  off,  and  procured  the  assistance  of 
aome  persons  from  a  neighbouring  public  house,  who,  after 
disengaging  the  horses,  pulled  the  carriage  on  shore.     In 
consequence  of  the  above  circumstance,  the  present  gate- 
way at  the  Temple-stairs  was  erected  to  prevent  any  future 
accident  of  the  same  kind.     Mr.  Brander  from  a  sense^of 
this  singular  preservation,  made   the  following  bequest : 
"  Two  guineas  to  the  vicar,  ten  shillings  to  the  clerk,  and 
five  to  the  sexton  of  the  parish  of  ChHst-church,  ifor  a 
i:;opmemoration  sermon  on  the  third  Sunday  in  August,  as 
an  everlasting  memorial,  and  as  expressive  of  my  gratitude 
to  the  Supreme  Being  for  my  signal  preservation  in  1768l, 
when  niy  liorses  tan  violently  down  the  Temple-lane,  in 
.J^ondon,  '^lid  down  three  flights  of  steps  into  the  Thames 
in  a  dark  tri^ht ;  and  yet  neither  horses  nor  carriage,  my- 
self, or  servant^  received  the:  least  injury ;  it  was  fortu- 
nately low  watet*" 

To  Mr.  BrandS^r,  the  British  Mti^upi  is  indebted  for  a 
capital  collection  of  fossils  found  in  the  diflTs  about;  Christ- 
church  and  the  coast  of  Hampshire.;  whi<;h  i^re  published  »t 
jhis  expenc0,  in  a  thin  quarto  voiunte,  Entitled  ^'Fossilin 
'^  Hautoniensia'colj^cta,  eiin  Mus^b  Britannico  deposita,.  a 
Gustat^o  Brander,'^  1766.  Of  these  curious  fossilnsheUs, 
iqoUected  out  of  the  cliffs  between  Christ-church  and  Ly*- 
piingtoo,  very  few  are  known  to  be  natives  of  our  own/  or 
indeed  of  any  of  the  European  shores  ;  the  greater,  part, 
upon  d  comparison  with  the  repent,  tre  wholly  unknown 
tQ  u^,'  .The  copper-plates  are  exact  draughts,  leogravpd 
from  the  originals,  by  the  laie  Mr.  Green.  To  the  figures 
were  annei^ed  a.  Scientific  Latii^  description  by  Dr.  SoM* 


B  R  A  N  D  E  B.  >4&1 

der  (whilst  composing  a  scientific  catalogue  of  all  the  na- 
tjural  productions  in  the  British  Museum),  and  a  prefatory 
^account  of  these  phenomena  in  Latin  and  English.  Mr. 
Brander  also  communicated  an  account  of  the  effect  of 
lightning  on  the  Danish  church  iq  Wellclose-square,  Phil. 
Trans,  vol.  XLIV,  And  from  a  MS.  in  his  possession, 
"  The  Forme  of  Cury"  was  printed  for  private  use,  with 

.  notes  by  the  rev.  Dr.  Pegge,  for  whose  fine  portrait,  by 
Basire,  we  are  likewise  ii^debted  to  Mr.  Brander*s  muni- 
^cence.  It  yet  remains  to  be  noticed  that  he  was  one  of 
the  first  supporters  of  the  society  for  the  encpuragement  of 
arts.  *  .  V 

.JBRANDI  (GiACiNTo),  a  painter,  was  born  at  Poli,  not 

:  far  from  Rome,  in  1633,  and  studied  in  the  school  of  Lan^. 
fvanc.  The  greater  part  of  the  churches  and  palaces  at 
Rome  were  embellished  by  his  pencil.  His  best  pictures 
9re  his  ^^  St.  Rocco,'*  in  the  church  of  Ripatta^  and  the 

.  **  Forty  Martyrs"  in  the  Stigmata.     An  imagination  full 

,  of  fire,  a  great  facility,  a  feeble  and  incc^rrect  colouring, 
.cliaracterise  his  performances.  He  worked  with  uncom- 
mon rapidity,  always  preferring  his  pleasures  and  money 
to  fame.  He  died  at  Rome  in  1691,  aged  58,  prince  of 
the  academy  of  St.  Luc,  and  chevalier  of  the  order  of 
Christ.  His  daughter  was  married  to  the  celebrated  Rosa 
<la  Tivoli,  of  whom  Giacinto  conceived  a  mean  opinion, 

'^  Jbecause  he  painted  only  beasts.  By  this  contemptuous 
behaviour  Rosa  was  so  mcensed,  that  be  collected  alt  the 
jqlothes  belonging  to  his  bride,  on  the  morning  after 
inarriage,  and  sent  them  back  to  her  father  with  a  mes- 
sage, ^' that  his  daughter's  person  was  fortune  enough  to 
make  her  husband  happy;  and  that  a  good  painter  of 
beasts  was  as. likely  to  become  rich,  as  a  bad  painter  of 
men."  * 

BRANDMULLER  (Gregory),  considered  in  the  Hel- 
vetic school  as  an  artist  of  the  first  rank,  was  born  at  Basil, 
in  1661.  He  acquired  the  knowledge  of  design  by  study- 
ing and  copying  some  good  prints  whicli  were  in  the  pos*- 
^ession  of  his  father  ;  and  from  the  appearance  of  his  hav- 
ing a  strong  natural  talent,  he  was  placed  as  a  disciple 
with  Caspar  Meyer.  When  he  quitted  Basil,  be  went  to 
Paris,  and  had  the  good  fortune  to  be  receivfitd  into  the 
sdiool  of  JLe  Brun ;  and  the  variety  of  works  iD.which:lha4; 

»  KichoK's  Boivyar.    .  »  Argcnville,  vsL  I;<r^?ilkii)gtoD, 

GG  2 


452  BRANDMUi;.L£R. 

eminent  master  was  employed,  proved. an. excellent  means 
of  instruction- to  the  youBg  artist.  He  so  pleased  Le  Briui 
by  the  progress  he ^  made*  that  he  was  intrusted  with  se- 
veral designs,  Under  the  immediate  inspection  of  that  great 
painter*,  but  the  j^articular  respect  and  preference  sbewa 
by  the  master  to  tl>e  disciple,  excited  the  envy  and  jea^ 
lousy  of  others  to  such  a  degree,,  as  might  have  been  at- 
tended with  unhappy  consequences,  if  Brandmuller  had 
not  retired  to  his  own  country  j  though  not  before  he  had 
obtained  the  prize  in  ihe  royal  aca^lemj?  at  Paris.  He 
Excelled  in  history  and  portrait,  and  his  genius  resembled 
tborbf  Le  Brun  ;  bis  subjects  beipg  full  of  fire,  and  treated 
'  with  elevation  and  grandeur.;  His  design  is  correct^  and 
hfs  expression  anima^ted  i^ndjqst*.,,  He  had  a  good  methiSd 
5f  colouring,  laying^oo*  each ^rn^ss.  in  §o  proper  a  manner 
as  to  avoid  breaking  6t  tortjUfingihis. tints;  which  made  his 
colours  retain  their  '.original, beauty  and  strength  without  * 
i^ding.  He' was  fend  of  .painting  portraits  in  an  historical 
stylie,  and  was  generally  commended  for  the  reseinblance 
of  the'  persons  who  were, bis  models,. and  the  agreeable 
taste  in  his  compositions.  He  dieid  in  1691,  aged  only- 
thirty.'*  ;:  , 

BRANDMULLER,  or.BRANI)>IYLLER  (John),  the 
eldest  of  a  family* who  havem^e  some  6gure  in  S,wiss^- 
land,  was  a  native  of  Bib^racb^  in  Suabia,  where  he  was 
born  in  1533.  He  imbibed  the  principles,  of  the  reforma-  . 
tipn  from  CEcolfinlpadius,  and  became  himself  a  preacher 
in  varidtis  reformed  cburohes.  In  1576  the  magistracy  of 
Basil  bestowed  the  ran^k  of  citizenship  on  him  and  his 
posterity^  and'in>  158 1  he  was  appointed . professor  of  He* 
brew  in  that  cityr.  He  had  studied  medicine  and  Isftv,  as 
well  as  divinity,'  but  confitied  himself  chiefly  to  the  lattjbr, 
which  he  taught  for  many  years  at  Basil,  where  he  died  in 
i  5BG.  ^^He  wrote  many  funeral  discourses,  or  **  consciones 
funebres,'*  as  they  were  called,  taken  from  the  Old  and  New 
Testament^' ^ which  were^  printed  at  B^ie,  in  1752,  and 
some  dialogues  in  tbe  German  language.  .  We  have,  seen 
'Only* a  part  of  the  former^  entitled  f^  Cpnsciones  Euhebfes,^' 
Hanovrl603,  ««to.*  ,/    ^ 

'     BRAN£)MULL£R  (JAMp)^  son  of  the  precedin^^  was 
b|>m»:iml^66y  was  master  of  arts  in  1535,  and  two  years 
>ftei!^  pvofessoc  of  poetry  at  BasiL    In  1589,  hereceiy^  « 

'    J  •  <  :  »  Pilkington...  ; .    .    ,  v*  Morcri^ 


tJ 


B  R  A  ^  D  M  U  L  L  E  R.  453 

call  from  the  church  of  Oberweiller,  and  preached  thfere 
for  upwrards'  of  forty  yean*.  *  Wbei;i  Buxtorf  went  hoiae  to 
Westphalia,  Brandoiuller' officiated  for  him  as  Hebrew 
professor:  he  died  Nov.  1 4  •1629,  aftevihai;tng  published 
**  Analysis  typica  iibroriim  Veteris  *fet  Novi  TQstamenti/^ 
Basil,  1621,  and  1622,  3'  vols.  4to.  .  Thei^first  two  were 
by  Moses  Phlacer,  and  that  ouiy  which  contains  the<eqpistle8 
and  the  apocalypse,  by  Brandmulier. ' 

BRANDMULLER  (Jambs),  ^rand^on  of  Jain«s^  .the 
subject  of  the  last  article,  followed  the  profession  of  the 
law,  in  which  he  became  very  eminent.     He  was-  born  at 
^ Basil,  Sept.  1617,  and  was  educated  partly  in  that  city<i 
and  partly  at  Montbeliard.    After  tsdiing  his  ma^ter*s  d^ 
,gr^,  in  1634,  he  applied  particularly  to  the  study  of  civil 
^law,   but  without  neglecting  philology  and  philosophy. 
According  to  the  custom  ofhiscountrymett,  he  travelled  for 
.^some  time  in  France,  England,  HoUand,  and.  Cerioaiiy^ 
where  he  became   acquainted,   and  eslablisked  ai  corre- 
spondence with  the  literati  of  those.>ooantries,'.partiqittarIy 
with  Salmasius.  In  1649  he  was  made  doctor  of  laws,  and  in 
1^52  professor  of  the  institutes' at  Basil:  and^  l^^i^arteen 
-  years  afterwards  professor  of  the  Pandects.   .  He  w^^^^so 
.  tjvice  rector  of  ,the  university.     His  reputation  brought  a 
'  |g[reat  concoiirSe  orstudefits-^tMthcr,  particiila^ly  ibireigiiers, 
and  his  £(gfeeabIb''ib6n^^r^tioii^' atid^  tehiper  not  a  little 
contributed  to'  increase  the  numb^i^^of  his  pupils...    Besiifes 
his  fame  as  a  lawyer,  he  was  6Qt  less  esteemed  for  his  ac- 
quaintance with  koifnaii  &ntiquit4e!»  and  polite  ^literati;^^  in 
general.     It  ^i  said  he  wrote  verse  with<as  gneaiifaqility  as 
'pfose,  but  his  tatefits  in  versi&catton  ha^re  probably  h^en 
overo-rated.     He  h&d  more  reputation  from  his.  success  as 
a  teacher,  and  the  perspicuous  manner  in  which  be  lec- 
tured bn  subjects  of  law.   'He  died  Sept  1677frlea3iring 
several    professional  works :    '^  Disputationes  de   lege  ;*' 
/^  Manuductio  ad  jus  canonicum  et*  civile ;-'  ^.^Duhia:  Ju« 
ridica,"  &c.  •  .         »     . ,  . 

'^  BRANDOLINI  (Aurelio),  of  a  noble  family  of  Flo- 
'  rence,  in  the  fifteenth  century,  was  surnamed  Lippjus,:  on 
account  of  the  loss  of  his  sights  which  did  not,  however, 
prevent  his  becoming  a  scholar  of  tnudi  reputation,  and 
an' orator, ;xfausici&n,  and  poreti  His  fame  procured  him 
aa  invitation  from  Matthias  Corvinus^  kingLOf  Hungltry, 
to 'teach  oratory,  which  he  accepted^  and*>t9Ughi^t.tb« 

<  M9rert.-^\yiit«  Duriavi  BiosrapbicuB»  •   :  *  Moreru 


^SV  B  R  A  N  D  O  L  I  N  I. 

university  of  Buda.  After  returning  to  Florence^  he  took  ■ 
the  habit  of  the  friars  of  St.  Augustin,  was  made  priest 
some  time  after,  and  preached  to  numerous  auditories. 
He  died  of  the  plague  at  Rome,  in  1497.  Wonders  are 
told  of'  his  powers  of  extempore  versification,  and  he  is 
classed'amcng  the  first  of  the  improvisator!.  As  to  his 
preaching)  B6sso  says  that  those  who  heard  him  might 
fancy  they  listened  to-  a  Plato>  aii  Aristotle,  and  a  Theo--^ 
phrastois;  he  is  yet  more  extravagant  in  noticing  his  ex- 
tempore effusions.  The  circumstance,  says  he,  which ^ 
placed  hini  i&bove  all  other  poets,  is,  that  the  verses  they 
compose  with  so  much  labour,  he  composed  and  sang  im- 
promptu, displaying  all  the  perfections  of  memory,  styte,- 
and  genius.  At  Verona,  on  one  occasion,  before  a. nu^ 
m4erous  assemblage  of  persons  of  rank,  he  took  up  his  lyre, 
and  handled  every  subject  proposed  in  verse  of  every  mea- 
sure, and  being  af^ed  to  exert  his  improvisitation  on  the 
illustrious  men  of  Verona,  without  a  moment's  consideration 
or  hesitation,  he  sang  the' praises,  in  beautiful  poetry,  of 
GatuUus,  Cornelius  Nepos,  and  Pliny  the  elder  ;  nay,  he 
delivered  in  the  same  extempore  manner  all  the  subject» 
in  Pliny's  thirty-s^ven  boc^s  of  natural  history,  without, 
omitting  any  one  circumstance  worthy  of  notice.  What-^ 
efer  credit  may  be  given*  to  these  prodigies,  his  worksi? 
prove  him  to  hive  been  a  man  of  real  learning.  The  prin- 
cipal of  these  are:  1.  ^  Libri  duo  paradoxorum  Chris- 
tianorutn/'  Basil,  1496^  Rome,  1531,  Basil,  1543,  and 
Cologne  l^TS*.  52.  ^*  Dialc^us  de  human ee  vitse  conditione 
ettoleranda  corporis  segritudine,'' Basil,  14d8,  aoid  1543^ 
and  Vienna,  1541.  3.  '*  De  ratione  scribendir  Epistolas,'* 
Basil,  1498,  1549,  Cologu,  1573*  Aniong  his.  manu- 
scripts, which  are  very  nunoerous,  Fabriciils  mentions'  one 
'*  de  laudibus  musicse.*'  Julius  Niger  mentions  also  sonre 
works  of  his  on  the  laws  ;  commentaries  on  St.  Pauf  s 
epistlesy  and  the  Bible^  histories,  in  heroic  verse^  but^ 
whether  printed,  does  not  appear. ' 

BRANDT  (GBtARD),  a  learned  ecclesiastical  bfstorilftl^y 
iF7ats  bom  at  Ainsterdam,  July  25^  16^6,  and  after  having 
.•••-.        .'       •'        ■  ■   •   .■ 

*  ^is  father,  ofthe^aiQc  same*,  was  Icdfe  of  inechaiii<9>  which    if4iic«it 

Uorn  at  JV^iddleburgh,  {n  1594»  was  re-  Descartes  to  be  a  frequent  correspond- 

S«iit  of  tKe  theatre  at  Atnster^oi,  and  eiat  of  his.    He  partictriarty  exceHetf. 

iipa8«|gi||iteadaiirejr  of Qerinan  poetry,  hi  the  branch  of  dodfrnoduag^.     M^ 

He  waa  alse  celebrated  for  his  Jcnow-  rert. 

>  Geu.  Diet. — Fabric.  Bibl.  Med.  et  Inf.  ^tat— Koscoe's  .Leo.— Gingueni 
nUt«  I4)tt<  4'^^lie.— Saxii  Onoinaat,^— Tirahoscbi.  ... 


BRANDT.  4&*. 

ftiade  distingmtb^d  progiress.  in  Graek^  'Hebreii^,  Litin^ 
philosopby,  and  divinity>  he.Was  iavitetl  to  be  pastcMr  of  a 
church  of  remonstrants  at  Nieukoop,  where  he  married 
Susanna,  daughter  of  the.  celebrated  professor  Gaspard 
Barleus.  In  1660,  he  came  to  HoorOy  and  in  16#7  t4 
Amsterdaih.  He  died  Oct.  11,  1685,  leaving  two  Aons^ 
both  excellent  scbotars,  Oaspart  and  Gerard.--  He  wrote 
in  German,  1.  *^  A  short  btstoiy^of  the  Reformation,?'  and 
of  the  war  between  Spain  and  the  Netherlands,  until  ^MG'^ 
Aaist.  second  edit.  165S,  which  has  a(  continuation,  in  tbe 
fo/tm  of  a  chronicle,  until  that  year.  3.  AUo  in  Germany 
*' A  history  of  tbe  Reformation  in  the  Low  Countries,  &c.** 
4  i^ots.  410,  1671,  and  following  years,  a  work  of  which 
tbd  pensionary  Fagel  said  to  bishop  Burnet,  that  it  was 
worth  while  to  learn  German  on  purpose  to  read  it*  The 
English  pubiic,  however,  has  been  long  acquainted  witfii 
it,  in  a  translation  in  4  vols.  fol«  17<20,  &  seqq.  Tbe 
translator  was  Johli  Ghamberiayne,  whom  Foppen  has  con«- 
verted  intoRichardCumberland,  merely  that  he  may -add,  with 
true  Popish  bigotry,  that  he  was  ^*  pseudo-episcopus  Petro-^ 
)>i!»rgensis."  Brandt's  bi&tory  Was  also  abridged  ini  1725, 
in-  English,  in  2  vols.  3vo,  apparently  from  a  French 
ftbridgement  Bulens  or  Ruiliiiis,  a  minis^rof  the  reformed 
church,  having  attacked  «dilie->|^aets'of  his  history,  BratKit 
publi^ed  an  apology.  S^  '^A>^  history  of  Eokhuisen,'^  a 
celebrated  mercantile  town.!'  4.  **  The  Life  of  De  Ruy- 
ter,'^  the  celebrated  Dutch  'admifalj  Aoisft  16M,  foL 
translated  into  French;  ibid.  1690.  &:  <*  Histoi-iical  Diar}%^* 
with  biographical  notices  of  emtnet^tfaen;  Anist.  1689,4^0*. 
6.  "  Poemata,*^  Rotterdam^  1*^49,  8vo.  -  7.  **  Poemata 
sacra  et  ptopbana,*'  Amsc.  1683y  4to,'  and  1726,  in  2  rols. 
9.  •*'  Historiajudicii  babiti^annit^  il618!and*l6l9,  de  tribns 
captivis,  Barnevdt,  HogerbeetSj-  et  Grotio,^'  'Rotterdam, 
'1708,  and  1710,-  4co^  with  some  cvher  works,  enu>inerated 
by  Foppen,  and  Adrian  a  Cattenbut^  in  his  ^^Sifel.»8crip« 
torum'Hemonstrantium.*'*  "  "  ^'  •'^•>'  ;lt*M' 
'  BRANDT  (Gaspard),  eWest  son  ofelbeHpr^Ssdirig,  was 
bdrn  itl  1653,  at  Niettkoop,  edfiaroated^^^HoD^n  and  Am^ 
aterdam,  and  studied  philosophy  and  divinity  under  Philip 
Limborub.  After  passing  the  usual  e;3taihlfi)a(lio>is,  he  wa§ 
licensed,  in  1673,  to  the  office  of  the  ministry  at  jSchoon* 
lioven,  where  he  remained  three  years;     He  theii»iiemm'ed 

'  ,    *  Mortri.— Poppen  Bibl.  Belg.-^SaxH  Onoanitt. 


456  B  R  A  H  0  T. 

.,   *  •  •     • 

to  the  Arminian  .congregation  at  Hoorn ;  to  Alcmary  in 
1631 ;  Rotterdam,  in  1683  ;  and  Gnally  to  Am$ueidai% 
where  he  died  in  1696.  He  published  somq  sermons  w4 
religious  tracts  in  German,  and  in  Latin  the  Iives;of  ^Qno- 
tius  au4  Arminius ;  the  latter  was  repubU&be4  at.  Brun&r 
wick,  with  a  preface  and  notes  by  Mosheim,  in  1725,  4.«i^.^ 

BRANDT  (GeRAUP),  second  son  of  Gerard,  and.brothcir 
to  the  preceding,  was  born  in  1657,  (Saxius.says  163^ 
which  is  the  year  of  the  preceding),  at  Nieukoop^  and 
studied  with  his  brother,  for  eight  y^rs^  philosophy  ^n4 
divinity  under  Limborcb,  to  which  he  joined  the  know.* 
ledge  of  <^reek,  Latin^  Hebrew,,  Italian^  Frencjb,  ^ad 
English.  He '  wa$  minister  at  Schoonhoyen,  at  Dokkunif 
and  at  Rotterdam,  where  he  died  at  the  age  of  tweuty-ft^:s;> 
but  Saxius  says  thirty,  in  168S,  He  translated  Or. -fieyr 
lyn^s  Quinquarticular  History,  or  History  of  the  Five 
Articles.  In  1678,  he  published  in  German^ .  without  his 
liame,  apd  with  only  the  letters  V.  T-  V.  a  history ,, of 
events  in  Europe  for  the  years  1674  and  1675,  wd  sixXjr. 
five  sermons.  *  —:.-!. 

BRANDT  (John),    the  youngest  son  of  Gerard* .  and 
brother  to  the   two  preceding,    was  born  at  Nieukoop,^ 
July  6,  166d,  and  having  gone  thrpugh  his  divinity  course» 
was  chosen  minister  at  Warmont  in  1682,  whenp^  h^.wsLSy- 
the  following  year,  invited  to  Hpprn.     He  was  afterw^^rd^. 
called  to  the  Arminian  church  at.  the  Hague,  ,ai;id  ^osa^ 
time  after  t;bat,   to  Amsterdam,  where  he  died  Jan.  1 3,^ 
1708.     He  wrot^  in  German  a  life  of  St.  Pa,ul,  1695^  ^*o; 
a  funeral  oration  on  Mary  queen  of  England|.  and  atrei^s^- 
against  Leidekker.     In  1702  he  published^  cg)IeqtiqQL.Qfl 
letters,  *^  Clarorum  virorum  Ep^tolse  centrum  inedit^  4i$. 
vario  eruditionis  genere,   ex  museo  Joao.  9randt,  G.  F*: 
Gerardi  filii,"    comprising   «ome    from .  Nicb.   fileinsius^^ 
Grotius*^  Guy  Patin,  Huet,  Rabelais,  &c.     He  wrote  alua^ 
somepoenis.'  ...,^ 

BRANDT  (John),  or  BRANTZ,  a  learned  philolqge^^ 
was  bom  at  Antwerp  in  Sept.  1554,  and  after  rec^ivfJ}i|j| 
the  early  part  of  his  education  at  home,  studied  Rhiloso{f^^ 
at  Louvain.  The  troubles  in  the  Netherlands  obUgii>g^|iijgi. 
to  remove  to-  France,  he  took  that  opportunity  tf} js^Vidjr  f 
law  at  Orleans  under  John  and  William  Fournier,  ^^4  .4^% 
ae  Bourges  under  the  celebrated  Cuj.acius^     -V^^f  MI^^Jj 

1  Moreri, — SaxiiOBomast.  "^  Ibitf.  .      ^  IM.  • 


i. 


BRANDT.  457 

-    ■*     .       r^    .     '*  *  * 

ling  for  some  time  in  Italyi  he  settfed  at  Brussels,,  and  for 
live  years  practised  as  ^u  afdvocate^  but  in  1.^^^!  w^  in,^ 
Vited  to  Antwerp,  and  appointed  secretary  to  the  city, 
which  office  he  discharged  for  more  than  .thirty  years  with 
much  reputation^  and  there  he  died  ii|  1639.  ^  He  ws^ 
considered  as  a  man  of  great  learning,  modestyi  and  can- 
Soar,  laborious  in  his  own  studies,  and  always  desirous  of 
assisting  others  in  theirs.  His  motto  was  ^^  Libentef,  A^.^ 
ilenter,  Constanter,"  not  inapplicable  to. a  man  of  jstudiou^ 
industry.  His  principal  works  were)  1.  ^^  Notae  cnm  Politics^ 
turn  Critic»B  in  G*  Julii  CsBsaris  et  A.  Hirtii  Commentar 
rios,"  with  the  text  of  Cssar  in  Greek  and  Latin^i&c.  Francr^ 
fort,  1606,  4to,  th6  same  year  ^in  which  Jungermstn's  edir 
tkrn  appeared,  whicH  is  said  to.  have  been  the  first  in  which 
tbeCk'eek  translation  qf  the  coinmentaries  was  published,  but 
none  of  our  bibIiogfapb'e|rs  have  noticed  this  contemporary 
edition  by  Brandt  2,  ^^  Sfogia  Cicerpniana.  Romanoruni 
4oD]i  miiitiaque  illnstrium,'*  Antwerp'^  16  (2j  4to.  Thi&x:on« 
tains  biographical  notices  of  the  eminent  political  and  mi* 
litary  Romans,  extracted  from  the  works,  of  Cicero,  .afid 
in  his  words.  Brandt  intended  to  have  compiled  a  voiume 
on  the  same  plan,  respecting  the  orators,  poets,  and. phi- 
losophers mentioned  by  Cicero^  but  tbis«  if  ever  executed^ 
has  not'  been  printed.  3.  "  Vita  Pbilippi  Rubenii,^'  with 
Kubienitis*  posthumous  works,  1615^  4to.  4.  '^  Senator^ 
sive  de  perfecti  et  veri  Senatoris  ofljcio,"  ibid.  1633,  4to. 
5;  "  Spicilegium  Criticum  in  Apuleium,^*   1621,  ,&c.*   , 

BRANDT  or  TITIO  (Sebastian),  a  lawyer,  poet,,  and 
liistorian,  was  born  at  Strasburgbj^  in  i'i^Ss  ;and  after  pro«> 
«ecuting  his  first  studies  in  that  qky,  rea)6ved  to  Basil,  ^ 
where  he  took  his  master*s  degree  in.  arts^  and  superin* 
tended  the  education  of  youth,  as  public  professor,  both 
at  Basil  aiid  Strasbufgh.     Here  he  arrived  at  the  highest 
honours  of  the  law,  being  made  count  Palatine^  ^nd  couq- ; 
sellor  and  chancellor  of  Stra^burgh.     He  died  in   1520, 
leaving  a  great  many  works  on  subjects  of  law  and  di^ii^ityy 
sfime  volumes  of  poetry,   and  the  celebratied   ^^  Ship  of 
FooIb,^'  which   has  chiefly  perpetuated  his  mempry.     It 
vhis  originally  written  in  the  German  language.    .  Locher, 
bis  disciple,  translated  it  into  Latin,  Strasburgh,,14d7,  4to« 
A' French  translation  of  it  by  Bouchet  and  Riviere,  was, 
published  at  Paris,  in  sniall  folio,  in  the  same  year,  en- 

^  Mereii.-— Foppeo  Bibt  B^If.-— FreberiTheatrum.— >Saxii  OoomafV, 


is*  BRA  N  D  T.  ' 

titled  "  La  net  des  folz  du  moDde.*'  Our  cotintryttratt 
Alexander  Barclay  (See  Barclay)  was  the  author  of  the 
English  metrical  version  printed  by  Pynson  in  150^'. 
The  bibliographical  history  of  Brandt's  work  inay  be  seeti 
in  our  authorities.  * 

BRANDT  (Nicholas),  or,  as  some  call  him,  Sebastian; 
II  German  chemist,  much  addicted  to  the  fanciful  re^ 
searches  of  the  period  in  which  he  lived,  was  bom  in  1458^^  • 
and  died  in  May  152  i.  Leibnitz,  in  the  Melanges  de 
Berlin  for  1710,  cited  by  Chaptal,  in  his  "  Elements  of 
Chemistry,"'  vol.  III.  p.  350,  mentions  Bi^ftdt  as  a  chemist 
of  Hamburg,  who,  during  a  course  of  eitperiments  upon 
urine,  with  a  view  of  extracting-a  fluid  proper  for  cott*- 
verting  silver  into  gold,  discovered  phosphorus  in  ISBf^  ' 
or,  as  others  say,  in  1669.  He  communicated  his  dis* 
covery  to  Kraft,  who  imparted  it  to  Leibnitz,  and,  as'it  is 
pretended,  to  Boyle.  Leibnitz,  says  Chaptal,  introduced 
Brandt  to  the  dnke  of  Hanovcar,  before  whom  he  performed 
the  whole  operation ;  and  a  specimen  of  it  was  sent  to 
Huygens,  who  shewed  it  to  the  academy  of  sciences  at 
Paris.  It  is  said  that  Kunckel  had  associated  himself  with 
Kraft  to  purchase  the  process  from  Brandt ;  but  Kunckel 
having  been  deceived  by  Kraft,  who  kept  the  secret  td 
himself,  knowing  that  urine  was  made  use  of,  set  to  work, 
and  discovered  a  process  for  .making  the  substauce;  and 
hence  it  has  been  called  KunckePs  phosphorus.  * 

BRANTOME.     See  BOURDELLIES. 

BRASAVOLA  (Antoniw  Musa),  a  famous  physician, 
was  bom  at  Ferrara,*  in  1500,  of  a  noble  family.     TtiS 
knowledge  was  not  confined  to  medicine.     In  cons'equebc'e 
of  bis  having  maintained  at  Paris,  for  three'  days  sulrces- 
wvfe^ly,  theses  "  de  omni  scibile,"  the  surname  of  Musa  ^ 
was  given  him  by  Francis  I.     He  was  physician  to  that' 
prince,  who  made  him  chevalier  of  the  order  of  St.  Mi* 
chael ;  to  the  emperor  Charles  V.  who  bestowed  on'  hifh 
the  title  of  count  palatine ;  and  to  Henry  VIII.  of  En^ 
land.     He  was  not  of  less  consequence  in  his  own  counttjl'. 
Successively  first  physician  to  the  popes  Paul  III,  Leo  X.- 
Cleihent  VII.  and  Julius  III.  cherished  and  favoured  by 
all  the  other  princes  of  Italy,  and  particulariy  the  dukes  • 
of  Ferrara,   he  was   proceeding  in  this  brilliant  can&eiV 

1  Dibdin's  Typograph.  Aotiqaities,   toL  II. — Atbemeum,  toU  His— ^eioe't 
Anecdotet>  vol.  II.— Frdrari  Theatt—^xii  OaouiBst.  ....•.<. 

s  Rees'g  Cyclopaedia. 


:B  R  A  8  A  V  O  L  A.  45* 

when  he  died  at  Ferrara  in  155$,  at  the  agd'of  S5y  after 
haying  long  been  a  professor  of  medicine  tii^re  with  uni<» 
vdrsal  appinu&e  ;  leaving  a  great  number  of  works^  princi^^ 
pally  on  medicmey  and  among  others,  i.  '^  Commentaries 
on  the  aphorisms  of  Hippocrates  and  Galen/'  printed  at 
Ba^Ie,  in  1542,  folio.  2.  ^^  Index  ret'ertissimns  in'Gal^ni 
libros,"  Venice,  1623,  fc>l.  which  Castro,  in  his  Biblioth. 
Med.  styles  '^  opus  indefess^  elucubrationis  &  utilitatis 
inexplicabilis.'^' 

BRATH  WAITE  or  BRAITHWAYTE  (Richard),  whom 
Warton  calls  one  of  the  minor  pastoral  poets  of  the  reign 
of  James  L  was. the  second  son  of  Thomas  Brathwaite,  of 
WsMTCop,  near  Apnieby,  in  Westmoreland,   descended  of^ 
a  respectable  family*     He  was  born  in   I58d,  and  at  the* 
age  of  sixteen  became  a  commoner  of  OrieUcoUege,  Ox- 
ford, being  matriculated  as  a  gentleman's  son,  and  a  native 
of  Westmoreland..    While  he  continued  in  that  college, 
which  was  at  least  three  years,  Wood  informs  us,   that 
^^  he  avoided  as  much  as  he  could  the  rough  paths  of  ^  logic 
and  philosophy^  and  traced  those  smooth  ones  of  poetry 
and   Roman  history,  in  which,  at  length,  he  did  excel/* 
He  afterv^ards  removed  to  Cambridge^  where  he  spent 
some  time  ^^  for  the  sake  of  dead  and  iivii^  authprs,'*- 
and  then  going  into  the  north,  bis  father  gave  him-  the 
estate  of  Barnside,  where  he  lived  many  years,  having  a 
commission  in  the  militia,  and  being  appointed  deputy*, 
lieutenant  in  the  county  of  Westmoreland,  and  a  justice 
of  peace.    In  bis  latter  days  he  removed  to  Appleton,  near 
Richmond,   in  Yorkshire,   where  he  died  May  4,  1673,^.^ 
and  Jwas  buried  in  the  parish  ehurch  of  Catterick,  near. 
that  plaM:e,  leaving  behind  him,  says  Wood,  the  character 
of  a   "  well-bred   gentleman,    and    a  good   neighbour."- 
Wood  has  enumerated   as  his  publications :   1  ♦  *'  Golden' 
Fleece,  with  other  poems,"  Lond.  1611,  8vo.     2.  "The 
Poet's  Willow,  or  the  passionate  shepherd,"  ibid.   1614, 
Svo.    ?»  "  The  Prodigal's  Tears,   or  his  farewell  to  va<-^ 
nity/'   1614,  avo.     4.  ♦*  The  Scholar^s  Medley,  or  an  in* 
termixt  discourse  upon  historical  and  poetical' relation^^ 
&c***   16i4,   4to,     5.   "  Essays   upon  the   Five   Senses/^ 
16^  l^vo,  1635,  IZiftO.     6.  "  N^ure^s  Embassy,  or  the 
wild  man's  measures^  danced  naked  by  twelve  Satyrs,'*^ 

>.  M0itri.'**^ii«  Diet— ^fftller  and  MAn^et,    M^ost  of  his  works  aire  in  the 
BriU  MttMQB. 


