THE GENERAL
BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY:
CONTAINING
AN HISTORICAL AND CRITICAL ACCOUNT
OF THE
LIVES AND WRITINGS
OF THE
MOST EMINENT PERSONS
IN EVERY NATION;
PARTICULARLY THE BRITISH AND IRISH;
FROM THE EARLIEST ACCOUNTS TO THE PRESENT TIME.
A NEW EDITION,
REVISED AND ENLARGED BY
ALEXANDER CHALMERS, F. S. A.
VOL. XXVI.
LONDON:
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742558
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO
A NEW AND GENERAL
BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY.
iVAMAZZINI (BERNARDIN), an Italian physician, was
born of a citizen's family at Carpi near Modena, Nov. 5,
163.3. When he had laid a foundation in grammar v and
classical literature in his own country, he went to Parma
to study philosophy ; and, afterwards applying himself to
physic, took a doctor's degree there in 1659. Then he
went to Rome, for the sake of penetrating still further into
his art; and afterwards settled as a practitioner in the duchy
of Castro. After some time, ill health obliged him to re-
turn to Carpi for his native air, where he married, and fol-
lowed the business of his profession; but in 1671, at the
advice of some friends, he removed to Modena. His bre-
thren of the faculty there conceived at first but meanly of
his learning and abilities ; but, when he had undeceived
them by his publications, their contempt is said to have
been changed into jealousy. In 1682, he was made pro-
fessor of physic in the university of Modena, which was
just founded by duke Francis II. ; and he filled this office
for eighteen years, attending in the mean time to practice,
and not neglecting polite literature, to which he was always
partial, and wrote a very elegant Latin style. In 1700, he
went to Padua upon invitation, to be a professor there :
but the infirmities of age began now to come upon him.
He lost his sight, and was forced to read and write with
other people's eyes and hands. The senate, however, of
Venice made him rector of the college in 1708, and also
raised him from the second professorship in physic to the
first. He would have refused these honourable posts; but, be-
ing overruled, performed all the functions of them very dili-
gently to the time of his death, He died Nov. 5, his birth-
VOL. XXVI. B
2 RAMAZZINI.
day, 1714, aged eighty-one. Ramazzini was a member of
several of the academies of science established in Ger-
many, Berlin, &c., and left several works ; the principal
of which, and one which will ever be held in estimation, is
his treatise on the diseases of artists and manufacturers,
entitled " De Morbis Artificum Diatriba," first published
in 1700, and frequently reprinted, and published in Eng-
lish. He also published some tracts relative to certain
epidemics, both among men and cattle ; some " Epheme-
rides Barometrical ;" a work on the abuse of Peruvian bark ;
and several orations delivered in his professorial capacity.
All his works have been collected and published together
at Padua, Geneva, London, and Naples; the edition of
London, 1716, 4to, is the most correct. 1
RAMEAU (JOHN PHILIP), chevalier de St. Michel, com-
poser to the king of France, and to 1' Academic Royale de
la Musique, or serious opera at Paris, was born at Dijon in
1683, He went early in his life to Italy, and at his re-
turn was appointed organist at Clermout en Auvergne,
where his "Traite" de la Musique" was written, in 1722.
He was afterwards elected organist of St. Croix de la Bre-
tonnerie at Paris. Here his time was chiefly employed in
teaching ; however, he published harpsichord lessons, and
several other theoretical works, without distinguishing him-
self much as a vocal composer, till 1733, when, at fifty
years of age, he produced his first opera of " Hippolite et
Aricie." The music of this drama excited professional
envy and national discord. Party rage was now as violent
between the admirers of Lulli and Rameau, as in England
between the friends of Bononcini and Handel, or, in mo-
dern times, at Paris, between the Gluckists and the Pic-
cinists. When the French, during the last century, were
so contented with the music of Lulli, it was nearly as good
as that of other countries, and better patronized and sup-
ported by the most splendid prince in Europe. But this
nation, so frequently accused of more volatility and caprice
than their neighbours, have manifested a steady perse-
vering constancy in their music, which the strongest ridi-
cule and contempt of other nations could never vanquish.
Rameau only answered his antagonists by new produc-
tions, which were still more successful ; and, at length, he
was acknowledged by his countrymen to be not only supe-
1 Eloy, Diet. Hist, de Medicine. Fabrooi Vitw lUlorum.
R A M E A U. 3
rior to all competition at Paris, but sole monarch of the
musical world. From 1733 to 1760 he composed twenty-
one operas, of which the "names and dates are annually
published in the " Spectacles de Paris," and in many other
periodical works, Rameau's style of composition, which
continued in favour almost unmolested for upwards of forty
years, though formed upon that of Lulli, is more rich in
harmony, arid varied in melody. The genre, however dis-
pleasing to all ears but those of France, which had been
nursed in it, was carried by the learning and genius of
Rameau to its acme of perfection ; and when that is
achieved in any style, it becomes the business of subse-
quent composers to invent or adopt another, in which
something is still left to be done, besides servile imitation.
The opera of " Castor and Pollux" having been long
regarded in France as the master-piece of this composer,
Dr. Burney has entered into a strict critical examination
of it, for which we refer to his History. He concludes
with observing, that, though the several merits of this mu-
sician have been too much magnified by partizans and pa-
triots in France, and too much depreciated by the abettors
of other systems and other styles, as well as patriots of
other countries, yet Rameau was a great man ; nor can
the professor of any art or science mount to the summit of
fame, and be elected by his countrymen supreme dictator
in his particular faculty, without a large portion of genius
and abilities.
The successful revival of his opera of tc Castor and Pol-
lux" in 1754, after the victory obtained by his friends
over the Italian burletta singers who had raised such dis-
turbance by their performance of Pergolesi's intermezzo,
the " Serva Padrona," was regarded as the most glorious
event of his life. The partizans for the national honour
could never hear it often enough. " This beautiful opera,"
says M. de la Borde, " without any diminution in the ap-
plause or pleasure of the audience, supported a hundred
representations, charming at once the soul, heart, mind,
eyes, ears, and imagination of all Paris.'*
From this sera to the time of his death, in 1767, at
eighty-four years of age, Rameau's glory was complete.
The royal academy of music, who all regarded themselves
as his children, performed a solemn service in the church
of the oratory, at his funeral. And M. Philidor had a mass
B 2
4 R A M L E It.
performed at the church of the Carmelites, in honour of
a man whose talents he so much revered. 1
RAMLEIl (CHARLES WILLIAM), a German poet of great
celebrity in his own country, but little known here, was
born in 1725, at Kolberg, arid became professor of belles
lettres in a military academy at Berlin. In concert with
Leasing, he there edited two ancient poets of the Germans,
Logau ami Wernike. His Lyrical Antholpgy contributed
much to improve the taste of his countrymen, by those
changes of diction which almost every poem received from
his pen. Sixteen odes of Horace he translated with great
felicity, and composed many original imitations of them.
His oratorios, which Graun set to music, would have been
warmly admired, but in the country of Klopstock. In
1774, he translated the critical works of Batteux, which
he accompanied with considerable additions.
Ramler's odes vvt-ie first collected apart in 1772; they
had been composed on several occasions, during the pre-
ceding fifteen years. Their character is peculiarly Hora-
tian, but they have too much the air of close imitation,
yet they have procured him the name of the German Ho-
race. He sung the praises of the king of Prussia with as
much spirit as Horace did those of Augustus, but with less
flattery. He died March 19, 1798. 2
RAMSAY (ALLAN), one of the extraordinary instances
of the power of uncultivated genius, was born at Lead-
hills*, Oct. 13, 1685 f. His father, John Ramsay, de-
scended of the Rarnsays of Cockpen, an ancient and re-
spectable family in Mid- Lothian, was factor to the earl of
Hopeton, and superintendant of his lead- mines. His mo-
ther, Alice Bower, was daughter of Allan Bower, a gen-
tleman of Derbyshire, who, on account of his great skill
in mining, had been invited by sir James Hope of Hope-
ton to set his valuable mines in motion.
When Allan Ramsay was about a year old his father died,
and his mother being but ill provided for, soon after mar-
ried a second husband in the neighbourhood, by whom she
* The gpographical situation of his more, born in Lead-hill," &c.
native place is very poetically de- f Thfie is an ode addressed to his
scribed in the beginning of an ode for friend sir Alexander Dick of Corstor-
his admission into a club of Clyds- phin, written on his seventieth biith-
dnb gentlemen, printed in the first vo- day, and dated Oct. 15, 1755.
lume of his poems, " Of Crawford
i Btirney's Hist, of Miiic and life of Rameau in Rees's Cyclopedia.
- Diet. Hist. Maty's Review, vol. VIII. from a German biography.
R A M S A Y. 5
had several children. In this situation young Ramsay
could not he supposed to have much care or expence
bestowed upon him : he had, however, access to all the
learning a village-school could afford, and it was during
this period, the first fifteen years of his life, that he had
an opportunity of storing his mind with those rural images
which were afterwards so agreeably exhibited in his
writings.
About the year 1700, his mother died: he was now
completely an orphan ; but was come to an age when it
was proper for him to do something for his own subsistence.
His own wish, as he was often heard to say, was to have
been bred a painter, and he had even attempted to copy
prints he found in books, before he left the country.
What were the particular causes which prevented this wish
from being gratified, have not come to our knowledge; but
his step-father, being exceedingly desirous of getting rid
of him at any rate, carried him to Edinburgh, and bound
him apprentice to a wig-maker *, probably believing it to
be the most profitable trade of the two.
But, although young Ramsay was of that happy temper
which readily accommodates itself to accidental circum-
stances, yet, poor as he was, lie could not heartily re-
concile himself to an occupation in which his active and
liberal mind found no eKercise that was fit for it. He
therefore thought how he might procure for himself a de-
cent maintenance by some means more connected with his
poetical genius and growing passion for literary know-
ledge. All this he accomplished by turning bookseller, in
which employment he succeeded very much to his satis-
faction, publishing sometimes his own works, sometimes
those of other authors, as they occasionally presented
themselves.
The first of his own writings were given to the public
in detached pieces; but upon finding that these met with
approbation from people of the best taste, both in Scotland
and England, it encouraged him to open a subscription for
a volume in quarto, which came out in 1721, and produced
him a very considerable sum of money.
In 1728, he published a second volume in quarto ; and
these two volumes, which have been often reprinted in
* Not a barber, as has been advanced in-some London publications.
6 RAMSAY.
octavo, contain all his printed works which he has thought
fit to acknowledge. The longest piece among them, and
the one which has been the most universally read and ad-
mired, is a pastoral comedy, called the " Gentle Shep-
herd," which, though it presents only that mode of coun-
try life which belongs to the corner of Scotland where he
himself was born, yet is every where filled with such just
sentiments and general imagery as will insure it approba-
tion in every country where its language can be either un-
derstood or translated.
The first scene, between Patie and Roger, of this dra-
ma, was written early, and published first by itself, and
afterwards in his first volume in 1721, as an independent
eclogue. In that volume is likewise to be found the dia-
logue song between Patie and Peggie, afterwards intro-
duced into the second act. After the publication of this
first volume, he put forth another eclogue between Jenny
and Peggy, as a sequel to Patie and Roger, and which
now stands the second scene in the " Gentle Shepherd."
At what particular time between 1721 and 1728 he con-
ceived the idea of forming a complete drama, of which
those two were to serve as the opening, is not precisely
known ; but it was not, probably, till after publishing the
last mentioned eclogue ; for he had more skill than to wea-
ken the effect of a complete work, by giving it to the pub-
lic in detached scenes, and at such different periods.
Soon after the first edition, in octavo, of this pastoral
was published, and about the time of the publication of
his second volume in quarto, the "Beggar's Opera" made
its appearance, with such success that it soon produced a
great number of other pieces upon the same musical plan.
Amongst the rest, Ramsay, who had always been a great
admirer of Gay, especially for his ballads, was so far car-r
ried away by the current as to print a new edition of his
pastoral, interspersed with songs adapted to the common
Scotch tunes. He did not reflect at the time that the
" Beggar's Opera" was only meant as a piece of ironical
satire, whereas his " Gentle Shepherd" was a simple imi-
tation of nature, and neither a mimickry nor mockery of
any other performance. He was soon, however, sensible of
his error, and would have been glad to have retracted those
songs; but it was too late; the public was already in pos-
session of them, and as the number of singers is always
greater than that of sound critics, the many editions since
RAMSAY. 7
printed of that pastoral have been almost uniformly in this
vitiated taste. He comforted himself, however, with the
thought that the contagion had not infected his second vo-
lume in quarto, where the " Gentle Shepherd" is still to be
found in its original purity.
He had made himself very much master of the French
language ; and his imitations of the Fables of La Motte are
excellent. He much lamented his deficiency in the Latin,
of which, however, he had picked up so much, as by the
help of Dacier, to catch the spirit of the Odes of Horace,
which, even by this twilight, he above all writings ad-
mired, and supplying, by congenial fancy, what he wanted
in erudition, has imitated some of them with a truly Ho-
ratian felicity.
Before he left Leadhills he had no opportunity of read-
ing any books but such as were in the hands of the country
people all over Scotland. Amongst those were the hktory
in verse of king Robert the Bruce, the exploits of sir Wil-
liam Wallace, and the poems of sir David Lindsey *, a fa-
vourite of king James V. which coming at an early period
to one not distracted by a variety of studies, made a deep
impression upon his mind, and gave a cast to all his after
sentiments, particularly with regard to the dignity and in-
dependence of Scotland, in the history and antiquities of
which he became very knowing. In the " Ever Green,"
a collection of old Scottish poems, published by him in
1724, there are two pieces of his own, one of them called
" The Vision," said to have been written in Latin, about
1300, and translated in 1524, and which has for its subject
the sufferings of Scotland under Edward I. and the Balioi
faction. It consists of twenty pages, and is full of poetical
imagery. What were his motives for writing so long a
poem without reaping any fame from it, is not easy to guess.
Perhaps it was only for the sake of amusing himself with
the profound remarks of learned critics and antiquaries
upon it ; perhaps some political ideas not very orthodox
had their share in the concealment But whatever might
be his reason for concealing himself at this time, he cer-
tainly did not mean that this should continue always a
secret, as appears by his communicating it to his son, from
* His early liking to these books printed ; so that after he was seventy
carried him so far as to retain, during years old, he used to read Chaucer in
life, a partiality for the Saxon or black that type in preference to the modern
letter, in which they happened to be editions.
8 . RAMSAY.
whom the writer of this article had the information ; and
by his putting, by way of name to the end of it, A R. Scot,
which, though it appears at first sight to mean Archibald
Scot, is no other than the two initials of his own name,
with his country added to them. His notions about the
independency of Scotland had made him, for some time,
consider the union of the two crowns as a hardship: an
opinion which he held in common with many worthy men
and sincere friends of their country in those days ; and there
is a poem of his in print called " The Tale of the Three
Bonnets," in which the manner of bringing about that treaty
is handled with a great dea4 of satirical humour: but his
good sense and observation getting, at length, the better
of those early prejudices, this poem never obtained a place
in any of his two volumes, and is now difficult to he met
with.
To those who look upon poetry as an affair of labour and
difficulty, it must appear very strange that any man should
compose so much of it, with so little view either to fame
or profit. But the fact is, that writing verse cost Ramsay
no trouble at all, and as it lightly came it lightly went.
In the " Ever Green," already mentioned, there is what
is called a "Fragment of Hardiknnte," of which almost
one half made its first appearance in that publication.
But this was a forgery which could not be supposed to lie
very heavy upon his conscience, as he knew that the origi-
nal " Fragment 1 * so justly admired, was not of above ten
or fifteen years greater antiquity than his own additions to
it. For it had been ushered into the world by a lady Ward-
law, who produced it, by two or three stanzas at a time,
saying she had taken them down in writing from an old
woman, who sung them while she was spinning at her dis-
tafF. But as lady Wardlaw had given sufficient proofs of
her poetical genius, by several smaller compositions, and
as this spectre of an old woman had never appeared to any
body but herself, none of her acquaintance ever doubted
of her being the true author. What parts of this pre-
tended fragment, as printed in the " Ever. Green," were lady
"Ward law's, and what were Ramsay's, his son, from whom we
likewise hud this anecdote, could not precisely remember,
and said, that they were all too much of the same texture
for his critical skill alone to make the distinction : but that
it was a point which might be easily ascertained by com-
paring what is in the " Ever Green" with the copies of
RAMSAY. 9
" Hardiknute," printed before 1724. In the "Ever
Green," the whole of this poem is printed in the spelling
of the 15th century, which, though the flimsiest of all dis-
guises, has a wonderful effect in imposing upon the bulk
of readers.
As to his person, he was of a middle stature, or some-
what less, but well shaped and active, and enjoyed per-
petual health, except that in his latter years, he was now
and then troubled with the gravel. His disposition was
cheerful and benevolent; and what is not often the lot of
men of lively imaginations, he was blessed with an equality
of mind, free from impatience or anxiety, and little ele-
vated or cast down with any thing' prosperous or adverse
that befell him.
Having acquired by business what he reckoned a suffi-
cient fortune, that is, an independent subsistence of the
plainest kind, he retired, about 1739, to a small house
he had built in the midst of a garden on the north side of
the Castle-hill of Edinburgh. There he passed the last
twenty years of his life in the conversation of his friends,
in reading a few chosen books, in the cultivation of his lit-
tle garden, and in other innocent and healthful amuse-
ments. Although he had no further desire of attracting
the notice of the public, he continued to write epistles,
and other occasional pieces of poetry, for the entertainment
of his private friends. When urged by one of them to
give some more of his works to the press, he said, " that
he was more inclined, if it were in his power, to recall
much of what he had already given ; and that if half his
printed works were burnt, the other half, like the Sybill's
books, would become more valuable by it." He had even
formed a project of selecting as many of his principal
pieces as would fill one volume ; leaving the rest to perish
by neglect. But this was never executed.
Great part of every summer he passed with his friends
in the country, but chiefly with sir John Clerk of Penny-
cuik, one of the barons of the Exchequer, a gentleman
eminent for his learning and taste in the polite arts, and
who had known and esteemed Mr. Ramsay from the time
of his first appearance. The death of this valuable friend,
in 1756, was a great grief to him; which was, however,
much alleviated by the continuation of the same friendship
in his son and successor, sir James, who, upon Mr. Ram-
$ay's death, which happened Jan, 1, 1758, erected near
JO R A M S A Y.
his seat of Pennycuik, a stately obelisk of hewn stone to
Jus memory, with this inscription :
Alano Ramsay Poetae egregio,
Qui fatis concessit VII Jan. MDCCLVIII.
Amico paterno et suo,
Monumentum inscribi jussit
D. Jacobus Clerk,'
Anno MDCCLIX. l
RAMSAY (ALLAN), son of the preceding, and a distin-
guished portrait-painter, was born at Edinburgh in 1709,
and having devoted himself to painting, went at an early
period to study in Italy, where he received some instruc-
tions from Solimene, and Imperiali, two artists of great
celebrity there. After his return he practised for some
time in Edinburgh, but chiefly in London, and acquired
a considerable degree of reputation in his profession, and
much esteem from all who knew him, as a scholar and a
gentleman. By the interest of lord Bute, he was intro-
duced to his present majesty, when prince of Wales, whose
portrait he painted both at whole length, and in profile,
and both were engraved, the former by the unhappy Ry-
land, and the latter by Woollett. There are also several
jnezzotinto prints after pictures which he painted of some
of the principal personages among his countrymen. He
practised with success for many years, and, a,t the death
of Mr. Shalcelton, in March 1767 was appointed principal
painter to the crown, a situation which he retained till his
death, though he retired from practice about eight years
after his appointment. He visited Rome at four different
times, " smit," as Mr. Fuseli says, " with the love of classic
lore, to trace, on dubious vestiges, the haunts of ancient
genius and learning." On his return from his last visit to
Italy, in which he was accompanied by his son, the present
majorgenral Ramsay, he died a few days after landing
at Dover, August 10, 1784.
Mr. Ramsay's portraits possess a calm representation of
nature, that much exceeds the mannered affectation of
squareness, which prevailed among his contemporary ar-
tists ; and it may justly be allowed, that he was among the
first of those who contributed to improve the degenerate
style of portrait painting. Walpole says, " Reynolds and
Ramsay have wanted subjects, not genius." Mons. Rou-
1 From private communication. The reader may also consult a life pre-
txed to Ramsay's Works, 1800, 2 vols. 8vo.
RAMSAY, U
quet, in his pamphlet, entitled " The present state of the
Arts in England,'' published in 1755, mentions Mr. Ramsay
as " an able painter, who, acknowledging no other guide
than nature, brought a rational taste of resemblance with
him from Italy; he shewed even in his portraits, that just,
steady spirit, which he so agreeably displays in his conver-
sation." He was a man of much literary taste, and was the
founder of the " Select Society" of Edinburgh in 1754, to
which all the eminently learned men of that city belonged,
lie wrote himself some ingenious pieces- on controverted
topics of history, politics, and criticism, published under
the title of " Investigator." He wrote also a pamphlet on
the subject of Elizabeth Canning, which attracted much,
attention at the time, and was the means of opening the
eyes of the public, and even of the judges, to the real
truth and explanation of that mysterious event. Mr. Ram-
say was a good Latin, French, and Italian scholar, and, like
Cato, learned Greek in his old age. He is frequently
mentioned by Boswell, as being of Dr. Johnson's parties,
who said of him, " You will not find a man in whose con-
versation there is more instruction, more information, and
more elegance than in Ramsay's." 1
RAMSAY (ANDREW MICHAEL), frequently styled the
Chevalier Ramsay, a title by which he frequently signed
his letters, was a Scotsman of an ancient family, and was
born at Ayr in that kingdom, June 9, 1636. He received
the first part of his education at Ayr, and was then re-
moved to Edinburgh; where, distinguishing himself by
good parts and uncommon proficiency, he was sent for to
St. Andrew's, in order to attend a son of the earl of
Wemyss in that university. After this, he travelled to
Holland, and went to Leyden ; where, becoming acquainted
with Poiret, the mystic divine, he became tinctured with
his doctrines; and resolved, for farther satisfaction, to
consult the celebrated Fenelon, archbishop of Camhray,
who had long imbibed the fundamental principles of that
theology. Before he left Scotland, he had conceived a
disgust to all the forms of religion in his native country,
and had settled in a species of deism, which became con-
firmed during his abode in Holland, yet not without leav-
ing him sometimes in a considerable state of perplexity.
1 Eflwarrls's Continuation of Walpole's Anecdotes. Pilkington, by Fuseli.
T5'tlei'^ Life of Kanie.s. Bosweli's Life of Johnson.
12 RAMSAY.
On his arrival at Cambray in 1710, be was received with
great kindness by the archbishop, who took him into his
family, heard with patience and attention the history of his
religious principles, entered heartily with him into a dis-
cussion of them, and, in six months' time, is said to have
^made him as good a catholic as himself.
The subsequent course of his life received its direction
from his friendship and connections with this prelate. Fe-
iielon had been preceptor to the duke of Burgundy, heir-
apparent, after the death of his father the dauphin, to the
crown of France ; yet neither of them came to the posses-
sion of it, being survived by Lewis XIV. who was suc-
ceeded by his great grandson, son to the duke of Burgundy,
and now Lewis XV. Ramsay, having been first governor
to the duke de Charteau-Thiery and the prince de Turenne,
was made knight of the order of St. Lazarus; and after-
wards was invited to Rome by the chevalier de St. George,
styled there James III. king of Great Britain, to take the
charge of educating his children. He went accordingly to
that court in 1724 ; but the intrigues and dissentions, which
he found on his arrival there, gave him so much uneasiness,
that, with the Pretender's leave, he presently returned to
Paris. Thence he returned to Scotland, and was kindly
received by the duke of Argyle and Greenwich ; in whose
family he resided some years, and employed his leisure
there in writing several of his works. In 1730 he had the
degree of doctor of law conferred on him at Oxford, being
admitted for this purpose of St. Mary hall in April of that
year, and presented to his degree by the celebrated tory
Dr. King, the principal of that house. After his return to
France, he resided some time at Pontoise, a sert of the
prince de Turenne, duke de Bouillon ; with whom he con-
tinued in the post of intendant till his death, May 6, 1743,
at St. Germaiu-en-Laie, where his body was interred ;
but his heart was deposited in the nunnery of St. Sacra-
ment at Paris.
His works are, 1. " Discours sur le Poeme Epique ;"
prefixed to the later editions of Telemachus. V 2. " La Vie
de Mr. Fenelon," of which there is an English translation.
3. " Essai sur le Gouvernrnent Civil." 4. " Le Psycho-
metre, ou Reflexions sur les dirTerens characteres de res-
sprit, par un Milord Anglois." These are remarks upon
lord Shaftesbury's Characteristics. 5. " Les Voyages de
Cyrus," in French and English, the only work of his much
R A M S A Y. 13
known in this country. It is a professed imitation of Tele-
machus, and we can remember was once a very popular
book. 6. " L'Histoire de M. de Turenne, in French and
English." 7. " Poems," somewhat in the mystic and in-
flated style, printed at Edinburgh, 1728, 4to, seemingly
without his knowledge. 8. "Two Letters in French, to
M. Racine the son, upon the true sentiments of Mr. Pope,
in his Essay on Man." These were printed after his de-
cease, in " Les Oeuvres de M. Racine le fils," torn. II.
1747, and form a kind of defence of Pope from the charge
of irreiigion in the " Essay." This is a subject of which
the chevalier was perhaps a better judge than of philoso-
phy ; for in one of these letters he calls Locke gtnia super-
fci'el, " a superficial genius." Two posthumous works of
bis were also printed at Glasgow : 9. " A plan of educa-
tion ;" and, 10. " Philosophical Principles of natural and
revealed Religion, explained and unfolded in a geometrical
order," 1749, 2 vols. 4to, neither of which ever attracted
much attention. The last, his French biographers seem to
be of opinion, must have been either falsely attributed to
him, or much altered by his editors, as he maintains the
doctrine of the metempsychosis, and denies the eternity of
hell-torments; and not only contends that these were the
sentiments of Fenelon, but that they are agreeable to the
decisions of the church. 1
RAMSAY (JAMES), justly celebrated for his philan-
thropy, was born July 25, 1733, at Frasersburgh, a small
town in the county of Aberdeen, North Britain. From his
earliest years he discovered a serious disposition, and a
strong thirst for knowledge, and after his grammatical edu-
cation, was inclined to pursue the studies necessary for a.
clergyman ; but the narrowness of his circumstances pre-
vented his going to Oxford or Cambridge, where he might
be qualified to enter the English church, in the principles
of which he had been educated. Yielding therefore to
necessity, he resolved to study surgery and pharmacy, and
was with this view bound apprentice to Dr. Findlay, a me-
dical practitioner in Frasersburgh. In the mean time, with
the approbation of his master, he entered, in 1750, of
King's college, Aberdeen, and having obtained one of the
highest bursaries or exhibitions belonging to that seminary,
he was enabled to prosecute his studies with comfort, and
1 Biog. Brit. Swift's Work*. Warton's Essay on Pope.
H R A M S A Y.
for three years had Dr. Reid, then one of the professors^
for his preceptor. To that great and amiable philosopher
he so recommended himself by his talents, his industry,
and his virtues, that he was honoured with his friendship
to the day of his death.
In 1755, he went to London, and studied surgery and
pharmacy under the auspices of Dr. Macauley ; in whose
family he lived for two years, much esteemed both by him
and his celebrated lady. Afterwards he served in his me-
dical capacity for several years in the royal navy, and by
the humane and diligent discharge of his duties, endeared
himself to the seamen, and acquired the esteem of his offi-
cers. Of his humanity there is indeed one memorable
instance, which must not be omitted. Whilst he acted as
surgeon of the Arundel, then commanded by captain (af-
terwards vice-admiral sir Charles) Middleton*, a slave-
ship, on her passage from Africa to the West Indies, fell in
with the fleet to which the Arundel belonged. An epi-
demical distemper, too common in such vessels, had swept
away not only a great number of the unfortunate negroes,
but also many of the ship's crew, and among others the
surgeon. In this distressed situation the commander of
the Guinea ship applied to the English commodore for
medical assistance ; but not a surgeon or surgeon's mate
in the whole fleet, except Mr. Ramsay, would expose
himself to the contagion of so dangerous a distemper.
Prompted, however, by his own innate benevolence, and
fully authorized by his no less benevolent commander, the
surgeon of the Arundel, regardless of personal danger,
went on board the infected ship, visited all the patients,
and remained long enough to leave behind him written di-
rections for their future treatment. In this enterprise he
escaped the contagion, but in his return to his own ship,
just as he had got on the deck, he fell, and broke his thigh
bone, by which he was confined to his apartment for ten
months, and rendered in a small degree lame through the
remainder of his life.
The humanity which he displayed on this occasion
gained him the friendship and esteem of sir Charles Mid-
dleton, which no future action of his life had the smallest
tendency to impair ; but the fracture of his thigh-bone,
and his subsequent lameness, determined him to quit the
* Afterwards Lord Barbara.
I
II A M S A Y. 15
navy, and once more turn his thoughts towards the church.
Accordingly, while the Arundel lay at St. Christopher's,
he opened his views to some of the principal inhabitants of
the island, hy whom he was so strongly recommended to
the bishop of London, that on his coming home with sir
Charles Middleton, who warmly joined in the recommen-
dation, he was admitted into orders ; after which he imme-
diately returned to St. Christopher's,* where he was pre-
sented by the governor to two rectories, valued at TOO/, a
year.
As soon as he had taken possession of his livings, irt
1763, he married Miss Rebecca Akers, the daughter of a
planter of the best. family-connexions in the island, and
began to regulate his household on the pious plan incul-
cated in his " Essay on the Treatment and Conversion of
the African slaves in the British sugar colonies." He sum-
moned all his own slaves daily to the prayers of the family,
when he took an opportunity of pointing out to them their
duty in the plainest terms, reproving those that had done
amiss, and commending such as had shewn any thing like
virtue: but he confessed that his occasions for reproof were
more frequent than for commendation. As became his
office and character, he inculcated upon others what he
practised himself, and knew to be equally the duty of all.
On his first settlement as a minister in the West Indies, he
made some public attempts to instruct slaves. He began
to draw up some easy plain discourses for their instruction.
He invited them to attend on Sundays, at particular hours.
He appointed hours at home to instruct such sensible slaves
as would of themselves attend. He repeatedly exhorted
their masters to encourage such in their attendance, and
recommended the French custom, of beginning and end-
ing work by prayer. But inconceivable is the listlessness
with which he was heard, and bitter was the censure heap-
ed on him in return. It was quickly suggested, and gene-
rally believed, that he wanted to interrupt the work of
slaves, to give them- time, forsooth, to say their prayers ;
and that he aimed at the making of them Christians, to ren-
der them incapable of being good slaves, &c. That he
was hurt by this display of gross ignorance, bigotry, and
avarice, cannot be questioned, for he had a mind benevo-
lent, warm, and irritable ; but he still retained many friends
among the most worthy members of the community.
Although his serious studies were now theological, he
IS R A M S A Y;
considered himself as answerable for a proper use of every
branch of knowledge which he possessed. He therefore
took the charge of several plantations around him in the
capacity of a medical practitioner; and attended them with
unremitting diligence, and with great success. Thus he
lived till 1777, when, relinquishing the practice of physic
entirely, he paid a visit to the place of his nativity, which
he had not seen since 1755. After remaining three weeks
in Scotland, and near a year in England, during which
time he was admitted into the confidence of lord George
Germaine, secretary of state for the American department,
he was appointed chaplain to admiral Harrington, then go-
ing out to take a command in the West Indies. Under
this gallant officer, and afterwards under lord Rodney, he
was present at several engagements, where he displayed a
fortitude and zeal for the honour of his country which would
not have disgraced the oldest admiral. To the navy, in-
deed, he seems to have been strongly attached ; and he
wrote, at an early period of his life, an " Essay on the
Duty and Qualifications of a Sea-officer," with such a
knowledge of the service as would not have discredited the
pen of the most experienced commander. Of the first edi-
tion of this essay the profits were by its benevolent author
appropriated, to the Magdalen and British Lying-in hos-
pitals, as those of the second and third were to the Mari-
time-school, or, in the event of its failure, to the Marine
society.
Although caressed by both the admirals under whom he
served, and having such influence with lord Rodney as to
be able to render essential services to the Jews and other
persons whom he thought harshly treated at the capture of
St. Eustatius, Mr. Ramsay once more quitted the sea-ser-
vice, and retired to his pastoral charge in the island of
St. Christopher's. There, however, though the former
animosities against him had entirely subsided, and his
friendship was now solicited by every person of conse-
quence in the island, he remained but a little while. Sick
of the life of a planter, and of the prospect of the slavery
around him, he resigned his livings, bade adieu to the
island, and returned to England with his wife and family
in the end of 1781. Immediately on his arrival, he was,
through the interest of his steady friend sir Charles Mid-
dleton, presented to the livings of Teston and Nettlestead
in the county of Kent.
RAMSAY. 17
Here he was soon determined, by the advice of those
whom he most respected, to publish what had been written
many years before, an " Essay on the Treatment and Con-
version of African Slaves in the British Sugar Colonies."
The controversy in which this publication involved him, is
probably recent in the memory of many of our readers.
He defended himself with great ability ; but they who
could not answer his arguments, could at least invent ca-
lumnies : and sorry we are to add, that they were not un-
successful in removing one powerful advocate for the abo-
lition of that abominable traffic, of which all Europe seems
now ashamed. The agitation given to his mind by these
calumnies, and the fatigues he underwent in his endea-
vours to rescue from misery the most helpless portion of
the human race, contributed to shorten a life in no com-
mon degree useful. He had been for some time afflicted
with a pain in his stomach, for which he was prevailed
upon, though with great reluctance, to try the effects of
air and exercise, by attempting a journey ef 100 miles.
But in London, being seized with a violent vomiting of
blood, he was unable either to proceed or to be removed
home; and in the house of sir Charles Middleton he ended
his days, July 20, 1789. He may be justly accounted one
of the first and most active of those benevolent men who
roused the attention of the nation to the degradation of its
character in continuing the slave-trade, although he did
not live to witness the completion of his wishes. Hif
works, besides those to which we have alluded, consist of
a volume of " Sea-Sermons," preached on board his ma-
jesty's ship the Prince of Wales ; a " Treatise on Signals,"
and various pamphlets in answer to his opponents on the
subject of the slave-trade. 1
RAMSDEN (JESSE), an excellent optician and mecha-
nist, was born at Halifax, in Yorkshire, in 1735, and after
some school-education, served an apprenticeship in his
native place to the trade of a hot-presser, after which he
came to London, and applied himself to engraving. In
the course of this employment, mathematical instruments
were often brought to him to be engraved, which induced
him to try his genius in that way; and such was his suc-
cess, that by 1763 he made instruments for several of the
best artists. Soon after his coming up to London he mar-
1 Encyclopaedia Britannica.
VOL. XXVI. C
13 R A M S D E N.
ried the daughter of Mr. Dollond, the celebrated optician
of St. Paul's church-yard; by which means he was intro-
duced to the knowledge of a profession in which his genius
enabled him to excel), and attract the approbation of the
public, in the same manner as his private worth endeared
him to society. In 1763 or 1764 he opened a shop in the
Hay-market ; but in 1775 he removed to Piccadilly, where
he carried on business till his death.
Mr. Ramsden greatly improved Hadiey's quadrant, or
sextant; and he invented a curious machine for dividing
mathematical instruments ; for which discovery he received
a premium from the board of longitude. He also improved
the construction of the theodolite, as well as the barometer
for measuring the heights of mountains. The pyrometer
for measuring the dilatation of bodies oy heat, also employed
his talents; and he made many important discoveries and
improvements in optics. But his astronomical instruments
appear to have been the principal of his works. He im-
proved the refracting micrometer, as also the transit instru-
ment and quadrant. He procured a patent for an improved
equatorial. His mural quadrants were excellent, and much
sought for.
Mr. Ramsden was chosen a fellow of the royal society in
1786. Being always of a slender frame of body, as well as
of delicate constitution, in his latter years his health gra-
dually declined ; to recruit which he had retired to Brighi-
helmstone, where he died, Nov. .5, 1800. 1
RAMUS (PETER), or LA RAMML'E, a celebrated French
mathematician and philosopher, was born in 1515, in a
village of Vermandois, in Picardy, of a family so greatly
reduced by the ravages of war, that his grandfather, having
lost all his possessions, was obliged to turn collier for a live-
lihood. His father followed husbandry, but appears to
have been unable to give any education to this son, whose
4 arly years were spent in mean occupations. At length he
obtained the place of servant in the college of Navarre, at
Paris, where he picked up the rudiments of learning, and
became acquainted with the logic of Aristotle. All his
leisure time he devoted to study, so that what is related in
the first Scaligerana of his living to nineteen without learn-
ing to read, and of his being very dull and stupid, is to-
tally inconsistent with the truth. On the contrary, his
Button's Diet, new edit. 1815.
R A M U S. 19
talents and perseverance at last procured him to be regu-
larly educated in the college, and having finished classical
learning and rhetoric, he went through a course of philo-
sophy, which took him up three years and a half. The
thesis which he made for his master's degree denied the
authority of Aristotle, and this he maintained with great
ability, and very ingeniously replied to the objections of
the professors. This success inclined him to examine the
doctrine of Aristotle more closely, and to combat it vi-
gorously : but he confined himself principally to his logic.
All this, however, was little less than heresy ; and the two
first books he published, the one entitled " Institutiones
Dialecticae," the other " Aristotelicse Animadversiones,"
so irritated the professors of the university of Paris, that,
besides many effusions of spleen and calumny, they prose-
cuted this anti- peripatetic before the civil magistrate, as a
man who was at war with religion and learning. The cause
was then carried before the parliament of Paris, but his
enemies dreading either the delay or the fairness of a
trial there, brought it before the king, Francis I. who
ordered that Ramus, and Antony Govea, who was his prin-
cipal adversary, should chuse two judges each, to pro-
nounce on the controversy after they should have ended
their disputation ; while he himself appointed an umpire.
Ramus, in obedience to the king's orders, appeared before
the five judges, though three of them were his declared
enemies. The dispute lasted two days ; and Govea had all
the advantage he could desire, Ramus's books being pro-
hibited in all parts of the kingdom, and their author sen-
tenced not to write or teach philosophy any longer. This
sentence, which elated his enemies beyond all bounds of
moderation, was published in Latin and French in all the
streets of Paris, and in all parts of Europe, whither it could
be sent. Plays were acted with great pomp, in which Ra-
mus was ridiculed in various ways amidst the applauses and
-acclamations of the Aristotelians. This happened in 1543.
The year after, the plague made great havoc in Paris, and
forced most of the students to quit the university, and cut
off several of the professors. On their return, Ramus,
being prevailed upon to teach in it, soon drew together a
great number of auditors, and through the patronage and
protection of the cardinal of Lorrain he obtained in 1547
from Henry II. the liberty of speaking and writing, and the
royal professorship of philosophy aad eloquence in 1551.
c 2
20 R A M U S.
The parliament of Paris had, before this, maintained him
in the liberty of joining philosophical lectures to those of
eloquence ; and this arret or decree had put an end to se-
veral prosecutions, which Ramus and his pupils had suf-
fered. As soon as he was made regius professor, he was
fired with new zeal for improving the sciences ; and was
extremely laborious and active on this occasion, notwith-
standing the machinations of his enemies. He bore at that
time a part in a very singular aflair, which deserves to be
mentioned. About 1550 the royal professors corrected,
among other abuses, that which had crept into the pro-
nunciation of the Latin tongue. Some of the clergy fol-
lowed this regulation ; but the Sorbonnists were much
offended at it as an innovation, and defended the old pro-
nunciation with great zeal. Things at length were carried
so far, that a clergyman who had a good living was ejected
from his benefice for having pronounced qm'squis, quanquaw,
according to the new way, instead of kiskis, kankam, ac-
cording to the old. The clergyman applied to the parlia-
ment; and the royal professors, with Ramus among them,
fearing he would fall a victim to the credit and authority
of the faculty of divines, for presuming to pronounce the
Latin tongue according to their regulations, thought it in-
cumbent on them to assist him. Accordingly they went
to the court of justice, and represented in such strong
terms the indignity of the prosecution, that the person ac-
cused was acquitted, and the pronunciation of Latin re-
covered its liberty.
Ramus was bred up in the catholic religion, but after-
wards deserted it, and began to discover his new principles
in 1552, by removing the images from the chapel of his
college. This naturally increased the number as well as
bigotry of his enemies, who now succeeded in compelling
him to leave the university. He still appears to have had
a friend in the king, who gave him leave to retire to Fon-
tainbleau ; where, by the help of books in the royal library,
he pursued geometrical and astronomical studies. As soon
as his enemies knew where he was, he found himself no-
where safe ; so that he was forced to go and conceal him-
self in several other places. During this interval the ex-
cellent and curious collection of books he had left in the
college was plundered ; but, after a peace was concluded
in 1563, between Charles IX. and the protestauts, he again
took possession of his employment, maintained himself in
R A M U S. 21
it with vigour, and was particularly zealous in promoting
the study of the mathematics. This lasted till the second
civil war in 1567, when he was forced to leave Paris and
shelter himself among the protestants, in whose army he
was at the battle of St. Denys. Peace having been con-
cluded some months after, he was restored to his professor-
ship ; but, foreseeing that the war would soon break out
again, he obtained the king's leave to visit the universities
of Germany. He accordingly undertook this journey in
1568, and received much respect and great honours
wherever he came. He returned to France after the third
war in 1571 ; and lost his life miserably, in the massacre
of St. Bartholomew's day, 1572. Charpentaire, a pro-
fessor of mathematics, who had been eclipsed by the su-
perior talents of Ramus, seized the opportunity of being
revenged upon his rival, and employed assassins to murder
him. Ramus gave them money in order to procure his
escape, but in vain ; for, after wounding him in many
places, they threw him out of a window ; and, his bowels
gushing out in the fall, some Aristotelian scholars, en-
couraged by their masters, spread them about the streets ;
then dragged his body in a most ignominious manner, and
threw it into the Seine.
Ramus was a man of eloquence, and of universal learn-
ing. He was free from avarice, sober, temperate, and
chaste. His temperance was very exemplary. He con-
tented himself with only boiled meat, and ate but little at
dinner: he drank no wine for twenty years, nor then until
his physicians prescribed it. He lay upon straw ; used to rise
very early, and to study all day ; and led a single life with
the utmost purity. He was zealous for the protestant re-
ligion, but was at the same time an advocate for intro-
ducing a democratical government in the church ; which
design was defeated in a national synod.
Few persons in the present day will be inclined to doubt
whether Ramus did right in attempting to undermine the
foundations of that authority which Aristotle had so long
possessed in the schools; and no one who will take the
trouble to examine the manner in which he laid open the
defects and inconsistencies of the Organ on, will hesitate in
allowing him considerable merit in this part of his design.
In attempting a new logical institute, Ramus was not, however,
equally successful. The general outline of his plan, accord-
ing to Brucker, is this : " Considering dialectics as the art of
22 RAMUS.
deducing conclusions from premises, he endeavours to im-
prove this art by uniting it with that of rhetoric. Of the
several branches of rhetoric, he considers invention and
disposition as belonging equally to logic. Making Cicero
his chief guide, he divides his treatise on dialectics into
two parts, the first of which treats of the invention of ar-
guments, the second, of judgments. Arguments he de-
rives not only from what the Aristotelians call middle
terms, but from any kind of proposition, which, connected
with another, may serve to prove any assertion. Of these
he enumerates various kinds. Judgments he divides into
axioms, or self-evident propositions, and dianoea, or de-
ductions by means of a series of arguments. Both these he
divides into various classes ; and illustrates the whole by
examples from the ancient orators and poets.
In the logic of Ramus many things are borrowed from
Aristotle, and only appear under new names ; and many
others are derived from other Grecian sources, particularly
from the dialogues of Plato and the logic of the Stoics.
The author has the merit of turning the art of reasoning
from the futile speculations of the schools to forensic and
common use; but his plan is defective in confining the
whole dialectic art to the single object of disputation, and
in omitting many things which respect the general culture
of the understanding, and the investigation of truth. Not-
withstanding the defects of his system, we cannot, how-
ever, subscribe to the severe censure which has been
passed upon Ramus by lord Bacon and others; for much is,
we think, due to him, for having with so much firmness
and perseverance asserted the natural freedom of the hu-
man understanding. The logic of Ramus obtained great
authority in the schools of Germany, Great Britain, Hol-
land, and France ; and long and violent contests arose
between the followers of Ramus and those of the Stagyrite.
These were not, however, sufficiently important in their
consequences to require a distinct relation, and the fame of
Peter Ramus vanished b.efore that of Des Cartes. He pub-
lished a great many books : the principal of those on ma-
thematics are, 1. " Scholarum Mathematicarum libri 31."
2. " Arithmeticae libri duo ; Algebrae libri duo ; Geometriae
libri 27." These were greatly enlarged and explained by
Schoner, and published in 2 volumes 4to, and there were
several editions of them. The geometry, which is chiefly
practical, was translated into English by William Bedwell,
R A M U S. 23
and published at London, 1636, in 4to. He published also
a singular work, Paris 1558, 4to, the 15 books of Euclid,
containing only the definitions and general enunciations of
the propositions, without diagrams or demonstrations, which
he thinks it better for the teacher to suppress. 1
RAMUSIO, orRAMNUSlO (JOHN BAPTIST), a valua-
ble collector of voyages and travels, the son of Paul Ra-
musio, a lawyer, was born at Venice in 1486. He made
great proficiency in his classical and philosophical studies,
but had a particular turn for politics, and was thought so
accomplished in the knowledge of public affairs, that he was
frequently deputed by the state to Switzerland, Rome,
and France. He was also made secretary of the council of
ten at Venice, and was for forty-three years more or less
employed in that post, or in embassies. When old and
infirm, he retired to Padua, where he died in July 1557,
in the seventy- second year of his age. His principal work
was entitled "Raccolta delleNavigazioni e de Viaggi," and
was published at different periods in three volumes folio.
Of this valuable work complete copies are not easily to be
met with. Brunei recommends the following selection as
forming the best copy : vol. I. of the edition 1563 or 1588 ;
vol. II. of 1583, and vol.111, of 1565. To this last volume
should be added the supplement to the edition of 1606, p.
386 430, which contains " Viaggio di M. Cesare de Fred-
rici nelP Inclia-Orientale." 2
RANCE' (DOM. ARMAND JOHN LE BOUTHILLIER DE),
the celebrated abbe and reformer of the monastery of La
Trappe, was born January 9, 1626, at Paris. He was ne-
phew of Claudius le Bouthillier de Chavigny, secretary of
state, and superintendant of the finances. In classical
learning he made so rapid a progress that, with some di-
rection from his tutor, he published, at the age of twelve
or thirteen years, a new edition of " Anacreon," in Greek,
with notes, 1639, 8vo. This curious volume, which was
dedicated to his godfather Cardinal Richelieu, was re-
printed in 1647, and both editions are now scarce. At ten
years old, according to the absurd custom then prevalent,
he was appointed canon of Notre Dame in Paris, and be-
came possessed of several benefices in a short time. He
afterwards took a doctor of divinity's degree in the Sor-
bonne, February 10, 1654, and appearing then in a public
1 Gen. Diet. Moreri. Niceron, rol. XIII. Brucker.
5 Niceron, vol. XXXV. Moreri in Ramnusio. Tiraboschi.
24 RANG E'.
character, soon became distinguished not only for taste and
politeness, but for those amiable qualifications which are
of use in society. He was not however without his frailties,
and it is said that he refused the bishopric of Leon from a
motive of vanity. He was then appointed almoner to the
duke of Orleans, and made a shining figure in the assembly
of the clergy in 1655, as deputy from the second order. At
length becoming conscious how little splendour and pre-
eminence avail to happiness, he bad adieu to all, and devoted
his days to religious exercises. It has been said, that
this resolution was the consequence of a visit he paid
to a favourite lady, from whom he had been absent for
some time, and whom on entering her apartment he found
dead in her coffin, and frightfully disfigured with the small-
pox. This anecdote is taken from " Les veritables Motifs
de la Conversion de TAbb6 de la Trappe," published by
Daniel de la Roque, Cologn, 1685, 12mo; but some of his
biographers treat it as fabulous. One of them, Marsollier,
with greater appearance of probability, attributes his con-
version to his having narrowly escaped being killed by the
ball of a firelock, which struck his gibeciere, or pouch, on
which he immediately exclaimed, "Alas! where should I
have been, had not my God had compassion on me." Which-
ever of these incidents was the cause, it is certain that he
retired from the world, and refused even to be assistant to
his uncle, who was archbishop of Tours. He then founded
a monastery, the fraternity belonging to which practise the
utmost self-denial. Their diet is merely vegetable. They
allow not themselves wine, flesh, fish, nor eggs ; they enter
into no conversation with strangers, and for some days are
wholly silent. They have each a separate cell, and used
to pass some part of every day in digging their own graves
in the garden of the convent. De Ranee placed this
new establishment of the monks of La Trappe in the
hands of the fathers of the strict Cistertian observance.
He also sold his estate at Veret for 100,000 crowns,
which sum he gave to the H6tel Dieu at Paris, and took
the monastic habit in the abbey of Notre Dame de Perseigne,
where he made profession, June 6,1664. He afterwards
took possession of the abbey de la Trappe, and introduced
those regulations above mentioned, which long made it the
admiration of all travellers. In this retreat he lived devoted
to his austere observances, until 1695, when he died on his
straw pallet, in presence of the bishop of Seez, and the
It A N C E. 25
whole community, October 26, 1700, aged 74, leaving
many pious works ; among which the principal are, a book
"de la Sainte"t6 des Devoirs de 1'Etat monastique," 1683,
2 vols. 4to ; " Eclaircissemens sur ce Livre," 1685, 4to;
" Explication sur la Regie de S. BenoSt," 12mo; " lie-
flexions morales sur les quatre Evangiies," 4 vols. 12mo;
" Conferences sur les Evangiies," 4 vols. 12mo ; " Instruc-
tions et Maximes," 12mo; " Concluite Chretienue," writ-
ten for Mad. de Guise, 12mo; a greafnumber of " Spiritual
Letters," 2 vols. 12 mo ; " Accounts of the Lives and Deaths
of some Monks of la Trappe," 4 vols. 12tno, continued to
6 vols.; lastly, " The Constitutions and Rules of the Abbe
of la Trappe," 1701, 2 vols. 12mo.' His life has been
written by several Romish authors, particularly by M. de
Maupeou, M, Marsollier, and Le Nain, brother of M. de
Tillemont, 2 vols. 12mo.
Mr. Seward, in his " Anecdotes of distinguished persons,"
has given a minute account of the monastery of La Trappe,
to which we refer our readers. During the revolutionary
excesses in France, this little establishment shared the fate
of all other religions houses; the monks were expelled,
and the place turned into a foundery for cannon. The monks
at length found an asylum in England, where, under the
sanction of government, Mr. Weld of Lulworth castle
erected a building for them, in which they resumed their
former austerities, and strictly followed all the observances
of their order. 1
RANCONET (AiMAR DE), a native of Perigueux, or,
according to Menage, of Bourdeaux, was the son of an
advocate in the last mentioned city. He was well skilled
in the Roman law, philosophy, mathematics, and antiqui-
ties ; and was appointed president of the parliament of
Paris, after having been counsellor to that of Bourdeaux.
His mode of life was singular. He seldom read in the day-
time ; but used to take a light supper, go to rest early, and
rise, after his first sleep, about the time that the monks say
matins ; then, covering his head like a capuchin, he spent
four hours in study, and, going to bed again, finished, after
a quiet sleep, what he had meditated upon during the night.
By this plan, he used to say that the most rapid progress
might be made in learning. He was an excellent Greek
and Latin scholar ; and, if we may believe M. Pithou, it
1 Morert in Diet. Hist. Reward's Anrciotes. Gent. Mag. LXXXIII.
26 R A N C O N E T.
was be who composed the Dictionary which goes under the
name of Charles Stephens. Pithou adds, that, when car-
dinal de Lorraine assembled the parliament of Paris to take
their advice as to the punishment of heretics, Ranconet
was so imprudent as to read that passage in which Sulpitius
Severus touches upon the execution of Priscillian ; and the
cardinal being displeased, sent him to the Bastille, where
he died of grief, 1558, aged above 60. Others say that
Ranconet's confinement proceeded from his having been
falsely accused of a capital crime. He left in MS. " Le
Tresor de la Langue Franchise, taut ancienne que nio-
derne ;" which was the foundation of the Dictionaries of
Nicot and Monet. 1
RANDALL (JOHN), an English divine, was born at
Missenden in Buckinghamshire, and sent very young to Sr.
Mary Hall, Oxford, in 1581, whence he removed to Tri-
nity college, and took his degree of bachelor of arts. In
July 1587, he was chosen to a fellowship of Lincoln college,
and in 1589 proceeded in the degree of master of arts.
About this time he was ordained, and became one of the
most noted preachers in the university. In 1598, he was
admitted bachelor of divinity, and the year after resigned
his fellowship, and was presented to the rectory of St. An-
drew Hubbard, in East-cheap, London. Here, Antony
Wood informs us, " after some time, he became so great a
labourer in God's vineyard by his frequent and constant
work in the ministry, as well in resolving of doubts and
cases of conscience as in preaching and lecturing, that he
went beyond his brethren in that city, to the wonder of all."
Wood adds that this was the more wonderful, as he was a
great sufferer by sickness ; and that he was " accounted a
judicious, orthodox, and holy man, and by some a zealous
and innocent puritan, of a harmless life and conversation,
and one that was solely framed to do good acts." He died
in June 1622, aged about fifty- four, and was buried in his
church. By his will he left a tenement situated in St. Mary -
Hall-Iane, to Lincoln college. Besides some single ser-
mons, and a collection of " Eleven Sermons on Romans
viii." London, 1623, he was the author of the following
posthumous works: 1. " The great Mystery of Godliness,'*
1624, 4to; and 1640, third edition. 2. " Treatise concern-
ing the Sacraments," 1630, 4to. 3. " Catechistical Lec-
i Morcri. Diet. Hist.
RANDALL. 27
tures upon the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper," 1630,
4to. 4. " Nine-and-twenty Lectures of the Church, for
the support of the same in these times," ibid. 1631, 4to. !
RANDAL (JOHN), music professor in the university of
Cambridge, was probably a native of London, where he
was born in 1715. He was brought up in the king's chape!,
and was one of the children of that choir who first performed
in Handel's oratorio of Esther, at the house of Bernard
Gates, master of the boys in James-street, Westminster,
on Wednesday, February 23, 1731, when it was performed
in action, previous to its having been heard in public, or
any where but at Cannons, the magnificent seat of the duke
of Chandos, for whose chapel it was composed in 1720.
t)r. Randal was never rated very high in his profession, but
was regarded as a slight organ-player, and had never dis-
tinguished himself as a composer. He obtained his degree
at the installation of the duke of Grafton in the university
of Cambridge, for which he composed the ode written by
Gray. To the astonishment of all the musical profession,
he undertook to have this composition performed by the
musicians resident in the university, without the expence
of additional hands and voices from London, as Drs.
Greens and Boyce had thought necessary on former oc-
casions at Cambridge, and Dr. William Hayes at Oxford.
As Dr. Randal's professional life was unmarked by talents,
his death, which happened March 18, 1799, in the eighty-
fourth year of his age, was hardly noticed, except by the
candidates for the professorship, and his organist's places. 2
RANDOLPH (THOMAS), a statesman in queen Eliza-
beth's reign, the son of Avery Randolph of Badlesmere in
Kent, was born in that county in J523. He was, ac-
cording to his own account, a pupil of George Buchanan,
but had his academical education at Christ Church, Oxford,
then newly founded; where he took the degree of bachelor
of law in 1547, about which time he was made a public
notary. In Nov. 1549, he became principal of Broadgate-
hall (now Pembroke college), and continued in that office
until 1553, when the persecution of the protestants under
queen Mary, obliged him to retire to France. On the
accession of queen Elizabeth, he came into high favour,
and his talents recommended him to be employed in various
embassies, particularly in Scotland during the commotions
1 Ath. Ox, vol. I. * By Dr. Burncy in Rees's Cyclopaedia.
28 RANDOLPH.
there : he was sent thrice to queen Mary, and afterwards
seven times to her son and successor James VI. We find
him also several times supporting the same character at the
courts of Russia and France. Eiis first mission to Scotland, in
1 56 1, had for its professed object to promote a mutual friend-
ship between the two nations, and to endeavour that queen
Mary, who hadj ust lost her husband, Francis II. king of France,
should not again marry a foreigner ; but according to Sir
James Melvil and others, his real business was to intrigue
between the two parties which then divided Scotland, and
rather to increase than allay their animosities. In this plan
secretary Cecil was supposed to be the director, and Ran-
dolph the executor. By a letter published by Mr. Lodge,
who says that Randolph was a man of " a dark intri-
guing spirit, full of cunning, and void of conscience," we
learn that at one time he was confined in prison at Edin-
burgh ; but probably for a short time, as the circumstance
is not mentioned in any history. In Russia, to which he
was sent in 1560, his conduct merits greater approbation,
as in the following year, he brought to conclusion a com-
mercial treaty highly advantageous to the English merchants,
who were then enabled to establish the "Russia Company."
His secretary on this embassy was George Turberville the
poet, who has described the manners and customs of the
Moscovites in some epistles to his friends, which are inserted
in Hakluyt's voyages. In 1571, during one of his embas-
sies to Scotland, he had the spirit to challenge Virac, the
French ambassador in that kingdom, who had taken some
liberties with queen Elizabeth's character and with his own.
For all these services the queen is accused of having re-
warded Mr. Randolph rather niggardly, having bestowed
on him only the order of knighthood, the office of cham-
berlain of the exchequer, and that of postmaster, to neither
of which last was much profit annexed, and a few small
estates. Yet with these he is said to have been content,
although he had a large family. He died at his house on
St. Peter's hill, near Thames-street, London, June 8,
1590, in the sixty-seventh year of his age, and was buried
in the church of St. Peter, Paul's wharf. In his latter days
he appears to have lived retired, " setting his mind," as he
expresses it, " upon the heavenly country, and reconciling
himself to the divine mercy by a timely repentance." Such
likewise is the advice he gave to sir Francis Walsingham,
whose sister he had married. He tells him, " how worthy.
RANDOLPH. 29
yea, how necessary a thing it was, that they should at length
bid farewell to the tricks, he of a secretary, and himself of
an ambassador." Several of his letters and dispatches are
in the Cotton collection in the British Museum, and among
bishop More's books in the public library at Cambridge.
Two of his letters were published by James Oliphant,
among Buchanan's Letters, 1711, 8vo, and have been in-
serted since in the Leyden and Edinburgh edition of Bucha-
nan's works, one to Buchanan himself, and the ether to
Peter Yonge, school- master to James VI. There are also
some of his letters, instructions, and dispatches, printed in
Strype's " Annals," Goodall's "Examination of the Let-
ters said to be written by Mary queen of Scots," and in
Robertson's History of Scotland," &C. 1
RANDOLPH (THOMAS), an English poet, was the son
of a steward to Edward lord Zouch, and born in Northamp-
tonshire (Wood says, at Newnham, nearDaintry; Lang-
baine,atHoughton) June 15, 1605. He was educated at West-
minster-school, whence, being a king's scholar, he was elec-
ted to Trinity college,Cambridge, in 1623. Here he obtained
a fellowship, and afterwards commenced master of arts, in
which degree he was incorporated at Oxford. Very early
in life he gave proofs of good talents, and was not only
esteemed and admired by the learned at the university,
but grew in equal favour with the wits and poets of the
metropolis. His learning, gaiety of humour, and readiness
of repartee, gained him admirers, procured him admission
in all companies, and especially recommended him to the
intimacy and friendship of Ben Jonson, who admitted him
as one of his adopted sons in the Muses, and held him in
equal esteem with Cartwright.
As a dramatic writer, his turn was entirely to comedy ;
and Baker pronounces his language elegant, and his senti-
ments just and forcible; his characters for the most part,
strongly drawn, and his satire well chosen and poignant ;
and this critic also recommended the altering his pieces, so
as to render them fit for the present stage, or at the least
giving the world a correct and critical edition of them.
The dramatic pieces he has left behind him, five in num-
ber, were published in 1638, by his brother, Mr. Thomas
Randolph, of Christ-church college, Oxford, along with
his poems, some of which have considerable merit. Of
1 Biog. Brit. Lodge's Illustrations.
30 RANDOLPH.
his dramatic pieces, the " Muses' Looking-glass" is the
most generally admired ; in it there is great variety of
characters of the passions and vices, drawn with much
truth, and interspersed with many strokes of natural hu-
mour. A late critic thinks he has discovered in it the
ground-work of the " Rehearsal," and similar satires. " The
Looking-Glass" was about fifty years ago revived at Co-
vent-garden theatre, and is reprinted in Dodsley's Collec-
tion of Old Plays. Had Randolph lived, it is thought he
would have produced many more valuable pieces ; hut, as
Antony Wood says, being somewhat addicted to libertine
indulgences, in consequence of keeping too much com-
pany, and running into fashionable excesses with greater
freedom than his constitution could bear, he assisted in
shortening his own days, and died March 17, 16:H, be-
fore he had completed the age of twenty-nine years, at
the house of William Stafford, esq. of Blatherwyke in
Northamptonshire. He was buried, with the ancestors of
the family of Stafford, in an aile adjoining to the church of
that place, soon after which a monument of white marble
was erected over his grave, at the charge of sir Christo-
pher (afterwards lord) Hatton, of Kirby, with an inscrip-
tion upon it, in Latin and English verse, written by our
author's intimate friend Peter Hausted. 1
RANDOLPH (THOMAS), archdeacon of Oxford, and
president of Corpus Christi college, the son of Herbert
Randolph, esq. recorder of the city of Canterbury, was
born August 30, 1701. He received his school education
at the king's school in Canterbury, then in great repute,
under the rev. Mr. Jones. At the early age of fourteen,
being then a good proficient in classical learning, he was
elected into a county scholarship in Corpus Christi col-
lege, Oxford. There he entered upon a course of aca-
demical studies under the tuition of the rev. Mr. Smith, in
which, as well in his whole conduct, he acquitted himself
to the great satisfaction of those who were set over him ;
having in view throughout the sacred profession, td which
he had been destined from his early youth. He proceeded
regularly through the degree of B. A. to that of M. A. the
latter in 1722. In 1724 he was ordained deacon, and in
the following year priest. At the same time he entered
1 Biog. Brit and Dram. Gibber's Lives. Ellis'* Specimens. Ath. Ox. vol. I.
Cens Lit. vol. I. Europ. Mag. Jan. 1803, p. 17.
RANDOLPH. 31
upon the duty of his profession, and undertook a cure at
such a moderate distance from the university, as that he
might discharge the duties of it, and not be obliged to
give up his residence, and the farther prosecution of his
studies there. This course of life he continued for a few
years, and then returned to a more strict residence in the
university ; nor was he intent on his own improvement
only, but occasionally took part in the education of others,
and in the government of his college, in which he succeed-
ed to a fellowship in 1723. He took the degree of B. D.
in 1730, and that of D. D. in 1735. In the mean time his
reputation as an able divine introduced him to the notice
of Dr. Potter, then bishop of Oxford, who soon after his
translation to Canterbury, collated him to the united
vicarages of Perhatn and Waltham in Kent. He also
shortly after recommended him to Dr. Rye, regius pro-
fessor of divinity, as a person (it to act as his deputy, who
appointed him accordingly. This appointment will appear
the more honourable, as the divinity disputations are es-
teemed a trial of the skill and learning of the senior part
of the university; and Dr. Randolph acquitted himself in
such a manner, that on a vacancy for the professorship in
1741, iiis friends thought him amply qualified to succeed ;
but on this occasion the superior interest of Dr. Fanshaw
carried the election ; and Dr. Randolph retired to his liv-
ing of Perham.
About this time several bold and artful attacks were made
upon the Christian religion, which drew forth many able
answers from the divines of the church of England.
Amongst other works published in favour of deism and in-
fidelity, was that entitled " Christianity not founded on
Argument;" which, from the singularity of its positions,
attracted much notice. Dr. Randolph was encouraged by
his patron, archbishop Potter, to try his strength ill con-
troversy in answer to this plausible writer ; nor was the
archbishop disappointed in the hopes he might form : Dr.
Randolph's answer, entitled " The Christian's Faith a ra-
tional assent," 1744, was considered as a truly valuable
acquisition, and met with a most favourable reception.
The archbishop, still continuing his patronage to Dr.
Randolph, collated him, in 1746, to the rectory of Salt-
wood, with the chapel of Hythe annexed ; his residence,
however, still continued at Perham, until he was elected,
without his knowledge, or any communication with th e
3* H A N D O L P H.
electors, to be president of Corpus Christ! college. This
election, which took place April 23, 1748, enabled him to
devote the remainder of his life to the place of his educa-
tion, and the scene of his growing reputation. Oxford be-
came now the principal place of his residence ; and the
government of his college, and a share in that of the uni-
versity, his chief employment and concern. Yet having
naturally an active mind, and being ever vigilant and at-
tentive to all the duties of his station, much of his time was
still devoted to religious studies, which he considered as
included in the proper duties of his station, and as their
highest aim. Many of his sermons preached before the
university were printed by request, and his larger work
upon " The Doctrine of the Trinity," in answer to " The
Essay on Spirit," was published in 1753, and 1754. From
1756 to 1759 he held the office of vice-chancellor, in which
he was allowed on all hands to have conducted himself with
temper and ability, at a time when disputes ran high, and
the business of the university was more than common ; the
Vinerian statutes having been settled, and the delegacy of
the press reformed, during that period. These several la-
bours were so well received by the university, that in 1768
he was unanimously elected to the Margaret professorship
of divinity on the death of Dr. Jenner. In the preceding
year he had been promoted to the archdeaconry of Oxford
on the resignation of Dr. Potter : which promotion took
place by the recommendation of archbishop Seeker, ac-
cepted and confirmed by bishop Lowth, then bishop of
Oxford; and may be 'considered as a testimony borne by
those eminent prelates to his merit and character. From
this time to that of his death he was again frequently en-
gaged in controversy. The questions now agitated were
chiefly, that of subscription to articles of faith, and that of
the doctrine of the Trinity revived by Mr. Lindsey, and his
followers. On these he published several tracts, and also
occasionally gave his assistance to others engaged in the
same cause. Bodily infirmities he was subject to for many
years before his death, but the faculties of his mind were
sound and unimpaired to the very last. Within the last
year of his life he finished and published a work, which he
had prepared some time before, on the " Citations from
the Old Testament in the New." Repeated attacks at
length brought him to a state of weakness, under which
lie laboured for three months, and died March 24, 17 S3.
RANDOLPH. 33
He was buried in Corpus Christi cloister, where a monu-
ment is erected to his memory.
Dr. Randolph's whole attention was confined to his pro-
fession, and his station in the university. Being convinced
that the province allotted to him, if its duties were faith-
fully discharged, was sufficient for his own employment,
and for the rendering him an useful member of society, he
was not disposed to wander beyond it. He was a zealous
supporter of the doctrines of the church of England, from
a conviction that they were those of the religion of Christ.
It has sometimes been invidiously urged by the enemies of
our religious establishment, who with great professions of
liberality are by no means scrupulous of the terms in which
they speak of the doctrines, discipline, or members of our
church, that its supporters act from interested views. In
answer to this charge thrown out against himself in common
with others, Dr. Randolph says, in a preface to an intended
work, " One of these writers is now near fourscore years of
age, who neither hopes for, nor will solicit for any thing
farther in this world : he fights under no banner but that
of his Lord and Saviour, from whom alone he expects his
reward."
Dr. Randolph married Miss Thomasina Honywood,
daughter of William Honywood, esq. of Cheriton, one of
the family of Honywood in Kent. By this lady, who died
in Dec. 1783, he had three sons and three daughters, of
whom there survived him, the three sons, Thomas, Her-
bert, and John ; and one daughter, Thomasina.
In 1784, a collection of the most valuable of Dr. Ran-
dolph's works was published, under the title of " A View
of our blessed Saviour's Ministry, and the proofs of his
divine mission arising from thence ; together with a charge,
dissertations, sermons, and theological lectures," 2 vols.
8vo. To this is prefixed an account of his life, of which
we have availed ourselves in the present sketch. 1
RANDOLPH (JOHN), the late bishop of London, was
the younger son of the preceding, and was born July 6,
1749. He became a student of Corpus Christi college,
Oxford, and took his degrees at the usual periods ; that of
M. A. in 1774; B. D. in 1782 ; D. D. by diploma, in 1783.
In 1776 he was appointed prselector of poetry, and in 1782
regius professor of Greek. In the same year he was pre-
1 Life as above,
VOL. XXVI. D
34 RANDOLPH.
sented to a prebend of Salisbury; and in 1783 became
canon of Christ church, regius professor of divinity, and
rector of Ewelnoe. In the year 1799 he was elevated to
the bishopric of Oxford ; translated to that of Bangor in
1807; and thence to London in 1809. He was elected
F. R. S. in 1811. He passed a great part of his life in the
university of Oxford, and it was generally believed that
when he was raised to the see of Oxford, the university
was complimented with the nomination by the crown. His
lordship was author of many single sermons, and charges
delivered on different occasions : also of " De Grsecae Lin-
guae Studio Prselectio habita in Schola Linguarum," 1783,
and " Concio ad Clerum in Synodo Provinciali Cantua-
riensis Provincial ad D. Pauli," 1790. One of his last
works was a report of the progress made by the National
School Society, to which the general committee referred
in terms of gratitude, at their first meeting after his lord-
ship's decease. They notice his lordship as one " whose
Jatest employment had been to state, for the information
qf the public, the progress of a work to which he had con-
tributed his time, his labour, and his counsels. The
committee therefore could not fail to entertain a common
sentiment of profound regret for the loss which they have
sustained, and to cherish in their minds the liveliest re-
collection of the service which has been so successfully ful-
filled by him in this second report. They wish, therefore,
to add to this document, designed for general circulation,
their sense of what is due from the public, and themselves,
to the. memory of one who was a constant and assiduous
promoter of this salutary institution, from its first esta-
blishment to the last hour of his life. The committee trust,
that this testimony, though limited to a single object in
the large field of pastoral duty in which he was incessantly
engaged, may serve to denote the benefits which have re-
sulted from his prompt, unwearied, and effectual exer-
tions." The following is the character drawn of him by
Mr. archdeacon Jefferson, and which alludes to his zeal for
the church, of which he was an active member : " Fearless
now of being censured for mercenary adulation, or re-
proved by unconscious merit, a just tribute may be paid to
the character of that departed and exalted prelate, who is,
and will be, most lamented where he was best and most
entirely known. This opportunity, therefore, is willingly
embraced of offering a heartfelt condolence to the ministry
RANDOLPH. 35
of the diocese on the affecting and important loss, which,
in these perilous times of contending sects and unsettled
opinion, has arisen to them, and to the church : To them,
in the premature privation of a diocesan, firm in his sup-
port of ecclesiastical authority, but considerate in its ap-
plication ; eminently versed in the letter of ecclesiastical
law, but liberal in its practical construction, reluctant in
interference, but determined in duty, slow in the profes-.
sion of service, but prompt in its execution ; disinterested,
in patronage, unwavering in measures, correct in judg-
ment, attentive in council, and kind and compassionate to
distress : To the church, in the premature privation of a
father, diligent in her rites and services, but unostentatious
in piety and devotion ; sound and unrelaxing in her doc-
trines and faith, but discreet in zeal, and comprehensive
in charity; ever vigilant in defending her interests, ever
forward in asserting her privileges, and ever able in the
assertion and the defence." This high character, how-,
ever, has been thought capable of abatement. It was
perhaps unfortunate that he succeeded a prelate of the
mild and conciliating temper of Dr. Porteus, and that he
undertook the government of a diocese, which, above all
others, requires such a temper. It was, perhaps, not less
unfortunate that in his first charge to the clergy of this
diocese, he betrayed no little ignorance of the state of
religious opinions, and the creeds of those sectaries against
whom he wished to warn his clergy.
Bishop Randolph died suddenly on the 28th of July,
1813. He was one of the governors of the Charter-house;
trustee of the British Museum ; dean of the Chapel royal ;
visitor of Sion college; and provincial dean of Canterbury. 1
RAPHAEL, or RAFFAELLO, whose family name was
SANZIO, was born in the city of Urbino, March 28, 1483.
He was the only child of John Sanzio, a painter, who,
though of no great professional celebrity, encouraged his
son's inclination for the art, and after having taught him
what he could, had the good sense and diffidence in his
own talents, to place him under the care of Peter Peru-
gino, when in his thirteenth year. Perugino, who, from
his style of design, pronounced that he would be a great
man, regarded him with peculiar affection, and Raphael,
during the three years that he remained with this artist, so
i Gent. Mag. vols. LXXXIII. and LXXXIV.
D2
36 RAPHAEL.
perfectly adopted his manner, that his works were not to
be distinguished from those of his master; which was so far
from creating any jealousy in the mind of the latter, that
on the return of Raphael to Perugia, after his visit to Flo-
rence, he was the first to admire his works and proclaim
his improvement.
In 1499, at the age of sixteen, Raphael left Perugia,
and went with Pinturicchio to Siena, to assist him in paint-
ing for the library of the cathedral, the history of Pius II.
which was executed in ten large pictures, of which Ra-
phael made the greater part, if not all the designs, and
assisted in painting them. Before this work was com-
pleted, he left Siena, probably about 1502, to pursue his
studies at Florence, where the great names of Leonardo
da Vinci and Michael Angelo flourished with rival pre-emi-
nence, and where he immediately became conscious of the
inferiority of the style which he had been taught and prac-
tised. Here he acquired the esteem of some persons of
eminence, and pursued his studies with avidity until 1504,
when he was obliged to visit Urbino to arrange some
domestic affairs, and at intervals painted four small pic-
tures for the duke of Urbino, which were much esteem-
ed. He then went to Perugia to paint several pictures for
the convents, which were all so much admired, that com-
missions pressed upon him ; but his desire to return to Flo-
rence made him leave one which was begun in fresco for
the monastery of St. Severo, to be terminated by his old
master Perugino.
In Florence he again pursued his studies with unremit-
ting assiduity ; and the Brancacci and Corsini chapels in
the church of the Carmelites, painted by Masaccio, were
his favourite school ; but of living artists there was no one
to whom he was so much attached as Fra. Bartolomeo, by
whose instruction and example he improved himself in
colouring, and the principles of chiaroscuro ; and in return
he gave his friend some information in perspective. The
work to which his mind was at this time particularly direct-
ed, was a cartoon for a picture, which, when he left Peru-
gia, he engaged to paint for the church of St. Francis.
This picture, which represents the body of Christ borne to,
the sepulchre, he afterwards painted in Perugia, and it
obtained so much credit, that his professional rank was
from that time decidedly established. It shewed the ad-
vantages he had acquired by study, and the benefit he
RAPHAEL. 37
derived from the friendship of Fra. Bartolomeo ; for this was
the first step he had taken to overcome the restraints of his
previous education. When the picture was finished he
again returned to Florence ; was much sought after by
men of taste, and with accumulated reputation his fame
soon extended itself to the Vatican. Julius II. was then
pope, a great patron of the arts, and having heard of Ra-
phael, invited him to Rome in 1508, and received him.
with the most flattering marks of distinction. Here being
immediately commissioned to paint one of the state cham-
bers of the Vatican, which the pope was then ornamenting
with great taste and splendour, Raphael executed his
" School of Athens," which gave such entire satisfaction to
the pope, that all the pictures by the various masters already
painted in the different rooms, were ordered to be effaced,
and the walls prepared to transmit to posterity his own un-
rivalted genius. The only work preserved from this gene-
ral destruction was the ceiling of one of these rooms, the
fourth in the suite, which had been painted by Perugino,
and was saved at Raphael's intercession. So amiable a
trait of character ought not to be forgotten.
This extensive undertaking, which it was for Raphael
alone to plan and execute, he appears to have formed into
one general design to shew the triumph of the Christian
religion (in the catholic form), its divine authority, and
the dependence of human laws on its pervading influence.
But whether in this arrangement there was any refined
system of metaphysics, intending to conduct man from a
savage state by the paths of religion and philosophy to a
more intimate union with the great first cause, must now
be left to fanciful theorists, as neither the painter nor his
contemporaries have left us any written data for specula-
tion. Of these rooms, which, in honour of his name, are
called the Stanze of Raphael, the first is a grand saloon
dedicated to the emperor Constantine, in which are repre-
sented four principal events in his reign. The second
stanza exhibits four extraordinary miracles, two from sa-
cred history, and two from the legends of the church.
The third stanza is dedicated to those branches of know-
ledge that serve most to elevate the human mind, and dig-
nify our nature in the rank of created beings, of which the
principal subjects are poetry, philosophy, jurisprudence,
and theology. The subjects of the fourth stanza are two
kistorical, from the life of Leo III. ; and two miraculous,
38 R A P H A E L.
from the life of Leo IV. These are all supposed to have
been executed before 1517, and, with smaller pictures on
the ceilings of the second and third stanza, are all designed
by Raphael, and painted in fresco by himself, his scholars
and assistants; and. three centuries of unsuccessful emula-
tion have already made their eulogium.
Although we see in these the aggregate of his powers in
poetical conception and execution, this extraordinary ex-
hibition of talent is not likely at the first view to be impres-
sive to a general observer. Even sir Joshua Reynolds has
recorded his disappointment, and the causes of it, but he also
records the way in which his prejudices were at length re-
moved, and himself compelled to acknowledge that he had
originally formed a false opinion of the perfection of art,
and that this great painter was well entitled to the high
rank which he holds in the estimation of the world.
On the death of Julius II. in 1513, Raphael was ho-
noured with the same favour and esteem by his successor
Leo X. under whose patronage he continued the great
work of the stanze. He painted also in the Vatican in
chiaroscuro twelve whole-length figures of the apostles,
but which, from various causes, have been since destroyed ;
and he made designs to ornament one of the arcades in the
grand cortile of the palace, now called the loggia, consist-
ing of fifty-two historical subjects from the Bible, and ara-
besque decorations, which were all painted by his scholars,
or with exceptions too doubtful and uncertain to identify
any particular part to be of his own hand. For this pontiff
he also made a series of large historical cartoons from the
sacred writings, representing in thirteen compositions the
origin and progress of the Christian religion, to be executed
in tapestry, intended as an additional decoration for the hall
of Constantine. Seven of these cartoons, from the con-
currence of fortunate circumstances, are now in the col-
lection of his Britannic majesty; but the others were most
probably mutilated or lost, and the tapestries themselves
were dispersed when the Vatican palace was sacked by the
French in 1798.
Raphael, though possessing pre-eminent powers as a
painter, had not suffered that profession alone to absorb
his mind; he had studied architecture under Bramante,
and in chastity of design was not inferior to that distin-
guished artist, who in full confidence of his abilities, re-
commended him as his successor, to conduct the great work
R A P H A E L. 39
of St. Peter's, to which recommendation his holiness paid
due attention. According to the pope's brief on this occa-
sion, dated August 1515, his salary was fixed at three hun-
dred golden crowns, or 150/. per annum. For so impor-
tant an undertaking this sum would seem to be a very ina-
dequate remuneration ; but, as his biographer observes, in
our own country, one hundred and sixty years subsequent'
to this period, sir Christopher Wren did not receive more
than 200/. per annum, for the building of St. Paul's, which
included draughts, models, making estimates and con-
tracts, examining and adjusting all bills and accounts, with
constant personal superintendance, and giving instructions
to the artificers in every department. St. Peter's, which'
cost more than a century to complete, underwent so many
changes by the various architects employed, that it would
be now extremely difficult to particularize with any degree
of certainty the different parts of it which were executed
by Raphael. It appears, however, that it is to him we are
indebted for the general plan of the church as it now exists.
In 1515, Raphael went with the pope to Florence, and
made a design for the facade of the church of St. Lorenzo :
and, according to Vasari, he was also the architect of a
magnificent house for the bishop of Troja, which still
exists in the street of St. Gallo in that city ; but of the
different buildings designed or executed by Raphael, that
on which his reputation as an artist is thought principally
to rest, is the Caffarelli palace at Rome. The other build-
ings of Raphael still existing are, a palace for M. Giovanni
Baptista dell' Aquila, opposite to the church of S. Maria
della Vallicella, in Rome; a villa for cardinal Julius de
Medici, afterwards pope Clement VII. ; and for the prince
Ghigi he built a set of stables in the Longara, and a chapel
in the church of S. Maria del Popolo. This prince was
a distinguished patron of Raphael, and much employed
him. For him he painted in fresco, in one of the rooms
of his Casino in the Longara, now called the Farnesiua, a
picture of Galatea drawn by dolphins, and surrounded with
tritons, &c. which would appear to have been much ad-
mired and praised by his friend count Castiglione, from a
letter still existing by Raphael to that nobleman, which
the reader may see in our principal authority. For prince
Ghigi he painted in fresco, on the spandrels of an arch in
front of the Ghigi chapel in the church of S. Maria della
Pace, a large allegorical subject of Sibyls delivering their
40 R A P H A E L.
prophecies for the confirmation of the revealed religion.
This work was highly esteemed when finished ; but is now
unfortunately much injured, and parts are entirely effaced.
For his Casino in the Longara, Raphael made a series of
designs from Apuleius's history of Cupid and Psyche,
which were painted by himself and his scholars on a ceiling
of a spacious hall. What part was painted by himself it
would not be easy at this time to ascertain, as the work
has suffered much by being originally exposed to the open
air, as the loggia of the Vatican is at present, and by be-
ing repainted and repaired.
In the church of St. Auguslin, Raphael painted in fresco,
on one of its piers, the prophet Isaiah, intended as the
commencement of a series of pictures to ornament that
church, but some dispute arising concerning the expence,
the fathers relinquished their design ; a loss much to be
regretted, as the style of this picture is equal to his best
works. This dispute concerning the price is said to have
been referred to Michael Angeio to adjust, who settled it
in one word, by telling the fathers that the knee alone was
worth more money. Raphael also decorated his own villa
in Rome, which now belongs to the cardinal Doria, with
arabesque ornaments, a group of figures shooting at a
target, and a small historic;*! subject, called the Marriage
of Roxana.
Raphael was not only eminent as a painter and an archi-
tect, but he was desirous to emulate the reputation of his
great contemporary, Michael Angeio, in being a sculptor
also. We are informed that, with his own hand he exe-
cuted some statues, but one only is referred to by the
anonymous author of the Milan MS. which was the statue
of a child, then in the possession of Julio Romano ; and
of this statue there can be no doubt, as it is also recognized
by count Castiglione, in a letter of the year 1523; but
what became of it is not known. There is, however, in
the Ghigi chapel in the church of S. Maria del Popolo, a
statue of Jonah from his own model, and executed in
marble, under his immediate direction, by Lorenzetto,
which remains an extraordinary instance of the versatility
of his powers, as this specimen of sculpture may fairly
rank with the best productions of modern Rome.
In the midst of his professional reputation, Raphael was
equally caressed by the learned and the great, many in-
stances of which are given by his late biographer, Mr.
RAPHAEL. 41
Duppa, whose elaborate narrative we principally follow.
LeoX. regarded Raphael with the highest esteem ; he was
much about his person, was made groom of the chamber,
and is even said to have had reason to expect the honours
of the purple, which is the alleged cause for his not marry-
ing the niece of cardinal di Bibbiena, who was desirous of
the alliance.
In the meridian of life, and in the full possession of its
enjoyments, Raphael became an unfortunate victim to the
barbarous state of the medical knowledge of his time ; and
from the unscientific manner in which his death has been,
reported, the grossest misapprehensions have arisen as to
the cause of it, and in particular it has been attributed to
sensual irregularities, for which there seems no foundation
in fact. He became early attached to a young woman,
the daughter of a baker at Rome, and thence called by
way of distinction La Bella Fornarina, and she became his
mistress. To her he appears to have been solely and con-
stantly attached, and left her by his will in a state of inde-
pendence. His constitution, however, was delicate, and
his labours in his profession so great, as probably to add to
that delicacy; and when he was seized with a violent fever,
for which his injudicious physicians prescribed copious
bleeding, we are not to wonder that his constitution sunk
under such treatment. He became indeed so rapidly re-
duced, that he had only time to make his will, and conform,
to the last offices of religion, before tiis death, which took
place April 7, 1520, in the thirty-seventh year of his age.
Thus, says his biographer, terminated the life of the most
illustrious painter of modern times; and, for any data we
have to the contrary, perhaps the most eminent that ever
lived at any period of the world.
In his will, after leaving to his mistress a sufficiency to
live independent, he bequeathed the rest of his property
to a relation at Urbino, and to two of his scholars, Julio
Romano, and Francesco Penni; appointing an intimate
friend Turini da Pescia his executor. His body lay in
state in the tall of his own house, and the celebrated pic-
ture of the Transfiguration, which he had just finished,
was placed at the head of the room. His remains were
afterwards removed with great funeral pomp to the Pan-
theon, where the last ceremonies were performed, and at
the request of Leo X. cardinal Bembo wrote an inscription,
to honour his memory, and mark the place of his interment.
42 RAPHAEL.
These particulars we have selected from the best life of
this great artist that has appeared in this country, written
by R. Duppa, esq. and prefixed to his splendid publication
of " Heads from the Fresco pictures of Raffaello in the
Vatican," 1802, as a companion to his " Heads of Michael
Angela*" Mr. Duppa concludes with a critical essay on
the merits of Raphael, too long for our limits, and too
valuable to be injured by abridgment. In Sir Joshua
Reynolds' lectures are many interesting and important
observations on the same subject, which in truth must
enter deeply into every discussion on the art. We might
refer likewise to Opie's lectures, Barry's works, and other
authors who have professedly or incidentally treated of
Raphael. The present professor of painting has a note on
the subject which may not form an improper conclusion to
our article, as he appears to have on this occasion exerted
bis highest powers of discriminative criticism.
" The general opinion," says Mr. Fuseli, " has placed
Raphael at the head of his art, not because he possessed a
decided superiority over every other painter in every branch,
but because no other artist ever arrived at uniting with his
own peculiar excellence all the other parts of the art in an
equal degree with him. The drama, or in other words the
representation of character in conflict with passion, was
his sphere ; to represent this, his invention in the choice of
the moment, his composition in the arrangement of his
actors, and his expression in the delineation of their emo-
tions, were, and are, and perhaps will be unrivalled. And
to this he added a style of design dictated by the subject
itself, a colour suited to the subject, all the grace which
propriety permitted, or sentiment suggested, and as much
chiaroscuro as was compatible with his supreme desire of
perspicuity and evidence. It is therefore only when he
forsook the drama, to make excursions into the pure epic
or sublime, that his forms become inadequate, and were
inferior to those of M. Angelo : it is only in subjects where
colour from a vehicle becomes the ruling principle, that be
is excelled by Titian ; he yields to Correggio only in that
grace and that chiaroscuro which is less the minister of
propriety and sentiment, than its charming abuse or volup-
tuous excess ; and sacrifices to the eye what was claimed
in vain by the mind.
"Michael Angelo appears to have had no infancy; if
be had, we are not acquainted with it : his earliest works
RAPHAEL. 43
equal in principle and elements of style the vigorous off-
springs of his virility : Raphael we see in his cradle, we hear
him stammer ; but propriety rocked the cradle, and cha-
racter formed his lips. Even in the trammels of Pietro
Perugino, dry and servile in his style of design, formal
and gothic in his composition, he traced what was essential,
and separated it from what was accidental, in figure and
subject. The works of Lionardo, and the cartoon of Pisa,
invigorated his eye, but it was the antique that completed
the system which he had begun to establish on nature.
From the antique he learned discrimination and propriety
of form. He found that in the construction of the body,
the articulation of the bones was the true cause of ease and
grace in the action of the limbs, and that the knowledge of
this was the true cause of the superiority of the ancients.
He discovered that certain features were fittest for certain
expressions and peculiar to certain characters ; that such a
head, such hands, and such feet, are the stamen or the
growth of such a body; and on physiognomy established
uniformity of parts. When he designed, his attention was
immediately directed to the primary intention and motive
of his figure, next to its general measure, then to the bones
and their articulation, 'from them to the principal muscles
or the muscles eminently wanted, to their attendant nerves,
and at last, to the more or less essential minutiae ; but the
characteristic part of the subject is infallibly the characteris-
tic part of his design, whether it be a rapid sketch, or a
more finished drawing. The strokes of his pen or pencil
themselves are characteristic : they follow the direction and
texture of the part; flesh in their rounding, tendons in
straight, bones in angular lines.
" Such was the felicity and propriety of Raphael when
employed in the dramatic evolutions of character ! both
suffered when he attempted to abstract the forms of subli-
mity and beauty; the painter of humanity not often wielded
with success superhuman weapons. His gods never rose
above prophetic or patriarchal forms ; if the finder of Mi-
chael Angelo impressed the divine countenance oftener with
sternness than awe, the gods of Raphael are sometimes too
affable and mild, like him who speaks to Jacob in a ceiling
of the Vatican ; or too violent, like him who separates light
from darkness in the Loggia of the same place. But though,
to speak with Mengs, he was ohiefly made to walk with
dignity on earth, he soared above it in the conception of
44 RAPHAEL.
Christ on Tabor, and still more in the frown of the angelic
countenance that withers the strength of Heliodorus.
" Of ideal female beauty, though he himself in his letter
to count Castiglione tells us, that from its scarcity in life,
he made attempts to reach it by an idea formed in his own
mind, he certainly wanted that standard which guided him
in character; his goddesses and mythologic females are no
more than aggravations of the generic forms of Michael
^Vngelo. Roundness, mildness, sanctimony, and insipidity,
compose in general the features and airs of his Madonnas,
transcripts of the nursery or some favourite face. The
* Madonna del Impanato,' the * Madonna della Sedia,'
the ' Madonna bella,' share more or less of this insipidity,
which arises chiefly from the high, rounded, smooth fore-
head, the shaven vacuity betwec-n the arched semicircular
eyebrows, their elevation above the eyes, and the ungrace-
ful division and scanty growth of hair. This indeed might
be the result of his desire not to stain the virgin character
of sanctity with the most distant hint of coquetry or mere-
tricious charms ; for in his Magdalens he throws the hair
with luxuriant profusion, and surrounds the breast and
shoulders with undulating waves and plaids of gold. The
character of Mary Magdalen met his, it was the character
of a passion. It is evident from every picture or design,
at every period of his art, in which she had a part, that he
supposed her enamoured. When she follows the body of
the Saviour to the tomb, or throws herself dishevelled over
his feet, or addresses him when he bears his cross, the cast
of her features, her mode, her action, are the character of
love in agony. When the .drama inspired Raphael, his
women becaaie definitions of grace and pathos at once.
Such is the exquisite line and turn of the averted half-
kneeling female with two children, among the spectators
of the punishment inflicted on Heliodorus ; her attitude,
the turn of her neck, supplies all face, and intimates more
than he ever expressed by features." 1
RAPHELENGIUS (FRANCIS), a learned writer of the
16th century, and professor of Oriental languages at Leyden,
was born February 27, 1539, at Lanoy, in French Flanders.
He began his studies at Ghent, and after some interruption
from the death of his father, resumed them at Nuremberg
and Paris, where he applied with great assiduity to the
1 Life by Mr. Duppa. Pilkington by Fuseli. Sir J. Reynolds's Works. See
Index, lee.
RAPHELENGJUS. 45
Greek and Hebrew languages, under the ablest masters,
until the civil wars obliged him to go into England, where
he taught Greek at Cambridge, After some time he re-
turned to the Netherlands, and, in 1565, married a daughter
of Christopher Plantin, the celebrated printer, Raphelen-
gius assisted his father-in-law in correcting his books, which
he also enriched with notes and prefaces, and was particu-
larly engaged in the Polyglot Bible of Antwerp, printed
in 1571, by order of Philip II. king of Spain. In 1585 he
settled at Leyden, where Plantin had a printing-office; la-
boured there with his usual assiduity, and was chosen, for
his learning, to be professor of Hebrew and Arabic in that
university. He died July 20, 1597, aged fifty-eight, le'av-
ing, "Remarks and corrections on the Chalciee Paraphrase;"
a " Hebrew Grammar;" a " Chaldee Dictionary," in the
Dictionary to the Polyglot of Antwerp; an " Arabic Lexi-
con," 1613, 4to ; and other works. One of his sons, of
the same name, published notes on Seneca's Tragedies,
and " Elogia carmine elegiaco in imagines 50 doctorum
virorum," Ant. 1587, fol. 1
RAPIN (NICHOLAS), a French poet, was born at Fonte-
nai-le-comte, in Poitou, in 1535. He was vice-seneschal
of his native province, and went afterwards to Paris, where
Henry III. made him provost of the high-constable'sjuris-
diction, which office he held till 1598. In his old age he
determined to retire to Fontenai-le-Comte, and died at
Poitiers, February 15, 1609, aged seventy-four, leaving a
family. His biographers differ very much in their character
of this author, as may be seen by comparing our authori-
ties. A considerable part of his Latin poems may be found
in torn. III. of " Les Devices des Poetes Latins Francois;"
and his Epigrams are particularly admired : the best among
his French ones are, " Les Plaisirsdu Gentilhomme Cham-
petre," printed in 1583 ; and those which he wrote on ma-
demoiselle de Roche's Flea, which are inserted in the col-
lection of poems on that foolish subject, printed at Paris,
in 1582, 4to. Rapin also attempted to write French blank
verse, in the manner of Greek and Latin verse; but suc-
ceeded no better than Ba'if, who had made the same trial
before him. He \vas one of those concerned in the famous
Satire " Menippee. All his works were printed at Paris,
1610, 4to. 2 j
i Niceron, vol. XXXVI. Foppen, Bib!. BeTg. Gen. Diet. Bullart'j Aca.
demie ds Sciences. 2 Niceron, vol. XXV. Cen. Diet. Moreri,
46 R A P I N.
RAPIN (RENATUS, or RENE'), a French Jesuit, and an
able classical scholar, was born at Tours, in 1621, and
entered into the society in 1639. He taught polite lite-
rature for nine years, and published various works both
on that subject and on religion, which made him say to
the abbe de la Chambre that he served God and the
world by turns. To Latin he was particularly partial, and
wrote with great facility and elegance in that language,
both in prose and verse. Of the latter, he exhibited
many specimens which were unrivalled in his time, parti-
cularly his " Hortorum libri quatuor;" a work, which has
been much admired and applauded. It was first printed
at Paris, in 1665, and afterwards re-printed with alterations
and corrections by the author. In 1780, Brotier edited an
edition at the Barbou press. An English version of it was
published at London, in 1673, Svo, by the celebrated Eve-
lyn; and again, in 1706, by Mr. James Gardiner of Jesus
college, in Cambridge. All his Latin poems, consisting
of odes, epitaphs, sacred eclogues, and these four books
upon gardens, were collected and published at Paris, in
1681, in 2 vols. 12mo. In French, which he also wrote
with elegance, he published several treatises on polite lite-
rature, at various times, which were printed collectively in
1684, 2 vols. 4to, Paris ; and at Amsterdam, in 2 vols.
8vo, and translated into English by Basil Rennet and others,
in 1705, in 2 vols. Svo, under the title of "The Critical
Works of Mons. llapin." The first volume contains a
comparison between Demosthenes and Cicero for eloquence,
Homer and Virgil for poetry, Thucydides and Livy for
history, Plato and Aristotle for philosophy: the second,
reflections on eloquence, on Aristotle's poetry, on his-
tory, on philosophy. Rapin's general design in this work
was, as he tells us himself, to restore good taste, which
had been somewhat corrupted by a spirit of profound eru-
dition, that had reigned in the preceding age : but, although
there are many just observations in his work, it is not that
on which it would be safe for a student to rely ; nor is his
preference of the Roman to the Greek writers to be justi-
fied. Some of his arguments on this part of his subject
are childish.
He died at Paris, Oct. 27, 16S7; and in his eulogium,
written by father Bouhours, he is represented, there is
reason to think deservedly, as possessed of all the qualities
that can adorn a man of probity. Zeal for the honour of
RAPIN. 47
his society made him undertake an " History of Jansenism,"
against which he had published a Latin work, in 1658,
under the title of " Dissertatio de nova doctrina, seu Evan-
gelium Jansenistarum." He had also a contest with father
Vavassor, who wrote against his " Reflections on Aristotle's
Poetics," yet pretended to be ignorant, as there was no
name to them, that Rapin was the author. 1
RAPIN DE THOYRAS (PAUL), an eminent historian, was
born at Castresin Languedoc,March 25,166 1. His family was
originally from Savoy, and is supposed to have removed into
France upon embracing the Protestant religion. Philibert
de Rapin, his great-grandfather, who was of that persua-
sion, exposed himself so much to the indignation of the
Roman catholics, and particularly to that of the parliament
of Toulouse, that his head was struck off in 1563 by a
sentence of theirs, at the very time that he came, by the
king's order, to have the treaty of peace registered there.
Daniel the historian passes over this fact in silence; and
his reason is supposed to have been, that he might exag-
gerate the disturbances raised by the Huguenots after-
wards in the country about Toulouse. What then happened
appears to have been the popular revenge for Philibert's
death, as the soldiers wrote on the ruins of the houses they
had burned, " Vengeance for Rapin's death." James de
Rapin, lord of Thoyras, was our author's father. He ap-
plied himself to the study of the law, and was an advocate
in the chamber of the edict of Nantes above fifty years.
These chambers were courts of judicature erected in seve-
ral towns of France, in behalf of the Huguenots, or Pro-
testants; the judges of which were half of the Reformed,
and half of the Roman catholic religion. Jane de Pelisson,
his wife, was daughter to a counsellor of the chamber of
Castres, and sister to George and Paul Pelisson; which
lady, after having been Confined for some time in a con-
vent, was at last sent, by the king's order, to Geneva,
where she died in 1705.
Rapin was their youngest son. He was educated at first
under a tutor in his father's house, and afterwards sent to
Puylaurens, and thence to Saumur. In 1679, he returned
to his father, with a design to apply himself closely to the
law; but, before he had made any great progress, he was
obliged, with other young gentlemen, to commence ad-
vocate, upon report of an edict soon after published, in
1 Gen. Diet. Niceron, XXXII. -Morcri.
48 R A P I N.
which it was ordered, that no man should have a doctor's
degree without having studied five years in some university.
The same year, the chamber of the edict of Nantes was
suppressed, which obliged Rapin's family to remove to
Toulouse : and the state of the Reformed growing every
day worse, with his father's leave he quitted the profession
of advocate for that of arms. He had before given what
his biographer calls proofs of a military disposition ; for he
had fought a duel or two, in. which he had acquitted him-
self very gallantly. His father at first did not grant his
request, but gave him such an answer, as served to prolong
the time. Rapin, however, advanced so far in his legal
progress as to plead one cause, and one only ; and then
applied himself diligently to mathematics and music, in
both which he became a good proficient.
In 1685, his father died ; and two months after, the
edict of Nantes being revoked, Rapin with his mother and
brothers retired to a country-house; and, as the persecution
in a short time was carried to the greatest height, he and
his youngest brother, in 1686, departed for England. He
was not long in London, before he was visited by a French
abb6 of distinguished quality, a friend of his uncle Pelis-
son, who introduced him to Barrillon, the French ambassa-
dor. These gentlemen persuaded him to go to court, as-
suring him of a favourable reception from the king ; but he
declined this honour, not knowing what the consequences
might be in that very critical state of affairs. His situation
indeed was not at all agreeable to him ; for he was perpe-
tually pressed, upon the subject of religion, by the French
Catholics then in London ; and especially by the abbe",
who, though he treated him with the utmost complaisance,
always turned the discourse to controversy. Having no
hopes of any settlement in England at that time, he went
over to Holland, and enlisted in a company of French vo-
lunteers, then at Utrecht, under the command of Mr. Ra-
pin, his cousin-german. Pelisson, the same year, published
his " Reflections on the difference of Religions," which
he sent to his nephew Rapin, with a strict charge to give
him his opinion impartially of the work, which it is said he
did, although nothing of this kind was found among his pa-
pers, nor was he influenced by his uncle's arguments. He
remained with his company, till he followed the prince
of Orange into England; where, in 1689, he was made
an ensign. In that rank he went to Ireland, and distia~
R A P I N. 49
guished himself so bravely at the siege of Carrick-fergus,
that he was the same year promoted to a lieutenancy. He
was also present at the hattle of the Boyne; and, at the
siege of Limerick, was shot through the shoulder with
a musket-ball. This wound, which was cured very slowly,
proved very detrimental to his interest ; as it prevented him
from attending general Douglas into Flanders, who was
very desirous of having him, and could have done him
considerable service : he had, however, a company given
him.
In the end of 1693, he was ordered for England without
any reason assigned ; but a letter informed him, that he was
to be governor to the earl of Portland's son. Having never
bad any thoughts of this kind of employment, he could
not imagine to whom he owed the recommendation ; but at
last found it to be lord Galway. He immediately went to
London, and entered upon this charge, losing, however,
with it those preferments in the army which several of his
fellow-officers soon after attained. All the favour shown
him was, that he had leave to resign his commission to his
younger brother, who died in 1719, after having been
made lieutenant-colonel in a regiment of English dragoons.
Indeed the king gave him a pension of 100/. per annum,
"till such time as he should provide for him better;'*
which time never came : and after enjoying this pension
during the king's life, a post of small value was given him
in its stead.
While the earl of Portland was ambassador in France,
Rapin was obliged to be sometimes in that kingdom, some-
times in England, and often in Holland : but at length he
settled at the Hague, were the young lord Portland was
learning his exercises. While he resided here, in 1699,
he married ; but this marriage neither abated his care of
his pupil, nor hindered him from accompanying him in his
travels. They began with a tour through Germany, where
they made some stay at Vienna : hence went into Italy by
the way of Tirol, where the marshal de Villeroy, at that
time prisoner, gave Rapin a letter for the cardinal d'Etrees,
when at Venice. Their travels being finished, which put
an end to his employment, he returned to his family at the
Hague, where he continued some years ; but, as he found
it increase, he resolved to remove to some cheap country ;
and accordingly retired, in 1707, to Wesel, in the duchy
f Cleves in Germany, where he employed the remaining
VOL. XXVI. E
50 R A P I N.
years of his life in writing fche " History of England."
Though bis constitution was strong, yet seventeen years
application (for so long he was in composing this history)
entirely ruined it. About three years before his death, he
found himself exhausted, and often felt great pains in
the stomach : and at length a fever, with an oppression in
his breast, carried him off, after a week's illness, May 16,
1725. He left one son and six daughters. He was na-
turally of a serious temper, although no enemy to mirth :
he loved music, and was skilled, as we have said, in ma-
thematics, especially in the art of fortification. He was
master of the Italian, Spanish, and English languages j
and had also a very competent knowledge of the Greek
and Latin. He spent all his leisure hours in reading and
conversing with men of learning and information.
He lived to publish the eighth volume of his history,
which ends with the death of Charles I. The two remain-
ing volumes, which bring the history down to the procla-
mation of William and Mary, came out in 1724. They
were printed at the Hague in quarto ; and have twice been
translated into English ; by the Rev. Nicholas Tindal, M. A.
first in octavo, then, much improved in style, in folio ;
and by John Kelly of the Inner Temple, esq. in two vols.
folio. Tindal has given a Continuation of Rapin's history
to 1760, and added useful notes to the whole. When
Rapin first set about this work, it was not his intention
to write a complete history of England ; but curiosity and
much leisure led him on from one step to another, till he
came to the reign of Henry II. ; and then, when he was
upon the point of stopping, an unexpected assistance
came forth, which not only induced him to continue his
history, but to do it in a more full and particular manner
than at first he intended. This was Rymer's " Fcedera,"
or " Collection of Public Acts," which began to be pub-
lished at the expence of government about 1706. In
1 708, six volumes in folio were completed, which were
afterwards increased to seventeen, and then to twenty.
Lord Halifax, a great promoter of this noble work, sent
the volumes, as they came out, to Le Clerc, who gene-
rously lent them to our author as long as he had occasion
for them. That he did actually use this collection, appear*
from the pains he took to abridge the whole seventeen vo-
lumes, except the first, which was done by Le Clerc : in
which abridgment we have all the important acts pointed
R A P I N. 51
ut, a well-connected series of events to which they relate,
and the use to be made of them in clearing up the his-
tory of England. This abstract lies scattered up and down
in the several volumes of Le Clerc's " Bibliotheque Choi-
sie ;" and was thence translated and published in English,
in 1727, in four volumes octavo, with portraits. Rapin
also, to let us see what a thorough knowledge he had of our
parties and factions in England, published, in 1717, a little
treatise, entitled " A Dissertation on the Whigs and the
Tories;" which is subjoined to his history, and has like-
wise been translated and published in English.
Voltaire has observed, that " England is indebted to Ra-
pin for the best history of itself which has yet appeared ;
and the only impartial one of a nation, wherein few write
without being actuated by the spirit of party." This cha-
racter, however, is not strictly just. Rapin was not with-
out his partialities, although his general moderation is
to be praised ; and although it was easy to excel preceding
English historians, he laboured under the disadvantage of
being remote from all those records and sources of intelli-
gence which are to be found in England only. Carte, in
his proposals for his history of England, has specified the
errors into which Rapin fell upon this account, and his ne-
glect of original authorities. Tindal, however, and Morant,
have supplied some of his defects, and rectified his errors ;
and upon the whole as an ample, though somewhat tedious
narrative of facts, Rapin's history has not acquired more
popularity than it deserved, and which, in some degree,
it still retains ; for, of late years, the folio edition has risen
to a very high price. *
RASTALL, or RASTELL (JOHN), one of our early
printers, is said by Bale to have been a citizen of London,
and by Pits a native of that city. Wood says he was edu-
cated in grammar and philosophy at Oxford, and that re-
turning to London he set up the trade of printing, which
was then, as Wood adds, " esteemed a profession fit for
any scholar or ingenious man." By whom he was taught the
art, or whether he was at first employed only as a corrector,
does not appear. His residence was at the sign of the
Mermaid " at Fowl's gate," next Cheapside. He married
Elizabeth, sister to sir Thomas More, with whom he be-
1 Biog. Brit. Supplement. GB. Diet. Life prefixtd to the History, and
added to the " Acta Regia."
K 2
2 R A S T A L L.
came intimate, according to Wood, by his piety and learn-
ing. Bale and Pits assign different causes for this inti-
macy ; the one, because he was a bold champion for
popery, which the other terms his great zeal for the glory
of God. Herbert thinks it was most likely that he was at
first introduced to his acquaintance by means of printing
sir Thomas's " Dialogues," and that his acquaintance was
afterwards cemented into friendship, as was natural, by
their mutual principles and opinions. The date, therefore,
of this acquaintance may be 1528 or 1529. Wood says
that Rastall, by frequent conferences with sir Thomas, im-
proved his knowledge in various sorts of learning, which is
probable ; but he omits to notice what is more important,
that Rastall became a convert to the reformed religion by
means of a controversy with John Frith. Rastall published
" Three Dialogues," the last of which treats on purgatory,
and was answered by Frith. On this Rastall wrote his
" Apology against John Frith," which the latter answered
with such strength of argument as to make a convert of his
opponent. Rastall also wrote a book called " The Church
of John Rastall," which being in the list of prohibited books
published by bishop Bonner, annexed to his injunctions in
1542, is supposed to have contained some retraction of his
former opinions, at least of what he had written concerning
purgatory. Herbert questions whether this book be not
the same which Bale mentions by the title of " Abrasio
Papismi." Both Bale and Pits attribute other works to
Rastall, not now known, except his " Anglorum regnum
Chronicon, or Pastime of the People," printed by him in
1529. This having lately been reprinted (1B11) among
the rest of the English Chronicles, by a select number of
the booksellers of London, it is not necessary to describe
its contents. The original edition is so scarce that one per-
fect copy only is known, which formerly belonged to lord
Orford, who gave it to James West, esq. and is now in the
king's library ; and of imperfect copies, bibliographers
mention only three or four.
Rastall is sometimes called a lawyer, and besides being
printer, certainly had a considerable hand in composing or
compiling some law books. In 1517, he printed and pub-
lished his " Tables to Fitzherbert's Abridgment," in folio,
which in 1565 were reprinted by R. Tottel. According to
Herbert, he also had some concern in first printing Fitz-
herbert's Abridgment, and he composed a table to the
R A S T A L L. 53
" Book of Assizes," which is printed with the latter editions
of the work. In 1527, we find " An Exposition of Law
Terms and the Nature of Writs, with divers cases and rules
of the Law, collected as well from books of Master Little-
ton, as other Law Books," printed in small octavo by J.
Rastall, and again by him in French and English, folio,
without date. This appears to have been originally composed
as well as printed by Rastail, both in French and English,
notwithstanding the conjecture that has been formed in
favour of his son William, by lord Coke and others, as au-
thor or translator of it. John RastalPs other publications
appear to have been, " Tables of the Years of our Lord
God, and of the Kings, in opposite columns," printed by
Walley in 1558, and again in 1563, by William Rastail in
1563, and often reprinted by others ; and in 1566 " Entries
of Declarations, Bars, Replications," &c. folio, commonly
called " RastalPs Entries," and sometimes quoted as the
" New Book of Entries." The author, in his preface, tells
the reader that his collection is chiefly compiled from
l.The old Book of Entries: 2. A Book of Precedents
written by Master Edward Stubbes, one of the Prothono-
taries in the Common Pleas: 3. A Book of Precedents gar
thered by John Lucas, secondary to Master William Roper,
prothonotarie of the King's Bench : 4. A Book of good
Precedents of his grandfather sir John More (father of sir
Thomas More), one of the justices of the King's Bench,
but not of his collection ; all which he had incorporated in
this volume.
John Rastail died at London in 1536, leaving two sons,
William and John. WILLIAM was born in London in 1 508,
and about 1525 was sent to Oxford, which he left without
taking a degree, and entered of Lincoln's Inn for the study
of law. In the first of Edward VI. he became autumn or
summer reader of that house ; but on the change of reli-
gion he retired with his wife to Louvain, whence he re-
turned on the accession of queen Mary. In 1554 he was
made a serjeant at law, one of the commissioners for the
prosecution of heretics, and a little befors Mary's death,
one of the justices of the common pleas. Queen Elizabeth
renewed his patent as justice, but he preferred retiring to
Louvain, where he died Aug. 27, 1565, and was buried in
the church of St. Peter, on the north side of the altar of the
Virgin Mary. His wife, who died in 1553, on their first
<joing to Louvain, at the age of twenty-six, was the daugh-
54 R A S T A L L.
ter of Dr. John Clement, one of the physicians sent by
Henry VIII. to Cardinal Wolsey during his last illness. She
was a lady of considerable learning, and well acquainted
with Greek and Latin.
Herbert ascribes some law publications to William Ras-
tall, but doubtfully. He carried on the printing business
from 1530 to 1534. When Justice Rastall he published
" A collection (abridged) of the Statutes in force and use,"
in 1557, often reprinted. It contains copies of statutes
not elsewhere extant, and in some instances more com-
plete transcripts of several acts than are commonly printed
in the Statutes at large ; and it seems to be a republication
and enlargement of the abridgment which was printed b}'
his father in 1519. The other son, JOHN, was commonly,
but improperly called Mr. Justice Rastall, from having
been a justice of the peace. Some works, in controversy
with bishop Jewell, have been attributed to William Ras-
tall, but were written by a John Rastall, no relation, as far
as we know, of this family, who became a Jesuit, and died
abroad in 1600. '
RATCL1FFE (THOMAS), EARL of SUSSEX, a statesman
of the sixteenth century, was the eldest son of Henry Rat-
cliffe, the second earl of Sussex, by Elizabeth, one of the
daughters of Thomas Howard, second duke of Norfolk.
His first public service was in an honourable embassy to
the emperor Charles the Fifth, to treat of the projected
marriage of Queen Mary to Philip, which he afterwards ra-
tified with the latter in Spain. Upon his return he was ap-
pointed lord deputy of Ireland, and chief justice of the
forests north of Trent. The order of the garter, and the
office of captain of the pensioners, were likewise conferred
on him in that reign, a little before the conclusion of which
he succeeded to his father's honours. Elizabeth continued
him for a while in the post of lord deputy, and recalled him
to assume that of the president of the North, a situation
rendered infinitely difficult by the delicacy of her affairs
with Scotland, and the rebellious spirit of the border coun-
ties. The latter, however, was subdued by his prudence
and bravery in 1569 ; and the assiduity and acuteness with
which he studied the former, will appear from his own
pen. The unfortunate affair of the duke of Norfolk, to
whom he was most firmly attached, fell out in the course
by Herbert.- Alh. Ox. vo'. I. n*w edit, Dodd's Ch. Hist. Tanner.
Bale, and Pils. Bridgatfta'f Legal Bibliography.
R A T C L I F F E. 55
of that year, and would have ended happily and honourably
if the duke had followed his advice. That nobleman's last
request was, that his best george, chain, and gafter, might
be given to my lord of Sussex. He was the prime negoci-
ator in those two famous treaties of marriage with the arch-
duke Charles and the duke of Alenson, Elizabeth's real
intentions in which have been so frequently the subject of
historical disquisition. In 1572, he retired from the severer
labours of the public service, in which he had wasted his
health, to the honourable office of lord chamberlain, and
the duties of a cabinet minister; and died at his house in
Bermondsey, June 9, 1583, leaving little to his heirs but
the bright example of a character truly noble. The earl
of Sussex was twice married ; first, to Elizabeth, daughter
of Thomas Wriothesley, earl of Southampton, by whom he
had two sons, Henry and Thomas, who died young ; se-
condly, to Frances, daughter of sir William Sydney, after-
wards the celebrated foundress of Sydney-Sussex college
in Cambridge; by whom having no children, he was suc-
ceeded by Henry, his next brother.
" This great man's conduct," says Mr. Lodge, " united
all the splendid qualities of those eminent persons who
jointly rendered Elizabeth's court an object of admiration
to Europe, and was perfectly free from their faults. Wise
and loyal as Burghley, without his blind attachment to
the monarch ; vigilant as Walsingham, but disdaining his
low cunning ; magnificent as Leicester, but incapable of
hypocrisy ; and brave as Ralegh, with the piety of a primi-
tive Christian ; he seemed above the common objects of
human ambition, and wanted, if the expression may be al-
lowed, those dark shades of character which make nien the 1
heroes of history. Hence it is, probably, that our writers
have bestowed so little attention on this admirable person,
who is but slightly mentioned in most historical collections,
unless with regard to his disputes with Leicester, whom he
hated almost to a fault." Mr. Lodge justly esteems him-
self peculiarly fortunate in having been the instrument of dis-
closing the earl of Sussex's letters to the public. They form
a very valuable part of the " Historical Illustrations," and,
a small number excepted, are the only ones to be met with
in print. These letters display both his integrity and abi-
lity in a very striking light, and are written in a clear and
manly style. Four of them are particularly curious ; two to
the queen, on .the treaty of marriage with the archduke of
56 RATCLIFFE.
Austria; one to sir William Cecil, on the state of parties
in Scotland ; and one to her Majesty, concerning the duke of
Alen$on. The letter on the affairs of Scotland is considered
by Mr. Lodge as an inestimable curiosity. Farther light
will be thrown on the earl of Sussex's character, by trans-
cribing the manly language in which he complains that
his services were neglected, and declares his purpose
of retiring to private life. It is in a letter to sir Wil-
liam Cecil. " I was firste a Lieuten'te ; I was after
little better than a Marshal ; I had then nothing left to me
but to direct hanging matters (in the meane tyme all was
disposed that was w th in my comission), and nowe I ame
offered to be made a Shreif's Bayly to deliver over posses-
sions. Blame me not, good Mr. Secretarie, though my
pen utter somewhat of that swell in my stomake, for I see
I ame kepte but for a brome, and when I have done my
office to be throwen out of the dore. I ame the first nobel
man hathe been thus used. Trewe service deserveth honor
and credite, and not reproche and open defaming; but,
seeing the one is ever delivered to me in the stede of the
other, I must leave to serve, or lose my honor; w^h, being
continewed so long in my howse, I wolde be lothe shoolde
take blemishe wth me. These matters I knowe precede not
from lacke of good and honorable meaning in the Q,' ma l
towards me, nor from lacke of dewte* and trewthe in me
towards her, which grevethe me the more ; and, therefore,
seing I shall be still a camelyon, and yelde no other shewe
then as it shall please others to give the couller, I will con-
tent my self to live a private lyfe. God send her Mate others
that meane as well as I have done ; and so I comitt you to
th* Almightie." From the next letter it appears that the
queen had too much wisdom to part with so faithful a coun-
sellor and servant. The earl of Sussex had a high regard
and esteem for Lord Burghley. In one of his letters,
dated June 28, 1580, he expresses himself, to that great
statesman, in the following terms : " The trevve fere of
God w^h yo r actyons have alwayes shewed to be in yo r harte,
the grete and deepe care wch you have always had for the
honor and salfty of the Q'. Ma*'s most worthy p'son ; the
co'tinual troubell w ch yqu have of long tyme taken for the
benefyting of the com'ou-welthe ; and the upryght course
vv ch ye have alwaye's taken, re^pectying the mattr and not
the p'son, in all causes ; (wch be the necessary trusts of him
that ferethe God trewly, s'rveth his Soverayne faythfully,
RATCLIFFE. 57
and -lovethe his countrey clerely) have tyed me to yo r L. in
that knotte w cli no worldly fraylty can break; and, therfor,
I wyll never forbere to runne any fortune that may s'rve
you, and further you' godly actyons. And so, my good L.
forberyng to entrobell you w th words, I end ; and wysh
unto you as to my self, and better, yf I may." 1
RATHERIUS, one of the very few learned prelates in
the tenth century, was born at Libya, and embraced a mo-
nastic life at the abbey of Lobbes, or Laubes, in Flanders.
