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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.  XXVIII. 


LONDON: 

HUNTED  FOR  J.  NICHOLS  AND  SON;  F.  C.  AND  J.  RIVINGTON  ;  T.  PAYNE; 
OTR1DGE  AND  SON  ;  G.  AND  W.  N1COL  ;  G.  WILKIE  ;  J.  WALKER  J  W, 
LOWNDES  ;  T.  EGERTON;  LACKINGTON,  ALLEN,  AND  CO.;  J.  CARPENTER; 
LONGMAN,  HURST,  REES,  ORME,  AND  BROWN;  CADELL  AND  DAV1ES ;  LAW 
AND  WH1TTAKER;  J.  BOOKER;  J.  CUTHELL  ;  CLARKE  AND  SONS;  J.  AND 
A.  ARCH;  J.  HARRIS;  BLACK,  PARBURV,  AND  ALLEN  ;  J.  BLACK;  J.  BOOTH; 
J.  MAWMAN  ;  GALE  AND  FENNER  ;  R.  H.  EVANS;  J.  HATCHARD  ;  J.  MURRAY; 
BALDWIN,  CRADOCK,  AND  JOY;  E.  BENTLEY  ;  OGLE  AND  CO.;  W.  GINGER  j 
RODWELL  AND  MARTIN;  P.  WRIGHT;  J.  DE1GHTON  AND  SON,  CAMBRIDGE; 
CONSTABLE  AND  CO.  EDINBURGH;  AND  WILSON  AND  SON,  YORK. 

1816. 


cr 

\0l 


74256D 

OF  TORONTO 


A  NEW   AND    GENERAL 
BIOGRAPHICAL  DICTIONARY. 


OlMEON  of  DURHAM,  an  eminent  English  historian, 
and  the  contemporary  of  William  of  Malmsbury,  lived  in 
the  twelfth  century.  He  both  studied  and  taught  the  sci- 
ences, and  particularly  the  mathematics  at  Oxford,  and 
became  precentor  to  the  church  of  Durham.  He  died  pro- 
bably soon  after  the  year  1 130,  where  his  history  ends.  He 
took  great  pains  in  collecting  our  ancient  monuments, 
especially  in  the  north  of  England,  after  they  had  been 
scattered  by  the  Danes  in  their  devastations  of  that  coun- 
try. From  these  he  composed  a  history  of  the  kings  of 
England  from  the  year  616  to  1130,  with  some  smaller 
historical  pieces.  It  was  continued  by  John,  prior  of  Hex- 
ham,  to  the  year  1156.  This  work,  and  Simeon's  account 
of  the  church  of  Durham,  are  printed  among  Twisden's 
"  Decem  Scriptores  ;"  but  of  the  latter  a  separate  edition 
was  published  in  1732,  8vo,  by  Thomas  Bedford.1 

SIMEON,  surnamed  METAPHRASFES,  from  his  having 
written  the  lives  of  the  saints  in  a  diffuse  manner,  was  born 
of  noble  parents  at  Constantinople,  in  the  tenth  century, 
ana  was  well  educated,  and  raised  himself  by  his  merit  to 
very  higu  trust  under  the  reigns  of  Leo,  the  philosopher, 
and  Constantine  Pruphyrogenitus  his  son.  It  is  said,  that 
when  sent  on  a  certain  occasion  by. the  emperor  to  the 
island  oi  Crete,  which  the  Saracens  were  about  to  surprize, 
a  contrary  wind  carried  his  ship  to  the  isle  of  Pharos. 
There  he  nut  with  an  anchorite,  who  advised  him  to  write 
tho  life  of  Theoctista,  a  female  saint  of  Lesbos.  With  this 
he  complied,  and  we  may  presume,  found  some  pleasure 

•  Cave,  vol.  II. 

VOL.  XXVIII.  B 


$  SIMEON. 

in  the  undertaking,  as  be  gradually  extended  his  researches 
to  the  lives  of  an  hundred  and  twenty  other  saints,  which, 
with  respect  to  style,  are  not  disgraceful  to  a  scholar,  but, 
cardinal  Bellarmin  says,  he  describes  his  saints  rather  as 
what  ihey  ought  to  be,  than  as  what  they  were.  There 
are  Latin  translations  of  this  work  by  Lipotian,  Surius,  and 
others,  but  no  edition  of  the  original  Gveek  ;  and  iiis  trans- 
lators are  accused  of  having  added  much  of  a  fabulous  na- 
tuic.  Some  other  religious  tract?  of  Metaphrastes  are  ex- 
tant, and  some  "Annals."  He  died  in  976  or  977. l 

SIMLER  (JosiAS),  a  learned  divine  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  who  co-operated  in  the  reformation,  .vas  born 
Nov.  6,  1530,  at  Cappell,  a  village  near  Zurich  in  Swis- 
serland.  His  father,  Peter  Simler,  after  Laving  been  for 
many  years  a  member  of,  and  afterwards  prior  of  the  L  »o- 
nastery  there,  embraced  the  reformed  religion,  became  a 
preacher  of  it,  and  died  in  1557.  After  being  educated 
for  some  time  in  his  father's  monastery,  he  went  to  Zurich 
in  1544',  and  studied  for  two  years  under  the  di  ection  of 
the  celebrated  Bullinger,  who  was  his  god-fatlier.  He  re- 
moved thence  to  Basil,  where  he  studied  rhetoric  and  ma- 
thematics, and  afterwards  to  Strasburgh,  where  Sturmius, 
Martyr,  Bucer,  and  others  of  the  reformers  resided  ;  but 
as  he  had  no  thoughts  at  this  time  of  divinity  as  a  profes- 
sion, he  improved  himself  chiefly  in  other  branches  of 
learning.  He  continued  here  about  two  years,  and  passed 
three  more  in  visiting  various  universities,  and  hearing  the 
lectures  of  the  most  eminent  professors.  In  1549,  he  re- 
turned home,  and  with  such  visible  improvement  in  learn- 
ing, that  Gesner  often  employed  him  to  lecture  to  his  scho- 
lars, both  in  geometry  and  astronomy.  In  1552  he  was 
appointed  to  expound  in  public  the  New  Testament,  which 
he  did  with  so  much  ability  as  to  be  greatly  admired  by  the 
learned  of  Zurich,  as  wt  11  as  by  the  English  who  had  taken 
refuge  there  from  the  Marian  persecution.  In  1557  he 
was  made  deacon;  and  when  Bibliander,  on  account  of  his 
advanced  age,  was  declared  emeritus^  Simler  was  appointed 
to  teach  in  his  place,  and  was  likewise  colleague  with  Pe- 
ter Martyr,  who  had  a  high  opinion  of  him,  and  on  his 
death  in  1563,  Simler  succeeded  him  as  professor  of  divi- 
nity. He  filled  this  office  with  great  reputation  until  his 

1  Leo  Allatius  de  Simeonum  Scriptis.— Vossius  de  Hist.  Grac. — Barouii  An* 
•ales.— Cave,  vol.  ll.—Saxii  Onomast. 


S  I  M  L  E  R.  3 

constitution  became  impaired  by  a  hereditary  gout,  which 
in  his  latter  years  interrupted  his  studies,  and  shortened 
his  useful  life.  He  was  only  forty-five  when  he  died,  July 
2,  1576.  He  is  represented  as  a  man  of  a  meek,  placid, 
and  affectionate  temper,  and  although  never  rich,  always 
liberal,  charitable,  and  hospitable. 

His  works  are  very  numerous,  some  on  subjects  of  divi- 
nity, commentaries  on  the  scriptures,  £c.  and  some  on  the 
controversies  most  agitated  in  his  time.  He  wrote  also  the 
lives  of  Peter  Martyr,  Gesner,  and  Bullinger,  each  in  a 
thin  4io  volume  ;  published  an  epitome  of  Gesner's  "  Bib- 
liotheca,*5  155-),  fol.  and  was  editor  of  some  of  the  works 
of  Martyr  and  Bullinger.  To  those  we  may  add,  1.  "  JE- 
thici  costtiographta,  Antonini  Itinerarimn,  Rutiliani  Nu- 
mantiani  hinerarium,  et  alia  varia,"  basil',  1575,  12mo, 
with  valuable  scholia.  2.  "  Helvetiorum  Respublica,"  often 
reprinted,  and  esteemed  one  of  the  best  of  that  collection 
of  little  books  called  "  Republics."  3.  "  Vallesise  descrip- 
tionis  libri  duo,  et  de  Alpibus  commentarius,"  1574,  8vo. 
4.  "  Vocabularia  rei  nummarise  ponderum  et  mensurarum, 
Gr.  Lat.  Heb  Arab,  ex  diversis  autoribus  collecta,"  Tign- 
ri,  1584,  8vo,  &c.  &C.1 

SIMMONS  (SAMUEL  FOART),  a  late  learned  physician, 
and  physician  extraordinary  to  the  king,  was  born  March 
17,  1750,  at  Sandwich,  in  Kent,  where  his  father,  who 
followed  the  profession  of  the  law,  was  so  respected,  that, 
at  the  coronation  of  their  present  majesties,  he  was  de- 
puted by  the  cinque  ports  one  of  their  barons  to  support 
the  king's  canopy,  according  to  ancient  custom.  His  mo- 
ther, whose  maiden  name  was  Foart,  and  whose  family 
was  likewise  of  Sandwich,  died  when  he  was  an  infant.  He 
was  educated  at  a  seminary  in  France,  where  he  not  only 
improved  himself  in  the  learned  languages,  but  acquired 
such  a  perfect  knowledge  of  the  French  tongue,  as  to  be 
able  to  write  and  speak  it  with  the  same  facility  as  hi? 
own.  He  pursued  his  medical  studies  for  nearly  three 
years  at  Edinburgh,  and  afterwards  went  to  Holland,  and 
studied  during  a  season  at  Leyden,  where  he  was  admit- 
ted to  the  degree  of  doctor  of  physic. :  he  chose  the  measles 
for  the  ^u'nject  of  his  inaugura!  discourse,  which  he  in- 
scribed to  Cullen,  and  to  Gaubius,  both  of  whom  hud 
shewn  him  particular  regard.  After  taking  his  degree  at 

1  Melchior  Adam. — Bezae  Icones. — Nicero«;  Vol.  XXVIII. 
B    2 


4  SIM  M  O  N  S. 

Leyden,  he  visited  and  became  acquainted  with  professor 
Camper  in  InesKuul,  who  had  at  that  time  one  of  the  finest 
anatomical   museums  in    Kurope.      From   thence  he   pro- 
ceeded to  Aix-lct-Chapelle   and    the  Spa,  and  afterwards 
visited  different  parts  of  Germany  ;  stopped  for  some  time 
at   the  principal    universities  ;  and  wherever  he  went  cul- 
tivated the  acquaintance  of  learned  men,  especially  those 
of  his  own  profession,  in  which  he  was  ever  anxious  to  im- 
pr  >ve    himself.     At   Berne,    in    Switzerland,    he   became 
known   to   the   celebrated   Haller,   who  afterwards   ranked 
him  among  his  friends   and  correspondents.     He  came  to 
reside  in  London   towards  the  close  of  1778,  being  tiien 
in   his  2Stii   year,    and    was   admitted    a   member    of  the 
College   of  Physicians,  and  was  elected  a  fellow   of  the 
Royal    Society   1779,  and   of  the    Society   of  Antiquaries 
1791,  as  he  had  been  before  of  different  foreign  academies 
at  Nantz,   Montpellier,  and  Madrid  :  he  was  afterwards  ad- 
mitted an  honorary  member  of  the  Literary  and  Philoso- 
phical Society  at  Manchester,  and  of  the  Royal  Society  of 
Medicine  at  Paris,  at  which  place  he  was  elected  one  of  the 
Associes  Etrangers  de  1'Ecole  de  Medicine;  and  in  1807, 
Correspondant  de  la  Premiere  Classe  de  I'Institut  Impe- 
rial.    Previous  to  1778,  he  had  written  an  elementary  work 
on  Anatomy,  which  was   greatly   enlarged   and  improved 
in  its  second  edition,   1781  :  and  he  had  communicated  to 
the  Royal  Society  the  History  of  a  curious   case,  which  was 
afterwards  published  in  their  Transactions,   "  Phil.  Trans.1' 
vol.  LXIV.     He  became  also  the  sole  editor  of  the  Lon- 
don "  Medical  Journal;"  a  work  which,  after  going  through 
several  volumes,  was  resumed  under  the  title  of  "  Medical 
Facts  and  Observations'."  these  two  works  have  ever  been 
distinguished  for  their  correctness,  their  judicious  arrange- 
ment, and  their  candour.     About  this  time  he  published 
an  account  of  the  Tape-worm,  in  which  he  made  known 
the    specific   for  this  disease,    purchased   by  the  king  of 
France.     This  account  has  been  enlarged  in  a  subsequent 
edition. — He  likewise  distinguished  himself  by  a  practical 
work  on  "  Consumptions,"    which,  at  the  time,  became 
the   means  of  introducing  him  to  considerable  practice  in 
pulmonary  complaints.     In  1780,  he  was  elected  physician 
to   the   Westminster  General  Dispensary ;  a  situation   he 
held  for  many  years,  arid  which  afforded  him  ample  scope 
for  observation   and  experience  in  the  knowledge  of  dis- 
ease. These  opportunities  he  did  not  neglect ;  and  though, 


S  I  M  M  O  N  S.  3 

from  his  appointment  soon   after  to  St.  Luke's  Hosr 
he  was  led  to  decline  general  practice,  and  to  attadi  him- 
self more  particularly  to  the  diseases  of  th  ••  mi-.;, 
continued  to  communicate  to  the  publick  s"oh   fa<  :  .  and 
remarks  as  he  considered   likely  to  promote  the  extension 
of  any  branch  of  professional  science.      With  this  view- 
published  some  remarks  on  the  treatment  of  Hydrocepha- 
lus  internus  ("Med.  Comment,  of  Edinburgh,  vol.  V."), 
and  in  the  same  work  a  case  of  Ulceration  of  the  (.Esopha- 
gus and  Ossification   of  the  Heart.     He  wrote  also  an  ac- 
count of  a  species  of  Hydrocephalus,    which  sometimes 
takes   place   in   cases   of  Mania    (London  Med.   Journal, 
vol.  VI.)  and  an  account  of  the  Epidemic  Catarrh  of  the 
year  1788,  vol.  IX.     He  had  given  an  account  also  of  the 
"  Life  of  Dr.  William  Hunter,"  with  whom  he  was  perso- 
nally acquainted,  a  work  abounding  in  interesting  anec- 
dote, and  displaying  an  ingenuous  and  impartial  review  of 
the  writings  and  discoveries  of  that  illustrious  anatomist. — • 
From  the  time  of  his  being  elected  physician  to  St.  Luke's 
Hospital  to  the  period  of  his  death,  he  devoted   himself, 
nearly  exclusively,  to  the  care  and  treatment  of  Insanity  ; 
and  his  skill  in  this  melancholy  department  of  human  dis- 
ease, became  so  generally  acknowledged,  that  few,   if  any, 
could  be  considered  his  superiors.     In   the  year  1803,  it 
was  deemed  expedient  to  have  recourse  to  Dr.  Simmons, 
to  alleviate  the  mournful  malady  of  his  sovereign,  of  whom 
he  had  the  care  for  nearly  six    months,    assisted  by   his 
son  :  the  result  was  as  favourable  as  the  public  could  have 
wished  ;  and  on  taking  their  leave,  his  majesty  was  pleased 
to   confer  a  public   testimony  of  his   approbation,  by  ap- 
pointing  Dr.  Simmons   one    of  his    physicians    extraordi- 
nary, which  took  place  in  May  1804. — In  the  unfortunate 
relapse,  which  occurred  in  1811,  Dr.  Simmons  again  at- 
tended ;  and,  in    conjunction    with    the   other  physicians, 
suggested   those  remedies  and  plans  which  seemed  most 
likely  to  effect  a  cure.     In  February  of  that  year  he  re- 
signed the  office  of  physician  to  St.  Luke's,  in  a  very  ele- 
gant letter,  in  which  he  assigned  his  age  and  state  of  health 
as  the  reasons  for  his  resignation.     The  governors  were  so 
sensible  of  the  value  of  his  pa^t  services,  and  the  respect 
due  to  him,  as  immediately  to  elect  him  a  governor  of  the 
chanty.     They  also  proposed  his  being  one   of  the   com- 
mittee;  and,  expressly  on   his  account,  created  the  office 
of  Consulting  Physician,  in  order  to  have  the  advantage  of 


6  SIMMONS. 

his  opinion,  not  merely  in  the  medical  arrangement,  but 
in  the  domestic  ceconomy  of  the  hospital. —  His  lust  illness 
began  on  the  evening  of  ne  10th.  of  April,  1813,  when 
he  was  seized  with  sickness,  ai-d  n  viou  :  '  vomiting  of  bile, 
accompanied  with  a  prostration  oi  sfuigui  so  sudden,  and 
so  severe,  that  on  the  &ec<  nd  day  of  the  attack  he  was 
barely  able  to  stand  ;  and  a  absolution  of  the  powers  of  life 
seeming  to  be  rapidly  coming  on,  he  prepared  for  his  de- 
parture witii  methodical  accuracy,  anticipated  the  event 
with  great  calmness,  and,  on  the  evening  of  the  23d  of  the 
same  moritn.  expired  in  the  arms  of  his  son.  He  was  bu- 
ried May  J,  at  Sandwich  in  Kent,  and,  according  to  the 
direction,  exni  ssed  in  his  will,  his  retrains  were  deposited 
in  a  vault  in  the  church-yard  of  St.  Clement,  next  to  those 
of  his  mother. — In  private  life,  Dr.  Simmons  was  puncti- 
liously correct  in  all  his  dealings  ;  mild  and  unassuming  in 
his  manners,  and  of  rather  retired  habits,  passing  Ins  time 
chiefly  in  his  study  and  in  his  professional  avocations.  He 
was  one  of  the  earliest  proprietors  of  the  Roy;d  Institution  ; 
and,  in  1806,  became  an  hereditary  governor  of  the  Bri- 
tish Institution  for  the  promotion  of  the  Fine  Arts.  He 
has  left  one  son,  who  is  unmarried,  and  a  widow,  to  deplore 
his  lo:-s. 1 

SIMMONS.     See  SYMONDS. 

SIMON  (RICHARD),  a  French  critic  and  divine  of  great 
learning,  was  born  at  Dieppe,  May  13,  1638,  and  com- 
menced his  studies  among  the  priests  of  the  oratory,  whom 
he  quitted  for  some  time,  and  went  to  Paris,  where  he  ap- 
plied himself  to  divinity,  and  made  a  great  progress  in 
Oriental  learning,  for  which  he  had  always  a  particular 
turn.  About  the  end  of  1662,  he  returned  to  the  orator}r, 
and  became  a  priest  of  it.  On  the  death  of  father  Bour- 
gouin,  general  jf  this  congregation,  some  cause  of  dis- 
pleasure inclined  him  to  leave  them,  and  join  the  society 
of  the  Jesuits;  but  from  this  he  was  diverted  by  the  per- 
suasions of  father  Bertad,  the  superior  of  the  oratory.  He 
was  then  sent  to  the  college  of  Juilly,  in  the  diocese  of 
Meaux,  to  teach  philosophy;  but  other  business  occurring, 
he  was  ordered  to  go  to  Paris.  In  the  library  of  the  ora- 
tory there  was  a  valuable  collection  of  Oriental  books,  of 
vvhicii  Simon  was  employed  to  make  a  catalogue,  which  he 
executed  with  great  skill,  and  perused  at  the  same  time 

w»Gent.  Mag.  vol.  LXXXIII. 


SIMON  7 

those  treasures  with  great  avidity.  M.  de  Lamoignon,  first 
president  of  the  parliament  of  Paris,  meeting  with  him  one 
day  in  the  library,  was  so  pleased  with  his  conversation, 
that  he  requested  of  Senault,  the  new  general  of  the  ora- 
tory, that  he  might  be  permitted  to  remain  in  Paris;  but 
this  being  unaccompanied  by  any  advantages,  Simon,  who 
had  much  of  an  independent  spirit,  petitioned  to  go  back 
to  Juilly,  to  teach  philosophy,  as  before.  He  accordingly 
arrived  there  in  1668,  and,  in  1670,  his  first  publication 
appeared,  a  defence  of  the  Jews  against  the  accusation  of 
having  murdered  a  Christian  child,  "  Factum  pour  les  Juifs 
de  Metz,"  &c.  In  the  following  year,  with  a  view  to  shew 
that  the  opinion  of  the  Greek  church  is  not  materially 
different  from  that  of  the  church  of  Rome,  with  respect 
to  the  sacrament,  he  published  "  Fides  Ecclesiae  Orientalis, 
seu  Gabrielis  Metropolitae  Philadelphiensis  opuscula,  cum 
interpretatione  Latina  et  notis,"  Paris,  1671,  quarto,  re- 
printed 16S6.  When  the  first  volume  of  the  "  Perpetuity 
of  the  faith  respecting  the  Eucharist"  appeared,  our  au- 
thor-j  who  from  his  youth  was  an  original,  if  not  always  a 
just  thinker,  expressed  some  opinions  on  that  work,  and 
on  the  subject,  which  involved  him  in  a  controversy  with 
the  gentlemen  of  Port-Royal ;  and  this  seems  to  have  laid 
the  foundation  of  the  opposition  he  afterwards  met  with 
from  the  learned  of  his  own  communion.  His  next  pub- 
lication came  out  under  the  name  of  Recared  Simeon  (for 
he  often  used  fictitious  names),  and  was  a  translation  from 
Leo  of  Modena,  entitled  "  Ceremonies  et  Coutumes  qui 
s'observent  aujourdui  parmi  les  Juifs,"  &c.  1674,  12mo. 
This  was  republished  in  1681,  under  the  name  of  the 
Sieur  de  Semonville;  with  the  addition  of  a  "  Comparison 
between  the  ceremonies  of  the  Jews  and  the  discipline  of 
the  church."  In  this  edition,  and  perhaps  in  the  subse- 
quent ones  of  1682  and  1684,  the  reader  will  find  a  great 
number  of  parentheses  and  crotchets,  which  Bayle  thus 
accounts  for:  The  work  having  been  submitted  in  MS.  to 
M.  Perot,  a  doctor  of  the  Sorbonne,  for  examination,  he 
added  some  passages,  which  the  author  being  obliged  to 
retain,  and  yet  unwilling  that  they  should  pass  for  his  own, 
inclosed  in  crotchets;  but  had  afterwards  to  complain,  that 
the  printers,  who  were  not  in  the  secret,  had  omitted  some 
of  these.  In  1675,  Simon  published  a  "Voyage  duMont- 
Liban,"  from  the  Italian  of  Dandini,  with  notes;  and, 
about  the  same  time,  a  "  Factum  du  Prince  de  Neubourg, 


8  SIMON. 

abbe  de  Feschamps,  centre  les  religieux  de  cette  abbay ;" 
and,  as  was  usual  with  him,  took  an  opportunity  to  attack 
the  Benedictines. 

But  the  first  work  of  importance  which  he  published, 
and  that  which  rendered  him  most  famous,  was  his  "  Cri- 
tical History  of  the  Old  Testament,1'  which  appeared  in 
1678,  but  was  immediately  suppressed  by  the  Messieurs 
du  Port  Royal ;  who  alleged,  that  it.  contained  things  false 
and  dangerous  to  religion  and  the  church.  It  was  reprinted 
the  year  after,  and  was  so  much  admired  for  excellent 
learning  and  admirable  criticism,  that  it  became  an  object 
of  attention  to  foreigners  ;  anu  was  published,  in  Latin,  at 
Amsterdam  1681,  and  in  English  at  London  1682,  by  R. 
H.  i.  e.  R.  Hampden  (son  of  the  celebrated  John  Harnp- 
den),  who,  we  are  told,  declared  on  his  death-bed,  that 
father  Simon's  works  had  made  him  a  sceptic. 

After  the  publication  of  his  "  Critical  History,"  he  left 
the  congregation  of  the  Oratory,  and  went  to  Bollevilie,  a 
village  in  the  pais  de  Caux,  of  which  he  had  been  curate 
from  1676,  but  resigning  this  office  in  1682,  removed  for 
a  short  time  to  Dieppe,  and  thence  again  to  Paris,  to  re- 
new his  studies,  and  make  arrangements  for  the  publica- 
tion of  some  other  works.  In  the  mean  time,  as  the  Paris 
edition  of  his  "  Critical  History"  had  been  suppressed,  it 
was  reprinted  at  Amsterdam,  by  the  Elzevirs,  but  from  a 
very  incorrect  transcript.  One  more  correct,  and  indeed 
the  best,  was  printed  at  Rotterdam  in  1685,  with  a  "  Ge- 
neral Apology,"  &c.  It  then  produced  a  controversy  with 
many  eminent  protestant  divines,  Le  Clerc,  Jurieu,  Isaac 
Vcssius,  and  others. 

In  1684  he  published,  at  Francfort,  "  Histoire  de  1'Ori- 
gine  et  du  Progres  des  Revenus  Ecclesiastiques,"  or,  "The 
History  of  the  Rise  and  Progress  of  Ecclesiastical  Reve- 
nues," under  the  name  of  Jerome  a  Costa.  A  second 
edition  of  it,  with  great  additions,  was  printed  at  Franc- 
fort,  1709,  in  2  vols.  12mo.  In  1684  he  published,  at 
London,  "  Disquisitiones  Criticae  de  variis  per  diversa  loca 
et  tempora  Bibliorum  Editionibus,"  &c.  and  in  the  same 
year,  at  the  same  place,  appeared  an  English  translation 
of  it,  with  this  title,  "  Critical  Enquiries  into  the  various 
editions  of  the  Bible,  printed  in  divers  places  and  at  seve- 
ral times,  together  with  animadversions  upon  a  small  trea- 
tise of  Dr.  Isaac  Vossius  concerning  the  oracles  of  the 
Sibyls."  There  is  his  usual  display  of  learning  in  this 


SIMON.  9 

piece,  which  may  be  considered  as  an  abridgment  of  his 
«' Critical  History  of  the  Old  Testament."  In  1686,  he 
published  an  answer  to  Le  Cltrc,  who  had  criticised  his 
work  the  year  before  ;  and,  upon  Le  Ck-rc's  replying  in 
1686,  another  in  1687,  both  under  the  name  of  the  Prior 
of  Bolleville,  at  which  place  he  then  resided, 

In    1688  he  published  at  Francfort,  under  the  name  of 
John  Reuchlin,    "  Dissertation    Critique  sur   la  Nouvelle 
Bibliotheque  des  Auteurs  Ecc'eYiastiques  par  Du  Pin,  &c." 
in  which  he  supports  with  great  spirit  some   principles  in 
his  "  Critical   History  of  the  Old  Testament,"  which  had 
been  controverted  by  Du  Pin.  In  1689  came  out  his  "  His- 
toire  Critique  du  Texte  du  Nouveau  Testament,"  an  Eng- 
lish version  of  which  was  published  the  same  year  at  Lon- 
don ;  in  1690,  "  Histoire  Critique  des  versions  du  Nouveau 
Testament;"  in  1693,   "  Histoire  Critique   des  principaux 
Comrnentateurs  du  Nouveau  Testament ;"  in  all  which,  as 
indeed  in  every  thing  else  he  wrote,  there  appears  great 
acuteness,    and  great  learning,  with,  however,  an   unfor- 
tunate propensity  to  singularities  and  novelties  ol  opinion, 
and  too  much  contempt  for  those  who   differed  from  him, 
and  in  this  last  work  he  has  perhaps  unsettled  more  than  he 
has  settled.      In  1702  he  published  a  French  translation  of 
the  New  Testament,  with  critical  remarks,  in  2  vols.  8vo : 
which  was  censured  by  cardinal  de  Noailles,  and  Bossuet, 
bishop  of  Meaux.     In   1714,   was  published  at  Amsterdam, 
in  2  vols.  12mo,   "  Nouvelle  Bibliotheque  Choisie,"  or,  "  A 
new   select  library,  which   points  out  the  good   books  in 
various  kinds  of  literature,  and  tht?  use  to  be  made  of  them;" 
but  this  must  be  reckoned  a  posthumous  work  ;  for  Simon 
died  at  Dieppe  in  April   1712,  in  his  seventy-fourth  year, 
and  was  buried  in  St.  James's  church. 

He  was  the  author  and  editor  of  other  things,  but  they 
were  less  considerable:  it  is  sufficient  to  have  mentioned 
his  principal  works.  He  bequeathed  to  the  library  of  the 
cathedral  of  Rouen  a  great  number  of  his  manuscript  works, 
many  printed  books  enriched  by  his  manuscript  notes,  and 
a  valuable  collection  of  books  in  all  the  learned  languages. 
He  was  unquestionably  a  man  of  great  learning  and  acute- 
ness  ;  but  a  love  of  controversy,  in  all  its  bitterness,  ren- 
jdered  him  almost  equally  obnoxious  to  protestants  and  pa- 
pists, yet  there  is  evidence  enough  in  his  works  to  prove 
that  he  contributed  in  no  small  degree  to  weaken  the  au- 


10  S  I  M  O  N  I  D  E  S. 

thorityand  pretensions  of  bis  own  church,  and  to  strengthen 
the  opinions  of  it.-,  adversaries.' 

SIMONIDES,  a  Grecian  poet,  wit,  and  somewhat  nf  a 
philosopher,  uas  born  i  the  o6'-h  olympiad,  or  558  B.C. 
and  is  said  to  i.aw  died  hi  his  ninetieth  }"ear.  He  was  a 
native  of  Ceos,  one  of  the  Cyclades,  in  the  neighbourhood 
ot  Attica,  and  became  the  preceptor  of  Pindar.  Both  Plato 
and  Cicero  speak  of  him,  not  only  as  a  good  poet  ana  mu- 
sician, but  also  as  a  man  of  wisdom  and  virtue.  His  length- 
ened life  gave  him  an  opportunity  of  knowing  a  great  num~ 
her  of  the  first  characters  in  antiquity,  with  whom  he  was 
in  some  measure  connected.  Fabncius  informs  us  that  he 
was  contemporary,  and  in  friendship  with  Pittacus  of  Mity- 
lene,  Hipparchus,  tyrant  of  Athens,  Pausanias,  king  of 
Sparta;  Hiero,  tyrant  of  Syracuse  :  also  with  Themistocles, 
and  with  Alcuudes,  king  of  Thessaly.  X«  uophon,  in  his 
dialogue  upon  tyranny,  makes  him  one  of  the  interlocu- 
tors. His  famous  answer  to  Hiero.  as  recorded  by  Cicero, 
has  been  often  quoted  as  a  proof,  not  only  of  his  wisdom, 
hut  his  piety.  When  Hiero  asked  of  him  a  definition  of 
God,  he  requested  a  day  to  consider  of  it ;  when  this  was 
expired,  he  doubled  the  time,  and  thus  he  did  repeatedly, 
till  the  monarch  desired  to  know  his  reason  for  this  proceed- 
ing :  "  It  is,"  said  he, ."  because  the  longer  I  reflect  on  the 
question,  the  more  difficult  it  appears  to  be." 

In  his  old  age,  perhaps  from  seeing  the  respect  which 
money  procured  to  such  as  had  lost  the  charms  of  youth, 
and  the  power  of  attaching  mankind  by  oiiier  means,  he 
became  somewhat  mercenary  and  avaricious.  He  was  fre- 
quently employed  by  the  victors  at  the  Barnes  to  write  pa- 
negyrics and  odes  in  their  praise,  before  his  pupil  Pindar 
had  exercised  his  talents  in  their  behalf;  but  Sinaonides 
would  never  gratify  their  vanity  in  this  particular,  till  he 
had  first  tied  them  down  to  a  stipulated  sum  for  his  trouble: 
and,  upon  being  upbraided  for  his  meanness,  he  said  that 
he  had  two  coffers,  in  one  of  which  he  i  <id,  for  many  years, 
put  his  pecuniary  rewards  ;  the  other  was  for  honours,  ver- 
bal thanks,  and  promises;  that  the  first  was  pretty  well 
filled,  but  the  last  remained  always  empty.  Anu  he  made 
no  scruple  to  confess,  in  his  old  age,  that  of  all  the  enjoy- 
ments of  life,  the  love  of  money  was  ihe  only  one  of  which 
time  had  not  deprived  him.  He  was  of  course  frequently 
reproached  with  this  vice,  but  always  defended  himself 

i  Moreri. — Niceron,  vol.  I.— Diet.  Hist. 


SIMONIDES.  11 

with  good  humour.  Upon  being  asked  by  Hiero's  queen, 
whether  it  was  most  desirable  to  be  learned  or  rich,  he  an- 
swered that  it  was  far  belter  to  be  rich  ;  for  the  learned 
were  always  dependent  on  the  rich,  and  waiting  at  their 
doors ;  whereas  he  never  ^  aw  rich  men  at  the  doors  of  the 
learned.  When  he  was  accused  of  being  so  sordid  as  to 
sell  part  of  the  provisions  with  which  his  table  was  furnished 
by  Hiero,  he  said  he  had  done  it,  in  order,  "  to  display  to 
the  world  the  magnificence  of  that  prince,  and  his  own. 
frugality."  To  others  he  said,  that  his  reason  for  accumu- 
lating wealth  was,  that  "  he  would  rather  leave  money  to 
his  enemies,  after  death,  than  be  troublesome  to  his  friends 
when  living." 

He  obtained  the  prize  in  poetry  at  the  public  games 
when  he  was  eighty  years  old.     According  to  Suidas,  he 
added  four  letters  to  the  Greek  alphabet :  and  Pliny  assigns 
to  him  the  eighth  string  of  the  lyre  ;  but  these  claims  are 
disputed  by  the  learned.     Among  the  numerous   poetical 
productions,   of  which,  according   to   Fabricius,   antiquity 
has  made  him  the  author,   were  his  many  songs  of  victory 
and  triumph,  for  athletic  conquerors  at  the  public  games. 
He  is  likewise  said  to  have  gained  there,  himself,  the  prize 
in  elegiac  poetry,  when  ^schylus  was  his  competitor.      His 
poetry  was  so  tender  and  plaintive,  that  he  acquired  the 
cognomen  of  Meliceutes,  i.  e.    sweet   as   honey,  and    the 
tearful  eye  of  his  muse  was  proverbial.      Dr.  Warton,   who 
has  an  elegant  paper  in  the  ADVENTURER  (No.  89)  partly 
on  the  merits  of  this  poet,  remarks  that  he  was  celebrated 
by  the  ancients  for  the  sweetness,  correctness,  and  purity 
of  his  style,  and  his  irresistible  skill  in  moving  the  passions. 
Dionysius  places  him  among  those  polished  writers,  who 
excel  in  a  smooth  volubility,  and  flow  on,  like  plenteous 
and  perennial  rivers,  in  a  course  of  even  and  uninterrupted 
harmony.     Addison  has  an  ingenious  paper  on  Simonides' 
"  Characters   of  Women,"  in    the    Spectator    (No.  209). 
This   considerable   fragment  of  Simonides,   preserved   by 
Stobaius,  was  published  in  Greek  by  Kohler,  at  Gottingen, 
1781,  8vo,  and  he  also  published  the  Latin  only,  in  1789, 
to  which  professor  Heyne  prefixed  a  letter  on   the  condi- 
tion of  women  in  ancient  Greece.     Simonides's   fragments 
of  poetry  are  in  Stephens's  Pindar,   1560,  and  other  edi- 
tions of  the  ancient  lyric  poets.1 

1  Fabric.  Bibl.  Graec. — Burney's  Hist,  of  Music,  vol.  I. — Hist,  de  Simonide, 
by  M.  de  ISoissy,  1755,  8vo. — Saxii  Onomast. 


12  S  I  M  P  L  I  C  I  U  S. 

SIMPLICIUS,  an  ancient  philosopher  of  the  sixth  cen- 
tury, was  a  native  of  Cihcia,  a  disciple  of  Ammonias,  the 
peripatetic,  and   endeavoured   to  unite   the    Platonic   and 
Stoic  doctrines  with  the  peripatetic.     Distrusting  his  situ- 
ation  under   the  emperor  Justinian,  he  went   to   Coerces 
king  of  the    Persians :    but  returned   to   Athens,  after   it 
had  heen  stipulated   in   a  truce  between   the  Persians  and 
the  Romans,  A.  D.  549,  that  he  and  his  friends  should  live 
quietly  and  securely  upon  what  was  their  own,  and  not  be 
compelled  by  the  Christians  to  depart  from  the  religion  of 
their  ancestors.     From  his  wish  to  unite  discordant  sects, 
he  is  called  by  a  modern  (Peter  Petit)  "  omnium  veterum 
philosophorurn  coagulum."     He  wrote  commentaries  upon 
several  of  Aristotle's  works,  once  thought  to  be  valuable  in 
themselves,  but  now  consulted  only  for  some  curious  frag- 
ments of  ancient  philosophers  preserved  in  them.     Of  these 
there  are  three  Aldine  editions,  152b  and  1527.    But,  of  all 
his  productions,  some  of  which  are  lost,  at  least  unpub- 
lished, his  "  Commentary  upon    Epictetus"  has  obtained 
ino.it  reputation.     Fabricius  is  of  opinion,  that  there  is  no- 
thing in  Pagan  antiquity  better  calculated  to  form  the  man- 
ners, or  to  give  juster  ideas  of  a  Divine  Providence.     It 
has  been  several  times  printed  in  Greek  and  Latin,  parti- 
cularly at  Ley  den,  i639,  in  4to,  and  at  London,  in  1670, 
in    8vo.     Dacier  published   a  French  translation   of  it   at 
Pans,   1715,   12mo;  and  Dr.  George  Stanhope  an  English 
one  at  London,  1704,  8vo. l 

SIMPSON  (EDWARD),  a  learned  English  divine,  the 
son  of  Edward  Simpson,  rector  of  Tottenham,  was  born 
tli ere  in  May  1573.  His  father  taught  him  the  rudiments 
©f  Luun,  and  when  he  had  attained  the  age  of  fourteen, 
placed  him  at  Westminster  school,  where  he  was  under  the 
ceiebrauJ  Camdi  n  for  four  years,  at  the  expiration  of 
which,  in  1596,  he  was  elected  to  Trinity-college,  Cam- 
bridge. In  1600  he  took  his  degree  of  A.  B.  and  next  year 
•was  admitted  fellow  of  his  college.  In  1603  he  was  ad- 

o 

mitted  to  his  master's  degree,  and  in  1610  to  that  of  ba- 
chelor of  divinity.  In  1611  he  went  into  the  family  of  sir 
Moyle  Finch,  knt.  of  Kent,  as  chaplain,  and  remained  four 
years  in  that  station,  until  the  death  of  his  patron,  whose 
funeral  sermon  he  preached.  He  then  returned  to  the 
university,  and  had  a  church  in  Cambridge  for  three  years, 

1  Fabric.  Bibl.  Graec.— •  Brucker. — Saxii  Onomast. 


SIMPSON.  13 

and  in  1618,  by  the  interest  of  the  viscountess  Maidstone, 
relict  of  -ir  Moyle  Finch,  he  was  presented  to  the  rectory 
of  Eastling.  He  then  took  his  degree  of  doctor  of  divinity, 
and  was  made  prebendary  of  Coringharn.  Being  now  at 
his  ease,  he  devoted  much  of  his  time  to  study,  and  pub- 
lished at  Cambridge,  his  "Mosaiea;  sive  Chronici  histo- 
riam  Catholicam  complectentis,  Pars  Prima,  in  qua  res  an- 
tiquissimu}  ab  orbe  condito  ad  Mosis  obitum  chronologice 
digests:  continentur,"  1G36,  4t.o.  This,  although  his  first, 
is  the  least  polished  of  all  his  works.  Afterwards  he  un- 
dertook his  "  Chronicon  Catholicum  ab  exordio  mundi,'* 
but  did  not  live  to  publish  it.  He  died  in  1651,  aged 
seventy-three,  without  any  apparent  disorder,  his  depar- 
ture more  resembling  the  quietness  of  falling  asleep.  He 
is  represented  as  a  man  of  an  erect  and  comely  appearance, 
and  of  a  healthful,  though  not  robust  constitution.  He 
was  twice  married. 

His  "Chronicon,  &c."  was  published  at  Oxford  in  1652, 
with  a  Latin  life  prefixed,  and  was  reprinted  by  the  eminent 
critic  Peter  Wesseling.  Dr.  Reynolds,  afterwards  bishop  of 
Norwich,  in  his  license  for  the  press,  speaks  of  it  as  "  egregt- 

um  et  absolutissimum  opus,  summa  industria,  omniuenaeru- 
i  •  • 
ditione,  magno  judicio,  et  multorum  annoru'n  vigiliis  pro- 

ductum."  His  other  works  were,  1 .  *'  Positive  divinity  in  three 
parts,  containing  an  exposition  of  the  Creed,  Lord's  Prayer, 
an. 1  decalogue,  &c."  2.  "The  knowledge  of  Christ,  in  two 
Treatises."  3.  "  A  Treatise  concerning  God's  Providence 
in  regard  of  Evil  or  Sin."  4.  "  The  Doctrine  of  Regene- 
ration, delivered  in  a  Sermon  on  John  iii.  6,"  and  defended 
in  a  "Declaration."  5.  "  Tractatus  de  Justificatione." 
6.  "  Notce  selectiores  in  Horatium."  7.  "  Prselectiones 
in  Ptrsii  Satyras."  8.  "  Anglicanae  linguae  vocabuiarium 
Etymologicum. "  9.  "  Sanctas  linguce  soboles."  10.  "  Dii 
gentium,  sive  nominurn,  quibus  deos  suos  Ethnic!  appella- 
bant  explicatio."  l 

SIMPSON  (THOMAS),  professor  of  mathematics  in  the 
king's  academy  at  Woolwich,  fellow  of  the  Royal  Society, 
and  member  of  the  royai  academy  at  Stockholm,  was  born 
at  Market-Bosworth,  in  Leicestershire,  Aug.  20,  1710.  His 
father  was  a  stuff-weaver  in  that  town:  and,  though  in 
tolerable  circumstances,  yet,  intending  to  bring  up  his 
son  to  his  own  business,  he  took  so  little  care  of  his  edu- 

1  T,i,,  -i,  .(bove. — Cole's  MS  Athena  in  Brit.  Mus. — Lloyd's  Memoirs,  Col, — 
Plume's  Life  of  Hacket,  p.  vi. 


14  SIMPSON. 

cation,  that  he  was  only  taught  English.  But  nature  had 
furnished  him  with  talents  and  a  genius  for  far  other  pur- 
suits, which  le^l  him  afterwards  to  tut:  highest  rank  in  the 
mathematical  and  philosophical  sciences. 

Young  Simpson  very  soon  gave  indications  of  his  turn 
for  study  in  general,  by  ragerly  reading  all  books  he  could 
meet  with,  teaching  himself  to  write,  and  embracing  every 
opportunity  he  could  find  of  deriving  knowledge  from 
other  persons.  His  father  observing  him  thus  to  neglect 
his  business,  by  spending  his  time  in  reading  what  he 
thought  useless  books,  and  following  other  such  like  pur- 
suits, used  all  his  endeavours  to  check  his  proceedings, 
and  to  induce  him  to  follow  his  profession  with  steadiness 
and  better  effect.  But  after  many  struggles  for  this  pur- 
pose, the  differences  thus  produced  between  them  at  length 
rose  to  such  a  height,  that  our  author  quitted  his  father's 
house  entirely. 

Upon  this  occasion  he  repaired  to  Nuneaton,  a  town  at 
a  small  distance  from  Bosworth,  where  he  went  to  lodge  at 
the  house  of  a  taylor's  widow,  of  the  name  of  Swinfield, 
who  had  been  left  with  two  children,  a  daughter  and  a  son, 
by  her  husband,  of  whom  the  son,  who  was  the  younger, 
being  but  about  two  years  older  than  Simpson,  had  be- 
come his  intimate  friend  and  companion.  And  here  he 
continued  some  time,  working  at  his  trade,  and  improving 
his  knowledge  by  reading  such  books  as  he  could  procure. 

Among  several  other  circumstances  which,  long  before 
this,  gave  occasion  to  shew  our  author's  early  thirst  for 
knowledge,  as  well  as  proving  a  fresh  incitement  to  acquire 
it,  was  that  of  a  large  solar  eclipse,  which  took  place  on 
the  llth  day  of  May,  1724.  This  phenomenon,  so  awful 
to  many  who  are  ignorant  of  the  cause  of  it,  struck  the 
mind  of  young  Simpson  with  a  strong  curiosity  to  discover 
the  reason  of  it,  and  to  be  able  to  predict  the  like  surpris- 
ing events.  It  was,  however,  several  years  before  he  could 
obtain  his  desire,  which  at  length  was  gratified  by  the  fol- 
lowing accident.  After  he  been  some  time  at  Mrs.  Swin- 
field's,  at  Nuneaton.,  a  travelling  pedlar  came  that  way, 
and  took  a  lodging  at  the  same  house,  according  to  his 
usual  custom.  This  man,  to  his  profession  of  an  itinerant 
merchant,  had  joined  the  more  profitable  one  of  a  fortune- 
teller, which  he  performed  by  means  of  judicial  astrology. 
Every  one  knows  with  what  regard  persons  of  such  a  cast 
are  treated  by  the  inhabitants  of  country  villages  j  it  can- 


SIMPSON.  15 

not  be  surprising  therefore  that  an  untutored  lad  of  nine- 
teen should  look  upon  this  man  as  a  prodigy,  and,  regard- 
in^  him  in  this  lignt,  should  endeavour  to  ingratiate  him- 
self into  his  favour;  in  which  he  succeeded  so  well,  that 
the  sage  was  no  less  taken  with  tne  quick  natural  parts  and 
genius  of  his  new  acquaintance.  The  pedlar,  intending  a 
journey  to  Bristol  fair,  left  in  the  hands  of  young  Simpson 
a  i  oK!  edition  of  Cocker's  Arithmetic,  to  which  was  sub- 
jo  i.ed  a  short  Appendix  on  Algebra,  and  a  book  tipoa 
Gemtim s,  by  Partridge  the  almanac  maker.  These  books 
h  11  u'  perused  to  so  good  purpose  during  the  absence  of 
his  f'ri<-nd,  as  to  excite  his  amazement  upon  his  return  :  in 
consequence  of  which  he  set  himself  about  erecting  a  ge- 
nethliacal  type,  in  order  to  a  presage  of  Thomas's  future 
fortune.  The  position  of  the  heavens  the  wizard  having 
very  maturely  considered,  "  secundum  artem,"  pronounced 
with  much  confidence,  that  "  within  two  years  time  Simp- 
son would  turn  out  a  greater  man  than  himself!" 

It  was  not  long  after  this,  that  Simpson,  being  pretty 
well  qualified  to  erect  a  figure  himself  by  the  advice  of  his 
friend,  make  an  open  profession  of  casting  nativities,  and 
was  so  successful,  that  he  quite  neglected  weaving,  and 
soon  became  the  oracle  of  Bosworth  and  its  environs. 
Scarcely  a  courtship  advanced  to.  a  match,  or  a  bargain  to 
a  sale,  without  the  parties  previously  consulting  the  infalli- 
ble Simpson  about  the  consequences.  Helping  persons  to 
stolen  goods  he  always  declared  above  his  match;  and 
that,  as  to  life  and  death,  he  had  no  power.  Together 
witii  his  astrologv,  he  had  furnished  himself  with  arithme- 
tic, algebra,  and  geometry,  sufficient  to  qualify  him  for 
looking  into  the  "  Ladies  Diary-"  (of  which  he  had  after- 
wards the  direction),  by  which  he  came  to  understand, 
that  there  was  still  a  higher  branch  of  mathematical  know- 
ledge than  any  he  had  been  yet  acquainted  with  ;  and  this 
was  the  method  of  fluxions.  But  he  was  altogether  at  a 
loss  to  discover  any  English  author  who  had  written  on  the 
subject,  except  Mr.  Hayes  ;  and  his  work,  being  a  folio 
ami  rather  scarce,  exceeded  his  ability  of  purchasing.  An 
acquaintance,  however,  lent  him  Stone's  Fluxions,  which 
is  a  translation  of  De  I' Hospital's  "Analyse  des  infinite- 
ment  petits  :"  and  by  this  one  book,  and  his  own  pene- 
trn  !•<:;•  tJents,  he  was  enabled,  in  a  very  few  years,  to 
compose  a  much  more  accurate  treatise  on  that  subject 
tnan  any  that  had  before  appeared  in  our  language.  In 


16  SIMPSON. 

the  mean  time  an  unfortunate  event  involved  him  in  a  deal 
of  trouble.  Having  undertaken  to  raise  the  devil,  in  order 
to  answer  certain  questions  to  a  joung  woman,  who  con- 
sulted him  respecting  her  sweetheart,  then  absent  at  sea, 
the  credulous  girl  was  so  frightened  on  the  appearance  of 
a  man  from  beneath  some  straw,  who  represented  the  devil, 
that  she  fell  into  violent  fits,  from  which  she  was  with  dif- 
ficulty recovered,  and  which  for  a  considerable  time  threat- 
ened insanity  or  fatuity.  In  consequence  of  this  exertion 
of  his  art,  he  was  obliged  to  leave  the  place,  and  he  re- 
moved to  Derby,  where  he  remained  a  few  years,  working 
at  his  trade  by  day,  and  instructing  pupils  in  the  evening. 
It  would  seem  that  Simpson  had  an  early  turn  for  versify- 
ing, both  from  the  circumstance  of  a  song  written  here  in 
favour  of  the  Cavendish  family,  on  occasion  of  the  parlia- 
mentary election  at  that  place,  in  1733  ;  and  from  his  first 
two  mathematical  questions  that  were  published  in  the 
"  Ladies  Diary,"  which  were  both  in  a  set  of  verses,  not 
ill  written  for  the  occasion.  These  were  printed  in  the 
Diary  for  1736,  and  therefore  must  at  latest  have  been 
written  in  1735.  These  two  questions,  being  at  that  time 
pretty  difficult  ones,  shew  the  great  progress  he  had  even 
then  made  in  the  mathematics ;  and  from  an  expression  in 
the  first  of  them,  viz.  where  he  mentions  his  residence  as 
being  in  latitude  52°,  it  appears  he  was  not  then  come  up 
to  London,  though  he  must  have  done  so  very  soon  after. 

After,  however,  he  took  leave  of  astrology  and  its  emo- 
luments, he  was  driven  to  hardships  for  the  subsistence  of 
his  family,  having  married  the  taylor's  widow  with  two 
children,  who  soon  brought  him  two  more.  He,  therefore, 
came  up  to  London  in  1735  or  1736,  and  for  some  time 
wrought  at  his  business  in  Spitalfields,  and  taught  mathe- 
matics when  he  had  any  spare  time.  His  industry  soon 
became  so  productive,  that  he  was  enabled  to  bring  up  his 
wife  and  children  to  settle  in  London.  The  number  of  his 
scholars  increasing,  and  his  abilities  becoming  in  some 
measure  known  to  the  public,  he  issued  proposals  for  pub- 
lishing, by  subscription,  "  A  new  Treatise  of  Fluxions, 
wherein  the  Direct  and  Inverse  Method  are  demonstrated 
after  a  new,  clear,  and  concise  manner ;  with  their  appli- 
cation to  Physics  and  Astronomy.  Also  the  Doctrine  of 
infinite  Series  and  reverting  Senes  universally  and  amply 
explained;  fluxionary  and  exponential  Equations  solved," 
&c.  When  he  first  proposed  his  intentions  of  publishing 


S  I  M  P  3  O  N.  17 

such  a  work,  he  did  not  know  of  any  English  book  founded 
on  the  true  principles  of  fluxions,  that  contained  any  thing 
material,  especially  the  practical  part ;  and,  though  some 
progress  had  been  made  by  several  learned  and  ingenious 
gentlemen,  the  principles  were  nevertheless  left  obscure 
and  defective,  and  all  that  had  been  done  by  nny  of  them 
in  "  infinite  series"  very  inconsiderable.  The  book  was 
not  published  till  1737,  4to ;  the  author  having  been  fre- 
quently interrupted  from  furnishing  the  press  so  fast  as  he 
could  have  wished,  through  his  unavoidable  attention  to 
his  pupils  for  his  immediate  support.  In  1740  he  pub- 
lished "  A  Treatise  on  the  Nature  and  Laws  of  Chance," 
in  4to  ;  to  which  are  annexed  full  and  clear  Investigati  ns 
of  two  important  Problems  added  in  the  second  edition  of 
Mr.  De  Moivre's  "  Book  on  Chances,  and  two  new  Me- 
thods for  summing  of  Series."  His  next  performance  was, 
"  Essays  on  several  curious  and  useful  subjects  in  specula- 
tive and  mixed  Mathematics.  Dedicated  to  Francis  Blake, 
esq.  since  fellow  of  the  Royal  Society,  and  his  very  good 
Friend  and  Patron,"  174-0,  4to.  Soon  after  the  publica- 
tion of  this  book  he  was  chosen  a  member  of  the  Royal 
Academy  at  Stockholm.  Our  author's  next  work  appeared 
in  1742,  Svo,  "  The  Doctrine  of  Annuities  and  Reversions 
deduced  from  general  and  evident  Principles  :  with  useful 
Tables,  shewing  the  values  of  single  and  joint  lives,  &c. 
at  different  rates  of  interest,"  &c.  This,  in  1743,  was 
followed  by  "  An  Appendix,  containing  some  Remarks  on 
a  late  Book  on  the  same  subject  (by  Mr.  Abr.  De  Moivre, 
F.  R.  S.)  with  answers  to  some  personal  and  malignant  re- 
presentations in  the  Preface  thereof."  To  this  De  Moivre 
never  thought  fit  to  reply.  In  1743  he  published  also 
"  Mathematical  Dissertations  on  a  variety  of  Physical  and 
Analytical  subjects,"  4to.  This  work  he  dedicated  to  Martin 
Folkes,  esq.  president  of  the  Royal  Society.  His  next 
book  was,  "  A  Treatise  of  Algebra,  wherein  the  funda- 
mental principles  are  fully  and  clearly  demonstrated,  and 
applied  to  the  solution  of  a  variety  of  problems."  To 
which  he  added,  "  The  Construction  of  a  great  number  of 
geometrical  Problems,  with  the  method  of  resolving  them 
numerically."  This  work  was  designed  for  the  use  of  young 
beginners  ;  inscribed  to  William  Jones,  esq.  F.  R.  S.  and 
printed  in  1745,  8vo.  A  new  edition  appeared  in  1755, 
with  additions  and  improvements.  This  is  dedicated  to 
James  earl  of  Morton,  F.  R.  S.  Mr.  Jones  being  dead;  and 
VOL.  XXVIII.  C 


18  SIMPSON. 

there  was  a  sixth  edition  in  1790.  His  next  work  was, 
"  Elements  of  Geometry,  with  their  application  to  Men- 
suration of  Superficies  and  Solids,  to  the  determination  of 
Maxima  and  Minima,  and  to  the  construction  of  a  great 
variety  of  Geometrical  Problems,"  1747,  8vo,  reprinted 
in  1760,  with  large  alterations  and  additions,  designed  for 
young  beginners;  particularly  for  the  gentlemen  at  the 
king's  academy  at  Woolwich,  and  dedicated  to  Charles  Fre- 
derick, esq.  surveyor-general  of  the  ordnance;  and  other 
editions  have  appeared  since*.  In  1748  came  out  his 
"  Trigonometry,  Plane  and  Spherical,  with  the  construction 
and  application  of  Logarithms,"  8vo.  This  little  book  con- 
tains several  things  new  and  useful.  In  1750  appeared  in  2 
vols.  8vo,  "  1'he  doctrine  and  application  of  Fluxions,  con- 
taining, besides  what  is  common  on  the  subject,  a  number  of 
new  improvements  in  theTheory,and  the  solution  of  a  variety 
of  new  and  very  interesting  Problems,  in  different  branches 
of  the  Mathematics."  In  the  preface  the  author  offers  this 
to  the  world  as  a  new  book  rather  than  a  second  edition  of 
that  published  in  1737;  in  which  he  acknowledges,  that, 
besides  errors  of  the  press,  there  are  several  obscurities 
and  defects,  for  want  of  experience,  in  his  first  attempt. 
This  work  is  dedicated  to  George  earl  of  Mat-clesfield.  In 
1752  appeared  in  8vo,  "  Select  Exercises  for  young  pro- 
ficients in  Mathematics,"  dedicated  to  John  Bacon,  esq. 
F.  R.  S.  His  "Miscellaneous  Tracts,"  printed  in  1757, 
4to,  was  his  last  legacy  to  the  public ;  a  most  valuable  be- 
quest, whether  we  consider  the  dignity  and  importance  of 
the  subjects,  or  his  sublime  and  accurate  manner  of  treat- 
ing them.  These  are  inscribed  to  the  earl  of  Macclesfield, 
and  are  ably  analyzed  in  Dr.  Hutton's  Dictionary. 

Besides  the  foregoing,  which  are  the  whole  of  the  regu- 
lar books  or  treatises  that  were  published  by  Mr.  Simpson, 

*  Mr.  Simpson  met  with  some  trou-  the  next  edition  of  the  said  Elements 

hie  and  vexation  in  consequence  of  the  of   Euclid.      Thf    second    was    by   an 

first  edition  of  his  Geometry.      First,  illiberal   charge  of   having   stolen   his 

from  some  reflections  made   upon   it,  Elements  from   Mr.  Muller,    ihe  pr<»- 

as  to  the  accuracy  of  certain  parts  of  fessor  of  fortification   and  artillery  at 

it,  by  Dr.  Robert  Simson,  the  learned  the  same  academy  at  Woolwich   where 

professor  of  mathematics  in  the  uni-  our  author  wa*  professor  of  geometry 

versity  of  Glasgow,   in  the  notes  sub-  and    mathematics.      This    charge   was 

joined  to  his  edition  of  Euclid's  Ele-  ma<\c  at  the  r ud  of  the   preface  to  Mr. 

rnents.      This    brought   an  answer   to  Muller's  Elements  of  Mathematics,  in 

those    remarks  from   Mr.  Simpson,  in  two  volumes,  printed  in  1748 ;  which 

the  notrs  added  to  the  second  edition  was  fully  refuted  by  Mr.  Simpson   in 

»s  above;  to  some  parts  of  which  Dr.  the  preface  to  the  second  edition  of  hia 

bimson  again  replied  in  his  notes  on  Geometry. 


S  I  M  P  S  O  N.  19 

he  wrote  several  papers  which  were  read  at  the  meetings 
of  the  Royal  Society,  and  printed  in  their  Transactions ; 
but  as  most,  if  not  all  of  them,  were  afterwards  inserted, 
with  alterations  or  additions,  in  his  printed  volumes,  it  is 
needless  to  take  any  farther  notice  of  them  here.  He  also 
proposed,  and  resolved  many  questions  in  the  "  Ladies 
Diaries,"  &c.;  sometimes  under  his  own  name,  as  in 
1735  and  1736;  and  sometimes  under  feigned  or  fictitious 
names;  such  as,  it  is  thought,  Hurlothrumbo,  Kubernetes, 
Patrick  O'Cavenah,  Marmaduke  Hodgson,  Anthony  Shal- 
low, esq.  and  probably  several  others ;  see  the  Diaries  for 
1735,  36,  42,  43,  53,  54,  55,  56,  57,  58,  59,  and  60. 
Mr.  Simpson  was  also  the  editor  or  compiler  of  the  Diaries 
from  1754  till  1760,  both  inclusive,  during  which  time  he 
raised  that  work  to  the  highest  degree  of  respect.  He 
was  succeeded  in  the  editorship  by  Mr.  Edw.  Rollinson. 

It  has  also  been  commonly  supposed  that  he  was  the 
real  editor  of,  or  had  a  principal  share  in,  two  other  peri- 
odical works  of  a  miscellaneous  mathematical  nature;  viz. 
the  "  Mathematician,"  and  "  Turner's  Mathematical  Ex- 
ercises," two  volumes,  in  Svo,  which  came  out  in  periodi- 
cal numbers,  in  1750  and  1751,  &c.  The  latter  of  these 
seems  especially  to  have  been  set  on  foot  to  afford  a  proper 
place  for  exposing  the  errors  and  absurdities  of  Mr.  Robert 
Heath,  the  then  conductor  of  the  "  Ladies  Diary"  and  the 
"Palladium;"  and  which  controversy  between  them  ended 
in  the  disgrace  of  Mr.  Heath,  and  expulsion  from  his  office 
of  editor  to  the  "  Ladies  Diary,"  and  the  substitution  of 
Mr.  Simpson  in  his  stead,  in  1753. 

In  1760,  when  the  plans  proposed  for  erecting  a  new 
bridge  at  Blackfriars  were  in  agitation,  Mr.  Simpson, 
among  other  gentlemen,  was  consulted  upon  the  best  form 
for  the  arches,  by  the  New-bridge  Committee.  Upon  this 
occasion  he  gave  a  preference  to  the  semicircular  form  ; 
and,  besides  his  report  to  the  Committee,  some  letters  also 
appeared,  by  himself  and  others,  on  the  same  subject,  in 
the  public  newspapers,  particularly  in  the  Daily  Adver- 
tiser, and  in  Lloyd's  Evening  Post,  which  were  collected  in 
the  Gentleman's  Magazine  for  that  year.  It  is  probable 
that  this  reference  to  him,  induced  him  to  turn  his  thoughts 
more  seriously  to  this  subject,  so  as  to  form  the  design  of 
composing  a  regular  treatise  upon  it;  for  his  family-  often 
informed  Dr.  Hutton,  that  he  laboured  hard  upon  this  work 
for  some  time  before  his  death,  and  was  very  anxious  to 

C  2 


20  SIMPSON. 

have  completed  it,  frequently  remarking  to  them,  that 
when  published,  it  would  nre  him  more  credit  than 

any  of  his  Cornier  publications.  But  he  lived  not  to  put 
the  finishing  hand  to  it.  Whatever  lie  \\rote  upon  this 
subject,  probably  fell,  together  with  all  his  other  remain- 
ing papers,  into  the  hands  of  mnjor  Henry  Watson,  of  the 
engineers,  in  the  service  of  the  India  company,  being  in 
all  a  large  chest  full  of  papers.  This  gentleman  had  been 
a  pupil  of  Mr.  Simpson's,  and  had  lodge  '  in  his  house. 
After  Mr.  Simpson's  death,  Mr.  Watson  prevailed  upon  the 
widow  to  let  him  have  the  papers,  promising  either  to  give  her 
a  sum  of  money  for  them,  or  else  to  print  and  publish 
them  for  her  benefit.  But  neither  of  these  was  ever  done; 
this  gentleman  always  declaring,  when  urged  on  this  point 
by  Dr,  Hutton  and  others,  that  no  use  could  be  made  of 
any  of  the  papers,  owing  to  the  very  imperfect  state  in 
which  he  said  they  were  left.  And  yet  he  persisted  in  his 
refusal  to  give  them  up  again. 

Through  the  interest  and  solicitations  of  William  Jones, 
esq.  he  was,  in  1743,  appointed  professor  of  mathematics, 
then  vacant  by  the  death  of  Mr.  Derham,  in  the  Royal 
academy  at  Woolwich  ;  his  warrant  bearing  date  August 
25th.  And  in  1745  he  was  admitted  a  fellow  of  the  Royal 
Society,  having  been  proposed  as  a  candidate  by  Martin 
Folkes,  esq.  president,  William  Jones,  esq.  Mr.  George  Gra- 
ham, and  Mr.  John  Machiu,  secretary  ;  all  very  eminent 
mathematicians.  The  president  and  council,  in  consider- 
ation of  his  very  moderate  circumstances,  were  pleased  to 
excuse  his  admission  fees,  and  likewise  his  giving  bond  for 
the  settled  future  payments. 

At  the  academy  he  exerted  his  faculties  to  th*  utmost, 
in  instructing  the  pupils  who  were  the  immediate  objects 
of  his  duty,  as  well  as  others,  whom  the  superior  officers  of 
the  ordnance  permitted  to  be  boarded  and  lodged  in  hi$ 
house.  In  his  manner  of  teaching,  he  had  a  peculiar  and 
happy  address ;  a  certain  dignity  and  perspicuity,  tem- 
pered with  such  a  degree  of  mildness,  as  engaged  both  the 
attention,  esteem,  and  friendship  of  his  scholars  ;  of  which 
the  good  of  the  service,  as  well  as  of  the  community,  was 
a  necessary  consequence. 

In  the  latter  stage  of  his  existence,  when  his  life  was  in 
danger,  exercise  and  a  proper  regimen  were  prescribed  him, 
but  to  little  purpose  ;  for  he  sunk  gradually  into  such  a  low- 
ness  of  spirits  as  seemed  to  injure  his  mental  faculties,  and  ct 


SIMPSON.  21 

last  rendered  him  incapable  of  performing  his  duty,  or 
even  of  reading  the  letters  of  his  friends  ;  and  so  trifling  an 
accident  as  the  dropping  of  a  tea-cup  would  flurry  him  as 
much  as  if  a  house  had  tumbled  down.  The  physicians 
advised  his  native  air  for  his  recovery;  and,  Feb.  1761,  he 
set  out,  'Aitu  much  reluctance  (believing  he  should  never 
return),  for  Bosworth,  along  with  some  relations.  The 
journey  fatigued  him  to  such  a  degree,  that  upon  his  arrival, 
he  betook  himself  to  his  chamber,  where  he  died,  May  14, 
in  his  fifty-first  year. 

He  left  a  widow  and  a  son  and  a  daughter;  the  former 
an  officer  in  the  royal  regiment  of  artillery.  The  king,  at 
the  instance  of  lord  Ligouier,  in  consideration  of  Mr. 
Simpson's  great  merits,  granted  a  pension  to  his  widow, 
together  with  handsome  apartments  adjoining  to  the  aca- 
demy ;  a  favour  never  conferred  on  any  before.  His  wi- 
dow died  at  Woolwich  Dec.  19,  1782,  aged  one  hundred 
and  two. ' 

SIMSON  (ROBERT),  an  eminent  mathematician,  was  the 
eldest  son  of  Mr.  John  Simson,  of  Kirton-hall  in  Ayrshire, 
and  was  born  Oct.  14,  1687.  Being  intended  for  the 
church,  he  was  sent  to  the  university  of  Glasgow  in  1701, 
where  he  made  great  progress  in  classical  learning  and  the 
sciences,  and  also  contracted  a  fondness  for  the  study  of 
geometry,  although  at  this  time,  from  a  temporary  cause, 
no  mathematical  lectures  were  given  in  the  college.  Hav- 
ing procured  a  copy  of  Euclid's  Elements,  with  the  aid 
only  of  a  few  preliminary  explanations  from  some  more 
advanced  students,  he  soon  came  to  understand  them,  and 
laid  the  foundation  of  his  future  eminence.  He  did  not, 
however,  neglect  the  other  sciences  then  taught  in  college, 
but  in  proceeding  through  the  regular  course  of  academic 
study,  acquired  that  variety  of  knowledge  which  was  visi- 
ble in  his  conversation  throughout  life.  In  the  mean  time 
his  reputation  as  a  mathematician  became  so  high,  that  in 
1710,  when  only  twenty-two  years  of  age,  themembersof 
the  college  voluntarily  made  him  an  offer  of  the  mathema- 
tical chair,  in  which  a  vacancy  in  a  short  time  was  expected 
to  take  place.  From  his  natural  modesty,  however,  he  felt 
much  reluctance,  at  so  early  an  age  to  advance  abruptly 
from  the  state  of  a  student,  to  that  of  a  professor  in  the 
same  college,  and  therefore  solicited  permission  to  spend 

1  Gent.  Mag.  vol.  LUI. — Mutton's  Dictionary. — Nichols's  Leicestershire. 


22  S  I  M  S  O  N. 

one  year  at  least  in  London.  Being  indulged  in  this,  he 
proceeded  to  the  metropolis,  and  there  diligently  employed 
himself  in  improving  his  mathematical  knowledge.  He 
also  enjoyed  the  opportunity  of  forming  an  acquaintance 
with  some  eminent  mathematicians  of  that  day,  particularly 
Mr.  Jones,  Mr.  Caswell,  Dr.  .Turin,  and  Mr.  Ditton.  With 
the  latter,  indeed,  who  was  then  mathematical  master  of 
Christ's  Hospital,  and  well  esteemed  for  his  learning,  &c. 
he  was  more  particularly  connected.  It  appears  from  Mr. 
Simson's  own  account,  in  his  letter,  dated  London,  Nov. 
1710,  that  he  expected  to  have  had  an  assistant  in  his  stu- 
dies chosen  by  Mr.  Caswell ;  but,  from  some  mistake,  it 
was  omitted,  and  Mr.  Simson  himself  applied  to  Mr.  Ditton. 
He  went  to  him  not  as  a  scholar  (his  own  words),  but  to 
have  general  information  and  advice  about  his  mathemati- 
cal studies.  Mr.  Caswell  afterwards  mentioned  to  Mr. 
Simson  that  he  meant  to  have  procured  Mr.  Jones's  assist- 
ance, if  he  had  not  been  engaged. 

When  the  vacancy  in  the  professorship  of  mathematics 
at  Glasgow  did  occur,  in  the  following  year,  by  the  resig- 
nation of  Dr.  Robert  Sinclair,  or  Sinclare  (a  descendant  or 
other  relative  probably  of  Mr.  George  Sinclare,  who  died 
in  that  office  in  1696),  the  university,  while  Mr.  Simson  was 
still  in  London,  appointed  him  to  fill  it;  and  the  minute 
of  election,  which  is  dated  March  11,  1711,  concluded 
with  this  very  proper  condition,  "  That  they  will  admit  the 
said  Mr.  Robert  Simson,  providing  always,  that  he  give 
satisfactory  proof  of  his  skill  in  mathematics,  previous  to 
his  admission."  He  returned  to  Glasgow  before  the  ensu- 
ing session  of  the  college,  and  having  gone  through  the 
form  of  a  trial,  by  resolving  a  geometrical  problem  propo- 
sed to  him,  and  also  by  giving  "  a  satisfactory  specimen  of 
his  skill  in  mathematics,  and  dexterity  in  reaching  geome- 
try and  algebra;"  having  produced  also  respectable  certi- 
ficates of  his  knowledge  of  the  science,  from  Mr.  Caswell 
and  others,  lie  was  duly  admitted  professor  of  mathematics, 
011  the  20th  of  November  of  that  year. 

Mr.  Simson,  immediately  after  his  admission,  entered  on 
the  duties  of  his  oince  ;  and  his  first  occupation  necessarily 
was  the  arrangement  of  a  proper  course  of  instruction  for 
the  students  who  attended  his  lectures,  in  two  distinct 
classes.  Accordingly  he  prepared  elementary  sketches  of 
some  branches  on  which  there  were  not  suitable  treatises  in 
general  use.  Both  from  a  sense  of  duty  and  from  inclina- 


S  I  M  S  O  N.  23 

tion,  he  now  directed  the  whole  of  his  attention  to  the 
study  of  mathematics ;  and  though  he  had  a  decided  pre- 
ference for  geometry,  which  continued  through  life,  yet 
he  did  not  devote  himself  to  it  to  the  exclusion  of  the  other 
branches,  ol  mathematical  science,  ,n  most  of  which  there 
is  sufficient  evidence  ot  his  being  well  skilled.  From  1711, 
he  continued  near  fifty  years  to  teach  mathematics  to  two 
separate  classes,  at  different  hours,  five  days  in  the  week, 
during  a  continued  session  of  seven  months.  His  manner 
of  teaching  was  uncommonly  clear  and  successful;  and 
among  his  scholars,  several  rose  to  distinction  as  mathema- 
ticians ;  among  which  may  be  mentioned  the  celebrated 
names  of  Dr.  Matthew  Stewart,  professor  of  mathematics 
at  Edinburgh  ;  the  two  Rev.  Dr.  Williamsons,  one  of  whom 
succeeded  Dr.  Simson  at  Glasgow  ;  the  Rev.  Dr.  Trail,  for- 
merly professor  of  mathematics  at  Aberdeen  ;  Dr.  James 
Moor,  Greek  professor  at  Glasgow  :  and  professor  Robi- 
son,  of  Edinburgh,  with  many  others  of  distinguished  me- 
rit. In  17.58,  Dr.  Simson,  being  then  seventy-one  years  of 
age,  found  it  necessary  to  employ  an  assistant  in  teaching; 
and  in  1761,  on  his  recommendation,  the  Rev.  Dr.  William- 
son was  appointed  his  assistant  and  successor. 

During  the  remaining  ten  years  of  his  life,  he  enjoyed 
a  pretty  equal  share  of  good  health  ;  and  continued  to  oc- 
cupy himself  in  correcting  and  arranging  some  of  his  ma- 
thematical papers,  and  occasionally  for  amusement,  in  the 
solution  of  problems,  and  demonstration  of  theorems, 
which  occurred  from  his  own  studies,  or  from  the  sugges- 
tions of  others.  His  conversation  on  mathematical  and 
other  subjects  continued  to  be  clear  and  accurate;  yet  he 
had  some  strong  impressions  of  the  decline  of  his  memory, 
of  which  he  frequently  complained  ;  and  this  probably  pro- 
tracted, and  finally  prevented  his  undertaking  the  publica- 
tion of  some  of  his  works,  which  were  in  so  advanced  a 
state,  that  with  little  trouble  they  might  have  been  com- 
pleted for  the  press.  So  that  his  only  publication,  after 
resigning  his  office,  was  a  new  and  improved  edition  of 
Euclid's  Data,  which  in  1762  was  annexed  to  the  2d  edition 
of  the  Elements.  But  from  that  period,  though  much  so- 
licited to  bring  forward  some  of  his  other  works  on  the  an- 
cient geometry,  though  he  knew  well  how  much  it  was 
desired,  and  though  he  was  fully  apprised  of  the  universal 
curiosity  excited  respecting  his  discovery  of  Euclid's  Por-> 
isms,  he  resisted  every  importunity  on  the  subject. 


