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THE  GENERAL 


BIOGRAPHICAL  DICTIONARY 


A  NEW  EDITION. 


VOL.  XXX. 


4 


t     •     f 


«    1 


if     * 


»     « 


Printed  by  Nichols,  Son,  and  Bentley^ 
Ked  Lion  Passage,  Fleet  Street,  London. 


THE   GENERAL 

jilOGRAPHICAL  DICTIONARY : 

CONTAINING 

AN  HISTORICAL  AND  CRITICAL  ACCOUNT 

OF   THE 

LIVES   AND   WRITINGS 

OF   THE 

MOST   EMINENT    PERSONS 

IN   EVERY  NATION; 

PAHnCUIARLY  THE  BRITISH  AND  IRISH. 

FROM  THE  EARUEST  ACCOUNTS  TO  THE  PRESENT  TIMS. 


A  NEW  EDITION, 

REVISED  AND  ENLAROED   BY 

ALEXANDER  CHALMERS,  F.  S.  A. 


VOL.  XXX. 


LONDON: 

I 

raiNTBP  FOR  J.  NICHOLS  AND  SON ;  F.  C.  AND  J.  RITINOTON ;'  T.  PAYNE ; 
'  OTRIDGB  AND  SON;  O.  AND  W.  NICOL ;  G.  WILKIB  |  J.  WALKCR ;  W. 
LOWNDES;  T.  EOERTON;  LACKINGTON,  ALLEN^  AND  CO.;  J.  CARPENTER; 
LONGMAN,  HUR6T,  REES,  ORME,  AND  BROWN;  CADELL  AND  DA  VIES;  LAW 
AND  WHITTAKER;  J.  BOOKER;  J.  CUTHELL ;  CLARKE  AND  SONS;  J.  AND 
A.  ARCH;  J.  HARRIS;  BLACK,  PARBURY,  AND  ALLEN  ;  J.  BLACK;  J.  BOOTH; 
J.  MAWMAN;  GALE  AND  FENNER ;  R.  H.  EVANS;  J.  HATCHARD;  J.  MURRAY; 
BALDWIN,  CRADOCK,  AND  JOY;  E.  BENTLBY ;  OGLE  AND  CO.;  W.  GINGER; 
IIODWELL  AND  MARTIN;  P.  WRIGHT;  J.  DBIGHTON  AND  SON,  CAMBRIDGE f 
fTfyNSTABLE  AND  CO.  EDINBURGH;  AND  WILSON  AND  SON^  YORK* 

1816. 


A  NEW  AND    GENERAL 


BIOGRAPHICAL  DICTIONARY. 


rip 

X  RADESCANT  (John),  a  contributor  to  the  stlidy  of 
natural  history  in  this  country  in  the  seventeenth  century, 
was  by  birth  a  Dutchman,  as  we  are  informed  by  Anthony 
Wood*  On  what  occasion,  and  at  what  period  be  came 
into  England,  is  not  precisely  ascertained,  but  it  may  be 
supposed  to  have  been  about  the  end  of  queen  Elizabeth^s 
reign,  or  the  beginning  of  that  of  James  I.  as  Hoilar^s 
print  of  biro,  engraved  in  1656,  represents  him  as  a  per* 
ison  very  far  advanced  in  years.  He-  i^L^id  to  have  been 
for  a  considerable  time  in  the  service  of  ford  treasurer  Sa- 
lisbury and  lord  Wooton.  He  tVrfvelled  several  years,  and 
into  various  parts  of  Europe;  as  far  eastward  as  into  Russia. 
In  1620  he  was  in  a  fleet  that  was  s^nt  again^^  Ihe  Algerines ; 
and  mention  is  made  of  hjs  collectiu|;  plants  in  Barbary, 
and  in  the  isles  of  the  Mediterranean.  He  is  said  to  have 
brought,  the  trifolium  stellatum  of  Linnaeus  from  the  isle  of 
Fermentera;  and  hb  name  frequently  occurs  in  the  second 
edition  of  Gerard,  by  Johnson  ;  in  Parkinson*s  "Theatre 
of  Plants,"  and  in  his  ,"  Garden  of  Flowers,"  printed  in 
1656.  But  Dr.  Pulteney  conjectures  that  Tradescant  was 
not  resident  in  England  in  the  time  of  Gerard  himself,  or 
known  to  him. 

He  appears,  however,  to  have  been  established  in  Eng- 
land, and  his  garden  founded  at  Lambeth  ;  and  about  1629 
he  obtained  the  title  of  gardener  to  Charles  I.  Tradescant 
was  a  man  of  extraordinary  curiosity,  and  the  first  in  this 
country  who  made  any  considerable  collection  of  the  sub- 
jects of  natural  history.  He  had  a  son  of  the  same  name, 
who  took  a  voyage  to  Virginia,  whence  he  returned  with 
many  new  plants.     They  were  the  means  of  introducing  a 

Vol.  XXX.  B 


2  TRADESCANT. 

variety  of  curious  species  into  this  kingdom,  several  of 
which  bore  their  name.  Tradescant's  spiderwort^  Trades* 
cant's  aster  J  are  well  known  to  this  day;  and  Linn»us  hat 
immortalized  them  among  the  botanists  by  making  a  new 
genus,  under  their  name,  of  the  spiderwort^  which  had 
been  before  cd\\e&  ephemeron.  His  museum,  called  "  Tra- 
descant's Ark,"  attracted  the  curiosity  of  the  age,  and  was 
much  frequented  by  the  great,  by  whose  means  it  was  also 
considerably  enlarged,  as  appears  by  the  list  of  his  bene- 
factors, printed  at  the  end  of  his  ^'  Museum  Tradescantia- 
num ;"  among  whom,  after  the  names  of  the  king  and 
queen,  are  found  those  of  many  of  the  Brst  nobility,  the 
duke  and  duchess  of  Buckingham,  archbishop  Laud,  the 
earls  of  Salisbury  and  Carlisle,  &c.  &c. 

This  small  12mo  volume  the  author  entitled  '' Museum 
Tradescantianum,  or  a  collection  of  rarities,  preserved  at 
South  Lambeth,  near  London,  by  John  Tradescant,"  1656, 
dedicated  to  the  college  of  physicians.  It  contains  lists  of 
his  birds,  quadrupeds,  fish,  shells,  insects,  minerals,  fruits, 
artificial  and  miscellaneous  curiosities,  war  instruments, 
habits,  utensils,  coins,  and  medals.  These  are  followed 
by  a  catalogue,  in  English  and  Latin,  of  the  plants  of  bis 
garden,  and  a  list  of  his  benefactors.  The  reader  may  see 
a  curious  account  of  the  remains  of  this  garden,  drawn  up 
in  1749,  by  the  late  sir  William  Watson,  and  printed  in 
the'  46th  volume  of  the  Philosophical  Transactions,  and 
many  other  particulars  in  our  authorities.  Preiixed  to  the 
**  Museum  Tradescantianum''  were  the  prints  of  both  father 
and  son,  which,  from  the  circumstance  of  being  engraved 
by  Hollar,  has  unfortunately  rendered  the  book  well  known 
to  the  collectors  of  prints,  by  whom  most  of  the  copies  have 
been  plundered  of  the  impressions. 

In  what  year  the  elder  Tradescant  died  is  uncertain, 
though  it  seems  to  have  happened  most  probably  in  1652, 
The  son  inherited  the  museum,  and  bequeathed  it  by  a 
deed  of  gift  to  Mr.  Ashmole,  who  lodged  in  Tradescant's 
house*  (See  Ashmole.)  It  afterwards  becoming  part  of 
the  Ashmolean  museum,  the  name  of  Tradescant  was  sunk. 
John,  the  son,  died  in  1662,  and  was  buried  April  25  of 
that  year.  Besides  the  prints  prefixed  to  the  '^  Museum 
Tradescantianum,"  there  are  several  portraits  of  the  Tra- 
descant family  in  the  Ashmolean  Museum,  both  male  and 
female,  esteemed  good  ;  but  there  are  no  dates  to  the  pic- 
tures, nor  any  painter's  name  or  mark.     John's  widow 


TRADES  CANT.  j 

erected  a  monument  to  the  family  in  Lambeth  church-yard, 
in  1662,  which  was  much  injured  by  time;  but  two  fine 
drawings  of  it,  happily  preserved  in  the  Pepysian  library, 
came  in  aid  of  the  mutilated  parts,  and  in  1773  tt  was  re* 
paired  by  a  public  subscription.  ^ 

TRAHERON  (Bartholomew),  a  learned  divine  at  the 
period  of  the  reformation,  was  supposed  by  Wood  to  have 
been  born  in  Cornwall,  or  originally  descended  from  an 
ancient  family  of  his  name  in  that  county.  This  supposi- 
tion seems  to  have  been  suggested  to  Wood  by  Fuller,  who 
in  his  "Worthies"  of  Cornwall  says,  "The  first  sylla,ble 
of  his  name,  and  what  is  added  thereto  by  my  author  (Bale) 
parentum  stemmate  clanis^  and  the  sameness  of  bis  name 
with  an  ancient  family  in  this  country,  are  a  three-fold 
cable  to  draw  my  belief  that  he  was  this  countryman.*'  He 
was  educated  at  Oxford,  either  in  Exeter  college,  or  Hart 
hall,  where  he  attained  some  eminence  in  the  Latin  and 
Greek  tongues.  He  afterwards,  as  was  usual  with  scholars 
desirous  of  extensive  improvement,  travelled  into  Germany 
and  Italy,  and  heard  the  lectures  of  the  eminent  men  of. 
that  time.'  On  his  return  to  England  he  entered  into  holy 
orders,  and  was  made  keeper  of  the  king's  library,  which 
Leiand's  researches  had  greatly  enriched  in  the  time  of 
Henry  VHI.  King  Edward  VI.  who  gave  Traheron  this 
appointment  with  a  salary  of  twenty  marks,  finding  him 
otherwise  a  man'  of  great  merit,  conferred  on  him  the 
deanery  of  Chichester  in  1551,  as  Wood  sayj,  but  accord-^ 
ing  to  Le  Neve,  in  1553.  This,  on  the  accession  of  queen 
Mary  in  the  same  year,  he  lost,  as  well  as  his  other  pre- 
ferments, and  joined  the  other  English  exiles  in  Germany^ 
where,  atFrancfort,  he  became  their  divinity-reader,  par- 
ticularly on  the  beginning  of  the  Gospel  of  St.  John,  against 
the  Arians,  or,  as  Strype  says,  **  against  the  wicked  enter-* 
prises  of  the  new  start-up  Arians  in  England."  While  here 
he  appears  to  have  written  all  his  works ;  1.  "  Paraeresis, 
lib.  1.".  addressed  to  his  brother  Thomas,  persuading  him 
to  embrace  the  reformed  religion.  2.  "  Carmina  in  mor- 
tem Henrici  Dudlasi."  3.  ^^  Analysis  Scoparum  Johannis 
Cocblaei."  4.  "  Exposition  of  a  part  of  St.  John's  Gospel 
made  in  sundry  readings  in  the  English  congregation  against 
the  Arians,"    1558,  8vo,  2d  edition.     5.  "Exposition  on 

1  Pttlteney'8  Skctcbes.— Appendix  to  the  **  History  and  Antiquities  of  Lani- 
betb.''— AshmoleU  Piarjr. 

B   2 


4  T  R  A  H  E  R  O  N.    • 

the  fourth  chapter  of  St.  John's  RevelationSi  which  treate^h 
of  the  provideoce  of  God,  made  before  his  countrymen  in 
Germany,'*  1557,  8vo,  reprinted  1577  and  1583.  6.  "  An 
answer  made  by  Bar.  Traheron  to  a  private  Papist,"  &c. 
1558,  8vo.  7.  "  Treatise  of  Repentance,"  &c.  .Wood 
says  he  also  published  a  translation  of  Vigo's  "  Surgery," 
and  Vigo's  "  Little  practice."  When  be  died  U  uncertain* 
Wood,  in  his  first  edition,  says  he  returned  after  qu^en 
Mary's  death,  and  was  restored  to  all  be  bad  lost,  and  was 
Uving  in  1662  ;  but  in  his  second  edition  he  Omits  this,  and 
quotes  Hoiinshed,  who  gives  it  as  a  report  that  he  died 
abroad  in  the  latter  end  of  Mary's  reign. ' 

TRAILL  (Robert),  an  eminent  divine  pf  the  church  of 
Scotland,  was  descended  of  an  ancient  family  that  had 
been  in  possession  of  the  estate  of  Blebo,  in  the  coujity  of 
Fife,  from  the  time  of  Walter  Traill,  archbishop  of  St.  An- 
drew's, 1385,  who,  as  sopfie  say,  purchased  it;  but  Keith 
calls  him  ^'  a  son  of  the  laird  of  Blebo,"  by  which  it  would 
appear  that  the  estate  bad  been  in  the  family  before  the 
archbishop's  time.  This  prelate  had  been  a  canon  of  St. 
Andrew's,  and  pursued  his  studies  on  the  continent^  where 
be  was  honoured  with  the  degree  of  doctor  both  of  civil  and 
canon  law,  and  when  at  Rome  became  referendary  to  pope 
Clement  VIL  This  pontiff  had  a  very  high  opinion  of 
him,  and  when  the  see  of  St.  Andrew's  became  vacant,  pre- 
ferred him  to  it  by  his  s^uthority,  without  any  election. 
So  excellent  indeed  was  his  character  in  that  comparatively 
dark  age,  that  even  Buchanan  speaks  in  his  praise.  He 
built  the  castle  of  St.  A-ndi;^w^$,  the  scene  afterwards  of 
many  remarkable  transaeii^i^ i'^tbe  history  of  the  church 
of  Scotland,r  and  died  in  1401-.  -  /He  was  buried  in  the  ca- 
thedral,  near .  to  the  high  .d,)itq[r»  with  an  inscription  cha- 
racteristic of  the  encomi)Bistic. genius  of  the  times : 

'^  Hie  fuit  Ecclesiae  directa  columna,  fenestra 
Lucida>  thuribuluni  redolens^  campana  sonora.** 

He  is  said  to  have  given  the  estate  of  Blebo  to  a  nephew, 
but  we  are  unable  to  trace  his  descendants  until  we  arrive 
at  the  sixteenth  century,  when  we  meet  with  Andrew  Traill, 
the  great  grandfather  of  our  author,  w^o  was  a  younger 
brother  of  the  family  of  Blebo.  Following  the  profession 
of  a  soldier,  he  rose  to  the  rank  of  a  colonel,  *  and  was  for 
some  time  in  the  service, of  the  city  of  Bruges,  and  other 

»  Tanner. — Bale.— Aih.  Ox.  vol.  I. — Strype'ef  Cranmer;  p,  358^    • 


T  R  A  I  L  L.  5 

towns-  ia  Flanders^  in  the  wars  which  they  carried  on  in 
defence  of  tbeir  liberties^  against  Philip  II.  of  Spain.  When 
he  left  this  service  bis  arrears  amounted  to  2,700/.  for 
which  he  received  a  bond  secured  upon  the  property  of 
the  States. ;  He-  then  served'  under  the  king  of  Navarre, 
afterwards  Henry  IV".  of  France,  in  the  civil  wars  of  that 
kingdom,  and  bad  occasion  to  do  that  prince  considerable 
service  in  taking  a  town  by  stratagem.  Upon  his  return  to 
Britain  he  was  made  a  gentleman  of  prince  Henry's  privy- 
clK^mber.  When  he  died  is  not  known  ;  but  he  had  a  son, 
Jamest  Traill,  who  endeavoured  to  recover  the  sum  due  to 
him  by  the.  cities  of  Flanders;  and,  upon  a  petition  to 
king  James;  which  was  referred  to  sir  Harry  Martin,  judge 
of  the  admiralty,  lie  obtained  a  warrant  to  arrest  a  ship 
belonging  to  the  city  of  Bruges,  which  was  done  accord- 
ingly. But  the  duke  of  Buckingham  being  gained  by  the 
adverse; party,  the  ship  was  soon  released  ;  nor  could  he 
ever  aftenwards  recover  miy  part  of  the  debt.  This  cir- 
cumstance, together  with  the  e^pence  of  the  prosecution, 
obliged  him  Co  dispose  of  a'  small  estate  in  the  parish  of 
Deniuno,  in  the  county  of  Fife. 

.  The  son  of  this  James  Traill,  Robert,  the  father  of  the 
iounediate  subject  of  this  article,  was  minister,  first  of  Ely, 
in  the  county. of  Fife,  and  afterwards  of  the  Grey  Friars 
church,  in  Edinburgh,  and  vi^as  much  distinguished  for  bis 
iidelity  and  zeal  in  discharging  the  duties  of  bis  function, 
until  after  the  restoration,  whe«i  being  prosecuted  for  non* 
conformity  before  the  Scotch  council,  he  was  imprisoned 
seven  months  in  Edinburgh,  and  bat)isbed  from  the  king*^ 
dom.  He  then  went  to  Holland,  whence  he  wrote  a  letter 
of  advice  to  his  wife  and  children,  the  only  piece  of  his 
which  has  been  ^pq^lisbed.  He  returned  afterwards,  and 
died  in  Scotland,  but  at  what  time  is  unqertain.  Up 
was  on^  of  the  ministers  who  attended  the  marquis  of  Mont* 
rose  on  the  scaffold.  While  jn  HolUnd,  a  very  character- 
istic portrait  of  him  was  painted  there,  which  is  now  in  the 
possession  of  the  earl  of  Buchan,  and  from  which  there  is 
an.  engraving  in  Mr.  Pinkerton's  "  Scotish  Gallery.*' 

His  son,  Robert,  the  subject  of  this  memoir,  was  born 
at  Ely  in  May  1642.  After  the  usual  course  of  education 
at.  home,  he  was  sent  to  the  university  of  Edinburgh,  where 
he  recommended  himself  to  the  several  professors  by  his 
capacity  and  diligent  application  to  his  studies.  Having 
determined  to  devote  himself  to  the  church,  be  pursued 


6  TRAILL. 

the  study  of  divinity  with  great  ardour  for  several  years. 
Partaking  with  his  father  .in  zeal  for  the  principles  and 
discipline  of  the  presbyterian  church,  he  became  a  sufferer 
in  its  cause,  unusual  severity  being  exercised  against  these 
who  would  not  accede  to  the  introduction  of  episcopacy. 
In  1666  he  was  obliged  to  secrete  himself,  together  with 
his  mother  and  elder  brother,  because  some  copies  of  a 
book  entitled  ^*  An  apologetic  Relation,^*  &c.  which  the 
privy  council  had  ordered  to  be  publicly  burnt,  were  found 
in  Mrs.  Traill's  house ;  and  in  the  following  year,  being 
suspected  as  having  been  one  of  those  who  took  up  arms 
and  resisted  the  king's  forces,  or  of  being  a  favourer  of 
their  cause,  a  proclamation  was  issued  for  apprehending 
him.  This  obliged  him  to  join  his  father  in  Holland,  where 
he  resumed  his  divinity  studies,  and  assisted  Nethenus, 
professor  of  divinity  at  Utrecht,  in  the  republication  of 
Rutherford's  *^  Examination  of  Arminianism."  In  the  pre- 
face to  his  edition  of  that  book,  Nethenus  speaks  of  Mr. 
Robert  Traill  as  a  pious,  prudent,  learned,  and  industrious 
young  man.  % 

In  1670  he  ventured  to  come  over  to  England,  where  he 
was  at  least  free  from  the  sanguinary  tyranny  which  dis-^ 
graced  his  own  country  about  this  time,  and  was  ordained 
by  some  presbyterian  divines  in  London.  Seven  years 
afterwards,  however,  he  was  at  Edinbgrgh,  and  for  preach* 
ing  privately,  was  apprehended,  and  brought  before  the 
privy  council.  Before  them  he  acknowledged  he  had  kept 
house-conventicles,  but  as  to  field-conventicles,  which  was 
-a  criminal  ofFetice,  he  left  them  to  prove  that,  and  pe- 
remptorily refused  to  answer  upon  oath  any  interrogatorie* 
that  might  affect  himself.  On  this  he  was  sent  to  prison, 
but  released  by  order  of  government  in  October  of  the  same 
year,  1677*  He  then  returned  to  England,  and  preached 
tn  a  meeting  at  Cranbrook,  in  Kent,  but  was  afterwards  for 
many  years  pastor  to  a  Scotch  congregation  in  London, 
and  at  one  time  was  colleague  with  the  Rev.  Nathaniel 
Mather  in  a  meeting  in  Lime-street. 

As  he.  was  warmly  attached  to  the  doctrines  usually  called 
Calvinistic,  he  took  a  zealous  concern  in  the  controversy 
that  followed  the  publics^tion  of  Dr*  Crisp's  works.  In  1692 
he  published  bis  "  Vindication  of  the  Protestant  doctrine 
of  Justification,  and  of  its  first  preachers  and  professors, 
from  the  unjust  charge  of  Antinomianism."  In  this  he  dis- 
covers great  zeal  against  Arminianism,  and  is  not  a  little 


TRAILL.  7 

displeased  with  those  divines  who.  were  for  adopting  wbut 
they  called  a  middle  way,  and  who  wrote  against  Dr.  Crisp. 

Mr.  Traill  lived  to  see  the  revolution  establisbed,  and  to 
rejoice  in  the  settlement  of  the  protestant  succe^ision  in 
the  illustrious  bouse  of  Hanover.  He  died  in  May  1716, 
aged  seventy*fouf.  His  works,  principally  sermons,  which 
have  long  been  popular,  particularly  in  Scotland,  were 
printed  for  many  years  separately,  but  in  1776  were  pub- 
lished together  at  Glasgow  in  3  vols.  8vo.  In  1810a  more 
complete  edition  appeared  at  Edinburgh  in  4  vols.  8vOy 
with  a  life  prefixed,  of  which  we  have  partly  availed  our- 
selves. It  is  not  mentioned  in  any  account  we  have  seeni 
where  Mr.  Traill  died,  but  it  is  probabke  that  he  bad  re- 
turned to  Scotland  bel^bre  that  event,  as  all  bis  descendants 
were  settled  there.  His  son,  Robert,  was  minister  of  Pan- 
bride,  in  the  county  of  Angus,  and  was  the  faihef  of  Dr. 
James  Traill,  who,  conforming  to  the  English  church,  was 
presented  to  the  living  of  West  Ham,  Essex,  in  1762.  He 
accompanied  the  earl  of  Hertford  as  chaplain  to  that  no- 
bleman when  ambassador  in  France,  and  was  afterwards  his 
chaplain  when  he  became  lord  lieutenant  of  Ireland.  In 
1765  be  was  appointed  bishop  of  Down  and  Connor,  and 
died  in  Dublin  in  1783.  ^ 

TRALLIANUS.     See  ALEXANDER. 

TRAPEZUNTIUS  (George),  a  learned  modern  Greek, 
was  born  in  1395,  in  the  island  of  Crete,  but  took  the 
name  of  Trapezuntius^  or  *^  of  Trebisond/'  because  bis 
family  were  originally  of  that  city.  ■  In  bis  youth  he  went 
to  Venice,  where  Francis  Barbaro,  who  bad  invited  him, 
became  his  patron.  Having  been  instructed  in  the  Latin 
language  he  went  to  Padua,  and  afterwards  to  Vicenzai 
where  in  1420  bis  patron  obtained  for  him  the  professor- 
ship of  the  Greek,  but  be  did  not  remain  long  in  this  situa- 
tion. Finding  himself  harassed  by  the  intrigues  of  Gua* 
rino,  of  Verona,  who  regarded  him  with  sentiments  of  de- 
termined hostility,  he  gave  up  his  professorship,  on  which 
Barbaro  recalled  him  to  Venice,  where  by  the  interest  of 
this  steady  friend  he  was  appointed  to  teach  rhetoric,  and 
was  enrolled  among  the  citizens  of  Venice.  Barbaro  af* 
terwards  recommended  him  to  the  court  of  Rome,  where 
we  find  Trapezuntius  in  1442,  in  the  pontificate  of  Euge* 

^  life  prefixed  to  hif  Workf.— Wilson's  Httt.  of  Dtticnting  Churches.— iPrirat^ 
information,  the  Editor  beinf  materoallj  descended  from  this  fatniiy. 


8  T  R  A  P  E  Z  U  N  T  1  U  S. 

nius,  teaching  the  belles  lettres  and  the  Aristotelian  phi*, 
losophy.  During  the  same  time  he  was  employed  in  traus<>. 
lating  several  Greek  authors  into  Latin,  which  induced 
Nicholas  V.  the  successor  of  Eugenius,  to  make  him  apas* 
tolic  secretary.  These  translations  he  was  thought  to  have 
executed  well,  but  his  reputation  declined  so  far  on  one 
occasion  as  to  end  in  his  disgrace.,  He  had  received  orders 
from  the  pope  to  translate  the  Almagest  of  Ftoleihy,  and 
to  add  a  commentary,  or  notes.  This  he  performed  in 
1451,  and  the  following  year  was  banished  from  Rome  on 
account  of  this  work.  What  there  was  so  offensive  as  to 
bring  upon  him  this  punishment  is  not  known,  or  at  least 
not  clearly  expressed  by  his  biographers ;  but  it  seems 
not  improbable,  that  bis  general  temper,  which  was  irri-i 
table,  had  disgusted  some  of  his  contemporaries,  and  that 
the  pope  had  listened  to  the  insinuations  of  his  enemies. 
Many  errors  had  been  detected  in  his  translations  by  some 
of  those  able  scholars  whom  Nicholas  V.  had  assembled  at 
his  court,  and  this  probably  rendered  Trapezuntius  more 
apt  to  take  offence.  It  was  probably  while  in  this  temper, 
that  a  disgraceful  quarrel  took  place  between  him  and  the 
celebrated  Poggio,  in  Pompey's  theatre,  where  the  ponti- 
fical secretaries  were  assembled,  for  the  purpose  of  cor* 
recting  certain  official  papers.  It  was  occasioned  by  some 
satiric  remarks  of  Poggio,  which  proroked  Trapezuntius  to 
give  him  a  blow  on  the  face.  Poggio  returned  it,  and 
continued  the  battle  until,  as  we  n^ay  suppose,  the  comba-f 
tants  were  (!)arted. 

Trapezuntius  now  retired  to  Naples  with  his  family,  and 
wrote  to  his  old  protector  Barbaro,  but  found  he  had  been 
dead  about  a  month.  The  good  offices  of  Philelphus,  how* 
ever,  made  his  peace  with  the  pope,  and  Philelphus  wrote 
to  him,  that  he  might  not  only  return  to  Rome  by  permis- 
sion, but  that  the  pope  even  wished  it ;  and  he  was  acc6r<r 
dingly  reinstated  in  his  former  office.  He  had  always  de- 
fended the  peripatetic  philosophy  against  the  Platonists 
with  great  vehemence  and  acrimony,  and  now  wrote  bis 
**  Comparison  of  Aristotle  and  Plato,"  full  of  bitter  invec- 
tive. This  involved  him  in  a  controversy  with  Gaza,  and 
particularly  with  Bessarion;  the  particulars  of  which  we 
have  already  given  in  our  account  of  the  latter.  His  first 
quarrel  with  Ga^sa  was  owing  to  their  having  jointly  nn- 
deriakep  the  translation  of  Aristotle,  *VOn  Animals,*'  each 
claiming  to  himself  the  exclqsive  merit  of  havin^^  overcome 


TRAPEZUNTIUS.  9 

the  dtQicultiea  which  aroAe  from  the  great  number  of  names 
of  animals  which  are  found  in  that  work.  ,  , 

TrapezuQtius  appears  to  have  met  with  some  reverse 
after  .this  controversy,  for  in  1549  he  was  again  at  Venice, 
supplicating. the  aid  of  the  State^  and  was  in  consequence 
appointed  professor  of  .the  belles-lettres.  While  in  this 
office  be  wrot^  his  Art  of  Rhetoric,  dedicated  to  the  Ve- 
netians, which  appeared  under  the  title  of  <'  Khetorica 
Trapezuntina,"  but  w^s  not  printed  until  1470,  at  Venice, 
in  folio,  and  then  only  the  first  book.  In  1464  and  14,65, 
be  took  a  voyage  to  Crete,  and  another  to  Constantiupple. 
Oh  his  return,  being  informed  that  one  of  his  scholars,  was 
Vkom  pope,  under  the  name  of  Paul  IL  he  went  to  Rome, 
in  hopes. of  being  well  received;  but  all  he  received  was 
an  ord^r  to  be  imprisoned  in  the  castle  of  St.  Angelo, 
where  he  remained  for  four. months,  and  was  afterwards 
under  confinement  in  his  house. .  The  most  probable  cause 
of  this  treatment  was  bis  having  returned  to  Rome  without 
leave ;  but  this  is  merely  conjecture ;  the  pope,  how^v.er, 
atiength  condescended  to  forgive  him,  and  he  remained 
at  Rome  much  respected.  In  his  latter  years  his  faculties 
began  to  decay,  and  before  his  death,  which  took  place  in 
1484,  in  the  ninetieth  year  of  his  age,  all  traces  of  memory 
and  understanding  were  gone. 

Among  the  transjations  executed  by  Trapezuntius,  are 
several  parts  of  the  works  of  Eusebius,  Cyril  of  Alexan- 
dria>  Grregory  Nyssen,  Nazianzen,  Chrysostom, ,  Aristotle, 
Plato,  Ptolemy,  &o.,  but  in  many  of  these  he  is  neither 
accurate  nor.  faithful,  having  made  unpardonable  variations, 
omissions,  or  additions.  ^ 

•■  TRAPP  (Joseph),  an  English  divine,  and  vo1>iminou9 
Iranslatoir,  was  the  grandson  of  the  rev.  John  Trapp,  vicar 
of  Weston-upon-Avon,  and  schoolmaster  at.  Stratford  in 
Warwickshire,  who  wrote  large  commentaries  upon  alniost 
all.  the  books  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament, , published  in 
several  quarto  volumes,  164£,  &c.  and  other  tracts  on 
subjects  of  divinity.  He  never  had,  nor  wished  to  have, 
any  preferment  .besides  his  vicarage,  which  lay  at  the  con- 
venient distance  of  two  miles  from  bis  school.  His  char 
racter,  as  a  roan  and  as  a  preacher,  would  have  recom- 
mended him  to  higher. promotion.;  but  he  s^lways  refused 

1  Body  de  Graecis  lUustribus. — ^Tiraboschi. — Bullart's  Academie  des  Scien- 
ces.— Lahdi  Hist,  de  la  Litt.  d'ltalte.-^Shepherd'i  :LHe  of  Poggio.'^Fabririi 
Bibt.  Lat«  Mtd.  .^«— 'Saxii  Onomast.  . 


10  T  R  A  P  P. 

to  accept  it,  as  bis  condition  was  equal  to  bis  wishes.  He 
died  Oct.  17y  1669,  aged  sixty-eight. 

Our  aathor^s  father,  the  rev.  Joseph  Trapp,  rector  of 
Chertington  in  Gloucestershire,  was  a  master  of  arts,  and 
had  formerly  been  student  of  Christ*church,  Oxford,  and 
was  inducted  into  Cherrington  in  1662,  where  he  was  bu-* 
ried  Sept.  24,  I6!^S,  with  a  Latin  inscription,  immediately 
over  his  grave,  in  the  North  chancel.  His  son,  the  sub- 
ject of  the  present  account,  was  born,  probably  in  Novem-* 
ber,  as  he  was  baptised  on  the  sixteenth  of  that  month, 
1679.  After  some  education  at  home  under  his  father,  he 
was  removed  to  the  care  of  the  master  of  New-college- 
school,  Oxford,  and  became  so  good  a  scholar,  that  in 
16.95,  at  sixteen  years  of  age,  he  was  entered  a  commoner 
of  Wadham-college,  and,  in  1696,  was  admitted  a  scholar 
of  the  same  bouse.  In  1702,  he  proceeded  master  of  arts^ 
and  in  1704,  was  chosen  a  fellow.  In  170S,  he  was  ap* 
pointed  the  first  professor  of  poetry,  on  the  foundation  of 
Dr.  Birkhead,  sometime  fellow  of  AlUSouls-coUege,  and 
continued  in  the  same  for  ten  years,  the  period  allotted  by 
the  founder.  In  1709-10,  he  -acted  as  a  manager  for  Dr. 
Sacheverell  on  his  memorable  trial ;  and  in  1711,  was  ap- 
pointed chaplain  to  sir  Constantino  Pbipps,  lord  chancellor 
of  Ireland,  and  one  of  the  lordsjusttces  of  that  kingdom. 

In  1720,  Mr.  Trapp  was,  by  the  favour  of  the  earl  of 
Peterborough,  presented  to  the  rectory  of  Dauntzey,  in 
Wiltshire,  which  be  resigned  in  1721  for  t lie  vicarage  of 
the  united  parishes  of  Christ-church,  Newgate-street,  and 
8t.  Leonard^  Foster-Ian^.  '  In  February  1727,  in  con<* 
sequence  of  the  merit  and  usefulness  of  his  two  books,  en^ 
titled  "  Popery  truly  stated,'*  and  **  Answer  to  England's 
Conversion,*'  both  printed  in  that  year,  he  was  presented 
by  the  university  of  Oxford  with  a  doctor  of  divinity's  de- 
gree by  diploma.  In  1733,  be  was,  on  the  demise  of  Ro- 
bert Cooper,  M.  A.  and  archdeacon  of  Dorset,  preferred 
to  the  rectory  of  Harlington,  Middlesex,  on  the  presen- 
tation of  the  celebrated  lord  Bolingbroke,  to  whom  he  had 
i>eeu  appointed  chaplain  by  the  recommendation  of  dean 
Swift,  and  in  defence  of  whose  administration  be  had  wiit- 
ten  a  number  of  papers  in  the  ^^  Examiner,'^  during  1711 
and  two  following  years.  In  17S4,  be  was  elected  one  of 
the  joint-lecturers  of  St.  Martin's-in-the-Fields  :  and  dying 
at  Harlington  of  a  pleurisy,  Nov.  22,  .1747,  aged  sixty- 
seven,  was  interred  on  the  North  side  of  the  entrance  iBCo 


T  R  A  P  p.  11 

the  chancel  of  Harlitigton-church.  He  desired  in  h's  will^ 
that  each  of  his  parishionen  in  Cbrist^cburch  and  St.  Lep« 
iiard*8  Foster*lane,  and  in  Harlington,  Middlesex,  who 
were  boasekeepers,  might,  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest, 
^^  have  a  copy  of  his  little  book,  entitled  *  The  Four  last 
Things,*  beseeching  them,  for  the  sake  of  their  immortal 
louls,  to  read  it,  and  practise  it^  and  recommend  it  to 
their  children  and  servants,  and  all  others  committed  to 
their  charge."  His  parishioners  of  Christ-church  had  so 
gratefttl  a  sense  of  his  memory,  as  to  erect  a  monument 
by  subscription  in  tfaeif  church,  with  an  inscription  ap- 
parently taken  from  soqie  lines  in  the  poem  which  he  be- 
queathed them. 

Dr.  Trapp  was  in  person  of  a  middle  stature,  slender  ha- 
bit, olive  complexion,  and  a  countenance  of  uncommon 
openness  and  animation,  arising  from  the  concurrence  of 
an  arched  high  forehead,  fine  eyebrows,  and  expressive 
vivid  eyes,  which,  accompanied  with  an  erect  attitude, 
gave  bim  an- air  of  consequence  and  dignity,  prepossessing 
bis  audience,  at  his  first  appearance  in  the  pulpit,  with  a 
favourable  ex)>ectation  of  what  be  was  about  to  deliver. 
The  portrait  of  faim  in  the  Oxford  picture-gallery  is  a 
striking  resemblance.  In  bis  temper,  he  was  somewhat  im- 
patient and  basty,  but  in  general  bad  a  considerable  com* 
mand  over  it,  where  professional  decorum  was  necessary. 
Being  a  man  of  wit,  he  could  unbend  agreeably  among  his 
intimate  friends,  and  had  seen  much  of  the  world,  and  con* 
versed  witb  men  of  all  parties  in  an  age  strongly  marked 
with  party-spirit.  Like  most  divines  about  the  commence- 
ment of  the  last  century,  he  was  challenged  to  personal 
controversies  witli  those  of  the  popish  persuasion,  but  al- 
ways resisted  tbem.  ^^  Disputes  by  word  of  mouth,*'  be 
says,  in  the  preface  to  Popery  truly  stated,  *^  I  alwaya  de- 
clined, and  always  will :  I  never  ^new  any  good  come  of 
them :  much  harm,  I  am  sure,  may,  and  I  believe  often  does : 
much  empty  wrangjiiig  at  the  time  of  the  debate,  and  much 
misreport  and  misrepresentation  after  it.  And  therefore  I 
chose. writing  rather  than  talking." 

He  was  so  much  addicted  to  books,  that  it  was  the  late 
bishop  Pearce's  opinion  tbat  be  studied  harder  than  any 
man  in  England.  In  conseqxtence  of  this  he  was  liable  to 
absence  of  mind,  as  it  is  called,  and  frequently  ordinary 
matters  and  occurrences  passed  unheeded  before  bim« 
When  at  college,  according  to'  the  imperfect  account  of 


li  T  R  A  P  p. 

bim  in  the  Supplement  to  the  *^  Biographia  Britannicaj''  he 
was  somewhat  dissipated,  and  was  led  to  pursuits  not  be- 
coming his  intended  profession.  When  he  applied  to  Br* 
BrObinson^  bishop  of  London,  for  orders,  that  prelate  cen* 
sured  him,  with  much  warmth/  for  having  written  a  piaj* 
("  Abramuie") ;  but,  after  taking  on  him  the  sacred  profes-' 
sion,  he  was  uniform  in  a  conduct  wbicb'dtd  credit. to* 
it.  And  his  consistency  in  this  respect  for  a  series  of  years, 
cluring  the  most  turbulent  times,  both  in  church  and  state>: 
procured  him  the  greatest  honours  and  respect  from  per-* 
SODS  of  the  first  order  and  character.  The  university  of 
Oxford,  who  confers  her  honours  only  by  the  test  of  merit, 
and  the  rules  of  propriety,  could  not  express  her  opinion 
©f  his  merit  more  significantly  than  by  presenting  him  with 
a  doctor  of  divinity's  degree,  by  diploma,  in  full  convoca- 
tion.. When  he  preached  his  assize  sermon-  at  Oxford, 
1739,  it  was  observed,  that  the  late  rev.  Dr.'  Theophilus 
Leigh,  master  of  Baliol- college,  and  then  vice-chancellor 
of  Oxford,  stood  up  all  the  time  of  his  preaching,  to  ma-» 
nifest  his  high  sense  of  so  respectable  a  character.  Nor 
was  he  regarded  only  by  those  of  his  own  church  and  coun- 
try, for  he  was  much  esteemed  by  foreigners,  and  even  by 
those  of  the  Homish  communion,  against  whom  he  stood 
foremost  in  controversy,  and  that  with  some  acrimonyi 
When,  in  1742,  his  son  was  at  Rome,  be  was  asked  by 
oi)e  of  the  cardinals,  whether  he  was  related  to  the  great 
Dr.  Trapp,  and  the  cardinal  being  informed  that  he  was 
bis  son,  he  immediately  requested,  that  on  his  return  to 
England,  he  would  not  fail  to  make  his  particular  respects 
to  the  doctor. 

'  Dr.  T^apP  acquired  fame  in  his  day  by  a  great  variety  of 
writings,  theological,  critical,  controversial,  political,  and 
poetical.  He  seems  to  have  valued  himself  as  a  translator,  in 
which  he  was  confessedly  unsuccessful.  When  appointed  poe-*' 
try  professor,  he  gave  a  regular  course  of  lectures  in  very 
^legaut  Latin,  which  were  published  in  17 1&,  in  three  vols, 
octavo,  under  the  title  of  "  PreleciSones  Poeticae."  A 
translation  appeared  afterwards :  but,  although  he  s\cquitted 
himself  in  these  lectures  as  a  good  critic,  be  was  not  able 
to  exemplify  his  own  rules,  and  his  translation  of  Virgil 
bears  no  reaemblance  to  the  original,  owing  to  an  impru« 
dent  choice  of  words  and  figures,  and  a  total  want  of  har^ 
mony.  He  had  most  succ4^ss  in  a  Latin  translation  of 
^' Anacreon,*'  for  Latin  poetry  was  his  forte;  but  failed 


# 


T  R  A  P  p.  13 

when  he  attempted  to  transfuse  the  spirit  of  Milton  into 
that  language. 

As  his  numerous  publications  form  a  sort  of  diary  of  bis 
employments,  we  shall  give  a  chronological  list  of  them, 
which  seems  to  have  been  drawn  up  with  great  care^ 
omitting  only  some  of  his  occasional  sermons,  as  we  be- 
lieve the;y  were  afterwards  collected.  His  earliest  pro- 
duction^ wa^,  1.  ^' Fraiis  nummi  Anglicani/'  in  the  ^'Musse 
Angli^anse/'  1699;  2.  ^' A  poem  on  Badminton -house, 
Gloucestershire."  1 700 ;  3.  "  Verses,  on  the  death  of  the 
duke  of  Gloucester/'  Oxon.  1700;  4.  ^^  On  the  deaths  of 
king  William,  prince  George,  and  queen  Anne,''  1702,  &c« 
5.  "Verses  on  baron  Spanheim,"  170$  ;  6.  "  Miscellany 
verses,"  in  vol.  VI.  of  Dry  den's  Miscellany,  1709;  7. 
*' Odes  on  the  Oxford  Act,"  1713;  8.  "  Preservative 
against  unsettled  notions,"  vol.  I.  1715,  vol.  II.  1722;  9. 
A  controversial  "Sermon"  against  bishop  Hoadly,  from 
John  xviii.  36,  1717;  10.  "Virgil  translated  into  blank 
verse,"  1717,  2  vols.  4tQ ;  11.  "  Prelectiones  Poet^cae, 
1718,  3  vols.  8vo;  12.  "Treatise  on  Popery  truly  stated 
and  briefly  confuted,"  1727;  13.  "Answer  to  England's 
eonversion,"  ,1727  ;  14.  "  Sermons  on  Righteousness  over- 
much, four  in  one,"  Ecclesiastes  vii.  16,  ^  Be  not  righteous 
over-much,  neither  make  thyself  over-wise ;  why  shouldst 
thou  destroy  thyself;'  *  15.  "  Sermon  at  Oxford  Assizes,'* 
^But  it  is  good  to  be  zealoqsly  affected  always  in  a  good 
thing,*  ,1739;  16.  "Answer  to  the  Seven  Pamphlets  against 
the  said  Sermon,"  1740;  17.  "  Reply  to  Mr.  Law's  answer 
to  I^igt^teousness  over-much,"  1740;  18.  "  Miltoni  Para- 
disus  Amissus,  2  vols. ;  19.  "  Concio  ad  Clerum  Londinen- 
sem.SioD  Coll.  Matt.  s.  Comm.  16,"  1743  ;  20.  "  Sermons, 
No.  III.  from  Matt.  xvi.  22,  23,  *  Now  all  this  was  done,' 
&c. ;  A^alacbi.Ui.  1,  /Behold  I  will  send  my  messenger,' 
&c. ;  and.from.Matt.  xvi.  27,  28,  *  For  the  Son  of  Man  shall 
eome  in  the  glory  of  the  Father,'  &c. — prefixed  to  Expla- 
natory Notes;  on  .the  first  of  the  Four  Gospels,"  1 747  ;  2 1. 
'^  Continuation  of  Explanatory  Notes  on  the  Four  Gos- 
pels," finished  and  published  by  Mr.  Trapp,  his  son,  1752  ; 
22,  "  Sermons  on  Moral  and  Practical  subjects,"  2  vols. 
jBvo,  published  by  Mr.  Trapp,  and  printed  at  Reading,  in 

*  Dr.  Trapp  "was  rather  tenacious  Gentleman**  Magazine ;  which  pro- 
M  literary  property,  and  vauld  not  duced  an  excellent  paper  on  the  sub- 
suffer  Mr.  Cave  to  give  a  kind  of  ject  by  Dr.  Johnson,  printed  in  the 
abridgment  of  these  sermons  in  the.  Gent.  Mag.  for  1787. 


« 


H  T  R  A  P  R 

1752.  His  Sermons  at  Lady  Moyer^s  Lecture  were  pub-  ' 
lished  in  1731,  8vo.  ^Besides  the  above  he  published,  with- 
QOt  his  name,  23.  *^  A  Prologue  to  the  University  of  Ox- 
ford," 1703  ;  24.  " Abramule,'*  a  Tragedy,  1703  ;  25.  "An 
ordinary  Journey  no  Progress,"  in  defence  of  Dr.  Sache-* 
vereU,  1710  ;  26.  «The  true  genuine  Whig  and  Tory  Ad- 
dress," in  answer  to  a  Libel  of  DnB.  .Hoadly,  1710;  27. 
*<  Examiners"  in  Vol.  L  Nos.  8,  9,  26,  33,  45,  46,  48,  50, 
1711 ;  Vol.  n.  Nos.  6,  12,  26,  27,  37,  45,  50,  1712;  Vol. 
in.  Nos.  1,  2,  5,  13,  20,  21,  26,  29,  34,  1713  ;  28.  "  The 
Age  of  Riddles,"  1710;  29.  "  Character  and  principles  of 
the  present  set  of  Whigs,"  Wl  1 ;  30.  **Most  Faults  on  one 
Side,"  against  a  sly  Whig  pamphlet,  entitled,  *  Faults  on 
both  Sides,'  1710;  31.  "  Verses  on  Garth's  Verses  to  Go- 
dolphin,"  1710;  32.  <^  Votes^ without  Doors,  occasioned  by 
Votes  within  Doors,"  1710;  S3.  **  Preface  to  an  Answer  to 
Priestcraft,"  1710;  34.  "Verses  on  Harley's  being  stabbed 
by  Guiscardj"  1711 ;  35.  **Poem  to  the  duke  of  Ornwnd,'* 
17  H  ;  36.  <*  Character  of  a  certain  Whig,"  1 7 1 1 ;  37.  "  Hei' 
Majesty's  prerogative  in  Ireland,"  1711;  38.  "Peace,"  a 
poem,  1713  ;  39.  "  A  short  answer  to  the  bishop  of  Ban- 
gor's great  book  against  the  Committee,"  1717  ;  40.  ^*Th« 
Case  of  the  Rector  of  St.  Andrew,  Holborn,"  1722;  41: 
"  Several  Pieces  in  the  Grub-street  Journal,"  vi«,  upon^ 
Impudence,  upon  Henley's  Grammars,  Answering,  and  not 
answering,  Books,  1726;  42.  "On  Budget's  Philosopher's 
Prayer,"  1726  ;  43.  "  Prologue  tod  Epilogue  for  Mr.Hem- 
mings's .  Scholars  at  Tbistleworth,"  1728;  44.  **  Grub- 
street  verses.  Bowman,"  1731 ;  45.  *♦  Anacreon  translated 
into  Elegiacs,"  1732  ;  46.  <*  Four  last  Things,"  a  poem, 
1734 ;  47.  "  Bribery  and  Perjury ;'*  48.  "  Letter  about  the 
Quakers  Tithe  Bill,"  1736. 

Dr.  Trapp's  library,  consisting  of  his  own  original  col- 
lection and  Dr.  Sacheverell's  added,  at  his  town  house  in 
Warwick-lane,  and  his  country  living  at  Harlington,  toge-^ 
ther  with  his  manuscript  papers,  devolved,  in  course,  to  bis 
son,  Mr.  Trapp,  who  dying,  the  books,  now  much  increased 
by  Mr.  Trapp's  elegant  collection  of  classic  authors,  va<» 
luable  prints,  and  medals,  were  sold  altogether  to  Lowndes 
of  London,  and  from  him  the  library  passed  to  Gov.  Palk. 
The  manuscripts  were  excepted  for  Mr.  Awbery,  at  whose 
death  they  passed  into  the  possession  of  some  friend,  com- 
mon to  Messrs.  Trapp  and  Awbery. 

Dr.  Trapp  married,  in  1712,  Miss  White>  daughter  of 


T  R  A  P  P-  ■  IS 

Mr.  Aiderman  White  of  Oxford,  by  whom  be  had  two  soas^ 
Henry,  so  barptised  after  his  godfather  lord  Bolingbroke^. 
who  died  in  infancy,  and  Joseph,  who  became  in  1734  fel«- 
low  of  New  college  Oxford,  and  in  1751  was  presented  by 
George  Piu,  esq.  afterwards  lord  Rivers,  to  the  living  of 
Stratfield,  near  Hertford  Bridge,  Hampshire.  H^  died  in 
1769. " 

TllE^Y  (George),  a  learned  judge,  was  bom,  as  Wood 
thinks,  at  or  near  Ply mp ton  in  Devonshire  in  1644,  and  was 
admitted  a  commoner  of  Exeter  college,  Oxford,  in  1660. 
After  studying  some  time  here,  he  left  college  without 
taking  a  degree,  as,  we  have  repeatedly  had  occasion  to- 
observe,  was  usual  with  young  gentlemen  intended  for  ttie  ^ 
law ;  and  went  to  the  Inner  Temple.  After  being  admitted 
to  tlie  bar,  he  had  much  practice,  and  was  accounted  a 
good  common  lawyer.  In  1678  and  1679,  he  sat  in  par- 
liai|ietit  as  representative  for  Plympton,  and  in  the  last- 
mentioned  year  was  appointed  chairman  of  the  committee 
of  secrecy  for  the  investigation  of  the  popish  plot,  and  was 
in  1680  one  of  the  managers  in  the  impeachment  of  lord 
Stafford.  In  December  of  the  same  year,  when  sir  George 
Jeffries  was  dismissed  from  the  recordership  of  London,  Mr. 
Treby  was  elected  in  his  room,  and  in  January  1684  the  ' 
^iag  conferred  on  him  the  honour  of  knighthood :  but  whea 
the  fK^  warranto  issued,  and  the  city  charter,  for  which  he 
pleaded  aloug  with  Pollexfeu,  was  withheld,  he  was  de« 
prived  of  the  recordership  in  Oct.  1685.  On  the  revolit- 
tion^  king  William  restored  him  to  this  office,  and  he  bad 
the  honour  of  addressing  his  majesty,  in  the  absence  of  the 
lofd  ioayor,  sir  John  Chapman,  who  was  confined  by  sick- 
ness. His  very  able  speech  on  this  occasion  was  published 
in  the  *^  Fourth  collection  of  papers  relating  to  tlie  present 
juncture  of  af&irs.in  England,'"  1683,  4to,  and  in  Bofaan^s 
<'  History  of  the  Desertion,"  1689,  4to.  In  March  1688 
be  was  made  solicitor* general,  and  the  following  year 
attorney-general.  In  April  1692  he  was  called  to  the  rank' 
of  seijeant,  and  in  May  following  was  promoted  to  be  chief 
justice  of  the  Common  Pleas,  on  which  be  resigned  the 
office  of  recorder.  This  learned  and  upright  lawyer  died 
in  March  1701-2,.  aged  fifty-six.  His  son  and  grandson^ 
of  the  same  names^  represented  Plympton  and  Dartmouth^ 

*  Biog.   Brit.  Sup[)tement. — Life  in  Gent.  Mag.  vol.  LVI. — Swift's  Works. 
See  Index.— -Nichols'K  Bowyer. 


16  T  R  E  B  Y.  ^ 

and  the  latter  was  master  of  the  household  to  George  IL 
and  a  lord  of  the  treasury. 

Sir  George  Treby  published  "  A  collection  of  Letters 
and  other  writings  relating  to  the  horrid  Popish  Plot,  print- 
ed from  the  originals,^'  Lond.  1681,  fol.  in  two  parts,  and 
is  supposed  to  have  written  ^^ Truth  vindicated;  or,  a  de-* 
tection  of  the  aspersions  and  scandals  ca^  upon  sir  Robert 
Clayton  and  sir  George  Treby,  justices,  &c.  in  a  paper 
published  in  the  name  of  Dr.  Francis  Hawkins,  minister  of 
the  Tower,  entitled  *  The  confession  of  Edward  Fitzharrisi 
&c.*''  Lond.  1681.  His  pleadings  and  arguments  in  the 
King^s-bench  on  the  quo  warranto^  are  printed  with  those 
of  Finch,  Sawyer,  and  PoHexfen,  Lond.  1690,  fol.  * 

TREMBLEY  (Abraham),  an  eminent  naturalist,  was 
born  at  Geneva  in  1710,  and  was  intended  by  his  father 
for  the  church,  for  which  reason  he  sent  him  tu  pursue  his 
studies  in  Holland.  There  he  became  tutor  to  the  children 
of  M.  Bentinck,  and  coming  afterwards  to  London,  had 
the  young  duke  of  Richmond  for  bis  pupil.  On  bis  re- 
turn to  Geneva  in  1757,  he  settled  there,  and  became  most 
esteemed  for  learning  and  private  character^  He  bad  early 
devoted  his  leisure  to  some  branches  of  natural  history,  and 
when  appointed  one  of  the  commissioners  for  providing 
Geneva  with  a  granary  of  corn,  be  wa6  enabled  by  hia 
knowledge  of  the  insects  which  infest  grain,  to  prevent 
their  ravages  in  a  great  measure.  But  his  reputation  as  a 
naturalist  was  first  promoted  throughout  Europe  by  bis 
discoveries  on  the  nature  of  the  polypes.  These  animals 
were  first  discovered  by  Leeuwenhoek,  who  gave  some 
account  of  them  in  the  Philosophical  Transactions  for 
1703;  but  their  wonderful  properties  were  not  thoroughly 
known  until  1740,  when  Mr.  Trembley  began  to  investi-* 
gate  them  ;  and  when  he  published  the  result  of  his  expe« 
riments  in  his  **  Memoires  sur  les  Polypes,*'  Leyden,  1744> 
4to,  all  naturalists  became  interested  in  the  surprising  facts 
which  were  disclosed.  Previous  to  this,  indeed,  Leibnitz 
and  Boerhaave,  by  reasonings  a  prioriy  had  concluded  that 
animals  might  be  found  which  would  propagate  by  slips 
like  plants;  and  their  conjecture  was  soon  verified  1>y  the 
observations  of  Mr.  Trembley.  At  first,  however,  he  was 
uncertain  whether  he  should  reckon  these  creatures  ani-^ 
mals  or  plants :  and  while  thus  uncertain,  he  wrote  a  letter 

>  Atb.  Ox.  vol.  II. — Burnet's  Own  Times. — ^Noble's  Continuation. of  Granger. 


^^  T  R  E  M  B  L  E  Y.  17 

.on  the  subject  to  Mr.  Bonnet  in  January  1741;  but  in 
March  the  same  year,  he  had  satisfied  himself  that  they 
were  real  animals.  He  also  made  several  comimtknications 
to  the  Royal  Society,  of  which  he  was  elected  a  member  in 
1743,  on  the  same  subject.  There  are  other  papers  on 
subjects  of  natural  history  by  him  in  the  Philosophical 
Transactions.  Mr.  Trembley  also  acquired  no  small  fame 
by  the  publication  of  some  valuable  books  for  young  per- 
sons, particularly  his  "  Instructions  d'un  pere  a  ses  enfans 
sur  la  nature  et  la  religion,'*  1775  and  1779,  2  vols.  8vo ; 
"  Instructions  sur  la  religion  naturelle,"  1779,  3  vols.  8vo; 
and  **  Ilecherches  sjur  le  principe  de  la  vertu  et  du  bon- 
heur,"  8vo,  works  in  which  philosophy  and  piety  are  united. 
Mr.  Trembley  died  in  1784. ' 

TREMELLIUS  (Immanuel),  a  protestant  divine  of 
great  learning,  and  the  editor  of  a  Latin  translation  of  the 
Bible,  was  born  at  Fjerrara  in  1510.  He  was  th0  son  of  a 
Jew,  and  was  educated  with  such  care  as  to  become  a  great 
master  in  the  Hebrew  tongue ;  but  was  converted  to  Chrisr 
tianity,'  first  as  a  Roman  catholic,  by  cardinal  Pole,  and 
secondly  as  a  protestant  by  the  celebrated  Peter  Martyr, 
and. went  with  him'  to  Lucca.  Afterwards,  leaving  Italy 
altogether,  he  went  into  Germany,  and  settled  at  Stras- 
burgh ;  whence  he  proceeded  to  England  in  the  reign  of 
Edward  VI.  where  he  lived  in  intimacy  with  the  arch- 
bishops Cranmer  and  Parker,  particularly  .the  latter,  and 
also  taught  Hebrew  at  Cambridge;  but  after  the  death  of 
the  king,  he  returned  to  Germany,  and  taught  Hebrew  in 
the  school  of  Hornbach.  Thence  he  was  invited  to  Hei» 
delberg,  under  the  elector  palatine  Frederic  III.  where  he 
was  professor  of  the  Hebrew  tongue,  and. translated  the 
Syriac  Testament  into  Latin.  There  also  he  undertook  a 
Latin*  translation  of  the  Bible  out  of  Hebrew,  and  associated 
Fraticis  Junius  to  him  in  that  work.  His  next  remove  was 
to  Sedan,  at  the  request  of  the  duke  of  Builloin,  to  be 
the  Hebrew  professor  in  his  new  university,  where  he  died, 
1580,  in  his  seventieth  year. 

His  translation  of  the  Bible  was  first  published  in  1575, 
and  afterwards  corrected  by  Junius  in  1587.  The  Protes- 
tant churches  received  it  with  great  approbation  ;  and  our 
learned  Matthew  Poole,  in  the  preface  to  his  *'  Synopsis 
Criticorum,'*  reckons  it  among  the  best  versions ;  but  po- 

^  Diet.  Hist.— Eocyclopedie  ia  art.  Polypus. 

Vol.  XXX.  C 


18  'J^REMELLIUat 

pish  writers  h^ve  not  spoken  so  favourably  of  it,  but  repre- 
sent it  as  very  faulty  :  "  As  Tremellius,"  says  father  Simon^ 
^'  was  a  Jew,  before  he  was  a  Protestant,  be  has  retaioed 
sotpetbiog  peculiar  to  himself  in  his  translation,  and  devi* 
ates  often  from  the  true  sense.  His  Latin  is  affected,  and 
full  of  faults." ' 

TREN^HARD  (John),  an  English  political  writer,  of 
the  democratic  cast,  was  descended  of  an  ancient  family, 
the  son  of  sir  Johu  Treochard,  secretary  of  state  to  king 
William  III.  and  was  born  in  1669.     He  had  a  liberal  edu- 
cation, and  was  bred  to  the  law,  in  which  he  was  well 
skilled ;  but  politics,  and  his  place  of  commissioner  of  the 
forfeited  estates  in  Irelapd,  which  he  had  enjoyed  in  the 
reign  of  king  William,  took  him  from  the  bar,  whither  he 
had  never  any  inclination  to  return.    He  was  also  rendered 
independent  by  the  death  of  an  uncle,  and  by  his  marriage, 
and  determined  to  employ  his  time  in  palitical  discussions. 
^is  first  publication  of  this  kind^  in  conjunction  with  Mr. 
Moyle»  appeared  in  1698,  entitled  ^^  Ao  Argument,  sbew^ 
iqg  thata  standing  army  is  uiconsistent  with  a  free  govern? 
mQnt>  and  absolutely  destructive  to  the  constitutioQ.  of  the 
Englisljl  mociarchy  ;"  and,  in  1698,  ^^  A  short  history  oi 
Staodiug  Armies  in  England ;"  which  two  pamphlets  pro- 
duced several  answers.    In  November  1720,  in  conjunctipn 
With  Mr.  Thomaa  Gordon,    he  began  to  publish,  in  the 
*^  Loudon,''  and  afterwards  in  tb^  ^^  British  JournaV  a 
series  of  letters^  under  the  name  of  ^^  Cato,"  upon  various 
apd  important  $ubj>ects  relating  to.  the  public.    These  were 
continued  for  almost  three  years  with  very  great  reputa? 
tiou  among  those  who  were  not  very  closely  attached  to 
the  government  or  the  church  y  but  there  were  some  paper^t 
among  them,  written  by  Mr.  Trencbard,  under  the  Bjsune 
of  '^  Diogenes,''    upon  several  points  of  religion,  which 
were  thought  exceptionable,  and  animadverted  upon,  par«- 
ticularly  by  Mr.  John  Jackson,  in  a  *^  Defence  of  bumaa 
Liberty."  Dr.  Clarke  also  wrote  some  animadversions  vpan 
Trenchard's  principles,  but  which  were  never  published. 
They  are  inserted  in  the  General  Dictionary.     Mr.  Gor-  , 
don  afterwards  collected  the  papers  written  by  Mr.  Tren« 
chard  and  himself,  and  published  them  in  four  volam^ 
12mo,  uader  the  title  of  **  Cato's  Letters^,  or  Essays  on 

*  Melchior  Adam.—- Tiraboschi.i— Blouni'tf  Censura. — Fuller*!  "  Abel  Redi- 
▼iva!.''-^axii  Onomast. 


T  R  E  N  C  H  A  R  D.  19 

Liberty,  civil  or  religioi^s,  and  other  important  subjects  ;'' 
the  fourth  edition  of  which,  corrected,  was  printed  in 
1737.  It  was  imagined  at  the  time,  that  lord  Molesworth 
had  a  chief,  at  least  a  considerable,  hand  in  those  letters; 
but  Mr.  Gordon  assures  us,  in  the  dedication  of  them  to 
John  Milner,  esq.  that  this  noble  person  iiever  wrote  a  line 
in  them,  nor  contributed  a  thought  towards  them.  As  to 
the  purport  and  design  of  them,  Mr.  Gordon  says,  that  ^^  as 
they  were  the  work  of  no  faction  or  cabal,  nor  calculated 
for  any  lucrative  or  ambitious  ends,  or  to  serve  the  pur- 
poses of  any  party  whatsoever,  but  attacked  :&lsehopd  and 
dishonesty  in  all  shapes  and  parties,  without  temporising 
with  ahy,  doing  justice  to  all,  even  to  the  weakest  and  most 
unfashionable,  and  maintaining  the  principles  of  liberty 
against  the  practices  of  both  parties  ;.so  they  were  dropped 
without  any  sordid  composition,  and  without  any  conside- 
ration, save  that  it  was  judged  that  the  piiblic,  after  all  itis 
terrible  convulsions,  was  become  calm  and  safe.  They  had 
treated  of  most  of  the  subjects  important  to  the  world,  and 
meddled  with  public  measures  and  public  men  only  in  great 
instances."  He  wrote  also  in  "  The  Independent  Whig," 
another  paper  hostile  to  the  hierarchy. 

Mr.  Trenchard  was  member  of  parliament  for  Tauntoti 
in  Somersetshire,  and  died  Dec.  17,  1723,  of  an  ulcer  in 
his  kidneys.  He  is  said  to  have  thought  too  much,  and 
with  too  much  solicitude,  to  have  done  what  he  did  too 
intensely  and  with  too  much  vigour  and  activity  of  the 
head,  which  caused  him  many  bodily  disorders,  and  is  sup- 
posed at  last  to  hate  worn  out  the  springs  of  life.  He  left 
no  writings  at  all  behind  him,  but  two  or  three  loose  pa* 
pers,  once  intended  for  Cato's  Letters.  Mr.  Anthony 
Collins,  in  the  manuscript  catalogue  of  his  library,  ascribes 
to  him  the  following  pieces  :  "  Th6  naturial  history  of  Su- 
perstition," 1709.  "  Considerations  on  the  public  debts," 
1709.  "  Comparison  of  the  proposals  of  the  Bank  and 
South-Sea  Company,"  1719.  "Letter  of  thanks,  &c." 
1719.  "  Thoughts  on  the  Peerage-bill,"  1719.  And  "Re^ 
flections  on  the  Old  Whig,"  1719.  Mr.  Gordon^  who  has 
drawn  bis  character  at  large  in  the  preface  above  cited,  tells 
us  iti  his  dedication,  that  ^^he  has  set  him  no  higher  than 
his  own  great  abilities  and  many  virtues  set  him ;  that  his 
failings  were  small,  his  talents  extraordinary,  his  probity 
equal;  and  that  he  was  one  of  the  worthiest^  one  of  the 

c  2 


20       '  T  ft  E  S  H  A  M. 

ablest,  one  of  the  most  useful,  men  that,  ever  any  country 
wfas  blessed  withal.  * 

TRESHAM  (Henry),  an  excellent  artist  of  the  English 
school,  and  a  member  of  the  Royal  Academy  of  London, 
and  of  the  academies  of  Rome  and  Bologna,  was  a  native  of 
Ireland,. which  country  he  left  at  an  early  age ;  and  having 
devoted  himself  to  the  arts,  repaired  to  Italy,  at  a  time 
when  an  acquaintance  with  the  master-pieifes  of  the  arts 
which  that  countiy  possessed,  was  considered  as  an  essential 
requisite  for  completing  the  education  of  a  gentleman. 
The  friendships  and' acquaintance  formed  by  Mr.  Tresham 
while  abroad,  were  aot  a  little  conducive  to  the  promo- 
tion of  his  interests  on  his  return  to  this  country ;  and  their 
advantages  were  experienced  by  him  to  the  last  moment  of 
his  life.  As  an  artist,  Mr.  Tresham  possessed  very  con- 
siderable talents ;  and,  while  his  health  permitted  him  to 
exert  them,  they  were  honourably  directed  to  the  higher 
departments  of  his  art.  A  long  residence  in  Italy,  together 
with  a  diligent  study  of  the  antique,  had  given  him  a  last- 
ing predilection  for  the  Roman  school ;  and  his  works  dis- 
play many  of  the  powers  and  peculiarities  which  distinguish 
the  productions  of  those  great  masters  whose  taste  he  had 
Adopted.  He  had  much  facility  of  composition,  and  bii 
£»ncy  was  well  stored  with  materials ;  but  his  oil  pictures 
are.  deficient  in  that  richness  of  colouring  and  spirit  of  ex- 
ecution which  characterize  the  Venetian  pencil,  and  which 
have  been  displayed,  in  many  instances,  with  rival  excel- 
lence in  this  country.  His  drawings  with  pen  and  ink,  and 
in  black  chalk,  evince  uncommon  ability ;  the  latter,  in 
particular,  are  executed  with  a  spirit,  boldness,  andbreadth 
•which  are  not  often  to  be  found  in  such  productions.  In 
that  which  may  be  termed  the  erudition  of  taste,  Mr. 
Tresham  was  deeply  skilled  :  a  long^acquaintance  with  the 
most  eminent  masters  of  the  Italian  schools  made  him  fa- 
miliar with  their  merits  and  defects;  he  could  discrimi- 
nate between  all  their  varieties  of  style  and  manner;  and 
as  to  every  estimable  quality  of  a  picture,  he  was  consi- 
dered one  of  the  ablest  cri ticks  of  his  day:  in  the  just 
appreciation,  also,  of  those  various  remains  ef  antiquity 
which  come  under  the  different  classifications  of  vtr/t{,  his 
opinion  was  sought,  with  eagerness,  by  the  connoisseur  as 

1  Gen.  Diet.— Biog.  Brit  Supplement.^-Toulmm's  Hift.  of  Taiwtoii,  p.8l.— 
See  ottraocoont  (tf  Thomas  Gordon, 


T  R  E  S-H  A  M.  31 

well  as  the  arti$t,  and  held  as  an  authority,  from  which  few 
would  venture  lightly  to  dissent.     This  kind  of  knowledge 
proved  not  a  little  beneficial  to  him.     Some  years  since, 
Mr.  Thomas  Hope,  whose  choice  collections  of  every  kind 
are  well  known,  had  given  to  one  of  his  servants  a  number 
of  Etruscan  vases,  as  the  refuse  of  a  quantity  which  he  had 
purchased.     Accident  made  Mr.Tresbam  acquainted  with 
the  circumstance  ;  and  the  whole  lot  was  bought  by  him  of 
the  new  owner  for  100/.     It  was  not  long  before  he  re- 
ceived 800/.  from  Mr.  Samuel  Rogers,  for  one  moiety  ;  and 
the  other,  increased  by  subsequent  acquisitions,  he  trans- 
ferred a  few  years  ago  to  the  eafl  of  Carlisle.     That  noble- 
man, with  a  munificence  and  liberality  which  have  invari- 
ably marked  all  his  transactions,  settled  on*  the  artist  an 
annuity   of  300/.  for  life,  as  the  price  of  this  collection. 
With  such  honour  was  this  engagement  fulfilled,  that  the 
amount  of  the  last  quarter,  though  due  only  a  few  days 
before  Mr.  Tresham's  death,  was  found  to  have  been  punc- 
tually paid.     When  Messrs.  Longman  and  Cq.  commenced 
their  splendid  publication  of  engi^vings  from  the  works  of 
the  ancient  masters,  in  the  collections  of  the  British  nobi<* 
lity,  and  others  who  have  distinguished  themselves  by  their 
patronage  of  the  fine  arts,  they»  with  a  discernment  which 
does  them  credit,  deputed  Mr.  Tresham  to  superintend  the 
undertaking.    To  the  honour  of  the  owners  of  those  mas- 
ter-pieces it  must  be  recorded,  that  every  facility  was  af- 
forded to  this  artist,  not  only  in  the  loan  of  pictures,  but 
in  the  communication  of  such  facts^relating  to  the  respec- 
tive works  as  they  were  able  to  furnish.     The  salary  paid 
him  by  these  spirited  publishers,  contributed  materially  to 
the  comfort  of  his  declining  years.     We  should  not  omit  to 
mention,  to  the  credit  of  Mr.  Tresham/  that,  regardless  as 
he  had  been  in  early  life  of  providing  those  resourses  for 
old  age  which  prudence  would  suggest,  yet  so  High  were 
hb  principles,  that  the  most  celebrated  dealers  in  virtu^ 
auctioneers^  and  others,  never  hesitated  to  deliver  lots  to 
any  amount  purchased  by  him ;  and  we  may  venture  to  as- 
sert, that  he  never  abused  their  confidence.    But  the  talents 
of  Tresham  were    not    confined  to   objects  immediately 
connected  with  his  profession ;  he  had  considerable  taste 
for  poetry,  and  his  published  performances  in  that  art  dis- 
play a  lively  fancy,    and   powers  of  versification,    of  no 
<>rdinary  kind.     In  society,  which  he  loved  and  enjoyed  to 
the  last,   he  was  always  considered  as  an  acquisition  by 


?2  T  R  E  S  H  A  M. 

* 

his  friends  ;  and  amongst  tbpse  friends  were  included  many 
Vf  ttie  most  elevated  and  esua)able  characters  of  tl^e  tirpe. 
Jxi  conversation^  be  was  (luent^  humourous,  and  animated, 
libounding  in  anecdote,  and  ready  of  reply.     Puring  the 
latter  years  of  his  life,  the  contrast  exhibited  between  the 
playful  vivacity  of  his  manners  and  the  <^ccasional  excla* 
mations  of  agony,  produced  by  the  spasmodic  affection^ 
with  which  be  was  so  long  afflicted,  gave  an  interest  to  bi$ 
appearance  that  enhanced  the  entertainment  which  his  col-, 
loquial  powers  afforded.     His  existence  seemed  to  hang 
upon  so  slight  a  thread  that  those  who  enjoyed  hjs  society 
were  commonly  under  an  impression  that  the  pleasure  de- 
rived from  it  might  not  be  again  renewed,  and  that  a,  frame 
so  feeble  could  scarcely  survive  the  exertion  which  the  vi«, 
goi;r  of  his  spirit  for  a  moment  sustained.     The  principle 
of  life,  however,  was  in  him  so  strong,  as  to  contradict  all 
ordinary  indications;  and  he  lived  on,  through  many  years 
of  infirmity^  as  much  to  the  surprise  as  the  gratification 
of  his  friends  :  his  spirit^  unsubdued  by  pain.,  and  his  mind 
uninfluenced  by  the  decay  of  his  body.    Though  partaking, 
in  some  degree,  of  ^he  proverbial  irritability  of  the  poet 
and  the  painter,  no  man  was  more  free  froip  envious  and 
malignant  feelings,  or  could  be  more  ready  to  do  justice  to 
^  the  claims  of  his  competitors.     So  true  a  relish  .had  he  for 
the  sallies  of  wit  and  humour,  that  he  could  enjoy  them 
^ven  at  his  own  expense :    and  he  has  been  frequently 
known  to  repeat,  with  unaffected  glee,  the  jest  that  has 
been  pointed  against  himself.     By  his  death,  which  took 
place  June  17,   1814,  the  Royal  Academy  was  deprived  of 
pne  of  its  most  enlightened  members,  and  his  profession  of 
a  liberal  and  accomplished  artist. 

Mr.  Tresbam^s  poetical  publications,  all  which  be  made 
in  some  measure  the  vehicle  of  his  sentiments  on  subjects 
of  art,  wer^,  I.  "  The  sea-sick  Minstrel,  pr  Maritime  Sor- 
rows," in  six  cantos,  1796,  4to,  an  extraordinary,  but, 
perhaps,  irregular,  effusion  of  real  genius.  2.  ^'  Rome  at 
close  of  the  eighteenth  century,"  1799,  4to,  the  subject, 
the  plunder  of  that  city  by  the  French,  3.  "  Bri,taQni- 
cus  to  Bonaparte,  an  heroic  epistle,  with  noies,"  1803, 
4toi* 

TRESSAN.     SeeVERGNE. 

TREW  (Christophe^i  James),  an  eminent  naturalist, 
and  liberal  patroii  of  that  science,  was  the  son  simd  grand- 

1  G€nt.  Mag.  vol.  LXX3^1V. 


T  R  E  W.  33 

son  of  two  men  of  considerable  note  in  the  medical  pro- 
fession, and  was  born  at  Lauffen  in  Franconia  in  169^. 
He  studied  medicine  at  Nuremberg  with  so  much  reputa- 
tion, that  he  was  appointed  director  of  the  academy  of  tht 
**  Naturse  Curiosorum/'  and,  in  conjunction  with  some  of 
the  members  of  the  society,  began  a  periodical  work  at 
Nuremberg  in  1731,  called  ^<  Commercium  Litterarium  ad 
rei  Medicse  et  Sciential  naturalis  incrementum  institutum.*' 
In  this  he  inserted  many  useful  papers,  as  far  as  the 
fifteenth  volume,  which  appeared  in  1745,  and  published 
from  time  to  time  some  splendid  botanical  works.  He 
died  in  1769. 

His  principal  works  are>  1.  <<  De  vasis  lingus  salivali- 
bus,*'  in  a  letter  addressed  to  Haller,  Nuremberg,  1734^ 
4to.  2.  ^*  Dissertatio  de  differentiis  quibusdam  intet 
bominem  natum  et  nascendum  intercedentibus,"  ibid.  1736, 
4to.  3.  *f  Icones  posthumsB  Gesnerianse,"  ibid.  1748,  fol. 
These  plates  of  Gesner  came  to  him  by  purchase,  as  we 
have  already  noticed  in  our  account  of  that  celebrated  bo- 
tanist. 4.  <'  Selectarum  Plantarum  Decades,^'  Vienna,  1750, 
fol.  '  5.  ^^  Librorum  Botanicorum  libri  duo,  quorum  priof 
recentiores  quosdam,  posterior  plerosque  antiquos  ad  an* 
num  1550  usque  excusos  recenset,"  Nuremberg,  1752, 
fol.  6.  **  PlantdB  seiectcB  quarum  imagines  ad  exemplaria 
naturalia  Londini  in  hortis  curiosorum  nutrita,  maiiu  arli- 
ficiosa  pinxit  Georgius  Dionysius  Ehret,  &c.'^  1754,  fol: 
His  liberality  to  Eliret  we  have  already  recorded.  (See 
Ehret.)  7.  **  Cedrorum  Libani  historia,"  Nuremberg, 
1757,  4to.  In  1750  be  engaged  an  artist  to  copy  Mrs. 
Blackwell's  plates,  and  himself  supplied  several  defects  in 
the  drawings.  He  also  substituted  some  entirely  new 
figures  in  the  room  of  the  originals,  very  considerably  re-^ 
formed  and  amplified  the  text,  translated  it  into  German 
and  Latin ;  and  planned  the  addition  of  a  sixth  century  of 
plates,  but  he  did  not  live  to  finish  this.  The  fifth  cei>- 
tury  was  published  in  1765,  and  Dr.  Trew  dying  in  1769, 
the  supplemental  volume,  exhibiting  plants  omitted  by 
Mrs.  Blackwell,  articles  newly  introduced  into  practice, 
and  figures  of  the  poisonous  species,  was  conducted  by 
Ludwig,  Bose,  and  Boehmer,  and  printed  in  1773.  Thus 
reformed,  Trew*s  edition  surpasses  any  other  work  of  the 
same  design.  ^ 

1  Eloy,  Diet  Hi8t«cle  Medecine.— Pulteney's  Sketches,— Haller*B  Bibl.  Bot. 


24  T  R  I  B  O  N  I  A  N  U  S. 

TRIBONIANUS,  an  eminent  Roman  lawyer,  and  the 
object  of  equal  praise  and  censure,:  was  a  native  of  Side  in 
Pampbylia,  and  esteemed  a  man  of  extensive  learning.  He 
is  said  to  have  written,  both  in  prose  and  verse,  on  many 
subjects  of  philosophy,  politics,  astronomy,  &c.  but  none 
of  his  writings  have  descended  to  us.  From  the  bar  of  the 
priBtorian  praefects,  he  raised  himself  to  the  honours  of 
questor,  consul,  and  master  of  the  offices.  His  knowledge 
of  the  Roman  law  induced  Justinian  the  emperor  to  place 
him  at  the  head  of  a  committee  of  seventeen  lawyers,  who 
were  to  exercise  an  absolute  jurisdiction  over  the  works  of 
their  predecessors,  from  which  they  compiled  the  Digest 
or  Pandects,  which  go  by  that  emperor's  name.  Tribo- 
nianus  has  been  represented  by  some  writers  as  an  infidel, 
aad  by  others  as  extremely  avaricious,  and  tampering  with 
the  laws  to  gratify  this  propensity.  The  former  pf  these 
charges  Mr.  Gibbon  very  naturally  wishes  to  impute  to  bi- 
gotry, but  the  latter  is  generally  admitted.  His  oppres- 
sions were  at  one  time  so  much  the  subject  of  complaint 
as  to  procure  a  sentence  of  banishment,  but  he  was  soon 
recalled,  and  remained  in  favour  with  Justinian  for  above 
twenty  years.  Tribonianus  is  supposed  to  have  died  about 
the  year  546.' 

TRIGLAND  (James),  a  learned  divine,  was  born  May 
8,  1652,  at  Harlem.  He  acquired  great  skill  in  the  Ori- 
ental languages,  and  the  Holy  Scriptures,  of  which  he  was 
professor  at  Leyden,  in  the  place  of  Anthony  Hulsius,  and 
died  in  .that  city,  September  22,  1705,  aged  fifty-four, 
after  having  been  twice  rector  of  the  university  there.  He 
left  several  works  and  '^  Dissertations  on  the  sect  of  the 
Caraites,"  and  other  curious  and  important  subjects.  He 
also  published  the  "  Tribus  Jud«orum"  of  Serarius,  Dru- 
-sius,  and  Scaliger,  or  a  dissertation  on  the  three  remarkable 
sects,  the  Pharisees,  Sadducees,  and  Essenes,  Delphis, 
1703,  2  vols.  4to.' 

TRIMMER  (Sarah),  a  very  ingenious  lady,  and  a  zea- 
lous promoter  of  religious  education,  was  the  daughter  of 
Joshua  and  Sarah  Kirby,  and  was  born  at  Ipswich,  Jan.  6, 
1741.  Her  father,  known  in  the  literary  world  as  the 
author  of  Taylor's  "  Method  of  Perspective  made  easy," 
and  *.*  The  Perspective  of  Architecture,'-   was  a  man  of  kii 

^  Oibbon^s  Hist,  and  references. — Saxii  OBomast. 
*  Moreri. — Diet,  Hist,  de  L'Avocat. 


TRIMMER.  25 

excellent  understanding,  and  of  great  piety  :  and  so  high 
was  his  reputation  for  knowledge  of  divinity,  and  so  ex- 
emplary bis  moral  conduct,  that,  as  an  exception  to  their 
general  rule,  which  admitted  no  layman,  he  was  chosen 
member  of  a  clerical  club  in  the  town  in  which  he  resided. 
Under  the  care  of  such  a  parent  it  may  be  supposed  she 
was  early  instructed  in  those  principles  of  Christianity, 
upon  which  her  future  life  and  labours  were  formed.  She 
was  educated  in  English  and  French,  and  other  customary 
accomplishments,  at  a  boarding-school  near  Ipswich  ;  but 
at  the  age  of  fourteen  she  left  Ipswich,  with  her  father  and 
mother,  to  settle  in  London,  where  Mr.  Kirby  had  the 
honour  of  teaching  perspective  to  the  present  king,  then 
prince  of  Wales,  and  afterwards  to  her  majesty. 

Miss  Kirby,  being  removed  from  the  companions  of  her 
childhood,  passed  her  time  during  her  residence  in  Lon- 
don in  the. society,  of  people  more  advanced  in  life,  and 
some  qi  th«m  persons  of  eminence  in  the  literary  world. 
Among  these  may  be  numbered,  Dr.  Johnson,  Dr.  Gre« 
gory  Sharpe,  Mr.  Gainsborough,  Mr.  Hogarth,  &c.  By 
Dr.  Johnson  she  was  favoured  with  particular  notice.  The 
circumstance  which  first  attracted  his  attention,  v^s  a  lite* 
rary  dispute  at  the  house  of  sir  Joshua  Reynolds,^  respect- 
ing a  passage  in  the  ^^  Paradise  Lost,*'  which  could  not  be 
decided.  Mr.  Kirby,  who,  .as  well  as  his  daughter,  was 
present,  inquired  if  she  had  not  the  book  in  her.pocket,  it 
being  a  great  favourite  of  hers,  and  he  probably  knowing 
that  it  then  made  a  part  of  her  daily  studies.  The  book 
was  accordingly  produced,  and  opened  at  the  disputed 
part.  Dr.  Johnson  was  so  struck  with  a  girl  of  that  age 
making  this  work  her  pocket  companion,  and  likewise  with 
the  modesty  of  her  behaviour  upon  the  occasion,  that  he 
invited  her  the  next  day  to. his  house,  presented  her  with  a 
copy  of  bis .  ^^  Rambler,''  and  afterwards  treated.her  with 
great  consideration. 

As 'the  society  in  which  she  lived  whilst  in  London  was 
of  rather  too  grave  a  cast  for  so  young  a  person,  she  na- 
turally had  recourse  to  her  favourite  employn^nt  for  recre- 
ation, and  spent  much  time  in  reading.  In  this  pursuit 
she  was  directed  by  her  father,  and  from  his  conversation 
and  instruction  her  mind  acquired  a  thirst  after  knowledge, 
and  was  gradually  opened  and  enlarged.  Drawing  was 
another  occupation  of  lier  leisure  hours :  to  this,  however, 
she  applied  rather  in  compliance  with  the  withes  of  her 


26  TRIMMER. 

father,  than  to  gratify  any  inclination  she  felt  for  it  At 
lu9  desire  she  went  pccasionally,  under  the  care  of  a  female 
friend,  with  other  young  people,  to  the  society  for  pro- 
moting Arts,  and  once  obtained  a  prize  for  the  second-best 
drawing.  Two  or  three  miniatures,  copies  from  larger 
pictures,  are  remaining  of  her  painting,  which,  though  not 
in  the  first  style,  are  sufficiently  good  to  show,  that  in  this 
art  she  might  have  excelled,  had  her  taste  prompted  her  ' 
to  pursue  it»  The  knowledge  of  drawing,  which  she  had 
acquired  while  young,  became  very  useful  to  her  when 
she  was  a  mother^  as  it  enabled  her  to  amuse  her  children 
when  in  their  infancy,  and  likewise  to  direct  them  after- 
wards in  the  exercise  of  their  talents  in  that  way. 

About  1759,  Mr.  Kirby  removed  to  Kew,  upon  being 
appointed  clerk  of  the  works  in  that  palace,  and  there  his 
daughter  became  acquainted  with  Mr.  Trimmer,  and  at  the 
age  of  twenty-one,  she  was  united  to  him,  with  the  appro- 
bation of  the  friends  on  both  sides.  Mr.  Trimmer  was  a 
man  of  an  agreeable  person,  pleasing  manners,  and  exem- 
plary virtues ;  and  was  about  two  years  older  than  herself. 
In  the  course  of  their  union,  she  had  tweWe  children,  six 
sons  and  six  daughters.  From  the  time  of  her  marriage 
till  she  became  an  author,  she  was  almost  constantly  oqisu- 
pied  with  domestic  duties ;  devoting  herself  to  th^  nursing 
and  educating  of  her  children.  She  used  to  isay,  that  as 
soon' as  she  became  q  mother,  her  thoughts  were  turned  so 
entirely  to  the  subject  of  education,  that  she  scarcely  read 
a  book  upon  any  other  topic,  and  believed  she  almost  wearied 
her  friends  by  making  it  so  frequently  the  subject  of  con- 
versation. Having  experienced  the  greatest  success  in*  her 
plan  of  educating  her  own  family,  she  naturally  wished  to 
extend  that  blessing  to  others,  and  this  probably  first  in- 
duced her  to  become  an  author.  Soon  after'  the  publica- 
tion .  of  Mrs.  Barbauld's  **  Easy  Lessons  for  Children,'' 
about  1780,  Mrs.  Trimmer  was  very  much  urged  by  a  . 
friend  to  write  something  of  the  same  kind,  from  an  opi- 
nion that  she  would  be  successful  in  that  style  of  composi- 
tion. Encouraged  by  this  opinion,  she  began  her  ^^  Easy 
Introduction  to  the  knowledge  of  Nature,**  which  was  seen 
completed,  printed,  became  very  popular,  and  still  keeps 
its  place  in  schools  and  private  families.  The  desigtiof  it 
was  to  open  the  minds  of  cbildren  to  a  variety  of  informa- 
tion, to  induce  them  to  make  observations  on  the  woAs  of 
natuire,  and  to  lead  them  up  to  the  unitersal  parent,  the 


TRIMMER.  27 

creator  of  ibis  world  and  of  all  things  in  it.     Tbil  was  fol- 
Jo\ye<i  by  a  very  valuable  series  of  publications^  soipe  of 
the  higher  order,  which  met  with  the  cordial  approbation 
of  that  part  of  the  public  who  considered  religion  as  the 
only  basis  of  morality.     Into  the  notions  of  a  lax  educa- 
tion, independent  of  the  history  and  truths  of  revelation, 
whether  imported  from  the  French  or  German  writers,  or 
the  production   of  some  of  our  own  authors,    misled  by 
the  vanity  of  being  thought  philosophers,  Mrs.  Trimmer 
could  not  for  a  moment  enter;  and  therefore  in  some  of 
her  later  publications,  endeavoured  with  great  zeal  to  stop 
that  torrent  of  infidelity  which  at  one  time  threatened  to 
sweep  away  every  vestige  of  Christianity,     She  was  also  an 
early  supporter  and  promoter  of  Sunday-schools,  and  at 
one  time  had  a  long  conference  with  her  majesty,  who 
wished  to  be  made  acquainted  with  the  history,  nature,  and 
probable  utility  of  those  schools.     But  the  fame  she  de- 
rived from  her  meritorious  writings  was  not  confirmed  to 
schools.     She  had  the  happiness  of  hearing  that  her  books 
were  approved  by  many  of  our  ablest  divines,  and  that 
some  of  them  were  admitted  on  the  list  of  publications  dis- 
persed by  the  Society  for  promoting  Christian  knowledge. 
One  of  her  best  performances  was  rendered  very  necessary 
by  the  circumstances  of  the  times.     It  was  a  periodical 
work,  which  she  continued  for  some  years,  under  the  title 
of  '^  The  Guardian  of  Education."     She  was  led  to  this  by 
observing  the  mischief  th^t  had  crept  into  various  publtca* 
tiqhs  for  the  use  of  children,  which  occasioned  her  much 
alarm,  and  she  feared,  if  something  were  not  done  to  open 
the  eyes  of  the  public  to  this  growing  evil,  the  minds  of 
,  youth  would  be  poisoned,  and  ^rrepa^rable  injury  be  sus-* 
taioed-     There  was  indeed  just  c^use  for  alarm,  when  it 
.was  known  that  the  two  principal  iparts  for  insidious  pub^ 
llcations  of  this  kind^^  wer^  under  the  njianagement  of  m^n 
who  had  only  avarice  to  p/oo;ipt  them,  and  were  notorious 
for  their  avowed  contempt  for  religion. 

This  es^im^ble  woman  died  suddenly,  in  t^e  siicty«ninth 
y^ar  of  b^r  age,  Dec.  1$,  13  iO.  As  she  was  sitting  in  ber 
study,,  in  the  chair  in  which  she  wa^  accu&tomed  to  write, 
she  b^M^red.  h|sr  h^d  upon  ber  bosom,  and  expired.  Her 
children,  wh<^  were  accustomed  tp>  see  b^r  ocQ^ionally 
take  res^9fe  ia  thi^  ms^ni^er,  (^oi^d  soa^cely  persua|d#  tb^ra- 
selves^  that  she  was  npt  sunk  in  sleep :  and  it  ws^  not  till 
after  some  time  that  they  CQuld  be  made  to  believe  that  it 


28  TRIMMER. 

was  the  sleep  of  death.  Her  remains  were  deposited  at  the 
family  vault  at  Ealing.  She  had  survived  her  husband  some 
years. 

The  following,  we  believe,  is  a  correct  list  of  her  various 
publications,  although  we  are  not  certain  if  in  strict  chro* 
nological  order.  1.  "  A  little  Spelling-book  for  young 
Children ;"  2.  "  Easy  Lessons ;  a  Sequel  to  the  above  ;'* 
3.  "  LXIV  Prints  taken  from  the  Old  Testament;  with  a 
Description,  in  a  Set  of  easy  Lessons ;"  4.  "  LXIV  Prints 
from  the  New  Testament,  and  Description ;"  5.  "  LXIV 
Prints  of  Roman  History,  with  Descriptibn ;"  6.  "  LXIV 
Prints  of  English  History,  with  Description  ;"  7.  "  A  Com- 
ment on  Dr.  Watts's  Divine  Songs  for  Children  ;"  8.  "  An 
easy  Introduction  to  the  Knowledge  of  Nature,  stnd  Read- 
ing the  Holy  Scriptures;"  9.  "  An  Abridgment  of  Scrfp- 
ture  History;  consisting  of  Lessons  from  the  Old  Testa- 
ment;" 10.  "An  Abridgment  of  the  New  Testament ;  con- 
sisting of  Lessons  composed  chiefly  from  the  Gospels;"  11. 
"  A  Scripture  Catechism  ;  containing  an  Explanation  of 
the  above  Lessons  in  the  Style  of  Familiar  Conversation," 
in  2  vdls.  The  four  last  articles  were  written  originally  for 
children  in  the  lower  classes  of  life ;  but  they  have  been 
adopted  into  many  schools  and  families,  for  the  instruction 
of  those  of  superior  condition.  12.  ^'  An  Attempt  to  fa- 
miliarise the  Catechism  of  the  Church  of  England;"  13. 
"An  Explanation  of  the  Office  of  Baptism,  and  of  the 
Order  of  Confirmation  in  the  Common  Prayer-book;"  14. 
The  same,  with  "  Questions  for  the  Use  of  Teachers ;"  15. 
^^  A  Companion  to  the  Book  of  Common  Prayer;  contain- 
ing a  Practical  Comment  on  the  Liturgy,  Epistles,  and 
Gospels."  This  work,  though  principally  intended  for 
young  persons,  has  proved  satisfactory  to  persons  of  ma- 
turer  years.  16.  The  same  in  2  vols,  with  ^^  Questions  for 
the  Use  of  Teachers ;"  17.  "  Sacred  History,  selected  from 
the  Scriptures,  with  Annotations  and  Reflections."  This 
work  is  executed  upon  a  peculiar  plan,  and  was  composed 
with  a  view^  of  exciting  in  young  minds  an  early  taste  for 
divine  subjects,  and  of  furnishing  persons  of  maturer  years, 
who  have  not  leisure  for  the  works  of  more  voluminous  com- 
mentators, with  assistance  in  the  study  of  the  Scriptures. 
The  historical  events  are  collected  from  the  various  books 
of  which  the  Sacred  Volume  is  composed,  and  arranged  in 
fr  regular  series ;  many  passages  of  the  Prophetic  writings^ 
and  of  the  Psalms,  are  interwoven  with  the  respective  parts 


TRIMMER.  29 

of  the  history  to  which  they  relate ;  and  the  whole  illus- 
trated by  annotations  and  reflections,  founded  on  the  b^st 
authorities..  18. '' Fabulous  Histories;  designed  to  teach 
the  proper  Treatment  of  Animals;"  19.  **  The . Guardian 
of  Education ;"  in  5  vols.  20.  *^  Sermons  for  Family- 
reading,  abridged  from  the  works  of  eminent  divines  ;"  21. 
"The  Family  Magazine,"  3  vols.  12mo.  Her  character, 
her  train  of  study  and  occupations,  and  her  sentiments  on 
many  interesting  topics,  are  amply  illustrated  in  a  work  pub- 
lished since  her  death,  and  to  which  we  are  indebted  for 
the  above  particulars,  entitled  "  Some  Account  of  the  Life 
and  Writings  of  Mrs.  Trimmer,  with  Original  Letters,  and 
Meditations  and  Prayers,  selected  from  her  Journal,"  2 
vols.  1814.' 

TRIMNELL  (Charles),  successively  bishop  of  Nor-, 
wich  and  Winchester,  was  the  son  of  the  rev.  Charles 
Trimnell,  sometime  fellow  of  5Jew  college,  Oxford,  whence 
he  was  ejected  in  1648  by  the  parliamentary  visitors,  and 
was  afterwards  rector  of  Ripton  Abbots  in  Huntingdon- 
shire, where  he  died  in  1702.  Of  a  family  of  fourteen 
children,  there  survived  him,  1.  Charles,  bishop  of  Win- 
chester; 2.  William,  dean  of  Winchester;  3.  Hugh,  apo- 
thecary to  the  king^s  household ;  4.  DaWd,  archdeacon  of 
Leicester,  and^  chantor  of  Lincoln ;  5.  Mary,  married  to 
Mr.  John  Sturges,  archdeacon  of  Huntingdon;  6.  Anne^ 
married  to  Mr.Alured  Clarke  of  Godmanchester,  in  the 
county,  of  Huntingdon  ;  7.  Elizabeth,  married  to  Dr.  Henry 
Downes,  bishop  of  D.erry  in  Ireland ;  and  8.  Catherine, 
married  to  Dr.  Thomas  Green,  bishop  of  Ely. 

Charles,  the  subject  of  this  memoir,  was  born  at  Ripton- 
Abbots,  Dec.  27,  1663,  and  in  1675  was  admitted  on  the 
foundation  at  Winchester  college,  where  his  learning,  mo- 
rals, and  respectful  behaviour,  recommended  him  to  the 
notice  of  his  superiors.  In  1681  he  removed  from  Win- 
chester to  New  college,  Oxford,  to  which,  as  the  preacher 
of  his  funeral  sermon  says,  he  ^^  brought  more  meekness 
and  patience  in  the  study  of  philosophy,  than  the  genera- 
lity of  philosophers  carry  from  it.^'  In  Jan.  1688  he  was 
admitted  master  of  arts,  and  in  the  same  year  appointed 
preacher  at  the  Rolls  chapel  by  sir  John  Trevor,  master  of 
the  Rolls.  In  August  1689,  he  attended  the  earl  of  Sun- 
derland and  his  lady  in  their  journey  to  Holland ;  and, 

'  Life  as  abore. 


30  T  R  I  M  N  E  L  L. 

I 

after  their  return  home,  continued  with  them  at  Althorp, 
as  their  domestic  chaplain.  In  Dec.  1691  he  was  installed 
prebendary  of  Norwich.  lit  1694,  he  was  presented  by 
the  earl  of  Sunderland  to  the  rectory  of  Bodington  in  Nor- 
thamptonshire, which  he  resigned  two  years  after  on  being 
instituted  to  Brington,  in  which  parish  Althorp  stands,  a 
living  of  no  greater  value  thah  Bodington,  although  he  was 
desired  to  keep  both.  In  1698  he  was  installed  archdeacon 
of  Norfolk,  and  procured  leave  of  his  noble  patron  to  resign 
the  rectory  of  Brington  (tit  a  time,  when  the  remainder  of 
his  income  did  not  exceed  two  hundred  pounds  p6r  ann.) 
in  favotrr  of  Mr.  DoWnes  (afterwards  bishop  of  Derry  in 
Ireland)  who  had  married  one  of  his  sisters.  On  July  the 
4tb,  1699,  he  was  admitted  doctor  in  divinity.  In  1701 
and  1*702,  during  the  controversy  that  was  carried  on  in 
the  Lower  House  of  Convocation,  he  wrote  some  pieces  iri 
defence  of  the  rights  of  the  crown,  and  the  archbishop; 
as,  1.  *' A  Vindication  of  the  Proceedings  of  some  Mem- 
bers ef  the  Lower  House  of  Convocation,"  1701,  4to.  2. 
"  The  Pretence  to  enter  the  Parliament- Writ  considered," 
1701,  4to.  3.  ^^  An  Answer  to  a  third  Letter  to  a  Clergy- 
man in  defence  of  the  entry  of  the  Parliament- Writ,"  1702, 
4to.     4.  «*  Partiality  detected,"  &c.  a  large  pamphlet. 

About  this  time  he  wa6  made  chaplain  in  ordinary  to 
queen  Anne.  In  1703  he  was  invited  to  appear  as  a  can- 
didate for  the  wardenship  of  New  college  in  Oxford,  by  a 
great  number  of  the  fellmvs,  who  looked  upon  hirti  as  the 
fittest  person  to  keep  up  that  spirit  of  discipline  and  learn- 
ing, which  had  been  exerted,  with  the  greatest  credit  and 
advantage  to  the  college,  under  their  late  excellent  warden 
Dt.  Traflles.  But,  contrary  to  the  hopes  atrd  expectations 
of  his  friends,  the  rfection  was  determined  in  favour  of  Mr. 
Brathwait.  On  this  occasion,  thirty -one  voted  for  Mr. 
Brathwait,  and  twenty  -  nine  for  Dr.  Trimnell ;  on  which 
the  scrutators  declared  Mr.  Brathwait  duly  elected.  But, 
according  to  the  canon  law,  no  roan  can  vote  for  himself  in 
an  election  per  scrutinium ;  arid  it  being  found,  that  Mr. 
Brathwait's  own  vote  had  been  given  for  himself,  it  was 
insisted  upon,  that  Mr.  Brathwait  could  not  be  duly  elected, 
because  he  had  but  thirty  good  votes,  which  was  not  the 
major  pars  prasentium  required  by  the  statutes,  therebeing 
sixty  electors'  present.  Upon  this  ground  an  appeal  was 
made  to  the  visitor,  Dr.  Mews,  bishop  of  Winchester,  ag?iinst 
the  validity  of  the  election.    One  of  the  bishop's  assessors 


T  R  I  M  N  E  L  L.  31 

gave  no  opinion ;  and  the  other,  sir  John  Cooke  (dean  of 
the  Arcbe$),  was  qlearly  of  opinioD»<  that  the  .election  was 
void^  and  thereby  a  dev6lution  made  to  tlve  bishop,  who,  in 
consequence  of  such  devolution,  might  nominate  whom  he 
pleased ;  but  he  chose  rather  to  pronounce  the  election  va- 
lid, and  Mr.  Brathwait  duly  elected. 

In  1705,  having  had  n6  parochial  duty  for  some  years, 
be  undertook  the  charge  of  St.  Gileses  parish,  in  the  city 
of  Norwich;  and  in  October  1706   was   instituted  to   St. 
James's,  Westminster,  on   the  promotion  of  Dr.  William 
Wake  to  the  bisrhopric  of  Lincoln.     In  January  1707,  he. 
was  elected  bishop  of  Norwich  in  the  room  of  Dr.  John 
Moore,  translated  to  Ely,  and  was  permitted  to  keep  the 
rectory  of  St.  James's  with  bis  bishopric  for  one  year.     In 
170.9  be  published  a  charge  to  the  clergy  at  hia  primary 
visitation,  in  which  he   spoke  with  great  freedom  against 
some  prevailing  opinions  and  practices,  which  he  thoagbt 
prejudicial  to  the  true  interest  of  the  church  of  England  in 
particular,    and  of  religion  in  general.     These   opinions 
Wjere,  the  ^^  independence  of  the  church  upon  the  state  ; 
the  ^*  power  of  offering  sacrifice,"  properly  so  called  ;  and 
tlie  **  power  of  forgiving  sins  :  "  all  of  them,"  he  says,  "  I 
am  persuaded,  erroneous,  in  the  manner  they  have  been 
urged,  and  no'way  agreeable  to  the  doctrine  of  the  church 
of  England  about  them.     The  making  more  things  follow 
ottr  saeyed  function^  than  can  fairly  and  plainly  be  grounded 
u|»on  it,,  will  never  advance  our  character  with  wise  an4 
coi»sidering  men,  such  as  we  should  desire  all  men  to  be; 
but  must  be  a  real  prejudice  to  us.     Out  pretending  to  an 
ii^dependeRt  power  in  things  within  the  compass  of  human 
aiAthority  ;  and  a  right  to  offer  sacrifice  properly  speaking; 
and  a  commission  to  forgive  sins  directly  and  immediately ; 
m«y,  and  will  weaken  the  grounds  and  occasions  of  the  re*- 
foi-matk>a  ;  and  give  our  adversaries  of  the  church  of  Rome, 
a^  well  as  others,  great  advantage  against  us;  but  can 
never,  I  am  persuaded,  advance  the  interest  of  the  Cbrisi- 
tian  religion  in  general,  or  of  our  church  in  particular.'* 
Ht  added  an  Appendix  to  the  charge  in  answer  to  some 
awthofiDies  that  had  been  produced  from  ancient  writers  in 
faivoui?  of  the  independence  of  the  church  upon  the  state ; 
which^  he  aays^  he.  did  the  rather,  because  he  <^. thought 
the  peaee  both  of  church  and  state  more  immediately  con- 
cerned in  it,  and  could  not  but  apprehend:  mischief  coming 
tO'  both  from  a  pretension  so  new  among  those  who  call 


32  T  R  I  M  N  E  L  L. 

themselves  members  of  the  church  of  England  :  a  church 
that  has  hitherto  been  as  much  distinguished,  as  it  has  been 
supported,  by  rejecting  that  claim."  In  a  sermon  preached 
in  1707  before  the  sons  of  the  clergy,  he  had  expressed 
himself  in  as  strong  a  manner  upon  this  subject,  viz.  **  Let 
us  take  care  that,  while  we  maintain  the  distinction  and 
dignity  of  our  order,-  we  do  not  suffer  ourselves  to  be  car- 
ried into  ^a  separate  interest  from  that  of  those  who  are  not 
of  our  order,  or  from  that  of  the  state For  we  can- 
not pretend  to  be  a  separate  body,  without  making  the  worst 
kind  of  schism,  and  the  nearest  to  that  which  is  condemned 
in  scripture,  that  can  be  imagined  :  nor  can  any  thing  give 
greater  advantage  to  those  other  schisms  that  disturb  the 
peace  of  the  church,  than  our  dividing  ourselves,  in  any 
degree,  from  the  true  interest  of  that  government  to  which 
we  belong.''  In  his  charge  he  censured  a  passage  in  favour 
of  a  proper  sacrifice  from  Mr.  Johnson's  second  part  of  the 
"  Clergyman's  Vade  Mecum"  (in  the  note  upon  the  second 
apostolical  canon),  which  Mr.  Johnson  defended  in  a  post- 
script to  a  pamphlet  called  ^*  The  Propitiatory  Oblation.'' 
The-  bishop  replied,  in  vindication  of  what  he  had  said  on 
that  subject ;  and  afterwards  inserted  the  subdtance  of  bis 
Reply  in  the  body  of  the  second  edition  of  his  charge. 

Besides  the  opinions  that  have  been  mentioned,  he  de- 
clared himself  against  the  modern  practice  of  using  the 
bidding  prayer  before  sermon,  as  not  so  agreeable  to  tb^ 
nature  of  the  service,  the  long  and  general  practice  of  the 
church,  or  the  design  of  the  55th  canon.  And  he  observed 
from  authority,  that  *^  the  bishops  (Dr.  Ilavis  and  Dr. 
Fletcher)  who  drew  up  the  55th  canon,  always  used  a  form 
of  their  own ;"  and  that  among  the  bishop  of  Lincoln's 
articles  of  inquiry  at  his  visitation  in  1641,  are  these  ;  ^^  Do 

you  know  of  any  parson,  vicar,  or  curate that  never 

pray  before  their  sermons,  but  bid  the  people  pray  ?  or  use 
any  other  new  and  voluntary  rite  or  ceremony  not  war- 
ranted by  law  ?    You  are  to  present  them." 

In  17 10  he  printed  a  speech  made  in  the  House  of  Lords 
in  support  of  the  second  article  of  the  impeachment  of  Dr. 
Sacheverel,  for  ^^  suggesting  and  maintaining  that  the  to« 
leration  granted  by  law  is  unreasonable,  and  unwarrantable, 
>&c."  Bishop  Trimnell  was  considered  as  of  whig  prin- 
ciples, and  when  he  preached  the  30th  of  January  sermon 
in  1711,  before  the  House  of  Lords,  his  sentiments,  which 
are  said  to  have  been  more  moderate  than  usual  at  that 


T  R  i  M  N  E  L  L.  33 

tiriie,  gaj^e  so  much  ofFence^  that  no  motion  was  made  in 
the  House  for  the  usual  compliment  of  thanks.  This  occa- 
sioning much  animadversion,  and  affording  many  conjee* 
tures  which  were  unfavourable  to  him,  be  printed  the  di8«> 
course.  He  published  also,  from  1697  to  1715,  fourtee.n 
other  occasional  sermons. 

Soon  after  the  accession  of  George  I.  he  was  made  clerk 
of  the  closet  to  his  majesty,  in  which  office  he  continued 
until  his  death.  In  August  1721  he  was  translated  to  the 
bishopric  of  Winchester;  and  in  the  same  year  elected 
president  of  the  corporation  of  the  sons  of  the  clergy.  Af- 
ter suffering  long  by  a  weak  constitution,  he  died  at  Farn- 
ham  castle,  Aug.  15,  1723,  leaving  no  issue.  By  his  first 
wife,  Henrietta  Maria,  daughter  of  Dr.  William  Talbot, 
then  bishop  of  Oxford,  and  afterwards  of  Durham,  he  had 
two  sons,  who  died  in  their  infancy.  This  lady  died  in  1716, 
and  in  1719  he  married  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Taylor,  widow  of 
Joseph  Taylor,  of  the  Temple,  es<j.  and  sister  of  sir  Row- 
land Wynne,  of  Nostell,  in  Yorkshire,  bart.  who  survived 
him.  He  was  interred  in  Winchester  cathedral,  under  a 
black  marble  stone,  with  a  Latin  inscription. 

Mr.  Archdeacon  Stephens,'  rector  of  Drokinsford,  in 
Hampshire,  preached  his  funeral  sermon  in  Winchester 
cathedral.  In  that  sermon,  and  other  authorities,  his  cha- 
racter is  thus  given  :  ^^  He  had  a  very  serious  and  devout 
turnof  mjnd,  and  performed  the  duty  of  every  station  with 
the  greatest  exactness,  notwithstanding  the  weakness  of  a 
constitution  broken,  in  the  early  part  of  life,  by  long 
and  frequent  fastings,  and  too  diligent  an  application 
to  his  studies.  But  this  had  no  effect  upon  his  mind, 
which  was  calm  and  composed  at  all  times.  The  un- 
easiness he  suffered  from  dn  ill  habit  of  body,  neyer 
made  him  uneasy  to  others.  He  was  of  a  very  affectionate, 
meek,  and  gentle  nature ;  and  though  h^  had  a  good  deal 
of  warmth  in  his  temper,  he  subdued  it  so  effectually  by 
reflection  and  habit,  that  he  was  hardly  ever  seen  in  a  pas«N 
sion  ;  but  behaved  in  all  the  private,  as  well  as  public  cir^ 
cumstances  of  life,  with  great  moderation  and  firmness  of 
spirit.  He  was  a  lover  of  peace  and  order,  both  from  judg- 
ment and  inclination ;  and,  being  a  most  sincere  friend  to 
the  church  of  England,  he  constantly  avowed  those  prin- 
ciples of  toleration  and  indulgence,  which  make  that  church 
the  glory  of  the  reformation. 

Vol.  XXX.  D 


34  T  R  I  M  N  E  L  L- 

"  There  are  letters  extant,  by  which  it  appears,  that 
he  was  very  diligent  in  examining  the  arguments  urged  on 
both  sidefi,  before  he  took  the  oaths  to  king  William  and 
queen  Mary,  which  he  re»ligiously  observed  by  a  steady 
and  uniform  attachment  to  the  Revolution-interest,  as  long 
as  he  lived.  No  man  ever  supported  the  character  of  a 
bishop  with  greater  dignity  and  authority,  and  yet  no  one 
was  ever  more  beloved  by  the  clergy  of  both  his  dioceses ; 
for  t^e  was  very  courteous  and  obliging,  and  easy  of  access 
to  all,  and  had  a  strict  regard  to  those  parts  of  behaviour 
which  are  most  suitable  to  the  profession  of  a  minister  of 
the  gospel.  His  rebukes  were  conveyed  in  few  words, 
and  those  delivered  with  a  sort  of  uneasiness  for  the  ne- 
cessity of  them  :  but  although  they  were  few,  and  smoother 
than  oil,  yet  were  they  very  swords ;  for  to  an  understand- 
ing  heart  they  seemed  to  receive  an  aggravation  of  anger, 
frx)m  that  very  meekness  which  endeavoured  to  soften 
them.  He  was  of  a  temper  incapable  of  soliciting  favours 
for  himself,  .or  his  nearest  friends,  though  he  had  the 
tenderest  affection  for  them.  He  was  very  much  displeased 
at  the  appearance  of  an  importunate  application  in  others, 
and  always  avoided  it  in  his  own  conduct.  And  Notwith- 
standing all  his  relations  have  prospered  very  much  in  the 
world  l^y  his  means,  their  success  has  been  owing  rather 
to  the  credit  and  influence  of  his  character,  than  any  direct 
applications  made  by  him.  The  nobleness  of  his  mind 
appeared  in  many  other  instances ;  in  his  candour  and 
generosity  of  spirit,  and  contempt  of  money;  of  which  he 
left  so  many  marks  in  every  place  where  he  lived,  that  he 
had  neither  ability,  nor  occasion,  to  perpetuate  his  memory 
by  any  posthumous  charities.  He  did  not  consider  his 
revenue  as  designed  for  the  private  advantage  of  a  family ; 
but  as  a  trust  or  stewardship,  that  was  to  be  employed  for 
the  honour  of  his  station  ;  the  maintenance  of  hospitality; 
the  relief  of  the  poor;  the  promoting  a  good  exantple 
amongst  his  clergy ;  and  the  general  encouragement  of 
religion  and  learning. 

*^  He  was  not  less  qualified  for  his  high  station  by  his 
abilities  than  his  conduct;  for  he  had  an  excellent  turn 
for  business,  and  a  quick  apprehension.  He  was  very  well 
versed  in  the  divinity  controversies,  and  immediately  dis- 
cerned the  point  on  which  the  dispute  turned,  and  pared 
o(V  all  the  luxuriancies  of  writing.  He  had  read  the  an-f 
cients  with   great  exactness;  and,  without:  quoting,  ofieii 


T  R  I  M  N  E  L  L.  35 

mingled  their  finest  notions  with  his  owh  discourse,  and 
had  a  particular  easiness  and  beauty  in  his  manner  of  con-, 
versing,  and  expressing  his  sentiments  upon  every  occa- 
sion. With  his  other  excellencies  he  had  acquired  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  mankind  ;  which,  being  adorned  by 
an  affable  and  polite  behaviour,  gained  him  the  general 
esteem  of  the  nobility  and  gentry.  His  known  penetra- 
tion and  judgment  recommended  him  so  strongly  to  the  fa- 
vour and  confidence  of  those  who  were  at  the  head  of  af- 
fairs in  the  latter  part  of  his  life,  that  he  was  chiefly,  if  not 
solely,  advised  with,  and  entrusted  by  them,  in  matters, 
which  related  to  the  filling  up  the.  principal  ofHces  in  th6 
church.  And,  though  he  enjoyed  as  much  of  this  power 
as  any  clergyman  has  had  since  the  reformation,  he  raised 
no  public  odium  or  enmity  against  himself  on  that  account; 
because  his  silence,  moderation,  and  prudence  made  it  im- 
possible for  any  one  to  discover  the  influence  he  had,  from 
his  conversation,  or  conduct ;  a  circumstance  almost  pe- 
culiar to  him.  He  was  too  wise  a  man  to  increase  the  envy, 
which  naturally  attends  power,  by  an  insolent  and  haughty 
behaviour;  and  too  good  a  man  to  encourage  any*one  with 
false  hopes.  For  he  was  as  cautious  in  making  promises, 
as  he  was  just  in  performing  them  ;  and  always  endeavoured 
to  soften  the  disappointments  of  those  he  could  not  gratify, 
by  the  good-nature  and  humanity,  with  which  he  treated 
them.  These  separate  characters  (rarely  blended  together) 
of  an  excellent  scholar,  and  a  polite,  well-bred  man  ;  a 
wise  and  honest  statesman,  and  a  devout,  exemplary  Chris- 
tian, were  all  happily  reconciled  in  this  most  amiable  per- 
son ;  and  placed  him-  so  high  in  the  opinion  of  the.world,' 
that  no  one  ever  passed  through  life  with  more  esteem  and* 
regard  from  men  of  all  dispositions,  parties,  and  denomi- 
nations.*' * 

TRINCAVELLI  (Victor),  an  eminent  physician,  but 
principaHy  deserving  notice  as  the  editor  of  some  of  the 
first  editions  of  the  classics,  was  born  at  Venice  in  1496. 
He  began  his  medical  studies  at  Padua,  and  went  after- 
wards to  Bologna,  where  he  became  so  distinguished  for, 
bis  knowledge  of  the  Greek  language,  that  the  professors 
of  the  university  would  often  consult  him  on  difficult  pas- 
sages, and  he  was  honoured  by  the  name  of  the  "Greek 

*  Gen.   Diet, — Biog.  Brit.   Supplement. — Burnet's  Own    Times. — Nichols's 
Atterbury,  &c. 

D  2 


S6  T  R  I  N  C  A  V  E  L  L  I. 

scholar.''  After  remaining  seven  years  at  Bologna,  be  re- 
turned to  Padua  to  take  his  doctor's  degree,  and  then  to 
Venice,  where,  his  character  preceding  him,  he  w^s  ap- 
pointed successor  to  Sebastian  Fuscareni  in  the  chair  of 
philosophy.  His  time  was  tehn  divided  between  his  lee* 
tures,  his  private  studies,  and  his  practice  as  a  physician^ 
The  latter  was  so  extensive  as  to  bring  him  annually  about 
three  thousand  crowns  of  gold.  In  1551  he  was  appointed 
successor  to  John  Baptist  Monti,  in  the  medical  professor* 
ship  at  Padua,  and  exchanged  the  profits  of  his  practice  for 
a  salary  of  950  crowns,  which  the  senate  afterwards  in* 
created  to.  1600.  While  professor  here,  he  was  the  first 
who  lectured  on  Hippocrates  in  the  original  language. 
Finding  the  infirmities  of  age  approach,  he  resigned  his 
office,  and  returned  to  Venice,  where  he  died  in  1568,  in 
the  seventy-second  year  of  his  age. 

His  medical  writings,  most  of  which  had  been  published 
separately,  were  printed  together  in  2  vols.  fol.  at  Ley- 
den,  in  1586  and  1592,  and  at  Venice  in  1599.  He  was 
editor  of  the  following  principes  editiones ;  1.^^  Themistii 
Orationes,*'  1534,  fol.  2.  ^^  Joannes  Grammaticus  Philo- 
ponus,''  1534,  fol.  3.  '^  Epicteti  Enchiridion,  cum  Arria^i 
comment,^'  1535,  Svo.  This  was  the  first  edition  with 
Arrian.  4.  "  Hesiod,"  1536,  4to.  The  scholia  and  text 
of  this  edition  have  formed  the  basis  of  every  subsequent 
one.  Trincavelli  also  published  editions  of  Stobseus  and 
other  Greek  writers. ' 

TRISSINO  (JoHK  George),  an  Italian  poet,  who  en- 
deavoured to  reform  the  style  of  his  country,  was  born  at 
Vicenza,  July  3,  1478,  and  was  descended  from  one  of 
)tbe  most  ancient  families  of  that  place.  It  has  been  said 
that  it  was  late  in  life  before  he  began  his  studies,  but  as 
the  same  writer  who  gives  lis  this  information,  adds  that 
iipm  his  father^s  death,  when  he  was  only  seven  years  old, 
he  applied  to  them  with  spirit,  it  is  evident  he  could  not 
i)ave  lost  much  time.  He  was  first  educated  at  Vicenza, 
under  a  priest  named  Francis  Gragnuola,  and  afterwards 
at  Milan  under  the  celebrated  Demetrius  Chalcondyfes. 
To  the  memory  of  this  last  master,  who  died  in  1511, 
Trissino  erected  a  monument  in  the  church  of  St.  Mary 
at  Milan,  or  as  others  say,  in  that  of  San  Salvador,  with  an 

'  Eio|r,  Diet.  IHst.  do  McdeciDC*— -Mangeti  B>bli  Med. — Har«vood  and  Dib« 
diu*i  Clas^dcs. 


T  R  I  S  S  I  N  O.  $7 

iiiflcripcion.  From  the  Greek  and  Latin  language,  be  pro- 
ceeded to  the  study  of  niathematicSy  architecture,  natural 
philosophy,  and  other  branches  which  form  a  liberal  edu* 
cation.  In  1503  he  mafried  ;  and  with  a  view  to  domestic 
happiness  and  literary  retirement,  went  to  reside  on  one  of 
his  estates,  for  he  was  left  very  opulent,  2kt  Criccoli  on  the 
Astego.  Here  he  built  a  magnificent  house,  from  his  own 
design,  on  which  he  employed  one  of  his  pupils  in  archi* 
tectore,  the  afterwards  justly  celebrated  Palladio. 

Trissino  lived  very  happily  in  this  retreat,  cultivating  the 
artt  and  sciences,  and  especially  poetry,  for  which  he  bad 
M  early  taste,  until  bis  tranquillity  was  disturbed  by  the 
death  of  his  wife,  who  left  him  two  sons,  Francis  and  Ju- 
lias. He  now  left  Criccoli,  and  to  dissipate  his  grief  by 
change  of  scene,  went  to  Rome.  It  was  perhaps  with  the 
same  view  that  he  endeavoured  to  amuse  himself  by  writing 
bis  **  Sophonisba,"  the  first  tragedy  of  modem  times  in 
which  appeared  some  traces  of  ancient  style  and  manner. 
Lea  X.  who  bad  received  Trissino  with  respect,  and  even 
friendship,  intended  to  have  this  tragedy  represented  with 
great  magnificence,  bnt  it  does  not  seem  certain  that  it  was 
so  acted.  In  the  mean  time  Leo  perceived  in  the  author 
talents  of  a  graver  kind,  which  he  might  employ  with  ad- 
vantage. He  accordingly  sent  him  on  some  important  di- 
plomatic business  to  the  king  of  Denmark,  the  emperor 
Maximilian,  and  the  republic  of  Venice  about  1516.  In 
these  respective  courts,  Trissino  gained  great  credit,  and 
during  the  interv'als  of  his  employments,  formed  con- 
nexions with  thd  eminent  men  of  all  ranks  who  adorned 
the  court  of  Leo. 

After  the  death  of  this  pontiff  he  returned  to  his  own 
country,  and  married  a  relation,  Blanche  Trissina,  by  whom 
be  had  a  third  son,  Giro;  but  Leo's  successor,  Clement 
YIL  soon  reacailled  him  to  Rome,  and  gave  him  e^qual  proofs 
of  bis  esteem  and  confidence,  by  sending  him  as  his  am- 
bassador to  Charles  V.  and  to  the  senate  of  Venice.  Some 
of  his  biographers  say  that  he  was  created  a  knight  of  the 
golden  fleece,  eitlier  by  Charles  V.  or  by  Maximilian,  bat 
Tiraboschi  thiikks  that  he  never  was  admitted  into  thai 
order,  although  he  might  have  permission  to  add  the  fleece 
to  hia  arms,  and  even  take  the  title  of  chevalier.  Voltaire's 
blunders  about  Trissino  are  whoUy  unaccountable.  He 
makes  him  arebbishop  of  Benevento  at  the  time  he  wroc^ 
hi» tragedy;  and  having  this,  probably  pointed  out  to  biin^ 


38  t  R  I  S  S  I  N  O. 

'  he  endeavoured  to  correct  the  error  by  asserting  in  a  sub* 
sequent  publication  that  bishop  Trissino,  by  the  advice  of 
the  archbishop  of  Benevento,  chose  Sophonisba  for  a  sub- 
ject, although  Trissino  never  was  either  bishop  or  arch- 
bishop, nor  an  ecclesiastic  of  any  rank. 

Trissino  now  retired  to  Vicenza  in  order  to  compose  at 
more  leisure  a  poem  of  which,  many  years  before,. he  had 
laid  the  plan  ;  bat  his  peace  was  at  this  time  interrupted  by 
domestic  dissentions,  in  consequence  of  which  he  had 
scarcely  afterwards  a  happy  moment.  The  eldest  of  his 
two  sons  by  his  iirst  wife,  died,  and  Julius,  the  second,  had 
conceived  an  aversion  to  his  step-mother  on  account  of  the 
preference  which  his  father  seemed  to  give  to  her  son  Giro. 
Mutual  irritation  ended  in  Trissino's  resolving  to  disinherit 
Julius  and  settle  all  upon  Giro,  and  in  Julius  threatening 
to  commence  a  suit  at  law  for  the  recovery  of  his  mother^s 
fortune.  To  add  to  Trissino's  distress,  his  wife  Blanche 
'  died  in  1540,  on  which  he  disposed  of  her  son  in  mar- 
riage, and  went  again  to  Rome  in  hopes  of  tranquillity. 
There  he  remained  some  years,  and  finished  and  published 
his  great  poem,  ^^  Italia  liberata  da  Gotjii/'  In  the  mean 
time  his  son  Julius  was  carrying  on  the  law-:suit  at  Venice, 
and  was /supported  in  it  by  his  mother's  relations.  This 
obliged  Trissino  to  go  thither  in  1548,  although  so  much 
ajSicted  by  the  gout,  as  to  travel  on  a  litter.  From  Venice 
he  went  to  Vicenza,  where  he  found  that  Julius  had  begun 
to  take  possession  of  all  his  property,  and  he  was  so  much 
enraged  at  this  conduct,  as  to  make  a  will  in  which  he  to- 
tally disinherited  his  unnatural  son.  Julius,  more  irritated 
than  ever,  carried  on  bis  law-suit,  and  having  obtained  a 
decision  in  his  favour,  without  ceremony  took  possession  of 
his  father's  house  and  the  greater  part  of  his  goods.  Tris- 
sino now  returned  to  Rome,  biddin^an  eternal  adieu  to  his 
country,  in  some  Latin  verses,  in  which  he  said,  "  he  would 
go  to  some  country  under  another  climate,  as  he  had  been 
defrauded  of  his  paternal  mansion,  and  as  the  Venetians 
had  encouraged  that  fraud  by  a  cruel  sentence,"  &c.  &c. 
He  did  not,  however,  long  survive  this  latter  disappoint-r 
xnent,  but  died  at  Rome  about  the  end  of  1550,  in  the 
seventy-second  year  of  his  age. 

Trissino  has  the  credit  of  having  firj$t  discarded  the 
shackles  of  rhyme,  and  employed  the  versi  sa'olti,  or  blank 
Verse  of  the  Italians.  This  he  first  tried  in  his  **  Sopho- 
nisba/' and  afterwards  in  his  <^  Italia  liberata,"  the,  subject 


T  II  I  S  S  1  N  O.  39 

of  which  was  the  liberation  of  Italy  from  the  Goths  by 
Belisarius  ;  and  it  was  bis  design  to  exhibit  in  this  poem, 
which  consists  of  twenty-seven  books,  a  specimen  of  the 
true  epic,  as  founded  on  the  example  of  Homer,  and  con- 
firmed by  the  authority  of  Aristotle :  but  into  the  merits 
of  this  poem  it  is  not  necessary  to  enter  so  minutely  as 
Ginguen£  has  done,  since  it  seems  universally  acknow- 
ledged that  of  all  the  attempts  at  epic  poetry  which  had 
hitherto  appeared,  the  ^^  Italia  liberata"  may  be  con- 
sidered as  the  most  insipid  and  uninteresting;  nor  from  the 
'time  it  first  appeared,  in  1547-8,  was  it  ever' reprioted 
until  the  Abbate  Antonini  gave  an  edition  of  it  in  1729^ 
3  vols.  8vo,  and  in  the  same  year  it  appeared  in  the  col- 
lected works  of  the  author^  Verona,  2  vols,  folio.  In  this 
collection,  besides  his  epic  poem  and  the  tragedy  already 
mentioned,  are,  a  comedy  from  Piautus,  called  "  I  Simil- 
limi ;''  lyric  poems,  both  Latin  and  Italian  ;  and  various 
prose  treatises,  almost  all  on  grammar  and  on  the  Italian 
language.  As  most  of  the  great  poets  of  bis  time  wrote 
an  "  Art  of  Poetry,'*  we  find  accordingly  among  Trissino's 
works  an  attempt  of  this  kind,  ^^  Delia  Poetica,"  which  was 
originally  published  in  1529.^ 

TRISTAN  L'HERMITE  (Francis),  a  French  poet  and 
dramatic  writer,  was  born  in  the  castle  of  Souliers,  ii>  the 
province  of  la  Marche,  in  1601.  When  attached  to  tl^ 
household  of  the  marquis  de  Verneuil,  natural  son  of 
Henry  IV.  lie  fought  a  duel,  in  which  his  antagoniut,  one 
of  the  guards,  was  killed,  and  fled  for  some  time  to  Eng-  . 
land.  Returning  to  Poitou,  he  found  friends  who  obtained 
his  pardon  from  Louis  XIII. ;  and  Gaston  of  Orleans  made 
him  one  of  his  gentlemen  in  ordinary.  His  life  became 
then  divided  between  poetry,  gallantry,  and  gaming,  and 
he  experienced  all  the  reverses  and  vicissitudes  to  which 
such  a  life  is  exposed,  many  of  which  he  had  alluded  to 
iti  his  '^  Page  disgracie,"  a  romance  published  in  1643, 
4to.  He .  wrote  much  for  the  stage,  and  was  seldom  un- 
successful. His  tragedy  of  "  Mariamne^'  still  keeps  his 
reputation  alive^  although  it  was  fatdl  to  the  actor,  Mon- 
dori,  who  performed  the  character  of  Herod,  and  died  of 
violent  exertion.  Tristan  was  admitted  into  the  French 
academy  in  1649,  but  always  lived  poor.  He  died  Sept.  7, 
1655,  in  the  fifty-fourth  year  of  his  age.  His  dramas  and 
other  poems  were  printed  in  3  vols.  4to. 

1  Tiraboscbi.^Gingufoe  Hist.  Lit.  d'ltalic.*— Roscoe's  Leo. 


40  TRISTAN. 

There  were;  two  others  of  this  name :  John  Bi^PTiST 
Tristan  L'Hermite  Souliers,  who  was  gentleman  of  his 
majesty's  bedchamber,  and  brother  to  the  preceding.  He 
was  author  of  the  genealogies  of  several  families;  *^L'His« 
toire  g^n^ologique  de  la  Noblesse  de  Touraine/'  ]66d9 
fol. ;  *^  La  Toscane  Francoise,"  1661,  4to;  f*  Les  Corses 
Francoise,"  1662,  12mo;  "  Naples  Francoise,'.'  1663,  4to, 
&c.  containing  the  history  of  such  persons  in  those  coun- 
tries as  have  been  attached  to  France.  There  was  alto  John 
Tristan,  son  of  Charles  Tristan,  auditor  of  accounts  at  Paris. 
He  attached  himself  to  Gaston  of  France,  duke  of  Orleans, 
was  weU  skilled  in  antiquity  and  medals,  add  published  a 
5'  Historical  Commentary  on  the  Lives  of  the  Emperors,'' 
1644,  3  vols.  fol.  a  work  full  of  curious  observations;  but 
Angeloni  and  father  Srrmond  found  several  faults  in  it, 
inchich  Tristan  answered  with  great  asperity.  He  was  liv« 
ing  in  1656.  * 

TRITHEMIUS  (John),  a  celebrated  abbot  of  the  Bene- 
dictine  order,  and  one  of  the  most  learned  men  in  the  fif-< 
leenth  century,  was  born  February  1,  1462,  at  Tritenheim, 
in  the  diocese  of  Treves.  After  finishing  his  studies  he 
took  the  Benedktine  habit,  and  was  made  abbot  of  Span- 
lieim  in  the  diocese  of  Mentz,  in  1483,  which  abbey  he 
governed  till  1506,  and  resigned  it  to  be  abbot  of  St,  James 
at  Wirtzberg.  .  He  died  Dec.  13,  1516.  Trithemius  was 
well  acquainted  both  with  sacred  and  profane  literature, 
and  left  various  works,  historical  and  biographical,  among 
which  the  principal  are,  a  treatise  ^^On  the  illustrious  ec- 
clesiastical Writers,"  Cologn,  1546,  4to;  in  this  book  he 
gives  some  account  of  870  authors ;  another  ^'  Oa  the  ilius- 
trious  Men  of  Germany;''  and  a  third  on  those  of  the  ^^Be- 
nedictine Order,"  1606,  4to,  translated  into  French,  1625, 
4to ;  six  books  ^*  On  Polygraphy,"  1601 ,  fol.  translated  into 
French;  a  treatise  "On  Steganography,"  i.  e.  the  various 
methods  of  writing  in  cyphers,  1621,  4to,  Nuremberg,  172 !« 
'  There  is  a  scarce  book  on  this  work,  attributed  to  Augus- 
tus, duke  of  Brunswick,  entitled  ^<  Gustavi  Seleoi  £noda« 
tio  Steganographies  J.  Trithemii,"  1624,  fol.  There  are 
also  various  **  Chronicles,"  in  "  Trithemii  Opera  historica," 
1701,  fol.  2  vols,  published  by  Freher,  to  which  we  may 
add  his  works  on  religious  subjects,   1605,  fol.  '^Annates 

'  Moreri. — ^Gen.  Diet. —  Diet.  Hist. 


T  R  I  V  E  T.  41 

Hirsaagienses/'  2  vols,  folio,  a  curious  and  important  work, 
and  others. ' 

TRIVET  (Nicolas),  a  Dominican  friar,  son  of  sir  Tho* 
inas  Trivet,  lord  chief  justice,  was  author  of  the  '^  Annales 
6.  Regum  Anglise,"  published  by  Mr.  Ant.  Hall,  of  Queen's 
^  college,  Oxford,  in  1719,  2  vols.  8vo.  He  lived  in  the 
rdgns  of  Edward  I.  II.  III.  and  died  in  1328.  Bishop  Ni- 
colson  says  that  an  excellent  copy  of  his  history,  whick 
John  Pits  subdivides  into  three  several  treatises,  was  in  his 
time  in  the  library  of  Merton  college,  Oxford,  '^  whence 
several  of  our  most  eminent  antiquaries  have  had  very  re«t 
markable  observations."  It  is  in  French,  and  bears  tbe  title 
of  ^  Les  Gestes  des  Apostoiles,  or  the  popes,  empefeurs, 
et  rois ; -'  but  this  must  be  a  different  work  from  the  for* 
mer.  Trivet  left  mapy  other  MSS.  on  various  subjects  of 
philosopby  and  theology,  a  commentary  on  Seneca's  Tra« 
gedies,  &c.  He  was  educated  at  Oxford,  and  esteemed 
one  of  the  ornaments  of  the  university  in  his  time. ' 

TROGUS  (PoMPEius),  a  Latin  historian,  was  born  in 
the  couritry  of  the  Vocontian  Gauls,  in  Gallia  Narbonensis^ 
and  lived  in  the  reign  of  Augustus,  about  the  beginning  oi 
the  Christian  era.  His  father  enjoyed  a  sitiMition  uiuier 
the  emperor.  We  know,  however,  nothing  of  the  per- 
sonal character  of  Trogus,  nov  should  have  tieasd  of  his 
name  had  not  Justin  made  an  abridgment  of  his  *'"  Univer- 
sal History,^'  comprized  in  forty-four  books ;  the  editions 
6f  which  are  noticed  in  our  account  of  that  classic' 

TROMMIUS  (Abraham),  a  learned  protestant  divine, 
was  born  at  Groningen  in  1633,  and  Studied  the  classics, 
belles  lettres,  philosophy,  and  theology  in  that  university, 
under  Desmarets,  Alting,  and  other  eminent  professors* 
He  travelled  afterwards  through  Germany  and  Switzei^land, 
and  studied  Hebrew  under  Buxtorf.  He  then  visited 
France  and  England,  and  on  his  return  was  appointed  cu« 
rate  or  minister,  in  the  village  of  Haren,  where  be  re- 
mained until  1671,  when  he  was  invited  to  be  pastor  at 
Groningen.  In  this  ofSce  he  continued  forty-eight  ye^rs, 
and  died  in  1719,  aged  eighty-six.  In  his  eightieth  year 
he  was  created  doctor  in  theology  at  Groningen,  as  a  tes- 
timony of  respect  on  the  part  of  the  university.  John  Mar- 
tinius,  of  Dantzick,  having  begun  a  Concordance  of  tbe 

^  Niceron,   XXXVIII Freheri  Theatrumi— Dupin.  «  Lcland.— 

Bale.-r*Tanner. — ^NicoUoo's  Hist.  Library.  •  Vossius  Hi»U  Lat.   - 

Fabric.  KbI.  Lac. 


42  T  R  O  M  M  I  U  S. 

Old  Testament,  in  Flemish,  Trommius  completed  it,  and 
published  it  at  Amsterdam,  1685 — 1692,  2  vols,  folio. 
He  also  published  a  Greek  Concordance  of  the  Septuagint. 
He  had  made  preparations  aiid  corrections  for  a  second 
edition  of  the  Flemish  Concordance,  but  did  not,  we  pre* 
sudie,  finish  it,  as  it  has  never  been  printed. ' 

TROMP  (Majitin  Happertz  Van),  a  celebrated  Dutch 
admiral,  who  is  mentioned  in  our  account  of  De  Ruyter, 
was  born  at  the  Brille,  in  Holland.  He  rose  in  the  naval 
service  by  bis  merit,  after  having  distinguished  himself  on 
many  occasions^  especially  at  the  famous  engagement  near 
Gibraltar  in  1607.  He  was  accounted  one  of  the  greatest 
seamen  that  had  till  that  time  appeared  in  ,the  world ;  and 
was  declared  admiral  of  Holland,  by  the.  advice  of  the 
prince  of  Orange.  He  in  that  character  defeated  a  large 
Spanish  fleet  in  1630,  and  gained  upwards  of  thirty  vic- 
tories, of  more  or  less  importance,  at  sea;  but  was  killed 
when  under  deck  in  an  engagement  with  the  English,  ia. 
1653.  The  States  General  caused  medals  to  be  struck  to 
bis  honour,  and  lamented  him  as  one  of  the  greatest  heroes 
of  their  republic.  It  is  said  that  in  the  midst  of  his  greatest 
glory,  he  was  modest  and  unassuming,  and  never  arrogated 
a  higher  character  than  that  of  a  burgher,  and  that  of  being 
the  father  of  the  sailors.  His  second  son,  Cornelius,  who 
died  in  1691,  was  also  a  brave  ofiicer,  and  signalized  him- 
self in  various  naval  engagements. ' 

TI^ONCHIN  (Theodoue),  the  first  of  a  considerable 
family  of  learned  men  in  Geneva  and  France,  was  born  at 
Geneva,  April  17,  1682,  whither  his  father  bad  fled  on  ac- 
count of  religion,  and  narrowly  escaped  from  the  massacre 
of  the  protestants  in  1572.  He  was  then  at  Troyes,  in 
Champagne,  and  escaped  by  means  of  a  priest,  his  friend 
and  neighbour,  who  concealed  him  in  his  house.  He  in- 
tended to  go  into  Germany,  and  only  to  pass  through  Ge- 
neva;.  but  he  remained  there  by  the  advice  of  an  acquaint- 
ance, obtained  the  freedom  of  the  city,  and  soon  after  was 
admitted  into  the  council  of  two  hundred  in  acknowledg- 
ment of  ^some  services  which  he  had  done  the. State  during 
the  war  with  the  Duke  of  Savoy. 

His  son,  Theodore,  was  educated,  by  the  advice  of  Be- 
za,  who  was  his  godfather,  and  he  made  a  vast  progress  in 
learning.     The  testimony  which   was  given  him  in  1600, 

I  Moreri.^— Lc  LoDg  Bibl.  Sacia.  ^  Moreri. — Diet.  Hitt — Univ.  Hist. 


T  R  O  N  C  H  I  N.  43 

when  he  went  to  see  foreign  universities,  represents  him 
as  a  person  of  very  great*  hopes.  He  confirmed  this  cba* 
racter  among  all  the  learned  men  under  whom  he  studied, 
or  with  whom  he  heoame  acquainted  during  the  course  6i 
his  travels,  and  these  comprized  most  of  the  eminent  men 
on  the  continent  and  in  England.  He  returned  to  Geneva 
in  1606,  and  gave  such  proofs  of  his  learning  that  he  was 
the  same  year  chosen  professor  of  the  Hebrew  language,- 
In  1607- he  married  Theodora  Rocca,  a  woman  of  great 
merit' in  all  respects,  sister  to  the  first  syndic  of  the  com- 
monwealth, and  grand-daughter  to  the  wife  of  Theodore 
Beza,  at  whose  house  she  had  been  educated,  and  whose  god- 
daughter she  was.  He  was  chosen  minister  in~December 
1608,  and  created  rector  of  the  university  in  1610.  In 
1614  be  was  requested  to  read  some  lectures  in  divinity 
besides  those  on  the  Hebrew  language,  on  account  of  the 
indisposition  of  one  of  the  professors ;  and  when  the  pro- 
fessorship of  divinity  became  vacant  in  1618,  he  was  pro- 
moted to  it,  and  resigned  that  of  Hebrew.  The  same  year 
he  was  appointed  by  the  assembly  of  ps^stors  and  professors 
to  answer  the  Jesuit  Coton,  who  had  attacked  the  French 
version  of  the  Bible  in  a  book  entitled  "  Geneve  Plagiaire." 
This  he  did  in  his  "Coton  Plagiaire,"  which  was  extremely 
well  received  by  the  public.  At  the  same  time  he  was  sent 
with  Diodati  from  the  church  of  Geneva  to  the  synod  of 
Dort,  where  he  displayed  his  great  knowledge  in  divinity, 
and  a  moderation  which  was  hig;hly  applauded.  He  had 
permission  to  go  to  the  duke  of  Rohan  for  some  months  in 
1632,  and  fully  answered  the  expectation  of  that  nobleman, 
who  shewed  him  afterwards  great  esteem,  which  he  returned 
by  honouring  the  duke*s  memory  with  an  oration,  which 
he  pronounced  some  days  after  the  funeral  of  that  great 
man  in  1638.  He  parried  on  a  very  extensive  correspond- 
ence in  the  reformed  countries,  where  he  gained  the  friend- 
ship of  the  most  learned  men,  and  of  several  princes  and 
great  lords.  He  had  much  facility  in  composing  oradons^ 
and  Latin  verses,  and  his  conversation  was  highly  instruc- 
tive, for  he  had  joined  to  the  study  of  divinity  and  of  se- 
veral languages,  the  knowledge  of  the  law,  and  of  other 
sciences,  and  of  sacred  and  profane  history,  especially  with 
regard  to  the  two  last  centuries,  particulars  of  which  he  fre- 
quently introduced,  and  applied  when  in  company.  In  1655 
he  was  appointed  by  the  assembly  of  pastors  to  confer  and 
concur  with  John  Dury  in  the  affair  of  the  reunion  between 


44  T  R  O  N  C  H  I  N, 

the  Lutberaas  and  the  reformed,  od  which  subject  be  wrote 
several  pieces.  He  died  of  a  fever  on  the  19th  of  Novem-* 
ber,  I657|  having  survived  all  the  foreigh  divines  who  were 
present  at  the  synod  of  Dort.  He  was  an  open  and  sincere 
aaan,  zealous  for  religion  and  the  service  of  the  churehea, 
a  great  enemy  to  vices,  though  very  miid  towards  persons* 
His  advice  was  highly  esteemed  both  for  the  civil  govern- 
ment, and  in  the  two  ecclesiastical  bodies,  and  by  strangen, 
a  great  number  of  whom  consplted  him.  He  left,  among 
other  children,  Lewis  Tronchin,  who  was  a  minister  of  the 
church  of  Lyons,  and  was  chosen  four  years  after  to  fill  bia 
place  in  the  church  and  professorship  of  divinity  at  Geneva. 
He  died  in  1705.  He  was  esteemed  one  of  the  ablest  di- 
vines of  bis  time,  and  a  man  of  great  liberality  of  senti« 
raent.  He  was  well  known  to,  and  corresponded  with  our 
archbishops  Tillotsoo  and  Tentson,  and  the  bishops  Comp- 
ton,  Lloyd,  and  Burnet,  who  givea  him  a  very  high  charac- 
ter in  his  Tour  through  Switzerland.  ^ 

TRONCHIN  (Theodore),  a  celebrated  physician,  was 
apparently  the.  grandson  of  Lewis  Tronchin,  and  was  born 
at  Geneva  in  1709.  His  father,  John  Robert  Tronchin, 
having  lost  his  property  in  the  fatal  Mississippi  speculation, 
Theodore  left  hom6  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  and  came  to 
£ngland  to  lord  Bolingbroke,  to  whom  he  is  said  to  have 
been  related,  we  know  not  in  what  degree;  but  Bolingbroke 
had  it  not  in  his  power  to  do  much  for  him,  and  he  went  to 
Holland  to  study  chemistry  uitder  Boerhaave,  whose  work 
on  that  subject  had  engaged  his  attention,  and  made  him 
desirous  of  seeing  the  author.  Boerhaave  is  said  to  have 
soon  distinguished  Tronchin  from  the  general  mass  of  his 
pupils,  and  in  1731  advised  him  to  settle  at  Amsterdam, 
where  he  introduced  htm  to  practice,  and  in  a  short  time 
Tronchin  was  at  the  bead  of  the  physicians  of  Amsterdam. 
But  having  married  a  young  lady  ctf  the  family  of  the  cele- 
brated patriot  De  Witt,  be  fancied  that  the  name  would  be 
disgraced  by  bis  accepting  a  place  at  court,  and  therefore 
he  refused  that  of  first  physician  to  the  stadtholder,  aud 
quitting  Amsterdam  when  the  stadibolderate  was  madie 
hereditary,  returned  to  Geneva,  where  he  could  live  in  a 
pure  republic.  Here  the  council  gave  him  the  title  of  ho*- 
norary  professor  of  medicine,  but  no  duties  were  attached 
to  it.     It  was  not  his  intention,  however,  to  be  idle,  and  he 

'  Gea.  Diet.— Chaufepie,  who  has  a  prolix  life  of  Lewis  Tronchin. 


T  R  O  N  C  H  I  N.  45 

gave  lectures  on  the  general  principles  of  medicine,  in 
which  he  endeavoured  to  free  the  science  from  rooted  pre* 
jttdiCes  and  false  theories.     In  1756  he  was  called  to  Piirit 
to  inoculate  th<5  children  of  the  duke  of  Orleans.     He  had 
introduced  this  practice  both  in  Holland  and  at  Geneva, 
and,'  in  the  former  at  least,  without  almost  any  opposition ; 
and  the  success  he  had  in  his  first  trial  in  France,  on  these 
princes  of  the  btood,  having  contributed  not  a  little  to  bis 
celebrity,  he  rose  to  the  highest  honours  of  his  profession,  • 
and   acquired  great  wealth.     In  1765  he  was  invited  to 
Parma  to  inoculate  the  royal  children  of  that  court.     Al- 
though averse  to  accept  any  situations  which  might  form  a 
restraint  upon  his  time  or  studies,  he  consented  to  the  title 
of  first  physician  to  the  duke  of  Orleans,  and  in  17iS6  fixed 
bis  residence  at  Paris.    The  arrival  of  an  eminent  physician 
in  Paris  is  always  accompanied  by  a  revolution  in  practice: 
Tronchin  brought,  with  him  a  new  regimen,  new  medicines, 
and  new  methods  of  cure,  and  many  of  them  certainly  of 
great  importance,  particularly  the  admission  and  change  of 
air  in  sick  rooms,  and  a  more  hardy  method  of  bringing  up 
children  ;  he  also  recommended  to  the  ladies  more  exercise 
and  less  effeminacy  in  their  modes  of  living  and  in  diet. 
His  prescriptions  were  generally  simple ;  but  perhaps  his 
fame  was  chiefly  owing  to  his  introducing  the  practice  of 
inoculation,  which  he  pursued  upon  the  most  rational  plan. 
In  all  this  he  had  to  encounter  long  established  prejudices, 
and  being  a  stranger,  bad  to  contend  with  the  illiberality  of 
some  of  the  faculty,    obstacles  which  he  removed  by  a 
steady,    humane  course,    and  his  frequent  success  com* 
pleted  his  triumph.     H^  was  in  person  a  fine  figure^  there 
was  a  mixture  of  sweetness  and  dignity  in  his  countenance ; . 
his  air  and  external  demeanour  inspired  affection,  and  com- 
manded respect ;  his  dress,  voice,  and  manner,  were  gtace- 
ful-^and  pleasing!  all  which  no  doubt  gave  an  additional 
lustre  to  his  reputation,  and  perhaps  an  efficacy  to  his  pre- 
scriptions.    His  extensive  practice  prevented  his  writing 
or  publishing  more  than  a  few  papers  on  some  medical 
cases,    one  **  De  colica  pictorum,"   1757,  8vo.     He  also 
prefixed  a  judicious  preface  to  an  edition  of  <<  Oeuvres  de 
Baillou,"  1762.     This  eminent  practitioner  died  Nov.  30, 
1781.     He  was  at  that  time  a  citizen  of  Geneva,  a  title  of 
t^hich  be  was  very  proud,  a  member  of  the   nobility  of 
Parma,  first  physician  to  the  duke  of  Orleans,  and  to  the 
infant  duke  of  Parma,  doctor  of  medicine  of  the  universi- 


46  T  R  O  N  C  H  I  N. 

ties  of  Leyden,  Geneva,  and  Montpeliier,  and  a:  member  of 
the  academy  of  sciences  of  Paris,  of  that  of  surgery,  of  the 
Royal  Society  of  London  (elected  1762),  and  of  the  aca- 
demies or  colleges  of  Petersburgh,  Edinburgh,  and  Berlin.^ 

TROTTER,  Catherine.     See  COCKBURN. 

TRUBERUS  (Primus),  celebrated  for  his  learned  trans- 
lations, was  born  in  1508.     He  was  first  a  canon  of  Lay- 
bach,  and  began  in  1531  to  preach  publicly  in  the  cathe- 
dral of  that  city  Luther's  doctrine  concerning  the   sacra- 
ment in  both  kinds;  and  to  approve  the  marriage  of  priests-; 
so  that  he  embraced  Luther's  party,  and   left  Carniola  to 
retire  into  the  empire,  where  the  town  of  Kempson  chose 
him  for  their  pastor.    He  preached  there  for  fourteen  years, 
and  acquired  much  fame  by  his  translation3.     He  translated 
into  the  Carniolan  tongue,  in  Latin  characters,  not  ojily 
.the  Gospels,  according  to  the  version  of  Luther,  with  his. 
catechism,  but  also  the  whole  New  Testament,    and  the 
Psalms  of  David  in  1553.     At  length  the  States  of  Carniola 
recalled  him   home.     He  translated  also  into  bis  mother 
tongue  the  confession  of  Augsburgh,  and  Luther's  German 
sermons.      Herman    Fabricius   Mpsemannus  thus    notibes 
Truber's  translation,  with  the  addition  of  some  other  par- 
ticulars:  '<  John  Ungnad  baron  of  SoAneek  in  Croatia,  at 
the  time  of  the  Augsburgh  confession,  caused  the  Bible  to 
be  translated  into  the  Sclavonian  language  at  Aurach  in  the 
duchy  of  Wirtenibergh.     In  this  translation  he  employed 
three   learned  Sclavonians;    the  first  was  named  Primus 
Truber,  the  second  Anthony  Dalmata,  and  the  third  Ste- 
phen Consul.     But  these  books  were  seized  on  the  road, 
and  are  still  shut  up  in  casks  at  Newstad  in  Austria.     The 
character  is   altogether   singular,    almost    resembling   an 
Asiatic  or  Syriac  character,  with  pretty  large  and  square 
letters.     A  copy  of  this  Bible  may  be  seen  in  the  library  of 
the  landgrave  of  Hesse.     There  are  also  some  copiesf  of  it 
to  be  met  with  in  Sclavonia.^'     These  Bibles  are  without 
doubt  printed  in  Cyrillic  characters.     Truber  was  banished 
Carniola  a  second  time,  and  died  June  29,  1 586.    The  same 
year,  in  a  letter  he  wrote  to  the  deputies  of  Carniola,  he 
subscribes  himself  "  Primus  Truber,  formerly  qanon. in  or- 
dinary, called  and  confirmed  at  Lay  bach,  pastor  at  Lack, 
at  TufFer  near  Ratschach,  and  at  St.  Bartholomew's  field, 
chaplain  at  S.  Maximilian  of  Cilly,  Sclavonian  preacher  at 

1  Eluges  dee  Academicieos,  vol.  II. 


>. 


TRUBERUS.  47 

t 

Trieste,  and  after  tbe  first  persecution  preacher  at  Rosem- 
burgb  on  the  Tauber,  pastor  at  Keinpten  and  at  Aurais, 
aftenvards  preacher  to  the  States  of  Carniola,  and  at  Rubia 
in  the  county  of  Goergh,  and  after  the  second  persecution 
pastor  at  CaufFen,  and  now  at  Deredingen  near  Tubingen."  * 
TRUBLET  (Nicholas  Charles  Joseph),  a  French 
M)6  of  temporary  fame,  but  who  is  upon  the  whole  ^ther 
faintly  praised  by  his  countrymen,  was  born  at  St.  Malo  in 
Dec.  1697.  He  was  related  to  the  celebrated  Maupertuis,' 
who  dedicated  the  third  volume  of  his  works  to  him.  His 
first  appearance  as  an  author  was  in  1717,  in  his  twentieth 
year,  when  he  published  in  the  French  "  Mercure,"  his 
-^Refl«ctions  on  Telemacbus,"  which  served  to  introduce 
him  to  La  Motte  and  Fontenelle,  who  became  afterwards 
not  only  the  objects  of  his  constant  esteem,  but  of  a  spe* 
cies  of  idolatry  which  exposed  him  to  the  ridicule  of  tbe 
wits  of  his  .day.  There  are  no  memoirs  of  his  education 
and  early  progress,  but  it  appears  that  he  was  treasurer  of 
the  church  of  Nantes,  and  afterwards  archdeacon  and  ca* 
noQ  of  St.  Maio.  For  some  time  he  lived  in  intimacy  with 
cardinal  Tencin,  and  visited  Rome  with  him,  but  having 
no  inclination  to  a  life  of  dependence,  whatever  advantages 
it  might  bring,  he  returned  to  Paris,  and  employed  his 
time  in  literary  pursuits.  His  irreproachable  conduct  and 
agreeable  manners  procured  him  very  general  esteem  as  a 
man,  but  as  a  writer  he  never  ranked  high  in  the  public, 
opinion,  and  although  very  ambitious  of  a  seat  in  tbe 
French  academy,  he  did  not  reach  that  honour  until  1761. 
About  six  years  afterwar^;^  he  retired  to  his  native  place, 
where  he  died  in  March  1770.  His  principal  works  were^ 
1.  **Essais  de  litterature  et  de  morale,"  4  vok.  12mo,  which 
have  been  often  reprinted  and  translated  into  other  l[an- 
guages.  These  essays,  although  the  author  was  neither 
gifted.with  the  elegance  of  La  Bruyere,  nor  with  the  pene- 
tration of  La  Rochefoucault,  contain  much  good  sense  and. 
knowledge  of  books  and  men.  2.  ^^  Panegyriques  des 
Saints,"  a.  work  feebly  written,  but  to  which  he  prefixed 
some^  valuable  reflections  on  eloquence.  It  was  in  this  work 
he  incurred  tbe  displeasure  of  Voltaire.  He  in  general 
disliked  the  poetry  of  his  country,  and  had  not  only  thie 
couraige  and  imprudence  to  say  that  he  thought  it  in  gene- 
ral monotonous,  but  that  he  was  unable  to  read  even  tbe 

1  Ger.  Diet.  art.  Dalmanlln. — Melchior  Adam.— Freheri  Theatrum.  . 


48  T  R  U  B  L  E  T. 

I 

^'Henriade^'  of  Voltaire  without  yawning.  Voltaire  re- 
sented this  in  a  satire,  entitled  ^*  Le  Pauvre  Diable/'  but 
afterwards  became  reconciled  to  the  abbe.  3.  *'  Memoirea 
pour  aervir  a  Tfaistoire  de  Messieurs  de  la  Motte  et  de  Fbn* 
tenelle/'  Amst.  1761.  He  was  a  contributor  also  to  the 
'^journal  des  S.avanS|''  and  to  the  **  Journal  Chretien," 
which  was  established  in  defence  of  religion  against  the 
infidel  writers  of  that  time.^ 

TRUMBULL,  or  TRUMBAL  (William),  an  estimable 
and  upright  statesman,  was  born  at  Eastbampsted  in  Berk- 
shire in  August  1638.  He  was  the  eldest  son  of  William 
Trumbull,  esq.  a  justice  of  peace  in  Berkshire,  and  grand- 
son of  another  William  Truaibull,  who  was  agent  and  en- 
voy from  James  L  to  the  archduke  Albert  at  Brussels,  from 
1609  to  the  end  of  1625.  This  great  man,  for  such  he  ap- 
pears, to  have  been,  made  a  large  collection  of  letters,  me- 
moirs, minutes,  and  negociations,  of  all  the  men  of  note 
in  bis  time,^  with  whom  he  entertained  a  constant  and  fami- 
liar correspondence.  These  documents,  which  are,  or  were 
lately,  in  the  gallery  at  Eastbampsted  park,  sufficiently  show 
hii  care,  industry,  vigilance,  and  sufficiency,  in  the  em- 
ployment he  served ;  and  he  appears  to  have  been  the  fa^ 
mily  pattern  and  model  which  sir  William  Trumbull,  the 
smbject  of  our  memoir,  had  in  his  eye,  and  spurred  him  on 
to  an  imitation  of  those  virtues  which,  if  they  appeared  so 
bright  in  the  grandfather,  shone  forth  in  much  greater 
lustre  and  perfection  in  the  grandson. 

Mr.  Trumbull  was  educated  partly  at  home  and  partly  at 
Oakingham  school,  to  which  he  wsts  sent  in  1649.  In  1654 
he  was  admitted  a  gentleman  commoner,  under  Mr.  T; 
Wyat,  in  St.  John's  college,  Oxford,  but  removed  thre^ 
years  after  to  All  Souls,  on  being,  chosen  a  fellow.  In 
1659,  be  went  out  bachelor  of  laws.  In  1664  he  began  his 
travels  through  France  and.  Italy,  and  lived  there  with  the 
lords  Sunderland,  Godolpbin,  and  the  bishop  of  London, 
Dr.  Compton.  In  1666  he  returned  to  college,  and  the 
following  year  practised  as  a  civilian  in  the  vice-chancellor's 
Court  From  some  MS  memorandums  of  his  life  written  by 
himself,  it  appears  that  about  this  time  he  conducted  an 
appeal  to  the  lord  chancellor  Clarendon,  and  carried  a  point 
respecting  the  non-payment  of  fees  for  his  doctor's  degree, 

1  Eulogy  by  D'AlembcrL ^Dict.  Hist.— Le  Ntcrologie  dei  Hommes  Celebres, 
pour  aaa«e  1771. 


TRUMBULL.  49 

by  wbjdi  be  gained  great  credit/and  all  t^he  businete  of  the 
Tice-chancellor's  court.  In  July  of  this  year,  1667,  be  took 
the  degree  of  LL.  D.  and  in  Michaelmas  term,  1668,  was 
admitted  of  Doctor^*  Commons,  after  which  he  says  be  at* 
tended  diligently  the  courts,  and  took  notes. 

In  1670  be  married  a  daughter  of  sir  Charles  Cotterell, 
and  the  same  year  his  father  settled  upon  him  the  yeai^iy 
sum  of  350/.  which,  he  adds,  sharpened  his  industry  it> 
his  profession.    In  1672,  some  deaths  and  promotions  fon- 
tributed  to  increase  bis  practice,  now  worth  500k  per  ann.^ 
and  about  the  same  time  he  got  the  reversion  of  the  place 
of  clerk  of  the  signet  on  sir  Philip  Warwick^s  death,  wbioii 
happened  in  1682.     In  the  following  year,  began  his  car- 
reer of   public  employment,    by  his  accompanying  lord 
Dartmouth  to  Tangiers.     In  this  expedition  he  was  ap* 
pointed  judge  advocate  of  the  fleet,  and  commissioner  for 
settling  the  properties  of  the  leases  of  bouses,  &c.  at  Tan* 
giers,  between  .the  king  and  tbe  inhabitanu.    For  tbisser-^ 
vice  we  should  suppose  he  was  not  very. amply  remune« 
rated,  as  he  makes  here  a  remark  on  *^  the  gre^t  differenc9v^ 
between  the  value  of  assistance  when  wanted,  and  after 
it  is   given  and  done  with."     In  November  he  returned, 
ami  resumed   his  profession  in   Doctors  Commons ;  and 
about  the  same  time,  refused  the  place  of  secretary  of  war 
in  Ireland, 

In  1684,  he  was  presented  to  the  king  by  lord  Hoches-p 
ter,  and  received  the  honour  of  knighthood ;  and  was  alsci 
made  clerk  of- the  deliveries  of  the  ordnance  stores,  a 
place  w^ortb  300/.  a  year.  In  1685,  he  was  appointed  en-^ 
voy  extraordinary  at  the  court  of  France,  against  bis  in^ 
clination  ;  but  the  king  (James  II.)  insisted  upon  it,  and 
gave  bim  a  pension  of  200/.  a  year,  in  lieu  of  his  place 
of  clerk  of  the  deliveries,  which  he  could  not  hold  with 
his  appointment  as  envoy.  Dis  coaduct  in  this  office 
does  him  much  credit.  Being  in  France  when  the  Pro<« 
testants  were  persecuted  in  consequence  of  the  revocation 
of^he  edict  of  Nantz,  he  remonstrated  against  it,  and 
spok^  his  opinion  with  a  freedom  which  was  not  very  ac«< 
ceptable,  either  at  the  court  where  he  was,  or  that^from' 
which  he  came ;  and  when  be  found  bis  remonstrances  iiv 
vaiui  he  took  every  method  he  could,  by  his  privilege,  ta' 
harbour  many  of  the  persecuted  Protestants,  and  assisted 
theqi  in  recovering  their  effects,  and  conveying  fheiti  to 
Epglnnd.  It  was  probably  on  this  account  that  he  was  re* 
Vol.  XXX.  E 


40  TRUMBULL. 

V 

called  in  1686,  and,  as  his  services  were  too  valuable  to  be 
laid  aside,  the -king  appointed  him  ambassador  extraordi* 
nary  to  the  Ottoman  Porte ;  and  before  he  embarked^ 
the  Turkey-company  presented  him  with  a  gold  cup,  va- 
lue sixty  pounds.  He  was  continued  in  this  embassy  by 
William  III.  and  remained  there  until  1691.  He  then  re- 
turned from  Constantinople,  principally  by  land.  In  1694 
and  1695  he  was  advanced  to  be  one  of  the  lords  of  the 
treasury,  a  member  of  the  privy- council,  and  principal 
secretary  of  state.  He  was  also  governor  of  the  Turkey- 
company  :  and  bad  been  several  times  member  of  parlia- 
ment, and  once  represented  the  university  of  Oxford.  Hrs 
opportunities  to  acquire  diplomatic  knowledge,  and  to  on'- 
derstand  the  intrigues  of  negotiation,  induced  him  once  to 
say  to  king  William,  ^^  Do  not.  Sir,  send  embassies  to  Italy, 
>ut  a  fleet  into  the  Mediterranean.'^ 

In  1697,  be  resigned  all  his  employments,  and  retired 
to  East  Hampsted,  where  he  died  December  i4, 1716,  and 
was  buried  in  East  Hampsted  church.  It  Was  in  this  re- 
tirement that,  in  1705,  he  became  acquainted  with-Pope  ^ 
who  then  lived  at  Binfield.  Pope  informed  Mr.  Spence, 
that  he  *^  loved  very  much  to  read  and  talk  of  the  cislssics 
in  bis  retirement.  We  used  to  take  a  ride  oClt  together 
three  or  four  days  in  the  week,  and  at  last  almost  every 
day."  His  letters  to  Pope  breathe  an  air  of  uncommon  good 
temper,  good  sense,  candour,  and  tranquillity  of  mind. 
They  evince  the  scholar,  the  man  of  taste,  and  the  gentle- 
man, mixed  with  the  clearest  sense  of  propriety.  It  ap- 
pears that  sir  William,  was  the  very  first  person  that  urged 
Pope  to  undertake  a  translation  of  tbe  Iliad.  Besides  these 
letters  in  Pope's  Works,  several  written  by  him  while  be 
was  ambassador  in  France,  are  preserved  in  the  paper- 
office,  and  extracts  from  others  have  been  printed  by  sir 
John  Dairymple.  His  well-written  character  of  sir  Wil- 
liam Dolben,  archbishop  of  York,  we  have  already  given  in 
our  account  of  that  prelate.  We  ought  not  to  omit,  that 
he  had  been  a  friend  and  patron  to  Dryden,  who^  in  the 
postscript  to  his  Virgil,  pays  him  a  very  elegant  compli* 
ment:  ^If  the  last  iEneid  shine  among  its  fellows,  it  is 
owing  to  the  commands  of  sir  William  Trumbull,  one  of 
the  principal  secretari^a  of  state,  who  recommended  it  as 

♦  Pope's  epitaph  on  sir  WilUam  Trumbull  may  be  leea  io  hii  Works!;  btoU- 
wai.  nerer  placed  on  hia  monumenty  as  lome  hare  aaserted. 


TRUMBULL,  51 

bis  favourite  to  tny  care ;  and  for  his  sake  particularly  I 
hare  made  it  mine.  For  who  would  confess  weariness  when 
he  enjoined  a  fresh  labour  ?  I  could  not*  but  invoke  the 
assistance  of  a  muse  for  this  last  ofBce  t 


**  Extremum  hunc,  Arethusa,- 


neget  quis  carmina  Gallo  V^ 


.Sir  William  Trumbull's  first  wife  dying  in  1704,  be  mar- 
ried Judith,  dagghter  of  Henry  Alexander,  fourth  earl  of 
Sterling,  by  whom  he  had  a  son  of  his  own  names  who  died 
in  1760,  and  whose  daughter  and  sole  heir  married  the  hon. 
x^olonel  Martin  Sandys.  Sir  William  had  a  brother,  the 
rev.  Dr.  Charles  Trumbull,  who  died  Jan.  8,  1724.  He  was 
rector  of  Stystead  in  Essex,  and  Hadley  in  Suffolk,  and 
chaplain  to  archbishop  Sancroft,  but  quitted  these  livings 
at  the  Revolution.  * 

TRYE  (Charles  Brandok),  a  learned  surgeon,  and 
senior  surgeon  of  the  county-infirmary,  Gloucester,  was 
descended  from  the  ancient  family  of  Trye,  of  Hard  wick, 
CO.  Gloucester,  and  was  born  Aug.  21,  1757.  He  married 
Marj'^,  elder  daughter  of  the  rev.  Samuel  Lysons,  rector  of 
Rodmarton,  by  whom  he  left  three  sons  and  five  daugh- 
ters ;  and  was  consequently  related  to  the  two  celebrated 
antiquaries.  In  1797,  he  succeeded  to  a  considerable 
estate;  consisting  of  the  manor,  advowson,  and  chief  landed 
property  in  the  parish  of  Leckhampton,  near  Cheltenham^ 
under  the  will  of  his  cousin,  Henry  Norwood,  esq.  whose 
family  had  possessed  them  for  many  generations. — ^This 
gentleman  will  be  long  regretted,  not  only  as  a  surgeon, 
but  as  a  man  extremely  useful  in  various  undertakings  of 
national  concern,  such  as  rail-roads,  canals,  &c.  in  the 
planning  of  which  he  evinced  great  genius.  As  a  surgeon, 
his  practice  was  extensive,  and  his  success  great.  Many 
arduous  and  diflScult  operations  he  performed,  which  ended 
in  perfect  cures,  after  others  of  eminence  had  shrunk  from 
the  undertakings.  His  operations  were  conceived  and  exe- 
cuted frx)m  a  perfect  knowledge  of  the  structure  of  the  hu- 
man body,  attained  by  a  well-grounded  education,  and 
constant  intense  study  through  life.  He  was  educated  un- 
der the  eminent  surgeon,  Mr.  Russell,  of  Worcester ;  then 
studied  under  Jofin  Hunter;    was   house-surgeon  to  the 

^  1  6«iil;  Mag.  vol.  LX.-^BbwIeS's  edition  of  Pops.  See  Index.<»BgrDei*s 
Own  TuDCf.— Ma1#b6*s  Dryden,  vol.  IV.  p.  560.— Ruff  head's  Life  of  Pope.— 
Coote*t  Catalogue  bf  CiviUans. 

E  2 


S?  T  R  Y  E. 

Westminster  Infirmary,  and  afterwards  assistant  to  the  very 
ingenious  and  scientifio  Sheldon.  He  was  for  some  time 
house-surgeon  and  apothecary  to  the  infirmary  in  Glou- 
cester. Shortly  aft^r  \^e  quitted  that  situation,  he  was 
elected  sbrgeon  to  that  charity,  an  office  which  be  filled  for 
near  thirty  years,  discharging  its  duties  with  great  credit 
to  himself ;  while  those  placed  under  his  care  were  sensible 
of  the  advantages  they  possessed  from  his  assiduous  atten- 
tion to  their  su0erings.  He  trained  up  several  -surgeons, 
mai^y  of  whom  are  exercising  the  medical  profession  in 
various  parts  of  the  kingdom,  with  credit  to  their  precep- 
tor, honour  to  themselves,  and  utility  to  mankind.  As  anr 
author,  he  was  well  known  to  the  literar}'  part  of  the  me* 
dical  world,  and  published  :  1.  ^'Remarks  on  Morbid  Re- 
tentions of  Urine,''  1784.  2.  "  Review  of  Jesse  Foot'a 
Observations  on  the  Venereal  Diseas^,"  (being  an  answer 
to  his  attack  on  John  Hunter,)  1787.  3.  <*  An  Essay  on 
the  swelling  of  the  lower  Extremities  incident  to  Lying-iix 
Women,"  1792.  4.  "  Illustrations  of  some  of  the  Injurie* 
to  wliich  the  lower  Limbs  are  exposed,"  (with  plates), 
1802.  -5.  **  Essay  on  some  of  the  Stages  of  the  Operation 
of  Cutting  for  the  Stone,'*  1811.  6.  "  An  Essay  on  Aneu- 
risms," in  Latin,  was  far  advanced  in  the  press  several 
years  ago,  but  was  laid  aside,  and  not  quite  completed  at. 
the  author's  death.  He  has  left  several  interesting  cases, 
and  other  observation^,  in  manuscript ;  and  many  of  his 
papers  of  a  miscellaneous  nature,  connected  with  the  pro- 
fession, are  to  be  found  in  various  periodical  publications.. 
He  was  a  steady  friend  and  promoter  of  the  Vaccine  inocu- 
lation.* 

TRYPHIODORUS,  an  ancient  Greek  poet,  as  we  learn, 
from  Suidas,  was  an  Egyptian ;  but  nothing  can  be  deter- 
mined  concerning  his  age.     Some  have  fancied  him  older 
than  Virgil,  but  without  the  least  colour  qf  probability. 
Othi^s  have  made  him  a  contemporary  with  Quintus  Cala- 
ber, Nonn  us,  Coluthus,  and  Musscus,  who  wrote  the  poem^ 
on  Hero  aild  Leander,  because  they  fancied  a  resemblance. 
between  his  style  and  theirs;  but  this  is  a  precariows  argn-« 
?[ient,  nor  is  it  better  known  when  these  authors  lived.    All 
therefore  that  can  be  reasonably  supposed  concerning  tha^ 
age  ofTrypbiodorus  i»,  that  he  lived  between  the  reigns 
of  Sererus  and  ^nas^tasius;  the  former  of  whom  died  at^ 

1  Gent.  M»9.  4rol.  LXXKU 


TRYPHIODORUS.  43 

fhe  beginning  of  the  third  century,  and  the  Jatter  at  the 
beginning  of  the  sixth. 

His  reputation  among  the  ancients,  if  we  may  judge 
from  their  having  given  him  the  title  of  grammarian,  was 
very  considerable;  for,  though  the  word  grammaTian  be 
now  applied  to  persons  altogether  attentive  to  the  minutiae 
of  language,  yet  it  was  anciently  a  title  of  honour,  and 
'particularly  bestowed  on  such  as  wrote  well  and  politely  ia 
every  way.  The  writings  of  thisr  author  were  extremely 
numerous,  as  we  learn  from  their  titles  preserved  by  Sui- 
das ;  yet  none  of  them  are  come  down  to  us,  except  his 
"  Destruction  of , Troy,"  which  he  calls  **  A  Sequel  to^e 
Iliad.'*  He  also  wrote  a  new  Odyssey,  which  Addison  has 
described  with  equal  truth  and  humour.  After  having  pro* 
posed  to  speak  of  the  several  species  of  false  wit  among 
the  ancients,  -he  says,  *^  The  first  I  shall  produce  arey  the 
Lipogrammatists,  or  Letter- droppers,  of  antiquity,  that 
would  take  an  exception,  without  any  reason,  against  some 
particular  letter  in  the  alphabet,  so  as  not  to  admit  it  oi^<;e 
into  a  whole  poem.  One  Tryphiodorus  was  a  great  master 
in  this  kind  of  writing.  He  composed  an  Odyssey,  or  epic 
poem  on  the  adventures  of  Ulysses,  consisting  of  four  and 
twenty  books,  having  entirely  banished  the  letter  A  from 
his  first  book,  which  was  called  *■  Alpha,*  as  lucus  d  rum 
lucendOf  because  there  was  not  an  Alpha  in  it*  His  second 
bpok  was. inscribed  <  Beta*  for  the  same  reason  :  in  shorty 
the  poet  excluded  the  whole  fonrand  twenty  letters  in  their 
turns,  and  shewed  them,  one  after  another,  that  he  could 
do  his  business  without  them.  It  must  have  been  very 
pleasant  to  have  seen  this  poet  avoiding  the  reprobate  let- 
ter, as  much  as  another' would  a  false  quantity;  and  mak<* 
ing  his  escape  from  it  through  the  several  Greek  dialects, 
when  he  w^as  pressed  with  it  in  any  particular  syllable. 
For,  the  most  apt  and  elegant  word  in  the  whole  language 
was  rejected,  like  a  diamond  with  a  flaw  in  it^  if  it  ap- 
peared blemished  with  a  wrong  letter.  I  jihall  only  oh9er9e 
upon  this  head,  that  if  the  work  I  have  here  mentioned 
had  been  now  extant, .  the  Odyssey  of  Tryphiodorus  in  all 
probability  would  have  been  oftener  quoted  by  our  learne^ 
pedants  than  the  Odyssey  of  Homer.  What  a  perpetual 
fund  would  it  have  been  of  obsolete  wordii  and  phrases, 
unusual  barbarisms  and  rusticities,  absurd  spdlings  and 
complicated  dialects !  I  make ,  no  question,  but  it  would 
have  been  looked  upon  as  6ne  of  the  most  valuable  trea<- 


54  T  R  Y  P  H  I  O  D  O  R  U  S. 

sii'r^s  of  th^  Greek  tongue.''  It  may  be  necessary  to 'add 
that  this  singular  composition  does  not  exist,  and  that  some' 
have  good-naturedly  doubted  whether  it  was  written  by 
bur  Tryphiodorus. 

The  first  edition  of  Tryphiodorus's  "Destruction  oi 
Troy"  was  published  at  Venice  by  Aldus,  together  with 
Quintus  Calaber's  "  Paralipomena,"  and  Colutbus's  Poem 
on  the  rape  of  Helen.  It  was  afterwards  reprinted  at  se- 
veral places,  particularly  at  Francfort  in  1588,  by  Frisch* 
linus,  who  not  only  restored  many  corrupted  passages  .in 
the  original,  but  added  two  Latiu  versions,  one  in  prose, 
the  other  in  verse.  That  in  verse  was  reprinted  with  the 
Greek  at  Oxford,  1742,.  in  Svo,  with  an  English  translation 
in  verse ;  and  notes  upon  both  the  Greek  and  the  English 
by  J.  Merrick  of  Trinity -college.  There  is  another  good 
edition  more  recently  published  by  Mr.  Northmor^,  Ox- 
ford, J  791,  Svo;  and  one  was  printed  at  Leipsic  in  1809^ 
in  fol.  amounting  only  to  twenty-five  copies.^ 

TSCHIRNHAUSEN  (Ernfroy  Walter),  an  inge^ 
nious  mathematician,  lord  of  Killingswald  and  of  Stolzen- 
berg  in  Lusatia,  was  born  April  10,  1651.  After  having 
served  as  a  volunteer  in  the  army  of  Holland  in  1672, 
he  travelled  into  most  parts  of  Europe,  as  England, 
Germany,  Italy,  France,  &c.  He .  went  to  Paris  for  the 
third  time  in  1682  ;  where  he  communicated  to  the  Acade- 
my of  Sciences,  the  discovery  of  the  curves  called  from  ' 
him  Tschirnhausen's  Caustics ;  and  the  academy  in  conse- 
quence elected  the  inventor  one  of  its  foreign  members. 
On  returning  to-Italy,  he  was  desirous  of  perfecting  the 
science  of  optics ;  for  which  purpose  he  established  two 
glass-works,  from  whence  resulted  many  new  improve- 
ments in  dioptrics  and  physics,  particularly  the  noted 
burning-glass  which  he  presented  to  the  regent.  It  was  to 
him  too  that  Saxony  owed  its  porcelain  manufactory^ 
-  Content  with  the  enjoyment  of  literary  fame,  Tschirn- 
hausen  refused  all  other  honours  that  were  offered  him. 
Learning  was  his  sole  delight.  He  searched  out  men  of 
talents,  and  gave  them  encouragement.  He  was  often  at 
the  expence  of  printing  the  useful  works  of  other  men,  for  % 
ib&  benefit  of  the  public ;  and  died,  beloved  and  regretted, 
the  1 1  th  of  September,  1 708. 
Tschirnhausen  wrote,  "De  Medicina Mentis  &  Corporis,'* 

I  derrick's  Dissertation  prefixed  iq  bis  Edition.— Spegtator,  No.  59. 


T  S  CHI  RNHAUSEN.  55 

prii)ted  at  Amsterdam  in  1687.  And  the  follomng  me* 
moirs  were  printed  in  the  volumes  of  the  Academy  of 
Sciences:  1.  Observations  on  Burning  Glasses  of  3  or  4 
feet  diameter;  vol.  1699.  2.  Observations  on  the  Glass 
of  a  Telescope,  convex  on  both  sides,  of  32  feet  focal 
distance;  1700.  3.  On  the  Radii  of  Curvature,  viith  the 
finding  the  Tangents,  Quadratures,  and  Rectifications  of 
many  curves;  1701.  4.  On  the  Tangents  of  Mechanical 
Curves;    1702.     5.  On  a  method  of  Quadratures  ;   1702.* 

TSCHUDI  (Giles  de),  one  of  a  family  of  Swiss  writers, 
aiid  landaman  of  the  canton  of  Glarus,  was  born  in  1 505.  He 
devoted  much  of  his  time  to  historical  researches,  and  pro- 
duced, among  other  works  of  less  note,  a  *^  Chronicle," 
which,  whatever  h^  merits,  remained  in  mannscript  until 
1734,  when  it  was  published  at  Basle  in  2  vols.  fol.  He 
died  in  1572.  Another  of  the  family,  DOMINICK  TscuDi, 
who  died  in  1654,  wrote  in  Latin,  on  the  *^  Constitution  of 
the  Benedictine  congregation  in  Switzerland,''  and  an  ac- 
count of  the  founders  of  that  abbey,  which  was  printed  in 
1651,  Svo.  A  third,  John  Henry  Tscudi,  who  died  in 
1729,  and  was  a  zealous  protestant,  his  predecessors  being 
equally  zealous  catholics,  was  the  author  of  an  account  of 
the  abbes  of  St.  Gall,  1711,  4to;  a  <<  Chronicle"  of  the 
canton  of  Glaris,  1714,  Svo,  both  in  German.  He  also 
conducted  a  literary  journal  from  1714  to  1726,  which  was 
ordered  to  be  burnt  by  the  public  executioner  in  conse- 
quence of  the  freedoms  be  took  with  popery.  There  wfts 
also  a  John  Peter  Tscudj,  who  wrote  in  German  a 
"  History  of  Werdenberg,"  published  in  1726.* 

TUCKER  (Abraham),  an  ingenious  English  writer,  was 
horn  in  London  Sept.  2,  1705,  of  a  Somersetshire  family) 
his  father  was  a  merchant,  his  mother  was  Judith,  daughter 
of  Abraham  Tillard,  esq.  Both  his  parents  died  before  he 
was  two  years  old,  and  left  him  under  the  care  of  his 
grandmother  Tillard  and  his  maternal  uncle  sir  Isaac  Til- 
lard, a  man  of  strict  piety  and  morality,  of  whose  memory 
Mr.  Tucker  always  spoke  with  the  highest  veneration  and 
regard,  and  who  took  the  utmost  pains  to  give  his  nephew 
principles  of  integrity,  benevolence,  and  candour,  with  a 
disposition  to  unwearied  application  and  industry  in  his  pur- 
suits.    He  was  educated  atBishop^s  Stortford,  andiu  1721 

1  HattoD^s  Dict.-r-Dr.  Gleig's  Supplement  to  the  £acycl.  Britannica,  an  am- 
ple account,  chiefly  from  the  Acta  Eruditornm,  LeipsiC;  1 709, 
^  Diet.  Hi»t.— Saxii  Oaomafit. 


56  TUCKER. 

was  entered  as  a  gentleman  commoner  in  Merton-colleget 
Oxford,  where  his  favourite  studies  were  metaphysics  an4 
the  mathematics.     He  there  engaged  masters  to  teach  him 
French,  Italian,  and  music,  of  which  last  he  was  \'ery  fond. 
In  1726  he  was  entered  of  the  Inner  Temple.     Soon  after- 
wards, and  just  before  he  came  of  age,  he  lost  bis  guar- 
dian sir  Isaac.     He  studied  enough  of  the  law  to  be  useful 
to  himself  and  his  friends  ;  but  his  fortune  not  requiring  it, 
and  his  constitution  not  being  strong,  he  was  never  called 
to  the  bar.     He  usually  spent  the  summer  vacations  in 
tours  through  different  parts  of  England,  Wales,  and  Scot- 
hind,  and  once  passed  six  weeks  in  France  and  Flanders. 
In   1727  he  purchased  Betchworth^castle  with  its  estate. 
He  then  turned  his  attention  more  to  rural  affairs,  and  with 
his   usual   industry   wrote   down    numberless  observations 
which  he  collected  in  discourses  with  his  farmers,  or  ex- 
tracted from  various  authors  on  the  subject.     On  the  3d  of 
February,  1736,  he  married  Dorothy,  daughter  of  Edward 
Barker,  esq.  afterwards  cursi  tor 'baron  of  the  exchequer,  aind 
receiver  of  the  tenths.     By  her  he  had  three  daughters, 
Dorothy,  ^who  died  under  three  years   old,    Judith,  and 
Dorothea- Maria,  who,,  on  the  27th  of  October,  1763,  mar- 
ried sir  Henry  Paulett  St.  John,  bart.  and  died  on  the  5th 
of  May,  1768,  leaving  one  son.     Mrs.  Tucker  died  the  7th 
of  May,  1754,  aged  48.     As  they  had  lived  together  in  the 
tenderest  harmony,  the  loss^  was  a  very  severe  stroke  to 
Mr.  Tucker.     His  first  amusement  was  to  collect  all  the 
letters  which  bad  passed  between  them  whenever  tdey  hap- 
pened to  be  absent  from  each  other,  which  he  copied  out 
in  books  twice  over,  under  the  title  of  *' The  Picture  of 
artless  Love ;"  one  copy  he  gave  to  her  father,  who  sur^ 
vived  her  6ve  years,  and  the  other  he  kept  to  read  over  to 
his  daughters  frequently.     His  principal  attention  then  wa^ 
to  instruct  his  daughters;  he   taught  them  French  and 
Italian,  and  whatever  else  he  thought  might  be  useful  to 
them  to  know.     In  1755,  at  the  request  of  a  friend  in  the 
west  of  England,  be  worked  op  some  materials  which  he 
sent  him  into  the  form  of  a  pamphlet,  then  publishejd  under 
the  title  of  **  The  Country  Gentleman's  Advice  to  his  Son 
on  the  Subject  of  Party  Clubs,*'  printed  by  Owen,  Tem- 
|ije-bar ;  and  he  soon  after  began  writing  ^^  The  Light  of 
Nature  pursued,"  of  which  he  not  only  formed  and  wrofe 
over  several  sketches  before  he  fixed  on  the  method  be  de- 
termined to  pursue,  but  wrote  t^^e  complete  copy  twice 


TUCKER.  SI 

Aruh  his  ovm  hand;  bilt  thinking  bis  style  was  naturally 
stiff  and  laboured,  in  order  to  improve  it,  he  had  employed 
much  time  in  studying  the  most  elegant  writers  and  orators, 
and  translating  many  orations  of  Cicero,  Demostbenes,  &c« 
and,  twice  over,  *^  Cicero  de  Oratore.'*      After  this  he 
composed  a  little  treatise  called  ^*  Vocal  Sounds,^'  printed,  ' 
but  never  published ;  contriving,  with  a  few  additional  let* 
ters,  to  fix  the  pronunciation  to  tbe  whole  alphabet  in  such 
manner,  that  the  sound  of  any  word  may  be  conveyed  on 
paper  as  exactly  as  by  the  voice.     His  usual  method  of ' 
spcmding  his  time  was  to  rise  very  early  to  his  studies,  in 
winter  burning  a  lamp  in  order  to  light  bis  own  fire  before 
his  servants  were  stirring*     After  breakfast  he  returned  to 
bis  studies  for  two*  or  three  hours,  and  then  took  a  ride  on 
horseback,  or  walked.     Tbe  evenings  in  summer  be  often 
spent  in  walking  over  bis  farms  and  setting  down  his  re- 
marks ;  and  in  tbe  winter,  while  in  the  country,  reading  to 
his  wife,  and  afterwards  to  his   daughters.     In  London, 
where  he  passed  some  months  every  winter  and  spring,  be 
passed  much  time  in  tbe  same  manner,  only  that  bis  even- 
ings were  more  frequently  spent  in  friendly  parties  with  some 
of  his  relations  who  lived  near,  and  with  somt;  of  bis  old  fellow 
collegiate!^  or  Temple  friends.     His  walks  there  were  chiefly 
to  transact  any  business  he  bad  in  town,  always  preferring 
to  walk  on  aU  his  own  errands,  to  sending  orders  by  a  ser- 
vant, and  frequently  when  be  found  no  other,  would  walk^ 
be  said,  to  the  Bank  to  see  what  it  was  o^ clock.     Besides 
his  knowledge  in  the  classics  and  the  sciences,  he  was  per- 
fectly skilled  in  merchant's  accompts,  and  kept  all  his 
books  with  the  exactness  of  an  accompting^house ;  anid  be 
was  ready  to  serve  his  neighbours  by  acting  as  justice  of 
peace.     His  close  application  to  his  studies,  and  writing 
latterly  much  by  candle  and  lamp-light,   weakened  his 
sights  aud  brought  on  cataracts,  which  grew  so  much  worse 
after  a  fever  in  tbe  spring,  1771,  that  he  could  no  longer 
tfmuse  himself  with  reading  or  writing,  and  at  last  could 
not  walk,  except  in  his  own  garden,  without  leading.    This* 
was  a  great  trial  on  his  philosophy,  yet  it  did  not  hil  hfm ; 
he  not  only  bore  it  with  patience,  but  cheerfulness,  fre*- 
quently  being  much  diverted  with  the  mistakes  his  infirmity 
dc^casioned  him  to  make;     His  last  illness  carried  him  %>S 
on  the  20th  of  November,  1774,  perfectly  sensible;  and 
as.  be  had  lived^  easy  and  resigned^  to  the  last. 


sa  T  U  C  K  E  R. 

/ 

/ 

He  published  a  pamphlet  entitled  /^  Man  in  quest  of 
himself/'  in  reply  to  some  strictures  on  a  note  to  his 
"  Free  Will,"  He  had  no  turn  for  politics  or  public  life, 
and  never  could  be  induced  to  become  a  candidate  to  re- 
present the  county  of  Surrey,  to  which  his  fortune^  abili- 
ties,  and  character  gave  him  full  pretensions.  '^  My 
thoughts/'  says  Mr.  Tucker  of  himself,  ^^  have  taken  a 
turn,  from  my  earliest  youth,  towards  searcbrng  into  the 
foundations  and  measures  of  right  and  wrong ;  my  love  for 
retirement  has  furnished  me  with  continual  leisure;  and 
the  exercise  of  my  reason  has  been  my  daily  employment.'* 
He  once,  however,  was  induced  to  attend  a  public  meeting 
at  Epsom  in  the  beginning  of  the  present  reign,  when  party 
ran  very  high,  and  when  sir  Joseph  Mawbey  began  to 
exercise  his  talent  for  poetry  by  a  ballad  on  the  occasion, 
in  which  he  introduced  Mr.  Tucker  and  other  gentlemen 
who  differed  from  him  in  their  opinions.  So  far  from 
being  hurt  by  this,  Mr.  Tucker  was  highly  amused  at  the 
representation  given  of  himself,  and  actually  set  the  ballad 
to  music. 

Having  before  provided  for  his  younger  daughter,  he 
left  his  estate  at  Betchworth  to  his  eldest  daughter,  who. 
was  unmarried,  and  a  more  worthy  successor  could  not  have 
been  found.  With  the  strong  understanding  of  her  father, 
she  inherited  bis  good  and  amiable  qualities;  and  though 
possessed  of  learning  which  is  not  often  found  in  a  lady,  it 
was  never  obtruded  in  conversation.  Friendly  to  her  neigh- 
bours, kind  to  her  tenants,  benevolent  to  the  poor,  she 
died  unmarried  Nov.  26,  1794,  respected  and  regretted  by 
all  who  were  acquainted  with  her,  leaving  sir  Henry  Paulet 
St.  John  Mildmay,  her  sister's  only  son,  heir  to  her  estates, 
who,  in  1798,  sold  the  manor,  mansion-bouse,  &c.  to 
Henry  Peters,  esq.  banker  in  London,  the  present  owner, 
who  has  made  great  improvements,  and  enlarged  the  estate 
by  purchases. 

Mr.  Tucker's  "  Light  of  Nature  pursued,"  a  work  not 
now  much  read,  was  published  in  7  vols.  8vo,  of  which  the 
first  three  were  published  by  himself  in  1768,  under  the 
assumed  name  of  Edward  Search,  esq.  and  the  four  last, 
after  his  death,  as  <'  The  posthumons  work  of  Abraham 
Tucker,  esq."  It  consists  of  disquisitions  on  most  disputed^ 
points  and  obscure  theories  in  metaphysics,  politics,  divi- 
nity, &c.  in  which  are  many  bold  and  original  thoughts, 
but  conveyed  in  a  style  land  manner  ^hich  has  prevented 


TUCKER,  5» 

the  work  from  being  much  a  favourite  with  the  public* 
Although  in  general  praised  for  liberality  of  sentiment,  he 
has  been  by  one  party  censured  on  account  of  his  servile 
adherence  to  the  doctrines  of  the  established  church,  and 
by  another  has  been  claimed  as  a  supporter  of  what  14 
called  unitarian  ism.' 

TUCKER  (Josiah),  a  learned  English  divine,  but  more 
celebrated  as  a  political  writer,  was  born  at  Laugharn,  in 
Carmarthenshire,  in  1712.  His  father  was  a  farmer,  and 
having  a  small  estate  left  him  near  Aberystwitb,  in  Cardi- 
ganshire, he  removed  thither  ;  and  perceiving  that  his  soo 
•  had  a  turn  for  learning,  he  sent  him  to  Ruthin  school  in 
Denbighshire,  where  he  made  so  great  progress  in  the 
classics  that  he  obtained  an  exhibition  at  St.  John's  college, 
Oxford.  The  journey  from  his  native  place  to  the  univer* 
sity  was  long,  and  at  that  time  very  tedious,  on  account  of 
the  badness  of  the  roads.  He  travelled  therefore  for  some 
time  on  foot,  until  old  Mr.  Tucker,  feeling  for  bis  son's- 
reputation,  as  wellas  for  his  ease,  gave  him  his  own  horse* 
But  upon  his  return,  young  Josiah,  with  true  filial  affection, 
considered  that  it  was  better  for  him  to  walk  to  Oxford 
than  for  his  father  to  repair  on  foot  to  the  neighbouring 
markets  and  fairs,  which  had  been  the  case,  owing  to  this 
new  regulation.  TBe  horse  was  accordingly  returned ;  and 
oor  student,  for  the  remainder  of  the  time  he  continued  at 
the  university,  travelled  on  foot  backward  and  forward  with 
bis  baggage  at  his  back. 

At  the  age  of  twenty-three  he  entered  into  holy  orders, 
and  served  a  curacy  for  some  time  in  Gloucestershire. 
About  1737  he  became  curate  of  St  Stephen's  church, 
Bristol,  and  was  appointed  minor  canon  in  the  cathedral  of 
that  city.  Here  he  attracted  the  notice  of  Dr.  Joseph  But« 
ler,  then  bishop  of  Bristol,  and  afterwards  of  Durham, 
who  appointed  Mr.  Tucker  his  domestic  chaplain*  By  the 
interest  of  this  prelate  Mr.  Tucker  obtained  a  prebeodal 
stall  in  the  cathedral  of  Bristol ;  and  on  the  death  of  Mr. 
Catcott,  well  known  by  his  treatise  on  the  deluge,  he  be- 
came rector  of  St.  Stephen.  .  The  inhabitants  of  that  pa- 
rish consist  chiefly  of  merchants  and  tradesmen,  a  circum-^ 
stance  which  greatly  aided  his  natural. inclination  for  com«. 
mercia)  and  political  studies.  When  the  famous  bill  waa 
brought  into  the  House  of  Commons  for  the  naturalisation 

1  Manning  and  Bray's  Hist,  of  Surrey. 


60  T  U  C  K  E  K 

of  ibe  Jews,  Mr.  Tucker  took  a  decided  part  in  favour  of 
the, measure,  and  was,  indeed,  its  most  able  advocate  ;  bul 
for  this  be  was  severely  attacked  in  pamphlets,  newspa- 
pers, and  magazines ;  and  the  people  of  Bristol  burnt  his 
effigy  dressed  in  canonicals,  together  with  his  letters  on 
behalf  of ' naturalization  ^.  In  1753  he  published  anifble 
pamphlet  on  Che  *'  Turkey  Trade,"  in  which  he  demon- 
sKrates  the  evils  that  result  to  trade  in  general  frqm  char* 
tered  companies.  At  this  period  lord  Clare  (afterwards 
eurl  Nugent)  was  returned  to  parliament  for  Bristol,  which 
bonour  he  obtained  chiefly  through  the  strenuous  exertions 
of  Mr.  Tucker,  whose  influence  in  his  large  and  wealthy 
parish  was  almost  decisive  on  such  an  occasion.  In  return 
for  this  favour  the  earl  procured  for  him  the  deanery  of 
Gloucester,  in  1758,  at  which  time  he  took  hisi  degree  of 
D.  D.  So  great*was  his  reputation  for  commercial  know- 
ledge, that  Dr.  Thomas  Hayter,  afterwards  bishop  of  Lon- 
4lon,  who  was  then  tutor  to  his  present  majesty,  applied 
to  Dr.  Tucker  to  draw  up  a  dissertation  on  this  subject 
for  the  perusal  of  bis  royal  pupil.  It  was  accordingly  done, 
and  gave  great  satisfaction.  This  work,  under  the  title  of 
^^The  Elements  of  Commerce,"  was  printed  in  quarto,  but 
never  published.  Dr.  Warburton,  however,  who,  after  bav«- 
ing  been  member  of  the  same  chapter  with  the  dean,  at 
Bristol,  became  bishop  of- Gloucester,  thought  very  dif« 
ferently  from  the  rest  o^  mankind,  in  respect  to  his  talents 
and  favourite  pursuits;  and  said  once,  in  bis  coarse  manner, 
that  ^*  his  Dean's  trade  was  religion,  and  religion  his  trade.'* 
The  dean  on  being  once  asked  concerning  the  coolness 
which  subsisted  between  him  and  Warburton,  his  answer 

*  — 

was  to  the  following  purpose  :  *^  The  bishop  affects  to  con* 
sider  me  with  contempt ;  to  which  I  say  nothing.  He  has 
•cnnetimes  spoken  coarsely  of  me ;  to  which  I  replied  no- 
thing. He  has  said  that  religion  is  my  trade,  and  trade 
]£^my  religion.  Commerce,  and  its  connections  have,  it  is 
irue,  been  favourite  objects  of  my  attention,  and  where  is 
the  crime  ?  And  as  for  religion,  I  have  attended  carefully 
to  the  duties  of  my  parish  :  nor  have  I  neglected  my  ca- 
thedral. The  world  knows  something  of  me  as  a  writer  on 
religious  subjects ;  and  I  will  add,  which  the  world  does 
not  know,  that  1  have  written  near  three  hundred  seitnons,. 

^  Mr.  Seward  says,  his  being  burnt  io  efllgy  Was  occasioned  by  an  esf ay  he 
wrote  in  support  of  the  Hessians  who. came  to  lettie  in  Engiand, 


TUCKER.  61 

and  preached  tbem  all,  again  and  again.  My  heart  is  at 
ease  on  that  score,  apd  my  conscience,  thank  God,  does 
aot  accuse  me/'  The  fact  is,  that  although  there  is  «# 
possi{>Ie  connection  between  the  business  of  commerce  and 
the  duties  of  a  clergyman,  he  had  studied  theology  in  all 
its  branches  scientifically,  and  his  various  publications  on 
moral  and  religious  subjects  show  him  to  be  deeply  versed 
in  theology. 

In  1771,  when  a  strong  attempt  was  made  to  procure  an 
abolition  of  subscription  to  tiie  thirty-nine  articles.  Dr. 
Tucker  came  forward  as  an  able  advocate  of  the  church  of 
England,  yet  admitted  that  some  reformation  of  the  liturgy 
waa^  wanted^  and  instanced  particularly  the  Athanasiaa 
creed,  which  he  considered  as  too  scholastic  and  refined 
for  a  popular  confession  of  faith. — About  this  time  he  pub- 
lished  *^  Directions  for  Travellers/'  in  which  he  lays  down 
excellent  rules,  by  which  gentlemen  who  visit  foreign  coun- 
tries  may  not  only  improve  their^own  minds,  but  turn  their 
observations  to  the  benefit  of  their  native  country*  This 
ha$  become  extremely  scarce,  but  there  is  a  part  of  it  re- 
printed i,n  Berchtold's  ^'  Essay  to  direct  the  inquiries  of 
Travellers,"  an  excellent  work,  published  in  1789,  2  vols- 

|n  1772,  the  dean  printed  a  small  volume  of  sernK>ns, 
in  ^hich  he  explains  the  doctrines  of  election  and  justificH' 
tion,  in  reference  to  a  very  violent  dispute  then  carried 
OB  between  the  Calvinistic  and  the  Arminian  niethodists, 
the  former  headed  by  Messrs.  Toplady  and  Hill,  and  the 
latter  by  the  Messrs.  Wesleys  and  Fletcher.  The  year  fol- 
lowing he  published  *^  Letters  to  the  rev.  Dn  Kippis,  where- 
in the  claim  of  the  Church  of  England  to  an  authority  in 
matters  of  faith,  and  to  a  power  of  decreeing  rites  and 
ceremonies,  is  discussed  and  ascertained,^'  &c. 

When  the  dispute  arose  between  Great  Britain  and  the 
American  colonies,  the  dean  was  an  attentive  observer  of 
the  contest,  examining  the  affair  with  a  very  different  eye 
from  that  of  a  party-mao,  or  an  interested  merchant,  and 
discovered,  as  he  conceived,  that  both  sides  would'be  be* 
nefited  by  an  absolute  separation.  The  more  he  thought 
on  this  subject,  the  more  he  was  persuaded  that  extensive 
colonies  were  an  evil  rather  than  an  advantage  to  any  com* 
merctal  nation.  On  this  principle,  theipefore,  he  published 
his  **  Thoughts  upon  the  Dispute  between  the  MDther 
Country  and  America.^'  Hfi  demonstrated,  that  the  latter 
could  not  be  conquered,  and  ^at,  if  it  could,  the  pur^ 


V 


G2  TUCKER. 

I 

chase  would  be  dearly  bought.  He  warned  this  c6untry 
against  commencing  a  war  with  the  colonies,  and  advised 
that  they  should  be  left  to  themselves.  This  advice  startled 
all  parties,  and  by  all  the  dean  was  considered  as  a  sort  of 
madman,  who  had  rambled  out  of  the  proper  litie  of  hi9 
profession  to  commence  political  quack.  Our  autbor,  how- 
ever, went  on  vindicating  and  enforcing  his  favourite  sys- 
tem, in  spite  of  all  the  obloquy  with  which  it  was  treated 
both  in  the  senate  and  from  the  press.  As  the  war  pro- 
ceeded, some  intelligent  pei:$ons  began  to  see  more  truth 
and  reason  in  his  sentiments,  and  time^  perhaps,  may  be 
thought  to  have  demonstrated  that  he  was  right.  He 
printed  several  essays  in  the  newspapers  under  the  tKle  of 
Cassandra. 

When  the  terrors  of  an  invasion  were  very  prevalent  in* 
1779j  the  dean  circulated,  in  a  variety  of  periodical  pub- 
lications, some  of  the  most  sensible  observations  that  were 
ever  made  on  the  subject,  in  order  to  quiet  the  fears  of  the 
,  people.  He  states  at  length,  and  with  great  accuracy,  the 
numerous  difficulties  that  must  attend  the  attempt  tb  invade 
this  country,  and  the  still  greater  ones  that  must  be  en- 
countered by  the  invaders  after  their  landing.  Those  Ob- 
servations were  reprinted,  with  good  effect,  in  ^he  course 
of  the  late  war. 

In  1781,  he  published  what  he  had  printed  long  before, 
"  A  treatise  on  Civil  Government,'*  in  which  his  principal 
design  is  to  counteract  the  tloctrines  of  the  celebrated 
Locke  and  his  followers.  This  book  made  a  considerable 
noise,  and  was  attacked  by  several  of  the  best  writers  on 
the  democratic  side  of  the  question.  The  year  following 
he  closed  his  political  career  with  a  pamphlet  entitled  "  Cui 
Bono?"  in  which  he  balances  the  profits  and  loss  of  each 
of  the  belligerent  powers,  and  recapitulates  all  his  former 
positions  on  the  subject  of  war  and  colonial  possessions. 
His  publications  after  that  period  consisted  of  some  tracts 
on  the  commercial  regulations  of  Ireland,  on  the  expor- 
tation of  woollens,,  and  on  the  iron  trade. 

In  1777  be  published  seventeen  practical  sermons,  in 
one  vol.  8vo.  After  he  resigned  his  rectory  in  Bristol  he 
resided  mostly  in  Gloucester,  where,  in  1781,  he  married 
Mrs,  Crowe,  his  housekeeper.  He  died  of  thegradual  de- 
cays of  age,  November  4,  1799,  and  was  interred  in  the 
srouth  transept  of  Gloucester  cathedral,  where  a  monument 
i^aa  since  been  erected  to  his  mejnory.     It  should  be  f<^* 


TUCKER  €3 

corded  to  his  praise,  that  though  enjoying  but  very  mo- 
derate preferment  (for  to  a  man  of  no  paternal  estate^  o^ 
otb^  ecclesiastical  dignity,  the  deanery  of  Gloucester  is 
no  very  advantageous  situation),  he  was  notwithstanding  a 
liberal  benefactor  to  several  public  institutions,'  and  a  dis- 
tinguished patron  of  merit.  About  17dO  bethought  of  re- 
signing his  rectory  in  Bristol,  and,  without  communicating 
his  design  to  any  other  person,  he  applied  to  the  chancel- 
loTy  io  whose  gift  it  is,  for  leave  to  quit  it  in  favoui*  of  his 
ciirate,  a  most  deserving  maq,  with  a  large  family.  His 
lordship  was  willing  enough  that  he  should  give  up  the 
living,  but  he  refused  him  the  liberty  of  nominating  his* 
successor.  On  this  the  dean  resolved  to  bold  the  living 
himself  till  he  could  find  a  (it  opportunity  to  succeed  in  bis 
object.  After  weighing  the  matter  more  deliberately,  he 
communicated  bis  wish  to  his  parishioners,  and  advised 
them  to  draw  up  a  petition  to  the  chancellor  in  favour  of 
the  curate.  This  was  accordingly  done,  and  signed  by  alt 
of  them,  without  any  exception,  either  on  the  part  of  the 
dissenters  or  others.  The  chancellor,  being  touched  with 
this  testimony  of  love  between  a  clergyman  and  his  people^ 
yielded  at  last  to  the  application  ;  in  con^iequence  of  wfaicif 
the  dean  cheerfully  resigned  the  living  to  a  successor  well 
qualified  to  tread  in  his  steps.  ^  • 

TUCKER,  or  TO.OKER  (William),  a  learned  divine  of 
the  sixteenth  century,  was  the  third  son  of  Mr.  William 
Tooker  of  Exeter,  where  he  was  born.  He  was  educated 
at  Winchester  school,  whence  he  went  to  New  college, 
Oxford,  and  was  admitted  perpetual  fellow  in  1577.  He 
completed  his  master's  degree  in  1583,  about  which  time 
he  distinguished  himself  as  a  disputant  before  some  illus-* 
trious  visitors  of  the  university.  In  1585  he  gave  up  his 
fellowship  on  being^  promoted  to  the  archdeaconry  of  Barn- 
staple ill  Devonshire.  He  was  afterwards  made  chaplain  to 
queen,''£lizabeth,  which,  Prince  says,  was  occasioned  by 
his  writing  and  dedicating  a  book  to  her  mnjesty  ou  the 
king's  evil,  which  we  shall  presently  notice.  He  became 
afterwards  prebendary  of  Salisbury,  and  took  his  degree  of 
p.  D*  in  1594.  He  then  became  canon  of  the  church  of 
Exeter,  and  dean  of  Lichfield,  but  did  not  attain  the  latter 
preferment  in  consequence  of  the  death  of  Dr.  Boleyne^  as 

1  Gent  Mfl^.  toI.  LXIX.<— M^arburtoaV  LeUers,  4to  edit.  p.   331,  33V.— 
—Seward*!  AnecdoUis. 


€«  T  U  C  K  E  R. 

Wood  and  Prince  say,  for  be  succeeded  Dr.  Montague^ 
and  was  installed  Feb.  21,  1604*.  These  biographers  inform 
us  that  king  James  designed  him  for  the  bishopric  of 
Gloucester,  and  that  the  cong^  d'elire  was  actually  issued, 
but  for  some  reason  the  king  was.  pleased  to  revoke  it«  De. 
Tucker  died  at  Salisbury  March  19,  1620,  and  was  buried 
in  the  cathedral  there. 