Here he distinguished himself by his abilities and acquire-
ments. In the year 928, after Hilduin had been driven out
of the see of Liege, he accompanied him into Italy ; and in
931 he was, by the express order of the pope, put in pos-
session of the see of Verona; and with this promotion he
commenced a life of vicissitudes and persecutions, an ac-
count of which here would perhaps be uninteresting, but
may be found amply detailed in the edition of his works
printed by the brothers Balierini in 1767. He died at
Namur, about the year 973. His works are numerous, and
divided into three parts ; the first contain his " Prologues,"
in six books ; which form a treatise on the duties of all
classes of men, expressing also their vices and irregulari-
ties ; the second is a collection of letters ; and the third con-
sists of sermons. 2
RATRAMN, RATRAM, or BERTRAMN, a celebrated
monk, and priest of the abbey of Corby, flourished in the
9th century, in the reign of Charles the Bald. He appears
to have been well acquainted with the Greek and Latin
classics, and with the Holy Scriptures. Of all Ratramn's
works, his treatise "On the Body and Blood of Christ"
made the most noise. This treatise was written in answer
to Paschasius Radbert, and so much appeared to favour the
protestant opinion respecting the real presence in the Eu-
charist, that many learned catholics considered it either as
heretical or spurious ; but its authenticity was clearly
proved afterwards by Mabillon, M. Boileau, and a doctor of
the Sorbonne, who published an excellent edition in Latin
and French, 1686, 12mo, reprinted with a defence in
Latin only, 1712, 12mo, and according to catholic writers,
has also shewn the work to be orthodox. But this is ably
controverted in the English translation published in Dub-
1 Lodge's Illustrations. Biog. Brit, new edi*. art. ROBERT DUBLEY, p. 465.
2 Tiraboschi. Cave. Dupin.
58 R A T R A M N.
lin in 1753. His other works, which are less interesting,
are mostly inserted in D'Acheri's Spicilegium. The time
of his death is not known. 1
RATTE (STEPHEN HYACINTH DE), a French mathema-
tician and astronomer, was born at Montpellier, Sept. 1,
1722, and from his earliest years became attached to the
study of the sciences, particularly mathematics. When
very young, he was appointed secretary to the Montpellier
academy of sciences, which office he held until all acade-
mies in France were dissolved. In the course of his office,
he published two volumes of their " Memoirs/' and was
preparing a third at the time of the revolution. He also
contributed many valuable papers himself on philosophical
and mathematical subjects, and furnished some articles for
the " Dictionnaire Encyclopedique." The comet of 1759,
the subject of so much prediction and expectation, so far
altered his pursuits as to make them afterwards centre in
astronomy. He was for a long time considered as the only
good astronomer at Montpeliier, and made many useful
observations, particularly on the famous transit of Venus
in 1761. Such was his zeal, that when old age prevented
him from making observations with his usual accuracy, he
maintained a person for that purpose at his own expence as
keeper of the observatory at Montpellier. On the death
of his father, in 1770, he became counsellor of the court
of aids, and was often the organ of that company on re-
markable occasions. In 1793, when such members of the
old academy as had esdaped the murderous period of the
revolution attempted to revive it under the name of " So-
ciete* Libre des sciences et belles lettres de Montpeliier,"
De Ratte was chosen president. Some volumes of their
transactions have been published under the title of" Bulle-
tins." When the national institute was formed, De Ratte
was chosen an associate, and also a member of other learned
societies in France, and at last one of the legion of honour.
He died Aug. 15, 1805, aged eighty-three. His astrono-
mical observations have been collected for publication by
M. De Flaugergues, an astronomer of Viviers ; but our
authority does not mdntipn whether they haV yet ap-
peared. 2
RAULIN (JOHN), a French divine, was born at Toul
hi 1443, of a good family. He studied at Paris, and re-
. Mosheim's EccJ. Hist. 2 Diet Hist.
11 A U L I N. 59
reived the degree of doctor of divinity in 1479, having
before given proof of his learning and talents, by a com-
mentary on the logic of Aristotle ; and his pulpit oratory.
In 1481 he vvas chosen grand master of the college of Na-
varre, and performed the duties of that office in a manner
which procured him universal esteem. In 1497 he fancied
he had a special call to leave the world, and therefore re-
lired to the abbey of Cluny, the order of which he vvas
commissioned to reform by cardinal D'Amboise ; and here
too he was a very frequent preacher. He died Feb. 6, 1514,
in his seventy-first year. Major mentions an anecdote much
to the credit of Raulin. When he was only a licentiate,
some ecclesiastics who were filling their pockets by the stile
of indulgences, offered to pay all the expences of taking
his doctor's degree, if he would join them and preach up
their trade, which he rejected with indignation. Many
iarge volumes ofRaulin's sermons were printed after his
death, composed in a miserably bad taste, which, however,
vvas the taste of his age. It is perhaps a sufficient character
of them, that Rabelais took some of his ludicrous stories
from them. The only useful publication of RauSin is his
volume of correspondence, " Epistolse," Paris, 1529, 4to,
which, like most collections of the kind, throws some light
on the literature of the age. 1
RAUWOLF (LEONARD), a skilful botanist, was a native
of Augsburg, and a pupil of Rondelet. He sailed from
Marseilles, in 1573, for the Levant, and performed a labo-
rious and dangerous journey through Syria, Mesopotamia,
Palestine, and Egypt ; of which he has left an account in
German, full of curious information relative to medical and
other rare plants, with several wooden cuts. He died physi-
cian to the Austrian army, at Hatvany, in Hungary, in 1606,
according to Dryander, Bibl. Banks, v. 395, though Haller
says 1596. The latter writer mentions his being obliged to
quit his country, on account of his religion, which was pro-
testant. His splendid herbarium, once the property of
queen Christina, and of Isaac Vossius, is preserved in the
university of Leyden. From it Gronovius composed his
*' Flora Orientalis." An English translation of his journey
was published by Staphorst in 1693, 8vo. 2
RAVENET (SIMON FRANCIS), an engraver, vvas a na^-
tive of France, but came to England about 1750, and
1 Niceron, vol. XI. Chaufepie. * Haller, Eibl. Bot. Rees's Cyclopaedia.
60 R A V E N E T.
settled in London. In the latter part of his life he resided
at Mother lied Cap's, near Kentish Town, where he died
in 1774. He was of an amiable disposition and much re-
spected, and had the honour of instructing both Ryland and
Hall in the art of engraving.
The shadows in his engravings are deep toned, and his
style both of drawing and engraving vigorous, though
somewhat mannered. Beside what he produced after Ho-
garth, the following are esteemed among his best prints :
"The Prodigal Son," (a large upright) from Sal. Rosa;
" Lucretia deploring her Misfortune," from A. Casali :
" The Manifestation of the Innocence of the Princess Gun-
helda," (its companion) from the same; "The Death of
Seneca," (a large plate) from Lucca Giordano ; " The
Arcadian Shepherds," from N. Poussin ; " The portrait of
Lord Camden," from sir Joshua Reynolds. He is also the
author of a considerable number of vignettes, book plates,
and small portraits. 1
RAVENSCROFT (THOMAS), an active English musician
and publisher, who flourished from the beginning of the
17th century to 1635, was the editor and composer of the
best collection of psalm tunes in four parts, which had till
then appeared in England. He was a bachelor of music,
and a professor not only well acquainted with the practice
of the art, but seems to have bestowed much time in the
perusal of the best authors, and in meditation on the the-
ory. This book ? published in small octavo, 1621 and 1633,
contains a melody for every one of the hundred and fifty
psalms, many of them by the editor himself, of which a
considerable number is still in use; as Windsor, St. David's,
Southwell, and Canterbury. There are others, likewise,
which are sung by the German, Netherlandish, and French
Protestants. To these the base, tenor, and counter-tenor
parts have been composed by twenty-one English musicians:
among whom we find the names of Tallis, Dowlajid, Mor-
ley, Bennet, Stubbs, Farnaby, and John Milton, the fa-
ther of our great poet. The tunes which are peculiar to
the measure of the lOOdth psalm, the 113th, and 119th,
were originally Lutheran, or perhaps of still higher anti-
quity. And though Ravenscroft has affixed the name of
Dr. John Dowland to the parts which have been st to the
lOOdth psalm, yet, in the index, he has ranked the melody
1 Strutl's Diet.
RAVENSCROFT. 61
itself with the French tunes ; perhaps from having seen it
among the melodies that were set to the French version of
Clement Marot and Theodore Beza's Psalms, by Goudimel
and Claude le Jeune. Ravenscroft, in imitation of these
harmonists, always gives the principal melody, or, as he
calls it, the playn-song, to the tenor. His publication is,
in some measure, historical : for he tells us not only who
composed the parts to old melodies, but who increased the
common stock, by the addition of new tunes ; as well as
which of them were originally English, Welch, Scots, Ger-
man, Dutch, Italian, French, and imitations of these.
No tunes of triple time occur in Claude le Jeune, and
but five in Ravenscroft: the principal of which are Cam-
bridge, Martyrs, Manchester, and the 81st. This last is
still much used, and often played by chimes : it is called
an imitation of a foreign tune, and has the name of Richard
Allison prefixed to it. Muller's German edition of the
psalm tunes at Frankfort is exactly that of Claude le Jeune,
in two parts only; except that he has transposed some of
the melodies, and inserted easy leading and connective
notes, to assist, not only the singer, but sometimes the
tunes themselves ; which, without them, would now be
very bald and uncouth. Many of these old melodies are
still sung to German hymns as well as psalms.
In 1614 Ravenscroft published "A briefe Discourse of
the true, but neglected, Use of characterizing the Degrees
by their perfection, imperfection, and diminution, in mea-
surable Musicke, against the common practice and custome
of the times," 4to. He had been educated in St. Paul's
choir, under Mr. Edward Pierce, and was particularly con-
versant with old authors ; he, therefore, wished to revive
the use of those proportions in time, which, on account
of their intricacy, had been long discontinued. He practised
these exploded doctrines ineffectually, though to his dis-
course he added examples to illustrate his precepts, ex-
pressed in the harmony of four voices, concerning the plea-
sure of the five usual recreations of hunting, hawking,
dancing, drinking, and enamouring. He was not always
very successful in his attempts at imitative harmony; and
melody was then so crude and uncouth throughout Europe,
as to afford little assistance in imitative strains. Ravens-
croft was also the author of a collection of songs, entitled
" Melcimata, Musical Phancies, fitting the Court, City,
62 R A V I S.
and Country Humours, in three, four, and five Voyces,"
published in the year 161 J. 1
KAVIS, RAVIUS, or HAVE (CHRISTIAN), a learned
orientalist, was born at Berlin, in 1613, and alter studying
for eight years at Rostock and other foreign schools, he
came to Oxford in 1638, about which time he addressed a
letter to archbishop Usher, who, conceiving a high opinion
of him, gave him an invitation to Dublin, with offers of
preferment. In the mean time becoming likewise known
to Grotius, the latter, unknown to archbishop Usher, in-
troduced him to cardinal Richelieu, who offered to employ
him as his agent in the east. Ravins, however, pleaded
his pre-engagement to the English nation, and especially
to Usher; and the cardinal, with great liberality, admitted
his motive, and dismissed him with a handsome present.
He then, under the patronage of Usher, began his travels
in the East, but fortunately for himself, arrived at Constan-
tinople with a strong recommendation from archbishop
Laud ; for, according to Dr. Pocock's account, who was
then in that city, Ravius " came thither, without either
cloaths befitting him (of which he said he had been robbed
in France) or money, or letters of credit to any merchant.
He had letters of recommendation from some of the states
to the Dutch ambassador, who was departed before his
arrival. Sir Sackville Crow, the English ambassador, find-
ing that he brought the archbishop's recommendation, ge-
nerously took him into his house and protection, and gave
him all due furtherance ; requiring of him that, if occasion
so present itself, England may enjoy the benefit of what
time he shall here employ in the study of the eastern tongues.
His desire," Dr. Pocock adds, " seems to be, to be em-
ployed in setting forth books in the Arabic language, and to
be overseer of the press in that kind, for which he would
be very fitting."
In 1639, archbishop Usher wrote a Latin letter to him,
with a promise of <24. a-year towards his support ; and on
his return with a large treasure of MSS. to the number of
three hundred, Usher rewarded and supported him with
great liberality. Ravius now settled in England, and in
1642 resided at Gresham college, and afterwards at Lon-
don house, Aldersgate-street, and in both places taught
the Eastern languages. During the following year he went
1 Hawkins and Burney's Hist, of Music, and the latter in Rees's Cyclopedia-
R A V I S. 63
to Holland, and was appointed professor of the oriental
languages at Utrecht, which has procured him a place
among the learned men of Utrecht in Burman's " Trajec-
tum Eruditum." In 1648, we find him again in England,
where, in compliance with the ruling powers, he took the
covenant, and even became a rival to Dr. Pocock in the
Arabic professorship, but failed in this design. He then
went to Sweden, and became professor of oriental litera-
ture at Upsal ; but a large family and the scanty salary of
his professorship obliged him to go to Kiel in Germany,
where he lived comfortably until his death in 1677.
The writings of this learned scholar were ; 1. " Panegy-
rica3 orationes dua? de linguis Orientalibus," Utrecht, 1643,
4to. 2. " Obtestatio ad universam Europam pro discendis
rebus et linguis orientalibus," ibid. 1644, fol. 3. " Orto-
graphice et analogic, vulgo etymologise, Ebraicse delinea-
tio, &c." Amst. 1646, fol. 4. "A Grammar of the Hebrew,
Chaldaic, Syriac, Arabic, and Samaritan," Lond. 1648,
8vo. 5. " De Dudaim Rubenis dissertatio philologica,"
Upsal, 1655, 8vo. 6. " Annotationes in versus postrernos
Geneseos capitis XXX," ibid, 1655, 8vo. 7. " Apollonius
Pergaeus ex versioue Arabica, Latine," Kolon. 1661, 8vo.
8. " Versio nova in caput quartum Geneseos," ibid. 1664,
8vo. 9. " Versio Latina ex Hebraeo sex priorum capitum
Geneseos, &c." ibid. 1665, 8vo. 10. " Chronologiae in-
fallibilis de annis Christi, &c. demonstrationes," ibid. 166.9,
reprinted 1670, fol. 11. " Synopsis Chronologiae Bibli-
cae," Berlin, 1670, fol. 12. " Orbis Hieraticus Levita-
rum, &c." ibid. 1670, fol. 13. u Excussio discussionis
ineptse Abrahami Calovii," Upsal, 1671, fol. 14. " Dis-
putatio Chronologica de plenitudine temporis Christi in
came a priori deducta," Francfort, 1673, 4to. 15. " Tri-
ginta arcana Biblica contestantia aeram Christi anno mundi
4041, non 4000 ut Calovius docet," ibid, 1675, fol.
He had a brother, JOHN RAVIUS, who was professor of
philosophy at Rostock, and the author of a commentary
on Cornelius Nepos, and some other works. l
RAWLEY. See RALEGH.
RAWLEY (WILLIAM), a learned English divine, and
editor of lord Bacon's works, was born at Norwich about
1588. He was admitted a Bible-clerk in Bene't college,
1 Ath. Ox. vol. ILTwells's Life of Pocock, p. H. Burman's Traj. Erud.-
Usher's Life and Letters.
64 R A W L E Y.
Cambridge, under the tuition of Mr. Chapman, on the
22d of January, 1660, and took both the degrees in arts
before the 19th of March, 1609, when he was elected a
fellow of the house. Upon this he commenced tutor, and
was ordained deacon by the bishop of Ely, at Downham,
September 22, 1611 ; not long after which, he was pre-
sented by the university of Cambridge to the rectory of
Bowthorpe in Norfolk, and was instituted to it Dec. 10,
1612. In 1616, by the favour of sir Francis Bacon, who
procured the living for him of the college, he obtained the
rectory of Landbeach. He had commenced B. D. the year
before, and upon his patron's being made lord-keeper of
the great seal, was appointed his domestic chaplain. While
Mr. Rawley was in this situation, he proceeded D. D. in
1621. He was of great use to his master, in writing down,
compiling, digesting, and publishing his works ; to many
of which he wrote prefaces and dedications, as well as
translated several of them into Latin. These, with some
other pieces committed to his care, he collected together,
and printed, after his lordship's decease, London, 1638,
folio, with a dedication to king Charles, one of whose
chaplains he then was. In 1657, he published at London,
in folio, under the title of u Resuscitatio," several others
of lord Bacon's tracts ; to which at the request of many
foreigners, and natives of the kingdom, he prefixed some
account of his patron's life. This, which is thought to be
drawn up in a clear and manly style, shews Dr. Rawley to
have been an able writer. It was likewise translated into
Latin, and placed before the " Opuscula varia Posthuma,"
printed in 8vo the year following, which, he tells us, were
the last things he had in his hands. However, he repub-
lished the " Resuscitatio," with some additions, in 1661 ;
at which time he was chaplain in ordinary to his majesty
king Charles II. He was so great a favourite with lord
Bacon, that, after his resignation of the seals, he recom-
mended Dr. Rawley to his successor, bishop Williams, for
farther preferment. This the bishop promised, and de-
sired lord Bacon to point out in what he would wish him to
promote Dr. Rawley ; but his lordship modestly declining
this, and referring the choice to the lord- keeper, Dr
Rawley appears to have derived no advantage from his
friend's recommendation. Lord Verulam, besides the care
of his writings, left the doctor by will, as a farther testi-
mony of his regard, one hundred pounds, with the king of
RAWLEY. 65
Spain's Polyglot. After the publication of bis master's
works, in 1638, Dr. Ravvley resided upon his rectory at
Landbeach. He married Barbara, the daughter of Mr,
John Wicksted, alderman of Cambridge, by whom he had
two children. His daughter^ Mary, died in her infancy ;
but his son, William, became fellow of Corpus Christi
college, and was buried at Landbeach, on the 3d of July,
1666. Dr. Rawley lost his son, his wife, and his servants,
all in the same year, of the plague ; which probably affected
him so much as to bring down his grey hairs with sorrow
to the grave. He died on the 18th of June, 1667, in the
seventy-ninth year of his age, after haying been pastor at
Landbeach fifty years, and throughout the whole of the
troubles. His remains were deposited near the Commu-
nion-table, in the chancel of his own church, under a black
marble, with a Latin inscription to his memory. Dr. Raw-
ley was proctor in convocation for the clergy of the diocese
of Ely, in 1661, and as such subscribed to the Book of
Common-Prayer, upon its revisal. He had the appella-
tion of the lord Bacon's learned chaplain ; and that this
title was justly bestowed upon him, is evident from the
testimonies of several considerable men, both at home and
abroad. He presented lord Bacon's works, as he published
them, to the library of Corpus Christi college, Cambridge;
and bequeathed to it " Camden's Britannia," with " Cice-
ronis Opera," in 2 vols. and Plato, in 3 vols. folio. These
books were delivered by his executor Mr. John Rawley, to
whose care we are indebted for those Remains of lord Bacon
which were published by Dr. Tenison. 1
RAWLINSON (CHRISTOPHER), of CarkhalL in Lanca-
shire, esq. an able Saxon scholar, the only son of Curwen
Rawlinson of the same place, who died in 1689, and de-
scended from a family of long standing in High Furness,
and very numerous in the parish of' Hawkshead and Col-
ton, was collaterally related to the subjects of the three
following articles. He was born in 1677, educated at
Queen's college, Oxford, made upper commoner May 10,
1695, and eminently distinguished for his application to
Saxon and Northern literature. He published, whilst at
Queen's college, a beautiful edition of king Alfred's Saxon
translation of " Boethius de Consolatione Philosophise,"
Oxon. 1698, 8vo, from a transcript, by Franciscus Junius ?
Masters's Hist, of C. C. C, C,
VOL.. XX VI, F
6 RAWL1NSON.
of a very ancient MS. in the Bodleian library, collated with
one in the Cotton library. The " Grammatica Anglo-Sax-
onica, ex Hickesiano Thesauro excerpta," printed at Ox-
ford in 171 1, is dedicated to this gentleman, in the follow-
ing words : *' Viro eximio Christophoro Rawlinson Armi-
gero, Literaturae Saxonicae Fautori egregio, hasce brevi-
culas Institutiones Grammaticas dicat, dedicat, Editor.'*
He left behind him a large collection of MSS. among which
are many relating to Westmorland and Cumberland, of
which copies are at sir Michael le Fleming's at Rydal. He
ordered his under-coffin to be heart of oak, and covered
with red leather; and died January 8, 1732-3, aged fifty-
five. At the north end of the north transept of the abbey-
church of St. Alban's is a white marble sarcophagus, with
a figure of History sitting on it, reclining on her left arm,
holding in her hand a pen, with which she writes in a book,
while two other books lie under her feet. Below is this
epitaph :
To the m^rmry of
Christopher Rawlinson, of Caik-hall in Carimel, in the county of
Lancaster, esq. whose remains are deposited in a vault near this place.
He wa son of Curwen Rawlinson, member of parliament for the town
of Lancaster, and Klizabeth Monk, daughter aod oo- heir of the loyal
Nicholas Monk, lord bishop of Hereford, brother to (Jen. Monk
duke of Albemarle. The said Christopher was of Queen's college, in Oxford,
and published the Saxon version of " Boethius de Consolatione
Philosophise" in the Saxon language. He was born in the parish of
Springfield in Essex, June 13, 1677, and died in Jan. 1733.
This monument was erected pursuant to the will of his cousin and
co-heiress- MrS. Mary Blake, youngest daughter of Roger More,
of Kirkby Lonsdaie, in the county of Westmoreland, serjeant at law,
and Catharine Rawlinson, sister of the said Curwen Rawlinson.
For this gentleman's pedigree, see " Sajidford's Genealo-
gical History of the Kings and Queens of England, 1707;"
where also is a print* of the monument erected by him to
* This print is eagraved by Nut- R^wliuson, of Caik Hall in Cartmell
tiiJg, and inscribed at bottom, as fol- in Lancashire, and of Gray's Inu in
lows: "Viro nobili & ornatissimo, Middlesex, esq. His great integrity,
literarum patrono, Christophoro Raw- joined with a profound knowledge of
linson, de Cark, in comitatu Lancas- the law, made him esteemed and ad-
triae, armigero; qui ne dulcis memo- mired by all that knew him. He was
ria avi sui honorabilis et matris cha- justice of the peace, of Quorum, and of
rissimas pereat,monumentum hocaeter- Oyer and Terminer, for the counties
nitati sacrum esse voluit." Jnthecen- Palatine of Lancaster and Chester to
ter of this inscription is a shield, quar- king Charles II. ; a great sufferer for
tering the arms of Rawlinson, Planta- his loyalty to king Charles I. vice-
genet, Curwen, and Monk ; with the chamberlain of the city and county of
motto of the Rawlinsons affixed. The Chester to Charles earl of Darby. He
epitaph runs thus : " Near this place lived beloved of all, and so he died
Jyeth the body of that most learned lamented, Oct. 21, 1665, aged 55. He
?Rd honest counsellor at law, Robert married the prudent Jane Wilson
RAWLINSON,
his grandfather and mother, in the church of St. Mary, at
Cartmel, in Lancashire. There are two engravings of
him; one in a wig and night-gown, in a frame of oak-
Jeaves, engraved by Nutting, with his initials in a cypher
at the corners, and his arms quartering a chevron between
3 lions 7 heads, and Ar. fretty Gu. a chief Az. Another,
by Nutting also (mentioned in Granger), in the same plate
with four others, viz. Robert^ his grandfather; Curvven,
his father ; Elizabeth, his mother, and Dr. Nicholas Monk,
bishop of Hereford, his mother's father. There is like-
wise a mezzotinto half-sheet, by Smith, representing him
younger, and of a more comely person, than either of the
engravings. It is dated " Anno Christi 1701, aetatis suae
24." '
RAWLINSON (THOMAS), knt eldest surviving son of
Daniel Rawlinson*, citizen and wine-merchant of Lon-
don, descended from the ancient family of that name at
Graisdale, in the county of Lancaster, was born in the
parish of St. Dionis Backchurch, in Fenchurch-street, Lon*
(eldest daughter of Thomas Wilson
of Haversham Hall in Westmoreland,
esq.) who died 1686, aged 66; and
was buried in the same grav with
him ; by whom he left Curwen Raw-
linson, esq. his eldest and only son,
who married. He was a most accom-
plished and ingenious gentleman, and
a true patriot ; so succeeded his father
in the service and love of his country,
and died in it 1689, aged 48, being
burgess for Lancaster in the parlia-
ment convened 1688, Jan. 22, and was
buried in the chancel of St. Mary's,
Warwick.
Next Robert Rawlinson lyeth the
remains of the truly pious and religious
Elizabeth Rawlinson, wife of Curwen
'Rawlinson of Lark, esq. (daughter and
qo-heir of the loyal Dr. Nicholas Monk,
lord bishop of Hereford) a great as-
sistant in the Restoration to his bro-
ther, the most noble George Monk
duke of Albemarle, and son of sir
Thomas Monk of Potheridge in De-
vonshire, knt. She was a most dutiful
daughter of the Church of England, as
veil as of a prelate of it ; being a sub-
lime pattern of holy piety, a true cha-
rity, a Christian humility, a faithful
religious care of her
children, and a divine patience under
the torture of the stone, and with which
she resigned her heavenly soul, Sept.
27, 1691, aged forty-three, leaving
two sons ; Monk Rawlinson, who died
1695, aged 21, and lyeth buried by
ter; and Christopher Rawlinson, esq,,
now living, born in Essex, 1677, who,
in memory of his grandfather, and
most dearly beloved and good mother*
erected this monument, MDCCV." The
above is an exact copy of the plate.
* Daniel Rawlinson ha* a monu-
ment in St. Dionis BacJkcburch, with,
his wife Margaret, his eldest son Da-
niel, his daughters Elizabeth, and
Mary, wife of Mazine, es.q. Strype'
Survey of London, B> II. p. 154* It
appears by the printed will of Dr. Ri-
chard Rawlinson, that Daniel left him
a fee-farm rent of 42/. per annum, is-
suing out of the rectory and parish-
church of Ulverston, and other tithes,
in the county of Lancaster, and 17f,
also out of the tenements, ayd 12
acres of glebe of the said rectory, and
61. oiit of Penniuglon rectory and other
rents, &c. amounting in the whole, to
upwards of 85/. per annum, which be
lefi in trust, as hereafter stated.
friendship,
Drawn up by Mr. Gough for the edition 17S4 of this Dipt. Collier's Di-
tiohary, vol. 11. art. Rawlinson.
* 2
63 RAWLINSON,
don, March 1647 ; appointed sheriffof London by James II.
1687, colonel of the white regiment of trainee! bands, and
govt rnor of Bridewell and Bethlem hospitals, 1705; and,
in 1706, lord mayor of London, when he beautified and
repaired Guildhall, as appears by an inscription in the
great porch. He married Mary, eldest daughter of Richard
Taylor, esq. of Turnham-green, with whom he lived 27
years, and by whom he had 15 children. She died at
Chelsea, Feb. 21, 1724-5, aged sixty-three. He died in
his own parish, November 2, 1705, and was buried with
his father, who died in 1679, aged sixty-six, Of his chil-
dren, four daughters, Anne- Maria, Mary, Margaret, Susan;
and two sons, both named Daniel, died before him. Wil-
liam died in 1732, and was buried at Antwerp. John, of
Little Leigh in Cheshire, esq. died January 9, 1753.
Tempest, the youngest son, by profession a dry-salter, died
January 1, 1737. Sir Thomas Rawlinson, it maybe added,
had been foreman of the grand jury at the trial of alderman
Cornish; and was elected sheriff by royal mandate. His
eldest son, THOMAS, for whom Mr. Addison is said to have
intended his character of Tom Folio, in the Taller, No. 158,
but with infinitely too satirical a vein, was a great collector
of books ; and himself a man of learning, as well as patron
of learned men. Mattairehas dedicated to him his edition
of Juvenal; and Hearne's publication, entitled " Aluredi
Beverlacensis Annales, &c." was printed from the original
MS. in this gentleman's possession. Very numerous indeed
were the communications that editor received from Mr.
Thomas Rawlinson, for all which he takes every opportu-
nity of expressing his gratitude. While Mr. Rawlinson
lived in Gray's inn, he had four chambers so completely
filled with books, that his bed was removed out into the
passage. He afterwards removed to London-house, the
ancient palace of the bishops of London, in Aldersgate-*
street, where he died August 6, 1725, aged forty-four,
and was buried in the church of St. Botolph Aldersgate.
In London-house his library was sold after his decease ;
and there also lived and died his brother Richard, who left
a portrait of his brother Thomas in crayons, another of
himself, and another of Nicolas Salmon, LL. D. the anti-
quary, to the Society of Antiquaries, all afterwards revoked.
His MSS. took sixteen days to sell, from March 4, 1733-4.
The catalogue of his library consists of nine parts. The
amount of the fiva first parts was 2409/. Mr. Charles
RAWLINSON. 69
Marsh, late bookseller at Charing-cross, used to say,
that the sale of Mr. Thomas Rawlinson's library was one of
the first events he remembered upon engaging in business;
and that it was the largest collection at that time known to
have been offered to the public. 1
RAWLINSON (RICHARD), an eminent antiquary, and
great benefactor to the university of Oxford, was the fourth
son of sir Thomas ; and was educated at St. John's college,
Oxford, where he was admitted gentleman commoner, and
proceeded M. A. and grand cornpounder in 1713, and was
admitted to the degree of doctor of civil law by diploma
in 1719. He was F. R. S. and became F. S. A. May 10,
1727. He was greatly accessary to the bringing to light
many descriptions of counties ; and, intending one of Ox-
fordshire, had collected materials from Wood's papers, &c.
had many plates engraved, and circulated printed queries,
but received accounts only of two parishes, which in some
degree answered the design, and encouraged him to pursue
it. In this work were to be included the antiquities of the
city of Oxford, which Wood promised when the English
copy of his " Historia & Antiquitates Oxon." was t.o be
published, and which have since been faithfully transcribed
from his papers, by Mr. Gutch, and much enlarged and
corrected from ancient original authorities. All Dr. Raw-
linson's collections for the county, chiefly culled from
Wood, or picked up from information, and disposed b,y
hundreds in separate books, in each of which several pa-
rishes are omitted, would make but one 8vo volume. But
he made large collections for the continuation of Wood's
" Athena Oxonienses" and " History of Oxfor.d," and for
an account of " Non-compilers" at the Revolution ; which,
together with some collections of Hearne's, and note-books
of his own travels, he bequeathed by his will to the univer-
sity of Oxford. The Life of Mr. Anthony Wood, histo-
riographer of the most famous university of Oxford, with
an account of his nativity, education, works, &c. collected
and composed from MSS. by Richard Rawlinson, gent,
commoner of St. John's college, Oxon. was printed at Lon-
don in 1711. A copy of this life, with MS additions by
the author, is in the Bodleian library. He published pro-
posals for an " History of Eton College," 1717; and, in
1728, " Petri Abselardi Abbatis Ruyensis & Heloissae
1 By Mr. Gough, for the edition of this Dictionary of 1784.
70 R A W L I N S O N.
Abbatissae Paracletensis Epistolae," Svo, dedicated to Dr,
Mead. The books, the publication of which he promoted, are
supposed to be the " History and Antiquities of Winches-
ter," 1715, Svo. " History and Antiquities of Hereford,"
1717, Svo. " History and Antiquities of Rochester," 1717,
1723, 8vp. " Inscriptions on tombs in Bunhill-fields,"
1717, Svo. " History and Antiquities of the Churches of
Salisbury and Bath," 1719, 1723, Svo. "Aubrey's History
of Surrey," 1719, 5 vols. Svo. " Norden's Delineation of
Northamptonshire," 1720, Svo. " History and Antiquities
of Glastonbury," Oxford, 1722, Svo. In 1728, he trans-
lated and printed Fresnoy's " New Method of studying
History, with a Catalogue of the chief Historians," 2 vols.
Svo. But his principal work was "The English Topo-
grapher, or, an Historical Account of all the Pieces that
have been written relating to the antient Natural History
or Topographical Description of any Part of England," 1720,
Svo, the plan of which has been so much augmented and
improved in Mr. Cough's two editions of the " British To-
pography." In 1750, he gave, by indenture, the yearly
sum of 87/. 165. Sd. being the rents and profits of various
estates which he inherited under the will of his grandfather
Daniel Rawlinson to the university of Oxford, for the
maintenance and support of an Anglo-Saxon lecture or
professorship for ever. To the Society of Antiquaries, he
gave, by will, a small freehold and copyhold estate at Ful-
Eam, on condition that they did not, upon any terms, or
by any stratagem, art, means, or contrivance howsoever,
increase or add to their (then) number of 150 members,
honorary members only excepted. He also made them a
considerable bequest of dies and matrices of English seals
and medals, all his collection of seals *, charters, drawings
by Vertue and other artists, and other antiquities ; ten
walnut-tree book-cases, which had been given to his late
brother Thomas by the then earl of Pembroke, and four
mahogany presses, all marked P, all his English prints of
which they had not duplicates, and a quit-rent of 5L per
annum, in Norfolk, for a good medal for the best descrip-
* See his seals enumerated in the Ul, 130, 164, 166, 237, 295, 309,
British Topography, vol. I. 465,482, 381, 474, 476, 689, 702, 715.
vol. II. 40, 96, 134, 177, 291. Drawings and MSS. vol.1. 188, 337,
His plates, TO!. I. 390, 419, 454, 339, 421, 499, 510, 329, 534, 609,
464, 492, 494, 508, 515, 537, 544, 615. -Vol. II. 59, 75, 85, 95, 106,
5*2, 553, 641, 717. Vol. II. 50, 89, 155, 286, 468, 761,
R A W L I N S O *N. ?!
tion on any English, Saxon, Roman, or Greek, coin, or
other antiquity not before treated of or in print; but, re-
senting some supposed want of deference to his singularities
and dictatorial spirit, and some reflections on his own and
his friend's honour, in an imputation of libelling the So-
ciety in the public papers, he, by a codicil made and
signed at their house in Chancery lane, revoked the
whole*, and excluded all fellows of this or the Royal So-
ciety from any benefit from his benefactions at Oxford,
which, besides his Anglo-Saxon endowment, were ex-
tremely considerable ; including, besides a number of
books with and without MS notes, all his seals, English
and foreign, his antique marbles, and other curiosities ;
his copper-plates relative to several counties, his ancient
Greek and Roman coins and medals, part of his collection
of English medals, his series of medals of Louis XIV. and
XV. a series of medals of the popes, which Dr. Rawlinson
supposed to be one of the most complete collections in
Europe; and a great number of valuable MSS. which he
ordered to be safely locked up, and not to be opened till
seven years after his decease f. His music, MS. and print-
ed, he gave to the music-school at Oxford. He died at
Islington, April 6, 1755 ; and in the same year was printed
" The Deed of Trust and Will of Richard Rawlinson, of
St. John the Baptist college, Oxford, doctor of laws ; con-
cerning his endowment of an Anglo-Saxon lecture, and
other benefactions to the college and university." He
left to Hertford college the estate in F-ulham before men-
tioned, and to the college of St. John the Baptist the bulk
of his estate, amounting to near 700/. a year, a plate of
archbishop Laud, thirty-one volumes of parliamentary
journals and debates; a set of the " Fo?dera," all his
* One reason, among others, -which Salisbury, by whom it was sent to
he gave for this, was, that their then se- Cambridge. Dr. Taylor's insinuation,
<cretary, Mr. Gordon, was a Scotchman, however, was without foundation, for
.f Dr. Taylor was persuaded that no such MS. was found in Dr. Rawlin-
this precaution was taken by the doc- son's collection j and the papers which
tor to prevent the right owners' reco- Dr. Rawlinso desired might not be
vering their own. He supposed that made public till after his death, were
Dr. Rawlinson made no scruple of his collections for a continuation or the
buying all that was brought to him ; *' Athena; Oxonienses," with Hearne's
and that, among the rest, the MS. and Diaries, and two other MSS. The
printed copy of Demosthenes, which whole are now open for any one who
was lost on the road, and the detainer wishes to consult them. Historical
t>f which he had cursed very classically, passages collected by him from Wood
would be found among the spoil. The were printed as a supplement to
MS, belonged to Jauies Harris, esq. of Wood's Life, Oxf. 1772, vol. II. p. 249.
72 RAWLINSON.
Greek, Roman, and English, coins not given to the BocU
leian library, all his plates engraved at the expence of the
Society of Antiquaries, with the annuity for the prize-
medal, and another to the best orator. The produce of
certain rents bequeathed to St. John's college was, after
40 years' accumulation, to be laid out in purchase of an
estate, whose profits were to be a salary to a keeper of the
Ashmolean Museum, being a master of arts, or bachelor IB
civil law ; and all legacies refused by tne university or
others, to center in this college. To the hospitals of Bride-
well and Bethlehem, for the use of the incurables of the latter
he left 200/. and ten guineas as an equivalent for the
monthly coffee which he had received in Bethlehem com-
mon room : but, if they did not give up the picture of his
father hanging in their hall, in order to its being put up in
the Mansion-house, they were to forfeit the larger sum,
and receive only the smaller. This picture, after it had
hung up at the Mansion-house for some years, without any
companion, in a forlorn, neglected state, and received
considerable damage, the late sir Walter Rawlinson ob-
tained leave of the court of aldermen (being then himself
& member of that body, and president of those hospitals)
to restore to Bridewell. It is one of sir Godfrey Kneller's
best performances, and well engraved by Vertue. CON-
STANXINE, another brother, is mentioned by Richard Raw-
Jinson's will, as then residing at Venice, where he died in
1779. To him he gave the copper-plate of his father's
portrait, and all family-pictures, except his father's por-
trait by Kneller, which was given to the Vintners' com-
pany, of which his father was a member. He left him also
his rents in Paul's-head court, Fenchurch-street, jointly
with his sisters, Mary Rawlinson, and Anne Andrews, for
life. In the same will is mentioned another brother, JOHN,
to whom he left estates in Devonshire-street, London ; and
a nephew THOMAS. To St. John's college he bequeathed
also his diploma, and his heart, which is placed in a beaur
tiful marble urn against the chapel- wall, inscribed :
" Ubi thesaurus, ibi cor.
Ric. RAWLINSON, LL. D. & ANT. S. S.
" Olim hujus Collegii superioris ordlnis Commensalis.
" Obiit vi Apr. MI>CCLV."
His body was buried in a vault, purchased by him in the
north aile of St. Giles's church, Oxford, of which he had a
plate engraved in his life-time, with this inscription :
RAWLINSON. 73
trsaujlov - Vdut in Speculum.
Manet omnes una nox Non raoriar omnU.
Hoc Dormitorium 8 ped. lat. 8 ped. long.
A parochia D. Egidi Oxon. concess. 25 Febr. et
jFacult. Episc. confirmat. 5 Mail J. L. Arm. et
Assign. A. D. M,DCC,L1V.
Pallida niors aequo pulsat pede.
Semel est calcanda via lethi.
Ultima Thule.
R. RAWLINSON, LL.D. R. & A. SS.
Olim Collegii S. Joannis Bapt. Qxon,
Superioris Ordinis Commensalis,
Obiit vi Apr. MPCCLV. set. LXV."
When the head of counsellor Layer, who was executed
for being concerned in the plot of 1722*, and fixed on
Temple-bar, was blown off, and taken up by Mr. John
Pearce, an eminent attorney of Tooke's-court, and agent
for the nonjuring party, Dr, Rawiinson purchased it of
him at a high price, preserved it as a valuable relic, and
directed that it should be buried in his right hand. It is
said, however, that he was imposed upon, and that a head
was sold to him which was not Layer's.
His library of printed books and books of prints was sold
by auction in 1756; the sale lasted 50 days, and pro-
duced 1164/. There was a second sale of upwards of
20,000 pamphlets, reduced into lots under proper heads,
with his most uncommon, rare, and odd, books, in the fol^
lowing year, during ten days ; which was immediately
succeeded by a sale of the doctor's single prints, books of
prints, and drawings, which lasted eight clays. l
RAY (BENJAMIN), an ingenious and worthy man, who
is described as possessed of learning, but ignorant of the
world; indolent and thoughtless, and often very absent;
was a native of $palding, where he was educated under
Dr. Neve, and afterwards admitted of St. John's college,
Christopher Layer, a young But, being reprieved from time to
counsellor of the Temple, was appre- time, the House of Commons appointed
headed in the middle of Sept. 1722, a committee to examine him in rela-
and, attempting his escape next day, tiou to the conspiracy. He declined
was overtaken, and committed to the making any discovery ; and was exe-
Tower. He was examined Sept, 21, cuted at Tyburn May 17, 172 1 2, and
before the privy council j and, after a his head fixed upon Temple-bar. In
trial of J8 hours, in the king's bench, a short speech he justified what he had
on an indictment for inlisting men in done, and recommended the interest
Essex for the Pretender's service, and of the Pretender. His trial was print-
corresponding with them, was conTict- ed some time before his execution.
d, and received sentence of death. Tindal's Contin. of Rapin, IV. 666.
J By Mr. Gough, drawn up originally for Nichols's Bowyer.
74 RAY.
Cambridge. He was perpetual curate of Surfleef, of
which he gave an account to the Spalcling Society ; and
curate of Cowbitt, which is a chapel to Spalding, in the
gift of trustees. His hermitage of osiers and willows there
was celebrated, by William Jackson of Boston, in a MS
heroic poem. He communicated to the Royal Society an
account of a water-spout raised off the land in Deeping
fen, printed in their "Transactions," vol. XLVII. p. 447,
and of an ancient coin, to " Gent. Mag. 1744." There
are several dissertations by him in that miscellany. He
was secretary to the Spalding society in 1735. Mr. Pegge,
about 1758, had a consultation with Dr. Taylor, residen-
tiary of St. Paul's, and a friend of Ray's, to get him re-
moved to a better situation, and the doctor was inclined to
do it ; but, on better information and mature consideration,
it was thought then too late to transplant him. He died a
bachelor at Spalding in 1760. See his communications to
the society, in the Reliquiae Galeanae, pp. 57, 58, 3.
He also communicated, in MS. " The Truth of the Chris-
tian Religion demonstrated from the Report that was pro-
pagated throughout the Gentile World about the Birth of
Christ, that a Messiah was expected, and from the Autho-
rity of Heathen Writers, and from the Coins of the Ro-
man Emperors to the beginning of the second general per-
secution under Domitian," in ten sections, never printed.
Also a MS catalogue of household goods, furniture, and
ten pictures, removed out of the presence-chamber, 26
Charles II. 14 Dec. 1668, from Mr. Brown, and of others
taken out of the cupboard in the chamber, 25 Dec. 1668,
by Mr. Church. These were in number 69. (Percy
Church, esq. was some time page of honour and equerry
to the queen-mother Henrietta Maria.) A MS catalogue
of Italian princes, palaces, and paintings, 1735, now in
the Society's Museum. In 1740, a large and well-written
history of the life and writings of the great botanist, his
namesake, by Mr. Dale, which was read, and approved.
John Ray's account of Cuba, where he was on shore some
months. Mr. Johnson calls him his kinsman, and says, in
honour of him, he finds an inscription on the lower ledge
of an altar-tomb, on which lies a mutilated alabaster knight
in armour and mail in Gosberkirke, alias Gosberton chapel,
now a school at Surfleet, to belong to Nicolas Rie, who
was sheriff of Lincolnshire 5 and 6 Edw. I. 1278, and died
1279 or 80.;
Nichols's Bowyer.
RAY. 75
RAY, or WRAY (JOHN), an eminent English natural
philosopher, was the son of a blacksmith at Black Notley,
near Braintree, in Essex, and was born there Nov. 29th,
1628. He was bred a scholar at Braintree school ; and
sent thence, in 1644, to Catharine-hall in Cambridge.
Here he continued about two years, and then removed,
for some reason or .other, to Trinity-college ; with which,
says Derham, he was afterwards much pleased, because
in Catharine-hall they chiefly addicted themselves to dis-
putations, while in Trinity the politer arts and sciences
were principally cultivated. In Sept. 1649 he was chosen
a minor fellow along with his ingenious friend Isaac Bar-
row, and was chosen major fellow, when he had completed
his master's degree. The learned Duport, famous for his
skill in Greek, who had been his tutor, used to say, that
the chief of all his pupils, and to whom he esteemed none
of the rest comparable, were Mr. Ray and Dr. Barrow.
In 1651, Mr. Ray was chosen the Greek lecturer of the
college; in 1653, the mathematical lecturer; in 1655,
humanity-reader ; which three appointments shew the re-
putation he had acquired, in that early period of his life, for
his skill in languages, polite literature, and the sciences.
After he had been of greater standing, he was chosen into
the respective offices of the college, as praelector primarius,
in 1657 ; junior dean in 1658 ; and twice college-steward,
in 1659 and 1660.
During his continuance in the university, he acquitted
himself honourably as a tutor and a preacher; for, preach-
ing and common placing, both in the college and in the
university-church, were then usually performed by per-
sons not ordained. Dr. Tenison informed his biogra-
pher that Mr. Ray was much celebrated in his time for
his preaching solid and useful divinity, instead of that
enthusiastic stuff which the sermons of that time were
generally filled with. His favourite study, and what in-
deed made the chief business of his life, was the history of
nature, and the works of God : and in this he acquired
very extensive knowledge. He published, in 1660, a
" Catalogue of the Cambridge Plants," in order to pro-
mote the study of botany, which was then much neglected ;
and the reception this work met with encouraged him to
proceed farther in this study. He no longer contented
himself with what he met with about Cambridge, but ex-
tended his pursuits throughout the greatest part of England
76 RAY.
and Wales, and part of Scotland. In these journeys of
simpiing, though he sometimes went alone, yet he had
commonly the company of other curious gentlemen, parti-
cularjy Mr, Willoughby, his pupil, Mr. (afterwards sir)
Philip Skippon, and Mr. Peter Courthope* At the resto-
ration of the king, he resolved upon entering into holy
orders; and was ordained by Sanderson, bishop of Lin-
coln, December 23, 1660. He continued fellow of Trinity-
college, till the beginning of the Bartholomew act; which,
requiring a subscription against the solemn league and
covenant, occasioned him to resign his fellowship, he re-
fusing to sign that declaration. His biographer informs us
that the reason of his refusal was not, as some have imagined,
his having taken the solemn league and covenant : " for
that he never did, and often declared that he ever thought
it an unlawful oath, but he said he could not declare, for
those that had taken the oath, that no obligation lay upon
them ; but feared there might." This explanation of Mr.
Hay's conduct seems not very satisfactory, but it is all
that we can now obtain, and it is certain that he died in
communion with the church of England.
Having now left his fellowship, and visited most parts of
his own country, he was desirous of seeing what nature af-
forded in foreign parts; and accordingly, in April, 1663,
himself, with Mr. Willoughby,' Mr. Skippon, and Mr. Na-
thanael Bacon, went from Dover to Calais, and thence
through divers parts of Europe; which, however, it is suf-
ficient just to mention, as Mr. Hay himself, in 1673, pub-
lished the " Observations" they made in that tour. To-
wards the end of their journey, Mr. Willoughby and Mr.
Ray separated ; the former passing through Spain, the
latter from Montpelier through France, into England,
where he arrived in March, 1665-6. He pursued his phi-
losophical studies with his usual ardour, and became so
distinguished, that he was importuned to come into the
royal society, and was admitted fellow thereof in 1667.
Being then solicited by dean (afterwards bishop) Wilkins,
to translate his-" Real Character" into Latin, he consented;
and the original manuscript of that work, ready for the
press, is still extant in the library of the royal society.
In the spring of 1669, Mr. Ray and Mr. Willoughby
entered upon those experiments about the tappings of
trees, and the ascent and the descent of their sap, which
are published in the Philosophical Transactions. About
RAY. 77
this time, Mr. Ray began to draw up his observations for
public use ; and one of' the first things he undertook was,
his "Collection of English Proverbs." This book, though
sent to Cambridge to be printed in 3669, yet was not pub-
lished till 1672. It was afterwards much enlarged, and is
perhaps better known to the generality of his countrymen,
than any other of his literary labours. He also prepared
his " Catalogue of English Plants" for the press, which
came out in 1670: his humble thoughts of this and his
other book (for he was a man of uncommon modesty) may
be seen in a Latin letter of his to Dr. Lister, August 22,
1670. In the same letter, he also takes notice of the
altering his name, by leaving out the W in the beginning
of it ; for, till 1670, he had always written his name Wraij ;
but this being, he says, contrary to the custom of his fore-
fathers, he therefore re-assumed the name of Ray. In the
same letter, he mentions his having had an offer of 200/.
per annum to travel with three young noblemen into foreign
parts; but this proposal not being consistent with his in-
firm state of body, he thought it prudent to decline it.
In 1671 he was afflicted with a feverish disorder, which
terminated in the yellow jaundice ; but he was soon cured
of it, and resumed his botanical pursuits. The year after,
his beloved friend Mr. Willoughby died, in his 37th year,
at Middleton-hall, his seat in Yorkshire; " to the infinite
and unspeakable loss and grief," says Mr. Ray, " of my-
self, his friends, and all good men." There having been
the sincerest friendship between Mr. Willoughby and Mr.
Ray, who were men of similar dispositions and tastes,
from the time of their being fellow-collegians, Mr. Wil-
loughby not only confided in Mr. Ray in his life-time, but
also at his death; for, he made him one of the executors
of his will, and charged him with the education of his sons,
Francis and Thomas, leaving him also for life 60/. per ami*
The eldest of these young gentlemen not being four years
of age, Mr. Ray, as a faithful trustee, betook himself to
the instruction of them; and for their use composed his
" Nomenclator dassicus," which was published in 1672,
and is far more exact, especially in the names of natural
objects, than any that had previously appeared. Francis,
the eldest, dying before he was of age, the younger became
lord Middleton. Not many months after the death of Mr.
Willoughby, Mr. Ray lost another of his best friends, bi-
shop Wilkins; whom he visited in London, November 13,
1672, and found expiring.
78 ft A V.
Mr. Ray having thus lost some of his best friends, and
being in a manner left destitute, endeavoured to consoler
himself with female society ; and in June, 1673, married a
young lady, not half his age, being only 20 years of age, the
daughter of Mr. Oakeley, of Launton in Oxfordshire. To-
wards the end of this year came forth his ** Observations,
Topographical, Moral, &c." made in foreign countries;
to which was added his " Catalogus Stirpium in exteris re-
gionibus observatarum ;" and, about the same time, his
" Collection of unusual or local English words,'* which he
had gathered up in his travels through the counties of
England. In 1674, Mr. Oldenbufgh, the secretary of the
Royal Society, renewed his correspondence with Mr. Ray^
which had been some time intermitted, and sent him let*
ters almost every month. Mr. Ray's accounts in these let*
ters were published by Oldenburgh in the Philosophical
Transactions. Oldenburgh had a farther view in his cor-
respondence with Mr. Ray; it was to engage him with
those leading members, who had agreed to entertain the
society with a philosophical discourse at their meetings, so
that the burthen might not lie among too few of the mem-
bers. Mr. Ray complied, and accordingly sent him " A
Discourse concerning Seeds, and the Specific Differences
of Plants;" which, Oldenburgh tells him, was so well re-
ceived by the president and fellows, that they returned
him their thanks, and requested he would repeat his favours
of that kind.
This year, 1674, and part of the next, he spent in pre-
paring Mr. Willoughby's " Observations about Birds" fof
the press; which, however, was not published till 1678.
These two gentlemen, finding the history of nature very
imperfect, had agreed between themselves, before their
travels gn the continent, to reduce the several tribes of
oature to a method, and to give accurate descriptions of
the several species from a strict survey of them : and, since
Mr. Willoughby's genius lay chiefly to animals, he under-
took the birds, beasts, fishes, and insects, as Mr. Ray did
the vegetables. How they discharged each their province,
the world has seen in their works. Old lady Willoughby
dying, and Mr. Wilionghby's sons being removed from
under Mr. Kay's tuition, about 1676 he left Middleton-
hall, and retired with his wife to Sutton Cofield, about
four miles from Middleton. Some time after, he went into
Essex, to Falborne-hall, wfcere he continued till June
R A Y. 19
1677; aod then made another remove to Black-Notley,
his native place.
The first fruit of our author's leisure and retirement
here, was his " Met hod us Plantarum Nova," published in
1682, making au octavo volume. His principles of ar-
rangement are chiefly derived from the fruit. The regu->
larity a;)d irregularity of flowers, which take the lead irt
the system of Rivinus, make no part of that of Ray. It is
remarkable that he adopts the ancient primary division of
plants, into trees, shrubs, and herbs, and that he blamed
Rivious for abolishing it, though his own prefatory remarks
tend to overset that principle, as a vulgar and casual one,
unworthy of a philosopher. That his system was not merely
a commodious artificial aid to practical botany, but a phi-
losophical clue to the labyrinth of Nature, he probably,
like his fellow-labourers, for many years, in this depart-
ment, believed ; yet he was too modest, and too learned,
to think he had brought this new and arduous design to
perfection ; for whatever he has incidentally or deliberately
thrown out, respecting the value of his labours, is often
marked with more diffidence on the subject of classifica-
tion, than any other. He first applied his system to prac-
tical use in a general " Historia Plantarum," of which the
first volume, a thick folio, was published in 1686, and the
second in 1687. The third volume of the same work,
which is supplementary, came out in 1704. This vast and
critical compilation is still in use as a book of reference,
being particularly valuable as an epitome of the contents
of various rare and expensive works, which ordinary libra-
ries cannot possess, such as the " Hortus Malabaricus."
The description of species is faithful and instructive ; the
remarks original, bounded only by the whole circuit of the
botanical learning of that day ; nor are generic character!
neglected, however vaguely they are assumed. Specific
differences do not enter regularly into the author's plan,
nor has he followed any uniform rules of nomenclature.
So ample a transcript of the practical knowledge of such
a botanist, cannot but be a treasure ; yet it is now njucli
neglected, few persons being learned enough to use it
with facility, for want of figures, and a popular nomencla-
ture ; and those who are, seldom requiring its assistance.
A mere catalogue or index, like the works of Tournefort
and Caspar Bauhin, which teach nothing of themselves,
are of readier use. The Species Plantarum of Linnseus
80 ft A Yt
unites the advantages of the clearest most concise specific
definition, and, by the help of Bauhin, of an universal
index. Nor was Mr. Ray less mindful of Mr. Willoughby's
collections, where there were noble, though rude and in-
digested, materials ; but spent much time and pains in re-
ducing them to order, and fitting them for the press. He
had published his " ObserTations upon Birds" in 1678;
and, in 1685, he published his " History of Fishes :" and,
though these works were then the completest in their kinds,
yet they lost much of their perfection by the miscarriage
of Mr. Willoughby's and Mr. Ray's papers in their travels.
They had very accurately described all the birds, fishes,
&c. which they saw as they passed through Germany,
especially those in and upon the Danube and the Rhine j
but lost their accounts in their return home. This loss
Mr. Ray laments in the philosophical letters above cited.
Though Mr. Ray's health began to be impaired by years
and study, yet he continued from time to time to give his
works to the public. He published, in 1688, " Fasciculus
Stirpium Britannicarum ;" and, in 1690, "Synopsis Me-
thodica Stirpium Britannicarum." The learned president
of the Linnaean society observes, that if the fame or the
utility of Ray's great botanical works has, neither of them,
been commensurate with the expectations that might have
been formed, this " Synopsis" amply supplied all such
defects, and proved the great corner stone of his reputation
in this department of science. The two editions of his
alphabetical catalogue of English plants being sold off,
and some pettifogging reasons of his bookseller's standing
in the way of a third, with any improvements, he re-
modelled the work, throwing it into a systematic form, re-
vising the whole, supplying generic characters, with nu-
merous additions of species, and various emendations and
remarks. The uses and medicinal qualities of the plants
are removed to the alphabetical index at the end. A se-
cond edition of this " Synopsis" was published in 1696,
nor did its author ever prepare another. The third, now
most in use, was edited twenty-eight years afterwards by
DILLENIUS. Of all the systematical and practical Floras of
any country, the second edition of Ray's " Synopsis" is
the most perfect that ever came under our observation.
He examined every plant recorded in his work, and even
gathered most of them himself. He investigated their
synonyms with consummate accuracy ; and if the clearness
R A Y. 81
and precision of other authors had equalled his, he would
scarcely have committed an error. It is difficult to find
him in a mistake or misconception respecting Nature her-
self, though he sometimes misapprehends the bad figures,
or lame descriptions, he was obliged to consult. Above a
hundred species are added, in this second edition, and the
cryptogamic plants, in particular, are more amply eluci-
dated. A controversial letter from Rivinus to Ray, and its
answer, with remarks upon Tournefort, are subjoined to
this second edition. Much of the dispute turns upon the
now obsolete distinction of plants, in a methodical system,
into trees, shrubs, herbs, &c. The letters are well writ-
ten, in Latin : and liberal, though perhaps hypercritical,
in their style. Ray took no delight in controversy.
Having thus published many books on subjects which he
took to be somewhat foreign to his profession, he at length
resolved to edify the world like a divine. With this view he
completed his Demonstration of the Being and Attributes
of God, which he calls, " The Wisdom of God manifested
in the Works of the Creation." The rudiments of this
work were laid in some college-lectures, read in the
chapel, and called common places ; which, having much
enlarged, he published in 1691, 8vo. This book is the
basis of all the labours of following divines, who have made
the book of nature a commentary on the book of revelation ;
a confirmation of truths, which Nature has not authority,
of herself to establish! In it the author inculcates the
doctrine of a constantly superintending Providence; as
weil as the advantage, and even the duty, of contemplat-
ing the works of God. This, he says, is part of the busi-
ness of a sabbath-day, as it will be, probably, of our em-
ployment through that eternal rest, of which the sabbath
is a type. He was next encouraged to publish another of
a similar kind, whose foundation was also laid at Cam-
bridge, in some sermons which he had preached before
the university. This was his " Three Physico-Theologicai
Discourses concerning the Chaos, Deluge, and Dissolu-
tion of the World," 1692, Svo. Both these works have
been often reprinted with large additions, and continued
to be very popular books until within the last thirty or
forty years.
Soon after these theological pieces, his " Synopsis Me-
thodica Animalium Quadrupedum" was published in Jun6
1693 ; and he then finished a. " Synopsis of Birds aad
VOL. XXVI. G
82 RAY.
Fishes," which was so long neglected by the bookseller,
that it was thought to have been destroyed ; but, after Mr.
Kay's death, it was published by Mr. Derham in 1713.
He made a catalogue of Grecian, Syrian, Egyptian, and
Cretan, plants, which was printed with RauwolfTs Travels
in 16!j3 ; and, the year after, published his " Sylloge
Stirpium Europearum extra Britanniam." He had after-
wards some little contests with Rivinus and Tournefort,
concerning the method of plants, which occasioned him to
review and amend his own method, and to draw it up in
a completer form than he had used in his " Methodus
Plantarum," published in 1682, or in his " Historia Plan-
tarum." He began now to be grievously afflicted with a
continual diarrhoea, and with very painful ulcers in his
legs, which ate deep into the flesh, and kept him waking
whole nights : by which means he was so disabled, that,
as he tells Dr. Tancred Robinson, in a letter of September
30, 1698, he could not so much as walk into the neigh-
bouring fields. He still, however, kept up to the last his
correspondence with his friends, in the vivacity and clear-
ness of style which was natural to him. Latin and English,
it is said, were equally ready to his pen. So indefatigable
was he in the cultivation of the study of Nature, that within
a year or two of his death, he began to collect his scattered
notes for a work on insects, and actually drew up a " Me-
thodus Insectorum," which was printed, soon after his de-
cease, in a little octavo of sixteen pages, and republished
in the front of his " Historia Insectorum." This last book,
comprising all his own and Mr. Willoughby's descriptions
of insects, came from the press in 1710, at the expence of
the Royal Society, and under the superintendance of Dr.
Derham. It consists of 375 quarto pages, besides an ap-
dendix of twenty-three more, on British Beetles, by Lister.
This work is a mass of accurate and authentic observation }
but, for want of plates, has never come into popular use.
The study of insects was probably the last that engaged
the attention of this great and wise man ; who, though on
the verge of eternity, in the full possession of himself, and
in the anticipation of the most glorious manifestations of
his Creator, did not disdain or neglect to contemplate him
in his least and lowest works. His last letter to Dr. Der-
ham, who had just been to visit him, is dated August 16,
1704. He speaks of having lately obtained Mr. Willough-
by's entomological papers, and describes himself as then
It A Y. 83
entering on his History of Insects. How well he employed
his time during the autumn, is evident from what we have
related concerning this work, for he never saw another
spring. He died at Black Notley, in a house of his own
building, Jan. 17, 1705, in the 77th year of his age. His
character is thus concisely given by Derham : In his
dealings, no man more strictly just ; in his conversation,
no man more humble, courteous, and affable; towards
God, no man more devout ; and towards the poor and
distressed, no man more compassionate and charitable,
according to his abilities." The friend who wrote this
eulogium, in his " Life of Mr. Ray," asserts, that he was
buried, according to his own desire, in the church of Black
Notley ; but the authors of the Biographia Britannica are
probably more correct, in saying, that he declined the
offer made him by the rector, of a place of interment in the
chancel, choosing rather to repose with his ancestors, in
the church-yard ; and this account is confirmed by the
original situation of his monument, erected at the expence,
in part at least, of bishop Compton. The long and ele-
gant Latin epitaph has often been published. Its author
was the rev. William Coyte, M. A., father of the late Dr.
Coyte of Ipswich, and the original manuscript in possession
of sir E. J. Smith, contains the information that Ray was in-
terred in the church-yard. In 1737, the monument in
question, which seems to have been a sort of altar-tomb,
being nearly ruined, was restored at the charge of Dr.
Legge, and removed for shelter into the church; where
therefore it became a cenotaph, as an inscription added on
this occasion terms it. Forty-five years afterwards the
tomb again underwent a repair, by the care of the present
sir Thomas Gery Cullmn and others, who subjoined a third
inscription.
A more lasting monument was dedicated to the memory
of our great English naturalist, in the genus of plants
which bears his name, the Raiana. It must be lamented
that he made, as far as we can learn, no collection of
dried plants, which might serve to ascertain, in every case,
what he described. The great Herbariums of Buddie,
Uvedale, &c. still kept in the British Museum, are indeed
supposed to supply, in a great measure, this defect ; they
having been collected by persons who had frequent com-
munication with Ray, and were well acquainted with his
plants. Whatever be had preserved relative to any branch
2
S4 R A Y.
of natural history, he gave, a week before his death, to
his neighbour Mr. Samuel Dale, author of the " Pharma-
cologia." Nothing is said of his library, which was pro-
bably inconsiderable. l
RAYMOND (ROBERT) LORD, one of those many emi-
nent men who have risen to the peerage from the profes-
sion of the law, was the son of sir Thomas Raymond, a
justice of the King's Bench, and author of " Reports of
divers special cases in the court of King's-Bench, Common
Pleas, and Exchequer, from 12 to 35 Car. II." first printed
In 1696, and lastly in 1803, 8vo. His son was solicitor
general to queen Anne, and attorney-general to George I.
by whom he was appointed one of the commissioners of the
great seal. He succeeded sir John Pratt as chief justice of
the court of King's-bench, and was created baron Raymond
of Abbot's Langley, Hertfordshire, in 1730. He died in
1732, leaving one son, by whose death, in 1753, the title
became extinct.
His " Reports of Cases in the courts of King's-bench
and Common Pleas, in the reigns of king William III.
queen Anne, king George I. and George II." were first
printed in 1743, and secondly in 1765, two volumes folio.
The last and much-improved edition, with marginal notes
and additional references by John Bayley, esq. serjeant at
law, appeared in 1790, 3 vols. 8vo. Lord Raymond's "Ru-
brics," translated by Mr. serjeant Wilson, who edited the
third edition of the " Reports," in 1775, 3 vols. folio, were
published separately in 1765, folio. 2
RAYNAL (WILLIAM-THOMAS), a French writer of con-
siderable, but temporary celebrity, was born at St. Genies
in the Rovergue, in 1713. He was educated among the
Jesuits, and became one of their order. The learning of
that society is universally known, as well as the happy ta-
lents which its superiors possessed, of assigning to each
member his proper employment. Raynal, after having
acquired among them a taste for literature and science, and
being ordained a priest, displayed such talents in the pul-
pit, that his preaching attracted numerous audiences. Hi*
love of independence, however, induced him, in 1748, to
dissolve his connexion with the Jesuits, and to take up his'
1 Life by Derhatn. Also an elaborate one by the President of the Linnaean
Society in Rees's Cyclopaedia.
* Lord Orford'a Royal and Noble Authors by Park. Biidgoian's Legal Bibli-
ography.
RAYNAL. 85
residence at Paris. Such is the account given by our prin-
cipal authority ; but, according to the abbe Barruel, he
was expelled the society for his impiety. With this cir-
cumstance Barruel may be much better acquainted than
we can be : but it seems probable that his impieties had not
then reached much farther than to call in question the su-
preme authority of the church ; for Raynal himself assures
us, that he did not utter his atrocious declarations against
Christianity till he had ceased to be a member of the order
of Jesuits. He then associated himself with Voltaire,
D'Alembert, and Diderot, and was by them employed to
furnish the theological articles for the " Encyclopedic."
But though his religious opinions were certainly lax, he
could not even then be what, in a Protestant country,
would be deemed a man remarkable for impiety; for he
employed the abbe Yvon, whom Barruel calls an old meta-
physician, but an inoffensive and upright man, to write
the articles which he was engaged to furnish. In this
transaction, indeed, he shewed that he possessed not a pro-
per sense of honour, for he paid poor Yvon with twenty-
rive louis d'ors for writing theological articles, for which
he received himself six times that sum; and the trick
being discovered, Raynal was disgraced, and compelled
to pay up the balance to the abbe Yvon ; but though he
had thus shewn himself to be without honour, it is diffi-
cult to believe he had yet proceeded so far as blasphemy,
of which he has been accused, since he had employed
a Christian divine to supply his place in the " Encyclo-
pedic."
After his settling at Paris, he appears to have become an
author by profession, as \ve do not find that he had any
place or preferment. His first piece, published the same
year in which he quitted the society of the Jesuits, was en-
titled " Histoire du Stadhouderat." He next published
" Histoire du Parlement d'Angleterre," which gained him
much reputation, though it had little claim to the title of
history, and was tinged with many prejudices, religious
and political. He also composed "Anecdotes Literaires,"
in three volumes, 12mo; and " Memoires de Ninon de
PEnclos ;" and was much employed in the '* Mercure
de France." But the work upon which his fame is chiefly
built, is his " Political and Philosophical History of the
European Settlements in the East and West Indies."
That this history is written in an animated style, aud that
86 RAYNAL.
it contains many just reflections, both political and philo-
sophical, is known to all Europe ; for it has been trans-
lated into every European language. Us beauties, how-
ever, are deformed by many sentiments that are irreligious,
and by some that are impure. It was followed, about 1780,
by a small tract, entitled " The Revolution of America,"
in which the author pleads the cause of the revolted colo-
nists with a degree of zeal, censures the conduct of the
British government with a keenness of asperity, and displays
a knowledge of the principles and intrigues of the 'different
factions which at that period divided the English nation,
that surely was not natural to the impartial pen of a philo-
sophic foreigner. Hence he has been supposed to have
been incited to the undertaking, and to have been furnished
with part of his materials, hy some persons who opposed
the measures of the English government, and secretly fo-
mented the American cause. Be this as it may, he pro-
pagated, both in this tract and in his history, a number of
licentious opinions respecting government and religion, of
which he lived to regret the consequences.
A prosecution was instituted against him by the French
government, on account of his History of the East and
West Indies ; but it was conducted with so little severity,
that he had sufficient time to retire to the dominions of the
king of Prussia, who afforded him the protection he so-
licited, although his majesty's character was treated by the
author in his book with no great degree of veneration.
Raynal also experienced the kindness of the empress of
Russia; and it is not a little remarkable of this singular
personage, that although he was always severe in discussing
the characters of princes, yet the mostdepoiic among these
heaped upon him many marks of favour and generosity.
The abbe also received a very unusual mark of respect from
a British House of Commons. It was once intimated to
the speaker, that Raynal was a spectator in the gallery.
The business was immediately suspended, and the stranger
conducted to a more convenient and honourable station.
The great trait of Raynal's character was a love of li-
berty, which, in his earlier writings, he did not properly
define j but when he lived to see some of the consequences
of this, in the progress of the French revolution, he made
one glorious effort to retrieve his errors. In the month of
May 1791, he addressed to the constituent assembly one
of the most eloquent, argumentative, and impressive letters
R A Y N A L. 87
that ever was written on any subject ; a letter which, if
the majority of them had not been intoxicated with their
newly-acquired consequence, must have given some check
to their mad career.
One consequence of this letter was very singular. Those
who could not answer it, nor resist the conviction of its
arguments, wreaked their vengeance on liaynal, by en-
deavouring to prove that he did not write the celebrated
History of the Indies; and this became the cant of the day.
To illustrate this, we shall give the following extract of a
letter from an English gentleman then in Paris, addressed
to the editor of one of the London newspapers.
" I am sorry to add," says this gentleman, f ' that the
reputation of the abbe Raynal in Paris, where he is per-
sonally known, is very different from what he enjoys in
London, where he is only known as an author. That Phi-
losophical history which you ascribe to him, is really, in
no proper sense, his work ; but was produced by a com-
bination of the labours of several ingenious men, among
whom I am inclined to think, he contributed the smallest
part. We might indeed give him some credit for lending
his name to a book, which contained so many bold truths,
which it was then dangerous to publish ; but even here,
there is need of caution ; for under the ancient system,
deceit and fraud were carried to such a pitch of refine-
ment, that it was not uncommon for men of letters to con-
cert stratagems with ministers, to get themselves put into
the Bastile, to raise their reputation, and to make their
fortune in the world. Whatever be in this, you may as-
cribe the history of the European settlements to Perrijeat
la Roque, Dubreuil, Diderot, Nargion, or Holbach, who
were all concerned, as well as the abbe Raynal."
This letter was written by Mr. Thomas Christie, who
wrote a volume some time after on the French revolution ;
but when our readers consider that he was then intoxicated
with the fallacious prospects of that revolution, and that
this accusation against the abbe Raynal was not produced
until he had written against the proceedings of the assem-
bly, they will easily be able to appreciate the information
that he was not the author of the celebrated history.
A History of the Divorce of Catherine by Henry VIII.
and a History of the Revocation of the EJict of Nantz, and
some other works, are attributed to Raynal, but are little
known. He escaped the general danger, during the reign
88 R A Y N A L.
of Robespierre, but was stripped of his property, and died
in poverty, March 6, 1796, at the advanced age of eighty,
four. Such was his distress at this time, that there was only
found in his possession an assignment of fifty livres, which
was worth no more than about five sous. When he had
money he was liberal to profuseness, and delighted in those
expences that would add to his fame. He raised in the
island of Ardstatt, near Lucerne, a monument to the
founders of Helvetian liberty. He gave annuities of 1200
livres each to five principal learned societies in France, to
be bestowed in prizes. *
RAYNAUD (THEOPHILUS), a celebrated Jesuit, was
born in 1583, at Sospello, in the county of Nice. He resided
almost wholly in France ; and though his singular opinions,
joined to a temper naturally morose and satirical, involved
him in many disputes with his society, he would not quit
it. He died at Lyons, October 31, 1663, aged eighty, and
the Carmelites paid him funeral honours in all their convents
on account of the book he had written on the Scapulary.
A complete collection of his works was printed at Lyons;
in 1665, 20 vols. fol. Tom. XX is not numbered so, but
entitled "Apopompaeus," 1669, and falsely marked Cracow ;
it contains those works which father Raynaud did not choose
to own. They discover uncommon learning and extent of
reading; but as almost all the subjects he has chosen are
singular, and treated in a singular and extravagant manner,
his books sold slowly at first, and Eoissat, who printed
them, was ruined, and died in an hospital. Most of his
works had been published separately, and their author suf-
fered the mortification of seeing some of them put into the
Index. Two of the best and most remarkable among them
are, " Erotema cle bonis et mails Libris," i. e. Questions
concerning good and bad books; and " SymbolaAntoiiiana,"
Rome, 1648, 8vo, relative to St. Anthony's fire. 2
RAYNERIUS, a learned Dominican, born at Pisa, was
appointed vice-chancellor of the Roman church, and bishop
ofMaguelone. He died January 13, 1649, leaving several
works : the most considerable of which is a theological
dictionary, entitled " Pantheologia;" in which he has ar-
ranged the theological subjects in alphabetical order. The
best edition of this work is, Lyons, 1655, 3 vols. fol. with
1 Diet. Hist. Greig's Supplement to the Encyc!. Britan.
9 Dupiu. Gtn. Diet. Niceron, vol. XXVI. '
R A Z Z I. 89
the additions by father Nicolai, a Dominican : it was re-
printed in 1670. 1
RAZZI (GiANTONio, called IL SODDOMA), was born at
Vercelli, in Piedmont, in 14-79, and became a citizen of
Siena. The warm tone of his colour, the masses of his
chiaroscuro, and other traces of the Milanese school in his
works, seem to confirm the tradition as to the place of his
birth. The frescoes which he painted in the Vatican, un-
der the pontificate of Julius II. were by order of that pope
demolished, to make room for those of Raphael. Certain
other pictures, representing deeds of Alexander the Great,
still remain in the palace Chigi, now called the Farnesina:
with much of the chiaroscuro, though not of the dignity
and grace, of Lionardo da Vinci, they are remarkable for
beauties of -perspective and playful imagery.
His most vigorous works, however, are at Siena. In the
Epiphany at S. Agostino, we recognize the principles of
Vinci 5 the style of the Christ under Flagellation in the
cloister of S. Francesco has been compared to that of Mi-
clieiangiolo ; his S. Sebastian, now in the Ducal gallery,
has the air of an antique torso, and the S. Calherina of
Siena, at S. Domenico, possesses Raphael's beauties of
expression. He often, indeed, painted merely for dis-
patch, and without previous study, when, already advanced
in age, he solicited work at Pisa, Volterra, and Lucca ;
but in all his works we trace the master-hand, which in spite
of negligence performs with power. He died in 1554. 2
READING (JOHN), an English divine, was a native of
Buckinghamshire, where he was born in 1588. He was
admitted a student of Magdalen-hall, Oxford, in 1604. He
took his degree of M. A. in 1610, and then entered himself
a commoner of Alban-hall. In 1612 he was ordained dea-
con, and in 1614 priest, by the bishop of Oxford. About
this time he became chaplain to Edward lord Zouch of Ha-
ringworth, warden of the cinque ports, and governor of Do-
ver-castle. Having accompanied this nobleman to Dover,
his preaching was so much admired, that at the request of
the parishioners he was made minister of St. Mary's, in
December 1616. He was afterwards appointed chaplain
in ordinary to Charles I. He was one of those doctrinal
puritans, who opposed, as much as any churchman of op-
posite religious sentiments, the violent proceedings of the
1 Cave, vol. II. Moreri. 2 Pilkington by Fuseli. Saxii Onomast.
90 READING.
authors of the rebellion, and had exposed them so frequently
in his sermons, that he was soon marked out for vengeance.
In April 1612, his library at Dover was plundered, and in
November following he was dragged from his house by the
soldiers, and imprisoned for a year and seven months. In
January of the above mentioned year, archbishop Laud,
then a prisoner in the Tower, had, at his majesty's request,
bestowed on him the living of Chartham in Kent; but from
that the usurping party took care he should receive no ad-
vantage. He was also with as little effect made a preben-
dary of Canterbury. In J644, however, sir William Brock-
man gave him the living of Cheriton in Kent, which he was
not only allowed to keep, but was likewise appointed by
the assembly of divines, to be one of the nine divines who
were to write annotations on the New Testament for the
work afterwards published, and known by the title of the
" Assembly's Annotations."
His sufferings, however, were not yet at an end; for
soon after this apparent favour, upon a suspicion that he
was concerned in a plot for the seizing of Dover-castle, he
was apprehended and carried to Leeds-castle, where he
was imprisoned for some time. In March 1650, he held a
public disputation in Folkstone church with Fisher, an
anabaptist, who argued against the necessity of ordination,
and quoted as his authority some passage in bishop Taylor's
" Discourse of the liberty of Prophesying," which obliged
Mr. Reading to write a tract on the subject. On the resto-
ration, when Charles II. landed at Dover, Mr. Reading was
deputed by the corporation to address his majesty, and
present him with a large Bible with gold clasps, in their
name. He was now replaced in the prebend of Canterbury
and the living of Chartham. Here he died Oct. 26, 1667,
and was buried in the chancel of the church.
He published several occasional sermons from 1623 to
1663 ; and 1. " Brief instructions concerning the holy Sa-
crament," Lond. 1645, 8vo. 2. " A guide to the holy
City," Oxon. 1651, 4to. 3. "An antidote to Anabap-
tism," 1654, 4to. It was in this he animadverted on those
passages of bishop Taylor's " Discourse," which seemed
to favour irregular preaching. 4. " An Evening Sacrifice,
or Prayers for a family in these times of calamity." 5.
" Speech made before king Charles II. on the shore, when
he landed at Dover," &c. 1660, single sheet, with verses.
Mr, Reading left several manuscripts, partly in the hands
R E A U M U R. 91
of Basil Kennet, whence they passed to his sen, White
Kennet. 1
REA'L. See ST. REAL.
REAUMUR (RENE' ANTHONY FARCHAULT, SIEUR de),
an eminent French naturalist, was born at Rochelle in 1683.
He learned grammar at the place of his birth, and studied
philosophy at the Jesuits college at Poitiers. In 1699 he
went from thence to Bourges, at the invitation of an uncle,
where he studied the civil law. In 1703, he went to Paris,
and applied himself wholly to the mathematics and natural
philosophy; and in 1708, being then only twenty-four
years old, he was chosen a member of the Royal Academy
of Sciences; and during that and the following year, he
described a general method of finding and ascertaining all
curves described by the extremity of a right line, the other
end of which is moved round a given curve, and by lines
which fall upon a given curve, under a certain angle greater
or less than a right angle.
These are the only geometrical performances that he
produced. In the year 1710 he read his observations upon
the formation of shells, in which he proved that they grow-
not like the other parts of the animal body, by expansion,
but by the external addition of new parts ; he also assigned
the cause of the variety of colour, figure, and magnitude
which distinguishes one shell from another. During the
experiments which this inquiry led him to make upon the
snails, he discovered a very singular insect which lives not
only upon these animals, but burrows in their bodies, a
situation which he never leaves unless he is forced out of
it by the snail. This inquiry also gave occasion to M.
Reaumur to account for the progressive motion of testace-
ous animals of different kinds, and to describe and explain
an almost endless variety of organs which the author of na-
ture has adapted to that purpose. He produced also the
same year the natural history of cobwebs. M. Bon, the
first president of the chamber of accounts at Montpellier,
had shewn that cobwebs might be spun into a kind of silk,
which might be applied to useful purposes; but it was stiil
necessary to determine whether spiders could be bred in
sufficient numbers, without an expence too great for the
undertaking to bear ; and Reaumur soon found that M.
Bon's discovery was a mere matter of curiosity, and that the
commercial world could derive no advantage from cobwebs.
1 Ath. Ox. vol. I!. Walkei's Sufferings of the Clergy. Kennel's MSS. in
Brit. Mus.
92 REAUMUR.
It had been long known, that marine animals adhere to
solid bodies of various kinds, either by an attachment which
continues during their existence, or which they can deter-
mine at pleasure; but how this attachment was formed,
remained a secret, till it was discovered by Reaumur, to
whose inquiries we are indebted for our knowledge of many
organs and materials adapted to that purpose,before unknown.
In the course of this inquiry, M. Reaumur discovered a fish
different from that which furnished the ancients with their
Tyrian dye, but which has the same property in a yet
greater degree : upon the sides of this fish there are small
grains, like those of a hard roe, which being broken, yield
first a fine full yellow colour, that upon being exposed for a
few minutes to the air, becomes a beautiful purple.
About the same time Reaumur made a great variety of
experiments to discover whether the strength of a cord was
greater or less than the sum of the strength of the threads
of which it consists. It was generally believed that the
strength of the cord was greater, but Reaumur's experi-
ments proved it to be less; whence it necessarily follows,
that the less a cord differs from an assemblage of parallel
threads, i. e. the less it is twisted, the stronger it is*.
It had been long asserted by those who lived on the sea
coast, or the banks of great rivers, that when craw-fish,
crabs, and lobsters, happen to lose a claw, nature produces
another in its stead : this, however, was disbelieved by all
but the vulgar, till Reaumur put the matter out of dispute,
and traced the re-production through all its circumstances,
which are even more singular than the thing itself. M.
Reaumur also, after many experiments made with the torpe-
do, or numb-fish, discovered that its effect was not produced
by an emission of torporific particles, as some have sup-
posed, but by the great quickness of a stroke given by this
fish to the limb that touches it, by muscles of a most admi-
rable structure, which are adapted to that purpose. These
discoveries, however, are chiefly matters of curiosity; those
which follow are of use.
It had long been a received opinion, that Turquoise
stones were found only in Persia; but Reaumur discovered
mines of them in Languedoc ; he ascertained the degree
of heat necessary to give them their colour, and the pro-
* That mode of uniting various threads into a cord, is undoubtedly the best
which causes the tensions of the threads to be equal in whatever direction th
cord is strained.
REAUMUR. 93
per form and dimension of the furnace ; he proved also
that the Turquoise is no more than a fossil bone petrified,
coloured by a metallic solution which fire causes to spread;
and that the Turquoises of France are at least equal in
beauty and size to those of the East. He also discovered
the secret of making artificial pearls, and of the substance
necessary to give them their colour, which is taken from a
little fish called able, or ablette. He drew up, at the same
time, a dissertation upon the true pearl, which he supposed
to be a morbid concretion in the body of the animal.
Reaumur soon after published the History of the Aurife-
rous rivers of France, in which he has given a very particu-
lar account of the manner of separating the grains of gold
from the sand with which it is mixed. Among other me-
moirs he drew up the following: 1. Concerning the vast
bank of fossil shells, which, inTouraine, is dug for manure
called Falun : 2. Upon flints, proving that they are only
more penetrated by a stony juice; or, if the expression
may be allowed, more stonified than other stones, though
less than rock crystal. 3. Upon the Nostoch, a singular
plant, which appears only after .hard rains in the summer,
under a gelatinous form, and soon after disappears. 4.
Upon the light of Dails, a kind of shell fish, which shines
in the dark, but loses its lustre as it grows stale. 5. Upon
the facility with which iron and steel become magnetic by
percussion.
In 1722, he published a work under the title of "The
art of converting Iron into Steel, and of rendering cast Iron
ductile." The use of iron is well known under the three
forms of cast iron, forged or bar iron, and steel : iron in
the first state is susceptible of fusion, but it is brittle and
hard, and can neither be forged by the hammer, nor cut
by the chissel : in the second state it is malleable, and may
be both filed and cut, but it is no longer fusible without
the addition of a foreign substance : in the third it acquires
a very singular property of becoming hard and brittle, if
after it has been made red hot it is dipped into cold water :
the extreme brittleness of cast iron makes it unfit for the
construction of any thing that is required to be either sup-
ple or elastic, and still more for any thing upon which it
will be necessary to employ a tool of any kind after it comes
out of the font, for no tool can touch it. On the other
hand, the manner of converting forged, or bar-iron into
steel, was then wholly unknown in France. But Reaumur
94 R E A U M U K.
having, in the course of other inquiries, found that steel
differed from iron only in having more sulphur and more
salt in its composition, undertook to discover the method
of giving to iron what was wanting to make it steel, and at
length perfectly succeeded, so as to make steel of what
quality he pleased.
The same experiments which convinced Reaumur that
steel differed from iron only in having more sulphur and
salt, convinced him also that cast iron differed from forged
iron, only by having still more sulphur and salt than steel ;
it was steel with an excess of its specific difference from
forged iron : he therefore set himself to take away this ex-
cess, and he succeeded so as to produce a great variety of
utensils in cast iron, which were as easily wrought as forged
iron, and did not cost half the money. However, a ma-
nufactory set on foot in France for rendering cast iron suf-
ficiently ductile to be forged and wrought, was, after some
time, discontinued. For discovering the secret of convert-
ing iron into steel, the duke of Orleans, being then regent,
settled a pension upon Reaumur of 12,000 livres a year,
and, at his request, it was settled upon the academy after
his death, to be applied for defraying the expences of fu-
ture attempts to improve the arts.
M. de Reaumur also discovered the secret of tinning
plates of iron, as it was practised in Germany; and his
countrymen, instructed in that useful manufacture, no
longer imported them from abroad. He has likewise the
credit of having invented the art of making porcelain. A
few simple observations upon fragments of glass, porcelain,
and pottery, convinced him that china was nothing more
than a derm-vitrification ; now a demi-vitrification may be
obtained either by exposing a verifiable matter to the ac-
tion of fire, and withdrawing it before it is perfectly vitri-
fied, or by making a paste of two substances, one of which
is verifiable, and the other not : It was therefore very easy
to discover by which of these methods the porcelain of
China was made ; nothing more was necessary than to urge
it with a strong fire : if it consisted wholly of a vitrifiable
matter half vitrified, it would be converted into glass; if
of two substances, one of which was not vitrifiable, it would
come out of the furnace the same as it went in : this expe-
riment being made, the China porcelain suffered no altera-
tion, but all the European porcelain was changed into
glass.
. R E A U M U R. 93
But when the China porcelain was thus discovered to
consist of two distinct substances, it was farther necessary
to discover what they were, and whether France produced
them. M. Reaumur accomplished these desiderata, and
had the satisfaction to find that the materials for making
China porcelain were to be had in France, in the same
abundance, and in greater perfection, than in India. Reau-
mur also contrived a new species of porcelain, consisting
only of glass, annealed a second time, with certain easy
precautions, which, though less beautiful than other porce-
lain, is yet a useful discovery, considering the great fa-
cility and little expence with which it is made.
M. Reaumur was the first that reduced thermometers to
a common standard, so as that the cold indicated by a ther-
mometer in one place, might be compared with the cold
indicated by a thermometer in another; in other words, he
prescribed rules by which two thermometers might be con-
structed that would exactly coincide with each other through
all the changes of heat and cold : he fixed the middle term,
or zero, of his division of the tube, at the point to which
the liquor rises when the bulb is plunged in water that is
beginning to freeze ; he prescribed a method of regulating
the divisions in proportion to the quantity of liquor, and
not by the aliquot parts of the length of the tube ; and he
directed how spirits of wine might be reduced to one cer-
tain degree of dilatability. Thermometers constructed
upon these principles were called after his name, and soon
took place of all others.
Reaumur also invented the art of preserving eggs, and
of hatching them; this art had been long known and prac-
tised in Egypt, but to the rest of the world was an impene-
trable secret: he found out and described many ways of
producing an artificial warmth in which chickens might be
hatched, and some by the application of fires used for other
purposes; he shewed how chickens might be hatched in a
dunghill, he invented long cages in which the callow brood
were preserved in their first state, with fur cases to creep
iinder instead of the hen, and he prescribed proper food
for them of things every where to be procured in great
plenty. He found also that eggs might be kept fresh and
fit for incubation many years, by washing them with a var-
nish of oil, grease, or any other substance, that would ef-
fectaally stop the pores of the shell, and prevent the con-
tents from evaporating; by this contrivance eggs may not
^96 11 E A L 7 M U R.
only be preserved for eating or hatching in the hotest cli-
mates, but the eggs of birds of every kind may be trans-
ported from one climate to another, and the breed of those
that could not survive a long voyage, propagated in the
most distant part of the world.
While he was employed in these discoveries, he was
gradually proceeding in another work, the " History of
Insects," the first volume of which he published in 1734.
This volume contains the history of caterpillars, which he
divides into seven classes, each of a distinct kind and cha-
racter: he describes the manner in which they subsist, as
well under the form of caterpillars as in the chrysalis; the
several changes which they undergo ; the manner of taking-
food, and of spinning their webs. The second volume,
which was published in 1736, is a continuation of the same
subject, and describes caterpillars in their third state, that
of butterflies, with all the curious particulars relating to
their figure and colour, the beautiful dust with which they
are powdered, their coupling, and laying their eggs, which
the wisdom of Providence has, by an invariable instinct, di-
rected them to do, where their young may most conveni-
ently find shelter and food. The third volume contains tho
history of moths, not only of those which are so pernicious
to clothes and furniture, but those which live among the
leaves of trees, and in the water ; the first is perhaps the
most useful, because Reaumur has given directions how
the cloth-moth may be certainly destroyed; but the second
abounds with particulars that are not only curious, but won-
derful in the highest degree. This volume also contains
the history of the vine-fretter, an insect not less destruc-
tive to our gardens than the moth to our furniture, with an
account of the worm that devours them, and the galls pro-
duced upon trees by the puncture of some insect, which
often serve them for habitations.
From the gall, or gall-nut, properly so called, Reaumur
proceeds, in his fourth volume, to the history of those pro-
tuberances which, though galls in appearance, are really
insects, but condemned by nature to remain forever fixed
and unmoveable upon the branches of trees ; and he dis-
closes the astonishing mystery of their multiplication. He
then proceeds to give an account of flies with two wings,
and of the worms in which they pass the first part of their
lives; this article includes the very singular history of the
gnat. The fifth volume treats of four-winged flies, and
REAUMUR. 97
among others of the bee, concerning which he refutes many
groundless opinions, and establishes others not less extra-
ordinary.
The bee is not the only fly that makes honey, many spe-
cies of the same genus live separate, or in little societies.
The history of these begins the sixth and last volume, and
contains a description of the recesses in which they deposit
and secure their eggs, with proper nourishment for the
worms they produce till their transformation. The author
then proceeds to the history of wasps, as well those who
live separate, as in companies, to that of the lion-pismire,
the horse-stinger, and lastly, to the fly called an epheme-
ron, a very singular insect, which, after having lived in
the water three years as a fish, lives as a fly only one day,
during which it suffers its metamorphosis, couples, lays its
eggs, and leaves its dead carcass upon the surface of the
water which it had inhabited. To this volume there is a
preface, containing the discovery of the polype, an animal
that multiplies without coupling, that moves with equal fa-
cility upon its back or its belly, and each part of which,
when it is divided, becomes a complete animal, a property
then thought singular, but since found to be possessed by
several other animals.
It had long been a question amongst anatomists, whether
digestion is performed by solution or trituration : M. de
Reaumur, by dissecting a great number of birds of different
kinds, and by many singular experiments, discovered that
the digestion of carnivorous birds is performed by solution,
without any action of the stomach itself upon the aliments
received on it ; and that, on the contrary, the digestion of
granivorous birds is effected wholly by grinding or tritura-
tion, which is performed with a force sufficient to break
the hardest substances.
M. de Reaumur, during the course of his experiments
upon birds, remarked the amazing art with which the seve-
ral species of these animals build their nests. His obser-
vations on this subject he communicated to the French aca-
demy in 1756, and this memoir was the last he exhibited.
He died by a hurt in his head, received from a fall at Ber-
mondiere in the Maine, upon an estate that had been left
him by a friend, on the 1 7th of October, 1756, aged seventy-
five years.
He was a man of great ingenuity and learning, of the
VOL. XXVI. H
9S REAUMUR,
strictest integrity and honour, the warmest benevolence,
and the most extensive liberality. 1
REBOULET (SiMON), a native of Avignon, and ex-
Jesuit, was an advocate, but compelled to quit his profes-
sion for want of health. He died in 1752. Reboulet wrote
the " Mernoires de Forbin," 2 vols. 1 2mo, and the " Hist,
de 1'Enfance," 2 vols. compiled from memoirs with which
the Jesuits furnished him, of whom he was too servile a
flatterer to express any doubt concerning what they related.
This work, however, was burnt as calumnious and defama-
tory, by a sentence of the parliament of Toulouse. His
other works are, " A History of Pope Clement XI." in 2
small volumes, 4to, which the king of Sardinia suppressed;
as his father did not love the Jesuits, and could not there-
fore be a great man in the opinion of Reboulet. A " His-
tory of Louis XIV.'* 3 vols. 4to, or 9 vols. 12mo, his best
work, is tolerably accurate as to facts, but the narration is
dry. 1
RECORDE (ROBERT), a learned physician and mathe-
matician, was born of a good family in Wales, and flou-
rished in the reigns of Henry VIII., Edward VI., and Mary.
There is no account of the exact time of his birth, though
it must have been early in the sixteenth century, as he was
entered of the university of Oxford about 1525, where he
was elected fellow of All Souls college in 153 J, being then
B. A. ; but Wood is doubtful as to the degree of master.
Making physic his profession, he went to Cambridge, where
he was honoured with the degree of doctor in that faculty,
in 1545, and highly esteemed by all that knew him for his
great knowledge in several arts and sciences. He after-
wards returned to Oxford, where, as he had done before
he went to Cambridge, he publicly taught arithmetic, and
other branches of the mathematics, with great applause.
It seems he afterwards repaired to London, and it has been
said he was physician to Edward VI. and Mary, to which
princes he dedicates some of his books ; and yet he ended
his days in the King's Bench prison, Southwark, where he
was confined for debt, in 155.S, at a very immature age.
Pits gives him a very high character, as excelling in every
branch of knowledge, philosophy, polite literature, astro-
nomy, natural history, &c. &c. And Tanner observes that
he had a knowledge of the Saxon language, as appears from
Diet. Hist. Ann. Register for 1763. Button's Dictionary,
s L'Avocat Diet. Hist.
R E C O R D E. 99
his marginal notes on Alexander Essebiens, a MS. in Cor-
pus Christ! college, Cambridge.
Recorde published several mathematical books, which
are mostly in dialogue, between the master and scholar.
They are as follow : 1. " The Pathway to Knowledge, con-
taining the first principles of Geometric, as they may moste
aptly be applied unto practise, bothe for use of Instrumentes
Geometricall and Astronomicall, and also for projection of
Plattes much necessary for all sortes of men," Lond. 1551
and 1574, 4to. 2. " The Ground of Arts, teaching the
perfect worke and practice of Arithmeticke, both in whole
numbers and fractions, after a more easie and exact forme
then in former time hath beene set forth," 1549, 1558, 1561,
and 1571, 8vo. This work went through many other edi-
tions, and was corrected and augmented by several other
persons ; as first by the famous Dr. John Defe ; then by
John Mellis, a schoolmaster, 1590 and 1618; next by Ro-
bert Norton ; then by Robert Hartwell, practitioner in
mathematics, in London ; and lastly, by R. C. and printed
in 8vo, 1623. In the " Archaeologia," vol. XIII. may be
seen a specimen of the author's method of illustrating an
example, which exhibits a strange jumble of Arabic and
Roman notation. The former was not much in use in his
days. 3. " The Castle of Knowledge, containing the Ex-
plication of the Sphere bothe Celestiall and Materiall, and
divers other things incident thereto. With sundry pleasaunt
proofes and certaine newe demonstrations not written before
in any vulgare woorkes," Lond. 1551, 4to, 1556, fol. and 1596,
4to. 4. " The Whetstone of Witte, which is the seconde
part of Arithmetike : containing the extraction of Rootes ;
the Cossike practise, with the rules of Equation : and the
woorkes of Surde Nombers," Lond. 1557, 4to. An analy-
sis of this work on Algebra, with an account of what is
new in it, is given in Dr. Hutton's Dictionary, art. Algebra.
5. " The Urinal of Physic, and the Judicial of Urines,"
4to, 1548, 1567,1574, 1582, and 165 1, the two last in 8vo.
Bale and Pits mention some writings of his on the eucharist,
auricular confession, the image of a true commonwealth,
&c. He also collated the first and third editions of Fa-
bian's Chronicle, translated Euclid, and undertook the an-
cient description of England and Ireland; but we know not
that these were published.
Sherburne says that he published " Cosmographise Isago-
gen ;" also that be wrote a book, " De Arte faciendi Horo-
H 2
100 RED I.
logium ;" and another, " De Usu Globorum, & de Statn
Temporum." 1
RKDI (FRANCIS), an ancient Italian scholar and physi-
cian, was born of a noble family at Arezzo, in 1626. He
studied at Padua, where he took the degree of doctor in
philosophy and physic : and very soon afterwards rendered
himself so conspicuous by his talents and acquirements in
these sciences, that he was appointed first physician to the
grand dukes Ferdinand II. and Cosmo III. At this time
the academy del Cimento was occupied in a series of phi-
losophical experiments which gave full scope and employ-
ment to Redi's genius; and at the desire of his noble pa-
tron, he undertook the investigation of the salts which are
obtainable from different vegetables. With what success
these experiments were conducted, may be seen by refer-
ring to his works. His principal attention, however, was
directed to two more important subjects : viz. the prison of
the viper, and the generation and properties of insects. In
the first of these inquiries he shewed the surprising differ-
ence there is between swallowing the viperine poison, and
having it applied to the surface of the body by a wound.
He also proved that, contrary to the assertion of Charas,
the virulence of the poison does not depend upon the rage
or exasperation of the animal, since the poison collected
from a viper killed without being previously irritated, and
dropped into a wound produces the same fatal effects, as
that which is infused into a wound made by the animal
when purposely teazed until it bites. On the subject of
insects, he refuted the doctrine, maintained by all the an-
cients and by many moderns, of putrefaction being the
cause of their generation ; a doctrine which had, indeed,
been attacked some years before by an Italian author named
Aromatari, but not with that weight of facts and force of
argument which are so conspicuous in this treatise and the
rest of Redi's writings. His observations on various natural
productions brought from the Indies, and on animals that
live within other living animals, " osservazioni intorno agli
animali viventi che si trovano negli animali viventi," exhibit
many curious experiments and discoveries. But while he
was thus engaged in philosophical pursuits, he did not ne-
glect the duties of his profession, as a physician. His let-
1 Tanner. Bale and Pits. Ath. Ox. vol. I. new edit. Button's Dictionary.
Ellis's edition of Fabian, 181 1. Aikin's Biographical Memoirs of Medicine.
Fuller's Worthies.
R E D I. 101
ters contain numerous histories of diseases and of their
treatment; for he kept a register of all remarkable cases
and consultations. He was particularly diligent in noticing
the operation of remedies, and in many disorders enjoined
a very abstemious diet. Kedi's merits, however, were not
confined to philosophy and medicine. He was also an ex-
cellent philologist and an elegant poet. His " Bacco in
Toscana" has lately been edited by Mr. Mathias. All his
writings possess the attraction of a pure and polished style ;
and the Academy della Crusca justly regarded him as one
of the best authorities, in the composition of their celebrated
Dictionary. This indefatigable philosopher and amiable
man died at Pisa in 1698, having previously suffered much
from epileptic attacks. After his death, a medal was struck
in honour of his name, by order of Cosmo III. His works
have gone through various editions ; but that which was
printed at Naples in 7 vols. 4to, is esteemed the best. 1
REDMAN, or REDMAYNE (JOHN), one of the most
learned divines of his time, was born in 1499, descended
from a Yorkshire family, and was nearly related to Ton-
stall, bishop of Durham. By the encouragement of this
learned prelate, he was from his infancy devoted to litera-
ture, which he cultivated first in Corpus Christi, Oxford,
under the first president, John Claymond, a man of sin-
gular erudition and generosity. From Oxford he went for
a time to study at Paris, and continued there until he be-
came of age. He then, on his return, fixed himself in St.
John's college, Cambridge, where he is said to have been
so adorned with the knowledge of Cicero and the purest
authors of antiquity, that Cheke, then a young man there,
was fired with emulation ; and in a short time, through
their united pains and example, that seminary acquired the
fame of being more than a match for a whole foreign uni-
versity. Here he took his bachelor's degree in 1526, that
of master in 1530, and that of D. D. in 1534. He was
also elected public orator of the university. He was soon
after chosen master of King's-hall, which he resigned in
1547, being then appointed the first master of Trinity
college. He was likewise archdeacon of Taunton, and a
member of the convocation in 1547 and 1550; also pre-
bendary of Wells, and of Westminster, in the college of
1 Fabroni Vitse Italorum, vol. III. Niceron, vol. Ilf. Eloy, Dict.Hist.de
Medicine. Baldwin's Literary Journal, vol. I. See Mathias's edition of his
" Bacco in Toscana," 1801.
102 REDMAN.
which cathedral he died in 1551, aged fifty-two, and was
buried in the north aile of the abbey.
Dodd says that, as to Dr. Redman's religion, " though
"he was no friend to the doctrine of the reformers, yet he
was very complaisant to them, in point of discipline, and
went so far away wiih them, as to be an assistant in com-
piling the book of Common Prayer. In a word, he divided
himself between both religions." We have better autho-
rity, however, for asserting that if he did so divide him-
self, the reformed religion had the larger share. That he
was at first attached to the religion in which he had been
educated, appears by his letter to Latimer reproving that
reformer for his innovations ; but he soon found reason to
change his opinion. He had applied his maturer judg-
ment and learning, with equal piety and patience, for the
space of twenty years, to the study of the Scriptures and
the early writers of the church, intending to compose a
work on the subject of transubstantiation ; but the result
of his studies was, that there was no foundation for that
absurd dogma, either in Scripture, or in the primitive
fathers. He therefore relinquished this, and other errors
of the Romish creed, and " with constant judgment and
unfeigned conscience descended into that manner of be-
lief," which he held, when he assisted in compiling the
first liturgy of Edward VI. published in 1549*. We have
still more proof of his relinquishing his old creed, in Mr.
archdeacon Churton's " Life of Newell." Nowell waited
upon Redman in his last illness, desirous to know what was
his opinion and belief concerning the " troublous contro-
versies of those days," professing himself willing to "re-
ceive and approve his words as oracles sent from heaven."
The dying confessor, possessing a " quiet mind and per-
fect remembrance," took a day or two to consider of the
matters propounded to him by Nowell ; and then sent for
him, declaring himself ready to converse with him on those
points, and to answer truly as he thought, to whatever
question should be asked him, as in the presence of God.
These articles were fourteen in number, the sum of which
was, that purgatory, the sacrifice of the mass, and tran-
* " Afterwards I conferred with Dr. Prayer was an holy book, and agree-
Redman, in whom I reposed much able to the Gospel." Bernard Gilpin's
fcope in regard of his eminent virtues Letter to his brother George in 1575,
and great scholarship. He affirmed and Wbrdsworth, vol. IV. p. 124.
unto me that the book of Common
REDMAN. 103
substantiation, were groundless and ungodly ; that we are
justified, not by our works, but by lively faith, which rests
in our only Saviour Jesus Christ; that good works are not
destitute of their rewards ; yet nevertheless they do not
merit the kingdom of heaven, which is " the gift of God. 7 '
Dr. Wilkes, master of Christ's college, Cambridge, and
Dr. Young of Trinity college in that university, were pre-
sent at this conference ; of which an account was given bj
.Young, in a Latin epistle to their common friend Cheke.
Redman survived this interview, which was in Nov. 1551,
not many days, for on the 27th Nowell succeeded him in
the canonry of Westminster.
His works, all published after his death, were, 1. "Opus
de justificatione," Antw. 1555, 4to. 2. " Hymnus in quo
peccator justificationem quaerens rudi imagine describitur,"
printed with the former. 3. " The Complaint of Grace,"
JLond. 1556, 8vo, 1609, 12mo. 4. "Resolutions concern-
ing the Sacrament," in the appendix to Burnet's Hist, of
the Reformation, with " Resolutions of some questions re-
lating to bishops and priests." There are also in Fox
some articles by him. 1
REED (JOSEPH), a dramatic and miscellaneous writer,
was born at Stockton, in the county of Durham, in MarcU
1723, and succeeded his father in the business of a rope-
maker, which he carried on in that country until 1757,
when he removed to Sun Tavern fields at Stepney near
London, and there pursued^ the same occupation with great
credit and probity until his death, Aug. 15, 1787, aged
sixty -four. In 1750 he married Sarah, daughter of Mr.
John Watson, of Stockton, flax-dresser, who died many
years before him, and by whom he left issue John Watson
Reed, late of Ely-place, Holborn, attorney at law, who
died Jan. 31, 1790; Shakspeare, who succeeded him in
his business ; and Sarah, who married Gilbert Wilson, and
died his widow a few days before her brother.
Notwithstanding a due attention to business, Mr. Reed
found leisure to amuse himself and the world with many
miscellanies in prose and verse of very considerable merit.
The late Mr. Ritson, who had for Mr. Reed, what he ex-
tended to very few, a high respect, intended to have
edited some of these miscellanies, in a volume or volumes,
1 Ath. Ox. vol. I. new edit. Strype's Cranmer, pp. 77, 147, 156, 157, 269.
Fox's Acts and Monuments, anno 1551. Cburton's Life of No-well, p. 15, &c,
Wordsworth's Eccl. Biography.
104 REE D.
of which the following were to have been the contents :
1. " Madrigal and Trulletta, a mock tragedy," 1758. 2.
" The Register Office," 1761, a farce, or rather a dramatic
satire. 3. The same; the second edition. 4. "Tom
Jones," a comic opera, 1769. 5. "Dido," a tragedy, 1767,
printed for the first time by Messrs. Nichols in 1808, but
the whole impression having been destroyed by the fire
which consumed their premises in February of that year, it
has not been reprinted. 6. The " Retort Courteous," to
the manager of the theatre. 7. An " Epitaph on the Earl
of Chatham." 8. " St. Peter's Lodge," a serio-comic le-
gendary tale. 9. " A Rope's end for Hempen monopo-
lists." Besides the above articles, Mr, Reed was the author
of, 10. " A Poem, in imitation of the Scottish dialect, on
the death of Mr. Pope," printed in the Gentleman's Ma-
gazine for August 1744. 11. "The Superannuated Gal-
lant," a farce, Newcastle, 1745, 12mo. 12. "A British
Philippic, inscribed to the right hon. the earl of Granville,"
London, 1756, 4to. 13. "A Sop in the Pan for a phy-
sical critic, in a letter to Dr. Smollett, occasioned by a cri-
ticism (in the Critical Review) on Madrigal and Trulletta/'
1759. 14. " A humorous account of his own Life,"
printed in the Universal Museum for 1764. 15. "The
Tradesman's Companion, or Tables of Averdupois weight,
&c." London, 1762, 12mo. 16. " The Impostors, or a
Cure for Credulity," a farce, acted for the benefit of Mr.
Woodward, March 19, 1776, with an excellent prologue,
not printed. To these may be added, several tragedies,
comedies, and farces, never acted or printed ; a few un-
published poems; and some numbers of the "Monitor," a
political paper published in the administration of the earl
of Bute, and " Letters" under the signature Benedict, in
defence of Mr. Garrick, on the publication of Kenrick's
" Love in the Suds," printed originally in the Morning
Chronicle, and afterwards added to the fifth edition of that
poem. 1
REED (ISAAC), a gentleman eminently conversant in
literary history, was born Jan. 1, 1742, at Stewart-street,
Old Artillery-ground, London, of a family, we are told,
"highly respectable, and of considerable antiquity," but
certainly at this time somewhat reduced, as his father was
in the humble occupation of a baker. He is said, how-
i Biog. Dram. Nichols's Bowyer, vol. IX. p. 116. Brewster's History of
Stockton.
REED. 105
ever, to have been a man of education and abilities very
superior to his condition, and both capable and desirous
of bestowing those advantages upon his son, whom he sent
to an academy at Streatham. In 1757, Mr. Reed became
an articled clerk to Messrs. Perrot and Hodgson, then
eminent attornies in London ; and at the expiration of his
articles, engaged himself as assistant to Mr. Hoskins, of
Lincoln's-inu, an eminent barrister and conveyancer. In
this situation he remained about a year, when he took
chambers in Gray's-inn, and began to practise as a con-
veyancer on his own account.
Independently, however, of his application to the labo-
rious duties of his profession, he had, previous to this pe-
riod, acquired great proficiency in general knowledge, and
in particular a decided taste for old English literature, and
an intimate acquaintance with old English authors. His
reading, in this class, was most extensive, and only equalled
by a memory uncommonly tenacious of facts and dates.
Hence his publications, as editor, are stamped with a pe-
culiar value; and he had not proceeded far in researches
into the antiquities of English literature, when he gave up
his profession, to which he never appears to have been cor-
dially attached, and devoted his time and his little pn*-
perty to employments more congenial to his disposition,
and to his retired and simple manners.
As he had the utmost aversion to the appearance of his
name on a title-page, it is not easy to enumerate all the
publications of which he was editor, but we are told that
the following list may be considered as tolerably accu-
rate. In 1768, he collected into one volume the poetical
works of lady Mary Wortley Montagu. In 1778, he
printed a few copies of Middleton's unpublished play,
called " The Witch, a tragi-comedie," which were circu-
lated privately among his friends. In the same year he
collected materials for a sixth volume of Dr. Young's Works,
small 8vo. In 1773, he collected and published the Cam-
bridge Seatonian prize poems, from their institution in
1750. From 1773 to about 1780, he was, if not editor,
a constant contributor to the " Westminster Magazine,"
and particularly of the biographical articles; but about
1782 or 1783 transferred his services to the "European
Magazine," of which he was from that time editor, and one
of the proprietors. He was also an occasional contributor
to the Gentleman's Magazine. In 1775 he furnished the
106 REED.
biographical notes to Pearch's collection of poems, 4 vols.
and rendered the same important service to a new edition
of Dodsley's collection in 1782, 6 vols. One of the lives
of Dr. Dodd, published in 1777, has been ascribed to Mr.
Reed, and he certainly conveyed it to his then booksellers,
Messrs. Fielding and Walker, but there are doubts whe-
ther he was the sole author. There are none, however,
respecting the " Biographia Dramatica," 2 vols. 8vo, which
was his favourite work. It was first published by him in
1782, and he continued to accumulate materials for im-
provement and enlargement, which he recommended to be
put into the hands of Mr. Stephen Jones, in whose know-
ledge of the subject, and fitness for the office of editor, he
had the utmost confidence. A new edition has accord-
ingly been published by that gentleman, extended to 4
vote. 8vo, in 1812. In 1780, Mr. Reed published an im-
proved edition of Dodsley's " Old Plays," 12 vols. 8vo.
To these we may add two supplemental volumes, a thir-
teenth and fourteenth, to Dr. Johnson's Works ; a select
collection of fugitive pieces of wit and humour, in prose
and verse, under the title of " The Repository," 1777
1783, 4 vols 8vo; the " Life of Dr* Goldsmith," prefixed
to the second volume of his " Essays," collected and pub-
lished in 3 vols. 12rno, by Mr. Wright the printer, in 1795;
and a concise, but masterly delineation of his friend Dr.
Farmer, communicated to William Seward, esq. and printed
in his " Biographiana."
To the generality of readers the name of Mr. Reed is
most familiar as an annotator on Shakspeare. The first
edition of our immortal bard in which he was engaged was
that of 1785, 10 vols. This he undertook at the request of
his friend Mr. Steevens, with whom he was joint editor in
the subsequent edition of 1793. Mr. Steevens had a high
respect for him as a coadjutor in this undertaking ; and as a
testimony of his regard, bequeathed him his own corrected
copy of Shakspeare, from which was published,, in 1803,
Mr. Reed's last edition, in 21 vols. 8vo, and, for the first
time, his name was formally prefixed.
But, it -is justly remarked by his biographer, all these,
though no inconsiderable proofs of his industry and zeal,
are far from comprising the sum total of his labours ; in-
deed they give a very inadequate idea of his literary use-
fulness. The works in which he was partially concerned
as editor, are exceedingly numerous, and the occasions on
REED. 107
which he has given his assistance in difficult points of lite-
rature, almost beyond calculation, particularly in what
concerned the literary history of his own country. Although
his manner had little of polish, he was always kindly ready
to communicate the information he had for so many years
accumulated ; and perhaps received more public acknow-
ledgments for his assistance in this way than any man of
his time. Hence, on his death, so many scholars of emi-
nence hastened with their grateful tributes to his memory.
He died Monday, Jan. 5, 1807; and was interred, agree-
ably to his desire, at Amwell, a place which he was accus-
tomed to visit and admire.
His collection of books, chiefly English, was perhaps
one of the most extensive in that series ; and most of them
were enriched by his MS notes. They were sold in No-
vember 1807 by Messrs. King and Lochee, in a sale which
lasted thirty-nine days, and produced more than 4000/.
Few collections have attracted more attention of late
years, and it may be doubted whether we shall ever see a
collection dispersed, in all respects so well suited to the
taste of those who are ambitious of possessing literary cu-
riosities, or of enlarging their knowledge of English lite-
rature. 1
RHESE (JOHN DAVID), an English physician and phi-
lologist, was born at Llanvaethly in the isle of Anglesea,
in 1534. After residing two or three years at Oxford, he
was elected student of Christ church, but inclining to the
study of medicine, went abroad, and took the degree of
doctor in that faculty at Sienna in Tuscany. He acquired
so perfect a knowledge of the Italian language, that he was
appointed public moderator of the school of Pistoia in
Tuscany, and xvrote books in that tongue, which were much
esteemed by the Italians themselves. On his return, with
a high reputation for me.dical and critical learning of all
kinds, he retired to Brecknock, where he passed the
greater part of his life in literary pursuits and the practice
of his profession, and where he died about 1609. Wood
says he died a Roman catholic ; and Dodd, upon that au-
thority, has included him among his worthies of that re-
ligion, but there seems some reason to doubt this. One of
Rhese's publications was a Welsh grammar, u Cambro-
Britannicae, Cymeraecaeve, linguse Instit/utiones et Rudi-
1 Life in Europ. Mag. 1807, Nichols's Bowyer.
108 R H E S E.
menta, &c. ad intelligend. Biblia Sacra iiuper in Cambro-
Britannicum sermonem eleganter versa," Lond. 1592, folio.
Prefixed to this is a preface by Humphrey Prichard, in
which he informs us that the author made this book pur-
posely for the better understanding of that excellent trans-
lation of the Bible into Welsh, and principally for the sake
of the clergy, and to make the scriptures more intelligible
to them and to the people ; a measure which a Roman catho-
lic in those days would scarcely have adopted. Prichard also
says that he was " sincere religionis propaganda avidissi-
mus ;" and as Prichard was a protestant, and a minister of
the church of England, he must surely mean the protestant
religion. Rhese's other works are, " Rules for obtaining
the Latin Tongue," written in the Tuscan language, and
printed at Venice ; and " De Italicae linguae pronuncia-
tione," in Latin, printed at Padua. There was likewise in
Jesus college library a MS compendium of Aristotle's Me-
taphysics in the Welsh language by our author, in which
he asserts, what every ancient Briton will agree to, that this
tongue is as copious and proper for the expression of phi-
losophical terms, as the Greek or any other language. Se-
veral other valuable tracts, which are entirely lost, were
written by Dr. Rhese, who was accounted one of the great
luminaries of ancient British literature. By Stradling in
his epigrams, he is styled "novum antiques linguae lumen ;"
and by Camden, " clarissimus et eruditissimus vir Joannes
David," for he was sometimes called John David, or Davis. 1
REEVES (WILLIAM), an English divine, was born in
1668, and educated at King's college, Cambridge, where
he took his degree of B. A. in 1688, and M. A. in 1692,
and obtained a fellowship. In 1694, earl Berkley gave him
the rectory of Cranford in Middlesex, and he obtained
the vicarage of St. Mary, Reading, in 1711. He was also
chaplain to queen Anne. He died March 26, 1726, in the
fifty-eighth year of his age, and was buried near the altar
in St. Mary's church. He published several occasional
sermons ; and after his death a collection of fourteen were
printed in 1729, from his MS. which he had prepared for
the press. These sermons have a peculiar cast of origi-
nality; and the author was considered as an able and spi-
rited preacher. The first sermon in the volume, " The
1 Atb. Ox. vol. I. new edit. Aikin's Biog. Memoirs of Medicine. Usher'i
Life and Letters, p. 168.
REEVES. 109
fatal consequences of Bribery, exemplified in Judas, Matt,
xxvii. 3, 4." was first preached during the time of an
election, and printed at a low price, to be given away :
and it is said that many, on hearing, or reading it, returned
the bribes which they had taken, and voted another way.
He published also a valuable work, " The Apologies of the
Fathers, with a dissertation on the right use of the Fathers,"
Loud. 1709, 2 vols. 1
REGINALD (ANTHONY), a Dominican of the seven-
teenth century, one of the greatest defenders of Thomism,
and the doctrine of grace efficacious in itself, died 1676,
at Toulouse. His principal works are, a small theological
treatise " sur la celebre distinction du Sens compose* et du
Sens divise ;" and " De mente Concilii Tridentini circa
Gratiam per se efficacem." This last was edited by Ar-
nauld and Quesnel, in 1706, folio.*
REGINO, a learned Benedictine, abbot of Prum to-
wards the end of the ninth century, has left a good "Chro-
nicle," in the collection of German historians by Pisto-
rius, 1583, 3 vols. folio, and a collection of canons and
ecclesiastical rules, entitled, " De Disciplinis ecclesiasti-
cis, et de Religione Christiana." This last he compiled at
the solicitation of Rathbode, archbishop of Treves, to
which city he had retired, after being obliged to quit his
abbey, in the year 899. M. Baluze has published an ex-
cellent edition of this collection, with notes, in 1671, 8vo.
Regino died at Treves, in the year 915.*
REGIOMONTANUS. See MULLER.
REGIS (PETER SYLVAN), a French philosopher, and
great propagator of Cartesianism, was born in Agenois, in
1632. He cultivated the languages and philosophy under
the Jesuits at Cahors, and afterwards divinity in the uni-
versity of that town, being designed for the church. He
made so uncommon a progress, that at the end of four
years he was offered a doctor's degree without the usual
charges; but he did not think it became him to accept of
it till he had studied also in the Sorbonne at Paris. He
went thither, but was soon disgusted with theology; and,
as the philosophy of Des Cartes was at that time drawing
public attention, through the lectures of Rohault, he be-
came attached to it, and went to Toulouse in 1665, where
1 Coates's History of Reading. Newcourt's Repertorium.
2 Moreri. Diet. Hist.
3 Dupin. Care, vol. I. Moreri. Tiullart'* Acad. des Sciences, vol. I.
110 REGIS.
he read lectures on the subject. Having a clear and fluent
manner, and a facility in making himself understood, he
was honoured, as his auditors, by the magistrates, the
learned, the ecclesiastics, and even the ladies, who all af-
fected to abjure the ancient philosophy. In 1680, he re-
turned to Paris ; where the concourse about him was such,
that the Aristotelians applied to the archbishop of Paris,
who thought it expedient, in the name of the king, to put
a stop to the lectures ; and they were accordingly discon-
tinued for several months. The whole life of Regis, how-
ever, was spent in propagating the new philosophy. In
1690, he published a formal system of it, containing lo-
gic, metaphysics, physics, and morals, in 3 vols. 4to, and
written in French. It was reprinted, the year after, at
Amsterdam, with the addition of a discourse upon ancient
and modern philosophy. He wrote afterwards several
pieces in defence of his system ; in which he had disputes
*rrith M. Huet, Du Hamel, Malebranche, and others. His
works, though abounding with ingenuity and learning, have
been disregarded in consequence of the great discoveries
and advancement in philosophic knowledge that have been
since made. He died in 1707. He had been chosen mem-
ber of the academy of sciences in 1699. l
REGIUS (URBAN), or LE HOI, a name he thought pro-
per to change, as it was liable to be applied in ridicule,
was a learned Reformer of the 1 6th century, and born at
Langenargen, or Arga Longa, in the territories of the
counts of Mountfort. Having received a very liberal edu-
cation, first at the school of Lindau, and afterwards at that
of Fribourg, where he lived with Zasius, a celebrated
civilian who encouraged his diligence, and admired him for
his extraordinary proficiency and amiable manners, he went
to Basil for farther improvement, but was soon attracted
to Ingoldstadt, at that time a very famous aniversity, and un-
der the direction of the no less famous John Eckius. : i Here
Regius read lectures, but unfortunately was induced to^u-
perintend the education of some youths of noble families,
and provide them with books and other necessaries, which
their parents neglecting to pay, he was obliged to give up
what little property he had for the benefit of his creditors,
and in despair of assistance to carry on his studies, en-
listed as a common soldier. In this plight, however, he
i Niceron, TO'. VI. Diet. Hist.