24  S  I  M  S  O  N. 

A  life  like  Dr.  Simson's,  purely  academical  and  perfectly 
uniform,  seldom  contains  occurrences,  the  recording  of 
which  could  be  either  interesting  or  useful.  But  his  ma- 
thematical labours  and  inventions  form  the  important  part 
of  his  character;  and  with  respect  to  them,  there  are  abun- 
dant materials  of  information  in  his  printed  works  ;  and 
some  circumstances  also  may  be  gathered  from  a  number 
of  MS  papers  which  he  left ;  and  which,  by  the  direction 
of  his  executor,  are  deposited  in  the  library  of  the  college 
of  Glasgow.  It  is  to  be  regretted,  that,  of  the  extensive 
correspondence  which  he  carried  on  through  life,  with 
many  distinguished  mathematicians,  a  small  portion  only  is 
preserved.  Through  Dr.  Jurin,  then  Secretary  of  the 
Royal  Society,  he  had  some  intercourse  with  Dr.  Haliev, 
and  other  distinguished  members  of  that  Society.  And 
both  about  the  same  time,  and  afterwards,  he  had  frequent 
correspondence  with  Mr.  Maciaurin,  with  Mr.  James  Stir- 
ling, Dr.  James  Moor,  Dr.  Matthew  Stewart,  Dr.  Wm. 
Trail,  and  Mr.  Williamson  of  Lisbon.  In  the  latter  part  of 
his  life,  his  mathematical  correspondence  was  chiefly  with 
that  eminent  geometer  the  late  earl  Stanhope,  and  with 
George  Lewis  Scott,  esq. 

As  to  his  character,  Dr.  Simson  was  originally  possessed 
of  great  intellectual  powers,  an  accurate  and  distinguishing 
understanding,  an  inventive  genius,  and  a  retentive  me- 
mory: and  these  powers,  being  excited  by  an  ardent  curio- 
sity, produced  a  singular  capacity  for  investigating  the 
truths  of  mathematical  science.  By  such  talents,  with  a 
correct  taste,  formed  by  the  study  of  the  Greek  geometers, 
he  was  also  peculiarly  qualified  for  communicating  his 
knowledge,  both  in  his  lectures  and  in  his  writings,  with 
perspicuity  and  elegance.  He  was  at  the  same  time  modest 
and  unassuming;  and.  though  not  indifferent  to  literary 
fame,  he  was  cautious,  and  even  reserved,  in  bringing  for- 
ward his  own  discoveries,  but  always  ready  to  do  justice  to 
the  merits  and  inventions  of  others.  Though  his  powers 
of  investigation,  in  the  early  part  of  life,  were  admirable, 
yet  befoiv  any  decline  of  his  health  appeared,  he  felt  strong 
impressions  of  the  decay  both  of  his  memory  and  other 
faculties;  occasioned  probably  by  the  continued  exertion 
of  his  mind,  in  those  severe  studies,  which  for  a  number 
of  years  he  pursued  with  unremitting  ardour. 

Besides  his  mathematical  attainments,  from  his  liberal 
education  he  acquired  a  considerable  knowledge  of  other 


S  I  M  S  O  N.  25 

sciences,  which  he  preserved  through  life,  by  occasional 
reading,  and,  in  some  degree,  by  his  constant  intercourse 
with  many  learned  men  in  his  college.  He  was  esteemed  a 
good  classical  scholar;  and,  though  the  simplicity  of  geo- 
metrical demonstration  does  not  admit  of  much  variety  of 
style,  yet  in  his  works  a  good  taste  in  that  respect  may  be 
distinguished.  In  his  Latin  prefaces  also,  in  \\hich  there 
is  some  history  and  discussion,  the  purity  of  language  has 
been  generally  approved.  It  is  to  be  regretted,  indeed, 
that  he  had  not  had  an  opportunity  of  employing,  in  early 
life,  his  Greek  and  mathematical  learning,  in  giving  an 
edition  of  Pappus  in  the  original  language. 

Dr.  Simson  never  was  married  ;  and  the  uniform  regula- 
rity of  a  long  life,  spent  within  the  walls  of  his  college, 
naturally  produced  fixed  and  peculiar  habits,  which,  how- 
ever, with  the  sincerity  of  his  manners,  were  unoffending, 
and  became  even  interesting  to  those  with  whom  he  lived. 
The  strictness  of  these  habits,  which  indeed  pervaded  all 
his  occupations,  probably  had  an  influence  also  on  the  di- 
rection and  success  of  some  of  his  scientific  pursuits.  His 
hours  of  study,  of  amusement,  and  of  exercise,  were  all 
regulated  with  uniform  precision.  The  walks  even  in  the 
squares  or  garden  of  the  college  were  all  measured  by  his 
steps,  and  lie  took  his  exercises  by  the  hundreds  of  paces, 
according  to  his  time  or  inclination. 

It  has  been  mentioned,  that  an  ardent  curiosity  was  an 
eminent  feature  in  his  character.  It  contributed  essentially 
to  his  success  in  the  mathematical  investigations,  and  it 
displayed  itself  in  the  small  and  even  trifling  occurrences 
of  common  life.  Almost  every  object  and  event  excited  it, 
and  suggested  some  problem  which  he  was  impatient  to 
resolve.  This  disposition,  when  opposed,  as  it  often  ne- 
cessarily was,  to  his  natural  modesty,  and  to  the  formal 
civility  of  his  manners,  occasionally  produced  an  embar- 
rassment, which  was  amusing  to  his  friends,  and  sometimes 
a  little  distressing  to  himself. 

In  his  disposition,  Dr.  Simson  was  both  cheerful  and 
sociable  ;  and  his  conversation,  when  he  was  at  ease  amon^ 
his  friends,  was  animated  and  various,  enriched  with  much 
anecdote,  especially  of  the  literary  kind,  but  always  un- 
affected. It  was  enlivened  also  by  a  certain  degree  of  na- 
tural humour;  and  even  the  slight  fits  of  absence,  to  which 
in  company  he  was  occasionally  liable,  contributed  to  the 
entertainment  of  his  friends,  without  diminishing  their 


26  S  I  M  S  O  N. 

affection  and  respect,  which  his  excellent  qualities  were  cal- 
culated to  inspire.  One  evening  (Friday)  in  the  week  he 
devoted  to  •  c!nb,  chiefly  of  his  own  selection,  which  met 
in  a  tavern  in-ar  the  college.  The  hrst  p;  rr  of  the  evening 
was  employed  in  pluyin^  the  game  o  which  he 

was  particular. \  foul  ;  but,  though  ue  toofe  ,-all  trou- 

ble iu  estimatii  g  chances,  it  was  rem^rki  h;it  he  was 
often  UIMH  ces ml.  The  rest  of  ihe  evening  ua>  spent  in 
cheerful  conversation  ;  and,  as  he  had  >ome  taste  tor  music, 
he  dnl  not  scruple  to  amuse  his  party  with  a  song  ;  and  it 
is  said  that  he  was  rather  fond  of  singing  some  Greek  odes, 
to  which  modern  music  had  been  adapted.  On  Saturdays 
he  usually  dined  in  the  village  of  Anderston,  then  about  a 
mile  distant  from  Glasgow,  with  some  oi  tie  members  of 
his  regular  club,  and  with  a  variety  of  other  respectable 
visitors,  who  wished  to  cultivate  the  acquaintance,  and  en- 
joy the  society  of  so  eminent  a  person.  In  the  progress  of 
time,  from  his  age  ami  character,  it  became  the  wish  of 
his  company  that  every  thing  in  these  meetings  should  be 
directed  by  him  ;  and  though  his  authority,  growing  with 
his  years,  was  somewhat  absolute,  yet  the  good  humour 
with  which  it  was  administered,  rendered  it  pleasing  to 
even  body  He  had  his  own  chair  and  place  at  table;  he 
gave  instructions  about  the  entertainment,  regulated  the 
time  of  break.ng  up,  and  adjusted  the  expense.  These 
parties,  in  the  years  of  his  severe  study,  were  a  desirable 
and  useful  relaxation  to  his  mind,  and  they  continued  to 
amuse  him  till  within  a  few  months  of  his  death. 

Strict  integrity  and  private  worth,  with  corresponding 
purity  of  morals,  gave  the  highest  value  to  a  character, 
which,  from  other  qualities  and  attainments,  was  much 
respected  and  esteemed.  On  all  occasions,  even  in  the 
gayest  hours  of  social  intercourse,  the  doctor  maintained  a 
constant  attention  to  propriety.  He  had  serious  and  just 
impressions  of  religion  ;  but  he  was  uniformly  reserved  in 
expressing  particular  opinions  about  it ;  and,  from  his  sen- 
timents ot  decorum,  he  never  introduced  religion  as  a  sub- 
ject of  conversation  in  mixed  society,  and  all  attempts  to  do 
so  in  his  .  lubs  were  checked  with  gravity  and  decision. 

In  i  is  pei. son,  Dr.  Sunson  v\as  tall  and  erect;  and  his 
countet  ance,  which  was  handsome,  conveyed  a  pleasing 
expression  of  the  superior  character  of  his  mind.  His 
manner  had  always  somewhat  of  the  fashion  which  prevailed 
in  the  early  part  of  his  life,  but  was  uncommonly  graceful. 


S  I  M  S  O  N.  27 

He  was  seriously  indisposed  only  for  a  few  weeks  before  his 
death,  and  through  a  very  long  life  had  enjoyed  a  uniform 
state  of  good  health.  He  died  October  I,  1768,  when  his 
eighty-first  year  was  almost  completed  ;  having  bequeathed 
his  small  paternal  estate  in  Ayrshire  to  the  eldest  son  of  his 
next  brother,  probably  of  his  brother  Thomas,  who  was 
professor  of  medicine  in  the  university  of  St.  Andrew's,  and 
who  is  known  by  some  works  of  reputation,  particularly  a 
"  Dissertation  on  the  Nervous  System,  occasioned  by  the 
Dissection  of  a  Brain  completely  Ossified." 

The  writings  and  publications  of  Dr.  Simson  were  almost 
exclusively  of  the  pure  geometrical  kind,  after  the  genuine 
manner  of  the  ancients.  He  has  only  two  pieces  printed 
in  the  volumes  of  the  Philosophical  Transactions  :  viz. 

1.  Two  general  propositions  of  Pappus,  in  which  many 
of  Euclid's  Porisms  are  included,  vol.  XXXIJ.  ann.  1723. — 
These  two  propositions  were  afterwards  incorporated  into 
the  author's  large  posthumous  works,  published  by  earl 
Stanhope.  2.  On  the  Extraction  of  the  Approximate 
Roots  of  Numbers  by  Infinite  Series,  vol.XLVIII.  ann.  1753. 
The  separate  publications  in  his  life-time,  were,  3.  "  Co- 
nic Sections,"  1735,  4to.  4.  "The  Loci  Plani  of  Apol- 
lonius,  restored,"  1749,  4to.  5.  "Euclid's  Elements," 
1756,  4to,  of  which  there  have  been  since  many  editions 
in  octavo,  with  the  additions  of  Euclid's  Data.  In  1776, 
earl  Stanhope  printed,  at  his  own  expence,  several  of  Dr. 
Simson's  posthumous  pieces :  1.  Apollonius's  determinate 
section.  2.  A  treatise  on  Porisms.  3.  A  tract  on  Loga- 
rithms. 4.  On  the  limits  of  quantities  and  ratios;  and,  5. 
Some  geometrical  problems.  Besides  these,  Dr.  Simson's 
MSS.  contained  a  great  variety  of  geometrical  propositions 
and  other  interesting  observations  on  different  parts  of  the 
mathematics  :  though  not  in  a  state  fit  for  publication. 
Among  other  designs,  was  an  edition  of  the  works  of  Pap- 
pus, in  a  state  of  considerable  advancement,  and  which, 
had  he  lived,  he  might  perhaps  have  published.  What  he 
wrote  is  in  the  library  of  the  college  of  Glasgow,  and  a 
transcript  was  obtained  by  the  delegates  of  the  Clarendon 
press.1 

SINCLARE  (GEORGE),  professor  of  philosophy  in  the 
university  of  Glasgow  in  the  seventeenth  century,  was  the 

1  Account  of  the  Life  and  Writings  of  Robert  Simson,  M.  D.  by  the  Rev. 
William  Trail,  LL.  D.  F.  R.  S.  Edm.  M.R.  I.  A.  and  chancellor  of  St.  Saviour's 
Connor,  1812,  4to,  abridged  by  Dr.  Hutton  in  the  new  edit,  of  his  Dictionary. 
— Encyclop.  Britan. 


28  S  I  N  C  L  A  R  E. 

author  of  several  works  on  mathematical  and  physical  sub- 
jects. He  was  dismissed  from  his  professorship  soon  after 
the  restoration,  on  account  of  his  principles,  being  a  strict 
adherent  to  the  presbyterian  form  of  church  government. 
During  the  period  of  his  ejectment,  he  resided  about  the 
soutnern  and  border  counties,  collecting  and  affording 
useful  information  on  the  subjects  of  mining,  engineering, 
&c.  and  was  in  particular  employed  by  tue  magistrates  of 
Edinburgh  on  the  then  new  plan  for  supplying  that  city 
with  water,  &c.  Considerable  attention  seems  to  have 
been  paid  by  him  to  such  branches  of  hydrostatics  as  were 
of  a  practical  nature  :  and  it  has  been  said  he  was  the  first 
person  who  suggested  the  proper  method  of  draining  the 
water  from  the  numerous  coal  mines  in  the  south-west  of 
Scotland.  When  the  revolution  took  place  in  1688,  and 
the  presbyterian  became  the  established  religion  of  Scot- 
land, Mr.  Sinclare  was  recalled  to  his  professorship,  which 
he  held  until  his  death  in  1696. 

He  published,  1.  "Tyrocinia  mathematica,"  Glas.  1661, 
12nto.  2.  "  Ars  Nova  et  Magna  Gravitatis  et  Levitatis," 
Rotterd.  1669,  4to.  3.  "Hydrostatics,"  Eclin.  1672,  4to. 
4.  "  Hydrostatical  Experiments,  with  a  Discourse  on  Coal," 
Edin.  1680,  8vo.  5.  "  Principles  of  Astronomy  and  Navi- 
gation," Edin.  1688,  12mo.  Mr.  Sinclare's  writings,  in 
the  opinion  of  a  very  able  judge,  are  not  destitute  of  in- 
genuity and  research,  though  they  may  contain  some  er- 
roneous and  eccentric  views.  His  work  on  Hydrostatics, 
and  his  "  Ars  Nova  et  Magna,"  and  perhaps  also  his  poli- 
tical principles,  provoked  the  indignation  of  some  persons  ; 
on  which  occasion  Mr.  James  Gregory,  then  professor  of 
mathematics  at  St.  Andrew's,  animadverted  on  him  rather 
severely  in  a  treatise  entitled,  "  The  great  and  ne\r  art  of 
weighing  Vanity,"  &c.  (See  GREGORY,  vol.  XVI.  p.  278). 
Besides  the  works  above  mentioned,  a  publication  in  defence 
of  witchcraft,  entitled  "  Satan's  Invisible  World,"  has  been 
ascribed  to  him  :  it  bears  the  initials  G.  S.  of  his  name  ;  and 
witciicraft  was  a  standard  article  of  belief  in  Scotland  at 
that  time.  He  also  translated  and  published  under  the  same 
initials  Dickson's  "  Truth's  Victory  over  Error,"  suppress- 
ing the  author's  name  (see  DAVID  DICKSON),  for  which  he 
is  censured  l.y  Wodrow,  the  ecclesiastical  historian  and 
biographer  of  professor  Dickson,  while  he  allows  him  the 
merit  of  some  good  intention.1 

1  Hutton's  Dictionary,  new  edit.— Wodrow's  Life  of  Dickson, p.  vi.  edit,  1764. 


S  I  R  I.  29 

SINGE.     See  SYNGE. 

SIRI  (VICTOR),  an  Italian  annalist,  was  born  in  1613, 
and  was  a  monk  of  Parma,  where  he  employed  the  leisure 
hours  which  a  monastic  life  afforded,  in  writing-  the  history 
of  his  times.  The  con6dence  placed  in  him  by  political 
men,  and  the  correspondence  to  which  he  had  access,  en- 
abled him  to  penetrate  into  the  secret  motives  and  causes 
of  actions  and  events,  and  gave  an  air  of  authenticity  and 
consequence  to  his  public  communications.  He  is  said  to 
have  been  the  first,  in  Italy  at  least,  who  published  a  kind 
of  political  journal  under  the  name  of  "  Memorie  recon- 
dite," afterwards  collected  into  volumes.  The  first  two  hav- 
ing found  their  way  into  France,  induced  cardinal  Maza- 
rine to  entertain  a  very  high  opinion  of  the  author,  and  by 
his  persuasion,  Louis  XIV.  invited  Siri  to  Paris.  On  his 
arrival,  he  was  preferred  to  a  secular  abbey,  and  quitting 
his  ecclesiastical  functions,  lived  at  court  in  great  intimacy 
and  confidence  \\ith  the  king  and  his  ministers,  and  was 
made  almoner  and  historiographer  to  his  majesty.  There, 
in  1677,  he  published  the  3d  and  4th  volumes  of  his  jour- 
nal, and  continued  it  as  far  as  the  eighth,  4to.  This,  says 
Baretti,  is  as  valuable  a  history  as  any  in  Italian,  though 
the  style  and  language  are  but  indifferent,  and  it  is  very 
difficult  to  find  all  the  volumes.  The  period  of  time  they 
include  is  from  1601  to  1640.  He  published  also  another 
work  of  a  similar  kind,  called  "  11  Mercurio,  ovvero  isto- 
ria  de'  correnti  Tempi,"  from  1647  to  1682,  which  ex- 
tends to  fifteen  4to  volumes,  the  two  last  of  which  are  more 
difficult  to  be  found  than  all  the  rest.  The  former  work, 
however,  is  in  most  estimation  on  account  of  the  historical 
documents  it  contains,  which  are  always  useful,  whatever 
colouring  an  editor  may  please  to  give.  Siri  has  not  escaped 
the  imputation  of  venality,  especially  in  his  attachment  to 
the  French  court,  yet  Le  Cierc  observes  (Bibl.  Choisie, 
vol.  IV.)  that  no  French  writer  dared  to  speak  so  freely  of 
the  public  men  of  that  nation  as  Siri  has  done.  There  is 
a  French  translation  of  the  "  Memorie  recondite,"  under 
the  title  of  "  Memoires  secrets,"  which,  Landi  says,  might 
have  been  much  improved  from  Siri's  extensive  correspond- 
ence with  almost  all  the  ministers  of  Europe,  now  extant 
in  the  Benedictine  library  of  Parma,  and  among  the  private 
archives  of  Modena.  Siri  died  in  1683,  in  the  seventieth 
year  of  his  age.1 

1  Moreri.— Landi  Hist,  df  la  Liueratnre  de  L'ltalie,  vol.  V. — Baretti's  Ita- 
lian library. 


30  S  I  R  M  O  N  D. 

SIRMOND  (JAMES),  a  very  learned  French  Jesuit,  was 
the  son  of  a  magistrate,  and  born  at  Riom,  Oct.  12,  1559. 
At  ten  years  of  age  he  was  sent  to  the  college  of  Billon, 
in  Lower  Auvergne,  the  first  seminary  which  the  Jesuits  had 
in  France.  He  entered  into  the  society  in  1576,  and  two 
years  after  took  the  vows.  His  superiors,  discovering  his 
uncommon  talents,  sent  him  to  Paris ;  where  he  taught 
classical  literature  two  years,  and  rhetoric  three.  Two  of 
his  pupils  were  Charles  of  Valois,  duke  D'Angouleme,  the 
natural  son  of  Charles  IX.,  and  Francis  de  Sales.  During 
this  time,  he  acquired  a  perfect  knowledge  of  the  Greek 
and  Latin  languages  ;  and  formed  that  style  which  has  been 
so  much  esteemed  by  the  learned.  It  is  said  that  he  took 
Muretus  for  his  model,  and  never  passed  a  day  without 
reading  some  pages  in  his  writings  ;  and  it  is  certain  that 
by  this,  or  his  natural  taste,  he  became  one  of  the  purest 
Latin  writers  of  his  time.  In  1586,  he  began  his  course 
of  divinity,  which  lasted  four  years.  He  undertook  to 
translate  into  Latin  the  works  of  the  Greek  fathers,  and 
began  to  write  notes  upon  Sidonius  Apollinaris.  In  1590, 
he  was  sent  for  to  Rome  by  the  general  of  the  order, 
Aquaviva,  to  take  upon  him  the  office  of  his  secretary  ; 
which  he  discharged  for  sixteen  years  with  success,  and 
clothed  the  sentiments  of  his  employer  in  very  superior 
language.  The  study  of  antiquity  was  at  that  time  his 
principal  object :  he  visited  libraries,  and  consulted  manu- 
scripts :  he  contemplated  antiques,  medals,  and  inscrip- 
tions :  and  the  Italians,  though  jealous  of  the  honour  of 
their  nation,  acknowledged  his  acuteness  as  an  antiquary, 
and  consulted  him  in  many  cases  of  difficulty.  At  Rome 
he  formed  a  friendship  with  the  most  eminent  men  of  the 
time,  particularly  with  Bellarmine  and  Tolet,  who  were  of 
his  own  society,  and  with  the  cardinal  Baronius,  D'Ossat, 
and  Du  Perron.  Baronius  was  much  assisted  by  him  in  his 
"  Ecclesiastical  Annals,"  especially  in  affairs  relating  to  the 
Greek  history  ;  upon  which  he  furnished  him  with  a  great 
number  of  works,  translated  from  Greek  into  Latin. 

Sirmond  returned  to  Paris  in  1606  ;  and  from  that  time 
did  not  cease  to  enrich  the  public  with  a  great  number  of 
works,  particularly  editions  of  the  authors  of  the  middle 
age,  printed  by  him  with  great  care  from  original  manu- 
scripts discovered  by  him  in  the  public  libraries.  Much 
of  his  life  was  employed,  and  the  better  part  of  his  repu- 
tation depends,  on  his  labours  as  an  editor,  which  produced 


S  I  R  M  O  N  D.  31 

correct  copies  of  Geoffrey  de  Vendome,  Ennodius,  Flo- 
cloard,  Fulgentius,  Valerian,  Sidonius  Apollinaris,  one  of 
his  most  valuable  editions,  Paschasius  Radbert,  Eugene 
of  Toledo,  Jdacius,  AJarcellinus,  and  many  others  When 
his  reputation  ;>  came  more  generally  known,  pop.-  Urban 
VIII.  had  a  desire  to  draw  him  again  to  Rome  ;  and  caused 
a  letter  for  that  purpose  10  be  sent  to  him  by  fattier  Vit- 
telleschi,  general  of  their  order  :  but  Louis  XIII.  would 
not  suffer  a  person  who  did  so  much  honour  to  his  king- 
dom, to  leave  it;  and,  in  1637,  appointed  him  his  confes- 
sor, in  the  room  of  father  Caus^in,  which  delicate  office  he 
accepted  with  great  reluctance,  yet  demeaned  himself 
with  the.  utmost  caution  and  prudeiii  e,  never  med- 
dling with  political  affairs,  or  employing  his  interest  in  en- 
riching his  relations.  In  1643,  however,  after  the  death 
of  Louis  XIII.  he  left  the  court,  and  resumed  his  ordi- 
nary occupations  with  the  same  tranquillity  as  if  he  had 
never  quitted  his  retirement.  In  1645,  he  went  to  Rome, 
notwithstanding  his  great  age,  for  the  sake  of  assisting  at 
the  election  of  a  general,  upon  the  death  of  Vittelleschi, 
as  he  had  done  thirty  years  before  upon  the  death  of  Aqua- 
viva;  and,  after  his  return  to  France,  resumed  his  studies. 
But  having  engaged  in  a  warm  dispute  in  the  college  of 
the  Jesuits,  the  exertion  brought  on  a  disorder  which  car- 
ried him  off  in  a  few  days.  He  died  Oct.  7,  1651,  aged 
ninety- two. 

The  works  of  which  he  was  author  and  editor  amount  to 
fifteen  volumes  in  folio  ;  five  of  which,  containing  his  ori- 
ginal productions,  many  of  them  on  controversial  points, 
were  printed  at  the  royal  printing-house  at  Paris  in  1696, 
under  this  title:  "  Jacobi  Sirmondi  Opera  Varia,  nunc 
primum  coilecta,  ex  ipsius  schedis  emendatiora,  Notis 
posthumis,  Epistolis.  et  Opusculis  aliquibus  auctiora." 
The  following  character  is  given  of  him  by  Du  Pin  : 
"  Father  Sirmond  knew  how  to  join  a  great  delicacy 
of  understanding  and  the  jnstest  discernment  to  a  profound 
and  extensive  erudition.  He  understood  Greek  and  Latin 
in  perfection,  all  the  profane  authors,  history,  and  what- 
ever goes  under  the  name  of  belles  lettres.  He  had  a  very 
extensive  knowledge  in  eccli-MaMical  antiquity,  and  had 
studied  with  care  all  the  authors  ~A  the  middle  -ige  His 
style  is  pure,  concise,  and  nervous :  yet  he  affects  too 
much  certain  expressions  of  the  comic  poets.  He  medi- 
tated very  much  upon  what  lie  wrote,  and  had  a  particular 


32  S  I  R  M  O  N  U. 

art  of  reducing  into  a  note  what  comprehended  a  great 
many  things  in  a  very  few  words.  He  is  exact,  judicious, 
simple  ;  yet  never  omits  any  thing  that  is  necessary.  His 
dissertations  have  passed  for  a  model ;  by  which  it  were  to 
be  wished  that  every  one  who  writes  would  form  himself. 
When  lie  treated  of  one  subject,  he  never  said  immediately 
all  that  he  knew  of  it  ;  but  reserved  some  new  arguments 
always  for  a  reply,  like  auxiliary  troops,  to  come  up  and 
assist,  in  case  of  need,  the  grand  body  of  the  battle.  He 
was  disinterested,  equitable,  sincere,  moderate,  modest, 
laborious ;  and  by  these  qualities  drew  to  himself  the 
esteem,  not  only  of  the  learned,  but  of  all  mankind.  He 
has  left  behind  him  a  reputation  which  will  last  for  many 
ages."  l 

SIXTUS  IV.  originally  called  FRANCIS  AI.BISOLA  DELLA 
Ho v  ERA,  is  said  by  some  writers  to  have  been  the  son  of  a 
fisherman  at  Celle.s,  a  village  live  leagues  from  Savona  in 
the  territory  of  Genoa,  but  others  derive  him  from  a  branch 
of  a  noble  family.  He  was  born  in  141  !i,  entered  the  Fran- 
ciscan order,  took  a  doctor's  degree  at  Padua,  and  taught 
with  reputation  in  the  universities  of  Bologna,  Pavia,  Sienna, 
Florence,  and  Perugia.  After  this  he  became  general  of 
the  Franciscans,  then  cardinal  through  the  interest  of  car- 
dinal Bessarion,  and  at  length  pope,  August  9,  1471,  on 
the  death  of  Paul  II.  He  immediately  armed  a  fleet 
against  the  Turks,  and  displayed  great  magnificence  and 
liberality  during  his  whole  pontificate.  He  was  almost  the 
founder  of,  and  certainly  greatly  enriched  the  Vatican  li- 
brary, and  entrusted  the  care  of  it  to  the  learned  Platina. 
He  published  a  bull,  March  1,  1746,  granting  indulgences 
to  those  who  should  celebrate  the  festival  of  the  Immacu- 
late Conception  of  the  Holy  Virgin  ;  the  first  decree  of  the 
Roman  church  concerning  that  festival.  The  establish- 
ment of  the  feast  of  St.  Joseph,  for  which  Gerson  had 
taken  great  pains,  is  also  ascribed  to  this  pope.  Historians 
have  reproached  him  with  conniving  at  the  vices  of  bis 
nephews,  being  too  violent  against  the  Medici  family  and 
the  Venetians,  and  having  joined  in  the  conspiracy  of  the 
Pazzi  at  Florence.  There  seems  upon  the  whole  to  have 
been  little  in  his  character  to  command  the  respect  of  pos- 
terity, except  his  patronage  of  literature.  He  died  Au- 

1  Dupin. — Niceron,    vol.   XVII. — Hates's  ''  Vita:   Selectoium." — Perrault's 
"  Les  Homines  lllustres." 


S  I  X  T  U  S     IV.  33 

gust  13,  1484,  aged  71.  Before  his  election  to  the  ponti- 
ficate, he  wrote  the  following  treatises :  "  De  Sanguine 
Christi,"  Rome,  1473,  fol.  scarce  ;  "  De  futuris  contigen- 
tibus  ;"  "  De  potentia  Dei;"  "  De  Conceptione  beatse 
V.irginis,"  &c.;  a  very  scarce  work  is  also  attributed  to  him, 
entitled  "  Regulne  Cuncellariae,"  1471,  4to,  translated  into 
French  by  Dupinet,  1564,  8vo,  and  reprinted  under  the 
title  of  "  La  Banque  Romaine,"  1700,  12mo.1 

SIXTUS  V.  (Pops),  whose  proper  names  were  FELIX 
PERETTJ,  was  born  in  1521,  in  the  signiory  of  Montalto : 
his  father,  Francis  Peretti,  for  his  faithful  service  to  a 
country  gentleman,  with  whom  he  lived  as  a  gardener,  was 
rewarded  with  his  master's  favourite  servant-maid  for  a 
wife.  These  were  the  parents  of  that  pontiff,  who,  from 
the  instant  of  his  accession  to  the  papacy,  even  to  the 
hour  of  his  death,  made  himself  obeyed  and  feared,  not 
only  by  his  own  subjects,  but  by  all  who  had  any  concern 
with  him.  Though  he  very  early  discovered  talents  and  in- 
clination for  learning,  the  poverty  of  his  parents  prevented 
their  indulging  it;  for  which  reason,  at  about  nine  years 
of  age,  his  father  hired  him  to  an  inhabitant  of  the  town, 
to  look  after  his  sheep :  but  his  master,  being  on  some  oc- 
casion disobliged,  removed  him  to  a  less  honourable  em- 
ployment, and  gave  him  the  care  of  his  hogs.  He  was 
soon  released,  however,  from  this  degrading  occupation  : 
for,  in  1531,  falling  accidentally  under  the  cognizance  of 
father  Michael  Angelo  Selleri,  a  Franciscan  friar,  who  was 
going  to  preach  during  the  Lent  season  at  Ascoli,  the  friar 
was  so  exceedingly  struck  with  his  conversation  and  beha- 
viour, as  to  recommend  him  to  the  fraternity  whither  he 
was  going.  Accordingly,  with  the  unanimous  approbation 
of  the  community,  he  was  received  among  them,  invested 
with  the  habit  of  a  lay -brother,  and  placed  under  ft  the 
sacristan,  to  assist  in  sweeping  the  church,  lighting  the 
candles,  and  such  little  offices;  who,  in  return  for  his 
services,  was  to  teach  him  the  responses,  and  rudiments 
of  grammar." 

With  no  other  tutor,  his  education  commenced,  and  by 
a  quick  comprehension,  strong  memory,  and  unwearied 
application,  he  made  such  a  surprising  progress,  that  in 
1534  he  was  thought  fit  to  receive  the  cowl,  and  enter 
upon  his  noviciate;  and,  in  1535,  was  admitted  to  make 

1  Bower, — Dupin. — Roscoe's  Lorenzo. 

VOL.  XXVIII.  D 


34  S  I  X  T  U  S     V. 

his  profession,  being  no  more  than  fourteen.  He  pursued 
his  studies  with  so  much  assiduity,  that,  in  1539,  he  was  ac- 
counted equal  to  the  best  disputants,  and  was  soon  admit- 
ted to  deacon's  orders.  In  1545  he  was  ordained  priest, 
and  assumed  the  name  of  father  Montalto  :  the  same  year, 
he  took  his  bachelor's  degree,  and  two  years  after,  his 
doctor's;  and  was  appointed  to  keep  a  divinity  act  before 
the  whole  chapter  of  the  order,  at  which  time  he  so  effec- 
tually recommended  himself  to  cardinal  de  Carpi,  and 
cultivated  so  close  an  intimacy  with  Bossius  his  secretary, 
that  they  were  both  of  them  ever  after  his  steady  friends  ; 
and,  indeed,  he  had  frequent  occasions  for  their  interpo- 
sition on  his  behalf;  for  the  impetuosity  of  his  temper,  and 
his  impatience  of  contradiction,  had  already  subjected  him 
to  several  inconveniencies,  and  in  the  subsequent  part  of 
his  life  involved  him  in  many  more  difficulties.  While  all 
Italy  was  delighted  with  his  eloquence,  he  was  perpetually- 
embroiled  in  quarrels  with  his  monastic  brethren  :  he,  how- 
ever, formed  two  new  friendships  at  Rome,  which  were 
afterwards  of  signal  service  to  him  :  one  with  the  Colonna 

O 

family,  who  thereby  became  his  protectors ;  the  other  with 
father  Ghisilieri,  by  whose  recommendation  he  was  ap- 
pointed inquisitor-general  at  Venice,  by  Paul  IV.  soon 
after  his  accession  to  the  papacy  in  1555.  But  the  severity 
with  which  he  executed  his  office,  was  so  offensive  to  a 
people  jealous  of  their  liberties,  as  the  Venetians  were, 
that  he  was  obliged  to  owe  his  preservation  to  a  precipitate 
flight  from  that  city. 

After  his  retreat  from  Venice,  we  find  him  acting  in 
many  public  affairs  at  Rome,  and  as  often  engaged  in  dis- 
putes with  the  conventuals  of  his  order ;  till  he  was  ap- 
pointed, as  chaplain  and  consultor  of  the  inquisition,  to 
attend  cardinal  Buon  Compagnon,  afterwards  Gregory 
XIII.  who  was  then  legate  a  latere  to  Spain.  Here  Mon- 
talto had  great  honours  paid  him  :  he  was  offered  to  be 
made  one  of  the  royal  chaplains,  with  a  table  and  an  apart- 
ment in  the  palace,  and  a  very  large  stipend,  if  he  would 
stay  there ;  but  having  centered  his  views  at  Rome,  he 
declined  accepting  these  favours,  and  only  asked  the 
honour  of  bearing  the  title  of  his  majesty's  chaplain  wher- 
ever he  went."  While  things  were  thus  circumstanced  at 
Madrid,  news  was  brought  of  the  death  of  Pius  IV.  and 
the  elevation  of  cardinal  Alexandrine  to  the  holy  see,  with 
the  title  of  Pius  V.  MontaUo  was  greatly  transported  at 


S  I  X  t  tJ  S     V.  35 

this  news,  the  new  pontiff  having  ever  been  his  steady- 
friend  and  patron  ;  for  this  new  pope  was  father  Ghisilieri, 
who  had  been  promoted  to  the  purple  by  Paul  IV.  Mon- 
talto's  joy  at  the  promotion  of  his  friend  was  not  ill-founded, 
nor  were  his  expectations  disappointed ;  for  Pius  V.  even 
in  the  first  week  of  his  pontificate,  appointed  him  general 
of  his  order,  an  office  that  he  executed  with  his  accustomed 
severity.  In  1568  he  was  made  bishop  of  St.  Agatha; 
and,  in  1570,  was  honoured  with  a  cardinal's  hat  and  a 
pension.  During  this  reign  he  had  likewise  the  chief  di- 
rection of  the  papal  councils,  and  particularly  was  em- 
ployed to  draw  up  the  bull  of  excommunication  against 
queen  Elizabeth. 

Being  now  in  possession  of  the  purple,  he  began  to  as- 
pire to  the  papacy.  With  this  view  "  he  became  humble, 
patient,  and  affable  ;  so  artfully  concealing  the  natural  im- 
petuosity of  his  temper,  that  one  would  have  sworn  this 
gentleness  and  moderation  was  born  with  him.  There  was 
such  a  change  in  his  dress,  his  air,  his  words,  and  all  his 
actions,  that  his  nearest  friends  and  acquaintance  said,  he 
was  not  the  same  man.  A  greater  alteration,  or  a  more 
absolute  victory  over  his  passions,  was  never  seen  in  any 
one  ;  nor  is  there  an  instance,  perhaps,  in  all  history,  of  a 
person  supporting  a  fictitious  character  in  so  uniform  and 
consistent  a  manner,  or  so  artfully  disguising  his  foibles 
and  imperfections  for  such  a  number  of  years."  To  which 
may  be  added,  that,  while  he  endeavoured  to  court  the 
friendship  of  the  ambassadors  of  every  foreign  power,  he 
very  carefully  avoided  attaching  himself  to  the  interest  of 
any  one ;  nor  would  he  accept  favours,  that  might  be  pre- 
sumed to  lay  him  under  peculiar  obligations.  He  was  not 
less  singular  in  his  conduct  to  his  relations,  to  whom  he 
had  heretofore  expressed  himself  with  the  utmost  tender- 
ness ;  but  now  he  behaved  very  differently,  "  knowing  that 
disinterestedness  in  that  point  was  one  of  the  keys  to  the 
papacy.  So  that  when  his  brother  Antony  came  to  see  him 
at  Rome,  he  lodged  him  in  an  inn,  and  sent  him  back  again 
the  next  day  with  only  a  present  of  sixty  crowns ;  strictly 
charging  him  to  return  immediately  to  his  family,  and  tell 
them,  'That  his  spiritual  cares  increased  upon'him,  and 
he  was  now  dead  to  his  relations  and  the  world  ;  but  as  he 
found  old  age  and  infirmities  begin  to  approach,  he  might, 
perhaps,  in  a  while,  send  for  one  of  his  nephews  to  wait 
on  him'," 

D  2 


36  S  I  X  T  U  S     V. 

Upon  the  death  of  Pius  V.  which  happened  in  1572, 
Montalto  entered  the  conclave  with  the  rest  of  the  cardinals; 
but,  appearing  to  give  himself  no  trouble  about  the  elec- 
tion, kept  altogether  in  his  apartment,  without  ever  stir- 
ring from  it,  except  to  his  devotions.  He  affected  a  total 
ignorance  of  the  intrigues  of  the  several  factions ;  and,  if 
he  was  asked  to  engage  in  any  party,  would  reply,  with 
seeming  indifference,  "  that  for  his  part  he  was  of  no  man- 
ner of  consequence  ;  that,  as  he  had  never  been  in  the 
conclave  before,  he  was  afraid  of  making  some  false  step, 
and  should  leave  the  affair  to  be  conducted  wholly  by 
people  of  greater  knowledge  and  experience."  The  elec- 
tion being  determined  in  favour  of  cardinal  Buon  Com- 
pagnon,  who  assumed  the  name  of  Gregory  XIII.  Mon- 
talto did  not  neglect  to  assure  him,  "  that  he  had  never 
wished  for  any  thing  so  much  in  his  life,  and  that  be  should 
always  remember  his  goodness,  and  the  favours  he  received 
from  him  in  Spain."  The  new  pope,  however,  not  only 
shewed  very  little  regard  to  his  compliment,  but  during 
his  pontificate,  treated  him  with  the  utmost  contempt,  and 
deprived  him  of  the  pension  which  had  been  granted  to 
him  by  Pins  V.  Nor  was  he  held  in  greater  esteem  by  the 
generality  of  the  cardinals,  who  considered  him  as  a  poor, 
old,  doting  fellow,  incapable  of  doing  either  good  or  harm ; 
and  who,  by  way  of  ridicule,  they  were  used  frequently  to 
style,  "  the  ass  of  La  Marca."  He  seldom  interfered  in> 
or  was  present  at  any  public  transactions  ;  the  chief  part  of 
his  time  was  employed  in  works  of  piety  and  devotion  ; 
and  his  benevolence  to  the  indigent  was  so  remarkable, 
that,  when  a  terrible  famine  prevailed  at  Pome,  the  poor 
said  openly  of  him,  "  that  cardinal  Montalto,  who  lived 
upon  charity  himself,  gave  with  one  hand  what  he  received 
with  the  other;  while  the  rest  of  the  cardinals,  who  wal- 
lowed in  abundance,  contented  themselves  with  shewing 
them  the  way  to  the  hospital." 

Notwithstanding  this  affected  indifference  to  what  passed 
in  the  world,  he  was  never  without  able  spies,  who  in- 
formed him  from  time  to  time  of  every  the  most  minute 
particular.  He  had  assumed  great  appearance  of  imbeci- 
lity and  all  the  infirmities  of  old  age,  for  some  years  before 
the  death  of  Gregory  XIII.  in  1585  ;  when  it  was  not  with- 
out much  seeming  reluctance,  that  Montalto  accompanied 
the  rest  of  the  cardinals  into  the  conclave,  where  he  main- 
tained the  same  uniformity  of  behaviour  in  which  he  had 


S  1  X  T  U  S     V.  37 

so  long  persisted.  "  He  kept  himself  close  shut  up  in  his 
chamber,  and  was  no  more  thought  or  spoken  of,  than  if 
he  had  not  been  there.  He  very  seldom  stirred  out,  and 
when  he  went  to  mass,  or  any  of  the  scrutinies,  appeared 
so  little  concerned,  that  one  would  have  thought  he  had  no 
manner  of  interest  in  any  thing  that  happened  within  those 
walls ;"  and,  without  promising  any  thing,  he  flattered 
everybody.  This  method  of  proceeding  was  judiciously 
calculated  to  serve  his  ambition.  He  was  early  apprised, 
that  there  would  be  great  contests  or  divisions  in  the  con- 
clave;  and  he  knew  it  was  no  uncommon  case,  that  when 
the  chiefs  of  the  respective  parties  met  with  opposition  to 
the  person  they  were  desirous  of  electing,  they  would  all 
willingly  concur  in  the  choice  of  some  very  old  and  infirm 
cardinal,  whose  life  would  last  only  long  enough  to  prepare 
themselves  with  more  strength  against  another  vacancy. 
These  views  directed  his  conduct,  nor  was  he  mistaken  in 
his  expectations  of  success.  Three  cardinals,  who  were  the 
heads  of  potent  factions,  finding  themselves  unable  to 
choose  the  persons  they  respectively  favoured,  all  concur- 
red to  elect  Montalto.  As  it  was  not  yet  necessary  for 
him  to  discover  himself,  when  they  came  to  acquaint  him 
with  their  intention,  "  he  fell  into  such  a  violent  fit  of 
coughing,  that  they  thought  he  would  have  expired  upon 
the  spot."  When  he  recovered  himself,  he  told  them, 
"  that  his  reign  would  be  but  for  a  few  days ;  that,  besides 
the  continual  difficulty  of  breathing,  he  had  not  strength 
enough  to  support  such  a  weight ;  and  that  his  small  ex- 
perience in  affairs  made  him  altogether  unfit  for  a  charge 
of  so  important  a  nature."  Nor  would  he  be  prevailed  on 
to  accept  it  on  any  other  terms,  than  that  "  they  should 
all  three  promise  not  to  abandon  him,  but  take  the  greatest 
part  of  the  weight  off  his  shoulders,  as  he  was  neither  able, 
nor  could  in  conscience  pretend,  to  take  the  whole  upon 
himself."  The  cardinals  giving  a  ready  assent  to  his  pro- 
posal, he  added,  "  If  you  are  resolved  to  make  me  pope, 
it  will  be  only  placing  yourselves  on  the  throne;  we  must 
share  the  pontificate.  For  my  part,  I  shall  be  content  with 
the  bare  title ;  let  them  call  me  pope,  and  you  are  heartily 
welcome  to  the  power  and  authority."  This  artifice  suc- 
ceeded ;  and,  in  confidence  of  engrossing  the  administra- 
tion, they  exerted  their  joint  interests  so  effectually,  that 
Montalto  was  elected.  He  now  immediately  pulled  off  the 
mask  which  be  had  worn  for  fourteen  years,  with  an  amaz- 


S$  S  I  X  T  U  S     V. 

ing  steadiness  and  uniformity.  As  soon  as  ever  he  found 
a  sufficient  number  of  votes  to  secure  his  election,  he 
threw  the  staff  with  which  he  used  to  support  himself  into 
the  middle  of  the  chapel ;  and  appeared  taller  by  almost  a 
foot  than  he  had  done  for  several  years.  Being  asked  ac- 
cording to  custom,  "  Whether  he  would  please  to  accept 
of  the  papacy,"  he  replied  somewhat  sharply,  "  It  is 
trifling  and  impertinent  to  ask  whether  I  will  accept  what 
I  have  already  accepted  :  however,  to  satisfy  any  scruple 
that  may  arise,  I  tell  you,  that  I  accept  it  with  great  plea- 
sure ;  and  would  accept  another,  if  I  could  get  it ;  for  I 
find  myself  strong  enough,  by  the  divine  assistance,  to 
manage  two  papacies."  Nor  was  the  change  in  his  man- 
ners less  remarkable  than  in  his  person  :  he  immediately 
divested  himself  of  the  humility  he  had  so  long  professed  ; 
and,  laying  aside  his  accustomed  civility  and  complaisance, 
treated  every  body  with  reserve  and  haughtiness. 

The  lenity  of  Gregory's  government  had  introduced  a 
general  licentiousness  among  all  ranks  of  people;  which, 
though  somewhat  restrained  while  he  lived,  broke  out  into 
open  violence  the  very  day  after  his  death.  Riots,  rapes, 
robberies,  and  murders,  were,  during  the  vacancy  of  the 
see,  claily  committed  in  every  part  of  the  ecclesiastical 
state  ;  so  that  the  reformation  of  abuses,  in  the  church  as 
well  as  the  state,  was  the  first  and  principal  care  of  Sixtus 
V.  for  such  was  the  title  Montalto  assumed.  The  first 
days  of  his  pontificate  were  employed  in  receiving  the  con- 
gratulations of  the  Roman  nobility,  and  in  giving  audience 
to  foreign  ministers ;  and  though  he  received  them  with 
seeming  cheerfulness  and  complaisance,  yet  he  soon  dis- 
missed them,  desiring  to  be  excused,  "  for  he  had  some- 
thing else  to  do  than  to  attend  to  compliments."  It  having 
been  customary  with  preceding  popes  to  release  prisoners 
on  the  day  of  their  coronation,  delinquents  used  to  sur- 
render themselves  after  the  pope  was  chosen  ;  and  several 
offenders,  judging  of  Montalto's  disposition  by  his  beha- 
viour while  a  cardinal,  came  voluntarily  to  the  prisons,  not 
making  the  least  doubt  of  a  pardon  :  but  they  were  fatally 
disappointed;  for  when  the  governor  of  Rome  and  the 
keeper  of  St.  Angelo's  castle  waited  on  his  holiness  to 
know  his  intention  upon  this  matter,  Sixtus  replied,  "You 
certainly  do  not  either  know  your  proper  distance,  or  are 
very  impertinent.  What  have  you  to  do  with  pardons  and 
acts  of  grace,  and  releasing  of  prisoners?  Don't  you 


S  I  X  T  U  S    V.  31 

think  it  sufficient,  that  our  predecessor  has  suffered  the 
judges  to  lie  idle  and  unemployed  these  thirteen  years  ? 
Would  you  have  us  likewise  stain  our  pontificate  with  the 
same  neglect  of  justice  ?  We  have  too  long  seen,  with 
inexpressible  concern,  the  prodigious  degree  of  wickedness 
that  reigns  in  the  ecclesiastical  state,  to  think  of  granting 
any  pardon.  God  forbid  we  should  entertain  such  a  de- 
sign! So  far  from  releasing  any  prisoners,  it  is  our  ex- 
press command,  that  they  be  more  closely  confined.  Let 
them  be  brought  to  a  speedy  trial,  and  punished  as  they 
deserve,  that  the  prisons  may  be  emptied,  and  room  made 
for  others ;  and  that  the  world  may  see,  that  Divine  Pro- 
vidence has  called  us  to  the  chair  of  St.  Peter  to  reward 
the  good,  and  to  chastise  the  wicked  ;  that  we  bear  not  the 
sword  in  vain,  but  are  the  minister  of  God,  and  a  revenger 
to  execute  wrath  upon  them  that  do  evil." 

In  the  place  of  such  judges  as  were  inclined  to  lenity, 
he  substituted  others  of  a  more  austere  disposition,  and 
appointed  commissaries  to  examine  not  only  their  conduct, 
but  also  that  of  other  governors  and  judges  for  many  years 
past;  promising  rewards  to  those  who  could  convict  them 
of  corruption,  or  of  having  denied  justice  to  any  one  at  the 
instance  or  request  of  men  in  power.     All  the  nobility,  and 
persons  of  the  highest  quality,  were  strictly  forbidden,  on 
pain  of  displeasure,  to  ask  the  judges  any  thing  in  behalf 
of  their  nearest  friends  or  dependants ;  at  the  same  time 
the  judges  were  to  be  fined  in  case  they  listened  to  any 
solicitation.     He   further  commanded    every   body,    "  on 
pain  of  death,  not  to  terrify  witnesses  by  threats,  or  tempt 
them  by  hopes  or  promises.     He  ordered  the  syndics  and 
mayors  of  every  town  and  signiory,  as  well  those  that  were 
actually  in  office,  as  those  who  had  been  for  the  last  ten 
years,  to  send  him  a  list  of  all  the  vagrants,  common  de- 
bauchees, loose  and  disorderly  people   in  their  districts, 
threatening  them  with  the  strappado  and  imprisonment,  if 
they  omitted  or  concealed  any  one."     In  consequence  of 
this  ordinance,  the  syndic  of  Albano,  leaving  his  nephew, 
who  was  an  incorrigible  libertine,  out  of  the  list,  under- 
went the  strappado  in  the  public  market-place,  though  the 
Spanish  ambassador  interceded  strongly  for  him.     He  par 
ticularly  directed  the  legates  and  governors  of  the  eccle- 
siastical state  to  be  expeditious  in  carrying  on  all  criminal 
processes  ;  declaring,   "  he  had  rather  have  the  gibbets  and 
gallies  full,  than  the  prisons."      He  aUo  intended  to  have 


40  S  I  X  T  U  S     V. 

shortened  all  other  proceedings  in  law.  It  had  been  usual, 
and  was  pleasing  to  the  people,  as  often  as  his  holiness 
passed  by,  to  cry  out,  "  Long  live  the  pope  :"  but  Sixtus, 
having  a  mind  to  go  often  unexpectedly  to  the  tribunals  of 
justice,  convents,  and  other  public  places,  forbade  this 
custom  in  regard  to  himself;  and  punished  two  persons 
who  were  ignorant  of  this  edict,  with  imprisonment,  for  cry- 
ing out,  "  Long  live  pope  Sixtus."  Adultery  he  punished 
with  death :  nor  was  he  less  severe  to  those  who  voluntarily 
permitted  a  prostitution  of  their  wives ;  a  custom  at  that 
time  very  common  in  Rome.  The  female  sex,  especially 
the  younger  part,  attracted,  in  a  very  particular  manner, 
the  attention  of  Sixtus ;  not  only  the  debauching  of  any  of 
them,  whether  by  force  or  artifice,  but  even  the  attempt- 
ing of  it,  or  offering  the  least  offence  against  modesty, 
was  very  severely  punished.  For  the  more  effectual  pre- 
vention, as  well  of  private  assassinations,  as  public  quar- 
rels, he  forbade  all  persons,  on  pain  of  death,  to  draw  a 
sword,  or  to  carry  arms  specified  in  the  edict;  nor  would 
he  be  prevailed  on  to  spare  any  who  transgressed  this  order : 
even  to  threaten  another  with  an  intended  injury  was  suffi- 
cient to  entitle  the  menacer  to  a  whipping  and  the  gallies; 
especially  if  the  nature  of  their  profession  furnished  the 
means  of  carrying  their  threats  into  execution.  The  ban- 
ditti, who  were  numerous  when  Sixtus  was  advanced  to 
the  papacy,  were  rendered  still  more  so  by  the  junction  of 
many  loose  and  disorderly  people ;  who,  conscious  of  their 
demerits,  and  terrified  at  the  severities  they  daily  saw 
practised,  had  fled  from  justice.  Their  insolence  increased 
with  their  numbers ;  insomuch,  that  no  one  could  live  in 
the  ecclesiastical  state  with  saiety  to  his  person  or  fortune, 
nor  could  strangers  travel  without  imminent  danger  of 
being  robbed  or  murdered.  The  public  security  more 
especially  required  the  extirpation  of  these  plunderers, 
which,  by  the  prudence,  vigilance,  and  resolution  of  this 
pope,  was  effectually  performed  in  less  than  six  months. 
He  obliged  the  nobility  of  Rome,  and  the  country  round 
it,  to  an  exact  payment  of  their  debts.  He  abolished  all 
protections  and  other  immunities,  in  the  houses  of  ambas- 
sadors, cardinals,  nobles,  or  prelates.  To  this  purpose, 
he  sent  for  all  the  ambassadors,  and  ordered  them  to  ac- 
quaint their  respective  masters,  u  that  he  was  determined 
nobody  should  reign  in  Rome  but  himself;  that  there 
should  be  no  privilege  or  immunity  of  any  kind  there,  but 


3  I  X  T  U  S     V.  41 

what  belonged  to  the  pope;  nor  any  sanctuary  or  asylum 
but  the  churches,  anil  that  only  at  such  times,  and  upon 
such  occasions,  as  he  should  think  proper." 

Thus  far  we  have  heheld  Sixtus  acting  in  his  civil  capa- 
city ;  and  if  we  take  a  view  of  his  conduct  as  a  politician, 
in  his  transactions  with  foreign  powers,  we  find  him  main- 
taining the  same  degree  of  firmness  as  in  his  treatment  of 
his  own  subjects.  Before  he  had  been  pope  two  months 
he  quarrelled  with  Philip  II.  of  Spain,  Henry  III.  of 
France,  and  Henry  king  of  Navarre.  His  intrigues  in 
some  measure  may  be  said  to  have  influenced,  in  his  day, 
all  the  councils  of  Europe.  Sixtus  had  caused  the  Vul- 
gate Latin  edition  of  the  Bible  to  be  published,  which  oc- 
casioned a  good  deal  of  clamour ;  but  far  less  than  his 
printing  an  Italian  version  of  it,  which  excited  the  in  lig- 
nation  of  ail  the  Roman  Catholic  part  of  Christendom. 
Count  Olivares,  and  some  of  the  cardinals,  ventured  to 
expostulate  with  him  freely  upon  it;  and  said,  "  It  was  a 
scandalous  as  well  as  a  dangerous  thing,  and  bordered  very 
nearly  upon  heresy,"  But  he  treated  them  with  contempt, 
and  only  said,  "  We  do  it  for  the  benefit  of  you  that  do 
not  understand  Latin."  Though  this  pope's  behaviour  may 
not  command  universal  applause,  yet  it  is  certain  the  Ro- 
man see  was  under  very  great  obligations  to  him.  His  im- 
partial, though  rigorous,  administration  of  justice,  had  a 
very  happy  effect ;  he  strenuously  defended  the  rights  of 
the  poor,  the  widow,  and  the  orphan  ;  he  refused  audience 
to  nobody,  ordering  his  masters  of  the  ceremonies  to  intro- 
duce the  poorest  to  him  first ;  but  was  more  particularly 
ready  to  hear  any  accusation  against  the  magistrates :  the 
same  conduct  he  observed  between  the  clergy  and  their  su- 
periors, always  applying  quick  and  effectual,  though  mostly 
severe,  remedies.  In  short,  he  had  wrought  such  a  refor- 
mation, that  the  governor  told  him  one  day,  the  place  of  a 
judge  was  now  become  a  perfect  sinecure.  At  his  acces- 
sion to  the  papacy,  he  found  the  apostolic  clia.-nber,  or 
treasury,  not  only  exhausted,  but  in  debt :  he  lei't  it,  not 
only  clear,  but  enriched  itwith  five  millions  of  gold  ;  he  also 
augmented  the  revenue  to  double  its  former  amount.  To 
him  the  city  of  Rome  was  obliged  for  several  of  its  great- 
est embellishments,  particularly  the  Vatican  library,  began 
by  Sixtus  IV.;  and  to  him  its  citizens  were  indebted  for 
the  introduction  of  trade  into  the  ecclesiastical  state.  Though 
he  was  naturally  an  enemy  to  profusion,  he  was  never  sparing 


42  S  I  X  T  U  S     V. 

in  expence  to  relieve  such  as  were  really  necessitous; 
and,  among  many  other  noble  charities,  his  appropriation 
of  three  thousand  crowns  a  year,  for  the  redemption  of 
Christian  slaves  out  of  the  hands  of  the  infidels,  will  hardly 
be  reckoned  the  least  meritorious. 

In  respect  to  his  private  character,  it  appears,  from 
several  instances,  that  he  was,  as  well  in  his  habit  as 
diet,  generally  temperate  and  frugal ;  that  he  remem- 
bered, and  greatly  rewarded,  every  service  that  was  con- 
ferred upon  him  when  he  was  in  an  inferior  station.  Nor 
did  his  elevation  make  him  unmindful  of  his  former  po- 
verty :  his  sister  once  intimating,  that  it  was  unbecoming 
his  dignity  to  wear  patched  linen,  he  said  to  her,  "Though 
we  are  exalted,  through  the  Divine  Providence,  to  this 
high  station,  we  ought  not  to  forget,  that  shreds  and 
patches  are  the  only  coat  of  arms  our  family  has  any  title 
to."  The  behaviour  of  Sixtus  to  his  relations,  previous  to 
his  exaltation,  has  been  already  noted  :  soon  after  his  ac- 
cession to  the  pontificate,  he  sent  for  his  family  to  Rome, 
with  express  orders,  that  they  should  appear  in  a  decent 
and  modest  manner.  Accordingly,  his  sister  Camilla,  ac- 
companied by  her  daughter  and  two  grandsons,  and  a 
niece,  came  thither.  The  pope's  reception  of  them  was 
as  singular  as  any  other  part  of  his  conduct ;  for  some  of 
the  cardinals,  to  ingratiate  themselves  with  his  holiness, 
went  out  to  meet  her,  dressed  them  all  in  a  very  superb 
manner,  and  introduced  them  with  great  ceremony  to  the 
Vatican.  When  Sixtus  saw  Camilla,  he  pretended  not  to 
know  her,  and  asked  two  or  three  times  who  she  was  ; 
upon  which  one  of  the  cardinals,  who  handed  her  in, 
said,  "  It  is  your  sister,  holy  father."  "My  sister!"  re- 
plied Sixtus,  with  a  frown,  "  I  have  but  one  sister,  and 
she  is  a  poor  woman  at  Le  Grotte  :  if  you  have  introduced 
her  in  this  disguise,  I  declare  1  do  not  know  her;  and 
yet  I  think  I  should  know  her  again,  if  I  was  to  see  her 
in  such  clothes  as  she  used  to  wear."  Their  conductors 
then  thought  it  expedient  to  send  them  to  a  common  inn, 
where  they  were  disrobed  of  their  finery.  When  this  was 
done,  Sixtus  sent  two  of  his  ordinary  coaches  for  them  ; 
and  being  introduced  a  second  time,  the  pope  embraced 
them  tenderly,  and  said  to  Camilla,  "  Now  we  see  it  is 
our  sister  indeed  :  nobody  shall  make  a  princess  of  you 
but  ourselves."  The  terms  Sixtus  stipulated  with  his  sis- 
ter, as  the  conditions  of  her  advancement,  were,  "  not  to 


S  I  X  T  U  S     Vj  43 

ask  any  favour  in  matters  of  government,  or  make  the 
least  intercession  for  criminals,  or  otherwise  interfere  in 
the  administration  of  justice;"  assuring  her  that  every  suit 
of  that  kind  would  meet  with  a  refusal  not  less  mortifying 
to  her  than  painful  to  himself.  This  being  settled,  he  made, 
indeed,  a  princely  provision,  not  only  tor  his  sister,  who 
took  care  punctually  to  obey  his  orders,  but  also  for  all 
the  family. 

The  pope's  severity  could  not  exempt  him  from  several 
poignant    satires,    though    we    have    only    one    instance 
wherein  he  thought  them  worth  his  resentment ;  and  that 
related   to  his  sister.     Pasquin  was  dressed  one   morning 
in  a  very  dirty  shirt;  and   being  asked  .by   Marforio,  why 
he  wore  such  dirty  linen  ?  answered,  "  He  could  get   no 
other,  for  the  pope   had   made  his  washer-woman  a  prin- 
cess ;"  meaning   Camilla,    who  had  formerly  been  a  laun- 
dress.    The  pope  ordered  strict  search  to  be  made  for  the 
author,  and  promised  to  give  him  a  thousand  pistoles,  and 
his  life,  provided    he  would  discover  himself;   but  threat- 
ened to  hang  him,  if  he  was  found  out  by  any  body  else. 
The  author,  though  he  had  trusted  no  person  with  the  se- 
cret, was   so   tempted   with  the  offer,  that  he  was  simple 
enough  to  make  a  full  confession  of  it  to  the  pope ;  de- 
manding the  money,  and  to  have  his  life  spared.     Sixtus 
was  so  astonished   at  his  folly   and   impudence,    that  he 
could  not  speak  for  some  time  ;  and  at  last  said,  "  It  is  true 
we  did  make  such  a  promise,  and  we  shall  not  be  worse  than 
our  word  ;  we  give  you  your  life,  and  you  shall  have  the 
money  immediately  ;  but  we  reserved  to  ourselves  the  power 
of  cutting  off  your  hands,  and  boring  your  tongue  through 
to  prevent  your  being  so  witty  for  the  future  :"  which  was 
directly  executed,  Sixtus  declaring,  that  he  did  not  deserve 
the  punishment  so  much  for  the  pasquinade,  as  for  being  so 
audacious  to  avow  it. 

This  extraordinary  man,  who  was  an  encourager  of  arts  as 
well  as  arms,  died,  not  without  a  suspicion  of  being  poisoned 
by  the  Spaniards,  Aug.  27,  1500,  having  enjoyed  the  pa- 
pacy little  more  than  five  years. l 

SKELTON  (JOHN),  an  old  English  poet,  descended 
from  an  ancient  family  in  Cumberland,  was  born  towards 
the  latter  part  of  the  fifteenth  century,  and  appears  to  have 

1  Life  by  Gregorio  Leti,  translated  by  Farneworth,  folio,  1754,  ami  wliich 
the  translator,  with  justice,  calls  one  of  the  most,  remarkable  and  entertaining 
lives  in  ancient  or  modern  history. 


44  S  K  E  L  T  O  N. 

studied  in  both  universities.  Wood  claims  him  for  Oxford, 
although  without  conceiving  that  he  was  a  very  honourable 
addition  to  his  list  of  worthies.  The  late  Mr.  Cole,  in  his 
collections  for  the  Athenae  Cantabrigienses,  is  of  opinion, 
that  he  belongs  to  Cambridge,  partly  because  he  alludes 
to  his  being  curate  of  Trompington  in  1507,  and  mentions 
Svvaffam  and  Soham,  two  towns  in  Cambridgeshire,  and 
partly  because  there  occurs  the  name  of  one  Skelton,  M.  A. 
of  Cambridge,  in  the  year  1484.  On  the  other  hand, 
Wood  reckons  him  of  Oxford,  from  the  authority  of  Bale 
in  a  manuscript  in  the  Bodleian  library  :  and  in  the  pre- 
face of  Caxton's  Translation  of  the  /Eneids  he  is  said  to 
have  been  "  lately  created  Poet  Laureate  in  the  Unyversite 
of  Oxentbrde,"  and  to  have  been  the  translator  of  some  of 
the  Latin  classics. 

This  laureatship,  however,  it  must  be  observed,  was 
not  the  office  now  known  as  pertaining  to  the  court,  but 
was  a  degree  conferred  at  the  university.  Churchyard,  in 
the  poem  prefixed  to  Skelton's  works,  says, 

"  Skelton  wore  lawrell  wreath, 
And  past  in  schoeJs  ye  knoe." 

This  honour  appears  to  have  been  conferred  on  him  about 
1489,  and  if  our  author  was  the  Schelton  discovered  by  Mr. 
Cole,  IT^I  had  now  left  Cambridge  for  Oxford  ;  but  Mr.  Ma- 
lone  says  that,  a  few  years  after  this,  he  was  permitted  to 
wear  the  laurel  publicly  at  Cambridge,  and  had  been  pre- 
viously honoured  by  Henry  VII.  with  a  grant  to  wear  either 
some  peculiar  dress,  or  some  additional  ornament  in  his 
ordinary  apparel.  In  addition  to  this,  it  may  be  inferred 
from  the  titles  of  some  of  his  works,  that  he  was  poet  lau- 
reate to  king  Henry  VIII.  ;  but  Mr.  Malone  has  not  been 
able  to  discover  whether  he  received  any  salary  in  conse- 
quence of  this  office.  The  origin  of  the  royal  laureat  is 
somewhat  obscure.  According  to  Mr.  Warton,  he  was  only 
a  graduated  rhetorician  employed  in  the  service  of  the  king, 
and  all  his  productions  were  in  Latin,  until  the  time  of  the 
reformation,  which,  among  other  advantages,  opened  the 
way  to  the  cultivation  of  the  English  tongue. 

In  the  page  where  Skelton  mentions  his  being  curate  of 
Trompington,  he  informs  us  that  he  was  at  the  same  time 
(1507)  rector  of  Diss  in  Norfolk,  and  probably  had  held 
this  living  long  before*.  Tradition  informs  us,  that  his 

*  From  a  communication  obligingly      by  Henry  Ellis,  esq.  of  the  British  Mu- 
trauscnbed  from  bishop  Kennel's  MSS     seuin,  we  learn  that  "  April  14,  1498, 


S  K  E  L  T  O  N.  45 

frequent  buffooneries  in  the  pulpit  excited  general  censure. 
Of  what  nature  those  buffooneries  were,  we  cannot  now 
determine,  but  it  is  certain  that  at  a  much  later  period  the 
pulpit  was  frequently  debased  by  irreverent  allusions  and 
personal  scurrilities.  There  appear  to  have  been  three 
subjects  at  which  Skeltori  delighted  to  aim  his  satire;  these 
were,  the  mendicant  friars,  Lilly  the  grammarian,  and  car- 
dinal Wolsey.  From  what  we  find  in  his  works,  his  treat- 
ment of  these  subjects  was  coarse  enough  in  style,  and  per- 
haps illiberal  in  sentiment;  and  there  is  some  reason  to  think 
that  he  did  not  preserve  a  due  reverence  for  the  forms  and 
pomp  of  the  established  religion,  which  above  all  other 
faults  would  naturally  tend  to  bring  him  into  disgrace  and 
danger.  Those  who  felt  his  satire  would  be  glad  to  excite 
a  clamour  against  his  impiety  ;  and  it  must  be  allowed  that 
the  vices  of  his  age  are  frequently  represented  in  such  in- 
delicate language,  as  to  furnish  his  enemies  with  the  very 
plausible  reproach,  that  he  was  not  one  of  those  reformers 
who  begin  with  themselves. 

But  although  we  can  now  have  very  little  sympathy  with 
the  injured  feelings  of  the  begging  friars,  it  is  not  improba- 
ble that  some  of  his  poems  or  ballads  might  very  justly 
rouse  the  vigilance  of  his  diocesan,  the  bishop  of  Norwich, 
who,  Mr.  Warton  thinks,  suspended  him  from  his  func- 
tions. Anthony  Wood  asserts,  that  he  was  punished  by  the 
bishop  for  "  having  been  guilty  of  certain  crimes,  as  most 
poets  are."  According  to  Fuller,  the  crime  of  "  most  poets''' 
in  Skelton's  case,  was  his  keeping  of  a  concubine,  which 
yet  was  at  that  time  a  less  crime  in  a  clergyman  than  mar- 
riage. Skelton,  on  his  death-bed,  declared  that  he  con- 
scientiously considered  his  concubine  as  his  wife,  but  was 
afraid  to  own  her  in  that  light ;  and  from  this  confession,  and 
the  occasional  liberties  he  has  taken  with  his  pen,  in  lashing 
the  vices  of  the  clergy,  it  is  not  improbable  that  he  had 
imbibed  some  of  the  principles  of  the  reformation,  but  had 
not  the  courage  to  avow  them,  unless  under  the  mask  of 
such  satire  as  might  pass  without  judicial  censure. 

With  respect,  however,  to  Wolsey,  his  prudence   ap- 

Jolm  Skelton  was  ordained  deacon  by  Henrici  VII.  ac  rcgiorum  liberorum." 

Thomas,  bishop  of  London  ;  and  priest  — See  Episf.  Tho.  Mori  et  Erascni  Rot. 

June  9th  following.     Hi*    being  trtor  1318,  4to,  p.  294. 

or  preceptor  to  prince   Henry,    after-  In  1512  Skeiton  was  presented  by 

wards  Henry  VIII.  which  iv  mentioned  Richard,  abbot  of  Glastonbury,  to  the 

hereafter,  appears  by  an  Ode  of  Eras-  vicarage  of  Ualtyng. 

mus,  "  Ue  laudibus  Britannia  regisque 


46  S  K  E  L  T  O  N. 

pears  to  have  deserted  him,  as  he  felt  bold  enough  to  Sh'g* 
niatize  the  personal  character  of  that  statesman,  then  irt 
the  plenitude  of  his  power.  Whether  such  attacks  were 
made  in  any  small  poems  or  ballads,  or  only  in  his  poem  of 
"  Why  come  ye  not  to  Court  r"  is  not  certain,  but  the  lat- 
ter does  not  appear  to  have  been  printed  until  1555,  and 
was  too  long  to  have  been  easily  circulated  in  manuscript. 
Wolsey,  however,  by  some  means  or  other,  discovered  the 
abuse  and  the  author,  and  ordered  him  to  be  apprehended. 
Skelton  took  refuge  in  the  sanctuary  of  Westminster-abbey, 
where  the  abbot,  Islip,  afforded  him  protection  until  his 
death,  which  took  place  June  21,  1529,  not  long  before 
the  downfall  of  his  illustrious  persecutor.  He  was  interred 
in  St.  Margaret's  church-yard,  with  the  inscription, 

"  J.  Sceltonus  Vates  Pierius  hie  situs  est." 
Skelton  appears  to  have  been  a  more  considerable  per- 
sonage, at  one  time  at  least,  than  his  contemporaries  would 
have  us  to  believe.  It  is  certain  that  he  was  esteemed  a 
scholar,  and  that  his  classical  learning  recommended  him 
to  the  office  of  tutor  to  prince  Henry,  afterwards  king 
Henry  VIII.,  who,  at  his  accession,  made  him  royal  ora- 
tor, an  office  so  called  by  himself,  the  nature  of  which  is 
doubtful,  unless  it  was  blended  with  that  of  laureat.  As  to 
his  general  reputation,  Erasmus,  in  a  letter  to  Henry  VIII. 
styles  him  "  Britannicarum  literarum  decus  et  lumen,"  a 
character  which  must  have  either  been  inferred  from  com- 
mon opinion,  or  derived  from  personal  knowledge.  What- 
ever provocation  he  gave  to  the  clergy,  he  was  not  without 
patrons  who  overlooked  his  errors  and  extravagancies  for 
the  sake  of  his  genius,  and  during  the  reign  of  Henry  VII. 
he  had  the  enviable  distinction  of  being  almost  the  only  pro- 
fessed poet  of  the  age.  Henry  Algernon  Percy,  fifth  earl 
of  Northumberland,  one  of  the  very  few  patrons  of  learned 
men  and  artists  at  that  time,  appears  to  have  entertained  a 
high  regard  for  our  author.  In  a  collection  of  poems  mag- 
nificently engrossed  on  vellum  for  the  use  of  this  nobleman, 
is  an  elegy  on  the  death  of  the  earl's  father,  written  by 
Skelton.  This  volume  is  now  in  the  Bullish  Museum,  but 
the  elegy  may  be  seen  in  Skelton's  works,  and  in  Dr.  Per- 
cy's Relics. 

When  a  favourite  author  betrays  grossnessand  indecency, 
it  is  usual  to  inquire  how  much  of  this  is  his  own,  and  how 
much  may  be  referred  19  the  licentiousness  of  his  age  ? 


S  K  E  L  T  ON.  47 

Warton  observes,  that  it  is  in  vain  to  apologize  for  the 
coarseness,  obscenity,  and  scurrility  of  Skelton,  by  saying-, 
that  his  poetry  is  tinctured  with  the  manners  of  his  age, 
and  adds,  that  Skelton  would  have  been  a  writer  without 
decorum  at  any  period.  This  decision,  however,  is  not 
more  justly  passed  on  Skelton  than  it  ought  to  be  on  others, 
whom  it  has  been  the  fashion  to  vindicate  by  an  appeal  to 
the  manners  of  their  age.  The  manners  of  no  age  can 
apologize  for  the  licentiousness  of  the  writer  who  descends 
to  copy  them.  There  are  always  enough  in  an  age  that 
has  a  court,  a  clergy,  and  a  people,  to  support  the  dignity 
of  virtue,  and  to  assert  the  respect  due  to  public  decency. 
If  we  knew  more  minutely  of  the  manners  of  our  country 
in  these  remote  periods,  it  would  probably  be  found  that 
licentiousness  has,  upon  the  whole,  been  more  discouraged 
than  patronized  by  the  public  voice. 

Although  it  is  impossible  to  lessen  the  censure  which 
Skelton  incurred  among  his  contemporaries,  and  immediate 
successors,  it  is  but  fair  to  say  that  his  indelicacies  are  of 
no  very  seductive  kind,  that  they  are  obscured  by  cant 
words  and  phrases  no  longer  intelligible,  or  intelligible  but 
to  few,  and  that  the  removal  of  them  is  a  matter  of  less 
trouble  and  less  injury  to  an  edition  of  his  works  than  his 
biographers,  who  have  copied  one  another,  would  insinuate. 
As  to  his  poetry,  Mr.  Warton's  character  may  in  general 
be  followed  with  safety,  and  ought  to  be  preserved  with 
the  respect  due  to  so  excellent  a  critic. 