Dr.  Tucker  was  esteemed  an  excellent  Greek  and  Latin 
scholar.  <^The  purity  of  his  Latin  pen,*'  says  Fuller, 
<^  procured  bis  preferment.  .  He  was  an  able  divine,  a  per#> 
son  of  great  gravity  and  piety,  and  well  read  in  curious  and 
'critical  authors."  His  publication^  are,  K  ^*  Charisma,  sive 
Donum  Sanationis,  sen  Exp)icatio  lotius  qusestionis  de  mi- 
rabiliujn  sanitatum  gratia,  &c."  Loud.  1597,  4to.  This  is 
the  work  which.  Prince  says,  introduced  him  to  the  favour  of 
queen  Elizabeth.  It  is  a  historical  defence  of  the  power  of 
our  kings  in  curing  what  is  called  the  king's  eviL  Delrio, 
the  Jesuit,  answered .  it,  and  *^  with  him,"'  say  Wood  and 
Prince,  '^  are  said  to  agree  most  fanaticks,"  and.  we  may 
add,  most  persons  of  common  sense.  Tucker  was,  if  we 
mistake  not,  the  first  who  wrote  in  defence  of  the  royal 
touch,  and  Carte,  the  historian,  the  last,  or  perhaps  the 
celebrated  Whistou,  who  has  a  long  digression  on. the  sub* 
ject  in  bis  life.  2.  ^^  Of  the  Fabrick  of  the  Church  and 
Church-men's  Living,''  Lond.  1604,  .8vo.  This  appears 
to  have  been  written  to  obviate  the  scruples  of  some  of  the 
puritan  party.  The  subjects  treated  are:  1.  ^' Of  parity 
and  imparity  of  gifts;  of  competency  and  incompetency  of 
men's  livings ;  and  of  the  reward  of  men's  gifts  or  main* 
tenance,  so  called ;  of  parity  and  imparity  of  men's  livings,- 
which  ariseth  out  of  the  equality  or  inequality  of  men's 
Igifts,  and  of  preferments  so  called ;  of  singularity  and  phi-* 
rality  of  benefices,  and  of  the  cause  thereof,  viz.  dispensa^ 
tioov;  of  the  friends  and  enemies  of  pluralities;- and  of 
supportance  and  keeping  of  the  fabrick  of  the  church  up^ 
right)  in  which  he  vindicates  the  hierarchy  and  constitution 
of  the  church  of  England  against  the  eoemies  thereof,  who 
are  for  reducing  all  to  a  parity  and  equality."  3.  ^'  Singu-^i 
lire  Certamen  cum  Martino  Becano  Jesuita,"  Lond.  1611^ 
^VQ,  in  defence  of  James  I.  against  Becan  and  Bellarmin  \ 

TUCKNEY  (Anthony),  a  learned  divine,  usually^  but 
perhaps  not  very  strictly,  classed  among  nonconformists, 

^  Ath.  Ox.  vol.  I.— Priucc's  Worthies  of  Devpn.— .Fuller's  Worthies.— WillisV 
Cathedrals.  v 


T  U  C  K  N  E  Y.  65 

was  born  in  September  1599,  at  Kirton,  near  Boston  in 
Lincolnshire,  where  his  father  was  minister.  He  was,  at 
fourteen  years  of  age,  matriculated  of  the  university  of 
Ctoibridge,  being  admitted  of  Emmanuel  college  there. 
His  biographer,  Dr.  Salter,  remarks  that  this  circumstance 
*^  shews  that  he  had  been  educated  hitherto  ih  a  dislike 
to  the- church  establishment;  for  that  college,  though  it- 
abounded  for  many  years  in  most  excellent  scholars,  and 
might  therefore  very  justly  be  esteemed  and  flourish  oil 
their  account,  yet  was  much  resorted  to  foranotber  reason 
about  this  time;. viz.  its  being  generally  look'd  on,  from 
its  first  foundation,  (which  Tuckney  himself  acknowledges) 
as  a  seminary  of  Puritans."'  To  this  class  Dr.  Tuckney  cer- 
tainly belonged  ;  he  was  a  Calvinist,  and  so  far  a  doctrinal 
puritan/  but  we  find  fewer  symptoms  of  nonconformity' 
about  him  than  in  the  case  of  any  man  of  his  time. 

Mr.  Tuckney  took  his  first  degree  in  arts  before  he  was 
seventeen  years  old,  and  was  chosen  fellow  of  his  college 
three  years  after.  In  1620  he  proceeded  M.A.  and  was 
some  time  in  the  earl  of  Lincoln's  family,  before  he  resided 
on  his  fellowship.  When  he  returned  he  became  a  very 
eminent  tutor,  and  had  many  persons  of  rank  admitted 
under  him.  In  1627  he  took  his  degree  of  B.D.;  after 
which' be  accepted  the  invitation  of  his  countrymen,  and 
went  to  Boston,  as  assistant  to  the  famous  vicar  of  that 
town,  John  Cotton,  for  whom,  though  a  very  zealous  non«* 
eoofbrniist,  his  diocesan  bishop  Williams,  when  lord  keeper^ 
procured  a  toleration  under  the  great  seal,  for  the  free 
exercise  of  his  it^inistry,  notwithstanding  his  dissenting  in 
ceremonies,  so  long  as  done  without  disturbance  to  the 
' church.  But  this  was  probably  not  very  long:  for  Mr. 
Cotton  quitted  his  native  country,  before  the  rebellion,  and 
Withdrew  to  New  England.  On  his  departure  the  corpo- 
ration of  Boston  chose  Mr.  Tuckney,  who  was  now  married, 
into  this  vicarage,  and  be  kept  it,  at  their  request,  till  the 
restoration ;  or  rather  his  title  to  it,  for  be  took  no  part  of 
t^e  profit  after  he  ceased  to  reside.  Calamy  mentions  a 
Mr.*  Anderson  as  having  been  ejected  at  the  restoration ;  he 
probably  officiated  there,  but  never  was  vicar,  and  Dr.  How 
succeeded  Mr.  Tuckney  in  1660.    . 

When  the  Assembly  of  Divines  met  at  Westminster,  Mr. 
Tuckney  was  one  of  the.  two  nominated  for  the  county  of 
Lincfdn,  and  on  this  removed  to  London,  and  was  appointed 
miqisier  of  St». Michael  Querne  in  CUeapside.     In  16^5; 

Vot.  XXX.  F 


V 


6^  T  U  C  K  N  E  Y. 


when  the  earl  of  Manche^er  tnrfred  pat  Dr.  Holdswcath, 
master  of  Eimnanuel  college,  Mr.  Tuckney  was  appoinligd 
to  succeed  him,  bat  did  not  entirdy  reside  on  this  emptoy- 
inent  until  I64S,  %vhen  being  chosen  vice-cfaiuncellor  he  fe- 
moTed  with  bis  family  to  Cambridge,  served  that  ofBoe  with 
-credit;,  and  commenced  D.D.  the  y^ar  after.  While  vice- 
chancellor,  Mr.  Baker  informs  us,  that  he  was  very  zealous 
for  the  conversion  of  the  Indians,  aird  the  propagation  of 
the  gospel  in  America,  and  promoted  these  designs  very 
vigorously  with  the  assistance  of  the  heads  of  the  other 
colleges.  In  166%  Dr.  Hill  master  of  Trinity  dying.  Dr. 
Tuckney  preached  bis  funeral  sermon,  and  on  the  removal 
of  Dr.  Arrommith  to  Trinity  college,  was  chosen  master  of 
St,  John^s,  and  two  years  aAefr  regius  professor  of  divinity. 
But  although  Aus  legally  possessed  of  these  two  considera- 
ble preferments,  and  akhougb.  Dr.  Salter  says,  his  beha* 
T4our  in  both  was  irreproachable  and  even  highly  commend- 
able ;  though  (le  ever  consulted  the  interest  hoth  of  the  uni- 
versity and  his  college,  and  the  honour  of  the  chair,  yet  he 
Was  (fStnlfy  turned  otd  of  both,  at  the  restoration,  on  pretence 
pf  bis  gi^t  age,  which  was  only  sixty-two. 

Mr.  Baker  thus  represents  the  treatment  Dr.  Tacknegr 
met  with :  ^^  A  set  of  young  men  (for  the  old  ejected  mem« 
bers  seem  to  have  been  content  with  their  commons)  were 
so  intoxicated  with  the  retuni  of  the  king,  imdilushed  with 
wiltaier  expectations,  as  to  forget  nrll  reverence  and  grati- 
tude f  hat  was  due  to  a  vet>erable  old  man,  and  to  turn  upon 

'their  benefa)ctor,  to  whom  most  of  them  owed  encourage- 
ment, and  some  of  them  preferment.  The  same  person, 
that  had  been  so  much  reverenced  fay  tbetn,  was  now  nfeg«- 
lected.  Complaints  were  brought  by  tliem,  and  preferred 
at  court  against  him,  where  ^meeting  with  cbuntenance,  the 
good,  old  man,  partly  awedhvith  th^  terrors  Of  the  higher 
powers,  and  partly  grieved  and  vested  with  the  ingratitdde 
of  his  fellows ;  or  possibly  foreseeing  a  consequent  nece§- 
stty  upon  his  non-compliance,  was  easily  prevailed  with  to 
reiign  ifais  preferments.  He  apeordingly  resigned  his  mas* 
tetsfaip  of  St.  John^s  and  professorship  June22,  1661,  a 
pension  of  lOO/.  per  annum  being  reserved  to  him  out  of 
the  emoluments  of  bis  professorship,  which  was  duly  paid 

^^liiii  to  his  dying ^ay." 

"The  rest  of  jils  life,**  adds  Mr.  Baker,  "he  spent  in 
retirement,  most  part  at  London,  M^here  he  bad  been  pafttor 
of  St.  Michael  le  Qu^rne,  and  wher^he  h^d  beM  oommis- 


TUCK  N  E  y.  67 

«io0er  at  Ibe  conference  at  the  Savoy :  but,  either  through 
diffidence  of  himself,  or  for  other  reasons,  although  h^e  bad 
filled  the  chair  at  Cambridge  so  many  years  with  reputa- 
tion, by  acquitting  himself  extremely  well,  yet  he  never 
could  be  prevailed  with  tp  appear  and  act  in  that  confer- 
ence; whilst  Mr.  Baxter,  who  knew  nothing  of  an  univer- 
sity, nor  was  acquainted  with  any  other  chair  save  that  of 
the  pulpit,  only  in  the  strength  of  natural  logic  ventured  to 
engage  in  mood  and  figure  with  sou^  of.  our  .bestapd  n^o^ 
experienced  divines,  with  su^ch  suqcess  as  lu^ually  atti^ds 
rash  undertakiugs.'' 

The  Savoy  conferenc;^  Dr.  Tnckney  certainly  wv^  at^ 
tended,  which,  Dr.  Salter  say^,  JMr.  ^fixter  ol>sierye^  <^  with 
some  indignation;"  but  this  wie  cannot  discover  in  Baxter^s 
account.  Still  less  would  he  have  hinted,  as  a  cause  for 
Dc  Tuckney's  absence,  that  be  w|^  silenced  by  the  \pQl*  a 
.yean  given  him,  which  Dr.  JSaJter,  ajthougl^.ofb^rwjse^.l^s 
.adinirer,  has  doae.  According  \o  CaU^nay,  b^.^pre^i^ 
sometimes  in  his  own  bouse,  and  occa^Jially  in^h^  fw^i^ 
lies  of  several  friends.  In  ihfi  time  c^f  the  plagUfl.biP  livf^ 
at  Colwich  hall  near  NoUingbaoa,  ^e.seat  of  JR4}l>|^rt  pierre- 
. point,  esq.  where  he  wa3  sopu  trembled  and  Qon6.ped^  but 
was  treated  very  civilly,  and  in  a  few  months  dji^lpyaig^^. 
.  Upon  tbe  £ve- mile  act,  be  removed  tp  Oundle,  ^nd  thence 
to  Warmington,  in  Nprtbamptpnsbire.  .  After  the  fii;e  pf 
London  (in  which  his  library  was  burnt)  be.  j[reii^Q]ire4  Jl^o 
S.tockerstpu  in  Leicestershire,  ^nd  then  to  Tottenh^^mii^r 
London,  whence  in  1(169-70  he  r/emoved  to  SpijuL-yard, 
.where  he  continued  until  bis  death,  (February  1670,  ia^the 
^eventy-first  vear  of  bis  age.  He.  w^s  buried  March  l,.in 
.the  church  of  St.  Andrew  Undershaft,  London. 
,  Calamy  says,  be  bad  the  character  of  an,em.ine(>tly  piqiis 
and  .learned  man,  a  true  friend,  an  indefatigable. stuc^cit,,  a 
can,did  disputant,  and  an  earnest  promoter  of  truth  and.god- 
liness.  A  remarkable  proof  of  his  candour,  and  of  h^^  zeal 
Jfor  truth,  may  be  seen  in  his  letters  to  DrvWhichcptf^^who 
bad  been  one  of  his  pupils,  published. in  17^3  by  Pr.  Salter, 
under  the;title  of  **  Eight  Letters  —  concerning  the  Use  of 
reason  in  religion  ;  the  difTerences  of  opinion  among  Chris- 
tians; the  reconciiiauon  of  sinners  unto  Gojd  ;.  and,  the 
studies  and  learning  of  a  minister  of  ,tbj/e  gospel/'  The^e 
were  written  in  1651,  and  were  appended  by  Dr.  Salter  to 
his  edition  of  Whichcote**  *^  Aphorisms."  Dr.  Tuckn'ey*s 
other  works  were,  "  Forty  Sermons'*  published  by  his  son 

F2 


68  T  U  C  K  N  E  Y. 

the  Rev.  Jonathan  Tuckney,  1676, 4to;  and  a  collection  of 
Latin  pieces,  consisting  of  sermons  ad  clerum^  positions, 
determinations  in  the  chair  and  for  his  own  degree,  lectures, 
&c.  Amst.  1679,  with  a  short  account  of  the  Doctor  by  W. 
D.  supposed  to  be  Dr.  William  Dillingham,  his  successor 
in  the  headship  of  Emmanuel  college. 

From  these  writings.  Dr.  Salter  remarks,  that  "our  pro- 
fessor appears  to  have  been  a  man  of  great  reading  and 
much  knowledge;  a  ready  and  elegant  Latinist ;  but  nar- 
row, stiff,  and  dogmatical ;  no  enemy  to  the  royal  or  epis- 
copal power,  as  it  should  seem  ;  but  above  measure  zealous 
for  church  power  and  ecclesiastical  discipline  ;  which-  such 
men  as  Tuckney,  Arrowsmith,  &c.  very  sincerely  wished 
and  hoped  to  have  established,  .by  authority  of  the  parlia- 
ment, following  the  repeated  advice  of  the  assembly ;  and 
they  sadly  regretted  their  disappointment;  their  new  masters 
constantly  turning  a  deaf  ear  to  all  such  admonitions."  In 
his  elections  at  St.  John's,  when  the  president  would  call 
upon  him  to  have  regard  to  the  godly ^  the  master  answered, 
^'No  one  shotild  have  a  greater  regard  to  the  truly  godly  than 
himself,  but  he  was  determined  to  choose  none  but  scho- 
lars'^" adding,  *'They  inay  deceive  me  in  their  godliness  : 
they  cannot  in  their  scholarship." 

"  One  thing,"  Mr.  Baker  adds,  "  may  be  said  in  favour , 
of  Dr.  Tuckney,  and  his  predecessor  (Arrowsmith),  or  ra- 
iher  it  is  a  right  owing  to  their  memory,  that  though  they 
were  not  perhaps  so  learned  as  some  of  those  that  have  before 
and  since  filled  that  post  and  station,  yet  their  government 
wi^  so  good,  and  the  discipline  under  them  so  strict  and 
regular,  that  learning  then  flourished  :  and  it  was  under 
them  that  some  of  those  great  men  had  their  education  who 
were  afterwards  the  ornaments  of  the  following  age.  I  need 
not  name  them.  Sdllingfleet,  Beveridge,  Cave,  &c.  are 
names  well  known  ;  names  that  will  live  in  future  aoes* 
when  their  first  instructors- will  perhaps  be  forgot."  * 

TUDESCHI,  or  TEDESCHI  (Nicholas),  an  eminent 
canonist,  was  a  native  of  Sicily,  and  commonly  called  Pa- 
NORMlTANUS.,  from  his  being  at  the  head  of  a  Benedictine 
abbey  in  Palermo,  and  afterwards  archbishop  of  that  city. 
He  was  bor\i  probably  towards  the  close  of  the  fourteenth 
century,  some  say  in  13S6,  and  became  one  of  the  mos^ 

1  Calamy.—Life  by  Dr.  Setter,  prefixed  to  hw  "  Leitert.'>.«.Mr.  Buktr't  MS 
History  of  St.  Johu*s  college.  « 


T  U  D  E  S  C  H  I.  69 

celebrated  canonis.u  of  his  time.  He  was  present  at  the 
CouDcil  of  Basil,  and  bad  a  considerable  hand  in  the  pro- 
ceedings there  against  pope  Eugenius ;  in  recompense  for 
which  service  he  was  made  a  cardinal  by  Felix  V.  in  1440. 
He  was  afterwards  obliged,  j)y  the  orders  of  the  king  of 
Arragon  his  master,  to  return  to  his  archbishopric,  where 
he  died  of  the  plague  in  1445.  There  is  a  complete  edition 
of  his  works,  Venice,  1617,  in  9  vols.  fol. '  Dupin  mentions 
as  his  principal  work  a  treatise  on  the  council  of  ^asil, 
which  was  translated  into  French  about  the  end  of  the 
seventeenth  century  by  Dr.  Gerbais,  of  the  Sorbonne,  and 
printed  at  Paris.  *  »  , 

TULL  (Jethro),  a  gentleman  of  an  ancient  family  in 
Yorkshire,  deserves  honourable  mention  in  this  work,  al- 
though we  can  say  little  as  to  his  biography,  as  the  first  in- 
ventor of  the  drill-plough,  and  the  first  Englishman,  perhaps 
the  first  writer  ancient  or  modern,  who  attempted  with  any 
tolerable  degree  of  success  to  reduce  agriculture  to  certain 
and  uniform  priniciples*  After  an  education  at  on.e  of  our 
universities,  and  being  admitted  a  barrister  of  the  Teqiple, 
he  made  the  tour  of  Europe,  and,  in  every  country  through 
which  he  passed,  was  a  diligent^  observer  of  the  soil^  culture^ 
and  vegetable  productions.  On  bis  return  to  England  he 
married,  and  settled  in  a  paternal  farm  in  Oxfordshire, 
where  he  pursued  an  infinite  number  of  agricultural  expe- 
riments, till  by  intense  application,  vexatious  toil,  and  too 
frequently  exposing  himself  to  the  vicissitudes  of  heat  and 
cold  in  the  open  fields,  he  contracted  a  disorder  in  bis  breast, 
which,  not  being  found  curable  in  England,  obliged  him  a 
second  time  to  travel,  and  to  seek  a  cure  in  the  milder  cli- 
mates of  France  and  Italy.  Here  he  .again  attended  more 
.minutely  to  the  culture  of  those  countries;  and,  having  little 
else  to  do,  he  employed  himself,  during  three  years  resi- 
dence abroad,  to  reduce  his  observations  to  writing,  with  a 
view  of  once  more  endeavouring  to  introduce  them  into 
practice,  if  ever  he  should  be  so  happy  as  to  recover  his 
health,  and  be  able  to  undergo  the  fatigues  of  a  second  at- 
tempt. From  the  climate  of  Montpelier,  and  the  waters  of 
that  salutary  spring,  he  found  in  a  few  months  that  relief 
which  all  the  power  of  physic  could  not  afford  him  at 
home ;  and  he  returned  to  appearance  perfectly  repaired 
in  his  constitution,  but  greatly  embarrassed  in  hi^  fortune. 

]  DupiD.«-Caire,  toI.  II.—- Fabric.  Bibl«  Lat.  Med, 


ro  T  tr  L  L. 

Pare  of  bis  estate  id  Oxfordshire'  he  had  sold,  and  before 
his  dep2LTture  bad  settled  his  family  on  a  farm  of  his  owit^ 
cdlli^d  Prosperous  Farm,  near  Hungerford  in  Berkshiref, 
Inhere  he  returned  with  a  firm  resolution  to  perfect  his 
former  iThdertdking,  having,  as  he  thought,  devised  means 
during  his  absence  to  obviate  all  difficulties,  and  to  force 
his  new  husbandry  into  practice  by  the  success  of  it,  in 
spite  of  all  the  opposition  that  should  be  raised  by  the  lowet* 
class  of  husbandnien  against  it.  He  revised  and  rectified 
all  his  old  instruments,  and  contrived  new  ones  proper  for 
the  different  soils  of  his  new  farm ;  and  he  no<v  went  on 
pretty  successfully,  though  not  rapidly,  nor  much  less  ex* 
pensively,  in  the  prosecution  of  bis  new  system.  He  de- 
monstrated to  all  the  world  the  good  effects  of  his  horse- 
hoeing  culture;  and  by  raising  crops  of  wheat  without 
dunging  for  thirteen  years  together  in  the  same  field,  equal 
in  qtiantity,  and  superior  in  quality,  to  those  of  his  neigh- 
bours in  the  ordinary  course,  he  demonstrated  the  truth  6f 
his  own  doctrine,  that  labour  and  arrangement  would  sup- 
ply the  place  of  dung  and  fallow,  and  would  produce  more 
fcorn  at  an  equal  or  ifess  expence.  But  though  Mr.  Tull 
was  successful  in  demonstrating  that  this  might  be  done,  h6 
was  not  so  happy  in  doing  it  himself.^  His  expences  were 
enhanced  various  ways,  but  chiefly  by  the  stupidity  of 
\vorkmen  in  constructing  his  instruments,  and  in  the  awk- 
wardness and  wickedness  of  his  servants,  who,  because 
they  did  not  or  would  not  comprehend  the  use  of  them, 
seldom  failed  to  break  some  essential  part  or  other,  in  order 
to  render  them  useless.  These  disadvantages  were  dis-^ 
cernible  only^  to  Mr.  Tull  himself;  the  advantages  attending 
the  new  husbandry  were  now  visible  to  all  the  world ;  and 
it  was  now  that  Mr.  Tull  was  prevailed  upon,  by  the  soli- 
citations of  the  neighbouring  gentlemen  who  were  witnesses 
of  its  utility,  to  publish  his  theory,  illustrated  by  a  genuine 
account  of  the  result  of  it  in  practice,  which  he  engaged 
to  do,  and  faithfully  performed  at  no  trivial  expdnce. 

His  first  publication  was  a  "Specinien"  only,  in  1731  ; 
which  was  followed  in  1733  by  "  An  Essay  on  Horse-hoeing 
Husbandry,*'  1733,  folio;  a  work  of  so  much  reputation, 
that  it  was  translated  into  French  by  Mr.  Du  Hamel.  'From 
this  time  to  1739,  he  continued  to  make  several  improve- 
ments in  his  method  of  cultivating  wheat;  and  to  publish 
at  different  times  answers  to  such  objections  as  had  been 
made  to  his  husbandry  by  ^^  those  literary  vermin  that  are 


I« 


T  U  L  L,  71 

«$  injurious  to  the  agricultuce  of  England,  as  tha  Ay  is  to 
Qur  turnips.'*.  We  use  here  the  words  of  a  noble  writer, 
who  cond^c^nded  to  prefix  an  advertisement  to  a  posthu- 
mous publication  of  the  late  Mr.  Francis  Forbes,  entitled 
^'Tbe  extensive  Practice  of  the  New  Husbandrjp^^'  1778, 
8vo,  a  work  which  endeavoured  to  revive  the  ideas  and 
practice  of  Mr.  Tuli,  who  died  Jan.  3,  1740,  at  his  seat  at 
Prosperous. 

Mr.TuU  had  a  son»  JoQN,  who  in  his  early  years  travelled 
to  France,  Italy,  and  other  parts  of  tfbe  continent.  On  his 
return,  being  a  good  mechanic,  he  was  led  to  various  inven- 
tions, which  had  various  success.  He  was,  among  other 
schemes,  the  first  who  introduced  post*cfaaises,  and  post- 
travelling  b}^  them,  in  England,  for  which  he  obtained  a 
patent  in  1737.  He  then  appears  to  have  gone  into  the 
array,  and  was  an  officer  in  the  train  of  artillery,  and  aid- 
de-icaunp  to  general  James  Campbell,  who  fell  at  the  battle 
ofFontenoy,  where  Mr.  TuU  attended  him.  After  his^  re- 
turn he  resumed  his  schemes^  one  of  which  was  the  bring- 
ing of  fish  to  London  by  land^arriage.  This  he  introduced 
in  July  aod  August  1761;  but,  failing  for  want  of  capital,  he 
was  arrested,  and  died  in  prison  in  1764.^ 

TULLY  (TkOMAS),  a  learned  English  divine  and  con<- 
tjroversial  writer,  was  born  in  St.  Martinis  parish  in  the  city 
of  Carlisle,  July  22,  1620,  and  was  educated  partly  at  fbe 
free»school  there,  and  afterwards  at  Barton-kirk  in  West- 
moreland.  He  was  entered  of  Queen*s  college,  Oxford,  in 
1634,  where  Gerard  Langbaine  was  his  tutor,  and  attained 
a  fellowship.  In  1&42  be  was  created  M.  A.  and  became 
master  of  the  grammar-school  at  Tetf>ury  in  Gloucester- 
shire; but  this  be  seems  to  have  accepted  rather  as  a  re- 
treat, while  Oxford  was  garrisoned  during  the  rebellion, 
for  after  the  surrender  of  the  garrison,  he  returned  to  bis 
college,  and  became  a  noted  tutor  and  preacher,  and  in 
1657  was  admitted  bachelor  of  divinity.  He  was  soon  after 
made  principal  of  £dmond-hall,  which  he  found  almost 
empty,  but  raised  it,  as  Wood  informs  us,  to  a  state  as  flou- 
risbiogas  that  of  any  hall  in  Oxford.  After  the  restbration, 
he  was  created  D.  D.  and  was  made  chaplain  to  his  majesty. 
He  was  also  presented  to  the  rectory  of  Griggkton,  or  Grit- 
tleton,  near  Malmsbury  in  Wiltshire,  by  Thomas  Gore  of 
Alderton,  esq.  who  had  been  one  of  bis  pupils,  and  in  1675 

i  Gent  Mag.  vol.  XS3CIV.  apparently  by  Mr.  DaTMlIiMry. 

,    >  4  * 


72  T  U  L  L  Y. 

\ 

\ 

the  king,  conferred  upon  him  the.  deanery  of  Rtppon,  which 
be  did  not  long  enjoy 5  as  he  died  on  January  14  foliowiog, 
l€75-6,  at  the  parsonage  house  at  Griggleton,  and  v)ras'in«< 
terred  in  thfe  chancel  of  that  church. 

Wood«ays,  Dr.  Tully  '^  was  a  pious  man,  and  many  ways 
very  learned,  chiefly  read  in  the  more  ancient  writers,  yet 
not  so  wholly  addicted  to  the  perusal  of  thenar, .  but  that  at 
some  times  be  took  delight  to  converse  with  later  authors. 
JHe  was  a  person  of  severe  morals,  puritanically  inclined,  and 
a  strict  Calvinist,^'  which  Wood  thinks  was. some  hindrance 
to  him  in  the  way  of  promotion,  but  his  promotioi^  were 
certainly  not  inconsiderable.  His  principal  works  are,  1. 
*^ Logica  Apodeictica,  sive Tractatus  brevis  et  dilucidusde 
demonstratione  ;  cum  dissertatiuncula  Gassendi  eodem  per- 
tinente,"  Oxon.  1662,  8vo.  2.  **  ALetter.to  a  friend  in 
Wilts  (his  patron  Mr.  Gore)  upon  occasion  of  a  late.ridicu- 
lous  pamphlet,  wherein  was  inserted  a  pretended  prophecy 
of  Thomas  Becket,"  Lond.  1666,  4to.  3.  "Enchiiudion 
didacticum,  cum  appendice  de  ccena  Domini,  expositione 
Syroboli  apostolici  et  orationis  Dominicaj,"  London,  1673^ 
According  to  Wood,  some  of  the. contents  of  this  volume 
bad  been  published  separately.  4.  '^  Justificatio  Piiulina 
sine  Operibus,  cum  dissertat.  ad  Rom.  vii.  14."  Oxon.  1674, 
4tOv  This  was  levelled  chiefly  at  BulPs  "  Harmonia  Apos- 
tolica,"  (See  Bull,  vol.  VII.  p.  267),  and  Baxter's  "Apho- 
risms on  Justifioaiibn;"  and  both  replied  to  Dr.  Tully,  Bull 
in  his  "  Apology  for  the  Harmony,"  and  Baxter  in  a 
**  Treatise  on  Justifying  Righteousness,  &c."  To  the  lat- 
ter Dr.  TuUj(  rejoined  in  *^  A  Letter  to  Mr.  Richard  Bax- 
ter, &c."  Oxon.  1675,  4to.  He  also. translated  from  French 
into  English  "  A  brief  relation  of  the  present  troubles  in 
England,"  Oxon.  1645,  4to. 

There  was  another  of  this  name,  Qeorge  Tully,  son  of 
Isaac  Tully  of  Carlisle,  who,  we  conjecture,  was  a  nephew  of 
the  above  Dr.  Tully.  He  was  educated  at  Queen's  college^ 
Oxford,  and  was  beneflced  in  Yorkshire.  He  died  rector 
of  Gateside  near  Newcastle,  subdean  of  York,  &c.  in  1697. 
He  was  ^  zealous  writer  against  popery,  apd  was  suspended 
for  a  sermon  he  preached  and  published,  in  1686,  again^st 
the  worship  of  images,  and  bad  the  honour,  as  he  terms  it 
himself,  to  be  the  first  clergyman  in  England  who  suffered 
in  the  reign  of  James  IL  ^^  in  defence  of  our  religion  against, 
popish  superstition  and  idolatry."  He  was  one  of  the  trans- 
Ifttors  pf  "  Plutarch's  Morals,"  "  Cornelius  Nepos,"  and 


T  U  L  L  Y.  73 

ft 

^^fifietcHiiuSy"  all  which  were,  according  to  the  phrase  ia 
ttie,  ^^  done  into  English  by  several  hands."  Thomas  Tully, 
author  of  the  funeral  sermon  on  the  death  of  bishop  Raii>- 
bpw,  which  is  appended  to  Banks's  Life  of  that  prelate,  wa$» 
wepresume,  of  the  same  family  as  the  preceding.  ^  He  died 
chancellor  of  Carlisle  about  1727.^ 

-  TULP  (Nicholas),  an  eminent  physician,  was  the  son 
of  Peter  Dirx,  a  rich  niercbaut  of  Amsterdam,  where  he; 
M-as  born  Oct.  11,  1593.  He  rarely  went, by  his  father's 
luune,,  having  rather  whimsically  changed  it  to  de  TuLP, 
the  aame,  or.probably  the  sign  of  a  house  in  which  he  lived 
on  the  emperor's  canal.  He  was  at  first  a  surgeon's  ap- 
prentice, but  having  a  perfect  acquaintance  with  the  Latin 
language,  and  a  turn  for  science,  h^  determined  to  extend 
bis  studies  to  every  thing  connected  with  medicine,  to 
which  he  accordingly  applied  at  the  university  of  Leyden. 
After  taking  hi&  doctor's  degree  he  returned  to  Amsterdam, 
and  carried  on  practice  for  fifty- two  years  with  the  greatest 
reputation.  But  his  fame  was  not  confined  to  his  profession 
only.  Possessing  an  accurate  knowledge  and  niuch  judg- 
ment in  the  political  history  of  his  country,  he  was  raised  to 
civic  honours ;  in  1622  he  was  eletted  of  the  council  of 
Amsterdam^  and  six  times  served  the  olfice  of  sheriff.  In 
1652  he  was  0)ade  burgomaster,  an  office  which  he  filled 
also  in  1656,  1660,  and  1671.  In  1672,  when  Louis  XIV. 
attacked  Holland,  Tulp  had  a  principal  hand  in  exciting 
that  spirit. of  resistance  among  his  fellow-citizens  by  which 
Amsterdam  was  saved.  Nor  were  they  unmindful  of  his 
services,  for  when  he  died  in  1674,  aged  eighty,  a  medal 
was  struck  to  his  memory. 

In  the  medical  world  he  is  principally  known  by  his 
"  Observationum  medicarum  Libri  tres,"  Amst.  164-1,  1652, 
12mo,  with  engravings,  reprinted  with  a  fourth  book,  Amst. 
1672,  1685,  and  Leyden,  1716.  In  these  cases,  which  are 
very  curious,  and  written  in  a  Latin  style,  which  is  pure 
without  affectation,  and  concise  without  obscurity,  are  some 
valuable  anatomical  remarks ;  and,  according  to  Halle^^ 
Tulp  was  the  first,  or  one  of  the  first,  who  observed  the  lac<r 
teal  vessels.' 

TUNSTALL,    or    TONSTAL    (Cuthbert),    a    very 
learned^  and  in  many  respects  a  very  excellent  prelate 

of  the  church  of  Rome,  was  born  at  Hatchford,  near  Rich^ 

•      ■  '   .   •  •      '  ■  ■•   • 

9  Atb.  Ox.  Tol.  II.  9  E)oy,  Diet.  Hftft.  de  Medecine.^Haller  Bibl.  Mei|. 


74  T  U  N  S  T  A  L  L. 

mondy  Yorkshire^  about  1474.  He  was  a  natural  son^  of 
a  gsqtlelmaQ  named  TunstatI  or  Tonstal,  by  a  iady  of  -tbe^ 
Conyers  family.  He  became  a  student  at  Baliol  college,' 
Oxford,  about  Mdl,  but,  on  the  plague  breaking  out, 
went  to  Cambridge,  where  be  became  a  fellow  of  King^s 
ball,  now  part  of  Trinity  college.  After  baving  for  some 
time  prosecuted  his  studies  there,  be  went  to  the  univer- 
sity of  Padua,  which  was  then  in  high  reputation,  studied 
along  with  Latimer,  and  took  the  degree  of  doctor  of  laws. 
According  to  Godwin,  he  was  by  this  time  a  man  of  ex- 
tensive learning,  a  good  Hebrew  and  Greek  scholar,  an 
able  lawyer  and  divine,  a  good  rhetorician,  and  skilled  in 
various  branches  of  the  mathematics.  These  accomplish* 
ments,  un  his  return,  recommended  him  to  the  patronage 
of  archbishop  Warham,  who  constituted  him  vicar*general 
or  chancellor,  in  August  1511.  The  archbishop  also  re- 
commended him  to  Henry  VHI.  and  in  December  of  the 
same  year,  collated  him  to  the  rectory  of  Harrow-on-the 
bill,  Middlesex;  which  be  held  till  1522. 

In  1514  he  was  installed  prebendary  of  Stow-longa,  in 
the  church  of  Lincoln,  and  the  following  year  admitted 
archdeacon  of  Chester.  In  1516  he  was  made  master  of 
the  rolls,  a  post  for  which  his  extensive  knowledge  of  the 
laws  had  well  qualified  him.  The  same  year  he  was  sent 
on  an  embassy,  with  sir  Thomas  More,  to  the  einperor 
Charles  V.  then  at  Brussels,  and  there  had  the  satisfac- 
tion of  livfng  in  the  same  bouse  with  Erasmus,  who  said 
of  him  that  be  not  only  excelled  all  his  contemporaries  in 
the  knowledge  of  the  learned  languages,  but  was  also  a 
man  of  great  judgment,  clear  understanding*  and  uncom- 
mon modesty,  and  of  a  cheerful  temper,  but  without  levity. 
In  the  performance  of  his  duty  at  the  Imperial  court,  he 
made  himself  well  acquainted  with  such  circumstances  as 
were  of  importance  to  his  royal  master  and  the  interests 
of  his  country,,  and  gave  such  satisfaction  to  the  adminis- 
tration at  home,  that  about  ten  days  after  his  arrival  in 
London  in  1517,  he  was  a  second  time  sent  on  an  embassy 
to  the  emperor. 

On  his  return,  apparently  in  1 5 1 9,  he  was  rewarded  by 
a  succession  of  preferments,  in  this  year  by  the  prebend 
of  Botevant,  in  the  church  of  York;  in  May  1521  by  ano- 

*  The  illegitimacy  of  his  birth  has     not  to  rest  upon  the  best  foandation. 
be«D  called  ia  qUMtion,   and  seems     See  Hutchiitsoo's  Durham^  yoI.  1.  il% 


T  U  N  S  T  A  L  L.  7S 

tber,  that  of  Combe  and  Hornham,  in  the  charoh  of  Sa- 
I'uni;  by  the  deanery  of  Salisbttry;  and  in  1522  he  wa$ 
promoted  to  the  bishopric  of  London.  In  1523  he  was 
made  keeper  of  the  privy  seal:  and  in  1525,  he  and  sir 
Richard  Wingfield  went  ambassadors  into  Spain,  in  order 
to  confer  with  the  emperor,  after  the  king  of  France, 
Frahcis  I  was  taken  prisoner  at  the  battle  of  Pavia. 

In  1527,  we  find  bishop  Tunstall  employed  in  prose* 
euting  several  persons  in  his  diocese  for  heresy ;  for  he 
was  strongly  attached  to  the  principles  of  the  Romish 
church,  but  he  never  carried  his  zeal  so  far  as  to  put  any 
person  to  death  for  their  opinions.  On  the  contrary  he 
was  always  an  advocate  for  milder  methods  of  reclaiming 
them  from  what  he  thought  erroneous.  Still  his  principles, 
the  example  of  his  contemporaries,  ^and  the  spirit  of  the 
age  in  which  he  lived,  were  all  too  powerful  for  the  natu-^ 
rai  mildness  of  bis  disposition;  and  although  he  shed  no 
Mood,  he  took  many  unjustifiable  steps  to  obstriKt  the 
progress  of  the  reformation,  and  that  being  at  present  but 
partial,  he  probably  thought  he  might  succeed  without 
proceeding  to  tiie  last  extremities. 

In  July  1527,  Tunstall  attended  cardinal  Wolsey  in  his 
pompons  embassy  into  France ;  and  in  J1529  was  one  of 
the  English  ambassadors  employed  to  negociate  the  treaty 
of  Cambray.  It  was  on  his  return  from  this  last  place, 
that  he  exerted  himself  to  suppress  Tyndale's  edition  of 
the  New  Testament,  by  means  which  will  be  noticed  in 
our  account  of  that  celebrated  reformer  and  martyr.  Even 
in  this  matter,  bishop  Burnet  observes  that  judicious  per- 
sons discerned  the  moderation  of  Tunstall,  who  would  will- 
ingly put  himself  to  a  considerable  expence  in  burning 
the  books  of  the  heretics,  but  had  too  much  humanity  to 
be  desirous,  like  many  of  his  bretihren>  to  born  the  here- 
tics themselves. 

In  the  mean  time  he  acquired  great  reputation  by  the 
political  knowledge  and  talents  which  he  displayed  in  his 
different  embassies  and  negociations,  and  no  promotion 
was  thought  too  great  for  him.  In  1530  he  was  translated 
to  the  rich  bishopric  of  Durham.  Before  his  removal  from 
the  see  of  London,  he  had  bestowed  a  considerable  sum  of 
money  in  furnishing  a  library  in  Cambridge  with  valuable 
books,  both  printed  and  MS.  which  he  had  collected  abroad ; 
and  now  at  Durham,  he  laid  out  large  sums  in  adorning 


as  T  U  N  S  T  A  L  L. 

> 

the  city  with  public  buildings,  and  in^  repairing,  and  im* 
proving  bis  episcopal  bouses. 

When  the  great  question  of  Hienry  VIII.'s  divorce  was 
agitated,  Tunstall  at  first  favoured  the  divorce,  and  ev^n 
wrote  on  that  side  of  the  question  ;  but,  having  reason  after- 
wards to  change  his  sentiments,  he  espoused  the  queen's 
cause,  which  .many  of  the  Ronaan  catholics  then  and  now 
consider  as  the  conscientious  side.     When  Henry  took  the 
title  of  Supreme  head  of  the  church  of  England,  Tunstall 
recommended  it  both  in  his  injunctions,  and  in  a  sermon 
preached  at  Durham,  although  be  bad,  in  153],  solemnly 
piiotested  against  that  title.     He  also  vindicated  the  king's 
supremacy,  in  1538,  in  a  sermon  preached  before  his  ma- 
jesty, upon  Palm-sunday,  in  which  he  zealously  condemned 
the  usurpations  of.  the  bishop  of  Rome.     In  1535,  he  was 
one  of  the  commissioners  for  taking  the  valuation  of  eccle* 
siastical  benefices,  in  order  to  settle  the  first  fruits  apd 
tenths.     And  in  1537,  the  king  commanded  him,  on  aa* 
count  of  his  learning  and  judgment,  to  peruse  cardinal 
Pole's  book  of  ^'  Ecclesiastical  Union,''  which  occasioned 
some  letters  between  the  cardinal  and  Tunstall,  particu-c 
larly  a  severe  one  written  jointly  by  him  and  by  Stokesley, 
bishop  of  London,  against  the  pope's  supremacy.      Th« 
year  following,  be  was  appointed  to  confer  coucerning  the 
reformation,  with  the  ambassadors  of.  the  German  protest-^ 
apt  princes ;  but  matters  were  not  yet  ripe  for  an  altera^^ 
tion  in  this  kingdom.     In  1541  a  new  edition  of  the  En^ 
glish  Bible  was  revised  by  him  and  Nicholas  Heath,  bishop 
of  Rochester.     Attached  as  be  was  to  popery,  he  appears 
to  have  taken  in  many  cases,  a  calm  and  judicious  view  of 
the  questions  agitated  in  Henry  VIII.'s  reign,  and  this  led 
bin)  to  concur  in  some  of  the  measures  which  were  favou|^- 
able  to  the  reformation  ;  and  in  that  of  Edward  VI.  he 
yielded  obedience  to  every  law  which  was  enacted,  and  to 
all  the  injunction^,  at  the  same  time  that  he  protested,  in 
bis  place  in  parliament,  against  the  changes  in  religion^ 
which,  Burnet  says,  he  thought  he  might  with  a  good  con- 
science submit  to  and  obey,  though  be  coul.d  not  consent 
to  them.     In. the  question  of  the  corporal  presence,  he  ad- 
hered to  the  popish  opinion,  and  wrote  on  the  subject. 

In  December  1551,  Tunstall  was  committed  to  the 
Tower,  upon  an  accusation  of  misprision  of  treason.  What 
the  particulars  were,  is  not  known  ;  but  Burnet  thinks  that 
the  secret  reason  was  that,  if  he  should  be  attainted,  the 


\ 


T  U  N  S  T  A  L  L.  77 

dttke  of  Northumberland  intended  to  have  had  the  dig- 
nities and  JLiFisdiction  of  that  principality  conferred  on 
himself,  aiid  thus  be  count  palatine  of  Durham.  It  ap- 
peairs,  however,  that  Tunstall  was  charged  by  one  Vi- 
vian Menrille,  with  having  consented  to  a  conspiracy  in 
the  north  fdr  exciting  a  rebellion ;  and  it  is  said,  that 
something  6f  this  kind  was  proved,  by  a  letter  in  the 
bishop^s  own  hand-writing,  found  when  the  duke  of  So- 
ihersefs  papers  were  seized.  It  has  been  conjectured, 
that  he,  being  in  great  esteem  with  the  popish  party,  wsis 
made  privy  to  some  of  their  treasonable  designs  again^c 
king  Edward's  government :  but  which  he  neither  con- 
curred in,  nor  betrayed.  However,  on  March  28,  1552, 
a  bill  was  brought  into  the  House  of  Lords,  to  attaint  him 
for  misprision  of  treason.  Archbishop  Cranmer  spoke 
vrarmiy  and  freely  in  his  defence,  but  the'  bill  passed  the 
Lords.  When,  however,  it  came  to  the  Commons,  they 
were  not  satisfied  with  the  written  evidence  which  was 
produced,  and  having  at  that  time  a  bill  before  them,  that 
there  shoald  be  two  witnesses  in  case  of  treason,  and  that 
the  witnesses  and  the  party  arraigned  should  be  brought 
face  td  face,  and  that  treason  should  not  be  adjudged  by 
•trcumstances,  but  plain  evidence,  they  therefore  threw 
:^ut  the  bill  against  Tunstall.  This  method  of  proceeding 
havilig  been  found  ineflPectual,  a  commission  was  granted 
to  the  chief  justice  of  the  King's  bench,  and  six  others, 
empowering  them  to  call  bishop  Tunstall  before  thecfi, 
and  examine  him  concerning  all  manner  of  conspiracies, 
&c.  and  if  found  guilty,  to  deprive  him  of  his  bishopric. 
This  scheme,  in  whatever  manner  it  might  be  conducted, 
was  effectual,  for  he  was  deprived,  and  continued  a  pri- 
soner in  the  Toiver  durinjj  the  remainder  of  Edward's 
neign.  In  1*553  also,  the  bishopric  of  Durham  was  con- 
verted into  a  county  palatine,  and  given  to  the  duke  of 
Northumberland,  which  certainly  favours  bishop  Burnet's 
conjecture  that  there  was  a  secret  as  well  as  an  open  cause 
lor  the  deprivation  of  our  prelate. 

While  in  the  Tower,  Tunstall  Was  frequently  visited  by 
bis  nephew,  the  celebrated  Bernard  Gilpin,  who  had  pro- 
bably been  brought  up  to  the  church  with  a  vie\^  of  being 
advanced  by  this  prelate,  but  he  was  now  in  no  capacity 
to  serve  him  otheirwise  than  by  his  advice,  and  the  advice 
he  gave  him  about  this  time,  places  Tunstall  in  a  very  fa- 
vourable pofnt  of  view.     When  Gilpin,  just  entered  on  his 


7«  TUNSTALL. 

parochial  duties  in  tbe  north,  fouiid  that  his  mifid  was  not 
quite  settled  in  his  religious  opinions,  be  wrote  to  his  uocle 
Tunstall,  who  told  him,  in  answer,  that  he  should  think  of 
.notluncr  till  he  had  fixed  his  religion,  and  that,  in  his  opi- 
nion, he  could  not  do  better  than  put  his  parish  into  tbe 
bands  of  .some  person  in  whom  he  could  confide,  and 
spend  a  year  or  two  in  Germany,  Fr/ince,  and  Holland; 
.by  which  means  he  might  have  an  opportunity  of  convers- 
ing with  some  of  the  most  eminent  professors  on  both  sides 
of  the  question.  To  this  admirable  advice,  for  suob.  it  . 
surely  is,  from  a  popish  bishop  of  that  age,  Gilpin  bad 
but  one  objection,  namely  tbe  expence ;  but  the  bishop 
wrote,  that  his  living  would  do  something  towards  bis 
maintenance;  and  he  would  supply  deficiencies.  When 
they  parted,  the  bishqp  gave  him  some  boo(:s  be  had.  wcil- 
ten  while  in  tbe  Tower,  particularly  que. on  the  Lord^s 
supper,  which  he  wished  to  be  printed  under  his  inspect- 
'  tion  at  Paris. 

On  the  accession  of  queen  Mary  in  1553,  Tunstall  was 
restored  to  bis  bishopric ;  but  still  be  was  not  a  omn  to  ^r 
mind,  behaving  with  great  lenity  .and  moderation,  .^n4 
•  consequently  his  diocese  escaped  tbe  cruet  persecutions 
which  prevailed  in  others.  When  he  left  London,  he  iVas 
strictly  charged  with  tlie  entire  extirpation  of  heresy  in  bis 
diocese ;  and  was  given  to  understand,  that  severity  would 
be  the  only  allowed  test  of  his  zeaL  These  instructioi^, 
says  Mr.  Gilpin,  he  received  in  the  spirit  they  were  given; 
loudly  threatening,  that  heretics  should  no  where  find  a 
warmer  reception  than  at  Durham  :  and  it  was  thougbl  in- 
deed that  the  protestants  would  hardly  meet  with  macb 
f^vpur  from  him,  as  tliey  had  shown  bim  so  little^  fiiit 
jDothing  was  further  from  his  intention  tbanperseou^on: 
insomuch,  that  his  was  almost  the  only  diocese  where  tbe 
poor  protestants  enjoyed  any  repose.  When  most  of  tbe 
other  bishops  sent  in  large  accounts  of  their  servicers  to  re- 
ligion, very  lame  ones  came  from  Durham;  they  were 
filled  with  high  encomiums  of  the  ortlipdoxy  of  the  diocese, 
interspersed  here  and  there  with  tbe  trial  of  an  beictic^ 
but  either  the  depositions  against  him  were  not  su£Eu:ientty 
proved,  or  there  were  great  hopes  of  bis  recanutt^ion ;  no  . 
mention  however  was  made  of  any  bumiogs.  A  bebavio«pr 
of  this  kind  was  but  ill  relished  by  the  zealots  council : 
and  tbe  bishop  lay  deservedly  under  the  calumny  .of  bei^g 
not  actuated  by  true  Romi&h  principles.     When  his  oe- 


T  U  N  S  T  A  L  L  79 

phew  Bernard  Gilpin,  an  avowed  protestant,  came  home 
Yrom  bis  travels,  the  bishop  not  only  received  him  with 
great  friendship,  but  gave  this  heretic  the  archdeaconry  of 
Durham ;  and  Fox  tells  us,  that  when  one  Mr.  Russel,  a 
preacher,  was  before  bishop  Tunstal I,  on  a  charge  of  heresy, 
and  Dr.  Hinmer,  his  chancellor,  would  have  examined  him 
more  particularly,  the  bishop  prevented  him,  saying,  <<  Hi- 
therto, we  have  had  a  good  report  among  our  neighbours ; 
I  p^ray  you  bring  not  this  man's  blood  upon  my  head.'* 

From  such  a  man  it  was  naturally  expected  that,  on  the 
accession  of  queen  Elizabeth,  there  would  have  been  little 
difficulty  in  reconciling  him  to  the  reformation,  and  in 
face  the  queen  had  nominated  him  as  the  first  in  a  list  of 
prelates  to  officiate  at  the  consecration  gf  several  new  bi- 
shops; but  notwithstanding  this,  he  refused  to  take  the 
oath  of  snpremacy,  and  was  consequently  deprived  of  his 
bishopric  in  July  1559.  At  the  same  time  he  was  com- 
mitted to  the  custody  of  Parker,  afterwards  archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  and  then  in  possession  of  Lambeth  palace,  by 
whom  be  was  entertained  in  a  very  kind,  friendly,  and  re- 
speoiful  manner ;  and  Parker  is  said  to  have  produced  a 
change  in  some  of  his  sentiments.  It  appears  that  Tunstall 
told  Bernard  Gilpin,  that  in  the  matter  of  transubstantia- 
tion,  pope  Innocent  III.  had  done  unadvisedly,  in  making 
it  an  article  of  faith ;  and  be  further  confessed,  that  the 
pope  committed  a  great  error  in  the  affair  of  indulgences, 
and  in  other  things.  Tutistal^  also  h^d  the  doctrine  of  jus- 
tification'by  faith  only. 

Bishop  Tunstall  did  not  continue  long  in  this  state  of 
retirement,  for  be  died  Nov.  18,  1559,  aged  eighty>five, 
and  was  bandsomety  buried  in  the  chancel  of  Lambeth 
church,  at  the  expence  of  archbishop  Parker,  with  a  Latin 
^itaph  by  the  learned  Dr.  fladdon.  The  character  of 
Tunstall  may  in  part  be  collected  from  the  preceding  par- 
ticuiara,  Gilpin,  who  has  frequently  introduced  notices  of 
him  in  his  Lives  of  Beiniard  Gilpin,  Latimer,  &c.  says  <<  he 
was  a  papist  only  by  profession ;  no  way  influenced  by  the 
spirit  of'popery ;  but  he  was  a  good  catholic,  and  had  true 
notions  of  the  genius  ^  Christianity.  He  considered  a 
good  life  as  the  end,  and  faith  as  the  means;  and  never 
branded  as  ao  heretic  that  person,  however  erroneous  his 
opinions  /ink;fat  be  in  points  less  fundamental,  who  had 
■such  a  belief  in  Christ  as  made  him  live  like  a  Christian. 
He  was  just  therefore  the    reverse  of  (his  early  patron/ 


y 


so  TUNSTALL. 

Warham,  and  thought  the  persecution  of  protestants  one 
of  the  things  most  foreign  to  his  function.  For  *  parts*  andt 
learning  he  was  very  eminent :  his  knowledge  was  exten* 
sive,  and  his  taste  in  letters  superior  to  that  of  most  of  his 
contemporaries.  The  great  foible  of  which  he  stands  ac- 
cused in  history,  was  the  pliancy  of  his  temper.  Like 
most  of  the  bishops  of  those  times,  he  had  been  bred  in  a 
court;  and  was  indeed  too  dextrous  in  the  arts  there  prac- 
tised." On  this  last  failing,  Mr.  Gilpin  seems  to  us  to  lay 
too  much  stress,  for  even  the  particulars  which,  in  the  pre- 
ceding sketch  we  have  extracted  from  his  life  of  Beniafd 
Gilpin,  shew  decidedly  that  Tunstall  vtas  no  courtly  com- 
plier  in  those  measures  which  were  particularly  character- 
istic of  the  timev  and  which  have  been  more  or  less  the 
test  of  the  worth  of  every  eminent  man  who  lived  in  them. 

Bishop  Tunstall's  writings  that  were  published,  were 
chiefly  the  following:  1.  "In  Laudem  Matrimonii,'*  Lond. 
1518,  4to.  2.  "  De  Arte  Supputandi,"  Lond.  1522,  4to, 
dedicated  to  sir  Thomas  More.  This  was  afterwards  seve- 
ral times  pnnted  abroad.  3.  <*  A  Sermon  on  Palm  Sun- 
day" before  king  Henry  the  8th,  &c.  Lond.  1539  and 
1633,  4to.  4.  "  De  Veritate  Corporis  &  Sanguinis  Domini 
in  Eucharisiia,"  Lutet,  1554,  4to.  5.  "  Compendium  ift 
decem  Libros  Ethicorum  Aristotelis,"  Par.  1554,  8vo.  6. 
^^  Contra  impios  Blasphematores  Dei  praBdestinationis,** 
Antw.  1555,  4to.  7.  **  Godly  and  devout  Prayers  in  Eng- 
lish and  Latin,"   1558,  in  8vo. 

Several  of  his  letters  and  papers  are  published  in  Bur- 
netts History  of  the  Reformation,  Strype's  Memorials, 
Ck)llier's  Ch.  History,  Lodge's  Illustrations,  &c.* 

TUNSTALL  (James),  a  learned  and  amiable  divine, 
was  born  about  1710,  and  eduoated  at  St.  John's  college  in 
Cambridge,  of  which  he  became  fellow  and  a  prinpipal 
tutor.  He  was  instituted  to  the  rectory  of  Sturmer  in 
Essex,  in  1739,  and,  in  1741,  elected  public  orator  of  the 
university.  ,  He  afterwiirds  became  chaplain  to  Potter, 
^bp.  of  Canterbury ;  and  was  there  a  person  of  such  uni- 
form meekness  and  humility  as  to  make  it  said,  after  he  left 
Lambeth,  that  *^  many   a  man  came  there,  as  chaplain, 

'  Ath.  Ox.  Tol.  I. — ^Tanner. — Bale  an<l  Pits. — Strype's  Cranmer,  pi>.  66,  77 
— 81,  288,  309. — Strype's  Paiker,  pp.  47,  54.-~Strype*s  Grindal,  27.--More's 
Xife  of  sir  Thomas  More. — Gilpin^s  Life  of  Qilpin,  pp.  4o«-47,  65,  71,  101.-^ 
Qilpin's  Life  of  .Latimer,  see  Index. — Biog,  Brit — HHlchinson's  Hist,  of  X)ur- 
>iam. — Dodd's  Cb.  Hist. — Burnet's  Reformation.— Fox's  Acts  and  Monumtnts,, 
— *Lodge'i  Illustrations, 


r  UN  St.  ALL.  *t 

kiUnUHe^  but  thit  tiooe  ever  departed  so  except  Dr.  Tun* 
tUU.*"  He  was  created  D.  D.  at  Cambridge  in  1744 ;  was 
collated  by  the  archbishop  to  the  rectory  of  Great  Chart  in 
Kent,  and  to  the: vicarage  of  Minster  ia  the  Isle  of  Tbanet^ 
both  which,  he  resigned  in  1757,  for  the  valuable  vicarage 
gf  AocbdsleifiLaacasbire,  given  him  by  abp.  Hutton,  who 
married  his  wife^s  aunt;  but  the  exchange,  from  many  cir- 
cumstances, did  not  answer  his  expenctation ;  he  wished  /or 
a  prebend  .of.  Canterbury.  It  is  supposed  that  either  family 
uneasinesses,  or,,  the  above  disappointment,  hastened  his 
death,  which  took  place  March  28,  1772. 

His  writings  are,  .1.  '^  Epistola  ad  virum  erudijtum  Cpn- 
y/ers  Middletou,  &c.''  Cant.  1741,  8vo.  In  this  work,  he 
calls  in  question  the  genuineness  of  the  letters  betwe^ 
Cicero  and  Brutus,  of  which  Dr.  Middletoti  had  made  great 
use  in  his  elegant  "  History  of  Cicero^s  Life;''  and  shews^ 
that  he  had  not  paid  .sufficieiikt  attention  to  the  letters  to 
A^ticus  and  his  brother  Quintus.  2«  '*  Observations  on  the 
present  collection  of  Epistles  between  Cicero  and  Brutus.** 
This  was  to  confirm  what  he  had  before  advanced,  and  by 
way  of  answer  to  a  preface  o^  Middieton's  to  an  edition  of 
the  epistles.  Mr.  Markland,  in  a  private  letter,  says,  **  1 
have  read  over  Mr.  Tuhstall's  book,  twice  more,  since  t 
(^me  hither ;  and  am  more  and  more  confirmed,  that  it  can 
never  be  answered.''  3.  ^^  Sermon  before  the  House  of 
Commons,  May  29,  1746."  4.  *^  A  Vindication  of  the 
^ower  of  the  State  to  prohibit  Clandestine  Marriages,  &c.'^ 
1755*  5.  ^<  Marriage  in  Society  stated,  &c.  in  a  second 
letter  to  Dr.  Stebbing,"  1755.  6.  ''Academica:  part 
the  first,  containing  Discourses  upon  Natural  and  Revealed 
Religion,  a  Concio,  and  a  Thesis."  The  second  part  he 
did  not  live  to  publish ;  but  it  is  supposed  to  be  included 
in  **  The  Lectures  on  Natural  and  Revealed  Religion," 
published  after  his  death,  in  4to,  by  the  rev.  Mr.  Dbds- 
worth,  treasurer  of  Salisbury,  and  his  brother4n»-Iaw. 

Among  Dr.  Birch's  MSS.  in  the  British  Museum,  is  a 
collection  of  letters  from  Dr.  Tunstall  to  the  earl  of  Ox- 
ford, in  1738  and  1739,  on  Ducket's  Atheistical  Letters, 
and  the  proceedings  thereoti.* 

TURBERVILE  (George),  ah  English  poet,  descended 
ffom  a  family  of  considerable  note  iu  Dorsetshire,  was  a 
younger  son  of  Nicholas  Turbervile  of  Whitchurch,  and 

*  NicbpU'a  Buwyer, 

Vol.  XXX.  (i 


8a  T  U  R  B  E  R  V  I  L  E. 

supposed  to  have  been  born  about  1 530.  He  received  hii» 
education  at  Winchester  school,  and  became  fellow  of  Newr 
college,  Oxford,  in  1561,  but  left  the  university  without 
taking  a  degree,  and  resided  for  some  time  in  one  of  the 
inns  of  court.  He,  appears  to  have  accumulated  a  stock  of 
classical  learning,  and  to  have  been  well  acquainted  with* 
modern  languages.  He  formed  his  ideas  of  poetry  partly 
on  the  classic^,  and  partly  on  the  study  of  the  Italian? 
school.  His  poetical  pursuits,  however,  did  not  interfere 
with  more  important  business,  as  his  welUknowp  abilities 
recommended  him  to  the  post  of  secretary  to  Thomas  Ran- 
dolph, esq.  who  was  appointed  queen  Elizabeth's  ambassa- 
dor at  the  court  of  Russia.  While  In  this ,  situation,  be 
wrote  three  poetical  epistles  to  as  many  friends,  Edward 
Davies,  Edmund  Spenser  (not  the  poet),  and  Parker,-  de- 
scribing the  manners  of  the  Russians.  These  mayibe  seen 
in  Hackluyt^s  voyages,  vol.  I.  p.  384.  After  his  return,  he 
was  much  courted  as  a  man  of  accomplished  education  and 
manners;  and  the  first  edition  of  his  ^^  Songs  and  Sonnets,'*' 
published  in  1567,  seems  to  have  added  considerably  to 
his  fame.,  A  second  edition  appeared  in  1570,  with  many* 
additions  and  corrections. 

His  otber  works  were,  translations  of  the  ^^  Heroicat 
Epistles  of  Ovid,''  of  which  .four  editions  were  printed  ^ 
and  the  *' Eclogues  of  6i  Mantuan,"  published  in  1567. 
The  only  copy  known  of  this  volume  is  in  the  Royal  Li- 
br^ary.  Wood,  who  appears  to  have  seen  it,  informs  us- 
that  one  Thomas  Harvey  afterwards  translated  the  same 
eclogues,,  and  availed  himself  of  Turbervile's  translation,, 
without  the  least  acknowledgment.  Among  the  discoveries 
of  literary  historians,  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  such  tricks 
are  to  be  traced  to  very  higk  antiquity.  Another  very  rare 
production  of  our  author,  although  twice  printed,  in  1576 
and  1587,  is  entitled/^  Tragical  Tales,  translated  by  Tur- 
^  bervile.,  in  time  of  his  trouble^  out  of  sundrie  Italians,  with 
the  argument  &  L'Envoye  to  each  tale.*'  What  his  troubles 
were,  we  are  not  told.  To  the  latter  edition  of  these  tales 
were  annexed  '^  Epitaphs  and  Sonets,  with  some  other 
broken  pamphlettes  and  Epistles,  sent  to  certaine  of  his> 
friends  in  England,  at  his  being  in  Moscovia,  anpo  1569.^' 
Wood  has  mistaken  this  for  his  *^  Epitaphs,  Epigrams,. 
Songs,  and  Sonets,"  from  which  it  totally  differs. 

Our  author  was  living  in  1594,  and  in  great  esteem,  but 
we  have  no  account  of  bis  death.    There  appear  to  have 


t  OR  B4E  R  V  I  L  ST.  ts 

been  t\^o  other  persons  of  bdth  bis  namesy  both  nstives  of 
Dorsetshire  and*  nearly  contemporaries,  one  of  whom  was 
a  commoner  of  Gloucester-bail  in  1581,  aged  eighteen^ 
and  the  other  a  student  of  Magdalen-hall  in  1S95,  aged 
seventeen. '  Wood  was  not  able  to  tell  which  of  the  three 
was  the  ituthor  of*  Essays,  politic  and  moral/'  which  were 
published  in  1608,  nor  of  the  '*  Booke  of  Falconrye  and 
Hawking,  heretofore  published  by  G.  Turbenrile,  gent, 
and  now  revived,  corrected,  and  augmented  by  another 
hand,"  Lond.  161 1.  But  the  intelligent  editor  of  <<  Phil- 
lips's Theatrum'*  is  of  opinion  that  this  work  was  the  pro* 
duction  of  otir  poet,  from  its  having  commendatory  versea 
prefixed  by  Gascoigne ;  and  the  curious  biographical  tract 
of  Whetstone,  lately  reprinted  in  the  edition  of  the  English 
Poets,  before  Gascoigne's  works,  notices  ,a  production  of 
that  autbor  on  hunting,  which  Mr.  Park  thinks  is  the  one 
printed  with  the  above  **  Booke  of  Falconrye,"  and  usually 
attributed  to  Turbervile.  Besides  tbese^  our  poet  wrote 
cominendatory  verses  to  the  works  of  several  of  his  con« 
temporaries. 

Turbervile  was  a  sonnetteer  of  great  note  in  his  time,  slU 
though,  except  Harrington,  his  contemporaries  and  suc- 
cessors appear  to  have  been  sparing  of  their  praises.  It  is 
probably  to  some  adverse  critics  that  he  alludes,  in  his  ad- 
dress to  Sycophants.  Gascoigne  also  used  to  complain  of 
the  Zoilus*s  of  his  time.  There  is  a  considerable  diversity 
of  fancy  and  sentiment  in  Turbervile's  pieces  :  the  verses 
hi  praise  of  the  countess  of  Warwick  are  ingeniously  ima- 
gined, and  perhaps  in  his  be^t  style,  and  his  satirical  effu- 
sions, if  occasionally  flat  and  vulgar,  are  characteristic  of 
his  age.  Many  of  his  allusions,  as  was  then  the  fashion, 
are  taken  from  the  amusement  of  hawking,  and  these  and 
his  occasional  strokes  on  large  noses,  and  other  personal 
redundancies  or  defects,  descended  afterwards  to  Shak- 
speare,  and  other  dramatic  writers.  He  entitles  his  pieces 
Epitaphs  and  Epigrams,  Songs  and  Sonnets,  but  the  reader 
will  seldom  recognize  the  legitimate  characteristics  of  those 
species  of  poetry.  His  epitaphs  are  without  pathetic  re^ 
flection,  being  stuffed  with  common-place  raiiing  against 
"  the  cursed  cruelty'^  of  death;  and  his  .epigrams  are  often 
conceits  without  point,  or,  in  some  instances,  the  point  is 
placed  first,  and  the  conclusion  left  *^  lame  and  impotent.^' 
His  love  sonnets,  although  seemingly  addressed  to  a  real 
mistress,  are  full  of  the  borrowed  passion  of.  a  translator, 

6  2 


M  TURJEEVILE. 

ftnd  the  eUborate  and  Qfinatoral  language  of  a  scholar^ 
The  classics  in  bis  age  began  to  be  studied  very  generally, 
and  were  no  sooner  studied  than  translated.  This  retarded 
the  prpgreaa  of  invention  at  a  time  when  the  language  was 
certainly  improving ;  and  hence  among  a  number  of  authors 
who  flourished  in  this  period,  we  seldom  meet  with  the 
glow  of  pure  poetry.  It  may,  however,  be  added  in  fa- 
vour of  Turbervile,  that  be  seldom  transgresses  against 
morals  or  delicacy.  ^ 

TURENNE.    See  TOUR- 

TURCOT,  an  ancient  historian,  of  the  eleventh  century^ 
was  an  Anglo-Saxon,  of  a  good  family  in  Lincolnshire. 
When  a  young  man,,  be  was  delivered  by  the  people  of 
Lindsay,  as  one  of  their  hostages,  to  William  the  Con- 
queror, and  confined  in  the  castle  of  Lincoln.     From  thence 
he  made  his  escape  to  Norway,  and  resided  several  years 
in  the  court  of  king  Olave,  by  whom  be  was  much  caressed 
and  enriched.    Returning  to  his  native  country,  he  was 
ibipwrecked  on  the  coast  of  Northumberland,  by  which  he 
lost  all  his  money  and  effects,  escaping  death  with  great 
difficulty.     He  then  travelled  to  Durham ;  and  applying  to 
Walter,  bishop  of  that  see,  declared  his  resolution  to  for- 
sake the  world,  and  become  a  monk ;  in  which  he  was  en* 
couraged  by  that  pious  prelate,  who  committed  him  to  the 
care  of  Aldwine,  the  first  prior  of  Durham,  then  at  Jarrow, 
From  that  monastery  he  went  to  Melross ;  from  thence  to 
Wearmoatb,  where  he  assumed  the  monastic  habit;  and 
lastly  returned  to  Durham^  where  he  recommended  him» 
self  so  much  to  the  whole  society,  by  his  learning,  piety, 
);>rudence,  and  other  virtues,  that,  on  the  death  of  Aid- 
wine,  in  1087,  he  was  unanimously  chosen  prior,  and  not 
Jong  after  was  appointed  by  the  bishop  archdeacon  of  his 
diocese.    The  monastery  profited  greatly  by  his  prudenf 
government;  the  privileges  were  enlarged,  and  revenues 
considerably  increased  by  his  influence;  and  he  promoted 
many  improvements  in  the  sacred  edifices.     In  tliis  office 
be  spent  the  succeeding  twenty  years  of  his  life,  some- 
times residing  in  the  priory,  and  at  other  times  visiting 
the  diocese,  and  preaching  in  different  places.     At  tho 
end  of  these  twenty  years,  he  was,  in  1107,  elected  bishop 
of  St.  Andrew's  and  primate  of  Scotland,  and  consecrated 

»  English  Poets,  21  vols.  18J0.— Atb.  Ox.  vol.  I.— Warton'i  Hist,  of  Poetry. 
— Centura  Lit.  vols.  II.  and  III*— Philips*!  Theatrum,  by  sir  K.  Brydget.*-^ 
EHis'fi  Spfecimens. 


T  ¥  K  G  O  T.  •# 

by  tnrcbbisfaop  TbonBas,  at  York,  Aup.  1,  IlOi^.  Dissent 
tioDs  ftrning  between  our  archbishop  and  the  kiog  of  Scot^ 
land,  the  prelate's  anxiety  and  distress  af  miod  brought  on 
a  decline  of  health,  under  which  be  obtained  permission  tQ 
return  to  England;  and  came  back  to  Durham  in  1115, 
where  he  resided  littte  more  than  two  months  before  bii 
death.  Stevens,  in  the  **  Monasticon,"  says  that  he  re^ 
turned  to  Durham  aftef  the  death  of  king  Malcohn  and  j}it 
queen  ;  and  Spotiswood,  in  his  *^  Church  History,'*  that  be 
died  in  Scotland,  and  was  thence  conveyed  to  and  buried 
at  Durham,  in  the  Chapter-house,  between  bishops  Wal*. 
cher  and  William. 

Some  of  his  leisure  hours  he  employed  in  collecting  and 
writing  the  history  of  the  church  of  Durham  from  the  year 
635  to  1096,  in  four  books.  But  not  having  pubMsbed  this 
work,  or  nwde  many  transcripts  of  it,  according  to  the 
custom  of  those  times,  it  fell  into  the  bands  of  iSimeon^ 
precentor  of  the  church  of  Durham,  who  published  it  un^* 
def  his  own  name,  expunging  only  a  few  patssages  that 
would  have  discovered  its  real  author.  This  curious  facti 
of  which  we  were  not  aware  when  we  drew  up  our  bri^f  ac^ 
count  of  Simeon,  is  demonstrated  by  Selden,  in  bis  pre- 
face to  sir  Roger  Twysden's  *^  Decem  Scriptores,"  and 
sbewFs  that  literary  fiime  was  even  then  an  object  of  am* 
bition*  Turgot  composed  several  other  works,  particularly 
the  li^es  of  Malcolm  Canmore,  king  of  Scotland,  and  of 
his  pious  consort  queen  Margaret,  which  is .  often  quoted 
by  Fordnn  and  others,  but  is  not  supposed  to  exist  Tur- 
gbt  bad  been  confessor  to  queen  Margaret,  and  as  Pape« 
brocb  has  published  in  the  *^  Acts  of  the  Saints,"  a  life  of 
her,  under  the  name  of  Theodoric,  also  said  to  have  been 
a  confessor  to  the  queen,  it  seems  not  improbable^  accord- 
ing to  lord  Haiies  and  others,  that  Theodoric  is  another 
name  fbd  Turgot,'  or  that  the  name  of  Theodoric  has  been 
prefixed,  to  the  saint's  life,  instead  of  that  of  Turgot,  by 
the  mistake  of  some  copier :  but  Papebroch  certainly  thinks 
they  were  two  distinct  perscms. ' 

TURGOT  (ANNE-RouEkT-jAMES),  a  French  minister  of 
state,  was  born  atParisy  May  10,  1727,  of  a  very  ancient 
Norman  family.  His  father  was,  for  a  long  time,  provost 
of  the  corporation  of  merchants.     He  was  intended  for 

.  *  Tapn«r  and  references. — ^Nicohon's  Hist  Library. — Henry's  Hist  vol.  VI« 
p.  131. — Hutchinson's  Dnrham,  vol.  11.  p.  65. — Keith's  Cat,  of  Scotch  Bist^ops. 
•-i-V^e&cc  to  Oeddet'a  Uft  of  Queen  Margartt,  17S4,  8?o. 


t«  T  U  U  G  O  T. 

the  chbrcb,  *Ai  weht  through  tfa^  i«qa>site  prtiparatory 
Studies;  but  whether  he  disliked  the  catholic  religion,  or 
objected  to  any  peculiar  doctrines,  is  not  certain.  It  is 
generally  supposed  that  the  latter  was  .the  case,  and  the 
intimacy  and  correspondence  he  bad  with  Voltaire,  Dide- 
rot, D^Alembert,  &c.  afford  very  probable  ground  for  be- 
lieving him  entirely  of  their  opinion  in  matters  of  rehgioi^ 
He  looked,  however,  to  the  politick!  department,  as  that 
which  was  best  adapted  to  bis  acquisitions,  and  the  re* 
sources  which  he  found  in  his  ingenuity  and. invention.  For 
this  purpose  be  studied  the  sciences  suited  to«his  destina- 
tion, and  mixed  experimental  philosophy  with  mathe-» 
inatics,  and  history  with  political  disquisition.  He  em- 
braced the  profession  of  the  law,  and  at  once  displayed  his 
views  by  fixiug  on  the  office  of  master  of  the  requests,  who 
is  the  executive  officer  of  government,  in  operations  of 
commerce  and  finance.  His  panegyjrist,  M.  Condorcet^ 
tells  us,  that  a  master  of  requests  is  rarely  without  a  con- 
siderable share  of  inQuence  respecting  some  one  of  the 
provinces,  or  the  whole  state ;  so  that  it  seldom  happens 
that  his  liberality  or  his  prejudices,  his  virtues  or  his  vices, 
do  not,  in  the  course  of  his  life,  produce  great  good  or 
^reat  mischief.  About  this  period  Turgot  wrote  some  ar>^ 
tides  for  the  Encyclopedie,  of  which  the  principal  were, 
Etymology,  Existence,  Expansibility,  Fair,  and  Founda*^ 
lion.  He  had  prepared  several  others;  but  these  five  only 
were  inserted.  ,  All  these  his  biographer  praises  with  more 
2eal  than  judgment ;  the  article  on  Expansibility  being  very 
exceptionable,  and  that  on  Existence  being  little  more  thau 
lEin  ingenious  commentary  on  the  first  principles  of  Des  Car- 
tes, and  by  no  means  deserving  to  be  called  the  *^  only 
improvement  in  the  science  of  the  human  mind  since  the 
days  of  Locke." 

In  1761,  Turgot  was  appointed  intendant  of  Limoges. 
The  intendant  is  the  confidential  officer  of  the  government. 
He  carries  their  orders  on  the  subject  of  commerce  add 
finance  into  execution ;  and  has  occasionally  the  right  of 
taking  provisional  decisions.  In  this  office,  which  Turgot 
discharged  with  great  attention  and  ability  for  thirteen 
years,  he  spent  the  most  useful,  though  not  the  most  con- 
spicuous, part  of  his.life«  He  conferred  many  advantages 
on  his  province,  corrected  many  abuses,  and  opposed  many 
mistaken  opinions.  In  particular,  he  gave  activity  to  the 
society  of  agriotiUure  established  at  Limoges,  by  directing 


T  U  R  G  O  T.  W 

\ 

t 

^feheir  efforts  to  important  subjects:  be  opened  a  mode  ai 
|)ubUc  instruction  for  female  professors  of  midwifery  :  he 
f)rocured  for  tbe  people  the  attendance  of  able  physicians 
xluring  tbe  raging  of  epidemic  diseases :  be  established 
houses  of  industry,  supported  by  charity,  &c.  &c.  an^ 
during  all  this  time  he  meditated  projects  of  a  more  ^x* 
pensive  nature,  such  as  an  equal  distribution  of  the  taxes, 
•the  construction  of  the  roads,  the  regulation  of  the  militia, 
the  prevention  of  a  scarcity  of  provisions,  and  tbe  protecticMi 
pf  commerce. 

At  the  death  of  Louis  XV.  the  public  voice  called  M« 
Turgot  to  the  first  offices  of  government,  as  a  man  who 
united  the  experience  resulting  from  habits  of  business^ 
to  all  tbe  improvement  which  study  can  procure.     After 
lieing  at  the  head  of  the  marine  department  only  a  short 
^ime,  be  wiis,  in  August  1774y  appointed  comptroUer'^ge* 
neral  of  the  finances.     In  this  office  he  introduced  a  great 
many  regulations,  which  were  unquestionably  beneficial^ 
but  it  has  been  remarked,  that  he  might  have  done  more^ 
if  he  had  attempted  less.    He  does  not  appear  to  have  at- 
tended closely  to  the  actual  state  of  tbe  public  mind  in 
^f  ranoe.     He  would  have  been  an  enlightened  minister  foe 
a  sovereign,  where  the  rights  of  the  people  were  felt  and 
understood.     He  endeavoured,   it  is  true,    to  raise  them 
from  the  abject  s.tate  in  which  they  had  long  continued,  but 
this  was  to  be  done  at  the  expence  of  tbe  rich  and  power- 
ful.    The  attempt  to  establish  municipalities  probably  put 
a.  period  to  his  career.      This   scheme  consisted  in  the 
establishn>ent  of  many  provincial  assemblies  for  the  interr- 
nal  government,  whose  members  were  elected  according  to 
the  most  rigorous  rules  of  representation.     These  little 
parliaments,  by  their  mutual  contests,  might,  and  indeed 
<licl,  lay  the  fouiidation  of  great  confusion,  and  created^  a 
spirit  of  liberty  which  was  never  understood,  and  passisd 
easily  into  licentiousness.  The  nobility,  whom  he  attempted 
to  controul ;  the  clergy,  whom  he  endeavoured  to  restrict; 
iand  the  officers  of  the  crown,  whom  he  wished  to  restrain, 
united  in  their  comnK>n  cause.     All  his  operations  created 
a  murmur^  and  all  his  projects  experienced  an  opposition, 
which  ended  in  his  dismissal  from  office  in  1776,  after 
holding  it  about  twenty  months.     From  that  period,  be 
lived  a  private  and  studious  life,  and  died  March  20,  17S1, 
in  the  fifty-fourth  year  of  his  age.     Condorcet  has  written 


•8  T  U  B  G  O  T. 

s  long  life  of  hintiy  but  it  is  tbrdqgboot  tfao  whole  m  pa*^ 
ftyric.  His  countrymen  now  do  not  seem  agreed  in  hia 
character.  By  some  it  is  considered  tbat  be  might  faavt 
•aved  the  state :  by  others  he  is  .classed  among  those  wb^ 
precipitltted  the  revolution.  ^ 

TURNEBUS  (Adrian),  an  eminent  critic  and  transla^ 
tor,  was  born  at  Andeli»  a  small  village  near  Rouen  ih 
Normandy,  in  1512.  Two  nations  have  contended  for 
the  honour  of  bis  biitb ;  th^  French,  who  say  he  was  de* 
scended  of  a  noble  but  decayed  family  in  Normandy ;  and 
the  Scotch,  who  have  discovered  (Dempster,  and  after  him 
Mackenzie)  that  his  Frepch  name  Taumebtetrf  is  no  other 
than  TurrJmUy  and  that  he  was  the  son  of  a  Scotch  geiT- 
tleman  of  that  name  who  married  in  Normandy.  What^ 
ever  may  be  in  this,  Turnebus,  for  tbat  is  the  name  be 
took  in  his  writings  and  correspondence,  came  to  Paris  at 
the  age  of  eleven,  and  soon  made  such  progress  in  classical 
and  polite  literature  as  to  surpass  all  his  fellow^students^ 
and  even,  we  are  told,  bis  masters.  He  had  every  quali- 
fication indeed  to  form  an  accomplished  scholar,  great  me- 
mory,  indefatigable  application,  and  both  taste  and  judg^ 
'Snent  far  beyond  bis  years.  Before  these  all  difficulties 
vanished,  and  his  avidity  and  knowledge  knew  no  inters 
mission  in  his  after*life.  Even  on  the  day  oi  his  marriage^ 
it  is  said,  he  devoted  some  hours  to  study. 

The  progress  of  his  pursuits  are  not  particularly  detailed, 
but  he  is  reported  to  have  uugbt  the  classics  at  Toulouse, 
and  afterwards,  in  1547,  was  appointed  Greek  professor  at 
Paris,  where  he  had  for  his  colleagues  Buchanan  and  Mu- 
vetus,  whose  joint  reputaiion  brought  scholars  from  all 
parts  of  Europe.  In  1552,  Turnebus  was  appointed  super^- 
intendant  of  the  royal  printing-house  for  Greek  books,  and 
bad  William  Morel  for  bis  associate,  whom  he  left  in  sole 
possession  of  this  ofBce  about  four  years  after,  on  being 
appointed  one  of  the  royal  professors.  Such  was  his  fame^ 
$hat  he  had  invitations  and  large  offers  from  Italy,  Spain, 
Poriagal,  Germany,  and  England,  on  condition  of  settling' 
in  either  of  those  countries ;  but  he  preferred  the  mod^« 
rate  circumstances  enjoyed  in  his  own  country  to  the  mosrt 
tempting  offers  of  riches  elsewhere.  He  died  June  12, 
1565.,  in  the  fifty-third  year  of  his  age,  and  was  buried  oii 

^  Life  by  Coodorcet,  published  in  1787,  8to.— Moutbly  and  Crit.  Keviewt 
for  tbat  year.«-Pict  Uiiu 


t  U  R  N  E  B  U  S.  Bf 

lip  #i«iiing  of  the  same  day,  agreeably  to  his  desire,  ik 
a  very  private  manner,  in  the  burial-place  belonging  to  the 
cMkge  of  Modtaign^  being  followed  to  his  grave  by  only 
a  fevr  friends.  He  was  supposed  to  have  embraced  tb^ 
doctrines  of  the  Reformation ;  but  this  was  not  geoerally^ 
known;  and  so  mueh  was  he  admired,  that  both  papists 
and  protestaols  endeavoured  to  claim  him  as  their  own.  It 
was  his  singular  fate,  that  ail  who  knew  him,  and  all 
who  read  his  works,  loved  him.  This  gave  rise  to  som^ 
ingenious  Hoes  by  Henry  Stephens,  in  which,  after  putting 
the  question^  "  Why  does  Turnebus  please  every  body  ?'* 
in  various  ways,  he  answers,  that  **  he  pleased  every 
body,  because  he  did  not  please  himself,''  alluding  to  his 
«xtren)e  diffidelice  and  modesty,  and  his  very  amiable 
manners.  Such  was  the  esteem  in  which  be  was  held,  that 
some  of  the  German  professors,  when  in  their  lectures  they 
quoted  the  authority  of  Turnebus  (or  Cujacius,  to  whom 
the  same  compliment  was  paid)  they  used  to  move  their 
right  hand  to  their  cap,  as  a  token  of  veneration.  He  di-* 
rected  his  studies  chiefly  to  philological  researches,  and  to 
translating  the  Greek  authors.  His  translations  have  aU 
ways  been  approved,  and  his  criticisms  were  not  les^  ad- 
mired  in  bis  own  and  the  succeeding  age.  It  has  been, 
indeed,  sometimes  objected,  that  he  was  too  fond  of  con<» 
jectural  emendations,  and  that,  notwithstanding  the  con* 
stitutional  gentleness  of  his  temper,  he  displayed  mor6 
than  necesstry  warmth  in  his  controversies  with  Ramus^ 
and  with  Bodin  ^  but  in  general  his  style,  as  well  as  bis 
sentiments,  were  liberal ;  and  he  is  said  to  have  discovered 
nothing  of  the  pedant  but  in  his  dress.  His  works  wera 
collected  and  published  in  three  volumes,  folio,  which  ge- 
nerally make  but  one,  at  Strasburg,  1600,  ahd  consist  of 
his  commentaries  on  various  parts  of  Cicero,  Varro,  Ho- 
race, Pliny,  i&c;  his  translations  of  Aristotle,  Theophras- 
tus,  Plutarch,  &c.  and  his  miscellaneous  pieces,* letters^ 
and  j^&ms.  His  '^Adversaria"  went  through  mainy  edi» 
tiohs,  first  in  quarto,  from  1564  to  1599,  when  the  last 
wag  printed  in  folio.  Niceron  enumerates  a  few  other  se>» 
parate  publications,  and  comments  contributed  by  him  to 
some  of  the  classics.  Of  bis  translations,  Huetius  says, 
that  '<  he  had  every  quality  which  is  necessary  for  a  pei^ 
feet  translator ;  for  he  understood  Greek  thoroughly,  and 
iarned  it  into  eleganl  Latin,  closely  and  without  departs 


iK>  TURNER. 

acig  in  the  te^$t  from  his  author^  yet  in  a  dear  and  plea^nt 
atyie,"* 

TURNER  (Dakiel),  a  dissenting  minister  of  the  bap*- 
ti$t  persuasion,  was  born  at  Blackwater-farm,  in  the  parish 
of  St.  Michael)  and  district  of  St.  Alban^s,  Hertfordshire,-  om 
^arch  I,  17  to.'  He  appears  to.  have  bad  some  classical 
education,  which  he  iafierwards  diligently  improved,  but 
was  not  regularly  educated  for  the  ministry.  In  1738  be 
published  ^'  An  abstract  of  English  grammar  and  rhetoric,^' 
and  an  advertisement  at  the  end  of  this  volume  intimate* 
that  he  then  kept  a  boarding  school.  Two  of  his  pupils 
have  been  ascertained.  Dr.  Hugh  Smith,  an  alderman  and 
leminent  physician  in  London,  and  Dr.  William  Kenrick. 
He  commenced  preacher,  without  any  of  the  usual  forms 
of  admission,  but  merely  because  he  was  thought  capable 
of  preaching,  when  be  was  about  twenty  years  old  ;  and 
having  been  approved  of  at  his  outset,  he  continue^  snd 
was  settled  as  minister  of  the  baptist  congregation  at  Read* 
ing.  From  this  be  was  invited  to  become  pastor  of  a  simi* 
Jar  congregation  at  Abingdon  in  1748,  where  he  spent  the 
remainder  of  his  Ipng  life.  He  began  to  preach  and  to 
print  early  in  life,  and  he  preached  and  printed  to  the  last. 
Many  of  his  publications  were  much  approved,  and  pro^ 
iluced  occasional  correspondence  between  him  and.  some 
eminent  men  of  his  time,  particularly  Dr.  Watts,  Dr.  Ken- 
JDicott,  and  Dr.  Lowth,  bishop  of  London.  He  was  a  man 
of  great  piety,  and  of  a  disposition  peculiarly  candid,  libe- 
ral, and  benevolent.  He  died  Sept.  5,  1798,  in  the  erghty- 
pintb  year  of  his  age,  and  was  interred  in  the  baptist  bury«- 
ing*groand  at  Abingdon. 

He  published}  1.  "An  Introduction  to  Psalmody,"  1737. 
a.  "An  abstract  of  English  grammar,"  1738.  3.  "The 
balance  of  the  merits  of  the  whigs  and  tories,"  1753.  4. 
"  A  summary  of  facts  relative  to  the  election  at  Abingdon,'* 
1768.  5.  f'A  friendly  monitor  to  the  hardened 'sinner,** 
&c.  1770.  6.  "An  Introduction  to  rhetoric,'*  1771.  7. 
"A  Compendium  of  social  religion,*'  1758,  reprinted  in 
1778^  8.  **  Remarks  on  Mr.  Lake's  sermon  on  Baptism, 
1781.  9.  "  Meditations  on  select  portions  of  Scripture, 
2d  edit.  1785.  10.  "  Devotional  poetry  vindicated  again^ 
Dr.  Johnson/*    17»5.     11.  "A  serious  address  to  Chris- 

»  Niceroo,  vol.  XXXIX.— Mackenzie's  Scotch  Writer*.— Inripe»8  Life  of  Bn* 
^banan.— -Saxii  Onomast. 


»9 


T  U  R  N  E  K.  n 

^8  on  the  duty  of  prayer/'  1786.  12.  <<Eisay$on  im^ 
portant  subjects^"  1789,  2  toU.  13.  '^Exhorutioos  to 
loy&lty  and  peace/'  1792.  14.  **  Fr^e  thoughts  on  the  spi- 
rit of  Free  inquiry  in  religion^'*  1792.  15.  *<  Letters  reli« 
gious  and  moral,  addressed  to  young  persons,^'  1793,  2d 
edit.  ,  16.  **  Several  pieces  of  poetry/'  printed,  but  not 
published,  in  1794.  17.  <<  The  Monitor,  or  friendly  ad-^ 
dress  to  the  people  of  Great  Britain,"  1795.  18.  <<  Com* 
mon  sense,  or  the  plain  man^s  answer  to  the  question,  whe* 
ther  Christianity  be  a  religion  worthy  of  our  choice?"  1797«; 
He  also  printed  a  few  occasional  sermons.' 

TURN£R  (Thomas),  dean  of  Canterbury,  was  the  son 
of  Thomas  Turner  of  Heckfield  in  Hampshire,  alderman 
^nd  mayor  of  Reading  in  Berkshire  ;  and  was  born  in  the 
parish  of  St  Giles's  in  that  borough,  in  1 59 1 .  In  16 10  he 
was  admitted  on  the  foundation  at  St.  John's  college,  Ox^ 
ford,  and  bad  for  his  tutor  Mr.  Juxon,  afterwards  archbishop 
of  Canterbury.  His  application  to  learning  was  assiduous 
and  successful,  and  having  entered  into  holy  orders,  he  im* 
9iediately  distinguished  himself  as  a  divine  of  merit.  In, 
1623  he  was  presented  by  his  college  to  the  vicarage  of  St. 
Giles's  in  Oxford,  which  he  held  with  his  fellowship,  bu( 
relinquished  it  in  1623.  Laud,  when  bishop  of  London,^ 
made  him  his  chaplain,  and  in  1629,  at  which  time  Mr. 
Turner  was  B.  D.  collated  him  to  the  prebend  of  Newingv^^ 
ton  in  the  church  of  St.  Paul,  and  in  October  following  t^ 
the  chancellorship  of  the  same  church,  in  which  also  ha 
was  appointed  by  Charles  I.  a  canon -residentiary.  Thes 
iiog  likewise  made  him  one  of  his  chaplains  in  ordinary,^ 
and  gave  him  the  rectory  of  St.  Olave,  Southwark,  with 
which  he  held  the  rectory  of  Fetcham  in  the  county  of 
Surrey.  In  1633,  when  Charles  I.  resolved  on  a  progress 
to  Scotland  for  his  coronation,  Turner  was  commanded  to 
attend  his  majesty;  previous  to  which  be  was,  April  I, 
1633*4,  created  D.  O.  by  the  university  of  Oxford.  In 
1641  he  was  preferred  to  the  deanery  of  Rochester,  aqd  on 
the  death  of  Dr.  Eglionby  to  that  of  Canterbury,  but  of  thi^ 
last  he  could  not  obtain  possession  until  the  restoration. 
After  the  death  of  the  king,  to  whom  he  had  adhered  witl^ 
inflexible  loyalty  and  attachment,  be  shared  the  fate  of  the 
other  loyal  clergymen  in  being  stript  of  his  preferments, 
and  treated  with  much,  indignity   and  cruelty.     On  >he 

^  fni.  Aiflsentcrs*  Masasiae,  vol.  Vl* 


is  T  U  ft  N  E  R. 

restoi'atibn,  in  Auguist  1660/  he  entered  into  full  possessiofi 
of  the  deanery  of  Canterbury,  and  might  have  been  re^ 
warded  With  a  mitre,  but  he  declined  it,  *•  preferring'  to' 
set  oiit  too  little  rather  than  too  much  sail.'*  Insteafd  of 
seeking  further  promotion,  bei  soon  resigned  the  rectory  of 
Fetcham,  '*  desiring  to  ease  his  aged  shoulders  of  the  bur«^' 
then  of  cure  of  souls ;  and  caused  it  to  be  bestowed  upon 
a  person  altogether  unacquainted  with  him,  but  recom- 
mended very  justly  under  the  character  of  a  pious  man,  and 
a  sufferer  for  righteousness.** 

Having  enjoyed  an  uninterrupted  share  of  good  healthy 
during  thirty  years,  he  was  at  length  attacked  with  that  se- 
vere disease  the  stone ;  the  sharpness  of  which  he  endured* 
with  exemplary  fortitude  and  refsignation.  Nor  did  the' 
•*  innocent  gayety  of  his  humour,'*  which  made  his  company 
so  agreeable  to  all,  forsake  him  to  the  ]ast.  He  reached 
fhe  age  of  eighty-one,  and  died  in  Oct  1672,  with  "the 
greatest  Christian  magnanimity,  and  yet  with  the  deepest' 
sense  imaginable  of  godly  sorrow,  working  repentance  unto 
salvation  not  to  be  repented  of.'*  He  was  buried  in  the' 
dean's  chapel  in  Canterbury  cathedral,  and  his  funeral  ser- 
mon, since  printed,  was  preached  by  Dr.  Peter  du  Moulin,! 
prebendary  of  the  church,  who  gives  him  a  very  high  and 
apparently  very  just  character.  It  is  not  known  that  dean 
Turner  published  more  than  a  single  sermon  on  Matt,  ix^ 

13.  mentioned  by  Wood.  Prynne  censures  him  as  an  Ar- 
minian,  yet  Du  Moulin,  who  enters  so  fully  and  so  affec- 
tionately into  his  character,  in  all  respects  both  as  a  man 
and  as  a  divine,  was  a  zealous  Calvinist. 

Dean  Turner  married  Margaret,  daughter  of  sir  Francis 
Windebank,  knt.  secretary  of  state  to  Charles  I.  By  her 
he  had  three  sons,  each  of  whom  attained  distinguished 
situations,  and  of  whom  some  account  will  now  be  given.* 

TURNER  (Francis),  an  English  prelate,  son  of  the 
preceding,  received  his  education  at  Winchester  school, 
and  was  thence  elected  fellow  of  New  college,  Oxford ; 
where  he  took  his  degrees  in  arts,  that  of  bachelor,  April 

14,  1659,  and  that  of  master  in  the  beginning  of  1663.  fie 
commenced  B.  D.  and  D.  D.  July  6,  1669,  and  in  Decem- 
ber following  was  collated  to  the  prebend  of  Sneating  irt 
St.  Paul's.  On  the  promotion  of  Dr.  Gunning  to  the  see 
of  Chichester,  he  succeeded  him  in  the  mastership  of  St.' 

1  Todd's  Account  of  the  Desas  of  Canterbury .^Ftineral  Sermon  by  Da  Moulin. 


TURNER.  9% 

Jobn^s  college,  Cambridge,  April  II,  1670.    Id  1683,  h# 
was  made  dean  of  Windsor,  and  the  same  year,  was  pro* 
moted  to  tlie  see  of  Rochester,  being  consecrated  on  Nov« 
}  1,  and  next  year  Aug.  23,  was  translated  to  the  bishppric 
of  Ely.     Though  he  owed  most  of  these  preferments  to  tho 
influence  of  the  duke  of  York^  afterwards  James  IL  yet  oa 
the  accession  of  that  prince  to  the  throne,  as  soon  as  h^ 
perceived  the  violent  measures  that  were  pursued,  and  tho 
open  attempts  to  introduce  popery  and  arbitrary  power,  h« 
opposed  them  to  the  utmost.    He  was  one  of  the  six  bishops 
who  joined  archbishop  Sancroft  on  May  18,  1688,  in  sub- 
scribing and  presenting  a  petition  to  the  king,  setting  fortb 
their  reasons,  why  they  could  not  comply  with  his  com- 
mands, in  causing  his  majesty's  '^  Declaration  for  liberty  of 
conscience''  to  be  read  in  their  churches.    Thi^  petitioii 
being  styled  by  the  court,  a  seditious  libel  against  ois  ma- 
jesty and  his  government,  the  bishops  were  all  called  before 
the  privy  council ;  and  refusing  to  enter  into  recognisances, 
to  appear  in  the  court  of  the  king's  bench,  to  answer  the 
misdemeanour  in  framing  and  presenting  the  said  petitioa, 
were,  oh  June  8,  committed  to  the  Tower;  on  the  15th  of 
the  same  month  they  were  brought  by  habeas  corpus. to  the 
bar  of  the  king's  bench,  where,  pleading  not  guilfy  to  th^ 
information  against  them,  they  were  admitted  to  bail,  and 
on  the  29th  came  upon  their  trials  in  Westminster-hall, 
where  next  niorning  they  were  acquitted  to  the  great  joy 
of  the  nation.     However,  when  king  William  and  queen 
Mary  were  settled  on  the  throne,  our  bishop,  among  many 
others  of  his  brethren  and  the  clergy,  refused  to  .own  the 
established  government,  out  of  a  conscientious  regard  to 
the  allegiance  he  had  sworn  to  Jaque^  II. ;  and  refusing  to 
take  the  oaths  required  by  an  act  of  parliament  of  April  24, 
1689,  was  by  virtue  of  that  act  suspended  from  bis  office, 
and  about  the  beginning  of  the  following  year,  deprived  of 
his  bishopric.    After  this  he  lived  the  rest  pt  bis  days  in 
retirement,  and  dying  Nov.  2,  1700,  w:as  buried  ip  the 
chancel  of  the  parochial  church  of  Therfleld  in  Hertford* 
shire,  where  be  bad  .been  rector,  but  without  any  niemo-^ 
rial  except  thef  word  Expergiscab  engravetaon  a  stone  ovep 
the  vault.  ,    , 

Previously,  however,  to  his  retirement,  Burnet  informji 
us  that  he  was  concerned  in  a  very  ill-concerted  plot  to  re- 
store the  abdicated  king,  for  which  some  of  his  party  were 
imprisoned,  and  he  thought  .it  .prudent  io  abscond.     His 


»4  TURNER. 

abilities  were  not  considered  as  of  the  first  order,  but  ht 
was  of  great  sincerity  and  integrity  in  private  life,  and  it 
is  impossible  not  to  respect  the  character,  whatever  we  may 
think  of  the  opinions  of  a  man  whom  neither  gratitude  nor 
interest  could  seduce  from  what  he  considered  as  his  duty. 
He  published  a  ^*  Vindication  of  the  late  archbishop  Sau- 
croft  and  bis  brethren,  the  rest  of  the  deprived  bishops^ 
from  the  reflections  of  Mr.  Marshall,  in  hit  defence  of  out 
Constitution.'*  ^'  Animadversions  on  a  pamphlet  entitled 
The  Naked  Truth,"  which  were  answered  by  Andrew  Mar- 
Tell,  under  the  nQ,me,oi  Bivet ;  and  **  Letters  to  the  Clergy 
of  his  diocese.'*  ^ 

TURNER  (Thomas),  brother  to  the  above,  was  born  at 
Bristol  in  1645,  and  edi^cated  at  Corpus  Christi  college, 
Oxford,  of  which  be  was  elected  fellow ;  he  afterwards  be- 
came chaplain  to  Dr.  Henry  Compton,  bishop  of  London, 
who  collated  him,  Nov.  4,  1680,  to  the  rectory  of  Thorley 
in  Hertfordshire,  and  De6.  20  followinof,  to  the  archdea- 
conry of  Essex  ;  and  in  1682,  to  the  prebend  of  Mapesbury 
in  St.  PauFs.  He  commenced  D.  D.  at  Oxford,  July  2, 
1683,  was  collated  by  his  brother  to  ji  prebend  of  Ely, 
March  26,  1686,  and  elected  presid^f  of  Corpus,  Marcb 
13,  1687-8.  The  same  year.  May  7,  he  was  instituted  to 
the  sinecure  rectory  of  Fulham,  on  the  presentation  of  his 
brother,  to  whom  the  advowson,  for  that  turn,  had  been 
granted  (the  bishop  of  London  being  then  under  suspension), 
and  at  length  was  made  precentor  and  prebendary  of 
Brownswood  in  St.  PauPs,  Jan.  11,  1689.  What  his  poli« 
tical  principles  were  at  the  revolution,  we  are  not  told, 
although,  by  keeping  possession  of  bis  preferments,  it  is 
lo  be  presumed,  be  did  not  follow  the  example  of  his  bro- 
ther, but  took  the  oaths  of  allegiance.  However,  we  are 
informed,  that  after  the  act  passed  in  the  last  year  of  king 
William  IIL  requiring  the  abjuration  oath  to  be  taken  be- 
fore Aug.  1,  1702,  under  penalty  of  forfeiting  all  ecclesias- 
tical preferments.  Dr.  Turner  went  down  from  London  to 
Oxford,  Jiily  28,  seemingly  with  full  resolution  not  to  take 
the  oath,  and  to  quit  all  his  preferments ;  but,  on  better 
advice,  he  made  no  resignation,  knowing  that  if  he  was 
legally  called  upon  to  prove  his  compliance  with  the  act, 
bis  preferments  would  be  void  in  course  ;  and  so  continued 
to  act|  as  if  be  had  taken  the  oath,  by  which  means  he  re- 

^  AUi.  Oz.— ^Bentham'a  £l]r.«->Boract't  Own  Ttinei. 


TURNER  f  A 

tained  his  preferments  to  his  death,  without  ever  taking  it 
at  all.  He  died  April  30,  1714,  and  was  buried  in  the  cha-t 
pel  of  Corpus  Christi  college,  where  there  is  a  monument^ 
and  an  inscription  written  by  Edmund  Chishull,  B.  D. 

Dr.  Turner  has  left  only  one  sermon  in  print,  preached 
before  the  king.  May  29,  1685,  but  he  is  memorable  on 
another  account.  He  was  a  single  man,  and  remarkable 
for  his  muniticence  and  charity  in  his  life-time.  By  his 
will,  he  left  the  bulk  of  his  fortune,  which  was  very  consi*- 
derable,  in  public  and  charitable  uses ;  for,  besides  4000/, 
in  legacies  to  his  relations  and  friends,  he  gave  or  left  to 
his  college  6000/.  for  improving  the  buildings,  and  other 
purposes;  to  the  dean  and  chapter  of  Ely  1000/.  for  aog- 
menting  the  singing-men's  stipends;  and  100/.  the  interest 
of  which  was  to  be  expended  in  putting  out  children  of  the 
town  of  Ely  apprentices,  at  the  nomination  of  his  successors 
in  the  stall  he  held;  and  the  remainder  of  his  effects,  which 
amounted  to  20,000i.  bis  executors  were  directed  to  layout 
rn  estates  and  lands,  and  settle  them  on  the  governors  of 
the  charity  for  the  relief  of  popr  widows  and  children  of 
clergymen.  His  executors  accordingly  purchased  the  manor 
of  Stow  in  Northampt6nshire,  and  other  estates  there,  and 
at  West-Wratting  in  Cambridgeshire,  amounting  to  above 
1000/.  a  year»  and  settled  them  in  1716^  agreeably  to  bitf 
will.  They  also  erected  a  sumptuous  monument  to  hia 
memory  in  Stow  church,  with  an  inscription.— <-V^LU]!« 
Turner^  the  third  son  of  the  dean  of  Canterbury,  wa» 
archdeacon  of  Durham,  and  rector  of  Stanhope  iji  iliac 
county.  He  died  at  Oxford  in  1635,  and  was  buried  m 
St.  Gileses  church,  and  near  his  remains  were  deposited 
those  of  his  mother,  who  died  in  1692.^ 

TURNER  (William),  a  very  emineqt  naturaHst  and  di* 
Tine,  was  born  at  Morpeth,  in  Northumberland,  and  wa«* 
educated  under  the  patronage  of  sir  Thoitaas  Wentworth, 
at  the  university  of  Cambridge,  where  be  was  chosen  a  feU 
low  of  Pembroke  Hall,  about  1531.  He  acquired  great 
reputation  for  his  learning,  and  about. 1536  was  admi<tted 
to  deacon^s  orders,  at  which  time  he  was  master  of  arts. 
He  applied  himself  also  to  philosophy  and  physic,  and 
early  discovered  an  inclination  to  the  study  of  plants,  and 
a  wish  to  be  well  acquainted  with  the  materia  mediea  of  the . 
ancients.     He  complains  of  the  little  assistance  he  caukd 

1  B«ntbam'«  Hist,  of  Eiy.^Ath.  Ox.  ypLII. 


96  T  tJ  R  N  E  ft. 


/ 


receive  in  these  pursuits^  **  Being  yet  a  Bttident  of  V^ttt^ 
broke  Hall,  where  I  could  learn  neter  one  Greke,  neither 
LatiPy  nor  English  name,  even  amongst  the  physician^,  of 
any  herbe  or  tree ;  such  was  the  ignorance  ^f  that  times 
and  as  yet. there  was  no  English  herbal,  but  one  all  full  of 
unlearned  cacographies  and  falsely  naming  of  herbes.^^ 

At  Cambridge,  Turner  imbibed  the  principles  of  the  re- 
formers, and  afterwardsi  agreeably  to  the  practice  of  toany 
others^  united  the  character  of  the  divine  to  that  of  the 
physiciao.  He  became  a  preacher,  travelling  intp  many 
parts  of  England,  and  propagated,  with  so  much  zeal,  the 
cause  of  the  reformation,  ths^  he  excited  persecution  from 
bishop  Gardinen  He  was  thrown  into  prison,  and  detained 
for  a  considerable  time ;  and  on  his  enlargencient  submitted 
to  voluntary  exile  during  the  remainder  of  the  reign  of 
Henry  VHL  This  banishment  proved  favourable  to  his 
advancement  in  medical  and  botanical  studies ;  he  resided 
at  Basil,  Strasburgb,  and  at  Bonn,  but  principally  at  Co- 
logn,  with  many  other  English  refugees.  He  dwelt  for 
some  time  at  Weissienburgh  ;  and  travelled  also  into  Italy, 
and  took  the  degree  of  doctor  9I  physic  at  Ferrara.  As  at 
this  period  the  learned  wereapplying  with  great  assiduity 
%o  the  illustration  of  the  ancients,  it  was  a  fortunate  cir- 
cuoostance  for  Dr.  Turner,  that  he  had  an  opportunity  of 
attending  the  lectures  of  Lucas  Ghinus,  at  Bologna,  of 
whom  he  speaks  in  his  *^  Herbal"  with  great  satisfaction ; 
and  frequently  cites  bis  authority  against  other  commen* 
lators.  Turner  resided  a  considerable  time  at  Basil,  whence 
be  dates  the  dedication  of  his  book  **  On  the  Baths  of  Eng** 
land  and  Germany,"  During  his  residence  in  Switzerland 
be  contracted  a  friendship  with  Gesner,  and  afterwards 
kept  up  a  correspondence  with  him.  Gesner  had  a  high 
opinion  of  Turner,  as  a  physician  and  man  of  general  learn- 
ings whose  equal,  he  says,  he  scarcely  remembered.  This 
encomium  occurs  in  Gesner'^  book  ^^  De  Herbis  Lunariis.^' 

On  the  accession  of  Edward  VL  he  returned  to  England, 
was  incorporated  M.  D.  at  Oxford,  appointed  physician  to 
Edward,  duke  of  Somerset,  and,  as  a  divine,  wa»  rewarded 
with  a  prebend  of  York,  a  canonry  of  Windsor,  and  the 
deanery  of  Wells.  In  1552  he  was  ordained  priest  by 
bishop  Ridley.  He  speaks  of  himself  in  the  third  part  of 
his  ^<  Herbal,"  as  •haying  been  physician  to  the  *.^  erle  of 
Embden,  lord  of  East  Friesland."  In  1551  he  published 
the  first  part  of  his  History  of  Plants,  which  he  dedicjated  to 


TURNER.  91 

■ 

(£te  duke  of  Spmerset  his  pttron.  But  on  the  accession 
of  queen  Mary,  his  zeal  in  the  cause  of  the  reformation, 
which  he  had  amply  testified,  not  only  in  preachjing^  but 
in  rarious  publications,  rendered  it  necessary  for  him  to 
retire  again  to  the  continent,  where  he  remained  at  Basil, 
or  Strasburgh,  with  others  of  the  English  exiles,  until 
queen  Elizabeth  came  to  the  throne.  He  then  returned,' 
and  was  reinstated  in  his  preferments.  He  had,  hovrever, 
while  abroad,  caught  some  of  the  prejudices  which  divided 
the  early  prbtestants  into  two  irreconcilable  parties,  and' 
spoke  and  acted  with  such  contempt  for  the  English  dis- 
cipline and  ceremonies,  as  to  incur  censure,  but  certainly 
was  not  deprived,  as  some  of  those  writers  who  are  hostile ' 
to  the  church  have  asserted,  for  he  died  possessed  of  th^ 
deanery  of  Weils.  It  would  appear,  indeed,  that  he  had 
given  sufficient .  provocation,  but  found  a  friend  in  the 
queen  on  such  occasions.  In  the  dedication  of  the  com- 
plete edition  of  his  ^^HerbaP'  to  her  in  1568,  he  acknow- 
ledges with  gratitude,  her  favours  in  restoring  him  to  his 
benefices,  and  in  other  ways  protecting  him  from  troubles, 
having,  at  four  several  times,  granted  him  the  great  seal 
for  thatpurpose. 

Dr.  Turner  seems  to  have  divided  his  time  between  his 
deanery,  where  he  bad  a  botanical  garden,  of  which  fre- 
quent mention  is  made  in  his  **•  Herbal,^*  and  his  house  in 
Crutched  Friars,  London.  He  speaks  also  of  his  garden  at 
Kew,  and  from  the  repeated  notices  he  takes  of  the  plants 
in  Purbecky  and  about  Portland,  Dr.  Polteney  infers  that 
he  must  have  had  some  intimate  connections  in  Dorsetshire. 
He  died  July  7,  1568,  a  few  months  after  the  publication 
of  the  last  part  of  his  **  Herbal,'*  and  was  buried  in  the 
chancel  of  St.  01ave*s  church.  Hart-street,  London,  where 
a  monument  was  erected  to  bis  memory  by  his  widow. 

Dr.  Turner  was  the  author  of  many  controversial  treatises,^ 
chiefly  written  against  popery.  Among  these  were,  1. 
"The  hunting  of  the  Romish  Fox,*'  &c.  Basil,  1543.  2. 
«  Rescuing  of  the  Romish  Fox,"  1545.  3.  "  The  hunting 
of  the  Romish  Wolf,"  8vo  :  all  these  were  published  under 
the  name  of  William  Wraughton.  4.  "  Dialogue,  wherein 
is  contained  the  examination  of  the  Mass,"  Lond.  8vo.  5. 
*^  A  preservative,  or  triacle  against  the  Poison  of  Pelagius, 
lately  renewed  and  litirred  up  again,  by  the  furious  sect 
of  the  anabaptists,"  ibid.  1551,  12mo«  6.<^A  new  book 
of  spiritual  physio  for  diners  diseases,"  1555.    7.  ^  The 

Vol.  XXX,  H 


S8  TURNER; 

hunting  of  the  Fox  and  Wolf,  because  they  did  male  ba^ 
vock  of  the  sheep  of  Jesus  Cbrist/*  8vo.  Tanner  nientioii:9 
m  few  other  articles,  and  there  are  several  of  his  tracts  yet 
in  manuscript,  in  various  libraries.  He  collated  the  trans- 
lation of  the  Bible  with  Hebrew,  Greek,  and  Latin  copies,, 
and  corrected  it  in  many  places.  He  procured  to  be 
printed  at  Antwerp  a  new  ana  corrected  edition  of  William 
df  Newburgh's  ^'  Historia  gentis  nostrse,''  from  a  MS.  he 
found  in  the  library  at  Wells ;  but  complains  that  the  priiv 
ter  not  only  omitted  certain  articles  sent  by  him,  but  left 
out  the  preface  he  sent  him,  and  substituted  one  of  hii^ 
own.  Our  author  also  translated  several  works  from  the 
Latin,  particularly  ^^  The  comparison  of  the  Old  Learning, 
and  the  New,''  written  by  Urbanus  Regius,  Southwark, 
1537,  8vo,  and  again  1538  and  1548. 

His  first  work  on  the  subject  of  plants  was  printed  at 
Cologn,  under  the  title  of  '^  Historia  de  naturis  berbaruda, 
scholiis  et  uotis  yallata,''  1544,  8vo.  Bumaldus  is  the  only 
writer  who  mentions  this  work,  and  it  probably  wasknot  re-* 
printed  in  England.  It  was  followed  by  a  small  vohime 
under  the  title  of  ^^  Names  of  Herbes,  in  Greek,  Latiq^ 
English,  Dutch  and  French/'  Lond.  1548.  As  his  know- 
ledge in  natural  history  was  not  confined  to  botany,  be 
jj^ublished  a  treatbe  on  birds,  entitled  ^<  Avium  prsecipu- 
arum,  quarum  apud  Pliniiim  et  Aristotelem  mentio  est, 
brevis  et  succincta  historia,^'  Cologn.  1543,  8vo,  By  a 
letter  of  his  prefixed  to  Gesner's  '^  Historia  ▲nimalium;*'^ 
edit.  1&20,  relating  to  the  English  fishes,  it  appears  that 
Jhe  had  no  inconsiderable  degree  of  knowledge  in  that  part 
of  zoology.  But  the  work  which  secured  his  reputation 
to  posterity,  and  entitles  him  to  the  character  of  an  original 
writer  on  that  subject,  in  England,  is  his  *^  History  of 
Plants,*'  printed  at  different  times,  in  three  parts,  in  foh 
with  cuts,  under  the  title  of  a  ^^New  Herbal,*'  Lond.  1551^ 
part  first ;  part  second  at  Cologn,  in  1562  ^^with  this  wa» 
reprinted  the  first  part,  and  his  **  Book  on  the  Bathes  of 
England  and  Germany.**  These  were  reprinted,  with  a 
third  part,  in  1568.  Dr.  Pulteney  has  given  a  minute  ac- 
count of  the  contents  and  progress  of  this  work,  and  ob- 
serves, that  when  we  regard  the  time  in  which  Dr.  Turner 
lived,  and  the  little  assistance  he  could  derive  from  tai» 
Gontemporariei^  be  will  appear  to  have  exhibited  uncom- 
mon diligence,  and  great  erudition,  and  fuUy  to  desetve 
the  character  of  an  original  writer.    H^  also,  paid  early 


TURNER.  99 

4 

llttdntion  Id  mineral  waters^  and  to  wines;  and  wrote  on 
both  subjects. 

It  af^ears  that  at  one  time  there  was  a  design  of  placing 
JDr.  Turner  at  the'head  of  Oriel  college.  Kennet  mentiooa 
a  letter  to  that  college  (1550,  Jtilj  5)  <<  to  accept  Dr. 
Turner  for  master  of  the  same,  appointed  by  the  king  ;^^ 
but  this  appointment  certainly  did  not  take  place.  Bnfc 
from  a  passage  in  his  *'  Spiritual  Physic,'^  he  appears  td 
have  been  once  a  member  of  the  House  of  Commofts..  Fox 
speaks  of  Turner  with  great  respect,  as  ^^  a  man  whose  aa^ 
thortty  neither  is  to  be  neglected,  nor  credit  to  be  dis-* 
puted.^'  lie  married  Jane,  daughter  of  George  Ander,  an 
alderman  of  Cambridge,  who  after  his  death  married  Coir|i 
bbhop  of  Ely.  In  memory  of  her  first  husband,  she  lef6 
some  money  and  lands  to  Pembroke  Hall. 

By  this  lady  Dr.  Turner  had  a  son,  Peter,  who  was  ai 
physician,  and  practised  in  Lpndon,  and  resided  the  latter 
part  of  his  life  in  St.  Helen's,  Bishopsgate-street,  London* 
He  died  in  1614,  and  was  buried  near  his  father  in  Sjk^ 
Olave's  church,  where  there  is  a  monument  to  his  mie<f: 
moiy*  He  married  Pascha,  sister  to  Dr.  Henry  Parr,  bishop 
of  Worcester,  by  whom  he  had  eight  children,  one  of  whooti 
ia  the  subject  of  the  following  article.  ^ 

TURNER  (Peter),  son  to  the  preceding  Dr.  Peter,  and 
grandson  to  Dr.  William  Turner,  was  born  in  15S5y  and 
iltras  admitted  a  probationer  fellow  of  Merton  dollege,  Ox^^ 
ford,  in  1607,.  where  lie  proceeded  in  arts>  and  not  beiHg^ 
restricted  to  any  particular  faculty,  as  the  fellows  of  other 
colleges  are,  became,  according  to  Wood,  versed  in  alt 
hinds  of  literature.  His  first  preferment  was  the  professor* 
ship  of  geometry  in  Gr<esham  college,  in  July  1620^  but 
he  continued  to  reside  mostly  at  Oxford,  and  held  this 
place  together  with  his  fellowship.  In  1629,  by  the  di- 
rection of  Laud,  then  bishop  of  London,  he  drew  up  a 
scheme  for  the  annual  election  of  proctors  out  of  the  se-> 
yeral  colleges  at^  Oxford  in  a  certain  order,  that  was  ta 
return  every  twenty-three  years,  which  being  approved  of 
by  his  majesty,  Charles  L  was  called  the  Caroline  cycle^ 
and  is  still  followed,  and  always  printed  at  the  end  of  the 
**  Paiecbolae  sive  Excerpta,  e  corpore  statutorum  universi- 
tatis  Oxon/'    In  the  same  year  he  acted  as  one  of  the  com* 

1  Ath.  Ox.  ▼oK  I.  new  •dit-^Pulteaey't  Sketchcf.«^Ward't  Grcsham  Pro* 
fetton.'-Strype*t  CrMnncr,  p.  235>  274,  dU,  357.~Slrypt^s  Park«r,  p.  A$, 
151^— Folter*!  Wortkief; 

H  2 


100  T  U  R  N  E  R. 

« 

missioners  for  revising  the  statutes,  and  reducing  them  txt 
a  better  form  and  order.  In  1630,  on  the  death  of  Briggd^ 
Mr.  Turner  was  chosen  to  siicceed  htm  as  professor  of  geo- 
metry at  Osfordi  and  resigned  his  Gresbam  professorship. 
How  well  he  was  qualified  for  his  n<ew  office  appears  by  the 
character  archbishop  Usher  gives  of  him,  *^  Savtiianus  in 
academia  Oxoniensi  matheseos  professor  eruditissimus/' 
In  1634  the  new  edition  of  the  statutes  was  printed  in' fol. 
Kith  a  preface  by  Mr.  Turner;  and  to  reward  him  for  his 
care  and  trouble^  a  new  office  was  foundedi  that  of  **  cus->: 
tos  archivorum/'  or  keepe^  of  the  archives,  to  which  he 
was  appointed,  and  made  large  collections  respecting  the 
antiquities  of  the  university,  which  were  afterwards  of  great 
use  to  Anthony  Wood.  In  1636,  on  a  royal  visit  to  Ox* 
ford,  Mr.  Turner  was  created  M.  D.  but  having  fCdbered 
to  his  majesty  in  his  troubles,  and  even  taken  up  arms  in 
his  cause,  he  was  ejected  from  his  fellowship  of  Merton, 
and  his  professorship.  This  greatly  impoverished  him,  and 
he  went  to  reside  with  a  sister,  the  widow  of  a  Mr.  WaHs, 
a  brewer  in  Southwark,  where  he  died  in  Jan.  165T,  and 
was  interred  in  St.  Saviour's  church.  He  was  a  man  of 
extensive  learning,  and  wrote  much,  but  being  fastidious 
in  his  opinion  of  his  own  works,  he  never  could  complete 
them  to  his  mind.  We  have  mentioned  the  only  writings 
he  published,  except  a  Latin  poem  in  the  collection  in  ho-^ 
Dour  of  sir  Thomas  Bodley^  called  the  ^'  Bodleiomnema,'' 
Oxf.  1613.  Wood  also  mentions  *^  Epistolie  varise  ad  doc-' 
tissimos  viros  ;^'  but  we  know  of  no  printed  letters  of  his  i 
Dr.  Ward,  however,  gives  extracts  from  three  MS  letters 
in  English  to  Selden,  chiefly  relating  to  some  Greek  writers* 
on  the  music  of  the  ancients. ' 

TURNER  (William),  a  pious  English  divine,  was  & 
native  of  Flintshire,  and  born  near  Broadoak,  in  that  county,, 
but  in  what  year  we  have  not  discovered.  Our  particulars^^ 
indeed^f  this  gentleman  are  extremely  scanty,  he  having 
been  omitted  by  Wood.  Previously  to  his  going  to  Ox* 
ford,  he  was  for  some  time  an  inmate  in  the  house  of  thfr 
celebrated  Philip  Henry,  partly  as  a  pupil,  and  partly  as 
an  assistant  in  the  education  of  Mr.  Henry's  children,  one 
of  whom,  Matthew,  the  commentator,  was  first  initiated  in 
grammar-learning  by  Mr.  Turner.  This  was  in  1669,  .after 
which  Mr.  Turner  entered  of  Edmund  ball,  Oxford,  where 

1  Ath.  Ox.  Tol.  IL— Wsrd'p  Gresbam  Profespeni. 


TURNER  l«i 

1m  took  htt  degrM  of  M.  A.  Jone  8,  1675.  He  became 
afterurards  vicar  of  Watberton,  in  Sasisear,  «nd  resided  there 
in  1697,  at  the  time  be  published  his  principal  work,  but 
the  date  of  his  death  we  have  not  been  able  to  ascertain. 
In  1695  he  published  a  **  History  of  all  Religions/'  Lond. 
8vo ;  but  the  work  by  which  he  is  best  known  is  his  ^'  Com« 
pleat  history  of  the  most  remarkable  Providences,  both  of 
Judgment  and  Mercy,  &c.  to  which  is  added,  whatever 
is  curious  in  the  works  of  nature  and  art  The  whole  di- 
gested into  one  volume,  uader  proper  heads ;  being  a  work 
set  on  foot  thirty  years  ago,  by  the  rev.  Mr.  Pool,  au- 
thor of  the ''  Synopsis  Criticorum ;'  and  since  undertaken 
and  finished  by  William  Turner,"  &c.  1697,  fol.  This 
curious  collection  ranks  with  the  similar  performances  of 
Clark,  8^nd  Wanley  in  his  "  History  of  the  Little  World," 
but  is  superior,  perhaps,'  to  both  in  selection  and  con- 
ciseness*  Dunton,  in  bis  '<  Life,''  gives  Mr.  Turner  the 
character  of  ^<  a  man  of  wonderful  moderation,  and  pf 
great  piety,"  and  adds,  what  it  is  very  natural  for  a  book- 
seller to  praise,  that  **  be  was  very  getierous,  and  would 
not  receive  a  farthing  for  his  copy  till  the  success  was 
known."  * 

TURRECREMATA.    See  TORaUEMADA.. 

TURRETIN  (Benedict),  the  first  of  a  celebrated  fa* 
mily  of  protestant  divines,  waa  the  son  6f  Francis  Turretio, 
descended  from  an  ancient  family  at  Lucca,  who  was 
obliged  to>  fly  his  country  for  the  cause  of  religion,  and 
resided  partly  at  Antwerp  and  Geneva,  and  lastly  at  Zu- 
rich, where  he  died.  His  son  Benedict  was  bom  NoV;  9^ 
15S8,  and  in  his  thirty^third  year  (1621)  was  appointed 
pastor,'  and  professor  of  theology  at  Geneva.  The  same 
year  the  republic  of  Geneva  being  alarmed  at  the  hostile 
preparations  making  by  the  duke  of  Savoy,  sent  Mr.  Tur- 
retin  to  the  States  General  of  the  United  Provinces  and  to 
the  prince  of  Orange,  and  he  prevailed  on  their  high 
niightinesses  to  advance  the  aum  of  S0,000  livres,  and 
10^000  tivres  per  month,  for  three  months,  in  case  of  a 
siege.  He '  also  obtained  other  pecuniary  aid  from  the 
churches  of  Hamburgh,  Embden,  and  Bremen.  During 
hir  being  in  Holland,  he  had  interviews  with  the  French 
attd  English  ambassadors,  and  had  an  audience  of  the  king 

1  Life  qI  Philip  Heniy,  p.  100, 16U— of  Matt  Henry,  p.  Vl.— Danton's  W^ 


N 


102  T  U  R  R  f  T  I  N, 

«f 'Bebemiii,  to  whom  he  communicated  the  syitapathy 
which  the  state  of  Geneva  felt  on  his  revene  of  fortune. 
In  1622  be  returned  to  GenoTa,  ajid  was  received  with 
all  the  respect  due  to  his  services.  He  died  at  Geneva, 
March  4,  1631,  with  the  character  of  a  very  learned  dU 
vine,  and  a  man  of  great  moderation  and  judgment.  .  Hia 
works  are,  1.  A  defence  of  the  Geneva  translation  of  the 
Bible,  against  the  attack  of  father  Coton  in  his  '^  Geneve 
Flagiaire."  This  extended  to  three  parts,  or  volumes, 
printed  from  1618  to  1626:  2. '^Sermons,''  in  French, 
<<  aur  Tutilit^  des  cbatimentsJ*  3.  <f  Sermons,''  in  Italian, 
«cc.»      •  •  • 

TURRETIN  (Francis),  son  to  the  preceding,  was  bora 
at  Geneva,  Oct,  17,  1623.  After  pursuing  bis  studies  in 
the  classics  and  philosophy  with  great  credit,  he  entered 
on  the  study  of  divinity,  under  t^  celebrated  Calvinistic 
professors,  John  Diodati,  Theodore  Tronchin,  Frederick 
Spanhein^,  &c.  While  a  student  he  supported  in  1640 
and  1644,  two  theses,  ^^De  felicitate  moraJi  et  politica,'* 
and  <^  De  necessaria  Dei  gratia*"  He  afterwards  went  to 
Ldeyden,  and  formed  an  acquaintance  with  tbe  most  emi- 
nent scholars  there;  and  afterwards  to  Paris,  where  he 
lodged  with  the  celebrated  Daill6,  and  studied  geography 
Uhd^r  Gassendii  whose  philosophical  lectures  be  also  at-r 
tended.  He  then  visited  the  sehools  of  Saumur  and  Mon*» 
laub^,  and  on  bis  return  to  Geneva  in  1647  was  or4ained, 
and  in  the  following  year  served  both  in  tbe  French  and 
Italian  churches  of  that  city.  In  1650  be  refused  the  pro^ 
fessorship  of  philosophy,  which  was  offered  to  him  more 
than  once,  hut  accepted  an  invitation  to  the  pastoral  oflMse 
at  Lyons,  where  he  six:ceeded  Aaron  Morus^  the  brother 
of  Alexander.  In  1653  he  was  recalled  to  Geneva  to  be 
professor  of  divinity,  an  pfEice  which  Theodore  Tronchin 
was  now  about  to  resign  from  age,  and  Turretin  continued  in 
it  during  the  rest  of  his  life.  In  1661  he  was  employed  on 
a  sin^ilar  business  as  bis  father,  being  sent  to  Holland  to 
obtain  assistance  from  the  States  General  to  fprtify  the  city 
of  Geneva.  Having  represented  tbe  case,  be  obtained  the 
fum  of  75,000  fiorins,  with  which  a  bastion  was  huiJt,  called 
tbe  Dutch  bastion.  He  had  an  interview  with  tbe  prince 
l^nd  princess  dowa:ger  of  Grange  at  Turnhout  in  Brabant ; 
and  having  often  pi^eacbed  while  in  (iolland,  he  was  so 


«' 


^  U  R  R  E  T  I  N.  loa 

muc)i  admired^  that  ^be  Walloon  cbarcb  of  L^den,  aii4 
tbe  French  church  at  the  Hague,  sent  him  invitations  to 
settle  with  them ;  but  this  he  declined,  and  returned  to  Ge- 
neva in  1662.  He  had  not  been  here  long  before  the 
states  general  of  Holland  wrote  most  pressingly  to  the  re- 
public^ requesting  that  Turretin  might  be  permitted  to 
settle  in  Holland;  and  sipnilar  applications  were. made 
fpoi  Leyden,  &c.  in  1666  and  1672  :  but  he  could  not  be 
reconciled  to  the  change,  and  resuming  his  functions,  ac- 
quired the  greatest  fame,  both  as  a  divine  and  professor. 
He  died  Sept  28,  1687. 

Besides  some  sermons  dedicated  to  m^dam  de  Scbom- 
berg,  he  wrote  an  answer  to  a  piece  published  by  a  cauou 
of  Aneci,  in  order  to  render  the  protestants  odious,  among 
other  things,  upon  the  doctrine  of  the  obediep^e  of  sub- 
jects to  their  lawful  princes.  He  wrote  also  an  answer  0' 
the  letter,  which  the  bishop  of  Lucca  sem  to  the  femilies 
at  Geneva,  which  were  originally  of  his  diocese,  to  exhort 
them  to  the  profession  of  the  catholic  religion,  which  their 
ancestors  bad  abandoned.  But  what  will  chiefly  perpetu- 
ate our  authov^s  memory  is  his  '^Ihstitutio  Theologis^  Slenc- 
ticae,^'  in  three  volumes  4to,  his  theses  ^*  De  «atisfac- 
tione  Cbristi"  against  the  Socinians,  and  ^<  De  necessaria 
secessione  ab  Ecclesia  Romana.*'  There  is  an  excellent 
abridgment  of  his  ^^  Institutio,'*  by  Leonard  Riisseo,  which 
has  gone  through  sreveral  editions';  the  best^  if  we  mistake 
not,  is  that  of  Amsterdam,  1695,  4to.  ^  , 

TURRETIN  (John  Alphonsus),  the  most  celebrated 
of  the  family,  was  the  son  of  Francis  Turretin,  and  waa 
born  at  Geneva,  Aug«  24,  1671.  From  his  infancy  he 
shewed  a  great  ardour  for  study,  which  his  father  took 
every  pains  to  improve  and  direct.  Some  of  his  early  pre- 
ceptors were  divines  who  had  fled  from  France  for  religioDj 
and  one  of  them,  a  Mons.  Dautun,  was  particularly  ser-* 
vlceable  in  correcting  the  exuberances  of  bis  compositional 
and  habituating  him  to  revise  and  reconsider  what  he  wrote. 
This  M  first  was  rather  troublesome  to  the  lively  spirits  of 
pur  author,  but  he  soon  saw  that  Dautun  had  reason  oo  hi« 
side.  He  studied  the  Cartesian  philosophy  under  Chouet^ 
^  very  able  professor.  Bishop  Burnet^  who  passed  tbn 
fvinter  at  Geneva  in  1685,  conceived  a  tery  high  opinion 

*  Morert.— life  by  ?icUt  pnflxed  to  tbe  edition  of  the  «<  Institntio"  pristed 
in  1701. 


10*    ;  T  U  R  R  E  T  I  N, 

of  young  Tufretin^  often  examined  bim  on  his  tasks,  and 
in  the  course  of  many  conversations  inspired  him  with  that 
taste  which  Turretin  always  afterwards  indulged  for  En^ 
glish  literature.  In  1687  be  lost  his  father,  but  continued 
to  pursue  his  theological  studies  under  Louis  Tronchin, 
Calendriniy  and  Pictet.  Tronchin  admired  in  him  a  great 
love  for  truth  ard  peace,  and  said,  ^*  that  young  man  b^ 
gins  where  others  end."  Turretin  had  many  advantages 
on  his  side,  an  uncommon  share  of  natural  understanding, 
a  great  memory,  a  facility  in  discovering  the  important 
parts  of  a  question;  an  aversion  to  idleness  and  frivolous 
amusements;  learned  friends,  an  ample  library,  and  a  pa- 
trimony which  set  him  at  ease  from  anxiety  or  precipita« 
tion  in  his  studies.  At  the  age  of  twenty,  with  these  ad- 
vantages, we  are  told  he  was  **  almost  a  great  man,''  Yp^tf#^ 
que  un  grand  hommcj. 

In  1693  he  began  bis  travels,  and  first  resided  for  a  con- 
siderable time  in  Holland,  where  bis  talents  recommended 
him.  to  the  acquaintance  and  friendship  of  the  most  emi- 
nent scholars  and  divines  of  tbe  time.  He  lived  eight 
months  at  Rotterdam,  and  in  tbe  midst  of  the  disputes  bc-^ 
tween  Jurieu.and  Bayle,  was  on  good  terms  with  botbji 
without  any  sacrifice  of  principle  on  his  own  part  Hia 
chief  object  during  his  residence  in  Holland  was  the«tudy 
of  ecclesiastical  history  under  Spanheim;  and  with  that  view 
be  continued  about  eight  months  at  Leyden,  and  main- 
tained some  theses  which  did,  him  great  credit,  particularly 
«  Pyrrhonispius  pontificius,  sive  Theses  Theologico-histo- 
ricae  de  variationibus  pontificiorum  circa  ecclesiss  infallibi- 
litatem.^*  This  was  reprinted  in  the  collection  of  his  Dis* 
sertation^.  In  July  169^1  he  came  to  England,  but  had  not 
slept  many  nights  in  London  before  he  was  attacked  by 
an  asthmatic  complaint,  which  disturbed  bim  for  the  greater 
part  of  his  life.  He  removed  for  better  air  to  Chelsea,  but 
preached  in  the  French  church  in  London,  and  visited  the 
universities  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge.  At  the  latter  bQ 
first  saw  Mr.  (afterwards  sir)  Isaac  Newton,  in'  whose  modest 
manifers  and  conversation  he  discerned  the  future  illus- 
trious character.  It  appears  also  that  he  held  sonie  amica- 
ble disputes  with  our  divines  on  the  respective  constitutions 
of  the  churches  of  England  and  Geneva.  He  passed  much 
pf  his  time  with  his  old  friend  bishop  Burnet,  at  the  palace 
at  Salisbury,  where  he  also  met  Dr.  Whitby  and  Mr.  Alliz  \ 
^^d  by  means  of  lord  Galloway  was  introduced  at  court,  an4 


t  ' 


T  U.  R  R  E  T  I  N.  105 

very  graciously  received  liy  king  William  and  queen  Mary. 
Burnet  also  introduced  him  to  Tillotson,  Compton,  Tenison, 
Lloyd,  Wake,  &c.  &c.  He  learned  English  so  well,  that  when 
after  his  return  to  Geneva,  the  duke  of  Bridgwater  and  lord 
Townsend,  with  both  of  whom  he  was  intimate,  engaged 
him  to  preach  in  English,  he  performed  it  with  a  facility 
which  astonished  his  noble  hearers  ;  but  he  afterwards  lost 
the  art  of  speaking,  although  he  could  always  write  and 
read  English  with  great  ease  and  correctness. 

After  leaving  England,  which  he  did  with  much  regret, 
in  the  spring  1693,  he  went  to  Paris,  where  he  had  equal 
reason  to  be  pleased  with  his  reception,  being  in  the  same 
manner  caressed  by  Bossuet,  Huet,  Bignon,  Nicaise,  Ma-» 
billon,  Malebranche,  &c.  &c.  and  in  short  all  the  learned 
men  of  the  day.  On  his  return  home  he  was  ordained  to 
the  ministry  in  1694,  when  only  twenty-two  years  of  age, 
a  special  mark  of  tespect,  as  twenty*  four  is  the  lowest  age 
appointed  by  law.  For  some  time  he  had  no  fixed  charge, 
but  preached  in  the  Italian  church,  with  which  his  father 
and  grandfather  had  always  been  connected,  and  he  was  a 
perfect  master  of  the  language.  In  1697  the  magistrates 
founded  for  him  a  professorship  of  ecclesiastical  history, 
but  without  any  salary,  and  M.  Turretin  was  in  a  condition 
to  accept  it  on  such  terms.  He  entered  on  his  oflSce  in 
May,  with  a  discourse  on  the  utility  and  excellence  of  sab- 
ered antiquities,  and  afterwards  began  a  course  of  ecclesi- 
astical history,  comprised  in  about  three  hundred  lectures. 
He  was  often  requested  to  print  these,  but  pleaded  that 
they  were  merely  collections  formed  for  the  direction  of 
the  students,  and  were  not  sufficiently  polished  for  publi- 
cation. 

In  1699  be  embraced  a  favourable  opportunity  to  make 
the  tour  of  Swisserland,  in  the  course  of  which  he  added 
considerably  to  the  number  of  his  friends  and  admirers. 
After  bis  return,  the  commencement  of  a  new  century  di- 
rected his  attention  to  the  secular  games  of  the  ancients, 
and  produced  from  his  pen  a  treatise  entitled  ^<  De  ludis 
ssecularibus  Academicse  Questiones,'*  Gen.  1701,  4to«  In 
the  same  year  he  was  chosen  rector  of  the  academy,  in 
which  office  he  remained  until  J711,  and  delivered  ten 
orations  on  the  academic  anniversary  of  each  year.  In 
1702,  be  wrote  a  panegyric  on  William  III.,  which  was  re^ 
printed  in  England,  and  much  admired.  On  the  death  af 
Troncbin,  jn  1705,  he  was. appointed. to  succeed  him  in 


i06 


TURRETIN. 


the  dirinity  professonbip,  'wbich  he  held  wUh  tbat  of 
eeclesiastical  history,  bat  did  aot  dehver  a  regular,  syste- 
matic coDfse  of  divinity  lectures,  for  which  be  was  blamed. 
In  1706  he  joined  those  Geneva  divines  who  sought  to  be 
excused  from  subscribing  the  form  called  the  consensus^ 
which  had  been  introduced  about  thirty  or  forty  years  be- 
fore. It  appears  from  this  that  his  notions  were  rather 
more  latitudinarian  than  those  of  his  ancestors ;  and  it  was 
remarked  as  rather  singular  tbat  the  son  should  be  so  zea* 
Ions  to  abolish,  what  the  fathei'  bad  been  equally  zealous  to 
establish.  We  are  assured,  however,  that  friendly  as  he' 
was  to  toleration,  and  somewhat  inclined  to  Arminian- 
km,  he  was  a  constant  advocate  for  uniformity  in  all  essen- 
tial doctrines.  In  17.07,  when  the  re*union  of  the  protest- 
ant  churches  was  agitated,  the  king  of  Prussia  made  Tur- 
retin  a  present  of  a  gold  medal,  and  he  was  chosen  a  mem- 
ber of  the  royal  society  of  Berlin,  as  he  had  before  of  that 
of  London.  On  the  subject  of  any  junction  with  the  church 
of  Rome,  Turretin  held  that  to  be  wholly  impracticable^ 
andrhis  opinion  bad  great  weight.  Such  was  indeed  his  re- 
putation, that  no  strangers,  of  whatever  rank,  ever  visited 
Geneva  without  a  desire  to  be  introduced  to  him,  and  to 
eonsult  him  on  matters  of  importance. 
'  In  17 1 1  he  began  to  print  bia  theses  on  different  subjectsi 
but  chiefly  on  the  necessity  of  a  revelation,  and  on  the 
truth  of  the  Christian  religion,  all  of  which  were  published 
at  Geneva  in  2  vols.  4to,  1737.  In  1719  he  published  a 
<<  Dissertation  on  Fundamental  Points,"  which  be  bad  writ- 
ten at  the  request  of  two  persons  of  rank  of  the  Lutheran 
profession.  Along  with  it  was  publisjied  his  ^^  Cloud  of 
Witnesses.''  The  title  was  <^  Nubes  Testium  de  modefato 
et  pacifico  de  rebus  theologicis  judicio,  et  instituenda  inter 
^  protestantes  concordia.  Premissa  est  brevis  et  pacifica  de 
drticulis  fundamentalibus  diaquisitio,  qua  ad  protestantium 
pacem,  mutuamque  tolerantiam  via  steroitur/'  4to.  Tfaia 
work,  which  contains  an  assemblage  of  the  sentiments  of 
Imminent  men.  of  all  ages  on  ,the  subject  of  tolertftion,  was 
dedicated  to  archbishop  Wak^,  who  as  well  as  the  author 
laboured  much  to  procure  a  re-union  between  the  protestant 
churches ;  and  Turretin  derived  no  little  reputation  from 
this  attempt,  which  many  of  the  leading  men  among  the 
Lutherans  highly  approved.  About  this  time  he  had  a  con- 
troversy with  Buddeus  on  the  subject  of  miracles,  which 
fvas  conducted  on  both  sides  with  great  urbanity.   Torr^tiH 


tUERETIN. 


107 


idso  began  to  prepare  for  the  press  his  lectures  on  nitural 
religion,  whieh  form  an  excellent  system  on  that  subject. 
On  the  death  of  Pictet  he  succeeded  him  in  bia  duties  on 
solemn  academical  festivals,  and  in  delivering  the  accus* 
tomed  harangues,  prescribed  by  the  laws  of  Geiieva,  not 
only  in  the  council  of  t^o  hundred,  but  in  the  half-yearly 
meetings  of  the  burgesses.  He  also  took  an  active  part  in 
various  improvements  introduced  by  the  church  of  Geneva, 
as  a  revision  of  their  liturgies,  a  translation  of  the  new 
testament  published  in  1726,  the  establishment  of  a  society 
for  the  education  of  the  young,  &c.  In  1734  be  published 
his  abridgment  of  ecclesiastical  history,  in  Latin,  **  Histoii» 
EcclesiastictE  compendium  a  Christo  nato  usque  ad  anuum 
1700,"  Genev.  dvo.  This,  he  used  to  dictate  to  his  studentft, 
and  it  served  as  a  text-book  for  his  lectures.  The  preceding 
year  he  received  from  our  queen  Caroline,  who  had  often 
shewn  him  marks  of  respect,  a  gold  medal,  brought  by-8ir 
Luke  Schaub,  but  she  was  dead  before  it  arrived.  On  the 
death  of  archbishop  Wake  in  1737,  which  Turretin  very 
much  regretted,  the  divines  of  Geneva  having  determined 
to  write  a  letter  to  the  new  archbishop,  Potter,  congratu* 
kiting  him  on  his  promotion,  and  requesting  his  protection 
to  the  foreign  churcheil,  Turretin  was  employed  on  the  oe«> 
casion,  and  this  was  the  last  letter  of  any  importance  which 
he  wrote.  His  health,  always  delicate,  now  began  to  give 
way,  and  he  died  May  1,  1.737,  in  bis  sixty-sixth  year^ 
regretted  as  one  of  the  most  able  divines  of  his  church  or 
time. 

In  170S  he  married,  and  left  a  son,  who  did  npt  follow 
his  father's  profession,  but  died  in  1754.  There  were  two 
Lives  of  Turretin  written,  one  in  French,  by  Vernet,  which 
is  inserted  in  the  *^  Bibliotheque  raisonn^e,"  vol  XXL ;  the 
other  in  Latin  by  Tronchin,  inserted  in  the  ^^Tempe  HeU 
vetica,''  vol.  HL  From  these  Chaufepie  has  compiled  an 
excellent  article,  as  indeed  all  his  additional  articles  are^ 
from  which  we  have  taken  the  above  particulars.^ 

TURSELIN,  orTURSELLINUS  (Horace),  a  learned 
and  indefatigable  Jesuit  of  Rome,  was  born  in  1545,  and: 
taught  rhetoric  in  that  city  with  reputation  during  twenty 
years,  and  was  afterwards  rector  of  several  colleges.  He 
promoted  the  study  of  the  belles  lettres  in  his  society,  and 
died  at  Rome,  April  6, 1599,  aged  54.     His  principal  workt 

I  CItttfepie; 


lt>8  T  U  R  S  E  L  I  N; 

are,  1.  <<  The  Life  of  St.  Francis  Xavier  ;*'  the  best  eiiiion 
of  this  18  that  of  1596,  4to.  On  this  work  we  shall  have  oc* 
casion  to  make  some  remarks  in  our  article  of  Xavier.  2^ 
^^  The  History  of  Loretto/'  8vo.  3.  A  treatise  on  the 
Latin  Particles.  4.  <*An  Abridgment  of  Universal  History/' 
from  the  creation  to  1598,  &c.  All  the  above  are  in  elegant 
Latin.  The  best  editions  of  bis  Universal  History  are  those 
which  have  a  continuation  by  father  Philip  Briet,  from  1618 
to  1661.  The  best  French  translation  of  it  is  by  the  abbd 
Lagneau,  Paris,  1757,  4  vols.  12mo,  with  notes.^ 

TUSSER  (Thomas),  an  English  poet  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  and  styled  the  British  Varro,  was  born,  as  it  is 
supposed,  about  the  year  1515,  at  Rivenhall  near  Witham 
in  Essex.  His  father,  William  Tusser,  married  a  daughter  of 
Thomas  Smith,  of  Kivenball,  esq.  by  whom  he  had  $ve 
sons  and  four  daughters ;  and  this  match  appears  to  have 
been  the  chief  foundation  of  ^'the  gentility  of  his  family,'' 
for  which  he  refers  his  readers  to  ^^the  Heralds'  book.*' 
The  name  and  race,  however,  have  long  been  extinct.     At 
an  early  age,  much  against  his  will,  he  was  sent  by  his  fa- 
tber  to  a  music-school ;  and  was  soon  placed  as  a  chorister 
or  singing-boy  in  the  collegiate  chapel  of  the  castle  of 
Wallingford ;  and  after  some  hardships,  of  which  he  com- 
plains, and  frequent  change  of  place,  he  was  at  length  ad- 
mitted into  St.  Paul's,  where  he  arrived  at  considerable 
proficiency  in  music^  under  John  Redford,  the  organist  of 
that  cathedral,  a  man  distinguished  for  his  attainments  iiv 
the  science.     From  St.  Paul's  he  was  sent  to  Eton  school, 
and  was  some  time  under  the  tuition  of  the  famous  Nicholas 
Udall,  of  whose  severity  be  complains,  in  giving  him  fifty- 
three  stripes  at  once  for  a  trifling  fault.     Hence  he  was  re-r 
moved  to  Cambridge,  and,  according  to  some,  was  first 
entered  of  King's  college,  and  afterwards  removed  to  Tri«* 
nity  hall ;  but  his  studies  being  interrupted  by  sickness,  he 
left,  the  university,  and  was  employed  about  court,  probably 
in  his  musical  capacity,  by  the  influence  of  his  patron,, 
William  lord  Paget.     He  appears  to  have  been  a  retainer 
in  ih|s  nobleman's  family,  and  he  mentions  his  lordship  in. 
the  highest  terms  of  panegyric. 

In  this  situation,  which  must  have  been  during  the  latter 
par^  of  the  reign  of  Henry  VI H.  and  the  first  years  of  £d^ 
wiard  VI*  when  his  patron  was  in  great  favour,  he  remained 


T  U  S  S  E  R,  109 

ten  years,  and  then  retiring  into  the  country,  l^nd  marrying, 
turned  farmer  at  Katwade,  nov^r  Cattiwade,  a  hamlet  of  the 
parish  oC  Brantham,  in  Sanfort  hundred,  Suffolk,  near  the 
river  Stoun  Here  he  composed  his  book  of  Husbandry,  the 
first  edition  of  which  was  published  in  1557,  and  dedicated 
to  his  patron  lord  Paget.  It  is  probable  that  he  must  have 
been  acquainted  with  rural  affairs,  for  several  years  at  least, 
before  he  could  produce  even  the  rude  essay  which  forths 
the  germ  of  his  future  and  more  elaborate  work.  He  appears 
to  have  suffered  some  reverse  in  his  farming  business,  a$ 
we  find  him  afterwards  successively  at  Ipswich,  where  his 
wife  died,  at  West  Dereham,  and  at  Norwich.  He  married, 
however,  a  second  wife,  of  the  name  of  Moorij  which  af- 
fords him  a  play  of  v^ords;  but  this  match  did  not  add  tp  his 
happiness,  apparently  from  a  disparity  in  age,  she  being 
very  young.  He  then  obtained,  by  the  interest  of  Salis- 
bury, dean  of  Norwich,  a  singing-man*s  place  in  that  cathe-' 
dral.  After  this  he  tried  farming  again,  at  Fairsted,  near 
his  native  place ;  but  again  failing,  he  repaired  to  London, 
which  he  mentions  with  due  commendation,  until  being 
driven  from  it  by  the  plague  in  1574,  he  went  to  Cambridge. 
When  the  scourge  abated  he  returned  to  London,  and 
died  there,  as  is  generally  supposed,  about  1580^  and  was 
interred  in  St.  Mildred's  church  in  the  Poultry,  with  an 
epitaph,  recorded  by  Stow. 

For  an  author,  the  vicissitudes  of  his  life  present  an  un* 
common  variety  of  incident.  ^'  Without  a  tincture  of  care** 
less  imprudence,*'  saysWarton,  ^^  or  vicious  extravagance,, 
this  desultory  character  seems  to  have  thriven  in  no  voca- 
tion.^*  There  are  no  data^  however,  to  account  for  his  fre* 
quent  changes  of  life  and  his  failures.  Farming  was  his 
leading  pursuit.  And  in  that,  although  he  was  a  good  theorist 
for  the  time,  he  was  unsuccessful  in  practice*  Stillingfleet, 
says,  ^^He  seems  to  have  been  a  good-natured  cheerful  man, 
and  though  a  lover  of  ceconomy,  far  from  meanness,  as  ap- 
pears in.  many  of  his  precepts,  wherein  he  shews  his  disap- 
probation .of  that  pitiful  spirit,  which  makes  farmers  starve 
their  cattle,  their  land,  and  every  thing  belonging  to  them ; 
choosing  rather  to  lose  a  pound  than  spend  a  shilling.  Upon 
the  whole,  bis  book  displays  all  the  qualities  of  a  well-dis- 
posed man,  as  well  as  of  an  able  farmer.''  Mr.  Stillingfleet 
adds,  "  Googe  set  Tusser  on  a  level  with  Varro  and  Colu-' 
mella  and  Palladius;  but  I  wQuld  rather  compare  him  to  old 
Hesiod.    They  both  wrote  in  the  infancy  of  husbandry  y 


110  T  U  S  S  E  R. 

both  gave  good  general  precepts^  without  entering  intb  the 
detail,  though  Tusser  has  more  of  it  than  Hesiod;  they 
both  seem  desirous  to  improve  the  morah  of  their  readers 
as  well  as  their  farms,  by  recommending  industry  and  ceeo^ 
nomy ;  and  that  which  perhaps  may  be  looked  upon  as  the^ 
greatest  resemt>lance,  they  both  wrote  in  verse,  probably 
fot  the  same  reason,  namely;  to  propagate  their  doctrines 
more  effectually.'* 

Tusser's  ^^Five  Hundred  Points  of  Good  Husbandry'* 
appears  fo  have  obtained  a  very  favourable  reception  from 
the  public,  above  twelve  editions  having  appeared  within^ 
the  first  fifty  years,  and  afterwards  many  others  were  printed. 
The  best  editions  are  those  of  1 58Q  and  1585,  but  they  are 
very  scarce.  In  1812  the  public  was  fwoured  with  a  new 
edition,  carefully  collated  and  corrected  by  Br.  William 
Mavor,  of  whose  biographical  sketch  we  have  availed  our- 
selves in  the  present  article.  Dr.  Mavor  has  rendered  his 
edition  highly  valuable  by  a  series  of  notes,  georgical,  il- 
Idstrative,  and  explanatory,  a  glossary,  and  other  improve- 
ments. ^ 

TUTCHIN  (John),  a  party  writer  in  the  reiga  of  king; 
James  the  second,  very  early  in  life  became  obnoxious  to 
the  government  from  the  virulence  of  his  writings.  He  was 
prosecuted  for  a  political  performance  on  the  side  of  Mon« 
mouth>  and  being  found  guilty,  was  sentenced  by  Jefferies' 
to  be  whipped  through  several  market-towns  in  the  west. 
To  avoid  this  severe  punishment  he  petitioned  the  king  that 
the  sentence  might  be  changed  to  hanging.  At  the  death 
of  this  unfortunate  monarch  he  wrote  an  invective  against 
bis  memory,  which  even  the  severity  of  his  sufferings  can' 
hardly  excuse.  He  was  the  author  of  "  The  Observator,", 
which  was  begun  April  I,  1702.  Becoming  obnoxious  to 
the  tories,  he  received  a  severe  beating  in  August  1707, 
^nd  died  in  much  distress  in  the  Mint,  the  23d  of  Septem- 
ber follbwing,  at  the  age  of  forty-seven.  In  some  verses  on 
his  death  he  is  called  captain  Tutchin.  Besides  political 
and  poetical  effusions,  he  wrote  a  drama  entitled  ^^The  uti- 
fortunate  Shepherd,*'  1685/'  8vo,  which  is  printed  in  a 
collection  of  his  poema.* 

TUTET  (Mark  Cephas),  an  eminent  merchant  in  Pud- 
ding^lane,  is  said  to  have  united  to  the  integrity  and  skill 

1  life  hj  Dr.  Mafor.^JPbilipt't  Tbeatnraii»  edit*  180K--CcMaaraLil»rSiui«^ 
VibKoptpher,  toL  I.  ^ 

^  Biog.  Dram.— Swift'g  Worki.— Pope'g  Works,  by  Bowlen: 


T  UT  E!  T.  Ill 

of  a  man  of  business  the  accomplifthoienis  of  a  polite  scho^ 
Jar  and  an  intelligent  antiquary.  He  was  elected  a  member 
of  the  Society  of  Antiquaries  June  26,  1755.  In  1771  ha 
married  a  cousin,  but  had  not  any  issue.  On  the  5th  of 
July,  1785,  presently  after  supper,  he  received  a  sudden 
and  unexpected  pamlytic  stroke,  which  in  a  few  hours  de- 
prived him  of  speech  and  senses  ;  in  which  state  he  lay  tili 
the  9th  of  July,  being  the  day  on  whioh  he  had  accom^ 
plished  fifty-two  years  and  eleven  months.  By  his  will  he 
ordered  his  coins,  medals,  books,  and  prints,  to  be  sold  by 
auction  (which  was  done  from  the  ilth  of  January  to  the 
18th  of  February,  1786,  inclusive) ;  the  produce  to  be  added 
to  the  principal  part  of  his  estate,  which  his  industry  and 
extreme  frugality  had  increased  to  a  considerable  fortune, 
the  interest  of  which  he  bequeathed  to  his  widow  for  her 
life ;  and  after  her  to  a  female  cousin  of  the  same  condi- 
tion ;  the  ultimate  reversion  equally  amongst  the  children 
pf  his  brother.  Few  of  his  survivors  understood  better  the 
rare  secret  of  collecting  only  what  was  truly  valuable;  4 
circumstance  which  invincible  modesty  alone  prevented' 
from  being  more  generally  known.  To  those  wha  were  fa« 
voured  with  his  intimacy  his  treasures  and  his  judicious 
communications  were  regularly  open.  His  select  and  valu^ 
able  library  was  remarkable  for  the  neatn^s  of  the  copies ; 
and  many  of  the  books  were  improved  by  notes  written  ia 
his  own  small  but  elegant  hand-writing.^ 

TWEDDELL  (John)  an  enterprizing  schofar  of  uncom* 
mon  talents  and  attainments,  was  born  June  I,  1769)  at 
Threepwood,  near  Hexham,  in  the  county  of  Northumber- 
land. He  was  the  son  of  Francis  Tweddell,  esq.  an  able 
and  intelligent  magistrate.  His  earlier  years  were  paseect 
under  the  care  and  instruction  of  a  most  pious  and  aflfec^ 
tionate  mother;  and  at  the  age  of  nine  years  he  was  sent 
to  school  at  Hartforth,  near  Richmond,  in  the  North  Ridings 
of  Yorkshire,  under  the  superintendance  of  the  Rev.  Mat- 
thew Raine  (father  of  the  late  learned  Dr,  Raine,  of  the 
Charter-house),  who  early  discovered  those  rare  endow- 
ments which  were  shortly  to  win  high  distinction,  and  were 
cherished  by  him  with  a  kind  solicitude,  and  treated  with« 
no  common  skill.  Previously  to  his  commencing  residence 
at  the  university  of  Cambridge  he  sp&nt  some  tiiiie  under 
the  immediate  tuition  of  the  Rev.  Dr,  Samuel  Parr,  whose 

*  *  • 

3  Biog.  Brit.  art.  Ducarel. 


a  liJ  T  W  E  D  D  E  L  L. 

pre-eminent  learning  opened  not  its  stores  in  vain  to  an  ar^. 
dent,  and  capacious  mind  ;  and  whose  ttvAy  affectionate  re-^^ 
gard  for  his  pupil  spared  no  pains  to  perfect  him  in  all  the. 
learning  of  Greece  and  Rome ;  lior  is  it  too  much  to  say, 
that  the  tutor  saw  his  pains  requited,  and  gloried  in  his 
charge;  whilst  he  secured  the  grateful  respect  and  lasting 
attachment  of  his  accomplished  scholar.  Mr.  TweddeU'^ 
proficiency  in  his  academical  course  procured  him  unprece* 
dented  honours.  The  **  Prolusiones  Juveniles/'  which  were 
published  in  the  year  1793,  furnish  an  ample  and  unequi- 
vocal testimony  to  the  extent  and  versatility  of  his  talents. 
Professor  Heyne,  of  Goettingen,  in  a  letter  addressed  to 
Dr.  Burgess  (the  truly  learned  and  venerable  bishop  of  St. 
David's),  thus  speaks  of  Mr.  Tweddell's  productions :  -^ 
^^  RedditsD  mihi  his  diebus  sunt  litterss  tuae,  missss  ex  urbe 
Dresdae,  Saxonise,  inclusft  litteris  elegantissimis  JiSannts 
Tweddeil,  juvenis  ornatissimi;  cujus  visendi  et  compeU 
landi  copiam  mihi  baud  obtigisse  vebementer  doleo;  spi* 
rant  litteroe  ejus  indolem  ingenuam,  ingenium  venustumf 
mores  amabiles  et  jucundos.  Eruditionem  autem  ejus  ex- 
quisitam  ex  prolusionibus  eju^juvenilibtis  perspexi,  qpas  lit- 
teris adjunxerat ;  uoa  cum  generoso  libertatis  sensu,  quern 
cum  ipsa  libertate  sibi  eripi  baud  videtur  pati  velie.'* 

In  1792  Mr.  Tweddeil  was  elected  fellow  of  Trinity 
college ;  and,  soon  afterwards,  entered  himself  a  student 
of  the  Middle-Temple.  By  those  who  were  acquainted 
with  the  vivacity  and  playfulness  of  his  mind,  and  who 
remember  with  what  an  exquisite  feeling  he  relished  the 
beauties  of  poetic  fiction  and  the  graces  of  classical  com- 
position^  it  will  not  be  thought  surprising  that  the  study 
of  the  law  should  be  in  a  more  than  common  degree  dis- 
tasteful ;  yet,  such  was  his  deference  to  the  wishes  of  bis,, 
father,  that,  although  he  could  never  overcome  the  pre- 
vaiUng  aversion  of  his  mind,  he  paid  considerable  atten- 
tion to  his  professional  studies*  It  appears,  both  from  the 
]necords  of  bis  private  sentiments,  as  well  as  from  his  large 
and  constant  intercourse  with  the  best  sources  of  English 
history,  and  his  predilection  for  political  economy,  that. 
he  would  have  wished  to  employ  bis  talents  and  cultivated 
address  in  diplomacy  at  the  courts  of  foreign  powers. 

It  was  not  without  a  view  to  this  that  Mr.  Tweddeil  de- 
termined to  travel,  and  Cfmploy  a  few  years  in  acquiring  a, 
knowledge  of  the  manners,  policy,  and  characters  of  the 
principal  courts  and  most  interesting  countries  of  Europe^ 


T  W  E  D  D  E  L  L.  lia 

fAAth  wete  not  yet  become  inaccessible  to  ao  English-. 
man  through  the  overwhelming  dominion  of  republican 
France.  He  accordingly  embarked  on  the  24th  Septem- 
ber 1795,  for  Hamburg;  where  that  **  Correspondence'* 
commences  -which  was  lately  published,  and  which  may 
serve,  ^o  illustrate,  though  very  imperfectly,  the  progress,, 
pursuits,  and  indefatigable  researches  of  this  traveller  in 
Switzerland,  the  North  of  Europe,  and  various  parts  of 
the  East,  until  the  period  of  his  arrival  in  the  provinces  of 
Greece:  here,  after  visiting  several  of  the  islands  in  the 
Archipelago,  be  fixed  his  residence  for  four  months  in  Athens, 
exploring  with  restless  ardour,  and  faithfully  delineating,! 
the  remains  of  aft  and  science,  discoverable  amidst  her 
sacred  ruins.  The  hand  of  a  wise  but  mysterious  Provi-* 
dence  suddenly  arrested  his  career,  on  the  25th  of  July, 
1799, 

The'  regret  and  regard  expressed  on  this  melanchdy 
occasion  were  universal ;  and  many  honours  have  in  cQn« 
sequence  been  paid  to  Mr.  Tweddeirs  memory,  by  various 
distinguished  travellers,  who  have  since  visited  Athens, 
where  his  remains  are  deposited  in  the  Theseum,  with  a 
beautiful  Greek  inscription  by  the  rev.  Robert  Walpole^ 
A.M.  of  Carrow  abbey,  near  Norwich,  a  gentleman  whose 
taste  and  classical  erudition  are  well  known,  and  parCicu-* 
larly  in  the  sources  of  Grecian  literature  and  antiquities. 

The  learned  have  looked  with  wearied  expectation,  and 
the  friends  of  Mr.  Tweddell  with  disappointed  anxiety, 
to  receive  from  the  press  some  portion  at  least  of  the  very 
large  and  choice  materials,  which  he  had  prepared  for  pub-^ 
lication,  both  from  his  own  pen,  and  frooi  the  pencil  of  an 
eminent  artist^  Mons.  Preaux,  acting  under  his  immediate 
directioiv;  these,  it  may  be  presumed,  coming  from  a  tra- 
veller so  accomplished'  and  so  indefatigable,  must  have 
shed  new  and  extraordinary  light  on  the,  antiquities  of 
Greece,  and  more  particularly  on  those  of  Athens ;  whilst 
the  journals  of  his  travels  in  some  of  the  mountainous  dis- 
tricts of  Switzerland,  rarely,  if  ever  before^  visited,  and 
in  the  Crimeia,  on  the  borders  of  the  Euxine,  could  not 
have  failed  to  impart  much  novel  information.  *  But  not-^ 
withstanjding  the  most  iirgent  and  diligent  endeavours 
made  by  Mr.  TweddelPs  friends — notwithstanding  the  ar-^ 
rival  at  Constantinople  of  his  papers  and  effects  from 
Athens,  and  the  actual  delivery  of  his  Swiss  journals,  with 
sundry  other  manuscripts,  and  above  three  hundred  higbly- 

VOL.XXX.  I 


H4  T  W  E  D  D  E  L  L. 

finished  drawings,  into  the  official  custody  of  the  British 
Ambassador  at  the  Otbman  court,  it  remains  at  this  time  a 
mystery,  what  is  actually  become  of  all  these  valuable  ma- 
nuscripts and  drawings.  Neither  have  all  the  investigations 
set  on  foot  by  his  friends,  nor  the  more  recent  representa- 
tions addressed  to  the  ambassador,  obtained  any  explicit 
or  satisfactory  elucidation  of  the  strange  and  suspicious 
obscurity  which  hangs  over  all  the  circumstances  of  this 
questionable  business.  \ 

Mr.  Tweddell,  in  his  person,  was  of  the  middle  stature, 
of  a  handsome  and  well-proportioned  figure.     His  eye  was 
remarkably  soft  and  intelligent.    The  proBle,  or  frontis* 
pifce  to  the  volume,  lately  published,  gives  a  correct  and 
Uyely  representation  of  the  original,  though  it  is  not  in  the 
power  of  any  outline  to  shadow  out  the  fi^e  expression 
of  his  animated  and  interesting  countenance.     His  address 
was  polished,  a^Sable,  and  prepossessing  in  a  high  degree  ; 
and  there  was  in  his  whole  appearance  an  air  of  dignified 
benevolence,  which  pourtrayed  at  once  the  suavity  of  his 
nature  and  the  independence  of  his  mind.     In  conversa- 
tion, he  had  a  talent  so  peculiarly  his  own,  as  to  form  a 
very  distinguishing  feature  of  bis  character.     A  chastised 
and  ingenious  wit,  which  could  seize  on  an  incident  in  the 
happiest  manner — a  lively  fancy,  which  could  clothe  th^ 
choicest  ideas  in  the  best  language — these,  supported  by 
large  acquaintance  with  men  and  books,  together  with  the 
further  advantages  of  a  melodious  voice,  and  a  playfulness 
of  manner  singularly  sweet  and  engaging,  rendered  him 
the  delight  of  every  company  :  his  power  of  attracting 
friendships  was,  indeed,  remarkable;  and  in  securing  them 
he  was  equally  happy.    Accomplished  and  admired  as  he 
was,  his  modesty  was  conspicuous,  and  his  whole  deport- 
ment devoid  of  affectation  or  pretension.     Qualified  emi- 
nently to  shine  in  society,  and  actually  sharing  its  ap- 
plause, he  found  his  chief  enjoyment  in  the  retired  cir- 
cle of  select  friends ;  in  whose  literary  leisure,  and  in  the 
amenities  of  female  converse  (which  for  him  had  the  high« 
est  charms)  he  sought  the  purest  and  the  most  refined  recre- 
ation.-^^* Of  the  purity  of  Mr.TweddelPs  principles,  and 
the  honourable  independence  of  his  character — of  his  ele- 
vated integrity,  his  love  of  truth,  his  generous,  noble,  and 
affectionate  spirit,  the  editor  might  with  justice  say  much, 
but  the  traces  and  proofs  of  these,  dispersed  throughout 
the  annexed  correspondence,  he  cheerfully  leaves  to  the 


TWEDDELL.  115 

notice  and  sympathy  of  the  intelligent  reader.^'  ^  Such  is 
the  language  of  his  brother^  the  rev.  Robert  Tweddell,  and 
the  editor  of  a  very  interesting  volume,  entitled  ^^  Remains 
of  the  late  John  Tweddell,  &c.  being  a  selection  of  his 
Letters,  written  from  various  parts  of  the  continent,  toge- 
ther with  a  republication  of  his  Prolusiones  Juveniles,*' 
1815,  4to.  It  has  been  justly  remarked  on  this  volume, 
that,  though  some  letters  in  the  collection,  and  parts  of 
others,  would  have  been  perhaps  judiciously  omitted,  there 
are  few  instances  of  a  private  correspondence,  written  with-. 
out  the  least  view  to  publication,  which  will  bear  a  severer 
scrutiny,  either  in  point  of  good  sense,  elegant  taste,  or 
honourable  sentiments.  Full  of  candour  and  discrimtna- 
tion,  Tweddell  pourtrays  with  great  spirit  the  manners  and 
customs,  and  characters  of  the  different  nations  he  visited ; 
imbued  with  classical  lore,  and  blessed  with  a  fine  imagi- 
nation, he  paints  in  glowing  colours  the  magnificent  scenery 
of  nature  in  her  wildest  regions,  and  throws  a  double  in- 
terest over  the  deserted  relics  of  ancient  art :  educated  in 
the  strict  principles  of  morality  and  religion,  by  the  most 
excellent  of  parents,  he  repays  their  care  and  solicitude  by 
the  strong  and  vivid  sentiments  of  attachment  displayed 
throughout  his  whole  correspondence,  which  is  undefiled 
by  a  single  sentence  of  a  licentious  tendency.  ^ 

TWELLS  (Leonard),  a  learned  English  divine,  was 
educated  at  Jesus  college,  Cambridge,  where  he  proceeded 
B.  A,  in  1704.  In  17:53  the  university  of  Oxford  conferred 
on  him  the  degree  of  M.  A.  by  diploma,  in  approbation, 
as  we  presume,  of  his  *^  Critical  Examination,  &c.*'  here« 
after  mentioned.  He  was-  at  that  time  vicar  of  St.  Mary's 
at  Marlborough  ;  but  in  1737  was  presented  to  the  united 
rectories  of  St.  Matthew,  Friday-street,  and  St.  Peter, 
Cheap.  He  was  also  a  prebendary  of  St.  Paul's,  and  one 
of  the  lecturers  of  St.  Dunstan's  in  the  West  Some  of 
these  promotions  came  late,  nor  had  he  more  than  100/.  a 
year  to  support  a  family  of  five  children  till  within  five 
years  of  his  death,  which  took  place  Feb.  19,  1741-2.  By 
the  advice  of  some  friends,  two  volumes  of  his  sermons  at 
Boyle's  and  lady  Moyer's  lectures  were  published  for  the 
benefit  of  his  family,  1743,  in  2  vols.  8vo.  His  publica- 
tions in  his  life-time  were,   1.  '^  A  Critical  Examination  of 

1  Memoir  prefixed  to  the  Remains.— Brit.  Crit.  toI.  V.  N.  S.  where  the  reader 
will  find  a  candid  eKamination  of  Uie  evidence  retpectiog  his  lost  MSS.  fc«. 

12 


116  T  W  E  L  1^3.     . 

the  late  new  text  and  version  of  the  Testament,  in  Gnreek 
and  English,  in  three  parts;"  the  first  two  were  printed  in 
1731,  and  the  last  in  1782,  8vo.  The  work  here  examined 
was  entitled  ^'  The  New  Testament  in  Greek  and  English, 
containing  the  original  text  corrected,  from  the  authority 
of  authentic  MSS.  and  a  new  version  formed  agreeably  to 
the  illustrations  of  the  most  learned  commentators  and 
critics,  with  notes  and  various  readings,  &c.'*  Mr.  Twells's 
object  is  to  prove  that  the  editor's  text  it  corrupt,  his  ver- 
sion felse,  and  his  notes  fallacious,  and  that  the  tendency^ 
of  the  work  is  to  injure  Christianity  in  general,  and  the 
tenets  of  the  Church  of  England  in  particular.  Mr.  TwelU 
also  published,  2.  <^  A  Vindication  of  the  gospel  of  StMat^ 
thew,"  17359  8vo;  and  ^^  A  Supplement  to  the  Vindica-* 
tion.'*  3.  '' Answer  to  the  Inquiry  into  the  meaning  of  the 
Demoniacks  in  the  New  Testament,*'  1737,  Svo.  4.  '^  An«« 
swer  to  the  *  Further  Inquiry,*  1738,"  Svo.  5*  "  The 
Theological  Works  of  Dr.  Pocock,*'  1740,  2  vols.  fol.  with 
a  life  of  Pocock,  to  which  we  have  already  referred,  re^ 
plete  with  curious  information  respecting  that  great  orien-* 
talist,  his  contemporaries,  and  the  times  in  which  he  lived. 
Mr.  Twells,  we  are  sorry  to  add,  gained  little  by  this  pub* 
fication.  He  himself  states  that  his  reward  for  writing  the 
life,  compiling  indexes,  collating  and  correcting  the  errors 
of  the  old  edition,  which  with  soliciting  for  subscriptions, 
travelling  to  London,  Oxford,  &c.  more  or  less  employed 
his  time  and  exercised  his  patience  for  five  years,  would 
be  in  all  probability  not  more  than  50/. ' 

TWINE.     See  TWYNE. 

TWINING  (Thomas),  a  learned  divine,^  was  the  only 
son  of  an  eminent  tea-merchant  by  bis  first  marriage,  and 
born  in  1734.  He  was  intended  by  his  £pitberro  succeed 
htm  in  that  house,  which  he  had  so  well  esCablfahed ;  but 
the  son,  feeling  an  impulse  towards  literature  and  science, 
entreated  his  father  to  let  him  devote  himself  to  study  and 
a  classical  education ;  and,  being  indulged  in  his  wish,  he 
was  matriculated  at  Sidney- college,  Cambridge.  Mr.  T. 
was  contemporary  in  that  university  with  Gray,  Mason,  aud 
Bate;  and  so  able  a  musician,  that,  besides  playing  the 
harpsichord  and  organ  in  a  masterly  manner,  be  was  so 
excellent  a  performer  en  the  violin  as  to  lead  all  the  (^n^ 
certs,  and  even  oratorios,  that  were  performed  in  the  uui- 

^  Bibl.  Topog.  Brit.  No.  H.— NichoIs*i  Bowyer.  • 


TWINING.  117 

versity  during  term^timey  in  which  Bate  played  the  organ 
.and  harpsichord.  His  taste  in  music  was  enlarged  and  con- 
iirmed  by  study  as  well  as  practice,  as  few  professors  knew 
jDore  of  cogiposition,  barmdnics,  and  the  history  of  the 
art  and  science  of  music,  than  this  intelligent  and  polished 
.Dilettante. 

In  1760  be  look  bis  degree  of  B.  A.  and  that  of  A.  M. 
in  1763.     He  became  rector  of  White  Nojtiey,  Essex,  in 
private  piitronage,  171S8,  and  of  St.  Mary's,  Colchester,  to 
which  he  was  presented  by  the  bishop  of  London,  on  the 
death  of  Philip  Morant,  1770.     He  died  Aug.  6,  1S04,  in 
the  seventieth  year  of  his  age«     Sound  learning,  poiite 
literature^  and  exquisite  taste  in  all  the  fine  ar(s,  lost  an 
ornament  and  defender  in  the  death  of  this  scholar  and 
worthy  divioe*     His  translation  of  the  *^  Poetics  of  Aristo- 
tle'* must  convince  men  of  learning  of  his  knowledge  of  the 
Greek  language,  of  the  wide  extent  of  his  classical  erudi- 
tion, of  his  acute  and  fair  spirit  of  criticism,  and,  above 
all,  iff  his  good  taste,  souiid  judgment,  and  general  read- 
ing, manifested  in  his  dissertations.     Besides  his  familiar 
acquaintance  with  the  Greek  and  Roman  classics,  his  know- 
ledge of  itoodern  languages,  particularly  f^rench  and  Italian, 
waa  such  as  not  only  to  enable  him  to  read  but  to  write 
those  languages  with  facility  and  idiomatic  accuracy.     His 
conversation  and  letters,  when  science  and  serious  subjects 
were  out  of  the  question,  were  replete  with  wit,  humour, 
and  playfulness.     In  the  performance  of  bis  ecclesiastical 
duties  Mr.  T.  was  exemplary,  scarcely  allowing, himself  to 
be  absent  from  bi*^  parishioners  more  than  a  fortnight  in  a 
year,  daring  the  last  forty  years  of  his  life,  though,  from 
his  learning,  accomplishments,  pleating  character,  and  con- 
versation, do  man's  company  was  so  much  sought.     Dur- 
ing the  last  12  or  14  yeatB  of  his  life  he  was  a  widower, 
and  has  left-no  progeny.     His  preferment  in  the  church  was 
inadequate  to  bis  learning,  piely,  and ,  talents  ;  but  such 
was  the  moderation  of  his  desires,  that  he  neither  solicited 
.  nor  complained.    The  Colchester  living  was  conferred  upon 
him  by  Dr.  Lowth,  bishop  of  London,  very  much  to  his 
honour,  without  personal  acquaintance  or  powerful  recom- 
mendation ;  but^  from  the  modesty  of  his  character,  and 
love  of .  a   private  life^  his  profound  lear^ning   and  lite- 
rmry  abilitiee  were  little  known  till  the  pubUcation  of  bis 
Aristotle^  * 

1  Gent,  liaf .  rd.  LXXIV. 


116  T  W  I  S  S. 

TWISS  (William),  a  very  learned  nonconformist  di- 
Tine,  was  descended  from  German  ancestors,  of  whom  his 
grandfather  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  who  settled  ia 
England.  He  was  born  about  1575.  His  father,  who  was 
a  clothier  at  Newbury  in  Berkshire,  perceiving  this  his  sou 
to  be  well  qualified  for  a  learned  education,  sent  him. to 
Winchester-school,  whence  he  was  in  1596  elected  pro-  • 
bationer  fellow  of  New-college,  Oxford,  and  two  years 
after  became  actual  fellow.  According  to  Wood,  he  stu- 
died divinity  for  sixteen  years  together.  In  1604  he  pro- 
ceeded in  arts,  and  about  that  time  taking  orders,  was  a 
frequent  and  diligent  preacher,  *^  noted  to  the  academicians 
for  bis  subtile  wit,  exact  judgment,  exemplary  life  and 
conversation,  and  for  the  endowment  of  such  qualities  that 
were  befitting  m6n  of  his  function.'*  He  was  not  less 
esteemed  as  a  logician  and  philosopher,  and  his  learning 
appeared  not  only  in  his  public  lectures  and  disputations, 
but  in  the  accuracy  with  which  he  corrected  the  works  of 
the  celebrated  Bradwardine,  published  by  sir  Henry  Savile. 
Besides  his  catechistical  lectures,  which  he  read  every 
Thursday  in  term-time  in  the  college  chapel,  he  preached 
every  Sunday  at  St.  Aldate's  church ;  and  at  length  his 
fame  reaching  the  court,  king  James  appointed  him  chap- 
lain to  his  daughter  Elizabeth,  afterwards  the  unfortunate 
queen  of  Bohemia,  who  was  then  about  to  leave  her  native 
country  and  go  to  the  Palatinate.  On  this  he  was  admitted 
to  his  degree  of  D.  D. 

His  stay  abroad,  however,-  was  not  long,  "t In  about  two 
months  he  was  called  back  to  England,  but  on  his  arrival 
took  a  final  leave  of  the  court,  and  devoted  himself  to  a 
learned  retirement  at  Newbury,  the  place  of  his  birth,  of 
which  he  obtained  the  curacy.  Here,  such  was  bis  attach^ 
ment  to  the  quiet  enjoyment  of  his  studies,  s^nd  the  dis- 
V  charge  of  his  parochial  duties,  that  he  refused  some  va- 
luable preferments  offered  him  entirely  on  the  score  of 
merit ;  among  these  were  the  wardenship  of  Winchester 
college,  a  prebend  of  Winchester,  and  a  valuable  living. 
This  last  he  had  some  thoughts  of  accepting,  provided  (be 
people  of  Newbury  could  be  furnished  with  a  suitable 
successor.  With  this  view  he  waited  upon  the  archbishop 
of  Canterbury,  who  received  him  very  kindly,  granted  his 
request,  and  added,  that  be  would  mention  him  to  the  king 
as  a  pious  and  learned  divine,  and  no  puritan.  Twiss  seems 
^o  have  been  alarmed  at  this  last  compliment;^  which  h^ 


T  W  I  S  S;  119 

knew  be  did  not  deserve^  and  upon  more  mature  conaiderar 
tioR^  remained  at  Newbury.  About  the  same  time  he^  re- 
fused a  professor's  chair  at  Oxford^  and  another  in  the 
university  of  Franeker. 

Upon  the  publication  of  the  '^  Book  of  Sports,^'  which 
did  so  much  mischief  to  the  royal  cause,  Dr^^Twiss  de* 
cidedly  declared  his  opinion  against  it,  and  refused  to 
read,it,yet  he  was  still  such  a  favourite  with  king  James 
ibat  he  forbade  bis  being  molested  on  thi^  account.  Du- 
ring the  rebellion  be  suffered  considerably  by  the  violence 
of  the  soldiery ;  but  when  prince  Rupert  came  to  Newbury 
be  entertained  Dr.  Twiss  very  courteously,  wishing  hint  to 
forsake  the  parlianoentary  cause,  and  write  in  defence  of 
the  king,  which  he  refused.  In  1640  he  was  chosen  one 
of  the  sub-committee,  to  assist  the  cpmmittee  of  accom- 
modation appointed  by  the  House  of  Lords  to  con^id^r  the 
innovations  introduced  into  the  church,  and  to  promote  a 
more  pure  reformation.  In  1643  he  was  nominated,  by  an 
order  of  the  parliament,  prolocutor  to  the  assembly  of  di- 
vines* This  appointment  he  repeatedly  declined,  but  hav- 
ing at  length  been  prevailed  upon  to  accept  it,  he  preached 
(the  assembly  opening  on  July  1.)  before  both  Houses  of 
parliament,  in  Henry  Vlllth's  chapel.  '*  In  his  sermon," 
«ays  Fuller,  "  he  exhorted  his  auditoi^y  to  a  faithful  dis- 
charge of  their  duty,  and  to  promote  the, glory  of  God  and 
the  honour  of  his  church ;  but  he  was  $orry  that  they  wanted 
the  royal  assent.  He  hoped,  however,  that  in  due  time,  it 
might  be  obtained,  and  that  a  happy  union  would  be  ob- 
tained between  the  king  and  parliament.^'  He  appears  to 
have  been  dissatisfied  with  the  conduct  of  both  of  the  great 
contending  parties  :  '^  whilst  some  would  have  nothing  re- 
formed, others  would  have  all  things  changed,  and  turned 
upside  down."  These  melancholy  prospects  gradually  im- 
paired his  health,  and  some  time  after  he  sunk  down  in  the 
pulpit  while  preaching,  and  being  carried  home,  languished 
until.  July  20,  1646,  when  he  expited,  in  the  seventieth 
year  of  his  age*  During  his. illness  the  pj^rliament voted 
him  100/..  as  he  had  lost  all  his  property  while  at  Newbury^ 
and  had  in  London  only  one  of  the  lectureships  of  St«  An- 
drew's, Holborn ;  and  after  his  death  1000/.  to  his  family  -^ 
but  this,  it  is  said,  they  never  received  *.     Respecting  his 

*  Dr.  Twiss  wms  buried  in  Wettoiin-  This,  we  presume,  mutt  have  been  in 

ster-abbey,  but  at  tbe  restoration  bis  -consequence  of  a  general  order  (by  »• 

remains,  together  with  those  of  some  means  indeed  to  be  Tindicated),  as  th<re 

others*  were  dug  up  and  thrown  into  was  nothing  ioDr.Twiss's  conduct  to  ren* 

a  ptty  in  St.  Margaret's  chnrch-yard.  der  his  memory  particularly  obnoxious. 


/ 

* 


120  T  W  I  S  S. 

personal  character,  there  seems  no  difference  of  opinion 
among  historians.     Fuller  denominates  him  *'  a  divine  6f 
great  abilities,  learning,  piety,  and  moderation;"  and  Wood 
says,  **  his  plain  preaching  was  esteemed  good ;  his  solid 
disputations  were  accounted  better;  but  his  pious  life  was 
reckoned  best  of  all."     Nor  less  favourably  does  bishop 
Sanderson  speak  of  him,  even  while  differing  greatly  from 
(Some  of  his  opinions.     Mr.  Clark  says,  that  be  *^  bad  bis 
infirmities,  whereof  the  most  visible  was  this :  that  he  waft 
'of  a  facile  nature,  and  too  prone  to  be  deceived  by  giving 
too  much   credit  to   those,  whom,   by  iifformation  from 
■others,  or  in  his  own  opinion,   he  judged   to  -be  godlj^ 
Whence  it  came  to  pass  that  he  was  often  iHfifkised  tipon, 
especially  by  certain  crafty  heads,  who  solemnly  profested 
that  their  chiefest  care  was  the  preservation  of  the  purity 
of  doctrine,  and  reformatipn  of  discipline,  whereas,  in  deed 
Bnd  truth,  they  sought  the  ntter  subversion  of  both." 
'     His  writings  are  ail  controversial,  and  more  or  (ess  di* 
rected  against  Arminianism,  of  which,  it  seems  to  be  agreed, 
even  by  his  adversaries,  he  was  the  ablest- and  most  success- 
ful opponent  of  his  time.    The  authors  against  whom  he 
wrote  were,  principally.  Dr.  Thomas  Jadkson,  Mr.  Henry 
IVfason,  Dr.  Thomas  (Jodwin,  Mr.  John  Godwin,  Mr.  Jofadi 
Cotton,  Dr.  Potter,  Dr.  Heylin,  and  Dr.  Hammond.     His 
works  were,  1.  "  Vindicice  gratiae,"  Amst.  1632  and  1648, 
foL  against  Arminius.     2.  **  A  discovery  of  Dr.  Jacks6n*s 
Vanity,"  &c.  1631,  4to,  printed  abroad.     3.  ♦*  Dissertatio 
de  scientia  media  tribus  libris  absoluta,"  &c.  Arnheim,  i  639, 
fol.    4.  *'  Of  the  Morality  of  the  Fourth  Commandment,** 
Lond.  1641,  4to.    5.  "Treatise of  Reprobation,'*  ibid.  1646, 
4to,  with  some  other  works  printed  after  his  death.     There 
are  fifteen  of  his  letters  in  Mr.  Joseph  Mode's  Works,  and 
he  left  many  MSS.  in  the  hands  of  his  son,  who,  Wood 
says,  was  a  minister,  but  these  are  probably  lost.  ^ 

TWYNE  (John),  one  of  a  family  of  Oxford  antiquaries, 
was  the  grandson  of  sir  Brian  Twyne,  of  Long  Parish,  in 
Hampshire,  knight,  and  was  bom  at  Bolingdon,  in  the 
same  county.  He  was  educated  at  New  Inn  hall,  Oxfofd, 
and  admitted  to  the  reading  of  the  instit«tion»  in  1524,  at 
a  time  when  that  society  c6uld  boast  of  many  excellent  ci- 
vilitns.  After  he  left  the  university  he  was  appointed  head 
master  of  the  free-school  at  Canterbury,  and  in  1553  rose 

I  Ath,  Ox.Yol.  H.^CUrk'i  Ltv«t,  1684,  fol.— .Faller^  Chirch  History  and 
WorthiM.— Wordsworth*!  Bed.  Biofraphy„  vol.  V.  p,M6. 


T  W  y  Hf  E.  121 

4o  be  niayor  of  the  city,  in  the  time  of  Wyat's  rebellion.  ' 
By  the  school  he  became  so  rich  as  to  be  able  to  purchase 
lands  at  Preston  and  Hardacre,  in  Kent,  which  he  left  to 
bis  posterity.  He  was  a  good  Greek  and  Latin  scholar,  and 
devoted  much  of  his  time  to  the  study  of  history  and  anti-^ 
quities.  He  was  held  in  great  esteem  by  oien  able  to  judge 
of  his  talents,  particularly  by  Leland,  who  ii^troduces  him 
among  the  worthies  of  bis  time  in  his  *'  Encomia/'  and  by 
Camden,  who  speaks  of  him  in  \fi%  <*  Britannia'*  as  si 
learned  old  man.  Holinshed  also  mentions  him  as  a  learned 
antiquary,  in  the  first  edition  of  his  <'  Chronicle;"  buttfaia 
notice  is  for  some  reason  omitted  in  the  edition  of  1587. 
It  is  said  he  was  a  violent  papist,  but  Tanner  has  produced 
evidence  of  a  charge  more  disgraceful  to  his  character  as 
a  tutor  and  magistrate.  This  appears  in  a  MS.  in  Bene't 
college  librarjr^  Cambridge,  No.  CXX.  ^'Anno  1560,  Mr. 
Twyne,  school-master,  was  ordered  to  abstain  from  riot 
and  drunkenness,  and  not  to  intermeddle  with  any  public 
office  in  the  town."  He  died  in  an  advanced  age,  Nov. 
S4,  1581,  and  was  buried  in  the  chancel  of  the  church  of 
St.  Paul,  Canterbury,  with  an  inscription,  in  which  he  is 
styled  armiger.  His  only  publication,  which,  however, 
did  not  appear  until  after  bis  death,  was  bis  work  '<  De 
rebus  Albionibis,  Britannicis  atque  Anglicis  commentario* 
rum  libri  duo,"  Lond.  1590,  dvo.  ^His  MSS.  which  are  on 
subjects  of  history  and  antiquities,  were  given  by  his  grand- 
son, Brian  Twyne,  to  the  library  of  Corpus  Christi  college^ 
Oxford.  Mr.  Gougb  mentions  bis  collections  for  a  hiatory 
of  Canterbury,  as  being  lost.  Bishop  Kennet  says  that  he 
wrote  an  epistle  prefixed  to  the  ^^  History  of  king  Boccus 
and  Sydracke,"  1510,  4to,  avery  rare  book,  of  which  there 
is  a  copy  in  St.  John's  library,  Oxford. 

By  bis  wife  Alice,  daughter  pf  William  Piper  of  Canter-  . 
bury^  whom  he  married  in  1524,  which,  according  to  Wood, 
must  have  been  when  he  was  at  Oxford,  he  had  three  sons. 
The  first,  Lawrence,  was  a  fellow  of  AH  Sonls  college, 
and  bachelor  of  civil  law,  and  an  ingenious  poet,  but  ven* 
tured  no  farther  than  some  encomiastic  verses  prefixed  to 
books.  He  lived  and  probably  died  on  his  father's  estate 
at  Hardacre  in  Kent.  He  had  a  brother  John,  who  also 
wrote  verses  prefixed  to  books ;  and  a  third,  Thomas,  of 
whom  Wood  has  given  us  some  farther  particulars,  although 
perhaps  they  are  not  very  interesting.  He .  was  born  in 
Canterbury,  and  admitted  scholar  of  Corpus  Christi  college| 


122  T  W  Y  N  E. 

Oxford^  in  1560,  and  probationer  fellow  in  1564,  beingr 
then  bachelor  of  arts.  He  afterwards  proceeded  in  arts, 
and  then  studied  medicine,  and  in  1581  took  his  doctors 
degree,  aad  practised  at  Lewes  in  Sussex,  under  the  pa- 
tronage of  Thomas  lord  Buckhurst.  He  died  in  1613, 
aged  seventy,  and  was  buried  in  the  chancel  of  St.  Anne's 
church,  Lewes.  He 'wrote  and  translated  many  tracts,  enu^ 
merated  by  Wood,  but  of  very  little  value*  He  was  an  ad- 
mirer of  the  mysterious  philosophy  of  John  Dee.  Among 
his  other  publications  he  completed  Phaer*s  translation  of 
the  yEneid,  with  Maphaeus's  thirteenth  book^  in  158S; 
translated  Lhi)yde'S'"  Breviary  of  Britayne,  &c.;"  and  was 
editor  of  his  father's  work  "De  rebus  Albion icis,"  which 
be  dedicated  to  lord  Buckhurst.  He  also  wrote  some  con- 
temptible rhimes,. then  called  poetry.^ 

TWYNE  (Beian),  $oii  of  Thomas,  and  grSmdson  of  John 
Twyne,  was  born  in  1579,  and  admitted  a  scholar  of  Corpus 
Cbristi  college  in  December  1594.  After  he  had  taken  the 
degrees  in  arts,  he  was  admitted  probationer  fellow  in  1605, 
and  entering  into  holy  orders  took  the  degree  of  bachelor 
of  divinity  in  1610.  In  1614  he  was  made  Greek  reader  of 
his  college,  in  which  office  he  acquitted  himself  with  credit, 
bpt  about  1623  left  college  to  avoid  being  involved  in  some 
dispute  between  the  president  and  fellows ;  because  in  this 
affair.  Wood  informs  us,  he  could  not  vote  on  either  side 
without  the  hazard  of  expulsion,  having  entered  college  on 
a  Surrey  scholarship,  which,  it  seems,  was  irregular.  He 
was  afterwards  presented  to  the  vicarage  of  Rye  in  Sussex 
by  the  earl  of  Dorset,  but  seldom  resided,  passing  most  of 
his  time  in  Oxford,  where  be  had  lodgings  in  Penverthitig 
or  Pennyfarthing  street,  in  the  parish  of  St.  Aldate.  He 
lived  here  in  a  kind  of  retirement,  being,  as  Wood  says,  of 
b  melancholy  temper,  and  wholly  given  to  reading,  writing, 
and  contemplation.  Laud  had  a  great  regard  for  him,  and 
employed  him  in  drawing  up  the  university  statutes,  all  of 
which  he  transcribed  with  bis  own  hand,  and  was  rewarded 
with  the  p\?ice  oi  custos  archivorumy  founded  in  1634.  He 
died  at  his  lodgings  in  St.  Aldate's,  July  4,  1644,  aged 
sixty-five,  and  was  buried  in  Corpus  chapeL 

Twyne,  who  was  an  indefatigable  collector  of  every  do- 
cument or  information  respecting  the  history  and  antiquities 
pf  Oxford,  produced  the  first  regular  account  of  it,  which 

*  Ath.  Ox.  vol.  I.  ^?ew  tdit.— Warton'»  Hist,  of  Poetry, — Genghis  Topography. 


T  W  Y  N  E.    •  128 

was  published  in  1608,  under  the  title'of  ^'Antiquitatis 
Academiae  Oxoniensis  Apologia^  in  tres  libros  divisa,"  O^on. 
4to.  The  chief  object  of  this  work  was  to  refute  what  Kaye 
or  Caius  had  asserted  in  bis  history  of  Cambridge  on  the 
antiquity  of  that  university,  proving  it  to  be  1267  y^ars 
older  than  Oxford.     So  absurd  an  assertion  would  scarcely 
now  be  thought  worthy  of  a  serious  answer,  but  Twyne 
was  an. enthusiast  on  the  question,  and  mere  antiquity  was 
thought  preferable  to  every  other  degree  of  superiority. 
He  therefore  produced  hb  ^^Apologia,''  in  which  he  revives 
and  endeavours  to  prove  that  Oxford  was  originally  founited 
by  some  Greek  philosophers,  the  companions  of  Brutus,  and 
restored  by  King  Alfred  in  870.     Smith,  in  his  history  of 
University  college,  has  very  ably  answered  his  principal 
argiimeotfl  on  this  question,  which  indeed  has  nothing  more 
than  t  tradition  on  its  side.     He  was  a  young  man  when  he 
wrote  this, book,  and  intended  a  new  edition;  but  his  inter- 
leaved copy  for  this  purpose,  with  his  additions,  &c.  was 
unfortunately  lost  in  a  fire  at  Oxford,  which  happened  some 
time  after  his  death.     He  left,  however,  several  volumes  of' 
MS  collections  to  the  university,  of  which  Wood  availed 
himself  in  his  history.' 

TWySDEN  (Sir  Roger),  the  second  baronet  of  the  fa- 
mily, of  Roydon  hall.  East  Peckham,  in  Kent^  was  born  in 
1597.  His  father,  William  Twysden,  esq.  was  one  of  those 
who  conducted  king  James  to  London,  iwben  he  first  came 
from  Scotland,  to  take  possession  of  the  English  crown, 
'  and  was  first  knighted  and  afterwards  created  a  baronet  by 
bis  majesty.  Sir  William  bad  a  learned  education,  under- 
stood Greek  and  Hebrew  well,  and  accumulated  a  valuable 
collection  of  books  and  MSS.  which  he  made  useful  to  the 
public,  both  in  defence  of  the  protestant  religion  and  the 
ancient  constitutions  of  the  kingdom.  He  died  in  January  . 
1627-8.  Sir  Roger,  his  eldest  son,  had  also  a  learned  edu- 
cation, and  was  a  good  antiquary.  He  assisted  Mr.  Philpot 
in  his  Survey  of  Kent,  who  returns  him  acknowledgments, 
as  a  person  to  whom,  ^*  for  his  learned  conduct  of  these  his 
imperfect  labours,  through  the  gloomy  and  perplexed  path^ 
of  antiquity,  and  the  many  difficulties  that  assaulted  him, 
he  was  signally  obliged."     He  was  a  man  of  great  accom- 

1  Alh,  Ox.  Tol.  II.— Smith's  Hist,  of  Uoi?.  College,  p,  174,  195,  227.— Strype'i 
preface  to  hii  Life  of  Pirkcr,  p.  4,  and  Life,  p.  280.— Letters  by  eminent  PersoM, 
1813,  3  vols.  8vo. 


124  T  W  ¥  S  D  E  N. 

pHshmentSy  tveU*Tersecl  in  the  learhed  languages^  and  ex- 
emplary in  his  attachment  to  the  church  of  England.  He 
fiiade  many  important  additions  to  his  father's  library,  which 
seems  seldom  to  have  been  unemployed  by  hil^  family  or  hi{^ 
descendants.  His  brother,  Thomas,  was  brought  up  to  the 
profession  of  the  law,  and  became  one  of  the  justices  of  the 
'King^s  Bench  after  the  testoration,  and  was  created  a  ba- 
roilet,  by  which  he  became  the  founder  of  the  faioily  of 
Twisdens  (for  he  altered  the  spelling  of  the  name)  of  Brad* 
bourn  in  Kent.  Another  brother,  JoRK,  was  a  physician, 
and  a  good  mathematician,  and  wrote  on  both  sciences. 

Sir  Roger  was  loyal  to  hi&  unfortunate  ftorereign,  tod 
detesting  the  undutiful  behaviour  of  many  of  bis  ^ubjeets, 
was  not  content  to  sit  still,  but  was  one  of  the  first  to  op- 
pose their  arbitrary  proceedings,  which  drew  on  him  a  se- 
vere persecution.  He  wats  confined  seven  yeiars  in  prison, 
his  estate  sequestered,  his  timber  cut  down,  and  paid  a  fine 
of  1300/.  when  he  was  restored  to  his  estate.  When  lie 
came  again  to  his  seat  he  lived  retired,  and  his  greatest 
comfort  was,  conversing  with  the  learned  fathers  of.the  pri- 
mitive church,  and  the  ancient  laws  and  constitution  of  his 
country,  which  he  lived  to  see  restored.  The  appearance 
of  the  "Decem  Scriptores,"  with  other  collections,  were 
owing  to  his  endeavours,  and  be  wrote  a  Learned  preface 
to  them.  He  was  also  the  author  of  **  The  Historical  D6« 
fence  of  the  Chiirch  of  England."  This  worthy  baronet 
died  Jun^  7,  1672,  in  the  seventy-fifth  year  of  his  age.* 

TY£  (CHitisTOPHBR)y  a  musician  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury, born  at  Westminster,  and  brought  up  in  the  royal 
chapel,  was  musical  preceptor  to  prince  Edward,  and  pro- 
bably to  the  other  children  of  Henry  YIII.  In  1 545  he  was 
adnoitted  to  the  degree  of  doctor  in  music  at  Cambridge ; 
and  in  1548  was  incorporated  a  member  of  the  university 
of  Oxford ;  in  the  reign  of  queen  Elizabeth  he  was  organist 
of  the  royal  chapel,  and  a  man^of  some  literature.  In  muisic 
be  was  excellent;  and  notwithstanding  that  Wood,  speaking 
of  his  compositions,  says  they  are  antiquated,  and  not  at  all 
iralued,  there  are  very  few  compositions  for  the  church  of 
equal  merit  with  his  anthems. 

In  an  old  comedy,  or  scenical  history,  whichever  it  is 
proper  to  call  it,  with  the  following  whimsical  title,  "  When 
you  see  me  you  know  me,'*  by  Samuel  Rowley,  printed  in 

>  Collias,  and  Betham's  Baronetage. 


T  Y  E.  125 

1623,  wherein  are  represented  in  the  manner  of  a  dirama 
some  of  the  remarkable  events  daring  the  reign  of  Henry 
VIIL  is  a  conversation  between  prince  Edward  and  Dr. 
Tye  on  the  subject  of  music,  which,  for  its  curiosity,  sir 
John  Hawkins  has  transcribed  at  length.  The  *^  Acts  of 
the  Apostles,"  mentioned  in  this  dialogue,  were  never 
completed  ;  but  the  first  fourteen  chapters  thereof  were^  in 
1553,  printed  by  Wyllyam  Seres,  with  the  following  quaint 
title :  *^  The  Actes  of  the  Appostles,  translated  into  En« 
glyshe  metre,  and  dedicated  to  the  kynges  most  excellent 
majestye  by  Christofer  Tye,  doctor  in  musyke,  and  one  of 
the  Gentylmen  of  hys  graces  moste  honourable  Chappell, 
wyth  notes  to  eche  Chapter,  to  syng  and  also  to  play  upon 
the  Lute,  very  nec^ssarye  for  studentes  after  theyr  studye, 
to  fyle  theyr  wyttes,  and  alsoe  for  all  Christians  that  can* 
not  synge  to  reade  the  good  and  godiye  storyes  of  the  liuet 
of  Christ  hys  Apostles."  The  dedication  is,  *^  To  the  ver« 
tuous  and  godiye  learned  prynce  Edwarde  the  VI.'*  and  is 
in  stanzas  of  alternate  metre.  The  reader  will  find  some 
account  of  it  in  the  ^^  Bibliographer,"  vol.  I. 

The  "  Acts  of  the  Apostles,"  set  to  mysic  by  Dr.  Tye, 
were  sung  in  the  chapel  of  Edward  VI.  and  probably  in 
other  places  where  choral  service  was  performed  ;  but  the 
success  of  them  not  answering  the  expectation  of  their  au* 
tbor,  he  applied  himself  to  another  kind  of  study,  the 
composing  of  music  to  words  'selected  from  the  Psalms  of 
David,  in  four,  five,  and  more  parts ;  to  which  species  of 
^harmony,  for  want  of  a  better,  the  name  of  Anthem,  a 
corruption  of  Antiphon,  was  given.  In  Dr.  Boyce*s  collec- 
tion of  cathedral  music,  lately  published,  vol.  II.  is  an 
anthem  of  this  great  musician,  **  I  will  exalt  thee,"  a 
mo&t  perfect  model  fpr  composition  in  the  church-style, 
whether  we  regard  the  melody  or  the  harmony,  the  ex- 
pression or  the  contrivance,  or,  in  a  word,  the  general 
effect  of  the  whole.  In  the  Ashmolean  MS.  fol.  189,  is 
the  following  note  in  the  hand-writing  of  Antony  Wood : 
^  Dr.  Tye  was  a  peevish  and  humoursome  man,  especially 
in  his  latter  days ;  and  sometimes  playing  on  the  organ  in 
the  chapel  of  Qu.  Eliz.  which  contained  much  music,  but 
little  delight  to  the  ear,  she  would  send  to  the  verger  to  tell 
him  that  he  played  out  of  tune ;  whereupon  he  sent  wotd, 
that  her  ears  were  out  of  tune."  The  same  author  adds, 
that  Dr.  Tye  restored  chqrch-music  after  it  had  been  aU 
most  ruined  by  the  dissolution  of  abbeys.     What  sir  John 


126  T  Y  E. 

Hawkins,  from  whom  this  article  appears  to  have  h^eti 
taken  by  our  predecessors^  has  said  of  Tye»  is  confirmed 
by  Dr.  Boniey,  who  says  that  he  «vas  doubtless  at  the 
head  of  all  our  ecclesiastical  composers  of  that  period. 
IThis  eminent  musical  historian  adds,  that  Dr.  Tye,  *^  if 
compared  with  his  contemporaries, .  was  perhaps  as  good  a 
poet  as  Sternhold,  and  as  great  a  musician  as  Europe  then 
could  boast;  aird  it  is  hardly  fair  to  expect  more  perfection 
from  him,  or  to  blame  an  individual  for  the  general  defects 
of  the  age  in  which  he  lived.'*  • 

TYERS  (Thomas),  a  miscellaneous  writer  of  consider- ' 
able  talents,  was  one  of  the  two  sons  of  Mr.  Jonathan 
Tyers,  the  original  embellisher  of-  Vauxhall  gardens,  of 
which  be  was  himself  a  joint  proprietor  till  the  end  of  the 
season  of  1785,  when  he  sold  his  share  to  his  brother's  fa- 
mily. He  was  born  in  1726,  and  being  intended  for  one 
of  the  learned  professions,  was  sent  very  early  in  life  to  the 
university  of  Oxford,  where  he  entered  of  Exeter  college, 
and  was  so  young  when  he  took  his  bachelor's  degree  that 
be  was  called  the  boy  bachelor.  That  of  master  of  arts  he 
completed  in  April  1745,  when  he  was  only  nineteen.  In 
1753  he  was  admitted  a  student  of  the  Inner  Temple,  and 
became,  after  he  had  kept  his  terms,  a  barrister  in  that 
bouse ;  but  he  tells  us  that,  although  his  father  hoped  he 
would  apply  to  the  law,  take  notes,  and  make  a  figure  in 
Westminster-hall,  he  nevef  undertook  any  causes,-  nor 
tvent  a  single  circuit.  Hd  loved  his  ease  too  much  to  ac- 
quire a  character  in  that  or  any  other  profession.  It  is 
said  that  the  character  of  Tom  Restless  (in  the  Idler,  N*  48) 
was  intended  by  Dr.  Johnson  for  Mr.  Tyers,  but  he  was 
certainly  a  man  of  superior  cast  to  the  person  described 
under  that  name.  It  could  not  be  said  of  Mr.  Tyers  that 
he  sought  wisdom  more  in  conversation  than  in  his  library, 
for  few  men  read  more,  and  he  was  heard  to  say,  not  long 
before  his  death,  that  for  the  last  forty  years,  be  badtibt 
been  a  smgle  day,  when  in  health,  without  a  book  or  a 
pen  in  his  hand,  *^  nulla  dies  sine  linea." 

He  began  early  to  write,  and  when  at  college,  or  very 
soon  after,  published  two  pastorals,  *^  Lucy,^*  inscribed  to 
lord  Chesterfield,  and  "  Rosalind,''  to  earl  Grenville.  He 
was  also  the  author  of  a  great  deal  of  vck:al  poetry,,  or 

>  Htwkint*!  Hist  of  Masic— Barnty's  Hist.  toIs.  II.  aod  111.— Philip's  The* 
afnim,  by  tir  E.  Biydges,  p.  '79.— Wartoa^i  Hist,  of  Poetrj.^BibMofrap&er,, 
vol.  1«— Alb*  Ox.  Tol.  I.«-Taiuier. 


T  Y  E  il  S.  K7 

what  be  called  '^  sin^  song,^'  principally  for  VauxhaU-gar^ 
dens.^  and  the  satisfactory  description  of  Vauxhall,  pub- 
lished in  Mr.  NichoIs's/^History  of  Lambeth/'  wasdrawnup 
by  htm.    Having  inherited  from  his  father  an  easy  fortune, 
and  from  nature  an  inclination  to  indulge  in  learned  leisure, 
he  was  happily  enabled  '^  to  see  what  friends  and  read  what 
books  he  pleased.*'     He  was,  if  any  man  could  be  said  to 
be  sOy  most  perfectly  master  of  his  own   time,  which  be 
divided  at  his  pleasure  between  his  villa  at  Ashted,  near 
Epsom,  and  his  apartments  in  Southampton-street.     Inde« 
fatigable  in  reading  the  newest  publications,  either  of  belles 
lettres  or  politick,  and  blest  with  a  retentive   memory,  he 
was  everywhere  a  welcome  guest;  and,  having  the  agree- 
able faculty  of  always  repeating  the  good-natured  side  of  a 
story,  the   anecdotes   he   retailed   pretty    copiously  were 
rarely  found  either  tedious  or  disagreeable.     In  the  coun- 
try he  was  considered  by  all  the  surrounding  gentry  as  a 
man  of  profound  learning,  who  had  some  little  peculiarities 
in  his  manners,  which  were  amply  atoned  for  by  a  thousand 
good  qualities  both  of  the  head  and  heart.     In  London  he 
was  in  habits  of  intimacy  with  many  whom  the  world  have 
agreed  to  call  both  great  and  good.     Dr.  Johnson  loved 
him,  lord  Hardwicke  esteemed  him,  and  even  the  mitred 
Lc  vth  respected   him.     The.  literati  in  general  had  more 
regard  for  him  than  authors  usually  have  for  each  other; 
as  Mr.  Tyers,  though  known  for  many  years  to  have  been 
a  wHter,  was  rather  considered  by  them  as  an  amateur  than 
a  professor  of  the  art.     He  was  certainly  among  the  num- 
ber ofc,  "  gentlemen  who   wrote   with  ease;"    witness  his 
'^  Rhapsodies"^  on  Pope  and  Addison;  and  particularly  bis 
Biographical  sketches  of  Johnson,  warm  from  the  heart 
when  his  friend  was  scarcely  buried,  and  which  have  not  been 
exceeded  by  any  one  of  our  great  moralist's  biographers* 
The  "  Political  Conferences"  of  Mr.  Tyers,  however,  will 
place   him  in  a  liigber  point  of  view;  in  that  production^ 
much  ingenuity   and  sound   political   knowledge  are  dis- 
played ;  and  the  work  has  received  the  plaudits  it  so  well 
deserved,  and  passed  through  tw6  editions.     One  part  of 
Mr.  Tyers's  knowledge  he  would  hav*e  been  happier  had  he 
.not  possessed.     He  had  a  turn  for  the  study  of  medicine, 
and  its  gperations  on  the  human  frame,  which  gave  him 
somewhat^  of  a  propensity  to  hypochondriasm,  and  often 
led  fr5m  imaginary  to  real  ailments.     Hence  the  least  va- 
riation of  the  atmosphere  had  not  unfreqiiently  an  efifeet 


128  T  Y  E  R  S/ 

both  on  his  oaind  wod  body.  The  last  year  or  two  of  his 
life  were  ^Iso  embittered  by  the  death  of  several  near  and 
dear  friends,  whose  loss  made  a  deep  impression  on  his 
sensibility,  particularly  that  of  a  very  amiable  lady,  to  whom 
be  was  once  attached,  and  that  of  his  only  sister,  Mrs.  Ro- 
.gers,  of  Southampton,  who  died  but  a  few  months  before 
him.  He  died  at  his  house  at  Ashted,  after  a  lingering  ill- 
nessy  Feb.  1,  1787,  in  his  sixty-first  year.  * 

TYNDALE,  or  TINDALE  (William),  otherwise 
named  Hitchins,  one  of  the  first  publishers  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures  in  English,  was  born  in  1500,  about  the  bor-* 
ders  of  Wales,  in  what  county  is  not  mentioned.  He  was 
brought  up  from  a  child  in  grainmar,  logic,  and  philo* 
sophy  at  Oxford,  for  the  most  part  in  St.  Mary  Magdalen's 
hall,  where  there  is  still  a  painting  of  him,  but  accounted 
an  indifferent  performance.  Here  he  imbibed  the  doc•^ 
trine  of  Luther,  and  privately  taught  it  to  some  of  the  ju« 
nior  fellows  of  Magdalen  college,  and  to  other  scholars. 
His  behaviour  was  such,  at  the  same  time,  as  gahied  him 
a  high  reputation  both  for  morals  and  learning,  so  that  he 
was  admitted  a  canon  of  cardinal  Wolsey's  new  college, 
now  Christ-church.  But  as  he  made  bis  opinions  too 
public  to  remain  here  in  safety,  and,  according  to  Tan<» 
ner  and  Wood,  was  ejected,  he  retired  to  Cambridge, 
where  he  pursued  his  studies,  and  took  a  degree.  After 
some  time  he  went  and  lived  at  Little  Sudbury,  in  Glou-t 
cestershire,  with  sir  John  Welch,  knight,  who  bad  a  great 
esteem  for  him,  and  appointed  him  tutor  to  his  children. 
Here  be  embraced  every  opportunity  to  propagate  the 
new  opinions.  Besides  preaching  frequently  in  and  about 
Bristol,  he  engaged  in  disputation  with  many  abbots  and 
dignified  clergymen,  whom  he  met  at  sir  John^s  table,  on 
the  most  important  points  of  religion,  which  he  explained 
in  a  way  to  which  they  had  not  been  accustomed,  and  by 
references  to  the  Scriptures,  which  they  scarcely  d^i/md 
to  search.  Unable  to  confute  him,  they  complained  to 
the  chancellor  of  the  diocese,  who  dismissed  him  after  a 
severe  reprimand,  accompanied  with  the  usual  threatenings 
against  heresy. 