REGIUS. in
happened to be discovered by Eckius, who procured his
discharge, and prevailed on the parents of his pupils to
discharge all arrears due to him.
Urban then returned to his studies, and became so dis-
tinguished, that the emperor Maximilian, passing through
Ingoldstadt, made him his poet-laureat and orator ; and he
was afterwards made professor of poetry and oratory in
that university. But, having applied to the study of divi-
nity, he engaged with warmth and assiduity in the contro-
versies of the times, particularly in that between Luther
and Eckius, in which he inclined to Luther; but unwilling
to give personal offence to his preceptor and good friend
Eckius, he left Ingoldstadt and went to Augsburgh, where,
at the importunity of the magistrates and citizens, he un-
dertook the government of the church. Here he departed
farther and farther from the errors of Popery, and soon
joined with Luther in preaching against them. In his opi-
nions, however, concerning the sacrament and original sin,
he sided, fora time, with Zuinglius, -in consequence of a
correspondence in which that reformer explained to him
the grounds of his belief. In his preaching against errors
so general as those of popery then were, he met with much
opposition, but appears to have been supported by some of
the principal citizens, one of whom bestowed on him his
daughter, by whom he had thirteen children. Eckius, both
by letters and by the intervention of friends, endeavoured
to gain him back to the church, but his principles were
fixed, and he resisted both flatteries and promises.
In 1530 there was a diet held at Augsburg, at which the
duke of Brunswick was present, who prevailed on Regius
to go to Lunenburg in his dominions, to take care of the
church there. The duke highly esteemed him, and de-
clared to the people of Augsburgh, who petitioned for his
return, that he would as soon part with his eyes as with
Regius, and made him chief pastor of all the churches in
his dominions, with an ample and liberal salary. Here he
passed the greater part of a useful arid active life in
preaching, writing, and religious conferences. He died
May 23, 1541, when on a journey with the duke to Hague-
nau ; the place of his death is said to be ZelS ; but we
have no account of his age. He had often wished that he
might die a sudden and easy death, which happened to be
the case. His works were collected in 3 vols. folio : the
first two contain the pieces he published in Latin, th
1.12 REGIUS.
other his German compositions. This last volume was af-
terwards translated into Latin, and published under the
title of " Vita Opera Urbani Regii, reddita per Ernest.
Regium," Norib. 1562. Some of his pieces were translated
in the 16th century into English, as " The Sermon which
Christ made on the way to Emmaus, &c." 1578, 4to. " A
declaration of the twelve articles of the Christen faythe,
&c." 1548. "An Instruccyon of Christen fayth, &c."
1588, translated by Fox the martyrologist. " The Olde
Learnyng and the New compared, &c." 1548, 8vo. " Ex-
position on the 87th Psalm," 1594, 8vo. "A homily of
the good and evil Angell, &c." 1590, 8vo, and others.
Besides what are included in the three volumes mentioned
above, John Freder of Pomerania published, after the au^
thor's death, a work of his, entitled " Loci Theologici ex
patribus & scholasticis neotericisque collect!." 1
REGNARD (JOHN FRANCIS), one of the best French
comic writers after Moliere, was born at Paris in 1647. He
had scarcely finished his studies, when he was seized with
a passion for travelling, and an ardent desire to see the
different countries of Europe. He went to Italy first, but
was unfortunate in his return thence; for, the English ves-
sel bound for Marseilles, on which he embarked at Genoa,
was taken in the sea of Provence by the Barbary Corsairs ;
and he was carried a slave to Algiers. Having some ac-
quaintance with the art of French cookery, he procured an
office in his master's kitchen. His amiable manners and
pleasant humour made him a favourite with all about him,
and not a little so with the women ; but being detected in
an intrigue with one of them, his master insisted upon his
submitting to the law of the country, which obliged a
Christian, convicted of such an offence, either to turn Ma-
hometan, or to suffer death by fire. Regnard, however, was
saved from either punishment, by the intervention of the
French consul, who having just received a large sum for
his redemption, sent him home, about 1681.
He had not been long at Paris, before he set out to visit
Flanders and Holland, whence he passed to Denmark, and
afterwards to Sweden. Having done some singular piece
of service to the king of Sweden, this monarch, who per-
ceived that he was travelling out of pure curiosity, told
him, that Lapland contained many things well worthy of
1 Melcbior Adam. Gen. Diet.
R E G N A R D. 113
observation ; and ordered his treasurer to accommodate
him with whatever he wanted, if he chose to proceed thi-
ther. Regnard embarked for Stockholm, with two other
gentlemen that had accompanied him from France ; and
went as far as Torneo, a city at the bottom of the Both-
nic Gulph. He went up the river Torneo, whose source is
not far from the Northern cape ; and at length penetrated
to the Icy sea. Here, not being able to go farther, he and
his companions engraved these four lines upon a rock :
" Gallia nos genuit, vidit nos Africa j Gangem
Hausimus, Europamque oculis lustiavimus omnem j
Casibus & variis acti terraque marique,
Hie tandem stetimus, nobis ubi defuit orbis."
.While he was in Lapland, his curiosity led him to inquire
into the pretended magic of the country ; and he was
shewn some of the learned in this black art, who, not suc-
ceeding in their operations upon him, pronounced him a
greater magician than themselves. After his return to
Stockholm, he went to Poland, thence to Vienna, and from
Vienna to Paris, after a ramble of almost three years.
He now settled in his own country, near Dourden, about
eleven leagues from Paris, and wrote a great many come-
dies, which were acted with success, particularly his
" Gamester." He was made a treasurer of France, and
lieutenant of the waters and forests, which enabled him to
indulge his taste for pleasure and gaiety. It has been said
that he died of chagrin in his 52d year, Sept. 4, 1709, and
that he even contributed himself to shorten his days ; but
both these reports are contradicted in the new edition of
the Diet. Hist. (1811), and his death attributed to impru-
dent conduct after taking medicine. The best edition of
his works, which consist of comedies and his travels, is that
of Paris, 1730, 4 vols. 8vo, with notes. 1
REGNIER (MATHURIN), a satirical French poet, was the
son of a citizen of Chartres, by a sister of the abbe Des-
portes, a famous poet also, and was born there in 1573.
He was brought up to the church, and no man more unfit
or unworthy, for such were his debaucheries, that as we
learn from himself, he had at thirty all the infirmities of old
age. Yet this did not prevent his obtaining the patronage
of cardinal Joyeuse, and the ambassador Philip de Bethune,
with whom he was twice at Rome, in 1593 and 1601. In
* Diet. Hist,
VOL. XXVI. I
1U R E G N I E R.
1604, by their influence, he obtained a canonry in the
church of Chartres ; and had other benefices, and also a
pension of 2000 livres, which Henry IV. settled on him in
1606, all which he spent on his licentious pleasures. He
died at Rouen in 1613, at the age of forty, completely de-
bilitated and worn out.
He was the first among the French who succeeded in sa-
tire ; and, if Boileau has had the glory of raising that spe-
cies of composition to perfection among them, it may be
said of Regnier, that he laid the foundation, and was per-
haps more an original writer than Boileau. He is sup-
posed to have taken Juvenal and Persius for his model : it
is certain, that he has in some places imitated Ovid, and
borrowed largely from the Italians. While pretending,
however, to expose vice, much of that impurity, which ran
through his life, crept also into his writings. Seventeen of
his satires, with other poems, were printed at Rouen in
1614. There is a neat Elzevir edition of his works at Ley-
den, 1652, 12mo; but the best are those of Rouen, 1729,
4to, with short notes by M. Brossette ; and of London, 1 733,
with notes by Lenglet du Fresnoy, one of Tonson's hand-
some books 4to, of which there are large paper copies. l
REGNIER de MARETS, or DES-MARAIS (FRANCIS SERA-
PHIN), a French writer, was born at Paris in 1632 ; and, at
fifteen, distinguished himself by translating the " Batra-
chomyomachia" into burlesque verse. At thirty, he went
to Rome as secretary to an embassy. An Italian ode of his
writing procured him a place in the academy de la Crusca
in 1667; and, in 1670, he was elected a member of the
French academy. In 1684, he was made perpetual secre-
tary, after the death of Mezeray ; and it was he who drew
up all those papers, in the name of the academy, against
Furetiere. In 1668, the king gave him the priory of Gram-
mont, which determined him to the ecclesiastical function :
and, in 1675, he had an abbey. His works are, an Italian
translation of Anacreon's odes, which he dedicated to the
academy de la Crusca in 1692; a French grammar ; and
two volumes of poems, in French, Latin, Italian, and Spa-
nish. He translated, into French, Tully " De Divinatione,
& de Finibus ;" and Rodrigue's "Treatise of Christian per-
fection," from the Spanish. He died in 17 IS, aged 82.
" He has done great service to language," says Voltaire,
' Niceron, vol. XI. XX. Diet. Hi
R E G N I E R. 115
" and is the author of some poetry in French and Italian.
He contrived to make one of his Italian pieces pass for Pe-
trarch's ; but he could not have made his French verses
pass for those of any great French poet." l
REID (THOMAS), a Scotch divine, whose life, however
barren of incidents, fixes an aera in the history of modern
philosophy, was born April 26, J7 10, at Strachen in Kin-
cardineshire, a country parish, situated about twenty miles
from Aberdeen, on the north side of the Grampian moun-
tains. His father, the rev. Lewis Reid, was minister of
that parish for fifty years. His mother was Margaret Gre-
gory, one of the twenty-nine children of David Gregory
of Kinnardie, and sister to James Gregory, the inventor of
the reflecting telescope, and to David Gregory, Savilian
professor of astronomy at Oxford. After two years spent
at the parish school at Kincardine, our author was sent to
Aberdeen, where he had the advantage of prosecuting his
classical studies under an able and diligent teacher ; so that
about the age of twelve or thirteen he was entered a student
in Marischal College, under Dr. George Turnbull. The
sessions of the college were at that time very short, and the
education, according to Dr. Reid's own account, slight and
superficial.
It does not appear that Dr. Reid gave any early indica-
tions of future eminence. His industry, however, and mo-
desty, were conspicuous from his childhood; and it was
foretold of him by the parish schoolmaster, who initiated
him in the first principles of learning, " that he would turn
out to be a man of good and well-wearing parts," a predic-
tion which, although it implied no flattering hopes of those
more brilliant endowments which are commonly regarded
as the constituents of genius, touched not unhappily on
that capacity of patient thought, which contributed so
powerfully to the success of his philosophical researches.
His residence at the university was prolonged beyond the
usual term, in consequence of his appointment to the office
of librarian, which had been endowed by one of his ances-
tors about a century before. The situation was acceptable
to him, as it afforded an opportunity of indulging his pas-
sion for study, and united the charms of a learned society
with the quiet of an academical retreat.
In 1736, he resigned this office, and, accompanied by
1 Diet. Hist. Nicerem in Desmarais, vol. V.
12
116 R E I D.
Dr. John Stewart, afterwards professor of mathematics in
Marischal college, and author of a " Commentary on
Newton's Quadrature of Curves," on an excursion to Eng-
land. They visited together London, Oxford, and Cam-
bridge, and were introduced to the acquaintance of many
persons of the first literary eminence. His relation to Da-
vid Gregory procured him a ready access to Martin Folkes,
whose house concentrated the most interesting objects
which the metropolis had to offer to his curiosity. At Cam-
bridge he saw Dr. Bentley, who delighted him with his
learning, and amused him with his vanity ; and enjoyed
repeatedly the conversation of the blind mathematician
Saunderson ; a phenomenon in the history of the human
mind, to which he has referred more than once in his phi-
losophical speculations. With the learned and amiable
Dr. Stewart he maintained an uninterrupted friendship till
1766, when Mr. Stewart died of a malignant fever. His
death was accompanied with circumstances deeply affect-
ing to Dr. Reid's sensibility ; the same disorder proving
fatal to his wife and daughter, both of whom were buried
with him the same day in the same grave.
In 1737, Dr. Reid was presented by the King's college
of Aberdeen to the living of New Machar in that county ;
but the circumstances in which he entered on his prefer-
ment were far from auspicious. The intemperate zeal of
one of his predecessors, and an aversion to the law of pa-
tronage, had so inflamed the minds of his parishioners
against bim^ that in the first discharge of his clerical func-
tions, he had not only to encounter the most violent oppo-
sition, but was exposed to personal danger. His unwearied
attention, however, to the duties of his office, the mildness
and forbearance of his temper, and the active spirit of his
humanity, soon overcame all these prejudices ; and not
many years afterwards, when he was called to a different
situation, the same persons who had suffered themselves to
be so far misled, as to take a share in the outrages against
him, followed him on his departure with their blessings and
tears.
Dr. Reid's popularity at New Machar increased greatly
after his marriage, in 1740, with Elizabeth, daughter of his
uncle Dr. George Reid, physician in London. The ac-
commodating manners of this excellent woman, and her
good offices among the sick and necessitous, were long re-
membered with gratitude, and so endeared the family to
REID. 117
the neighbourhood, that its removal was regarded as a
general misfortune. The simple and affecting language in
which some old men expressed themselves on ^bis subject
deserves to be recorded : " We fought against Dr. Reid
when he came, and would have fought for him when he
went away."
It is mentioned, that long after he became minister of
New Machar, he was accustomed, from a distrust in his
own powers, to preach the sermons of Dr.Tillotson and Dr.
Evans, and that he had neglected the practice of compo-
sition in a more than ordinary degree, in the earlier part
of his studies. The fact, says his biographer, is curious,
when contrasted with that ease, perspicuity, and purity of
style, which he afterwards attained. Yet during his resi-
dence at this place, the greater part of his time was spent
in the most intense study ; particularly in a careful exa-
mination of the laws of external perception, and of the
other principles which form the ground-work of human
knowledge. His chief relaxations were gardening and
botany, to both of which pursuits he retained his attach-
ment even in old age.
The first work published by Dr. Reid was in the Philo-
sophical Transactions of London in 1748. It was entitled
" An Essay on Quantity, occasioned by a Treatise in which
simple and compound Ratios are applied to Virtue and
Merit," and shews plainly, that although he had not yet
entirely relinquished the favourite researches of his youth,
he was beginning to direct his thoughts to other objects.
The treatise alluded to in the title of this paper was Dr.
Hutcheson's " Inquiry into the origin of our ideas of
beauty and virtue." In 1752, the professors of King's
college, Aberdeen, elected Dr. Reid professor of philoso-
phy, in testimony of the high opinion they had formed of
his learning and abilities. Soon after his removal to Aber-
deen, he projected (in conjunction with his friend Dr.
John Gregory) a literary society, which subsisted many
years, and produced that spirit of philosophical research
to which we owe the writings of Reid, Gregory, Campbell,
Beattie, and Gerard, who communicated, in this society,
sketches of their works, and profited by the remarks mutu-
ally offered. In 1763 he was invited by the university of
Glasgow, and accepted, the office of professor of moral
philosophy. In 1764 he published his " Inquiry into the
Human Mind;" which was succeeded, after a long interval,
us R E i D.
in 1785, by his "Essays on the intellectual Powers of
Man;" and that again, in 1788, by the " active Powers. 1 '
These, with a masterly " Analysis of Aristotle's Logic,'*
which forms an appendix to the third volume of lord
Kames's Sketches, comprehend the whole of Dr. Reid's
publications. The interval between the dates of the first
and last of these amount to no less than forty years, al-
though he had attained to the age of thirty-eight before he
ventured to appear as an author. Even in very advanced
life, he continued to prosecute his studies with unabated
ardour and activity. The modern improvements in che-
mistry attracted his particular notice ; and he applied him-
self, with his wonted diligence and success, to the study
of these and its new nomenclature. He amused himself,
also, at times, in preparing for a philosophical society, of
which he was a member, short essays on particular topics,
which happened to interest his curiosity. The most im-
portant of these were, " An examination of Dr. Priestley's
opinion concerning Matter and Mind ;" " Observations on
the Utopia of sir Thomas More ;" and " Physiological re-
flections on Muscular motion." This last essay appears to
have been written in the eighty-sixth year of his age, and
was read by the author to his associates, a few months
before his death.
While he was thus enjoying an old age, happy in some
respects beyond the usual lot of humanity, his domestic
comfort suffered a deep and incurable wound by the death
of Mrs. Reid. He had had the misfortune too of surviving,
for many years, a numerous family of promising children ;
four of whom (two sons and two daughters) died after they
had attained to maturity. One only was left to him, Mrs.
Carmichael, then the wife, now the widow, of Patrick
Carmichael, M. D. His situation at this period cannot be
better described than by himself. " By the loss," says he,
" of my bosom friend, with whom I lived fifty-two years,
I am brought into a new world at a time of life when old
habits are not easily forgot, or new ones acquired. But
every world is God's world, and I am thankful for the
comforts he has left me. Mrs. Carmichael has now the
care of two old deaf men, and does every thing in her
power to plcse them ; and both are very sensible of her
goodness. I have more health than at my time of life I
had any reason to expect. I walk about ; entertain my-
self with reading what I soon forget ; can converse with one
REID. 119
person, if he articulates distinctly, and is within tea
inches of my left ear; go to church without hearing one
word that is said. You know I never had any pretensions
to vivacity; but I am still free from languor and ennui"
The actual and useful life of Dr. Reid was now drawing
to a conclusion. A violent disorder attacked him about
the end of September 1796; but does not seem to have
occasioned much alarm to those about him, till he was
visited by Dr. Cleghorn, who soon communicated his ap-
prehensions in a letter to Dr. Gregory. Among other
symptoms, he mentioned particularly " that alteration of
voice and features, which, though not easily described, is
so well known to all who have opportunities of seeing life
close.'* Dr. Reid's own opinion of his case was probably
the same with that of his physician ; as he expressed to
him on his first visit, his hope that he was "soon to get his
dismission." After a severe struggle, attended with re-
peated strokes of palsy, he died on the 7th of October fol-
lowing.
In point of bodily constitution, few men have been more
indebted to nature than Dr. Reid. His form was vigorous
and athletic; and his muscular force (though he was
somewhat under the middle size) uncommonly great ;
advantages to which his habits of temperance and exercise,
and the unclouded serenity of his temper, did ample jus-
tice. His countenance was strongly expressive of deep
and collected thought; but when brightened up by the
face of a friend, what chiefly caught the attention was a
look of good will and of kindness. A picture of him, for
which he consented, at the particular request of Dr. Gre-
gory, to sit to Mr. Raeburn during his last visit to Edin-
burgh, is generally and justly ranked among the happiest
performances of that excellent artist.
The most prominent features of Dr. Reid's character
were intrepid and inflexible rectitude, a pure and devoted
attachment to truth, and an entire command over his pas-
sions. In private life, no man ever maintained more emi-
nently or more uniformly, the dignity of philosophy ;
combining with the most amiable modesty and gentleness,
the noblest spirit of independence. As a public teacher,
he was distinguished by unwearied assiduity in inculcating
principles, which he conceived to be of essential import-
ance to human happiness. In his elocution and mode of
instruction, there was nothing peculiarly attractive. Such,
120 R E I D.
however, were the simplicity and perspicuity of his style ;
such the gravity and authority of his character, that he
was always listened to with profound respect, and, in his
latter years, with a veneration, which age added to great
wisdom always inspires.
All that is valuable in this sketch has been taken from
Mr. Dugald Stewart's life of Dr. Reid, the most elaborate
part of which is the view of the spirit and scope of Dr.
Reid's philosophy. We have long regretted, says another
able critic, that the writings of this philosopher, the first
who in the science of Mind deserves the title of interpreter
of nature, should be so little known, especially in the
southern part of this kingdom; and we fondly hope that
the illustration afforded by Mr. Stewart of their high merits,
and the exposure of the prejudices which have been raised
against them by bold censurers, who never took the pains
to understand them, will pave the way to a more general
diffusion among our countrymen of the advantages which a
careful study of them cannot fail to produce.
The distinguishing characteristic of the philosophy of
Reid is this ; that whereas all his predecessors in the study
of Mind employed themselves in forming arbitrary theories,
as Descartes in the study of the material world accounted
by vortices for the motions of the heavenly bodies, Dr.
Reid, on the other hand, adopted the inductive method
followed by sir Isaac Newton, and by an examination of
the phenomena of mind of which we are conscious, endea-
voured to rise to the general laws which regulate our men-
tal operations. The illustrations which Mr. Stewart has
stated of the absolute necessity of following this method
exclusively in the study of mind as well as of matter, of
the merit of Dr. Reid in setting the first example of this
just mode of inquiry, and of his success in the prosecution
of it, .deserve the greatest attention. Mr. Stewart has
classed the objections stated to the philosophy of Reid
under four heads, 1. That he has assumed gratuitously,
in all his reasonings, that theory concerning the human
soul which the scheme of materialism calls in question.
2. That his views tend to damp the ardour of philosophical
curiosity, by stating, as ultimate facts, phenomena which
may be resolved into principles more simple and general.
3. That by an unnecessary multiplication of original or in-
stinctive principles, he has brought the science of mind
into a state more perplexed and unsatisfactory than that in
REID. 121
which it was left by Locke and his successors. 4. That
his philosophy, by sanctioning an appeal from the decisions
of the learned to the voice of the multitude, is unfavourable
to a spirit of free inquiry, and lends additional stability to
popular errors. In his reply to these objections, Mr.
Stewart has not only set the merit of the writings which he
defends in a clearer light, but has taken occasion to add
various illustrations, which will not a little facilitate the
study of these writings to those who for the first time un-
dertake it.
The merit of the writings of Reid, with regard to the
future labours of the philosopher, and the progress of the
science of mind, by illustrating the true mode of philoso-
phising, and setting the first example of the practice, is
the chief point which Mr. Stewart has endeavoured to illus-
trate. But there is another species of utility possessed by
these writings whi x ch deserves to be pointed out ; their un-
rivalled efficacy in leading a young mind to think. By the
perspicuity of expression which Reid employs, and the
uncommon clearness of his conceptions, he excites the
reflection of his readers upon their own mental operations
so skilfully, that they are scarcely sensible of the exertion.
And unquestionably the finest school for this most impor-
tant and difficult of all acquirements, the powe.r of reflect-
ing on the operations of our own minds, is the writings of
Dr. Reid. 1
REIGNY (Louis ABEL BEFFROI), commonly called
Cousin JAQUES, a very eccentric French writer, was born
at Laon Nov. 6, 1757. From his eighteenth to his twenty-
second year, he taught rhetoric and the belles iettres in
several colleges, and came to Paris in 1770, where he was
made a member of the Musee and of the Lyceum of arts.
He was also a member of the academy of Bretagne, and of
many other learn'ed societies, all which seem to indicate
reputation and talents. The former he employed every
means to acquire, but appears in general to have been more
ambitious of temporary than lasting fame, and thought
himself very successful when he puzzled the wits of Paris
with the strange titles of his publications. In 1799 he
began to publish, in a periodical form, what he called
" Dictionnaire des hommes et des choses,'* which his bio-
1 Life by Mr. Stewart. Other valuable remarks and particulars may be seen
in Dr. Gleig's Supplement to the Encyclopedia Britannica ; and Forbes's Life
ef Beanie. Baldwin's Literary Journal, &c. &c. &c.
123 R E I G N Y.
grapher styles a whimsical work, without informing us in
what respect. Something political seems to have entered
into its composition, as after he had published several
numbers, it was suppressed by the police. He tried his
talents likewise on the theatre ; and if sucsess be a proof
of merit, had no reason to complain. His plays were,
1. " Les ailes de 1'amour," which was performed at three
theatres. 2. " Le club des bonnes gens," played 117
times at Feydau, and often reprinted at Paris. 3. " His-
toire universelle," a comic opera, played 87 times at
Feydau in 1790 and 1791. 4. " Nicodeme dans la Lune,"
represented 373 times. 5. " La petite Nanette," &c.
and other operas, which were all successful, and of which
he also composed the music, in an easy and agreeable
style.
His other publications were, 6. " Petites maisons du
Parnasse," Bouillon, 1783, 8vo, a collection in prose and
Terse, mostly original, but some borrowed. 7. " Mai-
borough, Tarlututa, Hurlaberla," 3 vols. 8vo ; with the con-
tents of this we are unacquainted, as well indeed as with
those of the following. 8. " Les Lunes," Paris, 1785,
1787, 24 vols. 12mo, of which two editions were published.
9. " Le Courier des Planetes," Paris, 1788, 1790, 10 vols.
10. " Les Nouvelles Lunes," Paris, 1791, Svo. 11. " Le
Consolateur," ibid. 1792, 3 vols. 8vo. 12. "La Consti-
tution de la Lune," ibid. 1793. 13. " Testament d'un
electeur de Paris," ibid. 1795. 14. " Precis historique de
la prise de la Bastille," ibid. 1789, which is said to have
gone through seventeen editions. 15. " Histoirede France
pendant trois mois," ibid. 1789, Svo. This fertile writer
died at Charenton, near Paris, in April 1810. 1
RE1NECCJUS (REINIER), a learned German, was a
native of Steinheim, in the sixteenth century. He was a
disciple of Melancthon, and taught the belles lettres in the
universities of Frankfort and Helmstadt till his death, in
1595. His chief publications, on history and genealogy,
in. which he was profoundly versed, are, " Syntagma de
Familiis Monarchiarum trium priorum," 1574; " Families
Regum Judseorum;" " Chronicon Hierosolymitanum ;"
" Historia Orientals;" " Historia Julia," 3 vols. folio;
" Methodus Legendi Historian)." 8
REINESIUS (THOMAS), a learned and philosophic Ger-
man, was born at Gotha, a city of Thuringia, in 1587.
1 Diet. Hist. 3 Moreri.
R E I N E S I U S. 121
He was a physician ; but applied himself to polite literature,
in which he chiefly excelled. After practising physic in
other places, he settled at Altenburg for several years, and
was made a burgo-master. At last, having been raised to
be counsellor to the elector of Saxony, he went to reside
at Leipsic ; where he also died in 1667. One of his let-
ters relates many circumstances of his life, and shews him
to have met with many vexations ; though, as will appear
afterwards, he was more than ordinarily upon his guard,
that he might not be involved in the troubles of the world.
He wrote a piece or two upon subjects of his own pro-
fession ; but the greatest part of his works relate to philo-
logy and criticism, among which are " Variarum Lectio-
num libri tres," in 4to. Bayle says, he was one of those
philologers who know more than their books can teach
them ; whose penetration enables them to draw many con-
sequences, and suggests conjectures which lead them to
the discovery of hidden treasures ; who dart a light into
the gloomy places of literature, and extend the limits of
ancient knowledge. By his printed letters, it would ap-
pear that he was consulted as an oracle ; that he answered
very learnedly whatever questions were brought to him ;
and that he was extremely skilled in the families of ancient
Rome, and in the study of inscriptions. A great eulogium
is given of his merit, as well as of his learned and political
works, by Graevius, in the dedication of the second edi-
tion of Casaubon's epistles, dated Amsterdam, August 31,
1655, and by Haller and Saxius. He partook of the libe-
rality which Lewis XIV. shewed to the most celebrated
scholars of Europe, and received with the present a very
obliging letter from Colbert ; which favour he returned,
by dedicating to him his " Observations on the Fragment
of Petronius," in 1666. The religion of Reinesius was
suspected to be of the philosophical kind. 1
REINHOLD (ERASMUS), an eminent astronomer and
mathematician, was born at Salfeldt in Thuringia, a pro-
vince in Upper Saxony, the llth of October, 1511. H^
studied mathematics under James Milichi at Wittemberg,
in which university he afterwards became professor of those
sciences, which he taught with great applause. After
writing a number of useful and learned works, he died
February 19, 1553, at 42 years of age only. His writings
1 Gen. Diet,- Niceron, vol. XXX. SaxH Onomasticon.
124 REINHOLD.
are chiefly the following: 1. " Theorize novae Planetarum
G. Purbachii," augmented and illustrated with diagrams
and Scholia in 8vo, 1542; and again in 1580. In this
work, among other things worthy of notice, he teaches (p.
75 and 76) that the centre of the lunar epicycle describes
an ovalfgure in each monthly period, and that the or hit
of Mercury is also of the same oval figure. 2. " Ptolomy's
Almagest," the first book, in Greek, with a Latin version,
.and Scholia, explaining the more obscure passages, 1549,
8vo. At the end of p. 123 he promises an edition of
Theon's Commentaries, which are wry useful for under-
standing Ptolomy's meaning ; but his immature death pre-
vented Reinhold from giving this and other works which he
had projected. 3. " Prutenicse Tabulae Ccelestiurn Mo-
tuum," 1551, 4to; again in 1571; and also iii 1585.
Reinhold spent seven years labour upon this work, in
which he was assisted by the munificence of Albert, duke
of Prussia, from whence the tables had their name. Rein-
hold compared the observations of Copernicus with those
of Ptolomy and Hipparchus, from whence he constructed
these new tables, the uses of which he has fully explained
in a great number of precepts and canons, forming a com-
plete introduction to practical astronomy. 4. " Primus
liber Tabularum Directionum ," to which are added, ihe
" Canon Fcecundus," or Table of Tangents, to every
minute of the quadrant ; and New Tables of Climates, Pa-
rallels, and Shadows, with an Appendix containing the
second Book of the Canon of Directions; 1554, 4to.
Reinhold here supplies what was omitted by Regiomonta-
nus in his Table of Directions, &c.; shewing the finding
of the sines, and the construction of the tangents, the sines
being found to every minute of the quadrant, to the ra-
dius 10,000,000; and he produced the Oblique Ascensions
from 60 degrees to the end of the quadrant. He teaches
also the use of these tables in the solution of spherical
problems.
Reinhold prepared likewise an edition of many other
works, which are enumerated in the Emperor's Privileg;e,
prefixed to the Prutenic Tables; such as, Ephemerides for
several years to come, computed from the new tables ;
Tables of the rising and setting of several Fixed Stars, for
many different climates and times; the illustration and
establishment of Chronology, by the eclipses of the lumin-
aries, and the great conjunctions of the planets, and by
R E I N H O L D. 125
t
the appearance of comets, &c. ; the Ecclesiastical Calen-
dar; the History of Years, or Astronomical Calendar;
" Isagoge Spherica," or Elements of the doctrine of the
Primum Mobile ; " Hypotyposes Orbium Ccelestium," or
the Theory of Planets ; Construction of a New Quadrant;
the doctrine of Plane and Spherical Triangles ; Commen-
taries on the work of Copernicus ; also Commentaries on
the 1 5 books of Euclid, on Ptolomy's Geography, and on
the Optics of Alhazen the Arabian. Reinhold also made
Astronomical Observations, but with a wooden quadrant,
which observations were seen by Tycho Brahe when he
passed through Wittemberg in 1575, who wondered that
so great a cultivator of astronomy was not furnished with
better instruments.
Reinhold left a son, named also Erasmus after himself,
an eminent mathematician and physician at Salfeldt. He
wrote a small work in the German language, on Subter-
ranean Geometry, printed in 4to at Erfurt, 1575. He
wrote also concerning the New Star which appeared in
Cassiopeia in 1572; with an Astrological Prognostication,
published in 1574, in the German language. 1
REISKE (JOHN JAMES), an extraordinary scholar, and
equally extraordinary man, who has furnished us with very
curious memoirs of his life, was born Dec. 25, 1716, at
Zorbig, a small town near Leipsic, of ancestors of whom
he knew nothing, except that his grandfather was an inn-
keeper. He was educated at the school of Zorbig until
ten years old, then was removed to Soschen, where a gen-
tleman, to whom he afterwards in gratitude dedicated his
remarks on the " Tusculan questions," brought him very
forward. Thence he went to school at Halle, where he
complains of the length of the prayers, and of the ignorance
of his teacher, who knew nothing of Latin. In 1733 he
removed to the university of Leipsic ; but instead of at-
tending to Greek, mathematics, and polite literature, gave
himself, " in an evil hour," to Rabbinical learning, and
Arabic. Such, however, was his oeconomy, that although
during the five years he remained here, he received from
home only two hundred dollars, he contrived not only to
live, but to purchase most of the Arabic books then ex-
tant, and in 1736 he had read them all. The last year,
indeed, he obtained a scholarship of twenty dollars a-year,
1 Hutton's Dictionary. -Moreri.
126 It E I S K E.
which he might have enjoyed longer, had he not in 1738
determined to visit Holland, without ever considering how
he was to travel without money. He set out, however,
from Leipsic to Lunenburg in the common waggon, and
thence by the Elbe to Hamburgh, where he visited Reima-
rus, who at first received him coolly, but on discovering
his learning, gave him letters, and became his fast friend ;
nor, he adds, did the worthy men of Hamburgh send him
penniless on the way.
On his arrival at Amsterdam, he was well received by a
friend of his mother's, who had married a linen-draper
there. Nextr day he visited Dorville, to whom he had a
letter of recommendation from professor Wolfe. Dorville
offered him 600 florins a-year to live with him and be his
amanuensis ; but Reiske told him that he was not come to
Holland to make his fortune, which he could have done
better in his own country, but to look for Arabic manu-
scripts. Dorville seemed surprized and a little angry at
such an answer from a man who had not a shilling ; but
afterwards, Reiske says, " we were very good friends,
though I wonder we did so well together, for we were
much of the same temper, hasty, passionate, and self-
willed." He then went to Leyden, where he had the mor-
tification to be told that there was no provision in Holland
for strangers, that it was vacation time, that the scholars
were all gone, and the library quite inaccessible. He
contrived, however, to pick up a livelihood, by being
corrector of the press for Alberti's Hesychius, and giving
a few lessons, when he could procure pupils. At length
he got introduced to Schultens, who allowed him to copy
Oriental MSS. at his house, and teach his son Arabic. At
the desire of Schultens, he applied himself to the Arabic
poets, and published an edition of the " Moallakat" in
i740; but they did not quite agree about some passages
in it, and this laid the foundation of the misunderstanding
between them. In the mean time he made a catalogue of
Arabic MSS. in the Leyden library, a work which em-
ployed him some months, and for which he was rewarded
with nine guilders, about eighteen shillings!
All this, however, he called " going on well," and pro-
ceeds to date his misfortunes from his displeasing the
friends of Burman. When Burman sent his " Petronius"
to press, he was old and bed-ridden, and the correction of
the work fell upon Reiske. He made some alterations in
R E I S K E. 127
the first volume, which Burman lived to see and was
pleased with ; but happening to take some greater liberties
with the text of Petronius, in the second, all Barman* s
friends became his enemies; his scholars deserted him, and
Dorville broke with him. Peter Burman, the son, wrote
a preface against Reiske, which he answered in the " Acta
Eruditorum." During his residence here, as he saw no-
thing was to be done in divinity, he made some progress
in the study of physic, and intended to return home and
practise ; but, he informs us, " straightness of circum-
stances, oddness of humour, and the love of Arabic,
always kept him from it."
Two things determined him to leave Holland, the one
was that he had offended Schultens by some remarks on
the study of Arabic ; the other, that in the thesis which he
wrote for his medical degree, he incurred the suspicion of
materialism; but having got this degree June 10, 1746,
he bade adieu to Holland. After a long apostrophe in
admiration of Holland, which, he says, he wishes he had
never seen, or never left, he informs us that while with
Dorville, he translated into Latin, some small French tracts,
which that author inserted in his " Miscellanea Critica ;"
made collections for him from MSS. or other literary cu-
riosities ; translated his " Charito" into Latin, and collated
the copy which Dorville had received from Cocchi at
Florence. They quarrelled, however, because Dorville not
only altered some parts of this translation, but obliged
Reiske to do the same himself before his face.
After some stay at his native place Zorbig, where he
could find no opportunity of settling advantageously, he
was obliged to return to Leipsic. In 1747, he tells us he
was made professor for the publication of a tract, entitled
" De principibus Mahummedanis literarum laude claris."
From this time he lived, during many years, in want and
obscurity, frequently not knowing where to get bread to
eat. What he did get, he says, was hardly earned, by
private instruction, writing books, correcting for the press,
translations, and working for reviews ; and thus he went
on from 1746 to 1758*.
* The reader will wonder how Reiske a reader of books, as well as a writer,
could be in such want with so many and would often buy them without
occupations. As a corrector of the thinking whether he should have money
press alone, he would have done very enough left to buy next day's dinner,
well; what ruined him was, his being Besides this, he had the rage of pub-
128 H E I S K E.
In the mean time, in 1748, he wrote his " Prograrmna
de epocha Arabum, &c." for which he was made Arabic
professor, but in tins office he complains of being rewarded
by an ill-paid salary of one hundred dollars a year. In the
autumn of that year a bookseller at Leyden agreed with
him for a publication of Abulfeda's History in Latin and
Arabic : the first sheet was accordingly printed, and made
him known in France and England ; and the whole, he
says, would have followed, if it had not been for his quarrel
with Schultens. Reiske appears to have had an extraordi-
nary propensity to quarrelling, and being a reviewer, vva&
not sparing of the means, by reviewing in an arrogant and
petulant style the works of those persons with whom he
was living in apparent friendship. He even unblushingly
avows that a sort of revenge led him to speak ill of the
works of some of his friends. He speaks at the same time
of the bitter remorse with which he reflected on his treat-
ment of Schultens, who " had been a father to him," ac-
knowledges the acid of youthful pride which mixed with
his criticisms, and yet talks of being influenced by the
" conscience and duty" of a reviewer !
Among the works which he performed for bread, and
invita Minerva, were a translation of the life of Christina
from the French, and an index to the translation of the His-
tory of the academy of inscriptions. Those which he wrote
con amore were his criticisms in the Leipsic Acts, which
were very numerous, his " Greek Anthology," and in
1754 the first part of his tc Annales Moslemici," dedicated
to the curators of the university of Leyden, who, as he
says, did not thank him, and he sold only thirty copies.
After a little Arabic effusion, called "Risalet Abit Wali-
cit," he began his " Animadversiones ad autores Gra3cos,"
and printed five volumes of them, which cost him 1000
thalers, of which he never saw more than 100 again. " I
have, however," he says, " enough for five volumes more,
and should go quietly out of the world, if I could once see
them printed, for they weflo? ingenii mei (that is supposing
it to be allowed that my genius has any flowers) ; and sure
I am, that little as their worth is now known, and much as
they have been despised, the time will come when party
and jealousy shall be no more, and justice will be done
lishing things which mouldered away buy leather, and Sriid it to Zorb'g,
in a dark room, and besides this he where .-ihe soloVit by retail. Note by
had his mother to keep. He uacd to Mrs. Reiske.
R E I S K E. 129
tbem.-^Should they come oat in my life-time, it will pay
me for all my trouble : if they should not, an ever-waking
God will take care, that no impious hand seizes on my
work, and makes it his own* Possibly there may arise
some honourable Godfearing man, who may hereafter
publish them unadulterated to my posthumous fame, and
for the good of literature : such is my wish, such are my
prayers to God, and he will hear those prayers."
In 1755, he was chosen fellow of Gotsched's society of
the fine arts. This produced two small papers, which are
in the Transactions of that society, and an acquaintance
with his wife, the sister of Probst, who came with him to
Leipsic. Her modesty, goodness of heart, and love of
learned men, caught his heart ; but the war broke out, and
he did not marry till nine years after. In 1756 he made a
catalogue of the Arabic coins in x the library at Dresden,
and translated Thograi in a couple of days. It came out
with a preface and notes, containing accounts of the Ara-
bic poets. There were only two hundred copies printed.
The war now raged very fiercely all over Saxony, and poor
Reiske was obliged to avail himself of Ernesti's generosity*
who gave him his table for two years; but in 1758, his
fortunes took a surprizing and most unexpected turn, and
he was made independent, by being appointed rector of
the school of St. Nicholas. This he tells us lie had had an
omen of at the beginning of the year; for, rising on new
year's day, at three o'clock in the morning, as was his con-
stant custom, to pursue his translation of Libanius's letters,
he found that he had come to a letter written to Anatolius,
and the first \yordjie read was Anatolius. "Now," says
he, " thought I, the year is come in which God will let
the light of his countenance shine upon thee; and in five
weeks after Haltaus (his predecessor) died."
About 1763 he translated Demosthenes and Thucydides
into German, and married Mrs. Reiske, a woman of great j
literary accomplishments. In 1768 he issued proposals for
his edition of Demosthenes, which forms the first two vo-
lumes of his " Oratores Graeci." On this occasion we have
an interesting note from Mrs. Reiske. " When the work
went to press, only twenty thalers of the subscription
money had come in. The good man was quite struck down
with this, and seemed to have thrown away all hope. His
grief went to my soul, and I comforted him as well as I
could, and persuaded him to sell mv jewels, which he at.
VOL. XXVI. K
130 R E I S K E.
length came into, after I had convinced him that a few
shining stones were not necessary to my happiness." The
work at length appeared in 1770. His "Theocritus," pub-
lished in 1765, he calls a bookseller's job, and it certainly
is not the best of his critical efforts. It was published iti
2 vols. 4to, to which he would have added a third, could
he have agreed with his bookseller. His " Plutarch" and
" Dionysius Halicarnassensis" were also edited by him for
the booksellers ; but the " Oratores Graeci" was the work
of his choice, and one on which his reputation may safely
rest.
Reiske died August 14, 1774. Much of his character
may be learned from what he has himself told us. Mrs.
Reiske, who completes his memoirs, attributes to him a
high degree of rectitude, and adds, that he often blamed
himself in cases where he deserved no blame, and always
thought he ought to be better than he was. He thought
ill of mankind, and we have seen that some part of his own
practice was not very well calculated to lessen that bad
opinion in other minds. When speaking of his ill-treat-
ment of Schultens, who had accused him of irreligion, he
denies this, and adds, " the worst he could say of me, hap-
pily for me, was, that I was a proud, insolent, and ungrate-
ful young man.'*
Mrs. Reiske informs us that his unexampled love of let-
ters produced not only all the works he has published, and
all the MSS. he left behind him ; but every man who had
any thing to publish, might depend upon his countenance
and protection. He gave books, advice, subscription, even
all that he had. Nay, he made up to several people that
had treated him ill, only in order that he might make their
works better. He was also a man of great charity. As a
scholar his character is too well known to require a prolix
detail of his various knowledge. He had read all the Greek
and Latin authors, and all the Arabic ones, more than
once, and was likewise acquainted with the best Italian,
French, English, and German writers. He read Tillot-
son's and Barrow's sermons constantly, and used to trans-
late them for his wife into French. His memory was so
wonderful that he remembered all he had heard, and could
repeat a sermon he had heard almost verbatim. In the last
days of his life he called all his learned works trifles. " All
these troublesome labours," said he, " cannot preserve me
from the judgment seat, at which I must soon appear my
R E I S K E. 131
only confidence proceeds from the thoughts of having
lived uprightly before God."
His commerce with the learned was most extensive.
Among his correspondents he enumerates Abresch, Alberti*
Albinus, Askew, Bandini, Bartholomei, Bernard, Bian-
coni, Bilder, Bondam, Findley, Gesner, Gronovius, Ha-
vercamp, Hemsterhuys, Michaelis, Osel, cardinal Quirini,
Reimarus, Sebusch, Wolfe, and Wittembach. Of some
of these, however, he speaks with little respect. Of his
works, twenty-seven of which are enumerated by Harles,
we have noticed the principal. He wrote his own life as
far as 1771, which was continued by Mrs. Reiske, and
published in 1783. 1
RELAND (HADRIAN), an eminent orientalist, was born
at Ryp, a village in North-Holland, July 17, 1676. His
father was minister of that village, but afterwards removed
to Alkmaar, and then to Amsterdam, in which last city
Reland was educated with great care ; and at eleven years
of age, having passed through the usual courses at school,
was placed in the college under Surenhusius. During three
years of study under this professor, he made a great pro-
gress in the Hebrew, Syriac, Chaldee, and Arabic lan-
guages ; and at his leisure hours applied himself to poetry,
in which he was thought to succeed. At fourteen, he was
sent to Utrecht ; where lie studied under Grrevius and
Leusden, acquired a more perfect knowledge of the Latin
and oriental tongues, and applied himself aiso to philoso-
phy, in which he afterwards took the degree of doctor.
At seventeen, he entered upon divinity under the direc-
tion of Herman Witsius and others ; but did not abandon
the oriental languages, which were always his favourite
study. After he had resided six years at Utrecht, his fa-
ther sent him to Leyden, to continue his theological stu-
dies under Frederic Spanheim and others ; where he soon
received the offer of a professorship at Linden, either in
philosophy or the oriental languages. This he would have
accepted, though only two and twenty ; but his father's
ill state of health would not allow him to remove so far from
Amsterdam. In 1699, he was elected professor of philo-
sophy at Harderwick, but did not continue there long; for,
king William having recommended him to the magistrates
1 Life as above, in Maty's Review, vol. VII. Harles fie vitis philologorunj,
vol. IV. Saxii Onomast.
K 2
1*2 K E L A N D.
of Utrecht, he was offered in 1701 the professorship of
oriental languages and ecclesiastical history, which he rea-
dily accepted. In 1703, he took a wife, by whom he had
three children. In 1713, a society for the advancement
of Christian knowledge was established in England, as was
that for the propagation of the gospel in foreign parts the
year after; of both which Reland became a member. He
died of the small-pox, at Utrecht, Feb. 5, 1718, in his
forty-second year. He was a man of an excellent disposi-
tion, and of great humanity and modesty, of great learn-
ing, and had a correspondence with the most eminent
scholars of his time.
He wrote and published a great number of works, in
order to promote and illustrate sacred and oriental learn-
ing ; the chief of which are these : " De Religione Mo-
harnmedica libri duo," 1705, 12mo. The first book con-
tains a short account of the faith of the Mahometans, in
an Arabic manuscript with a Latin translation ; the second
vindicates them from doctrines and imputations falsely
charged opon them. A second edition, with great addi-
tions, was printed in 1717, 12mo. " Dissertationum Mis-
cellanearum Partes Tres," 1706, 1707, 1708, 12mo. These
three parts are not always found together. They comprize
thirteen dissertations upon the following curious subjects:
' De situ Paradisi Terrestris ;" " De Mari Rubro ;" " De
Monte Garizim;" " De Ophir ;" " De Diis Cabiris ;"
" De Veteri Lingua Indica ;" " De Samaritanis ;" " De
Reliquiis veteris lingure Persicse ;" " De Persicis vocabulis
Talmudis;" " De jure Militari Mohammedanorum contra
Christianos bellum gerentium ;" " De linguis Insularum
quarunclam orientaliuro ;" " De linguis Americauis ;" " De
Gemmis Arabicis." His next work was, " Antiquitates
Sacrse Veterum Hebrseorum," 1708, 12mo; but the best
edition is that of 1717, 12mo, there being many additions.
He then published " Dissertationes Quinque de Nummis
veterum Hebraeorum, qui ab inscriptarum literarum forma
Samaritani appellantur. Accedit dissertatio de marmoribus
Arabicis Puteolanis," 1709, 12mo. But his greatest work
was "Palsestinaex monumentis veteribus illustrata, char-
tis Geographicis accuratioribus adornata," Traject. 1714,
2 vols. 4to. This edition is superior in all respects to that
of Nuremberg, 1716, 4to. " De Spoliis Templis Hiero-
solymitani in arcu Titiano Romas conspicuis liber, cum
figuris," 1716, 12mo.
R E L A N D. 138
Reland published many smaller things of his own, among
which were Latin poems and orations; and was also con-
cerned as an editor of books written by others. His works
are all in Latin, and neatly printed. 1
REMBRANDT (VAN RYN), an eminent painter and
engraver, was born at a village near Leyden, in 1606.
The real name of his family was GERRETSZ, but from having
resided early in life at a village upon the banks of the
Rhine, he obtained that of VAN RYN. Of his personal
history we have very few particulars. His father was a
miller. After an unsuccessful attempt to avail himself of
the advantages of a college education at Leyden, he is
said to have been indebted for his earliest instruction as a
painter to Jacques Vanzwanenburg. He afterwards studied
under Peter Lastman at Amsterdam, under whose name a
print is in circulation, which the author of the supplement
to the works of Rembrandt denominates " Lot and his
Daughter," but which is intended to represent Judah and
Tamar. Had this print, says Rembrandt's late biographer,
been in fact the production of Lastman, it would have ap-
peared that Rembrandt had been much indebted to his pre-
ceptor, as well for the manner of his execution in his etch-
ings, as for the style of bis design ; but it is the work of
Van Noordt, probably after a design of Lastman, and is
certainly posterior in point of time to many of those of
Rembrandt.
Rembrandt was first brought into notice by having taken
a picture to the Hague, and Coffered it for sale to an able
connoisseur; who, conscious of his merit, treated him with
kindness, and gave him a hundred florins for it. By this
incident both himself and the public were made acquainted
with his worth ; and hence arose the reputation and suc-
cess he afterwards enjoyed. Incessant occupation soon
crowded upon him, and many pupils applied for admission
into his school, with each of whom he received 100 florins
a year; and whose copies of his pictures he not unfrc-
quently sold as originals, after bestowing a short time upon
them himself. By these means, aided by incessant in-
dustry, and the sale of etchings, which he produced with
great facility and skill, he accumulated considerable
wealth : his income, according to Sandrart, being, for a.
length of time, at least 2500 florins yearly.
> Gen. Diet. -Niceron, vol. I. Burnaan Traject, Enulit, Saxii Onomast,
134 REMBRANDT.
His place of residence, during this successful display of
his talents, was Amsterdam, where his peculiarities pro-
cured him the character of a humourist, whilst his abilities
astonished and delighted his contemporaries, and he pro-
duced those works which still gratify succeeding ages. The
peculiarities of his mind are as much observable in the
manner of producing his effects, as in the choice of the
materials. The execution of his earlier works was in a
style highly laboured, with great neatness, and patient
completion of the figures ; such is that of the picture of
the woman taken in adultery at Mr. Angerstein's. As he
advanced in art, he took liberties with the pencil, wrought
with all the broad fulness of the brush, and left the touch
undisturbed : he even employed the stick, the pallet-knife,
or his fingers, accordingly as they were most capable of
producing the effect he desired when seen at a proper
distance, disregarding the appearance of the work upon a
closer inspection.
In his pictures is exhibited a total inattention to the taste
of the antique ; he is even said to have made it a subject of
ridicule, and to have jocosely denominated a collection of
old armour and rich dresses, which he had collected and
employed to study and paint from, " his antiques." These
he evidently used as his models, though frequently in most
heterogeneous combination ; but by an innate power of seiz-
ing the most striking effects produced by light and shade,
superadded to the most perfect mastery over the materials
of the pallet, he always excited an interest, either by ori-r
ginality or beauty.
It is not, however, the approval of his power in the tech-
nical part of the art, which can or ought to satisfy the ob-
server of the works of Rembrandt. He was, says Fuseli, a
meteor in art. Disdaining to acknowledge the usual laws
of admission to the Temple of Fame, he boldly forged his
own keys, and entered and took possession of a most con-
spicuous place by his own power. He was undoubtedly a
genius of the first class in whatever is not immediately re-
lated to form or taste. In spite of the most portentous de-
formity, and without considering the spell of his chiaro-
scuro, such were his powers of nature, such the grandeur,
pathos, or simplicity, of his composition, from the most
elevated or extensive arrangement to the meanest or most
homely, that the most untutored and the best cultivated
eye, plain common sense and the most refined sensibility,
REMBRANDT. 135
dwell on them equally enthralled. Shakspeare alone ex-
cepted, no one combined with such transcendant excel*
lence, so many, in all other men, unpardonable faults, and
reconciled us to them. He possessed the full empire of
light and shade, and the tints that float between them.
He tinged his pencil with equal success in the cool of
dawn, in the noon-tide ray, in the vivid flash, in evanes-
cent twilight, and rendered darkness visible. Though
made to bend a steadfast eye on the bolder phenomena of
nature, yet he knew how to follow her into her calmest
abodes, gave interest to insipidity or baldness, and plucked
a flower in every desert. Few like Rembrandt knew how
to improve an accident into a beauty, or give importance
to a trifle. If ever he had a master, he had no followers.
Holland was not made to comprehend his power : the suc-
ceeding school consisted of colourists, content to tip the
cottage, the hamlet, the boor, the ale-pot, the shambles,
and the haze of winter, with orient hues, or the glow of
setting summer suns.
Mr. Daulby, who, in his late " Catalogue of the works of
Rembrandt," has appreciated his character with great pre-
cision and perspicuity, and differs not much, upon the
whole, from Mr. Fuseli, observes, that whatever may be
thought of Rembrandt as a historical painter, his portraits
are deservedly held in the highest esteem. The accuracy
of his pencil insured a striking resemblance, whilst his skill
in the management of light and shadow, and his thorough
acquaintance with the harmony and effect of his tints,
enabled him to give to his subjects an appearance of reality
so striking, as in some instances to have actually imposed
on the senses of the spectators. Thus, a picture of his
maid-servant placed at the window of his house in Amster-
dam, where he fixed his permanent residence about 1630,
is said to have deceived the passengers for several days.
This fact is at least authenticated by De Piles, who had the
curiosity when he was in Holland, to inquire after this
picture, and finding it was well penciled, and possessed a
great force, purchased it, and esteemed it as one of the
highest ornaments of his cabinet. All Rembrandt's pictures
can be purchased only at very high prices. There are
many fine specimens of them in this country, and many in
the royal collection at Paris. We know not, however,
whether Rembrandt's merits are not more familiar, in ge-
neral, from his prints, than from his pictures. Of these,
136 REMBRANDT.
ever since his time, collections have been formed in every
part of Europe, and even the emulation of sovereigns has
been excited, and the treasures of royalty expended in their
acquisition.
His prints, which are partly etchings, and partly en-
gravings, performed with the point of the graver in a sin-
gular manner, have all that freedom of touch, spirit, and
greatness of effect, discoverable in his paintings, supposing
them to be assisted by the variety of colours. Considering
the great quantity of etchings which he made, we cannot
suppose they should be all equally well executed, or equal
in value. Mr. Gilpin, who has resolved the excellence of
Rembrandt as a painter into colouring only, observes that
his prints, deprived of this palliative, have only his infe-
rior qualifications to recommend them. These, he states,
are, expression and skill in the management of light, exe-
cution, and sometimes composition. His expression has
most force in the character of age. He marks as strongly
as the hand of time itself. He possesses too, in a great
degree, that inferior kind of expression, which gives its
proper and characteristic touch to drapery, fur, metal,
and every object he represents. His management of light
consists chiefly in making a very strong contrast, which has
often a good effect ; and yet in many of his prints there is
no effect at all ; which gives us reason to think, he either
had no principles, or published such prints before his prin-
ciples were ascertained. His execution is peculiar to him-
self. It is rough, or neat, as he meant a sketch, or a
finished piece ; but always free and masterly. It produces
its effect by strokes intersected in every direction ; and
comes nearer the idea of painting, than the execution of
any other master.
There is perhaps no branch of collectorship that exhibits
more caprice than that of prints in general, or of Rem-
brandt's prints in particular, which appears by the different
estimation in which the same subject is held, merely on
account of a slight alteration in some unimportant part.
Mr. Daulby instances this in the Juno without the crown,
the Coppenol with the white back-ground, the Joseph
with the face unshaded, and the good Samaritan with the
horse's tail white, which are regarded as inestimable ;
whilst the same subjects, without these distinctions, are
considered as of little comparative value. Strutt mentions
that, in consequence of a commission from an eminent coin
REMBRANDT. 137
lector, he gave forty-six guineas for the Coppenol with the
white back-ground, i. e. before it was finished ; when, the
same evening, at the same sale, he bought a most beautiful
impression of the same print finished, distinguished by hav-
ing a black back-ground, &c. which had an address to Rem-
brandt at the bottom, written by Coppenol himself (for he
was a writing-master of Amsterdam, and this print is his
portrait), for fourteen guineas and a half. In the second
instance, he adds, that he exceeded his commission by the
half guinea ; but in the first did not reach it by nearly
twenty guineas. Mr. Daulby seems to be of opinion that
Rembrandt, who loved money, availed himself of this hu-
mour in collectors. The facility with which he could
change the effect of his etchings, by altering, obliterating,
or working on them again, enabled him to provide sufficient
amusement for his admirers ; and hence varieties frequently
occur which are not easily explicable. He is even said to
have frequently suffered himself to be solicited before he
would consent to dispose of them ; and it is a well-attested
fact, that the print of " Christ healing the sick," usually
denominated the " Hundred Guelder," was so called be-
cause he refused to sell an impression of it under that
price. Of this print we may remark that it is generally
esteemed the chef d'aeuvre of Rembrandt, being highly
finished, the characters full of expression, and the effect
of the chiaroscuro very fine. Gilpin mentions twenty gui-
neas, as the price of a good impression of this print ; Mr.
Daulby thirty, to which twenty more, we are assured, must
now be added. Captain Baillie purchased the plate in
Holland, and retouched it for publication, in 1776, at four
guineas to subscribers, and five to non-subscribers. It has
since been cut up, but there are impressions of the two
groups from the left extremity, one above the other.
Rembrandt's rarest and most expensive portraits are those
of Wtenbogardus, called in Holland, " the Goldweigher,"
and in France " the Banker;" Van Tol, the advocate, sold
as high as fifty-guineas ; and the burgomaster Six, of equal
value. This burgomaster was Rembrandt's particular friend
and patron, and had the largest collection of his prints
that ever was formed in his life-time. Strutt gives 340
as the number of Rembrandt's prints ; but the largest col-
lection known, that of M. De Burgy, at the Hague, col-
lected between the years 1728 and 1755, consisted in the
whole, including the varieties, of 655 prints.
138 REMBRANDT.
This great artist died at Amsterdam in 1688, or, accord-
ing to some, in 1674. The little known of his personal
character is not favourable. He was extremely fond of
money, and not very scrupulous in his mode of procuring
it. He is also represented as being fond of low company ;
a degrading taste, which seldom fails to affect a man's pro-
fession, whatever it may be. 1
REMIGIUS, or REMI (ST.), a celebrated archbishop
of Lyons in the ninth century, and grand almoner to the
emperor Lotharius, succeeded Amolo, in the above see,
about the year 853 or 854. There being other prelates of
this name, we find some confusion as to their actions and
writings ; but it is supposed to be this St. Remigius, who,
in the name of the church of Lyons, wrote an answer to
the three letters of Hincmar of Rheims, and others, in
which he defends St. Augustine's doctrine on grace and
predestination, which he apprehended to have been at"
tacked by the condemnation of Godescalc. This answer
may be found in the " Vindiciae Predestinationis et Gra-
tis," 1650, 2 vols. 4to, and in the Library of the Fathers;
as also a translation by the same author, " On the con-
demnation of all men in Adam, and the deliverance of
some by Jesus Christ." He presided at the council of
Valence in the year 855, and others of the same kind;
and, after founding some pious institutions died Oct. 28,
in the year 875. Others of his works are in the " Library
of the Fathers."*
REMIGIUS, or REMI (ST.), a very celebrated arch-
bishop of Rheims, was born of an illustrious family, and heir
to great wealth. He was raised to the see of Rheims about
the year 460; distinguished himself by his learning and
virtue, converted and baptised king Clovis, and died about
January 23, in the year 533. Some Letters, and a Testa-
ment, in the library of the Fathers, and in JVIarlot's History
of Rheims, are attributed to him. 3
REMIGIUS of Auxerre, was a learned French Bene-
dictine monk in the ninth century, and brought up in the
abbey of St. Germain, at Auxerre, whence he derived that
appendix to his name by which he is distinguished. Hav-
1 Pilkington. Daulby's "Descriptive Catalogue," 1796, 4to and Svo.
Strutt's Dictionary. Grtpin's Essay on Prints. Argeuville, vol. III. Sir J.
Reynokls's Works j see Index.
2 Cave, vol. I. Dtipin.
Cave, vol. I. Fabric. Bib!. Lat. Med.
R E M I G I U S. 1S9
ing made great proficiency in profane and sacred litera-
ture, he was appointed principal teacher in the schools
belonging to his monastery, and afterwards taught at Rheims
with great reputation, until he went to Paris, and opened
the first public school in that city, after learning had sunk
under the ravages of the Normans. His works are, 1.
" Commentarius in omnes Davidis Psalmos," Cologne,
1536, a methodized collection of opinions from the fathers.
2. " Enarrationes in posteriores XI. minores Prophetas,"
Antwerp, 1545, with the " Commentaries" of Oecume-
nius upon the Acts of the Apostles, and their Epistles,
and those of Aretbas upon the book of Revelation ; and
" Expositio Missa;." A " Commentary upon the Epistles
of St. Paul," has been also ascribed to him, but on doubt-
ful authority. It is move certain that he left behind him
" A Commentary on the Musical Treatise of Martianus
Capella," which is among the MSS. in the king of France's
library, No. 5304. 1
RENAU D'ELISAGARAY (BERNARD), an able naval
architect, was born in 1652, in Beurn, descended from the
ancient house of Elisagaray in Navarre. The count de
Vermandois, admiral of France, engaged his services in
1679, by a pension of a thousand crowns; and his opinion
concerning the construction of ships was preferred to that
of M. Duguesne, even by that gentleman himself. In
consequence of this, Renau received orders to visit Brest
and the other ports, that he might instruct the ship-buil-
ders, whose sons of fifteen or twenty years old he taught
to build the largest ships, which had till then required the
experience of twenty or thirty years. Having advised the
bombardment of Algiers in 1680, he invented bomb-boats
for that expedition, and the undertaking succeeded. After
the admiral's decease, M. Vauban placed M. Renau in a
situation to conduct the sieges of Cadaquiers in Catalonia,
of Philipsburg, Manheim, and Frankendal. In the midst
of this tumultuous life he wrote his " Theorie de la ma-
noeuvre des Vaisseaux," which was published 1689, 8vo.
The king, as a reward for M. Renau's services, made him
captain of a ship, with orders that he should have free ac-
cess to, and a deliberative voice in the councils of the ge-
nerals, an unlimited inspection of the navy, and authority
to teach the officers any new methods of his invention ; to
1 Cave, vol. I. Diipin.
140 R E N A U.
which was added a pension of 12,000 livres. The grand
master of Malta requested his assistance to defend that
island against the Turks, who were expected to besiege
it; but the siege not taking place, M. Renau went back
to France, and on his return was appointed counsellor to
the navy, and grand croix of St. Louis. He died Sept.
30, 1719. He had been admitted an honorary member
of the Academy of Sciences in 1699. He has left several
Letters, in answer to the objections raised by Huygens and
Bernouilli against his Theory abovementioned. He was a
man of reflection, read little, but thought much; and, what
appears a greater singularity, he meditated more deeply
when in the midst of company, where he was frequently
found, than in solitude, to which he seldom retired. He
was very short, almost a dwarf, but adroit, lively, witty,
brave, and the best engineer which France has produced,
except M. de Vauban. *
RENAUDOT (EusEBius), a French writer, very learned
in Oriental history and languages, was born at Paris in
1646 ; and, being taught classical literature by the Jesuits,
and philosophy in the college of Harcourt, afterwards en-
tered into the congregation of the oratory, where he did
not continue long. His father being first physician to the
dauphin, he was early introdued to scenes, where his parts,
his learning, and his politeness, made him admired. His
reputation was afterwards advanced and established by se-
veral learned works, which he published. In 1700, heat-
tended cardinal de Noailles to Rome ; and received great
honours, together with the priory of Frossey in Bretagne,
from pope Clement V. Returning by Florence he was
honoured in the same manner by the great duke ; and was
also made a member of the academy de la Crusca. On his
return to France he devoted himself entirely to letters,
and composed a great number of learned dissertations,
which are printed in the " Memoirs of the Academy of
Inscriptions," of which he was a member, as well as of the
French academy. He died in 1720. Voltaire blames him
for having prevented Bayle's dictionary from being printed
in France. This is very natural in Voltaire and Voltaire's
followers; but it is a more serious objection to Renaudot,
that, while his love of learning made him glad to corre-
spond with learned Protestants, his cowardly bigotry pre-
Chaufepie. Diet. Hist.
R E N A U D O T. 141
vented him from avowing the connection. Not long before
Dr. Pocock's death that eminent orientalist received a letter
from Renaudot, in which he professes a very high esteem
for the doctor, desires the liberty of consulting him in all
the doubts that should occur in preparing his " Collection
of Liturgies," &c. and promises, in return for this favour,
to make a public acknowledgment of it, and preserve a
perpetual memory of the obligation ; yet, when the above
work appeared, he travelled out of his way to reproach
Dr. Pocock with a mistake, which was perhaps the only one
that could be discovered in his writings.
Renaudot bequeathed his extensive library to the abbey
of St. Germain des Pres. His works are, a collection of
controversial pieces on the celebrated work respecting
" the perpetuity of the Faith ;" " Historia Patriarcharum
Alexandrinorum Jacobitarum," 1713, 4to, &c. " A Col-
lection of ancient Greek and Oriental Liturgies," 1716,
2 vols. 4to. " Two ancient Accounts of the Indies and
China, with learned remarks," 1718, 8vo. " A Defence
of the Perpetuity of the Faith," 8vo, against Aymon's
Book. Several Dissertations in the Memoirs of the Aca-
demy of Inscriptions. "Defense de 1'Histoire des Patri-
arches d'Alexandria," 12mo. A Latin translation of "The
Life of St. Athanasius," svritten originally in Arabic, and
inserted in the edition of this Father's works by Montfau-
con, &c. '
RENAUDOT (THEOFHRASTUS), a physician, and a man
learned in many respects, is said to have been the first au-
thor of Gazettes in France in 1631. He was born at Lou-
dun in 1583, and died at Paris, where he had spent the
greatest part of his life, in 1653. He left besides his Ga-
zettes, a continuation of the " Mercure Frai^oise" from
1635 to 1643, in 25 vols. 8vo, the last six of which are the
worst; but the most scarce were published by Renaudot.
He wrote also " Abre*ge de la Vie et de la mort de Henri
de Bourbon, prince de Conde," 1646, 4to ; " La vie et la
mort du Marechal de Gassion," 1647, 4to, and " The Life
of Cardinal Michael de Mazarin," brother of the prime
minister of that name, 1648, 4to. s
RENl. See GUIDO.
RENNIGER (MICHAEL), or, as Wood says, commonly
called RHANGER, a learned divine and Latin poet, was born
1 Nweron, vols. XII. and XX. Moreri. -Diet. Hist. Twellg's Life of Pocock?
? 80. a D i ct> Hist. Moreri.
142 R E N r N I G E It.
in Hampshire, in 1529, and educated at Magdalen college,
Oxford. Here he took his bachelor's degree, in March
1545; was chosen fellow in 1547, and afterwards completed
his master's degree. In king Edward's reign, he was much
esteemed as a pious preacher, and learned man ; but as he
had embraced the reformed religion, he was obliged to
leave the kingdom on the accession of queen Mary, and
lived mostly with some other English exiles at Strasburgh.
When queen Elizabeth came to the throne, he was made
one of her chaplains, and proved a zealous champion for
the reformation. Wood says he refused several preferments,
accepting only a prebend in the church of Winchester, and
about the same time the rectory of Crawley near that city*.
In 1567 he was installed precentor and prebendary of Em-
pingham in the church of Lincoln. In 1573, he took his
degrees in divinity, and in 1575 was made archdeacon of
Winchester. In 1583, he had the prebend of Reculver-
land, in the church of St. Paul, London, bestowed on him.
He died Aug. 26, 1609, aged eighty-nine, and was buried
in the church of Crawley, under the communion table.
His works are, 1. " Carolina in mortem duonim fratrum
Suffolciensium, Henrici et Caroli Brandon," Lond. 1552,
4to. A specimen from this rare volume is given in Mr.
Bliss's edition of the " Athense," from a copy in the Bod-
leian. 2. " De Pii V. et Gregorii XIII. furoribus contra
Elizabetham Reginam Angliae," ibid. 1582, 8vo. 3. " An
Exhortation to true love, loyalty, and fidelity to her ma-
jesty," ibid. 1587, 8vo, to which is added a treatise against
Treasons; and 4. "Syntagma hortationum ad Jacobuui Re-
gem Anglise," ibid. 1604, Svo. He also translated from
Latin into English, bishop Poynet's " Apology or Defence
of Priests' marriages." Bale, who gives Dr. Renniger a
high character, attributes other works to him, but without
specifying whether in MS. or print ; and there are, if we
mistake not, some of his MSS. in Bene't college library. 1
REQUENO (VlNCENTE), a learned Spanish Jesuit, was
born in Grenada about J730. After a liberal education, in
which he made great proficiency in philosophy and mathe-
matics, and discovered much taste for the fine arts, he
* In 1561, bishop Grindall put choose a provost of Eton ; but Renniger,
down his name among the persons being a married man, was rejected with
from whom queen Elizabeth might some others in the same situation.
1 Tanner and Bale. Ath. Ox. vol. I. new edit.- Strype's life of Parker, p.
105.
REQUENO. 143
retired to Italy on the expulsion of his order. In 1782 he
sent to the society opened in Madrid for the fine arts, a
memoir which gained the first prize; and in 1788 he car-
ried off the prize proposed by the academy of Seville.
These two memoirs, which were printed in 1789, at Seville,
met with the approbation of all the foreign literary journals.
He had already obtained considerable fame on the conti-
nent from his elaborate work, printed at Seville in 1766,
on the " Roman Antiquities in Spain," and had contributed
very much to Masdeu's critical and literary history of Spain,
printed in 1781, &c. But perhaps he is best known to
artists and men of taste, by his " Saggi sul ristabilimento
clelP antica arte de' Greci, e de' Romani Pittori," vol. I.
Venice, 1784. The second edition of this elegant work
was published in 2 vols. 8vo, at Parma, by Mr. Joseph Mo-
lini in 1787. The author's object was, as the title indi-
cates, to investigate and restore the ancient art of Grecian
and Roman painting, and therefore in his first volume he
gives a circumstantial account of encaustic painting as
practised by the ancients, by which the lustre of their works
is preserved to this day. He proves that they not only
used the encaustic art in painting, but employed it in var-
nishing their statues, and even their utensils, ships, houses,
&c. After descanting on the disadvantages that arise from
painting in oil, he discloses the method of preparing the
materials employed in encaustic painting, with the manner
of using them ; and substantiates this system by the opi-
nions of many members of the Clementine academy of
Bologne, and of several professors of the academies of Ve-
nice, Verona, Padua, &c. also of others who, beside him-
self, have tried them ; particularly at Mantua, where under
the patronage of the marquis Bianchi, many pictures were
painted, of which Requeno gives an account. Artists,
however, have not in general been very forward to adopt
this plan, which, as the author explains it, differs very
much from what has been proposed by Count de Caylus,
Cochin, Bachelier, Muntz, and others. The abbe Requeno
died at Venice in 1799. 1
RESENJUS (JOHN PAUL), a learned Danish divine, was
the son of a Lutheran clergyman, and born in Jutland, Feb.
2, 1561. After his grammatical education, he went to the
university of Copenhagen, and was afterwards made co-
' Diet. Hist. Supplement.
R E S E N I U S.
rector of the school of Vibourg. In 1585, being appointed
tutor to the young Frederick Rosenkrantz, he travelled with
him through Germany, France, Italy, &c. for seven years,
part of which we must suppose was spent in studying at
some of the universities. On his return in 1592, he was
appointed philosophical professor in ordinary, and after-
wards extraordinary professor of divinity in the university
of Copenhagen. In 1594, having been created doctor in
that faculty, he removed to the chair of ordinary professor.
In 1606, when the king, Christiern VI. paid a visit to his
relation, king James, in England, who had married his
sister, Resenius accompanied him as his chaplain. In
1615 he was appointed bishop of Roschildt in Zealand,
which he held until his death, Sept. 14, 1638, aged seven-
ty-seven. He was a man of great liberality, and bestowed
in the course of his life 5500 crowns on schools and hospi-
tals. Besides a translation of the Bible into the Danish
language, published in 1605 7, he published a great num-
ber of theological dissertations and sermons in the same
language ; and the following works : " Parva logica," La-
tin and Danish, 1605, 1610; " Institutiones geometricae,"
1612; "Parva rhetorica," 1619; " Scholia in arithmeti-
cam Gemmae Frisii," 1611; and " De sancta fide in Deum,
libellus apologeticus," Latin and Danish, 1614. l
RESENIUS (PETER JOHN), probably of the same family
as the preceding, a counsellor and professor in Copenha-
gen, was born there June 17, 1625. His father and his
grandfathers, both by the father's and mother's side, were
bishops of Zealand. He was appointed sub-principal of
the college of Copenhagen in 1646; and having quitted
that employment the following year, he set out to visit fo-
reign countries. He studied, during four years, polite
literature and law in the university of Leyden, after which
he went into France, Spain, and Italy. He remained a
whole year in Padua, where he applied himself chiefly to
the study of the civil law ; was elected counsellor of the
German nation in that city; and vice-syndic of the univer-
sity, in which quality he irmde a speech in the senate of
Venice, and obtained a privilege for that university; and
before he left Padua he took his doctor's degree in law, the
1 1th of September, 1653. He returned to Denmark by the
way of Germany, and was appointed professor of moral
i Moreri.
R E S E N I U S. 14-5
philosophy in the university of Copenhagen, November
25, 1657, afterwards consul of that city, counsellor of the
supreme council ; and lastly, president of Copenhagen,
and counsellor of justice. He Was ennobled the 18th of
January, J680, and created counsellor of state the 6th of
May, 1684. He formed a very fine library, which he left
to the university of Copenhagen, the catalogue of which
was printed at Copenhagen, 1685, 4tO.
His works are, 1. " Edda Snorronis Sturlesonii triplici
lingua Islandica & Latina," 1665* 4to. 2. " Eddae Sze-
mundianse pars dicta HAVAMAAL, complexa Ethicam
Odini : estque & Islandice & Latine/' 1665, 4to. 3.
" Eddae Saemundianae VOLUSPA, continens Philosophiam
Danorurn, Norvegoriimque antiquissimam, additis Gudmun-
di Andreas Islandi annotationibus," 1665, and 1673, 4to.
4. " Inscriptiones Havnienses, Latinse, Danicse, & Ger-
manicae; una cum addita narratione de Tychone Braheo
diversisque ipsius etsororis ipsiiis Sophias Braheae epistolis,"
1668, 4to. 5. " Jus aulicum vetus Regum Norvegorum,
dictum HIRDSKRAA," 1673, 4to. 6. " Havnise deline-
atio topographica in sere expressa, una cum brevi partium
& locorum enarratione, Danice & Germanice," 1674. 7.
" Samsoae descriptio & delineatio cum figuris," 1675, fol.
8. " Friderici II. Hist. Danice in folio cum figuris," 1675.
9. ** Lexicon Islandicum Gudmundi Andreas Islandi, cum
prajfaticme de ejusdem vita," 1683, 4to. 10. " Leges
Cimbric33 Valdemari secundi Regis Danici, Germanice, in-
terprete Erico Krabbio, equite Danico," 1684, 4to. 11.
" Leges civiles & ecclesiastical Cliristiani Secundi," &c.
1684, 4to. !
RETZ (JOHN FRANCIS PAUL DE GONDI), ar celebrated
cardinal, was born in 161 3. He was a doctor of the Sor-
bonne, and afterwards coadjutor to his uncle the archbishop
of Paris; and at length, after many intrigues, in which his
restless and unbounded ambition engaged him, became a
cardinal. This extraordinary man has drawn his own cha-
racter in his Memoirs,- which are written in a very unequal
manner, but are generally bold, free, animating, and pleas-
ing, and give us a very lively representation of his conduct.
He was a man who, from the greatest degree of debauchery,
and still languishing under its consequences, preached to
the people, and made himself adored by them. He breath-
' Morcri. Gen. Diet Freheri Theatrum. Saxii Ouomasticoa.
VOL. XXVf, L
146 RET Z.
ed nothing but the spirit of faction and sedition. At the
age of twenty-three, he had been at the head of a conspi-
racy against the life of cardinal Richelieu, It has been
said that he was the first bishop who carried on a war with-
out the mask of religion ; but his schemes were so unsuc-
cessful, that he was obliged to quit France. He then
went into Spain and Italy, and assisted at the conclave at
Rome, which raised Alexander VII. to the pontificate;
but this pontiff not making good his promises to the cardi-
nal, he left Italy, and went into Germany, Holland, and
England. After having spent the life of an exile for five
or six years, he obtained leave upon certain terms to return
to his own country; which was the more safe, as his friend
cardinal Mazarine died in 1661. He was afterwards at
Rome, and assisted in the conclave which chose Clement
IX.; but, upon his return to France, gave up all thoughts
of public affairs, and died at Paris, Aug. 24, 1679. The
latter part of his life is said to have been tranquil and ex-
emplary. At this period he wrote his Memoirs, in which
there is a considerable air of impartiality. In order to judge
of this, however, the reader is advised to compare them
with those of Claude Joli, his private secretary. Both
works have been published in English, the former in 1774,
4 vols. the latter in 1775, 3 vols., 12fno. Some friends,
nith whom the cardinal entrusted the original MS. fixed a
mark on those passages, where they thought he had disho-
noured himself, in order to have them omitted, as they
were in the first edition ; but they have since been restored.
The best French editions of these Memoirs are those of Am-
sterdam, 1719, 7 vols. 12mo, and 1731, 4 vols. small 8vo.
This cardinal was the author of other pieces ; but these,
being of a temporary kind, written as party pamphlets to
serve particular purposes, are forgotten. 1
REUCHLIN (JOHN), a learned German, who contributed
much to the restoration of letters in Europe, was born at
Pforzheim in 1450. His parents, perceiving his talents
and turn for books, were easily persuaded to give him a
liberal education, and sent him to Paris, then the seat of
literature in these western parts, with the bishop of Utrecht;
where he studied grammar under Joannes a Lapide, rheto-
ric under Gaguinus, Greek under Tiphernas, and Hebrew
under Wesselus. Being returned to his own country, he
t Moreri. Diet. Hist Voltaire's Siecle da Louis XIV.
R E U C H L I N. H7
took the degree of doctor in philosophy at Basil, where he
lived four years; then went to Orleans to study the law,
and was admitted doctor in 1479. He taught the Greek
language at Orleans, as he had done at Basil ; and com-
posed and printed a grammar, a lexicon, some vocabula-
ries, and other works of alike nature, to facilitate the study
of that language. By all this he gained Extraordinary re-
putation ; for, the knowledge of the two languages was at
that time so rare an accomplishment, that it was actually
made a title of honour. This appears from the following
inscription of a letter : " Andronicus Contoblacas, natione
Graecus, utriusque linguae peritus, Joanni Reuchlino," &c.
that is, " Andronicus Contoblacas, a Greek, skilled in both
languages, to John Reuchlin," &c.
After some time, Eberhard, count of Wirtemberg, being
to make the tour of Italy, Reuchlin was chosen among
others to attend him ; chiefly because, during his residence
in France, he had corrected his own German pronunciation
of the Latin, which appeared so rude and savage to the Ita-
lians. They were handsomely received at Florence by Lo-
renzo de Medicis, the father of Leo X. and became ac-
quainted with many learned men there, as ChalcondylaSj
Ficinus, Politian, Picus earl of Mirandula, &c. They pro-
ceeded to Rome, where Hermolaus Barbarus prevailed
with Reuchlin to change his name to Capnio, which signi-
fies the same in Greek as Reuchlin does in German ; that
is, smoke. Count Eberhard entertained so great an esteem
for Capnio, so he was afterwards called, thatj upon his re-
turn to Germany, he made him ambassador to the emperor
Frederic III.; who conferred many honours upon him, and
made him many presents. He gave him. in particular an
ancient Hebrew manuscript bible, very neatly written,
with the text and paraphrase of Onkelos, &c. Frederic
died in 1493 ; and Capnio returned to count Eberhard,
who died also about three months after the emperor : when,
an usurpation succeeding, Capnio was banished. He re-
tired to Worms, and continued his studies : hut the elector
Palatine, having a cause to defend at Rome some time
after, selected him as the ablest man for his purpose ; and
accordingly, in 1498, Capnio made an oration before the
pope and cardinals concerning the rights of the German
princes, and the privileges o the German churches. He
remained more than a year at Rome ; and had so much lei-
sure as to perfect himself in the Hebrew tongue under Ab-
L 2
148 R E U C H L 1 N.
dias, a Jew, and also in the Greek under Argyropylus. He
had some trouble in his old age by an unhappy difference
with the divines of Cologne, occasioned by a Jew named
Pfefferkorn. This man, of whom we have already given a
brief account (see PFEFFEKCORN), to shew his zeal for
Christianity, advised that all the Jewish books, except the
Bible, should be burnt; but the Jews having prevailed on
the emperor to allow them to be examined first, Capnio,
who was universally acknowledged to excel in this kind of
learning, was appointed by the elector of Mentz, under
the authority of the emperor, to pass a judgment upon these
writings. Capnio, who had too much good sense to adopt,
in its full extent, this wretched policy, gave it as his opi-
nion, that no other books should be destroyed, but those
which were found to be written expressly against Jesus
Christ, lest, with the Jewish books on liberal arts and sci-
ences, their language itself, so important to the church,
should perish. This opinion was approved by the emperor,
and the books were by his authority restored to the Jews.
Pfefferkorn and his supporters were exceedingly enraged
against Capnio, and pursued him with invectives and accu-
sations even to the court of Home. His high reputation in
the learned world, however, protected him ; and bigotry
met with a most mortifying defeat in his honourable ac-
quittal.
The spleen of the ecclesiastics against Capnio was still
further increased by a comedy abounding with keen satire,
which this writer, whose genius was not inferior to his
learning, produced; the chief design of which was to ex-
pose the ignorance of the monks. Jt was at first only cir-
culated in manuscript, but afterwards found its way into
the press, and was published in 150?. In the latter part of
his life, the adversaries of Capnio had too much reason to
exult over him ; for notwithstanding all his learning and
celebrity, he was scarcely able, by teaching the Greek and
Hebrew languages (which he did in several different schools)
to preserve himself from absolute want; nor must it be
forgot that he was the preceptor of Melancthon. He spent
his last days at Trebingen, where he died in 1522. His
faculties, which were naturally vigorous, were cultivated
with great industry. His mind was richly stored with vari-
ous erudition, and his character was eminently distinguished
by probity and urbanity. His principal works were, " An
Epitome of the History of the four Empires;" the " Life
R E U C H L I N. 149
of Constantino the Great," from Eusebius ; " De Verbo
mirifico," " De Arte Cabalistica," and " Letters from
learned men," Zurich, 1558. He is also supposed, but
unjustly, to have been the chief author of the celebrated
work, entitled " Epistolae Obscurorum Virorum." 1
REVES (JAMES DE), or REVIUS, a learned Dutch divine,
the son of a burgomaster of Deventer, was born in 1586,
and educated at Amsterdam, Leyden, and Franeker. In
1610 he travelled into France for farther improvement, and
resided two years at Saumur, Rochelle, and Orleans.
Having taken orders, he was, in 1641, chosen principal
and first professor of the theological college of the states
of Holland and West Friesland at Leyden. He died at
Leyden in 1658, at the age of 72. His works are very
numerous ; the principal are, " Belgicarum Ecclesiastica-
rum Doctrina et Ordo," &c.; " Historia Pontificum Ro-
manorum contracta, et ad Annum 1632 continuata;" "Da-
ventriae illustrate, sive Historiae Urbis Daventriensis,'*
Lib. vi. 1651, 4to. He also published an improved edition
of " The Book of Psalms," in Dutch verse, by Peter Da-
thsenus, and he was concerned in revising the Dutch yer-
sion of the Old Testament, which was printed at Leyden
in 1637. 9
REVICKZKY, or REVITSKY (COUNT CHARLES), a
German statesman, but more known as an accomplished
scholar and bibliographer, was born in Hungary Nov. 4,
.1737. Among his other diplomatic appointments he re-
sided for some years in London as envoy from the Imperial
court, and afterwards in a private capacity. He died at
Vienna in August 1793.
With great judgment, and at a considerable expence,
he collected a library most rich in scarce, valuable, and
beautiful books, and obtained such fame in this depart-
ment of literature, as to be ranked with the Vallieres,
Pinellis, and Lomenies of the day. Of this excellent li-
brary, he printed a descriptive catalogue under the title of
" Bibliotheca Grseca et Latina, complectens auctores fere
omnes Grteciae et Latii veteris, &c. cum delectu editionum
turn primariarum, principum, et rarissimarum, quum etiam
optima rum, splendidissimarum, atque nitidissimarum, quas
usui mei paravi PERIERGUS DELTOPHILUS," Berlin, 1784,
i Melchior Adam. Niceron, vol. XXV. Hody de Grci Illiiitribua. Dh
pin. Cave. Saxii Onomast. Brueker.
. 2 Niceron, vol. XXX. Foppen Bibl. Belg. Moreri.
150 R E V I C K Z K Y.
1794, Svo. To some of these catalogues were prefixed a
letter to M. L. A. D. i. e. Denina, and a preface. Three
supplements to this catalogue were afterwards published by
him, which are not easily procurable. Although the su-
perlatives in the title smack a little of the dealer, rather
than the private gentleman, the count has not exceeded
the bounds of truth, and perhaps few men were better
qualified to form a collection deserving of such praise.
With the boundless zeal, he had also the extensive know-
ledge of a collector, and understood and spoke readily the
principal ancient and modern languages. His frequent
removes made him acquainted with every public and pri-
vate library on the continent ; and he never missed an op-
portunity to add to his collection whatever was most curi-
ous and valuable at sales, or booksellers' shops. This
library is now in England, and in the possession of a noble-
man who knows its value, and whose own library at pre-
sent exceeds that of any subject in Europe. When count
Revickzky came to London, he made an offer to earl
Spenser to dispose of the whole collection to his lordship.
What the terms were is variously reported. It seems
agreed, however, that it was for a sum of money to be paid
immediately, and an annuity, which last the count did not
live long to enjoy. The count was himself an author, and
published the " Odes of Hafez," known here by Richard-
son's translation; a treatise on Turkish tactics; and an
edition of Petronius, Berlin, 1785, 8vo, formed on the
editions of Burman and Antonius. *
REYHER (SAMUEL), a German lawyer and mathemati-
cian, was born April 19, 1 635, at Schleusingen in the county
of Henneberg, and was educated at Leipsic and Leyden.
He was afterwards appointed preceptor to the young prince
of Gotha, then professor of mathematics at Kiel, 1655,
and some years after professor of law in the same place,
where he died Nov. 22, 1714, being then counsellor to
the duke of Saxe Gotha, and member of the Royal Academy
of Sciences at Berlin. Reyher translated Euclid's works
into German with algebraical demonstrations, and wrote
several works in Latin, among which, that entitled " Ma-
thesis Biblica," and a very curious Dissertation on the In-
scriptions upon our Saviour's cross and the hour of his
crucifixion, are particularly esteemed. 2
' Gent. Mag. vol. LXIV. -Dibdin's Bibliomania and Classics.
?- Moreri. Diet. Hist.
REYNEAU. 151
REYNEAU (CHARLES-RENE), commonly called Father
Reyneau, a noted French mathematician, was born at
Brissac, in the province of Anjou, in 1656. At twenty
years of age he entered himself in the congregation of the
Oratory at Paris, and was soon after sent, by his superiors,
to teach philosophy at Pezenas, and then at Toulon. His
employment requiring some acquaintance with geometry,
he contracted a great affection for this science, which he
cultivated and improved to so great an extent, that he was
called to Angers in 1683, to fill the mathematical chair ;
and the academy of Angers elected him a member in 1694.
In this occupation Father Reyneau, not content with
making himself master of every thing worth knowing,
which the modern analysis, so fruitful in sublime specula-
tions and ingenious discoveries, had already produced,
undertook to reduce into one body, for the use of his scho-
lars, the principal theories scattered here and there iu
Newton, Descartes, Leibnitz, Bernoulli, the Leipsic Acts,
the Memoirs of the Paris Academy, and in other works;
treasures which by being so widely dispersed, proved
much less useful than they otherwise might have been.
The fruit of this undertaking, was his " Analyse Demon-
tree," or Analysis Demonstrated, which he published in
1708, 2 vols. 4to. He gave it the name of "Analysis
Demonstrated," because he demonstrates in it several me-
thods which had not been handled by the authors of them,
with sufficient perspicuity and exactness. The book was
so well approved, that it soon became a maxim, at least in
France, that to follow him was the best, if not the only
way, to make any extraordinary progress in the mathema-
tics ; and he was considered as the first master, as the
Euclid of the sublime geometry.
Reyneau, after thus giving lessons to those who under-
stood something of geometry, thought proper to draw up
some for such as were utterly unacquainted with that
science. This produced in 1714, a volume in 4to, on cal-
culation, under the title of " Science du Caicul des Gran-
deurs," of which the then censor royal, a very intelligent
and impartial judge, says, in his approbation of it, that
" though several books had already appeared upon the
same subject, such a treatise as that before him was still
wanting, as in it every thing was handled in a manner suf-
ficiently extensive, and at the same time with all possible
exactness and perspicuity." In fact, though most branches
152 ft E Y N E A U.
of the mathematics had been well treated of before that
period, there were yet no good elements, even of practical
geometry. Those who knew no more than what precisely
such a book ought to contain, knew too little to complete
a good one ; and those that knew more, thought them-
selves probably above the task, for which Reyneau was well
qualified. In J 716 he was admitted into the royal academy
of sciences of Paris, as what was then called a free asso-
ciate. The works already mentioned are all he published
except a small piece on t( Logic.'* He left, however, in
MS. materials for a second volume of his ( f Science du
Calcul." He died much regretted, as he had always been
highly respected, in 1728, at the age of seventy-two. 1
REYNOLDS (DWARD), an English prelate of great
eminence and talents, the son of Austin Reynolds, one of
the customers of Southampton, was born there in Novem-
ber 1599, and educated at the free-school. In 1615 he
became post-master of Merton-college, Oxford, and in
3620 probationer-fellow, for which preferment he was in-
debted to his proficiency in the Greek language, and his
talents as a disputant and orator. After he had taken his
master's degree he went into orders, and was made preacher
at Lincoln r s-inn, where he acquired much popularity. He
also was preferred to the rectory of Braynton in Northamp-
tonshire. Finding himself inclined to acquiesce in the
breach that was to be made in the church at least, if not
the state, when the rebellion broke out in 1642, he joined
the presbyterian party ? and in 1643 was nominated one of
the assembly of divines, took the covenant, and frequently
preached before the long parliament. That he was in their
eyes a man of high consideration, appears from their nam-
ing him, in September 1646, one of the seven divines au-
thorized by parliament to go to Oxford, and to preach in
any church of that city, in lieu of the preachers appointed
by the university.
In this mission he and his colleagues were at first inter-
rupted by certain enthusiasts among the soldiers, headed
by one Erbury, who maintained that the ordination of these
divines was unlawful, and that no ordination was necessary
for any man who had gifts. This was a favourite topic in
those days, and is not yet exhausted. In the following year
be was nominated to the more obnoxious office of one of
i Martin's Biog. Philos.-r-Huttoa's Diet. Moreri.
REYNOLDS.
the .visitors of the university, and in Feb. 1 648 was chosen
vice-chancellor, on the recommendation of the earl of
Pembroke, then chancellor of the university. ID this last
office he was to continue until August 1649. He was also,
by a mandate from parliament, which now was supreme in
all matters, created D. D. In March 1648 he was ap-
pointed dean of Christ church, in the room of Dr. Fell,
who was ejected with no common degree of violence, Mrs.
Fell and her family being literally dragged out of the
deanery house by force. Dr. Reynolds being admitted into
office in form, Wood says, " made a polite and accurate
oration," in Latin, in which " he spoke very modestly of
himself, and how difficult it WAS for a man that had se-
questered himself from secular employments to be called
to government, especially to sit at the stern in these rough
and troublesome times; but since he had subjected himself
to those that have authority to command him, he did de-
sire that good example and counsel might prevail more in
this reformation than severity and punishments."
Notwithstanding his acting with his brother-visitors in
all the changes and ejectments they brought about in the
university, he at length refused the engagement " to be
true and faithful to the commonwealth of England, as esta-
blished without a King and a House of Lords," and there-
fore was in his turn ejected from his deanery, in 1651.
He lived afterwards mostly in London, and preached there,
as vicar of St. Lawrence-Jury. On the prospect of the
restoration he joined with general Monk, to bring in the
king, using his interest for that purpose in London, where
he was the pride and glory of the presbyterian party. Dr.
Pierce, in the introduction to his u Divine Purity defend-
.ed," says he was a person of great authority a,s well as
fame among the Calvinists.
When the secluded members were admitted again to
parliament, they restored him to his deanery of Christ-
church, in May 1659. And in May following, 1660, he,
with Mr. Edmund Calamy, was made chaplain to his ma-
jesty, then at Canterbury. After this he preached several
times before the King and both Houses of Parliament ; and
in the latter end of June, being desired to quit his deanery,
he was the next month elected, by virtue of the king's
letter, warden of Merton-college, and was consecrated
bishop of Norwich Jan. 6, the same year. Sir Thomas
Browne, who knew him well, gives him the character of a
154 REYNOLDS.
person of singular affability, meekness, and humility, of
great learning, a frequent preacher, and constant resident.
But a more full account of our author is given in a funeral
sermon preached at Norwich by the reverend Mr. Riveley,
in July 1676, in which his character as a man of piety and
learning, and as a divine and prelate, is highly praised.
Wood, in his " Athenae," says he was " a person of ex-
cellent parts and endowments, of a very good wit, fancy,
and judgment, a great divine, and much esteemed by all
parties, for his preaching, and fluid style." In his " An-
nals" he is inclined to be less favourable. It was perhaps
naturally to be expected that one who had taken so active
a part in the revolutionary changes of the times, and yet
afterwards accepted a bishopric, should not be much a
favourite with either party. Wood also insinuates that
Dr. Reynolds was much under the government of his wife,
whom he calls " covetous and insatiable," and concludes
in these words : " In this I must commend him, that he
hath been a benefactor (though not great) to Merton-col-
lege, that gave him all his academical education (for which
in some manner the society hath shewed themselves grate-
ful), and 'tis very probable that greater he would have
been, if not hindered by his beloved consort."
Dr. Reynolds assisted at the Savoy conference, and on
the first day, according to Neal, spoke much for abate-
ments and moderation, <{ but afterwards sitting among the
bishops, he only spoke now and then a qualifying word,
but was heartily grieved for the fruitless issue of the con-
ference." The same author says that he was " prevailed
with to accept a bishopric on the terms of the king's de-
claration, which never took place." But another of his
biographers says, " His education gave him no prejudice
to monarchy or episcopacy ; and when a man can ad-
vance himself with a good conscience, why may he not
leave what interest only had engaged him in ? Let them
that blame his last turn, justify him, if they can, in the
former. He was now submitting to authority, however he
had opposed it. Their standing out, and keeping up a
schism, when they were put upon nothing but what they
owned indifferent, has a worse look than returning from
wrong to right," &c. Dr. Reynolds, however, after the
government was completely re-established, became a con-
stant resident in his diocese, and mixed no more with
affairs of state. He died at the episcopal palace at NOT-
REYNOLDS. 155
wich Jan. 16, 1676, aged seventy-six. He was buried at
the upper end of the chapel (built by himself in 1662)
joining to the bishop's palace in Norwich. Over his grave,
soon after his death, was fastened to the wall a marble
table, on which his epitaph in Latin was engraven.
His works are, " The Vanity of the Creature," on
Eccies. i. 14. " Sinfulness of Sin," on Rom. vii. 9, and
on vi. 12. " Use of the Law," on Horn. vii. 13. " Life
of Christ," on 1 John, v. 12. " An Explication of the ex
Psalm." " Meditations on the Holy Sacrament of the
Lord's last Supper." " Explication of the 14 Chapter of
Hosea, in seven Humiliation Sermons." " A Treatise of
the Passions and Faculties of the Soul of Man;" all or most
of which having been printed several times in 4to, were
collected in one large folio at London in 1658, with the
author's portrait, and went by the name of " Bishop Rey-
nolds's Works." They were much bought up, read and
recommended by men of several persuasions ; and are
written in a style superior to the generality of works of
divinity in that age. " Thirty Sermons" preached on
several occasions, between 1634, and his death, some
of which had been printed several times, were reprinted
in the second edition of his works, at London, 1679, folio.
Among them is his Latin Sermon preached at Oxon. 1649,
entitled " Animalis Homo," on 1 Cor. ii. 14. He also
wrote the " Assembly of Divines' Annotations," on Eccle-
siastes, which were so much admired that many learne'd
men of [the presbyterian persuasion, wished that the rest
had been all wrote parifilo K. eruditione. He also was the
author of the " Epistolary Preface to William Barlee's Cor-
reptory Correction," c. of some notes of Thomas Pierce
concerning God's decrees, especially of reprobation ; which
book, with the Epistolary preface, a second of Thomas
Whitfield, and a third of Daniel Cawdrey, sometime of
Cambridge, were printed at London, 1656, 4to. He is
also said to be the author of " The humble Proposals of
sundry learned, pious Divines within this Kingdom, con-
cerning the engagement intended to be imposed on them
for their subscriptions," London, 1650, 4to. One sheet
was published in December 1649. John Ducy pub-
lished an answer, entitled " Just Re-proposals to hum-
ble Proposals : or, an impartial consideration of," &c.
London, 1650, 4to, four sheets. And it is probable that he
wrote several other things besides those above-mentioned ;
156 REYNOLDS.
particularly his " Meditations on the Fall of Peter," a
short tvrelves, never inserted in any of the folio editions.
Of the family of bishop Reynolds we find mention of his
son EDWARD, who was educated at St. Paul's school, and a
fellow of Magdalen-college, Oxford, archdeacon of Nor-
wich, and prebendary of Worcester. He was also for forty
years rector of St. Peter's Northampton, and died in his
sixty-ninth year, June 28, 1698. He was buried in Kings-
thorpe chqrch, near Northampton, where is a monument
and inscription to his memory. Dr. Knight says, he was
"a very able and judicious divine, and a very worthy son
of so good a father." Some notices of two of the bishop's
descendants may be found in Cumberland's life. 1
REYNOLDS (HENRY REVELL), a late eminent pbysi-
jcian, was born in the county of Nottingham, Sept. 26,
1745; and his father having died about a month before,
the care of him devolved on his maternal great-uncle and
godfather, Mr. Henry Revell, of Gainsborough ; by whom
he was sent, at an early age, to a school at Beverley in
Yorkshire, then in great repute under the government of
Mr. Ward. Having early shewn a disposition for his pro-
fession, his uncle placed him, at the age of eighteen, as a
commoner at Lincoln college, Oxford. It was in the se-
cond year of his residence at this university that he had
the misfortune to lose his uncle and benefactor, the me-
mory of whom was ever cherished by him with a pious and
grateful affection, and who left him a small landed property
in Lincolnshire, by which he was enabled to prosecute the
object that he had in view. He continued at Oxford till
the early part of 1766, when, in order to the obtaining of
his medical degrees sooner, he was admitted, by a benc
decessit from Oxford, ad eundem to Trinity college, Cam-
bridge, and he kept a term at that university. In the
summer of this year he went to Edinburgh, and resided
there two years, and after attending a course of medical
studies, returned in 1768 to Cambridge, when the degree
of bachelor of physic being conferred upon him, he went
to London, and attended as pupil at the Middlesex hospital.
The following year he became a resident physician at
Guildford; and married Miss Wilson, in the month of
.April 1770. By the advice, however, of his friend, Dr.
' Ath. Ox. vol. II. Wpod'a Annals. NeaPs Puritans. Gent. Mag. vol.
LXXVHI. p. 294 Lives of English Bihops, 1733, 8vo, by Salojon Knight 1 *
,LifeofCokt.
REYNOLDS. 157
lluck, afterwards Dr. Huck Saimders, he settled in Lon-
don, in Lamb's Conduit-street, in the summer of 1772.
The next year he took the degree of doctor of physic at
Cambridge, and was immediately afterwards elected phy-
sician to the Middlesex hospital. In 1774 he was chosen
a fellow, and at the same time a censor, of tke college of
physicians. He soon became the object of particular no-
tice and regard by the eminent physicians of that day, doc-
tors Huck, Fothergill, and sir Richard Jebb; and the high
opinion which the latter gentleman had formed of his pro-
fessional abilities, and personal character and manners,
and the consequent expression of that opinion, and recom-
mendation of Dr. Reynolds to his majesty, were the ori-
ginal cause of his being called into attendance upon the
king in the memorable period of 1788. In 1776 he was
appointed to speak the Harveian oration ; and, although,
his modesty would not suffer him to print it, it has been
thought worthy of being compared with the most classical
of these harangues. In the course of it, he exactly de-
scribed that mode, which he ever observed, of performing
the various duties of his profession, and of dispensing its
various benefits. In 1777 Dr. Reynolds was elected phy-
sician to St. Thomas's hospital ; and from this period his
business gradually increased, till, in the progress of a few
years, he attained to the highest fame and practice in his
profession. In every successive illness of our revered so-
vereign since 1788, Dr. Reynolds's attendance on his ma-
jesty was always required; and his public examinations
before parliament are recorded proofs of his high merits as
a physician, a gentleman, and a scholar ; while his ap-
pointments to the situations of physician extraordinary to
the king in 1797, and physician in ordinary in 1806, evince
the estimation in which his sovereign held his character
and his services. When he was called into attendance at
Windsor, he was suffering under a rheumatic affection,
which had been oppressing him for some time. The
anxiety attached to such an attendance as the illness of his
majesty required, had oil this occasion a very powerful, if
not a fatal, influence. The first day that he seriously felt
the fatigues of mind and body was, after his examination
before the House of Lords, the etiquette of this branch of
parliament not allowing a witness to sit down, Dr. Rey-
nolds, who, in consequence of his having attended his
majesty in all his previous similar illnesses, was examined
158 REYNOLD S.
at greater length than his other brethren were, was kept
standing fur two hours, and the riext clay was reluctantly
compelled to remain the whole of it in his bed. On the
following, however, he returned to Windsor; but from
this time his appetite began to fail, and his strength and
flesh visibly to diminish. In the month of March, 1811,
these symptoms had so much increased, that his friends
besought him to retire from his anxious attendance at
Windsor, to spare his mind and body entirely, and to de-
vote himself solely to the re-establishment of his own
health ; but unfortunately for his family, his friends, and
the public, he would not be persuaded. While any powers
were left, to his majesty's service he resolved that they
should be devoted : and thus he persevered till the 4th of
May, when he returned to London extremely ill ; and
from that day his professional career was stopped. Hav-
ing been confined to his room for nearly three weeks, he
was prevailed upon, by his excellent friends Dr. Latham
and Dr. Ainslie, to go to Brighton, where he remained
two months. Sometimes during this anxious period he
would seem to rally, but the appearances were deceitful ;
they were the mere struggles of a naturally good constitu-
tion, unimpaired by any intemperance, against the inroads
of a disease. At the end of the month of July, he re-
turned to his house in Bedford-square, where he lingered
Until Oct. 23, on which day he expired, very deeply re-
gretted for his talents, virtues, and professional skill and
humanity. 1
REYNOLDS (SiR JOSHUA), the most illustrious painter
of the English school, was born at Plympton, in Devon-
shire, July 16, 1723. His ancestors on both sides were
clergymen. His father had no adequate provision for the
maintenance of his large family, but appears to have libe-
rally encouraged his son's early attempts in that art, of
which he afterwards became so illustrious a professor.
When but eight years of age, Joshua had made himself
master of a treatise, entitled " The Jesuit's Perspective,"
and increased his love of the art still more, by studying
Richardson's " Treatise on Painting." In his seventeenth
year, he was placed as a pupil under his countryman, Mr.
Hudson, whom, in consequence of some disagreement, he
left in 1743, and removed to Devonshire for three years,
> Gent. Mag. vol. LXXXII. Part IT. p. 82,
REYNOLDS. 159
during which, after some waste of time, which he ever la-
mented, he sat down seriously to the study and practice of
his art. The first of his performances, which brought him
into notice, was the portrait of captain Hamilton, father of
the present marquis of Abercorn, painted in 1746. About
this time he appears to have returned to London.
In 1746, by the friendship of captain (afterwards lord)
Keppel, he had an opportunity to visit the shores of the
Mediterranean, and to pass some time at Rome. The
sketch he wrote of his feelings when he first contemplated
the works of Raphael in the Vatican, so honourable to his
modesty and candour, has been presented to the public
by Mr. Malone, and is a present on which every artist must
set a high value. He returned to London in 1752, and
soon rose to the head of his profession ; an honour which
did not depend so much on those he eclipsed, as on his
retaining that situation for the whole of a long life, by
powers unrivalled in his own or any other country. Soon,
after his return from Italy, his acquaintance with Dr.
Johnson commenced. Mr. Boswell has furnished us with
abundant proofs of their mutual esteem and congenial
spirit, and Mr. Malone has added the more deliberate opi-
nion of sir Joshua respecting Dr. Johnson, which may be
introduced here without impropriety. It reflects indeed as
much honour on the writer as on the subject, and was to
have formed part of a discourse to the academy, which,
from the specimen Mr. Malone has given, it is much to be
regretted he did not live to finish.
Speaking of his own discourses, our great artist says,
" Whatever merit they have, must be imputed, in a great
measure, to the education which I may be said to have had
under Dr. Johnson. I do not mean to say, though it cer-
tainly would be to the credit of these discourses if I could
say it with truth, that he contributed even a single senti-
ment to them : but he qualified my mind to think justly.
No man had, like himj the faculty of teaching inferior
minds the art of thinking. Perhaps other men might havg
equal knowledge, but few were so communicative. His
great pleasure was to talk to those who looked up to him.
It was here he exhibited his wonderful powers. In mixed
company, and frequently in company that ought to have
looked up to him, many, thinking they had a character for
learning to support, considered it as beneath them to en-
list in the train of his auditors : and to such persons he
itfo li ir N o L D s.
certainly did not appear to advantage, being often i
tuous and overbearing. The desire of shining in conver-
sation was in him indeed a predominant passion ; and if it
must be attributed to vanity, let it at the same time be
recollected, that it produced that loquaciousness from
which his more intimate friends derived considerable ad-
vantage. Th'e observations which he made on poetry, on
life, and on every thing about us, I applied to our art,
with what success others must judge." This short extract
is not unconnected with a conjecture which many enter-
tained, that sir Joshua did not compose his lectures him-
self. In addition to his own declaration here, as far as re-
spects Dr. Johnson, who was chiefly suspected as having a
hand in these lectures, Mr. Northcote, who lived some
years in his house, says, in his memoirs, " At the period
when it was expected he should h : ave composed them, I
have heard him walking at intervals in his room till one or
two o'clock in the mjorning, and I have on the following
day, at an early hour, seen the papers on the subject of
his art which had been written the preceding night. I
have had the rude manuscript from himself, in his own
hand-writing, in order to make a fair copy from it for him
to read in public : I have seen the manuscript also after it
had been revised by Dr. Johnson, who has' sometimes al-
tered it to a wrong meaning, from his total ignorance of
the subject and of art; but never, to my knowledge, saw
the marks of Burke's pen in any of the manuscripts. The
bishop of Rochester, also, who examined the writings of
Mr. Burke since his death, and lately edited a part of them,
informed a friend that he could discover no reason to think
that Mr. Burke had the least hand in the discourses of
Reynolds." And Burke himself, in a letter to Mr. Ma-
lone, after the publication of sir Joshua's life and works,
Says, " I have read over some part of the discourses with
an unusual sort of pleasure, partly because being faded a
little in my memory, they have a sort of appearance of
novelty ; partly by reviving recollections mixed with me-
lancholy and satisfaction. The Flemish journal I had never
seen before. You trace in that, every where, the spirit of
the discourses, supported by new examples. He is always
the same man ; the same philosophical, the same artist-like
critic, the same sagacious observer, with the same minute-
ness, without the smallest degree of trifling." We may
safely say, this is dot the language of one who had himself
REYNOLDS. 161
contributed much to those discourses. And if neither
Johnson nor Burke wrote for Reynolds, to whom else
among his contemporaries shall the praise due to those in-
valuable compositions be given, if Reynolds is to be de-
prived of it !
In consequence of his connexion with Dr. Johnson, Mr.
Reynolds furnished three essays in the Idler, No. 76, on
false criticisms on painting, which may be recommended
to the serious perusal of many modern connoisseurs; No.
79, on the grand style of painting; and No. 82, on the
true idea of beauty ; of which Mr. Boswell informs us the
last words, " and pollute his canvass with deformity," were
added by Dr. Johnson. These essays have been very pro-
perly incorporated with sir Joshua's works, by Mr. Malone,
as they were his first literary attempts, the earnest of those
talents which afterwards proved that he was as eminent in
the theory as in the practice of his art.
It is much to be lamented, that the world was deprived
of this great artist before he had put into execution a plan
which his biographer, Mr. Malone says, appears, from some
loose papers, to have been revolved in his mind. " I have
found," says that author, " among sir Joshua's papers, some
detached and unconnected thoughts, written occasionally,
as hints for a discourse, on a new and singular plan, which
he seems to have intended as a history of his mind, so far
as concerned his art; and of his progress, studies, and
practice ; together with a view of the advantages he had
enjoyed, and the disadvantages he had laboured under, in
the course that he had run : a scheme, from which, how-
ever liable it might be to the ridicule of wits and scoffers
(of which, he says, he was perfectly aware), he conceived
the students might derive some useful documents for the
regulation of their own conduct and practice." Such a
composition, from such a man, written after he had spent
a long life in successful practice, with none to guide him ;
who had chosen a line of art for himself, stamped 'with ori-
ginality ; and in which he had to unfold principles, aiid
elucidate them by practice ; and competent as he was to
explain the operations of his own mind ; could not fail of
being interesting and useful in the highest degree.
In 1781, during the summer, he made a tour through
Holland and the Netherlands, with a view of examining
critically the works of the celebrated masters of the Dutch
and Flemish schools. A n account of this journey, written
VOL. XXVI. M
162 REYNOLDS.
by himself, containing much excellent criticism on the
works of Ruhens, Vandyke, Rembrandt, &c. in the churches
and different collections at Antwerp, Brussels, Ghent, the
Dusseldorf gallery, and at Amsterdam, was published after
his death ; it concludes with a masterly-drawn character of
Rubens. In 1783, in consequence of the emperor's sup-
pression of some religious houses, he again visited Flan-
ders, purchased some pictures by Rubens, and devoted
several more days to the contemplation and further inves-
tigation of the performances of that great man. On his
return, he remarked that his own pictures wanted force
and brilliancy, and he appeared, by his subsequent prac-
tice, to have benefited by the observations he had made.
This year, on the death of Ramsay, he was made principal
painter in ordinary to his majesty, and continued so till
his death.
For a very long period he had enjoyed an almost unin-
terrupted state of good health, except that in 1782 he was
for a short time afflicted with a paralytic stroke. A few-
weeks, however, perfectly restored him, and he suffered
no inconvenience from it afterwards. But in July 1789,
whilst he was painting the portrait of lady Beauchamp, he
found his sight so much affected, that it was with difficulty
he could proceed with his work ; and notwithstanding every
assistance that could be procured, he was in a few months
totally deprived of the use of his left eye. After some
struggles, he determined, lest his remaining eye should
also suffer, to paint no more : and though he was thus de-
prived of a constant employment and amusement, he re-
tained his usual spirits, and partook of the society of his
friends with apparently the same pleasure to which he had
been accustomed ; and was amused by reading, or hearing
others read to him. In October 1791, however, his spirits
began to fail him, and he became dejected, from an ap-
prehension that an inflamed tumour, which took place over
*he eye that had perished, might occasion the destruction
of the other also. Meanwhile he laboured under a more
dangerous disease, which deprived him both of his spirits
and his appetite. During this period of great affliction to
all his friends, his malady was by many supposed to be
imaginary, and it was erroneously conceived, that by exer-
tion he might shake it off; for he was wholly unable to
explain to the physicians the nature or seat of his disorder.
Jt was only about a fortnight before his death that it was
REYNOLDS. 163
found to be in the liver; the inordinate growth of which,
as it afterwards appeared, had incommoded all the func-
tions of life. Of this disease, which he bore with great
fortitude and patience, he died, after a confinement of three
months, at his house in Leicester-square, on Thursday
evening, February 23, 1792, at the age of sixty-nine.
In stature, sir Joshua Reynolds was rather under the
middle size, of a florid complexion, roundish, blunt fea-
tures, and a lively pleasing aspect ; not corpulent, though
somewhat inclined to it; and extremely active. With
manners uncommonly polished and agreeable, he possessed
a constant flow of spirits, which rendered him at all times a
most desirable companion : always ready to be amused, and
to contribute to the amusement of others, and anxious to
receive information on every subject that presented itself :
and though he had been deaf almost from the time of his
return from Italy ; yet, by the aid of an ear-trumpet, he
was enabled to partake of the conversation of his friends
with great facility and convenience. On the 3d of March
his remains were interred in the crypt of St. Paul's, near
the tomb of sir Christopher Wren, with every honour that
could be shewn to worth and genius by an enlightened na-
tion ; a great number of the most distinguished persons
attending the funeral ceremony, and his pall being sup-
ported by three dukes, two marquisses, and five other no-
blemen.
In many respects, both as a man and a painter, sir
Joshua Reynolds cannot be too much studied, praised, and
imitated by every one who wishes to attain the like emi-
nence. His incessant industry was never wearied into de-
spondency by miscarriage, nor elated into neglect by suc-
cess. Either in his painting-room, or wherever else he
passed his time, his mind was devoted to the charms of his
profession. All nature, and all art, was his academj r , and
his reflection was ever on the wing, comprehensive, vi-
gorous, discriminating, and retentive. With taste to per-
ceive all* the varieties of the picturesque, judgment to se-
lect, and skill to combine what would serve his purpose,
few have ever been empowered by nature to do more from
the fund of their own genius : and none ever endeavoured
more to take advantage of the labours of others. He made
a splendid and useful collection, in which no expence wa?
spared. His house was filled, to the remotest corners, with
casts from the antique statues, pictures, drawings a and
M 2
164 REYNOLDS.
prints, by various masters of all the different schools.
Those he looked upon as his library, at once objects of
amusement, of study, and competition. After his death
they were sold by auction, with his unclaimed and un-
finished works, and, together, produced the sum of
16,947/. 7s. 6d. The substance of his whole property, ac-
cumulated entirely by his pencil, and left behind after a
life in which he freely parted with his wealth, amounted to
about 80,000/.
The acknowledged superiority of sir Joshua Reynolds's
professional talents, and the broad basis on which it is
founded, makes it now unnecessary to be collecting suf-
frages to add weight to the general opinion ; but a review
of those powers which rank him as a man of genius, and
distinguish him among the most eminent of his profession,
may not be without its interest.
His early education was not strictly academic, as he
himself regrets ; nor to any extent did he ever cultivate
the elementary principles of design, but, as portraits were
to shape his fortune, facility of composition, or laborious
application to the refinements of an outline, were less ne-
cessary. Whether he would have been as eminent in his-
torical painting as he was in that department which it was
his lot to pursue, would be now an inquiry as useless as
unsatisfactory. That his powers were great in whatever
way they were employed, will be readily acknowledged ;
his taste was too refined, and his judgment too correct, to
tolerate defects which were not counterbalanced by some
advantages ; but as his early practice was exclusively de-
voted to portraits, and as it was the chief employment of
his whole life, it cannot remain a subject of choice to what
branch of his profession a fair analysis of his merit ought
to be referred.
From the first examples of sir Joshua, as well as from
his own confession, on seeing the works of Raphael in the
Vatican, it would seem evident that the ornamental parts
of the art had absorbed his previous studies, and made the
deepest impression on his mind. Little, therefore, could
be wanting to induce him to pursue that plan of study,
which at the same time that it was the most congenial to
his feelings, was in the highest degree important to give
interest to individual representation. In pursuing his stu-
dies when abroad, he embraced the whole field before him :
but his time was not spent in collecting or making servile
REYNOLDS. 165
copies, but in contemplating the principles of the great
masters, that he might the more effectually do what he
has recommended to others, follow them in the road with-
out treading in their steps; and no man ever appropriated
to himself with more admirable skill their extensive and
varied powers.
The style of portrait-painting by Hudson and Ramsay,
who were the only persons of any practice when sir Joshua
returned from abroad, was uniformly dry and hard, with-
out any feeling for chiar-oscura, and with little diversity of
attitude and expression ; the full dress, which the custom
of the day prescribed, prescribed also limits to their ima-
ginations, and they never gave themselves the trouble to
discriminate between the character of nature, and the cha-
racter of fashion. Sir Joshua, with a more comprehensive
view of his art, shewed how portrait might be generalized,
so as to identify the individual man with the dignity of his
thinking powers. In dress, he selected and adopted what
was most conformable to the character of his subject, with-
out implicitly following the fashion or offending the pre-
judice which it begets.
In the pursuit of those high attainments to which he
arrived, he evidently had Rembrandt and Correggio more
particularly in his mind. The magical effect, and richness
of colouring of the Dutch master, seems to have been with
him a constant source of reflection and experiment to rival
his inimitable powers. Correggio gave all that grace and
harmony could supply, and sir Joshua in his infantine por-
traits, is beyond all competition without an equal. His fe-
male portraits are also designed with an exquisite feeling of
taste and elegance ; and for that variety of composition
which pervades his works, it will be in vain to seek a rival
in the most illustrious of his predecessors.
His works of the historical kind shew great strength of
mind, and leave us to regret that this land of portrait paint-
ing had not given him equal opportunity to cultivate it ;
but, from the want of that habit which practice would have
given him, he was used to say that historical effort cost him
too much. He better knew what he wanted than possessed
a promptitude of giving form and substance to his feelings.