"  Skelton's  characteristic  vein  of  humour  is  capricious 
and  grotesque.  If  his  whimsical  extravagancies  ever  move 
our  laughter,  at  the  same  time  they  shock  our  sensibility. 
His  festive  levities  are  not  only  vulgar  and  indelicate,  but 
frequently  want  truth  and  propriety.  His  subjects  are  often 
as  ridiculous  as  his  metres :  but  he  sometimes  debases  his 
matter  by  his  versification.  On  the  whole,  his  genius  seems 
better  suited  to  low  burlesque,  than  to  liberal  and  manljr 
satire.  It  is  supposed  by  Caxton,  that  he  improved  our 
language  ;  but  he  sometimes  affects  obscurity,  and  some- 
times adopts  the  most  familiar  phraseology  of  the  common 
people."  After  quoting  some  lines  from  the  "  Boke  of 
Colin  Cloute,"  Mr.  Warton  remarks,  that  these  are  in  the 
best  manner  of  his  petty  measure,  which  is  made  still  more 
disgusting  by  the  repetition  of  the  rhymes,  but  allows  that 
in  the  poem  called  "The  Bouge  of  Court,"  or  the  Rewards 
«f  a  Court,  the  author,  by  "  adopting  the  more  grave  and 


48  S  K  E  L  T  O  N. 

stately  movement  of  the  seven-lined  stanza,  has  shewn  him- 
self not  alwajs  incapable  of  exhibiting  allegorical  imagery 
with  spirit  and  dignity." 

Skelton,  however,  is  very  unequal,  although  his  natural 
bias,  and  what  he  seems  most  anxious  to  revert  to,  is  comic 
buffoonery.  That  the  author  of  the  "  Prayers  to  the  Tri- 
nity," and  the  lines  on  the  death  of  Lord  Percie,  could 
have  written  the  "  Tunning  of  Elinour  Humming,"  is  al- 
most incredible.  His  multiplied  repetition  of  rhymes,  ar- 
bitrary abbreviations -of  the  verse,  cant  expressions,  hard 
and  sounding  words  newly  coined,  and  patches  of  Latin 
and  French,  Warton  supposes  to  be  peculiar,  though  not 
exclusively  to  our  author ;  but  his  new-coined  words,  and 
Latin  and  French  phrases,  occur  so  often,  that  other  critics 
appear  to  have  been  too  hasty  in  asserting  that  he  wrote 
only  for  the  mob.  There  is  occasionally  much  sound  sense, 
and,  it  is  to  be  feared,  much  just  satire  on  the  conduct  of 
the  clergy,  which  we  know  was  such  as  to  justify  the  plun- 
der of  the  church  by  Henry  VIII.  in  the  eyes  of  the  people 
at  large.  As  a  poet,  however,  Skeltou  contributed  very 
little  to  the  improvement  of  the  poetical  style,  and  seems 
more  disposed  to  render  versification  ridiculous.  His 
vein  of  humour  is  often  copious  and  original,  and  had  it 
been  directed  to  subjects  of  legitimate  satire,  and  regulated 
by  some  degree  of  taste,  more  credit  would  have  been 
given  to  what  he  insinuates,  that  he  was  disliked  and  reviled 
for  having  honestly,  though  bluntly,  exposed  the  reigning 
follies  of  his  day.  Mrs.  Cooper  calls  him,  with  some  degree 
of  truth,  "  the  restorer  of  invention  in  English  poetry ;"  and 
by  Bradshavv,  a  very  indifferent  poet  of  the  fifteenth  cen- 
turj-,  he  is  complimented  as  the  inventive  Skelton. 

His  works  have  hitherto  been  ushered  into  the  world 
without  much  care.  It  yet  remains  to  explain  his  obscuri- 
ties, translate  his  vulgarisms,  and  point,  his  verses.  The 
task  would  require  much  time  and  labour,  with  perhaps  no 
very  inviting  prospect  of  recompense.  Besides  the  works 
published  in  the  late  edition  of  the  English  poets,  Mr.  Kit- 
son  has  given  a  list  of  pieces,  the  most  of  which  are  easily 
accessible,  and  would  have  been  added  to  the  late  collec- 
tion, had  they  appeared  to  throw  any  important  light  on 
the  character  of  the  author,  or  of  his  age.  But  Mr.  Ritson 
thinks  it  utterly  incredible  that  the  "Nigramansii,"  de- 
scribed by  Warton,  as  printed  by  Wynkin  de  Worde  in 
15(H,  ever  existed.1 

»  English  Poets,  1810,  2J  Y«h.  8vo. 


S  K   E  L  T  O  N.  49 

SKELTON  (PniLip).  a  worthy  and  learned  clergyman 
of  Ireland,  and  author  of  some  valuable  works  on  divinity, 
was  born  in  the  parish  of  Berriaghly,  near  Lisburn,  Feb. 
1707.  His  family  was  originally  English;  his  grandfather, 
an  engineer,  having  been  sent  over  by  Charles  1.  to  inspect 
the  Irish  fortifications,  settled  in  that  country,  and  suffered 
many  hardships  in  Cromwell's  time.  His  father,  Richard 
Skelton,  appears  to  have  been,  in  the  reign  of  William  III. 
a  gunsmith,  and  afterwards  a  farmer  and  a  tanner.  He 
was  a  man  of  great  sense,  a  strict  observer  of  religion,  and 
a  careful  instructor  of  his  children.  He  died  in  his  fiftieth. 
year,  leaving  a  widow  and  ten  children.  Philip,  when 
about  ten  years  of  age,  was  sent  to  Lisburn  school,  where 
"being  at  first  negligent,  his  father  cured  him  by  sending 
him  into  the  fields  and  treating  him  as  a  menial.  After  this 
he  applied  with  diligence,  and  soon  displayed  an  ardent 
desire  for  learning.  On  the  death  of  his  father,  which 
happened  when  he  was  at  school,  his  mother  had  many 
difficulties  in  bringing  up  her  numerous  family,  and  he  be- 
gan to  think  it  his  duty  to  relieve  her  from  the  expence  of 
one,  at  least,  by  a  still  more  close  application  to  his  stu- 
dies. From  school,  he  entered  as  a  sizer  in  the  university 
of  Dublin,  in  June  1724,  where  Dr.  Delany  was  his  tutor, 
and  ever  after  his  friend. 

Here  he  soon  obtained  the  reputation  of  a  scholar,  and 
also  distinguished  himself  by  his  skill  in  fencing,  cudgelling, 
and  other  manly  feats,  as  well  as  in  some  college  frolics 
from  which  he  did  not  always  escape  uncensured.  His 
temper  was  warm,  and  he  entertained  that  irritable  sense 
of  honour  which  frequently  involved  him  in  quarrels.  On 
one  occasion  he  had  a  quarrel  with  a  fellow-student,  who 
happened  to  be  connected  with  Dr.  Baldwin,  the  provost, 
and  who  insinuated  that  Skelton  was  a  Jacobite,  an  accusa- 
tion which  he  repelled  by  the  most  solemn  declaration  of 
his  adherence  to  the  Hanover  family.  Baldwin,  however, 
was  prejudiced  against  him,  and  endeavoured  to  keep  him 
out  of  a  scholarship,  but,  mistaking  him  for  another  of  the 
same  name,  his  malice  was  disappointed,  and  Skelton  re- 
ceived this  reward  of  merit  in  1726.  Baldwin,  however,  on 
other  occasions  did  every  thing  in  his  power  to  make  a  col- 
lege life  uneasy  to  him;  and  Skelton,  finding  it  impossible 
to  gain  his  favour  without  disgraceful  compliances,  resolv- 
ed to  take  his  degree  at  the  statutable  period,  and  quit  the 

VOL.  XXVIII.  E 


£0  SKELTON. 

college.     This,  however,  his  enemy  still  endeavoured  to 
prevent,  and,  on  some  idle  pretence,  stopped  his  degree. 

Skelton's  only  remedy  was  now  to  wait  patiently  till  the 
next  commencement,  which  would  take  place  in  about  half 
a  year.  As  the  time  approached,  he  contrived  to  foil  the 
provost  at  his  own  weapons,  and  knowing  his  tyrannical  and 
capricious  temper,  played  him  a  trick,  which  his  biographer 
relates  in  the  following  manner.  A  few  days  before  the 
commencement,  he  waited  on  the  provost,  "  and  after  pay- 
ing his  humble  submission,  said,  'Mr.  Provost,  I  am  ex- 
tremely obliged  to  you  for  stopping  me  of  my  degree  last 
time,  because  it  was  what  I  wished  for  above  all  thipgs,  and 
I  be»  and  beseech  you  may  also  stop  me  now,  as  my  friends 
are  forcing  me  to  take  it,  and  quit  the  college,  contrary  to 
my  desire.'  '  Ah,  you  dog,'  he  replied,  *  what  do  you 
mean  ?  do  you  wish  to  stay  here  contrary  to  your  friends1 
consent  ?  Take  your  degree,  sirrah,  and  quit  the  college, 
or  I  Ml  make  you  smart  for  it.'  Skelton  then  began  to  cry, 
and  whine,  and  sob,  saying  how  greatly  distressed  he  was 
at  getting  this  unfavourable  answer.  *  Don't  be  growling 
here,  sir,'  he  said,  '  but  go  about  your  business,  I  '11  not 
agree  to  your  request,  you  shall  take  your  degree  in  spite 
of  you,  sirrah.'  Upon  this  Skelton,  with  sorrowful  coun- 
tenance, though  with  joy  at  his  heart,  walked  grumblingly 
out  of  the  room."  The  consequence  of  this  was,  that  he 
commenced  B.  A.  in  July  1728,  and  had  his  name  taken 
out  of  the  college  books,  May  31st  following,  two  years 
before  the  natural  expiration  of  his  scholarship.  Notwith- 
standing this  treatment,  he  always  spoke  of  Dr.  Baldwin  as 
in  many  respects  an  excellent  provost. 

Soon  after  leaving  college,  he  resided  with  his  brother 
John,  a  clergyman,  and  schoolmaster  of  Dundalk,  and 
took  on  himself  the  management  of  the  school,  which  by 
his  efforts  rose  to  high  reputation.  He  had  been  here  but 
a  short  time,  when  he  obtained  abomination  to  the  curacy 
of  Newtown-Butler,  in  the  county  of  Fermanagh,  from  Dr. 
Madden  (see  MADDEN),  and  was  ordained  deacon  for  this 
cure  by  Dr.  Sterne,  bishop  of  Clogher,  about  1729.  He 
was  afterwards  ordained  priest  by  the  same  bishop,  and 
used  to  relate  that  he  and  the  other  candidates  were  exa- 
mined by  Dr.  Sterne  and  his  assistant  for  a  whole  week  in 
Latin,  and  that  they  were  not  allowed,  during  the  whole  of 
this  trial,  to  speak  a  word  of  English. 

During  his  holding  this  curacy  he  resided  in  Dr.  Madden'* 


S  K  E  L  T  O  N.  51 

house,  called  Manor-waterhouse,  about  three  miles  from 
Newtovm- Butler,  as  private  tutor;  and  had  three  or  four 
boys  to  instruct  in  English  and  the  rudiments  of  the  Latin 
and  Greek  languages.  This  left  him  little  time  for  the 
composition  of  his  sermons,  and  such  as  lie  wrote  at  this 
time,  he  afterwards  very  much  disliked.  Here,  however, 
lie  exhibited  that  active  benevolence  xvhich  always  formed 
a  striking  feature  in  his  character,  and  although  the  salary 
derived  both  from  his  curacy  and  his  teaching  was  very 
small,  he  gave  at  least  the  half  away  in  charitable  purposes. 
Here  likewise  it  would  appear  that  he  wrote  his  first  publi- 
cation, an  anonymous  pamphlet,  printed  at  Dublin,  re- 
commending Dr.  Madderi'a  scheme  for  establishing  premiums 
in  Trinity  college  ;  but  Madden,  although  he  admired  this 
pamphlet,  and  solicited  the  publisher  for  the  name  of  its 
author,  never  made  the  discovery  :  Skelton  judging  it  for 
his  advantage  to  keep  the  secret.  In  the  mean  time,  his 
situation  being  rendered  extremely  irksome  by  the  vulgar 
mind  and  parsimonious  disposition  of  Mrs.  Madden,  he  re- 
signed both  the  curacy  and  his  tutorship  in  about  two 
years. 

On  leaving  Dr.  Madden,  he  repaired  to  his  brother's,  in 
Dundalk,  until,  in  1732,  he  was  nominated  to  the  curacy 
of  Monaghan,  in  the  diocese  of  Cloghet,  by  the  hon.  and 
rev.  Francis  Hamilton,  the  rector.  This  situation  was  for 
some  years  permanent,  and  afforded  him  leisure  to  pursue 
his  favourite  study  of  diunity,  and  to  execute  the  duties  of 
a  parish  priest.  "  His  inclinations,"  says  his  biographer, 
"  were  all  spiritual,  and  he  only  desired  an  opportunity  of 
being  more  extensively  useful :  for  long  before,  he  had  fixed 
his  thoughts  on  the  rewards  of  a  better  world  than  the  pre- 
sent." His  life  was  accordingly  most  exemplary,  and  his 
preaching  efficacious.  It  was  said  that  the  very  children 
of  Monaghan,  whom  he  carefully  instructed,  knew  more 
of  religion  at  that  time,  than  the  grown  people  of  any  of 
the  neighbouring  parishes,  and  the  manners  of  his  flock 
were  soon  greatly  improved,  and  vice  and  ignorance  re- 
treated before  so  powerful  an  opponent.  His  charities  were 
extraordinary,  for  all  he  derived  from  his  curacy  was  40/. 
of  which  he  gave  10/.  a  year  to  his  mother,  and  for  some 
years  a  like  sum  to  his  tutor,  Dr.  Delany,  to  pay  some 
debts  he  had  contracted  at  college.  The  rest  were  for  his 
maintenance  and  his  charities,  and  when  the  pittance  he 
could  give  was  insufficient  for  the  relief  of  the  poor,  he 

E  2 


53  S  K  E  L  T  O  N. 

solicited  the  aid  of  people  of  fortune,  who  usually  contri- 
buted according  to  his  desire,  and  could  not  indeed  refuse 
a  man  who  first  gave  his  own  before  he  would  ask  any  of 
theirs.  His  visits  to  the  jails  were  also  attended  with  the 
happiest  effects.  On  one  remarkable  occasion,  when  a 
convict  at  Monaghan,  of  whose  innocence  he  was  well  as- 
sured, was  condemned  to  be  hanged  within  five  days,  he 
set  off  for  Dublin,  and  on  his  arrival  was  admitted  to  the 
privy  council,  which  then  was  sitting.  Here  he  pleaded 
lor  the  poor  man  with  such  eloquence,  as  to  obtain  his 
pardon,  and  returned  with  it  to  Monaghan  in  time  to  save 
his  life.  In  order  to  be  of  the  more  use  to  his  poor  pa- 
rishioners, he  studied  physic,  and  was  very  successful  in 
his  gratuitous  practice,  as  well  as  by  his  spiritual  advice, 
and  was  the  means  of  removing  many  prejudices  and  su- 
perstitions which  he  found  very  deeply  rooted  in  their 
minds. 

Mr.  Skelton  set  out  in  his  ministry  in  the  character  of 
an  avowed  champion  of  the  orthodox  faith.  Deriving  his 
religious  principles  from  the  pure  source  of  information, 
the  holy  Scriptures  themselves,  he  could  find  in  these  no 
real  ground  for  modern  refinements.  Consequently  he  de- 
clared open  war  against  all  Arians,  Socinians,  £c.  and 
published  several  anonymous  pieces  against  them.  In 
1736,  he  published  "  A  Vindication  of  the  Right  Rev.  the 
Lord  Bishop  of  Winchester,"  an  ironical  attack  on  Hoadly's 
"  Plain  account  of  the  nature  and  end  of  the  Lord's  Sup- 
per." When  bishop  Sterne  read  it,  he  sent  for  Skelton, 
and  asked  if  he  had  written  it  ?  Skelton  gave  him  an  eva- 
sive answer.  "  Well,  well,"  said  the  bishop,"  "  'tis  a  cle- 
ver thing — you  are  a  young  man  of  no  fortune  ;  take  these 
ten  guineas,  you  may  want  them."  "  I  took  the  money," 
Skelton  told  his  biographer,  "and  said  nothing,  for  I  was 
ihen  a  poor  curate." 

He  published  the  same  year,  "  Some  proposals  for  the 
revival  of  Christianity,"  another  piece  of  irony  against  the 
enemies  of  the  church,  which  was  imputed  to  Swift,  who, 
as  usual,  neither  affirmed  nor  denied  ;  but  only  observed, 
that  the  author  "  had  not  continued  the  irony  to  the  end." 
In  1737,  he  published  a  "  Dissertation  on  the  constitution 
and  effects  of  a  Petty  Jury."  In  this,  among  other  things, 
^eems  to  object  to  locking  up  a  jury  without  food,  until 
they  agree  upon  their  opinion.  The  attorney  general 
called  at  his  bookseller's,  who  refused  to  give  up  the  name 


S  K  E  L  T  O  N.  53 

of  the  author.  "  Well,"  said  the  attorney  general,  "  give 
my  compliments  to  the  author,  and  inform  him  from  me, 
that  I  do  not  think  there  is  virtue  enough  in  the  people 
of  this  country  ever  to  put  his  scheme  into  practice." 

His  fame,  however,  both  as  a  preacher  and  writer,  his 
extraordinary  care  as  an  instructor  of  a  parish,  and  his 
wonderful  acts  of  charity  and  goodness,  began,  about  1737, 
to  be  the  subject  of  conversation,  not  only  in  the  diocese 
of  Clogher,  and  other  parts  of  the  North,  but  also  in  the 
metropolis ;  but  still  no  notice  was  taken  of  him  in  the 
way  of  preferment.  Dr.  Sterne,  the  bishop  of  Clogher, 
usually  sent  for  him,  after  he  had  bestowed  a  good  prefer- 
ment upon  another,  and  gave  him,  "  by  way  of  a  sop," 
ten  guineas,  which  Mr.  Skelton  frequently  presented  to 
a  Mr.  Arbuthnot,  a  poor  cast-off  curate,  who  was  unable 
to  serve  through  age  and  infirmity.  At  length  Dr.  Delany, 
who  had  been  his  tutor  at  college,  perceiving  him  thus  neg- 
lected, procured  for  him  an  appointment  to  the  curacy 
of  St.  Werburgh's  in  Dublin.  This  would  have  been 
highly  acceptable  to  Mr.  Skelton,  and  Dr.  Delany  would 
have  been  much  gratified  to  place  such  a  man  in  a  situa- 
tion where  his  merits  were  likely  to  be  duly  appreciated  : 
it  is  painful  to  relate  in  what  manner  both  were  disap- 
pointed. When  he  was  on  the  point  of  leaving  the 
diocese  of  Clogher,  bishop  Sterne  perceiving  that  it  would 
be  to  his  discredit  if  a  person  of  such  abilities  should  leave 
his  diocese  for  want  of  due  encouragement,  sent  a  clergy- 
man to  inform  him,  "  that  if  he  staid  in  his  diocese  he 
would  give  him  the  first  living  that  should  fall."  Relying 
on  this,  he  wrote  to  Dr.  Delany,  and  the  curacy  of  St. 
Werburgh's  was  otherwise  disposed  of.  The  first  living 
that  fell  vacant  was  Monaghan,  where  he  had  so  long  of- 
ficiated, which  the  bishop  immediately  gave  to  his  nephew 
Mr.  Hawkshaw,  a  young  gentleman  that  had  lately  entered 
into  orders  !  It  would  even  appear  that  he  had  made  his 
promise  with  a  determination  to  break  it,  for  when  he  be- 
stowed the  preferment  on  his  nephew,  he  is  reported  to 
have  said,  "  I  give  you  now  a  living  worth  300/.  a  year, 
and  have  kept  the  best  curate  in  the  diocese  for  you,  who 
was  going  to  leave  it :  be  sure  take  his  advice,  and  follow 
his  directions,  for  he  is  a  man  of  worth  and  sense."  But 
Skelton,  with  all  his  "  worth  and  sense,"  was  not  superior 
to  the  infirmities  of  his  nature.  He  felt  this  treacherous 
indignity  very  acutely,  and  never  attended  a  visitation 


54  S  K  E  L  T  O  N. 

during  the  remainder  of  the  bishop's  life,  which  continued 
for  a  series  of  years  ;  nor  did  the  bishop  ever  ask  for  him, 
or  express  any  surprize  at  his  absence.  Under  Mr.  Hawk- 
shaw,  however,  he  Jived  not  unhappily.  Mr.  Hawkshaw 
submitted  to  his  instructions,  and  followed  his  example,  and 
there  was  often  an  amicable  contest  in  the  performance  of 
their  acts  of  duty  and  charity. 

In  1741,  he  resumed  his  useful  publications,  "The  Ne- 
cessity of  Tillage  and  Granaries,  in  a  letter  to  a  member 
of  parliament,"  and  a  paper  published  in  the  Philosophical 
Transactions,  entitled  "  A  curious  production  of  Nature," 
giving  an  account  of  a  species  of  caterpillar  which  appeared 
on  the  trees  at  Monaghan.  In  1742  he  accepted  the  office 
of  tutor  to  the  late  earl  of  Charlemout  ;  but,  owing  to  a 
difference  with  his  lordship's  guardian,  soon  resigned  this 
charge,  and  returned  to  his  curacy.  He  had,  however,  a 
very  high  opinion  of  lord  Chariemont,  and,  in  1743,  dedi- 
cated to  him  his  "Truth  in  a  Mask,"  a  pamphlet  in  which 
lie  professes  to  "  give  religious  truth  such  a  dress  and  mask 
as  may  perhaps  procure  it  admittance  to  a  conference  with 
some  of  its  opposers  and  contemners :"  his  biographer,  how- 
ever, does  not  think  he  has  been  very  successful  in  this 
attempt. 

After  he  returned  to  his  curacy,  he  was  offered  a  school 
xvorth  500/.  a  year,  arising  from  the  benefit  of  the  scholars, 
but  refused  it  as  interfering  with  the  plan  of  literary  im- 
provement and  labour  which  he  had  marked  out  for  him- 
self; and  when  told  that  he  might  employ  ushers,  he  said 
he  could  not  in  conscience  take  the  money,  without  giving 
up  his  whole  time  and  attention  to  his  scholars.  In  1744, 
he  published  "The  Candid  Reader,  addressed  to  his  ter- 
raqueous majesty,  the  WorUl."  The  objects  of  his  ridicule 
in  this  are  Hill,  the  mathematician,  who  proposed  making 
verses  by  an  arithmetical  table,  lord  Shaftesbury,  and  John- 
son, the  author  of  a  play  called  "  Hurlothrumbo,"  with  a 
parallel  between  Hurlothrumbo  and  the  rhapsody  of  Shaftes- 
bury. In  the  same  year  he  also  published  "  A  Letter 
to  the  authors  of  Divine  Analogy  and  the  Minute  Philo- 
sopher, from  an  old  officer,"  a  plain,  sensible  letter,  ad- 
vising the  two  polemics  to  turn  their  arms  from  one  another 
against  the  common  enemies  of  the  Christian  faith.  During 
the  rebellion  in  1745,  he  published  a  very  seasonable  ami 
shrewd  pamphlet,  entitled  the  "  Chevalier's  hopes." 


SKELTON.  55 

On  the  death  of  Dr.  Sterne,  the  see  of  Clogher  was  filled 
by  Dr.  Clayton,  author  of  the  "  Essay  on  Spirit,"  a  decided 
Arian  ;  and  between  him  and  Skelton  there  could  conse- 
quently be  no  coincidence  of  opinion,  or  mutuality  of  re- 
spect. In  1748,  Mr.  Skelton  having  prepared  for  the  press 
his  valuable  work  entitled  "  Deism  revealed,"  he  con- 
ceived it  too  important  to  be  published  in  Ireland,  and 
therefore  determined  to  go  to  London,  and  dispose  of  it 
there.  On  his  arrival,  he  submitted  his  manuscript  to  An- 
drew Millar,  the  bookseller,  to  know  if  he  would  purchase 
it,  and  have  it  printed  at  his  own  expence.  The  book- 
seller desired  him,  as  is  usual,  to  leave  it  with  him  for  a 
day  or  two,  until  he  could  get  a  certain  gentleman  of  great 
abilities  to  examine  it.  Hume  is  said  to  have  come  in 
accidentally  into  the  shop,  and  Millar  shewed  him  the  MS. 
Hume  took  it  into  a  room  adjoining  the  shop,  examined  it 
here  and  there  for  about  an  hour,  and  then  said  to  An- 
drew, print.  By  this  work  Skelton  made  about  200/.  The 
bookseller  allowed  him  for  the  manuscript  a  great  many 
copies,  which  he  disposed  of  among  the  citizens  of  Lon- 
don, with  whom,  on  account  of  his  preaching,  he  was  a 
great  favourite.  He  always  spake  with  high  approbation  of 
the  kindness  with  which  he  was  received  by  many  eminent 
merchants.  When  in  London  he  spent  a  great  part  of  his 
time  in  going  through  the  city,  purchasing  books  at  a  cheap 
rate,  with  the  greater  part  of  the  money  he  got  by  his 
"  Deism  revealed,"  and  formed  a  good  library.  This  work 
was  published  in  1749,  in  two  volumes,  large  octavo,  and 
a  second  edition  was  called  for  in  1751,  which  waacom- 
prized  in  two  volumes  12mo.  It  has  ever  been  considered 
as  a  masterly  answer  to  the  cavils  of  deists ;  but  the  style 
in  this,  as  in  some  other  of  his  works,  is  not  uniform,  and 
his  attempts  at  wit  are  rather  too  frequent,  and  certainly 
not  very  successful.  A  few  months  after  its  publication 
the  bishop  of  Clogher,  Dr.  Clayton,  was  asked  by  Sher- 
lock, bishop  of  London,  if  he  knew  the  author.  "  O  yes, 
he  has  been  a  curate  in  my  diocese  near  these  twenty 
years." — "  More  shame  for  your  lordship,"  answered  Sher- 
lock, "  to  let  a  man  of  his  merit  continue  so  long  a  curate 
in  your  diocese." 

After  a  residence  at  London  of  about  six  months,  during 
which  he  preached  some  of  the  sermons  since  published  in 
his  works,  Mr.  Skelton  returned  to  his  curacy  in  Ireland, 
and  in  1750,  a  large  living  became  vacant  in  the  diocese 


56  S  K  E  L  T  O  N, 

of  Clogher.  Dr.  Delany  and  another  bishop  immediately 
waited  on  bishop  Clayton,  and  told  him,  that  if  he  did  not 
give  Skehon  a  living  now,  after  disappointing  them  so 
often,  they  would  take  him  out  of  his  diocese.  This,  how- 
ever, was  not  entirely  effectual :  Clayton  could  not  refuse 
the  request,  hut  made  several  removals  on  purpose  to  place 
Skelton  in  the  living  of  Pettigo,  in  a  wild  part  of  the 
county  of  Donegal,  worth  about  200/.  a  year,  the  people 
uncultivated,  disorderly,  fond  of  drinking  and  quarrelling, 
and,  in  a  word,  sunk  in  profound  ignorance.  He  used  to 
say,  he  was  a  missionary  sent  to  convert  them  to  Christi- 
anity, and  that  he  was  banished  from  all  civilised  society. 
He  often  declared  that  he  was  obliged  to  ride  seven  miles 
before  he  could  meet  with  a  person  of  common  sense  to 
converse  with.  With  such  difficulties,  however,  Skeltou 
was  born  to  contend.  He  always  had  a  conscientious  feel- 
ing of  the  wants  of  his  flock,  with  a  strong  impelling  sense 
of  duty.  His  biographer  has  given  a  very  interesting  ac- 
count of  the  means,  pious  and  charitable,  which  he  took 
to  meliorate  the  condition  of  his  parish,  which,  for  the 
sake  of  brevity,  we  must  omit ;  suffice  it  to  say,  they  were 
effectual ;  but  his  situation  affected  his  mind  in  some  de- 
gree, and  he  became  liable  to  occasional  fits  of  the  hypo- 
chondriac kind,  which  recurred  more  or  less  in  the  alter- 
part  of  his  life. 

Jn  this  lonely  situation  he  found  sometime  for  study, and 
besides  an  excellent  visitation  sermon  on  the  "  Dignity  of 
the  Christian  Ministry,"  he  published  in  1753  "The  Consul- 
tation, or  a  Dialogue  of  the  Gods,  in  the  manner  of  Lu- 
cian,"  intended  to  ridicule  the  Arians;  and  in  this,  or  the 
following  year,  went  again  to  London  to  publish  his  dis- 
courses, two  volumes  of  which  appeared  in  1754,  under 
the  title  of  "  Discourses  Controversial  and  Practical,  on 
various  subjects,  proper  for  the  consideration  of  the  present 
times.  By  the  author  of  '  Deism  revealed1." 

In  1757  a  remarkable  dearth  prevailed  in  Ireland,  and  no 
where  more  than  in  Mr.  Skelton's  parish.  The  scenes  of 
distress  which  he  witnessed  would  now  appear  scarcely  cre- 
dible. He  immediately  set  himself  to  alleviate  the  wants  of 
his  flock,  by  purchases  of  meal,  &c.  at  other  markets, 
until  he  had  exhausted  all  his  money,  and  then  he  had  re- 
course to  a  sacrifice  which  every  man  of  learning  will  duly 
appreciate.  He  resolved  to  sell  his  books,  almost  the  only 
comfort  he  had  in  this  dreary  solitude,  and  relieve  his 


S  K  E  L  T  O  N.  57 

indigent  parishioners  with  the  money.  Watson,  a  book- 
seller in  Dublin,  who  had  advertised  then:  tor  sale  wiihout 
success,  at  last  bought  them  himself  for  80/.  and  immedi- 
ately paid  the  money.  Soon  after  they  were  advertised, 
two  ladies,  lady  Barrymore  and  a  Miss  Leslie,  who  guessed 
at  Skelton's  reason  for  selling  his  hooks,  sent  him  SO/,  re- 
questing him  to  keep  his  books,  and  relieve  his  poor  with 
the  money  ;  but  Skelton,  with  many  expressions  of  grati- 
tude, told  them  he  had  dedicated  his  books  to  God,  and  he 
must  sell  them  ;  and  accordingly  both  sums  were  applied 
to  the  relief  of  his  parishioners.  Every  heart  warms  at  the 
recital  of  such  an  act  of  benevolence,  and  all  reflections  on 
it  would  lessen  the  impression. — One  other  circumstance 
may  be  added.  The  bookseller  sold  only  a  part  of  the  books 
in  the  course  of  trade,  and  those  that  remained,  Mr.  Skel- 
ton, when  he  could  allord  it,  took  from  him  at  the  price  he 
sold  them  for,  but  insisted  on  paying  interest  for  the  sum 
they  amounted  to,  for  the  time  Mr.  Watson  had  them  in 
his  possession. 

About  1758,  a  pamphlet  appeared  in  Dublin,  entitled 
"  An  Appeal  to  the  common  sense  of  all  Christian  people," 
an  artful  defence  of  Arianism,  an  answer  to  which  was 
written  by  Mr.  Skelton,  in  the  opinion  of  his  bio- 
grapher, in  a  masterly  manner  and  style,  exceeding  any 
of  hi*  former  compositions.  But  as  the  "  Appeal"  sunk 
into  obscurity,  the  answer  was  not  inserted  in  the  edition 
of  his  works  published  in  1770.  Here,  however,  maybe 
found  a  description  of  Longh-Derg,  which  he  wrote  about 
this  time,  a  place  much  visited  by  the  superstitious.  In 
1758,  Dr.  Clayton,  bishop  of  Clogher,  died,  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Dr.  Garnet,  who  treated  Mr.  Skelton  with  the 
respect  he  deserved,  and  in  1759  gave  him  the  living  of 
Devenish,  in  the  county  of  Fermanagh,  near  Enniskillen, 
worth  about  300/.  a  year,  and  thus  he  was  brought  once 
more  into  civilized  society.  When  leaving  Pettigo,  he 
said  to  the  poor,  "  Give  me  your  blessing  now  before  I  go, 
and  God's  blessing  be  with  you.  When  you  are  in  great 
distress,  come  to  me,  and  I '11  strive  to  relieve  you."  In 
this  new  charge,  he  exerted  the  same  zeal  to  instruct  his 
flock  both  in  public  and  private,  and  the  same  benevolence 
toward  the  poor  which  had  made  him  so  great  a  benefit  to 
his  former  people.  Wre  must  refer  to  his  biographer  for 
numerous  proofs,  for  which  his  memory  continues  still  to 
be  held  in  high  veneration.  In  17oG,  the  bishop  of  Clog- 


58  S  K  E  L  T  O  N. 

her  removed  him  from  Devenish  to  the  living  of  Fintona, 
in  the  county  of  Tyrone,  worth  at  least  100/.  more  than  the 
other.  He  was  now  in  the  fifty-ninth  year  of  his  age. 
"  God  Almighty,"  he  used  to  say,  "  was  very  kind  to  me: 
when  I  began  to  advance  in  years  and  stood  in  need  of  a 
horse  and  servant,  he  gave  me  a  living.  Then  he  gave  me 
two  livings,  one  after  another,  each  of  which  was  worth  a 
hundred  a  year  more  than  the  preceding.  I  have  therefore 
been  rewarded  by  him,  even  in  this  world,  far  above  my 
deserts." 

At  Fintona,  he  shewed  himself  the  same  diligent,  kind, 
and  faithful  pastor  as  when  on  his  former  livings  ;  but  two 
varieties  occurred  here  very  characteristic  of  the  man.  Hav- 
ing discovered  that  most  of  his  protestant  parishioners  were 
dissenters,  he  invited  their  minister  to  dine  with  him,  and 
asked  his  leave  to  preach  in  his  meeting  on  the  next  Sun- 
day ;  and  consent  being  given,  the  people  were  so  pleased 
with  Mr.  Skelton,  that  the  greater  number  of  them  quitted 
their  own  teacher.  After  some  time,  Skelton  asked  him 
how  much  he  had  lost  by  the  desertion  of  his  hearers  ?  He 
told  him  40/.  a  year,  on  which  he  settled  that  sum  on  him 
annually.  We  mentioned  in  a  former  page  that  Mr.  Skelton 
had  studied  physic  with  a  view  to  assist  the  poor  with  advice 
and  medicines.  By  this  practice,  at  Fintona,  he  found  that 
Dr.  Gormly,  the  physician  of  the  place,  lost  a  great  part 
of  his  business;  on  which  Skelton  settled  also  40/.  a  year 
on  him.  In  both  these  instances,  his  biographer  observes, 
he  not  only  took  on  him  the  toil  of  doing  good,  but  also 
voluntarily  paid  for  doing  it. 

In  1770,  he  published  his  works  by  subscription,  in  5 
vols.  Svo,  for  the  benefit  of  the  Magdalen  charity.  The 
first  volume  contains  u  Deism  revealed,"  the  second  and 
third,  the  "  Sermons"  he  published  in  England,  the  fourth 
an  additional  number  of  sermons  not  before  printed;  the 
fifth  consisted  of  miscellanies,  of  which  some  had  not  been 
before  published,  as  "  Reasons  for  Inoculation,"  an  "  Ac- 
count of  a  Well  or  Pool''  near  Clovis,  in  the  county  of  Mo- 
naghan,  famous  for  curing  the  jaundice  ;  "  Observations 
on  a  late  resignation,"  that  of  the  rev.  William  Robertson 
(see  his  life,  vol.  XXVI.  p.  257.)  "A  Dream,"  intended 
to  expose  the  folly  of  fashion  ;  and  "  Hilema,"  a  copse  or 
shrubbery,  consisting  of  observations  and  anecdotes. 

In  his  latter  days,  when  the  air  of  Fintona  became  too 
keen  for  him,  he  passed  some  of  his  winters  iu  Dublin,  and 


S  K  E  L  T  O  N.  59 

there  was  highly  valued  for  his  preaching,  which,  in  the 
case  of  chanties,  was  remarkably  successful.  During  a 
dearth,  owing  to  the  decline  of  the  yarn  manufactory  at 
Fintona,  he  again  exhausted  his  whole  property  in  relieving 
the  poor,  and  again  sold  his  books  for  100/.  He  said  he 
was  now  too  old  to  use  them  ;  but  the  real  cause  was,  that 
he  wanted  the  money  to  give  to  the  poor,  and  the  year 
after  he  bestowed  on  them  60/.  It  was  one  of  his  prac- 
tices to  distribute  money,  even  in  times  of  moderate  plenty, 
among  indigent  housekeepers,  who  were  struggling  to  pre- 
serve a  decent  appearance.  He  was  also  the  kind  and  li- 
beral patron  of  such  of  their  children  as  had  abilities,  and 
could,  by  his  urgent  application  and  interest,  be  advanced 
in  the  world. 

His  infirmities  increasing,  after  fifty  years  labour  in  the 
ministry  with  unexampled  diligence,  he  now  found  himself 
incapable  any  longer  of  the  discharge  of  his  public  duties, 
and  in  1780  took  his  final  leave  of  Fintona,  and  removed  to 
Dublin,  to  end  his  days.  Here  he  received  great  respect 
from  many  of  the  higher  dignitaries  of  the  church,  and  in 
1781  the  university  offered  him  the  degree  of  doctor  of  di- 
vinity, which  he  declined.  In  1784  he  published  by  sub- 
scription a  sixth  volume  of  his  works,  containing  "An 
Appeal  to  common  sense  on  the  subject  of  Christianity," 
&c.  or  a  historical  proof  of  the  truth  of  Christianity,  supe- 
rior in  style  and  arrangement  to  any  of  his  former  produc- 
tions, and  which  shewed  that  his  faculties  were  in  full  force 
at  the  age  of  seventy-six.  In  the  same  volume,  are  "  Some 
Thoughts  on  Common  Sense,"  some  hymns,  and  a  Latin 
poem.  In  1786  he  published  his  seventh  volume,  entitled 
*'  Senilia,  or  an  Old  Man's  Miscellany,"  In  the  same  year 
he  published  a  short  answer  to  a  catechism,  written  by  an 
English  clergyman,  and  used  at  Sunday  schools,  which  he 
supposed  to  contain  an  erroneous  doctrine  with  respect  to 
the  state  of  men  alter  death,  and  sent  a  copy  to  all  the  bi- 
shops of  England  and  Ireland.  The  archbishop  of  Dublin 
was  so  convinced  by  it,  that  he  stopped  the  use  of  the  cate- 
chism in  his  diocese. 

Mr.  Skelton  died  May  4,  1787,  and  was  buried  near  the 
west  door  of  St.  Peter's  church-yard.  His  character  has 
been  in  some  degree  displayed  in  the  preceding  sketch 
taken  from  his  "  Life,"  by  the  rev.  Samuel  Burdy,  1792, 
8vo.  With  the  exception  of  some  oddities  of  conduct  and 
expression,  in  which  he  somewhat  resembled  Swift  and 


60  S  K  I  N  N  E  R. 

Johnson,  his  life  was  truly  exemplary  in  all  its  parts,  and 
liis  writings  deserve  to  be  better  known.1 

SKINNER  (STEPHEN),  an  English  antiquary,  was  born 
either  in  London,  or  in  the  county  of  Middlesex,  about 
1622.  He  was  admitted  on  the  royal  foundation  at  Christ 
church  in  Oxford,  1638;  but,  the  rebellion  breaking  out 
before  he  could  take  any  degree,  he  travelled,  and  studied 
in  several  universities  abroad.  About  1646,  he  returned 
home  ;  and  going  to  Oxford,  which  at  this  time  ceased  to 
be  a  garrison,  he  took  both  the  degrees  in  arts  the  same 
year.  He  then  resumed  his  travels  through  France,  Italy, 
Germany,  the  Spanish  Netherlands,  and  other  countries; 
visited  the  courts  of  several  princes;  frequented  the  prin- 
cipal universities;  and  established  an  acquaintance  with  the 
learned  in  different  parts  of  Europe.  On  the  restoration  of 
the  university  of  Heidelherg,  by  Charles  Lewis,  Elector 
Palatine,  he  was  honoured  with  a  doctor  of  physic's  degree; 
and,  returning  to  England,  was  incorporated  into  the  same 
at  Oxford  in  1654.  About  this  time  he  settled  at  Lincoln  ; 
where,  after  practising  physic  with  success,  lie  died  of  a 
malignant  fever,  Sept.  5,  1667.  Wood  says,  "  He  was  a 
person  well  versed  in  most  parts  of  learning,  understood 
all  books  whether  old  or  new,  was  most  skilful  in  the  Ori- 
ental tongues,  an  excellent  Grecian,  and,  in  short,  a  liv- 
ing library." 

He  wrote  "  Prolegomena  Etymologica  ;"  "  Etymologicon 
linguae  Anglicanae  ;"  "  Etymologicon  Botanicum  ;"  "  Ety- 
mologica Expositio  vocum  forensium;"  "  Etymoiogicon  vo- 
cum  omnium  Anglicarum  ;"  "  Etymologicon  Onomasticon." 
After  his  death  these  works,  which  he  had  left  unfinished, 
came  into  the  hands  of  Thomas  Henshaw,  esq.  of  Kensing- 
ton, near  London,  who  corrected,  digested,  and  added  to 
them,  his  additions  being  marked  with  the  letter  H  :  and 
after  this,  prefixing  an  epistle  to  the  reader,  published  them 
\\ith  this  title,  "  Etymologicon  Linguae  Anglicanse,"  &,c. 
1671,  folio.2 

SLATER,  or  SLATY  ER  (WILLIAM),  a  learned  divine 
and  poet,  was  born  in  Somersetshire  in  1587,  and  was  ad- 
mitted a  member  of  St.  Mary  hall,  Oxford,  in  1600,  whence 
he  removed  to  Brasenose  college  in  1607.  In  the  follow- 
ing year  he  took  his  degree  of  B.  A.  and  was  chosen  to  a 
nvship.  He  took  his  master's  degree  in  1611,  entc 

»  Life  as  above.  2   Ajh.  Ox.  vol.  II. 


SLATER.  61 

into  holy  orders,  and  was  beneficed.  In  1C23  lie  took  his 
degrees  in  divinity,  and  had  by  this  time  acquired  very 
considerable  reputation  for  his  poetical  talent,  and  his 
knowledge  in  English  history.  He  died  at  Otterden  in 
Kent,  where  he  was  beneficed,  in  Oct.  or  Nov.  1647.  Hi*. 
works  are,  1.  "  Threnodia,  sive  Pandioniuni,"  &c.  being 
elegies  and  epitaphs  on  the  queen  Anne  of  Denmark,  to 
whom  he  had  been  chaplain.  It  is  a  quarto  of  four  sheets, 
printed  in  1619.  The  elegies  and  epitaphs  are  in  Hebrew, 
Greek,  Latin,  and  English  verses,  and  some  of  them  iu 
the  fantastical  shape  of  pillars,  circles,  &c.  2.  "  Paltc- 
Albion,  or  the  History  of  Great  Britain  from  the  first  peo- 
pling of  this  island  to  the  reign  of  king  James,"  Lond.  1621, 
fol.  in  Latin  and  English  verse,  with  historical  notes,  which 
Granger,  who  calls  this  Slater's  "  capital  work,"  thinks 
the  most  valuable  part.  3.  "  Genethliacon,  sive  stemma 
regis  Jacobi,"  Lond.  1630,  a  thin  folio  in  Lat.  and  English, 
with  a  foolish  genealogy  of  king  James  from  Adam.  He 
published  also  "  The  Psalms  of  David,  in  fowre  languages, 
Hebrew,  Greeke,  Latin,  and  English,  and  in  4  parts, 
set  to  the  tunes  of  our  church,  with  corrections,"  1652, 
16mo.  There  appears  to  have  been  an  edition  before  this, 
which  was  posthumous,  but  the  date  is  not  known.  Dr, 
Burney  says  this  is  the  most  curious  and  beautiful  produc- 
tion of  the  kind,  during  the  seventeenth  century,  that  has 
come  to  his  knowledge.  Both  words  and  music  are  very 
neatly  engraved  on  near  sixty  copper- plates.  The  English 
version  is  that  of  Sternhold,  retouched,  not  always  for  the 
better,  and  the  music  is  selected  from  Ravenscroft.1 

SLEIDAN  (JOHN),  an  excellent  German  historian,  was 
born  in  1506,  at  Sleiden,  a  small  town  upon  the  confines 
of  the  duchy  of  Juliers,  whence  he  derived  his  name.  His 
origin,  according  to  Varillas,  was  so  obscure,  that  not 
knowing  the  name  of  his  father,  he  adopted  that  of  his 
birth-place  ;  but  this  is  the  report  of  an  enemy,  as  his  fa- 
ther's name  was  Philip,  ami  his  family  not  of  the  lower 
order.  He  went  through  hi->  first  studies  in  his  own  coun- 
try, together  with  the  learned  John  Sturmius,  who  was 
born  in  the  same  town  with  himself;  and  afterwards  remov- 
ed, first  to  Paris,  and  then  to  Orleans,  where  he  studied 
the  law  for  three  years.  He  took  the  degree  of  licentiate 
in  this  faculty,  but,  having  always  an  aversion  to  the  bar, 

}  Ath.  OK.  ro!,  II.— Surney's  Hist,  of  Music,  vol.  III. 


62  Si   L  E  I  D  A   N. 

he  continued  his  pursuits  chiefly  in  polite  literature.  Uporf 
his  return  to  Paris,  he  was  recommended  by  his  friend  Stur- 
mius,  iu  1535,  to  John  Du  Bellay,  archbishop  and  cardi- 
nal; who  conceived  such  an  affection  for  him,  that  he  set- 
tled on  him  a  pension,  and  communicated  to  him  affairs  of 
the  greatest  importance;  for  Sleidan  had  a  turn  for  busi- 
ness, as  well  as  letters.  He  accompanied  the  ambassador 
of  France  to  the  diet  of  Haguenan,  but  returned  to  Paris, 
and  remained  there  till  it  was  not  safe  for  him  to  stay  any 
longer,  as  he  was  inclined  to  the  sentiments  of  the  refor- 
mers. In  1542  he  retired  to  Strasburg,  where  he  acquired 
the  esteem  and  friendship  of  the  most  considerable  persons, 
and  especially  of  James  Sturmius ;  by  whose  counsel  he 
undertook,  and  by  whose  assistance  he  v\as  enabled,  to  wrier: 
the  history  of  his  own  time.  He  was  employed  in  some 
uegociations  both  to  France  and  England  ;  and,  in  one  of 
these  journeys,  he  met  with  a  lady  whom  he  married  in 
151(>.  About  the  same  time  the  princes  of  the  league  of 
Smalcald  honoured  him  with  the  title  of  their  historiogra- 
pher, and  granted  him  a  pension,  and  when  he  lost  this  by 
the  dissolution  of  the  league  in  154-7,  the  republic  of  Stras- 
burgh  gave  him  another.  In  1551,  he  went,  on  the  part 
of  the  republic,  to  the  council  of  Trent;  but,  the  troops  of 
Maurice,  elector  of  Saxony,  obliging  that  council  to  break 
up,  he  returned  to  Strasburgh  without  having  transacted 
any  business.  He  was  employed  in  other  affairs  of  state, 
when  the  death  of  his  wife,  in  15,55,  plunged  him  into  a 
deep  melancholy,  with  such  a  total  loss  of  memory,  as  that 
he  did  not  know  his  own  children.  Some  imputed  this  to 
poison  ;  and  others  to  natural  causes.  It  ended,  however, 
in  his  death,  at  Strasburg,  Oct.  ;31,  I55u,  in  the  fiftieth 
year  of  his  age. 

He  was  a  learned  man,  and  an  excellent  writer.  In  1555, 
came  out- in  folio,  his  "  De  Statu  Religionis  &  lleipublicie, 
Carolo  Quinto  Cajsaie,  Commentarii,"  in  twenty-five  books, 
from  1517,  when  Luther  began  to  preach,  to  1555.  This 
history  was  quickly  translated  into  almost  all  the  languages 
of  Europe,  and  has  been  generally  thought  to  be  well  and 
faithfully  written,  notwithstanding  the  attempts  of  Varillas 
and  other  popish  authors  to  discredit  it.  It  did  not  stand 
solely  upon  Sleidan's  own  authority,  which,  however,  must 
be  of  great  weight,  considering  that  he  wrote  of  times  in 
which  he  lived,  and  of  transactions  in  which  he  had  some 
concern  j  but  was  extracted  from  public  acts  and  original 


S  L  E  I  D  A  N.  63 

records,  which  were  in  the  archives  of  the  town  of  Stras- 
burg,  and  with  which  he  was  furnished  by  James  Sturmius. 
Besides  this  history,  which  is  his  principal  work,  he  wrote 
"  De  quatuor  summis  Imperils  libri  tres,"  a  compendious 
chronological  account  of  the  four  great  empires,  which,  on 
account  of  its  singular  utility,  has  been  often  printed.  He 
epitomized  and  translated  into  Latin  the  Histories  of  Frois- 
sart  and  Philip  de  Comities,  and  was  the  author  of  some 
other  works  relating  to  history  and  politics,  the  principal  of 
which  are  printed  in  a  volume  of  "  Opuscula,"  Hanover, 
1608,  Svo.1 

SLINGELAND  (JOHN  PETER  VAN),  a  Dutch  artist,  emi- 
nent as  a  painter  of  portraits  and  conversations,  was  born 
at  Ley  den  in  16  iO,  and  died  in  1691.  He  was  a  disciple, 
and  zealous  imitator  of  Gerard  Douw,  whom  he  is  thought 
in  some  respects  to  surpass.  The  exquisite  neatness  of  his 
manner  compelled  him  to  work  very  slowly,  and  he  is  said 
to  have  employed  three  years  in  painting  a  family  picture 
for  Mr.  Meermans.  He  imitated  nature  with  exactness, 
but  without  taste  or  selection,  yet  he  is  esteemed  one  of 
the  best  of  the  Flemish  painters. 2 

SLOANE  (SiR  HANS),  an  eminent  physician,  naturalist, 
and  benefactor  to  learning,  was  born  at  Killileagh,  in  the 
county  of  Down,  in  Ireland,  April  16,  1660.  He  was  of 
Scotch  extraction,  but  his  father,  Alexander  Sloane,  being 
at  the  head  of  that  colony  of  Scots  which  king  James  I.  set- 
tled in  the  north  of  Ireland,  removed  to  that  country,  and 
was  collector  of  the  taxes  for  the  county  of  Down,  both 
before  and  after  the  Irish  rebellion.  He  died  in  1666. 

The  younger  years  of  sir  Hans  Sloane  were  marked  by  a 
strong  attachment  to  the  works  of  nature,  in  the  contem- 
plation of  which  he  passed  his  leisure  hours,  until  his  stu- 
dies of  every  kind  were,  in  his  sixteenth  year,  interrupted 
by  a  spitting  of  blood,  which  confined  him  to  his  room  for 
three  years.  When,  by  strict  regimen  and  abstinence,  he 
had  recovered,  he  studied  the  preliminary  branches  of 
physic  in  London,  particularly  chemistry,  under  Mr.  Straf- 
forth,  an  excellent  chemist,  who  had  been  pupil  to  the 
celebrated  Stahl.  He  also  studied  his  favourite  science  of 
botany  at  Chelsea  garden,  which  was  then  but  just  esta- 

1  Nicerou,  vol.  XXXIX. — Melchior  Adain. — Be^ae  Icongs — Verheiden  Effi- 
gies praestaiitium  aliquoi  Ttieologorum. 
•  Pilkinjjttm,— Ar^enville,  vol.  HI, 


64  S  L  O  A  N  E- 

blished,  and,  young   as   he    was,    contracted   during    that 
time  an  acquaintance  with  Boyie  and  Ray. 

After  four  years  thus  employed,  he  visited  France  for 
improvement,  in  company  with  Mr.  (afterwards  sir)  Tancred 
llobinson,  M.  D.  (see  his  life,  vol.  XXVI.)  and  another 
student.  At  Paris  he  attended  the  lectures  of  Tournefort 
and  Du  Verney ;  and  is  supposed  to  have  taken  his  degrees 
in  medicine  at  Montpellierj  some  say  at  Orange.  At 
Montpellier  he  was  recommended  by  Tournefort  to  M.  Chi- 
rac, then  chancellor  and  professor  of  that  university,  and 
by  his  means  to  other  learned  men,  particularly  Magnol, 
whom  he  always  accompanied  in  his  botanical  excursions, 
and  derived  much  benefit  from  his  instructions.  He  re- 
turned to  London  at  the  latter  end  of  1684,  and  immedi- 
ately went  to  visit  his  illustrious  friends  Boyle  and  Ray. 
The  latter  was  now  retired  and  settled  at  Black  Notley  in 
Essex.  Dr.  Sloane  sent  him  a  great  variety  of  plants  and 
seeds,  which  Ray  has  described  in  his  "  Historia  Planta- 
rtim,"  with  proper  acknowledgments.  At  London  Dr. 
Sioaue  became  the  favourite  of  Dr.  Sydenham,  who  took 
him  into  his  house,  and  zealously  promoted  his  interest  in 
the  way  of  practice.  On  Jan.  21,  1685,  he  was  elected  a 
fellow  of  the  Royal  Society,  and  in  April  1687,  entered 
into  the  college  of  physicians.  Such  early  advancements 
in  his  profession  are  the  strongest  presumptions  in  favour  of 
his  superior  knowledge,  and  promising  abilities.  Yet  these 
flattering  prospects  he  relinquished,  to  gratify  his  ardour  for 
natural  knowledge. 

On  September  12,  1687,  and  in  the  twenty-eighth  year 
of  his  age,  he  embarked  for  Jamaica,  as  physician  to  the 
duke  of  Alhemarle ;  and  touched  at  Madeira,  Barbadoes, 
Nevis,  and  Nt.  Kitt's.  The  duke  dying  Dec.  19th,  soon 
after  their  arrival  at  Jamaica,  Dr.  Sleane's  stay  on  the  island 
did  noc  exceed  fifteen  months.  During  this  time,  however, 
such  was  his  application,  that,  in  the  language  of  his  French 
eulogist,  had  he  not  converted,  as  it  \\ere,  his  minutes 
into  hours,  lie  could  not  have  made  those  numerous  acqui- 
sitions, which  contributed  so  largely  to  extend  the  know- 
ledge of  nature  ;  while  they  laid  the  foundation  of  his  future 
fame  and  fortune.  Dr.  Pulteney  remarks,  that  several  cir- 
cumstances concurred  respecting  Dr.  Sloane's  voyage  to 
Jamaica,  which  rendered  it  peculiarly  successful  to  natural 
history.  He  was  the  first  man  of  learning,  whom  the  love 
of  science  alone  had  led  from  England,  to  that  distant  part 


S  L  O  A  N  E.  65 

of  the  globe,  and,  consequently,  the  field  was  wholly  open 
to  him.  He  was  already  well  acquainted  with  the  discove- 
ries of  the  age.  He  had  an  enthusiasm  for  his  object,  and 
was  at  an  age,  when  both  activity  of  body,  and  ardour  of 
mind,  concur  to  vanquish  difficulties.  Under  this  happy 
coincidence  of  circumstances,  it  is  not  strange  that  Dr. 
Sloane  returned  home  with  a  rich  harvest.  In  fact,  besides 
a  proportional  number  of  subjects  from  the  animal  kingdom, 
he  brought  from  Jamaica,  and  the  other  islands  they  touched 
at,  no  fewer  than  eight  hundred  different  species  pf  plants, 
a  number  very  far  beyond  what  had  been  imported  by  any 
individual  into  England  before. 

Dr.  Sloane  returned  from  his  voyage,  May  29,  1689,  and 
fixing  in  London,  soon  became  eminent.  In  169-1  he  was 
chosen  physician  to  Christ's  hospital,  which  station  he  filled 
until  age  and  infirmities  obliged  him  to  resign  in  1730,  and 
although  he  punctually  received  every  year  the  emolument 
of  his  office,  because  he  would  not  set  a  precedent  that 
might  be  disadvantageous  to  his  successor,  he  constantly 
applied  the  money  to  the  relief  of  those  belonging  to  the 
hospital  who  most  wanted  it.  In  the  preceding  year,  1693, 
he  had  been  elected  secretary  to  the  Royal  Society,  and 
had  revived  the  publication  of  the  "  Philosophical  Transac- 
tions," which  had  been  interrupted  from  the  year  1687. 
This  office  he  held  till  1712,  when  he  was  succeeded  by 
Dr.  Halley.  About  the  same  time,  he  became  an  active 
member  of  the  college  of  physicians,  in  promoting  the  plan 
of  a  dispensary  for  the  poor,  which  was  at  length  carried 
into  execution.  The  feuds  excited  on  this  occasion,  by 
the  apothecaries,  gave  rise  to  the  once  celebrated  satire  by 
Dr.  Garth. 

In  1696,  Dr.  Sloane  published  the  Prodromus  to  his  his- 
tory of  Jamaica  plants,  under  the  title  of  "  Catalogus  Plan- 
tarum  quae  in  insula  Jamaica  sponte  proveniunt,"  8vo.  This 
volume,  intrinsically  valuable  as  it  is,  may  yet  be  consider- 
ed as  only  the  nomenclature,  or  systematic  index  to  his 
subsequent  work.  The  arrangement  of  the  subject  is  nearly 
that  of  Ray,  vegetables  being  thrown  into  twenty-five  large 
natural  classes,  or  families.  Among  botanists  of  that  time, 
generical  characters  had  not  attained  any  remarkable  preci- 
sion ;  and  Sloane,  like  Plukenet,  was  little  farther  anxious, 
than  to  refer  his  new  plants  to  some  genus  already  establish- 
ed, without  a  minute  attention  to  the  parts  of  fructification, 
farther  than  as  they  formed  part  pf  the  character  drawn 

VOL.  XXVIIL  F 


(To  S  L  O  A  N  E. 

from  habit;  yet,  with  this  defect,  the  figures  and  descrip- 
tions of  Sloane  proved  sufficiently  accurate  to  enable  his 
successors  to  refer  almost  all  his  species  to  the  appropriate 
places  in  the  system  of  the  present  clay. 

Dr.  Sloane  began  early  to  form  a  museum,  and  it  was, 
by  the  collections  mnde  in  his  voyage,  become  considera- 
ble; but  the  rera  of  its  celebrity  was  not  until  1702,  when 
it  received  the  augmentation  of  Mr.  Courten's  valuable 
stores  (See  COURTEN).  In  1701,  Dr.  Sloane  was  incorpo- 
rated doctor  of  physic  at  Oxford,  and  was  associated  mem- 
ber of  several  academies  on  the  continent.  In  1707,  he 
published  the  first  volume  of  his  history,  under  the  title  of 
"  A  Voyage  to  the  islands  Madeira,  Barbadoes,  Nevis,  St. 
Christopher's,  and  Jamaica;  with  the  Natural  History  of  the 
Herbs  and  Trees,  four-footed  Beasts,  Fishes,  Birds,"  &c.  &c. 
fol.  The  introduction  of  this  volume  comprehends  a  gene- 
ral account  of  the  discovery  of  the  West-Indies,  and  of  the 
island  of  Jamaica  in  particular.  This  is  followed  by  the 
journal  of  the  voyage.  The  second  volume  was  not  pub- 
lished till  1725,  the  reasons  of  which  delay  were  principally 
the  care,  arrangement,  and  description  of  his  museum  ; 
to  this  the  collection  of  Petiver  had  been  added  in  1718, 
which,  as  it  was  not  preserved  with  a  care  equal  to  the  zeal 
with  which  Petiver  acquired  it,  demanded  extraordinary  di- 
ligence to  recover  it  from  the  injury  it  had  sustained.  It  is 
in  the  introduction  to  this  volume  that  sir  Hans  gives  a  ge- 
neral inventory  of  his  library  and  museum,  as  it  stood  in 
1725.  by  which  it  appears,  that  the  subjects  of  natural  his- 
tory alone,  exclusive  of  two  hundred  volumes  of  preserved 
plants,  amounted  to  more  than  26,200  articles.  They  were 
afterwards  augmented  to  upwards  of  36,600,  as  may  be  seen 
by  "  A  general  view  of  the  contents,"  published  a  }-ear 
before  his  death.  This  second  volume  completed  the  vege- 
table part  and  the  animal  kingdom,  and  the  plates  are 
continued  to  the  number  of  274.  The  work  was  productive 
of  much  benefit  to  science,  by  exciting  an  emulation,  both 
in  Britain  and  on  the  continent. 

In  1708,  he  was  elected  a  foreign  member  of  the  Royal 
Academy  of  Sciences  at  Paris,  a  distinction  of  the  highest 
estim;  t:;;:i  in  science,  and  the  greater  at  that  time,  as  the 
French  nation  was  at  war  with  England,  and  the  queen's 
consent  was  necessary  to  the  acceptance  of  it.  He  was 
frequently  consulted  by  queen  Anne,  who,  in  ber  last  ill- 
ness, was  blooded  by  him.  On  the  accession  of  George  I. 


S  L  O  A  N  E.  67 

he  was  created  a  baronet,  being  the  first  English  physician 
on  whom  an  hereditary  title  of  honour  had  been  conferred. 
He  was  appointed  physician  general  to  the  army,  which 
office  he  enjoyed  till  1727,  when  he  was  made  physician  to 
George  II.  He  also  gained  the  confidence  of  queen  Caro- 
line, and  prescribed  for  the  royal  family  until  his  death. 

In  1719,  sir  Hans  was  elected  president  of  the  college  of 
physicians,  which  station  he  held  sixteen  years,  and  during 
that  time  he  gave  signal  proofs  of  his  zeal  for  the  interests 
of  that  body.  On  the  death  cf  sir  Isaac  Newton,  in  1727, 
he  was  advanced  to  the  presidency  of  the  Royal  Society  of 
London,  the  interest  of  which  no  man  had  ever  more  uni- 
formly promoted.  He  made  the  society  a  present  of  100 
guineas  and  a  bust  of  the  founder,  Charles  II.  Thus,  in, 
the  zenith  of  prosperity,  he  presided,  at  the  same  time, 
over  the  two  most  illustrious  scientific  bodies  in  the  king- 
dom ;  and,  while  he  discharged  the  respective  duties  of 
each  station  with  credit  and  honour,  he  also  enjoyed  the 
most  extensive  and  dignified  employment  as  a  physician. 
He  occupied  these  important  stations  from  1719  to  1733, 
when  he  resigned  the  presidency  of  the  college  of  physi- 
cians ;  and,  in  1740,  at  the  age  of  eighty,  that  of  the  Royal 
.Society,  the  members  of  which  accepted  his  resignation 
with  reluctance,  and  at  a  public  meeting  returned  hira 
thanks  for  the  great  and  eminent  services  he  had  done  them, 
and  requested  his  permission  that  his  name  might  remain 
enrolled  among  the  members  of  their  council,  as  long  as 
he  should  live. 

Having  thus  resigned  all  his  public  employments,  he 
left  London  in  May  1741,  and  retired  to  his  house  at 
Chelsea,  the  manor  of  which  he  had  purchased  in  1712, 
and  to  which  he  removed  his  museum.  Here  he  received, 
as  in  London,  the  visits  of  persons  of  rank,  of  all  learned 
foreigners,  of  the  royal  family,  who  sometimes  did  him. 
that  honour  ;  and  never  refused  admittance  or  advice  to 
any,  whether  rich  or  poor,  who  came  to  consult  him  con- 
cerning their  health.  Hitherto  his  great  temperance  had 
preserved  him  from  experiencing  the  infirmities  of  old 
age,  but  in  his  ninetieth  year,  he  complained  of  fre- 
quent "pains,  and  was  sensible  of  an  universal  decay,  the 
progress  of  which  he  bore  with  complacency,  and  after  an 
illness  of  only  three  days,  expired  Jan.  11,  1752.  He 
was  interred  on  the  18th  at  Chelsea,  in  the  same  vault 
with  his  lady,  who  died  in  1724.  She  was  the  daughter 

F  2 


68  S  L  O  A  N  E. 

of  alderman  Langley  of  London,  and  married  to  Dr.  Sloane 
in  J695.  Of  this  marriage  two  daughters  only  survived 
him,  the  eldest  of  whom  was  married  to  George  Stanley, 
esq.  of  Hampshire,  and  the  younger  to  lord  Cadogan. 

Sir  Hans  Sloane  was  tall  and  well  made  in  his  person  ; 
easy,  polite,  and  engaging  in  his  manners ;  sprightly  in 
his  conversation,  and  obliging  to  all.  It  appears  by  his 
correspondence  in  the  British  Museum  that  he  was  a  man. 
of  great  benevolence,  and  from  that  character,  was  fre- 
quently solicited  by  distressed  persons  of  all  classes,  and, 
as  is  usual  in  such  cases,  by  many  who  abused  his  bounty. 
To  foreigners  he  was  extremely  courteous,  and  ready  to 
shew  and  explain  his  curiosities  to  all  who  gave  him  timely 
notice' of  their  visit.  He  kept  an  open  table  once  a  week 
for  his  learned  friends,  particularly  those  of  the  Royal 
Society.  In  the  aggregation  of  his  vast  collection  of  books, 
he  is  said  to  have  sent  his  duplicates,  either  to  the  royal 
college  of  physicians,  or  to  the  Bodleian  library. 

He  was  governor  of  almost  every  hospital  in  London ; 
and  to  each,  after  having  given  100/.  in  his  life-time,  he 
left  a  more  considerable  legacy  at  his  death.  He  was  ever 
a  benefactor  to  the  poor,  who  felt  the  consequences  of  his 
death  severely.  He  was  zealous  in  promoting  the  esta- 
blishment of  the  colony  of  Georgia  in  1732;  and  formed 
himself  the  plan  for  bringing  up  the  children  in  the  Found- 
ling hospital  in  1739.  In  1721  he  gave  the  freehold  of  the 
ground  at  Chelsea,  near  four  acres,  on  which  the  botanical 
garden  stood,  to  the  company  of  apothecaries,  on  condition 
chat  the  demonstrator  should,  in  the  name  of  the  company, 
deliver  annually  to  the  Royal  Society,  fifty  new  plants,  till 
the  number  should  amount  to  2000,  all  specifically  dif- 
ferent from  each  other ;  the  list  of  which  was  published 
yearly  in  the  Philosophical  Transactions.  The  first  wa« 
printed  in  1722,  and  the  catalogues  were  continued  until 
1773,  at  which  time  the  number  2550  was  completed. 
These  specimens  are  duly  preserved  in  the  archives  of  the 
society,  for  the  inspection  of  the  curious. 

In  the  exercise  of  his  function  as  a  physician,  sir  Hans 
Sloane  is  said  to  have  been  remarkable  for  the  certainty  of 
his  prognostics;  and  the  hand  of  the  anatomist  verified,  in 
a  signal  manner,  the  truth  of  his  predictions  relating  to 
the  seat  of  diseases.  By  his  practice  he  not  only  confirmed 
the  efHcacy  of  the  Peruvian  bark  in  intermittents,  but  ex- 
ied  its  use  in  favour  of  other  denominations,  in  nervous 


S  L  O  A  N  E.  6D 

disorders,  and  in  gangrenes  and  hemorrhages.  The  sanc- 
tion he  gave  to  inoculation,  by  performing  that  operation 
on  some  of  the  royal  family,  encouraged,  and  much  ac- 
celerated its  progress  throughout  the  kingdom.  His  oint- 
ment for  the  leucoma  has  not  yet  lost  its  credit  with  many 
reputable  names  in  physic.  He  published  only  the  works 
already  mentioned,  except  his  papers  in  the  Philosophical 
Transactions,  which  are  considerably  numerous,  and  may 
be  found  in  the  volumes  XVII  to  XLIX.  His  valuable 
museum,  it  is  well  known,  formed  the  foundation  of  that 
vast  national  repository  known  by  the  name  of  the  British 
Museum.  Sir  Hans  was  naturally  very  desirous  to  prevent 
his  collection  being  dissipated  after  his  death,  and  be- 
queathed it  to  the  public  on  condition  that  20,000/.  should 
be  paid  by  parliament  to  his  family.  Parliament  accord- 
ingly passed  an  act,  in  1753,  for  the  purchase  of  sir  Hans 
Sloane's  collection,  and  of  the  Harleian  collection  of  MSS, 
and  for  procuring  one  general  repository  for  their  recep- 
tion, along  with  the  Cottonian  collection,  &c.  Monta- 
gue-house, in  Russel- street  Bloomsbury,  was  purchased 
as  the  repository,  and  statutes  and  rules  having  been 
formed  for  the  use  of  the  collection,  and  proper  officers 
appointed,  the  British  Museum  was  opened  for  the  public 
in  1759.  It  were  unnecessary  to  expatiate  on  the  utility 
of  an  institution,  so  well  known,  so  easily  accessible,  and 
so  highly  important  to  the  interests  of  science  and  general 
literature.  From  the  vast  additions  made  of  late  years, 
however,  it  may  be  worthy  of  the  parliament,  as  soon  as 
the  national  finances  will  permit,  to  consider  of  the  pro- 
priety of  an  entire  new  building  for  this  immense  collection, 
the  present  being  much  decayed,  and,  as  a  national  orna- 
ment, bearing  no  proportion  to  its  invaluable  contents.1 

SLUSE,  or  SLUSIUS  (RENE'  FRANCIS  WALTER),  a  ma- 
thematician, was  born  in  1620,  at  Vise,  a  small  town  in 
the  county  of  Liege.  He  became  abbe  of  Amas,  canon, 
councillor,  and  chancellor  of  Liege,  and  made  his  name 
famous  for  his  knowledge  in  theology,  physics,  and  mathe- 
matics. The  Royal  Society  of  London  elected  him  one  of 
their  members,  and  inserted  several  of  his  con/positions  in 
their  Transactions.  This  very  ingenious  and  learned  man 
died  at  Liege  in  1683,  at  the  age  of  sixty-three.  Of  his 
works  there  have  been  published,  some  learned  letters, 

1  Biog.  Brit.— Pulteney's  Sketches, — Lysons'»£nviroD». 


70  S  L  U  S  E. 

and  a  work  entitled  "  Mesolabium  et  Problemata  solida  ;" 
besides  the  following  pieces  in  the  Philosophical  Transac- 
tions :  viz.  I.  Short  and  easy  Method  of  drawing  Tangents 
to  all  Geometrical  Curves;  vol.  VII.  p.  5143.  i?.  Demon- 
stration of  the  same;  vol.  VIII.  pp.  605i>,  C119.  3.  On 
the  Optic  Angle  of  Alhaz,  n  ;  vol.  VIII.  p.  o  ]  , 

SMALBROKE  (RiciiARD),  bishop  of  Lichtield  and  Co- 
ventry,  was  born  at  Birmingham,  win-re  a  str.  (  >  the 
name  of  his  family,  in  l''7_;,  ami                               i:.len-col- 
lege,  Oxford.     Here  he  took   hi               es  of  31.  A.   16      . 
B.  D.  1706,  and  D.  D.  in  1708.      '                       iain  to  arch- 
bishop Tenison,  and                 ;->ointcd   in    :  1  r  of 
Landaff,  and  afterwards  prebendary  of  Hertford.     On  Feb. 
2,  1723,  he  was  consecrated  bi>i.               ..  David's,  whence 
he  was  translated  and   confirmed  bishop  of  Lichfield  and 
Coventry  Feb.  20,  1730.      He  entered  with  spirit  into  the 
controversies   of  his    times,  particularly   against    Dodwell 
and  Whiston,  the  latter  in  "  Reflections  on  Mr.  Whi^ton's 
conduct,"  and   "  Animadversions   on   the   New  Arian    re- 
proved."    But  his  great  work  was  "A  Vindication  of  our 
Saviour's  miracles;   in    which    Mr.  Wcolston's    Discourses 
on  them  are  particularly  examined  ;  his  pretended  autho- 
rity of   the  fathers  against  the  truth  of  the  literal  sense  are 
set  in  a  just  light;  and  his  objections,   in   point  of  reason, 
answered,1'  Lond.  17120,  8vo.     This  involved  him  in  a  con- 
troversy with  some  anonymous  writers,  and  in  one  or  two 
respects  he  laid  himself  open  to  ridicule  by  an  arithmetical 
calculation  of  the  precise  number  of  the  devils  which  en- 
tered into  the  swine.     Dr.  Smalbroke  also  published  eleven 
single  Sermons  between  1706  and  1732,   and   one   or  two 
"  Charges,"  and  small  controversial  pieces  to  the  amount 
of  twenty-two.     He  died  Dec.  22,    1749,  in   the  seventy- 
seventh  year  of  his  age,  leaving  three  sons  and  four  daugh- 
ters.    His  sons,  and  other  relations,  he  provided  for  in  the 
church  of  Lichfield.      His  son  Richard,  the  last  representa- 
tive of  the  family,  died  in  1805.      He  had  heen  chancellor 
of  the  diocese  of  Lichfield  and  Coventry  sixty-four  years, 
and  was  at  his  death  senior  member  of  the  college  of  civi- 
lians.9 

SMALRIDGE  (GEORGE),  a  learned  prelate,  was  horn 
in    1663,  .at   Lichfield   in    Staffordshire,  where   his   father 

1   Button's  Diet. — Montucla  Hist,  de  Mathematiqucs. 

*  Shaw's  Hist,    of  Staffordshire. — Nichols's    Boaycr — Lardner's    Works. — . 
Gent.  JIag.  vol.  LXXV. 


S  M  A  L  II  I  D  G  E.  71 

followed  the  business  of  a  dyer,  but  appears  not  to  have 
been  in  opulent  circumstances,  as  he  was  unable  to  give 
his  son  a  liberal  education.  For  this  our  author  was  in- 
debted to  the  celebrated  antiquary  Ashmole,  also  a  native 
of  Lichfield,  who,  discerning  his  capacity,  sent  him  to 
Westminster-school  in  1G78.  Here  he  was  soon  distin- 
guished as  a  young  man  of  parts  and  application,  and  ac- 
quired particular  notice  by  the  classical  turn  of  his  exer- 
cises. Two  years  after,  he  wrote  two  elegies,  one  in  Latin 
and  the  other  in  Engl'ish,  on  the  death  of  Lilly,  the  astro- 
loger, out  of  gratitude,  we  are  told,  to  his  patron  Ash- 
uiole, a  great  admirer  of  Lilly.  Whatever  the  poetical 
merit  of  these  elegies,  we  may  say,  in  reference  to  the 
subject,  that  they  would  now  be  thought  ironical. 