4^6  B  R  A  T  H  W  A  I  T  E. 

1621,  Svo,  To  th^se  are  added.  Divine  and  moral  e$- 
^ays,  Shepherds^  tales,  Odes,  &c.  7.  **  Time's  curtain- 
drawn :  divers  poems,"  1621,- 8vo.  8.  ^*  The  Englishr 
Gentleman,"  1630,  1633,  1641,  4to.  9.  "The  English 
Gentlewoman,"  1631,  1633,  4to;  1641,  fol.  10.  "Dis- 
course  of  Detraction,"  1635,  12mo.  11.  "  The  Arcadian 
Princess,  or  the  triumph  of  justice,"  16^5,  8vo.  12.  **  Sur- 
vey of  History,  or  ^a  nursery  for  gentry  ;  a  discourse  bia^ 
torical  and  poetical,"  '  1638,  4to.  13.  -"  A  spiritual 
^picery,  containing  sundry  sweet  tractates   of  devdtioh 

,  and  piety,"  1638;  12tno.  l4.  «  MdWsurius' Brittnnicus, 
or  the  English  intelligencer,"  a  tragi-coftiedy,  acted  at 
Paris,  and  a  liatire  upon  the  republican!^,  ^6 'H,  sedotid 
edit.  4tOi  15.  *.<  Time's  Treasury>  or  Academy  fer  thh 
accomplishment  of  the  English  gentry  in  ^arguments  of 
ijiscours^,  habit,  fashion,  .&c;"  16S5,  1656,  4to.  16. 
"Congratulatory  poem  on  bis  Maje^y,  upon  his  happy 
arrival  in  our  late  discomposed  Albion,"  1660,  4to. 
17.  •*  Regicidium,"  a  tragi-comedy,  1665,  8vo.  To 
these  Mr.  Ellis  has  added  "  Pattedone,  or  health  from  Ht^ 
iicon,"  1621,  8vo;  and  Mr.  Malone  thinks  that  **  The 
description  of  a  Good  Wife,  or  a  rsLfe  one  among  women,*' 
1619,  8 vo,  was  also  bis.  Specimen^  of  the  former  are 
given  by  Mr.  Ellis,  and  of  the  latter,  by  Mr^  Park,- in  «he 
Censura  Literaria.  Mr.  EUis^s  specimens  of  Bratbwai^s 
powers  as  a  poet  are,  perhaps,  less  favourable  than  soiae 
givert  by  Mr.  Dibdin  in  his  Bibliomania,  from  the  ••^  Ar- 
cadian Princess.*'  It  appears  to  us,  that  in  his  poetry^  as 
in  his  prose,  he  excels  most  as  a  painter  of  manners^  a^  sub* 
ject  which  he  had  studied  all' his  life^^and  of  WhiefaF^ihe 
delivered  some  of  thd  earliest  precepts.  His  'Stylev'hfiMr- 
evei",  ifiust  still  render  his'  works  more  acceptabte  to  the 
curious,  than  to  the  common  reader.' 

BRAUN  (George),  in  Latin  Biuu^us,  Bapmus,'^r 
Bruncjs,  was  archdeacon  of  Dortmund,  and  dean  of  Noire 
Bame  at  Cologne,  and  flourished  about  the  beginning aoC 
the  seventeenth  century.     He  wrote   a  *^  Latin^  oira^ton 

'  against  the  Fornicating  Priests,"  1 566 ;    a  Life  ^  ;^«ius. 
Christ,  and  another  of  the  Virgin  Maty,  a^fd  som0««omjk>- 

^  versial  works  against  the  reformed  churches ;  bttt'heia^iiest 

'  krioWn  by  bis  magnificent  work,  '^  Civitattes orbistemitam 


1  Ath.  Ox.  ¥01.  H.<— Wartoa's  Hist  of  Poetry,  vol.  IV.  p.  S^,-tJC^k.  LiU 
f oi.  y<«>£lUg's  Speeimeas,  vol.  IIL— BJdg.-PrimMti    Pib<lin*»  fiibliom»Ma« 


BR  A. UN.  4«ll 

•  v.,  / 

i»8e^  incise  ^t  excusts^  et  descriptione  topographica,  mo- 

x*li,  politiea,  illustratae,"  .6  vols;  large  fol.  with  five  co-, 

Uured  plates  by  Hohenberg  and  Hoeffnagel,  1572,  &c. 

yiepFMited  in  5  vols.  1612.     He  died  in  1622.'     ^ 

^iJRRAUWER.     SeeBROUWER. 

.  :BRAY  (Sir  Reginald),  was  second  son  of  sir  Ric)iard 

Bray,  one  of  the  privy  council  to  king  Henry  VI.  who  lies 

l^Ui^ied  in  the  north  aile  of  Worcester  cathedral,  in  which 

county  sir  Reginald  was  born*     One  of  this  family  (which 

..were  lords  of  Brai/a,  or  Bray,  in  Normandy)  came  with 

Wiliiatptbe  Conxjueror  into  England,  where  they  flourished 

^1  tbe.countir^.  of  Northampton  and  Warwick  ;  but  £a- 

jQA^ndy  the  father  of  sir  Richard,  is  styled  of  Eton  Bray,  in 

:tl|e  wunty  of  Bedford,  which  county  they  had  represented 

tilt  parliament  in  18  £d«  I.  and  6  Ed.  II.     In  1  Rich.  III. 

tbis  Reginald  bad  9  general  pardon  granted  to  him,  pro- 

babjy  on  account  of  bi^<h^^Pg<taken  part  with  Henry  VI. 

to  whose  cause  he, bad  a  personal  fs  well  as  hereditary 

aitachcoent ;  b^ng  receiyer^general  to  sir  Henry  Stafford, 

who^  mari'ijed  Margaret,  cojfiptess  of,  Richmond,  mother  to  . 

.the  «arl  4^{  Richmond,  afterward  .king  Henry  VII.   and 

continuedin  ber  service  after  tbedeath  of  sir  Henry,  and 

.was>put  Iel  tnist  for  her  dov^ry,  on, her  marriage  to  Thomas, 

^rLpf  JDfierby.  .  Wlieathe  duke  of,  Bupkingh^^m  bad  con- 

i^fct^with  Morton,  bishop. iof  Ely  (then  his  prisoner  at 

vSfi^cknockm. Wales),  the  marriage  of  the  earl  of  Ricb- 

j[|iond ,  with  tile  princess  Elizabeth,  eldest  daughter  of  Ed- 

.  .w,ar4'I V»  and  the  earPs  advancement  to  the  throne,  the 

.  shisWp  V^command^^  sir  Reginald  for  the  transactipfi  pf 

.4(h$^  anair  with.tbe^qofiatess,'  te}Urig  the  duke  he  had  an  old 

friend <  with,  ber,  .a^mau  subqr,^  segret,  and  welUwitted, 

4  <:a11^  Reginald. Bray,  whose  prudent  policy  he  had  known 

to  have  compassed  matters  of  great  importance;  and  ac* 

,r€OFdingly  wrote  to  bim  in  Lancashire,  wliere  he  th^n  was 

•pwitii  the  countess^  to  come  to  Brecknock  with  all  speed.  He 

\  readily  obeyed  the  summons,  entered   heartily  into  the 

tiie^ign^  and  was  very  active  in  carrying  it  on ;  and  soon 

^gaged  ^ir  Giles  D.aubeney  (afterwards  lord  Daubeney ), 

sirrJobn  Cheney,  Richard  Guilford,  esq.  and  many  other 

gent)«meiiof  note^  to  take  part  with  Henry.  ,  After  the^ 

$9Qc«ss  at  .Bonwortb,  he  gradually  rose  into  gr^at  favour 

with  the  king,  who  eminently  distinguished  and  liberally 

*-  '        .  -  ■         .       ■  r>       . 

->  Gen.  Diet— Moreri.-^axU  OnomasU        .  j,  ,      /^« 


4^?  BHAY. 

* 

rewarded  his  services.     His  attachment  to  Ibat  prince  was 
sincere  and  unremitted ;  and  such  were  his  |>rudence  and 
abilities,  that  he   never  forfeited  the  confidence  he  had 
acquired,  during  an  attendance  of  seventeen  years  on  the 
most   suspicious   monarch  of  his  time.     He  was  made  a 
kpight  banneret,  probably  at  the  battle  of  Bosworth  ;  a 
^night  of  the  bath  at  the  king^s  coronation,  and  afterwards 
A  knight  of  the  garter.  .  In  the  first  year  of  the  king^s  reign 
^e  had  a  grant  of  the  constableship  of  the  castle  of  Oak*- 
ham  in  Rutlandshire,  and  was  appointedjoint  chief  justice, 
with  the  lord  Fitzwalter,  of  all  the  forests  south  of  Trent, 
and  <)hosen  of  the  privy- council.     After  this  he   wa^  ap- 
pointed high-treasurer,  chancellor  of  the  duchy  of  Lan- 
caster, and  high  steward  of  the  university  of  Oxford.     At 
jthe  queen's  coronation,  the  duchess  of  Norfolk,  &c.  sat  at 
one  side-table ;  at  the  other,  lady  Ferrars,  of  Chartley, 
Jftdy  Bray,  &c.     At  the  christening  of  prince  Arthur,  sir 
Reginald  bore  a  rich  salt  of  gold  which  was  given  by  the 
jsarl  of  Derby.     He  was  amongst  the  knights  bannerets 
ivhen  Henry,  the  king's  second  son,  was  created  duke  of 
York  in  1494.     In  the  7th  year  of  the  king,  he  by  inden- 
ture covenanted  to  serve  him  in  his  wars  beyond   sea  a 
whole  year,  with  twelve  men,    himself  accompted,   e^ch 
having  bis  custreil  and  page,  twenty-four  demy  lances, 
^venty-seven  archers  on   horseback,    two  hundred  and 
thirty-one  archers,  and  billes  on  foot  twenty-four.     In  the 
iOth  year  he  had  a  grant  for  life  of  the  Isle  of  Wight, 
eastle  of  Carisbrook,  and  the  manors  of  Swainston,  Brixton, 
Thorley,  and  Welow,  in  that  isle,  at  the  rent  of  308/.  6^.  S'd. 
Camden  mentions  the  grant  of  the  Isle  of  Wight  at  ike 
rent  of  .100  marks.     In  June  1497  he  was  at  the  battle  of 
Blackheath,   when  the  lord   Aodiey,    having  joined   the 
Cornish  rebels,  was  taken  prisoner;  on  whose  execution 
And  attainder,  his  manor  of  Shire  Vachery  and  Cranliey  in 
Surry,  with  a  large  estate  there,  was  given  to  ^ir  Reginald. 
He  received  many  other  marks  of  the  king's  bounty  and 
frvpur,  and  died  5th  August  1503,  possessed  of  a  very 
great  estate;  notwithstanding  which,  and  bis  activitylks 
a  minister,  under  a  monarch  whose  lov«  of  money  wits  the 
cause  of  great  and  just  complaints  amongst  the  people, 
historians  call  him  the  father  of  his  country,  a  sage  and 
grave  person,  a  fervent  lover  of  justice,  and  one  who 
would  often  admonish  jthekingwhen  he  did  any  thing  con- 
trary to  justice  or  equity.    That  he  i&ould  do  this,  and 


B  R  A  y,  ^  46S 

tbe  king  still  continue  his  favour,  is  an  ample  proof  of  the 
^eu^^  whic.h  bis  sovereign  entertained  of  bis  services  and 
abilities..   He  appears  to  have  taken  great  delight  in  ar-* 
cbitecture,  and  to  have  had  no  small  skill  in  it,  as  be  had 
a.principal  concern  and  direction  in  building  Henry  Vlltb's 
cbapel   ill  Westminster-abbey,   and  in  the  finishing  and 
bringing  to  perfection  the  cbapel  of  St.  George  At  Wind<^ 
^r,  to  wbicb  he  was  a  liberal  benefactor  in  his  life^^time, 
^nd  for  the  completion  of  which  he  made  farther  provision 
by  his  will.     His  arms,  crest,  and  deyice  {R.  B.)  are  ex* 
bibited  on.  tb(^  cieiing  of  the  cbapel  at  Windsor  in  many 
places ;  and  in  the  miJille  of  the  south  aile  is  a  spacious 
cbapel  erected  ,by  mrtu  and  ^till  called  by  his  name,  in 
SvhiiQb  al^o,  ,by  hi$i  own  pm-ticular  direction,  he   was  in*- 
terred,.>though  his  execuiprs  neglected  to  erect  a  tomb  for 
bi<n,.  as.  he  desired..    Perhaps  they^  thought  his  merit  would 
}>e  ,the  most  lasting  monument. .  It  is  supposed  duit  he 
is  buried  under  the  stone,  which  covers  Dr.  Waterland ; 
forj  on  opening  the  vault  for  that  gentleman^  who  died  in 
1740,   a  leaden   coiBn,  of  ancient  form   and  make,  was 
found,  which  by  other  appearances  also  was  judged  to  be 
that  of  sir  Reginald,,  and  was,  by  order  of  the  dean,  im* 
liuediately  arched  over  with  great  decency.     He  was  of 
great  devotion,  accojrding  to  the  piety'  (^  the  times,  and  a 
bountiful  friend,  in  his  life-time,  to  many  churches.     In 
one  of  the  letters  of  the  dean  and  chapter  of  Westmin- 
ster, John,  abbot  of  Newminster  in  Northumberland,  ad^ 
dresses  him  as  founder  of  the  monastery  of  Pipwell  (in 
Northamptonshire) ;.  but  this  ouist  be  on  account  oi  som0 
(jLpnations,  ias  that  house  was  founded  by  William  Boute« 
viWyr  in  1143,     In  1494,  being  then  high  steward  of  Ox- 
ford he.  gave  40  marks  to  repair  tbe  church  of  St.  Mary^s, 
in  a  window  of  which  were  the  figures  of  htm  and  bis  virife 
^kneeling,  their  coata  of  arms  on  their  backs,  FemainiBg  in 
^;5^4.     The  dean  and  chapter  of  Lincoln,  in  recompeuee 
for  nils  aervvces  to  them,  receive  jaim  and  my  lady  his  wife 
.,to  ,be  bjrother  ai^d  sister  of  their  .chapter,  and  to  be  par- 
taki^rs  .of  all;  sudrages,    priayers,    masses,   fastings,  alms- 
deeds,^  and  other  good  deeds,  whatever  they  be,  done  ia 
the   s/iid  ^-huccb,  both  in  their  lives  and  after  their  de- 
C^as^«     TtU2  priqr  pf  the  catliedral  churph  of  Durham 
receives  him  in  like  manner.     In  a  south  window  of  the 
priiory  cjburch  of  Great  Malvern  in  Worcestershire,  wer^ 
the  poru:;aits  of  Heqry  Yll.  Elizabeth  his  queen,  prince 


464  BRA  Y. 

Arthur,  sir  Reginald  Bmy,  John  Savage,  and  Thomat 
Lovell,  esquires,  with  tbeir  coats  of  arms  on  their  armour, 
and  the  following  words  underneath :  '^  Orate  pro  bono 
statu  nobilissioii  et  excellentissimi  Regis  Henrici  Septimi 
et  EUzabetha^  ReginsB,  ac  Domini  Arthuri  Principis  fiiii 
eorundem,  nee  non  praedilecttssimaD  consortis  susb,  ac  suo<» 
i^um  trium  miiitum."  The  portraits  of  the  king  and  sir 
Reginald  remained  in  1774,  and  are  engraved  in  Mr. 
Strutt's  View  of  the  Arms  aiid  Habits  of  the  English,  vol.  IL 
plate  60,  The  others  have  been  broken  and  destroyed. 
He  had  no  issue,  and  his  elder  brother  John  having  only 
one  daughter,  married  to  sir  William  Sandes,  afterwards 
lord  Sandes  of  the  Vine,  he  left  the  bulk  of  his  fortune  to 
Edmund,  eldest  son  of 'his  younger  brother  John  (for  he 
had  two  brothers  of  that  name).  This  Edmund  was  sum* 
moned  to  parliament  in  1530,  as  baron  of  Eaton  Bray; 
but  his  son  John  lord  Bray  dying  without  issue  in  1557, 
the  estate  was  divided  amongst  six  daughters  of  Edmund. 
Sir  Reginald  left  very  considerable  estates  to  Edward  and 
Reginald,  younger  brothers  of  Edmund.  From  Edward 
the  manor  of  Shire  Vachery  and  Cranley,  above  mentioned, 
has  descended  to  the  rev.  George  Bray,  who  was  owner  ia 
1778.  Reginald  settled  at  Barrington  in  Gloucestershire, 
where  the  male  line  of  that  branch  became  extinct  about 
sixty  years  ago.  ^ 

BRAY(Thomas),D.D.  an  eminent  learned  and  pious  divine 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  was  bom  at  Marton  in  Shrop- 
shire, in  165G,  where  his  parents  were  persons  of  good  re- 
putation. His  infancy  discovering  promising  parts,  he  was 
early  sent  to  the  school  at  Oswestry,  in  the  same  county, 
and  his  close  application  to  school-learning,  determining 
his  parents  to  dedicate  him  to  religion  and  learning,  he 
was  entered  of  Hart-hall,  Oxford.  Here  be  soon  made  a 
considerable  proficiency  in  divinity,  as  well  as  other  studies  ' 
necessary  for  the  profession  for  which  he  was  intended : 
but,  labouring  under  the  common  dbadvantages  of  a  nar- 
row fortune,  his  circumstances  not  permitting  a  longer 
residence  at  Oxford,  he  left  the  university  soon  after  be 
had  commenced  bachelor  of  afts.  Much  about  this  time 
be  entered  into  holy  orders ;  and  the  first  duty  be  had 
was  that  of  a  parish  near  Bridgenorth  in  Shropshire,  his 

'  Biof .  Brit  an  article  drawn  up  by  WOliam  Bray,  egq.  F.  S.  A.    See  abt 
ChQrtcMi*8  Lires  of  tbe  Founders  of  Brazen-nose  college,  p.  203. 


BRAY.  46* 

tiadVe  county^  from  which  cucstcy  be  soon  removed  into 
.Warwickshire,  officiating  as  chaplain  in  >sir  Thomas  Price*^ 
bati^y^  of  Park-hall,  and  had  the  donative  of  Lac  Marsin 
gi¥^  him.by  sir  Xbomas,  which  proved  very  advant.ge* 
Otis ;  for  living  now  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Coieshill,  his 
Ql^emplary  behaviour,  and*  disting^iisbed  diligence,  in  his 
falling,  introduced  him  into  the  acquaintance  erf  Mf. 
JKettlewell,  sir  Charles  Holt,,  atrd  the  lord  Simon  Digby. 
Qne  incident  which  ccmtiribiuted  to  establish  his  character 
at  this  juncture,  was  .his<^pceacbing  the  assize  sermon  at 
Warwick,  on  which  ocisasion  Mx^Bray^  though  but  youngs 
acquitted  himself  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  whole  audience^ 
particularly  the  lord  Digby,  who  was  afterwards  pleased  tb 
tionour  him  with  many  proofs  of  his  friendship  and  esteem, 
XfscdminendiDg  him  to  the  worthy  and  honourable  patronage 
of  bjm  brother,  the  fifth  .lord  Digby,  who  some  time  after 
gave  him  the  vicarage  c^  OverrWhitacre  in  the  ssilne 
county,  since  augmeoted,  by  his.  patron's, unconunon  ge^ 
aerpsity,  with  the  great  tithes.  In  1690,  the  rectory  of 
Sheldon  beings  vacant,  by  Mr.  Digby  Bull's  refusing  to  take 
ti|p49ajth»at  the  revolution,  his  lordship  presented  Mr.  Bray 
tf^.  it;.,  which,  preferme^  be  held  till  about  a  quarter  of  a 
yearbefore  his.deatbj.  whisn  he  resignedit  by  reason  of  biii 
a^lVf^Qcedjage,  $^nd  the  knovv it:. worth  and  abilities  of  his 
appointed  successor,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Carpenter.  Dec.  12, 
1^93,  he  topk  his  master  o{, aria  degree  in  Hart-hall,  Ox- 
ford. In  this  parish  of  Sheldon  he  composed  his  ^^.Cate-* 
chetiical  Lectures,"  a  work  which  met  with  general. appro-^ 
lotion, and  encouri^gement,  and  produced  to  him  theiuimof 
7Q0/»  This  pubUc^on,  whicb.drewhiaiouftof  his  rural  prii- 
vaqy.to  Loudon,  determined  D|;tGompton^  bishop  of  Lon«« 
d^Q,  t9  pitcb  Kppn  him  as  a  proper  person  to  model  the 
iqifant  church  of  Maryland,  and  establish,  it  upon  a  soUd 
foundation*^  Accordingly,  in  April  1696,  he  pi!QfK)eed 
to  Mr..  Bray  to  go^  on  the  terms  of  having  the  judicial  c^ee 

*  In  1 691  and  1699,  the  then   go«  a  petitionary  act  to  their  then  majes-  . 

vM^'lii^d  sfesembly  df  Maryland  di-  ties  kmg  WHIiani  mnd  queen  Mary ,  to 

r'yd^  ihat  proviAce  itt|i>4>furti>lief9  and  anncix  for  ever  the  judicial  offlc6  of 

esUibiishedsL legal  mainlecianeofor  the  commissary,  before  in  the  disposal  9^' 

re8^)k;tive  nmoisters.     In  the  month 'of  the  goternor,  to  that  which  is  purely 

O^tobfr  1695/  they  took  iBto  cteui-  etidetiaatical,  «hd  iit  the  appbintnient 

denl^on  ^  ,|Qxpeclie9cy  of  having «ome  c^  the.J>isbop  pf  JUandoB,  to  wt)^^  th^ 

ow  Cl^gyman    to  preside    oveir  the  wrote  to  desire  him  to  send  them  over 

rest^  and,  in  order  to  support  some  some     unexceptionable     experience^ 

fiilli^  sttperiiitetidant  comtfissary  or       * >«•--. t.  4^,_j*-j'_A_i 

•uffragan,  they  uBanimdusly  agretd  in 

Vol.  VI.  H  a 


some     unexceptionable     experr< 
cleri^man  for  the  uxletitlied'omc^. 


466  BRAY. 

of  commissary,  talued,  as  wa^  represented  to  him,  at  fodr 
liundred  pounds  per  annum,  conferred  upon  bim,  for  his 
support  in  that  service.  Mr.  Bray,  disregarding  his  owa 
interest,  and  the  great  profit  which  would  have  arisen  froov 
finishing  his  course  of  lectures  on  the  plan  he  had  formed^ 
soon  determined,  in  his  own  mfnd,  that  there  might  be  a^ 
greater  field  for  doing  good  in  the  Plantations,  than  by  his 
labours  here,  and  no  longer  demurred  to  the  proposal,  than 
to  inquire  into  the  state  of  the  country,  and  inform  himself 
what  was  most  wanting  to  excite  good  ministers  to  embark 
in  that  design,  as  well  as  enable  them  most  effectually  to 
promote  it.  With  this  view  he  laid  before  the  bishops  the 
following  considerations : — That  none  but  the  poorer  sort 
of  clergy  could  be  persuaded  to  leave  their  friends,  and 
change  their  native  country  for  one  so  remote ;  that  sud^ 
persons  could  not  be  able  sufficiently  to  supply  themselves 
with  books ;  that  without  such  a  competent  provision  of 
books,  they  could  not  answer  the  design  of  their  mission  ; 
—that  a  library  would  be  the  best  encouragement  to  stu- 
dious and  sober  men  to  undertake  the  service ;  and  that,  as 
the  great  inducement  to  himself  to  go,  would  be  to  do  the 
most  good  of  which  he  could  be  capable,  he  therefore 
purposed,  that  if  they  thought  fit  to  encourage  and  assist 
him  iu  providing  parochial  libraries  for  the  ministers,  he 
would  then  accept  of  the  commissary's  office  in  Maryland. 
This  proposal  for  parochial  libraries  being  well  approved 
of  by  the  bishops,  and  due  encouragen^ent  being  promised 
in  the  prosecution  of  the  design,  both  by  their  lordships, 
and  others,  he  set  himself  with  all  possible  application  to 
provide  missionaries,  and  to  furnish  them  with  libraries^ 
intending,  as  soon  as  he  should  have  sent  both,  to  follow 
after  himself.  But,  upon  his  accepting  of  this  employment 
of  commissary  of  Maryland,  it  fell  to  his  share  to  solicit  at 
home  whatever  other  matters  related  to  that  church,  more 
particularly  to  the  settlement  and  establishment  thereof^ 
which  he  laboured  to  promote  with  unwearied  diligence, 
and  spared  neither  expence  or  trpuble.  But,  above  all^ 
it  was  his  greatest  care,  to  endeavour  to  send  over  to  Mary- 
land, and  the  other  colonies,  pious  men,  of  exemplary 
lives  and  conversations,  and  to  furnish  those  whom  he  had 
a  hand  in  sending,  with  good  libraries  of  necessary  and 
useful  books,  to  render  them  capable  of  answering  the  ends 
of  their  mission^  and  instructing  the  people  in  all  things 
necessary  to  their  salvation.    The  sense  of  the  clergy  aad 


BRAY.  467 

inhabitants,  with  respect  to  these  important  services,  wa» 
testified  by  the   solemn  letters  of  thanks,  returned  him 
from  the  assemblies  of  Maryland,  from  the  vestries  of  Bos* 
ton  and  Baintrie  in  New  England,  from  Newfoundland, 
Rhode  Island,  New  York,  Philadelphia,  North  Carolina^ 
Bermudas,    and    by  the  acknowledgments   of  the   royal 
African  company,  on  account  of  those  procured  for  their 
factories.     About  the  same  time  it  was,  that  the  secretary 
of  Maryland,  sir  Thomas  Lawrence,  with  Mr.  Bray,  wait- 
ed on  the  then  princess  of  Denmark,  in  behalf  of  that  pro- 
vince, humbly  to  request  her  gracious  acceptance  of  the 
governor's  and  country's  dutiful  respects,  in  having  deno- 
Ininated  the  metropolis  of  the  province,  then  but  lately 
built,  from  her  royal  Highness's  name,  Annapolis :  and  Mr. 
Bray  being  soon  after  favoured  with  a  noble  benefaction 
from  the  same  royal  hand,  towards  his  libraries  in  America^ 
he  dedicated  the  first  library  in  those  parts,  fixed  at  An- 
napolis, and  which  had  books  of  the  choicest  kind  belong- 
ing to  it,  to  the  value  of  four  hundred  pounds,  to  her  me- 
mory, by  the  title  of  the  Annapolitan  Library,  which  words 
were  inscribed  on  the  several  books.     Another  design  was 
also  set  on  foot,  much  about  the  same  time,  by  Dr,  Bray, 
to  raise  lending  libraries  in  every  deanery  throughout  Eng- 
land and  Wales,  out  of  which  the  neighbouring  clergy 
might  borrow  the  books  they  had  occasion  for,  and  where 
they  might  consult  upon  matters  relating  to  their  function 
and  to  learning.     Up6n  this,  many  lending  libraries  were 
founded  in  several  parts  of  the  kingdom,  besides  above  a 
hundred  and  fifty  parochial  ones  in  Great  Britain  and  the 
plantations,  from  ten  to  fifty  pounds  value,  those  in  South 
Britain  being  afterwards  secured  to  posterity,  by  an  act  of 
parliament  passed  for  that  purpose  in  1708.     Soon  after^  j 
upon  the  repeated  instances  of  the  governor  and  some  of 
the  country,  Mr.  Bray  was  at  the  charge  of  taking  the  de- 
gree of  doctor  of  divinity,  which,  though  it  might  be  of 
some    use,    as  procuring  a   certain  degree    of  respect^ 
did    then  but  ill  coitoport   with    his  circumstances.     He 
took  his  degrees  of  bachelor  of  divinity,  and  doctor,  to- 
gether, by  accumulation,  not  of  Hart  hall  where  he  was 
entered,  but  of  Magdalen  college,  Dec.  17,  1696.     Soon 
after,  the  better  to  promote  his  main  design  of  libraries, 
atid  to  give  the  missionaries  directions  in  prosecuting  their 
theological  studies,  he  publishec^  two  books,  one  entitled, 
<^  Bibliotheca  Parochialis;  or,  a  Scheme  of  suchTheolo?  \ 

HH  2 


4es  BRAY. 

gical  and  other -heads,  as  seem  requisite  to  be  perused^  or 
occasionally  consulted  by  the  reverend  Clergy,  together 
with  a  catalogue  of  books,  which  may  be  profitably  read  6a 
each  of  those  points/'  &c.     The  other,  *^  Apostolic  Cha* 
nty,  its  nature  and  excellency  considered,  in  a  discourse 
upon  Daniel  xii.  3.  preached  at  St.  Paul's,  at  the  ordina* 
tion  of  some  Protestant  Missionaries  to  be  sent  into  the 
plantations.     To  which  is  prefixed,  a  general  view  of  the 
English  colonies  in  America,  in  order  to  show  what  provi- 
sion is  wanting  for  the  propagation  of  Christianity  in  those 
parts,  together  with  proposals  for  the  promoting  the  same^ 
to  induce  such  of  the  clergy  of  this  kingdom,  as  are  per- 
sons of  sobriety  and   abilities,  to  accept  of  amission.** 
During  this  interval,  viz.  in  the  ydar  1697,  a.  bill  being 
brought  into  the  house  of  commons  to  alienate  lands  given 
to  superstitious  uses,  and  to  vest. them  in  Greenwich  hos- 
pital, he  preferred  a  petition  to  the  house,  that  some  share 
thereof  might  be  appropriated  for  the  propagation  of  reli* 
gion  in  the  Plantations,  and  that  the  same  should  be  vested 
in  a  body  politic,  to  be  erected  for  that  purpose ;  wluch 
petition  was  received  very  well  in  the  house,  and  a  fou!rth 
part  of  all  that  should  be  discovered,  aJFter  one  moiety  to 
the  discoverer,  was  readily  and  unanimously  allotted  by  the 
committee  for  that  use,  it  being  thought  by  far  more  rea- 
sonable, to  appropriate  some  part  at  least  of  what  was 
given  to  superstitions  uses,  to  uses  truly  pious,  than  alto- 
gether to  other,  though  charitable  purposes  :  but  the  J>ill 
was  never  suffered  to  be  reported.     In  the  year  1698,  fail- 
ing of  a  public  ai)d  settled  provision  by  law,  for  carrying 
on  the  service  of  the  church  in  Maryland,  and  the  other 
plantations,  he  addressed  his  majesty  for  a  grant  -of  some 
arrears  of  taxes  due  to  the  crown  ;  and  some  time  after, 
was  obliged  to  be  at  the  charge  and  trouble  of  going  over 
to  the  king  in  Holland,  to  have  the  grant  completed.     The 
recovery  of  these  arrears  of  taxes  was  represented  as  very 
feasible  and  very  valuable,  and  also  without  any  griev^ance 
to  the  subject:  but  as  they  proved  troublesome  to  be. re- 
covered, so  they  were  scarcely  of  any  value.     All  designs 
failing  of  getting  a  public  fund  for  the  propagation  of  the 
Gospel  in  foreign  parts,  he  thereupon  formed  a  design,  of 
which  he  then  drew  the  plan,  of  having  a  Protestaot  con- 
gregation, pro  fide  propaganda^  by  charter  frooi  the  king, 
but  this  he  was  obliged  to  defer  till  a  more  favourable  op-* 
portunity.    However^  to  prepare  the  way.for  «tt(^b.i»i$bar- 