His count Ugolino, for pathos and grandeur of design, per-
haps yields to no composition that was ever made ot that
subject; and his Holy Family, when combined with it, will
166 REYNOLDS.
serve to show, at one view, the comprehensiveness and di-
versity of his genius.
The colouring of sir Joshua, which has been deservedly
the subject of the highest admiration and praise, has also
been the most familiar topic of animadversion and censure.
By the jocose he has been charged with "coming off with
flying colours," but by less indulgent friends, with the more
serious accusation of having made experiments at their ex-
pense. In the pursuit of excellence, he was certainly not
content with the common routine of practice ; and, as he
thought for himself, so he invented new methods of em-
bodying those thoughts. That he was sometimes unsuc-
cessful cannot be denied ; but one failure seems to have
had a hundred voices to report it, and in arithmetical pro-
portion to have increased as envy was created by his tran-
scendant superiority. Upon due reflection, however, when
the space is considered through which he passed to arrive at
the high professional rank he acquired, there can be little
doubt that the astonishment will be, not at the many, but
the few exceptionable works he produced ; and even of
these it is no hyperbole to say, that as long as the true
principles of art are admired, his " faded pictures" will be
found to possess a power of mind which has not often been
surpassed even by the best productions of his own time. l
REZZONICO (ANTHONY JOSEPH, count) an excellent
scholar, marshal of the camp, chamberlain to his royal high-
ness the infant duke of Parma, and governor of that citadel,
was born atComo in 1709. He acquired distinction in the
army and at court, but must have devoted much of his life
to literary pursuits. His first publication was a folio volume,
printed at Como in 1742, entitled " De suppositis militari-
bus stipendiis Benedicti Odeschalci, qui pontifex maxiinus
anno 1676, Innocentii prsenomine fuit renunciatus." His
next was a volume of poetry, " Musarum Epinicia," ad-
dressed to Louis XV. Parma, 1757; but that which most
entitles him to notice was his " Disquisitiones Plinianae, sive
de utriusque Flinii patria, scriptis, codicibus, editionibus,
atque interpretibus," Parma, 1763, 2 vols. fol. Of this
Ernesti speaks very highly in his edition of.Fabricius's Bibl.
Latina. Brunet mentions some " Academical Discourses"
in Italian, published by count Rezzonico in 1772, 8vo. He
1 Life prefixed to his works by Malone. Life by Northcote. Pilkington.
For the character of sir Joshua as an artist we were indebted to Rich. Duppa,
esq. who drew it up for the British Essayists, vol. XXXIII. preface.
REZZONICO. 167
died March 16, 1785. His son, the COUNT GASTONE DEL-
LA TORRE REZZONICO, was born in Parma about 1740. He
was early initiated into science and polite literature ; and
so considerable were his attainments, that in his earliest
youth he was chosen fellow of the poetical academy in
Rome, known under the name of Arcadia. The reigning
duke of Parma havingerected in his metropolis an academy
of fine arts, count Rezzonico was appointed its president ;
but, by some vicissitudes, was utterly disgraced at court,
and deprived, not only of the place of president of the aca-
demy, but even of that of hereditary chamberlain. He was
therefore obliged to leave Parma. He first undertook long
tours through Europe, especially in France and England,
during which he became completely master of both lan-
guages ; and at his return to Italy he fixed his residence in
Rome, though he often made long excursions to Naples and
Florence. Availing himself of his ample leisure, he wrote
several works in prose and poetry, the former of no great
merit, but from his poetical works he deserves to be placed
among the best Italian poets of his age. He was distin-
guished by liveliness of imagery, propriety of diction, ex-
actness of epithet, and by a nobleness of expression ac-
quired by deep study of the Greek and Latin classics. His
versification, however, was something harsh, and the mean-
ing of some phrases obscure. He died in 1795, fifty-five
years of age. He was highly esteemed by the Italian
nobility, and men of letters, for the elegance of his man-
ners and the eloquence of his conversation. These qualities
were, however, in the opinion of some, obscured by an
immoderate self-love, and an irrational predilection for his
own works. A complete collection of his poetical works
in two volumes was printed at Parma by the celebrated
Bodoni. '
RHAZES, called also Albubecar Mohamed, one of the
most distinguished of the Arabian physicians, was born at
Rei, in the province of Chorosan, about the year 852.
He was first much addicted to music, and is said not to
have studied medicine until he was thirty years of age,
when he removed to Bagdad, became indefatigable in his
application, and having obtained the highest reputation,
was selected out of a hundred eminent physicians, who
were then resident at Bagdad, to superintend the cele-
* Diet. Hist, Saxii Onomast,
168 R H A Z E S.
brated hospital of that city. His biographers speak of
him as the Galen of the Arabians ; and from his long life
and constant practice, during which he paid the most assi-
duous attention to the varieties of disease, he obtained the
appellation of the experimenter, or the experienced. He
was said also to be profoundly skilled in all the sciences,
especially in philosophy, astronomy, and music. He tra-
velled much in pursuit of knowledge, and made frequent
journies into Persia, his native country, and was much
consulted by several princes, particularly by Almanzor,
the chief of Chorasan, with whom he frequently corre-
sponded, and to whom he dedicated several of his writ-
ings. Two hundred and twenty-six treatises are said to
have been composed by Rhazes, among which the ten
books addressed to his patron Almanzor, were designed
as a complete body of physic, and may be deemed the
great magazine of all the Arabian medicine ; the ninth
book, indeed, which treats of the cure of diseases, was in
such general estimation for several centuries, that it was the
text-book of the public schools, and was commented upon
by the most learned professors. Yet, like the rest of the
Arabian writings, it contains very little more than the
substance of the works of the Greeks, from whom the
Arabians borrowed almost all their medical knowledge.
They have, indeed, and Rhazes in particular, given the
first distinct account of the small-pox ; and Rhazes wrote
also the first treatise ever composed respecting the diseases
of children. His book on the affections of the joints con-
tains an account of some remarkable cures, effected chiefly
by copious blood-letting. He describes the symptoms of
hydrophobia very well ; and also some diseases peculiar to
eastern countries, and first noticed the disease called spina
ventosa. Rhazes had the reputation of being a skilful al-
chemist ; and is the first, as Dr. Freind has shewn, who
mentions the use of chemical preparations in medicine.
He has a chapter on the qualifications of a physician ; and
a singular tract on quacks and impostors, who appear to
have been at least as numerous, and ingenious in their
contrivances as in more recent times.
Rhazes lived to the age of eighty, and lost his sight : he
died in the year 932. His works that have come down to
us through the medium of translations in Latin are, I. A
sort of common-place book, entitled " Continens," or
" Libri Continentes." 2. A much more perfect work, the
R H A 1 E S. 169
" Libri Decem, ad Almansorem," published at Venice,
1*10. 3. Six books of aphorisms, published under the title
of " Liber de Secretis, qui Aphorismorum appellatur,"
Bononiae, 1489. 4. A tract on the small-pox, often trans-
lated, and printed with the title of " De Pestilential" the
best translation is by Channing, London, 1766. l
RHENANUS (BEATUS), a very eminent scholar and
editor, was born, in 1485, at Schelestat, a town of Alsace.
The name of his family was Bilde; that of Rhenanus had
been adopted by his father, who had considerable property
at Rhenac, his native place. His mother died in his infan-
cy, and his father, who never married again, bestowed his
whole attention for some years on his education. After
some instruction in his own country, he was sent to Paris,
where he studied Greek, rhetoric, and poetry, under the
best masters. He then pursued his studies for some years
at Strasburgh, and afterwards at Basil, where he contracted ,
an intimacy with Erasmus that lasted during their lives,
accompanied with mutual respect and friendship. In 1520,
he returned to Scheiestat, in his thirty-fifth year, just in
time to take leave of his father, who died the day after his
arrival.
Dupin remarks, that Rhenanus was one of those learned
men, who embrace no particular profession, and whose
only business it is to cultivate the sciences, and their only
ambition to become benefactors to the republic of letters.
Rhenanus was so much disposed to this kind of life, that he
obtained from Charles V. an exemption from all employ-
ment of a public nature. He had even no thoughts of
marriage until near the end of his life, nor was that made
public, as soon after he found himself attacked by the dis-
order which at last proved fatal. His physicians prescribed
the waters of Baden, in Swisserland, but finding his disor-
der increase, he returned to Strasburgh, where he died,
May 20, 1547, in his sixty-second year. He made no
will but a verbal one. He left his library to his native
place, Schelestat. He was a man of extraordinary mild-
ness of temper, an enemy to contests, and of singular mo-
desty and probity. Although, by his intimacy with Eras-
mus, and some of the early reformers, he was enabled to
see many of the errors of the church of Rome, he adhered
to her communion to the last: he said and wrote enough,
Freind's Hist, of Physic, E!oy, Diet. Hist, de Medicine. Rees's Cyclopad.
170 R H E N A N U S.
however, to be classed with some protestant writers on their
side. Beza, who is one of those, attempts to distinguish
the share he had in encouraging the efforts of the reformers,
with that more general fame he derived from his services to
literature, and joins cordially in the praises bestowed on his
talents and amiable disposition. One only objection is
mentioned by most of his biographers, and that is his par-
simony, of which, however, no very clear proof is afforded,
except a pun upon his name, " Beatus est beatus, attamen
sibi."
His works are, l. a very valuable edition of " Tertulliani
Opera," Basil, 1521, fol. from original MSS. Dupin speaks
highly of the notes and prefaces, as well as of the author of
them. 2. "Auctores historic Ecclesiasticae," viz. Euse-
bius, Pamphilus, Nicephorus, Theodoret, &c. Basil, 1523,
1535, and Paris, 1541, 2 vols. fol. 3. " S. Basil. Sermo
de differentia Usiaa et Hypostasis," Paris, 1513, fol. 4.
" Synopsis de laudibus Calvitii cum scholiis," Basil, 1519,
4to, 1521 and 1551, 8vo, added also at the end of Eras-
mus's " Moriae Encomium." 5. " S. Gregorii Nanzianzeni
oratio et Epistolae duae ad Themistium," Paris, 1513,.
fol. 6. "A Latin translation of the works of Origen,"
which Erasmus left unfinished, and was completed by our
author, at Basil, 1536, fol. with a preface addressed to
Herman, archbishop of Cologne, containing a life of Eras-
mus. This last he also incorporated in the dedication to
Charles V. of the edition of Erasmus's works, printed at
Basil in 1540. 7. " Maximus Tyrius," Basil, 1519, fol.
with Paccius's translation, and a preface and corrections
by Rhenanus. 8. " Baptista Guarinus de modo et ordine
docendi ac discendi," Strasburgh, 1514, Svo. 9. " Mar-
celli Virgilii de militias laudibus," &c. Basil, 1518, 4to.
10. " Luu. Bigi opusculorum metricorum libri, et Pontii
Paulini carmen lambicum," Strasburgh, 15C9, 4to. 11.
" Thorns Mori epigrammata Latina, pleraque e Graecis
versa, ad emendatum ipsius exemplar excusa," Basil, 1520.
12. " Velleius Paterculus," Basil, 1520, fol. the princeps
editio, printed by Froben, and formed by the editor from
the Codex Murbacensis ; it is an edition of extreme rarity.
13. "Tacitus," Basil, 1533- and 1544. 14. " Livii deca-
des tres," Basil, 1535, fol. often reprinted, and his notes
added to subsequent editions. 15. " Senecae de morte
Claudii ludns," in Erasmus's and some other editions of
Seneca. 16. " Quintus Curtius," Basil, 1517, and Stras-
R H E N A N U S. 171
burgh, 1518, fol. 17. < Piinii Hist. Nat." Basil, 1526,
fol. 18. " Joannis Geileri Keiserbergii, &c. vita," pre-
fixed to the " Navicula fatuorum," 1510, 4to. 19. " ^E-
neae Platonici Christian! de immortalitate animse," Basil,
.1516, 4to. 20. "Xysti Enchiridion," ibid. 1516, printed
with the preceding. 21. " Licentii Evangeli Sacerdotis,
pruefatio in Marsilii defensorem pacis pro Ludovico IV. Imp.
adversus iniquas usurpationes ecclesiasticorum," 1522, fol.
This is one of the works which brought on Rhenanus the
charge of timidity, in not avowing his aversion to the usur-
pations of his church. He assumes here the name of Licen-
tius Evangdus. 22. " Illyrici provinciarum utrique imperio,
cum Romano, turn Constantinopolitanoservientisdescriptio,"
published with the "Notitia dignitatum Imp. Romani,"
Paris, 1602, 8vo. 23. " Procopii Csesariensis de rebus
Gothorum," &c. Basil, 1531, foi. 24. Rerum Genna-
nicarum libri tres," Basil, 1531, fol. Of this, which is
esteemed one of his best works, there have been several
editions, the last by Otto, 1693, 4to. J
RHENFERD (JAMES), a celebrated oriental scholar, was
born at Mulheim, in Westphalia, Aug. 15, 1654. After
studying at the college of Meurs, a city in the duchy of
Cleves, and travelling for some time, he accepted an invi-
tation to become rector of the Latin college in the city of
Franeker ; but resigned it in 1680, and removed to Amster-
dam, where he was employed in the capacity of tutor, and
enjoyed, at the same time, a favourable opportunity for
conversing with learned rabbis, and improving his know-
ledge of rabbinical learning. In 1683 he was appointed
professor of the oriental languages and philosophy at the
university of Franeker ; and remained in this office nearly
thirty years, during which he was thrice chosen rec-
tor of the university. He died Nov. 7, 1712, in the 59th
year of his age. His learning was extensive ; but most
profound in the Hebrew, including the Rabbinical, the
Chaldee, and Syriac languages. Among his works may be
mentioned, 1. "De Antiquitate Characters hodierni Ju-
daici," 1696, 4to, in which he endeavoured to establish
the claim of the present Hebrew characters to the highest
antiquity, and to prove that the Samaritan characters were
borrowed from the Hebrews ;" 2. " Comparatio Expiatio-
1 Melchior Adam. Freheri Theatrum. Dtipin. P,ullart Academic des Sci-
ences, vol. 11. Bezae Icones. Niceron, vol. XXXVIII. Jortiu's Life of Eras-
mus. See Index.
172 R H E N A N U S.
nis anniversariae Pontificis maximi in Vet. Test, cum unica
atque aeterna Expiationis Christi Domini," 1696. 3. " In-
vestigatio Prsefectorum et Ministrorum Synagogae," 1700,
4to. 4. " Dissertationum Theologico-philologicarum de
Stylo Novi Testament! Syntagma, quo continentur Olearii,
Cocceii, &c. de hoc genere Libelli," &c. 1701, 4to. 5.
" Arabarcha, seu, Ethnarcha Judaeorum," 1702, 4to. 6.
" De Statuis et Aris, f'alsis verisque DeietHominum Inter-
nunciis," in illustration of Exod. xx. 23, 24, 1705, 4to.
7. " Observationum selectarum ad Loca Hebraea Nov. Test,
partes sive Disput. Tres," 1705, 4to, &c. He also left
unfinished, but partly printed, a work, entitled " Rudi-
menta Grammatical Harmonicas Linguarum Orientalium,
Hebrceae, Chaldaicae, Syriaca3, et Arabicse." l
RHETICUS (GEORGE JOACHIM), a celebrated German
astronomer and mathematician, was born at Feldkirk in
Tyrol, February 15, 1514. After imbibing the elements
of the mathematics at Zurick with Oswald Mycone, he
went to Wittemberg, where he diligently cultivated that
science, and was made master of philosophy in 1535, and
professor in 1537. He quitted this situation, however, two
years after, and went to Fruenburg to profit by the instruc-
tions of the celebrated Copernicus, who had then acquired
great fame. Rheticus assisted this astronomer for some
years, and constantly exhorted him to perfect his work
" De Revolutionibus," which he published after the death
of Copernicus, viz. in 1543, folio, atNorimberg, together
with an illustration of the same, dedicated to Schoner.
Here too, to render astronomical calculations more accurate,
he began his very elaborate canon of sines, tangents and
secants, to 15 places of figures, and to every 10 seconds
of the quadrant, a design which he did not live quite to
complete. The canon of sines however to that radius, for
every 10 seconds, and for every single second in the first
and last degree of the quadrant, computed by him, was
published in folio at Francfort, 1613, by Pitiscus, who
himself added a few of the first sines computed to 22 places
of figures. But the larger work, or canon of sines, tan-
gents, and secants, to every 10 seconds, was perfected and
published after his death, viz. in 1596, by his disciple Va-
lentine Otho, mathematician to the electoral prince pala-
tine; a particular account and analysis of which work may
1 Niceron, vols. I. and X. Moreri.
R H E T I C U S. 173
be seen in the Historical Introduction to Dr. Button's Lo-
garithms.
After the death of Copernicus, Rheticus returned to
Wittemberg, viz. in 1541 or 1542, and was again admitted
to his office of professor of mathematics. The same year,
by the recommendation of Melancthon, he went to Norim-
berg, where he found certain manuscripts of Werner and
Regiomontanus. He afterwards taught mathematics at
Leipsic. From Saxony he departed a second time, for
what reason is not known, and went to Poland ; and from
thence to Cassovia in Hungary, where he died December
4, 1576, near sixty-three years of age.
His " Narratio de Libris Revolutionum Copernici," was
first published at Dantzick in 1540, 4to ; and afterwards
added to the editions of Copernicus's work. He composed
and published " Ephemerides," according to the doctrine
of Copernicus, till 1551, and projected other works, and
partly executed them, though they were never published,
of various kinds, astronomical, astrological, geographical,
chemical, &c. All these are mentioned in his letter to
Peter Ramus in the year 1568, which Adrian Rbmanus in-
serted in the preface to the first part of his Idea of Mathe-
matics. 1
RHODIGINUS (LuDOVicusCoELius),by Scaliger named
the Varro of the age, was a learned Italian, whose proper
name was Ludovico Celio Richeri. He was born at Rovigo'
about 1450, and studied at Ferrara and Padua, and France.
On his return to Italy, he filled the office of public professor
at Rovigo for some years, but in 1503 opened a school at
Vicenza, where he continued till 1508, when he was in*
vited to Ferrara by duke Alfonzo I. In the year 1515,
Francis I. nominated him to the chair of Greek and Latin
eloquence in Milan, as successor to Demetrius Chalcondy-
las. In 1521 he returned to Padua, and in 1523 he was
deputed from his native place to Venice, to congratulate
the new doge. In 1525 he died of grief, on account of the
defeat and capture of Francis at the battle of Pavia. His
principal work is entitled " Antiques Lectiones," of which
he published sixteen books at Venice, in 1516, fol. and
fourteen more were added after his death in the editions of
Basil, 1566, and Francforr, 1666. Vossius expresses his
1 Button's Dict.-^-Vossitts do Sclent. Mathemat. Melch'or Adam. Morcr.i.
174 R H O D O M A N.
wonder, and even indignation, that so learned a miscellany
was so little known. 1
RHODOMAN (LAURENCE), a learned German, was born
in 1546, at Sassowerf, belonging to the counts of Stolberg
in Upper Saxony, who, induced by an early display of ta-
lents, bore tlie expence of his education at the college of
Ilfield. He continued there six years; and made so great
a progress in literature, that he was thought fit to teach in
the most eminent schools and the most flourishing universi-
ties. He was especially skilled in the Greek tongue, and
composed some Greek verses, which were much admired,
but Scaliger did not think him equally happy in Latin
poetry. He was very successful in a Latin translation of
" Diodorus Siculus," which Henry Stephens prevailed on
him to undertake; and it was published in 1604, with Ste-
phens^ text. He translated also into Latin the Greek poem
of Quintus Calaber, concerning the taking of Troy ; and
added some corrections to it. At last, he was appointed
professor of history in the university of Wittemberg, and
died there in 1606. His other works were, 1. " Historia
vitae & doctrincE Martini Lutheri carmine heroico descrip-
ta." 2. " Descriptio Historian Ecclesiae, sive popult Dei,
Politiae ejusdem, & rerum praecipuarum quae in illopopulo
acciderum, Graeco carmine, cum versione Latina e regione
textus Graeci," Francof. 1581, 8vo. 3. " Poesis Chris-
tiana, id est, Palestine seu Historic sacra? Grseco-Latinae
libri 9," Marpnrgi, 15S9; Francof. 1590, 1630, 4to. 4.
"Tabulae Etymologice Grseca?," Francof. 1590, SVQ. 5.
" Memnonis Historia de Republica Heracliensium, & rebus
Ponticis Eclogoe : seu excerptae & abbreviates narrationes
in Sermonem Latinum translatae," Helmstadii, 1591, 4to.
6. " Epithalamia sacra," Jenae, 1594, 4to. 7. " Ex Mem-
none, de Tyrannis Heracleae Ponticas Ctesia & Agathar-
chide excerptae Historiac Greece & Latine partim ex Laur.
Rhodomani interpretatione," Geneva, 1593, 8vo. 8.
*' Theologiae Christiana:; tyrocinia, carmine heroico Grae-
co-Latino in 5 libros digesta," Lips. 1597, 8vo. s
RHUNKEN (DAVID), ao eminent scholar, was born at
Stolpe in Pomerania, on the 2d of January, 1723. His
parents, being in good circumstances, and of the better
order of the burgesses, destined him, from his early years, for
1 Vossius Hist. Lat. Moreri. Tiraboschi. Blouut's Censura. Saxii Ooo-
niast.
-(ien. Di<;U Baillet .lugt-mens. Saxii OiK
R II U N K E N. 175
the church. After receiving some instruction in the school
of Stolpe, in the principles of his mother-tongue, he was
sent first to Schlave, and afterwards to Koenigsberg, for
education in the classical languages, the usual course of
which studies he finished at the age of twenty-two. With
some difficulty he then obtained his parents' consent to re-
pair to Gottingen, and study Greek under Matthew Ges-
ner, at that time the great ornament of that university. On.
his way to Gottingen, he passed through Berlin, and went
to visit the Saxon university of Wittemberg. There he
was so much pleased with the lectures and conversation of
J. D. Kutter, professor of history and civil law, and of
J. W. Berger, professor of oratory and antiquities, that he
persuaded his parents to allow him to continue his studies
jfor some time at Wittemberg, before he should proceed to
Gottingen. He remained with these professors two years,
and, under their auspices, took a degree in laws. He went
then to perfect his knowledge of Greek, not with Gesnerat
Gottingen, as he intended, but under the celebrated Hem-
sterhuis of Leyden. Hemsterhuis received this ingenuous
youth with great kindness, gave him the readiest assistance
in his favourite studies, recommended him to good employ-
ment as a tutor, and at length used every means to secure
his appointment to a professorship in ihe university in which,
he himself taught. Rhunken applied with great zeal to
Greek and Roman literature, and at the same time made
himself highly acceptable by the gentleness of his manners,
the liveliness of his conversation, and by his taste and skill
in the favourite amusements of the place.
His first printed display of critical Greek erudition, was
in an epistle upon certain Greek commentaries on the title
in the Digest De Advocatis et Procuratoribus. He gave
next, at Hemsterhuis's persuasion, an edition of the Greek
Lexicon of Timseus, for the illustration of words and phrases
peculiar to Plato. This was published in 1754, 8vo. Next
year he went to Paris, with a view chiefly to inspect th
libraries of that city and their manuscript treasures. Here
he formed an acquaintance with Dr. S. Musgrave arid Mr.
T. Tyrwhitt, who was then examining some of the MSS.,
particularly those of Euripides. During a year's residence
in that metropolis, Rhunken passed mos of his time in the
king's library, and in that of the Benedictines of St, Ger-
main's ; transcribed a number of unprinteci remains of an-
cient literature, and collated many manuscripts and rare
176 R H U N K EN.
editions of the most popular classical authors. In October
1757 he was appointed reader in Greek literature, and thus
became assistant to Hernsterhuis in the university of Ley-
den, and upon the death of Oeudendorp, professor of
Latin oratory and history, he was advanced to the vacant
chair of that eminent scholar. In 1763, he married Ma-
rianne Heirmans, a young lady of uncommon beauty and
accomplishments, the daughter of a gentleman who had
long resided as Dutch consul at Leghorn.
In the course of his studies he discovered in Aldus's col-
lection of the " Rhetores Graeci, 1 ' a valuable fragment,
unknown to modern scholars, of the treatise of Longinuson
the Sublime, which was, by his favour, afterwards pub-
lished in Toup's excellent edition of that work. On the
death of his old master Hemsterhuis, he did justice to his
memory in an elaborate eulogy, from which our account of
Hemsterhuis was taken. He soon after published an excel-
lent edition of the rhetorical treatise of Rutilius Lupus, and
in 1779, a most valuable edition of Velleius Paterculus.
Next year he gratified the learned world with the Hymns
of Homer. One of his last labours was the superintending
a new edition of Scheller's Latin dictionary. With all these
studies, as well as his professional engagements, he found
leisure to attend to the pleasures of the chase, of which he
was very fond. He died May 14, 1798, in the 76th year
of his age. He left a niece and a daughter totally unpro-
vided for, but the government of Batavia purchased his
library for a pension granted to them. This library was
rich in scarce books, and valuable transcripts from other
collections.
Whyttembach, whom we have followed in this sketch,
draws the character of Rhunkenius at some length. His
knowledge and his learning are unquestioned. In other
respects he was lively, cheerful, and gay, almost to crimi-
nal indifference, but he knew his own value and conse-
quence. He said once to Villoison, " Why did not you
come to Leyden to attend Valckenaer and me?" He once
showed, with pride, a chest of MSS. of Joseph Scaliger to
a Swede called Biornsthall " Ah !" said Biornsthall,
" this is a man who wants judgment," alluding to his epi-
taph, but playing a little too severely on the equivoque.
Rhunkenius grew angry, and replied with warmth, " Be
gone with your ignorance" " aufer te hinc cum tuo stu-
pore." A German professor, to whom he showed the same
R H U N K E N. 177
collection, observed, " We now write in Germany in our
own language, and cannot comprehend the obstinacy of
those who continue to write in Latin." " Professor," re-
plied Rhunkenius, " look then for a library of German
books," refusing to show him any thing more. 1
RIBADENlLlRA (PmR], a celebrated Spanish Jesuit,
was born at Toledo, in 1527, and was enrolled by St. Ig-
natius among his favourite disciples in 1540, before the
society of the Jesuits had received the papal sanction. In
1542 he studied at Paris, and afterwards at Padua, where
he was sent to Palermo to teach rhetoric. After many,' and
long travels for the propagation of the interests of the so-
ciety in various parts of Europe, he died at Madrid, Oct.
1, 1611. One of his visits was with the duke of Feria to
England, in 1558, and his inquiries here, or what he made
subsequently, encouraged him to publish a treatise " On
the English schism," 1594, 8vo, in which, it is said, there
is less rancour and acrimony than might have been expect-
ed, and some curious anecdotes respecting the personal
character of queen Mary. He is, however, chiefly known
for his Lives of various Saints and Jesuits, and as the foun-
der of that biography of the Jesuits which Alegambe and
others afterwards improved into a work of some importance.
One of his principal lives, published separately, is that of
the founder, St. Ignatius de Loyola. Of this work there
have been several editions, the first in 1572, and the se-
cond with additions in 1587, in neither of which he ascribes
any miracles to his master, and is so far from supposing any,
that he enters into an inquiry, whence it could happen that
so holy a man had not the gift of miracles bestowed upon
him, and really assigns very sensible reasons. But notwith-
standing all this, in an abridged edition of his life of Igna-
tius, published at Ipres in 1612, miracles are ascribed to
Ignatius, and Ribadeneira is made to assign, as his reason
for not inserting such accounts before, that though he heard
of them in 1572, they were not sufficiently authenticated.
Bishop Douglas, who is inclined to blame Hibadeneira for
this insufficient apology, has omitted to notice that this
Ipres edition of the life was published a year after Ribade-
neira's death, and therefore it is barely possible that the
miracles, and all that is said about them, might have been
supplied by some zealous brother of the order. His " Lives
1 Vita Rhunkenii, by Whyttenbach,
VOL, XXVI. N
178 R I C A R D.
of the Saints" were translated into English, and published
in 2 vols. Svo. 1
RIBERA. See SPAGNOLETTO.
RICARD (DOMINIC), a learned French writer, was bora
at Toulouse, March 25, 1741, and entered into the con-
gregation of the Christian doctrine, and became a distin-
guished professor in it. He quitted the society after some
years, and took up his residence at Paris, where he em-
ployed himself in instructing youth, and in literary pursuits.
He was celebrated for his deep knowledge in the Greek
language, and engaged in the great task of translating the
whole works of Plutarch. Between the years 1783 and
1795 he published his version of that philosopher's moral
works, in 17 vols. 12mo; of the Lives he only published 4
vols. 12mo. He published likewise a poem, entitled <c La
Sphere," in eight cantos, 1796, Svo, which contains a
system of astronomy and geography, enriched with notes,
and notices of Greek, Latin, and French poems, treating
on astronomical subjects. Ricard died in 1803, lamented
as a man of most friendly and benevolent disposition. 2
RICAUT, or RYCAUT (Sir PAUL), an English travel-
ler, was the tenth son of sir Peter Ricaut, probably a mer*
chant in London, and the author of some useful works,
who was one of the persons excepted in the " Propositions
of the Lords and Commons," assembled in parliament, " for
a safe and well-grounded peace, July 11, 1646, sent to
Charles I. at Newcastle." He also paid o.1500 for his
composition, and taking part with his unhappy sovereign.
His son Paul was born in London, and admitted scholar of
Trinity college, Cambridge, in 1647, where he took his
bachelor's degree^ in 1650. After this he travelled many
years, not only in Europe, but also in Asia and Africa ;
and was employed in some public services. In 1661, when
the earl of Winchelsea was sent ambassador extraordinary
to the Ottoman Porte, he went as his secretary; and while
he continued in that station, which was eight years, he
wrote " The present State of the Ottoman Empire, in three
books ; containing the Maxims of the Turkish Politic, their
Religion, and Military Discipline," illustrated with figures,
and printed at London, 1670, in folio, and 1675 in 8vo,
and translated into French by Bespier, with notes, and ani-
1 Alpgambe. -Douglas's Criterion, p. 64. Diet, Hilt. 'Freheri Theatruoa*
* Diet. Hist.
R I C A U T. 179*
ttoadversions on some mistakes. During the same time, he
had occasion to take two voyages from Constantinople to
London ; one of them was by land, through Hungary,
where he remained some time in the Turkish camp with the
famous vizier, Kuperlee, on business relating to England.
In 1663 he published the " Capitulations, articles of peace,"
&C; concluded between England and the Porte^ which were
very much to our mercantile advantage, one article being
that English ships should be free from search or visit under
pretence of foreign goods, a point never secured in any
former treaty. After having meritoriously discharged his
office of secretary to lord Winchelsea, he was made consul
for the English nation at Smyrna ; and during his residence
there, at the command of Charles II. composed " The pre-
sent State of the Greek and Armenian Churchesjanno Chris-
ti 1678," which, upon his return to England, he presented
with his own hands to his majesty; and it was published in
1679, 8vo. Having acquitted himself, for the space of
eleven years, to the entire satisfaction of the Turkey com-
pany, he obtained leave to return to England, where he
lived in honour and good esteem; The earl of Clarendon >
being appointed lord lieutenant of Ireland in 1685, made
him his principal secretary for the provinces of Leinster
and Connaught; and James II. knighted him, constituted
him one of the privy council for Ireland, and judge of the
high court of admiralty* which he enjoyed till the revolu-
tion in 1688, Soon after this, he was employed by king
William as his resident with the Hanse-towns in Lower
Saxony, namely, Hamburg, Lubeck, and Bremen ; where
he continued for ten years, and gave the utmost satisfac-
tion. At length, worn out with age and infirmities, he
had leave in 1700 to return to England, where he died,
Dec. 16 of that year. He was fellow of the Royal Society
for many years before his decease ; and a paper of his,
upon the " Sable Mice,'* or " Mures Norwegici," is pub-
lished in the Philosophical Transactions. He understood
perfectly the Greek, both ancient and modern, the Turk-
ish, Latin, Italian, and French languages.
He was the author of other productions^ besides those
already mentioned. He wrote a continuation of Knolles's
" History of the Turks," from 1623 to 1677, 1680, in
folio; and again from 1679 to 1699, 1700, in folio, mak-
ing, together with Knolles's, three volumes. He was, from
his great knowledge of Turkish affairs, better qualified
N 2
180 R I C A U T.
than any other person for this work, but he is inferior to
Knolles in historical merit. He continued Platina's " Lives
of the Popes," from 1471 to his own time, and translated
from the Spanish of Garcilasso de la Vega, into English,
"The Royal Commentaries of Peru, in two parts," folio ;
and "The Spanish Critic," 1681, 8vo, from Gratian. 1
RICCATI (VINCENT), an able mathematician, was born
in 1707 at Castel Franco, in the territory of Treviso, and
in 1726 entered among the Jesuits, and taught mathematics
at Bologna, till the suppression of his order in 1773. At
this period he returned to his native place, and died there
of a cholic, in 1775, aged sixty-eight, leaving some good
mathematical works ; among others, a large treatise on the
" Integral Calculus," 3 vols. 4to. He had been much em-
ployed in hydraulics, and such was the importance of his
services in this branch, that the republic of Venice or-
dered a gold medal, worth a thousand livres, to be struck
in honour of him, in 1774. 2
RICCI. SeeCRlNITUS, PETER.
R1CCI (MATTHEW), a celebrated Jesuit, was born Oct.
6, 1552, of a good family at Macerata. He went to the
Indies, finished his theological studies at Goa, taught rhe-
toric there, and being in the mean time appointed mis-
sionary to China, learnt the language of that country, nor
did he neglect mathematics, which he had studied at Rome
under the learned Clavius. After many troubles and diffi-
culties, he arrived at Pekin, where he was esteemed by
the emperor, the mandarins, and all the learned, acquired
great reputation, drew a map for the Chinese, and was
permitted to preach the Christian religion. He purchased
a house at Pekin, where he built a church, and died there,
in 1610, aged fifty -eight, leaving some very curious me-
moirs respecting China, \\hich father Frigualt has made
use of in writing his history of that vast empire. Father
d'Orleans, a Jesuit, who published a " Life of Ricci," in
1693, 12mo, says, that this father drew up a short cate-
chism for the Chinese, in which he introduced scarcely any
but such points of morality and religion as are most con-
formable to Christianity. These words of father d'Orleans,
says L'Avocat, have furnished the enemies of the Jesuits,
with abundant matter for critical reflections. 3
1 Biog. Brit. Cole's MSS. Athenae Cantab, in Brit. Mus. Henry Clarendon's
" State Letters." Granger.
2 Fabroni Vitae Italorum, rol. XVI. Mcrerii-^Dict. Hist, de L'Avocat.
R I C C I. 181
RICCI (MICHAEL ANGELO), a learned Italian eccle-
siastic, was born at Rome in 1619. He was created a car-
dinal in 1681, but did not long enjoy that dignity, as he
died in 1633, at the age of sixty-four. He was well skilled
in the pure mathematical sciences, and published at Rome,
in 4to, " Exercitatio Geometrica," a small tract, which was
reprinted at London, and annexed to Mercator's "Logarith-
motechnia," chiefly on account of the excellency of the
argument "de maximis et minimis," or the doctrine of
limits; where the author shows a deep judgment in ex-
hibiting the means of reducing that lately discovered doc-
trine to pure geometry. l
RICCI (SEBASTIAN), an artist of temporary fame, was
born at Belluno, near Trevisano, in 1659; and having
discovered an early genius for painting, was conducted by
his father to Venice, and placed as a disciple with Fred.
Cervelli, a Milanese artist of good reputation, with whom
he studied for nine years. He afterwards improved his
practice at Bologna, &c. by copying, and obtained the fa-
vour and patronage of Rannuccio, the second duke of
Parma. By the liberality of that prince, he was honour-
ably maintained at Rome, studying the productions of the
best ancient and modern masters; and there he formed that
manner which distinguishes his productions, and for a while
raised him into the highest esteem. Having quitted Rome,
he returned to Venice, where he was so eagerly solicited
for his paintings, that he had scarcely time to take even
necessary refreshment. His fame spread through Europe,
and he received an invitation to the court of the emperor
at Vienna, to adorn the magnificent palace of Schoenbrun.
From thence he was encouraged to visit London, where he
was immediately and incessantly employed by the court,
the nobility, and persons of fortune. Here he remained
ten years, with his nephew and coadjutor, IVfarco Ricci,
who painted skilfully scenes of architecture and landscape
at Burlington house and Bulstrode. He acquired great
wealth by the immense occupation he found ; and then
returned to Venice, where he remained until his death,
in 1734, in the seventy -fifth year of his. age.
Ricci was one of the few, comparatively speaking, who
enjoy during their lives the utmost extent of their fame.
In his history, that portion of renown which attaches to
Hotton's Diet Landi Hist. Lit. d'ltalie. Fabroni Vitae Ital. TO!. II.
1S2 K I C C I.
him died with him, or nearly so. In fact, he w*s a ma-
chinist, one who, being conversant in the rules of art, and
skilful in the application of the means, dazzled where he
could not instruct, anJ deluded by ingenuity without judg-
ment, and art without expression. His works are to be
found in many of our great houses, as well as those of his
nephew. At Chelsea, where he painted the altar-piece,
and at the British Museum, there are considerable pictures
of his painting, but they do not rise in esteem by continued
observation ; and yet, unfortunately, they had sufficient
influence in their day to lead the artists astray from the
contemplation and imitation of the works of Raphael, and
the greater masters of the Italian school. Walpole informs
us that Sebastian excelled particularly in imitations of Paul
Veronese, many of which he sold for originals ; and once
deceived even La Fosse. When the latter was convinced
of the imposition, he gave this severe but just reprimand
to Sebastian : " For the future take my advice j paint no*
thing but Paul Veroneses, and no more Riccis." Lord
Orford adds that Ricci left England on finding it deter-
mined " that sir James Thqrnhill should paint the cupola,
of St. Paul's."'
RICCIARELLI. See VOLTERRA,
RICCIOLI (JOHN BAPTIST), a learned Italian astrono^
mer, philosopher, and mathematician, was born in 1598,
at Ferrara, a city in Italy, in the dominions of the pope.
At sixteen years of age he was admitted into the society of
the Jesuits, and the progress he made in every branch of
literature and science was surprising. He was first appointed
to teach rhetoric, poetry, philosophy, and scholastic divi-
nity, in the Jesuits' colleges at Parma and Bologna ; yet
applied himself in the mean time to making observations
in geography, chronology, and astronomy. This was his
natural bent, and at length he obtained leave from his su-
periors to quit all other employment, that 1'e might devote
himself entirely to those sciences.
He projected a large work, to be divided into three
parts, and to contain a complete system of philosophical,
mathematical, and astronomical, knowledge. The first of
these parts, which regards astronomy, came out at Bo-
logna in 1651, 2 vols. folio, with this title, " J. B. Riccioli
Almagestum Novum, Astronomiam veterem novamque
1 Pilkington. Wai pole's Anecdqtes. Rees's Cyclopaedia,
R I C C I O L I. 183
compleotens, observationibus aliorum et propriis, novisque
theorematibus, problematibus ac tabulis promotam." Ric-
cioli imitated Ptolemy in this work, by collecting and di-
gesting into proper order, with observations, every thing
ancient and modern, which related to his subject ; so that
Gassendus very justly called his work, " Promptuarium et
thesaurum ingentem Astronomiae." In the first volume of
this work, he treats of the sphere of the world, of the sun
and moon, with their eclipses ; of the fixed stars, of the
planets, of the comets, and new stars., of the several mun-
dane systems, and six sections of general problems serving
to astronomy, &c. In the second volume, he treats of
trigonometry, or the doctrine of plane and spherical trian-
gles ; proposes to give a treatise of astronomical instru-
ments, and the optical part of astronomy (which part was
never published) ; treats of geography, hydrography, with
an epitome of chronology. The third comprehends ob-
servations of the sun, moon, eclipses, fixed stars, and pla-
nets, with precepts and tables of the primary and secon-
dary motions, and other astronomical tables. Riccioli
printed also, two other works, in folio, at Bologna, viz.
2. " Astronomia Reformata," 1665 ; the design of which
was, that of considering the various hypotheses of several
astronomers, and the difficulty thence arising of concluding
any thing certain, by comparing together all the best ob-
servations, and examining what is most certain in them,
thence to reform the principles of astronomy. 3. "Chro-
nologia Reformata," 1665. Riccioli died in 1671, at se-
venty-three years of age. 1
RICCOBONI (Louis), a comic actor and writer, born
at Modena in 1674, came to France in 1716, and distin-
guished himself as the best actor at the Theatre Italien.
Religious motives induced him to quit the stage in 1729 ;
and he died in 1753, much esteemed for the decency of
his manners, and his amiable disposition. He was the an-
thor of a number of comedies, which had a temporary suc-
cess, and which contain much comic humour. One of
them, entitled " Les Coquets," was revived a few years
since. He also wrote " Pense"es sur la Declamation ;"
" Discours sur la Reformation du Theatre ;" " Observa-
tions sur la Comedie et sur le Genie de Moliere ;" " Rer
.flexions Historiques et Critiques sur les Theatres de 1'jEu-
^ Fabroni Vit* ItaTrura, vol. II. Button's Dictionary.
184 RICCOBONI.
rope ;" and " Histoire du Theatre Italien," 2 vols. Svo,
which, with his " Reflections Historical and Critical upon
all the Theatres of Europe/' which appeared in 17J8, con-
tains many judicious observations relative to the stage in
general, and to the lyric theatre in particular. His second
wife, MARIE LABORAS DE MEZIEKES, was also an actress
on the Italian theatre, which she quitted with her husband ;
but her writings are novels, the scenes of which sne fre-
quently laid in England. They are all of the sentimental
cast. She also translated Fielding's " Amelia." Her works
were printed collectively in 10 volumes, Neufchatel, I2mo,
and Paris, 9 vols. 12 mo, and some of her novels have been
translated into English. She died Dec. 6, 17,92, reduced
by the troubles of the time to a state approaching to want;
and soon after a new edition of her works, with a life, ap-
peared in 18 vols. 12H10. 1
RICHARD, abbot of Sf. Victor in the twelfth century,
was a native of Scotland. After such education as his
country afforded, in polite literature, the sacred scriptures,
and mathematics, which we are told were the objects of his
early studies, he went, as was much the custom then, to
Paris, Here the fame of Hugh, abbot of St. Victor, in-
duced him to retire into that monastery, that he might
pursue his theological studies under so great a master. At
the regular periods he took the habit, was admitted into
holy orders, and so much acquired the esteem of his bre-
thren, that in 1164, upon the death of Hugh, they unani-
mously chose him their prior, in which station he remained
until his death, March 10, 1173. During this time he
composed many treatises on subjects of practical divinity,
and on scripture criticism, particularly on the description
of Solomon's temple, Ezekiel's temple, and on the appa-
rent contradictions in the books of Kings and Chronicles,
respecting the reigns of the kings of Judah and Israel.
Dupin speaks rather favourably of these treatises. They
were all published at Paris in 1518, and 1540, in 2 vols.
folio, at Venice in 1592, at Cologne in 1621, and at Rouen
in 1650, which is reckoned the best edition. 2
RICHARD, called ANGLICUS, was an English phy-
sician, who flourished about 1230. He is said to have stu-
died first at Oxford, and then at Paris, and attained a high
degree of eminence in his profession. Tanner gives a list
1 Diet. Hist.- Cave. Dupin. Mackenzie's Scotch Writers, vol. I.
RICHARD. 185
of his works, none of which appear to have been published.
Some of his MSS. are in the New college library, Oxford. 1
RICHARD, archbishop of Armagh in the fourteenth
century, called sometimes ARMACIIANUS, and sometimes
FITZ RALPH, which was his family name, is supposed to
have been born in Devonshire, or, according to Harris, at
Dunda'k, in the county of Louth. He was educated partly
at University, and partly at Balliol, college, Oxford, under
tht tuition of John Baconthorp, whom we have already no-
ticed us an eminent scholar of that age. He made great
progress in philosophy, divinity, and civil law, and became
so gre;u a philosopher and logician, "and in both sorts of
theology so famed, that the whole university ran to his
lectures as bees to their hive." He commenced doctor of
divinity at Oxford, and in 1333 was cpmmissary-general
of that university, whence some authors have called him
chancellor; but, according to Collier, the office he held
was only somewhat superior to that of vice-chancellor. His
first church promotion was to the chancellorship of the
church of Lincoln, in July 1334 ; he was next made arch-
deacon of Chester in 1336, and dean of Lichfield in April
1337. These, or some f them, he owed to the favour of
Edward III. to whom he was recommended as well deserv-
ing his patronage.
While at Oxford he had distinguished himself by his
opposition to the mendicant friars, whose affectation of
poverty, and other superstitions and irregularities, he ex-
posed in his lectures. They were therefore not a little
alarmed when, in 1347, he was advanced to the arch-
bishopric of Armagh ; and with some reason ; for, when
about ten years afterwards, he returned to England, and
found the contest very warm concerning preaching, hear-
ing confessions, and other points, in which the friars en-
croached on the jurisdiction of the parochial priests, he
preached several sermons, the substance of which was;
that in cai>es of confession the parish church is to be pre-
ferred to the church of the friars ; that for confession the
parishioners ought rather to apply to the parson or curate
than to a friar; that notwithstanding our Lord Jesus Christ
was poor, when he conversed on earth, yet it does not ap-
pear that he affected poverty ; that he did never beg, nor
make profession of voluntary poverty ; that he never taught
* Leland.- Bale. Pits. -Tanner.
1*6 RICHARD.
people to make a choice and profession of beggary ; that
on tiie contrary, he held that men ought not to beg by in-
clination, nor without being forced to it by necessity ; that
there is neither sense nor religion in vowing voluntary and
perpetual beggary ; that it is not agreeable to the rule of
Observant or Friars Minorites, to be under engagements
of voluntary poverty, &c. &c. The friars were so enraged
at these propositions, which certainly shew considerable
freedom of sentiment, that they procured him to be cited
before pope Innocent VI. at Avignon, where he defended
his opinions with great firmness, and maintained them,
although with no little danger from the malice of his op-
ponents, to the end of his life. The age, honwer, was
not prepared to listen to him, and the pope decided in
favour of the friars.
He died Nov. 16, 1360, at Avignon, not without sus-
picion of poison. Fox says that a certain cardinal, hear-
ing of his death, declared openly, that a mighty pillar of
Christ's church was fallen. He was unquestionably a man.
of great talents and sound judgment. Perhaps his best
panegyric is his being ranked, by some catholic writers,
among heretics. Archbishop Bramhall had so great an
opinion of him, that in returning from a visitation by Dun-
dalk, he made inquiry where he was buried, and deter-
mined to erect a monument to his memory, which it is
supposed his death, which happened soon after, prevented.
Richard's body was brought over by Stephen de Valle,
bishop of Meath, about 1370, and interred at Dundalk,
where sir Thomas Ryves says there was a monument visi-
ble, although much defaced, in 1624.
His printed works are : 1. " Sermones .quatuor, ad cru-
cem Londinensem," &c. Paris, 1612. 2. " Defensio cura-
torum adversus fratres mendicantes," Paris, 1496. This
was the substance of the defence of his principles at Avig-
non. Bale mentions the New Testament translated into
Irish by Armachanus, which was found in the wall of his
cathedral in 1530; but Fox, in his Martyrology, asserts
that the whole Bible was translated into Irish by him, and
preserved in the sixteenth century ; and archbishop Usher
says that there were several fragments of this translation in
Ireland, in his time. Bale, &c. mention several MSS. left
by him. 1
1 Collier's Dictionary and Ecclesiaslical'-History. Wharton's Appendix te
Care. Fox's Acts aad.Monumeuts. Weod'g Annals. D-.ipin. -Harris's Ware.
RICHARD. 187
RICHARD of CIRENCESTER, an English historian,
<so named from his birth-place, flourished in the fourteenth
century. No (races of his family or connections can be
discovered, but they appear to have been such as to afford
him a liberal education. In 13 50 "he entered into the Be-
nedictine monastery of St. Pete"r, Westminster, and his
name occurs in various documents of that establishment in
1387, 1397, and 1399. He devoted his leisure hours to
the study of British and Anglo-Saxon history and antiqui-
ties, in which he made such proficiency, that he is said to
have been honoured with the name of the Historiographer.
Pits informs us, without specifying his authority, that
Richard visited different libraries and ecclesiastical esta-
blishments in England, in order to collect materials. It is
at least certain that he obtained a licence to visit Rome,
from his abbot, William of Colchester, in 1391, and there
can be little doubt that a man of his curiosity would im-
prove his knowledge on such an occasion. He is sup-
posed to Have performed this journey in the interval be-
tween 1391 and 1397, for he appears to have been con-
fined in the abbey infirmary in 1401, and died in that or
the following year. His works are, " Historia ab Hen-
gista ad ann. 1348," in two parts. The first contains the
period from the coming of the Saxons to the death of Ha-
rold, and is preserved in the public library of Cambridge.
Whitaker, the historian of Manchester, speaks of this as
evincing very little knowledge or judgment; the second
part is probably a MS. in the library of the Royal Society,
p. 137, with the title of "Britonum Anglorum et Saxonurn
Historia." In the library of Bene't college, Cambridge,
is " Epitome Chronic. Ric. Cor. West. Lib. I." Other
works of our author are supposed to be preserved in the
Lambeth library, and at Oxford. His theological writings
were, "Tractatus super Symbolum Majus et Minus," and
" Liber de Officiis Ecclesiasticis," in the Peterborough
library. But the treatise to which he owes his celebrity,
is that on the ancient state of Great Britain, " De situ
Britanniae," first discovered by Charles Julius Bertram,
professor of the English language in the royal marine aca-
demy at Copenhagen, who transmitted to Dr. Stukeley
a transcript of the whole in letters, together with a copy of
the map. From this transcript Stukeiey published an ana-
lysis of the work, with the itinerary, first in a thin quarto,
1757, and afterwards in the second volume of his " Itine-
188 RICHARD.
rarium Curiosum." In the same year the original itself
was published by professor Bertram at Copenhagen, in a
small octavo volume, with the remains of Gildas and Nen-
nius, under the title " Britannicarum gentium Historiae
Antiquae scriptores tres, Ricardns Corinensis, Gildas Ba-
donicus, Nennius Banchorensis, &c." This work has long
been scarce, and in very few libraries ; but in 1809, a new
edition, with an English translation, &c. was published at
London. To this the editor, Mr. Hatchard, has prefixed
an account of Richard's life, from which we have extracted
the above particulars, and an able defence of his merit and
fidelity as a historian, against the objections of certain
writers. Among these we observe that Gibbon cannot be
reckoned, for he says that Richard of Cirencester " shews
a genuine knowledge of antiquity, very extraordinary for
a monk of the fourteenth century." This useful and ac-
curate republication is entitled " The Description of Bri-
tain, translated from Richard of Cirencester ; with the ori-
ginal treatise de situ Britannia ; and a commentary on the
Itinerary; illustrated with maps," Svo. 1
RICHARDSON (JOHN), a learned Irish prelate, was a
native of Chester, but a doctor of divinity of the univer-
sity of Dublin. Of his early life we have no particulars,
except that he was appointed preacher to the state in 1601.
He succeeded to the see of Ardagh, on the resignation of
bishop Bedell, and was consecrated in 1633 by archbishop
Usher. He held the archdeaconry of Deny, the rectory
of Ardstra, and the vicarage of Granard in commendam for
about a year after his promotion to Ardagh. In 1641, be-
ing in dread of the rebellion which broke out in October
of that year, he removed to England, and died in London.
August 11, 1654. He had the character of a man of pro-
found learning, well versed in the scriptures, and skilled
in sacred chronology. His works are, a " Sermon of the
doctrine of Justification," preached at Dublin Jan. 23,
1624, Dublin, 1625, 4to; and " Choice Observations and
Explanations upon the Old Testament," 1655, folio. These
observations, which extend to all the books of the Old
Testament, seem intended as a supplement to the " As-
sembly's Annotations," in which he wrote the annotations
on Ezekiel ; and they were prepared for publication by
him some time before his death, at the express desire of
1 Life uhi supra.
RICHARDSON. 1S9
archbishop Usher, with whom he appears to have long
lived in intimacy. 1
RICHARDSON (JONATHAN), a painter, and a writer on
the art of painting, was born about 1665. He was intended
by his father-in-law, apprentice to a scrivener, with whom
he lived six years, but by the death of his master, was
enabled to follow the bent of his inclination for painting.
He then became the disciple of Riley, with whom he lived
four years, and finally connected himself by marrying his
niece. The degree of skill which he attained, by no means
corresponded with the ideas he entertained of the art,
which were certainly of a just and elevated kind. There
are, however, great strength, roundness, and boldness in
the colouring of his heads, which are drawn and marked
in the manner of Kneller, with freedom and firmness;
though the attitudes in which they and his figures are
placed, the draperies which clothe the latter, and the
back- grounds from which they are relieved, are insipid
and tasteless. It is certainly a very curious circumstance,
that, when he wrote with so much fire and judgment,
dived so deep into the inexhaustible stores of Raphael, and
was so smitten with the native lustre of Vandyke, he should
so ill apply to his own practice the sagacious rules and
hints he gave to others. Full of theory, profound in re-
flections on the art, and possessed of a numerous and ex-
cellent collection of drawings, he appears to have pos-
sessed no portion of invention, as applicable to the pain-
ter's art, and drew nothing well below the head ; plainly
manifesting the peculiarity of taste or feeling which leads
to excellence in that profession.
Thus much, however, must be said of him, that when
Kneller and Dahl were dead, he stood at the head of the
portrait-painters in this country, and practised in it suffi-
ciently long to acquire a tolerable competency. He quitted
his occupation some years before his death, when Hudson,
who had married one of his daughters, maintained the fa-
mily honours for a while. Richardson himself, by tem-
perance and tranquillity of mind, enjoyed a life, protracted
amidst the blessings of domestic friendship, to the advanced
age of eighty, and then died, May 23, 1745, respected and
lamented. He had had, a short time previously, a para-
lytic stroke that affected his arm, yet never disabled him
Harris's Ware. Ath. Ox. vol. I. Lloyd's Memoirs, fol. 607.
190 R I C H A R D S O N;
from taking his customary walks and exercise ;-iind it was
after having been in St. James's park, he died suddenly, at
his house in Queen-square, on his return home.
He had a son, with whom he lived in great harmony; as
appears by the joint works they composed. The father, in
1719, published two discourses; i. * l An Essay on the
whole art of Criticism as it relates to Painting.'' 2. " An
Argument in behalf of the Science of a Connoisseur." In
1722, came out "An Account of some Statues, Bas-re-
liefs, Drawings, and Pictures, in Italy, &e." The son
made the journey; and, from his observations and letters,
they both at his return compiled this valuable work. In
1734, they published a thick octavo of "Explanatory Notes
and Remarks on Milton's Paradise Lost, with the Life of
the Author." In apology for this last performance, and
for not being very conversant in classic literature, the fa-
ther said, " that he had looked into them through his son."
Hogarth, whom a quibble could furnish with wit, drew him
peeping through the nether end of a telescope, with which
his son was perforated, at a Virgil aloft on a shelf; but
Hogarth, it is but justice to add, destroyed the plate upon
due reflection, and recalled the prints, as far as he coukL
The sale of his collection of drawings, in Feb. 1747, lasted
eighteen days, and produced about 2060/. his pictures
about 700/. Mr. Hudson, his son-in-law, bought in many
of the drawings.
Besides the works published in conjunction with his fa-
ther, there was published in 1776, five years after the son's
death, " Richarclsoniana ; or, occasional Reflections on the
Moral Nature of Man ; suggested by various authors, an*
cient and modern, and exemplified from those authors,
with several anecdotes interspersed, by the late Jonathan
Richardson, jun. esq. Vol.1." an amusing work, although
there are some opinions in it which are not altogether free
from censure. He did not love to contemplate the bright
side of human nature and actions. Besides this work, there
appeared about the same time an 8vo volume of " Poems"
by Jonathan Richardson, senior, with notes by his son,
They are chiefly moral and religious meditations, but not
greatly inspired by the Muse. The son, it remains to be
added, never painted otherwise than for his amusement-*
He died in 1771, aged seventy-seven. 1
1 Walpole's Anecdotes, Nichols's Boiryer, and Collection of Poem?.
RICHARDSON. 191
RICHARDSON (JOSEPH), a man of letters, was origi-
nally of Hexham in Northumberland ; and was entered of
St. John's college, Cambridge, in 1774. Dr. Ferris, the
present dean of Battle, and Dr. Pearce, now dean of Ely,
were his tutors at the university. Under the superintend-
ance of those two excellent scholars, he acquired sound
learning and a correct taste. He possessed, indeed, an
excellent understanding, and a sort of intuitive knowledge
of mankind. He distinguished himself at college by the
elegance, beauty, and vigour, of his prose and poetical
compositions ; a love of the Muses very early in life took
possession of his mind, and often interfered with the labo-
rious duties of his studies. He entered himself a student
of the Middle Temple in 1779, and was called to the bar
in 1784. But literary pursuits and political connections
took up too much of his time to admit of his pursuing, with
sufficient diligence, the study of the law ; otherwise, it is
highly probable that he would have become a distinguished
ornament of the bar. The chief works in which he was
publicly known to have taken a part were in those cele-
brated political satires, " The Rolliad," and the " Proba-
tionary Odes," in the composition of which his talents were
conspicuous. He wrote also the comedy of " The Fugi*
live," which was honoured by a considerable share of ap-
plause, both on the stage and in the closet. In private life
so happily was the suavity of his temper blended with the
vigour of his understanding, that he was esteemed by his
adversaries in political principles, as well as by a very large
circle of private friends. He was brought into parliament
by the duke of Northumberland, in whose friendship he
held a distinguished place, and by whose loan of 2000/.
(which the duke has given up to his family) he was enabled
to become proprietor of a fourth part of Drury-Iane theatre.
He was suddenly taken ill on June 8, 1803, and died next
day, leaving a widow and four daughters, to lament the loss
of their affectionate protector. He was interred in Egham
churchyard. 1
RICHARDSON (SAMUEL), a celebrated writer of no-
vels, or, as his have been called, moral romance's, was
born in 1689, in Derbyshire, but in what part of that
county has not been ascertained. His father descended of
a family of middling note in the county of Surrey, and his
J Gent. Mag. 1803.
192 RICHARDSON.
business was that of a joiner. He intended his son Samuel
for the church, but from losses in business-, was unable to
support the expence of a learned education, and all our
author received was at the grammar school. It appears from
his own statement that he had a love for letter-writing, that
he was a general favourite of the ladies, and fond of their
company, and that when no more than thirteen, three
young women, unknown to each other, revealed to him
their love secrets, in order to induce him to give them co-
pies to write after, or correct, for answers to their lovers*
letters. In this employment some readers may think they
can trace the future inventor of the love secrets of Pamela
and Clarissa, and letter-writing certainly grew into a habit
with him.
In 1706 he was bound apprentice to Mr. John Wilde, a
printer of some eminence in his day ; whom, though a se-
vere task-master, he served diligently for seven years. He
afterwards worked as a journeyman and corrector of the press
for about six years, when he, in 1719, took up his freedom,
and commenced business on his own account, in a court in
Fleet-street ; and filled up his leisure hours in compiling
indexes for the booksellers, and writing prefaces, and what
he calls " honest dedications." Dissimilar as their geniuses
may seem, when the witty and wicked duke of Wharton (a
kind of Lovelace), about 1723, fomented the spirit of op-
position in the city, and became a member of the Wax-
chandlers' company, Mr. Richardson, though his political
principles were very different, was much connected with,
and favoured by him, and for some little time was the prin-
ter of his " True Briton," published twice a week. He so
far exercised his judgment, however, in peremptorily
refusing to be concerned in such papers as he apprehended
might endanger his safety, that he stopt at the end of
the sixth number, which was possibly his own production*.
He printed for some time a newspaper called " The Daily
Journal;" and afterwards "The Daily Gazetteer." Through
the interest of his friend Mr. Speaker Onslow, he printed
the first edition of the " Journals of the House of Com-
mons," of which he completed 26 volumes. Mr. Onslow
* Informations were lodged against itself odious to the people." Payne
Payne, the publisher, for Numbers 3, was found guilty ; and Mr. Richardson
4, 5, and 6, as more than common escaped, as his name did not appear
libels, " as they not only insulted every to the paper. The danger made him
branch of the legislature, but mani- in future still more cautions
festly tended to make the constitution
RICHARDSON. 193
had a high esteem for him ; and not only might, but ac-
tually would, have promoted him to some honourable and
profitable station at court; but Mr. Richardson, whose bu-
siness was extensive and profitable, neither desired nor,
would accept of such a favour.
His "Pamela," the first work that procured him a name
as a writer, was published in 1741, and arose out of a
scheme proposed to him by two reputable booksellers, Mr.
Rivington and Mr. Osborne, of writing a volume of " Fa-
miliar Letters to and from several persons upon business
and other subjects;" which he performed with great rea-
diness ; and in the progress of it was soon led to expand his
thoughts in* the two volumes of the " History of Pamela,"
which appear to have been written in less than three
months. Never was a book read with more avidity, for
these two volumes went through five editions in one year.
It was even recommended from the pulpit, particularly by
Dr. Slocock, of Christ church, Surrey, although its de-
fects as to moral tendency are now universally acknow-
ledged to be so obvious, that the wonder is, it ever ob-
tained the approbation of men of any reflection. For this
it undoubtedly was indebted to the novelty of the plan, as
well as to many individual passages of great beauty, and
many interesting traits of character. Its imperfections,
however, were not totally undiscovered even during its
popularity. The indelicate scenes could not escape ob-
servation ; and his late biographer, who has given an ex-
cellent criticism on the work, informs us that Dr. Watts,
to whom Richardson sent the volumes, instead of compli-
ments, writes to him, that "he understands the ladies com-
plain they cannot read them without blushing." Other
inconsistencies in the history of Pamela were admirably
ridiculed by Fielding in his " Joseph Andrews," an injury
which Richardson never forgave, and in his correspond-
ence with his flattering friends, predicted that Fielding
would soon be no more heard of Fielding, whose popu-
larity has outlived Richardson's by nearly half a century !
The success of Pamela occasioned a spurious continu-
ation of it, called " Pamela in high Life ; and on this the
author prepared to give a second part, which appeared in
two volumes, greatly inferior to the first. They are, as
Mrs. Barbauld justly observes, superfluous, for the plan
was already completed, and they are dull ; for, instead of
incident and passion, thev are filled with heavy sentiment,
VOL. XXVI. O
RICHARDSON.
in diction far from elegant. A great part of it aims to
palliate, by counter-criticism, the faults which Lad been
found in the first part; awd it is less a continuation, than
the author's defence of himself. But if Richardson sunk
in this second part, it was only to rise with new lustre in
his " Clarissa," the first two volumes of which were pub-
lished eight years after the preceding. This is unques-
tionably the production upon which the fame of Richard-
son is principally founded ; and although it has lost much
of its original popularity, owing to the change in the taste
of novel-readers, wherever it is read it will appear a noble
monument of the author's genius. This will be allowed,
even by those who can easily perceive that it has many
blemishes. These have been pointed out, with just dis-
crimination, by his biographer. Clarissa was much ad-
mired on the continent. The abbe Prevost gave a version
of it into French ; but rather an abridgment than a trans-
lation. It was afterwards rendered more faithfully by Le
Tournetir ; and was also translated into Dutch by Mr. Stin-
stra ; and into German under the auspices of the cele-
brated Dr. Haller.
After he had published two works, in each of which the
principal character is a female, he determined to give the
world an example of a perfect man : this design produced
his " Sir Charles Grandison," a character certainly instruc-
tive, while in some measure repulsive. But that of Cle-
mentina is the highest effort of genius in this work. Dr.
Warton says, "I know not whether even the madness of
Lear is wrought up and expressed by so many little strokes
of nature and passion. It is absolute pedantry to prefer and
compare the madness of Orestes, in Euripides, with that
of Clementina." Yet even here Mrs. Barbauld has, with
great acuteness, pointed out Richardson's want of judg-
ment in the management of his Clementina. It is, as this
lady justly observes, the fault of Richardson that he never
knew when to have done with a character; and this pro-
pensity to tediousness and prolixity in all his narratives,
while the bulk is increased, has undoubtedly contributed
to procure him more patient than willing readers, and to oc-
casion those who have once gone through his volumes, to-se-
lect favourite passages only for a second reading.
By these works, and by his business, which was very
prosperous, Mr. Richardson gradually improved his for-
tune. In 1755, he was engaging in building, both in.
RICHARDSON. 196
Salisbury court, Fleet-street, and at Parson's-green near
Fulhara, where he fitted up a house. In 1760, he pur-
chased a moiety of the patent of Law-printer, and carried
on that department of business in partnership with Miss
Catherine Lintot, afterwards the wife of Henry Fletcher,
esq. M. P. for Westmoreland.
By many family misfortunes, and his own writings, which
in a manner realized every feigned distress, his nerves
naturally weak, or, as Pope expresses it, " tremblingly
alive all o'er," were so unhinged, that for many years be-
fore his death his hand shook, he had frequent vertigoes,
and would sometimes have fallen, had he not supported
himself by his cane under his coat. His paralytic disorder
affected his nerves to such a degree, for a considerable
time before his death, that he could not lift a glass of wine
to his mouth without assistance. This disorder at length
terminating in an apoplexy, deprived the world of this
amiable man, and truly original genius, on July 4, 1761,
at the age of seventy-two. He was buried, by his own di-
rection, with his first wife, in the middle aile, near the
pulpit of St. Bride's church. His picture was painted by
Mr. High more, whence a mezzotinto has been taken.
His first wife was Martha Wilde, daughter of Mr. Ailing-
ton Wilde, printer, in Clerkenwell, by whom he had five
sons and a daughter, who all died young. His second
wife (who survived him many years) was Elizabeth sister
of Mr. Leake, bookseller, of Bath. By her he had a son
and five daughters. The son died young; but four of the
daughters survived him ; viz. Mary, married in 1757 to
Mr. Ditcher, an eminent surgeon of Bath ; Martha, mar-
ried in 1762 to Edward Bridgen, esq. F. R. and A. SS. ;
Anne, unmarried ; and Sarah, married to Mr. Crowther,
surgeon of Boswell-court. All these, are now dead.
Mr. Richardson was a plain man, who seldom exhibited
his talents in mixed company. He heard the sentiments
of others with attention, but seldom gave his own ; rather
desirous of gaining friendship by his modesty than his
parts. Besides his being a great genius, he was truly a
good man in all respects ; in his family, in commerce, in
conversation, and in every instance of conduct. He was
pious, virtuous, exemplary, benevolent, friendly, gene-
rous, and humane, to an uncommon degree ; glad of every
opportunity of doing good offices to his fellow -creatures in
distress, and relieving many without their knowledge. His
O 2
196 RICHARDSON.
chief delight was doing good. He was highly revered and
beloved by his domestics for his happy temper and discreet
conduct. He had great tenderness towards his wife and
children, and great condescension towards his servants. He
was always very sedulous in business, and almost always
employed in it; and dispatched a great deal by the pru-
dence of his management. His turn of temper led him to
improve his fortune with mechanical assiduity ; and having
no violent passions, nor any desire of being triflingly dis-
tinguished from others, he at last became rich, and left his
family in easy independence, though his house and table,
both in town and country, were ever open to his numerous
friends.
Besides his three great works, his " Pamela, Clarissa,
and Grandison," he published, i. "The Negotiation of Sir
Thomas Roe, in his Embassy to the Ottoman Porte, from
1621 to 1628 inclusive," &c. 1740, folio, inscribed to
the King in a short dedication, which does honour to the
ingenious writer. 2. An edition of " ^sop's Fables, with
Reflections.'* And, 3. A volume of " Familiar Letters to
and from several persons upon business, and other sub-
jects." He had also a share in " The Christian Magazine,
by Dr. James Mauclerc, 1748 ;" and in the additions to the
sixth edition of De Foe's " Tour through Great Britain."
" Six original Letters upon Duelling" were printed after
his death, in "The Literary Repository, 1765," p. 227.
A letter of his to Mr. Duncombe is in the " Letters of
eminent Persons, 1733," vol. III. p. 71; and some verses
in the "Anecdotes of Bowyer," p. 160. Mr. Richardson
also published a large single sheet, relative to the married
state, entitled "The Duties of Wives to Husbands;" and
was under the disagreeable necessity of publishing " The
Case of Samuel Richardson of London, Printer, on the
Invasion of his Property in the History of Sir Charles
Grandison, before publication, by certain Booksellers in
Dublin," which bears date Sept. 14, 1753. "A Collection
of the moral sentences in Pamela, Clarissa, and Grandi-
son," was printed in 1755, 12mo.
No. i>7, vol. II. of the " Rambler," it is well known,
was written by Mr. Richardson ; in the preamble to which
Dr. Johnson styles him " an author from whom the age has
received greater favours, who has enlarged the knowledge
of human nature, and taught the passions to move at the
command of virtue." In 1804, was published " The Cor-
RICHARDSON. 1!>7
respondence of Samuel Richardson," in six volumes octavo.
The best consequence of the design of publishing this col-
lection of letters, is the excellent life and criticism on his
works by Mrs. Barbauld. As to the letters, every real ad-
mirer of Richardson must peruse them with regret. Such
a display of human weakness has seldom been permitted
to sully the reputation of any man.
In our last edition some testimonies of a different kind
to the merits and memory of Richardson were given.
Of these we may still retain the sentiments of Mr. Sher-
lock, the celebrated English traveller, who observes, " The
greatest effort of genius that perhaps was ever made was,
forming the plan of Clarissa Harlowe." " Richardson
is not yet arrived at the fulness of his glory." " Ri-
chardson is admirable for every species of delicacy ; for
delicacy of wit, sentiment, language, action, every thing."
" His genius was immense. His misfortune was, that he
did not know the ancients. Had he but been acquainted
with one single principle, l Omne supervacuum pleno de
pectore manat,' (all superfluities tire) ; he would not have
satiated his reader as he has done. There might be made
out of Clarissa and Sir Charles Grandison TWO works,
which would be both the most entertaining, and the most
useful, that ever were written. His views were grand.
His soul was noble, and his heart was excellent. He formed
a plan that embraced all human nature. His object was
to benefit mankind. His knowledge of the world shewed
him, that happiness was to be attained by man only in
proportion as he practised virtue. His good sense then
shewed him, that no practical system of morality existed ;
and the same good sense told him, that nothing but a body
of morality, put into action, could work with efficacy on the
minds of youth."
Dr. Johnson, in his preface to Rowe observes, " The
character of Lothario seems to have been expanded by
Richardson into Lovelace ; but he has excelled his original
in the moral effect of the fiction. Lothario, with gaiety
which cannot be hated, and bravery which cannot be de-
spised, retains too much of the spectator's kindness. It
was in the power of Richardson alone to teach us at once
esteem and detestation ; to make virtuous resentment over-
power all the benevolence which wit, and -elegance, and
courage, naturally excite ; and to lose at last the hero in
the villain." 1
1 Life by Mrs. Barbauld prefixed to the Correspondence. Nichols's Bowyer, &c.
158 RICHARDSON.
RICHARDSON (WILLIAM), a learned English divine,
was the son of the rev. Samuel Richardson, B. D. vicar of
Wilshamstead near Bedford, by Elizabeth, daughter of
the rev. Samuel Bentham, rector of Knebworth and Paul's
Walden, in Hertfordshire. His grandfather was the rev.
John Richardson, a nonconformist, who was ejected, in
1662, from the living of St Michael's, Stamford, in Lin-
colnshire, and died in 1687. He was born at Wilsham-
stead, July 23, 1698, and educated partly in the school of
Oakham, and partly in that of Westminster. In March
1716 he was admitted of Emanuel college, Cambridge, of
which he afterwards was a scholar, and took his degrees of
A. B. in 1719, and A. M. in 1723. In the mean time, in
Septemher 1720 he was ordained deacon by Gibson, bishop
of Lincoln, at St. Peter's, Cornhill, London, and priest, by
the same, at Buckden, in Sept. 1722. He was then ap-
pointed curate of St. Olave's Southwark, which he held
until 1726, when the parish chose him their lecturer.
About this time he married Anne, the widow of capt. David
Durell, the daughter of William Howe, of an ancient
family of the county of Chester. He published in 1727,
2 vols. 8vo, the " Priclectiones Ecclesiastical' of his learned
uncle John Richardson, B. D. author of a masterly " Vin-
dication of the Canon of the New Testament," against
Toland. In 1724 he was collated to the prebend of Wel-
ton-Rivall, in the church of Lincoln.
In 1730 he published "The Usefulness and Necessity
of Revelation ; in four Sermons preached at St. Olave's
Southwark," Svo; and, in 1733, "Relative Holiness, a
Sermon preached at the consecration of the parish church
of St. John's Southwark." He next undertook, at the re-
quest of the bishops Gibson and Potter, to publish a new
edition of " Godwin de Prassulibus." On this he returned
to Cambridge in 1734, for the convenience of the libraries
and more easy communication with his learned contempo-
raries ; and in 1735 proceeded D. D. After the death of
Dr. Savage, he was chosen unanimously, and without his
knowledge, master of Emanuel college, Aug. 10, 1736; a
rare and almost unprecedented compliment to a man of
letters, for he had never been fellow of the college. He
served the office of vice-chancellor in 1738, and again in
1769. In 1746 he was appointed one of his majesty's
chaplains, which he resigned in 1768. In 1743 he pub-
lished at Cambridge his new edition of Godwin, in a splen-
RICHARDSON, 199
did folio volume, with a continuation of the lives of the
bishops to the time of publication ; a work of unquestion-
able utility and accuracy. He was named in the will of
archbishop Potter for an option, on condition that he can-
celled a leaf of this work, relating to archbishop Tenison's
lukewarmness in the matter of the Prussian liturgy and
bishops. Accordingly a new leaf was printed and sent to
all the subscribers ; " but," in Mr. Cole's opinion, " ra-
ther confirming the fact than disproving it." Both the
original and the substitute may be seen in the supplement
to the old edition of the " Biographia Britannica," art.
GRABE, note, p. 78. The option, however, was not so
easily obtained. It was the precentorship of Lincoln, and
was contested by archbishop Potter's chaplain, Dr. Chap-
man. The lord- keeper Henley gave it in favour of Chap-
man, but Dr. Richardson appealing to the House of Lords,
the decree was unanimously reversed, and Dr. Richardson
admitted into the precentorship in 1760. This affair ap-
pears to have been considered of importance. Warburton
writes on it to his correspondent Hurd in approving terms.
" I would not omit to give you the early news (in two
words) that Dr. Richardson is come off victorious in the
appeal. The precentorship of Lincoln is decreed for him ;
the keeper's decree reversed with costs of suit. Lord
Mansfield spoke admirably. It has been three days in try-
ing." Burn has inserted a full account of this cause in his
" Ecclesiastical Law."
Dr. Richardson died March 15, 1775, at his lodgings at
Emanuel college, at the age of seventy-seven, after a lin-
gering decay, and was buried in the college chapel, in the
same vault with his wife, who died March 21, 1759.
He was many years an honour to the Society of Antiqua-
ries, and left in MS. some valuable collections relative to
the constitution of the university; many biographical anec-
dotes preparatory to an " Athense Cantabrigienses," which
he once intended to publish, and an accurate alphabet in
his own writing of all the graduates of the university from
1 500 to 1 735 inclusive. He printed also a sermon preached
before the House of Commons in 1764.
His only son, ROBERT Richardson, D. D. F. R. S. and S. A.
was prebendary of Lincoln, rector of St. Anne's Westmin-
ster, and of Wallington in Hertfordshire, which last was
given to him by sir Joseph Yorke, with whom he resided
as chaplain many years at the Hague. Whilst in thai
200 RICHARDSON.
employment, the papers on both sides, previous to the trial
of the great cause, Douglas against Hamilton, being sent
over to his excellency, Dr. Richardson, for his own curi-
osity, digested them, and drew up the state of the ques-
tion, which was printed in 4to for private distribution, and
so well approved by the gentlemen of the bar, that it was
put into the hands of the counsel for the party he espoused
as their brief; of which perhaps there never was a similar
instance. He had the honour to see the opinion he sup-
ported confirmed by the House of Peers. After the trial
he was offered 400/. in the handsomest manner, but de-
clined accepting it. He died Sept. 27, 1781, at his house
in Dean-street, Soho, in his fiftieth year. He printed
only two occasional sermons. 1
RICHELET (CAESAR PETER), a French writer, and noted
as the first who published a dictionary almost entirely sati-
rical, was born at Cheminon in Champagne, in 1631. He
was the friend of Patru and d'Ablancourt ; and, like them,
applied himself to the study of the French language with
success. He composed a dictionary full of new and useful
remarks, which would have been more acceptable if it had
not been also full of satirical reflections and indecencies;
but these were expunged in the latter editions. It was
first published at Geneva, 1680, in one vol. 4to ; but, after
the death of the author, which happened in 1698, en-
larged with a great number of new articles to 2 vols. folio,
as is the edition of Lyons in 1721. Another edition, 3 vols.
folio, was published at Lyons in 1727; and a very neat
one in 2 vols. 4to, at Amsterdam in 1732; and, lastly, in
3 vols. folio, at Lyons, 1759 1763, by the abbe Gouget.
The abridgment of it by Galtel, 1797 and 1803, 2 vols. 8vo,
is now in most demand in France.
Richelet made a French translation of " The Conquest
ef Florida," by Garcilasso de la Vega ; to which is pre-
fixed an account of his life. He composed some other
pieces, of the grammatical and critical kind, relating to the
French tongue. 8
RICHELIEU (ARMAND Du PLESSIS), a celebrated car-
dinal and minister of France, was the third son of Francis
du Plessis, seigneur de Richelieu, knight of the king's
orders, and grand provost of France, and was born Sept. 5,
i Cole's MS Athenae in Brit. Mus. Nichols's Bowyer.
Moreri. -Diet. Hist.
RICHELIEU. 201
15S5, at Paris. He was admitted into the Sorbonne at
the age of twenty-two, obtained a dispensation from pope
Paul V. for the bishopric of Lucon, and was consecrated
at Rome in 1607. On his return, he acquired consider-
able interest at court, and was appointed by Mary de Me-
dicis, then regent, her grand almoner; and in 1616 was
raised to the post of secretary of state. After the death of
one of his friends, the marshal D'Ancre, in 1617, when
Mary was banished to Blois, he followed her thither; but,
the duke de Luynes becoming jealous of him, he was
ordered to retire to Avignon, and there he wrote his
" Method of Controversy," on the principal points of
faith.
In 1619 the king recalled Richelieu, and sent him into
Angouleme, where he persuaded the queen to a reconcili-
ation, which was concluded in 1620; and in consequence
of this treaty, the duke de Luynes obtained a cardinal's
hat for him from pope Gregory XV. Richelieu, continu-
ing his services after the duke's decease, was admitted, in
J624, into the council, through the interest of the queen,
and almost against the will of the king, who, devout and
scrupulous, considered him as a knave, because he had
been informed of his gallantries. It is even said that he
was insolent enough to aspire to queen Anne of Austria,
and that the railleries to which this subjected him were the
cause of his subsequent aversion to her. Cardinal Riche-
lieu was afterwards appointed prime minister, head of the
councils, high steward, chief, and superintendant-generai
of the French trade and navigation. He preserved the
Isle of Rhe in 1627, and undertook the siege of Rochelle
against the protestants the same year. He completed the
conquest of Rochelle in October 1628, in spite of the
king of Spain, who had withdrawn his forces, of the king
of England, who could not relieve it, and of the French
king, who grew daily more weary of the undertaking, by
means of that famous mole, executed by his orders, but
planned by Lewis Metezeau and John Tiriot. The cap-
ture of Rochelle proved a mortal blow to the protestants,
but in France was reckoned the most glorious and benefi-
cial circumstance of cardinal Richelieu's administration.
He also attended his majesty to the relief of the duke of
Mantua in 1629, raised the siege of Casal, and, at his re-
turn, compelled the protestants to accept the treaty of
peace which had been concluded at Alais, and completed
202 RICHELIEU.
the ruin of their party. Six months after this, cardinal
Richelieu, having procured himself to be appointed lieute-
nant-general of the army beyond the mountains, took Pig-
nerol, relieved Casal a second time, which was besieged
by the marquis Spinola, defeated general Doria, by means
of the duke de Monttnorenci at Vegliana, July 10, 1630,
and made himself master of all Savoy. Louis XIII. having
returned to Lyons, in consequence of sickness, the queen-
mother, and most of the nobility, took advantage of this
circumstance to form plots against Richelieu, and speak
ill of his conduct to the king, which they did with so much
success, that Louis promised the queen to discard him.
The cardinal's ruin now seemed inevitable, and he was
actually preparing to set out for Havre-de Grace, which
he had chosen for his retreat, when cardinal de la Valette,
knowing that the queen had not followed her son to Ver-
sailles, advised him first to see his majesty. In this inter-
view, he immediately cleared himself from all the accusa-
tions of his enemies, justified his conduct, displayed the
advantages and necessity of his administration, and wrought
so forcibly upon the king's mind by his reasoning, that,
instead of being discarded, he became from that moment
more powerful than ever. He inflicted the same punish-
ments upon his enemies which they had advised for him ;
and this day, so fortunate for Richelieu, was called " The
Day of Dupes." Those who had the misfortune to incur
his displeasure, certainly did not all deserve the penalties
to which he doomed them ; but he knew how to make him-
self master of their fate, by appointing such judges to try
them as were at his disposal. That abominable method of
taking the accused from their lawful judges, had, in the
preceding century, served as a means for the families of
condemned persons to get their characters restored ; after
which the French had no reason to fear its revival ; but
Richelieu hesitated not to adopt it, though at the risque of
general odium, as being favourable to his designs. By
thus making himself master of the lives and fortunes of the
mal-contents, he imposed silence even on their murmurs.
This artful minister, being now secure of his lasting as-
cendancy over the king, and having already accomplished
one of the two great objects which he had proposed to
himself from the beginning of his administration, which
were, the destruction of the protestants, and the humbling
the too great power of the house of Austria, began now
RICHELIEU. 203
to contrive means for executing this second undertaking.
The principal and most efficacious method employed by
the cardinal with that view, was a treaty he concluded,
January 23, 1631, with Gustavus Adolphus, king of Swe-
den, for currying the war into the heart of Germany. He
also formed a league with the duke of Bavaria, secured to
himself Lorrain, raised part of the German princes against
the emperor, treated with Holland to continue the war
wirh Spain, favoured the Catalonians and Portuguese
when they shook off the Spanish yoke, and, in short,
made use of so many measures and stratagems, that he
completely accomplished his design. Cardinal Richelieu
was carrying on the war with success, and meditating on
that glorious peace, which was not concluded till 1648,
when h died in his palace at Paris, worn out by his long
toils, December 4,"1642, aged fifty-eight. He was buried
at the Sorbonne, where his mausoleum (the celebrated
Girardon's master-piece) may be seen. He is considered
as one of the most complete statesmen, and ablest politi-
cians, that France ever had. Amidst all the anxieties
which the fear of his enemies must necessarily occasion,
he formed the most extensive and complicated plans, and
executed them with great superiority of genius. It was
cardinal Richelieu who established the throne, while yet
shaken by the protestant factions, and the power of the
House of Austria, and made the royal authority completely
absolute, and independent, by the extinction of the petty
tyrants who wasted the kingdom. In the mean time he
omitted nothing which could contribute to the glory of
France. He promoted arts and sciences ; founded the
botanical garden at Paris called the king's garden ; also
the French academy, and the royal printing-office; built
the palace since called the Palais Royal, and gave it to his
majesty ; rebuilt the Sorbonne (of which he was provisor)
in a style of kingly magnificence; and prepared for all the
splendour of Louis the Fourteenth's reign. His enemies,
says the abbe L'Atocat, unable to deny his great talents,
have reproached him with great faults; irregularity of con-
duct, unbounded ambition, universal despotism, from which
even the king, his master, did not escape; for he left
him, as they express it, only the power of curing the evil ;
a vanity and ostentation which exceeded the dignity of the
throne itself, where all was simplicity and negligence,
while the cardinal's court exhibited nothing but pomp and
204 RICHELIEU.
splendour; unexampled ingratitude to bis benefactress,
queen Mary de Medicis, whom he inhumanly compelled
to end her da*ys in Germany, in obscurity and indigence;
and, finally, his revengeful temper, which occasioned so
many cruel executions ; as those of Chalais, Grandier, the
marechal de Marillac, M. de Montmorenci, Cinqmars, M.
de Thou, &c. Even the queen, for having written to the
duchess de Chevreuse, Richelieu's enemy, and a fugitive,
saw all her papers seized, and was examined before the
chancellor Sequier. Mad. de la Fayette, mad. de Haute-
fort, and father Caussin, the king's confessors, were all
disgraced in consequence of having offended this despotic
minister. But, says his apologist, there are many points
to be considered with respect to these accusations : it ap-
pears certain, from a thousand passages in the life of this
celebrated cardinal, that he was naturally very grateful,
and never proceeded to punishment but when he thought
state affairs required it ; for which reason, when in his last
sickness, his confessor asked " if he forgave his enemies ?"
he replied, " I never had any but those of the state." At
the head of his " Political Testament" may be seen his
justification of himself on the subject of these bloody exe-
cutions, with which he has been so much reproached. It
is equally certain, that he never oppressed the people by
taxes or exorbitant subsidies, notwithstanding the long
wars he had to carry on ; and that, if he was severe in
punishing crimes, he knew how to distinguish merit, and
reward it generously. He bestowed the highest ecclesias-
tical dignities on such bishops and doctors as he knew to
be men of virtue and learning ; placed able and experien-
ced generals at the head of the armies, and entrusted pub-
lic business with wise, punctual, and intelligent men. It
was this minister who established a navy. His vigilance
extended through every part of the government ; and,
notwithstanding the cabals, plots, and factions, which were
incessantly forming against him during the whole course of
his administration (and which must have employed great
part of his time) he left sufficient sums behind him to carry
on the war with glory ; and France was in a more powerful
and flourishing state at the time of his decease than when
Louis XIV. died. After stating these facts, Richelieu's
enemies areinvited to determine whether France would have
derived more advantage from being governed by Mary de
Medicis, Gaston of Orleans, &c. than by this cardinal ?
RICHELIEU. 205
The estate of Richelieu was made a dukedom in his favour,
in 1631, and he received other honours and preferments.
Besides the " Method of Controversy" he wrote, 2. " The
principal points of the Catholic Faith defended, against
the writing addressed to the king by the ministers of Cha-
renton." 3. "The most easy and certain Method of con-
verting those who are separated from the Church." These
pieces are written with force and vivacity. He wrote also,
" A Catechism," in which he lays down the doctrine of
the church, in a clear and concise manner ; and a treatise
of piety, called, "The Perfection of a Christian." These
are his theological works ; and they have been often
printed : but that which is most read, and most worthy of
being read, is his " Political Testament," the authenticity
of which has been doubted by some French writers, parti-
cularly Voltaire. The cardinal also had the ambition to
be thought a dramatic poet ; and, says lord Chesterfield,
while he absolutely governed both his king and country,
and was, in a great degree, the arbiter of the fate of all
Europe, he was more jealous of the great reputation of
Corneille, than of the power of Spain ; and more flattered
with being thought (what he was not) the best poet, than
with being thought (what he certainly was) the greatest
statesman in Europe; and affairs stood still, while he was
concerting the criticism upon the Cid. l
RICHER (EDMUND), a learned French divine, was born
September 30, 1560, at Chaource, in the diocese of Lan-
gres. He had been at first drawn into the party and sen-
timents of the Leaguers, and even ventured to defend
James Clement, but soon hastened to acknowledge his legiti-
mate sovereign, after having taken his doctor's degree,
1590. Richer became grand master of the college of Le
Moine, then syndic of the faculty of divinity at Paris,
January 2, 1603, in which office he strenuously defended
the ancient maxims of the doctors of this faculty, and op*,
posed the thesis of a Dominican in '1611, who maintained
the pope's infallibility, and his superiority over the coun-
cil. He published a small tract the same year, " On the
Civil and Ecclesiastical Power," 8vo, to establish the prin-
ciples on which he asserted that the doctrine of the French
church, and the Sorhonne, respecting papal authority, and
the authority of the general council, were founded. This
1 Diet. Hist, de L'Avocat. Moreri. Hist, of France.
206 R I C H E R.
little book made much noise, and raised its author enemies in
the Nuncio, and some doctors undertook to have him deposed
from the syndicate, and his work condemned by the faculty
of theology ; but the parliament prohibited the faculty from
interfering in that affair. In the mean time cardinal du
Perron, archbishop of Sens, assembled eight bishops of his
province at Paris, and made them censure Richer's book,
March 9, 1612. Richer entered an appeal (Comme tfabus)
from this censure, to the parliament, and was admitted as
an appellant ; but the matter rested there. His book was
also censured by the archbishop of Aix, and three bishops
of his province, May 24, the same year, and he was pro-
scribed and condemned at Rome. A profusion or pam-
phlets now appeared to refute him, and he received an
express order from court, not to write in his defence.
The animosity against Richer rose at length to such a
height that his enemies obtained from the king and the
queen regent letters, ordering the faculty to elect another
syndic. Richer made his protestations, read a paper in
his defence, and retired. A new syndic was chosen in
1612, and they have ever since been elected once in two
years, although before that time their office was perpetual.
Richer afterwards ceased to attend the meetings of the
faculty, and confined himself to solitude, being wholly
employed in study ; but his enemies having involved him
in several fresh troubles, he was seized, sent to the prisons
of St. Victor, and would even have been delivered up to
the pope, had no,t the parliament and chancellor of France
prevented it, on complaints made by the university. He
refused to attend the censure passed on the books of An-
thony de Dominis in 1617, and published a declaration in
1620, at the solicitation of the court of Rome, protesting
that he was ready to give an account of the propositions in his
book " on the Eccle^iptical and Civil Power,'* and explain
them in an orthodox sense ; and farther, that he submitted
his work to the judgment of the Holy See, and of the Ca-
tholic church. He even published a second declaration ;
but all being insufficient to satisfy his adversaries, he was
obliged to reprint his book in 1629, with the proofs of the
propositions advanced in it, and the two declarations, to
which cardinal Richelieu is said to have forced him to add
a third. He died Nov. 28, 1631, in his seventy-second
year. He was buried at the Sorbonne, where a mass used
to be said annually for the repose of his soul. Besides his
KICK E R. 207
treatise on " Ecclesiastical Power," reprinted with additions
at Cologii in 1701, 2 vols. 4to, he was the author of a
" History of general Councils," 4 vols. 4to ; a " History
of his Syndicate," 8vo, and some other works, in which
learning and great powers of reasoning are obvious. Bail-
let published a life of him in 12mo. f
RICHER (PETER DE BELLEVAL), an ingenious French
botanist, was born in 1558, at Chalons in Champagne, and
studied medicine. The humane and skilful services he
rendered to the people of Pezenas, during an epidemic
disorder, recommended him to the patronage of the con-
stable de Montmorency, by whose interest he was appoint-
ed professor of botany and anatomy in the university of
Montpellier, and Henry IV. committed to him the care of
establishing a public garden in that university. This de-
sign was executed in the most skilful and splendid man-
ner. Belleval pubjished a catalogue of the garden in
1598, and a French treatise, in 1605, recommending an
inquiry into the native plants or' Languedoc. This last was
accompanied by five plates, intended as a specimen of a
future work, for which he subsequently prepared a number
of engravings, rude and stift* in execution, but exhibiting
many rare species. He never lived to publish these, and
the plates remained neglected in the hands of his family,
till Gouan recovered them, and sent impressions to Lin-
naeus. At length Gillibert obtained the plates, and pub-
lished them in 1796. The two pamphlets above mentioned
were republished in 1785, by the celebrated and unfortu-
nate Broussonet ; along with a treatise on the white mul-
berry, by Olivier de Serres, originally printed in 1603.
Richer de Belleval lived to see his garden destroyed by the
fury of civil war, and was beginning to restore it, when he
died in 1623. His nephew accomplished the re-establish-
ment of the garden, on a more extensive scale. M. Dorthes
of Montpellier published, in 1786, " Recherches sur la
Vie et les Ouvrages de Pierre Richer de Belleval," in which
every thing that could be collected on the subject is re-
corded. Some writers erroneously mention Belleval as
the first botanist who gave copper-plate figures of plants.
This honour is due to Fabius Columns, whose " Phytoba-
sanos" appeared in 1592. We must not omit to mention,
1 Dupin. Nictron, vol. XXVII, Life ift Bibl. Anc. et Modern, vol. XII.
Mosheim.
208 R I C H E R.
that Scopoli has named a genus BeUcvalio t a name, or some-
thing like it, which Belleval himself was fond of giving to
the lily of the valley. 1
11ICIUS (PAUL), was a learned German Jew, who, hav-
ing been converted, taught philosophy with great credit at
Padua, and was afterwards invited into Germany, by the
emperor Maximilian, and appointed one of his physicians.
There are no particulars of his life upon record, except the
above general facts. He published many works against
the Jews, and on different subjects, in which he maintains
that the heavens are animated, and advances other para-
doxes. " De Ccelesti Agricultural,'' Bas. 1587, in folio;
" Talmudica Commentariola," Augsburg, 1519, 4to; "De
73 Mosaicae Sanctionis Edictis," Augsburg, 1515, 4to. His
candour, honesty, moderation, and learning, are much
praised. He lived in the sixteenth century, and Erasmus
has given his eulogy in the last letter of his first book. 2
RIDER (JOHN), an Irish prelate, was born at Carring-
ton in Cheshire, about 1562, and was entered of Jesus col-
lege, Oxford, in 1576, where he took his degrees in arts,
and continued some years in the university, teaching gram-
mar chiefly. His first preferment in the church appears to
have been to the living of Waterstock in Oxfordshire, in
1580, which he resigned in 158!. In 1583, he was ad-
mitted to that of South Wokingdon, which he resigned in
1590. He was also rector of St. Mary Magdalen, Ber-
mondsey, and of Winwick in Lancashire. He was after-
wards made archdeacon of Meath in Ireland, thence pre-
ferred to the deanery of St. Patrick's, Dublin, and in 1612
to the bishopric of Killaloe. He died in 1632, and was
buried in his cathedral. To this dry catalogue of prefer-
ments, we can only add generally that he was much re-
spected for piety and learning ; but there are no particu-
lars of his life and progress from a state of comparative ob-
scurity to the bishopric. As he was an eminent tutor, he
might owe some of his preferments to the gratitude of his
pupils. He published " A Letter concerning the News out
of Ireland, and of the Spaniards landing, and the present
state there," Lond. 1601, 4to; and " Claim of antiquity in
behalf of the Protestant Religion," ibid. 1608, 4to ; a tract
written in controversy with Fitz Simon the Jesuit, whose
1 Haller, Bibl. Bot. Diet. Hist Rees's Cyclopaedia.
2 Gen. Diet. Moreri. Diet. Hist.
RIDE It. 209
answer is entitled " A catholic confutation of Mr. John
Rider's Claim of Antiquity, and a calming comfort against
his caveat," Roan, 1608, 8vo. To this was added a " Reply
to Mr. Rider's postscript, and a discovery of puritan par-
tiality in his behalf." But this prelate is most remembered
on account of his dictionary, " A Dictionary, English and
Latin, and Latin and English," Oxon. 1589, 4to. This
must have been at that time a work of great utility, although
Fuller accuses him of borrowing from Thomasius. Wood
says it was the first that had the English before the Latin,
which is not correct, as this was the case in the " Promp-
torium parvulum," printed by Pynson in 1499, and the
" Ortus Vocabulorum," by W. de Worde, in 1516 ; but it
certainly was the first Latin Dictionary in which the Eng-
lish part was placed at the beginning of the book, before
the Latin part. 1
RIDGLEY (THOMAS), an eminent dissenter, was bom
in London about 1667, and educated at a private academy
in Wiltshire. Having entered into the ministry, he was in
1695 chosen assistant to ~Mr. Thomas Gouge in his meet-
ing near the Three Cranes, London, and about four years
afterwards became his successor. In 1712, in conjunction
with Mr. John Eames, he began to conduct an academy,
supported by the independents of London, as divinity
tutor ; his qualifications for which office were very consi-
derable, both as to learning and abilities, and a judicious
manner of conveying knowledge. It was in the course of
lecturing to his pupils, that he delivered an exposition of
the " Assembly's Larger Catechism," which he published
in 1731, as a " Body of Divinity," in 2 vols. folio. This
has been frequently reprinted, and is still held in high es-
timation among the Calvinislic dissenters, with whom he
ranks ; but he held some few speculative opinions, respect-
ing the doctrines of the Trinity, and of a future state, which
are peculiar to himself. The university of Aberdeen be-
stowed on him the degree of D. D. as a testimony of their
approbation of this work. His other publications were,
various single sermons, and two tracts occasioned by the
controversy among the dissenting ministers on the subject
of subscription to creeds. As a preacher he officiated at
other places, besides his own meeting, and was much tol-
1 Ath. Ox. vol. I. new edit. Harris's Ware. Fuller's Worthies.
VOL. XXVI. P
210 RIDLEY.
lowed. He died March 27, 1734, in the sixty-seventh
year of his age. 1
RIDLEY (NICHOLAS), an eminent English prelate, and
martyr to the cause of the reformed religion, descended
from an ancient family in Northumberland, was born early
in the sixteenth century, in Tynedale, at a place called
Wilmomswick in the above county. As he exhibited early
proofs of good natural abilities, he was placed in a gram-
mar-school at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, in which he made
such progress, that he was taken from thence and entered
of Pembroke-hall, Cambridge, about 15 18, when Luther was
preaching against indulgences in Germany. His disposi-
tion was open and ingenuous, and his application to his
studies unremitting both at school and university. He was
taught Greek by Robert Crook, who had begun a course of
that language at Cambridge. His religious sentiments
were those of the Romish church in which he had been
brought up, and in which he would probably be encou-
raged by his uncle, Dr. Robert Ridley, then fellow of
Queen's college. In 1522 he took the degree of B. A. ;
and to his knowledge of the learned languages, now added
that of the philosophy and theology then in vogue. In
1524 his abilities were so generally acknowledged, that the
master and fellows of University college, Oxford, invited
him to accept of an exhibition there; but this he declined,
and the same year was chosen fellow of his own college in
Cambridge. Next year he took the degree of M. A. and in
1526 was appointed by the college their general agent in
all causes belonging to the churches of Tilney, Soham, and
Saxthorpe, belonging to Pembroke-hall. But as his stu-
dies were now directed to divinity, his uncle, at hjs own
charge, sent him for farther improvement to the Sorbonne
at Paris ; and from thence to Louvain ; continuing on the
continent till 1529. In 1530, he was chosen junior trea-
surer of his college, and about this time appears to have
been more than ordinarily intent on the study of the scrip-
tures. For this purpose he used to walk in the orchard at
Pembroke-hall, and there commit to memory almost all
the epistles in Greek ; which walk is still called Ridley's-
waik. He also distinguished himself by his skill in dispu-
tation, but frequently upon frivolous questions, as was the
custom of the time.
1 Wilson's History of Dissenting Churches.
RIDLEY. 211
th 1533 he was chosen senior proctor of the university,
and while in that office, the important point of the pope's
supremacy came to be examined upon the authority of
scripture. The decision of the university was, that " the
bishop of Rome had no more authority and jurisdiction de-
rived to him from God, in this kingdom of England, than
any other foreign bishop ;" which was signed by the vice-
chancellor, and by Nicholas Ridley, and Richard Wilkes,
proctors. In 1534, on the expiration of his proctorship,
he took the degree of B. D. and was chosen chaplain of the
university, and public reader, which archbishop Tenison
calls pradicater publicus, and in the Pembroke MS. he is
also called Magister Glonieriaf, which office is supposed to
be that of university orator. In the year 1537 his great
reputation as an excellent preacher, and his intimate ac-
quaintance with the scriptures and fathers, occasioned
Cranmer, archbishop of Canterbury, to invite him to his
house, where he appointed him one of his chaplains, and
admitted him into his confidence. As a farther mark of
his esteem, he collated him, in April 1538, to the vicarage
of Herne in Kent. Here he was diligent to instruct his
charge in the pure doctrines of the gospel, as far as they
were discovered to him, except in the point of transubstan-
tiation, on which he had as yet received no light ; and to
enliven the devotion of his parishioners, he used to have
the Te Deum sung in his parish church in English, which
was afterwards urged in accusation against him.
In 1539, when the act of the six articles was passed, Mr.
Ridley, who had now the character of a zealous scriptu-
rist, bore his testimony against it in the pulpit, although
he was in no danger from its penalties, as he was still a be-
liever in transubstantiation, was not married, and with re-
spect to auricular confession, rather leaned to the practice,
but made a difference between what he thought an useful
appointment in the church, and pressing it on the con-
science as a point necessary to salvation. At Herne he
Continued to attract a great multitude of people to his ser-
mons, and in 1540 went to Cambridge, and took his de-
gree of doctor of divinity, probably at the persuasion of
Cranmer, who wished to place him in a more conspicuous
situation. This he attempted partly by recommending
him to the king as one of his majesty's chaplains, and
partly by giving him a prebend in the church of Canter-
P 2
212 RIDLEY.
bury. About the same time the fellows of Pembroke-hall
elected him master of that house.
At Canterbury he preached with so much zeal against
the abuses of popery, as to provoke the other prebenda-
ries, and preachers of what was called the old learning, to
exhibit articles against him at the archbishop's visitation in
J541, for preaching contrary to the statute of the six arti-
cles. The attempt, however, completely failed. Gardiner,
bishop of Winchester, next endeavoured to entrap him ;
and articles were exhibited against him before the justices
of the peace in Kent, and afterwards before the king and
council, which charged him with preaching against auri-
cular confession, and with directing the Te Deum to be
sung in English ; but the accusation being referred to
Craumer, by the king, that prelate immediately crushed
it, much to the mortification of Dr. Ridley's enemies.
The greatest part of 1545 Dr. Ridley spent in retire-
ment at Herne. He had, as we have noticed, been hitherto
a believer in transubstantiation, influenced by the decrees
of popes and councils, the rhetorical expressions of the
fathers, and the letter of scripture ; but it is supposed that
a perusal of the controversy between Luther and the
Zuinglians, with the writings of Ratramnus or Bertram,
which had fallen into his hands, induced him to examine
more closely into the scriptures, and opinions of the fa-
thers ; the result of which was, that this doctrine had no
foundation. Cranmer also, to whom he communicated his
discoveries, joined with him in the same opinion, as did
Latimer. In the close of 1545, Cranmer gave him the
eighth stall in St. Peter's, Westminster. When Edward
ascended the throne in 1547, Dr. Ridley was considered as
a celebrated preacher, and in his sermons before the king,
as well as on other occasions, exposed, with boldness and
argument, the errors of popery. About this time, the fel-
lows of Pembroke-hall presented him to the living of So-
haro, in the diocese of Norwich; but the presentation being
disputed by the bishop, Ridley was admitted to the living
by command of the king. On Sept. 4 following, he was
promoted to the bishopric of Rochester, vacant by the
translation of Dr. Holbeach to the bishopric of Lincoln.
He was consecrated Sept. 25, in the chapel belonging to
Dr. May, dean of St. Paul's, in the usual form, by chrism,
or holy unction, and imposition of hands ; and after an
ath renouncing the usurped jurisdiction of the Roman
RIDLEY. 213
pontiff, was vested, according to the ancient rites, with
the robes and insignia appropriated to his dignity. Yet Dr.
Brookes, in the subsequent reign, would not allow Ridley
to have been a bishop, and only degraded him from his
priest's orders, which is not easy to be accounted for ; be-
cause if the pretence was that his abjuration of the pope
invalidated his consecration, the same objection might be
made to Bonner, Tonstall, Gardiner, &c.
In 1548, bishop Ridley appears to have been employed
in compiling the common prayer, in conjunction with arch-
bishop Cranmer, and others; and in 1549, he was put
into commission, together with Cranmer and several pthers,
to search after all anabaptists, heretics, and contemners of
the common prayer. This produced the execution of Joan
Bocher and another, of which we have already spoken in
our account of Cranmer, vol. X. p. 473. In May of this
year, he was one of a commission to visit Cambridge, and
abolish the statutes and ordinances which maintained
popery and superstition ; but, finding that another more
concealed object was the suppression of Clare-hall, and the
incorporation of it with Trinity-hall, as a new college of
civilians, he opposed it, and by his firmness prevented this
act of injustice. Another part of the business of the com-
missioners was more agreeable to him : this was to preside
at a public disputation relating to the sacrament of the
Lord's supper, similar to one that had been held at Oxford
a short time before. The decision on this occasion was
against transubstantiation ; and although Langdale, one of
the disputants on the side of that doctrine, composed a
pretended refutation of bishop Ridley's determination, he
did not venture to print it until 1558, when he was secure
that Ridley could make no reply.
In October 154-9, Bonner, bishop of London, was de-
prived, and Ridley, who was one of the commissioners be-
fore whom his cause was determined, was thought the
most proper person to fill that important see, on account
of his great learning and zeal for the reformation ; and he
was accordingly installed in April 1550. flis conduct to-
wards his predecessor Bonner, and his family, after taking
possession of the episcopal palace, was honourable to his
integrity and benevolence, of which the following facts are
sufficient proofs. He took care to preserve from injury the
goods, &c. belonging to Bonner, allowing him full liberty
to remove them when he pleased, Such materials as Bon-
314 R I D L E Y.
ner had purchased for the repair of his house and church,
the new bishop employed to the uses for which they -were
designed ; hut he repaid him the money which he had. ad-
vanced for them. He took upon himself the discharge of
the sums which were due to Bonner's servants for liveries
and wages ; and that the mother and sister of that prelate,
who lived near the palace at Fulham, and had their board
there, might not be losers in consequence of his promotion,
he always sent for them to dinner and supper, constantly
placing Mrs. Bonner at the head of the table, even when
persons of high rank were his guests, often saying, " By
your lordship's favour, this place of right and custom is for
my mother Bonner," as if he had succeeded to the rela-
tion, as well as office of her son.
Our prelate filled this high station with great dignity,
and was a pattern of piety, temperance, and regularity, to
all around him. He spent much of his time in prayer and
contemplation ; and took great pains in the instruction and
improvement of his family. His mode of life was, as soon
as he had risen and dressed himself, to continue in private
prayer half an hour ; then, if no other business interrupted
him, he retired to his study, where he continued until ten
o'clock, at which hour he went to prayers with his family.
He also daily read a lecture to them, beginning at the Acts
of the Apostles, and so going regularly through St. Paul's
epistles, giving to every one that could read, a New Tes-
tament, and encouraging them to learn by heart some
chosen chapters. After prayers he went to dinner, where
he was not very forward to begin discourse ; but when he
did, he entered into it with great wisdom and discretion,
and sometimes with facetiousness. This conversation he
would indulge for an hour after dinner, or otherwise amuse
himself during that time with playing at chess. The hour
for unbending being expired, he returned to his study,
where he continued till five, except suitors, or business
abroad, required otherwise. He then went to prayers with
his family as in the morning, after which he supped ; then
diverting himself for another hour after supper, as he did
after dinner, he went back to his study, and continued
there till eleven at night, when he retired to private prayer,
and then went to bed.
Soon after his promotion to the see of London, he was
the person thought the fittest to reconcile Dr. Hooper, the
bishop elect of Gloucester, to the vestments, against which
RIDLEY. 215
the latter had conceived very strong prejudices. In June
1550 bishop Ridley visited his diocese, and directed that
the altars should be taken down in the churches, and tables
substituted in their room, for the celebration of the Lord's
supper; hi order to take away the false persuasion which
the people had, of sacrifices to be offered upon altars. In
1551 the sweating sickness prevailed in London, and in the
space of a few days carried off eight or nine hundred per-
sons ; but in the midst of the alarm which this necessarily
occasioned, Ridley administered in the duties of his office,
trusting himself entirely to the good providence of God for
safety, in the danger to which he was every moment ex-
posed ; and he endeavoured, with all the zeal of an exem-
plary spiritual pastor, to improve the public calamity to
the reformation of the manners of the people. To promote
more generally a reformation in the doctrine of the church,
the council, this year, appointed Cranmer and Ridley to
prepare a book of articles of faith. With this view they
drew up forty-two articles, and sent copies of them to the
other bishops and learned divines, for their corrections and
amendments ; after which the archbishop reviewed them a
second time, and then presented them to the council, where
they received the royal sanction, and were published by
the king's authority.
In 1 552, Ridley visited his old coHege at Cambridge,
and upon his return called at Hunsdon,- to pay his respects
to the princess Mary. Their interview forms a curious
narrative. She thanked him for his civility, and entering
into conversation with him for about a quarter of an hour,
told him that she remembered him at court, and mentioned
particularly a sermon of his before her father; and then,
leaving her chamber of presence, dismissed him to dine
with her officers. After dinner she sent for him again,
when the bishop said that he did not only come to pay his
duty to her grace, but also to offer to preach before her
next Sunday, if she would be pleased to permit him. On
this she changed countenance, and after some minutes' si-
lence, said, " As for this matter, I pray you, my lord,
make the answer to it yourself;" and, on the bishop's
urging his offer, as a matter of conscience and duty, she
repeated the same words, yet at last told him, that the
doors of the parish church should be open to him, where
he might preach if he pleased, but that neither herself nor
any of her servants should hear him. " Madam," said the
216 RIDLEY.
bishop, " I trust you will not refuse God's word." " I can-
not tell what you call God's word. That is not God's word
now, which was God's word in my father's days." The
bishop observed, that God's word is the same at all times,
but has been better understood and practised in some ages
than in others. Mary, enraged at this, answered, " You
durst not for your ears have avouched that for God's word
in my father's days, that you do now ;" and then, to shew
how well she had prepared herself to argue with the prelate,
she added, " As for your new books, I thank God, I never
read any of them ; I never did and never will." She then,
after making use of much harsh language, parted from him,
with these words, " My lord, for your civility in coming to
see me, I thank you ; but for your offering to preach before
me, I thank you not a whit." After this the bishop was con-
ducted to the room where they had dined, and where sir Tho-
mas Wharton now gave him a glass of wine. When he
had drank it, he seemed concerned, and said, " Surely I
have done amiss." Upon being asked why ? he vehemently
reproached himself for having drank in that place, where
God's word had been refused ; " whereas," said he, " if I
had remembered my duty, I ought to have departed imme-
diately, and to have shaken off the dust from my feet for a
testimony against this house." On this interview, his bio-
grapher remarks, u One of our learned historians suggests,
that as the princess was under no excommunication, the
bishop discovered his resentment too far. Too far in world-
ly prudence he certainly did, for the princess never forgave
him ; but Christ's directions to his apostles were not given
to persons who had been cast out of their communion, but
to persons of a different belief refusing to be instructed.
And the princess having avowed an obstinate persevering
refusal of every mean of instruction, reading and hearing,
no wonder if the bishop blamed himself for so far forgetting
his master's command, as to accept a pledge of friendship
in the house of one who had so wilfully rejected the word
of God. This bigotry of her's gave him a sorrowful pro-
spect of what was to be expected, if ever the princess came
to the throne."
When the parliament assembled in 1553, the kins:, who
was languishing under the decline which soon put an end
to his life, ordered the two houses to attend him at White-
hall, where bishop Ridley preached before him, recom-
mending with such energy the duties of beneficence and
RIDLEY. 217
charity, that his majesty sent for him, to inquire how he
could best put in practice the duties which he had so welt
and so strongly enforced ; and the result of this sermon and
conference was a determination in the king to found, or
incorporate anew, and endow with ample revenues, those
noble institutions, Christ's, Bartholomew's, Bridewell, and
St. Thomas's hospitals.
Upon the death of Edward VI., Ridley was earnest in
attempting to set lady Jane Grey on the throne ; but, when
the design had miscarried, he went to Mary, to do her ho-
mage, and submit himself to her clemency. His reception
was such as he might have expected : he was im mediately
committed to the Tower, where, however, he was treated
with much less rigour than Cranmer and Latimer, who were
likewise prisoners in the same fortress. Rid ley, it has
been thought, might have recovered the queen's favour, if
he would have brought the weight of his learning and autho-
rity to countenance her proceedings in religion. He was,
however, too honest to act against his conviction ; and he
was, after eight months' imprisonment in the Tower, con-
veyed from thence to Oxford, where he was, on the 1st of
October, 1555, condemned to death for heresy. During the
fortnight between his condemnation and execution, the
priests tried all their means of persuasion to gain him over
to their cause; but he was deaf to their remonstrances,
and was not to be shaken in the principles which he had
adopted.
The 15th of October being the day appointed by the
court for his execution, he met the trial with calmness and
fortitude. He called it his marriage-day, and supped on
the preceding evening with the utmost cheerfulness, having
invited some friends on the occasion. When they rose to
depart, one of them offered to sit up with him through ,the
night, which he would not permit, saying, he meant to go
to bed, and, by God's will, to sleep as quietly that night
as he ever had done in his life. On the following morning,
having dressed himself in his episcopal habit, he walked to
the place of execution, between the mayor and one of the
aldermen of Oxford ; and seeing Latimer approach, from
whom he had been separated since their condemnation, he
ran to meet him, and with a cheerful countenance embraced
him, and exclaimed, " Be of good heart, brother, for God
will either assuage the fury of the flames, or else give us
strength to endure them." Then walking to the stake, he
R I D L E Y.
knelt down, and kissing it, prayed earnestly, as Latimcr
did also, and both suffered the cruellest death with the
greatest courage.
Anthony Wood says of bishop Ridley, that " he was a
person of small stature, but great in learning, and pro-
foundly read in divinity." He ascribes to him the follow-
ing works: 1. " A treatise concerning Images not to be
set up, nor worshipped in churches." 2. " Brief declara-
tion of the Lord's Supper," 1555 and 1586, 8vo, \vritten
during his imprisonment at Oxford, and afterwards trans-
lated into Latin by William Whittingham. 3. ^ A friendly
farewell, written during his imprisonment at Oxford," 15,59,
8yo. 4. " A piteous lamentation of the miserable state of
the church of England, in the time of the late revolt from
the Gospel," 1567, 8vo. 5. " A comparison between the
comfortable doctrine of the Gospel and the traditions of
popish religion." 6. " Account of the disputation held at
Oxford," 1688, 4to. 7. " A treatise of the Blessed Sacra-
ment." To these we are enabled to add, from another au-
thority, 8. " Injunctions of Nicholas Ridley, bishop of
London, to his diocese," 1550, 4to. 9. "The way of
peace among all Protestants, in a Letter to bishop Hooper,"
Lond. 1688, 4to. 10. '^ A Letter of reconciliation to bi-
shop H6oper," ibid. 1689, 4to. Many of his letters are
in Fox's " Acts and Monuments," and in Dr. Gloster
Ridley's valuable account of bishop Ridley's life, from
which chiefly we have taken the preceding particulars. 1
RIDLEY (Dr. GLOSTER), a learned divine, descended
collaterally from the preceding bishop Ridle}', was born
at sea, in 1702, on-board the Gloucester East Indiaman,
to which circumstance he was indebted for his Christian
name. He received his education at Winchester-school,
and thence was elected to a fellowship at New college,
Oxford, where he proceeded B. C. L. April 29, 1729. In
those two seminaries he cultivated an early acquaintance
with the Muses, and laid the foundation of those elegant
and solid acquirements for which he was afterwards so emi-
nently distinguished as a poet, an historian, and a divine.
During a vacancy in 1728, he joined with four friends, viz.
Mr. Thomas Fletcher (afterwards bishop of Kildare), Mr.
(afterwards Dr.) Eyre, Mr. Morrison, and Mr. Jennens, in
writing a tragedy, called " The Fruitless Redress," each
1 Life by Dr. G. Ridley. Strype's Cranmer passim. Ath. Ox. vol. I. '
Wordsworth's Eccl. Biog. vol. III. Fox's Acts and Monuments, &c.
RIDLEY. 219
Undertaking an act, on a plan previously concerted. When
they delivered in their several proportions, at their meeting
in the winter, few readers, it is said, would have known
that the whole was not the production of a single hand.
This tragedy, which was offered to Mr. Wilks, but never
acted, is still in MS. with another called " Jugurtha." - Dr.
Ridley in his youth was much addicted to theatrical per-
formances. Midhurst, in Sussex, was the place where
they were exhibited; and the company of gentlemen actors
to which he belonged, consisted chiefly of his coadjutors in
the tragedy already mentioned. He is said to have per-
formed the characters of Marc Antony, Jaffier, Horatio,
and Moneses, with distinguished applause. Young Gibber,
being likewise a Wykehamist, called on Dr. Ridley soon
after he had been appointed chaplain to the East India
Company at Poplar, and would have persuaded him to quit
the church for the stage, observing that " it usually paid
the larger salaries of the two," an advice which he had too
much sense to follow. For great part of his life, he had no
other preferment than the small college living of Weston,
in Norfolk, and the donative of Poplar, in Middlesex, where
he resided. To these his college added, some years after,
the donative of Romfbrd, in Essex. " Between these two
places the curricle of his life had," as he expressed it,
" rolled for some time almost perpetually upon post-chaise
wheels, and left him not time for even the proper studies
of ceconomy, or the necessary ones of his profession." Yet
in this obscure situation he remained in possession of, and
content with, domestic happiness; and was honoured with the
intimate friendship of some who were not less distinguished
for learning than for worth : among these, it maybe sufficient
to mention Dr. Lowth, Mr. Christopher Pitt, Mr. Spence,
and Dr. Berriman. To the last of these he was curate and
executor, and preached his funeral sermon. In 1740 and
1741, he preached u Eight Sermons at Lady Moyer's lec-
ture," which were published in 1742, 8vo, and at different
times, several occasional sermons. In 1756, he declined
an offer of going to Ireland as first chaplain to the duke of
Bedford ; in return for which he was to have had the choice
of promotion, either at Christ-church, Canterbury, West-
minster, or Windsor. His modesty inducing him to leave
the choice of these to his .patron, the consequence was,
that he obtained none of them. In 1761 he published, in
4to, " De Syriacarum novi fcederis versionum indole
220 K I I) L K Y.
atque usu, dissertatio," occasioned by a Syriac version,
which, with two others, were sent to him nearly thirty
years before, by one Mr. Samuel Palmer from Amida, in
Mesopotamia. His age and growing infirmities, the great
expence of printing, and the want of a patron, prevented
him from availing himself of these MSS. ; yet at intervals he
employed himself on a transcript, which being put into the
hands of professor White, was published a few years ago,
with a literal Latin translation, in 2 vols. 4to, at the ex-
pence of the delegates of the Clarendon press. In 1763
he published the " Life of bishop Ridley," in quarto, by
subscription, and cleared by it as much as brought him
800/. in the public funds. In this, which is the most use-
ful of all his works, he proved himself worthy of the name
he bore, a thorough master of the popish controversy, and
an able advocate for the reformation. In 1765 he publish-
ed his " Review of Philips' s Life of Cardinal Pole" (see
PHILIPS) ; and in 17 6S, in reward for his labours in this con-
troversy, and in another which "The Confessional" pro-
duced, he was presented by archbishop Seeker to a golden
prebend in the cathedral church of Salisbury (an option),
but it is probably a mistake that Seeker honoured him with
the degree of D. D. that honour having been conferred up-
on him by the university of Oxford in 1767, by diploma, the
highest mark of distinction they can confer. At length, worn
out with infirmities, he departed this life in Nov. 1774, leaving
a widow and four daughters. An elegant epitaph, written by
Dr. Lovvth, bishop of London, is inscribed upon his monument.