In  May  1682,  Mr.  Smalridge  was  elected  from  West- 
minster-school to  Christ-cburcb,  Oxford,  where  having  taken 
his  degree  of  13.  A.  at  the  regular  time,  he  became  a  tutor, 
and,  what  is  no  inconsiderable  proof  of  the  high  opinion 
entertained  of  his  talents,  the  associate  of  Aldrich  and  At- 
terbury  in  the  controversy  against  Obadiah  Walker,  the 
popish  master  of  University-college.  In  conjunction  with 
them  he  published  in  1687  "  Animadversions  on  the  eight 
Theses  laid  down,  and  the  inferences  deduced  from  them, 
in  a  discourse  entitled  '  Church  Government,  Part  V.' 
lately  printed  at  Oxford."  The  object  on  the  part  of 
Smalridge  and  his  colleagues,  was  to  defend  the  supremacy 
of  the  king,  against  papal  usurpations.  The  discourse 
mentioned  in  the  title  of  his  performance  was  printed  by 
Obadiah  Walker  at  his  private  press,  and  has  for  its  full 
title  "  Church  government,  Part  V.  a  relation  of  the  En- 
glish Reformation,  and  the  lawfulness  thereof  examined 
by  the  Theses  delivered  in  the  four  former  parts."  But 
as  these  four  former  parts  never  were  published,  Walker, 
or  rather  the  real  author,  Abraham  Woodhoad,  afforded 
his  antagonists  just  cause  for  censure,  as  well  as  ridicule, 
since  here  he  was  referring  for  authority  to  proofs  and 
positions  which  had  never  appeared,  nor  were  afterwards 
produced. 

During  this  time,  Smalridge  did  not  neglect  classical 
literature,  in  which  he  excelled,  and  afforded  an  excellent 
specimen  of  his  talent  for  Latin  poetry  in  his  "  Auctio 
Davisiana,"  first  printed  in  1689,  4to,  ancNifterwards  added 
to  the  "  Musae  Anglicange."  In  July  of  the  same  year 
(1689)  he  proceeded  master  of  arts,  entered  into  holy 


72  S.  JVI  A  L  R  I  D  G  E. 

orders,  and  about  1692  was  appointed  by  the  dean  and 
chapter  of  Westminster  to  be  minister  of  Tothill-fields 
chapel.  In  1693  he  was  collated  to  a  prebend  in  the 
church  of  Lichfield.  In  1700  he  took  his  degree  of  D.  D. 
and  frequently  supplied  the  place  of  Dr.  Jane,  then  regius 
professor  of  divinity,  with  great  approbation,  in  which 
office  it  being  his  duty  to  present  persons  of  eminence  for 
their  degrees  in  that  faculty,  we  find  him,  in  1706,  pre- 
senting the  celebrated  Dr.  Grabe  (whose  MSS.  he  after- 
wards possessed)  in  a  very  elegant  speech.  On  Jane's 
death  he  was  strongly  recommended  by  the  university  to 
the  queen,  as  a  proper  person  to  succeed  to  the  professor- 
ship ;  but  his  tory  principles  being  particularly  obnoxious 
to  the  Marlborough  party,  Dr.  Potter,  afterwards  archbi- 
shop of  Canterbury,  was  preferred.  The  duchess  of  Marl- 
borough,  however,  tells  us,  that  this  favour  was  not  so  easily 
obtained  from  her  majesty  as  some  others  had  been,  and 
that  it  was  not  till  after  much  solicitation  that  Dr.  Potter 
was  fixed  in  the  professorship. 

Dr.  Smalridge,  who  had  long  been  admired  as  a  preacher, 
was  chosen  lecturer  of  St.  Dunstan's  in  the  West,  London, 
in  Jan.  1708,  and  for  some  time  quitted  the  university. 
His  early  acquaintance  with  Atterbury  had  now  been  im- 
proved into  a  great  degree  of  intimacy  and  friendship, 
arising  no  doubt,  from  a  similarity  of  sentiments  and 
studies;  and  in  1710  Dr.  Smalridge  had  an  opportunity  of 
giving  a  public  testimony  of  his  regard  for  Atterbury,  by 
promoting  his  advancement  to  the  prolocutor's  chair  in  the 
lower  house  of  convocation,  and  presenting  him  to  the 
upper  house,  in  an  elegant  speech,  which  was  much  ad- 
mired, and  afterwards  printed.  In  this  speech  he  even 
touches  on  Atterbury's  warmth  in  controversy,  with  con- 
siderable delicacy  indeed,  but  in  a  manner  that  became 
one  who  would  not  deceive  the  learned  body  he  was  ad- 
dressing. Smalridgc  himself  was  not  much  of  a  party  man, 
and  studiously  avoided  an  intemperate  interference  in  dis- 
puted points  respecting  either  church  or  state,  unless 
where  his  principles  might  be  called  in  question,  or  his 
silence  misunderstood. 

In  the  following  year,  1711,  he  resigned  tne  lectureship 
of  St.  Dunstan's,  having  been  made  one  of  the  canons  of 
Christ-church,  on  the  same  day  that  Atterbury  was  made 
dean;  and  the  latter  having  resigned  the  deanery  of  Car- 
lisle, ..Dr.  Smalridge  succeeded  him  in  that  preferment,  as 


S  M  A  L  R  I  D  G  E.  7S 

he  did  likewise  in  the  deanery  of  Christ-church,  in  17 IS, 
when  Atterbury  was  made  bishop  of  Rochester.  In  1714 
Dr.  Smalridge  was  consecrated  bishop  of  Bristol,  and  the 
queen  soon  after  appointed  him  her  lord  almoner,  in  which 
capacity  lie  for  some  time  served  her  successor  George  I. ; 
but  refusing  to  sign  the  declaration  which  the  archbishop 
of  Canterbury  and  the  bishops  in  and  about  London  had 
drawn  up  against  the  rebellion  in  1715,  he  was  removed 
from  that  place.  In  this  measure  he  probably  was  in- 
fluenced by  Atterbury ;  but  he  soon  regained  his  favour 
with  the  princess  of  Wales  at  least,  afterwards  queen  Ca- 
roline, who  was  his  steady  patron  till  his  death. 

Dr.  Smalridge,  as  we  have  already  noticed,  in   general 
avoido'i    party   connections    and   party    spirit,  and   amidst 
much    political  turbulence,  was  accounted,  and  deserved 
the  character  of,  a  man  of  candour  and  moderation.     He 
appears  to  have  been  on  friendly  terms  with  Clarke  and 
Whiston,  and  contributed  to  moderate  the  proceedings  of 
the  convention  against  both.     With  Clarke  he  held  a  dis- 
pute on  the  Trinity  at  the  house  of  Thomas  Cartwright, 
esq.  of  Aynho  in  Northamptonshire,  which,  however,  did 
not  produce  the  intended  effect.     Whiston  assures  us  that 
"  if  any  person  in  England  was  able  to  convince  upon  that 
head,  it  must  have  been  Dr.  Smalridge,"   both  from  reading 
and  talents  ;  and  therefore  we  must  hesitate  in  believing 
what  Whiston  adds,  that  "  the  evidence  on  Dr.  Clarke's 
side  was  greatly  superior  to  the  other,"  as  well  as  other  in- 
sinuations which  Whiston  throws  out  with  great  illiberality. 
His  acquaintance,  however,   with  him  and  Clarke,  brought 
Dr.  Smalridge  under  the  suspicion  of  a  fellowship  in  their 
Ariun  sentiments;   but  Trelawney,  bishop  of  Winchester, 
having  informed   him    of  this    imputation,    he   vindicated 
himself  in   a  letter  dated    from   Christ-church,  and  most 
explicitly   rescued    his   character   from    the   charge.     "  I 
have,"  says  he,  "  from   the  chair  (while  I  supplied   Dr. 
Jane's  place),  from  the  pulpit,  in  convocation,  and  upon  all 
other  proper  occasions,  expressed  my  sentiments  about  the 
divinity  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour,   in  opposition  both  to  the 
Socinians  and  Arians.     I  did  on   Sunday  last  ordain  some 
clergymen,  and   I  examined  them   particularly  as  to  the 
points  controverted  betwixt  the  Catholic  church  and  the 
Arians,  and  said  what  to  me  seemed  proper  to  confirm  them 
in  the  Catholic  faith,  and  to  arm  them  against  the  objec- 
tions usually  brought  by  the  Arians.     I  have  read  over 


74  S  M  A  L  R  I  D  G  E. 

more  than  once,  and,  as  well  as  I  was  able,  have  considered 
Dr.  Waterland's  lute  book,  and  have  in  conversation  signi- 
fied my  approbation  of  it,  and  recommended  it  to  my 
friends  as  a  substantial  vindication  of  the  received  doctrines 
and  confutation  of  Arianism." 

These  were  almost  the  words  of  a  dying  man,  for  this 
letter  is  dated  Sept.  23,  1719,  and  on  the  27th  he  expired 
of  an  apoplexy  at  Christ-church,  and  was  interred  in  the 
aile  of  the  north-side  of  the  choir  of  that  cathedral,  where 
some  years  afterwards,  a  handsome  monument  wns  erected 
to  his  memory,  with  an  elegant  inscription  in  Latin,  most 
probably  by  Dr.  Freind,  his  brother-in-law,  the  bishop 
and  he  having  married  two  sisters. 

Of  Dr.  Stnalridge  bishop  Newton  says,  he  was  "  truly  ft 
worthy  prelate,  an  excellent  scholar,  a  sound  divine,  an 
eloquent  preacher,  and  a  good  writer  both  in  Latin  and 
English,  of  great  gravity  and  dignity  in  his  whole  deport- 
ment, and  at  the  same  time  of  as  great  complacency  and 
sweetness  of  manners,  a  character  at  once  both  amiable  and 
venerable.  He  was  so  noted  for  his  good  temper,  that 
succeeding  Dr.  Atterbury  in  the  deaneries  of  Carlisle  and 
Christ-church,  he  was  said  to  carry  die  bucket  wherewith 
to  extinguish  the  fires  which  the  other  had  kindled." 

Newton  says  the  Biographia  Britannica  is  wrong  about  his 
family,  and  "  that  he  left  a  widow  and  three  children,  a  son 
named  Philip  and  two  daughters,  both  sensible  clever  wo- 
men. Caroline  princess  of  Wales  procured  a  pension  of 
300/.  a-year  for  the  widow,  and  a  prebend  of  Worcester 
for  the  son,  who  afterwards  received  the  living  of  C bristle- 
ton  near  Chester,  from  sir  Roger  Mostyn,  and  had  the 
chancellorship  of  Worcester  conferred  upon  him  by  bishop 
Hough,  out  of  regard  to  his  father's  memory.  A  subscrip- 
tion too  was  opened,  and  nobly  promoted  for  the  publica- 
tion of  sixty  of  the  Bishop's  Sermons  ;  some  of  which,  it 
must  be  confessed,  are  unequal  to  the  rest,  but  it  is  some 
excuse  that  they  were  never  designed  for  the  press." 

Bishop  Newton  adds  that  he  had  Bristol,  the  poorest 
bishopric,  and  Christ-church  the  most  expensive  deanery 
in  the  kingdom.  This  seems  to  confirm  in  some  degree 
what  Mr.  Skelton  says  in  his  "  Hylema."  "  The  bishopric 
of  Bristol  is  one  of  the  lowest  in  point  of  income  among  the 
English  sees.  Hence  it  was  that  Dr.  Smalridge,  at  his 
decease,  was  not  able  to  leave  even  a  tolerable  subsistence 
to  his  widow  and  two  daughters."  Mr.  Skelton  adds  a. 


S  M  A  L  R  I  D  G  E.  75 

noble  instance  of  liberality,  vvbioh  we  have  nowhere  else 
met  with.  "  In  this  state  of  exigence  those  ladies  were 
visited  by  Mr.  Wairtwrigbt,  who  had  been  some  years 
register  to  that  diocese,  and  had,  by  the  profits  of  his  place, 
and  other  practice  of  the  law,  acquired  3000/.  This  sum, 
his  all,  he  with  difficulty  prevailed  on  the  widow  and  her 
daughters  to  accept."  Mr.  Skelton  informs  us  that  when 
queen  Caroline  heard  of  this  liberal  act  from  Mrs.  Smal- 
ridge,  she  was  so  pleased  with  Mr.  Wain  Wright's  conduct, 
as  to  send  him  to  Ireland,  as  a  baron  of  the  Exchequer. 

To  Dr.  Stnal ridge's  publications,  alreadv  mentioned, 
may  be  added  a  volume  of  twelve  "  Sermons"  printed  by 
himself  in  1717,  8vo,  and  the  "  Sixty  Sermons,"  published 
by  his  widow  in  a  folio  volume,  1726,  of  which  another 
edition  appeared  in  1727.  Tiie  bishop's  widow  died  in 
May  or  June  172D.1 

SMART  (CHRISTOPHER),  a  poet  of  some,  though  not 
the  highest  celebrity,  was  born  at  Shipbourne,  in  Kent, 
April  11,  1722.  His  father  was  possessed  of  about  three 
hundred  pounds  a  year  in  that  neighbourhood,  and  was 
originally  intended  for  holy  orders.  Why  he  did  not  enter 
into  holy  orders,  or  what  occupation  he  pursued,  we  are 
not  told,  except  that  at  one  time  he  had  acted  as  steward 
of  the  Kentish  estates  of  lord  Barnard,  afterwards  earl  of 
Darlington.  His  mother  was  a  Miss  Gilpin,  of  the  family 
of  the  celebrated  reformer,  Bernard  Gilpin  ;  an  ancestor, 
by  the  father's  side.  Mr.  Peter  Smart  had  been  a  preben- 
dary of  Durham  in  the  reign  of  Charles  the  First,  and  was 
accounted  by  the  puritan  party  as  the  proto-martyr  in  their 
cause,  having  been  degraded  and  deprived  of  all  his  eccle- 
siastical preferments,  fined  five  hundred  pounds,  and  im- 
prisoned eleven  years.  When  restored  to  liberty  by  the 
parliament,  he  appeared  as  a  witness  against  archbishop 
Laud.  The  particular  libel  for  which  he  suffered  is  writ- 
ten in  Latin  verse,  and  was  published  in  1643.  This  is 
probably  what  the  author  of  the  life  prefixed  to  Smart's 
poems  (edit.  171M)  calls  "  an  interesting  narrative  in  ~A 
pamphlet."  When  our  poet  was  at  school  his  father  died, 
and  so  much  in  debt,  that  his  widow  was  obliged  to  sell  the 
family  estate  at  a  considerable  loss.  As  he  had,  however, 
received  a  liberal  education,  he  is  said  to  have  communi- 

1  Biog.  Brit. — Taller  and  Spectator  with  notes. — Whiston's  Life,  ami  Me- 
moirs of  Clarke. — Bishop  Newton's  Life. — Nichols's  Atterbury's  Correspondence. 
— Skelton's  Works,  vol.  V.  p.  543. 


76  SMART. 

caled  to  his  son  a  taste  for  literature,  and  probably  that 
turn  for  pious  reflection,  which  appears  in  many  of  his- 
poetical  pieces,  and  was  not  interrupted  with  impunity  by 
the  irregularities  of  his  life. 

Smart  was  born  earlier  than  the  usual  period  of  gestation, 
and  to  this  circumstance  bis  biographer  ascribes  that  deli- 
cacy of  constitution  which  rendered  him  unequal  to  the 
indulgences  of  men  of  vigour  and  gaiety.  His  taste  for 
poetry  is  said  to  have  appeared  when  he  was  only  four  years 
old,  in  an  extempore  effusion,  which  has  not  been  pre- 
served, but  which  is  said  to  have  indicated  a  relish  for  verse, 
and  an  ear  for  numbers.  He  was  educated  at  Maidstone 
until  he  was  eleven  years  old,  at  which  time  his  father 
died,  and  his  mother  was  induced  to  send  him  to  Durham, 
where  he  might  enjoy  the  advantages  of  a  good  school, 
change  of  air,  and  what  in  her  circumstances  became  de- 
sirable, the  notice  and  protection  of  his  father's  relations. 
Yv'ho  they  were  we  are  not  told,  but  young  Smart  was  very 
cordially  received  at  Raby  Castle,  by  lord  Barnard,  and  in 
this  family  obtained  the  friendship  of  the  hon.  Mrs.  Hope, 
and  the  more  substantial  patronage  of  the  late  duchess  of 
Cleveland,  who  allowed  him  forty  pounds  a  year  until  her 
death,  in  174.2.  His  gratitude  to  these  noble  personages 
is  amply  testified  by  his  "  Ode  to  lord  Barnard,"  whom  he 
particularly  acknowledges  as  one  who  encouraged  his  youth- 
ful studies.  It  was  probably  owing  to  the  liberality  of  the 
same  family  that,  after  he  had  acquired  very  considerable 
reputation  at  Durham  school,  he  was  sent  to  Cambridge, 
in  his  seventeenth  year,  and  admitted  of  Pembroke  Hall, 
Oct.  30,  1739. 

At  college  he  was  much  more  distinguished  for  his  po- 
etical efforts  and  classical  taste  than  for  an  ambition  to 
excel  in  the  usual  routine  of  academical  studies,  and  soon 
became  a  general  favourite  with  such  of  his  contemporaries 
as  were  men  of  gaiety  and  vivacity.  A  convivial  dispo- 
sition led  him  at  the  same  time  to  associate  rather  too  fre- 
quently with  men  of  superior  fortune,  while  pride  kept 
him  from  avowing  his  inability  to  support  their  expences. 
His  only  dependence  was  what  he  derived  from  his  college, 
and  the  allowance  made  to  him  by  the  duchess  of  Cleveland. 
This  imprudence  involved  him  in  difficulties,  from  which 
he  probably  might  have  been  soon  extricated,  if  it  had  not 
induced  an  habitual  neglect  of  pecuniary  matters,  which 
adhered  to  him  throughout  life,  and  a  love  for  convivial 


SMART.  77 

enjoyments,  which  afterwards  formed  the  chief  blot  in  his 
character.  In  all  other  respects,  Smart  was  a  man  of  strict 
principle,  and  of  blameless  conduct. 

During  the  early  part  of  his  residence  at  Cambridge  he 
wrote  the  Tripos  poems,  among  his  works,  a  species  of 
composition  of  which  it  is  not  often  that  much  notice  is 
taken,  but  the  merit  of  Smart's  verses  was  immediately 
and  generally  acknowledged.  When  afterwards,  by  the 
advice  of  his  friends,  he  offered  himself  as  a  candidate  for 
an  university  scholarship,  he  is  said  to  have  translated 
Pope's  Ode  on  St.  Cecilia's  day  into  Latin.  But  this  is 
doubted  by  his  biographer,  on  account  of  the  length  and 
labour  of  the  composition.  He  must,  however,  have  ex- 
ecuted that  translation  about  this  time,  as  the  applause  it 
received  induced  him  to  turn  his  mind  to  other  translations 
from  the  same  author,  and  to  write  to  him  for  his  advice 
or  approbation,  which  produced  a  correspondence  very 
flattering  on  both  sides.  Smart,  as  a  young  man,  aiming 
at  poetical  honours,  was  gratified  with  the  letters  of  Pope ; 
and  Pope,  who  was  ever  alive  to  extent  of  fame,  was  not 
sorry  to  find  his  works  introduced  on  the  continent  in  a  clas- 
sical form.  Smart  proceeded,  accordingly,  to  translate  the 
"  Essay  on  Criticism,"  of  all  Pope's  writings,  perhaps  the 
most  unfit  for  the  purpose;  but  it  brought  him  into  some 
reputation  with  scholars. 

In  1743,  he  was  admitted  to  the  degree  of  bachelor  of 
arts;  and  July  3,  1745,  was  elected  a  fellow  of  Pembroke 
hall.  About  this  time,  he  wrote  a  comedy,  of  which  a  fevr 
songs  only  remain  ;  and  a  ludicrous  soliloquy  of  the  Prin- 
cess Periwinkle,  preserved  in  the  Old  Woman's  Magazine. 
The  play  was  called  "  A  Trip  to  Cambridge,  or  the  Grate- 
ful Fair."  The  business  of  the  drama,  says  his  biographer, 
"  was  laid  in  bringing  up  an  old  country  baronet  to  admit 
his  nephew  a  fellow  commoner  at  one  of  the  colleges ;  in, 
which  expedition  a  daughter  or  niece  attended.  In  their  ap- 
proach to  the  seat  of  the  Muses,  the  waters  from  a  heavy  rain 
happened  to  be  out  at  Fenstauton,  which  gave  a  youug  student 
of  Emmanuel  an  opportunity  of  shewing  his  gallantry  as  he 
was  riding  out,  by  jumping  from  his  horse  and  plunging 
into  the  flood  to  rescue  the  distressed  damsel,  who  was  near 
perishing  in  the  stream,  into  which  she  had  fallen  from  her 
poney,  as  the  party  travelled  on  horseback.  The  swain 
being  lucky  enough  to  effect  his  purpose,  of  course  gained 
an  interest  in  the  lady's  heart,  and  an  acquaintance  with 


78  S  M  A  R  T. 

the  rest  of  the  family,  which  he  did  not  fail  to  cultivate  on 
their  arrival  at  Cambridge,  with  success  as  far  as  the  fair 
one  was  concerned.  To  bring  about  the  consent  of  the 
father  (or  guardian,  fur  my  memory  is  not  accurate),  it 
was  contrived  to  have  a  play  acted,  of  which  entertainment 
he  \\as  highly  fond;  and  the  Norwich  company  luckily 
came  to  Cambridge  just  at  that  time;  only  one  of  the  ac- 
tors had  been  detained  on  the  road  ;  and  they  could  not 
perform  the  plav  that  night,  unless  the  baronet  would  con- 
sent to  take  apart;  which,  rather  than  be  disappointed 
of  his  favourite  amusement,  he  was  prevailed  upon  to  do, 
especially  as  he  was  assured  that  it  would  amount  to  nothing 
more  than  sitting  at  a  great  table,  and  signing  an  instrument, 
as  a  justice  of  peace  might  sign  a  warrant:  and  having 
been  some  years  of  the  quorum,  he  felt  himself  quite  equal 
to  the  undertaking.  The  tinder-play  to  he  acted  by  the 
Norwich  company  on  this  occasion,  was  the  '  Bloody  War 
of  the  King  of  Diamonds  with  the  King  of  Spades;'  and 
the  actors  in  it  came  on  with  their  respective  emblems 
on  their  shoulders,  taken  from  the  suits  of  the  cards  they 
represented.  The  baronet  was  the  king  of  one  of  the  par- 
ties, and  in  signing  a  declaration  of  war,  signed  his  consent 
to  the  marriage  of  his  niece  or  daughter,  and  a  surrender 
of  all  her  fortune."  This  farce  vvas  acted  at  Pembroke-col- 
lege-hall, the  parlour  of  which  made  the  green-room. 

In  1747,  Smart  took  the  degree  of  master  of  arts,  and 
became  a  candidate  for  the  Seatonian  prize,  which  was 
adjudged  to  him  .for  five  years,  four  of  them  in  succession. 
The  Mibjects  of  his  poems  were,  "  The  Eternity,"  March 
«5,  1750.  "The  Immensity,"  April  20,  173'!.  "The 
Omniscience,"  Nov.  «j,  1752.  ""  The  Power,"  Dec.  5,  1753. 
and  "  The  Goodness  of  the  Supreme  Being,"  Oct.  28, 1755. 
It  is  probable  he  might  have  succeeded  in  the  year  1754, 
but  his  thoughts  were  for  some  time  diverted  by  an  impor- 
tant change  in  his  siluation.  In  1753  he  quitted  college,. 
on  his  marriage  with  Miss  Ann-Maria  Carnan,  the  daughter 
by  a  former  husband  of  Mary  wife  of  the  hue  worthy  Mr. 
John  Newbery.  He  had  been  introduced  to  this  gentle* 
man's  family  by  Dr.  Burney,  the  celebrated  author  of  the 
History  of  Music,  who  composed  several  of  Smart's  songs, 
and  enriched  the  coilection  of  his  works  published  in  1791 
with  some  original  compositions  not  generally  known  to- 
belong  to  our  poet.  Before  this  time,  Smart  had  occa- 
sionally visited  London,  and  had  relinquished  the  prospects 


SMART.  79 

of  any  regular  profession.  In  1751  he  published  his  Sea- 
tonian  poem  on  the  "  Immensity  of  the  Supreme  Being  :" 
and  about  the  same  time  appears  to  have  been  engaged 
with  Newbery  in  a  general  scheme  of  authorship,  fie  had 
a  ready  turn  for  original  composition,  both  in  prose  and 
verse,  and  as  Newbery  projected  many  works  in  the  form 
of  periodical  miscellanies,  must  have  been  an  useful  co- 
adjutor. During  the  years  1750  and  1751  he  was  a  frequent 
contributor  to  the  "  Student,  or  Oxford  and  Cambridge 
Miscellany,"  and  carried  on  at  the  same  time  "The  Mid- 
wife, or  the  Old  Woman's  Magazine,"  a  small  periodical 
pamphlet,  which  was  published  in  three-penny  numbers, 
and  was  afterwards  collected  into  three  volumes,  12mo. 
Smart  and  Newbery  were  almost  the  sole  writers  in  this 
last  work,  which  consists  of  short  pieces  in  prose  and  verse, 
mostly  of  the  humorous  kind,  and  generally  in  a  style  of 
humour  which  in  our  more  polished  days  would  be  reckoned 
somewhat  coarse. 

During  the  publication  of  the  "  Midwife,"  he  wrote  the 
prologue  and  epilogue  to  Othello,  when  acted  at  Drury- 
lane  theatre  by  the  Delaval  family  and  their  friends.  Of 
the  importance  of  this  prologue  and  epilogue  he  had  so  high 
an  opinion,  that  when  he  published  them,  in  March  1751, 
he  added  a  solemn  notice  of  their  being  entered  in  the  hall- 
book  of  the  stationers'  company,  and  threatened  to  prose- 
cute all  persons  who  should  pirate  them,  or  any  part  of 
them.  As  he  affected  to  conceal  his  share  in  the  "  Midwife," 
he  permits  that  old  lady  to  copy  these  articles  "  because  a 
work  of  merit  printed  in  that  Magazine  is  as  a  brilliant  set 
in  gold,  and  increased,  not  diminished,  in  its  lustre."  He 
was  now  acquiring  the  various  arts  of  puffing,  and  he  ever 
preserved  a  much  higher  opinion  of  his  works  than  even  his 
best  friends  could  allow  to  be  just. — Among  other  schemes, 
to  which  it  is  to  be  regretted  a  man  of  talents  should  de- 
scend, we  find  him  about  the  beginning  of  1752,  endea- 
vouring to  amuse  the  town  with  a  kind  of  iV.  eical  perform- 
ance, called  the  "  Old  Woman's  Oratory,"  intended  partly 
to  ridicule  orator  Henley's  buffooneries,  and  partly  to  pro- 
mote the  sale  of  the  Old  Woman's  Magazine.  In  neither 
of  these  was  he  very  successful ;  the  magazine  was  soon 
discontinued  for  want  of  encouragement,  and  Henley  was 
a  man  whose  absurdities  could  be  heightened  only  by 
himself. 

Notwithstanding  these  pursuits,  Smart's  pleasing  manners 


ad  SMART. 

and  generally  inoffensive  conduct  procured  him  the  friend* 
ship  of  Johnson,  Garrick,  Dr.  James,  Dr.  Burney,  and 
other  men  of  literary  eminence  in  that  day.  Garrick  after- 
wards evinced  his  liheraiity,  when  Smart  was  in  distress,  by 
giving  him  the  profits  of  a  free  benefit  at  Drury-lane  thea- 
tre, and  that  it  might  be  the  more  productive,  introduced 
for  the  first  time  the  short  drama  of  the  "  Guardian,"  in 
which  he  appeared  in  a  principal  character.  Lord  Delaval 
also,  to  whom  Smart  had  been  private  tutor  at  Cambridge, 
and  his  brother,  sir  Francis,  were  among  his  friends,  and 
it  was  at  their  request  he  wrote  the  prologue  and  epilogue 
to  Othello.  In  1752,  he  published  a  collection  of  his  poems 
in  4to,  in  an  elegant  and  rather  expensive  form,  and  although 
they  not  only  received  the  praise  due  to  them,  but  the  very 
flattering  decision  that  in  point  of  genius  he  might  rank 
with  Gray  and  Mason,  yet  as  this  opinion  was  qualified  by 
some  objections,  he  immediately  became  the  implacable 
enemy  of  reviews  and  reviewers.  He  supposed  at  the  same 
time,  what  we  believe  is  very  improbable,  that  Dr.  (after- 
wards sir)  John  Hill  was  the  author  of  the  criticism  on  his 
poems  in  the  Monthly  Review,  and  determined  to  take  his 
fevenge  for  this  and  other  offences  committed  by  Hill,  by 
publishing  a  poem  which  had  been  written  previously  to 
this  affair,  entitled  "  The  Hilliad."  Of  this,  book  first 
made  its  appearance  accordingly  in  the  beginning  of  the 
year  1753. 

"  The  Hilliad,"  which  is  perhaps  one  of  the  most  bitter 
satires  ever  published,  would  afford  a  very  unfavourable 
opinion  of  our  author's  character,  had  it  not  been  an  attack 
on  a  man  who  had  rendered  himself  ridiculous  and  con- 
temptible by  practising  v'ith  unblushing  effrontery  every 
species  of  literary  and  medical  quackery.  According  to 
Smart,  Hill  gave  the  first  public  provocation,  in  one  of  his 
"  Inspectors,"  where  lie  accuses  Smart  of  ingratitude.  Hill 
alledged  that  he  had  been  the  cause  of  Smart's  being 
brought  up  to  town  ;  that  he  had  been  at  all  times  his  friend, 
and  had  supported  his  character ;  and,  long  before  he  ap- 
peared as  "Inspector,"  he  spoke  well  of  those  pieces,  on 
the  merit  of  which  Smart's  fortune  at  that  time  depended  ; 
he  hints  also  among  other  favours,  that  he  had  been  the 
means  of  introducing  him  to  Newbery ;  and  for  all  this,  the 
only  return  Smart  made  was  by  an  abusive  poem,  "a  long 
elaborate  work,  which  he  has  read  at  alehouses  and  cyder 
cellars,  and  if  any  bookseller  will  run  the  risk,  will  publish." 


SMART.  81 

To  this  heavy  accusation,  Smart  pleaded  not  guilty  in 
totOy  solemnly  declaring  in  an  advertisement  in  the  Daily 
Gazetteer,  that  he  never  received  the  least  favour  from 
Hill,  directly  or  indirectly,  unless  an  invitation  to  dinner, 
which  he  never  accepted,  might  be  reckoned  such.  He 
denied  at  the  same  time  having  ever  been  in  his  company 
but  twice,  the  first  time  at  Mr.  Newbery's,  the  second  at 
Vauxhall  gardens  ;  and  asserts  that  Hill  had  been  his  enemy 
as  much  as  it  was  in  his  power,  particularly  in  the  "  Imper- 
tinent,1' another  of  his  papers,  in  which  he  abuses  not  only 
Smart,  but  Fielding,  who  was  his  particular  friend. — This 
declaration  was  corroborated  by  an  advertisement  from  ho- 
nest Newbery,  who  adds  that  he  introduced  Smart  to  Hill, 
six  months  after  the  former  had  engaged  with  himself 
(Newbery)  in  business,  when  they  met  as  perfect  strangers. 
With  respect  to  Hill's  assertion  that  lie  had  been  the  means 
of  introducing  Smart  to  Mr.  Newbery,  the  latter  declares 
it  to  be  an  absolute  falsehood. 

The  truth  was,  that  Hill  pretended  to  take  the  part  of 
our  poet  in  the  "  Inspector,"  which  he  was  known  to  write, 
while  he  abused  him  in  the  "  Impertinent,"  the  author  of 
which,  he  flattered  himself,  was  not  known.  But  it  wa* 
among  the  misfortunes  of  this  arch-quack,  although  advan- 
tageous to  the  public,  that  whatever  disguise  he  put  on  was 
always  too  thin  to  elude  the  penetration  of  his  contempora- 
ries. This  trick  in  particular  had  been  discovered  by  the 
reviewer  of  books  in  the  Gentleman's  Magazine  five  months 
before  the  "  Inspector"  appeared  in  which  he  accused 
Smart  of  ingratitude.  We  are  not  therefore  to  wonder  that 
the  discovery  of  such  malignant  hypocrisy  stimulated  Smart 
to  write  "The  Hilliad,"  which,  it  appears,  he  first  read  or 
circulated  in  manuscript  among  his  friends.  But  whatever 
praise  they  bestowed  on  the  genius  displayed  in  this  satire, 
they  were  not  pleased  that  he  had  involved  himself  in  a  war 
of  obloquy  with  one  whom  to  conquer  was  to  exceed  in  the 
worst  part  of  his  character  ;  and  Smart  probably  listened  to 
their  opinions,  for  he  published  no  more  of  the  Hilliad. 
Hill  had  the  credit  of  writing  a  Smartiad,  which  served  no 
other  purpose  than  to  set  off  the  merit  of  the  other. 

In  1754,  Smart  published  the  Seatonian  prize  poem  ou 
the  "Power,"  and  in  1756,  that  on  the  "  Goodness  of  the 
Supreme  Being  ;  and  in  the  same  year,  his  "  Hymn  to  the 
Supreme  Being,"  on  recovery  from,  a  dangerous,  fit  of  ill- 
ness, which  illness  seems  to  have  filled  up  the  space  between 
You.  XXVIII.  .0 


82  S  M  A  R  T. 

the  years  1754  and  part  of  1756.  "Though  the  fortune," 
says  his  hiographer,  "as  well  as  the  constitution  of  Mr. 
Smart,  required  the  utmost  care,  he  was  equally  negligent 
in  the  management  of  both,  and  his  various  and  repeated 
embarrassments  acting  upon  an  imagination  uncommonly 
fervid,  produced  temporary  alienations  of  mind  ;  which  at 
last  were  attended  with  paroxysms  so  violent  and  continued 
as  to  render  confinement  necessary.  In  this  melancholy 
state,  his  family,  for  he  had  now  two  children,  must  have 
been  much  embarrassed  in  their  circumstances,  but  for  the 
kind  friendship  and  assistance  of  Mr.  Newbery.  Many  other 
of  Mr.  Smart's  acquaintance  were  likewise  forward  in  their 
services  ;  and  particularly  Dr.  Samuel  Johnson,  who,  on 
the  first  approaches  of  Mr  Smart's  malady,  wrote  several 
papers  fora  periodical  publication  in  which  that  gentleman 
was  concerned,  to  secure  his  claim  to  a  share  in  the  profits 
of  it." 

The  publication  alluded  to,  was  the  "  Universal  Visitor 
and  Memorialist,"  published  by  Gardner,  a  bookseller  in 
the  Strand.  Smart,  and  Holt,  a  political  writer,  are  said 
to  have  entered  into  an  engagement  to  write  for  this 
magazine,  and  for  no  other  work  whatever;  for  this  they 
were  to  have  a  third  of  the  profits,  and  the  contract  was  to 
be  binding  for  ninety-nine  years.  In  Boswt-Il's  Life  of 
Johnson,  we  find  this  contract  discussed  with  more  gravity 
than  it  seems  to  deserve.  It  was  probably  a  contrivance  of 
Gardner's  to  secure  the  services  of  two  irregular  men  for  a 
certain  period.  Johnson,  however,  wrote  a  few  papers  for 
our  poet,  "  not  then,"  he  added,  "  knowing  the  terms  on 
which  Smart  was  engaged  to  write,  and  thinking  I  was  do- 
ing him  good.  I  hoped  his  wits  would  soon  return  to  him. 
Mine  returned  to  me,  and  I  wrote  in  the  Universal  Visitor 
no  longer."  The  publication  ceased  in  about  two  years 
from  its  commencement. 

Smart's  madness,  according  to  Dr.  Johnson's  account, 
discovered  itself  chiefly  in  unnecessary  deviations  from  the 
usual  modes  of  the  world,  in  things  ibat  are  not  improper 
in  themselves.  He  would  fall  upon  his  knees  and  say  his 
prayers  in  the  street,  or  in  any  unusual  place,  and  insisted 
on  people  praying  with  him.  His  habits  were  also  remark, 
ably  slovenly,  but  he  had  not  often  symptoms  of  dangerous 
lunacy,  and  the  principal  reason  of  his  confinement  was  to 
give  his  constitution  a  chance  of  recovering  from  the  eifr  cts 
of  intemperance.  After  his  release,  when  his  mind  appeared 


S  M  A  R  T.  83 

to  be  in  some  measure  restored,  he  took  a  pleasant  lodging 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  St.  James's  park,  and  conducted 
his  affairs  for  some  time  with  prudence.  He  was  maintained 
partly  by  his  literary  occupations,  and  partly  by  the  gene- 
rosity of  his  friends,  receiving-,  among  other  benefactions, 
fifty  pounds  a  year  from  the  treasury,  but  by  whose  interest 
his  biographer  has  not  been  able  to  discover. — In  1757  he 
published  a  prose  translation  of  the  works  of  "  Horace." 
From  this  performance  he  could  derive  little  fame.  He 
professes,  indeed,  that  he  had  been  encouraged  to  think 
that  such  a  translation  would  be  useful  to  those  who  are  de- 
sirous of  acquiring  or  recovering  a  competent  knowledge 
of  the  Latin  tongue,  but  the  injury  done  to  learners  by 
literal  translations  was  at  this  time  too  generally  acknow- 
ledged to  allow  him  the  full  force  of  this  apology. 

In  what  manner  he  lived  for  some  time  after  this,  we  are 
not  told.  It  was  in  1759  thatGarrick  gave  him  the  profits 
of  a  benefit  before  mentioned,  when  it  appears  that  he  was 
again  involved  in  pecuniary  distresses.  In  1763,  he  pub- 
lished "A  Soug  to  David,"  in  which  there  are  some  pas- 
sages of  more  majestic  animation  than  in  any  of  his  former 
pieces,  and  others  in  which  the  expression  is  mean,  and 
the  sentiments  unworthy  of  the  poet  or  the  subject.  These 
inequalities  will  not,  however,  surprize  the  reader  when  he 
is  told  that  this  piece  was  composed  by  him  during  his  con- 
finement, when  he  was  debarred  the  use  of  pen,  ink,  and 
paper,  and  was  obliged  to  indent  his  lines  with  the  end  of  a 
key,  upon  the  wainscot.  This  poem  was  not  admitted  into 
the  edition  of  his  works  published  in  1791,  but  a  fragment 
has  been  printed  in  the  late  edition  of  the  English  Poets. 

In  the  same  year  he  published  a  small  miscellany  of  "  Po- 
ems on  several  occasions,"  at  the  conclusion  of  which  he 
complains  again  of  the  reviewers,  and  betrays  that  irritabi- 
lity of  self-conceit  which  is  frequently  observed  to  precede, 
and  sometimes  to  accompany  derangement  of  mind.  In 
other  respects  these  poem*  added  little  to  his  fame,  and, 
except  one  or  two,  have  not  been  reprinted.  In  1764,  he 
published  "  Hannah,"  an  oratorio,,  the  music  of  which  was 
composed  by  Worgan,  and -soon  after  in  the  same  year, 
"An  Ode  to  tht  Earl  of  Northumberland,"  on  his  bein<r 

*  O 

appointed  lord  lieutenant  of  Ireland,  with  some  other  pieces* 
In  all  these  his  imagination,  although  occasionally  fine, 
went  often  into  wild  excesses,  and  evinced  that  his  iniiui 
had  never  recovered  its  sober  tone. 


84  SMART. 

In  his  intervals  of  health  and  regularity,  he  still  conti- 
nued to  write,  and  although  he  perhaps  formed  too  high  an 
opinion  of  his  effusions,  he  spared  no  labour  when  employ- 
ed by  the  booksellers,  and  formed,  in  conjunction  with  them, 
many  schemes  of  literary  industry  which  he  did  not  live  to 
accomplish.  In  1765,  he  published  "  A  Poetical  Transla- 
tion of  the  Fables  of  PliEedrus,"  with  the  appendix  of  Gu- 
dius,  and  an  accurate  original  text  on  the  opposite  page. 
This  translation  appears  to  be  executed  with  neatness  and 
fidelity,  but  has  never  become  popular.  His  "  Translation 
of  the  Psalms,"  which  followed  in  the  same  year,  affords  a 
melancholy  proof  of  want  of  judgment  and  decay  of  powers. 
Many  of  his  psalms  scarcely  rise  above  the  level  of  Stern- 
hold  and  Hopkins,  and  they  had  the  additional  disadvantage 
of  appearing  at  the  same  time  with  Merrick's  more  correct 
and  chaste  translation.  In  1767,  our  poet  republished  his 
Horace,  with  a  metrical  translation,  in  which,  although  we 
find  abundance  of  inaccuracies,  irregular  rhymes  and  re- 
dundancies, there  are  some  passages  conceived  in  the  true 
spirit  of  the  original. 

His  last  publication,  in  1768,  exhibited  a  more  striking 
proof  of  want  of  judgment  than  any  of  his  late  performances. 
It  was  entitled  "  The  Parables  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ.  Done  into  familiar  verse,  with  occasional  applica- 
tions for  the  use  of  younger  minds,"  This  was  dedicated 
to  Master  Bonnel  George  Thornton,  a  child  of  three  years 
old,  and  is  written  in  that  species  of  verse  which  would  be 
tolerated  only  in  the  nursery.  In  what  manner  he  lived 
during  his  latter  years,  his  biographer  has  not  informed  us; 
but  at  length  he  was  confined  for  debt  in  the  King's-bench 
prison,  the  rules  of  which  were  obtaiued  for  him  by  his 
brother-in-law,  Mr.  Thomas  Carnan.  Here  he  died  after 
a  short  illness  occasioned  by  a  disorder  in  his  liver,  May  18, 
1770,  leaving  two  daughters,  who,  with  his  widow,  were 
long  settled  at  Reading,  and  by  their  prudent  management 
of  the.bookselling  trade,  transferred  to  them  by  the  late  Mr. 
John  Newbery,  were  enabled  to  maintain  a  very  respecta- 
ble rank  in  life. 

In  1791,  a  collection  of  his  poetical  pieces  was  formed, 
to  which  were  prefixed  some  memoirs  of  his  life  collected 
from  his  relations.  Of  these  much  use  has  been  n»ade  in 
the  present  sketch,  but  it  has  been  found  necessary  to  em- 
ploy considerable  research  in  supplying  the  want  of  proper 
dates,  and  other  circumstances  illustrative  of  the  literary 


S  M  A  R  T.  85 

character  of  a  man  who,  with  all  his  failings,  had  many 
amiable  qualities.  Of  his  personal  character,  the  follow- 
ing particulars  yet  remain  to  he  added  from  the  Memoirs. 

"His  piety  was  exemplary  and  fervent;  it  may  not  be 
uninteresting  to  the  reader  to  be  told,  that  Mr.  Smart,  in 
composing  the  religious  poems,  was  frequently  so  impressed 
•with  the  sentiment  of  devotion,  as  to  write  particular  pas- 
sages on  his  knees.  He  was  friendly,  affectionate,  and 
liberal  to  excess;  so  as  often  to  give  that  to  others,  of 
which  he  was  in  the  utmost  want  himself;  he  was  also  par- 
ticularly engaging  in  conversation,  when  his  first  shyness 
was  worn  away;  which  he  had  in  common  with  literary  men, 
but  in  a  very  remarkable  degree.  Having  undertaken  to 
introduce  his  wife  to  my  lord  Darlington,  with  whom  he 
was  well  acquainted ;  he  had  no  sooner  mentioned  her 
name  to  his  lordship,  than  he  retreated  suddenly,  as  if 
stricken  with  a  panic,  from  the  room,  and  from  the  house, 
leaving  her  to  follow  overwhelmed  with  confusion.  As 
an  instance  of  the  wit  of  his  conversation,  the  following 
extemporary  spondaic,  descriptive  of  the  three  Bedels  of 
the  university,  who  were  at  that  time  all  very  fat  men,  isf 
still  remembered  by  his  academical  acquaintance. 

Pinguia  tergeminorum  abdomina  Bedellorum. 

"  This  line  be  afterwards  inserted  in  one  of  his  poems  for 
the  Tripos." 

As  a  poet,  Smart  exhibits  indubitable  proofs  of  genius, 
but  few  ofa  correct  taste,  and  appears  to  have  seldom  ex- 
ercised much  labour,  or  employed  cool  judgment  in  pre- 
paring his  works  for  the  public.  Upon  the  whole,  there- 
lore,  he  is  most  successful  in  his  lighter  pieces,  his  Odes, 
Songs,  and  Fables.  His  Fables  are  entitled  to  high  praise, 
for  ease  of  versification  and  delicacy  of  humour,  and  al- 
though he  may  have  departed  from  the  laws  which  some 
critics  have  imposed  on  this  species  of  composition,  by 
giving  reason  to  inanimate  objects,  it  will  be  difficult  by 
any  laws  to  convince  the  reader  that  he  ought  not  to  be  de- 
lighted with  the  "  Tea-pot  and  the  Scrubbing  Brush,"  the 
"  Bag-wig,  and  the  Tobacco-pipe,"  or  the  "  Brocaded 
gown  and  the  Linen  rag." 

In  his  religious  poems,  written  for  the  Seatonian  prize, 
there  is  much  to  commend,  and  where  we  are  most  disposed 
to  blame,  the  fault  perhaps  is  in  the  expectation  that  such 
subjects  can  be  treated  with  advantage.  In  the  preface  to 


86  SMART. 

his  Ode  to  St.  Cecilia,  he  allows  that  "  the  choosing  too 
high  subjects  has  been  the  ruin  of  many  a  tolerable  genius;" 
and  Dr.  Johnson,  with  majestic  energy,  remarks,  that 
"  whatever  is  great,  desirable,  or  tremendous,  is  comprized 
in  the  name  of  the  Supreme  Being.  Omnipotence  cannot 
be  exalted  ;  Infinity  cannot  be  amplified ;  Perfection  can- 
not be  improved."  Of  this  Smart  seems  to  have  been 
aware,  although  ambition  and  interest,  neither  illaudable  in 
his  circumstances,  prompted  him  to  make  an  attempt,  in 
which,  whatever  his  success,  he  was  allowed  to  excel  his 
rivals.1 

SMEATON  (JOHN),  a  very  celebrated  mechanic  and 
civil  engineer,  was  born  May  28,  1724,  at  Austhorpe  near 
Leeds,  where  his  relations  still  reside.  From  his  early 
childhood  he  discovered  a  strong  propensity  to  the  arts  in 
which  he  afterwards  excelled,  was  more  delighted  in  talk- 
ing with  workmen  than  in  playing  with  other  boys;  and 
surprised,  or  occasionally  alarmed  his  friends  by  mechani- 
cal efforts  disproportioned  to  his  years;  sometimes  being 
at  the  summit  of  a  building  to  erect  a  kind  of  mill,  and 
sometimes  at  the  side  of  a  well,  employed  in  the  construc- 
tion of  a  pump.  When  he  was  about  fourteen  or  fifteen 
he  had  constructed  a  lathe  to  turn  rose-woik,  and  pre- 
sented many  of  his  friends  with  specimens  of  its  operation 
in  wood  and  ivory.  "  In  the  year  1742,"  says  his  biogra- 
pher, "  I  spent  a  month  at  his  father's  house,  and  being 
intended  myself  for  a  mechanical  employment,  and  a  few 
years  younger  than  he  was,  J  could  not  but  view  his  works 
with  astonishment.  He  forged  his  iron  and  steel,  and 
melted  his  metal ;  he  had  tools  of  every  sort  for  working  in 
wood,  ivory,  and  metals.  He  had  made  a  lathe  by  which 
he  had  cut  a  perpetual  screw  in  brass,  a  thing  little  known 
at  that  day,  and  which,  I  believe,  was  the  invention  of  Mr. 
Henry  Hindley  of  York,  with  whom  I  served  my  appren- 
ticeship. Mr.  Hindley  was  a  man  of  the  most  communi- 
cative disposition,  a  great  lover  of  mechanics,  and  of  the 
most  fertile  genius.  Mr.  Srneaton  soon  became  acquainted 
with  him,  and  they  spent  many  a  night  at  Mr.  Hindley 's 
house,  'till  day-light,  conversing  on  those  subjects." 

The  father  of  Mr.  Stneaton  was  an  attorney,  and   wished 
to  bring  him  up  to  the  same  profession.     Mr.   Smeaton 

1  Life  prefixed  to  his  Work*>  edit.  1791. — Johnson  and  Chalmers's  English 
Poats,   1510,  21  vols,  Svo. 


S  M  E  A  T  O  N.  37 

therefore,  came  up  to  London  in  1742,  and  attended  the 
courts  in  Westminster-hull;  but,  finding  that  the  law  did 
not  suit  the  bent  of  his  genius,  he  wrote  a  strong  memorial 
on  the  subject  to  his  father,  who  had  the  good  sense  to 
allow  him  from  that  time  to  pursue  the  path  which  nature 
pointed  for  him.  Early  in  1750  he  had  lodgings  in  Turn- 
stile, Holborn,  and  was  commencing  the  business  of  a  ma- 
thematical-instrument-maker. In  1751  be  invented  a  ma- 
chine to  measure  a  ship's  way  at  sea,  and  a  compass  of 
peculiar  construction,  touched  by  Dr.  Knight's  artificial 
magnets  :  and  made  two  voyages  with  Dr.  Knight,  to  as- 
certain the  merit  of  his  contrivances.  In  1753  he  was 
elected  a  fellow  of  the  Royal  Society,  and  the  number  of 
his  papers  inserted  in  the  Transactions  of  that  body  suffi- 
ciently evinces  how  highly  he  deserved  that  distinction. 
In  1759  he  received,  by  an  unanimous  vote,  their  gold 
medal,  for  his  pape/ entitled  "  An  Experimental  Enquiry 
concerning  the  natural  Powers  of  Wind  and  Water  to  turn 
Mills,  and  other  MacJiines  depending  on  a  circular  Mo- 
tion." This  paper,  he  says,  was  the  result  of  experiments 
made  on  working  models,  in  1752  and  1753,  but  not  com- 
municated to  the  society  till  1759;  before  which  time  he 
had  not  an  opportunity  of  putting  the  effect  of  these  ex- 
periments into  real  practice,  in  a  variety  of  cases,  and  for 
various  purposes,  so  as  to  assure  the  society  that  he  had 
found  them  to  answer.  These  experiments  discovered  that 
wind  and  water  could  be  made  to  do  one-third  more  than 
was  before  known,  and  they  were  made,  we  may  observe, 
in  his  27th  anil  28th  years. 

In  1754  he  visited  Holland,  and  travelling  on  foot,  or  in 
the  trechschuyts,  made  himself  acquainted  with  most  of 
the  works  of  art  in  the  Low  Countries.  In  December  1752 
the  Eddystone  lighthouse  was  burned  down,  and  Mr. 
Smeaton  was  recommended  to  the  proprietor,  by  lord 
Macclesfield,  then  president  of  the  Royal  Society,  as  the 
person  best  qualified  to  rebuild  it.  This  great  work  he 
undertook  immediately,  and  completed  it  in  the  summer 
of  1759.  An  ample  and  most  interesting  account  is  given 
of  the  whole  transaction  in  a  folio  volume,  published  by 
himself,  in  1791,  entitled  "A  narrative  of  the  building 

j  r  O ' 

and  a  description  of  the  construction  of  the  Eddystone 
Lighthouse  with  stone,  to  which  is  subjoined  an  Appen- 
dix, giving  some  account  of  '.lie  Lighthouse  on  the  Spurn 
Point,  built  upon  a  sand.  By  John  Smeaton,  civil  en- 


88  S  M  E  A  T  O  N. 

gineer,  F.  R.  S."  This  publication  may  be  considered  as 
containing  an  accurate  history  of  four  years  of  his  life,  in 
which  the  originality  of  his  genius,  with  his  great  alacrity, 
industry,  and  perseverance,  are  fully  displayed.  It  con- 
tains also  an  account  of  the  former  edifices  constructed  in 
that  place,  and  is  made,  by  the  ingenuity  of  the  writer, 
an  entertaining,  as  well  as  an  instructive  work. 

Indeed  his  building  the  Eddystone  lighthouse,  were  there 
no  other  monument  of  his  fame,  would  establish  his  cha- 
racter. The  Eddystone  rocks  have  obtained  their  name 
from  the  great  variety  of  contrary  sets  of  the  tide  or  cur- 
rent in  their  vicinity.  They  are  situated  nearly  S.  S.  W. 
from  the  middle  of  Plymouth  Sound.  Their  distance  from 
the  port  of  Plymouth  is  about  14  miles.  They  are  almost 
in  the  line  which  joins  the  Start  and  the  Lizard  points  ; 
and  as  they  lie  nearly  in  the  direction  of  vessels  coasting 
up  and  down  the  channel,  they  were  unavoidably,  before 
the  establishment  of  a  lighthouse  there,  very  dangerous, 
and  often  fatal  to  ships.  Their  situation  with  regard  to  the 
Bay  of  Biscay  and  the  Atlantic  is  such,  that  they  lie  open 
to  the  swells  of  the  bay  and  ocean,  from  all  the  south- 
western points  of  the  compass  ;  so  that  all  the  heavy  seas 
from  the  south-west  quarter  come  uncontrolled  upon  the 
Eddystone  rocks,  and  break  upon  them  with  the  utmost 
fury.  Sometimes,  xvhen  the  sea  is  to  all  appearance  smooth 
and  even,  and  its  surface  unruffled  by  the  slightest  breeze, 
the  ground  swell  meeting  the  slope  of  the  rocks,  the  sea 
beats  upon  them  in  a  frightful  manner,  so  as  not  only  to 
obstruct  any  work  being  done  on  the  rock,  or  even  land- 
ing upon  it,  when,  figuratively  speaking,  you  might  go  to 
sea  in  a  walnut-shell.  That  circumstances  fraught  with 
danger  surrounding  it  should  lead  mariners  to  wish  for  a 
lighthouse,  is  not  wonderful;  but  the  danger  attending 
the  erection  leads  us  to  wonder  that  any  one  could  be 
found  hardy  enough  to  undertake  it.  Such  a  man  was 
first  found  in  the  person  of  Mr.  H.  Winstanley,  who,  in 
3696,  was  furnished  by  the  Trinity-house  with  the  neces- 
sary powers.  In  1700  it  was  finished;  but  in  the  great 
storm  of  November  1703,  it  was  destroyed,  and  the  pro- 
jector perished  in  the  ruins.  In  1709  another,  upon  a 
different  construction,  was  erected  by  a  Mr.  lludyerd, 
which,  in  1755,  was  unfortunately  consumed  by  fire.  The 
next  building  was  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Smeaton,  who, 
having  considered  the  errors  of  the  former  constructions, 


S  M  E  A  T  O  N.  89 

has  judiciously  guarded  against  them,  and  erected  a  build- 
ing, the  demolition  of  which  seems  little  to  be  dreaded, 
unless  the  rock  on  which  it  is  erected  should  perish  with  it. 
But  although  Mr.  Saieaton  completed  the  building  of  the 
Eddystone  lighthouse  in  a  manner  that  did  him  so  much 
credit,  it  does  not  appear  that  he  soon  got  into  full  busi- 
ness as  a  civil  engineer;  for  in  17G4,  while  he  was  in 
Yorkshire,  he  offered  himself  a  candidate  for  the  place  of 
one  of  the  receivers  of  the  Derwentvvater  Restate.  This 
place  was  conferred  upon  him  at  a  full  board  in  Greenwich 
hospital,  the  last  day  of  the  same  year,  notwithstanding  a 
powerful  opposition.  He  was  very  serviceable  in  it,  by 
improving  the  mills,  and  the  estates  belonging  to  the  hos- 
pital ;  but  in  1775  his  private  business  was  so  much  in- 
creased that  he  wished  to  resign,  though  he  was  prevailed 
upon  to  hold  it  two  years  longer.  He  was  now  concerned 
in  many  important  public  works.  He  made  the  river  Calcler 
navigable;  a  work  that  required  great  skill  and  judgment, 
on  account  of  the  very  impetuous  floods  to  which  that 
river  is  liable.  He  planned  and  superintended  the  execu- 
tion of  the  great  canal  in  Scotland,  which  joins  the  two 
seas  ;  and  was  supposed  to  prevent  the  falling  of  London- 
bridge,  when  that  event  was  apprehended,  on  the  opening 
of  the  great  arch.  In  1771  he  became  joint  proprietor, 
with  his  friend  Mr.  Holmes,  of  the  works  for  supplying 
Greenwich  and  Deptford  with  water,  an  undertaking  which 
they  succeeded  in  making  useful  to  the  public  and  bene- 
ficial to  the  proprietors,  which  it  had  never  been  before. 
Mr.  Smeaton,  in  the  course  of  his  employments,  con- 
structed a  vast  variety  of  mills,  to  the  entire  satisfaction 
and  great  advantage  of  the  owners ;  and  he  improved  what- 
ever he  took  under  his  consideration,  of  the  mechanical  or 
philosophical  kind.  Among  many  instances  of  this,  we 
may  mention  his  improvements  in  the  air-pump,  the  pyro- 
meter, the  hygrometer,  and  the  steam  engine.  He  was 
constantly  consulted  in  parliament,  and  frequently  in  the 
courts  of  law  on  difficult  questions  of  science;  and  his 
strength  of  judgment,  perspicuity  of  expression,  and  strict 
integrity,  always  appeared  on  those  occasions  to  the  highest 
advantage.  About  1785,  finding  his  health  begin  to  de- 
ciinej  Mr.  Smeaton  wished  as  much  as  possible  to  with- 
draw himself  from  business,  and  to  employ  his  leisure  in 
drawing  up  and  publishing  an  account  of  his  principal  in- 
ventions and  works.  His  narrative  of  the  Eddystone  light- 


30  S  M  E  A  T  O  N. 

house,  already  mentioned,  was  a  part  of  this  design,  and 
the  only  part  which  he  was  able  to  complete.  Notwith- 
standing his  wish  to  retire  from  business,  he  could  not  re- 
sist the  solicitation  of  his  frit'nd  Mr.  Aubert,  then  chairman 
of  the  trustees  for  Ram&gate  harbour,  to  accept  the  place 
of  engineer  to  that  harbour;  and  the  improvements  actually 
made,  as  well  as  his  report  published  by  the  trustees  in 
17£'l,  evince  the  attention  which  he  paid  to  that  important 
business. 

On  the  16th  of  September  1792,  Mr.  Smeaton  was  sud- 
denly struck  with  paralysis,  as  he  was  walking  in  his  gar- 
den at  Austhorpe,  and  remaining  in  a  very  infirm  state, 
though  in  full  possession  of  his  faculties,  died  on  the  28th 
of  the  ensuing  month.  The  character  of  this  celebrated 
engineer  may  properly  be  given  in  the  words  of  his  friend 
Mr.  Holmes.  "  Mr.  Smeaton  had  a  warmth  of  expression, 
that  might  appear  to  those  who  did  not  know  him  to  border 
on  harshness,  but  tho*e  more  intimately  acquainted  with 
him,  knew  it  arose  from  the  intense  application  of  his 
mind,  which  was  always  in  the  pursuit  of  truth,  or  engaged 
in  investigating  difficult  subjects.  He  would  sometimes 
break  out  hastily,  when  any  thing  was  said  that  did  not 
tally  with  his  ideas  ;  and  he  would  not  give  up  any  tiling 
he  argued  for,  till  his  mind  was  convinced  by  sound  rea- 
soning. In  all  the  social  duties  of  life,  he  was  exemplary  ; 
he  was  a  most  affectionate  husband,  a  good  father,  a  warm, 
zealous,  and  sincere  friend,  always  ready  to  assist  those 
he  respected,  and  often  before  it  was  pointed  out  to  him 
in  what  way  he  could  serve  them.  He  was  a  lover  and 
encourager  of  merit,  wherever  he  found  it;  and  many  men 
are  in  a  great  measure  indebted  for  their  present  situation 
to  his  assistance  and  advice.  As  a  companion  he  was  al- 
ways entertaining  and  instructive;  and  none  could  spend 
their  time  in  his  company  without  improvement.  "  As  a 
man,"  adds  Mr.  H.  "  I  always  admired  and  respected  him, 
and  his  memory  will  ever  be  most  dear  to  me."  A  second 
edition  of  his  narrative  of  the  Eddystone,  was  published  in 
1793,  under  the  revisal  of  his  friend  Mr.  Aubert :  but 
without  any  addition.  The  papers  of  Mr.  Smeaton  were 
purchased  of  his  executors  by  sir  Joseph  Banks,  under  the 
voluntary  promise  of  accounting  to  them,  for  the  profits 
of  whatever  should  be  published.  Accordingly  under  the 
inspection  of  a  society  of  civil  engineers,  founded  ori- 
ginally by  Mr.  Smeaton,  three  4to  volumes  of  his  reports 
have  been  published  1797,  &c.  with  a  life  prefixed. 


S  M  E  A  T  O  N.  91 

During  many  years  of  his  life,  Mr.  Smeaton  was  a  con- 
stant attendant  on  parliament,  his  opinion  being  continu- 
ally called  for.  And  here  his  natural  strength  of  judgment 
and  perspicuity  of  expression  had  their  full  display.  It 
was  his  constant  practice,  when  applied  to,  to  plan  or 
support  any  measure,  to  make  himself  fully  acquainted 
with  it,  and  be  convinced  of  its  merits,  before  he  would 
be  concerned  in  it.  By  this  caution,  joined  to  the  clear- 
ness of  his  description,  and  the  integrity  of  his  heart,  he 
seldom  failed  having  the  bill  he  supported  carried  into  an 
ad  of  parliameut.  No  person  was  heard  with  more  atten- 
tion, nor  had  any  one  ever  more  confidence  placed  in  his 
testimony.  In  the  courts  of  law  he  had  several  compli- 
ments paid  to  him  from  the  bench,  by  the  late  lord  Mans- 
field and  others,  on  account  of  the  new  light  he  threw 
upon  difficult  subjects.1 

SMELLIE  (WILLIAM),  M.  D.  an  eminent  accoucheur, 
was  a  native  of  Scotland,  and  after  some  practice  in  his 
country,  settled  in  the  early  part  of  the  last  century  in 
London.  He  was  principally  celebrated  as  a  teacher,  hav- 
ing instructed,  as  he  informs  us  in  his  practice,  nearly  a 
thousand  pnpils,  who  assisted,  whiUt  attending  his  lectures, 
eleven  hundred  and  fifty  poor  women.  The  women  were 
supported,  by  a  subscription  among  the  pupils,  during 
their  lying-in.  Dr.  Smellie  was  the  first  writer  who  con- 
sidered the  shape  and  size  of  the  female  pelvis,  as  adapted 
to  the  head  of  the  foetus,  and  who  ascertained  the  position 
of  the  latter  during  the  period  of  gestation;  and  his  opi- 
nion has  been  confirmed  by  later  writers,  particularly  by 
Dr.  Hunter,  who  had  several  opportunities  of  dissecting 
women  who  died  undelivered,  at  different  periods  of  their 
pregnancy.  He  also  introduced  many  improvements  in 
delivery  and  in  the  use  of  instruments,  and  abolished  many 
superstitious  notions,  and  erroneous  customs,  that  prevailed 
in  the  management  of  women  in  labour,  and  of  the  chil- 
dren ;  and  he  had  the  satisfaction  to  see  the  greater  part 
of  his  maxims  adopted,  not  only  in  this  island,  but  by  the 
most  respectable  practitioners  in  the  greater  part  of 
Europe. 

In  1752  he  published  his  lectures;  having  spent,  as  he 
says,  six  years  in  digesting  and  improving  them,  under 
the  title  of  a  "  Treatise  of  Midwifery,"  in  one  volume,  8vo. 

1  Life  prefixed  to  his  Reports. — Hutton's  Diet. 


92  S  M  E  L  L  I  E. 

This  was  followed  in  1754,  by  a  volume  of  cases,  intended 
to  illustrate  the  method  of  practice  recommended  in  the 
treatise.  These  were  very  soon  translated  into  French  by 
Mons.  Preville,  who  assigns  as  a  motive  for  the  undertak- 
ing, the  high  character  the  author  enjoyed  on  the  conti- 
nent. Smellie  mentions,  in  the  preface  to  his  volume  of 
cases,  his  intention  of  publishing  a  second  volume,  to  con- 
tain a  collection  of  cases  in  preternatural  Jabours,  which 
would  complete  his  plan.  This  volume  did  not  appear 
until  about  five  years  after  his  death,  namely,  in  17G8. 
"  Some  years  ago,"  the  editor  says,  "  the  author  retired 
from  business  in  London,  to  his  native  country,  where  he 
employed  his  leisure  hours  in  methodizing  and  revising  his 
papers,  and  in  finishing  his  collection  of  cases  for  this  pub- 
lication. The  manuscript  was  transmitted  to  the  person 
who  prepared  the  two  former  volumes  for  the  press,  and 
even  delivered  to  the  printer,  when  the  doctor  died  ad- 
vanced in  years,  in  1763,  at  his  own  house  near  Lanerk  in 
North  Britain.  This,  with  the  two  former  volumes,"  the 
editor  continues  to  say,  "  we  may  venture  to  call  a  com- 
plete system  of  midwifery.  It  is  the  fruit  of  forty  years 
experience,  enriched  with  an  incredible  variety  of  prac- 
tice, and  contains  directions  and  rules  of  conduct  to  be 
observed  in  every  case  that  can  possibly  occur  in  the  exer- 
cise of  the  obstetric  art;  rules  that  have  not  been  deduced 
from  the  theory  of  a  heated  imagination,  but  founded  on 
solid  observation,  confirmed  by  mature  reflection,  and 
reiterated  experience."  This  opinion  of  the  merit  of  the 
author,  and  his  work,  has  been  confirmed  by  the  general 
suffrage  of  the  public. 

In  1754,  this  author  published  a  set  of  "Anatomical 
tables,"  with  explanations,  and  an  abridgment  of  his  prac- 
tice of  midwifery,  with  a  view  to  illustrate  still  farther  his 
treatise  on  that  subject.  The  plates  are  thirty-six  in  num- 
ber, large  folio.  The  figures  are  of  the  size  of  nature, 
and  principally  taken  from  subjects  prepared  for  the  pur- 
pose. Twenty-five  of  them  were  drawn  and  engraved  by 
JV1.  Rymsdyke.  In  forming  the  remaining  eleven,  the 
author  acknowledges  he  received  considerable  assistance 
from  the  late  professor  Camper. 

This  author  had  the  fate  of  almost  all  ingenious  men,  to 
excite  the  indignation  of  some  of  his  contemporaries.  The 
most  formidable  of  these  was  .Dr.  William  Burton,  practi- 
tioner of  midwifery  at  York,  who-  attacked  him  with  great 


S  M  E  L  L  I  E.  9? 

acrimony ;  and  Dr.  William  Douglas,  who  styles  himself 
physician  extraordinary  to  the  prince  of  Wales,  and  man- 
midwife,  addressed  two  letters  to  Dr.  Smellie,  in  1748,  ac- 
cusing him  of  degrading  the  profession,  by  teaching  mid- 
wifery at  a  very  low  price,  and  giving  certificates  to  pupils 
who  had  only  attended  him   a  few  weeks,  by  which  means 
the   number  of  practitioners   was   enormously   multiplied, 
and   many  improper  persons  admitted.     Apothecaries,  he 
says,  resorted   to    the   doctor,    from    various   parts   of  the 
country,  and  at  the  end  of  two  or  three  weeks,  returned 
to  their  shops,  armed  with  diplomas  signed  by  the  professor, 
attesting  their  proficiency  in  the  art.     These  were  framed 
and  hung  up  in  the  most  conspicuous  parts  of  their  houses, 
and   were,  without    doubt,    surveyed    with   veneration    by 
their  patients.     "  In  your  bills,"  he  says,   "  you   set  forth 
that  you  give  a  universal  lecture  in  midwifery  for  half  a 
guinea,  or  four  lectures  for  a  guinea."     In  these  universal 
lectures,  the  whole  mystery  of  the  art  was  to  be  unfolded. 
He  charges  him  also   with   hanging  out  a  paper  lanthorn, 
with  the  words  "  Midwifery  taught  here  for  five  shillings," 
each  lecture,   we  presume.     This  was  certainly  an  humili- 
ating situation   for  a   man   of  so  much  real   merit.     Dr. 
Douglas  relates  these  cases,  in   which   he   contends  that 
Smellie  had  acted  unscientifically  ;  and  particularly  says, 
that  he  suffered  one   of  the  women  to  die  by  not   giving 
timely  assistance.     To  the  charges  of  mal-practice,  Dr. 
Smellie  answered,  by  giving  a  full  recital  of  the  cases,  and 
referred  to  Dr.  Sands,  and  other  practitioners,  who  attended 
with  him.     His  answer  was  so  satisfactory,  that  Dr.  Douglas 
retracted  his  charges  in  his  second  letter.     On  the  other 
points,  Smellie  was   silent.     It  is  probable,  that,  having 
practised  the  first  nineteen  years  at  a  small  town   in  Scot- 
land, where  medical  fees  may  be  supposed  to  be  low,  he 
might  not  think  the  price  he  demanded  for  his  instructions 
so  insignificant  and  inadequate  as  it  really  was.     Smellie  is 
said  to  have  been  coarse  in  his  penron,  and  aukward  and 
unpleasing  in  his  manners,  so  that  he  never  rose  into  any 
great  estimation   among   persons  of  rank.     On  the  other 
hand,  he  appears   to   have  had  an    active  and  ingenious 
mind,  with  a  solid  understanding  and  judgment.     He  had 
a   peculiar    turn    to    mechanics,    which    was    evinced    by 
the    alterations    he    made   in    the    forceps,  crotchets,  and 
scissors,     which    all   received   considerable  improvements 
under  his  hands;  but  this  was  more  particularly  shewn  by 


94  S  M  E  L  L  I  E. 

the  elegant  construction  of  his  phantoms,  or  machines,  on 
which  he  demonstrated  the  various  positions  of  the  foetus 
in  utero,  and  the  different  species  of  labour.  That  he 
was  candid  and  modest  appears  through  every  page  of  his 
works ;  ready  on  all  occasions  to  acknowledge  the  merit  of 
others,  and  when  correcting  their  errors  assuming  no  su- 
periority over  them.  We  will  conclude  this  account  with 
the  words  of  one  of  his  pupils,  who  appears  to  have  been 
well  acquainted  with  his  disposition  and  manners.  "  No 
man  was  more  ready  than  Dr.  Smellie  to  crave  advice  and 
assistance  when  danger  or  difficulty  occurred,  and  no  man 
was  more  communicative,  without  the  least  self-sufficiency 
or  ostentation.  He  never  officiously  intermeddled  in  the 
concerns  of  others,  or  strove  to  insinuate  himself  into  prac- 
tice by  depreciating  the  character  of  his  neighbour;  but 
made  his  way  into  business  by  the  dint  of  merit  alone,  and 
maintained  his  reputation  by  the  most  benelicent  and  dis- 
interested behaviour."1 

SMELLIE  (WILLIAM),  a  naturalist  of  some  eminence, 
was  born  in  the  Pleasaunce,  one  of  the  suburbs  of  the  city 
of  Edinburgh,  in  1740.  His  father,  Alexander  Smellie, 
was  a  master-builder  and  stone-mason,  and  u  good  classical 
scholar.  Williasn  was  educated  at  a  school  in  the  village 
of  Duddingstone,  near  his  paternal  residence,  and,  when 
about  twelve  years  old,  was  bound  apprentice  to  Messrs. 
Hamilton,  Balfour,  and  Neil,  printers  in  Edinburgh,  for 
the  term  of  six  years  and  a  half.  Such  was  his  diligence 
and  attention  to  the  business,  tHat,  two  years  before  the 
expiration  of  his  apprenticeship,  he  was  intrusted  with  the 
correction  of  the  press,  and  during  this  time  he  attended 
some  of  the  classes  of  the  university.  Tn  1757  the  Edin- 
burgh Philosophical  Society  having  offered  a  prize  for  the 
most  accurate  edition  of  a  Latin  classic,  Mr.  Smellie,  his 
biographer  says,  printed  an  edition  of  Terence,  to  which 
the  prize  was  adjudged.  It  was  published  in  1758,  and  is 
mentioned  by  Dr.  Harvvood  and  his  successors  in  Classical 
Bibliography,  as  an  immaculate  edition  ;  but  they  mention 
it  as  printed  by  Messrs.  Hamilton,  Balfour,  and  Neil,  with- 
out any  notice  of  Smellie.  His  biographer's  account  is, 
that  when  the  prize  was  offered,  "  Mr.  Smellie,  in  the 
name  of  his  masters,  became  a  competitor,  and  produced 
an  edition  of  Terence,  in  duodecimo,  the  whole  of  which 

1  Preceding  edit,  of  this  Diet. 


S  M  E  L  L  I  E.  95 

he  set  up  and  corrected  himself,  and  for  which  the  prize 
(a  silver  medal)  was  awarded  to  his  masters  I"  The  fact  we 
suspect  to  be,  tlut  his  masters  procured  a  correct  text  of 
Ten  nee,  prepared  for  ihe  press  by  some  scholar,  and  em- 
ployed their  apprentice  to  execute  the  mechanical  part  of 
composing  and  correcting  the  errors  of  the  press.  The 
ediiion  itself  is  certainly  a  very  beautiful  piece  of  typo- 
graphy. 