Finding  that  this  situation  was  no  longer  convenient, 
and  that  his  patron  could  not  with  safety  continue  his  pro* 
tection,  Tyndale  came  to  London,  and  for   some   time 

t  Nichols's  Bowyer,  toI.  VIIL 


T  Y  JN  D  A  L  E.  12» 

preached  in  the  church  of  St.  Dunstan's  in  the  West.  While 
here,  having  conceived  a  high  opinion  of  Dr.  CutbbertTun* 
stall,  who  had  been  promoted  to  the  bishopric  of  Londoa 
in  1522,  on  account  of  the  great  commendations  bestowed 
on  him  by  Erasmus,  he  wished  to  become  one  of  his  chap-* 
lains.  With  this  view  he  applied  to  sir  Henry  Guildford, 
master  of  the  horse,  and  controller  to  king  Henry  VIIL 
who  was  a  great  patron  of  learned  men,  a  particular  friend 
to  Erasmus,  and  an  acquaintance  of  sir  John  Welch ;  and 
presented  to  him  ah  oration  of  Isocrates,  translated  from 
the  Greek ;  an  undoubted  proof  of  his  learning  at  a  time 
when  Greek  was  understood  by  very  few  in  England.  Sir 
Henry  readily  complied  with  Mc.  Tyndale^s  request,  but 
the  bishop's  answer  was,  **  That  his  house  was  full ;  he  had 
no  more  than  he  could  well  provide  for;  and  therefore 
advised  our  author  to  seek  out  in  London,  where,  he 
added,  be  could  not  well  miss  employment.'*  Not  being 
able  to  obtain  any,  however,  he  was  supported  by  Mr. 
Humphrey  Monmouth,  alderman  of  London,  and  a  fa- 
vourer of  Luther's  opinions,  with  whom  he  remained  for 
half  a  year,  living  in  the  most  abstemious  manner,  and  ap- 
plying closely  to  his  studies.  His  thoughts  were  at  this 
time  bent  upon  translating  the  New  Testament  into  Eng- 
Ksh,  as  the  only  means  to  enlighten  the  minds  of  the 
people  in  the  knowledge  of  true  religion ;  but  being  sen- 
sible he  could  not  do  this  with  safety  in  England,  he  went 
abroad,  receiving  very  liberal  pecunia^ry  assistance  from 
Mr.  Monmouth  and  other  persons.  He  first  went  to  Sax- 
ony, where  he  held  conferences  with  Luther,  and  his 
learned  friends,  then  came  bacl^  into  the  Netherlands,  and 
^ttled  at  Antwerp,  where  there  was  a  very  considerable 
factory  of  English  merchants,  many  of  whom  were  zealous 
adherents  to  Luther's  doctrine.  Here  he  immediately 
began  his  translation  of  the  New  Testan^ent,  in  which  he 
halreie  assistance  of  John  Fryth,  and  William  Roye,  the 
former  of  whom  was  burnt  in  Smithfield  for  heresy,  July 
1533,  and  the  latter  suffered  that  dreadful  death  in  Por- 
tugal on  the  same  accusation.  It  was  printed  in  1526,  in 
octavo,  without  the  translator's  name.  As  there  were  only 
1500  printed,  and  all  the  copies  which  could  possibly  be 
got  in  England,  were  committed  to  the  (lames,  this  first 
edition  is.  exceedingly  rare.  The  industrious  Mr.  Wanley 
could  never  procure  a  sight  of  it ;  but  there  was  one  ia 

Vol.  XXX.  K  . 


130  T  Y  N  D  A  L  E. 

» 

Ameses  collection,  which  was  sold  alter  his  death,  for  four<* 
teen  guineas  and  a  half. 

When  this  translation  was  itnported  into  England,  the 
supporters  of  f)opery  became  very  much  alarmed ;  they 
asserted  that  there  were  a  thousand  heresies  in  it;  that  il 
was  too  bad  to  be  corrected,  and  ought  to  be  suppressed^ 
that  it  was  not  possible  to  translate  the  Scriptures  into  Eng- 
lish ;  and  that  it  would  make  the  laity  heretics,  and  rebels 
to  their  king.  It  is  more  painful,  however,  to  record  that 
such  men  as  William  Warham,  archbishop  of  Canterbury^ 
and  Cuthbert  Tunstall,  bishop  of  London,  issued  their  or- 
ders and  monitions  to  bring  in  all  the  New  Testaments 
translated  into  the  vulgar  tongue,  that  they  might  be  burnt. 
To  destroy  them  more  effectually,  Tunstall  being  at  Ant- 
werp in  1526  or  1527,  procured  Augustin  Packington,  aa 
English  merchant,  to  buy  up  ail  the  copies  «f  the  English 
Testament  which  remained  unsold ;  these  were  accordingly 
brought  to  England,  and  publicly  burnt  at  Paul's  cross* 
But  this  ill-judged  policy  only  took  off  many  copies  which 
lay  dead  upon  Tyndale's  hands,  and  supplied  him  with 
money  for  another  and  more  correct  edition,  printed  i^i 
1534,  while  the  first  edition  was  in  the  mean  while  re- 
printed twice,  but  not  by  the  translator.  Of  Tunstall's 
singular  purchase,  the  following  fact  is  related  :  **  Sir  Tho- 
mas More  being  lord  chancellor,  and  jiaving  several  per- 
sons accused  of  heresy,  and  ready  for  execution,  offered 
to  compound  with  one  of  them,  named  George  Constan* 
tine,  for  his  life,  upon  the  easy  terms  of  discovering  to  him 
who  they  were  in  London  that  maintained  Tyndale  beyond 
the  sea.  After  the  poor  man  had  got  as  good  a  security 
for  bis  life  as  the  honour  and  truth  of  the  chancellor  could 
give  him,  he  told  him  it  was  the  bishop  of  London  who 
maintained  Tyndale,  by  sending  him  a  sum  of  money  to 
buy  up  the  impression  of  his  Testaments.  The  chancellor 
smiled,  saying  that  he  beFieved  he  said  true.  Thus  was 
this  poor  confessor's  life  saved."  Strict  search,  however, 
continued  to  be  made  among  those  who  were  suspected  of 
importing,  and  concealing  them  ;  of  whom  John  Tyndale^ 
our  author's  brother,  was  prosecuted,  and  condemned  to 
do  penance.  Humphrey  Monmouth,  his  great  patron  and 
benefactor,  was  imprisoned  in  the  Tower,  and  almost  ruined* 

But  these  rigorous  measures  not  producing  the  intended 
effect ;  and  burning  the  word. of  God*  in  any  shape,  being 
regarded  by  the  people  as  a' shocking  pro&nation^   sir 


TYNDALE.  tsi 

Thbmaft  More  wiU  induced  to  take  up  the  pen.  In  1529^ 
be  published  ^^  A  Dyaloge,"  in  which  he  endeavoured  to 
prove  that  the  books  burnt  were  not  New  Testaments,  but 
Tyndale's  or  Luther's  testaments ;  and  so  corrupted  and 
changed  from  the  good  and  wholesome  doctrine  of  Christ 
to  their  own  devilish  heresies,  as  to  be  quite  another  thing* 
In  1530,  Tyndale  published  an  answer  to  this  Dialogue^ 
and  proceeded  in  translating  the  Five  Books  of  Moses^ 
from  the  Hebrew  into  English ;  but  happening  to  go  by 
sea  to  Hamburgh,  to  have  it  printed  there,  the  vessel  was 
wrecked,  and  he  lost  all  his  money,  books,  writings,  and 
copies,  and  was  obliged  to*  begin  anew.  At  Hamburgh  he 
met  with  Miles  Coverdale,  who  assisted  him  in  translatinsr 
the  Pentateuch,  which  was  printed  in  1530,  in  a  small  oc^ 
tavo  volume,  and  apparently  at  several  presses.  He  after* 
wards  made  an  English  version  of  the  prophecy  of  Jonas, 
with  a  large  prologue,  which  was  printed  in  1531 ;  but  )ie 
translated  no  more  books  of  the  Scripture,  as  Hall,  Bale, 
and  Tanner,  have  asserted. 

From  Hamburgh  he  returned  to  Antwerp,  and  was 
there  betrayed  into  the  hands  of  his  enemies.  Henry  VIIL 
and  his  council  employed  one  Henry  Philips  on  this  dis« 
graceful  commission,  who  first  insinuated  himself  into 
Tyndale's  acquaintance,  and  then  got  the  procurator-ge« 
neral  of  the  emperor's  court  at  Brussels,  and  other  ofE-* 
cers,  to  seize  him,  although  th/s  procurator  declaii'ed  that 
be  was  a  learned,  pious,  and  good  man,  and  convey  him  to 
the  castle  of  Villefort,  where  he  remained  a  prisoner 
about  a  year  and  a  half.  The  body  of  the  English  mer- 
chants procured  letters  from  secretary  Cromwell  to  the 
court  at  Brussels,  for  his  release ;  but,  by  the  farther 
treachery  of  Philips,  this  was  rendered  ineffectual,  and 
Tyndale  was  brought  to  trial,  where  he  pleaded  his  own 
cause*  None  of  his  arguments,  however,  being  admitted, 
he  was  condemned,  by  virtue  of  the  emperor's  decree 
made  in  the  assembly  at  Augsburg ;  and  being  brought  io 
execution  in  1536,  he  was  first  strangled  and  then  burnt. 
His  last  words  were,  ^'  Lord,  open  the  king  of  England's 
^yes." 

Besides  his  translations,  he  wrote  various  theological  and 
controversial  tracts,  which  were  collected  together,  and 
printed  by  John  Day,  1572,  in  one  volume  folio,  together 
with  John  Fryth's  and  Barnes's  works.  Bale  and  Wood 
attribute  some  other  pieces  to  him,  and  some  tran^latioiis 

K  3 


132  t  Y  N  D  A  L  E. 

» 

itoxxx  Luther.     He  was  one  of  tfae  ablest  writers  of  bU 
time. 

Of  bis  translation  of  the  Scriptures,  Dr.  Geddes  says^ 
that  ^^  tboqgh  it  is  far  from  a  perfect  translation,  yet  fevr 
£rst  translations  will  be  found  preferable  to  it.  It  is  asto* 
jiisbing,  bow  little  obsolete  the  language  of  it  is,  even  at 
tbis  day  :  and  in  point  of  perspicuity  and  noble  simplicity^ 
propriety,  of  idiom,  and  purity  of  style,  no  Englisb  ver- 
sion bas  yet  surpassed  it.*'  He  elsewhere  deolares,  tbar> 
if  be  bad  been  inclined  to  make  any  prior  English  version 
the  ground«work  of  his  own,  it  would  certainly  have  been 
Tyndale's :  and  that  perhaps  be  should  have  done  this,  if 
their  Hebrew  text  had  been  the  same.  The  edition  of  the 
iEnglish  Bible  printed  in  1537,  usually  called  Matthew's^ 
wits,  in  Mr.  Wanley's  opinion,  Tyndale's-  to  the  end  of 
Chronicles,  and  the  whole  of  the  New  Testament;  and 
this  edition,  by  Cranmer's  solicitation,  was  permitted  by 
the  king. ' 

TYRANNIO,  a  celebrated  grammarian  in  the  time  of 
Pompey^*  was  of  Amisa  in  the  kingdom  of  Pontus,  and  was 
a  disciple  of  Dionysius  of  Thrace,  at  Rhodes*  In  tfae  year 
70  B.  C.  be  fell  into  the  hands  of  Lucullus,  when  that 
general  of  the  Roman  an;iay  defeated  Miithridates,  and 
seized  bis  dominions;  but  his  captivity  was  no  disadvantage 
to  him,  since  it  procured  htm  an  opportunity  of  becoming 
illustrious  at  Rome,  and  raising  a  fortune.  This  he  partiy 
expended  in  collecting  a  library  of  above  50,000  volumes ; 
and  it  is  probably  owing  to  bis  care  in  collecting  books 
that  the  writings  of  Aristotle  have  not  perished  together 
with  innumerable  other  monuments  of  antiquity.  The 
late  of  that  great  philosopher's  works,  as  it  is  related  by 
Strabo,  is  very  remarkable.  He  left  them,  with  his  school 
and  his  other  books,  to  bis  scholar  Theophrastus ;  and 
Tbeophrastus  left  bis  library  to  Neleus,  who  had  been  his 
as  well  as  Aristotle's  scholar.  Neleus  conveyed  his  library 
to  Scepsis,  a  city  of  Troas,  and  in  bis  country' ;  and  left 
it  to  his  heirs,  who,  being  illiterate  persons,  took  no  other 
care  of  it  than  to  keep  it  shut  up  close :  and  when  they 
were  informed  of  the  diligence  with  which  the  kings  of 
Pergamus,  whose  subjects  they  were,  sought  out  for 
books,  they  buried  those  of  Neleus  under  ground.    A  con- 

1  Fox's  Acts  and  Monuments. — Biog.  Brit— Lewis  and  Newcombe'c  Hist  of 
'  Translations    of  the  Bible, — Tamieo  Alb.  Ox.  Tot   1.— -Wordsworth's  EccT. 
Biog.  fol.  II. 


T  Y  R  A  N  N  I  Q.  l« 

I 

Biderable  time  after,  their  deseendaots  took  them  out  of 
their  prison,  much  damaged,  and  sold  those  of  AristotU 
and  Theophrastus  to  one  Apellicon,  who  caused  them  to 
be  copied,  but  with  an  infinite  number  of  errors.  Aftev 
the  death  of  Apeiiicon,  his  library  was  conveyed  from 
Athens  to  Rome  by  Sylla,  whose  library^keeper  permitted 
Tyrannio,  a  great  admirer'of  Ai;^stotle,  to  take  the  writing 
of  that  philosopher  ;  and  from  nim  they  came  into  the  p^r 
session  of  the  public. 

Tyrannio  had  many  scholars  at  Rome :  Cicero^s  son  and 
nephew  were  under  him.  Cicero  employed  him  to  put- his 
library  in  order  ;  and  Tyrannio  wrote  a  book  which.  Atticus  '^ 
admired,  but  this^  has  not  reached  our  time.  Strabo  also 
had  been  his  scholar,  as  he  himself  informs  us.  Tyrannio 
died  very  old,  being  worn  out  with  the  gout.  ^ 

TYRRELL  (James),  an  English  historian,  descended 
from  an  ancient  family,  was  the  eldest  son  of  air  Timothy 
Tyrrell,  of  Sbotover  near  Oxford,  knt.  by  Elizabeth  his  wifi^ 
sole  daughter  of  the  celebrated  archbishop  U^her.  >  He  waA 
born  in  Great  Queen-street,  Westminster,  in  May.  1642^ 
and  educated  chiefly  at  the  free  school  of  Gaoiberwell  in 
Surrey.  In  \  651  he  was  admitted  a. gentleman  commoner 
of  Queen's  college,  Oxford,  where  he  continued  three  years  . 
under  the  tuition  of  Mr.  Thomas  TuUy  and  Mr.  Timothy 
Halton.  After  going  to  the  Temple  to  study  law,  he  re- 
turned to  Oxford  in  September  1663,  and  was  created 
M.  A.  In  1665  he  was  called  to  the  bar,  but  did  not  prao 
tise,  employing  his  time  chiefly  in  historical  researches, 
particularly  respecting  the  history  and  constitution  of 
England.  Having  an  independent  fortune,  he  resided 
chiefly  on  his  estate  at  Oakeley,  near  Brill  in  £iickingham>- 
shire,  and  was  nuide  one  of  the  deputy  lieutenants  and  jus- 
tices of  the  peace  for  that  county ;  in  which  offices  be  con- 
tinned  till  king  James  IJ.  turned  him  and  the  rest  out  of  the  , 
commission,  tor  not  assisting  in  taking  away  the  penal  laws 
and  test.  On  the  revolution,  he  zealously  espoused  king 
William^s  interest,  and  wrote  with  great  effect  in  vindicatioii  . 
of  bis  right  to  the  crown. 

Having  formed  the  pla^n  of  a  History  of  England,  he  came 
to  reside  chiefly  at  Shotover,  near  Oxford,  for  the  sake  of 
easy  access  to  the  libraries  in  the  university ;  and  the  re- 
mainder of  his  life  appears  to  ha?e  beeu  devoted  to  that 

I  Q«n.  Diet.— Strabo,  Ub.  XII.  and  XlH. 


IS*  TYRRELL. 

and  bis  other  literary  pursuitir.  He  died  in  1718,  in  bis 
seventy-sixth  year,  and  was  buried  in  Oakeley  church.  Ho 
married  Mary  daughter  and  heir  of  sir  Michael  Hutchinson, 
of  Fladbury  in  Worcestershire,  knight,  by  whom  he  had 
lieutenant-general  James  Tyrrell,  of  Shotover,  esq.  governor 
of  Gravesend  and  Tilbury  Fort,  &c.  who  died  in  August 
1742,  leaving  his  estate  from  the  Tyrrell  famify  to  his  kins* 
man  Augustus  Schutz. 

Mr.  Tyrrell's  first  appearance  as  an  author  was  in  the 
dedication  of  a  posthumous  work  of  archbishop  Usher's. 
Wood  says  he  published  this,  but  the  publisher  was  bishop 
Sanderson.  It  was  entitled  ^^The  Power  communicated  by 
God  to  the  Prince,  and  the  obedience  required  of  the  Sub-* 
ject,'*  Lond.  1661,  4to.  At  this  time  Mr.  Tyrrell  was  very 
^oung,  and  bad  not  probably  left  Oxford,  or  was  but  just 
beginning  his  studies  in  the  Temple ;  but  it  might  perhaps 
be  thought  creditable  to  appear  as  the  nearest  relative  of 
the  venerable  author,  and  he  might  not  be  sorry  to  have  an 
early  opportunity  of  paying  his  court  to  th^  restored  mo- 
narch. This  much  we  may  infer  from  the  dedication  itself, 
which  he  concludes  in  these  words :  <<  I  shall  now  make  this 
my  most  humble  suit  to  your  majesty,  that  as  tlie  reverend 
author  in  his  life-time  publicly  professed  his  loyalty  to  his 
sovereign,  and  constantly  prayed  for  your  majesty's  happy 
and  glorious  return  to  these  your  kingdoms,  and  in  all 
things  shewed  himself  your  loyal  subject,  so  jrou  would  be 
pleased  to  own  him  as  such,  by  affording  your  gracious 
countenance  to  this  his  posthumous  work,  which  will  eter^ 
nize  the' memory  of  the  deceased  author,  and  thereby  con^p 
fer  the  greatest  temporal  blessing  on  your  majesty's  most 
loyal  and  obedient  subject,  James  Tyrrell.'* 

In  1686  appeared  bis  vindication,  of  his  father-in-law, 
printed  at  the  end  of  Parr's  **  Life  of  Archbishop  Usher,'' 
under  the  title  of  ^^  An  Appendix,  containing  a  vindication 
of  his  opinions  and  actions  in  reference  to  the  doctrine  and 
discipline  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  his  conformity 
thereunto,  from  the  aspersions  of  Peter  Heylin,  D.  D.  in 
his  pamphlet  called  Sespondet  FeimsJ^  This  pamphlet  of 
Heylin's  was  his  answer  to  Dr.  Bernard's  book  entitled 
^<  The  Judgment  of  the  late  Primate  of  Ireland,  &c.  as  he  is 
made  a  party  by  the  said  Lord  Primate  in  the  point  of  the 
Sabbatb,"  Lond.  1658,  4to.  (See  Heylin,  p.  442  and  443.) 
Mr.  Tyrrell's  notions  in  politics  were  adverse  to  those  of 
some  of  his  contemporaries,   who  were  for  carrying  tho 


/ 

I 


TYRRELL.  13J 

prerogative  to  its  height,  and  vindicated  passive  obedience 
and  non-resistance :  be  was  clearly  for  a  monarchy,  but  a 
limited  monarchy,  and  therefore  answered  sir  Robert  Filmer 
in  a  small  volume  entitled  '*  Patriarcha  non  Monarcha,  or 
the  Patriarch  unmonarched,  &c.*'  1681,  8vo.  This  was  ani- 
mad-verted  upon  by  Edmund  Bohun,  in  the  preface  to  the 
second  edition  of  sir  Robert's  ^^  Patriarcha ;''  but  Mr.  Tyr-i 
reirs  opinions  on  this  and  other  subjects  connected  with  it 
are  most  fully  displayed  in  his  political  dialogues,  which 
were  first  published  at  different  times,  in  1692,  1693,  1694, 
and  1695,  in  quarto,  until  they  amounted  to  fourteen. 
They  were  afterwards  collected  into  one  volume  folio, 
about  the  time  of  his  death,  and  published  under  the  name 
of  ^' Bibliotheca  Politica,  or  an  Enquiry  into  the  ancient 
Constitution  of  the  English  Government,  with  respect  to  the 
just  extent  of  the  regal  power,  and  the  rights  and  liberties 
of  the  subject  Wherein  all  the  chief  arguments,  both  for 
and  against  the  late  revolution,  are  impartially  tepresented 
and  considered.  In  fourteen  dialogues,  collected  out  of 
the  best  authors,  ancient  and  modern,'*  Lond.  1718,  re* 
printed  1727.  It  appears  also  that  subjects  of  the  religious 
kind  sometimes  employed  his  attention,  as  in  16 92  he  pub- 
lished an  abridgment  of  bishop  Cumberland's  work  on  the 
laws  of  nature,  with  the  consent  and  approbation  of  the 
right  reverend  author.  This,  which  was  entitled  ^*A  brief 
Disquisition  of  the  Law  of  Nature,  &c."  was  reprinted  in 
1701.  But  the  work  which  had  employed  most  of  Mr.Tyr^ 
reli's  time  was  his  ^^  General  History  of  England,  both  ec» 
clesiastical  and  civil,  from  the  earliest  accounts  of  time,"/ 5 
vols.  fol.  generally  bound  in  thre^e,  Lond.  1700,  1704.  He 
intended  to  have  brought  this  down  to  the  reign  of  William 
III.  but  what  is  published  extends  no  farther  than  that  of 
Richard  II.  and  of  course  forms  but  a  small  part  of  the 
whole  plan.  It  is  thought  that  be  left  another  volume  or 
more  ready  for  the  press,  but  this  has  never  appeared.  His 
chief  object  seems  to  be  to  refute  the  sentiments  of  Dr. 
Brady  in  his  ^^  History  of  England,"  particularly  where  he 
asserts  that  '^  all  the  liberties  and  privileges  the  people  can 
pretend  to  were  the  grants  and  concessions  of  the  kings  of 
this  nation,  and  were  derived  from  the  crown ;"  and  that 
*^  the  commons  of  England  were  not  introduced,  nor  were 
one  of  the  three  estates  in  parliament,  before  the  forty-ninth 
of  Henry  III.  Before  which  time  the  body  of  commons  of 
England^  or  freemen  collectively  taken,  had  not  any  share 


18«  TYRRELL. 

• 

or  votes  in  making  laws  for  the  goYernment  of  the  kingdoin^ 
nor  had  any  cominunication  in  affairs  of  state,  unless  they 
were  represented  by  the  tenants  in  capiteP  In  refuting  these 
opinions  Mr.  Tyrrell  will  probably  be  thought  not.  unsuc-> 
eessful ;  but  the  work  is  ill  digested,  and  less  fit  for  reading 
than  for  consultation.  As  a  jbompilation  it  will  be  found 
useful,  particularly  on  account  of  bis  copious  translations 
from  our  old  English  historians,  although  even  there  he  has 
admitted  some  mistakes.^ 

TYRT.SUS,  an  ancient  Greek  poet,  who  flourished  in 
the  seventh  century  B.  C.  was  born  at  Miletus,  but  lived  at 
Athens,  and  became  celebrated  by  all  antiquity  for  the 
composition  of  military  songs  and  airs,  as  well  as  the  per-« 
formance  of  themj  and  the  success  of  his  verses  has  ad<* 
Tanced  his  tiame  to  the  rank  of  the  greatest  heroes  as  well  as 
the  noblest  poets.  The  Lacedaemonians,  during  the  second. 
Messenian  war,  about  685  B.  C.  by  advice  of  the  Pythian 
Oracle,  applied  to  the  Athenians  for  a  general:  The  Athe<« 
nians  sent  them  Tyrtaeus,  perhaps  in  ridicule ;  for,  besides 
his  occupation,  utterly  remote  from  military  affairs,  he  is 
reported  to  have  been  short  and  very  deformed,  blind  of  one 
eye,  and  lame.  But  a  memorable  victory  which  they  ob<* 
tained  over  the  Messenians  is  attributed  to  the  animating 
sound  of  a  new  military  flute  or  clarion,  invented  and  played 
upon  by  TyrtsBUs;  and  bis  military  airs  were  constantly 
sung  and  played  in  the  Spartan  army,  to  the  last  hour  of 
the  republic.  The  poems  of  Tyrtaeus  were  first  printed  in 
a  collection  by  Frobenius  in  1532,  and  separately  in  1764 
by  Klotz.  His  U  War  Elegies"  have  been  versified  in  £ng<<» 
lish  by  Mr.  Polwhele,  and  imitated  by  the  late  Mr.  Pye, 
with  a  reference  to  the  late  war.' 

TYRWHITT  (Thomas),  one  of  the  most  eminent  scho- 
lars  and  critics  of  the  last  century,  was  the  son  of  the  rev« 
Dr.  Robert  Tyrwhitt,  of  a  very  ancient  baronet's  family  in 
Lincolnshire,  a  gentleman  of  considerable  eminence  in  the 
church,  who  was  rector  of  JSt,  James's,  Westminster,  which 
be  resigned  in  1732,  on  being  appointed  a  canon  residen* 
tiary  of  St.  Paul'^.  He  held  also  the  prebend  of  Kentish- 
town,  in  that  cathedral,  and  was  archdeacon  of  London.  In 
1740  he  obtained  a  canonry  of  Windsor,  and  died  June  15, 
1742,  and  was  buried  in  St.  George's  chapel,  Windsor.  He 
married  the  eldest  daughter  of,  bishop  Gibson,  and  so  well 

1  Atl).  Ox.  voU  lI.<wBio£:.  Brie  <  Fabric  Bibl.  Qrec«»Saxii  OnomasU 


T  Y  R  W  H  I  T  T,  iS» 

imitated  the  liberality  and  hospitality  of  that  prelate,  that, 
dyiog  at  the  age  of  forty- four  years,  be  left  a  numerous 
£amily  very  moderately  provided  for. 

Thomas  Tyrwhitt,  the  subject  of  the  present  article,  th6 
eldest  son  of  Dr.  Tyrwhitt,  was  born  March  29,  1730,  and 
had  his  first  education  at  a  school  at  Kensington,  to  which 
be  was  sent  in  iiis  sixth  year.  In  1 741  he  removed  to  Eton-. 
Here,  as  well  as  afterwards,  he  manifested  the  strongest  pro- 
pensities to  literature,  at  an  age  when  other  boys  are  em* 
ployed,  every  moment  they  can*steal  from  books,  in  pursuit 
of  pleasure.  But  Mr.  Tyrwhitt,  it  has  been  justly  said^ 
never  was  a  boy,  his  calm  and  contemplative  disposition 
always  leading  him  to  manly  and  scholar-like  studies.  After 
a  residence  of  six  years  at  Eton,  he  was  entered  of  Queen^s 
college,  Oxford,  in  1747,  and  took  the  degree  of  bachelor 
of  arts  in  1750.  He  removed  to  Merton  college,  in  conse-^ 
quence  of  being  elected  to  a  fellowship  in  1755,  and  the 
following  year  took  his  degree  of  M.  A.  He  remained  on 
his  fellowship  until  1762,  when  he  left  the  university,  car<^ 
rying'with  him  an  extensive  fund  of  various  knowledge,  to 
which  he  afterwards  added  by  most  unwearied  application. 

He  was  now  made  clerk  of  the  House  of  Commons,  in  the 
room  of  the  deceased  Jeremiah  Dyson,, esq.  and  resigned 
bis  fellowship.  This,  however,  was  not  his  first  step  in  pub- 
lic life.  He  had  ^previously  resided  for  some  time  in  the 
Temple,  and  had  studied  law;  and  in  December  1756  was 
appointed  deputy  secretary  at  war,  under  his  noble  friend 
and  patron,  lord  Barrington,  with  whom  and  his  family  he 
preserved,  and  highly  valued,  the  most  intimate  friendship 
to  the  last  hour  of  his  life.  If  the  too  constant  fatis^ues 
and  late  hours  of  his  oflfice,  as  clerk  of  the  House  of  Cgkh- 
mons,  bad  not  proved  too  much  for  his  constitution,  it  is 
thought  that  some  of  the  higher  offices  of  the  state  were 
within  his  reach.  But  after  getting  through  one  long  par- 
liament, he  resigned  in  1768,  or,  as  he  says  in  a  short  list 
of  the  dates  of  his  life  now  before  us,  he  vidiS  liber /actus  j 
and  retired  to  his  beloved  books.  The  remainder  of  his 
life  was  devoted  entirely  to  literary  pursuits.  Besides  a 
knowledge  of  almost  every  European  tongue,  he  was  deeply 
conversant  in  the  learning  of  Greece  and  Rome,  and  in  the 
old  English  writers ;  and  as  his  knowledge  was  directed  by 
a  manly  jodgmentj  his  critical  efforts  to  illustrate  the  text 
of  Chaucer  and  Shakspeare  are  justly  ranked  among  the 
happiest  efforts  of  modern  skill.  The  profundity  and  acute- 


iS8  T  Y  R  W  H  I  T  T. 

ness  of  bis  remarks  also  on  Euripides,  Babrius,  tfaePseodo* 
Kowley^  &c.  bear  sufficient  witness  to  the  diligence  of  bis 
researches  and  the  force  of  his  understanding.  His  mod« 
of  criticism  is  allowed  to  have  been  at  once  rigorous  and 
candid.  As  he  never  availed  himself  of  petty  stratagems 
in  support  of  doubtful  positions,  be  was  vigilant  to  strip  his 
antagonists  of  all  such  specious  advantages.  Yet  contro- 
versy produced  no  unbecoming  change  in  the  habitual  gen- 
tleness and  elegance  of  his  manners.  His  spirit  of  inquiry 
was  exempt  from  captiousness,  and  his  censures  were  as 
void  of  rudeness,  as  his  erudition  was  free  from  pedantry* 
In  private  life  he  was  a  man  of  great  liberality,  of  which 
some  striking  instances  are  given  in  our  authorities.  In  one 
year  it  is  said  he  gave  away  2000/. ;  and  for  such  generous 
exertions  he  had  the  ability  as  well  as  the  inclination,  for 
he  had  no  luxuries,  no  follies,  and  no  vices  to  maintain. 
Of  such  a  man  it  is  unnecessary  to  add  that  he  died  la- 
mented by  all  who  knew  the  worth  of  his  friendship,  or  en- 
joyed the  honour  of  his  acquaintance.  His  constitution 
had  never  been  of  the  athletic  kind,  and  therefore  easily 
gave  way  to  a  joint  attsrck  from  two  violent  disorders^ 
which  ended  his  life,  Aug.  15,  1786,  in  his  fif'ty-sixth  year. 
He  died  at  his  bouse  in  Weibeck-street,  Cavendish- square, 
and  was  interred  in  St.  George's  chapel,  Windsor.  He 
had  for  many  years  been  a  member  of  the  Royal  So- 
ciety and  the  Society  of  Antiquaries.  In  1784  be  was, 
without  the  slightest  private  interest  or  solicitation,  elected 
a  curator  of  the  British  Museum,  in  the  duties  of  which 
office,  the  highest,  honour  that  can  be  enjoyed  by  a  lite- 
rary man,  he  was  indefatigably.  diligent. 

"Jhe  publications  of  this  excellent  scholar  were,  1.  **  An 
Epistle  to  Florio  (Mr.  Ellis,  of  Christ-church)  at  Oxford^" 
Lond.  1749,  4to.  2.  '< Translations  in  Verse;  Pope's  Mes- 
siah ;  Philips's  Splendid  Shilling,  in  Latin,'^  and  *^  the 
eighth  Isthmian  of  Pindar,  in  English,'*  1752,  4to.  8. 
'*  Observations  and  Conjectures  on  some  passages  in  Shak- 
speare,''  1766,  8vo.  Mr.  Tyrwhitt  afterwards  communi- 
cated many  judicious  remarks  on  our  national  bard  to  Mr* 
.Steevens  and  Mr.  Reed  for  the  editions  of  1778  and  1785. 
4  ^*  Proceedings  and  Debates  in  the  House  of  Commons^ 
in  1620  and  1621,  from  the  original  MS.  in  the  library  of 
Queen's  college,  Oxford,  with  an  appendix,  printed  at  the 
Clarendon  jpress,  1766,  2  vols.  8vo.  5.  **Tbe  manner  of 
holding  parliaments  in  England ;  by  Henry  Elsynge,  Cler. 
Par.  corrected  and  enlarged   from  the  author's  original 


T  Y  R  W  H  I  T  r.  130 

MS.^^  Lond.  1768,  8vo.  With  a  v\fiw  to  raise  a  spirit  of 
research  into  ancient  classical  MSS,  his  first  critical  pub- 

.  lication  in  literature  was,  6.  **  Fragmenta  duo  Plutarcbi^ 
1773,  from  an  Harleian  MS.  5612/*  He  observes  himself 
of  this,  that  it  had  no  great  merit,  and  was  only  published 

'  to  stimulate  similar  inquiries.  7.  ^  The  Canterbury  Tales 
of  Chaucer,'*  in  4  vols.  Svo,  to  which  he  afterwards  added 
a  5th  volume  in  1778.  There  has  since  been  a  splendid 
edition  printed  at  Oxford  in  2  vols.  4to.   This  is  certainly  the 

.  best  edited  English  classic  that  has  ever  appeared.  S.  **  Dis« 
sertatio  de  Babrio,  FabuUrum  iEsopicarum  scriptore.  Inse<^ 
runtur  £abalse  qua^dam  ^sopese  nunquam  antehac  editse  et 
cod.  MS.  Bodl.  AcceduntBabrii  fragmenta.  1776.*'  Theob* 
ject  of  this  publication,  which,  though  small  in  size,  evinced 
th^  greatest  critical  acumen,  was  to  shew,  that  many  of  the 
fables  which  pass  under  the  name  of  £sop,  were  from  ano« 
ther  antient  writer  of  the  name  of  Babrius,  whose  fragments 
are  preserved  in  Suidas. in  verse.  9.  "  Notes  on  Euripides,*^ 
which,  in  Dr.  Harwood's  opinion,  form  the  most  valuable 
part  of  Musgrave*s  edition,  1778.  10.  ^^  Poems,  supposed 
to  have  been  written  at  Bristol  in  the  15th  century,  by 
Rowley  and  others ;  with  a  preface,  an*  account  of  the 
Poeais,  and  a  Glossary,**  This  was  tv^ice  re-published  in 
1778,  with  an  appendix  tending  to  prove  that  they  were 
written,  not  by  any  antient  author,  but  by  Chatterton« 
This  became  the  subject  of  warm  controversy,  which,  hdw* 
ever,  was  settled,  by  1 1  •  *^  A  Vindication  of  the  Appendix  to 
the  Poems  called  Rowley's,  in  reply  to  the  dean  of  Exeter, 
Jacob  Bryant)  esq.  and  others,  by  Thomas  Tyrwhitt**  Mr. 
Tyrwbitt*s  next  work  was  of  a  different  kind,  namely,  12. 
**  IIEPI  AI0AN;  de  Lapidibus,  Poema  Orpheo  a  quibusdam 
adscriptum,  Grasce  et  Latine^  ex  edit.  Jo.  Matthasi  Ges- 
neri.  Recensuit,  notasque  adjecit,  Thomas  Tyrwhitt.  Si« 
niul  prodit  auctarium  dissertationis  de  Babrio.**  Mr.  Tyr* 
whitt  in  this  critical  work,  refers  the  poem  **  on  Stones**  to 
the  age  of  Constantius.  He  next  printed  for  his  private 
friends,  13.  ^'Conjectural  in  Strabonem;**  and  he  also  su« 
perintended,  14.  ''Two  Dissertations  on  the  Grecian  My^ 
thology,  and  an  examination  of  sir  Isaac  Newton*s  objec- 
tion to  the  Chronology  of  the  Olympiads,**  by  Dr.  Mus** 
grave.  For  this  work  a  very  liberal  subscription  was  raised 
for  the  doctor's  family,  entirely  by  the  exertions  of  Mr.  Tyr* 
whitt,  who  had  before  given  up  to  the  widow  a  bond  for 
several  hundred  pounds  which  the  Doctor  had  borrowed  of 
liiAi.     Jlis  last  literary  labour  was,  15.  ^*  A  newly  discovered 


140  T  Y  E  W  H  I  T  T. 

Oration  of  Isseas  against  Menecles/*  which  Mr.  Tyrwhitt 
revised  in  1785,  and  enriched  with  valuable  notes,  at  th« 
request  of  lord  Sandys.  These  few  specimens  are  from  the 
Medicean  Libra,ry,  and  are  sufficient  to  shew  Mr.  Tyrwhitt^s 
powers^  and  to  make  us  regret  that  his  modesty  declined 
the  proposal  made  to  him  of  directing  the  publication  of 
the  second  volume  of  Inscriptions  collected  by  Mr.  Chis-> 
bully  and  first  laid  open  to  the  public  by  the  sale  of  Dr. 
Askew's^MSS.  How  he  succeeded  in  the  illustration  of 
such  subjects  will  best  appear  by  that  most  happy  expla* 
nation  of  the  Greek  inscription  on  the  Corbridge  altar, 
which  had  baffled  the  skill  of  all  prece;ding  critics,  and  will 
be  a  lasting  proof  how  critical  acumen  transcends  elaborate 
conjecture.  (See  Archseologia,  vol.  III.  p.  324,  compared 
with  vol.  II.  pp.  92,  93.)  Nor  must  his  observations  on 
come  other  Greek  inscriptions  in  Archsologia,  vol.  III.  p. 
230,  be  forgotten. 

Mr.  Tyrwhitt  left  many  materials  for  a  new  edition  of 
Aristotle^s  "  Poetics,"  which  were  prepared  for  the  press 
by  Messrs.  Burgess  and  Randolph,  afterwards  bishops  of  St. 
David's  and  London,  and  were  published  in  1794,  at  the 
Clarendon  press,  in  a  sumptuous  4to  form,  with  an  edition 
also  in  8vo,  less  expensive.  This  is  a  very  elegant  and 
accurate  edition,  and  contains  I'yrwhitt's  commentaries, 
as  well  as  his  version,  i^hich  is  close  and  faithful. '  * 

TYSON   (Edward),   a  learned  physician,    the  son  of 
Edward  Tyson,  of  Clevedon,  in  Somersetshire,  gent,  was 
born  in  1649,  and  admitted  commoner  of  Magdalen  Hall, 
Oxford,  in  1667,  where,  after  taking  the  degree  of  M.  A. 
he  entered  on  the  study  of  medicine,  was  made  fellow  of 
the  royal  society,  and  proceeded  M.  D.  at  Cambridge  in 
1680.     Soon  after  this  he  became  fellow  of  the  college  of 
physicians,  reader  of  the  anatomical  lecture  in  surgeons*- 
ball,  and  physician  to  the  hQspitals  of  Bethlem  and  Bride- 
well, London,  in  which  station  be  died  Aug.  1,  170S.    He 
was  a  skilful  anatomist,  and  an  ingenious  writer,  as  appears 
by  bis  essays  in   the  Philosophical  Transactions,  and  Mr. 
Hook's  collections.    He  published  also  '^The  anatomy  of 
a  Porpoise  dissected  at  Gresham  college,"  Lond.   1680. 
*^  The  anatomy  of  a  Pigmy,  compared  with  that  of  a  Mon- 
key, an  Ape,  and  a  Man,'*  Lond.  4to,  with  a  "  Philoso- 
phical essay  concerning  the  Pygmies  of  the  ancients,"  ibid.' 

<  Nichols'f  Bowyer,  vols.  III.  and  IX. 

*  Atb.  Ox.  voj.  iL^Maiters's  Hist,  of  C.  C.  C.  C. 


TYSON.        *  Ui 

TYSON  (Michael),  a  learned  divine  and  ingenious 
artist,  ,was  the  only  child  of  the  rev.  Michael  Tyson,  deaa 
of  Stamford,  archdeacon  of  Huudngdon,  &c.  who  died  in 
179i4>,  a^ed  eighty-four,  by  his  tirst  wife,  the  sister  of 
Noah  Curtis,  of  Woisthorp,  in  Lincolnshire,  esq.  He 
was  born  in  the  parish  of  All  Saints,  in  Stamford,  Nov.  19, 
1740,  and  received  his  grammatical  education  in  that  co'un* 
try.  He  was  then  admitted  of  Bene^t  college,  Cambridge, 
and  passed  regularly  through  his  degrees ;  that  of  B.  A.  ia 
1764,  of  M.  A.  in  1767,  and  of  B.  D.  in  1775;  and  after 
taking  his  bachelor's  degree  was  elected  a  fellow  of  his 
college.  In  the  autumn  of  1766  he  attended  a  young  gen* 
tieman  of  his  college,  Mr.  Gough  (afterwards  the  celebrated 
antiquary)  in  a  tour  through  the  north  of  England  and 
Scotland,  and  made  an  exact  journal  of  bis  several  stages, 
with  pertinent  remarks  on  such  places  as  seemed  most  in- 
teresting. At  Glasgow  and  Inverary  he  had  the  freedom 
of  the  corporations  bestowed  upon  him.  After  his  return, 
in  the  following  year  he  was  elected  a  fellow  ^  the  society 
ef  antiquaries,  and  in  1769  a  fellow  of  the  royal  society. 
In  1770  he  was  ordained  deacon  at  Whitehall  chapel,  by 
Dr.  Green,  bishop  of  Lincoln.  In  1773,  his  father  being 
promoted  to  the  archdeaconry  of  Huntingdon,  he  gave  the 
officiality  of  it  to  his  son,  which  was  worth  about  50/.  per 
ann.  and  about  the  same  time,  being  bursar  of  the  college, 
ke  succeeded  Mr.  Colman  in  the  cure  of  St.  Benedict's 
church,  in  Cambridge,  as  he  did  also  in  1776,  in  the 
Whitehall  preachership,  at  the  request  of  the  late  Dr.  Ha«> 
*  Aiilton,  son-in-law  of  bishop  Terrick,  who  had  formerly 
bee  A  of  Bene't  college. 

'  In  the  same  year,  1776,  he  was  presented  by  the  col* 
lege  to  the  rectory  of  Lambourne^  near  Ongar,  in  Essex  ; 
but,  it  being  the  ^rst  time  that  the  college  presented. to  it, 
the  family  from  which  it  came  litigated  the  legality  of  the 
society's  claim,  which,  however,  after  a  suit  in  chancery, 
was  determined  in  favour  of  the  college.  But  when  they 
threatened  another  prosecution,  Mr.  Tyson,  who  was  eager 
to  settle  on  his  living,  as  he  had  an  intention  of  marrying, 
injudiciously  entered  into  a  composition  with  the  parties, 
which,  but  for  the  liberality  of  the  college,  might  have 
involved  his  family  in  debt.  He  died  of  a  violent  fever. 
May  3,  1780,  in  the  fortieth  year  of  his  age,  and  was  in- 
terred in  Lambourne  church.  He  left  an  infaqt  son,  wbo 
died  in  1794.  * 


14*  •        TYSON. 

.  In  his  early  days  Mr.  Tyson  amused  himself  with  66m0 
poetical  attempts,  of  which  two  were  published,  one  **  On 
the  birth  of  the  prince  of  Wales,"  the  other  ^^  An  Ode  oil 
Peace."  He  was  a  good  classical  scholar,  and  studied 
with  great  success  the  modern  languages,  particularly  Ita^ 
lian,  Spanish,  and  French.  He  was  also  a  skilful  botanist, 
but  his  principal  researches  were  in  history,  biography,  and 
antiquities,  which  he  very  ably  illustrated  both  as  a  draughts- 
man and  engraver.  His  taste  in  drawing  and  painting  is 
said  to  have  been  exquisite.  There  are  several  etchings 
by  his  band,  particularly  the  portrait  of  archbishop  Parker, 
taken  from  an  illumination  by  T.  Berg,  in  a  MS.  preserved 
in  the  library  of  Bene^t  college,  and  prefixed  to  NasmitVs 
catalogue  of  the  archbishop^s  MSS.  Strutt  also  mentions 
the  portrait  of  sir  William  Paulet ;  and  of  Jane  Shore, 
from  an  original  picture  at  King^s  college,  Cambridge.  To 
these  we  may  add  that  of  Michael  Dalton,  author  of  ^^  The 
Country  Justice,"  Jacob  Butler,  esq.  of  Barnwell,  Mr« 
Cole,  and  qfhets  his  private  friends.  He  occasionally  cor- 
responded in  the  Gentleman's  Magazine,  but  bis  publica-* 
tions  were  few,  as  his  career  was  short.  In  the  Archaeolo** 
gia  are  two  articles  by  him,  a  description  of  an  illuminated 
picture  in  a  MS.  in  Bene^t  college,  and  a  letter  to  Mr, 
Gough,  with  a  description  and  draught  of  t^e  old  drinking* 
born  in  Bene't  college,  called  Goldcorne's  born.  His  skiU 
was  always  liberally  bestowed  on  his  friends ;  and  his  contri^ 
butions  to  works  of  antiquity,  &c.  were  frequently  and  rea- 
dily acknowledged  by  his  learned  contemporaries.^ 

TYTLER  (William))  an  ingenious  writer  on  historical 
and  miscellaneous  subjects,  was  born  at  Edinburgh,  Oct. 
12,  171 1.  He  was  the  son  of  Mr.  Alexander  Tytler,  wri-* 
ter  (or  attorney)  in  Edinburgh,  by  Jane,  daughter  of  Mr« 
William  Leslie,  merchant  in  Aberdeen,  and  grand-daugb* 
ter  of  sir  Patrick  Leslie  of  Iden,  provost  of  that  city.  He 
^as  educated  at  the  high  schooj,  and  at  the  university  of 
Edinburgh,  and  distinguished  himself  by  an  early  profi* 
ciency  in  those  classical  studies,  which,  to  the  latest  period 
pf  his  life,  were  the  occupation  of  his  leisure  hours,  and  a 
principal  source  of  his  mental  enjoyments.  At  the  age  of 
thirty-one^  Mr.  Tytler  wa«  admittisd  into  the  society  of 
writers  to  his  majesty^s  signet,  and  continued  the  practice 
of  that  profession  with  very  good  success^  and  with  equak 

*  NichoU's  Bowytr,  toU.  VI  and  Vlli.— Cold's  MS  AtbeiM  ia  Brit.  Muk 


T  Y  T  L  E  R.  14$ 

Tiespect  from  his  clients  and  the  public,  till  his  death, 
which  happened  Sept.  12,  1792. 

With  the  duties  of  his  profession  he  combined  a  more 
than  common  share  of  classical  learning,  historical  know- 
ledge, and  a  singularly  correct  taste  in  the  'sister  arts  of 
poetry,  painting,  and  music;  all  of  which  he  continued  to 
cultivate  and  enjoy  to  the  close  of  his  long  life.  To  his 
other  studies,  he  added  those  of  metaphysics  and  moral 
philosophy ;  hy  means  of  which  he  had  early  become  ac** 
quaintt:d  with  Dr.  Beattie,  whom,  as  the  biographer  of  the 
latter  informs  us,  he  loved  and  respected  as  an  able  cham- 
pion of  truth,  and  with  whom  he  ever  after  continued  to 
live  oh  the  footing  of  the  most  intimate  friendship.  He 
also  possessed  the  esteem  and  regard  of  many  of  the  most 
distinguished  literary  characters  of  the  age,  as  lord  Mon-< 
boddo,  lord  Kaimes,  Dr.  John  Gregory^  Dr.  Reid,  Prin- 
cipal Campbell,  Dr,  Gerard,  and  others.  As  an  author, 
Mr.  Tytler  was  first  and  principally  distinguished  for  his 
**  Inquiry,  historical  and  critical,  into  the  evidence  against 
Mary  queen  of  Scots,  and  an  examination  of  the  Histories 
of  Dr.  Robertson  and  Mr.  Hume,  with  respect  to  that  evi- 
dence,** 1759,  8vo,  frequently  reprinted,  and  in  1790  ex- 
tended to  2  vols.  8vo,  with  large  additions.  In  this  work^ 
be  displayed  an  uncommon  degree  of  acuteness  in  the  ex- 
amination of  a  question,  which  has  been  maintained  on 
both  sides  with  great  ability,  but  not  always  with  the  tem- 
per and  manners  which  guided  Mr.  Tytler^s  pen.  As  a 
supplement  to  this  work,  he  read  in  the  Society  of  Anti- 
quaries in  Scotland,  of  which  society  he  was  a  warm  friend 
and  protector,  and  for  many  years  vice-president,  *^  A 
dissertation  on  the  marriage  of  queen  Mary  to  the  earl  of 
Bothwell,'*  which  forms  a  distinguished  article  in  the  first 
Tolmne'  of  the  transactions  of  that  society  published  in 
1791,  iu  4to. 

His  other  publications  were,  1.  "The  Poetical  remains 
of  James  I.  of  Scotland,  consisting  of  the  King^s  Quair  in 
six  cantos,  and  '  Christ's  kirk  of  the  green,'  to  which  is' 
prefixed  a  dissertation  on  the  life  and  writings  of  king 
James,*'  Edinburgh,  1783.  This  dissertation  forms  a  va- 
luable morsel  of  the  literary  history  of  Europe  :  for  James 
tanked  still  higher  in  the  literary,  world  as  sl  poet^  than  in 
the  political  world  as  apnnce.  Great  justice  is  done  to  his 
memory  in  both  respects  in  this  dissertation  :  and  the  two 
morsels   of  poetry  here   rescued   frgm   oblivioi),   will   be 


144  T  Y  T  L  E  R. 

esteemed  by  men  o£  taste,  as  long  as  the  latigdage  in  which 
they  are  written  can  be  understood.  2.  "  A  Dissertation 
oxi  Scottish  music,"  first  subjofned  to  Arnot's  "  History  of 
Edinburgh."  5.  "  Observations  on  the  Vision,  a  poem,*' 
first  published  in  Ramsay's  Evergreen,  now  also  printed  in 
the  Transactions  of  the  Society  of. Antiquaries  of  Scotland. 
This  may  be  considered  as  a  part  of  the  literary  history  of 
Scotland.  4.  "  On  the  fashionable  amusements  in  Edin- 
burgh during  the  last  century,'*  ibid.  He  also  contributed 
No.  16  to  tho  periodical  paper  called  "  The  Lounger." 

Mr.  Tytl^r  was  father  to  the  hon;  Alexander  Frazer 
Tytler,  lord  Woodhouselee,  one  of  the  judges  of  the  su- 
preme civil  court  of  law  in  Scotland,  to  whom  the  public 
is  indebted  for  a  valuable  and  truly  original  **  Essay  on  the 
Principles  of  Translation  ;"  **  Elements  of  General  His- 
tory," the  "  Life  of  Lord  Kaimes,"  and  other  ingenious 
works.  This  very  excellent  scholar  and  upright  judge 
died  very  lately,  but  we  have  not  seen  any  tribute  to  his 
memory  of  which  we  could  avail  ourselves,  although  some- 
thing of  the  kind  may  very  naturally  be  expected  from  tho 
same  pen  which  has  recorded  the  talents  and  virtues  of  his 
father.  *       . 

TZETZES  (John),  a  celebrated  grammarian  of  Con- 
stantinople, died  about  the  end  of  the  twelfth  century. 
Being  put  under  proper  masters  at  fifteen,  he  learnt  not 
aniy  the  belles  lettres,  and  the  whole  circle  of  sciences, 
but  even  the  Hebrew  and  Syriac  tongues.  He  had  a  pro- 
digious .memory,,  and,  it  is  said,  was  able  to  repeat  all  the 
Scriptures  by  heart.  He  seems  to  have  been  a  most  Ac- 
complished person,  who  understood  almost  every  thing; 
but  was  a  severe  critic  on  the  performances  of  others,  and 
not  without  a  considerable  share  of  vanity.  He  wrote 
"  Commentaries  upon  Lycophron's  Alexandria^"  which  he 
published  first  under  the  name  of  his  brother,  Isaac  Tzet-^ 
zes :  they  are  inserted  by  Potter  in  his  edition  of  this  poet 
at  Oxford,  1697,  in  folio.  He  wrote  also  "  Chiliades,"  or 
miscellaneous  histories,  in  verse,  which  Fabricius  calls  his 
most  celebrated  work,  as  abounding  with  political  and  civil 
knowledge ;  "  Scholia  upon  Hesiod  ;"  "  Epigrams  and  other 
Poems;"  "Pieces  upon  Grammar  and  Criticism."  He 
mentions  also  "  Allegories  upon  Homer,"  which  he  dedi- 

1  Memoir  of  Mr.  Tyiler,  by  Mr.  Mackenzie,  in  the  Transactions  of  ibe  Royal 
Society  of  Edinburgh,  vol.  IV,— Forbes't  Life  6f  Beattie. 


T  Z  E  T  Z  E  S.  US 

« 

cated  to  the  empress  Irene,  wife  of  Manuel  Comnenus, 
This  empress  was  married  in  1143,  and  died  in  1158, 
which  nearly  ascertains  the  age  of  Tzetzes.  The  ^^  Alle- 
gories'^ of  this  author  were  published  by  Morel,, Paris,  16 1 6y 
Svo,  and  the  '^  Chiliades/'  at  Basil,  1546,  foh^ 


U. 


UbALDI  (GaiDO),  was  an  Bininetit  matHemaiiciaii  in. 
Italy,  in  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  and  early  part  of  the 
sreventeenttl  century,  but  no  particulars  are  known  of  hii 
life,  nor  when  he  died.  Tbefollowingoct^ur  in  catalogucfis 
as  his  works :  !•  ^*  Mechanica,'*  Pis.  1577,  fol.  atid  Yen. 
1615.  '2.  ^<  Planisphseriorum  universalium  Tbeorica,'^ 
Pis.  1579,  fol.  and  Col.  158  U  8lro.  3.  <<  Paraphrasis  ia 
Archimedis  ^quiponderantia/'  Pis.  1588,  fol.  4.  Per« 
spectiva,"  ibid.  1 600;  fol.  5.  ^^  Problemata  Astroniomica,*' 
Yen.  1609,  fol.     6.  «  De  Coeblaea,*'  ibid.  1615,  foL* 

UBALDINI  (Petbuccio),  an  illuminator  on  vellum, 
who  was  in  England  in  the  reign  of  queen  Elizabeth,  ap* 
pears  to  have  been  a  native  of  Florence,  and,  while  here, 
a  teacher  of  the  Italian  language*  '  Yertue  speaks  of  some 
of  his  works  as  extant  in  his  time^  or  as  having  very  lately 
been  so ;  as  the  Psalms  of  David  in  folio,  with  an  inscrip- 
tion by  Ubaldini  to  Heinry  earl  of  Arundel,  whom  he  calls 
bis  Maecenas.  The  date  is,  London,  1565.  There  was- 
another  book  on  vellum,  written  and  illuminated  by  him^ 
by  order  of  sir  Nicholas  Bacon,  who  presented  it  to  the 
ladjr  Lumley.  This  is,  or  was,  at  Gorhambury,  There 
were  other  specimens  of  his  skill  in  the  royal  libi;i^ry,  now 
in  the  British  Museum,  and  he  appears  also  to^feai^  been 
an  author.  Walpole  mentions  one  of  his  MSS.  in  the  Mu- 
seum, entitled  ^'  Scbtias  descriptio  a  Deidonensi  quodam 
faoto,  A.  D.  1550,  et  per  Petruccium  Ubaldinum  transcripta 


1  Votiittji  de  Hist  Gr«c.«-Sijcit  OiMmwt.  f  Mo^tacla* 

Vol.  XXX.  L 


146  U  B  A  L  t)  I  N  1. 

A.  D.  1576,"  which  was  published  afterwards  iti  Itatiait, 
withc^his  name,  at  Antwerp^  1588,  fol.  The  Museum  cata- 
logue attributes  also  the  fbllovving  to  Ubaldini :  I.  **  Dis* 
cbur^e  cioncerping  of  the  Spanish  fleet  invading  England 
in  15S8  and  overtbrowen,*VLond.  1590,  4ta.  2.  **Le  Vite 
delle  Donrje  illustri  del  regno  d*Inghilterra'/e  del  regno 
di  Scotia,  &c/'  ibid.  1591.  Walpole,  who  appears  to  l^ve 
examined  tbis  work,  gives,  as  a  specimen  of  Petruc€hio*s 
talents  for  history,  two  of  his  beroiiies*  The  first  was  Chem- 
brigia,  daughter  of  Gurguntius,  son  of  king  Bellinus,  who^ 
having  married  me  Cantabro,  founded  a  city,  which,  front 
a  mixture  of  both  their  names,  was  called  Cambridge.  Tiie 
other  illustrious  lady  he  styles  expressly  cbnna  senza  nonie, 
and  this  nameless  lady,  as  Walpole  says,  was  the  mother 
of  Ferrex.and  Porrex  in  lord  Dorset^s  "Gorboduc,"  who> 
because  one  of  her  sons  killed  the  other  that  was  a  fa- 
vourite, killed  a  third  son  in  a  passion.  3.  '*^  Precetii 
moral],  politici,  et  economici,'*  1592,  4t04  4.  '^  Scelca  di 
ajcane  Attioni,  e  di  varii  Accideftti,"  1595',  4to.    5.  "  Rime,'* 

1596,  4to*      6.  <<  Militia   del   Gran   Duca   di   Toscano,'* 

1597.  7.  "Vitadi  Carlo  Magno^"  1599,  4to;  and,  8* 
**  Lo  Stato  delle  tre  Corti,"  4to. 

-  Thus  far  we  have  gathered  from  WaIpole*s  Anecdotes, 
who  kdds,  that  Ubaldini  seems  to  have  been  in  great  favour 
at  court,  and  is  frequently  mentioned  in  the  rolls  of  new 
years-gifts,  which  used  to  be  deposited  in  the  jevVel*ofBce«. 
There  is  a  notice  of  this  kind  as  far  as  1588,  but  bow  much 
longer  he  lived  is  not  known.  But  we  find  Baretti  giving 
other  particulars  of  Ubaldini.  He  says  he  was  a  noblemaa 
of  Florence,  who  lived  many  years  in  England^  in  the  ser- 
yice  of  Edward  VI.  The  "  Lives  of  Illustrious  Ladies**^ 
l^e  penned  with  great  gallantry  and  elegance,  and  he  must 
certainly  have  been  the  favourite  of  the  British  (English) 
belles  of  bis  time,  having  been  as  handsome  in  his  figure^, 
and  as  valiant  with  his  sword,  as^he  was  able  athis  pen.  Ba- 
retti also  informs  us  that  in  th#^ preface  to  his  Life  of  Charles* 
the  Great,  he  says  it  was  the  first  Italian  book  that  was* 
primed  in  London;  the  date  is  1581^  printed  by  Wolf^ 
and  consequently  tfaye  date  given  abote  from  the  Museum' 
catalogue  must  have  been  a  subsequent  edition.  Ubaldini 
adds,  that  he  wrote  it,  because,  *'  having  seen  how  many 
fables^-and  dreams  the  poets  have  writ  of  that  emperor,  be 
ihought  it  the  duty  of  a  man,  born  to  be  useful  to  others, 
to  ex|>lodes  «s  muipl^  ai  possible,  $Edsefaood  fr6m  the  world, 


U  B  A  L  D  1  N  I.  Hf 

t 

and  substitute  truth  instead/'  Baretti  informs  lis  that  in 
the  Fosoarini  library  at  Venice  there  is  a  manuscript  history 
of  Ubaldini,  written  with  his  own  hand,  of  the  reigir  of  his 
master  Edward.' 

UBERTI  (Fazio^  or  Boniface),  an  Italian  poet  ot  the 
fourteenth  century,  .was  the  descendant  of  an  illostrious 
family  of  Florence,  the  Ufoerti,  who,  when  the  Guelphs 
became  rictorious,  were  banished  from  Florence,  and  theii^ 
property  divided  among  their  enemies.     Our  poet  was  born 
in  the  poverty  and  obscurity  to  which  his  family  had  been 
reduced,  and  although  the  Florentines  allowed  him  to  re* 
turn  and  reside  in  the  country  of  his  forefathers,  he  tkefet 
became  rich,  and  was  obliged  to  attend-  the  courts  of  th6 
nobility,  and  gain  a  subsistence  by  chaunting  bis  verses* 
Of  those- he  composed  a  great  many  in  the  form  of  songs 
and  other  small  pieces  which  were  admired  for  their  no- 
velty ;  be  is  even  thought  to  have  been  the  inventor  of  thd 
ballad  species*     In.  more  advanced  age^  be  undertook  his' 
*^  Dittamondo,"  in  imitation  of  Dante,  who  in  his  visioa'. 
takes  Virgil  for  his  guide ;  Uberti  takes  Solinus,  who  con*^ : 
ducts  him  over  the  whole  habitable  globe.     By  means  of 
this  fiction  he  includes  geographical  and  historical  matter, 
which  has  induced  some  to  call  his  poem  a  geographical 
treatise.     It  i§  said  to  be  written  with  energy  and  elegance, 
and  was  first  printed,  or  at  least  a  part  of  it,  at  Vicenza  in  • 
1474,.fol.  and  reprinted  at  Venice  in  1501.     Both  are 'rare, 
and  chiefly  valued  for  their  rarity.     Vilkni,  who  gives  us 
a  sort  of  eloge  rather  than  a  life  of  Uberti,  says  that  he ' 
died  at  an  advanced  age  in  1370.' 

UDAL  (E^^haaim),  a  loyal  divine,  although  of  the  pn^ 
ritan  stamp,  was  the  son  of  John  Udal,  an  eminent  non- 
conformist of  the  suxteenth  century,  and  a  great  sufferer 
for  his  nonconformity,    being   frequently    silenced    attd* 
ituprisoned,    and  at  last  condemned   to   die  for  writing, 
a  seditious   book   called    <^A   Demonstration    of   Disci« 
plin«;*^  but  he  appears  to. have  been  respited,  and  died- 
in  the  Marsbalsea  prison  about  the  end  of  1592.     He  wvck^^ 
^  A   Commentary  pn    the    Lamentations  of  Jeremiah  f  * 
*'  The  State  of  the  Church  of  England  laid  open  in  a  con- 
ference,. &c.  ;^*  and  probably  the  work  above-mentioned  for ' 
whidi  be  was  condemned ;  but  he  is  better  known  in  the* 
learned  worlds  fs  the  author  ot  the  first  Hebrew  grammar' 

1  Walpolefi  ADetdoteji.-«BareHt>  IUXmu  Library.  »  Tinfaoschi. 

h2 


148  U  D  A  L. 

in  Englisb,  published  under  the  tide  of  a  ^<  Key  to  the 
Holy  Tongue,*'  with  a  Hebrew  Dictionary,  which  is  omit-- 
ted  in  the  second  edition.  The  6rst  is  dated  1593,  a  year* 
after  his  death. 

'  When  his  son  Ep^raim  was  born,  does  not  appear^  but 
he  was  educated  at  Emanuel- college,  Cambridge,  where 
he  took  his  decree  of  A.  6.  in  1609,  and  that  of  A.  M.  in 
1614.  His  only  preferment  in  the  church  appears  to  have 
been  the  rectory  of  St.  Augustine%  Watling-street^  but 
the  time  of  his  admission  is  not  stated  by  Newcourt  or 
Walker.  He  was  sequestered,  however,  in  1643,  although 
be  had  always  been  accounted,  and  indeed  admired  as  a 
preacher  of  puritan  principles*  The  truth  was,  that  be 
early  pen:eived  the  real  designs  of  the  republican  party, 
and  exerted  himself  to  oppose  them.  In  a  sermon  at 
Mercers*  chapel,  he  addressed  himself  to  some  of  them  in 
these  words,  '^  You  desire  truth  and  peace ;  leave  your 
lying,  and  you  may  have  truth;  lay  dowa  your  arms, 
and  you  may  have,  peace.'*  He  went  farther  than  even 
this,  by  declaring  openly  for  episcopacy  and  the  litur- 
/  gy,  and  publishing  a  learned .  treatise   against  sacrilege, 

entitled.**  A  Coal  from  the  Altar;"  and  another,  "Com- 
nkunion  comeliness,"  in  .which  he  recommended  the  placing 
of  rails  around  the  communion-table.  He  also  published 
a  sermon,  called  **Noli  me  tangere,"  containing  many 
loyal,  sentiments,  and  much  attachment  to  the  church. 
Criotes  like  these  were  not  to  be  forgiven  ;  and  accordingly 
bis  house  was  plundered,  bis  library  and  furniture  carried 
oflF,  and  his  old  and  lame  wife  literally  turned  into  the 
street.  Mr.  Udal  died  about  the  latter  end  of  May  1 647. 
His  funeral  sermon  was  preached  by  the  rev.  Thomas 
Beeve,  B;  D.  who  was  neither  ashamed. nor  afraid  to  give. 
•  him; what  he  seems  to  have  deserved,  ^  high  character  for 
piety  and  zeal.'.  .... 

.  UDAL  (Nicholas),  an  eminent  scboolntaster  of  the  six- 
ttonth.  century,  styled  by  Leland,  in  his •  f' £ncomta/* 
Odovallus,  was  bom  in  Hampshire  in  1506,  and  was  ad- 
mitted scholar  of  Corpus  Ghristi  college^  Oxford,  June  18, 
1.520.  He  then  took  the  degree  of  bachelor  of  ans^  and 
1>ecame  probationer  fellow  8ept«  3,  1524;  bi|t  was  pre- 
vented taking  the  degnee  of  master  soon  afterwards^  on 
accvHifit  of  his  inclination  to  the  tenets  of  Lmhen     He  then 

.    I  Alh.  Oz.  Tol.  I.— Wftlker'a  Su£Mii80.*^eiit  M«g«  vdI.  UXIL 


U  D  A'L.  149 

obtaitieil  the  mastership,  of  Eton  school,  and,  in  'tbe  per-r 
fofmance  of  bis  duty  there,  behaved,  as  Thomas  Tosser 
th<e  poet  tells  us,  with  great  severity.  He  proceeded  in 
aits  in  1534,  but  in  1541  was  near  losing  bis  place,  being 
snspiected  of  some  concern  in  a  robbery  of  plate  belonging 
to  tbe  college,  with  two  of  his  scholars.  For  this  fact  he' 
was  examined  by  the  kiog^s  council,  but  we  do  not  know 
tbe  result  of  their  inquiries.  Tbe  charge  probably  was  disr 
covered  to  be  ^iUgrounded^  as  he  was  at  this  time  in  pps-* 
session  of  the  living  of  Braintree  in  Essex,  which  he  did 
not  resign  till  1 544,  •  and  in  1552  was  preferred  to  the  rec* 
tory  of  Calbourne  in  the  Isle  of  Wight.  He  afterwards 
was  servant  to  queen  Catherine  Parr,  and^  in  the  begin* 
uiiig  of  Edward  VI.'s  time,  was  promoted  to  a  canpnry  at 
Windsor.  The  time  of  his  death  is  not  known,  unless  by 
a  manuscript  note  on  a  copy  of  Bale,  in  which  that  event 
is.said  to  have  taken  place  in  1.557,  and  that  he  wa!^  buried 
at  Westminster*  In  1555  he  bad  been  appointed  head> 
master  of  Weatminster-scbool,  a  circumstance  not  noticed  by 
Wood.  He  is  said  to  have  written  several  comedies,  and 
Bale  mentions  '*  The  Tragedy  of  Popery.*'  But  none  of 
these  now  exist.'  A  specimen,  however,  of  his  abilities  in 
this  way,  may  be  seen  in  a  long  quotation  from  a  rhiming 
interlude  by  him,  printed  in  Wilson's  '^  Art  of  Logicke," 
1587,  and  reprinted  in  the  new  edition  of  Wood's  Athenae. 
.Hi«  more  useful  works  were,  1.  '^  Flowers  for  Latin  speak- 
ing, selected  and  gathered  out  of  Terence,  and  the  same 
translated  into  English,"  &c.  often  printed,  particularly  in 
1533,  1538,  1568,  and  1575.  Both  Leland  and  Newton 
wrote  encomiastic  vierses  on  this  book.  2.  A  translation  of 
the  ^' Apophthegms"  of.  Erasmus,  1542  and  1564^  8vo. 
3.  '^  Epistotae  et  carmina  ad  Gul.  Hormannum  et  ad  Job. 
Lelandum."  4.  A  transla,tion  of  Erasmus's  '*  Paraphrase 
on  the  Gospels  and  Acts  of  the  Apostles,"  1551,  fol.  5. 
A  translation  of  Peter  Martyr's  **  Treatise  on  the  Sacra- 
ment.*' He  also  d.rew  up  ^^  An  answer  to  the  sixteen  arti- 
cles of  the  Commons  of  Devonshire  and  Cornwall,"  a  MS. 
10  the  royal  collection.  ^ 

UDINE  (GiOYANNA  da),  an  eminent  artist,  called  Gio. 
AA  NAKKIt  or  RlCAMAToai,  as  Vasari  promiscuously  calls 
^hioi,  was:  born  in  149.4,  at  Udine  in  the  Friul,.  and  passed 
from  .the  school  of  Giorgione  to  that  of  Raphael  Sanzio, 

'  AUk  Ox.  ToL  Ljiew  edit.— TanAertrT-Balc-rGAnt.  Mag,  toI.  tXXX. : 


ISO  U  D  I  N  E. 

uDcler  whose  direction  he  executed  the  greater  part  of  the 
stuccoes  and  grotesque  ornaments  in  the  Logge  and  various 
apartments  of  the  Vatican.  In  this  bnncb  of  the  art  be  is 
not  only  considered  as  the  first,  but  as  an  inventor:  ibr 
though  under  Alexander  VI.  Morto  da  Feltro  had  begun  to 
paint  in  grotesq'ie,  he  was  not  acquainted  .with  stucco, 
which  was  first  discovered  in  the  baths  of  Titus,  and  sac**- 
cessfully  imitated  by  this  arti^  His  bowers,  plants,  and 
foliage,  his  aviaries,  mews,  birds  and  fowls  of  every  kind, 
impose  on  the  eye  by  a  truth  of  imitation  less  the  resultof 
labour  than  of  sentiment :  his  touch  is  all  character,  and^ 
never  deviates  into  the  anxious  detail  of  fac-^siqni lists.  After 
the  saccage  of  Rome  he  visited  other  parts  of  Italy,  and  left 
various  specimens  of  his  art  at  Florence,  Genoa,  and  Udine. 
He  died  in  1564.^ 

UFFEMBACH,  or  UFFENBACH  (Zachary  Conrade 
J^)f  a  very  learned  German,  was  born  at  Frankfort  Ftob.  22, 
1683,  and  was  the  son  of  a  counsellor  of  that  city,  of  an 
antient  family.     In  1 694  he  was  sent  for  education  to  this 
college  of  Rudelstadt,  whiere  he  applied  with  such  ardour 
that  his  master  was  obliged  to  check  him,  and  especially 
prevent  his  studying  by  night,  to  which  he  was  much  ad- 
dicted.    Besides  the  classics,  which,  young  as  he  was,  he 
always  read  with  a  pen  in  his  hand,  making  such  remarks 
or  extracts  a^s  struck  his  fancy,  he  studied  also  the  Hebrew 
language,  and  logic,  and  metaphysics,  to  which  he  soon 
added  history,  geography,  chronology,  &c.      In  1698  he 
was  obliged  to  return  home  to  recover  his  health,  which 
had  probably  been  injured  by  intense  application,  and  he 
for  some  time  confined  himself  to  lessons  on  history  at>d 
geography  from  Arnold,    then   rector  of  the  college  of 
Frankfort.      He  was  afterwards  sent  to  the  university  of 
Strasburgh,  where  he  studied  the  sciences,  attended  the 
anatomical  lectures,  &c. ;  but  his  leading  object  was  literary 
history  and  bibliography,  in  pursuit  pf  which  he  passed 
much  of  his  time  in  the  public  libraries.     In  1700  bd  had 
the  misfortune  to  lose  both  his  parents,  which  obliged  him 
to  return  to  Frankfort    When  his  grief  bad  in  some  degree 
subsided,  he  went  to  Halle,  and  continued  bis  studies  there  . 
about  two  years.     In  1702  be  took  his  degree  of  doctor  of 
laws,  and  returned  to  Frankfort  with  a  copious  library^ 
which  be  bad  collected  in  the  course  of  his  studies.    He 

^  Ai^eQTilltf  Tof,  I.— Ballvt'f  Academie  dea  Scieiiee«.'«»Pilkhigton  ^  Filseli't 


U  F  F  E  MtB  4  C  H.  J5| 

tben  visited  acmie  of  the  inostfatnou^  universities  on  th^ 
CQQiinent;  but  in  1704  settled  at  Frankfort,  where  the  li- 
brary he  formed  was. then  considered  among  the  best  in 
Eu^rope.  To  make  it  still  more  conrplete  appears  to  hay^ 
^een  the  object  of  his  ambition,  and  he  re-commenced  his 
travels  for  that  purpose  in  1708  and  1709.  In  one  of  those 
years  he  was  at  Oxford,  and  had  some  inducement  to  settle 
there,  but  imagined  that  the  climate  would  not  agr^e  with 
his  health.  When  be  returned  to  Frankfort  from  these 
tours  in  1711,  he  brought  an  addition  of  four  thousand 
books  to  his  collection.  In  1721  he  was  made  a  senator  pC 
1^  native  city,  but  became  now  so  diligent  in  his  civip  du- 
ties as  to  have  littjie  time  to  spare  to  his  studies,  which  in- 
clined him  in  1729  to  publish  a  catalogue  of  his  library, 
with  a  view  to  dispose  of  a  considerabJe  part  of  it.  He  died 
Jan.^y  1734,  universally  regretted.  He  had  begun  several 
learned  works,  which  his  employments  as  a  magistrate,  ^n^ 
afterwards  hi&bad  state  of  health,  prevented  his  finishings 
among  these  were,  1.  ^^  Glossarium  Germanicuni  m^dii 
aevi."  2.  A  history  of  his  life,  in  Latin.  3.  "  Selecta  his-j 
torts  litterarias  et  librarian,"  in  several  volumes.  These  he 
bequeathed  to  John  George  Schelhorn,  along  with  his  lite- 
rary correspondence  in  eighteen  large  quarto  volumes.  In 
1736  John  Christ.  Wolff  printed  an  account  of  two  cpllepr 
tion&made  by  UfFembach,  which  he  had  just  purchased ;  the 
first  consisting  of  an  immense  quantity  of  letters,  mo«t^ 
originals,  written  by  the  eminent  men  of  the  two  or  thrcje 
preceding  centuries ;  the  second  comprized  various  curious 
MSS*  on  literary  subjects.  Schelhorn,  in  his  "AmqenitateSp 
Utterance,"  has  availed  himseff  much  of  Uffembach's  col- 
lections; and  in  vol.  IX.  has  an  article  entitled  /^De  pri- 
mitiis  typQgraphicis,  quae  Haerlemi  in  civica  et  Francoforti 
in  bibliotheca  Uffembachiana  adservantur,'*.  And  he  after- 
wards published  a  Life  of  Uffembacn,  prefixed  to  bis 
^'Commevcii  Epistolaris  Uffeftibachiani  Selecta,  &c."  5  voU« 
J753— 1756,  8vo.»  . 

UGHELU  (FERDmAND),  an  ecclesiastical  historian,  ws^s 
bori;^  Msircb  21,  1595,  at  Florence,  of  a  good  family.  After 
piljTStting  his  studies  with  great  credit,  he  entered  among 
the  CistertiapB,  and  held  several  honourable  posts  in,  his 
orden  He  was  appointed  abbot  of  Trois  Fontaines  at 
Ronae^  jp^Qcurator  in  his  province,,  and  counsellor  t<d  the 

1  Chatifepift.— Saxii  Onomast, 


152  U  G  H  E  L  L  L 

congregation  of  tbe  Indes:.  The  popes  Alexander  VII, 
and  Clement  IX.  esteemed  Ughelli,  and  gave  bim  a  pension 
of  500  crowns ;  but  be  refused  several  bishoprics  that  were 
offered.  He  died  at  Rome,  in  his  abbey,  May  19,  1670, 
aged  seventy-five.  His  principal  work  is,  *<  Italia  sacra, 
sive  de  Episcopis  Italiae,  et  Insularum  adjacentium,''  &c. 
Rome,  1642— -1^62,  9  vols,  folio.  This  work,  which  is  es-. 
teemed  of  gdod  authority,  was  reprinted  at  Venice,  1717 — » 
-1722,  10  vols,  witb  considerable  additions;  but  this  second 
edition  is  very  incorrectly  printed.  A  third,  which  is  said 
to  be  free  from  this  objection,  and  is  very  much  enlarged^ 
was  published  at  Florence,  1763,  &c.  by  the  abb6  del 
Riccio.  Ughelli's  other  works  are  the  Lives  of  tbe  cardi- 
nals of  the  Cistertian  order,  and  some  genealogical  family*' 
histories.^ 

ULLOA  (D,ON  Aktonio),  a  celebrated  Spanish  matbe^ 
maticiad,  and  a  Commander  of  the  order  of  St.  Jago,  was 
born  at  Seville  Jan.  12,  1716.  He  was  brought  up  in  the 
service  of  the  royal  marines,  in  which  he  at  length  obtained 
the  rank  of  lieutenant-general."  In  1735  he  was  appointed, 
with  Don  George  Juan,  to  sail  to  South  America,  and  ac-* 
company  the  French  academicians  who  were  going  to  Peru 
to  measure  a  degree  of  the  meridian.  On  his  return  home 
in  I744I,  in  a  French  ship,  he  was  taken  by  two  English 
vessels,  and  after  being  detained  some  time  at  Louisbourg 
in  Cape  Breton,  was  brought  to  England,  where  his  talents 
recommended  bim  to  Martin  Folkes,  president  of  the  Royietl 
Society,  and  he  was  the  same  year  elected  a  member  of  that 
learned  body.  Qn  his  return  to  Madrid  he  published  his 
•*  Voyage  to  South  America,"  which  was  afterwards  trans** 
lated  into  German  and  French.  There  is  also  an  English 
translation,  in  two  vols.  8vo,  1758,  but  miserably  garbled 
find  inaccurate.  In  1755  be  made  a  second  voyage  to 
Aiperica,  where  he  collected  materials  for  another  work, 
whicb  however  did  not  appear  until  1 772,  under  tbe  title  of 
^^Entretenimientos  Physico-historicos."  He  travelled  after- 
'  wiirds  over  a  considerable  part  of  Europe  to  collect  inform- 
ation respecting  such  improvements  in  arts  and  DQanoiisc- 
tures  as  might  be  serviceable  to  Spain,  and  was  tbe  means 
of  introducing  many  which  had  not  before  been  known  in 
Spain,  or  very  imperfectly  carried  on.  He  died  on  July  5, 
1795.  There  are  a  few  of  bis  papers  in  the  ^^Pfailosopbical 
Transactions.''  • 

}  Moreri«— NiceroD,  t^I  XIJ,<!P»Tiraboschi,  f  Diet,  Qist, 


U  L  P  H  I  L  A  S.  lit 

\ 

K 

ULPHILAS,  or  GULPHILAS,  a  Gothic  bishop,  and 
the  first  translator  of  a  part  of  the  Bible  into  that  language, 
flotirished  in  the  fourth  century,  and  during  the  reign  of 
Yaleus,  obtained  leave  of  that  emperor  that  the  Goths 
should  reside  in  Thrace,  on  condition  of  his,  the  bishop's, 
embracing  the  Arian  faith.  Little  else  is  known  of  this 
prelate,  unless  that  he  translated  the  Evangelists,  and  per- 
haps some  other  books  of  the  New  Testament,  into  the  Go- 
thic language,  which  he  achieved  by  inventing  a  new  al«> 
•phabiet  oi'  twenty-six  letters*  This  translation  is  now  in  the 
library  Of  Upsal,  and  there  have  been  three  editions  of  it, 
the  best'  by  Mr.  Lye,  printed  at  Oxford  in  1750.  Many 
disputes  have  been  carried  on  by  the  learned  both  as  to  the 
antiquity  and  authenticity  of  this  version.  Of  later  years, 
however,  another  fragment  of  Ulphilas's  translation  was  dis- 
covered in  the  library  at  Wolfenbuttle,. containing  a  portion 
of  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  This  has  been  published  by 
Knitel,  archdeacon  of  Wolfenbuttle,  who  seems  of  opinion 
that  Ulphilas  translated  the  whole  Bible.' 

ULRIC.     Sec  HUTTEN. 

UPTON  (James),  a  classical  scholar  and  editor,  was  the 
fourth  sou  of  a  gentleman  of  Cheshire,  and  born  at  Wim- 
slow,  in  that  county,  December  10,  1670.  He  was  edu- 
cated at  Eton,  and  became  a  fellow  of  King^s  college.  Cam* 
bpidge,  where  he  proceeded  B.  A.  1697,  andM.  A.  170U 
He  afterwards,  at  the  request  of  Dr.  Newborough,  the  head 
master,  returned  to  Eton,  where  he  was  tutor  to  the  famous 
sir  William  Wyndham,  and  was  .an  assistant  teacher  at  the 
school.  He  married  the  daughter  of  Mr.  Proctor,  who 
kept  a  boarding-house  at  Eton,  hut  afterwards  removed  to 
Ilminster,  in  Somersetshire,  upon  the  invitation  of  several 
gentlemen  of  the  county,  and  particularly  of  the  earl  Pow- 
lett,  to  whom  be  was  afterwards  chaplain,  and  all  whose 
sons  were  itnder  his  tuition  at  Taunton.  He  remained  a 
few  years  at  Ihninster,  and  taught  the  learned  languages 
there  till  he  was  elected  to  the  care  of  the  free  grammar- 
scfabolin . Taunton  :  which  he  coiiducted  with  the  highest 
.reputation,  and  raised  to  be  the  largest  provincial  school  at 
ttbatriime  ever  known  in  England.  The  number  of  his 
%pupils  amounted  to.  more  than  200;  and  many  of  them 
'.were  ;frc»n;. the  .first  .families  in  the  West  of  England.  He 
-  served'  fon many  years  the  church  of  Biahop's-HuU,  in  which 

1  Pictf  Hist, — Sazii  Ooomast, 


15*  UPTON. 

parish  the  school  is  situated.  So  early  as  1711  he  vras  in 
possessron  of  the  rectory  of  Brimptoti,  near  Yeovil^  in  tb^ 
presentation  of  the  Sydenham  family.  In  1712  he  was 
presented  by  sir  Philip  Sydenham  to  the  rectory  of  Monk- 
silver,  14  miles  frbm  Taunton.  He  died  August  i3>  174^^ 
aged  seventy-nine. 

In  1696  he  published,  at  Cambridge,  an  excellent  edi* 
tion  of  Aristotle  ^'  de  Arte  Poetica,"  with  notes.  In  1 702,  at 
Eton,  Dionysius  Halicarnassensis  *^  de  Structura  Orationis.*' 
In  17 1 1,  a  revised  and  corrected  edition  of  Roger  Ascbam's 
'^  School-Master,'-  with  explanatory  notes.  In  1726  bis 
'^  Novus  Historiarum  Fabellarumque  Delectus;"  a'  very 
useful  and  much  approved  selection  of  passages  from  Greek 
authors,  with  a  Latin  translation.  He  was  also  the  author 
of  several  single  sermons,  and  there  is  a  Latin  ode  of  his 
writing  in  the  Gent.  Mag.  for  Oct.  1737. 

He  had  two  sons,  one  a  captain  of  the  navy>  who  died 
in  the  same  year  with  his  father ;  the  other,  Jobk  Uptok, 
born  in  1 707,  who,  after  receiving  a  classical  education  at 
his  father's  school  at  Taunton,  was  entered  of  Exeter  coU 
lege,  Oxford,  of  which  be  was  elected  fellow  in  1728,  and 
proceeded  M.  A.  in  1732.  In  the  same  year  the  celebrated 
critic  Toup  became  his  pupil,  and  during  the  whole  of  his 
residence  in  the  university  had  no  other  tutor.  In  1736 
he  vacated  his  fellowship.  Having  been  tutor  to  tlie  sons 
of  lord  chancellor  Talbot,  that  nobleman  gave  him  a  pre* 
bend  in  the  cathedral  of  Rochester ;  besides  which  be  had 
the  rectory  of  Sevington  cum  Dinnington,  in  Somerset* 
shire,  by  the  gift  of  the  earl  Powlett ;  afterwards  the  rec^ 
tory  of  Great  Rtssington,  in  Gloucestershire,  conferred 
upon  him  by  earl  Talbot,  who,  as  just  mentioned,  had 
been  one  of  his  pupils ;  and  lastly,  he  was  also  rector  of 
the  sinecure  of  Llandrillo,  in  Denbighshire,  in  the  diocese 
^f  St.  Asaph,  given  to  him  by  the  bishop.  He  never  married, 
^nd  died  at  Taunton,  Dec.  9,  1760,  in  the  fifty-third  year 
of  bis  age. 

Mr.  Upton's  chief  publit^ation  was  an  edition'  of  Arriaa's 
<^  Epictetus,"  printed  at  London,  1739-^41,  2  vols.  4to. 
This  Harwood  accounts  the  most  perfect  edition  that  ever 
was  given  of  a  Greek  ethical  writer.  There  is  bisowwt  oopy 
ef  this  edition  in  the  possession  of  a  gentleman  of  £xeter 
college,  with  his  cura  sectoulaff  written  .by  bim  in  tbe«  mar- 
gins, and  they  are  very  copious  and  frequent.  In  1758 
he  published  an  excellent  edition  of  Spencer's  *'Fairie 


U  P  T  O  N,  1$^ 

<lueene/*  with  a  glossary  and  notes,  explanatory  an4  eriti^ 
cil,  2  vols.  4to;  and  "Observations  on  Shakspeare/'  of 
which  Dr.  Johnson,  in  his  preface  to  his  edition  of  that 
bard,  gives  no  very  favourable  opinion,  nor  indeed  a  just 
one.  *    '  « 

URBAN  VIII.  (Pope),  one  of^hose  pontiffs  who  desertte 
some  notice'  on  account  of  his  learning,  and  attention  to 
the  interests  of  literature,  was  born  at  Florence  in  1568. 
His  family  name  was  MafFei  Barbarini,  and  his   family  was 
of  the  most   ancient  aad   honourable.     His  father  dying 
while  MafFei  was  an  infant,  he  was  entrusted  to  the  cafls  of 
his  uficle  Francis,  a  prothonotary  of  the  Roman  court,  who 
sent  for  him  to  Rome,  and  placed  him  for  education  in  the 
Jesuits-  college.     Here  he  made  great  proficiency  in  clas- 
sical studies  under  Tursellino  and  Benci,  and  was  parti- 
cularly distinguished  for  his  taste  for  poetry.     But  as  hw 
ifncle  intended  him  for  active  life,  he  took  him  from  his 
beloved  studies,  aod  sent  him  to  Pisa,  where  he  might  ac- 
quire ^  knowledge  of  the  law,  so  neoessary  then  to  those 
who  Vi^ould  rise  to  preferment;  and  here  he  applied  with 
such   diligence,  that  in  his  twentieth  year  the  degree  of 
doctor  was  deservedly  conferred  upon  him.     He  then  re^ 
turned 'to  Rome,  where  his  uncle  received  him  with  the 
greatest  kindness,  and  having  always  treated  him  as   his 
son,  bequeathed  him,  on  his  death,  which  happened  soom 
after,  a  handsome  fortune,  as  his  sole  heir.     His  first  pa- 
tron was  cardinal  Farnese,  and  by  his  interest  and  his  own 
talents  he  soon  passed  through  the  various  gradations  of 
preferment  which   led,  in  1606,  to  the  rank  of  cardinal, 
bestowed  on  him  by  Paul  V.     In  1623^  while  cardinal  le- 
gate of  Bologna,  he  was  elected  T^ope,  and  took  the  name 
of  Urban  VIII.     It  is  not  our  intention  to  detail  the  histori- 
cal events  in  which  he  was  concerned.     The  errors  in  his  ' 
government,  which  were  fewer  than  might  have  been  ex-r 
pected  in  one  so  zealous  for  the  church,  arose  from  two 
circumstances,  his  early  attachment  to  the  Jesuits,  and  his 
nepotism,  or  family  partiality.    The  latter  was  so  powerful, 
that  he  bestowed  on  his  relations  red  bats  and  temporal 
employm^nits  with  a  very  liberal  hand,  and  often  entrusted 
the  matiagement  of  affairs  to  them ;  and  the  chief  errors 
of  his  pontificate  were  imputed  to  them  by  the  candid*, 
althMgh'b^  omly  was  blamed  by  the  people  at  large. 

I'  Hatrwood's  Altitimi  Eton^nsM.—- Memoirs  by  TouTmin,  intended  for  (be  eOB« 
Unuation  of  bis  History  bf  Taaotou. — Qent*  Mag,  vols.  LX.  I^XXII. 


1S6  XJ  R  B  A  N. 

As' a  man  of  learning,  and  a  patron  of  l^rne4  oi^n,  tie 
has  generally  been  praised ;  but  be  was  no  antiquary,  and 
was  justly  censured  for  having  destroyed  some  Roman  an** 
tiquities,  which  the  barbarous  nations  had  spared  when 
masters  of  Rome ;  and  this  gave  occasion  to  the  famous 
pasquinade,  ^'  Quod  non  feceruot  ^arbari,  fecerunt  Bar- 
berini.^'  He  wrote  many  Latin  poems  in  an  elegant  style, 
of  which  an  edition  was  published  at  Paris  in  1642,  fol.  and 
a  very  beautiful  one  at  Oxford,  in  1726,  8vo,  edited  by 
Joseph  Brown,  M.  A.  of  Queen's  college,  and  afterwards 
provost  of  that  college,  with  a  life  and  learned  notes.  Ur- 
ban's  patronage  of  learned  men  was  very  liberal,  and  be  re- 
ceived those  of  all  nations  with  equal  respect.  Among  others 
be  extended  his  patronage  to  Ciampolo,  Cesarini,  Herman 
Hugo,  and  to  Dempster  and  Barclay,  two  learned  Scotch- 
men* The  latter  has  celebrated  him  .in  his  ^^  Argenis'' 
under  the  name  of  Ibburranis,  the  transposition  of  Bar* 
berini.  Urban  published  a  remarkable  edition  of  the  Ro>- 
mish  breviary,  and  several  bulls  and  decrees  which  are  in 
^^  Cherubini  bullarium."  Among  tbe.most  noticeable  is 
that  which  abolishes  the  order  of  fet^ate  Jeauits,  and  cer- 
tain festivals ;  and  others  which  relate  to  image  worship ; 
those  by  which,  in  compliance  with  the  Jesuits,  he  con«- 
demns  Jansenius ;  and.  that  by  which  the  title  of  eminence 
was  conferred  upon  the  cardinal-legates,  the  three  eccle- 
siastical electors,  and  the  grand  master  of  Malta.  Among 
his  foundations  was  the  college  *^  De  propaganda  fide." 
In  the  article  of  cardinals  he  was  profuse^  for  he  created 
no  less  than  seventy-four.  He  died  July  29,  1644,  and 
was  buried  in  St.  Peter^s,  in  the  stately  tomb  erected  by 
his  own  orders  by  the  celebrated  Bernini.  ^ 

URBAN,  Henry.     See  CORDUS,  Euaicius. 

URCEUS  (Anthony  CoDrus),  a  learned  Italian,  was 
born  at  Rubiera  in  1 446.  He  gave  himself  the  name  of 
Codrus,  a  poor  poet  in  Juvenal,  in  reply  to  a  speech  made 
to  him.  After  a  very  learned  education,  he  was  invited  to 
Forli,  to  teach  the  languages,  and  while  here  met  with  an 
accident  which  appears  to  have  affected  his  brain.  He  had 
an  apartment  in  the  palace,  but  his  room  was  so  very  dark, 
that  he  was  forced  to  use  a  candle  in  the  day«*time;  and  one 
day,  going  abroad  without  putting  it  out,  his  library  was 
set  on.  fire,  and  some  papers  which  he  had  prepared  for  the 

>  Life  hgr  Pr.Brown.-^Bower,  Rycaut,  and  WaJeh'i  BUU  of  tke  Fopts. 


URCEUS.  15T 

pre«K.wer^  farnnied.  The  iostant  lie  was  informed  of.  thi% 
he  ran  furiously  to  the  palace,  and  vented  bi»  rage  in  thiO 
most  blasphemous  imprecations,  after  which  he  rushed  from 
the  city,  and  passed  the  whole  day  in  a  wood  in  the  vicinity, 
wii^ut  uourishihent.  He  returned  next  day,  and  shut  him- 
self up  for  six  months  in  the  bouse  of  an  artificer.  After  a 
residence  of  about  thirteen  years  at  Forli,  he  wiks  invited  to 
Bologna,  where  he  was  appointed  professor  of  grammar  and 
eU>quence,  and  where  be  passed  the  remainder  of  his  day^ 
iiuth  credit.  He  died  at  Bologna  in  1500.  His  works, 
printed  at  Basil  in  1540,  conskst  of  speeches,  letters,  and 
poems :  to  wbieh  is  jMrefixed  an  account  of  his  life.  He 
appears  to  have  been  rnudi  esteemed  by  his  learned  coq- 
temporaries,,  but  modern  critics  seem  less  disposed  to  rank 
Idm  among,  the-  ornaments  of  his^age.  * . 
r  URF£'  (HoNoa£^  D*),  a  writer  of  romances,  was  born 
February «11^  1567,  at  Mqjrseilles,  and  w|is. descended  from 
an  illustrious  bouse  of  Forez,  originally  of  Soabia.  He  was 
edaeatedanioi>g  the  Jesuits,  and  sent.to  Malta,  but  (^turned 
to  Forez;.  •  in  1574  Anne  d*Urf<6,  his  brother,  married  Di- 
ana de  Cbiteau-Morand,  a  rich  lady,  sole  heiress  of  that 
house;  but  having  procured  his  marriage  to  be  declared 
mill  in.  15^6,  be  took  the  ecclesiastical  habit,  and  Honor^ 
d!Urf6,  whose  intjerest  it  was  to  keep  Diana's  very  large  for- 
tune in  bis  own  family,  married  her,  about  16Q1.  Thejr 
union  did  not  however,  prove  happy,  for  the  lady,  then 
above  forty,  bad  rendered  -herself  otherwise  disfgusting  by 
haying  her  apartments  always  filled- with  great  dogs,  and  as 
she  brought  him  no  children,  he  left  her,  and  retired  to 
Piedmont^  where  he  died,  1625,  aged  6fty*eight.  His  prin- 
cipal work  is  a  celebrated  romance,  entitled  ^^  L'  Astr^e,!* 
4  vols.  8vo,  to  which  Baro,  his  secretary,  added  a  fifth.  It 
was  reprinted,  1733,  10  vols.  l2mo,  and  was  read  through- 
out Europe  at  one  time  as  the  first  work  of  the  kind,  and 
was  perhaps  relished  by  some  from  the  notion  that  it  con- 
tained an  account  of  the  gallantries  of  Henry  the  Fourth's 
reign. .  Hts  other  works  are  :  a  poem,  entitled  ^^  La  Si- 
rene,'-  1611,  8vo;."  Epttres  morales,"  1620,  12mp;  "La 
SavoysiadCy*'  &  poem,  of  which  only  part  is  in  print ;  a 
pastoral  in  blank  verse,  entitled  ^^  La  Sylva.niere,"  8vo,  apd 
some  '^  Sonnets."  Anne  d'Urf^,  bis  eldest  brother,  was 
ceupt  de  Lyi^n^  lived  in  a  very  exemplary  majiner^  a^d 

>  Jiraboschk^-iQeft.  Pict.  Suppltia^Bt,— Koscoe^s  Iso* 


|«8  U  R  F  r. 

died  16^1  J  aged  sixty ^six.    He  also  was  a  literary  TOan^'and 
has  left  ^^  Sonnets,"  *^  Hymns,''  and  other  poetical  pieces, . 
1«08,  4to.  * 

URSATUS.     See  ORSATO. 

URSINS  <JoHN  Juvenal,  or  rather  Juvei^aldes),  an  emi^ 
nent  archbishop  of  Rheiros,  in  the  fifteenth  centur}%  brother 
of  Williamdes  Ursinsj  baron  de  Traynel,  and  chancellor  of 
FraDoe,  was  descended  frosn  an  illustrious  family  of  Cbam^ 
pagne.  After  having  distinguished  himself  in  several  posts^ 
being  master  of  requests,  be  took  the  ecclesiastical  babir, 
became  bishop  of  Beauvais  in  1452,  of  Laon  in  1444,  and 
archbishop  of  Rheims  in  1449,  in  which  see  be  succeeded 
bis  brother  James  Juvenal  des  Ursins.  He  was  one  of  those 
appointed  in  146  i  to  revise  the  sentence  pronounced  against 
the  famous  Maid  of  Orleans.  He  died  July  14,  14/73,  aged 
eighty-five,  leaving  a  '^  History  of  the  Reign  of  Charles 
VL"  from'  1 380  to  1422,  printed  at  the  Louvre,  folio.  This 
family  has  produced  several  other  great  men. ' 

UR8INUS  (FuLVius),  an  eminent  classical  scholar  and- 
antiquary,  wns  the  illegitimate  son  of  a  commander  of  the- 
order  of  Malta,  of  the  Ursin  family,  and  was  born  at  Rome 
Dec.  2,  1529.     His  education   would  probably  have  been 
neglected,  as  bis  mother  and  himself  were  turned  out  of 
doors  by  the  unnatural  father,  and  were  in  great  poverty,'^ 
had  not  some  early  appearance  of  talents  recommended  him 
to  the  notice  of  a  canon  of  the  Lateran,  Gentilio  Delfini^ ' 
who  took  bim  under  his  protection,  and  instructed  him  in  • 
classical  literature  ;  after  which,  by  this  benevolent  patron's 
interest,  he  obtained  considerable  preferment  in  the  church 
of  St;  John  of  Lateran^     His  talents  afterwards  made  him 
be  taken  into  the  service  of  the  cardinals  Rauutius  and 
Alexander  Farnese,  who  rewarded^  him  liberally;  and- by  < 
this  means  an  opportunity  was  afforded  him  of  collecting. a' 
great  number  of  books  and  ancient  manuscripts,  and  em-^  * 
ploying  them  for  the  benefit  of  literature.     He  was  in  ha-* 
bits  of  correspondence  with  the  most  eminent  literary  cha«  - 
racters  of  Italy,  and  he  contributed  much  valuable  assist- * 
ance  to  the  authors  of  that  period.     He  bad  attained  to 
great  skill  in  discovering  the  antiquity  and  value  of  MSSi^ 
which  he  seems  to  have  considered  as  an  important  secret^  • 
Cardinal  Frederic  Borromeo,  being  once  in  bis  company,  * 
requested  Ursinus  to  point  out  from  a  book  that  lay  beft;>re; 

<  Moreri.— Diet.  Ht«t.  t  Moreri.-^iot  Hht 


U  R  S  I  N  U  S.  1^9 

thein,  the  rules  by  which  he  distingoisbed  ancient  ftom 
modern  manuscripts ;  but  be  iminediately  shut  the  beok^ 
and  turned  the  discourse.  He  died  at  Rome  Jan.  18,  1600, 
-it  the  age  of  seventy.  He  was  author  of  several  learned 
wqrksy  as  "  De  Fainiliis  Romania ;''  and  an  Appendix  to 
Ciaconio's  treatise  *^  De  Triclinio.'*  He '  also  published 
notes^bn  Sailust^  Ca)sar,  Livy,  and  most  of  the  Roman  his- 
toriansi  the  wHters  de  Re  Rustica,  Cicero,  &c.  He  alto 
paused  engravings  to  be  made  of  a  large  collection  of  sta- 
tues, busts,  and  other  montmients  of  antiquity,  and  pub- 
Irsbed  tbem  under  the  title  of  ^'  Imagines  et  Elogia  Vi- 
rorum  iUustrinm  et  eroditorum  ex  antiquis  lapidibus  et  nu- 
xaismatibus  expressa,  cum  annotationibus  Fulvii  Ursini." 
Mr«.  Pinkerton^  however,  saj's  that  this  work  is  not  to  be 
depended  on,  and  prefers  that  of  Canini,  which  is  better^ 
although  far  from  perfect.  Ursinns,  in  order  to  keep,  to- 
gether the  books  which,  with  great  labour  and  at  vast  eir- 
pence,  he  had  accumulated,  bequeathed  them  to  the  Va- 
tican. Castalio  published  a  Life  of  Ursinus,  at  Rome,  1 657, 
8vo.  In  his  will,  which  is  appended  to  this  Life,  be  be«- 
queaths  two  thousand  crowns  to  Delfini,  bishop  ^f  Came- 
rino,  probably  a  near  relation  of  his  early  patron.' 

URSINUS  (ZachaRy),  one  of  the  most  celebrated  Pro- 
testant divines  of  the  16th  century,  was  born  at  Breslau, 
ia  Silesia,  July  28,  1534.  He  had  already  made  a  con- 
siderable progress,  for  one  so  young,  when  he  was  seot'to 
Wittemberg  in  1550,  wh^re  he  studied  seven  years,  and, 
as  bis  father  was  not  rich,  he  was  assisted  by  gratuities 
bdth  private  and  public,  and  by  the  profits  of  taking  pu- 
pils. At  the  same  time,  he  applied  himself  so  closely  to 
study,  that  he  acquired  great  skill  both  in  poetry,  lan- 
guages, philosophy,  and  divinity.  Melancthon,  who  was 
the  ornament  of  that  university,  had  a.  particular  esteem 
and. friendship  for  him.  Ursinus  accompanied  him  in  1557 
to  the  conference  of  Worms,  whence  he  went  to  Geneva, 
and  afterwards  to  Paris,  where  he  made  some  stay,  in  order 
to  learn  French,  and  improve  himself  in  Hebrew  under 
tiie  learned  John  Mercerus.  He  was  no  sooner  returned 
to  Melanctbon  nt  Wittemberg,  than  he  received  letters 
from  the  magistrates  of  Breslaw  in  September  1558,  ofTer-^ 
log  him  the  mastership  of  their  great  school ;  and  having 
accepted  it^  be  discharged  the  duties  of  his  employment 

*  NioeroDi  ?ol.  XXJV,— 'Moreri. 


160  U  R  S  I  N  U  S. 

■ 

in  so  laudable  a  manner^  that  be  might  have  contitnied  iii. 
it  as  long  as  be  pleased,  bad  he  not  beeo  prosecuted  by 
the  clergy>  the  instant  they  perceived  be  was  not  a  Lu« 
tberan*  When  he  explained  Melanctbon's  book,  ^*  Ve 
examine  ordipandorum  ad  Ministerium/'  be  handled  the 
subject  of  the  Lord's  supper  in  such  a  maoDer,  as  iDade- 
the  demagogues  or  factious  orators  (for  so  the  author  of 
bis  Life  calls  them)  term  him  Sacramentarian.  He  wrot^^ 
however,  a  j  ustification  of  himself,  in  which  he  discovered 
what  bis  opinions  were  with  regard  to  Baptism  and  the 
Lord's  Supper;  and  when  be  found  that  this  did  not  pa- 
cify his  adversaries,  he  obtained  an  honourable  leave  ifrom 
the  magistrates ;  and  as  he  could  not  retire  to  his  master 
Melanctbon,  be  being  dead  a  little  before,  in  April  15^0, 
he  went  to  Zurich,  where  Peter  Martyr,  Bullinger,  Sim.- 
ler,  Gesner,  and  some  other  eminent  personages,  had  a 
great  friendship  for  him.  From  this  place  he  was  soon  re- 
moved by  the  university  of  Heidelberg,  which  was  in 
want  of  an  able  professor;  and  in  September  1561  ws^ 
settled  in  the  Collegium  Sapiential  (College  of  Wisdom) 
to  instruct  the  students.  He  also  attempted  to  preach, 
but  finding  he  had  not  the  talents  requisite  for  the  pulpi^, 
he  laid  that  [aside.  As  a  professor,  he  evinced,  in  the 
most  eminent  degree,  the  qualifications  requisite  :  a  lively 
genius,  a  great  fund  of  knowledge,  and  a  happy  dexterity 
in  explaining  things,  and  therefore,  besides  the  employ- 
ment he  already  enjoyed,  he  exercised  the  professorship 
of  the  loci  communes,  or  common  places  in  that  university. 
To  qualify  him  for  this  place,  it  was  necessary  for  him, 
agreeably  to  the  statutes,  to  be  received  doctor  of  divinity, 
and  accordingly  he  was  solemnly  admitted  to  that  degree 
the  25tb  of  August,  1562,  and  he  was  professor  of  the 
common  places  till  1568.  It  was  be  who  wrote  the  Cate- 
chism of  the  Palatinate,  which  was  almost  universally  adopt- 
ed by  the  Calvinists,  and  drew  up  an  apology  for  it  by  or- 
der of  the  elector  Frederic  HL  in  opposition  to  the  cla- 
moiirs  which  Flacius  Illyricus,  Heshusius,  and  some  other 
rigid  Lutherans,  hadpublisbed  in  I56'i,  The  elector|. find- 
ing himself  exposed,  not  only  to  the  complaints  of  the 
Lutheran  divines,  but  likewise  to  those  of  $ome  princes,  as 
if  be  bad  established  a  doctrine  concerning  the  Eucharist, 
which  was  condemned  by  the  Augsburg  Confession,  was 
obliged  to  cause  to  be  printed  an  exposition  of  the 
true  doctrine  concerning  the  Sacraments.      Ursiuus  the 


U  R  S  I  N  U  S.  161 

following  year  was  at  the  conference  of  Maulbrun>  where 
he  spoke  with  great  warmth  against  the  doctrine  of  Ubi- 
quity. He  afterwards  wrote  on  *  that  subject, '  and  against 
some  other  tenets  of  th&  Lutherans.  The  plan  atid  statutes 
which  he  drew  up  for  the  elector,  for  the  establishment  of 
some  ischools,  and  several  other  services,  raised  him  so 
high  in  his  esteem,  that  finding  him  resolved  to  accept  of 
a  professorship  in  divinity  at  Lausanne  in  1571,  he  wrote 
a  letter  to  him  with  his  own  hand,  in  which  he  gave  several 
reasons  why  it  would  not  be  proper  for  him  to  accept  of  \ 
that  employment.  This  prince's  death,  which  happened 
in  1577,  produced  a  great  revolution  in  the  palatinate; 
prince  Lewis,  his  eldest  son,  who  succeeded  him,  not  per- 
mitting any  clergyman  to  be  there,  unless  he  was  a  sound 
Lutheran;  so  that  Ursinus  and  the  pupils  educated  by 
him /in  the  Collegium  Sapientise*  were  obliged  to  quit  it. 
He  retired  to  Neustadt,  to  be  divinity-professor  in  the  il- 
lustrious school  which  prince  Casimir,  son  to  Frederic  IIL 
founded  there  at  that  time.  He  began  his  lectures  there 
the  26th  of  May,  1578.  He  also  taught  logic  there  in  his 
own  apartment;  published  some  books,  and  was  preparing 
to  write  several  more,  when  his  health,  which  had  been  fre- 

.quently  and  strongly  attacked,  occasioned  by  his  incredible 
application  to  study,  yielded  at  last  to  a  long  sickness,  of 
which  he  died  in  Neustadt,  the  6th  of  March,  1583,  in  the 
fprty-ninth  year  of  his  age.  His  works  were  collected  after 
his  death,  by  the  care  of  his  only  son,  a  minister,  and  by 
that  of  David  Parens  and  Quirinus  Reuterus,  his  disciples ; 
and  to  the  last  pf  these  we  are  indebted  for  the  publication 

of  them  in  1612,  3  vols,  folio. 

Ursuius  was  not  unknown  to  our  English  divines,  and 
some  of  his  works  were  translated  into  English ;  as,  his 
"  Catechism,"  or  rather,  his  lectures  upon  the  catechism, 
entitled  **  The  Summe  of  the  Christian  Religion,"  trans- 

.  lated  by  Henry  Parrie,  1587,  4to.  There  were  also  at 
least  two  abridgments  of  it ;  and  a  translation  of  **  A  col- 
lection of  learned  Discourses,"  1600,  &c.  Ursinus  was  a 
very  laborious  student ;  and,  that  no  interruption  Alight  be 
given,  he  caused  the  following  inscription  to  be  placed  on 
the  door  of  his  library  : 

Amice>  quisquis  hue  venis 
Aut  agito  paucis^  aut  abi. 

Sir  Philip  Sidney,  while  at  Heidelberg,  was  particularly 
anxious  to  cultivate  the  friendship  of  Ursinus.     "  From  this 
Vol.  XXX.  M 


lez  U  R  S  1  N  l>  ». 

eminent  acbolar/'  says  Dr.  Zoacb,  '^  Mr.  Sidney  learned 
to  estimate  the  value  of  time :  he  learned  how  criminal  it 
is  to  waste  the  hours  of  Kfe  in  unedifying  discoui^et  and 
much  more  so  in  vitious  pursuits  or  guilty  indulgences.*' 
Dr.  Zouch  observes^  that  Ursinus's  moral  character  was 
still  more  excellent  than  bis  literary  one.  He  was  all  hu- 
mility, attributing  nothing  to  himself^  and  perfectly  uncor- 
nipted  by  avarice  or  ambition. 

Among  other  authors  of  the  same  name,  was  John  Henr v 
UasiNUS,  a  learned  Lutheran  divine,  superintendant  of  the 
phurcbes  of  Ratisbon,  where  he  died  May  14, 1667,  leaving 
^^  Parallela  Evangelii  ;'*  '^  Comment  in  Joel,  Amos,  Jonam, 
Ecclesiasten  ;'*  "Sacra  Analecta;'*  *^  De  Cbrisiianis  Offi- 
ciis  ;'*  "Arboretum  Biblic. ;"  "  Exercitationes  de  Zoroastre, 
Hermete,  Sanchoniatone,*'  Norimbergs,  1661,3vo;  "  Sj'lva 
Theologiae  Symbolic®,"  1685,  12mo;  "  Jeremis©  virga  vi- 
gilans  i^^  "  De  Ecclesiarum  Germanicarum  engine  et  pro* 
gressu,"  1664,  8vo.  &c.  His  son,  George  Henry  Ursinus,  a 
learned  philologist,  who  died  Sept.  10,  1707,  aged  sixty, 
left  the  following  works :  "  Diatribe  de  Taprobana,  Cerue 
et  Ogyride  veterum ;"  "Disputatio  de  locustis  ;**  "  Obser- 
vationes  Philologicse ;''  "  De  variis  vocum  etyoiologicis  et 
significationibus,*'  &c. ;  ^'  De  Creatione  mundi  ;'*  "  Notulse 
Critics  ad  Eclogas  Virgilii;*'  '*  Annotationes  in  Senecse 
Troada  ;'*  "  De  primo  et  proprio  Aoristorum  usu  ;"  "  Dio- 
nysii  Terrae  orbis  descriptio  cum  notis.''  He  must  be. dis- 
tinguished from  George  Ursinus,  a  learned  Danish  divine, 
who  acquired  honour  by  bis  ^*  Hebrew  Antiquities.'*  ^ 

UasiUS  (John  Joseph).     See  ORSI. 

URSUS  (Nicolas  Raimarus),  a  writer  distinguished  for 
his  skill  in  astronomy,  was  born  at  Henstedt  in  Dithmarsen^ 
which  is  part  of  the  dukedom  of  Holstein,  about  1550.  He 
was  a  swineherd  in  his  younger  years,  and  did  not  begin  to 
read  till  he  was  eighteen;  and  then  he  employed  all  the 
hours  he  could  spare. from  his  labours  in  learning  to  read 
and  write.  He  afterwards  applied  himself  to  the  study 
of  the  languages ;  and^  having  a  good  capacity  and. 
memory,  made  a  very  swift  progress  ifn  Latin  and  Greeks 
He  also  learned  the  French  tongue,  mathematics,  astrono- 
my, and  philosophy;  and  most  of  them  without  the  assist- 
ance of  a  master.  Having  left  his  native  country,  be  gained 
\  a  liyelibood  by  teaching ;  which  he  did  in  Denmark  in  1584^ 

1  Meicttiofr  Adam*— Gtn-  Dio^.--'Zoack'f  Life  of  Sir  P.  Sidnty,  p.  n$^ 


u  R  s  u  a  16* 

l^nd  on  the  frontiers  of  Pomerania  and  Poland  in  1585.  It 
was  in  this  last  place  that  be  inrented  a  new  system  of  as- 
tronomy, very  little  different  from  that  of  Tycbo  Brahe.  He 
communicated  it  in  1586  to  the  landgrave  of  Hesse,  which 
gave  rise  to  an  angry  dispute  between  him  and  Tycbo  Brahe* 
Tycbo  charged  him  with  being  a  plagiary ;  who,  as  he  re- 
lated, happening  to  come  with  his  master  into  his  study^ 
saw  there,  on  a  piece  of  paper,  the  figure  of  his  system ; 
and  afterwards  insolently  boasted,  that  himself  was  the  in- 
ventor of  it.  Ursus,  upon  this  accusation,  wrote  with  great 
severity  against  Tycbo ;  called  the  honour  of  his  inven- 
tion into  ^question,  ascribing  the  system  which  he  pre- 
tended, was  his  own  to  Apoilonius  Pergseus ;  and  made  use 
of  such  language,  as  almost  brought  on  prosecution.  He 
was  afterwards  invited,  by  his  imperial  majesty,  to  teach  the 
mathematics  in  Prague,  from  which  city,  to  avoid  the  pre- 
sence of  Tycbo  Brahe,  be  withdrew  silently  in  1589,  -and 
died  soon  after.  He  made  some  improvements  in  trigone* 
metry,  and  wrote  several  works,  which  discover  the  m^irks 
of  his  hasty  studies ;  his  erudition  being  indigested,  and  his 
style  incorrect^  as  is  ala\ost  always  the  case  with  those  wh6 
begin  their  studies  late  in  life.  ^ 

USHER  (James),  a  most  illustrious  prelate,  and  as  he 
has  been  justly  styled  by  D|r.  Johnson,  the  great  luminary 
of  the  Irish  church,  was  descended  from  a  very  antient  fa- 
mily, and  born  at  Dublin,  Jan.  4,  1580.  His  father,  Ar- 
nold Usher,  was  one  of  the  six  clerks  in  chancery,  a  gen« 
tlemap  of  good  estate  and  reputation,  and  descended  of  a 
very  ancient  family,  which  in  England  bore  the  name  of 
Nevily  till  the  reign  of  Henry  I],  when  it  was  changed  by 
one  of  bis  ancestors,  who  about  1185,  passing  with  prince 
(afterwards  king)  John  in  quality  of  usher  into  Ireland^ 
settled  there  by  the  name  of  his  office,  a  practice  very 
common  in  those  early  ages,  and  probably  occasioned  by 
the  ambition  of  founding  a  family ;  and  his  descendants^ 
spreading  into  several  branches,  filled  the  most  consider- 
able posts  in  and  about  Dublin  for  many  ages,  to  the  time 
of  our  author,  who  gave  fresh  lustre  to  the  family.  His 
mother  -was  the  daughter  of  James  Stanyhurst  (father  of 
Richard  the  poet.  See  StanyhurstJ  thrice  speaker  of  the 
House  of  Commons,  recorder  of  the  city  of  Dublin,  and 
one  of  the  msMiters  in  chancery.     This  gentleman^  of  whom 

{  Gen.  Ptct'^Mdreri.— *HattoA's  Dictionary^ 

M  2 


164 


USHER. 


we  took  some  notice  in  our  account  of  his  son,  is  yet  mortf 
memorable  for  haVing  first  moved  queen  Elizabeth  to  found 
and  endow*  a  college  and  university  at  Dublin ;  in  which 
he  was  vigorously  seconded  by  Henry  Usher  t>  archbishop 
of  Armaob»-  who  was  James  Usher's  uncle.  James  dis- 
covered  great  parts  and  a  strong  passion  for  books  from 
his  infancy :  and  this  remarkable  circumstance  attended 
the  beginning  of  his  literary  pursuits,  that  he  was  taught  te 
read  hy  two  aunts,  who  had  been  blind  from  their  cradle, 
but  had  amazing  memories,  and  could  repeat  most  part  of 
the  Bible  with  readiness  and  accuracy;  C^corurh  mens  ocu- 
latissima.  At  eight  years  of  age  he  was  sent  to  a  school, 
which  was  opened  by  Mr.  James  Fullerton  and  Mr.  James 
Hamilton,  two  young  Scots  gentlemen,  who  were  placed 
at  Dublin  by  king  James  I.  then  Only  king  of  Scotland,  to 
keep  a  correspondence  with  the  protestant  nobility  and 
gentry  there,  in  order  to  secXire  an  interest  in  that  king- 
dom, in  the  event  of  queen  Elizabeth's  death  :  but  her  ma- 
jesty being  very  sone  upon  this  point,  and  unwilling  to 
think  of  a  successor,  this  was  a  service  of  some  danger,  and 
therefore  it  was  thought  expedient  for  them  to  assume  the 
disguise  oT  school-masters,  a  class  of  men  which  was  very 
much  wanted  in  Ireland  at  that  time.  Mr.  Fullerton  was 
afterwards  knighted,  and  of  the  bed-charaber  to  king  James; 
and  Mr.  Hamilton  was  created  viscount  Clandebois. 

Having  continued  five  years  under  these  excellent  mas« 
ters,  of  whom  he  ever  afterwards  spoke  ^ith  honour,  and 
having  made  a  progress  far  beyond  his  age,  he  was  ad-> 
mitted  into  the  college  of  Dublin,  which  was  finished  that 
very  year,  1593.     He  was  one  of  the  first  three  students 


*  Rather  restore  the  old  foundation 
of  Alexander  Bicknor,  archbishop  of 
Dublin  in  1320^  which  had  been  en- 
tirely lOfit. 

•j-  Henry  Ushe*  was  a  natiye  of 
Dublin,  and  received  part  of  bis  edu- 
cation at  Cambridge.  Wood  says  that 
\m  1572  he  removed  to  University 
coliega,  Oxford :  and  in  July  of  that 
year  was  incorporated  B.  A.  which  de- 
,  gree  be  had  taken  at  Cambridge.  He 
adds  that  he  here  *'  laid  in  a  sfftre  foua* 
dntiun  in  divinity,  by  the  aid  of  Dr. 
Huoaphrey,  Dr.  Holland,  and  others." 
His  iiist  promotion  was  to  the  trea- 
surership  of  Christ-church,  and  in  1580 
he  was  admitted  into  the  chapter- 
house, and    installed    archdeacon    of 


Dublin.  In.  reward  of  the  pains  he 
took  in  r«-fbundiag  the  university  of 
Dublin,  ha  was  made  the  first  fellow 
of  it.  From  the  archdeaconry  of  Dub" 
lin  he  was  advanced  to  the  see  of  Ar- 
magh in  1595.  He  had  before  that 
bceir  employed  by  the  dean  and  chap, 
ter  of  St  Pa  tricks,  to  .  prevent  the 
suppression  of  that  church,  when  at- 
tempted by  the  lord  deputy  Perrot ; 
and  by  his  prudence,  wisdom,  and 
vigilance,  was  successful.  He  died, 
an  Old  man,  April  2,  1613,  and  was 
buried  at  Drogheda  io  St.  Peter's 
church*  I  Eleven  years  afierwards  he^ 
was  succeeded  in  the  primacy  by  his 
celebrated  nephew. 


U  S  H  E  Ri  16^ 

who  mrere  admitted ;  and  his  name  stands  to  this  day  in  the 
first  line  of  the  roll.  Dr.  Bernard  seems  to  hint  that  he  was 
the  firsjt  graduate,  fellow,  and  proctor,  which  we  doubt,  at 
least  as  to  the  fellowship,  bis  uncle  being  first  fellow,  and 
his  tutor  at  this  time  senior  fellow,  according  to  Harris. 
Here  he  learned  logic,  and  the  philosophy  of  Aristotle, 
under  Mr.  Hamilton,  his  tutor,  anrd  though,  as  we  are  told, 
his  love  of  poetry  and  cards  retarded  bis  studies  for  some 
time,  yet  he  soon  recovered  himself  from  these  habits,  ap- 
plied to  books  again  with  great  vigour,  and  at  the  same 
time  acquired  that  pious  turn  which  was  ever  afterwards  a 
distinguishing  feature  in  his  character.  He  is  said  tp  have 
been  wonderfully  affected  with  that  passage  in  Cicero, 
^'  Nescire  quid  antea  quam  natus  sis  acciderit,  id  est.  sem« 
per  esse  puerum ;"  that  is,  "  to  know  nothing  of  what  hap- 
pened before  you  were  born  is  to  be  always  a  boy."  About 
this  time,  from  meeting  with  Sleidan's  little  book  "  De 
quatuor  imperils,"  be  contracted  an  extreme  fondness  for 
the  study  of  history,  which  he  afterwards  pursued  with 
equal  depth  and  preciseness.  At  fourteen  years  of  age  he 
began  to  make  extracts  from  all  the  historical  books^he 
could  meet  with,  in  order  to  fix  the  facts  more  firmly  in  his 
memory  ;  and,  between  fifteen  or  sixteen,  he  had  mad^ 
such  a  proficiency  in  chronology,  that  he  had  drawn  up  in 
Latin  an  exact  chronicle  of  the  Bible,  as  far  as  the  book  of 
Kings,  not  much  differing  from  his  "Annals,"  which  have 
since  been  published.  The  difference  chiefly  consists  in  the 
addition  of  observations  and  the  parallel  chronology  of  the 
heathens.  Before  he  was  full  sixteen,  he  had  entered  upon 
theological  studies,  and  perused  the  most  able  writers,  on 
both  sides,  on  the  Romish  controversy.  Among  the  Ro- 
manists, he  read  Stapleton's  "  Fortress  of  Faith ;"  and, 
finding  that  author  confident  in  asserting  antiquity  for  the 
tenets  of  Popery,  and  in  taxing  our  church  with  novelty  in 
what  it  dissented  from  theirs,  he  kept  his  mind  in  suspense, 
till  he  could  examine  how  the  truth  stood  in  that  particular. 
He  took  it  for  granted,  as  his  historian  says,  that  the  ancient 
doctrines  must  needs  be  the  right,  as  the  nearer  the  fountain 
the  purer  the  stream;  and  that  errors  sprang  up  as  the  ages 
succeeded,  according  to  that  known  saying  of  TertuUian, 
**  Verum  quodcunque  primum,  adulterum  quodcunque 
posterius."  Bishop  Jewel  had  adopted  the  same  principle 
before  him-;  and  too  much  deference  to  the  authority  of 
the  fathers  prevailed  in  their  days  and  long  after.    Yet 


166  USHER. 

they  were  far  from  being  ignorant,  as  had  been  absurdly 
imputed  to  them,  that  the  question  concerning  doctrines  is 
not  how  ancient,  but  how  true  those  doctrines  are.  The 
dispute  was  purely  historical.  Stapleton  quoted  the  fathers 
as  holding  the  doctrines  of  popery.  Usher  thought  this 
impossible,  and  rather  bt^lieved  that  Stapleton  had  mis- 
quoted them,  at  least  had  wrested  and  tortureti  them  to  his 
own  sense.  .  Thi's  m^de  him  then  take  up  a  firm  resolution, 
that  in  due  time  (i^  God  gave  him  life)  ht*  would  himself 
read  all  the  fathers,  and  trust  none  but  his  own  eyes  ifi 
searching \>ut  their  sense:  which  great  work  he  afterwards 
began  at  twenty  years  of  age,  and  finished  at  thirty*eight ; 
strictly  confining  himself  to  read  a  certain  portion  every 
day,  from  which  he  suffered.no  occasion  to  divert  him. 

In  1598,  when  the  earl  of  Essex  came  over  lord-lieute* 
nant  of  Ireland,  and  chancellor  of  the  university  of  Dublin, 
there  was  a  solemn  philosophy-act  for  bis  entertainment ; 
and  Usher,  being  then  bachelor  of  arts,  was  apponited  re- 
spondent, in  which  he  acquitted  himself  with  great  suc- 
cess. But,  while  he  was  busily  employed  in  these  studies 
and  great  designs  to  fit  himself  for  the  ministry,  his  father's 
inclinations  lay  towards  the  common  law.  He  had  all  along 
designed  his  son  for  this  study,  and  was  about  to  send  him 
over  to  the  English  inns  of  courts,  in  order  that  he  might 
there  cultivate  it  the  better,  but  he  died  in  1588,  and  thus 
left  him  at  liberty  to  pursue  his  own  inclinations,  which  in- 
variably led  him  to  divinity.  The  paternal  inheritance  that 
was  now  fallen  into  his  hands  did  not  give  the  lea^t  inter- 
ruption to  his  purpose;  for,  finding  it  somewhat  incum- 
bered with  law-suits -and  sisters  portions,  and  fearing  those 
might  prove  a  hindrance  to  his  studies,  which  were  all  his 
care,  he  gave  it  up  to  his  brothers  and  sisters ;  only  reserv* 
ing  so  much  of  it  as  might  support  him  in  a  studious  life  at 
college. 

Being  now  settled  to. his  liking,  and  freed  from  worldly 
connexions  and  cares,  he  devoted  himself  entirely  to  the 
pursuit  of  >every  species  of  literature,  human  and  divine; 
He  was  admitted  fellow  of  the  college,  and  acknowledged 
to  be  a  model  x>f  piety,  modesty,  and  learning.  About 
this  time,  the  learned  Jesuit  Fitz-simons  (See  Fitz-simons), 
then  a  prisoner  in  Dublin-castle,  sent  out  a  challenge*, 

*  This  challenge  by  Fiiz-Simoos  h  inaintaia  such  particulars  as  were 
in  the  dcdicatioD  of  a  piece  written  by  thought  by  the  Protestants  to  be  the 
kioii  wher*  he  dteUres  he  offereii  to     weakest  in  the  Romish  doctrine,  and 


USHER. 


167 


defying  the  ablest  champion  that  should  come  against  him, 
to  dispute  with  him  about  the  points  in  controversy  between 
the  Roman  and  the  Protestant  churches.  Usher,  though 
but  in  his  nineteenth  year,  accepted  the  challenge  i  and 
when  they  met,  the  Jesuit  despised  him  as  but  a  boy ;  yet, 
after  a  conference  or  two,  was  so  vl?ry  sensible  of  the 
quickness  of  his  wit,  the  strength  of  his  arguments,  and 
his  skitl  in  disputation^  as  to  decline  any  farther  contest 
with  him.  This  appears  from  the  following  letter  of  Usher, 
which  Dr.  Parr  has  inserted  in  his  life ;  and  which  serves 
also  to  confute  those  who  have  supposed  that  there  was  not 
any  actual  dispute  between  them..  *^  I  was  not  purposed, 
Mr.  Fitz-simons,  to  write  unto  you,  before  you  had  iBrst 
written  to  me,  concerning  some  chief  points  of  your  reli- 
gion, as  at  our  last  meeting  you  promised ;  but,  seeing 
you  have  deferred  the  same,  for  reasons  -best  known  to 
yourself,  I  thought  it  not  amiss  to  inquire  farther  of  your 
mind,  concerning  the  continuation  of  the  conference  be- 
gun betwixt  us.  And  to  this  I  am  the  rather  moved,  be* 
cause  I  am  credibly  informed  of  certain  reports,  which  I. 
could  hardly  be  persuaded  should  proceed  from  him,  who 
in  my  presence  pretended  so  great  love  arid  affection  unto 
me.  If  I  am  a  boy,  as  it  hath  pleased^  you  very  con- 
temptuously to  name  me,  I  give  thanks  to  the  Lord,  that 
my  carriage  towctrds  you  hath  been  such  as  could  minister 
unto  you  no  just  occasion  to  despise  my  youth.  Your 
spear  belike  is  in  your  own  conceit  a  weaver^s  beam,  and 
your  abilities  such,  that  you  desire  to  enfcounter  with  the 
stoutest  champion  in  the  host  of  Israel ;  and  therefore,  like 
the  Philistine,  you  contemn  me  as  being  a  boy.  Yet  this 
I  would  fain  have  you  know,  that  I  neither  came  then, 
nor  now  do  come  unto  you,  in  any  confidence  of  any 
learning  that  is  in  me ;  in  which  respect,  notwithstanding, 
I  thank  God  I  am  what  I  am :  but  I  come  in  the  name  of 
the  Lord  of  Hosts,  whose  companies  you  have  reproached, 
being  certainly  persuaded,  that  even  out  of  the  mouths  of 


to  attack  all  those  pointt  wbich  they 
thought  to  be  the  strongest  in  their 
doctrine.  **  But  nobody  would  hear 
me,  (says  he)  though  t  called  with  a 
▼pice  as  loud  as  Stentor  to  the  contest. 
Only  there  once  came  to  me  a  youth 
of  aboat  eighteen,  very  forward  in  his 
understand iag,  who  shewed  a  very 
strong  desire  of  disputing  upon  the 
most  abstruse  points  of  divinity,  though 


he  had  not  completed  his  course  of 
philosophy,  nor  arrived  to  manhood* 
Bat  when  I  asked  him  if  he  had  leave 
from  his  superiors,  promising  in  that 
case  to  enter  the  li^ts  with  him,  the 
young  man,  not  being  honoured  with 
any  such  commission,  bad  nothing  to 
shew,  and  returned  no  more.'^  Th.e 
fallacy  of  this  representation  appears 
by  the  account  in  the  texit 


168  '  USHER. 

babes  and  sucklings  he  was  able  to  shew  forth  bis  own 
jpraises.  For  the  farther  mauifestatLon  thereof,  I  do  again 
earnestly  request  you,  that,  setting  aside  all  vain  compari- 
sons of  persons,  we  may  go  plainly  forward  in  examining 
the  matters  that  rest  in  controversy  between  us ;  otherwise 
I  hope  you  will  not  be  displeased,  if,  as  for  your  part  you 
have  begun,  so  I  also  for  my  own  part  may  be  bold,  for 
the  clearing  of  myself  and  the  truth  which  I  profess,  freely 
to  make  known  what  hath  already  passed  concerning  this 
matter.  Thus  intreating  you  in  a  few  lines  to  make  known 
unto  nie  your  purpose  in  this  behalf,  I  end ;  praying  the 
Lord,  that  both  this  and  all  other  enterprises  that  we  take 
in  hand  may  be  so  ordered  as  may  most  make  for  the  ad-  " 
vancement  of  liis  own  glory  and  the  kingdom  of  his  sou 
Jesus  Christ.  "  Tuus  ad  Aras  usque, 

"  James  Ush^r." 
In  1600  he  was  received  master  of  arts,  appointed  proc- 
tor, and  chosen  catechetical  lecturer  of  the  university.  In 
1601,  though  under  canonical^age,  yet  oh  account  of  bis 
extraordinary  attainments,  he  was  ordained  both  deacon 
and  priest  by  his  uncle  Henry  Usher,  then  archbishop  of 
Armagh.  Not  long  after,  he  was  appointed  to  preach  con- 
stantly before  the  state  at  Christ-churph  in  Dublin  on 
Sundays  in  the  afternoon  ;  when  he  made  it  bis  business  to 
canvass  the  chief  ppints  in  dispute  between  the  papists  and 
.  the  protestants.  He  vehemently  opposed  a  toleration, 
which  the  former  werelhen  soliciting,  and  some  were  con- 
senting to  ;  of  which  he  gave  his  opinion  from  these  words 
of  Ezekiel,  <'  And  thou  sbalt  bear  the  iniquity  of  the  bouse 
of  Judah  forty  days;  I  have  appointed  thee  each  day  for  a 
year  :"  iv.  6.  They  are  part  of  EzekiePs  vision  concern- 
ing the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  and  of  the  Jewish  nation,* 
which* he  applied  thus  to  the  state  of  Ireland  :  "  From  this 
year  I  reckon  forty  years  ;  and  then  those,  whom  you  noiv 
embrace,  shall  be  your  rviin,  and  you  shall  bear  their  ini- 
quity." This  being  then  uttered  in  a  serm^on,  says  Dr. 
Parr,  seemed  only  the  random-thought  of  a  young  man, 
who  was  no  friend  to  popery ;  but  afterwards,  at  the  end  of 
forty  years,  namely  in  1641,  when  the  Irish  rebellion 
broke  out,  and  many  thousand  of  protestants  were  mur- 
dered, it  was  considered  by  many  as  even  prophetical.  On 
other  occasions  he  was  thought  to  betray  an  extraordinary 
foresight,  and  there  was  a  treatise  published  "  De  predic- 
tionibus  U^serii." 


USHER.  U9 

In  1603  he  was  sent  over  to  England  with  Dr.  Luke 
Challoqer,.  in  order  to  purchase  books  for  the  library  at 
Dublin ;  the  English  army,  who  defeated  the  Spaniards  at 
Kinsale^  having  contributed  the  sum  of  1800/.  for  this 
purpose.  On  his  arrival  he  found  sir  Thomas  Bodley  at 
London,  employed  in  the  same  manner  for  his  newly- 
erected  library  at  Oxford,  and  they  are  said  to  have  mu- 
tually  assisted  each  other.  It  was  during  his  absence  upon 
this  occasion  that  his  mother  was  reconciled  to  the  Romish 
religion,  which  gave  him  the  most  afflicting  concern,  and 
the  more  as  she  continueci  obstinate  to  the  last,  djiog  at 
Drogheda  in  the  communion  of  that  church.  It  appears 
also,  that  her  father,  the  recorder,  though  outwardly  a 
conformist  tc  the  new  religion,  after  its  establishment  by 
Q.  Elizabeth,  yet  still  retained  his  old  affection  for  popery, 
as  appears  from  his  supporting  first  in  his  owji  house  Ed- 
mund. Campian,  afterwards  the  famous  Jesuit,  then  a  re- 
fugee from  England,  and  in  the  next  place  recommending 
bim  to  a  friend  in  the  country,  where  he  might  be  secure 
from  the  danger  of  being  seized  and  brought  to  justice  for 
treasonable  practices,  in  drawing  her  majesty^s  subjects 
from  their  allegiance.  The  recorder  took  care  however  to 
conduct  himself  so  prudently,  as  to  give  no  umbrage  to  the 
government,  and  by  that  means  continued  unpiolested  ia 
his  post. 

In  1606,  the  necessity  of  purchasing  bookstand  paanu- 
scripts  relating  to  English  history  (in  which  study  our  au- 
thor was  then  engaged)  brought  him  again  into  England. 
He  now  contracted  an  intimate  acquaintance  and  friendship 
with  several  learned  men,  and  among  others,  sir  Robert 
Cotton,  Thomas  Allen  of  Oxford,  and  Mr.  Camden,  which 
last,  designing  a  new  edition  of  his  ^^  Britannia,"  consulted 
with  him  about  publishing  Ninias,  St.  Patrick,  and  Congal, 
and  other  writers  or  documents  relating  to  the  ancient  state 
of  Ireland  and  the  city  of  Dublin,  a  great  part  of  the  an- 
swers to  which  were  inserted  in  the  edition  of  the  "  Britan- 
nia," published  in  1607,  with  this  elogy  of  our  author: 
^^  For  many  of  the^e  things  concerning  Dublin  I  acknow- 
ledge myself  indebted  to  the  diligence  and  labour  of  James 
Usher,  chancellor  of  the  church  of  St.  Patrick,  who  in  va- 
rious learning  and  judgment  far  exceeds  his  years."  The 
fpUo^ng  year,  1607,  he  proceeded  bachelor  of  divinity, 
and  was  cbpsen  professor  of  that  faculty  in  his  college*  He 
was  also  promoted  to  the  chancellorship  of  the  cath^d^aJ  of 


ira  tj  s  H  £  R. 

St.  Patrick  the  same  year,  by  Dn  Loftas  the  archbishop, 
la  his  office  of  divinity-professor  he  continued  thirteen 
years,  reading  lectures  weekly  throughout  the  year.  In 
1609  he  made  a  third  voyage  to  England,  and  became  ae^ 
quainted  with  other  eminent  and  learned  men,  Selden,  sir 
Henry  Savile,  Briggs,  Ward,  Lydial,  Dr^Davenanl,  &c.; 
after  which  he  constantly  came  over  into  England  once  in 
three  years,  spending  one  month  at  Oxford,  another  at 
Cambridge,  and  the  rest  of  his  time  at  London,  chiefly  in 
the  Cottonian  library.  In  1609  he  wrote  a  learned  treatise 
concerning  the  **  Herenach,  Termon,  and  Corban  lands, 
anciently  belonging  to  the  chorepiscopi  of  England  'and 
Ireland;  which  was  held  in  great  esteem,  and  presented  by 
archbishop  Bancroft  to  king  James.  The  substance  of  it 
was  afterward  translated  into  Latin  by  sir  Henry  Spelman, 
in  his  '<  Glossary,''  and  by  sir  James  Ware  in  the  17th 
chapter  of  his  Antiquities ;  but  it  never  was  published.  The 
MS.  is  in  the  Lambeth  library.  In  1610  he  was  unani- 
mously elected  provost  of  Dublin  college ;  but  refused  to 
accept  that  post,  being  apprehensive  of  its  hindering  him 
in  those  great  designs  he  was  then  meditating  for  the  pro- 
motion of  learning  and  true  religion. 

In  1612  he  took  his  doctor  of  divinity^s  degree;  and  the 
next  year,  being  at  London,  his  first  publication  appeared, 
entitled  '<  De  Ecclesiarum  Christianarum  Successione  & 
Statu,*'  in  4to.  This  is  a  continuation  of  bishop  Jewel's 
^Apology,"  in  which  that  eminent  prelate  had  endeavoured 
to  shew  that  the  principles  of  protestants  are  agreeable  to 
those  of  the  fathers  of  the  six  first  centuries.  Usher  s  design 
was  to  finish  what  JeWel  had  begun,  by  shewing  that  from 
the  sixth  century  to  the  reformation,  namely,  for  900  years, 
Christ  has  always  had  a  visible  church  of  true  Christians, 
untainted  with  the  errors  and  corruptions  of  the  Roman 
church ;  and  that  these  islands  owe  not  their  Christianity 
to  Rome.  This  work  is  divided  into  three  parts.'  The  first 
reaches  to  the  tenth  century,  when  Gregory  VII.  was  raised 
to  the  popedom.  The  second  was  to  have  reached  from  that 
period  to  the  year  1S70.  And  the  third  was  to  bring  it  to 
the  reformation.  How  faf  he  had  brought  it  in  this  edition 
is  stated  in  the  following  extract  of  a  letter  written  to  his 
brother-in-law,  Thomas  Lydiat,  dated  at  Dublin,  August 
16,  1619  :  "  You  have  rightly  observed,"  says  he^  "  that  in 
my  discourse  *  De  Christianarum  Ecclesiarum  Successione 
eit  Statu,'  there  is  wanting,  for  the  accomplishment  of  the 


I 


USHER.  171 

second  part,  a  hundred  yean  [from  1240  to  1370,  vix.  the 
last  chapter  of  this  part] ;  which  default,  in  the  continuation 
of  the  work  is  by  me  supplied.  I  purpose  to  publish  the 
whole  work  together,  much  augmented,  but  do  first  expect 
the  publication  of  my  uncle  Stanyburst's  answer  to  the 
former,  which,  I  hear,  since  his  death,  is  sent  to  Paris,  to 
be  there  printed.  I  am  advertised,  also,  that  even  now 
there  is  one  at  Antwerp  who  hath  printed  a  treatise  of  my 
oounttyman  De  sacro  Bosco  j(Holy wood),  *  De  veree  Eccle- 
sie  investigatione,'  wherein  he  bath  some  dealing  with  me. 
Both  these  I  would  willingly  see  before  I  set  about  re- 
printing my  book,  meaning,  that  if  they  have  justly  found 
fault  with  any  thing,  I  may  amend  it;  if  unjustly,  I  may 
defend  it."  His  uncle's  answer,  however,  was  never  pub- 
lished, nor  did  our  author  publish  any-other  edition  of  his 
work,  as  he  here  purposed ;  probably  prevented  by  the  dis« 
traction  of  the  times.  It  was  reprinted  at  Hanover  in  1658, 
8vo,  without  any  amendments.  In  the  last  edition  of  1687, 
containing  likewise  his  Antiquity  of  the  British  Churches, 
are  these  words  in  the  title-page:  '^Opus  integrum  ab 
.  Auctore  auctum  et  recognitum ;''  which,  Dr.  Smith  observes, 
was  a  trick  of  the  bookseller.  Usher's  work  was  solemnly 
presented  by  archbishop  Abbot  to  king  James,  as  the  emi- 
nent first  fruits  of  the  college  of  Dublin. 

The  same  year,  1612,  upon  his  return  to  Ireland,  he 
married  Phoebe,  only  daughter  of  Dr.  Luke  Cballoner,  who 
died  this  year  April  the  12th,  and  in  his  last  will  recom- 
mended our  author  to  his  daughter  for  a  husband,  if  she  was 
inclined  to  marry.  In  1615  there  was  a  parliament  held  at 
Dublin,  and  a  convocation  of  the  clergy,  in  which  were 
composed  certain  articles  relating  to  the  doctrine  and  dis- 
cipline of  the  church,  These  articles  were  drawn  up  by 
Usher,  and  signed  by  archbishop  Jones,  then  lord  chan- 
cellor of  Ireland,  and  speaker  of  the  house  of  bishops  in 
convocation,  by  order  from  James  I.  in  his  majesty's  name. 
Among  these  articles^  which  amount  to  the  number  of  one 
hundred  and  four,  besides  asserting  the  doctrine  of  pre- 
destination and  reprobation  in  the  strongest  terms,  one  of 
them  professes  that  there  is  but  one  catholic  church,  out  of 
which  there  is  no  salvation;  and  another  maintains- that  the^ 
sabbath*day  ought  to  be  kept  holy.  Upon  these  accounts 
Dr.  Heylin  called  the  passing  of  these  articles  an  absolute 
plot  of  the  Sabbatarians  and  Calvinists  in  England  to  make 
ibemselves  so  strong  a  party  in  Ireland  as  to  obtain  what 


V 


J73  U  S  H  E  R. 

they  pleased  in  this  convocation.  Our  author  was  well 
known  to  be  a  strong  asserter  of  the  predestinarian  {)rinci- 
ples;  and  being  besides  of  opinion  that  episcopacy  was  not 
a  distinct  order,  but  only  a  different  degree  from  that  of 
presbyters,  be  certainly  cannot  be  exculpated  from  the 
charge  of  puritanism.  However,  as  he  always  warmly  as- 
serted the  king's  supremacy,  and  the  episcopal  form  of 
church  government  established,  and  all  the  discipline  of  it, 
it  has  been  said  that  all  the  objections  to  him,  as  inclined 
to  puritanism,  were  the  effect  of  party,  the  church  begin- 
ning about  this  time  to  be  divided  between  the  Calvinistic 
and  Arminian  principles  upon  the  quinquarticular  contro- 
versy. Dr.  Parr  tells  us,  his  enemies  were  of  no  great  re- 
pute for  learning  and  worth ;  and  that  our  author,  hearing 
pf  their  attempts  to  deprive  him  of  his  majesty's  favour, 
procured  a  letter  from  the  lord  deputy  and  council  of  Ire- 
land to  the  privy  council  in  England,  in  defence  of  his 
principles,  which  he  brought  over  to  England  in  1619,  and 
satisfied  his  majesty  so  well  upon  that  point,  that  in  1620 
he  promoted  him  to  the  bishopric  of  Meath.  In  November 
1622  be  made  a  speech  in  the  castle-chamber  at  Dublin 
upon  the  censuring  of  certain  officers,  concerning  the  law- 
fulness of  taking,  and  the  danger  of  refusing,  the  oath  of 
supremacy ;  which  pleased  king  James  so  well  that  he 
wrote  him  a  letter  of  thanks  for  it.  In  1623  he  was  con- 
stituted a  privy  counsellor  of  Ireland,  and  made  anolber 
voyage  to  England,  in  order  to  collect  materials  for  a  ^ork 
concerning  the  antiquities  of  the  churches  of  England, 
Scotland,  and  Ireland,  which  the  king  himself  had  em- 
ployed him  to  write  ;  and  soon  after  his  return  to  Ireland 
was  engaged  in  answering  the  challenge  of  Malone,  an 
Irish  Jesuit  of  the  college  of  Louvain. 

He  was  again  in  England,  when  kmg  James,  just  before 
he  died,  advanced  him  to  the  archbishopric  of  Armagh  ; 
but,  as  be  was  preparing  to  return  to  Ireland,  he  was  seized 
with  a  quartan  ague,  which  detained  him  nine  months. 
Before  he  left  England  he  had  a  disputation  with  a  popish 
priest  at  Drayton  in  Northamptonshire,  the  seat  of  lord 
Morda^uht,  afterwards  earl  of  Peterborough.  He  was  scarce 
recovered  from  his  ague,  when. this  lord  Mordaunt,  then 
9^  zealous  Roman  catholic,  being  very  desirous  to  bring  bis 
l^dy  into  the  pale  of  that  church,  concluded  that  th^re 
could  oe  no  better  or  more  certain  way  than  to  procure  a 
disputation  to  be  held  between  two  learned  and  principal 


U  a  H  £  R.  17S 

» 

petsons,  one  of  each  side,  at  which  his  lady  should  bd 
present.  In  that  resolution  he  chose,  for  the  cham{>io[i  of 
his  own  cause,  the  Jesuit  Beaumont,  whose  true  nan>e  was 
Rookwood,  being  brother  to  that  Rookwood  who  was  exe« 
cuted  for  the  gunpowder  treason.  Against  this  antagonist 
lady  Peterborough  chose  our  primate,  who,  notwithstanding 
his  health  was  not  sufficiently  confirmed  to  engage  in  such 
a  task,  yet  from  the  ardent  zeal  for  the  reformed  doctrine 
with  which  he  was  constantly  animated,  and  to  save  a  sout 
from  falling  into  the  wiles  of  an  artful  Jesuit,  he  did  not 
refuse  to  comply  v/ith  her  ladyship's  request.  The  place 
appointed  for  holding  the  disputation  was  my  lord^s  seat  at 
Drayton,  a  place  very  proper  for  the  business,  as  being 
furnished  with  a  most  copious  library  of  the  writings  of  ail 
the  ancient  fathers  of  the  church,  which  were  ready  at 
hand,  if  it  should  happen  that  any  of  them  should  be  re- 
ferred to  in  the  engagement.  The  heads  of  the  dispute 
were  agreed  to  be  upon  transubstantiation,  the  invocation 
of  saints,  of  images,  and  the  perpetual  visibility  of  the 
church.  After  it  had  been  held  for  three  days,  five  hours 
each  day,  in  which  our  primate  sustained  the  part  of  re- 
spondent, ^hat  office  for  the  fourth  day  lay  upon  Beau- 
mont, according  to  the  regulation  settled  by  himself.  But 
he  sent  a  letter  to  the  baron,  with  an  excuse,  alleging, 
"that  all  the  arguments  which  he  had  formed  had  slipt  out 
of  his  memory,  nor  was  he  able  .by  any  effort  to  recollect 
them,  imputing  the  cause  of  the  misfortune  to  a  just  judg- 
ment of  God  upon  him,  for  undertaking  of  his  own  accord^ 
without  the  licence  of  his  superiors,  to  engage  in  a  dispute 
with  a  person  of  so  great  eminence  and  learning  as  the 
primate."  Such  a  shameful  tergiversation  sunk  deeply 
into  the  mind  of  lord  Mordaunt,  so  that,  after  some  con- 
ferences with  the  primate,  he  renounced  popery,  and  coo- 
tinued  in  the  profession  of  the  protestant  faith  to  the  end' 
of  his  life. 

This  account  is  given  in  the  life  of  our  archbishop  by 
Dr.  Nicholas  Bernard,  who  says  he  had  it  from  an  eye  and 
ear  witness.  And  it  is  in  a  great  measure  confirmed  by  the 
reproach  thrown  upon  Beaumont  by  Chaloner,  a  secular 
priest,  who  in  a  piece  wrote  against  the  Jesuit  ^'admonishes 
him  to  beware  of  Drayton-house,  lest  he  should  there 
chance  to  light  upon  another  Usher,  and  he  again  put  to 
flight,  to  the  great  disgrace  both  of  himself  and  his  profes- 
^n.''     As  to  the  primate,  the  eminent  service  done  by 


17i  ir  S  H  E  B« 

tAiis  disputation  to  lady  PeterboVougb  could  not  but  be  werf 
sensibly  felt  by  ber ;  and  that  it  was  so,  she  gare  bis  grice' 
suflBcient  proofs  in  that  extraordinary  kindness  and  respect 
wbich  she  shewed  to  him  all  his  life  after. 

In  the  administration  of  his  archbishopric  Usher  acted, 
as  he  bad  acted  in  every  other  station,  in  a  most  exemplary 
manner;  and  vigorously  opposed  the  design  of  granting. & 
more  full  toleration  to  the  Irish  papists.  An  assembly  of 
the  whole  nation,  both  papists  and  protestants,  had  been 
called  by  the  then  lord  deputy  Falkland,  for  the  considera^ 
tion  of  that  point ;  when  the  bishops,  by  the  lord  primate^s 
invitation,  met  first  at.  his  house,  and  both*  he  and  they 
subscribed  a  protestation  against  a  toleration  of  popery. 
About  the  same  time,  observing  the  increase  of  Armioi- 
anism^  which  be  considered  as  a  very  dangerous  doctrine, 
be  employed  some  time  in  searching  into  the  origin  of  the 
predestinarian  controversy ;  and  meeting  with  a  curiosity 
upon  that  subject  be  published  it,  in  1631,  at  Dublin,  4to, 
under  the  title  '^Gotescbalci  et  predestinarianas  controversial 
ab  eo  niotsB  historia,'*  which  is  said  to  have  been  the  first 
Latin  book  ever  printed  in  Ireland.  He  published  another 
work  in  1632,  concerning  the  ancient  Irish  church,  entitled 
<<  Veterum  Epistolarum  Hibernicarum  Sylloge,*'  a  collec* 
tion  of  letters  out  of  several  ancient  manuscripts,  and  other 
authors,  to  and  from  Irish  bishops  and  monks,  from  anno 
5S2  to  1180,  concerning  the  affairs  of  the  Irish  church; 
which  shew  the  great  esteem,  as  well  for  learning  as  piety, 
\n  which  the  bishops  and  clergy  of  that  church  were  held 
both  at  Rome,  France,  England,  and  elsewhere :  with  se- 
veral matters  relating  to  the  great  controversies  of  those 
times  about  the  keeping  of  Easter,  and  also  every  thing 
relating  to  the  ecclesiastical  discipline  and  jurisdiction  of 
the  church  of  that  kingdom. 

In  1634,  the  parliament  of  Ireland  being  ready  to  meet, 
there  arose  a  dispute  between  the  archbishops  of  Armagh 
and  Dublin  concerning  precedence;  but  Usher  asserted 
his  right  with  such  clearness  and  evidence  that  the  point 
was  determined  in  his  favour.  The  convocation  meeting 
at  the  same  time  with  the  parliament,  he  had  the  principal 
band  in  composing  and  establishing  the  Irish  canons,  in 
which  the  liberties  of  that  church  were  maintained  by  him 
against  Dr.  Bramhall  (See  Bramhall),  who  was  for  the 
ICnglish  canons,  and  was  probably  influenced  by  archbishop 
Laud.    For  when  they  were  passed  in  convocation.  Laud 


USHER.  175 

thus  wrote  to  Ush(pr :  *^  For  your  canons^  to  speak  tratfa^ 
and  mth  liberty  aod  freedom,  though  I  cannot  but  think 
the  English  canons  entire  (especially,  with  some  amend- 
ments) would  have  done  better,  yet  since  you  and  that 
church  have  thought  otherwise,  I  do  very  easily  .submit  to 
it."  His  grace  afterwards  writes  thus :  '*  As  for  the  parti^ 
cular  about  subscription,  I  think  you  have  couched  that 
very  well,  since,  as  it  seems,  there  was  some  necessity  to 
carry  that  article  closely ;  and  God  forbid' you  should  upon 
any  occasion  roll  back  upon  your  former  controversy  about 
the  articles.'*  To  explain  his  grace's  meaning,  it  must  be. 
observed,  that  those  canons  of  the  thirty-nine  articles  of 
the  church  of  England  were  received,  and  declared  to  be 
the  confession  of  the  faith  of  the  church  of  Ireland,  to 
which  every  clergyman  was  obliged  to  subscribe.  Upon 
which  Dn  Heylin  asserted,  that  the  Irish  articles  of  1615 
above  mentioned  were  now  repealed.  But  he  recalled  this 
error  when  he  found  (the  truth)  that  the  Irish  articles  were 
still  retained  and  confirmed  in  these  very  canons.  .  The 
doctor  indeed  observed,  that  the  inconsistency  of  the  several 
articles  proved  the  virtual  repeal  of  the  Irish  ones  :  yet  it 
is  plain  that  this  was  not  so  ^understood  at  that  time,  nor 
for  several  years  after,  since  both  the  primate  and  all  the 
rest  of  the  Irish  bishops,  at  all  ordinations,  took  the  sub- 
scription of  the  party  ordained  to  both  sets  of  articles,  till 
the  Irish  rebellion  put  a  stop  to  all  ordinations.  However, 
since  the  restoration  of  king  Charles  11.  a  subscription  only 
to  the  thirty-nine  articles  of  the  church  of  England  is 
required. 

AH  this  while  he  kept  a  correspondence  in  every  countfy 
for  the  advancement  of  learning,  and  procured  in  1634  a 
very  good  copy  of  the  Samaritan  Pentateuch  from  the  East; 
besides  one  of  the  Old  Testament  in  Syriac,  and  other  va- 
luable manuscripts.  It  was  one  of  the  first  of  those  Penta- 
teuchs  that  ever  were  brought  into  these  western  parts  of 
Europe,  as  Mr.  Selden  and  Dr.  Walton  acknowledge ;  and 
the  Syriac  Testament  was  much  more  perfect  than  had 
hitherto  been  seen  in  these  parts.  The  other  manuscripts 
were  procured  by  the  means  of  one  Mr.  Davies,  then  a 
merchant  at  Aleppo.  The  archbishop  collated  the  Sama- 
ritan with  the  Hebrew,  and  marked  the  differences,  after 
which  he  intended  it  for  the  library  of  sir  Robert  Cotton.' 
But  this,  as  well  as  the  other  manuscripts,  being  borrowed 
of  him  by  Dr.  Walton,  and  made  use  of  by  him  in  the 


175  USHER. 


/ 


edition  of  the  Polyglot  Bible,  were  not  recovered  out  of  t!i6 
hands  of  that  bishop's  executors  till  1686,  and  are  novr  in 
the  Bodleian  library.  And  notwithstanding  the  necessary 
avocations  in  the  discharge  of  his  episcopal  office,  he  pro- 
secuted his  studies  wi^th  indefatigable  diligence,  the  fruits 
ef  which  appeared  ih  1638,  when  he  published  at  Dublin, 
in  4to,  his  "  Emmanuel,  or  a  treatise  on  the  Incarnation  of 
the  Son  of  God  ;"  which  was  followed  by  his  "  Britanni- 
carum  Ecclesiarum  Antiquitates"  in  the  ensuing  year.  This 
history  contains  a  most  exact  account  of  the  British  church : 
From  the  first  planting  of  Christianity  in  twenty  years  after 
our  Saviour's  crucifixion,  he  brings  it  down  both  in  Britain 
and  Ireland,  to  the  end  of  the  Seventh  century.  The  piece 
was  of  great  service,  particularly  to  Dr.  Lloyd  and  bishop 
Stiliingfleet,  his  followers  upon  the  same  subject. 

In  the  beginning  of  1640  he  came  into  England  with 
his  family,  intending  (as  before)  to  return  in  a  year  or  two 
at  farthest.  Soon  after  his  arrival  he  went  to  Oxford  for 
the  more  convenience  of  pursuing  his  studies :  but  these 
were  unhappily  interrupted  by  the  urgent  necessity  of  the 
times,  which  put  him  upon  writing  some  pieces  that  were 
published  at  Oxford  in  1641,  on  the  subject  of  episcopacy  : 
These  were,  1 .  "  The  Judgment  of  Dr.  Reynolds  concern- 
ing the  original  of  Episcopacy  defended."  2.  **  The  Ori- 
ginal of  Bishops,  or  a  chorographical  and  historical  disqui- 
sition touching  the  Lydian  and  proconsular  Asia,  and  the 
seven  metropolitan  churches  contained  therein."  The  de- 
sign of  this  treatise  is  to  prove,  from  Acts  xix.  17,  supported 
by  Rev.  ii.  1.  and  confirmed  by  ecclesiastical  history,  that 
bishops  and  metropolitans  were  instituted  by  the  apostles  ; 
meaning  only  with  regard  to  their  superiority  in  degree; 
for  he  did  not  hold  episcopacy  to  be  a  superior  order  to 
presbytery.  He  also  endeavours  to  prove  that  the  bishop 
of  Ephesus  was  not  onlj^  the  metropolitan  of  the  procon- 
sular Asia,  but  the  primate,  or  exarch,  of  all  the  provinces 
that  were  comprehended  within  the  compass  of  the  whole 
Asian  diocese  ;  and  that  he  acted  suitably  to  the  patriarchal 
jurisdiction,  which  was  in  effect  conferred  upon  him.  In 
the  prosecution  of  the  argument  he  shews>  1.  That  the  stars 
described  in  the  Revelations  are  the  angels  of  the  seven 
churches.  2.  That  these  angels  were  the  several  bishops 
of  those  churches,  and  not  the  whole  college  of  presbyters. 
3.  That  each  of  these  seven  dhurches  was  at  that  time  a 
metropolis*     4.  That  these  bishops  were  ordained  by  the 


Us  HER.  l?t 

ipostles  £ts  constant  permanent  officers  io  the'churcb,  and  s0 
in  a  sort  jure  divino^  not  to  be  dispenseil  with  except  in  cases 
of  necessity.  These  tracts  were  printed,  with  others  on 
the  same  subject,  under  the  title  **  Certain  brief  Treatises,'* 
fcc.  Ozf»  1641,  4to.  It  was  about  this  time  also  that  he 
drew  up  his  treatise  on  "  The  Power  of  the  Princd  and  the 
Obedience  of  the  Subject,''  which,  as  we  have  mentioned 
in  our  account  of  bis  grandson,  James  Tyrrell,  was  pub- 
lished after  the  restoration. 

Archbishop  Usher  was  a  maii  of  too  much  note,  and  of 
too  high  a  station,  not  to  be  deeply  involved  in  and  af^ 
fected  with  the  succeeding  troubles.  He -is  charged  J[>7 
some  writers  with  having  advised  the  king  to  consent  to 
the  bill  against  the  earl  of  Strafford,  but  is  cleared  by 
others  3  and  Dr.  Parr  tells  us,  that  when  the  primate  lay 
extremely  ill,  and  expected  death  at  St.  Donate*s  castle  in 
1645,  he  asked  his  grace  concerning  it,  who  flatly  denied 
it,  and  said  it  was  wrongfully  laid  to  his  charge  ;  for,  that 
be  neither  advised  nor  approved  it»  In  the  rebellion  in 
Ireland  be  was  plundered  of  everything  except  his  library 
and  some  furniture ,  in  his  bouse  at  Drogheda,  whence  the 
library  was  conveyed  to  England.  On  this  the  king  con- 
ferred on  him  the  bishopric  of  Carlisle,  to  be  holden.iti 
commendafn ;  the  rerenues  of  which,  however,  were  re- 
duced to  almost  nothing  by  the  Scots  and  EngUsh  arniies 
tjuarterin^  upon  it.  'When  all  the  lands  belonging  to  the 
English  bishoprics  were  seized  by  the  parliament,  they 
voted  bicn  a  pension  of  400/.  per  annum;  which  yet  he 
never  receive  aoove  once  or  twice.  It  is  said  that  he  was 
invited  into  France  by  cardinal  Richelieu,  with  a  promise 
of  the'  free  exercise  of  his  religion,  and  a  considerable 
pension ;  and  likewise  by  the  Stares  of  Holland,  who  of-* 
fered  him  the  place  of  honorary  professor  at  Leyden.  Dn 
Smithy,  one  of  bis  biographers,  seems  to  doubt  these  facts^ 
especi^ly  the  firsU  But  Dr. Tarr  thinks  it  not  tinlikely, 
from  an  instance  of  respect  which  Richelieu  had  before 
sbewh  to  the  archbishop,  by  sending  him,  in  return  for  a 
copy lof  the  ^^  Antiquity  of  the  British  Churches,"  which  the 
author  bad  presented  to  his  eminence,  a  letter  of  much 
kindness  and  esteem,  accompanied  with  a  gold  medali 
which  Dr.  Bernard  says  ^'  is  still  preserved.'*  It  was  in 
possession  of  the  Tyrrell  family  in  1738,  and  was  then  ex« 
hibited  to  the  society  of  antiquaries.    The  date  is  163 1  *. 

*  From  a  MS  note  In  Mr.  Oovgh's  copy  of  the  BiOsrapbia  Britaiinioa,  now 
kthe  editor's  possession* 

Vol.  XXX.  N 


178  U.S  H  E  R. 

In  1642  the  archbishop  reipoved  to  Oxford,  not  long 
before  the  king  came  thither,  and  preached  every  Sunday 
atsodoe  of  the  churches,  principally  All  SaiiUs.  In  1643 
he  was  nominated  one  of  the  assembly  of  divines  at  West* 
minster,  but  refused  to  sit  among  them  :  and.  this,  together 
with  some  of  bis  sermons  at  Oxford,  in  which  he  bad  spoke 
against  their  authority,  giving  offence  to  the  parliament, 
thj^y  ordered  his  library  to  be  seized,  and  it  would  have 
been  sold,  bad  not  Dr.  Featly,  who  sat  among  those  di- 
vines while  his  heart  was  with,  the  church  and  king,  ob- 
tained it  by  means  of  Mr.  Selden  for  his  own  use,  and 
so  secured  it,  to  the. right  owner,  or  at  least  the  greater 
part,  but  some  valuable  articles  were  stolen,  and  qever 
recovered.  In  1644  he  published  at  Oxford  his  valuable 
edition  of  *'  JPolycarpi  et  Ignatii  Epistols.^' 

The  king^s.  affairs  declining,  and  Oxford  being  threat- 
ened with  a  ?iege,  he  left  that  city,  and  retired  to  Car- 
diff, in  Wales,  to  the  house  of  sir  Timothy  Tyrrell,  who 
bad  married  his  only  daughter,  and  who  was  then  gover« 
nor  and  general  of  the  ordnance.  He  continued  six  months 
here  in  tranquillity,  prosecuting  his  studies,  particularly 
his  *^  Annals,''  and  then  went  to  the  castle  of  St.  Donate, 
^whither  he  was  invited  by  the  lady  dowager  Stradling ;  but 
in  his  jouri\ey  thither  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  moun- 
taineers, who  took  away  his  books  and  papers.;  yet  these 
were,  by  the  kindness  of  the  gentlemen/and  clergy  of  that 
country,  in  a  great  measure  restored.  Before  this  had 
been  achieved,  and  while  his  MSS,  the  labour  of  so  many 
years,  see^led  irrecoverable,  be  was  observed  to  be  more 
concerned  than  at  all  his  former  sufferings.  At  St.  Donate's 
he  found  an  excellent  library :  but  a  fit  of  sickness  pre- 
vented him  froin  making  all  the  use  of  it  he  proposed.  His 
sickness  was  of  an  extraordinary  nature ;  it  was  at  first  a 
suppression  of  urine,  .with  extremity  of  torture,  ending  in 
a  violent  bleeding  at  the  nose  fornear  forty  hours, .  with- 
out any  intermission ;  ^ut  when  ^  was  every  moment  ex- 
pected to  die,  the  bleedins  stopped,  and  be  geadually  re^ 
covered.  He  went  to  Lonaon  in  1.64.6,  upon  an  invitation 
from  the  countess  of  Peterborough,  to  make  her  house  his 
home ;  and,  in  1647,  was  chosen  preacher  of  Lincoln's  Inn. 
llns  society  ordered  him  handsome  lodgings,  ready  far* 
nisbed,  and  several  rooms  for  his  library,  which  was  about 
this  time  brought  up  from  Chester,  being  almost  all  the 
remains  t)f  his  substance  that  had  escaped  the  rebels.  .  Mr. 


U-  S  la  E  R.  17& 

(afterwards  lord  chief  justice)  Hale  was  then  abedolier  of 
the  society,  and  probably  had  the  chief  hand  in  procuring 
him  this  place  ;  and  it  happened  that  the  society  ivas  weU 
rewarded  for  it  by  that  treasure  lodged  in  this  library  by 
the  lord  chief  justice  in  four  volumes,  which  were  extracted 
from  the  primate's  manuscripts;  of  which  Dr.  Parr  has 
subjoined  to  his  Life  of  the  primate  a  catalogue,  consisting 
of  thirty-three  very  curious  books.  Here  the  primate  con- 
stantly preslched  all  term-time  for  almost  eight  years,  till 
at  last,  his  eye-sight  and  teeth  beginning  to  fail  him,  he 
could  not  well  be  heard  in  so  large  a  congregation^  and 
was  forced  to  quit  this  place  about  a  year  and  a  half  iiiefore 
his  death,  to  the  great  regret  of  the  society.  In  the  mean 
time,  amidst  all  the  convulsions  of  the  times,  he  continued 
bis  studies,  and  the  year  he  was  chosen  to  Lincoln's  Inn, 
published  bis  treatise  **  De  Komanse  Ecclesise  Symbols,** 
which  he  followed  by  his  *^  Dissertatio  de  Macedohum  et 
Asianorum  anno  solari**  in  the  beginning  of  1648,  8vo.  In 
this  tract,  besides  fixing  the  exact  time  of  St.  Polycarp^s 
martyrdom,  he  compares  the  Grecian  and  Macedonian 
months  with  the  Julian  apd  other  nations ;  and,  having  laid 
down  the  method  and  disposition  of  the  Macedonian  and 
Asiatic  year,  he  adds  rules  for  finding  out  the  cycles  of 
the  sun  and  moon,  and  Easter  for  ever,  with  several  cu-* 
riMs  accounts  of  the  celestial  motions  according  to  the 
ancient  Greek  astronomers,  Melon,  Calippus,  Eudoxus, 
and  bthers.  To  which  is  annexed  an  Ephemeris,  ^or  entire 
Greek  and  Roman  calendar  for  the  whole  year,  with  the 
rising  and  setting  of  the  stars  in  that  climate. 

About  this  time  be  was  sent  for  to  the  Isle  of  Wight  by 
his  majesty,  to  assist  him  in  treating  with  the  parliament 
upon  the  point  of  episcopacy ;  when  he  proposed  an  ex^ 
pedient,  which  he  called  '^  Presbyterian  and  Episcopal  Go^ 
vemment  conjoitied,*'  which  the  king  approved  as  the  like* 
liest  mieans  of*  reconciling  the  then  differences.  But  no 
proposals,  how  moderate  soever,  were  able  to  satisfy  the 
Presbyterians,  tillhis  majestj^  was  taken  but  of  their  hands 
by  the  army,  and  brought  to  the  scaffold^  the  sight  of 
which  struek  ouir  primate  with  the  utmost  horror.  The 
countess  of  Peterborough'shouse,  where  the  primate  then 
lived,  being  exactly  opposite  to  Charijig  Cross,  several  of 
the  family,  at  the  time  of  the  king's  execution,  went  u^ 
to  the  leads  of  theliouse,  which  commanded  a  full  view  of 
Whitehall ;  and,  as  soon  as  his  majesty  came  upon  the 

N  2 


ISO  O  S  H  E  R. 

fteaffold,  some  of  them  went  down  and  told  the  prkntl^ 
ftsking  him  it  he  wduid  not  see  the  king  once  more  before 
be  W4«  put  to  death.  Though  unwilling  at  fiKst,  yet  he  was 
persuaded  at  length  to  goup,  as  well  out  of  a  desire  lo  see 
the  king  once  again,  as  from  curiosity,  since  he  could  scarce 
believe  what  they  told  him.  When  be  came  upon  the  leads 
his  majesty  was  iahis  speech.  The  primate  stood  still,  aiid 
said  nothing)  but  sighed  ;  and>  lifting  his  hands  and  eyes 
full  of  tears  towards  heaven,  seemed  to  pray  earnestly^* 
But  when  the  king  had  done  speaking,  and  had  taken  off 
bis  cloaths  and  doublet^  and  stood  stript  in  his  waistcoat, 
and  the  executioners  in  vizards  began  to  put  up  the  king^s 
hair,  he  grew  pale,  and  would  have  fainted  if  he  bad  not 
been  immediately  carried  off.  He  kept  the  30th  of  Ja«» 
nuary  as  a  private  fast  as  long  as  he  lived;  In  1650  be 
published  the  first  part  of  his  ^^  Annals  of  the  Old  Testa* 
ment,'^  and  the  i^econd  in  1654.  The  two  parts  were 
printed  together,  under  the  title  of  ^^  Annales  Veteris  et 
Novi  Testament!,'*  at  Paris,  1673,  and  at  Geneva,  1722, 
in  folia-  In  1652  he  published  bis  '^  Epistolfi  ad  Ludovi« 
cum  Capellum  de  variantibus  textus  Hebraici  lectionibus,'* 
Lond.  1640. 

His  great  reputation  having  excited  in  Cromwell  a  cu- 
riosity to  see  him,  the  primate,  upon  the  usurper's  intima- 
tion of  it  to  him,  went,  and  was  received  with  great  civility : 
Cromwell  made  him  also  many  promises,  but  never  per- 
formed them,  and  it  was  on  this  occasion  that  the  pFimate 
predicted  the  restoration,  in  a  conversation  with  Dr.  P^rr, 
his  biographer.  *<Thts  false  roan  hath  broken  his  word 
with  tee,  and  refuses  to  perform  what  he  promised.'  Well, 
he  will  have  little  cause  to  glory  in  hit  wickedness ;  for  he. 
will  not  contiaiie  long.  The  king  will  return  :  Though  I 
shall  not  live  to  see  it,  you  may.  The  government,  both 
in  church  and  atate,  is  in  c<mfusioii.  The  papists  are  ad- 
vancing their  projects,  and  making  sudh  advttnl»gea  as  will 
hardly  be  prevented.^'  The  same  year,  1654,  he  published 
his  last  j^iece,  ^  De  Grssca  SeptQagtnta  loterpretnm  ve- 
rum  Syntagma,*^  &e. ;  «nd  preached  Mr.  Selden^s  funeral- 
sermon  in  the  Temple-ehiircb.  On  March  £0,  1655-6,  he 
was  taken  ill^  and  died  the  day  followiog,  in  the  eottotess 
6f  Peterborough's  bouse  at  Hyegate  io  Surrey.  Though 
he  was  seveoty-slx,  his  iUneas  proved  to  be  a  pleurisy :  for, 
i^pon  opening  bis  i»pdy^  a  great  deal  of  coagulated  blood 
was  found  settled  io  his  left  sid«r.  P^-qparatioas  were  .making 


USHER.  lit 

to  bmy  him  privateiy;  but  Craoiw^ll  ordered  him  to  b^ 
interred  with  great  magnificence  in  Eraioitts'g  chapel  in 
Westmimter^abbey,  the  funeral  service  being  iierformed 
according  to  the  liturgy  of  the  church  of  England.  This 
was  a  great  indulgetice,  but  the  usurper  nteaiit  to  make 
himself  popular,  fknowing  what  a  high  repotaiioo  the  de^ 
ceased  had  among  all  orders  of  men ;  yet  was  politic  enough 
to  throw  the  expence  of  the  fuoeral  upon- bis  relations,  who 
were  ill  able  to  bear  it.  His  faeeral  sermon  was  preached 
by  Dr.  Nicolas  Bernard,  who  had  formerly  been  his  chap- 
lain^ and  was  then  preacher  of  Gray  Vina  :  it  was  printed, 
and  contains  many  particulars  of  his  life,  related  with  the 
ceetion  then  necessary. 

•  Usher  left  hk  library,  beiag  the  chief  part  of  bis  pro* 
perty,  as  a  portion  to  his  only  daughter,  who  had  been 
ti^  mother  of  a  numerous  offspring.  It  was  first  bought 
by  the  officers  and  soldiers  of  Cromwell's  army  in  Ireland, 
uod  lodged  in  DubUn-castle,  where  it  lay,  though  not 
witbeut  being  much  pillaged,  till  the  restoration ;  wbich 
briaging  it  into  the  posseitsian  of  king  Charles  il.  he  gave 
it,  according  to  the  primate's  first  intention,  to  Dublin- 
college,  where  tt  now  remaiiis.  This,  in  truth,  had  been 
the  primate's  first  intention ;  bat,  upon  the  loss  of  every 
thiBg  else  espept  his  books,  he  was  compelled  to  consider 
the  neceseities  of  his  family,  his  daughter  having  before 
bed  nothing  from  him  except  some  pieoea  of  gold  present- 
ed t9  him  by  Mr.  Seiden's  eKeoutors  and  other  persons  of 
qwility.  The  library  consisted  of  ten  thousand  volumes 
pcJAt^  and  mafiaecript,  and  cost  the  primate  many  thou-> 
sand  piMittds.  Both  the  king  of  Denmark  and  cardinal 
llaaaiiee  ^ffesed  a  good  price  for  it  by  their  aigents  here ; 
but  the  exeiMitors  were  forbidden,  by  an  order  from  Oliver 
aad  bis  conueil,  to  sell  it  to  any  one  without  his  consent ; 
so  it  was  at  last  bought  by  the  soldieni  and  officers  of  the 
then  emy  in  irelaiMl,  who,  out  of  emulation  to  the  former 
ooUe  action  of  queen  Elizabeth's  army,  were  incited  by 
some  men  of  pubUc  spirit  to  the  like  performance,  and 
thegr  bad.  it  for  mnch  leas  than  the  real  worth,  or  what  ha^i. 
been  offered  for  it  before  by  the  agents  above  mentioned. 
They  bad  also  wtbbitall  the  manuscripts  which  were  not 
of  kje  own  hand^ writings  and  a  choice  though  not  numerous 
collection  of  ancient  coins.  But,  when  this  library  was 
carried  over  into  Ireland^  the  usurper  and  his  son,  who 
then  commanded  ii^  chief  there^  would  not  bestow  it  upon 


182  US  HER. 

« 

the  college,  lest  perbape  the  gift  diQuld  not  appear  so  con<* 
siderable  there  as  it  would  do  by  itsrif ;  and  themfore  tbey 
gave  cut  that  they  iutended  it  for  a  new  collie  or  hall 
which  tbey  said  they,  intended  to  build  and  endow.  But  it 
proved  that,  as  these  were  not  times,  so  they  were  not  per- 
sons capable  of  any  such  noble  or  pious  work;  and  this 
Ubrary  lay  in  the  castle  of  Dublin  till  Cromweirs  death ; 
and,  during. the  anarchy  and  confusion  that  followed, 
the  rooms  where  it  was,  kept  being  left  open,  many  of 
the  books,  and  most  of  the  best  manuscripts,  were  stolen 
away,  or  else  embezzled  by  those  that  were  intrusted  with 
tbefQ. 

.  Archbishop  Usher  was  tall,  well-shaped,  and  walked  ap« 
right  to  the  last  His  hair  was  brown,  his  complexion  san- 
guine, his  countenance  full  of  good*-nature  as  well  as  gra» 
vity  :  yet,  Dr.  Parr  says,  the  air  of  his  face  was  hard  to  hit, 
and  that,  though  many  pictures  were  taken  of  him,*  h& 
never  saw  but  one  like  him,  which  was  done  by  sir  Peter 
Lely.  He  was  a  man  who  abounded  in  all  graces,  moral 
asr  well  as  spiritual ;  wblch»  joiiied  with  the  greatest  abili* 
ties  and  learning,  made  him  upon  the  whole  a  very  com- 
plete character.  .  Among  hia  MSS.  were  many  notes  and 
observations  upon  the  Writings  and  characters  of  the  fathers 
and  ecclesiastical  authors,  which  he  designed  as  the  foun- 
dation of  a  large  and  elaborate  work,  to  be  called  *^  Tbeo- 
logica  Bibliotheca  ;*'  and  this  was  indeed,,  of  all  bis  works^ 
that  which  he  had  most  set  bis  heart  upon  :  yet  the  cala-» 
mities  of  the  times  would  not  suffer  him  to  finish  it.  He 
left  these  papers,  bomver,  to  Dr.  Gerard  Langbaine,  pro- 
vost of  Queen's  college,  as  the  only  osan  on  whose  learn- 
ing as  well  as  friendship  be  could  rely,  to  render  them  fit 
for  the  press :  but  Langbaine,  while  pursuing  his  task  in 
the  public  library,  got  so  severe  a  ccJd,  that  he  died  in 
1657;  and  nothing  farther  appears  to  have  been  done, 
though  Dr.  Fell  afterwards  made  some  attempts,  to.  get  it 
finished.  A  copy  of  it  is  lodged  in  the  Bodleian  library^. 
,  Th^  i^orks  from  his  MSS.  published  after  h»  death, 
jwere;  i.  ^'  Cbronologia  sacra ;  seu  Annorum  &  toA^tmiag 
Patriarcharum,  mmpomia^  Israditarum  in  j£gypto ;  Annorum 
etiam  Judicum,  HegumJuds^  Israelis,  MoSnl^f  Chronologica," 
Oxford,  1660^  in  4tOy  published  by  Dr.  Thomas  Barlow, 

*  There  is  oae  work  of  very  com-  tlie  Christian  Religion,"  1654,  foLpnb* 
imon  occurrence,  called  his  '*  Body  of  lished  without  his  Consentj  and  on\f 
PiTmity«  or  the  Sum  and  Substance  of    partly  bis. 


t7  lg  H  E  R.  183 

afterwards  bishop  of  Lincoln.    'Reprinted  with  the  Annals 
of  the  Old  and  New  Testament  at  Genera,  in  1722,  folia; 
This  chronology  is  'imperfect,  the  author  dying  while  4]e 
was  engaged  in  it.     He  proposed  to  have' subjoined 'to  it  a 
tract  ^*  De  •  primiti?o  &  veterum  Hebrseorum  Kalendario." 
2.  A  collection  of  pieces  published  by  Dr.  Nicholas  Bier* 
tiard  at   London,  in  1658,  8vo,  under  the  title  of  ^^  The 
Judgment  of  the  late  Archbishop/'  &c.     3.  Dr.  Bernard 
.published  likewise  at  London  in  1659  our  author's  <<  Judg- 
mi^nt  ami  sense  of  the  present  8ee  of  Rome  from  Apocal. 
itviii.  4."     4.  ^^  The  power  of  the  prince  and  obedience  of 
the  subject  stated  ;''  with  a  preface  by  Dr.  Robert  Sander* 
son,  published  by  James  Tyrrell,  esq.  grandson  to  our  au- 
thor,  at    London,    1661.     5.  A  volume   of  <<  Sermons,'* 
preached  at  Oxford  before  his  majesty,  and  elsewhere.     6^. 
*<  Hiistoria  Do^matica  Controversise  inter  Orthodoxoa  & 
Pontiiicios  de  Scripturis  &  sacris  Vernaculis.     Aceessere 
^Qsdem  Dissertationes  duss  de  Pseudo-Dionysii  scriptis  & 
Je  Epistolft  ad  Laodicenos.     Deseripsit,  digessit,  &  Noiis 
atque  Auctario  locupletavit  Henricus  Wharton,"  London, 
1 690p  4to.    7.  *<  A  Collection  of  three  hundred  Letters  writ- 
ten to  James  Usher  lord  archbishop  of  Armagh,  and  most 
of  the  eminente^t  persona  for  piety  and  learning  in  bis  time 
both   in   England   and  beyond  the  seas.     Collected  and 
piAlished  from  original  copies  under  their  own  hand^  by 
Richard  Parr,'  D.  D.  bis  lOTdsbtp'a  cfaaplatn  u  the  time  of 
his  d^ith,  with  whom  the  care  of  all  his  papers  were  in* 
trusted  by  his  lordship,^'  London,  16S6,  folio.    To  this  Dr. 
Parr  has  prefixed  the  Ufa  of  the  archbishop,  collected  from 
authentic  documents,  and  with  the. assistance  of  the  Tyrrell 
family,  his  only  descendants.    This  volume  forms  the  best 
monument  yet  erected  to  bis  memory,  and  from  the  very 
names  of  his  correqMindents,  gives  us  a  high  idea  of  the 
4respeci  in  which  he  was  held,  attd  the  high  place  he  filled 
in  the  literary  woirhl.*  ^ 

USHER  (Jamxs),  an  ingeniotts  writer,  was  the  son  of  a 
gentleman-farmer  in  the  county  of  Dublin,  where  he  was 
j^om  about  1720.  He  was  descended  from  the  venerable 
prelate  of  whom  we  have  just  given  an  account,  but  was  of 
aHomau  catholic  family^  He  received  a  good  classical 
edw£stio%  though  with  no  view  to  any  of  the  learned  pro** 

1  Life  by  Parr.— Life  itt  Smilb's  Vitn  Eruditif8iiaoruiD.--Sios.  Brit.— Har- 
ris's Ware.— Fdieral  Sermon  \j  Dr.  Bernard,  1C37>  Idmo. 


t84  y  S  H  £  R. 

fessions.  When  growo  up,  be  becaoid  9^  hM^r^'m  imitA* 
tioii  of  his  father,  but  after  some  years*  eupcrieiicei  bad 
Uttle  success,  and  having  sold  bis  farm,,  stock,  jcc.  settled 
for  some  time  as  a  linen-draper  in  Dublin  r  for  this  btttt% 
ness,  however^  beseems  to  have  been  as  Uttle  <)ualified  aa 
for  the  other,  and  was  a  great  loser.  In  truth  he  had  that 
secret  love  of  literature  about  him  which  geueraliy  tospined 
a  train  of  thQugbt  not  very  compatible  with  the  atteutijOii 
which  trade  requires :  and  finding  himself,  after  someyear% 
{I,  widower  with  a  family  of  four  children,  and  but  little 
prospect  of  providing  for  them  in  any  business,  he  took 
orders  in  the  church  of  Rome,  sent  his  three  sons  for  edii^ 
cation  to  the  collie  of  Lombard  in  Paris,  and  his  daughler 
to  a  monastery,  where  she  soon  after  died.  He  then  came 
.to  London,  and  while  revolving  plans  for  his  support,  and 
the  eduication  of  bis  children,  ,Mr«  MoUoy,  an  Irish  gentle^ 
man,  who  had  formerly  been  a  political  writer  against  tie 
Kobert  Walpole,  died,  and  left  him  a  legacy  of  three  hau«> 
dred  pounds.  .  With  this  noney  Mr.  Usher  thought  of  set- 
Mug  up  a  school,  as  the. most  likely  way  of  providing  ftxr, 
bis.  sons  ;,  and  with  this  view  he  communicated  his  inten- 
tions to  the  late  Mr.  John  Wajker,  author  of  the  Pronouu- 
cing  Dictionary,  and  mauy  other  approved  works  00  the 
construction  ^nd  elegance  of  the  English  language.  Mr. 
Walker  not  only. approved  the  plati,  but  joined  him  as  a 
partner  in  the  business,  and  they  opened  a  school  uodte 
this  firm  at  Kensington  Grayel^fiits.  Mr.  Usher^s  acquaint^ 
ance  with  Mr.  Walker  cpmmenced  during  the  fomer'a  ex<« 
cursions  from  Dublin,  to  Bristol,  which  latter  plaee  Mv* 
Walker's  business  led  him^o  tisit  oecasiooaUy.  Their  ac^^ 
quaintance  soon  grew  into  a  friendship^  which  continued 
unbroken  and  undiminished  to  the  close  of  Mr.  Usb^^alUb. 
But  the  school  these  grotleo^en  were  eonbasked  in^  did  not 
stkogetjber  answer  Mr.  Walkitt^s  purposes*  Whether  the 
profits  were  too  Uttle  to  divide,  or  whether  he  thought  he 
4;duld  do  better  a^  a  private  teacher,  it  is  difficult  to  aliy ; 
i^ui  Mr.  Walker,  after  trying  it  for  some  tune,  quilted  liie 
eaisHiectioni  and  codamenced  a  private  teoither,  wfaioii  hb 
very  successfully  eourtinued  to  the  laal.  They  {mited,  innr- 
ever^  with  the  same  casdiality  they  commenced^  and  the 
ctvilittes.  and  fri£Qdship3  of  life  were  mutually  ooAlsnited.. 

Mr.  Usher  being  now  sole  master  of  the  school,  be  culti-< 
Yated  it  with  dillgelhte  and  ability,  and  with  tolerable  suc- 
cess, for  about  four  years  ;  when  n^  died  of  a  consumptiopji 


U  S  B  E  R.  184 

«i  tbe  age  of  ftfty^tfro^  in  1772.  Mr.  Usber'^  firit  publi* 
ofttion  iiras  m'  •mall  pamphlet  ealled  ^  A  New  System  of 
Phiicnopby/*  in  which  be  ceosnret  Locke,  as  leaning  too 
iftvcii  towards  naturalism,  a  doctrine  which  he  coosideKKl 
as  the  bane  of  every  thing  sublime,  elegant,  and  noble* 
He  next  wfote  some  letteni  in  the  Public  Ledger,  signed 
*^  A  Free  Thinker/'  in  which  he  shews  the  incont istency 
and  impolicy  of  the  perseeutions  at  that  time  going  oa 
against  the  Roman  catholics.  His  next  publieation  «ms 
eotilled  ^  Clio,  or  a  discourse  on  Taste,  addressed  to  a 
young  lady;*'  in  whiek  be  endeavours  to  prore,  that  there 
ia  in  several  respects  an  unif^ersal  standard  of  taste  in  the 
soul  of  man^  which,  though  it  may  be  depraved  or  cor^ 
mpted  by  edeeation  and  habit,  can  never  be  totally  eradi- 
cated. To  this  vtfj  ingenioiis  emay,  which  is  toecfaed  with 
elegaiice  and  observatioo,  though,  perhepa,  with  too  nuich 
refioemont,  he  afterwards  add^  *^  An  Inlroduetion  to  the 
Theory  ef  the  Human  Mrnd,'*  intendMasa  refutation  of 
those  deists  who  atiaek  revealed  religion  under  an  apparent 
bppeal  to  philosophy,  bet,  by  the  occasional  shtftieg  of 
principles  and  systems,  and  a  dcKterous  use  of  equivocal 
language,  draw  the  dispute  into  a  kind  of  labyrinth,  in 
which  the  retreats  are  endless,  and  the  victory  always  in** 
complete.^ 

UVEDALE  (RoBEET),  a  learned  botanist,  was  born- in 
the  parish  of  8t.  Margaret,  Westminster,  May  25,  1642.; 
educated  at  Westminster  school  under  Dr.  Busby ;  whence 
be  was  elected  to  Trinity  college,  Cambridge ;  B.  A.  1662; 
M.A,  1666;  LLtD.  Com.  Reg.  16H2;  and  was  master  of 
the  grammar  school  at  Enfield  about  1670.  He  resided  in 
the  old  manor-house  in  that  town  called  Qneen  Elizabeth's 
Palace ;  and,  being  much  attached  to  the  study  of  botany, 
had  a  v^ry  curious  •  gatden  there  ;  and  planted,  among 
ether  trees,  a  oMar  ef  Liksmus,  wtiich  (till  within  these  few 
years)  Witf  one  of  the  6»est  in  the  kingdom,  measuring  {vet 
Octeber  1793)  12  feet  in  the  g«rth.^-4n  an  aeoount  of  tte 
most  remarimUe  gardens,  ;near  Looden  in  1691^  ky  J.  Gib^r 
son,  fMrimedie  the  ArMiiBstogia^  vol.  Xli.  p.  18^  Dr.  Uve^ 
dete  h  saM  to  liwre  <<  «he  greatest  and  ehokest  cellec(icn  ef 
*e«otics  ttet  pevhsps  was  «iny  wheie  in  this  bind.'*~Dr^ 
Pttlfeetiey,  in  his  %t4ef  memeirs  of  Or,  Leonard  Plakoaet^ 
say^i  ^  I  regret  tbsi  i  cannot  collect;  any  viaDerial  anec* 

1  BofOf,  Msf.  fQt  1796, 


IM  U  V  E  D  A  L  E. 

dotes  relating  to  bis  friend  and  fellow  eollegian  Dr;  Uve^ 
dab,  of  whom  Plofcenet  ever  speaks  in  a  style  wbk^in* 
dicates  that  iie  held  hioi  in  great  esteem."*^^*  The  gacdea 
which  be  cultivated  at  Enfield  appears  to  have,  been  rich 
in  exotic  productions;  and  though  be  is  not  known  among 
those  who  advanced  the  indigenous. botany  of  Britain,  yet 
lib  merit  as  a  botanist,  or  hia  patronage  of  the  society  at 
large,  was  considerable  enough  to  incline  Petiver  to  apply 
bis  name  to  a  new  plant,  which  Miller  retained  in- his  Die* 
fionary,  but  wbicb  has  since  passed  intothe  genus  tolym* 
fifff,  of  tlie  Linnssan  system  ;  tfaeautbor  of  which  has  never- 
theless retained  UvedMlia,  as .  tbe>  triivial  mane."  In  the 
British  Museum  (Bibi.  Sloan^  4064,- Phit  28  F.)  are  fifteen 
letters  from  him  to  sir  Hans  Sloaae ;  also  letters  fi^om  him 
to  Dr.  Sherard,  and .  Mr.  James  Betirer. .  Dryden,  Dr. 
Uvedale,  and  other  learned  men,  having  ageeed  to  trans* 
late  Piutarch*s  Lives  from  tl^. original  Greek,  Dr.Uve* 
dale  translated  the  Life  of  Dion,  and  the  work  was  pub* 
lished  in  1684.  A  whole  length  portrait  of  bim,  and  ano- 
ther of  his  wife,  were  in  the  possession  of  the  late  admiral 
Uredale,  of  Bosmere-hoose,  Suffolk  J  i 


V. 


V  ADE"  (John  Joseph),  a  French  poet  of  the  lower  or* 
der,  was  born  January  1720,  at  Ham  in  Picardy,  and  carried 
to  Paris,  at  five  years  old,  by  his  father^  a  small  tradesman, 
but  be  was  so  headstrong,  wild,  and  dissipated  in  bis  youth, 
that  nothing  could  make  him  attend  to  literature.  This  his 
biographers  seem  willing  to  consider  as  an  advantage^  and 
as  giving  a  degree  of  originality  to  bis  works ;  yet  they  tell 
us  that  be  afterwards  read  all  the  best  Freooh  bopks.  He 
invented  a  new  species  of  poetry,  which  his  countrymen 
called  le genre  Poissard  (the  Billingsgate  style).    labring- 

1  HatchiiiB'B  Hut.  of  Dorsetshire.— FuRcney's  Sketches. 


V  A  P  Ef.  187 

kig  this  8t]4e  to  perfection,  be  e«ref«l1y  studied  the  man«^ 
Iters  i»f  the  fish*>wonieny  and  their  diidect,  aiid  introdaeed 
it  in  his  most  popular  performances^  aiid  obtained  from  his 
aMiaiirerS'tlie  title  of  the  Teniers  of  poetry.  His  Tsrioas 
Potsaard  operas,  songs,  parodies,  &c.  bad  great  success ; 
but  were*  mostly  recommended  by  bis  manner  of  reciting 
or  singing  them  ;  for  then,  say  our  authorities,  it  was  not 
imitation,  it  was  nature  herself.  But  this  nature,  this  Pois- 
sard  s^le,  this  freedom  of  phrase,  and  licentious  espres-* 
sions,  render  the  works  of  VadA  very  dangerous,  and  always 
disgusting  to  hearers  of  taste.  They  also  exposed  him  to 
all  the  temptations  of  dissolute  company ;  and  his  passion 
for  gaming,  convirial  pleasures,  and  women,  shortened  bis 
days.  He  was  become  sensible  of  his  errors,  and  had  re« 
soked  tohe  wiser  and  better^  but  bis  resolution  eame  late^ 
and  he  was  cut  off  in  his  tl^rty-sereoth  year,  July  4,  1 757. 
Hia  collected  works  were  poblished  in  1758,  4  vols.  8ro, 
and^siuce,  in  17S6,  in  4to,  with  plates,  but  apparently  only 
aselection^  and  probably  as  much  as  modern  taste  could 
bear.^ 

VADIANUS  (Joachim),  in  German  Von  Watte,  one 
of  the  most  learned  men  of  his  nation  or  time,  was  born  at 
St.  Gal,  Nby.  29,  1484,  of  which  city  his  father,  Joacbim 
Von  Watte,  was  a  senator.  After  some  education  at  home 
be  was  sent  to  Vienna  to  pursue  the  higher  studies,  but 
for  some  time  entered  more  into  the  gaieties  of  the  place, 
and  was  distinguished  particularly  for  his  quarrels  and  his 
duels,  until  by  the  sensible  and  atfectionate  remonstrances 
of  a  .merchant  of  that  city,  to  whose  care  his  father  had 
confided  him,  he  was  induced  to  devote  his  w4fble  time  and 
attention  to  books,  and  never  relapsed  into  his  former  fol- 
lies. When  he  had  acquired  axompetent  share  of  learning 
be  imbed  to  relieve  bis  father  from  any  farther  expence, 
and  with  that  honourable  view  taught  a  school  at  Viliach/ 
in  Carinthia;  but  finding  this  place  too  remotle  from  literary 
soci^y,  be  returned  to  Vienna,  and  in  a  short  •  time  wa« 
chosen  professor  of  the  belles  lettres,  and  acquitted  him«^ 
self  with  such  credit,  and  gained  such  reputation  by  some 
poetry  which  he  published,  that  the  emperor  Maximitiaft 
I.  honoured  him  with  the  laurel  crown  at  Lintz  m  1514.: 
After  some  hesitation  between  law  and  physic,  both  of 
which  he  had  studied,  he  determined  in  favour  of  the  latv 

*  Diet.  Hist.— Moreri. 


I»8  Y  A  D  I;A  N  U  S 


* 


ler,  as  a  prbfession,  and  took  hU  doctot's  degvcto  «t  V^na 
in  1518.  He  appears  to  have  practised  in  that  city^  and 
afterwards  at  St.Gal|  until  the  controversies  arose  respect^ 
ing  the  reformation.  After  examining  the  arguments  of 
the  contending  parties,  he  embraced  the  .cause  of  iiie  re« 
formers ;  and  besides  many  writings  in  favour  of  th^ir  ptm^ 
cipies,  befriended  them  in  his  rank  of  senator,  to  which  lie 
had  been  raised.  In  1526  he  was  fanher  promoted  io  the 
dignity  of  consulof  St.Gal,  the  duties  of  which  he  perfarmed 
so  much  to  the  satisfaction  of  his  coMtiuiaats  that  he  was 
re-elected  to  the  same  office  seven  times*  Ha  died  April 
6y  1551,  in  his  sixty -sixth  year.  He  beqoaatbad  his  books 
to  the  senate  of  St.  Gal,  which  ware  ordered  to  be  placed 
in  the  public  library  of  the  city,  with  an  inscription,  ha- 
nourable  both  to  bis  character  imd  talents.  The  letter  wera 
TCiy  eirtensive,  fov  he  was  well  vetsed  and  isreta  wdl  aa 
mathemaiics,  geography,  philosophyi  aad  medieifia.  Ha 
was  also  a  good  Latin  poet,  and,  above  all,  a  sound  divioa 
and  an  able  controversial  writer.  Joseph  Scaliger  plaoea 
him  among  the  most  learned  men  of  Germany.  He  wae 
intimate  with  ear  iUuslrioas  prelate,  archbistfop  Cranmer,^ 
but  preceded  him  in  some  of  the  dactrinat  of  the  reforma- 
tion. About  1536  he  wrote  a  book  entitled  **  Ai^borjama- 
rum  libri  sex  de  consideratione  EuclMuristiss/*  fcc  arhich 
was  levelled  at  the  popish  doctrine  of  the  corporal  preseooe, 
and  tliinking  it  a  proper  work  for  the  archbishop  to  pateo- 
nize,  presented  it  tp  him;  but  Cranmer  had  not  yet  con- 
sidered the  question  in  that  view,  and  therefora  informed 
Vadian  that  his  book  had  not  made  a  convert  of  him,  .and 
that  he  was  hurt  with  the  idea  of  being  thought  the  patiao 
of  such  unscriptural  opinions.  Vadian  therefore  parsoed 
the  subject  at  home,  and  wrote  two  more  volumes  on  it. 
The  imly  medical  work  he  published  was  his  ^  Consilium 
coiiira  Pestem,  Basil,  1546,  4to.  Those  by  which  ha  is 
best  known  in  the  learned  world,  are,  1.  A  collactiao  of 
remarks  on  various  Latin  authors,  io  his  ^'  Epistola  respoo- 
soria  ad  Rudulphi  Agricolse  epastolam,"  ibid.  1515,  4to« 
2.  His  edition  of  ^<  Pomponius  Mela,"  firat  printed  at  Vi- 
efiaa  in  1518,  foL  and  often  reprinted.  8.  ^'  Scholia  ^hsb- 
dam  in  C.  Plinii  de  Nat.  Hist,  librum  seewiduia,''  Basil, 
1531,  foi.  4.  <<  Cluronologia  Abbatiam  Mooasterii  St.GaUi;'' 
'^  De  obscuris  verborum  significationi&us  epistola;'*  **  Far* 
rago  antiquitatum  Alamannicarum^"  &c.  and  some  other 


V  A  H  L.  ISt 

liMtke^i  wbkib^  are  ioterted  in  Goldaat's  ^*  Alaatiwvam 
Scriptores."  ^ 

VAGA.  ScePERINO. 
.  VAHL  (Martin)^  a  learned  Danish  botanist,  was  born 
at  Bergen  in  Norway,  Oct.  lo,  1749.  He  was  educated 
first  at  Bergen,  and  afterwards  at  tbe  university  of  Copen-* 
bagea,  where  he  passed  a  .year  in  attending  tbe  lectures  of 
2oega,  on  the  plants  <^  ^bc  botanical  garden*  Afticrap'* 
plying  to  tbe  same  study  in  Norway  for  three  years,  he 
went  iu  1769  to  Upsal,  where  he  became  acquainted  with 
LiuuiBus*  la  1774  be  returned  to  Copeafai^en,  and  con^ 
tiaued  to  pursue  his  favourite  study  pC  natural  history 
until  1779,  when  be  was  appointed  lecturer  in  tbe  botani* 
cal  gardeo.  In  1783,  by  the  king- s  order  he  commenced 
bis  travels  through  various  parts  of  Europe^  and  visited 
England^  where  he  fonaied  an  acquaintance  and  aturaci** 
ed  tbe  esteem  of  <  sir  Joseph  Banks,  Mr.Dryaoder,  ke^ 
Onhia  return  in.  1785^  be  was  honoured  with  tbe  title  of 
professor,  and  appoiated  to  prepare  a  *^  Flora  I>aBica,^? 
for  which  purpoae  he  went  to  Norway,  and  investigated 
every  apot  where  mat^ais  for  this  work  could  be  found. 

In  1789  he. was,  by  the  Copenhagen  seciety  of  natural 
history^  appointed  its  first  .professor,  and  in  1799-1 80O  he* 
made,  at  the  expeuce  of  government,  another  joMmey  t9 
Paris  jmd  Holland,  where  he  was  received  with  the  highest 
marks  of  esteem.  On  bis  xetura  he  was  made  professor  of 
botany  at  tbe  botanical  garden,  the  plants  of  wbieb  .^ere 
classed  under  his  superinteudanee^  and  a  catalogue  of  them 
was  i^rinled.  In  1804  he  published  his  <<  Enumeratio  Plan* 
tarumt"  a  part  of  which  only  be  lived  toaee  printed,  as  he 
died  in  December  of  the  same  year  at  Copseohagen,  iu  the 
fifty-fourth  year  of  his  age*  I'hough  botany  was  bis  chief 
pursttitt  be  did  not  neglect  the  other  branches  of  haturat 
history.  Ifis  lectures,  his  different  treatises  on  that  sub'* 
ject,  and  bis  instructive  ooUeetions,  prove  his  knowled|^ 
of  sooiogy  to  have  beeu  very  ex<«ii8ive»  Part  of  <^  Zoolo^ 
gia  Da3Uca,V  still  in  MS,  is  by  him;  awd  of-  tike  contitm*^ 
atioQ  of  ^VtAscani  IconesV-.heialso  supplied  a  part.  Covier 
received  itom  him  nmay  •cbittributiona  to  i^e  natusal  kis-« 
tory  of  quadrupeds,  and  Jabeicisiis  to  that  of  insects. 

By  berborisiBg .himself  firom  the  esLtremity  of  Necwajr  im 

• .  .  ■  *  ■  •  ' 

I  Metcbipr  Adam.-^Niceroni  vol.  XTIXVII.— Strype's  Life  of  Cranmeri^. 


If 0  V  A  H  L. 

Portugali  in  several  ishiids  of :  the  Medrterranc^n;  d&rd  ttf 
Barbary,  he  bad  already  collected  a  considerable  herba- 
rium, which  was  greatly  augmented  by  the  liberality  of  his 
friends.  He  ako  collected  an  uncommonly  complete  bo- 
tanical library. 