Two poems by Dr. Ridley, one styled " Jovi Eleutherio,
or an Offering to Liberty," the other called " Psyche," are
in the third volume of Dodsley's Collection. The sequel of
the latter poem, entitled, " Melampus," with " Psyche," its
natural introduction, was printed in 1782, by subscription, for
the benefit of his widow. Many others are in the 8th volume
of Nichols's " Collection." The MSS. Codex Heraclensis,
Codex Barsalibaei, &c. (of which a particular account may be
seen in his Dissertation " De Syriacarum Novi Fcederis ver-
sionum indole atque usu, 1761,") were bequeathed by Dr.
Ridley to the library of New college, Oxford. Of these an-
cient MSS. a fac-simile specimen was published in his Dis-
sertation above mentioned. A copy of " The Confessional,"
with MS notes by Dr. Ridley," was in the library of the- late
Dr. Winchester. 1
1 Gent. Mag. vol. XLIV. Nichols's Poems and Bowyer.
RIDLEY. 221
RIDLEY (JAMES), son to the preceding, was educated
at Winchester, and New college, Oxford, and, after tak-
ing orders, succeeded his father in the living of Rumford,
in Essex. In 1761, while attending his duty as chaplain
to a marching regiment at the siege of Belleisle, he laid
the foundation of some disorders, from which, to the un-
speakable grief of his family and friends, he never reco-
vered, and which some years after, being then happily
married and preferred in the church, terminated his life in
February 1765. The following extract from a letter which
his father wrote about this time to a friend, affords a proof
of his sorrow, and the only scanty notices which have been
preserved of his son's merits.
" DEAR SIR,
" I am ashamed to have appeared so negligent in
answering your kind remembrance of me, by a letter so
long ago as the fifth of February : but it has pleased God
to visit me so sorely since, that I have had no leisure to
think of any thing but my sorrows, and the consequent
troubles in which they have involved me. Presently after
receiving your letter, I went to spend a few days in London,
in the Temple, from whence I returned very ill, and three
days brought on the gout. My son went ill out of London
the day before I did, and, during his illness, my own con-
finement would not permit me to see him. About eleven
days carried off as hopeful a young clergyman as an affec-
tionate father could wish his son to be. So generous a
heart, such an intimate knowledge of the powers and work-
ings of nature, so serious and earnest a desire to serve God
and mankind, with a cheerful spirit and address in convey-
ing his instructions, make his loss as great to the world as
it is to me. Some specimens he has left behind him, in
the humorous papers of The Schemer; and he lived just
long enough to finish a monthly work, in which he engaged
a year before his death, publishing his last number of the
Tales of the Genii the first of February, in which month
he died."
The " Schemer," here noticed, was a very humorous
periodical paper, originally written for the London Chro-
nicle, but afterwards collected into a volume and published,
He was also the author of the " History of James Love-
grove," esq.; but the " Tales of the Genii 1 ' is the work on
which his fame principally rests, and the many editions
through which it has passed sufficiently attest its popu-
larity.
222 RIDLEY.
The Tales are introduced with the life of Horam, the
supposed original author, which contains some animadvert
sdous equally ingenious and just, on the difference between
the professions ;xnd practice of many Christians. The story,
indeed, is so contrived as to include a very keen satire. 1
RIDLEY (THOMAS), an eminent civilian, descended of
a family of that name in Northumberland, was born in the
city of Ely, and became master of Eton school, afterwards
one of the masters in chancery, chancellor to the bishop of
Winchester, and vicar-general to archbishop Abbot. He
also received the honour of knighthood. He died Jan. 22
or 23, 1629, and was buried in the parish church of St.
Bennet, Paul's Wharf, London. He was a general scho-
Jar, and published " A view of the Civil and Ecclesiastical
Law," which was much admired by king James, and was
afterwards reprinted by the learned, but unfortunate Gre-
gory, chaplain to bishop Duppa. This work, says Dr.
Coote, while it established the reputation of the author,
contributed to revive the declining credit of that juris-
diction. 2
RIENZI (NICOLAS GABRINI DE), who, from a low and
despicable situation, raised himself to sovereign authority
in Rome, in the 14th century, assuming the title of tribune,
and proposing to restore the ancient free republic, was
born at Rome, and was the son of no greater a personage
than a mean vintner, or, as others say, a miller, named
Lawrence Gabrini, and Magdalen, a laundress. However,
Nicolas Rienzi, by which appellation he was commonly
distinguished, did not form his sentiments from the mean-
ness of his birth. To a good natural understanding he
joined an uncommon assiduity, and made a great profici-
ency in ancient literature. Every thing he read he com-
pared with similar passages that occurred within his own
observation ; whence he made reflections, by which he re-
gulated his conduct. To this he added a great knowledge
in the laws and customs of nations. He had a vast memory:
he retained much of Cicero, Valerius Maximus, Livy, the
two Senecas, and Cassar's Commentaries especially, which
he read continually, and often quoted and applied to the
events of his own times. This fund of learning proved the
foundation of his rise : the desire he had to distinguish
1 Nichols's Bowyerv
3 Ath. Ox. vol. I. Lloyd's State Worthies. Harwood's Alumni Etonense?.-
Coote's Cata'ojHf* of Civilians.
R I E N Z I. 223
himself in the knowledge of monumental history, drew him
to another sort of science, then little understood. He
passed whole days among the inscriptions which are to be
found at Rome, and acquired soon the reputation of a great
antiquary. Having hence formed within himself the most
exalted notions of the justice, liberty, and ancient grandeur
of the old Romans, words he was perpetually repeating to
the people, he at length persuaded not only himself, but
the giddy mob his followers, that he should one day become
the restorer of the Roman republic. His advantageous
stature, his countenance, and that air of importance which
he well knew how to assume, deeply imprinted all he said
in the minds of his audience : nor was it only by the popu-
lace that he was admired ; he also found means to insinuate
himself into the favour of those who partook of the admini-
stration. Rienzi's talents procured him to be nominated
one of the deputies, sent by the Romans to pope Clement
VI. who resided at Avignon. The intention of this depu-
tation was to make his holiness sensible, how prejudicial
his absence was, as well to himself as to the interest of
Rome. At his first audience, our hero charmed the court
of Avignon by his eloquence, and the sprightliness of his
conversation. Encouraged by success, he one day took the
liberty to tell the pope, that the grandees of Rome were
avowed robbers, public thieves, infamous adulterers, and
illustrious profligates ; who by their example authorized
the most horrid crimes. To them he attributed the desola-
tion of Rome, of which he drew so lively a picture, that
the holy father was moved, and exceedingly incensed
against the Roman nobility. Cardinal Colonna, in other
respects a lover of real merit, could not help considering
these reproaches as reflecting upon some of his family; and
therefore found means of disgracing Rienzi, so that he fell
into extreme misery, vexation, and sickness, which, joined,
with indigence, brought him to an hospital. Nevertheless,
the same hand that threw him down, raised him up again.
The cardinal, who was all compassion, caused him to appear
before the pope, in assurance of his being a good man,
and a great partizan for justice and equity. The pope ap-
proved of him more than ever ; and, as proofs of his esteem
and confidence, made him apostolic .notary, and sent him
back loaded with favours. Yet his subsequent behaviour
shewed, that resentment had a greater ascendancy over him
than gratitude. Being returned to Rome, he began ta
224 R I E N Z I.
execute the functions of his office, and by affability, candour,
assiduity, and impartiality, in the administration of justice,
he arrived at a superior degree of popularity ; which he
still improved by continued invectives against the vices of
the great, whom he strove to render as odious as possible ;
till at last, for some ill-timed freedoms of speech, he was
not only severely reprimanded, but displaced. His dis-
mission did not make him desist from inveighing against the
debauched, though he conducted himself with more pru-
dence. From this time it was his constant endeavour to
inspire the people with a fondness for their ancient liberties;
to which purpose, he caused to be hung up in the most
public places emblematic pictures, expressive of the former
splendour and present decline of Rome. To these he added
frequent harangues and predictions upon the same subject,
in this manner he proceeded till one party looked on him
only as a madman, while others caressed him as their pro-
tector. Thus he infatuated the minds of the people, and
many of the nobility began to come into his views, while
the senate in no wise mistrusted a man, whom they judged
to have neither interest nor ability. At length he ventured
to disclose his designs to such as he believed mal-contents,
first separately, but afterwards, when he thought he had
firmly attached a sufficient number to his interest, he as-
sembled them together, and represented to them the de-
plorable state of the city, over-run with debaucheries, and
the incapacities of their governors to correct or amend
them. As a necessary foundation for the enterprize, he
gave them a statement of the immense revenues of the
apostolic chamber ; demonstrating that the pope could,
only at the rate of four-pence, raise a hundred thousand
florins by firing, as much by salt, and as much more by the
customs and other duties. " As for the rest," said he, " I
would not have you imagine, that it is without the pope's
consent I lay hands on the revenues. Alas ! how many
others in this city plunder the effects of the church con-
trary to his will 1"
By this artful falsehood, he so animated his auditors,
that they declared they would make no scruple of securing
these treasures for whatever end might be most convenient,
and that they were devoted to his will. Having obtained so
much to secure his adherents from a revolt, he tendered
them a paper, superscribed, " an oath to procure the good
establishment ;" and made them subscribe and swear to it,
R I E N Z f. 225
before he dismissed them. By what means he prevailed on
the pope's vicar to give a tacit sanction to his project is not
certainly known ; that he did procure that sanction, and
that it was looked on as a master-piece of policy, is gene-
rally admitted. The 20th of May, being Whitsunday, he
fixed upon to sanctify in some sort his enterprize; and pre-
tended, that all he acted was by particular inspiration of
the Holy Ghost. About nine, he came out of the church
bare-headed, accompanied by the pope's vicar, surrounded
t>y an hundred armed men. A vast crowd followed him
with shouts and acclamations. The gentlemen conspirators
carried three standards before him, oh which were wrought
devices, insinuating, that his design was to re-establish
liberty, justice, and peace. In this manner he proceeded
directly to the capitol, where he mounted the rostrum ; and,
with more boldness and energy than ever, expatiated on
the miseries to which the Romans were reduced; at the
same time telling them, without hesitation, *' that the happy
hour of their deliverance was at length come, and that he
was to be their deliverer, regardless of the dangers he was
exposed to for the service of the holy father and the peo-
ple's safety." After which, he ordered the laws of what
he called the good establishment to be read : and assured
that the Romans would resolve to observe these laws, he
engaged in a short time to re-establish them in their ancient
grandeur. The laws of the good establishment promised
plenty and security, which were greatly wanted ; and the
humiliation of the nobility, who were deemed common op-
pressors. Such laws could not fail of being agreeable to a
people who found in them these double advantages; and
therefore enraptured with the pleasing ideas of a liberty to
which they were at present strangers, and the hope of gain,
they adopted most zealously the fanaticism of Rienzi.-^-
They resumed the pretended authority of the Romans;
they declared him sovereign of Rome, and granted him
the power of life and death, of rewards and punishments,
of enacting and repealing the laws, of treating with foreign
powers ; in a word, they gave him the full and supreme
authority over all the extensive territories of the Romans.
Rienzi, arrived at the summit of his wishes, kept at a great
distance his artifice : he pretended to be very unwilling to
accept of their offers, but upon two conditions; the first,
that they should nominate the pope's vicar (the bishop of
Orvieto) his co-partner ; the second, that the pope's con-
VoL.XXVI. Q
226 R I E N Z I.
sent should be granted him, which (he told them) he flat-
tered himself he should obtain. On the one hand, he ha-
zarded nothing in thus making his court to the holy father,
and, on the other, he well knew, that the bishop of Or-
vieto would carry a title only, and no authority. The peo-
ple granted his request, but paid all the honours to him :
he possessed the authority without restriction ; the good
bishop appeared a mere shadow and veil to his enterprizes.
Rienzi was seated in his triumphal chariot, like an idol, to
triumph with the greater splendor. He dismissed the peo-
ple replete with joy and hope. He ^eized upon the palace,
where he continued after he had turned out the senate;
and, the same day, he began to dictate his laws in the ca-
pitol. This election, though not very pleasing to the pope,
was ratified by him ; yet Rienzi meditated the obtaining of
a title, exclusive of the papal prerogative. Well versed
in the Roman history, he was no stranger to the extent of
the tribunitial authority; and, as he owed his elevation to
the people, he chose to have the title of their magistrate.
He asked it, and it was conferred on him and his co- partner,
with the addition of deliverers of their country. Our ad-
venturer's behaviour in his elevation was at first such as
commanded esteem and respect, not only from the Romans,
but from all the neighbouring states. His contemporary,
the celebrated Petrarch, in a letter to Charles, king of the
Romans, gives the following account of him : "Not long
since a most remarkable man, of the plebeian race, a per-
son whom neither titles nor virtues had distinguished until
he presumed to set himself up for a restorer or the Roman
liberty, has obtained the highest authority at Rome. So
sudden, so great is his success, that this man has already
won Tuscany and all Italy. Already Europe and the whole
world are in motion ; to speak the whole in one word, I
protest to you, not as a reader, but as an eye-witness, that
he has restored to us the justice, peace, integrity, and
every other token of the golden age." But it is difficult
for a person of mean birth, elevated at once, by the caprice
of fortune, to the most exalted station, to move rightly in a
sphere in which he must breathe an air he has been unac-
customed to. Rienzi ascended by degrees the summit of
bis fortune. Riches softened, power dazzled, the pomp
of his cavalcades animated, and formed in his mind ideas
adequate to those of princes born to empire. Hence luxury
invaded his table, and tyranny took possession of his heart.
The pop conceived his designs contrary to the interests of
R I E N Z I. 227
the holy see, and the nobles, whose power it had been his
constant endeavours to depress, conspired against him ; and
Rienzi was forced to quit an authority he had possessed
little more than six months. It was to a precipitate flight
that he was indebted, at this juncture, for his life; and to
different disguises for his subsequent preservation. Having
made an ineffectual effort at Rome, and not knowing where
to find a new resource to carry on his designs, he took a
most bold step, conformable to that rashness which had so
often assisted him in his former exploits. He determined
to go to Prague, to Charles, king of the Romans, whom
the year before he had summoned to his tribunal, and who
he foresaw would deliver him up to a pope highly incensed
against him. He was accordingly soon after sent to Avig-
non, and there thrown into a prison, where he continued
three years. The divisions and disturbances in Italy, occa*
sioned by the number of petty tyrants that had established
themselves in the ecclesiastical territories, and even at Rome,
occasioned his enlargement. Innocent VI. who succeeded
Clement in the papacy, sensible that the Romans still enter-
tained an affection for our hero, and believing that his
chastisement would teach him to act with more moderation
than he had formerly done, as well as that gratitude would
oblige him, for the remainder of his life, to preserve au
inviolable attachment to the holy see (by whose favour he
should be re-established), thought him a proper instrument
to assist his design of reducing those other tyrants ; and
therefore, not only gave him his liberty, but also appointed
him governor and senator of Rome. He met with many
obstacles to the assumption of this newly-granted authority,
all which, by cunning and resolution, he at length over>
came. But giving way to his passions, which were immo-
derately warm, and inclined him to cruelty, he excited so
general a resentment against him, that he was murdered,
Oct. 8, 1354. " Such,'* say his biographers, " was the
end of Nicolas Rienzi, one of the most renowned men of
the age ; who, after forming a conspiracy full of extrava-
gance, and executing it in the sight of almost the whole
world, with such success that he became sovereign of
Rome; after causing plenty, justice, and liberty to flou-
rish among the Romans ; after protecting potentates, and
terrifying sovereign princes ; after being arbiter of crowned
heads ; after re-establishing the ancient majesty and power
of the Roman republic, and filling all Europe with his fame
Q 2
228 R I E N Z I.
during the seven months of his first reign ; after having
compelled his masters themselves to confirm him in the
authority he bad usurped against their interests; fell at
length at the end of his second, which lasted not four
months, a sacrifice to the nobility whose ruin he had vowed,
and to those vast projects which his death prevented him
from putting 1 into execution." 1
RIG \LTIUS, orRlGAULT, (NICOLAS), a very inge-
nious and learned man, was the son of a physician, and born
at Paris in 1577. He was brought up among the Jesuits,
and afterwards admitted advocate ; but, not being able to
conquer the disgust he had conceived to the profession of
the law, he devoted himself entirely to the pursuit of polite
literature The public received the first fruits of his la-
bours in his " Funus Parasiticum," printed in 1596; the
ingenuity and learning of which so charmed Thuanus, thathe
immediately took him into his friendship, and made him the
companion of his studies. This excellent person conceived
a particular esteem for him ; as appeared, when he died in
1617, from naming him in his will, to superintend the edu-
cation of his children. He was chosen, with Isaac Casau-
bon, to put the king's library into order; and in 1610,
when that learned man went over to spend some time in
England with James [. succeeded him in the office of li-
brarian to the king. His majesty conferred on him other
marks of distinction ; made him procurator- general of the
supreme court of Nancy, counsellor of the parliament of
Metz, and then intendant of that province. He died in
1654, after having given numerous proofs of uncommon
erudition in editions of " Minutius Foelix," " Phaedrus,"
" Martial," " Rei accipitrarii scriptores," " Rei agrarige
scriptores/* the works of " Cyprian" and " Tertuliian,"
&Q. His notes upon these last two are learned and criti-
cal; but the matter of some of them shews him to have been
not a rigid catholic. He takes occasion to observe, from a
passage in Tertullian's " Exhortation to Chastity," that
Jaymen have a right and power to consecrate the eucharist,
when there is no opportunity of recurring to the regular
ministers ; and this, with other opinions of a similar kind,
not only gave offence to those of his own communion, but
even to some- of" ours. " Rigaltius," says Mr. Dodwell,
" though an ingenious and learned critic, is by no means
exact upon the subjects he treats of: for, though of the
1 Memoirs cf Rierui, by Brutnoy and Cerceavu
R I G A L T I U S. 229
Roman communion, he is often fou/)d on the side of the
Calvinists ; and, when lie meets with anything in the au-
thors he publishes that appears contrary to the customs,
not oflly of his own, but of the universal church, he re-
marks it with great care ; perhaps to render his notes more
agreeable to the reader, by presenting him with something
new and unexpected." It is probable, that many persons
may not think the worse of Rigakius, as an editor, for the
censure here passed on him by Mr. Dodtvell. Rigaltius
was also concerned in the edition of Thuanus, published at
Geneva in 1620. 1
RIGHTW1SE, or RITWYSE (JoHN, in Latin JUSTUS),
an eminent grammarian, was born at Sawl, in Norfolk, arid
educated at Eton, and was admitted of King's college,
Cambridge, in 1508. He was first usher to the celebrated
William Lilly, master of St. Paul's school, and afterwards
second master, but succeeded Lilly, as head master, in
1522, which situation he retained until his death, iu 1532.
He composed a tragedy of " Dido" out of Virgil, which
was performed at St. Paul's school by him and his pupils,
before cardinal Wolsey, but deserves more notice for the
improvements he introduced in Lilly's Latin grammar, in
the edition published at Antwerp in 1533. He had mar-
ried Dionysia, the daughter of Lilly ; and after his death
she was again married to James Jacob, one of the masters
of St. Paul's, by whom she had a son, Polydore Jacob, who
was probably the god-son of Polydore Virgil, who speaks
of Rightwise with great respect. 2
RILEY (JOHN), an English artist of very considerable
merit, was born at London, in 164-6, and, instructed in the
art of painting by Fuller and Zoust. Lord Orford asserts,
that he was one of the best native painters that had flou-
rished in England ; and that there are draperies and hands
painted by him that would do honour either to Lely or
Kneller ; the portrait of the lord-keeper North, at Wrox-
ton, being in every respect a capital performance. After
the death of sir Peter Lely, he advanced in the esteem of
the public, and had the honour to paint the portraits of
king Charles II. king James and his queen, and was ap-
pointed state painter. He made nature his principal study,
without adopting the manner of any master, and as far as
1 Batesii Vitae. Niceron, vol. XXI, Moreri.
* Knight's Colet, corrected in Tanner, and Cole's MS Athena in Brit. Mug,
Warton's Hist, of Poetry. HarwooU's Alumni Etonense*.
230 . R IL E Y.
he thought it prudent he improved or embellished it in his
pictures; and, like many other men of parts, he seems to
be more respected by posterity, than by the age in which
he flourished. He was, in truth, humble, modest, and of
an amiable character. He had the greatest diffidence of
himself, and was easily disgusted with his own works, the
source probably, says lord Orford, of the objections made
to him. With a quarter of Kneller's vanity, he might have
persuaded the world he was as great a master. The gout
put an end to his progress, for he died in 1691, at the age
of forty-five, and was buried in Bishopsgate church, in
which parish he was born. One Thomas Riley was an actor,
and has a copy of verses in Randolph's Poems. This, lord
Orford thinks, might be the painter's father. In the same
place are some Latin verses by Riley, whom the same bio-
grapher takes to be our painter himself. Richardson mar-
ried a near relation of Riley, and inherited about SOOl. in
pictures, drawings, and effects.
There was a more recent artist of this name, but nowise
related to the preceding, CHARLES REUBEN RILEY, who
died in 1798, about forty-six years of age. He was placed
under Mortimer, and in 1778 obtained the gold medal at
the Royal Academy, for the best painting in oil, the sub-
ject, the Sacrifice of Iphigenia. He was employed in the
decorations of some noblemen's and gentlemen's houses,
but chiefly in making drawings and designs for the book-
sellers. 1 '
RINALDI (ODERic), a learned Italian ecclesiastical his-
torian of the seventeenth century, was a native of Treviso,
and was brought up in the congregation of the oratory at
Rome, of which Baronius had been a member. After the
death of that cardinal, Rinaldi wrote a continuation of his
46 Ecclesiastical Annals," from 1198, where Baronius left
off, to 1564, and with no inferiority to the preceding vo-
lumes. It consists often large volumes in folio, published
at Rome at different periods, from 1646 to 1677. Rinaldi
also was the author of a sufficiently copious abridgment, in
Italian, of the whole annals, compiled both by Baronius
and himself. 3
RINGELBERGIUS (JOACHIM FORTIUS), in German
Sterck, an eminent Flemish philosopher and mathematician,
1 Walpole's Anecdotes. Edwards's Continuation.
5 Laudi Hist. Litt. U' Italie.
R I N G E L B E R G I U S.
was born at Antwerp, and first studied in the emperor
Maximilian the First's palace, and afterwards at the uni-
versity of Lou vain, where he acquired the learned lan-
guages, philosophy, and the mathematical sciences. He
became a public professor in that university, and taught
various sciences; and in 1528 went into Germany, and
taught the mathematical sciences and the Greek tongue in
various seminaries of that country, and afterwards at Parig,
Orleans, and Bourdeaux, and other places. He died about
1536. Among his most esteemed works were, " De Ra-
tione Studii," Antwerp, 1529, in which are many particu-
lars of his own studies; various treatises on grammar;
Dialectica, et Tabulae Dialectics," Ley den, 1547;
" De conscribendis Epistolis Lib. ;" " Rhetoricae, et quat
ad earn spectant ;" " Sententiae ;" " Sphiera, sive Insti-
tutionum Astronomicarum, Lib. III.," Basil, 1528, 8vo;
" Cosmographia ;" " Optica ;" " Chaos Mathematicum ;"
" Arithraetica ;" all which were collected and published at
Leyden, in 153 1. 1
RINGGLI (GOTTHARD), an excellent Swiss artist, wa
born at Zuric, January 27th, 1575, but of his master, his
travels, or the progress of his younger years, his biographer
has not informed us. He must have enjoyed some cele-
brity, as he was chosen by the magistracy of Berne to de-
corate with paintings of large dimensions the senate-house
and minster of that metropolis, and had the freedom of
their city conferred on him. These pictures, which re-
presented facts relative to the foundations of Berne, or
allegories alluding to the peculiarities of its situation and
customs, were equally distinguished by picturesque con*
ception, boldness of style, and correct execution. In the
senate-house especially, the third picture, whose subject
was the building of the town, shewed great intelligence of
foreshortening, and of what is by the Italians termed " di
sotto in su." For the public library of Zuric he painted
the arms of the state and of its dependencies, supported by
Religion and Liberty ; Death lies at the feet of Religion,
but to the usual allegoric implements in her hands he
added a bridle, to distinguish her from Fanaticism and Su-
perstition.
His easel-pictures were either few, or the greater part
must have perished ; one of the most remarkable, r in th
Moreri in Fortius. Foppeu in ditto.Melhior Aduna.
282 R I N G G L I.
house of Werdmiiller, is Job emaciated and diseased, listen-
ing patiently to the invectives of his wife ; a picture which,
even on close inspection, differs little in handling and tone
from the best works of Spaguoletto. But perhaps the most
valuable remains of Ririggli are his designs, generally
drawn with the pen, and washed with bister or India
ink; these are sometimes of considerable size, and chiefly
biblical or allegorical subjects. That of our Saviour's burial,
Susannah with the Elders, the royal Father shot at by his
Sons from the " Gesta Romanorum," Faith sheltered from
the storms of Persecution, and many more of mystic con-
tent, are remarkable for beauties of composition, light,
shade, and outline, but perhaps obscure in their meaning :
they were in Fuessli's possession once, but now are proba-
bly dispersed in different collections. He etched several
things in an easy picturesque manner, generally marked
by a . monogram of the letters G. and R, He died in
1635. '
RINUCCINI (OTTAVio), an Italian poet of Florence,
who went into France in the suite of Mary of Medicis,
queen to Henry IV. is the reputed inventor of the musical
drama or opera, that is, of the manner of writing, or re-
presenting comedies or tragedies in music, to which the
first recitative was applied. Others give this invention to
a Roman gentleman of the name of Emilio del Cavaliere,
who was more properly the inventor of the sacred drama
or oratorio, in a similar species of music or recitative, so
nearly at the same time that it is difficult to determine
which was first: both had their beginning in 1600. Ri-
nucciui was author of three lyric pieces, " Daphne,"
" Euridice," and " Ariadne," which all Italy applauded.
Euridice, written for the nuptials of Mary of Medicis, was
first performed with great splendor and magnificence at
Florence, at the court and expence of the grand duke. The
poetry is truly lyrical, smooth, polished, and mellifluous.
He died in 1621, at Florence; and a collection, or rather
selection, of his works were published in 1622, in the
same city, in 4*o, by his son, Pietro Francesco Rinuccini,
and another entitled " Drammi Musicale," in 1802, 8vo,
at Leghorn. The family is noble, and was subsisting in
1770. More of Ottavio may be seen in the appendix to
Walker's " Life of Tassoni," just published, 1816. 2
1 Pilkington by Fuseli.
2 Hawkins and Burney's Hist, of Music, and the latter in Rees's Cyclopaedia.
R I O L A N. 233
HIOLAN (JOHN), an able French physician, a native
of Amiens, and distinguished by his attainments both in
literature and science, is said not only to have written
and spoken the learned languages with facility, but to have
been thoroughly intimate with the contents of almost all
the writings of the ancients. We have, however, very
few particulars of his life, unless that he gave lessons in
natural philosophy at the college of Boncour, at Paris,
where he took his degree in 1574, and held the office of
dean of the faculty in 1586 and 1587. He died Oct. 18,
1606. He was a strenuous advocate for the doctrine of
Hippocrates and the ancients, whom he defended with
great ardour against the chemists. His works, which are
indicative of genius, were collected and published, to-
gether with some posthumous tracts, at Paris, in 1610,
under the title of " Opera Omnia," and some were sepa-
rately published, particularly one against the ignorance of
the practitioners of surgery in his time, entitled " Ad Im-
pudentiam quorundam Chirurgorum, qui Medicis suquari
et Chirurgiam publice profiteri volunt; proveteri dignitate
Medicinal Apologia philosophica," Paris, 1567. This was
followed by several pieces on both sides. l
RIO LAN (JoHN), son of the preceding, was born at
Paris in the year 1577. While his father afforded every
encouragement to his rising talents, his mind was naturally
directed to the study of medicine, in which his progress
was uncommonly rapid. He took his degree in 160-1, and
a very few years after acquired great reputation as an author.
In 1613, he was appointed royal professor of anatomy and
botany by Louis XIII.; and in this latter capacity he peti-
tioned the king for the establishment of a botanic garden in
the university of Paris. He subsequently held the appoint-
ment of physician to queen Mary de Medicis, and accom-
panied that princess in her travels ; he arrived at Cologne
after her death, in July 1642, and returned to Paris,
where he resumed his profession. After having twice
undergone the operation of lithotomy, he lived to the
age of eighty years, and died at Paris February 19, 16.57.
Riolan, although one ot the most expert and learned
anatomists of his time, was hindered in his progress as a
discoverer, by tiis extreme devotion to the ancients; and
yet was arrogant in his claims to originality, and by his
1 Eloy, Diet. Hist, de Medicine. Rees's Cyclopaedia.
234 R I O L A N.
pertinacity, and contempt of others, he raised himself many
opponents and enemies. He published several new obser-
vations, however, respecting many parts of anatomical
science, especially the structure of the colon, the biliary
ducts, the uterus and vagina, the tongue, os hyoides, &c.
but he did not illustrate them by engravings, as it was a
maxim with him, that no representations could supersede
the study of nature. His principal works, which were by
no means confined to anatomy, are noticed in the following
list. 1. " Brevis excursus in Battologiam Quercetani, quo
Alchemias principia funditus diruuntur, et Artis veritas
demonstratur," Par. 1604. 2. " Comparatio veteris Me-
dictate cum nova, Hippocraticae in Hermetica, Dogrnaticae
cum Spargyrica," 1605. 3. " Disputatio de Monstro Lu-
tetiae 1605 nato." 4. " Incursionum Quercetani depulsio,"
id. 5. " Censura demonstrations Harveti pro veritate
Alchymiae," 1606. 6. " Scholu Anatomica novis et raris
observationibus illustrata. Adjuncta est accurata fcetus
humani historia," 1607 ; enlarged by the author with the
title of " Anatome corporis humani," 1610. 7. " In Li-
brum Cl. Galeni de Ossibus, ad Tyrones explanationes
apologeticae pro Galeno, adversus novitios et novatores
Anatomicos," 1G13. 8. " Gigantomachie," 1613, written
in refutation of Habicot's account of the discovery of the
bones of the giant Teutobochus. Riolan published two
other tracts, or more, upon this controversy, which ended
with the appearance of his, 9. " Gigantologie; discours sur
la grandeur des Grants, &c." in 1618. 10. " Osteologia
ex veterum et recentiorum praeceptis descripta," 1614.
11. " Discours sur les Hermaphrodits, ou il est demontre*,
centre 1'opinion commune, qu'il n'y a point de vrais Her-
maphrodits," 1614. 12. " Anatomica, seu Anthropogra-
phia," 1618. 13. " Enchiridium anatomicum et patholo-
gicum," 164S, and many times reprinted ; the best edition
is of Paris, 1658. 14. " Opuscula anatomica nova," Lond.
1649, containing remarks on the anatomical works of the
most celebrated physicians, and an attack upon Harvey,
and his doctrine of the circulation,' of which Riolan was a
great antagonist. 15. " Curieuses Recherches sur les
e*coles de Medecine de Paris et de Montpelier," 1651.
He also published three different works, entitled " Opus-
cula anatomica," in 1650, and the three following years,
opposing the doctrines of Bartholine and Pecquet, respect-
ing the absorbents and lacteals, and Harvey's on the cir-
R I V L E Y. 235
culation ; and two more on the same subjects, with the
titles of " Responsio prima, et altera," 1652 and 1655. *
RIPLEY (GEORGE, or GREGORY), a chemist and poet
in the time of Henry VII. was a canon of Bricllington, and
accomplished in many branches of erudition ; and still
maintains his reputation as a learned chemist of the lower
ages. He was a great traveller, and studied both in France
and Italy. At his return from abroad, pope Innocent VIII.
absolved him from the observance of the rules of his order,
that he might prosecute his studies with more convenience
and freedom. But his convent not concurring with this
very liberal indulgence, he turned Carmelite at St. Bo-
tolph's in Lincolnshire, and died in that fraternity in 1490.
His chemical poems are nothing more than the doctrines
of alchemy cloathed in plain language, and a very rugged
versification. His capital performance is the " Compound
of Alchemic," written in 1471, in the octave metre, and de-
dicated to Edward IV. He has left a few other composi-
tions on his favourite science, printed by Ashmole, who
was an enthusiast in this abused species of philosophy ;
and some lives of saints in MS. 2
RISCO (MANUEL), a learned Spanish ecclesiastic of the
Augustine order, was born at Haro about 1730, and ac-
quired such reputation for knowledge in ecclesiastical
history, that he was appointed by the king, Charles III.
to continue that history of which Florez published 29 Vols.
4to. To these he accordingly added six volumes more,
written, according to our authority, with equal ability, and
equal liberality of sentiment. Some notice of this work,
entitled " Espana Sagrada," is taken in our account of
Florez. Risco died about the end of the last century, but
the exact time is not specified. 3
RISDON (TRISTRAM), an English topographer, was the
son of Thomas Risdon, bencher of the Inner Temple,
afterwards treasurer of that society, and lastly, recorder of
Totness, who published some law " Readings," and died
in 1641. His son was educated at Great Torrington, De-
vonshire, previous to his studying at Exeter college, Ox-
ford, which he left without a degree, in consequence, as
Prince supposes, of his coming to some family property
which required his presence, and rendered him indepen-
1 Eloy, Diet. Hist, de Medicine. Rees's Cyclopaedia. Biog. Brrt. See Index.
2 Tanner. - Eloy, Diet. Hist, de Mcdicino. Phillips's Theatrum, by sir E.
Brydges.~Warton'* Hist, of Poetry. Diet. Hilt.
236 R I S D O N.
dent. On this, which was an estate at Winscot, be ap-
pears to have lived in retirement, and died in 1640. He
drew up an account of Devonshire, which remained in MS.
of which there were several copies, until 1714, when it
was printed, under the title of " The Chorographical De-
scription or Survey of the County of Devon, &c." Wil-
liam Chappie, of Exeter, intended a new edition of this
work, and actually issued proposals; but dying in 1781,
his design was not completed, although in 1785 a portion
of it, printed at Exeter, appeared in 4to, with many notes
and additions. There is a " continuation" of Risdon's
Survey, which is paged on from the first part, and very
rarely to be met with, but there are copies in the Bodleian
and in the library of St. John's, given by Dr. Rawlinson. 1
RITSON (JOSEPH), a poetical critic and editor, was
born Oct. 2, 1752, at Stockton-upon-Tees, in the county
of Durham, and was bred to the profession of the law,
which he practised chiefly in the conveyancing branch.
In 1785 he purchased the office of high bailiff of the liber-
ties of the Savoy, and retained it until his death. These
seem the only particulars of Mr. Ritson's progress in his
profession, which have been recorded by his friends. He
became, however, far better known for his researches into
the antiquities of English literature, particularly poetry;
and these he was enabled to carry on for many years, by
dint of memory and extraordinary industry. In recovering
dates, assigning anonymous fragments to their authors,
and those other minute particulars which are important to
poetical antiquaries, Mr. Ritson had perhaps few superi-
ors; but all he performed was disgraced by a harsh, rugged,
and barren style, and an affectation of a new orthography,
and yet more by the contempt, approaching to malignity,
with which hfe treated Mr. Warton, Mr. Malone, and his
other contemporaries who had acquired any name in the
world. Although not absolutely incapable of civility, his
conversation partook much of the harshness of his writings;
and giving the lie was not uncommon with him, even
when the subject in dispute had nothing in it to excite
passion. His wretched temper seems also to have been
exasperated by the state of public affairs, his hatred of the
reigning family, and his attachment to republicanism.
Many instances might be given of his unhappy prejudices,
* Atb. Ox. vol. I. new edit. Prince's Worthies of Devon.
R I T S O N.
237
but it appeared at last that the whole might be traced to a
diseased mind, which was completely overthrown by in-
sanity. When this became too visible to be neglected, he
was removed to a receptacle for insane persons at Hoxton,
where he died a few days after, Sept. 3, 1803, leaving
many works which will prove useful and interesting to
poetical antiquaries long after the peculiarities of his tem-
per are forgotten. His first publication was an anony-
mous quarto pamphlet of " Observations on the three vo-
lumes of Warton's History of English Poetry ;" one of the
most illiberal productions that had then appeared. He
wrote, also anonymously, three sets of. remarks on the
editors of Shakspeare : I. On Mr. Sieevens's edition, 1773,
entitled " Remarks, critical and illustrative, on the Text
and Notes of the last edition of Shakspeare," 8vo ; 2. " The
Quip modest," &c. on Mr. Reed's republication of that
edition, particularly illiberal ; 3. " Cursory Criticisms," &c.
on Mr. Malone's edition. He published also a select
collection of English Songs, in 3 vols. 8vo. Ancient Songs,
from the time of Henry III. to the Revolution, 8vo. A
volume of pieces of ancient popular poetry, 8vo. " The
English Anthology," a selection of poetry, in 3 small oc-
tavo volumes. " Robin Hood ; a collection of all the an-
cient Poems, Songs, affd Ballads, now extant, relative to
that celebrated Outlaw. To which are added, Historical
Anecdotes of his Life," 1795, 2 vols. 8vo. A collection
of Scotch Songs, with the genuine Music, 2 vols. 12mo.
" Biographia Poetica : a Catalogue of English Poets of
the twelfth, thirteenth, fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth
centuries; with a short Account of their Works." 1801,
12mo. He put his name to " Ancient English Metrical
Romances ; selected and published by Joseph Ritson,"
1802, 3 vols. 12mo. This last publication is perhaps the
least interesting of the list.
His last work was, a " Treatise on abstinence from ani-
mal food," in which he collected so many impious and ex-
travagant sentiments, that he could not for some time find
a publisher. His catastrophe, however, followed soon after
publication, and the book was forgotten.'
RITSON (ISAAC), a young man of very considerable
literary talents, was a native of Emont- bridge, near Pen-
ritb, and was born in 1761. At the age of sixteen, he
* Gent Mag, vols. LXXIII. and LXXJV. Nichols's Bowyer.
238 R I T S O N.
began to teach school with credit to himself, and advantage
to his pupils. After superintending a school for about four
years, he relinquished the employment, and repaired to
Edinburgh, where he studied medicine; and he maintained
himself by writing medical theses for such of his fellow
students as were too indolent, or too illiterate, to write
for themselves. From Edinburgh he went to London,
where he attended on the hospitals, and on lectures, and
where he also supported himself by his literary exertions.
In London he took a few private pupils, and was engaged
for some time in writing the medical articles in the
Monthly Review. Like Chatterton, however, whom in
many particulars Ritson greatly resembled, he had to
lament the neglect of the world, and after a short and irre-
gular life in London, he died of a few weeks illness, at
Islington, in 1789, and in the twenty-seventh year of his
age.
Mr. Ritson published an excellent translation of Homer's
" Hymn to Venus," 4to, which was well received by the
public, and wrote one equally masterly of Hesiod's " Theo-
gony," which, it is much to be regretted, was never published,
and is now entirely lost. He wrote also " Essays on Moral
and Philosophical Subjects," which were never published ;
the preface to Clarke's " Survey of the Lakes," very ably
executed ; and several other pieces. He was a warm ad-
mirer of Shakspeare, and he frequently talked of producing
a dramatic work on the Grecian model, similar in its kind
to Mason's Elfrida and Caractacus. 1
RITTANGEL1US, or RITHANGEL (JOHN STEPHEN),
a native of Forcheim, in the bishopric of Bamberg, is said
by some writers to have been born a Jew ; but others assert
that he was first a Roman Catholic, then a Jew, and lastly,
a Lutheran. This, however, is certain, that he published
several books containing Judaical learning, was professor
of Oriental languages in the academy of Konigsburg, and
died about 1652. His works are, a Commentary on the
book " Jezirah, or, the Creation," attributed to Abraham,
Amsterdam, 1642, 4to ; a treatise " De veritate Religionis
Christianas," Franeker, 1699; " Libra veritatis," 1698, in
which he asserts that the Chaldee paraphrase furnishes ar-
guments against the Jews and Anti-Trinitarians ; " Let-
ters;" a German translation of the Prayers used by the
1 Hutchinson's Hut. of Cumberland.
RITTANGELIUS. 239
Jews in their synagogues, on the first day of each year ; and
other works. Rittangelius maintained this paradox, that
the New Testament " contains nothing hut what was taken
from the Jewish antiquities." l
RITTENHOUSE (DAVID), an American philosopher
and mathematician, was born in Pennsylvania in 1732.
By the dint of genius and application, he was enabled to
mingle the pursuits of science with the active employments
of a farmer and watch-maker. The latter of these occupa-
tions he filled with unrivalled eminence among his coun-
trymen. In 17t9 he was with others invited by the Ame-
rican Philosophical Society to observe the transit of Venus,
when he particularly distinguished himself by his observa-
tions and calculations. He afterwards constructed an ob-
servatory, where he made such valuable discoveries, as
tended to the general diffusion of science. After the
American war, as he was a strenuous advocate for inde-
pendence, he successively filled the offices of treasurer of
the state of Pennsylvania, and director of the national
mint; in the first of which he manifested incorruptible in-
tegrity, and in the last, the rare talent of combining theo-
ries in such a way as to produce correct practical effects.
He succeeded Dr. Franklin in the office of president of the
American Philosophical Society ; but tuvvards the close of
his days he withdrew from public life, and spent his time
in retirement. After a very severe illness, but of no long
continuance, he died July 10, 1796, about the age of 64.
He had the degree of LL. D. conferred upon him. To
the "Transactions" of the American Philosophical Society
he contributed several excellent papers, chiefly on astro-
nomical subjects. 2
RITTERSHUSIUS (CONRADUS), a learned civilian and
philologer of Germany, was the son of Balthasar Ritter-
shusius of Brunswic, and born there Sept. 25, 1560. He
was taught Greek and Latin in his own country, at the
chool of which his mother's brother, Matthias Berg, was
rector; and, in 1580, went to Helmstad, where he applied
himself to the civil law ; but without neglecting the belles
lettres, which formed his most lasting pursuit. After re-
covering from the plague, by which he was endangered in
this town, he removed to Altorf in 1584, to profit by the
lectures of Gifanius, for whom he conceived a particular
1 Gen. Diet. Moreri.
2 Hutton's Dictionary. Diet. Hist. Supplement, Rees's Cyclopedia.
240 RITTERSHUSIUS.
esteem. He began to travel in 1587, went through part
of Germany, and came to Bohemia. Being afterwards at
Basil in 1592, he took the degree of doctor of law, and
returned to Altorf, to fill the professor's chair, which the
curators of ihe university had given him some time before.
He had many advantageous proposals from other universi-
ties of Germany and Holland, but his attachment to Altorf
would not suffer him to accept them. He died at Altorf
May 25, 1613, after having married two wives, by whom
he had nine children. Two of his sons, George and Ni-
colas, distinguished themselves in the republic of letters ;
and George wrote the life of his father.
He was a man of extensive learning, and perfectly skilled
in the Greek and Latin tongues. He is said to have had
Homer and Hesiod so well by heart, as once, in a conversa-
tion with a learned young gentleman, to have expressed
all he had occasion to say in the verses of Homer. He
was also a judicious critic, and wrote notes upon many
ancient Greek and Latin authors, Petronius, Phacdrus,
Oppian, &c. which have been inserted in the best editions
of those authors. Thus Burinan, in his edition of " Phse-
drus," 1698, 8vo, has carefully inserted the entire notes
of Rittershusius, whom he calls in his preface " Germanise
suae quondam ornamentum, & noil minoris Gallice-decus. 7 '
He published a great number of works, sixty-six of which
are enumerated by Niceron, many on civil law, bu$ most
on the belles lettres and criticism. IJis edition. of " Op-
pian," Greek and Latin, appeared in 1657, 8vo. His son
NICHOLAS, born at Altdorf in 1597, was also a man of
learning and a jurist, and particularly applied to historical
and genealogical inquiries. He studied at Helmstadt, and
afterwards travelled into various countries of F/u rope. On his
return he took a doctor's degree in 1634, and wa$ appointed
professor of feudal law at Altdorff. He died jn 167O.
Nicholas edited several of his father's works, and in 163S
published an oration on " Hanno's Periplws." v ' He* was the
author of a large work, entitled " Genealggia? Jmperato-
rum, Regum, . Ducum, Comitum, &c. ab anno 1400 ad
annum 1664," 7 vols. in 4, folio, a work of rare occurrence.
Several of his letters arc printed in the " Epistolse cele-'
brium Virorum," 1705. *
1 Niceron, vol. XXXII. Moreri. Mlchior Adam. Life by his son in Wit-
ten's " Memoriae jurisconsult. Henuingi." Saxii Onomast.
ft I V A U L T. 241
klTWYSE. See RIGHTWISE.
HIVAULT (DAVID), a learned French writer, was born
at Laval, in the province of Perche, about 1571. He wa*
brought up in the family of the count de Laval, and for.
some time followed the military profession, serving in Italy
and in Holland. In 1603, Henry IV. appointed him one
of the gentlemen of his bed-chamber. In 1605 he entered
into tSie service of the emperor against the Turks : but ori
his return he devoted himself to literary and scientific stu-
dies ; and in 161 1 he was appointed preceptor to the young
king, Lewis XIII. with a pension of 3000 livres, and the
title of counsellor of state. An insult he received from his
royal pupil obliged him to quit his office for some time.
The king had a favourite dog, who was perpetually jump-
ing on Rivault during his giving lessons, arid Rivault one
day gave him a kick. The king was so incensed as to strike
Riv'lult, who retired ; but it appears they were soon recon-
ciled, and by the king's orders Rivault accompanied ma*
dame Elizabeth of France as far as Bayonne, on her way
to be married to the king of Spain. On his return from
that voyage he died at Tours, Jan. 1616, about the age of
forty-five. He is spoken of with high esteem by several
of the most celebrated writers of his time, particularly by
Casaubon, Scaliger, Vossius, Erpenius, and Menage. His
works consist of, l* " Les Etats," or " The States, or a
discourse concerning the privileges of the- prince, the no-
bles, and the Third Estate, &c." 2. " Les Elemens d'Ar-
tillerie," Paris, 1608, 8vo, a curious and very scarce work.
3. "Archimedis Opera quae extant, Gr. et Lat. novis de-
tnonstrationibus illdstrata," &c. Paris, 1615, folio; and
ether pieces on education, &C. 1
RIVE (JOHN JOSEPH), a French writer, chiefly on sub-
jects of bibliography and literary history, was born May
19, 1730, at Apt in Provence, and was bred to the church.
He was first professor of philosophy in the seminary of Sh
Charles, at Avignon, a situation for which he was not very
well qualified. He then became curate of Molleges, iu
the diocese of Aries, but was not much better satisfied with
this than his preceding occupation, as he had more taste
for bibliographical researches than for pastoral duties.
While here he had the credit of an amour with a married
woman, that did not advance him much in the public opi-
Niceron, vol. XXXVII. Vosshis de Scieutiis Malh, Saxii Onomast.
VOL. XXVI. R
242 R I V E.
nion; and when the husband reproached him, the abbe
threw him headlong out of the window, from which, how-
ever, he received no great injury. In 1767 he came to
Paris, and his turn for books being already known, the duke
de Valliere appointed him his librarian, and in allusion to
his arrogant manner of deciding on literary points, used to
call him his bull-dog. On the revolution breaking out, he
became one of the most implacable of the anarchists, and
denounced vengeance on the clergy, the nobility, and
especially those writers who were his rivals in bibliogra-
phical pursuits, particularly William Debure, and the abbe
Mercier, to whom he was uncommonly abusive. He after-
wards led a life of turbulence and hostility, which at last
closed at Marseilles in 1792. Among his numerous publi-
cations, the most useful were, 1. " Eclaircissemens sur 1'in-
yention des Cartes a jouer," Paris, 1780, Svo. 2. " Pro-
spectus sur Tessai de verifier Page de Miniatures," such as
appear on manuscripts from the fourteenth to the seven-
teenth century; ibid. 1782, fol. 3. " Notices historiques et
critiques sur deux manuscrits de la bibliotheque du due de
la Valliere," ibid. 1779, 4to. 4. " Notices sur le traite
manuscrit de Galeotto Martio, intitule De Excelienti-
bus," ibid. 1785, Svo. 5. " Histoire critique de la Pyra-
mide de Caius Sestius," &c. ibid. 1787, foi. 6. La Chasse
aux Bibliographes et aux Antiquaires mal avises," ibid.
1789, 2 vols. a receptacle of almost every kind of abuse
and awkward wit against Le Long, Debure, Mercier, &c.
7."Dictionnaire de critique litteraire," &c. with other works
of a similar kind, which are very scarce even in France, as
he printed but a small number of each edition. '
RIVET (ANDREW), a celebrated French protestant di-
vine, was born at St. Maxeut, in Poitou, Aug. I, 1572, and
after some school education near home, was sent to Ro-
chelle in 1585, where he studied the learned languages and
philosophy. In 1590 he was removed to the college at
Beam, where he took his master's degree, and began the
study of divinity. Having finished that course, he was in
1595 appointed minister of the church of Thoars, and chap-
lain to the duke of Thoars, who admitted him into his con-
fidence, and frequently employed him in matters of im-
portance. While in this situation he married the daughter
^f a divine at Thoars. He was frequently the representa-
1 Diet. Hist. Dibdin's Bibliomania.
RIVET. 243
tive of the protestant churches in national conventions and
synods, and in some of these filled the chair of president,
particularly in that of Vitry, in 1617. In 1620 he was ap-
pointed professor of divinity at Leyden, but about the same
time had the misfortune to lose his wife. In 1621 he vi-
siteci England, and going to Oxford was incorporated doc-
tor in divinity, which degree had been conferred on him at
Leyden just before. He gave, on this occasion, several
books to the Bodleian library. While in England he mar-
ried, as his second wife, Maria, the sister of Peter du
Moulin, and widow of Anthony de Guyot, upon whose
death in the civil wars in France, she took refuge in Eng-
land. What served to introduce him at Oxford was his
previous acquaintance wiih John Russe, or Rouse, who had
lodged some time with him at Thoars, and was now in the
situation of librarian of the Bodleian. After his return to
Leyden he resumed his professorship, and passed the rest
of his days in teaching and writing. He died in 1647, aged
seventy-five. His works, consisting of commentaries on
the scriptures, sermons, and controversial pieces, were
very numerous, but it is unnecessary to specify them se-
parately, as they were collected in 3 vols. fol. and printed
at Rotterdam in 1651. His brother WILLIAM, who was
likewise in the church, published on " Justification," and
on " Ecclesiastical liberty." We have in English," A re-
lation of the last hours of Dr. Andrew Rivet," 12mo, trans-
lated and published by Nehemiah Coxe, by which it ap-
pears that Dr. Rivet was not more a man of great learning
than of great piety. l
RIVET DE LA GRANGE (ANTHONY), of the same family
as the preceding, but descended from a catholic branch,
was born October 30, 1683, at Confolens, a small town in
Poictiers. He studied philosophy under the Jacobins at
Poictiers, but an escape from very imminent danger de-
termined him to put on the Benedictine habit, which he
accordingly did at Marmoutier in 1704, and took his vows
therein 1705. In 1716 he was transferred to the monas-
tery of St. Cyprian, and summoned to Paris the year fol-
lowing, to assist some other monks in compiling a history
of illustrious men of the Benedictine order ; but this pro-
ject failing, Rivet turned his thoughts entirely to the li-
terary history of France, which he had before formed a
1 Freheri Theatrum. Moreri. Ath. Ox. vol. f.
fc 2
244 R I V E~t.
design of writing, and which employed the rest of his trfe,
He was-assisted in this work by three of his brethren, Joseph
Duclou, Maurice Poncet, and John Colomb, who were all
his particular friends, good critics, and accurate and indus-
trious writers. In 1723 Rivet published at Amsterdam
" Le Necrologe de Port Royal des Champs," a work of
which he was very fond, and added to it a long historical
preface. This publicatioTny joined to his warm opposition
to the bull Unrgenitus, from which he had appealed, obliged
him to retire -iiftb the abbey of St. Vincent at Mans, the
same year, 'Where he laboured assiduously during more
than thirty years to complete his " Literary History of
France. ">' He published the first volume in 1733, 4to, and
was finishing the ninth, which contains the first years of the
12th century, when he died, February 7, 1749, in his
sixty-sixth year, worn out with intense application, aus-
terities, and the strict and rigorous observation of his rule,
from which he never departed. His history was afterwards
extended to 12 volumes, to which Clemencet added a 13th.
It is a very useful work, but the French literati have never
thought of completing it. 1
RIVIERE, or RIVERIUS (LA'ZARUS), an eminent French
physic&ft, was born at Montpellier in 1589. He studied
in the University of his native place, but having failed in
his examinations for his degree, he was impelled to redouble
his exertiotis, and in 16 11 was admitted to the degree of
doctor with great credit. In 1622 he was appointed to the
professorship of medicine in the university, an office which
he continued to fill with great honour until his death in
1655. Riverius published " The Institutes of Medicine,"
in five books, in Latin, which went through many editions ;
but the work which has gained him most reputation, is a
course of medicine, entitled ** Praxis Medica," of which
editions were long multiplied in France, Holland, and
England. It treats of most of the diseases to which the
body is subject, in seventeen books, in a clear style; but
in many places he appears to have borrowed copiously from
Sennertus. He published also a work entitled " Observa-
tiones Medic* et Curationes insignes," which has been
frequently reprinted, and is not now without its value.
These works have been collected and published together,
under the title of " Opera Medica Universa," Geneva,
* Morwi.-JDict, Hist,
RIVIERE, 24j5
1737, and Leyden, 1758, fol. Eloy observes, that a friar,
Bernardin Christin, who had been a pupil of Riverius, com-
piled some secrets of chemistry, which he published with
the name of Riverius ; and although it has been clearly
proved that he was not the author of these papers, yet they
have been frequently printed in the collections of his works,
and separately, under the title of "Arcana Riverii." l
RIVINUS (AUGUSTUS QumiNUs), an eminent botanist
and physician, was the son of a learned physician and cri-
tic, Andrew Bachmann, whose name in Latin became Rivi-
nus. He was born at Leipsic in 1652. After a successful
course of study he became professor of physiology and
botany in his native university. He was also a member of
various learned societies, and died in 1723 r aged seventy-
one.
The botanical system of Rivinus is founded on the roost
elegant and attractive, if not the most solid arid important,
parts of plants. His classes are marked by the number, the
regularity, or irregularity, of the petals. He could not
proceed far in this path without perceiving that he made
most unnatural, and, as Haller justly terms them, para-
doxical, combinations. He therefore asserted, and doubt-
less believed, the inutility and impracticability of 4 really
natural classification. This principle brought him to one
right conclusion, which even the philosophical Ray did not
attain, or was afraid to admit, that the old primary distri-
bution of vegetables into trees, shrubs^ and herbs, is un-
scientific and erroneous.
Rivinus published, at his own expence, in 1690, his
splendid illustration of the first class of his system, com-
prising such plants as have a monopetabus irregular 6ower.
This part consists of one hundred and twenty-five plates ;
bub the catalogue of species is imperfect, A learned " In-
troductio generalis in rem hdtfbariam" is prefixed ; and this
introductory part was, at 4iffereot times, republished in a
smaller form. The second part of this sumptuous work
came forth in 1691, and consists of twe hundred and twenty-
one plates, of plants with four irregular petals ; into which
class, by means of some contrivance, and many grains of
allowance, are admitted all the papilionaceous tribe, the
cruciform genus Iberis, the Euphorbia, and a few things
besides. In 1699 the third part, containing flowers with
JEloy, Diet. Hist, <Je Medicjiie, Res's Cyclopaedia.
R I V I N U S.
five irregular petals, was given to the world. Even more
liberty is taken in the assemblage of genera here than in
the former class. It consists of one hundred and thirty-
nine plates. A fourth part, the hexapetalse irregulares,
consisting of the Orchideae, was finished, but not published,
before the author's death ; nor indeed have any more than
a very few copies of this ever got abroad into the world, so
that it constitutes one of the greatest bibliothecal rarities.
With respect to utility or beauty, those who are possessed
of the transcendant engravings of this favourite tribe in
Haller's History of Swiss Plants, may dispense with the
figures of Rivinus. The author had prepared several sup-
plementary plates to his work, which never came forth,
and of which perhaps the only specimens are to be seen in
sir Joseph Banks's fine copy of the whole work, except two
duplicate plates presented by the learned baronet to the
president of the Linnaean society. There is every reason
to believe that the copy in question belonged to the author
himself, or to his son, as may be gathered from its manu-
script additions and corrections. A complete copy, of even
the three first parts of Rivinus's book is, indeed, difficult
to be met with ; for several of the plates having from time
to time received additions of seed-vessels, or of entire
plants ; the earlier impressions of such plates are conse-
quently imperfect. The best copies are required, by fas-
tidious collectors, to have every plate with and without the
additions.
As a medical writer, Rivinus has the merit of faithful
observation and description, in his treatise " de Peste Lip-
siensi," published in 1680. He wrote also on dyspepsia,
on intermittent fevers, and various other subjects. He did
not scruple to attack whatever practice or opinion he found
established on the basis of prejudice and ignorance. In
this respect his " Censura Medicamentorum officinalium"
ranks very high. His commendable aim, in this work, was
to clear the materiamedica of its various disgraceful incum-
brances ; so many of which originated in error, imposition,
or superstition. His attempts have been followed up by
various men of ability and authority ; and it is to the united
labour and good sense of such that the world is indebted
for the purified and improved state of our modern phar-
macopeias.
Though not a great practical anatomist, or dissector, Ri-
vinus is said to have discovered a new salivary duct. He
R I V I N U S. 247
Jeft a son, JOHN AUGUSTUS Rivinus, who succeeded him as
professor, and under whose presidency was published a
dissertation, in 1723, on " Medicinal Earths." This gen-
tleman died in 1725, aged thirty-three, having survived
his father but two years. His premature death seems to
have prevented the publication of the fourth part of his
father's great botanical work, at least for some time.
Haller says, Ludwig afterwards edited the plates of the
Orchidece, without any letter-press ; but this publication
has never come under our inspection. *
HIZZIO, or RICCI (DAVID), a musician of the six-
teenth century, whose misconduct or misfortunes have ob-
tained him a place in the history of Scotland, was born at
Turin, but brought up in France. His father was a mu-
sician and dancing-master, and the son probably possessed
those talents which served to amuse a courtly circle. He
appears to have come to Scotland about 1564, when, ac-
cording to most accounts, he was neither young nor hand-
some. The count de Merezzo brought him hither in his
suite, as ambassador from Savoy to the court of the unfor-
tunate queen Mary. Sir James Melvil, in his " Memoirs,'*
tells us that " the queen had three valets of her chamber
who sung in three parts, and wanted a base to sing the
fourth part; therefore, telling her majesty of this man,
Rizzio, as one fit to make the fourth in concert, he was
drawn in sometimes to sing with the rest." He quickly,
however, crept into the queen's favour ; and her French
secretary happening at that time to return to his own coun-
try, Rizzio was preferred by her majesty to that office.
He began to make a figure at court, and to appear as a
man of weight and consequence. Nor was he careful to
abate that envy which always attends such an extraordinary
and rapid change of fortune. On the contrary, he seems
to have done every thing to increase it; yet it was not his
exorbitant power alone which exasperated the Scots ; they
considered him as a dangerous enemy to the protestant re-
ligion, and believed that he held for this purpose a con-
stant correspondence with the court of Rome. His pre-
valence, however, was very short-lived ; for, in 1566, cer-
tain nobles, with lord Darnly at their head, conspired
against him, and dispatched him in the queen's presence
1 From the account drawn up by the president of the Linnaean society for
Rees's Cyclopaedia.
*48 R I Z Z I O.
xvith fifty- six wounds. The consequences of this murder
to the queen and to the nation are amply detailed in Scotch
history, and have been the subject of a very fertile con-
troversy.
As a musician, Rizzio's instrument was the lute, which
tvas at that time the general favourite all over Europe ; and
an opinion has long prevailed that he was the great im-
prover of Scotch music, and that he composed most of the
Scotch tunes which have been heard with so much pleasure
for two centuries past, and are in their style to be distin-
guished from all other national airs. This matter, however,
has been investigated both by sir John Hawkins, from re-
cords, and by Dr. Barney, from personal inquiry at Turin;
and the result is, that the opinion has no foundation. Some
part of Dr. Burney's sentiments on the subject xve have
already given in our account of king James I. of Scotland.
It does riot, in fact, appear that Rizzio was a compeser at
all ; and his stay in this country not exceeding two years,
with the variety of business in which he was, 'fatally for
himself and his royal mistress, engaged, could have left
him little leisure for study, or for undertaking the improve-
ment of the national music. 1
ROBERTS (BARRE* CHARLES), an ingenious young writer
and medallist, the third child and second son of Edward
Roberts, esq. deputy-clerk of the pells of the exchequer,
was born March 13, 1789, in St. Stephen's court, West-
minster. His frame and constitution were delicate, which
probably created an aversion to the usual exercises of
youth, and his early pursuits evinced vivacity without le-
vity. They were of a nature to exercise, but not to weary
the faculties; and, springing from a desire for knowledge,
afforded to him a perpetual variety of objects. The first ra-
diments of education, as far as it related to habits, he ac-
quired himself, or perhaps he imbibed them from the si-
tuation in which he was placed. In his father's house at
Ealing, the well-ordered ceconomy of time which prevails
in a regular family, taught him to appreciate and to
profit by the means of tranquillity thus placed within his
reach. The salubrity of the air, and the extent of the
grounds, which allowed him as much exercise as he wished
for, contributed to the health of his body ; and he had the
advantage of a well-chosen collection of books, which
1 Burney and Hawkins's Hist, of Mu^ic.
ROBERTS.
afforded him the opportunity of indulging his taste for
reading.
In the earliest periods of his life he seemed to be fully
impressed with the importance and value of time, no mo-
ment of which he suffered to be unemployed. Whatever
was cnrious in literature attracted his attention, but sub-
jects of antiquity were those which he most delighted to
investigate. In these his patience and perseverance were
very remarkable; and though he read with eagerness and
rapidity, he never neglected to note down particular cir-
cumstances, or to mark for subsequent reference such things
as he could not at once completely embrace. To a natural
quickness of observation was added a retentive memory,
and the exercise of these was matured into an habit of at-
tention and arrangement.^ Fortunately for Barre these en-
dowments did not escape the eye of him who was most
interested by affection and consanguinity in his welfare.
His father early discovered and cultivated them. Barre,
when at home, was his constant companion, and, soon after
the years of infancy were passed, became his most intimate
friend. Indeed it is not possible to imagine a greater de-
gree of confidence between two persons, even of similar
ages, than that which existed between this youth and his
parent; and so well was it supported and understood, that
Barre never for a moment lost sight of his relative situation,
nor transgressed the limits of respect which filial love, even
had there been no other motive, would have taught him to
observe. The clearness of his perceptions, and the cor-
rectness of his understanding, secured him from anv over-
rated idea of his own talents, and rather added than de-
tracted from the docility of his disposition : a docility not
in him the result of feebleness, or indolence, nor tending
to the obliteration of his natural character, but derived
from a comparison of his own inexperience with the
matured judgment of advanced life, ami a just estimate and
conviction of his father's love. Barre, in this free and con-
fidential intercourse, imbibed all the advantages which a
system of perfect intimacy wita one so much his superior in
age and worldly experience could produce, divested as it
was, by the discriminating hand of a parent, of ait the evils
which attend on the formation of an artificial character. It
would have been of the highest gratification to his father to
have retained constantly under his own eye a son so much
fhe object of his care and affection, and who seemed to
250 ROBERT S.
court all the instruction which could be bestowed on him,;
but as this would have demanded leisure, and qualifications
which fall to the lot of but few persons, Barre was sent in
May 1797, to Dr. Home's school at Chiswick, and in June
1799, was placed under the care of the Rev. William
Goodenough, at Ealing, between whose family and that of
his pupil a long intimacy and friendship had subsisted.
Here he remained six years, and acquired a competent
knowledge of the classics, and some share of mathematics,
history, and antiquities, the study of which last had been
previously familiar to him while enjoying his father's library
at home.
It was during the same time that he formed his fine col-
lection of coins, which is now in the British museum, hav-
ing been purchased by the trustees with consent of par-
liament. This collection was begun to be formed when
Barre was very young. He accidentally saw a few Roman
coins in his father's possession, which he presently got
transferred to his own. They were hoarded by him with
infantine care, and esteemed by him as invaluable property.
The occasional presents of friends, and such specimens as
a child's pocket-money could procure, soon increased the
store, which he would display and comment upon with the
air and importance of a connoisseur. As he advanced in
age, however, he perceived that to form a complete and
universal collection of coins was an object only in the power
of individuals possessed of larger means than he could ever
expect to enjoy. He therefore relinquished it in this cha-
racter, and confined his attention only to those connected
with his own country. His father encouraged the pursuit,
as he followed it in the light of a science, which illustrated
and confirmed him in his historical studies; and his name
as a collector soon became known among the dealers, who
did not fail to bring him whatever could be discovered most
rare and curious in their line of search.
On the 1 1th of October, 1 805, he was entered as a com-
moner of Christ Church at Oxford, in which house he be-
came a student at the Christmas following, by the presenta-
tion of Dr. Hay, obtained at the request of lord Viscount
Sidmouth. As he never had been separated from his fa^-
mily till this period, for a week together, the distance
between Ealing and Oxford appeared to him a very consi-
derable one, and a plan of correspondence was immediately
established. His earliest letters contain a picture of his
ROBERTS. 251
mind under the influence of new impressions, and new
habits, while they display his conduct as uniformly correct
and praise-worthy ; and he took his first degree in Nov.
1808, with great approbation. Before this time he had
been a frequent correspondent in the Gentleman's Maga-
zine on the subject of coins, and that not superficially, but
with a degree of knowledge which would have been cre-
ditable to a veteran collector. He was also invited to con-
tribute to one of those literary journals in which personal
attack is more an object than sound criticism ; but we are
not sorry to find that he made little progress in an employ-
ment so unsuitable to an ingenuous mind.
The career, however, of this amiable young man was
destined to be short. During his residence in the last two
years at Oxford, he experienced attacks which indicated
that all was not right about him ; but their short duration,
and the extreme repugnance that he felt towards drawing
attention to himself on such accounts, which made him
perhaps conceal their extent, prevented the alarm which
otherwise his friends and family Would have entertained.
In the autumn of 1807 he was seized with a haemorrhage at
the nose, and not long afterwards with frequent fits of gid-
diness. The excitement which he underwent in 1808, while
qualifying himself to take his degree, rendered him still
more obnoxious to these baneful influences. Under the
constant agitation of his mind, the deterioration in his health
became visible by caprice of appetite, and increased ner-
vous irritability. In the summer of that year he was seized
with a cough, which, though neither violent nor frequent,
never left him afterwards. His illness, however, made no
rapid advances; and when he returned home after his ex-
amination, he continued to mix in the society of his friends
as usual. In a visit to London in the cold and unhealthy
spring of 1809, his disposition to malady was increased by
accidental causes, too minute to arrest his attention ; and
unfortunately also at this period he was summoned to Ox-
ford by intelligence of the fire at Christ Church, by which
his rooms were damaged, and his books endangered. The
season, and the business he went upon, were peculiarly
unfavourable to an invalid ; he was necessarily involved in
a good deal of bodily agitation, in order to; ascertain and
secure his property, and exposed to the air at a time when
repose and seclusion were of the utmost importance to him.
As the summer advanced, his disorder did not abate, though
252 ROBERTS.
the symptoms of it were too equivocal to enable his medi-
cal attendants to give it a decided name.
He was prevailed upon, with some entreaty, to make a
journey early in July to Southampton, in the company of
a near relation, with whom he had ever lired on terms of
affectionate intimacy, and who rejoiced in offering him
such attentions as he would accept. On his return to
Eaiing at the end of September, the symptoms of his dis-
order had not increased in violence; but the effect of its
secret ravages upon him were but too visible. During the
whole progress of his ailment, his mind remained unaltered
in its inclinations and desires. The thirst for knowledge
continued, but the exhausted state of his corporeal system
opposed physical obstacles to its gratification : he bore up
with cheerfulness arid courage against evidences of that
which certainly he himself could not be ignorant of, and
lamented only the languor of nervous debility which ren-
dered him unable to pursue his favourite and wonted oc-
cupations. He died Jan. I, 1810, and was buried on the
8th in Eaiing church, where, on a tablet of white marble,
is an elegant Latin inscription from the pert of his early
tutor and friend, the rev Mr. Goodenough. In 1814, a vo-
lume, in 4to, of his " Letters and Miscellaneous Papers,"
was published with an elegant and affectionate memoir of
his life, written by his cousin Grosvenor Charles Bedford,
esq, *
ROBERTS (FRANCIS), a puritan divine, the son of
Henry Roberts of Aslake, in Yorkshire, was born there or
in that county in 1609, and entered a student of Trinity
college, Oxford, in 1625. In 1632 he completed his de-
grees in arts, and was ordained. Where he first officiated
does not appear ; but on the breaking out of the rebellion
be went to London, took the covenant, and wns appointed
minister of St. Augustine's, Watlirtg-street, in room of
Ephraim Udal, ejected for his loyalty. In 1649 he was
presented to the rectory of WriiHTton in Somersetshire by
his patron Arthur lord Capel, son of the beheaded lord
Capel. While on this living he was appointed one of the
commissioners for the " ejectment of those" who were
called " ignorant and insufficient ministers and school-
masters." At the restoration, however^ he conformed,
tired out, as many other's were, by the distractions of the
1 Memoir as above.
ROBERTS. 259
contending parties, and disappointed in every hope which
the encouragers of rebellion had held forth. It does not
appear whether he had any additional preferment, except
that of chaplain to his patron lord Capel when .he became
earl of Essex; and when thrit nobleman was lord-lieutenant,
of Ireland in 1672, it is suppose. i he procured him the de-
gree of D. from the university of Dublin. He died at
Wriugton about the end of 1675, and most probably wasi
interred in that church. He published some single ser-
mons: "The Believer's evidence for Eternal Life,'* &c,
1649, 1655, 8vo, and the u Communicant instructed,"'
1651, Svo, often reprinted ; but his principal work is en*
titled " Chivis Bibliorum, the Key of the Bible," in*
eluding the order, names, times, penmen, occasion, scope*,
and principal matter of the Old and New Testament. This>
was first printed at London and Edinburgh, 1649, in 2 vols*
Svo, and afterwards in 4to; and the fourth edition, 1675,
in folio. Wood mentions another work, " Mysterium &
Medulla Bibliorum, or the Mystery and Marrow of the 5
Bible," 1657, 2 vols. foi. as he says, but this is doubtful?
and " The True way to the Tree of Life," 1673, Svo. 1
ROBERTSON (JOSEPH), a learned English divine and
miscellaneous writer, was descended from a reputable
family, which from time immemorial possessed a consider-
able estate at Mutter, in tae parish of Appleby, in West-
moreland. His father was an eminent maltster; and his
mother, the only daughter of Mr. Edward Stevenson, of
Knipe, in the same county, cousin to Edmund Gibson,
bishop of London. He was born at this latter place, Au-
gust 28, 1726; but his father soon afterwards removing to
Rutter, he was sent, at a proper age, to the free-school at
Appleby, where he received the rudiments of classical
learning under Mr. Richard Yates, a man of eminent abili-
ties, and distinguished character in his profession. From
thence, in 1746, he went to Queen's college, Oxford,
where he took his degrees in arts, with considerable repu-
tation for his ingenuity and learning. On his receiving
orders he was, for some time, curate to the celebrated Dr.
Sykes, at Rayleigh in Essex, and in 1758 he was instituted
to tbe vicarage of Herriard in Hampshire; in 1770, to the
rectory of Sutton in Essex; and in 1779, to the vicarage
of Horucastle in Lincolnshire, to which he wns prcseuteU
by his relation, Dr> Edtnund Law, bishop of Carlisle.
i Ath. Ox. vol. II.
ROBERTSON.
In 1761 he published a sermon, entitled " The subver-
sion of ancient Kingdoms considered," preached at St.
John's, Westminster, Feb. 13, the day appointed for a
general fast. In 1772, he revised and corrected for the
press Dr. Gregory Sharpens posthumous sermons j and the
same year completed a new edition of Algernon Sidney's
Discourses on Government, with historical notes, in one
volume quarto, at the persuasion of Thomas Hollis, esq.
who highly approved his performance.
In 1775 a remarkable incident happened, which excited
the public attention. A Miss Butterfield was accused of
poisoning Mr. Wm. Scawen, of Wooclcote lodge in Surrey.
Mr. Robertson thought her very cruelly treated, and took
an active part in her defence. On this occasion, he pub-
lished a letter to Mr. Sanxay, a surgeon, on whose testi-
mony Miss Butterfield had been committed to prison ; in
which he very severely animadverts on the conduct and
evidence of that gentleman. After she had been honour-
ably acquitted at the assizes at Croydon, he published a
second pamphlet, containing u Observations on the case
of Miss Butterfield," shewing the hardships she had sus-
tained, and the necessity of prosecuting her right in a
court of justice : that is, her claim to a considerable
legacy, which Mr. Scawen had bequeathed her by a will,
executed with great formality, two or three years before
his death. The cause was accordingly tried in Doctors 1
Commons. But, though it was universally agreed, that this
unfortunate young woman had been unjustly accused, and
that Mr. Scawen had been induced, by false suggestions,
to sign another testamentary paper, in which her name
was not mentioned, yet no redress could be obtained, as
the judge observed, " that it was the business of the court
to determine the cause, according to what the testator had
done ; not according to what he ought to have done."
Mr. R. is said to have been the author of a useful tract,
published in 178 1, " On Culinary Poisons." In 1782, he
published an elegant little volume for the improvement of
young people in reading, entitled " An Introduction to
the study of Polite Literature." This performance was
mentioned as the first volume of an intended series on the
same subject; but the second never appeared, owing, as it
is supposed, to part of it having been reprinted in a tract,
for the use of Sunday-schools, without his consent, by
ROBERTSON. 25$
archdeacon Paley *. In the same year he revised and pub-
lished a medical work of his friend sir Clifton Wintring-
ham, " De Morbis quibusdam Commentarii," in one vol.
Svo ; to which a second volume was afterwards added in
1791.
In 1785 he published an ," Essay on Punctuation," in
12mo. In this treatise he has illustrated a dry and unpro-
mising subject, with a variety of elegant and entertaining
examples; a fourth edition of this essay was printed in
1796. In 1788 appeared "The Parian Chronicle, or the
Chronicle of the Arundelian Marbles, with a Dissertation
concerning its authenticity.'* The tendency of this work
is to shew, that the authenticity of this famous inscription,
is extremely questionable; but although we may praise the
ingenuity, acuteness, and learning, of the author, we may
be permitted to doubt whether he has fully established his
point.
In 1795 he published a translation of Telemachus, with
notes, and the life of Fenelon, in two volumes 12mo;
which bears the marks of his usual elegance, taste, and
learning. By a note to the dissertation on the Parian
Chronicle it appears, that he was concerned in writing the
Critical Review "for twenty-one years, from August 1764,
to September 1785, inclusive. During this period he was
the author of above 2620 articles, on theological, classical,
poetical, and miscellaneous publications."
In 1797, Mr. Robertson published " Observations on the
Act for augmenting the Salaries of Curates, in four Letters
to a Friend," 8vo, written in consequence of what the
author thought a disproportionate and oppressive enforce-
ment of the curates' act. In 1798 he published " An
Essay on the Education of Young Ladies, addressed to a
person of distinction," 8vo ; and the next year, "An Essay
on the Nature of the English Verse, with Directions for
reading Poetry," 12mo.
Mr. Robertson married in 1758, Miss Raikes, the daugh-
ter of Mr. Timothy Raikes, apothecary, in London, by
whom he had several children, who died in their infancy.
Mr Robertson's health had been considerably impaired,
owing to some fits of apoplexy which attacked him about
1799. During 1801 he seemed to have, in some measure,
it
, * See a controversy, more angry thai) was necessary, on this subject, in Gen'.
Wag. Yol. LXH.
256 ROBERTSON
recovered; but on Jan. 18, 1802, he was seized with
violent effusion of blood, which occasioned his death, on
the very next day, in the seventy-seventh year of his age.
He was tall, stout, and handsome, of a ruddy complexion,
prepossessing look, gentle and unassuming manner?, and
exceedingly polite in conversation : he was an accomplished
moral character in every sense of the word. Without
violently condemning any of the Christian persuasion, he
was enthusiastically devoted to the church of England ;
and without indulging in any illiberal animadversions on
foreign governments, he was duly sensible of the unrivalled
advantages and the invaluable blessings of the British Con-
stitution. As to his domestic virtues, one of his biogra-
phers thinks he cannot exhibit a more finished picture of
them than by stating what Mrs. Robertson told him, "Dur-
ing the forty-four years we have lived together, never, for
a single night, did he desert the domestic society, to seek
elsewhere for amusement !"
The literary character of Mr. Robertson would rank high
among those of his contemporaries in the same line, if he
had concentrated his ideas in one large and compact work.
Taken, however, as it is, it will unquestionably exhibit a
learned critic and philologer, and one of the most accurate
writers of his age. Although he was endowed with a vigo-
rous understanding, and enriched with an uncommonly
extensive knowledge, his predominant power was memory;
and his favourite study, civil and literary history. In the
last-mentioned branch he had, perhaps, no superior; and
perhaps too, not many among the very professed biblio-
graphers could rival him in the science of books, authors,
and literary anecdotes. l
ROBERTSON (THOMAS), an eminent grammarian, was,
according to Bale, " Eboracensis urbis alumnus" which
may mean that he was educated at York ; but Wood says,
he was born at or near Wakefield in that county. He was
originally of Queen's college, Oxford, but afterwards a
semi -commoner of Magdalen, and succeeded the famous
John Stanbridge as master of the school adjoining to that
college. He took his degree of M. A. in 1525, and was
elected a fellow of Magdalen. In 1532 he was collated to
the prebend of Welton-Westball in the cathedral of Lin-
coln ; in the year following to that of Sleford, and in 1534,
1 From Memoirs written by himself in Nichols's Bowyer ; and a Sketch by
Mr. DatuiaH'.
ROBERTSON. 257
to that of Gretton, in the same church. It seems probable,
but Wood does not mention it as certain, that he took his
degree of U. D. in 1539, at which time he says, Robertson
was esteemed the "fas et decus Oxonite" and was trea-
surer of the church of Salisbury. He held also the arch-
deaconry of Leicester and vicarage of Wakefield, to which
Brownie Willis adds the rectory of St. Laud's, at Sherring-
ton, Bucks.
In U549 he was associated with other divines, ordered by
fj'dvvarcl YIth's council to form the new liturgy or common
prayer; and thus far, as Dodd remarks, he complied with
the reformers; but it does not appear that he advanced
much further. In queen Mary's reign, 1557, he was
made dean of Durham, and refused a bishopric. This
dignity he might have retained when Elizabeth came to
the throne, or have obtained an equivalent; but he refused
to take the oath of supremacy. Nothing more is known
with certainty of his history, unless that he died about
1560. Among the records collected at the end of Burnet's
History of the Reformation, are, of Robertson's, "Resolu-
tions of some questions concerning the Sacraments," and
"Resolutions of Questions relating to Bishops and Priests.'*
His grammatical tracts, entitled " Annotationes in Lib.
Gulielmi Lilii.de Lat. Norn, generibus," &c. were printed
together at Basil, 15.42, 4to. His reputation as a correct
grammarian and successful teacher was very great. Strype
says, that after refusing the oath of supremacy, he began
to propagate his opinions against the reformation, and was
overlooked ; but Willis thinks he was taken into custody. 1
ROBERTSON (WILLIAM), a very learned divine, was
born in Dublin, Oct. 16, 1705. His father was a native
of Scotland, who carried on the linen-manufacture there ;
and his mother, Diana Allen, was of a very reputable fa-
mily in the bishopric of Durham, and married to his father
in England. From his childhood he was of a very tender
and delicate constitution, with great weakness in his eyes
till he was twelve years of age, at which period he was
sent to school. He had his grammar-education under the
celebrated Dr. Francis Hutcheson, who then taught in
Dublin, but was afterwards professor of philosophy in the
university of Glasgow. He went from Dr. Hutcheson to
that university in 1722, where he remained till 1725, and
1 Alh. Ox. vol. I. ne* edition.- Dodd's Cb. Hist.
VOL. XXVI. S
258 ROBERTSON.
took the degree of M. A. He had for his tutor Mr. John
Lowdon, professor of philosophy ; and attended the lec-
tures of Mr Ross, professor of humanity ; of Mr. Dunlop,
professor of Greek; of Mr. Morthland, professor of the
Oriental languages ; of Mr. Simpson, professor of mathe-
matics ; and of Dr. John Simpson, professor of divinity.
In the last-mentioned year, a dispute was revived, which
had been often agitated before, between Mr. John Ster-
ling the principal, and the students, about a right to chuse
a rector, whose office and power is somewhat like that of
the vice-chancellor of Oxford or Cambridge. Mr. Robert-
son took part with his fellow- students, and was appointed
by them, together with William Campbell, esq. son of
Campbell of Mamore, whose family has since succeeded
to the estates and titles of Argyle, to wait upon the prin-
cipal with a petition signed by more than threescore ma-
triculated students, praying that he would, on the 1st day
of March, according to the statutes, summon an univer-
sity-meeting for the election of a rector ; which petition
he rejected with contempt. On this Mr. Campbell, in his
own name and in the name of all the petitioners, protested
against the principal's refusal, and all the petitioners went
to the house of Hugh Montgomery, esq. the unlawful rec-
tor, where Mr. Robertson read aloud the protest against
him and his- authority. Mr. Robertson, by these proceed-
ings, became the immediate and indeed the only object of
prosecution. He was cited before the faculty, i. e. the
principal and the professors of the university, of wbotn the
principal was sure of a majority, and, after a trial which
lasted several clays, had the sentence of expulsion pro-
nounced against him ; of which sentence he demanded a
copy, and was so fully persuaded of the justice of his
cause, and the propriety of his proceedings, that he
openly and strenuously acknowledged and adhered to what
he had done. Upon this, Mr. Lowdon, his tutor, and Mr.
Dunlop, professor of Greek, wrote letters to Mr. Robert-
son's father, acquainting him of what had happened, and
assuring him that his son had been expelled, not for any
crime or immorality, but for appearing very zealous in a
dispute about a matter of right between the principal and
the students. These letters Mr. Robertson sent inclosed
hi 'one from himself, relating his proceedings and suffer! ngs
in the cause of what he thought justice and right. Upon
this his father desired him to take every step he might
ROBERTSON. 259
think proper, to assert and maintain his own and his fellow-
students claims; and accordingly Mr. Robertson went up to
London, and presented a memorial to John duke of Argyle,
containing the claims of the students of the university of
Glasgow, their proceedings in the vindication of them,
and his own particular sufferings in the cause. The duke
received him very graciously, but said, that " he was little
acquainted with things of this sort ;" and advised him " to
apply to his brother Archibald earl of Hay, who was better
versed in such matters than he." He then waited on lord
Hay, who, upon reading the representation of the case,
said " he would consider of it." And, upon consideration
of it, he was so affected, that he applied to the king for a
commission to visit the university of Glasgow, with full
power to examine into and rectify all abuses therein. In
the summer of 1726, the earl of Hay with the other visitors
repaired to Glasgow, and, upon a full examination into
the several injuries and abuses complained of, they re-
stored to the students the right of electing their rector;
recovered the right of the university to send two gentle-
men, upon plentiful exhibitions, to Baliol college in Ox-
ford ; took off the expulsion of Mr. Robertson, and ordered
that particularly to be recorded in the proceedings of the
commission ; annulled the election uf the rector who had
been named by the principal; and assembled the students,
who immediately chose the master of Ross, son of lord
Ross, to be their rector, &c. These things so affected Mr*
Sterling, that he died soon after ; but the university re-
vived, and has since continued in a most flourishing con-
dition.
Lord Hay had introduced Mn Robertson to bishop
Hoadly, who mentioned him to archbishop Wake, and he
was entertained with much civility by those great prelates.
As he was then too young to be admitted into orders, he
employed his time in London in visiting the public libra-
ries, attending lectures, and improving himself as oppor-
tunities offered. He had the honour to be introduced to
lord-chancellor King, by a very kind letter from Dr. Hort,
bishop of Kilmore, and was often with his lordship. In
1727 Dr. John Hoadly, brother to the bishop of Salisbury,
was nominated to the united bishoprics of Ferns and Leigh-
lin in Ireland. Mr. Robertson was introduced to him by his
brother ; and, from a love of the natale solum, was desirous
to go thither with him. Mr. Robertson then informed the
S 2
260 ROBERTSON.
archbishop of Canterbury of his design ; and his Grace
gave him a letter of recommendation to Dr. Goodwin,
archbishop of Cashel, who received him in a most friendly
manner, but died soon after. The first person whom Dr.
Hoadly ordained, after he was consecrated bishop of Ferns,
was Mr. Robertson, whose letters of deacon's orders bear
date January 14, 1727; and in February the bishop nomi-
nated him to the cure of Tullow in the county of Carlow :
and here he continued till he was of age sufficient to be
ordained a priest, which was done November 10, 1729 ;
and the next day he was presented by lord Carteret, then
lord-lieutenant of Ireland, to the rectory of Ravilly in the
county of Carlow, and to the rectory of Kilravelo in the
county of Widow; and soon after was collated to the
vicarages of the said parishes by the bishop of Ferns.
These were the only preferments he had till 1738, when
Dr. Synge, bishop of Ferns, collated him to the vicarages
of Rathmore and Straboe, and the perpetual cure of Rahil,
all in the county of Carlow. These together produced art
income of about 200/. a-year. But, as almost the whole
lands of these parishes were employed in pasture, the
tithes would have amounted to more than twice that sum if
the herbage had been paid for black cattle, which was cer-
tainly due by law. Several of the clergy of Ireland had,,
before him, sued for this herbage in the Court of Exche-
quer, and obtained decrees in their favour. Mr. Robert-
son, encouraged by the exhortations and examples of his
brethren, commenced some suits in the Exchequer for this
herbage, and succeeded in every one of them. But when
he had, by this means, doubled the value of his benefices,
the House of Commons in Ireland passed several severe re-
solutions against the clergy who had sued, or would sue, for
this " nexv demand," as they called it, which encouraged the
graziers to oppose it so obstinately as to put a period to that
demand. This proceeding of the Commons provoked Dean
Swift to write " The Legion- Club." Mr. Robertson soon
after published a pamphlet, entitled "A Scheme for utterly
abolishing the present heavy and vexatious Tax of Tithe ;"
the purport of which was, to pay the clergy and impro-
priators a tax upon the land in lieu of all tithes. This
went through several editions: but nothing farther was
done in it.
In 1739, lord Cathcart (though Mr. Robertson's person
quite unknown to him) sent him, by captain Prescott,
ROBERTSON. 261
a very kind message, with a proper qualification under his
hand and seal, to be his chaplain.
Mr. Robertson had, in 1723, married Elizabeth, daugh-
ter of major William Baxter, who, in his younger years,
had been an officer in Ireland in the armies of king Charles
II. and James 1 1.; but was cashiered by the earl of Tyr-
connel, James's lord-lieutenant of Ireland, as a person not
to be depended upon in carrying on his and his master's
designs. Captain Baxter upon this repaired to London,
and complained of it to the duke of Ormond.. His father
was at that time steward to the duke's estate. His grace,
who was then joined with other English noblemen in a cor-
respondence with the prince of Orange, recommended
him to that prince, who immediately gave him a company
in his own forces. In this station he returned to England
with the prince at the revolution, and acted his part vigor-
ously in bringing about that great event. While the cap-
tain was in Holland, he wrote that remarkable letter to Dr.
Burnet, afterwards bishop of Salisbury, which is inserted
in the bishop's life at the end of the " History of his own
Times." By this lady, who was extremely beautiful in
her person, but much more so in her mind, Mr. Robertson
had one and twenty children. There is a little poem writ-
ten by him eight years after their marriage, and inscribed
to her, upon her needle-work, inserted in the Gent. Mag.
1736. In 1743, Mr. Robertson obtained the bishop's leave
to nominate a curate at Ravilly, and to reside for some
time in Dublin, for the education of his children. Here
he was immediately invited to the cure of St. Luke's
parish ; aud in this he continued five years, and then
returned to Ravilly in 1748, the town air not agreeing
with him. While he was in the cure of St. Luke's, he,
together with Mr. Kane Percival, then curate of St. Mi-
chan's, formed a scheme to raise a fund for the support
of widows and children of clergymen of the diocese of
Dublin, which hath since produced very happy effects.
In 1758 he lost his wife. In 1759 Dr. Richard Robinson
was translated from the see of Killala to that of Ferns ;
and, in his visitation that year, he took Mr. Robertson
aside, and told him, that the primate, Dr. Stone (who had
been bishop of Ferns, and had kept up a correspondence
with Mr. Robertson), had recommended him to his care
and protection, and that he might therefore expect every
thing in his power. Accordingly, the first benefice that
262 ROBERTSON.
became vacant in his lordship's presentation was offered td
him, and he thankfully accepted it. But, before he could
be collated to it, he had the " Free and Candid Disquisi-
tions" put into his hands, which he had never seen before.
This inspired him with such doubts as made him defer his
attendance on the good bishop. His lordship wrote to
him again to come immediately for institution. Upon this,
Mr. Robertson wrote him the letter which is at the end of
a little book that he published some years after, entitled,
" An Attempt to explain the words of Reason, Substance,
Person, Creeds, Orthodoxy, Catholic Church, Subscrip-
tion, and Index Expurgatorius ;" in which letter Mr. Ro-
bertson returned his lordship the most grateful thanks for
his kindness, but informed him that he could not comply
with the terms required by law to qualify him for such pre-
ferment. However, Mr. Robertson continued at Ravilly
performing his duty ; only, thenceforward, he omitted the
Athanasian creed, &c. This gave o(Ferice ; and, therefore,
he thought it the honestest course to resign all his bene-
fices together, which he did in 1764; and, in 1766, he
published his book by way of apology to his friends for
what he had done ; and soon after left Ireland, and re-
turned to London. In 1767, Mr. Robertson presented one
of his books to his old Alma Mater the university of Glas-
gow, and received in return a most obliging letter, with
the degree of D. D. In 1768 the mastership of the free-
grammar school at Wolverhampton in Staffordshire becom-
ing vacant, the company of Merchant-Tailors, the patrons,
unanimously conferred it on him. In 1772 he was chosen
one of the committee to carry on the business of the
society of clergymen, &c. in framing and presenting the
famous petition to the House of Commons of Great Britain,
praying to be relieved from the obligation of subscribing
assent and consent to the thirty-nine articles, and all and
every thing contained in the book of common-prayer.
After this he lived several years at Wolverhampton, per-
forming the duties of his office, in the greatest harmony
with all sorts of people there; and died, of the gout in
his stomach, at Wolverhampton, May 20, 1783, in the 79th
year of his age ; and was buried in the churchyard of the
new church there. 1
ROBERTSON (WILLIAM), D.D. one of the most illus-
trious names in modern literature, and one of the most
1 Life from materials furnished by himself in Geut. Maj. for 1783.
ROBERTSON. 263
eminent of modern historians, was born in 1721, at Borth-
wick, in the county of Mid-Lothian, where his father was
then minister; and received the first rudiments of his edu-
cation at the school of Daikeith. In 1733, when his father
removed to Edinburgh, on being appointed minister of the
old Gray-friars' church, tie placed his son at the university,
where his industry and application appear to have been of
that extraordinary and spontaneous kind, which bespeaks
a thirst for knowledge, and is a pledge of future eminence.
From a very early period of life he employed every means
to overcome the peculiarities of a provincial idiom, and
accustom his pen to the graces of the best English style.
For this purpose he frequently exercised himself in the
practice of translation, and was about to have prepared for
the press a version of Marcus Antoninus, when he was an-
ticipated by an anonymous publication at Glasgow. Nor
did he bestow less pains on acquiring a fluent and correct
eloquence, associating for that purpose with some fellow-
students and others, who assembled periodically for extem-
pore discussion and debate. Thus in ail his early pursuits
he deviated knowingly, or was insensibly directed into those
paths which led to the high fame he afterwards enjoyed.
His studies at the university being finished, he was li-
censed to preach in 1741, and in 1743 was presented to
the living of Gladsmuir, in East Lothian, by John, second
earl of Hopeton. This preferment, although the whole
emoluments did not exceed 100/. a year, was singularly
opportune, as his father and mother died about this time,
leaving a family of six daughters and a younger son unpro-
vided for, whom our author removed to Gladsmuir, and
maintained with decency and frugality, until they were
settled in the world. During the rebellion in 1745, when
the capital of Scotland was in danger of falling into the
hands of the rebels, the state of public affairs appeared so
critical that he thought himself justified in laying aside for
a time the pacific habits of his profession, and in quitting
his parochial residence at Gladsmuir, to join the volunteers
of Edinburgh ; and, when at last it was determined that
the city should be surrendered, he was one of the small
band who repaired to Haddington, and offered their ser-
vices to the commander-in-chief of his majesty's forces.
He returned, however, as soon as peace was restored, to
Gladsmuir, and in 1751 married his cousin, miss Mary
Nesbit, daughter of the Rev. Mr. Nesbit, o e of the mU
nisters of Edinburgh,
264 ROBERTSON.
He now applied himself to his pastoral duties, \vhich lie
discharged with a punctuality that procured him the vene-
ration and attachment of his parishioners, and as his elo-
quence in the pulpit began to attract the notice of the
neighbouring clergy, this circumstance, no doubt, pre-
pared the way for that influence in the church which he
afterwards attained. In 1755 he published " A Sermon
preached before the Society for promoting Christian know-
ledge," which has been deservedly admired, and encou-
raged by a sale of five editions, besides a translation into
German. He had some time before this made his appear-
ance in the General Assembly of the church of Scotland,
and had taken an active part in their proceedings. In 1757,
he distinguished himself in the defence of Mr. John Home,
minister of Athelstoneford, who had written the tragedy of
" Douglas." This was considered as so bold a departure
from the austerity expected in a presbyterian divine, that
the author, and some of his brethren, who had witnessed
the play in the theatre, were prosecuted in the ecclesiasti-
cal court. On this occasion Dr. Robertson contributed
much, by his eloquence, to the mildness of the sentence
in which the prosecution terminated ; and his conduct was
no inconsiderable proof of his general candour, as he had
never himself entered within the walls of a play-house,
avoiding such an indulgence as inconsistent with the scru-
is circumspection which he maintained in his private
character.
In the mean time, his leisure hours had been so well
employed that, in 1758, he went to London to concert
measures for the publication of his first celebrated work,
" The History of Scotland during the reigns of queen Mary
and king James VI. till his accession to the crown of Eng-
land ; with a review of the Scottish history previous to that
period ; and an Appendix, containing original papers," 2
vols. 4to. The plan of this work is said to have been form-
ed soon after his settlement at Gladsinuir. It was accord-
ingly published on the 1st of February, 1759, and so eager
and extensive was the sale, that before the end of that
month, he was desired by his bookseller to prepare for a,
second edition. " It was regarded," says his biographer,
'* as an attempt towards a species of composition that had
been cultivated with very little success in this island ; and
accordingly it entitles the author, not merely to the praise
which would now be due to an historian of equal eminence,
ROBERTSON. 265
but to a high rank among those original and leading minds
that form and guide the taste of a nation. 1 ' Contemporary
puhlications abounded in its praises, but it would be super-
fluous to coiiect options in favour of a work familiarized
to the public by so ^any editions. Among the most judi-
cious of the literati of that period who were the first to per-
ceive and predict the reputation our author was about to
establish, were, hon. Horace Walpole*, bishop Warbur-
ton, lord Royston, the late sir Gilbert Elliot, Dr. Birch,
Dr. Douglas, late bishop of Salisbury, Dr. John Biair, late
prebendary of Westminster, and Mr. Hume. It may suf-
fice to add, that fourteen editions of this work were pub-
lished in the author's life-time.
While the " History of Scotland" was in the press, Dr.
Robertson removed, with his family, from Gladsmuir to
Edinburgh, in consequence of a presentation which he had
received to one of the churches of that city. His prefer-
ments now multiplied rapidly. In 1759, he was appointed
chaplain of Stirling castle; in 1761, one of his majesty's
chaplains in ordinary for Scotland; and in 1762 he was
chosen principal of the university of Edinburgh. Two
years afterward, the office of king's historiographer for
Scotland (with a salary of 200/. a year) was revived in his
favour. About this time, likewise, it appears that he was
solicited to become a member of the church of England,
by friends who considered that establishment as more likely
to reward his merit than the highest emoluments his own
church could afford. He resisted this temptation, however,
with a decision which prevented its being farther urged,
although it appears at the same time, from his correspond-
ence, that he would not have been sorry to accept any
situation which might have relieved him from the duties of
his pastoral office, and afford him the power of applying
himself wholly to his studies. His refusal, therefore, as
his biographer justly observes, " became the consistency
and dignity of his character," and it is greatly to his honour,
that whatever offices or wealth he acquired throughout life,
were the fair reward of his own exertions.
* On this name, we may remark, the various passages in this memoir,
in the language of Dr. Robertson's with the sentiments he expr*ses on
biographer, that " Thp value of praise, the same subject in his posthumous
whatever be the abilities of him who publication." Walpole, indeed, was
beslows it, depends on thn opinion we perhaps the most insincere m/n of his
entertain of bis candour and sincerity ; age, as will be farther noticed in our
qualities which it will be difficult to account of him.
allow Mr. 'Walpole, after comparing
266 ROBERTSON.
He was, however, about this time, desirous of profiting
by the indulgence the public had shewn him, and consulted
his friends relative to the choice of another historical sub-
ject. A history of England was strongly recommended,
and encouragement promised from the most exalted source
of honour. His majesty was pleased to express a wish to
see a history of England from his pen, and the earl of Bute
promised him every assistance that could be derived from
the records in possession of government, and held out the
most flattering views of encouragement in other respects.
At first Dr. Robertson was averse to this scheme, as inter-
fering with the plan of Hume, with whom, notwithstanding
the contrariety of their sentiments, both in religion and
politics, he lived in the greatest friendship ; but afterwards,
wben the royal patronage was so liberally tendered, appears
to have inclined to the undertaking. This perhaps cannot
be better expressed than in his own words. " The case, I
now think, is entirely changed. His (Hume's) history will
have been published several years before any work of mine
on the same subject can appear : its first run will not be
marred by any jostling with me, and it will have taken that
station in the literary system which belongs to it. This
objection, therefore, which I thought, and still think, so
weighty at that time, makes no impression on me at pre-
sent, and I can now justify my undertaking the English
history, to myself, to the world, and to him. Besides, our
manner of viewing the same subject is so different or pe-
culiar, that (as was the case in our last books) both may
maintain their own rank, have their own partizans, and
possess their own merit, without hurting each other."
What "station in the literary system" Hume's history
might have occupied, if Dr. Robertson had executed his
intention, it is impossible to conjecture. It is certain,
however, that after a lapse of nearly half a century no work
has appeared which can be at all compared to Hume's, in
jrespect to popularity, or rather that commanding influence
which a work of established reputation attains, notwith-
standing any defects which criticism or superior opportuni-
ties of knowledge may point out. The contest between
two such writers would have been a noble object of curio-
sity ; and to have been so near it, as the world once was,
may yet be felt as a severe disappointment.
After more deliberation, however, Dr. Robertson deter-
mined to relinquish this scheme, and to undertake the
ROBERTSON. 267
" History of Charles V." which, indeed, he had begun
before the other plan was so strongly recommended. His
character as a historian now stood so high that this new
production was expected with the utmost impatience, nor
was that expectation disappointed. The preliminary dis-
sertation, under the unassuming title of an ** Introduction
to the History of Charles V." is particularly valuable as an
introduction to the history of modern Europe, and suggests
in every page matter of speculation to the politician and
the philosopher. The whole appeared under the title of
" The History of the reign of the Emperor Charles V. with
a View of the Progress of Society in Europe, from the
subversion of the Roman Empire to the beginning of the
sixteenth century," 1769, 3 vols. 4-to.
After an interval of eight years, Dr. Robertson produced
his " History of America," 1777, 2 vols. 4to, in undertak-
ing which his original intention was only to complete his
account of the great events connected with the reign of
Charles V.; but perceiving, as he advanced, that a history
of America, confined solely to the operations and concerns of
the Spaniards, would not be likely to excite a very general
interest, he resolved to include in his plan the transactions
of all the European nations in the New World. The origin
and progress of the British empire there, however, he des-
tined for the subject of one entire volume, but afterwards
abandoned, or rather suspended the execution of this part
of his design, as he was of opinion that during a civil war
between Great Britain and her colonies, inquiries and spe-
culations concerning ancient forms of policy and laws,
which no longer existed, could not be interesting. It
would be superfluous to say how much this work enlarged
his fame, unless, indeed, which is no hyperbole, we con-
sider the fame arising from his former works as incapable of
enlargement. He treated a subject here, which demanded
all his abilities, and afforded a full scope for his genius, and
he proved how eminently he could excel in splendid, ro-
mantic, and poetical delineations, with the originals of
which he could not be supposed to have much interest.
This work, however, laid him more open to censure than
any of his former. The world had become more critical,
and from having enjoyed the excellence of his histories of
Scotland and of Charles V. more fastidious ; and perhaps
the dread of his acknowledged name had in some degree
been abated by time. Besides, it was impossible by any
26S ROBERTSON.
force of argument to vindicate the disposition he shews to
palliate or to veil the enormities of the Spaniards in their
American conquests. This was the more unaccountable in
an author whose writings in general are most friendly to the
interests of humanity, and who in his previous researches
and inquiries after information, lay under no extraordinary
obligaiions to the Spanish court. This blemish in his his-
tory was soon followed by a compliment which shews too
evidently the light in which it was viewed in Spain. He
Was elected a member of the Royal Academy of History
at Madrid, "in testimony of their approbation of the in-
dustry and care wiih which he has applied to the study of
Spanish history, and as a recompense for his. merit in bal-
ing contributed so much to illustrate and spread the know-
ledge of it in foreign countries." The academy at the
same time appointed one of its members to translate the
History of America into Spanish, but the government put a
stop to the undertaking. It may here be introduced, that
as these volumes did not complete Dr. Robertson's original
design, he announced in his preface his intention to resume
the subject at a future period. A fragment of this intended
work, entitled " Two additional chapters of the History
of America," 4to, was published after his death.
In consequence of the interruption of Dr. Robertson's
plans, which was produced by the American revolution, he
was led to think of some other subject which might, in the
mean time, give employment to his studious leisure. Many
of his friends suggested the history of Great Britain from
the Revolution to the accession of the house of Hanover;
and he appears to have entertained some thoughts of ac^
ceding to their wishes. Mr. Gibbon, with whom he was
in the habit of intimate correspondence, recommended to
him to write a history of the Protestants in France. What
answer he returned to this is not known ; nor have we
learned what the circumstances were which induced him to
lay aside his plan with respect to the history of England.
For some time, however, he seems to have relinquished
all thoughts of writing any more for the publick. His cir-
cumstances were now independent, he was approaching to
the age of sixty, with a constitution considerably impaired
by a sedentary life. He retired from the business of the
General Assembly about the year 1780; and, for seven or
eight years, divided the hours which he could spare from
his professional duties between the luxury of reading and
the conversation of his friends.
ROBERTSON. 269
To this literary leisure the public is indebted for a va-
luable performance, of which the materials seem almost
insensibly to have swelled to a volume, long after his most
intimate friends imagined that he had renounced all tt ughts
of the press. The "Historical Disquisition concerning
the knowledge which the Ancients had of India, and the
Progress of Trade with that country prior to the discovery
of the Cape of Good Hope,'* 1791, 4to, took its rise, as
he himself informs us, from the perusal of major Rennet's
excellent memoir for illustrating his map of Hindostan.
This suggested to his mind the idea of examining, more
fully than he had done in his History of America, into the
knowledge which the ancients had of India : and of con-
sidering what is certain, what is obscure, and what is fa-
bulous in their accounts of that remote country. It is di-
vided into four sections. He published this work in his
sixty-eighth year; and it appears to have been written in
about twelve months. Although less amusing to common
readers than his former works, and become less interesting
wpon the whole, in consequence of the discoveries since
brought to light in Asia, it is not inferior in diligence
of research, soundness of judgment, or perspicuity of
method.
With this publication his historical labours closed la-
bours which, for extent and variety, have not been equalled
by any writer in our times. AH the essential merits of
,a historian were his; fidelity, the skill of narrative, the
combination of philosophy with detail, so seldom attempt-
ed, and generally so unsuccessfully executed, and the
power of giving an uncommon interest to his personages
and events in the mind of the reader. His style has been
iSo justly characterized by his biographer, that we may,
without hesitation, recommend it as a decision from which
.it will not be easy to appeal. tl The general strain of his
composition," says professor Stewart, " is flowing, equal,
and majestic; harmonious beyond that of most En^'sh.
writers, yet seldom deviating, in quest of harmony, into
inversion, redundancy, or affectation. If, in ( some pas-
sages, it may be thought that the effect might have been
heightened by somewhat more of variety in the structure
and cadence of his periods, it must be recollected, that
this criticism involves an encomium on the beauty of his
.ptvle; for it .is only when the ear is habitually gratified,
that the 'rhythm of composition becomes an object of the
270 R O B E II T S O N.
reader's attention. The same judicious critic has re*
marked, that, " perhaps, on the whole, it will be (bund
that of ali his performances Charles V. is that which unites
the various requisites of good writing in the greatest de-
gree. The style is more natural and flowing than that of the
History of Scotland: while, at the same time, idiomatical
phrases are introduced with so sparing and timid a hand,
that it is easy to perceive the author's attention to correct-
ness was not sensibly diminished. In the History of Ame-
rica, although it contains many passages equal, if not su-
perior, to anything else in his writings, the composition
does not seem to me to be so uniformly polished as that of
his former works ; nor does it always possess, in the same
degree, the recommendations of conciseness and simpli-
city."
In his own country, Dr. Robertson's reputation was con-
siderably enhanced by his conduct as a leading member of
the General Assembly of the church of Scotland, the pro-
ceedings of which he regulated, in difficult times and trying
emergencies, with great political skill, address, and elo*
quence, for nearly thirty years. In his pastoral office he
was also very assiduous, preaching once every Sunday un-
til a short time before his death. Of his sermons, one
only has been printed ; but their general merit may be un-
derstood from the character given by his colleague, the late
Dr. Erskine : " They were so plain," says this candid and
venerable man, " that the most illiterate might easily un-
derstand them, and yet so correct and elegant that they
could not incur their censure \vhose taste was more re-
fined. For several years before his death, he seldom wrote
his sermons fully, or exactly committed his older sermons
to memory ; though, ha>l I not learned this from hi;p.self, I
should not have suspected it; such was the variety and
fitness of his illustrations, the accuracy > of his method,
and the propriety of his style." To his other merits may
likewise be added, the diligence, address, and ability,
with which he studied and promoted the interests of the
university, as Principal, which will be long remembered to
his honGtir. In all his public characters he had the happy
talent of gaining influence without the appearance of ef-
fort, and of conciliating differences without departing from
consistency, or endangering friendship, AH his pursuits
were those of a great, a steady, and a persevering mind.
His private and social virtues, which are also highly spoken
ROBERTSON. 271
of, no doubt contribute to the commanding celebrity of his
public character.
In 1791, his health began apparently to decline, and
on this he retired to, and for some time was enabled to en-
joy, the placid comforts of a country residence, where,
however, his disorder terminated in his death on the llth
of June, 1793, in the seventy -first year of his age. He
left a widow, three sons (the eldest an eminent lawyer
at the Scotch bar, and the two younger embraced a mi-
litary life), and two daughters, one married to Mr. Bry-
done, the traveller, and the other is the widow of John
Russell, esq. clerk to the signet.
It yet remains to be mentioned, as a part of Dr. Robert-
son's literary history, that in 1776, he reviewed, and made
considerable alterations, in his " History of Scotland."
He took the same pains, in 1778, with his " History of
America;" and these "additions and corrections" were
sold separately. His " History of Scotland," and that of
" Charles V.*' were translated into French. The honour
conferred upon him by the Royal Academy of History at
Madrid has already been noticed. In 1781, he was elected
one of the foreign members of the Academy of Sciences at
Padua; and in 1783 one of the foreign members of the Im-
perial Academy of Sciences at St. Petersburgh. The late
empress Catherine, a warm admirer of his works, sent him a
present of a very handsome gold enamelled snuff-box, richly
set with diamonds. These honours, however, can scarcely be
put in competition with, because they were only the natural
consequence of, a higher degree of fame over all Europe,
than almost any modern writer has enjoyed, and of fame
which no rivalship has been enabled to impair. 1
ROBERVAL (GILES-PERSONNE), an eminent French
mathematician, was born in 1602, at Roberval, a parish in
the diocese of Beauvais. He was first professor of mathe-
matics at the college of Maitre-Gervais, and afterwards at
the college-royal. A similarity of taste connected him
with Gassendi andMorin; the latter of whom he succeeded
in the mathematical chair at the royal college? 1 ' without
quitting, however, that of Ramus. Roberval made expe-
riments on the Torricellian vacuum : he invented two new
kinds of balance, one of which was proper for weighing
1 Account of the Life, &c, of Dr. William Robertson,' by Professor Dugald
Stewart, 1801, 8ro.
272 R O B E R V A L.
air; and made many other curious experiments. lie was
one of the first members of the ancient academy of sciences
of 1666 ; but died in 1675, at seventy-thre years of age.
His principal works are, 1. " A treatise on Mechanics."
2. A work entitled " Aristarchus Samos." Several me-
moirs inserted in the volumes ofl the academy of sciences
of 1666 ; viz. 1. Experiments concerning the pressure of the
air. 2. Observations on the composition of motion, and
on the tangents of curve lines. 3. The recognition of
equations. 4. The geometrical resolution of plane and
cubic equations. 5. Treatise on indivisibles. 6. On the
Trochoicl, or Cycloid. 7. A letter to father Mersenne.
8. Two letters from Torricelli. 9. A new kind of balance.
Robervallian Lines were his, for the transformation of
figures. They bound spaces that are infinitely extended
in length, which are nevertheless equal to other spaces
that are terminated on all sides. The abbot Gallois, in the
Memoirs of the Royal Academy, anno 1693, observes, that
the method of transforming figures, explained at the latter
end of RobervaPs treatise of indivisibles, was the same
with that afterwards published by James Gregory, in his
Geometria Ujiiversalis, and also by Barrow in his Lec-
tiotteV Geometric^ ; and that, by a letter of Torricelli, it
appears, that Roberval was the inventor of this manner of
transforming figures, by means of certain lines, which Tor-
ricelli therefore called Robervaliian Lines. He adds, that
it is highly probable, that J. Gregory first learned ihe me-
thod in the journey ne made to Padua in 1668, the method
itself having been known in Italy from 164-6, though the
book was not published till 1692. This account David
Gregory has endeavoured to refute, in vindication of his
uncle James. His answer is inserted in the Philos. Trans,
of 1694, and the abbot rejoined in the French Memoirs of
the Academy of 1703. 1
ROBESPIERRP: (MAXIMILIAN ISIDORE), the most fero-
cious of those tyran's which the French revolution pro-
duced, was born at Arras in 1759, where his father was a
lawyer, a man of character and knowledge in his profes-
sion, but so improvident as to die insolvent, and leave his
two sons, of whom Maximilian was the eldest, in poverty.
They soon, however, found a generous patron in De Con-
1 Button's Diet. Elopes des Aca<lmicieus, vol. I. Thomson's Hist, of the-
Royal Society.
ROBESPIERRE. 273
zie, bishop of Arras, who in a manner adopted them, but
honoured Maximilian with his particular care, and after
providing him with school education, sent him to Paris, and
procured him an exhibition in the college of Louis Le
Grand. The manner in which Robespierre conducted
himself here, answered the expectation of his protector.
He was assiduous and successful in his studies, and ob-
tained many of the yearly prizes. There was nothing,
however, about him, which indicated his future destiny.
Being an apt scholar, it might be thought that he would
make a figure in the world ; but we are told that even this
was not the case, and that his instructors discovered nei-
ther in his conversation nor his actions any trace of that
propensity, which could lead them to conjecture that his
glory would exceed the bounds of the college. When he
had, however, attained the age of sixteen or seventeen, he
was advised to study the law; and this he pursued, under
the auspices of a Mons. Ferrieres, but displayed no ex-
traordinary enthusiasm for the profession. He had neither
perseverance, address, nor eloquence, and, according to one
of his biographers, his consciousness of inferiority to those
who were making a great figure at the bar, gave him an
air of gloominess and dissatisfaction. It was at first deter-
mined, that he should practise before the parliament of
Paris, but this scheme was never carried into execution,
for he returned to his native province, and was admitted an
advocate in the supreme council of Artois. About this
time he is said to have published, in 1783, a treatise on
electricity, in order to remove the vulgar prejudices against
conductors. In this piece he introduced a laboured eloge
on the character of Louis XVI. ; but the subject of his next
literary performance was yet more remarkable ; it was
against death as a punishment, and in this he reproaches
all modern governments for permitting such a punishment
to remain on their codes, and even doubts the right claim-
ed by society to cut off the life of an individual !
Such were the sentiments and situation of this man,
when the revolution took place, and raised him, and hun-
dreds equally obscure, and perhaps more contemptible,
into some degree of consequence. Robespierre, however
inferior hitherto in fame, was conscious that he had many
of the materials about him that were wanted at this time.
Either he actually had good qualities, which is scarcely
credible, or by the most consummate hypocrisy, he per-
VOL.XXVI. T
274 - ROBESPIERRE.
suaded the people that he was a steady and upright man.
He was elected a representative to the states general, but
although he attached himself by turns to the faction that
seemed uppermost, he remained long in a state of ob-
scurity. He was considered as a passionate hot-headed
young man, whose chief merit consisted in his being warm
in the cause of liberty. He had, we are told, another
merit, that of bringing the term aristocrat into common
use, which afterwards became the watchword of his pro-
scriptions. He tried, too, a journal called " L'Union, ou
Journal de la Liberte*," which was conducted with extreme
violence. But it was suited to the people who read it,
and Robespierre obtained the surname of the Incorrupt-
ible^ from an affectation of independence, and continually
declaiming against courtly corruption.
The Jacobin club, however, raised Robespierre to
power and celebrity ; they even proclaimed " that the na-
tional assembly had ruined France, and Robespierre alone
could save it." It was during the national convention that
he attained the summit of his ambition, if indeed he knew
what that was. In the first legislature, he joined the pa-
triots, as they were called ; in the second he declared for
the republicans, and in both the party to which he attached
himself proved victorious. In the third, the national con-
vention, he carried all before him ; the commune of Paris,
the Jacobin club, and even the convention itself, were
filled with his creatures, and became obedient to his com-
mands. A scene of blood followed, which exceeded the
proscriptions of Sylla and Marius. Men and women of all
ranks perished indiscriminately. Suspected persons, that
is, those either dreaded or hated by this monster and his
accomplices, were arrested ; domiciliary visits awakened
the sleeping victims of persecution to misery and destruc-
tion ; while revolutionary tribunals, as tliey were called,
condemned them by scores, unpitied and even unheard.
The laws were no longer maintained ; the idea of a consti-
tution became intolerable ; all power was concentrated in
a junto, called the Committee of Public Safety, which re-
gulated every thing, absolved or tried, spoiled or enriched,
murdered or saved ; and this committee was entirely regu-
Jated by the will of Robespierre, who governed it by means
of his creatures, St. Just and Couthon. In the short space of
two years, nearly 3000 persons perished by the guillotine
in Paris only. Even the revolutionary forms were thought
ROBESPIERRE. 275
too dilatory; the execution of four or five in a day did not
satiate Robespierre's vengeance ; the murder of thirty or
forty was demanded, and obtained; the streets became
deluged with blood ; canals were necessary to convey it to
the Seine; and experiments were actually made at one of
the prisons with an instrument for cutting off half a score
heads at a single motion. Among the victims of this ty-
rant, it ought not to be forgot, that the greater part of
those men perished, who had been the means of revolu-
tionizing the people, and so deluding them with the pre-
tences of liberty, that they could calmly exchange the
mild government of a Louis XVI. for that of a Robespierre.
In this retributive justice was guided by a superior hand.