In  April  1759,  when  Mr.  Smellie's  apprenticeship  ex- 
pired, he  entered  into  an  engagement  with  Messrs.  Murray 
and  Cochrane,  printers  in  Edinburgh,  to  correct  the  press, 
and  collect  articles  for  the  "  Scots  Magazine,"  printed  by 
them,  &e.  In  this  employment  lie  continued  until  1765, 
when  he  entered  into  business  as  a  printer  on  his  own  account. 
While  in  the  service  of  Messrs.  Murray,  he  employed  his 
leisure  time  in  attending  the  university  lectures,  on  litera- 
ture in  general,  and  on  medicine,  botany,  chemistry,  &c. 
To  the  study  of  natural  history  he  became  early  attached  : 
and  in  1760  had  collected  an  extensive  series  of  plants, 
which  he  presented  to  Dr.  Hope,  then  professor  of  botany. 
He  afterwards,  in  1764,  gained  a  prize  medal  for  a  "  Dis- 
sertation on  the  sexes  of  Plants,"  in  opposition  to  the  opinions 
of  Linnaeus.  The  substance  of  this  he  published  in  the  first 
volume  of  his  "  Philosophy  of  Natural  History."  While 
he  attended  the  bojtanical  lectures,  they  were  interrupted 
by  Dr.  Hope's  confinement  in  consequence  of  a  hurt;  and 
on  this  occasion  the  doctor  was  so  sensible  of  Mr.  Smellie's 
abilities,  that  he  requested  him  ts>  continue  the  lectures 
during  his  absence,  which  Mr.  Smellie  did  for  about,  six 
weeks,  to  the  entire  satisfaction  of  his  fellow-students. 

An  honour  like  this,  for  an  honour  it  certainly  was,  could 
not  fail  to  make  his  abilities  known  ;  and  his  friends  began 

'  O 

now  to  solicit  him  to  follow  one  of  the  learned  professions-, 
but  this  he  declined.  He  ha:i  indeed  gone  through  a  com- 
plete course  o;  studies  connected  with  medicine,  but  the 
only  result  of  his  labour  was  the  assistance  he  gave  Dr. 
Buchan  in  the  compilation  of  that  very  popular  work, 
"  Domestic  Medicine,"  first  published  in  1770.  In  1765, 
as  before  noticed,  he  commenced  business  as  a  printer  with 
Messrs.  William  and  Robert  Auk!  ;  an-1  about  two  year* 
after  Mr.  .1  ••>\\\\  'KillVur  was  added  to  the  firm,  but  before 
1771  the  Mcssr*.  Aul.l  ha -i  quitted  it. 

One  of  Mr.  Sinellie's  earliest  literary  schemes  was  the 
first  edition  of  the  *'  Encyclopaedia  Britannica,"  3  vois. 


96  S  M  E  L  L  I  E. 

4to,  published  in  1771.  Of  this  he  composed,  or  com- 
piled, the  principal  articles,  and  superintended  the  whole; 
for  which  he  received  the  sum  of  2007.  from  the  proprie- 
tors ;  but  he  declined  taking  any  concern  in  the  second  or 
subsequent  editions.  In  1773,  in  conjunction  with  Dr. 
Gilbert  Stuart,  he  engaged  in  a  new  monthly  work,  entitled 
"  The  Edinburgh  Magazine  and  Review,"  which,  says  his 
biographer,  "  would  have  succeeded,  if  the  management 
had  been  entirely  committed  to  the  calm,  judicious,  and 
conciliatory  controul  of  Mr.  Smellie.  But  owing  to  the 
harsh  irritability  of  temper,  and  the  severe  and  almost  in- 
discriminate satire  in  which  Dr.  Stuart  indulged,  several 
of  the  Reviews  gave  great  offence  to  many  leading  charac- 
ters of  the  day,  which  occasioned  the  sale  to  be  so  much 
diminished  as  to  render  it  a  losing  concern  to  the  adven- 
turers, insomuch  that  it  was  discontinued  in  1776,  after 
the  production  of  forty-seven  numbers,"  &c.  It  appears, 
however,  from  the  long  account  given  of  this  Review,  by 
his  biographer,  that  Mr.  Smellie  partook  largely  in  the  ar- 
rogance, gross  levity,  and  want  of  feeling,  which  distin- 
guished Dr.  Stuart's  writings.  The  wonder  is,  that  they 
should  not  succeed  in  a  mode  of  reviewing,  now  so  po- 
pular. In  1781,  Mr.  Smellie  published  his  translation  of 
Buffon's  Natural  History,  in  8  vols.  8vo,  which  became  a 
favourite,  and  has  often  been  reprinted. 

In  1790,  Mr.  Smellie  published  the  first  volume  of  the 
only  work,  except  his  translation  of  Buffon,  for  which  he 
is  likely  to  be  remembered,  "  The  Philosophy  of  Natural 
History,"  4to.  This  alone,  says  his  biographer,  would 
have  amply  sufficed  to  establish  the  fame  of  Mr.  Smellie  as 
a  man  of  learning  and  talents,  if  his  name  had  never  been, 
conjoined  with  any  other  literary  enterprize.  A  second 
volume  was  left  by  him  in  manuscript,  which  was  published 
after  his  death  by  his  son,  in  1799.  Mr.  Smellie  proposed 
to  have  undertaken  the  composition  of  a  series  of  biogra- 
phical memoirs  of  the  lives  and  writings  of  such  authors  as 
bad  employed  him  to  print  their  works.  In  this  he  had 
made  some  progress  ;  and  his  lives  of  Hume,  Smith,  Monro, 
and  Kames,  have  been  since  published,  in  one  volume  oc- 
tavo ;  and  although  we  are  far  from  thinking  them  models 
in  that  species  of  composition,  and  consider  the  author  as 
rather  partial,  we  should  have  been  happy  to  have  the  list 
completed  which  his  biographer  gives  of  intended  lives. 
The  Scotch  literati  have  been  too  neglectful  of  their  erai- 


S  M  E  L  L  I  E.  97 

hent  men  ;  but  some  excellent  specimens  have  lately  ap- 
peared, as  Forbes's  Life  of  Beattie,  and  lord  Woodhous- 
lee's  Life  of  Kames;  and  we  hope  for  more  from  men  of 
equal  talents. 

Mr.  Smellie  died  June  24-,  1795;  and  from  the  elabo- 
rate character  given  of  him  by  his  biographer  we  should 
have  little  inclination  to  make  any  deductions,  if  he  had 
not  too  often  presented  us  with  traits  of  character  by  no 
means  of  the  amiable  kind,  and  if  we  did  not  find  in  his 
works  certain  impious  levities  which  are  unpardonable. 
Mr.  Smellie's  memory  will  be  best  preserved  by  his  "  Phi- 
losophy of  Natural  History,"  and  his  translation  of  Buffon  ; 
but  he  cannot  be  elevated  to  the  rank  of  a  hero  in  lite- 
rature. * 

SMETON  (THOMAS),  a  learned  Scotch  divine,  and 
principal  of  the  college  of  Glasgow,  was  born  at  Cask, 
near  Perth,  in  1536.  He  was  educated  at  the  university 
of  St.  Andrew's,  and  afterwards  studied  for  some  time  at 
Paris.  He  then  went  to  Rome,  and  during  a  residence  of 
three  years  there,  entered  into  the  society  of  the  Jesuits. 
After  returning  to  Scotland,  on  account  of  some  private 
business,  he  again  visited  Paris,  where  he  remained  until 
1571.  At  this  time  Mr.  Thomas  Maitland,  a  younger 
brother  of  Lrtoington's,  prevailed  on  Mr.  Smeton  to  ac- 
company him  to  Italy,  where  Maitland  died.  After  his 
death,  Smeton  went  to  Geneva,  and  by  conversing  with 
the  reformers,  was  confirmed  in  an  intention  he  had  before 
meditated,  of  quitting  the  church  of  R<»me.  From  Geneva 
he  travelled  to  Paris,  where  he  narrowly  escaped  the  mas- 
sacre, and  came  home  with  the  English  ambassador,  sir 
Thomas  Walsingham.  Immediately  on  his  arrival,  he  pub- 
licly renounced  popery,  and  settled  at  Colchester  in  Essex, 
as  a  school-master.  In  1578,  he  returned  to  Scotland, 
joined  Knox  and  the  other  reformers,  was  appointed  minis- 
ter of  Paisley,  and  member  of  the  general  assembly  which 
met  at  Edinburgh  in  the  same  year,  and  was  chosen  mode- 
rator in  the  assembly  of  1579.  He  was  soon  after  made 
principal  of  the  college  of  Glasgow,  and  died  in  1583, 
Archbishop  Spotswood  says,  he  was  a  man  "  learned  in  the 
languages,  and  well  seen  in  the  ancient  fathers."  His 
only  publication  is  entitled  "  Responsio  ad  Hamiltonii  dia- 
lo^um,"  Edinb.  1579,  8vo,  a  defence  of  the  presbyterians; 

'  Life  by  Mr.  Kerr,  1811,  2  yolf,  9vo. 

VOL.  XXVIII.  H 


SS  S  M  E  T  O  N. 

to  which  is  added,  his  "  Eximii  viri  Joannis  Knoxii,  Scoti- 
canae  ecclesiae  instauratoris,  vera  extremse  vitac  et  obitus 
historia."  ' 

SM1GLECIUS  (MARTIN),  a  learned  Jesuit,  was  a  na- 
tive of  Poland,  and  born  in  1562.  He  entered  among  the 

*  O 

Jesuits  at  Rome  in  1581,  and  made  great  progress  in  his 
studies.  Being  sent  back  to  Poland,  he  taught  philosophy 
at  Wilna  for  four  years,  and  divinity  for  ten.  He  became, 
from  his  reputation  for  learning,  rector  of  several  colleges, 
and  superior  of  the  convent  at  Cracow.  He  died  July  26, 
1618,  at  the  age  of  fifty-six.  He  published  many  works 
against  the  Protestants,  and  particularly  against  the  Soci- 
nians,  but  merits  notice  chiefly  for  his  system  of  "  Logic," 
printed  at  Ingolstadt,  1618,  2  vols.  4to.  Rapin  styles 
this  a  noble  work,  and  it  certainly  once  had  considerable 
reputation.  * 

SMITH  (ADAM),  the  celebrated  author  of  the  "  Inquiry 
into  the  Nature  and  Causes  of  the  Wealth  of  Nations,'* 
was  the  only  son  of  Adam  Smith,  comptroller  of  the  cus- 
toms at  Kirkaldy,  in  Scotland,  where  he  was  born  June  5, 
1723,  a  few  months  after  the  death  of  his  father.  He  was 
originally  of  an  infirm  and  sickly  constitution,  and  being 
thus  precluded  from  more  active  amusements,  had  his  na- 
tural turn  for  books  and  studious  pleasures  very  early  con- 
firmed in  his  mind.  At  three  years  of  age  he  was  stolen 
by  vagrants,  but  was  happily  recovered,  and  preserved  to 
be  one  of  the  ornaments  of  the  learned  world,  and  the 
great  improver  of  commercial  science.  His  education  was 
begun  at  a  school  in  Kirkaldy,  and  continued  at  the  uni- 
versity of  Glasgow,  to  which  he  went  in  1737,  and  re- 
mained there  till  1740,  when  he  removed  to  Baliol  college, 
Oxford,  as  an  exhibitioner,  on  Snell's  foundation.  The 
studies  to  which  he  first  attached  himself  at  Glasgow,  were 
mathematics  and  natural  philosophy  ;  these,  however,  did 
not  long  divert  him  from  pursuits  more  congenial  to  his 
mind.  The  study  of  human  nature  in  all  its  branches, 
more  particularly  of  the  political  history  of  mankind,  opened 
a  boundless  field  to  his  curiosity  and  ambition  ;  and  while 
it  afforded  scope  to  all  the  various  powers  of  his  versatile 
and  comprehensive  genius,  gratified  his  ruling  passion  of 
contributing  to  the  happiness  and  improvement  of  society, 

i  Mackenzie's  Scots  Writers,  vol.  III.— M'Rie'g  Life  of  Knox. 
3  Gen.  Diet.— Alegambe. 


SMITH.  99 

To  this  study,  diversified  by  polite  literature,  he  seems  to 
have  devote..!  himself  after  his  removal  from  Oxford.  It 
may  be  presumed,  that  the  lectures  of  the  profound  and 
eloquent  Dr.  Hutcheson,  which  he  attended  before  he  left 
Glasgow,  had  a  considerable  effect  in  directing  his  talents 
to  their  proper  objects.  It  was  also  at  this  period  of  his 
life  that  he  cultivated  with  the  greatest  care  the  study  of 
languages.  He  had  been  originally  destined  for  the  church 
of  England,  and  with  that  view  was  seat  to  Oxford,  but, 
after  seven  years'  residence  there,  not  finding  an  inclina^ 
tion  for  that  profession,  he  returned  to  Scotland  and  to  his 
mother. 

In  1751  Mr.  Smith  was  elected  professor  of  logic  in  the 
university  of  Glasgow;  and  the  year  following,  upon  the 
death  of  Mr.  Cragie,  the  immediate  successor  of  Dr. Hutche- 
son, he  was  removed  to  the  professorship  ot  moral  philo- 
sophy in  that  university.  His  lectures  in  both  these  pro- 
fessorships  were  of  the  most  masterly  kind,  but  no  part 
of  them  has  been  preserved,  except  what  he  himself  pub- 
lished in  his  two  principal  works.  A  general  sketch  of  his 
lectures  has  indeed  been  given  by  his  biographer,  in  the 
words  of  one  of  his  pupils,  from  which  it  appears  thit  his 
lectures  on  logic  were  at  once  original  and  profound.  His 
course  of  moral  philosophy  consisted  of  four  parts  ;  the  first 
contained  natural  theology,  or  the  proofs  of  the  Being  and 
Attributes  of  God ;  the  second  comprehended  ethics, 
strictly  so  called,  and  consisted  chiefly  of  the  doctrines 
which  he  published  afterwards  in  his  "  Theory  of  Moral 
Sentiments."  In  the  third  part  he  treated  more  at  length 
of  that  branch  of  morality  which  relates  to  justice.  This 
also  he  intended  to  give  to  the  public;  but  this  intention, 
which  is  mentioned  in  the  conclusion  of  the  "  Theory  of 
Moral  Sentiments,"  he  did  not  live  to  fulfil.  In  the  fourth 
and  last  part  of  his  lectures  he  examined  those  political  re- 
gulations which  are  founded,  not  upon  the  principle  of 
justice,  but  of  expediency.  Under  this  view  he  considered 
the  political  institutions  relating  to  commerce,  to  finances, 
to  ecclesiastical  and  military  establishments.  What  he  de- 
livered on  these  subjects  formed  the  substance  of  the  work 
which  he  afterwards  published  under  the  title  of  *' An  In- 
quiry into  the  Nature  and  Causes  of  tue  Wealth  of  Na- 
tions." There  was  no  situation  in  which  his  abilities  ap- 
peared to  greater  advantage  than  that  of  a  professor.  In, 
delivering  his  lectures  he  trusted  almost  entirely  to  extern' 

H  2 


100  S  M  I  T  H. 

porary  elocution.  His  manner,  though  not  graceful, 
was  plain  and  unaffected  ;  and,  as  he  seemed  to  be  always 
interested  in  his  subject,  he  never  failed  to  interest  his 
hearers.  His  reputation  was  accordingly  raised  very 
high,  and  a  multitude  of  students  from  a  great  distance 
resorted  to  the  university  of  Glasgow  merely  on  his  ac- 
count. 

It  does  not  appear  that  he  made  any  public  trial  of  his 
powers  as  a  writer  before  the  year  17.5.5,  'when  he  furnished 
some  criticisms  on  Johnson's  Dictionary,  to  a  periodical 
work  called  "  The  Edinburgh  Review,"  which  was  then. 
•  j;un,  but  was  not  carried  on  beyond  two  numbers.  la 
i  759  he  first  published  his  "Theory  of  Moral  Sentiments," 
»;>  which  he  afterwards  subjoined  "  a  Dissertation  on  the 
Origin  of  Languages,  and  on  the  different  Genius  of  those 
which  are  original  and  compounded." 

After  the  publication  of  this  work,  Dr.  Smith  remained 
four  years  at  Glasgow,  discharging  his  official  duties  with 
increasing  reputation.  Towards  the  end  of  1763  he  re- 
ceived an  invitation  from  Mr.  Charles  Townsend  to  accom- 
pany the  duke  of  Buccieugh  on  his  travels  ;  and  the  liberal 
ns  of  the  proposal,  added  to  a  strong  desire  of  visiting 
the  continent  of  Europe,  induced  him  to  resign  his  profes- 
sorship at  Glasgow.  Early  in  the  year  1764  he  joined  the 
duke  of  Buccieugh  in  London,  and  in  March  set  out  with 
him  for  the  continent.  Sir  James  JYIacdonald,  afterward* 
so  justly  lamented  by  Dr.  Smith  and  many  other  distin- 
guished persons,  as  a  young  man  of  the  highest  accom- 
plishments and  virtues,  met  them  at  Dover.  After  a  fevr 
dnys  passed  at  Paris,  they  settled  for  eighteen  months  at 
Thou  louse,  and  then  took  a  tour  through  the  south  of 
France  to  Geneva,  where  they  passed  two  months.  About 
Christnv-is  1765  they  returned  to  Paris,  and  there  remained 
till  the  October  following.  By  the  recommendations  of 
David  Hume,  with  whom  Dr.  Smith  had  been  united  in. 
strict  friendship  from  the  year  1752,  they  were  introduced 
to  the  society  of  the  first  wits  in  France,  but  who  were  also 
unhappily  the  most  notorious  deists.  The  biographer  of 
Dr.  A.  Smith  has  told  us,  in  the  words  of  the  duke  of  Buc- 
cieugh himself,  that  he  and  his  noble  pupil  lived  together 
in  the  most  uninterrupted  harmony  during  the  thres  years 
of  their  travels;  and  that  their  friendship  continued  to  the 
end  of  Dr.  Smith's  life,  whose  loss  was  then  sincerely  re- 
gretted by  the  survivor. 


S  M  I  T  H.  101 

The  next  ten  years  of  Dr.  A.  Smith's  life  were  passed  in  a 
retirement  which  formed  a  striking  contrast  to  his  late  mi- 
grations. With  the  exception  of  a  few  visits  to  Edinburgh 
and  London,  he  passed  the  whole  of  this  period  with  his  mo- 
ther at  Kirkaldy,  occupied  habitually  in  intense  study.  His 
friend  Hume,  who  considered  a  town  as  the  true  scene  for 
a  man  of  letters,  in  vain  attempted  to  seduce  him  from  his 
retirement;  till  at  length,  in  the  beginning  of  1776,  he 
accounted  for  his  long  retreat  by  the  publication  of  his 
"  Inquiry  into  the  Nature  and  Causes  of  the  Wealth  of  Na- 
tions," 2  vols.  4to.  This  book  is  well  known  as  the  most 
profound  and  perspicuous  dissertation  of  its  kind  that  the 
world  has  ever  seen.  About  two  years  after  the  publication 
of  this  work  the  author  was  appointed  one  of  the  commis- 
sioners of  the  customs  in  Scotland.  The  greater  part  of 
these  two  years  he  passed  in  London,  in  a  society  too  ex- 
tensive and  varied  to  allow  him  much  time  for  study.  In 
consequence  of  his  new  appointment,  he  returned  in  1778 
to  Edinburgh,  where  he  enjoyed  the  last  twelve  years  of 
his  life  in  affluence,  and  among  the  companions  of  his  youth. 
"  During  the  first  years  of  his  residence  in  Edinburgh," 
says  his  biographer,  "  his  studies  seemed  to  be  entirely 
suspended ;  and  his  passion  for  letters  served  only  to  amuse 
his  leisure  and  to  animate  his  conversation.  The  infirmities 
of  age,  of  which  he  very  early  began  to  feel  the  approaches, 
reminded  him  at  last,  when  it  was  too  late,  of  what  he  yet 
owed  to  the  public  and  to  his  own  fame.  The  principal 
materials  of  the  works  which  he  had  announced  had  long 
ago  been  collected,  and  little  probably  was  wanting,  but  a 
few  years  of  health  and  retirement,  to  bestow  on  them  that 
systematical  arrangement  in  which  he  delighted ;  and  the 
ornaments  of  that  flowing,  and  apparently  artless  style, 
which  he  had  studiously  cultivated,  but  which,  after  all  his 
experience  and  composition,  he  adjusted  with  extreme  dif- 
ficulty to  his  own  taste."  The  death  of  his  mother  in  1784, 
who,  to  an  extreme  old  age,  had  possessed  her  faculties 
unimpaired,  with  a  considerable  degree  of  health,  and  that 
of  a  cousin,  who  had  assisted  in  superintending  his  house- 
hold, in  1788,  contributed  to  frustrate  his  projects.  Though 
he  bore  his  losses  with  firmness,  his  health  and  spirits  gra- 
dually declined,  and,  in  July  1790,  he  died  of  a  chronic 
obstruction  in  his  bowels,  which  had  been  lingering  and 
painful.  A  few  days  before  his  death  he  gave  orders  to 
destroy  all  his  manuscripts,  with  the  exception  of  some 


102  SMITH. 

detached  essays,  which  he  left  to  the  care  of  his  executors, 
and  which  have  since  been  published  in  one  volume  4to, 
in  1795. 

Of  his  intellectual  gifts  and  attainments,  of  the  origina- 
lity and  comprehensiveness  of  his  views,  the  extent,  variety, 
and  correctness  of  his  information,  the  fertility  of  his  inven- 
tion, anil  the  ornaments  which  his  rich  imagination  had 
borrowed  from  classical  culture,  Dr.  A.  Smith  has  left  be- 
hind him  lasting  monuments.  To  his  private  worth  the 
most  certain  of  all  testimonies  may  be  found  in  that  confi- 
dence, respect,  and  attachment,  which  followed  him  through 
the  various  relations  of  life.  With  all  his  talents,  however, 
he  is  acknowledged  not  to  have  been  fitted  for  the  general 
commerce  of  the  world,  or  the  business  of  active  life.  His 
habitual  abstraction  of  thought  rendered  him  inattentive  to 
common  objects,  and  he  frequently  exhibited  instances  of 
absence,  which  have  scarcely  been  surpassed  by  the  fancy 
of  Addison  or  La  Bruyere.  Even  in  his  childhood  this  ha- 
bit began  to  shew  itself.  In  his  external  form  and  appear- 
ance there  was  nothing  uncommon.  He  never  sat  for  his 
picture;  but  a  medallion,  executed  by  Tassie,  conveys  an 
exact  idea  of  his  profile,  and  of  the  general  expression  of 
his  countenance.  The  valuable  library  which  he  had  col- 
lected was  bequeathed,  with  the  rest  of  his  property,  to  his 
cousin,  Mr.  David  Douglas. 

One  thing,  however,  is  much  to  be  regretted,  in  the  life 
of  Dr.  A.  Smith,  of  which  his  biographer  has  not  thought 
fit  to  take  the  smallest  notice  ;  and  that  is  his  infidelity. 
"When  his  friend  Hume  died,  he  published  the  life  which 
that  celebrated  sceptic  had  written  of  himself;  with  such 
remarks  as  proved,  but  too  plainly,  that  his  sentiments  on 
the  subject  of  religion  were  nearly  the  same  with  those  of 
the  deceased.  This  publication,  which  apparently  was  in- 
tended to  strike  a  powerful  blow  against  Christianity,  and  to 
give  proportionable  support  to  the  cause  of  deism,  produced 
an  anonymous  letter  to  Dr.  A.  Smith  from  the  Clarendon 
press;  which  was  afterwards  known  to  have  proceeded  from 
the  pen  of  Dr.  Home  In  this  celebrated  letter,  the  argu- 
ment is  so  clear,  and  the  humour  so  easy  and  natural,  that 
it  produces  an  effect  which  no  one  but  a  determined  infidel 
can  resist  or  resent.  Dr.  A.  Smith  had  assumed  an  air  of 
great  solemnity  in  his  defence  of  his  friend  Hume  ;  but  the 
author  of  the  letter  treats  them  both  with  a  jocularity  which 
has  wonderlui  force.  He  alludes  to  certain  anecdotes  con- 


SMITH.  \ 

"X 

eerning  Hume,  which  are  very  inconsistent  with  the  account 
given  ii>  his  life  :  for  at  the  very  period  when  he  is  reported 
to  have  been  in  the  utmost  tranquillity  of  spirits,  none  of 
his  tiu  n;is  could  venture  to  mention  Dr.  Beattie  in  his  pre- 
sence, "  lest  it  shoul.l  throw  him  into  a  fit  of  passion  and 
sweariri"- "  From  whatever  unfortunate  cause  this  bias  in 

o 

Dr.  Adam  Smith's  mind  arose,  whether  from  his  intimacy 
with  Hume,  from  his  too  earnest  desire  to  account  for  every 
thing  metaphysically,  or  from  a  subsequent  intercourse 
with  the  infidel  wits  and  phdosophers  of  France,  it  is  much 
to  be  regretted,  as  the  only  material  stain  upon  a  character 
of  much  excellence.1 

SMITH  (CHAULES),  an  able  writer  on  the  subject  of  the 
corn-trade,  was  horn  at  Stepney,  in  1713.  His  father  was 
Charles  Smith,  who  occupied  several  mills  by  descent,  and 
erected  those  great  establishments  of  the  kind  at  Barking  in 
Essex,  from  which  he  retired  to  Croydon,  where  he  died  in 
1761.  Our  author  succeeded,  on  his  father's  retirement, 
to  the  occupation  of  his  predecessors  :  but,  having  a  com- 
petent fortune,  left  the  active  management  to  his  partner 
and  relation,  while  he  found  leisure  to  pursue  his  inquiries 
at  Barking-,  and  discharge  the  duties  of  a  country  magistrate. 
In  1748,  he  married  Judith,  daughter  of  Isaac  Lefevre, 
brother  to  Peter  Lefevre,  who  had  established  the  largest 
malt-distillery  in  England  ;  and  from  henceforth  he  resided 
among  his  wife's  relations  at  Stratford  in  Essex.  Here, 
inquisitive  and  industrious,  he  turned  his  attention  to  the 
operations  of  the  corn-trade,  and  policy  of  the  corn-laws, 
and  was  induced  by  the  scarcity  of  1757,  to  lay  the  result 
of  his  labours  on  this  subject  before  the  public,  in  three 
valuable  tracts  published  in  1758  and  1759.  These  were 
well  received,  and  the  author  lived  to  see  an  edition  of 
them  published  by  the  city  of  London  ;  to  hear  his  work 
quoted  with  approbation  by  Dr.  Adam  Smith,  in  his  "  Wealth 
of  Nations  ;"  and  to  observe  his  recommendations  adopted 
by  parliament.  But  in  the  midst  of  these  enjoyments  he 
died  by  a  fall  from  his  horse,  Feb.  8,  1777,  aged  sixty- 
three.  His  only  son,  Charles  Smith,  esq.  was  lately  mem- 
ber of  parliament  for  Westbury  in  Wiltshire.  Mr.  Smith's 
tracts  on  corn  had  become  very  scarce,  when  in  1804  they 

1  Life  by  Dugald  Stewart,  esq.  first  published  in  the  Transactions  of  the  Royal 
•ocicty  of  Edinburgh,  and  since  with  the  Liv«g  of  Reid  and  Robertson. 


104  SMITH. 

were  re-published  by  George  Chalmers,  esq.  with  a  memoir 
of  the  author.1 

SMITH  (CHARLOTTE),  an  elegant  poetess,  was  born  in 
1749.  She  was  the  daughter  of  Nicholas  Turner,  esq.  a 
gentleman  of  Sussex,  whose  seat  was  at  Stoke,  near  GuiU 
ibrd  ;  but  he  had  another  house  at  Bignor  Park,  on  the 
banks  of  the  Aru.n,  where  she  passed  many  of  her  earliest 
years,  amidst  scenery  which  had  nursed  the  fancies  of  Ot- 
way  and  Collins,  and  where  every  charm  of  nature  seems 
to  have  left  the  most  lively  and  distinct  impression  on  her 
mind.  She  discovered  from  a  very  early  age  an  insatiable 
thirst  for  reading,  which  was  checked  by  an  aunt,  who  had 
the  care  of  her  education;  for  she  had  lost  her  mother  al- 
most in  her  infancy.  From  her  twelfth  to  her  fifteenth 
year,  her  father  resided  occasionally  in  London,  and  she 
was  introduced  into  various  society.  It  is  said  that  before 
she  was  sixteen,  bhe  married  Mr.  Smith,  a  partner  in  his 
father's  house,  who  was  a  West  India  merchant,  and  also 
an  East  India  director  ;  an  ill-assorted  match,  and  the  prime 
source  of  all  her  future  misfortunes.  After  she  had  resided 
some  time  in  London,  and  partly  in  the  vicinity,  Mr.  Smith's 
father,  v\ho  could  never  persuade  his  son  to  give  his  time 
or  care  sufficiently  to  the  business  in  which  he  was  engaged, 
allowed  him  to  retire  into  the  country,  and  purchased  for 
him  Lyss  farm  in  Hampshire. 

In  this  situation,  Mrs.  Smith,  who  had  now  eight  children, 
passed  several  anxious  and  important  years.  Her  husband 
was  imprudent,  kept  a  larger  establishment  than  suited  his 
fortune,  and  engaged  in  injudicious  and  wild  speculations 
in  agriculture.  She  foresaw  the  storm  that  was  gathering 
over  her;  but  she  had  no  power  to  prevent  it;  and  she  en- 
deavoured to  console  her  uneasiness  by  recurring  to  the 
muse,  whose  first  visitings  had  added  force  to  the  pleasures 
of  her  childhood.  "  When  in  the  beech  woods  of  Hamp- 
shire," she  says,  "  I  first  struck  the  chords  of  the  melan- 
choly lyre:  its  notes  were  never  intended  for  the  public  ear: 
it  was  unaffected  sorrow  drew  them  forth  :  I  wrote  mourn- 
fully, bee-use  1  was  unhappy." 

In  1776,  Mr.  Smith's  lather  died  ;  in  four  or  five  years 
afterwards  Mr.  Smith  served  the  office  of  high  sheriff  for 
Hampshire,  a-xl  immediately  afterwards,  his  affairs  were 
brought  to  a  crisis,  and  hevxas  confined  in  the  King's-bench. 

1  From  Mr.  Chalmers's  Memoir. 


S  M  I  T  H.  105 

prison.  There  Mrs.  Smith  accompanied  him,  and  passed 
with  him  the  greater  part  of  his  confinement,  which  lasted 
seven  months,  and  it  was  by  her  exertions  principally,  that 
be  was  liberated.  At  this  unhappy  period,  she  had  recourse 
to  those  talents,  which  had  hitherto  been  cultivated  only 
for  her  own  private  gratification.  She  collected  together 
a  few  of  those  poems,  which  had  hitherto  been  confined 
to  the  sight  of  one  or  two  friends,  and  had  them  printed  at 
Chichester  in  1784,  4to,  with  the  title  "Elegiac  Sonnets 
and  other  Essays."  A  second  edition  was  eagerly  called 
for  in  the  same  year. 

The  little  happiness  she  enjoyed  from  Mr.  Smith's  libera- 
tion was  soon  clouded,  and  he  was  obliged  to  fly  to  France 
to  avoid  the  importunity  of  his  creditors.  Thither  likewise 
Mrs.  Smith  accompanied  him;  and  after  immediately  re- 
turning with  the  vain  hope  of  settling  his  affairs,  again 
passed  over  to  the  continent,  where  having  hired  a  dreary 
chateau  in  Normandy,  they  spent  an  anxious,  forlorn,  and 
expensive  winter,  which  it  required  all  her  fortitude,  sur- 
rounded by  so  many  children  and  so  many  cares,  to  survive. 
The  next  year  she  was  called  on  again  to  try  her  efforts  in 
England.  In  this  she  so  far  succeeded  as  to  enable  her 
husband  to  return  ;  soon  after  which  they  hired  the  old 
mansion  of  the  Mill  family  at  Wolbeding  in  Sussex. 

It  now  became  necessary  to  exert  her  faculties  again  as 
a  means  of  support;  and  she  translated  a  little  novel  of  abbe 
Prevost;  and  made  a  selection  of  extraordinary  stories  from 
"  Les  Causes  Celebres"  of  the  French,  which  she  entitled 
"  The  Romance  of  Real  Life."  Soon  after  this  she  was 
once  more  left  to  herself  by  a  second  flight  of  her  husband 
abroad  ;  and  she  removed  with  her  children  to  a  small  cot- 
tage in  another  part  of  Sussex,  whence  she  published  a  new 
edition  of  her  "  Sonnets,"  with  many  additions,  which  af- 
forded her  a  temporary  relief.  In  this  retirement,  stimu- 
lated by  necessity,  she  ventured  to  try  her  powers  of  origi- 
nal composition  in  a  novel  called  "  Emmeline,  or  the  Or- 
phan of  the  Castle,"  1788.  This,  says  her  biographer, 
*'  displayed  such  a  simple  energy  of  language,  such  an 
accurate  and  lively  delineation  of  character,  such  a  purity 
of  sentiment,  and  such  exquisite  scenery  of  a  picturesque 
and  rich,  yet  most  unaffected  imagination,  as  gave  it  a  hold 
upon  all  readers  of  true  taste,  of  a  new  and  captivating 
kind  "  The  success  of  this  novel  encouraged  her  to  pro- 
duce others  for  some  successive  years,  "  with  equal  felicity, 


S  M  I  T  H. 

with  an  imagination  still  unexhausted,  and  a  command  of 
language,  and  a  variety  of  character,  which  have  not  yet 
received  their  due  commendation."  "  Ethelinde"  appeared 
in  178!»;  "  Celestina"  in  1791;  "Desmond"  in  1792; 
and  *'  r\  ht-  Old  Manor  House"  in  1 793.  To  these  succeeded 
"  The  Wanderings  of  Warwick ;"  the  "  Banished  Man  ;'* 
"Momalbert;"  "Marchmont;"  "  The  young  Philosopher," 
and  the  "  Solitary  Wanderer,"  making  in  all  38  volumes. 
They  weie  not,  however,  all  equally  successful.  She  was 
led  by  indignant  feelings  to  intersperse  much  of  her  private 
history  and  her  law-suits  ;  and  this  again  involved  her  some- 
times in  a  train  of  political  sentiment,  which  was  by  no 
means  popular,  and  had  it  been  just,  was  out  of  place  in  a 
moral  fiction. 

Besides  these,  Mrs.  Smith  wrote  several  beautiful  little 
volumes  for  young  persons,  entitled  "Rural  Walks;" 
"Rambles  Farther;"  "Minor  Morals,"  and  "Conversa- 
tions;" and  a  poem  in  blank  verse,  called  "The  Emigrant," 
in  addition  to  a  second  volume  of"  Sonnets." 

During  this  long  period  of  constant  literary  exertion, 
which  alone  seemed  sufficient  to  have  occupied  all  her  time, 
Mrs.  Smith  had  both  family  griefs  and  family  business  of 
the  most  perplexing  and  overwhelming  nature  to  contend 
with.  Her  eldest  son  had  been  many  years  absent  as  a 
writer  in  Bengal ;  her  second  surviving  son  died  of  a  rapid 
and  violent  fever;  her  third  son  lost  his  leg  at  Dunkirk,  as 
an  ensign  in  the  24th  regiment,  and  her  eldest  daughter 
expired  within  two  years  after  her  marriage.  The  grand- 
father of  her  children  had  left  his  property,  which  lay  in 
the  West  Indies,  in  the  hands  of  trustees  and  agents,  and 
it  was  long  unproductive  to  her  family.  Some  arrangements 
are  said  to  have  been  attempted  before  her  death  which 
promised  success,  but  it  does  not  appear  that  these  were 
completed.  Her  husband,  who  seems  never  to  have  con- 
quered his  habits  of  imprudence,  died,  it  is  said,  in  legal 
confinement,  in  March  1806;  and  on  Oct.  28  following, 
Mrs.  Smith  died  at  Telford,  nearFarnham,  in  Surrey,  after 
a  lingering  and  painful  illness,  which  she  bore  with  the  ut- 
most patience. 

The  year  following  her  death  an  additional  volume  of  her 
poetry  was  published  under  the  title  of  "  Beachy  Head  and 
other  Poems,"  which  certainly  did  not  diminish  her  well- 
earned  and  acknowledged  reputation  as  a  genuine  child  of 
genius.  Her  novels  ma,y  be  forgotten,  and,  we  believe, 


S  M  I  T  H.  107 

are  in  a  great  measure  so  at  present;  but  we  agree  with  her 
kind  eulogist,  that  of  her  poetry  it  is  not  easy  to  speak  in 
terms  too  high.  "  There  is  so  much  unaffected  elegance: 
so  much  pathos  and  harmony  in  it :  the  images  are  so  sooth- 
ing, and  so  delightful ;  and  the  sentiments  so  touching,  so 
consonant  to  the  best  movements  of  the  heart,  that  no 
readt-r  of  pure  tasir  can  grow  weary  of  perusing  them." 
It  was  reported  that  her  family  intended  to  publish  memoirs 
of  her  life,  and  a  collection  of  her  letters;  but  as  at  the 
distance  of  almost  ten  years  nothing  of  this  kind  has  ap- 
peared, we  presume  that  the  design,  for  whatever  reason, 
has  been  abandoned.1 

SMITH  (EDMUND),  one  of  those  writers  who,  without 
much  labour  have  attained  high  reputation,  and  who  are 
mentioned  with  reverence  rather  for  the  possession  than  the 
exertion  of  uncommon  abilities,  was  the  only  son  of  Mr. 
Neale,  an  eminent  merchant,  by  a  daughter  of  the  famous 
baron  Lechmere  ;  and  born  in  1668.  Some  misfortunes  of 
his  father,  which  were  soon  after  followed  by  his  death, 
occasioned  the  son  to  be  left  very  young  in  the  hands  of 
Mr.  S  nith,  who  had  married  his  father's  sister.  This  gen- 
tleman treated  him  with  as  much  tenderness  as  if  he  had 
been  his  own  cnild  ;  and  placed  him  at  Westminster-school 
under  the  care  of  Dr.  Busby.  After  the  death  of  his  gene- 
rous guardian,  young  Neale,  in  gratitude,  thought  proper 
to  assume  the  name  of  Smith.  He  was  elected  from  West- 
minster to  Cambridge,  but,  being  offered  a  studentship, 
voluntarily  removed  to  Christ-church  in  Oxford  ;  and  was 
there  by  his  aunt  handsomely  maintained  as  long  as  she 
lived  ;  alter  which,  lie  continued  a  member  of  that  society 
till  within  five  years  of  his  own  death.  Some  time  before 
he  left  Christ  church,  he  was  sent  for  by  his  mother  to 
Worcester,  and  acknowledged  by  her  as  a  legitimate  son  ; 
which  his  friend  Oldisworth  mentions,  he  says,  to  wipe  off 
the  aspersions  that  some  had  ignorantly  cast  on  his  birth. 
He  passed  through  the  exercises  of  the  college  and  univer- 
sity with  unusual  applause  ;  and  acquired  a  great  reputation 
in  the  schools  both  for  his  knowledge  and  skill  in  disputation. 
He  had  a  long  and  perfect  intimacy  with  all  the  Greek  and 
Latin  classics;  with  whom  he  had  carefully  compared 
whatever  was  worth  perusing  in  the  French,  Spanish,  and 

1  From  an  elegant  tribute  to  her  memory  in  the  Cenf.  Lit.  vol.  IV.— Gent. 
Mag.  vol.  LXXV1. 


108  SMITH. 

Italian  languages,  and  in  all  the  celebrated  writers  of  his 
own  country.  He  considered  the  ancients  and  moderns, 
not  as  parties  or  rivals  for  fame,  but  as  architects  upon  one 
and  the  same  plan,  the  art  of  poetry. 

His  works  are  not  many,  and  those  scattered  up  and  down 
in  miscellaneous  collections.  His  celebrated  tragedy,  called 
"  Phaedra  and  Hippolitus,"  was  acted  at  the  theatre  royal 
in  1707.  This  play  was  introduced  upon  the  stage  at  a 
time  when  the  Italian  opera  so  much  engrossed  the  polite 
world,  that  sense  was  thought  to  be  sacrificed  to  sound  : 
and  this  occasioned  Addison,  who  wrote  the  prologue,  to 
satirize  the  vitiated  taste  of  the  public.  The  chief  excel- 
lence of  this  play,  which  has  been  praised  far  beyond  its 
merits,  is  the  versification.  It  is  not  destitute  of  the  pa- 
thetic ;  but  is  so  wonderfully  inferior,  not  only  to  the  Hip- 
polytus  of  Euripides,  but  even  to  the  Ph6dre  of  Racine, 
and  is  so  full  of  glaring  faults,  that  it  is  astonishing  how 
Addison  could  tolerate  it,  or  how  it  could  be  made  even  a 
temporary  fashion  to  admire  it.  It  is  now  as  little  thought 
of  as  it  deserves.  This  tragedy,  with  "  A  Poem  to  the 
Memory  of  Mr.  John  Phillips,"  his  most  intimate  friend, 
three  or  four  odes,  and  a  Latin  oration  spoken  publicly  at 
Oxford,  "  in  laudem  Thomas  Bodleii,"  were  publhhed  in 
1719,  under  the  name  of  his  Works,  by  his  friend  Oldis- 
worth,  who  prefixed  a  character  of  Smith. 

He  died  in  1710,  in  his  forty-second  year,  at  the  seat 
of  George  Ducket,  esq.  called  Hartham,  in  Wiltshire ; 
and  was  buried  in  the  parish' church  there.  Some  time 
before  his  death,  he  engaged  in  considerable  undertakings  ; 
and  raised  expectations  in  the  world,  which  he  did  not  live 
to  gratify.  Oldisworth  observes,  that  he  had  seen  of  his 
about  ten  sheets  of  Pindar,  translated  into  English  ;  which, 
he  says,  exceeded  any  thing  in  that  kind  he  could  ever  hope 
for  in  our  language.  He  had  drawn  out  a  plan  for  a  tragedy 
of  Lady  Jane  Grey,  and  had  written  several  scenes  of  it ;  a 
subject  afterwards  nobly  executed  by  Mr,  Rowe.  But  his 
greatest  undertaking  was  a  translation  of  Longinus,  to  which 
he  proposed  a  large  addition  of  notes  and  observations  of 
his  own,  with  an  entire  system  of  the  art  of  poetry  in  three 
books,  under  the  titles  of  "  thoughts,  diction,  and  figure." 
He  intended  also  to  make  remarks  upon  all  the  ancients  and 
moderns,  the  Greek,  Latin,  French,  Spanish,  Italian,  and 
English  poets;  and  to  animadvert  upon  their  several  beau* 
ties  and  defects. 


S  M  I  T  H.  109 

Oldisworth  has  represented  Smith  as  a  man  abounding 
with  qualities  both  good  and  great ;  and  that  may  perhaps 
be  true,  in  some  degree,  though  amplified  by  the  partiality 
of  friendship.  He  had,  nevertheless,  some  defects  in  his 
conduct  :  one  was  an  extreme  carelessness  in  the  particu- 
lar of  dress ;  which  singularity  procured  him  the  name  of 
"  Captain  Rag."  The  ladies,  it  is  said,  at  once  commended 
and  reproved  him,  by  the  name  of  the  "handsome  sloven." 
It  is  acknowledged  also,  that  he  was  much  inclined  to  in- 

*_>  * 

temperance ;  which  was  caused  perhaps  by  disappoint- 
ments, but  led  to  that  indolence  and  loss  of  character, 
which  has  been  frequently  destructive  to  genius,  even  of  a 
higher  order  than  he  appears  to  have  possessed.  Dr.  John- 
son thus  draws  up  his  character:  "  As  his  years  advanced, 
he  advanced  in  reputation  ;  for  he  continued  to  cultivate 
his  mind  ;  but  he  did  not  amend  his  irregularities,  by  which, 
he  gave  so  much  offence,  that,  April  24,  1700,  the  dean 
and  chapter  declared  '  the  place  of  Mr.  Smith  void,  he 
having  been  convicted  of  riotous  misbehaviour  in  the  house 
of  Mr.  Cole,  an  apothecary  ;  but  it  was  referred  to  the 
dean  when  arid  upon  what  occasion  the  sentence  should  be 
put  in  execution.  Thus  tenderly  was  he  treated  ;  the  go- 
vernors of  his  college  could  hardly  keep  him,  and  yet  wished 
that  he  would  not  force  them  to  drive  him  away.  Some 
time  afterwards  he  assumed  an  appearance  of  decency  ;  in 
his  own  phrase,  he  whitened  himself,  having  a  desire  to 
obtain  the  censorship,  an  office  of  honour  and  some  profit 
in  the  college  ;  hut  when  the  election  came,  the  preference 
was  given  to  Mr.  Foulkes,  his  junior;  the  same,  I  suppose, 
that  joined  with  Freind  in  an  edition  of  part  of  De- 
mosthenes; it  not  being  thought  proper  to  trust  the  superin- 
tendance  of  others  to  a  man  who  took  so  little  care  of  him- 
self. From  this  time  Smith  employed  his  malice  and  his 
wit  against  the  dean,  Dr.  Aldrich,  whom  he  considered  as 
the  opponent  of  his  claim.  Of  his  lampoon  upon  him,  I 
once  heard  a  single  line  too  gross  to  be  repeated.  But 
he  was  still  a  genius  and  a  scholar,  and  OxtV-rd  was  un- 
willing to  lose  him  :  he  was  endured,  with  all  his  pranks 
and  his  vices,  two  years  longer;  but  on  December  20, 
1705,  at  the  instance  of  all  the  canons,  the  sentence  de- 
clared five  years  before  was  put  in  execution.  The  exe- 
cution was,  I  believe,  silent  and  tender;  for  one  of  his 
friends,  from  whom  I  learned  much  of  his  life,  appeared 
not  to  know  it.  He  was  no\v  driven  to  London,  where  he 


110  S  M  I  T  H. 

associated  himself  with  the  whigs,  whether  because  they 
were  in  power,  or  because  the  tories  had  expelled  him,  or 
because  he  was  a  whig  by  principle,  may  perhaps  be 
doubted.  He  was,  however,  caressed  by  tnen  of  great 
abilities,  whatever  were  their  party,  and  was  supported  by 
the  liberality  of  those  who  delighted  in  his  conversation. 
There  was  once  a  design,  hinted  at  by  Oldisvvorih,  to  have 
made  him  useful.  One  evening,  as  he  was  sitting  with  a 
friend  at  a  tavern,  he  was  called  down  by  the  waiter,  and, 
having  stayed  some  time  below,  came  up  thoughtful.  After 
a  pause,  said  he  to  his  friend,  '  He  that  wanted  me  below 
xvas  Addison,  whose  business  was  to  tell  me  that  a  history 
of  the  revolution  was  intended,  and  to  propose  that  I  should 
undertake  it.  I  said,  '  What  shall  I  do  with  the  character 
of  lord  Sunderland  ?'  And  Addison  immediately  returned, 
'  When,  Rag,  were  you  drunk  last?'  and  went  away.  Cap- 
tain Hag  was  a  name  that  he  got  at  Oxford  by  his  negligence 
of  dress.  This  story  I  heard  from  the  late  Mr.  Clark,  of 
Lincoln's  Inn,  to  whom  it  was  told  by  the  friend  of  Smith. 
Such  scruples  might  debar  him  from  some  profitable  em- 
ployments ;  but  as  they  could  not  deprive  him  of  any  real 
esteem,  they  left  him  many  friends  ;  and  no  man  was  ever 
better  introduced  to  the  theatre  than  he,  who,  in  that 
violent  conflict  of  parties,  had  a  prologue  and  epilogue 
from  the  first  wits  on  either  side.  But  learning  and  nature 
will  now-and-then  take  different  courses.  His  play  pleased 
the  critics,  and  the  critics  only.  It  was,  as  Addison  has 
recorded,  hardly  heard  the  third  night.  Smith  had,  in- 
deed, trusted  entirely  to  his  merit ;  had  insured  no  band 
of  applauders,  nor  used  any  artifice  to  force  success,  and 
found  that  naked  excellence  was  not  sufficient  for  its  own 
support.  The  play,  however,  was  bought  by  Lintot,  who 
advanced  the  price  from  fifty  guineas,  the  current  rate,  to 
sixty  ;  and  Halifax,  the  general  patron,  accepted  the  de- 
dication. Smith's  indolence  kept  him  from  writing  the 
dedication,  till  Lintot,  after  fruitless  importunity,  gave 
notice  that  he  would  publish  the  play  without  it.  Now, 
therefore,  it  was  written  ;  and  Halifax  expected  the  author 
with  his  book,  and  had  prepared  to  reward  him  with  a 
place  of  three  hundred  pounds  a  year.  Smith,  by  pride, 
or  caprice,  or  indolence,  or  bashful  ness,  neglected  to  at- 
tend him,  though  doubtless  warned  and  pressed  by  his 
friends,  and  at  last  missed  his  reward  by  not  going  to  so- 
licit it.  Jn  1709,  a  year  after  the  exhibition  of  Phaedra, 


S  M  I  T  H.  in 

died  John  Philips,  the  friend  and  fellow-collegian  of  Smith, 
who,  on  that  occasion,  wrote  a  poem,  which  justice  must 
place  among  the  best  elegies  which  our  language  can  shew, 
an  elegant  mixture  of  fondness  and  admiration,  of  dignity 
and  softness.  There  are  some  passages  too  ludicrous;  but 
every  human  performance  has  its  faults.  This  elegy  it  was 
the  mode  among  his  friends  to  purchase  fora  guinea-,  and, 
as  his  acquaintance  was  numerous,  it  was  a  very  profitable 
poem.  Of  his  '  Pindar,'  mentioned  by  Oldisworth,  I  have 
never  otherwise  heard.  His  '  Longinus'  he  intended  to 
accompany  with  some  illustrations,  and  had  selected  his 
instances  of  *  the  false  Sublime,'  from  the  works  of  Black- 
more.  He  resolved  to  try  again  the  fortune  of  the  stage, 
with  the  story  of  '  Lady  Jane  Grey.'  It  is  not  unlikely 
that  his  experience  of  the  inefficacy  and  incredibility  of 
a  mythological  tale  might  determine  him  to  choose  an  ac- 
tion from  English  history,  at  no  great  distance  from  our 
own  times,  which  was  to  end  in  a  real  event,  produced  by 
the  operation  of  known  characters.  Having  formed  his 
plan,  and  collected  materials,  he  declared  that  a  few 
months  would  complete  his  design  ;  and,  that  he  might 
pursue  his  work  with  fewer  avocations,  he  was,  in  June, 
1710,  invited  by  Mr.  George  Ducket,  to  his  house  at 
Hartham  in  Wiltshire.  Here  he  found  such  opportunities 
of  indulgence  as  did  not  much  forward  his  studies,  and 
particularly  some  strong  ale,  too  delicious  to  be  resisted. 
He  ate  and  drank  till  he  found  himself  plethoric  :  and 
then,  resolving  to  ease  himself  by  evacuation,  he  wrote  to 
an  apothecary  in  the  neighbourhood  a  prescription  of  a 
purge  so  forcible,  that  the  apothecary  thought  it  his  duty 
to  delay  it  till  he  had  given  notice  of  its  danger.  Smith, 
not  pleased  with  the  contradiction  of  a  shopman,  and 
boastful  of  his  own  knowledge,  treated  the  notice  with  rude 
contempt,  and  swallowed  his  own  medicine,  which,  in 
July  1710,  brought  him  to  the  grave.  He  was  buried  at 
Hartham.  Many  years  afterwards,  Ducket  communicated 
to  Oldmixon,  the  historian,  an  account,  pretended  to  have 
been  received  from  Smith,  that  Clarendon's  History  was, 
in  its  publication,  corrupted  by  Aldrich,  Smalridge,  and 
Atterbury;  and  that  Smith  was  employed  to  forge  and  in- 
sert the  alterations.  This  story  was  published  triumphantly 
by  Oldmixon,  and  may  be  supposed  to  have  been  eagerly 
received:  but  its  progress  was  soon  checked ;  for,  finding 
its  way  into  the  journal  of  Trevoux,  it  fell  under  the  eye 


i!2  S  M  I  T  H. 

of  Atterbury,  then  an  exile  in  France,  who  immediately 
denied  the  charge,  with  this  remarkable  particular,  that  he 
never  in  his  whole  life  had  once  spoken  to  Smith  ;  hrs 
company  being,  as  must  be  inferred,  not  accepted  by  those 
who  attended  to  their  characters.  The  charge  was  after- 
wards very  diligently  refuted  by  Dr<  Burton  of  Eton  ;  a 
man  eminent  for  literature,  and,  though  not  of  the  same 
party  with  Aldrich  and  Atterbury,  too  studious  of  truth  to 
leave  them  burthened  with  a  false  charge.  The  testimo- 
nies which  he  has  collected  have  convinced  mankind  that 
either  Smith  or  Ducket  were  guilty  of  wilful  and  malicious 
falsehood.  This  controversy  brought  into  view  those  parts 
of  Smith's  life  which  with  more  honour  to  his  name  might 
have  been  concealed.  Of  Smith  I  can  yet  say  a  little  more. 
He  was  a  man  of  such  estimation  among  his  companions, 
that  the  casual  censures  or  praises  which  he  dropped  in 
conversation  were  considered,  like  those  of  Scaliger,  as 
worthy  of  preservation.  He  had  great  readiness  and  ex- 
actness of  criticism,  and  by  a  cursory  glance  over  a  new 
composition  would  exactly  tell  all  its  faults  and  beauties. 
He  was  remarkable  for  the  power  of  reading  with  great  ra- 
pidity, and  of  retaining  with  great  fidelity  what  he  so 
easily  collected.  He  therefore  always  knew  what  the  pre- 
sent question  required;  and,  when  his  friends  expressed 
their  wonder  at  his  acquisitions,  made  in  a  state  of  apparent 
negligence  and  drunkenness,  he  never  discovered  his  hours 
of  reading  or  method  of  study,  but  involved  himself  in 
affected  silence,  and  fed  his  own  vanity  with  their  admira- 
tion and  conjectures.  One  practice  he  had,  which  was 
easily  observed  :  if  any  thought  or  image  was  presented  to 
his  mind  that  he  could  use  or  improve,  lie  did  not  suffer 
it  to  be  lost;  but,  amidst  the  jollity  of  a  tavern,  or  in  the 
warmth  of  conversation,  very  diligently  committed  to  paper. 
Thus  it  was  that  he  had  gathered  two  quires  of  hints  for 
his  new  tragedy;  of  which  Howe,  when  they  were  put  into 
his  hands,  could  make,  as  he  says,  very  little  use,  but 
which  the  collector  considered  as  a  valuable  stock  of  mate- 
rials. When  he  came  to  London,  his  way  of  life  connected 
him  with  the  licentious  and  dissolute  ;  and  he  affected  the 
airs  and  gaiety  of  a  man  of  pleasure  ;  but  his  dress  was 
always  deficient:  scholastic  cloudiness  still  hung  about 
him,  and  his  merriment  was  sure  to  produce  the  scorn  of 
his  companions.  With  all  his  carelessness,  and  all  his 
vices,  he  was  one  of  the  murmurers  at  form  tie  ;  and  won- 
dered why  he  was  suffered  to  be  poor,  when  Addison  was 


SMITH.  113 

caressed  and  preferred  :  nor  would  a  very  little  have  con- 
tented him;  for  he  estimated  his  wants  at  six  hundred 
pounds  a  year.  In  his  course  of  reading  it  was  particular, 
that  he  had  diligently  perused,  and  accurately  remembered, 
the  old  romances  of  knight-errantry.  He  had  a  high  opi- 
nion of  his  own  merit,  and  something  contemptuous  in  his 
treatment  of  those  whom  he  considered  as  not  qualified  to 
oppose  or  contradict  him.  He  had  many  frailties  ;  yet  it 
cannot  but  be  supposed  that  he  had  great  merit,  who  could 
obtain  to  the  same  play  a  prologue  from  Addison,  and  an 
epilogue  from  Prior;  and  who  could  have  at  once  the  pa- 
tronage of  Halifax,  and  the  praise  of  Oldisworth."  l 

SMITH  (EDWARD),  bishop  of  Down  and  Connor,  a 
learned  divine  and  philosopher,  was  born  at  Lisburn  in 
the  county  of  Antrim,  in  1665,  and  was  educated  in  the 
university  of  Dublin,  of  which  he  was  elected  a  fellow  in 
1684,  in  the  nineteenth  year  of  his  age.  He  afterwards 
took  his  degree  of  doctor  of  divinity.  During  the  trouble- 
some times  in  1689,  he  retired  for  safety  to  England,  where 
he  was  recommended  to  the  Smyrna  company,  and  made 
chaplain  to  their  factories  at  Constantinople  and  Smyrna. 
Here  he  remained  four  years,  and,  probably  by  engaging 
in  trade,  very  much  advanced  his  private  fortune.  In  16U3 
he  returned  to  England,  and  was  made  chaplain  to  king 
William  III.  whom  he  attended  four  years  in  Flanders,  and 
became  a  great  favourite  with  his  majesty.  His  first  pro- 
motion was  to  the  deanery  of  St.  Patrick's,  Dublin,  in  1695, 
whence  he  was  advanced  to  the  bishopric  of  Down  and 
Connor  in  1699,  and  was  soon  after  admitted  into  the 
privy. council.  He  died  at  Bath  in  October  1720,  leaving 
large  property  to  his  family.  He  printed  four  sermons, 
one  preached  at  London  before  the  Turkey  company,  the 
others  at  Dublin,  upon  public  occasions.  While  at  the 
university,  he  was  a  member  of  the  philosophical  society  of 
Dublin,  and  for  some  time  their  secretary.  In  1695  he 
was  elected  a  fellow  of  the  Royal  Society  of  London,  and 
contributed  to  the  "  Philosophical  Transactions,"  papers 
on  the  follow  subjects :  "  Answers  to  Queries  about  Lough- 
Neagh ;"  "  A  relation  of  an  extraordinary  effect  of  the 
power  of  imagination;"  "  Account  of  soap  earth  near 
Smyrna;"  "Of  Rusma,  a  black  earth;"  and  of  "The 
Use  of  Opium  among  the  Turks."  a 

1  Johnson's  Lives. — Nichols's  Poems — and  Atteibury's  Correspondence. 
*  Harris's  edition  of  Ware. 

VOL.  XXVIII.  I 


ill  S  M  I  T  H. 

SMITH  (GEORGE),  of  Ch'uhester,  the  second,  but  most 
known,  of  three  brothers,  all  distinguished  as  painters, 
was  born  in  1714.  George  is  celebrated  as  a  painter  of 
landscape,  but  it  was  expected  by  the  connoisseurs  of  the 
time,  that  his  younger  brother  JOHN  would  have  surpassed 
him  in  that  syle  of  painting.  In  the  contests  for  prizes,  at 
the  society  for  the  encouragement  of  arts,  John's  landscapes 
were  frequently  preferred  to  those  of  George;  but  he  died 
at  an  earlier  period,  and  all  memory  of  his  works,  as  well 
as  of  the  artist  himself,  has  been  nearly  obliterated.  WIL- 
LIAM, the  eldest  brother,  was  a  painter  of  portraits,  but 
produced  also  some  good  landscapes.  He  is  said,  however, 
by  some  who  remember  him,  to  have  been  more  remark- 
able for  painting  fruit  and  flowers,  than  for  the  other 
branches  of  his  art.  William  was  deformed,  and  his 
countenance  was  thought  by  many  to  resemble  that  of  the 
celebrated  John  Locke.  John  died  July  29,  1764,  at  the 
age  of  forty- seven,  William  on  the  27th  of  the  ensuing 
September,  at  the  age  of  fifty -seven.  George  survived  till 
Sept.  7,  1776,  when  he  died,  at  the  age  of  sixty-two. 
Their  remains  are  deposited  in  the  church-yard  of  St.  Pan- 
eras  at  Chichester,  and  distinguished  only  by  a  plain  stone, 
containing  their  names  and  the  profession  of  each,  with 
the  dates  above  recited.  Mr.  W.  Pether,  an  ingenious 
painter  and  engraver  in  mezzotinto,  who  was  intimate  with 
these  brothers,  published  several  years  ago  an  admirable 
print,  with  fine  likenesses  of  the  three,  represented  in  a 
groupe  ;  the  eldest  is  reading  a  lecture  upon  landscape  to 
the  two  younger,  who  are  listening  with  great  attention.1 

SMITH  (HENRY),  an  English  divine  of  popular  fame  in 
the  sixteenth  century,  was  born  in  1550  of  a  good  family 
at  Withcock  in  Leicestershire,  and  after  purstuing  his 
studies  at  Oxford,  entered  into  the  church.  Wood  thinks 
he  took  the  degree  of  M.  A.  as  a  member  of  Hart-hall,  in 
1583  ;  and  adds,  that  "  he  was  then  esteemed  the  miracle 
and  wonder  of  his  age,  for  his  prodigious  memory,  and 
for  his  fluent,  eloquent,  and  practical  way  of  preaching." 
His  scruples,  however,  as  to  subscription  and  ceremonies 
were  such,  that  being  loth,  as  his  biographer  Fuller  in- 
forms us,  "  to  make  a  rent  either  in  his  o\rn  conscience 
or  in  the  church,"  he  resolved  not  to  undertake  a  pastoral 
charge,  but  accepted  the  office  of  lecturer  of  the  church 

1  Preceding  edition  of  this  Diet. 


SMITH.  115 

of  St.  Clement  Danes,  London.  Here  he  was  patronized 
by  William  Cecil,  lord  Burleigh,  to  whom  he  dedicated 
his  sermons,  and  who  prevented  the  prosecutions  to  which 
the  other  scrupulous  puritans  were  at  that  time  exposed. 
He  appears  to  have  been  one  of  the  most  popular  preach- 
ers of  his  age.  Fuller  informs  us,  as  an  instance,  that 
after  his  preaching  a  sermon  on  Sarah's  nursing  of  Isaac, 
in  which  he  maintained  the  doctrine  that  it  was  the  duty  of 
all  mothers  to  nurse  their  own  children,  "  ladies  and  great 
gentlewomen  presently  remanded  their  children  from  the 
vicinage  round  about  London,  and  endeavoured  to  dis- 
charge the  second  moietie  of  a  mother,  and  to  nurse  them, 
whom  they  had  brought  into  the  world."  Their  com- 
pliance with  his  instructions  on  this  point  was  the  more 
condescending1,  as  Mr.  Smith  was  a  bachelor. 

o' 

Of  his  death  we  have  no  certain  account.  Fuller,  who 
gives  him  the  highest  character,  and  whose  principles 
would  not  have  permitted  him  to  pay  this  respect  to  a 
puritan,  unless  of  very  extraordinary  worth  or  talents,  after 
making  every  inquiry,  concludes  that  he  died  about  1600. 
Wood  says  that  he  was  "  in  great  renown  among  men  in 
1593,"  in  which  year  he  thinks  he  died. 

His  sermons  and  treatises  were  published  at  sundry  times 
about  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century,  but  were  collected 
into  one  volume  4to,  in  1675,  to  which  Fuller  prefixed  the 
life  of  the  author.  This  volume  consists  of  "  A  prepara- 
tive to  marriage — a  Treatise  on  die  Lord's  Supper — Exa- 
mination of  Usury — Be-nefit  of  Contentation,  &c."  and 
other  practical  pieces.  His  treatise  on  "  Atheism"  was, 
soon  after  its  first  publication,  translated  into  Latin,  and 
published  at  Oppenheim,  1614,  8vo.  Granger  says,  "he 
was  called  the  silver-tongued  preacher,"  as  though  he 
were  second  to  Chrysostom,  to  whom  the  epithet  of  golden 
is  appropriated.1 

SMITH,  JAMES.     See  MORE. 

SMITH  or  SMYTHE  (JOHN),  a  traveller  and  ambassa- 
dor, was  the  son  of  sir  Clement  Smith,  of  Little  Baddow 
in  Essex,  by  a  sister  of  Edward  Seymour,  duke  of  Somer- 
set, and  consequently  sister  to  Jane  Seymour,  the  third 
queen  of  Henry  VIII.  He  was  educated  at  Oxford,  but 
in  what  college  is  not  known.  Wood  informs  us  that  he 

1  Life  by  Fuller. — Ath.  Ox.  vol.  I. — Granger. — Strype's  Life  of  Aylmer,  p. 
15-2-156. — Nicholas  Leicestershire,  vol.  II. 

I   2 


H6  SMITH. 

travelled  into  foreign  countries,  and  became  very  accom- 
plished both  as  a  soldier  and  a  gentleman.  He  was  iu 
France  in  the  reign  of  his  cousin  Edward  VI.  and  from  the 
introduction  to  his  book  of  "  Instructions,"  it  appears  that 
he  had  been  in  the  service  of  several  foreign  princes.  In 
1576,  when  the  states  of  the  Netherlands  took  up  arms  in 
defence  of  their  liberty  against  the  encroachments  of  the 
Spanish  government,  they  solicited  queen  Elizabeth  for 
a  loan  ;  but,  this  being  inconvenient,  she  sent  Smith  to  in- 
tercede with  the  Spanish  monarch  in  their  behalf.  For  this 
purpose  she  conferred  the  honour  of  knighthood  upon  him. 
Wood  imputes  his  mission  to  his  "  being  a  person  of  a 
Spanish  port  and  demeanour,  and  well  known  to  the 
Spaniards,  who  held  him,  as  their  king  did,  in  high  value, 
and  especially  for  this  reason  that  he  was  first  cousin  to 
king  Edward  VI."  Carnden,  in  his  "  History  of  Eliza- 
beth," says  that  he  was  graciously  received  by  the  king  of 
Spain,  and  that  "  he  retorted  with  such  discretion  the  dis- 
graceful injuries  of  Caspar  Quiroga,  archbishop  of  Toledo, 
against  the  queen,  in  hatred  of  her  religion,  and  of  the 
inquisitors  of  Sevil,  who  would  not  allow  the  attribute  of 
Defender  of  the  Faith  in  the  queen's  title,  that  the  king 
gave  him  thanks  for  it,  and  was  displeased  with  the  arch- 
bishop, desiring  the  ambassador  to  conceal  the  matter  from 
the  queen,  and  expressly  commanded  the  said  attribute  to 
be  allowed  her."  We  have  no  further  account  of  his  his- 
tory, except  that  he  was  living  in  1595,  irv  great  esteem 
by  learned  and  military  men.  He  wrote,  1.  A  "  Discourse 
concerning  the  forms  and  effects  of  divers  Weapons,  and 
other  very  important  matters  military  ;  greatly  mistaken 
by  divers  men  of  war  in  their  days,  and  chiefly  of  the  rnus- 
quet,  calyver,  and  long-bow,  &c."  Lond.  1589,  reprinted 
1590,  4to.  2.  "  Certain  instructions,  observations,  and 
orders  military,  requisite  for  all  chieftains,  captains,  higher 
and  lower  officers,"  ibid.  1594,  1595,  4to.  To  this  are 
added  "  Instructions  for  enrolling  and  mustering."  There 
are  two  MSS.  relative  to  his  transactions  in  Spain  in  the 
Cotton  library,  and  one  in  the  Lambeth  library. ' 

SMITH  (JOHN),  commonly  called  CAPT.  JOHN  SMITH, 
or  SMYTH,  was  born  at  Willoughby  in  the  county  of  Lin- 
coln, but  descended  from  the  Smyths  of  Cuerdley.  He 
ranks  with  the  greatest  travellers  and  adventurers  of  his 

1  Ath.  Ox.  vol.  I.  new  edit. 


SMITH.  117 

age,  arid  was  distinguished  by  his  many  achievements  in 
the  fpur  quarters  of  the  globe.  In  the  wars  of  Hungary 
about  1602,  in  three  single  combats  he  overcame  three 
Turks,  and  cut  off  their  heads,  for  which  and  other  gallant 
exploits  Sigismund,  duke  of  Transylvania,  under  whom  he 
served,  gave  him  his  picture  set  in  gold,  with  a  pension  of 
three  hundred  ducats:  and  allowed  him  to  bear  three 
Turks  heads  proper  as  his  shield  of  arms.  He  afterwards 
went  to  America,  where  he  was  taken  prisoner  by  the  Indians, 
from  whom  he  found  means  to  escape.  He  often  hazarded 
his  life  in  naval  engagements  with  pirates,  Spanish  men  of 
war,  and  in  other  adventures,  and  had  a  considerable  hand 
in  reducing  New-England  to  the  obedience  of  Great  Bri- 

o  o 

tain,  and  in  reclaiming  the  inhabitants  from  barbarism.  If 
the  same,  which  is  very  probable,  who  is  mentioned  in 
Stow's  "  Survey  of  London,"  under  the  name  of  "  Capt. 
John  Smith,  some  time  governor  of  Virginia  and  admiral 
of  New-England,"  he  died  June  21,  1631,  and  was  buried 
at  St.  Sepulchre's  church,  London.  There  is  a  MS  life  of 
him,  by  Henry  Wharton  in  the  Lambeth  library,  but  his 
exploits  may  be  seen  in  his  "  History  of  Virginia,  New- 
England,  and  the  Summer  Isles,"  written  by  himself,  and 
published  at  London  in  1624,  fol.  Wood  also  attributes 
to  him,  l.  "  A  Map  of  Virginia,  with  a  description  of  the 
country,  the  commodities,  people,  government,  and  reli- 
gion," Oxon.  1612,  4to.  2.  "  New-England's  Tryals,  &c." 
Lond.  1620,  4to.  3.  "  Travels  in  Europe,  &c."  ibid.  1630, 
reprinted  in  Churchill's  Voyages,  vol.  II.1 

SMITH  (JOHN),  an  English  divine,  was  born  in  War- 
wickshire in  1563,  and  elected  a  scholar  of  St.  John's  col- 
lege, Oxford,  in  1577,  where  he  also  obtained  a  fellow- 
ship ;  and  Wood  informs  us,  was  "  highly  valued  in  the 
university  for  piety  and  parts,  especially  by  those  that  ex- 
celled in  both."  He  succeeded  Dr.  Lancelot  Andrews  as 
lecturer  in  St.  Paul's  cathedral,  London,  and  was  much 
admired  as  a  preacher.  He  was  presented  to  the  vicarage 
of  Clavering  in  Essex,  in  Sept.  1592,  where  "he  shined 
as  a  star  in  its  proper  sphere,  antl  was  much  reverenced 
for  his  religion,  learning,  humility,  and  holiness  oi  'ife." 
Wood  also  speaks  of  him  as  being  skilled  in  the  original 
languages,  and  well  acquainted  with  tne  writings  of  the 
ablest  divines.  He  died  Nov.  1616,  and  was  buried  in  the 

1  Ath.  Oxon.  vol.  I.  n«w  edit. — Granger.— Fuller's  Worthies, 


118  SMITH. 

church  of  Clavering.  He  left  several  books  to  the  library 
of  St.  John's  college,  and  a  singular  bequest  "to  ten  faith- 
ful and  good  ministers,  that  have  been  deprived  upon  that 
unhappy  contention  about  the  ceremonies  in  question,  20/. 
i.  e.  40s.  to  each  ;  and  hopes  that  none  will  attempt  to  de- 
feat those  parties  of  this  his  gilt,  considering  God  in  his 
own  law  hath  provided  that  the  priests  of  Aaron,  deposed 
for  idolatry,  should  be  maintained  ;  and  that  the  canon- 
law  saith,  Si  quis  excommunicatis  in  sustentationem  dare 
aiiquid  voluerit,  non  prohibemus."  Mr.  Smith's  works  are, 

1.  "  The  Essex  Dove,  presenting  the  world  with  a   few  of 
her  olive-branches,  or  a  taste  of  the  works  of  the  rev.  John 
Smith,   &c.   delivered  in  three  treatises,   &c."    1629,  4to. 

2.  "  Exposition    on   the    Creed,   and    Explanation   of  the 
Articles  of  our  Christian  faith,  in  73  sermons,   &c."  1632, 
folio.1 

SMITH  (JOHN),  an  English  divine  of  distinguished 
learning,  was  descended  of  an  ancient  family  originally 
seated  at  Durham,  and  was  the  eldest  son  of  the  rev.  Wil- 
liam Smith,  rector  of  Lowther  in  Westmoreland,  by  Eli- 
zabeth, his  wife,  daughter  of  Giles  Wetherali  of  Stockton 
near  Durham.  His  grandfather,  Matthew  Smith,  was  a 
barrister,  and  of  much  reputation  for  his  skill  in  the  law, 
and  for  some  valuable  annotations  which  he  left  in  MS.  on 
Littleton's  tenures.  He  wrote  also  some  poetical  pieces 
and  two  dramas,  for  which  he  is  commemorated  in  Gibber's 
"  Lives  of  the  Poets."  During  the  rebellion  he  took  up 
arms  in  defence  of  Charles  I.  and  served  under  prince 
Rupert,  particularly  at  the  battle  of  Marston-moor  in 
1644,  for  which  he  and  his  family  were  plundered  and 
sequestered. 