BRAY.  ^^9 

ter-society,  he  soon  after  made  it  his  endeavour,  to  find 
worthy  persons  ready  to  form  a  voluntary  society,  both  to 
carry  on  the  service  already  begun  for  the  Plantations,  and 
to  propagate  Christian  knowledge  as  well  at  home  as 
'  abroad^  hoping  afterwards  to  get  such  a  society  incorpo- 
rated. This  he  laid  before  the  bishop  of  London,  in  the 
year  1697,  and  a  society  was  constituted  on  this  plan  ;  and 
though  the  design  of  having  them  incorporated  by  charter 
could  not  then  be  brought  to  bear,  yet  they  still  subsisted 
and  acted  as  a  voluntary  society.  But  their  number  and 
benefactions  at  last  increasing,  a  different  constitution  and 
more  extensive  powers  appeared  necessary  for  the  suc- 
cess of  the  undertaking :  application  was  therefore  made, 
by  Dr.  Bray,  to  his  then  majesty  king  William,  for  his 
royal  charter.  The  doctor's  petition  to  his  majesty,  with 
other  papers  relating  to  the  corporation  to  be  erected  for 
the  propagation  of  the  gospel  in  foreign  parts,  was  read 
May  5,  1701;  and  his  majesty's  letters,  patent,  under  the 
great  seal  of  England,  for  erecting  a  corporation,  by  the 
name  of  "  The  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel 
in  foreign  parts,"  was  laid  before  the  society,  and  read 
the  ninth  of  June  following.  He  received  no  advantage  all/ 
this  time  from  bis  commissary's  place  in  Maryland ;  neither'^ 
was  any  allowance  made  him  at  home,  or  preferment  given 
him,  to  support  the  charge  of  living  altogether  in  town,  to 
solicit  the  establishment  and  endowment  of  the  church  of 
Maryland,  and  to  provide  missionaries  for  that  and  all  the 
colonies  on  the  Continent ;  which,  excepting  Virginia,  lay 
upon  him  ;  all  the  benefactions  that  were  received  being  to 
be  laid  oxit  to  raise  them  libraries,  which,  also  he  did  faster 
than  money  came  in  to  answer  the  charge.  This  being  ob- 
served by  some  of  his  friends,  they  endeavoured  to  persuade 
him  to  lay  his  design  of  going  abroad  aside,  and  take  two 
good  preferments  that  were  then  offered  him  at  home,  of 
as  good  or  better  value  than  what  was  proposed  to  him  in 
Maryland,  viz.  that  of  sub-almoner,  and  the.  donative  of' 
i^ldgate,  in  the  city  of  London.  But  he  declined  all  offers 
that  were  inconsistent  with  his  going  to  Maryland,  as  soon 
as  it  should  become  proper  for  him  to  take  that  voyage. 
By  the  year  1699,  having  waited  upwards  of  two  years  for 
the  return  of  the  act  of  religion  from  Maryland,  with  such 
amendments  as  would  render  it  without  exception  at  the 
court  of  England ;  and  it  being  presumed  by  his  superiors, 
that  it  would  be  requisite  the  doctor  should  now  bastea 


'470  BRAY. 

over,  as  well  to  encourage  the  passing  of  that  act  in  thmr 
assemblies,  as  to  promote  other  matters  for  the  service  of 
religion   there,  it  was  signified  to  him  from  them  that 
the}^  would  have  him   take  the  opportunity  of  the  first 
ship ;  and  indeed,  the  doctor  having,  by  this  time,  tried 
all   ways   he  could   think  of,  and  done   all  he  was  able 
to   do  here,    to   serve   those   parts,     and    according   to 
proposal  having  provided  Maryland,  as  also  many  other 
colonies,  with  a  competent  number  of  missionaries,  and 
furnished  them  with  good  libraries,  to  be   fixed   in  the 
places  where  they  were  sent,  to  remain  there  for  ever,  be 
was  himself  eager  to  follow,  and  did  so  accordingly,  evea 
in  the  winter,  though  he  had  no  allowance  made  him  to« 
wards  his  charge  of  the  voyage,  and  the  service  he  was  to 
do ;  but  was  forced  to  dispose  of  bis  own  small  effects,  and 
raise  money  on  credit  to  support  him.     With  this  poor  en- 
couragement, and  thus,  on  his  own  provision,  he  took  the 
voyage,  December  16,  1699,  and  set  sail  from  the  Downs 
the  twentieth  of  the  same  month  ;  but  was  driven  back  into 
Plymouth-sound  on  Christmas-eve^  and  remained  in  har« 
bour  almost  all  the  holydays,  where  his  time  was  not  un* 
usefully  spent,  in  the  recovery  of  a  tolerable  library  there 
out  of  dust  and  rubbish,  which  was  also  indebted  to  him  for 
^  benefaction  of  books ;  and  where  he  left  a  proposal  for 
taking  in  subscriptions  to  make  it  a  sea-port  library,  for  the 
use  of  missionaries  and  sea-chaplains,  as  well  as  others.- 
After  an  extremely  tedious  and  dangerous  passage,  the 
doctor  arrived  at  Maryland  the  twelfth  of  March,  where  he 
applied  himself  immediately  to  repair  the  breach  made  in 
the  settlement  of  the  parochial  clergy  ;  in  order  to  which 
be  consulted,  in  the  first  place,  the  governor,  whom  he 
found  ready  to  concur  in  all  proper  methods  for  the  re-es* 
tablishment  of  their  maintenance.     Before  the  next  assem-* 
bly,   which  was   to  be  in   May  following,  he   sent  to  all 
the  clergy  on  the  western  shore,  who  only  could  come  to* 
gether  in  that  season,  to  learn  from  them  the  disposition  of 
the  people,  and  to  advise  with  them  what  was  proper  to  be . 
done,  in  order  to  dispose  the  members  of  the  assembly  to 
re-enact  their  law  next  meeting.     Soon  after  he  had  dis-c 
missed  their  clergy,  he  made  his  parochial  visitation^  as 
far  as  it  was  possible  for  him  at  that  season  ;  in  which,  he 
met  with  very  singular  respect  from  persons  of  the  best 
condition  in  the  country,  which  the  doctor  turned  to  the 
advantage  of  that  poor  church.     During  the  sessions  of  the  / 
^senibly,  and  whilst  the  re-establishment  of  the  church  ^ 


BRAY.  471 

'ivas  depending,  he  preached  very  proper  and  season&ble 
sermons,  with  a  tendency  to  incline  the  country  to  the  es- 
tablishment of  the  church  and  clergy ;  all  which  were  so 
-well  received,  that  he  had  the  thanks  of  the  assembly,  by 
messages  from  the  house.  The  doctor  was  providentially 
tm  such  good  terms  with  the  assembly,  that  they  ordered 
-the  attorney-general  to  advise  with  him  in  drawing  up  the 
bill ;  and  that  he  himself  might  be  the  better  advised  in 
'that  case,  he  sent  for  the  most  experienced  clergy  within 
reach,  to  suggest  to  him,  what  they  found  would  be  of 
advantage  to  them  and  the  church,  to  be  inserted  in,  or 
left,  out  of  it ;  by  which  means  the  constitution  of  that 
church  bad  much  the  advantage  of  any  in  America.  It  may 
not  be  amiss  to  observe  in  this  place,  that  as  well  during  the 
-gtoeral  court  or  assize,  which  preceded  the  assembly,  and 
lasted  thirteen  days,  as  during  the  sessions  of  the  assembly 
itself,  he  was  under  a  necessity  of  entertaining  the  gentle- 
men of  the  province,  who  universally  visited  him ;  a  charge^ 
however,  which  he  thought  requisite  as  circumstances  then 
were,  that  he  might  strengthen  his  interest  in  them,  the 
better  to  promote  the  establishment  of  the  clergy's  main- 
tenance. The  bill  being  prepared,  passed  with  a  nemine 
cantradicente ;  but  it  was  on  all  hands  declared  and  con- 
fessed, that  it  was  very  providential  that  Dr.  Bray  came 
into  the  country  at  that  juncture.  Soon  scfter  the  assembly 
was  up,  the  commissary  <^ited  the  whole  clergy  of  the  pro- 
vince to  a  general  visitation  at  Annapolis,  to  be  held  May 
22,  1700.  At  the  close  of  this  visitation,  the  clergy  taking 
into  consideration,  that  the  opposition  of  the  Quakers 
'  against  the  establishment  of  that;  church  would  in  all  pro- 
bability continue,  so  as  to  get  the  law  for  its  establishment 
so  lately  re-enacted,  annulled  again  at  home,  they  entered 
into  debates,  'whether  it  would  not  be  of  consequence  to 
the  preservation  and  final  settlement  of  that  church,  that 
the  doctor  should  be  requested  to  go  home  with  the  law, 
and  to  solicit  the  royal  assent.  It  had  been  before  voted^ 
at  the  passing  the  bill  in  the  house  of  burgesses,  that  he 
should  be  desired  to  request  his  grace  of  Canterbury,  and 
the  bishop  of  London,  to  favour  that  good  law, .  by  obtain- 
ing bis  majesty's  royal  assent  to  it  with  all  convenient 
speed ;  and  the  members  who  gave  him  an  account  of  pass- 
ing their  vote,  told  him  withal,  that  it  was  the  general  opi- 
.  nion  of  the  house,  that  he  could  be  most  serviceable  by 
waiting  personally  on  their  lordships,  rather  than  by  let- 
ters, in  which  be  could  not  crowd  all  that  might  be  neqes- 


472  BRA  Y. 

k  ■ 

sary  to  be  represented  concerning  the  then  state  of  the 
church,  and  the  necessity,  at  that  time,  of  their  utmost  pa- 
tronage :  and  it  was  in  debate,  whether  this  should  not  be 
the  desire  of  the  assembly ;  but  it  was  thought  too  unrea* 
sonable  a  request  from  them,  who  were  sensible  of  the 
great  danger  and  fatigue  he  had  already  been  at  in  the  secr 
vice  of  that  province,  as  they  had  a  few  days  before  ac- 
knowledged by  a  message  of  thanks  from  that  house.  Suck 
were  the  sentiments  of  the  members  of  the  assembly,  as  to 
the  necessity  of  his  coming  home  to  solicit  the  establish- 
ment of  that  church ;  and  the  clergy  meeting  at  their  visi- 
tation, some  weeks  after,  represented  to  him,  as  the  ear- 
nest desire  of  the  more  sensible  persons  throughout  the 
country^  as  well  as  of  the  assembly-men,  that  he  should ^p 
over  with  the  law  for  England ;  being  aware  that  its  oppo-^ 
nents  would  make  the  utmost  efforts  against  the  establish* 
ment  of  that  church,  by  false  representations  at  home  of 
the  numbers  and  riches  of  their  party,  and  by  insinuating, 
that  to  impose  upon  them  an  established  maintenance  fqr 
the  clergy,  would  be  prejudicial  to  the  interest  of  the  pro« 
vince,  by  obliging  so  many  wealthy  traders  to  remove  froiii 
thenpe,  the  igalsity  of  which,  or'any  Qther  suggestions,  they 
thought  him  best  able  to  make  appear,  by  the  informatioii 
he  had  gained  from  this  visitation.  There  were  also  mai^y 
other  advantages  to  the  church  in  those  parts,  which  they 
proposed  by  his  coming  home  at  that  time,  upon  the  con- 
sideration of  all  which  he  took  his  voyage  soon  after.  He 
was  no  sooner  arrived  in  England,  but  he  found  their  ap* 
prehensions  in  Maryland'not  ill  grounded ;  but  the  objec- 
tions raised  against  the  plan,  Dr.  Br^y  refuted,  by  a.printed 
memorial,  representing  truly  the  ^tate  of  the  cbufch  of  Ma- 
ryland, to  the  full  satisfaction  of  all  to  whom  it  was  com- 
municated. The  quakers'  opposition  to  the  eatablishipent 
now  depending,  was  carried  by  united  councils  and  con- 
tributions ;  but  the  doctor  refuted  their  specious  objections 
by  unanswerable  reasons,  and  placed  the  affair  in  such  ap 
advantageous  light,  that  his  majesty  decided,  without  any 
appearance  of  hesitation,  in  the  churches  favour,  and  gava 
the  royal  assent  in  these  remarkable  words :  ^^  Have  tbp 
Quakers  the  benefit  of  a  toleration  ?  let  the  ests^blished 
church  have  an  established  maintenance.'^  This  charge- 
able and  laborious  undertaking  having  swallowed  up  the  doc- 
tor's own  small  fortune,  lord  Weymouth  generously  pre-, 
sented  him  with  a  bill  of  300/.  for  his  ow^  privat^e  usc^  a 


BRAY.  47S 

ft 

large  portion  of  which  the  doctor  devoted  to  the  advance* 
inent  of  his  farther  designs.     Though  he  was  vested  with 
the  character  of  commissary,  yet  no  share  of  the  revenue 
proposed  was  annexed  to  it ;  and  his  generosity  even  in- 
duced him  to  throw  in  two  sums  of  fifty  pounds  each,  that 
were  presented  to  himself  in  Maryland,  towards  defraying 
the  charges  of  their  libraries  and  law.     After  the  return  of 
Dr.  Bray  from  thence  in  1701,  he  published  his  *^  Circular 
Letters  to  the  Clergy  of  Maryland,"  a  memorial,  repre- 
senting the  present  state  of  religion  on  the  continent  of 
North  America,  and  the  acts  of  his  visitation  held  at  An- 
napolis ;  for  which  he  had  the  thanks  of  the  society  above 
mentioned.     Not  only  the  bishop  of  London  approved  en- 
tirely of  all  these  transactions,  but  also  the  archbishop  of 
Canterbury  declared,  that  he  was  well  satisfied  with  the 
reasons  of  Dr.  Bray's  return  from  the  West  Indies,  and 
added,  that  his  mission  thither  would  be  of  the  greatest 
consequence  imaginable  to  the  establishment  of  religion  ia 
those  parts.     In  1706,  he  had  the  donative  of  St.  Botolph. 
without  Aldgate  ofl^ered  him  again,  which  he  then  accepted 
of,  worth  about  150/.  per  annum.     In  the  year  1712,  the 
doctor  printed  his  "  Martyrology;  or,  Papal  Usurpation,]** 
in  folio.     That  nothing  might  be  wanting  jto  enrich  and 
adorn  the   work,  he  establi8he4  a  correspondence,  with 
learned  foreigners  of  the  first  distinction,  and  called  in  the 
assistance  of  the  most  eminent  hands.     This  work  consist! 
of  some  choice  and  learned  treatises  of  celebrated  authors, 
which  were  grown  very  scarce,  ranged  and  digested  into  a$ 
regular  an  history  as  the  nature  of  the  subject. would  admit; 
He  proposed  to  compile  a  second  volume,  and  bad,  at  no 
small  expence  and  pains,  furnished  himself  with  materials 
for  it ;  but  he  was  afterwards  obliged  to  lay  the  prosecution 
of  his  design  aside,  and  bequeathed  by  will  his  valuable 
collection '  of  Martyrological  Memoirs,  both  printed  and 
manuscript,  to  Sion  college.     He  was,  indeed,  so  great  a 
Blaster  of  the  history  of  popery,  that  few  authors  could  be 
presumed  able,  with  equal  accuracy  and  learning,  to  trace 
the  origin  and  growth  of  those  exorbitant  claims  which  are 
made  by  the  see  of  Rome.     He  was  happily  formed  by  na- 
ture both  for  the  active  and  for  the  retired  life.     Charity 
to  the  souls  of  other  men,  was  wrought  up  to  the  highest 
pitch  in  his  own  :  every  reflection  on  the  dark  and  forlorn 
condition  of  the  Indians  and  negroes^  excited  in  his  bo- 
som the  niost  generous  emotions  of  pity  and  concern.    His 


^474  BRAY. 

Toyage  to  Holland,  to  solicit  king  William^s  pn>te<t;tioft  and 
encouragement  to  his  good  design s,  and  the  proofs  he  gave 
of  a  public  spirit  and  disinterested  zeal,  in  such  a  series  of 
generous  undertakings,  obtained  him  the  esteem  of  M. 
d'Allone  of  the  Hague,  a  gentleman  not  more  celebrated 
for  his  penetration  and  address  in  state  affairs,  than  fbr  a 
pious  disposition  of  mind.     An  epistolary  correspondence 
commenced  very  early  between  him  and  the  doctor  upon 
this  subject;  the 'result  of  which   was,  that  M.  d^AUone 
gave  in  his  life-time  a  sum  to  be  applied  to  the  conversioii 
of  negroes,  desiring  the  doctor  to  accept  the  management 
and  disposal  of  it.     But  that  a  standing  provision  might  be 
made  for  this  purpose,  M.  d'AUone  bequeathed  by  will  a 
certain  sum,  viz.  900  pounds,  out  of  his  English  estate,  to 
Dr.  Bray  and  his  associates,  towards  erecting  a 'capital  fiind 
or  stock,  for  converting  the  negroes  i|i  the  British  plan* 
tations.     This  was  in  the  year  1723,  much  about  which 
time  Dr.  Bray  had  an  extreoiely  dangerous  fit  of  illness^ 
so  that  his  life  and  recovery  were  despaired  of.   In  the  year 
1726,   he  was  employed  in   composing  and  piinting  his 
*^  Directorium'  Missionarium,''  his  ^^  Primordia  Btblietbe'- 
caria,^'  and  some  ether  tracts  of  the  like  kind.     About  this 
time  he  also  wrote  a  short  account  of  Mr.  Rawlet,  the  au-^ 
tbor  of  ^^  The  Christian  Monitor  ;'*  and  refurintedthe  Life  of 
Mr.  Gilpin.     Some  of  these  were  calculated  for  the  use  of 
the  mission  ;  and  in  one  he  has  endeavoured  to  shew,  that 
civilizing  the  Indians  must  be  the  first  step  in  any  success*- 
ful  attempt  for  their  conversion.     In  his  ^^  Primordia  Bib* 
liothecaria,"  we  tiave  several  schemes  of  parochial  libra- 
ries, and  a  method  laid  down  to  proceed  by  a  gradual  pro- 
gression, from  a  collection  not  much  exceeding  one  pound 
in  value,  to  one  of  a  hundred.     His  attention  to  other  good 
works  occasioned  no  discontinuance  of  this  design,  the  sue* 
cess  of  which  was  so  much  the  object  of  his  desires;  and 
accordingly  benefactions  canie  in  so  fast,  that  he  had  busi«* 
ness  enough  upon  his  hands  to  form  the  libraries  desired. 
As  the  furnishing  the  parochial  clergy  with  the  means  of  in- 
struction, would  be  an  effectual  method  to  promote  Chris- 
tian knowledge,  so  another  expedient,  manifestly  subser- 
vient to  the  same  end,  would  be,  he  thought,  to  imprint  on 
the  minds  of  those  who  are  designed  for  the  ministry,  pre- 
viously to  their  admission,  a  just  sense  of  its  various  duties^ 
and  their  great  importance.     With  a  view  to  this,  he  re- 
printed thk  ^'  Ecclesiastes  of  Erasmus."     In  the  year  1727, 


B  RAY*  475^ 

mn  acquaintance  of  Dr.  Bray's  made  a  casual  visit  to  White- 
chapel  prison ;  and  his  representation  of  the  miserable  state 
of  the  prisoners  had  such  an  effect  on  the  doctor,  that  he 
immediately  applied  himself  to  solicit  benefactions  in  order 
to  relieve  \^em ;  and  he  had  soon  contributions  sufficient 
to  provide  a  quantity  of  bread,  beef,  and  broth,  on  Sun- 
days, and  now  and  then  on  the  intermediate  days,  for  this 
prison  and  the  Borough  compter.  To  temporal,  he  always 
subjoined  spiritual,  provisions ;  and  to  enure  them  to  the 
most  distasteful  part  of  their  office,  the  intended  missionaries 
were  here  employed  in  reading  and  preaching.  On  this  oc- 
casion that  scene  of  inhumanity  was  imperfectly  discovered, 
which  afterwards  some  worthy  patriots  of  the  house  of  com- 
iQons  took  so  much  pains  to  inquire  into  and  redress. 
Being  now  far  advanced  in  years,  and  continually  reminded 
of  his  approaching  change,  by  the  imbecility  and  decays  of 
old  age,  he  was  desirous  of  enlarging  the  number  of  his  as- 
sociates, and  adding  such  to  them,  in  whose  zeal  and  inte- 
grity he  might  repose  an  entire  confidence.  His  inquiry 
into  the  state  of  the  gaols,  made  him  acquainted  with  Mr. 
(afterwards  general)  Oglethorpe,  who  accepted  the  trust 
himself,  and  engaged  several  others,  some  of  the  first  rank 
and  distinction,  to  act  with  him  and  the  former  associates. 
In  short,  most  of  the  religious  societies  and  good  designs  in 
London,  owe  grateful  acknowledgment  to  his  memory, 
and  are,  in  a  great  measure,  formed  on  the  plans  he  pro- 
jected; particularly  the  society  for  the  reformation  of  man- 
ners, charity  schools,  and  the  society  for  the  relief  of  poor 
proselytes,  &c.  The  doctor  having  thus  happily  lodged 
his' principal  designs  in  the  v hands  of  able  managers,  de- 
parted this  life  February  15,  1730,  in  the  seventy-third 
year  of  his  age,  leaving  issue  a  son  and  daughter. 

Besides  the  works  above  mentioned,  the  accurate  editor 
of  the  new  editidn  of  his  life,  informs  us  that  he  printed 
^^  Proposals  for  the  encouragement  and  promoting  of  reli- 
gion and  learoing  in  the  foreign  plantations,"  in  a  folio 
sheet :  with  the  addition  of  ^^  The  present  state  of  Mary- 
land." * 

•  BREAu  (LoDOVico),  of  Nizza,  an  artist  who  flourished 
from  1483  to  1513,  may  be  considered  as  the  founder  of 
the  primitive  Ligurian. school;  Genoa  and  its  states  still 

•  • 

1  **  Public  spirit  illustrated  in  the  Life  and  Designs  of  the  Rev^  T.  Bray, 
D.  D.'*  8vo,  1746,  of  which  a  much  improved  edition  was  published  by  the  Rev* 
11.  J.  Todd,  8ro.  1808, 


476  B  R  E  A. 

possess  many  of  his  works.  Though  inferior' in  taste  to  the 
best  contemporaries  of  other  schools,  meagre  in  design^ 
an'd  attached  to  gilding,  he  yields  to  none  in  characteristic 
beanty  of  heads,  and  a  vivacity  of  colour,  which  has  defied 
time.  The  folds  of  his  draperies  are  natural,  hi^  compo- 
«tion  has  propriety,  his  attitudes  spirit,  his  plans  are  uft- 
fTommon.  He  possesses  an  originality  which  clears  him  froin 
all  suspicion  of  imitation,  or  deference  to  another  school ; 
all  this  is  to  be  understood  of  small  proportions,  for  on 
large  dimensions  it  does  not  appear  that  he  ever  ven- 
tured. The  most  praised  of  his  relics  are  a  "Murder of 
the  Innocents"  at  St.  Agostino ;  and  a  "  St.  John,''  in  the 
oratory  of  the  Madonna  di  Savona.  ^ 

BREBEUF  (George  de),  a*  French  poet,  was  born  at 
Torigniin  Lower  Normandy,  1618.  He  was  distinguished 
chiefly  by  a  translation  of  Luckn  ;  which,  notwithstanding 
its  inflated  stylv^,*  its  numerous  antitheses,  and  its  various 
false  brilliancies,'  continued  to  be  long  admired.  It  eugagi^d 
attention  and  applause  so  powerfnliy  at  first,  that  cardinal 
Mazarine  made  great  promises  of  advaaicement  to  tibe 
translator  ^  but  died  without  fulfilling  them.  But  the 
best  and  the  most  popular  of  his  works  is,  the  first  book 
of  Lucan  travestied,  an  ingenious  satire  upon  the  great^ 
who  are  described  as  never  losing  a  nioment's  sight  of  their 
greatness  and  titles ;  and  upon  the  meanness  and  servility 
of  those  who,  with  a  view  of  making  their  fortunes,  sub- 
mit to  flatter  them  as  gods.  It  is  said  of  Brebeuf,  that  be 
had  a  fever  upon  him  for  more  twenty  years.  He  died  in 
1661,  aged  43;  and,  if  the  last  anecdote  of  him  be  true,  it 
IS  somewhat  marvellous  that  he  lived  so  Ions:. 

Besides  his  Lucan,  he  published  some  sacred  poetry,  en- 
titled, 1.  "  Les  entretiens  solitaires,"  l2mo.  2.  "Rectieil 
desoeuvres  diverges,"  1664,  2  vols.  12mo,  in  which  collec- 
tion are  one  hundred  epigrams  on  a  lady  who  painted, 
written  for  a  wager,  decided,  we  presume,  as  to  numbers 
rather  than  merit.  3.  "  Des  eclogues  poetiques,"  12ino:  4. 
*.^  Defense  de  Teglise  Romaine,"  12mo.  1671.  HisLuban 
Travestie  was  published  at  Paris  in  1656,   l2mo.*  ' 

BREDA,  or  BREDALE  (Peter  Van),  a  painter  of 
landscapes  and  cattle,  was  born  at  Antwerp  in  1630;  stu- 
died landscape  after  nature,  and  adorned  his  designs  i^'nh 
figures^    correctly  drawn  and  judiciously  grouped.    "His 

*  Pilkingtoiu  «  Moreri.— Diet.  Hist. 


t  R  E  0  A.  477 

scenes  are  generally  enriched  with  elegant  RomSin  builds 
ings,  fountains,  monuments,  and  ruins.  His  style,  though 
inferior,  resembled  that  of  John  Brueghel.  He  died  in 
1681.' 

BREDA  (John  Van),  a  painter  of  history,  landscape, 
and  conversations,  was  born  at  Antwerp  in  1633,  and  in- 
structed by  his  father  Alexander  Van  Breda,  who  was  much 
esteemed  as  an  artist,  with  whom  he  continued,  profiting 
by  good  example  and  advice,  till  he  was  I S  years  of  age* 
Having  established  his  reputation  in  Holland,  he  accom- 
panied Rysbrack  the  sculptor  to  London,  where  he  was 
highly  esteemed  and  obtained  considerable  patronage,  and 
particularly  that  of  ihe  earl  of  Derwentwater,  who  was  be- 
headed for  rebellion  in  1715.    Ili  London  he  was  much  em- 
ployed by  the  colirt  and  nobility,  and  was  hardly  able  to 
supply  the  demands  for  his  performances.     From  London, 
after  a  residence  of  five  years,  he  returned  to  Antwerp, 
much  enriched  ;  and  in  1746,  when  Louis  XIV.  visited  that 
city,  he  honoured  this  master  by  purchasing  four  of  his  pic- 
tures ;  viz.  **  Christ  at  the  sea  of  Tiberias,"  **  Christ  per- 
.  forming  miracles,"  and  "  two  landscapes."  He  certainly  ap- 
proached nearer  to.those  great  masters  whose  manner  he  imi- 
tated, Brueghel  and  Wouwermans,  than  any  other  artist  of 
bis  time.     His  landscapes  are  in  the  style  and  taste  of  the 
former;  and  his  conversations,  historical  figures,  fairs,  and 
battles,  are  in  the  manner  of  the  latter.     He  died  in  1750.* 
BREENBERG  (Bartholomew,  called  Bartolomeo),  a 
painter  and  engraver,  was  born  at  Utrecht  in  1620,  and 
went,  at  an  early  period,  for  improvement  to  Rome,    where 
the  society  of  Flemish   painters,  called  Bentvogels,  dis- 
tinguished him  by  the  appellation  of  Bartolomeo.     Among 
the  superb  ruins  and  beautiful  objects,  in  and  about  the 
city,  he  acquired  an  elegant  taste ;  and  he,  peculiarly  ex- 
celled in  landscapes,  which  he  enriched  with  historical  sub- 
jects.    The  figures  and  animals,  which  be  introduced,  were 
elegantly  disposed,  and  executed  with  spirit  and  freedom  : 
especially  when  they  were  not  larger  than  the  small  size, 
in  which  he  usually  painted  them.     His  manner,  particu- 
larly with  respect  to  colouring,  gradually  improved  ;  his 
touch  is  light  and  spirited,  his  tone  of  colouring  very  pleas- 
ing, bis  taste  altogether  of  the  Roman  school,  and  bis  pic- 
lures  are  distinguished  both  by  force  and  delicacy.     The 

J  Pilkinyton.  »  Ibia.      . 


478  BREENBSRO. 

drslperies  of  his  figures,  which  are  gracefully  proportioned 
and  designed,  are  easy  and  ornamental,  and  in  his  smallest 
figures,  the  expression  is  lively,  sensible,  and  natural.  His 
pictures  are  exceedingly  rare,  and  highly  yalued.  Wc 
have  of  his  etching  a  set  of  ^4  views,  and  landscapes,  oroa* 
mented  with  ruins,  &c,  from  his  own  designs.  Sir  Robert 
Strange  had  an  excellent  small  picture  of  Breenberg's,  a 
view  of  the  monument  of  Csecilia  Metella,  situated  near 
the  banks  of  the  Tiber,  a  few  miles  distant  from  Rome. 
The  foreground  is  beautifully  enriched  with  figures,  and 
the  whole  painted  with  great  transparency.  The  sky  in 
particular  is  penciled  with  an  elegance  which  exceeds  any 
thing  of  the  kind  in  the  works  of  Wouwermans.  Breen* 
berg  died  in  1660.  * 

BREGY  (Charlotte  Sau+maise  de  Chazan,  comtesse 
be),  neice  of  the  learned  Saumaise  (Salmasius),  was  one 
of  the  ladies  of  honour  to  queen  Anne  of  Austria.  She 
was  distinguished  at  that  court  by  her  beauty  and  her  wit ; 
both  of  which  she  preserved  to  an  advanced  age,  and  died 
at  Paris,  April  13,  1693,  at  the  age  of  74.  She  wrote  a 
collection  of  letters  and  verses,  168S,  12mo,  in  which  we* 
meet  with  many  ingenious  thoughts;  her  verses  almost 
entirely  turn  on  a  metaphysical  love,  which  employed  her 
mind  more  than  her  heart.  But  there  are  several  pieces 
that  are  not  of  this  description.  In  one  of  them  she  gives; 
the  following  portrait  of  herself:  ^^  I  am  fond  of  praise; 
and  this  it  is  that  makes  me  repay  it  with  usury  to  those 
from  whom  I  receive  it.  I  have  a  proud  and  scornful 
heart ;  but  this  does  not  prevent  me  from  being  gentle  and 
civil.  I  never  oppose  the  opinions  of  any;  but  I  must 
own  that  I  never  adopt  them  to  the  prejudice  of  my  own. 
I  may  say  with  truth  that  I  am  by  nature  modest  and  disi- 
creet,  and  that  pride  always  takes  care  to  preserve  these 
two  qualities  in  me.  I  am  indolent;  I  never  seek  plea- 
sures  and  diversions,  but  when  my  friends  take  more  pains 
than  I  do  to  procure  them  for  me.  I  feel  myself  obliged, 
and  I  appear  at  them  very  gay,  though  I  am  not  so  in  fsLCt. 
I  am  not  much  given  to  intrigue,  but  if  I  should  get  into 
an  affair  of  that  sort,  I  think  I  should  certainly  bring  my-> 
self  off  with  some  propriety.  I  am  constant,  even  to  ob- 
stinacy, and  secret  to  excess.  In  order  to  contract  a 
friendship  with  me,   all  advances  must  be  made  by  the 

'  Pilkiogtom— Ar^nville.— Strutt— ^-StniDge'8  CaUlogiu?. 


B  R  E  G  Y.  479 

l>lher  party ;  but  I  amply  compensate  all  this  trouble  in 
the  sequel :  for  I  serve  my  friends  wich  all  that  ardency 
usually  employed  in  selfish  interests.  I  praise  them,  and 
I  defend  them,  without  once  consenting  to  what  I  may 
hear  against  them.  I  have  not  so  much  virtue  as  to  be  free 
from  the  desire  of  the  goods  of  fortune  and  honours ;  but 
I  have  too  much  for  pursuing  any  of  the  ways  that  com- 
monly lead  to  them.  I  act  in  the  world  conformably  to 
what  it  ought  to  be,  and  too  little  according  to  what  it  is/' 

This  lady,  whose  article  we  have  retained  from  the  for« 
mer  edition,  principally  on  account  of  her  character,  a  to?* 
lerable  specimen  of  the  vanity  of  a  J'renchwoman,  married 
M.  de  Fiecelles,  count  de  Bregy,  lieutenant-general  ia 
the  army,  counsellor  of  state,  envoy  extraordinary  in  Po- 
land, and  afterwards  embassador  in  Sweden.  ^ 

BREITINGUER  (John  James),  whom  Meister  calls  the 
greatest  reformer  of  the  Swiss  schools  which  the  last  cen- 
tury produced,  was  born  Qlt  Zurich  March  1,  1701,  and 
after  going  through  a  course  of  acadiemical  instruction,  was 
i^dmitted  into  orders  in  1720.  The  space  which  usually 
intervenes  between  the  ordination  of  young  ministers  and 
their  establishment  in  a  church,  he  employed  principally 
in  the  study  of  th6  ancient  authors,  familiarizing  himself 
with  their  language  and  sentiments,  an  employment  which^ 
like  Zuinglius,  he  did  not  think  unworthy  of  the  attention 
of  an  ecclesiastic.  Persius  was  his  favourite  poet,  whom 
he  studied  so  critically  as  to  furnish  the  president  Bouhier 
with  some  happy  elucidations,  which  the  latter  adopted. 
Breitinguer^  however,  was  not  merely  a  verbal  critic,  and 
considered  such  criticism  as  useful  only  in  administering 
to  higher  pursuits  in  philosophy  and  the  belles-lettres* 
The  ^^  Bibliotheque  Helvetique"'  which  he  and  Bodmer 
wrote,  shews  how  criticism  and  philosophy  may  mutually 
assist  each  other.  He  formed  an  intimacy  with  Bodmer 
in  early  life,  (see  Bodmer),  and  both  began  their  career 
as  reformers  of  the  language  and  taste  of  their  country^ 
Breitinguer  found  a  liberal  patron  in  the  burgomaster 
Escher,  who  himself  proved  that  the  study  of  the  Greek 
language  is  a  powerful  counterpoise  to  a  bad  taste,  and 
was  the  person  who  encouraged  Breitinguer  principally  to 
produce  a  new  edition  of  the  Septuagint  translation.  In 
1731  be  was  chosen  professor  of  Hebrew,  and  in  order  to 

»  Mor«ri.— Diet.  Hist.  «diU  1789. 