At length Robespierre began to be dreaded even by his
own accomplices, while the nation at large, roused from
its infatuation, looked eagerly forward to the destruction of
this monster. In this, however, the nation at large had no
share. It was the work of his accomplices ; it was still one
faction destroying another, and although a second Robes-
pierre did not immediately rise, the way remained open to
one whose tyrannical ambition was not satisfied with France
as his victim. The first storm against Robespierre burst in
the convention ; and after exercising its violence as all pre-
ceding storms of that kind had, Robespierre was arrested
on July 9, 1794, and next day was led to execution, amidst
the execrations of the people. His fall, it has been well
observed, was the triumph of fear rather than of justice;
and the satisfaction with which it must be contemplated,
was incomplete, because a few monsters even worse than
himself were among the foremost in sending him to the
scaffold. His punishment, however, was as signal as his
crimes. His under jaw was shattered with a pistol shot,
either by himself in an ineffectual attempt at suicide, or by
a gendarme in the struggle ; it was bo\md up with a slight
dressing as he lay in the lobby of the convention, he wished
to wipe away the blood which filled his mouth, they gave
him a bloody cloth, and as he pushed it from him, they
paid to him " It is blood it is what thou likest !" There
he lay on one of the benches, and, in his agony of mind
and body, clenched one of his thighs through his torn
clothes with such force that his nails entered his own flesh,
and were rimmed round with blood. He was carried to
the same dungeon which Hebert, and Chaumette, and
Danton, had successively occupied ; the gaoler knocked
T 2
276 ROBESPIERRE.
him about without ceremony, and when he made signs to
one of them (for he could not speak) to bring him pen and
ink, the man made answer " What dost thou want with
it ? is it to write to thy Maker ? thou wilt see him pre-
sently !" He was placed in a cart between Henriot and
Couthon ; the shops, and the windows, and the house-tops
were crowded with rejoicing spectators to see him pass,
and as the cart proceeded, shouts of exultation went be-
fore it, and surrounded it, and followed its way. His head
was wrapt in a bloody cloth which bound up his shattered
jaw, so that his pale and livid countenance was but half
seen. The horsemen who escorted him shewed him to the
spectators with the point of their sabres. The mob stopt
him before the house in which he lived ; some women
danced before the cart, and one of them cried out to him,
" Descend to hell with the curses of all wives and of all mo-
thers !" The executioner, when preparing for the perform-
ance of his office, roughly tore off the bandage from his
wound ; Robespierre then uttered a dreadful cry, his under
jaw fell from the upper, and the head while he was yet
living exhibited as ghastly a spectacle as when a few mi-
nutes afterwards Sampson, the executioner, holding it by
the hair, exhibited it to the multitude.
In this wretched man's person, there was little to re-
commend him. His figure, ill-delineated, without regu-
larity, without proportion, without grace in the outline,
was something above the middle size. He had in his hands,
shoulders, neck, and eyes, a convulsive motion. His phy-
siognomy, his look was without expression. He carried
on his livid countenance, and on his brow, which he often
wrinkled, the traces of a choleric disposition. His manners
were brutal, his gait was at once abrupt and heavy. The
harsh inflections of his voice struck the ear disagreeably ;
he screeched rather than spoke : a residence in the capital
had not been able to overcome entirely the harshness of
his articulation. In the pronunciation of many words his
provincial accent was discoverable; and this deprived his
speech of all melody.
Some have expressed their surprize that a man to whom
nature hud thus been so niggardly, and whose mind owed
so little to cultivation, should have acquired such an as-
cendancy ; but a more minute acquaintance with the lead-
ing men in France during his time will remove much of
tfeis surprize. It has been said that Nero was not the
ROBESPIERRE, 277
worst man of his court ; and it is certain that Robespierre
was preceded, accompanied, and followed, by men who
could have acted his part with equal inclination and faci-
lity, had they been placed in his circumstances. 1
ROBINS (BENJAMIN), an English mathematician of
great genius and eminence, was born at Bath in Somer-
setshire in 1707. His parents, who were quakers, were
of low condition, and consequently neither able, from their
circumstances, nor willing from their religious profession,
to have him much instructed in that kind of learning which
they are taught to despise as human. Yet he made an
early and surprising progress in various branches of science
and literature, in the mathematics particularly ; and his
friends, being desirous that he might continue his pur-
suits, and that his merit might not be buried in obscurity,
wished that he could be properly recommended to teach
this science in London. Accordingly, a specimen of his
abilities was shewn to Dr. Pemberton, the author of the
" View of Sir Isaac Newton's Philosophy ;" v\ ho conceiv-
ing a good opinion of the writer, for a farther trial of his
proficiency, sent him some problems, which Robins solved
very much to his satisfaction. He then came to London,
where he confirmed the opinion which had been formed
of his abilities and knowledge.
But though Robins was possessed of much more skill
than is usually required in a common teacher, yet, being
very young, it was thought proper that he should employ
some time in perusing the best writers upon the sublimer
parts of the mathematics before he undertook publicly the
instruction of others. In this interval, besides improving
himself in the modern languages, he had opportunities of
reading in particular the works of Apollonius, Archimedes,
Fermat, Huygens, De Witt, Slusius, James Gregory, Dr.
Barrow, sir Isaac Newton, Dr. Taylor, and Mr. Cotes.
These authors he readily understood without any assistance,
of which he gave frequent proofs to his friends : one was,
a demonstration of the last proposition of sir Isaac Newton's
treatise on quadratures, which was thought not undeserv-
ing a place in the " Philosophical Transactions," No. 397,
for 1727. Not long after, an opportunity offered of exhi-
biting to the public a specimen also of his knowledge in
1 History of the conspiracy of Robespierre, by Montjoye. Biographical
Anecdotes of the Founders of the French Republic. Biographie Moderne.-*
Quarterly Review, No. XIV.
278 ROBINS.
natural philosophy. The royal academy of sciences at
Paris had proposed, among their prize-questions in 1724
and 1726, to demonstrate the laws. of motion in bodies im-
pinging on one another. John Bernoulli here condescended
to be a candidate ; and, though his dissertation lost the
reward, he appealed to the learned world by printing it in
1727; and, in it, endeavoured to establish Leibnitz's opi-
nion of the force of bodies in motion, from the effects of
their striking against springing materials; as signor Poleni
had before attempted to evince the same thing from expe-
riments of bodies falling on soft and yielding substances.
But as the insufficiency of Poleni's arguments had been
demonstrated in the " Philosophical Transactions," No. 371,
for 1722, so Robins published in the " Present State of
the Republic of Letters,'* for May 1728, a confutation of
Bernoulli's performance, which was allowed to be unan-
swerable.
Robins now began to take scholars, and about this time
quitted the garb and profession of a quaker ; but though he
professed to teach the mathematics only, he would fre-
quently assist particular friends in other matters ; for, he
was a man of universal knowledge: and, the confinement
of his way of life not suiting his disposition, which was
active, he gradually declined it, and adopted other pursuits
that required more exercise. Hence he tried many labo-
rious experiments in gunnery ; believing, that the resist-
ance of the air had a much greater influence on swift pro-
jectiles than was generally supposed. Hence he was led to
consider those mechanic arts that depended on mathema-
tical principles, in which he might employ his invention ;
as, the constructing of mills, the building of bridges, drain-
ing of fens, rendering of rivers navigable, and making of
harbours. Among other arts of this kind, fortification very
much engaged his attention ; in which he met with oppor-
tunities of perfecting himself, by a view of the principal
strong places of Flanders, in some journeys he made abroad
with persons of distinction.
On his return home from one of these excursions, he
found the learned here amused with Dr. Berkeley's treatise,
printed in 1734, entitled " The Analyst;" in which an ex-
amination was made in the grounds of the fluxionary me-
thod, and occasion taken thus to explode that method.
Robins therefore was advised to clear up this affair, by giv-
ing a full and distinct account of sir Isaac Newton's doc-
K O B I N S. 279
trines in such a manner as to obviate all the objections,
without naming them, which had been advanced -by the
author of " The Analyst ;" and accordingly he published,
in 1735, " A Discourse concerning the nature and cer-
tainty of sir Isaac Newton's method of Fluxions, and of
prime and ultimate ratios." Some even of those who had
written against " The Analyst," taking exception at Ro-
bins's manner of defending sir Isaac Newton's doctrine, he
afterwards wrote two or three additional discourses. In
1738, he defended sir Isaac Newton against an objection,
contained in a note at the end of a Latin piece, called
" Matho, sive Cosmotheoria puerilis," written by Baxter,
author of the " Inquiry into the Nature of the human Soul;"
and, the year after, printed u Remarks" on Euler's " Trea-
tise of Motion," on Smith's " System of Optics," and on
Jurin's " Discourse of distinct and indistinct Vision," an-
nexed to Dr. Smith's work. In the mean time Robins's
performances were not confined to mathematical subjects :
for, in 1739, there came out three pamphlets upon politi-
cal affairs, which did him great honour. The first was en-
titled " Observations on the present Convention with
Spain ;" the second, " A Narrative of what passed in the
Common Hall of the citizens of London, assembled for the
election of a lord mayor;" the third, " An Address to the
Electors and other free subjects of Great Britain, occasion-
ed by the late Succession ; in which is contained a parti-
cular account of all our negotiations with Spain, and their
treatment of us for above ten years past." These were all
published without his name ; and the first and last were so
universally esteemed, that they were generally reputed to
have been the production of Mr. Pulteney, who was at the
head of the opposition to sir Robert Walpole. They prov-
ed of such consequence to Mr. Robins as to occasion his
being employed in a very honourable post; for, the oppo-
sition having defeated sir Robert, and a committee of the
House of Commons being appointed to" examine into his
past conduct, Robins was chosen their secretary. But
after a committee had presented two reports of their pro-
ceedings, a sudden stop was put to their farther progress,
by a compromise between the contending parties.
In 1742, being again at leisure, he published a small
treatise, entitled " New Principles of Gunnery :" contain-
ing the result of many experiments he had made, by which
are discovered the force of gun-powder, and the difference
280 ROBINS.
in the resisting power of the air to swift and slow motion.
This treatise was preceded by an account of the progress
which modern fortification had made from its first rise ; as
also of the invention of gun-powder, and of what had
already been performed in the theory of gunnery. Upon
a discourse concerning certain experiments being published
in the " Philosophical Transactions," in order to invalidate
some opinions of Robins, he thought proper, in an account
he gave of his book in the same Transactions, to take no-
tice of those experiments: and, in consequence of this, se-
veral dissertations of his on the resistance of the air were
read, and the experiments exhibited before the Royal So-
ciety, in 1746 and 1747; for which he was presented with
a gold medal by that society.
In 1748, came out lord Anson's "Voyage round the
World ;" which, though ifc carries Walter's name in the
title-page, was in reality written by Robins. Of this voyage
the public had, for some time, been in expectation of see-
ing an account, composed under his lordship's own inspec-
tion : for which purpose the rev. Richard Walter was em-
ployed, as having been chaplain to the Centurion the
greatest part of the expedition. Walter had accordingly
almost finished his task, having brought it down to his own
departure from Macao for England ; when he proposed to
print his work by subscription. It was thought proper,
however, that ?.n able judge should first review and correct
it, and Robins was appointed ; when, upon examination, it
was resolved, that the whole should be written entirely by
Robins, and that what Walter iiad done, being almost all
taken verbatim from the journals, should serve as materials
only. Hence the introduction entire, and many disserta-
tions in the body of the book, were composed by Robins,
without receiving the least hint from Walter's manuscript ;
and what he had thence transcribed regarded chiefly the
wind and the weather, the currents, courses, bearings, dis-
tances, offings, soundings, moorings, the qualities of the
ground they anchored on, and such particulars as generally
fill up a sailor's account. No production of this kind ever
met with a more favourable reception, four large impres-
sions being sold off within a twelvemonth : it has been
translated into most of the European languages ; and it still
supports its reputation, having been repeatedly reprinted
in various sizes. The fifth edition at London in 1749 was
revised* and corrected by Robins himself.
ROBINS. 281
He was next requested to compose an apology for the
unfortunate affair at Preston Pans in Scotland. This was
prefixed as a preface to " The Report of the Proceedings
and Opinion of the Board of General Officers on their
examination into the conduct of Lieutenant-general sir
John Cope, &c." printed at London in 1749 ; and this pre-
face was esteemed a master-piece in its kind. Afterwards,
Robins had, by the favour of lord Anson, opportunities of
making farther experiments in gunnery ; which have been
published since his death. He also not a little contributed
to the improvements made in the royal observatory at
Greenwich, by procuring for it, through the interest of the
same noble person, a second mural quadrant and other in-
struments, by which it became perhaps the completest ob-
servatory then known. His reputation being now arrived
at its full height, he was offered the choice of two very con-
siderable employments. The first was to go to Paris, as
one of the commissaries for adjusting the limits in Acadia ;
the other, to be engineer-general to the East India Com-
pany, whose forts, being in a most ruinous condition,
-wanted a capable person to put them into a posture of de-
fence. This latter he accepted, as it was suitable to his
genius, and as the Company's terms were both advanta-
geous and honourable. He designed, if he had remained
in England, to have written a second part of the " Voyage
round the World ;" as appears by a letter from lord An-
son to him, dated " Bath, October 22, 1749 :"
" DEAR SIH,
"When I last saw you in town, I forgot to ask you, whe-
ther you intended to publish the second volume of my
5 Voyage' before you leave us ; which, I confess, I am very
sorry for. If you should have laid aside all thoughts of
favouring the world with more of your works, it will be
much disappointed, and no one in it more than your very-
much obliged humble servant, ANSON."
Robins was aito preparing an enlarged edition of his
" New Principles of Gunnery :*' but, having provided him-
self with a complete set of astronomical and other instru-
ments, for making observations and experiments in the In-
dies, he departed hence at Christmas in 1749; and, after
a voyage in which the ship was near being cast away, ar-
rived at the Indies, July 13, 1750. There he immediately
set about his proper business with unwearied diligence, and
formed complete plans for Fort St. David and Madras : but
282 ROBINS.
he lived not to put them into execution. For, the great
difference of the climate being beyond his constitution to
support, he was attacked by a fever in September ; and,
though he recovered out of this, yet about eight months
after he fell into a languishing condition, in which he con-
tinued till his death, July 29, 1751. By his last will, he
left the publishing of his mathematical works to his ho-
noured and intimate friend Martin Folkes, esq. president
of the Royal Society, and to James Wilson, M. D. doctor
of physic ; but, the former of these gentlemen being inca-
pacitated by a paralytic disorder for some time before his
death, they were afterwards published by the latter, 1761,
2 vols. 8vo. To this collection, which contains his mathe-
matical and philosophical pieces only, Dr. Wilson has pre-
fixed an account of Mr. Robins, from which this memoir is
chiefly extracted. He added also a large appendix at the
end of the second volume, containing a great many curious
and critical matters in various interesting parts of the ma-
thematics.
It is but justice to say that Mr. Robins was one of the
most accurate and elegant mathematical writers that our
language can boast of; and that he made more real im-
provements in artillery, the flight and the resistance of pro-
jectiles, than all the preceding writers on that subject.
His " New Principles of Gunnery" were translated into
several other languages, and commented upon by several
eminent writers. The celebrated Euler translated the work
into the German language, accompanied with a large and
critical commentary ; and this work of Euler's was again
translated into English in 1784, by Mr. Hugh Brown, with
notes, in one volume, 4to. l
ROBINS, or ROBYNS (JOHN), an English mathematician,
was born in Staffordshire about the close of the 15th cen-
tury, as he was entered a student at Oxford in 1516, and
was in 1620 elected a fellow of All Souls college, where
he took his degrees in arts, and was ordained. But the
bent of his genius lay to the sciences, and he soon made
such a progress, says Wood, in "the pleasant studies of
mathematics and astrology, that he became the ablest per-
son in his time for those studies, not excepted his friend
Record, whose learning was more general. At length,
1 Lift by Dr. Wilson. Biog. Brit. Supplement. Martin's Biog. Philoi.
Huiiou's Dictionary.
ROBINS. 283
taking the degree of B. D. in 1531, he was the year follow-
ing made by king Henry the VlUth (to whom he was chap-
lain) one of the canons of his college in Oxon, and in De-
cember 1543, canon of Windsor, and in fine chaplain to
queen Mary, who had him in great veneration for his learn-
ing. Among several things that he hath written relating to
astrology (or astronomy) I h'nd these following: * De cul-
minatione Fixarum Stellarum,' &c.; c De ortu et occasu
Stellarum Fixarum,' &c.; ' Annotationes Astrologies,'
&c. lib. 3 ;' < Annotationes Edwardo VI. ;' c Tractatus
de prognosticatione per Eclipsin.' All which books, that
are in MS. were some time in the choice library of Mr.
Thomas Allen of Glocester Hall. After his death, coming
into the hands of Sir Kenelm Digby, they were by him
given to the Bodleian library, where they yet remain. It
is also said, that he the said Robyns hath written a book
entitled c De Portentosis Cometis ;' but such a thing I
have not yet seen, nor do I know any thing else of the au-
thor, only that paying his last debt to nature the 25th of
August 1558, he was buried in the chapel of St. George,
at Windsore." This treatise " De Portentosis Cometis,"
which Wood had not seen, is in the royal library (12 B. xv.) ;
and in the British museum (Ayscough'sCat.) are other works
by Robins ; and one " De sterilitatem generantibus," in
the Ashmolean museum. 1
ROBINSON (ANASTASIA), an accomplished musical per-
former, descended from a good family in Leicestershire,
was the daughter of a portrait painter, who, having visited
Italy for improvement in his art, had made himself master
of the Italian language, and acquired a good taste in mu-
sic. Finding that his daughter Anastasia, during her child-
hood, had an ear for music, and a promising voice, he had
her taught by Dr. Crofts, at first as an accomplishment ;
but afterwards being afflicted with a disorder in his eyes,
which terminated in a total loss of sight, and this misfor-
tune depriving him of the means of supporting himself and
family by his pencil, he was under the necessity of availing
himself of his daughter's disposition for music, to turn it to
account as a profession. She not only prosecuted her mu-
sical studies with great diligence, but by the assistance of
her father had acquired such a knowledge in the Italian
tongue as enabled her to converse in that language, and
Ath. Ox. vol. I. new edit.
284 ROBINSON.
to read the best poets in it with facility. And that her
taste in singing might approach nearer to that of the natives
of Italy, she had vocal instructions from Sandoni, at that
time an eminent Iialian singing-master resident in London,
and likewise from the opera singer called the Baconess.
Her first public exhibition was at the concerts in York-
buildings, and at other places, where she usually accom-
panied herself on the harpsichord. Her general education
had been pursued with the utmost care and attention to the
improvement of her mind, as well as to ornamental and ex-
ternal accomplishments ; and these advantages, seconded
by her own disposition and amiable qualities, rendered her
conduct strictly prudent and irreproachable. And what
still entitled her to general favour, was a behaviour full of
timidity and respect to her superiors, and an undissembled
gentleness and affability to others, which, with a native
cheerfulness that diffused itself to all around her, gained
her at all times such a reception from the public, as seemed.
to ensure her success in whatever she should undertake.
Encouraged by the partiality of the public towards his
daughter, and particularly by the countenance and pa-
tronage of some persons of high rank of her own sex, Mr.
Robinson took a house in Golden square, where he esta-
blished weekly concerts and assemblies in the manner of
conversazioni, which were frequented by all such as had any
pretensions to politeness and good taste.
Thus qualified and encouraged, she was prevailed upon
to accept of an engagement at the Opera, where she made
her first appearance in Creso, and her second in the cha-
racter of Ismina, the principal female part in Arminio.
From this period till 1724, she continued to perform a
principal part at the Opera with increasing favour and ap-
plause. Her salary is said to have been 1000/. and her
emoluments, by benefits and presents, were estimated at
nearly as much more. When she quitted the stage it was
supposed to have been in consequence other marriage with
the gallant earl of Peterborough, the friend of Pope and
Swift, who distinguished himself so heroically in Spain
during the reign of queen Anne. Though the marriage
was not publicly declared till the earl's death in 1735, yet
it was then spoken of as an event which had long taken
place. And such was the purity of her conduct and cha-
racter, that she was instantly visited at Fulham as the lady
of the mansion, by persons of the highest rank. Here,
ROBINSON. 285
and at Mount Bevis, the earl's seat near Southampton, she
resided in an exalted station till the year of her decease,
1750, surviving her lord fifteen years; who, at the time
of the connexion, must have been considerably beyond
his prime, as he was arrived at his seventy-fifth year when
he died.
The following anecdotes of Mrs. Anastasia Robinson were
communicated to Dr. Burney in 1787, by the late vene-
rable Mrs. Delany, her contemporary and intimate ac-
quaintance. " Mrs. Anastasia Robinson was of a middling
stature, not handsome, but of a pleasing, modest coun-
tenance, with large blue eyes. Her deportment was easy,
unaffected, and graceful. Her manner and address very
engaging ; and her behaviour, on all occasions, that of a
gentlewoman, with perfect propriety. She was not only
liked by all her acquaintance, but loved and caressed by
persons of the highest rank, with whom she appeared al-
ways equal, without assuming. Her father's house in
Golden-square was frequented by all the men of genius
and refined taste of the times ; among the number of per-
sons of distinction who frequented Mr. Robinson's house,
and seemed to distinguish his daughter in a particular man-
ner, were the earl of Peterborough and general H ; the
latter had shewn a long attachment to her, and his atten-
tions were so remarkable, that they seemed more than the
effects of common politeness ; and as he was a very
agreeable man, and in good circumstances, he was fa-
vourably received, not doubting but that his intentions
were honourable. A declaration of a very contrary nature
was treated with the contempt it deserved, though Mrs. A.
Robinson was very much prepossessed in his favour.
" Soon after this, lord Peterborough endeavoured to con-
vince her of his partial regard for her ; but, agreeable and
artful as he was, she remained very much upon her guard,
which rather increased than diminished his admiration and
passion for her. Yet still his pride struggled with his in-
clination ; for all this time she was engaged to sing in pub-
lic, a circumstance very grievous to her, but urged by the
best of motives, she submitted to it, in order to assist her
parents, whose fortune was much reduced by Mr. Robin-
son's loss of sight, which deprived him of the benefit of his
profession as a painter.
" At length lord Peterborough made his declaration to
her on honourable terms; he found it would be vain to make
286 ROBINSON.
proposals on any other; and as he omitted no circumstance
that could engage her esteem and gratitude, she accepted
them, as she was sincerely attached to him. He earnestly
requested her keeping it a secret till it was a more conve-
nient time for him to make it known, to which she readily
consented, having a perfect confidence in his honour.
Among the persons of distinction that professed a friend-
ship for Mrs. A. Robinson, were the earl and countess of
Oxford, daughter-in-law to the lord-treasurer Oxford, who
not only bore every public testimony of their affection and
esteem for Mrs. A. Robinson, but lady Oxford attended her
when she was privately married to the earl of Peterborough,
and lady Peterborough ever acknowledged her obligations
with the warmest gratitude ; and after lady Oxford's death
she was particularly distinguished by the duchess of Port-
land, lady Oxford's daughter, and was always mentioned
by her with the greatest kindness for the many friendly
offices she used to do her in her childhood when in lady
Oxford's family, which made a lasting impression upon the
duchess of Portland's noble and generous heart.
" Mrs. A. Robinson had one sister, a very pretty accom-
plished woman, who married Dr. Arbuthnot's brother. AfV
ter the death of Mr. Robinson, lord Peterborough took a
house near Fulham, in the neighbourhood of bis own villa
at Parson's-Green, where he settled Mrs. Robinson and
her mother. They never lived under the same roof till the
earl, being seized with a violent fit of illness, solicited her
to attend him at Mount Bevis, near Southampton, which
she refused with firmness, but upon condition that, though
still denied to take his name, she might be permitted to
wear her wedding-ring; to which, finding her inexorable,
he at length consented.
" His haughty spirit was still reluctant to the making a
declaration that would have done justice to so worthy a
character as the person to whom he was now united ; and,
indeed, his uncontrollable temper, and high opinion of his
own actions, made him ;i very awful husband, ill suited to
lady Peterborough's good sense, amiable temper, and de-
licate sentiments. She was a Roman catholic, but never
gave offence to those of a contrary opinion, though very
strict in what she thought her duty. Her excellent prin-
ciples and fortitude of mind supported her through many
severe trials in her conjugal state. But at last he prevailed
en himself to do her justice, instigated, it is supposed, by
ROBINSON. 287
his bad state of health, which obliged him to seek another
climate, and she absolutely refused to go with him unless
he declared his marriage ; her attendance Upon him in his
illness nearly cost her her life.
" He appointed a day for all his nearest relations to meet
him at the apartment over the gate-way of St. James's
palace, belonging to Mr. Pointz, who was married to
lord Peterborough's niece, and at that time preceptor to
prince William, afterwards duke of Cumberland. Lord
Peterborough also appointed lady Peterborough to be there
at the same time. When they were all assembled, he began
a most eloquent oration, enumerating all the virtues and
perfections of Mrs. A. Robinson, and the rectitude of her
conduct during his long acquaintance with her, for which
he acknowledged his great obligations and sincere attach-
ment, declaring he was determined to do her that justice
which he ought to have done long ago, which was present-
ing her to all his family as his wife. He spoke this ha-
rangue with so much energy, and in parts so pathetically,
that lady Peterborough, not being apprised of his inten-
tions, was so affected that she fainted away in the midst of
the company.
"After lord Peterborough's death she lived a very retired
life, chiefly at Mount Bevis, and was seldom prevailed on
to leave that habitation, but by the duchess of Portland,
who was always happy to have her company at Bulstrode
when she could obtain it, and often visited her at her own
house.
" Among lord Peterborough's papers she found his me-
moirs, written by himself, in which he declared he had been
guilty of such actions as would have reflected very much
upon his character. For which reason she burnt them; this,
however, contributed to complete the excellency of her
principles, though it did not fail giving offence to the cu-r
rious inquirers after anecdotes of so remarkable a character
as that of the earl of Peterborough." l
ROBINSON (HUGH), a learned divine and schoolmaster,
was born in St. Mary's parish, in the county of Anglesea,
and educated at Winchester school, where he was admitted
probationary fellow of New college, Oxford, in 1603, and
in 1605 perpetual fellow. He completed his master's de-
gree in 1611, and about three years after, leaving college,
* Barney's Hist, of Music. Pope's Works, by Bowles.
288 ROBINSON.
became chief master of Winchester school. He was after-
wards archdeacon of Winchester, canon of Wei is, D. D.
and archdeacon of Gloucester. Having sided with the
party that were reducing the church to the presbyterian
form, and taken the covenant, he lost the advantages of his
canonry and archdeaconry, but obtained the rectory of Hin-
ton, near Winchester, in room of a loyalist. He died March
30, 1655, and was buried in St. GilesVin-the-Fields, Lon-
don. Wood gives him the character of an excellent linguist,
an able divine, and very conversant in ancient history. He
wrote for the use of Winchester school, " Preces; Gram-
maticalis quaedam ; & Antiquae Historian Synopsis," print-
ed together at Oxford in 1616, 8vo ; " Scholar Wintonien-
sis Phrases Latinse," Lond. 1654 and 1664, published by his
son Nicholas; and "Annalium mundi universalium, &c.
Tomus Unicus, lib. 14. absolutus," &c. Lond. 1677, fol. im-
proved by Dr. Thomas Peirce, dean of Salisbury, by the
king's command. Wood adds, that he wrote a vindication
of the covenant, which he had not seen. 1
ROBINSON (JOHN), a distinguished English prelate and
statesman, was born at Cleasby, in Yorkshire, Nov. 7, 1650,
and educated at Oriel college, Oxford, to which he was
afterwards a liberal benefactor. After he had completed
his master's degree, and taken orders, he went about 1683
to Sweden, as domestic chaplain to the British ambassador
at that court; and in his absence was appointed first resi-
dent, then envoy extraordinary, and lastly ambassador.
He remained in this rank until 1708. During this time he
published his " Account of Sweden, as it was in 1688,'*
which is generally printed with lord Molesvvorth's account
of Denmark. On his return to England, her majesty, queen
Anne, was so sensible of the value of his services, that she
made him dean of Windsor, registrar of the order of the
garter, and prebendary of Canterbury. He was also in
1710 preferred to the bishopric of Bristol. His political
knowledge recommended him to the confidence of the earl
of Oxford, then at the head of administration, who resolved
to have him of the privy council. For this purpose, he was
first made lord privy seal, and afterwards was admitted to a
seat at the council board, where he so distinguished him-
self that queen Anne made choice of him as one of her ple-
nipotentiaries at the memorable treaty of Utrecht. With
i Alb. Ox. vol. II.
ROBINSON. 289
what spirit he behaved on this occasion, appears from the
common histories of the treaty, and Swift's " Four last years
of the Queen." He was also appointed one of the com-
missioners for finishing St. Paul's cathedral, and for build-
ing fifty new churches in London ; was a governor of the
Charter-house, and dean of the chapel royal. On the
death of Dr. Compton in 1714, he was translated to the see
of London, and the qneen, indeed, had such regard for
him, that had she outlived the archbishop of Canterbury,
she would have made Dr. Robinson primate.
After his advancement to the see of London, he gave
many proofs of his great affection for the established church,
by opposing innovations, contributing to, and promoting
the augmentation of poor livings, and by vindicating his
clergy against unjust aspersions. His steady attachment
to the civil constitution was not less conspicuous, in his
charges to his clergy, and his personal example and con-
duct. As a benefactor, he was distinguished by many acts
of munificence. Every place, indeed, with which he was
connected, felt the benefit of his public spirit ; the place
of his birth, in the building and endowment of a chapel
and a school ; Oriel college, in the addition of buildings
towards the east side of the garden, and the foundation of
some ample exhibitions; the ecclesiastical houses in which,
he resided were generally repaired by him at great ex-
pence ; and to the poor in general he was very generous.
Mackay has described this worthy prelate as " a little
brown man; of a grave and venerable countenance; very
charitable and good-humoured*; strictly religious himself,
and taking what care he can to make others so." He died
at Hampstead, of an asthmatic disorder, April 11, 1723,
and was buried at Fulham, April 19. He was twice mar-
ried ; his first wife, Maria, was daughter of William Lang-
ton, esq. Her liberal mind is delicately commemorated
on the inscription on the front of his buildings at Oriel
college. His second wife, Emma, whose family name we
# It was on this prelate that the other booksellers, and that he would
notorious Edmund Curll endeavoured semi his lordship an interleaved copy
to play a trick, which has been atlri- from which he might strike out what-
buted to, and perhaps really attempted ever he thought amiss, and! the sheets
by others. The good bishop sent a thus altered should be reprinted, and
gentleman to Curll to express his ecu- " rendered conformable to his lord*
cern at hearing that hemt-aiitto pub- ship's opinion/' The bishop, however,
lish an edition of Rochester's poems. saw through the trick, and rejected (*
Curll allowed shat such an edition was preferred copy,
actually printed, not for him only, but
VOL. XXVI. H
290 ROBINSON.
know not, survived him, and was buried at Fulham, Jan.
26, 1748. He left no issue, but many collateral descend-
ants. 1
ROBINSON (MARIA), a lady of considerable literary
talents, whose maiden name was Darby, was born at Bris-
tol, Nov. 27, 1758. Her life having been published, in
part written by herself, and completed by a friend, it may
be thought we cannot be deficient in materials for the pre-
sent article. But these documents partake too much of
the nature of a novel for our purpose. Mrs. Robinson was
a frail lady of much note in her day, and for such it has
been the fashion of late years to encourage the publication
of " Apologies," the object of all which, for they are very
uniform, is to relax the obligations of virtue, and to prove
that vice, with its attendants, vanity and extravagance,
has nothing to dread but from poverty. It is then only,
when all is spent, and indigence stares in the face, that we
are to begin to think that something has been amiss, and to
pour out our exculpatory sympathies in sentimental strains.
From such narratives, it becomes us to borrow with caution.
Mrs. Robinson was married very early in life to a hus-
band who had little to maintain her, and for some time she
shared in his misfortunes, but, according to her own ac-
count, she spent what she could in dress, resorted much
to public places, and admitted the visits of noblemen of
libertine characters. At length she had recourse to the
stage, and while performing the character of Perdita in
Shakspeare's " Winter's Tale," captivated the youthful
affections of a distinguished personage, and consented to
his terms. This connexion, with all its gay and splendid
embellishments, and all the flattery and admiration which
beauty and levity could wish, lasted about two years, at the
end of which period she found herself in possession of
jewels to the amount of 8000/. and an annuity of 500/.
After a, short recess from a mode of life, into which her
apologists tell us she was driven by necessity, she formed
another connexion of the same kind, which they allow was
from choice, with a gentleman of the army, and lavished
the whole of her disposable property on this new favourite.
She also lost the use of her limbs in following him, during
a severe winter night, to a sea-port, where she hasted to
1 Nichols's Atterbury. Lysons's Environs, vol. II. and Supplement. Chal-
mers's Hist, of Oxford. Swift's Works. limpet's Own Times. Gent. Mag. vok
LIV. and LXXII.
ROBINSON, 291
relieve him from a temporary embarrassment Not long
after, she went to the continent for her health, and remain-
ed there about five years. On her return in 1788, she
commenced her literary career, in which she had consider-
able success. In 1800 her health began to decline rapidly,
principally from want of proper exercise, for she never re-
covered the use of her limbs ; and after lingering for some
time, she died at nglefield Green, Dec. 28, of that year,
and was buried in Old Windsor church-yard. She retained
in her latter days, although only forty-two years old, but
little of that beauty for which she was once admired, and
which, from the moment a price was set upon it, proved
the cause of all her misfortunes.
The following is said to be a complete list of her publi-
cations : l. "Poems," in two volumes, 8vo. 2. "Legiti-
mate Sonnets, with Thoughts on Poetical Subjects, and
Anecdotes of the Grecian Poetess, Sappho." 3. " A Mo-
nody to the memory of the Queen of France." 4. " A
Monody to the memory of Sir Joshua Reynolds." 5. Mo-
dern Manners; a Satire, in two cantos," 4to. 6. " The
Sicilian Lover, a Tragedy, in five acts." 7. " Sight; The
Cavern of Woe ; and Solitude ; three Poems," 4to. 8.
A Pamphlet in vindication of the Queen of France ; pub-
lished without a name. 9. A Pamphlet entitled "Thoughts
on the condition of Women, and the Injustice of Mental
Subordination." 10. " Vancenza, a Romance," 2 vols.
II. "The Widow," a Novel, 2 vols. 12. " Angelina," a
Novel, 3 vols. 13. "Hubert de Sevrac," a Romance, 3
vols. 14. " Walsingham," a Novel, 4 vols. 15. "The
false Friend," a Novel, 4 vols. 16, " The Natural Daugh-
ter," a Novel, 2 vols. 17. " Lyrical Tales," 1 vol. crown
8vo. 18. " A Picture of Palermo, translated from Dr.
Hager." 19. "The Lucky Escape," a farce, not pub-
lished. 20. " Nobody," a comedy, also not published.
Of all these, it is probable that her poems will longest
continue to be read. She had in her earliest efforts of this
kind adopted the false style of the Delia Crusca school, so
happily ridiculed by the author of the " Baviad" and " Moe-
viad," but her late productions displayed a more correct
taste, and more ease and elegance of versification, with
equal richness of imagination. Her " Plays" had but
temporary success; and her " Novels," although not desti-
tute of invention, were written with too much haste for
lasting reputation. She appears to have been frequently
292 R O'B I N S O N.
importuned by her employers to furnish the circulating li-
braries with novelties, when her powers both of body and
mind were considerably impaired, yet she laboured with?
great perseverance, and is said to have earned by her lite-
rary performances nearly the amount of her annuity. 1
ROBINSON (RICHARD), archbishop of Armagh, a-nd
lord Rokeby, was the immediate descendant of the Robin-
sons of Rokeby, in the north riding of the county of York,
and was born in 1709. He was educated at Westminster-
school, whence he was elected to Christ church, Oxford, in
-1726. After continuing his studies there for some years,
and taking his master's degree in 1733, Dr. Blackburn,
archbishop of York, appointed him his chaplain, and col-
lated him first to the rectory of Elton, in the east riding of
Yorkshire, and next to the prebend of Grindal, in the ca-
thedral of York. In 1751 he attended the duke of Dorset,
lord lieutenant of Ireland, to that kingdom, as his first
chaplain, and the same year was promoted to the bishopric
of Kiilala. A family connexion with the earl of Holdernesse,
who was secretary of state that year, with the earl of Sand-
wich and other noblemen related to him, opened the f.iir-
est prospects of attaining to the first dignity in the Irish
church. Accordingly, in 1759, he was translated to the
united sees of Leighlin and Ferns, and in 1761 to Kildare.
The duke of Northumberland being appointed to the lieu-
tenancy of Ireland in 1765, Dr. Robinson was advanced to
the primacy of Armagh, and made lord almoner and vice-
chancellor of the university of Dublin. When lord Har-
court was- lord-lieutenant of Ireland in 1777, the king was
pleased, by privy- seal at St. James's, Feb. 6, and by patent
at Dublin the 26th of the same month, to create him baron
Rokeby of Armagh, with remainder to Matthew Robinson
of West Lay ton, esq. and in 1783 he was appointed prelate
to the order of St. Patrick. On the death of the duke of
Rutland, lord-lieutenant of Ireland, in 1787, he was no-
minated one of the lords justices of that kingdom. Sir
William Robiuson, his brother, dying in 1785, the primate
succeeded to the title of baronet, and was the survivor in
the direct male line of the Robinsons of Rokeby, being the
eighth in descent from William of Kendal. His grace died
at 1 Clifton, near Bristol, in the end of October, 1794.
No primate ever sat in the see of Armagh, who watched-
>" Memoirs of Mrs. Robinson, written by herself," &c. 1301, 4 vols, 12ia0<v,
ROBINSON. 293
more carefully over the legal rights of the church of Ireland,
as the statute-book evinces. The act of the 1 1th and 12th
of bis present majesty, which secures to bishops and eccle^-
siastical persons repayment by their successors of expendi-
tures in purchasing glebes and houses, or building new
houses, originated from him, and must ever endear his
name to the clergy. The other acts for repairing churches,
and facilitating the recovery of ecclesiastical dues, were
among the many happy exertions of this primate.
But it was at Armagh, the ancient seat of the primacy,
that he displayed a princely munificence. A very elegant
palace, 90 feet by 60, and 40 high, adorns that town ; it is
light and pleasing, without the addition of wings or lesser
parts ; which too frequently, wanting a sufficient uniformity
with the body of the edifice, are unconnected with it in
effect, and divide the attention. Large and ample offices
are conveniently placed behrnd a plantation at a small dis-
tance. Around the palace is a large lawn, which spreads
on every side over the hills, skirted by young plantations,
in one of which is a terrace, which commands a most beau-
tiful view of cultivated hill and dale. This view from the
palace is much improved by the barracks, the school,, and
a new church at a distance ; all which are so placed as to be
exceedingly ornamental to the whole country. The bar-
racks were erected under the primate's direction, and form
a large and handsome edifice. The school is a building of
considerable extent, and admirably adapted for the pur-
pose ; a more beautiful, or one better contrived, is no where
to be seen ; there are apartments for a master ; a school-
room 56 feet by 28, a large dining-room and spacious airy
dormitories, with every other necessary, and a spacious
play-ground, walled in; the whole forming a handsome
front : and attention being paid to the residence of the
master (the salary is 400/. a year) the school flourishes, and
must prove one of the greatest advantages to the country.
This edifice was built entirely at the primate's expence.
The church is erected of white stone, and having a tall
spire, makes a very agreeable object, in a country where
churches and spires do not abound. The primate built
three other churches, and made considerable reparations
in the cathedral : he was also the means of erecting a pub-
lic infirmary, contributing amply to it himself. He like-
wise constructed a public library at his own cost, endowed
it, and gave it a large collection of books. The roorh is
294 ROBINSON.
45 feet by 25, and 20 high, with a gallery; and apartments
for the librarian. The town he ornamented with a market-
house and^shambles, and was the direct means, by giving
leases upon that condition, of almost new building the whole
place He found it a nest of mud-cabins, and he left it a
well-built city of stone and slate. Nor was he forgetful of
the place of his education. On the new gate, built by
Wyat, for Christ-church, Oxford, the primate is comme-
morated as one of the principal contributors to the expence
of building that gate and repairing Canterbury quadrangle.
In these noble and spirited works, the primate expended
upwards of 30,000/. The celebrated Mrs. Montagu was
cousin to this prelate; and her brother, the late eccentric
lord Rokeby, his successor in that title, on which, however,
he set no value. 1
ROBINSON (ROBERT), a dissenting divine, of the Bap-
tist persuasion, was born in October 1735, at Swaffham, in
the county of Norfolk, and was son of Mr. Michael Robin-
son, a native of North Britain, who possessed a moderate
independence. He was sent to a Latin school at SwalFham,
at the age of six years, where he made a considerable pro-
ficiency, and discovered an uncommon capacity for learn-
ing, and afterwards to an endowed grammar-school at
Seaming, where he gained some knowledge of the French,
as well as of the classical languages. All this, however,
ended in his being put apprentice to a hair-dresser, in
Crutched-Friars, London. For tjhis occupation his mind
was, as may be supposed, already unfitted by the taste for
learning which his education had given him, and which he
still endeavoured to improve during some part of the hours
devoted to sleep. During his apprenticeship he appears
to have imbibed serious impressions of religion, which he
encouraged, by attending the most celebrated preachers of
the day among the independents, the baptists, and the
Calvinistic clergy. Dr. Guyse arid Gill among the dissen-
ters, Romaine in the church, and Whitfield, the leader of
the Calvinistical methodists, were his chief favourites.
When about the age of twenty, his indentures were given
up, at his own request, as he had a strong desire to become
a preacher. His first sermon was delivered to a small con-
gregation at Mildenhal!, in Suffolk, and he afterwards con-
tinued to preach among the methodists, at various places,
1 Encyclopaedia Biitannica.
ROBINSON. 295
for about two years, when being unsuccessful in forming a
church among them, he left them, and formed a small in-
dependent congregation at, Norwich, on leaving which, he
also gave up infant baptism. In 1759, he became preacher
to a congregation of baptists at Cambridge, and such was
his popularity here, that his hearers, dady increasing, were
enabled to build a new and commodious meeting, in 1774.
Here he was frequently interrupted by the impertinent visits
of some under-graduates, against whom he was finally com-
pelled to appeal to the laws of his country, which secured
the future tranquillity of the assembly. This seems to be
the period of his life most happy and faultless. He had not
as yet publicly engaged in abstruse theological disputations;
he vigilantly performed the duties of his pastoral office ;
and, if some of the younger students of the university, in
the gaiety of youthful intemperance, had insulted him, he
was amply repaid for it by the friendship and protection of
many of its most worthy and learned members ; for, he
embraced every opportunity which that university afforded
of making amends for a defective education, and pursued
a course of reading extensive and varied. The public li-
braries were not only open to him, but he was allowed the
privilege of having books from them at his own habitation.
In 1773, as his salary was inadequate to provide for his
numerous family (he married in 1759), he removed to
Chesterton, near Cambridge, and commenced farmer, to
which, in time, he added the business of a dealer in corn
and coals. These occupations, however, did not interrupt
his literary pursuits, nor do they appear to have been very
profitable. He was first known as an author by publishing,
in 1774, "Arcana," a pamphlet respecting the petition "to
parliament for relief in matters of subscription ; and the fol-
lowing year, an appendix to Alleyne's " Legal Degrees of
Marriage." It consists of a discussion of the question, u Is
it lawful and right for a man to marry the sister of his de-
ceased wife?" in which he maintained the affirmative. In
the same year he published a volume of " Sermons," trans-
lated from the French of Saurin, which was followed, at
different periods, by four others. Introductory to these
volumes are prefatory dissertations, containing memoirs of
the reformation in France, and the life of Saurin, together
with reflections on deism, Christian liberty, &c.
In the year 1776, during the controversy respecting the
divinity of Christ, which had been carried on principally
296 ROBINSON.
by members of the church of England, Mr. Robinson pub-
lished " A Plea for the Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ,
&c." This piece is written with much ingenuity, and it
procured the author a number of handsome compliments,
not only from dissenting ministers, but also from several
dignitaries of the established church. Among the latter
were Dr. HinchlirTe, Bishop of Peterborough, Dr. Hallifax,
afterwards bishop of Gloucester, Dr. Beadon, afterwards
bishop of Bath and Weils, and Dr. Tucker, dean of Glou-
cester. Some years after, Mr. Lindsey published, first
without, but afterwards with his name, " An Examination
of Mr. .Robinson's Plea for the Divinity of Christ;" to
which Mr.. Robinson, although frequently called upon, de-
clined to reply. To his friends he said, " The anonymous
examiner has not touched my arguments, and his spirit is
bitter and contemptuous. His faith stands on criticisms ;
and my argument is, that if the doctrine requires critical
proof, it is not popular, and therefore not divine." This
silence, however, occasioned some suspicion that he was
not very sincere, which his conduct afterwards continued.
In 1777, Mr. Robinson published a small tract, entitled
"The History and Mystery of Good Friday," in which he
employed the same " bitter and contemptuous spirit,"
which he had just complained of, in ridiculing the comme-
moration of the death of our Saviour. In 1778, Mr. Robin-
son published *' A Plan of Lectures on the Principles of
Nonconformity, for the instruction of Catechumens." This
piece contains an outline of the whole controversy of the
dissenters with the church of England, and of their history,
from the period of the reformation, to 1778, which of
course appeared highly satisfactory to his brethren. To-
wards the close of the same year, he published " An Essay
on the Composition of a Sermon, translated from the ori-
ginal French of the rev. John Claude, with Notes," in 2
vols. 8vo. The preface to the first volume of the Cl Essay"
consists of memoirs of the life of the author.
In 1780, Mr. Robinson paid a visit to the university of
Oxford, and afterwards accompanied some friends on a
tour into Scotland, where he was much gratified by civi-
lities shewn him by some of the literati of Edinburgh ; and
be might have received the diploma of doctor of divinity,
had he not thought proper to decline that compliment.
Soon after his return to Cambridge, he published a little
tract well calculated to produce a Catholic spirit among
ROBINSON. 297
his brethren of the Baptist denomination, entitled " The
General Doctrine of Toleration, applied to the particular
Case of Free Communion." It was about this period he
preached and published a sermon, entitled ** Slavery in-
consistent with the Spirit of Christianity," and he was the
author of an excellent petition from the gentry, clergy,
freeholders, and other inhabitants in the county of Cam-
bridge, which was presented to the House of Commons.
In the year 1781, at the desire of his brethren, he began
to collect materials for the History of the English Baptists.
In his researches he was led to enter on a larger field than
what had been originally proposed to him, and, instead of
confining himself to the history of English Baptists, he
was induced to trace the history of baptism from the
earliest use of that rite, as well as that of Baptists in all
ages.
In the year 1782, Mr, Robinson published " A Political
Catechism," intended to convey, in a familiar manner, .
what he conceived to be just ideas of good civil govern-
ment, and the British constitution. In 1786, he published
" Sixteen Discourses on several Texts of Scripture, ad-
dressed to Christian Assemblies, in villages near Cam-
bridge; to which are added, Six Morning Exercises."
Such of these as touch on doctrinal subjects were written
in a manner which gave bis friends reason to think that he
was now beginning to depart from the principles he had
hitherto held so strenuously ; and they were not mistaken.
With his congregation at Cambridge, however, he still
continued his ministerial labours ; and remained high in
their esteem, although, as a public instructor, he must,
among so many changes, have become either useless or
dangerous.
During the latter years of his life the intense application
he had bestowed on his work on Baptism undermined the
strength of his constitution, and brought on a gradual de-
cay, attended with a great depression of spirits. In these
circumstances, it was hoped by his family that a journey
to Birmingham, and an interview with Dr. Priestley, which
he had long wished for, might prove beneficial to him.
Having arrived at that town, he ventured to preach twice
on the same Sunday, for the benefit of the charity schools.
His friends perceived that he was ill, but none of them sus-
pected his end was so near ; he spent the evening of the
following Tuesday in the cheerful society of bis friends,
298 R O B I N S O N.
but next morning, June 8, 1790, he was found dead in his
bed. Some time before this he had become a complete
convert to the doctrines of the modern Socinians ; a change
which they seem willing to attribute to the writings of Dr.
Priestley. This divine, we are told, charmed as he was
with Mr. Robinson's conversation, confessed himself much
disappointed with his preaching, and characterized it in
these words: " His discourse was unconnected and desul-
tory : and his manner of treating the Trinity savoured ra-
ther of burlesque than serious reasoning. He attacked
orthodoxy more pointedly and sarcastically than ever I did
in my life." Few of our readers will require any other
character of Mr. Robinson's attacks on those principles
which he once held sacred. His largest work, "The His-
tory of Baptism," &c. appeared after his death in a quarto-
volume, with another connected with the subject, but en-
titled, " Ecclesiastical Researches ;" both written with
considerable ability, but less finished than if he had lived
to prepare them for the press. The latter, in particular,
exhibits striking proofs of his rooted inveteracy to the estab-
lished church, as well as of his glaring inconsistency. He
appears, indeed, in none of his works, as a man who had
attained that truth, or those positions, which he sought to
establish ; what was wanting in argument he aimed to sup-
ply by a kind of buffoonery peculiar to himself ; and yet,
while thus versatile and unsteady in all his opinions, no man
was more intolerant towards those who rested in the belief
of what they had been taught, and were desirous to pro-
pagate. '
ROBINSON (TANCRED), a learned physician and bo-
tanist, and physician in ordinary to George I. by whom he
was knighted, was the very intimate friend of the celebrated
Ray, who distinguishes him by the title of amicorum alpha.
Of his early history we have not been able to recover
many particulars. He was nearly of an age, and ran his course
for some time with sir Hans Sloane, with whom, when a
student, lie travelled to France. He was educated at St.
John's college, Cambridge, where he took his degree of
bachelor of medicine in 1679, and that of doctor in 1685.
While at Montpellier he wrote a letter to Dr. Martin Lis-
ter, dated Aug. 4, 1683, concerning the fabric of the re-
markable bridge, called Pont de S. Esprit, on the Rhine,
1 Dyer's Life of Robinson, 1796, Svo.
ROBINSON. 299
which was printed in the Philosophical Transactions for
June 1684; and, after his return in lhat year, he was
elected a fellow of the Royal Society. To this learned
body he made various communications, particularly an ac-
count of the first four volumes of the " Horius Malabari-
ciis ;" on the natural sublimation of sulphur from the pyrites
and limestone at ^tna, &c. ; an account of Henry Jen-
kins, who lived 169 years ; and on other topics of natural
history. The printed correspondence between him and
Ray commenced during Dr. Robinson's travels, before men-
tioned, and was continued for upwards of ten years. Se-
venteen of his letters appear in the " Philosophical Cor-
respondence," with all Mr. Ray's answers. They run much
on the subject of Zoology ; but contain also botanical and
philosophical observations. These, and what he communi-
cated to the " Philosophical Transactions," prove him to
have been a man well acquainted with various parts of
learning : to which he added also an intimate knowledge of
natural history. In this branch Ray had the highest opinion,
of him, and placed the greatest confidence in his assis-
tance. He had a seat in the council of the Royal Society
for many years. He died March 29, 1748. *
ROBINSON (THOMAS), a late eminent divine at Lei-
cester, the son of James Robinson, hosier of Wakefield in
Yorkshire, was born Aug. 29, 1749. He was educated at
the grammar-school of his native place, where he made
such proficiency that his masters earnestly solicited his
father to permit him to continue a learned education, in-
stead of putting him to business, which was his original
intention; and when it was determined to send him to the
university, the governors of the school unanimously
agreed to allow him a double exhibition. With this pro-
vision he was admitted a sizar of Trinity college, Cam-
bridge, in Oct. 1768. Various circumstances, for which
we may refer the reader to an elaborate life of him lately-
published, contributed to give his mind more serious im-
pressions than are usual at his period of life, and his whole
behaviour as a student became exemplary. He scrupu-
lously observed all the attendances which were required of
him, and quickly obtained the reputation of having made
much proficiency as a scholar. His religious character
too, though not yet formed to that degree of strictness
1 J?ii, Brit. art. Sloane, Pulteney's Sketches.
R O B I N S O N.
which it afterwards attained, was at least so far advanced
as to make his habits, conversation, and avowed opinions
widely different from those of the greater part of his con-
temporaries.
In his academical pursuits, he appears to have divided
his attention between the classics and mathematics, reliev-
ing both occasionally by the perusal of treatises in divinity,
in which he gave the preference to those of the Calvinistic
kind. In April 1771 he was elected a scholar of Trinity-
college, after a strict and comprehensive examination. In
December of the same year he obtained the second of Dr.
Hooper's prizes for the best English declamation. He
gained great credit from his mathematical disputations in
the schools, the year previous to his tirst degree. What is
not very common even with the more advanced mathemati-
cal proficients, he always made his own arguments, when
be kept an opponency, and these were in general skilful,
as well as ably defended. In one of those disputations,
he invented an argument against the doctrine of prime and
ultimate ratios, as taught by one of our ablest mathemati-
cians, which, it is said, has never yet been satisfactorily
-answered. Infleed, he was particularly calculated to excel
in this species of exercise; as possessing a remarkable de-
gree ot acuteness, solidity, and self-possession, together
with a fair share of mathematical knowledge. He was
well acquainted with natural philosophy, though but little
with analytics.
Accordingly he was ranked high from the schools, being
placed in the first class ; so as to be a competitor with
those who were far his superiors in depth of reading. He
stood seventh in the senate-house examination ; which was
considered a high degree at that time, for one who had
not enjoyed the advantage of a private tutor. Dr. Tom-
line, the present bishop of Lincoln, the senior wrangler of
the year, with whom he was engaged in this honourable
competition for academical distinction, is well known to
have expressed a high respect for Mr. Robinson's charac-
ter, and for his attainments as a scholar. Mr. Robinson at
this time used to say that he never expected to cope with
his lordship and with his other competitors, who were
placed before him, in algebra and fluxions ; what he knew
was chiefly in philosophy. Locke's " Essay," and Butler's
" Analogy," which he had studied attentively, were also
of service to him in the examination. His friends, who
ROBINSON. 301
could duly estimate hrs talents, were anxious that be
should be a candidate for one of the classical medals ; hut
he declined offering himself, through the determination he
had formed of entering as soon as pos ble into the church.
He was elected fellow of Trinity-college, with peculiar
circumstances of distinction, Oct. 1, 1772; and in 1773
he obtained the second of the middle bachelor's prizes for
the best Latin essay on some moral subject. On this occa-
sion he had eight competitors. Dr. James, the late head
roaster of Rugby-school, who particularly excelled in writ-
ing Latin prose, gained the first prize; but Mr. Robinson
was allowed to be at this time the best general scholar of
his year ; and his seniors, who were most competent tq
decide upon his literary merits, declared that they had not
known his superior. His biographer gives us an anecdote
which shows, in a very striking point of view, the charac-
ter he held among his contemporaries. An attempt wasf
made, during his under-graduateship, to set aside sub-
scription to the Thirty-nine articles. Some young menx
went about the university, endeavouring to prevail upoiv
the under-graduates to sign a petition for that purpose.
In Trinity-college, the first question which the under-
graduates put to those persons who applied to them was^
" Has Robinson signed the petition ?" and they declined
signing it, when they found he had not : and the argument
which the persons applying made use of to prevail upon
Mr. Robinson to sign was, " If you will sign, all the un-
der-graduates in Trinity-college will sign." Mr. Robin-
son, it is scarcely necessary to add, refused to sign this
petition.
Soon after receiving his first degree, Mr. Robinson was
ordained by bishop Keene, and entered upon the curacy
of Witcham, in the Isle of Ely. To this was added that of
\Vichford; and his performance of the duties of both was
equally conscientious and successful. About two years
after, he quitted this situation and accepted the curacy of
St. Martin's Leicester, under the rev. Mr. Haines : here he
had considerable opposition to encounter; but at length
acquired a great degree of general popularity, and the
respect of many of the upper classes, who were at first pre-
judiced against his youth and his doctrines. He was also
chosen afternoon lecturer of All Saints, and in 1774, chap-
lain to the Infirmary. To these labours tie added, during
4 considerable part of his life, the care of instructing s
302 ROBINSON.
young gentlemen in classical learning, who were preparing
for the university, but in some cases at least, would accept
of no pecuniary compensation. In the same year (1774)
he married a lady, whose name his biographer does not
mention, by whom he had a family, and who died in 1791.
In 1778 a weekly lecture being founded at St. Mary's
church by Mr. Joseph Wheatley, an opulent manufacturer
of Leicester, with the consent of the incumbent, and of
the bishop of the diocese, Mr. Robinson was appointed
first lecturer. Soon after, in the same year, on the death
of the incumbent, Mr. Robinson was instituted to the liv-
ing of this church, by the lord-chancellor. It was here
that he preached a course of sermons on " Scripture Cha-
racters," which has since been printed, and forms the
most popular of his works, having gone through several
editions, in 4 vols. 8vo.
In 1788, when a general stir was made by the dissenters,
throughout the kingdom, to obtain the repeal of the Cor-
poration and Test Acts, and when the Midland counties
were made to feel the more intense flame which burned
pretty widely, through the adjacent influence of Dr.
Priestley, a large central meeting, for the purpose of pro-
moting the common object, was held at Leicester, to which
Mr. Robinson was earnestly invited, but be peremptorily
refused, and that in language which could not be agree-
able ; for, among other things, he told the applicants that
it was " money and power" which they wanted, and " not
the means of serving God more acceptably, or of preach-
ing his gospel more extensively." Strong attachment to
government ; deference to the powers that be ; an high
sense of the importance and utility of a dignified hierar-
chy, together with cordial approbation of the forms and
discipline of the church of England, not less than of her
doctrines; were a sort of primary element in his mind.
On the same principles, one of his last public acts was to
unite with a large body of his brother clergymen, in peti-
tioning parliament against the repeal of the remaining re-
strictions upon popery.
The seventh of March 1813 was the thirty-ninth anni-
versary of Mr. Robinson's connection, as a preacher, with
the town of Leicester. He had been vicar of St. Mary's
during thirty-four years, and by his zeal and ability in
performing his pastoral duties, as well as by his pious and
benevolent character in private life, had overcome all op-
ROBINSON. SOS
position and all prejudice, when he was seized with a fit of
apoplexy on the 24th of the month before-mentioned, and
expired within a few hours, in his sixty-fourth year. For
many minutiae of character, many illustrative anecdotes,
and much discussion on his character and writings, we
must refer to our authority. Besides his " Scripture Cha-
racters," already noticed, he was the author of " A seri-
ous exhortation to the Inhabitants of Great Britain, with
reference to the approaching Fast," 1795 ; " An address
to the Loyal Leicester Volunteer Infantry," 1795 ; " The
Christian System unfolded, or Essays on the Doctrines
and Duties of Christianity," 3 vols. 8vo, intended as a
popular body of divinity, but drawn out in the form of
Essays, instead of Sermons, in winch the subjects had been
formerly discussed from the pulpit : " The Parochial Mi-
nister's address to his Parishioners ;" a tract " On Confir-
mation ;" "Address on the Peace of 1802;" " The Se-
rious Call;" one or two occasional sermons, and "Pro-
phecies on the Messiah." 1
ROBISON (JOHN), an eminent natural philosopher and
mathematician, was born at Boghall, in the county of
Stirling, in Scotland, in 1739. His father, a merchant in
Glasgow, having, by a course of successful industry, ac-
quired considerable property, employed it in the purchase
of an estate to which he retired during the latter part of
his life. His son was educated at Glasgow, and before
entering on his nineteenth year had completed his course
of study at that university, but had manifested a peculiar
predilection for the mathematics. Though he went deep
into algebra and fluxions, yet he derived frm the cele-
brated Simson, and always retained, a disposition to prefer
the more accurate though less comprehensive system of
ancient geometry. The first thing which is said to have
obtained him the notice of that eminent professor, was his
having produced a geometrical solution of a problem which
had been given out to the class in an algebraic form.
He was designed by his parents for the clerical profes-
sion, but though he was deeply impressed with the truths
of religion, he had some scruples which induced him to
decline entering into orders. His friends, therefore, be-
gan to consider of some other situation in which his
1 From " Some account of, &o. by tha Rev. Edward Thomas Vatigban, M. A<
ticar of St. Martin's and All Saints/ Leicester," &c. 1815, 8vo.
304 R O B I S O N.
mathematical talents might be turned to advantage. Dr*
Dick, professor of natural philosophy, being in want of an
assistant, Mr Robison, then not quite nineteen years of
age, was recommended by Dr. Adam Smith as a proper
person for discharging that office. Dr. Dick thought him
too young, but joined with Dr. Sirnson in recommending
him to Dr. Blair, prebendary of Westminster, whom they
understood to be in quest of a young man to go to sea
with Edward duke of York, and read mathematics with
his royal highness. On reaching London, however, this
flattering prospect was found to have no solid foundation,
the duke of York having no intention of going to sea. Mr.
Robison, however, to whom a return to Glasgow would
have been very disagreeable, embraced zm opportunity
which now offered itself, of going to sea as mathematical
tutor to Mr. Knowles, eldest son of admiral Knowles, and
the duke of York's intended companion. His pupil being
appointed lieutenant on board the Royal William, Mr.
Robison, at his own request, was rated midshipman.
Here he spent the three following years, which he often
spoke of as the happiest of his life. He devoted himself
particularly to the study of the art of seamanship, and was
sometimes employed in making surveys of coasts and
rivers.
In this capacity his merit attracted the notice of lord
Anson, then at the head of the Admiralty-board, by whom
he was sent, in J762, to Jamaica, in order to make trial of
Harrison's time-keeper. But on returning from this mis-
sion he found his prospects of advancement completely
clouded : lord Anson was dead ; the vessel, on board of
which was his pupil Mr. Knowles, had foundered at sea,
and all on board perished ; and admiral Knowles had re-
tired to the country inconsolable for the loss of his son.
He determined, therefore, to return to Glasgow, and ad-
miral Knowles soon after placed under his care his remain-
ing son, who was afterwards rear-admiral sir Charles
Knowles. At Glasgow Mr. Robison renewed his studies
with great assiduity, but his instructors were changed.
Dr. Simson was dead ; and Dr. Adam Smith had left Glas-
gow to travel with the late duke of Buccleugh j but the
place of the latter was well supplied by Dr. Reid, and Mr.
Robison had also an opportunity of attending the lectures
of Mr. Millar on civil law, and Dr. Black on chemistry.
When, Dr, Black, in 1769, was called to Edinburgh, Mr.
R O B I S O tf. 305
Hobison was appointed to succeed him as lecturer on
chemistry, and read lectures on that science with great
applause for three years.
In 1770, sir Charles Knowles having gone to Russia, on
the invitation of the empress Catherine, then intent on the
improvement of her. marine, he invited Mr. Robison to
accompany him as his official secretary, with a salary of
250/. a-year. As he was still attached to the navy and to
his former patron, and as, though lecturing on chemistry,
he did not enjoy the rank of professor, Mr. Robison made
no hesitation in accepting the proposal. His conduct at
St. Petersburgh, and the knowledge which he had there
occasion to display, -seems to have powerfully recom-
mended him to the board of admiralty ; for in 1772 he was
appointed inspector-general of the corps of marine cadets,
an academy consisting of upwards of four hundred young
gentlemen and scholars under the tuition of about forty
teachers. As the person who fills this office has the rank
of lieutenant-colonel, it became necessary* by the customs
of Russia, that Mr. Robison should prove himself a gentle-
man, or what is there called a dvoranin, and the proof re-
quired was entered on record. In this office his employ-
ment consisted in visiting daily every class of the academy;
in receiving weekly reports from each master, stating the
diligence and progress of every person in his class ; and
twice a year, in advancing the young gentlemen into the
higher classes, according to their respective merits. Of
these he was considered as the sole judge, and from his
sentence there lay no appeal. He lived in terms of the
utmost harmony with general Kutusoff, who was military
head of the academy, and held the third place in the ad-
miralty college. By him all Mr. Robison' s measures were
supported, and he was even introduced to the notice of
the grand duke, as an admirer of the Russian language,
which his imperial highness patronized.
But although his situation was thus honourable and ad-
vantageous, he felt that something more was necessary to
render it comfortable. He could not but regret his dis*
tance from his native country, and residence among a
people who, though rapidly improving, were still tinctured
with barbarism. His appointment also attached him, not
to the capital, but to Cronstadt, where he was nearly cut
off from all enlightened society. Receiving an invitation,
therefore, from the magistrates and town-council tg fi
VOL. XXVI, X
306 K O B I S O N.
place of professor of natural philosophy in the university
of Edinburgh, he gladly removed to that city. The grand
duke parted with him reluctantly, and requested, when he
left the academy, that he would take with him some young
men of talents from the corps of cadets ; and he promised
him a pension of 400 rubles (80/.) a-year. That pension
was regularly paid only during the three years that the
gentlemen whom he selected resided in Edinburgh; it was
then discontinued, it is believed, because he did not con-
tinue a correspondence with the academy, and communi-
cate all the British improvements in marine education.
Of his lectures, in his new professorship, high expecta-
tions were formed and were not disappointed. If there was
any defect, it was that he was sometimes abstruse, and did
not lower himself sufficiently to the comprehension of his
youthful auditors. This, however, appears to have been
owing, not to any want of order or perspicuity, but to his
expecting to find in them a more complete acquaintance
with pure mathematics than many of them had attained.
Unfortunately, he was prevented for many years from
teaching, by a languishing state of health, accompanied
with peculiar depression of spirits, a not unfrequent atten-
dant on too entire a devotion to mathematical studies, and
of the recluse and pensive habits which they tend to gene-
rate. By the judicious choice, however, which he made
of substitutes, the want of his personal instructions was
less severely felt. For a year or two before his death he
Ibegan again to lecture, having only engaged the rev. Tho-
mas Macknight to afford him occasional assistance ; an
office which was performed by that gentleman with ac-
knowledged ability. When the Royal Society of Edin-
burgh was incorporated by charter in 1783, he was chosen
by that learned body to be their general secretary, and
discharged that office to their entire satisfaction, as long as
his health permitted, on the decline of which he resigned
it. To their Transactions he contributed several interest-
ing papers.
In 1798, Mr. Robison published a work which attracted,
in an uncommon degree, the attention of the public, under
the title of " Proofs of a Conspiracy against all the religions
and governments of Europe, carried on in the secret meet-
ings of Free masons, Illuminati, and reading societies, &c."
8vo. It is neeJless to say how different have been thq
judgments pronounced an this publication, according ta
It O B I S O N. S07
the different parties to which its readers happened to be
attached. That there is considerable ground for the state-
ments contained in it, appears evidently from the best in-
formed German authors; at the same time several circum-
stances led the author to form an idea of the magnitude and
consequences of the conspiracy, which perhaps was some-
what exaggerated. But whatever opinion was formed on
this subject, it was generally acknowledged that his mis-
takes were unintentional, and that the work was written
from the best of motives, and with the sole view of defend-
ing the most important interests of religion and civil so-
ciety.
A few years after, on the death of Dr. Black, Mr. Ro-
bison published the lectures of that great chemical dis-
coverer, with notes, which are universally allowed to add
greatly to their value. In consequence of Mr. Robison's
connexion with the court of Russia, a copy of this publi-
cation was sent to the reigning emperor, and the editor
received, in return, the present of a box set in diamonds,
accompanied by a letter strongly impressive of the regard
in which his character and talents were held by that vir-
tuous and enlightened monarch. The last work on which
Mr. Robison's attention and care was bestowed, was his
" Elements of Mechanical Philosophy," intended to com-
prize the substance of his lectures on that subject, and to
consist of four or five volumes. The first appeared accord-
ingly in 1804, and fully answered the expectations which
the scientific world had entertained ; and although his death
prevented the completion of the plan, he is said to have
left materials for a continuation, which are intended for the
press. On Monday, Jan. 28, 1805. he delivered a lecture,
as usual to his class, and went afterwards to take his accus-
tomed walk. Being, however, exposed to a greater degree
of cold than usual, he was seized soon after his return with
un extreme degree of debility, which terminated in his
death, Wednesday morning the 30th. This seems to have
been less the consequence of any particular illness, than of
a frame worn out by long-continued illness and suffering.
In 1 798 he was complimented with the diploma of LL.D.
by the American college in New Jersey, and in the follow-
ing year received the same honour 'from the university of
Glasgow. In 1800, he was unanimously elected foreign
member of the imperial academy of sciences at St. Peters-
burgh, in the room of Dr. Black. Besides the works already
X 2
308 R O B I S O N.
mentioned, it must not be forgot that Mr. Robison fur-
nished some most valuable contributions to the edition of
the " Encyclopaedia Britannica," superintended by his
friend Dr. Gleig, to whom the public is indebted for the
preceding particulars of his life ; and it is said to be the
intention of Mr. Robison's friends to collect the articles
he furnished for this work, and publish them in a sepa-
rate form, along with what he inserted in the " Transac-
tions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. 1
ROBORTELLO (FRANCIS), a celebrated critic in the
sixteenth century, was born at Udina in 1516. After
being educated at Bologna, he taught rhetoric and moral
philosophy with reputation at Lucca, Pisa, Venice, Bo-
logna, and Padua, in which last city he died, March 18,
1567, aged fifty-one. He has left a treatise " On History,"
1543, 8vo, which is of little value; commentaries on se-
veral Greek and Latin poets ; " De Vita et victu populi
Romani sub Imperatoribus," 1551', folio, and other works
on Roman antiquities, in which he frequently discovers a
degree of asperity unworthy of a liberal mind. His con-
tentious disposition had at one time nearly proved fatal, as
he received a wound from the sword of Baptist Egnacius,
and for some time his life was thought to be in danger.
He had also some fierce literary contests with Alciatus and
Sigonius. 8
ROCABERTI (JOHN THOMAS DE), a celebrated general
of the Dominicans, and one of the most zealous defenders
of papal authority, was born at Peselada on the frontiers of
Roussillon and Catalonia, about 1624. He was the son of
Francis viscount de Rocaberti, of an ancient family. Hav-
ing entered the Dominican order early in life, he became
provincial of Arragon in 1666, general of his order in 1670,
archbishop of Valencia in 1676, and grand inquisitor of
the faith in 1695. His catholic majesty, whose favour he
acquired, made him twice viceroy of Valencia. He died
June 13, 1699, leaving a long treatise " De Romani Pon-
tilicis Automate," 3 vols. folio, esteemed in Spain and
Italy, but prohibited in France ; and " Bibliotheca Ponti-
ficia ;" a large collection of all the treatises which have been
written by different authors in favour of the pope's authority
and infallibility, Rome, 1700, &c. 21 vols, folio. The par-
1 Philf sophical Magazine, vols. X. and XIIL
8 Moren. Tiraboschi, Diet. Hut.
R O C A B E R T I. 309
liament of Paris also prohibited the sale of this immense
collection. 1
ROCCA (ANGELUS), a learned Italian, was a native of
Rocca Contrata, a town in the marche of Ancona, and horn
in 1545. When young he was sent to Camerino, where,
in 1552, he took the habit among the hermits of St. Au-
gustine, and remained so long here that some have given
him the surname of Camero. He afterwards continued
his studies at Rome, Venice, Perusia, and Padua. He
received the degree of doctor of divinity at the university
of Padua, in Sept. 1577, and acquired much celebrity as a
preacher at Venice, and as a teacher of the belles lettres
to the juniors of his order. In 1579 Fivizani, the vicar-
general of the Augustines, invited him to Rome to be iiis
secretary, and pope Sixtus V. placed him in the Vatican
in 1585, and confided to his superintendance those edi-
tions of the Bible, the councils, and the fathers, which is-
sued from the apostolical press during his pontificate. In
1595, pope Clement VIII. made him apostolical sacristan
in the room of Fivizani, now deceased, and titular bishop
of Tagaste in Numidia. He collected a very large and ex-
cellent library, which he presented in his life-time, by a
deed of gift, dated Oct. 23, 1614, to the Augustinian mo-
nastery at Rome ; but upon the express condition, that it
should be always open for the benefit of the public. Rocca
died April 8, 1620, at the age of seventy-five. Rocca had
read much, but was either deficient in, or seldom exer-
cised his judgment, as appears by the most of his works.
Among these may be mentioned his " Bibliotheca Aposto-
lica Vaticana," which Fabricius calls a very trifling work ;
" Bibliotheca Theologica et Scripturalis ;" " Notae in No-
vum Testamentum;" " De Patientia ;" " De Cometis ;"
" Observationes in VI Libros Elegantiarum Laur. Valise;"
" Observationes de Lingua Latina ;" and other pieces
which were collected together, and printed in 1719, 2 vols.
folio. From his manuscripts was aiso published, in 1745, a
very curious collection, entitled "Thesaurus Pontificiarum
Antiquitatum, necnon Rituurn ac Ceremoniarum," in 2
vols. folio. 2
ROCHEFORT (WILLIAM DE), a modern French writer,
was born in 1731, at Lyons. He had an employ ment in
J Gen. Diet. Moreri. 8 Niceron, vol. XXI. JDict. Hist.
310 ROCHEFORT.
the finances at Cette in Languedoc, which he held for ten
years; but having more turn for literature than calculations,
he went to Paris, and composed three tragedies upon the
Greek models, but had no more success than others who
have made similar experiments on the public taste. In
prose he published a " Refutation du Systeme de la Na-
ture ;" a " Critical History of the opinions of the Ancients
concerning Happiness, 1778," 8vo ; and a " Complete
Translation of the Plays of Sophocles." The last-named
work gained him much credit by the elegance and fidelity
of the version, and the judicious notes annexed to it. He
undertook also a complete translation of Homer's Iliad and
Odyssey, of which the preliminary discourses and the notes
obtained more applause than the version itself, which, how-
ever, he had splendidly printed at the royal press in 1781,
in 4to. He was a member of the academy of inscriptions
and belles lettres, to which he contributed several learned
njemoirs. He died in 1788, highly esteemed for a temper
in which there was nothing unsocial or selfish. He was
always, we are told, fonder of talking of other people's
works than of his own, a case, it is added, of some singu-
larity in literary company. 1
ROCHEFOUCAULT (FRANCIS, Duke of), prince of
Marsillac, and governor of Poitou, was born in 1613. He
was the son of Francis, the first duke of Rocbefoucault, and
was distinguished equally by his courage and his wit. At
the instigation of the duchess de Longueville, to whom he
had been long attached, he engaged in the civil wars, and
signalized himself, particularly at the battle of St. An-
toine. After his return his house became the rendezvous
of all the wits of Paris, Racine, Boileau, &c. who were
captivated by the charms of his conversation. He died at
Paris in 1680, aged seventy-seven. As a writer he is
chiefly known by a small work, which has often been re-
printed in this country, in English, entitled " Maxims,"
of which Voltaire has not scrupled so say, that it contri-
buted more than any performance to form the taste of the
French nation, and give it a true relish of .propriety and
correctness. " Though there is," continues he, "but one
truth running through this whole piece, namely, that ' self-
love is the spring of all our actions and determinations;'
yet this thought presents itself under such a variety of
1 Diet. Hist.
ROCHE FOUCAULT. 311
forms as never fail to strike with ne\v surprise. It is not so
properly a hook itself, as a set of materials to embellish a
book. This little collection was much read and admired ;
it accustomed our authors to think, and to comprise their
thoughts in a lively, correct, and delicate turn of phrase ;
which was a merit utterly unknown to any European writer
before him since the revival of letters." It has, however,
been mostly admired by those who entertain an unfavour-
able opinion of mankind, and who have been soured by
disappointment and misfortune, particularly by disap-
pointed ambition. Chesterfield and Swift are on the side
of Rochefoucault. We have also of this noble author
" Memoires de la Regence de la Reine Anne d'Autriche,"
written with great sense and a deep penetration.
The abbe" D'Olivet, in his History of the French aca-
demy, says that Rochefoucauit could never be a member
of it, though greatly desired both by the academicians and
himself, from the necessity of making a speech of thanks
on the day of admission: with all the courage he had shewn
on so many eminent occasions, and with all the superiority
that birth, and such prodigious parts as the world allowed,
gave him, he was not able to bear the look of an audience,
nor could pronounce four lines in public without fainting. 1
RODNEY (GEORGE BRYDGES), a celebrated naval com-
mander, was the second son of Henry Rodney, esq. of
Walton on Thames, and Mary, eldest daughter and co-
heir to sir Henry Newton, knight, envoy- extraordinary to
Genoa, LL. D. judge of the high-court of admiralty, and
chancellor of the diocese of London. His father, as a na-
val officer, commanded the yacht in which king George I.
attended by the duke of Chandos, used to embark in going
to or coming from Hanover, and in consequence, asked
leave that his son might be called George Brydges. He
was born in Doc. 1717. At the desire, or by the com-
mand, of his royal and noble god-faihers, he entered early
into the navy,/ui<i in 1742 he was lieutenant in the Namur,
commanded by admiral Matthews. In November of the
same year, he was promoted by the admiral to the com-
mand of ili Plymouth, of shrty gtttts ; on returning home
he was removed into the Sheerness, a small frigate; and
in 174i he was npp.iinied to the command of the Lucliow-
castle, of furty-iour guns. In this ship he does not appear
i Did. Hist. Siecle de Louis XIV.
312 RODNEY.
to have continued long, for in May 1746, he was captain
of the Eagle, a new ship of sixty guns, then employed as
a cruiser on the Irish station. While here lie captured two
large privateers. He continued in the Eagle during the
remainder of the war, and was one of the commanders
under the orders of rear-admiral Hawke, when in 1747 he
defeated L'Etendiere's squadron. On this occasion capt.
Rouney behaved with much spirit, and may be said to have
then laid the foundation of that popularity he afterwards in
so high a degree possessed, On the conclusion of the war
he was, in March 1749, appointed to the Rainbow, a fourth
rate, and in May following was nominated governor and
commander-in-chief in and over the island of Newfound-
land. Immediately afterwards he proceeded thither with
the small squadron annually sent there in time of peace,
for the protection of the fishery. Some time after his re-
turn in 1753 he married Miss Compton, daughter of Charles
Compton, esq. and sister to Spencer, then earl of Nor-
thampton. In 1757 he was engaged, under the command
of admirals Hawke and Boscawen, to attempt a descent on
the coast of France, near Rochefort ; and in 1759 he was
advanced rear-admiral of the blue. In this same year he
was sent to bombard Havre de Grace, where a large force
was collected for the purpose of attempting an invasion of
this country. He executed the trust committed to him so
completely, that the town itself was several times on fire,
and the magazines of stores and ammunition burnt with
fury upwards of six hours, notwithstanding the exertions
used to extinguish it. Thus had admiral Rodney the hap-
piness of totally frustrating the design of the French court;
and so completely did he destroy their preparations, that
the fort itself, as a naval arsenal, was no longer during the
war in a state to annoy Great Britain. In 1761 admiral
Rodney was very instrumental in the capture of the islands
of St Pierre, Granada, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent, when
the whole Caribbees came into the possession of the Eng-
lish. For his skill and bravery in the war, he was, after
the conclusion of it, raised to the dignity of a baronet. In
1768, after an expensive, and to sir George Rodney a
ruinous, contest with Mr. Howe, he was elected member
of parliament for Northampton. In the month of October
1770 he was progressively advanced to be vice-admiral of
the .white and red squadrons, and in the month of August
1771, to be rear-admiral of Great Britain. In the very
RODNEY. SIS
arly part of this year he resigned the mastership of Green-
wich hospital, to which he had been appointed in 1765,
and was immediately after made commander-in-chief on
the Jamaica station, whither he repaired, having his flag
on board the Princess Amelia of 80 guns. The appoint-
ment of this ship to that service was intended as a particu-
lar and pointed compliment, it being extremely unusual to
send a three-decked ship on that station, except in time of
actual war. It is said the command in India was offered to
him, which he declined, entertaining hopes of being ap-
pointed governor of Jamaica in case of the death of sir
William Trelawney ; but in this he was disappointed. After
his return to England at the expiration of the time allotted
for the continuance of his command, he retired to France,
where he lived some years in obscurity, hoping to retrieve
the losses he had suffered at the Northampton election. It
is said that the French king wished to take advantage of
his pecuniary embarrassments, and through the duke de
Biron made him the most unbounded offers if he would
quit the English for the French service. In reply to this
proposal he said, ." My distresses, sir, it is true, have driven
me from the bosom of my country, but no temptation can
estrange me from her service. Had this offer been volun-
tary on your part, I should have deemed it an insult, but I
am glad to learn it proceeds from a source that can do no
wrong." The duke was so struck with the patriotism of
the admiral, that he became attached to him as a friend,
and is said to have advanced him a sum of money to revisit
England, and solicit a command.
Before this event the French had united with the Ame-
ricans in a war against this country, and about the close of
1779, the chief command of the Leeward islands was given
to sir George Rodney, upon which he hoisted his flag on
board the Sandwich. From this time he was very success-
ful against his majesty's enemies, but our limits do not
allow us to particularize all the advantages that resulted
from his services during the remainder of the war of which
we are speaking. In the first year he had done enough to
obtain a vote of thanks from the House of Lords, and the
freedom of the cities of London and Edinburgh ; but his
great triumph was on the 12th of April, 1782, in an en-
gagement in the West Indies with count de Grasse. This
battle was fought among the islands of Guadaloupe, Do-
minique, the Saintes, and Marigalante. As soon as the
RODNEY.
day broke admiral Rodney threw out the signal for close
action, and every vessel obeyed it most scrupulously. The
British line was formed at the distance of one cable's length
between each ship. As the ships came up separately, they
ranged close alongside their opponents, passing along the
enemy for that purpose, giving and receiving, while thus
taking their stations, a most dreadful and tremendous fire.
The action continued in this manner till noon, when ad-
miral Rodney resolved to carry into execution a manoeuvre
which he expected would gain him a complete and decisive
victory : for this purpose, in his own ship, the Formidable,
supported by the Namur, the Duke, and the Canada, he
bore down with all the sail set on the enemy's line, within
three ships of the centre, and succeeded in breaking through
it in a most masterly style. As soon as he had accom-
plished this, the other ships of his division followed him,
arid they ail wore round, doubled on the enemy, and thus
they placed between two fires those vessels which, by the
first part of the manoeuvre, they had cut off from the rest
of the fleet. As soon as admiral Rodney and the vessels
which followed him, wore, he made the signal for the van
to tack, by which means they gained the windward of the
French, and completed the disorder and confusion in which
the breaking of the line had thrown them. One conse-
quence of the breaking of the line was, that opportunities
were given for desperate actions between single ships. The
whole loss of the enemy on this occasion amounted to eight
ships; one had been sunk, and another blown up after she
had been taken, and six ships remained in possession of the
conquerors. It was esteemed remarkably fortunate, and
glorious for the victors, that de Grasse's ship, the Ville de
Paris, was the only first rate man-of-war that had ever, at
that time, been taken and carried into port by any com-
mander of any nation. And this ship was on the present
occasion fought so well, that when it struck there were but
three men left alive and unhurt on the upper deck.
The British nation were so sensible of the bravery dis-
played both by officers and men in this action, and of the
importance of it as the only means of preserving the re-
mainder of the West India islands, that they manifested the
most excessive joy when intelligence of the victory arrived.
It came extremely seasonable in other points of view.
Neither by land, nor by sea, except where admiral Rodney
had been engaged, had we been able to meet the enemj
RODNEY. 315
on any occasion with great and decisive advantage ; and,
in too many instances, we had retired from the contest not
in the most honourable manner. As the means of obtain-
ing more favourable terms of peace, this important victory
was hailed with joy and exultation ; and as admiral Rodney
was looked up to as the cause of it, the gratitude of the
nation towards him was deeply felt, and expressed in warm
and glowing language. It was recollected that the fortune
of sir George Rodney had been peculiarly singular, as well
as highly glorious in the war. Within little more than two
years he had given a severe blow to each of our three
powerful continental enemies, the French, Spaniards, and
Dutch. He had in that time taken an admiral of each na-
tion ; added twelve line of battle ships, all taken from the
enemy, to the British navy ; and destroyed five more. He
received the unanimous thanks of both houses of parlia-
ment ; and his majesty added dignity to the peerage of the
realm, by calling the victorious admiral to a seat in the
upper house, by the title of baron Rodney, of Rodney
Stoke, in the county of Somerset.
It has been observed that the victory of the 12th of
April was gained by putting in practice an entirely new
system of naval tactics, the adoption of which formed an
era in our naval history, and may be regarded as the cause
of the glorious victories by which the fame of British sea-
men has been raised to such a pitch of glory ; and the ma-
ritime power of our enemies in the late war, has not only
been crippled, but absolutely annihilated. It has been
said, in order to derogate from the honour of the admiral,
that, in the instance of the 12th of April, it was the effect
of chance, and not effected by the foresight of sir George
Rodney. This idea has been satisfactorily exposed and
refuted. The only question on the subject is, whether the
honour of the plan is due to admiral Rodney or Mr. Clerk,
the author of a treatise on " Naval Tactics ;" but on this
our limits will not permit us to enter.
With the brilliant victory of the 12th of April sir George
closed his professional career ; to his title was added a pen-
sion of 2000/. to descend to his heirs. He died in London
the 24th of May, 1792. For his important services to the
West Indian islands in particular, a temple was built to
receive his statue at Spanish Town, Jamaica.
A contemporary of the noble admiral said, that as an
officer of nautical abilities, none were his superiors, and
316 H O D N E Y.
but few bis equals. He possessed a bold and original ge-
nius, which always carried him direcily to the object he
had in view. As a man, he was benevolent, generous, and
friendly. He has been known to be writing his private
letters, and dictating to three secretaries at the same time.
" In private life he displayed the manners of an accom-
plished gentleman ; and he who, when called by his coun-
try, could hurl its thunders against the foes, and lead its
navies to almost undeviating victory, was, in peace, the
ornament of domestic society, and a pattern of that elegant
and polished behaviour, which almost always distinguishes
the higher orders among us." *
HO DON, or DERODON (DAVID), a celebrated French
professor of philosophy in the seventeenth century, was
born, according to Bayle, in Duuphiny, but more pro-
bably at Orange, where, as well as at Die, Nismes, and
Geneva, he taught philosophy, and was accounted the
greatest master of dialectics in his time. The story of
aut Erasmus aut diabolus has been told of him ; a stranger
to his person, when puzzled by his arguments, having ex-
claimed es diabolus aut Dtrodo. In physics he adhered to
the principles of Gassendus. He had been educated in
the protestant religion, but embraced that of popery in
1630, and published his reasons in a volume entitled
" Quatre raisons pour lesquelles on doit quitter la religion
pretendue reformee," Paris, 1631, 12mo. Bayle had never
seen this, and makes him to have been educated a papist.
But whatever satisfaction his " quatre raisons" might have
afforded to the catholics, they were not of permanent in-
fluence on his own mind, for he afterwards became again
an adherent to the reformed religion, in which he died.
In 1645 he published in 8vo, his " Disputatio de suppo-
sito," at Francfort (Orange), in which, Bayle tells us, he
declared for Nestorius against St, Cyril, not in admitting
two persons, but in maintaining that Nestorius does not
admit them, and that St. Cyril confounds the two natures
of Jesus Christ. This was the opinion of Giles Gaillard, a
gentleman of Provence, and an intimate friend of Rodon's,
whom he often quotes, but without naming. The work
was condemned to be burnt by the parliament of Toulouse,
and the copies are therefore now very rare. Bayle had not
1 Cbarnock's Biog. Navalis. Collins's Peerage, by sir E. !>rydges,-=-Rees's
Cyclopaedia.
R O D O N. 317
been able to procure one, and is misled by Sorbiere in
thinking that Gaillard wrote a book with the same title as
Rodon's. But the work of Rodon which made the most
noise was his " Tombeau de la Messe," or downfall of the
mass, published at Geneva in 1654, 8vo, 1662, Amst. 1682.
For this he was banished from France, by an arret of Jan.
29, 1663, on which he took refuge in Geneva, where he
died in 1664. Saurin, who saw him in that city about the
time of his death, says he appeared to him to be perfectly
orthodox. His character is amply discussed in Saurin's
controversy with Jurieu, " Examen de la Theologie de M.
Jurieu, &c." and Jurieu's answers.
Senebier, in his literary history of Geneva, gives the
following list of Rodon's other works: 1. " Dispute de
TEucharistie," 1655, 8vo. 2. " Metaphysica," Orange,
1659, 8vo. 3. " Logica restituta," Geneva, 1659, 4to.
4. " De existentia Dei," 1661, 4to. 5. " De Atomis,"
Geneva, 1662, 8vo. This is probably his " Disputatio de
libertate et atomis," which he printed at Nismes the same
year. 6. " Disputatio realis de ente reali," Nismes, 1662.
7. " Disputes de la Messe," or a discourse on these words,
"This is my body," Nismes," 1662, Svo. 8. " Discours
centre I'Astrologie judiciare," 1663, Svo. 9. " Opera phi-
losophica," Geneva, 1664, 4to. 10. " Philosophia con^
tracta," 1664, 4to. 1 1. " La Lumiere de la raison opposee
aux tenebres de I'lmpiete*," Geneva, 1665. 12. "Les In-
constants," Geneva, 1672, 8vo. To these from Senebier,
we may add his " Compendium Logicae," 1663, 8vo, and
" L'Atheisme convaincu," in 1649, Svo. Some authors
ascribe to him a treatise entitled " Messe trouvee dans
L'Ecriture," 1647, Svo, written when he was a catholic,
but there is more reason to attribute this to Lucas Jansen. 1
ROE (Sir THOMAS), an able statesman and ambassador,
was born at Low-Layton in Essex, about 1580, and ad-
mitted into Magdalen college, Oxford, in 1593. He was
taken from the university in a year or two ; and, after
spending some time in one of the inns of court, and in
France, was made esquire of the body to queen Elizabeth.
In 1604, he was knighted by king James ; and soon after
sent, by Henry prince of Wales, to make discoveries in
America. In 1614, he was sent ambassador to the great
mogul, at whose court he continued till 1618. During hi
i Gen. Diet. Bios. Uuiv. art. Derodon^
318 ROE,
residence there, he employed himself zealously in the ser-
vice of the East India merchants, but gave a singular offence
to the grand mogul. This monarch, happy in his pride
and ignorance, fancied his dominions to be the greater
part of the habitable world. But his mortification was great
when, in Mercator's maps, presented to him by sir Thomas
Roe, he found that lie possessed but a small part of it ; and
he was so chagrined, that he ordered the maps to be given
to sir Thomas again.
In 1620, he was elected a burgess for Cirencester in
Gloucestershire ; and, the year following, sent ambassador
to the grand stignor ; in which station he continued under
the sultans Osman, Mustapha, and Amu rath IV. In his
passage to Constantinople, he wrote a letter to Villiers
duke of Buckingham, then lord high admiral, complaining
of the great increase of pirates in the Mediterranean sea;
and, during his embassy, sent " A true and faithful rela-
tion to his majesty and the prince of what hath lately hap-
pened in Constantinople, concerning the death of sultan
Osman, and the setting up of Mustapha his uncle," which
was printed at London in 1622, 4to. He kept a very cu-
rious account of his negociations at the Porte, which re-
mained .in manuscript till 1740, when it was published, by
the society for promoting learning, under this title : " The
Negotiations of Sir Thomas Roe, in his Embassy to the
Ottoman Porte, from the year 1621 to 1628 inclusive ; con-
taining a great variety of curious and important matters,
relating not only to the affairs of the Turkish empire, but
also to those of the other states of Europe in that period :
his correspondences with the most illustrious persons, for
dignity or character, as, with the queen of Bohemia, Beth-
lem Gabor prince of Transylvania, and other potentates of
different nations, &c. and many useful and instructive par-
ticulars, as well in relation to trade and commerce as to
subjects of literature ; as, ancient manuscripts, coins, in-
scriptions, and other antiquities," folio.
During his residence* in the East, he made a large col-
lection of valuable mandscripts in the Greek and oriental
languages; which* in, 162$, he presented to the Bodleian
library. He alsortmmght orer the (ine Alexandrian manu-
script of the Greek Bible, 1 senttas a present to Charles J.
by Cyril, patriarch. ol><Constantinople; which has since
been transcribed and published by Dr. Grabe. In 1629,
he 'was sent ambassado'r to iflediate a peace between the
ROE. SI*
kings of Poland and Sweden. He succeeded in his nego-
ciation ; and gained so much credit wilh the great Gus-
tavus Adolphus of Sweden, that he inspired that king with
a design, which he executed in 1630, of making a descent
into Germany to restore the freedom of the empire. Adol-
phus, upon gaining the victory of Leipsic, sent sir Thomas
a present of 2000/. and in his letter calls him his " stre-
nuum consultorem," he being the first who had advised him
to the war. He was afterwards employed in other nego-
ciations. In 1640, he was chosen member of parliament
for the university of Oxford ; and shewed himself a person
of great eloquence, learning, and experience, as appears
from his printed speeches. The year after, he was sent
ambassador to the diet of Ratisbon, in order to mediate the
restoration of the late king of Bohemia's son to the pala-
tinate ; and, upon his return, was made chancellor of the
garter, and one of the privy couuc;!. The calamities of
the nation, in which he cou!d not avoid having a share,
not only embittered his life, but probably contributed to
shorten it; for he died in Nov. 1644. An epitaph was
composed for him by Dr. Gerard Langbaine, but never set
up : it may be seen in Wood's " Athen. Oxon." By will
he left to the Bodleian two hundred and forty-two silver
medals.
He had all the accomplishments of the scholar, the gen-
tleman, and the courtier. He left a great number of ma-
nuscripts behind him ; and, in 1730, proposals were pub-
lished for printing by subscription, in 5 vols. folio, " The
Negotiations and Embasbies of Sir Thomas Roe, from 1620
to 1644 :" but, the undertakers not meeting with sufficient
encouragement, the design was dropped, and only the
volume mentioned above was published in 1740 by Mr.
Richardson. 1
ROEBUCK (JOHN), an eminent physician and great
benefactor to Scotland, was born at Sheffield in Yorkshire,
in 1718. His father WHS a considerable manufacturer and
exporter of Sheffield goods, and iutended this his son for
the same buj.iness, but perceiving his inclination to learn-
ing, determined to give him a liberal education, or such
as was attainable umong ihe disinters, of which he was
one of the si rid sort. Aucr sone guho'il education, there-
Core, at SheiEcld, ne sent him to the academy kept by the
1 Bug. ISit't. A-.ti. Ox. vol. IL
320 ROEBUCK.
celebrated Dr. Doddridge at Northampton, where thd
young man laid the foundation of that classical taste and
knowledge for which he was afterwards much distinguished.
From Northampton he was sent to the university of Edin-
burgh, where he studied medicine, and particularly che-*
mistry. After the usual course of these studies here, he
pursued the same at Leyden, then considered as the first
medical school in Europe, and took his doctor's degree in
February 1743.
Soon after his return from the continent, some circum-
stances induced Dr. Roebuck to settle as a physician at
Birmingham, where he met with great encouragement^ and
at his leisure hours was induced to turn his studies and in-
dustry to various objects besides those of his profession.
Strongly attached to the rising science of chemistry, he
conceived high views of extending its usefulness, and ren-
dering it subservient to the improvement of arts and ma-
nufactures. With this view he fitted up a small laboratory
in his house, in which he spent every moment of his time
which he could spare from the duties of his profession.
The first efforts of his genius and industry led him to the
discovery of certain improved methods of refining gold and
silver, and particularly to an ingenious method of collect-
ing the smaller particles of these precious metals, which
had formerly been lost in the practical operations of many
of the manufacturers. By other chemical processes, car-
ried on about the same time in his little laboratory, he dis-
covered also improved methods of making sublimate,
hartshorn, and sundry other articles of equal importance.
In order to render these beneficial to himself, and useful
to the public, he associated himself with Mr. Samuel Gar-
bet, of Birmingham, a gentleman of abilities and enter-
prizing spirit, and established a laboratory upon a large
scale, which was productive of many advantages to the
manufacturers of that place, and of such emolument to
themselves, as contributed greatly to the boldness of their
future projects.
The extensive use of the vitriolic (sulphuric) acid irr che-
mistry, and the prospect of its application to some of the
mechanic arts, had produced a great demand for that arti-
cle, and turned the attention of the chemists to various me-
thods of obtaining it. Dr. Ward had made great progress
in this, and was the first who established a profitable manu-
facture, but the price of it was still high, arising from ther
K O E B U C K. 321
great expence of the glass vessels, which he used in pro-
curing it, and the frequent accidents to which they were
liable in the process. Dr. Roebuck, however, who hucl
been for some time making experiments on the subject,
discovered a method of preparing it by substituting, in
place of the glass vessels formerly used, lead ones of a great
size, which, together with various other improvements in
different parts of the process, completely effected his end.
After the necessary preparations had been made, Messrs.
Roebuck and Garbet established a manufacture of the oil of
vitriol at Preston-pans in Scotland, in 1749, and not only-
served the public at a cheaper rate than had ever been
done formerly, but realized a greater annual profit from a
smaller capital than had been done in any similar undertak-
ing. The vitriol work is still carried on at Preston-pans;
but long before Dr. Roebuck's death, he withdrew his ca-
pital from it.
About this time Dr. Roebuck was urged, by some of his
friends, to leave Birmingham, and to settle as a physician
at London, where his abilities might have a more extensive
field of exertion. But the chemical concerns, with which
he was now deeply occupied, holding out to him the pro-
spect of a richer harvest, determined him to give up the
practice of medicine altogether, and to fix his residence
for the greatest part of the year in Scotland. In the pro-
secution of his chemical experiments, he had been led to
bestow great attention on the processes of smelting iron
stone, and had made some discoveries, by which that ope-
ration might be greatly facilitated, particularly by using
pit-coal in place of charcoal. This led him and his enter-
prizing partner to project a very extensive manufactory of
iron ; and such was the confidence which their friends re-
posed in their abilities and integrity, that a sufficient capi-
tal was soon procured. When all previous matters had
been concerted, Dr. Roebuck began to look round for a
proper situation, and after a careful examination of many
places, at length made choice of a spot on the banks of the
river CARRON, as the most advantageous situation for the
establishment of the iron manufacture. Here lie found they
could easily command abundance of water for the necessary
machinery; and in the neighbourhood of it, as uell as every
where both along the north and south coasts of the Frith of
Forth, were to be found inexhaustible quarries'of iron-stone,
liuie-stone, and coal. From Carron also, they could easily
VOL. XXVI. Y
322 ROEBUCK.
transport their manufactures to different countries by sea.
The communication with Glasgow at that time by land car-
riage, which opened to them a ready way to the American
market, was short and easy.
Many other things, that need not be here enumerated,
fell to Dr. Roebuck's share in preparing and providing for
the introduction of this new manufacture into Scotland,
particularly with respect to the planning and erection of
the furnaces and machinery. To insure success in that
department, nothing was omitted which ability, industry,
and experience could suggest. With this view he called iu
the assistance of Mr. Smeaton, then by far the first engineer
in England, and from him received plans and drawings of
the water-wheels and blowing apparatus, which, notwith-
standing all the mechanical improvements which have been
made since, remain unrivalled in an} T of the other iron-
works erected in Britain. This was the first introduction
of Mr. Smeaton into Scotland, and was the occasion of
various other displays of the skill and experience of that
celebrated engineer ia that part of the island. With the
same view, and to the same effect, in a future period of his
operations, he employed the celebrated Mr.jJames Watt,
then of Glasgow, and had the merit of rendering that in-
ventive genius in the mechanical arts, better known both
in Scotland and England. The necessary preparations for
the establishment of the iron works at Carron were finished
in the end of the year 1759, and on Jan. 1, 1760, the first
furnace was blown ; and in a short time afterwards a second
was erected. The subsequent progress of this great work,
the many improvements introduced, and its vast importance
to Scotland, are matters of local history and interest, on
which we cannot enter in this place ; but enough has been
said to prove that it is to Dr. Roebuck that country owes
these great advantages.
When the business at Carron sunk by degrees into a
matter of ordinary detail, and afforded less scope for Dr.
Koebuck's peculiar talents, he was unfortunately tempted
lo engage in a new and different undertaking, from the
failure of which he suffered a reverse of fortune, was de-
prived of the advantages resulting from his other works,
and during the remainder of his life became subjected to
much anxiety and disappointment. This was his becoming
lessee of the duke of Hamilton's extensive coal and salt
work* at Borrowstounness. The coal there was represented
ROEBUCK. 323
to exist in great abundance, and understood to be of supe-
rior quality; and as Dr. Roebuck had made himself ac-
quainted with the most improved methods of working coal
in Kngiand, and then not practised in Scotland, he had
little doubt of this adventure turning out beneficial and
highly lucrative. In this, however, he was cruelly disap-
pointed ; and the result was, that after many years of la-
bour and industry, there were sunk in this project, not only
his own, and the considerable fortune brought him by his
wife, but the regular profits of his more successful works :
and along therewith, what distressed him above every
thing, great sums of money borrowed from his relations
and friends, which he was never able to repay; not to
mention that from the same cause, he was, during the last
twenty years of his life, subject to a constant succession of
hopes and disappointments, to a course of labour and
drudgery ill suited to his taste and turn of mind, to the
irksome and teazing business of managing and studying the
humours of working colliers. But all these difficulties his
persevering spirit would have overcome, if the never-ceas-
ing demands of his coal-works, after having exhausted the
profits, had not also compelled him to withdraw his capital
from all his different works in succession: from the refining
work at Birmingham, the vitriol work at Preston-pans, the
iron works at Carron, as well as to part with his interest in
the project of improving the steam-engine, in which he had
become a partner with Mr. Watt, the original inventor, and
from which he had reason to hope for future emolument.
It would be painful to mention the unhappy consequen-
ces of this ruinous adventure to his family and to himself.
It cut off for ever the flattering prospect which they had
of an independent fortune, suited to their education and
rank in life. It made many cruel encroachments upon the
time and occupations of a man whose mind was equally
fitted to enjoy the high attainments of science, and the
elegant amusements of taste. As the price of so many
sacrifices, he was only enabled to draw from his colliery,
and that by the indulgence of his creditors, a moderate
annual maintenance for himself and his family during his
life. At his death, his widow was left without any pro-
Vision whatever for her immediate or future support, and
without the smallest advantage from the extraordinary exer-
tions and meritorious industry of her husband.
Dr. Roebuck had, some years before his death ; beea
Y 2
324 ROEBUCK.
attacked by a complaint that required a dangerous chirur-
gical operation, which he supported with his usual spirit
and resolution. In a short time he was restored to a con-
siderable share of his former health and activity ; but the
effects of it never entirely left him, and several slighter re-
turns of the complaint gradually impaired his constitution.
He still, however, continued, until within a few weeks of
his death, to visit his works, and to give directions to his
clerks and overseers. He was confined to his bed only a
few days, and died July 17, 1794, in the seventy-sixth
year of his age, retaining to the last all his faculties, his
spirit and good humour, as well as the great interest which
he took, as a man of science and reflection, in the uncom-
mon events which the present age has exhibited.
From a man so deeply and so constantly engaged in
the detail of active business, many literary compositions
were not to be expected. The great object which he
kept invariably in view, and which gives him a just
claim to the respect and gratitude of his country, was to
promote arts and manufactures, rather than to establish
theories and hypotheses. The few essays which he left,
however, enable us to judge of what might have been ex-
pected from his talents, knowledge, and boldness of inven-
tion, if he had had more leisure for study and investiga-
tion. A comparison of the heat of London and Edinburgh,
read in the Royal Society of London June 29, 1775 ; ex-
periments on ignited bodies, read there. Feb. 1C, 1776;
observations on the ripening and filling of corn, read in t'ne
Royal Society of Edinburgh June 5, 1784, are all the
writings of his, two political pamphlets excepted, which
have been published. 1
ROELL (HERMANN-ALEXANDER), a celebrated protes-
tant divine, and theological professor, was born in 1653
at Doelberg, in Westphalia. He received, at Unna, an
excellent education in the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew lan-
guages, and in 1670 maintained with great ability a thesis
" de studio mathematico philosophic prsemittendo." In
the same year he went to Utrecht, where he received lec-
tures from the celebrated Francis Burmann on the scrip-
tures ; but on the war with France, was obliged to go to
Gottingen, where he studied under James Alting: this
place also becoming unsafe, he returned to Germany, and
1 Transactions of th Royal Society of Edinburgh, vol. IV.
R O E L L. 32.*
studied for some time at Marpurg, and after that at Hei-
delberg. From thence he went to Basil and Zurich; and
in 1676 he once more visited the United Provinces, and
spent two years at the universities of Utrecht and Leyden.
No sooner had he returned to his native country than he
received an invitation to become pastor of the protcstant
church at Cologne, which he declined, owing to ill-health;
and he undertook the chaplainship to Elizabeth, abbess of
Hervorden, and daughter of Frederic, king of Bohemia ;
which post he retained till the death of the princess, in
1680. After this he was appointed preacher to Albertine,
princess of Orange, and widow of William of Nassau ;
and in 1686, was elected professor of divinity at the uni-
versity of Franeker. In June 1704 he was appointed, on
very honourable and advantageous terms, professor of di-
vinity at Utrecht, a post which he retained with great re-
putation till his death, July 12, 1718, in the 66th year of
his age. Barman says, he was without dispute a first-rate
philosopher and divine; but leaves it to his brethren to
determine whether he was not somewhat heretical in his
singular opinions on the generation of the son of God,
and on the temporal death of believers. These were eit-*
pressed in his " Theses Theologicos de generatione filii,
et morte fidelium temporali," Francfort, 1689, 4to, and
were answered by Vitringa and others. His principal
works are, 1. " Commentarius in principinm epistolae Pauli
ad Epht'sos," Utrecht, 1715, 4to. 2. A continuation of
the same, with an exegesis on the Colossians, ibid. 1731,
4to. 3. " Explicatio Catecheseos Heidelbergensis," ibid.
1728. 4. " Exegesis in Psalmum Ixxxix." Duisburg, 1728,
8vo. 5. " Gulichii Analysis et compendium hbrorum
propheticorum antiqui et novi fcederis," Amst. 1683, 4to.
6. " Oratio inauguralis de religione rationali," afterwards,
and often reprinted under the title of a " Dissertntio,"
which Heumann calls a very learned and elegant work, 1
KOEMEll (GLAUS), a Danish astronomer and mathe-
matician, was born at Arhusen in Jutland in 1644; and,
at eighteen, was sent to the university of Copenhagen. He
applied himself assiduously to the study of mathematics
and astronomy, and became such an adept in those scien-
ces, that, when Picard was sent by Lewis XIV. in 167J,
1 Cbatifepie. Burma n Traject. Evudhmn
326 HOE M E R. .
to make observations in the North, he was so pleased with
him, that he engaged him to return with him to France,
and had him presented to the king, who ordered him to
teach the dauphin mathematics, and settled a pension on
him. He was joined with Picard and Cassini, in making
astronomical observations; and, in 1672, was admitted a
member of the academy of sciences. During the ten years
he resided at Paris, he gained a prodigious reputation by
his discoveries ; yet is said. to have complained afterwards
that his coadjutors ran away with the honour of many
things which belonged to him. In 1681, Christian V.
king of Denmark called him back to his own country, and
made him professor of astronomy at Copenhagen. He
employed him also in reforming the coin and the archi-
tecture, in regulating the weights and measures, and in
measuring the high roads throughout the kingdom. Fre-
deric IV. the successor of Christian, shewed the same
favour to Roemer, and conferred new dignities on him.
He was preparing to publish the result of his observations,
when hedied Sept. 19, 1710, aged 66; but some of his ob-
servations, with his manner of making those observations,
were published in 1735, under the title of " Basis Astro-
nomise," by his scholar Peter Horrebow, then professor of
astronomy at Copenhagen. Roemer was the first who
found out the velocity with which light moves, by means
of the eclipses of Jupiter's satellites. He had observed
for many years that, when Jupiter was at his greatest dis-
tance from the earth, where he could be observed, the
emersions of his first satellite happened constantly 15 or J 6
minutes later than the calculation gave them. Hence he
concluded that the light reflected by Jupiter took up this
time in running over the excess of distance, and conse-
quently that it took up 16 or 18 minutes in running over
the diameter of the earth's orbit, and 8 or in coming
from the sun to us, provided its velocity was nearly uni-
form. This discovery had at first many opposers ; but it
was afterwards confirmed by Dr. Bradley in the most iu>.
genious and beautiful manner. 1
ROGER, or rather RICHARD OF HEXHAM, an ancient
historian, was brought up in the convent of Hexham, in
Northumberland, where he embraced the monastic life,
Elopes des Academiciensj vol. I. Huttou's Dictionary Chaufi pie. B.M,
Gcrmau. vol. XXXIII.
R O G E It 327
and was elected prior some time at least befqre 1138, for
he saw the Scottish army march into Yorkshire, under
their king David I. previous to the battle of the Standard,
which was fought in September that year. He wrote the
history of that campaign, wherein he points out, in the
most declamatory style, the ravages committed by the
Scottish army. But such was his ignorance, that he calls
the Highlanders, and Galovidians, who composed part of
king David's army, P-icti, or Picts, as if they had painted
their bodies in the same manner as in ancient times ;
whereas those people only wore party-coloured garments,
which the Highlanders call Tartans. !
ROGER OF HOVEDEN. See HOVEDEN.
ROGERS (BENJAMfN), doctor of music, and an eccle-
siastical composer, whose works are still contained in our
cathedral service, and for whose fame Anthony Wood has
manifested great zeal, was born at Windsor, and brought
up in that college under Dr. Nath. Giles ; being employed
there, first as a singing boy, and afterwards in the capa-
city of lay clerk or singing man. Thence he went to Ire-
land, and was appointed organist of Christ-church ia
Dublin, where he continued till the breaking out of the
rebellion, in 164^; at which time, being forced to quit his
station, he returned to Windsor, where he was again re-
instated as choirman ; but being soon after silenced in con-
sequence of the civil wars, he procured a subsistence by
teaching in the neighbourhood. And during this time,
according to his friend Anthony Wood, having addicted
himself much to study, he acquired great credit as a
composer, and produced several sets of airs in four parts
for violins and an organ, which being then imagined the
best that could be composed of that kind, were sent as
great rarities to the archduke Leopold, afterwards emperor,
and himself a great musician ; and, upon their being per-
formed by his band, they were very much admired.
In 1658, by the favour of his friend Dr. Ingelo, he'ob-
tained the degree of bachelor in music at Cambridge, and
acquired great reputation in that university by his exercise.
Soon after, on Dr. Ingelo going chaplain to Bulstrode
lord Whitelock, into Sweden, he carried with him some
of Rogers's best compositions, which, upon being repcat-
1 Tanner. Twisden's Decem Scriptorcs. Whartori's Anglia Sacra, vol. I.
Preface, p. 48.
323 ROGERS.
edly performed in the presence of Christiana, queen of
Sweden, were very much applauded. At the restoration
he was appointed to compose the music that was performed
at Guildhall, on the day iiis majesty and his brothers, the
dukes of York and Gloucester, dined there with the lord-
mayor, by which he greatly increased his reputation.
About this time also he was chosen organist of Eton college,
which he resigned soon after, on being invited to Oxford,
where he was appointed to the same office in Magdalen
college. And in I6G9, upon opening the new theatre in
that city, he was created doctor in music. Me continued,
says Ant. Wood, in the university, where he was much
esteemed, till 1685, when he was ejected, in company
with the fellows of his college, by king James II. after
which he long resided in the skirts of the town, wholly
disregarded.
" His compositions for instruments," says Ant. Wood,
" whether in two, three, or four parts, have been highly
valued, and were thirty years ago always first called for,
taken out and played as well in the public music schools,
as in private chambers : and Dr. Wilson, the professor,
(the greatest and most curious judge of music that ever
was), usually wept when he heard them well performed,
as being wrapt up in an ecstacy ; or, if you will, melted
dovfn : while others smiled, or had their hands and eyes
lifted up, at the excellence of them." " It is to be 1'eared,' 1
says Dr. Burney, " that instead of weeping, the wicked
lovers of modern music would now laugh, if they were to
hear the quaint and starched strains, and see on paper the
ruffs and roll-ups of honest Ben. Rogers at the Opera-
house, or professional concert, Hanover-square. Bin, alas!
what is the secular music, that thirty years have not wrin-
kled, withered, and rendered superannuated !" '
ROGERS (CHARLES), an antiquary, and a man of taste,
was born Aug. 2, 1711, in Dean-street, Soho, and receiv-
ed the first rudiments of education at a private school near
the Mews, but he did not for some time after this devote
himself seriously to literary pursuits. When he did, how-
ever, he exerted that innate industry and application,
which constituted a striking part of his character; and,
with no aid but his own abilities, overcame all other diffi-
culties which stood in the way of an acquaintance with
1 Burney and Hawkins's Hist, of Music.
ROGERS. 329
learning and science. In May 1731, he was placed in
the Custom-house, where he executed the duties of the
several places which he held, with strict attention and in-
tegrity, and at length arrived at the office of clerk of the
certificates, in which he continued almost to the end of
his life.
From the time of his admission into the Custom-house,
he employed his leisure hours in the cultivation of his mind,
arid in forming the valuable collection or' prints and draw-
ings which he left behind him. In the course of these pur*
suits, he became acquainted with several persons of simi-
lar taste, and among the rest Mr. Pond, a well-known and
judicious collector. By him he was introduced to the so-
ciety of Antiquaries, Feb. 23, 1752, of which he became a
very useful member, and was several times chosen of the
council. In 17.57, lie was chosen a fellow of the Royal
Society. After Mr. Rogers had begun to form his collec-
tions, and had made some progress, he conceived the idea
of communicating, to the public, specimens of the manners
of the several different masters, a work requiring great
industry and perseverance, and likely to be attended with
great expence. The former he knew he could command,
and the latter, as he was a bachelor, gave him little con-
cern. The execution of this undertaking may be con-
sidered as the principal object of his life. It appeared in
1777, 2 volumes, folio, under the title of " Description
of a Collection of Prints in imitation of drawings, to which
are annexed, Lives of their authors, with explanatory and
critical notes." The selection consists o. I 12 prints, en-
graved by Bartolozzi, Ryland, Basire, and other artists of
reputation, from original drawings in the collections of his
majesty, the duke of Marlborough, earls of Bute, Chol-
mondely, Spencer, lord Frederick Campbell, sir Joshua
Reynolds, and his own. The, heads of the different pain-
ters, and a variety of fanciful decorations, are also given,
in a peculiar style of engraving on wood, by Mr. Simon
Watts. The whole performance at once reflects honour on
the country, as well as on the liberality of the undertaker,
who neither was, nor, it is supposed, ever expected to be
reimbursed the great expence he had incurred. Besides
this work, Mr. Rogers printed an anonymous <; Transla-
tion of Dante's Inferno," 1782, 4to, in the performance of
which he chiefly attended to giving the sense of his author
with fidelity, the character of a poet not seeming to have
530 ROGERS.
been the object of Ins ambition. He also published in the
** Archseologia," vol. III. a paper on the antiquity of horse-
shoes ; and in vol. VI. an account of certain masks from
the Musquito shore. A curious letter of his, to Mr. Astle,
on some ancient blocks used in printing, may be seen in
Gent. Mag. vol. LI. p. 169; and another paper, which was
read at the Society of Antiquaries, Feb. 18, J779, is pre-
served in vol. L1V. p. 265. Mr. Rogers died Jan. 2, 1784,
and was buried in the family-vault in St. Lawrence Pount-
ney burying-ground. 1
ROGERS (DANIEL), a man of considerable ability in
the court of queen Elizabeth, and who in some of his writ-
ings calls himself ALBIMONTAN us, was the son of John Ro-
gers of Derytend in the parish of Aston in Warwickshire,
where he was born about 1540. His father, who had em-
txraced the reformed religion, being obliged to quit his
country, at the accession of queen Mary, took his son
abroad with him, where, at Wittemberg, he was educated
under the celebrated Melancthon. When the death of
qneen Mary had put an end to persecution for religion's
sake, Mr. Rogers, senior, returned with his family, and
placed his son at Oxford, where he appears to have taken
bis degrees, although Wood has not been able to specify
when, or in what college he studied. Afterwards he ob-
tained an introduction to court, where his talents recom-
mended him to the place of one of the clerks of the council,
and he had the farther honour of being often employed by
queen Elizabeth in embassies to the Netherlands and other
parts, in 1575, 1577, and 1588. During these embassies
lie appears to have acted with wisdom, diligence, and cau-
tion, and to have been of the greatest utility to Cecil from
the correct information he procured of the proceedings of
foreign governments. Strype, who had seen a volume of
his political notes and letters, formed during his residence
abroad, has preserved one of his communications to secre-
tary Cecil, in the appendix to his " Annals," No. 48. It
contains some important intelligence on political subjects,
and is evidently the production of a sensible man accus-
tomed to view the world and its inhabitants with an eye of
penetration and sagacity. Many of his letters and instruc-
tions are among the Cotton MSS. in the British Museum.
1 Cent. Mag. voh LIV. where is a copy of his portrait from sir Joshua Rey~
olds.
ROGERS. 331
He died Feb. 1 1, 1590, and was buried in Sunbury church,
Middlesex.
Wood adds, that he was " a very good man, excellently
well learned, a good Latin poet, and one that was espe-
cially beloved by the famous antiquary and historian Wil-
liam Camden, for whose sake he had laid the foundation of
' A Discourse concerning the acts of the Britains, the form
of their Commonwealth, and the order and laws by which
they lived'." This was intended for Camden's " Britan-
nia," but he did not live to finish it. He wrote, 1. " Odae,
Epigrammata, Kpitaphia," &c. in laudem et mortem Jo-
hannis Juelli Episc. Sarisbur, at the end of Humphrey's
Life of Jewell. 2. " A memorial or oration of Dr. Dan.
Rogers on the death of Frederic II. and the accession of
Christian IV." (probably addressed to the senate of Den-
mark, Copenhagen, July 19, 1588). 3. " Dr. Rogers'*
Search," being a repertory of various transactions relating
to Commerce : the two preceding are among the Cotton
MSS. 4. " Dan, Rogersii Albimontii Angli, ad Stephani
Malescoti Catechesin ^oo-pawicnf, carmine Latino," Basil,
1567, 8vo. 5. " Elegia ad Gulielmum Cecilium baronem
Burleigh," among the " lllust. et clar. virorum Epist. se-
lect." Leyden, 1617, 8vo. 6. " Epistolae tres ad Bucha-
nanum," among the "Epist. Buchanani," Lond. 1711,
8vo. 7. " Epistola Adriano Vander Mylen," among the
above Leydeu epistles. Among the Harleian MSS. is his
" Letter to Abraham Ortelius at Antwerp," compliment-
ing him on the glory he will reap from posterity by his
geographical works, and concluding with the mention of
his own commentary upon the laws and manners of the an-
cient Britons. Wood also mentions an epigram of his
printed with Ralph Aggas's description of Oxford in 1578.
Wood notices another Daniel Rogers, and his works,
" David's Cost ;" " A practical Catechism ;" " Lectures
upon the history of Naaman," &c. This, however, was
a puritan divine born in 1573, and educated at Cambridge.