Our  author  was  born  at  Lowther,  Nov.  10,  1659,  and 
was  at  first  educated  by  his  father  with  a  care  which  his 
extraordinary  capacity  amply  repaid,  for  we  are  told  that 
he  learned  the  Latin  grammar  in  the  fifth  year  of  his  age, 
and  the  Greek  grammar  in  his  ninth.  After  this  he  was 
sent  to  Bradford  in  Yorkshire,  and  placed  under  Mr.  Chris- 
topher Nesse,  a  nonconformist  (see  NESSJE)  of  considera- 
ble learning  ;  but  here  it  is  said  he  forgot  almost  all  his 
grammar  rules.  He  then  appears  to  have  been  taught  by 
Mr.  William  Lancaster,  afterwards  provost  of  Queen's  col- 
lege, Oxford,  and  next  by  Mr.  Thomas  Lawson,  a  quaker 

1  Atb.  Ox.  vol.  I.  new  edit. 


SMITH.  119 

schoolmaster,  under  whom  he  continued  his  progress  in 
the  learned  languages.  He  was  also  for  some  time  at  the 
school  of  Appleby,  whence  he  was  sent  to  Cambridge,  and 
admitted  of  St.  John's  college  June  11,  1674,  about  a  year 
before  his  father's  death.  From  his  first  entrance  at  col- 
lege, he  was  much  noticed  for  his  exemplary  conduct,  afcd 
close  application  to  study,  which  enabled  him  to  take  his 
degrees  in  arts  with  great  reputation;  that  of  A.  B.  in  1677, 
.and  of  A.  M.  in  1681.  Being  intended  for  the  church,  he 
was  ordained  both  deacon  and  priest,  by  Dr.  Richard 
Stearn  or  Stern,  archbishop  of  York;  and  in  1681  was  in- 
vited to  Durham  by  Dr.  Dennis  Granville,  who  had  a  great 
regard  for  his  family,  and  esteemed  him  highly  for  his  at- 
tainments. In  July  1682  he  was  admitted  a  minor  canon 
of  Durham,  and  about  the  same  time  he  was  collated  to 
the  curacy  of  Croxdale,  and,  in  July  1684,  to  the  living 
of  Witton-Gilbert.  In  1686  he  went  to  Madrid,  as  chap- 
lain to  lord  Lansdowne,  the  English  ambassador,  and  re»- 
turned  soon  after  the  revolution.  In  1694  Crew,  bishop 
of  Durham,  appointed  him  his  domestic  chaplain,  and  had 
such  an  opinion  of  his  judgment,  that  he  generally  consulted 
him  in  all  ecclesiastical  matters  of  importance.  His  lord- 
ship also  collated  him  to  the  rectory  and  hospital  of 
Gateshead  in  June  1695,  and  to  a  prebend  of  Durham  in 
September  following.  In  1696  he  was  created  D.  D.  at 
Cambridge,  and  was  made  treasurer  of  Durham  in  1699, 
to  which  bishop  Crew,  in  July  1704,  added  the  rectory  of 
Bishop-Wearmouth. 

Here  he  not  only  repaired  the  chancel  in  a  handsome 
and  substantial  manner,  but  built  a  very  spacious  and  ele*- 
gain  parsonage-house,  entirely  at  his  own  expeuce,  and 
laid  out  considerable  sums  on  his  prebendal  house,  and 
on  other  occasions  shewed  much  of  a  liberal  and  charitable 
spirit.  But  his  chief  delight  was  in  his  studies,  to  which  he 
applied  with  an  industry  which  greatly  impaired  his  health, 
so  that  he  began  to  decline  about  two  years  before  his 
death,  which  took  place  July  30,  1715,  in  the  fifty-sixth 
year  of  his  age.  He  died  at  Cambridge,  where  he  had 
resided  for  some  time  in  order  to  complete  his  edition  of 
the  works  of  the  venerable  Bede  ;  and  was  interred  in  the 
chapel  of  St.  John's  college,  in  which  a  handsome  marble 
monument  was  erected  to  him,  with  a  Latin  inscription  by 
his  learned  friend  Thomas  Baker;  the  antiquary.  His  charac- 
ter seems  in  all  respects  to  have  been  estimable.  He  was 


120  SMITH. 

learned,  generous,  and  strict  in  the  duties  of  his  profession. 
He  was  one  of  ten  brothers,  five  of  whom  survived  him, 
and  whom  he  remembered  in  his  will.  They  were  all  men 
of  note ;  WILLIAM,  a  physician,  died  at  Leeds  in  1729; 
MATTHEW,  a  Blackwell-hall  factor,  died  at  Newcastle  in 
1721;  GEORGE,  a  clergyman  and  chaplain  general  to  the 
army,  died  in  1725  ;  JOSEPH,  provost  of  Queen's-college,^ 
Oxford,  of  whom  hereafter ;  BENJAMIN,  remembered  also 
in  his  brother's  will,  but  died  before  him,  a  student  of  the 
Temple;  and  POSTHUMUS  SMITH,  an  eminent  civilian,  who 
died  1725. 

Dr.  Smith  married  Mary  eldest  daughter  of  William 
Cooper,  of  Scarborough,  esq.  by  whom  he  had  a  consider- 
able fortune,  and  five  sons.  Besides  his  edition  of  Bede's 
History,  he  published  four  occasional  sermons,  and  had 
made  some  progress  in  a  History  of  Durham,  for  which 
bishop  Nicolson  thought  him  well  qualified.  He  likewise 
furnished  Gibson  with  the  additions  to  the  bishopric  of 
Durham,  which  he  used  in  his  edition  of  Camden's  "  Bri- 
tannia." He  also  assisted  Mr.  Anderson  in  his  "  Historical 
Essay"  to  prove  that  the  crown  and  kingdom  of  Scotland 
is  imperial  and  independent.  Dr.  Smith's  eldest  son, 
GEORGE,  was  born  at  Durham  May  7,  1693,  and  educated 
at  Westminster-school  and  at  St.  John's-college,  Cam- 
bridge, but  in  two  years  was  removed  to  Queen's-college, 
Oxford,  where  his  uncle  was  provost,  and  the  learned  Ed- 
ward Thwaites  his  tutor.  He  afterwards  studied  law  in  the 
Inner  Temple,  but  being  a  nonjuror,  quitted  that  profes- 
sion, took  orders  among  the  nonjurors,  and  was  made  titu- 
lar bishop  of  Durham.  He  died  Nov.  4,  1756,  at  Burn- 
hall  in  the  county  of  Durham.  He  is  represented  as  an 
•universal  scholar,  and  particularly  an  able  antiquary.  He 
is  said  to  have  written,  anonymously,  some  controversial 
pieces,  one  of  which  was  entitled  "  Britons  and  Saxons  not 
converted  to  Popery,  in  answer  to  a  popish  book,  bearing 
the  title  of  '  England's  Conversion  and  Reformation  com- 
pared'." He  also  supplied  Carte  with  some  materials  for 
his  history  ;  but  he  is  chiefly  known  for  his  splendid  edition 
of  Bede's  works,  which  was  prepared  for  the  press  by  his 
father,  and  published  by  this  son  at  Cambridge  in  1722, 
folio,  with  a  life,  and  some  additions  to  what  his  father  had 
left.1 

1  Bbg.  Brit. — HiUchinspn's  Durham,  vol.  I.  p.  61, — Nicolson's  Letters,  vol.  I, 
p. 224. 


S  M  I  T  H.  131 

SMITH  (JOSEPH),  younger  brother  of  the  preceding  Dr. 
John  Smith,  and  the  munificent  provost  of  Queen's  college, 
Oxford,  was  born  at  Lowther,   Oct.  10,    1670.     His  father 
dying  when  he  was  five  years  old,  his  mother  removed  with 
her  family  to  Guisborough  in  Yorkshire,  where  he  was  edu- 
cated for  some  time,  until  his  brother  placed  him  under  his 
own  eye  at  the  public  school  at  Durham,  under  Mr.  Thomas 
Battersby,  a  very  diligent  master,   who  qualified  him  for  the 
university  at  the  age  of  fifteen.     He  was  not,  however,  sent 
thither  immediately,   but  put  under  the  tuition  of  the  rev. 
Francis  Woodman,  one  of  the  minor  canons  of  Durham,  an 
excellent  classical  scholar.    The  dean  also, Dr.  Dennis  Gran- 
ville,  invited  him  to  his  house,  and  took  a  lively  interest  in 
his  education.     Here  he  continued   until  the   revolution, 
when  Dr.  Granville,  who  could  not  be  reconciled   to  the 
new   government,  determined   to  follow    his   master,   king 
James,  to  France,  and  much  solicited  young  Smith  to  em- 
bark in  the  same  cause,  which  his  party  did  not   think  at 
that  time  hopeless.     But  Smith  being  very  eager  to  com- 
mence his  university  education,  and  hearing  of  the  arrival 
of  his   uncle,  Dr.  John,   from  Madrid,  preferred   going   to 
London  to  meet  and  advise  with  him.     This  had   another 
happy  effect,  for  he  now  found  a  generous  patron   in  his 
godfather,  sir  Joseph  Williamson,  who  received  him  very 
kindly,  and   gave   him    recommendatory  letters  to  Oxford, 
where  he  was  admitted,   May  10,    1689,  to  a  scholarship  in 
Queen's  college.      Here  he  had  Mr.  William  Lancaster  for 
his  tutor,  and  pursued  his  studies  with  such  zeal  and  success 
as  to  become  an  honour  to  the  society.     Among  his  con- 
temporaries  were,  the  afterwards  well   known  and   highly 
respected  prelates  Tanner  and  Gibson,   with  both  of  whom 
now  began  an  intimacy  which  subsisted  all  the-ir  lives.     In 
1693,  being  chosen  a  taberder,   he  took  his  first  degree  in 
arts,  and  was    advancing  in    his  studies,   when   sir  Joseph 
Williamson  removed  him  from  college,  by  appointing  him 
his  deputy  keeper  of  the  paper-office  at  Whitehall ;  and  sir 
Joseph   being   soon    after  one  of  ihe  plenipotentiaries   at 
Ryswick,  took  Mr.  Smith  with  him  as  his  secretary. 

During  his  being  abroad,  the  university  created  him  M.  A. 
by  diploma,  March  1,  16'j6,  a  very  high  mi.rk  of  respect; 
and  he  was  also  elected  to  a  fellowship,  Oct.  31,  1698, 
though  not  in  orders,  the  want  of  which  qualification  had 
been  sometimes  dispensed  with  in  the  case  of  men  of  emi- 
nence, as  in  that  of  sir  Joseph  Williamson  himself,  and 


122  SMITH. 

Tickel  the  poet.  While  abroad,  he  visited  some  foreign 
courts  along  with  his  patron,  and  was  no  inattentive  observer 
of  the  political  state  of  each,  as  appears  by  some  memoirs 
he  left  in  MS.  concerning  the  treaty  of  Ryswick;  and  he 
had  also  a  s'hare  in  the  publication  of  "  The  Acts  and  Ne- 
gotiations, with  the  particular  articles  at  large  of  that 
peace."  Those  circumstances,  with  the  talents  he  dis- 
played both  in  conversation  and  correspondence,  procured 
him  very  flattering  offers  of  political  employment!,  both  from 
the  earl  of  Manchester  and  sir  Philip  Meadows,  the  one  am- 
bassador at  the  court  of  France,  the  other  envoy  to  that  of 
Vienna.  But,  although  he  had  fully  enjoyed  the  oppor- 
tunities he  had  abroad  of  adding  to  his  knowledge  of  the 
world,  his  original  destination  to  the  church  remained  un- 
altered, and  to  accomplish  it  he  returned  to  Oxford  in  1700, 
where  he  was  gladly  received.  He  was  then  ordained  by 
Dr.  Talbot,  bishop  of  Oxford,  and  was  heard  to  say,  that 
when  he  laid  aside  his  lay  habit,  he  did  it  with  the  greatest 
pleasure,  as  looking  upon  holy  orders  to  be  the  highest 
honour  that  could  be  conferred  upon  him.  It  was  not  long 
before  be  entered  into  the  more  active  service  of  the  church, 
Dr.  Halton,  then  provost  of  Queen's  college,  and  archdea- 
con of  the  diocese,  having  presented  him  to  the  donative 
of  Iffley  near  Oxford,  and  at  the  same  time  appointed  him 
divinity-lecturer  in  the  college.  The  lectures  he  read  in 
this  last  character  were  long  remembered  to  his  praise. 

On  queen  Anne's  visiting  the  university  in  1702,  Mr. 
Smith  was  selected  to  address  her  majesty;  and  in  1704,  he 
served  the  office  of  senior  proctor  with  spirit  and  prudence, 
and  constantly  attended  the  disputations  and  other  exercises 
in  the  public  schools.  At  this  time  it  appears  he  had  the 
appellation  of  "  handsome  Smith,"  to  distinguish  him  from 
his  fellow- proctor,  Mr.  Smith  of  St.  John's  college,  who 
had  few  personal  graces.  They  were  equally  attentive, 
however,  to  their  duties,  and  in  their  attendance  on  the 
public  disputations,  which  made  Tickel  say  on  one  occasion, 
"  there  was  warm  work  at  the  schools,  for  that  the  two 
Smiths  made  the  sparks  fly"  In  the  exercise  of  this  office, 
Mr.  Smith  coming  to  a  tavern,  where  was  a  party  carousing, 
one  of  whom  happened  to  be  a  relation  of  prince  George 
of  Denmark,  he  admonished  them  for  their  irregularity, 
which  they  considered  as  an  intrusion,  and  made  use  of  the 
French  language,  which  they  thought  he  did  not  under- 
stand, to  speak  disrespectfully  of  him.  On  this,  Mr. 


N 

SMITH.  123 

Smith,  in  the  same  language,  informed  them  of  the  nature 
and  obligations  of  his  office,  in  a  manner  so  polite,  and  at 
the  same  time  so  spirited,  that  they  acknowledged  their 
fault,  admired  his  behaviour,  and  having  accepted  an  invi- 
tation to  spend  the  following  evening  with  him  in  his  col- 
lege, treated  him  ever  after  with  the  greatest  respect. 

On  the  death  of  Dr.  Halton  in  July  1704,  Mr.  Smith's 
friends  proposed  him  as  a  candidate  for  the  provostship, 
but  this  he  declined,  and  employed  his  interest,  which  was 
very  great,  in  behalf  of  his  tutor,  Dr.  Lancaster,  who  was 
accordingly  elected,  and  proved  a  considerable  benefactor 
to  the  college.  It  was  he  who  conducted  the  erection  of 
the  buildings  on  the  south  side,  from  the  benefaction  of 

O  x 

6000/.  left  by  sir  Joseph  Williamson  for  that  purpose,  in 
procuring  which  Mr.  Smith  had  been  very  instrumental. 
In  return  Dr.  Lancaster,  in  1705,  presented  Mr.  Smith  first 
to  Kussel-court  chapel,  arid  then  to  the  lectureship  of  Tri- 
nity chapel  in  Conduit-street,  both  at  that  time  in  his  gift 
as  vicar  of  St.  Martin's-in-the- Fields. 

These  promotions  requiring  a  residence  in  London,  Mr. 
Smith  was  soon  after  appointed  chaplain  to  Edward  Villiers, 
earl  of  Jersey,  then  lord  chamberlain,  whom  he  had  known 
at  Ryswick,  where  his  lordship  was  one  of  the  plenipoten- 
tiaries. Lord  Jersey  now  introduced  him  at  court,  and  he 
preached  several  times  before  the'  queen,  and  would  have 
been  otherwise  promoted  by  his  lordship's  interest  had  he 
lived.  But  he  not  only  lost  this  patron  by  death,  but  ano- 
ther, William  Henry  Granviile,  nephew  to  dean  Granville, 
and  the  last  earl  of  Bath  of  that  family,  who  had  a  very 
high  esteem  for  him. 

In  the  mean  time,  having  accumulated  his  degrees  in 
divinity,  Nov.  2,  1708,  he  was  presented  by  his  college  to 
the  rectory  of  Knights-Emham,  and  the  donative  of  Upton- 
Grey,  both  in  the  county  of  Southampton.  Soon  after  he 
married  Mis.s  Mary  Lowther,  niece  to  the  late  provost,  Dr. 
Halton,  and  of  the  noble  family  of  Lonsdale,  a  very  amia- 
ble lady,  who  had  engaged  his  affections  while  resident  with 
her  uncle  at  Queen's.  In  1716,  Dr.  Smith  exchanged 
Upton -Grey  with  Dr.  Grandorge,  prebendary  of  Canter- 
bury, for  t'ie  rectory  of  St.  Dionis  Back-church,  London, 
where  he  performed  the  duties  of  a  parish  priest  with  the 
utmost  assiduity,  and  was  much  admired,  and  consulted  for 
his  advice  in  matters  of  conscience,  and  where  he  reclaimed 
several  persons,  some  of  distinction,  from  the  errors  of 


124  SMITH. 

popery,  and  was  a  great  benefactor  to  the  repairs  of  the 
church,  over  which  he  presided  for  forty  years.  He  like- 
wise annually  bought  a  great  number  of  religious  tracts, 
which  he  liberally  distributed  among  his  parishioners. 

On  the  accession  of  George  I.  he  was  again  introduced 
at  court  by  the  earl  of  Grantnam,  lord  chamberlain  to  the 
prince  of  Wales  (Afterward  George  II.)  and  was  made  chap- 
lain to  the  princess,  in  which  office  he  continued,  until  her 
highness  came  to  the  throne,  to  give  attendance  in  his  turn  ; 
but  at  that  period,  although  he  was  still  her  majesty's  chap- 
lain, he  had  no  farther  promotion  at  court.  For  this  two 
reasons  have  been  assigned,  the  one  that  he  was  negligent 
in  making  use  of  his  interest,  and  offered  no  solicitation  ; 
the  other,  that  his  Tory  principles  were  not  at  that  time 
very  acceptable.  He  used  ta  be  called  the  Hanover  Tory; 
but  he  was  in  all  respects  a  man  of  moderation,  and  sin- 
cerely attached  to  the  present  establishment.  As  some 
compensation  for  the  loss  of  court-favour,  his  old  fellow- 
student,  Dr.  Gibson,  when  bishop  of  Lincoln,  promoted 
him  to  the  prebend  of  Dunholm  in  that  church,  and  upon 
his  translation  to  London  gave  him  the  donative  of  Padding- 
ton,  near  London.  In  this  place,  Dr.  Smith  built  a  house 
for  himself,  the  parsonage-house  having  been  lost  by  his 
predecessor's  neglect,  and  afterwards  retired  here  with  his 
family  for  the  benefit  of  his  health.  He  also  established 
an  afternoon  lecture,  at  the  request  of  the  inhabitants,  and 
procured  two  acts  of  parliament,  to  which  he  contributed 
a  considerable  part  of  the  expence,  for  twice  enlarging  the 
church-yard.  The  same  patron  also  promoted  him  to  the 
prebend  of  St.  Mary,  Newington,  in  the  cathedral  of  St. 
Paul's,  which  proved  very  advantageous  to  him  ;  but,  as  he 
$ow  held  two  benefices  with  cure  of  souls,  namely,  St.  Dio- 
nisand  Paddington,  he  gave  the  rectory  of  Newington,  an- 
nexed to  the  prebend,  to  Dr.  Ralph  Thoresby,  son  to  the 
celebrated  antiquary.  On  the  building  of  the  new  church 
of  St.  George's,  Hanover-square,  he  was  chosen  lecturer 
in  March  1725,  and  was  there,  as  every  where  else,  much 
admired  for  his  talents  in  the  pulpit.  He  had  before  resign- 
ed the  lectureship  of  Trinity  chapel  in  Conduit-street,  and 
in  1731  resigned  also  that  of  St.  George's,  in  consequence 
of  having  been,  on  Oct.  20,  1730,  elected  provost  of  Queen's 
college,  which  owes  much  of  its  present  splendor  and  pro- 
sperity to  his  zeal  and  liberality.  We  have  already  noticed 
that  he  had  persuaded  sir  Joseph  Williamson  to  alter  his  will 


SMITH.  125 

sn  its  favour,  which  had  before  been  drawn  up  in  favour  of 
endowing  a  college  in  Dublin  ;  and  it  was  now  to  his  inter- 
ference that  the  college  owed  the  valuable  foundation  of 
John  Michel,  esq.  for  eight  master  fellows,  four  bachelor 
scholars,  and  four  undergraduate  scholars  or  exhibitioners, 
besides  livings,  &c.  Dr.  Smith  was  also  instrumental  in, 
procuring  queen  Caroline's  donation  of  1000/.  lady  Eliza- 
beth Hastings's  exhibitions,  and  those  of  sir  Francis  Bridg- 
man,  which,  without  his  perseverance,  would  have  been 
entirely  lost;  and  besides  what  he  bequeathed  himself,  he 
procured  a  charter  of  mortmain,  in  May  1732,  to  secure 
these  several  benefactions  to  the  college. 

During  his  provostship,  which  lasted  twenty-six  years,  he 
was  sensible  of  the  infirmities  of  age,  and  was  a  great  suf- 
ferer by  acute  complaints,  particularly  the  strangury,  which 
he  bore  with  great  resignation,  and  was  always  cheerful, 
active,  and  liberal.  He  passed  much  of  his  time  at  a  villa 
at  Kidlington,  where  he  had  purchased  a  manor  and  estate, 
but  went  up  to  London  for  some  part  of  the  year,  and  of- 
ficiated at  St.  Dionis  church.  He  died  in  Queen's  college, 
Tuesday,  Nov.  23,  1756,  in  the  eighty-sixth  year  of  his 
age,  and  was  interred  in  the  vault  under  the  chapel.  He 
published  only  two  sermons,  the  one  on  the  death  of  queen 
Anne,  entitled  "  The  duty  of  the  living  to  the  memory  of 
the  dead,"  the  other  before  the  sons  ot  the  clergy;  and  in 
1754,  a  pamphlet  entitled  "  A  clear  and  comprehensive 
view  of  the  Being  and  Attributes  of  God,  formed  not  only 
upon  the  divine  authority  of  the  holy  Scriptures,  but  the 
solid  reasonings  and  testimonies  of  the  best  authors,  both 
Heathen  and  Christian,  which  have  writ  upon  that  subject." 
He  also  contributed  much  to  the  publication  of  bishop  Be- 
veridge's  works,  when  the  MSS.  were  entrusted  to  his  care 
in  1707,  and  gave  an  excellent  character  of  that  pious  au- 
thor in  the  preface. 

Mrs.  Smith  died  April  29,  1745,  and  was  buried  at  Kid- 
lington, where  many  of  the  family  He.  By  her  he  had 
three  children,  Joseph,  Anne,  and  William.  The  last  died 
young,  and  was  buried  in  St.  Dionis  church,  London. 
Anne  became  the  wife  of  the  rev.  William  Lamplugh, 
some  time  fellow  of  New  college,  Oxford,  who  died  in 
1737,  after  which  she  married  major  James  Hargrave,  and 
survived  her  father,  as  did  her  brother,  Joseph  Smith,  esq. 
LL.  D.  who  inherited  the  estate  at  Kidlington.1 

1  Biog.  Brit. 


126  S  M  I  T  H. 

SMITH  (JOHN),  a  learned  English  divine,  was  born  in 
1618,  at  Achurch,  near  Oundle  in  Northamptonshire, 
where  his  father  possessed  a  small  farm.  In  April  1636, 
he  was  admitted  of  Emanuel  college  in  Cambridge,  where 
he  had  the  happiness  of  having  Dr.  Whichcote,  then  fellow 
of  that  college,  afterwards  provost  of  King's,  for  his  tutor. 
He  took  a  bachelor  of  arts'  degree  in  1640,  and  a  master's 
in  1644;  and,  the  same  year,  was  chosen  a  fellow  of  Queen's 
college,  the  fellowships  appropriated  to  his  county  in  his 
own  college  being  none  of  them  vacant.  Here  he  became 
an  eminent  tutor,  and  read  a  mathematical  lecture  for  some 
years  in  the  public  schools.  He  died  Aug.  7,  1652,  and 
was  interred  in  the  chapel  of  the  same  college  ;  at  which 
time  a  sermon  was  preached  by  Simon  Patrick,  then  fellow 
of  Queen's,  and  afterwards  bishop  of  Ely,  giving  a  short 
account  of  his  life  and  death.  In  this  he  is  represented  as 
a  man  of  great  abilities,  vast  learning,  and  possessing  also 
every  grace  and  virtue  which  can  improve  and  adorn  hu- 
man nature.  His  moral  and  spiritual  perfections  could  be 
only  known  to  his  contemporaries;  but  his  uncommon  abi- 
lities and  erudition  appear  manifestly  in  those  treatises  of 
his,  which  were  published  by  Dr.  John  Worth  in  gton  at 
Cambridge,  in  1660,  4to,  under  the  title  of  "  Select  Dis- 
courses," consisting,  1.  "  Of  the  true  Way  or  Method  of 
attaining  to  Divine  Knowledge."  2.  "  Of  Superstition." 
3.  "  Of  Atheism."  4.  "  Of  the  Immortality  of  the  Soul." 
5.  Of  the  Existence  and  Nature  of  God."  6.  "  Of  Pro- 
phesy." 7.  "  Of  the  Difference  between  the  Legal  and 
the  Evangelical  Righteousness,  the  old  and  new  Covenant, 
&c.  8.  "  Of  the  Shortness  and  Vanity  of  a  Pharisaical 
Righteousness."  9.  "  Of  the  Excellency  and  Nobleness 
of  true  Religion."  10.  "  Of  a  Christian's  conflict  with, 
and  conquests  over,  Satan." 

These  are  not  sermons,  but  treatises  ;  and  are  less  known 
than  they  deserve.  They  shew  an  uncommon  reach  of  un- 
derstanding and  penetration,  as  well  as  an  immense  trea- 
sure of  learning,  in  their  author.  A  second  edition  of 
them,  corrected,  with  the  funeral  sermon  by  Patrick  an- 
nexed, was  published  at  Cambridge,  in  1673,  4to.  The 
discourse  "  upon  Prophesy,"  was  translated  into  Latin  by 
Le  Clerc,  and  prefixed  to  his  "  Commentary  on  the  Pro- 
phets," published  in  173 1.1 

1  Rennet's  Historical  Register. — Patrick's  S&rmon  preached  at  his  funeral. 
—Birch's  Life  of  Tillotson. 


SMITH.  127 

SMITH  (JOHN),  pronounced  by  Mr.  Walpole  (since  lord 
Orford)  to  be  the  best  mezzotinter  that  has  appeared,  was 
certainly  a  genius  of  singular  merit,  who  united  softness 
with  strength,  and  finishing  with  freedom.  He  flourished 
towards  the  end  of  king  William's  reign,  but  of  his  life  lit' 
tie  is  known,  except  that  he  served  his  time  with  one  Tillet, 
a  painter,  in  Moor-fields  ;  and  that  as  soon  as  he  became  his 
own  master,  he  applied  to  Becket,  and  learned  the  secret 
of  mezzotinto.  Being  further  instructed  by  Vander  Vaart, 
he  was  taken  to  work  in  the  house  of  sir  Godfrey  Kneller ; 
and,  as  he  was  to  be  the  publisher  of  that  master's  works, 
no  doubt  he  received  considerable  hints  from  him,  wh,tch 
he  amply  repaid.  "  To  posterity,  perhaps,"  says  lord  Or- 
ford, "  his  prints  will  carry  an  idea  of  something  burlesque  ; 
perukes  of  outrageous  length  flowing  over  suits  of  armour, 
compose  wonderful  habits.  It  is  equally  strange  that  fashion 
could  introduce  the  one,  and  establish  the  practice  of  re- 
presenting the  other,  when  it  was  out  of  fashion.  Smith 
excelled  in  exhibiting  both,  as  he  found  them  in  the  por- 
traits of  Kneller."  Lord  Orford  and  Mr.  Strutt  have  given 
a  list  of  his  best  works,  and  the  latter  an  instance  of  avarice 
not  much  to  his  credit.1 

SMITH  (MILES),  bishop  of  Gloucester,  a  very  learned 
prelate,  was  born  in  the  city  of  Hereford,  and  became, 
about  the  year  1568,  a  student  in  Corpus  Christi  college, 
Oxford  ;  from  which  college  he  transferred  himself  to 
Brasen  Nose,  and  took  the  degrees  in  arts,  as  a  member  of 
that  house.  He  was  afterwards  made  one  of  the 
chaplains,  or  petty  canons  of  Christ-church,  and  was 
admitted  to  the  degree  of  bachelor  in  divinity,  whilst  he 
belonged  to  that  royal  foundation.  In  process  of  time  he 
was  raised  to  the  dignity  of  canon  residentiary  of  the  ca- 
thedral church  of  Hereford:  he  was  created  doctor  of  di- 
vinity in  1594;  and,  at  length,  in  1612,  advanced  to  tke 
see  of  Gloucester,  and  consecrated  on  the  20th  of  Sep- 
tember in  that  year.  His  knowledge  of  the  Latin,  Greek, 
and  Oriental  languages  was  so  extraordinary,  that,  upon 
this  account,  he  was  described,  by  a  learned  bishop  of  the 
kingdom,  as  a,  "  very  walking  library."  He  used  to  say  of 
himself,  that  he  was  "  covetous  of  nothing  but  books." 
It  was  particularly  for  his  exact  arid  eminent  skill  in  the 
Eastern  tongues,  that  he  was  thought  worthy,  by  king  James 
the  First,  to  be  called  to  that  great  work,  the  last  trans- 

1  Walpole's  Anecdotes. — Strutl's  Dictionary. 


128  SMITH. 

iation  by  authority  of  our  English  Bible.  In  this  under- 
taking he  was  esteemed  one  of  the  principal  persons.  He 
began  with  the  first,  and  was  the  last  man  in  the  transla- 
tion of  the  work :  for  after  the  task  was  finished  by  the 
whole  number  appointed  to  the  business,  who  were  some- 
what above  forty,  the  version  was  revised  and  improved  by 
twelve  selected  from  them ;  and,  at  length,  was  referred 
to  the  final  examination  of  Bilson  bishop  of  Winchester, 
and  our  Dr.  Smith.  When  all  was  ended,  he  was  com- 
manded to  write  a  preface,  which  being  performed  by  him, 
it  was  made  public,  and  is  the  same  that  is  now  extant  in 
our  Church  Bible.  The  original  is  said  to  be  preserved  in 
the  Bodleian  library.  It  was  for  his  good  services  in  this 
translation,  that  Dr.  Smith  was  appointed  bishop  of  Glou- 
cester, and  had  leave  to  hold  in  commendam  with  his  bi- 
shopric his  former  livings,  namely,  the  prebend  of  Hinton 
in  the  church  of  Hereford,  the  rectories  of  Upton-on- 
Severn,  Hartlebury  in  the  diocese  of  Worcester,  and  the 
first  portion  of  Ledbury,  called  Overhall.  According  to 
Willis  he  died  October  20;  but Wrood  says,  in  the  beginning 
of  November,  1624,  and  was  buried  in  his  own  cathedral. 
He  was  a  strict  Calvinist,  and  of  course  no  friend  to  the 
proceedings  of  Dr.  Laud.  In  1632,  a  volume  of  sermons, 
transcribed  from  his  original  manuscripts,  being  fifteen  in 
number,  was  published  at  London,  in  folio,  and  he  was 
the  editor  of  bishop  Babington's  works,  to  which  he  pre- 
fixed a  preface,  and  wrote  some  verses  for  his  picture. 
One  of  bishop  Smith's  own  sermons  was  published  in  oc- 
tavo, 1602,  without  his  knowledge  or  consent,  by  Robert 
Burhill,  under  the  title  of  "  A  learned  and  godly  Sermon, 
preached  at  Worcester,  at  an  assize,  by  the  Rev.  and  learned 
Miles  Smith,  doctor  of  divinitie."  l 

SMITH  (RICHARD),  a  learned  popish  divine,  but  of 
great  fickleness  in  his  principles,  was  born  in  Worcester- 
shire in  1500,  and  educated  at  Oxford.  In  1527  he  \vasr 
admitted  a  probationary  fellow  of  Mer ton-college,  took  the 
degree  of  M.  A.  in  1530,  and  was  elected  registrar  of  the 
university  the  year  following.  He  afterwards  became  rec- 
tor of  Cuxham  in  Oxfordshire,  principal  of  St.  Alban's- 
hail,  divinity-reader  of  Magdalen-college,  regius  professor 
of  divinity,  and  took  his  doctor's  degree  in  that  faculty. 

1  Ath.  Ox.  vol.  I.  new  edit. — Fuller's  Worthier. — Prefdce  to  bis  Sermons  by 
Stephen?. — Bat k  (laic's  Memorials,  «kcadc  lit. 


SMITH.  129 

In  1 537,  he  was  made  master  of  Wittington-college  in  Lon- 
don, of  which  he  was  deprived  in  the  reign  of  Edward  VI. 
In  the  first  year  of  this  reign,  he  recanted  his  opinions  at 
St.  Paul's-cross,  yet  was  obliged  to  resign  his  professorship 
at  Oxford,  in  which  he  was  succeeded  by  the  celebrated 
reformer  Peter  Martyr,  with  whom  he  had  afterwards  a 
controversy.  From  Oxford  he  went  first  to  St.  Andrew's 
in  Scotland,  and  thence  .to  Paris,  in  1550,  and  from  Paris 
to  Lovaine,  where  he  was  complimented  with  the  professor- 
ship of  theology. 

On  the  accession  of  queen  Mary,  he  returned  to  Eng- 
land, was  restored  to  his  professorship,  made  canon  of 
Christ-church,  and  chaplain  to  her  majesty.  One  of  his 
principal  appearances  on  record  was  at  Oxford,  where, 
when  the  bishops  Ridley  and  Latimer  were  brought  to  the 
stake,  he  preached  a  sermon  on  the  text,  "  If  I  give  my 
body  to  be  burnt,  and  have  not  charity,  it  profiteth  me 
nothing."  This  discourse,  which  lasted  only  about  a  quar- 
ter of  an  hour,  was  replete  with  invectives  against  the 
two  martyrs,  and  gross  assertions,  which  they  offered  to 
refute  on  the  spot,  but  were  not  permitted.  He  was  also 
one  of  the  witnesses  against  archbishop  Cranmer,  who  had 
done  him  many  acts  of  friendship  in  the  preceding  reign. 
For  this  conduct  he  was  deprived  of  all  his  preferments 
when  queen  Elizabeth  came  to  the  throne  in  1559,  and 
was  committed  to  the  custody  of  archbishop  Parker,  by 
whose  persuasion  he  recanted  part  of  what  he  had  written 
in  defence  of  the  celibacy  of  the  clergy.  He  then  con- 
trived to  make  his  escape,  and  went  to  Do  way  in  Flanders, 
where  he  obtained  the  deanery  of  St.  Peter's  church,  and 
a  professorship.  He  died  in  1563.  He  wrote  about  six- 
teen tracts  in  favour  of  popery,  some  of  which  were  an- 
swered by  Peter  Martyr.  A  list  of  them  may  be  seen  in 
Dodd  or  Wood.  They  are  partly  in  Latin  and  partly  in 
English,  the  latter  printed  in  London,  and  the  former  at 
Lovaine. 

His  character  seems  to  have  been  a  singular  one  :  he 
suffered  for  popery,  yet  deserted  it,  and  embraced  it 
at  iast,  after  having  expressly  declared  himself  in  error. 
His  recantations,  however,  we  should  suppose  insincere, 
and  made  only  to  save  himself.  Such  conduct  is  never 
much  respected,  and  Strype  informs  us,  that  being  de- 
sirous to  confer  with  one  Hawks,  the  latter  said,  "  To  be 

VOL.  XXVIII.  K 


130  S  M  I  T  H. 

short,  T  will  know  whether  you  will  recant  any  more,,  ere  I 
talk  with  you  or  helieve  you."  r 

SMITH  (RICHARD),  another  Roman  catholic  champion, 
was  born  in  Lincolnshire  in  1566,  and  studied  for  some 
time  at  Trinity-college,  Oxford  ;  but  afterwards  went  to 
llome,  where  he  was  a  pupil  of  Bellarmin.  Having  con- 
cluded his  studies  in  Spain,  he  took  his  doctor's  degree  at 
Valladolid,  and  in  1603  arrived  in  England  as  a  missionary. 
His  proceedings  here  were  not  much  different  from  those  of 
other  popish  propagandists,  except  that  he  appears  to  have 
been  frequently  at  variance  with  those  of  his  own  commu- 
nion, and  particularly  with  parsons  the  celebrated  Jesuit. 
In  1625,  he  was  appointed  bishop  of  Chalcedon.  He 
happened  at  this  time  to  be  at  Paris,  but  returned  imme- 
diately to  England  "  to  take  upon  him  the  government  of 
the  English  catholicks,"  and  remained  unmolested  until  he 
had  a  quarrel  with  the  regulars  of  his  own  church,  which 
made  his  character  known  ;  and  a  reward  being  offered  for 
apprehending  him,  he  escaped  to  France,  where  he  died 
March  18,  1655.  He  wrote  various  works  in  defence  of 
popery,  as  well  as  of  himself,  in  his  dispute  with  the  regu- 
lars. The  former  were  answered  by  bishop  Martin,  Dr. 
Hammond,  and  Dr.  Daniel  Featley,  in  whose  works,  as 
his  name  occurs,  this  brief  sketch  has  been  thought  ne- 
cessary.2 

SMITH  (RICHARD),  one  of  the  earliest  book-collectors 
upon  record,  and  the  Isaac  Reed  of  his  time,  was  the  son 
of  Richard  Smith,  a  clergyman,  and  was  born  at  Lillingston 
Dayrell,  in  Buckinghamshire,  in  1590.  He  appears  to 
have  studied  for  some  time  at  Oxford,  but  was  removed 
thence  by  his  parents,  and  placed  as  clferk  with  an  attorney 
in  London,  where  he  spent  all  the  time  he  could  spare  from 
business  in  reading.  He  became  at  length  secondary  of 
the  Poultry  counter,  a  place  worth  700/.  a  year,  which  he 
enjoyed  many  years,  and  sold  it  in  1655,  on  the  death  of 
his  son,  to  whom  he  intended  to  resign  it.  He  now  re- 
tired to  private  life,  two  thirds  of  which,  at  least,  Wood 
says,  he  spent  in  his  library.  "  He  was  a  person,"  adds 
the  same  author,  "  infinitely  curious  and  inquisitive  after 
books,  and  suffered  nothing  extraordinary  to  escape  him 

1   Mh.  Ox.  vol.  I.  new  edit.— Dodd's   Ch.    Hist.  vol.   II.— Strype's  Cranmer 

;?>,>,   &ic. — Lives  of  Ridley  and  Latimer. 

*  Atb.  Ox.  vol.  II. — but  a  more  full  and  accurate  account  in  Dodd's  Ch.  Hist. 
vol.  111. 


SMITH.  131 

that  fell  within  the  compass  of  his  learning  ;  desiring  to 
be  master  of  no  more  than  he  knew  how  to  use."  If  in 
this  last  respect  he  differed  from  some  modern  collectors, 
he  was  equally  indefatigable  in  his  inquiries  after  libraries 
to  be  disposed  of,  and  passed  much  of  his  time  in  Little 
Britain  and  other  repositories  of  stall-books,  by  which 
means  he  accumulated  a  vast  collection  of  curiosities  re- 
lative to  history,  general  and  particular,  politics,  biography, 
with  many  curious  MSS.  all  which  he  carefully  collated, 
compared  editions,  wrote  notes  upon  them,  assigning  the 
authors  to  anonymous  works,  and,  in  short,  performing  all 
the  duties  and  all  the  drudgery  of  a  genuine  collector.  He 
also  occasionally  took  up  his  pen,  wrote  a  life  of  Hugh 
Broughton,  and  had  a  short  controversy  with  Dr.  Hammond 
on  the  sense  of  that  article  in  the  creed  "  He  descended 
into  hell,"  published  in  1684.  He  also  wrote  some  trans- 
lations, but  it  does  not  very  clearly  appear  from  Wood, 
whether  these  were  printed.  He  died  March  26,  1675,  and 
was  buried  in  St.  Giles's  Cripplegate,  where  a  marble  mo- 
nument was  soon  afterwards  erected  to  his  memory.  In 
1682  his  library  was  sold  by  Chiswell,  the  famous  book- 
seller of  St.  Paul's  Church-yard,  by  a  printed  catalogue, 
"  to  the  great  reluctance,"  says  Wood,  "  of  public-spirited 
men."  His  "  Obituary,"  or  "  catalogue  of  all  such  per- 
sons as  he  knew  in  their  life,"  extending  from  1606  to 
1674,  a  very  useful  article,  is  printed  by  Peck  in  the  se- 
cond volume  of  his  "  Desiderata."1 

SMITH  (ROBERT),  the  very  learned  successor  of  Bentley 
as  master  of  Trinity  college,  Cambridge,  was  born  in  1689, 
and  educated  at  that  college,  where  he  took  his  degrees 
of  A.  B.  in  1711,  A.M.  in  1715,  L  L.  D.  in  1723,  and 
D.  D.  in  1739.  Very  little,  we  regret  to  say,  is  on  record, 
respecting  Dr.  Smith,  who  has  so  well  deserved  of  the 
learned  world.  He  was  mathematical  preceptor  to  William 
duke  of  Cumberland,  and  master  o»f  mechanics  to  his  ma- 
jesty, George  II.  It  appears  that  he  was  maternal  cousin, 
of  the  celebrated  Roger  Cotes,  whom  he  succeeded  in  1716, 
as  Plumian  professor  at  Cambridge,  and  afterwards  suc- 
ceeded Bentley  as  master  of  Trinity.  He  published  some 
of  the  works  of  his  cousin  Cotes,  particularly  his  "  Hydro- 
statical  and  Pneumatical  Lectures,"  1737,  8vo ;  also  a  col- 

1  Ath.  Ox.  vol.  II. — Peck'i  Desiderata,  »ol.  II. — Se«  some  of  hit  MSS.  in 
Ayscough'a  Catalogue. 

K  2 


132  S  M  I  T  H. 

lection  ofCotes's  pieces  from  the  Philosophical  Transac- 
tions, &c.  1722,  4to.  His  own  works,  which  sufficiently 
evince  his  scientific  knowledge,  were  his  u  Complete  sys-» 
tern  of  Optics,"  1728,  2  vols.  4to ;  and  his  "Harmonics, 
or  the  philosophy  of  Musical  Sounds,"  1760.  He  died  in 
1768,  in  the  seventy-ninth  year  of  his  age.  The  late  iMr. 
Cumberland,  who  was  under  him  at  Trinity  college,  says, 
Dr.  Smith  was  a  strict  examiner  into  the  proficiency  of  the 
students,  and  led  himself  the  life  of  a  student,  abstemious 
and  recluse,  his  family  consisting  only  of  an  unmarried  sis- 
ter advanced  in  years,  and  a  niece.  He  was  of  a  thin  ha- 
bit, the  tone  of  his  voice  shrill  and  nasal,  and  his  manner 
of  speaking  such  as  denoted  forethought  and  deliberation.1 
SMITH  (SAMUEL),  one  of  the  most  popular  writers  of 
pious  tracts  in  the  seventeenth  century,  and  whose  works 
are  still  in  vogue,  was  the  son  of  a  clergyman,  and  born  at 
or  near  Dudley,  in  Worcestershire,  in  158S,  and  studied 
for  some  time  at  St.  Mary  Hall,  Oxford.  He  left  the  uni- 
versity without  taking  a  degree,  and  became  beneficed  at 
Vrittlewell,  in  Essex,  and  afterwards,  as  Wood  says,  in 
his  own  country,  but,"  according  to  Calamy,  he  had  the 
perpetual  curacy  of  Cressedge  and  Cound,  in  Shropshire. 
On  the  breaking  out  of  the  rebellion  he  came  to  London, 
sided  with  the  presbyterians,  and  became  a  frequent  and 
popular  preacher.  On  his  return  to  the  country  he  was 
appointed  an  assistant  to  the  commissioners  for  the  ejection 
of  those  they  were  pleased  to  term  "  scandalous  and  igno- 
rant ministers  and  schoolmasters."  At  the  restoration  he 
was  ejected  from  Cressedge,  but  neither  Wood  nor  Calamy 
have  ascertained  when  he  died.  The  former  says  "  he  was 
living  an  aged  man  near  Dudley  in  1663."  His  works  are, 
J.  "  David's  blessed  man;  or  a  short  exposition  upon  the 
first  Psalm,"  Lond.  8vo,  of  which  the  fifteenth  edition,  in 
12mo,  was  printed  in  1686.  2.  "The  Great  Assize,  or 
the  Day  of  Jubilee,"  12mo,  which  before  1681  went 
through  thirty-one  editions,  and  was  often  reprinted  in  the 
last  century.  3.  "  A  Fold  for  Christ's  Sheep,"  printed 
thirty-two  times.  4.  "  The  Christian's  Guide,"  of  which 
there  were  numerous  editions.  He  published  some  other 
tracts  and  sermons,  which  also  had  a  very  numerous  class 
of  readers. z 

i  Hutton's  Diet,  new  edit.— Cumberland's  Life. — Cambridge  Graduates, 
*  Ath.  Ox.  vol.  II.— Calamy. 


SMITH.  133 

SMITH  (Sir  THOMAS),  a  very  learned  writer  and  states- 
man, in  the  reigns  of  Edward  VI.  and  Elizabeth,  was  born 
^larch  28,  1514,  at  Saffron-Walden  in  Essex.  He  was 
the  son  of  John  Smith,  a  gentleman  of  that  place,  who  was 
much  inclined  to  the  principles  of  the  reformation,  which 
had  then  made  but  a  very  small  progress.  After  attending 
a  grammar-school,  Thomas  was  sent  about  1528  to  Queen's 
college,  Cambridge,  where  he  greatly  distinguished  him- 
self, and  had  a  king's  scholarship  at  the  same  time  with  the 
celebrated  John  Cheke.  Queen's  college  was  one  of  those 
which  favoured  the  opinions  of  Erasmus  and  Luther,  and 
many  of  the  members  used  to  confer  privately  together 
about  religion,  in  which  they  learned  to  detect  the  abuses 
of  the  schools,  and  the  superstitions  of  popery.  In  such 
conferences  Mr.  Smith  probably  took  his  share,  when  of 
sufficient  standing  to  be  admitted,  which  was  very  soon, 
for  in  1531  he  was  chosen  a  fellow  of  the  college.  In  the 
mean  time  he  had  formed  a  strict  friendship  with  Cheke, 
and  they  pursued  their  classical  studies  together,  reading 
Cicero,  Plato,  Demosthenes,  and  Aristotle :  and  such  was 
Smith's  proficiency,  that  about  1533  he  was  appointed 
Greek  professor  in  the  university. 

About  this  time  he  and  Cheke  introduced  a  new  mode  of 
reading  Greek,  being  dissatisfied  with  the  corrupt  and  vi- 
cious pronunciation  which  then  prevailed.  As  this  was  ac- 
counted an  innovation  of  the  most  important,  and  even 
dangerous  tendency,  and  exhibits  a  curious  instance  of  the 
manners  and  sentiments  of  the  times,  we  shall  give  a  more 
particular  account  of  it  in  the  plain  language  of  honest 
Strype.  According  to  this  biographer,  it  appears  that 
"  custom  had  established  a  very  faulty  manner  of  sounding 
several  of  the  vowels  and  diphthongs;  for,  i,  n9  v,  ei,  01,  w, 
were  all  pronounced  as  lura;  "  nihil  fere  aliud,"  says  Smith, 
"  haberet  ad  loquendum,  nisi  lugubrss  sonos  et  illud  flebile 
/wra."  He  conferred  therefore  with  Cheke  upon  this  point, 
and  they  perceived  that  the  vulgar  method  of  pronouncing 
Greek  was  false  ;  since  it  was  absurd,  that  so  many  dif- 
ferent letters  and  diphthongs  should  all  have  but  one  sound. 
They  proceeded  to  search  authors  for  the  determination  of 
this  point :  but  the  modern  writers  little  availed  them  ; 
they  had  not  seen  Erasmus's  book,  in  which  he  excepted 
against  the  common  way  of  reading  Greek.  But  though 
both  of  them  saw  these  palpable  errors,  they  could  not 
agree  among  themselves,  especially  concerning  the  letters 


134  SMITH. 

vna  and  i/4-jXov.  Soon  after,  having  procured  Erasmus's 
book,  andTerentianus  "  de  literis  et  syllabis,"  they  began 
to  reform  their  pronunciation  of  Greek  privately,  and  only 
communicated  it  to  their  most  intimate  friends.  When 
they  had  sufficiently  habituated  themselves  to  this  new  me- 
thod of  pronunciation,  with  which  they  were  highly  pleased, 
on  account  of  the  fullness  and  sweetness  of  it,  they  re- 
solved to  make  trial  of  it  publicly  ;  and  it  was  agreed  that 
Smith  should  begin.  He  read  lectures  at  that  time  upon 
Aristotle  "  de  Republic^,"  in  Greek,  as  he  had  done  some 
years  before  :  and,  that  the  novelty  of  his  pronunciation 
might  give  the  less  offence,  he  used  this  artifice,  that  in 
reading  he  would  let  fall  a  word  only  now  and  then,  ut- 
tered in  the  new  correct  sound.  At  first  no  notice  was 
taken  of  this;  but,  when  he  did  it  oftener,  his  auditors 
began  to  observe  and  listen  more  attentively ;  and,  when 
he  had  often  pronounced  n  and  01,  as  e  and  w,  they,  who 
three  years  before  had  heard  him  sound  them  after  the  old 
way,  could  not  think  it  a  slip  of  the  tongue,  but  suspected 
something  else,  and  laughed  at  the  unusual  souncks.  He 
again,  as  though  his  tongue  had  slipped,  would  sometimes 
correct  himself,  and  repeat  the  word  after  the  old  manner. 
But,  when  he  did  this  daily,  some  of  his  friends  came  to 
him,  and  told  him  what  they  had  remarked  in  his  lectures  : 
upon  which  he  owned  that  he  had  been  thinking  of  some- 
thing privately,  but  that  it  was  not  yet  sufficiently  digested 
and  prepared  for  the  public.  They,  on  the  other  hand, 
prayed  him  not  to  conceal  it  from  them,  but  to  acquaint 
them  with  it  frankly;  and  accordingly  he  promised  them 
that  he  would.  Upon  this  rumour  many  resorted  to  him, 
whom  he  desired  only  to  hear  his  reasons,  and  to  have 
patience  with  him  three  or  four  days  at  most ;  until  the 
sounds  by  use  were  made  more  familiar  to  their  ears,  and 
the  prejudice  against  their  novelty  worn  off.  At  this  time 
he  read  lectures  upon  Homer's  "  Odyssey,"  in  his  own 
college  ;  and  there  began  more  openly  to  shew  and  de- 
termine the  difference  of  the  sounds  :  Cheke  likewise  did 
the  same  in  his  college.  After  this,  many  came  to  them, 
in  order  to  learn  of  them  how  to  pronounce  after  the  new 
method  ;  and  it  is  not  to  be  expressed  with  what  greediness 
and  affection  this  was  received  among  the  youth.  The 
following  winter  there  was  acted  in  St.  John's  college, 
Aristophanes' s  "  Plutus,"  in  Greek,  and  one  or  two  more 
of  his  comedies,  without  the  least  dislike  or  opposition  from 


SMITH.  135 

any  who  were  esteemed  learned  men  and  masters  of  the 
Greek  language.  Ponet,  a  pupil  of  Smith,  ami  afterwards 
bishop  of  Winchester,  read  Greek  lectures  publicly  in  the 
new  pronunciation  ;  as  Kk^wise  did  Roger  Ascham,  who 
read  Isocrates,  and  at  fi  r:>t  was  averse  to  this  pronunciation, 
though  he  soon  became  a  zealous  advocate  for  it.  Thus, 
in  a  few  years,  this  new  way  of  reading  Greek,  in- 
troduced by  Smith,  prevailed  every  where  in  the  univer- 
sity ;  and  was  followed  even  by  Redman,  the  professor  of 
divinity. 

"  Afterwards,  however,  it  met  with  great  opposition ; 
for,  about  lo'tv,  when  Smith  was  going  to  travel,  Cheke 
being  appointed  the  king's  lecturer  of  the  Greek  language, 
began  by  explaining  and  enforcing  the  new  pronunciation, 
but  was  opposed  by  one  liateclitf,  a  scholar  of  the  univer- 
sity ;  who,  being  exploded  for  his  attempt,  brought  the 
dispute  before  bishop  Gardiner,  the  chancellor.  Upon 
this,  the  bishop  interposed  his  authority ;  who,  being 
averse  to  all  innovations  as  well  as  those  in  religion,  and 
observing  these  endeavours  in  Cambridge  of  introducing 
the  new  pronunciation  of  Greek  to  come  from  persons  sus- 
pected to  be  no  friends  to  the  old  papal  superstitions,  he 
made  a  solemn  decree  against  it.  Cheke  was  very  earnest 
with  the  chancellor  to  supersede,  or  at  least  to  connive  at  the 
neglect  of  this  decree ;  but  the  chancellor  continued  in- 
dexible. But  Smith,  having  waited  upon  him  at  Hampton 
Court,  and  discoursed  with  him  upon  the  point,  declared 
his  readiness  to  comply  with  the  decree;  but  upon  his  re- 
turn, recollected  his  discourse  with  the  bishop,  and  in  a 
long  and  eloquent  epistle  in  Latin,  privately  sent  to  him,  and 
argued  with  much  freedom  the  points  in  controversy  between 
them.  This  epistle  consisted  of  three  parts.  In  the  first 
he  shewed  what  was  to  be  called  true  and  right  in  the 
whole  method  of  pronunciation;  and  retrieved  this  from 
the  common  and  present  use,  and  out  of  the  hands  both  of 
the  ignorant  and  learned  of  that  time,  and  placed  it  with 
the  ancients,  restoring  to  them  their  right  and  authority, 
propounding  them  as  the  best  and  only  pattern  to  be  imi- 
tated by  all  posterity  *vith  regard  to  the  Greek  tongue.  In 
the  second  he  compared  the  old  and  new  pronunciation 
with  that  pattern,  that  the  bishop  might  see  whether  of  the 
two  came  nearer  to  it.  In  the  third  lit-  gave  an  account  of 
his  whole  conduct  in  this  affair.  This  epistle  was  dated 
from  Cambridge,  August  12,  1542.  He  afterwards,  while 


136  SMITH. 

he  was  ambassador  at  Paris,  caused  it  to  be  printed  there 
by  Robert  Stephens,  in  4to,  in  1568,  under  the  title  of 
*  De  recta  et  emendata  Linguae  Graecse  Pronunciatione,* 
together  with  another  tract  of  his  concerning  the  right  pro- 
nunciation and  writing  English/' 

In  the  mean  time,  Mr.  Smith  acquired  great  reputation 
by  his  Greek  lectures,  which  were  frequented  by  a  vast 
concourse  of  students,  and  by  men  then  or  afterwards  of 
great  eminence,  such  as  Redman,  Cox,  Cecil,  Hadclon, 
Ascharn,  &c.  In  1536  he  was  appointed  university  orator; 
and  in  1539  set  out  on  his  travels,  prosecuting  his  studies 
for  some  time  in  the  universities  of  France  and  Italy.  At 
Padua  he  took  the  degree  of  doctor  of  laws,  and  some  time 
after  his  return,  in  1542,  was  admitted  ad  eundem  at  Cam- 
bridge, and  appointed  regius  professor  of  civil  law.  He 
was  also  appointed  chancellor  to  the  bishop  of  Ely;  and  in 
both  situations  appears  to  have  exerted  himself  to  promote 
the  cause  of  the  reformed  religion,  as  well  as  of  learning. 
At  a  commencement  about  1546,  both  his  disputations  aod 
determinations  were  such,  that  the  learned  Haddon,  in  a 
letter  to  Dr.  Cox,  says  that,  "  had  he  been  there,  he  would 
have  heard  another  Socrates,  and  that  Smith  caught  the 
forward  disputants  as  it  were  in  a  net  with  his  questions, 
and  that  he  concluded  the  profound  causes  of  philosophy 
with  great  gravity  and  deep  knowledge." 

Strype  lias  computed  the  value  of  Dr.  Smith's  preferments 
at  this  time;  according  to  which,  his  professorship  of  civil 
law  brought  him  in  40/.;  the  chancellorship  of  Ely  was  worth 
50/.  and  a  benefice  which  he  had  in  Cambridgeshire  was 
worth  36/.  so  that  the  whole  of  his  preferments  amounted 
to  126/.  a  year.  "  And  this,"  says  Strype,  "  was  the  port 
he  lived  in  before  his  leaving  Cambridge.  He  kept  three 
servants,  and  three  gun-;,  and  three  winter  geldings.  And 
this  stood  him  in  3o/.  per  annum,  together  with  his  own 
board."  A  man  of  his  talents  and  reputation,  however, 
was  not  destined  to  continue  in  a  college  life.  On  the  ac- 
cession of  Edward  \  I.  when  he  could  avow  his  sentiments 
with  freedom,  he  was  invited  into  the  family  of  the  protector 
duke  of  Somerset,  by  whom  he  was  employed  in  atiairs  of 
state,  probably  such  as  concerned  the  reformation.  The 
duke;  appointed  him  his  master  of  requests,  steward  of  the 
stannenes,  provost  oi  Eton,  and  dean  of  Carlisl  .  Strype 
sa\s  that  he  "  was  at  least  in  deacon's  orders,"  but  of  this 
fact  we  have  ho  evidence,  and  Strype,  in  Granger's  opi- 


SMITH.  137 

nion,  seems  to  have  hazarded  the  conjecture  because  he 
could  not  otherwise  account  for  the  spiritual  preferments  he 
enjoyed.  We  have  just  mentioned  that  he  had  a  benefice 
in  Cambridgeshire,  which  was  the  rectory  of  Leverington, 
and  this  was  conferred  on  him  in  the  time  of  Henry  VIII.; 
but  a  rectory  might  have  been  held  by  any  one  who  was  a 
clerk  at  large ;  for  though  the  law  of  the  church  was,  that 
in  such  a  case,  he  should  take  the  order  of  priesthood  with- 
in one  year  after  his  institution,  yet  that  was  frequently 
dispensed  with. 

While  he  lived  in  the  duke  of  Somerset's  family,  he 
married  his  first  wife,  Elizabeth  Carkyke,  daughter  of  a 
gentleman  in  London.  Strype  says,  "  She  was  a  little 
woman,  and  one  that  affected  not  fine,  gaudy  clothes,  for 
which  she  was  taxed  by  some.  And  by  this  one  might  ra- 
ther judge  her  to  have  been  a  woman  of  prudence  and  re- 
ligion, and  that  affected  retirement  rather  than  the  splen- 
dour of  a  court.  For  Dr.  Smith  allowed  her  what  she 
pleased  ;  and  she  was  his  cash-keeper.  However,  he  used 
to  wear  goodly  apparel,  and  went  like  a  courtier  himself. 
For  which  he  said,  that  some  might  seem  to  have  cause  ra- 
ther to  accuse  him  to  go  too  sumptuously,  than  her  of  go- 
ing too  meanly."  "  This  wife,"  Strype  adds,  "  he  buried, 
having  no  issue  by  her;  and  married  a  second,  named  Phi- 
lippa,  the  relict  of  sir  John  Hamden,  who  outlived  him.'* 

In  1548,  he  received  the  honour  of  knighthood,  and 
was  appointed  secretary  of  state ;  and  in  July  the  same 
year  he  was  sent  to  Brussels,  in  the  character  of  ambassa- 
dor to  the  emperor.  He  also  continued  to  be  active  in 
promoting  the  reformation,  and  likewise  in  the  redress  of 
base  coin,  on  which  last  subject  he  wrote  a  letter  to  the 
duke  of  Somerset.  But  in  1549,  that  nobleman  being  in- 
volved in  those  troubles  which  brought  him  to  the  scaffold, 
sir  Thomas,  who  was  his  faithful  adherent,  incurred  some 
degree  of  suspicion,  and  was  for  a  short  time  deprived  of 
his  office  of  secretary  of  state.  When  the  duke  fell  into 
disgrace,  there  were  only  three  who  adhered  to  him,  viz. 
Cranmer,  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  sir  William  Paget, 
and  our  sir  Thomas  Smith  ;  between  whom  and  the  lords  at 
London  there  passed  letters  on  this  affair,  carried  by  sir 
Philip  Hoby.  In  this  they  ran  no  small  risk  ;  for  the  lords 
wrote  to  them,  that  it  seemed  strange  that  they  should  as- 
sist, or  suffer  the  king's  person  to  remain  in  the  guard  of 
the  duke's  men  j  and  that  strangers  should  be  armed  with 


138  SMITH. 

the  king's  own  armour,  and  be  nearest  about  his  person  ; 
and  those,  to  whom  the  ordinary  charge  was  committed,  to 
be  sequestered  away.  And  the  lords  sent  them  word  like- 
wise, that  if  any  evil  came,  they  must  expect  it  would  be 
imputed  to  them  ;  and  as  the  archbishop,  Paget,  and  Smith, 
in  their  letter  to  the  lords  told  them,  that  they  knew  more 
than  they  (the  lords)  knew,  the  lords  took  advantage  of  these 
words,  and  answered,  that  "  if  the  matters,  which  came  to 
their  knowledge,  and  were  hidden  from  them,  were  of  such 
weight  as  they  pretended,  or  if  they  touched  or  might  touch 
his  majesty  or  his  state,  they  thought  that  they  did  not  as 
they  ought  to  do  in  not  disclosing  the  same  to  them.1'  At 
last  Smith,  together  with  the  archbishop  and  Paget,  sent 
another  letter  from  Windsor,  where  tiie  king  and  ibey  were, 
that  they  would  not  fail  to  endeavour  themselves  according 
to  the  contents  of  the  lords'  letters,  and  that  they  would 
meet  when  and  where  their  lordships  should  think  proper. 
"  This,"  says  Strype,  "  was  a  notable  instance  of  Smith's 
fidelity  to  the  duke  his  old  master,  who  stuck  thus  to  him 
as  long  as  he  durst,  and  was  then  glad  to  comply  as  fairly 
as  he  could." 

In  1551,  sir  Thomas  was  appointed  one  of  the  ambassa- 
dors to  the  court  of  France,  to  treat  concerning  a  match  for 
the  king  with  the  eldest  daughter  of  the  king  of  France  ; 
but  the  king's  life  was  now  at  a  close,  and  on  the  accession 
of  Mary,  sir  Thomas  was  deprived  of  all  his  places,  and 
was  charged  not  to  depart  the  kingdom  ;  yet  enjoyed  un- 
common privileges.  He  was  allowed  a  pension  of  100/.  per 
annum  ;  he  was  highly  favoured  by  Gardiner  and  Bonner  on 
account  of  the  opinion  they  had  of  his  learning  ;  and  en- 
joyed a  particular  indulgence  from  the  pope,  which  was 
occasioned  by  the  following  circumstance.  In  1.555,  Wil- 
liam Smythwick  of  the  diocese  of  Bath,  esq.  obtained  an 
indulgence  from  Pius  IV.  by  which  he  and  any  five  of  his 
friends,  whom  he  should  nominate,  were  to  enjoy  extraor- 
dinary dispensations.  The  indulgence  exempted  them 
from  all  ecclesiastical  censures  upon  whatever  occasion  or 
cause  inflicted ;  and  "  from  all  and  singular  their  sins 
whereof  they  are  contrite  and  confessed,  although  they 
were  such  for  which  the  apostolic  see  were  to  be  consulted." 
Smythwick  chose  Smith,  for  one  of  his  five  friends  specified 
in  the  bull,  to  be  partaker  of  those  privileges;  and  this 
undoubtedly  was  a  great  security  to  him  in  those  perilous 
times. 


SMITH.  139 

On  the  accession  of  queen  Elizabeth,  sir  Thomas  Smith 
was  again  received  at  court,  and  employed  in  affairs  both  of 
church  and  state.  He  was  also  sent  on  various  embassies. 
In  1562  he  was  sent  ambassador  to  France,  where,  in  con- 
junction with  sir  Nicholas  Throgmorton,  he  concluded  a 
peace  between  England  and  France  in  the  beginning  of 
156*,  but  was  still  continued  ambassador  in  France.  In 
March  1565  he  finished  his  treatise  of  "  the  Commonwealth 
of  England,"  and  in  the  beginning  of  the  year  following 
returned  to  England.  In  1567  he  was  again  sent  ambassa- 
dor to  France  to  demand  the  restitution  of  Calais ;  and 
upon  his  return  from  thence  in  1568,  he  solicited  for  the 
place  of  chancellor  of  the  duchy  of  Lancaster,  but  without 
success,  it  being  given  to  sir  Ralph  Sadleir.  In  1570  he 
was  admitted  into  the  privy  council,  and  in  1572,  he  was 
again  appointed  secretary  of  state,  and  chancellor  of  the 
order  of  the  garter. 

Sir  Thomas,  with  all  his  talents  and  good  sense,  was 
much  of  a  projector,  and  about  thus  time  engaged  in  a 
foolish  scheme  for  transmuting  iron  into  copper.  Into  this 
project,  says  Strype,  "  he  brought  sir  William  Cecil,  se- 
cretary of  state,  who  had  a  philosophical  genius,  the  earl 
of  Leicester,  sir  Humphrey  Gilbert,  and  others.  The  first 
occasion  of  this  business  was  from  one  Medley,  who  had 
by  vitriol  changed  iron  into  true  copper  at  sir  Thomas 
Smith's  house  at  London,  and  afterwards  at  his  house  in 
Essex.  But  this  was  too  costly,  as  sir  Thomas  saw,  to 
make  any  profit  from.  He  propounded,  therefore,  to  find 
out  here  in  England  the  Primum  Ens  Vitrivli,  by  which  to 
do  the  work  at  a  cheaper  rate.  Upon  this  sir  Thomas  Smith, 
sir  Humphrey  Gilbert,  and  Medley,  entered  into  a  com- 
pany under  articles  to  find  this  out;  that  is,  that  Medley 
should  be  employed  in  this  business  at  the  charge  of  the 
other  two,  till  by  the  profit  he  should  reap  from  the  thing 
found  out  he  might  bear  his  proportion.  The  place  where 
this  was  to  be  attempted  was  in  the  Isle  of  Wight,  or  at 
Poole,  or  elsewhere.  But  at  Winchelsea  he  had  made  the 
first  trial,  on  account  of  the  plenty  of  wood  there.  He  re- 
ceived of  sir  Thomas  and  sir  Humphrey  an  hundred  and 
one  pounds  a  piece,  for  the  buying  of  vessels  and  neces- 
saries. They  removed  to  Poole,  thinking  the  Ens  of  vi- 
triol to  be  there,  and  took  a  lease  of  the  land  of  the  lady 
Mountjoy  of  three  hundred  pounds  per  annum,  for  the 
payment  of  which  sir  Thomas,  with  the  other  two,  entered 


140  SMITH. 

into  a  bond  of  a  thousand  pounds.     While  these  things 
were  in  this  state,  sir  Thomas  was  sent  ambassador  to  France 
in  1572;  and  a  quarrel  happening  between  sir  Humphrey 
and  Medley,  who  went  to  Ireland,  the  business  was  discon- 
tinued  for  some   time.     But  sir  Thomas  revived  it  at  his 
return,  and  persuaded  the  lord  treasurer  Burghley  and  the 
earl  of  Leicester  to  enter  into  society  about  December  157 4-, 
who  deposited  each  a  hundred  pounds  towards  carrying  on 
the  project.     Medley  was  now  removed  to  Anglesey,  where 
the  fuel,  earth,  and  water  were   proper  for  his  business; 
and  the  things  which  he  undertook  to  perform,  were  these 
two;  first,  to  make  of  raw  iron  good  copper,  and  c,f  the 
same  weight  and   proportion,  abating  one  part  in  six ;  so 
that  six  hundred  tons  of  iron  should    by  boiling  make  five 
hundred  tons  of  perfect  copper;  secondly,  that  the  liquor, 
wherein  the  iron  was  boiled,  should    make   copperas  and 
alum  ready  for  the  merchant;   which,   keeping  the  price 
they  then  bore,  should  of  the  liquor  of  five  hundred  tons 
of  copper  be  ten   thousand   pounds,  that  i^,   for  every  ton 
two  thousand  pounds.    After  several  trials  the  patent  of  the 
society  was  signed  in  January  1574,  in  which  the  society 
was  styled   "  The  Society  of  the  new  Art;"   but  at  last  the 
project   proved    abortive ;  "  and   I  make  no  doubt,"  says 
Strype,   "  sir  Thomas  smarted  in  his  purse  for  his  chymical 
covetousness,  and  Gilbert  seems  to  have  been  impoverished 
by  it;  and  Medley  was  beggared." 

Another  of  his  projects  was  the  establishment  of  a  colony 
in  a  land  which  he  had  purchased  in  Ireland,  called  The 
Ardes,  a  rich  and  pleasant  country  on  the  eastern  coast  of 
Ulster,  and  of  considerable  extent,  lying  well  for  trade  by 
sea.  Sir  Thomas  in  1571  had  procured  a  patent  from  her 
majesty  for  it,  the  substance  of  \\hich  was,  that  he  was  to 
be  lieutenant-general  there  for  war,  and  for  distribution  of 
Jands,  orders,  and  laws  in  the  matters  thereunto  pertaining; 
in  short,  to  obtain  and  govern  the  country  to  be  won,  fol- 
lowing the  instructions  and  orders  to  him  to  be  directed 
from  the  queen  and  her  council ;  and  this  for  the  first  seven 
years.  Afterwards  the  government  of  the  country  to  return 
to  such  officers  as  the  customs  and  laws  of  England  did  ap- 
point, except  the  queen  should  think  him  worthy  to  be  ap- 
pointed the  governor  thereof,  as  being  a  frontier  country, 
the  right  to  remain  only  in  him  as  to  the  inheritance;  the 
authority  to  muster  and  call  together  his  sol  tiers  through- 
out the  same  country,  and  to  dispose  of  them  upon  the 


S  M  IT  H.  141 

frontiers,  as  he  should  see  cause  for  the  better  defence  of 
the  country.  Sir  Thomas  sent  his  natural  son,  Thomas 
Smith,  with  a  colony  thither,  who  did  good  service  there, 
but  was  at  last  intercepted  and.  slain  by  a  wild  Irishman. 
The  settlement  of  this  colony  cost  sir  Thomas  ten  thousand 
pounds ;  but  after  his  death  it  seems  to  have  been  neglected 
for  some  time,  and  the  Ardes  were  afterwards  lost  to  his 
family,  being  given  away  by  king  James  I.  to  some  of  the 
Scots  nobility. 

In  1575,  we  find  sir  Thomas  better  employed  in  procuring 
an  act  of  parliament  for  the  two  universities  and  the  two 
colleges  of  Eton  and  Winchester,  ordering  that  a  third  part 
of  the  rent  upon  leases  made  by  colleges  should  be  reserved 
in  corn,  &c.  Fuller  observes,  that  "  sir  Thomas  Smith 
was  said  by  some  to  have  surprized  the  house  therein  ; 
where  many  could  not  conceive  how  this  would  be  at  all 
profitable  to  the  colleges,  but  still  the  same  on  the  point, 
whether  they  had  it  in  money  or  wares.  But  the  knight 
took  the  advantage  of  the  present  cheapness,  knowing 
hereafter  grain  would  grow  dearer,  mankind  daily  multi- 
plying, and  licence  being  lately  given  for  transportation. 
So  that  at  this  day  much  emolument  redoundeth  to  the  col- 
leges in  each  university  by  the  passing  of  this  act;  and 
though  their  rents  stand  still,  their  revenues  do  increase." 
In  truth  the  present  prosperity,  we  may  almost  say,  exist- 
ence of  the  universities,  is  owing  to  this  wise  and  useful 
precaution. 

About  1576,  sir  Thomas  fell  into  a  declining  state  of 
health,  which  put  an  end  to  his  life,  Aug.  12,  1577,  in 
the  sixty-third  year  of  his  age.  He  died  at  his  favourite 
seat  of  Mounthall,  or  Mounthaut  in  Essex,  and  was  buried 
in  the  chancel  of  the  parish  church  of  Theydon  Mount, 
where  is  a  monument  to  his  memory.  He  died  rich,  and 
in  his  will  are  instances  of  his  liberality.  He  gave  all  his 
Greek  and  Latin  books  to  Queen's  college,  Cambridge, 
except  a  few  left  as  presents  to  some  friends.  His  estates 
descended  to  sir  William  Smith,  son  of  his  brother  George. 

Sir  Thomas  Smith  was  of  a  fair,  sanguine  complexion, 
and  of  a  calm,  open,  and  ingenuous  countenance.  He  was 
a  man  of  extensive  learning,  well  skilled  in  the  Latin, 
Greek,  French,  and  Italian  languages,  and  esteemed  for 
his  eloquence.  Hi>  biographer  adds  to  ail  this  his  know- 
ledge of  the  Platouic  philosophy,  mathematics,  astronomy, 


142  8  M  1  T  H\ 

physic,  chemistry,  &c.  but  in  these  he  appears  to  have 
been  but  superficial.  He  had  his  credulities  and  his  weak- 
nesses in  matters  of  science,  but  they  were  those  of  his 
age.  He  was  a  firm  friend  to  the  reformed  religion,  and, 
when  he  could,  protected  its  professors  from  persecution 
At  one  time  of  his  life  his  morals  appear  to  have  been  Jess 

correct  than  in  the  after-part  of  it.  as  we  read  of  his  havin<y 
i  ° 

a  natural  son. 