His  writiQgis  are,  besides  the  ^*  Flora  Danica/'  6  vol^^ 
and  a  great  many  tracts  in  the  memoirs  of  the  Society  of 
I4atnral  History,  ^<  Symbolas  Botanicse,'*  3  volt. ; '  <<  Eclogse 
AmericansB,^'  2 vols. ;  ** Decades  Iconiim,"  t  vols.;  and  last 
ef  all,  *^  Enumeraiio  Plantarism  vel  ab  ipso  vet  ab  aliis  ob* 
senratarum,'*  Halniss^  1804*^1807,  2  vols.  ^vo.  Shortly 
before  his  death,  |dr.  Vahl  received  a  letter  fnom  the  go-^ 
vernors  of  the  fun4  *^  Ad  Usos  Publtcos,''  staling  in  very 
flattering  expressions,  that  the  king,  in  consideration  of 
his  persevering  and  honourable  eiForts  towards  the  improve- 
sftentof  botany,  had  been  pleased  most  graciously  to  grant 
bim,  out  of  that  fund,  a  gratification  of  500  rix^-dollars,  as 
an  encouragement.to thecontinuation  of  his  ^< Entrmeratio 
Plantarum.^'  His  great  herbarium  and  botanical  library, 
ecAiprising  nearly  3000  volumes,  and  his  manuscripts,  have 
been  purchased  by  the  Danish  government,  for  3000  rix« 
dollars,  and  an  annuity  of  400  rix*dollars  to  bis  widow, 
and  100  rix*dollars  to  each  of  bis  six  surviving  children, 
for  life.  * 

VAILLANT  (John  Foi),  a  great  medallist,  to  whom 
France  was  indebted  for  the  science  of  medals,  and  Lewis 
XIV.  for  one  half  of  his  cabinet,  was  born  at^  Beauvais, 
]4ay  the  24th,  1682.  He  lost  his  father  when  he  was  three 
years  old,  and  fell  under  the  eate  of  an  uncle,  a  brother 
of  bis  mother,  who  educated  him,  and  made  him  his  heir« 
He  was  trained  with  a  view  of  succeeding  to  a  magistracy 
irbich  his  uncle  possessed ;  but,  being  too  yoOug  for  this 
when  bis  uncle  died,  be  changed  his  views,  and  applied' 
Junself  to  physic,  in  which  faculty  lie  was  admitted  doctor 
at  twenty*four.  He  bad  as  yet  discovered  no  particular  iit--' 
clination  for  the  study  of  medals;  but  an  occasionnow  pre* 
atoted  itself  which  induced  him  to  engage  in  it.  A  farooer 
hi  the  neighbourhood  of  Beauvais  found  a  great  ^quantity 
of  ancient  medals,  and  carried  them  to  Mr.  Vaillant,  who 
examiued-them  at  first  sightly  and  in  a  cursory  way,  bat 
afterwards  aat  down  to  study  them  with  attention ;  and  bis 
taiste  for  medals  increased  with  the  discoveries  he  made 

1  Diet:  Hist. 


Y  i  I  n  L  A  N  ,T.  If  I 


of  their  aatttra  vtid  ;ii$d^  till  he  dented  hi9K»elf  almo^fi 
tirely  t.o  them* 

Being  cAiled  %o  ParU  about  bosine^s^  be  paid  a  visit  to 
Mr.  Seg4xin»  who  had  a  6ne  cabinet  of  medals^  and  w«i 
also  greatly  attached  to  this  study.  SeguiOi  from  their 
con£ereoces,  sppa  perceived  the  superior  genius  of  Vail* 
lant,  wfaicb  seepaeo  to  him  to  promise  much  in  a  science 
yet  in  its  iofaocy ;  and  pressed  him  to  make  himself  a  little 
more  Jcnown.  He  accordiugty  visited  some  antiquaries  of 
reputation  in  qfiedailic  science ;  till  at  length,  falling  under 
the  notice  of  the  minister  Colbert,  he  received  a  coj^mi^* 
sioo  to  travel  through  Italy,  Sicily,  and  Gceece^  in  qipest 
of  medals  proper  for  the  king's  cabinet ;  and  after  spend- 
ing some  years,  in  this  pursuit,  returned  with  as  many  me« 
dais  as  made  the.  king's  cabinet  superior  to  any  one  in 
Europe,  though,  great  additions  have  been  made  to  it  sinoe^ 
Colbert  engag^  hipn  to  travel  a  second  time ;  and  accord- 
ingly, in  d 674,  he  went  and  embarked  at  Ma];8eilles  wiil^ 
several  Other  gentlemen^  who  proposed,  as  well  as  himself, 
to  b^at  Rome  at  the  approaching  jubilee.  .  But  unfortu-» 
nately,  on  the  second  day  of  their  sailing,  they  were  cap-- 
tured  by  an  Algerine  corsair;  and  it  was  not  until  a  slavery 
of  near  five  months,  that  Valliaot  was  permitted  to  retura 
to  France,  and  sitrong  remonstrances  having  been  made  by 
th^  French  court,  he  recovered  at  the  same  time  twenty 
gold  medals  which  had  been  taken  from  him.  He  then 
embarked  in  a  vessel  bound  for  Marseilles,  and  was  carried 
on  with  a  favourable  wind  for  two  days,  when  another  cor- 
sair appeared,  which,  in  spite  of  all  the  saU  they  coul4 
9iak/^,  bore  down  upon  them  within  the  reach  of  cannon- 
shot.  Yaillaot^  dreading  the. miseries  of  a  fresh  slavery^ 
resolved,  however,  to  secure  the  medals  which  he  had  re- 
eeived  at  Algiers,  and  had  recourse  to  the  strange  expe- 
dient of  swallowing  them.  But  a  sudden  turn  of  the  wind 
fc^ed  them  from  this  adversary,  and  cast  them  upon  the  coasts 
of  Catalonia ;  where^  after  expecting  to  run  aground  every 
moment,  they  at  length  fell  among  the  sands  at  the  mouth 
of  tlie  Rhone.  Vailiaut  got  on  shore  in  a  skiff,  but  felt 
hinnself  eati^emely  incommoded  with  the  medals,  he  had 
swallowed^,  of  wbiob,  however,  nature  afterwards  reliev^rd 

hiqi.  I. 

Upon  his  arrival  at  Paris,  he  received  fresh  instrucitions,: 
and  made  another  and  a  more  successful  voyage.  He  pene-- 
trated  into  the  very  heart  ef-£gypt  and  Persia,  and  there 


i92  V  A  1  L  L  A  N  T. 

found  ndw  treasttfres,  whieb  made  ample  amends  ht  all  bii  fit* 
tigues  and  perils.  He  was  greatly  caresscfd  and  rawarded 
«t  his  return.  When  Lewis  XlV.  gave  a  new  form  to  the 
ftcademy  of  inscriptions  in  1701,  Vaillant  was  at  first  made 
associate ;  and  the  year  after  pensioaary^  upon  the  death 
ef  M.  Charpentier.  He  died  of  an  apoplexy,  October  23, 
1706,  in  bis  76th  year.  He  bad  two  wives,  and  by  virtue 
of  a  dispensation  from  the  pope  had  married  two  sisters^ 
by  whom  he  had  several  children,  and  one  soik  The  first 
of  his  works  was  published  at  Paris  in  1674,  ].  **  Nuniis- 
inata  imperatorum  Romanorum  prsestantiora  a  Julid  Csesar^ 
ad  Posthumum  &  tyrannos,*'  4to.  A  aecond  edition,  with 
great  additions,  was  printed  1694^  in  two  volumes  4to;  and 
afterwards  a  third.  In  this  last  he  omitted  a  great  number 
of  n\edais  which  he  bad  discovered  to  be  spurious;  but 
neglected  to  mention  what  cabinets  each  medal  was  to  be 
found  in,  as  he  had  done  in  the  second  edition,  which  has 
made  the  second  generally  preferred  to  it.  .9*  '^  Seleuci** 
darum  imperium,  seu  bistoria  regum  SyrieB^  ad  fidem  nu- 
mismatum  accommodata^*'  Paris,  1681,  4to.  Thia  work 
throws  much  light  upon  an  obscure  part  of  ancient  history, 
that  of  the  kings  of  Syria,  usually  called  Seleucides,  from 
Seleucus,  one  of  Alexander's  lieutenants,  who  founded  that 
kingdom  about  300  years  before  Christ.  3.  <<  Numismata 
serea  imperatorum,  Augustorum,  &  Cs&sarum,  in  coloniis^, 
municipiis,  &  urbibus  jure  Latio  donatis,  ex  omni  modula 
percussa,''  Paris,  1688,  2  torn,  folio.  4.  ^*  Numismata  im- 
peratorum &  Cflssarum,  a  populis  Romanse  ditionis  Graece 
loquentibus  ex  omni  modulo  percussa,*'  Paris,  1698,  4to« 
A  second  edition,  enlarged  with  700  medals,  was  printed 
at  Amsterdam,  1700,  in  folio.  5.  '^  Historia  PtolemsBorum 
iEgypti  regum  ad  fidem  numismatum  accommedata,^* 
Amst.  1701,  folio.  6.  '' Nummi  antiqui  familiarum  Ro« 
inanarum  perpetuis  interpretationibus  illustrati,''  Amst. 
1703,  2  tom.  folio.  7.  ^^  Arsacidarum  imperium,  sive  re^' 
gum  Parthorum  historia  ad  fidem  numismatum  accommo* 
data,"  Paris,  1725,  4to.  8.  ^*  AchsEmenidariim  imperium, 
iive  regum  Ponti,  Bospfaori,  Thracite,  £c  Bithynisc  histocia, 
ad  fidem  numismatum  accommodata,"  Paris,  1725,  4to^ 
Besides  these  works,  he  was  the  author  of  ^ome  pieces 
which  are  printed  in  the  ^^  Memoirs  of  the  aoadenvy  of  Iq* 
acriptiotts  and  Belles  Lettres.^'  \ 

^'Vic9t9ffh  voir  J!I.«— CbAufepit.—- Moivri. 


\ 


V  A  I  L  L  A  N  T. 


193 


VAILLANT  (John  Francis  Foi),  son  ©f  the  preceding, 
was  born  at  Rome  in  1665,  while  his  father  was  upon  bis 
travels  in  quest  of  raecials  and  antiques.  He  was  brought 
to  Beauvais  in  1669,  and  at  twelve  years  of  age  sent  to 
Paris,  where  he  was  instructed  by  the  Jesuits  in  the  belles 
lettres  and  philosophy.  He  applied  hinfiself,  as  bis  father 
bad  done,  to  the  study  of  physic,  and  was  received  doctor 
in  that  faculty  at  Paris  in  1691.  He  was  initiated  into  the 
science  of  medals,  and  would  have  shone  like  his  father  if 
bis  life  bad  been  spared;  yet  his  merit  was  reputed  very 
great,  and  he  was  admitted  into  the  academy  of  inscrip- 
tions and  belles  lettres  in  1702.  He  died  in  1708,  about 
two  years  after  bis  father,  of  an  abscess  in  bis  head,  which 
was  supposed  to  bave  been  occasioned  by  a  fall.  He  wrote 
a  professional  tract  on  the  virtues  of  coffee',  and  various  dis- 
sertations on  the  subject  of  medallic  history,  and  one  on 
the  Dii  Cabiri.  '^ 

VAILLANT  (Sebastian),  a  distinguished  botanist,  was 
born  May  26,  1669,  at  Vigny,  near  Pontoise.  His  first 
pursuits  were  various,  having  attained  reputation  as  an  or- 
ganist, then  as  a  surgeon,  and  afterwards  as  secretary  to  M. 
Fagon,  chief  physician  to  Louis  XIV.  Fagon  appears  to 
have  given  his  talefits  the  right  direction,  by  placing  htm  in 
the  office  of  directorof  the  royal  garden,  which  he  enriched 
yfhh  curious  plants.  Vaillant  became  afterwards  professor 
and  sub-demoiistrator  of  plants  in  the  abovementioned  gar- 
deuj  keeper  of  the  kingS  cabinet  of  drugs,  and  a  member 
of  the  academy  of  sciences.  He  died  of  an  asthma,  May 
26,  1722,  leaving  a  widow,  but  no  childreUr  His  works 
are  :  some  excellent  remarks  on  M.  de  Tournefort's:''In- 
stitutiones  Rei  herbariae;''  an  essay  on  the  structure  of 
flowers,  and  the  use  of  their  various  parts,  Leyden,  1728, 
4to,  but  rather  too  florid  for  pbilpsopbical  narration  ;  ^<  Bo* 
taoicon  Parisiense,"  with  plates,  published  by  Boerhaave, 
Leyden,  1727,. fol.  When  Vaillant  found,  his  health  de- 
clining, he.  was  anxious  to  preserve  his  papers  from  obli« 
vioti,  and  bad  solicited  Boerhaave  to  purchase  and  publish 
them.  .  Our  countryman,  Dr.  Sherard,  who  was  then  at 
Paris,  negociated  this  business,  and  spent  the  greater  part 
of  the  summer  with  Boerhaave,  in  reducing  the  manuscripts 
into  order.  To  Sherard,  therefore,  principally,  the  learned 
owe  the  ^'  Botanicon  Parisiense/'  to  which  is  prefixed  a 

>  CiMBftpic.-*KiMron,  tol.  XV. 

Vol.  XXX.  O 


19*  V  A  I  L  L  A  N  T. 

Latin  letter  by  Dr.  Sherard^  giving  an  accdunt  of  this  trans^ 
action.  '    , 

VAISSETTE  (Joseph),  a  French  historian,  was  born  ih 
1685,  at  Gaillac  in  Agenois.  He  was  for  some  time  king^6 
attorney  in  the  country  of  the  Albigenses,'but  in  1711  en- 
tered the  Benedictine  order  in  the  priory  of  la  Daurade  at 
Toulouse.  His  studious  turn,  and  taste  for  history,  induced 
his  superiors  to  send  for  him  to  Paris  in  1713,  where  they 
employed  him  in  writing  the  history  of  Languedoc  with 
Claude  de  Vic.  The  first  volume  appeared  1 730,  and  de 
Vic  dying  in  1734,  the  whole  of  this  great  work  devolved  on 
Vaissette,  who  executed  it  with  success,  and  published  the 
four  other  volumes.  At  the  end  of  each  are  learned  and 
curious  notes,  and  throughout  the  whole  be  is  candid  and 
impartial,  especially  in  speaking  of  the  protestants.  He  had 
before  written  a  small  piece  **  On  the  Origin  of  the  French 
Monarchy,"  which  was  well  received;  and  afterwards  pub- 
Ibhed  an  abridgment  of  bis  '^^  History  of  Languedoc," 
1749,  6  vols.  12mo.  Vaissette  has  also  left  a  ^^  Universal 
Geography,"  4  vols.  4to,  and  12  vols.  12mo,  which  wad 
formerly  thought  one  of  the  best  the  French  had,  though 
iK>t  wholly  free  from  errors.  He  died  in  the  abbey  of  St. 
Germain-des-Pres  at  Paris,  April  ID,  1756.  * 

VALDES,  or  VALDESSO  (John),  a  Spanish  reformer 
of  the  sixteenth  century,  was  of  a  ifoble  family  in  Spain; 
and  a  soldier  under  Charles  the  Vth,  who  knighted  bim« 
After  some  years  speqt  in  a  military  lifb,  he  desired  leave 
torethre;  and  when  Charles  inquired  whether  his:  reqii6^ 
'proceeded  from  disgust,  his  answer  was,  '<It  is  necessary 
that  a  soldier,  biefore  his  death,  should  ;give- some  time  to 
religious  meditation^"  He  left  his  native  coudtny,  «iid  re* 
tired  to  Naples,  where  he  became  the  head  of  a  sect  of 
the  reformed,  and  many  persons  of  great  distinction  fAU 
tended  his  lectures.  He  was  particularly  connected  with 
Bernard  Ochin,  Peter  Martyr,  and  other  ledrned  men  of 
great  character  amongst  the  reformers  of  timt  time ;  and 
he  attacked^  with  success,  many  bf'the  corruptions  of  the 
church  of  Rome.  Thus  far  is  collected  from  the  old  French 
preface  to  his  <^  Considerations,"  and  confirmed  by  Mn 
Ferraris  (the  traiylator)  account  in  a  tetter  of  Mr.  George 
Herbert. 

By  sotne^  Valdesso 'W&s  thought  toican  too  much  Co 

1  Cli«Hfepie.«-»Niceioii,  t^l  I^^-^PatecMf^tfikflelMl*  >  0ict.  Hitt.- 


r  A  L  D  E  S.  Idf 

the  doctrines  of  the  Unitarians,  in  oppodlioa  to  tfae  Tri«^ 
nitarian  system.  And  this  circuflostance,  we  suppose,  mi^ 
account  for  a  passage  in  Mr.  George  Herbert'^  letter  tqp 
Mr.  I^icholas  Ferrar  concerning  his  translation  of  •tliis  work,* 
which  he  earnestly  desires  may  be  published,  notwith^tand^ 
ing  some  things  which  he  does  not  approve.  Mvt  George 
Herbert  was  a  conscientious  Trinitarian ;  and,  besides 
tikis,  there  are  undoubtedly  some  p^uiges  in  Vajdesso,  in 
which  he  seems  to  depreciate  the  dpkority  of  the  Bcrip<« 
tures;  which  might  give  just  cause  ofofFence* 

The  French  edition  of  Yaldesso  referred  to  above  was 
published  at  Paris  in  1565,  and  was  taken  from  an  Italiati 
translation  of  the  original  Spanish :  in  which,  it  is  said^ 
were  preserved,  not  only  some  of  the  idioms,  but  alsbmany 
words  of  the  Spanish  original*  Mr.  Ferraris  English  trans- 
lation was  printed  at  Oxford  in  1638,  but  without  bis 
name  ;  and  if  it  should  be  asked  why  Mr.  Ferrar,  who  was 
perfect  master  of  the  Spanish,  as  well  as  the  kalian  lao-^ 
guage,  chose  to  translate  froth  a  translation  vadiher  than  .the 
original,  he  himself  has  given  the  reason  in  his  own  |ire« 
face :  *^  These  truly  divine  meditations  of  sir  John  Va^lde^r 
so^  a  nobleman  of  Spain  (who  died  almost  a  hundred  years 
ago),  having  been  so  acceptable  to  pious  Vergerius,  to 
learned  Ca^lius  Secundus  Curio,  and  to  many  other  both 
French  and  Italian  Protestants,  that  they  have  been  trans-^ 
lated  out  of  the  original  Spanish  copy,  and  printed  three 
or  four  times  in  those  languages ;  it  seemeth  to  me  a  rea^ 
sonable,  and  a  charitable  desire,  to  print  <them  now  in 
English,  without  any  alteration  at  all  from  the  Italian  copy^ 
the  Spanish  being  either  not  extant,  or  not  easy  to  be 
foqnd.*' 

In  a  letter  of  Herbert's  he  gives  the  following  additional 
particulars  of  Yaldesso  :  *'  John  Yaldeaso  was  a  nSpaniard 
of  great  learning  and  virtue,  much  valued  by  Charles  V^ 
whom  he  had  attended  in  all  his  wars.  When  he  was  grown 
old,  and  weary  both  of  war  and  of  the  world,  he  took  a 
proper  opportunity  to  declare  to  the  emperor  his  resolu^ 
tion  to  decline  the  militairy  service,  and  betake  himself 
to  a  quiet  contemplative  life,  because,  he  said,  there  ought 
to  be  sQme  vacancy  of  time  between  lighting  and  dying.  It 
happened  at  that  time  the  emperor  himself  had  made, 
though  not  publicly  declared,  the  same  resolution.  He 
therefore  desired  Yaldesso, to  consider  well  what  hel^ad 
said,  and  conceal  his  purpose  till  they  might  have  oppor-* 

o  2 


196  V  A  L:  D.  E  S. 

tuniCy  for  a  friendly  discQurse  about  it.  This  opportanity 
soon  offered,  and,  after  a  pious  and  free  discourse  to-« 
gether,  they  agreed,  thafe  on  a  certain  day  they  would 
publicly  receive  the  sacrament.  At  which  time  the  empe- 
ror appointed  an  eloquent  friar  to  preach  oq  the  contempt 
of  the '  world,  and  the  happiness  of  a  quiet  contem* 
plative  life.  After  sermon,  the  emperor  declared  openly 
that  the  preacher  had  begotten  in  him  a  resolution  to  lay 
down  his  dignities,  -ifk  {orsa.ke  the  world,  a^d  betake  him- 
self to  a  monastic  life.  And  he  pretended  that  he  bad 
also  pers\iaded  John  Valdesso  to  do  the  like.  Not  long  after 
they  carried  their  resolutions  into  execution.'' 

The  translation  of  the  above  work  of  Valdesso  was 
printed  at  Oxford  1638,  8vo,  and  entitled  ^^  The  hundred 
and  ten  Considerations  of  Signior  John  Valdesso,  &c.'^ 
Subjoined  is  an  epistle,  written  by  Valdesso  to  lady  Donna 
Julia  de  Gonzaga,  to  wbom  he  dedicates  '^  A  Commentary 
upon  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans.''  It  appears,  that  along 
with  this  commentary  he  sent  to  her  all  St.  Paul's  epistles, 
translated  from  the  Greek  into  the  ordinary  Castilian  Ian-  ' 
guage.  Hei  says,  that  he  bad  before  translated  the  Psalms 
of  David  from  the  original  Hebrew,  for  her  use;  and  he 
■  promises  to  furnish  her  with  the  history  of  Christ  in  the 
same  language,  at  such  time  iatid  manner  as  shall  pleas^ 
the  **  divine  Majesty." 

*  In  the  mean  lime  Valdesso  had  made  many  converts  to 
the  reformed  opinions,  until  the  Spanish  Inquisition  inter- 
fered, and  either  compelled  his  disciples  to  fly  or  to  recant. 
He  dried  at  Naples  in  1540.  He  wrote  some  commentaries 
on  different  parts  of  the  Bible ;  but  his  **  Considerations'* 
are  his  principal  work.^ 

VALDO.    gee  WALDO. 

VAUENTINE  (Basil),  is  the  name,  real  or  assumed^ 
of  a  celebrated  althymist,  and  one  of  the  founders  of  mo* 
dern  chemistry.  The  few  particulars  we  have  of  his  life 
are  so  coiitradictory  that  many  have  supposed  that  no  such 
person  ever  existed,  and  that  the  name  Basil  Valentine^ 
which  is'Composed  of  a  Greek  and  Latin  word,  signifying 
a  powerful  kingy  was  a  disguise  under  which  some  adept 
f^ished  to  conceal  his  real  name,  and  at  the  same  time  in* 
dicate  the  scwereign  power  of  chemistry.  At  what  time  this 
adept  lived  is  also  a  disputed  point.     Some  say  he  tived  in 

»  Geo.  Diet— Peckard'i  Life  •fNich.F€rrar.--Herbtrt*iIJfe  by  WaltQi^ 


VALENTINE.  197 

the  twelfth  century,  others  make  him  a  native  of  Erfurt, 
born  in  1394,  and  give  1415  as  the  date  of  his  writings,  or 
as  the  time  when  he  began  to  write,  but  this  last  is  certainly 
inadmissible,  as  he  mentions  the  morbus  GaUicus  and  Lues, 
Gallica  as  being  common  in  German}^,  which  we  know  could 
not  be  the  oase  before  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century. 

'Those  who  make  him  a  native  of  Erfurt  tell  us  likewise 
that  he  was  a  Benedictine  monk,  and  that  after  making  some 
experiments  on  the  stikium  of  the  ancients,  he  threw  a  quan* 
tity  of  it  to  the  hogs,  whom  it  first  purged  and  afterwards 
fattened.  This  suggested  to  him  that  it  might  be  useful  in 
order  to  give  a  little  of  the  embonpoint  to  his  brother  monks,* 
who  had  beqome  lean  by  fasting  and  mortification.  He  ac* 
cordingly  prescribed  it,  and  they  all  died,  whence  the  me- 
dicfne  was  afterwards  known  by  the  name  oiantimonify  quasi 
anti-monk.  It  is  added  that  his  works  were  not  known  for 
a  long  time  after  his  death,  until  on  opening  one  of  the 
pillars  of  the  church  of  Erfurt,  they  were  miraculously  dis« 
covered.  But  unfortunately  for  these  stories,  Boerfaaave 
has  proved  that  there  never  was  a  monastery  of  Benedic* 
tines  at  Erfurt,  and  we  have  already  proved  that  the  books 
published  under  the  name  of  Basil  Valentine  could  not  have' 
been  written  in  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century.  It 
appears,  however,  whatever  their  date,  that  they  were  ori- 
ginally written  in  Dutch,  and  that  a  part  only  have  been 
translated  into  Latin,  and  probably  have  received  additions 
from  other^  hands.  All  that  have  been'  published  are  still 
in  considerable  request,  and  are  become  scarce.  Among 
them  are ;  1 .  '^  De  microcosmo,  deque  magno  mundi  mi- 
nisterio  et  medicina  hominis,''  Marpurg,  1609,  8vo.  2. 
'' Azoth,  sive  Aurelioe  philosophorum,^'  Francfort,  1613f 
4to.  3.  ^^  Practica,  una  cum  duodecim  clavibus  et  appen* 
dice,*'  ibid.  1618,  4to.  4.  **  Apocalypsis  chymica,"  Er-' 
furt,  1624,  Svo.  5.  **  Manifestatro  artificiorum,*'  Erfurt, 
1624,  4to.  ,6.  "  Currus  triumphalis  a^timonii,"  Leip.  1624, 
Svo,  reprinted  at  Amsterdam,  1671,  12mo,  '^  cum  com- 
mentarii?  Theod.  Kerkringii."  T.  "  Tractatus  chimico- 
philosophus'  de  rebus  natunalibus  et  praeternaturalibus  me- 
tallorum  et  minet-alium,'*  Francfort,  1676,  «vo.  8,  "  Ha- 
liographia,  de  praeparatione,  usu,  ac  vircutibus  omnium 
salium  mineralium,  animalium,  ac  vegetabilium,  ex  ma- 
nuscriptis  Basilii  Valentini  coilecta  ab  Ant»  Salmincio,**> 
Bologna,  1644,  Svo.  There  are  editions  of  these  in  Dutch, 
and  translations  into  French,  English,  and  other  languages 


19» 


VALENTINE. 


of  ibosl  of  tbem.  Whoeyer  Basil  was,  bis  experiments  are 
always  to  be  depended  on,  and  bis  style  is  clear  and  pre- 
cise, unless  where  be  talks  of  bis  arcava  and  tbe  philoso- 
pher's stone,  on  which  be  is  as  obscure  as  any  of  his  bre- 
tbten.  After  every  preparation,  he  gives  its  medicinal  uses, 
and  it  has  been  said  that  Van  Uelmont,  Lemery,  the  father, 
and  other  moderns,  are  under  greater  obligations  to  his 
works  than  they  have  thought  proper  to  acknowledge.  He 
was  the  first  who  recommended  the  internal  use  of  anti- 
mony, and  he  has  enriched  the  pharmacopceia  with  various 
preparations  of  that  metal,  particularly  the  empyreumatic 
carbonate  of  antimony,  of  which  Sylvius  Deleboe  claimed 
the  discovery.  * 

VALENTINUS,  author  of  tbe  heretical  sect  called  Va- 
lentinians,  was  an  Egyptian,  and,  according  to  Dansus, 
was  educated  at  Alexandria.  He  aspired  to  the  episcopal 
dignity;  but  being  set  aside  by  another,  who  was  after- 
wairds  martyred,  he  formed  the  design  to  oppose  the  true 
doctrine  of  Christ.  He  came  to  Rome  A.D.  140,  during 
the  pontificate  of  Hyginus,  and  there  created  great  dis« 
turbances.  Iti  143,  he  was  censured  by  the  church,  and 
excluded  the  congregation ;  which  was  so  far  from  hum- 
bling, him,  that  he  retired  into  Cyprus,  where  be  propagated 
his  erroneous  doctrines  with  still  greater  boldness.  He  was 
learned,  eloquent,  and  bad  studied  the  Grecian  language, 
particularly  the  Platonic  philosophy.  Thus,  from  nice  and 
witty,  or  sophistical,  distinctions,  mixing  the  doctrine  of 
ideas,  and  the  mysteries  of  numbers  with  the  Theogony  of 
Hesiod,  and  the  Gospel  of  St.  John,  which  was  the  only 
one  recrived  by  him,  he  formed  a  system  of  religious  philo- 
sophy, not  very  different  from  that  of  Basilides  and  the 
Gnostics,  and  in  some  respects  more  absurd  than  either. 
The  rise  of  bis  heresy  was  iti  the  reign  of  Adrian.  Fieury 
places  it  A.D.  143,  as  do  Danasus,  Tillemont,  and  Echard. 
Valentine  himself  died  A:D.  160.  His  errors  spread  at 
Rome,  in  Gaul,  and  Syria^  but  particularly  in  the  Isle  of 
Cyprus  and  Egypt,  and  continued  until  the  fourth  cen- 
tury. Bishop  Hooper,  in  his  tract  ^^  De  Haeresi  Valed- 
tiniana,"  has  deduced  this  heresy  from  tbe  Egyptian  mys- 
teries. IrensBus  was  the  principal  writer  against  Va- 
lentinus,  to  whom  may  be  added  Tertullian,  Clemens 
Alexandriaus,  &c.  and  among  the  moderns,  Buddeus  ^^  Dis- 

'  £lo7,  Diet.  Hi^  de  Med«eme.<— Biof .  Umv.    Both  in  art.  Buile. 


. 


Y  A  L  E  N  T  I  N  U  S.  i9d. 

^ert  de  hiereai  Yal^nUoiajia*''  The  ^utboc  q|  tl^is  beresy 
is  9ai(l  to  ka.vq  at  l^t  abjured  bis  errorsi  apd  wa$  receivedr 
i4Mo  the  church  agaia^  but  we  have  no  fsMCtber  account  o£ 
hk  personal  history.  ' 

VALENTINUS  (Michael  B£RNARd),  a  b^Uuical  and 
Qiedical  writer,  was  born  at  Giessen  in  Germany,  Nov.  26, 
1657,  and  having  studied  medicine,  becajoie  a  professor  of 
the  science  in  his  native  place,  where  he  died  March  13^ 
1726.  He  wrote  a  great  oiany  works  op  the  subject  oi 
his  professioQ,  but  is  thought  to  have  succeeded  best  iti 
those  which  concern  botany.  Among  his  writings  of  both, 
Hinds  are,  X,  **  Hiatoria  simplicium  reformata,  Francfort^ 
1716,  fol.  1726,  both  with  plates.  2.  <^  AodphitheatruQi 
ZootomicuiQ ,"  ibid.  1720,  foi.  This  was.  pecker's  trans* 
latio^  from  the  original,  published  in  German  in  1704 — 
ni4,  3  vols.  fol.  and  subjoined  is  a  life  of  Valentinus, 
written  in  verse  by  himself.  3.  "  Medicina  nova-antiqua,'* 
ibid.  17^3,  4to.  4.  ^^  Cynosi^ra  materia  medics;,**  Stras-. 
burgh,  1726,  3  vols.  5.  <*  Viridarium  reformatum,"  Franc- 
forl,  1720,  fol.  wiih  fine  plates.  6.  "Corpus  juris  medico-^ 
legale,"  ihi^.  1722,  fol.;  but  this  appears  to  be  a  second 
edition  of  his  "Novellsa  Medico-legales,'*  printed  in  17  U» 
4to,  and  contains  many  curious  cases  and  questions  whidai 
illustrate  the  state  of  medical  jurisprudence  at  a  time  whea 
it,  was  not  much  freed  from  superstition  and  credulity. 
Yalratinus  published  also  a  ^^  Praxis  medicinse  iufallibilis," 
in  whiqh  he  describes  the  fiUering*stoue  now  so  well  known  j 
and  anotjber  work,  giving  a  history  of  philosophy,  "Arma** 
m^ntarium  Naturse  systematicqm,  seu  Introductio  ad  phi* 
Josopbiam  modernorqm  naturalem,*'  Giessen,  4to.  To  this 
he  adds  an  abridgment  of  the  most  remarkable  papers  on 
natural  history  from  the  transactions  of  the  society  "  Natu* 
rse  Curiosorum." ' 

YALERIANUS  (Pibrius),  or  Valeriano  Bolzani,  an 
ingenious  and  learned  Italian,  was  born  at  Belluno,  in  the^ 
$tate  of  Yenice,  about  1477.  He  lost  his  father  at  nir^ 
years  of  age,  and  was  reduced  with  his  mother  and  breth  ^en 
tp  great  poverty,  which  so  retarded  his  studies  that  hf*  ^^^^^ 
fifteen  years  old  before  he  learned  to  read;  but hi'^  m^^tJe 
Urbanus  Bolzanius  (see  vol.  YI.  p.  36),  who  was  a^^terwards 
preceptor  in  the  Greek  language  to  LeoX.  took  hiw,  under 

1  Dupin. — Mosheim. 

s  Diet  Hist.— Halier  Bibl.  Bot.— -Mangett  BibI*  where  i  a  tbie  poetical  ac- 
cqunt  of  hii  Life.  -^^  -^  r . 


200  VALE  R  I  ANUS. 

his  protection,  and  had  him  liberally  educated.  He  srtadied 
the  Latin  and  Greek  tongues  under  Valla  and  Lascaris;  and 
made  so  wonderful  a  progress,  that  he  was  accounted  one 
of  the  most  learned  men  of  his  age.  Going  to  Rome  un- 
der the  pontificate  of  Julius  IL  he  became  the  favourite  of 
John  de  Medicis  (afterwards  Leo  X.),  who  committed  to 
bis  care  the  conduct  and  instruction  of  two  nephews ;  and 
the  cardinal  Julius  de  Medicis,  who  entered  upon  the  pon- 
tificate in  1523,  under  the  name  of  Clement  VIL  shewed 
him  the  same  regards  He  offered  him  first  the  bishopric 
of  Justinople,  and  then  that  of  Avignon ;  but  Valerianus 
refused  them  both,  being  fully  satisfied  with  the  place  of 
apostolic  notary.  He  was  in  imminent  danger,  v^hen 
Rome  \va8  taken  in  1.527  ;  and  the  year  after  retired  to  Bel- 
luno,  for  the  sake  of  that  tranquillity  which  he  had  never 
found  at  court.  Yet  he  sufi*ered  himself  to  be  drawn  from 
his  retirement  by  Hypolite  de  Medicis,  one  of  his  pupils ; 
who,  being  made  a  cardinal  in  1529,  chose  him  for  his 
secretary.  He  continued  in  this  office  till  the  death  of  the 
cardinal  in  1535;  and  seems  to  have  passed  the  next  two 
years  with  his  other  pupil  Alexander  de  Medicis,  who  had 
been  made  first  duke  of  Florence  in  1531.  Upon  the 
death  of  Alexander,  in  1537,  he  retired  to  Padua;  where 
he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  life  among  his  books,  and 
died  in  155S. 

He  composed  several  learned  and  curious  works,  some 
of  which  were  published  in  his  life-time,  some  not  till  after 
his  death.  Among  the  former  are,  **  De  Fulminum  signi^ 
ficationlbus,'*  RomsB,  1517,  printed  also' in  the  5th  vo- 
lume of  Gra^vius's  Roman  Antiquities.  "  Pro  Sacerdotum 
barbis  defensio,''  Roniae,  1531,  occasioned  by  an  intention 
to  renew  a  decree,  pretended  to  be  made  by  an  ancient 
council,  and  confirmed  by  pope  Alexander. HI.  by  which 
priests  were  forbidden  to  wear  long  beards.  '^  Castigationes 
Virgilianae  lectionis,^'  printed  in  Robert  Stephens's  Virgil 
at  Paris,  1532,  and  since  reprinted  with  the  hest  editions 
of  this  poet.  "  Hieroglyphica,  sive  de  sacris  Egyptiorum 
aliarumque  gentiuni  liceris  Commentariorum  libri  LVIII.'* 
Basil,  1566.  In  this  he  attempts  to  illustrate,  from  Egyp- 
tian, Greek,  and  Roman  symbols,  almost  every  branch  of 
science  and  art,  but  is  supposed  to  display  more  imagina- 
tion than  judgment.  Among  the  works  published  after  his 
death  are,  "  Dialogo  della  volgar  lingua,  non  prima  uscitb 
in  luce,''  4to;  ^^  Antiquitatum  Bellunensium  libri  quatuor/' 


V  A  L  E  R  I  A  N  U  S.  201 

8to  ;  and  '*  Contarenus,  sire*  de  literatorum  infelicitate 
Jibri  dao/*  8vo;  all  printed  at  Venice  in  1620,  by  the  di- 
rection isind  under  the  care  of  Aloisio  Loliini,  bishop  of 
Belluno.  The  last  piece  contains  a  great  number  of  curi«. 
ous  anecdotes;  and  is  entitled  *^  Contarenus/'  because  the 
first  book  of  it  is  a  dialogue  between  Caspar  Contareno,  a 
Venetian  ambassador,  and  some  learned  persons  at  Rome*. 
It  has  been  often  printed  at  Amsterdam,  1647,.  in  12mo, 
•*  cum  Cornelii  Tollii  Appendice,**  at  Helmstadt,  1695,  in 
12mo;  and  at  Leipsic,  1707,  in  Svo,  with  two  other  pieces 
upon  similar  subjects,  namely,  **  AlcioniusdeExilio,'*  and 
**  !Barberius  de  miseria  Poetarum  Graecorum,"  and  a  pre- 
face by  Joannes  Burchardus  Menkenius,  the  editor.  Mr. 
D*Israeli,  who  has  written  so  well  on  this  interesting  sub* 
ject,  considers  Valerianus's  as  '^a  meagre  performance,  in 
which  the  author  shews  sometimes  a  predilection  for  the 
marvellous,  which  happens  so  rarely  in  human  affairs ;  and 
he  is  so  unphilosophical,  that  he  places  among  the  misfor- 
tunes of  literary  men,  those  fatal  casualties  to  which  all 
men  are  alike  liable.'*  "Yet,**  adds  Mr.  D'Israeli,  "  even 
this  small  volume  has  its  value ;  for,  although  the  historian 
confines  bis  narrative  to  his  own  times,  he  includes  asuffi- 
dent  number  of  names  to  convince  us  that  to  devote  our 
life  to  authorship  is  not  the  true  means  of  improving  our 
happiness  or  our  fortune.*' 

Valerian  us  published  also  at  different  times  two  volumes 
of  Latin  poems,  among  which  were  **Amorum  libri  quin- 
que."  It  may  be  proper  to  observe  here,  that  Valerianus's 
Christian  naioie  was  Peter;  but  changed,  according  to  .the 
custom  of  those  times,  by  one  of  his  masters  into  Pierius, 
in  allusion  to  Pierides,  a  name  of  the  Muses,  and  therefore 
probably  done  as  a  compliment  to  his  talents  for  poetry.^ 

VALERIO,  or  VALIERO  (Augustine),  a  learned  pre- 
late, was  born  April  7,  1531,  at  Venice,  descended  from 
one  of  the  best  families  in  that  city.  After  having  made  a 
rapid  progress  in  his  studies,  he  was  admitted  among  the 
Savii  deW  Ordinij  a  small  society  of  five  young  men  of  the 
highest  rank  at  Venice,  who  had  access  to  the  college 
where  affairs  relative  to  the  republic  were  debated,  that 
they  might  be  trained  up  to  the  science  of  government. 
Valerio,  took  a  doctor's  degree  in  divinity  and  in  canon 

1  Tiraboschi.— Moreri  in  Pierio.— Roseoe'i  Leo.-<-D'Isr«eU't  CaUmttiei  af 
Authorf,  Pref*  p,  tL^n-BIoubi'i  Ceniora. 


2m  V  A  t  E  R  I  o. 

law,  became  professor  o£  philosophy  at  Venictf^  IS-SS^  and 
having  afterwards  chosen  the  ecclesisj»tical  pri>fessU)ii^  wm 
appointed  bishop  of  Verona,  oa  the  vesignaiioa  of  hm 
uncle,  cardinal  Bernardo  Naugerio,  15^^.  He  discharged 
the  duties  of  the  episcopal  station  with  gi^eoit  prudenc^^  aftd 
to  the  edification  of  his  diocese;  and  formed  a  friendship 
with  St  Charles  Borromea  Pope  Gregory  XIII.  created 
him  cardinal,  1583^^  invited  him  to  Rom^e,  and  pUced  him  at 
the  head  of  several  congregations.  Valerio  acquired  tj^si- 
versal  esteem  by  his  skill  in  public  affairs,  his  learning  and 
▼irtue.  He  died  at  Rome,  May  24,  1 606,  aged  7\5,  and 
although  so  advanced,  bis  death  i»  supposed  to  have^  been 
hastened  by  chagrin,  occasioned  by  the  interdiction  uocitef 
which  pope  Paul  V.  had  laid  the  republic  of  Venice.  Thai 
learned  bishop  left  several  excellent  works :  the  most  known 
are,  '^  The  Rhetoric  of  a  Preacher,**  ^'  De  Rhetorica  £q^ 
clesiastica  libri  tres,"  Venice,  1574,  8vo,  composed  by  the 
advice  and  according  to  the  plan  of  his  intimate  frieikl,  St. 
Charles  Borromeo.  This  was  so  popular  as  to  be  printed 
eight  times  in  the  author's  life,  besides  being  translated 
into  French,  of  which  there  is  an  edition  so  late  as  1710, 
I2mo,  nor,  say  the  French  writers,  can  the  study  of  it  be 
too  strongly  recommended  to  young  ecclesiastics.  His 
other  works  are  on  subjects  of  philosophy  and  history,  Ii^ 
1719,  appeared  in  4to,  a  work  entitled  ^'  De  cautione  ad-^ 
bibenda  in  edendis  Libris,''  which  contains  a  complete 
list  of  Augustine  Valerio's  other  works  both  printed  and 
MS.* 
.    VALERIUS  FLACCUS.     See  FLACCUS. 

VALERIUS  MAXIMUS,  an  ancient  Latin  writer,  of 
whom  remain  ^^  libri  novem  factorum  dictorumque  memo- 
rabilium,''  dedicated  to  Tiberius  CoBsar,  appears  to  have 
been  a  Roman,  and  lived  under  the  reign  of  Tiberius  Cs- 
sar,  probably  about  32  of  the  Christian  (Bra;  for,  he  treats 
the  memory  of  Sejanus  with  scorn  and  abhorrence,  though 
he  does  not  expressly  mention  him.  His  style  is  not  so 
pure  as  might  be  expected  from  the  age  he  lived  in ;  a^nd 
therefore  many  learned  men  conjectured,  that  what  we 
havie  is  not  the  original  work,  but  only  an  epitome  made 
by  some  later  writer.  Fabricius  calls  it  ^^opus  jucundum, 
varium,  utile,''  as  indeed  it  is;  and  many  eminent  critigs 
,  have  employed  their  lucubrations  upon  it.     The  first  edi« 

1  NiceroQy  vol.  Y.— TiraboscbL^Erythraei  Pinacoiheca.-i^Sii^ii  OaonatU 


VALERIUS.  ao» 

tioRy  of  uncommon  nuri ty  and  prioe,  ia  that  printed  at  Mentz, 
147I9  fok  It  was  reprinted  at  Venice  in  the  same  year- 
The  best  editions  since  are,  that  by  Thysius,  ^'  cum  Noti* 
Variorum,'*  1670,  8vo;  that  "in  usum  Deiphini/*  1W1>, 
4to;  that  by  Torrenius  at  Leyden,  1726,  in  2  vols.  4to, 
^'  cum  notis  integris  Lipsii,  Pighii,  Vorstii,  Perizonii,  &c/' 
and  that  by  Kappius,  at  Leipsic,  1782,  8vo.^ 

VALESIUS  (Henry),. or  Henry  de  Valois,  a  French 
critic  of  great  abiUties  and  learning,  was  born  at  Paris  in 
1603,  of  parents,  whose  circumstances  supported  theia 
without  any  profession.  He  began  his  studies  at  Verdui;i 
in  1613,  under  the  Jesuits,  and  the  greatest  hopes  were 
formed  of  him  from  his  childhood.  He  was  recalled  tp 
Paris  five  years  after,  and  continued  there  in  the  college 
of  Clermont;  where  he  learned  rhetoric  under  Petaviiis^ 
who,  as  well  as  father  Sirmond,  conceived  a  great  esteem 
for  him.  After  having  maintained  bi«  theses  in  philosophy 
with  much  applause,  be  went  to  Bourges  in  1622,  to  study 
the  eivil  law ;  and  at  the  end  of  two  years  returned  to  Pariii, 
where  he  was  received  advocate.  He  freqiiented  the  bar 
for  seven  years,  but  more  to  oblige  his  father  than  out  of 
any  fondness  for  the  law,  wbictv4i^  at  length  quitted,  and 
devoted  himself  entirely  to  litierary  pursuits.  Greek  and 
Latin  authors  were  all  his  study,  and  all  his  pleasure.  Sun^ 
day  he  consecrated  to  devotion,  Saturday  afternoon  he 
allotted  to  his  friends;  but  all  the  rest  of  the  week.^aa 
spent  in  reading  and  labour.  His  own  library  not  sufScing, 
he  borrowed  books  of  every  body;  and  he  used  to  say, 
that  he  learned  more  from  other  people^s  books  than  hiis 
own,  because,  not  having  the  same  opportunity  of  reviewing 
them,  he  read  them  over  with  more  care.  He  acquired  a 
great  reputation  by  his  learning  and  publications,  when  a 
misfortune  befel  him,  which  interrupted  the  course  of  hia 
studies.  He  bad  always  a  weak  sight ;  but  continual  ap- 
plication had  hurt  him  so,  in  this  respect,  that  he  lost  his 
right  eye,  and  saw  very  indifferently  with  the  left.  This 
put  him  under  the  necessity  of  having  a  reader ;  for,  though 
his  father  was  of  too  sparing  a  humour  to  make  him  an  al« 
lowance  for  this  purpose,  yet  the  defect  was  supplied  bjp 
the  generosity  of  his  friends.  His  father,  however,  died 
in  1650 ;  and  then  his  circumstances  were  better  suited  to 
his  necessities.    The  same  year  he  composed  an  oration  in 

^  Voiiiai  de  Hbt  I<at— Fabric.  Bibl.  Lat.— Saxii  Onoin«-*Dtbdtn's  Clusi«s« 


204  V  A  L  E  S  I  U  S. 

praise  of  Christina  queen  of  Sweden,  who  had  just  ascended 
the  throne ;  and  her  majesty,  by  way  of  acknowledging  the 
fovour,  pron^ised  to  send  him  a  gold  chain,  and  gave  him 
at  the  same  time  an  invitation  to  accompany  the  learned 
Bochart  to  Sweden.  But  the  chain  never  came,  and  the 
invitation  ended  in  nothing,  for  which  Valesius  himself  is 
said  to  have  been  to  blame,  having  been  so  imprudent, 
while  he  was  meditating  this  journey,  as  to  make  use  of 
some  satirical  expressions  on  the  learned  in  those  parts; 
which,  being  related  ^o  the  queen,  occasioned  her  ma- 
jesty's neglect  of  him. 

In  1734,  Valesius  had  published  at  Paris,  in  4to,  **  Ex- 
cerpta  Polybii,  Diodori  Siculi,  Nicolai  Damasceni,  Dionysii 
Halicarnassensis,  Appiani  Alexandrini,  Dionis,  &  Joannis 
Antiocheni,  ex  Collectaneis  Constantini  Augusti  Porphy- 
rogenitae,  nunc  primum  Graece  edita,  Latine  versa  cum 
notis."  The  emperor  Constantine  Porphyrogenetes,  who 
died  in  the  year  959,  had  made  extracts  from  the  Greek 
historians  of  such  things  as  he  thought  most  useful ;  and 
had  ranged  these  extracts  under  certain  titles  and  common 
places,  in  number  fifty-three.  Each  contained  two  books ; 
one  of  "  Extracts  from  the  writers  of  Universal  History,'* 
another  of  "  Extracts  from  the  Historians  of  the  Emperors.'* 
Only  two  of  these  titles  are  extant :  one  "  de  Legationi- 
bus,'*  the  first  book  of  which  was  published  by  Fulvius 
Ursinus,  at  Antwerp,  1582,  in4to;  the  second  by  David 
Hceschelius,  at  Augsburg,  1603,  in4to;  and  both  under 
the  title  of  "  Eclogse  Legationum,  &c."  The  other  title 
is  "  de  Virtutibus  &  Vitiis,"  and  is  the  work  under  present 
consideration.  A  merchant  of  Marseilles  had  brought  an 
ancient  manuscript  of  it  from  the  Isle  of  Cyprus,  and  sold 
it  to  Mons.  Peiresc,  who  sent  it  to  Paris.  Here  it  lay 
neglected  a  long  time ;  till  at  length  Pithaeus  engaged  Va- 
lesius to  translate  and  publish  it :  which  he  did,  and  very 
properly  dedicated  it  to  Peiresc,  to  whom  the  public  is 
obliged  for  it,  and  of  whose  ardour,  in  the  promotion  of 
letters,  we  have  the  following  anecdote.  Some  time  after, 
Valesius  had  read  a  passage  in  an  ancient  author,  relating 
to  the  harbour  of  Smyrna,  which  could  not  be  understood 
without  viewing  the  situation  upon  the  spot.  He  acquainted 
Peiresc  with  this  difficulty  ;  who  immediately  sent  a  pain- 
ter, to  take,  a  view  of  that  pprt,  and  afterwards  communi- 
cated it  to  Vialesius.  Valesius  thanked  Peiresc  for  the 
troub'e  he  had  been  at;  but  added,  probably  not  in  ver 


V  A  L  E  S  I  U  S.  «05 

guarded  language,  that  it  did  nbt  -clear  up  the  doubt  sq 
well  stshe  cduld  wish.  -  Peiresc,  vexed  that  be  had  been  ,at 
so  much  expence,  wrote  back,  that  he  had  endeavoured  to 
'  give  him  satisfaction ;  and  that,  if  he  had  not  succeeded, 
it  must  not  be  ascribed  to  either  himself  or  the  painter, 
but  to  bis  own'temper  and  humour,  which  were  satisfied 
with  nothing. 

In  1636  he  gave  a  good  edition  of  ^^  Ammianus  Marcel- 
linus,^^  .in  4to,  corrected  in  a  great  number  of  places  from 
the  manuscripts,  and  illustrated  with  very  ingenioua  and 
learned  notes.     A  second  edition,  with  more  notes  6f  .Va- 
lesius,  and  thoae  of  Lindeilbrog,.  .came  out  at  Paris,  16Si, 
in  folio,  edited  by  his  brother  Adrian  Valesius ;  and  Jamee 
Gronovius  also  published  a. third  at.Leydpo, .1693,  fol.  and 
4to.     The  critical  talents. aud  learning  which  Valesius  had 
displayed  in  these  publications,  recommended  brm  as  the 
most  proper  person  to  superintend  a  work  of  greater  im* 
portance,  an  edition  of  the  ancient  ecclesiastical  historians. 
M.  de  Montchal,  abp.  of  Tholoqse,  a  learned  man,   whom 
the  clergy  of  France  had  requested  to  give,  an  edition. of 
these  historian3,  undertook  the  affair ;  ^nd  applied  to  Va- 
lesius to  assist  him  privately.     But  Valesius  was  too  jealous 
of  his  reputation,  to  let  another  person  enjoy  the  fruit9  of 
his  labours ;  and  therefore  absolutely  refused  his  aid.     The 
archbishop,  either  too  much  taken  up  with  the  business  of 
his  see,  or  despairing  of  success  in  what  he  had  under- 
taken, soon  after  excused  himself  to  the  clergy ;  and  at 
the  same  time  advised  them  to  apply  to  Valesius,  as  a  man 
who  was  every  way  qualified  for  the  task.     To  this  Vale- 
sius had  no  objection,  and  his  employers  by  way  of  encou- 
ragement settled  a  pension  upon  him.     This  was  about 
1650,  and  the   Historians  were  published  in   Greek  and 
Latin,  with  good  not^s,  in  the  following  order:  ^'  Eusebii 
Pampbili  historia  ecclesiastica,  ejusdemque  libri  de  vita 
Constantini,  &  panegyricus;  atque  oratio  Constantlni  ad 
sanctos,*'  Paris,  1659;  ^^  Socratis  &  Sozomeni  historia  ec- 
clesiastica,"  1668  ;  "  Theodoreti  et  Evagrii   historia  ec- 
clesiastica, item  excerpta  &  historia  ecclesiastica  Philostor- 
gii,**  1673.     These  were  reprinted  in  3  vols,  folio,  first  at 
Amsterdam  in  1699,  and  then  at  Cambridge  in  1720:  to 
which  last  edition  some  remarks,  but  very"  inconsiderable 
ones,  scattered  up  and  down  in  various  authors,  were  col- 
lected and  subjoined  by  the  editor  William  Reading. 
In  1660,  Valesius  was  honoured  with  the  title  of  historio- 


206  VALESIUS. 

graipbei*  of  France ;  and  had  also  a  pension  settled  on  bint 
by  the  king,  in  consideration  of  bis  edition  of  '£usebiusy 
<«i^bioh  bad  appeared  the  year  before.  In  1662  he  lost  hi^ 
left  eye,  90  that  now  be  was  blind ;  and,  notwithstanding 
all  the  skill  of  oculists,  the  most  that  could  be  done  for 
btm  was,  to  enable  bioi  to  see  a  litile  with  the  ,left  eye,  a 
new  cataract,  almost  as  soon  as  it  was  removed,  forming 
•itself  Again  in  the  right.  In  1663  he  had  an  addition  to 
Ms  pension  from  the  crown.  He  had  hitherto  lived  among 
bis  books,  but  now,  at  the  age  of  sixty,  he  surprised  ^is 
•friends  by  marrying  a  handsome  young  woman,  by  whom 
Jiebad  seven  children.  He  died  the  seventh  of  May,  1676, 
having  spent  the  two  last  years  of  life  in  all  the  miseries  of 
one  oppressed  with  inBrmities.  He  was  a  man  of  great 
abilities  and  learning,  and  an  admirable  critic ;  but  his 
'disposition  was  far  from  being  amiable.  He  was  sparing  in 
4iis  piaise,  but  so  tenacious  of  the  respect  he  thought  doe 
■to  him,  as  to  resent  the  smallest  attempt  to  criticise  or  find 
fault  with  what  he  wrote,  and  this  irritable  temper  increased 
with  his  years. 

After  bis  death,  was  puUi^hed,  by  'the  care  of  James 
Gronovius,  ^^  Not®  &  animadversiones  in  Harpocrationem 
&  Philippi  Jacobi  Maussaci  Notas.  E%  fiibliotheca  Gullr 
-elmi  Prousteau,*'  Lugd.  Bat.  1682,  in  4to.  Three  Latin 
funeral  orations  upon  ^three  of  his  intimate  friends  are  in- 
•serted  in  Bates^Hsi  "  Vitaj  selectorum  aliquot  virorum  ;*'  the  ■ 
first  made  upon  Sirmond  in  16^51,  the  second  upon  Petrus 
Puteanusin  1Q52,  and  the  third  upon  Petavius  in  1653. 
We  omitted  an  hexameter  poem,  made  upon  the  recovery 
of  the  king's  health,  and  published  by  himself  in  1663, 
with  the  title  of  "  Soteria  pro  Ludovico  magno."  There 
are  also  **  Harangues  a  la  reine  de  Suede,  &  quelque^ 
autres  petites  pieces.^' ' 

VALE8IU8  (Adrian),  or  Adrieh  de  Valois,  brother  of 
'Henry,  and  a  very  learned  man  also,  was  bom  at  Paris  in 
1607,  and  educated  in  the  college  of  Clermont  there,  un- 
der the  Jesuits.  He  followed  the  example  of  bis  brother, 
and  had  the  same  counsellors  in  his  studies,  the  fathers 
Sirmond  and  Petavius.  History  was  his  principal  object; 
<and  be  spent  many  years  in  searching  into  the  most  au- 
thentic records,  manuscript  as  well  as  printed.     His  lotig 

1  Vita  Valesii  ab  Adriaoo  Vflesio,  in  Batff'r"  Vit«  •«lectDraiD."-^Nu:eMD, 
▼oL  V.-^baufepie  in  Valoii.— U»ber*s  Life  and  Leners,  p,  609,  613,  QJ4. 


V  A  L'E  S  I  U  S.  "   207 

^hteveratice  in  these  pursuits  enabled  him  to  give  the  pub- 
lic an  elaborate  Latin  work»  entitled  "  Gesta  Francorum, 
sieu  de  rebis  Francicis/^  in  3  vols,  folio;  the  first  of  which 
"Oame  out  in  1646,  the  "two  others  in  1*658.  This  history 
^begins  with  the  year  254 ;  and  ends  with  752.  It  is  writ- 
ten with  care  and  elegance,  and  may  jserve  for  ao  excel-^ 
lent  commentary  upon  the  ancieiit  historians  of  Pfaiite, 
inrho  wrote  rudely  and  barbarously  :  but  some  have  dbnsi- 
dered  it  as  a  critical  work  filled  with  rude  erudition,  rath^ 
than  a  history.  Colbert  asked  him  one  day  concerning  his 
'Latin  history  of  France,  and  pressed  him  to  continue  it; 
but  he  answered  the  minister,  that  he  might  as  well  take 
away  his  life,  as  put  him  upon  a  work  so  full  of  difficul- 
ties, and  so  much  beyond  what  bis  age  could  bear ;  for  he 
was  then  in  years.  He  is  the  author  of  several  other  Latin 
\<rorks  ;  as  ^'  Notitia  Galliarum,  ordine  alphabetico  diges- 
ta,"  1675,  in  folio;  a  work  of  great  utility  in  explaining 
^he  state  of  ancient  Gaul.  He  was  the  editor,  as  we  have 
mentioned,  of  the  second  edition  of  ^^  Ammianus  Marcel- 
linus  ;^*  to  which,  besides  additional  notes  of  his  brother 
and  Lindenbrog,  he  added  notes  and  emendations  of  his 
own.  He  wrote  also  a  Panegyric  upon  the  king,  and  a  life 
of  his  brother.     There  is  also  a  "  Valesiana." 

In  1660,  he  was,  with  his  brother,  honoured  with  the 
title  of  historiographer  to  the  king ;  and  had  a  pension  set- 
tled upon  him.  In  1664,  he  lost  the  company  of  his  bro- 
ther ;  who,  whed  he  married,  left  his  mother  and  brethren, 
with  whom  he  bad  lived  till  then.  Adrian,  however,  some 
years  after,  followed  his  brother's  example,  and  married  a 
wife  too;  by  whom  he  had  children.  He  enjoyed  good 
health,  till  he  was  eightiy- five,  and  then  died,  July  the  2d, 
1692.* 

VALINC0UR  (John  Baptist  du  Trousset  de),  a 
French  miscellaneous  writer,  was  born  in  1653,  of  a  good 
family,  at  St.  Quentin  in  Picardy.  He  became  secretary  td 
tfie  king's  closet,  to  the  marine,  a  member  of  the  French 
academy,  an  honorary  member  of  the  academy  of  sciences, 
and  historiographer  to  his  majesty.  M.  de  Valincour  had 
collected  a  great  number  of  very  curious  and  important 
memoirs  respecting  marine  affairs ;  but  these  MSS.  were 
•Ofisumed  with  bis  library  by  a  fire,  which  burnt  his  house 
at   St.  Cloud  in   the  nighty  between  the   thirteenth  and 

1  Chaufcpie,— Nicerooi  tqI*  ni.«-'PeiTau1t*$  Les  Hommet  Illustrei. 


208  V  A  L  I  N  C  O  U  R 

foarteenth  of  January,  1725.  He  died  January  5,  1730^ 
^t  Paris,  aged  seventy.  His  works  are,  A  Criticism  on 
the  romance  of  the  princess  of  Cleves,  entitled  ^^  Let« 

tres  a  Madame  la  Marquise  de •  sur  le  sujet  de  la 

Princesse  de  Cleves,"  Paris,  1678,  12mo,  which  is  muck 
esteemed.  A  good  ^^  Life  of  Francis  de  Lorraine,  duke  of 
GjAlse/'  1681,  12mo.  **  Observations  critiques  surTCEdipe 
de  Sopbocle,''  and  several  short  poetical  pieces  in  Pere 
^ouhours'  collection.  * 

VALLA  (George),  an  Italian  physician  and  professor 
of  the  belles  lettres  at  Venice,  was  born  at  Picenza,  and  was 
a  contemporary  of  Laurentius  Valla.  He  was  well  skilled 
in  the  Latin  and  Greek  tongues,  and  wrote  a  considerable 
number  of  books  both  in  physic  and  literature.  One  of 
his  books  in  the  former  (las  a  title,  which  gives  us  no  less  an 
opinion  of  his  honesty  than  of  his  skill  in  his  profession : 
it  is  ^*  De  tuenda  sanitate  per  victum  ;"  but  it  is  doubtful 
whether  he  practised  physic.  He  wrote  ^'  Comraeutaries 
on  some  books  of  Cicero,  Horace's  Art  of  Poetry,  Juve* 
nal,  &c.*'  and  ^<A  Comment  upon  the  second  book  of 
Pliny's  Natural  History,"  printed  at  Venice  1602,  in  4to: 
which,  however,  must  be  certainly  very  scarce,  since  father 
Hardouin  tells  us  that  he  could  not  meet  with  it.  He  was 
also  the  compiler  of  a  work  entitled  '*  De  expetendis  et 
fugiendis  rebus,"  Venice,  1501,  2  vols.  fol.  a  kind  of  phi* 
losophical  and  literary  Cyclopaedia,  in  which  the  articles 
are  generally  short,  but  many  of  them  curious.  Valla 
exasperated  the  duke  of  Milan  so  much  by  his  too  impe" 
tuous  zeal  for  the  Trivulcian  faction,  that  the  prince  pro- 
cured him  to  be  committed  to  prison  even  at  Venice.  He 
suffered  great  -hardships  in  that  confinement,  but  was  at 
last  released.  He  died  suddenly,  as  he  was  going  from 
his  lodgings,  in  order  to  read  a  lecture  upon  the  immor* 
tality  of  the  soul,  about  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  cen- 
tury. ' 

VALLA  (Lawrence),  a  man  of  letters  of  great  erni* 
nence  in  the  fifteenth  century,  was  born  at  Rome  in  1 407« 
His  father  was  a  doctor  of  civil  and  common  law,  and  ad- 
vocate of  the  apostolic  consistory.  He  was  educated  at 
Rome,  and  learned  Greek  under  Aurispa ;  but  in  conse- 
quence of  the  troubles  which  arose  on  the  death  of  pope 

>  Niceron,  to!.  XIT. — Diet.  Hist 

-*  GeD.  Diet— Tiraboscbi.— Saxii  Onomast.  ' 


VALLA.  209 

Martin,  and  the  adtancement  of  Eugenias  to  the  papal 
chair,  he  retired  to  Pavia.  Here  he  read  lectures  on  rhe^ 
toric,  and  wrote  hfs  three  books  *^  De  Yoiaptate  ac  vero 
bono/'  From  thenee  he  removed  to  Milan,  and  read  the 
same  lectures:  and  before.  1435  read ttliem  to  Alphonsus, 
khig  of  Arragon,  Sicily,  and  Naples,  that  learned  patron 
of  letters,  who  took  miilutes  of  his  lectures,  and  acknow- 
ledged his  literary  obligations  to  him.  While  in  thid  place 
he  wrote  his  book>  on  free-will,  against  Boetius,  and  his 
detection  of  the  forged  gift  wbrch  Constantino  is  ^aid  ta 
have  «made,  of  Rome,  to  pope  Sylvester,  which  was  first 
published  in  1492*  Here  too  he  translated  Homer  into 
Latin,  and. began  his  six  books  of  ^'  Elegantias  linguae  La- 
tiose."  All  this  while  he  had  followed  Alphonsus  in  his 
wars,  and  had  exposed  his  person  in  several  sea-fights  ;  and» 
among  his  other  literary  undertakings  he  had  written  three 
books  of  logical  disputations,  in  which,  having  reduced 
the  ten  predicaments,  or  elements,  to  three,  he  was  ac-^ 
cused  of  heretical  pravity  by  the  inquisitor'^general. 

He  next  turned  his  thoughts  to  Livy,  and  drew  up  notes 
on  that  authojr  on  the  following  occasion.  It  was  the  cus-* 
torn  of  Alphoiisus  to  have  some  ancreut  author  read  by  one 
of  the  literati  about  his  court,  during  hia  public  dinners, 
where  the  king  himself  gave  some  opinion  on  the  subject 
of  the  book,  and  invited  the  different  guests  to.'give  theirs ; 
and,  as.  the  discussion  of  any  particular  point  pleased  him, 
he .  divided '  the  sweetmeats  amoog  the'  "competitors,  and 
poured  out  a  glass. of  wine  to  the  reader/  Tbis  o$ce  had 
fallen  on  Beccadelli.and  Valla,  who,  from  intimate  friends, 
became  inveterate  enemies,  by  disputing  about  passages  in 
Livy  on  these  occasions.  Valla  became  equally  hostile  to 
Bartholomew  Facio  (see  Facio),  whom  Alphonsus  hatl 
made  his  historiographer,  and  had  appointed  Vaila  at  the^ 
same  time  to  write  the  Life  of  his  royal  father  Ferdinand. 
The  first  copy  of  this  Life,  in  three  books,  drawn  up  iu 
two  months,  and  submitted  to  the  king  for  his  correction^ 
was  privately  overlooked  by  Facio,  who,  boasting  of  having 
detected \ five  hundred  errors  in  it,  was  answered  by  Valla 
in  four  books  of  invectives,  or  recriminations,  in  the  last 
of  which. he  iuserted  bis  corrections  and  notes  on  the  first 
six  books  of  Livy,  on  the  Punic  war.  These  books  he 
had  heard  Beccadelli  read  before  Alphonsus,  and  his  ene- 
mies, charged  him  with  saying  that  he  would  undertake 
to  connect  these  better  than  Aretine,  Guarini,  and  evoo 

Vol.  XXX.  P 


210  VALLA. 

Petrarch  himseilfy  whose  corrections  were  in  the  MS.  at 
Naples  sent  to  Uie  king  by  Cosmo  de  Med;ci  from  Florence. 
Valla*s  frequent  attacks  on  barbarous  Ladnists  and  ignorant 
theologiats  of  his  time  exposed  him  to  imminent  danger 
from  the  inquisition ;  but  he  generally  found  a  protector  in 

the  king. 

Having  accepted  an  invitation  to  return  to  Rome  from 
pope  Nicholas  V.  he  was  favourably  received  by  that  pou- 
tiffy  who  settled  a  handsome  pension  on  him.  He  now 
applied  himself  to  a  translation  of  Thucydides,  and  on  pre- 
senting it  to  the  pope,  was  rewarded  by  a  gratuity  of  five 
hundred  gold  crowns,  and  was  recommended  to  translate 
Herodotus,  which  death  prevented  him  from  finishing. 
What  he  had  done  came  into  the  possession  of  Alphonsus, 
and  was  published  by  Pontanus,  but  neither  of  these  trans* 
lations  have  been  thought  eminently  successful.  That  of 
Thucydides  is  charged  by  H.  Stephens  (who  printed  k 
along  with  his  edition  of  the  original  (1564)  as  well  as  se* 
parately)  with  ignorance,  carelessness,  and  inelegance  of 
language,  and  Dr.  Hudson  repeats  the  charge.  Wesseling 
speaks  equally  unfavourably  of  his  Herodotus,  but  he  apo* 
logizes  that  the  MS.  whence  he  translated  was  imperfect, 
and  himself  overwhelmed  with  the  hostilities  of  his  enemiesy 

Pope  Nicholas,  in  addition  to  hb  other  favours,  ap- 
pointed him  professor  of  rhetonc ;  and  he  employed  his 
leisure  time  in  putting  the  finishing  hand  to  his  **  Elegantis 
lingua  Latinae,*'  which,  as  we  already  noticed,  he  began  at 
Naples,  and  sent  to  the  king's  secretaries,  one  of  whom 
published  them  without  his  knowledge.  He  seenui  to  have 
written  six  more  books  on  this  subject,  which  may  possibly 
Ibe  concealed  in  some  of  the  libraries  of  Italy.  He  also 
completed  his  *^  Illustrations"  of  the  New  Testament,  which 
the  pope,  and  many  of  the  cardinals^  earnestly  solicited  him 
to  circulate,  and  which  Erasmus  published  in  1504.  Valla 
attacked  the  Vulgate  Latin  version  by  Jerome,  which  drew 
on  him  the  censure  of  his  antagonists,  and  occasioned  his 
notes  to  be  condemned  by  Papl  IV.  after  the  council  of 
Trent  had  given  its  sanction  to  Jeromes  translation. 
Aniong  the  bitterest  of  his  antagonists  was  the  celebrated 
Poggio,  with  whom  he  quarrelled  late  in  life  on  account 
of  some  criticisms  of  that  eminent  Scholar.  It  is  difficult 
perhaps  to  say  who  gave  the  first  provocation,  but  it  is  cer-> 
tajn  that  nothing  can  exceed  the  intemperate  language  and 
low  abuse  which  passed  between  them,  for  ain  account  of 


VALLA.  211 

^hieh  we  Diay  refer  t6  Mr.  Shepherd's  excellent  Life  of 
Poggio.  Another  of  Valla's  enemies  was  Morandus  of  Bo- 
logna,  who  accused  him  to  pope  Nicholas  V.  of  misrepre- 
jenting  Livy.  This  Valla  answered  by  two  **  Confutations/* 
written  with  much  asperity. 

As  Valla  had  formerly  entertained  thoughts  of  a  clerical 
life,  he  declined  forming  any  matrimonial  engagement,  but 
is  reproached  by  Poggio  with  having  debauched  his  sister's 
husband'^  maid,  by  whom  be  had  three  children,  aqxl  of 
whom  he  speaks,  for  he  does  not  deny  this  charge,  with 
tenderness  and  affection.  He  afterwards  became  a  canon 
of  St  John  Lateran,  and  secretary  and  apostolical  writer  to 
the  pope.  He  died  in  1457,  in  his  fiftieth  year,  and  was 
buried  in  the  church  of  which  he  was  canon,  where  there 
is  9  monument  and  inscription,  the  latter  wrong  in  stating 
bis  death  to  have  happened  in  1465.  Of  all  his  writings 
his  **  £leganti8e  linguae  Latinse^'  only  serves  how  to  preserve 
him  in  the  rank  of  eminent  scholars  of  his  time.  His  irri- 
table temper  rendered  his  life  a  perpetual  literary  warfare, 
but  at  no  time  were  the  quarrels  of  authors  more  disgrace^ 
ful  than  at  the  revival  of  literature. 

If  Valla  had  his  enemies,'  he  has  also  had  his  defenders, 
and  of  these  Erasmus  was  one  of  the  most  strenuous.  He 
expresses  his  indignation  that  Poggio  should  be  in  every 
body's  hands,  while  Valla,  who~  had  a  hundred  times  his 
learning,  "centiiplo  doctior,**  was  read  by  nobody ;  and  he 
declares,  in  the  same  epistle,  that ''  the  mordacity  of  Valla 
alone,  if  they  will  call  it  so,  has  contributed  more  to  the 
promoting  of  literature  than  the  foolish  and  insipid  candour 
of  thousands^  who  admire  all  the  productions  of  all  men 
without  distinction,  and' who  applaud  and  (as  they  say) 
scratch  one  another  :**  '^  itaque  ux\i\H  Laurentii  mordacitas, 
aiquidem  ita  malunt  appellare,  non  paulo  plus  conduxit  rei 
literaris^  quam  plurimorum  ineptus  candor,  omnia  omnium 
sine  delectu  mirantium,  sibique  invicem  plaudentium,  ac 
mutuum  (quod  aiunt)  scabentium."  In  short,  this  whole 
epistle,  which  is  by  no  means  a  short  one,  is  written  en- 
tirely in  the  defence  of  Valla ;  though  at  the  same  time  it 
would  be  easy  to  collect  from  it,  if  Valla's  works  were  not 
extant,  that  he  cannot  be  defended  from  the  charge  of  en- 
vious and  abusive  language.  The  first  edition  of  his  '*  Ele- 
gantiflB**  was  printed  lit  Rome  in  1471,  folio,  and  the  last 
by  Robert  Stephens,  at  Paris,  in  1542,  4to.' 

«  Tiraboschi.— Sketch  by  1^.  Gough  in  Gent.  Mag.  toI.  LIX.— Geq.  Diet*— 
Shepherd's  Life  o!  Poggio.— >Hocly  de  Gme.  IliasU 

P  2 


212  •  V  A  L  L  K. 

VALLE  (Peter  de  la),  a  celebrated  traveller,  wai  a 
Roman  gentleman,  and  member  of  the  academy^dell*  Umo^ 
risti.  He  commenced  his  travels  in  1614,  over  the  East, 
and  his  account  of  it  in  Italian,  1662,  4  vols.  4to,  has  always 
been  considered  as  giving  the  best  account  that  bad  then 
appeared  of  Egypt,  Turkey,  Persia,  and  India.  Gibbon 
calls  him  ^'  a  gentleman  and  a  scholar,  but  intolerably  vain 
and  prolix."  The  French  have  a  good  translation  by  Car- 
reau  and  le  Comte,  1663,  4  vols.  4to,  and  Rouen,  1745,  8 
vols.  12mo.  There  is  also  an  English  translation,  Londoa, 
1665,  folio.  He  did  not  return  from  his  travels  until  162€. 
He  married  at  Babylon  a  virtuous  young  woman,  who  ac- 
companied him  in  his  journeys,  and  died  at  Mina  in  Cara- 
mania,  1622,-  aged  twenty-three.  Her  husband  was  so 
deeply  affected  with  her  loss,  that  he  caused  her  body  to 
be  embalmed  and  carried  it  always  with  him  in  a  wooden 
coffin,  till  his  arrival  at  Rome,  where  he  buried  it  with  great 
magnificence  in  his  family  vault  in  the  church  of  Ara  coeli. 
He  spoke  her  funeral  oration  himself,  which  may  be  found 
in  Italian  and  French,  in  the  12mo  edition  of  hisTraveb; 
He  died  at  Rome  in  1652.* 

VALLISNIERI  (Antonio),  a  celebrated  professor  of 
physic  at  Padua,  was  born  May  3,  1661,  at  the  old  castle  of 
Trasilico  in  Modena,  of  a  noble  and  ancient  family.  He 
distinguished  himself  among  the  learned,  with  whom  be 
held  a  very  extensive  correspondence,  and  was  admitted  a 
member  of  many  learned  societies ;  among  others  of  oiir 
Royal  Society.  He  practised  and  taught  physic  with  great 
reputation,  was  honorary  physician  to  the  emperor,  and 
created  a  knight  by  the  duke  of  Modena.  He  died  January 
28,  1730,  aged  sixty-nine.  His  works  on  insects,  natural 
history,  and  physic,  are  numerous,  and  were  printed  at 
Venice,  in  1733,  3  vols,  folio,  in  Italian.  They  are  curidus, 
learned,  and  much  esteemed.  He  left  a  son,  who  was  a 
physician  also,  and  the  editor  of  his  father's  works.^ 

VALMONT  DE  BOMARE  (James  Christopher),  an 
eminent  French  naturalist,  was  born  at  Rouen,  Sept.  17,* 
173 1,  and  had  his  classical  education  in  the  Jesuits'  college 
there,,  where  he  was  principally  distinguished  for  the  pro* 
ficiency  he  made  in  the  Greek  language.  He  afterwards 
became  a  pupil  of  the  celebrated  anatomist  Lecat,  and 
after  studying  pharmacy  came  to  F&ris  in  1750.     His  fa- 

^ '  Tirabo8chi.<— Moreri. 

•  Fabroni  Vitw  italoram. — Eioy,  Dicti  Hist,  de  Medccine.— Chaufepie.' 


V  A  L  M  O  N  T.  213 

therj  who  was  an  advoca|:e  of  the  parliament  of  Norrnktidy, 
mteoded  bim  for  the  bar,,  but  his  predilection  for  natural 
history  was  too-  strong  for  any  prospects  which  that  profes* 
sion  mt^ht  yield.  Having  obtained  from  the  duke  d*Ar« 
genson,  the  war  minister,  a  kind  of  commission  to  travel 
in  ^he  name  of  the  government,  be  spent  some  y.ears  in 
visiting  the  principal  cabinets. and  collections  of  natural 
history  in  Europe,  and  in  inspecting  the  mines,  vqlcanosy 
and  other  interesting  phaenomeoa  of  nature.  On  bis  return 
to  Paris  in  1756,  he  began  a  course  of  lectures  on  natural 
history,  which  he  regularly  continued  until  1788,^and  ac* 
quired  so  much  repuiation  as  to  be  admitted  an  honorary 
member  of  most  of  the  learned  societies  of  Europe,  and 
had  liberal  offers  from  the  courts  of  Russia  and  Portugal  to 
settle  in  those  countries ;  but  he  rejected  these  at  the  very 
time  that  he  was  in  vain  soliciting  to  be  reimbursed  the  ex- 
pences  he  had  contracted  in  serving  his.  own  nation.  He 
appears  to  have  escaped  the  revolutionary  storms,  and  died 
at  Paris  Aug.  24,  1807,  in  the  seventy-sixth  year  of  his  age. 
He  first  appeared  as  an  author  in  1758,  at  which  time  be 
published  his  **  Catalogue  d'un  cabinet  d'bistoire  natu- 
relle,'*  12mo.  This  was  followed  next  year  by  a  fiketicb.of 
acofUplete  system  of  mineralogy;  and  two  years  .after  by 
bis  **  Nouvelle  exposition  du  regno  minerale,"  2  vols.  8vo, 
reprinted  in  1774 ;  but  bis  greatest  work,  on  which  his  re- 
putation is  chiefly  built,  was  bis  ^^  Dictionnaire  raisonn6 
universel  d'histoire  naturelle,*'  which  has  passed  through 
many  editions  both  in  4to  and  8vo, .the  last  of  which  was 
published  at  Lyons  in  1800,  15  vols.  8vo.^ 

VALOIS.  See  VALESIUS. 
.  VALSALVA  (Antony  Maria),  an  eminent  physician, 
was  born  at  Imola  in  1666,  and  died  in  1723.  He  was  the 
pupil  of  the  celebrated  Morgagui,  and  taught  anatomy  at 
Bologna  with  the  greatest  reputation.  His  ^^  Anatomical 
Diss^srtations^'  were  published  in  Latin,  at  Venice,  1740, 
2  vols.  :4to,  by  Morgagni,  who  commented  on  them  with 
great  freedom,  pointing  out  what  he  thought  erroneous, 
an4  liberally  praising  his  merits  and  discoveries.  Of  the 
latter  kind  are  bis  observations  on  the  ear,  published  at  Bo- 
logna in  1707,  4to,  ^'  De  Aure  humana."  On  this  interest- 
ing subject  the  author  employed  sixteen  years,  and  dissect* 
cd  a  prodigious  nuviber  of  subjects  to  illustrate  it.' 

1  Diet.  Hist 

*  Fabroai  ViUi  lUloram,  vol  V«-*Eloy,  Pict.  Hit t.  de  Medicine. 


2U  V  A  N  B  R  U  (^  H, 

VANBRUGH  (John))  a  gentlemaQ  eminent  in  the  very 
different  characters  of  dramatic  poet  and  architect,  was  de« 
scended  from  a  family  originally  of  Ghent  in  Flanders; 
His  grandfather,  Giles  Vanburgj  being  obliged  to  quit  hit 
native  country  on  account  of  the  persecution  of  the  piotes-^ 
tants  by  the  duke  of  Alva,  came  to  England,  and  settled  as 
a  merchant  in  London,  in.  the  parish  of  St.  Stephen,  Wal- 
brooke,  where  he  continued  until  his  death  in  IGiO.  He 
Ijeft  a  son,  Giles  Vanbrugb,  who  settled  in  the  city  of  Ches- 
ter, and  was,  it  is  supposed,  a  sugar-baker,  where  he  ae« 
quired  an  ample  fortune.  Blome,  in  his  ^  Britannia,'*  calls 
him  gentlemany  and  afterwards  be  was  styled  an  esquire. 
Removing  to  London,  he  obtained  the  jplace  of  comptroller 
of  the  Treasury-chamber*  He  died  in  17 15.  He  married 
Elizabeth,  the  fifth  and  youngest  daughter  and  coheir  of 
sir  Dudley  Carleton,  of  Imber«court  in  Surrey,  knt.  Slie 
died  in  1711.  By  her  he  had  eight  sons,  the  second  of 
whom  was  JOHN,  the  subject  of  the  present  article.  The 
time  of  his  birth  has  not  been  ascertained,  b,ut  it  probably 
was  about  the  middle  of  the  reign  of  Charles  II. 

We  have  no  account  of  bis  education,  but  it  probably 
was  liberal,  and  he  seems  to  have  made  a  rapid  progress  in 
the  accomplishments  suited  to  his  rank  in  life.  A  gay, 
lively  disposition  led  him  to  the  army,  in  which  at  a  very 
early  age  he  bore  an  ensign^s  commission,  but  does  not  ap<* 
pear  to  have  remained  long  a  candidate  for  higher  promo* 
tion.  His  course  of  desultory  reading,  or  the  company  he 
kept,  seems  to.  have  given  him  a  taste  for  the  drama,  which 
he  cultivated  with  the  greatest  success,  and  divided  with 
Congreve  the  merit  of  reviving  the  comic  muse.  In  some 
of  his  winter-quarters  he  became  acquainted  with  sir  Tho« 
mas  Skipwith ;  who  being  a  sharer  in  a  theatricat  patent 
though  little  concerned  in  the  conduct  of  it,  young  Yan- 
brugh  shewed  him  the  outlines  of  two  plays;  and  sir 
Thomas  encouraged  him  to  finish  <<  The  Relapse,**  which, 
notwithstanding  its  gross  indecencies,  being  acted  in  1697| 
succeeded  beyond  their  warmest  expectations,  placed  Van* 
brugfa  in  a  high  degree  of  reputation,  and  stimulated  him 
(under  the  patronage  of  lord  Halifax)  to  complete  hia 
^^  ProvokM  Wife  f '  which  was  successfully  brought  out  at 
Lineoln^a  Inn  Fields  in  1 698.  Though  both  these  eomedies 
met  with  greater  applause  than  the  a«lbor  ejc|»eeted,  yet 
both  were  liable  to  the  severest  cemiure,  and  rerified  th€i 
observation  of  Pope, 

^'  Tliat  Van  wants  giace^  who  never  wanted  wit,"l 


V  A  N  B  R  U  G  H-  215 

In  the  same  jear^  1698^  he  brought  ottt  bis  comedy  of 
^  ^sap,"  which  was  acted  at  Drury-Lane^  and  contains 
much  gmieral  satire  and  useful  morality^  but  was  not  very 
sttccessfuL  *'  The  False  Friend,"  his  tkAt  comedy,  came 
out  in  1702.  He  had  Interest  enough  to  raise  a  subscrip* 
lion  of  thirty  persons  of  quality,  at  100^  each,  for  building 
a  stately  theatre  in  the  Hay-Market;  on  the  first  stMe 
that  was  laid  of  this  theatre  were  inscribed  the  words  Little 
Whigy  as  a  complifnent  to  a  celebrated  beauty,  lady  Sun- 
derland, second  daughter  of  the  duke  of  Marlborough,  the 
toast  and  pride  of  that  party.  The  house  being  finished  in 
1706,  it  was  put  by  Mr.  Betterton  and  his  associates  under 
the  management  of  sir  John  Vanbrugh  and  Mr.  Congreve, 
in  hopes  of  retrieving  their  desperate  fortunes ;  but  their 
expectations  were  too  sanguine.  The  new  theatre  was 
opened  with  a  translated  opera,  set  to  Italian  music^  called 
^^  The  Triumph  of  Love,"  which  met  with  a  cold  reception. 
^*  The  Confederacy"  was  almost  immediately  after  pro-- 
duced  by  sir  John,  and  acted  with  more  success  than  so 
licentious  a  performance  deserved,  though  less  than  it  was 
entitled  to,  if  considered  merely  with  respect  to  its  dra- 
matic merit.  The  prospects  of  the  theatre  being  unpro- 
mising, Mr.  Congreve  gave  up  his  share  and  interest  wholly 
to  Vanbrugh,  who,  being  now  become  sole  manager,  waa 
under  a  necessity  of  exerting  himself.  Accordingly,  in  the 
same  season,  he  gave  the  public  three  other  imitations 
from  the  French  ;  vis.  1.  "  The  Cuckold  in  Conceit."  2. 
"  Squire  Treeloby  ;"  and,  3.  ^*  The  Misuke."  The  spa^ 
ciousness  of  the  dome  in  the  new  theatre,  by  preventing 
the  actors  from  being  distinctly  beard^  was  an  inconve- 
nience not  to  be,  surmounted ;  and  an  union  of  the  two 
companies  was  projected.  Sir  John,  tired  of  the  business, 
disposed  of  his  theatrical  concerns  to  Mr.  Owen  Swinhey, 
who  governed  the  stage  till  another  great  revolution  oc- 
curred. Our  author's  last  comedy,  ''The  Journey  to  Lon- 
don," which  was  left  imperfect,  was  finished  to  great  ad» 
vantage  by  Mr.  Cibber,  who  takes  notice  in  the  prologue 
of  sir  John^s  virtuous  intention  in  comfiosing  this  piece,  to 
make  amends  for  scenes  written  in  the  fire  of  youth.  He 
deemed  sensible  indeed  of  this,  when  in  1725  be  altered 
an  exceptionable  scene  in  <<  The  Provoked  Wife,"  by  put^ 
ting  into  the  mouth  of  a  woman  of  quality  what  before  had 
been  spoken  by  a  clergyman ;  a  change  ^ich  removed 
from  him  the  imputation  of  prophaneness,  which)  liowever. 


216  V  A  N  B  R  U  G,H. 

A8  wieli  as  tbe  most  gross  licentiousness,  still  adheres  to  his 
othe^  plays,  and  gave  Collier  an  irresistible  advantage  over 
bim  in  tbe  memorable  controversy  respecting  the  stage. 

At  what  time  Vanbrugh  began  to  be  an  architect  by  pro- 
fession, we  do  not  find  mentioned.  His  principal  build- 
ings are  Blenheim;  Castle- Howard,  in  Yorkshire;  East- 
berry^  in  Dorsetshire ;  King's  Weston,  near  Bristol ;  Eas- 
ton-Neston,  in  Northamptonshire;  Mr.  Duncombe's,' in 
Yorkshire ;  and  the  opera-house ;  to  which  we  may  indeed 
add  his  most  tasteless  pile,  St<  John's  church,  in  West- 
minster ;  but  neither  want  of  taste  nor  of  grandeur  of  con- 
ception can  be  justly  attributed  to  sir  John's  greatest  works, 
Blenheim  and  Castle- Howard.  Walpole  says,  '^  However 
partial  the  court  was  to  Vanbrugh,  every  body  was  not  so 
blind  to  his  defects.  Swift  ridiculed  both  his  own  diminu- 
tive house  at  Whitehall,  and  tlie  stupendous  pile  at  Blen« 
heim.     Of  the  first  he  says, 

'  At  length  they  in  the  rubbish  spy 
A  thing  resembling  a  goose«pie.* 

And  of  the  other, 

'  That,  if  his  grace  were  no  more  skilVd  in 
The  art  of  battering  walls  than  building, 
We  might  expect  to  see  next  year 
A  mouse-trap-man  chief  ei^neer.' 

Thus  far  the  satirist  was  well  founded  ;  paMy-rage  warped 
his  understanding  when  he  censured  Vanbrugh^s  plays,  and 
left  bim  no  more  judgment  to  see  their  beauties  than  sir 
John  had  when  he  perceived  not  that  they  were  the  only 
beauties  he  was  formed  to  compose."  Walpole,  perhaps, 
was  not  aware  of  the  handsome  apology  Dr.  Swift  and  Mr. 
Pope  have  made,'  in  the  joint  preface  to  their  miscellanies  : 
^*  In  regard  to  two  persons  only  we  wish  our  raillery,  though 
ever  so  tender,  or  resentment,  though  ever  so  just,  had 
not  been  indulged.  We  speak  of  sir  John  Vanbrugh,  ^ho 
was  a  man  of  wit,  and  of  honour;  and  of  Mr.  Addison, 
whose  name  deserves  all  the  respect  from  every  lover  of 
learning."  And  notwithstanding  Walpole^s  own  contribu- 
tion of  wit  and  flippancy  to  depreciate  tbe  character  of  Van- 
brogb's  Blenheim  and  Castle- Howard,  we  are  far  more  in- 
clined to  the  opinion  of  our  illustrious  artist  and  elegant 
writer,  sir  Joshua  Reynolds,  delivered,  as  it  is,  with  the 
modesty  that  distinguishes,  however  seldom  it' accompanies^ 
superior  genius.  "  In  the  buildings  of  Vanbrugh,  who  was 
%  poet  as  well  as  an  architect,  there  is  a  greater  display  of 


y  A  N  B  R  U  G  H.  217 

iniginatioii  than  We  shall  find,  perhaps,  in  any  other;  and 
this  ir  the  ^und  of  the  effect  we  feel  in  many  of  his  works, 
notwitlistaDding  the  faults  with  which  many  of  them  are 
charged.  For  this  purpose  Vanbrugh  appears  to  have  had 
recourse  to  some  principles  of  the  Gothic  architecture, 
which,  though  not  so  ancient  as  the  Grecian,  is  more  so  to 
our  imagination,  with  which  the  artist  is  more  concerned 
than  with  absolute  truth/' — '^To  speak  of  Vanbragh,'*  adds 

I  sir  Joshua,  ^^  in  the  language  of  a  painter,  he  had  origin 

nality  of  inrention  ;  he  understood  light  and  shadow,  and 
bad  great  skill,  in  composition.     To  support  his  principal 

I  object,  he  produced  his  second  and  third  groupes  or  masses; 

He  perfectly  understood  in  his  art,  what  is  the  most  difficult 
in  ours,  the  conduct  of  the  back-ground,  by  which  the  de« 
sign  and  invention  are  set  off  to  the  greatest  advantage. 
What  the  back-ground  is  in  painting,  in  architecture  is  the 
real  ground  on  "which  the  building  is  erected;  and  no  archi-^ 
tect  took  greater  care  that/his  work  should  not  appear  crude 
and  hard,  that  is,  that  it  did  not  abruptly  start  out  of  the 
ground  without  expectation  or  preparation.  This  is  a  tri- 
bute which  a  painter  owes  to  an  architect  who  composed 
like  a  painter,  and  was  defrauded  of  the  due  reward  of  his 
merit  by  the  wits  of  his  time^  who  did  not  understand  the 
principles  of  composition  in  poetry  better  than  he,  and 
wlio  knew  little  or  nothing  of  what  he  understood  perfectly, 
the  general  ruling  principles  of  architecture  and  painting. 
Vanbrugh's  fate  was  that  of  the  great  Perrault.  Both  were 
the  objects  of  the  petulant  sarcasms  of .  factious  men  of 
letters,  and  both  havQ  left  some  of  the  fairest  monuments 
which,  to  this  day,  decorate  their  several  countries ;  the 
facade  of  the  Louvre ;  Blenheim,  and  Gastie  Howard.'' 
:  Castle-Howard  Vanbrugh  built  for  Charles^  earl  of  Car- 
lisle, deputy  to*  the  iearl  marshal,  who  gave  hiin  the  ap- 
pointoient  of  Clarenceus,  king-at-anns,  in  1704.  The 
appointment,  however,  .was  remonstrAted  against  by  the 
superseded  heralds,  and  the  college  at  large, felt  the  slight* 
put  upon  them  by  having  a  total  stranger  made  kiog-at- 
arms,  and  who  was  likewise  ignorant  of  the  profession  of 
heraldry  and  genealogy.  Swift's  pun  was,  that  he  might 
now  build /mises  I  He  was  knighted  at  Greenwich,  Sep- 
tember 9,  1714,  appointed  comptroller  of  the  royal  works 
'January  6,  1714-5,  and  surveyor  of  the  works  at  Greca- 
ivich  hospital,  August  17,  17  V6.  It  was  designed  to  have 
givpn  biro  the  place  of  garter ;  but  finding, that  the  younger 


2ia  V  A  N  B  R  U  G  H* 

Anstis  had  a  reversionary  grant,  he  resigned  his  tabard  to 
Knax  Ward,  esq.  February  9,  1725-6,  and  died  March  26 
following,  at  Whitehall.  His  country  residence  was  Van* 
brugh-Fields,  at  Greenwich^  where  he  built  two  seats,  one 
called  the  fiastile,  standing  on  Maize,  or  Maze- Hill,  on 
the  east  side  of  the  park.  Lady  Vanbrugh,  his  relict,  sold 
It  to  Iprd  Trelawny,  who  made  it  his  residence  :  the  name 
was  taken  from  the  French  prison  of  which  it  was  a  modeL 
It  is  said,  but  no  time  is  mentioned,  that  on  a  visit  to  France, 
his  curiosity  and  natural  taste  exciting  him  to  take  a  sur- 
vey of  the  fortifications  in  that  kingdom,  he  was  taken 
notice  of  by  an  engineer,  secured  by  authority,  and  carried 
to  the  Bastile,  where  his  confinement  wassomucb  softened 
by  humanity,  that  he  amused  himself  by  drawing  rude 
draughts  of  some  comedies.  This  circumstance  raised  such 
curiosity  at  Paris,  that  he  was  visited  by  several  of  the 
noblesse,  and  by  their  means  procured  his*  liberty  before 
any  solicitation  for  it  came  from  England.  He  had  another 
built  in  the  same  style  at  Blackheath,  called  the  Mince-* 
pye-house,  now  or  lately  inhabited  by  a  descendant* 
Lady  Vanbrugh,  his  relict,  died  April  26,  1776,  aged 
ninety,  and  their  only  son,  an  ensign  of  the  second  regi-* 
ment  of  the  foot-guards,  died  of  the  wounds  be  received 
in  a  battle  fought  near  Tournay,  in  1745. ' 

VAN-DALE  (Anthony),  a  learned  writer,  was  born  in 
Holland,  Nov.  8,  1638.  He  early  discovered  an  eager  taste 
for  acquiring  the  languages,  which,  for  some  time,  his 
parents  obliged  him  to  give  up  for  the  more  profitable  pur- 
suit of  commerce.  He,  bowever>  resumed  his  studies  when 
about  thirty  years  of  age,  acquired  skill  in  Greek  and  La- 
tin antiquities,  and  took  his  degrees  in  physic,  which  science 
be  practised  with,  success.  He  was  also  for  some  time  a 
preacher  in  the  sect  of  the  Mennonites  (a  species  of  Ana- 
baptists :  see  Mekno)  and  seems,  upon  the  whole,  to  have 
cultivated  theological  as  much  as  medical  studies.  The 
latter,  however,  were  not  neglected,  and  be  died  at  Har- 
lem, physician  to  the  hospital  in  that  city,  November  28, 
1708*  He  wrote  in  Latin  some  learned  dissertations  **  on 
the  Heathen  Oracles,'*  Amsterdam,  1700,  4to,  in  whioh  he 
maintained  that  they  were  frauds  of  the  idolatrous  priests. 
Fontenelle  has  given  an  excellent  abridgment  of  this  work 

1  Many  additional  particulars  of  sir  John's  history  may  be  fbund  io  Gibber's 

Lives.— Swift's  Works.— Coble's  College  of  Arms Gent.  Mag.  toIs.  IXVIt  and 

XJCXrV.-^Cole's  MS  Collectioiu  in  Brit.  Mas^-^RcyDoIds's  Works,  Ice. 


y  A  N-D  ALE.  fii9 

in  Eceiich  10  his  treatise  *^  des  Oraoies*'*  { Vfta-Dale  aho  pub* 
iisbed  a  treatise  on  the  *^  Origin  and  progress  of  Idolatry/' 
169C,  4to }  ^*  Dissertatto  super  Arbtea,  de  70  interpret!^ 
bus/'  Amsterdam,  1705,  4to,  and  '*  Dissertations*'  on  im^ 
portant  subjects,  1712,  4to,  and  1743,  4to.  AH  bis  works, 
disoover  deep  learning  and  great  critical  skill;  bat  are 
defective  in  order  and  method.  ^ 

VANDERDOES.     See  DOES. 

VANDER- LINDEN  (John  Antonides),  a  learned  pro- 
fessor of  physic  at  Leyden,  was  descended  from  ancestora 
distinguished  in  the  republic  of  letters.  His  grandfather^ 
Henry,  born  in  1546,  was  a  piaster  of  the  learned  Ian- 
|;uages,  and  suffered  greyly  on  account  of  the  reformation, 
which  he  embraced  very  youngs  having  lost  his  father,  his 
wife's  father,  and  other  rdatioos  and  friends,  in  the  Spa* 
nish  massacre  at  Naerden  in  1572.  Afit^r  tbisbe  exercised 
the  function  as  a  minister  at  Enckhoisen  till  15 85,  when 
he  was  incited  to  be  professor  of  divinity  at  the  univer- 
sity of  Franeker,  then  founded,  pronounced  the  inaugural 
oration  when  it  was  i^ned,  and  was  the  first  lecturer.  He 
died  there  in  1614,  and  left,  among  other  children,  a  son, 
named  Antony,  also  a  man  of  talents  and  learning,  and  on 
that  account  promoted  by  the  magistrates  of  Enckhuisen 
to  be  rector  of  their  college.  He  was  skilled  in  music,  and 
no  stranger  to  divinity  ;  but  his  leading  study  was  physic^ 
in  which  faculty,  having  taken  the  degree  of  doctor  at 
Franeker  in  1608,  he  practised  with  success  and  reputation, 
first  at  Enckhuisen,  and  afterwards  at  Amsterdam,  to  which 
he  removed  in  1 625. 

His  son,  John  AntonideS|  the  subject  of  this  article, 
was  born  at  Enckhuisen^  Jan.  13,  1609.  He  was  sent  to 
Leyden  in  1625,  to  study  philosophy,  and  afterwards  ap« 
plied  himself  entirely  to  physic.  From  Leyden  be  went  to 
Franeker  in  1629,  in  order  to  continue  his  studies,  and  re- 
ceived the  degree  of  doctor  some  months  after.  He  then 
returned  to  Amsterdam,  where  his  father  died  in  1633,  and 
where  he  continned  to  practise  physic  with  great  reputation 
until,  in  1639,  be  was  invited  to  be  professor  of  physic  in 
the  university  of  Franeker.  He  discharged  that  office  with 
great  applause  for  almost  twelve  years ;  reading  lectures, 
both  on  the  theory  and  practice  of  anatomy  and  botany ; 
and  it  was  by  his  care  that  the  garden  of  the  university  was 

1  ]ff»r^ri.^D|(^t.  Hist, 


820  V  A  N  D  E  R  •  L  I  N  D  E  N. 

enj^ged,  and  an  house  built  to  if.  The  library  was  no 
leis  indebted  to  him  for  a  great  namber  of  books,  which 
were  procnred  by  bis  address.  The  university  of  Utrecht 
offered  iiima  professor's  place  in  1649^  which  be  declined  ;- 
bat,. .two  years  after^  accepted  the  same  offer  from  the  cu-* 
r«tors  of  ^he  university  of  ILeyden,  and  filled  the  chair  with 
high  reputation  till  his  ddath,  which  happened  March  4, 
1664.  Guy  Patin,  who  was.  a  friend  of  this  physician, 
often  mentions  him  in  his  letters,  and  seems  to  insinuate 
jthat  he  neglected  himself  during  his  illness,  for  he  died  of 
,a  complaint. of  the  lungs,  in  which  bleeding  might  have 
been.usefuL  Patin  adds,  in  allusion  to  Vander-Linden's 
learning,  *'  I  bad  rather  be  a  blocfchead,  and  bleed  some- 
times.'' ,       ' 

.  Vauder-Linden  wrote  many  books  upon  physic,  which 
are  enumerated ;in  our  authorities,  and  one  '^  De  Scriptis 
Medicis/'  i  This,  which  is  a  catalogue  of  books  upon  phy« 
aic,  was  primmed .  and  enlarged  several  times  by  the  au- 
thor in  his  life*time ;  and  very  considerably  so  after  his 
death,  by  a. German,  named  Merklinas,  who  published  it 
in  a  thick  quarto,  under  the  title  of  f^  Linifenius  Renova- 
tus/*  at  Nuremberg,  in  1686,  but  it  never  was  either  cor- 
rect or  complete,  and  has  since  given  place  to  more  recent 
works  of  the  kind,  particularly  Eloy's  Dictionary.  Van- 
der- Linden  was  also  the  editor  of  **  Oelsus,^'  Leyden,  1657, 
12mo,  and  left  an  edition  of  the  works  of  Hippocrates, 
published  there  in  1665,  2  vols.  Svo,  Gr^ek  and  Latin* 
With  this  he  had  taken  great  pains,  but  did  not  live  to 
finish  more  than  a  correct  text,  to  attain  which  he  carefully 
compared  all  the  old  editions  and  several  manuscripts,  and 
restored  a  great  number  of  passages,  which  were  not  cor- 
rect even  in  Foesiqs's  edition.  His  Latin  translation  is  that 
of  Cornarius,  because  the  oldest,  and  that  commonly  used. 
Having  been  attacked  by  bis  last  illness  a  little  before  this 
edition  was  finished,  he  was  prevented  from  publishing  the 
notes  which  he  intended. ' 

VANDER  MEULEN.     See  MEULEN. 

VANDERMONDE,  a  learned  member  of  the  JFrench 
Institute,  whose  Christian  name  we  havp  not  been  able  to 
discover,  was  born  at  Paris  in  1735.  In  bis  youth  he  ap- 
jijied  sedulously  to  study,  but  we  have  no  account  of  bis 
j^ogress  until  he  became  acquainted  with  the  celebrated 

\  Gen.  tHpt.— Eloy  Pict  Hist,  de  Medteint. 


VANDEBLM0N6E-  241 

geometrician  Fontaine,  itbd  foresaw  the  progi'esfl  whiek 
Vandermonde  would  one  day -make  in-  the  matbenvatics ; 
and  under  his  patronage,  Vandermonde  determined  to  de« 
vote  himself  to  geometry*  -  In  1771  he  presented  hhnself 
to  the  Academy  of  Sciences^  into  which  he  was  admitted ; 
^nd  justified  the  suffrages  -of- his  associates,  by  a  paper  re*^ 
lative  to  the  resolution  of  equations*  • 
'  From  the  sixteenth  century,  the  method  of  resolving 
equations  of  the  four  first  degrees  has  been  known,  and 
since  that  time  the  general  theory  6f  equations  hs(s  received 
great  improvements.  In  spite,  however,  of  the  recent  la- 
bours of  many  great  geometricians,  the  solutions  of  equa«- 
tions  of  the  fifth  degree  had  in  vain  been  attempted.  Van<^ 
dermonde  wished  to  consolidate  bis  labours  with  those  of 
other  illustrious  analysts ;  and  he  proposed  a  new  theory  of 
equations,  in  which  he  seems  to  have  made  it  particularly 
his  business  to  simplify  the  methods  of  calculation,  and  to 
contract  the  length  of  the/armuiie,  which  he  considered  as 
one  of  the  greatest  difficulties  of  the  subject 

•This  work  was  quickly  followed  by  another,  on  the  pro« 
blems  called  by^  geometricians,  ^^  problems  of  situation.*' 
Leibnitz  was  of  opinion,  that  the  analysis  made  use  of  in- 
his  time,  by  the  geometricians,  was  not  applicable  to  all 
questions  in  the  physical  sciences ;  and  that  a  new  geome- 
try should  be  invented,  to  caloulsvte  the  relations*  of  posi- 
tions of  different  bodies,  in  space  ;  tl\is  he  called  <<  geome- 
2y  of  situatiift."  Excepting,  however,  one  application, 
ade  by  Lei^tz  himself,  to  the  game  of  soUtcdre^  and 
which,  under  the  appearance  of  an  object  of  curiosity, 
scarcely  worthy  the  sublimity  and  usefulness  of  geometry^ 
is  an  example  for  solving  the  most  elevated  and  •important 
questbns,  Euler  was  almost  the  only  one  who  had  prafctised! 
this  geometry  of  situation.  He  had  resorted  to  it  for  the 
solution  of  a  problem  called  the  cwoalkr,  which,  also,  ap- 
peared very  familiar  at  first  sights  and  was  also  pregnant 
with  useful  and  important  appHcatidns.  This  problem, 
with  the  vulgar,  consisted  merely  -in  running  through  all 
the  casea  of  the  ches8*board,  -  wHh  the  knight  of  the  game 
of  ofaess  ;^  to  the  profound  geometrician,  however,  it  wa« 
a  precedent  for  tracing  the  route  which  every  body  must 
follow^  whose  course  is  submitted  to-  a  known  law,  by  con^ 
forming  to  certain  required  conditionis,  through  all  tbe^ 
points  disposed  over  a  space,  in  a  prescribed  order..  Van- 
dermonde was  obiefly  anxious  to  find  in  this  species  or 


SM  VANDERMONDE. 

analysii^  a  simple  ootation^  likely  to  facilitate  the  making 
of  calQttlations ;  and  be  gave  an  example  of  this,  in  a  short 
ati4  easy  solution  of  the'  same  problem  of  the  caralieri 
vrbich  Euler  had  rendered  famous. 

His  taste  for  the  faigh  conceptions  of  the  speculative 
sciences,  as  blended  with  that  which  the  ^amor  patrise** 
naturally  inspires  for  objects  immediately  useful  to  society, 
bad  led  him  to  turn  his  thoughts  towards  perfecting  the 
arts  conversant  in  ^reaving,  by  indicating  a  manner  of 
noting  the  points  through  which  are  to  pass  the  threads 
intended  to  form  the  lines  which  terminate  the  surface  of 
different  regular  bodies  t  accordingly,  a  great  part  of  the 
above  memoir  is  taken  up  with  this  subject. 

In  the  year  following  (1772)  he  printed  a  third  memoir^ 
in  which  he  traced  out  a  new  path  for  geometers,  discover- 
ing by  learned  analytical  researches,  irrational  qaantities 
of  a  new  species,  shewing  the  sequels  of  which  these  irra-^ 
tionals  are  the  terms  or  the  sum,  and  pointing  out  a  direct 
and  general  method  of  making  in  them  all  the  possible  re* 
ductions.  In  the  same  year  appeared  his  work  on  the 
<*  Elimination  of  unknown  quantities  in  Algebra,^'  or  the 
art  of  bringing  back  those  equations  which  include  many 
upknown  quantities,  to  equations  which  contain  only  one. 
In  1778  he  presented,  in  one  of  the  public  sittings  of  the 
academy,  a  new  system  of  harmony,  which  he  detailed 
more  fully  in  another  public  sitting  of  1780.  This  system 
obtained  the  approbation  of  the  three  gr^  musicians  of 
his  time,  Gluck,  Philidor^  and  Piccini. 

With  these  labours,  intermiofi'led  with  frequent  researches 
PQ  the  mechanic  artSy  as  well  as  on  objects  of  political 
economy,  the  attention  of  Vandermonde  was  takeki  up, 
vntil  1789,  the  period  of  the  revolution,  when  he  became 
so  decided  an  etiemy  to  every  thing  established,  that  he 
concurred  even  in  the  abolition  of  the  Royal  Academy, 
and  Msopiated  himself  with  Robespierre,  Marat,  and  the 
rest  of  that  party  who  covered  France  with  ruins,  with 
scaffolds,  and  blood.  This  paft  of  Vandermonde's  history 
is  supprcMed  by  his  eulogist  La  Cepede,  because  discussions 
on  political  topics  ought  not,  in  his  opinion,  to  be  admitted 
into  the  saootijary  of  the  sciences.  In  diat  sanctuary,  how^ 
ever,  Vandermonde  did  not  long  remain.  He  died  of  a  rapid 
decline  brought  on  by-s  disorder  of  the  lungs,  Jan. 1, 1796.  * 

>  -pr.  Glcfg^  Sttppl.  to  the  Eaeyel.  Britauniea,  from  La  Ceped^ 's  ISiog^. 


V  A  N  D  E  R  V  B  L  D  E.  223 

VANDERNEER.    ^eeNEER. 

VANDERVELDE,  VANDENVELDE,  or  VANDEr 
VELDE  (WU.LUM),  called  the  Old,  one  of  a  distinguished 
family  of  paintersi  was  bora  at  Leyden  in  16  iO.  He  was 
originally  bred  to  the  sea,  but  afterwards  studied  painting, 
and  retained  enough  of  bis  former  profession  to  make  it 
the  source  of  bis  future  fame*  In  marine  subjects,  he  be« 
cama  a  most  correct  and  admirable  designer,  and  made  an 
incredible  number  of  drawings  on  paper,  heigbtebed  with 
Indian  ink,  which  be  sketched  after  nature,  with  uncom<» 
mon  elegance  and  fidelity. 

As  the  EInglisb  were  remarkable  for  constructing  tbeir 
vessels  in  a  much  more  graceful  form  than  any  other  Eu^ 
rop^an  power,  and  were  equally  remarkable  for  their  gene- 
rous encouragement  of  artisb,  Vandervelde  determined  to 
come  to  London,  with  bis  son,  and  was  soon  after  takea 
into  the  service  of  Charles  II.  with  the  salary  of  100/.  a» 
year  for  himself,  and  the  same  sum  for  bis  son :  in  the 
order  of  privy-seal  for  these  salaries  it  is  expressed  that 
tbe  salary  is  given  to  the  father  *^  for  taking  and  making 
draughts  of  sea-fights,^'  and  to  the  son  '^  for  putting  the 
said  draughts  into  colours."  It  was,  however,  not  much  to 
the  Jionour  of  William  the  Old  that  he  conducted,  it  is 
said,  the  English  fleet  to  burn  Schelling.  It  was,  adds 
Waipole,  pushing  bis  gratitude  too  far  to  serve  the  king  ^ 

against  his  own  country.  i 

Vandervelde  was  such  an  enthusiast  in  his  art,  that  in  *" 

order  more  exactly  to  observe  the  movements  and  various 
positions  of  ships  engaged  in  ajsea-figbt,  he  did  not  hesi- 
tate to  -attend  sea-engagements  in  a  small  light  vessel,  aod 
sail  close  to  th^  enemy,  attentive  only  to  his  drawing,  and 
without  the  least  apparent  anxiety  for  the  danger  to  whick 
be  was  every  moment  exposed.  In  this  way  he  took 
sketches  of  the  severe  ba^-le  between, the  duke  of  York  and 
admiral  Opdam,  in  which  the  Dutch  admiral  and  five  hun- 
dred men  were  blown  up,  and  of  the  memorable  engage- 
ment which  continued  three  days  between  Monck  and  De 
Ruy ter,  sailing  alternately  between  the  fleets,  so  as  to  re* 
present  minutely  every  movement  of  the  ships,  and  the 
most  material  circumstances  of  the  action,  with  incredible 
exactness  and  truth.  In  the  latter  part  of  his  life,he  com* 
monly  painted  in  black  and  white,  on  a  ground  so  prepared 
OB  caavas  as  to  make  it  have  the  appearance  of  paper. 


224  VANpERVELDE: 

He  died  in  1693,  and  was  buried  in  St.  Jameses  chiifcfa, 
Piccadilly.* 

VANDERVELDE  (William),  called  The  Young,  was 
born  at  Amsterdam  in  1633,  and  was  the  son  of  the  pre- 
ceding, by  whom  be  was  carefully 'instructed  in  the  artf 
but  afterwards  he  was  placed  under  the  direction  of  Simon 
de  Ylteger,  a  very  excellent  painter  of  ships,  sea-shores, 
ftnd  sea^ports,'  who  however  was  far  surpassed  by  his  dis- 
ciple. As  soon  as  young  Vandervelde  felt  his  stfengtb, 
and  thought  he  might  appear  with  advantage  in  his  profes- 
sion, he  went  to  bis  father  in  London  ;  and  some  of  hig 
paintings,  being  exhibited  at  the  English  court,  immedi- 
ately procured  him  employment  from  the  king,  and  the 
principal  nobility.  .His  subjects  were  the  same  as  those  of 
his  father,  and  he  observed  the  same  method  of  sketching 
every  object  after  nature ;  but  his  pictures  upon  the  whole 
are  not  only  superior  to  the  works  of  bis  father,  but  to  all 
other  artists  in  that  style;  and  no  age,.j|ince  the  revival  of 
the  art,  is  thought  to  have  produced  hi^  equal.  Whether 
we  consider  the  beauty  of  his  design,  the  correctness  of 
his  drawing,  the  graceful  forms  and  positions  of  his  vessels, 
the  elegance  of  his  disposition,  the  lightness  of  his  clouds; 
the  clearness  and  variety  of  his  serene  skies,  as  well  as  the 
gloomy  horror  of  those  that  are  stormy ;  the  liveliness  and 
transparence  of  his  colouring  ;  the  look  of  genuine  nature 
that  appears  in  agitated  and  still  waters ;  and  the  lovely 
gradation  of  his  distances,.as  well  as  their  perspective  truth, 
they  are  all  executed  with  equal  nature,  judgment,  and 
genius.  Houbraken  and  other  writers  observe,  that  the 
pictures  of  the  young  Vandervelde  are  so  esteemed  in 
England,  that  those  which  were  scattered  through  the  Low 
Countries  were  eagerly  sought  after,  and  purchased  at  vast 
prices ;  so  that  in  Holland  they  rarely  have  the  pleasure  of 
seeing  any  of  them.  Undoubtedly  the  most  capiul  of  bis 
works  are  in  England  in  the  royal  collections,  and  in  the 
cabinets  of  the  nobility  and  gentry,  and  some  few  are  also 
10  Ireland.  He  died  April  6,  1707,  in  the  seventy -^fourth 
year  of  his  age.  *  .  .    - 

VANDYCK  (Sir  Anthony),  a  most  illustrious  portrait- 
painter,  whose  worJ&s,  lord  Orford  remarks,  are  so  frequent  in 
l^ngland,  that  the  generality  of  our  people  can  scarcely 
avoid  thinking  him  their  countryman^  was  born  at  Antwerp, 

1  ArgeaTUle,  toI.  III.— PiUuogtoB.— Watpole's  Anecdotes.  *' Ihid. 


V  A  N  D  Y  G  K.  i3S 

■ 

Mftroh  22^  1598-9.  His  father  was  a  merchant,  and  hin 
mother,  Cornelia  Kersboom,  was  an  admit'ed  flower-pain*^ 
ter«  He  was  first  placed  with  Van  Balen,  who  ^ad  studied  . 
at  Rome,  but  afterwards  with  Rubens,  under  whom  he 
made  such  progress  as  to  be  able  to  assist  in,  the  works* 
from  which  be  learned.  While  at  this  excellent  school,  the 
foUowinc:  anecdote  is  told  of  him  t  Rubens  havincr  left  a 
picture  unfinished  one  night,  and  going  out  contrary  to 
custom,  his  scholars  took  the  opportunity  of  sporting  about^ 
the  room;  when  one,  more  unfortunate  than  the  rest^ 
striking  at  bis  companion  with  a  maul-stick,  chanced  to 
throw  down  the  picture,  which  not  being  dry  acquired'  • 
some  damage.  Vandyck^  being  at  work  in  the  next  room, 
was  prevailed  on  to  repair  the  mischief;  and  when  Rubens 
came  next  morning  to  his  work,  first  going  at  a  distance  ta 
▼iew  his  picture,  as  is  usual  with  painters,  and  having  con* 
templated  it  a  little,  he  jcried  out  suddenly,  that  he  liked* 
the  piece  far  .better  than  be  did  the  nigbt  before.  • 

Rubens,  discovering  in  his  pupil  an  amiable  temper  joined 
to  the  most  promising  talents,  took  a  pleasure  in  cultiva- 
ting both,  by  not  concealing  from  him  any  part  x)f  that 
knowledge  which  hehad  himself  attained  by  long  experi* 
ence.  Vandyck  was  yet  young  when  he  was  capable  of 
executing,  pictures,  which  astonished,  as  much  from  the 
facility  with  which  they  were  painted,  as  the  general  know* 
ledge- which  reigned  throughout  the  whole.  Rubens,  at 
this  time,  gave  him  two  pieces  of  advice ;  the  first  was,  to 
devote  himself  to  portraits,  in  which  he  foresaw  be  would 
excel  7  and  the  second  to  make  the  tour  of  Italy,'  where 
he  would  have  an  opportunity  of  extending  his  studies. 
Vandyt:k  accordingly,  after  making  Rubens  presents  of  two 
or  three  historical  paintings,  and  a  portrait  of  that  artist's 
wife,  esteemed  one  of  his  best,  set  out  for  Italy^  and  made^ 
kis  first  residence  at  Genoa,  where  he  painted^many  exceU 
lent  portraits.  From  thence  he  went  to  Venice,  where  he* 
so  deeply  imbibed  the  tints  of  Titian,  that  he  .is  allowed  to* 
approacti  nearer  to  the  carnations  of  that  master  than  evea- 
Rubens.  He  then  went  to  Rome  and  lived  splendidly^, 
avoiding  the  low  conversation  of  his  countrymen,  and  was 
distinguished  by  the  appellation  of  the  Pitto'rc  Cavaiiarescoi^ 
Soon  after  his  arrival  there,  be.  had  an  opportunity  of  exer*' 
eising  his  abilitiesupontfaepovtrait  of  ^rardinal  Bentivoglio,- 
which  is  justly  esteemed  the  noiost  perfect  of  the  kind  that 
ever  came  from  the  pencil  of  this  artist     While  at  Romei 

Vol.  XXX.  ft 


it«  'VAN  D  Y  d  K. 

be  r^eetred  ah  ^vittktion  to  PdilerBait),  and  there  he  painted 
priiice  Philibert  of  Savoy,  the  viceroy,  and  a  paintresB 
AQgosci6la  (see  An<30SC10LA,  vol.  IL)  then  at  the  age  of 
mttety-<>ne.  Biart  the  plague  soon  drove  him  from  Sicily^ 
anfd  be  returned  to  Genoa,  where  he  had  gained  the  high- 
est-reputation,  and  left  many  considerable  works  in  the 
Balbi,  Durazzo,  and  other  palaces. 

He  now  went  back  to  Antwerp,  and  practised  both  his- 
tory and  portrait.  Of  the  former  kind  were  many  ap- 
plauded altar-pieces;  in  the  latter  were  particularly  th& 
lieads  of  hts  contemporary  artists,  drawn  in  chiaroscuro  on 
srmaU  pannels,  thirty- five  of  which,  Wal pole  men tioos,  are 
in  the  possession  of  the  Cardigan  family.  Engravings  o! 
these  have  been  published  thrice,  by  Vanden  Euden,  con- 
taining fourscore  plates  ;  by  Giles  Hendrix^  containing  one 
hundred ;  and  lastly,  by  Verdussen,  who  effaced  the  names 
and  letters  of  the  original  engravers.  Some  of  the  plates 
were  etched  by  Yatidyck  himself  in  a  free  and  masterly 
atyfe. 

But  the  advantages  he  reaped  in  his  own  country  weie 
not  proportioned  to  bis  fnerits,  and  as  he  loved  to  make  a 
figure,  he  resolved  to  augment  his  fortune  by  a  visit  to 
England,  where  he  bad  heard  of  the  favour  king  Charles  L 
sb^ed  to  the  arts.  On  his  arrival  he  lodged  with  Gd*< 
dorp,  a  {>ainter,  hoping  to  be  imroduced  to  the  king ;  but, 
owing  to  whatever  means,  this  was  not  accomplished,  and 
be  went  away  chagrined.  ^  The  king,  however,  soon  learn- 
ing what  a  treasure  had  been  within  his  reach,  ordered  sir 
Kenelm  -Digby,  who  iiad  sat  to  Vandyck,  to  invite  him 
over.  He  immediatdy  complied,  and  was  lodged  among 
the  king's  artists  at  Black-friars.  Thither  the  king  went 
often  by  water,  and  viewed  his  performances  with  singular 
delight,  frequently  sitting  to  bim  himself,  alid  bespeakii^ 
picturesof  the  queen,  his  children,  and  hts  courtiers;  andhe 
cohferred  the  honour  of  knighthood  on  km  at  St.  James's 
July  &,  163£.  ThiB  was  the  following  jrear  attended  by 
ibe  graat  of  an  nnnuityoffl^K)/.  ayear,  and  with  this  he 
had  the  title  of  painler  to  bis  'miyesty. 

According  to  Waipole,  Vandyek^  prices  were  40/.  for 
a  bdf,  and  60/.  for  a  mAiole  length ;  but  from  some  docn-' 
aients  eoammnicated  by  Mr.  Maloue,  it. appears  that  be 
pailtted,  ibr  ike  cosraWannly  at  Idast,  at  the  rate  of  2SL 
^adh  p^ctrmt^  and  acMwclimes  teife.  From  the  number  of 
Ida  w^bi  bfe  Iteust  han^  been  iinde&^abte ;  for  tboogh  he 


V  A  N  D  Y  C  K.  227 

was  not  above  forty-two  when  he  died|  they  are  not  ex- 
ceeded by  those  of  Rubens.  He  lived  sumptuonsly,  kept 
a  great  table^  and  often  detained  the  persons  who  sat  to 
him,  to  dinner,  for  an  opportunity  of  studying  their  coun- 
tenances, and  of  retouching  their  pictures  again  in  the 
afternoon.  '  In  summer  he  lived  at  Eltham  in  Ketit.  He 
was  not  only  luxurious  in  his  living,  but  in  his  pleasures; 
and  this,  with  a  sedentary  life^  brought  on  the  gout,  and 
hurt  his  fortune.  He  sought  to  repair  it  by  the  silly  pur- 
suit of  the  philosopher's  stone,  in  which  probably  he  was 
encouraged  by  the  example  or  advice  of  his  friend  sir 
Kenelm  Digby.  Towards  the  end  of  his  life,  the  king  be- 
stowed on  him  for  a  wife,  Mary,  the  daughter  of  the  unfor- 
tunate lord  Gowry,  and  soon  after  his  marriage  he  set  out 
for  Paris,  in  hopes  of  being  employed  in  the  Louvre ;  bdt 
disappointed  in  this,  he  returned  to  England,  and  proposed 
to  the  king,  by  sir  Kenelm^  Digby,  to  paint  the  walls  of 
the  Qanquetting-house  at  Whitehall,  of  which  the  ceiling 
was  already  adorned  by  Rubens ;  and  Vandyck's  subject 
was  to  have  been  the  history  and  procession  of  the  order  of 
the  garter.  The  proposal  struck  the  king's  taste,  and,  in 
Walpole's  opinion,  was  accepted;  though,  he  adds,  thdt 
^*  some  say  it  was  rejected,  on  the  extravagant  price  de- 
manded by  Vandyck :  I  would  not  specify  the  sum,  it  is  so 
improbable,  if  I  did  not  find  it  repeated  in  Fenton^s  noteii 
on  Waller;  it  was  fourscore  thousand  pounds!''  But  tb^ 
sum  being  expressed  in  figures,  this  was  probably  a  typ6« 
graphical  error  of  80,000/.  for  8000/.  The  rebellion,  how-* 
ever,  prevented  further  thoughts  of  the  scheme,  as  the 
4eath  of  Vandyck  would  have  interrupted  the  execution^ 
at  least  the  completion  of  it.  He  died*  in  Blackfriars  Dec* 
9t  164 J,  and  was  buried  in  St.  Paul's  near  the  tomb,  of 
John  of  Gaunt. 

By  his  wife,  Maria  Ruthven,  lord  Gowry's. daughter,  he 
left  one  daughter,  married  to  Mr.  Stepney,  whose  grand** 
son,  Walpole  says,  was  George  Stepney  the  poet.  Lady 
Vandyck,  the  widow,  was  liiarried  again  to  Richard  Pryse^* 
son.  of  sir  John  Pryse,  of  Newton- Averbecham,  in  Mont- 
gomeryshire,, knt.  by  whom  she  had  no  issue.  Vandyck 
died  rich,  anditas  generous  jn  his  legacies,  but,  owing  to? 
the  cofifusions  of  the  times,  some  were  with  difficulty  re-^ 
eovered,  and  some  lost. 

Walpole  has  enumerated  the  best  of  his  pictures,  biifc 
ihe  number  is  too  great  for  our  limito.    Among  those  of 

a  2 


228  V  A  N  D  y  C  k. 

»  "  ■  • 

transcendant  excellence^  boweTer,  we  may  notice  his  poi'- 
trait  of  Charles  I.  a  whole-length  in  the  coronation  robes, 
engraved  by  Strange,  and  exhibiting  in  hii  opinion  one  of 
the  most  perfect  characters  of  the  monarch ;  George  Vil- 
liers,  the  second  duke  of  Buckingham,  and  lord  Francis 
his  brother,  when  children,  at  Kensington ;  Philip,  earl 
of  Pembroke,  at  Wilton,  where,  Walpole  says,  Vandyck  is 
on  his  throne,  the  great  saloon  being  entirely  furnished  by 
his  hand ;  and  lastly,  the  earl  of  Strafford  and  his  secretary 
at  Wentworth-house.  * 

VANE  (Sir  Henry),  an  English  statesman,  whose  fa- 
mily name  had  for  some  generations  been  Fane,  but  origi- 
nally Vane,  to  which  he  restored  it,  was  born  Feb.  18,  1589. 
The  family  is  said  to  have  been  at  first  of  the  diocese  of 
Durham,  but  were  now  settled  in  Kent.  (See  Collins,  art. 
Darlington).  In  16  ll  he  had  the  honour  of  knighthood 
conferred  upon  him  by  king  James  I.  after  which  he  im- 
proved himself  by  travel,  and  the  acquisition  of  foreign  lan- 
guages. On  his  return  he  was  elected  member  of  parlia* 
ment  for  Carlisle,  in  which  his  abilities  were  conspicuous. 
Such  also  was  his  attachment  to  the  royal  family,  that  king 
James  made  him  cofferer  to  his  son  Charles,  prince  of 
-Wales,  on  the  establishment  of  his  household,  and  he  wai 
continued  in  the  ss^me  ofHee  by  the  prince  when  Charles  L 
He  was  also  sent  by  the  new  king  to  notify  to  the  States  of' 
Holland  the  death  of  his  royal  father,  and  made  one  of 
the  privy-council.  In  Sept.  1631  he  was  appointed  am- 
bassador extraordinary,  to  renew  the  treaty  of  friendship 
and  aUiance  with  Christian  IV.  king  of  Denmark;  and  to- 
conclude  peace  and  confederacy  with  Gustavus  Adolphus, 
king  of  Sweden.  He  returned  to  England  in  Nov.  1632, 
and  in  May  of  the  following  year,  entertained  Charles  I. 
in  a  sumptuous  manner,  at  Raby-castle,  on  his  way  to 
Scotland  to  be  crowned  ;  as  he  did  again,  April  30,  1639, 
in  his  majesty^s  expedition  to  Scotlaad,  when  sir  Henry 
commanded  a  regiment  of  1099  men.  In  1639  he  was 
made  treasurer  of  the  household,  and  next  year,  principal 
secretary  of  state  in  the  room  of  sir  John  Coke.  Hitherto 
he  had  enjoyed  the  confidence  of  the  king,  and  had  always 
been  employed  in  the  most  important  public  afiairs.  But/ 
when  lie  Appeared  in  the  prosecution  against  the  earl  of 

t  WalpoWfl  AiMcdotos.—- ArfenTitte,  vol.  III.<^Foppeii'a  BibU  Belg.— Dei* 
camps,  vol.  II.-'-StraBgt'f  CaUlogae. 


VANE.  229 

■ 

Strafford,  his  motives  to  which  appear  to  have  been  of  a 
personal  kind,  the  king  was  so  offended,  that  he  removed 
him  from  bis  places  of  treasurer  of  his  household,  and  also 
from  being  secretary  of  state,  though,  in  the  patent  grant- 
ing that  office  to  him,  he  was  to  hold  it  during  life.  The 
parliament  therefore  made  this  one  of  their  pleas  for 
taking  up  arms  against  the  king.  In  their  declaration,  they 
avowed,  •*  it  was  only  for  the  defence  of  the  king's  person, 
and  the  religion^  liberties,  and  laws  of  the  kingdom,  and 
for  those,  who  for  their  sakes,  and  for  those  ends,  h^d  ob- 
served iheir  orders.^  That,  by  the  instigation  of  evil  coun- 
sellors, the  king  had  raised  an  army  of  papists,  by  which 
be  intended  to  awe  and  destroy  the  parliament,  &c.;  and 
the  putting  out  the  earl  of  Northumberland,  sir  Henry 
Vane,  and  others,  &c.  from  their  several  places  and  em- 
ployments, were  sufficient  and  ample  evidences  thereof." 

It  does  not,  however,  appear  that  he  was  concerned  in 
any  measures  against  the  king,  but  continued  in  London, 
without  acting  in  the  rebellion.  And  although  on  Decem- 
ber ],  1645,  the  parliament,  debating  on  propositions  of 
peace  with  the  king,  voted,  that  it  be  recommended  to  his 
majesty  to  create  sir  Henry  Vane,  senior,  a  baron  of  the 
kingdom,  he  never  accepted  any  commission  or  employ- 
ment under  them.  Before  the  murder  of  the  king,  he  re- 
tired to  his  seat  at  Raby  castle,  neither  he  nor  bis  sons 
being  concerned  therein,  The  earl  of  Clarendon  U  severe 
in  his  character  of  sir  Henry  Vaoe.  He  certainly  was  at 
one  time  in  full  confidence  with  the  king,  but  his  taking 
part  against  Strafford  did  incalculable  mischief  to  the  royal 
cause.  Clarendon  allows  that,  in  his  judgment,  ^'  he 
liked  the  government,  both  in  church  and  state."  As  to 
what  his  lordship  observes,  ^'  of  his  growing  at  last  into  the 
hatred  and  contempt  of  those  who  had  made  most  use  of 
him,  and  died  in  universal  reproach;"  it  may,  says  Col- 
lins, be  more  justly  represented,  that  he  saw  the  vile 
use  they  made  of  their  power,  and,  contemning  them,  chose 
retirement.  He  lived  to  the  latter  end  of  1^54,  when  he 
departed  this  life,  at  his  seat  at  Raby-castle,  in  the  sixty- 
ninth  year  of  his  age. ' 

VANE  (Sir  Henry),  eldest  son  of  the  preceding,  and 
oneof  the  most  turbulent  enthusiasts  which  the  rebellion 
produced,  was  born  in  1612,  and  educated  at  Westminster-! 

'  CoUiui*s  Peerage,  art.  Daruncton.— Biog.  Brit 


380     ,  VANE. 

achool,  whence  he  went  to  Magdalen-hall,  Oxford,  and 
eren  at  this  early  age  seems  to  have  embraced  some  of 
those  repHblican  opinions  which  were  destined  to  plunge 
bis  country  in  all  the  miseries  of  anarchy.  He  is  said  to 
have  then  travelled  to  France  and  Geneva,  and  on  his  re* 
turn  betrayed  such  an  aversion  to  the  discipline  and  liturgy 
of  the  Church  of  England,  as  greatly  displeased  his  father. 
Finding  how  obnoxious  his  principles  made  him,  he  deter* 
mioed  to  go  to  New  England,  then  the  resort  of  all  who 
were  disaffected  to  the  Church  of  England.  His  father  was 
against  this  wild  scheme,  but,  according  to  Neal  (in  his 
History  of  New  England),  the  king  advised  him  to  consent 
to  it,  and  to  limit  bis  stay  to  three  years.  Ypung  Vane's 
purpose  was  to  have  begun  a  settlement  on  the  banks  of 
the  river  Connecticut ;  but  the  people  upon  his  arrival,  in 
1635,  complimenting  him  with  the  government  of  Mass^i* 
chusetts  for  the  next  year,  he  resolved  to  stay  among  them. 
He  was,  however,  Neal  says,  ^'  no  sooner  advanced  to  the 
government,  than  he  appeared  td  be  a  person  of  no  cqn* 
duct,  and  no  ways  equal  to  the  post  he  was  preferred  to : 
being  a  strong  enthusiast,  he  openly  espoused  the  Antino^ 
mian  doctrines,  and  gave  such  encouragement  to  the 
preachers  and  spreaders  of  them,  as  raised  their  vanity, 
and  gave  them  such  an  interest  among  the  people,  as  the 
v^ry  next  year  had  like  to  have  proved  fatal  both  to  the 
church  and  commonwealth ;  'but  the  sober  party  observing 
his  conduct,  concerted  such  measures  among  themselves, 
as  put  an  end  to  his  government  the  next  election.*'  Mi» 
ther,  another  New  England  historian,  speaks  with  stilt 
greater  contempt  of  Vane,  and  says,  that  **  Mr.  Vane's 
election  will  remain  a  blemish  to  their  judgments  who  did 
elect  him,  while  New  England  remains  a  nation."  Baxter 
tells  us,  that  he  became  so  obnoxious  that  ^<  be  was  fain  to 
steal  away  by  night,  and  take  shipping  for  England,  before 
his  year  of  government  was  at  an  end."  Baxter  adds,  that 
^'  when  he  came  over  into  England,  he  proved  an  instru-^^ 
fjient  of  greater  calamity  to  a  people  more  sinful  and  more 
prepared  for  God's  judgments." 

According  to  these  accounts  he  must  have  returned  home 
libout  1636,  and  not  1639,  as  some  have  asserted.  It  is 
said  that  he  now  appeared  to  be  reformed  from  the  extra-* 
vagances  of  his  opinions,  and  married  Frances,  daugbterof 
sir  Christopher  Wray,  of  Ashby,  in  Lincolnshire.  He  was 
also  by  his  father's  interest  joined  with  sir  WiUi^m  Russel 


Y  A  N  E.  «9k 

I 

in  tli«  office  of  treasurer  of  tbe  navy,  %  place  oi£  great  tcusl 
tod  profit.  He  repreaented  KingSitpn-iipott-tiuU  \\y  tbo 
{karliament  choseo  1640|  and  fox  sonoe.  tiiae  aeemed  w«U 
satisfied  witb  the  goveroment ;  hut,  upon  his  father's  taking 
mnbrage  at  tb«  lord  Strafibrd's  heing  created  in  16^^  bA« 
ron  Raby  (which  title  he  had  promised  himself  and  which 
Strafford  laid  bold  of,  nerely  out  of  coiitempt  to  the  Vaae&)9 
both  fathef  and  son  formed  a  resolution  of  revenge.  Fai( 
this  purpose  the  latter,  who  bad  received  the  honour  of 
knighthood  in  164.0,  joined  Pyno  and  other  declared  enemies 
of  the  court ;  and  tontribjited  aU  that  intelligence  which 
ended  in  the  ruin  of  the  earl,  and  which  fi»xed  hioiself  in^ 
the  entire,  confidence  of  the  enemies  of  the  king  9^4  of 
Sln^iibvd,  sa  that  nothing  was  concealed  from  him,  though 
it  \i  believed  that  he  oommunicated  his  thoughts  to  very 
few. 

Upon  the  breaking  out  of  the  rebellion  he  adhered  to 
the  interest  of  the  parliament  with  enthusiastic  zeal.  He 
began  with  carrying  to  the  House  of  Peers  the  articles  of 
impeachment  against  archbishop  Laud;  and  was  nominated 
one  of  the  lay  members  of  the  assembly  of  divines.  In  &64| 
he  was  appointed  one  of  the  commissioners  seat  by  parlii^<^ 
ment  to  invite  the  Scots  to  their  assistance.  Under  this 
character  he  distinguished  himself  as  the  ^^  great  contrivar 
and  promoter  of  the  solemn  league  and  covenant ;''  thougby 
even  at  that  time,  he  was  known  to  have  an  equal  aver* 
sion  to  it  and  to  presbytery,  which  he  demonstrated  after* 
wards  upon  all  occasions,  being  a  zealous  independent.  In 
1644^  he  was  the  grand  instrument  of  carrying  the  famous 
self-denying  ordinance,  a  delusive  trick,  which  for  a  time 
^ve  life  and  spirit  to  the  independent  cause ;  and  in  his 
speech,  upon  introducing  the  debate  on  that  subject,  ob* 
served,  thftt,  though  he  had  b^en  possessed  of  the  trea* 
surerabip  of  the  navy  before  the  beginning  of  the  troubles^ 
without  owing  it  to  the  favour  of  the  parliament,  yet  he 
was  raady  to  resign  it  to  them  ;  and  desired  that  the  profits 
of  it  might  be  applied  towards  the  support  of  the  war.  He 
was  likewise  one  of  the  commissioners  at  the  treaty  of 
Uxbridge,  in  Jan.  1644-5,  and  of  that  of  the  Isle  of  Wight 
in  1648  ;  in  which  last,  as  he  was  now  determined  to  pro* 
euro,  if  possible,  a  change  in  the  government,  he  used  all 
his  efforts  to  relavd  any  conclusion  with  his  majesty  till  the 
army  could  be  brought  to  London ;  a^d  for  th^t  purpose 
amused  the  king's  party  by  the  offer  of  a  toleration  for  the 


$k2  VANE. 

eamtn'on  prayer  and  the  episcopal  clergy.  Like  many 
others^  however,  he  did  not  foresee  the  consequeaoes  o£ 
bis  favourite  measures/and  therefore  did  not  approve  of 
the  force  put  upon  the  parliament  by  the  army,  nor  of  the 
execution. of  the  king;  withdrawing  for  some  time  from 
the  scene  while  these  things  were  acted.  But,  upon  the 
jDstablishment  of  the  commonwealth,  1648-d,  he  was  ap^ 
jpointed  one  of  the  council  of  state,  in  which  post  he  was 
continued  till  the  memorable  dissolution  of  the  parliament 
by  Cromwell  in  16S3.  On  this  occasion  Cromwell,  who 
treated  individual  members  with  personal  insolence,  took 
hold  of  sir  Henry  Vane  by  the  cloak,  saying,  '^  Thou  art 
a  juggling  fellow.*'  Vane,  however,  was  too  much  of  a 
republican  to  submit  to  his,  or  any  authority,  and  was 
therefore,  in  1656,  summoned  by  Cromwell  to  appear  be- 
fore him  in  council.  On  his  appearance  Cromwell  chained 
him  with  disaffection  to  his  government,  which  appeared 
in  a  late  publication  of  bis  called  ^^  A  healing  question  pro^ 
posed  and  resolved."  Vane  acknowledged  the  publication, 
and  avowed  his  displeasure  with  the  present  state  of  affairs. 
Cromwell  therefore  ordered  him  to  give  security  for  his 
good  behaviour  ;  but  instead  of  this,-  which  such  a  man  as 
sir  Henry  Vane  might  probably  find  very  difficult,  he  de- 
livered to  Cromwell  a  justification  of  his  conduct;  and  this 
not  being  satisfactory,  he  was  imprisoned  in  Carisbrooke 
castle,  the  spot  on  which  be  had  so  recently  contributed  to 
injure  the  cause  of  his  legitimate  sovereign.  About  four 
months  after,  he  was  released,  and  Cromwell  tried  to  bring 
down  his  spirit  by  threatening  to  deprive  him  of  some  of 
his  estates  by  legal  process,  that  is,  by  such  perversion  .of 
the  law  aa  he  might  find  some  of  bis  creatures  capable  of 
attempting;  intimating  at  the  same  time,  that  all  this  should 
drop,  and  he  be  gratified  with  what  he  pleased,  provided 
Jbe  would  comply  with  the  present  government.  But  he 
remained  inflexible,  as  well  during  Cromwell's  life,  as  da- 
ring the  short  reign  of  Richard,  against  whom  many  meet- 
ings of  the  republicans  were  held  at  his  house  near  Cha- 
ring Cross. 

Endeavours  were  used  to  keep  him  out  of  Richard's  par- 
liament in  1659,  yet  he  was  at  last  chosen  for  Whitchurch  $ 
in  Hampshire.  In  that  assembly,  he  and  other  republicans^ 
laboured  to  overturn  the  settlement  ofa  protector  and  tw.6 
houses  of  parliament,  and  to  introduce  a  commonwealth,, 
and  gained  considerable  ascendancy.   .After  the  abdication 


VANE.  233 

of  Richardi  the  long  parliament  was  restored,  and'  sir 
Henry  Vane  made  one  of  the  committee  of  safetyi  and 
one  of  the  council  of  state,  and  finally  president  of  the 
jpouncil,  at  which  time  he  proposed  a  new  model  of  re- 
piibiican  government.  Still,  however,  he  had  the  misfor- 
tune ^o  displease  his  assocrates,  and  his  temporary  grandeur 
eaded  in  their  confining  him  to  his  house  at  Raby,  in  the 
county  of  Durham. 

Upon  the  restoration  it  was  imagined,  that,  as  the  de- 
claration from  Breda  was  full  of  indemnity  to  all  except 
the  regicides,  he  was  comprehended  in  it ;  his  innocence 
of  the  king's  death  was  represented  in  such  a  manner  by 
his  friends,  that  an  address  was  agreed  upon  by  both 
bouses  of  parliament  in  his  behalf,  to  which  a  favourable 
answer,  though  in  general  terms,  was  returned  by  bis  ma- 
jesty ;  and  this  being  equivalent  to  an  act  of  parliament, 
though  it  wanted  the  necessary  forms,  he  was  thought  to 
be  secure.  But  the  share  he  had  in  the  attainder  of  the 
earl  of  Strafford,  and  in  all  the  violent  measures  which 
overturned  the  government,  and,  above  all,  the  great  opi- 
nion which  was  entertained  of  his  parts  and  capacity  to 
embroil  matters  again,  made  the  court  think  it  necessary 
to  include  him  among  the  most  dangerous  enemies  of  the 
restoration.  He  was  brought  therefore  to  his  trial  on  the 
4tii  of  June,  1662,  for  imagining  and  compassing  the  death 
of  king  Charles.!,  and  for  taking  upon  him  and  usurping 
the  government :  in  .answer  to  which  he  urged,  that  neither 
the  king's  death,  nor  the  members  themselves,  could  dis- 
solve the  long  parliament,  whereof  he  being  one,  no  infe- 
rior cbi|ld  call  him  in  question  ;  but,  being  found  guilty, 
he  was,  on  the  14th,  beheaded  on  Tower-hill,  where  he 
intended  to  have  addressed  the  spectators,  but  drummers 
were  placed  under  the  scaffold,  who,  as  ^oon  as  he  began 
%o  speak,  upon  a  sign  given,  struck  up  their  drums.  This, 
wbich  .is  said  to  have  been  a  new  and  very  indecent  prac- 
tice, put  him  in  no  disorder;  he  only  desired  they  might 
be  stopped,  for  he  understood  what  was  meant  by  it. 
Then  he  went  through  .his  devotions ;  and,  as  he  was 
taking  leave  of  those  about  him,  happening  to  say  somewhat 
with  relation  to  the  times,  the  drums  struck  up  a  second 
time.  Upon  this  be  gave  over,  and  died  with  such  reso- 
lution as  to.  excite  the  sympathy  of  those  who  had  no  re- 
spect for  bis  general  character  and  conduct. 
,   Lord  Clarendon  styles  him  a  man  of  a  very  profound 


234         ^  VANE. 

dissimulation,  jof  a  quick  conception,  and  very  ready,  sharp, 
and  weighty,  expression  ;  of  a  pleasant  wit,  a  great  under* 
standing,  which  pierced  into  and  discerned  the  purposes  of 
other  men  with  wonderful  sagacity,  whilst  be  had  himself 
vultum  clausumy  that  no  man  could  make  a  guess  of  what 
he  himself  intended  ;  of  a  temper  not  to  be  moved,  though 
compliant,  when  it  was  not  seasonable  to  contradict,  without 
losing  ground  by  the  condescension.  Burnet  represents 
him  as  naturally  a  very  fearful  man,  whose  head  was  as 
darkened  in  his  notions  of  religion  as  his  mind  was  clouded 
with  fear  ;  fpr,  though  he  set  up  a  form  of  religion  in  a  way 
of  his  own,  yet  it  consisted  rather  in  withdrawing  from  all 
other  forjQs,  than  in  any  new  particular  opinion  or  form; 
from  which  he  and  his  party  were  called  seekers,,  and 
seemed  to  wait  for  some  new  and  clearer  manifestations. 
Baxter  calls  them  the  Vanisis,  In  their  meetings  sir  Henry 
preached  and  prayed  often  himself,  but  with  a  pecoUar 
darkness,  which  ran  likewise  through  his  writings,  to  a 
degree  that  rendered  them  wholly  unintelligible.  He  in- 
clined to  Origen's  notion  of  an  universal  solvation  to  all, 
both  the  devils  and  the  damned ;  and  to  the  doctrine  of 
pre-existence. 

Milton  addressed  &  beautiful  sonnet  to  sir  Henry  Vane, 
in  terms  of  high  commendation,  for  which  the  adherence 
of  that  illustrious  poet  to  the  independent  sect  must  be  his 
excuse,  yet  we  can  scarcely  think  him  serious  when  he 
«ays, 

'^  Therefore  on  thy  firm  hand  religion  leans 
In  peace^  and  reckons  thee  her  eldest  son." 

For  sure,  as  his  commentator,  Warton,  observes  (almost, 
however,  in  Ecbard's  words)  no  single  man  ever  exhibited 
such  a  medley  of  fanaticism  and  dissimulation,  solid  abilities 
and  visionary  delusions,  good  sense  and  madness. 

His  writings,  which  were  of  a  very  peculiar  cast,  were, 
1.  '<  A  healing  Question,  propounded  and  resolved,  upon 
occasion  of  the  late  public  and  seasonable  call  to  humilia-- 
tion,  in  order  to  love  and  union  amongst  the  honest  party, 
1656,*^  4to.  It  was  written  upon  occasion  of  a  genensi 
fast ;  and  contained,  says  Ludlow,  the  state  of  the  repub-^ 
licans'  controversy  with  the  king,  the  present  deviation 
from  that  cause  for  which  they  engaged,  and  the  means  to 
unite  all  parties  in  the  accomplishment  of  it.  2.  ^^  The 
retired  Man*s  Meditations ;  or,  the  mystery  and  power  of 
godliness  shining  forth  in  the  living  world,''  &c.  1656,  4to, 


VANE.  235 

an  eotbusiastic  treatise  on  our  Saviour^«  coming  down  to 
erect  a  fifth  monarchy  upon  earth,  which  would  last  1000 
years.  3.  ^<  Of  the  Love  of  God  and  Union  with  God/' 
1657,  4to.  Of  this  book  lord  Clarendon  says,  ^^  When  I 
had  read  it,  and  found  nothing  of  his  usual  oles^rness  and 
ratiocination  in  bis  discourse,  in  which  he  used  much  to 
excel  the  best  of  the  company  be  kept,  and  that,  in  a 
crowd  of  very  easy  words,  the  sense  was  too  hard  to  find 
but,  I  was  of  opinion  that  the  subject-matter  of  it  was  of  so 
dehcate  a  nature  that  it  required  another  kind  of  prepara- 
tion of  mind,  and,  it  may  be,  another  kind  of  diet  than 
men  are  ordinarily  supplied  with.''  4.  '^  An  Epistle  Ge- 
neral to  the  mystical  body  of  Christ  on  eiarth,  the  church 
universal  in  Babylon,  ^ho  are  pilgrims  and  strangers  on 
the  earth,  desiring  and  seeking  after  the  heavenly  coun*. 
try,'*  1662,  4to.  5.  "  The  Face  of  the  Times;  whereby 
is  briefly  discovered,  by  several  prophetical  Scriptures,, 
from  the  beginning  of  Genesis  to  the  end  of  the  Revelation, 
the  rise,  progress,  and  issue,  of  the  enmity  and  contest 
between  the  seed  of  the  woman  and  the  seed  of  the  serpent, 
to  the  final  breaking  of  the  serpent's  bead,  to  the  total  and 
irrecoverable  ruin  of  the  monarchies  of  this  world,"  &c« 
1662,  4to;  6.  "  The  People's  Cause  stated.  The  valley 
of  Jebosaphat  considered  and  opened,  by  comparing  2 
Chron.  xx,  with  Joel  iii.  Meditations  concerning  man's 
life— *govemiiient— *friendship-*-enemies— <leath ;"  penned 
during  his  imprisonment,  and  printed  at  the  end  of  his 
trial,  in  1662,  4to. ' 

VAN  EFFEN  (Justus),  a  man  of  letters,  and  one  of 
the  first  periodical  essayists  on  the  continent,  was  born  at 
Utrecht,  April  21,  1684.  He  was  the  son  of  an  officer, 
who  had  no  other  fortune  than  a  moderate  pension,  and  as 
be  died  before  Justus  had  completed  his  studies,  the  latter 
was  left  to  provide  as  he  could  for  his  mother  and  a  sister. 
Some  friends  who  took  an  interest  in  the  family  procured 
him  to  be  appointed  tutor  to  the  baron  de  Welderen's  son, 
which  placed  him  above  want ;  but  as  he  could  not  do  sa. 
much  for  his  family  as  he  wished,  he  had  recourse  to  his 
pen  for  a  farther  supply.  His  first  publication  was  *^  Le 
Misanthrope,"  a  periodical  paper  in  imitation  of  our 
^'Spectator,'*  which  he  wrote  in  French,  commencing  May 

^  Ath.  Ox.  vol.  II. — -Bio;.  Brit— -GoUins's  Peerage.— Neal's  History  of  New 
Eogland.*— Sylvester's  Life  of  Baxter,  p.  74.— Bircb>'ik  Lives. 


236  V  A  N     E  F  F  E  N.     ' 

1711,  and  continuing  till  December  1712.  Inthit  he  had 
great,  and  from  what  we  have  seen,  deserved  success.  If 
he  falls  short  <}f  his  model  in  that  delicate  humour  of  Addi- 
son, which  has  never  been  equalled,  he  abounds  in  just 
remarks  on  life  and  manners,  evidently  derived  from  exten« 
sive  observation.  Van  EfFen  contrived  to  conceal  himself 
throughout  the  whole  of  this  publication,  of  which  a  secoud 
and  improved  edition  was  published  at  the  Hague  in  1726, 
2  vols.  12mo,  to  which  is  added  his  "Journey  to  Sweden,** 
performed  in  1719,  in  the  suite  of  the  prince  of  Hesse  Phi- 
Hppsthal,  who  promised  to  make  his  fortune,  but  disap- 
pointed him.  He  consequently  returned  to  the  Hague  as 
poor  as  he  left  it,  and  resumed  his  labours  on  the  **  Jour- 
.nal  litieraire  de  la  Haye,".  in  which  he  had  been  engaged 
before  his  departure.  Having  got  into  a  literary  quarrel 
with  Camiisat,  who  had  treated  his  "  Misanthrope'*  with 
contempt,  he  vvas  so  much  hurt  as  to  be  glad  to  embrace 
the  opportunity  of  going  to  Leyden  with  a  young  gentle- 
man to  whom  he  was'  appointed  tutor.  Here  he  engaged 
in  some  literary  schemes  by  which  he  got  more  money  than 
reputation.  Count  de  Welderen,  however,  having  been 
appointed  ambassador  to  England  from  the  Slates  General, 
took  Van  Effen  with  \}m  as  secretary,  and  on  bis  return 
procured  him  the  place  of  inspector  of  the  magazines  at 
Bois-le-Duc,  where  he  died  Sept.  18,  1735t  Van  EfFen'^s 
works  were  numerous,  but  being  almost  all  anonymous,  it 
is  not  easy  to  ascertain  the  whole.  The  following  are: said 
to  be  the  principal :  1.  **  Le  Misanthrope,"  already  noticed. 
2.  "Journal  Litteraire,'*  1715  to  1718,  many  of  which  vo- 
lumes are  entirely  of  his  editing.  3.  ^^  La  Bagatelle,  ou 
Discours  ironiques,*  ou  Ton  pr^te  des  sophismes  ingenieux 
au  vice  et  a  Textravagance,  pour  en  mieujc  faire  sentir  le 
ridicule,"  Amst.  1718 — '1719,  3  vols.  8vo,  reprinted  at 
Lausanne,  1743,  2  vols.  4.  '*  Le  nouveau  Spectateur  Fran- 
gais,"  of  which  only  twenty-eight  numbers  appeared  ;  fouir 
of  them  are  employed  on  a  critique  on  the  works  of  Houdard 
de  la  Motte,  who  thanked  the  author  for  his  impartiality. 
5.  "  The  Dutch  Spectator,"  in  Dutch,  Amst.  1731  —  1735, 
12  vols.  8vo.  6.  **  Parallele  d'Homere  et  de  Chapelain,'* 
Hague,  1714,  8vo.  This  has  been  also  printed  in  the  dif- 
ferent editions  of  the  "  Chef-d'cEuvre  d*un  idconnu,*'  i.  e. 
M.  de  Themiseuil  de  St.  Hyacinthe.  7.  Translations  of 
Robinson  Crusoe,  Swift'^  Tale  of  a  Tub,  and  some  of  Man- 
deville's  writings.     8.  **  Le  Mentor  moderne,"  a  transU- 


VANEFFEN.  >  237 

» 

tion  of  "  The  Guardian,"  except  the  political  papers.  9. 
'•Histoire  metallique  des  dix-sept  Proviiice&de  Pays-Bas,'* 
translated  from  the  Dutch  of  Van  Loon,  Hague,  1732,  5 
yols.  Van  EfTen  is  said  also  to  have  written  ^^  Les  Petits 
Maitres/'  a  comedy;  ^' Essai  sur  la  maniere  de  traiter  la 
eontroverse  f  and  a  part  of  the  ^^  Journal  historique,  poli« 
tique,  et  galante.*'* 

VAN  ESPEN.     See  ESPEN. 

VAN  EYCK.     See  EYCK. 

VAN  HUYSUM.  See  HUYSUM. 
-  VANIEKE  (James),  a  Jesuit,  and  a  modern  Latin  poet 
of  considerable  talents,  was  born  in  1664  at  Gausses  in  the 
diocese  of  Beziers,  in  Languedoc.  He  was  educated  at 
the  Jesuits*  college  in  Beziers,  and  became  one  of  the  so- 
ciety in  1680.  He  was  afterwards  professor  and  rector  of 
the  schools  belonging  to  the  Jesuits  in  Montpellier,  Tou- 
louse, and  Aueh ;  and  died  at  Toulouse  in  1739.  He  pub- 
lished a  volume  of  poetical  "  Opuscula ;"  and  a  good 
**  Dictionary  of  Poetry,"  in  Latin,"  4to,  and  had  made  great 
progress  on  a  Latin  and  French  Dictionary,  which  he  did^ 
not  live  to  finish.  His  principal  Latin  poem  is  his  <'  Prs« 
dium  Rusticum,'*  on  the  subject  of  a  country  farm,"  which,* 
some  thought,  raised  him  to  the  first  rank  of  modern  Latin 
poets.  The  poem^  however,  is  confessedly  tedious^  per- 
haps from  the  nature  of  the  plan,  andicannot  be  read  with 
pleasure  unless  by  those  who  happen  to  unite  the  scholar^s 
taste  witii  the  farmer's  knowledge.  Arthur  Murphy  pub-» 
lHhed  in  1799,  a  translation  of  the  fourteenth  book  of  the 
"  Prsedium  Rusticum,"  which  treats  of  bees.  This  he  says 
was  a  juvenile  performance,  but  he  has  inrtroduced  among 
the  bees  '*  French  principles,"  *'  corresponding  societies," 
and  other  articles  of  very  recent  date,  the  prototypes  of 
which  are  certainly  not  to  be  found  in  Vaniere.* 

VANINI,  a  writer  who  has  generally  been  distinguished 
by  the  title  of  Atheist,  was  born  at  Tourosano,  in  the  king- 
dom of  Naples,  in  15^5  ;  and  was  the  son  of  John  Baptist 
Vanini,  steward  to  Don  Francis  de  Castro,  duke  of  Tou- 
rosano, and  viceroy  of  Naples.  His  Christian  name  was 
Lucilio :  but  it  was  Customary  with  him  to  assume  different 
Barnes  in  different  countries.  In  Gascony,  he  called  him- 
self Ponip^io  ;  in  Holland,  Julius  Ceesar,  which  namo'he 
^aeed  in  ^the  title-pages  of  his  books  ;  and,  at  Toulouse, 

'i  MorerU-r-Bic^*  Univ.  art.  EflRea.  ^  Moreri.-^Dict.  H'nt. 


238  V  A  N  I  N  I. 

when  he  was  tried,  he  was  called  Lucilio.     He  bad  an  earlj 
taste  for  literature,  and  bis  father  sent  him  to  Rome  to 
«tudy  philosophy  and  divinity,  and  on  his  return  to  Naples, 
he  continued  his  studies  in  philosophy,  and  applied  him- 
self sbaie  time  to  physic.     Astronomy  likewise  employed 
him  much,  which  insensibly  threw  him  into  the  reveries  of 
t  astrology  :  but  he  bestowed  the  principal  part  of  his  time 
upon  divinity.     The  title  of  "  Doctor  in  utroque  Jure,'* 
which  he,  assumes  in  the  title-page  of  his  dialogues,  may 
indicate  that  he  had  applied  himself  to  the  civil  and  canon 
law  ;  and  from  his  writings,  it  certainly  appears  that  he  un- 
derstood both.     He  finished  his  studies  at  Padua,  where  he 
resided  some  years,  and  procured  himself  to  be  ordained 
priest,  and  became  a  preacher,  with  what  success  is  not 
known.     His  mind  appears  to  have  been  perverted  or  con* 
fused  by  the  reading  of  Aristotle,  Averroes,  Cardan,  and 
Pomponatius,  who  became  his  favourite  guides.     His  ad- 
miration of  Aristotle  was  such,  that  he  calls  him  ^*  the^d 
of  philosophers,  the  dictator  of  human  nature,  and  the 
sovereign  pontiflF  of  the  sages.'\   The  system  of  Averroes, 
which  is  but  a  branch  of  that  of  Aristotle,  was  ^o  highly 
approved  of  by  him,  that  he  recommended  it  to  his  scho^ 
lars  at  their  first  entrance  upon  the  study  of  philosophy* 
He  styles  Bomponaftius  his  *^  divine  master,''  and  bestows 
great  encomiums  upon  his  works.     He  studied  Cardan  very 
much,  and  gives  him  the  character  of  '^  a  man  of  great 
sense,  and  not  at  all  affected  with  superstition."     It  is  sap-> 
posed  that  he  derived  from  these  authors  those  infidel  do«» 
trines  which  he  aftenVards  endeavoured  to  propagate.    Fa- 
ther Mersene  assures  us,  that  Vanini,  before  he  was  eze- 
cuted  at  Toulouse,^  confessed  to  the  parliament,  that  at 
Naples  he  had  agreed  i/vith  thirteen  of  his  friends  to  travel 
throughout  Europe,  for  the  sake  of  propagating  atheism, 
and  that  France  had  fallen  to  his  share:  but  this  is  very 
improbable,  as  the  president  Gramond,  who  was  upon  the 
spoXf  says  nothing  of  such  a  scheme  in  his  account  ^t^fVa- 
nini's  trial  and  execution.     It  is  more  probable,  that  bis 
inclination  to  travelling,  or  perhaps  the  hopes  of  procuripg 
an  agreeable  settlement,    led  him  to  the  several  places 
tlirough  which  he  passed ;  and  that  he  spread  bis  singular 
sentiments  according  as  he  had  oppoi^tuoity.  .    . 

Tt  has  been  reinarked  that  we  have  very  few  dates  in  the 
biography  of  Vanini.  We  can  only  therefore  say  generally 
that^  after  he  had  commenced  his  travels^  he  went  through 


V  A  N  I  N  L  •  239 

pitrt  of  Germany  and  the  Low  Countries,  to  Geneva,  and 
thenee  to  Lyons ;  whenge,  having  presuoied  to  vent  bis 
irreligious  uotions,  under  the  pretext  of  teaching  philoso* 
phy,  he  was  x>bliged  to  fly.  He  passed  over  into  England, 
and.ip  1614  was  at  London,  where  he  was  imprisoned  for 
nine  and  forty  days,  '^  well  prepared/'  says  he,  with  that 
air  of  devotion  which  runs  through  all  his  writings,  ^<  to  re- 
ceive-tbe  crown  of  martyrdom,  which  he  longed  for  with  all 
tlie  ardour  imaginable."  Being  set  at  liberty,  he  repassed 
the  sea,  and  took  the  road  to  Italy.  He  first  stopped  at 
Genoa,  and  undertook  to  teach  youth ;  but,  it  being  dis- 
covered that  he  had  infused  pernicious  notions  into  their 
minds,  he  was  forced  to  abandon  that  city.  He  then  re- 
turned to  Lyons,,  where  he  endeavoured  to  gain  the  favour 
of  the  ecclesiastics  by  a  pretended  confutation  of  Cardan 
and  other  atheistical  writers,  in  which  he  artfully  contrived, 
by  the  weakness  of  his  arguments,  to  give  his  opponents 
the  advantage*  This  work  was  printed  at  Lyons,  in  1615, 
8vo,  under  the  title  of  ^^  Amphitheatrum  aeternas  Provi- 
dexitiae  Divino-Magicum,  Christiano-Physicum,  necnon  As« 
trologo-Catholicum,  adversus  veteres  Philosopbos  Atheos, 
Epicureos,  Peripateticos,  .&  Stoxcos.  Autore  Julio  Csesare 
Vaniuo,  Philosopbo,  Theologo,  ac  Juris  utriusque  Doc-^ 
tore;''  dedicatedto  the  count  de  Castro,  the  protector  of' 
bis  feqiily  and  his  benefactor;  and  it  so  far  imposed  on  the 
licensers  of  books,  as  to  receive  their  approbation.  But 
Vanini  being  apprehensive  that  his  artifice  might  be  de* 
te$U^f  went  again  into  Its^ly ;  where  being  accused  of  re- 
viving and  propagating  bis  former  impieties,  he  returned 
to  frauce,  and  became  a  monk  in  the  convent  of  Guienne, 
and  feom  this  he  is  said  to  have  been  ^)anished  for  immo* 
rality.  He  then  retired  to  Paris,  where  he  endeavoured  to 
introdiftce  himself  to  Robert  Ubaldini,  the  pope's  nuncio; 
and,  in  order  to  make  his  court  to  him  and  the  clergy  in 

funeral,  undertook  to  write  an  apology  for  the  council  of 
cent»  He  procured  likewise  several  friends,  and  had  ac- 
eBis  to  the  mareschal  de  Bassompierre,  who  made  him  his 
chi^lAtn,  and  gave  him  a  pension  of  two  hundred  crowns. 
Upon  this  account,  he  dedicated  to  him  his  ^'Dialogues,'' 
whteh  were  printed  at  Paris  in  1616,  Svo,,  with  this  title, 
'^JultiCsesaris  Vanini,  Neapolitani,  Theologi,  Philosophi, 
&  Jufis  utriusque  Doctoris,  de  admirandis  Naturae  Regin» 
"Dewqtxe .  Mortaiium  arcanis,  libri  quatuor."  This  work 
Utewise  was  printed  with  the  king^s  privilege,  and  the  ap- 


f  40  V  A  N  I  N  I. 

probation  of  three  learned  doctors,  either  from  careless* 
ness  or  ignorance.  In  his  *^  Ampbitheatrum*'  he  bad  taken 
some  pains  to  disguise  his  irreligion  ;,  but  in  these  ^^  Dia<* 
logues,''  bis  sentiments  are  too  obviouSyN  and  notwithstand- 
ing their  having  escaped  the  censors  of  the  press,  the  fa-> 
culty  of  the  Sorbonne  soon  discovered  their  tendency,  and 
condemned  them  to  the  flames.  Finding  himself  now  be<* 
come  generally  obnoxious,  and  in  consequence  reduced  to 
poverty,  be  is  said  to  have  written  to  the  pope,  that,  ^^  If 
be  had  not  a  good  benefice  soon  bestowed  upon  him,  he 
would  in  three  months'  time  overturn  the  whole  Christian 
religion  ;*'  but  although  it  is  not  impossible  that  Vanini 
might  have  written  such  a  letter  for  the  amusement  of  his 
friends,  it  is  scarcely  credible  that  he  should  have  sent  it 
to  Rome.  Whatever  may  be  in  this,  it  is  certain  that  he 
qditted  Paris  in  1617,  and  returned  to  Toulouse;  where 
be  soon  infused  his  impious  notions  into  the  minds  of  his 
scholars,  in  the  course  of  his  lectures  on  physic,  philo- 
sophy, and  divinity.  This  being  discovered,  he  was  pro- 
secuted, and  condemned  to  be  burnt  to  death,  which  sen-' 
tence  was  executed  Feb.  19,  1619.  Gramond,  president  of 
the  parliament  of  Toulouse,  gives  os  the  following  account 
of  bis  death.  *^  About  the  same  time,  Feb.  1619^  by  order 
of  the  parliament  of  Toulouse,  was  condemned  to  death 
Lucilio  Vanini,  who  was  esteemed  aa  arcb-heretic  with 
many  persons,  but  whom  I  always  looked  upon  as  an 
atheist.  This  wretch  pretended  to  be  a  physician,  but  in 
reality  was  no  other  than  a  seducer  of  youth.  He  laughed 
at  every  thing  sacred :  he  abominated  the  incarnation  of 
our  Saviour,  and  denied  the  being  of  a  God,  ascribing  all 
things  to  chance.  He  adored  nature,  as  the  cause  of  all 
beings :  this  was  his  principal  error,  whence  all  the  rest  were 
derived ;  and  be  had  the  boldness  to  teach  it  with  great 
obstinacy  at  Toulouse.  He  gained  many  followers  among' 
the  younger  sort,  whose  foible  it  is  to  be  taken  with  any 
thing  that  appears  extraordinary  and  daring.  Being  cast 
into  prison,  be  pretended  at  first  to  be  a  catholic  ;  and  by* 
that  means  deferred  his  punishment.  He  was  even  just 
going  to  be  set  at  liberty,  for  want  of  sufficient  proofs 
against  him,  when  Franconi,  a  man  of  birth  and  probity,' 
deposed,  that  Vanini  bad  often,  in  his  presence,  denitd' 
the  existence  of  God,  and  scoffed  at  the  mysteries  of  tbe 
Christian  religion.  Vanini,  being  brought  before  the  sc- 
natei  and  asked  what  his  thoughts  were  concerning  the 


VANINL  241 

existence  of  a  God  ?  answered,  that  ^  he  adored  with  the 
church,  a  God  in  three  persons,'  and  that  ^, Nature.  evi<>* 
dently  demonstrated  the  being  of  a  deity  i*  _and,  seeing  by 
chance  a  straw  on  the  ground,  he  took  it  up,  and  stretching 
it  forth,  said'  to  the,  judges,  ^  This  straw  obliges  me  to 
confess  that  there  is  a  God;'  and  he  proved  afterwards  rery 
amply,  that  God  was  the  author  and  creator  of  all  thingi^ 
nature  being  incapable  of  creating  any  thing.  But  all  this 
be  said  through  vanity  or  fear,  rather  than  an  inward  con- 
viction ;  and,  as  the  proofs  against  him  were  convincing, 
be  was  by  sentence  of  parliament  condemned  to  die,  after 
they  had  spent  six  months  in  preparing  things  for  a  hearing. 
I  saw  him  in  the  dung-cart,  continues  Gramond,'  when  he 
was-  carried  to  execution,  making  sport  with  a  friar,  who 
was  allowed  him  in  order  to  reclaim  him  from  his  obstinacy. 
Yanini  refused  the  assistance  of  the  friar,  and  insulted  even 
our  Saviour  in. these  words,  *  He  sweated  with  weakness 
and  fear  in.  going  to  suffer  death,  and  I  die  undaunted.* 
lliis  profligate  wretch  had  no  reason  to  say  that  he  died 
undaunted :  I  saw  him  entirely  dejected,  and  making  a 
very  ill  use  of  that  philosophy  of  which  he  so  much  boasted. 
At  the  time  when  he' was  going  to  be  executed  he  had  a 
horrible  and  wild. aspect;  his  mind  was  uneasy,  and  he 
discovered  in.  all  his  expressions  the  utmost  anxiety ;  though 
from  time  to  time  he  cried  out  that  he  ^  died  like  a  philo- 
sopher.* Before  the  fire  was  applied  to  the  wood-pile,  he 
was  ordered  to  put  out  Ins  tongue,  that  it  might  be  cut  off; 
which  be  refused  to  do ;  nor  could  the  executioner  take 
bold  of  it  but  with  pincers.  There  never  was. heard  a  more, 
dreadful  shriek  than  he  then^gave ;  it  was  like  the  bellow-^ 
ing  of  an  ox*  His  body  was  consumed  in  the  flames,  and 
his.  ashes  thrown  into  the  air.  I  saw  him  in  prison,  and  at 
his  execution  ;  and  likewise  knew  him  before  he  was  ar« 
rested.  He  had  always  abandoned  himself  to  the  gratifi- 
cation of  his  passiohiy  and  lived  in  a  very  irregular  manner. 
When  his  goods  were«seizeid  there  was  found  a  great  toad 
alive  in  a  large  crystal  bottle  full  of  water.  Whereupon  he 
was  accused  of  witchcraft ;  but  be  answered,  that  that  animal 
being  burned,  was  a  sure  antidote  against  all  mortal  and 
pestilential  diseases.  While  be  was  ih  prison  he  pretended 
to  be  a  catholic,  and  went  often  to  the  sacrament;  bu^ 
when  he  found  there  were  no  hopes  of  escaping^  he  threw^ 
off  the  mask,  and  died  as  he  had  lived.'' 

Yanini  has  not  been  without  his  apologists,  who  have 

YoL-XXX.  R 


24i  V  A  N  I  ,N  t 

eoiistdered  bim  rather  as  a  victim  to^  bigotry  and  eoTy,  Ifaati' 
as  a  martyr  to  impiety  and  atheism.  They  even  go  so  far 
as  to  maintain  that  neither  bis  life  nor  bis  vrritings  were  so 
absurd  or  blasphemous  as  to  entitle  bim  to  the  character  of 
a  despiser  of  God  and  religion.  The  arguments  of  these 
apologists  may  be  found  in^Buddeus's  *^  Theses  de  Atheis- 
mo  et  Superstitione/^  inArp's  ^<  Apologia  pro  Vanioo/* 
17 13,  and  in  Heister^s  <'  Apologia  pro  medicis/'  The  life 
of  Vanini  has  been  written  several  times ;  but  that  by  M. 
Dufand,  entitled  *^  La  Vie  et  les  Sentimens  de  Lucilio  Va- 
nini/' and  printed  at  Rotterdam,  1727,  in  12 mo,  comprises 
every  thing  which  has  been  said  of  him,  bnt  by  no  means 
justifies  the  zeal  of  his  apologists.  An  English  translation 
of  Durand  was  published  in  1730.' 

VAN  LOO  (John  Baptist),  a  portrait-painter^  brother 
to  Carlo  Vanioo,  was  born  at  Aix,  in  Provence,  about  1684. 
He  distinguished  himself  eminently  in.  historic  and  portrait 
painting,  both  which  he  studied  at  Rome,  and  became 
painter  to  the  king  of  Sardinia,  in  whose  service  he  realized 
a  considerable  fortune ;  but  lost  it  all  in  the  Mississippi^ 
going  to  Paris  in  the  year  of  that  bubble.  In  1737  he 
came  to  Ensfland  with  bis  son.  His*  first  works  were  the 
portraits  of  Cibber  and  Mac  Swinney ;  the  latter,  whose 
long  silver  grey  hairs  were  very  picturesque,  contributed 
much  to  give  the  new  painter,  reputation,  and  be  very 
soon  bore  away  the  chief  business  of  London  from  every 
Other  painter,  and  introduced  a  better  style  than  was  then 
known.  He  died  at  Prbvence,  whither  he  had  retired  for 
the  benefit  of  the  ^ir,  in  April  1746.  Louis  Michael  Van* 
loo,  first  painter  to  the  king  of  Spain,  and  Charles  Philip 
Vanioo,  painter  to  the  king  of  Prussia,  were  sons  and  pu- 
pils of  the  above-mentioned,  and  have  with  eclat  supported 
the  name.' 

VAN  LOO  (Charles),  brother  to  the  preceding,  was 
born  at  Nice,  Feb.  15,  1705.  He  went  to  Turin  with  his 
brother  John  in  1712,  and  thence  to  Rome-in  1714.  He 
learnt  from  bis  brother  the  first  elements  of  design ;  and, 
by  his  constantly  studying  the  antique,  and  the  works  of 
the  greatest  masters,  he  laid  the  foundation  of  his  future 
CMie.  He  came  to  Paris  with  his  brother  in  1719,  and  in 
1723  gained  the  academy's  first  medal  for  design:  ia  the 

\  Life,  as  above. — Gen.  Diit.— Nioeron,  Tolt  XXVJ.— Mosbeiai. 
^  Pilkii^;tOD«-<-Wa1pole'sAneodoie8, 


V  A  N  L  O  O.  £43 

yehr  followiirg  be  carried  the  first  prize  for  painting  ;  and 
departed  again  for  Rome  in  1727.  He  returned  to  Turin 
in  1732,  where  he  painted  many  historical  pieces  with  sue* 
cess  for  the  king  of  Sardinia*  The  next  year  he  married 
Signora  Sommis,  who  was  celebrated  for  singing  and  know- 
ledge of  music,  but  more  celebrated  for  the  private  virtues 
of  domestic  life.  In  1734  be  returned  to  Paris,  and  the 
year  following  was  received  into  the  academy.  In  1749 
he  was  chosen  for  the  direction  of  the  royal  eleves:  In  1751- 
he  was  honoured  with  the  order  of  St.  Michael,  and  in  1762 
named  first  painter  to  the  king,  dnd  died  in  1765.  His 
principal  performances  are  in  the  churches  of  Paris^  and 
are  much  admired.  ^ 

VAN  MANDER  (Charles),  another  eminent  artist,  was 
born  al  Meulebeke,  a  small  distance  from  Courtray^  it| 
1548,  and  was  successively  the  disciple  of  Lucas  de  Heere^ 
at  Ghent,  and  Peter  Vlerick,  at  Courtray ;  but  his  prin- 
cipal knowledge  in  the  art  of  painting  was  acquired  fit 
Rome,  where  he  studied  for  three  years.  There  be  de* 
signed  after  the  antiques,  and  the  curious  remains  of  Ro- 
man magnificence ;  the  temples,  baths,  ruinous  theatres, 
sepulchml  monuments  and  their  decorations,  and,  in  short, 
.  every  elegant  and  noble  object  that  invited  his  attention. 
He  also  studied  after  nature  in  the  environs  of  Rome, 
sketching  every  scene  that  pleased  his  imagination,  or  could 
afford  him  materials  for  future  compositions  in  the  land** 
scape-style ;  and  having  practised  to  paint  with  equal  free- 
dom in  fresco  and  in  oil,  he  executed  several  historical 
works  as  well  as  landscapes^  for  the  candinals  aiid  nobility 
of  Rome,  with  extraordinary  approbation. 

At  his  return  to  his  own  cou,ntry  he  was  received  with 
unusual  respect,  and  soon  after  painted  the  represientation 
of  the  Terrestrial  Paradise,  which  procured  him  great 
honour,  and  a  picture  of  the  Deluge,  which  was  highly 
applauded  for  the  composition  and  expression,  as  it  de- 
scribed all  the  passions  of  grief,  fear,  terror,  horror,  and' 
despair,  with  a  sensible  and  affecting  variety.  In  general- 
he  was  esteemed  a  good  painter  of  landscape ;  the  choice 
in  his  trees  was  judicious,  his  figures  were  well  designed, 
bis  colouring  'was  agreeable,  and  his  composition  full  of^ 
spirit;  though,' in  the  advanced  part  of  his  life  be  appeared 
to  bare  somewhat  of  the  mannerist.    This  artist  distin- 

»  l^imfngtOD.— Pict.  fiist. 
R   2 


244  V  A  N     M  A  N  D  E  R. 

guisbed  himself  not  only  as  a  painter,  but  as  a  writer.  .  Ha. 
composed  tragedies  and  comedies,  wbicb  were  acted  wttl^ 
applause;  and,  what  is  very  uncommon,  be  painted. afsd 
the  decorations  of  the  theatre.  At  Haerlem  be  introduced 
an  academy,  to  diffuse  among  his  countrymen  a  taste  for 
the  Itafian  masters ;  and  the  world  is  indebted  eminently 
to  Van  Mander  for  searching  out,  and  transmitting  to  pos* 
terity,  the  characters  and  merits  of  so  many  memorable 
artists  as  are  comprised  in  his  <^  Lives  of  the  Painters."  Be 
died  in  1605,  aged  fifty-eight.* 

VANNI  (Francis),  an  eminent  painter,  was  born  at 
Siena,  in. 1563,  the  son  of  a  painter  who  was  in  no  great 
reputation,  and  received  his  earliest  instruction  in  the 
school  of  Archangeto  Salimbeni;  but  when  be  was  twelve 
y^ars  old  he  travelled  to  Bologna,  and  there  studied  for 
two  years  under  the  direction  of  Passerotti.  Yet  finding  in 
himself  an  impatient  desire  to  see  the  celebrated  .antiques, 
and  the  works  of  Raphael,  he  went  to  Rome,  and  placed 
himself  with  Giovanni  da  Vecchia.  By  the  precepts  of 
that  master,  his  proficiency  was  extraordinary ;  so  that  bis 
performances  not  only  extorted  applause  from  the  ablest 
j.udge8,  but  also  excited  the  jealousy  and  envy  of  Giosep- 
pino,  who  was  instructed  in  the  same  school.  Having  thus 
established  his  taste,  he  returned  to  his  native  city,  where 
he  studiously  contemplated  the  paintings  of  Baroccio,  and 
8o  highly  admired  them,  that  he  preferred  the  style  and 
manner  of  that  master  to  all  others,  imitated  him  with  suc« 
cess ;  and  was  generally  esteemed  to  be  no  way  inferior. 
Yet.be  profited  afterwards  by  studying  the  compositions  of 
Correggio.  He  was  principally  engaged  in  grand  works 
for  the  churches  and  convents  at  Siena  and  at  Rome.  To 
the  latter  of  those  cities  he  was  invited  by  pope  Clement 
Vni.  and,  by  order  of  that  pontiff,  he  painted  in  the 
church  of  St.  Peter  an  incomparable  design,  representing 
Simon  the  sorcerer  reproaeihed  by  St.  Peter;  for  wJiicb 
performance  be  received  the  honour  of  knighthood..  He 
undoubtedly  had  an  excellent  genius;  his  invention  was 
fruitful  and  ready,  his  style  of  composition  truly  fine,  ami 
his  design  correct.  His  manner  of  colouring  was  bold^ 
lively,  and  beautiful ;  his  penciling  tender  and  delicate  ; 
and  the  airs  of  his  beads  were  remarkably  graceful.  Tfae 
molt  capital  works  of  Yanni  are  at  Siena,  Rome,  Piaa^  and 

1  PilkiogioDy  by  Foselu 


V  A  N  N  I.  845 

Fistoia ;  among  virhich  are  mentioned  a  Crucifixion^  a  Flight 
into  Egypt,  the  Wise  Men's  offering  to  Christ,  and  the  Mar- 
riage of  St.  Catherine,  all  of  them  esteemed  admirable^ 
He  died  in  1610,  aged  forty-seven. * 

VAN  S  WIETEN  (GerArd),  one  of  the  most  celebrated 
physicians  of  the  Last  century,  and  who  attained  the  highest 
honours  in  his  profession,  was  born  at  Leyden,  May  7, 
1700,  of  a  very  ancient  family,  which  had  furnished  many 
distinguished  characters  for  the  state,  the  bar,  and  the 
army.  He  had  the  misfortune  to  lose  his  parents  at  a  time 
when  their  affection  would  have  been  of  most  importance 
to  him,  and  fell  into  the  hands  of  tutors  who  tobk  very 
little  care  of  his  property,  and  less  of  his  education.  Tbia 
last,  however,  became  early  bis  own  concern,  and  a  thirst 
for  knowledge  led  him  to  fonm  a  successful  plan.  After 
studying  the  classics  at  Leyden,  he  went  in  1716  to  Lou- 
vain,  where,  after  a  course  of  philosophy  for  two  years,  he 
was  admitted  into  the  first  class,  and  his  masters  would  have 
been  glad  to  have  detained  him  that  he  might  become  a 
farther  ornament  to  their  university ;  but  he  had  by  this 
time  fixed  bis  choice  on  medicine  as  a  profession,  and 
therefore  returned  to  Leyden,  where  he  placed  himsielf 
under  the  illustrious  Boerhaave.  Van  Swieten  was  not 
more  happy  in  such  a  master  than  Boerhaave  was  in  direct^ 
ing  the  studies  of  a  pupil  who  soon  promised  to  extend  his 
favourite  science.  After  seven  years'  •  study  here.  Van 
Swieten,  in  1725,  received  his  doctor's  degree,  and  Boer- 
haave, notwithstanding  the  disparity  of  years  and  of  fame, 
chose  him  for  his  friend,  and  discerned  in  him  his  future 
successor. 

Van  Swieten^s  course  of  study  was'  such  as  laid^a  solid 
foundation  for  his  future  fame.  He  began  by  tracing  the 
fundamental  principles  of  the  healing  art  to  their  origin  iu 
the  writings  of  the  most  eminent  authors  of  antiquity^  and 
examined  with  historical  precision  the  progress  of  improve- 
ment through  every  age,  distinguishing  what  was  conjec- 
tural'and  temporary  from  what  was  founded  on  the  basis  of 
experience,  and  permanent;  and  during  this  extensive 
course  of  reading,  he  was  content  to  abstract  himself  firom 
the  pleasures  of  society,  and  even  abridged  himself  of  the 
necessary  hours  of  sleep  and  refreshment,  until  his  faithful 
preceptor  admonished  him  against  an  excess  which  would 

1  Pilkingtpo^  by  Fuseli. 


e46  V  A  N    S  W  I  E  T  E  N. 

injure  his  heahb,  and  disappoint  him  of  the  object  he  wished 
to  attain.  Sacb,  however,  was  the  pr6gress  he  made^  that 
at  the  age  of  twenty-five  he  was  justly  classed  among  the 
Sofoans  of  Europe. 

After  he  had  taken  his  doctor^s  degree  he  continued  to 
attend  Boerhaave*s  lectures  for  about  twenty  years,  and 
having  within  this  period  been  himself  appointed  a  pro- 
fessor, bis  fame  and  talents  brought  a  vast  addition  to  the 
number  of  medical  students  at  Leyden,  who  came  from 
Germany,  Franpe,  and  England,  to  what  was  then  the 
greatest  and  perhaps  the  only  school  of  medicine  in  Eu* 
rope.  Celebrated  as  the  school  of  Leyden  was,  however/ 
from  the  joint  labours  of  Boerhaave  and  Van  Swieten,  it 
was  at  last  disgraced  in  the  person  of  the  latter.  His  grow- 
ing reputation  excited  the  envy  of  some  of  his  contempo- 
rari^s,  who  having  nothing  else  to  object,  took  the  mean 
advantage  of  his  being  a  R6man  catholic,  and  insisting 
that  the  Jaw  should  be  put  in  force,  obliged  him  to  resign 
an  office  which  he  had  filled  with  so  much  credit  to  the 
university.  Van  Swieten  submitted  to  this  treatment  with 
dignified  contempt,  and  being  now  more  at  leisure,  began 
his  great  work,  his  Commentaries  on  Boerhaave'sApborisms, 
the  first  volume  of  which  was  finished,  and  the  second 
nearly  so,  when  the  empress  Maria  Theresa  invited  him  to 
her  court ;  and  although  he  felt  some  reluctanc'e  at  quitting 
the  studious  life  he  had  hitherto  led,  he  could  not  with 
propriety  reject  the  offer,  and  accordingly  arrived  at  Vi- 
enna in  June  1745.  '  Here  he  was  appointed  first  physician 
to  the  court,  with  a  handsome  establishment,  and  some 
time  after  the  dignity  of  baron  was  conferred  upon  him. 
How  well  he  merited  these  honours,  the  favourable  change 
efl^cted  by  him  in  the  state  of  medical  science  sufficiently 
proved.  He  was  now  in  the  prime  of  life,  and  perhf^ps 
few  men  in  Europe  were  better  qualified,  by  extent  of 
knowledge,  to  lay  the  foundation  for  a  school  of  medicii^e^ 
He  was  not  only  thoroughly  versed  in  every  branch  of  me* 
dicine,  in  botany,  anatomy,  surgery,  chemistry,  ^c.  but 
was  well  acquainted  with  most  of  the  European  languages. 
He  was  a  good  Greek  and  Latin  scholar,  and  wrote  the 
latter  with  ease  and  elegance,  and  in  his  lectures  was  fre- 
quently happy  in  his  quotations  from  the  Greek  and  Latin 
classics.  He  was  also  well  vei»ed  in  all  the  branches  of 
mathematics,  and  natural  philosophy  ;  and  had  .paid  no 
little  attention  to  divinity,  law,  polities,  and  history.    Such 


VAN    S  W  I  E  T  E  N.  *  »♦? 

aMimnenU  procured  him  the  cpafidence  of  bU  sover^ign^ 
M^hom  be  easily  prevailed  upon  to  rebuild  tbe  university  of 
yieoQa  in  an  elegant  style,  and  with  every  accommodation 
for  the  pursuit  of  tbe  different  sciences.  The  botanioal 
garden  was  enlarged,  and  the  keeping  of  it  given  to  M. 
Langier ;  and  a  clinical  lecture  was  established  in  one  of 
tbe  principal  hospitals  by  M.  De  Haen.  It  was  in  174$ 
that  Van  Swieten  first  began  to  execute  bis  plan  for  re-* 
forming  tbe  study  of  medicine  in  the  university  of  Vienna, 
by  giving  lectures  in  the  vestibule  of  the  imperial  library; 
a^d.wben  his  business  as  first  physician  increased,  be  called 
in  tbe  aid  of  able  professors  who  understood  hi»  views ; 
among  whom  were  the  celebrated  Storck  and  Crant^. 
Having  been  appointed  keeper  of  "^tbe  imperial  library,  his 
first  measure  was  to  abolish  a  harbarous  law  that  bad  long 
been  in  furce»  which  prohibited  any  person  from  making 
notes  or  extracts  from  any  of  the  books.  Van  Swiet^n,  on 
tbe  contrary^  laid  tbe  whole  open  to  the  use  of  readers,  and 
provided  them  with  every  accommodation,  and  ample  per- 
mission to  transcribe  what  they  pleased.  He  also  pre* 
vailed  on  the  empress  to  increase  the  salaries  of  tbe  pro- 
fessors of  the  university,  and  to  provide  for  the  education 
of  young  men  of  talents.  He  was  himself  a  most  liberal 
patron/  to  such  as  stood  in  need  of  this  aid,  and  employed 
his  whole  intluence  in  their  favour;  and  be  lived  to  pro- 
mote  the  interests  of  learning  in  general  tbrQughoul  the 
Austrian  dominions  to  an  extent  hitherto  unknown. 
-  Amidst  all  his  engagements  he  enjoyed  good  health  until 
176^,  when  he  perceived  symptoms  of  decay  :  it  was  not, 
however,  until  1772  that  his  constitution  visibly  declined, 
and  a  mortification  in  one  of  his  toes  coming  on  proved  fa- 
ta} June  18th  of  that  year,  in  the  seventy -third  year  of  his 
age.  Such  was  the  respect  of  his  royal  mistress,  that  she 
visited  liim  several  times  during  his  illness,  and  saw  him 
G^ly  a  few  hours  before  his  death,  when  she  shed  tears  ac 
ihe  near  prospect  of  that  event.  He  died  at  Schonbrun, 
and  his  corpse  was  brought  to  Vienna,  and  interred  in  the 
chapel  of  the  Augustines,  and  a  statue  was  placed  in  tbe 
university  to  his  memory.  Few  persons  indeed  have  re- 
ceived more  honours.  At  the  time  of  his  death  he  bore  the 
titles  of  coonmander  of  the  royal  order  of  St.  Stephen, 
counsellor,  first  physician,  royal  librarian,  president  of  the 
censors  of  books ;  vice-president  of  the  Ia)^perialand.royal 
commission  of  studies;  perpetual  director  of  the  faculty  o( 


248  V  A  N    S  W  I  E  T  E  N. 

medicine;  and  a  member  of  all  the,  principal  literary  so-* 
cieties  of  Europe,  and,  among  these,  of  our  Royal  Society, 
into  which  he  was  chosen  in  1749.  He  married  in  1729, 
and  had  two  sons  and  two  daughters.  One  of  his  sons, 
Geoffrey  Baron  Van  Swieten,  died  in  March  1 803 ;  he  was 
commander  of  the  order  of  St.  Stephen,  and  director  of  the 
Imperial  library,  and  was,  some  years  since,  the  Imperial 
envoy  at  the  court  of  Berlin..  He  bequeathed  his  library 
(including  a  very  considerable  musical  collection)  to  the 
university  of  Vienna. 

The  work,  which  amidst  all  the  changes  of  medical 
theory,  must  ever  preserve  the  memory  of  Van  Swieten,  was 
his  ^^  Commentaria  in  H.  Boerhaave  Aphorismos,^'  1743, 
&c.  5  vol.  4to.  This  has  been  often  reprinted,  and  transV 
lated  into  French,  German,  and  English.  He  wrote  also 
*^  Description  abreg6e  des  maladies  qui  regnent  commune- 
ment  dans  les  armies,"  Vienna,  1759,  8vo.^ 

VANUCCI.     See  PERUGINO,  and  SARTO. 

VANUDEKf  (Lucas),  an  eminent  landscape-painter, 
was  born  at  Antwerp  in  1595,  and  learned  the  art  of  paint* 
ing  from  his  father ;  but  he  derived  his  chief  excellence 
from  a  diligent  observation  of  nature.  Every  hour  that  was 
not  employed  at  his  easel  was  spent  abroad  in  the  fields, 
where  he  noticed,  with  curious  exactness,  the  variety  of 
appearances  perpetually  occurring  from  the  dawn  to  the 
evening  over  the  face  of  nature.  He  watched  the  different 
effects  of  light  on  different  objects,  nor  suffered  any  inci- 
dent to  escape  his  observation.  His  pictures  are  agreeably 
pencilled,  and  the  distant  objects  in  particular  delicately 
touched.  So  perfectly  was  his  style  of  colouring  suited  to 
that  of  Rubens,  that  this  great  painter  often  had  recourse 
to  him  in  finishing  the  back-grounds  of  his  pictures,  par* 
ticularly  when  they  consisted  of  landscape.  Strange  en-* 
graved  two  of  these,  ih  which  the  figures  are  by  Rubens. 
There  are  also  several  etchings  by  Vanuden,  in  a  spirited 
and  masterly  style,  and  among  them  a  s^t  of  landscapes, 
small  plates,  length-wa3's,  inscribed  *^  Lucas  Vanuden 
pinx.  inv.  et  fee."'  He  died  about  1663.  He  had  a  bro- 
ther, Jacques  Vanuden,  also  a  painter,  and  in  his  manner, 
but  far  inferior  to  Lucas. ' 

1  Eloy,  Diet.  Hist,   de  Medecine.  —  Bracker's  FinacoUieca  Viror.  IllusU 
Decas  X. 

>  ArgenTille,  vol.  1II.«— Pilkioston.  ' 


V  A  R  C  H  I.  249 

'  VARCHI  (Benedict),    an  Italian  historian,  poet,  and 
critic,  was  born  at  Florence  in   1502.     His  father,  a  law- 
yer, placed  him  with  a  master,  who  reported  that  he  was  not 
i&t  for  literature,  and  advised  him  to  breed  the  boy  up  to 
merchandise.      He  was  accordingly  sent  to   a  counting- 
house,  and  there  his  nmsters  discovered  that  he  never  was 
without  a  book^  and  minded  nothing  but  reading.     His  fa- 
ther then,  aft^r  examining  him,  found  that  he  had  been 
deceived  by  the  school-master,  and  determined  to  give  his 
son  a  learned  education,  and  for  that  purpose  sent  him  to 
Padua  and  Pisa.     Unfortunately,  however,  he  prescribed 
the  study  of  the  law,  which  Varchi  relished  as  little  as 
commerce;    and  although,  ^ut  of  filial  respect,  he  went 
through  the  usual  courses,  he  irfimediately,  on  his  father^s 
death,  relinquished  both  the  study  and  practice  of  the  law, 
and  determined  to  devote  all  bis  attention  to  polite  litera- 
ture.     In   this  he  acquired  great  reputation ;    but  when 
Florence  became  distracted  by  civil  commotions,  he  joined 
the  party  in  opposition  to  the  Medici  family,  and  was  ba- 
nished.    During  his  exile  he  resided  at  Venice,  Padua, 
and  Bologna,  where  his  talents  procured  him  many  friends ; 
and  his  works  having  diffused  bis  reputation  more  widely, 
Cosmo  de  Medicis  had  the  generosity  to  forgive  the  hosti- 
lity he  had  shewn  to  his  family,  and,  respecting  him  as  a 
man  of  letters,  recalled  him  home,  and  appointed  him  his 
historiographer.     In  this  capacity  he  recommended  him  to 
write  the  history  of  the  late  revolutions  in  Florence.     AH 
this  kindness,  accompanied  with  a  handsome  pension,  pro- 
duced a  great  change  in  the  mind  of  the  republican  Var- 
chi,   who  became  now   the  equally  zealous  advocate  of 
monarchy.     As  soon  as  he  had  finished  a  part  of  it,  be 
submitted  it  to  the  inspection  of  his  patron,  and  some  co- 
pies were  taken  of  it.     These  being  seen  by  some  persons 
who  suspected  that  he  would  make  free  with  their  cha- 
racters, or  the  characters  of  their  friends,  they  conspired 
to  assassinate  the  apostate  author,  as  they  thought  him; 
and  having  one  liight  attacked  him,  left  hitn  weltering  in  his 
blood,  but  his  wounds  were  not  mortal ;  and  although  it  is 
said  he  knew  who  the  assassins  were,  he  declined  appearing 
against  them.     He  was,  however,  so  much  affected  by  the 
aflPatr,  that  he  embraced  the  ecclesiastical  profession,  and 
obtained  some  preferment.     He  died  at  Florence  in  1565. 
His  history,  which  extends  from   1527  to   1538,  was  not 
published  until  1721,  at  Cologne^  and  reprinted  at  Leyden 


250  y  A  R  c  H  r. 

,  1723;  but  both  these  places  ^re  wrong,  as  both  editions 
were  published  in  Italy.  There  is  a  recent  edition,  MiUny 
1803|  5  vols.  8vo.  The  style,  like  that  of  all  bis  works,  is 
pure  and  elegant,  though  a  little  too  much  elaborated.  The 
facts,  of  course,  are  strongly  tinctured  with  an  attachment 
to  the  bouse  of  Medici. 

Varchi  was  a  man  of  extensive  literature,  and  particu* 
larly  excelled  in  criticism,  grammar,  and  the  classics ;  nor 
was  be  unacquainted  with  philosophy,  law,  morals,  and  the 
fine  arts.  He  published  many  orations,  delivered  in  the 
Florentine  academy,  and  wrote  some  poetry,  greatly  ap- 
plauded in  his  time.  But  his  chief  merit  lay  in  the 
elegance  of  his  Italian  style,  which  is  still  reckoned  a. 
ipodel.  His  principal  philological  work  is  his  ^^  L^Ercp- 
lano,"  a  dialogue  on  language,  one  object  of  which  is  to 
prove  that  the  Italian  ought  to  be  called  the  Florenti«e 
language,  an  opinion  which  has  been  successfully  opposed.' 

YARENIUb  (Bernard),  a  Dutch  physician,  is  known 
in  literary  history  as  the  author  of  a  ^^  System  of  Univer- 
sal Geography,''  which  was  accounted  an  excellent  and 
comprehensive  work,  and  was  written  originally  in  Latin, 
and  printed  at  Amsterdam  in  1650.  It  was  re-published  at 
Cambridge  in  1672,  with  great  improvements,  by  sir  Isaac 
Newton;  and  in  1712,  on  the  recommendation  of  Dr. 
Bentley,  by  Dr.  Jurin.  It  was  afterwards  translated  into 
English  by  Dr.  Shaw,  and  illustrated  with  additional  not^a 
and  copper-plates,  2  vols.  8vo ;  and  in  this  form  has  gone 
through  several  editions.  We  have  besides  a  curious  de- 
scription of  Japan  and  the  kingdom  of  Siam,  in  Latin,  by 
this  author,  printed  at  Cambridge,  1673,  8vo.  Vareniua 
died  in  1660,  but  we  have  no  particulars  of  his  life.' 

VARIGNON  (P£T£R),  a  celebrated  French  mathemati- 
cian and  priest,  was  born  at  Caen  in  1654.  He  was  the 
son  of  an  architect  in  middling  circumstances,  but  had  a 
college  education,  being  intended  for  the  church*  Having 
accidentally  met  with  a  copy  of  Euclid's  Elements,  he  was 
inclined  to  study  it,  and  this  led  him  to  the  works  of  Des 
Cartes,  which  confirmed  his  taste  for  geometry,  and  be 
even'  abridged  himself  of  the  necessaries  of  life  to  purchase 
books  which  treated  on  this  science.  What  contributed  to 
heighten  this  passion  in  him  was,  that  he  studied  in  private: 

1  Tiraboschi — Niceron,  vol  XXXVF. — Saxii  Onomaft. 
^'  Diet,  ilijt. — Eloy;  Dio(.  Hist,  de  Medeciae. 


V  A  R  I  G  N  O  N.  251 

£ar  bis  relatioBS  observing  that  the  books  he^  studied  were 
not  such  as  were  commonly  used  by  others,  strongly  op- 
posed his  application  to  them  ;  and  as  there  was  a  necessity 
for  his  being  an  ecclesiastic,  he  continued  bis  theological  stu- 
dies, yet  not  entirely  sacrificing  bis  favourite  subject  to  them. 
At  this  time  tb^  Abh6  St.  Pierre,  who  studied  philoso- 
phy in  the  same  college,  became  acquainted  with  him.  A 
taste  in  common  for  rational  subj^ects,  whether  physics  or 
metaphysics,  and  continued  disputations,  formed  the  bonds 
of  their  friendship,  and  they  became  mutually  serviceable 
to  each  other  in  their  studies.  The  abb^,  to  enjoy  Varig- 
non's  company  with  greater  ease,  lodged  in  the  same 
house  with  him  ;  and  being  in  time  more  sensible  of  his 
merit,  he  resolved  to  give  him  a  fortune,  that  he  might 
fully  pursue  his  inclination.  Out  of  only  1 8  hondr^  livres 
a  year,  which  he  had  himself,  he  conferred  300  of  them 
upon  Varignon ;  and  when  determined  to  go  to  Paris  to 
study  philosophy,  he  settled  there  in  1686,  with  M.  Varig- 
non, in  the  suburbs  of  St.  Jacques.  There  each  studied 
in  his  own  way ;  the  abb^  applyittg  himself  to  the  study  of 
men,  manners,  and  the  principles  of  government ;  whilst 
Varignon  was  wholly  occupied  with  the  mathematics.  Fon- 
tenelle,  who  was  their  countryman,  often  went  to  see 
them,  sometimes  spending  two  or  three  days  with  them. 
Tfaey  had  also  room  -for  a  couple  of  visitors,  who  came 
from  the  same  province.  '^  We  joined  together,'*  says 
Fontenelle,  '^  with  the  greatest  pleasure.  We  were  young, 
full  of  the  first  ardour. for  knowledge,  strongly  united,,  and, 
what  we  were  not  then  perhaps  disposed  to  think  so  great 
a  happiness,  little  known.  Varignon,  who  had  a  strong 
eonatitution,  at  least  in  his  youth,  spent  whole  days  in 
study^'  without  any  amusement  or  recreation,  except  walk- 
ing* sometimes  in  fine  weather.  I  have  heard  him  say, 
that  in  studying  after  supper,  as  he  usually  did,  he  was 
often  surprised  to  hear  the  clock  strike  two  in  the  morning ; 
and  was  much  pleased  that  four  hours  rest  were  sufficient 
lo  refresh  him.  He  did  not  leave  his  studies  with  that 
heaviness  which  they  usually  create ;  nor  with  that  weari- 
ness that  a  long  application  might  occasion.  He  left  off 
gay  and  lively,  filled  with  pleasure,  and .  impatient  to  rer 
newiti  In  speaking  of  mathematics,  he  would  laugh  lo 
freely,  that  it  seemed  as  if  he  had  studied  for  diversion. 
No  condition  was  so  much  to  be  envied  as  his. ;  his  life  was 
a  continual  enjoyment,  delighting  in  quietness." 


252  V  A  R  I  G  N  O  N. 

'  In  the  solitary  suburb  of  St.  Jacques,  he  formed  however 
a  Connection  with  many  other  learned  men  ;  as  Da  Hamel, 
Du  Verney,  De  la  Hire,  &c.  Du  Verney  often  asked  his 
assistance  in  those  parts  of  anatomy  connected  with  me- 
chanics :  they  examined  together  the  positions  of  the  mus- 
cles, and  their  directions ;  hence  Varignon  learned  a  good 
deal  of  anatomy  from  Du  Verney,  which  he  repaid  by  the 
application  of  mathematical  reasoning  to  that  subject.  At 
length,  in  1687,  Varignon  made  himself  known  to  the  pub- 
lic by  a  **  Treatise  on  New  Mechanics,"  dedicated  to  the 
Academy  of  Sciences.  His  thoughts  on  this  subject  were, 
in  efFect,  quite  new.  He  discovered  truths,  and  laid  open 
their  sources.  In  this  work,  he  demonstrated  the  necessity 
of  an  equilibrium,  in  such  cases  as  it  happens  in,  though 
the  cause  of  it  is  not  exactly  known.  This  discovery  Va- 
rignon made  by  the  theory  of  compound  motions,  and  his 
treatise  was  greatly  admired  by  the  mathematicians,;  and 
procured  the  author  two  considerable  places,  the  one  of 
geometrician  in  the  Academy  of  Sciences,  the  other  of 
professor  of  mathematics  in  the  college  of  Mazarine,  to 
which  he  was  the  first  person  raised. 

'  As  soon  as  the  science  of  Infinitesimals  appeared  in  the 
world,  Varignon  became  one  of  its  most  early  cultivators. 
When  that  sublime  and  beautiful  method  was  attacked  in 
the  academy  itself  (for  it  could  not  escape  the  fate  of  all 
innovations)  he  became  one  of  its  most  zealous  defenders, 
and  in  its  favour  he  put  a  violence  upou  his  natural  chiirac- 
ter,  which  abhorred  all  contention.  He  sometimes  la- 
mented, that  this  dispute  had  interrupted  him  in  his  in- 
quiries into  the  Integral  Calculation  so  far,  that  it  would  be 
difficult  for  him  to  resume  his  disquisition  where  be  had 
left  it  off.  He  therefore  sacrificed  Infinitesimals  to  the 
Interest  of  Infinitesimals,  and  gave  up  the  pleasure  and 
glory  of  making  a  farther  progress  in  them  when  called 
upon  by  duty  to  undertake  their  defence.  All  the  printed 
volumes  of  the  Academy  bear  witness  to  his  application  and 
industry.  His  works  are  never  detached  pieces,  but  com- 
plete theories  of  the  laws  of  motion,  central  folrces,  snd 
the  resistance  of  mediums  to  motion.  In  these  be  makes 
such  use  of  bis  rules,  that  nothing  escapes  him  that  has 
any  contiection  with  the  subject  he  treats.  In  all  his  works 
he  makes  it  his  chief  care  to  place  every  thing*  in  the 
clearest  light ;  he  never  'consults  his  ease  by  declining  tb 
take  the  trouble  of  being  methodical,  a  trouble  mueh 


V  A  R  I  G  N  O,  N.  243 

greater  than  that  of  composition  itself;  nor  does  he  endea- 
TOUT  to  acquire  a  reputation  for  profoundness,  by  leaving 
a  great  deal  to  be  guessed  by  the  reader.  He  learned  the 
history  of  mathematics,  not  merely  out  of  curiosity,  but 
because  he  was  desirous  of  acquiring  knowledge  from  every 
quarter.  This  historical  knowledge  is  doubtless  an  orna- 
ment in  a  mathematician  ;  but  it  is  an  ornament  which  is 
by  no  means  without  its  utility. 

Though  Varignon^s  constitution  did  not  seem  easy  to  be 
impaired,  assiduity  and  constant  application  brought  upoa 
him  a  severe  disease  in  1705.  He  was  six  months  in  dan- 
ger, and  three  years  in  a  languid  state,  which  proceeded 
from  his  spirits  being  almost  entirely  exhausted.  He  said 
that  sometimes  when  delirious  with  a  fever,  he  thought 
himself  iti  the  midst  of  a  forest,  where  all  theleaves  of  the 
trees  were  covered  with  algebraical  calculations.  Con- 
demned by  his  physicians,  his  friends,  and  himself,  to  lay 
aside  all  study,  he  could  not,  when  alone  in  bis  chao^ber, 
avoid  taking  up  a  book  of  mathematics,  which  he  hid  as 
soon  as  he  heard  any  person  coming,  and  again  resumed 
the  attitude  and  behaviour  of  a  sick  man,  which  unfortu- 
nately he  seldom  had  occasion  to  counterfeit. 

In  regard  to  his  character,  Fontenelle  observes,  that  it 
was  at  this  time  that  a  writing  of  his  appeared,  in  which  he 
censured  Dr.  Wallis  for  having  advanced  that  there  are 
certain  spaces  more  than  infinite,  which  that  great  geome- 
trician  ascribes  to  hyperbolas.  He  maintained,  on  the 
contrary,  that  they  were  finite.  The  criticism  was  softened 
i^itb  all  the  politeness  and  respect  imaginable ;  but  a  criti- 
cism it  was,  though  he  had  written  it  only  for  himself.  .  He 
let  M.  Carr6  see  i>,  when  he  was  in  a  state  that  rendered. 
him  indifferent  about  things  of  that  kii)d  ;  and  that  gentle-- 
npao,  influenced  only  by  the  interest  of  the  sciences,  caused 
it  to  be  printed  in  the  memoirs  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences,- 
unknown  to  the  author,  who  thus  made  an  attack  againsjt 
hia  inolination. 

He  recovered  from  his  disease;  but  the  remembrance  of 
what  he  had  suffered  did  not  make  him  more  prudent  for 
the  future.  The  whole  impression,  of  his  ^'  Project  for  a 
New. System  of  Mechanics,"  having  been  sold  off,  he 
formed  a  design  to  publish  a  second  edition  of  it,  or  rather . 
a  work  entirely  new,  though  upon  the  sanie  plan,  but  more 
extended*  .  It  must  be  easy  to  perceive  how  much  learning 
he.raust  have  acquired  in  the  interval ;  but  he  often  com- 


254  V  A  R  1  G  N  O  N. 

plained^  that  he  wanted  time,  though  he  was  by  no  means 
disposed  to  lose  any.  Frequent  visits,  either  of  French  or 
of  foreigners,  some  of  whom  went  to  see  him  that  they 
might  have  it  to  say  that  they  had  seen  htm,  atid  others  to 
consult  him  and  improve  by  bis  conversation :  works  of  ma- 
thematics, which  the  authority  of  some,  or  the  friendship  be 
had  for  others,  engaged  htm  to  examine,  and  of  which  iie 
thought  himself  obliged  to  give  tbe  most  exact  account ;  a 
literary  correspondence  with  tt\\  the  chief^matbematieians 
of  fUirope ;  all  these  obstructed  the  book  he  bad  under- 
taken to  write.  Thus,  says  his  biographer,  a  man  acquires 
reputation  by  having  a  great  deal  of  leisure  time,  and  he 
loses  this  precious  leisure  as  soon  as  he  has  acquired  repu- 
tation. Add  to  this,  that  his  best  scholars,  whether  in  the 
college  of  Mazarine  or  tbe  Royal  college  (for  he  had  a 
professor*s  chair  in  both),  sometimes  requested  private 
.  lectures  of  him,  which  he  could  not  refuse.  He  sighed  for 
his  two  or  three  months  of  Vacation,  for  that  was  all  the 
leisure  time  he  had  in  the  year,  and  he  could  then  retire 
into  the  country,  where  bis  time  was  entirely  his  own. 

Notwithstanding  his  placid  temper,  in  the  latter  part  of 
his  life  be  was  involved  in  a  dispute.  An  Italian  monk, 
well  versed  in  mathematics,  attacked  him  upon  the  subject 
of  tangents  and  the  angle  of  contact  in  curves,  such  as  they 
are  conceived  in  the  arithmetic  of  infinites ;  he  answered 
by  the  last  memoir  he  ever  gave  to  the  Academy,  and  the* 
only  one  which  turned  upon  a  dispute. 

In  the  last  two  years  of  his  life  he  was  attacked  with -an 
asthmatic  complaint.     This  disorder  increased  every  day,* 
and  all  remedies  were  ineffectual.     He  did  not,  however,' 
cease  from  any  of  his  customary  business ;  so  that,  after  . 
having  finished  his  lecture  at  the  college  of  Mazarine,  on 
the  22d  of  December  1722,  he  died  suddenly  the  following 
night.     His  character,  says  Fontenelle,  was  as  simple  as 
bis  superior  understanding  could  require.     He  was  not  apt 
to  be  jealous  of  the  fame  of  others:  indeed  he  was  at  the 
bead  of  the  French  mathematicians,  and  one  of  the  best  in 
Europe.     It  must  be  owned,  however,  that  when  a  Hew 
idea  was  offered  to  him,  he  was  too  hasty  t^  object,  and  it 
was  frequently  not  easy  to  obtain  from  him  a  favourable 
attention. 