A&O.  B  R  E  I  T  1  N  G  U  E  R.: 

£acilitfite  the  study  of  that  language  to  bifi  pupiby  Ji^  vnMf 

his  treatise  on  the  Hebrew  idioms.     Some  tiine  after*  Irfrf 

was  appointed  vice-professor  of  logic  and  rhetoric,  a«dr> 

from  that  time  began  the  reformation  which  be  tboujihC' 

much  wanted  in  the  schools,  with  a  treatise  ^^  De  eo  ^^/smti. 

nimium  est  in  studio  grammatico/'  and  a  system^  of  hogu^- 

in  Latin  and  German,  which  soon  took  the  place  of  >tbatz. 

of  Wendelin.     He  contributed  also  various  papers  to  ^thec 

•'  Tempe  Helvetica,"   and  the  "  Mu$GBum  Helv^icdoi^'^/ 

and  at  the  request  of  the  cardinal  Quirini  drew  up  an  ac^i^ 

count  of  a  MS.  of  the  Greek  psalm^  which  w^s  fouad  iiri: 

the  canons' library.     He  published  also  the  5^  Critipal.mrtfn 

of  Poetry.''     His  biographer  bestows  great  praise- on  all£ 

those  works,  and  different  as  the  subjects  are, .  a$sil:y:«;$}iis 

that  he  treated  each  as  if  it  bad  been  the  exclusiv,e  ol^}eot(> 

of  his  attention.     His  literary  acquaintance  was  also  very: 

extensive,  and  he  numbered  among  his  correspondents  tjbi^ 

cardinals  Passionei  and  Quirinj^   the  president  Bauhier^ 

the  abb6  Gerbert  de  St.  Blaise,    with  Iselin,   Bdnoapo^- 

Crusiiis,  le  Maitre,  Vernet,  Semler^  Ernesti,  &a. .  Bu];  beri? 

chiefly  excelled  as  a  teacher  of  youth,  and  especially,  of ^ 

those  intended  for  the  church,  having. introduced  twQ:re?rt 

gulations,  the  benefit  of  which  his  country  ^.n^ply  acknoffMl 

ledges.     The  one  was  that  young, divines  should^ .pr:6^<^s 

in  turn,  twice  a  week,  on  which  occasion  th€^^e|paoc^'!¥M^:: 

criticised  by  the  whole  body  of  students,- aided 'also  bye' 

Breitinguer's  remark^.     The  other  respects  an.  iostitutioiiij 

or  society  of  Ascistics^  as  they  were  called.     This  wascaw^J 

posed  of  the  clergy,  who  assembled./ at  stated  ho^urs,;  td^ 

discuss  subjects  relative  to  their  profession^  and  •comfiPit} 

sermons,  prayers,  hymns^  &c.     Some  of  thefn  alsOu>i^d: 

employed  in  visiting  the  hospitals,   others  quaUSed&r^ 

schoolmasters,  and  all  were  to. assist,  thq,pooi;  with.  adviMf. 

or  pecuniary  aid.     Breitinguer  also  prepared  a  catedv^fld:^ 

for  the  young,  on  an  improved  pl^i),  and  a  little  b^foQ^i 

his  death,  published  ^'  Orationes  Carolinse  d'Hottingu^,'{:» 

dedicated  to  Semlin.     He  continued  his<  actiye  ^xert^^M? 

almost  to  the  last  hour  of  his  life,  being  present  9I,  aQ<^t^ 

clesiastical  council,  on  Dec.  13,  1776,  but  on.  his  retuKU:^ 

was  seized  with  an  apoplexy,  of  which  he  died  the  foK* 

lowing  day.    Breitinguer  had  as  much  learning a^  Bodoa^^d 

though  not  as  much  natural  fire;  and  was  an  excellent 

critic.    To  the  works   already  noticed,   we  may  add.  hii. 

"  Diatribe  historico-literaria  in  versus'  obscurissijiios  .a  * 

•i4  *^ 


B  R  E  I  f  I  N  G  U  E  R.  48 1' 

lid  Satir.  I  citatos,"  1740,'  8vo.  His  edition  of  the 
Siaptttagtnt,  in  4  vols^  4tO)  was  published  &t  Zurich^  (Ti- 
guriiaiy)  1730.  The  text  is  accurately  compiled  from  the 
O^cford  edition  of  Grabe  :  to  which  are  added  at  the  bot^^ 
tMa  of  each  page  the  various  readings  of  the  Codex  Vati- 
caou8%  Nothing  is  altered  except  a  few  typographical 
errorsf  and  some  emeadations  of  Grabe,  whidh  did  not 
coincide  with  the  editor^s  opinion.  The  clearness  of  the 
type  and  beauty  of  the  paper  recommend  it  to  the  reader's 
attention ;  and  the  care,  accuracy,  and  erudition  displayed 
tinroughout  the  work^  may  entitle  it  to  bear  away  the  palm, 
even  from  Grabe^s  edition*  Such  at  least  is  the  opinion  of 
MiAscb.  ^ 

BREITKOPF  (JoHjJ  GotTLiEB  Immanoel),  an  ingeni* 
CMis'printer)  letter^founder,  and  bookseller  of  Leipsic,  wai 
born  in  that  city,  Nov.  22,  1719.  An  accidental  perusal 
cf  a  work  by  Albert  Barer,  in  which  the  shape  of  the  let- 
ters is  deduced  from  mathematical  principles,  apped.rs  to 
have  suggested  to  him  some  valuable  improvements  in  the 
art  of  casting  types,  which  gave  bis  printing-office  and 
foundery  gteat  reputation.  He  was  also  the  first  who  cast 
milsical  types>  ndw  so  common,  although  they  possess  so 
'littte  of  the  beauty  of  accuracy  of  copper-plates  as  to  be 
teidoxn  used;  He  also  contrived  to  print  ma{>s  with  move- 
able types,  and  even  to  copy  portraits  by  the  same  means, 
but  neidier  of  these  were  found  of  much  utility.  He  was 
better  employed  in  1793,  in  endeavouring  to  print  the 
Ghin.ese  characters  oh  moveable  types,  and  succeeded  so 
far  as-  to  exhibit  specimens;  whix^h  Were  much  admired. 
He  is  said  also  ta  have  discovered  some  improvements  iti 
the  <:om^osition  of  type->metal,  and  the  process  of  melting 
and  casting,  but'  whdt  these  were  he  concealed.  He  died 
Jan.  28,  1794.  In  1774,  he  published  a  small  treatise,^ 
containing  a  refutation  of  the  opinion  of  those  who  pretend 
that  ^printing  was  first  employed  at  Florence,  Wirtzburg, 
or  Antwerp.  In  1784,  he  published  the  first  part  of  a 
wo^  entitled  **  An  Attempt  to  illustrate  the  origin  of 
Playing-eards,  the  introduction  of  paper  made  from  linen, 
asd  the  invention  of  engraving  on  wofbd  in  Europe.**  The 
latter  part  of  this  work  was  finished,  but  not  published^ 

before  his  death.    His  last  publication  was  a  small  '*  Trea<- 

■.  ' 

1  Metfter'8  PortraiU  of  the  lUostrious  Men  of  Swedeti  French  trans.  Zttricb,^ 
11^,  8T0.— •DibdiA'9  ClaHics«<«^Siuui  Oaqauuit« 

VOL,VL  1 1 


4M  B  R  E  I  T  K,0  FF. 

.tise  on  Bibliography,  &c/*  published  in  l79S,'And^c^it* 
taining  extracts  from  bis  larger  works,  withbia  reiasoMt  far 
retaining  the  pr^aedt  German  cba^iisiicters^  s^iid  i(  ]?efiHsllio& 
of  some  assertions  respecting  typography.  *  i  -  .'*.  ^  <,7.t  j^ 
BREMOND,  orBRElViONT  (Francis  de),  aiOi9itib«ir 
of  the,  French  academy,  of.  soiences,  was  boen  tit  .Piiri% 
Sept.  .14,  1713,  of  a  goqd  faovily,  and,  after  4iaiHlig^  iltudiei 
humanities  in  the  MazariacpHQgej^-and^.a  course;  of  'pbildir 
sophy  in  the  coUeg<g^  of. B^auyaii^.^plied'  himself*  ook^r^ 
particularly  to  medicine  a^4^la^»^  apd^t^he  oriental  iw^^ 
guages  in  the.royal  college^  Tbeigreat  progress  wJiipbW 
made  in  the  latter^  occasioned  his  bieing,  it^yit^  to^R^ois 
to  teach  these  languages^  and^to  fill  ti?  prQf^ssQir?|ii.<di»br< 
but  this  he  (JecUned  oii^  of  respecl;  tQius.fat^€^9^j9ilK>l9fisb0d 
him  tp  appeai^.at  the  bar.  Neither  this,  Jticiwey^ofHW'  \9inf 
guages,  w^e  to  hi^pwn, liking^. .and|hi^ayent%>^fteK:^9^ 
copsidero^jtionj  alloj^ecf|.hixn  to  pursujeiiiist4p<^UnAU^>£Dr 
inedi^^ne^  and. na^tural  history,  tQ<^w|iich  ho  added  ^aiitnaHia 
for  general  literature  and  pritici&m^  In .  17373  h&*Jbeg9nili^ 
giye  .extracts  from,  the  LQn4on  Philo^pp)KC^iXr9iai^a^^iM#y 
apd.this  with  so  jmuch  judgment  andrabilit^ia^  to  €$|if$iit^ 
the  attention  of  tbp  literati  of  F^^e^  wl?©  afH^rfcfes^Awg 
the  plan,  cofic^ived  il^,i^itr^,m]9ii^^^^ 
with  notes  wo,uJ4l>P  ifl9r€;,ufeft*I;sbf^nrth9i5!e.ie|Sfl^ 
agreed  that  M.  de'^reino|id>hQuld  b^./;eq^e$t^d;<t02)[Hl^^'r 
ta^e  it.  He  accordingly  began. the  work,  and  pi^li^bed 
four  vqls.  ^to,  including<the  years  1 73 1^173§,.  with  a^e^iof^ 
plete.ii^d.q^,,  anc}  notes.poiutingtamt  where  tjhe.subjectSfi^ir* 
treatjed  in  the  memoirs  of  other  learbe^  ho4ies>  pr<  in^pci:^ 
rate  public;atfou,s :  sqm^  pf  ^hefenqtcis  ar^pomp)et^<di^e^ 
Rations,  The  xoya^,  scdiety^y  oj;i  thif,  b9nav«redp|^itt^,#lll 
the  title  of  secret;*ry ;  and  pn  March  l^  V!??S>  ^^^♦*!fld* 
mitted  intp  the.  French  royal  ap^suijei^yqof:  sGiencefU>.,3Ph^ 
9am^^  year  he.  read  a  learned  pfiper^  on  i^sphratipfi.  hJH^ 
jo i;ied  afterwards  with  ^.  M^^find,  a.celeb^a^ed  s^i^gef^i 
in  i^oileQtihg  fiind  ^9^Uting  all  the  English,  >pi}b|i^;ia9P(Uf 
rpspecting  JVIrs,  ^tepl^ens'^  remedy  fojp,^  tbe^.stDU%()9riH^ 
ohce/wa^  thoi^ght  infallible.  He  tr^H^sl^tted  Uk^wi^^ \]^ 
HaU®y's  experiments  pn^ea  filter,  ri»»d '♦'^.*^^J?!§lt?ii!* 
j^erlnients,  2yoIs.  12mo;  ;^n4vMurdoch>t:i^ew;lo3(a4^9ii^ 
fables,  for  the  constructioo^.of  ip^i^rioe^dai^ttsu  <^<bis  lifdusr) 
irious  writer  died  March  21,1 7 42,^ ,  age^  only  tweoUrj-^y),^ 

}  S)kU  Htft-— IU«|'»  Qyclopsdift. 


B  t  E  IVt  O"  N  D.  Vsi 

^^i*''ek>ge  Was  compocred  by  M.  de  Mairdn,  then  secretary 
to  tbe  academy.  * 

-  BftENT  (Sir  NATirANAEL)^  a  learned  lawyer  in  the  se- 
venteenth century,  was  born  at  Little  Woolford,  in  War- 
wibkirt>irjd,  in  1 573,  being  ^he  son^'of  Anchor  Brerit  of  that 
^^ac«,  )gent. '  In  15S9^  he  became  portidnist,  or  post-mas- 
^ty  of  Merton-collegc,  in  Oxford ;  and,  on  the  20th  of 
-ihtoei  159S,  took  the  degree  of  bacheJor  of  arts.  The  yeat 
^oHowtng  he  was  admitted  probationer-fellow  of  the  col-  ^ 
lege.-  Onthe  distbf  Octoberl598,'  he  took  the'  degree 
td  tiiaster  of  arts  V  and  then  entered  upon  law  studies.  Ift ' 
4807,  he  WA#  ortie  of  th^  proctors  of  the  university.     S6me 

^eaifB^^after,  tri'l'^fS,'  &c.  he  travelled  into  foreign  parts, 
tidt/ecliitte' acquainted  wiib  several  of  the  most  learned 
fld/Sh  abl^oad.  '  After  his  feturh,'  he  married  Martha  daugh- 
m*>«nd'  h^  ^f  Dr.' Robert 'Abbpt,  bishop  6(  Salisbtiiyj 
Md  tfi^oetotDn  Geoi?ge  Abbot,  Archbishop  of  CAnterbury^ 
iwhich  wasJ the  cause  of  his  succeeding  great  prefefmentsl 
Abot^tfae-year  l6l8,  be  was  sent  to  Venicb  by  archbishop 
<AfcbdtV^' t>^'  purpose  ta  get  a  copy  bf  the  History  of  the 
CUmneit  of  Trfent^  them  *«ewly  composed  by  the  most  re- 
gOwn^.Padk'^'Paola  Sk'rpi;  in  prbduriilg  of  which  heex-^ 
|>ea0d-1li4n»Blf*toi^Tery  great  idangei^.  lU'  1621,  he  was 
^tettedv%4rai*det>of 'Mert6h^college,  through  the  archbishop*a 
r^9^tMki&9.iion%  fw^b  altro'in^  hiol  his  vicar-general| 
<|0^mi^^y  of  the'.dic^es^  of  Canterbury,  master  pf  the 
fi|i$t]lMleli,  and  at  length  judge  of  the  prerogative^  '  On<tbei 
*l^>oJf*0&tober,l623,  be  accumulated  the  degrees. of  ba- 
ebi^kK-aiid  doctor  of  kw;  The  2$d  df  August,  1629^  be 
fi^iei^^d -thehbnoui*  of  knighthood  from  king  Charles  I.  at 
W^oodatock,  ibeirt^'  then  supposed' well-affected  to  the 
cblH^'-ahd  hiei-archy;  '  But  in  the  great  disputes  that  arose 
between  atChbJshop  Abbot  and  bishop  Laud,  he  entirely 
sided  withftbe-first,  aiid  his  adherents,  the  puritaii  party ; 
4f|id  ^f^w  so  inveterate  against  Laud,  that  be  was  a  frequent 
Witt^ess  against  him  at  his  triaL  He  likewise  deserted  Ox- 
fc^iVhen  kin^^Charles  !.  garrisoned  that  place,  and  took 
thW*  e0v^ttamr< for 'which  reason  he  was  deprived. of  bis 
iHiftleofilSp  eff 'IMerton-coIlege,  by  his  majesty'^s  command; 
btit  t^stored  again  when  Oxfbhl  garrison  was  surrendei^d 
^ -ttie  paHiameiit^n  use,  in  1646.-  In  1647  and  1648,  he 

|i^ei>  appointed  chief  visitor  of  that  uuiversity,  aixd  cotinte- 
y 

II  2 


48*  B  R  E  NT. 

*  .  '  . 

'  ^apced  all  the  violet. ^ind  arbitrary  proceeifings'^fbig^e 
used,  not  spariog  his  own  college.  Wben  an  order  iV&t 
made  against  plurajHtjies^  he  was  forced  to  leave  1jAeri6fi' 
college,  op  (be  27tb  of  November,  1651 ;  at  whlbb  titiie 
he.r^sed^lso  the  oath  called  the  Enj^agemen^.^  i^^^^ 
this,,  reuriog  to  hia  hoiise.  in  Little  Britain^  in  Loii^on]  ife 
died  ther^  November  $•  1^52.  aged  79;  and  was  BuYl^, 
jthe  seventeenth  of  th^  same  month,  with  great  soleo^tiij^,- 
m  the  church  of  St.  Bartholoipew  the  Less.  ^    '^^^^^ 

.  The  only  i^ervice  to  the  public  which  sir  N.  Br^nt/^d, 
ly^pears  to  have  b^en  iu  procuring  the  histbiy  df  th^  C6ti&^ 
cil  of  Trent.  As  father  Paul  and  father 'Fiilg(biitic>,''itbe 
two  joint  author^,  composed  it,  they  privately' gavei'cdby 
to  Bi;ent^.who  sent  it  over  weekly  to  the  iarcbois&i^fl^Mmdt 
in  the  original  Italian ;  and  it  came  Whis  hands  iiitd^^^^^e 
or  six  qqvei^  td  other,  persons,  fo^  th^  sreiibt  s^iiMy. 
i¥hen^Mn  Brent  had  sent  it  all  ovef^  he  caihe  babk  hiki* 
self,  and  .translated  it  out  of  Italian  into  English  and  Yia- 
tin.  The  original .  Italian  was  printed  first  at^Ldtld6i^tn 
^I9,\and  dedicated  to  king  James  L  1>y  D.  Aiitbhib^de 

^Ijooiinis,  archbishop  of  SpSatro,  who  had  befeh  1ii^i3^- 
xiy^Qtqil  in  procuring  tli^t  history.  ^  The^p'gUsh  ti^ati'^ktW 
was  published  inul6id,  folio,  A  new  edition-  ^as  b^^ 
in  L640 ;,  aud^  anpther  ifl  167;6,  withbtiier  ptec^'miflitD^r 
PjBtul  at  thewd.  Hisbtherpubi^:atijcyp'wbixld'lnti^  (^Hie 
him  equftl  credit,  had.  he  adhered  to ' his. pEnciples. '  'tfe 
.l^vie^e.4  Mr.  Francis  Mas6n*s  "  Vindicatibn  of  the  CSWii'eh 
of  Eoglaud,.  concerning  the  Consecratioii  and  (ytdiipr^tdb 
of  the  Bishc^,  &c.'\examined  l^e  ^uotati^ifk,  coiiip^i^ 

*  them  with  the,  ori^n^9,  and. printed  t|iat  bdbk' fifbtifl^^e 
author's  manuscript,  iu  1625,  fot.  in  Utwi.;  It  Is  a'.^- 
pl^te  refutation  of  the  old  story  of  the  l^iir's  hekd  dftRS^-' 
tion.*  '     ■  .         ' '  ■•  '  "  "  ''■ '         '-^-*  t'-'  ''^^• 

,  BBJpNTlUS,  or  BRENT2EN  (JoMN),  bneofthi^  si^- 
porte^&iof  thefeformation^  was  born  at  Wile  in  Suatiii^/Tn 
1499,  a  city  of  vvhich  hisifatherhad  been  mayor  fdr.iitidy 
years..  He  wias^  edii^Sted  at  Heidetb^r^  schoiol'  and^  uftl- 
yersity,  and  when  ohlj,  fifteen,  years" pl^dbomiidhijed Ittt- 
^helor.  Such  was  his  thirit  for  learning^  thkt  he'^tUfly 
rose.  at.  midnight  to  his  studies/ Which  became  ajFteii^ii^s 

.  90  much  a  habit^  that  he  xiever  slept  longer  tbak  olid^^t 

t  Biog.  Brit— VTood's  Athene,  toI.  Uj— Aatiqalte  'ofO«f«(dM«iStr|«ft'4 


B  R  i;  N  T  I  U  S.  ^85 

.  Mi^ightean  he  took  his  madter^s  degcee  in  arts,  and  about 
tlie  sami^  time  th€^  perusal  of  some  of  Luther's  writings  iii- 
'^Mceci^  hiin  to  change  his  mind  in  tnanj'  inf^ortant  points, 
which  he  en(]leavoured  to  coinmmiicaie  to  ^  his  fdlow-sta- 
^ae,ht6  by  lecturing  to  them  from  the  gospel  of  St.  Mutthew, 
'and  bis  auditors  increasing,  It  was  objected  to  him  1^  those 
whp  were  jealous  of  his  talents,  that  he  was  not  fit ^r  such 
^a.work,  not  being  in  orders.     To  remove  that,  Reentered 
mto  orders,  and  became  a  very  popular  preacher.     He  Vas 
|tb^n^  called  to  be. pastor  at  Hall  in  Suabia,  where  he  gave 
''^.uch  satisfaction 'thai  the  senate  confirmed  him  ih  the 
o|Sce,  ,aItbough  he' was  only  twenty-three  years  old.  WJien 
J^unper  and  hi^  adherents  rose  in  arms  in  Germany,  aiid 
^mvi^x^n^  tp.  besiege  Hall,  he  not  only  wrote  against  these 
'^llthjii^iasts,  but  encouraged  the  citizens  to  defend   the 
^j>fec,e,  wljich  they  did  with  great  bravery.     We  find  hitn 
^  afterwards  attending  a  conference  of  the  reformed  clergy 
jfof  t.he  purpose  of  reconciling  the 'contention  between  t\i- 
tlier  and^Zuingliqs,  respecting  the  real  presencfe,V  and  in 
1  53q  he  waii^at  the  diet  of  Augsburgh,  where  the  celebrated 
[^CQnfession  o^  faith  was  drawn  up.     When  Ulric,  prihce  of 
J^irte^be^^^^  m^cfitaied  the  introduction  of  the  reforcbt^d 
]iVi^ig^on  in  his  (Jominions.  and  particularly  in  the  unlvfefsFty 
Cpf^Tuhinffen,  he  employed  Brentiusid  that  seat  of  learh- 
cfP^  wbor accomplished  the  purpose  to  his  entire  satisfac* 
J^n.     In  1547,  when  ihe'eniperbr  Chajrles  V.  and  his  arniy 
jcime  to  Hall,  Brentius  found  it  necessary' to  make  his'es- 
J^ape;.  ai^d  some  letters  of  his  being  found,  in  ^liidb^ie 
i|i^tified  the  protestant  princes  for  lakWg  arrns  6;^iifrst  ^Be 
^appi5rpr,,he  D^^ame  s^^^    in  more  danger ;  but  on  the  erxl- 
]^peror*s  jeraovinj^  his  army^^'he^  returned  to  Hall  agiiin.     In 
,1^48,  however,,  when  the '  ^mperoi-' hdd  phbMshed  the  In- 
terim, Brentiiis  declared  Himself  so  strongly  against* it,  thit 
the  j^mperor  sent  ja  commissary .tQ,I)all,  charging  him  io 
,Jbrmg  Breptius  4iio^  him,  alWe  or  dead.    The  magi^-tratesand 
^c|h^eo8  would  have  still  protected  him,,  but,  as  the ^mpe- 
_T^5  thj:eatened  to  destr  pity  if  he  were  not  givta 

m)j  ^^bey  connived  at  his  escape,'  arid  presently  after  Ulrtc 
.^j^fciujpe  pf  Wirtemberg  aflbrded  him, an  asylum,  untirhe 
^K{K^^  Ba^ilf  j^e '.'remained  in  this  kind  of  banishtnent 
"lijiptil  :X550j,  when  Ctiristppher  duke  of  Wirtemberg,  in 
r6bm  of  his  fathar  Ulric  deceased,  resolved  to  restore  tbe 
^'suniiBtars  who  jviMte  driven  away  bjT  the  I^terim,.aQd  to, com- 
plete the  reformation ;  and  therefore  sent  for  Breotiua  to 


his  casitle  at  StutgaT4».  ^hftre..li^.imght  |)aye;)iU.'<ad^eiHl4' 
assistance.     Here.^t  his  T^,qji3e$ty  Br^ntius  (lr^i«r  up,.^  ^Rr 
fession  of  faith,  ip<plu<jiitig  th^  ,^(>Qtroverted  poip|%  wbifth 
the  duke  intended  ,tp..s^i).d  to  th^  <?qm^cil  pjt*  Xrcjftt.f  |^p^ 
the  year  after  the  pastpr  of  $tiitgard.<lyiag/  BneQiJu^HW 
chos^en  in  i^js  room,  and  held  thewtuaUo^  for  :)if!^«>  ;)lfl 
1537  he  went  to  the  confereiic^§  at  VVorti:^).  v^.hicJ|:;^4^ 
iiDsatisfactQrily,,aa  the  popish. f^res^nt^^ive&\KFoul4<>#P|P 
admit  the  authority  of  ^^riptu;:^  in  depi^i^^g  ^^^^  e^^tl^ 
versies,     A  more  imppftaiit  sprvi^^ebl^'  P^rfQiraied.  \tkik^ 
old  age. ; .  As  t^iij.re  yyeire  «iai;iy  inpnasteijiep  i^  jW,U^^^fl»bef g> 
from  which  the  fri^^rs  had  bei^n  e^pe.H^da;:b^fp6^i|^l^^  Im 
prince  to  convert  tbernii^tQ  schools,  W^^'\  W^f u^§Pl^H^tj( 
done»  s^^d.  Brentius  visited  th^  once  i».^wq^.y^tS9'^4N3fK^ 
ing  and  encouraging  their,  studies  .  He  died  in/i>)'gsti()AiiA 
was  buried  with  every  mark,  of  p,u^lip.re«R^jjit,,.i  tti«*,5nr^ffcS 
were  printed  together  in  8  vqU.  fpl«  at,:T,H^ingep>.  K57ft-yr 
S)0;  most  of  them  had  been  printed  .^^parat^Ty  at  yario>i| 
periods  of  Ms  life.  ;,H^s  opinions  coincided  in  general. ihI^ 
those  of  Luther,  exception  the  $i^bj§c(pf  the:..li|e^ pi^f 
sence^  in  which  be  heid  some  $^^ntim|ent^^peculi|9X;i^;^IMn[if 
jself,  although  perhaps  e^septiaUy^iH^t  yi^yidiffe^r^nfefi^m 
tho^eqf  the  Lutheran,  church. ',      j     t.n     rui     \     v^\^:^ 
BREauiGNy  (Lp^ts  CiRq«G^iO>/ftAiM^iiRf^5F«»Ji>iite), 
a  learned  member  of  the  Fi:gpcb,^ci^^fl|y,.v*n4jpt\,rfMfeliaf 
Inscriptions,  was  l^orain  the  eountry.pf  CfeuxJn'  IJll^^.aad 
di^d  at.  Paris  in  179^,  aged  eigb^.     Hi^^youtb  waaiiSpeH^ 
in  the  aqqt\i^ition  of  the  learned  Tang4iage9,.^ndhQaf«er>* 
wards  Cj^je,  to. Paris  to  enjoy  the,  qornpaj^y^f  theiJildta&i 
of.  that  ji^ietrqpoUs,.    Being   sqnt  jtp  ^ngjjkndj  fcp  sseanrh 
for  matierials.jreapectingfithe Jfr^nch  i^terj?jt;ibe  l^uWiahod 
the  result  in  a  papc^r  in  the,  Me,^npir^jof  the  Ac»^ 
inscriptions  in  1767,  by  which  we  find  that  he  c()ll^ctfid 
in  the  British  Museum,  and^.tb^  To^r  of /L^oud^i  iGtif  in- 
valuabie^  treasure  of  letters  and.  papei;^  T^^tiFejlQ.tbe^hi^^ 
tocy,  laws,  and  .constitution  of  f]nmf;^,  ^h^iqih.piq^Qi^ihAd 
till  then  been  unknown  tQ  the  literary  wqfrkl.     f^rj^rfwr 
Meiqoir  concludes  with  some  anecdotes  }r^ia]iy^  tqiH^eil^ 
mous  siege  of  Cal^i^.  in  4346,  which  Ag  Ik^Q jioxjtQifr  j^o^iiito 
memory  of  Eustache  de  §t,  piprre>  and  are^  b^r>@^i|iea»i9 
consistent  with  the  encomiums  that  l^ave  boeii'iavjfiked  im 

(   -»  MdchWAflato.~?alIer'8    Abel'  Kedivivus.lLlvi'orWriV—MirneV's    dh^ 
IIi<tory,  vol.  IV.  p.  1007.«-Freheri  Theatrum.— Saxii  Onoma&U 


BRfeQUIGNY.  48t 

"faim,  ^  on  ^ttetoun t  of  his  herdlc  "pftf  riotlsm.  Brequigny  was 
of  ■»  yery  communicative  disposition,  knd  loved  toencou- 
rt^' young  men  of  l^feirnmg,  by  lending  them  his  books 
ktidi  liitfnttscri^ts,  and  imparting  hi^  ideas  of  arty  subject  on 
^rMcb  they  might  be  employed.  In  his  writings,  his  style 
i^  clear  and  simple,  and  he  had  the  happy  talent  of  extract* 
1)1^  with' JHdgment  ^nd  accuracy,  of  which  he  left 'many 
)>tidofe'in  his  notices  inserted  in  the  Journal  des  Savans, 
an^d'in  the  Memoirs  of  the  Academy  of  inscriptions,  to 
iifriiich  he  was  a  frequent  coiitribti'tor.  The  substance  of  a 
cmiOus  paper  of  his,  on  the  life  and  character  of  Mahomet, 
lifay  bie  seen' in  the  Monthly  Review,  vol.  XXXIV.  (1768. J 
Hii^-principat  works  are,  1.  ^  Histoire  des  Revolutions  de 
G««e^,"  'Paris,  r752,  3  vols.  i2mo.  2.  An  edition  of 
JH^Stiabo,*' Tok  I.  Gr.  and  Lat.  1763,  4to,  containing  the 
ftrM?tbvM  hooks,  corrected  according  to  some  MSS.  in  the 
foysil  iilH*aryj  palrticularly  on^  numbered  1393,  which  was 
brought  from  Constantinople;' the  Latin  ver^on  is  Xy- 
idtfder's^  A  short  time  after  the  drst  volume  was  pub- 
lishBdy  Beirquigny  sent  over  all  his  materials  for  tlife  furthetr 
fiwseeution  of  the  work  to  the  university  of  Oxford. .  3. 
A<  ¥iei8  des  ahciens  orateurs  Orecs,**  with  a  translation  of 
many  of  their  orations,  1752,  2 'vols.  12rtip,  contaihing 
6rfy  9s6crates  and  Dio  Chrysdstonl.  4.  "  Diplomata, 
ObiwtfiBi'ad  res  Fraiiciscas  spectantii,'*  4to.  5.  "  Table 
cbronologiq'ue  dds'diplomes,  chartes,  et  titres  relatifs  a 
I' histoire  de  France,"  1783,  5  fols.  foL  6.  <<  Ordorinanc^ 
ties  roia  de  Franciei  de  la  troisieme  race :"  of  this  important 
x>oHeetion  Birequig|tiy  published  the  last  six  voluhies,  M* 
<riiahed  with  learned  tiotes  and  curious  dissertations  on  the 
«fiden.t  fegislatiotj  of  Franc^.  Hp  also  Compiled  and  pub« 
Itsbed' in  t764>  8vo^*  the  catfitlogiie  of  the  library  of  Cler- 
mont. »      w  .     » 

'. .  BRERELEY  (JottN),  perhaps  worth  mentioning  here, 
as  the  assumed  name  of  one  James  Anderton,  of  Lostock 
ia>Laho»shire|  in  the  seventeenth  century,  who  published 
iMifder  it,  i.^The  Protestant's  Apology  for  the  Roman 
Ghtti'ch,  4to,  11604,  16Q«,  1615.  < 2.  **  the  Liturgy  of  the 
iMass,  '&«.*•  in  Latin,  Cologn,  1620,  4to.  31  «  St.  Augus- 
titles  Rditgion ;  •  giving  ah  account  of  his  opinion  in  matters 
iof  controversy  •  between  Catholics  and  Protestants,'*  1620, 
Svo.     Dr.  Thomas  Morton,  the  learned  bishop  of  Durham^ 

I  Diet.  Hist^MoDth.  ReT«Tol.  XXXIX.  andUV. 