His  works  are,  1.  "  De  Republica  Anglorum,  or  the  Man- 
ner of  government  or  police  of  the  kingdom  of  England," 
first  printed  in  4to,  1533  and  1584,  and  again  with  addi- 
tions "  Of  the  cheefe  Courts  in  England,"  1589,  4to,  and 
again  in  1594.  It  was  afterwards  often  reprinted  both  in 
English  and  Latin,  and  in  the  latter  language  forms  one  of 
the  "  Respublicae."  There  is  an  English  MS.  of  it  in  the 
Harleian  collection.  2.  "  De  recta  et  emendata  lingua? 
Grcecie  pronunciatione,"  of  which  we  have  spoken  already. 
3.  "  A  Treatise  concerning  the  correct  writing  and  true 
pronunciation  of  the  English  tongue,"  which  does  sir  Tho- 
mas less  credit  than  the  former.  He  even  went  so  far  in 
his  whimsical  reformation  of  our  language,  as  to  compose 
a  new  alphabet,  consisting  of  twenty-nine  letters,  nine- 
teen of  which  were  Roman,  four  Greek,  and  six  English 
or  Saxon.  An  engraving  of  this  novelty  is  given  by  Strype 
in  his  life  of  sir  Thomas.  4.  "  Four  Orations,  for  and 
against  queen  Elizabeth's  marriage,"  also  in  Strype.  5. 
Several  letters  to  lord  Burleigh  and  sir  Francis  Walsingham, 
printed  in  the  "  Complete  Ambassador,"  and  in  other  col- 
lections ;  and  many  in  MS.  are  in  the  paper-office  and  other 
public  repositories.  6.  "  Device  for  the  alteration  and  re- 
formation of  Religion,"  written  in  155S,  and  printed  among 
the  records  at  the  end  of  Burnet's  History  of  the  Reforma- 
tion," is  attributed  by  Strype  to  sir  Thomas  Smith.  Among 
the  Harleian  MSS.  is  a  discourse  written  by  our  author  to 
sir  William  Cecil,  upon  the  value  of  the  Roman  foot  sol- 
diers7 daily  wages.  It  is  comprised  in  29  sections.  Some 
of  the  tables  are  printed  by  Strype.  Sir  Thomas  also  left 
some  English  poetry.  Warton  informs  us,  that  while  a 
prisoner  in  the  Tower  (a  circumstance,  if  we  mistake  not, 
overlooked  by  Strype,  but  which  must  have  been  the  con- 
sequence of  his  attachment  to  the  duke  of  Somerset)  he 
translated  eleven  of  the  Psalms  into  English  metre,  and 
composed  three  English  metrical  prayers,  with  three  Eng- 


SMITH.  143 

lish  copies  of  verses  besides.     These  are  now  in  the  British 
Museum  MSS.  Reg.  17  A.  XVII.1 

SMITH  (THOMAS),  a  learned  English  writer  and  divine, 
was  born  in  the  parish  of  Allhallows  Barking,  in  London, 
June  3,  1638,  and  admitted  of  Queen's  college  in  Oxford 
.at  nineteen,  \\herehetookthedegreesinarts.  In  1663  he 
was  made  master  of  the  free  school  joining  to  Magdalen 
college;  and,  in  1666,  elected  fellow  of  that  college,  being 
then  famous  for  his  skill  in  the  oriental  languages.  In  June 
1668,  he  went  as  chaplain  to  sir  Daniel  Harvey,  ambassa- 
dor to  Constantinople  ;  and  returned  thence  in  1671.  In 
1676,  he  travelled  into  France  ;  and,  returning  after  a  short* 
stay,  became  chaplain  to  sir  Joseph  Williamson,  secretary 
of  state.  In  1679  he  was  designed  to  collate  and  publish 
the  Alexandrian  manuscript  in  St.  James's  library,  and  to 
have  for  his  reward  (as  Charles  II.  promised)  a  canonry  of 
Windsor  or  Westminster;  but  that  design  was  reserved  for 
the  industry  and  abilities  of  Mr.  Woide,  at  a  far  distant  pe- 
riod (1784).  Mr.  Smith  published  a  great  many  works,  and 
had  an  established  reputation  among  the  learned.  So  high 
an  opinion  was  conceived  of  him,  that  he  was  solicited  Ijr 
the  bishops  Pearson,  Fell,  and  Lloyd,  to  return  into  the 
east,  in  order  to  collect  ancient  manuscripts  of  the  Greek 
fathers.  It  was  designed  that  be  should  visit  the  monaste- 
ries of  Mount  Athos,  where  there  was  said  to  be  extant  a 
great  number  of  MSS.  reposited  there  before  the  decline  of 
the  Greek  empire.  He  was  then  to  proceed  to  ^Smyrna, 
Nice,  Nicornedia,  Ancyra,  and  at  last  to  Egypt;  and  to 
employ  two  or  three  years  in  this  voyage ;  but  he  could 
not  prevail  on  himself  to  undertake  it,  both  on  account  of 
the  dangers  inevitably  to  be  encountered,  and  of  the  just 
expectations  he  had  from  his  patron  Williamson  of  prefer- 
ment in  the  church.  These  expectations,  however,  were 
disappointed ;  for  Wood  says,  that,  after  living  several 
years  with  him,  and  performing  a  great  deal  of  drudgery 
for  him,  he  was  at  length  dismissed  without  any  reward  *. 

*  Of  this  neglect  Smith  wns  not  in-  make  me  his  chaplain;  but  truly  though 

sensible.     In  one  of  his  letters  to  Mr.  I  have  lived  in  the  family  of  an   am- 

Cradock,  dated  Stanhope-street,  near  bassatlor,  I  am   sensible  already,  that 

Charing  Cross,  Oct.  7,  1676,  he  says,  I  am  not  cut  out  for  it,   wanting  per- 

"  Upon   my  first  coming  here,  I  per-  chance  those   arts   of  compliance  and 

ceived  sir  J.  W.'s  intention  of  giving  me  courtship,  to  which  I  was  never  bred, 

a   charuoer  in  his  house  is  in  order  to  which,   1  see  a  man  must  be  gujliy  of, 

1  Strype's  Life  of  Smith. — Lodge's  Illustrations,  Yol.  II.— Wartou's  Hist,  of 
Poetry. — Biog,  Brit.— Granger. 


144  S  M  I  T  H, 

In  1683,  he  took  a  doctor  of  divinity's  degree;  and,  the 
year  after,  was  nominated  by  his  college  to  the  rectory  of 
Stanlake  in  the  diocese  of  Oxford,  but  upon  some  dislike 
resigned  it  in  a  month.  In  1687,  he  was  collated  to  a  pre- 
bend in  the  church  of  Heytesbury  in  Wilts.  In  August 
3688,  he  was  deprived  of  his  fellowship  by  Dr.  GilTard,  the 
Popish  president  of  Magdalen  college,  because  he  refused 
to  live  among  the  new  Popish  fellows  of  that  college.  He 
had  before  resisted  the  intrusion  of  Antony  Farmer  into  the 
office  of  president,  and  presented  a  petition  to  the  earl  of 
Sunderland,  beseeching  the  king  either  to  leave  the  college 
to  a  free  election,  or  recommend  a  qualified  person.  This 
being  refused,  he  was  for  presenting  a  second  address,  be- 
fore they  proceeded  to  the  election,  and  at  last  he  and  Mr. 
Chernock  were  the  only  two  fellows  that  submitted  to  the 
authority  of  the  royal  commissioners,  yet  this  did  not  avail 
him  when  he  refused  to  associate  with  the  new  popish  fel- 
lows under  GilTard.  He  was,  however,  restored  in  Octoher 
following;  but,  afterwards  refusing  to  take  the  oaths  to 
William  and  Mary,  his  fellowship  was  pronounced  void, 
July  25,  1692.  From  this  time  he  lived  chiefly  in  sir  John 
Cotton's  family.  He  died  at  London,  May  11,  1710,  and 
was  buried  in  St.  Anne's  church,  Soho,  privately,  accord- 
ing to  his  desire. 

His  works, are,  1.  "  Diatriba  de  Chaldaicis  Paraphrastis," 
Oxon.  1662,  8vo.  2.  "Syntagma  de  Druidum  moribus  ac 
institutis."  3.  "Remarks  upon  the  Manners,  Religion,  and 
Government  of  the  Turks;  together  with  a  Survey  of  the 
seven  Churches  of  Asia,  as  they  now  lie  in  their  Ruins  ;  and 
a  brief  Description  of  Constantinople,"  I67tf,  8vo,  origi- 
nally published  in  Latin.  4.  "  De  Grsecse  Ecclesix  hodier- 
no  statu  Epistola;"  which,  with  additions,  he  translated 
into  English,  and  published  with  the  following  title:  "An 
Account  of  the  Greek  Church,  as  to  its  Doctrines  and  Rites 
of  Worship,  with  several  Historical  Remarks  interspersed, 
relating  thereto.  To  which  is  added,  an  Account  of  the 
State  of  the  Greek  Church  under  Cyrillus  Lucaris,  patriarch 
of  Constantinople,  with  a  Relation  of  his  Sufferings  and 
Death,"  1680,  Svo.  5.  "  De  causis  et  rernediis  dissidio- 

if  he  would   please,  anil  which   1  am  a  prebend  or  a  living,  when  I  can  live 

now  too  old  to   learn  ;  and   therefore  happily  all  my  life   long  in  a  college, 

shall  never  part  viiih  my  liberty,  and  and  enjoy  myself,  as  well  as  the  great 

live  under  continual  restraint,  it  may  man   at  Lambeth." — Letters  by  Emi- 

be  for  two  or  thrett  years,  in  hopes  of  nent  Persons,  1813,  3  vols.  8vo. 


S  M  I  T  H.  145 

rum,"  &c.  Ox.  1675,  4to,  printed  afterwards  among  his 
"  Miscellanea,"  and  published  by  him  in  English,  under  the 
title  of  "  A  pacific  Discourse  ;  or,  the  causes  and  remedies 
of  the  differences  about  religion,  which  distract  the  peace  of 
Christendom,"  Lond.  1688,  4to.  6.  Two  volumes  of  "Mis- 
cellanea" in  Latin,  on  subjects  chiefly  of  ecclesiastical  his- 
tory and  biblical  criticism,  Lond.  1686,  8vo,  and  1692,  4to. 
7.  A  translation  of  the  "  Life  of  St.  Mary  Magdalen  of  Paz- 
zi,"  with  a  preface,  ibid.  1687,  4to.  8.  A  Latin  life  of 
Camden,  which  was  prefixed  to  his  edition  of  Camden's 
"  Epistolse,"  in  1691,  4to.  9.  "  Catalogus  librorum  ma- 
nuscriptorum  Bibl,  Cottonianse,"  Oxon.  1696,  fol.  with  a 
life  of  sir  Robert  Cotton.  10.  "  Inscriptiones  Grgecse.  Pal- 
myrenorum,  cum  scholiis  Ed.  Bernardi  et  Thotnse  Smithi," 
Utrecht,  1698,  8vo.  11.  The  lives  of  Dr.  Robert  Hunt- 
ington,  bishop  of  Raphoe,  and  of  Dr.  Edward  Bernard,  in 
Latin.  12.  An  edition  of  "Ignatii  Epistolae,"  Oxon.  1709, 
4to.  13.  A  preface  to  sir  Philip  Warwick's  "Memoirs  of 
the  reign  of  Charles  I."  prefixed  to  the  edition  of  1702,  and 
of  which  there  has  lately  been  a  republication  (181 3);  and 
lastly,  that  very  useful  volume  entitled  "  Vitae  quorundam 
eruditissimorum  &  illustrium  virorum,"  1707,  4to.  In  this 
collection  are  the  lives  of  archbishop  Usher,  bishop  Cosins, 
Mr.  Henry  Briggs,  Mr.  John  Bainbridge,  Mr.  John  Greaves, 
sir  Patrick  Young,  preceptor  to  James  I.  Patrick  Young, 
library-keeper  to  the  same,  and  Dr.  John  Dee.  Three  pa- 
pers by  him  are  inserted  in  the  "Philosophical  Transactions:" 
1.  "  Historical  Observations  relating  to  Constantinople,  No. 
152,  for  Oct.  20,  1683."  2.  "  An  Account  of  the  City  of 
Prusia  in  Bithynia,  No.  155,  for  Jan.  1633."  3.  "  A  Con- 
jecture about  an  Under-current  at  the  Streights-mouth,  No. 
*158,  for  April  1684."  He  left  his  MSS.  to  Hearne,  witt) 
whom  he  was  a  frequent  correspondent*,1 

*  Hearue,   in  one  of  his  MS  diaries,  knowledge  of  books  was  so  cx.tepsive, 

say»,  '•  Dr.  Thomas  Smith,  as  he  was  that  men  of  the  best  reputation,  Mich 

a  person  well  versed  in  al!  sorisoflearn-  as  have  spent  not  only  hundreds,  br.t 

iug,  aud  one  of  the  bust   scholars  that  thousands  of  pounds  for  furnishing  li- 

were  ever  bred  in  Magdalen  college,  braries,  applied  themselves  to  him  for 

and    indeed   in  this  university,  so   he  advice  and  direction,    and   were  glad 

had  an  extraordinary  good  collection  when  they  could  receive  a  line  or  two 

of  books,    in  all    faculties,    which    he  from  him  to  assist  them  in  that  office. 

t»ok  care  to  digest  in  the  best  order.  His  printed  books  (collected  with  great 

These   books  he  picked  up  in  his  tra-  care  and  judgment)  consist  of  about  6 

vels,  and  at  other   times   when  he  had  or  7  thousand  volumes,  of  the  best  ancl 

a  good  conTenient  opportunity.     His  most  useful  authors,  some  of  which  be 

1  Biog.  Brit.-— Gen.  Diet— Ath.  Ox.  vol.  II. 

VOL.  XXVIII.  L 


146  SMITH. 

SMITH,  or  SMYTH  (WILLIAM),  bishop  of  Lincoln, 
and  founder  of  Brasen-nosr  college,  Oxford,  was  the  fourth 
son  of  Robert  Smyth,  of  Peelhou^e  in  Widdows,  or  Wid- 
ness,  in  the  parish  ot  Present,  Lancashire.  His  grandfather 
was  Henry  Smyth,  esq.  of  the  adjoining  township  of 
Cuertiiy,  where  the  family  appears  to  have  resided  both. 
before  and  after  the  birth  of  the  subject  of  this  sketch, 
and  extended  its  branches  of  the  same  name  through  va- 
rious parts  of  the  kingdom.  Of  his  father  we  have  no  par- 
ticular information,  nor  of  the  period  of  his  birth,  unless 
that  it  took  place  about  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century; 
which  is,  however,  not  very  consistent  with  the  report, 
that  he  was  an  undergraduate  of  Oxford  so  late  as  1478. 

The  same  obscurity  envelopes  his  early  years.  Wood 
indeed  says,  that  he  was  trained  up  in  grammar-learning 
in  his  own  country;  but  in  what  seminary,  or  whether  his 
country  at  that  time  could  boast  of  any  institution  deserv- 
ing the  name  of  a  grammar-school,  are  subjects  of  conjec- 
ture. His  late  biographer,  with  equal  acuteness  and  rea- 
son, has  supposed  him  to  have  been  educated  in  the  house- 
hold of  Thomas,  the  first  earl  of  Derby.  The  countess  of 
Richmond,  who  was  the  second  wife  of  this  nobleman,  ac- 
cording to  a  laudable  custom  in  the  houses  of  the  nobility, 
provided  in  this  manner  for  the  instruction  of  young  men 
of  promising  talents  :  and  it  is  known,  that  she  was  an 
early  patron  of  our  founder. 

At  what  time  he  removed  to  Oxford  is  uncertain,  nor 
has  any  research  discorered  the  college  of  which  he  was  a 
member.  Of  his  academical  honours,  all  that  we  know 
with  certainty  is  his  degree  of  bachelor  of  law,  which  he 
had  taken  some  time  before  1492,  when  he  was  instituted 
to  the  rectory  of  Cheshuntin  Hertfordshire.  Wood  asserts 
that  he  removed  with  other  scholars  from  Oxford,  dreading 
the  pestilence  which  then  raged,  and  went  to  Cambridge, 
where  he  became  fellow,  and  afterwards  master  of  Pem- 
broke-hall. Browne  Willis  contradicts  this  only  in  part, 
by  informing  us  that  he  became  fellow,  but  not  master. 
His  late  biographer,  however,  Mr.  Churton,  has  decidedly- 
proved  that  he  never  belonged  to  Cambridge,  and  that  the 
mistake  of  his  former  biographers  originated  in  his  being 

had   left  to   the    university  of  Oxford  pursuits   after  learning  ;  and  had  not 

(particularly  to  the  Bodleian  and  Mag-  some   men  of  that  place  put  a  slight 

dalen  college  libraries)  had  henotbtrn  upon  him,  which  he  neither  could,  »or 

much  discouraged  (as  divers  other  e*-  indeec?  ought  to  brook."     Letters  kjr 

cellent  men  hare  been)  in  his  several  Eminent  persons,  &c. 


SMITH.  147 

confounded  with  a. person  of  both  his  names,  who  was  fel- 
low of  Pembroke-hall,  and  a  contemporary. 

To  the  course  of  learning  usual  in  his  time,  and  which 
was  neither  copious   nor  solid,  he  appears  to. have  added 
the  study  of  the  Latin  classics  of  the  purer  ages,  which  was., 
then  less  frequent,   although  more  liberally  tolerated,  aiifl 
more  admired,   than  an    acquaintance  with  the  Greek  lan- 
guage.    In   the   fifteenth  century  the  latter  was  scarcely 
known,   unless  to  the  enterprizing  spirit  of  Grocyn,  Lin- 
acre,  and  the  other  restorers  of  literature  ;  and  was  so  little 
relished,  as  to  be  sometimes  a  topic  of  ridicule,  and  some- 
times as  dangerous  as  heresy. 

For  his  tirst  advancement  he  is  supposed  to  have  been 
indebted  to  the  earl  of  Derby,  who  was  one  ol  those  friends 
of  Henry  VII.  whom  that  monarch  rewarded,  after  the 
crown  was  established  in  security.  Probably  also  by  his 
interest  Smyth  was  appointed,  September  20,  14-85,  to  the 
office  of  the  clerk  of  the  hanaper,  with  an  annual  stipend 
of  40/.  and  an  additional  allowance  of  eighteen-pence  per 
day  during  his  attendance,  in  person,  or  by  his  deputy, 
on  the  lord  chancellor.  This  salary  is  worthy  of  notice,  as 
the  sum  exceeds  that  which  was  attached  to  it,  not  only  on 
a  subsequent  appointment  in  this  reign,  but  for  a  century 
afterwards.  It  was,  therefore,  probably  given  as  a  special 
remuneration  to  Smyth,  whose  influence  appears  to  have 
been  increasing.  It  is  certain  that,  while  in  this  office,  he 
was  solicited  by  the  university  of  Oxford  to  interpose,  on 
a  very  critical  occasion,  when  they  had  incurred  the  king's 
displeasure;  and  such  was  his  influence,  that  his  majesty 
was  pleased  to  remove  their  fears,  and  confirm  their  privi- 
leges. This  occurred  in  the  second  year  of  Henry's  reign. 
While  Smyth  held  this  office,  we  also  find  his  name  in  a 
writ  of  privy-seal  for  the  foundation  of  Norbridge's  chantry 
in  the  parish  church  of  the  Holy  Trinity  at  Guildford, 
along  with  Elizabeth,  consort  of  Henry  VII.,  Margaret, 
countess  of  Richmond,  his  mother,  Thomas  Bourchier  and 
Reginald  Bray,  knights. 

A  few  years  after  his  being  made  clerk  of  the  hanaper, 
he  was  promoted  to  the  deanery  of  St.  Stephen's,  West- 
minster, a  dignity  usually  conferred  on  some  favourite 
chaplain  whom  the  king  wished  to  have  near  his  person. 
The  precise  time  of  his  arriving  at  this  preferment  cannot 
be  discovered,  but  it  must  have,  been  subsequent  to  July 
28,  1480,  when  Henry  Sharpe- occurs  as  dean.  While,  in 

L  2 


148  SMITH. 

this  office  he  resided  in  Canon-row,  and  was  honoured  by 
his  i?oyal  master  with  a  seat  in  the  privy-council.  From 
these  preferments  it  may  be  inferred  that  Smyth's  talents 
and  address  had  justified  the  hopes  of  his  family  and  pa- 
trons. He  must  certainly  have  been  a  favourite  with  the 
king,  and  not  less  so  with  his  mother,  the  countess  of 
Richmond,  who  on  June  14,  14-92,  presented  him  to  the 
rectory  of  Cheshunt,  which  he  quitted  in  1494  for  higher 
preferment.  She  conferred  upon  him  another  mark  of  her 
confidence,  in  appointing  him  one  of  the  feoffees  of  those 
manors  and  estates,  which  were  to  answer  the  munificent 
purposes  of  her  will.  As  to  the  reports  of  his  former  bio- 
graphers, that  he  held,  at  one  time,  the  archdeaconry  of 
Surrey,  and  the  prepositure  of  Wells,  Mr.  Churton  has 
clearly  proved  that  they  have  no  foundation. 

When  the  see  of  Lichfield  and  Coventry  became  vacant 
by  the  death  of  bishop  Hales,  Dec.  30,  1490,  the  king 
bestowed  it  on  Smyth,  by  the  style  of  "  Our  beloved  and 
faithful  Counsellor,  Dean  of  our  free  chapel  within  our 
own  palace  at  Westminster."  The  time  neither  of  his 
election  nor  consecration  is  upon  record,  but  the  latter 
is  supposed  to  have  taken  place  between  the  12th  and 
29th  of  January  1492-3.  The  cause  of  so  considerable  an 
interval  from  the  death  of  his  predecessor  must  probably 
be  sought  in  the  capricious  proceedings  of  the  court  of 
Rome  on  such  occasions.  His  final  settlement  in  this  see 
was  followed  by  a  visitation  of  the  clergy  under  his  controul, 
and  the  performance  of  those  other  duties  incumbent  on 
his  new  station.  His  usual  residences  were  at  Beaudesert, 
and  at  Pipe,  both  near  Lichfield,  or  at  his  palace  in  Lon- 
don, which  stood  on  the  site  of  Somerset-house. 

His  next  promotion  was  of  the  civil  kind,  that  of  presi- 
dent of  the  prince's  council  within  the  marches  of  Wales. 
The  unsettled  state  of  Wales  had  engaged  the  attention  of 
Henry  VII  as  soon  as  he  came  to  the  throne ;  and  the 
wisest  policy,  in  order  to  civilize  and  conciliate  the  inha- 
bitants of  that  part  of  the  kingdom,  appeared  to  consist  in 
delegating  such  a  part  of  the  executive  power  as  might 
give  dignity  and  stability  to  the  laws,  and  ensure  subjection 
to  the  sovereign.  With  this  view  various  grants  and  com- 
missions were  issued  in  the  first  year  of  his  reign  ;  and 
about  1492,  Arthur,  prince  of  Wales  and  earl  of  Chester, 
was  included  in  a  commission  of  the  peace  for  the  county 
of  Warwick,  with  archbishop  Morton,  Smyth,  bishop  of 


SMITH.  149 

Lichfield  and  Coventry,  and  others.  There  was  a  renewal 
of  this  commission  in  the  17th  Henry  VII.  of  which  our  pre- 
late, who  had  then  been  translated  to  the  see  of  Lincoln, 
was  again  lord  president.  The  prince's  court  was  held 
chiefly  at  Ludlow-castle,  long  the  seat  of  the  muses, 
honoured  at  this  time  with  a  train  of  learned  men  from  the 
universities,  and  afterwards  immortalized  by  Milton  and 
Butler.  Here  bishop  Smyth,  although  placed  in  an  office 
that  seemed  likely  to  divert  him  from  the  business  of  his 
diocese,  took  special  care  that  his  absence  should  be  com- 
pensated by  a  deputation  of  his  power  to  vicars-general, 
and  a  suffragan  bishop,  in  whom  he  could  confide  :  and 
here  he  conceived  some  of  fhose  generous  and  liberal  plans 
which  have  conferred  honour  on  his  name.  The  first  in- 
stance of  his  becoming  a  public  benefactor  was  in  rebuild- 
ing and  re-endowing  the  hospital  of  St.  John  in  Lichfield, 
which  had  been  suffered  to  go  to  ruin  by  the  negligence 
of  the  friars  who  occupied  it.  Accordingly,  in  the  third 
year  of  his  episcopate,  1495,  he  rebuilt  this  hospital,  and 
gave  a  new  body  of  statutes  for  the  use  of  the  society.  Of 
tiiis  foundation  it  is  only  necessary  to  add  here,  that  the 
school  attached  to  it,  and  afterwards  joined  to  the  adjacent 
seminary  of  Edward  VI.  has  produced  bishops  Smalridge 
and  Newton,  the  chief  justices  Willes  and  Parker,  and 
those  illustrious  scholars,  Joseph  Addison  and  Samuel 
Johnson. 

Smyth  had  been  bishop  of  Lichfield  somewhat  more  than 
two  years,  when  he  was  translated  to  Lincoln,  November, 
1495.  In  1500  he  performed  a  strict  visitation  of  his  ca- 
thedral, which  his  liberality  had  already  enriched,  and  pre- 
scribed such  matters  of  discipline  and  police  as  seemed 
calculated  to  preserve  order,  and  correct  that  tendency  to 
abuse,  which  rendered  frequent  visitations  necessary.  Nor 
was  his  care  of  his  diocese  at  large  less  actively  employed, 
in  hearing  and  examining  grievances,  and  promoting  dis- 
cipline and  morals.  "  But  perfection,"  his  biographer  has 
well  observe:!,  "  is  not  the  attribute  of  man ;  and  we  learn 
with  less  surprise  than  regret,  that  Smyth  did  not  escape 
;he  common  fault,  of  condemning  heretics  to  the  prison  or 
the  stake."  For  this  no  apology  can  here  be  offered.  The 
wonder  is,  that  we  are  still  solicited  to  a  fellow-feeling 
with  a  religion  which  could  warp  the  minds  of  such  men  as 
Smyth.  It  would  have  done  enough  to  incur  our  aversion, 
had  it  done  no  more  than  to  stain  the  memory  of  those 


150  SMITH. 

benefactors,  to  whose  liberality  the  learning  of  the  present 
age  is  so  deeply  indebted. 

In  the  last-mentioned  year,  Smyth  was  requested  by  the 
university  of  Oxford  to  accept  the  office  of  chancellor,  then 
vacant  by  the  death  of  archbishop  Morton.  How  long  he 
continued  chancellor  is  not  exactly  known,  but  his  resisj- 

*>  O 

nation  must  have  taken  place  abont  150'i,  when  we  find 
Dr.  Mayew  held  that  office.  In  1507-8,  he  concerted  the 
plan  of  Brasen-nose  college,  along  with  iiis  friend  sir  Ri- 
chard Sutton,  and  lived  to  see  it  completed.  Of  his  death 
we  have  few  particulars,  nor  can  his  age  be  ascertained. 
After  making  a  will  in  due  form,  characterized  by  the 
liberality  which  had  distinguished  his  whole  life,  he  ex- 
pired at  Buckden,  Jan.  2,  1513-14,  and  v\as  interred  on 
the  south  side  of  the  nave  of  Lincoln  cathedral,  under  a 
marble  grave  stone,  richly  adorned  with  brass,  which  sir 
William  Dugdale  had  leisure  to  describe  just  before  it  was 
destroyed  by  the  republican  soldiers  or  mob  A  moral 
monument  was  recently  put  up,  with  a  suitable  inscription, 
by  the  rev.  Ralph  Cawley,  D.  D.  and  principal  of  Brasen- 
nose  from  1770  to  1777. 

The  progress  of  this  munificent  work,  Brasen-nose  col- 
lege, may  be  seen  in  our  authorities.  The  charter  of 
foundation  granted  to  bishop  Smyth  and  Richard  Sutton, 
esq.  is  dated  Jan.  15,  1511-12;  and  it  is  supposed  that  the 
society  became  a  permanent  corporation  on  the  feast  of  St. 
Hugh,  Nov.  17,  1512,  or  perhaps  a  little  earlier.  Ac- 
cording tb  the  charter,  the  society  was  to  consist  of  a  prin- 
cipal and  sixty  scholars,  to  be  instructed  in  the  sciences 
of  sophistry,  logic,  and  philosophy,  and  afterwards  in  di- 
vinity, and  they  might  possess  lands,  &c.  to  the  yearly 
value  of  J500/.  beyond  all  burdens  and  repairs.  The  num- 
ber of  fellows,  however,  was  not  completed  until  their  re- 
venues, by  being  laid  out  on  land,  began  to  be  certainly 
productive. 

The  estates  which  bishop  Smyth  bestowed  on  the  college 
were  chiefly  two,  Basset's  Fee,  in  the  environs  of  Oxford, 
which  formerly  is  supposed  to  have  belonged  to  the  Bassets, 
barons  of  Head  ing  ton  ;  and  the  entire  property  of  the  sup- 
pressed priory  of  Cold  Norton,  with  its  manors  and  estates 
in  Oxfordshire  and  Northamptonshire,  which  iiad  been 
sold  to  bishop  Smyth  by  the  convent  of  St.  Stephen's 
Westminster  for  eleven  hundred  and  fifty  marks.' 

1  Churtou's  Lives  of  the  Founders. — Chalmers's  Hist,  of  Oxford. 


SMITH.  151 

SMITH  (WILLIAM),  herald  and  antiquary,  was  born  in 
Cheshire,  and  descended  from  the  Smiths  or  Smyths  of 
Oldhough.  He  was  educated  at  Oxford,  but  in  what  col- 
lege Wood  has  not  ascertained,  there  being  several  of 
the  same  names  about  the  latter  part  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury. When  he  left  the  university,  we  cannot  trace  his 
progress,  but  on  his  application  at  the  Heralds'  college  for 
the  office  of  Rouge- Dragon,  it  was  said  that  he  had  been  a 
merchant  and  traveller.  He  was  recommended  by  sir 
George  Carey,  knight  marshal ;  and  "  The  Society  of  Arms 
finding,  by  many,  that  he  was  honest,  ami  of  a  quiet  con- 
versation, and  well  languaged,"  joined  in  the  supplication, 
which  gained  him  this  office.  Anstis  says,  that  he  had 
long  resided  abroad,  and  had  kept  an  inn,  at  Nuremburgh, 
in  Germany,  the  sign  at  the  door  of  which  was  the  Goose. 
He  wrote  a  description  of  Cheshire,  which,  with  his  histo- 
rical collections  made  about  1590,  or  a  copy  of  them,  falling 
into  the  hands  of  sir  Randolph  Crew,  knt.  lord  chief  justice 
of  the  King's  bench,  his  grandson,  sir  Randolph  Crew,  gave 
them  to  the  public.  These  materials,  and  the  labours  of 
William  Webb,  form  the  bulk  of  "  King's  Vale-Royal,"  pub- 
lished in  fol.  1656.  He  made  a  great  number  of  collections, 
relative  to  families  in  England  and  Germany.  He  wrote  a 
description  of  this  kingdom,  embellishing  it  with  drawings 
of  its  chief  towns,  Many  of  his  books  are  in  Philipot's 
press,  in  the  College  at  Arms.  He  composed  an  Alphabet 
of  Arms,  which  the  late  respected  Mr.  Brooke  supposed 
to  have  been  the  origin  or  basis  of  such  kind  of  books. 
The  original  was  lodged  in  King's-college  library,  in  Cam- 
bridge, to  which  it  had  been  given  by  Dr.  Richard  Rode- 
rick. It  was  copied  in  1744,  by  the  rev.  William  Cole, 
M.  A.  of  Milton,  and  is  now  with  his  other  MSS.  in  the 
British  Museum.  The  late  rev.  Samuel  Pegcye,  the  and- 

o  o    * 

quary,  had  a  manuscript  copy,  improved  by  him,  of  Derby- 
shire, as  visited  by  Glover.  This  skilful  and  indefatigable 
officer  at  arms  died,  without  farther  promotion,  Oct.  1,  1618. 
In  the  Bodleian  library  are  two  MSS.  by  Smith,  the  one 
"  The  Image  of  Heraldrye,  &c."  a  sort  of  introduction  to 
the  science,  which  forrrierly  belonged  to  Anstis ;  the  other, 
"  Genealogies  of  the  different  potentates  of  Europe,  1578," 
formerly  Peter  Le  Neve's.  A  new  edition,  with  additions, 
of  the  "Vale-Royal,"  was  published  at  Chester,  1778, 
2  vols.  8vo. l 

1  Athi  Ox.  vol.  I,  new  edit.— Noble's  College  of  Arms. — Cough's  Topog.  vol.  I. 


152  SMITH. 

SMITH  (WILLIAM),  a  learned  English  divine  and  trans- 
lator, was  the  son  of  the  rev.  Richard  Smith,  rector  of  All- 
Saints,  and   minister  of  St.  Andrew,  both   in   Worcester, 
who  died  in  1726.      He   was   born   at  Worcester  in  1711, 
and  educated  at  the  grammar-school  of  that  city.     In  172o 
he  was  admitted  of  New-college,  Oxford,  where  he  pro- 
ceeded B.  A.  in  1732,  M.  A.  in  1737,  and  D.  D.  in  1758. 
In  1735   he   was   presented   by  his   patron,  James  earl  of 
Derby,  in  whose  family  he  was  reader,   to  the  rectory  of 
Trinity-church,  Chester,  and  by  his  son   and  successor's 
interest,  whose  chaplain  he  was,  to  the  deanery  of  Chester 
in  1753.      He  held  the  mastership  of  Brentwood-school  in 
Essex  for  one  year,   1748;  and  in  1753  was  nominated  by 
the  corporation  of  Liverpool   one  of  the   ministers  of  St: 
George's  church  there,  which  he  resigned  in  1767.     With 
his  deanery  he  held  the  parish  churches  of  Handley  and 
Trinity,   but  in  1780  resigned  the  last  for  the  rectory   of 
West  Kirkby.     He  died  Jan.  12,  1787.     His  character  is 
thus  briefly  drawn  by  his  biographer  :   "  He  was  tall  and 
genteel ;  his  voice  was  strong,  clear,  and  melodious ;  he 
spoke  Latin  fluently,  and  was  complete  master  not  only  of 
the  Greek  but  Hebrew  language  ;  his  mind  was  so  replete 
with  knowledge,  that  he  was  a  living  library  ;  his  manner  of 
address  was  graceful,  engaging,  and  delightful;  his  sermons 
were  pleasing,  informing,  convincing  ;  his  memory,  even  in 
age,  was  wonderfully  retentive,  and  his  conversation  was  po- 
lite, affable,  and  in  the  highest  degree  improving."     He  is 
known  in  the  learned  world,  chiefly  by  his  valuable  transla- 
tions of  "  Longinus  on  the  Sublime,"  1739,  Svo,  which  went 
through  four  editions,  the  last  of  which,  with  the  frontispiece 
designed  by  Dr.  Wall  of  Worcester,  is  said  to  be  the  best; 
"  Thucydides,"  1753,  2  vols.  4to,  reprinted  in  1781,  Svo; 
"  Xenophon's  History  of  the  Affairs  of  Greece,"  1770,  4to. 
In  1782  he  published  "  Nine  Sermons  on  the  Beatitudes," 
Svo,  very  elegantly  written.     In    1791,  appeared  "The 
Poetic  Works  of  the  rev.  William  Smith,  D.  D.  late  dean 
of  Chester;  with  some  account  of  the  life  and  writings  of 
the   Author.     By  Thomas  Crane,  minister  of  the   parish 
church  of  St.  Olave  in  Chester,   &c."     This  work  we  have 
not  seen,  and  for  the  account  of  Dr.  Smith's  life  we  are 
indebted  to  a  review  of  it  in  the  Gent.  Mag.1 

SMOLLETT  (To BIAS),  a  historian,  novelist,  and  poet 
oi  considerable  reputation,  was  the  grandson  of  sir  James 

J  Gent.  Mag-,  vol.  LXI. 


SMOLLETT.  153 

Smollett  of  Bonhill,  a  member  of  the  Scotch  parliament, 
and  one  of  the  commissioners  for  framing  the  treaty  of 
union.  He  married  Jane,  daughter  of  sir  Aulay  Macau- 
ley,  bart.  of  Ardincaple,  by  whom  he  had  four  sons  and 
two  daughters.  The  fourth  son,  ARCHIBALD,  married  with- 
out asking  his  father's  consent,  Barbara  Cunningham, 
daughter  of  Mr.  Cunningham  of  Gilbertfields  in  the  7ieigh- 
bourhood  of  Glasgow.  His  father,  however,  allowed  him 
an  income  of  about  300/.  a-year.  He  unfortunately  died, 
after  the  birth  of  two  sons  and  a  daughter,  who,  with  their 
mother,  were  left  dependent  on  the  grandfather,  and  we 
do  not  find  dut  he  neglected  them.  Tobias,  the  subject 
of  this  memoir,  and  the  youngest  of  those  children,  was 
born  in  the  house  of  Dalquhnrn,  near  Renton  in  the  parish 
of  Cardross,  in  1721,  and  christened  Tobias  George ;  but 
this  latter  name  he  does  not  appear  to  have  used. 

The  scenery  amidst  which  he  passed  his  early  years, 
and  cultivated  the  muses,  he  has  described,  in  Humphrey 
Clinker,  with  picturesque  enthusiasm.  He  was  first  in- 
structed in  classical  learning  at  the  school  of  Dumbarton, 
by  Mr.  John  Love,  one  of  the  ablest  schoolmasters  of  that 
country,  and  to  whom  Mr.  Chalmers  has  done  ample  jus- 
tice in  his  life  of  lluddiman.  While  at  this  school,  Smol- 
lett exhibited  symptoms  of  what  more  or  less  predominated 
through  life,  a  disposition  to  prove  his  superiority  of  un- 
derstanding at  the  expence  of  those  whose  weaknesses 
and  failings  he  thought  he  could  turn'into  ridicule  with  im- 
punity. The  verses  which  he  wrote  at  this  early  age  were 
principally  satires  on  such  of  his  schoolfellows  as  happened 
to  displease  him.  He  wrote  also  a  poem  to  the  memory  of 
the  celebrated  Wallace,  whose  praises  he  found  in  the 
story-books  and  ballads  of  every  cottage.  From  Dumbar- 
ton he  was  removed  to  Glasgow,  where,  after  some  hesita- 
tion, he  determined  in  favour  of  the  study  of  medicine, 
and,  according  to  the  usual  practice,  was  bound  appren- 
tice to  Mr.  John  Gordon,  then  a  surgeon,  and  afterwards  a 
physician  of  considerable  eminence,  whom  he  was  unjustly 
accused  of  ridiculing  under  the  name  of  Potion,  in  his 
novel  of  Roderic  Random. 

From  his  medical  studies,  which  he  cultivated  with  assi- 
duity, he  was  occasionally  seduced  by  a  general  love  of 
polite  literature,  and  seemed  unconsciously  to  store  his 
mind  with  that  fund  of  extensive,  though  perhaps  not  pro- 
found knowledge,  which  enabled  him  afterwards  to  exe- 


154  S  M  O  L  L  E  T  T. 

cute  so  many  works  in  various  branches.  His  satirical  dis- 
position also  followed  him  to  Glasgow,  by  which  he  made 
a  few  admirers,  and  many  enemies.  Dr.  Moore  has  re- 
lated, with  suitable  gravity,  that  he  once  threw  a  snowball 
with  such  dexterity  that  it  g;ive  both  a  blow  and  a  repartee. 
But  such  frolics  were  probably  not  frequent,  and  his  time 
was  iu  general  more  profitably  or  at  least  more  seriously 
employed.  Before  he  had  reached  his  eighteenth  year, 
he  began  to  feel  the  ambition  of  a  dramatic  poet,  and 
wrote  the  tragedy  of  the  "  Regicide,"  which  was  consi- 
dered as  an  extraordinary  production  for  a  person  of  his 
years;  but  we  do  not  read  it  as  it  was  originally  composed, 
nor  was  it  made  public  until  nearly  ten  vears  after. 

On  the  death  of  his  grandfather,  who  had  hitherto  sup- 
ported him  in  his  studies,  but  left  no  permanent  provision 
for  the  completion  of  them,  he  removed  to  London,  in 
quest  of  employment  in  the  army  or  navy,  and  strength- 
ened his  hopes  by  carrying  his  tragedy  with  him.  The 
latter,  however,  was  in  all  respects  an  unfortunate  specu- 
lation. After  being  amused  and  cajoled  by  all  the  common 
and  uncommon  tricks  of  the  theatrical  managers,  for  nearly 
ten  years,  he  was  under  the  necessity  of  sending  it  to  the 
press  in  vindication  of  his  own  importunities,  and  the  opi- 
nions of  his  friends.  His  preface  may  yet  be  read  with 
advantage  by  the  candidates  for  stage  favour,  although 
modern  managers  are  said  to  be  less  fastidious  than  their 
predecessors,  and  from  the  liberality  of  their  admissions, 
leave  it  somewhat  doubtful  whether  they  have  not  lost  the 
privilege  of  rejection.  In  this  preface,  Smollett  was  not 
sparing  of  his  indignation,  but  he  reserved  more  substan- 
tial revenge  for  a  more  favourable  opportunity. 

In  the  mean  time,  in  J741,  he  procured  the  situation  of 
surgeon's-mate  on  board  a  ship  of  the  line,  and  sailed  on 
the  unfortunate  expedition  to  Carthagena,  which  he  de- 
scribed in  his  "  Roderic  Random,"  and  afterwards  more 
historically  in  a  "  Compendium  of  Voyages,"  published  in 
1756,  in  7  vols.  12mo.  The  issue  of  that  expedition  could 
not  be  more  humiliating  to  Smollett  than  his  own  situation, 
so  averse  to  the  disposition  of  a  young  man  of  his  taste 
and  vivacity.  He  accordingly  quitted  the  service  while 
his  ship  was  in  the  West-Indies,  and  resided  for  some  time 
in  Jamaica,  but  in  what  capacity  or  how  supported,  his 
biographer  has  not  informed  us.  Here,  however,  he  first 
became  acquainted  with  the  lady  whom  he  afterwards 
married. 


SMOLLETT.  155 

In  1746,  he  returned  to  London,  and  having  heard 
many  exaggerated  accounts  of  the  severities  practised  in 
suppressing  the  rebellion  in  Scotland,  lie  gave  vent  to  his 
feelings,  and  love  for  his  country,  in  a  beautiful  and  spi- 
rited poem,  entitled  "The  Tears  of  Scotland."  The 
subject  was  doubtless  attractive  as  a  poet,  but  as  he  had 
been  bred  a  Whig,  he  was  rather  inconsistent  in  his  prin- 
ciples, and  certainly  very  unfortunate  in  his  predictions. 
His  friends  wished  him  to  suppress  this  piece,  as  having  a 
tendency  to  offend  the  Whigs,  on  whose  patronage  he  had 
some  reliance;  and  although  his  enthusiasm  was  at  present 
rather  too  warm  for  advice,  and  he  had  from  this  time  de- 
clared war  against  the  whig-ministers  under  George  II.  yet 
it  does  not  appear  that  it  was  published  with  his  name  for 
man}-  years  after. 

In  1746  he  first  presented  himself  to  the  public  as  the 
author  of  "  Advice,  a  Satire,"  in  which  he  endeavoured 
to  excite  indignation  against  certain  public  characters,  by 
accusations  which  a  man  of  delicacy  would  disdain  to  bring 
forward  under  any  circumstances,  and  which  are  generally 
brought  forward  under  the  very  worst.  What  this  produc- 
tion contributed  to  his  fame,  we  are  not  told  ;  his  friends, 
however,  were  alarmed  and  disgusted,  and  his  enemies 
probably  increased.  About  this  time  he  wrote  (for  Covent- 
garden  theatre),  an  opera  called  "  Alceste,"  which  was 
never  acted  or  printed,  owing,  it  is  said,  to  a  dispute  be- 
tween the  author  and  the  manager.  Sir  John  Hawkins, 
who,  in  all  his  writings,  trusts  too  much  to  his  memory, 
informs  us,  that  Handel  set  this  opera  to  music,  and,  that 
his  labour  might  not  be  lost,  afterwards  adapted  the  airs 
to  Dryden's  second  ode  on  St.  Cecilia's  da}'.  But  Handel 
composed  that  ode  in  1739,  according  to  Dr.  Burney's 
more  accurate  and  scientific  history  of  music.  In  1747, 
our  author  published  "  Reproof,  a  Satire,"  as  a  second 
part  of  "  Advice,"  and  consisting  of  the  same  materials, 
with  the  addition  of  some  severe  lines  on  Rich,  the  manager 
of  Covent-garden  theatre,  with  whom  he  had  just  quar- 
relled. 

In  the  same  year  he  married  miss  Anne  Lascelles,  the 
lady  whom  he  had  courted  in  Jamaica,  and  with  whom  he 
had  the  promise  of  three  thousand  pounds.  Of  this  sum, 
however,  he  obtained  but  a  small  part,  and  that  after  a  very 
expensive  law-suit.  As  he  had,  upon  his  marriage,  hired 
a  genteel  house,  aud  lived  in  a  more  hospitable  style  than 


156  SMOLLETT. 

the  possession  of  the  whole  of  his  wife's  fortune  could  have 
supported,  he  was  again  obliged  to  have  recourse  to  his 
pen,  and  produced,  in  1748,  "The  Adventures  of  Rode- 
rick Random,"  in  2  vols.  12mo.  This  was  the  most  suc- 
cessful of  all  his  writings,  and  perhaps  the  most  popular 
novel  of  the  age,  partly  owing  to  the  notion  that  it  was  in 
many  respects  a  history  of  his  own  life,  and  partly  to  its 
intrinsic  merit,  as  a  delineation  of  real  life,  manners,  and 
characters,  given  with  a  force  of  humour  to  which  the  pub- 
lick  had  not  been  accustomed.  If,  indeed,  we  consider  its 
moral  tendency,  there  are  few  productions  more  unfit  for 
perusal ;  yet  such  were  his  opinions  of  public  decency  that 
he  seriously  fancied  he  was  writing  to  humour  the  taste, 
and  correct  the  morals,  of  the  age.  That  it  contains  a 
history  of  his  own  life  was  probably  a  surmise  artfully  cir- 
culated to  excite  curiosity,  but  that  real  characters  are  de- 
picted was  much  more  obvious.  Independent  of  those 
whom  he  introduced  out  of  revenge,  as  Lacy  and  Garrick 
for  rejecting  his  tragedy,  there  are  traits  of  many  other 
persons  more  or  less  disguised,  to  the  introduction  of  which 
he  was  incited  merely  by  the  recollection  of  foibles  which 
deserved  to  be  exposed.  Every  man  who  draws  characters, 
whether  to  complete  the  fable  of  a  novel,  or  to  illustrate 
an  essay,  will  be  insensibly  attracted  by  what  he  has  seen 
in  real  life,  and  real  life  was  Smollett's  object  in  all  his  no- 
vels. His  only  monster  is  count  Fathom ;  but  Smollett  deals 
in  none  of  those  perfect  beings  who  are  the  heroes  of  the 
more  modern  novel. 

In  1749,  his  tragedy  "The  Regicide,"  as  already  no- 
ticed, was  published,  very  much  to  his  emolument,  but 
certainly  without  any  injury  to  the  judgment  of  the  mana- 
gers who  had  rejected  it.  Extraordinary  as  it  might  have 
appeared,  if  published  as  he  wrote  it  at  the  age  of  eigh- 
teen, it  seemed  no  prodigy  in  one  of  more  advanced  years, 
who  had  adopted  every  improvement  which  his  critical 
friends  could  suggest.  The  preface  has  been  mentioned  as 
containing  his  complaints  of  delay  and  evasion,  and  he  had 
now  more  effectually  vented  his  rage  on  lord  Lyttelton  and 
Mr.  Garrick  in  "  Roderick  Random."  With  Garrick,  how- 
ever, he  lived  to  be  reconciled  in  a  manner  which  did  credit 
to  their  respective  feelings. 

In  1750,  he  took  a  trip  to  Paris,  where  he  renewed  his 
acquaintance  with  Dr.  Moore,  his  biographer,  who  informs 
us  that  he  indulged  the  common  English  prejudices  against 


S  M  O   L  L  E  T  T.  157 

the  French  nation,  and  never  attained  the  language  so  per- 
fectly as  to  be  able  to  mix  familiarly  with  the  inhabitants. 
His  stay  here  was  not  long,  for  in  1751,  he  published  his 
second  most  popular  novel,  "  Peregrine  Pickle,"  in  4  vo!s. 
12mo,  which  was  received  with  great  avidity.  In  the  se- 
cond edition,  which  was  called  for  within  a  few  months, 
he  speaks  with  more  craft  than  truth  of  certain  book- 
sellers and  others  who  misrepresented  the  work,  and  ca- 
lumniated the  author.  He  could  not,  however,  conceal, 
and  all  his  biographers  have  told  the  shameless  tale  for 
him,  that  "  he  received  a  handsome  reward"  for  inserting 
the  profligate  memoirs  of  lady  Vane.  It  is  only  wonder- 
ful, that  after  this  he  could  "  flatter  himself  that  he  had  ex- 
punged every  adventure,  phrase,  and  insinuation  that  could 
be  construed  by  the  most  delicate  readers  into  a  trespass 
upon  the  rules  of  decorum."  In  this  work,  as  in  "  Rode- 
rick Random,''  he  indulged  his  unhappy  propensity 'to 
personal  satire  and  revenge,  by  introducing  living  charac- 
ters. He  again  endeavoured  to  degrade  those  of  Garrick 
and  Quin,  who,  it  is  said,  had  expressed  a  more  unfavour- 
able opinion  of  the  "  Regicide"  than  even  Garrick  :  and 
he  was  perhaps  yet  more  unpardonable  in  holding  up  Dr. 
Akenside  to  ridicule. 

Smollett  had  hitherto  derived  his  chief  support  from  his 
pen  ;  but  after  the  publication  of  "  Peregrine  Pickle,"  he 
appears  to  have  had  a  design  of  resuming  his  medical  pro- 
fession, and  announced  himself  as  having  obtained  the  de- 
gree of  doctor,  but  from  what  university  has  not  been  dis- 
covered. In  this  character,  however,  he  endeavoured  to 
establish  himself  at  Bath,  and  published  a  tract  on  "The 
External  Use  of  Water."  In  this,  his  object  was  to  prove, 
that  pure  water,  both  for  warm  and  cold  bathing,  may  be 
preferred  to  waters  impregnated  with  minerals,  except  in 
certain  cases  where  the  vapour-bath  is  requisite.  He  enters 
also  into  a  vindication  of  the  plan  of  Mr.  Cleland,  a  surgeon 
at  Bath,  for  remedying  the  inconveniencies  relating  to  the 
baths  at  that  place.  Whatever  was  thought  of  this  pam- 
phlet, he  failed  in  his  principal  object.  He  had,  indeed, 
obtained  considerable  fame,  as  his  own  complaints,  and 
the  contemporary  journals  plainly  evince  ;  but  it  was  not  of 
that  kind  which  usually  leads  to  medical  practice. 

Disappointed  in  this  design,  he  determined  to  devote 
himself  entirely  to  literary  undertakings,  for  many  of  which 
he  was  undoubtedly  better  qualified  by  learning  and  genius 


158  S  M  O  L  L  E  T  T. 

than  most  of  the  authors  by  profession  in  his  day.  He  now 
fixed  his  residence  at  Chelsea,  on  an  establishment  of 
which  lie  has  given  the  public  a  very  just  picture  in  hi? 
novel  of  "  Humphrey  Clinker."  Jf  the  picture  be  at  the 
same  time  rather  flattering,  it  must  be  recollected  that  it 
was  Smollett's  peculiar  misfortune  to  make  enemies  in  every 
step  of  his  progress,  and  to  be  obliged  to  say  those  hand- 
some things  of  himself  which  no  other  man  would  say  for 
him.  Dr.  Moore,  however,  assures  us  that  his  mode  of 
living  at  Chelsea  was  genteel  and  hospitable,  without  be- 
ing extravagant,  and  that  what  he  says  of  his  liberality  is, 
not  overcharged. 

His  first  publication,  in  this  retirement,  if  it  may  be  so 
called,  was  the  "  Adventures  of  Ferdinand  count  Fathom,1' 
in  1753.  This  novel,  in  the  popular  opinion,  has  been 
reckoned  greatly  inferior  to  his  former  productions,  but- 
merely  perhaps  because  it  is  unlike  them.  There  is  such 
a  perpetual  flow  of  sentiment  and  expression  in  this  pro- 
duction, as  must  give  a  very  high  idea  of  the  fertility  ot 
his  mind  ;  but  in  the  delineation  of  characters  he  departs 
too  much  from  real  life,  and  many  of  his  incidents  are 
highly  improbable.  Mr.  Cumberland,  in  the  Memoirs  of 
his  own  life,  lately  published,  takes  credit  to  himself  for 
the  character  of  Abraham  Adams,  and  of  Sheva,  in  his  co- 
medy of  the  Jew,  which  are,  however,  correct  transcripts 
of  Smollett's  Jew,  nor  would  it  have  greatly  lessened  the 
merit  of  his  benevolent  views  towards  that  depressed  nation, 
had  Mr.  Cumberland  frankly  made  this  acknowledgment. 

In  1755,  Smollett  published,  by  subscription,  a  trans- 
lation of  "  Don  Quixote,"  in  t\vo  elegant  quarto  volumes. 
It  is  unnecessary  to  say  much  on  a  translation  which  has 
so  long  superseded  every  other.  But  since  the  appearance 
of  lord  Woodhouselee's  admirable  "  Essay  on  the  principles 
of  Translation,"  a  new  edition  of  that  by  Jarvis  has  been 
published,  and  will  serve  to  prove  what  his  lordship  has 
advanced,  that  Smollett's  was  merely  an  improved  edition 
of  that  forgotten  work.  Let  not  this,  however,  detract 
greatly  from  Smollett's  merit.  Writing,  as  he  did,  for 
bread,  dispatch  was  not  only  Ins  primary  object,  as  lord 
Woodhouselee  has  observed,  but  dispatch  was  probably  re*- 
quired  of  him.  He  has  excelled  Jarvis  while  he  avaHed 
himself  of  his  labours ;  and  such  was  his  strong  sense  of 
ridicule,  and  ample  fund  of  humour,  that  could  he  have 
fixed  upon  a  proper  subject,  and  found  the  requisite  lei- 


SMOLLETT.  159 

sure,  it  is  not  too  much  to  suppose  that  he  might  have  been 
the  rival  of  Cervantes  himself. 

After  the  publication  of  this  translation  he  visited  his  re- 
lations in  Scotland,  and  on  his  return  to  England,  was  en- 
gaged to  undertake  the  management  of  the  "  Critical  Re- 
view," which  was  begun  in  1756,  in  dependence,  as  has 
been  asserted,  upon  the  patronage  of  the  Tories,  and  the 
high  church  party.  It  does  not  appear,  however,  that  any 
extraordinary  aid  came  from  those  quarters,  and  the  mode 
in  which  it  was  long  conducted  proves  that  the  success  of 
the  Monthly  Review  was  the  only  motive,  or,  if  that  could 
not  be  rivalled,  it  was  hoped  that  the  public  might  sup- 
port two  publications  of  the  kind.  To  this  task  Smollett 
brought  many  necessary  qualifications  :  a  considerable  por- 
tion of  general  knowledge,  a  just  taste  in  works  of  criticism, 
and  a  style,  flowing,  easy,  and  popular.  He  had  also 
much  acquaintance  with  the  litr-mry  history  of  his  times, 
and  could  translate  with  readiness  from  some  of  the  modern 
languages.  But,  on  the  other  hanu,  it  was  his  misfortune 
here,  as  in  every  stage  of  his  life,  that  the  fair  di>play  of 
his  talents,  and  perhaps  the  genuine  sentiments  of  his  heart, 
were  perverted  by  the  prejudices  of  friendship,  or  by  the 
more  inexcusable  impulses  of  jealousy,  revenge,  and  all 
that  enters  into  the  composition  of  an  i ratable  temper. 
He  had  already  suffered  by  provoking  unnecessary  ani- 
mosity, and  was  now  in  a  situation  where  it  would  have 
been  impossible  to  escape  invidious  imputation,  had  he 
practised  the  utmost  candour  and  moderation.  How  much 
more  dangerous  such  a  situation,  to  one  who  was  always  too 
regardless  of  past  experience,  and  who  seems  to  have  gladly 
embraced  the  opportunity  which  secrecy  afforded,  of  deal- 
ing his  blows  around  without  discrimination,  and  without 
mercy.  It  is  painful  to  read  in  the  early  volumes  of  this 
Review,  the  continual  personal  abuse  he  levelled  at  his 
rival,  Mr.  Griffiths,  who  very  rarely  took  any  notice  of  if, 
and  the  many  vulgar  and  coarse  sarcasms  he  directed 
against  every  author  who  presumed  to  doubt  the  infalli- 
bility of  his  opinions.  It  is  no  less  painful  to  contemplate 
the  self-sufficiency  displayed  on  every  occasion  where  he 
can  introduce  his  own  character  and  works. 

Among  others  whom  he  provoked  to  retaliate,  was  the 
noted  political  quack,  Dr.  Shebbeare,  Churchill,  the  poet, 
and  Grainger.  But  the  contest  in  which  he  vras  involved 
with  admiral  Knowles  terminated  in  a  more  honourable 


160  SMOLLETT 

manner.  That  officer  thought  proper  to  prosecute  the 
printer  of  the  "  Critical  Review,"  (the  late  Mr.  Hamilton) 
for  a  paragraph  in  the  Review  reflecting  on  his  character, 
declaring  at  the  same  time,  that  his  only  object  was  to  dis- 
cover the  author,  and  if  he  proved  to  be  a  gentleman,  to 
obtain  the  satisfaction  of  a  gentleman  from  him.  Smollett, 

O  * 

by  applying  to  persons  acquainted  with  Knowles,  endea- 
voured to  avert  the  prosecution ;  but,  finding  that  impossible, 
the  moment  sentence  was  about  to  be  pronounced  agai 
the  printer,  he  stept  forth  in  open  court,  and  avowed  him- 
self the  author.  After  this  spirited  action,  which  yet,  in 
Knowles' s  opinion,  did  not  constitute  him  a.  gentleman,  he 
was  prosecuted,  and  sentenced  to  pay  100/.  and  be  im- 
prisoned for  three  months. 

Soon  after  the  commencement  of  the  Review  he  pub- 
lished, but  without  his  name,  the  "  Compendium  of  Voy- 
ages," 7  vols.  12mo,  already  noticed,  a  work  not  eminently 
successful,  and  which  has  not  since  been  reprinted.  This 
was  a  species  of  compilation,  however,  for  which  he  was 
well  qualified.  He  knew  how  to  retrench  superfluities,  and 
to  bring  forward  the  most  pleasing  parts  of  the  narrative  in 
an  elegant  style ;  and  in  drawing  characters,  when  they 
fell  in  his  way,  he  discovered  much  judgment  and  pre- 
cision. 

In  1757  he  attempted  the  stage  a  second  time,  by  a  co- 
medy, or  rather  farce,  entitled  "  The  Reprisals,  or,  the 
Tars  of  Old  England,"  which  Garrick,  notwithstanding 
their  former  animosity,  accepted,  and  produced  upon  the 
stage,  where  it  had  a  temporary  success,  Davies,  in  his 
life  of  Garrick,  gives  an  account  of  the  manager's  behaviour 
on  this  occasion,  which  reflects  much  honour  on  him,  and 
so  touched  Smollett's  feelings  that  he  embraced  every 
opportunity  of  doing  justice  to  the  merits  of  that  eminent 
actor,  and  of  convincing  him  "  that  his  gratitude  was  as 
warm  as  any  other  of  his  passions." 

Notwithstanding  his  numerous  engagements,  he  pro- 
duced a  work  in  1758,  which  is  an  extraordinary  instance 
of  literary  industry.  This  was  his  "  Complete  History  of 
England  from  the  earliest  times  to  the  treaty  of  Aix-la- 
Chapelle,  in  1748,"  published  in  four  quarto  volumes*. 
This  he  is  said  to  have  composed  and  finished  for  the  press 

*  Three  only  were  published  at  this  time,  and  the  fourth  was  afterwards  given 
gratis  to  the  purchasers  of  the  former. 


SMOLLETT.  161 

in  the  short  space  of  fourteen  months.  It  was  immediately 
after  reprinted  in  Svo,  in  weekly  numbers,  of  which  an 
impression  of  ten  thousand  was  bought  up  with  avidity. 

It  would  be  superfluous  to  dwell  long  on  the  merits  of  a 
work  so  well  known,  and  undoubtedly  entitled  to  high 
praise  as  a  compilation,  but  beyond  this  his  warmest 
admirers  cannot  judiciously  extend  their  encomiums. 
Although  it  may  be  allowed  to  excel  the  histories  of  Carte 
or  Guthrie,  and  on  account  of  its  brevity  to  be  preferable 
to  Rapin,  and  far  more  to  his  continuator  Tindal,  yet  it  is 
impossible  to  place  it  on  a  level  with  the  histories  of  Hume, 
Robertson,  Gibbon,  or  Henry.  In  the  "  Critical  Re- 
view" it  was  highly  praised,  as  might  be  expected,  but 
with  an  affectation  of  candour  and  moderation  which  Smol- 
lett could  not  long  preserve.  In  the  Review  for  Septem- 
ber 1758,  we  have  a  piece  of  querulous  declamation  which 
is,  far  more  fully  characteristic  of  the  man  and  of  the 
author.  It  is  here  extracted  as  a  general  specimen  of  the 
indignation  which  he  felt  against  any  serious  attack,  and  it 
may  serve  to  explain  the  relative  position  in  which  he  stood 
with  his  contemporaries.  The  cause  of  the  following  effu- 
sion was  a  pamphlet  published  by  the  Rev.  T.  Comber,  in 
which  he  censures  the  characters  given  by  Smollett  of  king 
William  and  queen  Mary,  &c. 

Smollett's  answer  begins  thus  : 

"Tell  me  youi  company  and  I'll  describe  your  man- 
ners, is  a  proverbial  apothegm  among  our  neighbours,  and 
the  maxim  will  generally  hold  good  ;  but  we  apprehend 
the  adage  might  be  more  justly  turned  to  this  purpose, 
Name  your  enemies,  and  I  '11  guess  your  character.  If  the 
Complete  History  of  England  were  to  be  judged  in  this 
manner,  we  imagine  the  author  would  gladly  submit  to  the 
determination  of  the  public.  Let  us  tnen  see  who  are  the 
professed  enemies  of  that  production :  the  saye,  the 
patriot,  the  sedate  Dr.  Shebbeare  :  the  serene  Griffiths 
and 'his  spouse,  proprietors  and  directors  of  the  Monthly 
Review  :  the  profound,  the  candid,  the  modest  Dr.  Hill  : 
the  wise,  the  learned,  and  the  temperate  Thomas  Comber, 
A.  B.  whose  performance  we  are  at  present  to  consider. 
This  is  indeed  a  formidable  group  of  adversaries,  enough  to 
daunt  the  heart  of  any  young  adventurer  in  the  worLi  of 
letters;  but  the  author  of  the  Complete  History.^  E.ig- 
land  has  been  long  familiar  with  such  seas  o<*  troubl .-.  Tae 
assault,  however,  which  he  has  sustained  from  some  of 

VOL.  XXVIII.  M 


162  S  M  O  L  L  E  T  T. 

these  heroes  was  not  altogether  unprovoked.  Shebbeare 
had  been  chastised  in  the  Critical  Review  for  his  insolent 
and  seditious  appeals  to  the  public.  He  took  it  for  granted 
that  the  lash  was  exercised  by  the  author  of  the  Complete 
History  of  England,  therefore  he  attacked  that  perform- 
ance tooth  and  nail.  He  declared  that  there  was  neither 
grammar,  meaning,  composition,  or  reflection,  either  in 
the  plan  or  the  execution  of  the  work  itself.  Griffiths  was 
enraged  against  the  same  gentleman,  because  he  was  sup- 
posed to  have  set  up  the  Critical  Review,  in  opposition  to 
the  Monthly,  of  which  he  (Griffiths)  was  proprietor :  ac- 
cordingly he  employed  an  obscure  grub,  who  wrote  in  his 
garret,  to  bespatter  the  History  of  England.  Hill,  for 
these  ten  years,  has  by  turns  praised  and  abused  Dr.  Smol- 
lett, whom  he  did  not  know,  without  being  able  to  vanquish 
that  silent  contempt  in  which  this  gentleman  ever  held 
him  and  all  his  productions :  piqued  at  this  indifference 
and  disdain,  the  said  Hill  has,  in  a  weekly  paper,  thrown 
out  some  dirty  insinuations  against  the  author  of  the  Com- 
plete History  of  England.  We  cannot  rank  the  proprietors 
of  R n  *  and  other  histories,  among  the  personal  ene- 
mies of  Dr.  Smollett,  because  they  were  actuated  by  the 
dictates  of  self-interest  to  decry  his  performance.  This, 
however,  they  have  pursued  in  the  most  sordid,  illiberal, 
and  ridiculous  manner  :  they  have  caballed  :  they  have 
slandered  :  they  have  vilified  :  they  have  prejudiced,  mis- 
represented, and  used  undue  influence  among  their  cor- 
respondents in  different  parts  of  the  kingdom  :  they  have 
spared  neither  calumny  nor  expence  to  prejudice  the 
author  and  his  work  :  they  have  had  the  effrontery  to  insi- 
nuate in  a  public  advertisement  that  he  was  no  better  than 
an  inaccurate  plagiary  from  Rapin  :  and  they  have  had  the 
folly  to  declare  that  Rapin's  book  was  the  most  valuable 
performance,  just  immediately  after  they  had  taxed  Dr. 
Smollett  with  having,  by  a  specious  plan,  anticipated  the 
judgment  of  the  public.  Finally,  finding  all  their  en- 
deavours bad  proved  abortive,  we  have  reason  to  believe 
they  hired  the  pen  of  the  Rev.  Thomas  Comber  of  York, 
A.  B.  to  stigmatize  and  blacken  the  character  of  the  work 
which  has  been  to  them  such  a  source  of  damage  and  vex- 
ation. Accordingly  this  their  champion  has  earned  his 

*  .Most  of  the  names  in  this  passage  are  printed  only  with  the  initial  and 
final  letters,  except  that  of  Rapin  which  follows.  This  R  •  •  a  may  mean 
Eobertcon,  whose  first  history  was  then  in  the  press. 


SMOLLETT.  163 

wages  with  surprising  eagerness  and  resolution  :  he  has 
dashed  through  thick  and  thin,  without, fear  of  repulse, 
without  dread  of  reputation.  Indeed  he  writes  with  a 
degree  of  acrimony  that  seems  to  be  personal  :  perhaps,  if 
the  truth  was  known,  he  .would  be  found  one  of  those 
obscure  authors,  who  have  occasionally  received  correc- 
tion in  some  number  of  the  Critical  Review,  and  looks  upon 
Dr.  Smollett  as  the  n.iministrator  of  that  correction  ;  but 

this  we  only  mention  as  a  conjecture." The  concluding 

paragraph  if  this  review  of  Comber's  pamphlet,  is  not  less 
characteristic  of  Smollett's  temper  and  style  when  he 
wished  to  be  thought  above  all  petty  resentments. 

Comber  "  very  modestly  says  he  hopes  he  has  kept 
within  the  bounds  of  good  breeding,  and  employed  none 
of  that  virulence  which  the  Critical  Reviewers  have  exer- 
cised against  the  most  respectable  characters.  One  cart 
hardly  refrain  from  laughing  when  he  reads  this  declara- 
tion. Mr.  Comber  may  always  be  assured  that  it  is  not  in 
his  power  to  excite  the  indignation  of  the  Critical  Review- 
ers :  there  are  some  objects  too  contemptible  to  excite 
resentment.  We  should  be  glad,  however,  to  know  what 
those  most  respectable  characters  are  that  we  have  treated 
with  indecency.  Those  most  respectable  personages  are 
Drs.  Shebbeare  and  Hill,  Griffiths  and  his  spouse ;  a 
groupe  to  svhich  the  Rev.  Mr.  Comber  will  make  a  very 
proper  addition.  We  think  we  see  this  formidable  band, 
forgetting  the  distinctions  of  party,  sitting  in  close  divan, 
animated  with  double  pots,  encouraged  with  double  pay 

by  the  right  worshipful  the  proprietors  of  R n,  to  renew 

their  attacks  against  the  Complete  History  of  England. 
We  shall  prophecy,  however,  that  the  author  of  that  work 
will  never  deign  to  take  any  public  notice  of  what  may  be 
advanced  against  him  by  writers  of  their  class.  He  con- 
siders them  as  little  inconsiderable  curs  barking  at  the 
moon.  Nevertheless,  in  order  to  whet  their  spleen,  we 
will  inform  the  Rev.  Mr.  Comber  that,  notwithstanding  the 
uncommon  arts  and  great  expence  with  which  his  nonest 
employers  have  puffed  *  and  advertised  his  pamphlet,  the 
Complete  History  of  England  continues  to  rise  in  the  esti- 
mation of  the  public,  and  that  above  ten  thousand  num- 
bers of  the  work  are  weekly  purchased  by  the  subjects  of 

*  Comber's  pamphlet  was  reviewed  in  the  Monthly  in  September,  and  Smol- 
lett could  not  have  seen  it  when  he  wrote  this. 


164  S  M  O  L  L  E  T  T. 

Great  Britain,  besides  those  that  are  sold  in  Ireland  and  the 
plantations." 

During  his  confinement  in  the  king's  bench  for  the  libel 
on  admiral  Knowles,  he  amused  himself  in  writing  the 
"  Adventures  of  Sir  Launcelot  Greaves,"  a  sort  of  English 
Quixote.  This  he  gave  in  detached  parts  in  the  "  British 
Magazine,"  one  of  those  periodical  works  in  which  he  was 
induced  to  engage  by  the  consideration  of  a  regular  sup- 
ply. This  novel  was  afterwards  published  in  two  volumes, 
12mo,  but  had  not  the  popularity  of  his  former  works  of 
that  kind,  and  as  a  composition,  whether  in  point  of  fable, 
character,  or  humour,  is  indeed  far  inferior  to  any  of 
them. 

The  success  of  his  "  History"  encouraged  him  to  write 
a  continuation  of  it  from  1748  to  1764.  The  volume  for 
1765,  his  biographer  seems  not  to  have  known,  was  writ- 
ten by  Guthrie,  during  Smollett's  absence  on  the  Conti- 
nent. By  the  History  and  Continuation  he  is  said  to  have 
cleared  2000/.  He  is  also  supposed  to  have  written  the 
accounts  of  France,  Italy,  and  Germany,  for  the  Universal 
History,  when  published  in  octavo  volumes.  A  writer  in 
the  Gentleman's  Magazine  states  that  he  received  fifteen 
hundred  guineas  for  preparing  a  new  edition  of  the  same 
history,  but  this  must  be  a  mistake,  as  he  was  dead  some 
years  before  that  edition  was  undertaken. 

When  lord  Bute  was  promoted  to  the  office  of  first 
minister,  Smollett's  pen  was  engaged  to  support  him 
against  the  popular  clamour  excited  by  Wilkes  and  his 
partizans.  With  this  view  our  author  commenced  a  weekly 
paper  called  "  The  Briton,"  which  was  answered  by 
Wilkes  in  his  more  celebrated  "  North  Briton."  Had  this 
been  a  contest  of  argument,  wit,  or  even  mere  personal 
and  political  recrimination,  Smollett  would  have  had  little 
to  fear  from  the  talents  of  Wilkes  ;  but  the  public  mind, 
inflamed  by  every  species  of  misrepresentation,  was  on  the 
side  of  Wilkes,  and  the  "  Briton"  was  discontinued,  when 
lord  Bute,  its  supposed  patron,  could  no  longer  keep  his 
seat.  Before  this  short  contest,  Smollett  had  lived  on  terms 
of  intimacy  with  Wilkes,  who,  having  no  animosities  that 
were  not  absolutely  necessary  to  serve  a  temporary  in- 
terest, probably  did  not  think  the  worse  of  Smollett  for 
giving  him  an  opportunity  to  triumph  over  the  author  of 
"  The  Complete  History  of  England."  Smollett,  however, 
was  not  disposed  to  view  the  matter  with  this  complacency. 


SMOLLETT.  165 

He  expected  a  reward  for  his  services,  and  was  disap- 
pointed, and  his  chagrin  on  this  occasion  he  soon  took  an 
opportunity  to  express. 

About  the  years  1763  and  1764,  we  find  his  name  to  a 
translation  of  Voltaire's  Works,  and  to  a  compilation  en- 
titled "  The  Present  State  of  all  Nations,"  in  8  vols.  8vo, 
What  he  contributed  besides  his  name  to  either  of  these 
undertakings,  cannot  now  be  ascertained.  The  transla- 
tion of  Voltaire  is  in  all  respects  beneath  his  talents. 

In  the  month  of  June,  1763,  he  went  abroad,  partly  on 
account  of  his  health,  and  partly  to  relieve  his  and  Mrs. 
Smollett's  grief  for  the  loss  of  their  only  child,  an  amiable 
young  lady  who  died  in  her  fifteenth  year.  He  pursued 
his  journey  through  France  and  Italy  about  two  years,  and 
soon  after  his  return  in  1766,  gave  the  public  the  result  of 
his  observations,  in  two  volumes  8vo,  entitled  "  Travels 
through  France  and  Italy."  This  work,  although  it  at- 
tained no  high  degree  of  popularity,  was  read  with  sympa- 
thetic interest,  as  exhibiting  a  melancholy  picture  of  the 
author's  mind,  "  traduced,"  as  he  informs  us,  "  by  malice, 
persecuted  by  faction,  and  overwhelmed  by  the  sense  of 
domestic  calamity."  On  this  account,  the  natural  and 
artificial  objects  which  make  travelling  delightful,  had  no 
other  effect  on  him  than  to  excite  his  spleen,  which  he  has 
often  indulged  in  representations  and  opinions  unworthy  of 
his  taste.  These,  however,  are  not  unmixed  with  observa- 
tions of  another  kind,  acute,  just,  and  useful.  It  is  re- 
markable that  in  a  subsequent  publication,  ("  Humphrey 
Clinker")  he  makes  his  principal  character,  Matthew 
Bramble,  describe  what  he  saw  in  England  in  the  same 
unvaried  language  of  spleen  and  ill  humour. 

Soon  after  his  arrival  from  the  continent,  his  health  still 
decaying,  he  undertook  a  journey  to  Scotland,  and  re- 
newed his  attachment  to  his  relations  and  friends.  During 
this  journey,  Dr.  Moore  informs  us  that  "  he  was  greatly 
tormented  with  rheumatic  pains,  and  afflicted  besides  with 
an  ulcer  on  his  arm,  which  had  been  neglected  on  its  first 
appearance.  These  disorders  confined  him  much  to  his 
chamber,  but  did  not  prevent  his  conversation  from  being 
highly  entertaining,  when  the  misery  of  which  they  were 
productive  permitted  him  to  associate  with  his  friends." 
From  Scotland  he  went  to  Bath,  and  about  the  beginning 
of  1767  had  recovered  his  health  and  spirits  in  a  very  con- 
siderable degree. 


166  SMOLLETT. 

His  next  production,  which  appeared  in  1769,  proved 
that  br  had  not  forgotten  the  neglect  with  which  he  was 
treated  by  ihat  ministry  in  whu^e  fr.vour  he  wrote  "  The 
Briton."  This  was  entitled  the  "  Adventures  of  an  Atom." 
Under  fictitious  names,  of  Japanese  structure,  he  reviews 
the  conduct  of  the  eminent  po  iticians  who  had  conducted 
or  opposed  the  measures  of  government  from  the  year  1754, 
and  retracts  the  opinion  he  ha  i  given  of  some  of  those 
statesmen  in  his  history,  particularly  of  the  earl  of  Chat- 
ham and  lord  Bute.  His  biographer  allows  that  many  of 
the  characters  are  grossly  misrepresented,  for  which  no 
other  reason  can  be  assigned  than  his  own  disappointment. 
The  whole  proves  wh;u  has  often  been  seen  since  his  time, 
that  the  measures  which  are  right  and  proper  when  a  reward 
is  in  view,  are  wrong-  and  abominable  when  that  reward  is 
withheld. 