His  works  that  were  published  separately,  were, 
1.  "  Projet  d*ulie  Nouvelle  Mechaniquc,**  Paris,   1687^ 
4to.    2.  ^  Des  Nouvelles  conjectures  sur  la  Pesadtttir. 


V  A  R  I  G  N  O  N.  2$5 

f.  ^<  Nc^velle  Mechanique  ou  Statique,*'  1725,  2  vols.  4to. 
4*  ^*  Un Traits  du  Mouvement  et  de  laMesure  des  Eaux  Cou* 
rantes,  &c."  1725,  4to:  5.  **  Eclaircissement  &ur  TAnalyse 
des  iDfiniment-petits,"  4to.  6.  *'  De  Cahiers  de  Matbe- 
oiatiquei ,  ou  Elemens  de  Matbematiques,"  1731.  7.  ^'  Une 
Demonstration  de  la  possibility  de  la  presence  r^elle  du  Corps 
de  Jesus  Christ  dans  TEucbariste,'*  printed  in  a  collection 
entitled  '*  Pieces  fugitives  sur  rEucharistie/'  published  in 
17S0;  an  extraprdinary  thing  for  a  mathematician  to  un- 
dertake to  demonstrate;  which  he  does,  as  may  be  ex- 
pected, not  mathematically  but  sophistically.  His  *^  Me- 
moirs" in  the  volumes  of  the  Academy  of  Sciences  are  ex- 
tremely numerous,  and  extend  through  almost  all  the  vo- 
lumes down  to  the  time  of  his  death  in  1 722.' 

VARILLAS  (Anthony),  a  French  writer,  more  known 
than  esteemed  for  several  historical  works,  was  descended 
from  a  good  family,  and  born  at  Queret  in  1624.  After  a 
liberal  education,  of  which  he  made  the  proper  advantage, 
be  became  a  private  tutor  to  some  young  persons  of  qua- 
lity ;  and  then  went  to  Paris,  where  he  was  well  received 
as  a  man  of  letter^,  and  bad  access  to  the  Dopuy's,  whose 
bouse  was  the  common  rendezvous  of  the  learned.  He 
obtained  afterwards  a  place  in  the  krngs^  library,  by  his 
interest  with  Nicolas  Colbert,  who  was  made  librarian  after 
the  death  of  Jam^  Dupuy  in  1655.  Mr.  Colberi,  after- 
wards minister  of  state,  commissioned  bis  brother  Nicolas 
to  find  out  a  man  capable  of  collating  certain  manuscripts. 
Yarillas  was  recommended,  and  had  the  abb6  of  St  Real 
for  his  coadjutor;  and  handsome  pensions  were  settled 
.upon  both.  But  whether  Varillas  was  negligent  and  care- 
le»Sf  or  had  not  a  turn  for  this  employment,  he  did  not 
give  satisfaction^  and  was  therefore  dismissed  from  his  em- 
ployment in  1662 ;  yet  had  his  pension  continued  till  1670. 
He  then  retired  from  the  royal  library,  and  spent  the  re* 
maioder  of  bis  days  in  study,  refusing,  it  is  said,  several 
advantageous  offers.  He  lived  frugally  and  with  (economy, 
axid  yet  not  through  necessity,  for  his  circumstances  were 
easy*  St.  Come  was  the  seat  of  his  retirement;  where  he 
died  June  9,  1696,  aged  seventy-two. 

He  wrote  a  great  number  of  works,  chiefly  of  the  bisto« 
rital  kind  ;  and  published,  at  different  times  and  in  distinct 
portions,  a  history  of  France,  comprising  a  period  of  176 

\  ■  . 

1  NieercNit  vol.  Xl»— Footenelle's  Eloges. — Martio'«  Biog.  Pbllos. — HuUoa's 
DMonarv.. 


256  V  A  R  I  L  L  A  S. 

years  under  nine  difFereut  reigns,  beginning  witb  Lewis 
XI.  and  ending  with  Henry  III.  He  published  also  ''  Les 
Anecdotes  de  Florence,  ou  THistoire  secrette  de  la  Maison. 
de  Medicis,  at  the  Hague/?  1685,  in  I2'mo;  and,  ^<  His- 
toire  des  Revolutions  arrives  en  Europe  en  matiere  de  Re--' 
Hgion,*'  Paris,  1686,  and  often  reprinted.  Varillas  bad 
some  advantages  of  style  to  recommend  him  as  an  historian ; 
he  bad  likewise  a  pleasing  manner  of  relating  and  setting 
off  facts ;  and  his  characters,  though  somewhat  diffuse,  are 
drawn  with  art,  and  for  the  most  part  appear  curious  and 
interesting.  Add  to  this,  that  he  abounds  in  anecdotes, 
and  told  Menage  that,  ^'of  ten  things  which  he  knew,  he 
bad  learned  nine  from  conversation.^  He  was  also  pro« 
fuse  in'  his  professions  of  sincerity,  and  was  thought  to  have 
penetrated  into  the  inmost  recesses  of  the  cabinet,,  and 
drawn  forth  a  great  deal  of  secret  history  from  the  nume- 
rous and  important  manuscripts  which  he  pretends  in  his 
prefaces  to  have  been  from  time  to  time  communicated  to 
him.  All  this  procured  him  a  vast  reputation  at  first :  his 
books  were  read  with  eagerness :  and  such  was  the  caH  for 
them,  that  the  booksellers  generally  sent  forth  two  editions, 
i«  different  forms,  at  the  same  time.  The  public,  however, 
were  at  length  undeceived,  and  came  to  be  convinced  that 
the  historical  anecdotes,  which  Varillas  put  off  for  authen- 
tic facts,  were  wholly  of  his  own  invention,  notwithstanding 
his  affected  citations  of  titles,  it>structions,  letters,  me-* 
moirs,  and  relations,  all  of  them  imaginary.  As  'his  de-- 
sign  was  to  please  rather  than  instruct  his  readers,  he 
omitted  nothing  which  he  thought  might  conduce  to  this. 
Thus  he  t^haracterised  persons  he  knew  little  of,  as  if  he 
bad  lived  in  the  greatest  familiarity  with  themj  and  gave 
particular  reasons  for  all  the  steps  they  took,  as  if  he  had 
been  privy  to  their  councils.  He  advanced  facts  with  the 
utmost  confidence,  which  were  scarcely  probable  :  the  sur 
of  politics,  which  runs  through  all  his  writings,  is  romantic; 
and  every  event,  according  to  him,  proceeded  from  pre- 
meditation and  design.  Such  is  the  opinion  which  his  owa 
Countrymen  soon  learned  to  giveof  his  "  History  of  France,'* 
and  "Florentine  Anecdotes;"  but  bis  "History  of  the 
Revolutions  in  matters  of  Religion  which  have  happened 
in  Europe,''  utterly  ruined  his  reputation  abroad,  and  ex- 
posed him  to  the  criticisms  of  able  men  in  each  country : 
of  Burnet  and  Dr.  King,  in  England,  Brunsmann  in  Den- 
aiark,  Puffendorf  and  Seckendorf  in  Germany,  who  copi- 


V  A  R  I  L  L  A  S.  2ST 

Qfji^ly;  detected  and  exposed  his  falsehoods  and  mistepre*- 
sentations  concerning  the  state  of  religion  in  their  respec- 
tive countries,  and  totally  destroyed  the  reputation  of  his 
works.  ^ 

VAROLI  (CoNSTANTius),  an  able  anatomist,  was  born 
at  Bologna  in  1 542.  He  taught  surgery  in  bis  native  place, 
until  pope  Gregory  Xlll.  soon  after  his  elevation  to  the 
pontificate  in  1572,  invited  him  to  Rome,  and  appointed 
him  his  first  physician.  Here  he  lectured  on  anatomy,  and 
acquired  very  great  reputation,  not  only  for  his  discoveries 
in  that  branch,  but  for  his  skill  in  lithotomy  and  other  sur-r 
gical operations;  and  he  promised  to  have  attained  theliigh- 
est  rank  in  bis  profession,  when  a  premature  death  deprived 
the  world  of  his  services.  He  died  in  1575,  at  the  age  of 
thirty-two.  The  Pons  Varolii^  which  still  perpetuates  his 
name,  and  his  other  discoveries  in  the  oec'onomy  of  the  braia 
and  nerves,  are  contained  in  his  ^'  Anatomise,  sive  de  reso- 
lutione  corporis  humaui,  libri  quatuor,"  Padua,  1573,  Svpy 
and  ^<  De  Nervis  opticis  Epistola,".  ibid. ' 

VARRO  (Marcus  TfiRENxius),  usually,  sty  led  the  moi|t 
learned  of  all  the  Romans,  was  born  in  the  year  of  Rome 
638,  or  28  B.C.  His  immense  learning  made  him  the  ad- 
miration  of  his  time ;  which  yet  wa^  the  most  flourishing 
for  arts  and  glory  that  Rome  ever  knew.  He  was  an  inti- 
mate friend  of  Cicero ;  and  his  friendship  was  confirmed 
and  immortalized  by  a  mutual  dedication  of  their  learned 
works  to  each  other.  Thus  Cicero  dedicated  his  ^^  Acade- 
mic Questions"  to  Varro ;  and  Varro  dedicated  bis  ^^  Trea- 
tise on  the  Latin  tongue"  to  Cicero,  who,  in  a  letter  in 
which  he  recommends  him  as  qnestor  to  Brutus,  assures  the 
commander,  that  he  would  find  him  perfectly  qualified  for 
tbe  post,  and  particularly  insists  upon  his  good  sense,  his 
indifference  to  pleasure,  and  bis  patient  perseverance  in 
business.  To  these  virtues  he  added  uncommon  abilities^ 
and  large  stores  of  knowledge,  which  qualified  him  for  the 
highest  officer  of  the  state.  He  attached  himself  to  the 
party  of  Pempey,  and  in  tbe  time  of  tbe  triumvirate  was 
proscribed  with  Cicero :  and,  though  he  escaped  with  his 
life,  be  suffered  the  loss  of  his  library,  and  of  his  own  writ- 
ings ;  a  loss  which  would  be  severely  felt  by  one  who  had 
devoted  a  great  part  of  his  life  to  letters.     Returning,  at 

>  NiceroD,  toI.  V.— Moreri. — Reflections  upon  VarilUs,  in  Dr.  King^s  "Works, 
vol.  I. 
s  £loyt  Diet.  Hitt.  de  Medeciae. 

Vol.  XXX.  S 


258  V  A  R  R  O. 

length,  to  Rome,  he  spent  bis  last  years  in  literary  leisuf^. 
He  died  in  the  727th  year  of  the  city.  His  prose  writings 
were  exceedingly  numerous,  and  treated  of  .various  topics 
in  antiquities,  chronology,  geography,  natural  and  civil 
history,  philosophy,  and  criticism.  He  was,  besides,  a  poet 
of  some  distinction,  and  wrote  in  almost/every  kind  of  verse. 
He  is  said  to  have  been  eighty  when  he  wrote  bis  three 
books  '^  De  Re  Rustica,''  which  are  still  extant.  Five  of 
his  books  ^^  De  Lingua  Latina,"  which  he  addressed  to  Ci- 
cero, are  also  extant,  and  some  fragments  of  his  works,  par- 
ticularly of  his  *^  Meni'ppean  Satires,"  which  are  medleys 
of  prose  and  verse.  Scaiiger  has  likewise  collected  some  of 
his  epigrams  from  among  the  '^  Catalecta  Virgilii.  The 
first  edition  of  Varro  ^*  De  Lingua  Latina''  is  a  quarto, 
without  date,  or  place,  but  supposed  to  be  Rome,  1471. 
There  is  a  second,  at  Venice,  1474,  4to,  and  a  third  at 
Rome,  1474,  fol.  His  whole  works,  with  the  notes  of  Sca- 
iiger, Turnebus,  &c.  -were  printed  by  Henry  Stephens, 
1573,  8vo,  reprinted  1581  ;  but  the  former  edition  is  in 
greatest  request. among  the  curious,  on  account  of  a  note 
of  Scaiiger' s,  p.  212,  of  the  second  part,  which  was  omitted 
in  the  subsequent  editions.  Varro  '^  De  Re  Rustica"  is 
inserted  among  the  ^'Auctores  de  Re  Rustica.^'  The  use 
which  Virgil  makes  of  this  work  in  his  Georgics  entities  it 
to  some  respect;  and  it  is  amusing  as  giving  us  a  notion  of 
the  agriculture  of  bis  time,  and  the  method  of  laying  out 
gardens,  and  providing  the  luxuries  of.  the  table,  in  which 
the  Romans  were  particularly  extravagant,  it  contains 
many  absurdities,  however,  and  many  of  those  remarks  and 
pieces  of  information  which  would  now  be  thought  a  dis« 
grace  to  the^  meanest  writer  on  agriculture.  The  rev.  T. 
Owen,  of  Queen's  college,  Oxford,  and  rector  of  Upper 
Scudamore,  in  Wiltshire,  published  a  good  translation  of 
this  work  in  ISOO,  8vo. ' 

VARRO  (Atacinus),  was  born  about  ten  years  after  the 
preceding,  at  a  small  town  neat  Narbonne.  Though. infi- 
nitely below  the  Roman  in  learning,  he  was  at  least  as  good, 
if  not  a  better  poet ;  which  perhaps  has  made  Lilius  Gyral- 
do8>  and  other  critics,  confound  them.  He  composed  many 
works  in  verse;  some  fragments  of  which  were  collected, 
and  published  with  those  of  other  ancient  poets  at  Lyons, 
1603.     His  chief  works  were,  ^^  A  poem  on  the  war  with 

1  Vossiu8<le  Poet.  Lat.— Fabric.  BibU  Lat. — Biiicker. — Saxii  OnomaiU 


,V  A  R  R  O.  259. 

the  Sequani,  a  people  of  Gaul ;"  and  the  ^^  Astronomies/^ 
which  %yent  under  the  name  of  Planciades  the  Grammarian. 
But  the  ^^  Argonaut ics/'  in  four  books,  was  what  gained 
him  the  greatest  reputation;  and  though  indeed  nothing 
but  a  translation  of  '' ApoUonius  Rhodius/'  yet  it  has  been 
liberally  commended  by  Quintilian.  Seneca  also  observes^ 
that  Virgil  had  so  good  an  opinion  of  this  author,  that  he 
sometimes  inserted  his  verses  into  his  works.  *      ' 

VA8ARI  (George),  an  artist^  though  better  known  as 
the  biographer  of  his  profession,  was  born  at  Arezzo,  in 
1612,  and  was  taught  the  rudiments  of  drawing  by  his  fa- 
ther, and  the  first  principles  of  painting  by  William  of  Mar- 
seilles, a  Frenchman,  and  a  painter  on  glass ;  but  being 
taken  to  Florence  by  cardinal  da  Cortona,  he  improved 
himself  under  Michael  Angelo,  Andrea  del  Sarto,  and  other 
eminent  masters.  By  the  cardinal  he  was  introduced  into 
the  Medici  family,  but  in  1527,  when  they  were  driven 
from  Florence,  he  returned  to  his  native  city.  Finding  an 
epidemic  disease  prevailing  there,  he  spent  his  time  in  the 
surrounding,  country,  improving  himself  by  painting  stib-* 
jects  of  devotion  for  the  farmers.  His  father  unfortunately 
died  of  the  contagion,  and  left  a  young  family  unprovided 
for.  Vasari,  to  contribute  more  effectually  to  their  sup- 
port, quitted  the  uncertain  profession  of  a  painter,  and 
applied  himself  to  the  more  lucrative  trade  of  a  goldsmith. 
In  1529,  the  civil  war,  which  then  existed  at.  Florence, 
obliged  the  goldsmiths^  company  to  remove  to  Pisa :  af^d 
there,  receiving  commissions  to  paint  some  pictures  both 
in  oil  and  in  fresco,  he  was  induced  to  resume  his  former 
profession,  and  afterwards  through  life  met  with  encourage'- 
ment,  that  left  him  neither  motive  nor  desire  to  change. 
The. dukes  of  Florence  and  other  distinguished  persons 
were  his  liberal  patrons,  and  he  was  constantly  employed 
in  works  both  profitable  and  honourable  to  himself. 

In  1544,  by  the  friendship  of  Paul  Jovius,  he  was  recom- 
mended to  make  designs  and  paint  a  hall  for  the  cardinal 
Farnese,  in  Rome.  While  he  was  executing  this  work,  he 
attended  the  cardinaPs  evening  parties,  which  were  fre* 
quented  by  men  of  genius.  At  one  of  these  parties,  Jo- 
vius, speaking  of  his  own  umseum,  arranged  and  embel^. 
lished  with  inscriptions  and  portraits  of  illustrious  men, 
said,  <'  that  it  had  always  been  his  desire  to  add  to  it,  and 

t  Gesoer  Bibl. — ^Vossio*.— Moreri. 
S  2 


260  V  A  S  A  R  L 

make  his  book  of  eulogiums  more  complete,  by  a  treatise 
on  the  celebrated  artists,  from  CimabQe  down  to  bis  own 
time;*'  and  enlarged  upon  the  subject  with  much  general 
information.   The  cardinal  then  turned  to  Vasari,  and  asked 
him  ^^  if  be  did  not  think  that  subject  would  make  a  fine 
work?'*     Vasari  concurred  with  his  eminence,  but  added« 
that  '^  it  would  require  the  assistance  of  an  artist  to  collate 
the  materials,  and  arrange  them  in  their  proper  order :  for 
although  Jovius  displayed  great  knowledge  in  his  observa- 
tions, yet  he  had  not  been  equally  accurate  in  the  arraiige* 
ment  of  his  facts.'*     "  You  can  then,"  replied  the  cardinal, 
*^  give  him  assistance,  which  will  be  doing  an  essential  ser- 
vice to  the  arts.*'     To  pay  a  proper  deference  to  so  flatter- 
ing an  opinion,  he  collected  such  materials  as  he  thought  ne- 
cessary to  the  plan  then  suggested  :  and  the  information  he 
contributed  was  drawn  up  so  much  to  Jovius's  satisfaction, 
that  be  recommended  him  to  enlarge  upon  it,  and  make  a 
more  complete  work,  alleging  bis  own  want  of  leisure  and 
capacity  to  do  justice  to  such  an  undertaking.    Vasari,  with 
reluctance,  consented ;  and*  with  his  own  industry,  and  some 
assistance  from  others,  be  fulfilled  his  tusk;  and,  in  1550, 
published  his  work  in  2  vols,  entitled  ^'  Vite  de  pin  ecceU 
lenti  Pittori,  Scultori,  e  Architetti."     In  1571  he  reprinted 
it  in  3  vols.  4to,  with  portraits  cut  in  wood,  and  with*the 
addition  of  his  own  life  to  the  fifty-fifth  year  of  his  age« 
The  subsequent  editions  are,  that  of  Bottari,  Rome,  1759--^ 
60,  3  vols.  4to,  and  those  printed  at  Leghorn,  1767 — 72, 
7  vols.  4to;  at  Sienna,  179^1 — 98,  11  vols.  8vo.     There^is 
likewise  one  printed  at  Bologna  in  1647,  3  vols.  4to,  but 
not  esteemed  a  good  one. 

Vasari  died  in  1574,  and  in  1588*liis  nephew  published 
a  work  to  commemorate  and  honour  his  uncle's  abilities, 
entitled,  "  Ragionamenti  del  Sig.  Cavaliere  Georgio  Va- 
sari pittore  ed  architetto  sopra  le  invenzioni  de  lui  depinta 
in  Fiorenza  nel  palazzo  di  Loro  Altezze  Serenissime,  ftc.*'. 
It  is  not  however  to  painting  that  Vasari  is  indebted  for  bis 
present  fame,  but  to  his  miscellaneous  work ;  which,  though 
crude  and  incorrect,  affords  the  most  ample  source  of  our 
information  concerning  the  painters  of  Italy  before  bis  time, 
or  contemporary  with  himself.  As  an  artist  he  had  little 
originality,  and  the  extravagances  of  genius  mark  the  most 
predomittunt  feature  of  his  style. ' 

*  Doppa*8  Life  of  Micbel  Angi'lo,  Preface. — Tir&boschi. 


V  A  T  A  B  L  U  S.  261 

VATABLUSj  or  GASTLEBLED,  (Francis,)  ati  emi- 
nem  Hebrew  scbolar,  was  born  at  Gamacbe  in  Picardj,  in 
the  early  part  of  the  sixteenth  century.  In  1531  he  was 
appointed  regius  professor  of  Hebrew  in  the  university 
of  Paris,  one  of  the  royat  professorships  at  that  time  founded 
by  Francis  I.  and  in  this  of&ce  gained  the  highest  reputa-- 
tion.  Among  his  hearers  were  many  learned  Jews,  who 
much  admired  his  lectures,  which  were  all  delivered  ex- 
tempore, nor  does  he  appear  to  have  committed  any  of 
them  to  writing.  Some  of  his  scholars,  however,  having 
taken  notes  of  his  observations  on  the  Old  Testament,  Ro- 
bert Stephens  made  a  collection  of  them,  which  he  added 
to  Leo  Juda's  version  of  the  Bible,  printed  at  Paris  in  1345. 
Of  their  accuracy  no  doubts  have  been  entertained,  although 
Stephens  probably  might  correct  what  he  thought  the  errors 
of  the  transcribers.  Yet  as  a  protestant  translation  was 
joined  to  them,  the  doctors  of  divinity  of  the  faculty  of  Pari% 
condemned  them,  while  those  of  Salamanca,  with  more  li- 
berality, caused  Vatablus's  Bible,  for  such  it  was  called,  to 
be  reprinted  in  Spain  with  approbation.  Stephens  wrote 
a  defence  of  it  against  the  censures  of  the  Parisian  divines, 
who,  Dupin  allows,  were  at  that  time  not  sufficiently  ac- 
quainted with  the  Hebrew  laiYguage. 

Vatablus  was  an  excellent  Greek  scholar,  and  translated 
Bpme  parts  of  Aristotle*s  works.  He  also  assisted  Clement 
Marot  in  his  poetical  translation  of  the  Psalms,  by  giving 
bim  a  literal  version  from  the  Hebrew.  He  had  the  credit 
of  being  the  restorer  of  the  study  of  the  Hebrew  language 
in  France,  and  taught  many  able  scholars,  particularly 
Brentius  and  Mercerus  (see  Mercier),  who  both  succeeded 
him  in  his  professorship.     He  died  March  16,  1547.* 

VATTEL,  or  WATTEL,  (Emer  de,)  an  eminent  pub- 
licist, was  the  son  of  a  clergyman  of  Neufchatel,  where  he 
was  born  April  25,  1714.  After  completing  his  studies,  he 
Went  to  Berlin,  where  he  became  acquainted  with  some  of 
the  literati  of  that  city,  and  thence  to  Dresden,  and  was  in- 
troduced to  the  king  of  Poland  and  the  elector  of  Saxony, 
who  received  him  with  great  kindness,  and  some  years  after 
b^  was  appointed  privy-coiincillor  to  the  elector.  He  was 
residing  at  Dresden  in  1765  when  his  health  began  to  de- 
cline, which  obliged  him  to  try  the  air  of  his  native  country; 
but  this  proved  ineffectual,  and  he  died  at  Neufchatel  in 

'  Da|iin. — Blount*s  Cetisura.-^Sanii  Onomast 


2^2  V  A  T  T  E  L. 

1767,  in  the  fifty-third  year  of  his  age.     He  owed  his  lite- 
rary reputation  first  to  some  publications,  whicli,  we  believe^ 
are  not  much  known  in  this  country,  as  a  '^Defence  of 
Leibnitz's  philosophy  against  M.  de  Crousaz/*  published 
in  1741,  and  dedicated  to  Frederick  the  Great,  king  of 
Prussia ;  and  "  Pieces  diverses  de  morale  et  d'amusement," 
published  at  Paris  in  1746.     But  he  became  known  to  all 
Europe  by  his  "  Droit  des  gens,  ou  Principes  de  la  Loi  Na- 
turelle,"'  published  at  Neufchatel  in  1758,  and  translated 
into  most  European  languages,  and  often  reprinted.     We 
have  at  least  two  editions  of  it  in  English,  under  the  title 
of  **  The  Law  of  Nations  ;  or,  principles  of  the  Law  of  Na- 
ture:  applied  to  the  conduct  and  affairs  of  nations  and  so- 
Tei-eigns,*'  1760,  4to,  and  1793,  8vo.     What  partieularly 
irecommended  this  work  to  the  favour  of  the  English,  was 
their  finding  the  opinions  of  their  countrymen  generally 
adopted,  and  England  brought  as  a  proof  Bf  a  wise  and 
happy  constitution.     The  opinions  of  Milton  and  Harring- 
ton are  frequently  confirmed,  while  the  maxims  of  Piif- 
fendorf  and  Grotius,  who  often  adapted  their  opinions  to 
the  states  in  which  they  lived,  are  refuted  with  strength 
and  perspicuity.     In  general  Vattel  takes  Wolff,  the  cele- 
brated Saxon  philosopher,  for  bis  guide;  but  in  many  places 
he  differs  totally  from  him,  and  this  produced  a  controversy 
between  them.     The  points  on  which  they  fliffer  may  be 
seen  in  a  publication  by  Vattel,  which  appeared  in  1762, 
entitled  "  Questions  sur  le  Droit  Naturel :  et  Observations 
sur  le  Trait6  du  Droit  de  la  Nature  de  M.  le  Baron  de 
Wolff."      In   the  mean  time  Vatters  "  Law  of  Nations" 
became  more  and  more  the  favourite  of  men  who  study 
^  such  subjects,  and  has  for.  many  years  been-  quoted  as  a 
work  of  high  authority,  and  as  in  many  respects  pic^ferable 
to  Grotius  and  PufFendorf,  being  more  methodical,   more 
comprehensive,  and  more  simple  than  either.  * 

VAVASSOR,  or  VAVASSEUR,  (Francis,)  a  Jesuit  of 
France,  eminently  distinguished  for  his  accomplishments  in 
the  belles-lettres,  was  born  in  1 603,  at  Paray,  a  small  town  in 
Charolois,  in  the  diocese  of  Autun.  He  entered  into  the 
society  of  the  Jesuits  in  1621;  and,  after  having  finished 
the  course  of  his  studies,  taught  polite  literature  and  rhe- 
toric for  seven  years.  Afterwards  he  was  called  to  Paris,  to 
explain  the  Holy  Scriptures ;  which  province  be  sustained 

t  Diet.  Hist. 


V  A  V  A  S  S  O  R.  S6i 

for  $tic  and  thirty  years,  ail  the  while  cultivating  poetry  and 
classical  literature,  in  which  he  p'^rticularly  excelled.  H« 
died  at  Paris  in  Dec«  1681.  He  understood  the  Latin 
tongue  very  exactly,  and  also  spoke^it  with  the  greatest 
purity  and  elegance.  He  was  a  man  of  good  talents,  great  ' 
acuteaess,  solid  and  accurate  judgment,  and  profound  learn* 
ihg;  so  that  he  bad  all  the  qualities  necesbary  to  make  him, 
what  be  was  generally  allowed  to  b$,  a  \%jry  good  critic. 

His  book  '^  De  Ludicra  Dictione,''  printed  in  1658,  was 
written  to  oppose  a  bad  taste,  which  then  prevailed  in  France, 
when  the  works  of  Scarran  and  Dassouci  were  very  popular; 
by  shewing,  that,  the  Greeks  and  Romans  knew  nothing  of 
tbe  burlesque  style,  although  Mons.  le  Clerc  is  of  opiqion, 
that  something  of  it  may  be  found  in  Aristophanes.  He 
wrote  this  at  the  request  of  Balzac,  Vvho  had  a  great  dislike 
to  this  style;  but  Balzac  died  before  it  was  published.  As  all 
the  authors  of  antiquity,  who  have  mixed  any  pleasantries 
or  boD«mots  in  their  writings,  were  necessarily  '  to  be  ex-» 
amlned  in  the  course  of  this  treatise,  Vavassor  bad  an  op- 
portunity of  shewing  very  extensive  reading.  Another  of 
his  works,  not  approved  much  less  than  the  former,  is  his 
book  <' De  Epigrammate,^'  printed  in  1669,  and  reprinted 
with  his  ^^ Epigrams"  in  1&72,  12mo ;  in  which  there  are 
many  new  and  just  observations.  It  however  laid  the  Foun- 
dation of  a  dispute  between  him  and  Rapin;  who,  in  his 
**  Reflections  on  Aristotle's  poesy,"  printed  in  1-674,  after 
having  said,  that  tbe  epigram,  of  all  the  works  in  verse  that 
antiquity  has  produced,  is  the  least  considerable,  adds,  ''I 
find  nothing  considerable  to  say  on  those  who  have  at* 
tempted  any  thing  in  this  way  among  the  moderns.  It  is 
one  of  the  sorts  of  verse,  in  which  a  man  has  little  success ; 
for,  it  is  a  kind  of  a  lucky  hit  if  it  proves  well.  An  epigram 
is  little  worth  unless  it  be  admirable ;  and,  it  is  so  rare  to 
make  them  admirable,  that  it  is  sufficient  to  have  made  one 
in  a  man's  life.,  Maynard  has  succeeded  the  best  in  this  > 
way  of  all  our  French  poets."  A  man  jealous  of  his  repu-^ 
tatioD,  and  naturally  splenetic,  which  is  said  to  have  been 
Vavassor's  character,  must  have  been  extremely  hurt  with 
.this;  and  accordingly  the  year  after,  1675,  he  published 
^  Ilemarfas  upon  the  Reflections  of  Rapin,"  which  had  no 
name  to  them  ;  and,  for  the  sake  of  abusing  him,  pretended 
not  to  knx)w,  while  every  body  else  knew  very  well,  who  the 
author  of  those  reflections  was.  Rapin  complained  loudly 
of  this  ill-treatment ;  and  Vavassor's  book,  by  way  of  re- 


064  V  A  V  A  S  S  O  R. 

dress,  was  suppressed  by  order  of  the  society.  Vavasaor's 
other  treatises  are  chiefly  theological.  All  his  works  werd 
collected  and  printed  at  Amsterdam,  1709^  in  folio;  with  a 
prefatory  discourse  by  Le  Clerc.  * 

VAUBAN  (Sebastian  Lk  Prestre,  Seigneur  de), 
marechal  of  France,  commissioner-general  of  fortifications^ 
and  the  greatest  engineer  which  France  has  produced,  was 
the  son  of  Urban  le  Prestre,  seigneur  de  Vauban^  a  de* 
scendant  of  an  ancient  and  noble  family  of  Nivernois.  He 
was  born  May  1,  1633,  and  was  in  the  army  at  the  early  age 
of  seventeen,  where  his  uncommon  talents  and  genius  for 
fortification  soon  became  known,  and  were  eminently  dis« 
played  at  the  sieges  of  St.  Menehonld,  1652  and  1653,  of 
Stenay  1654,  and  of  several  other  places  in  the  following 
years.  He  consequently  rose  to  the  highest  military  ranks 
by  his  merit  and  services :  and  was  made  governor  of 
the  citadel  of  Lisle  in  1668,  and  commissioner-general  of 
fortifications  in  1678.  He  took  Luxemburg  in  1684,  Und^ 
being  appointed  lieutenant-general  in  1688,  was  present,  the 
same  year,  at  the  siege  and  capture  of  Philipsburg,  Man- 
heim,  and  Frankendal,  under  the  dauphin.  This  prince, 
ais  a  reward  for  his  services,  gave  him  four  pieces  of  can<^ 
non,  which  he  was  permitted  to  chuse  from  the  arsenals  of 
these  three  towns,  and  place  in  his  castle  at  Bazocbe ;  an 
honour  afterwards  granted  to  the  famous  marechal  Saxe. 
M.  de  Vauban  commanded  on  the  coast  of  Flanders  in 
1689,  and  was  made  marechal  of  France,  Jan.  14,  1703. 
His  dignity  was  expensive  to  him,  but  the  king  woald  not 
permit  him  to  serve  as  an  inferior  officer,  though  he  offered 
it  in  a  very  handsome  manner.  He  died  at  Paris^  Mareh 
80^  1707,  aged  seventy-four.  He  was  a  man  of  bigh 
and  independent  spirit,  of  gteat  humanity,  and  entirely 
devoted  to  the  good  of  his  country.  As  an  engineer,  he 
carried  the  art  of  fortifying,  attacking,  and  defending  towns, 
to  a  degree  of  perfection  unknown  before  his  time.  He 
fortified  above  300  ancient  citadels,  erected  tnirty-three 
new  ones,  and  had  the  principal  management  and  direc- 
tion of  fift}'-three  sieges,  and  was  present  at  one  hundred 
and  forty  eugagements.  But  his  countrymen  tell  us  that 
it  was  unnecessary  for  him  to  exert  his  skill  in  defending 
a  fort ;  for  the  enemies  of  France  never  attacked  those  in 
which  he  was  stationed.     His  works  are,  a  treatise  entitled 

1  Le  Clerc'f  preface.— NSoeron,  toI.  XXVIJ. 


V  A  U  B  A  N.  S65 

^*  LaDismeRoYale/'l  707, 4toand  12mo9  which  diaplsyssoiiie 
patriotic  principles,  but  the  plan  is  considered  as  ioipracti^ 
cable.  A  vast  collection  of  MS S.  in  12  vols,  which  be  calli 
his  '*  Oisivet^s,"  contain  his  ideas,  reflections,  and  projects^ 
for  the  advantage  of  France.  The  three  following  works 
are  also  attributed  to  him,  but  whether  he  wrote  them,  or 
whether  they  have  been  compiled  from  his  Memoirs,  and 
adapted  to  bis  ideas,  is  uncertain  :  *'  Maniere  de  fortifier,** 
Svo  and  12mo,  printed  also  at  Paris  by  Michalet,  8vo,  un* 
der  the  title  of  *^L'Ing6nieur  Franfois.**  M.  Hebert,  pro-^ 
fessor  of  mathematics,  and  the  abb£  du  Fay,  have  written 
notes  on  this  treatise,  which  is  esteemed,  and  is  said  to  hme 
been  revised  by  the  chevalier  de  Cambrai,  and  reprinted 
at  Amsterdam,  1702  and  1727,  2  vols.  4to  ;  2.  *^  Nouveau 
Trait6  de  TAttaque  et  de  la  Defense  des  Places,  suivant  le 
Syst£me  de  M.  de  Vauban,  par  M.  Desprez  de  Saint  Sa^ 
▼in,"  1736,  Svo,  much  esteemed  ;  3. ''  Essais  sur  la  Forti^^ 
fieation,  par  M.  de  Vauban,"  1740,  12mo.  As  to  the  ^'Po-- 
litical  Testament"  ascribed  to  him,  it  was  written  by  Peter 
le  Pesanty  sieur  de  Bo'js  Guillebert,  lieutenant-general  of 
the  bailiwic  of  Rouen,  who  died  1714.  M.  de  Vauban^i 
second  cousin,  Anthony  de  Prestre,  known  by  the  namo  of 
Puy  Vauban,  was  also  a  very  eminent  engineer.  He  died 
lieutenant-general  of  the  king's  forces,  and  gdvernor  of 
Bethune,  April  10,  1731,  aged  seventy-seven.' 

VAUGELAS  (Claude  Favre  dk),  an  elegant  French 
writer^  was  born  of  an  ancient  family  at  Chamberry  in 
15S5.'  His  father  Antoine  Favre,  or  Antony  Faber,  was 
first  president  of  the  senate  of  Chamberry,  and  published 
several  learned  works  upon  law-subjects.  (See  Favre.) 
Vaugelas  was  sent  to  the  court  very  young,  and  there  spent 
his  whole  life.  He  was  gentleman  in  ordinary,  and  after- 
wards chamberlain,  to  the  duke  of  Orleans,  whom  he  at« 
tended  in  all  his  retreats  out  of  the  kingdom,  and  was  after- 
wards governor  to  the  children  of  prince  Thomas.  He  had 
a  pension  from  the  crown  early  settled  on  him ;  but  it 
never  was  paid  him  tilt  Cardinal  Richelieu  employed  the 
French  acsidemy  upon  forming  a  dictionary  of  the  language. 
On  that  occasion  the  academy  represented  to  the  cardinal, 
that  the  only  way  to  have  one  well  executed,  was  to  com- 
mit the  chief  management  of  it  to  Vaugelas.  Hi^  pension 
was  then  re-established  and  punctually  paid.    But,  although 

1  Bloge,  by  FQntentlle.— Aforeri.«-Dict.  Hitt. 


266  V  A  U  G  E  L  A  S. 

be  had  other  advantages  besides  this,  and  a  handsome  pa-* 
trimony  from  his  father,  and  was  not  a  man  of  luxury  or 
extravagance,  yet  when  he  died  in  1605,  he  did  not  leave 
enough  to  satisfy  his  creditors. 

He  was  one  of  those  who  first  corrected  and  refined  the 
French  language  to  an  extraordinary  degree  of  purity.  He 
had  cultivated  it  with  peculiar  care  and  attention  from  his 
infancy,  and  formed  liimself  chiefly  upon  Coeffeteau,  whose 
writings  be  held  in  such  esteem,  and,  above  all,  bis  it  Ro- 
man History,"  that  he  could  hardJy  allow  any  phrases  or 
expressions  to  be  pure  and  genuine  but  what  were  to  be 
found  in  that  work  :  which  made  Balzac  say  pleasantly, 
(hat,  ^'  in  the  judgment  of  Vaugelas,  salvation  was  uo  more 
to  be  had  out  of  the  Roman  History  than  out  of  the  Roman 
church."  His  principal  talent  was  in  prose :  for  though 
be  wrote  some  verses  in  Italian  that  were  admired,  yet  he 
could  not  succeed  in  his  own  language.  His  most  import- 
ant  works  are,  1.  ^' Remarques  sur  la.  Langue  Frangoise, 
Paris,  1647,"  in.4to.  Mr.  de  la  Monnoye  has  observed  of 
the  preface  to  this  excellent  treatise,  that  it  is  a  master- 
piece of  elegance  and  solidity.  3.  "  Quint.-Curce  de  la 
vie  &  des  actions  d' Alexandre  le  Grand,  traduit  du  Latin, 
Paris,  1653,"  in  4to.  Vaugelas  spent  thirty  years  in 
translating  this  author,  perpetually  altering  and  correcting 
it,  as  it  was  his  principal  object  to  make  it  a  model  of  the 
purest  style.  Voit^re,  who  was  the  intimate  friend  of  .Vau- 
gelas, used  to  rally  him  on  this  fastidious  nicety  and  long 
delay,  and  told  him  that  it  could  never  be  finished ;  for 
that,  while  he  was  polishing  one  part,  the  language 
must  needs  undergo  some  revolution,  and  be  would  have 
all  the  rest  to  do  over  again :  and  he  applied  to  him  Mar- 
tians epigram  uport  the  barber,  who  was  so  long  in  shaving 
one  part  of  the  face,  that  the  beard  in  the  mean  time  grew 
again  upon  the  other.  It  is  allowed,  however,  that  the 
French  language  owes  much  to  Vaugelas,  and  Voltaire 
says  his  translation  of  Quintus  Curtius  was  the  first  good 
book  written  with  purity ;  and  that  there  are  few  of  the 
expressions  and  terms  that  are  yet  become  obsolete. ' 

V  A  UGH  AN  (Henry),  an  English  poet  and  translator, 
called  the  SiLURisr,  from' being  a  native  of  that  part  of 
Wales  whose  ancient  inhabitants  were  called  Silures,  was 
born,  in  1621,  at  Newton  St.  Bridget,  in  Brecknockshire. 

'  Niceron,  vol.  XIX.  art,  Favre. — Diet.  Hist. 


\ 


n 


V  A  U  G  H  A  N.  267 

After  being  educatied  at  home  under  Matthew  Herbert,  an 
able  grammar-master,  he  was  entered  of  Jesus  college,  Ox- 
ford, in  1658,  but  after  two  years  residence,  he  departed 
without  taking  a  degree,  his  father  wishing  him  to  study 
law  in  London.  On  the  breaking  out  of  the  rebellion  he 
was  sent  for  home,  and  followed,  as  Wood  says,  **  the  plea- 
sant paths  of  poetry  and  philology,*'  but  afterwards  studied 
and  practised  physic  with  reputation.  He  was,  adds  Wood, 
"  esteemed  by  scholars  an  ingenious  person,  but  proud  and 
humorous."  He  died  in  April  1695,  and  was  buried  in  the 
parish  church  of  Llansenfreid  near  Brecknock.  His  poe- 
tical works  are,  1.  '^  Olor  Iscanus,  a  collection  of  some  se- 
lect  poems,'*  Lond.*1650,  8vo.  2.  "  Silex  scintillans,  or 
the  Bleeding  Heart,  sacred  poems  and  private  ejacula* 
tions,"  1650,  1655,  12mo.  3.  "The  Mount  of  Olives  :  or. 
Solitary  Devotions,"  1652,  Sto.  4.  "Thalia  Rediviva," 
poems,  which  Woo^  says  were  ready  for  the  press  in  1673(^ 
but  knows  not  whether  they  were  printed.  Mr.  Ellis  has 
given  a  few  specimens  from  Vaughan's  poetry,  but  with- 
out being  able  to  applaud  it  much.  He  translated  some 
parts  of  Plutarch's  Morals^  which  were  printed  in  a  second 
edition  of  his  *'  Olor  Iscanus ;"  Anselm's  **  Blessed  state  of 
JVIan ;"  Guevara  "  On  the  praise  and  happiness  of  the 
Country  Life;"  the  "  Life  of  Paulinus  bishop  of  Nola," 
and  a  few  other  articles  mentioned  by  Wood. 

Henry  Vaughan  had  a  twin-brother,  Thomas  Vaughan; 
who  styles  himself  in  his  strange  writings,  Ettgenius  PhU- 
alethes.  He  also  came  to  Jesus  college  at  the  same  time 
with  his  brother,  but  remained  longer,  and  took  one  de- 
gree in  arts,  and  was  made  fellow.  He  then  entered  into 
holy  orders,  and  was  made  rector  of  St. 'Bridget,  near 
Brecknock,  a  living  conferred  upon  him  by  his  kinsman, 
sir  George  Vaughan.  But  being  interrupted  in  the  quiet 
possession  of  this  by  the  commotions  of  the  times,  he  re- 
turned to  Oxford,  and  distinguished  himself  for  extrava* 
gant  admiration  of  Cornelius  Agrippa,  and  for  many  pub- 
lications of  the  alchymical  kind,  replete  with  the  grossest 
absurdities.  Among  these  are  his  ^^  Anthroposophia  l^heo- 
magica,"  dedicated  to  his  brethren  the  Rosicrucians,  Lond. 
1650,  8vo,  and  his  ^*  Anima  magica  abscondita."  Dr. 
Henry  More,  on  whom  he  had  reflected,  did  him  the  ho- 
nour to  answer  these  publications  in  some  ^^  Observations" 
Published  the  same  year  under  the  name  of  Alazonomastix 
*hilalethes,  and  as  he  had  made  rather  free  with  Vaughan, 


If6i  V  A  U  G  H  A  N. 

1 

Recording  to  the  controversial  spirit  of  the  times,  and  called 
him  a  Momus,  a  mimiC|  an  ape,  a  fool  in  a  piay,  a  jack*- 
puddingi  &c.  Vanghan  answered  him  in  a  work  with  a 
suitable  title,  ^'  The  Man-Mouse  taken  in  a  trap,  and  tor* 
tured  to  death  for  gnawing  the  margins  of  Eugenius  Phila-» 
Jethes/'  More  again  replied,  but  was  afterwards  ashamed 
of  the  controversy,  and  suppressed  it  in  the  edition  of  bis 
collected  works.  Wpod  mentions  other  works,  on  magic, 
by  Vaughan,  the  titles  of  which  we  may  be  excused  tran- 
scribing. He  is  said  to  have  died  in  consequence  of  some 
experiment  with  mercury,  Feb.  27,  1665-6,  and  was  buried 
in  Oldbury  church,  Oxfordshire,  at  the  expenca  of  bis 
friend  and  feilow  Rosicrucian,  sir  Robert  Moray,  or  Mur* 
ray,  of  whom  we  have  given  an  account  in  vol.  XXII.  ^ 

VAUGHAN  (John),  lord  chief  justice  of  thjs  coihmon* 
pleas,  was  born  in  Cardiganshire,  Sept.  14,  1608,  and  edu* 
cated  at  Worcester  school,  whence  he  entered  Christ 
Church,  Oxford^  in  1623,  but  left  it  without  taking  a  de- 
gree, in  1626^  and  went  to  the  Inner  ^Temple  for  the  study 
of  the  law.  This,  according  to  Wood,  he  neglected  for 
some  time,  and  was  addicted  to  poetry  and  philosophy, 
uptil  becoming  acquainted  with  Selden,  he  was  advised  to 
^pply  more  diligently  to  his  profession.  In  this  he  soon 
mside  such  a  figure  as  to  be  returned  to  the  parliament  of 
1640^  as  member  for  the  town  of  Cardigan.  It  is  said  that 
he  was  in  his  heart  an  enemy  to  monarchy,  but  never  en* 
gaged  in  open  hostility  to  Charles  I.  On  the  contrary*^ 
when  the  rebellion  broke  out  he  retired  to  his  own  country, 
and  lived  there  principally  until  the  restoration.  He  was 
then  elected  knight  of  the  shire  of  Cardigan,  in  the  parlia- 
ment which  began  in  1661,  and  was  much  noticed  by 
Charles  II.  In  1668  his  majesty  conferred  the  honour  of 
knighthood  upon  him,  and  on  May  22  of  that  year  he  was 
sworn  serjeant-at-law,  and  the  day  following,  lord  chief 
justice  of  the  common-pleas.  He  died  Dec.  10,  1674,  and 
was  buried  in  the  Temple  church,  near  the  grave  of  his 
friend  Selden,  who  had  appointed  him  one  of  his  executors^ 
and  whose  friendship  for  him  is  recorded  on  sir  Jobn^s  mo- 
nument. 

Sir  John  Vaughan  was  not  only  versed  in  all  the  know- 
ledge requisite  to  make  a  figure  in  his  profession,  but  was 
also  a  very  considerable  master  of  the  politer  kinds  of  learB* 

«  Alb.  Ox.  vol.  It. 


V  A  U  G  H  A  N.  26d 

I 

ing ;  but  his  behaviour  among  the  generality  of  his  ac" 
quaintances  was  haughty^  supercilious,  and  overbearing; 
hence  he  was  rnuch^  more  admired  than  beloved.  The 
worst  charge  laid  to  him  is  that  of  having  joined  the  enemies 
of  lord  Clarendon,  whp  was  once  his  friend,  and  had  made 
him  overtures  of  preferment.  ^ 

Sir  John  Vaughan's  '^  Reports  and  Arguments  in  the 
Common  Pleas,  being  all  of  them  special  cases,  and  many 
wherein  be  pronounced  the  re$olution  of  the  whol'e  court 
of  common  pleas  at  the  time  be  was  chief  justice  there,'* 
are  fully  and  ably  taken,  and  were  first  printed  in  1677, 
and  secondly  in  1706,  by  his  son  Edward  Vaughan,  esq. 
with  references,  to  which  is  added  a  tract  concerning  pro^ 
cess  out  of  the  courts  at  Westminster  into  Wales.  ^ 

VAUGHAN  (William),  a  Latin  poet  and  moral  writer, 
was  the  son  of  Walter  Vaughan,  of  the  Golden  Grove,  in 
Carmarthenshire,  esq.  and  younger  bro,ther  to  sir  John 
Vaughan,  first  earl  of  Carbery,  and  patron  of  bishop  J«« 
remy  Taylor.  He  was  born  at  Golden  Grove  in  1577,  and 
became  a  commoner  of  Jesus  college,  Oxford,  in  1591^ 
where  he  took  his  degrees  in  arts.  The  fruits  of  his  scho-* 
lastic  attainments  began  to  appear  uncommonly  early,  as 
he  was  only  in  his  fifteenth  year  when  he  prepared  for 
printing  an  easy  paraphrase  of  Persius  in  English  and  La- 
tin ;  and  his  publications  which  appeared  in  1597  and  1598 
bespeak  a  prematurity  of  genius.  After  taking  his  degrees 
in  arts,  he  applied  to  the  study  of  the  law,  but  before  be 
proceeded  in  that  faculty,  set  out  on  his  travels,  and  at 
Vienna  performed  the  necessary  exercises  for  adoctor^s 
degree,  in  which  he  was  incorporated  at  Oxford  in  1605. 
He  afterwards  appears  to  have  meditated  a  settlement  in 
Oambriol,  Newfoundland,  where  he  was  living  in  1628^ 
but  the  time  of  his  death  is  not  mentioned.  His  Latin 
poems  ai*e,  1.  the  ^'  Song  of  Solomon,  and  some  of  the 
Psialms,"  translated,  Lond^  1597.  2.  "  Varia  Poemata  d^ 
Sphaerarum  ordine,"  (589,  8vo.  3.  '*  Poemata  continent. 
Encom.  Roberti  Comitis  Essex,"  1598,  8vo.  4.  **  Cam- 
brensium  Caroleia,**  &c.  a  poem  on  the  nuptials  of  Charles 
L  1625  or  1630,  8vo.  His  English  works  are,  "The 
Golden  Grove,  moralized  in  three  books,"  1608,  8vo, 
which  seenis  to  have  suggested  to  bishop  Taylor  the  title 

*  Alh.  Ox.  vol.   II. — Granger. — Burnet's  Own    Times.— Bpidgnaan's  D&gul 
Ribliagraphy. 


270  V  A  U  G  H  A  N.' 

of  one  of  his  most  popular  works;  a^nd  ^' The  Golden 
Fleece/'  1626,  4to:  both  works  of  the  moral  kind^  and 
replete  with  observations  on  the  manners  of  the  times,  and 
the  principal  personages.  A  particular  account  of  both  is 
given  in  the  "  Bibliographer,"  vol.  II.  by  which  it  appears 
that  Vaughan  had  translated  a  part  of  Boccalini's  Advices 
from  Parnassus,  and  had  published  '^  Circles  called  the 
Spirit  of  Detraction,  conjured  and  convicted,'" and  ^*  Com- 
mentaries upon,  and  paraphrase  of,  Juvenal  and  Persins," 
all  in  early  life.^ 

VAUQUELIN.     SeelVETAUX,  and  FRESNAYE. 

VAUVILLIERS  (John  Francis),   a  French  writer  of 
cbDsiderable  talents,  was  the  son  of  John  Vauvilliers,  pro- 
fessor of  rhetoric  in  the  university  of  Paris,  and  of  Greek 
in  the  royal  college,  who  is  known  to  the  learned  world  by 
several  Latin  dissertations,  particularly  one  *'  De  praestan- 
tia  Graecarum   literarum,"  &c.     He  was  born  about  1736, 
aod  applied  so  diligently  to  his  studies  that  he  was  able  to 
assist  his  father  in  his  rhetorical  lectures.     In. 1767  he  was' 
appointed  assistant  to  Vatry,  the  Greek  professor  in   tbe^ 
royal  college,  and  succeeding  him,   held    that  office  for 
twenty  years.     On  the  commencement  of  the  revolution  he 
joined  the  revolutionists,  and  was  for  some  time  president 
of  thefirst  commune  of  Paris,  and  lieutenant  to  the  mayor. 
In  this  office  he  bad  the  care  of  furnishing  Paris- with  pro- 
visions, which  he  performed  with  great  skill  and  success ; 
but  finding  the  mob  gaining  the  superiority,  resigned  his 
office,  and   not  only  refused  to^  sit  in  the  constituent  as- 
sembly, to  which  he  was  called,  but  published  an  opinion 
on  the  constitution  of  the  clergy,  which  was  so  much  in 
hostility  to  the  measures  then  pursuing,  that  he  was  obliged, 
for  a  time  to  conceal  himself.     He  survived  the  worst  pe- 
riod of  the  revolution,  however,  and  in  1797  vyas  chosen 
a  member  of  the  council  of  500,  but  having  joined   the 
party  of  Clichy,  was  sentenced  to  transportation.     On  this 
he  disappeared  again,  and  found  a  refuge  in  St.  Peters- 
burgh,  where  the  emperor  Paul  appointed  him  a  member 
of  the  academy  of  sciences.     The  climate,  however,  and 
the  sufferings  he  bad  been  subjected  to  at  home,  did  not 
permit  him  a  long  enjoyment  of  hi^  present  tranquillity. 
He  died  at  St.  Petersbucgh,  July  23,  ISOO,  in  the  sixty- 
fourth  year  of  his  age.     He  is  characterised  as  a  man  of 

'  Ath.  Ox.  vol.  I.— Bibliographer,  vol.  II. 


V  A  U  V  I  L  L  I  E  R  S.  271 

great  simplicity  of  manners,  joined  to  a  tolerant  and  en* 
lightened  piety,  and  a  contempt  of  riches.  All  his  pro- 
perty, when  confiscated  at  Paris,  did  not  produce  more 
than  1800  livres,  and  in  Russia  he  scarcely  left  enough  to 
pay  for  his  funeral. 

.  Vauvilliers  had  been  in  early  life  one  of  the  French  phi- 
losophcfts,  and  participated  in  all  the  sentiments  of  that 
sect,  but  was  recalled  to  a  better  way  of  thinking  by  an 
incident,  which  is  thus  related.  '^  In  17^6  he  had  a  dream, 
in  which  he  saw  himseU'  transported  to  the  judgment-seat 
of  God ;  the  book  of  his  life  was  opened  to  him,  and  he 
was  so  strongly  reproached  for  his  conduct  and  principles, 
that  he  was  deeply  impressed  by  it:  he  awoke  in  a  violent 
perspiration;  his  hair  turned  white;  all  at  once  he  with- 
drev4'  from  the  world,  lived  for  some  time. in  retirement, 
and  did  not  appear  again  till  the  beginning  of  the  revo- 
lution :  from  this  time  religious  sentiments  took  the  place  of 
philosophical  principles  in  his  mind,  and  he  became  as 
exemplary  in  his  faith  and  in  his  conduct  as  he  had  be** 
fore  been  unbelieving."  This  anecdote,  his  biographer 
informs  us,  he  had  a  pleasure  in  repeating  to  his  friends. 
His  works  are,  1.  ^^  Essai  sur  Pindare,'*  1772,  12mo,  which, 
as  far  as  it  goes,  is  the  best  translation  tlie  French  have  of 
Pindar,  but  it  is  not  complete.  The  notes  are  very  va- 
luable. 2.  '^  Extraits  de  divers  auteurs  Grecs  aTusage  de 
I'ecole  militaire,"  1788,  6  vols.  12mo.  3.  **  Lettres  sur 
Horace,"  12mo.  4.  ^'Examen  historique  du  government 
de  Sparte,"  1769..  This  procured  him  admission  into  the 
academy  of  inscriptions.  Besides  these  he  completed  Ca- 
perronier^s  edition  of  Sophocles,  published  in  1781,  and  in 
it  displays  great  diligence,  research,  and  knowledge  of  the 
Greek  language,  although  we  are  aware  that  this  edition 
has  not  given  universal  satisfaction.  He  also  assisted  Bro^ 
tier  ip  his  edition  of  Amyot's  Plutarch. ' 

VAUX  (Thomas),  Lord  Vaux  of  Harwedon,  an  Eng- 
lish poet,  was  the  eldest  son  of  Nicholas,  the  first  lord 
Vaux,  and  was  born  in  1510.  In  1527  he  was  among  the 
attendants  in  Wolsey's  stately  embassy,  when  that  prelate 
went  to  treat  of  a  peace  between  the  emperor  Charles  V. 
and  the  kings  of  England  and  France;  and  in  January 
1^30,  he  took  his  place  in  parliament  as  a  baron.  In  1532 
he  waited  on  the  king  in  his  splendid  expedition  to  Calais 

*  Diet.  Hist.— Biographic  Moderne. 


'> 


S72  V  A  U  X. 

and  Boulogne,^  a  little  before  which  time  he  is  said  to  hare 
had  the  custody  of  the  persecuted  queen  Catherine.  In 
the  following  year  he  was  made  a  knight  of  the  bath,  at  the 
coronation  of  Anne  Boleyn.  He  appears  to  have  held  uo 
public  office  but  that  of  the  captain  of  the  island  of  Jersey, 
which  h^  surrendered  in  153d.  He  died  early  in  the  reign 
of  Philip  and  Mary. 

As  a  poet,  he  has  long  been  deprived  of  his  inetit  by  bi» 
pieces  having  been  attributed  to  his  father^  Nicholas  lord 
Vaux,  an  error  which  Dr.  Percy  first  detected,  and  the 
title  of  Thomas  lord  Vaux  seems  now  indisputable*.  The 
largest  collection  of  his  poetry  isiu  the  ^' Paradise  of  dainty 
Devises,"  lately  reprinted  in  the  "  Bibliographer;"  and 
Dr.  Percy  and  Mr.  Ellis  have  printed  ^*  The  Assault  of  Cu« 
pid,"  and  the  "  Dyttye,  or  sonet  made  by  the  lorde  Vaus 
in  time  of  the  noble  queene  Marye,  representinge  the  image 
of  Deathe  ;''  but  the  popular  notion  of  lord  Vaux's  having 
composed  this  last  on  his  death-bed,  seems  unfounded. 
From  the  prose  prologue  to  Sack vi lie's  ^Mnduction/'  in 
the  '^  Mirror  for  Magistrates,"  it  would  seem  that  lord  Yaux 
bad  undertaken  to  pen  the  history  of  king  £dward's  two 
sons  cruelly  murdered  in  the  Tower  of  London  ;  but  what 
be  performed  of  his  undertaking  does  not  appear.  Lord 
Vaux,  as  a  poet,  is  more  distinguished  by  morality  of  sen- 
timent than  by  imagery  ;  yet  even  in  the  laHer,  his  two 
celebrated ' poems  of  ''The  Assault  of  Cupid,"  and  the 
"  Aged  Lover's  renunciation  of  Love,"  are  far  from  de- 
ficient ;  and  the  sweet  and  touching  simplicity  of  the  ideas, 
and  the  airy  ease  of  the  language,  entitle  them  to  high 
commendation.  ^ 

VAYER.     See  MOTHE. 

VEGA  (Lopez  de  la),  or  Lope-Felix  de  Vega  Carpio, 
a  celebrated  Spanish  poet,  was.  born  at  Madrid,  Nov.  25, 
1562.  He  informs  us  that  his  father  was  a  poet,  but 
what  he  was  besides,  or  the  time  of  his  death,  is  net 
known.  It  appears  that  he  was  an  orphan  when  at  school, 
about  thirteen  or  fourteen  years  old,  and  was  then  impelled 
by  so  restless  a  desire  of  seeing  the  world,  that  he  resolved 

^  It  mast  be   remarked,  howevf^r,  lord  Vaux,  tnighi  fiave  been  the  writer 

ibatih^  late  Mr.  Ritson,  at  well  as  sir  of  ihese  poems.    See  Poetical  Register 

EgertoQ  Brydges,  intimate  a  suspicion  for  1801,  p.  195: 
tliat  William,  the  eldest  son  of  Thomas 

*  Bibliographer,  vols.   I.  and  11 1.-r Park's  Royal  aad  Noble  Autbors.-^Ath. 
Ox.  vol.  I.  new  edit.— Warten's  Hiat.  of  Poetry. 


VEGA.  in 

to  escape ;  and  having  concerted  his  project  with  a  school- 
fellow, they  actually  put  it  in  Ocecution,  but  were  soon 
brought  back  to  Madrid.  Before  this  time,  according  to 
his  own  account,  he  had  not  only  written  verses,  but  com- 
posed dramas  in  four  acts,  which,  as  he  tells  us,  was  then 
the  custom.  Upon  his  return  to  Madrid,  however,  he 
abandoned  this  mode  of  composition,  and  ingratiated  him- 
self with  the  bishop  of  Avila  by  several  pastorals,  and  a 
coitaedy  in  three  acts,  called  ^^  La  Pastoral  de  Jacinto,"  which 
*  is  saidto  haVe  formed  an  epoch  in  the  annals  of  the  theatre^ 
and  a  prelude  to  the  reform  which  Lope  was  destined  to 
introduce. 

He  shortly  after  studied  philosophy  at  Alcala,  and  ingra- 
tiated himself  with  the  duke  of  Alva,  at  whose  instance 
he  wrote  his  "  Arcadia,^'  a  mixture  of  prose  and  verse,  ro- 
mance and  poetry,  pastoral  and  heroic,  the  design  of 
which  was  avowedly  taken  from  Sannazarius,  and  which 
contains  nearly  as  many  deformities  as  beauties.  Soon 
after  this  he  left  the  duke  of  Alva's  service,  and  married, 
but;  continued  to  cultivate  his  favourite  studies,  until,  being 
involved  in  a  duel,  he  wounded  his  antagonist  so  danger- 
ously as  to  be  obliged  to  leave  Madrid,  and  his  newly 
established  family.  He  fixed  upon  Valencia  as  the  place  of 
his  retreat,  but  returned  to  Madrid  in  a  few  years,  when 
all  apprehensions  of  evil  consequences  from  his  duel  were 
allayed.  He  was  probably  soothing  his  imagination  with 
prospects  of  domestic  happiness,  which  his  late  absence 
had  suspended,  when  he  had  the  misfortune  to  lose  his 
wife.  The  residence  of  Madrid,  which  he  had  so  lately 
regarded  as  the  summit  of  his  wishes,  now  became  insup- 
portable ;  and  scenes  which  had  long  been  associated  in 
his  mind  with  ideas  of  present  comfof  t  and  future  reputa-. 
tion,  served  only  to  remind  him  of  their  loss.  To  fly  from 
such  painful  recollections  he  hastily  embarked  on  board*  the 
memorable  Armada,  which  was  then  fitting  out  to. invade 
England.  The  fate  of  this  elcpedition  is  well  known ;  and 
Lope,  in  addition  to  his  share  in  the  difficulties  and  dan- 
gers of  the  voyage,  saw  his  brother^  to  whose  society  he 
had  run  for  refuge  in  his  late  calamity,  expire  in  his  arms. 
During  the  voyage,  however,  his  muse  was  not  idle,  for 
he  composed  the  **  Hermosura  de  Angelica,^'  a  poem, 
which  professes  to  take  up  the  story  of  that  princess  where 
Ariosto  had  dropped  it.  When  be  published  this  poem  in 
1602,  he  added  another,  the  ^^  Dragon  tea,**  an  epic  on 
Vol.  XXX.  T 


^7,4  V  IC  G  ^. 

the  death  of  sir  Francis  fPrak,ey  .iyl]o  is  ^a^q^d  ^hy  ,&>^ 
'coarse  epithet,  as  inde,ed  was.[iis  tQ}^'  mistress  ^li^^fitMr 
whose  tyranny,  cruelty,  and' above  a|l,  her  ^re^,  '^^  tfcye 
perpetual  objects  pf  Lope's  poetical  inye(;l;ive. 

,In  1590  he  retuhied  a  second  time  to  ^atjrid,  an^^^pon 
after  marritd  again.  In  159tt,  on  the  canpiiizatiqn  pf  St. 
"Isidore,  a  native  of  Madrid,  he  entered  tbe  lists  jv^h  seye- 
Vat  authors,  and  overpowered  them  a|i  with  the  nuntber  if 
Wt'with  the  merit  of  his  perforniances.  Prices  had  jh^n 
assigned  for  every  style  of  poetry,  bqt  above  one  could  npt 
'Be  obtained  by  the  same  person.  Lope  succeeded  in  the 
'hymns ;  but  his  fertile  muse,  not  content  with  producing  fi 
poem  of  ten  cantos  in  short  verse,  as  weil  as  innumerable 
'sonnets  and  romances,  and  two  comedies  on  the  si^hje<;tj 
celebrated  by  an  actof  supererogation  both  the  saint  afld  the 
poetical  competition  of  the  day,  in  a  volume  of  sprigbUy 
poems  under  the  feigned  name  of  Tome  de  BurguiHos. 
This  success  raised  him,  no  doiibt,  in  the  estimatioji  of  ^e 
public,  to  whom  he  was  already  known  by  the  numl^er  j^tid 
excellence  of  his  dramatic  writings ;  and  this  was  probably 
the  most  fortunate  period  of  his  life,  and  that  in  wliiciji  he 
derived  most  satisfaction  from  his  pursuits,  ^bout  this 
time,  however,  we  must  fix  the  short  date  of  bis  doi^estic 
comforts.  Of  three  persons  who  formed  his  family,  the 
'son  died  at  eight  years,  and  was  soon  followed,  by  his  jno- 
iher;  the  daughter  alone  Joryived  our  poet.  He  hijwjre- 
solved  to  seek  consolation  in  the  exercises  of  devotion  i 
and,  baying  been  secretary  to*  the  Inquisition,  he  sjjofily 
after  became  a  priest,  and  in  1609  an  honorary  piembe/r  of 
the  brotherhood  of  St.  Francis. 

Whatever  the  devotion   of  Lope,  it  did  fiot  l^r^k  iji 

upon  bis  habits  of  composition,  anq  as  )ie  t>ad  al^out  t^is 

time  acquired  sufficient  reputation  to  atti'act  the  en*/  .9f 

le  spared  no  exertions  to  maiptajr)  ^U^ 

he  criticisms   of  his  enemies.     Amopg 

entioned  tiie  formidable  names  of  Gop- 

B.     Gongora  had  introduced  an  aflected, 

:ure  style,  which  Lope  first  attac^^d  )i| 

and  afterwards  exposed  its  absurdities 

1  to  an  ecloguf  on  the  death  of  Qoai^a 

._--_.  _-   _:^...-,  in  1621,  and  this, he  performpd  wjtli 

ip-ijat  candpiir: "   As  to  Lppe'5  dispu^  with  Cervantes,  it  15 

Fess  dis'tinctfy  narrated,'  and  sfepis  ip  soine  me^sui'^  PM- 

tletnatical.  '  X^Tiatever  ft  )faj,  posterity  has  lopg  olecijigd 


V  -E  G  A.  ■      27S 

between  fceb.  '<  Ceri^antes,*^  skp  lord  Hollana^  «  Who  - 
tms  iactunally  stari^ing  in  the  sartie  sti^eet  tvhet^e  Lope  Was 
living  in  splendour  apdlprosperlty,  has  been  for  near  tWo 
ciE!nettrtes  the  delight  and  admiration  of  eVery  nation  in 
Europe;  and  'Lope,  notwithstanding  ihe  late  edition  of  his 
works  in  22  vdfs.  i^  to  a  great  degre'e  neglected  in  his  owtl.'* 

Before  the  death  of  Cefvantes,  the. admiration  of'tdpe 
tras  become  a  species  erf  worship  in  Spain,  and  it  "was 
hatdJy  prudent  in  any  author  to  withhold  incense  frfttrtlils 
i^farritHe,  moch  less  to  int€rru|I)t  the  devotion  of  his  atd- 
berents.  Nor  \vk^  'he  hiiifiself  entirely  exempt  ffofWi  the 
imtiibiHty  whic'h  freqden\ly  attends  "pOets  :  he  often  ^pe^iks 
wiuh  peevishness  of  tits  defr&ctor^,  and  answers  th^i'r  cVill- 
dsfhs,  soiiieftime^  in  a  queValoufe,  arid  sometimes  iA  an  in- 
solent tdrie.  He  eVen  co^i'plainb  of  negle'ct,  Ohsctirity,  and 
poVeirty,  althoi!igh  h«  was  ladet)  Vvifch  hoitours  and  pensions, 
cionrr^  by  the  great,  and  folldiVed  by  the  crowd. 

We  seldom  passed  k  year  Without  giving  sorhe  jioetti  to 
tile  pre«(s ;  and  scarcely  a  biO'nth,  6r  even  a  week,  without 
|>rodticiog  some  play  upon  the  stage.  Hiis  "  Pastores  dfe 
Belfen,"  a  wodi  in  prose  a'nd  Verse  on  the  Nativity,  hkd 
confirmed  hi*  siip^riority  in  pastoral  potems  ;  and  rhymes, 
iiyoilis,  and  po^ettis  without  nurtibier  on  sacrted  Subjects,  had 
eiHinced  his  zeal  in  the  profession  he  ferinbr^ced.  Philip  ^ 
IV.  theigreat  patron  oif  the  Spdhish  theatre,  to  which  he 
afterwards  ii  said  ito  have  contributed  cothpoi^ittons  of  hi^ 
omi,  ^t  the  tera  of  his  abctession,  found  Lope  in  full  pbs- 
S^sioifi  of  the  sta^e,  and  ih  the  etercis'e  of  uitlimited  aU- 
thority  over  the  authors,  comedians,  and  audifence.  NfeiV 
holhblliri  and  benefices  were  immediately  hfeajied  oh  our 
paek^  And  in  all  probability  he  Vvrote  occasionally  plays  for 
tht^  royal  palace.  He  published  abbUt  the  same  time 
^*  Lod  Tribmphos  de  laF€;*'  *^  LOs  Fortunas  de  Diana;" 
thfee  novels  In  prose  (Unsuccessful  imitations  of  fceirvahtes); 
**  tihje,"  an  heroic  poem,  dedicated  to  this  count  dtike  of 
Olivareis ;  and  "  Philomena,"  a  singular,  but  tit*esoiu&  al- 
legoty,  in  the  second  book  of  which  he  vindicates  hinis^lf 
io  the  person  of  the  nightingale  from  the  accusation  of  his 
<6ritics,  Who  are  there  represerited  by  the  thrush. 

Such  was  his  reputation  that  he  began  to  dinstru^t  this 
dikicerity  of  the  public,  and  seems  to  have  suspected  thkt 
there  was  more  fashion  thain  real  opinion  in  the  extrava^ 
gflnc6  of  theilr  applaUse.  I'his  engaged  him  in  a  dangerous 
experiment^  the  publication  df  a  poem  Vritbout  hiif  name. 

T  2 


? 


J- 


276  VEGA. 

But  whether  the  number  of  his  productions  had  gradoalty 
formed  the  public  taste  to  his  own  standard  of  excellence, 
,  or  that  his  fertile  and   irregular   genius   was   singularly 
adapted  to  the  times,  the  result  of  this  trial  confirmed  the 
former  judgment  of  the  public;  and  his  ^'  Soliloquies  to 
God/'  though  printed  under  a  feigned  name,  attracted  as 
much  notice,  and  secured  as  many  admirers,  as  any  of  his 
foriner  productions.     Emboldened  probably  by  this  success^ 
he  dedicated  his  ^^  Corona  Tragica,"  a  poem  on  the  queen 
of  Scots,  to  pope  Urban  VIII,  who  had  himself  composed 
an  epigram  on  the  subject.     Upon  this  occasion  he  re- 
ceived from  that  pontiff  a  letter  written  in  his  own  band, 
and  the  degree  of  doctor  of  theology.     Such  a  flattering 
tribute  of  admiration  sanctioned  the  rererence  in  which  his 
name  was  held  in  Spain,  and  spread  his  fame  through  every 
catholic  country*    Tl|^  cardinal  Barberini  followed  him 
with  veneration  in  the  streets ;  the  king  would  stop  to  gaze 
at  such  a  prodigy ;  the  people  crowded  round  him  where- 
ever  be  appeared;  the  learned  and  the  studious  thronged 
to  Madrid  from  every  part  of  Spain  to  see  this  phoenix  of 
their  country,  this  ^^  monster  of  literature ;''   and   even 
Italians,  no  extravagant  admirers  in  general  of  poetry  that 
is  npt  their  own,  made  pilgrimages  from  their  country  for 
.the  sole  purpose  of  conversing  with  Lope.     So  associated 
was  the  idea  of  excellence  with  his  name,  that  it  gre\y  in 
common  conversation  to  signify  any  thing  perfect  in  its 
kind ;  and  a  Lope  diamond,  a  Lope  day,  or  a  Lope  wo- 
jnan,  became  fashionable  and  familiar  modes  of  expressing 
their  good  qualities. 

Lope's  poetry  was  as  advantageous  to  his  fortune  as  \fy 
his  fame ;  the  king  enriched  him  with  pensions  and  chap- 
laincies; the  pope  honoui'ed  him  with  dignities  and  pre- 
ferments ;  and  every  nobleman  at  court  aspired  to  the  cha- 
racter of  his  Maecenas,  by  conferring  upon  him.  frequent 
and  valuable  presents.  His  annual  income  was  not  less 
than  1500  ducats,  exclusive  of  the  price  of  his  plays,  which 
Cervantes  insinuates  that  he  was  neveijf  inclined  to  forego, 
and  Montalvan,  one  of  his  biogritpbers,  estimates  at  80^000. 
He  received  in  presents  from  individuals  as  much  as  ,10,500 
more.  His  application  of  these  sums  partook  of  the  spirit' 
of  the  nation  from  which  be  drew  them.  Improvident  and 
Jtidiscriminate  charity  raif  away  with  these  gains,  immense 
as  they  were,  and  rendered  his  life  unprofitable  to  his 
h'iends,  and  uncomfortable  to  himself. 


VEGA.  277 

He  continued  to  publish  plays  and  poems,  and  to  re- 
ceive every  remuneration  that  adulation  and  generosity 
could  bestow,  till  1635,  when  religious  thoughts  had  ren- 
dered him  so  hypochondriac,  that  he  could  hardly  be  con- 
sidered as  in  full  possession  of  his  understanding.  On^the 
22d  of  August,  which  was  Friday,  he  felt  himself  more 
than  tt^ually  oppressed  in  spirits,  and  weak  with  age ;  but 
be  was  so  much  more  anxious  about  the  health  of  his  tool 
than  of  bis  body,  that  he  would  not  avail  himself  of  the  pri* 
vilege  to  which  bis  infirmities  entitled  him  of  eating  meat ; 
and  even  resumed  the  superstitious  flagellation,  to  which 
be  had  accustomed  himself,  with  more  than  usual  severity. 
This  discipline  is  supposed  tct  have  hastened  his  death. 
He  became  ill  on  that  night,  and  having  passed  the  neces« 
sary  ceremonies  with  excessive  devotion,  he  expired  on 
Monday,  Aug.  26, 1635,  in  the  seventy-third  year  of  his  age. 

The  sensation  produced  by  his  death  was,  if  possible, 
more  astonishing  than  the  reverence  in  which  he  was  held 
while  living.  The  splendour  of  his  funeral,  which  was 
conducted  at  the  charge  of  the  most  munificent  of  his  pa- 
trons, the  duke  of  Sesa,  the  number  and  language  of  the 
sermons  on  that  occasion,  the  competition  of  poets  of  all 
countries  in  celebrating  his  genius  and  lamenting  his  loss, 
are  unparalleled  in  the  annals  of  poetry,  and  perhaps 
scarcely  eq^ualled  in  those  of  royalty  itself.  The  ceremo- 
nies attending  his  interment  continued  for  nine  days.  His 
biographers,  however,  have  been  less  careful  to  convey  a 
juat  idea  of  this  extraordinary  man  to  posterity,  and  there 
is  little  in  them  that  can  throw  any  light  upon  his  character 
as  a  man,  or  his  history  as  an  author.  His  intimate  friend 
Montalvan  praises  him  in  general  as  a  person  of  a  mild  and 
amiable  disposition,  of  very  temperate  habits,  of  great 
erudition,  singular  charity,  and  extreme  good  breeding. 
His  temper,  he  adds,  was  never  ruiBed  but  with  those  who 
took  snufF  before  company  j  with  the  grey  who  dyed  their 
locks ;  with  men  who,  born  of  women,  spoke  ill  of  the 
sex ;  with  priests  who  believed  in  gypsies ;  and  with  per- 
sons who,  without  intentions  of  marriage,  asked  others  their 
age.  These  antipathies,  which  are  rather  quaint  sallies  of 
vifit,  than  traits  of  character,  are  the  only  peculiarities  which 
bis  intimate  friend  has  thought  proper  to  communicate. 
We  have  already  noticed  his  unreasonable  complaints  of  ill- 
usage,  neglect,  and  even  poverty,  which  appear  to  have 
constituted  the  greatest  blemish  in  his  character. 


27*  VEGA. 

•    .  *  % 

,  s 

As^aji  anthox,  he,  is  most  known,  as  iudee4  he  is^mcyt' 
wopderfql,  '  for  the   prodigious   numher  of  his.  writing^, 
TvyjBnty-one  million  three  hundred  thousand  of  his.  linef. 
are  said  to  be  actually    printed;  and  no  l^ss  than  eig^p-. 
teen   hundred    plays  of    his   composition    to   have   heen 
acted  on   the  stagre.      Lord    Holland  has  calculated  that, 
according   to   these  accounts,  aliowjng  him  to  begin,  bis. 
compositions  <it  the  age  of  thirteen,  we.  must  bt^lieve^  tha$^ 
upon  an  average  he  wrote  morp  than  \i\\w  hundred  lip^esjaj 
day;  a  feriiluy   of  ima;;ination,  and   a   celerity    Qf  peo^. 
which,  wht-n  we  consider  the  occupations  of.  his  life  as  a ^ 
soldier,  a  secretary^  a  master  of  a  family,  and  a  priest;  hisj 
acquirements  in  Latin,  Italian,  and .  Portu^^ucse ;  and  hisi 
reputation  for  erudition,  becoQ)e  not  onl\  improbable,  bu^- 
absolutely,  and,  one  may.aln^p.st  saj^  pljysically  impossible. 
Yet  although  there  does  not  now  exist  the  fourth  part  .of* 
the  works  which  he  and   his  admLrers.mention,  enough  re-   - 
mains  to  render  him  one  of  the  must;  voluminous  authprs^. 
that  ever  put  pen  to  paper.     Such  was  his  facility,  that  he, 
informs  us  binjself,  that  mpre  than   at?  hundrej  times. hi^. 
cgmposed  a  play  and  produced  it  on,  the  stage   in  tv^enty^. 
four  hours.     To  this  evidence  we  may  add  tins  of  Montal- 
van,  that  he  wrot6  a  comedy  in  two  days,  which  it  would 
not  be. very  easy  for  the.  most  expeditious  amauuensis  to 
copy, out  in  the  time.,    At  Toledo  he,  wrote  fifteen  acts  ia 
fifteen  d^iySj^  which,  Montalvan  atids„  make  five  comedies^ 
He  also  asserts  that  Lope. wrote   1800  plays  and  ^QO  autos^^. 
sq^ramentales,  a  species  of  dramatic  composition  resembling: 
our  old  mysteries.     Tjiat  in   all  this  there  must  be  soaifs 
e2(£^ggeration^  cannot  be  doubted* 

Bijt  whatever  .may  have  been  the  original  number  of 
Lope's  prod^uction's,  enough  yet  remain  to  render  aR.e:^'- 
amjnation  of  them  all  nearly  jcppossible^.*    The  merit,  in*- 
dependent  of  those  intended  fpr  representation,  consisjti^ . 
chiefly  in  smoothness  of  versifipation  and  purity  of  Ian-  , 
guage,  and  in  facility  rather  than  strength  of  imagination. 
His  invention  is  chiefly  shown  in  his  dramas,  which,  what- 
ever their  individual  merit,  formed  upon  the  whqle  the 
school  which  has  produced  the  greatest  dramatic  writers  of, , 
the  continent.     On  this  subject  we  may  refer  to  lord  BsoW 

*  IiOpe'i  mUcellaneous  prose  and  pristed.  at  Madrid,   Valladolid,   &o^ 

yarsfi  at«  contained  in  32  veh.  4to. '  1609— i64!7>  bat  it  is  very  difficult  to> 

printed  at  ^adrid,  177jS— ^79  |  and  pr^eiy^e.tbip  eoUffitm  <i3fojfi9ie^ 

|iif  dramatic  works,  in  25  voJs.  4to. 


\ 


V  E  G  A.  279^ 

lanfl'sV^egarit*  arf3  interesting 'narrative,  who  obsjerves  in 
the'cdhclusionTtha^  "  it  sieems  but  ah  act  of  justice  to  pay* 
some  honour*  to  the  meniory  of  men  wTiosVlatours  have 
promoted  iFterature^  and  enabled ,  others  to  eclipse  their 
reputation.  Suc&  was  Lope  de  Vega  j  once  the  pride  and 
glory  of  Spaniards,  who  in  their  literary^  as  in  their  politi- 
cal achievements^'  have,  by^  a' singular .fatatity,  discoyefecl 
regions,'  and  opened  mines,  to  benefit  their  peiglibours^ 
aAd  therr 'rivals,  and  to  enrich  every  nation  of  ETurope,"  bit 
thetf  pwn,''[\ 

VEGETlUS*(FLAVius-RENATDs]r,  an  ancient  tatln' wri- 
ter, lived  in  theTourth  century,  under  theVeign  of  Valeh- 
tihian,  to  wfiom  he  dedicates  awork',  entitled  "  Epifbine^ 
iflstitutorum  rei  militaris."  This  is  a  cbmpiUition  from 
lalmy  authors  :  yet  the  subject  is  treated  with  much'  m'e- 
tbod'and  ekactness,  and  the  Latinity,  all  things  considered, 
exceedingly  pure.  Of  the  author  little  is  tiiowo  ;  he  prp- 
babiy  was  a  military  man,  and  has  the  title  of  Comes,  tifis 
work  w^  first  published  without  date  or  place,*  supposed 
at  Utrecht,  about  1473.  The  best  editions  since,  are  th)at 
of'Schwebelius,  1767,  4to;  ofValart,  Paris,  1762;  and  of 
Strasbulrgh,  1806,  8vo.  It  was  also  publishfed,  with  otber 
wfi'te^s' upon  "  Tactics,"  Frontinus,  -^lian,  and  ^heas/ at 
Leydeh,  1644,  in  12mo;  and  afterwards  "  Vesali5B*'Cliv6- 
ruiri,"*'  1670,  8vo.  There  are  also  extant,  under  Vegetius's 
name^'if  indeed  the  same  Vegetius,  of  wfiich  Fabricius  * 
doubts,  ff  Artis  Veterinariae  sivfe  Mulomedicinae 'libri  qua- 
tuoir,"  Basil,  1524,  4to;  and  afterwards,  1574,  4to.  *  '  ^ 

VEGIO  (Maffei),  or  MaJ^Ileus  Vegius,  a  Latin  poet'of 
the 'fifteenth  century,  was  burn,  at  Lodi  in  1406.  He  • 
studied  law,  in  compliance  with  his  futher,  but  had  a 
stronger  predilection  for  poetry.  He  made,  however,  such 
proficiency  as  to  be  successively  chosen  professor  of  both 
in  the  university  of  Pavia.  He  went  afterwards  to  Rome, 
aftd  was  secretary  of  the  briefs  under  the  popes  Eugenius 
IV.  Nicholas  V.  and  Pius  II.  and  died  there  in  1458.  He^ 
wiro'fe  a  great  many  works  in  prose,  as  "  Dialogues  de  mi- 
serfa'  et'  felTcftate,^'  *^  Disputatio  inter  solemj  terram  ci 
aurunrt,'*'  and  others  of  the  ascetic  kind,  all  inserted  in  the 
Library  of  the  fathers.  Dupin  and  other  writers  of  the  Ro- 
fiolsh  churchy  bestow  the  highest  commendations  oh  one  of 

*  Some  Account  of  tbe  Life  and  Writings  of  Lope  ^elix  de  Yeza  Carpio,  by 
the  right  hon.  Henry  Ricbtrd  rord  Hblland,  1806,  8to. 
s  Fabricii,  BibU  Lat*— Saxii  Onomast. 


280  V  E  G  I  O. 

bis  treatises  *^  De  educatione  liberormn,"  in  which .  he . 
borrows  much  frpm  St.  Augustine.  Such  was  his  enthu- 
siascn  for  this  saint,  that  he  built  a  chapel  io  his  church  at 
Rome  on  the  right  hand  of  the  great  altar,  and  having 
cavised  the  bones  of  St.  Augustine,  and  of  St.  Monica  his 
mother,  to  be  placed  in  a  very  fine  shrine,  he  removed 
them  from  Ostia  to  that  chapel.  He  wrote  a  poem  on  the 
death  of  Astyanaz,  four  books  on  the  expedition  of  the 
Argonauts,  four  on  the  life  of  St.  Antony,  and  other  poems, 
in  which  there  is  more  of  copiousness  than  force,  and  more 
of  ease  than  elegance.  But  his  supplement  to  Virgil  is  his 
most  remarkable  effort.  Fancying  that  the  Mneid  was  im- 
perfect, and  wanted  a  dtiyiauementf  he  wrote  a  thirteenth 
book,  which  has  been  printed  in  some  editions  of  Virgil, 
and  even  translated  into  Italian  and  French.  In  English 
we  have  likewise  a  translation,  published  in  1758,  but  it  is 
of  the  burlesque  kind,  in  imitation  of  Cotton.^ 

VEIL.     SeeVIEL. 

VEISSIERE.     See  CEOZE. 

VELASQUEZ  (Don  Diego  Velasquez  de  Silva),  an 
eminent  Spanish  history  and  portrait  painter,  was  'born  at 
Seville  in  1594,  and  was  at  first  the  pupil  of  Francis  Her- 
rera,  and  afterwards  of  Pacheco,  in  whose  school  his  pro* 
gress  was  remarkable,  and  he  soon  gave  manifest  proofs  of : 
his  abilities.  He  studied  diligently  after  nature,  and 
pointed  birds,  beasts,  fishes,  and  ^landscapes,  as  they  oc- 
curred, and  designed  them  with  such  truth  and  exactness, 
that  his  performances  rose  into  high  esteem.  His^most  fa- 
vourite subjects,  at  first,  were  taverns,  kitchens,  conversa- 
tions, and  persons  feasting ;  and  those  he  executed  with  a 
bold  pencil,  and  uncommon  tints  of  colour,  in  a  style  pe- 
culiar to  himself.  But  at  length  the  sight  of  some  pictures 
of  the  Italian  masters  inspired  Velasquez  with  nobler  ideas; 
and  being  particularly  charmed  with  the  colouring  of  Ca- 
ravaggio,  be  made  him  his  model,  and  his  success  in  that 
style  answered  his  most  sanguine  expectations. 

Having  spent  five  years  under  Pacheco,  he  went  to  Ma* 
drid,  where  he  received  great  encouragement,  and  had  an 
opi^ortunity  of  improving  himself  still  more  by  viewing  the 
paintings  in  that  city.  There  also  he  procured  the  patron- 
age of  the  duke  d'Olivarez,  favourite  of  Philip  IV.;  and 
the  portrait  which  he  painted  of  that  grandee  obtained  him  ' 

1  Tiraboschi«-*Gen.  Diet.— 'Niceroii,  voL  XXVL 


V  E  L.A  S  Q  U  E  Z.  281 

the  i*0|Vt1  favour,  in  consequence  of  which  he  was  appointed 
principal  painter  to  the  king  of  Spain,  with  an  honourable 
pension,  and  an  apartment  in  the  palace.  While  in  that 
station,  Rubens  arrived  in  Spain ;  and  having  visited  Ve- 
lasquez, and  considered 'his  works,  recommended  it  to  him 
to  spend  some  time  in  Italy.  Velasquez,  convinced  of  dpie 
sincerity  and  probity  of  Rubens,  as  well  as  of  bis  judg- 
ment, followed  his  advice,  and  travelled  to  Venice  and 
Rome :  at  the  former  he  copied  the  works  of  Titikn,  Tin- 
toretto, and  P.  Veronese;  and  at  the  latter  studied  the 
works  of  Raphael,  Buonaroti,  and  the  Caracci^s ;  by  which 
means  he  acquired  such  an  improvement  of  taste,  corr^t- 
ness,  composition,  and  colouring  as  placed  him  at  the 
bead  of  bis  profession. 

At  his  return  to  Spajn,  he  was  received  with  every  mark 
of  esteem  by  the  king,  and  applause  by  the  public ;  and 
having  finished  a  tioble  design  of  the  Crucifixion  for  the 
convent  of  St»  Placidia,  the  whole  court  had  an  incQntesta- 
ble  evidence  of  his  merit,  and  the  improvement  he  had 
obtained,  by  studying  the  finest  productions  of  art  and  ge- 
nius in  Italy.  As  the  king  had  determined  to  procure  the 
best  collection  possible  of  antique  statues,  and  the  works 
of  the  greatest  masters  of  Italy,  he  commissioned  Velas- 
quez to  purchase  the  most  curious,  and  also  to  copy  such 
celebrated  paintings  as  he  found  unpurchaseable.  During 
that  progress,  he  painted  the  portrait  of  Innocent  X.  and 
most  of  the  cardinals  and  princes  at  Rome ;  and  was  treated 
with  the  utmost  distinction  and  honour,  as  long  as  he  con- 
tinued in  that  city.  He  had  the  happiness  to  enrich  his 
own  country  with  many  admirable  curiosities  of  ancient 
and  modern  artists;  and  adorned  it  also  with  a  number  of 
his  own  works,  in  portrait  and  history.  The  compositions 
of  Velasquez  were  remarkable  for  strong  expression,  a 
freedom  of  pencil,  a  spirited  touch,  and  an  admirable  tone 
of  colour.  The  most  capital  performance  of  this  eminent 
master,  is  the  historical  representation  of  the  expulsion  of 
the  Moors  by  Philip  III.,  which  is  in  the  grand  saloon  at 
Madrid,  Velasquez  died  at  Madrid  in  1600,  and  was  in- 
terred with  great  magnificence.^ 

V£L)SZ  (Lewis  Velez  de  Guevara),  a  Spanish  comic 
poet   and* satirist,    was  born  at  Icija,   in  Andalusia,  and 

■  ArgrenTille,  vol.  II.— Pilkingtoo.— Bot  a  longer  account  in  Camberland'g 
Anecdotet  of  Painters  in  Spain. 


\ 
\ 


it2  V  E  L  E  Z. 

recomttteftded  himself  at  the'  cburt  of'  I*bi!ip'  IV.*  by  his 
humour  and  pleasantries,  so  as  to  obtain  the' title' of  the' 
Spanish  Scarron.  '  He  is  said  to  have  possessed  in  the' 
highest  degree  the  talent  of  ridicule.  He  was  the  aiithbir 
of  several  comedies,  which  wei*e  printed  at  different  places 
in  Spain ;  and  of  an  humorous  piece  entitled  "  El  diabblo' 
cojuelo,  novella  de  la  otra  vida,"  printed  at  Madrid  in 
1641.  This  Le  Sage  afterwards  imitated  in  French,  and 
his  work  has  been  often  printed  in  English  under  the  titFe" 
of  the  "  Devil  on  Two  Sticks,"  but  Le  SAge  is  thought  to 
have  very  much  improved  on  his  original.  Vel^z  died' at 
Madrid  in  1646.* 

VELLEILS.     See  PATERCULUS. 

VELLl  (Paul  Francis),  a  French  historian,  was  born'" 
near  Frsmes,  in  Champagne,  in  1711.  He  entered  the 
Jesuits'  ordeij  but  quitted  it  at  the  end  of  eleven  years, 
was  tutor  to  M.  Goguet,  counsellor  to  the  parliament,  and' 
having  finished  that  gentleman's  edacati'on,*  devoted  him- 
self wholly  to  the  study  of  French  history.  He  died  sud- 
denly at  Paris,  September  4,*  1759,  aged  about  forty-eight, 
leaving  a  "History  of  France,*'  written  in  a  simple  and 
correct  style,  and  with  great  candour.  Six  only,'  however,' 
of  the  eight  volumes  were  pul^lished  by  hini ;  the*  seventh, 
which  iie  had  entirely  finished,  and  the'eighth,  which  was 
nearly  completed  at  the  time  of  his  death,  havebeeA'pub- 
liihed  since  by  JVT.  Villaret,  who  continued  the  history'to 
vol.  XII.  But  the  complete  edition,  with  Garnier's  conti- 
nuation, amounts  to  15'vols.  4to,  17tO — 1789.  IVf.  Velli 
also  left  a  French  translation  of  Dr.  Swift's  "  History'  of 
John  Bull."  * 

VELSERUS  (Marcus),  a  learned  civilian,  and  celebrated  ^ 
writer  of  Germany,  was  descended  of  an  ancient  and  Wealthy  * 
family,  and  bom  at  Augsburg,  June '20,   155^.'    H^  was 
educated  with  great  car^  ;  and,  as  he  discovered  a  love  for  ' 
polite  litierature,  was*  sent  very  young  to  Home,  where  he" 
was  a  pupil  of  Antony  Muretus,  in  1575.     He  joined  to* 
the  study  of  antiquity  that  of  the  Italian* ton giie,  and  wrote 
it  with  great  elegance.     Upon  his  return  to  his  dwn  coun- 
try he  applied  himself  to  the  bar  in  1589;  obtained  the* 
dignity  of  a  senator  in  1592  ;  was  advanced  to'b^  a  m^kUbbr 
of  the  little  council  in  1594;  and  wsCs  elected'  ^abfbr'in  ^ 
11600.     He  discharged  all  these  offices  with  great  repU'- 

^  Antonio  Bibl.  Hiip.  «  D»t  Hiit. 


V  E  L  S  E  R  U  S.  288 

tation^  and  was  the  ornament  of  bis  conntty,  Hft  loved 
and  patrooized  learning  and  learned  men;  and  never  any 
person  had  more  friends  in  the  republic  of  letters*  He 
furnished  assistance  to  several  authors ;  and  particularly 
contributed  to  the  great  collection  of  inscriptions  published 
byGruter.  He  gave  the  security  of  a  thousand  florins,  in 
order  to  procure  to  Rtttershusius  a  manuscript  of  tlie 
epistles  of  Isodorus  P^lusiota^  which  was  in  the  library  of 
the  duke  of  Bavaria^  and  could  not  be  had  withoubsuch 
security  ;  and,  what  made  this  act  of  generosity  the  greater, 
he  did  it  without  RittershusiusV  knowledge.  He  was  abo 
the  author  x)f  several  work^  of  reputauon  himself.  His 
first  essay  I  according  to  M^lchior  Adam,  was  a  work  which' 
he  published  at  Venice  in  1594,  thus  entitled:  *' Rerum 
Augustanarum-  V4ndeliearum  Libri  Octo,  quibtis  a  prima 
Rha&torum  ae  Vindelicornm  origine  ad  annum  usque  552 
a  N^o  Ghristo  nobilissimae  gentis  Historia  et  Antiquitates^ 
traduntur;  ac  antiqua  monumenta,  tam  quse  AuguttK^' 
qHam  quse  in  agro  Asgustano,  quia  et  quto  alibi  extant 
ad  res  Augustanas  spectaritia  sere  incisa  et  notis  illustrate - 
exhibentur."  In  1602  he  published,  at  Augsburg,  "Re-^ 
rum  Boicarum  libri  quinque,  Historiam  a gentis originead 
Carolum  Magnum  complexi,"  containing  the.  history  of 
Bavaria  from  the  year  600,  when  Sigoves  led  the  Boii  from 
Gaul  to  Germany,  to  the  year  788,  when  Charlemagne 
dethroned  the  last  Bavarian  duke  Tassilo  11.  and  confined 
litm  in  a. cloister.  Velser- intended  to  continue  this  work, 
which  is  reckoned  his  best,  and  had  already  collected  ma« 
terials  for  it,  and  nearly  composed  two  additional  books, 
but  was  prevented*  by  death  from  finishing  his  task;  and 
the  two  books  were  a  long  time  supposed  to  be  lost.  One 
of  these,  however,  was  discovered  in  1778,  by  M.de- Lip- 
pert,  in  the  university  library  at  Ingolstadt,  and  published 
at  Augsburgb  in  that  year.  Velser  published,  at"  different 
times,  the  lives  of  several  martyrs  at  Augsburg.  His  works 
were  collected  and  reprinted  at  IJ^uremburg  1682,  in  folio, 
tiader  the  inspection  and  care  of  Arnoldus,  professor  th^e, 
who  wrote  "  Prolegomena,"  in  which  he  iuforms  us  of 
many  particulars  concerning  him.  As  Velserus  held* a 
great  correspondence  with  the  learned  of  Italy,  and  several 
other  countries,  many  of  his  Latin  and  Italian  letters  were 
collated  and  inserted  in  this  edition.  <  He  passed  for  the 
author  of  a  celebrated  piece  .called .  Sqqittinio  della  liberts^ 
Veneta,*'  which  was  published  in  l6l2.    Ga^sendi  having 


284  V  E  L  S  E  R  U  S. 

observed  that  several  ascribed  this  book  to  Peiresc,  adds^ 
that  they  were  deceived ;  and  that  it  was  probably  written 
by  the  illustrious  Velserus,  as  he  calls  him.  Velserus^s  ge* 
niusy  liberality  of  mind,  his  fine  taste,  and  bis  classical 
diction,  enabled  bim  to  communicate  bis  historical  acqui- 
sitions to  the  public  with  success  and  applause.  He  died 
June  13,  1614,  and  left  po  issue  by  bis  marriage.  He  was^ 
one  of  those  who  never  would  suffer  hifis  picture  to  be  drawn ; 
yet  it  was  done  without  his  knowledge,  as  Gassendi  informs 
us  in  his  life  of  Peiresc.  * 

VENANTIUS,  or  Venantius  Honorius  Clementu- 
Nus  FoRTUNATUS,  a  Christian  poet  of  the  sixth  century, 
was  a  native  of  Italy,  and  studied  at  Ravenna.  He  applied 
himself  to  grammar,  rhetoric,  poetry,* and  jurisprudence, 
but  was  most  attached  to  rhetoric  and  poetry,  and  was  ho- 
noured by  Hilduinus,  the  abbot  of  St.  Denis,  with  the  title 
of  SchokLStkissimus.  Jt  sems  uncertain  what  was  the  cause 
of  his  leaving  Italy  for  France,  but  the  step  was  peculiarly 
fortunate  for  him,  as  his  poetical  genius  procured  bim  the 
most  honourable  reception.  Princes,  bishops,  and  per- 
sons of  the  highest  ranks,  became  eager  to  confer  on  him 
marks  of  their  esteem.  He  arrived  in  France  during  the 
reign  of.Sigebert,  king  of  Austra&ia,  who  received  him 
with  great  respect.  This  being  about  the  time  of  the  king's 
inarriage  with  Brunehaut,  in  the  year  566^  Venantius  com- 
posed an  epithalamium,  in  which  be  celebrated  the  graces 
and  perfections  of  the  new  queen%  It  is  also  said,  that  he 
gave  the  king  lectures  on  politics.  The  following  year  he 
went  to  Tours  to  perform  a  vow  to  St.  Martin,  whose  image 
had  cured  him  of  a  complaint  in  his  eyes.  He  then  went 
to  Poictiers,  and  was  invited  by  St.  Radegonda,  the  foun- 
dress of  a  monastery  there,  to  reside  in  the  capacity  of  her 
secretary ;  and  afterwards,  when  he  became  a  priest,  she 
appointed  bim  her  chaplain  and  almoner.  He  resided  here 
for  some  years,  employing  bis  time  in  study  and  writing, 
and  edifying  the  church  as  much  by  his  example  as  by  his 
works.  He  was  much  esteemed  by  Gregory  of  Tours  and 
other  prelates,  and  was  at  last  himself  raised  to  be  bishop 
of  Poictiers,  which  dignity,  it  is  said,  he  did  not  long*  en- 
joy. He  died  about  the  commencement  of  the  seventh 
century,  some  say  in  the  year  609.  His  works  •consist  of 
eleven  books  of  poetry,  mostly  of  the  elegiac  kind,  and  ge- 

1  Kicaroo,  v6l.  XXIV.— Qen.  Diet.— Blount's  Censura.— Saxii  Oaomcn. 


V  E  N  A  N  T  I  U  S,.'  2S5 

nerally  short :  hymns  adapted  to  the  services-of  the  cburck : 
epitaphs,  letters  to  several  bishops,  and  some  to  Gregory 
of  Tours :  courtly  verses  addressed  to  queen  Radegonda, 
and  her  sister  Agnes,  usually  sent  with  presents  of  flowers, 
fruit,  &c.  fotir  books  of  the  ^^  Life  of  St  Martin,'^  in  he- 
roic verse :  several  lives  aof  the  saints.  Editions  of  bis 
,works  were  published  at  Cagliari  in  1573,  1574,  and  1584, 
and  at  Cologne  in  1600  :  but  all  these  are  said  to  be  incom- 
plete and  incorrect,  yet  they  shew  the  respect  paid  to  him 
.as  the  best  Latin  poet  of  his  time.  In  1603  Christopher 
Brower,  a  German  Jesuit,  produced  a  very  correct  edition, 
.with  notes,  printed  at  Fulda,  and  reprinted  at  Mentz^  in 
1617,  4to;  but  this  contains  only  his  poems.  His  other 
works  are  in  iJae  ^^  Bibliotheca  Patrum,^'  of  Lyons,  1677, 
The  most  complete  edition  is  that  of  Rome,  published 
under  the  title  of  **  Venantii  opera  omnia  quse  extant^ 
post  Browerianam  editionem  nunc  recens  novis  additar 
mentis  aucta,  not.  et  scboliis  illustr.  opera  Mich-Ange  Lu- 
chi,"    1786—87,  2  vols.  4to.  * 

VENERONI  (John),  who  has  the  credit  of  promcrting 
Italian  literature  in  the  last  century,  particularly  in  France, 
was  a  native  of  Verdun.  His  name  was  Vigneron^  but  as 
he  bad  made  the  Italian  language  his  study,  and  wished  to 
acquire  reputation  at  Paris  as  a  teacher,  he  Italianized  bis 
name,  and  gave  out  that  he  was  a  native  of  Florence. 
He  published  an  Italian  Grammar  and  Dictionary ;  both  of 
which  have  been  repeatedly  printed  in  France  and  En^ 
Jand,  but  with  modern  improvements.  He  published  also 
Tragslations  of  Bentivoglio's  and  Loredano's  letters,  the 
Italian  on  one  side*  His  grammar,,  it  is  said,  was  not  writ- 
tea  by  him,  but  by  the  famous  Roselli,  whose  adventures 
bave.been  printed  as  a  romance.  .  This  latter,  passing 
through  France,  dined  with  Veneroni,  who  finding  that  he 
reasoned  very  justly  upon  the  Italtin  language,  engaged' 
hii|i  to  compose  a  gramnciar,  for  which  he  gave  him  a  hnn- 
'  dred  franks.  Venerdni  only  made  some  additions  accord- 
iqig  to  his  taste,  and  publii^hed  the  book  under  his  own 
^ame.  His  ^'Translation  of  the  Select  Fables,^'  is  priuted 
with  a  German  version  and  plates,  Augsburg,  1709,  .4to. 
We,  find  no  account  of  his  death  ;  but,  from  the  dates  of 
his  publications,    he  ap{)ears   to  have  flourished,    if  that 

^  Vessiai  de  Hist  Lat.  et  De  Poet.  Lat — Fabric.  Bib!.  Lai.  M$d.  ^vj..^ 
Morer^^-^lios*  V^*^*  *^*  Fartunat.— Saxii  Onomast. 


»M  V  £  N  'E  2  I  A  31  O. 


tphrase  be  a1lD«ed>le  in  bU^trOBe,  hi'tbereBrly  part^tbe  k«t 
century.' 

V'ENEZIANO  (Aacffixmo),  or  tAvaso^iKO  c^  MiJSB, 
.a  very  ecninent  engfaver^  was  a  native  of  Venice,  "^aitiA  was 
•theficholar  of  the  celebrated  Marc  Antonio  Raimondi.  It 
>is  not  certain  at  what  period  'be  began  bis  ^todies  undenr 
ihat  great  master,  but  the  fiist  dated  print  by  Agostino 
appeared  in  1509,  at  which  time,  it  isfprobable,  bis  tutor 
<still  resided  at  Venice.  After  the  death  of  iiaphael,  wtribh 
kappened  in  1520,  Veneziano  and  Marc  de  Ravenna,  bis 
iellow-pupil,  who  bad  conjointly  assi^ed  each  other,  sepa- 
rated, and  worked  entirely  upon  thenr  own  account.  When 
the  city  of  Rome  was  taken  and  sacsked  by  the  Spa- 
niards in  1527,  Veneziano  retired  to  FloiGeiioe,  and  ap- 
plied for  employment  to  Andrea  del  Sarto,  who  was  then 
in  high  repute ;  but  del  Sarto,  dissatisfied  witb  the  dead  . 
Christ  which  he  had  engraved  in  1516,  after  bis  design,  t>e- 
fused  to  permit  him  to  engrave  any  fldore  of  bis  pictures. 
Veneziano  afterwards  returned  to  Rome,  where  he  followed 
bis  professional  pursuits  with  great  success,  and  where  be 
died  some  time  about  1540.  * 

He  generally  marked  bis  prints  with  the  initials  A.  V., 
fuMoh  were  sometimes  inscribed  on  a  tablet;  He  imitated 
tbe  style  of  bis  master  with  great  attention,  and,  as  far  as^ 
regards  manual  execution,  with  const  dterabie  success : -some- 
times, indeed,  be  in  this  respect  excelled  Marc  Antonie ; 
but  in  point  of  taste,  and  in  the  parity  and  correctness  ef 
his  outiine,  be  fell  far  short  of  that  disringuished  artist. 
Good  impressions  of  the  works  of  Veneziano  are  now  be- 
eoDie  extremely  scarce,  and  a  complete  set  is  hardly  -to  bH 
obtained ;  aaioo^  them  will  be  found  a  few,  wherein  he  ha% 
expressed  the  flesn  entirely  by  means  of  stippling,  in  a  man«- 
ner  which,  being  imitated  by  Boulanger,  grew  by  degrees 
into  what  is  now-termed  the  ^halk  manner  of  engraving.* 

VENIUS,  or  VAN  VEEN,  (Otho,)  a  Dutch  painter  of 
great  eminence,  was  descended  of  a  considerable  family 
in  L^den,  and  born  in  1556.  He  was  carefully  edn(:ated 
by  his  parents  in  the  belles  lettres,  and  at  the  same  tim^ 
learned  to  design  of  Isaac  Nicolas.'  In  his  flfteentb  yeat^ 
when  the  civil  wars  obliged  him  to  leave  his  obuntry,  he 
retired  to  Liege,  finished  his  fitudies^  and  there  g^f^  the 

1  Wet;  Hist.  .        ■      .  .    t 

*  ainitt'i  Diet— and  Prtfim  to  toU  1I.<^  Rect'C  CfctopMit,  Sit  Jtolita 


V  E  N  -I  U  S.  '.OK 

jfir^t . prqqfs  i)f  .bis  tjileots.  He  ji^as  p^artifiuUrly  -hfHOfirn  t;o 
^fjardinalGroo^bjBok,  who  g?kte  him  letters  of  recomoi^nda-' 
ttion  yvhen.he  went  to  Rome,  where  he  was  entertained  by 
J^ardin^l  J^/^ducgip.  His  genius  was  so  active,  that  he  at 
pnce  applied  himself  to  philosophy,  poetry,  nuithematics, 
^^nd  paiflting,  ..the  latter  under  Frederico  Zuchero.  He 
agfl[uicefl  ftp,pxcellence  in  all  the  parts  of  painting,  espe- 
cial^ijy,in  the  knowledge  of  the  .chiar-qscuro,  and  he  was  tb^ 
firj^t  vvho^jcplained  to  the  Fl^roi^h  artists  the  .principles  of 
lights  and  sh^d^vvs,  which  .his  .disciple  Jlubens,after,w¥^rd^ 
■carried  to  ,sq  groat  a.  degree  of  perf^ctipn.  I{e  lived  ibt 
JRoo^e  ;$even  years,  during  which  lime  be  exeQUted  sei^r^l 
fine  pictures;  and  then,  passing  into  .Germany,  wa9  xe- 
ceiijed  iptd  tj\^  epjperor's  service.  After  this  th^  .d.ufce  of 
Bavaria  and  the  j^lector  of  .Cologn  .employed  4iiq[i  4  but  ott 
theadvantsiges  he  got  fropi  the  courts  of  foreign  prinpie^ 
cpuld  not  detain, him  thece.  He  .had  a  desire  to  return  ii^ 
the  Low  Gquntiries,  qf  which  ^^lex^nder  Famese^  prince  (of 
JParfnfk9  was  then  goKernor.,  He  dr^w  ttbe  princess  picture 
in  armour,  ^whiqh  qqnfira\^(^l  his  reputation  in  the  N«ltker>- 
landsr  A^ter  tbe^^^h  g^f  t^hat  paince,  Venius  rteturi^d^ 
.^n twerp,  whore  ,he  adon;\^d  ttie  principal  churches  witfe 
^.is  paintiug^.  The  |i^^dube  Albert,  who  succeeidied  tk^ 
jpr^^ce  of  V»vff^  in  .t]^e.goverj>n[ient  of  the  Low  Cpu.i|tr:iefi, 
^ent  fpt  him  to  j^^ru^els,  .^^^  qiad^e  ^im  master  of  the  mv^% 
a  ^lace  which  took  up  i;aucb  of  bis  tiojie ;  y^t  b^  fpiHi4 
fpar^e  hours  for  the  ex^rci^^e  of  his  prqfess^qn.  He  (^iir 
tiie  archduke  and  the  infant^,  Is^b^lla^s  pqr^traits  at  Wge, 
j^irjbticli  were  sent  to  Jai^s  L  pf  QresiLjt  ^itjaju  :  ^nd,  to 
shew  l)i3  knowledge  of  polite  lefrping,  as  well  as  of  paint* 
pg,  he  published  s^^;e,ral  tr/^at^sies^  wbj^  he  enibellbhied 
^}^  .cuts  of  his  own  designing.  Among  jp^se  ^e,  1.  ^^  Ho* 
^^^l  )EmW|ei??iata,"  Antjyerp,  1607,  4to,  often  reprifited,  b«i 
{]bif  jej^ijtiou  h^  the  best  pla|£$.  i,  ^^  Amoris  divini  em* 
ble^fi^ta/'  Aqtvyerp,  I §15,  4to.  3.  **  Amoriim  etoblemata,'* 
)^}.^,  16Q$,  ,4to.  it.  '^  Batavoruoi  cum  Jlomanls  fa^Uiup, 
^^c.**'  i^id.  1612^  4^0,  &c.  Venius  die4  at  Brussels,  1634, 
\\\  Ijis  seventy-eighth  ;|^ear.  He  had  two  brothers ;  Gilbert, 
wjtiq  w^s  an  engraver;  and  Pete;r,  a  painter;  but  his  great-* 
^ff  hQi^qijir  was  bis  having  Rubens  for  a  pupil. ' 

y]^]S[N  (IJ^N^Y),  a  pious  divine  of  the;  church  of  Eng* 
{fmdf  WAS  the  son  of  the  rev.  Richard  Venn,  rector  of  Str 

■ 

>  Ar^enirille,  vol.  IIL«i-]>eicb«nips,  yoI  I.«^'PRktf]^tOQ.-^BulIart*s  Acsde- 
de«  Scieinces, 


ii»  VENN. 

I 

AnthoIin^Sy  London,  who  distinguished  himself  as  a  noted 
disputant  in  his  day,  particularly  in  conjunction  with  bishop 
Gibson,  in  opposing  the  promotion  of  Dr.  Rundle  to  a  bi- 
shopric, on  account  of  a  conversation  in  which  the  doctor 
had  expressed  sentiments  rather  favourable  to  deism.  Mr. 
Venn  also  assisted  Dr.  Webster  in  writing  the  **  Weekly 
Miscellany/*  a  periodical  publication  which,  under  the  ve- 
nerable name  of  Richard  Hooker,  laboured  zealously  in 
defence  of  high  church  principles.  He  died  in  1740;  and 
a  volume  of  bis  sermons  and  tracts  was  published  by  his 
widow,  the  daughter  of  Mr.  Ashton,  who  bad  been  executed 
in  the  reign  of  William  HI.  for  being  concerned  in  a  plot 
to  bring  .back  the  Stuart  family. 

Mr.  Henry  Venn  was  born  at  Batnes,  in  the  county  of 
Surrey,''1725.  He  was  educated,  partly  under  Dr.Pitrtian, 
at  Market-street,  and  partly  under  the  reverend  Mr.  Cat- 
cott,  rector  of  St.  Stephen,  Bristol,  a  Hutchinsonran  divine 
•f  great  ingenuity  and  learniug^,  the  author  of  a  curious 
treatise  on  the  deluge,  and  a  volume  of  sermons.  In  1742 
Mr.*Venn  was  admitted  of  Jesus  college,  Cambridge, 
•proceeded  to  the  degree  of  B.A.  in  1745,  and  to  that  of 
M.A.  in  1749.  There  being  no  fellowship,  vacant  in  his 
own  college,  the  fellows  of  Queen's  unanimously  elected 
him  a  member  of  their  society,  in  which  be  continued  till 
'his  marriage  in  1757.  T^e  lady  to  whom  he^  becatae  united 
was  daughter  of  Dr.  Bishop  of  Ipswich,  author  of  an  Expo- 
silion  of  the  creed,  and  a  volume  of  Sermons  preached  at 
Lady  Moyer's  lecture  in  1724. 

At  this  period  Mr.  Venn  was  curate  of  Olapham,  where 
he  was  greatly  beloved  by  the  inhabitants,  and  contracted 
a  dose  friendship  with  those  eminently  good  men,  sir  John 
Barnard  and  John  Thornton,  esq.  By  way  of  exhibiting 
his  gratitude  to  his  parishioners,  be  published  and  dedicated 
to  them,  in  1759,  on  his  resignation  of  the  curacy,  a  volume 
of  sermons.,  In  the  course  of  that  same  year  he  was  pre- 
sented to  the  vicarage  of  Huddersfield  in  Yorkshire.  While 
here^  he  laboured  with  unwearied  assiduity  in  his  voca- 
tion, and  his  memory  will  long  be  cherished  with  affection 
and  veneration  in  that  extensive  parish.  His  zeal,  how- 
ever, carried  him  beyond  his  strength.  By  his  earnest  and 
frequent  preaching,  in  the  course  of  ten  years,  he  had 
materially  injured  his  constitution,  and  brought  on  a  cough 
afid  spitting  of  blood,  which  rendered  him  incapable  of 
cfliciiiting  any  longer  in  so  extensive  a  sphere.  .  He  there- 


VENN.  289 

fore  I^Q^ept^di  ia  1770,  the  rectp^y  of  Yellifig  in  H^ii^ing- 
dorvshire,  a  crown  living,  which  v^af  pr^KQted  to  him  by 
hi9  fr«at  aod  good  friend  tb^  lord  obioCbltron  Smytbe, 
%hpn  000  of  the  commissioners  of  the  gre^t  9691  Puriog 
hi9'  n^tdenco  ^t  HuddersfiQld  b^  publi^b^d  ^<  The  Cpoi- 
pjete  Duty  of  Mao,*'  which  has^  goo9  through  s^ven  large 
^itioni,  jnQludiqg  those  printed  in  Ireland  and  America. 
The  great  object  of  %h\^  bpok  is  to  qouiitevaqt  certain  Ar- 
Dfiinifin  principl^i  of  the  ^el^brat^d  work  which  beara  a 
^imil^r  title,  «t(id  to;  infu$«  n^oret  pf  an  ^?»ng^Uc$L  apirit 
into  tb«  mind  of  tbft  reader.: 

He  cootinu^d  to  refid^  af  Yelling  until  tbc)  loanth  of 
DecenoWr.  nP6^  wbeQ,  in  consequence  of  a  paralytic 
strobe,  which  t>ot  only  sho^k  bi9  bodily  fra^e  but  bis 
intel)e?ts»  be  removed  to  the  bouse  of  Wf  ion,  the  late 
rector  pf  Qlapb^m,  where  h^  died  in  June  following,  aged 
wventy-tbree. 

Mr,  Venn  wa§  remarkably  cb^effu^wd  facetious  in  con- 
▼er9ation,  $p  that  friety,  a^  rf^fiommeaded  by  bim,  wa^^  pka- 
«/int  and  alluring ;  and  the  young  and  tbe  oare^less  were 
often  struck,  in  hi3  company,  with  admiration  %%  this  cir- 
oumptance,    His  works  w»er#,.l.  "  The  Perfect  Contrast^ 
or  the  entire  opposition  of  Popery  to  the  Bcligion  of  Jesus 
the  Son  of  Ood ;  a  sermon  preachied  at  Clapbam»  Novem- 
ber 5,,  1755,''  8vo,    A  secoiid  edition  was  printed  in  177«. 
2.  "  S«rmo99  on  various  subject?,"  I7if9,  Svc  3.  **Tbe  Va- 
ria^cf  between  real  ^nd  nominal  Cbristi^n^  considered, 
Md  ^eftu«e  of  it  eiplained/'  »  sermon,  1759,  8vo.     4. 
"Tb»  Duty  of  a  parish  priest,*'    a  sermon   preached  at 
Vi^akefeld,  July  a,  1760,  8vo.    S.  "  Cbrin  the  joy  of  the 
ChriHiM  life,  aod  death  bis  gain,*'  hl  p«rmpn  preached  at 
Hawortb,  on  the  death  of  William  Grimsbaw,  minister  of. 
tb^t  parislv  17€3,  3vo.    6.  "  Tbo  Complete  Duty  of  Man, 
4Mr  a  Syftem  of  doctrinal  and  Practical  Christianity.     De- 
signed for  the  use  of  families,''  1764,  $vo*     7.  ^^  Man  a 
i^ondomiied. sinner,  and  CbrUt  the  strong  bold  to  save  him," 
an  asftige  mr^m^y  17$9,  8vo.    8.  *^  A  full  an4  free  Exami- 
inatipn  of  ihe  rev.  Dr,  Prieaitley's  Addre^  ot)  the  Lord's 
Sapper,  with  some  sjtrictures.  on  the  treatiite  itself,"  1769, 
*vOt    9,  f *  A  token  of  re$peot  to  the.  Memory  of  the  rev. 
Mr.  Whit&el^/'  preached  at  tbf^  coun|:e09  of  Huntingdon's, 
Bath,  1770,  9vp.     JO.  <<  Mistakes  in  religion  expotsed,  in 
an  essay  on  the  Prophecy  of  Zachariah,''  1774,  8vo.     11. 
'<  The  Conversion  of  Sinners  the  greatest  charity :  a  ser- 

Vol.  XXX.  .        U 


290  V  E  N  W- 

thon  preaelied  befofe  the  Society  for  promoting  religious 
knowledge/*  1779,  8 vo. 

His  son,  JoHNi  whom  we  have  mentioned  as  the  'late 
rector  of  Clapham,  was  born  in  that  parish  March  9,  1759, 
and  received  the  early  part  of  his  education  under  Mr.Shute 
at  Leeds.  He  was  tb^n  removed  to  Hippasholme  school, 
where  he  was  well  grounded  in  classics  by  the  care  oMVIr. 
Sutcliffe.  He  had  afterwards  the  benefit  of  the  rev.  Jo- 
sepb  Milner's  instruction  at  the  grammar-school  at  Hull ; 
and  of  the  rev.  Thomas  Robinson's  and  the  rev.  William 
Ludlam's,  the  last  an  eminent  mathematician  at  Leicester. 
He  was  admitted  a  member  of  Sidney  Sussex  college,  Cam- 
bridge,.  where  he  took  the  degree  of  A.  B.  in  1781.  In 
'  September  1782,  he  was  ordained  deacon,  as  eurate  to  hi» 
father ;  he  entered  into  priest's  orders  in  March  1783,  and 
two  days  afterwards  was  instituted  to  the  living  of  little 
Dunham,  in  Norfolk.  In  Oct.  1789,  he  married  Miss  Cn- 
therioe  King,  of  Hull,  who  died  April  15,  1803,  leaving  a 
faaiily  of  seven  children.  In  June  1792,  on  the  death  of 
sir  James  Stonehouse  (predecessor  in  the  baronetcy  to  the 
rsir  James  Stonehouse  recorded  in  our  vol.  XXVIII.)  be 
was  instituted  to  the  rectory  of  Glapbam.  In  August  1812, 
be  married  Miss  Turton,  daughter  of  John  Turton,  esq.  of 
Clapham>  and  resided  at  this  place  from  Che  beginning  of 
1793,  to  the  day  of  bis  death,  July  1,  1813>  aged  fifty-four. 
Mr.  Venn  never  appeared  in  the  character  of  an  author,  nor 
prepared  any  sermons  for  the  press ;  but  two  volumes  have 
since  been  published,  selected  from  his  manus€iipt%  and 
may  be  considered  *'  as  a  fair  exhibition  of  his  manner, 
sentiments,  and  doctrine/'  They  are  more  polished  in 
style  than  his  father's,  but  there  is  a  perceptible  difference 
in  their  opinions  on  some  points,  the  father  being  a  more 
decided  Calvinist  Prefixed  to  these  sermons,  is  a  brief 
account  of  the  author,  from  which  we  have  extracted  the 
above  particulars.' 

VENNER  (Tobias),  a  physician  of  the  seventeenth  oen<- 
tury,  was  born  of  genteel  parents  at  Petherton,  near  Brtdgc- 
water,  in  Somersetshire,  in  1577,  and  •  ift  1594  became  a 
commoner  of  St.  Alban's-^iall,  Oxford.  After  taking  a  de- 
gree in  arts,  he  studied  physic,  and  practised  for  a  tiojie 
about  Oxford.  In  1613,  he  took  hitjf  doctor's  degree,  and 
returning  to  his  own  country,  practised  ior  many  years  at 

ft 

1  Gent.  Mag.  vol.  LXVlL^-^rmont  ai^boTe. 


V  E  N  K  E  R.  291 

Bridgewater ;  but  afterwards,  at  dr  near  Bath;  He  was 
highly  esteemed  in  that  part  of  the  country  for  sfkill  in  his 
profession,  and  maintained  the  character  of  an  upright  and 
charitable  person.  He  died  March  27,  1660^  and  was  bu- 
ried  in  St.  Petef's  chnrcih  In  Bath,  where  a  monument  with 
a  large  inscription,  by.  Dr.  Pierce  of  that  city,  was  erected 
to  his  memory. 

Dr.  Venner  acquired  great  popularity  by  a  work  on  th^ 
subject  of  diet  and  regimen,  entitled  ^'Viardcta  ad  vitam^ 
longam,*' published  in  two  separate  parts,  the  first  in  1620^ 
and  the  second  in  1623,  but  joined  in  subsequent  editions* 
It  i«  a  plain  practical  piece,  e:ttremely  different  in  manneY 
from  Dr.  Mousset's  *^  Treatise  on  Foods,''  though  similar  in 
subject.  His  account  of  the  several  articles  treated  of,  is 
compiled  (though  without  any  quotations)  from  the  current 
authors  of  that  time ;  and  his  rules  and  admonitions,  deli- 
vered with  all  due  gravity  and  authority,  are  equally  trite. 
His  style  and  manner  are  well  calculated  for  a  popular 
work,  being  plain,  grave,  and  diffuse.  To  the  edition  of 
the  "Via  Recta'*  of  1638,  were  addied,  *^  A  compendious 
Treatise  concerning  the  nature,  use,  and  ef&cacy  of  thci 
Bathes  at  Bath;"  <*  Advertisement  concerning  the  takjng 
of  Physic  in  the  Spring ;"  **  Censure  concerning  tb'i^  water 
of  St.  Vincent's  rocks  near  Bristol,"  said  to  be  the  first  trea«» 
tisft relating  to  Bristol  water;  and  a*' Brief  and  accurate 
Treatise  concerning  the  taking  of  the  fume  of  Tobacco."  * ' 

VENNING  (RiiLPH),  a  nonconformist  divine,  was  born 
about  1620,  and  educated  in  Emmanuel  college,  Cam-* 
bridge*  He  does  not  appear  to  have  had  any  preferment 
in  the  churchy  except  the  lectureship  of  St.  Olave's,  South- 
wark,  from  which  he  was  ejected  for  nonconformity  in 
1662.  After  this  he  preached  at  a  dissenting  meeting  at 
Pewterers*-faall,  Lime-»street,  as  colleague  to  a  Mr.  Bragge, 
whd  outlived  him  and  preached  bis  funeral  sermon.  As 
Mr.  Venning  was  a  man  of  no  faction  himself,  men  of  dif- 
ferent factipns  and  sects^were  generally  disposed  to  do  jus-^ 
tice  to  bis  character,  wbich  was  that  of  a  man^  the  object 
of  wbos6  labours  and  writings  was  to  promote  piety.  He 
was,  in  his  charity  sermons,  a  powerful  advocate  for  the 
poor,  among  whom  he  distributed  annually  some  hundred^ 
of  pounds.  His  oratory  on  this  topic  is  said  to  have  been 
almost  irresistible ;  as  some  have  gone  to  church  with*  a 

1  Ath.  Ox.  vol.  II,— Aikin'0  Bio^.  Memoirs  of  Medicine. 

U  2 


292  VENNING. 

resolution  not  to  give,  and  have  beert  insensibly  and  ihfsh 
luntarily  melted  into  compassion,  and  bestowed  their  alms 
with  uncommon  liberality.  He  died^  March  10,  1673.  He 
was  the  author  of  nine  practical  treatises^  specified  by  Ca« 
laday,  among  which  the  principal  are,  K  *^  Orthodox  and 
Miscellaneous  Paradoxes,^'  1647, 12mo.  3.  *^  Things  worth 
thinking  on,  or  helps  to  piety,'*  12mo,  often  reprinted.  3« 
'^  His  Remains,"'  with  a  portrait  by  Hollar,''  &c.  He  was 
also  one  of  the  compilers  of  the  English-Greek  Lexicon 
published  in  1661,  8vo.^ 

VERDI  ER  (Antoky,  Seigneur  db  Yaufiuvas},  a  very 
useful  biographer  and  bibliographer,  was  born  at  Mont« 
brison  en  Forez,  Nov.  11^  1544.  He  appears  ta  have 
served  the  king  both  in  a  military  and  civil  capacity,  and 
was  historiographer  and  gentlemaif  in  ordinary  to  bis  ma- 
jesty. He  died  at  Duernoi  Sept.  25,  1600.  In  bis  youth 
he  had  cultivated  poetry,  but  of  his  poetical  efforts  he  pub- 
lished only  some  indifferent  specimens  in  his  great  work. 
He  had,  according  to  Scaliger,  a  fine  library  of  Italian, 
French,  Spanish,  Greek,  and  Latin  authors,  and  was  con- 
versant in  books  of  all  kinds.  The  fruits  of  his  labours 
were,  1.  *^  La  Prosopograpbie,  ou  Description  des  personnes 
insignes,  &c.  avec  les  effigies  d'aucuns  d'iceux,  et  braves 
observations  de  lenr  temps,  annees,  faits,  et  dits,"  Lyons, 
1573,  4to.  This  he  reprinted  three  times  with  improve- 
ments ;  and  the  last,  left  also  by  him  for  the  press,  was 
published  by  his  son  Claude,  who  made  soirie  few  additions 
at  Paris  in  1603,  3  vols,  folio.  This  is  a  very  miscellaneous 
compilation,  in  whidi,  although  there  are  a  few  particulars 
of  the  eminent  men  of  his  time,  it  requires  some  patience 
to  find  them.  2.  ^^  Les  Diverses  legons  d'Antoine  Duver- 
^dier,  suivaat  celles  de  P.  Messie,"  Lyons,  1576,  8vo.  Of 
this  there  ha,ve  been  several  editions,  the  most  odmplete  of 
which  is  that  of  Tournon,  1605.  These  lemons  were  part  of 
Duverdier's  extracts,  in  the  course  of  bis  reading,  from  va« 
rious  Greek,  'Latin,  and  Italian  authors.  3.  '<  Le,  Oomp-* 
seutique,  ou  Traits  facetieux,"  12ma ;  but  there  are  some 
doubts  whether  this,  which  did  not  appear  until  1584,  was 
not  the  compilation  of  another  author.  4.  ^^  La  Biblio* 
theqne  d'Ant.  DUverdier,  contenant  le  catalogue  de  tons 
ies  auteurs  qui  ont  ecrit  ou  tradnii  en  Frahgais,  avec  le 
ti>pplement  Latio,  du  meme  Duverdier,  a  la  bibliotbeque 

1  €ai«Qiy.*^GraAg«r. 


'     '  V  £  R  D  I  K  R.  293 

ie  GesneV  Lyons,  1585,  folio.  Crpii:  Du  Maine's  work 
of  the  same  kind  bad  appeared  the  year  before,  and  was 
thought  to  be  the  best  executed  of  the  two;  but  they  have 
both  been  republished  with  so  many  improvements*  that, 
like  Moreri's,  they  retain  very  little  of  the  original  authors. 
This  improved  edition  was  the  production  of  Rigoley  and 
Juvigny,  who  added  the  notes  of  Lamonnoye,  the  president 
Boubier  and  Falconet,  and  published'  the  wliole  in  six 
bandsome  volumes,  4to,  under  the  title  of  ^*  Les  Biblio* 
theques  Fran^aises  de  Lacroix  du  Maine  et  de  Duverdier,** 
1772.  The  work  is  undoubtedly  still  capable  of  improve- 
ment^  but,  as  it  is,  it  forms  a  very  valuable  addition  to  the 
bibliographical  library.  There  is  a  copy  in  the  king's 
library  at  Paris,  with  a  vast  mass  of  MS  additions  and  cor- 
rections by  A^rcier  d^  Saint-Leger.  Le  Long  and  some 
others  attribute  to  Du  Verdier  ^'  La  Biographic  et  Proso* 
pographie  des  rois  de  France  jusqu'a  Henri  III."  Paris, 
1583,  and  1586,  8vo.  But  others  have  doubted  this,  be- 
cause he  makes  no  mention  of  it  in  a  list  of  bis  works  which 
be  wrote  in  1585,  and  in  which  he  gave^not  only  what  be 
liad  published,  bt^t  what  remained  in  manuscript,  such  as 
a  translation  of  Seneca,  &c.  His  son,  ClaUGX  VfiRDl£ft, 
wasl)orn  about  1566,  and  had  the  ambition  to  become  an, 
author,  but  turned  x>ut  to  be  a  bad^poet  and  a  worse  critic ; 
ke  also  spent  the  property  his  father  left  him,  and  lived  an 
obscure  and  miserable  life  till  about  164^9,  which  is  said  to 
have  been  its  period.  The  worst  feature  of  bis  character 
is  the  disrespectful  manner  in  which  he  has  treated  bis  fa* 
ther's  talents  and  labours,  in  a  work  which  he  piublished  in 
1586,  and  1609,  4to,  entitled  '^  In  autores  pene  omnes  ao- 
tiquos  potissimum  censiones  et  correctiones."  It  is  a  suffi- 
cient character  of  this  work,  tbiat  he  blames  Virgil  for  his 
bad  Latin.' 

VERDIER  (Gilbert  Saulkier  dv)^  one  of  the  most 
prolific  authors  in  the  French  series,  deserves  some  notice 
as  having  been  often  mistaken  for  €laude  Du  Verdier,  and 
eiren  for  Antony,  who  was  dead  long  before  this  Gilbert 
was  born.  It  i^  not  known  to  what  part  of  France  he  be- 
longed. It  appears  that  he  was  historiographer  of  France, 
aad  that  after  all  his  numerous  publications,  be  was  ob- 
liged in  1 696  .to  apply  for  an  asylum,  fcur  himself  and  his 
wife^  in  the  hospital  of  Salpetciere,  where  he  died  in  I6i§. 

1  Biog.  Vm.  iii«rt*  ]>a«i4Mr..-MM«ri-»llioeroD,  t«1.  XXJV. 


294  V  E  R  DI  E  R. 

Bayle  has  a  very  superficial  article  on  him.  Joty  allowa; 
him  to  have  been,  the  author  of  the  historical -works  attri- 
buted to  hi  in,  but  doubts  whether  the  romances  <  udder  the 
name  of  Duverdier  are  not  by  anotlier  handy  and  his  reason 
is,  that  It  is  difhcuit  to  conceive  a  man's  continuing  to  write 
and  publish  tor  tne  long  space  of  sixty  years.  This,  how- 
ever, is  not  absolutely  decisive.  Thirteen  historical  works 
are  ascribed  to  Diiverdier,  all  published  in  12mo,  in  one, 
two,  or  more  volumes  each,  consisting  of  histories  of  France, 
Turkey,  Spain,  England,  Rome,  and  some  lives.  His  ro- 
mances amount  to  fourteen,  but  seem  to  be  quite  forgotten 
jn.his  own  country,  and  will. not  easily  be  revived  in  this 
by  any  list  we  can  give.  Some  of  them  seem  to  be  trans- 
lations.' 


VERE  (Francis),  a  brave  English  commander,  was  se- 
cond son  to  GeofFroy  Vere,  who  was  third  son  of  John  Vere, 
earl  of  Oxford.  He  was  born  in  1554,  and  applying  him- 
self early  to  the  military  art,  became  one  of  the  most  fa- 
mous generals  of  his  time<  He  served  first  among  the 
forces  sent  by  queen  Elizabeth,  under  the  command  of 
the  earl  of  Leicester,  to  the  assistance  of  the  States  of 
Holland,  where  he  gave  proofs  of  a  warlike  genius,  and 
undaunted  courage.  In  1588,  he  was  part  of  the  Eng- 
lish garrison  which  gallantly  defended  Bergen  -  op  -  Zoom 
against  the  prince  of  Paritiat  and  ^^  that  true  courage 
might  not  want  its  due  reward  or  distinction,''  says  Cam- 
den, **  the  lord  Willoughby,  who  was  general  of  the  En- 
glish after  Leicester's  departure,  conferred  the  honour  of 
knigjithood  on  sir  Francis  Vere,  whose  great  fame  com- 
menced from  this  siege." 

In  1589,  the  town  of  Bergh,  upon  the  Rhine^  being  be« 
sieged  by  the  marquis  of  Warrenbon,  and  distressed  for 
want  of  provisions,  sir  Francis  Vere  was  sent  by  the  States- 
general  to  count  Meurs,  governor  of  Guelderland,  with 
nine  companies  of  English,  to  concert  with  him  measures 
for  the.  relief  of  that  town.  At  his  coming  to  Arnheim, 
the  governor  being  greatly  hurt  by  an  explosion  of  gun- 
powder, and  the  states  of  the  province  representing  to  sir 
Francis  the  importance  of  the  place;  and  the  great  extre- 
mity it  was  reduced  to ;  at  their  earnest  desire  he  hastened  ^ 
to  its  relief;  with  seven  companies  of  Dutch-  foot,  and 
twelve  troops  of  horse.     With  these,  and  carriages  laden 

1  Biog«  UaiT.  io  art.  Duwrdier.    . 


y  E  R  E.  295 

with  provisions,  he  marched  towards  Bergh,  through  a 
heathy  and  open  country,  with  such  diligence,  that  hav- 
ing surprised  the  enemy,,  who  lay  dispersed  in  their  forts 
about  the  town,  in  full  view  of  them,  he  put  provisions 
into  it,  and  returned  without  loss.  After  some  days  re- 
freshment^ the  States,  ,who  had  received  advice  how  mat- 
ters passed  at  Bergh,  ordered  a  fresh  supply  of  provisions 
for  it  under  the  command  of  sir  Francis,  When  he  came 
within  two  English  miles  of  the  town,  the  way  they  were 
to  take  being  very  i^arrow,  and  leading  by  the  castle  of 
Loo,  the  enemy  from  the  castle  galled  his  men  and  horses 
in  their  passage  with  such  resolution,  that  sir  Francis  per^ 
ceived  they  were  not  the  ordinary  garrison.  Yet,  by  his 
military  skill  and  valour,  he  beat  them  back  to  their  castle, 
and  was  no  farther  interrupted  by  them  in  his  passage 
through  the  narrow  way :  but  before  he  could  well  form 
his  men  on  an  adjoining  plain,  he  was  again  attacked  by 
a  fresh  body  of  the  enemy.  At  the  first  encounter,  his 
horse  was  killed  under  him  by  a  pike,  and  falling  upon 
him,  he  could  not  presently  rise,  but  lay  between  the  two 
armies,  receiving  a  hurt  in  his  leg,  and  several  thrusts 
with  pikes  through  his  clothes,  till  the  enemy  was  forced 
to  give  way ;  and  though  his  forces  consisted  only  of  the 
two  English  troops  under  his  command,  and  did  not  ex* 
eeed  four  hundred  men,  yet  by  his  valour  and  conduct 
the  enemy  was  defeated,  and  lost  about  eight  hundred 
men.  He  afterwards  threw  in  provisions  into  Bergh,  and 
exchanged  the  garrison,  though  count  Mansfeldt  was  near 
with  thirteen  or  fourteen  thousand  foot,  and  twelve  hun- 
dred horse. 

In  1590,  he  bravely  relieved  the  castle  of  Lickenhooven, 
in  the  fort  of  Recklinchusen,  with  the  diopese  of  Cologn, 
in  which  the  States  had  a  garrison  that  was  besieged ;  and 
he  also  recovered  the  town  of  Burick  in  Cleves,  and  a  lit- 
tle fort  on  that  side  of  the  Rhine,  which  had  been  sur* 
prized  by  the  enemy.  In  1591,  he  took  by  stratagem  a 
Jott  near  Zutphen,  in  order  to  facilitate  the  siege  of  that 
town.  The  manner  in  which  he  made  himself  master  of 
this  place  is  thus  related  by  himself  in  his  ^*  Con()men- 
taries  :"  "  I  chose,"  he  says,  "  a  good  number  of  lust^ 
and  hardy  young  soldiers,  the  most  of  which  I  apparelled 
like  the  country-women  of  those  parts,  the  rest  like  the 
men :  gave  to  some  baskets,  to  others  packs,  and  such 
burthens  as  the  people  usually,  carry  to  the  market,  with 


296  VERB. 

petals,  and  short  8w6rd6,  and  dagg^rl  under  tb^ir  gar* 
n^^nts,  willing  thtttij  by  tviro  or  ibttb  ih  a  ebdipiinjr,  by 
break  of  day^  to  be  at  the  ferry  of  ZutpbM,  irhlefa  is  jaKt 
against  the  fort,  as  if  they  stayed  fof  the  pas^ge-boat  tf 
the  town ;  and  bade  thein  there  tb  sit  and  rest  themselv^ 
lA  the  mean  time,  as  near  the  gate  of  the  fort  as  they  coakl 
for  avoiding  suspicion,  and  to  seize  upon  the  sailie  as  Soon 
as  it  was  opened,  which  took  so  good  effect,  that  they  fioft- 
sessed  the  entry  of  the  fort,  and  held  the  same  tilt  an  o&ttr 
vffiih  two  hundred  soldiers  (who  was  laid  in  a  covert  not  faf 
off)  came  to  their  succour,  and  so  b^ctiaie  fully  roaster  of 
the  place.  By  which  tneans  the  siege  of  the  town  after- 
Wards  proved  the  shorter." 

Sir  Francis  also  assisted'  count  Maurice  at  the  siegfs  of 
Deventer,  being  the  chief  instrument  in  the  taking  that 
place ;  and  it  was  also  through  his  conduct  and  valout, 
that  the  duke  of  Parma  received  a  signal  defeat  before 
Knodsenbnrgh  fort,  near  Nimeguen :  which  obliged  that 
pritice  to  retire  from  thence,  with  more  dishonour  than  in 
^ny  action  that  he  had  undertaken  in  those  wars.  In  1596 
he  was  recalled  from  the  Low  Countries,  and  employed  in 
the  expedition  against  Cadiz,  with  t|)&  title  of  Lord  Mar- 
shal :  and  in  this  enterprise  he  displayed  bis  usud  bou- 
ragb  ahd  military  skill.  He  returned  again  to  Holland 
the  following  year,  and  had  a  principal  share  in  thie 
action  near  Turnhout,  Where  near  three  thousand  of  the' 
^emy  were  killed  and  taken.  Some  time  after  he  was 
appointed  governor  of  the  Brill,  one  of  the  cautionary 
towns  in  the  Low  Countries,  and  was  permitted  at  the 
same  time  to  retain  the  command  of  the  English  troops 
in  the  service  of  the  States.  In  1599,  when  a  new  Spanish 
invasion  was  apprehended,  the  queen  constituted  him  Lord 
Marshal :  and  being  sent  over  in  all  possible  haste,  he 
embarked  on  the  22d  of  August  at  the  Brill,  and  arrived 
in  London  the  next  day,  where  he  remained  until  all  ap» 
prehensions  of  an  invasion  were  over.  He  then  returned 
back  .to  the  Hague,  and  had  there  an  audience  of  the 
Stated. 

In  the  beginning  of  16dO,  he  had  mdch  dispute  with 
the  States  about  some  accounts,  and  particularly  their 
having  lessened,  in  his  absence,  the  companies  he  com«- 
xnanded  for  them,  from  an  hundred  land  fifty  to  an  hun- 
dred and  thirteen  meti.  tie  still  however  corrtintii»l  in  his 
eontfmand,  and  about  this  iVati^  th^  Ibrc^  oFthe  Sc%ttes  laid 


V  E  R  E.  297 

siege  to  Ijteaport;  but  Albert,  arciiduke  of  Austfia,  who 
cominanded  the  Spanish  forces,  having  recovered  many 
forts  which  had  been  surprized  by  the  troops  in  the  Dutch 
service,  and  cut  off  eight  hundred  Scots  who  were  posted 
as  a  rear-guard  to  intercept  his  passage,  came  to  the  re- 
lief of  Nieuport,  and  a  battle  became  unavoidable.  The 
army  of  the  States  was  commanded  by  prince  Maurice,  and 
the  chief  officers  under  him  were  sir  Francis  Yere,  who  was 
lieutenant-general  of  the  foot,  and  colonel  Lodovick  of 
Nassau^  general  of  the  horse.  Vere,  who  commanded 
in  the  fVont,  having  occasion  to  repass  a  ford,  before  he 
could  come  to  a  couvenient  place  of  action,  ordered  his 
meti  not  to  strip  themselves ;  for  which  be  assigned  this 
reason,  ^^  that  they  would  in  a  few  hours  either  have  better 
clothes,  or  stand  in  need  of  none."  A  council  of  war 
beitig  then  held,  prince  Maurice  was  entirely  directed  by 
Vere^  who  was, of  opinion,  that  the  army  of  the  States 
ought  to  wait  for  'the  enemy.  The  dispositions  for  the 
battle  were  then  made  by  Vere  with  admirable  judgment : 
and  the  English,  who  were  not  above  one  thousand  five 
hundred,  were  posted  upon  the  eminences  of  the  downs, 
and  supported  .by  a  body  of  Frielland  musqueteers.  The 
archduke  was  all  this  tiiAe  advancing :  but  his  horse,  the 
foot  being  left  behind,  were  beat  back  by  Vere«  The  foot, 
however,  coming  up,  a  bloody  conflict  ensued,  in  which 
Vere  was  wounded,  receiving  one  shot  through  his  leg,  and 
another  through  his  thigh,  whilst  his  horse  was  kilit- d  under 
bim,  and  himself  almost  taken  prisoner:  but  prince  Mau« 
ricte  advancing  with  the  main  body,  the  l>attle  became 
general ;  and  the  Spaniards,  by  the  courage  and  good  con- 
duct of  Vere,  received  a  total  defeat. 

The  last  and  most  signal  military  exploit  performed  by 
sir  Francis  Vere,  was  his  gallant  defence  ^f  Ostend,  which 
was  besieged  by  the  archduke  Albert  and  a  very  numerous 
alrmy.  Vere  had  been  appointed  general  of  all  the  army 
of  the  States  in  and  about  Ostend  ;  and  accordingly  he 
entered  thai  city  on  the  11th  of  July,  16()1,  in  order  to 
undertake  the  defence  of  it,  with  eight  compai)ies  of  Eng- 
lish, and  found  in  the  place  thirty  companies  of  Nether- 
landers,  making  about  sixteen  or  seventeen  hundred  men. 
Witk  chis  handful,  for  no  less  than  four  thousand  were  ne- 
CttiEWary  lor  a  proper  defence,  be  resolutely  defended  the 
place  for  a  long  time  against  the  Spanish  army,  which  was 
C4>inp«ied  at  tweivtt  tbc^imd.  men.     During  the  course  of 


29S  V  iE  R  E. 


/ 


the  sieg^^be  received  a  reinforcemetit  of  twelve  companies 
of  English,  and  cut  out  a  new  harbour  at  Ostend,  which 
proved  of  great  service  to  him.  On  Aug.  14,  he  was 
wounded  in  the  head  by  the  bursting  of  a  cannon,  which 
obliged  him  to  remove  into  Zealand  till  Sept.  19,  when  he 
returned  to  Ostend,  and  found  that  in  his  absence  some 
English  troops  had  arrived  there  to  reinforce  the  garrison. 
On  Dec.  4,  in  the  night,  the  Spaniards  fiercely  assaulted  the 
English  trenches,  so  that  sir  Francis  Vere  was  called  up  with- 
out having  time  to  put  on  his  clothes;  but  by  his  conduct  and 
valour  the  enemy  were  repnlsed,  and  lost  about  500  men. 
In  the  mean  time  the  place  began  to  be  much  distressed  ; 
and' sir  Francis,  having  advice  that  the  besiegers  intended 
a  general  assault,  in  order  to  put  them  off,  and  gain  time, 
he  aitfully  contrived  to  enter  into  treaty  with  them  for  the 
surreiider  of  the  place ;  but  receiving  part  of  the  supplies 
which  he  had  long  expected  from  the  States,  with  an  as* 
surance  of  more  at  hand,  he  broke  off  the  treaty*  The 
archduke,  equally  surprized  and  enraged  at  this  conduct, 
wbrch  indeed  is  scarcely  to  be  vindicated,  took  a  resolu- 
tion to  revenge  himself  of  those  within  the  town,  saying  he 
would  put  them  all  to  th€  sword  ;  and  his  officers  and  sol- 
diers likewise  took  an  oath,  that,  if  they  entered,  they 
would  spare  neither  man,  woman,  nor  child.  They  made 
a  general  assault  on  Jan.  7,  1602;  but  sir  Francis,  with 
only  twelve  hundred  men,  kept  off  the  enemy's  army  of 
10,000,  which  threw  that  day  above  2,200  shot  on  the 
town;  and  had  before  discharged  on  it  no  less  than  163,200 
cannon  shot,  leaving  scarcely  a  whole  house  standing.  Our 
heroic  general  having  acquired  immortal  honour  in  the  de- 
fence of  Osiend  for  eight  mouths  together,  resigned  his 
government  March  7,  J  602,  to  Frederic  Dorp,  who  had 
been  appointed  by  the  States  to  succeed  him ;  and  he  and 
bis^4>rother,  sir  Horatio  Vere,  returned  into  Holland. 

Soon  after  his  discharge  from  the  government  of  Ostend, 
sir  Francis,  at  the  request  of  the  States,  came  into  Eng- 
land to  desire  fresh  succours,  which  went  over  in  May, 
and  were  to  be  under  his  command.,  He  accordingly  re- 
turned again  to  Holland;  and  upon  receiving  the  news  of 
queen  Elizabeth's  death,  he  proclaimed  king  James  I.  at  the 
Brill,  in  April  1603.  A  few  months  after  he  came  to  Eng- 
land, and  his  government  of  the  Brill  expiring,  or  he  being 
superseded  at  Elizabeth's  death,  it  was  renewed  to  him  by 
king  James.     But  Moder  this  pacific  sovereign/a  peace  was 


V  E  R  E.  2^0 

concluded  with  Spain  in  1604.  Sir  Francis  survived  this 
about  four  years,  and  died  at  home,  Aug.  28,  1608,  in 
the  fifty-fourth  year  of  his  age.  He  was  interred  in  St. 
John's  chapel,  Westminster-abbey,  where  a  nionument 
was  erected  to  his  memory  by  his  lady.  Besides  tiis  other 
preferments,  be  was  governor  of  Portsmouth.  He  had  three 
$ont  and  two  daughters,  who  all  died  before  iniu.  He 
married  Elizabeth,  second  daughter  of  John  Dent,  a  ci* 
tizen  of  London,  and  she  re-married  with  Patrick  Murray> 
a  son  of  John  earl  of  Tuliibardine,  in  Scotland. 

Sir  Francis  Vere  was  a  general  of  the  greatest  bravery, 
and  of  equal  military  talents.  Queen  Elizabeth  had  an 
liigh  opinion  of  him,  and  always  treated  him  with  the 
greatest  respect,  often  saying  that  she  '^  held  him  to  be 
the  worthiest  captain  of  her  time.^'  He  was  a  man  of  let- 
ters, as  well  as  an  accomplished  general,  and  wrote  an  ac- 
count of  his  principal  military  transactions,  which  were 
published  from  the  author's  original,  .compared  with  two 
other  transcripts,  in  1657,  by  William  Dillinj^ham,  D  D. 
under  the  title  of  "  The  Commentaries  of  sir  Francis  Vere, 
.being  divers  pieces  of  service,  wherein  he  had  command, 
written  by  himself,  in  way  of  commentary,"  Cambridge, 
foL  with  portraits  of  sir  Francis,  and  sir  Horace  Vere,  sir 
John  Ogle,  and  maps  and  plans,  &c.  and  additions  by  sir 
John  Ogle,  Henry  Hexham,  Isaac  Dorislaus,  and  the 
editor.' 

VERE  (Sir  Horace),  baron  of  Tilbury,  and  younger 
brother  to  the  preceding  sir  Francis  Vere,  was  born  at  Kir- 
by-hall,  in  Essex,  in  1565.  Entering  early  into  a  military 
life,  .he  accompanied,  in  the  twentieth  year  o^  his  age, 
his  brother,  sir  Francis,  into  the  Low  Countries,  iiere  he 
acquired  great  reputation  by  his  valour  and  conduct.  In 
1600  he  had  a  considerable  share  in  the  victory  obtained 
by  the  English  and  Dutch  near  Nieuport.  He  afterwards, 
as  well  as  his  brother,  signalized  himself  in  tfie  defence  of 
Ostend.  He  commanded  the  forces  sent  by  king  James  I. 
to  the  assistance  of  the.  elector  Palatine.  He  was  a  man  of 
a  steady  ahd  sedate  courage,  and  possessed  that  presence 
of  mind  in  the  greatest  dangers  and  emergencies,  which 
is  the  highest  qualification  of  a  general.  It  was  owing  to 
this  quality  that  he  made  that  glorious  retreat  from  Spinola, 

.   »  Biog.  Brit.— Lloyd's  and  Puller's  Worthies.— Peck's  Cromwell  Collections, 
p.  32.— -Lodge's  llkstrations,  vol.  IIL 


300  V  E  R  ^. 

the  SpafDish  general,  which  was  the  greatest  action  of  ht$ 
life ;  and  bis  taking  of  Sluys  was  attended  with  difficulties 
which  were  thought  insuperable. 

Upon  the  accession  of  king  Charles  I.  sir  Horace  Vere, 
as  a  reward  for  his  services,  was  advanced  to  the  peerage, 
by  the  title  of  lord  Vere,  baron  of  Tilbury  ;  being  the  first 
pfeer  created  by  that  monarch.  He  died  the  2d  of  May, 
1635,  and  was  buried  in  Westminster-'abbey.  He  married 
a  lady  who  was  then  the  widow  of  Mr.  John  Hoby  :  she 
was  the  youngest  daughter  of  sir  John  Tracy  of  Dodding- 
ton,  or  Tuddington,  in  Gloucestershire.  She  died  in  1671, 
at  a  great  age.  The  parliament  placed  the  younger  chil- 
dren of  Charles  L  under  the  care  of  this  lady,  who  was*  a 
person  of  great  piety  and  worth,  and  in  her  punnkig  epi** 
taph,  written  by  Dr.  Simon  Ford,  is  thus  addressed, 

''  Nobilitas  tibi  vera  f uit ;  prudeniia  vera ; 
Vera  tibi  pietas^  &c." 

Clark  has  a  long  account  of  her  in  his  lives  published  in 
1684,  fol.  and  so  highly  was  sir  Horace  esteemed,  that  at 
his  death  a  volume  was  published,  dedicated  to  her,  con- 
taining "  Elegies  celebrating  the  happy  memory  of  sir 
Horatio  Vere,"  &c.  Lond.  1642,  8vo.  * 

VERE  (Edward),  seventeenth  earl  of  Oxford,  was  the 
only  son  of  John  the  sixteenth  earl,  who  died  in  1563,  by 
his  second  wife,  Margaret,  daughter  of  John  Goldijig,  es<|. 
He  is  supposed  to  have  been  born  about  1540  or  1541, 
and  in  his  youth  travelled  in  Italy,  whence  it  is  said  he 
was  the  first  who  imported  embroidered  gloves  and  per- 
fumes into  England,  and  presenting  queen  Elizabeth  with 
a  pair  of  the  fornler,  she  was  so  pleased  with  tb«m,  as  to 
be  drawn  with  them  in  one  of  her  portraits.  This  gives  us 
hot  an  indifferent  opinion  of  his  judgment,  yet  he  had  ac- 
complishments suited  to  the  times,  and  made  a  figure  in 
the  courtly  tournaments  so  much  encouraged  in  queen  Eli- 
zabeth's reign.  He  once  had  a  rencounter  with  sir  Philip 
Sidney  (see  Sidney,  vol.  XXVII.  p.  507),  which  did  not 
redound  much  to  his  honour.  In  1585,  Wal pole  says  he 
was  at  the  head  of  the  nobility  that  embarked  with  the  earl 
of  Leicester  for  the  relief  of  the  States  of  Holland ;  but 
Camden,  who  gives  a  list  of  the  principal  personages  con- 
cerned in  that  expedition,  makes  no  mention  of  him«  In 
1586  he  sat  as  lord  great  chamberlain  of  England  on  the 

'  Biof .  Brit.— Bib1io|;rapher,  vol.  11.— Lodfpe's  lUustntions* 


'  Y  E  R  E.  V  301 

trial  cf  MzYj  qii«M  of  'Sooti.  Iti  1588  he  hired  and  Btted 
<mt  ships  «t  bis  own  charge  against  the  Spanish  Arrnada. 
'  In  15$B  he  sat  on  the  trial  of  Philip  Howard^  earl  of  Arun- 
del ;  and  in  1^01,  on  the  trials  of  the  earls  of  Essex  and 
Southampton.  Oiit  of  the  most  remarkable  events  of  his 
life  was  his  eruel  usage  of  his  first  wife,  Anne,  daughter 
of  the  oelebrated  William  Cecil,  lord  Burleigh,  in  revenge 
for  the  part  acled  by  that  statesman  against  Thomas  duke 
of  Norfolk^  for  whom  he  had  a  warm  friendship.  Camden 
says,  that  faa^ng^  vainly  interceded  with  bis  father»in-law 
for  ^be  duke's  life,  he  grew  so  incensed  that  he  vowed  re- 
venge against  the  dfiughter,  and  *^  not  only  forsook  her 
bed,  but  sold  and  consumed  that  great  inheritance  tie* 
tended  to  him  from  his  ancestors  ;*'  but  in  answer  to  this, 
Collins  says,  that  the  estate  descended  to  his  son.  It  was 
probably,  however,  muoh  impaired,  as  Arthur  Wilson  agrees 
with  Camden,  and  something  of  the  same  kind  may  be  in<> 
ferred  from  a  letter  in  Winwood's  Menforials,  III.  422. 
The  earl  was  buried,  at  Hackney,  July  6,  1604. 

His  character  appears  to  have  been  marked  with  baugh<* 
lineSs,  vanity,  and  affectation..  He  aped  Italian  dresses, 
and  was  called.  ;^^  the  mirror  of  Tuscanismo.'*  His  rank, 
however,  and  his  illustrious  family  commanded  the  respect 
of  a  large  portion  of  the  literary  world,  and  among  his  . 
eulogists  were. the  contemporary  writers,  Watson,  Lily, 
Golcting,  Monday,  Greene,  Lock,  and  Spenser.  Scattered 
pieces  of  his  poetry,  are  found  in  the  collections  of  the 
times,  and  particularly  in  the  *^  Paradise  of  dayntie  de- 
vitesy"  latoly  reprinted  in  the-  Bibliographer.  In  these 
there  appMr  the  sane  traits  as  are  said  to  have  been  ex- 
hibited iahts  character. .  They  are  generally  affected,  full  of 
conceit  and  antkbeais,  and  obscure.  He  is  said  also  to 
have  written  comedies,  and  to  have  been  reckoned  the  best 
writerof  comedy  in  his  tkne,  but  the  very  names  of  these 
playa  are'lest.  His  Udy,  Anfte,  4ias  lately  been  introduced 
to  pabHt  <»bservalion,  as  a  poetess,  by  Mr.  George  ^tee- 
vens^  the -editor  of  &hak«peare.  Her  poetical  attempts 
^re  to  belmind  to  a  collettion  of  odes  and  sonnets,  entitled 
<^  Diaoa,**  published  by  one  John  Southern  or  Sootherii. 
Some  account  of  these,  which  seem  to  be  below  medio- 
ority,  is  given  by  Mr.  Park  as  a  supplementary  article  to 
WflJpole*a  *^  Royal  andNobte  Authors/' > 

1  Bios.  Brit/-^BU»liiQS^S|i]|er,  vaU  IIL— Park's.  Eoyal  jiad  Nobk  AuUmk. 


302  VERGER. 

MERGER  DB  Haurane  (John  du)^  ftbbot  of  St.  Cyran; 
famous  in  the  seventeenth  century  as  a  controversial  writer^ 
\va«  born  in  1581,  atBayonne,  of  a  good  faaiily.  :  He  pur^ 
sued  his  studies  at  Louvain,.  and  formed  a  strict  friendship 
with  the  celebrated  Jansenius,  his  fellow  student.  In  1610 
be  was  made  abbot  of  St.  Cyrany  on  the -resignation  of 
Henry  Lewis.  Cbateignier  de  la  Roche-Posai,  bishop  of 
Poitiers*  The  new  abbot  read  the  fathers  and  the  councils 
with  JanseniuS)  and  took  great  pains  to  impress  him  witb 
bis  sentiments  and  opinions,  as  well  as  a  number  of  divtnea 
with  whom  he  corresponded ;  nor  did  he  leave  any  means 
untried  to  inspire  M.  le  Mattre,  M.  Arnauld,  M.  d*Andilly^ 
aud  several  more  disciples  whom  he  had  gained^  with  the 
same  opinions.  This  conduct  making  much  noise,  cardinal 
Richelieu,  who  was  besides  pi<)ued  tliat  the  abbot  of  8ti 
Cyran  refused  to  declare  himself  for  the  nullity  of  the  mar- 
riage between  Gaston,  duke  of  Orleans,  the  brother  of 
Louis  the  thirteenth,  and  Margaret  of  Lorraine,  confined 
him  at  Vincennes,  May  11,  1638.  After  this  minister's 
death,  the  abbot^  regained  bis  liberty,  .but  did  not  enjoy  it 
}ong,  for  he  died  at  Paris,  October  18,  1643,  aged  sixty- 
two,  and  was  buried  at  St  Jacques  du  Haut*Pas,  where 
bis  epitaph  may  be  seen  oh  one  side  of  the  high  altar.  His 
works  are,  1.  <^  Lettres  Spirituelles,"  2  vols.  4to,  or  8vo,» 
reprinted  at  Lyons,  167^,  3  vols.  i2mo,  to  whicha  fourth 
has  been  added,  containing  several  small  tracts  written  by 
M%  de  St.  Cyran,  and  printed  separately.  ^.  *'  Questioa 
Royale,"  iu  which  he  examines  in  what  extremity  a  subject 
might  be  obliged  to  save  the  life  of  his  prince  at  the  ex- 
pence  of  his  own,  1609,  12mo.  This  last  was  much  talked 
of,  and  his  enemies  drew  inferences  and  consequences 
from  it,  which  neither  he  nor  his.  disciples  by  any  m%aD9 
approved.  3.  ^^  L*Aum6ne  Cbr^tienne,  ou  Tradition  de 
TEgUse  touchant  la  cbarit^  envers  les  Pauvres,*':  2  vols., 
12mo.  The  second  part  of  this  work  is  entitled  ^^  L*Au- 
m6ne  ecclesiastique.^'  M.  Anthony  le  Maitre  had  a  greater 
share  in  the  last-mentioned  book  than  the  abbot  of  St. 
Cyran.  He  j)ublished  some  other  works  of  a  similar  cast, 
but  his  last  appears  to  deserve  most  notice.  It  is  entitled 
^'  Petrus  Aurelius,'*  and  is  a  defence  of  the.  ecclesiastical 
hierarchy  agaiost  the  Jesuits.  He  was  assisted  in  this  book 
by  his  nephew,  the  abb£  de  Barcos,  and  it  seems  to  have 
done  him  the  most  honour  of  all  bis  works,  though  it  must 
be  acknowledged,  says  the  abb6  L'Avocat,  that  if  all  the 


V  E  R  G  E  R.  80S 


; 


mbuse  of  the  Jesuits,  and  tbe  invectives  against  their' order, 
were  taken  from  this  great  volume,  very  little  would  re- 
main.    L*Avocat  is  also  of  opinion  that  M.  Hallier^s  small 
trace  on  tbe  saipe  subject,  occasioned  by  tbe  censure  of  the 
clergy  in  1635,  is  more  solid,  much  deeper,  and  contains 
-better  arguments,  than  any  that  are  to  be  found  in  the 
great  volume  of  "  Petrus  Aurelius."     The  first  edition  of 
this  book  is  the  collection  of  different  parts,  printed  be- 
tween 1632  and  1635,  for  which  the  printer  Morel  was 
paid  by  the  clergy,  though  it  was  done  without  their  order. 
The  assembly  held  in  1641  caused  an  edition  to  be  p<ib- 
lished  in  1642,  which  the  Jesuits  seized  ;  but  it  was  never- 
theless dispersed  on  the  remonstrances  of  the  clergy.    Thi<s 
edition  contains  two  pieces,  '*  Confutatio  collectioiiis  loco- 
rum  quos  Jesuit»  compilarunt,  &c/'  that  are  not  in   the 
third  edition,  which  was  also  published  at  the  clergy's  ex- 
pence  in  1646.     But  to  this  third  edition  is  prefixed  the 
eulogy,  written  by  M.  Godeau  on  the  author,  by  order  of 
the  clergy,  and  the  verbal  process  which  orders  it ;  whence 
it  appears  that  their  sentiments  respecting  him,  differed 
widely  from  those  of  the  Jesuits  and  their  adherents*     The 
abbot  de  St.  Cyran  was  a  man  of  much  simplicity  in  his 
manners  and  practice :  he  told   his  beads ;  he  exorcised 
heretical  books  before  he  read  them  :  this  simplicity,  how- 
ever, concealed  a  great  fund  of  learning,  and  great  talents 
for  persuasioui  without  which  he  could  never  have  gained 
.so  many  illustrious  and  distinguished  disciples,  as  Mess. 
Ariiattld,  le  Maitre  de  Sacy,  Arnauld  d'Andilly,  and  tbe 
other  literati  of  Port  Royal,  who  all  had  the  highest  vene« 
ration  for  him,  and  placed  tbe  most  unbounded  confidence 
in  him.'  *  But  whatever  talents  he  might  have  for  speaking,   . 
•persuading,  and  directing,  he  certainly  had  none  for  writ- 
ing ;  nor  are  his  books  answerable  to  his  high  reputation.' 

VERGERIUS  (Peter  Paul),  one  of  the  most  learned 
men  of  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries,  wsl%  born  in 
1349  at  Justinopolis,  now  Capo  d'lstri^,  a  town  situated  at 
the  extremity  of  the  Adriatic  gulph,  not  far  from  Trieste. 
Of  his  preceptors  we  only  know  that  he  learned  Greek  of 
Chry«>lora8  at  Venice,  and  canon  law  of  Francis  de  Za- 
barella  at  Florelice.  He  is  said  to  have  composed  the  tn^ 
acription  on  the  monument  of  Chrysoloras  in  the  Dominican 
monastery  at  Constance,  where  that  eminent  scholar  died 

*  Moreri.— Diet.  Hist.    » 


304  VERGERIUS. 

in  1415.  After  visiting  SQTeral  cities  in  lialy,  where  be 
displayed  his  knowledge  of  philosophy,  civil  law,  mathe« 
matics,  Greek,  &c*  be  assisted  at  the  council  of  Constance, 
and  went  thence  to  Hungary,  to  which  it  was  thought  he 
was  invited  by  the  emperor  Sigismond.  The  prince  of 
Carrara,  then  in  possession  of  Padua,  chose  him  for  pre- 
ceptor to  his  children.  He  is  supposed  to  have  died  about 
1431 ;  Saxius  says  1428.  In  his  last  days  bis  faculties  ex- 
perienced a  total  decay,  nor  did  he  appear  to  have  any  en- 
joyment of  bis  reason  but  at  short  intervals. 

He  wrote  a  history  of  the  princes  of  Carrara,  which  is  in- 
serted in  Muratori^s  collection,  vol.  XVL  published  at 
Milan  1730,  who  did  not  know  that  it  had  appeared  eight 
years  before  in  the  <*  Thesaur.  Antiqc  Ital.^'  vol.  VI.  part 
III.  published  at  Leyden.  He  wrote  also  a  life  of  Petraixsh, 
which  may  be  seen  in  Tomasij»i*s  **  Petrarcha  Redivivus  ;^ 
sin  elogium  on  St.  Jerom  ;  a  treatise  de  **  Republiea  Vene- 
ta,'^  published  at  Rome  in  1^26  ;  and  testified  his  zeal  for 
the  honour  of  classical  learning,  by  publishing  an  invective 
against  Malatesta,  who,  by  a  misguided  zeal,  bad  removed 
from  the  market-place  of  Mantua  a  statue  of  Virgil.  On^ 
of  bis  most  celebrated  treatises  was  that  ^^  De  ingenuis  mo- 
ribus,'*  composed  for  the  use  of  the  prince  of  Carrara^s 
children.  This,  which  was  so  popular  as  to  become  a 
school-book,  and  as  such  Paul  Jovius  mentions  its  being 
put  into  bis  liands  when  a  youth,  was  first  published,  with 
other  treatises  of  the  same  kind,  at  Milan  in  1474,  4tQ, 
and  reprinted  in  1477!"  Bru net,  however^  meotioos  an 
edition  prior  to  either  of  these,  which  he  supposes  printed 
about  1472,  with  the  title  ^'Ad  Ubertinum  Carariensem 
de  ingenuis  moribus  opus  e  Magno  Basileo,  et.eXeno- 
pbpnti  de  tirannide  Leonardi  Aretini  traductio."  Brunet 
also  mentions,  that  the  editions  of  1474  and  1477  are  to  be 
found  separate  from  the  other  treatises ;  but  it  was  certainly 
afterwards  printed  with  them,  at  Venice :  for,  example  in 
1502,  with  Bonardus  and  others  on  the  subject  of  educa- 
tion*; and  at  Basil  in  1541,  with  Vitruvius  Roscius  *'  de 
docendi  studendique  modo,''  i&c^  Vergerius  translated 
into  Latin  Arrian's  history  of  the  expedition  of  Alexander 
the  Great,  and  it  is  said  purposely  avoided  any  particular 
elegance  of  style,  lest  his  royal  reader  should  stand  in.need 
of  the  assistance  of  an  interpreter.  If  this  be  true  it  can* 
not  be  a  matter  of  much  regret  that  such  a  translation  was 
not  printed.     Vei^erius  is  likewise  said  to  have  written 


i 


V  E  R  G  E  R  I  U  S*  305 

poetry,  and  even  a  Latin  comedy,  wbicb  is  preserred  in  ma- 
nuscript in  the  Ambrosian  library.  It  vras  ibe  production 
of  his  youth;  and  is  entitled  '^  Paulus.^'  Sassi,  in  his  ty« 
pographical  history  of  Milan,  has  printed  the  prologue.  * 

VERGERIUS  (Peter  Paul),  usually  called  the  Younger, 
to  distinguish  him  from  the  preceding,  was  born  at  Justi* 
Aopolis,  and  of  the  same  family.  Where  he  was  educated 
we  are  not  told,  but  he  soon  became  celebrated  for  his  ac- 
quirements in  canon-law  and  scholastic  divinity  ;  and  these 
recommended  him  to  the  attention  of  the  pope,  Clement 
TIL  who  employed  him  as  his  nuncio  at  the  memorabte 
diet  of  Augsburgb  in  1530,  and  entrusted  him  with  a  very 
aodple  commission.  He  was  instructed  to  use  every  endea^^ 
vour  to  prevent  the  holding  of  a  national  council  in  Ger* 
many,  and  to  induce  king  Ferdinand,  the  emperof  s  bro-« 
ther,  to  oppose  any  proposition  of  that  kind.  Vergeriusr 
executed  this  commission  with  great  2eal,  and  gave  every 
opposition  to  the  Lutherans,  by  shewing  his  partiality  to 
Eckias,  Faber,  Cochlseus,  and  other  enemies  to  the  re<^ 
formation ;  he  also  made  Eckius  a  canon  of  Rattsbonne,  si^ 
piece  of  preferment  which,  as  the  pope's  legate,'  he.  could 
confer.  Vergerius  executed  this  commission  with  such 
ability,  that  he  was  thought  the  most  proper  person  to  suc^^ 
ceed  the  superannuated  bishop  of  Rhegio,  as  the  pope's  am«' 
bassadbr  to  Germany.  He  accordingly  was  sent,  with  in* 
structrons,  openly'  to  represent  bis  holtness^s  ardent  desire 
to  convene  a  general  council,  but  secretly  to  take  every 
^tep  to  prevent  that  measure.  Oti  the  death  of  Clement 
YII.  and  the  accession  of  Paul  IH.  the  latter  recalled  Ver- 
gerius from  Germany,  in  order  to  be  exactly  informed 
of  the  state  of  religion  in  that  country ;  and,  says  Sleidan, 
he  also  consulted  with  the  cardinals,  as  to  the  prevention 
of  a  national  council,  until  they  shottld,  by  private  and 
unsuspected  contrivances,  be  able  to  embroil  the  emperor 
and  other  princes  in  a  war.  As  a  part  of  this  plan,  Paul 
III.  resolved  at  length  to  send  Vergerius  back  to  Germany 
to  prefer  a  general  council,  and  in  the  mean  lime  to  learn 
what  form  the  Protestants  would  insist  upon  as  to  the  qua- 
lifications, votings,  and  disputations,  of  such  a  council;, 
and  his  object  in  this  was,  to  be  able  to  impose  such  rules 
and  terms  as  he  was  sure  they  would  never  accept ;  by 

1  Tirabotcbi.-*Gia|ueo6  Hilt.  Litt.  dUUlie.— Sb«ph«fd*8  Pofy io,  p.  €0*-^ 
•ftaxii  Onomast. 

Vol.  XXX.  '    X 


306 


V  E  R  G  If  R  I,%  a 


Tt^Ucb  contrivance  the  od'mm  of  not /holding  a  g^ntral 
90undil  would  fall  upon  them.  Vergeriu^  was  also  instructed 
to  exasperate  the  princes  of  the  enipire  against  the  king  of 
England,  Henry  VIII.  whose  dominion^  the  pope  had  in 
contemplation  to  bestow  upon  tjio^e  who  would  conquer 
tbem  :  and  he  had  also  a  secret  article  of  instruction  to 
tamper  with  Luther  and-Melanpthon,  in  order  to, bring  tbem 
over  to  the  cause  of  Rome. 

,  Early  in  the  Spring  of  1535,  Vergerius  setout.on  this 
embassy,  in  which  heyvas  exceedingly  indiistrious,  and  ne- 
gociated  with  almost  atl  the  princes  of  Germany^  At 
Prague  he  met  with  John  the  pious  elector  of  Saxony,  with 
whom  he  dealt  very  artfully,,  and,  among  other. things,  sug- 
gested, that  the  intended  council  should  be  beldat  M^ntua» 
pretending  the  convenience,  of  its  situation  'as  to  plenty 
and  facility  of  a<?cess,  but  really  because  the  heads  of  the 
protestant  party  being  assembled  n*  Italy  would  be  more  in 
the  pope's  power.  ^;Tbis,.  however,  was  easily  seen  through,, 
^nd  objected  to.  He  also  went  to  ,Wittemberg,  and  bad  a 
conference  with  Lutbev^  which  has  been  variously  repre- 
sented. ;  It  appears,  howeyer,  both  from  father  Paul  and 
Pallavicinp,  that  he  treated  Luther  with  urbanity,  but 
tnad^  na impression  on  the  steady  mind  of  that  illustnou& 

reformer.  ^  ~  ■,.  \   "'.;'.  : 

In  1556  Vergerius  returned  to  |he.pope,  an4  reported, 
as  the  issue  of. his  inquiries,  that  the  protestants  demanded 
a  free  council,  in  a  convenient  place,  w^hin  the  territories, 
of  the  empire,,  which  the  emperor  had  promised  tbem ; 
that  as  to  the  Lutheran  party,  there  was  no  remedy  but 
absolute  force  and  entire  suppression  :  that  the  protestaou 
would  bear  nothing  of  hostility  to  the  king  of  England^ 
atid  that  the  rest  of  the  princes  had  equal  repugnance.  .The 
only  comfortable  bint  Vergerius  communicated  was,  that 
George  duke  of  Saxony  (Luther's  greatest  enemy)  had  de- 
clared, that  the  pope  and  the  emperor .  ought  to  make 
war  against  the  protestants  as  soon  as  possible.  Catching 
at  this,  the  pope  immediately  sent  Vergerius  to  Naples,, 
where  the  emperor  then  was,  in  order  to  propose  such  a 
war,  as  the  quickest  method  of  settling  the  controversy; 
The  emperor  so  far  listened  to  this  as  to  take  a  journey  to 
Rome  to  debate  the  matter ;  and  the  issue  was,  that  a 
cbuncil  was  proposed  to  be  helcl  at  Mantua:  but  to  this,, 
from  motives  of  self-preservation,  the  protestants  eould  nOt 


VERGBRIUS,  307 

I 

consent*.    As  a  reward,  however,  for  bis  services,  Vergeriua 
was  made  bishop  of  Justinopolis. 

From  this  time  to  1541,  Vergerius  appeajrs  to  have  re*? 
mained  in  Italy.     In  this  last  mentioned  year,  he  was  com- 
missioned to  go  to  the  diet  at  Worms^  where  he  made  a 
speech  on  the  unity  and  peace  pf^  the  churchy  which  he 
printed:  and  circulated,  and  in  which  be.  principally  in-' 
sisted  on  the  arguments*  against  a  national  council.     On  bis 
return  to  Rome,  the  pope  intended  to  have  rewarded  bis 
servioes  with  a  cardinars  hat,  but  changed  his  purpose  on 
hearing  it  insinuated  that  a  leaning  towards  Lutheranism. 
was  perceptible  in  him,  from  his  long  residence  iu^Ger- 
many.     The  pope,  however,  was  not  more  o£Pended  than 
Vergerius  was  surprized  at  this  charge,  which  he  knew  to. 
be  absolutely  groundless ;  yet  this  circumstance,  probably 
arising  from  personal  malice  or  envy,  proved  ultimately 
the  means  of  Vergerius's  conversion.     With  a  view  to  re*, 
pel  the  charge  of  heresy,  he  now  sat  down  to  write  a  book, 
the  title  of  wfai^h  was  to  be,  ^^  Adversus  apostatas  Germa- 
niae,''  against  the  appstates  of  Germany ;  but  as  .this  led  him» 
to  a  strict  investigation  of  theprotestant  doctrines,  a^  found 
in  the  works  of  their  ablest  writers,  he  found  his.  attachment 
to  popery  completely  undermined,  and  rose  up  from  the. 
perusal  of  the  protestant  writers  with  a  strong  conviction.  ' 
that  they  were  in  the  right.     He  then  Immediaiely  went  to^ 
confer  with  his  brother,  John  Baptist  Vergerius,  bishop  of. 
Pola,   in  Istria,   who   was  exceedingly   perplexed  at  his 
change  of  sentiment,  but  on  bis  repeated  entreaties,  joined; 
bim  in  examining  the  disputed  points,  particularly  the  arti- 
cle of  justification,  and  the  result  was,  that  t^th.  prelates, 
soon  preached  to  tbe  people  of  Istria  the  doctrines  of  the, 
reformation,  and  even  dispersed  tbe  New  Testament  among, 
them  in  the  fulgar  tongue.     The  Inquisition,  as  well  as  tt^e. 
monks,  soon  became  alarmed  at  this,  and  Veirgerius  wasv 
obliged  to  seek  refuge  in  Mantua,  under  the  protection  of. 
eardinal  Hercules  Gonzaga,  who  had  been  bis  intio^t.e. 
friend ;  hut  Gonzaga  was  after  a  short  time  obliged  by  re- . 
monstrances  from  Rome  to  withdimw  bis  protection,  and  he, 
finally  went  to  Padua,  and  thence  to  the  Grisons,  where 
lie  preached  the  gospel  for  several  years,  until  invited  by 
the  duke  of  Wirtemberg  to  Tubingen,  and  there  be  passed, 
the  remainder  of  his  days.     In  the  mean  time  his  brother, 
the  bishop  of  Pola,  died,  and,  as  suspected,  by  poison,  ad- 
ministered by  some  of  those  implacable  enemies  who  were 

X  2 


308  V  E  R  G^  B  1  U  a 

also  thirsting  for  Vergerius^s  blood.  But  he  was  now  out; 
of  their  reach,  and  died  quietly  at  Tubingen,  Oct.  4,  1566. 
Vergerius,  after  his  conversion,  wrote  a  great  mdny  trea- 
tises, most  of  them  small^  against  popery  and  popish  wri- 
ters^ the  titles  of  which  are  to  be  found  in  our  authorities^ 
but  they  are  all  of  rfetre  occurrence,  owing  to  their  having 
been  suppressed  or  strictly  prohibited  by  his  enemies. 
Some  are  in  Italian,  and  some  in  Latin.  A  collection  of 
them  was  begun  to  be  printed  at  Tubingen  in  1563,  but- 
one  volume  only  was  publishedy  under  the  title  of  "Pri- 
mus tomus  operum  Vergerii  adversus  Papatum,"  4to.  A 
vaiuable  defence  of  Vergeriiis  was  published  by  Schel- 
horn,  in  1760,  **  Apologia  pro  P.  P..  Vergerio  adversus 
loh.  Casam.  Accedunt  Monumenta  inedita,  et  quatuor 
epistolae  memorabiles,''  4to. ' 

VERGIL  (Polydore),  a  writer  who  did  not  want  either 
genius  or  learning,  was  born  at  Urbino,  in  Italy,  in  the  fif^ 
teenth  .century ;  but  the  year  is  not  named,  nor  have  we 
any  account  of  his  early  history.  Jle  was  first  known  in 
the  literary  world  by  "A  Collection  of  Proverbs,'*  1498, 
and  this  being  the  first  work  of  *tbe  kind^  it  occasioned ^ome 
jealousy  between  him  and  Erasmus.  Whenf  Erasmus  after- 
wards published  his  **  Adagia,**  and  did  riot  take  notijce  of 
his  work,  Vergil  reproached  hitri  in  terms  hot  civil,  in  the 
prefetce  to  his  book  "  De  Rerom  Inventoribus.^*  Their 
friendship,  however,  does  not  seem  to  have  been  inter- 
rupted by  it ;  and  Vergil,  at  the  instigation  of  Erasmus, 
left  the  passage  out  in  the  later  editions.  These  "Adagia'* 
of  Polydore  Vergil  were  jjrihted  *  three  or  four  times  in  a 
very  short  space ;  and  this  success  encouraged  him  to  un- 
dertake a  more  difficult  work',  his  book  **De  Rerum  In- 
ventoribus,'*  printed  in  14^9.  At  the  end  of  th6  4th  edi- 
tion at  Basil,  1536,  12mo,  is  subjoined  ^  short  commentary 
of  his  upon  the  Lord's  prayer.  After  this,  he  was  sent 
into  England  by  pope  Alexander  VI.  to  collect  the  papal 
tribute,  called  Peter* pence,  and  was  the  last  collector  of 
that  oppressive  tax.  He  recommended  himself  in  this 
country  so  efiectually  to  the  powers  in  being,  and  was  so 
well  pleased  with  it,  that,  having  obtained  the  rectory  of 
Church  Langton  in  Leicestershire,  he  resolved  to  spend  the 
remainder  of  his  life  in  England.  In  1507  he  wasprer 
sented  to  the   archdeaconry   of  Wells,   and   prebend  of 

^  Melchior  Adam*— G«d*  Diet— Nortri.-«S«iii  OiiiMiia»t. 


V 


VERGIL.  809 

Nonoington^  in  the  church  of  Hereford  ;  apd  was  the  same 
year  collated  to  the  prebend  of  Scamelsby  in  the  cbarcb 
of  Lincoln,  which  he  resigned  in  1513  for  the  prebend  of 
Oxgate  in  that  of  St.  Paqi's,  In  1 517  be  published  at  Lon«^ 
don  a  new  edition  of  his  work  **  De  Rerum  Inventoribus,'* 
then  consisting  of  six  hooka,  with  a  prefatory  address  to  bis 
brother  John  Matthew  Vergil.  About  1521  be  undertook 
a  considerable  work  ikt  the  command  of  Henry  VIIL ; 
upon  which  he  spent  above  twelve  years.  It  was  a  ^*  His* 
tory  of  England,"  which  he  published  and  dedicated  in 
1533  to  hi«  royal  patron.  The  purity  of  his  language  is 
generally  allowed,  and.be  excelled  most  of  the  writers  of 
this  age  for  elegance  and  clearness  of  style,  but  bis  work 
is  chargeable  with  gi^oat  paftiality,  and  even  falsehood,  and 
this  charge  has  been  advanced  by  sir  Henry  Savile  and 
Humphrey  Lloyd,  who  reproaches  him  in  very  severe  terms. 
iCaius,  in  his  book  *^  De  Antiquitatibus  CantabrigisB,"  men- 
Uons  it  as  a  thing  <^  not  only  reported,  but  even  certainly 
known,  that  Polydore  Vergil,  to  prevent  the  discovery  of 
the  faults  in  his  history,  most  wickedly  committed  as  many 
of. our  ancient  and  manuscript  histories  to  the  flames  as  a 
waggon  could  hold."  For  this,  however,  we  have  no  di- 
rect authority.  His  greatest  fault  is,  that  he  gives  a  very 
unfair  account  of  the  reformation,  and  of  the  conduct  of 
the  protestants.  Yet  his  work  has  been  printed  several 
times,  and  very  much  read  ;  and  is  necessary  to  supply  a 
chasm  of  almost  seventy  years  in  our  history,  including 
particularly  the  lives  of  Edward  IV.  and  Edward  V^  which 
period  is  hardly  to  be  found  in  Latin  in  any  other  author. 

In  1526,  he  published  a  treatise  '<  Of  Psodigies :"  con- 
sisting of  dialogues,  and  attacks'  upon  divination.  He  did 
not  desire  to  leave  England  till  1550,  and  he  would  not 
.have  desired  it  then,  if  old  age  had  not  required  a  warmer 
.and  more  southern  climate^  Bishop  Buruet  tells'  us,  that 
*^  having  been  now  aloiost  forty  years  here,  growing  old, 
he  desired  leave  to  go.  nearer  the  sun.  It  was  granted  him 
OR  the  2d  of  June :  and,  in  consideration  of  the  public  ser- 
vice-be was  thought  to  have  done  the  nation  by  his  His- 
tory>  he  was  permitted  to  hold  his  archdeaconry  of  Wells, 
and  his  prebend  of  Nonnington,  notwithstanding  his  ab- 
sence from  the  kingdom.''  It  is  said  that  he  died  at  Ur- 
bino  in  1555.  Although  a  zealous  papist  in  some  points, 
he  approved  the  marriage  of  the  clergy,  and  condcfmned 


SIO  VERGIL. 

the  worship  of  images ;  nor  was  he  at  all  disgusted  witb 
the  aherations  that  were  made  in  the  affairs  of  England 
under  Henry  VIII.  and  Edward  VL  and  it  has  been  ob- 
served that  there  are  several  things  occasionally  dropped 
in  his  writings,  which  did  not  please  the  adherents  of 
his  own  church.  His  name  of  late  has  been  written  "  Vir- 
gil;" but,  before  the  Bksil  edition  in  1536  of  his  book 
"  De  Kerum  Inventoribns/'  it  is  printed  <*  Vergilius."*» 

VERGNE  (Louis  Elizabeth  de  la),  count  de  Tressan, 
a  lively  French  writer,  was  born  arMons,  Nov.  4,  1705,  of 
a  noble  family  originally  from  Languedoc,  one  branch  of 
which  had  been  protestants,  and  fought  on  that  side  in  the 
civil  wars  preceding  the  massacre.  He  came  early  in  life 
to  Paris,  and  attached  himself  to  Voltaire  and  Fontenelle, 
who  initiated  him  in  the  belles  lettres,  and  in  those  princi- 
ples which  afterwards  made  him  be  ranked  among  the  phi- 
losophers of  France.  He  served  afterwards  in  the  French 
army,  and  attained  the  rank  of  lieutenant-general.  In 
1750  he  was  admitted  a  free  associate  of  the  French  acade- 
my, and  contributed  a  memoir  on  Electricity,  a  subject  then 
not  much  known,  ^nd  written  with  so  much  ability  that  it 
was^  supposed  he  might  have  acquired  no  small  fame  in 
pursuing  scientific  subjects.  This,  however,  was  not  agree- 
able to  his  disposition.  After  the  battle  of  Fontenoy,  in 
1741,  in  which  he  served  as  aide-de-camp  to  Louis  XV. 
he  went  to  the  court  of  Stanislaus,  king  of  Poland,  at 
Luneville,  where  he  recommended  himself  by  the  sprightii- 
•ness  of  his  temper,  and  by  the  freedom  of  his  remarks, 
but  at  the  same  time  made  some  enemies  by  bis  satirical 
a:nd  epigrammatic  productions.  On  the  death  of  Stanislaus, 
he  retired  from  active  life,  and-  devoted  his  time  to  the 
eom|)Osition  of  a  variety  of  works,  particularly  romances. 
Some  of  which  were  however  translations,  and  others 
abridgments.  These  fill  12  octavo  volumes  published  in 
1791.  His  translation  of  Ariosto  seems  to  have  done  him 
most  credit.  A  light,  trifling  spirit  never  deserted  him, 
but  still  sported  even  in  his  grey-hairs,  until  death  put  a 
serious  end  to  it,  Oct.  31,  1782,  in  bis  seveaty-sev^nth 
year.  Almost  up  to  this  period  he  was  abridging  Amadts 
de  .Gaul,  and  writing  tales  of  chivalry,  after  having  begun 
his  career  with  the  grave  and  abstruse  parts  of  science. 

1  Tiraboschi. — Gen.  Diet,— Nichols's  Leicestershire. — Nicolson'i  Hist.  I«i- 
brary;— Ath,  Ox.  vol.  L 


V  E?  R  H  E  Y  E  N.  311 

While  in  this  latter  employment  he  was,  in  1749j  chosen 
a  member  of  our  Royal  Soei^ty.  * 

VERHEYEN  (Philip),  a  physician  and  anatomist,  was 
born  in  1643  at  Yesbroucky  in  the  county  of  Waes.  He 
was  descended  of  a  family  who  had  many  years  subsisted, 
from  the  profits  arising  from  the  cultivation  of  the  earth  ; 
and  he  had  himself  worked  with  the  spade  to  the  age  of 
twenty  •two  years ;  when  the  curate  of  his  village,  taking 
notice  of  him,  gave  him  the  first  rudiments  of  learning. 
He  afterwards  obtained  a  place  in  the  college  of  the  Trinity 
at  Louvftin,  where  he  was  made  professor  of  anatomy  in 
1689,  and  afterwards  doctor  in  medicine.  He  died  there 
in  Feb<  17(0,  aged  62.  The  following  epitaph  was  found 
after  his  decease,  writtea  with  his  own  hand  :  ^'  Philippus 
Verheyen  Medicince  Doctor  &  Professor,  partem  sui  ma- 
terialem  hie  in  Csemeterio  condi  voluit,  ne  Templum  de- 
honestaret,  aut  nocivis  halitibus  inficeret.  Requiescat  in 
pace." 

His  <<  Corporis  Hiimani  Anatomia,"  published  iu  1693, 
met  with  a  good  reception  from  the  public,  as  containing, 
besides  the  opinions  of  the  ancients,  the  modern  discove- 
ries, described  more  at  large  and  more  accurately  than  in 
the  bodies  of  anatomy  that  were  published  before.  There 
are  also  many  observations,  the  result  of  his  own  experi- 
ments. * 

VERNET  (Joseph),  a  celebrated  French  marine  painter, 
waa  born  at  Avignon  in  1712,  and  received  the  early  part 
of  bis  education  at  Rome.  While  there  he  contracted  an 
acquaintance  with  Mr.  Drake,  of  Sharlowes,  in  Bucking- 
hamshire, then  on  his  travels.  Mr.  Drake  employed  him 
to  paint  six  pictures,  and  left  the  subjects  to  his  own 
choice.  They  are  very  capital  performances,  in  the  pain- 
ter's best  manner,  and  are  now  in  the  drawing-room  at 
Sharlowes. 

Having  stayed  a  competent  time,  eagerly  employed  in 
the  contemplation  of  the  finest  models  ot  antiquity,  he  re- 
turned to  France,  and  his  first  designs  were  views  of  some 
of  the  principal  sea-ports  on  the  coast.  These  being  shewn 
to  bis  late  majesty  of  France,  procured  him  the  appoint- 
ment of  marine  painter  to  the  king,  with  a  competent  sa- 
lary,  and  every  assistance  that  he  requested  to  go  through 

*  Ekkges   des  Acadecniciens,   to].  III.— Diet  Hist.-^Month.  Rev.  IXXVU 
N.  S.  XlfXV,  «  Niceron,  vol.  IV.— Eloy,  Diet.  Histde  Med«(;ia«, 


312  V  E  R  N  B  T. 

his  plan  of  giving  a  view  of  every  sea^pori  in  the  IiifigdoiK. 
This  he  completed,  and  under  royal  and  national  patron-* 
age  the  views  have  been  engraved ;  and  the  prints  wWch 
are  m  general  most  exquisitely  performed,  have  bcw  dis- 
seminated through*  all  Europe. .  Many  of  these  engiraviogs 
were  by  Balechon ;  one  of  them,  well  known  to  oolkotora 
by  the  name  of  "  The  Storm,"  was  miich  admired  for  tb« 
fluidify  of  the  water,  and  the  spirit  of  the  figures.  One 
htindred.of  the. prints  were  consigned  to  ad  epgraver  in 
London,  and  part  of  them  sold ;  but  some  persons  object* 
ing  to  the  very  clumsy  style  in  which  a  long,  dedication, 
inscribed  under  the  print,  was  written,  Balechon  mU  he 
would  soon  remedy  that,  and  with  his  graver  drew  a  num- 
ber of  black  lines  upon  the  copper,  over  the  dedication, 
so  as  m  a  degree  to  obliterate  the  words,  apd  sent  100  im^ 
pressions  to  England.  These  our  connoisseurs  soon  found 
to  be  "  the  second  impression,"  and  eagerfy  bought  up 
the  first ;  but  a  print  with  the  lines  no  roan  of  taste  would 
look  at.  This  mortified  the  English  printseller,  who  wrote 
tb  the  French  engraver,  and  complained  that  he  could  not 
.^11  the  second  set  for  half  price.  "  Morbleu  !"  cries  the 
Frenchman,  <«  How  whimsical  are  these  English  Virtuosi  I 
They  must  be  satisfied,  however."  To  work  be  sets  with 
his  punch  and  hammer,,  and,  repairing  the  letters,  sends 
out  the  print,  with  the  inscription  apparently  in  its  first 
state.  A  few  of  these  were  sold  ;  but  the  imposition  was 
soon  discovered  by  the  faintness  of  the  impressions;  and 
then  those  who  did  not  possess  the  first  impressions,  were 
glad  to  have  the  plate  in  the  second,  rather  than  the  third 
state ;  so  that  nearly  all  the  third  set  lay  upon  the  h^ds  of 
the  printseller.  This  produced  a  complaint;  and  the  com-. 
plaisant  Frenchman,  ever  eager  to  satisfy  his  English  cus- 
tomers,  again  punched  out  the  liups,  and  brought  the  in- 
scription  to  its  second  state. 

This  Proteus  of  a  print  very  frequently  appears  in  sales ; 
and  the  contests  of  the  connoisseurs  about  the  superiority 
of  those  without  lines  to  those  with,  aqd  wc  versa,  are  in- 
numerable, and  sometimes  proceed  to  blows.  This  little 
history  may  perhaps  induce  them  to  consult  their  own  eves. 
]U  preference  to  black  lines. 

After  a  long  and  active  life,  in  a  manner  that  did  hopouy 
to  himself  and  his  country,  Vernet  began  to  fear  that  his 
well-eai^n^ed  pension  would  be  stopped  by  the  troubles 
^rismg  m  France ;  and  as  8 1  years  of  age  is  rather  too  late 


V^RNET.  313 

\  . 

a  period  for  a  man  to  take  a  very  active  part  in  natiianal 
disputes,  be  ifoeditated  a  retreat  to  England,  which  was 
put  a  stop  to  by  his  death  in  1789.  His  works  will,  how- 
ever,  live  as  long  as  those  of  any  artist  of  his  day.  In  a 
light  and  airy  management  of  his  landscape,  in  a  deep  and 
tender  diminution  of  bis  perspective,  in  the  clear  transpa- 
rent hue  of  the  sky,  liquid  appearance  of  the  water,  and 
the  buoyant  air  of  the  vessels  which  he  depicted  on  it,  be 
bad  few  superiors.  In  sojall  figures  employed  in  dragging 
off  a  boat,  rigging  a  ship,  or  carrying  goods  from  the  quay 
to  a  warehouse,  or  any  other  employ  which  required  action, 
he  displayed  most  uncommoo  knowledge,  and  gave  them 
with  sucb  spirit  (though  sometimes  a  little  in  the  French 
fluttered  style),  as  has  never  t>een  equalled  by  any  man 
except  our  most  excellent  Mortimer;  and  to  be  the  infe* 
rior  of  Mortimer  in  that  line  is  no  dishonour.  It  has  been 
the  lot  of  every  painter  who  ever  lived,  and  will  probably 
be  the  lot  of  all  who  ever  will  live.  He  carried  that  branch: 
of  the  art  to  its  highest  degree  of  perfection.  As  a  proof 
in  what  estimation  Vernet  was  held,  it  may  be  mentipned 
that  two  of  bis  pictures,  now  in  the  Luxembourg,  were  pur- 
chased by  madame  du  Barry  for  50,000  livres.  It  wa^ 
said  of  him,  that  bis  genius  neither  knew  infancy  nor  old 
age.  * 

VERNEUIL,  or  VERNULIUS  (John),  a  French  re- 
fugee,  was  born  at  Bourdeaux  in  1583,  and  educated  in 
tbe  university  of  Montauban  until  be  took  his  master's  de* 
gree,  when  he  was  obliged  to  leave  his  country  for  the  sake 
of  his  religion,  and  came  to  England,  and  found  a  friend  in 
sir  Thomas  Leigh.  In  1608  he  was  admitted  a  member  of 
Magdalen  college,  Oxford,  and  in  1635  was  incorporated 
master  of  arts,  being  then  second  keeper  of  the  Bodleian 
library,  in  which  Wood  says,  his  services  were  valuable. 
He  died  at  Oxforxl  in  Sept.  1647,  and  was  buried  in  the 
church  of  St.  Peter  in  the  East,  '^  at  which  time,*\  says 
Wood,  ^<  our  library  lost  an  honest  and  Useful  servant,  and 
bis  children  a*  good  father.*' 

He  wrote,  for  tbe  use  of  bis  students,  1.  ^^  Catalogus  In* 
terpretum  S«  Scripturse,  juxta  numerorum  ordinem,  qui 
extant  in  Bibl.  Bodl."  Oxon.  1635,  4to,  the  second  edition* 
This  was  first  begun  by  Dr.  Thomas  James.  To  it  is  added 
ait  '^  Elencbus  auctorum,  tarn  reoentium  quam  antiquorumji^ 

1  Diet.  Hist.— Gent.  Mag.  vol.  LIX. 


814  V  E  R  N  E  U  I  L. 

qui  in  quatuor  libros  sententiarum  et  Thomas  Aquiiiatis  suai<* 
mas,  &c.  scripserunt.*'  2.  ^^  Nomenclator  of  such  tracts  and 
sermons  as  liave  been  printed,,  or  translated  into  Englisk 
upon  any  place  or  book  of  Scripture,  now  to  be  bad  in  Bod- 
ley^s  library/*  Oxon.  1637,  and  enlarged  in  1642,  l6mo. 
He  also  translated  from  French  into  English,  principal 
Cameron^s  "  Tract  of  the  sovereign  judge  of  controversies," 
Oxon.  1628,  4to^  and /from  English  into  Latin,  Daniel  Dyke 
**  On  the  deceitfulness  of  man's  heart."  This  was  printed 
at  Geneva,  1634,  8vo.' 

.-VERNEY  (GuiCHARD  Joseph  du),  an  eminent  French 
anatbmist,  was  born  Aug.  15,  1648,  at  Feurs  en  ForSs, 
where  his  father  was  a  physician.  He  studied  medicine  for 
five  years  at  Avignon,  and  soon  acquired  fame  for  skill  in 
anatomy,  on  which  subject  he  read  lectures  with  great  ac- 
curacy and  perspicuity.  In  1676  he  became  a  member  of 
the  royal  academy  of  sciences  at  Paris,  and  was  appointed 
to  give  lessons  on  anatomy  to  the  dauphin.  Li  1679  he 
was  appointed  professor  of  anatomy,  and  attracted  a  great 
concourse  gf  pupils,  especially  from  foreign  countries.  He 
died  Sept.  10,  1730,  aged  eighty-two^  ahd  had  continued 
to  the  last  his  anatomical  pursuits.  He  published  in  bis 
life-time  only  one  work,  "Traits  de  Torgane  de  Touie,** 
but  which  is  said  to  have  been  enough  for  his  fame.  This 
appeared  Brst  in  1683,  and  was  soon  reprinted  and  trans- 
lated into  Latin  and  German.  From  his  manuscripts  was 
published  in  1751,  <^Trait6  des  maladies  des  os,"  and  pub- 
lished in  English  in  1762;  and  bis  '*  Oeuvres  anatomiques," 
in  2  vols.  4to,  edited  by  his  pupil  Senac.  He  contributed 
a  great  many  observations  to  the  Memoirs  of  the  Academy, 
and  the  Journal  des  Savans.^ 

VERNON  (Edward),  esq.  an  admiral  of  distinguished 
bravery,  was  despended  from  an  ancient  family  in  Statford- 
sbire,  and  born  at  Westminster  on  the  I2tb  of  November, 
1684.  His  father,  who  was  secretary  of  state  to  king  Wil- 
liam and  queen  Mary,  gave  him  a  good  education,  but 
never  intended  him  for  the  sea-service:  bur,  as  the  youth 
became  desirous  of  entering  on  that  employment,  bis  fa- 
ther at  last  consented,  and  he  pursued  those  studies  which 
had  a  relation  to  navigation  and  gunnery  with  surprising 
alacrity  and  success.     His  first  expedition  at  sea  was  under 

»  Ath.  Ox.  vol.  II. 

«  Biog.  Univ.  art.  Duverney.— £loy,  Diet  Hist,  iclc  Medccine. 


VERNON,  315 

mdmii^al  Hopson,  when  the  French  fleet  and  Spanish  gal- 
leons were  destroyed  at  Vigo.  In  1702^  he  senred  in  an 
expedition  to  the  West  Indies  under  commodore  Walker ; 
and,  in  1704,  on  board  the  fleet  commanded  by  sir  George 
Kooke,  which  conToyed  the  king  of  Spain  tp  Lisbon,  when 
Mr.  Vernon  received  a  hundred  guineas  and  a  ring  from 
that  monarch's  own  hand.  He  was  also  at  the  famous  bat- 
tle of  Malaga,  the  same  year.  In  January  1705,  he  waa 
appointed  commander  of  the  Dolphin  ;  and,  in  1707,  com- 
manded the  Royal  Oak;  one  of  the  ships  sent  to  convoy  the 
Lisbon  fleet,  which  falling  in  with  the  French,  tbr^e  of  our 
men  of  war  were  taken,  and  a  fourth  blown  up.  In  1708^ 
Mr.  Vernon  commanded  the  Jersey,  and  was  sent  to  the 
West  Indies  as  rear-admiral  under  sir  Charles  Wager, 
.where  he  took  many  valuable  prizes,  and  greatly  inter-> 
rupted  the  trade  of  the  enemy.  In  1715,  he  commanded 
the  Assistance,  a  ship  of  fifty  guns,  under  sir  John  Norris, 
in  an  expedition  to  the  Baltic;  and,  in  1726,  the  Grafton 
of  seventy  guns,  under  sir  Charles  Wager,  in  the  same  seas. 

On  the  accession  of  his  late  ma.jesty  George  II.  in  1727,  ^ 
Mr.  Vernon  was  chosen  member  for  Penryn,  in  Cornwall, 
and  soon  after  was  sent,- to  Gibraltar,  as  commander  of  the 
Gra&on,  to  join  sir  Charles  Wager.  The  next  expedition 
in  which  he  was  engaged  was  that  which  immortalized  his 
name.  This  was  in  1739  :  he  was  sWping  in  his  bed  at 
Chatham  when  the  courier  arrived  with  the  news  at  about 
two  in  the  morning ;  and,  being  informed  that  dispatches 
of  the  utmost  importance  were  arrived  from  London,  he 
arose.  On  opening  the  packet,  he  found  a  coounission  ap- 
pointing him  vice-admiral  of  the  blue,  and  commander  in 
chief  of  a  squadron  fitting  oat.  for  destroying  the  settie- 
.tyients  of  the  Spaniards  in  the  West  Indies,  with  a  letter 
from  bis  majesty,  requiring  his  immediate  attendance  on 
him.  Having  received  his  instructions,  he  weighed  anchor 
from  Spithead  on  the  23d  of  July ;  and,  on  the  20th  of  No<> 
yember,  arrived  in  sight  of  Porto  Bello,  with  only  six  ships 
under  bis  command.  The  next  day  he  began  the  attack 
of  that  town ;  When,  after .  a  furious  engagement  on  both 
sides,  it  was  taken  on  the  22nd,  together  with  a  considera- 
ble number  of  cannon,  mortars,  and  ammunition,  and  also 
.two  Spanish  men  of  war.  Ife  then  blew  up  the  fortifiea^ 
tions,  and  left  the  place  for  want  of  land  forces  sufficient 
to  keep  it;  but  first  distributed  10,000  dollars,  which  had 
been  sent  to  Porto-Bello  for  paying  the  Spanish  troops, 


316  VERNON. 

among  the  forces  for  their  encoarageoietit.  In  1741,  be 
made  an  unsuccessful  attempt  upon  Cartbagena  in  coii-*> 
junction  with  general  Wentwortb.  After  bis  return  b6me> 
the  rebellion  in  1745  breaking  out,  be  was  employed  in 
guarding  the  coasts  of  Kent  and  Sussex  ;  when  be  stationed 
a  squadron  of  men  of  war  in  so  happy  a  manner  as  to  block 
up  the  French  ports  in  the  channel.  But,  soon  after,  com* 
plaints  being  made  against  him  for  superseding  the  orders 
of  the  lords  of  the  admiralty,  in  appointing  a  gunner  in  op« 
position  to  one  recommended  by  themselves,  and  for  exact- 
ing too  severe  doty  from  bis  men,  be  was  struck  off  the  list 
of  admirals  ^  on  which  he  retired  from  all  public  business, 
except  attending  tbe  House  of  Commons  as  member-  for 
Ipswich  in  Suffolk.  He  died  suddenly  at  his  seat  at  Nactoa 
in  Suffolk,  on  the  29tb  of  October,  1757,  in  the  seventy^ 
third  year  of  bis  age. 

It  was  the  misfortune  of  this  brave  man,  that  too  much 
of  temper  and  political  ambition  made  his  life  turbulent 
and  unhappy.  '^  Of  all  men/*  says  tbe  candid  Charnock^ 
^  who  have  been  fortunate  enough  to  obtain  celebrity  as 
naval  commanders,  few  appear  to  have  taken  greater  pains 
to  sully  their  public  fame  by  giving  full  scope  to  all  their 
private  feelings ;  yet  probably,  for  this  very  uncommon 
reason,  he  rose  the  greater  favourite  of  fortune,  in  tbe 
miuds  of  the  people,  to  that  pinnacle  of  popularity,  tbe 
height  of  which  was  indeed  great  enough  to  dazzle  and  dis« 
tract  the  firmest  minds ;  so  that  to  tbe  infirnnity  of  human 
nature  may,  in  some  measure,  be  ascribed  that  extrava- 
gance of  conduct  which  might  otherwise  be  more  con- 
demned. To  say  he  was  a  brave,  a  gallant  mau,  woilldl  be 
i^  needless  repetition  of  what  no  person  has  ever  presumed 
to  deny  him.  His  judgment,  his  abilities  as  a  seaman,  ace 
unquestioned ;  and  bis  character,  as  a  man  of  strict  inte- 
grity and  honour,  perfectly  unsullied,  &c."  Admiral  Ver- 
non wrote  some  pamphlets  in  his  own  defence,  or  in  defence 
of  his  peculiar  opinions. ' 

VERNON  (Thomas),  a  learned  lawyer,  of  whom  our 
accounts  are  very  imperfect,  was  tbe  son  and  heir  of  Richard 
Vernon,  esq.  of  Henbory-ball,  Worcestershire,  and  made 
a  considerable 'figrore  in  tbe  reigns  of  queen  Anne  and 
George  I.     representing  the    borough  of  Whitechurcb, 

1  Cbaraock's  Biog.  Navalis.— A  Life  of  Admiral  Veraon  was  pablished  ia 
1758,  io  which  he  is  represented  as  a  profound  classical  sdmlarf 


VERNON.  M7 

Haoipsbire,  in  the  parliaments  called  in  1710,  1713,  1714,' 
and  1722.  He  had  been  secretary  to  the  unfortunate  duke 
of  MonoiDuth.  He  died  at  Tmckeaham-park,  August  22, 
1726,  .  Hi«  "  Law  Reports"  were  printed  by  order  of'  the 
court  of  chancery,  in  2  rols.  fol.  1726,  1728,  under  the 
title  of  the  "  Reports'*  of  Thomas  Vernon,  esq.  **  of  Casea 
argued'  and  adjusted  in'  the  high  court  ofchahceryj  fromf 
33  Car. 'II.  to  5  Geo.  I.*'  Among  Other  emirient  authorities; 
the  late  lord  Kenyon  took  occasion  to  observe,  that  it  had 
been  aa  hundred  and  an  hundred  times  lamented  that  Ver«' 
non^s  Reports  were  published  in  a  very  inaccurate  manner; 
there  were  some  private  rescsons,  said  his  lordship,  assigned' 
for  that,  which  he  would  not  mention.  Mr.  Vemon^s  notes 
were  t^en  for  his  own  use,  and  never  intended  for  publi-. 
eation;  He  was,  added  lord  Kenyon,  the  ablest  man  iir 
his  profession.  There  being  a  dispute  after  Mr.  Vernon's 
death,  whether  his  MSS.  should  go  to  his  heir-^t-law,  or 
pass  under  the  residuary  claruse  in  his  will  to  his  legal  per- 
sonal representatives,  the  court  of  chancery  made  an  order 
for  the  publication  of  them,  under  the  direction  of  Mr. 
Melmoth  and  Mr.  Peere  Williams,  btit  as  many  of  the 
cases  have  bleen  found  inaccurate,  and  to  consist  of  loose 
noteft  only,  John  Raithby,  esq.  has  lately  edited  and  re^ 
published  them  with  great  labour,  and  as  he  has  taken 
pains  to  examine  all  the  cases  with  the  register's  book,  they 
cannot  fail  to  be  an  acceptable  offering  to  the  profession. 
Mr.  Raitbby's  elaborate  edition  appeared  in  1806  and  18^7,* 
2  vols.  Svo.  * 

VERONESE,  PAUL.     See  CAGLIARL 
.  VERONESE.     See  GUARINO. 