He was son to Richard Rogers, and brother to Ezekiel
Rogers, both puritan divines, and men of note in their day,
but we do not find in their memoirs much to recommend a
distinct article on either. It remains to be noticed, that
Strype, in his Life of Whitgift, conjectures the above
Daniel Rogers, the ambassador, to be son to John Rogers
the proto-martyr ; but this is inconsistent with the above
account, and seems founded on no authority, as the martyr
ROGERS.
Rogers never left the kingdom on the accession of queen
Mary, but remained to be the first sacrifice to her infernal
bigotry. l
ROGERS (JoiiN), the proto-martyr in the days of queew
Mary, received a liberal education in the university of
Cambridge, and there, we presume, entered into holy
orders. Some time after this the company of merchant
adventurers, as they were then called, appointed him their
chaplain at Antwerp, where he remained many years.
This proved also the means of his conversion from popery,
for meeting there with Tindal and Coverdale, who had left
England that they might enjoy their religious opinions with
more freedom, he was induced by their conversation to
examine the points in controversy more closely, the result
of which was his embracing the sentiments of the reformers
as far as then understood. He also joined with these col-
leagues in making the first translation of the Bible into
English, which appeared at Hamburgh in 1532, under the
fictitious name of Thomas Matthew. Rogers was corrector
of the press on this occasion, and translated that part of
ihe Apocrypha which was left unfinished by Tindal,' and
also contributed some of the marginal notes. At Antwerp
Mr. Rogers married, and thence went to Wittemberg, and
had acquired such readiness in the Dutch language that he
was chosen pastor of a congregation there, which office
he discharged greatly to their satisfaction until the acces-
sion of Edward VI. At this time bishop Ridley invited
him home, and made him prebendary and divinity-reader
of St. Paul's, where he was a very frequent preacher as
long as Edward lived. When queen Mary made her trium-
phal entry into London, Aug. 3, 1553, Rogers had the
boldness to preach a sermon at Paul's Cross on the follow-
ing Sunday, in which he exhorted the people to abide by
the doctrine taught in king Edward's days, and to resist
popery in all its forms and superstitions. For this he was
immediately called before the privy-council, in which were
several of the restored popish bishops, but appears to have
defended himself so ably that he was dismissed unhurt.
This security, however, was not of long duration, and two
days before Mary issued her proclamation against preach-
ing the reformed doctrines (August 18) he was ordered to
remain a prisoner in his own house at St. Paul's. Erom
* Ath. Ox, vol. I. new edit, by Bliss. Brook's Lives of the Puritans.
ROGERS. 331
this he might, it is thought, easily have escaped, and he
certainly had many inducements to make the attempt. He
knew he could expect no forgiveness ; that he might be
well provided for in Germany ; and that he had a wife and
ten children ; but he preferred giving his testimony to the
truth of what he had believed and preached, at whatever
risk.
After being confined six months in his own house he
was removed to Newgate, where his confinement was ag-
gravated by every species of severity ; and in January 1555,
was examined before Gardiner, bishop of Winchester : the
purport of his examination, as written by himself, is .given
at considerable length by Fox, but is not capable of abridg-
ment. The issue was that Mr. Rogers was condemned to
be burnt on Feb. 4, which sentence he bore with the great-
est constancy and patience. On the day of his execution
he was awakened with some difficulty out of a sound sleep,
and only requested of Bonner, who came to perform the
office of degrading him from holy orders, that he might see
his family; but this was denied him. On his way, how-
ever, to Smithfield, his wife and ten children, with one at
the breast, contrived to meet him. When he came to the
stake, although not permitted to say much, he exhorted
the people to remain steady in the faith and doctrine which
had been taught them, and for which he was now willing-
to resign his life. As he was the first who had suffered in
this reign, and one well known for his piety and usefulness,
his'death made no slight impression on the multitude who
witnessed it, many of whom were afterwards emboldened
by such scenes as this wretched reign presented, either to
suffer in the same cause, or to preserve the tenour and
spirit of the reformation until the accession of Elizabeth
restored them to their riberty. 1
ROGERS (Dr. JOHN), an English divine, was born in
1679, at Ensham in Oxfordshire, where his father was vicar
and rector of Wick-Rissington, in Gloucestershire. He
was educated at New college school, in Oxford ; and, in
1693, elected scholar of Corpus Christi college. After
taking the degrees in arts, and entering into orders, he
waited a long time for a fellowship, by reason of the slow-
succession in the college ; but at length succeeded Mr,
1 Fox's Acts and Monuments, Strypn's CVanmcr, p, 58, S-2, 29j, 315, 243L,
S4i, 411. WordsworlliVEcd, Biography.
334 ROGERS.
Edmund Chishull, in 1706, but in the mean time had becti
presented to the vicarage of Buchland, in Berkshire, about
ten miles from Oxford, in which he continued about five
or six years, dividing his' time usefully between his cure
and the university. At the former he became so popular,
that the inhabitants entered into a handsome subscription
for an afternoon sermon by him, which was discontinued
after he left them. Jn 1710, be took a bachelor of divi-
nity's degree ; and, two years after, went to London, to be
lecturer of St. Clement's Danes. He afterwards became
lecturer of the united parishes of Christ-church, and St.
Leonard's Foster-lane. In 1716, he was presented to the
rectory of Wrington, in Somersetshire ; and, the same year,
resigning his fellowship, married the hon. Mrs. Lydia Hare,
sister to the lord Colerane, who was his pupil in the uni-
versity. Some time after, he was elected canon residen-
tiary of the church of Wells ; in which he also bore the
office of sub-dean. In 1719, he engaged in the Bangorian
controversy, and published, upon that occasion, " A Dis-
course of the visible and invisible Church of Christ : in
which it is shewn, that the powers, claimed by the officers
of the visible church, are not inconsistent with the supre-
macy of Christ as head, or with the rights and liberties of
Christians, as members of the invisible church," 8vo. The
Rev. Dr. Sykes having published an " Answer to this Dis-
course," our author replied to him in "A Review of the
Discourse of the visible and invisible Church of Christ."
He gained much credit by these performances, even
those who were against his argument allowing him to have
good parts and an excellent pen ; and the university of
Oxford made a public acknowledgment of their opinion of
his merit, by conferring on him, in 1721, without his
knowledge, and by diploma, the 'degree of doctor in divi-
nity. Jn 1726, he was made chaplain to George II. then
prince of Wales ; and about the same time appeared in
defence of Christianity, against the attacks of Collins in
his " Scheme of Literal Prophecy." Rogers did not at,
first professedly write against the "Scheme;" but, pub-
liihing, in 1727, a volume of sermons, entitled " The
necessity of Divine Revelation, and the truth of the Chris-
tian Religion, asserted," he prefixed to them " A Preface
with Remarks on the Scheme of Literal Prophecy." This
preface, however, in the opinion of his friends, seemed
Kable to some exception, or at least to demand a more full
R O G E R ,S.
and distinct explication : and he received a letter upon it
the same year from his friend Dr. Nath. Marshall. He en-
deavoured to give satisfaction to all ; and therefore, Collins
having written " A Letter to the Rev. Dr. Rogers, on oc-
casion of his eight Sermons concerning the necessity of
Divine Revelation, and the Preface prefixed to them," our
author published " A Vindication of the Civil Establishment
of Religion, wherein some positions of Mr. Chandler, the
author of the l Literal Scheme, 7 &c. and an aiionymo-us
Letter on that subject, are occasionally considered. With
an Appendix, containing a Letter from the Rev. Dr. Mar-
shall, and an Answer to the same," 1723, Svo.
The same year, 1726, having resigned his lecture of St.
Clement's Danes, he retired from London, with an inten-
tion to spend the remainder of his life in the country, chiefly
at Wrington : but he had not been there long, when he
received an offer, from the dean and chapter of St. Paul's,
of the vicarage of St. Giles's Cripplegate, in London. Be
was instituted to it, Oct. 1728, but with the greatest anx-
iety and reluctance; for he had set his heart upon the
country, and was then, as he had always been from hi
youth, remarkably fond of rural exercises and diversions.
He did not enjoy his new preferment above six months;
for he died May 1, 1729, in his fiftieth year. He was
buried in the parish church of Ensham, where a handsome
monument is erected to his memory: his funeral sermon
was preached by Dr. Marshall. After his decease, some
volumes of his sermons were published ; and two tracts, viz.
" Reasons against Conversion to the Church of Rome," and
" A Persuasive to Conformity addressed to Dissenters,"
never before printed.
Dr. Rogers was a man of good abilities, and an excellent
writer, though no profound scholar, nor ambitious of being
thought one. He neither collected nor read many books ;
being persuaded, that a few well chosen, and read to good
purpose, serve infinitely more to edification, if not so much
to ostentation and parade. We are told, that the judicious
Hooker and the ingenious Mr. Norris were his favourites;
and that he was particularly conversant in their writings. 1
ROGERS (THOMAS), whom Wood styles " a most ad-
mirable theologist, an excellent preacher, and well deserv-
ing every way of the sacred function," was a native of Che-
J Life by Dr. Bu : ton prefixed ty his Sermons. 8io;j. Brit.
-3f. ROGERS.
shire, and entered a student of Christ church in 1568. He
took orders very early, and became a constant preacher ;
was M. A. in 1576, chaplain to 'Bancroft, bishop of London ;
and at last, in 1581, rector of Horninger, near Bury St.
Edmunds, in Suffolk, where he lived in great esteem, and
died Feb. 22, 1616. These are all the particulars Wood
has given of this Mr. Rogers, who appears to have been a
voluminous author and translator. Among his original
works are, 1. "A Philosophical Discourse, entitled, The
Anatomy of the Mind," Lond. 1576, 8vo, with some en-
comiastic verses by his fellow student, afterwards the cele-
brated Camden. 2. "Of the End of the World, and Se-
cond Coming of Christ," ibid. Lond. 1577, 4to, reprinted
1582 and 1583, in 8vo. 3. " The English Creed, wherein
is contained in tables an exposition on the articles which
every man is to subscribe unto," &c. ibid. 1579 and 1585,
fol. This appears also to have been reprinted twice under
a somewhat different title; the last edition, in 1586 and 1621,
is called " An Exposition of the 39 articles of the Church
of England," 4to. This work, according to Wood, was
not at first received so well as it deserved, and some things
in it he says gave offence, not only to papists and schisma-
tics, but even to " many protestants of a middle temper."
Wood has expressed their objections rather obscurely, but
it may be conjectured that Mr. Rogers interpreted the arti-
cles in their literal sense, and did not admit, as Wood adds,
of " the charitable latitude formerly allowed in those arti-
cles." 4. "A golden chain taken out of the rich treasure-
house of the Psalms of David," ibid. J579 and 1587, 12mo.
5. " Historical Dialoguetouchingantichristand popery," &c.
ibid. 1589, Svo. 6. *' Sermons on Romans xii. v. 6, 7, 8,"
ibid. 1590. 7. " Miles Christian us, or, a Defence of all
necessary writings and writers, written against an Epistle
prefixed to a Catechism by Miles Moses," ibid. 1590, 4to.
8. " Table of the lawful use of an Oath, and the cursed
state of vain swearers," ibid. 9. " Two Dialogues," or
Conferences concerning kneeling at the Sacrament, ibid.
1608. Wood enumerates about thirteen volumes of trans-
lations from various foreign divines, among whom are St.
Augustine, Thomas a Kempis, &c. &C. 1
ROGERS (THOMAS), another English divine, of a some-
what different stamp, was the son and grandson of two
Ath. Ox. rol. I. tiew edit, by Bliss.
ROGERS.
successive rectors of Bishops Hampton, in Warwickshire,
where he was horn, Dec. 27, 1660, and educated at the
free-school there. In Lent-term 1675, he entered of Tri-
nity college, Oxford, but soon after removed to Hart hall,
where he took his degrees in arts, and went into holy or-
ders. Wood celebrates him as a man of extraordinary me-
mory, and independent of the common helps to that faculty,
either in the pulpit or in conversation. The latter he enli-
vened by quotations of uncommon accuracy, particularly
from the classics, and would even give the page, &c. if re-
quired* His sermons he carefully studied, yet delivered
them fluently without notes, and, as Wood says, in elegant
and correct language. In July 1689, he was inducted to
the small rectory of Slapton, near Towcester, in North-
amptonshire. He died of the small-pox, while on a visit
at London, June 8, 1694, and was buried in St. Saviour's,
Southvvark. Wood speaks of him as a true son of the
church of England, in opposition to all extremes, and his
writings shew him a friend to the revolution. These writ-
ings are mostly poetical, published without his name. As
we have not seen any of them, we can only deduce from
some expressions used by Wood, that they were not all
becoming the character of a divine; their titles are, 1.
" Lux occidentalis : or Providence displayed in the coro-
nation of king William and queen Mary," Lond. 1689. 2.
" The Loyal and Impartial Satyrist, containing eight mis-
cellany poems," ibid. 1693, 4to. These seem mostly le-
velled at the Jesuits and Jacobites. 3. " A Poesy for Lo-
vers," &c. ibid. 1693, 4to. 4. " The conspiracy of guts
and brains; or an answer to the Turn-shams," ibid. 1693.
In prose, he wrote " A true Protestant Bridle ; or some
cursory remarks upon a Sermon preached (by William Ste-
phens, rector of Sutton) before the Lord Mayor, &c. Jan.
30, 1693," ibid. 1694, 4to ; and the "Commonwealths-
man unmasked," a rebuke, as he calls it, to the " Account
of Denmark," by Molesworth. This he dedicated, and
had the honour to present to king William, who received it
very graciously. 1
ROHAN (HENRY DUKE DE), peer of France, prince of
Leon, colonel general of the Swiss and Grisons, one of the
greatest men France produced in his age, was born August
21, 1572, at the castle of Blein, in Bretany. He distin-
Ath. Ox. vol. II.
VOL. XXVI. Z
338 R O II A N.
guishcd himself at the siege of Amiens when but sixteen,
in presence of Henry IV. who had a sincere regard for him,
and alter the death of that prince lie hccame chief of the
French protestants, to whom he rendered the most import-
ant services, both at the head of their armies, and in ne-
gociations. He fought with success in Holland, Germany,
Italy, and France, and carried on three wars against Louis
XIII. in favour of the protestants; the last, however, ended
to the advantage of the catholics, in the capture of llochelle.
But notwithstanding the consternation into which this event
threw the duke's party, lie supported himself by those co-
pious resources with which his prudence furnished him,
refusing to surrender but on advantageous terms, and these
were granted by the peace of 1629. The civil wars with
the protestants being thus terminated, he regained the fa-
vour of Louis XIII. but not choosing to live at court, retired
to Venice, and was chosen by that republic for their gene-
ralissimo, after the unfortunate battle of Vallcggio, against
the Imperialists, but the treaty of Querasque, concluded
June '2[, 1631, rendered his plans useless. The king of
France afterwards employed him as ambassador extraordi-
nary to the Orisons, to assist them in reducing to obedience
the Valteline, and counties of Bormio, and Chiavenes,
which were supported in rebellion by the Spaniards and
Imperialists. The Orisons immediately declared him their
general, and their choice was confirmed by Louis XIII. who
appointed him in 163'2, ambassador extraordinary to the Hel-
vetic body ; but early in 163 5, he received orders to return to
Venice, and having staid there some months, was sent back
to the Orisons, and seized the passages of the Valteline,
took Bormio, Chiavenes, and Riva, and defeated the Ger-
mans and Spaniards. The Grisons having rebelled some
time alter because France delayed to withdraw its forces,
he made a new treaty with them March 26, 1637, which
did not please the court, and this circumstance obliged him
to retire to Geneva, that he might avoid the resentment of
cardinal Richelieu; but he left that city in January 1638,
to join his friend the duke of Saxe Weimar, who was going
to engage the Imperialists near Rhinfeld. The duke of
Jiohan placed himself at the head of the Nassau regiment,
broke through the enemies' ranks, was \vouiidcd, Feb. 28,
1638, ami died of his wounds, April 13 following, aged
fifty- nine. He was the author of many works, among which
are, 1. " Memoirs," the most complete edition of which
fe O H A N. 339
is in 2 vols. 12mo, containing the transactions of trance
from 16 10 to 1629. 2. " Les int6r6sts des Princes,'* 12mo.
3. " Le parfait Capitaine, ou P Abreg6 des Guerres des
Commentaires de Cesar," 12mo. 4. " Memoires" and
Letters, relative to the war of the Valtelines, 3 vols. 12mo;
vol. I. contains the " Memoirs; 1 ' the two others, the "Pieces
Justificatives," the greatest part of which had never been
printed before. From the preface we learn the following
anecdote : Tjrfs nobleman being at Venice, was informed
that the grand signor would sell him this kingdom of Cy-
prus, and grant him the investureof it, on condition of his
giving the Porte two hundred thousand crowns, and agreeing
to pay an annual tribute of twenty thousand crowns. The
duke being a protestant, intended to purchase this island,
and settle the protestant families of France and Germany
there. He negociated the affair skilfully with the Porte, by
means of the patriarch Cyril, with whom he was much con-
nected ; but that patriarch's death, and other unexpected
incidents, prevented the execution of his design. The
above anecdote originated in the memoirs of the duchess of
Rohan, Margaret de Bethune, daughter of the great Sully,
who married at Paris, Henry de Rohan, February 7, 1605.
This lady, who was a protestant, rendered herself cele-
brated by her courage. She defended Castres against the
marechal de Th6mines, 1625, lived in strict conjugal har-
mony with the duke her husband, and died at Paris, Oct.
22, 1660. The French biographers tell us that all Henry
de Rohan's works are excellent, and extremely proper to
form good soldiers : he writes like a great general and able
politician, and his letters on the war of the mountains are
very instructive. The duke trod in the steps of Sertdrius,
which he had learned from Plutarch, and the m.irechal dej
Catinat trod in those of the duke. To all these uncomirfon
talents, the duke joined great sweetness of temper, the
most affable and pleasing manners, and a degree of gene-
rosity seldom seen. He discovered neither pride, ambition,
nor selfish views ; and frequently said, that glory and zeal
for the public welfare, never encamp where private interest
is the commander. We have two good lives of this great
man, one by Fauvelet du Toe, Paris, 1666, 12mo, the
other by the Abb6 Perau, Paris, 1767, 2 vols. 12mo. Some
notice may be taken of BENJAMIN de Rohan, brother of the
preceding, who .supported the duke's undertakings during
the protestant war, after having learned the military art in
ROHAN
Holland under prince Maurice of Nassau. He made him-
self master of Lower Poiton, 1 622, and went into England
soon after to solicit help for the Roohellers. In 1625, he
took the isle of Rhe, and ravaged the whole coast from the
mouth of the Garonne to that of the Loire, by the capture
of several merchant ships. M. Rohan was driven from the
isle of Rlie* some time after, then from that of Oleron, and
forced to retire into England, where he was active in pro-
curing the succour sent to Rochelle ; but that city being
taken, notwithstanding these succours, he would not re-
turn to France, and died in England 1630, leaving no
children. 1
ROHAN (ANNE), sister of the duke de Rohan, deserves
also to be mentioned as a zealous supporter of the reformed
religion during the civil wars, in which period she sustained
with great courage the hardships of the siege of Rochelie,
and, with her mother, refused to be comprehended in the
capitulation, choosing rather to remain a prisoner of war.
She was celebrated among her party for her piety and cou-
rage, and generally respected for her learning and capa-
city. She was also admired for her poetical talents ; par-
ticularly for a poem written on the death of Henry IV. of
France. She studied the Old Testament in the original
language, and used in her devotions the Hebrew Psalms.
She died unmarried, September 20, 1646, at Paris, in the
sixty-second year of her age. The celebrated Anna Maria
Schurman addressed some letters to this lady, which are in
the collection of her works. 3
ROHAULT (JAMES), a French philosopher, was the son
of a rich merchant at Amiens, and born there in 1620. He
cultivated the languages and belles lettres in his own coun-
try, and then was sent to Paris to study philosophy. He
seems to have been a lover of truth, and to have sought it
with much impartiality. He read the ancient and modern
philosophers ; but was most struck with Des Cartes, of
whom he became a zealous follower, and drew up an
abridgment and explanation of his philosophy with great
clearness and method. In the preface to his " Physics,'*
for so his work is entitled, he makes no scruple to say, that
" the abilities and accomplishments of this philosopher
must oblige the whole world to confess, that France is at
least as capable of producing and raising men versed in all
1 Moreri. Diet. Hist.
* Geu. Diet. Diet, des Femmes celebrcs.
R O H A U L T. 341
arts and branches of knowledge as ancient Greece.'* Cler-
selier, well known for his translation of many pieces of
Des Cartes, conceived such an affection for Rohault, on
account of his attachment to this philosopher, that he gave
him his daughter in marriage, against all the remonstrances
of his family.
Rohault's physics were written in French, but have been
translated into Latin by Dr. John Clarke, with his brother
Dr. Samuel Clarke's notes, in which the Cartesian errors
are corrected upon the Newtonian system. The fourth
and best edition of " Rohaulti Physica," by Clarke, is that
of 1718, 8vo. He wrote also " Elemens de Mathe"ma-
tiques," a " Traite de Mechanique," and " Entretiens sur
]a Philosophic :" but these dialogues are founded and car-
ried on upon the principles of the Cartesian philosophy,
which has now no other merit than that of having corrected
the errors of the ancients. Rohault died in 1675, and left
behind him the character of an amiable and learned man,
and an able philosopher.
His posthumous works were collected and printed in two
neat little volumes, first at Paris, and then at the Hague
in 16^0. The contents of them are, 1. The first six books
of Euclid. 2. Trigonometry. 3. Practical Geometry. 4.
Fortification. 5. Mechanics. 6. Perspective. 7. Spheri-
cal Trigonometry. 8. Arithmetic, 1
ROLAND (MARIE-JEANNE PHILEPON), wife of one of
the republican ministers of France, who signed the order
for the execution of the king, was born at Paris in 1754.
She was the daughter of an engraver, and acquired some
skill in music and painting, and a general taste for the fine
arts. In 1780 she married Roland, and in 1787 visited
Switzerland and England, and in these countries is said to
have acquired that ardent attachment to the principles of
liberty, which was in general so little understood by her
countrymen. M. Roland having been appointed inspector
of the manufactories at Lyons, was deputed to the consti-
tuent assembly, to obtain from it succours necessary for
the payment of the debt of that town. Madame Roland at
this period settled with her husband in the capital, and
took delight in making her house the rendezvous of the
Brissotine party, and among them acquired such supe-
riority, that her biographers would have us believe that,
1 Moreri. Martin's Biog. Philos. Button'* Dictionary.
542 K O L A N D.
for a time, she was the secret power that directed the
whole government of France ; perhaps one reason why it
was so ill directed. Jn Marcji 1792, when the king endea r
voured to allay the public discontents, by appointing 3,
popular administration, Roland was chosen minister or the
interior, and what kind of minister he was may be conjec-
tured from a speech of Danton's. When Roland resigned,
and was urgently pressed by the assembly to resume his
functions, Dan ton exclaimed, " if we give an invitation to
Roland, we must give one to his wife too. I know all the
virtues of the minister, but we want men who see other-
wise than by their wives." Indeed this lady, who had a
remarkably good opinion of herself, informs us in her me-
moirs that she was in fact the minister without the name ;
and revised, or perhaps dictated, the letter which Roland
addressed to the king on going out of office; " if he had
written sermons," said she, "I should have done the same."
On the 7th of December, 1792, having appeared at the
bar of the national convention, to repel a denunciation,
made against her, she spoke with ease and eloquence, and
was afterwards admitted to the honours of a sitting. She
presented herself there again, when the decree was passed
against her husband ; but then, her eloquence having lost
its charms, she was refused a hearing, and was herself sent
to the Abbaye. From this prison she wrote to the assembly,
and to the minister of the interior ; her section also de-
manded her liberty, but it was in vain; and on the 24th
of June, 1793, she was sent to the convent of St. Pelagic,
which had been converted into a prison, where she passed
her time in consoling her fellow prisoners, and composing
an account of her own life, which has since been published.
At length she was called before the revolutionary tribunal,
and on Nov. 8, was condemned to death for having con-
spired against the unity and indivisibility of the republic.
Her execution immediately followed. On passing the
statue of liberty, in the Place de la Revolution, she bent
her head towards it, exclaiming, " O Liberty, how many
crimes are perpetrated in thy name. 3 ' She left one daugh-
ter, whose only provision was her mother's writings, which
are as follow : " Opuscules," on moral topics, which treat
of the soul, melancholy, morality, old age, friendship, love,
retirement, &c. ; " Voyage en Angleterre et en Suisse;"
and when in prison she composed what she entitled " Ap-
pel a Timpartiale Posterite"," containing her own private
ROLAND. 343
memoirs, a strange mixture of modern philosophy and
the current politics of the revolution, with rhapsodies of
romance, and every thing that can shew the dangers of a
<* little learning." Although this work was written when.
she was in hourly expectation of death, its principal cha-
racteristics are levity and vanity. She was unquestionably
a woman of considerable abilities, and might have been,
what we are told she was very ambitious of, a second Ma-
cauley, without exciting the envy of the amiable part of
her sex ; but she would be the head of a political party
that was to guide the affairs of a distracted nation, and she
fell a sacrifice to the confusion of principle in which she
had assisted. 1
ROLANDINO, an early Italian historian, was born at
Padua in 1200. He studied at Bologna, and had kept a
chronicle of memorable events as they occurred, which was
continued by his son, and in 1262 was read publicly before
the university of Padua, submitted to an attentive exami-
nation, and solemnly approved, Rolandino died in 1276.
His history, which extends to 1260, is accounted faithful,
and has been highly praised by Vossius, who thinks that he
surpassed all the writers of his age in perspicuity, order,
and judgment. An edition of his work, with other chro-
nicles, was given at Venice in 1636, by Felix Osius, and
it has been reprinted by Muratori, in the seventh volume
of his Italian historians.*
ROLLE (HENRY), a learned and upright judge, was the
second son of Robert Rolle of Heanton in Devonshire,
where he was born in 1589. In 1606 he entered Exeter
college, Oxford, and resided there about two years, after
which he was admitted a member of the Inner Temple,
Feb. 6, 1608, and studied the law with great perseverance
and success. His contemporaries Here were Littleton,
Herbert, Gardiner, and Selden, with all whom he formed
a lasting friendship. Being admitted to the bar, he prac-
tised in the court of King's Bench, and raised a very high
reputation as a sound lawyer. His reading and practice
were equally extensive ; and he seems to have been formed
by nature for patient study, deep penetration, and clear-
ness and solidity of judgment. He soon discovered the
hinge upon which every cause turned, and when he was
convinced himself, had the art of easily convincing others.
a I'impartiale Posterite. Biog. Moderne. Diet. Hist.
9 Moreri.
344 R O L L E.
In the latter end of the reign of James I. and beginning of
that of Charles I. he sat as member of parliament for Kel-
lington in Cornwall; and in 1638 was elected summer
reader of the Inner Temple, .but the plague raging then
in London, he did not read until Lent following, and in
1640 he was made serjeant at law. On the breaking out
of the rebellion, he took the covenant, and, in 1645, was
made one of the judges ; and in J648 was promoted to be
lord chief justice of the King's Bench, in which office his
integrity was acknowledged by the generality of the
loyalists themselves. He was, of all the judges, the most
averse from trying any of the king's party for treason,
thinking indeed that their defence, in which they insisted
upon the illegality of the government, was too well founded.
He resigned his office some time before his death, which
happened July 30, 1656. He was buried in the chinch of
Shapwicke near Glastonbury in Somersetshire, the manor
of which he had purchased some years before, and had his
residence there. In Tawstock church near Barnstaple in
Devonshire, is a monument to Alexander Rolle, a lawyer,
who died in 1660, aged forty-eight, and was probably son
to our judge.
The " Reports of sir Henry Rolle in the King's Bench
from 12 to 22 Jac. I." 2 vols. folio, French, as well as his
other learned works, are held in great repute ; and be-
sides these, which were printed in 1675, he wrote " An
Abridgment of Cases, and Resolutions of the Law," in
French, which was published by sir Matthew Hale, with a
learned English preface, addressed to the young students
in the law of England, in which he gives judge Rolle a very
high character. According to Wood, the " great men of
the law living in those times used to say, that this Henry
Rolle was a just man, and' that Matthew Hale was a good
man ; yet the former was by nature penurious, and his wife
made him worse : the other was contrary, being wonder-
fully charitable and open-handed." Mr. Hargrave men-
tions the above " Abridgment" as excellent in its kind,
and in point of method, succinctness, legal precision, and
many other respects, fit to be proposed as an example for
other abridgments of the law. D'Anvers and Viner were
so sensible of this, that they both adopted lord Rolle's
method ; in fact D'Anvers's abridgment, as far as it goes,
is translated from that of lord Rolle. 1
i Atb. Ox, vol. II. Bridgraan's Legal Bibliography.
R O L L E. 345
ROLLE (MiCHEL), a French mathematician, was born
at Ambert, a small town in Auvergne, April 21, 1652. His
first studies and employments were under notaries and at.
torneys ; occupations but little suited to his genius, and
therefore he quitted them and went to Paris in 1675, with
no other recommendation than that of writing a fine hand,
and subsisted by giving lessons in penmanship. But as it
was his inclination for the mathematics which had drawn
him to that city, he attended the masters in this science,
and soon became one himself. Ozanam proposed a ques-
tion in arithmetic to him, to which Rolle gave a solution
so clear and good, that the minister Colbert made him a
handsome gratuity, which at last became a fixed pension.
He then abandoned penmanship, and gave himself up en-
tirely to algebra and other branches of the mathematics.
His conduct in life gained him many friends ; in which his
scientific merit, his peaceable and regular behaviour, with
an exact and scrupulous probity of manners, were conspi-
cuous. He was chosen a member of the ancient academy
of sciences in 1685, and named second geometrical-pen-
sionary on its renewal in 1699 ; which he enjoyed till his
death, which happened July 5, 1719, at the age of 67.
The works published by Rolle were, 1. "A Treatise of
Algebra," 1690, 4to. 2. u A method of resolving Inde-
terminate Questions in Algebra," in 1699. Besides a great
many curious pieces inserted in the Memoirs of the Aca-
demy of Sciences, as follow : 1. A rule for the approxima-
tion of irrational cubes, an. 1 666, vol. X. 2. A method of re-
solving equations of all degrees which are expressed in ge-
neral terms, an. 1666, vol. X. 3. Remarks upon geometric
lines, 1702 and 1703. 4. On the new system of infinity,
1703, p. 312. 5. On the inverse method of tangents,
1705, p. 25, 171, 222. 6. Method of finding the foci of
geometric lines of all kinds, 1706, p. 284. 7. On curves,
both geometrical and mechanical, with their radii of cur-
vature, 1707, p. 370. 8. On the construction of equations,
1708, and 1709. 9. On the extermination of the unknown
quantities in the geometrical analysis, 1709, p. 419. 10.
Rules and remarks for the construction of equations, 1711,
p. 86. 11. On the application of diophantine rules to geo-
metry, 1712. 12. On a paradox in geometric effections,
1713, p. 243. 13. On geometric constructions, 1713, p.
26J, and 1714, p. 5. 1
Elogeby Fontenelle. Moreri. -Hutton's Diet.
346 R O L L I.
ROLLI (PAUL ANTONIO), a learned Italian, was born at
Rome in 1687. He was the son of an architect, and a
pupil of the celebrated Gravina, who inspired him with a
taste for learning and poetry. An intelligent and learned
English lord, we believe lord Burlington, having brought
Jaini to London, introduced him to the female branches of
the royal family as their master in the Tuscan language,
and he remained in England until the death of queen Caro-
line, who patronized him. In 1729 he was elected a fel-
low of the Royal Society, by the title of Dr. Paul Antonio
Rolli. He returned to Italy in 1747, where he died in
1767, in the eightieth year of his age, leaving behind him
a very curious collection in natural history, &c. and a va-
luable and well-chosen library. His principal works first
appeared in London in 1735, 8vo, consisting of odes in
blank verse, elegies, songs, &c. after the manner of Ca-
tullus. There is likewise by him, a collection of epigrams,
of which there are a few good, printed at Florence in 1776,
8vo, and preceded by his life by the abbe Fondini. Rolli
bore the character of one of the best Italian poets of his
day, and during his stay in London superintended editions
of several authors of his own country. The principal of
these were the satires of Ariosto, the burlesque works of
Berni, Varchi, &c. 2 vols. 8vo ; the " Decameron" of Boc-
caccio, 1727, 4to and folio, from the valuable edition of
1527 ; and lastly, of the elegant " Lucretius" of Marchetti
(see MARCHETTI), which, after the manuscript was re-
vised, was printed at London in 1717. There are like-
wise by Rolli, translations into Italian verse of Milton's
"Paradise Lost," 1735, folio, and of " Anacreon," 1739,
8vo. 1
ROLLIN (CHARLES), a French writer of very great abi-
lities, was the second son of a master-cutler at Paris ; and
born there Jan. 30, 1661. He was intended, as well as
his elder brother, for his father's profession ; when a Bene-
dictine, perceiving in him a peculiar turn for letters, com-
municated this to his mother, and pressed her to give him
a liberal education. The proposal was flattering, but as
she had been left a widow, and had nothing to depend
upon but the continuation of her late husband's business,
and was incapable of providing for his education, she was re-
luctant to lose the advantages of her son's skill. The good
Encycl. Britannica. Diet, Hist. Burney's Hist, of Music.
R O L L I N. 347
Benedictine, however, removed part of her fears, by pro-
curing the youth a pension in the college of Du Plessis,
and Roliin was now suffered to pursue the natural bent of
his inclination. He distinguished himself immediately by
parts and application, and easily obtained the first rank
among his felloe-students. Many stories are told to his
advantage in this respect, and how he became known and
esteemed by the minister Pelletier, whose two eldest sons
were of Rollin's class. He studied rhetoric in the college
of Du Plessis under Mr. Hersan, whose custom it was to
create emulation among his scholars, by bestowing on them
epithets, each according to his merit ; and is said to have
declared in public, that he knew not sufficiently to dis-
tinguish the young Roliin otherwise than by giving hirn.
the title of " Divine :" and when Hersan was asked for
any piece in verse or prose, he used to refer them to Rol-
iin, " who,'' he said, " would do it better than he could."
Hersan intended Roliin for his successor, therefore first
took him as an assistant in 1683, and afterwards, in.
1687, gave up the chair to him. The year after, Hersan,
with the king's leave and approbation, declined the pro-
fessorship of eloquence in the royal college in favour of
his beloved disciple Roliin, who was admitted into it. No
man ever exercised the functions of it with greater eclat :
he often made Latin orations, to celebrate the memorable
events of the times ; and frequently accompanied them
with poems, which wer^ generally read and esteemed. In
1694, he was chosen rector of the university, and conti-
nued in that office two years, which was then a great mark
of distinction. By virtue of his office, he spoke the an-
nual panegyric upon Louis XIV. He made many useful
regulations in the university, and particularly revived the
study of the Greek language, which was then growing into
neglect. He was a man of indefatigable attention, and
trained innumerable persons, who did honour to the church,
the state, and the army. The first president Portail was
pleased one day to reproach Roilin in a jocular strain, as
if he exceeded even himself in doing business : to whom
Roilin replied, with that plainness and sincerity which was
natural to him, " It becomes you well, Sir, to reproach
me with this : it is this habit of labour in me, which has
distinguished you in the place of advocate general, which
has raised you to that of first president : you owe the great-
ness of your fortune to me,"
548 R O L L I N.
Upon the expiration of the rectorship, cardinal Noailles
engaged him to superintend the studies of his nephews,
who were in the college of Laon ; and in this office he
was agreeably employed, when, in 1699, he was with
great reluctance made coadjutor to the principal of the
college of Beauvais. This college was then a kind of a
desert, inhabited by very few students, and without any
manner of discipline : but Rollings great reputation and in-
dustry soon made it a most flourishing society. In this si-
tuation he remained till 1712 ; when, the contests between
the Jesuits and the Jansenists drawing towards a crisis, he
fell a sacrifice to the prevalence of the former. F. Le Tel-
lier, the king's confessor, and bigoted agent of the Jesuits,
infused into his master prejudices against Rollin, whose
connections with cardinal de Noailles would alone have
sufficed to have made him a Jansenist ; and on this account
he lost his share in the principality of Beauvais. No man,
however, could have lost less in this than Rollin, who had
every thing left him that was necessary to make him happy ;
retirement, books, and a decent competence. He now
began to employ himself upon Quintilian ; an author he
justly valued, and not without uneasiness saw neglected.
He retrenched in him whatever he thought rather curious
than useful for the instruction of youth : he placed summa-
ries or contents at the head of each chapter ; and he ac-
companied the text with short select notes. His edition ap-
peared in 1715, in 2 vols. 12mo, with an elegant preface,
setting forth his method and views.
In 1720, the university of Paris, willing to have a head
suitable to the importance of their interests in the then cri-
tical conjuncture of affairs, chose Rollin again rector : but
he was displaced in about two months by a lettrede cachet.
The university had presented to the parliament a petition,
in which it had protested against taking any part in the ad-
justment of the late disputes; and their being congratu-
lated in a public oration by Rollin on this step occasioned
the letter, which ordered them to chuse a rector of more
moderation. Whatever the university might suffer by the
removal of Rollin, the public was probably a gainer ; for
he now applied himself to compose his excellent treatise
<4 Upon the manner of studying and teaching the Belles
Lettres :" " De la maniere d'etudier et d'enseigner les
Belles Lettres." This work was published 1726, in two vo-
lumes, and two more in 1728, 8vo, and a copy of it
ROLLIN. 349
presented to bishop Atterbury, then in banishment, who
wrote to Rollin a Latin letter, of great beauty and
elegance, which gives a just idea of our author and his
writings. Whatever defects more recent inquiries have
discovered in this work, it was for many years the first of
its kind, and may yet be recommended as laying the foun-
dation of a good taste.
Encouraged by the great success of this work, and the
happy reception it met with, he undertook another of
^qual use and entertainment; his " Histoire Ancienne,"
&c. or " Ancient History of the Egyptians, Carthaginians,
Babylonians, Medes and Persians, Macedonians and Greeks,"
which he finished in 13 vols. 8vo, and published between
1730 and J738. Voltaire, after having observed that Rol-
lin was " the first member of the university of Paris who
wrote French with dignity and correctness," says of this
work, that " though the last volumes, which were written
in too great a hurry, are not equal to the first, it is never-
theless the best compilation that has yet appeared in any
language; because it is seldom that compilers are eloquent,
and Rollin was remarkably so." While the last volumes of
his " Ancient History" were printing, he published the first
of his " Roman History ;" which he lived to carry on,
through the eighth and into part of the ninth, to the war
against the Cimbri, about seventy years before the battle
of Actium. Crevier, the worthy disciple of Rollin, con-
tinued the history to the battle of Actium, which closes the
tenth volume ; and has since completed the original plan
of Rollin, in 16 vols. 12mo, which was to bring it down
from the foundation of the city to the reign of Constantine
the Great. All these works of Rollin have met with uni-
versal approbation, been translated into several languages,
and in English have long been, popular, although strict
criticism may find much to object, as to inaccuracies, and
want of purity of style. What, however, forms an ho-
nourable distinction in all his works, is his regard for the
interests of religion and virtue.
This excellent person died Sept. 14, 1741. He had been
named by the king a member of the academy of inscrip-
tions and belles lettres in 1701 : but, as he had not then
brought the college of Beauvais into repute, and found he
had more business upon his hands than was consistent with
a decent attendance upon the functions of an academician,
he begged the privileges of a veteran, which were honoura-
350 R O L L I tt.
bly granted him. Yet he maintained his connexions with
the academy, attended their assemblies as often as he
could, laid the plan of his " Ancient History" before them,
and demanded an academician for his censor. He was a
man of many excellent qualities, very ingenious, consum-
mate in polite learning, of rigid morals, and great piety;
which last has given some of his countrymen, and their
imitators here, an opportunity to remark that he wanted
nothing but a mixture of the philosophic in his nature to
make him a very complete person. When he was dis-
charged from the rectorship in 1720, the words of the let-
tre de cachet were, as we have seen, that the university
should choose a rector of more moderation : but that was
hardly possible ; for, nothing could be more benign, more
pacific, or more moderate, than Rollings temper. He
shewed, it must be owned, some zeal for the cause of Jan-
senism : he had a very great veneration for the memory of
abbe Paris, and had been seen with others to visit his tomb
in the church-yard of St. Medard, at Paris, and to pay his
devotions to him as a saint : he revised and retouched the
life of this abbe, which was printed in 1730: he translated
into Latin, at the request of father Quesnel, the protesta-
tion of this saint, and was assisting in other works designed
to support Jansenism ; and, oh these accounts, he became
obnoxious to the Jesuits and the court. It is related, that,
when he was one day introduced to cardinal Fleury, in
order to present him with a volume of his " Roman His-
tory," the minister, very uncivilly, said to a head-officer
of the guards, " Sir, you should endeavour to convert this
man :" to whom Rollin very well, and yet not disrespect-
fully, replied, " Oh, my lord, the gentleman would lose
his time ; I am an unconvertible man." Rollin was, how-
ever, a very estimable character. We find in his works
generous and exalted sentiments, a zeal for the good of
^ociety, a love of virtue, a veneration for Providence, and
in short every thing, though on profane subjects, sancti-
fied with a spirit truly religious. So says even Voltaire,
and we may add the similar testimony of the poet Rousseau,
who conceived such a veneration for Rollin that he came
out of banishment incognito to Paris, on purpose to visit
and pay his respects to him. He looked upon his histories,
not only as the best models of the historic kind, but as a
complete system of politics ana 1 morals, and a most instruc-
ROLLOCK. 351
five school for princes as well as subjects to learn all their
duties in. 1
ROLLOCK (ROBERT), the fifst principal of the college
of Edinburgh, was the son of Davijl Rollock, of Poohouse,
or, as it is now written, Powis, in the neighbourhood of
Sterling, in Scotland. He was born in 1555, and learned
the rudiments of the Latin language from Mr. Thomas Bu-
chanan, who kept, says archbishop Spotswood, a famous
school at that time, at Sterling, as we learn from Melchior
Adam, who appears to have copied from the Latin life of
Rollock. From school he was sent to the university of St.
Andrew's, and admitted a student in St. Salvator's college.
His progress in the sciences, which were then taught, was
so great and so rapid, that he had no sooner taken his
master's degree than he was chosen a professor of philoso-
phy, and immediately began to read lectures in St. Salva-
tor's college. This must have been at a very early period
of life, for he quitted St. Andrew's in 1583, when, accord-
ing to Mackenzie, he had taught philosophy for some time.
Not long before this period, the magistrates of Edinburgh
having petitioned the king to erect a university in that city,
he granted them a charter under the great seal, allowing;
them all the privileges of a university ; and the college
being built in 1582, they made choice of Mr. Rollock to
be their principal and professor of divinity.
At what time he was ordained, or whether ordained at
all, has been the subject of some controversy, but it is
certain that he became famous in the university, and among
his countrymen in general, for his lectures in theology,
and for the persuasive power of his preaching : for Calder-
wood assures us that in 1539, he and Mr. Robert Bruce,
another popular preacher, made the earl of Bothwell so
sensible of his vicious courses, that, upon Nov. 9, his lord-
ship humbled himself upon his knees in the east church in
the forenoon, and in the high church in the afternoon, con-
fessing before the people, with tears in his eyes, his disso-
lute and licentious life, and promising to prove for the
future, another man.
In 1593 principal Rollock and others were appointed by
the parliament to confer with the popish lords; and in the
next year he was one of those who, by appointment of the.
general assembly of the church, met at Edinburgh in the
1 Nicron, vol. XLIII. -Chaufep'uv Diet. Hist.
352 11 O L L O C K.
month of May, and presented, to his majesty a paper en
titled " The dangers which, through the impunity of ex-
communicated papists, traffickers with the Spaniards, and
other enemies of the religion and estates, are imminent to
the true religion professed within this realm, his majesty's
person, crown, and liberty of this our native country." In
1595 he was nominated one of the commissioners for the
visitation of colleges, to inquire into the doctrine and life
of the several masters, the discipline used by them, the
state of their rents and living, and to make their report to
the next assembly. In 1596, the behaviour of some of the
clergy having drawn upon them the resentment of the king,
Mr. Rollock was employed, on account of his moderation,
to soften that resentment, and to turn his majesty's wrath
against the papists. In 1597 he was chosen moderator of
the general assembly, the highest dignity in the Scotch
church, and had the influence to get some abuses redressed.
Being one of the fourteen ministers appointed by this as-
sembly to take care of the affairs of the church, the first thing
which he did was to procure an act of the legislature, re-
storing to the bishops their seats in parliament. Though
he spent the greater part of his life in conducting the
affairs of the church, we have the authority of Spotswood
for saying, that he would have preferred retirement and
study. To the bustle of public life, especially at that tur-
bulent period, his constitution was not equal ; and his in-
clination would have confined him to his college and his
library. He was dreadfully afflicted with the stone ; the
torments of which he long bore with the fortitude and resig-
nation of a Christian. He died at Edinburgh Feb. 28, 1 598,
in the forty-third year of his age, having exhorted his
brethren, with his dying breath, to carry themselves more
dutifully to their gracious sovereign.
The only English work Mr. Rollock published was,
" Certain Sermons on several places of St. Paul's Epistles,"
Edinburgh, 1597, 8vo. The rest of his works are in Latin,
and consist of commentaries on Daniel, on the gospel of
St. John, on some of the Psalms, and on most of the
Epistles. Besides these he published " Prolegomena in
primum librum Qucestionum Theodori Bezse;" "Tractatus
de vocatione efficaci," Edinburgh, 1597; " Questiones et
Responsiones aliquot, de feed ere Dei et de Sacramentis,"
ibid. 1596, 8vo; " Tractatus brevis de providentia Dei ;"
and *' Tractatus de Excommunicatione," Lond.
R O L L O C K. 353
Geneva, 1602, 8vo. A Latin life of him was published
by George Robertson at Edinburgh in 1599, 12mo, which
Melchior Adam has chiefly followed. It contains enco-
miums and epitaphs on Mr. Rollotk from many of the most
eminent divines and scholars of his time. 1
ROLT (RICHARD), an English historical and miscella*
neous writer, was born in 1724 or 1725, it is thought at
Shrewsbury, but descended from a family of that name in
Bedfordshire. He was first placed under an officer of the
excise in the North of England, but having, in 1745,
joined the rebel army, he was dismissed from his situation.
He then went over to Dublin to visit Ambrose Philips the
poet, who was his relation, but, owing to Philips' s death
soon after, failed of procuring any establishment in that
country. While in Ireland he is said to have published
Akenside's " Pleasures of the Imagination," as his own,
but his biographer has refuted this story. He probably,
by more honourable means, recommended himself to per-
sons of distinction, as his poem, entitled " Cambria' 1 was,
when first written, intended to have been patronized by sir
\Vatkin Williams Wynne, and when corrected and pre-
pared for the press, as it now stands, was shewn to Fre-
deric prince of Wales, by general Oglethorpe and lord
Middlesex ; by whose interest he had permission to dedi-
cate it to prince George, his present majesty, when it was
printed, in 1749, in 4to. On the 25th of September of
the same year, sir Watkin Williams Wynne was killed by
a fall from his horse ; and in the following month Roft
published a poem to his memory, which was highly ad-
mired, and very popular among his countrymen.
By the above-mentioned, and some other eminent per-
sons, Rolt was encouraged to undertake his " History of
the general War" which terminated in 1748. This was
published in four successive volumes, octavo, and procured
him a correspondence with Voltaire, who sent him some
flattering letters. He was also engaged to write the " Life
of John earl of Craufurd," an officer of distinction. The
above publications do him no discredit ; and he shewed
considerable ability in defending the case of Clifford against
the Dutch West India company, and in a reply to the
answers of the Dutch civilians in that case ; as also in a
1 Mackenzie's Scotch Writers, vol. III. Melchior Adam. Dr. Gleig's -Sup-
plement to the Eucycl. Brit. Fuller's Abel Rtdiwus. Spotswood's H;siry ;
fcook VI. '
VOL, XXVI. A A
354 R O L T.
series of letters concerning the Antigallican privateer and
prize, which had been illegally seized and confiscated by
the Spaniards.
Being an author by profession, he was constantly em-
ployed by the booksellers in successive compilations, histo-
rical, commercial, &c. and in periodical publications, in
which he was concerned with Smart and others. In one of
these, " The Universal Visitor," he and Smart are said to
have been bound by a contract to engage in no other un-
dertaking, and that this contract was to remain in force
u for the term of ninety-nine years." So absurd an en-
gagement, if it ever existed, could not be supposed to
last long. Rolt, who had no other resources but from his
pen, was not to be confined in his employment, which in
one instance was thought rather singular, but more recent
times have afforded many similar impositions. Mr. Wood-
ington, a relation of his wife, being in India, became ac-
quainted with captain John Northall, of the royal regiment
of artillery, the second in command at the siege of Surat,
where he died of an apoplectic fit in the march to that
city in February 1759. This gentleman, having been sta-
tioned at Minorca, had made an excursion, in 1753, to
Italy, of which he completed an entire tour; and being a
man of curiosity and taste, noted down in his pocket-book
all the fine pictures, statues, &c. with such remarks as
everywhere occurred to him. This pocket-book fell into
the hands of Mr. Woodington ; who, at his return to
England, gave it to Holt, and he from this manuscript
journal, with the help of former printed travels, compiled
a large octavo volume, which he published under the title
of " Travels through Italy; containing new aud curious
Observations on that country : with the most authentic Ac-
count yet published of capital Pieces in Painting, Sculp-
ture, and Architecture, that are to be seen in Italy. By
John Northall, esq." c. &c. &c. 1766.
But Holt's chief supplies were by writing cantatas, songs,
j&c. for the theatres, Vauxhall, Sadler's-wells, and other
places of public resort. Of these he composed above an
Jiundred, supplying, at the shortest notice, the demands
of musical composers for those diurnal entertainments dur-
ing many years. He also produced two dramatic pieces,
viz. " Eliza," an English opera, in three acts, 1754, an4
" Almena," an English opera, in three acts, 1764. For
Ihe former of these the music wa? composed by Dr. Arue,
R O L T. 355
and for the latter by his son ; and they were both per-
formed with good success at Drury-lane theatre. In
the " Biographia Dramatica" is ascribed to him another
opera, " The Royal Shepherd," 1763; but as he omitted
it in a list of his works, which he drew up to accompany
proposals for a subscription in October 1769, it is doubted
whether that omission must be ascribed to his not being the
author, or to its having been ill received by the public, as
is related in " Biographia Dramatica."
The proposals for printing, by subscription, his poetical
works, was the last attempt of Mr. Holt, who died March 2,
1770, aged 45 ; having had two wives, by each of whom
he left a daughter. To his second wife, who survived, him
many years, and who, by her mother, was descended from
the Percys of Worcester, the late bishop of Dromore,
to whom she was thus related, allowed a pension to her
death.
The following catalogue of Mr. Holt's publications, is
subjoined to his proposals in 1769. But many of them
were published without his name, and in weekly numbers.
In folio, he published, 1. "A Dictionary of Trade and Com-
merce ; dedicated, by permission, to George Lord Anson."
To this Johnson wrote the preface. 2. " Lives of the Re-
formers ; dedicated to the Princess Dowager of Wales ;" a
decent compilation, but most valued for a fine set of mez*
zotinto heads. In quarto, 3. " Life of John earl of Crau-
furd ; dedicated to his grace James duke of Hamilton."
In octavo, &c. 4. <f History of the General War from 1733
to 1748," 4 vols. 1st volume dedicated to admiral Ver-
non ; 2d, to John earl Grenville ; 3d, to his grace Charley
duke of Marlborough ; 4th to George Dunk, earl of Hali-
fax. 5. " Universal Visitor, with several Songs." (la
this he joined with Christopher Smart, as is before-men-
tioned.) 6. " Account of capt. Northall's Travels through
Italy." 7. " Letters concerning the Antigallican priva-
teer." 8. " Case of Clifford against the Dutch West In-
dia Company." 9. " Reply to the Anssver of the Dutch
Civilians to Clifford's Case." 10. " History of England,"
4 vols. 11. " History of France," ! vol. 12. " History
of Egypt," 4 vols. 13. " History of Greece," 6 vols.
14. " Cambria; inscribed to Prince George" (his present
majesty.) 15. " Eliza," an English opera. 16. " Al-
jnena," an English opera. 17. "A Monody on the Dqath
oC Frederic Priace of Wales." 18. " An Elegiac Ode t*
AA 2
356 R O L T.
the memory of Edward Augustus, Duke of York." 19.
" A Poem on the Death of sir Watkin Williams Wynne,
bart." 20. " Shakspeare in Elysium to Mr. Garrick."
21. " The Ancient Rosciad," published in 1753.
At the time of his decease, he had projected the follow-
ing : " History of the Isle of Man," in 1 vol. afterwards
published in 1773, 8vo; and " History of the British Empire
in North America," in six volumes. And after his death
were published, for the benefit of his widow, u Select
Pieces of the late R. Roll (dedicated, by permission, to
the Right Hon. Lady Sondes, by Mary Roll), 1772,"
small 8vo.
This lady Sondes, who was daughter of the right hon.
Henry Pelham, was one of the most charitable persons of
quality in her time. She had a little French woman, who
was her almoner, and whose whole life was spent in find-
ing out proper objects for her lady's bounty, which she
distributed with a zeal for their welfare, and a delicacy for
their feelings, which makes it the subject of regret, that
the name of this excellent creature is not recollected.
They, unsolicited, discovered and applied to Mrs. Rolt
the protection of lady Sondes, on the death of her hus-
band. '
ROMAINE (WILLIAM), an English divine and writer of
^reat popularity, was born at Hartlepool in the county of
Durham, Sept. 25, 1714. His father, one of the French
protestants who took refuge in England upon the revoca-
tion of the edict of Nantz, resided at Hartlepool as a mer-
chant, and particularly as a dealer in corn. He had two
sons and three daughters, whom he educated in the strict
doctrines and discipline of the church of England, and
lived to see well settled in the world before be left it in
1757. His second son, Wiiliam, gave indication, at a
Very early age, of considerable talents, and a laudable
eagerness to improve them. This induced his father to
send him to the grammar-school, at Houghton-le-Spring,
a village in the road from Durham to Sunderland. This
school was founded by the celebrated Bernard Gilpin, rec-
tor of that parish at the memorable acra of the reformation.
At this seminary Mr. Romaine remained seven years, and
in 1730 or 1731 was sent to Oxford, where he was entered
first at Hertford-college, and thence removed to Christ-
1 uropao Mag. for 1803. Biog. Dram. BosweH's Life of Johnspo.
R O M A I N E. 357
church. He resided principally at Oxford till he took his
degree of master of arts, Oct. 15, 1737, having been or-
dained a deacon at Hereford, a year before, by Dr. Eger-
ton, bishop of that diocese.
His first engagement was the curacy of Loe Trenchard,
near Lid ford in Devonshire. In the year following he ap-
pears to have been resident at Epsom in Surrey, from the
date of a letter from him, Oct. 4, 1733, to rev. William
Warburton, upon the publication of his " Divine Legation
of Moses." In the same year he was ordained a priest by
Dr. Hoadly, bishop of Winchester. His title for orders
was probably a nomination to the church of Banstead,
which he served some years, together with that of Horton,
near Epsom, being curate to Mr. Edwards, who had both
these livings. At Banstead he became acquainted with sir
Daniel Lambert, lord-mayor of London in 1741, who had
a country-house in this parish, and appointed Mr. Romaine
to be chaplain during his mayoralty.
The first sermon which he printed had been preached
before the university of Oxford, March 4, 1739. Jt was
entitled " The Divine Legation of Moses demonstrated,
from his having made express mention of, and insisted so.
much on, the doctrine of a future state; whereby Mr.
Warburton's attempt to prove the Divine Legation of
Moses from the omission of a future state, is proved to be
absurd, and destructive of all revelation." This was fol-
lowed by a second sermon, preached also before the uni-
versity, entitled " Future rewards and punishments proved
to be the sanctions of the Mosaic dispensation." These
sermons and the letter above-mentioned to Mr. Warburton
involved him in a personal dispute* with that gentleman ;
Mr. Romaine in his letter attempted to be witty and sar-
castic ; Warburton used the same weapons and could han-
dle them better. The controversy, however, did not last
long. Mr. Romaine appeared to more advantage in 1742,
in another sermon before the university, entitled " Jep-
thah's Vow fulfilled, and his daughter not sacrificed/*
The ingenuity with which he proved this opinion obtained
him much credit, and was by many looked upon as a new
discovery, which it certainly was not, as the same point was
contended for in a sermon printed in the works of Dr.
Thomas Taylor, of Aldermanbury, an eminent puritan
* See an account of it in " Tiie Works of the Learned," for August 1739.
358 ROMAINE.
divine, who died in 1632. Besides other sermons before the
university, he preached one in 1757, entitled "The Lord
our Righteousness," in consequence of which he was re-
fused any future admission into the university pulpit. He
interpreted the articles of the church in the strict Calvi-
nistic sense, which at this time gave great offence.
Mr. Romaine had been engaged in superintending for
the press a new edition of " Calasio's Hebrew Concord-
ance and Lexicon," in four volumes folio, a work which
employed him seven years, and in 1747 he published the
first volume. The original of this work was the concord-
ance of Rabbi Nathan, a Jew, entitled " Meir Nethib,"
published at Venice in 1523, fol. with great faults and de- 1
fects. A second edition was published at Basil by Froben,
much more correct, in 1581, fol. The third edition is
this of Calasio, which he swelled into four large volumes
by adding, l. A Latin translation of Rab.' Nathan's expla-
nation of the several roots, with the author's own enlarge-
ments. 2. The Rabbinical, Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic
words, derived from, or agreeing with the Hebrew root in
signification. 3. A literal version of the Hebrew text.
4. The variations of the Vulgate and Septuagint 5. The
proper names of men, rivers, mountains. Mr. Romaine's
work is a very splendid and useful book, improved from
that of Calasio, but in point of usefulness thought greatly
inferior to Dr. Taylor's Hebrew concordance. The lion,
and rev. Mr. Cadogan, in the life of Mr. Romaine, censures
him for having omitted his author's account of the word
which is usually rendered God, and having substituted his
own in the body of the work ; a liberty which no editor is
entitled to take, although he may be justified in adding,
by way of note, to what his author has advanced.
The theological sentiments of Mr. Romaine were not so
common in his early days as they are now, and therefore
rendered him more conspicuous. As a clergyman of the
church of England he adhered to the most rigid interpre-
tation of the thirty-nine articles. The grand point which
he laboured in the pulpit, and in all his writings, was the
doctrine of the imputed righteousness of Christ. He was
also a zealous disciple of the celebrated Hutchinson, at a
time when he had not many followers in this kingdom.
From some dissatisfaction, however, or want of success in
his ministry, he appears to have formed an intention of
leaving England, and settling in the country of his ances-
R M A I N E, 35
tors. He was prevented from executing this design, by
what he piously deemed a providential interposition. He
had actually made the necessary preparations, and wa
going to the water-side, in order to secure his passage^
when he was met by a gentleman, a total stranger to him,
who asked him if his name was not Romaine. He answered
that it was. The gentleman had formerly been acquainted
with his father, and, observing a strong resemblance tot
him in his son, was induced to make the inquiry. After
some introductory conversation, he told him, that the lec-
tureship for the united parishes of St. George's Botolph-
lane and St. Botolph's Billingsgate was then vacant ; and
that, having some interest in those parishes, he would
exert it in his behalf, if he would become a candidate for
the lectureship. Mr. Romaine consented, provided he
should not be obliged to canvass in person ; a custom-
which he always thought inconsistent with the character of
a clergyman, and against which he openly protested many-
years afterwards, when he was candidate for the living of
Blackfriars. He was chosen lecturer of St. Botolph's in
1748, and the year following lecturer of St. Dunstan's in
the West. In the person of his predecessor in the latter
(Dr.Terrick), two lectureships were united : the onefounded
by Dr. White, for the use of the benchers of the Temple ;
the other a common parish lectureship. Mr. Romaine wai
elected to both, and continued some years in the quiet
exercise of his office, until an opposition arose which ended
in a law-suit that deprived him of the parish-lectureship^
but confirmed him in that founded by Dr. White, and en-
dowed with a salary of eighteen pounds a-year. Lest this
should be removed from the parish, the use of the church
was granted to him, but as lord Mansfield's decision was,
that seven o'clock in the evening was a convenient time to
preach the lecture, the church-wardens refused to open
the church till that hour, and to light it when there was
occasion. His predecessor, however, Dr. Terrick, then
become bishop of London, interposed so effectually, and
gave such a character of Mr. Romaine, that this ungene-
rous opposition ceased, every proper accommodation was
allowed to his congregation, and he continued quietly to
exercise his ministry here to the end of his life.
In 1750 he was appointed assistant morning preacher in
the church of St. George, Hanover-square. The rector,
who both appointed him to this place, and removed him
360 R O M A I N E.
from it, was Dr. Trebeck. Mr. Cadogan informs us that
" the first act originated not in personal friendship, but in
the recommendation of his character : the latter arose from
the popularity and plainness of his ministry. He preached
Christ crucified among those who are least disposed to re-
ceive him. The church was filled with the poor, and for-
saken by the rich : and that which (as a nobleman is said to
have observed) was never complained of in a play-house,
was admitted as a just cause of complaint in the house of
God. When notice was given him that the crowd of peo-
ple attending from different parts caused great inconveni-
ence to the inhabitants, who could not safely get to their
seats, he received it in the most placid manner, and said,
he was willing to relinquish an office which he had faithfully
performed, hoping that his doctrine had been Christian,
and owning the inconvenience which had attended the pa-
rishioners."
About 1752, he was appointed professor of astronomy in
Gresham college. His knowledge of the subject was suffi-
cient to qualify him for this situation, but his zeal for Hut-
chinsonian principles led him to dispute some parts of the
Newtonian philosophy in a way which did uot greatly ad-
vance his reputation, and he did not retain his professor-
ship long. He was far more popular afterwards in his op-
position to the Jew Bill. All his writings on this 4 subject
were collected by himself, and printed by the city of Lon-
don. On quitting his situation in St. George's, Hanover-
square, in 1756, he became curate and morning preacher
at St. Olave's, Southwark, and when he left it in 1759, he
became morning preacher, for nearly two years, at St. Bar-
tholomew the Great, near West Smithfield. In 1764, he
was chosen by the inhabitants of St. Andrew, Wardrobe,
and St. Anne, Blackfriars, to be their rector, the right of
presentation, which is vested in the crown and in the pa-
rishioners alternately, then belonging to the latter. This
produced a suit in chancery, which was decided in his fa-
vour in 1766. In this situation he continued during thirty
years, and was probably the most popular preacher of his
day. It was noticed in the newspapers that on the Good
Friday after his being settled here, he administered the
sacrament to upwards of five hundred persons, and on the
Sunday following to upwards of three hundred, numbers
which had never been remembered by the oldest inhabit-
ant, From this time he devoted himself to the service of
R O M A I N E. 361
his parishioners and his hearers at St. Dunstan's, but was
frequently solicited to plead the cause of charity for various
institutions, and few preachers ever produced more money
on such occasions.
His useful labours at length terminated on Sunday, July
26, 1795. During his illness, which lasted seven weeks,
his 'zeal, his faith, his animated views of immortality, ac-
corded with the uniform example of his life, and evinced,
in the gradual approaches of death, the hope, and conso-
lation, and triumph of a Christian. His character through-
out life was uniform and regular : his surviving friends
have dwelt on it with pleasure, and it certainly was as free
from frailty as the imperfect state of human nature can ad-
mit. The only prominent objection was a degree of hasti-
ness of temper, or occasional irritability, but even that he
had conquered, in a great measure, many years before his
death. By trfem to whom his preaching was acceptable,
and to whom his memory is yet dear, his printed works are
held in high estimation, and have gone through various
editions. Besides the single Sermons, Calasio's Concord-
ance, and a Comment on the 107th Psalm, Mr. Romaine
published, in the course of his life, 1. "Twelve Sermons
upon Solomon's Song," 1759. 2. "Twelve Discourses upon
the Law and Gospel," 1760. 3. "The Life of Faith," 1763.
4. " The Scripture Doctrine of the Sacrament of the Lord's
Supper," 1765. 5. " The Walk of Faith," 1771, 2 vols.
6. "An Essay on Psalmody," 1775. 7. " The Triumph
of Faith."
These were collected soon after his death, in auniforrrj
edition, with some additional pieces and a life, in which a
very full account is given of his religious principles and
ministerial labours. He appears to have been in some re-
spects an extraordinary character. Although usually re-
proached with being a methodist, a word which is not al-
ways very clearly understood by those who employ it in
the service of controversial animosity, he was one of the
most zealous advocates for the church of England that has
appeared in modern times. His attachment to her doctrines
and discipline, indeed, was such as left him but a moderate
share of respect for the dissenters, by whom he was often
accused of intolerance and bigotry. Towards the close of
life, however, it is said, he entertained more candour to-
wards the Calvinist dissenters, although he was to the last a
strenuous advocate for the service and forms of the church;
3f>2 R 6 M A I N E.
and it is certain that many dissenters of the stricter sort
contributed to increase his audiences, which were in gene-
ral the fullest ever known in London. Nor ought it to be
forgotten in the catalogue of his virtues that he evinced, in
money matters, a great share of independent spirit. He
refused large offers from the booksellers for the use of his
name to religious compilations, and on one occasion no less
than 500/. when his annual income did not amount to half
the sum. His funeral, besides being attended by a very
numerous concourse of friends, and a long train of carriages
of persons of considerable rank, was honoured with the pre-
sence of the city marshals and other officers, and funeral
sermons were preached on the occasion in various churches,
some of which were afterwards published. Mr. Romaine
married in 1755, a Miss Price, who survived him about
six years, by whom he had a daughter who died young,
and two sons, the eldest, Dr. Romaine of Reading, now
living, the second, capt. Romaine, who died in 1782, at
Trincomale, in the island of Ceylon. 1
ROMANO, JULIO. See PIPPI.
ROME DE L'ISLE (JOHN BAPTIST Louis), a distin-
guished French mineralogist, was born in 1736, at Gray
in Franche-Comte, and had scarcely acquired some know-
ledge of Latin, before he was sent to India in quality of
secretary to a corps of engineers. It is not certain at
what period he returned, but he went again to India in
1757, was taken prisoner at Pondicherry, and came to
Europe in 1764, after suffering five years* captivity. At
this period, in his twenty-ninth year, he directed his at-
tention to natural history in company with M. Sage, who
appears to be the first Frenchman who directed his chemi-
cal knowledge to the explanation of mineralogy. In 1766,
he published a " Letter to M. Bertrand on fresh-water po-
lypes.'* The polypus he considered as a hive, a recep-
tacle for an infinity of small isolated animals, directed to
the same purpose, that of repairing any loss in the parent;
but this opinion was supported only by its ingenuity, with-
out the aid of experiments. His first step in mineralogy
was the publication of a " Catalogue raisonnee" of M. Da-
vila's collection, which he wished to dispose of. It was
published in 1767, 3 vols. 8vo, and thence arose his eager
wish to examine the forms of crystals, and to construct a
i Life prefixed to his works by the hen. and rev. William Bromley Cadogan.
R O M E D E L.'I S L E. 363
system on this plan. His first essay on crystallography was
published in 1771, and contains 110 species of crystals, of
which Linnaeus knew only about 40, though the number
has been since extended to above. 400. From this work
M. de L' Isle's fame arose ; his correspondence was culti-
vated, and Linnaeus added his warmest praises to the ap-
plause of philosophers. Our author's fame from this time
rapidly increased, and he was judged worthy of a seat in
almost every academy but that of his own country. By
the academicians of Paris he was styled contemptuously a
maker of catalogues, and in reality, from a scanty fortune,
as well as a wish to extend his knowledge of specimens, he
was much employed in this business; and from 1767 to
1782, he published eight explanatory catalogues of diffe-
rent collections. In 1778 he published an explanation of
M. Sage's theory of chemistry; and in the following year
a memoir against the central fire under the title of " L'Ac-
tion de Feu central banni de la surface du globe, et le
Soleil retabli dans ses droits." But in the interval his great
work was constantly kept in view, and his new edition ap-
peared in 1783, " Christallographie, ou description des
formes propres a tons les corps du regne minerale," 4 vols.
Of this elaborate work, it has been justly said that those
only who have examined it frequently, can judge of the
great labour which it must have cost, the extent of the
author's erudition, and the information to be collected from
it, independent of the science of crystallization, which has
here attained a state approaching to perfection.
As executor to M. d'Ennery, who possessed a very rich
collection of medals, he was induced to examine the rela-
tion of the Roman pound to the French marc, and the value
of the money of the different nations of European and
Asiastic Greece. This produced his " Metrologie, ou Ta-
bles pour servir a 1'intelligence des poids et des mesures
des anciens d'apres leur rapport avec les poids et les me-
sures de la France," which was published in 1789, and ad-
dressed to the national assembly to guide their new regu-
lations of weights and measures. From the immense la-
bours of his various works, his eyes soon failed, and his
later enjoyments arose from the fanciful prospects of the
great good his country and the whole world was to derive
from the revolution. He died of a dropsy, at Paris, March
10, 1790. 1
1 Crit. Rev. vol. LXX Diet. Hist.
364 R O M N E Y.
ROMNEY (GEORGE), an eminent modern artist, was
born at Dalton, in Lancashire, Dec. 26, 1734, where his
father was a merchant, builder, and farmer, but derived
from none of his occupations more than what yielded a
bare maintenance to his numerous* family. In his twelfth
year, George was taken from the village school, and en-
gaged to superintend his father's workmen ; his leisure
hours he employed in carving ; and being fond of music,
made a violin for himself, which be preserved till his death.
He was first tempted to draw, from seeing some ordinary
prints in a magazine, which he imitated with considerable
success : and his first attempt at portrait was from memory,
when endeavouring to describe the features of a stranger
whom he had seen at church. After some attempts by his
father to place him in trade, he consented to let him be-
come a painter, and his first master was an artist of ihe
name of Steele, who taught him, to a certain extent, the
knowledge and use of the materials of the art. Leaving
this master, he began to practise portrait-painting in the
country, and being ambitious to try his fate in the metro-
polis, as soon as he had acquired nearly an hundred gui-
neas, he took thirty for his travelling expences, and leav-
ing the remainder with his wife, set out for, and arrived in
London in 1762.
He first resided in the city, where he painted portraits
at five guineas a head, and acquired considerable practice
through the friendly assistance of that worthy and benevo-
lent man, Daniel Brathwaite, esq. then comptroller of the
foreign post-office. In 1764- he visited France, and sur-
veyed the various repositories of art at Paris, and on his
return resided in Gray's-inn, where his practice encreased,
especially among the gentlemen of the long robe. In 1765,
he obtained a prize from the Society for the Encourage-
ment of Arts and Sciences, for an historical picture, the
" Death of king Edmund." In 1768 he removed to Great
Newport-street, still increasing in practice and fame; but,
conscious of the necessity of cultivating his taste by an in-
spection of the great works of art in Italy, he set out thi-
ther in March 1773, with Mr. Ozias Humphrey, a minia-
ture painter of celebrity, and remained two years, leading
a studious and recluse life, and making some few copies.
On his return in July 1775, he took a house in Caven-
dish-square, where he resided, until he retired in 1798,
from public practice, to Hampstead, for the sake of purer
ROMNEY. 365
air. During the preceding twenty years, he enjoyed un-
interrupted success in his profession, to which he was so
aniently attached, that his whole delight was in it. His
talents, in return, were highly esteemed, and encouraged
by an immense influx of employment. In one year only
(1785), he painted portraits to the value of 36351. His
prices now were, for a whole-length, eighty guineas ; half
whole-length, sixty; half-length, forty ; a kit-cat, thirty;
and for a head, twenty guineas. It is very remarkable,
however, that he never became a member of the Royal
.Academy, nor ever exhibited in its rooms. When the
Boydeli Shakspeare was projected, Romney contributed
his aid. He had a quick and keen relish for the beauties
of that poet, although his own fancy was so volatile, and
his mode of reading so desultory, that it may be questioned
if he ever read, without interruption, two acts of the dra-
mas that he most cordially admired. After he had finished
his fine picture for "The Tempest," he was induced in.
1790 to visit Paris again, with his biographer Mr. Hayley
and another friend ; but on his return in 1791 resumed his
labours for the Shakspeare gallery, and painted some pic-
tures for the prince of Wales. In 179? he felt a slight
paralytic stroke, which affected his eye and his hand, and
prevented him from continuing his professional labours.
It was then he retired to Hampstead, but, finding his health
still decline, he, in 1799, revisited his native country, where
he died Nov. 15, 1802.
Of Romney, as an artist, it is bv no means easy to ap-
preciate the just character. That he possessed genius and
tulents in an eminent degree, no one can deny. Fuseli, in
his edition of Pilkington's Dictionary, has said, " that ha
was made for the times, and the times for him*." It had
* " To Romney as a portrait-pain- position of colour without decided
ter the public have borne ample testi- masses of light and shade, he is not
mony ; he was made for the times, and Always hapnv in the bahince : he be-
the times for him. If he had not ge- comeS iivid without freshness, and foxy
nius to load, he had too much origin- without glow. Those who wish to form
ality to follow, and whenever he chose an idea of his historic powers may
was nearer to the first than to the last consult the pictures of the Storm froiri
of his competitors. Practice had given tiie Tempest, the Cassandra from Troi-
him rapidity of execution and nature lus and Cressida, and the Infant Shak-
an eye sufficiently just for form, and speare of the Bovdell gallery. Kora-
not ungenial f^r colour. His women ney, as artist and as man, is entitled
have often naivete, sometimes elegance, to commendation and esteem; but his
with an artless bloom and freshness of life furnishes * signal proof of the fu-
tint. His men in genei-al have more tility of the idea that genius is of a
spirit than dignity, and m re of pro- passive qiuJity, and may be laid by
tence than reality of characler. When or taken up as a man pleases.'* J'lJ-
he attempts to produce effects by op- kinton ; by Fuseli.
366 R O M N E Y.
perhaps, says the critic in the Cyclopaedia, been more
just to have observed that Homney was made for better
times than those in which he lived. His perception of art
was far purer than most of his contemporaries, at least in
this country, were capable of enjoying ; and it must be
remembered, that no one ever set forth in the career of an
artist under greater disadvantages than he did. The taste
he imbibed for simplicity and grandeur, on seeing, at an
advanced period of his life, the works of the ancient artists,
prove what might have been fairly expected of him, had
he been sooner initiated in the mysteries of his art. With-
out this aid, Romney had to separate for himself the par-
tial, from the general effects of nature ; and the inequality
with which he, in this point, met the rivalry of more for-
tunate artists, is too evident in most of his productions.
Frequently, his chiaroscuro is ill conducted, and his har-
mony of forms and colours imperfect, even in pictures pro-
duced when enjoying the height of his intellectual power,
and at the happiest period of his executive skill : at the
same time they exhibit great fertility of invention, with
sweetness and delicacy of sentiment.
He was happily endowed with an inquisitive mind, that
delighted in science, and pursued it warmly, with the best
means he had; and he possessed a versatility of genius,
which is exemplified by the variety of subjects he chose for
representation. Both the comic and serious impressions of
the mind had charms for him. Early in life he painted two
pictures from Tristram Shandy ; one, of the arrival of Dr.
Slop at Shandy-hall, after the unlucky catastrophe he met
with on the road ; which afforded scope fur sentimental
comic humour; the other from the affecting story of the
death of Le Fevre ; both of them were highly approved for
truth and propriety of feeling and expression, though dif-
fering so widely in their effects upon the mind. His jour-
ney to Italy expanded his view of art; new scenes, and
new sources of information, were presented to him, of which
he did not neglect to avail himself. The works of fancy
he produced after his return home exemplify the use he
made of the two years he spent among the unrivalled pro-
ductions of art he there met with. The purity and per-
fection of ancient sculpture appear to have made the deep-
est impression upon his mind ; and he afterwards assi-
duously cherished the taste he then imbibed, by procuring
a collection of cast; from the best models of ancient sta-
R O M N E Y. S67
tiies, groups, basso-relievos, &c. which he would sit by the
hour to contemplate ; examining their appearances under
all changes of sun-shine, and common day-light; and with
lamps, prepared on purpose, he would try their effects in
various modes of illumination, with rapturous delight.
Hence, grandeur and simplicity became the principal ob-
jects of his ambition ; he perceived these qualities dis-
tinctly, and employed them judiciously; even whilst imi-
tating nature in his most usual occupation, portrait paint-
ing. To present his figure, or tell his story, with simple
undisturbed effect, rejecting all unnecessary minutiae, wa
the point he aimed at and obtained.
On his return from the continent his zeal for historical
painting revived, or rather became strengthened. In se-
veral epistles to Mr. Hayley, he laments his confinement to
portraits: in one he says, " this cursed portrait painting,
how I am shackled with it ! I am determined to live fru-
gally, and cut it short as soon as I can." In another, he^
mentions his " wish to be retired, in order to compose with:
more effect and propriety." And whenever he returned ttf
London from Eastham, the hospitable retreat of his admir-
ing correspondent and friend, whose play fulness of fancy was'
a constant and useful stimulus to Romney's dejected and
desponding mind, he felt it a weight of drudgery again to
fall into the trammels of portraiture ; yet from the enjoy-
ment he by nature found in the practice of his profession^
a short time inured him afresh to it, and still he felt plea-
sure in tracing the features of each new face that presented
itself; till again his exhausted frame required the exhilara-
tion of retirement, and the refreshment afforded by pure
uncontaminated air, free from the gross vapours of a great
and populous city. It is not a little surprising that amidst
his continual labours in that branch of the art he more im-
mediately professed, he should have found time to produce
so great a number of fancy pictures as he left behind him.
He also frequently spent his evenings in making large car-
toons in charcoal, of subjects which suited his fancy ; ge^
nerally of a sublime cast. Amongst these was one of the
dream of Attossa, from the Persian of TEschylus, which
was conducted with the taste and feeling of the ancient
Greek artists.
He was in general fortunate in the choice of his historical
subjects; and certainly, in this respect, had far the ad-
vantage of his great rival, sir Joshua Reynolds ; and n
368 R O M N E Y.
less so in the power of expression, which he scarcely ever
failed to obtain; whilst the latter, in his historical pictures,
has rarely been so happy. Reynolds gave beauty and grace
to his figures : Romney imparted soul. The former de-
lights the eye with the harmony and richness of colour,
and beauty of effect ; the latter thrills and gratifies the
heart with truth and force of expression, in action and
countenance; wrought with more simplicity, but with Jo S s
art. His picture of Ophelia seated upon a branch of a tree,
the breaking of which threatens her destruction in the
stream below, whilst the melancholy distraction visible in
her lovely face accounts for her apparent insensibility to
danger, is a sufficient proof of this assertion. His com-
position also of " Titania and her Indian Votaress," in the
possession of Mr. Beckford; "Titania, Puck, and the
Changeling," at sir John Leicester's, and others of his works
of the like playful and interesting kind, might be brought
forward to support it. In portraiture, however, the justly
exalted president of the royal academy stood alone, and
Romney was not able to cope with him. In the compo-
sition of his figures, our artist exhibited the taste he had
acquired by the study of the antique; and he admirably
varied the characters of his heads. The arrangement of
drapery which he adopted, partook largely of the same
style ; and being well understood, was painted with great
dexterity ; though it must be confessed, that in form, it
was not unfrequently better adapted to sculpture than to
painting. His style of colouring was simple and broad.
Jn that of his flesh he was very successful ; exhibiting a
great variety of complexion, with much warmth and rich-
ness. It was not always, however, that his pictures were
complete in the general tone ; but crude discordant colours
were sometimes introduced in the back-grounds, which not
being blended or broken into unison with the hue of the
principal figures, interrupted the harmony of the whole.
The executive part of his works was free, learned, and
precise, without being trifling or minute, possessing great
simplicity, and exhibiting a purity of feeling consonant
with the style of his compositions. He aimed at the best
of all principles in the imitation of nature, viz. to generalize
its effects ; he even carried it so far as to subject himself
to the charge of negligence in the completion of his forms:
but the truth of his imitation is sufficiently perfect to satisfy
the minds of those who regard nature systematically, and
R O M N E Y. 3C9
hot individually, or too minutely. In a word, adds the
critic whom we have principally followed in this character,
every lover of art who knows how to appreciate truly what
is most valuable in painting, will hold the name of llomney
in increasing estimation, the more frequently and impar-
tially he examines his productions. 1
RONDELET (WILLIAM), a celebrated professor of phy-
sic at Montpellier, was born in that city, September 27,
1507. After having practised in various places of inferior
note, he went to Paris, learned Greek there, and returning
to his native city, practised physic with great credit. So
ardent was M. de Uondelet's application to anatomy, that
he dissected one of his own children, which gained him the
character of an unnatural father. He died at Realmont, in
Albigeois, July 18, 1566. He is principally celebrated for
his treatise on fishes, in Latin, 1554, 2 torn. fol. and 1558,
fol. in French. Of his medical works there is a collection
printed at Geneva, 1628, 8vo, but they are not equal to
the high reputation their author had acquired. It is this
physician whom Rabelais ridicules under the name of Ron-
dibilis. His life may be found in Joubert's works. '
RONSARD (PETER de), a French poet, of a noble fa-
mily, was born in Vendomois, the same year that Francis
I. was taken prisoner before Pavia ; that is, in 1524. This
circumstance is what he himself affixes to the time of his
birth; though from other passages in his works it might
be concluded that he was not born till 1526. He was
brought up at Paris, in the college of Navarre ; but, taking
some disgust to his studies, became a page of the duke of
Orleans. This duke resigned him to the king of Scotland,
James V. whom he attended from Paris into Scotland in
1537, and continued there two years, after which he re-
sided about half a year in England. But the duke of Or-
leans took him again, and employed him in several nego-
tiations. Ronsard accompanied Lazarus de Baif to tliQ
diet of Spire; and, in his conversations with that learned
man, conceived a passion for letters. He learned Greek
under Dorat with Antony de Baif, the son of Lazarus ; and
afterwards devoted himself entirely to poetry, in which he
acquired great reputation. The kings Henry II. Francis
II. Charles IX. and Henry III. had a particular esteem for
1 Life by Hayley. Rees's Cyclopaodia.
a E!oy Diet. HibU de Medecine.Haller, Bibl. Med. t Anatotn,
VOL. XXVI. B B
370 R O N S A R D.
him, and became his liberal patrons. In 1 562 he put him-
self at the head of some soldiers in Vendomois, and fought
against the protestants, which occasioned the publication
of some very satirical pieces against him at Orleans, in
which he was represented as a priest : but he defended
himself in verse, and denied his being an ecclesiastic. He
had, however, some benefices in commendam; and, among
others, the priory of St. Cosmas near Tours, where he died
in 1585. Du Perron, afterwards cardinal, made his fu-
neral oration ; and a noble monument was erected there to
his memory some years after. He was much afflicted with
the gout, which, it is said, was owing to his debauched
way of life. His poems consist of odes, hymns, elegies,
sonnets, epigrams, and pieces of amatory poetry, not of
the most chaste description. He was considered in his day
as possessing great talents for poetry ; but these are not so
visible to the eye of modern criticism. His style is ex-
tremely harsh and obscure, which, it is said^ would have
been more excusable, had he not been preceded by Marot.
What learning he had appears in a pedantic affectation of
allusions, examples, and words, drawn from Greek and
Latin, which increase the obscurity of his style. Boileau
justly says " It is the approbation of posterity alone which
must establish the true merit of works. Whatever eclat a
writer may make during his life, whatever eloges he may
receive, we cannot conclude infallibly from this, that his
works are excellent. False beauties, novelty of style, and
a particular taste or manner of judging, which happens to
prevail at that time, may raise a writer into high credit and
esteem ; and, in the next age, when the eyes of men are
opened, that which was the object of admiration, shall be
the object of contempt. We have a fine example of this
in Ronsard, and his imitators, Du Bellay, Du Bartas, Des-
portes, who in the last age were admired by all the world,
in this are read by nobody." The best editions of Ron-
sard's works are those by Binet, Paris, 1587, or 1604, 5
vols. 12mo, and by Richelet, 1623, 2 vols. fol. l
ROOKE (sir GEORGE), a brave naval officer, was born
in Kent, 1650, of an ancient and honourable family. His
father, sir William Rooke, knight, qualified him by a pro-
per education for a liberal profession ; but was at last
.obliged to give way to his inclination to the navy. His
J Gen, Diet. Morri. Diet. Hist.
R Q O K E. 371
first station was that of a volunteer, from which his merit
raised him by regular steps to be vice-admiral, and one of
the council to prince George of Denmark, lord high ad-
miral. He had the command of several expeditions in the
reigns of William and Anne, in which his conduct and
courage were eminently displayed. The former appeared
in his behaviour on the Irish station, when he was sent as
commodore with a squadron to assist in the reduction of
that kingdom ; in his wise and prudent management when
he preserved so great a part of the Smyrna fleet, which
fortune had put into the hands of the French, who suffered
themselves to be deprived of an immense booty by the
superior skill of this admiral ; but more particularly in the
taking of Gibraltar, which was a project conceived and
executed in less than a week, though it has since endured
sieges of not only months but years, and more than once
baffled the united forces of France and Spain. Of his
courage he gave abundant testimonies, but especially iu
burning the French ships at La Hogue, and in the battle
of Malaga, where he behaved with all the resolution of a
British admiral ; and, as he was first in command, was first
also in danger ; and all times must preserve the memory of
his glorious action at Vigo.
He was chosen in several parliaments the representative
for Portsmouth ; but, in that house, his free independent
spirit did not recommend him much to ministerial favour.
An attempt was made to ruin him in king William's esteem,
and to get him removed from the admiralty-board ; but
that prince answered plainly, " I will not ; sir George
Rooke served me faithfully at sea, and I will never displace
him for acting as he thinks most for the service of his country
in the House of Commons :" an answer worthy of a British
king, as it tends to preserve the freedom of our constitu-
tion, and the liberty of parliament. In 1701 he voted for
Mr. Harjey to be speaker of the House of Commons, in op-
position to the court; which brought on him many severe
reflections from the whig party, and attempts were made
to obscure all the great actions that he did. From this pe-
riod, Burnet never mentions him without the utmost pre-
judice and partiality. In his relation of the Vigo enter-
prize, he says he very unwillingly steered his cc-urse that
way ; and, without allowing the admiral any share of the
honour of the action, only says, " the ships broke the
boom, and forced the port," as if they had done it without
B B 2
572. ROOK E.
command, and Rooke had no concern in the matter. The
taking of Gibraltar, an action in which the greatest bravery
and military skill was shewn, he will have to be the effect
of pure chance. Such was the prevalence of party spirit,
that it obliged this brave commander to quit the service of
his country, and to spend the latter part of his life in retire-
ment. Perhaps, indeed, he was himself, in party matters,
too warm and eager. His good conduct and courage, how-
ever, are unimpeachable. He was thrice married ; and,
by his second lady (Mrs. Luttrel) left one son.
He died Jan. 24, 1708-9, in his fifty-eighth year, and
was buried in Canterbury cathedral, where a monument is
erected to his memory. In his private life he was a good
husband, and a kind master, lived hospitably towards his
neighbours, and left behind him a moderate fortune ; so
moderate, that when he came to make his will it surprized
those who were present ; but sir George assigned the rea-
son in a few words, " I do not leave much," said he, i( but
what I leave was honestly gotten ; it never cost a sailor a
tear, or the nation a farthing." l
ROOKE (LAWRENCE), an English astronomer and geo-
metrician, was born at Deptford, in Kent, 1623, and edu-
cated at Eton school, whence he removed to King's college,
Cambridge, in 1639. After taking the degree of M. A. in
1647, he retired for some time into the country, but in
1650 went to Oxford, and settled in Wadham college, that
he might associate with Dr. Wilkins, and Mr. Seth Ward
the astronomy professor ; and also accompany Mr. Boyle
in his chemical operations. After the death of Mr. Foster
he was chosen astronomy professor in Gresham college,
London, in 1652. He made some observations upon the
comet at Oxford, which appeared in the month of Decem-
ber that year; which were printed by Mr. Seth Ward the
year following. And, in 1655, Dr. Wallis publishing his
treatise on conic sections, he dedicated that work to those
two gentlemen. In 1657 Mr. Rooke was permitted to ex-
change the astronomy professorship for that of geometry.
This step might seem strange, as astronomy still continued
to be his favourite study ; but it was thought to have been
from the convenience of the lodgings, which opened behind
the reading hall, and therefore were proper for the recep-
tion of those gentlemen after the lectures, who, in 1660,
R O O K E. 37S
laid the foundation of the royal society. Most of those
learned men who had heen accustomed to assemble with
him at Oxford, coining to London, joined with other phi-
losophical gentlemen, and usually met at Gresham college
to hear Mr. Rooke's iectwes, and afterwards withdrew into
his apartment; till their meetings were interrupted by the
quartering of soldiers in the college in 1658. And after
the royal society came to be formed into a regular body,
Mr. Rooke was very zealous and serviceable in promoting
that great and useful institution ; though he did not live
till it received its establishment by the royal charter.
The marquis of Dorchester, a patron of learning, and
learned himself, used to entertain Mr. Rooke at his seat at
Ilighgate after the restoration, and bring him every
Wednesday in his coach to the Royal Society, which then
met on that day of the week at Gresham college. But the
last time Mr. Rooke was at Highgate, he walked from
thence ; and it being in the summer, he overheated himself,
and taking cold after it, he was thrown into a fever, which
cost him his life. He died at his apartments at Gresham
college, June 27, 1662, in the fortieth year of his age. It
was reckoned very unfortunate that his death happened the
very night that he had for some years expected to finish
his accurate observations on the satellites of Jupiter. When,
he found his illness prevented him from making that obser-
vation, Dr. Pope says, he sent to the Society his request,
that some other person, properly qualified, might be ap-
pointed for that purpose ; so intent was he to the last on-
making those curious and useful discoveries, in which he
had been so long engaged. He made a nuncupatory will,
leaving what he had to Dr. Ward, the,n lately made bishop
of Exeter : whom he permitted to receive what was due
upon bond, if the debtors offered payment willingly, other-
wise he would not have the bonds put in suit : " for," said
he, " as I never was in law, nor had any contention with,
any man, in my life-time, neither would I be so after my
death."
Few persons have left behind them a more agreeable
character than Mr. Rooke, from every person that was ac-
quainted with him, or with his qualifications; and in no-
thing more than for his veracity: for what he asserted po-
sitively, might be fully relied on : but if his opinion was
asked concerning any thing that was dubious, his usual an-
swer was, " I have no opinion." Mr. Hook has given this
374 II O O K E.
copious, though concise character of him : " I never was
acquainted with any person who knew more, and spoke less,
being indeed eminent for the knowledge and improvement
of astronomy." Dr. Wren and Dr. Seth Ward describe him
as a man of profound judgment, a vast comprehension, pro-
digious memory, and solid experience. His skill in the
mathematics was reverenced by all the lovers of those stu-
dies, and his perfection in many other sorts of learning de-
serves no less admiration ; but above all, as another writer
characterizes him, his extensive knowledge had a right
influence on the temper of his mind, which had all the
humility, calmness, strength, and sincerity of a sound
philosopher. For more particulars of his character we may
refer to Dr. Isaac Barrow's oration at Gresham college.
The only pieces which were published from his papers
consist of " Observationes in Cometam, qui mense Decem-
bri anno 1652 apparuit ;" printed by Dr. Seth Ward in his
" Lectures on Comets," 1653, 4to. " Directions for Sea-
men going to the East and West Indies," which were drawn
up at the appointment of the Royal Society, and inserted
in their Transactions for 1665; " A Method for observing
the Eclipses of the. Moon," in the Philos. Trans, for Feb.
1666. "A Discourse concerning the Observations of the
Eclipses of the Satellites of Jupiter," in the History of the
Royal Society, p. 183; and " An Account of an Experi-
ment made with Oil in a long Tube," read to the Royal
Society, April 23, 1662. By this experiment it was found,
that the oil sunk when the sun shone out, and rose when he
was clouded ; the proportions of which are set down in the
account. 1
ROOKER (MICHAEL), or MICHAEL ANGELO, an hono-
rary name given him by Paul Sandby, was the son of Ed-
ward Rooker, an engraver, who died in 1774, and whose
excellence lay in engraving architecture, particularly the
section of St. Paul's cathedral, from a drawing by Wale,
\vhich is his finest, and a very wonderful performance.
Michael, who was born in 1743, after being taught the use
of the graver by his father, was placed under the care of
his father's friend, Paul Sandby, to be instructed in draw-
ing and painting landscape. He appeared first as an en-
graver, in which capacity he gave early proofs of ability,
which were confirmed by his mature productions, excellent
Ath. Ox. vol. II. Pope's Lite of SulL Ward, p. 110. Ward's Gresham
.- HuU.oa'i Diet.
HOOKER. 375
specimens of which may be seen in a view of Wolterton
hall, Nottinghamshire, and in many other prints which he
engraved. But his talents were not confined to the graver,
for he also employed the pencil, and in 1772 exhibited a
view of Temple Bar, as it then stood, which had consider-
able merit. He was for many years employed as principal
scenerpainter for the little theatre in the Hay-market; and
in the summer season generally visited some part of the
country, where he selected views, of which he afterwards
made finished drawings; so that at his death he possessed a
very numerous collection of topographical drawings of great
merit. It is, however, on his powers as an engraver that
his fame principally depends. He was for many years en-
gaged to engrave the head-pieces to the Oxford almanacks,
for which he received 50/. each, a large sum in those days,,
although not unsuitable to his merit, or the liberality of his
employers. But this engagement he relinquished a fevr
year* before his death, because he took a dislike to the
practice of engraving. The Oxford views were executed
from his own drawings, and exhibit some of the best and
most accurate that ever were taken of that beautiful city.
He died suddenly, after a lingering illness, at his lodg-
ings in Dean-street, Soho, March 3, 1801, about fifty-
eight years of age, and was buried at St. Giles's-in-the-
Fields. His drawings, of which he left a large collection,
produced, at a sale of four days, the sum of 1240/. He
was chosen among those who were elected the first associates
of the Royal Academy. There was something rough in his
manners, but he was a man of integrity. 1
ROPER, MARGARET. See sir THOMAS MORE.
ROQUE (ANTHONY DE LA), a French poet, was born in
1672, at Marseilles, and employed twenty years as editor
of the Mercure de France, in which he acquired consider-
able reputation. He died October 3, 1744, at Paris. He
wrote the words of the operas, viz. " Mede"e et Jason," and
" Theonoe," though they pass for the abbe Pellegrin's,
and made a very valuable collection of prints, &c. a curious
catalogue of which was given by the late M. Gersaint. M.
de la Roque was created knight of the military order of St.
Louis after the battle of Malplaquet, where he was wound-
ed, having taken the post, which one of the king's guards
had just quitted, from a presentiment that he should be
1 Edwards's Anecdotes of Painting. Strati's Dictionary.
376 R O Q U E.
killed in it. His brother JOHN de la Roque assisted him in
the " Mercury," from 1722, wheM he first undertook it,
and died at Paris, December 28, 1745, aged eighty-four.
He had travelled into the East, and left the following works :
" Vo'iage de la Palestine/' 12ino; " Vo'iage de Syrie, et du
Mont Liban, avec un Abrege de la Vie de M. du Chasteuil,"
2 vols. 12mo. He had aiso promised to publish his " Vo'iage
Litte"raire de Normandie/' but it has not appeared. 1
ROQUES (PETER), a pious and learned Protestant cler-
gyman, was born in 1685, at Canne, a small town in Upper
Languedoc. He was appointed minister of the French
church at Basil, in 1710, in which city he acquired the
highest reputation by his integrity and his writings, and
died there, 1748. Those of his communion greaily value
his very numerous works, the principal of which are, " Le
Pasteur Evangelique," 4to. This his admirers praise in
the highest terms, and continually recommend the study
of it to their young divines. He also wrote " Sermons sur
divers sujets de morale ;" a theological and critical disser-
tation, in which the author endeavours to prove that the
soql of Jesus Christ was a pure and glorious intelligence in
heaven before its union with a human body. This opinion,
which is far from new, being attacked by M. de la Chapelle,
in torn. 24 of " La Defense du Christianism," M. lloques
answered them in the journal printed 1640, at Geneva. He
also was editor of an enlarged edition of Moreri's Diction-
ary, Basil, 1731, 6 vols. fol.; the new edition of " Mar-
tin's Bible," 2 vols. 4to; an edition of M. Basnage's
" Dissertations on Duels, and the Orders of Knighthood, 1 '
1740, augmented ; several pieces in the " Helvetic Jour-
nal," and in the " Bibliotheque Gerrmmique," '
ROSA (SALVATOR), an eminent painter, was the son of
a land surveyor, and born at Naples in 1615. He was
brought up under Francisco Francanzano, a painter of that
city, and his relation, but was forced to get his bread by
exposing his pictures to sale in stalls in the streets. Lan-
franco, the painter, happening to pass by, bought one, and
to encourage Salvator bespoke more. Salvator placing
himself afterwards under Ribera, with whom he lived till
he was twenty, and his father then dying, Ribera took him
with him to Rome. After four years' stay in that city, dur^
ing which Salvator made considerable progress in his art,
1 Moreri. Diet. Hist. 2 >; c t. Hist, de L'Avocat.
K O S A. 377
cardinal Brancacci carried him to his bishopric of Viterbo,
where he painted several pieces. He staid some time at
Naples, but gave the preference to Rome, and wherever
he went he made himself' friends by his picturesque and
poetic talents. As he notv began to have a name, prince
John Charles of Medici, being at Rome, carried him to
Florence, where he staid nine years, dividing his time be-
tween painting and poetry: he had a particular turn for
satiric poetry; and understood music. The literati at Flo-
rence were highly delighted with his conversation ; and his
house was a kind of academy, where plays written by him-
self were often represented, and he constantly played some
part in them.
He painted many pieces for the grand duke and the
prince his son, who rewarded him generously. The MafTei
carried him to their seat at Volterra, where he painted
several pictures, residing there upwards of a year : but
literature took up the greatest part of his time, and it was
here that he composed his satires, of which there have been
several editions.
After his return from Florence he fixed at Rome, where
for a long time he would sell none of his paintings but at an
extravagant price. He did not, however, like to be called
a landscape painter, his ambition being for the character of
an able history painter. He paiuted several pieces for the
churches, which are indisputable proofs of his capacity for
history: but his business was frequently interrupted by his
turn for poetic satire, which he often interspersed with songs,
and took a pleasure in reciting them. The philosopher ap-
peared in his manner of living ; and he endeavoured to shew
it also in his paintings, always conveying in them some
moral. Such was his iove of liberty, that he declined en-
tering into the service of any prince, though often invited.
He was much of an humourist, and loved a practical joke.
When the painters of Rome had refused to receive him into
the academy of St. Luke, on a holiday, when he knew they
were to meet, and several paintings were exposed in the
diurch of that saint, he caused one of his own to be carried
thither, in which he had concealed his manner ; and shew-
ing it, told them that it was done by a surgeon to whom
hey had judged very ill in refusing a place in their acade-
my, having the greatest need of one to set the limbs which
they daily dislocated or distorted. Another time, finding
<a harpsichord on which be had sat down to play, good for
378 R O S A.
nothing, " I'll make," says he, " this harpsichord worth
at least 100 crowns." He painted on the lid a piece which
immediately fetched that money. A gentleman desirous
of having the pictures of his friends in his gallery, desired
Salvator to draw them. He did it, but made all the por-
traits caricatures, in which he excelled : but as he drew
himself, among the rest, in the same manner, none could
be offended.
He was a man of a very generous spirit, and worked for
reputation, rather than gain. A man of great wealth had
been long treating with him for a large landscape, and every
time he came Salvator raised his price 100 crowns. The
gentleman expressing his surprise, Salvator told him, that
with all his riches he could not purchase it; and to put an
end to the other's importunities, destroyed it before his
face. The constable Colonna bespoke a large painting, on
which Salvator bestowed great pains, and delivered it, with
out asking any price. The constable generously sent him
a purse of gold. Salvator, seeing his work rewarded so
liberally, sent the constable a second piece, which was no
less generously paid for than the first : a third, and a fourth
followed ; and at each time the constable augmented the
sum. On receiving a fifth painting, he sent Salvator two
purses equal to the first, and thanked him ; but told him
the match was not equal ; for he could not so easily fill
purses with gold, as Salvator could cover canvas with fine
paintings.
After a long stay at Rome, Salvator was seized with a
dropsy; and during his illness he married his mistress, a
Florentine, by whom he had had several children. It was
with the utmost reluctance he consented to this marriage.
He had long known her to be a bad woman of low birth, and
she had always behaved rather like a mistress over him,
than a servant. He knew that he had shared her favours
with several others : and the thoughts of her character made
her, at this time, the object of his aversion ; because he
foresaw the loss of his honour (if he took her for a wife) of
which he was extremely tender. He was persuaded, how-
ever, by the importunities of his confessor. A tedious ill-
ness made no alteration in his characteristic humour. He
ended his daysatRome, in 1673, aged fifty-eight.
In both the sister arts of poesy and painting, he was
esteemed one of the most excellent masters that Italy pro-
duced in the seventeenth century. In the first, his pro-
R Q S A. 379
vi nee was satire; in tbe latter, landscapes, battles, havens,
c. with little figures, which are still admired, and are
purchased at high prices. Mr. Fuseli says that, without
choice of form in design, or much propriety of conception,
by picturesque combination, concordant tones, facility and
dash of pencil, he obtained a conspicuous place among
historic painters. Though his talent was better adapted to
smaller dimensions, he knew how to fill an altar-piece or a
large canvas with striking and terrific effects, of which the
conspiracy of Catiline, in the house of Martelli at Florence,
is a powerful instance. In landscape he was a genius. His
choice is the original scenery of Abruzzo, which he made
often, though not always, a vehicle of terror : he delights
in ideas of desolation, solitude, and danger, impenetrable
forests, rocky or storm-lashed shores; in lonely dells lead-
ing to dens and caverns of banditti, alpine ridges, trees
blasted by lightning or sapped by time, or stretching their
extravagant arms athwart a murky sky, louring or thunder-
ing clouds, and suns shorn of their beams. His figures are
wandering shepherds, forlorn travellers, wrecked mariners,
banditti lurking for their prey, or dividing their spoils.
But this genuine vein of sublimity or terror forsook him in
the pursuit of witcheries, apparitions, and spectres; here
he is only grotesque or capricious. His celebrated witch
of Endor is a hag ; and cauldrons, skeletons, bats, toads,
and herbs, are vainly accumulated to palliate the want of
dignity and pathos in Saul, and of sublimity in the appa-
rition.
Among some musical MSS. purchased at Rome in 1770,
was the music-book of Salvator Rosa, in which are con^.
tained, not only airs and cantatas set by Carissimi, Cesti,
Luigi, Cavalli, Legrenzi, Capellini, Pasqualini, and Ban-
dini, of which the words of several are by Salvator Rosa;
but eight entire cantatas written, set, and transcribed by
this celebrated painter himself. The book was purchased
of his great grand-daughter, who inhabited the house in
which her ancestor lived and died. The hand-writing was
ascertained by collation with bis letters and satires, of
which tbe originals are still preserved by his descendants.
The historians of Italian poetry, though they often mention
Salvator as a satirist, seem never to have heard of his lyrical
productions. This book is fully described by Dr. Burney. 1
1 Argenville, vol. II. Sir Joshua Reynolds'* Works. Pilkington by Fuseli
Dr. Bun>ey HI Rees's Cyclopaedia.
380 ROSCELLINUS.
ROSALBA. See CARRIERA.
ROSCOMMON. See DILLON.
ROSCELLINUS, RUZEL1N, or RUCELIN, a canon
of Compeigne, who flourished about the end of the eleventh
century, was born in Bretagne. He was a man well
versed in the learning of the times, a profound dialectician,
and the most eminent doctor of the sect called Nominalists,
and by applying some of their tenets to the subject of the
Trinity excited a warm controversy in France about 1089.
He held it inconceivable and impossible that the son of
God should assume the human nature alone, i. e. without
the Father and the Holy Ghost becoming incarnate also,
unless by the three persons in the Godhead were meant
three distinct objects, or natures existing separately (such
as three angels or three distinct spirits), though endued
with one will and acting by one power. When it was
insinuated toRoscellinus, that this manner of reasoning led
directly to Tritheism, or the doctrine of three Gods,
he answered boldly, that the existence of three Gods
might be asserted with truth, were not the expression
harsh, and contrary to the phraseology generally re-
ceived. He was, however, obliged to retract this error in
a council held at Soissons, in 1092 ; but he resumed it
when the council was dismissed and the danger apparently
over. He was, however, assaulted on account of his doc-
trine, and therefore took refuge in England, where he
excited a controversy of another kind, by maintaining,
among other things, that persons born out of lawful wed-
lock ought to be deemed incapable of admission to holy
orders. Some even of the prelates being in this condition,
Roscellinus made very powerful enemies, and among
others Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury, and was finally
obliged to quit England. He then returned to France,
and by propagating his doctrine concerning the Trinity,
occasioned such contests as made him glad to retire to
Aquitaine, where he passed the rest of his days unmolested.
He is supposed to have died about 1 106, Such is the ac-
count given of his doctrines by John, his accuser, in a let-
ter to Anselm, published by Baluzius in his " Miscellanea,'*
and by others who, however, as the annotator on Mosheim
remarks, were the inveterate enemies of Roscellinus, and
perhaps comprehended his meaning imperfectly, or per-
verted it wilfully. But as none of the writings of this me-
taphysical ecclesiastic are extant, we cannot form any
11 O S C I U S. 331
other notion of the controversy than appears from the testi-
mony of his enemies. '
ROSCIUS (QuiNT-us), a Roman actor, was born at La-
nuvium, and became so celebrated on the stage that every
actor of superior eminence to his contemporaries has been
since called a ROSCIUS. It is said that he was not without
some personal defects ; particularly his eyes were so dis-
torted that he always appeared on the stage with a mask ;
but the Romans frequently obliged him to take it off, and
overlooked the deformities of his face, that they might the
better hear his elegant pronunciation. In private life he
was so much esteemed as to be raised to the rank of sena-
tor. When falsely accused, Cicero, who had been one of
his pupils, undertook his defence, and cleared him of the*
malevolent aspersions of his enemies, in an elegant oration*
extant in his works. Roscius wrote a treatise, which,
however, has not descended to our times, comparing with
great success and learning, the profession of the orator
with that of the comedian. He died about 61 before
Christ. His daily pay for acting is said to have been 1000
denarii, or 32/. 6s. of our money, though Cicero makes his
yearly income amount to the enormous sum of 48,434/. 10.?.
Dr. Burney observes, that there are several passages ifi
Cicero concerning Roscius, which, if the ancient actors,
Romans as well as Greeks, did not declaim in musical
notes, would be wholly unintelligible. He tells us (de
Orat), that Roscins had always said, when age should di-
minish his force, he would not abandon the stage, but
would proportion his performance to his powers, and make
music conform to the weakness of his voice ; which really
happened: for the same author informs us (de Leg.), that
in his old age he sung in a lower pitch of voice, and made
the tibicines play slower. As there were combats, or con-
tests, established by the ancients for the voice, as well as
for other parts of the Gyi)i}Mstice> those who taught the
management of the voice were called puvawQt, phonasri;
and under their instructions were put all those who were
destined to be orators, singers, and comedians, Roscius
had an academy for declamation, at which he taught seve-
ral persons, preparatory to their speaking in public, or
going on the stage. These are proofs sufficient of the
dramatic declamation of the ancients being uttered in mu-
* Moreri. Mosheim, and qote.
382 ft O S E.
sical tones, agreeing with those of the musical instruments
by which they were accompanied. 1
ROSE (JOHN BAPTIST), a worthy French priest, a doc-
tor in divinity and member of the academy of Besan^on,
was born at Quingey, Feb. 7, 1716. Of his early history
we find no account, previous to his appearing as an author
in 1767, when he published, 1. " Traite elementaire de
Morale," 2 vols. I2mo, which had the year before gained
the prize offered by the academy of Dijon, and was thought
a performance of very superior merit. 2. " La Morale
evangelique, comparee a celle des differentes sectes de re-
ligion et de philosophic," 1772, 2 vols. 12mo. 3. "Traite
sur le Providence," which was read in MS. and approved
by cardinal de Choiseul, previous to its being published.
4. " L' Esprit des Peres, compare aux plus celebres ecri-
vains, sur les matieres interessantes de la philosophic et de
la religion," 1791, 3 vols. 12mo. In this work he attempts
to prove that the fathers are unanimous in all the essential
doctrines of religion. M. Rose was also a good mathema-
tician, and in 1778 sent to the academy of sciences at
Paris, a " Memoire sur une courbe a double courbure," of
which it is sufficient to say that it was approved by La
Place, and, printed in 1779 at Besangon. In the same
year he sent to the same academy, a memoir, which had
been read in that of Besan^on, relative to " the passage of
Venus over the Sun." In 1791 he published a small work
on tl the organization of the Clergy," and left some valu-
able papers in manuscript. He appears to have escaped
the dangers of the revolution, although an orthodox and
pious priest. He died August 12, 1805, and the tears of
the poor spoke his eulogium. 8
ROSE (SAMUEL), a learned barrister, and a very amia-
ble man, was born June 20, 1767, at Chiswick in Middle-
sex, where his father Dr. William Rose, a native of Scot-
land, conducted an academy during many years, with con-
siderable emolument and unblemished reputation. Dr.
Rose was known in the literary world as one of the earliest
writers in the Monthly Review, and as the author of a very
elegant translation of Sallust. He had originally been an
assistant to Dr. Doddridge at Northampton, and married a
daughter of Dr. Samuel Clark, of St. Alban's, a divine of
1 Cioeron. Opera. Moreri. Burnoy in Rees's Cyclopaedia.
9 Diet, Hist. Supplement.
ROSE. 383
talents and eminence among the dissenters. She bore him
many children ; but Samuel was his only surviving son,
and after a successful education under his father, was sent
in 1784 to the university of Glasgow. There he resided
in the house of the late professor Richardson, a philoso-
pher and poet, between whom and his pupil, a friendship
and correspondence commenced which terminated only
with the life of the latter. Mr. Rose also gained the esteem
of several other learned men in Scotland, with whom he
afterwards maintained a correspondence. Nor was this
wonderful, for his manners were uncommonly amiable and
attractive, and his studies amply justified the respect paid
to him. He gained every prize, except one, for which he.
contended as a student of the university.
After passing three winters at Glasgow, he attended the-
courts of law in Edinburgh, and here obtained an introduc-
tion to the celebrated Dr. Adam Smith, who was so highly
pleased with him, that as long as he resided in Edinburgh,,
Mr. Rose was constantly invited to the literary circle of
that eminent philosopher. His subsequent intimacy with
Cowper appears in Mr. Hayley's interesting volumes, and
perhaps Cowper's visit to Mr. Rose in Chancery-lane is
one of the most affecting incidents in the eventful history
of that poet. Mr. Rose had the misfortune to lose his ex*
cellent father, while he was pursuing his studies in the
North; but a loss so unseasonable did not induce him to
shrink from the first irksome labours of an arduous profes^
sion. Having entered his name at LincolnVInn, Nov. 6,
3786, he devoted himself to the law, for which he seemed
equally prepared by nature and education. With a mind
acute and powerful, with a fund of classical learning, and
of general knowledge, with an early command of language,
and with manners, as we have already noticed, peculiarly
conciliating, he had every thing to hope. Though his
spirit was naturally ardent, he submitted to the most tire-r
some process of early discipline in his profession, placing
himself under a special pleader in 1787, and attending
him three years. Being called to the bar in 1796, he at-
tached himself to the home circuit, and to the sessions of
Sussex. His first opportunity of displaying professional
ability occurred in Chichester, where, having a clergyman
for his client, he conciliated the esteem of his audience by-
expatiating with propriety, eloquence, and success, on the
character of a divine. He was still more admired for the
33* ft O S &
rare talent of examining a witness with a becoming
ture of acuteness and humanity; and upon the whole his
friends were persuaded, from this first display of his talents^
that he was destined to rise l>y sure, though slow degrees,
to the highest honours of his profession.
In this they were unfortunately disappointed. Though
like most men of middling stature, he possessed a consi-
derable portion of bodily strength and agility, his constitu-
tion was naturally delicate, and symptoms of decline ap-
peared very visibly in the end of 1803. His complaint
was severely aggravated by attending the Sussex sessions
in 1804, where he caught a cold so severe that it produced
a rheumatic fever in the head, and within a few months
his frame and countenance discovered the most alarming
appearances of a rapid and incurable decay. In the course
of the autumn, he tried the air of the Kentish coast; but
returned to London in a state so far from recovery, that
his physicians considered his disorder as a confirmed hec-
tic, which after much lingering pain, borne by him with
uncommon patience, proved fatal, at his house in Chan-
cery-lane, Dec. 20, 1804, in his thirty-eighth year.
Mr. Rose married in 1791, a. daughter of Dr. Farr, phy-
sician to the Royal-hospital, near Plymouth, a lady, who
with a moderate portion, brought him the more valuable
dower of an elevated understanding. By this lady he had
four sons. An ardent love of literature had ever been a
characteristic of Mr. Rose, and he gave a signal proof of
it in the closing scene of his life. He had been requested to
revise the collected works and life of Goldsmith, published
in 1801. In the course of his three weeks confinement to
the bed of death, he corrected some inaccuracies in that
interesting publication, and sent his corrections with the
expressive farewell of a dying man to the publishers. In
1792 he produced an improved edition of lord chief baron
Corny n's " Reports," and in 1800, in a quarto edition,
" The Digest of the Laws of England/' by the same emi-
nent lawyer, corrected and continued ; inscribing the first
to lord Thurlow, and the second to lord Lpughborough. *
ROSEL (JOHN AUGUSTUS), a painter and entomologist,
the descendant of a decayed noble family, was born in
1705 near Arnstadt, and settled at Nuremberg as a minia-
ture-painter, but particularly distinguished himself as one
i Hayley's Life of Cowper, vol. III. 8ro.
ft O S E L. 385
of the greatest insect-painters. The works which he pub-
lished from his coloured designs will not only, whilst they
last, interest the classic entomologist, but every one whose
taste for form and colour in animal nature is not confined
to men, quadrupeds, or birds. He treated objects which
required the minuteness of Denner, with equal truth and
better judgment, in a style of energy and animated gran-
deur which approaches to history. As a writer he is as au-
thentic and faithful as tiresome and prolix j but though he
lived in the infancy of the science, the simple and constant
characteristics by which he distinguished the classes of the
genera he represented and described, have not yet been
superseded by the complex and involved systems Of his
successors. He died in 1759. 1
ROSEN (NICHOLAS), an eminent physician, whose
treatment df Linna3Us we have already noticed (see LIN-
NAEUS, p; 297), was born Feb. 1, 1706, at a village near
Gottenburgh, and was sent to the college of that place in
1718. His father was a divine, and he was intended for
the same profession, biit gave a decided preference to
medicine, whidh he studied at Lund tinder Kilian Stobseus.
After residing four years at this university he went to
Stockholm, and became tutor in a nobleman's family. la
1728, when the assessor Martin died at Upsal, Rosen be-
came substitute professor of physic ; but before he took
tipon him this office^ he made a tour through Germany,
Switzerland, France, and Holland, and took his doctor's
degree at Harderwyk in 1730. In the spring of the fol-
lowing year he entered on his professorship at Upsal, be-
came member of the academy of sciences there, and was
received a member of the royal academy of Stockholm in
1739. In 1740 he became ordinary professor in room of
Rudbeck ; in 1757, he was created a knight of the order
of the polar star, and was ennobled in 1762, when queen
Louisa Ulrica gave him the name of Rosenstein. He
gairied great celebrity as physician to the royal family of
Sweden, and received in 1769^ for his inoculation of some
of them for the small pox, a reward of 100,000 rix dollars
from the states of the kingdom. In his last illness, his
animosity to Linnreus was so subdued, that he requested
the medical assistance of that celebrated man. He died
July 16, 1773. The academy of Stockholm struck a medal
} Pi'.kington, by Fusdi.
VOL. XXVI. C c
3*6 ROSEN.
to his memory, with the inscription, " Sscculi decus incfer-
libile nostri." He had a brother, who was also eminent as
a physician and botanist; and in honour of both, Thunberg
named a plant Rosenia. Dr. Nicholas Rosen's principal
works, which were all published in the Swedish language,
are, " A medical repository of Domestic Medicine," pub-
lished by order of the queen dowager, &c. ; " A Treatise
on the Diseases of Children," which has been translated into
German, English, Dutch, French, and Italian. He con-
tributed likewise several papers to the memoirs of the aca-
demy of Stockholm. 1
ROSIN US (JOHN), in German ROSZFELIT, an able anti-
quary, was born at Eisenac in Thuringia about 1550. He
was educated in the university of Jena ; in 1579, became
sub-rector of a school at Ratisbon ; and, afterwards was
chosen minister of a Lutheran church at Wickerstadt, in
the duchy of Weimar. In 1592, he was invited to Naum-
burg in Saxony, to be preacher at the catli-edral church ;
and there continued till 1626, when he died of the plague.
He was a very learned man, and the first who composed a
body of Roman antiquities, entitled " Antiquitatum Roma-
narum libri decem," printed at Basil in 1585, foho. It
was at first censured by some critics, but is ably defended
by Fabricius in his " Bibliographia Antiqnaria." It went
through several editions; the latter of which have large
additions by Dempster. That of Amsterdam, 1635, in 4to,
is printed with an Elzevir letter, upon a good paper, and
has the following title : ' Joannis Rosini Antiquitatum Ro-
manarum corpus absolutissimum. Cum notis doctissimis
ac locupletissimis Thomae Dempsteri J. C. Huic postremae
editioni accuratissimae accesserunt Pauli Manutii libri IF.
de Legibus & de Senatu, cum Andreoe Schotti Klectis. I.