489  B  E  E  H  E.  L  E  Y. 

* 
^.  •,  •• 

answered  tbe  '^  Protestant^s  Appjogy^'  in  a  yfoA  MttAtedl 
**  A  Catholic  Appeal  for  ifrotestanjts/*  1.606,  4to.  Smw 
farther  particulars  of  An derton's  works,  ^JitbQught*  noaeirf' 
Uis  life,  may  be  seen  in  our  authority.  *  -       - 

>    BRERETON  (Jane),  an  English  poetess,  wai^th^sida^gfe 
ter  of  Mr.  Thomas  Hughes,  of  Bryn- Griffith  pe^r  Mould  iq 
Flintshire,  by  Anne  Jon^s,  bis  wife,  and  was  born  in  168^^ 
Being  observed  to  be  endowed  by  natqre  with  a  great 
pacity,  her  talents  were  assidiio.usly  cultivated  by  h^r.i 
theff, '  who   wai^  himself  a  man  of  excellent  parts.     Wu 
Hpghes,  however,  dying  when  she  wa$.  onJy  ^xit^eo^  she 
9oon  lost  fbese  "advantages ;  but  early  dii»<H>^ered  a  tuoi 
for  poetry,  wbich  her  acquaintance  encouraged*.    lUiJani^ 
17 1 1  she  married  Mr.  Thomas  Brereton,  at  that  lioMr  m 
commoner  of  Brazen-nose  college,  Oxford,  only  ^n  of 
xnajor  Brereton,  son  and  heir  of  William  Brereton/  tai|; 
of  Cheshire.  -  Her  hi^sband  soon  jspeat  his  fortune,  anA 
went  over  to  Fari$;  and  some  time  after  this,  a  separalioii 
Jiaving  taken  place,  she  retired,  1721,.  to  her  native  couii»- 
try>-Waies,  ivhereshe  led  a  solitary  life,  seeing  ^itt}^icma«i 
pany,^  except  some'  intimiate  friends.    About  t2hi8^.tia4e:  Mtp 
Brereton  obtained  from  lord  Sunderland  ^  pott  bdoi^giDg-: 
to  the*  custoijjs  at  Park- gate  near  Chester.;  but  lA^hp 
1722,  was  unfortunately  drowned  in  cro^siog  tbe  w^lloc^if^ 
Saltney,  when  the  tide  was  comi^ng  in.    Mf8».^>Bf9veloir 
then- retired  to  Wrexham  in  Denbighshire^  for  tbebenefiiF 
of  her  children's  education,  where  she  died  Aug.  7^  1740^^ 
aged^fifty-five,ieaving  twodaughtem,  Lucy  and  Charlaite^ 
ttee  l^ter  probably  the  author  of  <^  The  Rattie,"  a^'soog^ 
in  Fawkes  and  Woty'g  "  Poetical  Calendar,"  yol^JKl.  .p.  14^ 

Mrs.  Brereton  was  amiable  Tn  every  relation  <rf.lif«.;  iin4' 
possessed  talents  for' versification,  if  qpt  for  poetry,i.wiMfa 
she  displayed  some  years  as  a  correspondent  ta  the  GM(4. 
tleman's  Magazine,  under  the  signi^ture  of  MeUsfta,  where; 
she  bad  a  competitor  who  signed,  himself  FiDO,  and  who  it 
liupposed  to  have  been  Thomas  Beach  (S^e  his  artidt^ 
voL  IV).  After  her  death  a  volume  was  published  oif^  Powi^ ' 
ojpiiifeveral  occasions ;  with  letters  to  her  friends ;  av4ian 
aecOunt  of  her  life,"  London,  1744,  8vo..*  ...  ^  ., .  ' 

BRERETON  (Owen  Salusbuuy),  the  sou  of.'X%ciMft' 
Bvereton^  esq.  of  the  county  Palatine  of  Chfister,  9tt. 
b^rn  in  1715.     He  received  his  education  pactly  «t.  WMb- 

»  Dod<l»8  Church  Hist,  tol:  It 

9  Censura  Literaria,  vol.  lU.    Seefeorae  particulars  of  her  husband  iu  Jfi^ 
Dran^tica,  ^iit,\i^  ViTh^ther  vQ^t^^jK)  tiM  AUk^flcfc  of  the  aeift  urtide  }  .. 


B  R  E  R  E  T  O  N.  489 

fldbstii^-ttcliool,  on  the  fouftdation,  s^nd  partly  at  Trinity 
Mriltfge,  Cambridgey'  and,  on  the  death  of  his  father,  in<» 
Iperiied  th«  incient  family  estates  in  the  above-mentioned 
county,  and  in  Flintshhre.  In  1738,  Mr,  Brereton  was 
fiiildedno '  the  bar,  and  in  1746  became  recorder  of  Liver** 
po6l/  whi6h  office  be  filled  with  great  impartiality  and 
Agility  during  fifty-two  years,  In  1796,  on  bis  proposing 
Is9  resign,  the  corporation  requested  him  to  retain  his  situ* 
jatloir,  and  appointed  a  person  to  discharge  its  active 
iduties. 

?  Mr.  'Brereton  became  a  member  of  the  society  of  arts 
ift<1762;  and  by  bis  assiduity,  Zealand  order,  filled  the 
fbstingtiisbed-office  of  vice-president  with  great  credit  to 
Jnoisiif  -and  advantage  to  the  society,  from  March  1765 
m  htrla^t  illness  in  1798.     He  was  also  an  early  member 
oCthe  royal  society  and  the  society  of  antiquaries.     The 
Ar^a^logia  of  the  latter  contain,  his  "  Observations  on 
Peter  Cotlinson^s  Account  of  the  Round  Towers  in  Ire** 
laad  ;*•  his  "  Tour  through  South  Wales ;"  his  "Extracts 
from  tte  HoQsehold  Book  of  Henry  VIII  ;'*  his  "  Account 
of «  painted  Window  in  Brereton  Church,  Cheshire  ;*'  and 
J^^'of  ^  A  noh-descript  Coin,**  supposed  to  be  Hiilip  VL 
rf -*Blran«e.     Mr.  Pennant  has  also,  in  his  Welch  Tour, 
deso^bed  and  jg;tVen  aii  engraving  of  several  Roman  anti» 
q^to^'  fSundf  at  a  Roman  station  on  his  estate  in  Flintshire. 
Itfr.  Br^jistdn  was  a  bencher  of  the  hon.  society  of  Lin- 
<;«^'^Iiin  ;  filled  the  office  of  treasurer,  and  was  keeper 
i^^^he  •  Black  Book.     He  also  represented  the  borough  of 
Ill^best^  in  parliament.     He  took  the  name  of  Salusbury 
wkh  an  'estate,  and  became  constable  of  the  castle  of 
EliM,  a  vahiabte  privilege  to  his  adjacent  possessions.    His 
ckMn€stic.4iappiness  was  manifest  to  his  numerous  and  re- 
speetabte  acquaintance,  among  whom  were  some  of  the 
laost  learned  men  of  the  age.     He  died  Sept.  8,  1793,  in 
At  eighty-fourth  year  of  his  age,  and  was  interred  in  S.t. 
Gorge's  chapel,  Windsor.     His  wife  was  sister  of  sir 
lilNftaafi  Whitnibre,  K.  B.  and  with  her  he  lived  happily 
fo^  tnoTe  than  fifty  years.     They  had  five  children,  who  all 
died  young  :  he  bequeathed  the  rents  of  his  estates  to  her 
ikfring'her  life;  and  after  her  decease,  which  happened  iu 
i?9i9,  to  bis  relations,  the  only  son  of  the  late  general 
T-relliWney,'  of  Soho*square,  and  the  second  son  of  tbe  rev. 
sir  Henry  Trelawney,  bart.  of  Cornwall.  * 

t'Transactknit  of  i^  SOQi^f  of  ^Artf^-  Toi,  XIX.  to  which  a  portrait  of  bin 
it  prefis^ed. 


^9Q  B  R  E  R  E  WO  O  D. 

BREREWOQD  (E^WAitu),  a  learned  m^faeiMti^iui 
sfincl  antiquary,  was.  the  son  of.  Robert  Brerewood^  la  r^* 
jputable  tradesman^  who  was  three  times  mayor  of  Che^teiV 
Our  author  was  born  in  tliat  city  in  15^5^  where  b^- W^ay 
educa^ted  in  graounair  learning  at  the  free  -  school ;  \  aad)4vas 
afterw^ds. admitted^  in,  15B1,  of  Brazen-*nose  cQllege,iOX'» 
ford3,,Kvbere  he  soon  acquired  .the- character  of  a  bard 
stuaeni;  as  he  has  shewn  by  the  commentaries  he  wviM 
upot^  Ari^totle^  Ethic^^  when  no.  more/lhaii  twent]p-K>ne 
years  of  age*  In  }  596  be  was  chosen  th^  ^rst  professor  of 
astroppn^y  in  Greshani  oollegey  being  qne, /pf  th^  two  wiio^ 
a^  the^desir.^  ,of  the  ei^eotor^  were  recpinxiien^ditQ<tfaeiat 
by*- the.  university  of  Qjsford.  ,  He  loved .  retiremeiail^  Md 
wholly,  d^vQted  bin)$elf,,to  the  pursuit  ^kiiowledgeirf('):49)d 
t}iough.  he  nev^r. published  any  thing. bimself,>  yetbe.fWM 
very  cQ^piuqipi^tiye^  and  ready ^jbo  impart  i^hat  beJcii^w  to 
Qth^^fl^., either. if?. eon v^l-fta^on,  ay  in  wrjfcting.,.  His  reth^ed 
fiitu^tipAii^t  Graham  college  beii^  agreeable,  it  did  not 
i^^PPCf A t^h^t  h^  had  any  o^her  vjeivs,  but  continued  tbef^ 
^h^ .^€|ppt|^inder,  of  his  life,  which  was  terminated.by'a,fti^iQr 
th^  4f:h  of.  N.9Fember  1613,  at  foorty-eight  years  of  age^  m 
\hf^ifx\49i  ot  hi9..pur6fiits,  and  before  he. bad  taken  pr^pef 
care  to  collect  and  digest^ bis, learufid  labours;  which^ 
however,  wef^  ^qt  Iq^t,;,  ,beipg  re?d»<?e)di<9'<Pfd^ry^od'P0b- 
]isb,e4  ftft^r,  his^  deathji  in.  the  fQUowingt  ofd^r^  <  1*  /^.  De  {iMr 
deri|)us  et  pretiis  veterum.  nummorum,  eo^mqu^  0001*1^ 
c^pl^ori^ijg*  collatiane,"  1^614,  4to..  This  wa^  published 
^y  ,b.vs  9^)ieyf,  Robert  JSrerewoqd  of  Chester,  who^JliR^ 
cpfi\mqri^t  f)(f  ^ra?en-ao$e  coIlegiC  in  I60$,.aged>  aeF^aiM' 
teeuf  .a^E^d.^who  suQp^ed  our.  authoj?;  iipkiaiai  estivte  tand 
fortunes,  .  .It  was  afte)nr^a)rds  ■reiu'intted  ijn  (he  /eiglith  vo^jtioiif 
pf  the  Qritici.Sacri,  .and  in  the  apparatus  before  tb0,,fi«$t 
yiqlume  of  the  polyglot  bible*  2,  ",  Enquiries  touebing  Ae 
div^fis^ijy ,  pf  languages,  and  Religion,;  tha^ugh  the  chiof 
partly  of  tbe.worJdj"  1614,  4to,  published  alto  by  Rie»biM 
Brerewop(),.  w|io  has  written  a  large  and  learned  preface  {to 
it.  ^.  ^<  j^lementa  Logig^  in  gratiam  ^odiose^  }uveii|ii|ia 
^n  aca^  Oxpn."  16l4,i.8yo.  4.  "  Tractatus  quidafP^  togi^ 
de prsedicabilibus et  pfpedicamentis,V  I60a,.8,yo«  5.'^Mrreav 
tise  of  the  Sabbath,!'  1630,.  4tpt  6.  ^.f.A  ^second  t(€iaM99 
(5)f  the  Sabbath^".  1632,  4tD,  7,  "  Tractates,  duo^  qi;v>rwn 
primus  est  de  meteoris,  secuudus  de  oculo,'*  1631.  8« 
'^Oommentarii  in  Ethica  Afistotelis,-*  '1#4<J,  4te.  'Mr. 
Wood  tells  us,  that  the  original  manuscript  of  this;,  patten 


IS  R  tf  K  E  W  O  6'  D.  49^ 

airitji^iflfs  tf^a  hand/  i^  in  ibe'^iiiftHest  ^nd  ne?Ltesi  chsr^c* 
t^tt  %\i)it  'fab  4^yes  ever  beheld ;  and  that  it  was  finished  by 
hiifi  Oct.  27j  1586.  9.  "The  patriarchal  goteniment  of 
«b'ie  arifcieiift  Church/'  1641,  4to.  *  '    " 

r-  'BRETON^  BECTON,  or  BRITTON  (JOHn),^  bishop 
of(Hacefofd  in  the  thirteenth  century,  was  born  in  Eng- 
1i(d4,  and  edacated  there,  and  after  he  had  made'himself 
mni^fceii' bf  the  Latin  tongue,  he  applied  himiielf  toahe 
•tudy  of  the  •  law,  in  which  he  made  so  great  a  progress, 
ihat  he  UraS"<5reated"do<^or  of  civil  and  canon  law.  rHe 
distinguished  hlifh^df  1h  this  profession  Ly  hts  admirable 
Hatoi^ts  in  tli^'df^^onof  themost  difficult  causes ;  aiid  by 
k}m  isft^ah^^ pictured  himself  very  considerable  interest  at 
ipW^couriiwMng  Hcrity  HI.  who  liaised  him  on  account  6f 
Id^n^ri^'-to  tbe'hishopric  of  Hereford.  Bale  acknowledges 
Jbis'^eng^itientabitifi^d^iiti  th^  htw,  but  e.icpre^es  himself  m 
^&fytev^t6  ter&iid%^iw9t  him*  on  that  aeeotint,  as  tieglect- 
iftg  his  ^piscop^l  d^tiM^.  •  He  iiiade  a  large  cblleictioti  of 
tfcto  laws  "of  England  from  various  authors^,  digested  into 
tQ*e*V6ltirii^i:  ^hith  Lelartd  tells  us  was  of  great  advantage 
^  Idftg  Edward'  L  the  son  and  successor  of  Henry  JIL  and 
td^tl!i[e:wt$pie'naitlofi;  'He-died  in  1275;,  ind  was  succeeded 
Whte  see  by  Thomas  Caiitilupe.  *   ^  - 

^^BfHETON  {^N^-enOliASj;  '-*  a  AVritei^,".  '^ys  Phillips,  '<'  of 
pi2idtbflafe,''sohnetsi^^e^n^0i^s  and  itiadngals,  hi  which  kind  of 
limiting  hfe'  keejw^  cohipariy  with  several  other  contem-^ 
poi^ry  emulators  of  Spenser  and  sir  Philip  Sidney;*'  flou- 
rished 4n  the  i'eign  of  queetl  Elizabeth,'  biit  Vfei^  little  fs 
felifbwn  of \iiis. personal  history.  Sir  Egettoii  Brydges  proi 
ilu^s' Very  provable  evldeiiee  that  he  wal^of  ia  Staffordshire 
ftflttitj^^'  He  wiBte^a  wi*i^r,'«a^^  i)r.  Pehjy,  of  some  fame  in 
thte?ab<ivetelgi4,^nd  ^Wished  ah' hUeri  entitled  "  An 
€Nd'  Man^^  Les^oti^  ahd  a  Yoang  Man's  Love,"  4tbi,  and 
tnatiy  other  Mttte'  pieces  in  prbse  and  verse,  the  titles  of 
'Whi6h>  may*bfe  sieen  in  Wiristanley,  Ames's  Typography^ 
ittid 'Orf>drn'*s  H^rleian  CataTogtie.  "He  is  mentioned  with 
^#eiit}^^9pe<^t  by  Mer^'  ii*  his  second  part  of  Wit's  Com- 
tiWitwVe«kh^«1598yp.»283,and  is  iLlluded  to  in  Beaumont  and 
Ftetdhdr'S  Sfebtnfui  Ladyv  a^t  2,  arid  again  in  Wit  without 
nsonfey,  aet  3.'  'the  ballad ' of  Phillida  and  CoryBon,  i-e- 
pf hlted'  by^  Percys  i«  ^a  delicious  little  poem  ;  arfd  if  we 

count  of  the  famiW  o^  Gent.  MQjf,  yoj.  LXI.  p,  71^^. — ^Q\^9dolq$i9t  wql  X.  p.  pU 


493  BRET  OK. 

may  judge  from  this  and  "'otb^r  specimens  giVett  in  bar 
references,  bis  poetical  powers  were  distinguished  t>y'^a 
simplicity  at  opcc  easy  and  elegant.  *  '  *•    '    '^ 

BRETONNEAU  (Francis),  born  at  Tonrs  in  1660/ ^ef 
came  Jesuit  in  1675,  and  died  at  Paris  in  1741;  ^ttbe  a^ 
of  eighty^one.  He  wa^  reviser  and  editor  of  the  serioonk 
of  his  brethren  Bourdaloue,  Cheuiitiais,  and  Girbust,^ai% 
18  vols.  8vo,  and  12tnb.  Pere  It  Rue  applied  to  him'^dii 
this  occasion  the  epithet  made  for  St.  Martin :  **  l*ritkm 
inortuorum  suscitator  magnificnJs.**  He  published  likewiB^ 
an  edition  of  the  **  CEuvrea  spirituelles'''  tft  le  ^alVpis,  intfc 
a  life  of  the  author.  Br^tonneau  waa  a^^t^ather  hiths^It 
iiis  sermons,  in  7 -volumes  1 2mo,  pub|ishlfd  Tti  i'Wb'fcji^ 
Berruyer,  are  composed  with  eloiijuence.  "  He  wai?  ^fi 
cient  in  the  graces  of  action  ^  but  he  had  all  the' oltU^/^iE^fti 
of  a  good  orator.  Hi$  private  vh^tueiciaTe  cbh^dfTOl)05 
weight  tp  his  sermbfis'.  Brigtonnesiu  aHp  wrotfe,  '1.*^  ^- 
IBections  pour  lA  Jeunes-gehs  qui  entrenf  dafts  le  mohtfe;^* 
3  2mo.  2,  /•  Abreg^  de  la  vie  de  Jacques  If.**  l2mo,  'USteit 
from  the  papers  of  his  confessor.  It  is  a  j^anegyrl^.  t^iin 
which  liistorians  cannot  extract  mudi.  *'  *  ''''f'  ^'^ 

*  BRETONNIER  {Bartholomew  JosfePHJi^  advocat(§'^i?f 
the  parliament  of  Paris,  and  to  emlncfht  faw'Wrtlel'^ftl 
pleader,^  was  born  aV  MontrotieV,  abbot  fpuVldagnfeS^Bi 
Xyohs,  Feb.  24,  1656.  After  studying  tktigu^gesana4|m* 
losophy  at  Lyons,  he  came  to  Paris  in  l^'!^7to  appljphitt?- 
iself  to  faW,  and  in  1 680  was  appointed  Bti  advocaftb.  ;1^V« 
Ing  cpnbefved  a  preference  to  the  written  over  the^^^bm-. 
mpn  law,  he  made  the  former  his  pafti^^dlar  stiidv^'l^ 
traced  its  origin  with  thfeVuc^pW*  cf  *^  *"^i9^2i,^*  ^fjiU 
course  of  study  produced' a  tery  mnch  irfiptoVM' elfilioA'fif 
the  works  of  Claude  Henrys,  I70&,  2  t'oU.  ttl.  ahrf^i^fei^- 
wards  ji^  work  pf  great  iitility  in  the Trench  law,  which  1^ 
iindertobk  at  the  request  of  the  chanbellbr  D*Agtiesseatr, 
entitled:  '^  Recueil  des  principales  qiiCstion's  ^^  dtoH  W" 
ae  jugent  diversement  dans  differens  trtbunfaux^dtiH^ 
aume,'M718,r2roo,  reprinted  with  addition^  tn  ^/f^i. 
Tots.  and  in  1785, '4tb,  both  with'  additions  iby'^<^u£m' 
.d*Ar^is.     He  died  April  21,  I727.»  '    :;  '^r^"^ 

':  ^BRETT  (John),  a  naval  officer,  df  whbae  fatoflV  w&ftave 
no  account,  was,  sobri  after  the  rupture  had  twenpk^ 

phia.-— Censura  LitenirM.  toU.  II.  and  V. — Eliit'i  Specinieto^  JOuJI^^^-   ^ 
<  Diet  Hut.— Moreru  *  IbuL 


BJlcE^-TT..  :*?} 


^^tH,;^^Sj^B^  silipomjted,  cpmma94er  of  the  Grampus  iftlopp 
^pt^war^;r;^  1741,  prp- 

snoted  to  b^  captaiii  of  the  Roebuck,  a  fifth  rate  of  40 
gfjkns,^.^d  iixixned^a^  tx^  the  Medi- 

teCF^Q^io  from  wbich  be  ti^turned  in  May  1742,  and  in 
J^6]i(£tipber 'ifoilpwing  was  reoipved  into- the  Anglesea,  of 
^^;jpioe,ratea$'  the  former*  In  April  1744  he  received 
Itl^eix^nuhand  of  the  Sunderland  of  60  giins,  and  next  year 
'i^m$m.SL  cruise  oiF\tbe  fVench  coast,  and  in  February  cap:* 
^reda  small  #feacli  :frigate  richly  laden,  and  with  24,000 
^ic^es  of  ei^bi  iq  spei^ie.  Soon  after  his  return  into  port  he 
^^as  or^eiHed  to  I^U^  with  some  other  sbips  of  war,  for 

^tbe^jl^iipose  of  reinforcing  commodore  Warren,  who  wqa 

m^enj^^^ei  in  the  atttack  of  that  important  place.  GapL 
^l^!^t^mye^\0V:yf  enough  before  it  surrendered  to  dis- 
lun^mt  bim^self;  oy  bis  spirit  and  activity  iti  the  service. 
j^  afterwards  .C4^tpanc(ed.  tb^  St.  George  of  90  gun's  for  a 
'Sh^t  tiime^  bat  )[|aviQg  been  unwarirantably  omitted  iif  the 
^jq»iBOtionk  pf  fiag*officers,  which  took  place  in' l^.!$iS,  he 
^^W  s|)irit^ly  readied  to  <juit  the  service  for  ever,  ttiougb 

oil  nis  rehiohs^anc#,  jprevipus  to  his  actual  declaration  of 
.tki^ii^salutionj-th^Tadmiitalty-board,  ashamed  ^^  having, 
jipjre^^fpr;,  a^  mon^^n^,  setasid^  a  brayi^  s^nd  deserving  man, 
^i^er^  J^ipi'^W  the  white,  the  same 

^^flucji  li^^  to  in  the  ordinary  c6urs» 

^^f ?| sendee,"  if itfe  favour  of  others  had  hot 

J|e^  everted,     ^is/atiswer  to  ^is  palliating  propoisait  l>va|, 

**'^%  riaok  or  ,sWtio|i  can  be,  with  honour,  received  by  > 

nieu^  wno  )mm3  beien  o*ice  thought  undeseirvin^  bl^  un1eri» 
^tiMcr  tp  jjtr.  From  this  time  he  retired  into  private  liF<&^ 
^^nC  :f)^i*i^^^  in,  lieiAer  of  which  he  waa 

eg^^^d^  yj^e /.jjied'  m  Xbhdo^n  in  17d5.     He  translated 

t^ov^Hum^s^of  fat^  the  one  pub- 

Vishcd  in  Imi'wi^'tbe'othei^ih  1779;  and  in  1786, /^Es- 
'J^^'  or  Discourses,  setected  from  the  works  ot  Feyjo6.^~ 
'^«  We  Charles  Bretty  esq.  one  of  thie  lord^  of  the  ad- 
'itiiralty,  who  died  in  i7'99,  arid  Tlmbthy  Brett,  clerk  df 
jAS&  abeqiie  at  Portsmouth,  who  died  in  1 790,  were  brd«- 

^m  of  cap t.  Brett.  ^  ;  .  . 

.     BEjETT  ^*ir  Pibrcy,  knt^   admiral  of  {he  bltie,:  in 

.« I(}c|r  or^er  of  th^  Trinity-house,  and  on^  of  tb(^  diree- 

>  Chunock*!  Biomphift  NaTa)U«*-*NichQl|'9  ^owyer.    Wha^Jt  sard  io  th« 
^)iWist'"^hA%\muf^  wiSi  tm  Ansdd;  bdbngs  W  sir  Pier^  Brett^  ^:  subject  •# 


l4W  BRETT. 

^r^ef  Greenwicb  hospital,,  bimi  in.  1709,  was  the  8<|ft*of 
Piercy  Brett,  many  years  a  master  in  tbe  Toyal  riayy/  and 
'aftetwardsimastev: attendant  of  his  n]a}eBty*&  yards  BtShser^ 
oess  and  Cbatbam,  at  which  last:  piaoB'he  died  June  % 
\1S2.  ^  Of  Piency's  earty  years^ehave  Xko  escact  acedpnvt-; 
but.be  served  either  a»  midshipmao,  or  as  some  saj^,  as 
lieu^ei>a9t  in  the  Gloueester,  of  50.  ^ns,  one  of  tbe'ciatiA 
sqqadroa  ordered  into  theSouth  Sea  under  Mc«  (afterwunl^ 
}ord)  Anson.*  He  was  afiairwards  appoidted  by;  AbsoIP, 
vfhp,  bad  a  high  opinion  of  bim^  .to< be  -second  lietftetiakitin 
his  ovi^il  .ship,  tbe  ;Centucion^  and  he  ooD&ded  to  hitni^ 
attack  on  tbe  town  of  Paita,  a  servicer  wbicbr  he  exeeuted 
l^th  tbe  greatest  skill,  promptitude,  :abd  exaemess.  '\ftfter 
thecaptureof  the  Maui  Ua  galieon^.  an4.th6  arrivai  of  kbe 
Centurion  at  Macao,  .Mr.*  Brett  wa&  proimtbdiby  icottfM^ 
dore  Anson  to  tbejcooimwd  of  that  ship,);ttiider  him,,>  as 
captaii^ :  he  being,  as  he.  supposed,  autb^sediiy  Us*  in^. 
struictipn^^: . to,  isstte.sucb  a  commission.  TheJorda:  of  "the 
admiralty,  boAvever,.  having  refused  to  confirm  it,  Mr/An^ 
son  retired  from  the  service,  and  would,  not  return^ until 
Mxi  Bv<9tt'8  rank  was  allowed,  with  which  another tboard  of 
^dn\iraky  thought  prop»;  td  comply,  > and  Mr;  Brett  jra^kMi* 
^  q«ptaia  ifrom  Sept.-30^  hlM. .  .       ^i     •  '*^ 

-  In  April.  1 7.4|5,  he;  was  a{)|)oinli^d  zcaptaio  >of  Atfae  iMkt^ 
of  ^0  £Mn&  After  capturing  the  Mediator  tsloop  <  of  vnaiy 
and  ^  pn\(ateer  which  had  long  iQ&8ted*.tb6'.lcl}anneJ,  oA'^ 
';^)4es4$L)^  July  9f  be  gave: a  more  distingfuisbed. proof' of 
his  cpDr^ge, 'in  ev^g^ging  a  French  man  of  wasof  64  gi»ds^^^ 
wd . wotb^j ship. Qf > l'^,  hptfai >whieh^  after anaost 4es|f>efaee| 
batUe,  he.  obliged  4o  ^ei^roff :  the  64  f^un  ship  got:iiOU^ 
Brest,  quite  disabled,  baiting,  tbe  captkin  HUd  sixi^faur 
Oa^n^ killed,  and  oue.hUtidrt^diaDd  vUiirty-six^dangerousl}^ 
wpModed.-  \0i  the  Lion!s;oie<i^.fQrty^five<werei4ilied)'aHib 
Q^^  hn^idred  .and  seven rwounded;  among  |be  bitter  ^nraa^ 
capt,^Bretjt,  .hisi.  0)a$ter>:  arid  all  his  lieutenants/  The* 
bravery  maaift^ted- by  btmon  this  occasion  was.  the^mo^d^ 
imp^rtackt  to  hte  cioujaliy, .  from  tbe  cireiio^tance  ,of.Tdkij 
ship  \ybi<^h  he  et)g;ag€Mi  being  convoy  to  the  frigate  *ji^ 
^ich  the  son  of  the  Pretender,  then'  on  his -passage;^ 
Sqptland^  bad  embarked  ;:; and  ^ua  the' moitey  gnd.  drlas'^ 
io)f  nded^pr  Scotland  did  pot  ceach  it  in  time  to  be  6i'9iif^^ 
/service*.  •  ^  >  .       - 

^^In  1747  he  commanded  the  Yarmouth,  of  64^gunv«<lfe-' 
of  4he  sqiaadfof^  uodor  Mr.  AasoAy  wbicl^  in  the  month  o^ 


B  R  B  T  T.  H^. 

^Mftjy  defeated  and  captured  that  of  France,  commanded/ 
'by  De  Ja  Jonquiere. .  <  He  was  one  of  the  captains  sent 
After  the  wnclusion  of  the  action  in  pursuit  of  the  convoy, 
.^if  wUcb,  Dr.  Campbell  and  other  historians  assert,  two 
Aoly.were  captured,  but  we  find  it  peremptorily  asserted 
^  the.  periodical  publications  of  the  time,  that  five  more 
J^rjieffich:  ships^  were  brought  into  Portsmouth,  and  three 
jfito  Plymouth.  On  Jan.  3^,  175S,  he  received  the  honour 
of  knighthood  from  his  majestiy,  in  consequence  of  his 
Jiaving  carried  him- to  Holland ;  and  towards  the  end  of  the 
y^fThe  was  appointed  captain  of  th6  Caroline  yacht,  as 
auccessor  to  Sic  G^  MoUoy.  In  1758,  he  was  'commodore 
iot^tbe  Dowins^  having  his  pendaim  on  board  the  Norfolk; 
(amd  wa&  in  thesameyear  appointed  first  captain  to  lord 
Jimomf  ia  die  Royal  Qeorrge,  who  commanded  in  the  chan*^ 
j^l,  the  coveringi-fleet.  to  thd  squadron  employed  under 
lordr  Howe  oii  tbe  coast  of  •  Fvance.  On  the' conclusion  of 
tbas  expedition  be  returned  to  his  command  in  the  Downs. 
Ip  I  March  1760  he  was  appointed  colonel  of  the  P6rts- 
l^^oujth  division  of  marines.  In  1761  >  still  continuing  to 
lioldi  the  Downs  conimand,  we  find  him  firequentl'y'  aud 
Actively  en[)i}>loyed:*tn  reponnoiteridg  the  oppkisitfe' coast 
and  ports  of  France.  In  December,  > having  hoisted  his 
pve-otclltnt  9n',  b6aird>  fthe '  Newaidty  be '  was  ordered  •  for  the 
j^editerramean  witb^seven  shi^  of  war,  as  second*  iti  com* 
mand'tghsir  Charles  «Saunders,  and  shared,  as  a  Sag,  in  th^ 
i;ich<  Spanish  prize,  the  Hermione.  In  the  cotir^  6f  th^ 
same  year  he  was  advanced  to  the  rank  of  rear-adljift*al  of 
idm  redr  txam  this  time  heappiears  never  to  have  elceepted 
a^ji  command,  biit*Dec.'l3^  1766^  was  a^bpoimed  one  <)f 
t)^.  lotds^  of  ftfae  ladn^iralty^  an  offidewhid^  he  held  tmtSt 
^b«  2^  inOi^.  Iti'Odtciber  oi  that  year  he  was  pro* 
HKHed  to  be  vice-^admiralof  libe  blue^  and  oh  the  28th 
q£  the  same'monthy/toibe  vibe^admiral/  of  the•whit^j'M^r^{^ 
ir37<5,  was  jtdmiraL  of  >the  red,  and  finally^  in  Jan^.' 17^6,- 
%dmiral  ,of  the  .kloe.  He  died  Oct.  12,  1781,  tod  wai^ 
iHlfied.att  Beckenham  church,,  in  Kent.  His  bi6gra{)fa^i^ 
%dds» '  that  >' whether  living  or  dead;- the  vice  of  lilandef* 
aiid -malevQleoae  was  abashedat bis  ii)anifold  virtues,  eve^* 
siteot^  not  aoky^i^  his  approach,  but  even  at  the  ba#e  meh-^ 
tiAncof  hU  Bam&^'  .In  the  hait  parliament  of  Gfedrge  11;^ 
and  the  first  of  George  III.  he  sat  as  member  for  Queen-  ^ 
boraugb,  in  Kent..'  ,Iu4745,  aftet  his  returri  frbih  the 
South  Seas  with  i  Aoson^  be  married  HeuFietti^  daughter 


496  ft  R  E  t  t. 

of  Tboirias  Colby^  esq.  clerk  of  the  ebeqtle  at  Cfiatfaatiti> 
by  whom  be  had  two  sons^  who  died  young,  and  a  daughter 
who  survived  him.  * 

BRETT  (Richaud),  a  learned  English  divine^  the  son 
of  Robert  Brett,  of  Whitstanton,  in  Somersetshire,   was 
born  in  Londpn,  in   1561,  and  entered  ja  commoner  of 
Hart-hall,  Oxford,  in  1582,  where  he  took  one  degree  in 
arts,  and  was  then  elected  fellow  of  Lincoln-college,  and  ^ 
was  distinguished  for  his  progress  in  the  learned  languages^ 
About  1595  he  was  made  rector  of  Quaintoii,  near  Ayles- 
bury, and  was  admitted  B.  D.  in  1597.     la  1604  he  wa» 
«appointed  one  pf  the  seven  Oxford  divines  who  were  to 
translate  the  Bible  by  king  James's  order ;  and  was  after- 
wards ipade  one  of  the  first  fellows  of  Chelsea  college,  a 
foundation  which,  we  have  already  had  occasion  to  remark,, 
was  never  completed.    Wood  represents  him  as  a  pious 
and  learned  man,  and  critically  skilled  in  Latin,  Greek, 
Hebrew,  and  the.  Oriental  languages,   a  vigilant  pastor, 
a  liberal  benefactor,  and  a  faithful  friend.     He  died  April^ 
15,  1637,  and  was  buried  in  the  chancel  of  his  church  at 
Quainton,  under  a  monument  with  bis  effigies,  and  those 
of  his  widow  and  four  children  kneeling.     He  published,; 
1.  ^'  Vitas  Sanctorum  Evangelist.  Johannis  et  Lucas  aSi- 
meone  Metaphraste.concianate,^   Oxon,   1597,  8vo.     2, 
'^  Agatharchidis  et  Memnonis  Historicorum  qtiae  supersunt 
omnia,'^  ibid.  1597,  8yo.     S.  <*  Iconum  sacrarum  decas,) 
in  qua  e  subjectis  iVp*^  compluscula  sanse  doctrinse  capita 
eruuntur,'*  ibid.  1603,  4to.* 

BRETT  (Thomas,  LL.  D.)  aa  emiheht  English  divine^ 
and  controversial  writer,  the  son  of '  Thomas  Brett,  gent« 
of  Spring-grove,  in  the  parish  of  Wye,  in  Kent,  by  Le- 
titia,  his  wife,  the  daughter  and  hehr  of  John  Boys,  esq. 
of  Bettishanger,  near  Sandwich,  in  that  county,  was  bom. 
at  the  seat  of  the  latter,  3d  Sept  16^7.  His  father  idis-! 
liking  the  situation  of  the  old  house  at  Wye,  where  his 
ancestors  had  lived  for  many  generations,  rebuilt  it  in  tk 
more  commodious  place,  near  a  small  grove  of  trees  and 
a  pleasant  spring  of  water  in  the  same  parish,  from  whence 
he  gave  it  the  iiame  of  Spring*grove.  He  came  and  settled 
there  in  1674,  and  sent  his  son  to  its  grammar-school} 
the  master  of  whioh  was  then  John  Patb,  A,  M.  but  iHif 


>  Chaniock*8  Biog.  Navm1if.«— Gent.  Mag.  toI.  LVI. 
*  AI&:  Ox;  vol  I.— Peck*«  DetideraU,  toU  il. 