VERSCHURING  (Henry),  a  Dutch  painter,  was  the 
son  of  a  captain,  and  bom  at  Gorcum  in  1727.  Having 
discovered  an  early  turn  for  designing,  his  father  placed 
him  at  eight  years  of  age  with  a  portrait-painter  at  Gor- 
eum,  bat  at  the  age  of  thirteen  be  left  this  master  to  learn 
the  greater  principles  of  his  art  at  Utrecht.  After  he  ha4 
continued  about  six  years  with  Both,  a  painter  of  good  re- 
putation there,  he  went  to  Rome,  where  he  frequented  the 
academies^  and  employed  himself  in  designing  after  th« 
best  models.  His  genius  leading  him  to  paint  animals, 
hunting,  and  buttles,  he  studied  evety  thing  that  might  be 
useful  to  him  in  those  ways«     He  also  designed  landscapes, 

1  NobU's  Cootioufttiott  of  Gf«nger.— Bridgnaa's  Leg«l  Bibliography. 


3.18  V  E  R  S  C  H  U  R  I  N  G. 

and  the  faoious 'buildings,  not  only  in  the  neighbourhood^ 
of  Rome,  but  all  over  Italy  ;  which  employment  gave  him- 
a  relish  for  architecture.  After  residing  ten  years  in  Italy, 
he  resolved  to  return  to  his  own  country.  He  pas9€ct 
through  Swttz^riapd  into  France;  and,  while  he  was  at 
Paris,  met  with  a  young  gentleman  who  was  goinf:to  make 
the  tour  of  Italy,  and  was  prevailed  on  to  accompany  bim, 
after  spending  three  years  more,  in  Italy,  he  came  back  to^ 
Holland,  arriving  at  Gorcum  in  1662.  His  taste  forbattle-. 
pieces  induced  him  to  make  a  campaign  in  1672,  in  the 
course  of  whiph  he  designed  ail  the  circumstauces  add  ac- 
companiments of  war.  His  genius  was  fruitful ;  there  was  a: 
great  deal  of  fire  in  his  imagination  and  in  bis*  works  )  and, 
as  he  bad  studied  much  after  nature,  he  fqrmed  ^  parti- 
cular taste  which  never  degenerated  into  what  is  called- 
manner,  but  comprehended  a  great  variety  of  objects-,  and- 
had  more  of  the  Roman  than  the  Flemish  in  it«  Such  was. 
the  pleasure  he  took  in  his  profession,  that  he  had  always 
a  crayon  in  his  hand;  and,  wherever  be. came,  designed- 
some  object  or  otbe^r  after  nature.  His  best  perfomances 
are  at  the  Hague,  Amsterdi3im,  and  Utrecht. 

He  was  a  map  of  so  excellent  a  character,,  that  he  was 
chosen  to  be  one  of  the  magistrates  of  the  city  he  lived  in; 
and  he  accepted  the  office,  with  the  condition  that  he 
should  not  be  obliged  tp  quit  his  profession.  He  was  in 
tlie  full  career  of  fame  and  esteem  both  as  a  man  and  an 
artist,  when,  happening  to  undertake  a  small  voyage,  he 
was  cast  away  two  leagues  from  Dort,  and  drowned  the  6tti. 
o^  April,  1C90,  aged  sixty- two.  * 

VERSTEGAN  (Richard),  principally  known  as  an  an* 
tiquary,  was  the  grandson  of  Richard  Roland  Verstegan, 
of  an  ancient  family  in  the  duchy  of  Guelderland,  who  being: 
driven  out  of  his  own  country  by  the  confusions  of  war, 
came  to  England  in  the  time  of  Henry  VII.  Here  he, 
married,  and  dying  soon  after,  left  an  infant  son,  who  was> 
afterwards  put  apprentice  to  a  cooper,  and  was  father  to 
the  subject  of  this  article.  Richard  was  born  in  St  Cathe- 
rine's parish,  near  the  Tower  of  London,  and  after  receiv- 
ing  the  rudiments  of  education,  was  sent  to  Oxford,  where, 
he  was  generally  called  Roland.  It  does  not  appear  what 
qollege  be  belonged  to,  or  whether  he  is  tp  be  considered 
as  a  regular  member  of  any,  but  he  seems  .to  have  diaitin* 

>  Argenville,  toI.  III.— Pilkiogton. 


V  E  R  S  T  E  G  A  N.  319 

gyished  himself  in  Saxon  literature,  then  vei'y  little  studied. 
He  was,  however,  a  zealous  Roman  catholic,  and  finding 
no  encouragement  in  bis  studies  without  taking  oaths  ad- 
verse to  his  principles,  be  quitted  the  university,  and  settled 
at  Antwerp,  and  practised  drawing  and  paintipgi     About 
1592  he  published  a  work,  now  very  rare,  entitled  "  Thea- 
tru|[|i  crudelitatum  Hs^reticorum  nostri  temporis,'Va  thin 
quarto,  with  curipys  cuts  representing  the  deaths  of  the 
Jesuits,  and  other  missionaries  who  were  hanged  or  other- 
wise  put  to  death  for  their  machinations  against  the  church 
and  state.    This  effort  of  zeal  does  not  appear  to  have  been 
in  all  respects  agree^^ble  to  some  of  his  own  party ;  and 
either  bis  fears  on  this  a<?coun.t,  or.  sobiie  other  causes,  in- 
duced him  to  leave  Antwerp  fpr  P^iris.     There  being  com- 
plaiped  of  by  the  English  ambassador  as  a  calumniator  of 
bis  royal  mistress,  be  was  thrown  into,  prison  by  the  French 
king^s  Qrders.  .  Hovv  long  he  was  confined  is  not  known, 
but  when  released  he  returned  to  Antwerp,  and  resumed  his 
studiei^,  which  produced  hi$  "  Restitution  of  decayed  An- 
tit^uiiies,"   1605,  4to,  several  times  reprinted,  a  work  of 
very  considerable  merit  and  judicious  research ;  but,  the 
principal  subjects  on  Englisli  antiquities  having  bdeo  since 
mpre  accurately  investigated  and  treated,  Verstegan's  worlc 
is  rather  a  curious  than  a  necessary  addition  to  the  his- 
torical library.     When  he  published  it  he  seems  to  have 
been  in  better  humour  with  England,  and  dedicated  it  very 
respectfully  to  James  I.     He  corresponded  much  with  sir 
Robert  Cotton,  and  other  antiquaries  of  the  time.     It. is 
UQcertain   when  he  died,  but  some  place  that  event  soon 
after  1634.     Verstegan  wrote  also>*  The  successive  regal 
Governments  of  England,"  Antwerp,  1620,  in   one  sheet, 
with  cuts ;  *^  A  Dialogue  on   Dying  well,"  a  translation 
from  the  Italian  ;  and  a  collection  of  very  indifferent  poetry, 
entitled  ^^Odes;    in   imitation  of  the   seven    penitential 
Psalmes.    With  sundry  other  poems  and  ditties,  tending  to 
devotion  and  pietie,"  imprinted   1601,   8vo,   probably  at 
Antwerp.  * 

VERT  (Claude  de),  a  celebrated  and  learned  monk  of 
Cluoi,  born  October  4,  1645,  at  Paris.  He  was  treasurer 
to  the  abbey  of  Cluni,  visitor  of  the  order,  and  vicar-ge^ 
neral,  in  1694.     in  1695  he  obtained   the  priory   of  St. 

*  Ath.  Ox.   Tol.  T. ;  one  of  the  most  confuserl  of  all  Anthony  Woo(]*s  lives. 
— 0odd's  Cb.  Hist— Biog.  6riU-'Cfnsui:a  Lit.  vol.  II, 


320  VERT. 

Peter^  at  Abbeville,  an4  died  there,  May  I,  1706.  Dd^ 
Vert  made  the  ceremonies  ol:  the  church  his  particuiaif 
study,  and  undertook  to  explain  them  both*  iit^lpaliy  aftd 
historicaily  in  the  4  vols.  8vo  (the  first  two  of  )  720,  and  3 
and  ^  of  1713)  which  be  has  left  an  that  subject)  .andenthe 
title  of  ^^  Explications  simples,  Utt^rtileset  bistoriqlies  des 
C6r6monies  de  la  Messe,^'  &c.  This  work  cbtitsihis  many 
curious,  and  to  those  of  his  own  persuasion,  toany^lnterest-' 
iug  particulars,  and  still  continues  to  be  esteemed.  He 
was  the  author  of  some  other  works  of  less  note.  ^ 

VERTOT  D'AuBCEUF  (Rene' Aubbrt  de),  a  very  pleas-- 
iiig  French  historian,  whose  principal  works  have  been 
ti^nslated  into  English,  was  born  at  the 'castte  of  Bennetot^ 
in  Normandy,  Nov.  25,  1655,  of  a  good  fiamily.  Such  was 
his  application  to  study,  that  in  his' sl^ vent eent^  year  bel 
maintained  bis  last  philosopbfca!  theses.  Much  against  his 
father's  will  he  entered  among  the  Capuchins,  and  took 
the  name  of  brother  Zachary,  but  the  austerities  of  this 
order  proving  hurtful  to  his  health,  he  was  induced  to 
exchange  it  for  one  of  milder  rules.  Accordingly,  in  1677, 
be  entered  among  the  Premonstratenses,  Where  he  became 
successively  secretary  to  the  general  of  the  order,  curate, 
and  at  length  prior*  of  the  monastery.  But  with  this  he 
does  not  appear  to  have  been  satisfied,  and  after  some 
other  changes  of  situation,  became  a  secular  ecclesiastic. 
In  1701  he  came  to  Paris  in  that  character^  and  was  in 
1705  made  an  associate  of  the  academy  of  belles  lettres. 
His  talents  soon  procured  him  great  patronage.  He  jiras 
appointed  secretary  of  commands  to  the  duchess  of  Orleans 
Bade-Baden,  and  secretary  of  iangifages  to  the .  duke  of 
Orleans.  In. 1715  the  grand-master  of  Malta  appointed 
him  historiographer  to  that  order,  with  all  its  privileges!, 
and  the  honour  of  wearing  the  cross.  He  was  afteryirards 
appointed  to  the  commandery  of  Santery,  and  would,  but 
for  some  particular  reasons,  not  specifi:ed,  have  been  in« 
trusted  with  the  education  of  Louis  XV.  His  last  years 
were  passed  in  much  bodily  in6rmity,  from  which  he  was 
released  June  15,  1735.  His  literary  career  has  in  it  some- 
what remarkable.  He  was  bordering  on  his  forty-fifth  yeai^ 
when  be  wrote  his  first  history,  and  had  passed  his  severi* 
tieth  when  be  bad  finished  the  last,  that  of  Malta.  He' 
lived  nine  years  afterwards,  but  under  extreme  languor  of 


< 


*  Moreri.— Diet.  Hist 


( 


V  E  R  T  XJ  T.  31^1 

body  and  mind.  During  this,  when,  from  tbe  force  gf 
habit,'  be  talked  of  new  projects,  of  the  revolutions  of  Car- 
thage, and  tbe  history  of  Poland,  and  bis  friends  would 
represent  to  him  that  be  was  now  incapable  both  of  reading 
or  writing,  his  answejr  was,  that  he  had  read  enqugh  to 
eompose  by  mempry,  and  written  enough  to  dictate  with 
fluency.  The  French  regard  him  as  their  Quintus  Cur- 
tius.  His  style  is  pleasing,  lively,  and  elegant,  and  his 
reflections  ahvays  just,  and  often  profound.  But  he  yielded 
too  much  to  imagination,  wrote  much  from  memory,  which 
w^  not  always  sufiicien^ly  retentive,  and  is  often  wrong  in 
facts,  frum  dechning  the  labour  of  researi  h,  and  despising 
the  fa!>tidiousn<^s«i  ot  accuracy.  His  works,  which  it  is  un- 
necessary to  characterise  separately,  as  they  have  been  so 
Jong  betore  both  the  French  and  English  public,  are,  1. 
Z' Histoiredes  Revolutions de  Portugal,"  Paris,  i6$9,  12roo. 
2.  "  Histoire  des  Revolutions  de  Suede,"  1696,  2  vols. 
.12mo.  3. '*  Histoire  des  Revolutions  Romaines,"  3  vols. 
12mo.  4.  ^'  nistoire  de  Make,"  1727,  4  vy^ls.  4to,  and  7 
vols.  12mo.  5.  "Trait6  de  la  mouvance  de  Bretagne.'* 
6.  ^^  Histoire  critique  de  Petablissment  cles.  Bretons  dans 
les  Gaules,"  2  vols.  l2mo,  a  posthumous  work,  1743.  He 
wrote  also  some  dissertations  in  the  Memoirs  of  the  Aca- 
demy of  Belies  Lettres,  and  corresponded  much  with  the 
literati  of  his  time  on  subjects  of  history,  particularly  with 
earl  Stanhope,  on  tbe  senate  of  ancient  Rome.  His  and 
lord  Stanhope's  Inquiry  on  this  subject  were  published  by 
Hooke,  the  Roman  historian,  in  1757,  or  1758.' 

VERTUE  (George),  an  eminent  engraver  and  anti- 
quary, was  born  in  the  parish  of  St  Martin's-in-the-6elds, 
London,  in  16S4.  His  parents,  he  says  himself,  were 
more  honest  than  opulent;  but,  according  .to  his  biogra- 
pher, '^  if  vanity  had  entered  into  his  composition,  he  might 
have  boasted  the  antiquity  of  his  race :  two  of  his  nam6 
were  employed  by  Henry  VIH.  in  the  board  of  works.'* 
He  might  have  added,  that  in  Ashmole*s  ^^  History  of  the 
Order  of  tbe  Garter,"  p.  136,  a  William  Vertue  is  men- 
tioned, as  free-mason,  21  Henry  VII.  and  one  of  the  ar- 
chitects of  the  royal  chapel  of  St.  George,  at  Windsor. 
About  the  age  of  thirteen  Vertue  was  placed  with  a  master 
who  engraved  arms  on  plate,  and  had  the  chief  business  of 
London  ;  but  who,  being  extravagant,  broke*  and  returned 

1  Mos^u^Ditit.  Hist.— Biog.  GalUca. 

Vol.  XXX.  Y 


S22  V  E  R  T  U  K. 

to  his  country,  France,  after  Vertue  had  served  him  beiweea 
three  and  four  years.  Vertue  then  studied  drawing  for 
two  years,  after  which  he  entered  into  an  agreement  with 
Michael  Vandergutch  for  three  more,  which  term  he  pro- 
tracted to  seven,  engraving  copper-opiates  for  him.  Hav- 
ing in  1709  received  instructions  and  advice  from  several 
painters,  he  quitted  his  master  on  handsome  terms,  and 
began  to  work  for  himself,  and  employed  his  first  year  in 
drawing  and  engraving  for  books.  At  intervals  he  prac- 
tised drawing  and  music,  learned  French,  a  little  Italian^ 
and  Dutch,  and  was  able  to  read  all  that  was  written  in 
these  languages  on  his  art. 

About  this  time  he  acquired  the  notice  of  sir  Godfrey 
Knelier,  which  he  acknowledges  with  gratitude,  as  of  great 
-importance  to  him,  for  his  father  had  died  and  left  a  widow 
and  several  children  to  be  supported  by  his  labours.  His 
words  on  this  occasion  do  him  honour  :  **  I  was  the  eldest, 
and  then  the  only  one  that  could  help  them  ;  which  added 
circumspection  to  my  affairs  then,  as  well  as  industry  to 
the  end  of  my  life.^*  When  bis  works  began  to  attract  at- 
tention he  found  other  patrons.  Lord  Somers  employed 
him  to  engrave  a  plate  of  archbishop  Tillotson,  and  re- 
warded him  nobly.  This  print  was  the  ground-work  of  his 
reputation  ;  nothing  like  it  had  appeared  for  some  years, 
nor  at  the  hour  of  its  production  had  he  any  competitors. 

In  1711  an  academy  of  painting  was  instituted  by  sir 
Godfrey  Knelier,  where  Vertue  continued  to  draw  for 
some  years  with  great  assiduity.  Soon  after  the  accession 
of  the  present  royal  family,  be  published  a  large  portrait 
of  king  George  I.  from  a  picture  by  Knelier.  As  it  was 
the  first  portrait  of  that  monarch,  many  thousands  were 
soldp  though  by  no  means  a  laborious  or  valuable  perform- 
ance. However,  it  was  shewn  at  court,  and  was  followed 
by  his  undertaking  to  engrave  portraits  of  the  prince  and 
princess. 

Vertue  had  now  commenced  those  biographical  and  anti- 
quarian researches,  in  which  he  has  been  so  eminently  suc- 
cessful. In  these  pursuits  he  made  many  journeys  to  dif- 
ferent parts  of  our  island,  and  his  time  was  industriously 
employed  in  making  drawings,  catalogues,  and  various  me- 
moranda. His  thirst  after  British  antiquities  soon  led  him 
to  a  congenial  Maecenas.  That  munificent  collector,  Ro^ 
bert  Harley,  second  earl  of  Oxford,  distinguished  the  me- 
rit and  application  of  Vertue;  and  the  iuvariable  gratitude 


V  E  R  T  U  E.  3X9 

•f  the  latter,  expressed  on  all  occasions^  attests  at  once 
^e  bounty  of  his  patron  and  his  own  fanmility.  Another, 
of  his  patrons  was  Heneage  Finch,  earl  of  Winchelsea^* 
whose  portrait  he  painted  and  engraved,  and  who,  b^ing 
president  of  the  society  of  antiquaries  on  its  revival  in  1 7 1 7, 
appointed  Vertue,  who  was  a  member,  engraver  to  that 
learned  body.  Henry  Hare,  the  last  lord  Coleraine,  was. 
also  one  of  his  antiquarian  benefactors,  and  the  university 
of  Oxford  employed  him  for  many  years  to  engrave  the 
head  pieces  for  their  almanacks. 

With  lord  Orford,  lord  Coleraine.,  and  Mr.  Stephens  the 
historiographer,  he  made  several  tours  to  various  parts  of 
England.  For  the  former  he  engraved  portraits  of  Mat- 
thew Prior,  sir  Hugh  Middleton,  and  other  distinguished 
men :  for  the  duke  of  Montague  he  engraved  sir  Ralph 
Windwood  ;  for  sir  Paul  Meihuen,  the  portraits  of  Cortez, 
and  archbishop  Warham  from  Holbein's  original  at.  Lam- 
beth^ and  for  lord  Burlington,  Zucchero^s  queen  Mary  of 
Scotland,  a  plate  which  evinces  more  felicity,  and  a  better 
taste  of  execution,  than  most  other  of  his  works.  In  1727 
he  travelled  with  lord  Oxford  to  Burleigh,  Lincoln,  WeU 
/beck,  Chatfiworth,  and  York,  at  which  latter  place  he  ob-* 
tained  from  Francis  Place  many  of  those  anecdotes  of 
Hollar  which  are  inserted  in  his  biography.  In  the  next 
year,  the  duke  of  Dorset  invited. him  to  Knowle.  From 
the  gallery  there,  he  copied  the  portraits  of  several  of  the 
poets,  but  he  was  disappointed  on  an  excursion  to  Penshurst^ 
at.  not  Ending  there  any  portrait  of  sir  Philip  Sidney. 

In  1730  appeared  his  twelve  heads  of  distinguished 
poets,  one  of  his  capital  works,  which  he  meant  to  have 
followed  with  the  portraits  of  other  eminent  men,  arranged 
in  classes,  but  this  scheme  was  taken  out  of  his  hands  by 
the  Messrs.  Knapton ;  and  there  is  reason  to  think  that 
Vertue^s  rigid  regard  for  veracity,  which  made  him  justly 
scrupulous  of  authenticating  the  likenesses  of  deceased 
characters  without  the  clearest  proofs,  and  not  the  supe« 
xior  taste  or  discernment  of  the  Knaptons,  made  them  en- 
gage the  superior  talents  of  Houbraken  and  Qravelot,  ta 
finish  a  work  which  our  artist  had  begun,  and  had  himself 
projected  • 

His  next  considerable  production  was,  the  portraits  of 
king  Charles  I.  and  the  loyal  sufferers  in  bi|  cause,  with 
their  characters  subjoined  from  Qlareiidon.  But  this  was 
a^jircely  finished,  before  B^pin^s  history  of  England  ap«» 

Y  2 


324  V  E*R  T  U  Bw 

f^eat-ed,  a  t^ork  which  had  a  prodigious  run,  insomuch  that 
it  became  all  the  conversation  of  the  town  and  coun^try,  and 
the  noise  hfein^^  heightened  byxjpposition  and  party,  it  was 
proposed  to  publish  it  in  folio  by  numbers,  of  which  thou- 
sands wtrc  sold  every  week.  The  Messrs.  Knapton  en- 
gaged Vertue  to  accompany  it  with  efBgies  of  the  kings 
and  ether  suitable  embellishments,  an  undertaking  which 
occupied  three  years  of  his  life.  He  presented  a  copy  of 
this  work,  when  finished,  richly  bound,  to  the  prince  of 
Wales,  at  Kensington* 

He  now  renewed  hi$  topographical  journeys,  accom- 
panied, sometimes  by  the  earl  of  Leicester,  sometimes  by 
}ord  Oxford,  and  sometimes  by  Roger  Gale  the  antiquary; 
and  between  1734 — 38,  visited  St.  Albans,  Northampton, 
Oxford,  Penshurst,  Warwick,  Coventry,  Stratford,  and  tra- 
velled through  the  counties  of  Kent,  Sussex,  and  Hamp- 
shire, where  he  made  various  sketches,  drawings,  and  notes, 
always  presenting  a  duplicate  of  his  observations  to  his  pa- 
tron lord  Oxford.  In  1739  he  travelled  eastward  with  lord 
Coieraine,  through  the  counties  of  Essex,  Suffolk,  and 
Norfolk,  stopping  as  usual  to  make  drawings  and  observa- 
tions at  every  memorable  church,  seat,  or  other- spot  con- 
genial to  his  pursuits.  In  1741  he  lost  hi?  noble  friend  and 
patron  the  earl  of  Oxford,  who  died  on  the  16th  of  June. 
But  bis  merit  and  modesty  still  raised  him  benefactors. 
The  countess  dowager  of  Oxford,  ev^n,  alleviated  his*l6ss, 
and  the  duchess  of  Portland  (their  daughter),  the  duke  of 
Ricbmofid,  and  lord  Burlington,  did  not  forget  him  among 
the  artists  whom  tbey  patronized. 

In  174^  be  found  a  yet  more'  exalted*  protector  in  the 
prince  of  Wales,  whom  he  often  had  the  honour  of  attend- 
ing, and  to  whom  he  sold  many  prints,  miniature  pictures, 
&c.  and  had  now  reason  to  flatter  himself  with  permanent 
fortune;  but  the  death  of  this  prince  suddenly  blasted  the 
hopes  of  Vertue,  and  affect<;d  him  with  considerable  de- 
jection of  spirits,  from  which  he  never  perfectly  recovered. 
He  died  in  1756,  and  was  buried  in  the  cloisters  of  West- 
minster-abbey. Lord  Orford  has  given  a  catalogue  of  bis 
engravings  (amounting  to  near  five  hundred!)  classed 
under  the  heads  of  Roj^al  Portraits,  Noblemen,  Bishops^ 
Poets,  Antiquaries,  Tombs,  Historic  Prints,  Coins,  Medats, 
Frontispiece^  &a  &c.  &c. 

Valuable  as  Vertue*s  engravings  are,  he  would  have  had 
more  admirers,  if  bis  style  had  been  more. spirited;  yet  the 


V  E  R  T  U  E.  3«5 

entiquary  and  the  historian  who  prefer  truth  to  elegance  of 
design,  and  correctness  to  bold  execution,  iiave  properly 
appreciated  his  works,  and  have  placed  biin,  in  point  of 
professional  industry  at  least,  next  to  his  predecessor  Ho]« 
far.  But  the  public  owe  another  obligation  to  Vertue. 
After  his  death  the  late  lord  Orford  purchased  the  manu^ 
script  notes  and  observations  which  he  had  put  down,  as 
materials  for  a  history  of  artists,  and  from  theoi  published 
that  very  useful  and  entertaining  work,  which  he  entitled 
**  Anecdotes  of  Painting  in  Englr  id  5  with  some  account 
ef  the  principal  Artists,  and  incidental  notes  on  other  Afts^ 
eollected  by  Mr.  George  Vertue,"  1762,  5  vols.  4to;  since 
republished  in  1782,  5  vols.  8vo.  "  Vertue,"  siys  Mn 
Walpole,  **  bad  for  several  years  been  collecting  materials 
for  a  work  '  upon  Painting  and  Painters  f  he  conversed 
and  corresponded  with  most  of  the  virtuosi  in  England  :  he 
was  personally  acquainted  with  the  oldest  performers  in  the 
science:  he  minuted  down  every  thing  he  beard  from 
them.  He  visited  every  collection  of  them,  attended  salea, 
copied  every  paper  he  could  find  relative  to  the  art, 
searched  offices,  registers  of  parishes,  and  registers  cf 
wills  for  births  and  deaths,  turned  over  all  our  own  authors, 
and  translated  those  of  other  countries  which  related  to  his 
subject.  He  wrote  down  every  thing  he  heard,  saw,  or 
read.  His  collections  amounted  to  near  forty  volumes, 
large  and  small.  In  one  of  his  pocket-books  I  foucrd  t 
note  of  hh  first  intention  of  compiling  sach  a  work  :  it  was 
in  1715,  and  he  continued  it  assiduously  to  his  death  in 
1757.  These  MSS.  I  bought  of  his  widow  after  his  de- 
cease.''  Vertue's  private  character,  it  must  not  be  omitted, 
was  of  the  most  amiable  kind  ;  friendly,  communicative, 
upright  in  all  his  dealings,  a  most  dutiful  son,  and  an  af« 
fectionatef  husband.  He  laboured  almost  to  the  last,  soli- 
citous to  leave  a  decent  competence  to  a  wife,  with  whom 
be  lived  many  years  in  tender  harmony,  and  who  died  in 
1776,  in  the  seventy-sixth  year  of  her  age.  He  had  a 
brother  James,  who  followed  the  same  profession  at  Bath, 
and  died  about  1765.^ 

YESALIUS  (Andrew),  a  celebrated  anatomist  and  phy- 
sician, was  descended  from  a  family  which  had  abounded 
with  physicians.    John   Vesalius,    his  great-grandfather, 

1  Wal pile's  Aiwcdotet.-^Niebols't  Bowyer,  where  are  many  \eWix9  to  aod 
firom  Venue,  which  present  his  characttur  and  induatry  in  a  ff  ry  pleasing  light. 


k26  V  £  l§  A  L  I  U  S. 

was  physician  to  Mary  of  Burgundy,  first  wife  of  Maximi- 
lian L  ;  and  went  and  settled  at  Louvain  when  he  wasold. 
Everard,  his  grandfather,  wrote  commentaries  upon  the 
books  of  Rhases,  and  upon  Hippocrates's  *^  Aphorisms :'' 
and  bis  father  Andrew  was  apothecary  to  the  emperop 
Charles  V.  Our  Vesalius  was  born  at  Brussels,  but  in 
what  year  seems  to  be  uncertain  ;  Vander-Linden  finding 
bis  birth  in  1514,  while  others  place  it  in  1512.  He  was 
instructed  in  the  languages  and  philosophy  at  Louvain, 
and  there  gave  early  tokens  of  his  love  for  anatomy^  and  of 
his  future  skill  in  the  knowledge  of  the  human  body ;  for, 
he  was  often  amusing  himself  with  dissecting  rats,  moles, 
dogs,  and  cats,  and  with  inspecting  their  viscera. 

Afterwards  he  went  to  Paris,  and  studied  physic  under 
James  Sylvius;  but  applied  himself  chiefly  to  anatomy, 
which  was  then  a  science  very  little  known.  For,  though 
dissections  bad  been  made  formerly,  yel  they  had  long 
been  discontinued  as  an  unlawful  and  impious  usage ;  and 
Charles  V,  had  a  consultation  of  divines  at  SalamancSj^  to 
know,  if,  in  good'  conscience,  a  human  body  might  be  dis-» 
'^ected  for  the  sake  of  comprehending  ics  structure.  He 
perfected  himself  in  this  science  very  early,  as  we  may 
know  from  his  work  *^  De  Humani  Corporis  Fabrica  f ^ 
which,  though  then  the  best  book  of  anatomy  in  the  world, 
and  what  justly  gave  him  the  title  of  *Uhe  Father  of  Ana-> 
tomy,"  was  yet  composed  by  him  at  eighteen  years  of  age* 
Afterwards  be  went  to  Louvain,  and  began  to  eommunin 
eate  the  knowledge  he  had  acquired :  then  he  travelled 
into  Italy,  read  lectures,  and  made  anatomical  demonstrar 
tions  at  Pisa,  Bologna,  and  several  other  cities  there. 
About  1537,  the  republic  of  Venice  made  him  professor 
in^the  university  of  Padua,  where  he  taught  anatomy  seven 
years,  and  was  the  first  anatomist  to  whom  a  salary  was 
given ;  and  Charles  V.  called  him  to  be  his  physician,  as 
be  was  also  to  Philip  II.  king  of  Spain.  He  acquired  a 
prodigious  reputation  at  those  courts  by  his  sagacity  and 
skill  in  his  profession,  of  which  Thuanus  has  recorded  this 
very  singular  proof.  He  tells  us,  that  Maximilian  d' Eg- 
mont,  count  of  Buren^  griind  general,  and  a  favourite  of  the 
emperor,  being  ill,  Vesalius  declared  to  him,  that  he  could 
not  recover ;  and  also  told  him,  that  he  could  nc^  hold  out 
beyond  such  a  day  and  hour.  The  count,  firmly  persuaded 
that  the  evetit  would  answer  the  prediction,  invited  aU  hi& 


V  E  S  A  L  I  U  S.  '  327 

Criends  to  a  grand  eQtertaioment  at  the  time ;  after'wliicb 
he  made  tbem  presents,  took  a  final  leave  of  them,  and 
then  expired  precisely  at  the  moment  Vesalius  had  menr 
tioned.  If  this  account  be  not  true,  it  shews  at  least  the 
▼ast  reputation  Vesalius  must  have  risen  to,  where  such 
stories  were  invented  to  do  him  honour. 

Vesalius  was  now  at  the  very  height  of  his  reputation, 
when  all  at  once  he  formed  a  design  of  making  a  journey 
to  Palestine.     Many  reasons  have  been  given,  and  more 
conjectures  formed,  about  his  motive  to  this  strange  ad- 
venture; yet  nothing  certain  appears  concerning  it.     Hu« 
bert  Languet,  in  a  letter  to  Gasparus  Peucerus,  gives  this 
account  of  the  affair:  ^^  Vesalius,  believing  a  young  Spa- 
nisb  nobleman,  whom  he  bad  attended,  to  be  dead,  ob- 
tained leave  of  his  parents  to  open  him,  for  the  sake  of  in- 
quiring into  the  real  cause  of  his  illness,  which  he  bad  not 
rightly  comprehended.     This  was  granted  ;  but  he  had  no 
sootier  made  an  incision  into  the  body,  than  he  perceived 
the  symptoms  of  life,  and,  opening  the  breast,  saw  the  heart 
beat.    The  parents,  coming  afterwards  to  the  knowledge  of 
tliis^  were  not  satisfied  with  prosecuting  him  for  murder, 
but  accused  him  of  impiety  to  the  inquisition,  in  hopes  that 
he  would  be  punished  with  greater  rigour  by  the  judges 
pf  that  tribunal  than  by  those  of  the  common  law.     But 
the  king  of  Spain  interposed,  and  saved  him ;  on  condi- 
tioo^  however,  that,  by  way  of'  atonement,  he  should  un- 
dertake a  pilgrimage  to  the  Holy  Land.''     Manget,  in  his 
^^  Bibliotheca  Medicorum,''  states  the  same ;  and  the  ac- 
count has   been  generally  adopted.     In  the  mean  time 
others  pretend,  that  be  undertook  this  journey  out  of  an 
insatiable  thirst  after  riches  :  but  this  is  a  more  improbable 
reason  than  the  former  ;  for,  how  was  a  journey  to  Jerusa- 
lem calculated  to  make  a  roan  rich  ?     Swenius  ascribes  it 
to  the  querulous  and  imperious  humour  of  his  wife,  which 
made  home  insupportable  to  him  :  and  Imperialis  informs 
us,  that  the  uneasiness  arising  from  the  cabals  of  envy, 
and  the  hatred  of  the  Galenists,  whose  master  and  doctrines 
he  censured  with  great  freedom,  without  allowing  any  thing 
to  inveterate  prejudices,  so  disgusted  him  with  his  present 
situation,  and  perhaps  hurt  him  with  his  prince,  that,  in  order 
to  withdraw  from  coui:t  with  the  best  grace  he  could,  he 
formed  this  extraordinary  resolution.     But,  whatever  was 
the  motive,  he  set  out  with  De  Rimini,  general  of  the  Ve- 
netian army,  Whom  he  accompanied  to  Cyprus;  whence 


528  V  E  S  A  L  I  U  S. 

he  passed  to  Jerusalem.  He  was  returning,  at  tbe  invila- 
tion  of  tbe  senate  of  Venice,  to  611  the  physic-cfaair  at  Pa- 
dua, become  vacant  in  1563  by  the  death  of  Fallopius;  bat, 
being  shipwrecked  and  thrown  upon  the  island  of  Zante, 
perished  miserably,  Oct.  1564.  His  body  was  afterwards 
found,  and  buried  in  the  church  of  St.  Mary  in  that  island. 

He  was  the  author  of  several  medical  works  ;  the  chief 
of  which  is  his  **  De  Humani  Corporis  Fabric^'  published 
in  1543,  a  work  which  occupies  a  most  conspicuous  place 
in  the  annals  of  science,  which  freed  medicine  from  the 
trammels  Of  authority,  laid  the  foundation  of  genunie  ana- 
tomy, and  even  contained  a  bold  and  pretty  full  outline  of 
the  science.  This  work  exhibited  a  regular  and  minute 
description  of  the  human  body,  illustrated  by  excellent 
engravings,  and  a  resolute  exposure  of  the  mistakes  of  Ga« 
Jen,  whose  ignorance  Vesalius  is  at  great  pains  to  poiiu 
out.  He  has  therefore  been  justly  considered  as  tbe 
restorer  of  anatomy,  in  which  he  was  indeed  profoundly 
skilled.  Thuanus  relates  a  singular  proof  he  gave  of  bis 
exact  knowledge  of  the  human  body  while  be  was  at  Paris  ; 
where,  with  his  eyes  bound,  he  undertook  to  mention  any 
the  least  bone  that  should  be  put  into  his  hands,  defying 
them  to  impose  upon  him ;  and  actually  performed  what 
he  undertook.  Being  at  Basil  in  1542,  he  presented  the 
university  there  with  a  human  skeleton  which  be  had  pre- 
pared himself,  and  which  is  still  in  the  lecture-room  there, 
with  a  long  inscription  over  it.  The  whole  of  bis  works 
were  published  by  Boerhaave  and  Albinus  at  Ley  den, 
1725,  2  vols.  fol.  * 

VESLING  (John),  an  able  anatomist,  was  born  in  1598,^ 
at  Minden,  in  Westphalia^  and  studied  the  classics,  philo- 
sophy, and  medicine,  at  Viemia.  After  he  had  applied  to 
tbe  latter  for  some  time,  he  undertook  a  voyage  to  the  Levant, 
in  pursuit  of  natural  history,  remained  a  considerable  time 
at  JSgyptj  and  finished  by  going  to  Jerusalem,  where  be  was 
made  a  knight  of  the  holy  sepulchre.  He  tiien  returned  ^o 
Venice-,  and  in  1608  gave  private  lectures  on  anatomy  and 
botany,  with  ^uch  success  that  the  regular  professors  were 
soon  deserted.  Tbe  republic,  sensible  of  tbe  services  of  so 
able  a  man,  made  him,  in  1632,  first  professor  pf  anatomy 
at  Padua,  a  chair  which  itas  then  vacant,  and  which  h6 
filled  with  increasing  reputation,  although  he  wds  a  little 

s  Slo^,  Diet,  ilist  de  Medeeine.-*«-Manget.«-Ball€r,  He 


V  E  S  LIN  G.  329 

deaf,  aad  had  impediments  of  speech  which  rendered  him 
rather  dilBcult  to  be  understood.  But  these  defects  were 
soon  overlooked,  and  he  was  also  appointed  to  lecture  on 
surgery  and  botany,  until  finding  so  many  labours  too 
much  for  his  health,  he  obtained  leave,  in  163S,  to  con- 
fine himself  to  surgery  and  botany  only,  with,  the  care  of 
the  botanic  garden.  Here  he  was  in  his  element,  for  bo- 
tany had  always  been  his  favourite  study ;  and  in  order  to 
render  the  garden  at  Padua  the  best  in  £urope,  he  soli- 
cited permission  to  pay  another  visit  to  the  Levant,  in  1 648, 
The  fatigues  of  this  voyage,  however,  undermined  his  con- 
stitution, and  soon  after  his  return  he  died,  Aug.  30,  1649. 
His  works,  all  of  which  were  esteemed  valuable,  are,  1. 
*'  Observationes  et  notee  ad  Prosperi  Alpini  librum  de 
plantis  iSgyptii,  cum  additamentis  aliarum  plantarum  ejus- 
'  dem  regionis,"  Padtia,  1638,  4to.  Of  this  work,  Ray  availetl 
himself.  2,  **  Syntagma  Anatomicum,"  his  principal  work, 
of  which  there  have  been  many  editions,  the  best  by  Bla- 
sius,  at  Utrecht,  1696,  4to.  It  was  also  translated  into 
Dutch  and  German,  and  into  English  by  Culpepper,  1653, 
fol.  3.  **  Caialogus  plantarum  horti  Patavini,"  Padaa,  1 642, 
]2mo,  reprinted  with  additions  in  1644.  4.  **  Opobalsami 
veteribus  cogniti  vindiciae,"  ibid.  1644,  8vo.  5.  "A  very 
curious  work,  compiled  from  his  MSS.  after  his  death,  "  De 
pullitione  iEgyptiorum,  et  aliae  Observationes  Anatomical, 
et  EpistolsB  medicse  posthumse,"  Hafniae,  (Copenhagen), 
1664,  8vo.  * 

VESPUTIUS  (Americus),  or  Amerigo  Vespucci,  a 
navigator  from>vhose  name  the  largest  quarter  of  the  woHd 
has  very  unjustly  been  named,  was  born  at  Florence,  March 
9,  1451,  of  a  distinguished  family,  and  educated  by.  an 
uncle,  a  man  of  learning,  who  had  the  care  of  the  educa- 
tion of  the  Florentine  nobility.  Vespucci  made  great  pro- 
gress in  natural  philosophy,  astronomy,  and  cosmography, 
the  principal  branches  in  which  the  Florentiive  nobility 
were  instructed,  because  being  for  the  most  part  destined 
for  commerce,  it  w^s  necessary  they  should  become  ac-s 
quainted  with  the  sciences  connected  with  navigation. 
Commerce  had  been  the  foundation  of  the  grandeur  and 
prosperity  of  the  republic,  and  as  each  family  educated  some 
member  who  was  to  serve  his  country  in  that  pursuit,  that 
of  Vespucci  chose  Amerigo,  or  Americus,  to  follow  the  ex^ 
ample  of  their  ancestors  in  this  respect.     Accordingly  ha 

1  Hlox,  Diftt  HisW  dc  Medidnf. 


35a  *  V  E  S  P  U  T  I  U  S- 

left  Florence  in  1490,  and  went  to  Spain,  to  be  initiated  iii 
mercantile  life.  He  is  said  to  have  been  at  Seville  in  1492, 
vrhen  Columbus  was  preparing  for  a  new  iK)yage9  and  the 
rage  for  new  discoveries  was  at  its  height.  The  success  of 
that  celebrated  navigator  raised  this  passion  in  Americns, 
who. determined  to  give  up  the  pursuit  of  trade,  in  order  to 
go  and  reconnoitre  the  new  world,  of  whose  existence 
£urope  had  just  heard.  * 

With  this  design  he  began  his  first  voyage  on  May  10^ 
1497,  leaving  Cadiz  with  five  ships  under  the  command  of 
Ojeda.     This  fleet  sailed  towards  the  Fortunate  islands, 
and  keeping  a  Western  course,  reached  the-  continent  of 
America,  in  thirty-seven  days.     They  visited  the  gulph  of 
Paria,  and  the  island  of  St.  Marguerite,  and  sailed  along 
the  coast  for  four  hundred  leagues.     After  a  voyage  of 
thirteen  months,  they  returned  to  Cadiz,  Nov.  15,  1498. 
Americus,  who  by  his  skill  in  navigation  had  very  much 
Contributed  to  the  success  of  this  expedition,  was  extremely 
well  received  at  the  court  of  Seville.    In  the  month  of  May 
14d9,  he  left  Cadiz  for  Cape  de  Verd,  passed  the  Canaries 
within  sight,  and  in  forty *four  days,  after  his  departure, 
reached  an  unknown  land,  situated  under  the  torrid  zone,, 
which  was  the  continuation  of  that  which  he  had  discovered 
in  his  first  voyage.    After  sailing  for  some  time  along  the 
coast,  he  returned  to  the  Spanish  island  of  St.  Domingo, 
where  Ojeda  had  some  disputes  with  the  Europeans,  who 
six  years. before  had  come  there  with  Columbus.    The  fieet 
now  directed  its  course  northwards,  and  discovered  several 
islands,  the  number  of  which,  Americus  says,  amounted  to 
a  thousand,  a  calculation  which  his  panegyrist  contents 
himself  with  considering  as  a  poetical  exaggeration.  Ojeda 
intended  to  have  continued  this  route,  but  the  complaints 
of  the  crew  obliged  him  to  return  to  Europe.     On  the  ar- 
rival of  his  fieet,  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  to  whom  Ame- 
ricus  presented  various  productions  of  the  new  world,  re- 
ceived him  in  the  most  flattering  manner ;  and  when  his 
discoveries  reached  theeai'sof  the  Florentines,  they  rejoiced 
in  having  produced  so  great  a  man.     Seduced,  however, 
by  the  promises  of  Emanuel,  king  of  Portugal,  Anoericus 
quitted  the  service  of  Spain,  and  set  sail  from  Lisbon,  May 
10,  1501,  with  three  Portuguese  ships.     In  this  fleet  he 
arrived  at  Cape   St.  Augustine,  and  coasted  almost  the 
whole  of  Brazil  to  Patagonia,  but  a  succession  of  tempes* 
liious  weather  forced  him  to  return  to  Portugal,  where  h« 


V  E  S  P  U  T  I  U  S.  381 

arrived  Dec.  7,  1502.  The  king,  very  mach  pleased  with 
this  voyage,  wished  Americus  to  undertake  another ;  and 
for.  the  fourth  time,  this  Florentine  navigator  embarked 
with  a  fleet  of  six  ships,  May  10,  1505,  with  the  hope  of 
discovering,  by  the  West,  a  new  way  to  Malacca ;  but  thi« 
expedition  was  less  successful  than  the  preceding.  After 
losing  one  of  the  vessels,,  and  encountering  the  greatest 
dangers,  they  gained  the  bay  of  All  Saints,  Brazil,  and 
Ibst  no  time  in  returning  to  Europe. 

Americus  remained  in  Portugal  until  1506,  the  time  of 
Columbus^s  death,  when  the  Spanish  court  wishing  to  re- 
pair the  loss  occasioned  by  that  event,  recalled  Americas 
into  their  service,  who  again  sailed,  in  1507,  in  a  Spanish 
fleet,  with  the  title  of  6rst  pilot,  and  it  was  during  thi& 
voyage  that  the  new  world  took  its  name  from  him.  Thus, 
aays  the  abb6  Raynal,  the  moment  America  became  known 
from  the  rest  of  the  world,  it  was  distinguished  by  an  act 
of  injustice.'  Americus  lived  a  considerable  time  after* 
wards  to  enjoy  this  usurped  honour,  and  is  said  to  have 
often  visited  the  continent  which  bore  his  name.  He  died 
in  1515,  at  which  time  he  was  again  in  the  service  of  Por- 
tugal. Emanuel,  in  order  to  do  honour  to  bis  memory^ 
caused  the  remains  of  his  ship  to  be  deposited  in  the  cathe- 
dral of  Lisbon,  and  Florence  bestowed  honours  on  his  family. 

In  1745,  Bandini  published  in  4to,  <*  Vitta  e  Lettere  di 
Amerigo  Vespucci,  &c."  a  continued  panegyric  on  the  Flo- 
rentine adventurer,  to  whom  he  does  not  hesitate  to  attribute 
the  discovery  of  America.  According^  indeed,  to  the  dates 
which  he  gives  of  the  first  two  voyages  of  Americus,  and 
which  we  have  followed  in  the  preceding  account,  it  would 
appear  that  he  bad  the  priority  in  the  discovery  ;  but  the 
Spanish  writers  have  proved  that  the  dates  of  those  voyages 
-are  fictitious,  and  that  the  first,  if  it  ever  took  place  at  all, 
must  have  been  in  1499  instead  of  1497.  It  seems  also 
generally  agreed  that  Americus  never  had  the  command  in 
any  expedition,  that  he  acted  only  as  geographer  or  pilot, 
and  that  he  never  undertook  any  of  his  voyages  until  after 
the  return  of  Columbus.  By  some  unaccountable  caprice^ 
however,  America  was  at  first,  and  is  still,  called  by  his 
name,  and  succeeding  ages,  although  they  may  regret^ 
cannot 'Correct  the  error. 

Americuif  left  a  journal  of  his  four  voyages,  which  was 
printed  in  Latin  at  Paris  in  1532,  and  at  Bale  in  1555,  but 
(here  are  Italic  and  French  translations  of  the  earlier  dates 


3S2  V  E  S  P  U  T  I  U  S. 

of  1519  and  1516.     Some  of  his  lettertS  \tere  printed  in  a 
'   thin  4to,  of  22  pages,  at  Florence  in  1516,  which  are  ad* 
dressed  to  Soderini  and  Lorenzo  de  Medici,  and  are  said 
to  discover  a  very  superior  knowledge  of  navigation.^ 

VETTORE.     See  VICTORIUS. 

VEYTH.     See  VYTH. 

VICARS  (John),  an  extraordinary  enthusiast  in  the  se- 
venteenth century,  was  born  in  London  in  1582,  descended 
fron)  the  family  of  Vicars  in  Cumberland.  He  was  edu- 
cated in  Christ^s  hospital,  London,  and  afterwards  was  a 
member  of  Queen*s  college,  Oxford,  but  whether  he  took 
his  degrees,  Wood  has  npt  discovered.  After  leaving  col- 
lege he  went  to  London,  and  becaoie  usher  of  Christ's  hos« 
pital,  which  place  he  held  till  towards  the  close  of  his  life. 
It  does  not  appear  that  he  was  a  preacher,  although  most 
of  his  writincrs  concern  the  religrious  controversies  of  the 
times  Upon  the  commencement  of  the  rebellion,  ^*  be 
showed  bis  great  forwardness,**  says  Wood,  **  for  presby- 
terianism,  hated  all  people  that  loved  obedience,  and  af- 
frighted many  of  the  weaker  sort,  and  others,  from  having 
any  agreement  with  the  king's  party,  by  continually  incul- 
cating into  their  beads  strange  stories  of  God's  wrath  against 
the  cavaliers.  Afterwards,  when  the  independents  became 
predominant,,  be  manifested  great  enmity  against  them, 
especially  after  the  king's  death."  Foulis,  in  his  "  History 
of  Plots,"  says  that  ^^  he  could  out-scold  the  boldest  face 
in  Billingsgate,  especially  if  kings,  bishops,  organs,  or 
maypoles,  were  to  be  the  objects  of  his  zealous  indigna- 
tion." This  indeed  is  a  pretty  just  character  of  John  Vi- 
ears's  writings,  which  form  a  store-house  of  the  abusive 
epithets  and  gross  personal  reflections  which  passed  be- 
tween the  lower  order  of  sectaries  in  that  period  of  confu- 
sion. The  title  of  his  work  against  John  Goodwin,  will  af- 
ford a  good  specimen  of  John's  language.  This  was  pub- 
lished in  1648,  "  Coleman-street  Conclave  visited  ;  and- 
that  grand  impostor,  the  schismatics'  cheater-in-chief  (who 
hath  long  slily  lurked  therein)  truly  and  duly  discovered ; 
containing  a  most  palpable  and  plain  display  of  Mr.  John 
Goodwin's  self-^conviction  (under  his  own  hand-Writing), 
and  of  the  notorious  heresies,  efrors,  malice,  pride,  and 
hypocrisy,  of  this  most  huge  Garagantua  in  falsely  pre- 
tended piety,  to  the  lamentable  misleadivig  of  his  too  cfe- 

^  Biof.  Ud'it.  art.  Amerifo. 


k 


VICARS.  333 

diilous  soul-murdered  proselytes  of  Colemair-street,  and 
elsewhere  }  collected  principally  out  of  bis  own  big-brag* 
gadpchio  wave-like  swelling  and  swaggering  writings,  full 
fraught  with  six^footed  terms,  and  Be^hlie  rhetorical  phrases; 
far  more  than  solid  and  sacred  truths,  and  may  6tly  serve 
(if  ft  be  the  Lord's  will)  like  Belshazzar's  band-writing  on 
the  wall  of  bis  conscience,  to  strike  terror  and  shame  into 
bijs  own  soul  and  shameless  face,  and  to  undeceive  his  most 
raiserably  cheated,  and  ii\chanted  or  be-witched  followers." 
This  is  accompanied  by  a  portrait  of  Goodwin  (the  only  one 
inentioned  by  Granger,  and  of  course  in  great  request) 
with  a  windmill  over  his  head,  and  a  we^^ther*cock  upon  it; 
the  devil  is  represented  blowing  the  sails;  and  there  are 
other  emblems,  significant  of  Goodwin's 'fickleness.  Vicars 
died  Aug.  12,  1652,  in  the  seventy-second  year  of  his  age» 
and  was  buried  in  Christ  church,  Newgate-street.  Wood 
bas  given  a  libt  oS  sixteen  of  his  writings,  the  most  curious 
of  which  is  his  "  Parliamentary  Chronicle."  This  is  still 
esteemed  useful,  and  being  scarce,  is  generally  sold  at. a 
very  high  price.  It  was  printed  at  different  times  undeir 
the  following  titles:  1.  ^^  God  in  the  Mount;  or  England's 
Kemembrancer,  being  the  first  and  second  part  of  a  Par- 
liamentary Chronicle,"  1644,  4to.  2.  "  God's  Arke  over- 
topping the  World's  waves ;  or,  a  third  part  of  a  Parlia- 
mentary Chronicle,"  1646.  3.  "  The  Burning-bush  not 
consumed  ;  or  the  fourth  and  last  part  of  a  Parliamentary 
Chronicle,'*  1646.  These  were  then  published  together, 
under  the  title  of  ^^  Magnalia  Dei  Anglicana,  or,  England's 
Parliamentary  Chronicle,"  1646.  Vicars  was  also  a  poet, 
and  in  the  **  Censura  Literaria,"  we  have  an  account  and 
specimen  of  a  work  of  this  kind  entitled  '^Mischief's  Mys« 
terie;  or,  Treason's  Master- piece;  the  powder-plot,  in- 
vented by  hellish  malice  ;  prevented  by  heavenly  mercy  ; 
truly  related,  and  from  the  Latin  of  the  learned  and  re- 
verend Dr.  Herring,  translated,  and  very  much  dilated  by 
John  Vicars,"  1617.  At  the  end  of  this  are  some  smaller 
poems.* 

VIGARY  (Thomas),  of  whose  personal  history  we  have 
no  account,  deserves  some  notice,  as  the  first  anatomical 
writer  in  the  English  language.  He  was  a  citizen  of  Lon- 
don, Serjeant- surgeon  to  Henry  VIIL  Edward  VL  Mary  L 
and  Elisabeth  ;  and  chief  surgeon  of   St.  Bartholomew's 

*  Ath.  Ok.  vol.  H.— Cens.  Ltt.  toI.  I.  and  HI. 


t84  VICAR  T. 

Hospital.  His  book  is  entitled  ^^  A  Treasure  for  Eiiglisk* 
men ;  contayning  the  Anatomie  of  Man*s  Bodie,  1548';" 
or,  as  given  by  Ames,  ^^  A  profi talkie  Treatise  of  the  Ana- 
tomy of  Man^s  Body ;  compiled  by  T^  Vicary,  and  pub- 
lished by  the  Surgeons  of  St.  Bartholomew's  Hospitai,*^ 
1577,  ISmOy  and  in  1633  in  4to;  together  with  8ev«rie|i 
other  medical  and  chirurgical  tracts.  It  is  a  short  piece, 
designed  for  the  use  of  his  more  unlearned  brethren, 
and  taken  almost  entirely  froip  Galen  and  the  Ara*- 
bians.  Before  the  latter  editions  is  prefixed  a  rude  figure 
of  a  skeleton 

VICO,  vicUS,  orVIGHI  (Eneas),  a  skilful  medallist 
of  the  sixteenth  century,  was  born  at  Parma,  where,  hear- 
ing of  the  reputation  which  Marc  Antonio  Raimondi  had 
acquired  at  Rome  by  his  engravings,  he  went  to  that  city, 
and  becam^  his  pupil.  As  an  engraver,  Strutt  thinks  that 
Vico  was  a  man  of  abilities,  but  does  not  seem  to  have 
been  endowed  with  patience  enough  to  pay  sufficient  at- 
tention to  the  mechanical  part  of  the  execution  of  his 
plates.  He  could  draw  correctly,  but  seldom  exerted 
himself.  He  is  noticed  here,  however,  chiefly  for  his 
knowledge  of  medals.  lu  1548,  he  published  his  *^  Dis- 
courses on  the  Medals  of  the  Ancients,''  Venice,  4to,  suc- 
ceeded by  a  second  edition  in  1555.  This,  which  is  a  trea- 
tise of  very  considerable  intelligence  for  that  period,,  treats 
of  the  metals  employed  in  ancient  coinage ;  of  portraits  to 
be  found  on  coins ;  of  the  types  on  their  reverses ;'  of  their 
legends ;  of  medallions ;  of  false  medals,  and  rules  for  db*- 
cerning  them  ;  dates  of  history ;  forms  of  edifices ;  names 
of  magistrates,  &c.  This  he  dedicated  to  one  of  his  pa-, 
trons,  the  grand  duke  Cosmo,  himself  a  distinguished 
amateur. 

The  following  publications  of  his  are  also  in  great  re-» 
quest:  ^^Monomenta  aliquot  antiquorum  ex  gemmis  et 
cameis  iocisa,"  Rom.  foL  '*  Omnium  Csesaruoi  verissim£& 
imagines  ex  antiquis  numismatibus  .desumptae,"  154'4,  4to;. 
and  *'  Augustarum  imagines  formis  expressse,  vitBS  quo-_ 
que  earumdem  breviter  enarrat9,"  &c.  Venice,  1558,  4to, 
the  two  last  edited  by  P.  Manutius.  The  time  of  his  birth 
or  death  is  not  known.  * 

VICQ-D'AZIR  (Felix),  a  French  physician^  was  bom 
at  Valognes,  in  Normandy,  April  28,.  1748.     His  father 

I  Aikm*a  Biog.  Memoirs  of  Mediciae. 

'  Tiraboichi. — Diet.  Hist— Piokertoa't  Essay  on  Medals.' 


L 


V  I  C  QiD'AZ  I  R.  33» 

was  a  physician,  and  probably  inspired  him  with  a  love  for 
the  same  profession,  as  in  his  early  years  he  became  am- 
bitious of  a  name  in  the  medical  world*  At  the  age  of 
jseventeen  he  (^ame  to  Paris,  and  soon  was  distinguished 
for  some  essays  on  anatomy  and  physiology^  written  in  a 
pure  and  correct  style.  He  became  one  of  the  principal 
founders  of  the  medical  society  of  Paris,  and  it  was  long 
his  office  to  pronounce  the  eloges  of  deceased  men  of 
eminence  in  the  profession^  which  were  so  much  admired 
that,  in  1788,  the  French  academy  elected  him  a  member 
in  the  room  of  Buffon.  He  had  been  before  a  member  of 
the  academy  of  sciences.  He  was  in  the  height  of  fame 
and  usefulness  when  his  constitution,  which  had  long  suf- 
fered  by  a  weakness  of  the  chest,  became  sensibly  affected 
by  the  horrors  of  the  revolutionary  victims  daily  presented  to 
his  eyes.  He  died  June  20,  1794.  His  works,  including 
his  eloges,  were  collected  by  J.  L,  Moreau  de  la  Sarthe,  % 
physician,  and  published  in  6  vols.  8vo,  and  one  in  4to  of 
plates,  4804.  To  this  is  preBxed  a  life  of  Vicq-d*Azir, 
which  is  said  to  be  interesting ;  but  it  haa  not  fallen  in  oar 
wajr. ' 

VICTOR,  St.     See  AC  HARD. 

VICTOR  (Sextus  AuBELius),  a  Roman  historian,  lived 
in  the  fourth  century,  probably  in  the  reigns  of  Constautius 
and  Tbeodosius,  as  may  be  collected  from  some  dates  in  his. 
history.  He  was  the  son  of  very  obscure  parents,  and  had 
pot  the  benefit  of  education.  He  was  probably  a  native  of 
Africa,  as  he  makes  very  honourable  mention  of  that  couar 
try  in  his  writings,  calling  it  the  glory  otf  the  world.  In 
spite,  however,  of  the  meanness  of  his  extraction,  he  had 
talents  which  raised  him  to  the  highest  honours.  In  the 
year  361,  Julian  appointed  him  prefect  of  Pannonia ;  and^ 
as  a  recompense  of  his  services,  he  was  honoured  with  a ' 
statue  of  brass.  A  considerable  time  afterwards,  he  was 
prefect  of  Rome,  and  in  the  year  369  consul  with  Va<* 
leotinian.  He  obtained  this  last  dignity  probably  under  the 
reign  of  Tbeodosius ;  for  there  is  an  inscription  extant, 
which  Sextus  Aurelius  Victor,  prefect  of  the  city,  caused 
to  be  engraved  on  a  monument  in  honour  of  Tbeodosius. 
If  all  this  belongs  to  the  same  Sextus  Aurelius  Victor,  as 
js  not  unlikely,  he  filled,  under  various  emperors,  posts  of 
great  distinction,  and  appears  to  have  lived  till  towards  thf 
end  of  the  fourth  century. 

1^  Diet.  Hist. 


336  V  J  c  t  o  a- 

There  tre  some  works  extaot  uoder  bis  name ;  ).  '^Origo 
gentis  Romanse."  This  history  should  extend,  as  its  title 
imports,  from  the  uncertain  times  of  Janus  to  the  tenth  con* 
sulate  of  Constantius ;  but  what  remains  comes  no  lower 
down  than  the  first  year  from  the  foundation  of  Rome. 

2.  "De  viris  illustribus  urbis  Romoe."  This  was  often 
reprinted  in  the  sixteenth  centurj',  under  the  names  of  the 
younger  Pliny,  of  Suetoniiis,  or  Emilius  Probus.  It  has 
also  been  attributed  to  Cornelius  Nepos.  The  series  of  il- 
lustrious men  begins  with  Phocas,  and  ends  with  Pompey. 

3.  '*De  Csesaribus  historia,  ab  AugU8to  Octavio,  id  est,  a  fitie 
Titi  Livii  usque  ad  toosulatum  deoimum  Constantii  Au- 
gust! et  Juliani  Cspsaris  teriiuin."  4.  "  De  vita  et  mori- 
bus  imperatorum  lioroanorum  ex(;erpta,  e  Csesare  Augusto 
usque  ad  Fheodosium  imperatorem.'*  The  third  of  these 
works,  *'  De  Csesaribus  historia,'*  is,  perhaps,  the  otily 
one  that  can  be  ascribed  with  certainty  to  Aurelius.  The 
first  edition  of  Aurelius  Victoi^  was  printed  at  Antwerp, 
1579,  8vo,  with  notes  by  SchottHis,  who  was  the  first  re- 
storer of  the  text.  The  other  good  editions  are  the  "Vari- 
orum,'' by  Pitiscus,  1696,  8vo;  that  by  Arntzenius,  Amst. 
1733,  4to;  by  Gruner,  1757,  8vo;  and  the  Bipont. 
1789.* 

VICTORIUS,  orVETTORI  (Peter),  an  eminent  Ita- 
lian  scholar,  was  born  at  Florence,  in  tjie  month  of  July, 
149d.  In  very  early  life  he  began  his  studies  in  philoso- 
phy, mathematics,  jurisprudence,  and  particularly  Greek 
and  Latin.  In  1522,  he  went  to  Spain  with  Paul  V^ttorij 
^  relation,  who  was  general  of  the  gallies,  and- appointed  to 
accompany  the  new  pope,  Adrian  VI.  into  Italy.  Our 
author  stopt  at  Catalonia,  and  travelled  over  that  and  the 
neighbouring  parts  in  quest  of  the  remains  of  Roman  anti- 
quities, of  which  he  took  copies.  He  also  afterwards  con- 
tinued this  research  at  Rome,  when  he  went  there  to  con- 
gratulate Clement  VII.  on  his  accession  to  the  popedom. 
This  pope  had  been  a  nobleman  of  Florence,  and  of  bis 
own  standing.  When  the  revolt  took  place  at  Florence 
Vettori  sided  with  the  republican  party,  and,  during  the 
prevalence  of  the  Medici  family,  retired  to  the  country, 
and  devoted  himself  to  study,  with  the  firm  resolution  to 
meddle  no  more  with  public  affairs.  When  the  duke 
Alexander  was  killed,  and  the  senators  and  patricians  were 

1  Voisiu9  de  Hfst.  Lat — Fabric  Bibl.  Lat.— Blasinl*s  Ceuaura»— Btog.  Unir. 
\m  art.  A.ureliu8.-^Saxii  Onomaft. 


y  I  C  T  O  R  I  U  9.  337 

assembled  to  coosider  of  a  new  form  of  government^ 
they  invited  Vettpri  to  take  part  iu  tbeir  deliberations ; 
bat  ioBtead  of  complying,  he  went  to  Rome,  and  left  bis 
duM:ordaDt  and  tumultuous  countrymen  to  determine  among 
tbemtfelves  whether  they  would  be  freemen  or  slaves.  <<  My 
country/'  he  used  to  say,  <^is  in  the  same  situation  as  Rome 
formerly ;  it  will  neither  tolerate  liberty  nor  slavery.  Richer 
bave  pifoduced  pride,  and  pride,  ambition.  The  laws  have 
na  longer  any  force ;  every  day  they  are  repealing  old  lawii 
and  making  new  ones,  and  no  more  respect  is  paid  to  the 
new  than  to  the  old.  In  the  present  state  of  my  country,  I 
clearly  see  that  it  must  have  a  sovereign,  but  I  will  not  aid 
iu  giving  it  a  sovereign,  for  fear  of  giving  it  a  tyrant.'* 

With  suob  arguments  he  always  answered  those  who  by 
letter  or  in  person  pressed  him  to  return  to  Florence,  and 
affected  even  to  consider  his  refusal  as  criminal.     He  bad 
the  wisdom  to  abandon  politics,  and  dedicate  his  whole 
time  and  attention  to  the  acquisition  of  knowledge.     And 
in  9uch  esteem  was  he  held  on  account  of  his  learning,  that 
Cosmo  I.  who  could  not  love  him  on  account  of  b^  hos- 
tility to  the  Medici  family,  yet  sent  him  an  invitation  to 
Jbecome  Greek  and  Latin  professor  in  tbe  university  of 
Florence.    This  was  a  noble  sacrifice  of  prejudice  on  tbe 
part  of  the  duke,  and  Yettori  executed  the  duties  of  his 
/offioe  for  more  than  forty  years  with  the  highest  reputation, 
and  formed  many  distinguished  scholars  both  Italians  and 
foreigners.     Whetbier  we  consider  the  utility  of  his  lee* 
tures  or  his  public  works,  it  wiU  appear  that  literature  was 
:as  highly  indebted  to  him  as  to  almost  any  scholar  of  his 
time*     Had  be  done  nothing,  but  collate  and  correct  the 
(editions  of  the  Greek  and  Latin  authors  which  had  appeared 
fipm  the  invention  of  printing  to  bis  own  time,  his  labours 
would  have  been  of  infinite  service  in  that  comparatively 
dark  period ;  but  we  are  indebted  to  his  industry  also  for 
the  collation  of  a  vast  number  of  manuscripts,  and  selecting 
the  best  for  the  press,  in  which  be  shewed  great  judgment, 
and  assigned  his  reasons  with  critical  precision.    But  his 
aervices  did  not  end  even  here,  for  he  furnished  the  learned 
world  with  notes  and  commentaries,  which  gave  superiority 
to  many  editions  of  the  classics,  as  various  parts  of  Aris- 
lotle^s  works*   Terence,   Varvo,   Saliust,  £uripides^  Por- 
tpbyry,  Plato,  Xenopbon,  &c. ;  but  of  all  bis  editions,  that 
of  Cicero,  printed  in  1534-^37,  four  vols,  folio,  has  justly 
received  the  encomiums  of  the  literary  world  evet  since  his 
Vol.  XXX.  Z 


S38  V  I  C  T  O  R  I  U  8. 

time.  He  has  been  called  *^  Verus  Ciceronis'  sospttator,^ 
and  Graevius  is  of  opinion  that  Cicero  is  more  indebted  16 
him  thaa  to  Ikll  the  other  critics  and  commentators.  Besides 
these  and  his  **  Varise  iectiones/'  of  which  there  have  been 
several  editions,  and  which  discover  great  critical  know- 
ledge, he  was  the  author  of  some  Latin  poetry  and  orations; 
of  letters  both  in  Latin  and  Italian,  and  an  Italidn  treatise 
on  the  culture  of  olives.  Men  of  learning  of  all  cauntrie^ 
were  happy  in  his  acquaintance  and  correspondence,  and 
prinb^s  and  other  great  personages  not  only  attended  hi^ 
lectures,  but  expressed  their  veneration  of  his  talents  and 
worth,  by  diplomas,  titles,  and  presents.  He  died  in  the 
eighty-sixth  year  of  his  age^  in  1585,  and  was  interred 
with  great  solemnity  at  the  public  expence  in  tlie  church 
of  th^  Holy  Spirit,  where  is  a  marble  monument  arkl  in^ 
scription  to  his  memory.  It  is  said  that  hiis  private  virtues; 
as  well  as  his  talents,  inade  his  death  the  subject  of  ani« 
Tersal  regret.* 

YIDA  (MARCtJS  Hl£RONYMUS),  an  elegant  modern  La- 
tin poet  and  critic,  was  a  native  of  Cremona,  and  was  bom, 
!as  is  generally  thought,  about  1470,  but  with  more  pi^oba- 
bility  about  1480.  *  His  parents  were  not  wealthy,  yet  ena- 
bled to  give  him  ar  good  education.  After  having  made 
considerable  proficiency  in  philosophy,  theology,  and  pd^ 
litical  science,  he  came  to  Rome  in  the  latter  part  of  the 
pontificate  of  Julius  IL  and  appears  to  have  mixed  in  the 
literary  societies  of  the  place ;  and  his  poem  on  the  game  of 
chess,  ^<  Scacchis  Ludus,^*  introduced  him  to  the  favour  of 
Leo  X.  who  received  him  witb  particular  distinction  and 
kindness,  admitted  him  as  nn  attendant  at  court,  and  re- 
warded him  with  honours  and  emoluments.  But  that  upon 
which  the  poet  appears  chiefly  to  have  congratulated  him- 
self was,  that 'his  works  were  read  and  approved  by  the  pon- 
tiflF  himself.  It  was  at  the  sugg^tion  of  Leo  that  he  began 
bis  celebrated  ^^  Christiad,**  which  he  afterwards  completed 
in  six  books,  but  Leo  did  not  live  to  see  it  finished.  It 
was,  however,  published  under  the  patronage  of  Clement 
VII.  in  1535.  In  the  mean  time  Clement  bad  already 
raised  Vida  to  the  rank  of  apostolical  secretary,  and  in 
1532,  conferred  on  him  the  bishopric  of  Alba.  Soon  after 
the  de^th  of  that  pontiff,  Vida  retired  to  his  diocese,  and 

was  present  at  its  defence  against  the  attiick  of  the  French 

■•.<-.  -  ,     , 

I  TiriVoichi.— Moreri.-^Bttlburi's  i9QiMleini«  to  Seitaces, 


y  I  D  A.  339 

in  1542,  where  his  exhortations  and  example  animated  the 
inhabitants  successfully  to  oppose  the  enemy.  After  hav- 
ing attended  in  his  episcopal  character  at  the  council  of 
Trent,  and  taken  an  active  part  in  the  ecclesiastical  and 
political  transactions  of  the  times,  he  died  at  his  see  at 
Alba,  Sept.  27,  1566,  more  respected  for  his  talents,  inte- 
grity, and  strict  attention  to  his  pastoral  duties,  than  for 
the  wealth  which  he  had  amassed  from  his  preferments. 

Mr.  Roscoe,  whom  we  hire  hitherto  principally  followed, 
observes,  that  of  all  the  writers  of  Latin  poetry  at  the  per 
riod  in  which  he  lived,.  Vida  has  been  the  most  generally 
Inown  beyond  the  limits  of  Italy.  This  i;s  to  be  attributed, 
Mr.  Roscoe  adds,  not  only  to  the  fortunate  chpice  of  hid 
subjects,  but  to  his  admirable  talent  of  uniting  a  consi- 
derable portion  of  elegance,  and  often  of  dignity,  with  th^ 
utmost  facility  and  clearness  of  style ;  insomuch  that  the 
most  complex  descriptions  or  abstruse  illustrations  are  reiir 
dered  by  him  perfectly  easy  and  familiar  to  the  reader. 
Dr.  Warton  is  of  opinion  that  the  merits  of  Vida  seem  not 
to  have  been,  particularly  attended  to.  in  England,  till  Pope 
introduced  him  in  these  lines : 

''  Immortal  Vkia :  on  whoas  honour*d  brow 
The  poet*s  bays  and  critic's  ivfigrow.*' 

The  first  specimen  of  the  talents  of  Vida  in  Latin  poetry 
stppeared  in  a  collection  of  pieces  on  the  death  of  the  poet 
Aquila,  which  happened  in  1500,  towards,  which  he  coa- 
tcibut^  two  pieces,  which  were  published  in  thaf  coUepr 
tion.at  Bologna^  in  1504.  His  whole  works  were  first 
printed  at  Rom^  in  1527  and  153^,  in  2  yols.  4to,  but  he 
published,  a  more  complete  edition  at  Cremona,-  155p,  g 
vols.  3vo.  The  first  cootaiins,  *'  Hymni  de  rebus  divinis,^* 
and  "  Christia^os  libri  sex  j''  the  second  ^^  De  Arte  Poetica 
libri  tres  ;*'  <<  De  Bombyce  libri  duo  ;*'  Scacchise  Ludus ;" 
<<  Bucolica ;''  **  Eclogse,  et  Carmina  diversi  generis.'*  B«i- 
sides  the  poems  comprehended  in  these  two  volumes,  otbecs 
are  ascribed  to  hiA,  as  **  Italorum  Pugilum  cum  totidem. 
Gallis  certamen  ;*'  <<  Carmen  Pastorale  in  Obitum  Julii  IL 
Pontificis  Maximi  ;*'  *^  Epicedion  in  Funera  Oliyerii  Car- 
dioalis  Cai'aphas ;"  but  these  he  disavowed  in  a  postscript 
to  the  above  edition  of  his  pof^ms.  He  was  also  the  author 
of  some  pieces  in  prose,  aa  *^  jpbtogi  de  Republics  Dig- 
nitate ;"  <^  Orationes  tres  Cremonensiam  adversus  Papien- 
aes  in  Controversia  Principatus  ;**  and^'Constitutiones  Sy- 
nodales  Civitati  Albs  et  Drmceai  prescripts.*' 

Z  2 


MO  V  I  I>  A. 

Of  such  of  these  works,  as  his  repatation  as  a  Latin  poet 
is  at  this  day  founded  on,  his  three  books  "  De  Arte  Pofetica'' 
were  probably  the  first  produced;  and  these  were  sooh 
*   afterwards  followed  by  the  **  Bombyx,'*  and  by  his  "  Scac- 
chisB  Ludus,"  which,  as  we  noticed,  introduced  hitti  to  Leo 
*X.     The  "  Bombyx,"  or  silk-worm,  is  written  with  classi- 
cal purity,  and  with  a  just  mixture  of  the  styles  of  Lucre- 
tius and  Virgil.     Dr.  Warton  says  it  was  a  happy  choice  to 
write  a  poem  on  "  Chess ;"  nor  is  the  execution  less  hap- 
py.    **  The  various  stratagiems  and   manifold  intricacies  of 
this  ingenious  game,  so  difficult  to  be  described  in  Latin, 
are  here  expressed  with  the  greatest  perspicuity  and  ele- 
gance ;  so  that,  perhaps,  the  game  nnight  be  learned  fh>nfi 
this  description.*'    Of  tbe  "  Christiad,"  the  same  excellent 
critic  observes,  that  amidst  many  prosaic  flatnesses,  there 
are  many  fine  strokes  in  this  poem  ;  particularly  bis  angeh, 
'with  respect  to  their  persons  and  insignia,  are  drawYi  with 
that  dignity  which   we  so  much  admire  in  Miltoa,  ^bo 
sieeips  to  have  had  his  eye  on  those  passages.  The  "Poetics,'* 
however,  iare  perhaps  the  most  perfect  of  his  compositions ; 
he  had  formed  himself  upon  Virgil,  who  is  therefore  bis 
hero,  and  hehbs  too  much  depreciated  Homer.     He  is,  ia 
truth,  so  much  an  hnitator  of  Virgil  as  to  be'very  defective 
in  originality.     Although  his  precepts  principally  regard 
"^pifc  poetry,  yet  many  t>f  tb^m  lare  applicable  to  every 
ispecies  of  composition.   This  poem  has  the  praise  of  heiifg 
'oiie  of  the  first,  if  nbt  th6  very  first'  piece  of  crtticistn,  that 
afopeared  in  Italy  since  the  revival  of  learning ;  for*  it  was 
'finished,  its  is  evident  from  a  short  advertisement  prefixed 
to  '%  in  1520.    Vi^e  faaVe  an  excellent  tran^lfition  of  thla 
poem  by  Pitt,  and  one  mor^  recent,  with  notes;  by  Mr. 
^Hampson.  .  There  are,  if  we  lAistake  hot;  English  trdnsia* 
'tions  also  of  the  "  Game  of  Chess,*'  and  Ah6  "  Bombyx." 
*Of  his  original  works,  the  "best  recent  editions  are  that  of 
Oxford,  by  li'riitraifa,  1 7^212,  ^  wis.  SvO,  with  elegfent  platet ; 
ihat  of  the  Viilpii  (inclddiVig  the  prose  worte)  Padua,  1731, 
fi  vols.  4to.  ^ 

'  VIEL  (Charles  Maria  ©e),  a  learned  converted  Jew, 
6f  Metz  in  Lorrain,  was  originally  educatlftd  in  thftt  reli- 
'^ibn,  tbe  rites  and  customs  of  which,  it  appears  by  b)s 
"wrl^iag^,  he  well  understood';  but  by  perusiing  thfe'|)ropbe- 
tical  parts  of  th^'  OMTestatnent,  and  c^ompaHng  Kreih 

1  TinlJ69obi.-*ItOM;o^sLeoJC.,-7^Wa{toa'tf  B88»yQ^^^^ 


V  I  E  L.  341 

viith  the  New*  he  became  epnTiDced  that  Christ  waA  the 
true  Messiah,  and  embraced  Christianity^  according  to  the 
Koinax^  Catholic  form.  *  His  abilities  recommended  him  tq 
considerable  promotion,  and  to  the  degree  qf  D.  D.  fron^ 
one  of  the  French  universities.  In  1672  he  published  a 
*'  Commentary  on  the  Gospels  of  St.  Mark  and  St.  Luke,'* 
in  which,  besides  a  literal  exposition  of  the  text,  collected 
froi^  the  monuments  of  the  ancients,  he  took  an  opportu* 
niiy  to  defend  the  doctrines  of  the  church  of  Rome,  whict) 
so. advanced  his  reputation,  that  he  was  requested  to  write 
against  the  protestants,  and  much  was  expected  from  ^, 
man  of  his  Jearniiig  and  an  able  reasoner.  This,  however, 
only  led  to  another  change;  for,  in  examining  the  contro* 
versies  between  the  papists  and  protestants,  he  became 
satisfied  that  truth  was  on  the  side  of  the  latter.  France 
was  of  course  no  longer  a  safe  residence,  and  be  imme- 
diately went  to  Holland,  s^bjured  the  errors  of  popery,  and 
soon  after  came  over  to  England.  Here  he  became  ac- 
quainted with  Stillingfleet,  Sharp,  l^illotson,  Patrick,  Lloyd, 
and  other  eminent  Epglish  divines,  and  particularly  with 
Compton  bishop  of  London.  Und^r  this  patronage,  be  was 
admitted  into  orders  iq  the  English  church,  and  became 
chaplain  to  a  nobleman,  and  tutor  to  his  children. 

In  1673  he  revised  his  Commentary  on  St.  Matthew  and 
Mark,  omitting  what  was  in  favour  or  the  Romish  church, 
and  improving  it  in  other  respects.  In  1679  he  published 
his  literal  **  Explication  of  Solomon's  Song,"  dedicated  to 
sir  Joseph  Williamson.  This  was  so  well  received,  that 
juany  of  the  most  eminent  of  the  clergy  of  England,  and  of 
the  foreign  reformed  churches,  encouraged  him  to  proceed 
to  a  farther  translation  of  the  sacred  writings.  Accordingly 
in  1680  he  published  his  '^  Literal  Exposition  of  the  minor 
Prophets."  But  his  principles  were  still  ^unsettled,  and 
meeting,  in  the  bishop  of  London's  library,  to  which  he 
had  At  all  times  access,  with  the  writings  of  the  English 
baptist^,  he  l^ecsune  convinced  that  there  was  no  founda- 
tion for  infant  baptism,  and  leaving  the  church,  joined  a 
small  baptist,  congregation  in  Gracechurch-street,  where 
be  was  publicly  baptised.  This  is  said  to  have  lost  him  all 
bis  powerful  friends,  except  Tillotson,  who  still  preserved 
a  respect  for  his  talents.  He  now  published  an  <<  Expo- 
sition of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles"  in  English,  in  which  he 
endeavoured  to  defend  his  baptist  sentiments.  He  preached 
also  among  that  sect,  but  was  not  very  popular,  as  be  could 


342  V  I  E  L. 

not  speak  English  fluently.  His  flock,  however,  raised  him 
a  salary,  which  he  enjoyed  till  his  death.  He  also  prac- 
tised physic  for  his  tnaintenance.  He  is  supposed  to  have 
died  about  the  commencement  of  the  last  century. 
'  There  was  another  Lewis  pe  Compiegne  de  Viel,  also 
a  converted  Jew,  and  born  at  Metz,  who  published  many 
learned  pieces,  particularly  in  1679,  in  Hebrew,  with  a 
Latin  version  bv  himself,  *^  Catechismus  Judaeorum  in 
disputatione  &  dialogo  magistri  &  discipuli,  scriptu^  a  R. 
Abrahamo  Jagel,  monte  Siiicis  oriundo,''  with  a  dedica- 
tion to  Dr.  Compton,  bishop  of  London :  this  book  was 
reprinted  at  Franeker,  in  1690,  in  8vo.  He  gave  the  pub- 
lic likewise  a  Latin  translation  of,  and  notes  upon,  rabbi 
Moses  Maimonides's  book  ^*  De  Sacrificiis,**  and  his  tract 
**  De  Consecratione  &  de  Ratione  intercalandi,''  and  Abar- 
banel's  <<  Exordium  sive  prooemium  in  Leviticum/'  printed 
at  London,  in  1683,  in  4to.  He  had  published  also  at 
Paris,  in  1678,  the  eighth. book  of  Maimonides  <'  De  cuitu 
divino,*'  with  a  Latin  version,  just  before  he  left  France, 
where  he  was  the  king's  interpreter  for  the  Oriental  lan- 
guages. He  was  born  a  Jew,  but  afterwards  embraced  the 
Popish  religion,  which  he  at  last  renounced  for  the  Protes- 
tant, and  entered  into  the  communion  of  the  Church  of 
England,  whither  h^  retired  about  1679.^ 

VIETA  (Francis),  a  very  celebrated  French  mathe- 
matician, was  born  in  1 540,  at  Fontenai,  or  Fontenai-le- 
Comt^,  in  Lower  Poitou,  a  province  of  France.  He  was 
master  of  requests  at  Paris,  where  he  died  in  1 603,  in  the 
sixty-third  year  of  his  age.  Among  other  branches  of 
learningin  which  he  excelled,  he  was  one  of  the  most  respect- 
able mathematicians  of  the  sixteenth  century,  or  indeed 
of  any  age.  His  writings  abound  with  marks  of  great  origi- 
nality and  genius,  as  well  as  intense  application.  His  ap- 
plication was  such,  that  he  has  sometimes  remained  in  bis 
study  for  three  days  together,  without  eating  or  sleeping. 
His  inventions  and  improvements  in  all  parts  of  the  ma- 
thematics were  very  considerable.  He  was  in  a  manner 
the  inventor  and  introducer  of  Specious  Algebra,  in  which 
letters  are  used  instead  of  numbers,  as  well  as  of  many 
beautiful  theorems  in  that  science.  He  made  also  con- 
siderable improvements  in  geometry  and  trigonometry. 
His  angular  sections  are  a  very  ingenious  and  masteiriy 

}  Crosby'i  Hist  of  the  Baptists,— Birch*!  Life  «f  TflloUoo. 


VI  ETA-  343 

^performance :  by  these  be  was  enabled  to  resolve  the  pro- 
Uem  of  Adrian  Roman,  proposed  to  all  matheonaticians^ 
.  amouotiDg  to  an  equation  of  the  45th  degree.  Rom^nus 
was  so  struck  with  his  sagacity,  that  he  immediately  quitted 
his  residence  of  Wirtzbourg  in  Franconia,  and  came  to 
Fraiice  to  visit  him,  and  solicit  his  friendship.  His  '^  Apol- 
lonius  Gallus,''  being  a  restoration  of.  Apollonius^s  tract 
on  Taogencies,  and  many  other  geometrical  pieces  to  be, 
found  in  bis  works,  shew  the  finest  taste  and  genius  for 
true  geometrical  speculations.  He  gave  some  masterly 
tracts  on  Trigonometry,  both  pla^ne  and  spherical,  which 
may  be  found  in  the  collection  of  his  works,  published 
at  Leyden  in  1646,  by  Schooten,  besides  another  large 
and  separate  volume  in  folio,  published  in  the  author's 
lifertime  at  Paris  1579,  containing  extensive  trigonome- 
trical tables,  with  the  construction,  and  use  of  the  same, 
which  are  particularly  described. in  the  introduction  to  Dr. 
Mutton's  Logarithms,  p.  4,  &c.  To  this  complete  trea- 
tise on  Trigonometry,  plane  and  spherical,  are  subjoined 
several  miscellaneous  problems  and  observations,  such  as, 
the  quadrature  of  the  circle,  the, duplication  of  the  cube,  &C4 
Vieta  having  observed  that  there  were  many  faults  ii) 
the  Gregorian  Calendar,  as  it  then  existed,  he  composed 
a  new  form  of  it,  to  which  he  added  perpetual  ca- 
nons, and  an  iexplicaMon  of  it,  with  remarks  and  objec- 
tions against  Clavius.,  whom  be  accused  of  having  de- 
formed the  true  Lelian  reformatioi^j  by  not  rightly  un- 
derstanding it.  Besides  those,  it  seems,  a  work  greatly 
esteemed,  and  the  loss  of  which  cannot  be  sufficiently  de« 
plored,  was  his  .**  Harmonicon  Cceleste,^'  which,  being 
Qpmmunicated  to  father  Mers^nne,  was,  by  some  perfidi- 
ous acquaintance  of  that  honest- minded  person,  surrep- 
titiously taken  from  him,  and  irrecoverably  lost,  or  sup- 
pressed, to  the  great  detriment  of  the  learned  world. 
There  were  also,  it  is  said,  other  works  of  an  astronomi- 
.cal  kind,  that  have  been  buried  in  the  ruins  of  time.  Vieta 
was  also  a  profound  decypherer,  an  accomplishment  that 
firoyed  very  useful  to  his  country.  As  the  differeixt 
parts  of  the  Spanish  monarchy  lay  very  distant  from  one 
another,  when  they  had  occasion  to  communicate  any  se- 
xreit.  designs,  they  wrote  them  in  cyphers  and  unknown 
characters,  during  the  disorders  of  the  league:  the  cy- 
pher was  composed  of  more  than  five  hundred  different 
4:jbaract«r8,   which  yielded  their  hidden  contents  to  the 


$44  V  I  E  T  A. 

peuetrating  genius  of  Vieta  alone.  His  skill  so  dtscon* 
carted  the  Spanish  councils  for  two  years,  that  they  re« 
ported  at  Rome,  and  other  parts  of  Europe,  that  the 
French  king  had  only  discovered  iheir  cyphers  by  meanfl 
of  magic. ' 

VIEUSSENS  (Raymond),  a  physician  and  anatomist, 
was  born  in  1641,  at  the  village  of  Rovergue,  and  after 
studying  and  taking  his  degrees  in  medicine  at  MontpeU 
lier,  settled  there  as  a  practitioner.  In  1671,  he  was  ap« 
pointed  physician  to  the  hospital  of  St.  Eloy,  where  from 
frequent  opportunities  of  anatomical  dissection,  he  was 
led  to  pay  particular  attention  to  the  subject  of  nenro- 
logy?  which,  notwithstanding  what  the  celebrated  I>« 
Willis  had  published,  was  a  part  of  the  animal  economy 
very  little  known.  After  ten  years  study  of  the  nerves, 
he  published  the  work  which  has  redounded  most  to  his 
honour,  '^  Neurologia  universalis,  hoc  est,  omnium  hu- 
man! corporis  nervorum,  simul  ac  cerebri,  meduliflM]ue 
spinalis,  descriptio  anatomica,''  Leyden,  1685,  f<A.  Even 
of  this  work,  however,  the  anatomical  part  is  the  most  va- 
luable, for  what  respects  the  physiology,  which  forms  a 
Considerable  part  of  the  volume,  deferves  very  little  regard, 
as  being  founded  on  wrong  principles.  He  afterwards  pub- 
lished other  anatomical  works,  but  does  not  appear  to  have 
advanced  his  reputation  by  them.  Astruc  and  Senac.  have 
given  a  very  unfavourable  account  of  his  genius  and  judg- 
ment, yet  neither  can  deny  that  his  anatomical  researches 
have  been  of  service.  In  1690  he  was  sent  for  to  be  phy- 
sician to  mademoiselle  de  Montpensier,  but  at  her  deatk 
returned  to  Montpellier,  where  he  died  in  1716.  * 

VIGNIER  (Nicholas),  king's  physician,  and  historio* 
grapher  of  France,  was  born  in  1530,  of  ^  good  family,  at 
Troyes,  in  Champagne.  He  became  very  celebrated  by  his 
practice,  and  died  at  Paris,  1596,  aged  sixty-six,  after  hav- 
ing abjured  protestantism,  in  which  be  was  brought  up.  His 
principal  works  are,  1.  ^'  Les  Fastes  des  anciens  H^breux, 
Grecs,  et  Remains,'*  4to.  2.  **  Bibliotheque  Historiale," 
4  vols.  fol.  3.  A  collection  of  "Church  History,*'  fol.  but 
Jittle  valued.  4.  An  excellent  treatise  "On  the  state an4 
origin  of  the  ancient  French,"  fol.  and  4to.  5.  '^Sommaire 
de  I'Histoire  des  Frangois,"  fol.     6.  "Trait6  de  I'ancien 

>  Mont«icU>s  Hist.  Malb.  vol.  I.— .Hutton's  Diet.— Saxii  Ooomast. 
*  £loy,  Diet.  Hist,  de  Medecine. — Haller. 


V  I  G  N  I  E  R.  34S 

etat  de  la  petite  Brefcagne/*  4tOy  and  other  works  on  French 
faislory,  which  are  said  to  be  useful  for  consultation'.  His 
son,  Nicholas  Vignier,  was  minister  at  Blois  at  the  begia^p 
ntng  of  the  seventeenth  century,  but  adopted  the  seofiU 
medts  of  the  Catholic  church  after  the  year  16S1,  and 
left  several  controversial  works. ' 

VIGNIER  (Jerome),  grandson  of  the  preceding  histo- 
rian, was  born  in  1606,  at  Blois.  He  was  bred  a  protestant^ 
and  becAoie  bailiff  of  Baugency ;  but  having  afterwards  ab«* 
jured  the  Protestant  religion,  he  entered  the  congregation 
of  the  Oratory,  in  which  he  distinguished  himself  by  his 
learning.  He  understood  Greek,  Hebrew,  and  .Chaldee, 
cultivated  the  belles  lettres  with  success,  and  had  a  talent 
for  Latin  poetry,  as  appears  from  his  paraphrases  of  some 
Psalms.  He  died  November  14,  1661,  at  Paris,  aged  fifty* 
ai^.  He  left  several  worics :  ^mong  the  principal  are,  <<  La 
G^n^alogie  des  Seigneurs  d* Alsace,*'  1649,  fol. ;  a  very 
useful  supplement  to  St.  Augustine's  works,  of  which  he 
found  some  MSS.  at  Ciairvaux  that  had  never  been  pub- 
lished. ^' A  Harmony  of  the  Gospels,''  in  French ;  ^'  Stem^p 
ma  Austriacum,"  1650,  fol.;  and  ''La  G6n£alogie  des 
Comtes  de  Champagne."  He  meant  to  have  published  a 
treatise,  written  by  St.  Fulgentius  against  Faustus,  but  was 
prevented  by  death,  nor  is  it  known  what  became  of  this 
treatise.  Vignier  found  an  ancient  MS.  at  Metz,  contain*- 
ing  a  relation  of  events  in  that  city,  and  in  which  there  was 
a  long  account  of  the  famous  Joan  d' Arc,  better  known  by 
the  name  of  the  Maid  of  Orleans.  According  to  this  it  ap- 
peared that  she  had  been  married  to  the  Sire  des  Amboises, 
-or  D'Hermoises,  descended  from  an  illustrious  house,  and 
of  the  ancient  knighthood.  He  also  found  in  the  treasury 
of  Messrs.  des  Amboises,  the  contract  of  the  above  mar^ 
•  jrtage,  which  imports  ''  that  in  14S6,  Robert  des  Amboises 
jnarried  Joan  >d'Arc,  called  the  Maid  of  Orleans."  But 
this  fact  is  very  generally  doubted.  ^ 

VIGNOLA  (James  Barozzio  de),  an  eminent  architect 
and  writer  on  the  subject,  was  the  son  of  Clement  Baroz- 
.zio,  of  one  of  the  best  families  of  Milan,  but  who  being 
ruined  by  the  civil  wars,  iretired  to  Vignola,  a  small  town 
in  the  marquisate  of  that  name,  situated  in  the  territory  of 
Bt)logfia.  It  was  there  that  his  son,  the  subject  of  this  arti- 
cle, was  born,  Oct.  1, 1507,  and  became  afterwards  gene- 

1  Pict  HisUt^Momi.— Thttftni  HUtoria.  «  MorMi.--*I)ict.  Hitt. 


U6  V  I  G  N  O  L  A. 

nlly  known  by  the  name  of  his  native  place.  His  father 
dying  when  be  was  almost  in  bis  infancy,  and  leaving  bini 
little  provision,  be  wished  to  have  recourse  to  painting;  and 
having  some  knowledge  of  the  first  principles  of  the  art,  he 
went^o  Bologna  to  be  farther  instructed,  but  soon  changed 
his  mind,  and  determined  to  confine  himself  to  architect 
ture  and  perspective.  He  was  no  sooner  known  in  this 
profession,  than  several  persons  applied  to  him  for  designs 
for  buildings,  and  he  executed  some  for  the  ^venior  of 
Bologna,  which  were  very  much  admired.  On  such  occa- 
sions, in  order  to  see  the  effect  of  what  he  laid  down,  be 
bad  models  made  in  wood  by  Damien  de  Bergamo,  a  Do- 
minican, who  excelled  in  that  species  of  ingenuity,  and 
used  to  express,  by  means  of  coloured  woods,  every  kind 
of  material  to  be  used  in  the  building. 

In  order  to  acquire  a  greater  knowledge  of  the  princi(^t 
of  architecture^,  Vignola  went  to  Rome,  and  at  first  returned 
to  painting  for  a  maintenance;  but  not  reaping  much  profit, 
abandoned  that  art  a  second  time,  and. procured  employ- 
•ment  as  a  draughtsman  from  Melighini,  of  Ferrara,  then 
architect  to  pope  Paul  HI.  and  who  had  established  a  school 
of  architecture  at  Rome.,  Vignola  was  afterwards  employed 
4o  make  drawings,  for  the  use  of  this  academy,  of  the  ancient 
edifices  of  the  city,  from  which  he  derived  great  advantage 
in  his  studies.  While  here,  about  1 537,  or  1 540,  be  met  with 
Primaticcio,  who  was  employed  by  Francis  I.  king  of  France, 
to  purchase  antiques  (See  Primaticcio)  ;  and  Vignola  was 
of  so  much  service  in  making  casts  for  him,  that  Primatiecio 
.engaged  him  to  go  with  him  to  France.  There  Vignola 
assisted  that  celebrated  artist  in  all  his  works,  and  particu- 
larly in  making  the  bronze  casts  which  are  at  Fontaine*- 
bleau.  He  also  made  various  architectural  designs  for  the 
king,  who  was  prevented  from  having  them  executed,  by  the 
wars  in  which  France  was  then  involved.  After  a  residence 
of  about  two  years,  he  was  invited  to  Bologna,  to  undertake 
the  new  church  of  St.  Petronius,  and  bis  design  was  allowed 
the  preference,  and  highly  approved  by  Julio  Romano,  the 
celebrated  painter,  and  Christopher  Lombard,  the  architect. 
At  Minerbio,  near  Bologna,  he  built  a  magnificent  palace 
for  count  Isolani,  and  in  Bologna  the  house  of  Achilles  Boc- 
ehi.  The  portico  of  the  exchange  in  that  city  is  also  of  bis 
designing,  but  it  was  not  built  until  1562,  in  the  pontic 
ficate  of  Pius  IV.  His  most  useful  work  at  Bologna  was 
the  canal  of  Navilioj  which  he  constructed  with  great  skill 


V  I  G  N  0  L  A.  $47 

for  the  space  of  a  league.  But  happening  to  be  ill  rewarded 
for  this  undertakings  he  went  to  Placentia,  where  be  gave 
a  design  for  the  duke  of  Parma's  palace,  whicb  was  exe« 
cuted  by  bis  son  Hyacinth,  who  was  now  able  to  assist  hint 
in  bis  various  works.  He  afterwards  built  several  churches 
and  chapels  in  various  parts  of  Italy,  whi^h  it  is  unneces^ 
sary  to  specify.  These,  it  is  supposed,  he  had  finished  be* 
fore  his  return  to  Rome  in  1550,  where  Vasari  presented 
him  to  pope  Julius  III.  who  appointed  him  his  architect. 
While  at  Rome,  he  was  employed  in  various  works,  both  of 
grandeur  and  utility,  the  last  of  which,  and  reckoned  bis 
finest  work,  was  the  magnificent  palace  or  castle  of  Capra- 
rola,  BO  well  described  and  illustrated  by  plates  in  his  works. 
•  In  bis  latter  days,  he  succeeded  Michael  Angeio  as  archi* 
tect  of  St.  Peter's,  and  was  strongly  solicited-  by  Philip  11. 
to  assist  in  building  the  Escurial ;  but  his  age,  and  his  nu- 
merous employments,  prevented  his  accepting  the  offer. 
The  only  interval  between  this  and  his  death,  was  employed 
in  a  commission  from  Gregory  XIII.  to  settle  the  limits  be- 
tween the  territories  of  the  church,  and  those  of  the  duke 
t>f  Tuscany ;  on  his  return  be  was  seized  with  a  fever,  which 
proved  fatal,  July  7,  1575,  in  his  sixty^sixth  year.  He  was 
solemnly  interred  in  the  church  of  St.  Mary  of  the  Rotunda. 
Vignola's  fame  as  an  architectural  author,  is  scarcely  less 
than  that  of  a  practical  artist.  He  published  the  ^*  Regola 
delli  cinque  ordini  d*architettura,"  fol.  no  date,  with  thirty* 
two  fine  plates,  which  bast  often  been  reprinted  with  addic- 
tions and  comments.  The  best  is  probably  that  printed  at 
-Amst.  in  1631,  or  1642,  fol«  <<  con  la  nuova  aggiunta  de 
Michael  Angeio  Buonaroti.^*  The  French  have .  several 
good  editions,  with  improvements,  particularly  the  '^  Cours 
^d'architecture  qui  comprend  les  ordres  de  Vignole,  avec 
•des  commentaires,  les  figures,  et  descriptions  de  ses  plus 
beaux  batimens,  et  de  ceux  de  Michel  Ange/'  by  Daviler : 
-the  third  edition,  now  before  us,  is  dated  1699,  but  there 
SHre  others  of  1738  and  1760,  large  4 to*  Jombert  published 
at  Paris  in  8vo,  ^*  Regies  des  cinq  orders  dVrchitecture,** 
translated  from  the  Italian  of  Vignola,  with  remarks,  &c.  • 
"  VIGNOLES  (AtPHONSO  des),  a  learned  chronologUt, 
-was  born  Oct«29,  1649,  at  the  castle  of  Aubats,  in  Langoe- 
doc,  of  a  very  ancient  family,  and  received  a  liberal  edu- 

^  Life  bjr  D'AvHer  prcfiied  tofie    «  Coors  d*Architecture."— TirabQto^.-- 
Moreri. 


9i9  V  I  O  N  O  L  E  S. 

cation,     Hisprepari^ory  studies  bmtig  finbbed,  be  paisse4 
a  year  at  Genevay  and  beard  a  course  pf  lectures  on  divU 
m^y.     His  (atber  bad  intendecl  bim  for  tb^  argiy,  but  vra^ 
unwilliug  to  put  any  restraint  uppn  bU  inclinations,  and 
tber^fore  permitted  bim  to  go  to  Saumur^  and  afterwards 
to  England,  to  complete  bis  divinity  studies*     In  1675  be 
returned  to  Aubais,,  and  was  appointed  minister   of  tbat 
icburcb,  wbicb  he  afterwards  resigned  for  that  of  Cailar, 
and  while  be  performed  the  functions  of  bis  order  with 
great  zeal,  found  leisure  at  the  same  time  to  indulge  bis 
taste  for  chronologkal  researches.    On  the  revopation  of 
ibe  edict  of  Nantz  be  returned  to  Geneva,  and  afterwards 
to  Berlin^  where  he  was  appointed  pastor  of  the  oburcb  of 
Schwedt.     When  bis  merit  became  better  known,  he  bad 
the  choice  of  many  churches  of  more  emolument,  but  gave 
the  preference  to  that  of  Braudenburgh,  on  account  of  its 
vicinity  to  the  metropolis,  where  be  might  enjoy  oppor*- 
tunities  of  study.    Jn  the  mean  time  be  began  to  form  an 
intimacy  with  nmny  eminent  men,  as  Lenfant,  LaCroze, 
Kirck,  &c.  and  distinguished  himself  by  some  learned  pa* 
pers  inserted  io  the  literary  journals.     When  the  royal  sqt 
ciety  of  Serlin  was  founded  in  1701,  he  was  chosen  one  of 
the  members,  and  at  the  suggestion  of  Leibnits  was  invited 
ko  settle  in  Berlin,  ihat  the  new  soci/ety  might  profit  by  his 
icommnnications.     With  this  he  appears  to  have  complied, 
and  on  the  formation  of  the  society  of  the  Anonyml  was 
chosen  their  secretary.     In  1 7 11  be  became  one  of  the 
editors  of  the  ^^  Bibliotheque  Germanique,^'  which  be  en- 
iricbed  with  many  valuable  criticisms,  and  analyses  of  books* 
Amidst  all  these  employments  he  did  not  neglect  the  duties 
of  bis  profession,  but  was  a  very  frequent  preacher,  and 
having  obtained  the  cure  of  Copeoick,  near  Berlin,  he 
passed  his  summers  there,  and  there  composed  bis  great 
:chroQological  work,  the  plan   of  which  he  published  in 
1721,  but  the  whole  did  not  appear  until  some  years  after- 
wards*    Its  success  did  not  answer  the  expectation  of  the 
author,  or  of  his  friends,  and  although  one  of  the  best 
which  had  appeared  on  the  subject,  sold  so  slowly,  tbat 
the  bookseller  was  obliged  more  thai)- once  to  have  recourse 
4x>  the  trick  of  a  new  title-page.    YignQles,  however,  aa- 
tjafied  with  a  moderate  competency,  a  stranger  to  worldly 
ambition  and  passions,  lived  quietly  and  happily  among 
his  books,  with  the  occasional  conversation  of  a  few  agrei^- 
able  and  steady  friends«     His  wife  died  in  child-bed,  and 


\ 

V  I  G  N  O  L  £  6.  849 

lione  of  the  cbildren  the  brought  survived  him.  He  w««, 
iA  his  old  age,  on  the  f»oint  of  losing  his  sight  by  two  oata- 
Iracts,  the  one  of  which  was  dbsipated  naturaliyy  and  the 
Tither  i*emoved  by  «n  o)>erationy  the  pafticulars  of  which  he 
^published  in  the  *'  Miscellanfea  Berolinensia,"  vol.  IV.  Ttie 
king  and  queen  shewed  him  many 'marks  of  kindneeMv  The 
latter,  it  appears 'from  the  dedication  of  .his  chronology, 
had  at  one  time  ordered  the  eve  of  bis  birtb-^day  to  be  kept 
by  an  entertainment^  at  which  lier  prox!y  ex^pressed  bet 
royal  wishes  for^tbe  continuance  of  bis  life.  I^e  died  at 
Berlin,  July  24,  1744,  aged  upwards^  of  Rinety*fbiir.  His 
principal  ttrdrk,  already  noticed,  was  published  under  the 
titie  of  <*  Ghroeologie'de  L'histolrie  saiate  et  des  histoires 
%trang^r^s  depuis  la  sortie  d'Egypte  jusqu'a  la  captivity 
tie  Babylbne^'^  Beilin,  173^,  2  volsw4t0|  a  work  unqaes- 
eionably  of  vast  labour  ahd  textesiit,  aind  eonse^uently  cili» 
tidt  b^  supposed  altogetber  free  from  imrp^feeUons, ' 
-  VtULALPANDO  (J6fiN  BAPrrisj)  i»  le^trned  Spanish 
Jesuit^'  Was  ^bom-  at  Cordova  in  \66U^  ^nd  entered  the  sok 
'eie^  of  the  Jesuits  in  the  twefity<-«^th  year  of  bis  a(g<^. 
*We  have  very  few  partioubirs,  ^ven  by  AntoniO)  of  hi^ 
^Ts6i¥iit  history^  xrnless  that,  lie  was:  distinguished  for  his 
HS^tMsive  theol6^ical  andf  tnatbematieal  knowledge^  and 
fbf"  some  tinKs-  v^s  asaociated  with  Jerome  Prado  ia  a  coaar 
lOfMtiity  on  ElseWiel.  .  it  SvoniUl  appear  that  Viilalpando 
-hadlbe  king's  bnlers  for  this  undertakinig,  as  fares  re- 
•ipected  the  deMMripttmi  c^  the  Tem}>le,  and  city  of  Jeru^ 
^^m ;  «(ti<l  Pra4o,  dying  before  ^be  work  was  finished, 
Villalpando  has  the  sole  repatation  of  the  whole.  It  was 
^blisfaed  under  die  title  of  **  Explanationes  in  Eae- 
'efaielem,*'  Rome,  1596-*^  1^04,  3  vols.  fol.  As  acommen- 
•<taiy,  the  eatholic  writfers^  Dupin,  &c.  assure  us  that  it  is 
'one  of  the  most  learned*  His  skill  in  architecture  gave 
•him  grei't  advantages  in  endeavouring  to  trace  the  figure 
tatid  dimensions  of  the  temple  of  Solomon,  butunfortu- 
natety  he*  employed  a  sort  of  theory  which  was  guided 
vDore'by  hnaginatioh  than  judgment.  Having  laid  it  down 
as>a  first  prineiple,  that  the  model  of  the  temple,  having 
^been  giv^en  by  God  himself,  must  be  perfect,  he  therefore 
-exbmusted  all  the  powers  of  conjecture  and  fiincy  to4e- 
4lcribe•aa  edifice  that  should  answer  that  character.    This 

*  Chaufepie.»*Bibl.  CleraiMiiqii*>  vol.  II.*»BiQg.  Uoiv.  art.  DesTigiiolei,— 
Etoge  by  Fomiejr.  *" 


%6t)  V  I  L  L  A  L  P  A  N  DO. 

led  hinii  among  other  errors,  to  iiitrociuce  many  embeUi»b«- 
ments  and  additions  not  mentioned  in  the.  sacred  text ; 
instead  of  three  courts,  for  example,  be  has  described  no 
less  than  eleven.  But  the  reader  who  is  curious  in  the  in^ 
quiry,  may  consult  Calmet^s  Dictionary,  where  there  are^ 
engravings  as  well  as  a  description,  from  Vilhilpanda  He 
edited  abo  a  work  of  Su  Remi,  ^^Remigii  Rhemensis  in 
Epistolas  S.  Pauli  tractatus,''  Mentz,  which  was  not^ 
however,  published  until  ^after  his  death,  as  the.  date  is 
1614,  fol.     He  died  at  Rome,  May  23,  1608.  ^ 

VILLANI  (John),  a  Florentine  historian  of  the  fouf^ 
teenth  century,  was  the  son  of  a  native  of  that  place,  and 
is  supposed  to  have  been  born  about  the  end  of  the  thir« 
teenth  century,  as  he  was  somewhat  older  than  an  infant  in 
ISOO,  when  he  informs  us  he  went  to  Some  to  see  the  Ju« 
bilee,  and  young  as  he  was,  first  formed,  on  that  occasion^ 
the  design  of  writing  his  *<  Chronicle."     Before^  however^ 
be  began  this  work,   he  visited  various  parts  of  Italy^ 
France,  and  the  Netherlands,  and  having  collected  much 
information,  began  to  compile  his  bistory  as  soon  at  be 
returned  home.     His  first  intention  was  to  write  only  the 
bistory  of  Florence,  a  erty  wbicb  he  imagined  would  riae 
in  splendour  and  prosperity  as  Rome  declined,  but  he  waa 
induced  to  extend  his  plan  to  the  events  of  other  countriea 
wherever  they  could  be  introduced..    In  the  mean  time 
the  public  employments  to  which  his  merit  raised  him,  de^ 
lay  ed  the  completion  of  his  history  for  many  years.  Thrice, 
1316, 1317,  and  1321,  be  was  one  of  tbe  priors  of  Flo- 
rence; he  bad  also  some  office  in  the-mint,  and  at  various 
times  was  employed  in  the  service  of  the  republic.     He 
died  of  the  plague  in  1348.     He  had  written  his  history  op 
to  this  period,  and  his  brother  Matthew  Villaiii  made  a 
continuation  till  the  year  1 363,  when  he  also  died  of  the 
plague.    The  work  then  fell  into  the  handa  of  Philip  Vi).. 
lani,  son  to  Matthew,  who  made  a  still  longer  addition  to 
the  labours  of  bis  father  and  uncle.    The  first  edition  was 
printed  at  Florence  by  the  Junti  in  1 537,  fol.  and  was  often 
repHnted.    The  last,    corrected  from   three  MS  copies^ 
was  printed  at  Milan  in  1729,  2  vols.  fol.    The  origtnid 
part  by  John  Villani,  is,  like  most  chronicles,  mere  com<p 
pilatton  of  fabulous  history,  until  be  comes  to  hb  own  times, 

^  Antonio  Bi^U  ilbp.^CaliBet'i  DieUoBary.-«>IHi|pui» 


V  I  L  L  A  N  I.  351 

when  he  is  allowed  to  be  accurate  and  useful,  and  tbf  .saoi^ 
praise  is  due  to  his  successors. 

Philip  Viilani  also  composed  the  ^^  Lives  of  the  illustrioua 
Men  of  Florence/'  which  Mazzuchelli  published  for  the 
first  time  in  1747,  not,  however,  the  original  text,  whicM 
is  Latin,  but  an  ancient  Italian  translation,  with  copious 
and  learned  notes.  Philip  was  appointed,  in  1401,  to  give 
lectures  on  Dante  in  the  chair  which  Bocc;accio  had  filled* 
He  was  again  appointed  to  the  same  office  in  1404,  and  it 
is  supposed  he  died  soon  after.  He  was  the  first  author  of 
a  local  literary  history,  and  much  u$e  has  since  been  made 
of  his  Lives  of  the  celebrated  Florentines.  ^ 

VILLAR8  (Louis  Hector,  Duke  of),  marshal  of  France^ 
was  born  at  Moulins  in  Bourbonnais  in  1653.  His  father 
Imd  served  with  ability  and  courage,  both  in  the  civil  i^nd 
military  capacity,  and  the  son  very  early  shewed  a  zeul  to 
excel  in  arms.  He  served  first  as  aid -de- camp  to  hi« 
cousin,  the  marshal  de  Bellefons,  and  signalized  himself 
in  several  sieges  and  erigagemeats,  till  1702,  when  having 
'defeated  the  prince  of  Baden  at  the  battle  of  Friedlingen, 
be  was  appointed  marechal  of  France,  October 22,  the  same  y 
year.  The  following  year  he  took  the  fortress  of  Kell,  ' 
won  a  battle  at  Hochstet,  1703,  and  subdued  the  insurgents 
in  the  Cevennes,  by  negociating  with  their  leader  in  a 
manner  that  did  credit  to  his  humanity;  for  these  servicen 
he  was  raised  to  tbe  title  of  duke  of  Villarsin  1706.  His  next 
considerable  action  was  forcing  the  lines  at  Stolhoffen, 
1707,  and  obtaining  more  than  eighteen  millions  in  con^r 
tributions  from  the  enemy.  It  was  thought  that  he  would 
haTe  gained  the  battle  of  Malplaquet,  in  1709,  had  he  npt 
been  dangerously  wounded  before  the  action  finished. 
Such  at  least  was  bis  own  opinion,  to  which  historians  seem 
not  disposed  to  accede.  But  it  is  less  doubtful  that  he 
afterward^  acquired  great  glory  from  the  stratagem  by  which 
he  forced  the  entrenchments  of  Denain  on  tbe  Scbelde, 
July  24,  1712.  This  success  was  followed  by  the  capture 
of  Marchiennes,  Douay,  Bouchain,  Landau,  Friburg,  &c. 
and  by  a  peace  concluded  at  Radstadt,  between  the  em** 
peror  and  France,  May  6,  1714.  Marechal  de  Villars^ 
who  had  been  plenipotentiary  at  the  treaty  of  Badst^d^ 
was  made  president  of  the  council  of  war  in  1715,  and 
afterwards  counselloi:  to  the  regency  and  minister  of  state. 

1  Tiraboichl.— Gioguea^  Hi»t,  Lit  d'ltalie.— -Saxii  Onomast. 


55a  V  I  L  LA  R  S. 

la  1 75S  he  went  into  Italy  as  commander  under  the  king 
of  Sardinia,  and  bis  majesty  declared  him  marshal  general 
of  his  camps  and  armies ;  a  title  granted  to  no  one,  since 
the  death  of  marecbal  de  Turenne,  who  appears  to  have 
been  the  first  person  honoured  with  it.  M.  de  Viliars  took 
PMghkona,  Milan,  Novarra,  and  Tortona ;  bnt  after  hav- 
ing opened  the  following  campaign,  he  fell  sick  and  died 
at  Turin,  on  his  retnrn  to  France,  June  17,  1734i,  aged 
eighty-two,  regretted  as  one  of  the  greatest  and  most  for^ 
tnnate  generals  of  France.  He  had  been  admitted  into  the 
French  academy,  June  23,  1714«  M.  the  abb6  Seguy 
spoke  bis  funeral  oration,  wfaicb  was  printed  iu  1735.  H« 
was  a  man  of  undoubted  courage,  but  he  was  vain  and  un- 
^scconunodating,  and  never  beloved.  ^*  The  Memoirs  of 
M.  de  Viliars''  were  published  in  Dutch,  in  1734 — 36, 
3  vols.  12mo;  but  the  first  volume  only  was  written  by 
himself.  Another  life  was  published  by  M.  Anquetil  in 
1784,  4  vols.  12mo,  which  is  said  to  contain  more  ara|^ 
information  and  historical  documents.  ^ 
•  VILLARS  (MONFAUCON  DE),  a  French  abb6,  related  to 
^le  celebrated  Montfaucon  the  antiquary,  appears  to  hOTe 
been  a  native,  or  to  have  b^en  educated  at  Toulouse, 
whence  he  came  to  Paris,  in  hopes  of  recommending  him- 
ielf  by  his  talents  in  the  pulpit,  which  were  of  no  mean 
kind,  and  by  his  lively  conversation,  which  perhaps  fully  aft 
inuch  contributed  to  procure  him  friends.  He  aisp  enter- 
tained the  public  with  his  pen,  and  published  various  works 
of  imagination  and  criticism,  written  in  a  peculiar  style  of 
humour,  one  of  which  at  least  entitles  him  to  the  notice  df 
the  English  reader.  ,  This,  which  was  first  published  at 
Paris  in  1^70,  was  entitled  '*  Le  comte  de  Gabalis,  ou  en*- 
tretiens  sur  les  sciences  secrettes,''  with  an  addition  entitled 
^  Les  genies  assistans  et  les  gnomes  irreconciliables.*' 
D*Argonne,  in  his  "  Melanges  d^Histoire  et  de  Litterature," 
gives  the  following  account  of  this  singular  woi^k,  as  quoted 
hy  Dr.  Warton  :  "  The  five  dialogues  of  which  it  consists, 
«re  the  result  of  those  gay  conversations  in  which  the  abb£ 
vftLS  engaged  with  a  small  circle  of  men,  of  fine  wit  and 
•humour,  like  himself.  When  the  book  first  appeared,  it 
<was  universally  read  as  innocent  and  amusing.  But  at 
length  its  consequences  were  pei'ceived,  and  reckoned 
•dangerous,  at  a  time  when  this  sort  of  curiosities  began  to 

>  Diet  Hist— Moreri. 


V  I  L  L  A  R  S.  UZ 

g»iQ  credit.  Our  devout  preacher  ivas  denied  the  pu]|tttV 
and  his  book  forbidden  to  be  read.  It  was  not  clear  whe- 
ther the  author  intended  to  be  ironical,  or  spoke  all  seri- 
ously. The  second  Tolume,  which  he  promised,  would 
hare  decided  the  question  ;  but  the  unfortunate  abbi6  was 
soon  afterwards  assassinated  by  ruffians  on  the  road  ta 
Lyons.  The  laughers  gave  out,  that  the  gnomes  and 
sylphs,  disguised  like  ruffians,  had  shot  him,  as  a  punish- 
ment for  revealing  the  secrets  of  the  Cabala;  a  crime  not 
to  be  pardoned  by  those  jealous  spirits,  as  Villars  himself 
has  declared  in  his  book."  It  was  from  this  book  that 
Pope  took  the  machinery  of  the  sylphs,  of  ^hich  he  has 
made  such  admirable  use  in  his  *^  Rape  of  the  Lock,^'  al- 
though it  does  not  appear  that  he  borrowed  any  particular 
circiKnstances  relating  to  those  spirits,  but  merely  the 
general  idea  of  their  existence.  The  abb6  was  killed  io 
1675,  and  it  is  said  that  the  fatal  shot  came  from  one  of 
his  relations.  * 

VILLEFORE  (Joseph  Francis  Bourgoin  de),  a  French 
biographer,  was  born  December  24,  1652,  at  Paris,  and 
was  the  son  of  James  Bourgoin,  king^s  counsellor,  and 
hereditary  judge  and  warden  of  the  mint  in  that  city.  He 
spent  some  years  in  the  community  of  gentlemen  esta- 
blished in. the  parish  of  St.  Sulpice,  with  a  view  of  conceal^ 
ing  himself  from  the  world,  and  having  more  leisure  for 
study ;  but  his  merit  discovered  him,  and  he  was  admitted 
into  the  academy  of  inscriptions  in  1706.  In  1708,  how- 
ever, he  voluntarily  withdrew  from  this  academy,  al- 
leging, as  an  excuse,  that  his  health  would  not  permit  him 
to  perform  the  duties  of  it.  He  retired  afterwards  to  a 
small  apartment  in  the  cloisters  of  the  Metropolitan  church, 
and  there  passed  the  rest  of  his  life,  contented  with  a  lit- 
tle, free  from  ambition,  employed  in  study  and  prayer, 
and  enjoying  the  society  of  a  small  number  of  select 
friends.  He  continued  a  layman,  but  neither  married,  nor 
held  any  office  in  the  state.  He  died  December  2,  1737, 
aged  eighty-five,  leaving  a  great  number  of  biographical 
works,  translations,  and  small  pieces.  His  biographical 
productions  are,  "  The  Life  of  St.  Bernard,"  4to ;  **  The 
Lives  of  the  Holy  Fathers  of  the  Deserts  in  the  East  and 
West,"  5  vols.  12roo;  "The  Life  of  St.  Theresa,"  with 
^<  Select  Letters"  of  the  same  Saint,  4to,  and  2  vols.  12mo; 

1  Diet.  Hist. — ^Moreri.— WartoB^f  Essay  ob  Pop€.     v 

Vol.  XXX.  A  a 


$5*  V  I  L  L  E  F  O  R"E. 

^/  Anecdotes  and  secret  Memoirs  concerning  the  constitu-r 
tion  Unigenitus/'  .3  vols.  12mo;  but  this  work  was  sup-i- 
pressed  by  a  decree  of  council,  as  well  as  the  "Refutation" 
of  it,  written  by  M.  Peter  Francis  Lafitau,  bishop  of  Siste* 
ron ;  **  The  Life  of  Anne  Genevieve  d^  Bourbon,  duchess 
de  Longueville,"  the  best  edition  of  which  is  Amsterdam, 
1739,  2  torn,  8vo.  M.  de  Villefore's  translations  are,  seve- 
ral of  St,  Augustine's,  St.  Bernard's,  and  Cicero's  works, 
all  said  to  be  faithfully  executed.* 

VILLIERS  (George),  duke  of  Buckingham,  and  me* 
morable  in  English  story  for  having  been  the  favourite  of 
two  kings,  was  born  Aug.  20,  1592,  at  Brookesby  in  Lei- 
cestershire, and  was  the  son  of  sir  George  Villiers,  by  a 
second  wife  of  the  ancient  family  of  Beaumont.  At  an 
early  age  be  was  sent  to  a  private  school  in  that  county, 
but  never  discovered  any  genius  for  letters ;  so  that  more 
regard  was  bad  in  the  course  of  his  education  to  the  accom- 
plishnients  of  a  gentleman  than  those  of  a  scholar.  About 
eighteen,  he  travelled  into  France,  where  he  made  himself 
familiar  with  the  French  language,  and  with  all  the  exer- 
cises of  the  noblesse;  ^uch  as  fencing  and  dancing,  in 
wh\ch  last  he  particularly  excelled.  Soon  after  his  return 
to  England,  which  was  at  the  end  of  three  years,  his  mo- 
ther, who  was  a  sagacious  and  enterprising  woman,  intro- 
duced him  at  court;  concluding  probably,  and  not  without 
good  reason,  that  a  young  gentleman  of  his  fine  p6rson  and 
accomplishments  could  not  fail  of  making  his  fortune  under 
such  a  monarch  as  James  L  The  king,  about  March 
1614-15,  went  according  to  his  custom  to  take  his  hunting- 
pleasures  at  Newmarket;  and  the  Cambridge  scholars,  who 
^newthe  king's  humour,  invited  him  to  a.  pTay,  called  "  Ig- 
noramus.'* At  this  play  it  was  contrived,  that  Villiers 
should- appear  with  every  advantage  of  dress  and  person  ; 
and  the  king  no  sooner  cast  his  eyes  upon  him  than  he  be- 
came confounded  with  admiration  ;  for,  says  lord  Claren- 
don, "  though  he  was  a  prince  of  more  learning  and  know- 
ledge than  any  other  of  that  age,  and  really  delighted 
more  in  books  and  in  the  conversation  of  learned  men,  yet, 
of  all  wise  men  living,  he  was  the  most  delighted  and  taken 
^ith  handsome  persons  and  fine  cloaths."  Thus  he  con- 
ceived such  a  liking  to  the  person  of  Villiers,.  that  he  **  re-r 
l^olved,  as  sir  Henry  Wottou  says,  to  make  him  a  master- 

}  Diat  I|ist.«"Morcri. 


V  I  L  L  I  E  R  S.  •  $55 

piece ;  and  to  mould  him,  as  it  were,  Platonically  to  his 
own  idea.^^ 

The  king  began  to  be  weary  of  his  favourite,  the  earl  of 
Somerset ;  and  many  of  the  courtiers  were  sufficiently 
angry  and  incensed  against  him,  for  being  what  they  them- 
selves desired  to  be.  These,  therefore,  were  pleased  with 
t(ie  prospect  of  a  new  favourite  ;  and,  out  of  their  zeal  to 
displace  Somerset,  did  all  they  could  to  promote  Villiers. 
Their  endeavours,  concurring  with  the  inclinations  of  the 
king,  made  the  promotion  of  Villiers  advance  so  rapidly, 
that  in  a  few  days  after  his  first  appearance  at  court,  be  was 
made  cnp-bearer  to  the  king.  Soon  after  he  was  made  a 
gentleman  of  the  bed-chamber,  and  knight  of  the  order  of 
the  garter.  In  a  short  time,  "  very  short,"  says  lord  Cla- 
rendon, ^^  for  such  a  prodigious  ascent,^'  he  was  made  a 
baroD,  a  viscount,  an  earl,  a  marquis;  he  became  lord  high 
admiral  of  England,  lord  warden  of  the  Cinque-ports,  mas- 
ter of  the  horse;  and  entirely  disposed  of  the  favours  of 
the  king,  in  conferring  all  the  honours  and  all  the  offices  of 
the  three  kingdoms  without  a  rival.  In  this  he  shewed  the 
usual  partiahties  of  personal  and  family  ambition,  and  raised 
almost  all  of  his  own  numerous  family  and  dependents, 
without  any  other  merit  than  their  alliance  to  him ;  which 
equally  offended  the  ancient  nobility  and  people  of  all  con- 
ditions, who  saw  the  flowers  of  the  crown  every  day  fading 
and  withered,  while  the  revenues  of  it  were  sacrificed  to 
the  aggrandizement  of  a  private  family. 

In  1620,  the  marquis  of  Buckingham  married  the  only 
daughter  of  the  earl  of  Rutland,  who  was  the  richest  heiress 
in  the  kin^rcjom.  Some  have  said  that  he  debauched  her 
first,  and  that  the  earl  of  Rutland  threatened  him  into  the 
marriage  :  but  this  may  reasonably  be  ranked  with  many 
other  imputations  of  perhaps  doubtful  authority,  which  now 
began  to  be  accumulated  against  him'.  In  1623,  the  mar- 
quis persuaded  Charles  prince  of  Wales  to  make  a  journey 
into  Spain,  and  bring  home  his  mistress  the  Infanta ;  by 
representing  to  him,  how  gallant  and  brave  a  thing  it  would 
be,  and  bow  soon  it  would  put  an  end  to  those  formalities, 
which,  though  all  substantial  matters  were  already  deter- 
mined, might  yet  retard  her  voyage  into  England  many 
months.  The  king  was  greatly  enraged  at  the  proposal, 
and  the  event  shewed  that  he  had  sufficient  reason ;  but 
the  solicitation  of  the  prince  and  the  impetuosity  of  the 
marqiiis  prevailed.     The  marquis  attended  the  prince,  and 

A  A  2 


356      '  VILLIERSL 

was  made  a  duke  in  his  absence:  yet  it  is  certain,  says 
lord  Clarendon,  that  the  king  was  never  well  pleased  with 
the  duke  after  this  journey  into  Spain,  which  was  totally 
against  his  will,  and  contrived  wholly  by  the  duke  out  of 
envy,  lest  the  earl  of  Bristol  should  have  the  sole  manage** 
ment  of  so  great  an  affair.  Many  were  of  opinion,  there- 
fore, that  king  James,  before  his  death,  was  become  weary 
of  this  favourite,  and  that,  if  he  had  lived,  he  would  have 
deprived  him  at  least  of  his  large  and  unlimited  power;  but 
it  did  not  openly  appear  that  the  king^s  affection  towards 
him  was  at  all  lessened. 

Charles  succeeded  to  the  throne  in  1625  ;  and  the  du|^ 
continued  in  the  same  degree  of  favour  at  the  least  with 
the  son  which  he  had  enjoyed  so  many  years  under  the  fa- 
ther. This  greatly  disappointed  certain  courtiers,  who,  re- 
collecting the  great  jealousy  and  indignation  which  the 
prince  had  heretofore  conceived  against  the  duke,  for  hav- 
ing been  once  very  near  striking  him,  expected  that  he 
would  now  take  revenge.  But,  on  the  contrary,  the  new 
king,  from  the  death  of  the  old,  even  to  the  death  of  the 
duke  himself,  discovered  the  most  entire  confidence  in, 
and  even  friendship  to,  him.  AH  preferments  in  church 
and  state  were  given  by  him ;  all  his  kindred  and  friends 
promoted  to  the  degree  in  honour,  or  riches,  or  offices, 
that  he  thought  fit ;  and  all  his  enemies  and  enviers  dis- 
countenanced, as  he  appointed.  But,  whatever  interest 
he  might  have  in  the  prince,  he  had  now  none  with  the 
parliament  and  people.  The  parliament,  which  had  so 
rashly  advanced  the  war  with  Spain  upon  the  breaking  of 
the  match  with  the  Infanta,  and  so  passionately  adhered  to 
his  person,  was  now  no  more ;  and  the  attachment  which 
the  major  part  had  for  the  duke,  was  changed  now  into 
prejudice  and  animosity.  AH  the  actions  of  his  life  were 
scrutinized,  and  every  unfavourable  representation  given 
of  what  he  had  said  and  done.  Votes  and  remonstrs»|ces 
passed  against  him  as  an  enemy  to  the  nation ;  and  his 
misconduct  was  made  the  ground  of  the  refusal  to  give  the 
king  a  supply.  This  kind  of  treatment,  however,  had  no 
effect  in  taming  the  duke's  great  spirit,  who  expressed  the 
utmost  indignation  upon  finding,  that  they  who  flattered 
him  most  before,  mentioned  him  now  with  the  greatest  bit- 
terness and  acrimony ;  and  that  the  same  men,  who  called 
hiin  ^^  our  Saviour'*  for  bringing  the  prince  safe  out  of 
Spain^  called  him  now  ^^  corrupter  of  the  king,  and  be* 


y  I  L  L  I  E  R  S. 


357 


trayer  of  the  liberties  of  the  people/*  without  bein^  able 
to  impute  to  him  the  least  crime,  committed  since  the  time 
of  that  exalted  adulation.  He  ventured  therefore  to  mani- 
fest a  greater  contempt  pf  them  than  he  should  have  done; 
for  he  caused  this  and  the  next  parliament  to  be  quickly 
dissolved,  and,  upon  every  dissolution,  had  such  as  had 
given  any  offence,  imprisoned  or  disgraced.  He  caused 
new  projects  to  be  every  day  set  on  foot  for  raising'money ; 
and  bad  defiance  to  temperate  and  conciliatory  measures. 

In  this  fatal  conjuncture,  and  while  the  war  with  Spain 
was  yet  kept  up,  a  new  war  was  precipitately  declared  against 
France ;  for  which  no  reasonable  cause  could  ever  be  as« 
signed.  It  has  been  said,  that'the  king  was  hurried  into  this 
war,  purely  from  a  private  motive  of  resentment  in  the 
duke  of  Buckingham,  who,  having  been  in  France  to 
bring  over  the  queen,  had  the  confidence  to  make  over- 
tures of  love  to  Anne  of  Austria,  the  consort  of  Lewis 
XIIL ;  and  that  his  high  spirit  was  so  fired  at  the  repulse 
be  met  with  on  this  extraordinary  occasion,  as  to  be  ap- 
peased with  nothing  less  than  a  war  between  the  two  na- 
tions. Whatever  was  the  cause,  the  fleet,  which  had  been 
designed  to  have  surprised  Cadiz,  was  no  sooner  returned 
without  success  and  with  much  damage^  than  it  was  re* 
paired,  and  the  army  reinforced  for  the  invasion  of  France* 
Here  the  duke  was  general  himself,  and  made  that  unfor- 
tunate descent  upon  the  Isle  of  Rhee,  ii|  which  the  flower 
of  the  army  was  lost.  Having  returned  to  England,  and 
repaired  the  fleet  and  the  army,  he  was  about  to  sail  to 
the  relief  of  Kochelle,  which  was  then  closely  besieged  by 
the  cardinal  Richelieu ;  s^nd  to  relieve  which  the  duke  was 
the  more  obliged,  because  at  the  Isle  of  Rhee  he  had  re- 
ceived great  supplies  of  victuals  and  some  men  from  that 
town,  the  want  of  both  which  he  laboured  under  at  this 
time.  He  was  at  Portsmouth  for  this  purpose,  when  he  was 
assassinated  by  one  Felton,  on  the  23d  of  August,  1628^ 
in  the  thirty-sixth  year  of  his  age.  The  particulars  of  this 
assassination  are  well  known,  being  related  at  large  by  lord 
CiarendoUj  to  whom  we  refer  the  reader ;  but  we  may  sub- 
join another  account,  as  being  circumstantial  and  curious, 
and  less  known.  This  is  given  by  sir  Simonds  D^Ewes,  io 
a  manuscript  life  of  himself:  '^  August  the  2$d,  being  Sa- 
turday, the  duk^  having  eaten  his  breakfast  between  eight 
and  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning,  in  one  Mr.  Mason's  house 
ia  Portsmouth,  he  was  then  hasting  away  to  the  king,  who 


35S  V  I  L  L  I  E  R  S. 

lay  at  Reswicke,  about  five  miles  distant,  to  have  some 
speedy  conference  with  him.  Being  come  to  the  farther 
part  of  tlie  entry  leading  out  of  the  parlour  into  the  hall  of 
the  house,  he  bad  there  some  conference  with  sir  Thomas 
Frier,  a  colonel ;  and  stooping  down  in  taking  his  leave  of 
him,  John  Felton,  gentleman,  having  watched  his  oppor- 
tunity, thrust  a  long  knife,  with  a  white  helft,  he  had  se- 
cretly about  him,  with  great  strength  and  violence,  into  his 
breast,  under  his  left  pap,  cutting  the  diaphragma  and 
lungs,  and  piercing  the  very  heart  itself.  The  duke  having 
received  the  stroke,  and  instantly  clapping  his  right-hand 
on  his  sword-hilt,  cried  out  ^  God^s  wounds  !  the  villain 
hath  killed  me.*  Some  repoft  his  last  words  otherwise,  lit-^ 
tie  differing  for  substance  from  these ;  and  it  might  have 
been  wished,  that  his  end  had  not  been  so  sudden,  nor  his 
last  words  mixed  with  so  impious  an  expression.  He  was 
attended  by  many  noblemen  and  leaders,  yet  none  could 
see  to  prevent  the  stroke.  His  duchess,  and  the  countess 
of  Anglesey  (the  wife  of  Christopher  Villiers,  earl  of  Angle- 
sey, his  younger  brother),  being  in  an  upper  room,  and 
hearing  a  noise  in  the  hall,  into  which  they  had  carried  the 
duke,  ran  presently  iato  a  gallery,  that  looked  down  into  it ; 
and  there  beholding  the  duke's  blood  gush  out  abundantly 
from  his  breast,  nose,  and  mouth  (with  which  his  speech, 
after  those  his  first  words,  had  been  immediately  stopped), 
they  brake  into  pitiful  outcries,  and  raised  p^eat  lamenta- 
tion. He  pulled  out  the  knife  himself;  and  being  carried 
by  his  servants  unto  the  table,  that  stood  in  the  same 
hall,  having  struggled  with  death  near  upon  a  quarter  of 
an  hour,  at  length  he  gave  up  the  ghost,  about  ten 
o'clock,  and  lay  a  long  time  after  he  was  dead  upon  the 
table."      / 

As  to  the  character  of  this  great  man.  Clarendon  says, 
he  was  ^^  of  a  noble  and  generous  disposition,  and  of  such 
other  endowments  as  made  him  very  capable  of  being  a 
great  favourite  with  a  great  king.  He  understood  the  arts 
of  a  court,  and  all  the  learning  that  is  possessed  there,  ex- 
actly well.  By  long  practice  in  business,  under  a  master 
that  discoursed  excellently,  and  surely  knew  all  things  won- 
derfully, and  took  much  delight  in  indoctrinating  bis 
young  unexperienced  favourite,  who  (he  knew)  would  aU 
ways  be  looked  upon  as  the  workmanship  of  his  own  hands^ 
he  had  obtained  a  quick  conception  and  apprehension  of 
business^  and  had  the  habit  of  speaking  very  gracefully  and 


V  I  L  L  I  E  R  S.  ass 

pertinently.  He  was  of  a  most  flowing  courtesy  and  affa- 
bility to  ail  men  who  made  any  address  to  liim,  and  so  de- 
sirous to  oblige  them  that  ho  did  not  enough  consider  the 
value  of  the  obligation^  or  the  merit  of  the  person  he  chose 
to  oblige ;  from  which  much  of  his  misfortune  resulted.  He 
was  of  a  courage  not  to  be  daunted,  which  was  manifesteid 
in  all  his  actions,  and  in  his  contests  with  particular  persons 
of  the  greatest  reputation  ;  and  especially  in  his  whole  de- 
meanour at  the  Isle  of  Rhee^  both  at  the  landing  and  upon 
the  retreat;  in  both  which  no  roan  was.  more  fearless,  or 
more  ready  to  expose  himself  to  the  highest  dangers.  His 
kindness  and  affection  to  his  friends  was  so  vehement,  that 
they  were  as  so  many  marr^ges  for  better  or  worse,  and 
so  many  leagues  offensive  and  defensive  :  as  if  he  thought 
himself  obliged  to  love  all  his  friends,^  and  to  make  war 
upon  all  they  were  angry  with,  let  the  cause  be  what  it 
would.  And  it  cannot  be  denied,  that  he  was  an,  enemy  in 
the  same  excess  ^  and  prosecuted  those  he  looked  upon  as 
enemies  with  the  utmost  rigour  and  animosity,  and  was  not 
easily  induced  to  a  reconciliation.  His  single  misfortune 
was,  which  was  indeed  productive  of  many  greater,  that 
be  had  never  made  a  noble  and  a  worthy  friendship  with  a 
man  so  near  his  equal,  that  he  would  frankly  advise  him  for 
his  honour  and  true  interest  against  the  current,  or  rather 
the  torrent)  of  his  passions ; — ^and  it  may  reasonably  be  be* 
lieved,  that,  if  he.had  been  blessed  with  one  faithful  friend^ 
who  had  been  qualified  with  wisdom  and  integrity,  he  wjOuLd 
have  committed  as  few  faultsi  and  done  as  transcendant 
worthy  actions,  as  any  man  who  shined  in  such  a  sphere  in 
that  age  in  Europe ;  for  he  was  of  an  excellent  disposition, 
and  of  a  mind  very  capable  of  advice  and  counsel ;  he  was 
in  his  nature  just  and  candid,  liberal,  generous,  and  boun- 
tiful ;  nor  was  it  ever  known,  that  the  temptation  of  money 
swayed  him  to  do  an  unjust  or  unkind  thing.  .  If  he  had  an 
immoderate  ambition,  with  which  he  was  charged,  ittdeth 
not  appear  that  it  was  in  his  nature,  or  that  he  brought  it 
with  him  to  the  court,  but  rather  found  it  there.  He  needed 
BO  ambitioui  who  was  so  seated  in  the  hearts  of  two  such 
masters."  This  is  the  character  which  the  earl  of  Claren- 
don has  thought  fit  to  give  the  duke ;  and  if  other  historians 
have  not  drawn  him  in  colours  quite  so  favourable^  yet  they 
have  not  .varied  from  him  in  the  principal  features.  ; 

The  story  of  George  Villiers,    the  duke's  father,   ap- 
pearing to  an  officer  in  the  king's  wardrobe  at  Windsor 


\ 


S<0  VtLtlERS. 

•astte,  and  predicting  the  duke^s^  death,  is  so  Tery  «fell 
known,  that  it  does  not  seem  necessary  to  enter  into  any 
detail  about  it.  If  the  reader  thinks  it  worthy  of  any  credit, 
and  is  curious  to  examine  farther  into  it,  he  may  find 
it  at  large  in  the  Brst  book  of  Clarendon's  ^^  History  of  the 
Rebellion.'* » 

VILLIERS  (George),  duke  ofBuckingham,  and  a  v^eiy 
distinguished  personage  in  the  reign  of  Charles  II.  was  the 
son  of  the  preceding,  by  his  wife  Jady  Catherine  Manners, 
and  iwas  born  at  Wallingford-house,  in  the  parish  of  St. 
Martin  in  the  Fields,  January  SO,  1627,  which  being  but 
the  year  befoi^e  the  fatal  catastrophe  of  his  father's  death, 
the  young  duke  was,  left  a  perfect  infant,  a  circumstance 
which  is  frequently  prejudicial  to  the  morals  of  men  borji 
to  high  rank  and  adBSuence.  The  early  parts  of  his  educa- 
tion he  received  from  various  domestic  tutors ;  after  which 
he  was  sent  to  the  university  of  Cambridge,  where  having 
completed  a  course  of  studies,  he,  with  his  brother  lord 
Francis,  went  abroad,  under  the  care  of  one  Mr.  Ayles- 
bury. Upon  his  retfirn,  which  was  not  till  after  the  break- 
ing-out of  the  rebellion,  the  king  being  at  Oxford,  his 
grace  repaired  thither,  was  presented  to  his  majesty,  and 
entered  of  Christ-church  college.  Upon  the  decline  of 
the  king's  cause,  he  attended  prince  Charles  into  Scotland, 
end  was  with  him  at  the  battle  of  Worcester  in  1651 ;  afiter 
which,  making  his  escape  beyond  sea,  he  again  joined 
him,  and  was  soon  after,  as  a  reward  for  his  attachment, 
made  kpight  of  the  Garter.  Desirous,  however,  of  re- 
trieving his  affairs,  he  came  privately  to  England,  and  in 
1657  married  Mary,  the  daughter  and  sole  heiress  of  Tho» 
mas  lord  Fairfax,  through  whose  interest  he  recovered  the 
greatest  part  of  the  estate  he  had  lost,  and  the  assurance 
of  succeeding  to  an  accumulation  of  wealth  in  the  right  of 
his  wife.  We  do  not  find,  however,  that  this  step  lost  him 
the  royal  favour ;  for,  after  the  restoration,  at  which  time 
he  is  said  to  have  possessed  an  estate  of  20,000/.  per  annum, 
he  was  made  one  of  the  lords  of  the  bed-chamber,  called 
to  the  privy«council,  and  appointed  lord-lieutenant  of 
Yorkshire,  and  master  of  the  horse.  All  these  high  oflfees^ 
however,  he  lost  again  in  1666;  for,  having  been  refused 
the  post  of  president  of  the  North,  he  became  disaffected 
to  the  king,  and  it  was  discovered  that  be  had  carried  oa  a 

1  Biog.  Brit,<«-Wottsa'f  Remaias,— CJartiMlon.— Hiitf^jr  of  Enstaa^ 


V  I  L  L  I  E  K  s.  aei 

•ecret  correspondence  by  letters  and  other  transactioot 
with  one  Dr.  Heydon  (a  man  of  no  kind  of  conseqaence^ 
but  a  useful  tool),  tending  to  raise  mutinies  among  his  ma- 
jesty's forces,  particularly  in  the  navy,  to  stir  up  sedition 
among  the  people,  and  even  to  engage  persons  in  a  con- 
spiracy for  the  seizing  the  Tower  of  London.  Nay,  to 
such  base  lengths  had  he  proceeded,  as  even  to  have  given 
money  to  villains  to  put  on  jackets,  and,  personating  sea- 
men, to  go  about  the  country  begging,  and  exclaiming  for 
want  of  pay,  while  the  people  oppressed  with  taxes  were 
cheated  of  their  money  by  the  great  officers  of  the  crown* 
Matters  were  ripe  for  execution,  and  an  insurrection,  at 
the  head  of  which  the  duke  was  openly  to  have  appeared^ 
on  the  very  eve  of  breaking-out,  when  it  was  discovered  by 
ineans  of  some  agents  whom  Heydon  had  employed  to 
carry  letters  to  the  duke.  The  detection  of  this  affair  so 
^asperated  the  king,  who  knew  Buckingham^  to  be  capa- 
ble ef  the  blackest  designs,  that  he  immediatisly  ordered 
him  to  be  seized;  but  the  duke  finding  means,  having  de- 
fended his  house  for  some  time  by  force,  to  make  his 
escape,  bis  majesty  struck  him  out  of  all  his  commissions, 
and  issued  out  a  proclamation,  requiring  his  surrender  by 
a  certain  day.  This  storm,  however,  did  not  long  haiig 
over  his  head  ;  for,  on  his  making  an  humble  submission, 
king  Charles,  who  was  far  from  being  of  an  implacable 
temper,  took  him  again  into  favour,  and  the  very  next 
year  restored  him  both  to  the  privy-council  and  bed"-ctnim<- 
ber.  But  the  duke's  disposition  for  intrigue  and  machina^- 
tion  was  not  lessened ;  for,  having  conceived  a  resentment 
against  the  duke  of  Ormond,  becaiisf  he  had  acted  witk 
some  severity  against  him  in  the  last-mentioned  affair,  he^ 
in  1670,  was  supposed  to  be  concerned  in  an  attempt 
made  on  that  nobleman's  life,  by  the  same  Blood  who  after- 
wards endeavoured  to  steal  the  crown.  Their  design  was 
to.  have  conveyed  the  duke  to  Tyburn, -and  there  hav)^ 
hanged  him ;  and  so  far  did  they  proceed  towards  the  put- 
ting it  in  execution,  that  Blood  and  his  son  had  actually 
forced  the  duke  out  of  his  coach  in  St.  James*s-street,  and 
carried  him  away  beyond  Devonshire-house,  Piccadilly^ 
before  he  was  rescued  from  them.  That  there  must  have 
been  the  strongeist  reasons  for  suspecting  the  duke  of  Buck« 
ipghao^  of  having  been  a  p^rty  in  this  villainoug  project,  is 
apparent  from  a  story  Mr.  Carte  relates  from  the  best  au- 
thority, in  his  *^  Life  of  the  duke  of  Ormond/'  of  the  public 


362  V  I  L  L  I  E  R  S. 

resentment  and  open  menaces  thrown  out  to  the  duke  on 
the  occasion^  by  the  earl  of  Ossory^  the  duke  of  OrmondV 
son,  even  in  the  presence  of  the  king  himself.  But  as 
Charles  II.  was  more  sensible  of  injuries  done  to  himself 
than  others/  it  does  not  appear  that  this  transaction  hurt 
the  duke's  interest  at  court;  for  in  1671  he  was  installed 
cliancellor  of  the  university  of  Cambridge,  and  sent  am* 
bassador  to  France,  where  he  was  very  nobly  entertained 
by  Lewis  XIV.  and  presented  by  that  monarch  at  his  de- 
parture with  a  sword  and  belt  set  with  jewels,  to  the  value 
of  forty  thousand  pistoles  ;  and  the  next  year  he  was  em«* 
ployed  in  a  second  embassy  to  that  king  at  Utrecht.  How- 
ever, in  June  1674,  he  resigned  the  chancdlorship  of 
Cambridge,  and  about  tlie  same  time  became  a  zealous 
partizan  and  favourer  of  the  nonconformists.  On  February 
16,  1676,  his  grace,  with  the  earls  of  Salisbury  and 
Shaftesbury,  and  lord  Wharton,  were  committed  to  the 
Tower,  by  order  of  the  House  of  Lords,  for  a  contempt, 
in  refusing  to  retract  the  purport  of  a  speech  which  the 
duke  had  made  concerning  a  dissolution  of  the  parliament; 
but  upon  a  petition  to  the  king,  he  was  discharged  thence 
in  May  following.  In  1680,  having  sold  Wallingfbrd** 
house  in  the  Strand,  he  purchased  a  house  at  Dowgate, 
and  resided  there,  joining  with  the  earl  of  Shaftesbury  in 
all  the  violences  of  opposition.  About  the  time  of  king 
Charles's  death,  his  health  became  affected,  and  he  went 
into  the  country  to  his  own  manor  of  Helmisley,  in  York- 
shire, where  he  generally  passed  his  time  in  bunting  and 
entertaining  his  friends.  This  he  continued  until  a  fort- 
night before  his  death,  an  event  which  happened  at  a  te- 
nant's house,  at  Kirkby  Moorside,  April  16;  1688,  after 
three  days  illness,  of  an  ague  and  fever,  arising  from  a 
cold  which  he  caught  by  sitting  on  the  ground  after  fox- 
hunting. The  day  before  his  death,  he  sent  to  his  old  ser- 
vant Mn  Brian  Fairfax,  to  provide  him  a  bed  at  his  own 
house,  at  Bishophill,  in  Yorkshire ;  but  the  next  morning 
the  same  man  returned  with  the  news  that  his  life  was  de- 
ibpaired  of.  Mr.  Fairfax  came ;  the  duke  knew  him,  looked 
earnestly  at  him,  but  could  not  speak.  Mr.  Fairfax  aske<) 
a  gentleman  there  present,  a  justice  of  peace,  and  a  wor- 
thy, discreet  man  in  the  neighbourhood,  what  he  had  said 
or  done  before  he  became  speechless :  who  told  him,  that 
some  questions  had  been  asked  him  about  his  estate,  to 
which  he  gave  no  answer.     This  occasioned  another  ques- 


V  I  L  L  I  E  R  S.  363 

tion  to  be  proposed,  if^he  would  have  a  Popish  priest; 
but  he  replied  with  great  vehemence,  No,  no !  repeat- 
ing the  words,  be  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  them. 
The  same  gentleman  then  asked  him  again,  if  he  would 
bave  the  minister  sent  for ;  and  he  calmly  said,  ^^  Yes,  pray 
send  for  him."  The  minister  accordingly  came,  and  did 
the  office  enjoined  by  the  church,  the  duke  devoutly  at- 
tending it,  and  received  the  sacrament.  In  about  an  hour 
after,  he  became  speechless,  and  died  on  the  same  night*. 
His  body  was  buried  in  Westminster-abbey.  As  to  his 
personal  character,  it  is  impossible  to  say  any  thing  in  its 
vindication ;  for  though  his  severest  enemies  acknowledge 
him  to  have  possessed  great  vivacity  and  a  quickness  of  parts 
peculiarly  adapted  to  the  purposes  of  ridicule,  yet  his 
warmest  advocates  have  never  attributed  to  him  a  singrle 
virtue.  His  generosity  was  profuseness,  his  wit  malevo- 
lence, the  gratiBcation  of  his  passions  his  sole  aim  through 
life,  his  very  talents  caprice,  and  even  his  gallantry  the 
mere  love  of  pleasure.  But  it  is  impossible  to  draw  his 
character  with  equal  beauty,  or  with  piore  justice,  than  in 
that  given  of  him  by  Dryden,  in  his  ^^  Absalom  and  Achito- 
phel,"  under  the  name  of  Zimri,  to  which  we  shall  refer 
our  readers.  If  he  appears  inferior  to  his  father  as  a  states- 
man, he  was  certainly  superior  to  him  as  a  wit^  and  wanted 
only  application  and  steadiness  to  have  made  as  conspicuous 
a  figure  in  the  senate  and  the  cabinet  as  he  did  in  the  draw- 
ing-room. But  his  love  of  pleasure  wa^  so  immoderate, 
and  his  eagerness  in  the  pursuit  of  it  so  ungovernable^  that 
they  were  perpetual  bars  against  the  execution  of  even  any 
plan  he  might  have  Formed  solid  or  praise-worthy.  In  con- 
sequence of  which,  with  the  possession  of  a  fortune  that 
might  have  enabled  him  to  render  himself  an  object  of 
almost  adoration,  we  do  not  find  him  on  record  for  any  one 
deservedly  generous  action.  A^  he  had  lived  a  profligate, 
he  died  a  beggar ;  and  as  he  had  raised  no  friend  in  his  life, 
he  found  none  to  lament  him  at  his  death.  As  a  writer, 
however,  he  has  very  considerable  merit.  His  poems,  in- 
deed$  are  very  indifferent,  but  his  memory  will  owe  much 
to  his  celebrated  comedy  of  ^'The  Rehiearsal,"  1672,  which 
is  a  master-piece  of  wit,  and  every  way  an  original 

Besides  ^<  The  Rehearsal,"  the  duke  was  the  author  of 

*  These  and  other  particulars  respecting  the  wretched  end  of  the  duke  of 
Buckingham*  may  be  seen  in  a  letter  from  lord  Arran,  printed  in  Maty's  Re>- 
▼iew,  VQl  IVl  p,  435. 


♦ 


/ 


464  V  I  L  L  I  E  R  S. 

tOQie  other  dramatic  pieces ;  as  ^^  The  Chances/'  a  comedy 
altered  from  Fletcher ;  ^*  The  Restauration,  or  Right  will 
lake  place/'  a  tragi-comedy ;  ^  The  Battle  of  Sedgmpor/* 
a  farce ;  <<  The  Militant  Couple,  or  the  Husband  may  thank 
hiniself/'  a  fragment.  He  was  the  author  of  some  prose 
pieces,  among  which  were  ^'  An  Essay  upon  Reason  and 
Religion/'  in  a  letter  to  Nevile  Pain,  esq. ;  ^^  On  Human 
Reason/'  addressed  to  Martin  Clifford,  esq.;  ^^An  account 
of  a  Conference  between  the  duke  and  father  Fitzgerald, 
whom  king  James  sent  to  convert  his  grace  in  his  sickness  /' 
and,  ^^  A  short  Discourse  upon  the  reasonableness  of  men's 
having  a  religion  or  worship  of  God."  Th,is  last  was  printed 
in  1685,  and  passed  through  three  editions.  The  duke 
wrote  also  several  small  poems  complimentary  and  satirical. 
One  is  entitled  *^The  lost  mistress,  a  complaint  against  the 

countess  of ^"  Shrewsbury,  as  is  supposed ;  whose 

lord  he  killed  in  a  duel  on  her  account,  and  who  is  satd  to 
have  held  the  duke's  horse,  disguised  like  a  page,  during 
the  combat.  The  loves  of  this  tender  pair  are  touched  by 
Pope,  in  some  well-known  lines.  Pope  informed  Spence, 
<'  that  the  duke's  duel  with  lord  Shrewsbury  was  concerted 
between  him  and  lady  Shre^Vsbury.  All  that  morning  she 
was  trembling  for  her  gallant,  and  wishing  for  the  death  of 
her  husband  ;  and  after  his  fall,  'tis  said  the  duke  lay  with 
her  in  his  bloody  shirt."  The  following  account  of  this  in* 
famous  affair;  which  Mr.  Malone  copied  from  a  MS  lettef 
dated  Whitehall,  Jan.  10,  1673*4,  affords  but  a  sorry  idea 
of  the  profligate  reign  in  which  such  a  tragedy  could  be 
acted  with  impunity. 

*^  Upon  Wednesday  the  Tth^  the  two  Houses  met.  In 
the  Lords'  House,  immediately  upon  his  majesty's  recess^ 
the  earl  of  Westmoreland  brought  in  a  petition  against  the 
duke  of  Bucks,  in  the  name  of  the  young  earl  of  Shrews* 
bury,  tiesiring  justice  against  him,  for  murthering  his  father, 
making  his  mother  a  whore,  and  keeping  her  now  as  an  in* 
famous  strumpet.  To  this  {he  duke  replied, — 'tis  true  he 
bad  the  hard  fortune  to  kill  the  earl  of  Shrewsbury,  but  it 
was  upon  the  greatest  provocations  in  the  world:  that  he 
bad  fought  him  twice  before,  and  had  as  often  given  him 
bis  life ;  that  be  had  threatened  to  pistdl  him,  wheresoever 
be  (should)  meet  him,  if  he  could  not  fight  him  : — that  for 
these  reasons  the  king  had  givei>  him  his  pardon.  To  the 
other  part  of  the  petition  concerning  the  lady  Shrewsbury, 
he  said,  he  knew  not  how  far  his  conversation  with  that  lady 


VILLIERS.  3«5 

was  cognizable  by  that  House ;  but  if  that  bad  given  offence, 
she  was  now  gone  to  a  retirement.*^— A  day  was,  Appointed 
for  considering  the  merits  of  the  petition ;  but  the  parlia*' 
ment 'being  prorogued  on  Feb.  25,  nothing  more  appears 
to  have  been  done  in  the  business.  Three  days  before  the 
duke  was  pardoned  for  killing  lord  Shrewsbury  (Feb.  25, 
1667-S),  that  nobleman's  second,  sir  John  Talbot,  received 
a  pardon  for  killing  the  duke's  second,  Mr.  William  Jenkins; 
for  at  that  time  the  seconds  in  duels  regularly  engaged,  as 
well  as  the  principals.  Andrew  Marvell  says,  in  one  of  his 
letters,  that  the  duke  had  a  son  by  lady  Shrewsbury,  whg 
died  young,  and  whom  he  erroneously  calls  earl  of  Co- 
ventry. The  duke  had  no  heirs  by  his  duchess.  What  the 
duke  meant  by  lady  Shrewsbury's  going  to  a  retirement^ 
we  know  no^.  She  afterwards  married  George  Rodi>ey 
Bridges,  second  son  of  sir  Thomas  Bridges  of  Keynsham 
in  Somersetshire,  knt,  and  died  April  20,  1702.' 

VILLOISON  (John  Baptist  Gaspard  D'Ansse  de),  a 
very  learned  Frenchman,  member  of  the  Institute,  and  of 
all  the  academies  and  learned  societies  of  Europe,  was  born 
at  Corbeille-sur- Seine,  March  5,  1750.  His- family  was 
originally  of  Sps^n,  but  had  settled  in  France  in  the  early 
part  of  the  seventeenth  century.  His  father,  as  well  as 
others  of  his  ancestors,  had  served  in  the  aMiy.  He  began 
his  studies  at  a  very  early  age  at  the  college  of  Lisieux^ 
from  which  he  removed  to  that  of  Du  Plessis,  and  in  both 
was  distinguished  by  a  decided  taste  for  the  ancient  ]an«^ 
guages,  especially  the  Greek,  for  the  sake  of  which  be 
again  removed  to  the  college  of  Des  Grassis,  that  he  migbt^ 
attend  the  Greek  lectures  of  M.  le  Beau.  Under  his  tuition 
be  distanced  all  his  fellow-students,  and  gained  all  the 
prizes  destined  to  those  who  proved  the  superiority  of  their 
taste  in  Homer.  He  afterwards  attended  the  lectures  of 
Capperonier,  Greek  professor  in  the  royal  college  of  France^ 
which  were  adapted  to  a  more  advanced  state  of  proficiency, 
and  soon  made  such  progress  as  to  need  no  other  instructor 
than  bis  own  study.  And  such  was  the  extent  of  his  appli- 
cation, that  he  had  already,  although  scarcely  fifteen  yea^ 
of  age,  perused  almost  all  the  writers  of  antiquity,  poetS| 
orators,  historians,  philosophers,  and  grammarians.  Hav« 
ing  thus  exhausted  the  usual  stores  of  printed  works,  he 

1  Biog.  Brit. — Biog.  Dram. «— Gibber's  Lives. — Park's  edttion  of  the  Royal 
and  Noble  A ulhors. 


366  V  I  L  L  O  I  S  O  N. 

sought  new  trea;sures  in  manuscripts ;  and  having  found  iri 
the  library  of  St.  Gerniain-des-Pres,  a  collection  of  in- ', 
elited  Greek  lexicons,  among  which  was  that  of  Homer  by 
ApoUoniuSy  be  formed  the  design  of  publishing  this  lastj» 
which  accordingly  appeared  in  1773,  preceded  by  ample 
prolegomena,  and  accompanied  by  notes  and  observations, 
the  extensive  and  profound  erudition  of  which  appeared 
very  extraordinary  in  a  young  man  of  only  twenty-two. 
The  acadfiiy  of  inscriptions  and  belles  lettres,  to  which 
Villoison  submitted  his  work  before  it  was  printed,  had  ad- 
mitted him  a  member  during  the  preceding  year,  after  hav- 
ing obtained  a  diiipensaMon  on  account  of  his  age,  without 
which  be  could  itot  be  elected-  The  reason  assigned  was 
extremely  honourable  to  him :  "  that  having  anticipated 
the  age  of  profound  knowledge,  it  was  just  that  he  should 
enjoy  its  advantages  earlier  than  other  men ;  and  that  he 
should  outstri]>  them  in  a  career  of  honours,  as  he  had  in 
that  of  learning." 

The  fame  he  ha4  so  justly  acquired  involved  him  now  in 
a  literary  correspondence  with  the  most  eminent  men  of  his 
time,  who  were  desirous  of  his  communications,  and  he 
soon  became  an  authority  in  what  regarded  the  Greek  lan- 
guage. This,  however,  he  did  not  permit  to  give  any  se- 
rious interrupticm  to  his  studies;  and  the  value  Jbe  set  on 
his  time  and  labour  appeared  in  the  offence  he  took  at  the 
conduct  of  the  academy.  He  had  communicated  several 
memoirs,  of  which  they  published  only  extracts,  and  there- 
fore he  desisted  foir  several  years  from  making  any  farther 
communications.  His  next  publicatioti  was  an  edition  of 
the  pastoral  of  Longus,  which  appeared  in  1778,  and  would 
have  been  an  enormous  volume  if  one  of  his  learned  friends 
hdd  not  prevailed  on  him  to  retrench  half  of  his  remarks, 
^nd  even  then  its  **  superfluity  of  erudition"  was  objected 
to  ;**  a  charge,"  says  his  biographer,  **  which  did  no  injury 
to  that  species  of  reputation  of  which*  M.  de  Villoison  was 
ambitious." 

He  was  ^ot  however  fully  satisfied  with  its  success,  and 
thought  with  reason  that  he  might  be  more  usefully  em- 
ployed in  publishing  sqme  valuable  work,  not  before  given 
to  the  world.  He  had  examined  the  libraries  of  France  for 
this  purpose  ineffectually,  and  formed  a  project  of  going  to 
Venice,  to  search  the  library  of  St.  Mark,  to  which  he  knew 
that  cardina)  Bessarion  had  left  his  numerous  manuscripts. 
He  accordingly  set  out  in  nsi,  under  the  patronage  of  the 


V  I  L  L  O  I  S  O  N.  ^  367 

king,  who  appointed  that  the  expenses  of  bis  journey  and 
residence  (to  which  no  limits  were  fixed)  should  be  defrayed 
by  the  government.     His  researches  were  not  fruitless.     In 
that  depository,  he  soon  discovered  several  inedited  works 
of  the  rhetoricians  and  philosophers,  and  especially  gram^ 
mariaus,  which  he  deemed  worthy  of  publication,  either  en- 
tire or  in  extracts;  and  these  form  the  celebrated  collection 
which  was  printed  the  same  year,  in  2  vols.  4to,  under  the 
title  of  "  Anecdota  Gragca  e  regia  Parisiensi  et  e  Veneta  S. 
Marx:i  bibliptheca  deprompta,"  Venice.     Of  this  some  co- 
pies were  taken  off  in  folio,  and  two  on  vellum.   It  was  how- 
ever unfortunate  that  publication  followed  so  hastily  on  dis- 
covery, for  Villoison  soon  found,  but  found  too  late,  that  a  con- 
siderable proportion  of  the  first  volume  of  these  **Anecdota'* 
had  already  been  given  to  the  public.  .  He  made  however 
a  very  important  discovery  in  the  library  of  Mark,  of  a  MS. 
gf  Homer,  which  he  judged  to  be  of  the  10th  century,  and 
consequently  anterior  by  two  centuries  to  the  commentator 
Eustatbius.     This  precious  volume,  which  does  not  appear 
to  have  been  before  examined,  contained  the  whole  Iliad,  ' 
enriched  with  the  scholia  of  the  most  eminent  grammatians 
of  antiquity.     The  margins  also  were  filled  with  various 
niarks  by  which  these  grammarians  distinguished  the  verses 
of  Homer,  which  they  judged  to  be  supposititious,  corrupted, 
or  transposed,  from  those  whose  genuineness  was  univer- 
sally recognized.     He  immediately  prepared  an  edition  of 
this  valuable  treasure,  which  was  published  in  1788, -foL 
accompanied  by  learned  prolegomena,  and  was  regarded  as 
one  of  the  most  valuable  presents  made  to  the  literary  world 
during  the  last  century,  and  every  scholar  hastened  with  his 
congratulations.     But,  says  his  biographer,  "  the  satisfac- 
tion which  this  brilliant  success  must  have  given  to  M.  de 
Villoisonr  was  not  long  unmixed.     He  could  not  see,  with- 
out sentiments  of  pain,  the  spirit  of  system  abusing  his  dis- 
coveries to  attack  the  glory  of  the  father  of  poetry:  and 
perverting  the  critical  marks  affixed  to'  a  great  number  of 
verses  in  the  Iliad,  in  support  of  the  darling  position,  that 
parts  of  this  poem,  even  entire  books;  were  the  work  of  an- 
cient rhapsodists,  and  the  first  editors,  &c. — and  the  idea 
that  he  had  unintentionally  furnished  the  basis  on  which 
these  conjectures  were  constructed,  and  the  weapons  by 
which  their  authors  pretended  to  defend  them,  troubled  him 
so  much)  that  he  almosc  repented  of  having  published  his 
ivork." 


368  V  I  L  L  O  I  S  O  N. 

( 

% 

He  bad  iidvanced  but  a  little  way  in  printing  the  lUad) 
when  he  yielded  to  the  invitation  of  the  duke  and  ductless 
of  Saxe- Weimar,  who  honoured  him  with  their  parciculsur 
esteem,  and  quitting  Venice,  repaired  to  their  capital.  While 
here,  he  formed  the  collection  of  critical  letters,  printed  al 
Zurich  in  J  783,  under  the  title  of  ^^  EpistolsB  Vinarienses^ 
in  quihus  multa  GrsBCorum  scriptorum  loca  emendantur  o^ 
librorum  Ducalis  bibliothecae,''  4to.  Having  found  in  the 
library  of  St.  Mark  a  very  liberal  translation  of  part  of  the 
Old  Testament,  made  by  a  Jew  in  the  ninth  century,  he 
laboured,  during  bis  stay  at  Weimar,  to  put  it  into  a  state 
fit  for  publication  ;  and  on  bis  return  to  France  in  1784,  he 
remained  some  time  at  Strasburgh  for  the  purpose  of  hav- 
ing it  printed  there  under  his  own  inspection.  He  soon  after 
set  out  for  Greece,  in  quest  of  other  ancient  MSS. ;  but 
aftena  tour  of  two  years,  found  nothing  of  that,  description. 
He  had  made,  however,  many  observations,  and  intended, 
with  the  aid  of  these,  to  have  composed  a  history  of  ancient 
add  modern  Greece.  For  the  same  purpose  he  determined 
on  a  fresh  perusal  of  all  the  Greek  and  Latin  authors  extanty 
and  as  Paris  had  now  become  the  scene  of  the  revolution, 
and  all  its  enormities,  he  removed  to  Orleans,  in  the  public 
library  of  which  he  executed  his  extensive  plan  of  rea^ling, 
and  its  fruits  were  fifteen  targe  quarto  volumes  of  extracts 
and  observations,  which  were  to  contribute  to  his  history  of 
Greece.  He  al^o  prepared  during  his  retreat  at  Orleans, 
materials  for  a  new  edition  of  Mont&ucon^s  <^  Palaeographia' 
Gra^ca,''  all  of  which  are  now  in  the  royal  library. 

After  the  last  storms  of  the  revolution,  he  returned  to 
Paris,  with  his  treasures ;  and  his  property  of  other  kinds 
having  been  lost  in  the  general  confusion,  he  endeavoured 
to  supply  his  wants  by  a  course  of  lectures  on  the  Greek 
language,  but  either  had  few  scholars,  or  was  unable  to 
level  himself  to  their  capacities.  A  professdrsbip  of  modern 
Greek  had  just  been  founded,  which  was  bestowed  on  him, 
but  30on  suppressed  by  Bonaparte,  who,  however,  created 
for  him  a  professorship  of  ancient  and  modern  Greek  in  the 
college  of  France.  On  this  *he  scarcely  entered,  when  a 
malady,  which  at  first  he  regarded  as  very  slight,  but  the- 
force  of  which  was  aggravated  by  degrees,  piit  an  end  to' 
his  life,  April  26,  1805. 

'^  Nature,"  says  his  biographer,  *^  had  gifted  VilloiBOn 
with  a  quick  and  penettating  mind,  but  his  memory,  which 
was,  in  truth^  a  prodigy,  and  wh^cb  he  had  perhaps  exer* 


V  I  L  L  O  I  S  O  N.  369 

> 

dised  too  exclusively,  appears  in  some  degree  to  have: 
checked  the  developement  of  bis  other  intellectual  faculties, 
and  to  have  prevented  them  from  reaching  their  perfect 
growth.  Insatiably  desirous  of  knowledge,  he  had  never 
too  much  time  for  reading,  and  he  rarely  appropriated  any 
to  thought  and  reflection  ;  hence  the  incoherence,  the 
sudden  digressions,  the  want  of  proportion  and  integrity 
which  are  to  be  remarked  in  some  of  his  works ;  hence  the 
want  of  consistency  and  steadiness  in  conduct  and  conver- 
sation of  which  he  sometimes  incurred  the  charge.  But 
these  imperfections  (adds  his  biographer)  disappear  before 
the  splendour  of  his  great  and  useful  qualities  :  if  he  always 
remained  young  in  judgment,  taste,  and  sense  of  propriety, 
in  erudition  he  condensed  the  acquisition  of  centuries,  with 
ail  the  vigour  of  mi^nly  age;  i^nd  learned  societies  might 
esteem  themselves  happy  if  they  possessed  many  members 
possessed  of  similar  excellence,  though  mingled  with  si- 
milar alloy."  * 

VINCENT  (of  Beauvais),  a  Dominican  of  the  thir- 
teenth century,  was  reader  to  St.  Louis,  king  of  France, 
and  tutor  to  his  children.  He  compiled  a  summary  of  va- 
rious knowledge,  called  the  **  Speculum  Majus,"  contain- 
ing natters  of  a  natural,  doctrinal,  moral,  and  historical 
kind,  which  contains  the  opinions  of  authors  that  are  not 
now  extant,  and  on  that  account  is  an  object  of  some  cu- 
riosity. In  other  respects  it  serves  only  to  shew  the  igno- 
rance and  superstition  of  the  age.  It  was  first  printed  at 
Strasburgh  in  1476,  and  has  often  been  reprinted,  as  low 
as  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century.  Vincent  died 
in  1264,  as  some  assert,  but,  according  to  Dupin,  this  is  a 
matter  of  great  doubt.     He  left  spme  other  works.  * 

VINCENT  (of  Lerins),  a  saint  of  the  fifth  century,  was 
a  native  of  France,  and  originally  a  soldier;  but  determin- 
ing to  forsake  the  world,  retired  to  the  monastery  of  Le- 
rins in  Provence,  and  became  a  priest.  The  time  of  his 
death  is  uncertain,'  but  after  that  event  he  was  canonized^ 
He  wrote  a  work  to  Which  he  is  supposed  to  have  owed  this 
honour,  entitled  *^  Commooitorium  adversus  Hsereticos,'' 
in  which  he  proposes  to  confute  heretics  by  two  authorities: 
first,  that  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  ;  and  secondly,  that  of  the 
church,  and  be  advances  many  arguments  that  have  at  least 
the  appearance  of  ingeniiity.     There  have  been  many  edi- 

1  Eloge,  by  Dacier,  secretary  «f  the  National  Institate.  *  Dupin. 

Vol.  XXX.  Bb 


370  VINCENT. 

tioiis  of  this  work  abroad,  and  one  at  Cambridgei  in  16.87, 
12cno.  Mosheim  calls  it  an  excellent  treatise,,  but  hU 
translator  says  he  sees  nothing  in  it  but  that  blind  venera- 
tion for  ancient  opinions,  which  is  so  fatal  to  th^  discovery 
and  progress  of  truth,  and  an  attempt  to.  prove  tha^  nothing 
but  the  voice  of  tradition  is  tp  be  consulted  in  fixing  the 
sense  of-the  holy  scriptures.  * 

VINCENT  DE  St.  PAUL.     See  PAUL. 

VINCENT  (Thomas),  a  nonconformist  divine  of  great 
popularity,  courage,  and  piety,  was  born  in  the  month  of 
May  1634,  in  Hertford.  He  was  the  eldest  son  of  the  rev, 
John  Vincent,  who  died  possessed  of  the  valuable  living  of 
Sedgfield  in  the  county  of  Durham,  but. who  was  so  often 
troubled  on  account  of  his.  nonconformity,  that  although 
he  bad  a  numerous  family, .  it  is  said  that  not  two  of  bis 
cbil|dren  were  born  in  the  same  county.  This  son,  .Thoma«, 
was.  educated  at  Westminster-school,  whence  he  was,  in 
1647,  elected  to  Christ  Church,  Oxford.  Tliere  he  made 
such  proficiency,  that,  after  taking  bis  degree  of  M.  A.  in 
J  654,  the  dean.  Dr.  Owen,  chose  him  cateehist,  an  office 
which.  Wood  says,  usually  belongs  to  a  senior  master^  On 
leaving  Oxford  he  became  chaplain  to  Robert,  earl  of  Lei- 
cester, and  afterwards  suc<;eeded  to  the  living  of  St.  Mary 
Magdalen,  MUk^street,  London, from  which  he  wasejected 
for  nonconformity  in  1662.  He  then  taught  school  for 
some  time  with  another  famous  nonconformist,  the  rev. 
Thomas  Doolittle,  at  Islington,  and  occasionally  preached 
when  it  could  be  dojne  with  safety,  in  1665  the  memorable 
and  last  plague  with  which  this  kingdom  was  visited,  broke 
out  in  the  metropolis  with  uncommon  fury,  and  Mr.  Viu- 
cent  informed  his  colleague  that  he  now  thought  it  bis 
duty  to  relinquish  his  present  eoiployment,  and  devote 
himself  to  the  service  of  the  sufferers  in  this  great  calamity. 
Doolittle  endeavoured  in  vain  to.  dissuade  him,  and  Mr. 
Vincent,  that  he  might  not  seem  obstinate,  agreed  to  refer 
the  case  to  the  city  ministers,  who,  after  hearing  his  rea- 
sons, and  admiring  his  courage  and  humanity,  gave  all  the 
approbation  that  such  an  act  of  self-devotion  CQuld  adroit, 
and  Mr.  Vincent  came  to  lodge  in  the  city,  and  throughout 
the  whole  continuance  of  the  plague  preached  constautly 
every  Sunday  in  some  parish  church.  Thi^  was  not  ouly 
connived  at  by  government,  biit  he  was  followed  by  persons 

1  DupiD. — Morcri. 


•  1 


VINCENT.  371 

of  dW  ranks.  He  also  visited  the  sick  whenever  called  upon, 
and  yet  •ontinued  in  perfect  heaUh  during  the  \vhole  time, 
although  seven  persons  died  of  the  plague  in  the*  house 
where  he  resided.  This  remarkable  instance  of  courage 
and  humanity  probably  reconciled  many  to  him  who  dis- 
approved of  his  nonconfoi'mity  ;  for  although  he  preached 
afterwards  at  a  dissenting  meeting  at  Hoxton,  and  was  the 
founder  of  another  at  Hand> alley,  Bishopsgate-street,  we 
do  not  find  that  he  was  molested.  He  died  Oct.  15,  167S, 
in  the  forty-fourth  year  of  his  age.  He  was  the  author  of 
several  pious  tracts,  which  went  through  njany  editions  in 
his  life-time,  and  afterwards ;  and  had  some  controversy 
with  Penn  the  qiiaker,  and  with  Dr.  William  Sherlock. 
The  most  popular  of  his  tracts  were  his  "  Explanation  of 
the  Assemblies  Cat6chism,'*  which  still  continues  to  be 
printed;,  and  his  *' God's  terrible  voice  to  the  city  by 
Plague  and  Fire,"  in  which  are  some  remarkable  accounts 
of  both  these  fatal  events.  This  work,  which  was  first 
printed  in  1667,  12mo,  went  through  thirteen  editions  be- 
fore 167L.  He  published  a  work  of  the  same  kind,  occa- 
sioned by  an  eruption  of  Mount  Etna,  entitled  **Fire  and 
Brimstone,"  &c.  1 670,  8vo.  He  had  a  brother,  NaTHanael, 
also  educated  at  Christ  Ghiirch,  who  was  ejected  from  the 
living  of  Langley-marcb,  in  Buckinghamshire^  in  1662, 
and  afterwards  was  frequently  prosecuted  for  preaching  in 
conventicles.  He  was  also  imprisoned,  as  being  concerned 
in  Monmouth's  expedition,  but  nothing  was  proved  against 
him.  He  died  in  1697,  and  left  several  pi'acticai  treatises, 
and  funeral  sermons.  Wood  attributes  to  him  more  *«  brisk 
and  florid  parts"  ihan  belong  to  hh  fraternity,  and  adds, 
that  he  was  "  of  a  facetious  and  jolly  humour,"^'  which  cer- 
tainly does  not  correspond  with  the  other  characters  given 
of  him. " 

VINCENT  (William),  the  late  learned  dean  of  West- 
minster, was  born  in  London,  Nov.  2,  1739.  His  father 
was  a  citizen  of  London,  in  commercial  business,  first  as  a 
packer,  and  afterwards  as  a  Portugal  merchant,  in  which 
last  concern  he  acquired  opulence,  but  was  impoverished 
by  the  failures  consequent  upon  the  great  earthquake  at 
Lisbon,  in  1755.  He  lost  also  his  second  son,  'Giles,  in. 
that  terrible  catastrophe.  He  was  for  twenty-seven  years 
deputy  of  Lime-street  Ward,  London.     His  eldest  son, 

1  Ath.  Ox.  vol.  II.^CaUmy. 
B  B   2 


372  VINCENT. 

FraDciSy  continued  the  business  of  apaok^r,  Bpd;pros|](gred 
in  it ;  and  by  bim  William  was  assisted  in  bis  expenses  at 
college.  His  school  education,  excepting  a  mere  infantine 
initiation  at  Cavendish,  in  Su(Fq1I^,  was  received  entirely 
at  Westminster ;  and  from  fourteen  years  old,  <wbeo  be 
entered  the  school,  to  the  day  of  his  death,  he  was  never 
unconnected  with  that  seminary,  nor  long  personally  ab- 
sent from  its  precincts,  except  for  the  five  years  in  which 
he  was  pursuing  bis  academical  studies.  Passing  through 
every  gradation  in  the  school,  and  collegiate  foundation, 
be  was  thence  elected  scholar  of  Trinity  college*  Caoa- 
bridge,  in  1757.  In  1761  he  took  bis  first  degree  in  ^rts, 
and  was  chosen  a  fellow  of  his  college ;  soon  after  which 
(1762),  be  returned  to  Westminster,  as  usher,  or  assist* 
ant  in  the  school.  In  that  capacity  be  proceeded  from  the 
lowest  to  the  highest  situation,  so  justly  approved,  in  all 
respects,  by  the  patrons  of  the  school,  that,  on  the  resig- 
nation of  Dr.  Lloyd,  the  veteran  second  master  in  177  r,  he 
was  appointed  to  that  office.  In  the  same  year  he  was  no- 
minated one  of  the  chaplains  in  ordinary  to  bis  majesty. 

The  place  of  second  master  at  Westminster  school  is  a 
situation  of  much  labour  and  responsibility.  Besides  the 
daily  business  of  the  school,  which,  if  not  arduouit^  is  at 
least  fatiguing,  the  person  who  holds  that  office  has  the. 
whole  care  and  superintendence  of  the  scholars  on  the 
foundation  when  out  of  school ;  that  is,  of  forty  boys,  ra- 
pidly growing  up  into  men,  and  yearly  drafted  off,  by  elecr 
tions  of  from  eight  to  ten,  to  the  two  universities.  Yet  in 
this  much  occupied  situation  it  was,  that  Mr.  Vincent  was 
prosecuting  those  studies  which  gradually  established  his 
reputation  at  home  as  a  scholar,  and  a  man  of  research ; 
and  finally  extended  his  celebrity  over  the  whole  continent 
of  EuropCi.  What  is  much  to  his  honour,  he  studied  under. 
a  natura,l  disadvantage,  which  to  a  less  ardent  and  per- 
severing spirit  would  have  served  as  an  excuse  for  idleness. 
From  an  early  period  of  life  he  was  subject  to  a  weakness 
of  the  eyes,  attended  with  pain  and  inflammation,  wbjcb 
never  suflPered  him  to  read  or  write  with  impunity  by  arti- 
ficial light.  These  attacks  were  so  severe,  that,  to  avoid 
yet  more  formidable  consequences,  be  found  himself  com- 
pelled altogether  to  relinqubh  evening  studies.  But  zeal 
can  always  find  resources.  As  be  could  not  read  at  nighi 
he  formed  the  habit  of  rising  very  early.  Before  the  hours 
of  schooli  in  the  intervals  between  morning  and  evening 


VINCENT.  373 

^tendance,  and  after  both,  when  the  length  of  the  days 
pei*mitted,  he  was  generally  employed  in  his  study.  Of 
exercise,  properly  so  called,  he  took  very  little,  but  his 
constitution  was  robust;  and  of  a  man  who  completed 
seventy-six  years,  we  can  hardly  say  that  his  days  were 
shortened  by  his  habits  of  life^  of  whatever  kind  they 
might  be. 

He  had  three  principal  objects  of  pursuit ;  theology, 
classical  learning,  and  history  in  all  its  branches.  Histori- 
cal research  was  his  peculiar  delight,  including  geography^ 
navigation,  commerce,  and  even  the  military  art,  as  illus-^ 
trating  the  history  of  men,  and  connecting  the  memorials 
of  remote  periods.  To  this  taste,  perseveringly  indt^lged, 
we  owe  his  various  works,  particularly  those  on  ancient 
commerce  and  navigation,  on  which  his  reputation  chiefly 
rests.  Yet  he  Was  no  impatient  candidate  for  fame.  Du- 
ring the  whole  period  of  his  being  under-master,  which 
Was  no  less  than  seventeen  years,  he  published  nothing  that 
was  at  all  considerable.  One  small  publication  was  a  let- 
ter to  Dr.  Watson,  then  professor  of  divinity  at  Cambridge 
(afterwards  bishop  of  Llandaff)  on  the  subject  of  a  sermoa 
preached  by  him  in  1780;  a  production  neither  then  nor 
afterwards  publicly  avowed  ;  though  far  from  being  unwor- 
thy of  his  principles  or  talents,  being  a  very  clear  and  able 
argunient  against  such  theories  as  tend  to  overturn  govern- 
ments, and  against  the  spirit  of  opposition  in  those  times. 
The  other  tract  was  entitled  ^*  Considerations  on  Parochial 
Music"  (1787);  not  written  as  pretending  to  any  know- 
ledge of  the  science,  or  talent  for' it,  which  he  had  not; 
but  by  way  of  iniproving  its  rational  and  devotional  effects 
in  i3arish  churches.  He  had  then  become  a  parish  priest, 
and  it  was  natural  for  him  to  attend  to  every  thing  relating 
to  that  office. 

It  was  apparently  on  becoming  second  master  of  West- 
minster, that  he  thought  himself  authorised  to  marry ; 
and  obtained  the  hand  of  miss  Hannah  Wyatt  of  that  city. 
This  union  proved  uniformly  happy ;  and  was  productive 
of  two  sons ;  the  rev.  W.  St.  Andrew  Vincent,  now  rector 
of  Allhallows;  and  George  Giles  Vincent,  esq.  chapter 
clerk  of  Westminster;  who  became  bis  effectual  comforters, 
when  their  mother  w&s  at  length  taken  from  him^  in  1 807. 
But  from  bis  appointment  in  1771,  he  remained  without 
clerical  preferment  till  1778,  when  be  obtained  the  vica- 
rage of  Longdon>  in  Worcestershire,  by  the  gift  of  die 


374  VINCENT. 

dean  and  chapter  of  Westminster.  This  living  he  re- 
signed in  about  six  months,  on  being  collated,  by  the 
archbishop  of  Canterbury,  to  the  rectory  of  Allhallows 
the  Great  and  Less,  in  Thames-street,  London. 

No  man  could  be  better  qualified  to  enjoy  and  to  promote 
domestic  happiness.  Easy  of  access,  friendly,  social,  with- 
out any  of  the  reserve  of  a  student,  or  any  of  the  pride  of 
wisdom,  real  or  assumed,  be  was  always  ready  to  take  an 
active  part  in  the  innocent  gratifications  of  society.  With 
the  learned,  equally  ready  to  inquire  and  to  communicate, 
but  never  ostentatious  of  knowledge  ;  with  the  ignorant  and 
even  the  weak,  so  very  indulgent  that  they  hardly  suspected 
their  inferiority ;  certainly  were  never  made  to  feel  it  pain- 
fully. Never  ashamed  to  ask  for  information,  when  he 
found  he  wanted  it ;  and  most  frankly  ready  to  confess  igno- 
rance, if  consulted  upon  any  subject  to  which  his  mind  had 
not  been  particularly  applied.  Never,  perhaps,  was  *'  I 
know  nothing  of  it,"  so  often  said  by  one  who  kneiv  so 
much.  His  entire  contempt  for  every  species  of  affectation 
produced  these  sometimes  too  sweeping  declaratioQS,  in 
which  he  was  hardly  just  to  himself. 

But  neither  his  amusements  nor  his  studies  were  ever 
suffered  to  interfere  with  his  public  or  professional  duties. 
In  the  church,  in  the  school^  among  bis  parishioners,  or 
among  his  boys,  he  was  always  active  and  assiduous:  fully 
prepared  for  the  task  of  the  day,  whether  to  preach  or  teach  j 
to  illustrate  the  classirs,  or  expound  the  Scriptures.     His 
mode  of  instructing  the  boys  on  the  ifoundation  at  West- 
minster, is  admirably  described  by  a  well-informed  writer 
in  the  Gent.  Mag.  1 8 15.     **  The  under-master,'*  he  says, 
"  has  the  care  of  the  college ;  and  in  his  hands  are  the  pre- 
servation  of  its  discipline,  the  guardianship  of  its  morals, 
and  the  change  of  its  religious  instruction.     With  a  steadi- 
ness and  fidelity  rarely  equalled   Dr.  Vincent  discharged 
these  difficult  functions  ;  but  perhaps  there  never  existed  a 
man  who  rivalled  him  in  the  art  of  attracting  from  boys 
attention  to  his  lectures.    Four  times  a  year,  each  week  pre- 
paratory to  receiving  the  sacrament,  Dr.  V.  explained  the 
nature  of  that  religious  rite  ;  its  institution,  its  importance, 
and  its  benefits.      And  we  believe,    such  was  bis  happy 
mode  of  imparting  instruction,  that  there  never  was  kuowa 
^n  instance  of  any  boy  treating  the  disquisition  with  levity, 
or  not  shewing  an  eagerness  to  be  present  at,  and  to  profit 
by,  the  lesson.    A  clear  sonorous  voice,  a  fluent,  easy,  yet 


VINCENT.  S7J 

correct  delivery,  an  expression  at  once  familiar  and  impres- 
sive, rendered  bioi  a  delightful  speaker.  These  advahtages 
be  possessed  in  common  conversatioii,  but  be  displayed 
tbem  more  especially  on  public  occasions,  and  never  to 
greater  advantage  than  in  the»pulpit.'* 

Never  was  an  eulogium  more  just.  Nor  did  these  serious 
and  habitual  occupations  of  bis  mind  preclude  its  more 
lively  excursions.  In  all  those  instances,  at  Westminster 
of  periodical  occurrence,  when  the  talents  of  the  masters 
are  called  forth,  to  give  example  and  encouragement  to  the 
scholars,  in  prologues  and  epilogues  at, the  plays,  exercises 
and  epigrams  at  the  elections,  &c.  the  compositions  of 
Vincent  were  sure  to  be  distinguished.  He  had  not,  in- 
deed, nor  did  he  flatter  himself  that  he  had,  that  strong  and 
original  determination  to  poetry,  which  is  denominated 
genius;  but  he  possessed  that  lively  relish  for  its  genuine 
beauties,  which,  assisted  by  a  familiar  and  exact  knowledge 
of  the  best  models,  will  always  qualify  a  strung  and  versa- 
tile mind  to  think  poetically,  and  to  express  its  thoughts, 
always  with  propriety,  often  with  felicity.  In  many.  dif« 
ferent  styles  he  proved  his  talent  for  Latin  composition  in 
verse  and  prose  ;  and  what  he  produced  of  any  kind,  it  was 
not  easy  to  surpass.  On  these  multifarious  objects  was  his 
assiduity  employed  throughout  the  seventeen  years  in  which 
be  continued  under-master. 

At  length,  on  the  death  of  Dr.  Smith  in  1788,  Dr.  Yin* 
cent  (who  had  taken  his  doctor's  degree  in  1776),  was  no- 
minated to  succeed  him  as  head^master ;  an  appointment 
which  gave  great  satisfaction  to  the  friends  of  the  school, 
though  the  whole  extent  and  force  of  his  talents  were  far 
from  being  completely  known.  Particular  attention  seems 
to  have  been  first  paid  to  a  sermon  he  preached  at  St.  Mar- 
garet's, Westminster,  for  a  charity-school.  This  was  in 
1792,  a  period  of  great  political  turbulence  and  danger;,  and 
this  sermon,  being  remarkable  for  the  clear  and  powerful 
statement  of  principles  favourable  to  social  order,  and  for 
explaining  the  necessity  of  the  gradations  of  rich  and  poor, 
was  welcomed  on  its  publication  by  all  the  zealous  friends 
of  the  British  constitution,  and  to  render  it  more  service- 
able,  the  patriotic  association  against  republicans  and  le- 
vellers obtained  leave  from  the  author  to  reprint  the  prin- 
cipal part  of  it,  for  circulation  among  the  people ;  and 
twenty  thousand  copies  were  thus  distributed  in  London, 
and  throughout  the  country,  probably  with  excellent 
effect. 


31&  V  I  N  C  E  N  T.   ; 

We  have  seen  already  that  the  first  publication  of  Dr. 
Vincent,  though  anonymous,  was  a  defence  of  sound  prin-* 
cipl.es,  against  factious  measures  and  artifices :  and,  as  that 
tract  was  never  afterwards  owned,  there  cannot  be  any  pos- 
sible suspicion  that  the  author  wrote  it  with  a  view  to  praise 
or  emolument ;  or  otherwise  than  from  the  honest  impulse 
of  bis  heart,  and  the  clear  conviction  of  his  mind.  The 
iprinciples  which  he  there  discovered,  remained  unaltered 
through  life ;  and  were  felt  with  particular  force  when  the 
movements  of  faction  called  for  opposition.  It  cannot  be 
tftoubted,  therefore}  that  be  must  have  felt  the  liveliest  sa* 
ti$faction  in  having  his  discourse  thus  circulated,  in  a  more 
attractive  form  than  a  sermon  might  have  borne,  for  the  ge* 
neral  instruction  of  the  people. 

But  the  fruits  of  his  long  studies  were  now  about  to  ap«* 
pear  in  a  manner  more  conspicuous,  Or  at  least  more  coti* 
ducive  to  his  credit  as  a  scholar.  A  small  tract,  in  quarto^ 
which  he  published  in  1793,  marked  him  to  the  learned 
world  as  a  diligent  investigator  of  historical  facts,  and  an 
acute,  though  modest,  verbal  critic.  This  publication,  which 
tends  to  clear  up  an  almost  desperate  passage  in  Livy,  was, 
with  very  good  judgment,  written  in  Latin^  that  it  might  be 
Submitted  not  only  to  domestic  but  to  foreign  critics.  It  is 
entitled,  '^  De  Legione  ManlianSi,  Qutsstio  ex  Livio  de-> 
sumta,  et  Rei  militaris  Romanas  studiosis  proposita.'*  Sub* 
joined  to  it  is  what  the  author  has  termed  ^  An  Explanatory 
Translation '  in  English.  Polybius,  in  his  description  of  thd 
construction  of  the  Roman  legion,  has  given  an  account  of 
it,  which  seems  entirely  irreconcileable  with  what  Livy  has 
said,  in  the  eighth  book  of  his  History,  of  a  manoeuvre  of 
the  great  general  Manlius  in  the  management  of  his  own 
army  against  the  Latins.  As  both  authors  must  have  been 
perfectly  well  acquainted  with  the  subject,  the  difficulty 
was  to  reooncile  the  difference  between  them,  without  sup* 
posing  a  mistake  on  either  side. 

In  the  attempt  to  do  this,  neither  Lipsius,  Fabricius,  nor 
even  Drakenborch,  the  most  fiwQEious  editor  of  Livy,  ap* 
peared  to  have  succeeded;  and  their  conjectures  for  the 
purpose  could  not  be  admitted,  without  considerable  vio«* 
lence  to  the  text.  How  well  Dr.  Vincent  succeeded  ap- 
peared by  the  generous  approbation  of  the  illustrious  Heyoe 
on  the  ^continent,  and  of  the  no  less  acute  Person  at  hom&. 
The  few  points  in  which  these  critics  differed  from  himi 
the  author  fairly  states  in  a  short  preface,  and  endeavours 
to  answer ;  but  leaves  the  ultimate  decision  to  the  reader. 


VINCENT.  377 

Two  successive  years  produced  two  publications^  the  re* 
salt  of  our  author's  long  and  careful  study  of  the  analysis 
of  languages.  The  first  of  these,  entitled  *^  The  Origina- 
tion of  the  Greek  Verb,  an  Hypothesis,'*  appeared  in  1794; 
and  was  followed,  in  1795,  by  ^<The  Ghreek  V^rb  analyzed* 
an  Hypothesis,  in  which  the  source  and  structure  of  the 
Greek  language  in  general  is  considered."  The  latter  of 
these  was  principally  a  sequel  to  the  first,  and  an  extension 
of  its  theory.  Sagacity  and  learning  are  eminently  di^ 
played  in  both  the&fe  publications;  nor  is  it  easy  to  say 
which  quality  is  most  conspicuous  in  them,  sagacity  in  sug- 
gesting probable  reasons  for  the  various  inflections  of  verbs 
in  the  Greek,  and  afterwards  in  other  languages ;  or  learn- 
ing, in  the  production  of  proofs  or  illustrations  in  support 
of  every  fact  assumed.  The  principal  notion  is,  that  such 
infieotions  were  derived  from  some  simple  and  very  short  ott* 
ginal  verb,  signifying  to  do  or  to  exist j  which  being  afterward 
subjoined  to  radicals  denoting  various  actions  or  modes  of 
being,  formed  their  tenses,  modes,  and  other  variations. 
The  idea  was  happy,  and  it  is  astonishing  how  far  it  nfay 
be  pursued;  and  nothing  can  more  fully  prove  its  founda- 
tion in  probable  conjecture,  than  that  it  had  occurfedii 
nearly  at  the  same  time,  .to  a  writer  at  Edinburgh,  who 
published  it  in  the  '^  Encyclope^dia  Britannica :"  the  time 
of  composition  so  exactly  coincided,  that  neither  author 
could  possibly  have  seen  or  heard  of  the  theory  of  the  other. 
In  both  it  was  equally  original. 

It  is  observable,  that  in  both  these  tracts.  Dr.  Vincent 
terms  his  doctrine  only  "An  Hypothesis."  A  more  pre- 
sumptuous author  would  have  called  it  a  discovery.  But  it 
would  have  been  perfectly  unlike  him  to  assume  a  particle 
of  merit  more  than  he  had  an  undoubted  right  to  claim  ; 
and  the  manly  passage,  in  the  second  of  these  tracts,  ill 
which  be  repels  every  charge  and  suspicion  of  plagiarism, 
while  it  strongly  marks  the  character  of  the  writer,  proves 
also  how  long  the  subject  had  been  considered  and  revolved 
in  bis  mind.  **  I  have  been  accused,''  he  says,  ^^  of  appro- 
priating to  myself  the  discoveries  of  others,  without  due 
acknowledgment,  but  I  nnust  say,  in  my  defence,  that, 
wherever  t  was  sensible  of  an  obligation,  I  have  owned  it« 
I  wished  to  defraud  no  writer  of  bis  honours^  bnt,  in  treat- 
ing a  subject,  which  had  long  been  in  contetnplation,  I 
Goiktd  not  always  say  frotB  whence  the  source  of  my  opinlot) 
was  dertired^    In  a  c^Duri^  of  years,  I  have  consulted  mor6 


378  VINCENT. 

• 

authors  ,than  I  can  readily  enumerate;  and  I  am  stilly  on 
tbe  other  hand,  accused  of  not  consulting  a  sufficient  num- 
ber. There  is  no  end  to  this;  and  I  am  equally  indifferent 
to  the  charge  on  either  side.  If  what  I  have  said  is  true^ 
it  will  support  itself;  if  otherwise,  it  cannot  »be  bolstered 
up  by  authorities."  The  speculations  of  lord  Monbuddo, 
and  other  metaphysicians,  at  home  and  abroad,  had  pro<^ 
bably  led  both  Dr.  Vincent  and  the  northern  grammarian, 
into  this  train  of  investigation. 

Dr.  Vincent  had  long  been  diligently  employed  upon  a 
much  more  arduous  task,  and  more  connected  with  the 
studies,  to  which  he  was  by  preference  attached.  In  1797, 
be  published  the  result  of  those  labours  in  his  celebrated 
commentary  on  Arrian^s  "  Voyage  of  Nearciius,*'. which 
formed  the  basis  of  our  author's  reputation.  On  a  work  so 
well  known,  it  is  not  necessary  that  we  should  expatiate 
at  any  great  length.  Nearchus^s  voyage  is  related  by  Ar- 
Tian  of  Nicomedia  (See  Arrian),  and  is  comprised  in  his 
*^  Indica,*'  or  general  account  of  India,  and  is  professedly 
taken  from  the  journal  of  Nearchus  himself.  The  authenti- 
city of .  the  narrative  had  indeed  been  questioned  by  some 
learned  men  ;  but  it  is  so  victoriously  defended  by  Dr.  Vin- 
cent, in  the  concluding  section  of  his  preliminary  Disqui- 
sitions, that'  Schmieden,  the  latest  editor  of  Arrian,  has 
translated  the  whole  of  his  arguments  into  Latin ;  and  has 
subjoined  them  to  the  objections  of  Dodweil,  as  a  complete 
and  satisfactory  refutation. .  So  strongly  was  Schmieder 
himself  of  the  sam^  opinion,  that  in  his  preface  to  the  In- 
dica  he  says,  that  ^^  they  who  deny  the  genuineness  of  this 
accpunt  are  hardly  worth  refuting.'* 

Two  most  sagacious  and  diligent  inquirers,  M.  D'An* 
yille  and  Major  Rennel,  had  already  traced  Nearchus  down 
the  Indus,  and  up  the  Persian  Gulf;  but  the  whole  inter* 
mediate  line,  extending  through  ten  degrees  of  longitude 
direct,  besides  the  sinuosities  of  the  coast,  they  had,  fronti 
whatever  cause,  abandoned  altogether ;  though,  as  Dr. 
Vincent  observes,  •*  the  merit  of  the  commander  depends 
upon  the  difficulties  he  surmounted,  in  this  part  of  bis 
voyage  more  especially  ;  and  the  clearing  up  of  the  geo- 
graphical obscurity  was  an  object  worthy,  of  the.  talents 
of  two  such  masters  of  the  science.*' 

If  this  obscurity  could  have  been  completely  removed  by 
any  sagacity  or  patience,  it  would  undoubtedly  have  yielded 
1^0  the  labours  of  Dr.  Vincent.     His  researches  esctended  to 


9 
VINCENT.  37 

every  possible  source  of  information^  ancient  an^  modern^ 
not  excepting  the  oral  intelligence  of  individuals  who  bad 
recently  visited  those  coasts,  and  whom  he  was  always 
anxious  to  see  and  to  consult.  .  Dr.  Horsley,  then  dean  of 
Westminster,  a  man  who  had  few  if  any  superiors  in  learn* 
ing  arid  sagacity,  was  often  his  adviser  on  difficult  points. 
He  admired  the  zeal  and  talent3  of  the  author,  and  strongly 
marked  his  regard  for  him  and  his  work,  by  iurnishiitg  two 
very  profound  dissertations  on  astronomical  subjects.  To 
Mr.  Wales  be  sometimes  resorted  for  similar  iniuruiatiou; 
candidly  confessing  his  own  want  of  skill  in  that  branch  of 
knowledge.  But  his  most  abundant  source  of  original  in- 
formation was  found  in  the  friendly  kindness  of  Mr.  Dal- 
rymple,  then  shydrographer  to  the  admiralty,  who  opened 
to  him,  without  reserve,  all  the  stores  of.  his  vast  geogra- 
phical collections,  and  documents  of  every  kind.  Of  this 
indulgence  he  was  most  happy  to  avail  himself,  and  often 
refers  to  charts  and  journals,  so  communicated,  to  which 
there  were  no  other  means  of  access. 

Dr.Vincent  persevered  with  such  vigour,  that  the  first  part 
of  **  The  Periplus  of  the  Erythrsean  Sea,  containing  an  ac- 
count of  the  Navigation  of  the  ancients,  from  the  sea  of  Suez, 
to  the  coast  of  Zanguebar:  with  dissertations,*'  was  published 
in  1800,  only  three  complete  years  after  the  Nearchus.  It 
cannot  be  doubted  that  the  chief  researches,  necessary  for 
this  continuation,  of  the  author's  great  design,  were  already 
made,  and  much  of  the  materials  prepared  ;  otherwise,  the 
interval  could  not  have  been  sufficient,  even  for  a  man  who 
had  no  other  occupation,  to  produce  so  elaborate  a  volume* 
The  appendix  alone  contains  more  matter  of  curious  infor- 
mation than  many  bulky  works;  particularly  the  copious 
alphabetical  list  of  Grecian  articles  of  export  at)d  import ; 
and  the  dissertation  of  the  Adulitic  inscription  :  matters 
collateral  to  the  general  inquiry,  and  illustrative  of  the 
whole  work. 

"The  Periplus  of  the  Erythrsan  Sea,"  tboiigh  usually 
called  Arrian'^,  is  confessedly  not  the  work  of  tiie  author 
of  the^Vbyage  of  Nearchus.  This  is  avowed  by  l)r  Vin- 
cent, in  entering  upon  the  subject.  It  had  probubiy  been 
imputed  to  Arrian  in  lateir  times,  from  his  having  written 
the  Periplus  of  the  Euxiwe  Sea.  Whether  even  the  name 
properly  belonged  to  this  writer  is  altogether  uncertain; 
and  the  probability  is  rather  against  it :  but,  from  the  mou 
accurate  examination  of  the  work.  Dr.  Vincent  thinks  that 


Sno  VINCENT, 

the  author,  whatever  was-his  true  name,  was  a  Greek  mer- 
chant of  Ale^candria,  between  the  tinnes  of  the  emperors 
Clatidius  and  Adrian,  in  the  first  or  second  cet)tufy,  anfl 
probably  by  near  a  century  prior  to  Arrian  of  Nicoinedia. 
The  author  was  certainly  a  man  who  had  sailed  ob  hoard  of 
*  Greek  fleet  from  Egypt  to  the  Gulph  of  Cambay,  if  not 
beyond  it.  Those  who  had  assigned  a  different  age  or  cha- 
racter to  his  author,  Dr.  Vincent  has  answered  in  a  man- 
ner the  most  satisfactory. 

The  "  Second  Part  of  the  Periplus,'*  which  completes 
the  whole  design,  appeared  in  1805,  making  a  larger  vo- 
Itime  than  the  first,  furnished  with  further  disserti^tions,  and 
an  additional  appendix  of  commercial  articles,  thus  com- 
pleting the  knowledge  of  oriental  commerce  and  oriental 
geography,  as  they  existed  among  the  ancients.  Both 
parts  of  the  Pctiplus  were  dedicated  to  the  king.  Through- 
out this  work  Dr.  Vincent  followed  the  same  plan  which  he 
htti  formed  for  his  Nearchus :  not  translating  his  author^ 
but  supplying  a  continual  commentary  upon  bis  text,  the 
sections  of  which  are  formed  by  the  stations  of  the  navi- 
gator,  or  the  geographical  idivisions  of  the  coast.  Thi& 
plan  was  here  even  more  necessary  than  it  had  been  in  the 
former  wor^,  sifice  in  this  the  account  of  each  place  con- 
sists frequently  of  little  more  than  a  mere  invoice  of  the 
usual  exports  and  imports,  very  curious  when  explained, 
but  very  unsatisfactory,  because  unintelligible  to  a  com- 
fnon  reader  in  the  original  form.  He  has  said,  therefore, 
very  properly,  in  his  first  disquisition,  "  of  this  work  n6 
adequate  idea  could  be  formed  by  a  translation ;  but  a  com- 
parison of  its  contents  with  the  knowledge  of  India,  which 
we  have  obtained,  since  Gama  burst  the  barrier  of  disco- 
very, cannot  but  be  acceptable  to  those  who  value  geo- 
graphy, as  a  science,  or  delight  in  it^  as  a  picture  of  the 
world." 

All  these  volumes  are  furnished  with  maps,  and  other 
illustrations-,  from  original  materials,  collected  from  various 
sources,  by  the  author's  own  researches,  or  with  the  aid  of 
friendly  communication.  One  or  two  charts,  in  defect  of 
direct  authorities,  were  made  out  by  himself,  on  the  basi$ 
of  his  own  reasonings  and  proofs.  For  these  he  has  c'oti- 
descended  to  apologize^  as  not  deeming  himself  regularly 
a  practical  geographer  ;  which  others  will  proj^ably  consi- 
der as  the  more  meritorious  exertion.  But  his  care  was, 
in  all  cases^  not  to  assume  too  much  to  himself^  &nd  to  err^ 


VINCENT  ^Sl 

if  mt  all,  on  the  opposite  side.  One  important  niap^  thaA 
by  De  la  Rochette,  be  greatly  wished  to  have  added,  but 
as  the  proprietors  would  neither  consent  to  have  it  copied, 
nor  accommodate  him  with  a  sufficient  number  for  an  edi« 
lioi^  on  such  terms  as  he  couid  prudently  accept,  he  un<*> 
willingly  gave  up  the  thought.  Into  a  very  few  cof^ies  of 
Nearchus  be  inserted  it,  for  the  benefit  of  particular  friends, 
but  the  public  was  deprived  of  the  advantage. 

Soon  after  the  appearance  of  the  Brst  part  of  the  ^*  Pe« 
riplus/*  Dr.  Vincent,  being  then  past  sixty,  began  to  feel 
the  effects  of  constant  exertion  and  confinement  in  the  de- 
teriorated state  of  his  health.  He  had  been,  at  that  time, 
eleven  years  bead  master  of  Westminster,'  and  tfairty-ninis 
years  in  bis  various  situations  in  the  school,  and  very  natu- 
rally began  to  entertain  a  wish  for  retirement;  and  having* 
been  presented  in  1801  to  a  stall  in  the  church  of  W-est^ 
minster,  he  immediately  determined  to  carry  bis  wish  into 
effect  at  a  very  early  period.  But  be  was  first  to  render 
an  essential  service,  not  only  to  Westminster,  but  to  ali 
our  public  schools.  These  schools,  whose  plans  and  regu- 
lations have  been  matured  by  the  practice  of  ages,  had 
lately  been  the  subject  of  attack  by  two  very  eminent, di«* 
vines,  who  complained  that  religion  was  neglected  in  the 
systems  and  conduct  of  our  public  schools.  Dr.  Vincent 
was  naturally  roused  at  this  alarming  accusation  ;  unjitst  as 
be  felt  it  to  be,  and  unfounded  as  he  immediately  under- 
took to  prove  it,  with  respect,  at  least,  to  the  great  school 
over  which  he  so  honourably  presided  ;  and  for  which  alone 
he  thought  himself  responsible.  He  published  almost  im''> 
mediately  ^^  A  Defence  of  Public  Education,^'  addressed 
to  a  learned  prelate,  whose  attack  upon  it^  had  been  most 
conspicuous.  Confining  himself  to  such  facts  as  he  could 
assert  upon  bis  own  knowledge,  be  took  little  notice  of 
other  schools  than  his  own ;  but  bis  defence  was  conducted 

4 

with  such  manly  plainness,  and  at  the  same  time  with  such 
becoming  zeal  for  religion  as  well  as  for  education,  that  its 
effect  was  irresistible.  It  passed  through  three  editions,  in 
a  period  surprisingly  short,  and  taught  him,  for  tte  first 
time,  what  it  4s  to  be  a  popular  writer.  It  was,  in  fact,  the 
only  publication  from  which  he  ever  derived  pecuniary 
profit ;  and  that  profit,  as  the  first  fryits  dfl^is  authorship,  - 
^he  goad'-htimou redly  presented  to  Mrs.  Vincent.  CompK- 
liaents  upon  his  defence  were  now  poured  in  from  various 
quarters ;  and  be  hdd  the  gratification  afterwards  of  know- 


382  V  J  N  C  E  N  T. 

ipg  that  the  king,  whose  judgment  rarely  erred  in  matters 
to  which  be  seriously  applied  it,  was  particularly  pleased 
to  have  his  public  schools  defended,  and  still  more  with 
the  spirit  and  effect  of  the  defence. 