De Priscis Romanis Gentibus ac Familiis. 2. De Tribubus
Rom. xxxv. Rusticis atque Urbanis. 3. De ludis festisque
Romanis ex Kalendario Vetere. Cum Indrce locupletis-
simo, & anneis figuris accuratissimis." His other works are,
" Exempla pietatis illustris, seu vitae trium Saxonirc Du-
cum electorum, Frederici II. Sapient 'is ; Joannis Constantly
et Joannis Frederici Magnanimi" Jena, 16O2, 4to ; a con-
tinuation of" Drechsleri Chronicon," Leipsic, 1594, 8vo;
" Anti-Turcica Lutberi," in German, a collection of some
writings of Luther of the prophetic kind, against the Turks-,
Leipsic, 1596, 8vo. 8
> Stoever's Life of Linnajus, p. 40. Diet. Hist. Niceron, vol. XXXIII*
ROSS. 337
tlOSS, or ROSSE (ALEXANDER), a voluminous author
of tlie seventeenth century, was born in 1590 in Scotland,
and became a divine, but left that country in Charles I.'s
reign, and was appointed one of his majesty's chaplainsj
and master of the free-school at Southampton. He died
in 1654, leaving a handsome bequest to the above school,
from which it is said he had retired for some time before
his death, and passed the remainder of his days in the fa-
mily of the Henleys of Hampshire, to whom he left a large
Jibrary and a considerable sum of money, part of whicli
was concealed among his books. Echard says " he was a
busy, various, and voluminous writer, who by his pen and
ether ways made a considerable noise and figure in these*
times, and who so managed his affairs, that in the midst of
these storms, he died very rich, as appears from the several
benefactions he made." We have a list before us of thirty
pieces by this author, but whether published separately^
each forming a volume, we know not. Most of them oc-
cur very seldom. Among them are some whose dates we
have recovered, but cannot vouch for the accuracy of thd
list. 1. " Comment, de Terrae motu refutatum/' Lond.
1634, 4to. 2. " The new Planet no Planet^ or, the earth
no wandering star," ibid. 1640, 4to, reprinted in 1646.
3. " Virgilius Evangelizans;" ibid. 1634, 8vo. This is a
cento on the life of Christ, collected entirely from Virgil.
Granger says it is ingenious, and was deservedly admired.
4. " Medicus medicatus, or, the physician's religion cured,"
ibid. 1645, 8vo. Th;s was one of the pieces in which he
attacked the reputation of sir Thomas Browne in his " Re-
Jigio Medici." We find him returning to the charge after-
wards in a work entitled, 5. " Refutation of Dr. Browne's
Vulgar Errors," ibid. 1652, 8vo. 6. "Observations upon
sir Kenelm Digby's Discourse on the nature of Bodies,"
ibid. 1645, 4to. 7. "The picture of the Conscience,"
ibid. 1646, 12mo. 8. " The Muses' Interpreter," ibid.
1646, 8vo. 9. "Arcana Microcosmi," ibid. 1651 and
1652, 12mo and 8vo. 10. "Observations upon Hobbes's
Leviathan," ibid. 1653, 12mo. 11. " Observations upon
sir Walter Raleigh's History of the World," ibid. 12mo.
After this he published " A Continuation" of that history,
which Granger calls his " great work ;" but adds, that it is
like a piece of bad Gothic tacked to a magnificent pile of
Roman architecture, which serves to heighten the effect
s>f it, while it exposes its own deficiency in strength and
C C 2
388 R O S S.
beauty. 12. " An Epitome'* of the same history. 13.
66 A View of all Religions,'* the work for which he is best
known, and which has passed through variotfs editions, the
sixth in 1683. It had the merit of being the first compila-
tion of the kind in our language, and attained a great de-
gree of popularity. 14. " Abridgment and translation of
John Wollebius's Christian divinity," ibid. 1657, Svo. 15*
" Three Decades of Divine Meditations," no date. This
is one of his poetical works, and valued in the " Biblio-
theca Anglo-Poetica" at Si. tis. 16. " Mel Helreonium,
or, Poetical Honey gathered out of the weeds of Parnassus,
&c." ibid. 1642, Svo. This, of which an account is given
by Mr. Park in the " Gensura Literaria," is an attempt to
spiritualize the Greek and Roman mythology. In moral
and metre it resembles Quarles. Of the following works
we have no dates : " De rebus Judaicis, libri quatuor," in
hexameter verse ; " Rasura tonsoris," prose ; " Chymera
Pythagoria;" "Meditations upon Predestination;" " Ques-
tions upon Genesis;" " Melissomachia;" "Four books of
Epigrams," in Latin elegiacs ; " Mystagogus poeticus ;"
"ColloquiaPlantina;" " Chronology," in English ; " Chris-
tiados poematis libri tredecim," with others, which seem
of doubtful authority. 1
ROSSI (JOHN VICTOR), a learned Italian, who assumed
and is generally known by the name of JANUS NJCIUS ERY-
THR/EUS, was born at Rome, of a noble, but not opulent
family, about 1577. He studied in the college of the Je-
suits, and before be was nineteen years of age had made
such progress in the law, that he was permitted to give
lessons on the subject. These were so much admired by a
magistrate of eminence, that he appointed Rossi his auditor ;
but as this gentleman died the same year, all his hopes
from his patronage were disappointed. The law, however,
still holding out the prospect of those honours to which he
aspired, he omitted no opportunity of increasing his know-
ledge under the direction of Lepidus Piccolomini, one of
the most famous lawyers of his time, and who advised him
to turn pleader; but Piccolomini dying soon after, Rossi was
so discouraged by this second disappointment that, as he
had devoted himself to the study of the law rather from
ambition than liking, he now determined to employ his
1 Cens. Lit. vol. IV. Grey's Hudibras, where he is alluded to in two wel!-
knowu lines: "There was an ancient philosopher, Who had read Alexander
over." Lounger's Common-place Book, vol. III. Granger, voL III.
ROSSI. 389
time in the study of the belles lettres. With this view he
became a member of the academy of the Umoristi, where
he read several of his compositions, the style of which was
so much admired by Marcel Vestri, secretary of the briefs
to pope Paul V., that he invited Rossi to his house, to as-
sist in drawing up the briefs, and with a view that he should
be his successor in case of himself rising to higher prefer-
ment. Rossi soon made himself useful in this office, but
unfortunately Vestri died in about eight months, and Rossi
was again left unemployed, Many expedients he tried,
and made many applications, but without success, and his
only consolation, we are told, he derived from his vanity,
which suggested to him that persons in office would not
employ him, from a consciousness of their inferiority to him,
and a jealousy of his supplanting them. It appears, how-
ever, that a certain satirical and arrogant temper was more
to blame ; for this was what he could not easily repress.
At length, in 1608, when he was in his thirty-first year,
the cardinal Andrew Peretti took him into his service, as
secretary, and with him he lived near twenty years, that
is, until the cardinal's death, in 1628. Rossi tells us in
one of his letters that he accepted this situation much
against his will, and remained in it only because he could
obtain no other ; and complain* of the little care the car-
dinal took to promote his dependents, and his general want
of liberality towards them. His residence here, however,
appears to have cured him of all his ambition, and he re-
solved for the future to devote himself to study only. From
this time accordingly, he was employed in perusing the
scriptures and the fathers, and in the composition of his
various works ; and that he might be enabled to enjoy all
this in quiet, he went to a retired part of Rome, where he
afterwards built a small church dedicated to St. Mary. In
some of his works he styles himself a Roman citizen, and a
commissary of the water of Marana; but, according to one
of his letters to Fabio Chjgi, afterwards pope Alexander
VIL, he neither knew what the duty of that office was,
what this water of Marana was, where it came from, whi-
ther it flowed, or what benefit the people of Rome derived
from it, except that he had been told it turned some mills.
There was, l*owever, an annual salary annexed, which he
found not inconvenient. He died Nov. 15, 1647, and was
interred in the church which he built for the use of the
hermits of the congregation of Peter of Pisa, whom also he
made his heirs.
390 R O S S L
His first publication is entitled ?< Eudemiae libri Decem/*
Cologne (Leyden), 1645. To this, which is a bitter satire
on the corrupt manners of the Romans, he prefixed his as-
sumed name of Janus Nicius Erythraeus. His other works
consist of " Dialogues," religious tracts, orations, and let-
ters; but that for which he is most known is his " Pinaco-
tbeca imaginum illustrjum doctrinse vcl ingenii laude viro-
rum, qui uuctore superstite diem suum ohierunt," in three
parts, Cologn, 1643 1648, reprinted at Leipsjc in 1692,
and in 1729. As containing many particulars of contem-
porary history, this is a work necessary to be consulted,
but it contains more opinions than facts, and his criticisms
are often injudicious. 1
ROSTGAAKD (FREDERICK), a learned Dane, was born
Aug. 3CX, 1671, at Kraagerop, a country seat belonging to
his lather, whose heir he became in 1684. Great care was
taken of his education by his guardians, and after studying,
some time at the university of Copenhagen, it was recom-
mended to him to visit other universities, where eminent
professors were to be found. He accordingly set out in
1690, and spt-nt ten years in extending hi* knowledge of
the belles lettres, civil law, &c. and had for his masters
Morliof, Gr&vius, Gronovius, &c. While at Leyden in
169.'5, he published " Delicise quorundam poetarnm Dano-
rum," 2 vols. 12mo. He passed a considerable time in
England, particularly at Oxford, for the s;>ke of the MS
treasures in the Bodleian library, and employed himself
much in reading and copying Greek MSS. He afterwards
continued the same researches among the libraries of Pa-
ris, where he resided for four years, and applied with ar-
dour to the study of the oriental languages. Among the
MSS. which he copied in Paris, were the letters of the ce-
lebrated sophist Libanius, a good number of which he had
also found in England, and communicated these for Wolf's
edition of that author, published at Amsterdam in 1739.
Both in France and Italy, which he next visited, he made
Jprge purchases of valuable MSS. On his return home in
1700, the king made him counsellor of justice, and keeper
of the private archives. In 1710 he was made counsellor
of state, and, some years after, justiciary of the supreme
tribunal. In 1721 he was appointed first secretary of the
Danish chancery, but lost this office in 1725 by the ma-
i
1 Niceron, tol. XXXI 1 1, Baillet Jugemens,
RQSTGAARD. 39i
donations of some enemies who were jealous of his high
favour at court. Being now obliged to leave Copenhagen,
he sold his fine library, reserving only a few useful books
which might divert his time during his retirement. This
library contained about 5000 printed books, and 1068 ma-
nuscripts, as appears by the sale catalogue published at
Copenhagen in 1726. His disgrace, however, did not last
long. Having effectually cleared up his character, the
king, Frederick IV. made him, in 1727, baillie of Ander-
skow, which post he retained until 1730, He then retired
to his estate at Kraagerop, and employed his time in study.
He was about to put the finishing hand to his " Lexicon
Jinguae Danicae," when he died suddenly April 26, 1745.
He was editor of the works of Andrew Bordingius, a much
esteemed Danish poet, which were published in 1735, 4to,
and had the principal hand in the " Enchiridion studiosi,
Arabice conscriptum a Borhaneddino Alzernouchi, &c."
published by Adrian Reland at Utrecht in 1710. He as-
sisted in other learned works, particularly Duker's Thucy-
ROSWEIDE (HERIBERT), a learned ecclesiastical anti-
quary, was born at Utrecht in 1569, and entered the so~
ciety of the Jesuits at Doway in Flanders, when he was
twenty years of age. His taste led him to examine the
libraries of the monasteries in that city, until he was called
to be professor of philosophy and divinity, first at Doway,
and afterwards at Antwerp, where he attained very consi-
derable reputation. He died in 1629, at the age of sixty.
He published, in 1 607, " Fasti Sanctorum quorum Vitae in
Belgicis Bibliothecis Man use rip tee asservantur," which he
intended as a specimen of a larger work, and which was
the prelude of the immense collection by Bollandus and
others, under the title of " Acjta Sanctorum." He was
author of many other works, among which is " An Account
of the Hermits of Egypt and Palestine, 3 ' "An Ecclesiastical
History from the time of Christ to pope Urban VIII." 2
vols. folio ; and " The History of the Belgic Church." Ill
none of these did he ever rise above the prejudices of his
order, but shewed himself the zealous advocate of super-
stition and credulity, while he treated those who differed
from him with very little respect. 2
ROTGANS (LUKE), a very celebrated Dutch poet, was
born Oct. 1645, of a distinguished family at Amsterdam.
1 ilomi, ? Barman Traject. Erudit, Alegambe, Foppeu Bibl. Uelg.
392 K O T G A N S.
He went into the army during the Dutch war in 1673 ; but
having served two years, retired to a beautiful country
house he had on the Vecht, and devoted himself wholly tq
study and poetry. He afterwards took a journey to Paris,
and on his return home married Ann Adrianna de Salingre,
who left him a widower with two daughters in 1689. He
died of the small-pox Nov. 3, 17 10, aged sixty-six. His
works are, " The Life of William III." king of England ;
an epic poem in eight books, much admired by his coun-
trymen ; and several other poems in Dutch, Lewarden,
1715, 4to. Rotgans, Vondel, and Antonides, are the
three most celebrated Dutch poets.*
ROTROU (JOHN DE), a celebrated French poet, was
born August 21, 1609, at Dreux. The merit of his come-;
dies and tragedies gained the favour of cardinal de Riche-
lieu, who gave him a pension ; and what was a higher ho-?
nour, the famous Peter Corneille called him })is father in tra-
gedy, and highly valued his works. It is said that Rotroq ,
lived at a great expence, and when he was distressed fof
money, could compose a piece jn two months. He pur-
chased a civil office, in the bailiwic of Dreux, and held it
till his death, which happened at Drenx ? June 28, 1650..
This author left thirty-seven dramatic pieces, among which
" Antigone," and " Venceslas," are the most esteemed.
The best of them may be found in the " Theatre Fran-
cois," Paris, 1737, 12 vols. 12mo; but it is very difficult
to procure a complete set of his works. -When all the poets
combined against the " Cid," Rotrou alone refused to hu-
mour cardinal Richelieu's jealousy, though he received a
pension of 600 livres from him, and continued always the
admirer and zealous partizan of Corneille. Wben settled
at Dreux, he gained the esteem of the whole province by
his integrity, prudent conduct, and piety. That city
being visited by an epidemical disorder, his friends at Paris
pressed him in the most earnest maruier to quit so dange-
rous a situation, and save his life ; but he replied, that be
could not answer it to his conscience to follow their advice,
because he was the only person who could keep things in.
any order at that time, ending his letter with the following
words : " Not but that the hazard I run is very great, for
while I write the bells are tolling for the twenty-second
person who has died this day. They will toll for me when
1 Moreri. Diet. Hist.
R O T R O U. 393
It pleases God." 'He was attacked himself some days after,
and died, as the French biographers express themselves,
witht&e most fervent sentiments of religion and piety. 1
flO'UBlLIAC (LEWIS-FRANCIS), a very eminent sculp*
tor, was a native of Lyons in France ; but of his early his-
tory no memoirs have been discovered. He appears to
have come to England, about the time that Rysbrach's
fame was at its height, and became a very formidable rival
to that excellent artist, who had at the same time to con-
tend with the growing merit of Scheemaker. Roubiliac
is said, however, to have had little business until sir HJd-
ward Walpole recommended him to execute half the busts
at Trinity-college, Dublin ; and, by the same patron's
interest, he was employed on the fine monument of the
general John duke of Argyle, in Westminster-abbey, on
which the statue of eloquence is particularly graceful and
niasterly ; but it has been thought that his fame was most
jcompletely fixed by his statue of Handel in Vauxhall-
gardens. Two of his principal works are the monuments
of the duke and duchess of Montague in Northampton-
shire, well performed and magnificent, although perhapg
wanting in simplicity. His statue of George J. in the Se-
nate-bouse at Cambridge, is well executed ; as is that of
their chancellor, Charles duke of Somerset, except that it
is in a Vandyke-dress, which might not be the fault of the
sculptor. His statue of sir Isaac Newton, in the chapei of
Trinity-college, has always been greatly admired ; but
lord Orford objects, that the air is a little too pert for so
grave a man. This able artist died Jan. 11, 1762, and
was buried in the parish of St. Martin's in the Fields, where
he had lived.
Mr. Scott of Crown-street, Westminster, had a sketch
of Roubiliac's head, in oil, by himself, which he painted
ft little before his death. The late Edward Bridgen, esq.
had an excellent model of a monument for general Wolfe,
by Roubiliac, which was his last work, and was intended to
have been executed in marble for W r estminster-abbey. The
design is said to have been far preferable to that now in the
abbey. Lord Chesterfield used to assert, that Roubiliac
only was a statuary, and all the rest were stone-cutters.
Roubiliac had a turn for poetry, and wrote some satires in
French Terse.*
1 Morcri. Dirt. Hilt,
* Waipole's Anecdotes. Gent, Mag. roU UII. wd LVIll,
nous,
liOUS, or ROUSE (FRANCIS), a very conspicuous
racter during the republican state of England, descended
from an ancient family in Devonshire, was the younger son
of sir Anthony Rons, knight, by Elizabeth, his first wife,
daughter of Thomas Southcote, gent. He was born at
Halton, in Cornwall, in J57D, and entered a commoner
of Broadgate-hall, now Pembroke-college, Oxford, where
he took a bachelor's degree in arts. He afterwards studied
the law, and there is a report that he took orders, and
preached at Saltash ; but for this there was probably no
other foundation than what his works afforded, which would
not have disgraced many of the divines of that period. It
is evident that he had studied religious controversy with,
more attention than laymen usually bestow on such sub-
jects. His destination, however, was to make a figure in
political history. In the first parliament called by Charles!,
lie was returned for Truro in Cornwall, for Tregony in the
third, and for Truro again in the 15th and 16th of that
reign ; in all which he proved one of the most zealous ene-
mies to the established church, and a vehement declaimer.
against what he termed innovations and abuses both in
church and state, and particularly against Arminianism,
which was also the subject of some of his works. He was
one of the few laymen appointed by the Commons to sit in
the Assembly of Divines at Westminster. In the parlia-
ment called in 1653, he was one of the representatives for
Devonshire, and at that time was first chosen chairman,
and then speaker for a month ; but continued, during the
whole sitting, to forward Cromwell's plans. He procured
a vote, that Cromwell, Lambert, Harrison, Disbrowe, and
Tomlinson, should sit in that house as members; and afterr
wards proposed, that the parliament should resign the go-
vertment into Cromwell's hands, with the title of Protector.
His original intention was to form the English common-
wealth after the model of the Jewish ; but as a theocracy
was rejected, he made the above proposal in favour of
Cromwell, whom he affected to look upon as a compound
of the characters of Moses and Joshua. In gratitude for
this, he was declared one of Jus highness' s privy-council.
In 1656, he was returned one of the members for Corn-
wall ; and in the year following was seated in the House of
Lords. He had been made provost of Eton in 1643, and
had a college- lease, which together were worth 1200/. per
annum. He died at Acton, near London, Jan, 7, 1659,
R O U S* 395
and was buried with great pomp at Eton, and a standard-*
pennon, with other things relating to a baron, were erected
over his grave, but these were taken away at the Restora-*
tion. We have omitted to notice, that he was principal
trier and approver of public preachers, and a commissioner
for the ejectment of " scandalous and ignorant ministers."
He founded three fellowships in Pembroke college, and
bequeathed other property to pious uses. Lord Clarendon
and other contemporaries undervalue his abilities, which
certainly did not appear to much advantage in parliament,
where his speeches were rude, vulgar, and enthusiastic,
both in style and sentiment, yet perhaps not the worse
adapted to the understandings of his hearers. Wood has
given a long catalogue of his writings, the principal of
which relating to subjects of religions controversy, or ge-
neral piety, were collected in a folio printed at London
in 1657, under the title of "The Works of Francis Rous,
esq. or treatises and meditations dedicated to the saints,
and to the excellent throughout the three nations." This
has Faithorne's fine print from the picture in Pembroke
college. He published also, a tract, " The Lawfulness of
obeying the present Government," 1649, 4to, and " Mel la
Patrum," a thick octavo, 1650, containing what may he
termed the beauties of the fathers of the first three centu-
ries ; " Jnteriora regni Dei," 1665, 12mo, and a transla-
tion of the Psalms into English metre, printed in 1645, by
order of the House of Commons. His son FRANCIS was a
young physician of great talents, but died early in life in
J643. When at Merton college, he was distinguished for
classical attainments, and published a work on Greek anti-
quities, .** Archaeologiae Atticae libri tres," Oxon. 1637,
which Wood says went through several impressions. 1
ROUSE, or ROSS (,!OHN), usually called the antiquary
of Warwick, was born in that town, and educated there
until fit for the university. He then went to Oxford, and
studied at Baliol college, where he took his master's de-
gree in arts, and became soon afterwards a canon of Os-
ney. English antiquities became early his favourite pur-
suit, and he had all the zeal, if not all the judgment of a
true antiquary. Besides examining closely into the written
records in both universities, he travelled over the greater
1 Ath. Ox. vol. IT. Noble's Memoira of Cromwell, rol. I. p. 400. Lysons'5
Environs, vol. iL Granger, vol. HI.
336 ROUS E.
part of the kingdom to acquire information on the spot
where memorable events occurrc-ri, or any memorials were
preserved. He then took np his residence at Guy-ClifTe
in Warwickshire, when* he had a possession granted him
either by the earls of Warwick or by Edward IV, and died
Jan. 14, 1491. He wrote much on the civil and ecclesias-
tical antiquities of Warwick, and a history of our kings,
which is extant in the Cotton library, and that of Bene't
college, Cambridge, and was published by Hearne in 1716.
In this are many collections relative to the antiquities of
our universities. There is a noble MS. of his history of
the earls of Warwick in the Bodleian library, with drawings
of the several earls, their coats of arms, &c. l
ROUSSEAU (JAMES), a distinguished French painter,
was born at Paris in 1630. His first studies were under
the direction of Swanefelt, but he afterwards visited Italy,
and accomplished himself in architecture, perspective, and
landscape. On his return to Paris he immediately ob-
tained eminence, and was employed at IVLrly. He was
truly accomplished in painting edifices from his minute
attention to the principles of architecture. After being
patronized by Louis XIV. he was compelled to leave his
native country on account of his religion, being a strict
protestant. Housseau afterwards visited Holland, whence
he was invited to England by the duke of Montague, to
exert his talents on the magnificent palace at Bloomsbury,
BOW the British museum. Here he painted a great deal ;
and many of his works are also to be seen at Hampton
Court. He died in England in 1694, and was buried in
St. Anne's, Soho.
In the choice of his scenes he shews remarkable elegance
of taste ; his grounds are well broken, his distances well-
conducted, his skies finely imagined, as well as judiciously
adapted, and there appears great harmony in most of his
compositions. He ornamented his landscapes with edifices
and ruins, in the Roman taste of architecture, after the
manner of Poussin ; his figures were placed in such per-
spective proportions as deluded the eye agreeably to the
proper point of sight; and in his architecture we see ele-
gance of fancy united with nature and truth.
The pictures of this master are not frequently to be pur-
chased ; and when they are, their estimation is high. He
1 Tanner. Lehd and Pitf,- Nicolson'i Hist. library.
ROUSSEAU. 39T
was a man of probity, piety, and benevolence ; and at his
death he bequeathed the greatest part of his substance to
relieve those in England who, like himself, were refugees
on account of the French persecution. !
ROUSSEAU (JOHN BAPTIST), a celebrated French poet,
was born at Paris in 1669 : he was the son of a shoe-maker,
who, however, being a man of substance, gave him a good
education; and Rousseau soon shewed himself worthy of
it. He discovered early a turn for poetry ; and, at twenty,
was distinguished for some little productions, full of ele-
gance, taste, and spirit. In 1688 he attended M. de Bon-
repos as page in his embassy to the court of Denmark ; and
passed thence to England with marshal Tallard in quality
of secretary. Yet, he had so little of avarice and ambition
in his nature, that he never conceived the notion of n^a-
king a fortune ; and actually refused some places which his
friends had procured for him. In 1701 he was admitted
into the academy of inscriptions and belles lettres. He
had now obtained the reputation of a poet of the first rank,
expected a place in the French academy, and was in hopes
of obtaining Boileau's pension, which was about to ba va-
cant, when an affair broke out which obliged him to quit
his country, and embittered his whole life afterwards.
Some verses full of reflections, and of a very exceptionable
nature, were produced as Rousseau's. Rousseau denied
that they were his, and maintained them to be forgeries,
contrived for his ruin by those who envied and hated him.
He was tried in form ; and, by an arrest of parliament iu
1712, banished the kingdom for ever. Voltaire, who cer-
tainly has not shewn himself well affected to this poet, yet
expresses himself thus upon the affair of his banishment :
" Those couplets, which were the cause of his banishment,
and are like several which he owned, must either be im-
puted to him, or the two tribunals, which pronounced
sentence upon him, must be dishonoured. Not that two
tribunals, and even more numerous bodies, may not unani-
mously commit very great acts of injustice when a spirit of
party prevails. There was a violent party against Rous-
seau." The truth, however, is, that Rousseau was the
author, although he denied it, and the probability is, that
the tribunal before which he was tried had proof of this ;
such at least seems to be the opinion of most French writers.
* Filkington, Walpole's Anecdotes. Strutt's Dictionary
398 R V S S A tf.
He now withdrew to Switzerland, where he found a
lector in the count de Luc, the French ambassador to the*
Helvetic body; who carried him to Baden, and introduced
him to prince Eugene, who was there. He continued with
the prince till the conclusion of the peace at Baden ; and
then accompanying him to Vienna, was introduced by hiril
to the emperor's court. He continued here three years, at
the end of which he might have returned to his own coun-
try, some powerful friends offering to procure letters of
grace for recalling him ; but he answered, " that it did not
become a man, unjustly oppressed, to seal an ignominious
sentence by accepting such terms; and that letters of gracd
might do well enough for those that wanted them, but cer-
tainly not for him who only desired justice.'* He was af-
terwards at Brussels, and in 1721 went over to London^
where he printed, in a very elegant manner, 1 a collection
of his poems, in 2 vols. 4to. The profits hence arising
put his finances into good condition ; but, placing his mo-
ney with the emperor's company at Ostend, which failed
soon after, he was reduced to the necessity of relying upon
private benefactions. The duke of Aremberg gave him the
privilege of his table at Brussels; and, when this noble-
man was obliged to go to the army in Germany in 1733, he
settled on him a handsome pension, and assigned him an.
apartment in his castle of Euguien near Brussels. Rous-
seau, losing afterwards the good graces of the duke of
Aremberg, as he had before lost those of prince Eugene,
for he does not seem to have been happily formed for de-
pendence, listened at length to proposals of returning to
France, and for that purpose went incognito to Paris in
1739. He stayed there some little time ; but, finding his
affairs in no promising train, set out for Brussels. He con-
tinued some time at the Hague, where he was seized with
an apoplexy ; but recovered so far as to be removed to Brus-
sels, where he finished his unfortunate life, March 17, 1741.
He now declared upon his death-bed, as he had declared
to Rollin at Paris a little before, that he was not the au-
thor of the verses which occasioned his banishment.
His executor, conformably to his intentions, gave a
complete and beautiful edition of his works at Paris, 1743,
in 3 vols. 4to, and also in 4 vols. 12mo, They contain
odes, epistles, epigrams, and comedies, in verse; and a
collection of letters, in prose ; and have procured him the
Character of the best lyric poet of France. Voltaire, who
ROUSSEAU.
is not supposed to have done justice to Rousseau, owns, how-
ever, that " his odes are beautiful, diversified, and abound
with images ; that, in his hymns, he equals the harmony
and devotion observable in the spiritual songs of Racine ;
and that his epigrams are finished with greater care than
those of Marot. He was not," continues the critic, " so
successful in operas, which require sensibility ; nor in co-
medies, which cannot succeed without gaiety. la both
these qualities he was deficient ; and therefore failed in
operas and comedies, as being foreign to his genius." '
ROUSSEAU (JOHN JAMES), an eccentric genius of our
own times, has enabled us to give an account of him by a
publication which himself left behind him, under the title
of " Les Confessions de J. J. Rousseau, suivies des Reveries
du Promeneur Solitaire," Geneve, 1783, 2 volumes, 8vo.
He was born at Geneva in 1711; his parents were, Isaac
Rousseau, an ingenious watch-maker, arid Susannah Ber-
nard, the daughter of a clergyman, who was more rich than
her husband (he having fifteen brothers and sisters). She
had also wisdom and beauty, so that she was no easy prize ;
but a love, which commenced in their childhood, at length,
after many difficulties, produced a happy marriage. And
at the same time his mother's brother, Gabriel, an engi-
neer, married one of his father's sisters. After the birth
of one son, his father went to Constantinople, arid was
watch-maker to the seraglio; and ten months after his re-
turn our author was born, infirm and sickly, and cost his
mother her life. The sensibility which was all that his
parents left him, constituted (he says) their happiness, but
occasioned all his misfortunes. He was " born almost dy-
ing," but was preserved and reared by the tenderness of an
aunt (his father's sister). He remembers not how he learned
to read, but only recollects that his first studies were some
romances left by his mother, which engaged his father, as
well as himself, whole nights, and gave him a very early
knowledge of the passions, and also wild and romantic
notions of human life. The romances ended with the sum-
mer of 1719. Better books succeeded, furnished by the
library of his mother's father, viz. " Le Sueur's History of
the Church and the Empire;" " Bossuet's Discourses on
Universal History;" " Plutarch's Lives;" ' Nani's History
of Venice;" "Ovid's Metamorphoses;" "La Bruyerej"
Moreri Diet. Hist. Voltaire's SieIe de Louis XIV.
400 ROUSSEAU.
" Fontenelle's Worlds, and Dialogues of the Dead ;" and
some volumes of " Moliere." Of these "Plutarch'* wag
his favourite ; and he soon preferred Agesilaus, Brutus,'
and Aristides, to Oroondates, Artamenes, audJuba; and
to these lives, and the conversations that they occasioned
with his father, he imputes that free and republican spirit,
that fierce and intractable character, which ever after was
his torment. His brother, who was seven years older, and
followed his father's business, being neglected in his edu-
cation, behaved so ill, and was so incorrigible, that he fled
into Germany, and was never heard of afterwards. On the
contrary, the utmost attention was bestowed on John James,
and he was almost idolized by all. Yet he had (he owns)
all the faults of his age ; he was a prater, a glutton, and
sometimes a liar; he stole fruit, sweetmeats, and victuals ;
but he never delighted in being mischievous or wasteful, hi
accusing others, or in tormenting poor animals. He re^
Jates, however, an indelicate trick he played one Madame
Clot while she was at prayers, which still, he says, diverts
him, because " she was the most fretful old woman he ever
knew." His " taste, or rather passion, for music'* he owed
to his aunt Susan, who sang most sweetly; and he paints
her in most pleasing colours. A dispute, which his father
had with a French captain obliging him to quit Geneva,
our author was left under the care of his uncle Bernard, then
employed on the fortifications, who having a son of the
same age, these cousins were boarded together at Bossey,
at M. Lambercier's, a clergyman, to learn Latin, and other
branches of education. In this village he passed two hap-
py years, and formed an affectionate friendship with his
cousin Bernard. A slight offence, the breaking the teeth
of a comb, with which he was charged, but denied it, and
of which now, fifty years after, he avows his innocence, bub
for which he was severely punished, and a like chastise-
ment, which, for a like offence, was also unjustly inflicted
on his cousin, gave both at last a distaste for this paradise,
and great pleasure in being removed from it. This inci-
dent made a deep and lasting impression upon him, as did
another about planting a willow and a walnut tree, for which
we must refer to his own account. At his return to Gene-
va he continued two or three years wiih his uncle, losing
his time, it not being determined whether he should be a
watch-maker, an attorney, or a minister. To the last he
was most inclined, but that the small remains of his mo-
ROUSSEAU. 401
ther's fortune would not admit. In the mean time he learn-
ed to draw, for which he had a taste, and read " Euclid's
Elements" withes Cousin. Thus they led an idle, but not
a vicious life, making cages, flutes, shuttle-cocks, drums,
houses, cross-bows, and puppets, imitating Punch, acting
plays, and at last makiog sermons. He often visited his
father, wlxo was then settled at Nion, a small town in the
country of Vaud, and there he recounts two amours (as
he calls them) that he had, at the age of eleven, with two
grown misses, whom he archly describes. At last he
was placed with M. Massiron, register of the city, to
learn his business ; but, being by him soon dismissed
for his stupidity, he was bound apprentice, not, how-
ever, to a watch-maker, but to an engraver, a brutal
wretch, who not only treated him most inhumanly, but
taught him to lie, to be idle, and to steal. Of the latter
he gives some instances. In his sixteenth year, having
twice on a Sunday been locked out of the city-gates, and
being severely threatened by his master if he stayed out a
third time, by an unlucky circumstance this event happen-
ing, he swore never to return again, sending word privately
to his cousin Bernard of what he proposed, and where he
might once more see him ; which he did, not to dissuade
him, but to make him some presents. They then parted
with tears, but never met or corresponded more, " which
was a pity, as they were made to love each other." After
making some reflections on what would have been his fate
if he had fallen into the hands of a better master, he in-
forms us that at Consignon, in Savoy, two leagues from Ge-
neva, he had the curiosity to see the rector, M. de Pontverre,
a name famous in their history, and accordingly went to visit
him, and was well received, and regaled with such a good din-
ner as prevented hisreplyingto his host's arguments in favour
of holy mother Church, and against the heresy of Geneva.
Instead of sending him back to his family, this devout
priest endeavoured to convert him, and recommended him
to mad. de Warens, a good charitable lady, lately con-
verted, at Annecy, who had quitted her husband, her fa-
mily, her country, and her religion, for a pension of 1500
Piedmontese livres, allowed her by the King of Sardinia.
He arrived at Annecy on Palm- Sunday, 1728 ; and saw ma-
dam de Warens. This epoch of his life determined his
character. He was then in the middle of his 16th year;
though not handsome, he was well made, had black hair,
VOL, XXVT. D D
402 R O U S S E A U.
and small sparkling eyes, &c. charms, of which, unluckily,
he was not unconscious. The lady too, who was then 28,
he describes as being highly agreeable and engaging, and
having many personal charms, although her size was small,
and her stature short. Being told she was just gone to the
Cordeliers church, he overtook her at the door, was struck
with her appearance, so different from that of the old
crabbed devotee which he had imagined, and was instantly
proselyted to her religion. He gave her a letter from M.
de Pontverre, to which he added one of his own. She
glanced at the former, but read the latter, and would have
read it again, if her servant had not reminded her of its
being church-time. She then bade John James go to her
house, ask for some breakfast, and wait her return from
mass. Her accomplishments he paints in brilliant colours ;
considers her as a good Catholic ; and, in short, at first
sight, was inspired by her with the strongest attachment,
and the utmost confidence. She kept him to dinner, and
then inquiring his circumstances, urged him to go to
Turin, where, in a seminary for the instruction of catechu-
mens, he might be maintained till his conversion was ac-
complished ; and engaged also to prevail on M. de Bernet,
the titular bishop of Geneva, to contribute largely to the
expence of his journey. This promise she performed. He
gave his consent, being desirous of seeing the capital, and
of climbing the Alps. She also reinforced his purse, gave
him privately ample instructions ; and, entrusting him to
the care of a countryman and his wife, they parted on Ash-
Wednesday. The day after, his father" came in quest of
him, accompanied by his friend M. Rixal, a watch-maker,
like himself, and a good poet. They visited madam de
Warens, but only lamented with her, instead of pursuing
and overtaking him, which they might, they being on
horseback, and he on foot. His brother had been lost by
a like negligence. Having some independent fortune
from their mother, it seemed as if their father connived at
their flight in order to secure it to himself, an idea which
gave our author great uneasiness. After a pleasantjourney
with his two companions, he arrived at Turin, but without
money, cloaths, or linen. His letters of recommendation
admitted him into the seminary ; a course of life, and a
mode of instruction, with which he was soon disgusted. In
two months, however, he made his abjuration, was baptized
Ht the cathedral, absolved of h f eresy by the inquisitor^ and
ROUSSEAU. 403
then dismissed, with about 20 livres in his pocket ; thus, at
once, made an apostate and a dupe, with all his hopes in
an instant annulled. After traversing the streets, and
viewing the buildings, he took at night a mean lodging,
where he continued some days. To the king's chapel, in
particular, he was frequently allured by his taste for music,
which then began to discover itself. His purse, at last,
being almost exhausted, he looked out for employment,
and at last found it, as an engraver of plate, by means of a
young woman, madame Basile, whose husband, a gold-
smith, was abroad, and had left her under the care of a
clerk, or an jEgisthus, as Rousseau styles him. Nothing, he
declares, but what was innocent, passed betwixt him and
this lady, though her charms made great impression on
him ; and soon after, her husband returning, and finding
him at dinner with her confessor, the clerk, &c. immedi-
ately dismissed him the house. His landlady, a soldier's wife,
after this procured him the place of footman to the countess
dowager of Vercullis, whose livery he wore ; but his busi-
ness was to write the letters which she dictated, a cancer
in her breast preventing her writing them herself; letters,
he says, equal to those of madam de Sevigne. This service
terminated, in three months, with his lady's death, who left
him nothing, though she had great curiosity to know his
history, and to read his letters to madam de Warens. He
saw her expire with many tears her life having been that
of a woman of wit and sense, her death being that of a
sage. Her heir and nephew, the count de la Roque,
gave him 30 livres and his new cloaths ; but, on leaving
this service, he committed, he owns, a diabolical action, by
falsely accusing Marion, the cook, of giving him a rose-
coloured silver ribbon belonging to one of the chamber-
maids, which was found upon him, and which he himself
had stolen. This crime, which was an insupportable load
on his conscience, he says, all his life after, and which he
never avowed before, not even to Madam de Warens, was
one principal inducement to his writing his " Confessions,"
and he hopes, " has been expiated by his subsequent mis-
fortunes, and by forty years of rectitude and honour in the
most difficult situations." On leaving this service, he re-
turned to his lodgings, and, among other acquaintances
that he had made, often visited M. Gaime, a Savoyard abb6,
the original of the " Savoyard Vicar," to whose virtuous
and religious instructions, he professes the highest obliga-
DD 2
404 ROUSSEAU.
tions. The count de la Roque, though he neglected to call
upon him, procured him, however, a place with the count
de Gouvon, an equerry to the queen, where he lived much
at his ease, and out of livery. Though happy in this fa-
mily, being favoured by all, frequently waiting on the
count's beautiful grand -daughter, honoured with lessons by
the abbe", his younger son, and having reason to expect an
establishment in the train of his eldest son, ambassador to
Venice, he absurdly relinquished all this by obliging the
count to dismiss him for his attachment to one of his coun-
trymen, named Bacle, who inveigled him to accompany
him in his way back to Geneva ; and an artificial fountain,
which the abbe* de Gouvon had given him, helped, as their
purse was light, to maintain them till it broke. At Annecy
he parted with his companion, and hastened to madam de
Warens, who, instead of reproaching, lodged him in her
best chamber, and " Little One" (Petit) was his name, and
" Mama" hers. There he lived most happily and inno-
cently, he declares, till a relation of " Mama," a M. d'Au-
bonne, suggested that John-James was fit for nothing but
the priesthood, but first advised his completing his educa-
tion by learning Latin. To this the bishop not only con-
sented, but gave him a pension. Reluctantly he obeyed,
carrying to the seminary of St. Lazarus no book but Cle-
rambault's cantatas, learning nothing there but one of his
airs, and therefore being soon dismissed for his insuffici-
ency. Yet madam de Warens did not abandon him. His
taste for music then made them think of his being a musi-
cian, and boarding for that purpose with M. le Maitre, the
organist of the cathedral, who lived near " Mama," and
presided at her weekly concerts. There he continued for
a year, but his passion for her prevented his learning even
music. Le Maitre, disgusted with the Chapter, and de-
termined to leave them, was accompanied in his flight, as
far as Lyons, by John-James; but, being subject to fits,
and attacked by one of them in the streets, he was deserted
in distress by his faithless friend, who turned the corner,
and left him. This is his third painful " Confession." He
instantly returned to Annecy and " Mama ; but she, alas !
was gone to Paris. After this, he informs us of the many
girls that were enamoured of him : of his journey with one
of them, on foot, to Fribourg; of his visiting his father, in
his way, at Nion ; and of his great distress at Lausanne,
which reduced him to the expedient of teaching music,
ROUSSEAU. 405
which he knew not, saying he was of Paris, where he had
never been, and changing his name to Voussore, the ana-
gram of Rousseau. But here his ignorance and his im-
prudence exposed him to public shame, by his attempting
what he could not execute. Being thus discomfited, and
unable to subsist at Lausanne, he removed to Neufchatel,
where he passed the winter. There he succeeded better,
and, at length, by teaching music, insensibly learned it.
At Boudry, accidentally meeting a Greek bishop, Archi-
mandrite of Jerusalem, who was making a collection in
Europe to repair the holy sepulchre, our adventurer was
prevailed upon to accompany him as his secretary and in-
terpreter ; and, in consequence, travelled, alms'-gathering,
through Switzerland; harangued the senate of Berne, &c. ;
but at Soleure, the French ambassador, the marquis de
Bonac, having made him discover who he was, detained
him in his service, without allowing him even to take leave
of his " poor Archimandrite," and sent him (as he desired)
to Paris, to travel with the nephew of M. Goddard, a Swiss
colonel in the French service. This fortnight's journey
was the happiest time of his life. In his ideas of the mag-
nificence of Paris, Versailles, &c. he greatly mistook. He
was also much flattered, and little served. Colonel Goddard's
proposals being very inadequate to his expectations, he
was advised to decline accepting them. Hearing that his
dear " Mama" had been gone two months to Savoy, Turin,
or Switzerland, he determined to follow her ; and, on the
road, sent by the post a paper of satirical verses, to the old
avaricious colonel, the only satire that he ever wrote. At
Lyons he visited mademoiselle du Chatelet, a friend of
madam de Warens ; but whether that lady was gone to
Savoy or Piedmont, she could not inform him. She urged
him, however, to stay at Lyons, till she wrote and had an
answer, an offer which he accepted, although his purse was
almost exhausted, and he was often reduced to lie in the
streets, yet without concern or apprehension, choosing ra-
ther to pay for bread than a lodging. At length, M. Roli-
chon, an Antonian, accidentally hearing him sing in the
street a cantata of Batistin, employed him some days in
copying music, fed him well, and gave him a crown, which,
he owns, he little deserved, his transcripts were so incor-
rect and faulty. And, soon after, he heard news of "Mama,"
who was at Chambery, and received money to enable him
to join her. He found her constant and affectionate, ana 1
406 ROUSSEAU.
she immediately introduced him to the intendant, who had
provided him the place of a secretary to the commissioners
appointed by the king to make a general survey of the
country, a place which, though not very lucrative, afforded
him an honourable maintenance for the first time in his life.
This happened in 1732, he being then near 21. He lodged
with " Mama," in whose affection, however, he had a formi-
dable rival in her steward, Claude Anetj yet they all lived
together on the best terms. The succeeding eight or nine
years, viz. till 1741, when he set out for Paris, had few or
no events. His taste for music made him resign his em-
ployment for that of teaching that science ; and several of
his young female scholars (ail charming) he describes and
introduces to his readers. To alienate him from other se-
ducers, at length his " Mama" (he says) proposed to him
being his mistress, and became so ; yet sadness and sor-
row embittered his delights, and, from the maternal light
in which he had been accustomed to view this philosophi-
cal lady, who sinned, he adds, more through error than
from passion, he deemed himself incestuous. And let it
be remembered that she had a husband, and had had many
other gallants. Such is his " good-hearted" heroine, the
Aspasia of his Socrates, as he calls tier, and such was he.
This is another of his " Confessions." Thus madam de
Warens, Rousseau, and Anet, lived together in the most
perfect union, till a pleurisy deprived him of the latter.
In consequence of the loss of this good manager, all her
affairs were soon in the utmost disorder, though John-
James succeeded to the stewardship, and though he pawned
his own credit to support hers. Determining now to com-
pose, and for that purpose, first to learn, music, he ap-
plied to the abbe Ulancnard, organist of the cathedral of
Besanc,on. But, just as they were going to begin, he
heard that his portmanteau, with all his cloaths, was seized
at Rousses, a French custom-house on the borders of
Switzerland, because he had accidentally, in a new waist-
coat-pocket, a Jansenist parody of the first scene of Ra-
cine's " Mithridates," of which he had not read ten lines.
This loss made him return to Chambery, totally disap-
pointed, and resolved, in future, to attach himself solely to
*' Mama," who, by degrees, reinstated his wardrobe. And
still cotitin, ing to study Rameau, he succeeded, at last, in
some compositions, which were much approved by good
judges, and thus did not lose his scholars. From this aera
ROUSSEAU. 407
he dates his connexion with his old friend Gauffeconrt, an
amiable man. since dead, and M. d Conzie, a Savoyard
gentleman, then living. The extra* ityatn-e of his mistr* ss,
in spite of all his remonstrances, made? uim absent himself
from her, which increased their ex pe ices, but at the same
time procured him many respectable friends, whom he
name.-.. His uncle Bernard was now dead in Carolina, whither
he went in oruer to build Charles-tow .1, as na* his cousin, in
the service of tue king of Prussia. His health at this time
visibly, but unaccountably, declined. " Tne sword cut
the scabbard." Besides his disorderly passions, his illness
was partly occasioned by the tury vv:tn union he studied
chess, shutting hunself up, for that purpose, whole days
and nights, till he looked like a corpse, and partly by his
concern and anxiety for madam de Warens, who by her
maternal care and attention saved his life. Being ordered
by her to drink milk in tne country, he prevailed on her to
accompany him, and, aoout tne end of the summer of 1736,
they settled at Charmett- j s, near the gate of Chambery, but
solitary and retired, in a house whose situation he describes
with rapture. " Moments dear and regretted." However, not
being able to bear milk, having recourse to water, which
almost killed him, and leaving off wine, he lost his appe-
tite, and had a violent nervous affection, which, at the end
of some weeks, left him with a beating of his arteries, and
tingling in his ears, which have lasted from that time to the
present, 30 years after; and, from being a good sleeper,
he became sleepless, and constantly short-breathed. "This
accident, which might have destroyed his body, only de-
stroyed his passions, and produced a happy effect on his
soul." " Mama" too, he says, was religious ; yet, though
she believed in purgatory, she did not believe in hell. The
summer passed amidst their garden, their pigeons, their cows,
&c. ; theauiumn in their vintage and their fruit-gathering;
and in the winter they returned, as from exile, to town. Not
thinking that he should live till spring, he did not stir out,
nor see any one but madam de Warens and M. Salomon,
their physician, an honest man, and a great Cartesian,
whose conversation was better than all his prescriptions. In
short, John-James studied hard, recovered, went abroad,
saw all his acquaintance again, and, to his great surprise and
joy, beheld the buds of the spring, and went with his mis-
tress again to Charmettes. There, being soon fatigued
with digging in the garden, he divided his time between
40* R Q U S 8 E A U.
the pigeon-house (so taming those timid birds as to
induce them to perch on his arms and head), bee-hives, and
books of science, beginning with philosophy, and proceed-
ing to elementary geometry, Latin (to him, who had no
memory, the most difficult), history, geography, and astro-
nomy. One night, as he was observing the stars in his
garden, with a planisphere, a candle secured in a pai), a
telescope, &c. dressed in a flapped hat, and a wadded
pet-en-V air of " Mama's,'* he was taken by some peasants
for a conjurer. In future, he observed without a light,
and consulted his planisphere at home. The writings of
Port-royal and of the Oratory had now made him half a
Jansenist. But his confessor and another Jesuit set his
mind at ease, and he had recourse to several ridiculous
expedients to know whether he was in a state of salvation.
In the mean time, their rural felicity continued, and, con-
trary to his advice, madam de Warens became by degrees
a great farmer, of which he foresaw ruin must be the con-
sequence.
In the ensuing winter he received some music from Italy,
and, being now of age, it was agreed that he should go
in the spring to Geneva, to demand the remains of his
mother's fortune. He went accordingly, and his father
came also to Geneva, undisturbed, his affair being now
buried in oblivion. No difficulty was occasioned by our
author's change of religion ; his brother's death not being
legally proved, he could not claim his share, and therefore
readily left it to contribute towards the maintenance of his
father, who enjoyed it as long as be lived. At length he
received his money, turned part of it into livres, and flew
with the rest to " Mama,*' who received it without affecta-
tion, and employed most of it for his use. His health,
however, decayed visibly, and he was again horribly op-
pressed with the vapours. At length his researches into
anatomy made him suspect that his disorder was a polypus
in the heart. Salomon seemed struck with the same idea.
And having heard that M Fizes, of Montpellier, had cured
such a polypus, he went immediately to consult him,
assisted by the supply from Geneva. But two ladies,
whom he met at Moirans, especially the elder, Mad. N. at
once banished his fever, his vapours, his polypus, and all
his palpitations, except those which she herself had ex-
cited, and would not cure. Without knowing a word of
English, he here thought proper to pass for an Englishman
ROUSSEAU. 409
and a Jacobite, and called himself Mr Budding. Leaving
the other lady at Romans, with madam N. and an old sick
marquis, he travelled slowly and agreeably to Saint Mar-
cellin, Valence, Montelimar (before which the marquis
left them), and at length, after having agreed to pass the
winter together, these lovers (for such they became) parted
with mutual regret. Filled with the ideas of madam N.
and her daughter, whom she idolised, he mused from
Pont St. Esprit to Remoulin. He visited Pont-du Card,
the first work of the Romans that he had seen, and the
Arena of Nimes, a work still more magnificent; in all
these journeys forgetting that he was ill till he arrived at
Montpellier. From abundant precaution he boarded with
an Irish physician, named Fitz- Moris, and consulted M.
Fizes, as madam N, had advised him. Finding that the
doctors Jcnew nothing of his disorder, and only endea-
voured to amuse him and make him " swallow his own
money," he left Montpellier at the end of November, after
six weeks or two months stay, leaving twelve louis there
for no purpose, save for a course of anatomy, just begun
under M. Fitz-Moris, but which the horrible stench of
dissected bodies rendered insupportable. Whether he
should return to " Mama," or go (as he had promised) to
madam N. was now the question. Reason, however, here
turned the scale. At Pont St. Esprit he burnt his direc-
tion, and took the road to Chambery, " for the first time
in his life indebted to his studies, preferring his duty to
pleasure, and deserving his own esteem." At his return
to madam de Warens, he found his place supplied by a
young man of the Pays de Vaud, named Vintzenried, a
journeyman barber, whom he paints in the most disgust-
ing colours. This name not being noble enough, he
changed it for that of M. de Courtilles, by which he was
afterwards known at Chambery, and in Maurienne, where
he married. He being every thing in the house, and
Rousseau nothing, all his pleasures vanished like a dream,
and at length he determined to quit this abode, once so
dear, to which his "Mama" readily consented. And being
invited to educate the children of M. de Maiby, grand
provost of Lyons, he set out for that city, without regret-
ting a separation of which the sole idea would formerly
have been painful as death to them both. Unqualified for
a preceptor, both by temper and manners, and much dis-
gusted with his treatment by the provost, he quitted his
410 ROUSSEAU.
family in about a year; and sighing for madam de Warens,
flew once more to throw himself at her feet. She received
him with good -nature, but he cculd not recover the past.
His former happiness, he found, was dead for ever. He
continued there, however, still foreseeing her approaching
ruin, and the seizure of lit r person; and to retrieve her af-
fairs, forming castles in the air, and having made an im-
provement (as he thought) in musical notes, from which he
had great expectations, he sold nis ho <ks, and set out for
Paris, to communicate his scheme to tht academy.
" Such (he concludes) have been the errors and the
faults of my youth. I have $>ivec a history of ;hf j m with a
fidelity with which my heart is satisfied. If, in the sequel,
I have honoured my mature age with some virtues, 1 ihoukl
have told them as frankly, and such was my dcsigi* But
I must stop here. Time may undraw the curtain. limy
memoir reaches posterity, one day or other it will perhaps
learn what I had to say Then it will know wh\ I am silent."
An account of the last moments of this celebrated man
may be an acceptable addition to his lire. He rose in per-
fect health, to all appearance, on J hursday morning at
five o'clock (his usual hour in summer), and walked with a
young pupil, son to the marquis de Girardin, lord of Er-
menonville in Fiance. About seven he returned to his
house alone, and asked his wife if breakfast was ready.
Finding it was not, he told her he would go for some mo-
ments into the wood, and desired her to call him when
breakfast was on the table. He was accordingly called,
returned home, drank a dish of coffee, went out again,
and came back a few minutes after. About eight, his
wife * went down stairs to pay the account of a smith; but
scarcely had she been a moment below, when she heard
him complain. She returned immediately, and found him
sitting on a chair, with a ghastly countenance, his head
reclining on hi* ban'!, and his elbow sustained by a desk.
" What is i he matter, my dear friend," said she, " are
you indisposed ?" " I feel," answered he, " a painful
anxiety, and the keen pains of a cholic." Upon this Mrs.
Rousseau left the room, as if she intended to look for
something, and sent to the castle an account of her hus-
band's illness. The marchioness, on this alarming news,
* This lady he married in 1769, whom he basely sent to the hospital,
after having lived wi'h her some years, Such was the man who talked of me-
and had by her five children, all of rality, and wrote upon education!
ROUSSEAU. 411
*an with the utmost expedition to the cottage of the philo-
sopher j and, that she might not alarm him, she said she
came to inquire whether the music that had been performed
during the nigut in the open air before the castle, had not
disturbed him and Mrs. Rousseau. The philosopher re-
plied, with the utmost tranquillity of tone and aspect,
" Madam, I know very well thai, ii is not any thing relative
to music that brings you here : I am \c-ry sensible of your
goodness : but I am much out of order, and I beg it as a
favour that you will leave me alone with my wife, to whom
I haw a gicar many tilings to say at this instant." Madam
de Girardin immediately withdrew. Upon tuis, Rousseau
desired his wile to shut the door, to lock it on the inside,
and to come and sit by him. " I shall do so, my dear
friend," said &ne ; " I am now sitting beside you how do
you find yourseil ?"
Rousseau. " I grow worse I feel a chilly cold a
shivering over my whole body give me your hands, and
see if you can warm me Ah! that gentle warmth is
pleasing but the pains of the colic return they are very
keen" 1
Mrs. Rousseau. " Do not you think, my dear friend,
that it would be proper to take some remedy to remove
these pains?"
Rousseau. " My dear be so good as to open the win-
dows, that I may have the pleasure of seeing once more
the verdure of that field how beautiful it is ! how pure
the air! how serene the sky ! What grandeur and mag-
nificence in the aspect of nature !"
Mrs. Rousseau " But, my good friend, why do these
objects affect you so particularly at present ?"
Rousseau. " My dear It was always my earnest de-
sire that it would please God to take me out of the world
before you my prayer has been heard and my wish
will soon have its accomplishment. Look at that sun,
whose smiling aspect seems to call me hence ! There is
my God God himself who opens to me the bosom of
his paternal goodness, and invites me to taste and enjoy,
at last, that eternal and unalterable tranquillity, which I
have so long and so aniently panted after. My dear spouse
do not weep you have always desired to see me happy.
I am now going to be truly so ! Do not l->ave me : I will
have none but you to remain with me you, alone, shall
close my eyes."
412 ROUSSEAU.
Mrs. Rousseau. " My clear my good friend banish
those apprehensions and let me give you something I
hope that this indisposition will not be of a long continu-
ance !"
Rousseau. " I feel in my breast something like sharp
pins, which occasions violent pains My dear if I have
ever given you any uneasiness and trouble, or exposed
you, by our conjugal union, to misfortunes, which you
would otherwise have avoided, I hope you will forgive me."
Mrs. Rousseau. " Alas ! my dear friend, it is rather my
duty to ask your pardon for any uneasy moments you may
have suffered on my account, or through my means."
Rousseau. " Ah ! my dear, how happy a thing is it to
die, when one has no reason for remorse or self-reproach !
Eternal Being! the soul that I am now going to give
thee back, is as pure, at this moment, as it was when it
proceeded from thee : render it partaker of thy felicity !
My dear I have found in the marquis of Girardin and his
lady the marks of even parental tenderness and affection :
tell them that I revere their virtues, and that I thank them,
with my dying breath, for all the proofs I have received of
their goodness and friendship : I desire that you may have
my body opened immediately after my death, and that
you will order an exact account to be drawn up of the
state of its various parts : tell monsieur and madame de
Girardin, that I hope they will allow me to be buried in
their gardens, in any part of them that they may think
proper."
Mrs. Rousseau. " How you afflict me my dear friend !
I intreat you, by the tender attachment you have always
professed for me, to take something."
Rousseau. " I shall since you desire it Ah ! I feel
in my head a strange motion! a blow which I am tor-
mented with pains Being of Beings ! God ! (here he re-
mained for a considerable time with his eyes raised to hea-
ven) my dear spouse ! let me embrace you ! help me to
walk a little."
Here his extreme weakness prevented his walking with-
out help ; and Mrs. Rousseau being unable to support him,
he fell gently on the floor, where, after having remained
for some time motionless, he sent forth a deep sigh, and
expired, July 1778. Next day his body was opened in
presence of a competent number of witnesses ; and an in-
quest being held by the proper officers, the surgeons declared
ROUSSEAU. 413
upon oath, that all the parts of the body were sound, and
that a serous apoplexy, of which palpable marks appeared
in the brain, was the cause of his death *. The marquis
de Girardin ordered the body to be embalmed ; after which
it was laid in a coffin of oak, lined with lead, and was
buried.
Such is the private life of Rousseau, as given by himself
in his " Confessions." These Confessions, M. Sennebier,
author of the literary history of Geneva, very justly says,
" appear a very dangerous book, and paint Rousseau in such
colours as we should never have ventured to use in his por-
trait. The excellent analyses which we meet with of some
sentiments, and the excellent anatomy which he gives of
some actions, are not sufficient to counterbalance the de-
testable matter which is found in them, and the unceasing
obliquities every where to be met with." What renders
this book the more pernicious is, not only the baseness of
the vices which he has disclosed, but the manner in which
he endeavoured to unite them with the virtues.
It becomes necessary now to recur to some particulars of
Rousseau's more public and literary life, which was in
many respects as censurable as his private. The com-
mencement of his literary career was in 1750. The aca-
demy of Dijon had proposed the question, u Whether the
revival of the arts and sciences has contributed to the re-
finement of manners." Rousseau, it is said, at first in-
clined to the affirmative side of the question ; but Diderot
told him it was a kind of pons asinorum, and advised him
to support the negative, and he would answer for his suc-
cess. Nor was he disappointed, for this paradoxical dis-
course was allowed to be admirably written, and replete
with the deepest reasoning, and was publicly crowned with
the approbation of the academicians. Several answers ap-
peared Against it, one of which was written by Stanislaus,
king of Poland, who was, however, so much an admirer of
Rousseau, that when the latter was ridiculed on the stage
of Nancy, by Palissot, in his " Comedie des Philosophes,"
the king, then duke of Lorraine, deprived Palissot of his
place at the academy of Nancy. On this occasion Rous-
seau, with far more sense, interceded for him, and obtained
his restoration.
* There was a current report that Rousseau had poisoned himself, which has
been repeated more recently by the baroness S'.aehl and olheis.
414 ROUSSEAU.
In 1752 Rousseau wrote a comedy entitled " Narcisse,
ou PAmant de lui-meme." He also composed a musical
entertainment of " Le Devin du Village," which was re-
presented with the greatest success at Paris. His next
piece was " Lettre sur la Musique Franchise," which was
to prove that the French had no such thing as vocal music,
and that, from the defects in their language, they could
not have it. This able work so excited the resentment of
the French, that he is said to have been burnt in effigy. In
1754- he returned to Geneva, where he abjured the catho-
lic faith, and was restored to the rights of citizenship. He
now wrote his e< Discours sur les Causes de 1'inegalite par-
mi les Hommes, et sur TOrigine des Societes." This en-
deavour to prove that all mankind are equal has (in the
opinion of a modern critic, by no means partial to Rous-
seau's character) been much misunderstood by critics, and
misrepresented by wits. Even by the author's confession,
it is rather ajeu d'esprit than a philosophical inquiry; for
he owns that the natural state, such as he represents it, did
probably never take place, and probably never will ; and
if it had taken place, he seems to think it impossible that
mankind should ever have emerged from it without some
very extraordinary alteration in the course of nature. He
also says that this natural state is not the most advantageous
for man ; for that the most delightful sentiments of the hu-
man mind could not exert themselves till man had relin-
quished his brutal and solitary nature, and become a do-
mestic animal. At this period, and previous to the esta-
blishment of property, he places the age most favourable
to human happiness; which is precisely what the poets
have done before him, in their descriptions of the golden
age. After publishing this rhapsody, Rousseau did not
remain long at Geneva, but returned to France, and lived
some time at Paris, after which he retired to Montuiorency,
and published, in 1758, his " Lettre'' to M. D'Alembert
on the design of establishing a theatre at Geneva, which
he proved could not be necessary in a place circumstanced
as Geneva was. D'Alembert and Marmontel, however,
replied, and Voltaire appears from this time to have begun
his hatred for Rousseau, with whom he and the rest of the
philosophers had hitherto cordially co-operated against the
Christian religion. Rousseau wanted that uniform hatred
to revealed religion which the others called consistency,
and his fancy was apt to ramble bevond the limits they had
set.
ROUSSEAU. 415
In 1760 he published his 'celebrated novel entitled
" Lettres de clt ux A mans," c. bui generally known by
the title of " Julie, ou la Nnuvelie Heloise." This epis-
tolary romance, o( which tne plofc is ill-managed, and the
arrangement bad, like all other works of genius, has its
beauties as well as its defects. Some of the letters are,
indeed, aJmirable, both for style and sentiment, but none
of the personages are reaily interesting. The character of
St. Preux is weak, and often forced. Julia is an assem-
blage of tenderness and pity, of elevation af soul, and of
coquetry, of natural parts and pedancry. Wolmar is a
violent man, and almost beyond the limits of nature. In
fine, when he wishes to change his style, and adopt that of
the speaker, he does not long support it, and every at-
tempt embarrasses the author and cools the reader. In this
novel, however, Rousseau's talent of rendering every thing
problematical, appears very conspicuous, as, in bis argu-
ments in favour of, and against, duelling, which afford
an apology for suicide, and a just condemnation of it ; of
his facility in palliating the crime of adultery, aud his
strong reasons to make it abhorred ; on the one hand, in
declamations against social happiness, on the other in trans-
ports in favour of humanity ; here in violent rhapsodies
against philosophers; there by a rage for adopting their
opinions ; the existence of God is attacked by sophistry,
and atheists confuted by the most irrefragable arguments ;
the Christian religion combated by the most specious ob-
jections, and celebrated by the most sublime eulogies.
Yet in the preface to this work the author attempts to justify
his consistency; he says public spectacles are necessary for
great cities, and romances for a corrupted people. " I
have," he adds, " viewed the manners of my age, and
have published these letters. Why did I not live at a time
when I ought to have thrown them into the fire ?" He
affects also to say that they were not intended for an ex-
tensive circulation, and that they will suit but few readers.
With regard to their effects on the female sex, he pretends
to satisfy his conscience with saying " No chaste young
woman ever reads romance^ ; and I have given this book a
decisive title, that on opening it a reader may know what
to expect. She who, notwithstanding, shall dare (oread a
single page, is undone; but let her not impute her ruin
to me the mischief was done before."
416 ROUSSEAU.
Such is the impudence of this man, who had made his
work as seductive as possible, and would have been greatly
mortified if it had not produced its effect. Whoever, in-
deed, reads his " Confessions" will see that sensuality was,
first and last, his predominant vice, and that moral corrup-
tion became early familiar to him. The only wonder is,
that he si ould ever have been considered as a moral teacher,
because, in order to introduce his depraved sophistry with
more effect, he mixed with it some moral lessons. Yet
there was a time when this was a favourite work even in
our country, and it is to be feared, has been the pattern of
many others, which, although written with less ability, have
been encouraged in the same circles which once gave a
fashion to Rousseau. His next attempt was to recommend
republicanism in a work entitled " Du Contrat Social, ou
Principes du Droit Politiqtie," in which he bore his part,
along with the Encyclopaedists, in exciting those awful de-
lusions which produced the French revolution and all its
disastrous consequences. It was, however, less cautious
than some of his former productions, and was immediately
prohibited in France and Switzerland ; and hence his last-
ing enmity to all existing establishments, civil and religious,
which brought on what he and his friends were pleased to
consider as persecution. This appeared particularly in his
" Emilie, ou de {'Education," which was published in 1762.
In this work, with many remarks that may be useful, there
are others so mischievous and impious, that whenever it
produces an effect, it must be of the worst kind. It was
not, however, his dogmas on education only, which excited
the public hostility to this work, so much as his insolent de-
clamation against all which the world had agreed to hold
sacred, mixed, as in his former novel, with an affected
admiration of the morals of the gospel, and the character
of its founder; and it is remarkable that, in this last conde-
scension, he so much displeased his former colleagues, Vol-
taire, D'Alembert, &c. that they joined the public voice,
although from different and concealed motives. In truth,
they thought, like others, that there was too much of an
insane inconsistency about Rousseau, and that no party
could rank him among its supporters. In the mean time,
as soon as published, the French parliament condemned
this book, and entered into a criminal prosecution against
the author, which forced him to a precipitate retreat. He
directed his steps to his native country, but Geneva shut
ROUSSEAU. 417
her gates against him, and both at Paris and Geneva, the
" Emile" was burnt by the common hangman. At length
he was for a time allowed to take shelter in Switzerland,
where he published a letter to the archbishop of Paris, in
answer to his tnandement for the burning of the " Emile ;"
and also his " JLettres de la Montagne," in which occurs
the following almost blasphemous paragraph : " How,"
says he, " can I enter into a justification of this work? I,
who think that I have effaced by it the faults of my whole
life ; I, who place the evils it has drawn upon me as a ba-
lance to those which I have committed ; I who, filled with
confidence, hope one day to say to the supreme Arbiter,
' Deign in thy clemency to judge a weak mortal :' I have,
it is true, done much ill upon earth, but I have published
this writing." In these letters too, he continued his hos-
tility to revealed religion, in a manner that excited against
him great indignation among the clergy of Neufchatel; and
in September 1765, the populace attacked his house and
his person, and with much difficulty he reached Strasburg
in a very destitute condition, where he waited till the wea-
ther permitted, and then set out for Paris, and appeared in
the habit of an Armenian. The celebrated Hume at this
time resided in Paris, and being applied to in favour of
Rousseau, undertook to find him an asylum in England, to
which he accordingly conducted him in the beginning of
the year 1766, and provided him with an agreeable situa-
tion. But Rousseau, whose vanity and perverse temper
were ungovernable, and who thought he was not received
in this country with the respect due to the first personage
in Europe, which he conceived himself to be, took it in his
head that Hume was in league with the French philosophers
to injure his lame, and after abusing his benefactor in a
letter, in the most gross manner, and even refusing a pen-
sion from the crown, left England in 1767, and went to
France. At this period he published his " Dictionnaire de
Musique." Of this work Dr. Burney, after pointing out
some defects, says, that " more good taste, intelligence,
and extensive views are to be found in his original articles,
not only than in any former musical dictionary, but in all
the books on the subject of music which the literature of
France can boast. And bis 4 Lettre sur la Musique Fran-
gois,' may be safely pronounced the best piece of musical
criticism that has ever been produced in any modern lan-
guage. It must, however, be confessed, that his treatment
VOL. XXVI. E E
ROUSSEAU.
of French music is very sarcastic, not to say contemptuous;
but the music, the national character avantageux, and ex-
clusive admiration of their own music, required strong Ian*
guage. It had been proved long since, that they were not
to be laughed out of their bad taste in any one of the fine
arts : the national architecture, painting, and sculpture,
were, in general, bad, and not what a traveller returning
from Italy could bear to look at : though there have been
now and then individual French artists of every kind, who
have travelled and studied antiquity as well as the great
masters of the Italian school ; and it is now said, that at the
Institute they are trying seriously to correct their errors,
and to establish a classical taste throughout the empire."
In 1768, he resumed his botanical pursuits, which he
conducted with equal taste and judgment, by collecting and
studying the plants on the mountains of Dauphine. Dur-
ing the year 1770, he appeared at a coffee-house in Paris
in his ordinary dress, and took much pleasure in the admi-
ration of the surrounding crowd. This seems always to be
his ambition, and he was never content unless when occu-
pying the public attention, even while he seemed conscious
he could not draw the public respect. The conclusion of
his life we have given before. The influence of his opi-
nions was once most extensive in France, and reached even
this country in a greater degree than could have been wished.
One reason might be, that in England, for many years we
were accustomed to contemplate Rousseau only as a man
persecuted for freedom of opinion, and this excited a sym-
pathy which tolerated more than mature reflection could
justify. Rousseau was naturally a man of great talents, and
might have been one of the first of philosophers, if his ge-
nius had not been perverted in early life. He does not
appear to have been a man of learning : his education, we
have seen, was neglected, and irregular : but imagination
was his forte; and this, under the guidance of a sensual ap-
petite, which never forsook him, led him to be the great
master of seduction in morals, while his early association
with Voltaire, D'Alembert, and Diderot, tempted him to
rival them in impiety ; and even when he quarrelled with
them, as he did with all his contemj-or ies, he still pur-
sued the object by himself ; and his s -phistries, perhaps
more than the wit and argument of his former colleagues,
powerfully contributed to that ('elusion \\hich afflicted the
continent with so much misery. Although Kousseau's works
ROUSSEAU. 419
are less read now, he must ever be considered by the French
as one of their first writers: and they continue to print very
splendid editions of bis works, the iast and finest of which
is that printed by Dulot, 1796 1801, 25 vols. royal eigh-
teens, of which only ICO copies were struck off, 1
ROUSSEL (WILLIAM), a learned Benedictine of the
congregation de St. Maur, was born at Conches in Nor-
mandy in 16 58. He made profession, September 23, 1680,
and distinguished himself in his order, by his genius and
talents for the pulpit; but preferring the tranquillity of a
private life, retired to Rheims, where he made a good
French translation of St. Jerome's " Letters," which was
reprinted, 1713, 3 vols. 8vo; and an elegant "Eulogy on
Pere Mabillon." He undertook also the Literary History
of France, but had scarcely traced out his plan, and col-
lected some materials on that subject, when he died at Ar-
genteuil, October 5, 1717, aged fifty-nine. The plan was
completed by father Rivet. 2
ROUSSEL (PETER), a French physician, was born at
Ax, in the diocese of Painier, and after a course of medi-
cal studies, took his degree at Montpellier, and afterwards
practised for some time at Paris. But he became at length
averse to practice, and employed his time chiefly in study,
which produced a work very highly praised by La Harpe,
entitled, " System physique et moral de la Fernm?," 1777,
12mo. This, however, may not be thought very compli-
mentary to the ladies, as his principal object is to prove
that they are to be considered as children, and consequently
as having the same vivacity and the same inconstancy, the
same fickleness of temper, the same caprices of liking and
disliking, &c. La Harpe praises the style and philosophy
of this work, which the author intended to have followed
up by a " Systeme physique et moral de I'Homme," but
did not live to complete it. He was a man of singular dif-
fidence and mildness of manner, and so much courted ob-
scurity and retirement, that he used to say, that two ages
of fame were not worth two days of quiet. He wrote the
eloge on Bordeu, which was published in 1772, and after-
wards prefixed to the works of that physician, and he con-
tributed some memoirs to the literary journals. He died
1 Rousseau's Confessions. Diet. Hist. Senebier Hist. L.U. de Geneve.-*
Rees's Cyclopaedia. Barrwel's Memoirs.
3 Moreri. Diet, Hist.
E E 2
420 K O U S S T.
Sept. 18, 1S02, at Chateau dun, on the Loire, to which i,t*
had retire*' a few months before, on account of bad health. 1
ROUSSKT (JOHN DE MISSY), a voluminous French
writer, was born at Laon, in Picardy, Aug. 26, 1686. His
father and mother were of good families, both protestants,
and sutrerers for their religion. His mother's body was or-
dered to be flmvvn upon a hurdle, because she died in the
protestant faith, and his father was condemned to be hanged
for endeavouring to escape into Holland, but was saved at
the intercession of the chancellor Voisin, who prevailed on
the Jesuit La Chaise to obtain his pardon. His son was
educated first at the college of Laon, and afterwards in that
of Du Plessis at Paris, Having finished his philosophical
studies, some family discontents, owing to the introduction
of a step- mother, determined him to go to Holland, where
he entered into the company of the French cadets attached
to the regiment of guards belonging to the States-general.
He served with reputation until after the battle of Malpla-
quet, when he returned to his studies, and married. In
order to maintain himself and family, he commenced the
business of teaching for fourteen or fifteen years at the
Hague, and educated in that time above fifty young men
of family, who afterwards rose to offices of distinction in
the republic. This employment, however, he relinquished
in 1723, in order to devote his time to the study of politics
and history, and became editor or contributor to various
literary and political journals, in which he was assisted by
some Frenchmen of talents, who, like himself, had taken
refuge in Holland. Political writers are not always safe,
even in republics; and Rousset, in 174-7, having written
some pamphlets against the magistrates, and in favour of
the prince of Orange, was arrested at Amsterdam, and
confined for some weeks there or at the Hague ; but when
the prince was made Stadtholder, by the name of William
IV. he not only released Rousset, but soon after conferred
on him the title of counsellor extraordinary, and appointed
him his historiographer. Returning now to Amsterdam,
he plunged farther into politics by becoming one of the
chiefs of the party known in that country by the name of
Doelisten, from Doele, the name of a hotel where they as-
sembled. This party obtained what they demanded, but
the stadtholder wishing to unite all parties in the common
Diet. Hist.
R O U S S E T. 421
cause, and the Doelisten having become obnoxious to the
public, he dismissed Rousset, in 1749, from the places he
had conferred on him, and forbid the publication of a work
he had written against the French court. Rousset being at
the same time informed that he was in danger of being taken
up, went to Brussels, where his pen was his chief resource,
and there he died in 1762.
The principal works of this laborious writer were, 1.
" Description geographique, historique, et politique, du
royaume de Sardaigne, 9 ' Cologn, 1718, 12mo. 2. " His-
toire de cardinal Alberoni," translated from the Spanish,
Hague, 1719, 12mo, and in 1720 enlarged to 2 vols. 3.
" Mercure historique et politique," 15 vols. from August
1724 to July 1749. 4. " Histoire du prince Eugene, du
due de Marl borough, du prince d'Orange," Hague, 1729
1747, 3 vols.; fol. the first volume was by Dumont. The
whole is valued chiefly for its fine plates and plans. 5.
" Supplement au Corps Diplomatique de J. Dumont," new
arranged with large additions by Rousset, Amst. and Hague,
1739, 5 vois. fol. 6. " Interets des Puissances de TEurope,"
founded on the treaties concluded at the peace of Utrecht,
Hague, 1733, 2 vols. 4to, reprinted with additions, &c.
four times ; but the last edition of Trevoux, 1736, 14 vols.
12mo, is said to have been mutilated. 7. " Recueil His-
torique d'Actes et de Negociations," from the peace of
Utrecht, Hague, 1728, Amst. 1755, 21 vols. 12mo, but
with the addition of some other political tracts and collec-
tions by our author, is generally to be found in 25 vols.
8. " Relation historique de la grande Revolution arrives
dans la republique des Provinces-Unies en 1747," Amst.
4to, without date. Rousset was also edicor of Mably's
" Droit Public ;" the abbe Raynal's history of the Stadhol-
derate, in which he attacks the abbe and his country; St.
Manr's French translation of Milton ; Mrs. Manley's " Ata-
lantis," &c. In all his works, his ambition was to pass for
a man of such impartiality that the reader could discover
neither his country nor his religion. In this, however, he
has not always succeeded, although it is apparent that his
attachment to both had been considerably weakened. 1
ROWE (ELIZABETH),, an English lady, celebrated for
personal accomplishments, and her elegant writings both
in .verse and prose, was the daughter of Mr. Waiter Singer,
a dissenting minister, and born at Ilchester in Somerset-
1 Diet. Hist.
422 ROW E.
shire, Sept. 11, 1674. Her father was possessed of a com-
petent estate near Frome in that county, whi.re he lived ;
but, being imprisoned at Ilchester for nonconformity, mar-
ried and settled in that town. The daughter, whose ta-
lents in other respects appeared very early, began to write
verses at twelve years of age. She was also fond of the
sister-nils, music and painting ; and her father was at the
expence of a master, to instruct her in the latter. She was
also early accustomed to devout exercises, in which her
mind was sincere, ardent, and unconstrained : and this ha-
bit, which grew naturally from constitution, was also power-
fully confirmed by education and example. She was early
acquainted with the pious bishop Ken, who had a very high
opinion of her : and, at his request, wrote her paraphrase
on the 38th chapter of Job. In 1696, the 22d of her age,
a collection of her poems was published : they were en-
titled " Poems on several occasions, by Philomela," her
name being concealed, but they contributed to introduce
her to the public with great advantage.
She understood the French and Italian tongues well ; for
which, however, she had no other tutor than the hon. Mr.
Thynne, son to lord Weymouth, who kindly took upon him
the task of teaching her. Her uncommon merit, and the
charms of her person and conversation, procured her many
admirers ; and, among others, it is said that Prior the poet
made his addresses to her. There was certainly much of
friendship, if not of love, between them ; and Prior's answer
to Mrs, Roue's, then Mrs. Singer's, pastoral on those sub-
jects, gives room to suspect that there was something more
than friendship on his side. In the mean time, Mr. Tho-
mas Rowe, the son of a dissenting clergyman, a gentle-
man of uncommon parts and learning, and also of some
talents for poetry, was the successful suitor. She was ad-
vanced to the age of thirty-six, before their interview at
Bath in 1709, and he was ten or twelve years younger. It
appears, however, to have been a match of affection on
both sides. Some considerable time after his marriage, he
wrote to her under the name of Delia a very tender ode,
full of the warmest sentiments of connubial friendship
and affection : five years constituted the short period of
their happiness. Mr. Rowe died of a consumption in May
1715, aged twenty-eight years, and was unfeignedly la-
mented by his amiable partner. The elegy she composed
upon his death is one of her best poems.
R O W E. 423
It was only out of a regard to Mr. Rowe, that she had
hitherto endured London in the winter-season, and there-
fore, on his decease, she retired to Frome, where her pro-
perty chiefly lay, and where she wrote the greatest part of
her works, Her " Friendship in Death, in twenty letters
from the dead to the living," was published in 1728 ; and
her " Letters Moral and Entertaining" were printed, the
first part in 1729, the second in 1731, and the third in
1733, 8vo, both written with the pious intention of exciting
the careless and dissipated part of the world to an atten-
tion to their best interests, and written in a style consider-
ably elegant, and perhaps at that time new, striking, co-
pious, and luxuriant. In 1736, she published "The His-
tory of Joseph," a poem, which she had written in her
younger years. She did not long survive this publication ;
for she died of an apoplexy, as was supposed, Feb. 20,
1736-7, in the sixty-third year of her age. In her cabinet
were found letters to several of her friends, which she had
ordered to be delivered immediately after her decease, that
the advice they contained might be the more impressive.
The rev. Dr. Isaac Watts, agreeably to her request, revised
and published her devotions in 1737, under the title of
" Devout Exercises of the heart in Meditation and Soli-
loquy, Praise, and Prayer;" and, in 1739, her "Miscel-
laneous Works in prose and verse" were published in 2
vols. 8vo, with an account of her life and writings prefixed.
These have often been reprinted, and still retain a consi-
derable share of popularity. Her person is thus described :
Although she was not a regular beauty, she possessed a
large share of the charms of her sex. She was of a mode-
rate stature, her hair of a fine colour, her eyes of a darkish
grey inclining to blue, and full of fire. Her complexion
was very fair, and a natural blush glowed in her cheeks.
She spoke gracefully, her voice was exceedingly sweet and
harmonious ; and she had a softness in her aspect, which
inspired love, yet not without some mixture of that awe
and veneration which distinguished sense and virtue, ap-
parent in the countenance, are wont to create. 1
ROWE (NICOLAS), an eminent dramatic poet, was the
son of John Rowe, esq. serjeant at law, and born at Little
Berkford in Bedfordshire in 1673. His family had long
possessed a considerable estate, with a good house, at Lam-
* Life prefixed to her Works. Biog. Brit.
424 ROW E.
bertoun in Devonshire. His ancestor from whom he de-
scended in a direct line, received the arms borne by his
descendants for his bravery in the holy war. His father,
JOHN Rowe, who was the first that quitted his paternal
acres to practise any part of profit, professed the law, and
published Benlow's and Dallison's Reports in the reign of
James the Second, when, in opposition to the notions then
diligently propagated, of dispensing power, he ventured
to remark how low his authors rated the prerogative. He
was made a serjeant, and died April 30, 1692. He was
buried in the Temple church.
Nicholas was sent for education to a grammar-school in
Highgate ; whence he was removed to Westminster in 1688,
where he acquired great perfection in classical literature,
under Dr. Busby. To his skill in Greek and Latin he is
said to have added some knowledge of the Hebrew ; but
poetry was his early bent and darling study. His father,
designing him for his own profession, took him from that
school, when he was about sixteen, and entered him a
student in the Middle Temple. Being capable of attain-
ing any branch of knowledge, he made a great progress in
the law; and would doubtless have arrived at eminence in
that profession, if the love of the belles lettres, and of
poetry in particular, had not predominated. At the age
of nineteen, he was, by the death of his father, left more
to his own direction, and probably from that time gave up
all thoughts of the law. When he was five and twenty, he
wrote his first tragedy, called " The Ambitious Step-Mo-
ther ;" and this meeting with universal applause, induced
him to devote himself wholly to elegant literature. After-
wards he wrote these following tragedies : " Tamerlane,"
" The Fair Penitent," Ulysses," The Royal Convert,'*
" Jane Shore," " Lady Jane Grey ;" and a comedy called
" The Biter." He wrote also several poems upon different
subjects, but mostly of a temporary kind, which have been
published under the title of " Miscellaneous Works," in
one volume : as his dramatic works have been in two.
Rowe is chiefly to be considered (Dr. Johnson observes)
in the light of a tragic writer and a translator. In his at-
tempt at comedy he failed so much, that he wisely gave up
the pursuit of the comic muse, and his " Biter" is not in-
serted in his works ; and his occasional poems and short
compositions are rarely worthy of either praise or cen-
sure ; for they seem the casual sports of a mind seeking
R O W E. 425
rather to amuse its leisure than to exercise its powers. In
the construction of his dramas there is not much art ; he is
not a nice observer of the unities. He extends time, and
varies place, as his convenience requires. To vary the
place is not (in the opinion of the learned critic from whom
these observations are borrowed) any violation of nature,
if the change be made between the acts ; for it is no less
easy for the spectator to suppose himseii at Athens in the
second act, than at Thebes in the first ; but to change the
scene as is done by Rowe in the middle of an act, is to
add more acts to the play, since an act is so much of the
business as is transacted without interruption. Rowe, by
this licence, easily extricates himself from difficulties; as
in " Lady Jane Gray," when we have been terrified with,
all the dreadful pomp of public execution, and are won-
dering how the heroine or poet will proceed, no sooner has
Jane pronounced some prophetic rhimes, than pass and be
gone the scene closes, and Pembroke and Gardiner are
turned out upon the stage. " I know not," says Dr. John-
son, " ihat there can be found in his plays any deep search
into nature, any accurate discriminations of kindred qua-
lities, or nice display of passion in its progress ; all is
general and undefined. Ner does he much interest or
affect the auditor, except in "Jane Shore,'* who is always
seen and heard with pity. Alicia is a character of empty
noise, with no resemblance to real sorrow or to natural mad-
ness." It is concluded, therefore, that Howe's reputation
arises principally from the reasonableness and propriety
of some of his scenes, from the elegance of his diction,
and the suavity of his verse. He seldom moves either pity
or terror, but he often elevates the sentiments; he seldom
pierces the breast, but he always delights the ear, and
often improves the understanding. Being a great admirer
of Shakspeare, he gave the public an edition of his plays ;
to which he prefixed an account of that great man's life.
But the most considerable of Mr. Rowe's performances
was a translation of " Lucan's Pharsalia," which he just
lived to finish, but not to publish ; for it did not appear
in print till 1728, ten years after his death. It is said he
had another talent, not usual with dramatic authors. Mrs.
Oldfield affirmed, that the best school she had ever known
was, hearing Rowe read her part in his tragedies.
In the mean time, the love of poetry and books did not
make him unfit for business ; for nobody applied closer to
426 HOW E.
it when occasion required. The duke of Queensbernf,
when secretary of state, made him secretary of public af-
fairs. After the duke's death, all avenues were stopped to
his preferment; and, during the rest ot queen Anne's
reign, he passed his time in study. A story, indeed, is
told, rather an improbable one, which shews that he had
some acquaintance with ministers. It is suid, that he went
one day to pay his court to the lord treasurer Oxford, who
asked him, " if he understood Spanish well ?" He an-
swered, " No :" but, thinking that his lordship might in-
tend to send him into Spain on some honourable commis-
sion, he presently added, " that he did not doubt but he
could shortly be able both to understand and to speak it."
The earl approving what he said, Rowe took his leave ;
and, retiring a few weeks to learn the language, waited
again on the earl to acquaint him with it. His lordship
asking him, " if he was sure he understood it thoroughly,"
and Rowe affirming that he did, " How happy are you,
Mr. Rowe," said the earl, " that you can have the plea-
sure of reading and understanding the history of Don
Quixote in the original !" On the accession of George I.
he was made poet laureat, and one of the land-surveyors
of the customs in the port of London. The prince of
Wales conferred on him the clerkship of his council ; and
the lord chancellor Parker made him his secretary for the
presentations. He did not enjoy these promotions long, for
he died Dec. 6, 1718, in his 45th year.
Mr. Rowe was twice married, had a son by his first wife,
and a daughter by his second. He was a handsome, genteel
man ; and his mind was as amiable as his person. He lived
beloved, and at his death had the honour to be lamented
by Mr. Pope, in an epitaph which is printed in Pope's
works, although it was not affixed on Mr. Rowe's monu-
ment, in Westminster-abbey, where he was interred in
the Poet's corner. l
ROWLEY (WILLIAM), a physician of some note in his
day, was of a family of Irish extraction, but born in Lon-
don, Nov. 18, 1743. After a liberal education, he deter-
mined to the profession of surgery, and became a pupil at
St. Thomas's Hospital, under Mr. Thomas Baker. Being
duly qualified, he went into the king's service, in which
he continued from 1760 to 1763, and was present at the
1 Biog. Brit. Johnson's Lives.
ROWLEY. 427
siege of Belleisle, and the taking of the Havannah. By the
patronage of admiral Keppel he obtained a confidential si-
tuation under the administration, and in obedience to their
instructions made a voyage, in the course of which he
visited Jamaica, Hispaniola, Cuba, and all the Leeward-
islands. On his return to England he was liberally re-
warded for this service, which he had performed to the
entire satisfaction of his employers. In the course of those
voyages, as well as during his visits to the continent, he
became an excellent French and Italian scholar, and col-
lected many valuable specimens uf the fine arts. Having
now encouragement to settle in London, he first commenced
practice as a surgeon and accoucheur, during which he
resided in Holborn, Harley-street, Castle-street, Leices-
ter-fields, and lastly in Savile~row. At what time he di-
gressed so far from practice as to go to Oxford, we know
not, but he was entered of St. Alban hall, where he took
his degree of M. A. in May 1787, and that of bachelor of
medicine in June 1788. He was desirous also of obtaining
his doctor's degree in that faculty, but this was refused,
owing probably to his not keeping his regular terms. He
obtained, however, a doctor's diploma from the university
of St. Andrew, in Scotland, and was admitted a licentiate
of the college of physicians, and from this time his practice
as a physician was considerably extensive and lucrative.
He was chosen physician to the St. Mary-le-bone infirmary,
and consulting physician to the queen's Lying-in hospital,
in both which stations he was distinguished for his humane
attention to the poor patients, and his judicious treatment.
He died of a cold, caught at a funeral, March 17, 1806.
Dr. Rowley wrote a great many medical pamphlets on
various subjects, arising from the practice or peculiar dis-
eases of his day, the titles of which it is unnecessary to
specify, as in 1794, he re-published the whole, with cor-
rections and additions, in 4 vols. 8vo. under the title of
"The rational practice of Physick of William Rowley."
He appears to have been a man of extensive reading; and
his practice, if not his theory, was in general conformable
to that of his brethren, who did not, however, hold him in
the highest regard, as in most of his works he seemed less
ambitious of professional fame, than of popularity. When
the Cow-pock was introduced, Dr. Rowley joined his
learned friend Dr. Moseley, in direct hostility to the plan,
and thus added a few more enemies to those he had created
42S ROW E.
by his former attacks on some of the most eminent phy-
sicians of his time, Fothergill, Huxham, Pringle, Fordyce,
Wall, Gregory, Cullen, &c. In 1793 he published a work
under the title of " Schola medicinse universalis nova,"
2 vols. 4to, and afterwards a sort of translation of it in one
volume 4to. This appears to have excited very little at-
tention, although he was at great expence in engraving
anatomical, &c. plates, and referred to it in many of his'
subsequent pamphlets on " Injections," " The Hydroce-
phalus," "The Plague," &c. Dr. Rowley had much
caste for music, and some for poetry. We are told he
wrote light verses, and songs of a humorous cast, with great
facility. 1
ROWNING (JoHN), an ingenious English mathematician
and philosopher, was fellow of Magdalen college, Cam-
bridge, and afterwards rector of Anderby in Lincolnshire,
in the gift of that society. He was a constant attendant at
the meetings of the Spalding Society, and was a man of a
philosophical turn of mind, though of a cheerful and com-
panionable disposition. He had a good genius for mecha-
nical contrivances in particular. In 1738 he printed at
Cambridge, in 8vo, " A Compendious System of Natural
Philosophy," in 2 vols. 8vo ; a very ingenious work, which
has gone through several editions. He had also two
pieces inserted in the Philosophical Transactions, viz.
I. "A Description of a Barometer wherein the Scale of
Variation may be increased at pleasure ;" vol. 38, p. 39.
And 2. " Directions for making a Machine for finding the
Roots of Kquations universally, with the manner of using it;"
vol. 60, p. 240. Mr. Rowning died at his lodgings in
Carey -street, near Lincoln's-Inn Fields, the latter end of
November 1771, at the age of seventy-two. Though a
very ingenious and pleasant man, he had but an unpromis-
ing and forbidding appearance : he was tall, stooping in
the shoulders, and of a sallow down-looking countenance*.
ROY (Louis LE), in Latin REGIUS, a learned professor,
was born at Constance, in Normandy, about the beginning
of the 16th century. In the course of his studies he not
only became a good Greek and Latin scholar, but particu-
larly cultivated his native language, the French, which he
endeavoured to polish and refine. After passing several
years in Italy and at court, he settled at Paris, where, in
1570, he was appointed to the professorship of Greek.
. Mag. Vol. LXXVI. 2 Nichols's Bowyer, Button's Dictionary,
HOY. , 429
After this he studied the law four years at Toulouse ; and
frequented the bar at the parliament of Paris, in which he
exercised some kind of magistracy ; but his inattention to
domestic affairs reduced him at last to depend upon the
liberality of others for his daily subsistence, a misery almost
insupportable in him who was naturally of a haughty
temper, would never admit of a superior, and treated
many of his learned contemporaries with great disdain.
He died July 2, 1577. One of his best performances was
an elegantly written life of the learned Budieus. His others
were good translations into French of part of the works of
Plato, Aristotle, and Demosthenes, which he enriched with
learned commentaries, and proved his intimate acquaint-
ance with the original language. 1
ROY (JULIAN DAVID LE), an architect and antiquary,
was born at Paris in 1728, and was son of Julian le Roy, a
celebrated mechanist, who so excelled in the art of watch-
making, that his time-pieces acquired the same celebrity
in France as those of Graham in England. He died at Paris
in 1759, at the age of 74, leaving four sons; of whom
Julian became an eminent architect, and greatly improved
the French style of architecture. He wrote, 1. " Ruines
des plus beaux Monumens de la Grece," which obtained for
the author admission into the Academy of Inscriptions. This
first appeared in 1758, but many errors having been pointed
out by our Athenian Stuart, he published a more correct
edition in 1770. 2. " Histoire de la disposition et ties-
formes differentes des Temples des Chretiens ;" 3. " Ob-
servations sur les Edifices des anciens Peuples. 4. " De la
Marine des anciens Peuples." 5. " Les Navires des An-
ciens," 1783, 8vo, and in 1785, another on the same sub-
ject ; which was followed, in 1796, by a memoir on cutting
masts in the Pyrenees. This ingenious man died at Paris
in the year 1803, at the age of seventy-five. His brother
PETER was watch-maker to the king, and published me-
moirs for the clock-makers of Paris, " Etrennes Chrono-
metriques," " Treatise on the Labours of Harrison and le
Roy for the Discovery of Longitude at Sea." He died in
1785. The English, on account of their numerous disco-
veries in this art, had enjoyed such a reputation for the ex-
cellence of their clocks and watches, that they found every
where a market, in preference to any others, and tbr
i Niceron, vol. XXIX. Moreri.
430 ROY.
French themselves were obliged to come to England for
their time-pieces, until Julian le Roy, the father, had the
honour of removing, in part, this pre-eminence, and of
transferring it to the French. He made many discoveries
in the construction of repeating-clocks and watchc- . in
second and horizontal watches he invented an universal
compass with a sight ; an extremely useful ar.d simple
contrivance for drawing a meridional line, end (./>din>- the
declination of the needle \ and a new universal horizontal
dial. It is to him we are indebted for the method of com-
pensating for the effects of heat and cold in the balances of
chronometers, by the unequal expansion of different me-
tals, a discovery which has been brought by our English
artists to a state of great perfection, although it had beeo
thrown aside by the inventor's son, Peter. 1
ROYE (Guv LE), archbishop of Rheims in the four-
teenth century, was the son of Matthew le Roye, the
fourth of that name, grand master of the French archery,
descended from an ancient and illustrious family, originally
of Picardy. He was first canon of Noyon, then dean of St.
Quintin, and lived at the papal court while the popes resided
at Avignon ; but followed Gregory XI. to Rome, and after-
wards attached himself to the party of Clement VII. and of
Peter de Luna, afterwards Benedict XIII. Guy le Roye
was successively bishop of Verdun, Castres, and Dol, arch-
bishop of Tours, then of Sens, and lastly, archbishop of
Rheims in 1391. He held a provincial council in 1407,
and set out to attend the council of Pisa two years after;
but on his arrival at Voutre, a town situated five leagues
from Genoa, one of his suite happened to quarrel with one
of the inhabitants, and killed him. This naturally excited
a. violent tumult among the populace, who in their fury
surrounded the prelate's hous*e ; and whiie he was endea-
vouring to appease them, one of the mob wounded him
from a cross-bow, of which he died June 8, 1409. He
founded the college of Rheims at Paris, in 1399. He left a
book, entitled " Doctrinale Sapientiae," written in 1 388, and
translated into French the year following, by a monk of Chig-
ni, under the title of " Doctrinal de Sapience," printed in 4to,
black letter, with the addition of examples and short sto-
ries, some of which have a species of simple and rather
coarse humour ; but not ill adapted to the taste of the
* Diet. Hist. Rees's Cyclopaedia.
R O Y E. 431
times. The good archbishop is said to have written it "for
the health of his soul, and of the souls of all his people,"
and had such an opinion of its efficacy, that he gave it the
authority of homilies, commanding that every parish in his
diocese should be provided with a copy, and that the cu-
rates and chaplains of the said parishes, should read to the
people two or three chapters, with promises of pardon for
certain readings. Caxton, who seems to have entertained
almost as high an opinion of this work, translated and
printed it in 1489, in a folio size. According to Mr. Dib-
din, who has given a minute description, with specimens,
of this " Doctrinal of Sapyence," there are not more than
four perfect copies extant. 1
ROZIER (FRANCIS), an eminent agricultural writer, was
born at Lyons, Jan. 24, 1734. His father, who was engaged
in commerce, dying while he was young, and without pro-
perty, he entered into the ecclesiastical order ; but he had
scarce ended his studies, when the soil, cultivation, &c. of
the beautiful country near Lyons, began to occupy his at-
tention, and Columella, Varro, and Olivier de Serres, be-
came his favourite authors. In the study of botany he
took La Tourette for his guide, who was his countryman
and friend. With him, after being appointed director of
the school at Lyons, which he soon left, lie published, iu
1766, "Elementary Demonstrations of Botany," a work
that passed through many editions. In 1771 he went to
Paris, where he began to publish the " Journal de Physique
et d'Histoire Naturelle," which was conducted with
greater reputation than in the hands of his predecessor
Gauthier d'Agoty. In this work he gave clear and inte-
resting accounts of all new discoveries in physics, chemis-
try, and natural history. ' Having been, by the recommen-
dation of the king of Poland, presented to a valuable
priory, he had leisure to turn his attention to his favourite
project of a complete body, or " Cours d' Agriculture." As
Paris was not the place for an object of this kind, he pur-
chased an estate at Beziers, where his studies and obser-
vations enabled him to complete his " Cours," in 10 vols.
4to, except the last, which did not appear till after the
author's death. In 1788 he went to Lyons, and was ad-
mitted a member of the academy, and the government gave
him the direction of the public nursery ground. On the
' Moreri. Die'. Hist. Dibclin's Typographical Antiquities, vol. I.
432 R O 2 I E K.
revolution Rozier was one of its earliest partizaris, and one
of its victims ; for in September 1793, during the siege of
Lyons, a bomb falling upon his bed, buried his body in the
ruins of his house. He was author of several treatises on
the method of making wines, and distilling brandy, on the
culture of turnip and cole-seed, on oil-mills, and other
machinery. 1
RUBENS (PETER PAUL), an illustrious artist, was of a
distinguished family at Antwerp, where some say he was
born in 1577 ; but according to others he was barn at Co-
logne, to which place his father had retired for security, to
avoid the calamities of civil war. On his return to Antwerp,
our artist was educated with the greatest care, and as he had
shown some turn for design, was placed for instruction
under Tobias Verhaecht, a landscape painter of some note,
but soon exchanged this master in order to study historical
painting under Adam Van Oort. But as the surly temper
of this artist was incompatible with the more amiable dis-
position of Rubens, he soon left him also, and attached
himself to Otho Venius, whom he found a man of learning,
candour, and congeniality of taste ; and although he rose
infinitely above this preceptor, he ever preserved the
highest esteem for him. From Venius, Rubens probably
acquired his taste for allegory, one of his least merits, it is
true, but one to which he was indebted for a considerable
share of popularity, in an age when allegory was in
fashion.
After continuing about four years with Venius, the latter,
who admired his progress, candidly told him that he could
no farther advance it, and that he must visit Italy. This
was Rubens's secret wish, but the means by which he ac-
complished it have been variously represented. Sandrart,
who was intimately acquainted with him, and accompanied
him when he travelled through Holland, tells us that the
archduke Albert, governor of the Netherlands, conceived
so high an opinion of Rubens, from the accounts he had
received of his superior talents, that he engaged him in his
service, employed him to paint several fine designs for his
own palace, and recommended him in the most honour-
able manner to the duke of Mantua, in whose court he
might have access constantly to an admirable collection of
paintings and antique statues, and have an opportunity of
> Diet. Hist.
RUBENS. 435
improving himself by studying as well as copying the for-
mer, and designing after the latter. On his arrival at
Mantua he was received with a degree of distinction worthy
of his merit ; and while he continued there, he added con-
siderably to his knowledge, though he attached himself in
a more particular manner to the style of colouring pecu-
liar to the Venetian school. From Mantua he visited
Rome, Venice, and other cities of Italy, and studied the
works of the greatest painters, from the time of Raphael
to his own, and accomplished himself in colouring, by the
accurate observations he made on the style of Titian and
Paolo Veronese. It has been objected, however, that he
neglected to refine his taste as much as he ought by the
antique, though most of the memorable artists in painting
had sublimed their own ideas of grace, expression, elegant
simplicity, beautiful proportion, and nature, principally by
their making those antiques their perpetual studies and
models.
On his return to Mantua, he painted three magnificent
pictures for the church of the Jesuits, which, in point of
execution and freedom of force in effect, rank nearly
among his best productions. His patron, wishing to have
copies of some of the most celebrated pictures at Rome,
sent Rubens thither for that purpose, which while he per-
formed with great skill, he employed no less diligence in
studying the originals. In 1605, he was honoured with one
of those mixed commissions, of statesman and artist, with
which he was frequently entrusted, and which place the
various powers of Rubens in a very singular light. This
was no less than an embassy from Mantua to the court of
Spain. Carrying with him some magnificent presents for
the duke of Lerma, the favourite minister of Philip III.
he painted at the same time the picture of this monarch,
and received from him such flattering marks of distinction,
as probably facilitated the political purpose of his errand.
Soon after his return to Mantua, he again visited Rome,
and there and at Genoa painted some pictures for the
churches, which greatly advanced his reputation. On the
death of his mother, whom he appears to have deeply re-
gretted, he formed the design of settling in Italy, bnt by
the persuasion of the archduke Albert and the Infanta Isa-
bella, was induced to take up his residence at Antwerp.
Here he married his first wife, Elizabeth Brants, and built
VOL. XXVI. FF
434 RUBENS.
a magnificent house, which he enriched with the choicest
specimens of the antique, and with valuable pictures.
His amazing success very naturally created enemies,
and among others Abraham Janssens defied him to a trial of
strength. Rubens answered, that he would contend with
him when he had shewn himself to be a competitor worthy
of him. Others more secretly endeavoured to injure him
by attributing the best parts of his pictures to his pupils,
and Schut and Rombouts abused him for lack of invention ;
this he answered by relieving their necessities and procur-
ing them employment, while by engaging in those varieties
of art, landscapes, lion and crocodile-hunting, and other
miscellaneous subjects, he decidedly established his claim
to the title of an universal painter, and covered his calum-
niators with shame and confusion. Amidst so much
hostility, from the envy of contemporaries, one friendly
offer must not be forgot. A visionary chemist, who had
been labouring to produce the philosopher's stone, offered
our artist a share of the laboratory and its advantages. Ru-
bens took him to his painting-room, and told him that
twenty years before he had discovered the art of making
gold by his palette and pencils.
In 1620 he received a commission from Mary de Me-
dici, to adorn the gallery of the palace of the Luxembourg,
for which he executed a vvellfknovvn series of paintings,
exhibiting the principal events of the life of that princess.
The whole were completed in three years, an astonishing
instance both of art and labour. It was at this period he
became known to the duke of Buckingham, who was then
on a tour with prince Charles. He afterwards became the
purchaser of Rubens's rich museum of works of art, for
which he is said to have given 10,000/. sterling.
On the return of Rubens to Antwerp, he was honoured
with several conferences with the Infanta Isabella, and was
by her dispatched on a political mission to the court of
Madrid, where he arrived in 1628, and was most graciously
received by Philip IV. He acquitted himself in bis novel
cap K-ity to the satisfaction of that monarch, and his minis-
ter, the duke de Olivares, by both of whom he was highly
esteemed ; and while his talents as a diplomatist met with
the success they merited, those of the painter were not
neglected.
The duke de Olivares had just completed the foundation
tl U B E N S. 435
t?f a convent of Carmelites, at the small town of Loeches,
near Madrid, and the king, as a mark of his favour to the
minister, commissioned liubens to paint four pictures for
their church, which he executed in his grandest style, and
the richest glow of his colouring. He also painted eight
grand pictures for the great saloon of the palace at Ma-
drid, which are regarded among the most brilliant of his
productions. Their subjects were, the Rape of the Sabines ;
the battle between the Romans and Sabines ; the Bath of
Diana; Perseus and Andromeda; the Rape of Helen ; the
Judgment of Paris; Juno, Minerva, and Venus; and the
Triumph of Bacchus. He also painted a large portrait of
the king on horseback, with other figures; and a picture
of the martyrdom of the apostle St. Andrew, which was in
the church dedicated to that saint. For these extraordi-
nary productions he was richly rewarded* received the
honour of knighthood, and was presented with the golden,
key as gentleman of the chamber to the king. In 1629
he returned to Flanders, and thus, in the short space of
little more than nine months, he designed and executed
so extensive a series of pictures ; a labour which, to any
other artist not possessed of his extraordinary powers, must
have required the exertion of many years. When he had
rendered the account of his mission to the Infanta, she dis-
patched him to England, to sound the disposition of the
government on the subject of a peace. There for a time
he concealed the powers granted to him to negociate upon
the subject, which he afterwards produced with success.
In the mean time, as Lord Orford observes, neither
Charles I. nor Rubens overlooked in the ambassador the
talents of the painter. The king engaged him to paint the
ceiling of the Banquetting-house, the design the apothe-
osis of king James I. The original sketch for the middle
compartment was long preserved at Houghton. Rubens
received 3000/. for this work. During his residence here
he painted for the king the St. George, four feet high and
seven feet wide. His majesty was represented in the Saint,
the queen in Cleodelinde : each figure one foot and a half
high : at a distance a view of Richmond and the Thames.
In England are still several capital works of Rubens, at
Blenheim, Wilton, Easton, &c. He was knighted during
his residence here, which Lord Orford supposes did not
exceed a year. The French, in their late barbarous irrup-
tions into the Netherlands, robbed Flanders of fifty -two of
F F 2
436 RUBEN S.
Rubens's best pictures, which however have probably since
found their way to their former destination.
Rubens continued to enjoy his well-earned fame and
honours, with uninterrupted success, till he arrived at his
fifty-eighth year, when he was attacked with strong fits of
gout, which debilitated his frame, and unfitted him for
great exertions : he abandoned, therefore, all larger works,
and confined himself to easel painting. Yet he continued
to exercise his art until 1640, when he died at the age of
sixty-three. He was buried, with extraordinary pomp, in
the church of St. James at Antwerp, under the altar of his
private chapel, which he had previously decorated with a
very fine picture. A monument was erected to him by his
wife and children, with an epitaph in Latin, eulogizing his
talents and virtues, and displaying their success.
He left a son ALBERT RUBENS, who was born at Ant-
werp in 1614, and succeeded his father in his post as
secretary to the council, devoting his leisure to literary
pursuits. He died in 1657, leaving behind him many
works, as monuments of his great learning and sound judg-
ment, of which the following may be mentioned. " Regum
et Imperatorum Romanorum Numismata," which is a com-
mentary on the medals of the duke of Arscbot : " De Re
Vestiaria Veterum :" " Dissertatio de Gemma Tiberiana
et Augustea de Urbibus Neocoris de natali Die Caesa-
ris Augusti," which were published by Graevius in the
" Thesaurus Antiq. Roman."
Lord Orford has observed that "one cannot write the
life of Rubens, without transcribing twenty authors;" and
certainly twice twenty critics may be quoted who have di-
lated on his merits as an artist, with more or less discrimi-
nation. In concluding his article, however, we shall con-
fine ourselves to the opinion of sir Joshua Reynolds, from
its acknowledged superiority.
" The elevated situation," says our great artist, " or>
which Rubens stands in the esteem of the world, is alone
a sufficient reason for some examination of his pretensions.
His tame is extended over a great part of the Continent,
without a rival ; and it may be justly said, that he has
enriched his country, not in a figurative sense only, by
the great examples of art which he left, but by what some
would think a more solid advantage, the wealth arising from
the concourse of strangers whom his works continually invite
to Antwerp, which would otherwise have little to -reward
RUBENS. 437
the visit of a connoisseur. To the city of Dueseldorp he
has been an equal benefactor. The gallery of that city is
considered as containing one of the greatest collections of
pictures in the world ; but if the works of Rubens were
taken from it, I will venture to assert, that this great re-
pository would be reduced to at least half its value. To
extend his glory still farther, he gives to Paris one of its
most striking features, the Luxembourg gallery ; and if to
these we add the many towns, churches, and private ca-
binets, where a single picture of Rubens confers eminence,
we cannot hesitate to place him in the first rank of illustri-
ous painters.
" Though I still entertain the same general opinion both
in regard to his excellencies and his defects, yet having
now seen his greatest compositions, where he has more
means of displaying those parts of his art in which he par-
ticularly excelled, my estimation of his genius is of course
raised. It is only in large compositions that his powers
seem to have room to expand themselves. They really
increase in proportion to the size of the canvas on which
they are to be displayed. His superiority is not seen in
easel pictures, nor even in detached parts of his greater
works; which are seldom eminently beautiful. It does not
lie in an attitude, or in any peculiar expression, but in
the general effect, in the genius which pervades and illu-
minates the whole.
" I remember to have observed in a picture of Diatreci,
which I saw in a private cabinet at Brussels, the contrary
effect. In that performance there appeared to be a total
absence of this pervading genius ; though every individual
figure was correctly drawn, and to the action of each as
careful an attention was paid, as if it were a set academy
figure. Here seemed to be nothing left to chance ; all the
nymphs (the subject was the Bath of Diana) were what the
ladies call in attitudes ; yet, without being able to censure
it for incorrectness, or any other defect, I thought it one of
the coldest and most insipid pictures I ever beheld.
" The works of Rubens have that peculiar property al-
ways attendant on genius, to attract attention, and enforce
admiration, in spite of all their faults. It is owing to this
fascinating power that the performances of those painters
with which he is surrounded, though they have, perhaps,
fewer defects, yet appear spiritless, tame, and insipid ;
such as the altar-pieces of Crayer, Schutz, Segers, Hey-
433 RUBENS.
sens, Tysens, Van Bulen, and the rest. They are done by
men whose hands, and indeed all their faculties, appear to
have been cramped and confined ; and it is evident that
every thing they did was the effect of great labour and
pains. The productions of Rubens, on the contrary, seem
to flow with a freedom and prodigality, as if they cost him
nothing; and to the general animation of the composition,
there is always a correspondent spirit in the execution of
the work. The striking brilliancy of his colours, and their
lively opposition to each other, the flowing liberty and
freedom of his outline, the animated pencil with which
every object is touched, all contribute to awaken and keep
alive the attention of the spectator; awaken in him, in
some measure, correspondent sensations, and make him
feel a degree of that enthusiasm with which the painter
was carried away. To this we add the complete uniformity
in all the parts of the work, so that the whole seems to be
conducted, and grow out of one mind ; every thing is of a
piece, and fits its place. Even his taste of drawing and of
form appears to correspond better with his colouring and
composition, than if he had adopted any other manner,
though that manner, simply considered, might be better ;
it is here as in personal attractions : there is frequently
found a certain agreement and correspondence in the whole
together, which is often more captivating than mere regu-
lar beauty.
*' Rubens appears to have had that confidence in him-
self, which it is necessary for every artist to assume, when
he has finished his studies, and may venture, in some mea-
sure, to throw aside the fetters of authority; to consider
the rules as subject to his controul, and not himself subject
to the rules ; to risk and to dare extraordinary attempts
without a guide, abandoning himself to his own sensations,
and depending upon them. To this confidence must be
imputed that originality of manner by which he may be
truly said to have extended the limits of the art. After
Rubens had made up his manner, he never looked out of
himself for assistance : there is consequently very little in
his works, that appears to be taken from other masters. If
he has borrowed any thing, he has had the address to
change and adapt it so well to the rest of his work, that
the theft is not discoverable.
" Besides the excellency of Rubens in these general
powers, he possessed the true art of imitating. He saw the
RUBENS. 439
objects of nature with a painter's eye; he saw at once the
predominant feature by which every object is known and
Distinguished ; and as soon as seen, it was executed with a
facility that is astonishing : and let me add, this facility is
to a painter, when he closely examines a picture, a source
of great pleasure. How far this excellence may be per-
ceived or felt by those who are not painters, I know not ;
to them .certainly it is not enough that objects be truly re-
presented ; .tliey must likewise be represented with grace ;
which means here, that the work is done with facility, and
without effort. Rubens was, perhaps, the greatest master
in the mechanical part of the art, the best workman with
his tools that ever exercised a pencil. This part of the
art, though it does not hold a rank with the powers of in-
vention, of giving character and expression, has yet in it
what may be called genius. It is certainly something that
cannot be taught by words, though it may be learned by a
frequent examination of those pictures which possess this
excellence. It is felt by very few painters; and it is as
rare at this time among the living painters, as any of the
higher excellencies of the art.
" This power, which Rubens possessed in the highest
degree, enabled him to represent whatever he undertook
better than any other painter. His animals, particularly
lions and horses, are so admirable, that it may be said they
were never properly represented but by him. His portraits
rank with the best works of the painters who have made
that branch of the art the sole business of their lives; and
of those he has left a great variety of specimens. The
same may be said of his landscapes ; and though Claude
Lorrain finished more minutely, as becomes a professor in
any particular branch, yet there is such an airiness and
facility in the landscapes of Rubens, that a painter would
as soon wish to be the author of them, as those of Claude,
or any other artist whatever.
" The pictures of Rubens have this effect upon the spec-
tator, that he feels himself in no wise disposed to pick out
and dwell on his defects. The criticisms which are made
on bint are indeed often unreasonable. His style ought no
more to be blamed for not having the sublimity of Michael
Angelo, than Ovid should be censured because he is not
like Virgil.
" However, it must be acknowledged, that he wanted
jnany excellencies, which would have perfectly united with
440 RUBEN S.
his style. Among those we may reckon beauty in his fe-?
male characters : sometimes, indeed, they make approaches
to it; they are healthy and comely women, but seldom, if
ever, possess any degree of elegance : the same may be
said of his young men and children : his old men have
that sort of dignity which a bushy beard will confer ; but
he never possessed a poetical conception of character. In
his representations of the highest characters in the Chris-
tian or the fabulous world, instead of something above
humanity, which might fill the idea which is conceived of
such beings, the spectator finds little more than mere
mortals, such as he meets with every day.
" The incorrectness of Rubens, in regard to his out-
line, oftener proceeds from haste and carelessness, than
from inability : there are in his great works, to which he
seems to have paid more particular attention, naked figures
as eminent for their drawing as for their colouring. He
appears to have entertained a great abhorrence of the
meagre dry manner of his predecessors, the old German
and Flemish painters ; to avoid which, he kept his outline
large and flowing : this, carried to an extreme, produced
that heaviness which is so frequently found in his figures.
Another defect of this great painter is, his inattention to
the foldings of his drapery, especially that of his women :
it is scarcely ever cast with any choice or skill.
' Carlo Maratti and Rubens are, in this respect, in op-
posite extremes ; one discovers too much art in the dispo-
sitions of drapery, and the other too little. Rubens's dra-
pery, besides, is not properly historical ; the quality of
the stuff of which it is composed, is too accurately distin-
guished ; resembling the manner of Paul Veronese. This
drapery is less offensive in Rubens than it would be iii
many other painters, as it partly contributes to that rich-
ness which is the peculiar character of his style, which w6
do not pretend to set forth as of the most simple and sub*
lime kind.
" The difference of the manner of Rubens from that cf
any other painter before him, is in nothing more distin^-
guishable than in his colouring, which is totally different
from that of Titian, Corregio, or any of the great colour-
ists. The effect of his pictures may be not improperly
compared to clusters of flowers ; all his colours appear as
clear and as beautiful : at the same time he has avoided
that tawdry effect which one would expect such gay colours
RUBENS. 441
to produce; in this respect resembling Barocci more than
any other painter. What was said of an ancient painter
may be applied to those two artists that their figures
Jook as if they fed upon roses.
" It would be a curious and a profitable study for a
painter, to examine the difference, and the cause of that
difference of effect in the works of Corregio and Rubens,
both excellent in different ways. The preference pro-
bably would be given according to the different habits of
the connoisseur : those who had received their first impres-
sions from the works of Rubens, would censure Corregio
as heavy ; and the admirers of Corregio would say Rubens
wanted solidity of effect. There is lightness, airiness, and
facility in Rubens, his advocates will urge, and compara-
tively a laborious heaviness in Corregio ; whose admirers
will complain of Rubens's manner being careless and un-
finished, whilst the works of Corregio are wrought to the
highest degree of delicacy ; and what may be advanced in
favour of Corregio' s breadth of light, will, by his censurers,
be called affected and pedantic. It must be observed, that
we are speaking solely of the manner, the effect of the
picture ; and we may conclude, according to the custom in
pastoral poetry, by bestowing on each of these illustrious
painters a garland, without attributing superiority to either.
" To conclude, I will venture to repeat in favour of Ru-
bens, what I have before said in regard to the Dutch school
that those who Qannot see the extraordinary merit of this
great painter, either have a narrow conception of the va-
riety of art, or are led away by the affectation of approving
nothing but what comes from the Italian school." 1
RUCCELLAI (BERNARD), in Latin ORICELLARIUS, a
learned writer of the fifteenth century, was born in 1449.
His mother was daughter of the celebrated Pallas Strozzi,
one of the most powerful and opulent citizens of Florence,
a great patron of literature, and who in his collections of
books and antiquities, was the rival of Niccoli, and even of
the Medicis themselves. To this last mentioned illustrious
family Bernard became allied, in his seventeenth year, by his
marriage with the sister of Lorenzo, which joyful occasion
his father John Ruccellai is said to have celebrated with
princely magnificence, at the expence of 37,000 florins.
1 Pilkington. Argenville. Ikscamps. Sir J. Reynolds'* Works.* Rees'
Cyclopaedia.
RUCCELLAI.
Bernard after his marriage pursued his studies with the
same avidity as before ; and after Lorenzo de Medici's
death, the Platonic academy found in him a very generous
protector. He built a magnificent palace, with gardens
and groves convenient for the philosophic conferences held
by the academicians, and ornamented it with the most va-
luable specimens of the antique, collected at an immense
expence.
Like many other scholars of that day, he added political
skill to his literary accomplishments, and held some offices
of trust and importance. In J480 he was chosen gonfa-
lonier of justice ; and four years after, the republic appointed
him ambassador to the state of Genoa, which was folloxved
by three other embassies, one to Ferdinand king of Na-
ples, and two to Charles VIII. king of France. During the
revolutions which took place at Naples about the end of
the .fifteenth century, Rucc/ellai took a part, for which
some Florentine historians censure him ; but whether his
Conduct was patriotic or factious, is not very clear, although
the former is most probable. He died in 1514, and was
interred in the church of St. Maria Novella, the fagade of
which, begun by his father, he finished with great magni-
i Rtjccellai's principal work " De Urbe Roma," contains
an accurate account of what the ancient writers have handed
down respecting the magnificent edifices of that city, and
Was in all respects the best work of the kind that had then
appeared. It was first published in the collection entitled
' Rerum Ital. Scriptores Florentini." He left also a his-
tory of the war of Pisa, and another of the descent of
Charles VIII. into Italy, " De Bello Pisano," and " De
Jtello Jtajico ;" the latter of which