\ 


BRET  T.  *97, 

dyjing  al>9ut  threa  yf ara,  ♦after,  .was  succeeded,by^  Sam^tejL 
l^ratt*,  und^i:  whose  in^tructiw  thfj  youth  remained  uatiji 
1684.  "       •      '      •    •  -     "       •    .         ^  ^ 

,^is  father. was  for  some  time.  umleterai]ped  whether  he 
should  send  him  to.  the  university,  but  at  length  placed 
l^irn  in  Queen' s-coUege^  Cambridge,   where  he  was  ad- 
xuitted  March  1684.     Here  he  continued  till  he  beea.me 
spph,  when  some  irregularities  in  money-matters,  and  im-<- 
proper  company^  induced  his  father  to  recal  him,  ^.nd  be 
remained  at  home  until,  he  had. missed  the  time  of  talking 
the  decree  of  A.  B.     tJpon  hip  return  tg  Cambridge  sopji^  . 
time  after,  finding,  bis  books  embezzled  by  an  idle  scholar    ^ 
w^ip,  ha-d.beep  put  into  his  chamber,  he  determined  to, 
leave  tbatcollege,   and  was  admitted  intq  Corpus^  Christi. 
•^anVl7,  1689^  where  he  proceeded  LL.  B.  on  l^t  Barna-^'v 
fias  day  following,  and  made  no  scjruple  of  taking  the  oaths 
of  allegiance  and  suprenaacy  to  king  Willianj  and  queen 
Mary;  his  father,  and  other  relations,  who.  were  accounted 
^bigs,  having  taught  him  whig.pi:inciples.     lie  saw  also 
Ijiat  the  tories  of  his  acquaintance  tooK  these  pat^s  with-* 
out  any  scruple,^  altbough  they  had  formerly  sworn  alle- 
giance to  king  James,  which  be  had  never  done  :  evQn  his"^ 
sqUooloqiaster,  Mr.  Pratt^. complied,,  y^ho  ^ad  early  instilled 
such  principles  into  his  mind  as  he  c.qutd.  never  thoroughly 
Reconcile. with  tlje  revolution.,  ,The  bishop  of  Wh:^ci>ester 
ordaiaed  hijga  deacon  at  Chelsea,  IXec.  21,  1690,  when  he, 
ii^dertopk  the  service  of  the  cure  of  Folkstoue,   for  * 
f  vvelvemonth ;  after  which  he  oame  up  to  London,  .eDtec^ 
intQ  prints*  orders,  and  was  chosen  lecturj^r  c^f  JslingtQn, 

Set  4,  1691 J  whjBre,  from  his  frequent,  copv^rsation  with 
Jr^XJery  tj.-thie  yicar,.,who  was  s^  tory,  he  became  entirely, 
of  the  same  prin(ciples.,. 

'Upon  his  father's  decease,  at  ,tbe  eai:pest  solicitation  o£ 
his  mother,  he  left  Islington  with  some  reluctance  in  JVlay^ 
1696,  came  to  his  house  at  Spring-grove,  and  took  upojo^ 
bini  the  cure  of  Great- Chart ;  where  be  soon  became  ac«, 

^uainted,  with  the  family  of  sir  Nicholas  Tqke,  and  married, 
is  j^oungest  daughter  Bridget  befojce  the  expiration  oi 
ihs^^^year. ,  In  the  following  year, iie  took  the  degree  of 
LL.  D.as  a  member  of  Queen^s,  and  soon  after  entered 
fipon  the  cure  of  Wye,  as.  lyin^g  more  conveniently  for 

*  Mr.  Pratt  was  afterwards  preceptor  to  his  royal  Ikis^hnesg   the  duke. of 
dlpueester»  and  died  deaH^of^  Rochester,  Jii  1723.'  '  ' 

f  Gery,  however,  died? jcar  of  Ii^tiD^on,' nor.  '  ^     -     .     \ 

V«L.  VI.  •  K  K 


\ 


498  BRETT, 

him,  but  bad  no  benefice  of  his  own  before  April  12,  1709^: 
when  upon  the  death  of  bis  uncle,  Thomas  Boys^  jrector 
of  Bettishangec,  he  was  instituted  to  that  rectory,  on  the 
presentation  of  Jeffery  Boys,  the  eldest  brother  of  Thomas. 
Archbishop  Tenison  made  bina  an  oifer  of  the  vicarage  of 
Chistlet,  of  about  70/.  per  arm,  soon  after,  and,  as  he  ac- 
quainted him  at  the  same  time  that  he  designed  something, 
better  for  him,  indulged  him  in  holding  it  by  sequtestra- 
tion  ;  and  it  was  not  long  before  be  had  an  opportunity  of . 
making  goqd  his  promise,  by  collating,  him  to  the  rectory 
of  Rucking,  April  12,  1705. 

At  each  of  these  institutions  he  took  the  oath  of  abjura-  . 
tion,  and  without  scruple,  until  by  frequent  xltsconrse  on 
the  subject  of  parties,  with  his  near  relation  the  lord  chief 
baron  Gilbert,  who  endeavoured  tp  bring  him  over  io  the 
whigs,  that  he  might  have  the  better  opportunity  of  re- 
commending him  to  higher  preferment,    he  unwittingly 
opened   his  eyes,  as  he  terms  it,  and  rivetted  him  the . 
firmer  in  his  former  opinions ;  and,  upon  reading  tfa^  trial 
of  Dr.  Sacheverel,  published  soon  after,  he  began  in  ear- 
nest, to  believe  he  had  taken  oaths  which  he  ought  not  to 
have  taken,  and  resolved  never  to  repeat  them.     In  this 
dilemma,  however,  he  had  no  scruple  about  the  schism  in 
the  church,  nor  about  continuing  to  pray  for  a  prince  in 
possession  of  the  throne,  until  upon  the  accession  of  a  new 
one,  an  act  of  parliament  was  made  obliging  all  persons 
to  take  the  oaths  afresh.     But  this,  in  the  present  state  of  . 
his  conscience,  he  could  not  comply  with,  and  wrote  to 
his  patron  the  archbishop,  in  April   1715,   desiring   he 
would  give  him  leave  to  resign  his  livings,  to  which  his. 
grace  answered  very  kindly,   that  he  would  advise  bim 
to  consider  farther  of  it,  and  not  to  do  that  rashly  of  which 
he  might  afterwards  repent.     Dr.  Brett  accordingly  took 
his  advice,  and  made  no  resignation,  considering  that  his 
non-compliance  with  the  act  of  parliament  would  in  a  short 
time  vacate  them  of  course.     He  left  off,  however,  to  of- 
ficiate in  either  of  them,  but  still  went  to  his  own  parish  * 
church  as  a  *lay  communicant,  until  Mr.  Campbell  wrote 
to  him,  by  order  of  bishop  Hickes,  (who  had  got  some  in*  • 
formation  of  his  resolution)  pressing  him  earnestly  to  re- 
frain entirely  from  all  communion  with  the  parish  churches, 
urging  the  point  of  schism.     On  this  he  had  recourse  to 
Mr.  Dodweirs  tracts  on  that  subject,  whose  arguments  not 
satisfying  his,  mind,  he  resolved  to  i^urreuder  himsaelf  up  - 


BEST  T.  499 

Ux  bishop*  Blck^s,  and  upon  a  penitential  con£essioh,  was 
received  into  his  communion  July  1,  17 15,  :who  from  this) 
time  appears  to  have  had  a  great  influence  over  him.  ' 

>  He  now  ustially  officiated  in  his  own .  house  every  Sun-^ 
day^  where  a  few  of  the  same  persuasion  assembled  with 
his  family,  until  he  was.  presented  at  the  assizes  the  year 
following,  for  keeping  a  conventicle,,  but  the  act  of  in^ 
demnity  soon  after  cleared  him  from  this.  To  avoids 
however,  any  prosecution  of  the  like  sort  for  the  future,  it 
was  thought  adviseable  to  vary  the  place  of  their  meeting^ 
and  he  went  accordingly,  sometimes  to  Canterbury,  and 
sometimes  to  Feversbam,  where  part  of  his  c6ngregatioa 
lived,  without  any  interruption,  until  upon  intruding  into 
the  duties  of  the  parochial  minister  of  Feversbam,  by  vi^ 
siting.a  sick  person  of  his  communion,  this  minister  com« 
plained  of  him  to  the  archbishop  in  1718,  Who  sent  him' 
wc»rd  that  if  he  heard  any  more  such  complaints,  he  should 
be  obliged  to  lay  them  before  the  king  and  council.  He 
continued  to  officiate  on  Sunday ^,  as  usual,  and  no  farther 
notice  was  taken  of  it,  until  in  1729  he  obtained  leave  of 
Mr.  Simpson,  the  minister  of  Norton,  to  perform  the  bu- 
rial office  in  his  church.  Lord  Townsend  hearing  of  this, 
and  communicating  it  to  the  archbishop,  be  ordered  his 
aeohdeaoon  to  reprove  the  vicar  for  granting  him  permis- 
sion. So  that  it  appears  from  his  own  confession  (for  most 
of  the  foregoing  particulars  are  extracted  firom  the  account 
he  eives  af  himself  in  a  letter  to  a  friend)  both  the  arch- 
bishops Tenison  and  Wake,  shewed  ereat  wisdom  and 
charity,  candour  and  generosity,,  in  th^r  conducttowardd 
him,  although  they  could  not  influence  him  so  far  as  to  be 
even  a-  lay*communicant  with  them ;  and  that  be  lived 
under  a  mild-  go^trernment,  having  no  other  disturbance 
given  him^  than  a  reproof,  upon  a  complaint. 

-He  appears  now  to  have  lived  in  obscurity  and  with 
caution,  until  bis  death,  which  happened  at  bis  house  at 
Spring-grove,  March  5,  1743,  when  bis  remains  were 
placed  among  those  of  his  ancestors  in  the.  family  vault  at 
Wye.  Mr.  Masters,  from  whose  history  of  C.  C.  college 
we  have  taken  this  account  of  Dr.  Brett,  represents  him,  ' 
upon  the  authority  of  one  who  knew  him  well,  as  a  ^^  learned, 
pious,  and  indefatigable  author,  a  worthy,  orthadox  mem- 
ber of  the  church  of  England,  and  no  small  honour  to  her; 
whose  works  are  a  clear  indication  of  his  writing  in  the 
search  a£  trutb^  whicfai  if  at  any  time  be  found  hin»elf 

KK  2 


MO  B  K  E  T  t. 

deviating  froin,  he  always  took  the  first  opportunity  bf  rt'* 
tractiog  it  in  the  most  public  manner.  In  private  life  he 
vtfBs  a  dutiful  son,  an  a6ectionate  husband,  a  kind  parent, 
and  a  true  friend.  His  conversation  was  ever  facetious, 
good-natured,  and  easy,  teitipered  with  a  becoming  gra« 
vity,  without  moroseness,  and  so  well  adapted  to  those  he 
happened  to  be  in  compscny  with,  that  it  rendered  him 
agreeable  to,  as  well  as  esteemed  by  persons  of  all  rank^, 
who  had  the  pleasure  of  his  acquaintance.*'  His  widcfw 
«>urvived  him  some  time,  and  one  son,  Nicholas,  who  was 
chaplain  to  sir  Robert  Cotton,  of  Steeple^Gedding,  la 
Huntingdonshire,  hart  and  afterwards  settled  in  Kent.    : 

His  works  were :  1.  ^^  An  account  of  Church-goverp- 
ment  and  governors,  wherein  is  shewed  that  the  govei:n- 
4nent  of  the  church  of  En^and  is  most  agreeable  to  that 
of  the  primitive  church;  for  the  instruction  of  a  near  rela- 
tion, who  had  been  brought  up  among  the  Dissenters," 
Lend.  1707,  8vo.     Some  reflections  were  made  upon  this 
in  "  The  beautiful  Pattern,"  written  by  Mr.  Nokes,  pastor 
4>f  an  independent  congregation,  who  afterwards  conformed 
to  the  church  of  England.     A  second  edition  of  this  ti^ct 
was  published  in  1710,  with  large  additions  and  amend- 
ments, and  a  chapter  on  <^  Provincial  Synods,"  which  was 
animadverted  upon  in  a  pamphlet  entitled  *^  Presbyt^ers 
not  always  an  authoritative  part  of  Provincial  Synods," 
written  by  Mr.  Lewis,  of  Margate,  1711.     2.  **  The  Au- 
thority of  Presbyters  vindicated,  in  answer  thereto."  \  In 
a  letter  to  a  fiiend,  however,  he  afterwards  acknowle<^s 
he  was  convinced  of  being  mistaken,  for  although  I^es- 
bjrters  were  often  connected  with,  yet  they  had  no  au^o- 
ritative  votes  in  the  ancient  church.     3«  **  Two  letter^  on 
the    times  wherein    Marriage  is  said  to  be  prohibited," 
Lond.  1708,  4to.     4.  <<  A  letter  to  the  author  of  Lay* 
Baptism  invahd,   wherein  the  doctrine  of  Lay-Baptism, 
taught  in  a  sei*mon  said  to  have  been  preached  by,  the 
B'      '  of  &'.'!".  '■  7  Nov.  1710,  is  censured  and  condemned 
ty  all  reformed  churches,"  Lond.  1711.     5,  **  A  semnon 
en  Remission  of  Sins,  Job.  xx.  21 — 23,"  Ldnd»  1712,  ic^ich 
Dr.  Cannon  made  two  motions  in  the  house  ^f  convpۤtion 
to  liave. censured,  but  not  succeeding*)  he  publishe$l  an 

#  «<ODe.  Briett  bad  preached  a  ser-  fMriestly  abflolutioB,  in  a  straiB.^^yond 

moli  m  MTeral  of  the  pulpits  io  Loo-  what  was  pretended    to  eTen,  jn  the 

jlinR..- wbicb  be  afterwatds  printed  ;  ia  church  of  Rome.    He  said,  no  if  pent- 

«b:cb  he  preMcil  tbi^  necessity  «C  .ifencct.  coiil^  .><i|^^  witbaut  ity.9jid  af* 


BRETT.  tKAb 

«<;count  of  themi  which  was  answered  the  same  yoar,  in  6. 
^^The  doctrine  of  Remission,  &c.  explained  and  vindicated.*^ 
He  afterwards  owned  he  went  too  far,  and  that  Dr.  Mar-* 
»hall,  in  bis  <^  Doctrine  of  the  primitive  church,^'  had  set 
this  matter  right.     With  this  sermon  he  also  published  in 
1715,  five  others,  on  "The  honour  of  the  Christian  priest^ 
hood.— «The  extent  of  Christ's  commission  to  baptise.-!-* 
The  Christian  Altar  and  Sacrifice. — The  Dangers  of  a  Re- 
lapse.— ^And,  True  Moderation."    The  "  Extent  of  Christ's 
commission  to  baptise,"  with  ^^  the  Letter  to  the  author  of 
Lay*Baptism  invalid,"  was  answered  by  Mr.  Bingham  in 
bis  "  Scholastic  History  of  Lay-Baptism,"  and  being  re« 
fleeted  upon  by  the  bishop  of  Oxford  in  a  charge,  he  wrote 
7.  an  ^^  Enquiry  into  the  judgment  and  practice  of  the 
primitive  church,  &c.  in  answer  thereto,"    Lorid.   1713; 
and  upon  Mr.  Bingham's  reply,  he  published,  8.  <^  A  far- 
ther Enquiry,  &c."  1714.     9.  "  A  review  of  the  Lutheran 
principles,"  shewing  how  they  differ  from  the  churchy  of 
England,  &c."     In  the  same  year,  Mr.  Lewis,  in  answer 
to  this,  undertook  to  show  their  agreement,  with  which 
Dr.  Brett  was  very  angry,  and  threatened  him  with  a  reply, 
frcHB  which  his  friends  dissuaded  him.     In  a  second  edi<« 
tipn^  however,    he  made  some  transient   remarks  upon 
two  letters   to  the  lord  viscount  Townsend,   by  Robert 
Watts,  in  answer  thereto.     10.  ^^  A  vindication  of  himself 
from  the  calumnies  cast  upon  him  in  some  news^papers, 
falsely  charging  him  with  turning  papist  ;  in  a  letter  to 
the  hon.  Arch.  Campbell,  esq."  Lond.   1715.     11.  **  Djr. 
Bennet's  concessions  to  the  Non-jurors  proved  destructive 
to  the  cause  he  endeavours  to  defend,"  1717.     12:  "The 
Independency  of  the  Church  upon  the  State,  as  to  its  pure 
spiritual  powers,  &c."  1717.     13.  "The  Divine  right  of 
Episcopacy,  &c."  1718;  and  in  the  same  year,  14.  "Tra- 
dition necessary  to  explain,  and  interpret  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures,"  with  a  postscript  in  answer  to  "  No  sufficient 
reason,  &c."  and  a  preface,  with  remarks  on  "  TolandV 
Nazarenus,"  and  "  a  further  proof  of  the  necessity  of  Tra- 
dition, &c."      15.  "A  Vindication   of  the  postscrif^  in 
answer  to  No  just  grounds,  &c."  1720.     16.  "  A  discourse 
concerning  the  necessity  of  discerning  Christ's  body  in  the 

flnned  that  the  priest  was  vested  with  tion»  to  censvie  this ;  but  it  was  so  ill 

the  same  power  of  pardoninf  that  our  supported,  that  it  was  let  HUI."    Bur- 

IBaviour  himself  had.    A  motion  was  net's  History  of  his  own  Timev,  .foU 

waKte  ID  the  low^r  hgaie  wf  oonvoM*  voU  \\,  p.  €03* 


502  B  R  E  T  T. 

Holy  Communion,'*  Lond.  1720.  17.  "  A  dissertition*  on 
the  principal  liturgies  used  by  the  Christian  church  in  the 
celebration  of  the  Holy  Eucharist/'  1720.  He  i^  also 
supposed  to  have  written,  18.  "Some  discourses  on 
the  ever-blessed  Trinity,"  in  the  same  year.  19.  **  Of 
degrees  in  the  university,"  a  dissertation  in  the  Blblioth. 
Liter.  N*.  1.  "An  essay  on  the  various  English  translations 
of  the  Bible,"  N^.  4.  "  An  historical  essay  concerning 
arithmetical  figures,"  N*.  8,  with  an  appendix  to  it^ 
N*.  10,  1722,  3,  4,  in  4 to.  20.  "  An  instruction  to  4 
person  newly,  confirmed,  &c."  1725.  21.  "  A  Chronolo- 
gical essay  on  the  Sacred  History,  &c."  in  defence  of  the 
computation  of  the  Septuagint,  with  an  "  Essay  on  the 
confusion  of  languages,"  1729.  22.  **  A  genera;!  his^ 
tory  of  the  World,  &c."  1732.  There  is  a  letter  of  his 
to  Dr.  William  Warren,  fellow  of  Trinity-hall,  in  Peck'^ 
Desiderata,  lib.  VII.  p.  1 3, containing  an  account  of  Richard 
Plantagenet  (as  natural  son  of  king  Richard  lU.)  dated 
from  Spring-grove,  1  Sept.  1733,  which  is  said  to  be  a 
forgery,  invented  to  impose  upon  the  doctor's  credulity, 
^nd  to  ridicule  modem  antiquaries.  23.  **  An  answer  to 
the  plain  account  of  the  Sacrament,"  in  1735  or  6. 
24.  ^'  Some  remarks  on  Dr.  Wateriand's  Review  of'lhfe 
doctrine  of  the  Eucharist,"  &€^  with  an  Appendix  in  an- 
swer to  his  charges,"  1741.  25.  "  A  letter  to  a  clergy- 
jnan,  shewing  why  the  Hebrew  Bibles  differ  from  the  Sep- 
tuagint," .  1743.  26.  **  Four  letters  between  a  Gentlemah 
And  a  Clergyman,  concerning  the  necessity  of  Episcopal 
communion  for  the  valid  administration  of  Gospel  ordi- 
nances,". 1743.  27.  "  The  life  of  MrJ  John  Johnson', 
•A-  M."*  prefixed  to  his  posthumous  tradts  in  1748,  widi 
jieveraL  prefaces  to  th6  works  of  others,  particularly  a  Verjr 
long  one  to  Hart^s  "  Bulwark  istormed,"  &c.  In  1760 
Was  published  ^^  A  dissertation  on  the  antient  versions  iSt 
the  Bible,"  a  Second  edition  prepared  for  the  ;press  by  thfe 
author,  and  "  now  first  published,"  8vo.  * 

Sir  John  Hawkins  informs  us  that  Dr.  Johhsori  deHvelSl 
his.opinion  of  the  lawfulness  of  praying  for  the  dead,  fVoin 
the  controversy  on  the  subject  about  the  yeat  1 71 5,'  agitated 
between  certain  divines  of  the  non-juring  persuasion,  and 
particularly  from  the  opinions  of  Dr.  JBrett.*  -" 

*  S€f«  Biog.  Brit.  vol.  VI.  Suppl.  p.  ll4.~note  (. 
>  Hawkins's  Life  of  JohntOD,  p.  44S,  edH»  17S7..^^agtcrs>s  Hist,  of  C.CCa 


B  R  »E  V  A  L.  5pS 

,.BREVAL  (John  Durant  de),  son  of  Francis  Durant, 

J>K  Breval^.  D.  D.  prebendary  of  Westminster,  was  edu.-. 
cated  at  Westminster-school,  to  which  Jie  was  admitted 
1693,  and  removed  thence  to  Trinity-college,  Cambridge^, 
in  1697.  He  was  elected  fellow  of  it  about  the  year  1702  j 
but,  upon  some  disagreement  between  him  and  Dr.  Beot- 
ley,  the  master,  he  quitted  his  fellowship,  and  went  into 
the  army,  then  in  Flanders,  as  an  ensign.  The  ease  with 
which  he  acquired  the  Flemish  and  German.  langu^ges^ 
his  great  knowledge,  his  exquisite  pencil,  and  genteel  be- 
haviour, were  soon  noticed  by  the  duke  of  Marlborough  j 
who  promoted  him  to  the  rank  of  captain,  and  also  em-' 
ployed  him  in  divers  negotiations  with  several  German, 
princes.  He  began  his  travels  about  1720,  published  the 
two  first  volumes  of  them  in  1723  and  1725,  and  the  third 
and  fourth  in  1738,  all  in  folio.  It  may  be  matter  of  sur- 
prise to  see  Mr.  BrevaP^  name  among  the  gentlemen  of 
the  Dunciad ;  but,  soon  after  the^  unsuccessful  exhibition 
of  the  "  Three  hours  aft^r  marriage,''  which,  thouffh  with, 
only  Gay's  name  to  it,  was  certainly  the  joint  proa^ction, 
of  Gay,  Pope,  and  ^Arbuthnot,  Breval,  under  the  as- 
sunied  name  of  Joseph  Gay,  produced  a  farce  called  "  The 
Confederates^"  and  this  exposed  him  to  Pope*s  resentri^ent. 
He  published  also  in  1734  :  1.  "  The  History  of  the  house 
of  Nassau,"  8vo.     2.   "  The  Hoop-petticoat,   a  poem^ 

1716.  3,  "  The  Art  of  Dress,  an  heroi-coinical  poem, 
J717,     4r  ^*  Mac  Dermot^  or  the  Irish  Fortune-hunter,'* 

1717.  5.  **  Calpe,  or  Gibraltar,"  a  poem,  1717;  and  in 
the  following  year  produced  a  comedy  called  **  The  Play 
is  the  Plot,"  which  not  succeeding  in  that  shape,  he  re- 
duced it  to  a  farce  called  **  The  Strollers,"  which  .met 
^ith  more  favour.  In  1737  he  brought  out  at  Covent- 
garden,  a  musical  opera  called  "The  Rape  of  Helen.'* 
As  to  what  is'  said  above,  of  his  quitting  his  fellowship,  th^ 
f^ct  is,  that  he  and  a  Mr.  Miller  were  expelled.  Breval, 
speaking  of  the  conduct  of  Dr.  Bentley  on  this  occasion, 
.used  the  remarkable  expression  of  "  Tantum  non  jugu- 
Javit."* 

BREUGEL.     SeeBRUEGEL. 

BREULIUS  or  DU  BREUIL  (James),  a  French  anti- 
quary,'was  boiii  Sept.  17*,.  1^28,  and  entered  the  bociety 

}  Nichols's  Bowyer.-— Biog.  Dramatica.* 


504  B  R  E  U  L  I  U  S. 


f 


of  the  Benedictines  of  St.  Germain-des-Pres  in  1549*  Ha 
published  in  1601  an  edition  of  Isidorus,  fol. ;  and  1.  **  Le 
Theatre  des  Antiquit€s  de  Paris,"  1639,  4to.  2.  "Sup- 
pl^mentum  antiquitatum  Parisiensiuro,"  1614,  4to.  Of 
these  two  M alingre  availed  himself  in  his  "  Antiquities  of 
Paris,**  published  in  1640,  fol.  3.  "  Les  Fastes  de  Paris,**. 
by  Bonfons,  improved  by  our  author,  1605,  and  1608,  8va. 
4.  **  La  Vie  du  cardinal  Charles  de  Bourbon,'*  uncle  of 
Henry  IV.  1612,  4to.  5.  "  Chronicon  Abbatum  regalitf 
monast.  S.  Germani  a  Pratis,"  1603,  fol.  He  died  in. 
1614,  leaving  some  of  the  above  works  ready  for  the  press.^ 
BREVINT  (Daniel),  a  learned  divine  of  the  seven* 
l^eenth  century,  was  born  in  the  Isle  of  Jersey,  in  the  reigiik' 
of  king  James  I.  and  probably  educated  in  grammar-leafn-* 
ing  in  that  place.  From  thence  he  went  and  studied  logia 
and  philosophy  in  the  Protestartt  university  of  Saumur, 
where  he  took  the  degree  of  master  of  arts,  on  September 
12,  1634.  Coming  to  Oxford,  he  was,  October  12,  1688, 
incorporated  M.  A.  as  he  stood  at  Saumur.  About  this 
time  king  Charles  I.  having  through  archbishop  Laud's 
persuasion  founded  three  fellovvships  in  the  colleges  of 
Pembroke,  Exeter,  and  Jesus,  for  the  islands  of  Jersey 
and '  Guernsey,  alternately,  Mr,  Brevint  was  nominated 
the  first  fellow  at  Jesus-college  upon  this  foundation^  ia 
1638.  Here  he  continued  till  he  was  ejected  from  his  fel- 
lowship by  the  parliament- visitors,  for  refusing  to  take  the 
solemn  league  and  covenant,  and  withdrew  to  his  native 
country,  but  upon  the  reduction  of  that  place  by  the  par* 
liament*s  forces,  he  fled  into  France,  and  became  minister 
of  a  Protestant  congregation  in  Normandy.  Not  long 
after,  he  had  the  honour  of  being  n^de  chaplain  to  the 
viscount  de  Tureune,  afterwards  marshal  of  France,  whose 
lady  was  one  of  the  most  pious  women  of  her  time.  Whilst 
he  was  in  that  station,  he  was  one  of  the  persons  ^^  em« 
ployed  about  the  great  design  then  in  hand,  of  reconciUng 
the  Protestant  and  Popish  religions ;  which  gave  him  an  ac- 
cess into,  and  made  him  acquainted  with  every  corner  of  that 
church,*'  as  he  says  himself.  At  the  restoration  of  king 
Charles  11.  be  returned  to  England,  and  was  presented  by 
that  prince  (who  had  known  him  abroad)  to  the  tenth  pre- 
l^endin  the  church  of  Durham,  vacant  by  the  promotion  of 

^  Horeri.«*^DM:t.  Hist 


B  R  E  V  I  N  T.  50* 

Br.  J^Cosin  to  that  see,  and  was  installed  March  15,1660-61. 
By  bishop  Cosin,  who  had  been  his  fellow-sufFerer,  he  wad 
also  collated  to  a  living  in  the  diocese  of  Durham.    On  the 
Sr7th  of  February,  1661-62,  he  took  his  degree  of  D.D.  at 
Oxford.     Having  during  his  exile  seen  Popery  in  its  native 
deformity,  and  observed  all  the  mean  and  dishonest  arts 
Aat  are  used  to  support  it,  l^e  in  1672  published  "  Mis- 
Mile  Romanum  ;  or,  the  depth  and  mystery  of  the  Romaa 
Mass  laid  open  and  explained,  for  the  use  of  both  reformed 
and  unreformed  Christians,'*   and  the  next  year,  **  The 
Christian  Sacrament  and  Sacrifice,  by  way  of  discourse^ 
m^itation,  and  prayer,  upon  the  nature,  parts,  and  bles* 
ftngs  of  the  holy  communion,"  reprinted  on  the  recom- 
mendation of  Dr.  Waterland,    in   1739.      And  in   1674, 
^^  Saul  and  Samuel  at  Endor,  or  the  new  waies  of  salvatioa 
and  service,  which  usually  tempt  men  to  Rome,  and  de- 
tain them  there,  truly  represented  and  refuted,"  reprinted 
1688.     At  the  end  of  which  is,  "  A  brief  account  of  R.  F. 
Iris  Missale  Vindicatum,  or  vindication  of  the  Roman  mass/* 
being  an  answer  to  "  The  depth  and  mystery  of  the  Roman 
Mass,**  above-mentioned.    The  learning  and  other  eminent 
ijualifications  of  the  author  having  recommended  bim  to  the 
esteem  of  the  world,  and  to  the  favour  of  his  sovereign,  he 
was  promoted  to  the  deanery  of  Lincoln,  and  was  installed 
January  3,    1681-82,    and  had  the  prebend  of  Welton- 
Payns-hall  annexed  thereto,  January  7  th  following.     He 
<Med  May  5,  1695,  and  was  buried  in  th^  cathedral  church 
of  Lincoln,   behind  the  high  altar ;  where,  on  a  grave- 
stotie,  is  an  inscription  to  his  memory.     He  was  a  person 
of  extensive  reading,  especially  in  the  controversy  between 
the  Protestants  and  Papists ;    zealous  for  the  church  of 
Ef^gland ;  and  for  his  life  and  learning,  truly  praise-worthy. 
Besides  the  above  works,  he  published  in  Latin  :  1,  "  Ec- 
clesiae  primitivsB  Sacramentum  &  Sacrificium,  hi  pontificiis 
corruptelis,  &  exinde  natis  controversiis  liberum,"  writ* 
ten  at  the  desire  of  the  princesses  of  Turenne  and  Bouillon. 
2.  ^^  Eucharistiae  Christianse  preesentia  realis,  &  pontificia 
ficta,  luculentissimis  non  testimoniis  modo,  sed  etiam  fun-' 
damentis,  quibus  fere  tota  S.  S.  Patrum  Theologia  nititur^ 
ha&c  explosa,  ilia  sufFulta  &  asserta."     3.  "  Pro  Serenis- 
sima  Priiicipe  Weimariensi  ad  Theses  Jenenses  accurata 
Hesponsio.*'     4.  "  Ducentae  plus  minus  Praelectiones  in 
S.  Matthsei  xxv  capita,  et  aliorum  Evangelistarum  locos 
biBce  passim  paralielos/'     He  also  translated  into  French 


m  B  R  E  V  I  N  T. 