But  the  author  was  still  very  far  from  anticipating  the 
further  advantage  that  he  was  to  derive  from  it.  Among 
the  persons  most  highly  gratified  by  this  tract,  was  lord 
Sidmouth,  then  Mr.  Addington,  the  friend  and  ornament  of 
another  illustrious  school,  Winchester.  It  powerfully  re- 
called his  attention  to  the  various  n>erits  and  long  public 
services  of  the  author  ;  and  with  that  promptness  and  libe- 
rality of  decision,  of  which  his  short  administration  fur- 
nished more  instances  than  many  of  the  longest,  he  recom- 
mended Dr.  Vincent  to  hrs  majesty,  as  successor  to  his 
friend  bishop  Uorsley,  in  the  deanery  of  Westminster.  Hie 
king  didaiot  fail  to  express  his  satisfaction  in  giving  the 
appointment ;  and,  at  a  subsequent  opportunity,  was  pleased 
even  to  express  regret,  that  the  see  of  Rochester  had  not, 
as  in  many  former  instances,  gone  with  the  deanery.  This 
appointment  vacated  of  course  the  inferior  situations  of 
prebendary  and  master  of  the  school,  the  latter  of  which  he 
left,  accompanied  by  the  most  gratifying  marks  of  affec- 
tion from  those  who  had  been  under  his  care. 

The  first  use  made  by  the  dean  -of  bis  higher  advance- 
ment was  to  obtain  the  presentation  of  a  living,  for  a  curate 
who  bad  been  bis  assistant  at  Allhallows  twenty-four  years. 
His  own  eldest  son  was  then  in  orders,  and  totally  unbehe- 
iiced  ;  but  he  paid,  what  be  considered  as  a  debt  of  grati- 
tude, before  he  would  consent  to  think  of  his  own  more  im- 
mediate concerns.  For  this  forbearance  he  was  soon  re* 
warded  ;  and  in  the  second  year  after  his  promotion,  the 
rectory  of  St  John's,  Westminster,  came  to  his  choice,  and 
when  he  accepted  it  for  himself,  he  had  the  satisfaction  of 
obtaining  the  living  of  Allhallows  for  his  son.  He  might 
have  continued  to  bold  it,  but  he  preferred  resigning  it  in 
that  manner.  He  held  St.  John's  only  about  two  years, 
when  he  exchanged  it  for  the  rectory  of  Islip,  in  Oxford- 
shire, which  is  also  in  the  patronage  of  the  church  of  West- 
minster.    He  was  presented  to  it  by  the  chapter  in  1805. 

The  acquisition  of  this  living  formed  another  fortunate^ 
epoch  in  his  life.     He  had  always  been  accustomed  to  pass 
his  summer  holidays  in  the  country ;  a  change  quite  ne- 
cessary for  his  health,  while  confined  to  the  school ;  and 
desirable,  when  he  bad  uo  longer  that  tie.     But  hb  only 


VINCENT,  SS3 

resource  on  these  occasions  had  hitherto  been  in  temporary 
lodgiiia;s.  He  had  now  a  country  residence  of  his  own,  to 
wbidi  be  could  at  any  tiaie  retire/ and  which  had  the  addi-> 
tional  recommendatiuti  of  being  in  the  vicinity  of  Oxford* 
At  Westminster^  the  noble  fabric  of  his  church  was  a  prtn« 
cipal  object  of  his  care,  and  he  happily  succeeded  in  effect* 
ing  great  repairs,  removing  considerable  deformities,  and 
promoting  ihe  most  important  improvements.  The  most 
remarkable  instances  wer<e  the  very  effectual  and  substaa* 
tial  repair,  which  he  caused  to  be  made  after  the  alarming 
fire  in  1303  ;  and  that  beautiful  work,  now  so  far  advanced, 
the  restoration  of  Henry  VII.'s  chapel,  of  which  be  was  th« 
first  adviser  and  most  zealous  promoter. 

But  all  these  various  objects  could  not  estrange  him  from 
his  great  pursuit,  the  investigation  of  ancient  commerce 
and  navigation.  He  continued  assiduous  in  extemiing  bis 
inquiries;  and  was  most  scrupulous  in  acknowledging  and 
correcting  every  error  which  his  unremitting  diligence  c'ouid 
detect.  Attentive  more  especially  to  the  remarks  of  those 
who  bad  visited  the  places  described,  he  anxioVisly  sought 
their  conversation,  as  well  as  their  writings,  and  was  highly 
gratified  to  learn,  that  several  very  intelligent  men  had 
carefully  compared  his  books  with  the  situations  to  vyhich 
they  alluded,  and  expressed  in  general  extreme  surprise, 
that  a  recluse  scholar,  quietly  seated  in  his  study,  could 
possibly  have  arrived  at  such  accuracy  of  conjecture  or  dis- 
covery. When  they  thought  him  mistaken,  be  readily  re- 
sumed the  inquiry,  and,  weighing  all  the  reasons,  quitted 
it  not:till  he  had  brought  it  to  a  satisfactory  result.  Truth 
was  bis  sole  object,  and  whether  it  was  brought  to  light  by 
himself  or  others,  he  was  equally  ready  to  embrace  it^ 
abandoning  the  most  favoured  opinion,  without  hesitation, 
if  not  witliout  regret,  when  he  discovered  its  foundations  to 
be  unsound.  As  his  materials  w^ere  thus  increased,  and  his  . 
work  improved,  he  prepared  for  a  second  edition  *,  which, 
with  more  view  to  the  propriety  of  the  measure,  than  any* 
hope  of  advantage  from  it,  was  published  in  1807. 

In  the  new  edition,  the  three  former  publications  were 
formed  into  two  handsome  and  uniform  volumes ;  with  the 
general  title  of  ^'  The  Commerce  and  Navigation  of  the 
Ancients  in  the  Indian  Ocean,  by  William  Vincent,  D.D; 
dean  of  Westminster."  Each  volume  had  also  a  second 
title  ;  the  first  for  the  voyage  of  Nearchus,  the  second  for 
the  Periplus.     pratitude  now  demanded  the  introduction 


$8*  VINCENT. 

« 

of  lord  SicUnouth*s  name,  to  whose  unsolicited  patronage 
the  author  owed  so  much.  To  him,  therefore,  the  whole 
work  was  now  dedicated,  in  a  sinoere  and  manly  stTain  of 
acknowledgment ;  retaining,  howevei',  the  two  dedications 
t<»  the  king,  which  had  introduced  the  two  parts  of  the  Pe- 
nplus.  It  was  afterwards  translated  into  German  and 
French,  the  latter  by  M.  Bitlecoq,  under  the  express  au- 
thority of  Buonaparte.  ^  At  that  period  of  inveterate  eh« 
mity  on  bis  part,  it  would  not  have  been  safe,  perhaps,  to 
translate  an  English  work,  on  any  subject,  without  that 
sanction.  Approbation  so  undeniably  impartial  gave  the 
author  a  pleasure,  which  he.  avowed  as  frankly  as  he  did 
his  other  sentiments ;  and  that  sattrfaction  was  complete; 
when,  in  1814,  a  degree  from  Gl^ttingen,  conferred  upon 
him  by  diploma,  was  transmitted  to  him^  with  the  most 
honourable  testimony  borne  to  the  merit  and  value  of  his 
works.  Though  far  from  anxious  for  fame,  he  was  much 
above  affecting  an  insensibility  to  it,  which  no  man  ever 
felt  who  was  capable  of  deserving  it.  «  ' 

<  While  the  second  edition  of  his  great  work  was  passing 
through  the  press,  he  suflered  a  domestic  loss,  which  they 
onlf  who  are  equally  attached  to  their  home  can  justly  esti- 
mate. MrSb  Vincent  died  early  in  1 807  :  and  his  sense  of 
her  merits,  has  been  strongly  expressed  in  a  Latin  inscrip- 
tion, which  he  wrote  to  be  placed  over  her  grave  at  West- 
minster. But  the  heaviest  evils  that  would  otherwise  have 
followed  upon  this  destitution  were  happily  prevented  by 
the  interposition  of  his  nearest  relatives.  His  eldest  son, 
with  his  truly  amiable  wife,  and  a  growing  family,  imme- 
diately relinquished  house-*keeping,  and  became  his  con- 
stant innutes,  both  in  town  and  country  ;  omitting  no  pos-  < 
sible  attention  that  duty  and  affection  could  suggest,  to 
make  his  heme  again  delightful  to  him.  They  succeeded, 
4»  they  deserved,  to  the  utmost  of  their  wishes.  The 
'dean  recovered  iiis  spirits,  resumed  his  usual  labours  and 
kis visual  relnxations,  and  persevered  in  both,  to  almost  the 
latest  hour  of  his  life. 

But  though  he  continued  hill  remarks  and  additions  to  - 
the  Ancient  Commerce,  as  his  further  reading  enabled  him, 
he  had  in  truth  dismissed  all  thoughts  of  further  publica- 
tion OH  that  subject.  But  the  opinion  of  his  friend,  Mr. 
archdeacon  Nares,  after  some  time  prevailed  upon  hini  to 
add  a  supplemental  volume,  for  the  sake  of  adding  to  his  < 
work  the  Greek  text  of  ArriafCs  Indkaj  .(including  the 


VINCENT.  385 

/ 

I 

Journal  of  Nearchus)  mth  that  of  the  Pseudo-Arriati^. 
which  was  before  too  scarce  for  scholars  ifk  general  to  ob- 
tain., This  volume  concluded  the  dean's  separate  publica- 
tions. He  printed,  indeed,  afterwards,  a  letter  in  French 
to  a  M.  Barbie  (as  he  chose  to  write  himself,  but  more 
probably  Barbier)  du  Bocage,  who  had  very  unhandsopely 
attacked  bis  voyage  of  Nearchus ;  but  this  he  never  pub- 
lished. It  contained  a  dignified  remonstrance,  without 
asperity,  with  a  man -whom  the  writer  treats  with  a  respect, 
little  merited  by  the  mode  of  the  attack. 

The   principal  works  of  Dean  Vincent  have  now  been 
distinctly  enumerated ;  as  forming  an  important  part  of  his 
history,  as  a  literary  man ;  but  he  wrote  occasionally  in  ' 
periodical  works,  in  which  he  bad  no  other  interest,  but 
such  as  arose  from  the  general  wish  to  promote  the  pro- 
gress of  sound  literature,  both  sacred  and  profane ;  or  to 
benefit  the  editors  of  works  whose  design  was  of  that  na-  * 
ture.      His    communications   to  the.  ^^  ClassicalJournaPV 
were  not  many,  but  valuable,  and  regularly  signed  with 
bis  name.    They  were  these :   1.  On  Ancient  Commerce ; 
No.  v.  p.  60. — 2.  On  China,  as  known  to  Classic  Authors  : 
No.  xiii.  p.  32. — 3.  On  Theophilus,  an  African   Bishop :  ' 
No.  xiv.  p.  382. — 4.  On  the  Geography  of  Susiana ;  Suppl. 
to  No.  xviii.  p.  449. — 5.  Correction  of  an  Error  in  the  Pe- 
riplus;  No.  xx.  p.  322.     The  contributions  of  Dr.  Vincent 
to  the  ^^  British  Critic''  commenced  at  a  very  early  period 
of  that  publication,  and  were  never  entirely  discontinued^ 
till  the  close  of  the  first  series.     The  friendship  with  which 
be   honoured    the   original  editor  of  that  work,  together 
with  his  entire  approbation  of  the  design  and  principles, 
with  which  it  was  undertaken  and  conducted,  made  him  at 
all  times  ready  to  give  his  aid  to  it,  when  his  ptber  occu- 
pations and  studies  would  permit.     As  he  was  always  com*  ' 
pletely  a  volunteer,  so  the  choice  of  his  subjects,  as  well 
as  of  his  opportuuities,  was  left  entirely  to  himself.     These 
communications  were  not  marked  with  his  namej  because 
it  was  not  suitable  to  the  practice  of  the  Review,  but  he 
bad  no  particular  wish  to  be  concealed,  and  his  biographer 
has  accordingly  given  a  list  of  his  articles,  with  useful  re-, 
marks,  for  which,  on  account  of  its  length,  we  must  refer 
to  our  authority. 

He  continued  to  assist  in  this  Review  until  1812  or 
I.S19,  when  the  close  of  his  crveer  was  more  nearly  ap* 
preaching  than  his  friends  were  willing  to  believe,  or  any 

Vol.  XXX.  C  c 


3^6 


VINCENT- 


\ 


visible  decay  appeared  to  ^indicate.  It  was  not,  however^ 
till  the  Spring  of  1815,  that  the  powers  of  the  stomach  be- 
gan to  fail,  so  much  as  to  create  alarm.  But  the  appre- 
hensions then  excited  were  soon  too  fully  justified.  Im- 
perfect efforts  towards  recovery  were  constantly  followed 
by  relapses,  each  more  formidable  than  the  former.  He 
remained  at  Islip,  to  his  lisual  period  of  removal  in  the 
autumn,  when  he  returned  to  Westminster,  infirm,  but 
not  despaired  of  by  the  faculty  ;  sound  in,  mind,  which  he 
continued  to  the  last,  and  not  materially  impaired  in  his 
external  organs.  But  he  felt  within,  that  his  complaints 
were  beyond  the  .reach  of  medicine,  and  calmly  rejected 
atl  attempts  to  persuade  him  to  rely  upon  it.  At  length, 
with  the  least  possible  disturbance  from  bodily  suffering, 
he  placidly  obeyed  the  inevitable  call ;  and  died  on  the 
21st  of  December,  1815,  having  passed  his  seventy-sixth 
year,  by  rather  more  than  a  month. 

"  Of  the  character  and  talents  of  Dr.  Vincent,'*  says  his 
biographer,  "  a  tolerably  correct  notion  may  be  collected 
from  the  foregoing  narrative*.  That  he  was  benevolent, 
charitable,  generous,  and  placable,  should  undoubtedly  be 
added  to  that  view.  That  which,  perhaps,  would  be  least 
conceived,  by  those  who  had  no  personal  knowledge  of 
Jiim,  is  the  ease  with  which  he  could,  on  fit  oc^casions, 
and  without  the  smallest  impropriety,  sink  the  man  of 
learning  and  research,  in  the  cheerful  friend  and  unassum* 
ing  companion/' 

In  tracing  the  steps  of  dean  Vincent's  progress  through 
life,  no  notice  has  been  taken  of  those  temporary  offices, 
which  he  held  in  consequence  of  his  other  situations;  such 
as  being  president  of  Sion-college  in  179S,  and  prolocutor 
to  the  Lower  house  of  Convocation  in  Nov.  1802,  and  per- 
haps some   others.     When  such  services  were  required, 


♦  At  tht  request  of  a  teamed  cor- 
respondent, we  add  the  followiog : 
**  Dr.  Vincent  was  in  person  above  the 
eomnnon  size,  and  had  a  very  dig- 
nified and  majciptic  aspect ;  advantages 
of  no  mean  importance  to  the  master 
of  a  public  school.  His  countenance 
Was  a  faithful  index  of  his  benevolent 
mind.  He  was  kind  to  aU,  but  be  mani- 
fested a  particular  regard  to  the  mem- 
bers of  his  own  profession,  whose  useful 
labours  he  considered  as  very  inade* 
q^ua^ely  rewarded.  He  was  tUerefnre 
a  liberal  and   zealous  patron  ot  i&e 


*  Society  of  S<^oalma8ters,' instituted 
for  the  benefit  of  decayed  members 
and  their  families:  and  although  it 
was  established  after  he  had  qui:ted 
the  profession,  and  begun  only  by  a 
few  masters  of  private  academies,  h« 
visited  their  early  meetings  unsolicited, 
and  continued  te  the  last  year  of  his 
life,  notwithstanding  bis  age  and  se<» 
vere  infirmitiesj  to  attend  thf>ir  an- 
niversartes,  and  to  promote  the  suc- 
cess of  the  institution  by  his  example, 
his  eloquence^  and  hia  liberal  tub- 
•cription.'* 


VINCENT.  38t 

there  can  be  no  doubt  that  he  undertook  them  readilyi  and 
was  studious,  to,  perform  the  part  allotted  to  him  with  punc<^ 
tuaiity  and  propriety.  *    . 

VINCI  (LiONARDO  da),  an  illustrious  Italian  painter^ 
and  universal  genius^  was  the  natural  $on  of  one  Piero,  a 
notary  at  Florence,  and  was  called  Da  Vinci  from  the  place 
of  his  birth,  a  small  hurgh  or  castle  of  Valdarno  di  Sotto. 
He  was  born  in  1452,  and  was  placed  ujider  Andrea  Ver- 
I'ochio,  a  painter  of  some  note  in  that  city ;  but  soon  sur- 
passed him,  particularly  in  a  piece  which  that  painter  had 
made  of  St.  John  baptizing  our  Saviour,  and  in  which  Da 
Vinci,  by  his  order>  had  painted  an  angel,  holding  up  some 
of  the. vestments.  This  appeared  so  much  the  finest  figure, 
that  it  visibly  discredited  all  the  rest :  which  so  hurt  Ver- 
rochio,  that  he  relinquished  painting  ever  after. 

Da  Vinci  now  set  up  for  himself;  and  executed  many 
pictures  at  Florence  of  great  credit,  and  the  universality  Jf 
bis  genius  soon  appeared.  .  He  had  a  perfect  knowledge  of 
the  theory  of  bis  art.  He  was,  by  far,  the  best  anatomist 
and  physiologist  of  his  time,  the  first  who  raised  a  spirit 
for  anatomical  study,  and  gave  it  credit,  and  certainty  the 
first  man  we  know  of  who  introduced  the  practice  of  mak- 
ing anatomical  drawings.  His  first  attempt,  according  to 
Vasari,  was  a  book  of  the  anatomy  of  a  horse;  be  after- 
wards applied  with  more  diligence  to  the  human  anatomy, 
in  which  study  he  reciprocally  received  and  communicated 
assistance  to  Marc.  Antonio  della  Torra,  an  excellent  phi- 
losopher, who  then  read  lectures  in  Pavia,  and  wrote  upon 
this  subject.  For  him  Da  Vinci  made  a  book  of  studies, 
drawn  with  red  chalk,  and  touched  with  a  pen,  with  ^reat 
diligence,  of  such  subjects  as  be  had  himself  dissected  : 
where  he  made  all  the  bones,  and  to  those  he  joined,  ia 
their  order,  all  the  nerves,  and  covered  them  with  the 
itouscles.  And  concerning  those,  from  part  to  part,  he 
wrote  remarks  in  letters  of  an  ugly  form,  which  are  written 
by  the  left  hand,  backwards,  and  not  to  be  understood 
but  by  those  who  know  the  method  of  reading  them. 
These  very  drawings  and  writings  are  now  in  his  majesty^s 
collection  of  drawings.  After  inspecting  them  some  years 
ago,  Dr.  Hunter  expressed  his  full  persuasion  that  Da 
Vinci  was  the  best  anatomist,  at  that  time,  in  the  world  ^. 

1  Comnaunicated  by  the  rev.  arcbdeacoD  Nares,  to  the  Classical  Joatnal,  Nos. 
XXVI  and  XXVU. 

*  Hunter's  Two  lotrod  actor;  Lectures,  1784,  4to. 

oca 


388  VINCI. 

Lionardo  was  also  well  skilled  in  optics  and  geometry,  al- 
most every  branch  of  literature,  and  the  arts.  He  was  a 
good  architect,  an  able  carver,  and  extremely  well  versed 
ill  the  mechanics :  he  had  a  fine  voice,  and  understood 
music,  and  both  played  and  sang  with  taste  and  skill. 
Having  also  the  advantage  of  a  well-formed  person,  he  ex- 
celled in  all  the  manly  exercises.  He  understood  the 
management  of  a  horse,  and  took  delight  in  sippearing 
well  mounted :  and  he  was  very  dextrous  in  the  use  of 
arms.  His  behaviour  also  was  polite,  and  his  conversation 
go  engaging,  that  no  man  ever  partook  of  it  without  plea- 
sure, or  left  it  without  regret. 

His  reputation  soon  spread  itself  all  over  Italy,  and 
Lewis  Sforza,  duke'  of  Milan,  invited  him  to  his  court,  and* 
prevailed  with  him  to  be  a  director  of  the  academy  for  ar- 
chitecture he  J;iad  just  established,  where  Lionardo  restored 
the  simplicity  and  purity  of  the  Greek  and  Roman  models. 
About  this  time,  the  duke  having  formed  a  design  x>f  sup- 
plying the  city  of  Milan  with  water  by  a  new  canal,  thd 
execution  of  the  project  was  deputed  to  Lionardo.  In 
order  %o  accomplish  this  vast  design,  he  ^pent  much  time 

An  the  study  of  philosophy  and  mathematics ;  applying  with 
double  ardour  to  those  parts  which  might  give  him  light 

'into  the  work  he  had  undertaken.  To  these  he  joined  an- 
tiquity and  history  ;  and  observed,  as  he  went  along,  bow 
the  Ptolemies  had  conducted  the  waters  of  the  Nile  through 
the  several  parts  of  Egypt ;  and  how  Trajan  had  opened  a 
commerce  with  Nicomedia,  by  rendering  navigable  the 
lakes  and  rivers  lying  between  that  city  and  thd  sea.  At 
length,  he, happily  achieved  what  some  thought  next  to 
impossible,  by  rendering  hills  and  valleys  navigable  with 
security.  The  canal  goes  by  the  name  of  Mortesana,  being 
above  200  miles  in  length  ;  and  passes  through  the  Valte- 
line  and  the  valley  of  Chiavenna,  conducting  the  waters  of 
the  river  Adda  to  the  very  walls  of  Milan. 

After  Lionardo  had  been  labouring  some  years  for  the 
service  of  Milan,  in  quality  of  architect  and  engineer,  he 
was  requested  by  the  duke  to  adorn  it  by  his  paintings; 
and  he  painted,  among  other  things,  his  celebrated  *^  Last 
Supper."  Francis  I.  was^so  charmed  with  this,  that,  find- 
ing it  impracticable  to  have  it  removed  into  France,  he 
ordered  a  copy  to  be  taken,  which  was  placed  at  St.  Ger- 
mains ;  while  the  original,  i)eing  painted  in  oil,  and  upoa* 
a  wall  not  sufficiently  secured  from  moistttrei  ha$  been  d^^ 


V  1  N  C  L  38§ 

fated  long  ago.  The  wars  of  Italy  began  now  to  interrupt 
him  ;  and  bis  friend  and  patron  duke  Lewis  being  defeated 
and  carried  prisoner  to  France,  the  academy  was  destroyed^ 
the  professors  dispersed,  and  the  arts  effectually  banished 
out  of  Milan.  In  1499,  the  year  before  duke  Lewis's  de« 
feaCj  Lionardo,  being  at  Milan,  was  desired,  by  the  prin^ 
cipals  of  the  place,  to  contrive  some  iiew  device  for  the 
entertainment  of  Lewis  XII.  of  France,  who  was  just  j;heQ 
ready  to  make  his  entrance  into  that  city.  Lionardo  con- 
sented ;  and  accordingly  made  a  very  curious  automaton 
of  the  figure  of  a  lion,  whose  inside  was  so  well  furnished 
with  machinery,  that  it  marched  out  to  meet  the  king; 
joade  a  stand  when  it  came  before  him ;  reared  up  its  hin* 
der  legs ;  and,  opening  his  breast,  presented  a  scutcheon^ 
with  flears-de-Iis  quartered  upon  it. 

The  disorders  of  Lom^ardy,  and  the  misfortunes  of  his 
patrons  the  Sforzi,  obliging  Lionardo  to  quit  Milan,  he 
retired  to  Florence,  where  be  flourished  under  the  patron* 
ege  of  the  Medici.  In  1503  the  Florentines  resolving  tf 
bave  their  council* chamber  painted,  Lionardo,  by  a  public 
decree,  was  elected  to  the  office  ^  and  got  Michael  Angelo 
to  assist  him  in  painting  one  side  of  it,  while  he  himself 
painted  the  other :  Michael  Angelo  was  then  but  a  young 
man,  yet  had  acquired  a  great  reputation,  and  was  not 
afraid  to  vie  with  Lionardo,  but  jealousy  arose  between 
them;  and  each  having  his  partizans,  they  became  open 
enemies.  About  this  time,  Raphael  was  led  by  Lionardo^s 
reputation  to  Florence;  the  first  view  of  whose  works 
astonished  him,  and  produced  a  change  in  his  style,  ta 
which  ail  the  glory  he  afterwards  acquired  has  been  ascribed 
by  some.  Lionardo  remained  in  Florence  till  1513,  and 
then  is  stated  to  blive  gone  to  Rome,  which  it  is  said  he  had 
never  seen.  Leo  X.  received  him  graciously,  and  resolved 
to  employ  him ;  upon  which,  Lionardo  set  himself  to  the 
distilling  of  oils,  and  the  preparing  of  varnish,  to  cover 
^is  paintings  with.  Leo,  informed  of  this,  said  smartly 
enough,  that  ^^  nothing  could  be  expected  from  a  man, 
who  thought  of  finishing  his  works  before  he  had  begun 
them."  There  seems,  however,  some  reason  to  doubt, 
whether  Lionardo  ever  was  at  Rome  in  Leo^s  time.  It 
seems  more  certain  that  about  this  time,  having  an  invita- 
tion from  Francis  I,  he  removed  into  France.  He  was 
above  seventy  years  of  age  when  he  undertook  this  journey ; 
and  it  is  probable  that  the  fatigues  of  it,  together  with  the 


390  V  I N  c  r. 

« 

change  of  climate,  contributed  to  the  distemper  of  whicli 
he  died.  He  languished  several  months  at  Fontainebleau; 
during  which  time  the  king  went  frequently  to  see  him : 
and  one  day,  as  he  was  raising  himself  up  in  bed  to  thank 
the  king  for  the  honour  done  him,  he  was  at  that  instant 
seized  with  a  fainting  fit;  and,  Francis  stooping  to  sup* 
port  him,  he  expired  in  the  arms  of  that  monarch.  He 
died  in  1520.    ^  ♦ 

The  life  of  Da  Vinci,  says  'Mr.  Fuseli,  may  he  nearly 
divided  into  four  periods,  the  first  of  which  is  that  of  hit 
youth,  when  he  lived  at  Florence.  To  this  not  only  th# 
Medusa  and  the  few  works  mentioned  by  Vasari,  but  pro- 
bably all  those  paintings  of  his,  belong,  that  have  less  energy 
of  shade,  less  complicated  drapery,  and  heads  of  forms 
rather  delicate  than  exquisite,  seemingly  derived  from  the 
school  of  Yerrocchio.  Such  are  the  Maddalenas  of  the 
Pitti  at*  Florence,  and  the  Aldobrandini  at  Rome,  the  Ma«- 
donnas  of  the  Giustiniani  and  Borghese  palaces,  and  some 
heads  of  the  Saviour  and  his  Baptist,  though  the  multitude 
of  his  imitiators  must  render  all  decision  on  their  originality 
ambiguous. 

The  second  period  is  that  which  he  spent  at  Milan  in  the 
service  of  Lodovico  Sforza.  There  he  staid  till  1499,  with 
little  exertion  in  painting,  if  we  except  the  most  capital  as 
the  most  celebrated  of  his  works,  perhaps  the  compendium 
of  his  powers,  the  Last  Supper^,  in  the  refectory  of  the 
Dominicans.  Of  this  performance,  which  the  whole  his- 
tory of  painting  agrees  to  class  among  the  first  products 
of  art,  three  heads  only  remain  by  Lionardo's  own  hand^ 

*  Mr.  Cochin,  a  late  traTeller*  and  often  importuned  him  to  dispatch ;  bat 

ingenious  writer,  describing  the  picture  all  his  solicitations  proving  vain,  he,  at 

of  the  Last  Supper,  which  he  saw  at  length,  had  the  assurance  to  oarry  his 

J^ilan  in  1757,  after  giving  a  pariicu-  complaints  to   the   duke.     Upon  this 

lar  description  of  the  beauty  of  the  de-  Lionardo  was  sent  for,  and  being  ques*- 

sign,  the  fine  'airs  of  the  heads,  the  tioned  about  the  painting,  he  asi^ured 

noble  cast  of  the  draperies,  and  that  his  highness  that  there  were  but  two 

in  general  it  was  extremely  in  the  taste  faces  wanting  to  complete  the  piece; 

of  Raphael,  concludes  with  observing  the  one  being  our  Saviour^s,  and  the 

a  very   singular    impro[>riejy   in    it,  other  that  of  Judas.     As  to  the  former, 

vhich  is,  that  the  hand  of  St.  John  has  he  owned  himself  unable  to  finish  it ; 

six  fingers.— See  Voyage  d'lialie,  torn,  being  at  a  loss  how  to  paint  the  majesty 

I.  p.  42.     In  this  picinre,  the  head  of  and  beauty  of  so  amiable  and  august 

our  Saviour  was  never  finished,  Lio-  a  personage;  but  he  promised    very 

nardo  despairing  to  express  the  idea  speedily  to  complete  the  latter;  since, 

he  had  conceived  of  reaching  a  more  to  draw  the  avarice  and  ingratitude  of 

exalted  beauty  than  he  bad  bestowed  Judas,  he  needed  nothing  but  to  re- 

on  the  apostles.     While  he  was  em-  present  the  prior  of  the  Dominican^, 

ployed  in  this  piece,  the  prior  of  the  who  had  so  basely  rewarded  hiin  fur 

convent,  thinking  his  progress  too  slow*  all  the  pains  be  bad  taken. 


V  1  N  C  I.  891 

*  I 

I 

iind  those  rather  delineated  than  coloured.  Had  he  con- 
tented  himself  to  paint  it  in  distemper  instead  of  oil,  we 
should  now  be  in  the  possession  of  a  work^  which  was  aU 
ready  found  half  decayed  by  Armenini,  fifty  years  after  it 
had  been  finished,  and  is  spoken  of  by  Scannelli,  who 
examined  it  in  1642,  as  evanescent,  and  a  thing,  that  once 
was. 

The  third  period  dates  from  the  return  of  Lionardo  to 
Florence,  after  the  fall  of  Francesco  Sforza.     The  thirteen' 
years  of  his  stay  there  produced  i^ome  of  his  best  works; 
the  celebrated  portrait  of  Mona  Lisa,  a  labour  of  four  years, 
though  still  declared  unfinished  i  the  cartoon  of  St.  Anna/. 
))repared  for  an  altar-piece  at  the  church  A'Servi,  which' 
never  was  coloured ;  the  other  cartoon  of  the  battle  of  Nic-' 
colo  Piccinino,  in  competition  with  Michael  Angelo,  and' 
likewise  never  made  use  of,  because  his  endeavour  to  paint 
it  in  oil  on  the  wall  had  failed.    He  employed  perhaps  ano- 
ther method  in  a  Madonna  with  the  child,  at  St.  Onofrio  of 
Rome,  a  RafFaelesque  picture,  but  peeling  in  many  places 
oflp  the  pannel.     To  this  period  probably  belongs  his  owa 
portrait  in  the  ducal  gallery,  in  an  age  which  does  not  dis- 
agree with  these  yeafs,  a  head  whose  energy  leaves  all  the 
rest  in  that  room  far  behind ;  and  that  other,  in  a  different 
cabinet,  which  i^  called  the  portrait  of  RaSaello;  and  that 
half-figure  of   ^  young   nun  in  the   palace  Miccolini,  so' 
much  celebrated  by  Bottari.    '  Christ  among  the  doctors, 
formerly  a  picture  of  the  Doria  palace;  the  supposed  por- 
trait of  queen  Giovanna  with  architecture;  and  Vertumnus 
with  Pomona,  commonly  called  vanity  and  modesty,  a  work 
as  often  copied  as  inimitable,  in  the  Barberini ;  seem  to  co- 
incide with  this  epoch  ;  and  we  may  count  with  them  the 
Madonna  begging  the  lily  of  the  infant  Christ  in  the  Albani, 
a  picture  full  of  graces,  and  considered  by  Mengs  as  the* 
masterpiece  of  the  collection.     It  would  however  be  too 
bold  a  conjecture  to  decide  the  date  of  every  picture  painted 
by  an  artist  whose  life  was  spent  in  search  of  new  methods, 
and  who  too  often  dropped  bis  work  before' it  had  received 
its  finish. 

The  fourth  period  of  this  great  man^s  life  terminates  like- 
wise the  career  of  his  art.  Lionardo  appears  to  have  bid 
farewell  to  painting  about  his  sixty-third  year.  When  in 
1515  Francis  I.  had  failed  in  the  attempt  of  having  the  pic- 
ture of  the  last  supper  sawed  from  the  walls  of  the  refec- 
tory, for  Its  transportation  to  France^  he  attempted  to  pos- 


392  V  I  N  C  L 

sess  himself  of  the  author.  He  invited  him  to  his  court,  and 
Viuci  accepted  the  invitation  without  much  regret  at  leav- 
ing  Florence,  where,  since  his  return  from  Rome,  he  had 
jtnet  in  young  Buonarroti  with  a  rival  already  preferred  to 
him  in  the  disposal  of  commissions ;  because,  if  we  believe 
Vai^ari,  he  gave  works  where  Lionardo  gave  often  only 
words.  It  is  known  that  there  was  anger  between  them, 
and  Vinci,  consulting  his  own  quiet,  passed  over  to  France, 
where,  before  he  had  touched  pencil,  he  died  in  the  arms 
of  Francis  I.  . . 

Lionardo  da  Vinci  broke  forth  with  a  splendour  which 
eclipsed  all  his  predecessors  :  made  up  of  all  the  elements 
of  genius,  favoured  by  form,  education,  and  circumstances, 
fill  ear,  all  eye,  all  grasp ;  painter,  poet,  sculptor,  anatomist, 
architect,  engineer,  chemist,  machinist,  musician,  philoso- 
pher,  and  sometimes  empiric  ;  he  laid  hold  of  every  beauty 
in  the  enchanted  circle,  but,  without  exclusive  attachment 
to  one,  dismissed  in  her  turn  each.  Fitter  to  scatter  hints 
than  to  teach  by  example,  he  wasted  life  insatiate  in  ex- 
periment. To  a  capacity  which  at  once  penetrated  the 
principle  and  real  aim  of  the  art,  he  joined  an  inequality 
of  fancy  that  at  one  moment  lent  him  wings  for  the  pur- 
suit of  beauty,  and  the  next  flung  him  on  the  ground  to  - 
crawl  after  deformity.  We  owe  to  him  chiaroscuro  with 
all  its  magic,  but  character  was  his  favourite  study ;  , 
character  he  has  often  caised  from  an  individual  to  a  species, 
and  as  often  depressed  to  a  monster  from  an  individual. 
His  notion  of  the  most  elaborate  finish,  and  his  want  of 
perseverance,  were  at  least  equal.  Want  of  perseverance 
alone  could  make  him  abandon,  his  cartoon  designed  for  the 
great  council-chamber  at  Florence,  of  which  the  celebrated 
contest  of  horsemen  was  but  one  group ;  for  to  him  who 
could  organize  that  composition,  Michael  Angelo  himself 
might  be  an  object  of  emulation,  but  could  not  be  one  of 
fear.  His  line  was  free  from  meagreness,  and  bis  forms  pre- 
sented beauties ;  but  be  appears  not  to  have  been  very  much 
acquainted  with  the  antique.  The  strength  of  his  conception 
lay  in  the  delineation  of  male  heads ;  those  of  his  females 
owe  nearly  all  their  charms  to  chiaroscuro ;  they  are  sel- 
dom more  discriminated  than  the  children  they  follow;  they 
are  sisters  of  one  family. 

Da  Vinci  composed  a  grqat  number  of  discourses  .upon 
•everal  curious  subjects,  among  which  were,  "  A  Treatise 
of  the  Nature,  Equilibrium,  ami  Motion,  of  Water  ;*'  <*  A 


VINCI.  .  39$ 

Treatise  of  Anatomy  ;"  **The  Anatomy  of  a  Horse  ;**  "  A 
Treatise  of  Perspective ;"  **A  Treatise  of  Light  and  Sha- 
dows ;"  and,  "  A  Treatise  of  Painting/*  None  of  these 
have  found  theit*  way  to  the  press,  but  die  "  Treatise  of  th'fs 
Art  of  Painting  ;*'  a-noble  edition  of  which  was  published 
by  R.  da  Fresne  at  Paris  in  1651,  with  figures  by  Nicholas 
Foussin.  It  was  also  published  in  English  in  1721,  8vo^ 
and  reprinted  in  1796,  with  a  life  of  the  author  prefixed; 
-from  which  we  have  extracted  chiefly  this  accbunt  oT  him,  * 

VINER  (Charles),  an  eminent  benefactor  to  the  study 
of  law,  is  introduced  here  in  that  character,  although  we 
have  scarcely  any  memorials  of  his  personal  History,  He 
.  died  at  his  house  at  Aldershot,  Hampshire,  June  5,  17 5S^ 
at  what  age  we  are  not  told,  nbr  have  we  heard  of  any  par- 
ticulars of  his  life  having  been  then  or  since  collected,  or 
published.  That  he  was  of  the  profession  of  the  law  may 
be  supposed  from  his  having  dedicated  a  considerable  por« 
tion  or  his  life  to  the  Herculean  labour,  which  will  long 
preserve  his  name,  and  which  he  executed  at  his  house  at 
Aldershot,  under  the  title  of  ''  A  general  and  complete 
Abridgment  of  Law  and  Equity,"  1741 — 1751,  24  vols.  fbl. 
It  was  not  only  printed  under  his  own  inspection  (by  agree- 
ment with  the  law  patentees)  at  his  house,  but  the  paper 
also  was  manufa,ctured  under  his  direction,  as  appears  by  a 
peculiar  water-mark,  describing  the  number  of  the  volume 
or  the  initials  of  C.  V.  He  began  at  the  title  Factor,  where 
DWnvers  left  off,  and  published  to  the  end  of  the  alpha- 
bet ;  he  then  proceeded  to  the  title  Abatement^  but  by  his  In- 
dex he  directed  the  volumes  to  be  placed  in  alphabetical 
order. 

This  work,  on  which,  Blackstone  informs  us,  he  employed 
above  half  a  century,  is  styltfd  by  Mr.  Hargrave  an  im- 
mense body  of  law  and  equity,  and  that  learned  gentleman 
recommends  it,  notwithstanding  all  its  defects  and  inaccu- 
racies, as  a  necessary  part  of  every  lawyer's  library.  He 
further  sa^s,  it  is  indeed  a  most  useful  compilation,  and 
would  have  been  infinitely  more  so,  if  the  author  had  been 
less  singular  and  more  nice  in  his  arrangement  and  method, 
and  more  studious  to  avoid  repetition ;  faults  which  pro- 
ceeded in  a  great  measure  from  the  author's  error  in  judg- 
ment, in  attempting  .to  engraft  his  own  very  extensive 
judgment  on  Ihat  of  Mr.  Sergeant  Rolle.    This  stupendous 

>  Life  as  aboTf.— Pill(iD|;tOD  by  Fuseli. 


■S9'4  V  I  N  E  R. 

work  was  reprinted  in  1792  and  1794,  24  vols,  royal  8vo; 
it  was  followed  by  six  supplemental  volumes,  undertaken 
by  James  Edward  Watson,  Samuel  Comyn,  James  Sedg* 
^  wiek,  Henry  Alcock,  John  Wyatt,  James  Humphreys,  Alex- 
ander Anstruther,  and  Michael  Nolan,  esqrs.  who  laid  them 
before  the  public  in  1799,  1800,  1801,  1805,  and  1806, 
each  gentleman  having  taken  up  his  own  apportioned  bur* 
then  of  the  task* 

But  this  was  not  the  only  obligation  Mr.  Viner  conferred 
on  the  profession.  Having  resolved  to  dedicate  his  learned 
labours,  to  use  his  own  words,  "  to  the  benefit  of  posterity, 
and  the  perpetual  service  of  his  country,"  he  bequeathed 
by  his  will  (dated  Dec.  29, 1J755)  about  12,000/.  to  the  uni- 
versity of  Oxford,  to  establish  a  professorship,  and  endow 
such  fellowships  and  scholarships  of  the  common  law  in 
that  university  as  should  be  adequate  to  the  produce  of  his 
estate.  Dr.  Blackstone  was  appointed  the  first  professor, 
and  it  is  a  sufficient  praise  of  this  foundation  that  it  pro- 
duced his  celebrated  **  Commentaries.'*  The  excellent 
management  of  the  estate  has  since  enabled  the  university 
to  increase  the  number  of  the  sc^holarships  and  fellowships. 
Mr.  Viner  was  afterwards,  by  decree  of  convocation,  en- 
rolled among  the  public  benefactors  of  the  university. 
The  sense,  says  Blackstone,  which  the  university  enter- 
tained of  this  ample  and  most  useful  benefaction,  must  ap*. 
pear  beyond  a  doubt,  from  their  alacrity  and  unexampled 
dispatch  in  carrying  it  into  execution,  and  above  all,  from 
the  laws  and  constitutions  by  which  they  have  effectually 
guarded  it  from  the  neglect  and  abuse,  to  which  such  in- 
stitutions are  liable. ' 

VINES  (Richard),  a  learned  and  excellent  divine,  a 
popular  and  laborious  preacher,  and  a  most  industrious 
and  useful  man  in  his  college,  was  born  at  Blaston  in  Lei- 
cestershire, and  educated  in  Magdalen  college,  Cam- 
bridge, where  he  commenced  M.  A.  and  was  remarkable 
for  bis  sober  and  grave  behaviour,  not  being  chargeable 
even  with  the  venial  levities  of  youth.  From  the  university 
he  was  elected  (most  probably  at  the  recommendation  of 
his  contemporary  Thomas  Cleiveland)  school-master  at 
Hinckley ;  where  he  entered  into  holy  orders,  and  (as 
appears  by  an  extract  from  the  register  of  that  parish)  mar- 

1  Gent.  Mag.  vdls.  XXVI  and  XXVIII.— BridgmaD's  Legal  Bibliography.— 
Blackstone's  Commeiitaries. 


VINES.  «9S 

•  ■ 

ried,  and  bad  at  least  one  cbild.  After  remaining  some 
time  in  the  faithful,  discbarge  of  his  office  at  Hinckiey- 
schooly  be  obtained  tbe  rectory  of  Weddington,  in  War- 
wickslure ;  and,  at  the  beginning  of  the  civil  war,  was 
driven  from  his  parish^  and  forced  to  take  shelter  in  Co- 
ventry. When  tbe  assembly  of  divines  which  established 
the  presbyterian  government^n  1644  was  called,  Mr.  Vines, 
who  was  a  good  speaker,  was  unanimously  chosen  of  their 
number;  and,  as  Fuller  says,  was  .the  champion  of  the 
party.  While  he  was  at  London  he  became  the  minister 
of  St.  Clement  Danes,  and  vicar  of  St.  Lawrence  Jewry ; 
afterwards  he  removed  to  Watton,  in  Hertfordshire;  and 
was  appointed  master  of  Pembroke  Hall,  in  Cambridge,  in 
1645,  by  the  earl  of  Manchester,  on  the  ejection  of  Dr, 
Benjamin  Lavey  ;  but  resigned  that  and  his  living  of  Sl 
Lawrence  Jewry  in  1650,  on  account  of  the  engagement. 
He  joined  in  a  letter  from  the  principal'  ministers  of  the  city 
of  London  (presented  Jan.  1,  1645,  to  the  assembly  of  di- 
vines sitting  at  Westminster  by  authority  of  parliament), 
complaining  against  the  independents.  He  was  a  son  of 
thunder,  and  therefore  compared  to  Luther ;  yet  moderate 
and  charitable  to  them  that  differed  from  him  in  judgment. 
The  parliament  employed  him  in  all  their  treaties  with  the 
king;  and  his  majesty,  though  of  a  different  judgment, 
valued  him  for  his  ingenuity,  seldom  speaking  to  him  with- 
out touching  his  hat,  which  Mr.  Vines  returned  with  most 
respectful  language  and  gestures.  This  particular  was  the 
more  remarkable,  as  no  other  of  the  parliament  commis- 
sioners ever  met  with  the  same  token  of  attention.  Dr. 
Grey,  in  his  answer  to  Neal,  relates  that  when  Mr.  Vines 
returned  from  this  treaty,  be  addressed  one  Mr.  Walden, 
saying,  ^*  Brother,  how  hath  this  nation  been  fooled  !  We 
have  been  told  that  our  king  is  a  childy  and  2.  fool ;  but  if  I 
understand  any  thing  by  my  converse  with  him,  which  I 
have  had  with  great  liberty,  he  is  as  much  of  a  Christian 
prince  as  ever  I  read  or  heard  of  since  our  Saviour's  time. 
He  is  a  very  precious  prince,  and  is  able  of  himself  to 
argue  with  the  ablest  divines  we  have.  And  among  all  the  . 
kings  of  Israel  and  Judah,  there  was  none  like  him.*' 

When  sentence  of  death  was  pronounced  on  this  un- 
happy sovereign,  Mr.  Vines  came  with  the  other  London 
ministers  to  offer  their  services  to  pray  with  his  majesty 
the  morning  before  bis  execution.  The  king  thanked 
them^  but  declined  their  services.     Vines  was  an  admirable 


396  VINES. 

scholar;  holy  and  pious  in  his  conversation^  and  indefa* 
tigable  in  his  labours,  which  wasted  his  strength,  and 
brought  him  into  a  consumption  whien  he  had  lived  but 
about  fifty -six  years.  He  was  a  very  painful  and  laborious 
iminister,  and  spent  his  time  principally  amongst  his  pa« 
rishioners,  in  piously  endeavouring  ^^  to  make  them  all  of 
one  piece,  though  they  were  of  different  colours,  and  unite 
them  in  judgment  who  dissented  in  affection/'  In  1654 
he  was  joined  in  a  commission  to  eject  scandalous  and  ig- 
norant ministers  and  schoolmasters  in  London.  He  died 
in  1655,  and  was  buried  Feb.  7,  in  the  parish-church  of 
St.  Lawrence  Jewry,  which  having  been  consumed  in  the 
general  conflagration  of  1666,  no  memorial  of  him  is  there 
to  be  traced.  His  funeral-sermon  was  preached  Feb.  7,  by 
]Dr.  Jacomb,  who  gave  him  his  just  commendation.  He 
was  a  perfect  master  of  the  Greek  tongue,  a  good  philolo- 
gist, and  an  admirable  disputant.  He  was  a  thorough  Cal- 
vinist,  .and  a  bold  honest  man,  without  pride  or  flattery. 
Mr.  Newcomen  calls  him  *^  Disputator  acutissiiAus,  Concio- 
nator  felicissimus,  Theologus  eximius.'*  Many  funeral 
poems  and  elegies  were  made  upon  his  death. 

Mr.  Vines  was  frequently  called  forth^to  preach  on  pub* 
lie  solemnities ;  particularly  before  the  House  of  Commons, 
at  a  public  fast,  Nov.  30,  1642  ;  on  a  thanksgiving,  before 
both  Houses,  July  18,  1644;  at  another  fast,  before  the 
Commons,  March  10,  1646  ;  and  before  the  House  of  Peers, 
at  the  funeral  of  the  earl  of  Essex,  Oct.  22,  1646.  Thirty- 
two  of  his  "Sermons'*  were  published  in  1662.* 

VINET  (Elias),  a  classical  editor,  translator,  and  critic, 
was  born  at  Vinets,  a  small  village  in  Saintonge,  in  1507. 
He  studied  first  at  Barbesieux,  where  Thuanus,  by  mistake, 
says  he  was  born,  and  went  thence  to  Poitiers,  where  be 
took  his  degree  of  master  of  arts.  On  his  return  to  Bar- 
besieux, he  employed  himself  for  some  time  in  teaching, 
that  he  might  acquire  enough  to  bear  his  expences  at  Pa« 
ris,  where  he  wished  to  acquire  a  greater  knowledge  of  the 
belles  lettres  and  mathematics,  to  both  of  which  he  had 
already  in  some  measure  applied.  )n  1541,  however,  An- 
drew Govea,  principal  of  the  college  of  Bourdeaux,  hear- 
ing a  very  advantageous  character  of  him,  invited  him  thi- 
ther to  a  professorship,  which  he  held  about  six  years,  and 

1  Clark's  Liresf-— Nichols's  Hist,  of  Leictsf^rshire,  art,  Hinckley. — ^Poller's 
WorUiies. — ^Peck'a  Desidcnta. — Grey's  Examination  of  Neai«  rot.  I.  p.  414* 


V  I  N  E  T.  i9l 

then  accompanied  Govea  to  Portugal  to  assist  in  founding 
the  college  of  Coimbra  on  the  model  of  that  of  Bourdeaux. 
In  the  following  year,  1548,  on  the  death  of  Govea,  he  re- 
turned to  Bourdeaux,  and  continued  to  teach  belles  lettres' 
and  mathematics,  until  the  death  of  Gelida,  the  principal, 
in  155S,  whom  he  was  chosen  to  succeed.  He  filled  this 
office  with  great  assiduity  and  reputation  for  twenty-five 
years,  at  the  end  of  which  his  infirmities  obliged  him  to' 
resign  the' active  part,  and  he  was  permitted  to  retire  upon 
his  salary,  holding  also  the  title  of  principal.  He  died  at' 
Bourdeaux  May  14,  1587,  in  the  eightieth  year  of  his  age, 
according  to  $axius;  but  Niceron  giVes  1519  as  the  date  of 
his  birth,  and  1587  as  that  of  his  death,  and  yet  says  that  he 
died  aged  seventy-eight. 

Vinet  was  a  man  of  indefatigable  literary  labour,  and  of 
great  learnings  Scaliger  says  he  never  knew  a  more  learned 
man,  ^*  Nullum  novi  doctiorem  Vineto  ;*'  and  it  appears  the 
practice  of  many  laborious  scholars  was  also  his,  ''  nulla' 
dies  sine  linea."  He  always  read  with  his  pen  in  his  hand. 
We  have  a  list  of  twenty-eight  publications  by  him,  most' 
of  them  editions  of  the  classics,  or  ancient  authors.  Among 
them  are  editions  of  Theognis,  Sidouius  Apollinaris,  Julius 
Solinus,  Proclus,  Eutropius,  Persius,  Florus,  Censorinus^ 
Pomponius  Mela,  and  some  historical  and  mathematical 
works,  translations,  &c.' 

VIO.     See  CA  JETAN. 

♦ 

'  VIRET  (Peter),  an  able  assistant  in  the  reformation, 
was  born  at  Orbe,  a  little  town  in  the  canton  of  Berne,  ia 
151 1.  He  studied  at  Paris,  and  became  acquainted  there 
with  Farel,  whose  fellow-labourer  he  afterwards  was  in  esta- 
blishing the  reformation  in  sonie  towns  of  Swisserlanc^.  He 
went  with  him  to  Geneva  in  1534,  and  seconded  him  with 
great  vigour  in  every  thing  necessary  to  be  done  for  the 
abolition  of  popery.  The  city  of  Lausanne  having  em- 
braced the  reformation  in  1536,  it  was  thought  proper  that 
Peter  Viret  should  exercise  the  ministerial  function  there; 
and  he  soon  gained  the  affection  and  esteem  of  the  inha- 
bitants. This  appears  from  the  reluctance,  with  which 
they  were  brought  to  consent  that  he  should  go  to  the 
church  of  Geneva  for  six  months,  during  Calvin^s  absence 
at  the  conference  at  Worms  in  1541,  and  afterwards  at 
Katisbon.     During  that  time  Viret  became  so  useful  and 

^  Nieeron,  yol.  XXX.— 3sy(.ii  Ooomast.  • 


S98  V  I  R  E  T; 

popular,  that  Calvin,  being  ri!^storeci  to  bis  jlock,  was  ex^r 
tremely  desirous  of  having  him  for  his  colleague ;  but  could 
not  prevail  on  him,  as  he  was  determined  to  return  to  Lau-^ 
sanne,  where  he  remained  until  the  French  reformed 
churches  overcame  his  repugnance,  and  prevailed  with 
him  to  go  to  the  church  at  Lyons,  where  in  the  midst  of 
the  civil  wars,  and  the  plague  which  followed,  he  and  his 
colleagues  continued  to  preach  and  to  propagate  the  doc- 
trines of  the  reformation  with  equal  courage,  prudence,  and 
success. 

Their  tranquillity  was  at  length  disturbed  by  an  edict  of 
Charles  IX.  artfully  procured  by  the  Jesuits,  which  forbad 
the  French  churches  from  having  any  preachers  who  were 
not  natives  of  France.     Viret  then,   in  1563,  retired   to 
Orange,  whence  the  pious  Jeanne  D' Albret,  queen  of  Na- 
varre, invited  him  to  Beam.     He  preached  also  some  time 
at  Ortez,  and  died  in  that  country  in  1571,  in  the  sixtieth 
year  of  his  age.     He  had  always  been  of  a  weakly  consti- 
tution, and  his  health  had  been  much  injured  by  two  at- 
tempts on  his  life  by  the  enemies  of  the  reformation,   once 
when  he  was  nearly  poisoned  at  Geneva,  and  a  second  tim« 
when  he  received  a  stab  from  a  knife,  and  was  left  for  dead. 
He  was  a  man  of  a  meek  and  gentle  disposition,  but  of 
such  winning  eloquence,  that  many  of  his  bearers  conceived 
a  kind  of  attachment  to  him,  although  they  did  not  sub- 
scribe to  his  doctrines.     Of  the  three  great  contemporaries 
in  the  church  of  Geneva,  Calvin,  Farel,  and  Viret,  it  was 
said  that  Calvin  was  admired  for  his  profound  erudition, 
Farel  for  his  zeal  and  warmth,  and  Viret  for  his  persuasive 
eloquence.    Viret  also,  in  his  writings  at  least,  had  a  happy 
talent  in  turning  the  superstitions  he  opposed  into  ridicule, 
and  this  he  did  with  such  effect  that  Dupin  and  other  ca- 
tholic biographers  of  later  date'  cannot  forgive  him.    ' 

His  works  are  very  numerous,  and  regard  principally  the 
points  in  dispiite  between  the  reformed  and  the  Romish 
church.  They  are  written,  some  in  French  and  some  in 
Latin,  and  the  form  of  dialogue  seems  to  have  been  a  fa- 
vourite with  him.  During  queen  Elizabeth's  time,  the 
most  popular  writings  of  the  foreign  reformers  were  trans- 
lated into  English,  and  this  compliment  we  find  paid  to 
nine  of  Viret's  publications,  the  titles  of  which  may  be  seen 
in  Ames.  From  the  list  of  hi^  whole  works  given  by  Nice- 
ron^  we  may  notice,  1«  ^*  De  origine,  continuatione,  usu^ 
auctoritatCi  atque  prestantia  ministerii  verbi  Dei  et  {Jacra- 


I 


V  I,  R  E  T.  399 

mentorum  ;  et  de  controversiis  ea  de  re  in  Chrwtiano  orbe, 
h6c  prsBsertim  sseciilo  excitatis,  ac  de  eorum  coraponendo- 
runa  ratione,  libri  octodecim,"  Geneva,  1554,  folio.  2.  **  In- 
struction Chretienne  en  la  doctrine  de  la  loi  et  de  Tevan- 
gile,  &c."  ibid.  1564,  folio.' 

VIRGIL,  (in  Latin,  Publius  Virgiuus  Maro,)  the  most 
c^xcellent  of  all  tbe  ancient  Roman  poets,  was  born  Oct.  15, 
U,  C.  634,  B.  C.  70,  in  the  consulship  of  Pompey  and  Cras- 
sus,  at  a  village  called  Andes,  not  far  from  Mantua.  His 
father  was  undoubtedly  a  man  of  low  birth  and  mean  cir- 
cumstances; but  by  his  industry  so  much  recommended 
himself  to  bis  master,  that  he  gave  him  his  daughter,  named 
Maia,  in  marriage,  as  a  reward  of  his  fidelity.  Our  poet, 
discovering  early  marks  of  a  very  fine  genius,  was  sent  at 
twelve  years  old  to  study  at  Cremona,  where  he  continued 
till  his  seventeenth  year.  He  was  then  removed  to  Milan, 
and  from  thence  to  Naples,  then  the  residence  of  several 
teachers  in  philosophy  and  polite  learning;  and  applied 
himself  heartily  to  the  study  of  the  best  Greek  and  Roman 
writers.  But  physic  and  mathematics  were  his  favourite 
sciences,  which  he  cultivated  with  much  care  ;  and  to  this 
early  tincture  of  geometrical  learning  were  owing,  probably 
that  regularity  of  thought,  propriety  of  expression,  and 
exactness  in  conducting  all  subjects,  for  which  he  is  so  re- 
markable. He  learned  the  Epicurean  philosophy  under 
the  celebrated  Syro,  of  whom  Cicero  speaks  twice  with  the 
greatest  encomiums  both  of  his  learning  and  virtue :  his 
acquaintance  with  Varus,  his  first  patron,  commenced  by 
his  being  fellow-student  with  him  under  this  philosopher. 
After  Virgil  had  completed  his  studies  at  Naples,  Donatus 
affirms,  that  he  made  a  journey  to  Rome ;  and  relates  some 
marvellous  circumstances  concerning  his  being  made  known 
to  Augustus,  which,  like  many  other  particulars  in  his  ac;- 
count  of  this  poet,  breathe  very  much  the  air  of  fable. 
The  truth  is,  we  have  no  certain  knowledge  of  the  time 
and  occasion  of  Virgil's  going  to  Rome,  how  hjs  connex- 
ions with  the  wits  and  men  of  quality  began,  nor  how  he 
was  introduced  to  tbe  court  of  Augustus. 
.  We  cannot  however  imagine,  that  such  an  extraordinary 
crenius  could  lie  long  inactive  and  unexerted.  It  is  related 
that,  in  the  warmth  of  early  youth,  he  formed  a  noble  de- 
sign of  writing  an  heroic  poem  **  On  the  wars  of  Rome  ;'* 

1  Melcbior  Adam«— Beze  Icones.-^Gen.  "Did, 


400  VIRGIL* 

but,  after  some  attempts,  was  discouraged  frpoi  proceedings 
by  the  roughness  and  asperity  of  the  old  Roman  names, 
which  not  only  disgusted  his  delicate  ear,  but,  as  Horace 
expresses  it,  <*  quae  versu  dicere  non  est«"  He  turned 
himself,  therefore,  to  pastoral ;  and,  being  captivated  with 
the  beauty  and  sweetness  of  Theocritus,  was  ambitious  to 
introduce  this  new  species  of  poetry  among  the  Romans. 
His  first  performance  in  tliis  way  is  supposed  to  have  beeii 
written  the  year  before  the  death  of  Julius  Caesar,  when  the 
poet  was  in  his  twenty-fifth  year:  it  is  entitled  *^ Alexis.** 
Possibly  ^'  Palsemon"  was  his  second,  which  is  a  close  imi- 
tation of  the  fourth  and  fifth  Idylls  of  Thet)critus.  Dr. 
Warton  places  '^  Silenus*'  next :  which  is  said  to  have  been 
publicly  recited  on  the  stage  by  Cytheris,  a  celebrated 
comedian.  Cicero,  having  heard  this  eclogue,  cried  out 
in  an  extasy  of  admiration,  that  the  author  of  it  was  '*  mag- 
nre  spes  altera  Romas  ;*'  esteeming  himself,  say  the  com- 
inentatorsi  to  be  the  first.  But  the  words  may  be  under- 
stood in  a  very  different  sense,  and  more  honourable  to 
Cicero.  The  subject  of  this  eclogue,  we  should  remem- 
ber, was  an  account  of  the  Epicurean  philosophy,  both  na- 
tural and  nioral,  which  had  been  but  lately  illustrated  by  [ 
Lucretius,  an  author,  of  whom  Cicero  was  so  eminently 
fond,  as  to  revise  and  publish  his  work*  Upon  hearing 
therefore  the  beautiful  versus  of  Virgil  upon  the  same  sub- 
ject, Cicero  exclaimed  to  this  purpose :  *^  Behold  another 
great  genius  rising  up  among  us,  who  will  prove  a  second 
Lucretius/'  Dr.  Warton  at  least  has  suggested  this  very  ' 
ingenious  and  natural  interpretation.  Virgil's  fifth  eclogue 
is  composed  in  allusioji  to  the  death  and  deification  of 
Cssar.  The  battle  of  Philippi,  in  the  year  712,  having' 
put  an  end  to  the  Roman  liberty,  the  veteran  soldiers  be- 
gan to  murmur  for  their  pay;  and  Augustus,  to  reward 
them,  distributed  among  them  the  lands  of  Mantua  and 
Cremona.  Virgil  was  involved  in  this  common  calamity, 
and  applied  to  Varus  and  Pollio,  who  warmly  recommended 
'  him  to  Augustus,  and  procured  for  bioi  his  patrimony 
again.  Full  of  gratitude  to  Augustus,  he  composed  the 
^*  Tityrus,''  in  which  he  introduces  two  shepherds ;  one  of 
them  complaining  of  the  distraction  of  the  times,  and  of  the 
havock  the  soldiers  made  among  the  Mantuan  farmers ;  the 
other,  rejoicing  for  the  recovery  of  his  estate,  and  pro* 
mising  to  honour  the  person  who  re^ored  it  to  him  as  a 
god.    But  our  poet^s  joy  was  not  of  long  continuance :  for 


VIRGIL;  401 

we  are  told^  thati  when  he  returned  to  talqs  possession  of 
bis  farm,  be  was  violently  assaulted  by  the  intruder,  and 
would  certainly  have  been  killed  by  him,  if  he  had  not 
escaped  by  swimming  hastily  over  the  Mincio.  Upon  this 
unexpected  disappointment,  melancholy  and  dejected,  he 
returned,  to  Rome,  to  renew  his  petition;  and,  during  his 
journey,  seems  to  have  composed  his  ninth  eclogue.  /  The 
celebrated  eclogue,  entitled  *'Pollio,*'  was  composed  in  the 
year  714,  upon  the  following  occasion.  The  consul  PoUia 
on  the  part  of  Antony,  and  Maecenas  on  the  part  of  Cssar, 
bad  made  up  the  differences  between  them ;  by  agreeing^ 
that  Oc'tavia,  half  sister  to  Csesar,  should  be  given  in  mar- 
riage.to  Antony,  This  agreement  caused  an  universal  joy ; 
and  Virgil,  in  this  eclogue,  testified  his.  Octavia  was  with 
child  by  her  late  husband  Marcellus  at  the  time  of  this  mar* 
riage;  and,  as  the  Sibylline  oracles  bad  foretold,  that  a  child 
was  to  be  born  about  this  time  who  should  rule  the  world 
and  establish  perpetual  peace,  the  poet  ingeniously  sup- 
poses tbe  child  in  Octavia's  womb  to  be  the  glorious  infant, 
under  whose  reign  mankind  was  to  be  happy,  the  golden 
age  to  return  from  heaven,  and  fraud  and  violence  to  be  no 
more.  In  this  celebrated  poem,  the  author  with  great  de- 
licacy at  the  same  time  pays  his  court  to  both  the  chiefs, 
to  hi3  patron  Pollio,  to  Octavia,  and  to  the  unborn  infant. 
It  is  dedicated  to  Pollio  by  name,,  who  was  at  that  time  con- 
sul, and  therefore  we  are  sure  of  the  date  of  this  eclogue, 
as  it  is  known  be  enjoyed  that  high  oiBce  in  the  year  7r4. 
In  the  year  715,  Pollio  was  sent  against  the  Parthini,  a 
people  of  Illyricum  ;  and  during  this  expedition  Virgil  ad- 
dressed to  him  a  beautiful  eclogue,  called  ^'  Pharmaceutria/* 
His  tenth  and  last  eclogue  is  addressed  to  Gallus,  These 
were  our  poet^s  first  productions ;  and  we  have  been  the 
more  circumstantial  in  our  account  of  some  of  them,  as 
many  particulars  of  his  life  are  intimately  connected  with 
them. 

Being  in  his  thirty-fourth  year,  be  retire4  to  Naples,  and 
laid  the  plan  of  his  inimitable  ^'Georgics,'*  which  he  under- 
took at  the  entreaties  of  Maecenas,  to  whom  be  dedicated 
them  ;  not  to  rival  and  excel  Hesiod,  as  be  bad  lately  done 
Theocritus,  but  on  a  noble  and  political  motive,  and  to  pro-^ 
mote  the  welfare  of  his  country.  Great  was  the  desolation 
occasioned  by  the  civil  wars:  Italy  was  almost  depopulated: 
the  lands  were  uncultivated  and  unstocked :  a  famine  and 
insurrection  ensued  :  and  Augustus  himself  hardly  escsLp^^d 
'  Vol.  XXX.  D  d 


40*  VIRGIL'. 

being  stoned  by  the  people,  who  attributed  this  calamity  to 
ambition.  His  wise  and  able .  minister  therefore  resolved, 
if  possible,  to  revive  the  decayed  spirit  of  husbandry,  to  in^ 
troduce  a  taste  for  agriculture,  even  among  the  great;  and 
Could  not  think  of  a  better  method  to  effect  this,  than  to 
recommend  it  by  the  insinuating  charms  ofpoetry.  Virgil 
fully  answered  the  expectations  of  his  polite  patron;  for 
the  **Georgics^  contain  all  those  masterly  beauties  that 
tnight  be  expected  from  an  exalted  genius,  whose  judg- 
ment and  imagination  were  in  full, maturity  and  vigour, 
and  who  had  leisure  to  give  the  last  polish  and  perfection 
«to  his  incomparable  workmanship.  They  are  ^divided  into 
four  books;  and  the  subjects  of  them  are  particularly 
specified  in  the  first  four  lines  of  the  first  book.  Corn 
and  ploughing  are  the  subject  of  the  first  book,  vines  of 
the  second,  cattle  of  the  third,  and  bees  of  the  fourth. 

He  is  supposed  to  have  been  in  his  forty- fifth  year  when 
he  began  to  write  the  **iEneid  ;"  the  design  of  which  is 
thus  explained  by  an  able  master  in  classical  literature^ 
Augustus  being  fre^d  from  his  rival  Antony,  the  govern- 
hient  of  the  Roman  empire  was  to  be  wholly  in  him  ;  and 
though  he  chose  to  be  called  their  father,  he  was,. in  every 
thing  but  the  name,  their  king.  But  the  monarchical  form 
of  government  must  naturally  displease  the  Romans:  and 
therefore  Virgil,  like  a  good  courtier,  seems  to  have  laid 
the  plan  of  his  poem  to  reconcile  them  to  it.  He  takes  ad- 
vantage of  their  religious  turn,  and  of  some  old  prophecies 
that  must  have  been  very  flattering  to  the  Roman  people, 
as  promising  them  the  empire  of  the  whole  world.  He 
weaves  these  in  with  the  most  probable  account  of  their 
origin,  that  of  being  descended  from  the  Trojans.  He 
shews,  that  JKnesLS  was  called  into  their  country  by  the  ex- 
press order  of  the  gods;  that  there  was  an  uninterrupted 
succession  of  kings  from  him  to  Romulus;  that  Julius  Ca;sar 
was  of  this  royal  race,  and  tiiat  Augustus  was  his  sole  heir. 
Tiie  result  of  which  was,  that  the  promises  made  to  the 
Roman  people  in  and  through  this  race,  terminating  in 
Augustus,  the  Romans,  if  they  would  obey  the  gods,  and 
be  masters  of  the  world,  were  to  yield  obedienoe  to  the 
fiew  establishment  under  that  prince.  The  poem,  there- 
fore, may  very  well  be  considered  as  a  political  work  r 
Pope  used  to  say,  "  it  was  evidently  as  much  a  party-piece, 
as  Absalom  and  Achitophelf'  and,  if  so,  Virgil  was  not 
highly  encouraged  by  Augustus  and  Maecenas  for  nothingi 


V  I  ft  G  I  t.  :403 

* 

fThe  truth  is,  be  wrote  in  defence  of  the  new  iisurpation  of 
•the  state ;  and  all  that  can  be  offered  in  his  vindication, 
which  however  seems  enough,  is,  that  the  Roman  go- 
vernment could  no  longer  be  kept  from  falling  into  a  single 
hand,  and  that  the  usurper  he  wrote  for  was  as  good  a  one 
«s  they  could  have;  But,  whatever  may  be  said  of  his  mo-  ^ 
tives  for  writing  it,  the  poem  has  in  all  ages  been  highly 
fippbuded.     Augustus  was  eager  to  peruse  it  before  it  was  ^ 

Unished  ;  and  entreated  him-by  letters  to  communicate  it. 
JVlacrobiua  has  preserved  to  us  part  of  one  of  Virgil's  an- 
swers to  the  emperor,  in  which  the  poet  excuses  himself; 
.who,  however,  at  length  complied,  and  read  himself  the 
sixth  book  to  the  emperor,  when  Octavia^  who  had  just 
iost  her  son  Marcellus,  the  darling  of  Rome,  and  adopted 
son  of  Augustus,  made  one  of  the  audience.  Virgil  had 
•artfully  inserted  that  beautiful  lamentation  for  the  death  of 
young  Marcellus,  beginning  with — ^*  O  nate,  ingentem 
luctum  ne  quaere  tuorum^'-^but  suppressed  his  'name  till 
lie  came  to  the  line-*-"Tu  Marcellus  eris:'*  upon  hearing 
which  Octavia  could  bear  no  more,  but  fainted  away,  over- 
pome  with  surprise  and  sorrow.  When  she  recovered,  she 
made  the  poet  a  present  of  ten  sesterces  for  every  line, 
which  amounted  in  the  whole  to  above  2000/. 

The  ^^^neid"  being  brought  to  a  conclusion,  but  not 
to  the  perfection  our  author  intended  to  give  it,  he  resolved  \ 

to  travel  into  Greece,  to  correct  and  polislv  it  at  leisure. 
It  was  probably  on  this  occasion,  that  Horace  addressed 
that  affectionate  ode  to  him — '"  Sic  te  Diva  potens  Cypri," 
&c.  Augustus,  returning  victorious  from  the  East,  met 
with  Virgil  at  Athens,  who  thought  himself  obliged  to  at^ 
tend  the  emperor  to  Italy :  but  the  poet  was  suddenly 
seized  with  a  fatal  distemper,  Which,  being  increased  by 
the  agitation  of  the  vessel,  put  an  end  to  his  life  as  soon  as 
be  landed  at  Brundusium.  He  died  Sept.  the  22d,  in  his 
fifty-second  year.  He  had  ordered  in  his  will,  that  the 
*^:£neid''  should  be  burnt,  as  an  unfinished  poeo) ;  but 
Augustus  forbade  it,  and  had  it  delivered  toVarius.and 
Tucca,  with  the  strictest  charge  to  ikiake  no  additions,  but 
only  to  publish  it  correctly.  He  died  with  such  steadiness 
and  tranquillity,  as  to^e  able  to  dictate  his  own  epitaph 
in  the  following  words^i 

^      **  Jtfantua  m^j^uit,  Calabri  rapuere,  tenet  nunc 

VdS^S/^ftS^x  cecini  Pascua,  Rura,  Duces."  * 

D  D  2 


404  VIRGIL. 

I 

Hrs  bones  were  carried  to  Naples,  according  to  his  earnest 
request ;  and  a  monument  was  erected  at  a  small  distance 
from  the  city.  He  was  of  a  swarthy  complexion,  tall,  of 
a  sickly  constitution,  a£9icted  with  frequent  head-aches  and 
spitting  of  blood,  very  temperate,  sober,  and  chaste,  what- 
ever may  have  been  surmised  to  the  contrary.  That  he 
wrote  in  his  youth'  some  indecent  verses  is  not  to  be 
doubted,  since  the  younger  Pliny,  who  had  done  the  same, 
justifies  himself  by  bis  example;  and,  in  his  **  Bucolics,*' 
he  relates  very  criminal  passions ;  but  it  does  not  thence 
follow  that  he  was  tainted  with  them.  On  the  contrary,  it 
is  delivered  down  to  us  as  a  certain  truth,  that  the  inbabi- 
tanta  of  Naples  gave  him  the  name  of  Parthenias,  on  ac- 
count of  the  purity  of  his  words  and  manners.  He  was  so 
very  bashful,  that  he  frequently  ran  into  the  shops,  to  pre- 
vent being  gazed  at  in  the  streets;  yet  so  honoured  by  the 
Roman  people,  that  once,  coming  into  the  theatre,  the 
whole  audience  rose,  out  of  respect  to  him.  He  was  of  a 
thoughtful  and  melancholy  temper,  spoke  little,  loved  re- 
tirement and  contemplation.  His  fortune  was  not  only 
easy,  but  affluent :  he  had  a  delightful  villa  in  Sicily,  and 
a  fine  house  and  well  furnished  library  near  Mascenas^g 
gardens  on  the  Esquiline-hill  at  Rome.  He  revised  his 
verses  with  prodigious  severity,  and  used  to  compare  bini- 
self  to  a  she-bear^  which  licks  her  cubs  into  shape.  He  was 
Wo  benevolent  and  inoffensive,  that  most  of  bis  contempo- 
rary poets,  though  they  envied  each  other,  agreed  in  lov- 
ing and  esteeming  him.  Among  Caligula^s  follies  we  may 
undoubtedly  reckon  his  contempt  and  hatred  of  Virgil; 
who,  he  had  the  confidence  to  say,  bad  neither  wit  nor 
learning,  and  whose  writings  and  effigy  he  endeavoured  to 
remove  out  of  all  libraries.  The  emperor  Alexander  Seve- 
rus,  on  the  contrary,  called  him  the  Plato  of  the  poets, 
and  placed  bis  picture  with  that  of  Cicero  in  the  temple 
in  which  he  had  placed  Achilles  and  other  great  men.  So 
did  Silius  Italicus  the  poet,  when  he  kept  VirgiPs  births 
diay,  as  Pliny  relates,  with  grectter  solemnity  than  his  own; 
and  so  did  our  sir  William  Temple,  who  did  *^  not  wonder 
that  the  famous  Dr,  Harvey,  when  be  was  reading  Virgil^ 
should  sometimes  throw  him  down  upon  the  table,  and  say, 
*  He  had  a  devir.*'  With  regard  to  the  characteristical 
difference  between  Virgil  and  Homer,  so  much  disputed, 
it  may  with  truth  be  affirmed,  that  the  former  excelled  all 
other  poets  in  judgment^  and  the  latter  in  invention;^  tb< 


V  J  R  G  I  I^  40ir 

.former  Is  the  greater  genius,  tbe  \atter  the  most  correct 
writer.  *'  Methinks  the  two  p^ets/'  says  Mr.  Pope,  **  re*- 
.seoible  tbe  heroes  they  celebrate.  Homer,  boundless  and 
irresistible  as  Achilles,  bears  all  before  him,  and  shines 
more  and  more,  as  (he  tumult  increases;  Virgil,,  calmly 
daring,  like  ^n^as,  appears  undistufbed  in  tbe  midst  of 
the  action,  disperses  all  about  him,  and  conquers  with 
tranquillity.  Or,  when  we  lopk  on  tlieir  machines.  Homer 
seems  like  his  own  Jupiter  in  his  terrors,  shaking  Olympus, 
.scattering  the  lightnings,  and  firing  tbe  heavens :  Virgil, 
like  the  same  power  in  bis  benevolence,  counselling  with 
the  gods,  laying  plans  for  empires,  and  regularly  ordering 
his  whole  creation.'*. 

The  geuuine  and  undisputed  works  of  this  poef;  are,  tea 
-**  Eclogues,  or,  Bucolics,'*  four  bpoks  of  **  Georgics,"  and 
the  "iEneid,"  in  twelve  books./  The  "  Culex,*'  the  «Cii- 
ris,"  and  some  sipaller  pieces,  called  ^^  Catalecta,'^  are  sub<- 
joined  to  some  editions  of  bis  works ;  particularly  to  that  of 
JVfasvidus,  with  the. notes  of  Serviusj  at  Leewarden,  1717, 
in  2  vols.  .4to ;  which  is,  perhaps,  the  b^st  edition  of  Vir^ 
<gil,  although  that  of  Burman,  at  Amsterdam,  1.746,  in  4 
Tols»  4tQ,  bears  a  higher  price.    There  are,  besides  jthese, 
several  good  ones;  as  the  **  Elzevir"  in  J 636,  12mo;  **  De 
la   C^rdaV'  in  .1642,  folio  j  that  "in  Usum   Delphini  a 
iRuso,  1675,"  4to  J  the  "  Variorpm"  edition  at  Leyden, 
.1680,  3  yoU..8vpj  and  the  edition  of  Heyne,  republished 
^n  London  in  1793.     The  versions  of,  and  commentariea 
upon,  his  works  are  inniipnerables  those  into  our.own  lan«> 
guage  by  Qgilby,  Dryden,  and  Trapp,  are  well  known : 
but  Dr.  Warton's  edition  in  Latin  and  English,  referred  tq^ 
kbove,  IS  preferable  to  any  of  these,  not  on  accpunt  of  th^ 
translation  only,  but  bec^ausje  the  Latin  text  is  correctly 
printed  with  it.  .Th^  "  Bucolics'*  and  "  Georgics"  hav^ 
a.lso  been  published  by  Dr.  John  Martyn,  F.  R.  $.  professor 
of  botany  in  Cambridge,  with  an  English  version  in  prqse, 
and  with  useful  and  curious  notes.* 
VITALIANO.     SeeDONATL 

VITALIS  (Ordericus),  an  ancient  English  historian, 
was  born  in  1075,  and  was  the  son  of  Odelinus,  chief 
counsellor  of  Roger  de  Montgomery,  earl  of  Shrewsbury. 
He  was  first  educated  at  Shrewsbury,  and^at  the  age  of  ten. 

1  Vita  a  Donat — Warton's  Life,  prefijeed  to  bts  Virgil,  1753,  4  roU.  8vo.<«»» 
^peneeli  Polyoetis.  Dialogue  lU.  fcr»  S&c 


^4(^6  V  I  T  A  L  r  S. 

■vras  sent  Over  to  Normandy  to  the  monastery  of  St.  Ercole*» 
arid  in  his  eleventh  year  became  a  member  of  the  order  of 
that  society.  In  his  tfairty-ihird  year  he  was  admitted  into 
'the  priesthood.  His  history  is  entitled  **  Historian  eccle- 
'siasticae  libri  XIII  in  tres  partes  divisi,  quarum  postrem^ 
duaB  res  per  Norman^nos  in  Francia,  Anglia,  Sicilia,  Apulia, 
-Calabria,  Palestitia,  pie  streneque  gestas,  ab  adventu 
Hollonis  usque  ad  annum  Christi  1124  complectuntur.'* 
'Nicolson,  in  his  Historical  Library,  gives  but  an  indif- 
ferent opinion  of  the  merits  of  this  historian  ;  but  baron 
Maseres,  vfhb  has  lately  republished  a  part  of  Yitalis,  along 
ivlth  other  historical  collections  of  aiicient  times,  4to,  from 
Duchesne's  "  Scriptores  Normanni/*  estimates  him  more 
highly,  and  recommends  the  publication  of  thel  'whole. 
There  is  no  other  book,  he  thinks,  that  gives  so  full  and 
authentic  an  account  of  the  transactions  of  the  reign  of 
'William  the  Conqueror.  Ordericf  was  living  in  1143,  but 
faowmuch  longer  is  uncertain.  * 

«  VITELLIO,  or  Vitello,  a  Polish  mathematician  of  the 
l^th  centtiry,  flourished  about  1254.  We  have  of  his  a 
large  "  Treatise  on  Optics/*  thef  best  edition  of  which  h 
chat  of  1572,  fol.  Vitello  was  the  first  optical  wrfter  of 
any  consequence  among  the  modern  Europeans.  He  col- 
lected all  that  Was  given  by  Euclid,  Archimedes,  Ptolomy, 
and  Albazen;  though  his  work  is  but  of  little  use  now.*' 

VITRINGA  (Campegius),  an  eminent  and  learned  pro- 
testant  divine,  was  born  Mayl6,  1659^  atJLcfuwarden,  in 
Friesland.  He  took  a  doctor^s  degree  in  divinity  at  Ley-* 
den,  July  9,  1679,  arid  was  successively  professor  of  ori- 
ental languages,  divinity,  and  sacred  history  at  Franeker, 
in  which  city  he  married,  1681,  and  died  March  3,  1722*, 
of  an  apoplexy.  His  works  are,  1.  an  excellent  **  Com- 
mentary on  Isaiah,'*  2  vols.  fol.  in  Latin.  2.  •*  Apocalyp- 
iseos  anachrisis,"  1719,  4to.  3.  "  Typus  Theologiae  Prac- 
ticae,"  8vo.  4.  "  Hypotyposis  Historiae  et  Chronologic 
sacrae,"  8vo.  5.  *'  Synagoga  vetus,**  4to.  6.  **  Archisy- 
nagogus,  4to.  7.  "  De  Decemviris  otiosis  Synagogee,"  4to. 
S.  "  Observationes  sacrae,"  1711,  4to,  &c.  Campegius  Vi- 
tringa,  one  of  his  sons,  born  March  23,  1693,  was  also  pro* 
fessor  of  divinity  at  Franeker,  and  died  nine  months  after 
his  father,  January  11,  1723,  aged  thirty-one,  leaving  aft 

Hri  Masere's  «  Histori*  AnglicanjB*  1807,  4tb.— Da  Chcsoe.— Cave,  toI.  II. 
—Nioolson's  HisL  Library.  •      «■ 

*  HutiOD's  Dictiooary. — Montucla. 


.  V  I  T  R  U  V  I  US.  f07 

^♦«  Abridgment  of  natural  Theology,'*  1720,  4to,  and  *J  Sa- 
cred Dissertations,^'  which  do  him  honour. ' 

VITRUVIUS  (Marcus  Vxtruvius  P,ollio),  was  a  cele- 
<brated  Roman  architect,  of  whom  however  nothing  is  known 
but  what  is  to  be  collected  from  his  ten  books  ^^  De  Arch}- 
.tectura,"  still  extant.     In  the  preface  to  the  sixth  book  he 
.informs  us  that  he  was  carefully  educated   by  bis  parents, 
and  instructed   in   the  whole  circle  of  arts  and  sciences ;  a 
.circumstance  which  be  speaks  of  with  much  gratitude,  lay- 
ing it  down  as  certain,  that  no  man  can  be  a  complete  ai^- 
cbitect,  without  some  knowledge  and  skill  in  every  one  of 
them.  '  And  in  the  preface  to  the  first  book  he  informs  qs 
4hat  he  was  known  to  Julius  Caesar  ;  that, he  was  afterwards 
recommended  by  Octavia  to  her  brother  Augustus  Caesar,; 
;and  that  he  was  so  favoured  and  provided  for  by  this  em- 
.peror,  as  to  be  out  of  all  fear  of  poverty  as  long  as  be 
might  live.  «... 

It  is  supposed  that  Vitruvius  was  born  either  at  Rome  or 
Verona ;  but  it  is  not  known  which.     His  bpoks  of  archi- 
tecture are  addressed  to  Augustus  Caesar,  and  uot  only 
^hew  consummate  skill  in  that  particular  science,  but  also 
very  uncommon  genius  and  natural  abilities.     Cardan,  in 
bis  16th  book  ^*  De  Subtilitate,"  ranks  Vitruvius  as  one  of 
the  twelve  persons,  whom  he  supposes  to  have  eiscelled  all 
men  in  the  force  of  genius  and  invention;  and  would  not 
;have  scrupled  to  have  given  him  the  first  place,  if  it  coul4 
.be  imagined  that  be  had  delivered  nothing  but  his  own  dis- 
coveries.    These  twelve.  p.ersons  were,  Euclid,  Archimedes, 
ApoUonius  Pergaeus,  Aristotle,.  Archytas  of  Tarentum,  Vi- 
truvius, Achindus,  Mahomet   Ibn  Moses  the  inventor  or 
improver  of  Algebra,  Duds  Scotus,  John  Sui^set  surnamed 
.the  CUculator,  Galen,  and  Heber  of  Spain. 

The  Architecture  of  Vitruvius  has  been  often  printed  : 
first  at  Rome,  about  1486.  Tliere  is  a  very  excellent  edi- 
tion of  Amsterdam  in  164d,  and  of  late  there  have  been 
4;wo  very  fine  ones,  th^t  by  Augustus  Rode,  Berlin,  1800, 
.4to,  and  that  by  Schneider,  at  Leipsic,  1808,  4  vols.  8vo. 
The  finest  manuscript  of.  Vitruvius  is  in  the  library  at 
•f  raneker.  Perrault  also^  the  celebrated  French  architect, 
gave  an  excellent  French  translation  of  the  same,  and 
added  notes  and  figures :  the  first  edition  of  which  was 
|>ublishedat  Paris  in  1^73,  and  the  secpnd,  much  improved^ 
in  1684.     There  are  also  various  Italian  translations!     Mr. 

1  KiceroQi  vol.  XXX.  and  vol.  XXXV. — Saxii  Onomast. 


468  V  I  T  R  U  V  1  U  S. 

William  Newton,  an  ingenious  arcbitect,  and  late  surveydr 
to  the  works  at  Greenwich  hospital,  published  in  1780-^ 
1791,  2  vols.  foK  curious  commentaries  on  Viti^uvius,  illus- 
trated with  figures;  to  which  is  added  a  description,  with 
figures,  of  the  military  machines  used  by  the  ancients.^  < 
VIVES  (Joan  Lbwis),  one  of  the  revivers  of  literature, 
was  born  at  Valentia,  id  Spain,  in  1 492.  He  learned  grans^ 
mar  and  classical  learning  in  his  own  country,  and  went  to' 
Paris  to  study  logic  and  scholastic  philosophy,  the  subtleties  . 
and  futility  of  which  he  had  soon  the  good  sense  to  dis- 
cover, and  when  he  removed  from  Paris  to  Louvain,  lie 
there  published  a  book  against  them,  entitled  ^'  Contra 
Pseudo-Dialecticos.'*  At  Louvaio  he  undertook  the  offioe 
of  a  preceptor,  and  exerted  himseif  with  great  ability  and 
success  in  correcting  barbarism,  chastising  the  corruptors 
of  learning,  and  reviving  a  taste  for  true  science  and  ele- 
gant letters.  This  so  raised  his  reputation  that  be  was 
chosen  to  be  preceptor  to  William  de  Croy,  afterwards 
archbishop  of  Toledo,  and  cardinal,  who  died  in  1521.  In 
July  1517  he  was  made,  though  then  at  Louvain,  one  of 
the  first  fellows  of  Corpus  Cbristt  college,  in  Oxford,  by 
the  founder ;  his  fame  being  spread  over  England,  as  well 
on  account  of  his  great  parts  and  learning  as  for  the  pecu* 
liar  respect  and  favour  with  which  queen  Catherine,  of 
Spain  honoured  hiqp.  In  1522  he  dedicated  his  ^<  Com^ 
inentary  upon  St.  Augustin  de  Civitate  Dei'*  to  Henry Vlll. ; 
-which,  says  Wood,  was  so  acceptable  to  that  prioce,  that 
cardinal  Wolsey,  by  his  order,  invited  him  over  to  £ng« 
land  ;  but  this  roust  be  a  mistake,  for  in  a  letter  of  the  car- 
dinal's to  the  university  in  1519,  meDtion  is  made  of  his 
being  then  reader  of  rhetoric,  and  that  by  the  cardinal's 
appointments  He  was  also  employed  to  teaeh  the  princ^ess 
Mary  polite  literature  and  the  Latin  tongue :  it  was  for 
her  use  that  he  wrote  **  De  Ratione  stodii  puerilis,'*  which 
be  addressed  to  his  patroness  queen  Catharine,  in  4523; 
as  he  did  the  same  year  ^  De  institutione  foBmin«e  Chris- 
tiana?,'' written  by  her  command.  During  his  stay  in 
England  be  resided  a  good  deal  at  Oxford,  where  he  was 
admitted  doctor  of  law,  and  read  lectures  in  that  and  the 
belles  lettres.  King  Henry  conceived  such  an  esteem  for 
him,  th&t  he  accompanied  his  queen  to  Oxford,  in  order 
to  be  present  at  the  lectures  which  he  read  to  the  priocesa 

■ 

^  TIrabofchi.— HattOB's  Diet. — Saxii  Oaomastt 


V  I T  j:  s.  409 

Hary,  who  resided  there:  yet,  when  Vives  afterwards 
presttoied  to  speak  and  write  against  the  divorce  of  Ca^ 
•therine,  Henry  considered  his  conduct  as  criminal^  and 
confined  him  six  months  in  prison.  Having  obtained  his 
liberty,  he  returned  to  the  Netherlands,  and  resided  at 
Bruges,  where  he'married,  and  taught  the  belles  lettres  as 
long  as  be  lived.  He  died  in  1537,  or,  according  toThn- 
WMis,   1541. 

*  Vives  was  on^  of  tiBe  most  learned  men  of  his  age ;  and 
-with  Bod^us  and  Erasmus^  formed  a  triamvirate  which  did 
-honour  to  the  republic  of  letters.  Their  admirers  have  as* 
cribed  to  each  those  peculiar  qualities  in  which  they  sup«* 
posed  him  to  exceed  the  other;  as,  wit  to  Budaeus,  £io- 
<]uence  to  Emsmus^  judgment  to  Yives,  and  learning  to 
them  all.  Doptn's  opinion  is  somewhat  different :  Erasmus, 
he  says,  was  doubtless-  a  man  of  finer  wit,  more  extensive 
learning,  and  of  a  more  solid  judgment  than  Vives ;  Budceus 
had  more  skill  in  the  languages  and  in  profane  learning 
^an  either  of  them  ;  and  Vives  excelled  in  grammar,  in 
rhetoric,  and  in  logic«  But  although  Dupin  may  seem  to 
•degrade  Vives,  in  comparison  with  Erasmus  and  Badieu^ 
yet  he  has  not  been  backward  in  doing  justice,  to  his.  merit. 
*<  Vives,''  says  be,  *^  was  not  only  excellent  in  polite  letters^ 
a  judicious  critic,  and  an  eminent  philosopher;  but  he  ap<- 
plied  himself  abo  to  divinity,  and  was  successfol  in  it.  If 
the  critics  admire  his  books  *  de  caosis  coiniptarum  artium,* 
and  *  de  tradendis  disciplinis,''  on  account  of  the  profane 
learning  that  appears  in  them,  and  the  solidity  of 'his  judg- 
ment inr  those  matters  ;  the  divines  ought  no  less  to  esteem 
his  books  ^  de  Veritate  Fidei  Christiatise,'  and  his  commen* 
tary  upon  St.  Augustin  *  de  Civitate  Dei,\  in  which  he 
shews,  that  he  understood  his  religion  tlraroughiy." 

His  writings  were  printed  at  Basil,  1555,  in  2  vols,  folio; 
his  commentary  upon  St.Austitv  is  not  included,  but  has 
been  published:  separaiety.  It  discovers  an'  extensive  ac- 
quaintance with  ancient  philosophy.  Among  his  works  are 
**De  Prima  Phiiosophiai".^^  De  Explanatione  Essentiarum,^* 
^<  De  Censura  Veri,"  ^*  De  Initiis,  Sectis,  et  Laudibus  Phi- 
losophim,^'  and  ^^  De  corruptis  Artibus  et  tradendis  Disci- 
plinis."  These  writings,  says  Brucker,  of  which  the  two 
last  ^re  the  most  valuable,  discover  great  strength  ot  judg- 
ment, an  extensive  knowledge  of  philosophy,  much  en- 
largement of  conception,  uncommon  sagacity  in  detecting 
ibe  erjriors  of  ancient  and  modern  philosophers,  particu-^ 


410  ^  I  y  E  s. 

•larly  of  Aristotle  and  his  followers^  a6d»  in  .fiaey  a  mihcl 
capable  of  attempting  things  beyond  the  standard  of  the 
age  in  which  he  lived.  To  all  this  he  added  great  perapi*- 
cuity  and  elegance  of  style,  not  unvrorjthy  of  the  friend  of 
Erasmus.  Morhoff  calls  the  writings  ^f  Vives,  golden  re^ 
mains,  which  are  worthy  to  be  carefully  perused  by  all 
4earxied  men.' 

.    VIVIANI  (ViNCENTio),  a  celebrated  Italian  matbemaj- 
rtician,  was  born  at  Florence  in-  1621,   or,   accor^ng  to 
some,  in  1622.     He  was  a  disciple  of  the  illustrious  GaliN 
leo,  and  lived  with  him  from  the  seventeenth  to  the  twen^ 
tieth  year  of  his  age.     After  the  death  of  his  great  master 
he  passed  two  or  three  years  more  in  prosecuting  geome* 
'trical  studies  without  interruption,  and  in  this  time  it  was 
that  he  formed  the  design  of  his  Restoration  of  Aristeus. 
This  ancient  geometrician,    who  was  contemporary  with 
Euclid,  had  composed  five  books  of  problems  ^^  De  Looia 
Solidis,*'  the  bare  propositions  of  which  were  collected  by 
Pappus,  but  the  books  are  entirely  lost ;  which  Viviani  un- 
•dertook  to  restore  by  the  force  of  his  genius.     He  discoo* 
tinned  his  labour,  however,  in  order  to  apply  himself  to 
janother  of  the  same  kind,  which  was,  to  restore  the  fifth 
Ji>ook  of  ApoUonius's  Conic  Sections.     While  he  was  en- 
gaged in  this,  the  famous  Borelli  found,  in  the  library  of 
the  grand  duke  of  Tuscany,  an  Arabic  manuscript,  with  a 
Latin   inscription,  which  imported,  that  it  contained  the 
eight  books  of  Apollonius's  Conic  Sections;  of  which  the 
eighth  however  was  not  found  to  be  there*    He  carried  this 
manuscript  to  Rome,  in  order  to  translate  it,  with  the  as*- 
sistance  of  a  professor  of  the  Oriental  languages.     Viviani, 
very  unwilling  to  lose  the  fruits  of  his  labours,  procured  a 
certificate  that  he  did  not  understand  the  Arabic  language, 
$tnd  knew  nothing  of  that  manuscript :  he  was  so  jealous  on 
this  head,  that  be  would  not  even  suffer  Borelli  to  send 
him  an  account  of  any  thing  relating  to  it.     At  length  he 
finished  bis  book,  and  published  it  1659,  in  folio,  with 
this  title,  *i  De  Maximis  et  Minimis  Geometrica  Divinatio 
4n  quintum  Conicorum  Apollonii  Pergaei."   .  It  was  found 
that  he  had  more  than  divined ;  as  he  seemed  superior  to 
ApoUonius  himself.     After  this  he  was  obliged  to  interrupt 
his  studies  for  the  service  of  his  prince,  in  an  affair. of  great 

^  Antonio  Bibl.  Hi^p.— Dupin. — Atb.  Ox.  voL  I.  new  edit.-^Brucker«— Bttl- 
Iart*8  Academic  des  Science&^ — Saxii  ODomast. 


V  I  V  I  A  N  I  411 

importance,  *  which  was,  to  prevent  the  inundations  of  the 
Tiber,  in  which  Cassini  and  he  were  employed  for  some  time^ 
though  nothing  was  entirely  executed. 

In  1664,  he  had  the  honour  of  a  pension  from  LouisXIV. 
a  prince  to  whom  he  was  not  subject,  nor  could  be  useful. 
In  consequence,  he  resolved  to  finish  his  Divination  upon 
Aristeos,  with  a  view  to  dedicate  it  to  that  prince ;  but  he 
was  interrupted  in  this  task  again  by  public  works,  and  some 
negotiations  which  his  master  entrusted  to  him.  In  1666, 
he  was  honoured  by  the  grand  duke  with  the  title  of  his 
first  itiathematician.  He  resolved  three  problems,  which 
iiad  been  proposed  to  all  the  mathematicians  of  Europe, 
^and  dedicated  the  work  to  the  memory  of  Mr.  Chapelain, 
under  the  title  of  *^  Enodatio  Problematum,''  &c.  He 
proposed  the  problem  of  the  quadrable  ai^c,  of  which  Leib«- 
tiit2  and  I'Hospital  gave  solutions  by  the  Calculus  Dif- 
ferentialis.  In  1669,  he  was  chosen  to  (ill,  in  the  Royal 
-Academy  of  Sciences,  a  place  among  the  eight  foreign  as-* 
sociates.  This  new  favour  reanin^ated  his  zeal  ;  and  he 
published  three  books  of  his  Divination  upon  Aristeus,  at 
{Florence  in  1701,  which  he  dedicated  to  the  king  of  France. 
It  is  a  thin  folio,  entitled  *^  De  Locis  Solidis  secunda  Divi- 
natio  Geometrica,''  &e.  This  was  a  second  edition  en^ 
larged ;  the  first  having  been  printed  at  Florence  in  167S. 
fViviani  laid  out  the  fortune  which  he  had  raised  by  the 
bounties  of  his  prince,  in  building  e  magnificent  house  at 
Florence;'  in  which  he  placed  a  bust  of  Galileo,  with 
several  inscriptions  in  honour  of  that  great  man  ;  and  died 
in  1703^*  at  eighty-one  years  of  age. 

Viviani  had,  says  Fontenelle,  that  innocence  and  simpli- 
city of  manners  which  persons  commonly  preserve,  who 
have  less  commerce  with  men  than  with  books;  without 
that  roughtiess  and  a  certain  savage  fierceness  which  those 
often  aequire  who  have  only  t6  deal  with  books,  not  with 
men.  He  was  affable,  modest,  a  fast  aud  faithful  friend, 
and,  what  includes  many  virtues  in  one,  he  was  grateful  in 
the  highest  degree  for  favours.  * 

•  VOETIUS  (GlSBERT),  an  eminent  Qptch  divine,  and 
the  founder  of  a  sect,  if  it  may  be  so  called,  who  were  in 
opposition  to  the  Cartesian  philosophy,  was  born  at  Heus- 
den,  March  3,  1589,  of  an  ancient  and  considerable  family. 
His  education  commenced  in  the  schools  of  his  native  place, 

1  Fabrooi  Vitas  lulorum,— Chaufepie.— Hutton's  DicUctDary^  ^ 


412  V  O  E  T  I  U  S. 

f 

and  was  gfeatly  promoted  by  a  memory  of  more  than  com^ 
mon  retention, '  which  he  displayed  to  the  astonishment  of 
his  teachers  and  friends^  while  he  was  learning  Greek  and 
Latin,  rhetoric,  arithmetic,  and  logic.     It  is  said  that  he 
could  repeat  without  book  three  entire  comedies  of  Terence, 
'  as  many  of  Plautus,.  the  first  book  of  Ovid's  Metamor- 
phoses, the  first  book  of  Horace's  Odes,  &c.  apd  many 
other  extensive  parts  of  the  authors  he  read.     After  finish- 
ing his  classical  course,  he  was  sent  in  1604  to  Leydeo, 
where  he  passed  seven  years,  increasing  his  knowledge  of 
the  Greek   language,  but   particularly  employed   on  the 
study  of  the  belles  lettres,  philosophy,  and  theology.     la 
general  science  he  had  made  such  progress,  as  tQ  be  able 
to  give  lectures  on  logic,  during  his  divinity  course,  and 
had  among  other  pupils  the  celebrated  Burgersdicius,  af- 
terwards professor  of  philosophy  at  Leyden.     Yoetius  was 
also  solicited  to  take  the  degree  of  doctor,  but  some  parti- 
cular reasons  prevented  hiixi  at  this  time.     Having  com- 
pleted his  academical  studies  in  1611,  be  returned  to  Heus- 
clen,  and  became  a  candida^te  for  the  ministry.   .  He  had 
also  a  design  to  have  visited  Germany,  France,  and  Eng- 
land, but  was  long  confined  by  an  illness  ;  and  on  his  re- 
covery was  appointed  to  officiate  in  the  church  of  Vlymen, 
a  village  between  Heusden  and  Bois*le-Duc.    He  preached 
also  occasionally  at  Engelen,  about  a  league  from  Vlymf  n, 
and  in  both  places  with  great  ability  and  reputation,  fof 
About  six  years.     In  1617  he  accepted  a  call  jto  Heusden, 
where  he  settled  for  seventeen  years,  although  repeatedly 
invited  to  superior  situations  in  Rotterdam  and  piher  parts 
of  the   United  Provinces.     In   1619,  he  assisted   for  six 
months  at  the  synod  of  Dort,  and  during  this  timf),  along  with 
three  of  his  brethren,  preached  at  Gpuda  against  the  Ar- 
minians  or  Remonstrants,  to  whom  he  was  always  ade? 
cided  enemy,  and  was  as  zealous  a  friend  to  the  doctrines 
of  Calvin.     While  at  Heusden,  be  preached  occasionally 
at  other  places,  and  in  1629  to  the  army  which  besieged 
Bois-Ie-duc,  and  after  the  capture  of  that  city  he  officiated 
there  for  about  i\\pe  months  along  with  three  other  ministers. 
During  his  residence  here,  be  and  his  brethren  published 
a  sort  of  manifesto,  inviting  all  the  inhabitants,  and  parti** 
cAilarly  the  clergy,  to  a  conference,  either  public  or  private^ 
on  the  points  in  dispute  between  the  reformed  and  the  Ro- 
mish church.     Jansenius  answered  this  manifesto  in  a  work 
entitled  ^*  Alexipharmacumcivibus  Sylvae-ducensibns  pro- 


V  O  E  T  I  U  S.  415 

|>inatam  adversus  ministrorum  suorum  fascinum/'  Brussels, 
1630.  This  produced  a  controversy,  of  which  we  have 
already  given  an  account.  (See  Jansen,  p.  470 — 47 1). 

In  1634,  Voetius  was  invited  to  Utrecht,  \ihere  an  inten- 
tion was  to  found  a  school  for  divinity  and  tlie  oriental  lan- 
guages, and  he  was  at  the  same  time  appointed  one  of  the 
ministers  of  the  city.  Two  years  afterwards,  when  this 
ficbooi  was  made  an  university,  Voetius  thought  prbper 
now  to  take  the  degree  of  doctor  of  divinity,  and  for  that 
purpose  went  to  Groningen,  where  Gomarus,  his  old  mas- 
ter, was  professor.  In  1637,  during  the  vaqation  he  paid  a 
Visit  to  England,  became  acquainted  with  many  of  the  lite^ 
rati,  and  inspected  the  public  libraries.  During  three 
years,  after  his  return,  he  executed  the  office  of  divinity 
professor  at  Utrecht,  giving  eight  public  lectures  a  week, 
besides  private  ones,  and  taught  also  Hebrew,  Syriac,  and 
Arabic.  He  was  always  indefatigable  in  his  studies  and 
duties,  and  when  a  preacher,  long  before  he  came  to 
Utrecht,  he  used  to  preach  eight  times  in  a  week. 

It  was  in  1639  that  he  began  to  attack  Des  Cartes,  and 
although  upon  this  account  Mosheim  chooses  to  accuse 
bim  of  want  of  a  philosophical  spirit,  it  may  be  seen  from 
our  account  of  Des  Cartes,  that  men  of  acknowledged  phi- 
losophical spirit  had  much  reason  to  suspect  that  if  impiety 
was  not  expressed,  it  might  be  inferred  from  some  6f  the 
principles  of  Des  Cartes.  Ail  that  can  be  said  against 
Voetius,  if  according  to  the  dogmas  of  modern  liberality 
be  must  be  blamed,  is,  that  he  evinced  a  degree  of  zeal 
and  warmth  which  vva^  proportioned  to  the  serious  conse- 
quences Mie  expected  from  the  spread  of  Cartesianism, 
Several  works  were  published  on  both  sides,  the  titles  of 
which  may  be  found  in  any  of  our  authorities.  Des  Carteji 
defended  his  principles,  and  the  disciples  and  followers  of 
Voetius  being  obliged  to  assist  their  master,  the  contro^. 
versy  became  extensive.  Mosheim  allows  that  Voetius  was 
not  only  seconded  by  those  Belgic  divines  who  were  the 
most  eminent  at  this  time  for  their  learning,  and  the  sound- 
ness of  their  theology,  such  as  Rivet,  Des  Marets,  and 
jMaestricht,  but  was  also  followed  and  applauded  by  the 
greatest  part  of  the  Dutch  clergy.  The  controversy  was 
also  augmented  by  the  proceedings  of  certain  doctors,  who 
applied  the  principles  and  tenets  of  Des  Carles  to  the  il- 
lustration of  theological  truth.  The  followers  of  Voetiui 
were,  called  Voetians,  and  the  division  between  them  and 


tbe  Cartesians   long    subsisted  in  Holland,   and  was   Uh? 
cause  of  much  disunion,  petty  animosity,  and  controversy; 

Notwithstanding  the  controversies  and  writings  which 
occupied  a  considerable  part  of  the  life  of  Voetius,  and 
bis  academical  and  pastoral  duties,  he  lived  taa  very  ad^ 
vanced  age,  dying  Nov.  1,  1676,  in  his  eighty-eighth  year# 
The  most  valuable  of  the  works  he  left,  not  of  the  contro- 
versial  kind,  is  his  '^  Selectas  Disputationes  Theologicae," 
or  Theses,  1648,  &c.  5  vols.  4to,  Voetius  had  two  sons, 
Daniel  and  Paul,  who  also  left  several  works ;  the  former 
died  in  1660,  the  latter  in  1667.  John  Voet,  son  of  Paul^ 
was  doctor  and  professor  of  law  at  Herborn,  and  died  1714, 
leaving  a  ^^  Commentary  on  the  Pandects,"  Hagae,  17^4^ 
2  vols.  fol.  which  is  valued,  and  some  other  works  on  law. ' 

VOISIN  (Joseph  de),  an  ingenious  doctor,  and  one  of 
the  most  learned  men  of  the  seventeenth  century,  in  He« 
brew  and  the  Oriental  languages,  was  a  native,  of  Bonr- 
deaux,  descended  from  a  respectable  family  of  distinction 
in  the  law.  He  at  first  held  the  office  of  counsellor  to  tbe 
parliament  in  his  native  city  ;  but  having  afterwards  chosen 
the  ecclesiastical  profession,  was  raised  to  the  priesthood^ 
and  became  preacher  and  almoner  to  Armand  de  Bourbon, 
prince  of  C^nti.  M.  de  Voisin  was  extremely  well  skilled 
in  rabbinical  learning,  and  the  ecclesiastical  authors.  He 
died  16S5.  His  principal  works  are,  a  ^^  System  of  Jewish 
Theology,"  1647,  4to,  in  Latin;  a  treatise  ^' On  the  Di* 
vine  Law,"  8vo ;  another  "  On  the  Jubilee  of  the  Jews,** 
8vo,  both  in  Latin ;  learned  notes  on  Raymond  Martin*s 
"  Pugio  Fidei"  1651 ;  "  Defense  du  Trait6  dc  M.  le  Prince 
de  Conti  contre  la  Com^die  et  les  Spectacles,"  1672, 4to  ; 
a  French  *^  Translation  of  the  Roman  Missftl,  4  vols.  12ffio, 
which  made  much  noise,  and  was  suppressed,  yet  it  has 
nevertheless  been  printed  and  sold  since,  &c.  His  enemies 
accused  him  of  intending  to  have  mass  said  in  French,  but 
L'Avocat  maintains  that  he  never  had  such  an  idea.'  ' 

VOITURE  (Vincent),  once  celebrated  as  an  elegant 
French  writer,  was  the  son  of  a  wine- merchant,  and  born 
at  Amiens  in  1598.  His  talents  and  taste  for  the  Belles 
Lettres  gave  him  considerable  celebrity,  and  easily  intro- 
duced him  to  the  polite  world.  He  was  the  first  in  France 
distinguished  for  what  is  called  a  &f/ dJpnV ;  and,  though 

1  Burman  Traject.  Erudit.— Chaufepie.^-Mofbeim.— Foppeo,  Bibl.  Belg. 
*  Moreri. — Diet.  Hiat. 


VOITURE.  4lfi 

tkts  is  all  the  merit  of  bis  writiags,  yet  this  merit  was  then 
great,  because  it  was  uncommon.  His  reputation  opened 
his  way  to  court,  and  procured  him  pensions  and  honour- 
able employments.  He  was  sent  to  Spain  about  Some 
aifairsy  whence  out  of  curiosity  he. passed  over  to  Africa* 
He  was  mightily  caressed  at  Madrid,  where  he  composed 
verses  in  such  pure  and  natural  Spanish,  that  every  body 
ascribed  them  to  Lopez  de  Vega.  It  appears  by  his 
*' Letters/'  that  he  was  in  England  in  1633.  He  made 
twojourneys  to  Rome,  where  in  1633  he  was  admitted  a 
member  of  the  academy  of  Humoristi ;  as  he  had  been  of 
the  French  acadepny  in  1634.  He  was  the  person  em- 
ployed to  carry  the  news  of  the  birth  of  Lewis  XIV.  to 
Florence ;  and  had  a  place  in  the  household  of  that  mo- 
narch. He  had  several  considerable  pensions  from  the 
court;  but  the  love  of  play  and  women  kept  him  from 
being  rich.  He  died  in  1648.  He  wrote  verses  in  French, 
Spanish,  and  Italian ;  and  there  are  some  very  fine  lines 
written  by  him,  but  they  are  but  few.  His  letters  make 
the  bulk  of  bis  works ;  and  have  been  often  printed  in  2 
vols.  12mo«  They  are  elegant,  polite,  and  easy  ;  but,  like 
the  genius  of  the  writer,  without  nerves  or  strength.  Boi- 
leau  praises  Voiture  excessively ;  and  doubtless^  considered: 
as  a  polisher :and  refiner  in  a  barbarous  age^  he  was  a  writer. 
to  be  valued ;  yet  his  letters  would  not  now  be  thought  mo- 
dels,^ and  are  indeed  seldom  read.  Vulture,  s^ys  Voltaire, 
gave. some  idea  *^  of  the  superficial  graces  of  that  episto^ 
lary. style,  which  is  by  no  means  the  best,  because  it  aims 
at.  nothing  higher  than  pleasantry  and  iamusement.  His 
two  voluaies  of  letters  are  the  mere  pastime  of  a  wanton 
imagination,  in  i^hich  we  meet  not  with  one  that  is  instruc- 
tive, not  one  that  flows  from  the  hearty  that  paints  the 
manners  of  the  times,  or  the  characters  of  men  :  they  are 
rather  an  Abuse  than  an  exercise  of  wit.''  With  all  this 
insignificance,  Voiture's  letters  cost  him  much  labour :  a 
single  one  took  nearly  a  fortnight,  a  proof  that  bis  wit 
came  slower  in  writing  than  in  conversation,  otherwise  he 
would  never  have  been  the  delight  of  every  company. 
Pope  appears  to  have  had  a  gDod  opinio^  of  these  letters^ 
as  he  thought  them  a  suitable  present,  for  Miss  Blount,  and 
never  seems  to  have  suspected  that  this  was  not  paying  that 
lady's  delicacy  any  great  compliment.* 

« 

>  Dicr.  IIist.*-Pcrrau!t  Les  Ilommes  Il!ustrc«. 


41«  VOLKOF. 

VOLKOF  (Feodor),  tbe  Garrick  of  Rassta,  wlvose  fai^ 
)ents  for  the  stage  were  as  great  as  those  of  Sflmorokof  fot 
dramatic  composition,  was  a  tFadesman^s  son  at  YaroslafI 
This^surprising  genius,  who  was  born  io  1729,  having  dis-* 
covered  very  early  proofs  of  great  abilities,  was  sent  for 
bis  education  to  Moscow,  where  be  learnt  the  German 
tongue,  music,  and  drawing.  His  father  dying,  and  his 
mother  marrying  a  second  husband,  who  bad  established  a 
manufacture  of  saltpetre  and  sulphur,  he  applied  himself 
to  that  trade  ;  and,  going  upon  the  business  of  his  father-i^ 
in-law  to  Petersburgh  about  1741,  bis  natural  inciinatioii 
for  the  stage  led  him  to  frequent  the  German  plays,  and 
to  form  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  some  of  the  actor». 
Upon  his  return  to  Yaroslaf,  he  constructed  a  stage  in  a 
large  apartment  at  his  father-in-law's  bouse ;  painted  the 
scenes  himself ;  and,  with  the  assistance  of  his  four  bro« 
ibers,  acted  several  times  before  a  large  assembly.  Their 
first  performances  were  the  scriptural  histories  composed  by 
the  archbishop  of  Rostof;  these  were  succeeded  by  the 
tragedies  of  Lomonozof  and  Sumotokof ;  and  sometimes 
satirical  farces  of  their  own  composition  against  the  infaabi* 
tants  of  Yaroslaf.  As  the  spectators  were  admitted  gratis 
at  every  refiresentation,  his  fi^her-in-law  objected  to  the 
expence.  Accordingly  Volkof  constructed  in  17509  after 
his  own  plan,  a  large  theatre,  partly  by  subscription,  aod 
partly  at  his  own  risk :  having  supplied  it  with  sceoes 
which  he  painted  himself^  and  dresses  which  be  assisted  ia 
making,  and  having  procured  an  additional  number  of 
actors,  whom  he  regularly  instructed,  he  and  kis  trobp 
performed  with  great  applause  before  crowded  aiuiiencesy 
who  cheerfully  paid  for  their  admission.  In  1752  the  em^ 
press  Elizabeth,  ihformed  of  their  success,  summoned  them 
to  Petersburg,  where  they  represented  in  the  theatre  of 
the  court  the  tragedies  of  Sumorokof.  In  order  to  form 
the  new  troop  to  a  greater  degree  of  perfection,  the  four 
principal  actors  were  placed  in  the  seminary  of  the  cadets, 
where  they  remained  four  years.  At  the  conclusion  of 
that  period  a  regular  Russian  theatre  was  established  at  the 
court,  three  actre3S6s  were  admitted,  Sumorokof  was  ap« 

Sointed  director,  and  1000/.  was  allowed  for  the  actors* 
ieside  this  salary,  they  were  permitted  to  perform  once  a 
week  to  the  public,  and  the  admission-money  was  distrt-» 
buted  among  them  without  deduction,  as  the  lights,  music^ 
and  dresses,  were  provided  at  the  expence  of  the  empress^ 


V  O  L  k  o  t*.  4i^ 

^h6  chief  performances  were  the  tragedies  and  comedieSi 
bf  Sumorokofy  and  translations .  from  Moliere  and  other 
French  writers.  The  company  continued  to  Nourish  under 
the  patronage  of  Catharine  II.;  and  the  salaries  of  the 
actors  were  gradually  increased  to  2200/.  per  annum.  VoU 
)cof  and  his  brother  were  ennobled,  and  received  from  theit 
imperial  mistress  estates  in  land  t  he  performed,  for  the 
last  time,  at  Moscow,  in  the  tragedy  of  !^emira,  a  short 
time  before  his  .death,  which  happened  in  I'/eS,  in  tbd 
thirty-fifth  year  of  his  age^  He  equally  excelled  in  tra- 
gedy and  comedy ;  and  his  principal  merit  consisted  in 
characters  of  madness.  He  was  tolerably  versed  in  music, 
and  was  no  indifferent  poet.^ 

VOLTAIRE  (Marie-Francis  AROdETDE),  the  greatest 
literary  character  which  France  produced  in  the  last  cen- 
tury, was  born  at  Paris,  February  20,  1694.  His  father, 
Francis  Afoubt,  was  ^^  ancien  notaire  du  Chitelet,''  and 
treasurer  of  the  chamber  of  accounts ;  his  mother,  Mary- 
Margaret  Daumart  At  the  birth  of  this  extraordinary 
man,  who  lived  to  the  age  of  eighty-five  years  and  some 
months^  there  was  little  probability  of  his  being  reared, 
and  for  aconsiderable  time  he  continued  remarkably  feeble. 
In  his  e^irliest  years  be  displayed  a  ready  wit  and  a  sprightly- 
imagination  :  and,  as  he  said  of  himself,  made  verses  be- 
fore,he  was  out  of  his  cradle.  He  was  educated  under  Fa-*, 
ther  Pore,  in  the  college  of  Louis  the  Great ;  and  such 
Was  his  proficiency,  that  many  of  his  essays  are  now  exist- 
ing, which,  though  written  when  he  was  between  twelve  and 
fourteen,  shew  no  marks  of  infancy.  The  famous  Ninon 
de  rEocios,  to  whom  this  ingenious  boy  wa»  introduced. 
left  him  a  legacy  of  2000  livres  to  buy  him  a  library.  Hav- 
ing been  sent  to  the  equity-schools  on  his  quitting  college, 
he  was  so  disgusted  M^th  the  dryness  of  the  law,  that  he  de- 
Voted  himself  entirely  to  the  Muses.  He  was  admitted  into 
the  company  of  the  abb^  Cbaulieu,  the  marquis  de  la  Fare, 
the  duke  de  Sully^  the  grand  prior  of  Venddme,  marshal 
Yillars,  and  the  chevalier  du  Bouillon;  and  caught  from 
them  that  easy  taste  and  delicate  humour  which  distinguish- 
ed the  court  of  Louis  XIV.  Voltaire  had  early  imbibed  a 
turn  for  satire;  and,  for  some  philippics  against  the  gowrn- 
ihent,  was  imprisoned  almost  a  year  in  the  Bastile.  He' 
had  before  this  period  produced  the  tragedy  of  '*  Oedipus,*^ 

^  Coxe's  TraveU  ia  Russia,  &c.  vol.  1 1. 

Vol.  XXX.  E  e 


4l«  VOLTAIRE. 

.which  was  represented  in  1718  with  great  success;  and  the 
xldke  of  Orleans,  happening  to  see  it  performed,  was  sa 
delighted,  that  he  obtained  his  release  from  prison.  The 
poet  waiting  on  the  duke  to  return  thanks :  ^^  Be  wise,"' 
said  the  duke,  ^^  and  I  will  take  care  of  you.'*  **  I  am  infi- 
nitely obliged,"  replied  the  young  man;  "but  I  intreaC 
your  royal  highness  not  to  trouble  yourself  any  farther 
about  my  lodging  or  board."  His  father,,  whose  ardent 
wish  it  was  that  the  son  should  have  been  an  advocate,  was 
present  at  one  of  the  representations  of  the  new  tragedy  : 
be  was  affected,  even  to  tears,  embraced  his  son  amidst  the 
felicitations  of  the  ladies  of  the  court,  and  never  more,  from 
that  time,  expressed  a  wish  that  he  should  become  a 
lawyer.  About  1720,  he  went  to  Brussels  with  Madam  de 
Rupelmonde.  The  celebrated  Rousseau  being  then  m 
that  city,  the  twp  poets  met,  and  soon  conceived  an  un- 
conquerable aversion  for  each  other.  Voltaire  said  one 
.  day  to  Rousseau,  who  was  shewing  him  ^^  An  Ode  to  Pos- 
terity," "  This  is  a  letter  which  will  never  reach  the  place 
of  its  address."  Another  time,  Voltaire,  having  read  a  sa- 
tire which  Rousseau  thought  very  indifferent,  was  advised 
to  suppress  it,  lest  it  should  be  imagined  that  he  "  had 
lost  his  abilities,  and  preserved  only  his  virulence."  Such 
mutual  reproaches  soon  inflamed  two  hearts  already  suffi- 
ciently estranged.  Voltaire,  on  his  return  to  Paris,  pro- 
duced, in  1722,  his  tragedy  of  "  Mariamne,"  without  suc- 
cess. His  ^^Artemira"  bad  experienced  the  same  fate 
in  1720,  though  it  had  charmed  the  discerning  by  the  ex- 
cellence of  the  poetry.  These  mortifications,  Joined  to 
those  which  were  occasioned  by  his  principles  of  impru- 
dence, his  sentiments  on  religion,  and  the  warmth  of  his 
temper,  induced  him  to  visit  England,  where  he  printed 
his  ^'  iienriade."  King  George  I.  and  particularly  the 
princess  of  Wales  (afterwards  queen  Caroline)  distinguished 
him  by  their  protection,  and  obtained  for  him  a  great  num- 
be^r  of  subscriptions.  This  laid  the  foundation  of  a  fortune, 
which  was  afterwards  considerably  increased  hy  the  sale  of 
his  writings,  by  the  munificence  of  princes,  by  commercei 
by  a  habit  of  regularity,  and  by  an  ceconomy  bordering  on 
avarice,  which  he  did  not  shake  off  till  near  the  ^nd  of  his 
life.  On  bis  return  to  France,  in  1728,  be  placed  the- 
money  he  carried  with  him  from  England  into  a  lottery  esta- 
blished by  M.  Desforts, comptroller-general  of  the  finaixpes; 
he  engaged  deeply,  and  was  successful.     The  speculations 


V  O  L  T  A  I  R  E.  419 

i)f  finance)  however,  did  not  check  his  attachment  to  the 
belles  leitres,  his  darling  passion.  In  1730,  he  published 
**  Brutusy^'  the  most  nervous  of  all  his  tragedies,  which  was 
more  applauded  by  the  judges  of  good  writing  than  by  the 
spectators.  The  first  wits  of  the  time,  Fon^tejieUe,  La 
Motte,  and  others,  advised  him  to  give  up  the  drama,  as 
not  being  his  proper  forte.  He  answered  them  by  publish* 
ing  ^^  Zara/'  the  most  affecting,  perhaps,  of  all  his.  trage* 
dies.  His  '^  Lettres  Pbilosophiques,"  abounding  ^i  bold 
expressions  and  indecent  witticisms  against  religion,  hav* 
ing  been  burnt  by  a  decree  of  the  parliament  of  Paris,  and 
a  warrant  being  issued  for  apprehending  the  author  in  1733^* 
Voltaire  very  prudently  withdrew;  and  was  sheltered  by  the 
marchioness  du  Chatelet,  in  her  castle  of  Cirey,  on  the 
borders  of  Champagne  and  Lorraine,  who  entereo  with 
him  on  the  study  of  the  *'  System'*  of  Leibnitz,  and  the 
*^  Principia'*  of  Newton.  A  gallery  was  built,  in  which 
Voltaire  formed  a  good  collection  of  natural  history,  and 
made  a  great  many  experiments  on  light  and  electricity. 
He  laboured  in  the  mean  time  on  his  '^  Elements  of  the 
Newtonian  Philosophy,^'  then  totally  unknown  in  France, 
and  which  the  numerous  admirers  of  Des  Cartes  were  very 
little  desirous  should  be  known.  In  the  midst  pf  these  phi- 
losophic pursuits,  he  produced  the  tragedy  of  **  Alzira.'* 
He  was  now  in  the  meridian  of  his  age  and  genius,  as  was 
evident  from  the  tragedy  of  **  Mahomet,"  first  acted  in 
1741;  but  it  was  represented  to  the  "  procureur  giSn^ral'* 
as  a  performance  offensive  to  iteligion  ;  and  the  autbor,  by 
order  of  cardinal  Fleury,  withdrew  it  from  the  stage.  ."  Me- 
rope,"  played  two  years  after,  1743,  gave  an  idea  of  a  spe- 
cies of  tragedy,  of  which  few  models  have  existed,  It  was 
at  the  representation  of  this  tragedy  that  the  pit  and  boxes 
were  clamorous  for  a  sight  of  the  author ;  yet  it  was  se- 
verely criticised  when  it  came  from  the  press.  He  now  be- 
came a  favourite  at  court,  through  the  interest  of  madam 
d'Etoile,  afterwards  marchioness  of  Pompadour.  Being 
employed  in  preparing  the  festivities  that  were  celebrated 
on  the  marriage  of  the  dauphin,  he  attained  additional  ho- 
nours by  composing  "  The  Princess  of  Navarre."  He  was 
appointed  a  gentleman  of  the  bed-chamber  in  ordinary, 
and  historiographer  of  France.  The  latter  office  had,  till 
his  time,  been  almost  a  sinecure ;  but  Voltaire,  who  had 
written,  under  the  direction  of  the  count  d'Argenson,  the 
^*  History  of  the  War  of  1741,"  was  employed  by  that  mi- 

E  E    2 


4i& 


V  O  L  T  A  I  ft  £ 


nister  in  many  important  negociations  from  174^  to  1741  i 
the  project  of  invading  England  in  1746  was  attributed  ta 
him ;  and  he  drew  up  the  king  of  France's  manifesto  in  favour 
of  the  pretei>der.  He  had  frecj^eotly  attempted  to  gain  ad* 
mittance  into  the  academy  of  sciem^es,  but  could  not  obtain 
his  wi^h  till  1746^,  when  he  was  the  first  who  broke  through 
the  absurd  custom  of  filling  an  inaugural  speech  with  the 
fulsome  adulation  of  Richelieu ;  an  exampte  soon  followed 
by  other  academicians.  Fronnr  the  satires  occasioned'  by 
thts^  innovation  he  felt  so  tnuch  uneasiness,  that  he  was  glad 
to  retire  with  the  marchioness  du  Chateletto~Lunevi11e,  in 
the  neighbourhood  of  king  Stanislaus.  The  marchioness 
dying  in  1749,  Voltaire  returned  to  Paris,  where  his  stay 
was  but  short.  Though  he  had  many  admirers,  he  was  per- 
petually comphiining  of  a  cabal  combined  to  filch  from  him 
that  glory  of  which  he  was  insatiable.  '^  The  jealousy  and 
manceuvres  of  a  court,''  he  would  say,  ''are  the.subject  of 
conversation ;  there  is  more  of  them  among  the  literati.'' 
His  friends  and  relations  Endeavoured  in  vain  to  relieve 
his  anxiety,  by  lavishing  commendations  on  him,  and  by 
exaggerating  bis  success^  He  imagined  he  should  find  in 
a  foreign  country  a  greater  degree  of  applause,  tranquillity, 
and  reward,  and  augment  at  the  same  time  both  his  fortune 
and  reputation,  which  were  already  very  considerable. 
The  king  of  Prussia,  who  had  repeatedly  invited  him  to 
bis  court,  and  who  would  have  given  any  thing  to  have  got 
him  away  from  Silesia,  attached  him  at  last  to  his  personr 
by  a  pension  of  22,000  livres,  and  the  hope  of  farther  fa- 
vour f.  From,  the  particular  respect  that  was  paid  to  him, 
bis  time  was  now  spent  in  the  most  agreeable  manner ;  bis 


*  */  From  my  acquaintance  with 
Louis  XV. 'it  mii^tress  (afterwards  Mad. 
Fompadour).  in  1746,  {obtained,*'  says 
Vf  ilia  ire,  **  rewards  which  had  never 
been  granted  to  my  worlds  or  my  ser- 
vices. I  was  deemed  worthy  to  be  one 
of  the  forty  useless  members  of  the 
academy,  was  appointed  historiogra- 
pher of  France,  and  created  by  the 
IttiiK  one  of  the  gentlemen  in  ordinary 
#f  his  chamber.  Voltaike,*' 

•f-  **l  set  out  for  Potsdam  in  June 
1760.  Astolpha  did  not  meet  a  kinder 
reception  in  the  palace  of  Alciua.  To 
be  lodged  in  the  same  apartments  that 
marshal  Saxe  bad  occupied,  to  have 
the  royal  cooks  at  my  command  when 
|ebost  %Q  d.Bf  abne,  and  (b«  royal 


coacbmen  when  I  bad  an  inclinatioo  ta 
ride,  were  trifliag  favours.  Our  sup- 
pers were  very  agreeable.  If  I  am  uqc 
deceived,  I  think  we  had  much  wit. 
The  king  was  winy,  and  gave  occasion 
of  wit  to  others ;  and  what  is  still  more 
extraordinary,  I  nei'er  round  myself  so 
Aouch  at  my  ease.  I  worked  two  buur» 
a  day  with  his  majesty,  corrected  his 
works,  and  never  failed  highty  to  prais« 
whatever  was  worthy  of  praise,  though 
I  rejected  the  dross.  I  gave  him  de- 
tails of  all  that  was  necessary,  in  rhe- 
toric and  criticism,  for  his  use;  b« 
profi  ed  by  my  advice,  and  his  genius 
assisted  him  more  effectual'y  than  my 
le»)>QUs«  YoLTAias.'* 


VOLTAIRE.  'tssk 

lapartments  were  under  those  of  the  king,  whom  he  .was 
jallowed  to  visit  at  stated  hours,  to  read  with  him  the  best 
works  of  either  ancient  or  modern  authors,  and  to  assist  his 
majesty  in  the  literary  productions  by  which  he.  relieved 
the  cares  of  government.  But  this  happiness  was  soon  at 
^n  end  ;  and  VoUaire  saw,  to  his  mortification,  when  It  wat 
too  late,  that,  where  a  man  is  sufficiently  rich  to  be  master 
of  himself,  neither  his  liberty,  bi3'family.,  nor  his  country, 
should  be  sacrificed  for  a  pension.  A  dispute  which  our 
poet  bad  with  Maupertuis,  the  president  of  the  academyr 
at  Berlin,  was  followed  by  disgrace*.  It  has  been  aaid 
that  the  king  of  Prussia  dismissed  him  with  this  reproof  r 
**  I  do  not  drive  you  away,  because  I  called  you  hither;  I 
do  not  take  away  your  pension,  because  I  have  given  it  to 
you ;  I  oidy  forbid  you  my  presence."  Not  a  word  of  this 
is  true ;  the  fact  is,  that  be  sent  to  the  king  the  key  of  hit 
office  as  chamberlain,  and  the  cross  of  the  order  qf  merits 
«vith  th^e  verses  :v  > 

'^  Je  les  .re^  avee  tendresse  $ 
Je  vous  les  rends  avec  douleur, 
Comme  un  amant  jaloux,  dans  sa  mauvaise  humeur» 
Rend  le  portrait  de  sa  maitresse/* 

But  the  king  returned  him  the  key  and  the  ribbon.  Things 
assumed  a  different  aspect  when  he  took  shelter  with  the 
duchess  of  Saxe  Gotha.  Maupertuis,  as  Voltaire. himself 
related,  took  the  advantage  of  misrepresenting  him  in  bis 
absence ;  and  he  was  detained  by  the  king^s  order,  atFranc-» 

*  His  leaving  Potzdam  \ie  ascribes  lion  to  quit  his  service.  The  furor  of 
to  this  Incident:-^"  One  La  Metric,  a  rhyming,  however,  «!till  possessing  him, 
physician,  .an  atheist,  and  the  kinji^'s  as  it  did  Oicnysius,  I  was  obliged  eon- 
reader,  told  his  majesty  one  day  after  tinuaily  to  pore,  and  again  revise  hit 
the  lecture,  that  there  were  persons  *  History  of  Brandenbourg,'aiid  all  the 
exceeding  jealoos  of  my  favour  and  rest  of  his  works.  Mauperttiis,  who 
fortune.  '  Be  quiet  a  while,'  i^aid  ^re-  knew  the  anecdote  of  the  orange«peel^ 
Aerie,  'we  squeeze  the  orange,  and  spread  a  report  that  I  had  said  *  the 
throw  it  away  when  we  have  swallowed  place  of  king's  atheist  was  vacant'  (by 
the  juice.'  La  Metric  did  not  forget  t\\e  death  of  La  Metrie-).  Thiscaium* 
to  repeat  to  me  this  fine  apophthegtn,  ny  d'd  UQt  succeed  j  but  he  afterwarda. 
worthy  Dionysius  of  Syracuse  !  From  ad^ed,  I  had  also  said  *  the  king's 
that  time  I  determined  to  take  s^ll  pCfS-  poetry  .was  bad  ;'  and  tliis  answered  bis 
sible  care  of  the  orange-peel.— I  had.  purpose.  From  this  time  forward  I 
about  12,000  louis  to  place  out  at  in-  found  the  king's  suppers  were  no  lon- 
teres^,  but  was  determined  it  should  ger  so  merry  ;  I  had  fewt- r  ver8es  to 
not  be  in  the  territories  of  my  Alciua.  correct,  and  my  disgrace  wascompletet 
1  found  an  advantageous  opportunity  J  once  more,  however,  supped,  at  hm, 
oflending  them  upon  the  estates  which  desire,  fike  Damocles ;  after  whii;h  I 
the  duke  of  Wirtemborg  posseised  in  parted,  with  a  promise  to  r«rturn,  but 
France.  The  king,  who  opened  all  with  a  firm  design  never  to  see  (^ioi 
my  letters,  did  not  doubt  of  my  inten-  '  more.^  .  Voltaire.*' 


422  VOLTAIRE. 

fort  on  the  Maine,  till  be  had  given  up  a  volume  of*'  Royal 
Verses.''  Having  regained  bis  liberty, .  be  endeavoured  to 
negociate  a  return  to  Paris ;  but  this  he  was  not  able  to 
accomplish,  since  one  of  his  poems,  the  "  Pacelle  D'  Or- 
leans," which  was  botlv  impious  and  obscene,  bad  be<run 
to  make  a  noise.  He  Was  resident  for  about  a  year  at  Col* 
war,  whence  retiring  to  Geneva,  he  purchased  a  beau- 
tiful villa  near  that  city,  where  he  enjoyed  the  homages 
of  the  Genevans,  and  of  occasional  travellers ;  and  for  a 
short  time  was  charmed  with  his  agreeable  retirement, 
which  the  quarrels  that  agitated  the  little  republic  of  Ge- 
neva compelled  him  soon  to  quit.  He  was  accused  of  pri- 
vately fomenting  the  disputes,  of  leaning  towards  the  pre- 
vailing party,  and  laughing  at  both.  Compelled  to  aban- 
don Le§  DeHces  ^  (which  was  the  name  of  his  country** 
house),  he  fixed  himself  in  France,  within  a  league  of 
Geneva,  in  Le  Pays  de  Gex,  an  almost  savage  desert, 
which  he  had  the  satisfaction  of  fertilizing.  The  village  of 
Ferney,  which  contained  not  above  50  inhabitants,  be- 
came by  bis  means  a  colony  of  1200  persons,  successfully 
employed  for  themsekes  and  for  the  state.  Numbers  of 
artists,  particularly  watchmakers,  established  their  manu- 
factures under  the  auspices  of  Voltaire,  and  exported  their 
wares  to  Russia,  Spain,  Germany,  Holland,  and  Italy.  He 
rendered  his  solitude  still  more  illustrious  by  inviting 
thither  the  great  niece  of  the  famous  Corneilie,  and  by 
preserving  from  ignominy  and  oppression  Sirven  and  the 
family  of  Calas,  whose  memory  he  caused  to  be  restored. 
In  this  retirement  Voltaire  erected  a  tribunal,  at  which  he 
arraigned  almost  all  the  human  race.  Men  in  power,  dread- 
ing the  force  of  his  pen,  endeavoured  to  secure  his  esteem, 
Aretin,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  received  as  many  insults 
as  rewards.  Voltaire,  with  far  more  wit  and  address,  ob- 
tained implicit  homage.  This  homage,  and  some  generous 
actions,  which  he  himself  occasionally  took  care  to  pro- 
claim, either  with  a  view  that  they  should  reach  posterity, 
6r  to  please  the  curious,  contributed  as  much  to  extend  his 

*  "There  were  two  estates,  about  the  territories  of  Geneva,  and  io  France, 
a  league  from  Geneva,  which  had  for-  1  have  heard  much  of  liberty,  but  I  do 
merly  enjoyed  alUhe  privilefes  of  that  .  not  believe  there  is  aq  individual  in 
city  ;  and  1  bad  the  good  fortune  to  ob-  Europe  who  had  wrought  his  own  free- 
tain  a  brevet  from  the  king,  by  which'  dom  like  me.  Let  those  who  will,  foU] 
those  privileges  were  continued  to  me.  low  my  example ;  or  rather,  those  who 
At  last  I  SQ  managed  my  destiny,  that  can.  Voltaiib.'' 
I  was  iadepeodent  in  Sviiserlaud,  ia 


V  O  L  T  A  1  B  E.  4tf«^ 

reputation  as  the  marks  of  esteem  and  bounty  he  bad  re-- 
ceivedfrom  sovereign  princes*     The  king  of  Prussia,  with 
wfaoni  he  still  maintained  an  uninterrupted  correspondence,' 
had  his  statue  made  in  porcelain,  and  sent  to  him,  with  the^ 
word  IMMORTALI  engraven  on  its  base.     The  empress  of 
Russia  sent  him  a  present  of  some  magnificent  furs,  and  A 
box  turned  by  h^r  own  hands,  and  adorned  with  his  por- 
trait and  20  diamonds.'  These  distinctions  did  not  prevent? 
his  sighs  for  Paris.     Overloaded  with  glory  and  wealth,  he 
was  not  happy,  because  he  never  could  content  himself 
with  what  he  possessed.     At  length,  in  the  beginning  of 
1778,  he  determined  to  exchange  the  tranquillity  of  Fer- 
ney  for  the  incense  and  bustle  of  the  capital,  where  hti 
met  with   the   most   flattering   reception.     Such   hodoum 
were  decreed  him  by  the  academies  as  till  then  had  beeii 
unknown;  he  was  crowned  in  a  full  theatre,  and  distin- 
guished by  the  public  with  the  strongejst  enthusiasm.     But 
the  philosopher  of  fourscore  soon   fell '  a  victim  to  thit 
indiscreet  officiousness :  the  fatigue  of  visits  and  attend- 
ance at  theatrical  representations,  the  change  of  regfm^ 
and  mode    of    living,    inBamed .  his  blood,    already    to<l 
much  disordered.     On  his  arrival,  he  had  a  violent  hse- 
morrhage,  which  greatly  impaired  him.     Some  days  before 
his  last  illness,  the  idea  of  approaching  death  tormented  himl 
Sitting  at  table  with  the  marchioness  de  Villette,  at  whose 
house  he  had  taken  up  his  abode,  after  a  solemn  reverie^ 
he  said,  "You  are  like  the  kings  of  Egypt,  who,  when 
they  were  at' meat,  had  a  death's  head  before  them.'*     On 
his  arrival  at  Paris,  he  said,  **  he  was  come  to  seek  glory 
and   death  ;'*  and  to   an   artist,  who   presented   him   the 
picture  of  his  triumph,  replied,  "  A  tomb  would  be  fitter 
for  me  than  a  triumph.'*     At  last,  not  being  able  to  ob- 
tain  sleep,  he   took  a  large   dose  of  opium,    which  de^ 
prived   him    of  his  senses.     He  died  May  30,   1778;  and 
was  buried  at  Sellices,  a  Benedictine  abbey  between  No-^ 
gent  and  Troyes.     Many  accounts  have  been   published 
respecting  his  behaviour  when  in  the  nearer  view  of  death. 
Some  of  these  are  so  con  trad iptorj',  that  it  is  diiEcult  to 
attain   the   exact   truth.       His    infidel   friends,    Diderot, 
D'Alembert,  and  others,  took  every  pains  to  represent  that 
he  died  as  he  had  lived,  a  hardened  infidel,  and  a  blas-^ 
phemer ;  but  they  have  not  been  credited,  and  it  is  more 
generally  believed  that  he  was  visited  on  this  awful  occa- 
siou  with  the  remorse  of  a  man,  whose  whole  life  had  beea  . 


4$i  VOLTAIRE; 

a  coQtinued  attempt  to  erect  vice  and  immorality  on  tha. 
Tiuins  of  revealed  religion.  Tlie  marescbal  de  Richelieu  is. 
said  to  have  fled  from  the  bed-Mde,  declaring,  it  to  be  a 
sight  too  terrible  to  be  sustained  ;  and  Tronchin,  the  phy«», 
sician,  asserted  that  the  furies  of  Orestes  could  give  but  a 
faint  idea  of  those  of  Voltaire. 

While  he  had  the  vomiting  of  bloody  he  confessed  him-*^ 
self)  and  even  made  a  sort  of  profession  of  faith  :  this  was 
supposed  to  be  policy  $tnd.  illusion^  and  served  only  to 
shew  the  suppleness  of  this  singular  man  ;  who  was  a  free* 
thinker  at  London,  a  Cartesian  at  Versailles,  a  Christian  at 
Nancy,  and  an  ^nBdel  at  Berlin.  In  society,  he. was  altera 
nately  an  Aristippus  and  a  Diogenes.  He  made  pleasure 
the  object  of  his  researches :  he  enjoyed  it, .  and  made  i( 
tl>e  object  of  his  praise ;  he  grew  weary  pf  it,  and  turned 
it  into  ridicule.  By  the  natural  progress  of  such  a  charac-^ 
ter,  h^  passed  from  a  moralist  to  a  buffoon,  from  a  philo- 
sopher to  an  enthusiast,  from  mildness  to  passion,  from  flat* 
tery  to  satire,  from  the  love  of  money  to  the  love  of  luxury, 
from  the  modesty  of  a  wise  man  to  the  vanity  of  an  impious 
wit.  It, has  been  said,  that  by  his  familiarity  with  tbet 
great,  he  indemnified  himself  for  the  constraint  he  was 
sometimes  under  among  his  equals ;  that  he  had  sensibility 
without  affection  ;  that  he  was  voluptuous  without  passions, 
open  without  sincerity,  and  liberal  without  generosity.  It 
has  been  said,  that,  with  persons  who  were  jealous  of  his 
acquaintance,  he  began  by  politeness,  went  on  with  cold-* 
pess,  and  usually  ended  by  disgust,  unless  perchance  they 
were  writers  who  had  acquired  reputation,  or  men  in 
power,  whom  he  bad  adroitness  enough  to  attach  to  his 
interests.  It  has  been  said  that  he  was  steadfast  to  nothing 
by  choice,  but  to  every  thing  by  irregular  starts  of  fancy. 
**  These  singular  contrasts,"  says  M.  Pelisson,  *^  are  not 
less  evident  in  his  physical  than  in  his  moral  character.  It 
has  been'  remarkable,  that  his  physiognomy  partook  of  those 
of  an  eagle,  and  an  ape :  and  who  can  say  that  this  contrast 
was  not  the  principle  of  his  predominant  taste  for  anti- 
thesis ?  What  an  uncommon  and  perpetual  change  from 
greatness  to  meanness,  from  glory  to  contempt !  How  fre- 
quently has  be  combined  the  gravity  of  Plato  with  the 
legerdemain  of  Harlequin  !'*  Hence  the  name  of  Micro- 
Ai£GAS,  the  title  of  one  of  his  own  crudities,  which  was 
given  him  by  t,a  Beaumelle,  has  been  confirmed  by  th€| 
public  voice.     This  is  the  portrait  of  an  extraordinary  per-* 


V  O  L  T  A  IRE.  42^ 

•onage ;  and  soch  was  Voltaire,  who,  like  all  other  extra* 
ordinary  men,  has  occasioned  some  strong  enthusiasts  and 
eccentric  critics.  Leader  of  a  new  sect,  having  survived 
many  of  his  rivals^  and  eclipsed,  towards  the  end  of  his 
career,  the  poets  his  contemporaries ;  he  possessed  the  most 
i^nbounded  influence,  and  has  brouglit  about  a  melancholy 
revolutioti  in  wit  and  morals.  Though  he  has  often  availed 
himself  of  his  amazing  talents  to  promote  the  cause  of  rea«» 
son  and  humanity,  to  inspire  princes  with  toleration,  and 
with  a  horror  for  war ;  yet  he  was  more  delighted,  more 
in  bis  element,  and  we  are  sorry  to  add  more  successful, 
when  be  exerted  himself  in  extending  the  principles  of 
kreligion  and  anarchy*  The  lively  sensibility  which  ani- 
mates his  writings  pervaded  his  whole  conduct;  and  it  was 
seldom  that  he  resisted  the  impressions  of  his  ready  and 
overflowing  wit,  or  the  first  feelings  of  his  heart.  Voltaire 
stands  at  the  head  of  those  writers  who  in  France  are  called 
Beaux  Esprits;  aud  for  brilliancy  of  imagination,  for 
astonishing  eas|e,  exquisite  taste,  versatility  of  talents,  and 
extent  of  knowledge,  he  had  no  superior,  scarcely  an 
f  qual  among  his  countrymen^  But,  if  genius  be  restricted 
to  invention,  Voltaire  was  (deficient.  His  most  original 
pieces,  are,  bis  <<  Candide,*'  a  tissue  of  ridiculous  extrava- 
gancies, which  may  be  traced  to  Swift;  and  bis  infamous 
poem^  the  "  Pucelle,"  for  which  he  was  indebted  to 
Chapelain  and  Ariosto.  His  ^*  Henriade^'  is  the  finest  epic 
poem  the  French  have ;  but  it  wants  the  sublimity  of  Ho- 
iperic  or  Miltonic  invention.  The  subject,  indeed,  could 
not -admit  supernatural  machinery.  It  is,  as  lord  Chester-^ 
field  said  (who  did  not  mean  t6  depreciate  it)  *^  all  good 
$ense  from  beginning  to  end."  It  is  an  excellent  history 
in  verse,  and  the  versification  is  as  harmonious  as  French 
versification  can  be,  and  some  of  his  portraits  are  admira-« 
biy  touched ;  but  as  a  whole,  as  an  epic,  it  sinks  before 
the  epics  of  Greece  and  Rome,  of  Italy  and  E^r^land. 

Voltaire  was  a  voluminous  writer,  and  there  is  in  his 
works,  as  perhaps  in  those  of  all  voluminous  writers,  a  very 
strange  mixture  of  gopd,  bad,  and  indifferent.  Whether 
many  of  them  wi)l  long  survive  his  living  reputation,  may 
be  doubted.  Of  late,  we  understand,  that  few  of  his  se- 
parate pieces  have  been  called  for,  except  the  Henriade, 
which  will  always  be  considered  as  a  national  work,  and 
his  plays.  There  have  been  lately  some  splendid  editions 
of  his  whole  works,  for  libraries  and  men  of  fortune  ;  and 


42er  VOLTAIRE. 

now  we  hear  that  the  French  editors  and  booksellers  find 
their  interest  in  offering  the  public  only  bis  "  CEuvres 
choisies."  When  the  misery  he  so  largely  contributed  to 
bring  on  his  country  shall  be  more  accurately  estimated, 
and  a  reverence  for  revealed  religion  is  revived,  Voltaire 
will  probably  be  remembered  chiefly,  as  a  terrifying  ex- 
ample of  the  prostitution  of  the  finest  talents  to  the  worst 
of  purposes* 

We  shall  conclude  with  the  titles  of  his  principal  poeti- 
cal performances:  1.  "The  Henriade,  in  ten  cantos.'* 
2.  A  great  number  of  tragedies,  of  which  the  first  was 
**  Oedipus,"  in  1718,  the'last  ''Irene,'*  in  1778.  3.  Se- 
veral  comedies :  of  which  the  best  are,  "  L'Indiscret,'* 
**L*Enfant  Prodigue,"  and  "Nanine.'*  4.  Several  operas, 
in  which  he  did  not  particularly  excel.  5.  An  endless  va- 
riety of  fugitive  pieces  in  verse.  His  principal  prose  works 
are,  1.  "  Essai  sur  THistoire  G^n^ral,"  which  with  **  Les 
Siecles  de  Louis  XIV.  et  de  Louis  XV."  make  10  vols,  8vo. 
2.  «  L'Histoire  de  Charles  XII."  3.  *'  L'Histoire  de-Czar 
Pierre  I."  4.  "  Melanges  de  Litt^rature,"  in  many  vo- 
lumes. 5.  "  Dictionnaire  Philosophique,"  ''Philosophic 
de  THistoire,"  and  several  other  works  of  the  same  im- 
pious tendency.  6.  "  Theatre  de  Pierre  et  Thomas  Cor- 
iieille,  avec  des  mor9eaux  int6ressans,"  8  vols.  4to.  7. 
"  Commentaire  Historique  sur  les  Oeuvres  de  TAuteur  de 
la  Henriade,  avec  les  Pieces  originates  et  les  preuves;"  a 
monument  raised  by  Voltaire  to  his  own  vanity.  He  had 
indeed  before  this  placed  himseif  at  the  bead  of  all  the 
French  writers  in  his  "  Connoissance  des  beaut^s  et  des 
defauts  de  la  Po6sie  et  de  rEloquence,"   17'49.* 

VOLTERRA  (Daniele  di),  whose  family  name  was 
Kicciarelli,  but  who  is  better  known  by  the  name  of  his 
birth-place,  Volterra,  where  he  was  born  in  1509,  was  the 
reputed  pupil  of  Peruzzi  and  Razzi  at  Siena,^and  the  as- 
sistant of  Perino  del  Vaga  at  Rome.  He  acquired  the  best 
part  of  his  celebrity  from  a  decided  adherence  to  the  prin- 
ciples, style,  and  subsequent  patronage  and  assistance,  of 
Michael  Angelo,  who  accelerated  his  progress,  enriched 
him  with  designs,  and  made  him  his  substitute  in  the  works 
of  the  Vatican.  -For  proofs  of  actual  assistance  we  need 
not  recur  to  his  frequent  attendance  on  Daniele  whilst  he 
painted  in  the  Farnesina,  and  the  tale  of  the  colossal  head 

I  Diet.  Hist. 


V  O  L  T  E  R  R  A.  427 

wbich  he  is  said  to  have  drawn  with  a  coal  on  the  wall 
during  his  absence^  and  which  is  still  left  to  exhibit  its 
questionable  lines;  the  best  evidence  of  that  assistance 
was  the  fresco  of  the  Trinita  del  Mon^e,  now  a  ruin  of  the 
retohitiori  :  if  that  wonderful  performance,  the  first  of  the 
three  that  were  considered  as  the  master-pieces  of  the  art 
in  Rome,  evinced  in  composition  and  style  the  superin- 
tendance,  advice,  and  corrections,  of  Michael  Angeio,  its^ 
principal  parts  could  only  be  considered  as.  the  work  of  his 
own  hand;  that  master-hand  alone  could  embody  the  weight 
of  death  in  the  sinking  figure  of  the  Saviour,  and  point  the 
darts  of  woe  that  pierced  the  mothers  breast  in  the  face 
and  dereliction  of  the  Madonna,  without  destroying  the 
superhuman  beauty  of  either.  The  remainder  emulates, 
but  arrives  not  at  the  same  degree  of  perfection.  The 
male  assistants  have  more  labour  than  energy,  and,  though 
with  propriety  subordinate,  proportions  scarcely  equal  to 
tlie  task.  In  the  female  group,  so  beautifully  contrasted, 
gesture  seems  to  prevail  over  sentiment;  even  the  figure 
of  St.  John,  with  all  its  characteristic  excellence,  by  the 
fear  it  expresses,  rather  interrupts  than  assists  the  sublime 
pathos  and  sacred  silence  of  the  scene. 

Under  this  picture,  which  with  the  completion  of  some 
inferior  ones  in  the  same  chapel  had  cost  him  seven  years, 
Daniele  placed  two  basso-relievos,  to  express  his  gratitude 
to  Michael  Angeio  and  his  contempt  of  public  cavil.  One 
represented  Michael  Angeio  contemplating  himself  in  a  ^ 
mirror,  to  indicate  that  the  picture  was  a  reflection  of  his 
powers ;  the  other  shewed  a  group  of  satyrs  weighing  the 
detached  figures  0^  the  picture  in  a  balance,  and  chasing 
away  an  inimical  group  of  other  satyrs;  with  the  addition 
of  some  Greek  words,  implying  that  those  who  had  laughed 
at  the  slowness  of  his  progress,  were  now  becotne  a  laughing- 
stock thetnselves. 

Under  the  pontificates  of  Paolo  and  Pio  IV.  Daniele  was 
employed  to  cover  the  nudities  of  some  of  the  figures  in 
the  last  judgment  of  Michael  Angeio,  and,  according  to  a 
tradition  sufficiently  authentic,  with  the  master's  own  con- 
sent. An  invidious  task,  more  of  necessity  than  choice, 
and  perhaps  merely  complied  with  to  save  the  work  from 
a  more  sacrilegious  hand,  but  for  which  he  was  ever  after- 
wards brandlBd  by  the  ludicrous  appellation  of  Braghettone. 
Volterra  died  m  Rome  in  1566,  at  the  age  of  fifty -seven. ' 

**  Piikingtoii  by  Fusel i* 


42«  V  O  N  D  E  L. 

VONDEL  (Justus,  or  Josse  du),  a  very  eehebrat^i 
Dutch  poet,  was  born  Nov.  17,  1587.  He  was  bred  an 
anabaptist ;  afterwards  joined  the  Arminians,  for  whose  de- 
fence be  employed  his  pen  with  great  zeal ;  and  in  his  old 
age  turned  Roman  Catholic.  His  verses,  it  is  said,  would 
have  equalled  those  of  the  greatest  poets,  had  he  been  ac- 
quainted with  the  ancients ;  but  he  had  no  other  master 
than  his  own  genius,  and  did  not  begin  to  learn  Latin  till 
he  was  near  thirty.  .Vondel  married  Mary  de  Wolf  in 
1610,  and  opened  a  bosier^s  shop  at  Amsterdam,  leaving 
however  all  the  care  of  it  to  his  wife,  while  he  was  wholly 
occupied  with  poetry.  The  prbfligacy  of  his  son  having 
at  length  deranged  his  affairs,  he  obtained  a  place  worth 
650  livres  yearly,  but  discharged  the  business  of  it  so  neg- 
ligently, that  in  cpmpassion  to  bis  situation  be  was  per*' 
mitted  to  keep  the  place  as  a  sinecure.  He  died  February 
5,  1679,  in  bis  ninety-second  year.  VondeFs  poems  have 
been  collected  in  9  vols.  4to.  The  most  celebrated  are, 
«  The  Park  of  Animals ;"  "  The  Heroes  of  God ;"  "  The 
Destruction  of  Jerusalem,"  a  tragedy  ;  **  The  Grandeur  of 
Solomon;**  f*Palaraede,  or  Innocence  oppressed,*Va  cele- 
brated tragedy,  which  he  wrote  while  an  Arminian.  By 
Palamede  he  meant  the  famous  Barneveldt,  who  was  con- 
demned to  death  by  prince  Maurice.  Vondel  exclainns  in 
this  piece  against  both  the  prince  and  the  synod  of  Dort, 
in  terms  which  sufficiently  poii^t  them  out,  and  was  near 
being  carried  to  the  Hague,  and  tried  in  consequence  of 
it ;  but^  some  magistrates  saved  him,  and  he  escaped  by 
paying  a  fine  of  300  florins.  He  wrote  also  satires  against 
the  protestant  ministers,  full  of  passion  and  invective ;  and 
a  poem  in  favour  of  the  catholic  church,  entitled  <^  The 
Mysteries,  or  Secrets  of  the  Altar,"  &c.  He  translated 
one  of  Grotius*s  tragedies  into  Dutch,  on  which  that  cele-r 
brated, writer  expressed  a  high  sense  of  Vondel's  friend* 
ship,  in  condescending  to  translate  his  works,  when  he  could 
write  much  better  of  his  own.  ^ 

VOPISCUS  (Flavius),  one  of  those  Latin  historians 
who  are  usually  denominated  ^'  Historice  Augusts  Scrip- 
tores,"  flourished  as  the  others  did  in  the  time  of  Diocle:- 
sian  and  Constantine,  about  the  beginning  of  the  fourth 
century.  He  was  a  native  of  Syracuse,  and  a  believer  in 
Apollonius  Tyanseus,  whose  life  he  intended    to    write., 

■  Moreri.— Diet,  Hist. 


V  O  P  I  S  C  U  S.  42$ 

He  is  reckoned  superior  to  the  rest  of  the  Hist.  Aug.  Scrip- 
tores  in  the  elegance  of  bis  style  and  in  the  perspicuity  of 
his  manner ;  though  far  inferior  in  both  to  the  writers  of 
the  Augustan  age.  He  wrote  the  life  of  Aurelian,  Tacitus^ 
Fiorianusy  and  others. ' 

VORAGINE.     See  JAMES. 

VORSTIUS  (Conrade),  an  eminent  divine  of  the  Armi- 
nian  persuasion,  was  born  at  Cologn,  July  19,  1569,  His 
father,  who  was  a  dyer,  had  not  yet  renounced  popery,  and 
caused  him  to  be  baptised  in  the  forms  of  that  religion,  bot 
he  afterwards  secretly  joined  the  protestants.  He  had  ten 
children,  and  designing  Conrade  for  a  learned  profession, 
bad  him  taught  grammar  at  a  school  in  the  village  of  Bed- 
berdyk,  whence  he  sent  him,  in  15S3,  to  Dusseidorp,  and 
there  he  continued  his  classical  studies  till  1586.  He  after- 
wards removed  to  St.  Lawrence^s  college  in  Gologn,  buc 
was  prevented  from  taking  his  degrees  in  philosophy  by 
two  impediments,  which  are  so  dissimilar  that  it  is  difficult 
to  say  which  predominated.  The  one  was  because  he 
^ould  not  conscientiously  take  an  oath  to  submit  to  the  de* 
cisions  of  the  council  of  Trent ;  the  otiie^,  because  on  ac- 
count of  the  declining  state  of  his  father's  affairs,  it  became 
necessary  for  him  to  give  up  bis  studies,  and  go  into  trade. 
Whether  he  would  hav|e  refused  the  oaths,  if  this  had  not 
been  the  case,  is  left  to  conjecture,  but  he  now  employed 
two  years  in  acquiring  arithmetic,  the  French  and  Italian 
languages,  and  such  other  knowledge  as  might  be  useful 
in  trade.  He  was  soon  after,  however,  enabled  bv  some 
circumstances,  not  related  in  our  authority,  to  resume  his 
more  learned  studies,  and  going  to  Herborn  in  1589, 
studied  divinity  under  Piscator,  who  from  a  Calvinist  had 
become  an  Arminian.  Vorstius  also,  probably  for  a  main- 
tenance, took  pupils,  and  accompanied  some  of  them  to 
Heidelberg  in  15P3,  where  the  following  year  he  was  ad- 
mitted to  the  degree  of  D.  D.  In  1595  be  paid  a  visit  to 
the  universities  of  Switzerland,  and  that  of  Geneva.  At 
Basil,  he  twice  maintained  two  theses,  the  one  on  the 
Sacraments,  the  other  on  the  causes  of  Salvation.  He 
was  preparing  a  third  dispute  against  Socinus  *^  De  Christo 
servatore"  (concerning  Christ  the  saviour)  ;  but  being  de- 
sirous of  concluding  his  journey,  he  did  not  finish  this 
piece;  and  leaving  the  original  with  Grynsus,  took  it  back 

1  Vpssiiude  Hilt.  Lat --Saxii  Onomait. 


430  V  O  R  S  T  I  U  9. 

when  be  returned  to  Basil.  The  first  work  ascribed  to-bim 
is,  a  collection  of  theses,  containing  upwards  of  twenty 
maintained  at  various  times,  beginning  at  1594.  He  pre* 
fixed  to  this  collection  the  theses  concerning  the  Holy 
Trinity,  that  is^  concerning  God  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy 
Ghost ;  and  the  theses  concerning  the  person  and  office  of 
Christ,  which  he  pleaded  some  time  after  as  an  apology 
to  such  as  charged  him'  with  shewing  a  tendency  to  Soci^ 
nianism  in  those  two  articles ;  but  this  was  a  suspicion  he 
never  could  eradicate,  and  was  the  foundation  of  all  the 
hostility  he  had  afterwards  to  encounter.  While  at  Ge- 
neva, however,  no  suspicion  of  the  kind  existed,  otherwise 
we  may  be  certain  that  Beza  would  not  have  requested  him 
to  lecture  on  divinitj^  which  he  did  with  so  much  ability, 
that  the  professorship  was  offered  to  him,  but  to  this  he 
preferred  the  offer  of  the  same  chair  at  Steinfurt,  which 
was  made  to  him,  by  letter,  while  at  Geneva. 

Having  accepted  this  office,  he  acquired  so  much  re- 
putation in  discharging  the, duties  of  it,  that  other  univer- 
sities became  desirous  of  obtaining  such  a  teacher,  but  he 
declined  a  change  for  the  present.  While  here,  however, 
bis  principles  became  again  suspected,  and  this  reaching 
the  ears  of  count  de  Bentheim,  his  great  patron,  in  1599, 
he  ordered  Vorstius  to  clear  himself  immediately,  by  going 
to  the  university  where  he  had  received  his  doctor^s  de- 
gree, and  convincing  them  of  his  being  orthodox.  Ac- 
cordingly Vorstius  went  to  Heidelberg,  where  he  gave  an 
account  of  his  faith ;  and  returned,  cleared,  to  his  abode. 
The  faculty  of  divines  admitted  him  to  the  kiss  of  peace, 
and  gave  him  fesseram  hospitalitatis  (the  mark  or  token  of 
hospitality)  after  signifying  to  him,  that  he  had  been  in  the 
wrong  to  advance  certain  particulars  which  favoured  the 
Socinians,  and  making  him  promise  that  he  would  thence- 
forward refrain  from  employing  such  phrases  as  might  giv^ 
occasion  for  suspicion.  He  also  was  forced  to  make  a  pro- 
testation that  he  abhorred  Socinus^s  opinions;  and  was  very 
ftOrry  the  fire  of  youth  had  made  him  employ  certain  es^- 
pressions,  which  seemed  to  favour  that  heretic,  and  clash 
with  the  doctrine  of  the  protestant  churches. 

In  1605,  he  was  appointed  minister  at  Steinfurt,  and  he 
was  also  made  president  of  the  court  for  trying  matrimo- 
nial causes,  and  was  principal  examiner  of  young  candi- 
dates for  the  ministry.  In  consideration  of  these  various 
employments,  an  extraordinary  stipend  was  allowed.     In 


V  O  R  S  T  I  U  S.  431 

1610,  be  was  invited  toLeyden,  to  succeed  tbe  celebrated 
Arminius.  This  invitation  was  of  the  most  flattering  kind, 
being  approved  both  by  the  States  of  Holland  and  by 
prince  Maurice  ;  yec  bis  biographer  is  of  opinion,  that  had 
be  not  been  most  strongly  solicited  by  the  chiefs  of  the 
Armiuians  he  would  never  have  embarked  on  so  ^stormy  a 
sea.  He  was  beloved  and  honoured  in  Steinfurt ;  there  he 
enjoyed  the  utmost  tranquillity,  and  was  in  the  highest  re- 
putation ;  and  he  doubtless  foresaw  that,  in  the  state  in 
which  the  controversies  of  Arminius  and  Gomarus  were  at 
that  time,  he  should  meet  with  great  opposition  in  Holland. 
But  he  was  tempted  by  the  glory  he  should  gain  in  sup-* 
porting  a  party  which  was  weakened  by  Arminjus's  deaths 
To  this  were  added  motives  pretended,  to  be  drawn  from 
conscience ;  for  they  represented .  to  him,  that  he  would 
one  day  be  accountable  for  the  ill  use  be  should  make  of 
his  talents,  in  case,  too  great  a  fondness  for  ease  should 
make  him  neglect  so  happy  an  opportunity  of  establishing 
the  tinith  in  a  country  where  it  had  already  taken  root. 
However  this  be,  he  was  induced  to  leave  count  de  Ben^ 
theim,  and  go  to  Holland,  where  he  found,  or  made  innu* 
merable  enemies. 

In  1611,  he  went  to  Leyden,  with  his  family,  and,  aU 
though  he  brought  with  hin^  the  most  authentic  testimo- 
nials of  his  being  orthodox,  and  prudent  in  his  conduct 
and  manner  of  life,  the  Calvinistic  clergy  became  alarmed 
at  having  the  divinity  pro^ssorship  filled-  by  one  who  pro* 
mised  to  perpetuate  the  errors  of  Arminius ;  and  therefore 
represented,  in  the  strongest  terms,  the  danger  that  might 
accrue  from  the  appointment  of  Vorstius,  They  even 
-called  to  their  aid  the  opinions  of  foreign  universities  and 
potentates.  Apciong  the  latter,  our  king  James  I.  who  had 
caused  Vorstius's  book  '*  De  Deo"  to  be  burnt  at  Lun^ 
don  and  the  two  universities,  and  now  had  drawn  up  a  ca<» 
talogue  of  the  several  heresies  he  had  found  in  that  work, 
commanded  his  resident  at  the  Hague  to  notify  to  th«t 
States,  that  be  greatly  detested  those  heresies,  and  tbpsa 
who  should  tolerate  them.  The  States  answered,  that,  if 
Vorstius  maintained  the  errors  laid  to  his  charge,  they  would 
not  suffer  him  to  live  among  them.  This  answer  not  being, 
satisfactory,  he  again  pressed  them  with  greater  earnest* 
ness  to  banish  Vorstius^  though  he  should  deny  the  errors 
laid  to  his  charge;  but,  if- he  should  own  and  persist  in 
them,  he  was  firmly  of  opinion,  that  burning  was  too  mild 


4S2  VOk&tlV^. 

k  punishment  for  him.  He  declared,  that,  if  the)'^  did  ntk 
use  tl^eir  utmost  endeavours  to  extirpate  this  rising  h^resy^ 
be  should  publicly  protest  against  such  abominations ;  id 
quality  of  defender  of  the  faith,  should  exhort  all  Protestant 
churches  to  join  in  one  general  Resolution  to  extinguish 
these  abominable  newly-H^roached  heresies ;  and,  with  re- 
gard to  himself,  would  forbid  all  his  subjects  to  frequent  so 
pestilential  a  place  as  the  university  of  Leyden.  To  his 
menaces  he  added  the  terrors  of  his  pen^  and  published  a 
book  against  Vorstius  ;  who  replied  in  the  most  respectful 
terms;  but  at  last,  through  the  influence  of  the  king^s  de- 
putiesy  wa^  declared  unworthy  of  the  professorship,  divested 
of  his  employment,  and  sentenced  to  perpetual  banish- 
ment by  the  synod  of  Dbrt.  He  lay  concealed  two  years, 
until  at  length  he  found  an  asylum  in  the  dominions  of  the 
duke  of  Holstein^  who  'took  the  reiuains  of  the  Arminians 
under  his  protection,  and  assigned  them  a  spot  of  ground 
for  building  a  city.  He  died  atToningen,  Sept.  29,  1622. 
His  body  was  carried  to  Fredericstadr,  the  newly -raised 
city  of  the  Arminians,  where  be  was  buried  with  con« 
»tderable  splendour.  He  wrote  many  things  against  the 
Roman  Catholics,  as  well  as  his  own  particular  adver- 
saries. 

The  quarrels,  says  Bayle,  into  which  he  was  drawn  weref 
doubtless  mixed  with  a  great  deal  of  passion  ;  bat  after  all, 
the  suspicion  of  his  having  a  great  tendency  towards  Socidi- 
anism  is  not  very  unjustly  grounded ;  and  he  possibly  might 
baveprofessed  it  openly,,  bs^  he  not  followed  the  maxim  which 
the  Koman  Catholics  object  to  the  Reformers,  viz.  that 
when  a  person  is  persuaded  that  the  chucch  stands  iii  need 
of  being  reformed,  he  ought  to  continue  in  communion 
with  it,  to  labour  more  effectually  to  cure  it.  The  same 
author  adds,  that  he  did  great  prejudice  to  the  Arminian 
party.  '^  The  prevailing  so  far  as  to  get  Vorstius  to  succeed 
Arminius  in  the  professorship  of  Leyden,  was  thought  to 
be  a  master-stroke,  and  yet  nothing  could  be  more  advan- 
tageous to  the  adversaries  of  the  Remonstrants.  Vorstius 
furnished  them  with  so  many  pleaa,  by  his  new  manner  of 
dogmatizing  on  the  attributes  of  God,  and  it  was  so  easy 
to  raise  the  suspicions  of  the  people  against  him,  that  it  was 
no  difficult  matter  tomake«him  become  odious."  Sandius, 
the  biographer  of  the  Socinians,  after  perusing  the  confess 
sion  of  faith  which  Vorstius  signed  on  bis  death-bed,  had^ 
no  sqruple  as  to  admitting  him  among  that  sect.     His  son. 


VOR'STIUS.  498 

r  / 

William  Henry  Vorstiatf,  is  also  recorded  in  the  tame  class 
in  Sandius's  <<  Bibliotheca  AntitrinitsLrioruin.'*    His  prin^ 
'  cipal  works  were  on  Rabbinical  literature.' 

VOS  (Martin  de)»  a  Flemish  painter  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  was  born  at  Antwerp  in  1520,  and  was  first  entered 
ia  his  profession  under  bis  father.  Having  made  hioMetf 
somewhat  eminent  in  Flanders^  he  trairelled  to  Venice, 
Rome,  and  Florence,  where  he  made  a  collection  of  cn^' 
rious  drawings  of  several  sorts  of  vases  made  use  of  by  the 
old  Greeks  and  Romans  at  their  entertainments,  funerals, 
and  sacrifices.  At  his  return  into  Flanders  he  painted  some 
of  these  old  festival-solemnities,  in  which  the  disposition 
and  lively  representation  of  these  vases  were  very  orna- 
mental to  his  performance.  He  excelled  in  most  branches 
of  the  art,  but  bis  drawings  in  particular,  were  reckoned 
some  of  the  best  and  most  serviceable  for  beginners.  His 
colouring  was  strong  and  lively ;  his  design  natural  and  free, 
and  his  disposition  judicious.  He  had  so  much  fame  in  his 
profession,  tba.t,  when  the  prince  of  Parma  made  himself 
master  of  Antwerp,  he  made  De  Vos  a  visit,  and  sat  to  him. 
He  died  at  Antwerp  in  1 604,  being  eighty- four  years  of  age. 

There  was  a  SiMON  Dfi  Vos,  born  at  Antwerp  in  1603, 
who  painted  history  equally  well  in  large  and  in  small  sizes, 
with  «  free  pencil,  and  a  touch  light  and  firm ;  bis  colour- 
ing being  in  general  lively  and  agreeable,  produced  a  good 
effect.  His  figures  were  well  designed,  although  sometimes 
a  little  too  much  constrained  in  the  attitudes ;  and  be  often 
wanted  elegande  and  dignity  in  his  ideai,  as  well  as  grace 
in  the  airs  of  his  figures.  But  he  shewed  extraordinary 
force  and  nature  in  his  pictures  of  the  chase ;  t,nd  one  of 
his  compositions  in  that  style  is  in  the  cabinet  of  the  Elector 
Palatine.  Houbraken  says  that  Simon  de  Vos  was  alive  in 
1662.  At  Antwerp,  there  is  a  picture  by  him  of  8t.  Nor- 
bert  receiving  the  sacrament,  in  which  are  introduced  a 
great  number  of  portraits  extremely  well  painted.  De  Vos, 
sir  Joshua  Reynolds  remarks,  particularly  excelled  in  por- 
traits. In  the  poor-house  at  Antwerp,  there  was,  when  sir 
Joshua  visited  it,  his  own  portrait  by  himself,  in  black, 
leaning  on  the  back  of  a  chair,  with  a  scroll  of  blue  paper 
in  his  hand,  so  highly  finished,  in  the  broad  manner  of  Cor- 
xegio,  that  nothing  could  exceed  it.* 

'  Gen.  Diet. — Freberi  Theatrum, 

•  Pilkingtoa.— Sir  J.  Reyinolds's  Works. 

VoL-XXX.  Ff. 


434  V  O  S^S  I  U  S. 

.  VOSSIUS  (Gerard- John),  a  very  leatned  writer,  mu 
.)>prn  in  Germany,  at  a  town  in  the  neigbbpurl;iOQd  of  Hoir 
deib'ergy  in  1577.  His  father  was  a  native  of  Rureinpnd,; 
but,  upon  embracing  the  reformed  religion,  left  tha,t  plac«^ 
and  went  into  the  Palatinate,  where  he  studied  .divinity, 
.and  became  a  minister  in  1575.  He  removed  to  Ley.d^n 
the  yoar  after  this  son  was  born,  and  was. admitted  a  meip* 
her  of  the  university  there,  but  fioi^lly  settled  at  Dort ; 
■where  he  buried  his  first  wife,  married  a  second,  and  died 
^about  three  mopths  after.  Gerard  John  Vossius  was  only 
in  his  eighth  year  when  he  lost  his  father;  and  the  circum- 
stances  ill  which  he  was  left  not  being  sufficient  to  procure 
^n  education  suitable  to.  his  very  promising  talents,,  he  eu- 
d^voured.to  make  up  for  this  defect  by  ^siduitj^  and  up* 
wearied  application.  He  began  his  studies  at  Don,  and 
had  Eryclus  Puteanus  for  bis  school^fello.w ;  with  whom  he 
ever  afterwards  lived  in  the  closest  intimacy  and  friendship. 
Here  he  learned  Latin,  Greek,  and  philosophy  ;  aad  i^ 
1595,  went  to  Leyden,  where  he  joined  mathematics  to 
tbe^e  studies,  apd  was  made  master  of  arts  and  doctor  in 
philosophy  in  1598.  He  then  applied  himself  to  divinity 
and  the  Hebrew  tongue ;  and,  his  father  having  left  him  a 
library  well  furnished  with  books  of  ecclesiastical  history 
and  theology,  be  early  acquired  an  extensive  knowfedge  in 
these  branches.  The  curators  of  the  academy  were  upot 
the  point  of  chQOsing  him  professor  of  physic,  when  he  was 
invited  to  be  director  of  the  college  at  Dort ;  which  would 
have  been  .thought  a  place  of  too  much  importance  for  so 
young  a  man,  if  there  bad  not  been  soaaething  very  ex* 
traordinary  in  his  character. 

In  Feb.  .1602,  he  married  a  minister's  daughter  of  Dort, 
who  died  in  1607,  having  brought  him  three  children.  He 
married  a  second  wife  six  months  after,  by  whom  he  had 
five  sons  and  two  daughters.  This  fertility  in  Vossius,  which 
.was  at  the  same  time  attended  with  a  wonderful  fertility  in 
his  pen,  made  Grotius  say,  with  some  pleasantry,  that  h^ 
did  not  know  whether  Vossius  had  a  better  knack  at  pro- 
ducing children  or  hooka:  '^  scriberetne  accuratius,  an.gig- 
neret  feUcius  ?*'  These  children  were  educated  with  the 
utmost  care,  so  that  his  house  was  called  the  habitatipn  of 
Apollo  and  the  Muses;  but  he  had  the  misfortune  to  survive 
them  all,  except  Isaac  Vossius.  One  of  his  daughters  a 
very  accomplished  young  lady,  was  drowned  while  sfidiog, 
according  to  the  custom  of  the  country,  upon  t)ie  canab 
near  Leyden. 


V  O  S  S  I  U  a  485 

I 

III  I6l4p  an  attempt  was  made  to  draw,  hini  to  Steii^furty* 
to  be  divinity-professor  there;  but  the  university  of  Leyden- 
baviDg  named  him  at  the  same  time  to  be  director  of  the- 
theological  college  which  the  States  of  Holland  had  just 
founded  in  that  town,  he  preferred  tl^  latter  situation;  and 
bis  office  of  professor  of  eloquence  and  chronology,  which 
was  conferfed  upon  him  four  years  after,  was  peculiarly 
agreeable  to  his  taste.  Though  be  took  all  imaginable  care 
to  keep  himself  clear  from  the  disputes  about  grace  and 
predestination,  which  then  ran  high  among  the  ministers 
o^f  that  country,  yet  his  precautions  did  not  avail,  for  he 
was  entangled  in  spite  of  thend.  He  had  rendered  himself 
suspected  and  obnoxious  td  the  Gomarists,  who  had  pre* 
railed  in  the  synod  of  Dort  held  in  161^,  because  he  had 
openly  favoured  the  toleration  of  the  Remonstrants,  and 
because,  in  his  history  of  the  Pelagian  controversy,  printed 
in  1618,  he  had  affirmed,  that  the  sentiments  of  St.  Au- 
gustin  upon  grace  and  predestination  were  not  the  most 
ancient,  and  that  those  of  the  Remonstrants  were  different 
from  those  of  the  Semi-Pelagians.  And  although  he  did 
not  separate  himself  from  the  communion  of  the  Anti-Re^ 
xnonstrants,  yet  they,  knowing  well  that' be  *  neither  ap- 
proved their  doctrines  nor  their  conduct,  procured  him  to 
be  ejected  from  his  professorship  at  the  synod  of  Tergou, 
held  in  1620.  The  year  after,  another  synod  was  held  at 
Hotterdam ;  where  it  was  ordered,  that  he  should  be  re- 
ceived again,  provided  be  would  promise  neither  to  do  nor 
aay  any  thing  against  the  synod  of  Dort,  and  would  also 
retract  tbe  errors  advanced  in  his  history  of  Pelagianism. 
It  was  with  great  reluctance  that^  he  consented  to  these 
terms,  but  tbe  loss  which  he  would  suffer  by  resistance,  in- 
duced him  in  1624  to  make  such  promises  as  appeared  sa- 
tisfactory. 

But  of  whatever  detriment  his  Pelagian  history  might  be 
to  him  in  Holland,  it  procured  him  both  honour  and  profit 
from  England,  where  it  was  by  some  exceedingly  well  re^ 
oeived.  Laud,  airchbisbop  of  Canterbury,  whose  great  ob- 
ject was  to  establish  Arminianism,  admired  Yossius's  work 
ao  much,  that  he  procured  him  a  prebend  in  the  church  of 
Canterbury,  while  he  resided  at  Leyden ;  but  he  after- 
wards, in  1629,  came  over  to  be  installed,  took  a  doctor  of 
law^s  degree  at  Oxford,  and  then  returned.  While  at  Ox- 
ford he  discovered  and  encouraged  the  talents  of  Dr.  Po- 
coek|  at  we  have  already  noticed  in  our  account  of  that 

r  F  2 


436  V  O  9  8  I  U  S. 

celebrated  drientaltst  In  I63p,  the  towh  of  Amsterdam 
having  projected  the  foundation  of  an  unWersity,  cast  their 
eyes  upon  Vossius,  as  one  likely  to  promote  its  reputation 
and  credit.  The  literati,  magistrates,  and  inhabitants  of 
Leyden,  complained  ^udly  of  this  design,  as  injurious  ta 
their  own  university ;  which,  they  said,  had  had  the  pre- 
ference assigned  to  it  above  all  the  other  towns  of  Hollan^^ 
because  Leyden  had  sustained  in  1574  a  long  siege  against 
the  Spaniards ;  and  they  were  still  more  averse  to  it,  on 
account  of  their  being  likely  to  lose  so  great  an  ornament 
as  Vossius.  Amsterdam,  however,  carried  its  purpose  into 
execution;  and  Vossius  went  thither,  in  1633,  to  be  pro^ 
fessor  of  history.  He  died  there  in  1 649,  aged  seventy-two 
years  ;  after  having  written  and  published  as  many  works 
as,  when  they  came  to  be  collected  and  printed  at  Amster* 
dam  in  1695  and  the  five  following  years,  amounted  to  6 
vols,  in  folio.  The  principal  of  them  are,  ^'  Etymologicon 
Lingua  Laiinse  ;*'  ^  De  Origine  &  Progressu  Idololatrias  ;**^ 
*'  De  Historicis  Grsecis ;"  "  De  Historicis  Llitinis  ;**  ^  De 
Arte  Grammatica  ;*'  **  De  ritiis  sermonis  &  glossematis  La- 
tino-Barbaris  ;"  "  Institutiones  OratoriaB  ;**  "  Institutiones 
PoeticsB  ;'*  "  Ars  Historica,**  the  first  book  of  the  kind  ever 
published  ;  ^^  De  qualuor  artibus  pof^ularibus,  Grammatice, 
Gymnastice,  Musice,  &  Graphice;"  **  De  Philologiaf* 
^*  De  universa  Matheseos  natura  &  eonstitutione ;**  ''De 
Philosophia  ;*'  "  De  Philosophorum  sectis }"  **  De  veterum 
Poetarum  temporibus.''  Most  of  these,  particularly  his  ac- 
count of  the  Greek  and  Latin  historians,  poets,  have  aU 
ways  been  considered  as  works  of  authority  and  accuracy. 
He  was  an  indefatigable  student,  and  wrote  with  consider- 
able rapidity^  Granger,  in  an  anecdote  perhaps  not  worth 
repeating,  says  that  our  worider  at  the  number  of  Vossius's 
works  will  be  somewhat  abated  when  we  consider  the  fol- 
lowing circumstance  in  a  MS.  of  Mr.  Ashmole,  in  his  own 
museum.  He  says  he  had  it  from  Dh  John  Pell.  *'  Ge- 
rard Vossius  wrote  his  Adversaria  on  one  side  of  a  sheet  of 
papcir,  and  joined  them  together,  and  would  so  send  them 
to  the  press,  without  transcribing.^^  Our  wonder  m^y 
be  more  rationally  abated  by  considering  that  he  employed 
the  greater  part  of  the  da^^  and  even  of  the  night  in  study, 
and  was  a  most  scrupulous  oeconomist  of  time.  When  his 
friends  came  to  pay  him  visits,  he  never  allowed  any  of  them 
more  than  a  quarter  of  an  hour.     On  one  occasion,  when 


V  o  &  s  I  u  a  43t 

Cbnitopfaer  Sebrader,  who  knew  his  custom,  bad  staid  out 
hii  quarter,  and  was  abpat  to  leave  bim^  Vo^sind  kept  hiin 

^  another  quarter,  after  which  he  pointed  to  the  hour-glasf 
wbioh  was  always  before  him,  and  said,  *^You  see  how 
KMieb  time  I  have  given  you/' '  ' 

VOSSIUS  (Isaac))  a  man  of  great  parts  and  learning, 
was  the  son  of  Gerard  John  Vossius,  and  born  of  his  se« , 
cond  wife  at  Leyden,  in  16 IS.  The  particulars  of  his  life 
will  be  comprised  in  a  short  compass(:  he  had  no  master 
but  his  father  in  any  thing ;  and  his  whole  life  was  spent  in: 
atadying.  His  oierit  having  recommended  him  to  the' 
notice  of  Christina  pf  Sweden^  the  queen  submitted  to  cor- 
respoftd  with  him  by  letters,  and  employed  him  in  some 
literary  commissions.     He  even  made  several  journeys  into 

^  Sweden  by  her  order,  and  bad  the  honour  of  teaching  her 
inajesty  tbe  Greek  language:  but,  being  there  in  1662 
with  M.  Huet  and  Bochart,  she  refused  to  see  him,  be- 
cause she  had  heard  that  he  intended  to  write  against 
Saioi^iuSy  for  whom  she  had  at  that  time  a  particular 
regard.  In  1663,  he  received  a  handsome  present  of 
money  from  Lewis  XIV.  of  France,  and  at  the  same  time 
tbe  following  obliging  letter  from  Mons.  Colbert.  ''  Sir, 
Though  the  king*  be  not  your  sovereign,  he  is  willing 
nevertheless  to  be  your  benefactor;  and  has  commanded 
me  to  send  you.  the  bill  of  exchange^  hereunto  annexed, 
as  a  mark  of  his  esteem,  and  as  a  pledge  of  bis  protection. 
Every  one  knows^  that  you  worthily  follow  the  example  of 
^e  &motts  Vossius  your  father ;  and  that,  having  received 
from  him  a  name  whieh  hath  rendered  him  illustrious  by 
his  writings^  you  will  preserve  tbe  glory  of  it  by  yotirs. 
These  things  being  known  to  his  majesty.  It  is  with  plea- 
sure that  be  makes  this  acknowledgment  o^  your  merit,** 
fcc.  After' tbe  death  of  bis  father,  he  was  offered  tbd 
history-professorship,  but  refused  it ;  preferring  a  studious 
retirement  to  any  honours.  In  1670  he  came  over  to  Eng- 
land, and  was  that  year  created  doctor  of  laws  at  Oxford  ; 
f*  after  he  had  been,'*  says  Wood,  "  with  great  humanity 
and  friendship  entertained  by  some  of  the  chief  heads  of 
colleges,  as  his  father  had  been  before  in  1629."  In  1673, 
Charles  n.  made  him  canon  of  Windsor,  assigning  him 
lodgings  in  the  castle,  where  he  died  Feb^the  10th,  1683. 
He  left  behind  him  the  best  private  library,  as  it  was  then 

1  KiceroDj  vol.  XI  li. — Life  by  Celomies.— M«reri. 


438  V  O  S  S  I  U  S. 

f 

supposed,  io  the  world ;  wbteh,  to  the.sbMieaiid  rqpfdach 
of  England,  was  suffered  to  be  purchased  and  carried 
away  by  the  university  of  Leyden* 

.    M.  des  Maizeaux,  in  bis  life  of  St.  Evreaiond,  has  re- 
corded several  particulars  relative  to  tbe  life  and  character 
of  Isaac  Vossius,  which  are  certainly  not  of  a  very  favolir* 
able  cast.    St.  Evremond,  he  tells  us,  used  to  spend  the  sum- 
mers  with  the  court  at  Windsor,  and  there  often  saw  Vossius; 
who,  as   St  Evremond  described  bim,  understood  almost 
all  the  languages  in  Europe,  without  being  able  to  i^eak 
one  of  them  well ;  who  knew  to  tbe  very  bottom  the  geniua 
and  customs  of  antiquity,  yet  was  an  utter  stranger  to  tbe 
manners  of  his  own  times.     He  expressed  himself  io  con* 
Yersation  as  a  man  would  have  done  in  a  commentary  upon 
Juvenal  or  Petronius.     He  published  books  to  prove,  that 
the  Septuagint  version  w|ut  divinely  inspired;  yet  disco* 
vered,  in  private  conversation,  that  he  believed  no  revela* 
lion  at  all :  and  bis  manner  of  dying,  which  was  far  from 
being  exenopl^ry,  shewed  that  be   did  not.     Yet,  to  see 
the  frailty  of  the  human  understanding,  he  was  in  other 
respects  the  weakest  and  most  credulous  man  alive,  and 
resuly  to.  swallow,  without  chewing,  any  extraordinary  and 
wonderful  thing,  though  ever^^  so  fabulous  and  impossible. 
This  is  the  idea  which  St.  Evremond,  who  knew  him  ivell, 
has  given  of  him. '  If  any  more  proofs  of  his  unbdief  ate 
wanting,  D^s  Maizeaux  has  given  us  them,  in  n  note  upon 
the  foregoing  account  of  St.  Evremond.     He  relates,  that 
Dr.  Hascard,  dean  of  Windsor,  with  one  of  the  canons,' 
visited  Vossius  upon  bis  death-bed,  and  pressed  him  to  re* 
ceive  the  sacrament ;  but  could  not' prevail,  though  they 
begged  of  him  at  last,  that,  *^  if  he  would  not  do  it  for  the 
love  of  God,  he  would  at  least  do  it  for  the  honfou'r  of  tbe 
chapter."     Des  Maizeaux  relates  another  fact  concerning 
Vossius,  which  he  received  from  good  authority;  namely, 
that,  wb^n  Dr.  Hascard  pressed  him  to  take  the  sacrament, 
he  replied,  '^  I  wish  you  would  instruct  me  how  to  oblige 
tbe  farmers  to  pay  me  what  they  owe  me :  this  is  what  | 
would  have  you  do  for  me  at  present."    Such  sort  of  replies 
are  said  to  have  been  common  with  him ;  and  that  once, 
when  a  brother  of  bis  mother  was  sick,  and  a  mitiister  was 
for  giving  him  tbe  communion,    he  opposed  it,  saying, 
^<  this  is  ^  pretty  custom  enough  for  sinners ;  but  my  uncli^ 
far  from  being  a  sinner,  is  a  man  without  rices." 


V  OS:  SI  U,S.'  43dv 

.;  As  to  h\9  credulity  and  propensity  to  believe  in  tfae  moat* 
ittpUctt  nMioner  any  thing,  ^ingiilar  and  extraordinary, - 
Mons.  Renaudot,  in  his  dissertations  added  to  ^^  Anciet^nes. 
Belatiofis  des  bides  &  de  iaChine,"  relates,  that  Vossius, 
having  bad  frequent  conferences  with  the  father  Martini^ 
during  that  Jesuit's  residence  i\\  Holland  for  the  printing. 
bifl  .'^  Atlas  Chinms,"  made  no.  scruple  of  believing .  all 
wbich  be  told  .  him  concerning  the  wonderful  things  in. 
CJ|ina;  and  that  be.  even,  went  farther  than  Martini,  and: 
maintained  as  a  certain  fact  the  antiquity  of  the  Chinese 
accounts  above  that  of  the  books  of  Moses.  Charles  IL 
who  knew  bis  character  well,  used  to  call  him  tbe  strangest 
man  in  tbe  world ;  fqr  ^\  there  is  nothing/'  the  king  would- 
aay^  ^' which,  he  refuses  to  believe,  except  the  Bihle;*' 
and  it  is  probable,  that  tbe  noble  author  of  the  ^^  Charac-^ 
teri$tics"  had  him  in.  his  eye  while  be  was  writing  the  fol- 
lowing paragraph.  *^  It  must  certainly  be  something  else 
than  incredulity,  which  fashions  the  taste  and  judgment  o£ 
QEiany  gentlemen,  whom  we  bear  censured  as  Atheists,  for 
i^ttoniptiog  to  philosophize  after  a  Dewer  manner  than  any> 
luiawn  of  late.  I  have  ever  thought  this  sort  of  men  to  be 
in  general  more  credulous,  though  after  another  manner^ 
tban.the  mere  vulgar..  Besides  what  I  have  observed  in 
conversation  with  the  men  of  this  character,  I  can  produce. 
many  anathematized  authors,  who,  if  they  want  a  true 
Israelitisfa  faitfa,  can.  niake.  amends  by  a  Chinese  or  Indiai% 
one.  If  they  are  short  in  Syria  or  the  Palesftine^  they  have 
tbetr  full  measure  :in  America«or  Japaa.  Histories  of  Incai 
or  Iroquois,  written  by  friers  aqd  missionaries,  pirates  and 
xenegadjOi^s, ,  sea-^captains  and  trusty  travellers,  pass  for  au^ 
tbentic  records,  and  are  canonical  with  the  virtuosos  of  thia 
sort.  Though  Christian  miracles  may  not  so  well  satisfy 
them,  they  dwell  with  the  greatest  contentment  on  the 
prodigies  of  Moorish  and  Pagan  countries.''  This  per*- 
fectly  corresponds,  with  the  nature  and  character^of  Isaac 
Vossius,  although  lord  Shaftesbury  might  have  more  than 
one  in  hiS'Cye  when  he  wrote  it. 

His  works,  though  very  numerous,  are  yet  neither  so 
iiumerous  nor  so  useful  as  his  father's;  His  6rst  publica- 
tion was  ^'  Periplus  Scylacis  Caryandensis  &  Anonymi  Pe«. 
riplu^  Ponti  fiusini^  Grsce  &  I^atine,  cum  notis."  Am&c. 
)639,  4to. .  Although  be  ws^.  only  a  youth  of  twenty->one 
when  be  published  this,  James  Gronovius  judged  bis.  notes 
worth  inserting  in  the  new  augmented  edition  which  be 


446  V  O  S  S  I  U  S. 

glBive  of  these  authors  at  Leyden  1697,  andef  the  title  of 
MQeograpbia  antiqua/'  in  4ko«  The  year  after,  1640,  he 
published  ^^  Justin/'  with  notes,  at  Leyden,  in  12tno,  alto 
at  juvenile  production,  but  of  no  particular  value*  *'  Igna* 
tii  EpistoIiB,  &  Barnabas  Epistoia,  Greece  &  Latine,  cam 
notis,''  Amst.  1646,  in  4to.  He  was  the  first  who  pub- 
lished the  genuine  epistles  of  Igbatius,  from  a  Greek  ma- 
nuscript in  the  library  at  Florence,  which  was  found  to 
agree  exactly  with  the  ancient  Latin  version  which  arch* 
bishop  Usher  had  published  two  years  before.  His  note< 
have  been  inserted  in  Le  Clerc's  edition  of  the  ^'  Patres 
Apostolici.*'  <<  PompOaius  Mela  de  situ  orbis,  cum  obser- 
vationibus,"  Hag®  Com.  1648,  4to.  Salmasius  is  the  sub- 
ject of  bis  animadversion  in  these  notes.  *^  Dissertacio  de 
vera  oetate  mundi,  &c."  Hagae  Com.  1659,  4to.  This  dis- 
sertation, in  which  it  is  attempted  to  establish  the  chroaa* 
logy  of  the  Septuagint  upon  the  ruin  of  that  of  the  Hebrew 
text,  was  attacked  by  many  authors,  and  particularly  by 
Horuius,  to  whom  Vossius  replied  in  '^  Castigationes  ad 
Scriptum  Hornii  de  eetate  Mundi,''  Hagae  Com.  1659,  4to* 
Hornius  defended  what  he  had  written,  the  same  year; 
and  Vossius,  the  same  year,  replied  to  him  again  in  '^  Auo 
tariura  Castigationum,  &c."  4to.  Hornius  was  not  bow- 
ever  to  be  silenced,  but  published  another  piece,  still  in  the 
same  year ;  and  then  father  Pezron  adopted  and  maintained 
the  opinion  of  Vossius,  in  his  book,  entitled.  <<  L' Antiquity 
de  temps  r^tablie,''  1661.  Vossius  published  **  De  Septua- 
ginta  Interpretibus,  eorumque  ttanslatiooe  &  chronologia 
Dissertationes^"  and,  in  1663,  ^^  Appendix  ad  hunc  li- 
brum,  sen  Responsiones  ad  objecta  variorum  Theologo- 
rum  :*'  both  in  4to.  His  next  publications  were  upon  phi- 
losophical subjects,  as  **•  De  luce,"  ^'  De  motu^  marium  k 
ventorum,"  "  De  Nili  &  aliorum  fluminum  origine ;" 
which  are  not  thought  of  much  consequence.  ^^  De  Poe- 
matum  cantu  &  viribus  Rythmi,  Oxon.  167 J,''  in  8vo,  in 
which  are  some  curious  remarks,  *^  De  Sibyllinis  aliisque, 
quae  Cliristi  natalem  prascessere,  Oraculis,"  Oxon,  1679: 
reprinted  in  **  Variarum  Observationum  Liber."  *^  Ca- 
tullus, &  in  eum  Isaaci  Vossii  Observationes/'  Lond«  1684, 
4to,  and  Leyden,  169L  There  is  a  great  deal  of  erudition 
in.  these  notes  of  Vossius,  mixed  with  gross  indelicacies. 
The  greatest  part  of  a  treatise  by  Adrian  Beverland,:'^D6 
prostibulis  veterum,"  the  printing  of  which  had  been  pro- 
hibited, was  inserted  tn  them;  but  this  being  discovered, 


V  O-  S  S  I  U  S.  441 

the  !prets  was  stopped  fiom^  proceeding  any  farther ;  and 
the  edition,  the  first  of  those  mentioned  above,  though 
begun  and  carried  on  in  Holland,  was  brought  over  to  Eng-> 
land  to  be  finished ;  as  may  appear  from  the  different  cha<^  . 
raoters  of  the  end,  the  title,  and  the  pi^face.     In  1685,  he 
published  a  thin  quarto  volume  at  London,  entitled,  ^'  Va- 
rianioi  Observationum  Liber,^*  in  which  are  contained  the 
foliomng  dissertations :  <^  De  Antique  rRomse  &  aliaruny 
qusmodam  urbium  magnitudine ;  De  Artibus  &  Scientiis 
Stnaraai;  De  Origine  &,  Progressu  Pulveris  Bellici  apud^ 
Eni^ssos ;  De  Triremium  &  Libumicarum  constructione ; 
De  emendatione  Longiiudiniim ;  Depatefacienda  per  Sep^ 
tentrionem  ad  Js^onentes  &  Indos  navigattone ;  De  appa<- 
rentibos  in  Luna  circuits ;  Diurna  Telluris  conversione  om** 
Dia  gravia  ad  medium  tendere ;"  to  which  are  subjoined, 
^^De  Sibyllinis  Oraculis,  Responsio  ad  Objecta  nuperm 
Criticas  Sacrae,'*  and  ^*  Ad  iteratas  P.  Simonii  objectiones 
altera  Responsio."     Vossius^s  propensity  to  the  marvel** 
loud,  and  his  prejudices  for  antiquity,  appear  from  the  first 
page  of  this  book  of  various  observations ;  where  he  tells 
U8j  that  ancient  Rome  was  twenty  times  as  large  as  Paris 
and  London  pot  together  are  at  present;  and  assigns  it 
fourteen  millions  of  inhabitants  ;  which  however  is  nothing 
in  comparison  of  the  single  town  of  Hancbou  in  China^ 
whose  inhabitants,  he  assures  us,  amount  to  twenty  mil'« 
Hods,  besides  the  suburbs.     This  *^  Variarum  Observatio-* 
num  Liber,"  however,  as  well  as  Isaac  Vossius's  works  inx 
general,  all  shew  ingenuity  and  learning,  and  there  are  in 
them  some  singular  and  striking  observations ;  but  yet  very . 
little  knowledge  is  to  be  drawn  from,  and  very  little  use 
to  be  made  of  them.     Thirl  by  says  very  justly  of  him, 
that  he  was  a  man  of  great  learning,  had  excellent  parts, 
and  sufficient  judgment,    but    never  troubled   his   head 
about  what  was  the  truth  in  any  question  whatever.     If 
criticism,  or  philosophy,  or  theology,  was  the  subject,  it 
was,  says  Thirlby,  ^*  quite  enough  for  him  to  cast  about  fpr 
and  invent  things  new,  out  of  the  way,  and  wonderful ;  but 
whether  these  strange  and  newly-discovered  things  were 
true  or  false,  was  a  point  which  he  left  to  be  examined  by 
those  who  might  think  it  worth  their  while.'*     The  last  of 
bis  works  we  shall  notice  is,  ^*  Observationum  ad  Pompo^ 
^ium  Melam.  appendix  :  accedit  ad  tertias  P.  Simonii  ob- 
jectiones Responsio,  &c.''  Lond.  1686,  4to,     James  Gro- 
novius,  having  used  Vossius  ill  in  his. edition  of  ^^  Mela/' 


442  V  O  S  S  I  U  S. 

at  Leydeti,  1685;  in  8vo,  is  in  this  appendix  paid  in-lEiiiJK^ 
Hmnphrey  Body  is  also  answered,  in  ashort  piece-contained^ 
in  this  publication ;  wbo  had  advanced  something  ag^nst 
Vossius's  notions  of  the  Septuagint  version,  in  his  **'Disw 

.  sertatio  contra  Historian)  Aristes  de  LXX.  Interpretibus/V 
printed  at  Oxford/'  1685.  .  ^ 

The  journalists  of  Trevoux  have  conttasted  the  diffBreat 
Merits  of  Gerard  and  Isaac  Vossios,*  by  drawing  a  passdiisi' 
between  theoi,  which  very  well  illustrates  the  character  of- 
each,  and  may  form  a  proper  conclusion  to  this  article/ 
Nothing/'  say  they,  f'can  be  more  opposite  than  the  cbaiae* 
ters  of  this  father  and  son  ;  nothing  more  different  tban*the 
make  of  their  understandings.  In  the  father,  jadgment 
prevails;  in  the  son,  imagination:  the  father  labours  dowly; 
the  son  goes  on  with  ease:  the  fatherdistruststhe  best«^ 
founded  conjectures;  the  son  loves  nothing  but  conjee^ 

'  tiires,  and  those  bold  and  daring:  the  father  forms  bib: 
opinions  urpon  what  he  reads;  the  son  conceives  an  opinion^- 
aiid  then,  reads :  the  father  ehdeavoars  to  penetrate  the 
sense  of  the  author  he  cites^  and  pays  a  proper  deference; 
to  their  authority,  as  to  maaters  ;  the  son  imposes  bis  own 
sense  on  these  authors,  and  regards  them  as  slaves,*  wbo^ 
ought  to  give  testimony  as  he  would  have  them:  Cbe%la«' 
tber's  aim  was  to  instruct ;  the  son's  to  parade  and  make  a 
noise :  truth  was  the  father's  darling  object ;  novelty  the 
soil's.^  In  the  father,  we  admire  vast  erudition,  orderly' 
arranged  a^id  clearly  expressed;  in  the  son,  a  dazzling 
turn  of  style,  singular  thoughts,  and  a  vivacity,  which  even; 

, pleases  in  a  bad  cause :  the  father  has  written  good  books; 
the  son  has  written  curious  books.  Their  hearts  also  were 
as  unlike  and  different  as  their  heads.  The  father  was  a 
man  of  probity  and  regular  in  his  manners ;  was  unhappily 
born  a  Calviiiist,  yettiad  the  .service  of  religion  always  inr 
bis  view  ^,  and  approached  as  nearly  to  the  true  fahhaa 
mere  reason  could  enable  him.  The  son  was  a  libertine 
both  in  principle  and  practice,  made  religion  the  object  of 
bit  insults,  and  only  studied  to  6nd  oat  the  weak  aides  oC 
it :  his  indelicate  and  shameful  notes  upon  Catullus,  printed 
at  the  close  of  his  life,  shew  also  plainly  enough  what  kind 
•f  man  he  was."  Of  Gerard  John  Vossius's  other  sons;  who 
did  not  survive  him,  we  may  notice  Dionysiiis  Vosfiiu% 

^  Their  words  are,  "  Ne  par  malbenr  dans  Im  secte  CalTiniste.''  CaWioiite 
is  in  many  Freticb  writers  the  general  name  for  Protestant.  Gerard  John  was 
•n  Arminian. 


V  O  S  S  I  U  S.  44S 

wko  WBi  born  at  Dort|  and  became  learned  in  the  Greek, 
Jjebrewy  Sjrriaoy  Chaldee,  Arabic,  French,  Italian,  and 
Spanish  languages.  He  wrote,  among  other  small  things, 
*'  Maimonides  de  Idololatria,  cum  Latina  versione  et  notis,*** 
printed  at  the  end  of  his  father's  work  '^  de  origine  et  pro^ 
gressu  Idololatrise ;"  and  some  notes  upon  Caesar's  £)om«- 
jaentariesy  to,  be  found  in  the  edition  of  Graevius,  at  Ara«> 
sterdas^  in  1697.  Francis /Vossius,  another,,  son,  pnb^ 
lished  a  Latin  poem  in  1640,  upon  a  naval  viictory  gaiaed 
by  -Yan  Tromp.  Gerard,  a  third  son,  was  the  editor  of 
Paler^ulasy  the  Elzevir  of  1639,  12mo :  and  MATTHE>y,  a 
fdnribjon,  published  at  Amsterdam,  in  1635,  ^^Annaliam: 
Hollanditt  Zelandinque  iibri  quinque,"  4to. ''  . 
(  VOSSIUS  (Gerard),  a  very,  learned  man,  whom  soaiie 
have  .confounded  with  John  Gerard  Vossius,  was  born  in 
the  diocese  of  Liege,  some  say  at  Berchloon,  and  otbert 
at  Hasselt,  but  he  does  not  appear  to  have  been  related  to 
^e  family  of 'Gerard.  He  was.an  ecclesiastic  of  the  church 
of. Rome,  employed  in  some  considerable  offices  under  die 
popes,  and  died  at  Liege  in  1609*  He  published  a  Latin- 
commentary  upon  ^*  Cicero  in  Somnium  Scipionis,^'  njc 
Bome,  1575  ;  and  all  the  works  of  Gregory  Thaumaturgos^ 
Ephrem  Syrus,  and  some  pieces  of  Jc^n  Cbrysostom  and 
Theodoiret,  with  Latin  versions  and  notes.  * 

VOU£T  (Simon),  a  French  painter,  very  celebrated  in 
liis  day,  was  born  at  Paris  in  1582,  and  bred  up  under  hb 
father,  who  was  a  painter  /also.  He  knew  so  omch  of  his 
art,  and  was  in  such  repute  at  twenty  years  of  age,  that 
M<ms«  de.  Sancy,  who  was  going  ambassador  to  Constan* 
tinople,  took  him  with  him  as  his.painter.  There  he  drew 
the  picture  of  the  grand  signer ;  soul,  though  it  was  impoa^ 
sible  to  do  it  otherwise  than  by  the  strength  of  memory,  and 
£rom  a  view  of  him  at  the  ambassador's  audience,  yet  it 
pcoved  a  great  likeness.  Thence- he  went  to  Venice ;  and 
afterwards,  settling  himself  in  Rome,  became  so  illustiiotts 
in  his  profession,  that,  besides  the  favours  which  he  re* 
eeived  from  pope.  Urban  VIIL  and  the  cardinal  his  nephew, 
he  was  chosen  prince  of.  the  Roman  academy  of  St.  Luke. 
He  staid  fourteen  years  in  Italy ;  and  then,  in  1627,  Lewis 
XIIL  who,  in  consideration  of  his*  capacity,  bad  allowed 
a  pension  all  the.  while  he  was  abroad,  sent  for  him 


1  Nieeroii,  ▼oK  XIII.— Cbatifepie. — Foppen,  Bib).  Be!g. 
*  Kiccron,  vol*  XIII.<^FoppeD^  Btbl.  BeJg.    . 


444  V  O  U  E  T, 

home  to  work  ki  his  palaces.  ,  He  pnM^tised  .boih  in  per** 
trait  and  history ;  and  furnbbed  some  of  the  apartments  of 
the  LouTre,  the  palaces  of  Luxemburg  and  St.  Gentnafns^ 
the  galleries  of  cardinal  ^Richelieu,  and  other  public  places^ 
with  bis  works.  His  greatest  perfection  lay  in  his  colouf  r 
ingy  and  his  brisk  and  lively  pencil ;  otherwise  he  was. but 
very  indifferently  qualified.  He  had  no  genius  for  giand 
compositions,  was  unhappy  in  his  invention,  unacquainted 
with  the'  rules  of  perspective,  and  understood  but  little  of 
the  union  of  colours,  or  the  doctrine  of  lightsand  shadows* 
Yet  France  was  indebted  to  him  for  destroying  the  insipid 
and  barbarous  manner  which  then  reigned,  and  lor  begin* 
ning  to  introduce  a  better  taste.  The  novelty  of  Vouet'a 
manner,  and  the  kind  reception  he  gave  all  who  came  to 
him,  made  the  French  painters,  bis  contemporaries,  ftdlow 
it,  and  brought  bim  disciples  from  all  parts.  Most  of  the 
Sttcceeding  painters,  who  were  famous- in  their  profession^ 
were  bred  up  under  bim,  as  Le  Brun,  Perrier,  Mignard, 
Le  Sueur,  Dorigny,  Du  Fresooy,  and' several  others,  whom 
be  employed  as  assistants  in  a  great  number  of  pictures  he 
drew,  and  from  his  instructions  they  well  knew  how  to  ex<» 
ecute  bis  designs.  He  had  the  honour  also  to  instruct  the 
lung  himself  in  the  art  of  designing. 

He  died,  rather  worn  out  with  labour  than  years,  in  1641, 
«ged  fifty->nine.  Dorigny,  who  was  bis  8on-*in-law,  as  well 
as  bis  pupil,  engraved  the  greatest  part  of  his  wm'ks.  He 
had  a  brother,  whose  name  was  Aubin  Vouet,  who  painted 
after  his -manner,  and  was  a  tolerable  performer.' 

VOYER  (Marc  Rene  Le  Voyek  be  Paulmy,  Marqvis 
D'Aroenson),  a. distinguished  French  statesman,  of  a  very 
noeient  and  honourable  family,  was  born  at  Venice  in  1652, 
where  his  father  then  resided  as  ambassador  from  France,  and 
was  so  much  respected  that  the  senate  gave  bim  and  his  de* 
scetidants  permission  to  add  the  arms  of  the  republic  to  his 
own,  with  the  lion  of  St.  Mark  as  his  crest.  The  senate 
also,  as  sponsor  for  his  son,  gave  him  the  additional  name 
4^  Mark.  He  was  brought  up  to  the  law,  and  after  filling 
the  place  of  master  of  the  requests,  was  promoted  by  the 
king  to  the  plaee  of  lieutenant-general  of  the  police  of 
Paris,  and  conducted  himself  in  this  ofBoe  with  so  much 
ability  and  propriety,  that  it  is  said  that  city  never  enjoyed 
more  plenty,  quiet,  and  security,  than  under  his  adminis* 

>  Pilkinstoo.o-Penftult  Les  Hosdnies  liluttres. 


V  0  Y  E  R.  4« 

tration.  In  times  of  scarcity  or  commotion  on  any  sOtber 
account,  and  during  fires  or  other  calamities,  he  displayed 
the  talentu  of  a  humane  and  enlightened  magistrate,  and  by 
address  only,  and  sharing  kt  every  danger,  and  listening  to 
ail  reasonable  complaints,  he  succeeded,  in  preTenting  or 
Ikllaying  popular  tumults,  without  having  recourse  to  extre^^ 
mities.  His  ability  in  this  office  recommended  him  to  a 
superior  rank  in  the  administration,  and  accordingly,  after 
being  made  a  counsellor  of  state,  he  was  in  1^18  promoted 
to  be  keeper  of  the  seals,  president  of  the  council  of 
finance,  and  in  1720  minister  of  state;  but  of  these  offices 
he  was  almost  immediately  deprived,  we  are  not  told  why, 
^nd  died  May  8,  1721.  He  was  attached  to  literature,  and 
was-  a  member  of  the  French  academy  and  of  that  of 
acienoes.  His  character  has  been  variously  represented. 
We  have  given  the  most  favourable  account,  but  it  must 
not  be  concealed  that  he  was  accounted  by  many  as  a  friend 
to  despotic  authority,  fend  as  meanly  subservient  to  the 
tyranny  of  the  court  or  its  ministers.  He  is  said  to  have 
obliged  the  Jesuits  by  persecuting  the  Jansenists,  but  net* 
t'her  loved  or  hated  the  one  or  the  other,  unless  as  they 
night  promote  or  obstruct  his  ambition.  In  private  life  he 
was  a  more  amiable  character.  Some  of  his  descendants, 
made  a  considerable  figure  in  the  latter  French  history.' 
•  VROON  (Henry  Cornelius),  a  Dutch  painter,  was 
born  at  Haerlem  in  1566.  In  a  voyage  to  Spain  he  was 
shipwrecked  on-  the  coast  of  Portugal.  Relating  at  Lisbon 
the  danger  he  bad  escaped,  a  portrait-painter  there -engaged 
him  to  draw  the  storm  he  described,  in  which  he  succeeded 
so  happily,  that  it  wa(s  sold  to  a  nobleman  for  a  considera- 
ble price.  Vroon  continued  to  be  employed;  and  im- 
proved so  much,  in  sea-pieces,  that  having  got  mon^y,  and 
returning  home,' be  applied  himself  entirely  to  that  style  of 
painting.  At  this  period,  the  great  earl  of  Nottingham, 
lord  high  admiral  of  England,  whose  defeat  of  the  Spanish 
armada  had  established  the  throne  of  his  mistress,  being 
desirous  of  preserving  the  detail  of  that  illustrious  event, 
had  bespoken  a  suit  of  tapestry,  describing  the  particulars 
of  each  day^s  engagement.  Vroon  was  engaged  to  draw 
the  designs,  and  came  to  England  to  receive  instructions. 
The  excellence  of  the  performance,  obvious  to  the  publio 
eye,  makes  encomiums  unnecessary.    It  was  during  the 

^  Diet.  Hist Morcf^. 


/ 


44«  V  R  O  O  N. 

* 

republic  that  this  noble  trophy  was  placed  ia  a  templet 
.worthy  of  it,  the  House  of  Lords,  which  was  then  used, 
for  committees  of  the  Commons.  Mr.  Walpole,  froni* 
whom  the  above  extract  is  taken,  has  not  certified  the  date 
of  Vroon's  death.* 

VYTH,  orVEYTH  (John  Martin),  an  extraordinaty 
artist,  was  born  at  Schafbausen,  in  May  1650.  He  tra- 
Yelled  and  resided  long  at  Rome  and  Venice.  On  his  re- 
turn he  married  Elizabeth  Ott,  and  died  in  April  17  IT. 
This  is  nearly  all  the  information  which  the  attention  and 
tbe^s  taste  of  his  country  has  preserved  of  a  man,  who,  on 
the  evidence  of  his  few  remaining  works,  commands  a  plac6 
among  tlie  best  artists  of  his  time.  Some  anecdotes  in-*; 
dieed  are  told,  relative  to  his  circumstances,  which  were  aa 
ludicrously  penurious  as  Brauwer's.  At  Berne  and  Basle, 
they  still  shew  his  Adieu  and  death  of  Adonis,  and  the.AduU 
tress  in  the  Temple.  Scbafhausen  possesses^  the  Rape.o£ 
the  Sabines,  the  judgment  of  Paris,  Scipio  and  the  CeltH 
berian  princess,  the  death  of  Cleopatra,  and  that  of  Cato ; 
and  at  Geneva  there  are  yet  so^me  subjects  painted  by  him 
from,  the  Metamorphoses  of  Ovid.  Veyth*s.style  of  design 
is  an  imitation  of  the  forms  of  Michael  Angelo,  but  not  a 
compilation  from  his  figures.  His  method;  of  drawing  is 
wild  and  great :  seldom  he  makes  use  of  the  pen  ;  dadies; 
of  white  on  stained  paper  mark  the  lights,  the  paper  the 
middle  tints,  and  a  little  black  the  shade.  .  In  composition 
he  sometimes  sacrificed  the  main  subject  to  the  episodic 
part,  if  it  happened  to  invite  by  picturesque  allurements* 
in  colour,  though  he  foIlow,ed  the  Venetian  principle,  es- 
pecially Bassan,  he  had  a  characteristic  and  varied  tone 
drawn  from  the  nature  of  the  subjects.' 

>  Walpole's  Anecdoteg.  \  PilkiDgtoD,  by  Fwelu 


(  447  r 


w; 

«  r 

IrV  A  C  £  (Robert),  an  Anglo-Norman  poet,  whose  wocfct 
are  esteemed  the  most  ancient  mouuinents'  of  French  lite- 
rature, was .  born  in  the  isle  of  Jersey,  in  the  early  part  of 
the  ty^elfth  century.  Huet,  bishop  of  Amcanches,  assure! 
us  that  his  Christian  name  was  Robert,  and  this  opinion  has 
generally  prevailed,  although  Ducange  calls  him  Mathew« 
From  the  poet  himself,  nothing  can  be  determined, '  for  in 
none. of  his  works  does  he  once  mention  hi^  Christian  namey 
calling  himself  generally  Maitre :  Wace,  Clerc-lisant,  or 
Clerc  de  Caen,  Wace  commenced  his  studies  at  Caen,  a 
city  which  at  that  time  bad  many  celebrated  schools,  and 
afterwards  travelled  in  France  to  complete  his  education, 
but  under  what  tutors,  or  in  what  places,  does  not  appear. 
Whether  however  from  being  dissatisfied  with  his  situation, 
t)r  from  the  natural  predilectipn  of  his  countrymen  in  fa- 
-^our  of  the  English  government,  it  is  certain  that  he  re- 
turned to  Caen,  and  there  made  his  first  essay. 

It  is  difficult  to  ascertain  the  first  speciipen  he  exhibited 
'  oiF  the  literature  of  his  time.     We  know  that  he  had  coni- 
posed  many  works,  that  he  translated  others  into  the  lan- 
guage of  his  country,  and  that  he  particularly  applied  him- 
self to  th^  composition  of  light,  poetry  and  romances,  ^a 
which  last  he  excelled.     He  assures  us  that  he  composed  a 
great  number  of  romances ;  and,  as  most  of  them  have  been 
preserved,  it  is  natural  to  conclude  that  they  were  held  ia 
the  same  estimation  by  his  contemporaries  as  they  have 
been  by  posterity.   But  it  is  proper  to  remark  in  this  place, 
that  the  word  romance  is  not  always  to  be  understood  an 
applicable  to  those  chimerical  tales  which  have  no  other 
basis  than  the  imagination  of  the  inventor.     During  the 
twelfth,  thirteenth,  and  even  the  fourteenth  centuries,  every 
thing  that  was  written  in  French  or  Romance,  or  that  wa$ 
translated  into  that  language,  was  generally  termed  a  ro- 
mance.    Philip  de  Than,  the  most  ancient  of  the  Norman 
poets,  and  William,  another  poet  of  the  same  country,  cono- 
ptosed  in  vei^e  a  work  upon  the  natural  history  of  animals, 
and  each  of  them  called  his  worjks  a  romance.     Richard 
4|*Aiinebaut,  li.kewise  a  Norman  poet,  translated  into  verse 


448  W  A  C  E. 

the  institutes  of  Justinian,  which  he  says  he  has  romanced, 
Samson  de  Nanteuil  versified  the  proverhs  of  Solomon; 
Helie  de  Winchester,  Cato's  distichs;  and  both  of  them 
call  their  translations  a  romance. 

We  are  not  then  to  consider  the  romances  of  Wace  as 
the  offspring  of  a  fertile  imagination  which  has  created 
events  for  the  purpose  of  embellishing  them  with  the 
charms  of  poetry ;  oh  the  contrary,  they  are  monuments 
of  antiquity  of  the  most  respectable  nature,  inasmuch  a§ 
they  form  for  the  most  part  a  precious  repository  of  the 
Norman  and  Anglo-Saxon  history.  When  this  poet  wrote 
the  history  of  events  which  preceded  him,  he  drew  his  ma^ 
terials  from  memoirs  which  then  existed.  He  often  cites 
the  authors  upon  whose  faith  he  advances  his  facts,  and  of 
wliom  many  have  not  been  preserved  to  us.  When  he 
wrote  the  history  of  his  own  times,  he  always  relied  upon 
the  testimony  of  eye-witnesses,  or  related  what  he  him^lf 
bad  seen.  -  In  general  he  is  very  candid  in  his  narration^, 
and  though  he  may  sometimes  appear  to  deal  a  little  in  the 
marvellous,  he  takes  care  *to  observe  that  he  has  found  what 
he  advances  so  written,  and  that  he  gives  it  in  the  same 
manner. 

That  work  qf  Wace's  which  his  learned  biographer  places 
first,  was  composed  in  1 155.     It  is  his  translation  in  verse 
of  the  famous  **  Brut  of  England,'*  so  called  from  Brutus 
the  great  grandson  of  JEnesSy  and  first  king  of  the  Britons* 
It  contains  the  history  of  the  kings  of  Great  Britain,  almost 
from  the  destruction  of  Troy,  to  the  year  689  of  the  com- 
mon oBra.     Walter,  archdeacon  of  Oxford,  had  imported 
the  original  from  Armoric  Britain,  Geoflroy  of  Monmouth 
translated  it  into  Latin,,  and  Wace  into  French  ^'erse.     Se- 
veral copies  of  this  work  are  in  the  British  Museum,  one  at 
Bene*t  college,  Cambridge,  and  one,  at  least,  a  very  superb 
one,  in  the  royal  library  at  Paris,  supposed  to  be  coeval  with 
the  author.     The  verses  of  this  poem  are  always  masculine 
of  eight  syllables,  and  feminine  of  nine ;  by  whidh  cirou^- 
stance  the  error  of  attributing  this  work,  as  Faucbet  has 
done,  to   a   Huistace,  or  Wistace,  is  detected;   for,  by 
substituting  Wace,    as  is  found  in  the  ancient  MS.   the 
verses  acquire  their  necessary  measure.     Warton  has^ fallen 
into  this  mistake  by  depending  upon  Faucbet;  andithe  same 
error  is  repeated  by  several  French  writers.     The  learned 
Tyrwhitt  was  the  first  person  who  attempted  to  clear  up  a 
subject  which  from  time  to  time  became  more  in'vohed  ih 


W  A  C  E.  449 

darkne^ssy  and  to  vindicate  our  author  from  the  errors  or 
injustice  of  qaodern  writers.  By  means  of  soun4  criticism, 
the  authority  of  the  manuscripts  in  the  British  Museum, 
and  the  testimony  of  Layamon  and  Robert  de  Brunnis,  be 
proved,  beyond  the  possibility  of  a  doubt,  that  Wace  was 
the  author  of  tlie  translation  of  the  ^'  Brut'*  into  French 
verse.  Lastly,  Dr.  Burney,  in  his  "  History  of  Music,"  by 
means  of  the  rules  of  French  poetry  alone,  demonstrated  the 
want  of  fidelity  in  the  manuscripts  which  iiad  misled  Fau- 
chet  and  all  other  writers,  who,  as  he  bad  done,  drew  their 
materials  from  faulty  and  imperfect  copies. 

The  second  production  of  Wace  is  the  history  of  the 
irruptions  into  England  and  the  northern  provinces  ^ 
France,  written  in  verses  of  eight  syllables.  His  third  work 
is  the  famous  Roman  du  Rou,  composed  in  1160,  in  verses 
of  twelve  syllables.  Raoul,  or  Rollo,  is  the  hero  of  this 
poem.  His  fourth  piece  is  the  romance  of  William  Long<«- 
sworjd,  the  spn  of  Rollo,  written  in  verses  of  twelve  sylla^ 
bles.  It  is  to  be  found  in  the  royal  librarjL  at  Paris,  at  the 
end  of  the  Roman  du  Rou ;  and  his  fifth  work,  or  the  ro- 
mance of  Richard  I.  duke  of  Normandy,  composed  in  tbtf 
same  measure,  may  be  seen  in  the  same  repository.  His 
sixth  work  contains,  in  12000  lines,  the  history  of  the  Nor- 
man dukes,  from  the  time  of  duke  Richard  I.  to  the  sixth 
year  of  Henry  I.  and  was  composed  after  1 170.  A  copy  it 
in  the  British  Museum,  Bib.  Reg.  iv.  c.  xi.  His  seventh 
performance  is  an  abridged  chronicle  of  the  history  of  the 
dukes  of  Normandy,  beginning  with  Henry  II.  and  going 
upwards  to  Rollo. 

The  eighth  is  a  history  of  the  origin  of  the  feast  of  the 
conception  of  the  Holy  Virgin.  The  ninth  is  a  life  of  Sc 
Nicolas,  one  copy  of  which  is  in  the  Bodleian  library, 
and  another  in  that  of  Trinity  college,  Cambridge.  Tl^ 
tenth  is  the  Roman  du  Chevalier  au  Lion.  It  is  also  pror 
liable  that  our  poet  composed  several  branches  of  the  rOf- 
mance  of  Alexander ;.  and  the  conjecture  of  Tyrwhitt,  that 
he  is  the  Robert  Guasco,  author  of  the  Martyrdom  of  St. 
Georg^e,  mentioned  by  the  abbe  le  Boeuf  (Mem.  de  TAcad. 
des  Inscr.  xvii.  p.  729.)  is  not  without  foundation.  The 
lighter  poetry  of  Wace  has  not  reached  the  present  times. 

Such  a  multitude  of  works  from  the  pen  of  the  sarne.au- 
thor  engaged  the  attention  of  Henry  II.  who,  to  reward  his 
merit,  bestowed  on  him  a  canonry  in  the  cathedral  of 
Bayeux.     Monsieur  Lancelot,  in  his  explanation  of  the 

Vol.  XXX.  Go 


450  WAGE. 

tapestry  of  queen  Matilda,  preserved  in  the  treasury  of  tbat 
r cathedral j  has  contended  that  Wace  borrowed  several  facts 
< which  be  could  not  have  found  elsewhere  froov  that  valu- 
able, monument,  but  for  this  there  seems  very  slight  foun- 
dation.    Dumoutier  in  his  '*  Neustria  pia^'  says  that  Wace 
^was  canon  of  Caen,  but  it  is  certain  there  was  no  chapter 
established  in  that  city.     That  of  St.  Sepuichrei  which  suli 
remains,  was  not  founded  till   1219.     )t  is   true,  that  in 
March  1 153,  Philip  de  Harcourt,  bishop  of  Bayeux,  founded 
three  new  canonries  in  his. cathedral  church,  and  to  endow 
them,  annexed  the  parish  churches  of  Notre  Dame,  St. 
John,  and  St.  Peter,  belonging  to  the  city  of  Caen ;  per- 
iiaps  Wace  being  afterwards  provided  with  one  of  these 
benefices,  might  have  been  called  canon  of  Caen,  because 
•the  chief  place  of  his  prebend  was  situated  in  that  city ; 
this  conjecture  acquires  the  greater  probability  on  account 
of  a  practice  still  existing  in  Normandy  of  describing  every 
canon  by  the  name  of  the  plaqe  appropriated  to  bis  ca* 
Bonry. 

Huet,  and  almost  every  one  of  those  who  have  spoken 
of  our  poet,  have  maintained  that  he  had  been  clerk  of  the 
chapel  to  king  Henry  II.  Wace,  however,  mentions  no- 
thing concerning  this  dignity,  although  he  minutely  4e* 
scribes  all  the  favours  which  that  oionarch  conferred  upon 
bim ;  he  is  even  so  attentive  upou  this  subject,  that  he 
assures  us  the  king  gave  him  many  things,  but  bad  pro- 
.  mised  him  more.  Besides,  as  the  title  of  clerk  of  the 
King's  cliapel  was  a  very  honourable  one,  which  generally 
led  the  way  to  a  bisjiopric,  we  may  presume  from  his 
silence  that  he  was  not  invested  with  it.  Monsieur  Huet 
has  certainly  been  misled  by  the  description  oi  cltrky  which 
Wace  often  assumes ;  but  be  should  have  remarked,  that 
he  .never  calls  himself  tferc  du  7ot,  but  always  clercde  CaeUj 
or  clerc  lisant,  a  title  which  then  signified  nothing  more 
than  a  learned  man,  and  which  was  even  given  to  laymeA, 
since  Henry  I.  was  surnamed  Btauderc, 

Of  Wace's  personal  history  we  have  no  farther  account, 
but  with  regard  to  the  advantages  attending  the  perusal  of 
the  productions  of  Wace,  his  biographer  says  very  truly, 
that  ^^  The  antiquary  will  at  first  rema.rk  with  astonishment, 
that  their  language  (that  of  the  Normans)  has  been  pre- 
served even  to  our  own  days  in  the  countries  of  Lower 
Normandy.  He  will  perceive  their  progi*ess  in  the  various 
arts;  their  attainments  in  that  of  war;  tUeir  arms  and  their 


WAGE.  451 

<nilitary  customs ;  their  method  of  attacking  castles  and 
strong  holds  ;  the  state  of  their  marine  and  their  commerce; 
the  hetajht  to  which  they  have  carried  architecture  arid 
other  sciences,  together  with  the  monuments  they  have  left 
us*  The  genealogist  will  find  many  curious  and  interesting 
;fact«  relating  to  ancient  families;  he  will  feel  himself. re- 
warded in  the  perusal  of  the  names  of  the  knights  who  \Vere 
present  at  the  bailie  of  Hastings ;  and  of  the  noble  aciions 
by  which  each  of  them  signalized  his  valour.  In  a  word, 
the  historian  will  learn  with  pleasure  many  circumstances 
and  details  which  are  not  to  be  found  in  any  other  writer.*'  * 

WADDING  (Luke),  an  eminent  Irish  Roman  catholic, 
and  reckoned  a  great  ornament  to  his  country,  was  born  ^t 
Waterford,  Oct.  16,  1588.  His  first  studies  were  begun 
at  home  under  the  tuition  of  his  bflrother  Matthew,  who 
took  him  to  Portugal  in  the  fifteenth  year  of  his  age,  and 
placed  him  in  a  seminary  established  for  the  Irish  at  Lis- 
bon,  where  he  applied  to  philosophy  for  six  months  under 
the  direction  of  the  Jesuits.  ,  In  1605,  after  having  passed 
bis  noviciate,  he  was  admitted  among  the  Franciscans,  and 
afterwards  continued  his  studies  at  their  convents  at  Liria, 
at  Lisbon,  and  afterwards  at  Coimbra,  in  all  which  places 
be  was  admired  for  the  diligence  and  success  of  his  appli- 
cation. After  being  admitted  into  priest's  orders  he  re- 
moved to  Salamanca,  where  he  continued  some  time,  and 
was  made  superintendant  of  the  students,  and  lecturef  in 
divinity,  in  both  which  offices  he  gave  great  satisfaction. 
In  1618,  when  Anthony  a  Trejo,  vicar-general  of  the  Fran- 
ciscans, was  advanced  to  the  bishopric  of  Carihagena,  in 
Spain,  and  appointed  legate  extraordinary  to  pope  Paul  V, 
upon  one  of  those  disputes  which  frequently  agitated  the 
Romish  church,  respecting  the  immaculate  conception,  the 
bishop,  although  he  had  the  choice  of  many  men  of  the 
Spanish  nation,  eminent  for  learning  and  talents  in  busi- 
ness, yet  preferred  Wadding  to  be  chaplain  of  this  em- 
bassy, although  then  but  thirty  years  old,  and  a  foreigner. 

Accordingly,  having  introduced  our  divine  at  court,  the 
bishop  took  him  with  him  to  Rome,  where  they  were  lodged 
in  the  palace  of  cardinal  Gabriel  a  Trejo,  the  bishop's  bro- 
ther, who  employed  Wadding  in  compiling  or  composing 
from  the  libraries  and  archives  of  Rome  such  arguments 
and  proofs  as  related  to  the  question  before  them  ;  and   he 

>  ArchjBologia,  vols.  XII.  and  XIII.  by  M.  De  la  Rue. 

G  G2 


452  W  A  D  D  I  N  G. 

even  TJstted  Assisi,  Perugia,  Naples,  and  many  odier 
places  fer  the  same  purpose.  Besides  this,  at  the  reqoest 
of  some  who  had  perused  what  he  had  bronght  together 
with  great  satisfaction,  he  was  induced  to  write  a  history 
of  that  legation,  not  indeed  with  a  view  to  publication,  but 
having  intrusted  the  MS  to  some  who  were  of  opinion  it 
ought  not  to  be  concealed,  it  was  at  last  published  by 
Maximilian  de  Bouchorne,  at  Louvaitte,  under  the  title 
*/  Legatio  Philippi  III.  et  IV.  Hispanisfc  reguni,  ad  sane- 
tissimos  D.  D.  Paulum  V.  et  Gregorium  XV.  et  Urbanum 
VIII.  pro  definienda  controversia  conceptionis  B.  Marian 
Virginia;  per  illustrissimum,  &c.  Anthonium  a  Trejo," 
&c.  Louvain,  1624,  folio. 

But  while  this  legation  was  going  on,  he  removed  from 
the  cardinal's  palace,  as  enjoying  there  a  course  of  lifd 
which  be  thought  incompatible  with  his  profession  of  Fran-** 
ciscan,  and  took  up  his  residence  at  the  Franciscan-convedt 
of  St.  Peter,  where  he  was  honoured  with  the  respect  of 
many  of  the  dignified  ecclesiastics  of  Rome;  and  on  the 
departure  of  the  bishop  to  Spain,  when  the  care  of  the 
legation  was  entrusted  to  the  duke  of  Albuquerque, 
the  Spanish  ambassador  at  Rome,  Wadding  was  ap* 
pointed  his  assistant,  and  was,  says  his  biographer,  the 
life  of  the  whole  negotiation.  He  wrote  three  pamphlets 
on  the  subject  of  the  immaculate  conception,  the  titles  of 
which  we  may  be  excused  from  giving.  During  the  time 
he  could  spare  from  the  business  of  this  legation,  he  pub- 
lished an  edition  of  some  works  of  St.  Francis,  from  MSS. 
in  the  public  libraries,  under  the  title  of  "  Opusculorum 
StFrancisci  Libri  tres,"  Antwerp,  1623.  Befpre  this  time 
be  performed  what  will  probably  be  thought  a  more  accept- 
able service  to  theological  studies,  in  undertaking  to  print 
Calasio^s  Concordance  (see  Calasio).  Calasio  died  at 
Rome)  while  Wadding  was  there,  leaving  this  large  work 
in.  manuscript.  Wadding,  who  saw  \U  merits,  regretted 
that  it  should  be  lost ;  and  being  unable  of  himself  to  de-^ 
fray  the  expence  of  printing,  applied  to  pope  Paul  V.  and 
to  Benignus  a  Genua,  the  general  of  the  Ffanciscans,  by 
whose  encouragement  the  whole  was  published  at  Rome 
iu  1621,  4  vols,  folio,  under  the  inspection  of  Wadding, 
who  prefixed  to  it  a  learned  treatise  "  De  Hebraic^ 
linguae  origine,  praistantia  et  militate.*'  Pope  Paul  dying 
while  the  work  was  in  the  press,  he  dedicated  it  to  his 
successor,  Gregory  XV.      He  pubiisfaed  also,  from  origi- 


WADDING.  458 

natl  MSS..  the  work*  of  some  other  Spanish  divines,  and 
wrote  a  life  of  Thon^asius,  patriarch  of  Constantinople^ 
**  Vita  B.  Petri  Thomoe  Aquitani  CarmelitsB,"  &c.  Lyons, 
1637,  8vo.  But  the  nH>st  labourius  effort  of  editorship 
was  bis  rescuing  from  obscurity  all  the  manuscript  copies 
of  Duns  Scotus's  worksy  transcribing,  collating,  and  cor- 
recting, and  afterwards  publishing  the  whole,  in  twelve 
folio  volumes,  at.  Lyons,  in  1639. 

In  the  mean  time,  his  reputation  had  so  much  increased 
that  in  1630,  he  was  appointed  procurator  for  the  Francis^ 
cans  at  Rome,  which  he  held  until  1634.  In  1645,  he  was 
appointed  vice-commissary  of  his  order,  which  it  appears 
he  resigned  in  1648.  He  was  also,  in  1625, /the  founder 
of  the  college  of  St.  Isidore,  for  the  education  of  Irish 
students  of  the  Franciscan  order,  of  which  he  was  the  first 
guardian  or  head.  The  expenses  of  this  college,  rlie  cha» 
p4pl,  library,  &c.  were  defrayed  by  contributions  from  the 
peopje  of  Rome,  out  of  regard  to  the  founder.  He  also 
persuaded  cardinal  Ltidovisins  to  found  a  secular  college 
there  for  six  Irish  students ;  and  this,  and  some  other  in- 
stitutions, suggested  and  promoted  by  him,  be  lived  to  see 
well  endowed.  His.  influence,  from  whatever  cause,  ap- 
pears to  have  been  very  great;  but  the  worst,  and,  as  his 
biographers  sa}',  the  only  stain  on  his  character,  is  the  en* 
couragement  he  gave  to  the  Irish  rebellion  and  massacre 
in  164i.  He  died  Nov.  18,  1657,  and  was  buried  in  the 
chapel  of  St.  Isidore.  Not  long  before  his  death  he  had 
refused  the  promotion  to  the  rank  of  cardinal. 

Wadding  published  some  other  treatises  than  we  have 
joientioned,  and  left  many  in  mainuscript.;  but  he  lived  to 
finish  what  had  been  the  employment  of  nnany  years,  a 
history  of  his/order,  and  the  eminent  men  it  has  produced. 
This  he  completed  in  eight  volumes,  folio,  at  Lyons, 
1625— rl 654.  A  new  and  enlarged  edition  has  been  since 
published  at  Rome,  under  the  title  of  "  Waddingi  Lucsb 
Annales  Minorum,  seu  historia  trium  ordinum  a  S.  Fran- 
cisco institutorum,  editio  secunda,  studio  Jos.  Mar.  Fon* 
seca,"   1731—45,    19vols.  foU 

WADHAM  (Nicholas),  esq*  of  Edge  and  Merrifield,  in 
Somersetshire,  in  which  county  he  was  born,  the  founder 
of  Wadham*colIege,  Oxford,  was  a  descendant  of  the  a-n- 
pi^t  ff^mily  of  Wadhams  of  Devonshire;  but  the  period 

\  Hairis's  edition  of  Ware. 


4S4  WAD  H  A  M. 

pf  his  birth  is  not.  known,  nor  have  we  inany  particnh 
of  his  personal  history.  According  to  .Wood,  he  was  a 
gentleman-commoner  either  of  Christ-church,  or  Corpus- 
Christi  college,  where,  he  is  supposed  to  have  been  admit<- 
ted  about  1548.  He  inherited  an  estate  which  he  increased 
to  more  than  3000Z.  a-year,  and  accumulated, about  14,000/. 
in  money.  .  A  large  portion  of  this  property  he  resolved  to 
devote  to  some  foundation  of  public  utility.  His  first  iu-f 
Mention  is  said  to  have  been  to  found  a  college  at  .Venice 
for  such  Englisbpien  of  the  Roman  catholic  persuasion  as 
might  wish  to  enjoy  tlieir  education  and  religion,  now  no 
longer  tolerated  in  England.  From  this  it  may  be  inferred, 
that  he  was  himself  attached  to  popery  ;  but. bis  adherence 
could  not  be  inflexible,  as  be  was  soon  persuaded  by .  bis 
friend  Mr,  Crange  to  erect  a  college  in  Oxford,  in  imi- 
tation of  the  others,  where  the  established  religion  was  oow 
cultivated  with  zeal.  His,  or  rather  his  vvife^$,  appointing, 
that  the  warden  should  not  be  married,  may  be  thought  a 
part  of  the  old  persuasion ;  but  it  must  be  remembered^ 
that  the  marriage  of  the  clergy  was  one  of  the  last  changes . 
of  opinion  to  which  the  nation  was  completely  reconciled* 
Queen  Elizabeth  was  always  agamst  it;  and  it  was  prohi^ 
bited  by  the  statutes  of  Jesus-college,  A  mote  ridiculoua 
reason  has  been  traditionally  assigned  for  Mrs.  Dorothy 
Wadham's  injunction  against  marriage;  she  is  said  to  have 
be^n  refused  by  the  first  warden  ;  but  she  was  at  thi&  time 
seventy-five  years  old,  and  he  considerably  advanced,  which 
renders  this  story  highly  improbable*  As  Mr.  Wadham 
died  before  this  design  could  be  carried  into  execution,  he 
bequeathed  the  management  of  it  to  his  wife,  the  daugb* 
ter  of  sir  William  Petre,  secretary  of  state,  who  so  often 
occurs  as  a  benefactor  to  the  university  of  Oxford.  This 
lady,  assisted  by  trustees,  and  with  a  zeal  proportioned  to 
her  hiisband's  spirited  design,  coinpleted  the  necessary  purr 
chases,  buildings,  and  endowment.  She  survived  her  hus-r 
dand  nine  years,  died  May.  16,  1618,  aged  eighty -four, 
and  was  buried  with  her  husband  in  the  north  transept  of 
the  church  of  Ilminster  in  Somersetshire,  under  a  stately 
monunient  of  alabaster,  on  which  are  their  figures  on^brass 
plates ;  but  the  whole  is  considerably  decayed. 

Mrs.  Wadham  first  endeavoured  to  purchase  the  site  of 
Gloucesier-halK  now. Worcester-college,  b^it  Dr.  Hawley, 
then  principal,  refusing  to  give  up  his  interest  in  that  pro- 
perty,- unless  she  would  appoint  him  her  first  governor  QC 


WAD  HA  M.  *S8 

warden,  she  declined  the  condition,  and  made  proposals  to 
the  city  of  Oicford,  for  the  site  of  the  priory  of  Austin 
Friars. 

This  was  once  a  place  of  great  fame  in  the  university, 
aad  may  be  traced  to  very  high  antiquity.     In  1251,  pope' 
Iniiocent  IV.  granted  a  powec  to  the  friars  eremites  of  St.- 
Austin,  to  travel  into  any  countries,  build  monasteries,  and 
celebrate  divine  service.     With  this  permission,  they  first 
established  a  bouse  in  London,  but  deputed  some  of  their* 
number  to  go  to  Oxford,  where  they  hired  an  obscure 
boosQ  near  the  public  schools.     Acquiring  some  reputation: 
for  their  skill  in  philosophy  and  divinity,  or  at  least  what 
were  then  so  called,  they  attracted  the  attention  of  sir  John 
Handl^ve,  or  Handlow,  of  Burstall  in  Buckinghamshire,  a 
very  opulent  gentleman,  who  purchased  for  them  a  piece 
of  ground,  enlarged  afterwards  by  a  gift  from  Henry  Ill.i 
On  this  they  built  a  house  and  chapel  in  a  sumptuous  form, 
and  held  schools  for  divinity  and  philosophy  of  such  repu-- 
tatioOf  that,  before  the  divinity  school  was  built,  the  univer-. 
sity  acts  were  kept,  and  the  exercises  in  arts  were  per- » 
formed   in  this  place.     It  was  in  particular  enjoined  that' 
every  bachelor  of  arts  should  once  in  each  year  dispute,' 
and  opoe  answer,  at  this  house,  and  this  cohtinued  until, 
the  dissolution,  when  the  disputations  were  removed  to  St. 
Mary's,  and  afterwards  to  the  schools.'    After  the  dissolur 
lion,  the  premises  were  let,  on  a  lease  of  twenty -one- years,' 
at  3/.  yearly,  to  Thomas  Carwarden,  or  Cardori,  esq.  who 
appears  to  have  demolished  the  whole,  and  carried  off  the 
materials.    In  1552,  king  Edward  VI.  sold  the  site  to  Henry 
duke  of  Suffolk,  and  Thomas  Duport,  gentleman,  who  al- 
most immediately  conveyed  it   to   Henry   Bay  lie,  M.  D* 
ibrmerly  a  fellow  of  New  college,  for  forty-five  shillings 
yearly.    'In  1553,  Baylie  sold  it  to  his  father-in-law,  Ed- 
ward Freere,  of  Oxford,  who  left  it  to  his  son  William,  by 
whom,  in  1587,  it  was  again  sold  to  the  mayor,  bailiffs,  and 
commottaky  of  Oxford  for  the  prmcipal  sum  of  450/. 

In  1609,  Mrs.  Wadham  made  proposals  to  the  city  for 
the  purchase  of  this  site,  which,  after  many  consultations^ 
was  agreed  to»  with  this  condition,  that  they  might  have 
the  first  nomination  of  one  fellow,  and  two  scholars  of  the 
new  college.  This  being  agreed  to,  the  site  was  conveyed  to  ■ 
Mrs.  Wadham,  May  29,  1610,  for  the  sum  of  600/.  Of  the 
old  priory,  nothing  at  this  time  remained  except  parts  of 
the  wall/^,  which  were  immediately  rertioved,  and  the  foun- 


I  - 


U«  W  A  D  H  A  M. 

dation  stone  of  the  college  laid  July  31.  On  this  occi»ion, 
the  Tice^baDcellor,  doctors,  proctors^  &c.  came  in  proces- 
sion from  St.  Mary's  church,  and  met  the  mayor  and  alder- 
men on  the  spot.  Dr.  Ry  ves,  warden  of  New  college,  de- 
livered an  oration  in  praise  of  the  founders,  and  the  fint 
stone  was  then  laid  on  the  east  part  where  the  chapel  now 
stands. 

The  king's  licence,  bearing  date  Dec.  20,  1611,  em- 
powered Mrs.  Wadham  to  found  a  college  for  the  studies 
of  divinity,  canon  and  civil  law,  physic,  the  arts  and  sciences, 
and  classical  languages ;  the  society  to  consist  of  a  warden, 
sixteen  fellows,  and  thirty  scholars,  graduate  or  not  gradu- 
ate,  or  more  or  less,  as  the  statutes  might  prescribe.  The 
act  of  parliament  for  the  confirmation  of  Wadham  college 
was  passed  on  the  16th  of  August,  1612.  The  statutes  of 
the  foundress,  thus  confirmed,  specified  the  college  to  be 
for  a  warden,  fifteen  fellows,  fifteen  scholars,  two  chaplains, 
two  clerks^  with  college  servants.  The  warden  was  to  be  a 
native  of  Great  Britain,  master  of  arts  at  least,  and  be  in- 
capacitated from  holding  his  situation,  either  if  he  mar- 
ried, or  was  promoted  to  a  bishopric ;  but  the  condition 
respecting  marriage  was  annulled  by  act  of  parliament, 
July  1806.  The  fellows,  after  completing  eighteen  years 
from  the  expiration  of  their  regency,  are  to  resign  their 
fellowships.  The  scholars,  from  whom  'the  fellows  are  to 
be  chosen,  are  to  be^  three  of  the  county  of  Somerset,  three 
of  Essex,  and  the  rest  of  any  other  county  in  Great  Britain.* 

WADSWORTH  (Thomas),  an  eminent  nouconformist, 
was  born  in  St.  Saviour's,  Southwaiic,  in  1630,  and  educated 
in  Ciirist's  college,  Cambridge,  where  he  was  under  the  tui-e 
tion  of  Dr.  Owtram,  a  tutor  of  eminence.  In  1652  he  was 
appointed  minister  of  Newington  Butts,  where  he  not  only 
spent  his  time,  but  a  great  part  of  his  fortune  in  works  of 
piety  aad  charity.  He  distributed  Bibles  among  the  poor, 
and  constantly  visited  his  parishioners,  and  instructed  them 
from  house  to  house.  There  was  a  singular  circunnstance, 
very  creditable  to  him  in  this  appointment  to  St,  Mary's 
Newington.  Our  readers  perhaps  need  not  be  told  that  at 
this  time  the  elections  to  churches  were  popular,  and  it  so 
happened  that  the  parishioners  were  .divided  into  two  par- 
ties, each  of  which,  unknown  to  the  other,  presented  its 
petition  at  Westminster  to  the  committee  who  determined 

1  Wood's  Colleges  and  Halls.— ChalmeiVs  Hist.  of-Oxford, vvol.  II. 


W  A  D  vS  W  O  R  T  H.  4&1 

ebnrcb  preferments;  and  when  these  petitions  were  opened, 
febey  were  found  to  be  both  in  favour  of  Mr.  Wadsworth« 
He  also  lectured  occasionally  in  various  city  churches,  and 
at  last  was  chosen  to  tbe  living  of  St.  Lawrence  Pountnay, 
whence  he  was  ejected  at  the  restoration.  He  afteipwar<b 
preached  privately  at  Newiogton,  Theobalds,  and  South* 
wark.  He  received  nothing  for  his  labours,  but  was  con- 
tent to  .lE^end  and  be  spent  in  his  great  niaster^s  service. 
His  diary,  printed  at  the  end  of  his  life,  contains  the  strong- 
est proofs  of  his  being  an  excellent  Christian  ;  and  it  is  no 
less  evident,  says  Granger,  from  his  practical  works,  that 
be  strove  to  make  others  as  good  Christians  as  himself. 
He  died  of  the  stone,  the  29th  of  October,  1676,  aged 
forty-six.  His  funeral  sermon  was  preached  by  Mr.  Bragge. 
He  published  various  pious  treatises,  enumerated  by  Caiamjr, 
few^  of  which  have  descended  to  our  times. ' 

WAGENAAR  (John),  a  Dutch  historian,  and  historio- 
grapher  to  the  city  of  Amsterdam,  was  born  there  in  1709, 
and  died  in  1773.  His  principal  work  is  a  ^^  History  of 
Holland,"  from  tbe  earliest  times  to  1751,  in  21  vols.  3vo^ 
the  first  two  of  which  appeared  in  1749.  There  was  a  -se- 
cond edition  published, at  Amsterdam  in  1752 — 1759,  with 
many  engravings,  maps,  and  portraits  by  Houbrakeo.  It 
appears  to  have  been  tbe  merit  of  this  work  which  ocea^ 
sioned  his  being  honoured  with  the  title  of  historiographer 
to  the  city  of  Amsterdam  in  1758*  In  it  he  is  said  to  dis- 
play profound,  research,  sound  political  principles,  a4)<i  ele- 
gance and  precision  of  style;  and  the  Dutch  esteem  rt  one 
ef  the  greatest  ornaments  to  their  literature.  Wageuaar 
wrote  many  other  works  :  1.  <^  The  present  state  of  the 
United  Provinces,"  Amst.  1739,  12  vols.  8vo.  2.  "De- 
scription of  the  city  of  Amsterdam,"  ibid.  1760,  3  vols.  foL 
3.  *^  The  character  of  John  de  Witt  placed  in  iu  true  lights** 
He  published  also  some  tracts  on  topics  of  divinity,' 

WAGENSEIL  (John  Christopher),  a  very  learned 
German,  was  the  son  of  a  reputable  tradesman,  and  bdrn 
at  Nuremberg  in  1633.  He  was  sent  early  to>a  school  at 
Stockholm ;  whence  he  was  taken  at  thirteen,  and  placed 
in  the  university  ofAltorf.  The  distinction,  to  which  he 
there  raised  himself  by  his  abilities  and  learning,  recom- 
meiKied  him  to  some  nobility  as  a  proper  tutor  to  their 

1  Calamy.— Life  prefixed  to  his  '<  Remains.*'— (lark's   Lives,  1684,  liiL—- 
Granger.  8  Diet,  Hiit. 


45S  W  A  G  E  N  S  E  I  L. 

children  ;  and,  after  contiDuiogfive  years  at  Altorf,  be  wai 
taken  into  the  family  of  the  count  de  Traun.  He  not  only 
performed  the  office  of  an  instructor  to  the  sons  of  this  no* 
blemani  but  accompanied  them  in  their  travels  to  FraDce» 
Spain,  England,  Holland,  several  parts  of  Germany,  and 
Italy.  He  contracted  an  acquaintance  with  the  learned 
wherever  he  went,  and  received  honours  from  several  uni- 
versities :  those  of  Turin  and  Padua  admitted  him  into  tbeit 
body.  In  France,  he  experienced  the  liberality  of.  Lewis 
XIV.  and  was  received  doctor  of  law,  at  Orleans,  in  Jnne 
1665.  Several  places  would  have  detained  him,  but  the 
love  of  his  native  country  prevailed  ;  and,  after  traveliiag 
for  six  years,  be  arrived  at  Nuremberg  in  1667.  He  was 
immediately  made  professor  of  law  and  history  in  the  uni* 
versity  of  Altorf ;  but,  about  eight  years  after,  changed 
his  professorship  of  history  for  that  of  the  Oriental  tongrues. 
In  1676,  Adolpbus  John,  count  Palatine  of.  the  Rhine, 
committed  two  sons  to  bis  care,  and  ac  the  sc^me.  time 
honoured  him  with  the  tiile  of  counsellor.  The  princes  of 
Germany  held  him  in  higii  esteem  ;  and  the  emperor  him- 
self admitted  him  to  private  conferences,  in  1691,  when 
be  was  at  Vienna  about  business.  In  i6()7,  the  town  of 
Nuremberg  gave  him  marks  of  their  esteem,  by  adding  to 
his  titles  that  of  doctor  of  canon  law,  and  by  committing 
the  university-library  to  his  care.  He  was  twice  married  ; 
the  first  time  in  1667,  the  second  in  1701.  He  died  in 
17Q6,  aged  seventy*two. 

He  wrote  and  published  near  twenty  works,  some  in 
French,  the  others  in  Latin.  The  first  came  out  at  Nu«* 
remberg  in  1667,  the  design  of  which  is  to  shew  the  spuri-^ 
ousness  of  the  pretended  fragment  of  Petronius.  In  an» 
other,  printed  in  the  first  volume  of  *^  Aukoenitates  Litem* 
riae,''  he  endeavours  to  prove  the  real  existence  of  Pope 
Joan,  which  has  been  so.  much  questioned.  His  principal 
work  is  entitled  *'Tela  Ignea  ^atans^,"  Altorf,  168 1^  in 
2  vols.  4tQ.  This  is  a  collection  of  pieces  written  by  the 
Jews  against  the  Christian  religion  ;  with  a  Latin  version, 
and  long  notes  in  the  way  of  refutation.^ 

WAGSTAFFE  (Thomas),  a  learned  nonjuring  divine 
and  able  writer,  was  of  a  gentleman^s  family  in  Warwick- 
shire, and  was  born  February  15,  1645,  He  was  educated 
at  the  Charterhouse  school  under  Mr.  Wood.     In  Lent* 

^  N'.ceron,  vol.  11.— Life  printed  at  Nuremberg,  1719|  4to, 


W  A  G  S  T  A  F  F  E:  45^ 

term  K16O9  he  was  admitted  commoner  of  New-Ttin  at  Ox« 
ford,  where  he  took  the  degree  of  bachelor  of  arts  October 
15,  1664,.  and  that  of  master  June  20,  1667.  He  was  or- 
dained deacon  by  Dr.  John  Hacket,  bishop  of  LichBeld 
and  Coventry,  June  6,  1^69 ;  and  priest  by  Dr.  Josieph 
Henshaw,  bishop  of  Peterborough,  November  19,  1669. 
He  was  instituted  to  the  rectory  of  Martins-Thorpe  in  the 
county  of  Rutland,  by  Joseph,  bishop  of  Peterborough; 
November  19,^  1669.  After  that  he  lived  in  the  family  of 
sir.  Richard  Tem^ple  at  Stow/  in  the  county  of  Buc'ks,  and 
entered  upon  the  curacy  of  that  church  April  12,  1676^ 
In  December  1684,  he  was  presented  by  king  Charles  H. 
aud  instituted  by  William,  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  to  the 
cbancellorsbtp  of  the  cathedral  church  of  Lichfield,  toge- 
ther with  the  prebendary  of  Alderwas  in  the  same  church. 
In  March  1684  he  was  presented  by  Henry,  bishop  of 
London,  to  the  rectory  of  St.  Margaret  Pattens  in  London. 
Upon  the  revolution,  being  deprived  of  his  preferments  for 
not  taking  the  new  oaths,  be  practised  physic  for  many 
years  afterwards  in  the  City  of  London  with  good  success, 
and  wore  his  gown  all  the  while.  In  February  1693'  he 
was  consecrated  bishop  by  Dr.  William  Lloyd,  bishop  of 
Norwich,  Dr.  Francis  Turner,  bishop  of  Ely,  and  Dr.  Tho- 
mas White,  bishop  of  Peterborough,  at  the  bishop  of  Peter^ 
borough's  lodgings,  at  the  reverend  Mr.  GifFard^s  house 
at  Souihgate,  at  which  solemnity  Henry  earl  of  Clarendon 
was  present.  Mr.  WagstafFe  was  consecrated  suffragan  of 
Ipswich,  and  Dr.  Hickes  at  the  same  time  suffragan  of 
Thetford,  Mr.' Wagstaffe  died  October  17,  1712,  in  the 
sixty •  seventh  year  of  his  age.  He  published  few  sermons, 
but  wrote  many  pieces  in  defence  of  the  constitution  both 
in  Church  and  State,  with  great  strength  of  reason  and 
perspicuity. 

Among  these  are,  1.  ^^  A  Letter  to  the  author  of  the  late 
Letter  out  of  the  country,  occasioned  by  a  former  Letter 
to  a  member  of  the  House  of  Commons,  concerning  the 
bishops,  lately  in  the  Tower,-  and  now  under  suspension.*' 
2.  ^'  An  Answer  to  a  late  pamphlet  entitled  Obedience  and 
Submission  to  the  present  Government  demonstrated  from 
bishop  Overall's  Convocation  Book  :  with  a  postscript  in 
answer  to  Dr.  Sherlock's  Case  of  Allegiance,*'  London, 
1690.  3.  "An  Answer  to  Dr.  Sherlock's  Vindication  of 
the  Case  of  allegiance  due  to  sovereign  powers,  which  he 
made  in  reply  to  an  Answer  to  a  late  pamphlet  entitled 


469  W  ▲  G  3  T  A  F  F 

ObdiUieBoB  and  Submission  to  the  present  government  de« 
Humstrnted  from  bishop  Overall's  Convocation  book,  with 
a  postscript  in  answer  to  Dr.  Sherlock's  Case  of  Allegiance, 
tccJ*  London,  1692.     4.  <*  An  Answer  to  a.  Letter  to  Dr. 
Sherlock  written  in  vindication  of  that  part  of  Josephos's 
History,  which  gives  the  account  of  Jaddas^s  submission  to 
Alexander,  against  the  Answer  to  the  piece  entitled  Obe- 
^ieace  and  Submission  to  the  present  Government;"  Lood. 
1692.     5.  '<  A  Letter  out  of  Suffolk  to  a  friend  in  London^ 
giving  some  account  of  the  late  sickness  and  death  of  Dr. 
WiUmm  Sancroft   late  l<Mrd  archbishop  of  Canterbury,^' 
London,  1694.     6.  ^*  A  Letter  out  of  Lancashire  to  a  friend 
in  London,  giving  some  account  of  the  tryals  there.    To- 
gether with  some  seasonable  and  proper  remarks  upon  it ; 
recommeoded  to  the  wisdom  of  the  Lords  and  Commona 
assembled  in  parliament,'*  London,  1694.     7-  ^^  A  Letier 
to  a  gentleman  elected  a  knight  of  the  shire  to  serve  in  the 
present  parliament/' '  London^  1694.      8.    **  Remarks  on 
some  late  Sermons,  and  in  particular  on  Dr.  Sherlock^s  ser- 
mon at  the  Temple  December  the  SOtb,  1694,  in  a  letter 
to  a  friend.    The  second  edition,  with  additions.    Together 
with  a  letter  to  the  author  of  a  pamphlet  entitled  A  De- 
fenC^e  of  the  archbishop's  Sermon,  &c.  and  several  other 
Serflions,   &c."  London,    1695.     9.   "  x\n  account  of  tiie 
procaedings  in  the  House  of  Commons,  in  relation  to  the 
recoioiog  the  clipped  money,  and  falling  the  price  of  guir 
neas.     Together  with  a  particular  list  ot  the  names  of  the 
members  consenting  and  dissenting ;  in  answer  to  a  Letter 
out  of  the  country,"  London,  1696.      10.  **  A  Vindication 
of  king  Charles  the  Martyr;  proving  that  his  aiajesty  was 
the  author  of  E&tfv  Ba^iT^um,  against  a  memorandum  said  to 
be  written  by  the  earl  of  Anglesey,  and  against  the  excep- 
tions of  Dr.  Walker  and  others.     To  which  is  added  a  prer 
face,  wherein  the  bold  and  insolent  assertions  published  in 
It  pa«sage  of  Mr.  Bayle's  Dictionary  relating  to  the  present 
controversy  are  examined  and  confuted.    The  third  editioni 
with  large  additions  ;  together  with  some  original  letters  of 
king  Charles  the  First,  &c."  Lend.  1711,  in  4to.     The  two 
fonser  editions  were  in  8vo,  the  first  printed  in  1693,  and 
the  second  in  1697.     11.  *'  A  Defence  of  the  Vindication 
of  king  Charles  the  Martyr ;  justifying  his  majesty's  tide 
to  Ettwy  Bor/xurii,    in  answer  to   a  late  pamphlet  entitled 
Amyntor,"    London,    1699.      Mr.  WagstafFe   also    wrote 
.prefaces  before,    1.  **  Symmons's  Restitiitus :  qotntaiaiog 


W  A  G  S  T  A  F  F  E;  4f  I 

tvrp  epistles,    four  whole   sections  or   chapters^  together 
with  a  postscript,  aad    some    marginal  obsdrvatio«s^   kck 
wt|icb  were  perfectly  omitted^iu  the  late  edition  of  Mr  Sym* 
mons's  hooky  entitled  A  Vindication  of  king  Charles  I.  and 
republished    by   Dr.    Hollingworth,"   London,    1693.      2. 
*^  The  devout  Christian's  Manual,  by  Mr.  Jones/'  London, 
1703.     3.  '^  A  Treatise  of  God's  Government,  and  of  the 
justice  of  his  present  dispensations  in  this  world.     By  the 
pious,  learned,  and  most  eloquent  Salvian,  a  priest  of  Mar* 
aeilles,  who  lived  in  the  fifth  century.     Translated  from> 
the  Latin  by  R.  T.  presbyter  of  the  church  of  England," 
London,  1700.   Toese  two  pamphlets  are  also  of  Mr.  Wag- 
stage's  writing,  I  •  ^^  The  present  state  of  Jacobitism  in  Eng« 
land,?  ibid.  1 700  ;  *^  A  second  part  in  answer  to  the  first'' 
^whtch   was   written  by  the  bishop  of  Salisbury,   &o.  &c. 
WagstaflPe  derived  most-credit  from  his  endeavours  to  prove 
^the  ^^£ikon  Basilike"  to  be  the  genuine  production  of  king 
Charles ;  but  on  this  subject  we  must  refer  our  readers  to 
tbfi  life  of  bishop  Gauden,  aild  especially  the  authoritie» 
there  quoted.     Mr.  WagataiFe  had  a  sou  who  resided  at 
Oxford  in  the  early  part  of  his  life,  but  afterwards  weot 
abroad,  and  resided  at  Rome  many  years  in  the  character 
of  protestant  chaplain  to  the  chevalier- St.  George,  and  af«t 
terwards  to  bis  son.     He  was  there  esteemed  a  man  of  very 
•xtens^ive  learning.    Dr.  Townson  was  acquainted  with  him 
at  Rome^  both  on  his  first  and  second  tour  in  1743  and 
1768.     He  lived  in  a  court  near  a  carpenter's  shop,  and 
upon  Dr.  Townson's  inquiring  for  him,  the  carpenter  kneir 
of  no  such  person. — '<  He  did  live  somewhere  in  this  yard 
some  years  ago." — *'  I  have  lived  here  these  thirty  years, 
and  no  person  of  such  a  name  has  lived  here  in  that  time.^' 
— But  on  farther  explanation,  the  carpenter  exclaimed^ 
**  Oh,  you  mean  //  PreddcaUrre ;  he  lives  therie,"  pointing 
to  the  place.     This  Mr.  WagstafFe  died  at  Rome,  Deo.  3, 
1770,    aged   seventy-eight.      Mr.  Nichols   has   preserved 
some  jeux  d'esprits,  and  some  epitaphs  written  by  bini^ 
and  there  is  a  letter  of  his  to  Tom  Hearne,  in  the  ^^  Let-> 
lers  Written  by  Eminent  Persons,"  lately  pobiished  at  Ox* 
ford,  1813,  3  vols.  Svo.^ 

WAGSTAFFE  (William),  a  physician,  whose  writings, 
as  well  as  his  indolent  habits  of  life,  seem,  to  have  veiy 
strongly  re*euibled  those  of  the  facetious  Dr;  William  King 

»  Life  in  Geiu  Diet,  by  Mr.  Salmon. — Biog.  Brit.— Nichols's  Bewyer. 


4«2  .WAGSTAFFE.     • 

of  the  Commons,  was  related  to  the  preceding  WagstafTi^fi^ 
and  descended  from  a  very  ancient  family,  who  were  lords 
of  the  manor  of  Knic:htcote  in  Warwick sbi re.  He  was  bofn 
in  16S5,  and  being  the  only  son  of  bis  father  tbe  rector  of 
Cublington  in  Buckinghamshire^  he  was  educated  with 
great  care,  and  sent  early  to  school  at  Northampton.  In 
his  sixteenth,  year  he  was  removed  to  Lincoln  coile|;e,  Ox- 
ford, where  be  was  soon  distinguished,  not  only  for  talents 
and  learning,  but  for  a  facc^tious  humour  which  made  his 
conversation  very  acceptable  to  persons  of  superior  rank 
and  standing  in  the  university.  After  taking  his  degree  of 
B.  A.  in  1703,  he  had  some  thoughts  of  entering  into  tbe 
church,  from  ik>  heuer  motive,  bowiever,  than  the  hoped^ 
of  being  preferred  by  a  relation;  but  alter  taking  his  de- 
gree of  A.M.  in  I707f  he  left  tbe  university,  and  coming 
up  to  London,  visited  another  relatioft,  the  rev.  Thomas 
Y^agstaflFe,  who  then  was  a  physician ;  and  marrying  tliis^ 
gentleman^s  daughter  some  time  afterwards,  resolved  on 
medicine  as  a  profession,  in  which  bis  wife's  relations  did 
their  utmost  to  assist  him.  After  her  death,  he  formed  a 
second  eligible  union  with  the  daughter  of  Charles  Bernard, 
esq.  sergeant-surgeon  to  queen  Anne^  Not  long  after  this 
marriage,  he  completed  his  degrees  in  physic,  in  1714,  an^ 
returning  to  town  wks  admitted  fellow  both  of  the  college 
of  physicians,  and  in  1717  of  tbe  Royal  Society.  Business 
gradually  increasing,  he  was  chosen  one  of  the  physicians 
of  St.  Bartholomew's  baspital,  which  trust  he  discharged 
/  with,  great  reputation,  as  to  skill  and  humanity.  He  ap« 
pears,  however,  to  have  been  a  mlm  of  indolence,  and  of 
some  irregular  habits,  which  brought  on  lowness  of  spirits, 
and  decay  of  health.  In  hopes  (^  recovery  he  went  to  Bath 
in  March  1724-5,  but  died  there  May  5,  in  the  fortieth 
year  of  his  age.  His  works  were  tbe  saa>e  year  collected 
under  the  title  of  "  The  Miscellaneous  Works  of  Dr.  Wil- 
liam Wagstaffe,  physician  to  St.  Bartholomew's  hospital,'* 
&c.  8vo.  Their  contents  are  characteristic  of  the  author's 
peculiar  humour,  and  his  opinions  of  his  contemporaries. 
1.  "A  comment  upon  the  History  of  Tom  Thumb,"  in 
ridicule  pf  Addison's  papers  on  **  Chevy  Chase."  2. 
"  Crispin  tbe  Cobler's  confutation  of  Ben  H(oadly),  in  an 
epistle  lo  him."  3.  "  The  Story  of  tbe  St.  A(lba)n's  ghost,'* 
&c.  4.  **  The  testimonies  of  the  citizens  of  Fickleborougb, 
<?oncerning  the  life  and  character  of  Robert  Huish,  con>- 
iiionly  called    Bob,  &c."     5.  "The  representation  of  tbe 


WAKE.  4tf3 

loyal  subjects  of  Albinia."  6.  "  The  character  of  Richard 
St(ee)le,  esq. :"  not  a  very  just  one.  7.  "  The  state  and 
condition  of  our  Taxes  considered."  8.  "  The -Plain 
Dealer,"  16  numbers.  9.  "  Preface  to  the  complete  his- 
tory of  the  treaty  of  Utrecht."  10.  "  A  Letter  from  the 
facetious  Dr.  Andrew  Tripe,  at  Bath,  to  bis  loving  brother 
the  profound  Greshamite,  &c."  Most  of  these  tracts  Were 
written  in  his  early  years,  and  without  his  name.  He  was 
also  the  author  of  two  scarce  little  volumes,  called  ^^  Anno^ 
tations  on  the  Tatler,"  frequently  quoted  in  the  variorum 
editions  of  that  periodical  paper.^ 

WAKE  (Isaac),  a  learned  politician,  was  the  son  of 
Arthur  Wake,  rector  of  Billing,  in  Northamptonshire,  mas- 
ter .of  the  hospital  of  St.  John  at  Northampton,  and  canon 
of  Christ  Church  ;  and  was  born,  it  is  supposed,  at  Billing, 
about  1575.  He  became  a  member  of  the  university  of 
Oxford  in  1593,  and  in  \59S  was  elected  probationer-fel- 
low of  Mertori  college.  In  1604  he  was  chosen  public 
orator,  and  in  that  capacity  had  frequent  opportunities, 
sometimes  before  the  king  and  court  at  their  visits  to  the 
university,  of  delivering  speeches  in  a  pure  and  eloquent 
style.  lu  1609  he  travelled  iui  France  and  Italy,  and  after 
bis  return  was  made  private  secretary  to  sir  Dudley  Carle- 
ton,  one  of  the  chief  secretaries  of  state,  and  discovering, 
in  tbts  situation,  talents  which  might  qualify  him  for  diplo- 
matic commissions,  bis  majesty  (James  I.)  employed  him  as 
ambassador  to  Venice,  Savoy,  and  other  courts.  Previous 
to  bis  setting  oul  for  Savoy  in  1619,  he  received  the  order 
of  knighthood.  In  1625  he  sat  as  member  of  parliament 
for  the  university  of  Oxford,  and  his  speeches  added  con- 
siderably to  his  repdtation.  His  accomplishments  like- 
wise, both  as  a  scholar  and  a  gentleman,  were  greatly  ad- 
mired., He  died  in  1632,  while  at  Paris,  in  the  service  of 
Charles  I.  and  bis  body  being  brought  to  England,  was  in- 
terred .in  the  chapel  at  Dover  castle.  His  funeral,  which 
was  very  magnificent,  was  expressly  at  the  charge  of  the 
king,  who  had  intended  him  for  the  place  of  secretary  of 
state  had  he  lived. 

His  most  celebrated  work  was  his  '^  Rex  Platonicus,  sive 
de  potentiss.  principis  Jacobi  rtigis  ad  Acad.  Oxon.  adventu, 
anno  1605,"  Oxon.  1607,  4to,  of  which  courtly  publica- 
tion there  were  at  least  six  editions.  There  is  a  passage  in 
this  work  from  which  Shakspeare  is  conjectured  to  have 

'  Nichols's  Bowyei. — ^"railer,  vol.  II, — Spectator,  vol.  I,  #dit.  1806,  8vo. 


4«4  W  A  K  E> 

J 

derived  the  plot  of  his  *^  Macbeth.**  Sir  Isaac's  other  works 
are,  1. "  Oratio  funebris  babita  in  Templo  B.  Mariae  Oxoo. 
qautn  moesti  Oxonienses,  piis  manibus  Johannis  Rainoldi 
parentarent/*  Oxon.  1608,  12 mo,  translated  by  Fuller  in 
bis  **  Abel  Redivivus."  2.  Another  on  sir  Thomas  Bodley, 
printed  by  Bates  in  his  '^  VitsB  selectorum  aliquot  viroruoi,^' 
&c.  3.  "  Discourse  of  the  Thirteen  Cantons  of  the  Hel- 
vetica! league,'^  Lond.  1655,  8vo,  with  two  others  on  Italy 
and  Sweden,  under  the  general  title  of  a  *^  Threefold  help 
to  political  observations.^'  He  left  some  MSS.  and  th^re 
are  several  of  his  letters  in  the  ^^  Cabala,''  and  in  the  Hai> 
ieian  collection.  ^ 

WAKE  (William),  an  eminent  English  prelate,  de* 
scended  from  an  ancient  family,  was  born  in  1657,  at 
Blandford,  in  Dorsetshire,  where  his  father,  of  the  same 
names,  was  a  gentleman  of  considerable  property..  He 
was  probably  educated  at  first  at  home,  whence  his  father 
carried  him  to  Oxford,  with  a  view  to  place  him  in  Trinity 
college,  but  an  accidental  interview  with  Dr.  Fell,  dean  of 
Christ  Church,  determined  him  in  favour  of  that  college, 
of  which  he  was  accordingly  admitted  a  student  in  1672« 
Having  taken  his  degree  of  A.  B.  in  1676,  and  that  of  A*  M. 
vak  1679,  he  fixed  his  choice  on  divinity  as  a  profession, 
rather  against  the  intention  of  bis  father,  who  wished  to 
provide  for  him  in  the  clothing  business.  He  then  entered 
into  holy  orders,  and  in  1682  accompanied,  in  quality  of 
chaplain,  lord  viscount  Preston,  also  of  Christ  Church, 
who  was  appointed  envoy  extraordinary  lo  the  court,  of 
France. 

While  in  France  he  is  said  to  have  made  a  considerable 
figure  in  the  learned  world,  and  was  applied  to  by  Dr.^ 
DOW  bishop  Fell,  to  procure  the  collation  of  some  valuable 
Greek  MSS.  of  the  New  Testament  at  Paris,  for  the  use  of 
Dr.  Mill,  whose  edition  Dr.  Fell  patronised.  In  the  be* 
ginning  of  the  reign  of  James  II.  he  returned  home  wiih 
lord  Preston,  and  was  soon  after  chosen  preacher  to  the 
honourable  society  of  Gray's  Inn.  This,  it  would  appear, 
was  against  the  wish  of  the  king,  who,  on  the  death  of  his 
predecessor.  Dr.  Claget,  sent  a  message  to  the  society, 
*  desiring  them  not  to  proceed  to  an  election  until  they 
beard  from  him,  but  they  returned  an  answer  that  they 
bad  already  chosen  Dr.  Wake. 

» 

1  Ath.  Ox,  vol.  L  new  edit — Fuller's  and  Lloyd's  Worlliies. — See  notes  at  ibc 
cnt!  o(  Johnson  and  i>teeT«ns's  edition  of  Sbakspeare*s  MacbcUi. 


W  A  K  E.  46S 

^-  Dtifing  his  Tesidence  in  France  an  incident  occurred 
wbicb  occasioned  bis  first  appearance  as  an  author,  and  his 
being  known  as  an  able  writer  both  at  home  and  abroad. 
Bossuet;  the  bishop  of  Meaux  (See  Bossuet)  had  now  pub- 
lished his  very  artful  ^^  Exposition  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Fatth/^  a  copy  of  which  came  into  the  hands  of  Mr.  Wake^ 
who,  in  the  preface  to  his  Answer,  gives  a  very  curious  ac- 
eoniit  of  the  different  alterations  the  work  had  undergone^ 
in  order  to  answer  the  real  purposes  for  which  it  was  writ« 
ten.  He  observes,  that  "  the  first  design  of  monsieur  de 
Meaux^s  book  was  either  to  satisfy  or  to  seduce  the  late 
mareschal  de  Turenne.  How  far  it  contributed  thereunto 
I  -am  hot  able  to  say,  but  am  willing  to  believe  that  the 
change  that  honourable  person  made  of  his  religion  was 
upon  somewhat  better  grounds  than  the  bare  Exposition  of 
a  few  articles  of  the  Roman  faith ;  and  that  the  author 
supplied  either  in  his  personal  conferences  with  him,  or  by 
some  other  papers  to  us  unknown,  what  was  wanting  to  the 
first  fraught,  which  we  have  seen  of  this.  The  manuscript 
copy  which  then  appeared,  and  for  about  four  years  toge- 
ther passed  up  and  down  in  private  hands  with  great  ap« 
p]ause,  wanted  all  those  chapters  of  the  Eucharist,  Tradi* 
tton,  the  Aatbority  of  the  Church  and  Pope,  which  now 
make  up  the  nfiost  Considerable  part  of  it ;  and  in  the  other 
points  which  it  handled,  seemed  so  loosely  and  favourably 
to  propose  the  opinions  of  the  church  of  Rome,  that  not 
only  many  undesigning  persons  of  that  communion  were 
offended  at  it,  but  the  protestants,  who  saw  it,  generally 
believed  that  monsieur  de  Meaux  durst  oot  publioly  owii 
what  in  his  Exposition  he  privately  pretended  to  be  their 
doctrine.  And  the  event  shewed  that  they  were  not  alto- 
gether mistaken.  For  in  the  beginning  of  1671  the  Expo- 
sition being  with  great  care,  and  after  the  consideration  of 
many  years,  reduced  into  the  form  in  which  we  now  see  it, 
and  to  secure  all,  fortified  with  the  approbation  of  the  arch- 
bishop of  Rheims,  and  nine  other  bishops,  who  profess  that 
^  having  examined  it  with  all  the  care  which  the  importance 
of  the  matter  required,  they  found  it  conformable  to  the  doc- 
trine of  the  church,  and  as  such  recommended  it  to  the  people 
which  God  had  committed  to  their  conduct,'  it  was  sent  to 
the  press.  The  impression  being  finished  and  just  ready  to 
come  abroad,  the  author,  who  desired  to  appear  with  all  ad- 
vantage to  himself  and  his  cause  that  was  possible,  sent  it  to 
some  of  the  doctors  of  th^  Sorbonne  for  their  approbation 
Vol.  XXX.  H  h 


46$  WAKE. 

to  be  joined  to  that  of  the  bishops,  that  so  »o  autborfty, 
ordinary,  or  extraordinary,  might  be  wanting  to  assert  the 
doctrine  contained  in  it  to  be  so  far  from  the  suspicion  the 
Protestants  had  conceived  of  it,  that  it  was  truly  and  with'<- 
out  disguise  Catholic,  Apostolic,  and  Roman.     But,  to  the 
great  surprise  of  monsieur  de  Meaux,  and  those  who  had 
so  much  cried  up  his  treatise  before^,  the  doctors  of  the 
Sorbonne,  to  whom  it  was  communicated,  instead  of  the 
approbation  that  was  expected,  confirmed  what  the  Protes* 
tants  had  said  of  it ;  and^  as  became  their  faculty,  marked 
several  of  the  most  considerable  parts  of  it,  wherein  the 
Exposition  by  the  too  great  desire  of  palliating  bad  abso- 
lutely perverted  th^  doctrine  of  their  church.     To  prevent 
the  open  scaudal,  which  such  a  censure  might  have  caused, 
with  great  industry  and  all  the  i»€crecy  possible  the  whole 
edition  was  suppressed,  and  the  several  places,  which  the 
doctors  had  marked,  changed  ;  and  the  copy  so  speedily 
sent  back  to  the  press  again,  that  in  the  end  of  the  same 
year  another  much  altered  v\as  publicly  exposed,  as  the 
Jirst  impression  that  had  at  all  been  made  of  it.     Yet  thn 
could  not  be  so  privately  carried  on,  but  that  it  soon  came 
to  a  public  knowledge ;  insomuch  that  one  of  the  first  an* 
swers  that  was  made,  to  it,  .charged  monsieur  de  Meaux 
with  this  change.     I  do  not  hear,  that  he  has  ever  yet 
thought  fit  to  deny  the  relation,  either  in  the  advertisement 
pr:efix'ed  to  the  later  editions  of  his  book,  wherein  yet  be 
replie^  to  some. other  passages  of  the  same  treatise,  or  ia 
any  other  vindication:  whether  it  be  that  such. an  imputa- 
tion was  not  considerable  enough  to  be  taken  notice  of,  or 
that  it  was  too  true  to  be  denied,  let  the  reader  judge. 
But  certainly  it  appears  to  us  not  only  to  give  a  clear  ac- 
count of  the. design  and  genius  of  the  whole  book,  but  to. 
be  a  plain  demonstration,  how  improbable  soever  monsieur 
de  Meaux  would  represent  it,  <  that  it  is^  not  impossible  for 
a  bishop  of  the  Church  of  Rome^  either  not  to  be  suffi- 
ciently instructed  in  his  religion  to  know  vvhat.is  the  doc- 
trine of  it;  or  not  sufficiently  sincere,  as  without  disguise 
to  i:epresent  it.'     And  since  a  copy  of  that  very  book  so 
marked,  as  has  been  said,  by  the  doctors  of  the  Sorbonne, 
is  fallen  into  my  bands,  I  shall  gratify  the  reader's  curiosity 
livith  a  particular  view  of  the  changes  that  have  been  made, 
that  so  he  may  judge  whether  of  the  two  was  the  cause  of 
jtho^e  great  advances  which  the  author  in  that  first  edittOQ 
bad  thought  fit  to  naake  towards  us.'' 


WAKE.  '    46t 

1 

,  Such  was  part  of  the  preface  to  Mr.  Wakens  '^  Exposition 
of  the  Doctrine  of  the  Church  of  England,'*  1686,  4to» 
which  he  was  induced  to  undertakci  by  having  observed 
that  the  French  catholics  with  whooa  he  had  conversed, 
had,  from  ignorance,  or  the  naisrepresentations  of  their 
instructors,  entertained  very  false  notions  of  the  points  in 
controversy  between  the  Churches  of  Rome  and  England. 

This  tract,  which  is  generally  called  Wake's  "Cate* 
chism,"  was  answered  in  '^  A  Vindication  of  the  bishop  of 
Condom's  Exposition  of  the  Doctrine  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  in  ansrwer  to  a  book  entitled,  An  Exposition  of 
the  Doctrine  of  the  Church  of  England,  &c.  With  a  Let''> 
ter  from  the  said  bishop,"  1686,  4to.  To  this  our  author 
replied  in  a  book  entitled,  *'  A  Defence  of  the  Exposition 
of  the  Doctrine  of  the  Church  of  England  against  the  ex« 
ceptions  of  Monsieur  de  Meaux,  late  bishpp  of  Condom» 
and  his  Vindicator,"  London,  1686,  4to.  This  occasioned 
^*  A  Reply  to  the  Defence  of  the  Exposition  of  the  Doctrine 
of  the  Church  of  England  ;  being  a  farther  Vindication  of 
the  Bishop  of  Condom's  Exposition  of  the  Doctrine  of  the 
Catholic  Church.  With  a  second  Letter  from  the  Bishop 
of  Meaux,"  1687,  4to.  In  answer  to  which  Mr.  Wake 
published  '*  A  second  Defence  of  the  Exposition  of  the 
Doctrine  of  the  Church  of  England,  against  the  new  Ex- 
ceptions of  Monsieur  de  M^aux  and  his  Vindicator.  Part  I. 
in  which  the  Account,  which  hath  been  given  of  the  Bi« 
shop  of  Meaux's  Exposition,  is  fully  vindicated ;  the  distinc- 
tion of  old  and  new  Popery  historically  asserted ;  and  the 
doctrine  of  the  Church  of  Rome  in  point  of  image-worship 
more  particularly  considered.  Part  IL  in  which  the  Ro- 
mish doctrines  concerning  the  nature  and  object  of  reli- 
gious worship,  of  the  Invocation  of  Saints,  and  worship  of 
images  are  considered,  and  the  charge  of  Idolatry  made 
good  against  those  of  the  Church  of  Rome  upon  the  ac- 
count  of  them,"  London,  1688,  4to.  While  the  second 
part  of  this  treatise  was  writing,  there  was  published  ^^  A 
full  Answer  to  the  second  Defence  of  the  Exposition  of  the 
Doctrine  of  the  Church  of  England.  In  a  Letter  to  the 
Defender." 

Mr.  Wake  afterwards  wrote  several  tracts  in  the  con- 
troversy against  popery,  which  was  carried  on  with  great 
zeal  during  the  latter  part  of  the  reign  of  James  II.  Among 
these  we  may  mention,  1.  '^  A  Discourse  of  the  Holy  Eu- 
charist, in  the  two  great  points  of  the  Real  Preseuce  and 

P  H   2 


46*  WAKE. 

the  Adoration  of  the  Host,"  16S7,  4to.  2.  "  A  discourse 
conceirning  the  nature  of  Idolatry,  in  which  a  late  author*s 
true  and  only  notion  of  Idolatry  is  considered  and  con- 
futed,'* 1688,  4to.  This  was  written  against  the  **  Reasons 
for  abrogating  the  Test,"  by  Samuel  Parker,  bishop  of  Ox- 

"  ford.  3.  "Sure  and  honest  means  for  the  conversion  of 
all  Heretics,"  &c.  1688,  4to.  This  is  a  translation  from 
the  French,  with  a  preface  by  our  author.  4.  "An  histo- 
rical treatise  of  Transubstantiation,  wherein  is  made  appear, 
that,  according  to  the  principles  of  that  Church,  this  doc- 
trii>e  cannot  be  an  article  of  Faith,"  1687,  4to.  This  was 
written  by  a  member  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  published 
by  ouf  author.  5.  "Two  Discourses  of  Purgatory  and 
Prayer  for  the  Dead,"  1688,  4to.  6.  "A  Continuation  of 
the  present  State  of  the  Controversy  between  the  Church 
of  England  and  the  Church  of  Rome ;  being  a  full  account 
of  the  books  published  on  both  sides,"  1688,  4to. 

In  Oct,  1688,  he  married  Miss  Ethelred  Hovel,  daughter 
and  coheiress  of  sir  William  Hovel,  of  Illington,  in  the 
county  of  Norfolk,  knight.  As  he  was  a  favourer  of  the 
revolution,  he  was,  after  that  event,  appointed  deputy  clerk 
of  the  closet  to  king  William,  In  July  1689,  according 
to  Wood,  he  accumulated  his  degrees  in  divinity  at  Ox- 
ford, but  another  account  says  that  he  was  created  D.  D. 
having  been  the  preceding  month  preferred  to  a  canonry 
of  Christ- church,  in  the  room  of  Dr.  Aldrich,  appointed 
dean.  With  a  view  to  contribute  to  a  defence  of  the  doc- 
trine and  government  of  the  church  of  England,  against  the 
adversaries  of  its  hierarchy,  be  published  in  1693,  "An 
English  Version  of  the  genuine  Epistles  of  the  Apostolical 
Fathers,  with  a  preliminary  discourse  concerning  the  use 
of  those  Fathers."  Of  this  excellent  volume  he  published 
a  iiew  edition  in  1710,  with  so  many  improvements,  as  al- 
most to  make  it  a  new  work,  and  a  fourth  edition  appears 

^about  the  time  oT  his  death,  in  1737.  The  reasons  why  he 
lays  great  stress  on  the  authority  of  these  fathers  are  ; 
**  that  they  were  contemporary  with"  the  apostles,  and  in- 
structed by  them  :  that  they  were  men  of  an  eminent  cha- 
racter in  the  church,  and  therefore  could  not  be  ignorant 
of  what  was  taught' in  it;  that  they  were  careful  to  pre- 
serve the  doctrine  of  Christ  in  its  purity,  and  to  oppose 
sut:h  as  went  about  to  corrupt  it :  that  they  were  men  not 
only  of  a  perfect  piety,  but  of  great  courage  and  constancy, 
and  therefore  snch  as  cannot  be  suspected  to  have  had  any 


WAKE;  46d 

design  to  prevaricate  in  this  matter;  that  they  were  en* 
dued  with  a  large  portion  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  as  such' 
could  hardly  err  in  what  they  delivered  as  the  gospel  of 
Christ;  and  that  their  writings  were  approved  by  the  church 
in  these  days,  which  could  not  be  mistaken  in  its  approba* 
cion  of  them/^ — In  July  of  the  same  year,  he  was  preferred 
to  the  rectory  of  St.  James's  Westminster. 

He  took  a  very  active  part  in  that  memorable  controversy 
with  regard  to  the  Convocation,  which  we  shall  only  notice 
so  far  as  he  was  concerned,  something  having  been  already 
eaid  upon  it  under  the  article  of  Atterbury.  In  1697,  there 
was  published  aq  anonymous  pamphlet,  entitled,  <^  A  Let? 
ter  to  a  Convocation  man,  concerning  the  Right:^,  Powers, 
and  Privileges,  of  that  Body:*'  to  which  an  answer  wa^ 
published  the  same  year,  by  Dr.  Wake^  under  this  titled 
"The  Authority  of  Christian  Princes  over  their  ecclesi- 
astical Synods  asserted,  with  particular  respect  to  the  Conr 
vocations  of  the  Clergy  of  the  realm  and  Church  of  Eng- 
land," 8vo :  and,  this  being  attacked,  the  doctor  vindicatea 
himself  in  ''An  appeal  to  all  the  true  members  of  the 
church  of  England,  in  behalf  of  the  king's  ecclesiastical 
supremacy,  as  by  law  established;  by  our  convocation;^ 
approved ;  and  by  our  most  eminent  bishops  and  clergy^ 
men  stated  and  defended,  against  both  the  popish  and  f^r 
liatical  oppbsers  of  it,  1698,"  8vo.,  In  1700,  the  celef 
brated  Atterbury  entered  into  this  dispute  with  great  }/i^ 
gourand  resolution,  and  published  an  aqswer  to  Dr.  AVajke's 
book,  entitled,  '' The  Rights,  Powfsrs,  s^nd  Privil^^s,  of 
an  English  Convocation,  stated  and  defended,"  8 voire^ 
printed  in  .1701,  with  *additions*  The  contrpyersy  now 
grew  warm,  and  several  writers  of  cot^siderable  note  eur 
gaged  in  it.  Burnet,  bishop  of  Salisbury,  and  Kennetj 
afterwards  bishop  of  Peterborough,  wrote  animadversion^ 
upon  Atterbury's  work  ;  and  Kennet'&  piece  against  it  was 
a  particular  reply  to  it,  written  under  the  countenance  of 
archbishop  Tenison.  Hody,  Gibson,  Hooper,  were  cour 
cerned  in  it :  Hooper  was  on  the  side  of  Atterbury  ;  Body 
and  Gibson  against  him.  But  the  most  considerable  and 
decisive  answer  to  Atterbury  was  Dr.  Wake's  large  work, 
eotitled,  <<Tbe  State  of  the  Church  and  Clergy  of  Eng- 
land) in  th^ir  Councils,  Synods,  Convocations,  Con- 
vtotions,  and  other  public  assemblies,  historically  deduced 
(torn  the  conversion  of  the  Saxons  to  the  present  times, 
-1:70V'  iA  fblior    This^work  wa9  esteemed  not  only  a  full 


i76  WAKE. 

and  sufficient  answpr  to  Atterbury,  but  decisive  with  re^ 
gard  to  the  controversy  in  general: 

In  1701,  two  years  before  the  publication  of  the  last- 
mentioned  work,  be  was  installed  dean  of  Exeter,  whence 
in  1705,  he  was  promoted  to  the  bishopric  of  Lincoln.     In 
the  House  of  Peers  he  first  distinguished  himself  by  a  long 
and  learned  speech  in  favour  of  a  comprehension  with  the 
dissenters,  a  measure  which  other  well^-meaning  divines  of 
the  church  had  fondly  adopted  ;  and  expressed  himself  with 
equal  zeal  against  the  intemperate  writings  of  Sacheverell. 
In  Jan.  1715-16,   on   the  death  of  archbishop  Tenison,  he 
was  translated  to  the  metropolitan  see,  and  as  he  had  lived 
to  see  the  folly  of  giving  way  to  the  enemiesof  the  hier- 
iarchy  by  Way  of  reconciling  them  to  it,  he  both  voted  and 
fipoke  in  the   House  of  Lords  against  the  repeal  of  the 
schism  and  conformity  bill  in  1718.     Among  other  things, 
he  remarked^  that  *'  the  acts,  which  by  this  bill  were  to  be 
repealed,  were  the  main   bulwark  and  Supporters  of  the 
established  church  ;    that  he  had  all   imaginable  tender- 
iness  for  all  the  well-meaning  conscientious  dissenters ;  but 
he  could  not  forbear  saying,  that  some  amongst  tbem  made 
a  wrong  use  of  the  favour  and  indulgence  that  was  shewn 
them  upon  the  revolution,  though  they  bad  the  least  share 
in  (hat  event*"'  From  the  same  experience  he  was  led  to 
oppose  the  design  entered  into  by  some  very  powerful  per- 
isons,  the  year  following,  to  repeal  the  corporation  and  test 
acts.     It  was  well  known  that  Hoadly  was  at  the  bottom  of 
this  design,  and  that  his  famous  sermon  on  *^  The  nature 
of  Christ's  kingdom"  was  a  preparatory  step.     The  arch^ 
bishop  therefore  thought  it  proper  to  declare  his  dislike  of 
the  measure,  as  Hoadly  had  proposed  it,  in  an  indirect 
>i^'ay,  and  wrote  a  Latin  letter  addressed  to  the  superin- 
tendant  of  Zurich,  which  was  published  there  under  the 
title  of  *^  Oratio  historica  de  beneficiis  in  ecclesiam  Tigu* 
rinum  coUatis."     In  this  he  took  occasion  to  remark,  that 
"^^  The  church  of  England,  broken  in  pieces  with  divisions, 
and  rent  with  schisms,  is  distracted  with  so  maoy  and  such 
various  sorts  of  separatists  from  her  communion,  that  they 
want  proper  names  to  distinguish  themselves  from  one  ano- 
ther, and  to  describe  themselves  to  other  men.    And  I  wish 
this  was  our  greatest  matter  of  complaint.     But  that  which 
the  spirit  of  God  foretold  should  come  to  pass,  must  be 
fulfilled,  *^  Even  among  ourselves  men  have  arisen,  speak* 
ing  perverse  things.''    But  why  do  I  say  meo  ?     Even  pas^ 


WAKE.  471 

lors  and  bishops  themselves  pull  down  with  their  own  hands 
the  church,  in  which  they  minister,  and  to  whose  doctrine 
they  have  more  than  once  subscribed.  They,  to  whom  the 
preservation  of  the  church  is  committed,  and  whose  duty 
it  is  to  watch  against  her  enemies, 'and  to  reprove,  restrain^ 
and  punish  them  according  to  their  demerits ;  even  these 
endeavour  to  overthrow  the  authority  of  that  chiirch^  for 
which  they  ought  not  only  to  contend,  but  upon  occasion 
even  to  lay  down  their  lives.  What  the  pleas  and  tenets  of 
these  innovators  are,  you  may  in  some  measure  know  from 
two  pamphlets  lately  written  in  the  French  tongue.  Let  it 
here  suffice  to  say  in  a  word,  that  these  men  are  highly 
displeased  with  all  confessions  of  faith,  and  with  all  sub- 
Bci?iptions  to  articles ;  and  would  have  a  liberty,  or  rather 
a  license  granted- for  all  men,,  not  only  to  believe,  but  to 
speak,  write,  and  preach,  whatsoever  they  think  fit,  thousrh 
the  grace  of  the  holy  spirit,  the  divinity  of  Christ,  aad  III 
Other  fundamental  articles  of  our  religion  should  thereby 
be  overturnisd.  What  Christian  is  not  amazed,  that  those 
things  should  be  said  of  any  men  that  bear  but  the  name 
of  Christians?  Who  can  but  lament,  that  those  grievous 
wolves  are  not  only  not  driven  away  from  the  sheepfold,  but 
received  even  within  the  walls  of  the  church,  and  admitted 
to  her  honours,  offices,  and  government  ?  But  so  it  is,  thsft 
while  we  regard  only  the  things  of  this  world,  we  wholly 
forget  those  that  concern  another.  And  because  by  the 
toleration  and  advancement  of  such  men,  some  (who  have 
nothing  more  at  heart  than  to  keep  themselves  in  their 
places  and  power)  hope  to  ingratiate  themselves  with  the 
populace,  they  are  nut  at  all  solicitous  what  becomes  of 
the  church,  of  the  faith,  of  religion,  or  >in  short  of  Jesus 
Christ  himself' and  his  truth.  Pardon  me,  most  worthy 
sir,  that  giving  way  to  a  just  grief,  I  express  my  resent- 
ment against  these  enemies  of  oiir  religion  more  sharply 
than  my  manner  is.  I  should  think  myself  guilty  of  be- 
traying the  faith,  if  I  did  not, -whenever  occasion  serves, 
anacbematize  these  heretics." 

This  letter  gave  occasion  to  two  ironical  pamphlets  by 
the  wits  of  the  party,  entitled,  1.  *^A  short  Vindication  of 
the  Lord  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  from  the  imputation  of 
being  the  author  of  a  Letter  lately  printed  at  Zurich  con- 
oerning  the  state  of  Religion  in  England,"  London,  1719, 
in  8vo.  2.  ^^  A  letter  to  the  Lord  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury, proving  that  his  grace  cannot  be  the  author. of  the 


4Ta  W  A  K  E. 

Letter  to  an  eminent  PresbyteriaD  clergyman  in  Swisser^i 
landi  in  which  the  present  state  of  Religion  in  England  it 
blackened  and  exposed,  and  the  present  ministry  are  mi»^ 
represented  and  traduced/*  London,  1719,  8vo.  This  hist 
piece  is  supposed  to  have  been  written  b^  Mr.  Thomas 
Gordon,  the  translator  of  Tacitus.  Both  were  satisfactorily 
i^nswered  in  another,  entitled  ^^  A  Vindication  of  the  Or^ 
tbodos  Clergy,  in  answer  to  two  scurrilous  libels,  pretend^ 
ing  to  be  a  Vindication  of  the  Lordship  of  Canterbury^ 
but  scandalously  reflecting  upon  his  Grace  and  ouc  mosl 
orthodox  Clergy,"  London,  1720,  8vo. 

In  tb^  same  spirit  archbishop  Wake  joined  the.  earl  of 
Nottingham  in  bringing  a  bill,  into  parliament  in.  1721^ 
levelled  a(  the  Arian  heresy,  and  entitled  ^^  A  Bill  f(»r  the 
flsore  effectual  suppression  of  blasphemy  and  profaneness," 
which,  however,  was  rejected  in  the  House  of  Lords,  and 
brought  on  the  archbishop  the  charge  of  inconsistency, 
because  in  the  cases  of  Whiston  and  Clarke,  in  1711  and 
1712,  he  had  spoken  with  moderation  of  their  Arianbm. 
Whiston  wrote  a  very  angry  letter  to  the  archbishop  on 
ibis  occasion,  which  is  printed  in  bis  life,  but  to  which  the 
archbishop  thought,  and  probably  most  of  those  who  read 
it  will  think,  no  answer  necessary. 

'  That  for  which  archbishop  Wake  appears  to  have  been 
most  blamed,  was  the  share  he  bad  in  a  scheme  of  unioa 
between  the  English  and  Gallican  churches ;  but  in  this, 
as  in  other  parts  of  his  conduct,  the  blame  seems  to  have 
arisen  principally  from  misrepresentation,  at  the  same  time 
that  we  are  willing  to  allow  that  the  scheme  itself  was  a 
weak  one,  and  never  likely  to  produce  any  good.  The 
outline  of  the  affair,  which  is  related  more  at  large  in  the 
Appendix  to  the  last  edition  of  Mosheim's  History,  No  IV^ 
is  this.  lo  1717  some  mutual  civilities  had  passed  between 
the  archbishop. and  the  celebrated  ecclesiastical  historian 
Dupin,  as  men  of  letters,  by  means  of  the  rev.  Mr.  Beau* 
lioir,  then  chaplain  to  lord  Stair,  the  English  ambassador 
at  Paris.  In  the  course  of  these  civilities,  Dupin  vcnMe  to 
the  archbishop  a  Latin  letter  in  Jan.  1718,  in  which,  hav- 
ing congratulated  the  church  of  England  on  the  enjoy<^ 
ment  of  so  eminent  a  prelate  for  its  metropolitan, >  he  took 
occasion  to  express  his  desire  for  an  union  ^between  the  two 
churches  of  England  and  Eranoe,  and  wished  to  enter  into 
a  correspodence  with  his  grace  with  that  view.  .  The  atch- 
biahop,  in  return,  after  thanking  him  for  his 


ditferved,  that  it  was  foil  time  both  for  htmtolf  (Dupin) 
and  the  rest  of  his  brethren  of  the  Sorbonnei  to  declare 
openly  their  true  sentiments  of  the  superstition  and  ambi** 
tion  of  the  court  of  Rome ;  that  it  was  tbe  interest  of  all 
Christians  to  unmask  that  court,  and  thereby  reduce  it  10 
tijoseprimitive  limits  and  honours  which  it  enjoyed  in  the  first 
ages  of  the  church.  In  some  farther  correspondence,  tbe 
archbishop  explained  the  belief,  tenets,  and  doctrine  of 
the  church  of  England,  the  manner  of  its  beginning  to  re*^ 
form  and  shake  off  all  foreign  power  and  superstition  both 
in  church  and  state,  and  its  acknowledgment  that  oor 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  the  only  founder,  source,  and  head  of 
the  church.  In.  all  his  letters  both  to  Dupin  and  others^ 
he  insisted  constantly  on  this  article,  and  aUyays  main^ 
tained  the  justice  and  orthodoxy  of  every  individual  article 
of  the  church  of  England,  without  making  the  least  con* 
cession  towards  any  approbation  of  the  ambitious  preten^ 
aions  of  the  church  of  Rome.  Some  of  the  doctors  of  the 
Sorbonne  readily  concurred  in  this  scheme,  and  Dupia 
drew  up  an  essay  towards  an  union,  which  was  to  be  sub^ 
nitted  for  approbation  to  the  cardinal  de  Noailles,  and 
then  to  be  transmitted  to  his  grace.  This  essay,  which 
was  called  a  "  Comraonitorium,"  was  read  by,  and  had  the 
approbation  of  the  Sorbonne,  and  in  it  wasceded  the  ad« 
ministration  of  the  sacrament  in  both  kinds,  the  performing 
of  divine  service  in  the  vulgar  tongue^  and  the  marriageof 
the  protestant  clergy;  and  the  invocation  of  saints  was 
given  up  as  unnecessary.  The  project  engrossed  the  whole 
conversation  of  the  city  of  Paris>  and  the  English  ambaa*- 
sador  was  congratulated  upon  it  by  some  great  personage^ 
at  court.  The  regent  duke  of  Orleans  hiinself,  and  the 
abb6  Du  Bois,  minister  of  foreign  affairs,  and  De  Fleuryi 
the  attorney  general,  at  first  seemed  to  acquiesce,  or  at 
least  not  to  interfere ;  but,  after  all,  no  considerate  person 
could  expect  much  from  the  scheme,  which  was  entirely 
prevented  by  the  Jesuits,  who  sounded  the  alarm,  and  i^** 
presented  the  cardinal  de  Noailles  and  his  friends  the  Jaa« 
senists  as  about  to  make  acoaUtion  with  the  heretics. 
'  The  court  being  now  sufficiently  roused,  Piers  de  Gerar-» 
dio,  a  doctor  of  the  Sorbonne,  and  one  of  tbe  archbishop's 
correspondents,  was  sent  for,  and  ordered  to  give  up  all 
the  letters  he  had  received  from  the  archbishop  of  Canter-; 
bury,  and  a  copy  of  all  his  own:.  Having  complied,  these 
letters  viere  inunediati^ly  .sent  to  Rome,  where  it  is  said 


474  WAKE. 

pope  Clement  Xt.  so  admired  those  of  our  arcbbisbop,  that 
he  declared  it  was  a  pity  the  author  of  such  profound  letters 
was  not  a  member  of  their  church. 

The  author  of  No.  IV.  of  Mosheim's  Appendix  deduces 
from  the  whole  of  this  transaction)  and  particularly  from 
the  entire  correspondence  given  in  that  Appendix,  that 
Wake  was  invited  to  this  correspondence  by  Dupin,  the^ 
most  moderate  of  atl  the  Roman  catholic  divines;  that  be 
entered  into  it  with  a  view  to  improve  one  of  the  most  fa- 
vourable opportunities  that  c6ald  be  offered,  of  withdraw* 
ing  the  church  of  France  from  the  jurisdiction  of  the  pope; 
a  circumstance  which  must  have  immediately  weakened 
the  power  of  the  court  of  Rome,  and,  in  it$  consequences, 
offered  a  fair  prospect  of  afarther  reformation  in  doctrine 
and  worship,  as  the  case  happened  in  the  churoh  of  Eng^ 
hnd,  when  it  happily  threw  off  the  papal  yoke';-*^hat  he 
did  not  give  any  of  the  <loctors  of  the  Sorbonne  the  smallest 
reason  to  hope  that  the  church  of  England  would  give  up 
any  one  point  of  belief  or  practice  to  the  church  of  France; 
but  insisted,  on  the  contrary,  that  the  ktter  should  make 
alterations  and  concessions,  in  order  to  be  reconciled  to 
the  former; — that  be  never  speoified  the  particular  alter* 
ations  which  would  be  requisrite  to  satisfy  the  .rulers  and 
doctors  of  the  church  of  .England;  but  only  expressed  a 
general  desire  of  an  union  between  the  two  churches,  if 
that  were  possible,  or  at  least  of  a  mutual  toleration  :  that 
be  never  flattered  himself  that  this  union  could  be  perfectly 
accomp^shed,  or,  that  the  doctors  of  the  Gailican  church 
woul4  be  entirely  brought  over  to  the  church  of  England  ; 
but  thought  that  every  advance  made  by  tbem,  and  every 
concession,  must  have  proved  really  advantageous  to  the 
protestant  cause. . 

Thus  much  it  has  been  thought  necessary  to  advance, 
in  vindication  of  the  character  of  Dr.  Wake,  which,  aftar 
long  enjoying  the  good  opinion  of  mankind,  wass  at  last, 
Wjith  equal  fury  and  falsehood,  attacked  by  the  author  of 
the  '*  Confessional,"  who  does  not  scruple  to  say,  speak* 
ing  of  the  archbishop,  that  **  this  pretended  champion  of 
the  Protestant  religion  had  set  on  foot  a  project  for  union 
with  a  Popish  church,  and  that  with  concessions  in  favour 
of  the  grossest  superstition  and  idolatry.'*  Nothing  conld 
be  farther  from  Wake*s  purpose,  and  nothing  more  at  va- 
riance with  the  whole .  tenour  of  bis  {lubiic  life  or  private 
sentiments;  and,  in  truth,  the  whole  of  the  above  corre- 


WAKE.  475 

spondence  with  the  popish  doctors  was  a  matter  of  pri* 
▼ate  sentimerity  and  neither  party  appears  to  hare  been  au- 
thorized by,  or  to  have  consulted  the  church, to  which  they 
respectively  belonged.  Had  that  been  done,  it  is  not  quite 
clear  that  the  plan,  even  as  far  as  it  has  been  divulged, 
would  have  been  more  acceptable  in  England  than  in 
France.  The  best  part  of  it,  the  best  object  at  which  it 
aimed,  %vas  the  separation  of  the  church  of  France  from 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  pope. 

Wake  was  of  a  pacific  spirit:  this  appears  in  all  his 
correspondence ;  and  his  correspondence  appears  to  have 
extended  to  the  leading  men  of  every  ecclesiastical  com- 
munity in  Europe.  He  shewed  a  great  regard  to  the  fo- 
reign protestant  churches,  notwithstanding  the  difference 
of  their  dtsbipline  and  government  from  that  of  the  church 
of  England;  and  blames  those  who  would  not  allow  their 
^religious  assemblies  the  denomination  of  churches^  and 
who  deny  the  validity  of  their  sacraments.  He  declared,' 
on  the  contrary,  those  churches  to  be  true  Christian 
churches,  and  expresses  a  warm  desire  of  their  union  with 
the  church  of  England.  We  must  particularly  notice  his 
correspondence  in  1719  with  Mr.  Jablonski  of  Poland,  be- 
cause it  has  a  direct  reference  to  that  part  of  his  cha- 
racter which  the  author  of  the  *^  Confessionaf'  has  so 
unwarrantably  misrepresented.  Jablonski,  from  a  per- 
suasion of  Dr.  Wake*s  great  wisdom,  discernment,  and 
moderation,  had  consulted  him  as  to  a  proposed  union 
between  the  Lutherans  and  the  church  of  Rome.  In  his 
answer,  the  archbishop  gives  the  strongest  cautions  to  the 
Polish  Lutherans  against  entering  into  any  treaty  of  union 
with  the  Roman  catholics,  except  on  a  footinc^  of  perfect 
equality,  and  in  consequence  of  a  previous  renunciation, 
on  the  part  of  the  latter,  of  the  tyranny,  and  even  of  the 
superiority  and  jurisdiction  of  the  church  of  Rome  and  its 
pontiff;  and  as  to  wh^t  concerns  points  of  doctrine,  he 
exhorts  them  not  to  sacrifice  truth  to  temporal  advantages, 
or  even  to  a  desire  of  peace. 

Of  archbishop  Wake's  kindness  to  fathfer  Coiirajer  we 
iiave  taken  some  notice  in  our  account  of  that  divine.  His 
grace  towards  the  end  of  his  life  became  so  much  disabled 
by  age  and  infirmities,  that  some  part  of  the  care  of  the 
church  was  transferred  to  Dr.  Gibson,  bishop  of  London. 
The  archbishop  lingered  on  in  a  very  enfeebled  state  for 
a  considerable  time,  and  at  length  expired  at  Lambeth 


/ 


476  WAKE. 

palace.  Jam  24,  1737,  and  was  interred  in  a  private  manner 
at  Croydon.  He  was  in  the  seyenty-nintb  year  of  bis  age, 
but  the  inscription  on  his  tomb  erroneously 'fixjes  bis  death 
in  1733. 

Archbishop  Wake  was  a  man  of  a  pacific,  gentle,  and 
benevolent  spirit,  and  an  enemy  to  feuds,  animosities,  and 
party^preju dices,  which  divide  the  professors  of  religion^ 
and  by  which  Christianity  is  exposed  to  the  assaults  of  its 
virulent  enemies,  and  wounded  in  the  bouse  of  its  pre^ 
tended  friends.  Dr.  Richardson  says  justly  of  him,  that  his 
accurate  and  superior  knowledge  of  the  Romish  hierarchy, 
and  of  the  constitution  of  the  church  of  England,  furnished 
him  with  victorious  arms,  both  for  the  subversion  of  error, 
and  the  defence  of  triith.  He  was  a  man  of  great  liberality, 
and  munificent  in  his  charities  and  expences.  Of  the  latter 
Exeter,  Bugden,  Lambeth,  and  Croydon  can  bear  testi* 
snony.  He  is  said  to  have  expended  about  11,000/.  in  the 
repairs  of  the  two  palaces  of  Lambeth  and  Croydon.  He 
bequeathed  his  excellent  and  copious  library  of  printed 
books  and  MSS.  with  his  coins,  the  whole  valued  at  10,000^ 
lo  Christ  Church,  Oxford.  His  lady  died  in  1731;  by 
her  he  had  six  daughters,  who  all  survived  him,  and  were 
married  into  families  of  note. 

Besides  the  works  already  mentioned.  Dr.  Wake  pub- 
lished '^  A  preparation  for  death,  being  a  letter  to  a  young 
gentlewoman  in  France,''  the  fourth  edition  of  which  was 
published  in  1688;  and  three  Tolumes  of  his  '^  Sermons  and 
Charges"  have  since  appeared. ' 

WAKEFIELD  (Gilbert),  a  distinguished  classical  scho* 
lar  and  critic,  was  born  at  Nottingham,  Feb.  22,  1756,  in 
the  parsonage-house  of  St.  Nicholas,  of  which  church  his 
father,  the  rev.  George  Wakefield,  was  then  rector.  An 
uncommon  solidity  and  seriousness  of  disposition  marked 
tkim  from  infancy,  together  with  a  power  of  application, 
and  thirst  after  knowledge,  which  accelerated  bis  progress 
in  juvenile  studies.  At  the  age  of  seven  he  went  to  the 
free  school  in  Nottingham,  where'  the  usher,  Mr.  Beard- 
more  (afterwards  master  of  th^  Charter-house),  threatened 
upon  one  occasion  to  flog  him,  which  Mr.  Wakefield  speaks 
of  with  great  indignation.  At  the  age  of  nine,  be  ex* 
changed  this  school  for  that  of  Wilford  near  Nottingham, 

^  Biog.  Brit. — Mosheim's  Cb.  Hist — Alterbary'a  CorrespoDdence.  Setli* 
dex. — Bortiet^s  Own  Times* — WhUton^s  Life.— Nichols's  Bawyer. 


W  A  K  E.  477 

fhen  tinder  the  direction  of  the  rev.  Isaac  Pickthall,  and 
afterwards  was  placed  under  the  tuition  of  his  father's  curate 
at  Richmond,  whom  he  characterises  with  great  contempt. 
At  the  age  of  thirteen  be  was  placed  under  the  rev.  Richard 
Woodeson,  at  Kingston-upon-Thames,  to  which  parish  his 
father  was  then  removed ;  but  we  are  told  he  was  used  to 
lament  that  he  had  not  possessed  the  advantages  of  an  uni- 
form education  at  one  of  those  public  schools  which  lay  a 
solid  foundation  for  classical  erudition  in   its  most  exact 
form.     About  the  a^e  of  sixteen  he  was  admitted  of  Jesus 
college,  Cambridge.     Here  he  resumed  his  classical  stu- 
dies, but  the  lectures  on  algebra  and  logic  were,  he  tells 
us,  "  odious  to  him  beyond  conception  ;"  and  he  is  perhaps 
not  far  wrong  in  thinking'  that  "  logic  and  metaphysics  are 
by  no  means  calculated  for   early  years."     Few  incidents 
occurred  during  the  first  two  years  of  his  residence  at  col- 
lege.    He  pursued    his   mathematical   and    philosophical 
studies  with  a  stated  mixture  of  classical   reading,   through^ 
the  whole   of  this   interval,  except   when   interrupted   by 
fastidiousness,  which  he  thus  describes  :  "  A  strange  fas- 
tidiousness, for  which   I  could  never  account,  and  which 
has  been  a  great  hindrance  to  my  improvement  through  my 
whole  life,    took   a  bewildering    possession    of  my  facul- 
ties.   This  impediment  commonly  recurred  in  the  spring  of 
the  year,  when  I  was  so  enamoured  of  rambling  in  the 
open  air,  through  solitary  fields,  or  by  a  river's  side,  of 
cricket   and   of  fishing,    that    no   self-expostulations,    no 
prospect  of  future   vexation,    nor  even    emulation    itself, 
could  chain  me  to  my  books.     Sometimes,  for  a  month  to- 
gether, and  even  a  longer  period,  have   I  been  disabled 
from  reading  a  single  page,  though  tormented  all  the  time 
With  the  reflection,  without  extreme  restlessness  and  im- 
patience." 

In  the  third  year  of  his  residence  at  college  he  was  a  can- 
didate for  one,  or  all,  of  Dr.  Browne's  medals.  His  L^tin 
ode  was  allowed  to  possess  merit,  but  was  unsuccessful^ 
from  partiality,  as  he  insinuates ;  but  he  allowed  that  his 
Greek  and  his  epigrams  were  deservedly  rejected.  In  his 
life-he  introduces  the  Latin  ode  with  "  variations,"  which/ 
although  he  calls  them  ^^  trivial,'^  give  a  suspicious  altera- 
tion of  character  to  the  production.  In  1776  he  took  his 
"degree,  and  had  the. honour  of  nomination  to  the  second 
post.  About  the  same  time  he  gained  the  second  of  the 
duke  of  Newcastle's  classical  medals.     Dr.  Forster  gained 


47S  WAKEFIELD. 

the  first ;  Mf.  Wakefield  allows  him  superiorr  merit,  bcrl 
still  endeavours  to  insinuate  partiality  in  the  allotment  of 
the  prizes. 

In  177&be  was  elected  fellow,  and  continued  the  pro- 
secution of  his  classical  and  theological  studies  through 
that  and  the  following  year.  The  first  of  his  publications 
appeared  in  1776,  a  smalt  collection  of  Latin  poems,  with 
a  few  notes  on  Horace.  In  1777  he  gained  the  second 
of  the  bachelor's  prizes,  a  gold  medal  given  by  the  chan- 
cellor. On  the  22d  of  March,  1778,  he  was  ordained  a 
deacon  by  the  bishop  of  Peterborough,  and  takes  occasion 
from  this  event  to  declare  that  *^  he  was  so  little  satisfied 
with  the  requisition  of  subscription,  and  the  subjects  of 
that  subscription  themselves,  that  he  afterwards  regarded 
this  acquiescence  as  the  most  disingenuous  action  of  his 
whole  life.'*  He  then  accepted  a  curacy  at  Stockport  in 
Cheshire,  whence  he  afterwards  removed  to  a  similar  situa- 
tion at  Liverpool.  Here  he  complains  that  the  clergy, 
both  conformist  and  nonconformist,  paid  little  attention 
to  him,  and  at  the  same  time  his  dissatisfaction  with  the 
doctrine  and  worship  of  the  church  continued  to  increase. 
His  dislike  of  the  church  was  indeed  now  becoming  in- 
veterate, and  devoid  of  all  candour.  Among  his  anecdotes 
when  at  Liverpool,  he  gives  one  of  a  church  clergyman, 
who  ptKloined  the  sacrament  money ;  this  clergyman  had 
once  been  a  dissenter,  and  Mr.  Wakefield  imputes  his  com- 
mitting this  crime  to  his  having  left  the  dissenters  and  con- 
formed to  the  church. 

In  1779  he  vacated  his  fellowship  by  marrying  Miss 
Watson,  niece  of  the  rector  of  Stockport.  This  was  soon 
followed  by  an  invitation  to  undertake  the  post  of  classical 
tutor  at  the  dissenting  academy  at  Warrington,  with  which 
be  complied ;  and  he  was  regarded  as  a  very  valuable  ac- 
quisition to  this  institution.  He  was  exemplary  in  the  dis- 
charge of  his  duty,  and  equally  gained  the  attachment  of 
his  pupils,  and  the  friendship  and  esteem  of  his  colleagues; 
but  the  academy  was  at  this  time  on  the  decline,  and  Mr. 
Wakefield,  though  accused  of  precipitating  its  downfall, 
has  assigned  sufficient  reasons  for  that  event  without  his 
agency.  While  here,  be  began  his  career  as  a  theological 
controversialist,  with  an  acrimony  of  style  which  was  la- 
mented by  his  friends,  and  which  laid  him  open  to  the  re- 
proach of  his  enemies,  or  it  would  be  more  proper  to  say, 
created  those  enemies.     Among  his  tracts  now  publish^ 


WAKEFIELD.  47» 

t 

ivere,  *^  A  plain  and  short  account  of  the  natpte  of  Bap*f 
tism  according  to  the  New  Testanaeat,  with  a  cursory  re- 
mark on  Confirmation  and  the  Lord's  Supper;'*  "An  Es- 
say OQ  Inspiration ;"  and  **  A  new  translation  of  the  first 
epistle  of  Paul  the  apostle  to  the  Thes^alonians."     This 
was  followed  in  the  next  year  by  "  A  new  translaltion  of  St* 
JVIatthew,  uith  notes,  critical,  philological,  and  explana- 
tory," 4to;  a  work  which  displayed  the.^xtent  of  his  read-? 
ing^  and  the  facility  with  which  his  memory  called  op  its 
reposited  stores  for  the  purpose  of  illustration  or  parallel* 
11^.     At  this  time  he  likewise  augmented   his  fund  for 
Scripture  interpretation  by  the  acquisition  of  various  ori- 
,ental  d.ialects.     After  quitting  Warrington,  at  the  dissolu- 
tion of  the  academy,  be  took  up  his  residence  successively 
At.Bramcote  in  Nottinghamshire,  at  Richmond  in  Surrey> 
and  at  Nottingham,  upon  the  plan  of  taking  a  few  pupils, 
and  pursuing  at  his  leisure  those  studies  to  which  he  be- 
came continually  more  attached.  .  While  in  the  first  of 
these  situations,  he  published  the  first  volume  of  **  An  en- 
quiry into  the  opinions  of  the  Christian  writers  of  the  three 
first  centuries  concerning  the   person  of  Jesus   Christ,'* 
which  did  not  meet,  with  encouragement  sufficient  to  in- 
duce him  tO;  proceed  in  the  design.     A  painful  disorder  in 
his  left  shoulder,  with  which  be  was  attacked  in  1786,  and 
which  harassed  him  for  two  years,  interjrupted  the  course 
of  his  employments;  and  he  did  no  more  cUiring  that  pe- 
riod, than  to  draw. up  some  reniarks  upon  the  Georgics  of 
Virgil  and  the  poems  of  Gray,  which  be  published  with 
editions  of  those  respective  works.    As  his  health  returned, 
his  theological  pursuits  were  resumed,  and  be  again  en- 
gaged in  the  field  of  controversy.     He  also,  in  1789,  made 
a  commepcement  of  a  work,  which  was  to  exhibit  "  Aa 
union  of  theological  and  classical  learning,  illustrating  the 
Scriptures  by  light  borrowed  from  the  philology  of  Greece 
and  Rome."     Under  the  title  of  "  Silva  Critica,"   three 
parts  of  this  performance  issued  from  the  university  press 
of  Cambridge. 

The  formation  of  a  dissenting  college  at  Hackney,  which, 
it  was  hoped,  by  the  powerful  aid  of  the  metropolis,  would 
become  both  more  considerable  and  more  permanent  thaa 
former  institutions  of  a  like  kind,  produced  an  intitation 
to  Mr.  Wakefield  to  undertake  the  classical  professorship. 
.With  this  be  thought  proper  to  comply ;  and  accordingly, 
4n  1790,  be  quitted  his  abode  at  Nottingham,  and  removed 


480  WAKEFIELD. 

to  Hackney,  upon  the  plan  of  joining  with  pabtic  tuttiofi 
ibe  instruction^ of  private  pupils  ;  but,  as  be  says,  ''both  of 
these  anchors  failed  him,  and  left  bis  little  bark  again  afloat 
on  the  ocean  of  life.*'  The  share  which  he  had  in  the  dis« 
union  that  (inaHy  proved  fatal  to  the  academy  at  Hackney, 
is  thus  candidly  related  by  one  of  his  biographers  : 

''  Althoagh  Mr.  Wakefield's  principles  had  induced  him 
to  renounce  his  clerical  office  in  the  church  of  England, 
and  he  had  become  a  dissenter  from  her  doctrine  and  wor- 
ship, yet  he  was  far  from  uniting  with  any  particular  class 
of  those  who  are  usually  denominated  dissenters.  He  had 
an  insuperable  repugnance  to  their  mode  of  performing  di- 
vine service ;  and  he  held  in  no  high  estimation  the  theo- 
logical and  philosophical  knbwledge  which  it  has  been  the 
principal  object  of  their  seminaries  of  education  to  com- 
municate. It  has  already  been  observed,  that  the  basis  of 
bis  own  divinity  was  philology.  Classical  literature,  there- 
fore, as  tontaining  the  true  rudiments  of  all  other  science, 
was  that  on  which  he  thought  the  greatest  stress  should  be 
laid, 'in  a  system  of  liberal  education.  This  point  he  in-* 
culcated  with  an  earnestness  which  probably  appeared 
somewhat  dictatorial  to  the  conductors  of  the  institution. 

^'  Further,  in  the  progress  of  his  speculations,  be  bad 
been  led  to  form  notions  concerning  the  expediency  and 
propriety  of  public  worship,  extremely  different  from 
those  of  every  body  of  Christians,  whether  in  sects  or  es- 
tablishments;  and  as  he  was  incapable  of  thinking  one 
thing  and  practising  another,  he  had  sufficiently  made 
known  his  sentiments  on  thi$  subject,  as  well  in  conversa- 
tion, as  by  abstaining  from  attendance  upon  every  place 
of  religious  assembly.  They  who  were  well  acquainted 
with  him,  knew  that  in  his  own  breast  piety  was  one  of  the 
most  predominant  affections;  but  the  assembling  for  so- 
cial worship  had  for  so  many  ages  been  regarded  as  the 
most  powerful  instrument  for  the  support  of  general  reli- 
gion^  that  to  discourage  it  was  considered  as  of  dangerous 
example,  especially  in  a  person  engaged  in  the  education 
of  youth.  Notwithstanding,  therefore,  his  classical  in- 
structions in  the  college  were  received  by  the  students 
almost  with  enthusiastical  admiration,  and  conferred  high 
credit  on  the  institution,  a  dissolution  of  his  connection 
with  it  took  place  in  the  summer  of  179 1  .** 

The  subsequent  publication  of  liis  pamphlet  on  public 
worship  deprived  him  (as  he  say^)  of  the  only  two  private 


WAKEFIELD.  481 

rpi^ih  be  expected.  Frem  that  period  be  cohtitmed- to 
teside  at  Hackney,  ediploying  his  time  partly  in  the  edd- 
-  cation  of  his  own  children,  partly  in  the  composition  of 
bis  works.  His  ^^  Translation  of  the  New  Testatnent,  witb 
•notes,"  3  vols.  8vo,  appeared  towards  the  close  of  179!^ 
and  was  very  respectably  patronized.  In  language  it  pre- 
serves as  much  as  possible  of  the  old  version,  but  ^lon^ 
with  many  bold  innovations.  He  printed  also  two  more 
parts  of  his  "  Silva*  Critica."  He  gave  a  new  edition^ 
much  corrected,  of  his  *'  Translation  of  the  New  Testa;. 
sdent*/'  and  besides,  enlarged  a  former  work  "On  the 
Evidences  of  the  Christian  Religion,"  and  published  a  reply 
to  Paine's  attack  upon  it  in  his  **  Age  of  Reason."  * 

To  the  works  of  Pope,  our  English  poet,  Mr.  Wakefield 
()aid  particular  attention,  and  designed  to  have  given  an 
edition  of  his  works ;  but  after  he  had  published  the  first 
volume,  the  scheme  was  rendered  abortive  by  Dr.  War* 
ton's  edition.  He  printed,  however,  a  second  volume^  en- 
titled "  Notes  on  Pope,"  and  also  gave  a  new  edition  of 
Pope'd  Iliad  and  Odyssey.  As  a  classical  editor  he  api-  , 
peared  in  a  selection  from  the  Greek  tragedians,  in  editions 
of  Horace,  Virgil,  Bion  and  Moschus,  and  finally  bib 
superb  edition  of  Lucretius,  wbich,  after  aU,  must  decide 
bis  character  at  a  critic.  Many  eminent  scholars,  both  at 
home  and  abroad,  have  given  their  opinion  of  this  editiod, 
but  their  decision  is  not  uniform.  We  w6uld  refer  the 
reader  to  a  very  learned  and  impartial  view  of  Mr.  Wake- 
field's critical  character  by  Mr.  Elmsley,  in  one  of  the 
numbers  of  the  "  Classical  Journal."  Among  Mr.  W«ike* 
field's  publications,  prior  to  this,  we  omitted  to  mention 
the-  **  Memoirs"  of  bis  own  life,  in  one  volume  8vo,  which 
appeared  in  1792,  and  contained  an  account  of  his  life  nearly 
to  that  period.  We  have  followed  it  partly  in  the  preced- 
ing account,  as  to  facts,  but  upon  the  whole  are  inclined 
to  apply  to  him  what  he  has  advanced  of  a  Mr.  Mounsey. 
He  is  one  ^'  on  whose  abilities  his  numerous  acquaintance 
will  reflect  with  more  pleasure  than  on  his  /;/!?." 

Entering  at  length  into  the  dangerous  path  of  politics, 
he  published  '^  Remarks  on  the  General  Orders  of  the 
Duke  of  York,"  in  which'  be  arraigned  the  justice  of  the 
war  with  France  in  terms  wbich  are  supposed  to  have  ex* 

*  In  this,  as  in  some  of  his  othvr  also  of  Paine,  rfgretted  that  he  should 
works,  Mr.  Wakefield  pleased  no  party  ;  have  treated  ib-jit  blasphemer  with  illi- 
tnd  tome  uf  [ns  frittidB,  bi  ing  the  frtfiu].<(     berat  language. 

Vol.  XXX.  I  i 


432  W  A  ICE  F  I  EL  D. 

ercised  the  utmost  forbearance  of  the  ministry.  •  But  in 
bis  **  Reply  to  some  parts  of.  the  bishop  of  LandafF's  Ad- 
dress/' be  passed  those  limitSy  and  a  prosecution  being 
commenced,  he  was  sentenced,  upon  conviction,  to  a  two 
years  imprisonment  in  Dorchester  gaol.  While  here,  his 
sufferings  were  as.  much  as  possible  alleviated  by  the  zeal 
of  his  fiends,  who  raised  a  subscription  of  5000/.,  which 
^ased  his  mind  as  to  a  future. provision  for  his  family,  and 
.probably  far  exceeded  what  be  could  ever  have  been  able 
■to  leave  them>  under  any  probable  circufpstances. 

During  his  confinement,  he  compq^ed  several  pamphlets, 
and  planued  some  works  of  p^reater  magnitude  ;  among  the 
former  were  a  series  of  "  Essays  from  Dio  Cbrysostom ;" 
an  imitation  in  English  iambic  rhyme,  of  Juvenal's  first 
satire;  and  a  small  volume  entitled  *^  Nocies  carcerarise ;'' 
among  the  latter  were  an. edition  of  an  English  and  Greek 
Lexicon^  which  failed  for  want  of  sufficient  encourage- 
ment; and  a  series  of  classical  lectures,  to  be  given  in 
London  after  his  liberation,  and  the  first  course  of  which, 
consisting  of  observations  on  the  second  book  of  Virgil's 
^neid,  he  lived  to  complete.  These  lectures  occupied  him 
almost  immediately  on  his  release ;  but  towards  the  end  of 
August,  1801,  he.  was  attacked  by  a  « typhus  fever,  and 
,  died  Sept.  9,  in  the  forty-sixth  year  of  his  age«      '    . 

Mr.  Wakefield's  character  has  been  drawn  by  various 
pens ;  some  of  these  portraits  which  make  directly  for  him 
may  be  found  in  his  Life  lately  published ;  and  many  just, 
although  sometimes  discordant,  remarks  are  interspersed 
in  the  literary  journals  of  his  time.  The  following  we 
have  selected,  as  according  best  with  the  opinion  we  have 
been  enabled  to  form  from  an  attentive  perusal  of  bis  Life 
and  Letters,  but  principallv  because  written  by  a  man  of 
learning  and  candour,  on  wnom  we  could  have  relied  with«* 
out  previous  examination* 

^'  Gilbert  Wakefield  was  a  diligent,  and,  we  believe,  a 
sincere  inquirer  after  truth  ;  but  he  was  unhappily  so  framed 
in  temper  and  habits  of  mind,  as  to  be  nearly  certain  of 
missing  it,  in  almost  every  topic  of  inquiry.  Knowing  bis 
own  assiduity,  and  giving  himself  ample  credit  for  sagacity^ 
he  thought  that  he  was  equal  to  the  decisioki  of  every  pos* 
gible  question. .  Conscious  also  of  integrity,  he  never  sus* 
pected  that  he  could  be  biassed  by  any  prejudices,  aud, 
tll^erefore,  had  no  doubt  that  his  conclusions  were  always 
right.     But  unfortunately  he  had  prejudices  of  the  most 


WAKEFIELD.         '  483 

deductive  kinds.^  He  was  prejudiced,  in  the  first  instance, 
against  every  established  opinion,  merely  becauSts!  it  was 
established;- and, 'very  sparingly  allowing  to  others  the 
qualities  for  which  he  thought  himself  distinguished,  hfe 
was  always  perfectly  ready  to  believe,  that  all  inquirers, 
who  formed  different  conclusions,  were  either  weak  or  dis- 
honest. In  this  strange  error  he  was  invincibly  confirmed 
by  the  very  sacrifices  he  had  made,  early  in  life,  to  his  owa 
opinions.  He  miist  be  honest,  he  thought,  because  he 
bad  sacrificed  his  interest  to  his  judgment :  others  must  be 
dishonest  because  their  interest  happened  to  coincide  with 
•their  opinions.  He  loved  a  notion  the  more,  for  having 
made  bitndelf  a  martyr  to  it;  and  would  probably  have 
given  it  up,  if  6ver  it  had  become  the  opinion  of  the  ma- 
jority. He  never  seems  to  have  suspected  thit  his  mind 
might  be-biassed  to  maintain  these  notions,  fbr  which  he  had 
once  solemnly  pledged  his  sagacity,  or  sacrificed  his  ad- 
vantages ;  and  thus  he  became  bigotted  to  almost  every 
j^ilradox  which  bad  once  possessed  his  very  eccentric  under- 
standing. This  was  not  only  the  case  in  religious  ques- 
tions, but  equally  so  in  critical  doctrines.  He  was  as  vio- 
lent against  Greek  accents,  as  he  was  against  the  Trinity; 
antl  anathematized  the  final  f,  as  strongly  as  Episcopacy ; 
though  in  these  questions  he  stood  in  opposition  to  profes*- 
sor  Porson,  and  all  the  best  Greek  scholars  of  modern  as 
well  as  ancient  times  ;  no  less  than'  in  his  faith',  or  rather 
lack  of  faith,  be  contradicted  the  majority  of  theprofoundest 
theologians  and  wisest  men. 

"  That  he  was  strictly  and  enthusiastically  honest,  ought, 
we  think,  to  be  allowed,  in  the  fullest  sense  of  the  terms  ; 
and  his  mind,  naturally  ardent,  soon  became  so  enamoured 
with  this  consciousness  (which  is  undoubtedly,  to  a  mind 
capable  of  relishing  it,  abundantly  delightful)  that  he  seems 
to  have  acquired  even  a  passion  for  privations;  as  witness- 
ing to  himself  an  integrity  which  could  cheerfully  sacrifice 
inclination  to  conviction.  These  feelings,  added  to  his 
pride  of  independent  thinking,  led  him,  we  doubt  not,  to 
abstain  from  wine;  to  have  relinquished  in  part,  and  to  be 
tending  entirely  to  give  up,  the  use  of  animal  food^  with 
various  other  instances  of  peculiarity.  Not  even  the 
Creator*,  who  oHained  that  animals  should  afford  suste- 
nance to  each  other,  could  obtain  credit  with  him,  as:ainst 

*  Not  lo  mention  the  words  of  Revelation.  ' 

II  2 


.484  W  A  K  E  F  I  EL  p. 

bis  private  opinions:  nor  would  be  see  evien  tbe  obvious 
truth,  that  if  the  use  of  animal  food  were  abandoned,  a 
small  number  would  be  produced,  to  die  by  miserable  de* 
.cay,  while  whole  classes  and  genera  would  gradually  be- 
come, extinct.  In  all  things  it  was  the  same  with  G.  W. 
Whatever  coincided  not  with  bis  ideas  of  rectitude,  justice, 
elegancei  or  whatever  else  it  might  be,  was  to  giv^  way  {^t 
once^  and  be  rescinded  at  his  pleasure,  on  pain  of  the  most 
.violent  reprehension  to  all  opponents :  whether  it  were  ao 
.article  of  faitb,  a  principle  of  policy,  a  doctrine  of  mora* 
lity,  or  a  reading  in  an  ancient  author,  still  it  was  equally 
cut  and  slash,  away  it  must  go,  to  the  dogs  and  vultAires. 
.These  exterminating  sentences  were  also  given  with  such 
precipitancy,  as  aot  to  allow  even  a  minute  for  ^nsidera- 
tion.  To  the  paper,  to  the  press,  to  the  world,  all  was 
given  at  once,  frequently  to  the  incurring  of  most  palpa- 
ble absurdity.  Thus  the  simple  elegance  of  ^^  O.  beate 
Sexti*'  in  Horace,  was  proposed,  in  an  edition  of  that  au- 
thor, to  be  changed  to  *>  O  bea  Te,  Sexti,'*  though  the  aU 
teratioo,  besides  being  most  bald  and  tasteless,  produced  a 
blunder  in  quantity  so  gross,  that  no  boy  even  in  the.  .mid#- 
dle  part  of  a  pilT&lic  school  could  have  been  xhougbt  par* 
donable'  in  committing  it.  It  may  easily  be  judged,  ivher 
tfaer  a  man  of  such  precipitance,  and  so  blind  a  self-con* 
fidence,  was  likely  to  be  successful  as  an  investigator  of 
truth.  .  So  very  far  was  be  from  it,  that  though  no  man  of 
common  sense  perhapaever  literally  exemplified  the  latter 
part  of  Dryden^s  famous  line  on  Zimri — 

'  StifiP  in  opinion^  always  in  the  wrong ;' 

yet  few,  we  conceive,  have  ever  approached  more  com- 
pletely to  both  parts,  than  the  subject  of  these  memoirs. 

**  But  why,  it  may  be  asked,  should  we  thus  mark  the 
character  of  a  man,  who  can  no  longer  offend,  and  of  whom 
therefore,  as  a  trite  maxim  of  candour  pretends,  nothing 
but  good  should  be  said.  The  foliy  of  the  maxim  has  been 
recognized  by  many  men  of  sense ;  because  if  ever  a  man^s 
character  can  with  propriety  be  scrutinized,  iv  is  when  any 
exposure  of  his  faults  can  no  longer  injure  his  interests,  or 
wountt  his  feelings.  In  the  present  instance,  it  becomes 
necessary,  because,  in  the  volumes  now  before  us,  (his  Life 
in  2  vols.  8vo),  an  attempt  is  made  to  hold  him  up  to  an 
admiration,  which  might  be  hoped  to  give  currency  to  some 
of  his  most  pernicious  opinions.     The  adnaij^rs  of  him  and 


WAKEFIELD.  4^5 

<)f  bis  notions  are  complimented  as  the  only  lovers  of  truth 
and  freedom  ;  and  be  is  endeavoured  to  be  represented  as 
a  martjr,  oF  which  character^  if  he  had  much  of  the  con- 
stancy,  he  had  proportionably  little  of  the  other  estimable 
qualities.  Instead  of  exhibiting  him  as  a  model,  we  should 
rather  lament  him  as  a  strong  example  of  human  irpperfec- 
tion  ;  in  wiiich  some  great  qualities  of  soul  and  understand- 
ing were  rendered  perdicious  to  himself  and  others,  by 
faults  original  or  habttuai,  which  perverted  them  in  almost 
every  exertion.  Thus  his  sincerity  became  offensive,  hirf 
honesty  haughty  and  uncharitable,  his  intrepidity  factious, 
his  acuteness  delusive,  and  his  memory,  assisted  by  much 
diligence,  a  vast  weapon  which  his  judgnient  was  totally 
unable  to  wieM.  In  such  a  picture,  notwithstanding  some 
fine  features^  there  is  more  to  humble  th^n  to  flatter  the 
pride  of  man  ;  and  to  hold  rt  up  to  almost  indiscriminate 
admiration  is  neither  prudent  nor  useful.'* 

Since  Mr.  Wakefield's  death  a  "Collection  of  Letters'* 
has  been  published  between  him  and  the  celebrated  states- 
man, the  hon.  Charles  Fox,  relating  chiefly  to  subjects  of 
Greek  literature. 

Mr.  Wakefield's  brother,  the  Rev.  Thomas  Wakefield, 
appointed  minister  of  Richmond,  by  his  father  in  1776,  and 
who  died  Nov.  26,  1806,  was  a  man  peculiarly  distinguished 
by  benevolence  of  disposition,  benignity  of  manners,  and 
liberality  of  sentiment.  A  memoir  of  him,  in  which  his 
virtues  and  his  benevolent  disposition  are  described  much 
at  large  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  Charles  Symmons,  was  printed 
and  circulated  soon  after  his  death.  The  poignant  regret 
occasioned  by  his  loss  caused  others  of  his  friends  to  em- 
ploy their  pens  in  the  delineation  of  his  amiable  character, 
particularly  the  Rev.  Edward  Patteson,  of  Richmond,  who 
preached  his  funeral  sermon,  and  John  May,  esq.  who  in- 
serted a  character  of  him  at  considerable  length  in  the  pa- 
rish register;' 

WAKEFIELD  (Robert),  a  learned  divine  in  the  reiga 
of  Henry  VIII.  was  born  in  the  north  of  England,  and  edu- 
cated at  the  university  of  Cambridge,  whence,  after  taking 
his  degrees  in  arts,  he  went  abroad  to  study  the  Oiiental 
languages.  In  a  few  years  he  made  a  considerable  pro- 
gress in  the  Greek,   Hebrew,  Chaldaic,  and  Syriac;  and 

1  Memoiri  of  Mr.  Wakefield,  1804.  2  yoli.  8?o«— Sketch  by  Dr.  Aikin  draim 
up  is  laOl.^Britisii  Critic,  tuI.  XXVI. 


486  W  A  K  E  F  I  E  L  I>. 

taught  those  languages  both  in  Paris  and  in  Germany*  lo 
1519  be  was  Hebrew  professor  at  Louvain,  but  after  hold- 
ing  that  office  only  a  few  months,  be  returned  home,  and 
became  chaplain  to  Dr.  Pace,  then  dean  of  St.  Paul's,  who 
recommending  him  to  the  king  as  an  able  linguist,  he  was 
sent  to  Cambridge,  and  there  honoured  with  the  degree  of 
B.  D.  which  qualified  him  for  ecclesiastical  preferments. 
When  the  controversy  relating  to  king  Henry  VIII.'s  di- 
vorce  commenced,  Wakefield  is  said,  to  have  been  of  the 
queen's  party,  and  thought  the  divorce  unjustifiable,  but 
was  afterwards  induced  to  be  of  the  king's  opinion.  Dadd 
says  that  the  reason  he  gave  for  changing  sides  was 
the  circumstance  of  prince  Arthur*s  having  consummated 
the  marriage,  of  which  he  was  not  before  aware;  and 
Dodd  adds,  that  ^'  as  the  world  is  apt.  to  judge  the  worse 
of  things  of  this  nature,  Mr.  Wakefield  was  represented 
as  a  mercenary  writer,  especially  by  those  that  main- 
tained the  queen's  cause."  We  have,  however,  the  evi* 
dence  of  another  Roman  catholic  biographer .  that  the 
world  wsis  not  much  to  blame  for  its  unfavourable  opinion, 
Phillips,  in  his  Life  of  cardinal  Pole,  assures  us,  that  a 
letter  is  exiant,  **  to  Wakefield^s  eternal  infamy,"  addressed 
by  secretary  Pace  to  the  king,  in  which  he  informs  him, 
that  *'  be  had  treated  with  Dr.  Wakefield  of  the  divorce, 
and  that  the  doctor  was  ready  to  solve  the  question,  either 
in  the  negative  or  affirmative,  just  as  the  king  thought 
proper,  and  in  such  a  manner  as  all  th^  divines  in  England 
sho\ild  not  be  able  to  make  any  reply."  This  letter  is  dated 
1526.  Accordingly  he  soon  after  wrote  a  work  in  favour 
of  the  divorce ;  and  in  1530,  the  king  sent  him  to  Oxford, 
and  made  him  public  professor  of  Hebrew ;  by  which  means 
be  bad  an  opportunity  of  being  more  serviceable  to  his 
majesty.  In  1532,  he  was  made  a  canon  of  Wolsey's- 
college,  and  incorporated  bachelor  of  divinity.  He  ap* 
pears  to  have  been  a  lover  of  learning,  and  when,  in  1536, 
the  lesser  monasteries  were  dissolved,  he  took  care  to  save 
from  destruction  several  valuable  books  and  MSS.  especi- 
ally such  as  were  in  Greek  and  Hebrew;  and,  among 
others,  several  curious  MSS.  in  Ramsay-abbey,  particu- 
larly a'Hebrew  dictionary,  which  had  been  lodged  thereby 
Robert  Holbeach,  a  monk  of  that  monastery  in  the  reign 
of  Henry  IV.  Wakefield  died  at  London,  Oct.  8,  1537. 
He  left  some  learned  works,  as,  1,  ^*  Oratio  de  laudibus 
et  utilitate  trium  linguarum,  Arabicae,  Cbaldaicse,  et  He- 


WAKEFIELD.  487 

bfricae,  atque  idioqii^tibus  Hebraicis  qua&  ip  utroque  Tes^ 
taiQeoto  inveniuiUur/'  1524,  4to.  The  priuter  was  Wyn<* 
ken  de  Worde;  and  the  author  cumplains,  that  be  was 
obliged  to  ooiil  bis  whole  third  part,  because  the  j>rinter 
bad.  DO  Hebrew  types.  Some  f^w  Hebrew  and  Arabic 
abaract/ers,  however,  are  iatroduced,*  but  extremely  rude^ 
and  evidently  cut  in  wood.  They  are  the  first  of  the  sort 
used  in  England.  2.  ^'  Koster  Codicis,"  &c.  the  same 
HEi^ntioned  by  BaJe  and  Pits,  with  the  title  ^'  De  lion  du- 
aeqda  fratria/'  and  is  the  book  he  wrote  in  favour  of  kiu^ 
Henry's  divorce,  Lond.  1628,  4to.  Tanner  and  Wood 
at^ibute  other  pieces  to  him,  but  they  are  probably  in 
MS.  except  '^  Syntagpa  de  Hebrseorum  codicum  incor-* 
Kuptione,"  4to,  without  date;  and  /^  Paraphrasis  in  U- 
brum  Koheletb  (Ecclesiasticen)  succincta, .  clara,  et  fide* 

lis,   45tQ;  * 

..WALiEUS  (Anthony),  a  very  eminent  Protestant  di- 
vine, was  horn  October  3,  1573,  at  Ghent,  of  an  ancient 
fiaiDiiy,  which  has  produced  many  distinguished  magistrates. 
He  officiated  as  pastor  at  several  different  places ;  declared 
i/i  favour  of  the  Counter-remonstrants,  enjoyed  the  friend- 
ship and  confidence  of  prince  Maurice,  and  was  one  of  those 
who  drew  up  the  canons  of  the  famous  synod  of  Dorc. 
W&Ubus  became  afterwards  professor  of  divinity  at  Leyden, 
and  died  July  9,  1639,  leaving  ^^  Compendium  Ethicse  Aris- 
tiotelicse,"  Leyden,  1636,  12mo,  The  greatest  part  of  the 
Flemish  translation  of  the  Bible,  m^de  by  order  of  the 
States,  and  which  first  appeared  in  1637,  was  executed  by 
him,,  and  almost  the  whole  of  the  New  Testament.  John 
Wi^le^us  his  son,  was  professor  of  medicine  at  Leyden^ 
where  he  died  in  1649.  He  made  some  discoveries  on  the 
circulation  of  the  blood,  and  taugbt  Harvey's  system,  al- 
tbbugh  not  without  some  atten^pt  to  deprive  him  of  the 
honour  of  being  the  original  inventor.  His  principal  pub- 
lication was  ^^  Epistoiss  de  qxotu  chyli  et  sanguinis,*'  Leyd« 
.1641.* 

WALDENSIS  (Thomas),  a  Carmelite  monk  of  great 
learning  in  the  fourteenth  century,  was  born  at  Walden  in 
Essex,  s^boub  1367.  ^  His  father's  name  was  John  Netter, 
but  he. chose  to  be  denominated,  as  indeed  was  very  comr 

t  Tanner. — Bale — and  Pits, — Ath.  Ox.  vol.  I.  new  edit. — Cole's  MS  Athe- 
nae  in  Brit.  Mus.~nodd'S|,^'b.  Htst.---PbU)ips's  Life  of  Cardinal  Pole,  p.  d&» 
Mo  edit.— Wailon'«  Hist,  of  Poetry*— Dibdiu's  Ames,  vol.  II. 

^  Life  in  Bates's  Vite  Select.  Vi tor. —Diet.  Hist. 


489  W  A  L  D  E  N  SI  S; 

moD  then,  from  tbe  place  of  his  nativity.     He  was  edu- 
cated among  the  Carmelites  in   London,  whence  he  re* 
moved  for  the  farther  prosecution  of  his  studies  to  Oxford. 
Here  he  continued  some  years,  ^nd  received  the  degvee  of 
doctor  in  divinity,  after  which  he  returned  to  London,  and 
took  the  habit  of  the  Carmeliteih     Being  introduced  at  the 
court  of  Henry  IV.  he  became  a  favourite  with  the  king, 
and  was  appointed  the  principal  champion  of  the  chorch 
against  heretics,  and  especially  those  who  had  adopted  tbe 
tenets  of  WickliflP,  Huss,  or  Jerome  of  Prague.     In  1409 
he  was  sent  by  the  king  to  the  grand  council  at  Pisa,  where 
be  is  said  to  have  been  much  admired  for  his  eloquence  and 
learning.     After  his  return  to  England,  he  was  made  pro- 
vincial  of  his  order ;  and  Henry  V.  admitted  him  of  bis 
privy-council,  and  appointed  him  his  confessor.     In  1415 
he  was  sent  to  the  council  of  Constance,  and  about  14 19, 
was  employed  to  negociate  peace  between  Uladislaus,  king 
of  Poland,  and  Michael,  general  of  the  Teutonic  order; 
In  1422  the  king  died  in  the  arms  of  Waldensis,  at  Vin- 
cennes  in  France.     He  became  afterwards  a  favourite  with 
the  young  king  Henry  VI.  and  was  appointed  his  confessor. 
In  1430  he  attended  the  king  to  France,  and  at  Roan  was 
seized  with  an  acute  disease,  of  whioh  he  died  Nov.  2,  and 
was  buried  in  the  convent  of  Carmelites  in  that  city.     He 
appears  to  have  been  a  man  of  abilities ;  Pits  says  that  be* 
was  master  of  the  Greek  and  Hebrew  languages,  and-  in 
general  a  polite  scholar.     His  principal  work,  the  only  one 
printed,  is  his  "  Doctrinale  antiquum  fidei  ecclesiae  catfao- 
lice,"  Paris,  1521 — 1523, 5  vols,  folio,  and  reprinted  at  Sau* 
mur,  Venice,  and  Paris.     Mr.  archdeacon  Churton,  in  his 
valuable  Lives  of  the  founders  of  Brasenose-coUege,  informs 
us,    that  the  bishop  of  Lincoln,  Russel,  being  harassed 
and  fatigued,  as  he' feelingly  complains,  with  the  multitude 
of  heretics  at  Oxford  in  1491>  ^^^  ^^^^  ^his  book  of  Wal- 
densis, and   resolved   to  make  extracts   from  it  (vol.  III. 
*^  de  sacramental i bus"),  for  the  more  speedy  and  efTectual 
refutation  of  the  ^*  insane  dogmas,  with  which,  he  says,  $o 
many  of  hi^  countrymen  were  infected."     Having  framed 
his  compendium  with  great  care,  by  a  written  injunction 
under  his  own  hand  he  ordered  it  to  be  preserved  in  the 
registry  of  tbe  see,  for  the  benefit  of  his  successors  in  their 
examinations  of  ^'heretical  depravity j"  pronouncing  an 
anathema  at  the  same   time  against  any  one  who  should 
obliterate  the  title,  expressive  of  the  design  of  the  per- 


WALDENSIS.  «» 

formance  and  the  name  of  ihe  compiler.  The  original 
copy  of  this  *'  touchstone  of  error,"  which  was  completed 
at  Woburn  on  the  feast  of  the  Epiphany  1491^2,  is  still 
extant  in  the  library  of  University-college,  Oxford.^ 

WALDO  (Peter),  one  of  the  earliest  reformers  of  the 
church  from  Popery,  but  erroneously  said  to  be  the  foun- 
der of  that  body  of  reformed  Christians  called  the  Wal* 
deoses,  was  an  opulent  merchant  of  Lyops  in  the  twelfth 
oeotury.  The  firsts  time  when  he  appears  to  have  opposed 
the  errors  of  the  religion  in  which  he  was  educated,  was 
about  1160,  when  the  doctrine  of  transubstantiation  was 
confirmed  by  pope  Innocent  III.  with  the  addition  that 
m^n  should  fall  down  before  the  consecrated  wafer  andf 
worship  it  as  God.  The  absurdity  of  this  forcibly  struck 
the  mind  of  Waldo,  who  opposed  it  in  a  very  courageoutr 
manner.  It  does  not  appear,  however,  that  he  had  any* 
intention  of  withdrawing  himself  from  the  communion  of 
the  Romish  church,  or  that  in  other  respects  he  had  any 
very  serious  notions  of  religion.  The  latter  appears  to 
have  been  produced  first  by  the  sudden  death  of  a  person 
with  whom  he  was  in  company.  This  left  very  serious  im<^ 
pressions  on  his  mind,  and  he  betook  himself  to  reading 
the  scriptures.  At  that  time  the  Latin  vulgate  Bible  was 
the  only  edition  of  the  Scriptures  in  Europe;  but  that 
language  was  accessible  to  few.  Waldo,  however,  from 
bis  situation  in  life,  had  had  a  good  education,  and  could 
read  this  volume.  ^'  Being  somewhat  learned,"  says  Rein- 
erius,  ^^  he  taught  the  people  the  text  of  the  New  Testa-* 
ment."  He  was  also  now  disposed  to  abandon  his  mercan- 
tile pursuits,  and  distributed  his  wealth  to  the  poor  as  oc-^ 
casion  required,  and  while  the  latter  flocked  to  him  to 
partake  of  his  alms,  he  also  attended  to  their  spiritual  in- 
struction, and  either  translated,  or  procured  to  be  trans- 
lated the  four  gospels  into  French;  and  thus  the  inhabitants 
of  Europe  were  indebted  •  to  him  for  the  first  translation  of 
the  Bible  into  a  modern  tongue,  since  the  time  that  the 
Latin  had  ceased  to  be  a  living  language. 

As  Waldo  became  more  acquainted  with  the  scriptures, 
he  dis^vered  that  a  multiplicity  of  doctrines,  rites,  and 
ceremonies,  .which. had  been  introduced  into  the  national 
religion,  bad  not  only  no  foundation,  but  were  most  point- 
edly condemned,  in^the  Bible.  On  this  ground  be  bad  no 
scruple  to  expose  such  errors,  and  to  condemn  the  arro- 

9  Tanaer.—Sale.-^Pits.— Fuller's  Worthies.— Cburton'g  Life  of  Smyth,  p.  184. 


490  ..WALDO. 

gMceof  the.pope^  and  the.  rei]gning  vices  of  the  clergy, 
while  at  the.saoi^  time  be  endeavoured  to  demonstrate  the 
great- difF^rbnte  there  was  between  the  Christianity  of  the 
Bible  and  that  of  .the  Church  of  Rome.  -  Such  bold  opposi- 
lion  could  not  long  be  tolerated.  *  The  arciibisbop  of  Lyons 
accordingly  proliibited.the  new  reformer  from,  teaching  any 
more  on  pain  ofexcommunicatiou,  and  of  being  proceeded- 
against  AS  a  heretic.  Waldo  replied,  that  though  a  layman,> 
be  could  not  be  silent  in  a  matter  which  cooceraed  the  sal»> 
vation  of  his  fellow-creatures.  Attempts  were  next  made' 
to  apprehend  him ;  but  the  number  and  affection  of  his; 
frrendfi^  the  respectability  and  infioence  of  bis  conneetions,- 
many  of  whom  were  meir  of  rank,  the  universal  regard  tbat^ 
was  paid  to  his  character  for  probity  and  religion,  and>  tbe- 
conviction  that  his  presence  was  highly  necessary  among* 
the. people  whom  he  had.  by  this,  time  gathered  into  a 
church,  and  of  which  he  became  the  head,  all  operated  so 
strongly  in  his  favour,  that  he  lived  concealed  at  Lyona 
during  the  space  of.tbree. whole  years. 
'  But  pope  Alexander  IIL  had  no  sooner  lieard  of  these 
proceedings  than  he  anathematized  the  reformer  and  his 
adherents,:  commanding,  the  archbishop  to  proceed  against 
tbem  with  -  the  utmost  rigour.*  Waldo  was  now  compelled' 
to  quit  Lyons;  his  flock,  in  a  great  measure,  followed  their 
pastor,  and  hence,  say  the  ecclesiastical  historians,  a  dis- 
persion took  place  .not  unlike  that  which.. arose  in  the 
church  of  Jerusalem  on  the  occasion  of  the  death  of  Ste- 
phen. The  effects  were  also  similar.  Waldo  himself  re- 
tired into  Dauphiny,  where  he  preached  with  abundant 
success ;  bis  principles  took  deep  and  lasting  root,  and 
produced  a  numerous  body  of  disciples,  who  were  deno- 
minated Leon  tsts,  Vaudois,  Albigenses,  or  Waldenses ;  for 
the  very  same  class  of  Christians  is  designated  by  these 
i;;arious  appellations  at  different  times,  and  according  to  the 
different  countries,  or  quarters  of  the  same  country  in 
which  they  appeared.  From  the  name  Waldense?^  a  cor- 
ruption of  Vallenses,  or  Vaudois,  i.  e.  those  who  inhabited 
the  valleys  of  Piedmont,  occasion  was  taken  to  prove  that 
these  ancient  churches)  had  no  existence  till  tbe  time  of 
Waldo.  Waldo  appears  to  have  visited  Picardy,  propa- 
gating bis  doctrines,,  and  finally,  according  to  Tbuanus, 
settled  in  Bohemia,  where  dedied  in  1179. ' 

1  Perrio  Hist,  des  Vaudois.— Miluer's  Church  Hist.— Jones's  Hht  of  Waldeosci* 


WALES.     '  49^ 

'  WALES  ( William)>  a  oiatbemaitician  and  aslronoftier 
of.  great  taients,  was  born.,about  1734,  and  rose,  from  w 
law  situation^ .  litUe  connected  with;  learoing,  to  some  of 
the  first  ranks  in  literary  pursuits.  His  early< labours  con-', 
trtboted  to  the  ^^  Ladies  Diary/'  a  useful  little  work  whicb 
has  formed  many  eminent  mathematicians. n  In  1761^  he. 
was  deemed  a  (it  person  to  be  sent  to  Hudson'is  Bayto  ob«' 
serve  the  transit  of  Venus  over  the  sun  ;  and  the^manQer  in 
which  he  discharged  <^)at  trust  did  honour  to  his  talents. 
Oi)  his  return  he  communicated,  to  the  royal  society  an.  ex- 
cellent paper  of  observations  made  at.  that  station^  which 
was  inserted  in  their  Transactions ;  and. the  <year  foliowirtg,:' 
his  general  observations  made  at  Hudson'^  Bay  were  pub-: 
lisbed  in  a  large  quarto  volume.  He  next,  in  the  charac^' 
ter of  astronomer,  accompanied  capt.Cook  in  hisiiir^  voy- 
age, 1772 — ^1774,  and^  again  in  his  other  voyagex)f  J776— . 
1779.  In  1777  appeared  bis  ** Observations  ana  Voyage 
with  captain  Cook ;"  and  in  1778,  "  Remarks  lon  Dr.  Fors- 
ter's  Account  of  the  Voyage,"  in.  which  he  showed  consi-^ 
derable  talents  as  a  controversial  writer.  >Sopn<  after  bis 
return  from  his  last  voyage  he  was  elected  a  fellow  of  the 
royal  society,  .and  proved  a  very  useful,  member;  and  on 
the  death  of  Mr.  Daniel  Harris  be  was  appointed  mathe* 
matical  master  to  Christ's  Hospital,  London,  and  some 
years  after,  secretary  to 'the  board  of  longitude,  botli  which 
o£Eices  he  held  till  the  time  of  his  death,  which  happened 
in  1798,  in  the  sixty-fourth  year  of  his  ^ge.  in  1781  he 
published  an  '^  Enquiry  into  the  state  of  the  Population  in 
£ngland  and  Wales,"  and  in  1794  his  treatise  on  the  lon« 
gitude  by  time-keepers.  He  published  also  an  imgenious 
restoration  of  one  of  the  lost  pieces  of  Apollonius  ;  and  it 
has  been  said,  was  author  of  one  of  the  dissertations  on  the 
aohronical  rising  of  the  Pleiades,  annexed  to  Dr.  Vincent's 
Voyage  of  Nearchus.  Besides  these  he  wrote  sbme  inge* 
nious  papers  in  the  Philosophical  Transactions,  and  in  va- 
rious periodical  publications,  particularly  the  ff  Ladies 
Diary,"  sometimes  signed  with  his  own  name,  and  some- 
times under  certain  fictitious  signatures..^ 

ALKER  (Clement),  author  of  the  <*  History  of  Inde- 
pendency," was  born  at  CliiTe  in  Dorsetshire,  and  i&  said 
to  have  been  educated  at  Christ's  church,  Oxford,  in  which 
however.  Wood  could  find  no  memorial  of  him.     Afterwards, 

I  Httttoa'd  Diet  new  edit'.— Gent.  Mag«  vol.  LXVIIL 


492  WALKER. 

leaving  the  university  without  a  degree,  he  retired  to  an 
OBtate  he  had  at  Charterhouse  n^ar  Welk  in  Somersetfthirey 
where  he  lived  in  good  repute  especially  for  his  loyalty  and 
hatred  of  the  pxiritans,  in  both  which  respects  he  appears 
soon  after  to  have  changed  his  mind.  Before  the  civil  wars, 
he  had  been  made  usher  of  the  exchequer,  but,  says  Wood, 
when  ^*  the  puritans  or  presbyterians  were  like  to  carry  all 
before  them,  he  closed  with  them,*'  and  was  elected  mem-^ 
ber  of  parliament  for  the  city  of  Wells  in  1640.  After- 
wards he  became  a  zealous  covenanter,  and  .had  a  consider- 
able share  in  the  violent  measures  of  the  times,  until  the 
independents  began  to  acquire  the  superiority,  whom  he 
resisted  as  much  as  lay  in  his  power,  especially  in  his 
"  History"  of  that  sect,  which  had  a  very  consider^ibie  in- 
fluence, as  he  was  not  only  a  man  of  abilities,  but  had  ac- 
quired a  character  for  disinterestedness.  When  the  second 
part  of  this  work  was  published  in  1649\  he  was  discovered 
to  be  the  author,  and  imprisoned  by  Cromwell  Ut  the  Tower. 
There  having  allowance  of  pen,  ink,  and  paper,  he  wrote 
the  third  part  of  his  History,  but  was  never  released.  He 
died  in  the  Tower  in  Oct.  1651,  to  the  great  grief.  Wood- 
says,  of  the  presbyterian  pjarty.  He  was  interred  in  All- 
hallows /Barking,  near  the  Tower.  Walker  wrote  several 
.  temporary  pamphlets,  enumerated  by  Wood,  arising  out 
of  the  circumstances  of  the  times,  but  none  of^  any  con- 
sequence, unless  what  he  has  incorporated  in  his  ^'  History 
of  Independency,'*  published  in  three  parts,  1648 — 1651, 
.4to,  to  which  a  fourth  part  by  T.  M.  was  added  in  1660. 
"  It  is  written,"  says  Warburton,  "in  a  rambling  way,  and 
with  a  vindictive  presbyterian  spirit,  full  of  bitterness ;  but 
it  gives  an  admirable  idea  of  the  character  of  the  times, 
parties,  and  persons."  Within  the  last  twenty  years,  the 
price  of  this  work,  when  complete,  has  risen  from  shillings 
to  guineas.' 

WALKER  (Sir  Edward),  an  useful  historical  writer 
and  herald,  was  son  of  Edward  Walker,  of  Roobers,  in 
Netherstowey  in  Somersetshire,  gent,  by  Barbara,  daughter 
of  Edward  Salkerid,  of  Corby-Castle  in  Cumberland,  esq.; 
and  his  grandfather,  John  Walker,  was  son  of  Edward,  se- 
cond son  of  Humphrey  Walker,  of  Staffordshire,  esq.  He 
was  originally  a  domestic  servant  to  the  earl  of  Arundel,  and 
was  appointed   by  him  secretary  at  war,  in  the  expedition 

>  Ah.  Ox.  vol.  II. — ^Warburton's  LcttefS. 


.X 


WALKER.  493 

into  Scotland  in  1639..  There  is  little  doubt  but  th^t  his 
father's  being  a  Roman  catholic  recommended  him  to  that 
nobleman's  notice.  From  thi?  peer's  service  it  is  easy  to 
suppose  he  went  into  that  of  the  sovereign,  because  he  had 
shewn  himself  equally  faithful  and  dexterous.  Charles  I. 
gave  him  the  same  post,  to  which,  in  June  1644,  he  added 
that  of  clerk  extraordinary  of  the  privy  council.  He  stea- 
dily adhered  to  the  king  in  all  his  misfortunes.  After  the 
battl§  of  Cropredy  Bridge,  in  1644,  being  desired  to  wait 
upon  sir  William  Waller,  one  of  the  parliament  generals, 
with  a  message  of  grace,  he  requested  that  a  trumpet  might 
first  be  sent  for  a  pass,  because  ^<  the  barbarity  of  that  peo- 
ple was  notorious,  so  that  they  regarded  not  the.  law  of 
arms  or  of  nations.*'  His  precaution  was  not  unnecessary, 
the  trumpeter  being  sent  back  with  the  most  marked  con- 
tempt. 

Whilst  he  remained  at  Oxford  with  his  msijesty,  the  uni- 
versity conferred  upon  him  the  degree  of  master  of  arts, 
November  1,  1644.  He  received  the  honour  of  knigbtw 
hood,  February  2,  1644-5,  in  that  city.  In  164$,  he  seiU 
a  letter  to  the  parliament,  during  the  conference  for  peace, 
requesting  more  persons  might  be  permitted  to  attend  upon 
ihe  king ;  but  the  House  declined  doing  any  thing  in  it, 
unless  his  majesty,  or  their  commissioners,  wrote  for  that 
purpose.  As  he  had  been  true  to  the  father,  so  he  was 
equally  faithful  to  the  son,  whose  court  he  joined  at  Brus- 
sels. He  attended  his  royal  master  into  Scotland,  in  1651 : 
but  the  covenanters  refused  their  permission  for  him  to 
come  near  the  person  of  his  sovereign.  After  the  unfortu- 
nate event  of  that  expedition,  and  Charles's  subsequent 
escape  to  the  continent,  he  again  joined  the  exiled  mo^ 
narch,  serving  him  in  the  same  capacities  he  had  the  late 
king.  He  was  so  odious  to  the  commonwealth  and  the  pro- 
tectorsy  that  he  was  accounted,  on  this  side  the  channel, 
'*a  pernicious  man."  His  abilities,  and  the  office  he  fiUed, 
jpade  him  so  great  an  object  of  jealousy,  that  he  had  spies 
placed  over  his  condupt.  From  these  wretches  we  learn, 
that  June  26,  .1654,^  he  was  at  Amsterdam,  ftrobably  upon 
some.public  service :  in  1656,  he  was  at  Bergen,  within  six 
leagues  pf  Calais,  mustering  the  king's  little  army>  which 
drd  not  amount  to  700  men.  These,  however,  were  with 
difiicalty  kept  together,  ^mutinies  happening  every  day ; 
nor  can  it  be  wondered  at,  the  privates  having  only  four, 
the  gentlemen tio  more  than  six  stivers  a  day. 


4»4  WALKER. 

As  garter  king  at  arms,  in  which  he  succeeded  sir  Wil- 
liam Dugdale,  after  holditig  othiei-  offices  in  the  heralds* 
college,  we  must  suppose  he  had  not-  much  employment 
during  the  usurpation ;  but  as  the  only  herald  in  Charleses 
little  coi^rtjhe  was  sometimes  applied  to  as  such.  In  1658, 
he  granted  an  honourable  augmehtatioti  to  the  arms  of  Ste- 
phen Fox,  esq.  afterwards  knighted.  Sir  Stephen  is  well 
known  for  his  distinguished  abilities  as  a  statesman,  for  his 
longevity,  and  as  progenitor  of  the  Foxes  earls  of  Itches- 
ter  and  barons  Holland.  At  the  restoration  he  received 
the  reward  of  bis  di«tihguisbed  loyalty,  and  was,  among 
other  promotions,  made  one  of  the  clerks  of  the  privy 
council;  He  died  suddenly,  at  Whitehall,  February  19, 
•1676-7,  deservedly  lamented  as  a  man  af  tried  integrity 
and'  very  considerable  abilities.  He  published  "  Iter  Ca- 
rolinum,  being  a  succinct  account  of  the  necessitated 
xndrches,  retreats,  and  sufferings  of  his  majesty,  kinor 
Charles  I.  from  January  10,  1641,  to  the  time  of  his  death 
in  1648, 'collected  by  "a  daily  attendant  upon  his  sacred 
majesty  during  all  that  time."  Much  of  this  work  may  be 
made  more  useful  by  comparing -it  with  Oudart's  diary  in 
Peck's  **  Desiderata,'*  which  supplies  sir  Edward's  omis- 
sions. His  **  Military  Discoveries*'  were  printed  in  1705^ 
in  folio.  He  assisted  lord  Clarendon  in  that  part  of  his 
History  of  the  Rebellion  which  relates  to  military  transac- 
tions. He  was  buried  in  the  chapel  of  the  blessed  Virgin, 
in  Stratford  upon  Avon  church,  where  is  an  inscription  to 
bis  memfory.* 

WALKER  (George),  an  eminent  Puritan  divine,  was 
born  at  Hawkshead  in  Lancashire,  in  1581,  and  was  edu- 
oated  at  St.  John's-college,  Cambridge.  After  completing 
his  studies  there  he  went  to  London,  and  in  1614  became 
rector  of  St.  John's  the  Evangelist  in  Watling-street,  where 
be  continued  nearly  forty  years,  refusing  every  other  of- 
fer of  preferment.  About  the  same  time  he  became  chap- 
lain to  Dr.  Felton,  bishop  of  Ely,  who  made  choice  of  him 
the  very  morning  of  his  consecration.  He  distinguished 
himself  in  the  popish  controversy;  and,  in  1623,  held  a 
public  disputation  with  a  priest  of  the' name  of  Smith,  be- 
fore a  very  large  assembly,  and  by  consent  of  both  parties, 
an  account  of  it  was  afterwards  pnblished.  He  had  like- 
wise some  encounters  with  Fisher,  the  celebrated  Jesuit^ 

I  Noble's  College  of  Arms.-*>Atli.  Ox.  voh  lU     • 


W  A  L  K  E.R.  4S5 

tfld  others  who  wera  deemed  the  most  Me  disputants  on^ 
the  side  of  the  church  of  Rome.  In  1635  be  was  brought 
into  trouble,  for  having  preajched  a  sermon.in  favour  of  the 
sacred  observance  of  the  Sabbath;  archbishop  Laud  was 
so  unwise  as  to  admonish  him  for  this,  and  afterwards: bad 
hioi  prosecuted  in  the  Star-chaaib&r,  fined  and  imprisojiied. 
The  parliament  reversed  this  sentence,  and  GOirdJeiniied 
the  whole  proceedings  against  Mr.  Walker,  and  he'^was 
restored  to  his  living  of  St«  John's.  In  1643,  he  was  chosen 
One  of  the  assembly  of  divines,  and  was  also  one  of  the 
witnesses  against  archbishop  Laud,  and  one  of  those  who 
took  upon  them  to  swear  that  the  unfortunate  prelate  had 
endeavoured  to  introduce  popery.  In  his  sermons,  too, 
before  the  parUanient,<  he-made  use  of,  those  expressions, 
which  tended  to  lessen,  the  king  in  theieyes  of  the  people; 
and  although  he  was  one  of  those  who  afterwards  petitioned 
against  his  majesty's  death,  he  was  also  one  of  those  who 
did  not  reflect  how  much  their  violent  harangues  and  ser- 
mons had  contributed  to  that  event.  He  died  in  1651, 
aged  seventy  years,  and  was  interred  in  his  own  church  in 
Watling-street.  Fuller  gives  him  a  high  > character,  as  a 
man  ^^  well  skilled  in  the  Oriental  languages,  and  an  ex- 
cellent logician  and  divine.  He  was  a  man  of  a  holy  life, 
au  humble  spirit,  and  a  liberal  hand,  who. well  deserved  of 
Zion-college:library  :  and  who,  by  his  example  and  per- 
suasion, advanced  a  thousand  pounds  for  the  maintenance 
of  preaching  ministers  in  his  native  country.*'  He  pub- 
lished, 1.  "  The  sum  of  a  Disputation  between  Mr.  WaK 
ker,  pastor  of  St.  John  the  Evangelist,  and  a  Popish  priest, 
calling  himself  Mr.  Smith,  but  indeed  Norris,"  1623.  2. 
'^Fisher's  folly  unfolded,  or  the  vaunting  Jesuit's  challenge 
answered,"  1624.  3.  '^  Socinianism  in  the  fundamental 
point  of  Justification  discovered  and  confuted."  4.  **  The 
doctrine  of  the  Holy  Weekly  Sabbath,"  1641.  5.  "God 
made  visible  in  all  his  Works,"  1644;  besides  several 
sermons  preached  before  the  parliament.  We  shall  have 
occasion  to  mention  another  publication  of  Mr.  Walker's, 
when  we  come  to  speak  of  Anthony  Wotton,  * 

WALKER  (George),  an  Irish  divine,  celebrated  for 
his  military  courage,  was  born  of  English  parents  in  the 
county  of  Tyrone  in  Ireland,  and  educated  in  the  univer- 
sity of  Glasgow  in  Scotland.     He  became  afterwards  recter 

I  Ath.  Ox.  vol.  I.— Brook's  PuriUni.— Fuller's  Wbrthief. 


496  WALKER. 

of  DoDOghmorey  not  many  nailes  fcom  the  city  of  London* 
deny.     When  king  James  IL  after  the  revolution^  landed 
in  Ireland,  Mr.  Walker,  alarmed  at  the  danger  of  the  pro- 
testant  religion,  raised  a  regiment  at  bis  own  expence  to 
defend  the  eause  he  was  bound  to  espouse.     Apprehensive 
that  James  would  visit  Londonderry  (for  he  had  taken  Co- 
leraine  and  Kilmore),  be  rode  full  speed  to  Lundee^  the 
governor,  to  apprize  him  of  the  danger.     That  officer  Ht 
first  slighted  the  information,  but  was  soon  convinced  how 
much  he  was  indebted  to  him.     Walker,  returning  to  Lif- 
ford,  joined  colonel  Crafton,  and  by  Lundee's  direction, 
took  post  at  the  Long  Causeway,  which  he  defended  a 
,  whole  night;  bat  at  length,  obliged  to  give  way  to  a  supe- 
.  rior  force,  he  retreated  to  Londonderry,  where  he  endea- 
voured to  inspire  the  panic-struck  .governor  with  courage 
to  brave  the  storm,  but  in  vain  ;  he  left  the  place  either 
through  fear  or  treachery.  Walker,  however,  bravely  united 
with  major  Baker  to  defend  the  place,  which  would  have 
appeared  bordering  upon  rashness,  if  they  had  been  abie 
generals.     James  commanded  a  numerous  army  in  persotfi, 
which  was  well  supplied  with  every  requisite  for  a  siege. 
-The  besieged  had  no  means  for  a  long  defence  ;  they  were 
.men  who,  flying  from  their  houses,  bad  taken  shelter  in 
this  place ;  they  bad  not  more  than  twenty  cannon,  nor 
more  than  ten  days*  provision,  and  had  no  engineers,  nor 
horses  for  foraging  parties  or  sallies.     Still  resolved  to  suf- 
fer the  greatest  extremities  rather  than  yield,  they  did  aH 
that  desperate  men  could  eifect.     They  sent  to  king  Wil- 
liam to  inform  him  of  their  determination,  imploring  speedy 
rdief.     Major  Baker  dying,  the  command  devolved  chiefly 
on  Walker,  who  exercised  it  with  a  stoic  philosophy  that 
has  few  parallels.     Horses,  dogs,  cats,  rats,  and  mice,  were 
devoured  by  the  garrison,  and  even  salted  hides  were  used 
as  food.     Mr.  Walker  suffered  in  common  with  his  men, 
and  even  prompted  them  to  make  several  sallies ;  and  as 
the  Irish  constantly  fled,  the  officers  suffered  dreadfully. 
Londonderry  having  a  good  harbour,  ht  hoped  tliat  the 
king  might  be  enabled  to  raise  the  siege  that  way,  for  bjr 
land  there  were  no  hopes  of  succour,     j^ut  the  /atality 
which  frustrated  every  attempt  of  James,  prevented  him 
frou)  storming  the  place,  which  might  at  any  time  have 
been  done ;  on  the  contrary  he  determined  on  a  blockade^ 
and    10  starve   the  garrison   into  a  surreiuler.     With  this 
view  be  had  a  bar  made  across  the  arm  of  the  sea,  wfaicb^ 


W  A  L  K  E  ft;  49t 

B3*be  &fipposed,- would  prerent- vessek  from  ^titering.thei 
iQWiu  This  succaeded,  and  ail  hope  to  the  besieged  fteetnedl ' 
to  be  destroyed.  Walker,  perceiving  the  danger  of  a  ge* 
neral  defection,  assembled  his  wretched  garrison  in  th^  cja^. 
tbedrat,  and  endeavoured  to  inspire  them  wit^  a  reliance 
on  Providence.  In  this  he  was  so  successful,  that  they  re<7 
tur^d  to  their  labours  invigorated,  and  immediately  h^id 
thp  happiness  to  discover  three  ships,  under  the  command 
of  major-general  Kirk,  who  had  sent  a  message  to  W^lkeif 
before,  intimating  that  when  he  could  hold  out  no  longer^  . 
be  would  raise  the  siege  at  the  hazard  of  himself,  his  meo^ 
and  bis.  vessels*  Whilst  both  parties  were  preparing  foi} 
the  dreadful  trial,  Kirk  sailed  round  the  bar,  undpra  heavy 
discharge  from  the  enemy,  and  succeeded  in  crossing  it,  by 
which  the  siege  was  raised  ip  the  night  of  July  21,  1689. 

Resigning  now  the  command  of  the  regiment,  he  came 
to  England,  where  he  was  most  graciously  received  by  their 
majesties,  and  in  Nov.  1689,  received  the  thanks  of  thei 
House  of  Commons,  having  just  before  published  an  ac«i 
count  of  the  siege.  He  was  also  created  D.  D.  by  the  uni- 
versity of  Oxford,  and  was  nominated  to  the  bishopric  of, 
Derry.  But  he  w&s  induced  to  return  to  Ireland  with  kingl 
William,  and  was  killed  July  1,  1690,  at  the  battle  of  the^ 
Boyne,  having  resolved  to  serve  that  campaign  before  he. 
took  possession  of  his  bishopric.  "  The  king,''  says  Tillot*. 
son,  in  a  letter  dated  April  1689,  ^^  besides  his  first  bountyt 
to  Mr.  Walker,  whose  modesty  is  equal  to  his  merit,  hathr 
nif  de  him  bishop  of  Londpnderry,  one  of  the  best  bishopries 
in  Ireland  ;  that  so  he  m^y  receive  the  reward  of  that  great 
service  in  the  place  where  he  did  it.  It  is  incredible  how 
much  every  body  is  pleased  with  what  the  king  bath  done 
in  this  matter;  and  it  is  no  small  joy  to  me  to  see,  that, 
God  directs  him  to  do  wisely/V 

Mr.  Walker  published  ^*  A  true  Account  of  the  Siege  of 
Londonderry,''  London,  1689,  4to;  and  some  attacks  being 
made  on  it,  he  published  the  same  year,  ^^  A  Vindication,'' 
while  an  anonymous  writer  produced  '^  An  Apology  for  the 
failures  charged  on  the  rev.  G.  Walker's  printed  account 
of  the  late  siege  of  Derry,  &c."  same  year,  4to.  One  Johi;i 
Mackenzie,  chaplain  to  a  regiment  at  Derry  during  the 
siege,  wrote  "  A  Narrative  of  the  siege,  &c.  or,  the  late 
memorable  transactions  of  that  city  faithfully  represented^ 
to  rectify  the  mistakes,  and  supply  the  omissions  of  Mr. 
Walker's  account,"  Lond.  1690,  4to,  which  was  answered • 

Vol.  XXX  K  k 


4iS  W  A  L  k  E  B. 

by  a  friend  of  Mr.  Walkert,  in  a  pamphlet  entitled ^Hifr. 
Jobn  Mackenzie's  narrative  a  fakie  libel,"  ibid:  same  year.' 
WALKER  (George),  an  able  mathematiician,  was  bofn 
about  1735  at  NewcaHle  upon  Tjue,  and  descended  from 
a  family  of  considerable  antiquity.  He  received  the^mdi- 
BMniB  of  bis  education  at  the  grammar-school  of  N^fwcastle 
under  the  care  of -the  rev.  Dr.  Moises,  a  clergym&in  of  the 
ehurch  of  England.  'At  the  age  of  ten  he  was*  removed 
from  Newcastle  to  Durham,  that  he  might  be  .under  the 
.immediate  direction  of  his  unde,  a  dissenting^minister;'  and 
having  decided^  in  favour  of  the  mintstty  among  the  di^seti-- 
ters, .  he  was  in  1749  sent  to  one  of  their  academies  at  Ken- 
dal. In  1751  he  studied  mathematics  at  Edinburgh  under 
{the  tuition  of  Dr.  Matthew- Steii^rt,  and  made  a  very  great 
fi0ogress  in  that.science«  In  1752  he  studied  theology  for 
•tieo  years  at  Glasgow.  Returning  home,  he  began  to 
preach,  and  in  1757  was  ordained  minis^r  of  a  congrega-^ 
tioB  of  dissentei^  at  Durham.  While  here  he  was  a  f re- 
qtieat  contributor  40  the  *^  Ladies'  Diary,"  in  which,  as*  we 
have  recently  had  occasion  tp  notice,  most  of  the  matbe- 
natictans  of  the  last  aad  present  age,  tried  their  skill ;  arid 
here  also  he  finished  his  valuable  work  on  the  sphere,  'which 
was  not,  however,  published  until  1775^  when  it  appeared 
under  the  title  of  the  **  Doctrine  of  the  Sphere,"  in  4to. 
In  the  end  of  1761,  or  the  beginning  of  1762,  he  accepted 
erf  an  invitatiou  to  become  pastor  at  Great  Yarmoatb, 
where  be trarried  on  his  mathematical  pursuits,  and  having, 
contributed  some  valuable  papers  to  the  Royal  Society,  he 
was  in  1771  elected  a  fellow  of  that  learned  body.  In  the 
same  year  he  accepted  an  invitation  froiu  a  congregation  at 
.Birmingham,  but  was  indaced  to  recede  from  this  engage- 
ment, and  accept  the  office  of  mathematical  tutor  to  the 
dissenting  academy '  at  Warrington,  from  which  he  again 
removed  in  1774  to  Nottingham,'  being  chosen  one  of  the 
aMoisters  of  a  congregation  in  that  town.  Here  he  entered 
with  great  zeal  into  all  the  political  disputes  of  the  times, 
and  always  against  the  measures  of  government.  After  a 
residence  of  twenty^four  years  at  Nottingham,  Mr.  Walker 
went  to  Af  ancbester,  where  be  undertook  the  office  of  the* 
ological  tutor  in  the  dissenting  academy  of  that  towu,  to 
which  tiie  duties  of  mathematical  and  classical  tutor  being 

«  Harris's  edition  of  Ware.— NobU's  CootiaQation  of  6iwg«r.-^liiroli'8  Life 

of  TilloUooi*— Aih.  Ox.  vol.  Il.-<hSiuoUe('8  Aiit.  of  Eostand. 


W  A  L  K  E  ft;  499 

liken^ue  added,  be  was  soon  obliged  to  resign  tbe  whole^ 
io  ^nsideration  of  bis  age  and  infirmities.  He  eontimied 
after  this  tq  reside  for  nearly  two  years  in  tbe  neigbbour- 
bood  of  Manchester,  and  was  for  some  time  president  of 
the  Literary  and  Philosophical  Society  of  thjat  town,  ase* 
ciety  wbich  has  published -several  volamea  of  valuable  me* 
ivoirs^  some  contributed  -  by  Mr..  Walker.  He  tbeii  re- 
mo?eii  to  the  village  of  Wavertree  near  Liverpool,  and,  in 
the  spring  of  1607,  died  in  London,  a^the  ageof  seventry- 
three.  '  He  was  a  man  of  very  considerable  taileol8>  which 
appeared  to  most  advantage  in  the  departmems  of  phiiosd- 
phy  aqd  tbe  belles  lettres,  as  may  be  seen  in  bis  <^  Essvj^s 
on  Various  Subjects," .  published  in  18(li9,  2  vols.  8 vo,  to 
whicb  a  copious  life  is  prefixed*  .  Some  volumes  of  his 
V  Sermons''  have  also  been  published,  which  probably  wene 
suited  to  the  ci>iigregstioiis  over  which  be  presided,  but 
coQtain  but  a  very  small  portion  of  doctrinal  matter,  and 
tbat  chiefly  of  what  is  called  the  liberal  and  rational  kind*  ^ 

WALK£R  (Johjn),  author  of  some  valuable  and  popular 
works  on  the  English  language,  was  born  March^lS^  113^ 
at  Colney-hatch,  a  hamlet  in  the  parish  of  Friern<-JBamet. 
Of  his  parents  little  is  known,  and  it  does  not  appear  that 
be  was  enabled  to  receive  a  liberal  education.  .He  was  iia^ 
tended  for  some  trade,  but  bad  a  reluctance  to  every  effoit 
of  that  kind,  and  went  when-  young  upon  the  stage,  oh 
whicb  be  had  some,  although  no  brilliant  success.  He 
continued,  however,  to  accept  tarious  theatrical  engag^e^ 
ments  until  1768,  when  he  finally  quitted  the  stage;  and 
in  January  1767  joined  Mr.  James  Usher  (see  Usher)  in 
forming  a  school  at. Kensington  Gravel-pits,  but  their  part- 
nership lasted  only  about  two  years,  after  which  Mr.  Wal«-* 
ker  began  to  give  those  instructions  on  elocution,  which 
formed. the  principal  employment  of  his  future  life,  and 
procured  him  a  very  just  fame.  About  the  same  time  be 
instituted  his  inquiries  into  the  structure  of  language,  and 
the  ra^ibna/e  of  grammar,  and  particularly  directed  bis  ac«- 
tention  to  the  orthoepy  of  the  English  language,  in  which 
he  endeavoured,  by  tracing  it  to  its  principles,  to  form  a 
consistent  and  analogical  theory.  The  unwearied  attention 
be  beiitowed  upon  the  subject,  enabled  him  to  accomplish 
this  end,  and} to.  demonstrate  the  enrors,  inconsistencies, 
and  affectations  which  bad  crept  into  pronunciation,  and 

1  Life  as  above. 

« 

K  K  2 


500  \V  A  L  K  E  R. 

.  which  bad  been  propagatcfd,  rather  than  corrected,  by 
many  of  those  who  had  hitherto  professed  to  teach  it.  He 
therefore  resolved  to  make  the  pdblic  participators  in  the 
result  of  his  researches;  and  in  1772  he  published,  by  way 
of  prospectus,  a  quarto  pamphlet  entitled,  **  A  general 
idea  of  a  Pronouncing  Dictionary  of  the  English  language,'* 
a  work  which,  though  an  imperfect  attempt  bad  been 
made  by  Dr.  Kenrick,  in  his  "  Rhetoi*ical  Dictionary,'* 
might  yet  be  considered  as  a  desideratum.  But  as  he  found 
it  inipossible  to  proceed  on  this  without  farther  encourage- 
ment than  was  then  offered,  be  compiled  an  English  Die-* 
lionary  on  a  smaller  scale,  and  on  a  plan  not  hitherto  at- 
tempted, in  which  the  words  ahould  be  arranged  according 
to  their  terminations ;  a  mode  of  arrangement  which,  though 
Hot  calculated  for  general  use,  possesses  many  peculiar  ad- 
vantages. This  he  published  in  1775,  under  the  title  of  ^^A 
Dictionary  of  the  English  language,  answering  at  once  the 
purposes  of  rhyming,  spelling,  and  pronouncing;'*  it  has 
6ince  beeti  republished  under  the  shorter  title  of  *^A 
Rhyming  Dictionary.** 

In  the  mean  time  he  Tisited  Scotland  and  Ireland,  for  the 
purpose  of  reading  lectures  on  elocution,  and  every  where 
met  with  great  respect  and  success,  particularly  at  Oxford, 
where  the  heads  of  houses  invited  him  to  give  private  lec- 
tures in  that  university.  In  1781  he  produced  his  '*  Ele- 
ments of  Elocution,"  a  work  which  has  the  merit  of  being 
tile  first  practical  treatise  that  had  yet  been  composed  on 
t!he  art  of  speaking,  in  which  its  principles  are  at  orvce  un- 
folded, simplified,  and  methodized  into  a  system.     In  178^ 

.  he  published  a  pamphlet,  called  *^  Hints  for  improvement 
in  the  Art  of  Reading,"  consisting  of  a  number  of  observa- 
tions thfit  had  suggested  themselves  to  him  in  the  course  of 
teaching,  thrown  together,  as  the  title  imports',  rather  in 
a  detached  than  a  systematical  form.  The  most  useful 
parts  of  this  pamphlet  he  afterwards  introduced  into  his 
^'  Rhetorical  Grammar,"  which  he  published  in  1785,  and 
#hich  was  followed  by  his  ^' English  Classics  abridged ;" 
"  The  melody  of  speaking  delineated,"  and  his  "  Acade- 
mic Speaker,"  all  soon  introduced  into  our  principal  semi- 
naries, and  too  well  known  to  require  any  farther  notice 
Ijere.  In  1791  he  published  his  "  Critical  Pronouncing 
Dictionary  and  Expositor  of  the  English  iangiDige^"  the 
reputation  of  which  was  soon  fixed,  as  the  statute  book  of 
English  orthoepy^     A  work  of  great  utility  afterwards  came 


WALKER.  501 

from  his  pen,  iHider  the  title  of  a  "  Key  to  the  classicail 
pronunciation  of  Greek,  t-atin.  and  Scripture  proper  naniejs." 
To  this  is  prefixed  his  portrait,  a  very  striking  Jikeness. 
His  last  public^ations  were,  the  '*  Teacher's  assistant/'  and 
the  "  Outlines  of  English  grammar,"  which  was  publisiied 
in  May  1805.  After  this,  as  age  advanced,  he  became  very 
debilitated;  and  in  July  1807  was  attacked  by  a  severe  ill- 
ness, which  proved  fatal  Aug.  1,  in  the  seventy-sixth  year 
of  his  age. 

Mr.  Walker's  private  character  was  amiable  and  unex- 
ceptionable, and  his  philological  knowledge  had  introduced 
faim  to  intimacy  with  many  of  the  most  eminent  literary 
characters  of  his  time.  He  had  been  educated  a  presby- 
terian^  but  by  some  means  argued  himself  into  the  Roman 
catholic  persuasion,  and  was  a  strict  observer  of  all  its  for- 
mal rites.  In  the  particular  department  to  whicR  he  de-r 
voted  his  life,  he  was  perhaps  more  profoundly  skilled  than 
any  msln  of  his  time,  and  his  acquisitions  in  general  litera- 
ture were  very  considerable.  Throughout  his  whole  con^ 
duct  in  life,  he  evinced  the  most  disinterested  integrity. 
In  conversation,  with  a  tolerable  portion  of  anecdote,  tiie 
gleanings  of  a  long  acquaintance  with  literary  men,  his 
bent  was  rather  to  enter  upon  the  discussion  of 'itnpottaiit 
topics  ;  and  as  be  grew  older,  had  outlived  his  early  con- 
temporaries, and  knew  that  he  was  talking  to  the  young, 
his  manner  became  a  little  dictatorial,  but  mixed  with  such 
a  kindly  propensity  to  impart  information,  that  it  was  im- 
possible not  to  respect  him.' 

WALKER  (Obadiah),  a  learned  divine,  6rst  of  the 
church  of  England,  and  then  of  the  Rotnrsh  church,  was 
born  at  Worsbrough,  near  Barnsley,  in  the  west  riding  of 
Yorkshire,  not  in  1615,  as  is  said  in  the  Biographia  Bri- 
tannica,  but  probably  in  the  following  year,  as  he  was 
baptised  Sept.  17,  1616.  He  was  educated  at  University 
college,  Oxford,  under  the  tuition  of  Abraham  Woodhead, 
who  proved  fifterwards  a  great  champion  for  the  popish 
cause.  Having  taken  his  degree  of  bachelor  of  arts  in 
July  1635,  he  was  in  August  following  chosen  fellow  of 
his  college.  In  April  1638,  he  proceeded  master  of  art<, 
entered  into  holy  orders,  and  became  a  noted  tutor.  Du- 
ring the  rebellion,  he  was  one  of  the  standing  extraordinary 
delegates  of  the  university  for  public  business,  and  one  of 

'  4tbc>*uin,  Tol.  Iir.<r-rCe|it.  Mag.  toI.  LXXVU. 


50?  W  A  L  K  JE  It 

the  preachers  before  the  court  of  Charles  I.  at  OaiorcL 
According  to  Smith,  be  preached  once,  probably  in  his 
turn,  and  was  requested  by  his  .majesty  to  preach  a  second 
time,  on  which  account  the  convpcation  granted. biai  his 

frac^  for  bachelor  of  divinity,  whenever  be  should  think 
t  to  take  that  degree;  but  in  May  1648  he  was  ejected 
from  his  fellowship-  by  the  parliametttary  visitor^  and  then 
went  to  the  continent!,  residing  principally  at  Rome,  where 
be  is  said  to  have  ^'  improved  himself  in  all  kinds  of  polite 
literature.''  He  seems  also  to  have  confirmed  the  secret 
liking  be  had  to  the  Roman  catholic  religion,  although  as 
yet  be  thought  proper  to  conceal  the  circumstances.  After 
the  restoration  he  was  reinstated  .in  his  fellowship,  but 
went  again  to  Rome  as  travelling  tutor  to  some  young  gen- 
tiemen.  After  his  return  he  might  have  been  elected  mas^ 
ter  of  his  college,  on  the  death  of  his  namesake,  but  no  rer 
lation.  Dr.  Thomas  Walker,  in  1665.  This  he  declined 
for  the  present,  but  accepted  it  in  1676,  after  the  death 
t)f  Dr.Ricbard  Clftyton,  who  hs^d  succeeded  DnThooiu 
Walker.  '         ^  , 

While  these  repeated  offers  of  tbye  mastership  show  in 
vvhat  estimation  he  was  held  by  the  college  on  account  of 
bis  tearing,  it  seems  rather  siogular.that  the  change  in 
his  principles  should  be  either  not  known,  or  disr.egarded, 
fpr  at  this  tiipe,  wp  ^re  told,  he  was  assistant  to  his  tutor 
Abraham  Woodbcf^d,  who  kept  a  popish  semiuf^ry.at  Hoxr 
ton.  It  v^as  not  long,  hovyrever,  before  his  conduct  attracted 
the  notice  of  parliament,  partly  on  account  pf  bis  assisting 
ill  ^his  popish  seminary  at  Hqxton,  sind  partly  on  ;u:cottDt 
pf  thp  <^  Life  of  Alfred,'^  then  ppblisbed,  by  wfaiph  be 
evidently  appeared  to  be  pqpisbly  affected.  We  dp  not 
find  that  any  proceedings  followed  this  notice  of  his  coD» 
fluct,  and  when  king  James  11.  came  to  the  tbroi^e,  a>^d 
measures  were  openly  taking  for  the  ^tablisbiQent  of  ppr 
pery,  Walker  thought  it  no  longer  necessary  to  conceal. his 
sentiments,  but  went  to  London  jn  July  1685,  in  order  to 
be  consulted,  s^nd  employed  in  such  changes  fis  it  was 
hoped  might  b^  brought  abont  in  the  university.  On  his 
return  to  college,  he  absented  himself  from  the  chapel,  a,nd 
in  tile  beginning  of  March  following,  openly  declared  him^ 
self  a  Roman  catholic,  which  exposed  him  to  every  kind  of 
insult,  popery  being  at  this  time,  as  Magdalen  college  soqa 
shewed,  the  utter  aversion  of  the  university.  Disregarding 
(bis^  he  had  mass  privately  in  his  lodgings,  until  he  covfld 


WALKER.  503 

fit  up  a  ehapel  within  the  limits  of  the '^college.  In  1687, 
by  virtue  of  letters  patent  from  icing  James^  he 'set  up  a 
pnessy  for  the  avowed  purpose  of  printing  b<K>ks  against  the 
reformed  religion.  The  patent  specifies  the  names  of  the 
books  (many  of  which  were  written  by  his  friend  Abraha,nl 
Woodhead),  and  exempts  him  from  any  penalties  to  whicb 
be  might  be  subject  by  the  statutes  against  popery.  Th6^ 
numberofcopies  to  be  published  of  each  work  is  limited 
to  20,000  within  the  year.  :  He  procured  also  other  letters 
patent,  by  which  he,  and  some  fetlows  of  hrs  college,  were 
excused  from  attending  the  public  service  of  the  church. 
Under  this  authority  he  opened  his  new  chapel  for  mas9. 
-This,  says  Smith, 'he  did  by  seizing  **the  lower  half  of  a 
side  of  the  quadrangle,  next  adjoining  to  the, college  cha- 
pel, by,  which  he  deprived  us  of  two  low  rooms,  their 
studies  and  their  bed-chambers:  and  after  all  the  parti- 
tions were  removed,  it  was  some  way  or  other  consecrated, 
as  we  suppose,  to  divine  services :  for  they  had  mass  there 
every  day,  and  sermons  at  least  in  the  afternoon  on  the 
Lord's  days."  He  also  procured  a  mandate  from  the  king 
to  sequester  the  revenue  of  a  fellowship  towards  the  main- 
tenance of  his  priest  He  put  up  a  statue  of  James  II.  over 
the  inside  of  the  gate,  aud  when  the  king  came  tb  Oxford, 
be  entertained  him  at  vespers  in  this  new  chapel.' 

When  the  revolution  took  place,  all  this  %'amshed ;  tho 
statue  was  taken  down,  and  the  chapet  restored  to  the  form 
of  rooms  as  before;  and  Walker,  conscious  that  he  had 
gone  farther  than  any  person  in  his  situation,  and  that  not 
only  contrary  to  the  laws  of  the  land,  but  the  statutes  of 
the  university,  both  general  and  particular,  meditated  his 
escape.  In  Dec.  1688,  he  set  out  along  with  Andrew  Pul- 
ton, a  Jesuit,  and  others,  intending  to  go  to  France ;  but 
hearing  that  the  populate- in  the  county  of  Kent  were  col- 
lected to  seize  all  the  papists  that  endeavoured  to  leave  the 
kingdom,  he  came  back,  and  was  apprehended  at  Fevers- 
ham,  whence  he  was  conveyed  to  London,  and  imprisoned 
ill  the  Tower.  In  the  mean  time,  in  February  1689,  his 
place  was  declared  vacant  at  Oxford^  on  account  of  his 
being  a  papist,  and  was  filled  up  by  Mr.  Ferrer,  the  senior 
fellow. 

After  lying  in  prison  till  1689,  he  was  brought  by  habeas^ 
corpus  to  Westminster-liall,  and  sued  for  bail,  but  instead 
of  obtaining  it,  be  was  brought  to*  the  bar  of  the  House  of 
Commons,  and  charged  with  the  following  offences:  U 


504  WALKER. 

For  changing  his  religion.  2.  For  seducing  others  to  it; 
and  3.  For  keeping  a  mass-hous-e  in  the  university  of  Ox« 
ford.  His  defiince  was  naore  artful  than  honourable  to  bis 
candour.  *^  1  cannot  say  that  I  ever  altered  my  religion,  or 
that  my  principles  do  now  wholly  agree  with  those  pf  the 
church  of  Rome.  Mr.  Anderson  was  my  governor  and  di- 
rector, and  from  him  in  my  youth  I  learned  those  prin*- 
ciples  which  I  have  since  avowed.  If  they  were  popish,  I 
have  not  changed  my  religion  ;  and  they  will  not  be  found 
to  be  wholly  agreeable  with  the  doctrine  of  the  Roman  ca*-, 
tholic  church.  2. 1  never  seduced  others  to  the  Romish 
religion.  All  my  books  and  precepts  tend  only  to  make 
men  good  moralists  and  good  Christian's ;  nor  did  I  ever 
interest  myself  in  persuading  any  body  to  this  or  that  party. 
This  will  be  plain  to  every  body  that  reads  my  books  of 
"  The  Life  of  Christ,"  uiy  book  «  Of  Education,"  roy 
book  of  <^  Benefits,"  &o.  &c."  These  arguments,  iftbey 
may  be  so  called,  being  delivered,  he  was,  in  Jan.  1690, 
brought  again  from  the  Tower  to  the  bar  of  the  king's 
bench,  and  having  given  bail,  was  set  at  liberty ;  but  in 
May  following  he  was  excepted  out  of  the  act  of  pardon  of 
William  and  Mary. 

After  this  he  appears  to  have  gone  abroad  for  some  time, 
but  returned  to  England,  and  lived  a  retired  life,  principally 
snpported  by  one  of  his  old  scholars,  the  celebrated  Dr. 
Radcliffe,  who,  although  averse  to  his  principles,  had  a 
sincere  regard  for  him,  and  took  him  into  his  house.  He 
died  Jan.  21,  1699,  and  was  buried  at  Pancras  church*^ 
yard,  at  the  expence  of  Dr.  Radcliile,  who  caused  a  stone 
to  be  placed  over  his  grave,  with  the  initials  of  his  name, 
O.  W:  in  a  cypher,  to  which  are  added  the  words  ^'  per 
bonam  famam  atque  infamiaiti,"  which  are  the  Vulgate 
reading  of  a  clause  in  2  Corinthians  vi.  3. 

It  seems  generally  acknowledged  that  Mr.  Walker  was  il 
man  of  very  considerable  abilities  and  learning,  but  his 
conduct  on  the  accession  of  James  II.  lost  htm  the  respect 
of  the  university,  and  of  the  public  at  large.  By  his  own 
confession  he  had  led  a  long  life  of  conscious  hypocrisy 
for  the  sake  of  a  very  few  years  of  open  profession  of  his 
principles  ;  and  his  subserviency  to  the  will  of  his  bigotted 
monarch,  when  contrasted  with  the  noble  stand  made  by 
(he  president  and  fellows  of  the  neighbouring  college^ 
Magdalen,  must  have  sunk  his  reputation' very  much. 
^   Aoiong  Mr.  Walker's  published  works,  the  best  is  *^  The 


WALKER. 


505 


Greek  and  Roman  History,  illustrated  by  coins  andaiedals/' 
Lond.  1692,  810^  His  otfaer  worfcs  are,  1.  "A  brief  ac- 
count of  ancient  Church  Governnient/^  ibid.  1662,  4to« 
2.  **Of  Education,  especially  of  young  gentlemen,"  Oxford, 
1673,  12mo;  reprinted  a  fourth  time,  1683.  3.  "Artis 
rationis,  libri  tre»,"  ibid.  1673.  4.> '^  A  paraphrase  and 
annotations  upon  the  epistles  of  St.  Paul  to  the  Romans, 
Corinthians,  and  Hebrews,"  ibid.  1674.  This  has  been 
attributed  to  Dr. .  Fell.  B,  The  Life  of  ki-ng  Alfred,  in 
Latin,  from  the  English  of  sir  John  Speiman,  1678,  fol.  a 
magnificent  publication.  6.  ^^  God^s  Benefits  to  Mankind/' 
ibid  1680,  4 to.  7.  "  Description  of  Greenland,"  &c.  for 
Pitt's  Atlas.  8.  '^  Some  instructions  concerning  the  art  of 
Oratory,"  ibid.  1682,  8vo,  2d  edit.  9.  **  An  historical 
narration  of  the  Life  and  Death  of  Christ,"  ibid.  1635, 
4to,  the  sale  of  which  was  prohibited  by  the  vice-chancel- 
lor of  Oxford,  on  account  of  many  passages  in  it  which 
savoured  of  popery.  10.  **  Some  instructions  in  the  Art  of 
Grammar,"   Lond.  1691,  8vo.* 

>  Biog.  Brit, — Atli.Ox.Tftl.il. — Smith*i  Hist,  of  University  college,  p.  254. 
— Lyso!i8*8  Environs,  vol.  III. — Gent.  Mag.  vois.LVI  and  LXVII. — M«lone'« 
Dryden,  vol.  I.  p.  422. 


INDEX. 


Those  marked  thus  *  are  nevr. 
Those  marked  t  are  re-written,  with  additions. 


Page 

*Tradescant,  John .1 

*Tr2LheTon,  Baith 3 

•Traill,  Robert ■. 4 

fTrapezuntius;  George 7 

+Trapp,  Joseph 9 

*Treby,  George 15 

•Trembley,  Abraham 16 

Tremellius,  Immanuel. . .'. .  17 

Ti^nchard,  Jdhn 18 

•TYesham,  Henry 20 

^•flVew,  Christ.  James 23 

MYibonianus 24 

^Trigland,  James ib. 

*Tirimmer,  Sarah. ib. 

^^TrtmnelJ,  Charles 29 

*IVincavelli,  Victor 35 

tTrissino,  John  Geoi^e 36 

•Tristan  L'Henuite,  F 39 

*Trithemius,  John 40 

•Trivet,  Nich 41 

f  Trogus,  Pompeius ib. 

-j-Trommius,  Abirahaim ib. 

•Tromp,  M.  H.  Van .* .  42 

•Tronchin,  Theodore 42 

«  .Theo.  grandson . .  44 

•Truberus,  Primus 46 

•Trublet,  N.  C.  J 47 

tTrumbuU,  William 48 

•Trye,  Charles  Brandon 51 

Tryphiodorus 52 

•Tschirnhausen,  E.  W 54 . 

•Tschudi,  Giles  de 55- 

fTucker,  Abraham. ib. 

*■  Josiah 59 

» William 63 

•Tuckney,  Anth 64 

•Tudeschi,  Nich 68 

Tull,  Jethro 69 

•Tully,  Thomas ..71 

«Tulp,Nich 7S 

•Tunstall^  Cathbert ib. 


Page 

Tunstall,  James  ......  ^ ...  80 

•Turbervile,  George : . .  81 

•Turgot ;.:.'....  84 

* Anne  Rob.  J 85 

fTurndbus,  Adriap. 88 

•Turner,  Daniel , 90 

* Thon^as *. 91 

* son,  Francis ...  .7 .  92 

* ^,son,  Thomas 94 

* William 95 

*-" Peter 9d 

* WiUiam loo 

•Tnrretin,  Benedict loi 

* Francis. 102 

* John  Alphonsus.lOS 

•Turselin,  Horace.. ...'..,.  107 

•Tusser,  Thomas I08 

•Tutchin,  John lio 

*Tutet,  M.C ib. 

•Tweddeit,  John in 

*Twells,  Leonard 115 

•Twining,  Thomas 116 

*twiss,Will 118 

*Twyne,  John 120 

* Brian 122 

•Twysden,  sir  Roger 123 

Tye,  Christopher 124 

tTjers,  Thomas. 126 

+Tyndale,  William 128 

^Tyrannio i . , ,  132 

*Tyrrell,  James 133 

tT^TtsBUs 136 

tTyrwhitt,  Thomas ib. 

*Tyson,  Edward. I40t 

* Michael . .' 141. 

tTytler,  William 142- 

Tzetzes,  John 144 

♦Ubaldi,  Guido 145 

tTJbaldini,  Petrucchio ib., 

.*Uberti,  Fazio 147 

*Udal,  Ephraim'  . , ib. 


IN  D 

^Udal,  Nicholas • .  148 

*Udine,  Giovanna  da 149 

«Ufieiiiba€h,  Z.  C.  d* 150 

*UgheBi,  Ferdinand 151 

♦Ulloa,  Don  Ant 152 

♦Ulphilas  .  • , 153 

"i^Upton,  James ^  . . . .  ib. 

* John 154 

♦Urban  VIII 156 

fUrceuB,  A.C 156 

*Urf(g,  Honore  d' 157 

♦Ursins,  John  Juvenal 158 

♦Ursimis,  Fnlvius ib, 

t Zachary 159 

Ursus,  Nich.  R 162 

fUsher^  James 163 

*  James,  Bom.  Cath. .  183 

♦Uvedale,  Robert 185 

*Vad^,  John  Jos, .186 

♦Vadianus^  Joachim 187 

*Vahl,  Martin. .189 

Vaillant,  John  Foi 190 

J.  F.  Foi 193 

t— —  Sebastian  # ib. 

fVaissette,.  Joseph 194- 

♦Valdes,.  John. ib. 

♦Valentine,  Basil 196 

Valentinus 198 

« *— *-M.MichaelJBernard  199 

Valerianus,  Pierius 199 

Valiero,  .Augustine 201 

Valerius. Maximus ,  202 

Valesius,  Henry 203 

^  Adrian 206 

fValincour,  J.  B 207 

Valla,  George 208 

t Lawrence ib. 

♦Valle,  Peter  de  la 212 

♦Vallisnieri,  Ant ib. 

♦Valmont  de  Boni^ve  ......  ib. 

fValsalva,  A.  M.. ... .  .213 

fVanbrugh,  John 214 

tVan-Dale,  Anth 21« 

f  Vander-Linden,  John  Ant.  219 

♦Vandermonde 220 

♦Vandervelde,  the  old 223 

#____  the  young. . .  224 
fVandyck,  Anth. ..........  ib. 

♦Vane,  sir  Henry .228 

t— —  sir  H.  juniori '229 


E  X.  tot 

Pag* 
♦Van  Effen,  Justus. .  /. . . .  V235 

f Vtiniere,  James 237 

Vanini ib. 

Vanloo,J:B 242 

QKorles ib. 

♦Van  Mander,  Charles 243 

♦Vanni,  Francis 244 

♦Van  Swieten,  Gerard  .....  245 

♦Vanuden,  Lucas 248 

♦Varchi,  Benedict 249 

Varenius,  Bernard    250 

♦Vai-ignoui  Peter ibw 

,  Varillas,- Anthony 255 

♦VaroU,  CoHstantius 257 

fVarro,  M.  Terent 257 

■  -  Atacinus. 253 

tVasari,.George 259 

♦Vatablus,  Francis 261 

♦Vattel,  Emer  de .  ^ ib. 

Vavassor,  Francis 262 

*Vauban,  S.  Lc  P 264 

Vaugelas,  C.  Favre  de. . . . .  265 

♦Vaughan,  Henry 266 

♦ Thomas 267 

♦— John. 268 

♦ William 269 

♦Vauvilliersf,  J.  F 270 

♦Vaux,  Thomas : 271 

♦Vega,  Lopez  de  la. 278 

Vegetius,  F.  R 27d 

♦Vegid,  Mafiei . . , ib, 

♦Velasquez,  Di^o  de  Silva .  280 
♦Velezy  L.  V*  de  Guevara. . .  281 
♦Velli,P.F .282 

Velserus,  Marcus ill. 

♦Venantius 284 

♦Veneroni,  John 285 

♦Veneziano,  Agostino. . .  • . .  286 

Venius,  Otho * ibu 

♦Venn,  Henry 287 

f  Ve^ner,  Tobias. . .  * 290 

♦Venning,  Ralph 291 

♦Verdier,  A.  S.  de  Vauprivas.  292 

♦ G.  S.  du 293 

f  Vece,  Francis 294 

Horace 299 

♦  Edward 300 

♦Veiger  de  Haurane,  J.  du  .  302 

♦Veigerius,  P.P i . .  303 

♦— P.  P.  the  younger  305 


SOS 


1  Nos  X.: 


Veigil,  Polydore.  ;.*..» 
•Veigne,  count  de  Trcssan  . 

Verheyen,  Philip. 

f  Vernet,  Jose^ih 

*Verneuil,  John 

*Verney,  (w.  J,  du 

Vernon,  Edward 

* ; Thomas  ........ 

Verschurtng,  Heniy 

fVei-stegan,  Richard 

*  Vert,  Claude  de 

tVertot,  R.  A.  de 

f  Vertue,  Cieorge 

Vesaliiut,  Andrew 

*Ve8ling,  John 

fVesputius;  Amcricus 

♦Vicars,  John 

Vicary,  lipomas 

♦Vico,  Eneas 

»Vicq-d*Azir,  Felix 

+ Victor,  Sextus  Aurelius. . . 

fVictorius,  Peter ^, 

tVida,M.H. 

i'Viel,  C.  M.  de 

. Lewis  de ^ . 

*Vieta,  Francis 

*Vieussens,  Raymond 

*Vignier,  Nicholas 

*-'——-  Jerome 

tVignola,  J.  B.  de 

♦Vignoles,  Alphonso  des. . . 

♦Villalpando,  J.  B 

■*Villani,  John , » 

*Villars,  L  H.  duke  of.  , . . . 

*. Montfaucou  de  . . . 

*Villefore,  J.  F.  B.  de 

Villiers,  George,  D.  o/Ouck 

George  11.  duke. ... 

*Villoison,  J.  B.  de 

♦Vincent,  of  Beauvais . . . . , 

* — — —  of  Lerins 

*— 'ithomas 

* William 


fVinci,  Lionardo  Da 

♦Viner,  Cliarles. .... 

Vjnes,  Richard .... 

♦Vinet,  Eli  as 

*Vu-et,  Peter 


Paif« 
308 
310 
311 
.ib. 
313 
314 
.ib. 
316 

317 

318 

319 
390 
391 
395 
328 
329 
333 
333 
334 
.ib. 
33& 
336 
338 
340 
342 
.ib. 
344 
.ib. 
34S 
.ib. 

347 
349 
350 
351 
392 
353 
.354 
360 
365 
369 
.ib. 
370 
371 
387 
393 
394 
396 
397 


P»gr«f 

Virgil^  Pub,.  Mara.  / .;.  399 

♦Vitalis,  Ordericus. 405 

Vitellio 406 

fVitringa,  Camp^ius  .^ ib. 

Vitruvius,  M.  Pollio 4(y^ 

Vives,  J.  L 408 

fViviani,  Vincentio 410 

fVoetius,  Gisbert 4H 

♦Voisin,  Joseph  de 414 

Voiture,  Vincent ib. 

Volkof,  Feodor 416 

Voltaire,  M.  F.  Arouet  de . .  417 

♦Volterra,  Dan.  di 42(^ 

fVondel,  Justus 428- 

Vopiscus,  Fl^vius.- ib. 

fVorstius,  Conrade 42^ 

Vos,  Martin  de 43;^ 

"* Siqion  de tt>. 

Vossius,  Gerard  John 434* 

Isaac. 437 

-« r.Oerard 44*J^ 

Vouet,  Simon % .  ib. 

♦Voycr,  Marq.  D'Argenson .  444 

Vroon,  Henry  Com 44.'> 

*Vyth,  John  Martin 446 

*Wace,  Robert 44T 

♦Wadding,  JLuke 451 

♦Wadhatn,  Nich 453 

Wadsworth,  Thomas .....  456 
♦Wageoaar,  John 457 

Wagemeil,  Johik  C ib. 

tWagstaflFe,  Thomas  w .458 

* William  ......  461 

tWake,  Isaac 463 

t William 464 

♦Wakefield,  GUbert 476 

fWakefield,  Robert 485^ 

♦Walffius,  Anthony 487 

♦Waldensis,  Thomas ib. 

♦Waldo,  Peter 439 

♦Wales,  WiUiaxn ^ .  491 

♦Walker,  Clement ib. 

* sir  Kdwani 499 

* George 494 

* r. 495 

* T— 498 

* John 499 

*' r--  ObaUiah 501 


END   OF   THE    THIRTIETH    VOtUMli. 


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