^^  The  judgment  of  tbe  wniversity  of.  Oxford  concerning 
the  solemn  League  aod  Covenant."  * 
.  BREWER  (Anthony),, a  dramatic  writer  of  the  rqigii 
of  king  Jarjo^s  I.  appears  to  have  been  held  in  l^gh  esti* 
mation  by  the  wits  of  that  time,  but  there  are  many  dis«k 
pute&as.to  his  works,  and  no  information  concerning  his 
|ife<  .  The  various  dramatic  annalists  assign  him  from  on^ 
)to  six  plays.  The  controversy  seeoia  of  little  consequence^ 
unless  that  it  g^ve  rise  to  a  story  of  Oliver  CrprnwelFs 
having  acted  a  part  in  one  of  his -supposed  plays,  entitled 
^^  Lingua,"  the  part  of  one  ambitious  for  a  crown ;  and 
ib>^t  his  ambition  was  first  excited  by  persoDal;ing  this  cha^ 
racter.  The.  story^  however,  seems  as  doubtfuli  as  the 
author  .of  the  play-  *  .  - 

;  BREWER  (Samuel),  abotanist,  whose  coofiectiou  with 
Dillenius  entitles  him.  tQ  some  nptice,  wi^  originally  c^ 
Trowbridge,  ip  Wiltshire,  iu  which  county  he  had  a  sm^iU 
estate.  He  was  engaged  at  one  time  in  the  woollen  ma*> 
fiufactory  of  that  place^  but  it  is  thought  was  unsuccessful. 
Ijle  at^ejistded.  Dillenius  into^Vales,  Anglesey,  and  the  ^sle 
of  Man,  in  the  summer  of  1726,  and  afterwards  remained 
the,  winter,  and  the  greater  part  of  the  ne^tjear,  in  tha^ 
CQuntry  ;  piakipg  bisi  r^sideoce  at  Bangor,  and  taking  hi^ 
l^xcursion^ ..  to.  Snawdoo  ^nd  elsewhere,  While  in  Wale% 
it  w^  intended  that  he  should 'have  gone  over  to  Ireland 
to.  make  a  botanical  tour  through  that  kingdom ;  but  that 
expedition  n^ver  took  place.  So  long;  a  residence  gav^ 
liiax  an  opportunity,  not  only  of  seeing  the  beauties  .o|^ 
supimer  plants,  but  of  collecting  the  Cryptogsunia  in  win- 
ter, when  they  flourish  most.  .  Here  he  received  instruct 
tious  from  Dillenius,  collected  specipiens;  of  every ^  thing 
rare,  or  unknown  .to  him  before,  and  sent  them  to  Di^ 
lenius  to  determine  the  species,  and  fi^  the  pames.  This 
journey  appears  to  have  been  designed  to  promote  Dille* 
nius*s  "Appendix  to  the  Synopsis,"  In  1728,  Mr. Brevier 
went  into  Yorkshire,  and  resided  the  remainder  of  hisd^y^ 
at  Bradford,  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Dr.. Richardson^  ^y 
whose  beneficence  he  was  assisted  in  ;i?arious  ways.  ,  Aft^ 
his  retirement  into  Yorkshire,  he  nxeditated,  and  nearly 
finished  a  work  which  was  to  h?ive  borne  the  jtitle  of  *'  Tb^ 
Bptanical  Guide,'*  but  it  never  appei^red.    The  time  of 

•  Biog.Brit.— AthiOx.  vol.  II.—HutchiMOn'i  Hi»t,  of  Durham,  Yol,il.p.21Q. 

•  Biog,  Drani. 


B  R  E  W.E  R. .  *0t 

i)i^  decease  has  not  bee;n'  d^fermined,  but  be  is  said  to 
have  been  living  in  1742.  His  passion  for  English  botany, 
and  his  skill  and  assiduity,  enabled  him  to  afford  singular 
assistance  to  Dillenius,  especially  in  t^  subjects  for  bis 
*<  History  of  Mosses."  * 

BREYDEL  (CHAftLES)^  called  Cavalier,  a  painter  of 
landscapes,  was  born  at  Antwerp  in  1677,  and  remained 
binder  the  instruction  of  old  Rysbrack,  the  landiscajie 
painter,  for  three  years,  after  which  period  he  became,  in 
consequence  of  his  close  application,  competent  to  oonv- 
inence  the  practice  of  his  art.  -^laving  b^en  diverted  from  ' 
iis  purpose  of  visiting  Italy  by  the  encouraging  reception 
^hich  he  met  with  at  F^ncfort  and  Nuremberg,  he  spent 
.two  years  with  his  brother,  Francis  Breydel,  at  the  court 
'Of  Hes^-Cassel ;  -and  afterwards  went  to  Amsterdam,  where 
^he  copied  several  views  of  the  Rhine,  from  the  designs  of 
Oriffier,  and  thus  improved  his  colouring,  pencilling,  and 
taste  of  design,  so  that  the  works  of  this  artist  may  be  re- 
<garded  as  his  second  and  best  school.  At  length  he  settled 
^  Ghent,  where  bis  performances  were  much  admired^; 
hxkt  he  was  reduced  by  extravagance  to  the  necessity  of 
Earning  money  expeditiously,  and  to  multiply  pictures 
muc>h  inferior  in  design  and  execution  to  others  which 
bad  been  produced  by  his  pencil.  His<  health  declined 
.towards  the  close  of  bis  life;  and  his  performances  during 
the  intervals  of  ease  which  he  enjoyed,  amidst  recurring 
.paroxysms  of  the  gout,  wanted^  the  spirit,  delicate  finishing', 
and  firmness  of  touch,  of  his  better  days.  Whilst  the  ideas 
atid  style  of  Grimier  were  his  models,  hia  pictures,  prin^i- 
cipally  views  of  the  Rhine,  were  well  designed,  neatly 
executed,  and  excellently  coloured.  But  he  changed  this 
manner,  in  order  to  ipnitate  Velvet  Breughel,  whose  works 
were  universally  admired,  and  selected  for  his  subjects 
•battles,  sieges,  and  encampments.  He  often  copied  the 
prints  of  Vandermeulen ;  but  afterwards  composed  very 
readily  in  this  style,  without  borrowing  from  any  other 
artist.  His  best  pictures' are  foil  of  spirit,  his  touch  is 
firm,  and  well  adapted  to  his  style,  and  his  design  is  co]^« 
feet.  Some  of  them  appear  too  laboured,  but  others  are 
full  of  harmony.     He  died  in  1744. " 

BREYDEL  (FraKcis),  brother  of  the  above,  was  bom 
at  Antwerp,  in  1679,  and  it  is  generally  supposed  that  he 

* 

A  Pulteney'f  Hist  and  Bio^f.  Sketches.  <  Pilkingtoo. 


S0«  B  R  E  Y  B  E  L. 

was  Ik  disciple  of  old  Rysbrack^   as  well  as  his  brothef 
Charles;  but  he  chose  very  different  subjects ;  for,  at  an 
early  time  of  life  he  painted  portraits  with  so  great  success^ 
that  be  was  appointed  painter  to  the  court  of  Hesse-Cassdl> 
where  his  works  were  very  much    esteemed*      He  aUo 
painted  conversations,   feasts,  assemblies,   and  carnivals, 
subjects  very  pleasing  to  the  lovers  of  the  art,  and  on  that 
tecount  he  was  induced  to  paint  a  great  many  in  that  style. 
However,  from  a  levity  of  temper,  he  quitted  the  court  of 
fiesse,  where  he  was  exceedingly  caressed,  and  went  to 
England,  where,  probably,  he  found  sufficient  encourage^ 
nent,  as  he  continued  there  for  several  years  along  with, 
his  friend  Vandermyn.     His  conv^sations  and  other  com- 
positions are  &nely  executed,  agreeably  coloured,  and  well 
disposed;  and  those  pictures  of  his  hand  are  most  pre- 
ferred where  he  has  endeavoured  to  give  a  proper  variety 
to  his  figures.     In  those  the  dresses  are  usually  in  the  mode 
of  the  time  ;    the  persons  represented   are  of  different 
nuiks  and  occupations,  mixed  with  some  of  the  miJiitary 
.order;  and  through  the  whole  ther^e  is  an  appearsmce  of 
nature,  truth,  and  a  great  deal  of  spirit.    He  died  in  1750.'^ 
BRII>G£  (William),  one  of  tb^  0m>st  eminent  noncon- 
formists  af  the  seventeenth  century,  was  boni  in  1 600,  and 
educated  at  Emmanuel  college,  Cambridge,  where  be  took 
his  isaster^s  degree,  in  1626,  and  was  several  years  a  fellow. 
After  preaching  in  Essex  for  five  years,  be  was  <^Ued  to 
.Korwicby  where  he  preached  in  the  parish  of  St.  George^s 
Tombland,  until   1636,  when  he  was  silenced  by  bishop 
Wren  for  nonconformity  in  some  points,   and  lejviadning 
obstinate,  he  was  excommunicated,  and  the  writ  ^e;  ca- 
piendo issued  against  him.     On  this  he  quitted  Noi^wicfa, 
where  he  had  a  lecture  jand  two  cures  ^,  and  went  into 
Holland.     At  Rotterdam  he  wa3  chosen  pastor  to  a  con« 
gregational. church,  but  returned  to  England  in  1642,  fre- 
quently preached  before  the  long  parliament,   andi^^as 
chosen  one  of  the  assembly  of  divines,  although  he  agi^ed 
with  them  only  in  doctrinal'  matters.     At  length  hefted 
at  Yarmouth,  where  be  preached  until  the  Bartholomew 

*  This  IS  not  mentioned  by  Calamf ,  lecture  and  two  cures,  and  is  gcnit  int» 

tnt  may  be  inferred  from  the  notice  of  Holland."    On  the  marg^iii  of  this  pas- 

him  in  avchbishop  Land's  accounts  of  sage  Charles  I.  wrote  :  "  Let  him  go  ; 

bis  province   to  the  king,  for  1636:  we   are   well    rid  ,  of .,  U^m,'?      Laud'« 

"•*  In  Norwich,  o'lie  Mr.  Bridge,  rather  Troublea  aai  Tcia^  jp.  5'4i,  ^     ^^ 
Iban.  be  would  Conform,  hath  left  his 

^i.Pilkinfton, 


I 

I 


B  A  I  D  G  E.  «0*> 

9LCt  took  plade,  when  he  was  ejected.  He  died  March  12, 
1670.  He  was  a  man  of  considerable  learning,  and  pos- 
ftessing  a  library  well 'furnished  with  the  fathers,  schoolmen, 
and  critics,  was  a  very  close  student,  rising  every  morning, 
'both  in  winter  and  summer,  at  four  o'clock,  and  continuing 
in  his  library  until  eleven.  He  was  inflexibly  attached  to 
the  independent  party,  but  too  charitable  towards  men  of 
opposite  sentiments  to  follo%v  their  example  in  all  respects. 
His  principal  works  are  collected  in  2  vols^  4to,  1657,  be- 
sides which  he  published  many  single  sermons  before  the 
parliament,  and  some  tracfts  enumerated  by  Calamy,  In 
Peck's  Desiderata  are  two  letters  from  him  to  Scobell,  the 

•  *cleA  of  the  council,  by  which  we  team  that  he  was  a 

leading  man  ainong  the  independents.  * 

BRII>GEMAN  (Sir  Orlando),  a  lawyer  of  consider- 
able eminence,  was  the  son  of  Dr.  John  Bridgeman,  bishop 
'  of  Chester,  and  educated  to  the  profession  of  the  law,  ia 
Which,  as  he  disapproved  of  the  usurpation,  he  made  no 
figure  until  the  restoration,  when  on  May  13,  1660,  he  waa 
called  to  be  a  serjeant  by  the  king's  special  writ,  and  on 
June  1,  was  advanced  to  be  lord  chief  baron  of  the  exche- 
quer^  from  which,  Oct  22,  he  was  removed  to  be  lord  chief 
justice  of  the  common  pleas.     While  he  presided  in  this 
court,  his  reputation  wais  at  its  height  for  equity  and  mo- 
deration.    In  1667,  when  the  great  seal  was  taken  from 
lord  Clarendon,  the  king  delivered  it,  August  13,  to  sir 
Orlando,  with  the  title  of  Keeper.     After  this,  his  good 
name  began  to  decline  :  he  was  timid  and  irresolute,  and 
' .   his  timidity  still  increased  with  his  years :    nor  was  his 
judgment  eqtral  to  ail  the  difEculties  of  his  office.     His 
lady,  a  woman  of  cunning  and  intrigue,  was  too  apt  to  in- 
terfere in  chancery  suits  ;  and  his  sons,  who  practised  un- 
der him,  did  not  bear  the  fairest  characters.     He  was  de- 
sirous of  an  union  with  Scotland,  and  a   comprehension 
with  the  dissenters :  but  was  against  tolerating  the  papists. 

*  .  He  i&  said  to  havei  been  removed  from  his  office  for  refusing 

to  afBx  the  seal  to  the  king's  declaration  f6r  liberty  of  con- 
science, N6v.  17,  1672.  The  time  of  his, death  we  have 
not  been  able  to  ascertain,  but  a  singular  account  of  his 
son  si^  OrlandO)  may  be  seen. in  the  Biog.  Brit.  vol.  VL 
p«  3740k    The  lord-keeper  is  known  as  a  law  writer,  by  his 

'        'i  Catamy. — Peek's  Desiderata,— Sylyepter's  Vife  9f  Baxter,  p,  73^  103.--T 
Cole's  M$  Atb«ii9  in  Bilt;  Mas. 


510  B  R  I  D  G  £  M  A  N. 

*^  Conveyances,  b^ing  9elect  precedents  of.  deeds  and  iff^ 
struments  concerning  the  most  considerable  estates^  in 
England,"  1682,  1699,  1710,  1725,  2  parts,  foKo.* 

BRIDGES  (George),  translator  of  the  duke  de  Rohan's' 
Mennoirs,  was  the  younger  brother  of  sir  Thomas  Bridges^ 
of  Keinsham  abbey  in  Somersetshire,  and  son  of  Edward 
Bridges,  esq.  of  the  same  place,  by  Philippa,  daughter  o^ 
sir  George  Speke,  K.  B.     He  died  Jan.  1,  1677,  and  was 
buried  in  Keinsham  church..    His  translation  was  entitled 
'^  The  Memoirs  of  the  Duke  of  Rohan ;  or  a  faithful  reia« 
tion  of  the  most  remarkable  occurrences  in  France,,  espe^ 
cially  those  concerning  the  reformed  churches  there  ;  from 
the  death  of  Henry  the  Great  until  the  peace  made  with- 
them,  in  June   162^.    Together  with  divers  politic  dis« 
courses    upon   several  occasions.     Written   originally  in 
French,  by  the  duke  of  Rohan,  and   now,  Englished  by 
George  Bridges,    of  Lincoln!s-inn,  esq.*'  London,  1660, 
8vo.     The  translation  is  dedicated  to  James,  marquis  of 
Ormond,  lord  lieutenant  of  Ireland.    The  translator  says 
he  was  principally  induced  to  publish  it  in  our  language^ 
by  some  passages  tending  to  the  vindication  of  Charles  L 
ill  the  matter  of  relieving  the  inhabitants  of  Rochelle^ 
during  the  memorable  siege  of  that  place.     A  very  inte« 
resting  account  of  the  family  of  Mr.  Bridges  may  be  seen 
in. our  authority.  *  ^ 

BRIDGES  (John),  esq.  of  Barton- Seagrave,  in  North- 
ampt9nshire,  a  celebrated  antiquary  and  topographer,  was 
son  and  heir  of  John  Bridges,  esq.  who  purchased  *that  es«« 
tate,  by  Elisabeth,  isister  of  sir  William  Trumbull,  s^cre** 
tary  of  state,  and  was  born  at  Binfield  in  Berkshire,  about 
1666;  His  grandfather  was  cuL  John  Bridges  of  Alcester 
in  Warwickshire ;  not  related  to  the  Chandos  family^  not 
bearing  arms  of  any  similitude  to  them^  but  said  to  be  de- 
scended from  Ireland;  He  was  bred  to  the  law,  and  s 
member  of  Lincoln^s-inn,  of  which  he  at  last  became 
bencher.  His  practical  attention  to  his  profession  was 
probably  prevented  by  his  prospect  of  a  private  fortan^i 
and  the  lucrative  places  which  he  enjoyed.  In  1695  he 
was  appointed  solicitor  of  the  customs;  in  1711,  commis^*. 
sioner  of  the  same;  and  in  1715,  cashier  of  excisa     Ho 

1  Granger.— Lkes  of  the  Lord  Chancellors,  vol.  L-^Birchi's  TilloUoiii  p.  49. 
— North's  Life  of  Lord  Keeper  Guilford,  p.  88»  89.  ^       . 

'  <  Censura  Literaria,  vol.  II. 


,  < 

•J 


BRIDGES.  Sll 

was  also  one  of  the  governors  of  Bethlehem  hospital,  and 
a  fellow  of  the  royal  society. 

In  the  latter  end  of  his  life,  about  4719,  he  began  to 
form  ccSlections  towards  a  history  of  Northamptonshire^ 
and  employed  several  persons  of  abilities  and  skill  to  make 
drawings,  collect  information,  and  transcribe  such  monu- 
niients  and  records  as  were  essential  to  his  purpose. ,  Iti  this 
manner,  it  is  said,  he  expended  several  thousand  pounds. 
The  transcripts  thus  collected  extend  to  upwards  of  thirty 
volumes  in  folio ;  besides  five  volumes,  quarto,  containing 
accounts  of  churches,  &c.  and  four  smaller  volumes,  in  his 
own  hand-writing.  But  Mr.  Bridges  never  proceeded  to 
'Compose  any  part  of  the  work  himself.  He  was  a  man  in 
the  highest  degree  qualified  to'  direct  such  an  undertaking. 
His  judgment  was  sound,  and  his  learning  various  and 
extensive.  As  an  investigator  of  antiquities,  his  skill  and 
diligence  procured  him  great  respect  from  many  who  were 
most  eminent  in  that  study ;  some  of  whom,  and  particu- 
larly Hearne,  the  celebrated  Oxford  antiquary,  have  borne 
very  honourable  testimony  to  his  knowledge,  and  professed 
themselves  indebted  to  his  friendly  communications.  His 
collection  of  books  was  so  judicious,  that  the  catalogues  of 
tis  library,  printed  after  his  decease,  were  long,  and  are 
still,  retained  as  valuable  by  every  curious  collector  He 
died  July  30,  1724,  at  his  chambers  in  Lincoln^s-inn.  His 
MSS.  came  into  the  hands  of  his  brother  and  heir,  William 
Bridges,  esq.  secretary  to  the  stamp  office  :  and  after  many  , 
attempts  and  delays  (of  which  an  interesting,  but,  to 
county^historians,  not  a  very  encouraging  account,  may  be 
seen  in  Mr.  Nichols's  Life  of  Bowyer),  formed  the  basis  of 
the  "  History  of  Northamptonshire,"  published  in  2  vols, 
fol.  by  the  late  Rev.  Peter  Whalley,  grammar-school  mas- 
ter of  Christ's  hospital ;  the  first  vol.  in  1762,  and  the  se- 
cond in  1791.  It  is  a  very  valuable  book,  but  might  have 
been  greatly  improved,  if  a  parochial  visitation  bad  pre- 
viously taken  place.  *  * 

BRIDGEWATER  (John),  rector  of  Lincoln  college, 
Oxford,  and  who  in  his  wiitings  called  himself  Aqua  Pon^ 
TANUS,  was  born  in  Yorkshire,  but  of  a  Somersetshire  fa- 
mily. He  was  entered  a  student  at  Hart-hall,  Oxford,  and 
<» 

•     >  Ceai,  Lit  iH>1.  III.  froiA '  Wballey^t  Pf«&cc.— ^iehoVi  Bowyer-^Gough^ 
Topography^  vol.  II. 


512  B  R  I  D  G  E  W  A  T  E  R. 

•  -   ^ 

thence  removed  to  Brazen^nose  college,  where  be  was  |Ik  Ar 
1*536,  and  about  the  same  time  took  orders.     Although  h« 
outwardly  complied  with. the  reformed  religion  in  queen 
£lizabeth*s  days,  he  lay  under  the  suspicions,,. whi^  ho. 
afterwards  confirmed,  of  being  more  seriously  attached  to'* 
popery.     While  he  preser^'ed  the  disguise,  howevei^  he 
was.  May  1,  1562,  made  rector  of  Wootoii-Courtq^y  in  the*, 
diocese  of  Wells ;  and  April  14,  1563,  was  chosen  rector  o£: 
Lincoln  college.    On  Nov.  28,1570,  he  was  ms^e  master' 
of  Catherine's  hospital^  near  Bedminster,  canon. of  Wells, ' 
and  archdeacon  of  Rochester.    la  1574>»  bowevert  rbeii^l 
no  longer  able  to  coficeal  his  zeal  for  popetjr^  b^  quitted' 
the  rectorship  of  Lincoln,  which  Wood  tbinks;be  G»uhi  BO^ 
longer  have  retained,  without  the  danger  of  eVipuifiofi,,  dod*. 
after  resigning  bis  other  preferments,  went  totbe  EngUshJ 
college  at  Do  way,  along  with  several  students  whom  be^bftd. 
instructed  in  the  principles  of  popery*     Afterwards  h0  tra^^ 
veiled  to  Rome,  and  tl^ence  to  Germany,    He  was  at  Tjcieoi 
in  1594,  but  no  farther  traces  can  be  discovered  of  his  pao^ 
gress,  nor  when  he  died.     It  is  supposed  that  in  hi^  lalttisr 
days  be  became  a  Jesuit,  but  neither  Pits,  or.Alags^beii 
notice  this  circumstance.     He  published,  L  ^^  Concer|attxi' 
Ecclesiae  Catholicse  in  Anglia,''  iirsi;  publisbad  by  Fma  ' 
and  Gibbpns,  at  Triers,  1583,,  8vq^  and  enJarged  byDiv. 
Bridgewater,  ibid.  1594,  4tQ.     It  conMvins  an  acooilnt.^: 
the  sufferings  and  deaths  of  several  pri^^  &c*   %.  ^^  Gmi** 
futatio  yirulentse  disputationis  Theologicas,  in  ^oa  Geoc^. 
gius  Sohn,  Prof.  Acad.  Heidelberg,  conatus  est  docera^ 
Pontigcem  Eomanum  ess^  Anticbristum,  &a''  ibid.  158d> 
4to.     3.  ^^  An  accouK^t  of  the  Six  Articles,, usuaUy.pco^: 
posed  tQ  the  Missionaries  that  suffi^red  in  Eflgl^nd.-^I  \    ,:hA  ^ 
BRIDGET.     SeeBRIGIT.    .      .  .        i  .     o.>ti 

BRIET  (Phiup),  an  able  French  geographer,  iwaa  bolm 
at  Abbeville  in  1601,  and  entered  the.  society: of  Jesuits  ja< 
1619.  .  He  taught  humanities  seven  years,  rb^oric  sevens- 
^  teen,  and  was  some  time  prefect  of:  the  cljAsses,.  and  insui 
tured  on  the  holy. scriptures.  His^  private  GhMracter  conrei^ 
sponded  with  hi^  learning.  He, was^. appointed jcJi^tM^i 
bjrarian  with. father  Cosi^art  of  the  library  of  jj;)e  je;^iigtann 
college. in  Paris,  wbere.bei,died/Dec. j9,  .1668..  ^^Hei^uW^. 
lished^  1,  ^^  Xeni^  Delphinp  oblata  nomine  collegftiiRotlKMtr 

ii{figenf)is^'^  Rouon^  1 639:, .  4ta    2.  -^  tPiuraUdla  %»gafbim/* 


i  Ath.  Ob  i»l.  Ii*^])o4(l*s  Glkufciaiist;  ▼oi;il. 


/  .ooV 


B  R  I  E  T.  51S 

vetem  et  novse/*  1648  and  1649,  three  volames,  ito,  a 
very  exact  and  methodical  work/^nd  ornamented  with 
'  plates  well  designed.  These  TOlunies^  however^  contain 
only  Europe;  and  it  can  never  be  enough  regretted,  say» 
Niceron,  that  he  did  not  publish  the  Parallels  of  Asia  and 
Africa,  which  were  assuredly  finished  and  ready>  but  some- 
how or  other  lost.  He  published  also,  3.  *^  Annales  mundi,'* 
in  7  vols.  12mOj  from  the  beginning  of  the  world  to  the 
year  of  Christ  1663,  often  reprinted  and  enlarged ;  and 
**Theatrum  geographicum  Europae  veteris,'*  1653,  in  folio. 
He  was  farther  concerned  in  a  chronological  woirk,  joined 
wkh  father  Labb£ ;  hut  he  is  supposed  not  to  have  si^c- 
ceeded  so  well  here  as  in  geography.  4.  '^  Elogi'um  patris 
Jaeobi  Sirmundi,^*  Paris,  1651,  4to^  with  an  accurate  cata- 
logue of  father  Sirmond's  works^  5.  '^  Acute  dicta 
ofkmium  veterum  poetarum  Latinorum,''  Paris^  1684,  l2mo. 
His  chronological  work  was  entitled  *^  Phitippi  Labbe  et  P/  . 
Brietii  concordia  chronologica,"  Paris,  1670,  5  vols,  folio.* 
The  fifth  volume  only  belongs  to  Briet.  * 

BRIGGS  (Henry),  one  of  the  greatest  mathematiciant 
iit'  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries,  was  born  at 
Daisy  Bank  adjoining  to  Warleywood,  near  Halifak,  in 
Yorkshire,  in  1556,  but  according  to  the  Halifax  register 
probably  sooner,  as  it  is  there  recorded '  that  he  was  bap- 
t&fed  Feb.  523,  1560.  From  a  grammar-school  in  that 
country  he  was  sent  to  St'  John's  -college,  Cambridge, 
1579;  where,  after  taking  both  degrees  in  arts,  he  was 
chosen  fellow  of  his  college  in  1588..  He  applied  himself 
chiefly  to  the  study  of  the  mathematics^  in  which  he 
greatly  excelled;  in  consequence  in  1592  he  was  made 
examiner  and  lecturer  in  that  faculty;  and  soon  after, 
reader  of  the  physic  lecture,  founded  by  Dr.  Linacer. 
;  Upon  the  settlement  of  Gresham  college,  in  London,  he 
was  chosen  the  first  professor  of  geometry  there,  in  1596. 
Soon  after  this,  he  constructed  a  table,  for  finding  the  lati-- 
tttde,  from  the  variation  of  the  magnetic  needle  being 
given*  In  1609  he  contracted  an  acquaintance  with  the 
teamed  Mr.  James  Usher,  afterwards  archbishop  of  Ar- 
hngfa^  which  continue^  many  years  after  by  letters,  two  of 
]^fr•  Briggs*s  being  still  extant  in  the  collection  of  Usher's 
letters  that  were  published :  in  the  former  of  these,^  dated 
A«gi»tl6l0,  he  writes  among' other  things,  that  he  was 

Vol.  VI.  L  i 


^14  B  R  I  G  GiS. 

engaged  in  the  subject  of  eclipses;;  And  .in  ^e  letter,  jdatQd 
the  iOtb  of  .March  1615,  that  he  .was  wholly  taJsen  up  awl 
employed  about  the  poble. invention  of.  IqgaritbaMy  which 
had  come  out  the  year  be£ore>  ^and  in  the  improvement  of 
which  he  had  afterwards  so  great  a  cbncerh.  .For  Briggfl 
immediately  set  himself  i  to  th^istudy  and  impcdvement  of 
them ;  expounding  them,  aiso  to  bisauditors  in  .his  ieotures' 
at  Oresham  coiiege;  ,  In.  tbeae  lecturesiih^. proposed  the 
ie^lteration  of  the  scale  of  logarithms,  froiiii  the  hyperbolic 
form  which  Napier  had  given  them^^  to  thitt  ia  which  1 
should  be  the  logarithm  of  thexatio  of  10. to  i  ;  and  soon 
after  tie  wrote  to  Napier  to  make  the^me  proposal  tp  him-' 
self.  In  16 16  Griggs  made  a  vbit  to  Napier  at  £dioburgby 
to  confer  with-  him  upon  tbi^  change;  and  theoesct  year-h^ 
did  the  same  also.  In  these  conferences,  the  alteration 
was  agreed  upon  aqcordin^y,  and  upocr  Buggy's: natvm 
from  bis,  second  vislt>  in  4 6 IT,  he  puUisbed  ttfae  first x^« 
Ijiad^  pr.  liOtoO  q£  bis  logarithms* 

In  1619  he  was  made  the, first  Savilian  professor  ofise^* 
metty  ;..and  resigned  the  professorship  of  Gre^hadvxplfege 
the  »5th  of  July^  16£0^.  .  At  O^ord  hoiiettied  himself  <at 
Mertpn  college^  wbeise^^be  coi^finued  a^mpyt  laborious,  and 
studious  life,  c^mplayed  partly  io  the' duties, of 4iiB  oftoe  as 
geometry  lecturer,  and  partly  in  the  coo^utatioo.of  t^e 
logarithms,  and  in  other  useful  works*  In  l£2i^'b0, po- 
lished a  small  tract  on  the  ^^North-'West  passage  $o  the 
South  Seas,  through  the  continent  of  Virginia  and  Bu4- 
^n's  Bay,;''  the  reason  of  which  was  prdbably>  that  he  was 
then  a  membe^^  of  the  company  trading..to  Virginia. r.«'|]is 
next  performance  was  Iris  great  and  elaborate  worl^jsti^e 
*f  Arithm^tica  Logarithmica,"  in  -folio,  prijited  at  I^n49n 
in  1624^  astupendous  work  for.  so.  short  a  time  1  cMlta^- 
ing  the  logarithms  of  30  thousand  natural,  fiumbersyrto  14 
places  of  figures  beside  the  index.  Briggs  lived  also  40 
complete  a  table  of  logaritbmic  sines  and  u^ngeius  for  ibe 
*  lOOtb  part  of  every  degree>  to  14  places  of  figures  bi^^kdle 
the  index ;  with  a  table  of  natural  sines  Ibrttfae  ssifm^  l/fSHh 
parts  to.  15  places,  and  the  tangents  and  secaius  for^lJIe 

'  *    Jan.  "8,    Mr.' '  Briggs,    at    eight  «tr  Henry  Sarilfe  (his  pre(1eee»iS/)l3id 

.  o^clbck  in  tbe  njofning,  made  an  eie-  left  oft    He  reid  als^  ariUmiltifttliHbe 

g90t.  QrAtion  befoce   the  unirtrfity.:  !a  week  in  Men^n  poUiSge/efi^iytto 

which  being,  done,  read  actuaiiter  the  the  scholars  thereof,  b^lng  a\t  tbe  time 

.  ]i%xt-Moik)iiyalMl>VV«dno^a3r,  begin-  of  hisabod^  iii  Dx%d  u'tr^&mdiier 

iimg  from  the  njnth  proposition  of  the  tbei«w   Wood's  Q^^^aL 

first  oi  the  Elements  of  £ucli(l|  whera 


/ 


B  R  IG  G  S.  515 

^ntd  fo  ten:  places  V'  vrith  the  construction  of  the  whole. 

Thiese  tables  were  printed  at  Gouda  in*  1631,  under  the 

ba'Pe;  of  Adrian  Vlacq,  and  published  in  1&33,  with  the 

titl^  ;t)f  **  \EvFigt)nai;netria  Brits^nnica.'**  In  the  construction 

effthe^e  two  works,  on  th^  logarithms  of  numbers,  and  of 

sines  and  tangentsy  out*  author,  beside  extreme  labour  and 

appUcatioD,' itianifests  the  highest  powers  of  genius  and 

"Invention  ;-  as  we  here  for  the  firt^t  time  meet  with  several 

of  the  most  importaiit  discoveries  in  the  mathematics,  and 

irbat  bare  hitherto  been  considered  as  of  much  later  in ven- 

♦tlbn;  such  as  the  hi  nomiai  theorem  ;  the  differential  method 

iind  comstrucuon  of  tables  by  differefn'ces ;  the  interpola- 

'  f k)i^  by  diflferencies ;    with  angular  sections,   and  several 

<)tbet  ittgenious  compositions:    a  particular  account  of 

'iffiiidh  maybe  seen  itl  the  Introduction  to  Dr.  Hiitton^s 

Afotheinatical  Tables.— *This  truly  great  man  terminated 

kb  Useful  Kfe  the  i^eth  of  January,  1630;  and  was  buried 

\n  the  choir' of  the  chapel  of  Merton  college,  near  to  the 

litg^  a;ltar^  and  under  the  mbnument  of  sir  Henry  Savile, 

Gli^.  whieft  Occasion,  :a  sermon,  by  Mr.  William  Sellar,  and 

-  ati' bratidrf  by  Mr.  Hugh  Cressy,  fellows  of  that  college, 

%y<rr^  delivered  before  the  principal  ttiembers  of  the  uni- 

'l^e^ty^'  As  to  his  character,  he  tvas  not  less  esteemed  for 

■'Ws'grefat  probity  and  othei*  eminent  vittties,  than  for  his 

'  ex^ddtenlriiU  m  iriJithematics.     Dt.  Smith  givc«  him  the 

phatactiei^  tf  ^  man  of  great  probity ;  easy  of  access  to  all ; 

free  from: Arrogance,  moroseness,  envy,  ambition,  and  avit- 

^jric^;  a  contemner  of  riches,  and  contented  in  his 'own 

^^ua.tion ;  preferring  a  studious  retirement  td'aH  the  spTen- 

"oidcil'Cumstanceii  of  life.     The  leaded  Mr.  Thomas  Ga- 

t^^tkker,"  vHid  dtfended  his  lectures  U4ien  he  was  reader  of 

^  <&Mtl!h^6toati^  «it  €?^mbridge,  represents  him  as  highly  es- 

-"  ieeined  by  all  persotid  skilled  in  mathematics,  both  at'b<yme 

'  tod  abfdsul ;  aitd  ^ys,  that  ^d^siritig  him  once  to  give  his 

•  jrudgment  concerning  judicial  astrology,   his  answer  was, 

■  ••f^^hat  tie  iconeeived  it  to  be  -li  mere  system  of  groandless 

^*€bntfehs;?*  -  Ottghtredcallfe  him  the  mirror  of  the  age,  -for 

•^ Ms^exedlerlt  skill  irif  geometry;    Arid  one  of  his  tfu'ccessibirs 

^  aiit.Gic^8^|uiP'  coUeg6|  the  learned  Dr.  Isaac  Barrow^  in  his  ora« 

^lii»»itheQeiiUpj(Mi.Ua'adi:msi^^  his  character  more 

'  fuHy^:  xsetebratirig  his  gr^at  abilities,  skill,  and  industry^ 

, j;^j(jjpUtai;l|r(  ritv  perfecting  the  invention   of  logarithms, 

whicb^  wi^ttt  hi»  care  smd  pains,  might  have  contifiiued 

ao  -imperfect. and.u^eless  design. — His  wri^ngs  were  nior* 

hi*  2 


51^  B  R  I  G  G  S. 

important  than  nvmerous :  some  of  them  were  putAMnd 
by  other  persons :  the  list  of  the  principal  part  of  them-itt 
ifollows.  1.  <<  A  Table  to  find  the  Height  of  the  Pole  ;  ibe 
magnetical  declination  being  given."  This  was^blished 
in  Mr.  Thomas  Blundevile's  Theoriques  of  the  Bet^a 
Planets,  London,  1 602,  4to.  2.  **  Tables  for  the  improi^- 
ment  of  Navigation.*'  These  consist  of  a  table  of  declina- 
tion of  every  minute  of  the  ecliptic,  in  degrees,  minutds* 
and  seconds;  a  table  of  the  sun's  prosthaphaereses ;  a 
table  of  equations  of  the  sun's  ephemerid^s ;  a  table  of  the 
tfUn's  declination ;  tables  to  find  the  height  of  the  pole  in 
any  latitude,  from  the  height  of  the  pole  star.  These  ta- 
bles are  printed  in  the  second  edition  of  Edward  WrigtM^s 
treatise,  entitled  Certain  Errors  in  Navigation  detected  atld 
corrected,  London,  1610,  4to.  3.  <^  A  description  of  in 
Instrumental  Table  to  find  the  part  proportional,  de¥it6d 
by  Mr.  Edward  Wright."  This  is  subjoined  to  Napier's 
table  of  logarithms,  translated  into  English  by  Mr.  Wright, 
and  after  his  death  published  by  Briggs,  with  a  preface  of 
his  own,  London,  1616  and  1618,  l2mo.  4.  **  Logmi!^ 
morum  chilias  prima,"  London,  1617,  8vo.  5.*^  Locuh^- 
tiories  &  Annotationes  in  opera  posthuma  J.  Ndper)^*' 
Edinb.  1619,  4to.  6.  "  Euclidis  Eleraentorinn  VMibri 
priores,  &c.?'  London j  1620,  folio.  This  was  printed  with- 
out his  name  to  it.  7.  ^  A  treatise  of  the  North- wefttfpltt- 
sage  CO  the  South  Sea,  &c."  By  H.  B.  Loffd.  1622,  4«o. 
This  was  reprinted  in  Purchas's  Pilgrims,  vol.  IIL  p.  a<i2^ 

8.  *^  Aritbmetiea  Logarithmica,  &c."  Lond.    1624,  folio. 

9.  *<  Trigonometria  Britannica,  &c."  Goudae,   1683,  ioUtK 

10.  "Two  lettiers  to  archbishop  Usher.'*  IK  **Miriife. 
matica  ab  antiquis  minus  cognita."  This  is  a  somiualy 
account  of  the  most  observable  inventions  of  modem-ink- 
thematicians,  communicated  by  Mr.  Briggs  to  Dr.  Geor^ 
Hakewill,  and  published  by  him  in  his  Apologie,  London, 
folio.  Besides  these  publications,  Briggs  wrote  some 
other  pieces  that  have  not  been  printed  :  as,  1.  ''Coi6- 
mentaries  on  the  Geometry  of  Peter  Ramus."  2^-^  D»e 
Epistolas  ad  celeberrimum  virum  Chr.  Sever.  Loogaraba- 
lanum.'*  One  of  these  letters  contained  soraerewarlar'en 
a  treatise  of  Longomontanus,  about  squaring  die  oircte ; 
mnA  the  other  a  defence  of  arithmetical  geometryj.iod. 
<^  Animadversiones  Geometric^,  4to,  4.  ^'  De  eodem  Ar- 
gqmento,"  4to.  These  two  were  in  the  possession  of  the 
kite  Mr.  Joues.  r  They  both  contaio  a  gteat  faidi€tjft4>£g«o« 


»R  I  G<J  S.  M7 

*«(iMskftl.pf6poskions/' concerning  the  propeirties  of  many 
.•figures,  with  several  arithmetical. computations  relating  to 
4he  circle,  angular  sections,  &c.     Mr.  Jones  also  liad,  5. 
**;A  treatise  of  ccwimon  arithmetic,'*  folio; 'and  6, "  A  letter 
-to  Mr  Clarke  of  Gravesend,'*  dated  Feb.  25,  1606,  contain- 
ing the- description  of  aruier,  Called  BedwelPs  ruler  J 
,  ...BiilGGS  (William),  an  eminent  physician,  was  son  of 
jAugusitine  Briggs,  esq.  who  was  descended  qf  an  ancient 
« family  in  Norfolk,  and  had  been  four  times  member  of 
^parliament  for  the  city  of  Norsvich,  where  this  son  was 
,barn  fabout  the  year  1650,  although  his  biographers  difS^r 
very  widely  on  this  point.     At  thirteen  years  of  age  he 
^va6seutio.Bene*tr college  in  Cambridge,  and  placed  under 
MbejEiare^^*  Or*  Thomas  Tenison,  afterwards  archbishop  of 
.iCaintearbury,  whom  he  succeeded  in  his  fellowship:     He 
ri^dit^'botb  hia4egrees  in  arts,  and  was  chosen  fellow  of  his 
^^eoUeg^,  Nov.  16^8.     His  genius  leading  him  to  the  study 
iof  physic,  he  travelled  into  France,  where  be  attended  the 
^  jectures^of  the  famous  anatomist  Mon«.  Yieussens  at  Mont- 
.pelii^r.;^  and^  after  his   return,  published   his  '^  Ophthal- 
'»<ft!gtaptiia"dn  1676.     The  year  following  he  was  created 
Mr  liK^et  Cambridge  and  soon  after  made  fellow  of  the 
.  ^coUdge  ^  phyAiQiws  of  London.     In  1682  he  quitted  bis 
iettofTdbipf £o.  dis  brother ;  and  the  same  yearhis  ^*  Theory 
^-aofTYiaioaV  wais  published  by  Hooke.     In  1683  he  sent  to 
Abe  royal  society  a  continuation  of  that  discourse,  which 
svas  ^published  in  their  Transactions ;  and  the  same  year 
was  by  Charles  II.  appointed  physician^  to  St.  Thomas's 
vlioarpitaI«     In  l6S4ihe  communicated  to*  the  royal  society 
'^itelf/ir^mairkSLbie  ^cases^  relatijig   to    vision,   which  were 
\ijim$me  prtiited  in  their  Tsansactions;  and  in  168.5  pub- 
Jidhed^a  Lat'm  ^ersion^^^  his  '^Theory  of  Vision,"  at  the 
jiem0  olMr.  (fJjberwafds.sir)  Isaac  Newton,  with  a  recom- 
mendaftory  ef»stie  from  him  prefixed  to  it.     And  for  com- 
;;plfiting  this  ot^rioas  and  useful  subject  relating  to  the  eye, 
-  jie  promised,  in  the  preface,  two  other  treatises,  <  one  ^^  De 
asvift'pajstium  oeuli;''  and  the  other  '^De  ejusdem 'affep- 
»ttibiid;V<  neither  of  which,  however,  appears  to  have  been 
a«mrrpAibUshed:  but,,  in  1687,  came  out  a  second  edition 
-fl£».hi&>f^  Opbtbalmc^raphia.^'     He  was  afterwards  ma^e 
vphyfieiaiiuin  ordinary  to-  king  William,  and  continued  jn- 

pl^Huttpo's  Dictionary.'^Biog.  Brit.:^«-Life  in  Smith's  Vibe  Eruditissimorom. 
-  ^^War^'8  GreBham  ProfessorSr— Martin's  Litci  of  the  Philocopbfen.— *Atii.'  Qx. 


SIS  B  R  I  G\GS. 

gre9t  esteem  for  his  $ki]l  in  his  profei»ioci'lUMi6idM^4it 
Tovirn- Mailing  in  Kent,  SepU  4^  n04j  And».w^^iliere  * 
buried,  although  a  cenotaph  is  erected.  <U)  his  memarjr  in 
the  church  of  Holt  in  Norfolk.  He  married  Hammbf  «ote 
daughter  and  heiress  of  Edmund  Hobart,.  grandson  tib^  Mr 
Henry  Hobart,  lord  chief  ju3tiA:e  of  thecomoMro  '>piftas  til 
the  reign  of  James  I.  by  wbom,he*k/t  three  chitdzeD, 
Mary,  Henry,  and  Hannah.  Henry,  died  in  i74d,  reetiMT 
of  Holt.  .  .    ,         .n       .»    -. 

Dr.  Briggs^s  chief  patron,  during  bis  foreign  trards,  ivas 
the  right  hou.  Halph  Montagu,  esq.  .ambassador i>f>lfaraitce9 
and  afterwards  duke  of  Montagu,  k  wasabrougb  tins  gen^ 
tieman's  protection  that ,  Dr.  Briggs  .weat  and^  studied  M 
.Montpelier,  under  Vieussens,  to  whom  heiacknoidedgeil 
himself  chiefly  indebted  for  ^ivbat  .skill  be  Jiad.is?  Unit 
science.  The  doctor  was  a  betiefaotor  tovthe-  dollegeni 
which  be  had  been  educated*  .  In  order^tO' veivii^r  the 
kitchen  of  it  more  cleanly  and  wholesome,,  be  caused  iA  ili» 
be  paved  with  squjire  stones;  and  gave  besides^  iventy 
pounds,  for  the  augmentation  of  the  stock,  foe  <conmMns|. 
He  made  presents^  likewise,  of  books. to  tbe.  libral'y*  .Div 
Briggs  bad  a  brother,  Robert  Briggs^  who  .waii-  educated 
in  the  s^me  college,  and  succeeded  bim  in.bi^  £ellowship%- 
He '  became  successively  A;  B.  A*  M.  and  ^L^iD. 
made  a  fellow  of  the  royal  society;  and  waa^boseo,^ 
the  7ih  of  February,  1636,  professor  of  law  in  Gresbam 
college,  which  office  be  held  to  his  death,  on  the  82d*Qf 
December,  1718.*  .  * 

BUiGHAM  (Nicholas),  who  appears. to  have  hid  »    * 
tasle  for  poetry  and  biography  in.  the  infiuH3yi«fttbM<i     - 
studies,  was  born  at  or  near  to  Caversbaa^  in  Ojiforddiifie^ 
but  descended  from  the  Brigbains  jof ,  Yorkshire.  >  He  was    • 
educated  at  Hart^hall,  Oxford,  as.  Wood  coijjectures^  and 
afterwards  studied  at  one  of  the  inns  of.  court:    ^HBving  a; 
turn  for  poetry,  be  passed  his  hours  ia  the  .perusal  saS  tber> 
best  poets,  and  his  admiratioci  of  Chaucei  led  him^^lqlMl   •  - 
at  the  expence  of  beautifying  the  p^onumevt'iefthatt  ni 
eminent  poet  in  1556,  removing  it  to  a  more  eonspscocMia^  r^^^ 
place  in  Westminster  abbey,,  where  we  now.  find^ils^  ^Bm      ' 
died  in  his  prime,  Dec.  1559,  leaving,  L.^^De  tenadonu    ^ 
bus  rerum   m'emorabilium/V  s^   collection  .of  /noliCe9;o^      : 

1  Biog.  Brit-*Masten'i  Hist,  of  C,  C,  G.  C.-— Ward's  arfsbam  PriffBssoii.«M:  * 
WQo4*iFA&ti»  foi.4I»  r   :  ' 


V' 


,  i  uc'^ 


B  R  IIG^ITA  M.  ;  SW 

cbaiiac^eni  and  (&vef)t^y  q£  wfaicH  Bale'bas  iiuidetiudi^^ajBe. 
2*  *^  MeiBoi^V-  by  way  of  Diairyi  in  12  books.  )  3r|iiligcd« 
lsiQje<;)ti&.  Poems.  .  JBut:  n(>ne  6£  these  are<.prdbablyljo«rm 
eKiste'neeiV '..;  •  '.  •    .-      .-:.•.    •»  '  ..^J 

BRIGHT  (Twothy),* a  physiciaii  aiid  divine  of  emU 
iipoce«  of  the  .^ixteetitli  century,  toqk  his  degr^^of  jdbcuir 
ii\  medioine  at  Cambridge^  inidi  ^as  we  learn  fneimiWodd^ 
h^  iwAs  uiade  rector  of  Methley^  in  Yorkshire,  in  T59'U 
He  appears  by  bis.  writings  to  bav^  hada:goodBbar0'0f 
pt^cikw,  and  «0  bave  been  w<^  versed  in  tbe:dootf&»es^^]i|f 
Ithje  early  Gveek  whitens;  .  The  work  by  which  he:;  i&*  pprtn-? 
cipisU^  kitownis  bis  ^'  Treatise^  bf  iMelancholyV  -  cotitaili- 
inglbs  c«iiasas  ^thereo^  sknd.  reasons' of/ tb&strdingdefleecs 
it  lyQrketb  in  tmt  minds,  with.the  .physicajl,  ouirb^  and^U 
ritual  >  con$olation  for  such  aa  have  thereto  adjoiried^*^  4b 
aiBict«Ld*  eonscience^^^  London,  i5d6,ll^mo^  :  He<^x?cili^ 
biai' writing' ibisrtreatise,  contrairy  to  bis  usual  custom^ /ki 
the£ngliBh  language,  from  its  being  a:  practi^l  Work, 
and  to  be  read  by  persons  oat  of  tb^  pale  of-iphysie.  -It  * 
wa^  also  done,  be  observes,  by  ibe  G^eek  and  RoUiah 
writers.  He  entertained,  however,  very  lofty  ideas  of 
the  dignity 'of'thefmfedicrtr character.  '^'No  biie,*'  he  says, 
'^  should  touch  so  holy  a  thing  that  hath  not  passed  the 
whole  discipline  of  liberal  sciences,  and  washed  himself 
puce  and  clean  in  the  waters  of  wisdome  and  understand- 
ing.'' The  cure  of  melancholy,  in  bis  opinion,  depends 
on  bleeding,  by  purges  and  vomits.  He  had  before,  viz. 
in  1583,  published  "  De  Dyscrasid/  Corporis  Humani^'* 
London,  8iro.  He  was  also  author  of  ^^  llygle^Q^*  ^^u  de 
Sanitate  tuenda,  Medicinae  Pars  prima,"  1588,  8vo.  ^^The-^ 
rapeutica,  hoc  est  de  Sanitate  restituenda,  Medicinss  pars 
altera,"  1589,  Bvo,  which  were  reprinted  in  1598,  in  16 to  : 
and:<^^An  Abridgment  of  Fox's  Acts  and  Monuments/'  1689^ 
4to.     He  died  in  1615.' 

BRIGHTMAN  (Thomas),  an  English  divine,  attached 
to  tbe  principles  of  the  puritans,  was  born  at  Nottingham 
in  1&57,  and  was  educated  in  Queen's  college,  Cambridge, 
and  long  nutintained  a  controversy  on  the  discipline  and 
ceremonies  of  the  church,  which  seems  to  have  led  him 
to  write  his  Commentaries  in  Latin  on  the  Song  of  Solomon 
and  the  Revelations,    This  last  was  afterwards  translated 

»  Ath.  Ox.  T6T.  I.— Dodd'i  Church  Hist,  vol  I.— Warton»»  Hist.  oT  Poe^,' 
Tol.  11.  p.  44;  ril.  353. 
s  TftBiier.— Pit8,«-Re«ft'8  Eacydop^dla,— HaU^BibL  Me4t 


S20  BRIGHTMAN. 

.  under  the  title  of  *^  The  Revelation  of  St.  John  illuf- 
trated/-  1644,  4to.     In  this,  when  treating  on  chap.  xiv. 
Ten  18,  he  discovers  archbishop  'Craniner  to  be  the  angel 
that  had  power  over  the  fire ;  and  in  chap.  xvi.  ver.  5,  he 
.makes  the  lord  treasurer  Cecil  the  angel  of  the  waters, 
justifying  the  pouring  forth  of  the  third  vial.     He  accuses 
the  church  of  England  of  being  lukewarm,  like  the  Lao- 
diceans,  and  gives  .the  preference  to  the  foreign  protest- 
ant  cpmmunions.     He  prophesied  also  -that  the  episcopal 
government  would  soon  b^  overthrown,  but  he  does  not 
■  appear  to  have  foreseen  that  it  would  also  be  restored.  He 
.was  presented  by  sir  John  Oabourne  to  the  rectory  of  Hannes 
in  Bedfordshire,  which  he  held  until  his  death,  Aug.  24, 
1607.   Fuller  gives  htm  a  most  exdted  character  for  piety, 
learning,  and  sweertness  of  temper,  in  which- be  says  all 
.  bis  opponents  agreed.     He  informs  us  also,  that  it  was  hift 
custom  to  read  over  the  Greek  testament  regularly  once 
a  fortnight     In  1647  was  published,  <^  Brightman  Redi- 
.vivus,  or  the  postbumian  ofispritig  of  Thomas  Brightmai^ 
in  four  Sermons/*  4to. '  •     :. »» 

t  FoUer'i  Cbuich  Hilt  Book  X  p.  5O.--C0llier»B  Diet.  tol.  If  I. 


.v  •  ^^ 


*  r 


« 


-4 


Errahimj^Vot  V.  p.  107, 1. 98,  J^  "  Wynkyn  de  Worde'j,*^  rktf 

"  the  St.  AlbahV*  ^ 


•J 


-f 

•  :•    ■at 

■J  - 


•'    ..-  '  •  *  -**-  t-^     V 


INDEX 


TO   THB 


SIXTH  VOLUME. 


f  -    .  , 


Those  marked  thus  *  are  new. 
Those  marked  t  sure  re-written,  with  additiom. 


*BoHUN,  Edmund i 

*fioiardo,  Matteo 2 

fBoileau,  N.  Des . .  ^ 8 

t  James ^ .  10 

t Gilles. H 

■  John  James ib, 

B<nndin,  Nich.  . . . : 12 

Bois^  Gerard  du 13 

Boisrobert ib. 

Boissard,  J.  J 14 

Boissi,  Louis  de 15 

Boivin,  Francis 17 

—  John- 18 

* r—  Louis ib. 

♦Bold,  John 19 

fBolen,  Anne 21 

*Bollandus,  John ^ ...  25 

^Bollioud-Mermet   25 

Bolsec^  Jerome 27 

♦Bolswert,  Boetius 2S 

f         .  I    Scheltius ib. 

fBolton^  Edmund 29 

t  Robert 31 

f Robert^  dean 33 

*Bolzanio 36 

f  Bombers,  -Daniel 37 

fBona,  John ib. 

*Bonamy,  P.  N 40 

Bonanni,  Philip ...;.«.,..  ib. 


fBcmaielli,  Guy...... 41 

^Bonasone,  Julius 42 

Bonaventure,  J.  F. ib. 

of  Padua 44 

*Bonciarius,  M.  A. 45 

Bond^  John  ...,\ ib. 

* LL.D 46 

* William 47 

^Bonefaeio ib. 

fBonet,  Theophilus 4&- 

Bon&dio,  James 49 

Bonfinius,  Anthony  .......  50 

fBonfrerius,  James 51 

Bongars,  James ib. 

*Boniface,  St 53 

fBoni&cio,  Balthazar ,56 

* John .57 

fBoDjou^,  William 58 

Bonnefbns,  John ib. 

*Bonnell,  James 59 

Bonner,  Edmund 61 

*Bonnet,  Charles 67 

Bonneval,  C.  A. 73 

*Bonone,  Carlo 74 

Bonosus ib. 

*Bontempi>  A. 75 

Bontemsy  Madame ib. 

Bontius,  Gerard 76 

* ■  James , ;  ib 


bn  I  N  D 

Pag« 

Bonwicke>  Amb.  • 77 

Booker>  John ib. 

^Boonen,  Arnold 78 

*Boot,  Gerard 79 

*Booth,  Abraham ; . .  ib. 

Barton- 81 

*  George 85 

f  Henry 87 

♦Boquine,  Peter 93 

♦Borcht,  Henry 94 

*Borda,J.C 9S 

Borde>  Andrew 99 

* J.  B 101 

f  Bordenave,  Touss 10^ 

^Bordeu,  Anthony 103 

—  Theophihis ;  ib, 

*— —  Francis 105 

f Bordone,  Paris  ..•.'.*......  ib. 

fBorel,  Peter 106 

tBoreyi>  J.  A. 107 

*^Boreman>  Robert ,..,....  109 

JBoi^hinij  Vincent ib. 

Bor^ai  Caesar  .... .,. ....  1)0 
#.  .     ■  ■ '.  Stephen  .  ;^. ! . . . .  114 

Bbrkice^  Bdlmund  . , . 118 

i-Borlase,  William ........  H9 

*Born,  Baroni 1J2? 

Borri,  J.P.....: ..127 

'  Borrichiiis 130 

Borromeo^  Si.  Charles  ....  139 

f^^    '    '  '''   Frederick .....  134 

'  Bbrromini;  Friincis  ......  13?^ 

♦Bos,  Jerome'. . , .,..,,....  1^6 

^•^ '  '•   '  Lambert ib. 

♦i* Lewis  Janssei^  ......  138 

*Bo8e,  Clmide  dit i . .  ijj. 

i*^*—  Peter  du  ...;...,; .  139 

^Bo8can>  John 14l 

'^Snosoawen^  fidward  ..*....  142 

♦— — —William 146 

>Bpsch,  B.  V. . .,...; 148* 

^Bbscoli,  Andrea  . .  .!. . .  ^ .  149 

^Boscoyich,  R.  J. .lb. 

fBbsius^  Jdmes  .  • ........  158 

^ Anthony ib. 

jtu -John  And 159 

^Bosquet,  Francis  .';..,...  160 
'  Bdsse,  Abraham  •..,....  16). 

^osso.  Matt. ............  J62 

^Bbssu,  Rotede  ,\,..;;,li$3 


EX. 

Paipe 

Bossuet,  James 16^ 

♦Boston,  John 168 

f Thomas 16^ 

Boewell,  James 1^1 

^Bbtallus,  Leonard 17^ 

fBoth,  John  and  Andrew. . .  .'ib. 
*Botoncr,  William .179 

Bott,  John  de. ISO 

Thomas Jb. 

*Bottari,  John isi 

♦Botticelli,  Sandro 18^ 

•Bottoni,  A:lbertino . . .  18| 

*— —  Domfnic  : . .  V^. . . .  ili 

Bouchardon,  EdmUnd : ; . .  113% 
♦Bouchaud,  Ml  A.  1 . . .  .1  —  Hi. 

Bpueher,  Fbuacis . .....  1 71BX 

*■  ;    Jonathan . ......  i  .j 

*B6uette  de  Hemur  '. : . . . .  li 

Bouflers,  L.  F.  . . .;, .    .. ." l9l 

BougainviUe,  J,  P.  V. . igl 

fBongcant,  W.  H t93 

^^oagereli  Joseph .... ; . .  .154 
fBouguer,  Peter  . , ;'. ,/. ,  .7155 
*Bouhier>  John  , .  V .' ; .,; . .  .158 

R)uhour3,  Poi^inic . .'; . :  7T9S 

*Botiill5,  Mirqtiis '. .  fiojt 

*Bouillet,  Jdm  . . . .  1*. , .  .,W^ 
tRoulai,  Cosar  . . . . . : .  /:T^ 
fBoulaiAviUiers,  H^nify  i  .'v:  ^ 

3oal2aiger;  N.  A. .... .:. .  ;-'266 

♦-. — *^  John ... . . ., . .  2(>f 

fBouUongne,  Louis  .  /. . .  .^3$ 
t  ■  ■  Bod  de  . ., . . .  I'fS. 
fBouher,  Hugh  . . .  * . , , .  1 
*Bt>ulton,  Matt.  .\ .  . i. .  ;^" 
♦Bouquet,  Pom  MartSn! :, . . .  ^i 
♦BoTU-bon,  or  Bdrboivus'*.;  .1  ^9 

*Bourch|er, .  hotO,  Berheingi  :  i 

* — -Tfiotnaa. . . : . . .241 

f  Qoujrdaloue,  l-«^wis  . . . , , .'  ^4 
gourdeilles,  Peter  . . . : .  .':^§ 

'^ -*-  Ciatid6-ae  .  :7®r 

Bourdclot,  John'. .  .".* .  .^: f«Sf 

♦: _^.  PetetMichon'  ,7% 

*i —-  Petjsr  feoplieT  7.  ®^ 

f ijourdon,  Sebastian .  ^ ../ 
tPourgeJat,  CUwide .  .^ . .  :\  259 
*B0urgwis,  Francis ..:.' . .  ^  ."^i 

Joui^t,  Dora  Jdtri  , . ; ; 

Bowgqipt^  Lewi3.  •  ."i .  rl'  .;.| 


Fi 


Page 

\  Bf>ui%nonj  Aoto^tte.  •  ^*  ^5 

^Bpurne,  Imman^di ^ ,  24} . 

tTT — — -  Vioceat , 24iJ 

Bwrsault^  Edmund .... ...  244 

Bpursiers,  U  F .i246 

♦^buvart,  M.^. ...,,..  1 ..  247 

.  j^wer^  Archibald « .  iU 

ffiowle,  John 2^5 

fBowver,  Willliam. 267 

fBoxhorn,  M.  Zuer. 293 

♦Boyce,  William 286 

*9oyd,  Hugh 288 

t"^-^—  Mark  Alex. 289 

*rT—  RoJ).  Lord 293 

*: liOrd  Kilmarnoclif: . . .  298 

:^J^ —  Kobert,  divine 300 

♦JBoydell,  John 301 

j)5oyer,  Abel , . . .  310 

'  '■■        Claude ^. . .  311 

f- J.  B.N ,...312 

Boyle,  Bichard . ; , 313 

■  Roger 320 

^ ■;  ■   '     Robert 331 

■  >     ■  Charles  .  ^ 357 

^ John  ..., ^., 369 

*r--r —  R.  Lord  Burlington  370 

*!;—- Hamilton  ,^y 372 

♦^  '^  "     Henry  . .  ..j. ib. 

>Boys;£dwanl . . . , .. .....  374 

Boys  or  Bois,  Jo^n'. . ,., ,  «375 

f John,  dean 377 

f WUliam 379 

f  Boyse,  Joseph 382 

± Samuel 383 

Boze/ClauderQ.  de 396 

;^Braceiol3^i,  Francis 398 

*Bracein,  Jamefi  - .  •  ......  399 

Bracton,  Henry  de ........  ib, 

^Bradbury,  Thqmas 401 

♦Bradford,  John . .  403 

j^ Samuel 408 

Bradley,  James 409 

^rm -r  Richard  .,».....  415 

rBradshaw,  Henry 416 

'• .  John. 417 

.  '    -  WUliam 4X9 

j-Bradwardine,  Thomas . . .. ,  42p 

Brady,  Nicholas  ^ ,422 

^-. Robert 423 

fBrahe,  Tycho  .,•...•..,.  .424 

fBramante ^ 434 

^Bramer,  Leonard , .  43$ 


EX;  f^ 

Bramhall,  Jqhp  •;;^;..,  .,ib, 
^Bramston,  Jam^ j .  443 

Brancas,  And..  F. , ,  i . . . .  *^  ib« 
*Brancker,  Thomius • .  ^ , ... .  444 
^$rand,  John«  F.  S.Ai  ..«/445 

*' politic.. ^..*.  447 

*Brandel,  Peter  .-►*•  •.;»«.«;448 
*Brander^  Gust.  ...•.*.  *^  ^449 

Brand!,  Giacinto  ..•••••«  451 
^Bitrndmuller,  Greg.  ...,.*.&. 

*' John. 459 

* James ib, 

*   '■  James,  ]ai?r)rer  458 

^Brandolini,  AureUo .......  ib. 

fBrandt,  Gerard 4j$4 

* Gaspard . . . , 455 

*■  '  Genuti,  jun 456 

* — ^ —  John  . . .  • ib. 

t— — John,  Brantz ib. 

t • —  Sebastian.. 45/ 

* Nicholas  ^ ....... .  458 

Brasavola,  Ant. ib. 

^Brathwaite,  Richard 459 

*Braun,  Geoige ..,  .•..•460 

fBray,  Sir  Reginald  ., ...  .4^1 

t Thomas  ♦,.....,,.,  ,464 

*Brea,  Lodovico  .♦ . , 475 

Brebeuf,  George  de 478 

*Breda,  Peter ib, 

.*— ' John 477 

^Breenberg,  Barth. ib* 

Bregy,  Charlotte  .......  ^ .  478 

*Breitinguer,  J.  J.  ^ ,  ^  ^ .. .  . .  47^ 

*Breitkopf,  J.  G.  J.  .^ , . , . ,  48t 
tBremond,  F.  de ,.....,.  .^  48(1 

fBrent,  sir  N. 488 

fBrentius,  John ,  484 

♦Brequigny,  L.  G 486: 

♦Brereley,  John *,. 48^ 

*Brereton,  Jane \  ^,.  «^8 

* Owen  Sal ib. 

fBrerewood,  Edward 490 

*Breton,  John 481 

+ Nich.^ ^*, 

Bretonneau,  Francis  . . « » .  4!Qfii 

*Bretonnier,  B.J, ^ .  ib. 

*Brett,John.  .....•, ib. 

*— —  Sir  Piercy ,498 

*■  ^  Richard  .,...*..  ^ .  4f  6 
* Thomas. .::...,^,.ih. 

Breval,  John  D,  .^. ,. .  .jp,  5QS 
^Breulius,  James  •  •  • .  •  .\  • . .  ib. 


S24  I  ND 

Page 

fBrevint,  Daniel ...  i 504 

♦Brewer,  Anthony 506 

*n Samuel ib. 

♦Breydel,  Charles 507 

*. Francis ib. 

fBridge,  William 508 

fBriilgeman,  Orlando 509 

♦Bridges,  George 510 


EX. 

*'  John ib. 

♦Bridgewater,  John 511 

Briet,  Phillip  .; .  ........  512 

fBri^s,  Henry 513 

WiUiam 517 

*Brigham,  Nich 518 

♦Bright,  Timothy 519 

♦Brightman,  Thomas ib. 


END   OF   THE  SIXTH  VOLVM& 


Printed  by  Nichols.  Sow,  and  Bbntlbt, 
Re«l  Liufi  Pafsage,  Fleet  Street,  Londwn. 


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