The  publication  of  this  work,  while  it  proclaimed  that 
his  sincerity  as  a  political  writer  was  not  much  to  be  de- 
pended on,  afforded  another  instance  of  that  imprudence 
which  his  biographer  has  ingeniously  carried  over  to  the 
account  of  independence.  His  health  again  requiring 
the  genial  influences  of  a  milder  climate,  the  expence  of 
\vhich  he  was  unable  to  bear,  his  friends  solicited  the  very 
persons  whom  he  had  just  satirized,  to  obtain  for  him  the 
office  of  consul  at  Nice,  Naples,  or  Leghorn.  Dr.  Moore 
informs  us,  with  more  acrimony  than  truth,  that  "  these 
applications  were  fruitless.  Dr.  Smollett  had  never  spa- 
nitlled  ministers  ;  he  could  not  endure  the  insolence  of 
office,  or  stoop  to  cultivate  the  favour  of  any  person  merely 
on  account  of  his  power,  and  besides,  he  was  a  man  of 
genius." 

He  set  out,  however,  for  Italv  early  in  1770,  with  a 
debilitated  body,  and  a  mind  probably  irritated  by  his 
recent  disappointment,  but  not  without  much  of  the  ease 
which  argues  firmness,  since,  during  this  journey  he  could 
so  pleasantly  divert  his  sorrows  by  writing  "  The  Expedi- 
tion of  Humphrey  Clinker."  This  novel,  if  it  may  be  so 
called,  for  it  has  no  regular  fable,  in  point  of  genuine 
humour,  knowledge  of  life  and  manners,  and  delineation 
of  character,  is  inferior  only  to  his  "  Roderick  Random" 
and  "  Peregrine  Pickle."  It  has  already  been  noticed 
that  Matthew  Bramble,  the  principal  character,  displays 
the  cynical  temper  and  humane  feelings  of  the  author  on 
his  tour  on  the  continent  j  and  it  may  now  be  added  that 


SMOLLETT.  167 

he  has  given  another  sketch  of  himself  in  the  character  of 
Serle  in  the  first  volume.  This  account  of  the  ingratitude 
of  Paunceford  to  Smollett  is  strictly  true,  and  as  his  bio- 
graphers seem  unacquainted  with  the  circumstances,  the 
following  may  not  be  uninteresting,  as  related  to  the  writer 
of  this  article  by  the  late  intimate  friend  of  Smollett,  Mr. 
Hamilton,  the  printer  and  proprietor  of  the  Critical 
Review. 

"  Paunceford  was  a  John  C 1,  who  was  fed  by  Smol- 
lett when  he  had  not  bread  to  eat,  nor  clothes  to  cover 
him.  He  was  taken  out  to  India  as  private  secretary  to  a 
celebrated  governor-general,  and  as  essayist ;  and  after 
only  three  years  absence,  returned  with  forty  thousand 
pounds.  From  India  he  sent  several  letters  to  Smollett, 
professing  that  he  was  coming  over  to  lay  his  fortune  at  the 
feet  of  his  benefactor.  But  on  his  arrival  he  treated  Smol- 
lett, Hamilton,  and  others  who  had  befriended  him,  with 
the  most  ungrateful  contempt.  The  person  who  taught 
him  the  art  of  essaying  became  reduced  in  circumstances, 
and  is  now  (1792),  or  lately  was,  collector  of  the  toll  on 

carts  at  Holborn  bars.     C 1   never  paid  him  or  any 

person  to  whom  he  was  indebted.  He  died,  in  two  or 
three  years  after,  at  his  house  near  Hounslow,  universally 
despised.  At  the  request  of  Smollett,  Mr.  Hamilton  em- 
ployed him  to  write  in  the  Critical  Review,  which,  with 
Smollett's  charity,  was  all  his  support  previously  to  his  de- 
parture for  India." 

Such  kindness  and  such  ingratitude  ought  not  to  be  con- 
cealed, but  it  is  less  necessary  to  point  out  the  very  flat- 
tering account  he  has  given  of  his  hospitality  and  patron- 
age of  inferior  authors,  while  he  resided  at  Chelsea.  While 
full  credit  is  given  for  these  virtues,  it  cannot  be  a  dis- 
respectful wish  that  he  had  found  another  panegyrist  than 
himself.  There  are  few  instances  of  men  of  Dr.  Smol- 
lett's rank  in  the  literary  world  taking  so  many  opportuni- 
ties to  sound  their  own  praises,  and  that  without:  any  of  the 
disguises  which  are  employed  by  men  who  wish  to  acquire 
a  factitious  character.  At  this  time,  perhaps,  he  was 
desirous  of  recovering  the  reputation  which  envy  and 
malice  had  suppressed  or  darkened,  and  might  not  be 
without  hopes  that,  as  he  was  now  approaching  the  close 
of  lite,  his  enemies  would  relent,  and  admit  his  evidence. 

In  the  neighbourhood  of  Leghorn,  he  lingered  through 
the  summer  ol  177 1?  in  the  full  possession  of  his  faculties, 


168  SMOLLETT. 

and  died  on  the  21st  of  October,  in  the  fifty-first  year  of 
his  age.  Dr.  Armstrong,  who  visited  him  at  Leghorn,  ho-* 
noured  his  remains  with  a  Latin  inscription,  elegantly  no- 
ticing his  genius  and  virtues,  and  severely  reflecting  on  the 
"  times,  in  which  hardly  any  literary  merit,  but  such  as 
was  in  the  most  false  or  futile  taste,  received  any  encou- 
ragement from  the  mock  Maecenases  of  Britain."  In  1774, 

o  t  ' 

a  column  was  erected  to  his  memory  on  the  banks  of  the 
Leven,  near  the  house  in  which  he  was  born.  The  inscrip- 
tion on  this  was  the  joint  production  of  lord  Kames,  profes- 
sor George  Stuart,  and  John  Ramsay,  esq.  and  was  revised 
by  Dr.  Johnson.  It  ig  elegant,  affecting,  and  modest. 

Dr.  Moore's  opinion  of  his  personal  character  is  thus 
given. 

"  The  person  of  Smollett  was  stout  and  well-proportioned, 
his  countenance  engaging,  his  manner  reserved,  with  a 
certain  air  of  dignity  that  seemed  to  indicate  that  he  was 
not  unconscious  of  his  own  powers.  He  was  of  a  disposi- 
tion so  humane  and  generous,  that  he  was  ever  ready  to 
serve  the  unfortunate,  and  on  some  occasions  to  assist  them 
beyond  what  his  circumstances  could  justify.  Though  few 
could  penetrate  with  more  acuteness  into  character,  yet 
none  was  more  apt  to  overlook  misconduct  when  attended 
with  misfortune. 

"  He  lived  in  an  hospitable  manner,  but  he  despised  that 
hospitality  which  is  founded  on  ostentation,  which  enter- 
tains only  those  whose  situation  in  life  flatters  the  vanity  of 
the  entertainer,  or  such  as  can  make  returns  of  the  same 
kind,  that  hospitality  which  keeps  a  debtor  and  creditor 
account  ot  dinners.  Smollett  invited  to  his  plain  but  plen- 
tiful table,  the  persons  whose  characters  he  esteemed,  in 
whose  conversation  he  delighted,  and  many  for  no  other 
reason  than  because  they  stood  in  need  of  his  countenance 
and  protection. 

"  As  nothing  was  caore  abhorrent  to  his  nature  than  pert*- 
ness  or  intrusion,  few  things  could  render  him  more  indig- 
nant than  a  cold  reception  ;  to  this,  however,  he  imagined 
he  had  sometimes  been  exposed  on  his  application  in  favour 
of  others  ;  for  himself  he  never  made  an  application  to  any 
great  rnan  in  his  life. 

"  Free  from  vanify,  Smollett  had  a  considerable  share  of 
pride,  and  great  sensibility;  his  passions  were  easily  moved, 
and  too  impetuous  when  roused ;  he  could  not  conceal  his 
contempt  of  folly,  his  detestation  of  fraud,  nor  refrain  from 


-SMOLLETT.  16!? 

proclaiming  his  indignation   against  every  instaace  of  op- 
pression. 

"  Though  Smollett  possessed  a  versatility  of  style  in 
writing,  which  he  could  accommodate  to  every  character, 
he  had  no  suppleness  in  his  conduct.  His  learning,  dili- 
gence, and  natural  acuteness,  would  have  rendered  him 
eminent  in  the  science  of  medicine,  had  he  persevered  in 
that  profession  ;  other  parts  of  his  character  were  ill  suited 
for  aug:nenting  ins  practice.  He  could  neither  stoop  to 
impost  on  credulity,  nor  humour  caprice. 

"  He  was  of  an  intrepid,  independent,  imprudent  dispo- 
sition, equally  incapable  of  deceit  and  adulation,  and  more 
disposed  to  cultivate  the  acquaintance  of  those  he  could 
serve,  than  of  those  who  could  serve  him  What  wonder 
that  a  man  of  his  character  was  not,  what  is  called,  suc- 
cessful in  life  !" 

How  far  this  character  agrees  with  the  facts  detailed  in 
this  narrative,  and  winch  are  principally  taken  from  Dr. 
Moore,  may  be  now  safely  left  to  the  determination  of  the 
reader. 

As  an  author,  Dr.  Smollett  is  universally  allowed  the 
praise  of  original  gei  ius  displayed  with  an  ease  and  variety 
\vmch  are  rarely  foui  d  Yet  this  character  belongs  chiefly 
to  his  m.vels.  In  correct  delineation  of  life  and  manners, 
and  in  drawing  characters  of  the  humourous  class,  he  has 
few  equals.  But  when  this  praise  is  bestowed,  every  critic 
who  vu; nos  what  is  more  important  than  genius  itself,  the 
interest  of  morals  .uid  decency,  must  surely  stop.  It  can 
be  of  no  use  to  analyze  each  individual  scene,  incident,  or 
character  in  works,  which,  after  ail,  must  be  pronounced 
unfit  to  be  read.  But  if  the  morals  of  the  reader  were  in 
no  danger,  his  taste  can  hardly  escape  being  insulted  or 
perverted.  Smollett's  humour  is  of  so  low  a  cast,  and  his 
practical  jokes  so  frequently  end  in  what  is  vulgar,  mean, 
and  filthy,  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  acquire  a  relish  for 
them,  without  injury  done  to  the  chaster  feelings,  and  to 
the  just  respect  due  to  genuine  wit.  No  novel-writer  seems 
to  take  more  delight  in  assembling  images  and  incidents 
that  are  gross  and  disgusting;  nor  has  he  scrupled  to  intro- 
duce, with  more  than  slight  notice,  those  vices  which  are 
not  fit  even  to  be  named.  If  this  be  a  just  representation 
of  his  most  favourite  novels,  it  is  in  vain  to  oppose  it  by 
pointing  out  passages  which  do  credit  to  his  genius,  and 
jnore  vain  to  attempt  to  prove  that  virtue  and  taste  are  not 
directly  injured  by  such  productions. 


170  SMOLLETT. 

As  a  historian,  Smollett's  reputation  has  certainly  not 
been  preserved.  When  he  published  his  History,  some- 
thing of  the  kind  was  wanted,  and  it  was  executed  in  a 
manner  not  unworthy  of  his  talents.  But  the  writings  of 
Hume,  Robertson,  and  Gibbon  have  introduced  a  taste  for 
a  higher  species  of  historical  composition  ;  and,  it  we  are 
not  mistaken,  there  has  been  no  complete  edition  ot  Smol- 
lett's history  but  that  which  he  published.  Had  he  been 
allowed  the  proper  time  for  revision  and  reflection,  it  can- 
not be  doubted  that  he  might  have  produced  a  work  deserv- 
ing of  more  lasting  fame.  His  history,  even  as  we  have  it, 
v\  hen  we  advert  to  the  short  time  he  took  fur  its  completion, 
is  a  very  extraordinary  efTort,  and  instead  ot  blaming  him 
for  occasionallv  following  his  authorities  too  servilely,  the 
wonder  ought  to  be  that  he  found  leisure  to  depart  from 
them  so  frequently,  and  to  assign  reasons,  which  are  not 
.those  of  a  superficial  thinker. — It  is  impossible,  however, 
to  quit  this  subject  without  adverting  to  the  mode  of  publi- 
cation which  dispersed  the  work  among  a  class  of  persons, 
the  purchasers  of  sixpenny  numbers,  whom  Smollett  too 
easily  took  for  the  learned  and  discerning  part  of  the  pub- 
lic. This  fallacious  encouragement  afforded  fuel  to  his  ir- 
ritable temper,  by  inciting  him,  not  only  to  the  arts  of 
puffing,  by  which  the  literary  character  is  degraded,  but 
to  those  vulgar  and  splenetic  recriminations,  of  which  a 
specimen  has  been  given,  and  which  must  have  lowered  him 
yet  more,  in  the  opinion  of  the  eminent  characters  of  his 
day. 

Smollett  was  not  successful  in  his  dramatic  attempts. 
Those  who  judged  from  the  ease  and  vivacity  of  his  pic- 
tures of  life  and  manners  in  his  novels,  no  doubt  thought 
themselves  justified  in  encouraging  him  in  this  species  of 
composition.  But  all  experience  shews  that  the  talents 
necessary  for  the  prose  epic,  and  those  for  the  regular  dra- 
ma, are  essentially  different,  and  have  rarely  met  in  one 
man.  Fielding,  a  novelist  greatly  superior,  and  who  after 
the  trials  of  more  than  half  a  century,  may  be  pronounced 
inimitable,  was  yet  foiled  in  his  dramatic  attempts,  although 
he  returned  to  the  charge  with  fresh  courage  and  skill. 

As  a  poet,  although  Smollett's  pieces  are  few,  they  must 
be  allowed  to  confer  a  very  high  rank.  It  is,  indeed, 
greatly  to  be  lamented  that  he  did  not  cultivate  his  poetical 
talents  more  frequently  and  more  extensively.  The  "  Tears 
of  Scotland"  and  the  "  Ode  to  Independence,"  particularly 


SMOLLETT.  m 

the  latter,  are  equal  to  the  highest  efforts  in  the  pathetic 
and  sublime.  In  the  "  Ode  to  Independence"  there  is  evi- 
dently the  inspiration  of  real  genius,  free  from  all  artificial 
aid,  or  meretricious  ornament.  It  may  be  questioned  whe- 
ther there  are  many  compositions  in  our  language  which 
more  forcibly  charm  by  all  the  enchantments  of  taste,  ex- 
pression, and  sentiment.  Some  observations  on  this  ode, 
and  usually  printed  with  it,  are  the  production  oi  professor 
Richardson.  It  may  be  necessary  to  add,  that  this  ode  was 
left  in  manuscript  by  Smollett,  and  published  at  Glasgow 
and  London  in  1773.  "  Advice  and  Reproof"  have  already 
been  noticed,  and  are  more  remarkable  for  their  satirical 
aim,  than  for  poetical  beauties.  His  songs  and  other  small 
pie"es  were  introduced  principally  in  his  novels  and  in  the 
«  He  .risui  '" 

SMYTH.     See  SMITH. 

SN  .P£  (ANDREW),  a  learned  divine,  was  the  son  of  An- 
drew Stirtfn-,  seije.mt-farrier  to  Charles  II.  and  author  of 
"  7  he  An  i  )my  of  a  Horse,"  which  has  been  several  times 
print  -j  in  folio,  with  a  considerable  number  of  copper- 
plates and  a  portrait.  It  is  said  that  one  or  other  of  the 
family  of  Snape  had  been  serjev;it- farrier  to  the  king  for 
three  centuries.  The  subject  of  this  article  was  born  at 
Hampton-court,  and  admitted  into  Eton  college  in  1683, 
and  of  King's  college,  Cambridge,  in  1689.  After  taking 
his  degrees,  of  B.  A.  in  1693,  and  M.  A.  in  1697,  he  obtain- 
ed a  fellowship,  and  went  to  London,  where  he  was  much 
admired  as  a  preacher,  and  was  elected  lecturer  of  St.  Mar- 
bin' s-in-the- Fields,  and  afterwards  held  the  rectory  of  St. 
Mary-at-Hill.  He  was  created  D.  D.  in  1705,  and  repre- 
sented the  university  of  Cambridge,  in  that  faculty,  at  the 
Jubilee  atFrancfortin  1707,  when  the  university  of  Franc- 
fort  intending  to  celebrate  the  jubilee  of  its  foundation  by 
the  house  of  Brandenburgh  in  1507,  sent  a  formal  invita- 
tion to  Cambridge  to  be  present  at  it,  or  to  depute  some  of 
the  members  to  represent  it.  This  was  accordingly  com- 
plied with,  by  sending  over  Dr.  Snape,  for  divinity,  Dr. 
Peurice  tor  law,  Dr.  Plumptre  for  medicine,  and  William 
Grigg,  M.  A.  and  John  Wyvill,  M.  A.  as  regent  and  non- 
regent  masters.  These  representatives  were  received  with 
the  ^reutest  kindness,  the  king  of  Prussia  himself  assisting 

»  Life  prefixed  to  his  works  by  Dr.  Moore.— Johnsou  and  Chalmers's  English 
Poets,  1810. 


172  S  N  A  P  E. 

at  the  ceremony.  While  Dr.  Snape  was  in  Germany,  he 
took  an  opportunity  to  pay  his  duty  to  the  princess  Sophia 
of  Hanover,  and  preached  a  sermon  before  her,  which  he 
afterwards  printed  under  the  title  of  "  The  just  prerogative 
of  Human  Nature." 

In  1717,  on  the  breaking  out  of  the  Bangorian  contro- 
versy, he  took  a  zealous  part  against  Hoadly,  in  a  "  Letter 
to  the  bishop  of  Bangor,"  which  was  so  extremely  popular 
as  to  pass  through  seventeen  editions  in  a  year;  but  Hoad- 
ly's  interest  at  court  prevailed,  and  in  so  extraordinary  a 
degree,  that  in  the  same  year,  1717,  Dr.  Snape,  as  well  as 
Dr.  Sherlock,  were  removed  from  the  office  of  chaplain  to 
his  majesty.  Atterbury,  in  a  letter  to  bishop  Trelawny,  on 
this  occasion,  says  ;  "  These  are  very  extraordinary  steps ; 
the  effects  of  wisdom,  no  doubt ;  but  of  so  deep  a  wisdom, 
that  I,  for  my  part,  am  not  able  to  fathom  it." 

In  1713,  he  had  been  installed  a  canon  of  Windsor,  and 
on  Feb.  21,  1719,  was  elected  provost  of  King's  college, 
although  the  court-interest  was  in  favour  of  Dr.  Wadding- 
ton.  In  1723  he  served  the  office  of  vice-chancellor  of  the 
university,  and  gave  every  satisfaction  in  discharging  the 
duties  of  both  offices.  The  revenues  of  the  college  were 
greatly  augmented  in  his  time,  by  the  assistance  of  some 
fellows  of  the  college,  his  particular  friends.  It  was  said 
that  in  1722  he  drew  up  the  address  to  his  majesty,  George 
II.  upon  the  institution  of  Whitehall  preachers,  "  an  ad- 
dress," says  Dr.  Zachary  Grey,  "  worthy  of  the  imitation 
of  both  universities  on  all  occasions  of  the  like  kind,  as  it 
was  thought  to  have  nothing  redundant  or  defective  in  it." 
He  was  for  a  short  time  rector  of  Knebworth  in  Hertford- 
shire, and  afterwards,  in  1737,  of  West-Ildesley  in  Berk- 
shire. This  last  he  retained  till  his  death,  which  happened 
at  his  lodgings  at  Windsor  castle,  Dec,  30,  1742.  He  was 
buried  at  the  east  end  of  the  south  aile  of  the  choir  of  the 
chapel,  near  his  wife,  who  died  in  1731.  She  was,  when 
he  married  her,  the  opulent  widow  of  sir  Joshua  Sharpe, 
knt.  and  alderman  of  London.  It  remains  yet  to  be  added 
to  his  preferments  that  he  was  several  years  head  master  of 
Eton  school.  He  was  a  man  of  great  learning  and  acute- 
ness,  and  of  an  amiable  temper.  His  zeal  for  the  princi- 
ples of  the  church  of  England  was  warm  and  honest,  for  it 
procured  him  many  enemies,  and  probably  obstructed  his 
promotron.  In  17 15,  '3  vols.  Svo.  of  his  "  Sermons"  were 
published  by  Drs.  Berriman  and  Chapman.  He  had  him- 


S  N  A  P  E.  173 

self  been  editor  of  Dean  Moss's  Sermons,  and  gave  that 
divine  a  character  which  was  thought  to  resemble  his  own. 
Although  we  seldom  notice  such  matters,  it  may  be  worth 
while  to  add  that  there  was  a  4to  mezzotinto  print  of  him, 
which,  after  he  was  out  of  fashion,  the  print-sellers  imposed 
on  the  public  as  the  portrait  of  orator  Henley.1 

SNELL  (RoDOLPH),  a  Dutch  philosopher,  was  born  at 
Oudewarde  in  1547,  and  in  his  youth  studied  the  learned 
languages  and  medicine  at  various  seminaries,  at  Cologne, 
Heidelberg,  Marpurg,  Pisa,  and  Rome.  He  afterwards 
taught  mathematics  at  Leyden  for  thirty-four  years,  and 
had  entered  about  a  year  on  the  professorship  of  Hebrew, 
when  he  died  in  £613.  .  ix.  His  works  are, 

1.  "  Commentarius  in  dialecticam  Petri  Rami.:;  2.  "  De 
praxi  logica,"  1595,  4to.  3.  "  Ethica  methodo  Ramea 
conscripta,"  1597,  Svo.  4.  "  Rameae  philosophise  syntag- 
ma," 1596,  Svo.  5.  "  Explicationes  in  arithmeticam  Ra- 
mi,"  1596,  Svo.  6.  "  Prelectiones  in  geometriam  Ran  ," 
Svo.  7.  "  Apollonius  Batavus,  seu  resuscitata  Apoilonii 
Pergei  geometria,"  Leyden,  1597,  4to.  8.  Commentarius 
in  rhetoricam  Talsei,"  1617,  Svo.  9.  "  Annotationes  in 
ethicam,  physicam,  sphaeram  Cornelii  Valerii,"  1596,  Svo.2 

SNELL  (WILLEBROD),  son  of  the  preceding,  and  an 
excellent  mathematician,  was  born  at  Leyden  in  1591, 
where  he  succeeded  his  father  in  the  mathematical  chair  in 
1613,  and  where  he  died  in  1626,  at  only  thirty-five  years 
of  age.  He  was  author  of  several  ingenious  works  and  dis- 
coveries, and  was  the  first  who  discovered  the  true  law  of 
the  refraction  of  the  rays  of  light ;  a  discovery  which  he 
made  before  it  was  announced  by  Des  Cartes,  as  Huygens 
assures  us.  Though  the  work  which  Snell  prepared  upon 
this  subject,  and  upon  optics  in  general,  was  never  pub- 
lished, yet  the  discovery  was  very  well  known  to  belong  to 
him,  by  several  authors  about  his  time,  who  had  seen  it  in 
his  manuscripts.  He  undertook  also  to  measure  the  earth. 
This  he  effected  by  measuring  a  space  between  Alcmaer 
and  Bergen-op-zoom,  the  difference  of  latitude  between 
these  places  being  !•  1 1'  30".  He  also  measured  another 
distance  between  the  parallels  of  Alcmaer  and  Leyden  ; 
and  from  the  mean  of  both  these  measurements,  he  made 
a  degree  to  consist  of  55021  French  toises  or  fathoms. 

1  Cole's  MS  Athenae  in  Brit.  Mus. — Niehola'i  Bowyer  and  Atterbury.— Har- 
wood's  Alumni  Etonense*.  8  Moreri.-— Foppen,  B.bl.  Befj. 


S  N  E  L  L. 

These  measures  were  afterwards  repeated  and  corrected  by 
Musschenbroek,  who  found  the  degree  to  contain  57033 
toises.  He  was  author  of  a  great  many  learned  mathema- 
tical works,  the  principal  of  which  are,  1.  "  Apollonius 
Batavus;"  being  the  restoration  of  some  lost  pieces  of 
Apollonius,  concerning  Determinate  Section,  with  the  Sec- 
tion of  a  Ratio  and  Space,  in  1608,  4to,  published  in  his 
seventeenth  year ;  but  on  the  best  authority  this  work  is 
attributed  to  his  father.  The  present  might  perhaps  be  a 
second  edition.  2.  "  Eratosthenes  Batavus,"  in  1617,  4to  ; 
being  the  work  in  which  he  gives  an  account  of  his  opera- 
tions in  measuring  the  earth.  3.  A  translation  out  of  the 
Dutch  language,  into  Latin,  of  Ludolph  van  C;  lien's 
book  "  De  Circulo  &  Adscriptis,"  &c.  in  1619,  4to.  4. 
"  Cyclometricus,  De  Circuli  Dimensione,"  &c.  1621,  4to. 
In  this  work,  the  author  gives  several  ingenious  approxi- 
mations to  the  measure  of  the  circle,  both  arithmetical  and 
geometrical.  5.  "  Tiphis  Batavus  ;"  being  a  treatise  on 
Navigation  and  naval  affairs,  in  1624,  4to.  6.  A  posthu- 
mous treatise,  being  four  books  "  Doctrinse  Triangulorum 
Canonicae,"  in  1627,  8vo :  in  which  are  contained  the 
canon  of  secants;  and  in  which  the  construction  of  sines, 
tangents,  and  secants,  with  the  dimension  or  calculation  of 
triangles,  both  plane  and  spherical,  are  briefly  and  clearly 
treated.  7.  Hessian  and  Bohemian  Observations  ;  with  his 
own  notes.  8.  "  Libra  Astronomica  &  Philosophica ;"  in 
which  he  undertakes  the  examination  of  the  principles  of 
Galileo  concerning  comets,  y.  Concerning  the  Comet 
which  appeared  in  1618,  &c. 1 

SNORRO  (STURLESONIUS),  an  Islandic  author,  of  a 
noble  and  ancient  family,  was  ministei  of  state  to  one  king 
of  Sweden,  and  three  kings  of  Norway.  Being  obliged 
by  an  insurrection  to  take  refuge  in  Iceland,  of  which  he 
was  governor,  he  remained  there  till  1241,  when  his  enemy 
Gyssums  drove  him  from  his  castle,  and  put  him  to  death. 
He  wrote,  1.  "  Chromcim  Regum  Norwegorum,"  an  use- 
ful work  for  the  history  of  ruat  country.  2.  "  Edda  Islan- 
dica,"  which  is  a  history  of  the  Islandic  philosophy.  (See 
SAEMUMD).  This  has  been  translated  by  M.  Mallet,  and 
prefixed  to  his  history  of  Denmark.8 

SNYDEHS  (KRANCIS),  a  Flemish  painter,  was  born  at 
Antwerp  in  1579,  and  bred  up  under  his  countryman 

i  Mcreri.— Foppen,  Bibl.  Belg.—  Button's  Diet.  *  Diet.  Hist. 


S  N  Y  D  E  R  S.  175 

Henry  Van  Balen.  His  genius  first  displayed  itself  only 
in  painting  fruit.  He  afterwards  attempted  animals,  hunt- 
ing, fish,  &c.  in  which  kind  of  study  he  succeeded  so 
greatly,  as  to  surpass  all  that  went  before  him.  Snyders's 
inclination  led  him  to  visit  Italy,  where  he  stayed  some 
time,  and  improved  himself  considerably.  Upon  his  re- 
turn to  Flanders,  he  fixed  his  abode  at  Brussels :  he  was 
made  painter  to  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  archduke  and 
duchess,  and  became  attached  to  the  house  of  the  cardinal 
Infant  of  Spain.  The  grand  compositions  of  battles  and 
huntings,  which  he  executed  for  the  king  of  Spain,  and 
the  arch-duke  Leopold  William,  deserve  the  highest  com- 
mendation :  and  besides  hunting-pieces,  he  painted  kit- 
chens, &c.  and  gave  dignity  to  subjects  that  seemed  in- 
capable of  it;  but  his  works,  sir  Joshua  Reynolds  observes, 
*'  from  their  subjects,  their  size,  and  we  may  add,  their 
being  so  common,  seem  to  be  better  suited  to  a  hall  or 
ante-room,  than  any  other  place."  He  died  in  1657. 
Rubens  used  to  co-operate  with  this  painter,  and  took  a 
pleasure  in  assisting  him,  when  his  pictures  required  large 
figures.  Snyders  has  engraved  a  book  of  animals  of  six- 
teen leaves,  great  and  small.1 

SOANEN  (JOHN),  son  of  Matthew  Soanen,  attorney 
to  the  presidial  of  Riom  in  Auvergne,  and  Gilberte  Sir- 
mond,  niece  of  the  learned  Jesuit  James  Sirmond,  was 
born  January  6,  1647,  at  Riom,  and  entered  the  congre- 
gation of  the  Oratory  at  Paris,  1661,  where  he  chose 
father  Quesnel  for  his  confessor.  On  quitting  that  esta- 
blishment, he  taught  ethics  and  rhetoric  in  several  provin- 
cial towns,  and  devoted  himself  afterwards  to  the  pulpit, 
for  which  he  had  great  talents.  Having  preached  at  Lyons, 
Orleans,  and  Pans,  with  applause,  he  was  invited  to  court, 
preached  there  during  Lent  in  1686  and  1688,  and  being 
appointed  bishop  of  Senez  soon  after,  acquired  great  vene- 
ration in  his  diocese  by  his  regular  conduct,  charity  to  the 
poor,  and  abstemious  life.  At  length,  having  appealed 
from  the  bull  Unigenitus  to  a  future  council,  and  refused 
to  listen  to  any  terms  of  accommodation  on  the  subject, 
he  published  a  "  Pastoral  Instruction,"  giving  an  account 
to  his  diocesans  of  his  conduct  respecting  the  bull.  This 
"  Instruction"  gave  great  offence,  and  occasioned  the  fa- 
mous council  of  Embrun  held  1727,  in  which  M.  de  Ten- 

\  Argenville,  vol.  III.— Pilkingten.— Sir  I,  Reynelds's  works. 


176  S  O  A  N  E  N. 

cin  procured  it  to  be  condemned  as  rash,  scandalous,  &cf, 
and  M.  the  bishop  of  Senez  to  be  suspended  from  all 
episcopal  jurisdiction,  and  all  sacerdotal  functions.  After 
this  council  M.  Soanen  was  banished  to  la  Chaise  Dieu,- 
where  he  died,  December  25,  1740,  leaving  "Pastoral 
Instructions,"  "  Mandates,"  and  "  Letters."  The  "  Let- 
ters" have  been  printed  with  his  Life,  G  vols.  4to.  or  8 
vols.  12mo. ;  his  "  Sermons,"  1767,  2  vols.  12mo. 1 

SOCINUS  (LjELius),  a  man  of  great  learning  and  abili- 
ties, was  the  third  son  of  Marianus  Socinus,  an  eminent 
civilian  at  Bologna,  and  has  by  some  been  reckoned  the 
founder  of  the  Socinian  sect,  as  having  been  in  reality  the 
author  of  all  those  principles  and  opinions,  which  Faustus 
Socinns  afterwards  propagated  with  more  boldness.  He 
was  born  at  Sienna  in  1525,  and  designed  by  his  father  for 
the  study  of  the  civil  law.  With  this  he  combined  the 
perusal  of  the  scriptures ;  thinking  that  the  foundations  of 
the  civil  law  must  necessarily  be  laid  in  the  word  of  God, 
and  therefore  would  be  deduced  in  the  best  manner  from 
it.  To  qualify  himself  for  this  inquiry,  he  studied  the 
Greek,  Hebrew,  and  Arabic  tongues.  What  light  he  de- 
rived from  this  respecting  the  civil  law  is  not  known,  but 
he  is  said  to  have  soon  discovered,  that  the  church  of  Rome 
taught  many  tilings  plainly  contrary  to  scripture.  About 
1546  he  became  a  member  of  a  secret  society,  consisting 
of  about  forty  persons,  who  held  their  meetings,  at.  differ- 
ent times,  in  the  territory  of  Venice,  and  particularly  at. 
Vicenza,  in  which  they  deliberated  concerning  a  genera! 
reformation  of  the  received  systems  of  religion,  and  par- 
ticularly endeavoured  to  establish  the  doctrines  afterwards 
publicly  adopted  by  the  Socinians  ;  but  being  discovered, 
and  some  of  them  punished,  they  dispersed  into  other 
countries;  and  our  Socinus,  in  1517,  began  his  travels, 
and  spent  four  years  in  France,  England,  the  Netherlands, 
Germany,  and  Poland;  and  then  settled  at  Zurich.  He 
contracted  a ''familiarity,  and  even  an  intimacy,  will)  the 
learned  wherever  he  went ;  and  Calvin,  Melancthon,  Bui- 
linger,  Beza,  and  others  of  the  same  class,  were  amongst. 
the  number  of  his  friends.  But  having  soon  discovered, 
by  the  doubts  he  proposed  to  them,  that  he  had  adopted 
sentiments  the  most  obnoxious  to  these  reformers,  he  be-' 
came  an  object  of  suspicion  ;  and  Calvin,  in  particular, 

1  Diet.  Hist, 


S  O  C  I  N  U  S.  177 

wrote  to  him  an  admonitory  letter,  of  which  the  following 
is  a  part ;  "  Don't  expect,"  says  he,  "  that  I  should  an- 
swer all  your  preposterous  questions.  If  you  chuse  to  soar 
amidst  such  lofty  speculations,  suffer  me,  an  humble  dis- 
ciple of  Jesus  Christ,  to  meditate  upon  such  things  as  con- 
duce to  my  edification  ;  as  indeed  I  shall  endeavour  by  my 
silence  to  prevent  your  being  troublesome  to  me  hereafter. 
In  the  mean  time,  I  cannot  but  lament,  that  you  should 
continue  to  employ  those  excellent  talents  with  which  God 
has  blessed  you,  not  only  to  no  purpose,  but  to  a  very  bad 
one.  Let  me  beg  of  you  seriously,  as  I  have  often  done, 
to  correct  in  yourself  this  love  of  inquiry,  which  may  bring 
you  into  trouble."  It  would  appear  that  Socinus  took  this 
advice  in  part,  as  he  continued  to  live  among  these  ortho- 
dox divines  for  a  considerable  time,  without  molestation. 
He  found  means,  however,  to  communicate  his  notions  to 
such  as  were  disposed  to  receive  them,  and  even  lectured 
to  Italians,  who  wandered  up  and  down  in  Germany  and 
Poland.  He  also  sent  writings  to  his  relations,  who  lived 
at  Sienna.  He  took  a  journey  into  Poland  about  1558  j 
and  obtained  from  the  king  some  letters  of  recommenda- 
tion to  the  doge  of  Venice  and  the  duke  of  Florence,  that 
he  might  be  safe  at  Venice,  while  his  affairs  required  his 
residence  there.  He  afterwards  returned  to  Switzerland, 
and  died  at  Zurich  in  1562,  in  his  thirty-seventh  year. 
Being  naturally  timorous  and  irresolute,  he  professed  to  die 
in  the  communion  of  the  reformed  church,  but  certainly 
had  contributed  much  to  the  foundation  of  the  sect  called 
from  his,  or  his  nephew's  name,  for  he  collected  the  ma- 
terials that  Faustus  afterwards  digested  and  employed  with 
such  dexterity  and  success.  He  secretly  and  impercepti- 
bly excited  doubts  and  scruples  in  the  minds  of  many, 
concerning  several  doctrines  generally  received  among 
Christians,  and,  by  several  arguments  against  the  divinity 
of  Christ,  which  he  left  behind  him  in  writing,  he  so  far 
seduced,  even  after  his  death,  the  Arians  in  Poland,  that 
they  embraced  the  communion  and  sentiments  of  those  who 
looked  upon  Christ  as  a  mere  man,  created  immediately, 
like  Adam,  by  God  himself.  There  are  few  writings  of 
Laelius  exta.it,  and  of  those  that  bear  his  name,  some  un- 
doubtedly belong  to  others.1 

» 

1  Dupin.—  Gen.  Diet. — Mojheio). 

VOL.  XXVIII.  N 


178  S  O  C  I  N  U  S. 

SOCINUS  (FAUSTUS),  nephew  of  the  preceding,  and 
commonly  esteemed  the  head  of  the  sect  of  Socinians,  was 
born  at  Vienna  in  1539.  He  is  supposed  to  have  studied 
little  in  his  youth,  and  to  have  acquired  hut  a  moderate 
share  of  classical  learning  and  the  civil  law.  He  was 
scarcely  twenty  when  his  uncle  died  at  Zurich,  and 
Faustus  immediately  set  out  from  Lyons,  where  he  then 
happened  to  be,  to  take  possession  of  all  his  papers.  Lre- 
lius  had.  conceived  great  hopes  of  his  nephew,  imparted  to 
him  the  whole  of  his  opinions;  and  used  to  say  that  what 
he  had  inculcated  but  faintly  and  obscurely  to  the  world  at 
large,  would  be  divulged  in  a  more  strong  and  perspicuous 
manner  by  Faustus.  But,  although  this  was  ultimately 
the  case,  Faustus  did  not  begin  to  propagate  his  uncle's 
principles  immediately  upon  his  return  to  Italy  from 
Zurich  ;  but  suffered  himself  to  be  diverted,  by  large  pro- 
mises of  favour  and  honourable  employments  already  be- 
stowed upon  him,  to  the  court  of  Francis  de  Medicis,  grand 
duke  of  Tuscany.  Here  he  spent  twelte  years,  and  had 
almost  forgot  his  uncle's  doctrines  and  papers,  for  which 
some  have  censured  him  as  taking  upon  him  the  character 
of  a  reformer,  without  due  preparation  of  study  :  while  his 
followers  have  endeavoured  to  display  it  as  an  advantage 
that  he  studied  the  world,  rather  than  scholastic  learning. 

In  1574,  he  left  the  court  of  Florence,  and  went  into 
Germany  ;  whence  he  could  never  be  prevailed  with  to 
return,  though  frequently  importuned  by  letters  and  mes- 
sengers from  the  grand  duke  himself.  He  studied  divinity 
at  Basil  for  three  years;  and  now  began  to  propagate  his 
uncle's  principles,  but  with  considerable  alterations  and 
additions  of  his  own.  About  that  time  the  churches  of 
Transylvania  were  disturbed  by  the  doctrine  of  Francis 
David,  concerning  the  honours  and  the  power  of  the  son 
of  God.  Bland rata,  a  man  of  great  authority  in  those 
churches  and  at  court,  sent  for  Socinus  from  Basil,  as  a 
man  very  well  qualified  to  compose  these  differences,  and 
procured  him  to  be  lodged  in  the  same  bouse  with  Francis 
David,  that  he  might  have  a  better  opportunity  of  drawing 
him  from  his  errors.  David,  however,  would  not  be  con- 
vinced, but  remained  obstinate  and  determined  to  propa- 
gate his  errors  ;  on  which  he  was  cast  into  prison  by  order 
of  the^mnce,  where  he  died  soon  after.  This  left  an  im- 
putation upon  Socinus,  as  if  he  had  been  the  contriver  of 
kis  imprisonment,  and  the  occasion  of  his  death;  which, 


S  O  C  I  N  U  S.  179 

saysLe  Clerc,  if  it  be  true  (though  he  endeavoured  to  deny 
it),  should  moderate  the  indignation  of  his  followers  against 
Calvin  in  the  case  of  Servetus,  for  nothing  can  be  said 
against  that  reformer,  which  will  not  bear  as  hard  upon 
their  own  patriarch. 

In  1579,  Socinus  retired  into  Poland,  and  desired  to  be 
admitted  into  the  communion  of  the  Unitarians,  or  United 
Brethren  ;  but  was  refused,  on  account  of  his  doctrines,  to 
which  they  did  not  assent.  Afterwards,  he  wrote  a  book 
against  James  Paheologus  ;  of  which  complaint  was  made 
to  Stephen,  then  king  of  Poland,  as  containing  seditious 
opinions;  yet  this  seems  without  foundation,  for  Socinus 
was  such  a  friend  to  absolute  submission,  that  he  even  con- 
demned with  severity  the  resistance  of  the  people  of  the 
Netherlands  against  the  tyranny  of  Spain.  He  found  it, 
however,  expedient  to  leave  Cracow,  after  he  had  been 
there  four  years;  and  to  take  sanctuary  in  the  house  of  a 
Polish  lord,  with  whom  he  lived  some  years  ;  and  married 
his  daughter  with  his  consent.  In  this  retreat  he  wrote 
many  books,  which  raised  innumerable  enemies  against 
him.  He  lost  Ins  wife  in  1587,  at  which  he  was  incon- 
solable for  many  months;  and  was,  about  the  same  time, 
deprived,  by  the  death  of  the  duke  of  Tuscany,  of  a  noble 
pension,  which  had  been  settled  on  him  by  the  generosity 
that  prince.  In  1598,  he  returned  again  to  Cracow,  where 
he  became  so  obnoxious,  that  the  scholars  of  that  place 
raised  a  mob  of  the  lower  order,  who  broke  into  his  house, 
dragged  him  into  the  streets,  and  were  with  difficulty  pre- 
vented from  murdering  him.  They  plundered  his  house, 
however,  and  burnt  some  manuscripts  which  he  particu- 
larly lamented,  and  said  he  would  have  redeemed  at 
price  of  his  blood.  To  avoid  these  dangers  for  the  future. 
he  retired  to  the  house  of  a  Polish  gentleman,  at  a  village 
about  nine  miles  distant  from  Cracow;  where  he  spent 
the  remainder  of  his  life,  and  died  in  1604-,  aged  sixty- 
five. 

His  sect  did  not  die  with  him  ;  but  the  sentiments  of  the 
modern  Socinians  are  widely  different  from  those  of  their 
founder,  who  approached  to  a  degree  of  orthodoxy  no- 
where now  to  be  found  among  them.  To  enter,  however, 
upon  all  the  varieties  of  their  opinions  would  occupy  a 
much  larger  space  than  is  consistent  with  the  plan  of  this 
work.  Yet  all  those  varieties,  and  all  the  shapes  and  forms 
on  which  the  modern  Socinians,  or  Unitarians,  as  they  affect 

N  2 


180  S  O  C  I  N  U  S. 

to  be  called,  rest  their  opinions,  may  be  traced  to  the 
main  principle  of  Socinianism,  as  stated  by  Mosheim.  Al- 
though, says  that  writer,  the  Socinians  profess  to  believe 
that  our  divine  knowledge  is  derived  solely  from  the  Holy 
Scriptures  ;  yet  they  maintain  in  reality,  that  the  sense  of 
the  Scripture  is  to  be  investigated  and  explained  by  the 
Dictates  of  right  reason,  to  which,  of  consequence,  they 
attribute  a  great  influence  in  determining  the  nature,  and 
unfolding  the  various  doctrines  of  religion.  When  their 
writings  are  perused  with  attention,  they  will  he  found  to 
attribute  more  to  reason,  in  this  matter,  than  most  other 
Christian  societies.  For  they  frequently  insinuate  artfully, 
and  sometimes  declare  plainly,  that  the  sacred  penmen 
were  guilty  of  many  errors,  from  a  defect  of  memory,  as 
well  as  a  want  of  capacity  ;  that  they  expressed  their  sen- 
timents without  perspicuity  or  precision,  and  rendered  the 
plainest  things  obscure  by  their  pompous  and  diffuse  Asia- 
tic style ;  and  that  it  was  therefore  absolutely  necessary  to 
employ  the  lamp  of  human  reason  to  cast  a  light  upon  their 
doctrine,  and  to  explain  it  in  a  manner  conformable  to 
truth.  It  is  easy  to  see  what  they  had  in  view  by  maintain- 
ing propositions  of  this  kind.  They  aimed  at  nothing  less 
than  the  establishment  of  the  following  general  rule,  viz. 
that  the  history  of  the  Jews,  and  also  that  of  Jesus  Christ, 
were  indeed  to  be  derived  from  the  books  of  the  Old  and 
New  Testament,  and  that  it  was  not  lawful  to  entertain 
the  least  doubt  concerning  the  truth  of  this  history,  or  the 
authenticity  of  these  books  in  general ;  but  that  the  parti- 
cular doctrines  which  they  contain,  were,  nevertheless,  to 
be  understood  and  explained  in  such  a  manner  as  to  render 
them  consonant  with  the  dictates  of  reason.  According  to 
this  representation  of  tilings,  it  is  not  the  Holy  Scripture, 
which  declares  clearly  and  expressly  what  we  are  to  believe 
concerning  the  nature,  counsels,  and  perfections  of  the 
Deity  ;  but  it  is  human  reason,  which  shews  us  the  system 
of  religion  that  we  ought  to  seek  in,  and  deduce  from,  the 
divine  oracles.  This  fundamental  principle  of  Socinianism, 
continues  Mosheim,  will  appear  the  more  dangerous  and 
pernicious,  when  we  consider  the  sense  in  which  the  word 
rcc/sort  was  understood  by  this  sect.  The  pompous  title  of 
right  reason  was  given,  by  the  Socinians,  to  that  measure 
of  intelligence  and  discernment,  or,  in  other  words,  to 
that  faculty  of  comprehending  and  judging,  which  we 
derive  from  nature.  According  to  this  definition,  the  fun- 


S-  O  GIN  U  S.  1-8L 

uamental  rule  of  Socinianism  necessarily  supposes,  that 
no  doctrine  ought  to  be  acknowledged  as  true  in  its  nature, 
or  divine  in  its  origin,  all  whose  pu.is  are  not  level  to  the 
comprehension  of  the  human  understanding.;  and  that, 
whatever  the  Holy  Scriptures  teach  concerning  the  perfec- 
tions of  God,  his  counsels  and  decrees,  and  the  way  of 
salvation,  must  be  modified,  curtailed,  and  filed  down,  in 
such  a  manner,  by  the  transforming  power  of  an  and  ar- 
gument, ai  to  answer  the  extent  of  our  limited  faculties. 
Thosr  wlio  adopt  this  singular  rule,  must  at  the  same  time 
grant  that  the  number  of  religions  must  be  nearly  equ~l  to 
that  of  individuals.  For  as  there  is  a  great  variety  in  the 
talents  and  capacities  of  different  persons,  so  what  will  ap- 
pear dnKcolt  and  abstruse  to  one,  will  seem  evident  and 
clear  to  another;  and  thus  the  more  discerning  and  pene- 
trating will  adopt  as  divine  truth,  what  the  slow  and  super- 
ficial will  look  upon  as  unintelligible  jargon.  This  conse- 
quence, ho.vever,  does  not  at  all  ;;larm  the  Socinians,  who 
suffer  their  members  to  explain,  in  very  different  ways, 
many  doctrines  of  the  highest  importance,  and  permit 
every  one  to  follow  his  particular  fancy  in  composing  his 
theological  system,  provided  they  acknowledge  in  general, 
the  truth  and  authenticity  of  the  history  of  Christ,  and 
adhere  to  the  precepts  which  the  gospel  lays  down  for  the 
regulation  of  our  lives  and  actions.1 

SOCRATb'S,  the  most  celebrated  of  the  ancient  philo- 
sophers, was  born  at  Alopece,  a  small  village  of  Attica, 
in  the  fourth  year  of  the  seventy-seventh  olympiad,  or 
about  469  years  B.  C.  His  parents  were  far  from  illustrious, 
Sophroniscns  iiis  father  being  a  statuary  of  no  great  note, 
and  Phtenareta  his  mother  a  midwife  ;  who  yet  is  repre- 
sented by  Plato  as  a  woman  of  a  bold  and  generous  spirit, 
and  Socrates  often  took  occasion  to  mention  both  his  pa- 
rents with  respect.  Sophroniscus  brought  him  up  to  his 
own  trade,  which,  on  his  father's  death,  he  was  obliged 
to  continue  for  subsistence,  and  was  not  unsuccessful.  He 
is  said  to  nave  made  statues  of  the  habited  graces,  which 
were  allowed  a  place  in  me  citadel  of  Athens.  But,  as 
he  was  'idturai:y  averse  to  this  profession,  he  only  followed 
it  while  necessity  compelled  him  ;  and  employed  his  lei- 
sure hours  in  the  study  of  philosophy  ;  and  this  being  ob- 
served by  Crito,  a  rich  philosopher  of  Athens,  he  took  him 

• 

'  Gen.  Diet. — Mothcim. —  Drp'ri. 


182  S  O  C  R  A  T  E  S. 

under  his  patronage,  and  entrusted  him  with  the  instruc- 
tion of  his  children  ;  and  having  now  opportunities-  of  hear- 
ing the  lectures  of  the  most  eminent  philosophers,  Socrates 
entirely  relinquished  the  business  of  a  statuary. 

His  first  masters  were  Anaxagoras,  and  Archelaus:  by 
which  last  he  was  much  beloved,  and  travelled  with  him  to 
Samos,  to  Pytho,  and  to  the  Isthmus.  He  was  scholar 
likewise  of  Damo,  whom  Plato  calls  a  most  pleasing 
teacher  of  music,  and  of  all  other  things  that  he  himself 
would  teach  to  young  men.  He  heard  also  Prochcus  the 
sophist,  to  whom  must  he  added  Diorima  and  Aspasia,  wo- 
men of  great  renown  for  learning.  By  listening  to  all  these, 
he  became  master  of  every  kind  of  knowledge  which  the 
age  in  which  he  lived  could  afford.  With  these  uncommon 
endowments  Socrates  appeared  in  Athens,  under  the  cha- 
racter of  a  good  citizen,  and  a  true  philosopher.  Being 
called  upon  by  his  country  to  take  arms  in  the  long  and 
severe  struggle  between  Athens  and  Sparta,  he  signalized 
himself  at  the  siege  of  Potidaea,  both  by  his  valour,  and 
by  the  hardiness  with  which  he  endured  fatigue.  During 
the  severity  of  a  Thracian  winter,  whilst  others  were  clad 
in  furs,  he  wore  only  his  usual  clothing,  and  walked  bare- 
foot upon  the  ice.  In  an  engagement  in  which  he  saw 
Alcibiades  (a  young  man  of  noble  rank  whom  he  accom- 
panied during  this  expedition)  falling  down  wounded,  he 
advanced  to  defend  him,  and  saved  both  him  and  his  arms; 
and  though  the  prize  of  valour  was,  on  this  occasion,  un- 
questionably due  to  Socrates,  he  generously  gave  his  vote 
that  it  might  be  bestowed  upon  Alcibiades,  to  encourage 
his  rising  merit.  Several  years  afterwards,  Socrates  vo- 
luntarily entered  upon  a  military  expedition  against  the 
Bo3otians,  during  which,  in  an  unsuccessful  engagement 
at  Delium,  he  retired  with  great  coolness  from  the  field  ; 
when,  observing  Xenophon  lying  wounded  upon  the  ground, 
he  took  him  upon  his  shoulders,  and  bore  him  out  of  the 
reach  of  the  enemy.  Soon  afterwards  he  went  out  a  third 
time  in  a  military  capacity,  in  the  expedition  for  the  pur- 
pose of  reducing  Amphipolis  ;  but  this  proving  unsuccess- 
ful, he  returned  to  Athens,  and  remained  there  till  his 
death. 

It  was  not  till  Socrates  was  upwards  of  sixty  years  of  age 
that  he  undertook  to  serve  his  country  in  any  civil  office. 
At  that  age  he  was  chosen  to  represent  his  own  district,  in 
the  senate  of  five  hundred.  In  this  office,  though  he  at 


SOCRATES.  183 

first  exposed  himself  to  some  degree  of  ridicule  from  want 
of  experience  in  the  forms  of  business,  he  soon  convinced 
his  colleagues  that  he  was  superior  to  them  all  in  wisdom 
and  integrity.  Whilst  they,  intimidated  by  the  clamours 
of  the  populace,  passed  an  unjust  sentence  of  condemna- 
tion upon  the  commanders,  who,  after  the  engagement  at 
the  Arginusian  islands,  had  been  prevented  by  a  storm  from 
paying  funeral  honours  to  the  dead,  Socrates  stood  forth 
singly  in  their  defence,  and,  to  the  last,  refused  to  give 
his  suffrage  against  them,  declaring  that  no  force  should 
compel  him  to  act  contrary  to  justice  and  the  laws.  Under 
the  subsequent  tyranny  he  never  ceased  to  condemn  the 
oppressive  and  cruel  proceedings  of  the  thirty  tyrants; 
and  when  his  boldness  provoked  their  resentment,  he  still 
continued  to  support,  with  undaunted  firmness,  the  rights 
of  his  fellow-citizens.  The  tyrants,  probably  that  they 
might  create  some  new  ground  of  complaint  against  So- 
crates, sent  an  oruer  to  him,  with  several  other  persons,  to 
apprehend  a  wealthy  citizen  of  Salarnis  :  the  rest  executed 
the  com  mission  ;  but  Socrates  refused,  sayijig,  that  he 
would  rather  himself  suffer  death  than  be  instrumental  in 
inflicting  it  unjustly  upon  another.  But  whatever  character 
he  thus  established  as  a  good  citizen,  it  is  as  a  philosopher 
and  moral  teacher  that  he  is  chiefly  renowned,  and  that  by 
the  concurring  evidence  of  all  antiquity. 

That  Socrates  had  himself  a  proper  school,  which  has 
been  denied,  may  perhaps  be  proved  from  Aristophanes, 
who  derides  some  particulars  in  it,  an-d  calls  it  his  "  phron- 
tisterium."  Plato  mentions  the  Academy,  Lyceum,  and 
a.  pleasant  meadow  without  the  city  on  the  side  of  the  river 
Jlissus,  as  places  frequented  by  him  and  his  auditors. 
Xenophon  affirms  that  he  was  continually  abroad  ;  that  in 
the  morning  tie  visited  the  places  of  public  walking  and 
exercise;  when  it  was  full,  the  Forum;  and  that  the  rest 
of  the  day  he  sought  out  (he  most  populous  meetings, 
where  he  disputed  openly  for  every  one  to  hear  that  would  ; 
and  Plutarch  relates,  that  he  did  not  only  teach,  when  the 
benches  were  prepared,  and  himself  in  the  chair,  or  in 
stated  hours  of  reading  and  discourse,  or  at  appointments 
in  walking  with  his  friends;  but  even  when  he  played,  or 
eat,  or  drank,  or  >vas  in  the  camp  or  market,  or  finally 
when  he  was  in  prison  ;  making  every  place  a  school  of 
instruction. 

The  method  of  teaching  which  Socrates  chiefly  made  use 


SOCRATES. 

of,  was,  to  propose  a  series  of  questions  to  the  person  with 
whom  he  conversed,  in  order  to  lead  him  to  some  unfore- 
seen conclusion.  He  first  gained  the  consent  of  his  re- 
spondent to  some  obvious  truths,  and  then  obliged  him  to 
admit  othtrs,  from  their  relation,  or  resemblance,  to  those 
to  which  they  had  already  assented.  Without  making  use 
of  any  direct  argument  or  persuasion,  he  chose  to  lead  the 
person  he  meant  to  instruct,  to  deduce  the  truths  of  which 
he  wished  to  convince  him,  as  a  necessary  consequence 
from  his  own  concessions,  and  commonly  conducted  these 
conference*  with  such  address,  as  to  conceal  his  design  till 
the  respondent  had  advanced  too  far  to  recede.  On  some 
occasions,  he  made  use  of  ironical  language,  that  vain  men 
might  be  caught  in  their  own  replies,  and  be  obliged  to 
confess  their  ignorance.  He  never  asMimed  the  air  of  a 
morose  and  rigid  preceptor,  but  communicated  useful  in- 
struction with  all  the  ease  and  pleasantry. of  polite  con- 
versation. 

Xenophon  represents  him  as  excelling  in  all  kinds  of 
learning.  He  instances  only  in  arithmetic,  geometry,  and 
astrology,  but  Plato  mentions  natural  philosophy;  lilome- 
neus,  rhetoric;  and  Laertius,  medicine.  Cicero  affirms, 
that  by  the  testimony  of  all  the  learned,  anu  toe  judgment 
of  all  Greece,  he  was,  in  respect  to  wisdom,  acuteness, 
politeness,  and  subtilty,  in  eloquence,  variety,  and  rich- 
ness, and  in  whatever  he  applied  himself  to,  beyond  com- 
parison the  first  man  of  his  age.  As  to  his  philosophy,  it 
may  be  necessary  to  observe,  that  having  searched  into  all 
kinds  of  science,  he  first  discovered  that  it  was  wrong  to 
neglect  those  things  which  concern  human  life,  for  the 
sake  of  inquiring  into  those  things  which  do  not ;  secondly, 
that  the  things  men  have  usually  made  the  objects  of  their 
inquiries,  ure  above  the  reach  of  human  understanding,  and 
the  source  of  all  the  disputes,  errors,  and  superstitions, 
which  have  prevailed  in  the  uorld  ;  and,  thirdly,  that  such 
divine  mysteries  cannot  be  made  subservient  to  the  uses  of 
human  life.  Thus,  esteeming  speculative  knowledge  so  far 
only  as  it  conduces  to  practice,  be  decried  in  all  the  sciences 
what  he  conceived  to  be  useless,  and  exchanged  specula- 
tion for  action,  and  theory  for  practice  :  and  thus,  says 
Cicero,  "  first  called  philosophy  down  from  heaven,  and 
from  things  involved  by.  nature  in  impenetrable  secrecy, 
which  yet  had  employed  all  the  philosophers  till  his  time, 
and  brought  her  to  common  life,  to  inquire  .after  virtue 
and  vice,  good  and  evil." 


S  OCR  A  T  E~S.7  18S 

That  Socrates  had  an  attendant  spirit,  genius,  or  daemon, 
\vliich  guarded  him  from  dangers,  is  asserted  by  Plato  and 
Antisthenes,  who  were  his  contemporaries,  and  repeated 
by  innumerable  authors  of  antiquity ;  but  what  this  attend- 
ant spirit,  genius,  or  daemon  was,  or  what  we  are  to  un- 
derstand by  it,  neither  antient  nor  modern  writers  have  in 
general  been  able  to  determine.  There  is  some  disagree- 
ment concerning  the  name,  and  more  concerning  the  na- 
ture of  it:  only  it  is  by  most  writers  agreed,  that  the  ad- 
vice it  gave  him  was  always  dissuasive  ;  "  never  impelling," 
says  Cicero,  "  but  often  restraining  him."  It  is  commonly 
named  his  daemon,  by  which  title  he  himself  is  supposed 
to  have  owned  it.  Plato  sometimes  calls  it  his  guardian, 
and  Apuleius  his  god  ;  because  the  namv  of  daemon,  as  St. 
Austin  tells  us,  at  last  grew  odious.  As  for  the  sign  or 
manner,  in  which  this  daemon  or  genius  foretold,  and  by 
foretelling,  guarded  him  against  evils  to  come,  nothing 
certain  can  be  collected  about  it.  Plutarch,  who  rejects 
some  popular  absurdities  upon  the  subject,  conjectures, 
first,  that  it  iiiigtit  be  an  apparition  ;  but  at  last  concludes, 
that  it  was  his  observation  of  some  inarticulate  unaccus- 
tomed sound  or  voi«-e,  conveyed  to  him  in  an  extraordinary 
way,  as  happens  in  dreams.  Others  confine  this  foreknow- 
ledge of  evils  within  the  soul  of  Socrates  himself;  and 
when  he  said  that  "  his  »enius  advised  him,"  think  that  he 
only  meant  that  "  his  mind  foreboded  and  so  inclined  him.'* 
But  this  is  inconsistent  with  the  description  which  Socrates 
himself  gives  of  a  voice  and  signs  from  without.  Lastly, 
some  conceive  it  to  be  one  of  those  spirits  that  have  a  par- 
ticular care  of  men  ;  which  Maxhmis  Tyrius  and  Apuletus 
describe  in  such  a  manner,  that  they  want  only  tiie  name 
of  a  good  angel ;  and  this  Laciantius  has  suppl  ed  ;  for, 
after  proving  that  God  sends  angels  to  guard  mankind,  he 
adds,  "  and  Socrates  affirmed  that  there  was  a  daemon  con- 
stantly near  him,  which  had  kept  him  company  from  a 
child,  and  by  whose  beck  and  instruction  he  «uidecl  his 
life."  Such  are  the  varieties  of  opinion  entertained  unon 
this  singular  subject,  winch,  however,  have  arisen  chiefly 
out  of  the  prevalence  of  Platonic  ideas,  and  the  desire  of 
exalting  Socrates  beyond  all  reason.  The  account  given 
by  Xeriophon,  the  strictest  and  truest  Socratic,  and  con- 
firmed by  some  passages  in  Plutarch's  treatise  "  De  Genio 
Socratis,"  is  perhaps  clear  and  reasonable.  It  is  plainly 
this,  that,  believing  in  the  gods  of  his  country,  and  the' 


186  SOCRATES. 

divinations  commonly  in  use,  Socrates,  when  he  took  an 
omen,  said  that  he  proceeded  by  divine  intimation.  This 
he  did  out  of  piety,  thinking  it  more  respectful  to  the 
gods  to  refer  the- suggestion  to  tnem,  th.n  to  th-  voice  or 
other  intermediate  sign  by  whirl)  HUM  (  \  v,  i  it.  his 
phrase  on  this  occasion  was,  TO  dai/wviov  auna  ay/Aa'iveiv,  which 
being  iu  some  degree  ambiguou^,  as  foufumot  ;nignt  mean 
either  the  divine  power  abstractedly,  01  -OMH-  parricular 
deity,  his  e-iemies  took  advantage  of  it  to  accuse  him  of 
introducing  new  deities ;  and  his  friends  to  indulge  the 
vanity  of  boasting  that  he  had  an  attendant  daemon.  This 
account  may  be  seen  at  full  length,  supported  by  many 
arguments  and  proofs  from  th^  original  authors,  in  a  little 
tract  on  this  subject,  published  in  1782*. 

In  the  days  of  this  philosopht-r,  the  Sophists  were 
the  great  and  leading  men  ;  the  masters  of  languages,  as 
Cicero  calls  them-,  who  arrogantly  pretended  to  teach 
every  thing,  and  persuaded  the  youth  to  resort  only  to 
them.  With  these  Socrates  carried  on  perpetual  warfare  : 
he  attacked  them  constantly  with  his  usual  interrogatories; 
and,  by  his  skill  and  subtilty  in  disputation,  exposed  their 
sophistry,  and  refuted  their  principles.  He  took  all  op- 
portunities'of  proving  that  they  had  gained  a  much  greater 
portion  of  esteem  than  they  had  a  right  to  claim  ;  that  they 
were  only  vain  affecters  of  words  ;  that  they  had  no  know- 
ledge of  the  things  they  professed  to  teach  ;  and  that,  in- 
stead of  taking  money  of  others  for  teaching,  they  should 
themselves  give  money  to  be  taught.  The  Athenians  were 
pleased  to  see  the  Sophists  thus  checked  ;  were  brought  at 
length  to  deride  them;  and,  at  the  instigation  of  Socrates, 
withdrew  tlieir  children  from  them,  and  excited  them  to 
the  study  of  solid  virtue  under  better  masters. 

*  The  able  writer  of  this  tract,  Mr.  by  a  passage   in    Plutarch's   Essr, , 

archdeacon    Nares,  remarks  that   So-  the  Daemon  of  Socrates  :   "  How  am  I 

crates  believed  in  the  gods  of  his  couri-  guilty  of  introducing  new  'lei1  ies,   when 

try,  and  was  not  five  from  the  super-  J  say  that  ihe  voice  of  the  divinity  gives 

stition    connected    with    that    belief:  me  notice  what   1  shall  do  ?     AH  men, 

whence  it  may  be  inferred,  that,  in  the  as  well  as  myself,  are  of  opinion  that 

expressions  usually  understood  to  re-  the  deity  foresees  the  futurr,  am' 

fer  to   his  demon,  he  i.lludes   only   to  nifies  it  to  whom  he  pleases  :   but  the 

f-ome   species  of   divination,    perfectly  difference   between    us    is   this  ;    they 

analogous  to  the  omens  of  his  age  and  name  the  omens   as   the   foretellers  of 

country.      He   called   the  sign,    what-  what  is  to  come  ;  I  call  the  same  thing 

ever  it  was,  by  means  of  which  he  sup-  the   dirinity,  and   herein  speak   more 

posed  intimations  to  be  communicated  truly  and  respectfully  than  they  who 

to  him,   a  daemon  or   divinity.     This  attribute  to  birds  the  power  which  be- 

explanation  of  the  matter  is  favoured  longs  to  the  gods." 


SOCRATES.  187 

The  altercations  that  Socrates  had  with  the  Sophists 
therefore  gained  him  respect,  and  made  him  popular  with 
the  Athenians  ;  hut  he  had  a  private  quarrel  with  one  Any- 
tus,  which,  after  many  years  continuance,  was  the  occasion 
of  his  death.  Anytus  was  an  orator  by  profession,  a  sordid 
and  avaricious  man,  who  was  privately  maintained  and  en- 
riched by  leather-sellers.  He  had  placed  two  of  his  sons 
under  Socrates,  to  be  taught ;  but,  because  they  had  not 
acquired  such  knowledge  from  him  as  to  enable  them  to 
get  their  living  by  pleading,  he  took  them  away,  and  put 
them  to  the  trade  of  leather-selling.  Socrates,  displeased 
with  this  illiberal  treatment  of  the  young  men,  whose  ruin 
he  presaged  at  the  same  time,  reproached,  and  exposed 
Anytus  in  his  discourses  to  his  scholars.  Anytus,  hurt  by 
this,  studied  all  means  of  revenge  ;  but  feared  the  Athe- 

'  O        ' 

nians,  who  highly  reverenced  Socrates,  as  well  on  account 
of  his  great  wisdom  and  virtue,  as  for  the  particular  oppo- 
sition which  he  had  made  to  those  vain  babblers  the  So- 
phists. He  therefore  advised  with  Melitus,  a  young  orator; 
from  whose  counsel  he  began,  by  making  trial  in  smaller 
things,  to  sound  how  the  Athenians  would  entertain  a  charge 
against  his  life.  He  suborned  the  comic  poet  Aristophanes, 
to  ridicule  him  and  his  doctrines  in  his  celebrated  comedy 
called  "  The  Clouds."  Socrates,  who  seldom  went  to  the 
theatre,  except  when  Euripides,  whom  he  admired,  con- 
tested with  any  new  tragedian,  was  present  at  the  acting 
of  "  The  Clouds;"  and  stood  up  all  the  while  in  the  most 
conspicuous  part  of  the  theatre.  One  that  was  present 
asked  him  if  he  was  not  vexed  at  seeing  himself  brought 
upon  the  stage  ?  "  Not  at  all,"  answered  he  :  "  I  am  only 
a  host  at  a  public  festival,  where  I  provide  a  large  com- 
pany with  entertainment." 

Many  years  having  passed  from  the  first  disagreement 
between  Socrates  and  Anytus,  at  length  Anytus,  observ- 
ing a  fit  conjuncture,  procured  Melitus  to  prefer  a  bill 
against  him  to  the  senate  in  these  terms  :  "  Melitus,  son 
of  Melitus,  a  Pythean,  accuses  Socrates,  son  oi  So- 
phroniscus,  an  Alopecian.  Socrates  violates  the  law, 
not  believing  the  deities  which  this  city  believes,  but 
introducing  other  new  gods  He  violates  the  IHW  like- 
wise in  corrupting  youth  :  the  punishment  death."  This 
bill  being  preferred  upon  oath,  Crito  became  bound  to  the 
judges  for  his  appearance  at  the  day  of  trial ;  till  which 
Socrates  employed  himself  in  his  usual  philosophical 


188  SOCRATES. 

exercises,  taking  no  care  to  provide  any  defence.  On  the 
day  appointed,  Anytus,  Lyco,  and  Metitus,  accused  him,, 
and  Socrates  made  his  own  defence,  witu.tut  procuring  an 
advocate,  as  the  cu*t>m  was,  to  plead  tor  him.  He  did  not 
defen-i  himself  with  the  tone  and  language  of  a  suppliant 
or  guilty  person,  but  with  the  freedom,  frrmnfiSS,  and  spi- 
rit, of  conscious  innocence  and  superior  merit.  Many  of 
his  friends  spoke  also  in  .us  betialf;  and,  lastly,  Plato, 
then  a  young  iuan,  en  Jeavoured  to  plead,  but  while  at- 
tempting to  apologize  for  his  youth,  was  ordered  by  the 
court  to  sit  down.  The  court  then  proceeding  to  vote, 
they  found  Socrates  guilty  by  two  hundred  and  eighty-one 
voices.  It  uas  the  custom  of  Athens,  as  Cicero  informs 
us,  when  any  one  was  cast,  if  the  fault  were  not  capital, 
to  impose  a  pecuniary  mulct,  and  the  guilty  person  was 
asked  the  highest  ratf  at  which  he  estimated  his  offence. 
This  was  proposed  to  Socrates,  who  told  the  judges,  that 
to  pay  a  penalty  was  to  own  an  offence  ;  and  that,  instead 
of  being  condemned  for  what  he  stood  accused,  he  deserved 
to  be  maintained  at  the  public  charge  out  of  the  Pryta- 
nacum.  This  being  the  greatest  honour  the  Athenians 
could  confer,  the  answer  so  exasperated  the  judges,  that 
they  condemned  him  to  dea  h  by  eighty  votes  more. 

The  sentence  being  passed,  he  was  sent  to  prison ; 
which,  says  Seneca,  he  entered  with  the  same  resolution 
and  firmness  with  which  he  had  opposed  the  thirty  tyrants; 
and  took  away  all  ignominy  from  the  place,  which,  adds 
Seneca,  could  not  be  a  prison  while  he  was  there.  On  the 
day  of  condemnation,  it  happened  thdt  the  ship,  which  was 
employed  to  carry  a  customary  animal  offering  to  the  island 
of  Delos,  set  sail.  It  was  contrary  to  the  law  of  Athens, 
that,  during  this  voyage,  any  capital  punishment  should 
be  inflicted  within  the  city.  This  circumstance  delayed 
the  execution  of  the  sentence  against  Socrates  for  thirty 
days,  during  which  he  was  constantly  visited  by  Crito, 
Plato,  and  other  friends,  with  whom  he  passed  the  time  in 
his  usual  manner.  He  was  often  solicited  by  them  to  es- 
cape, which  he  not  only  refused  but  derided  ;  asking,  "  if 
they  knew  any  place  out  of  Attica,  whither  death  would 
not  come."  Tiie  manner  of  his  death  is  related  by  Plato, 
who  was  an  eye-witness  of  it;  and,  as  there  is  not,  perhaps, 
a  more  afft  cling  picture  to  be  found  in  antiquity,  we  will 
exhibit  it  here  in  his  own  words.  Socrates,  the  day  he  was 
to  die,  had  been  discoursing  to  his  friends  upon  the  immor- 


SOCRATES.  189 

tallty  of  thfe  soul  :  and,  "  when  he  had   made  an  end  of 
speaking,  Crito  asked   him,    if  he  had   any   directions  to 
give  concerning  his  sons,  or  other  things,  in  which  they 
could  serve  him  ?   '  I  desire  no  more  of  \ou,'  said  Socrates, 
'than  what  I   have   always  told  y>u:   if  you   take  care  of 
yourselves,  whatsoever  you  do  will  be  acceptable  to  me  and 
mine,  though  you   promise  nothing  ;   if  you  neglect  your- 
selves  and  virtue,  you   can   do  n  (thing  acceptable  to  us, 
though  you   promise   ever  so  much.'       '  Tnat,'    answered 
Crito,   'we   will  observe;   but   how   will   you   be  buried?' 
4  As  you  think  good,'  says  he,  '  if  you  can  catch  me,  and 
I  do  not  give  you  the  slip.'     Then,   with  a  smile,  applying 
himself  to  us,  '  I  cannot  persuade  Crito,'  says  he,   '  that  I 
am  that  Socrates  who  was  haranguing  just  now,  or  anything 
more  than  the  carcass  you  will  presently  behold  ;  and  there- 
fore he  is  taking  all  this  care  of  my  interment.      It  seems, 
that  what  I  just  now  explained  in  a  long  discourse  has  made 
no  impression  at  all  upon  him  ;  namely,  that  as  soon  as  I 
shall  have  drunk  the  poison,   I  shall  not  remain  longer  with 
you,  but  depart  immediately  to  the  seats  of  the  blessed. 
These  things,  with  which  I  have  been  endeavouring  to  com- 
fort you  and  myself,   have  been  said   to  no  purpose.      As, 
therefore,  Crito  was  bound  to  the  judges  for  my  appear- 
ance, so  you  must  now  be  bound  to  Crito  for  my  depar- 
ture ;  and  when  he  sees  my  body  burnt  or  buried,  let  him 
not  say,  that  Socrates  suffers  any  thing,  or  is  any  way  con- 
cerned :  for  know,  dear  Crito,  such  a  mistake  were  a  wrong 
to  my  soul.     I  tell  you,  that  my  body  is  only  buried  ;  and 
let  that  be  done  as  you  shall  think  fit,  or  as  shall  be  most 
agreeable  to  the  laws  and  customs  of  the  country.'     This 
said,   he  arose  and  retired  to  an  inner  room  ;  taking  Crito 
with  him,  and  leaving  us,  who,  like  orphans,  were  to  be 
deprived  of  so  dear  a  father,  to  discourse  upon  our  own 
misery.     After   his  bathing,  came  his  wife,  and  the  other 
women  of  the  family,  with  his  sons,  two  of  them  children, 
one  of  them  a  youth  ;  and,   when  he  had  given  proper  di- 
rections about  his  domestic  affairs,   he  dismissed  them,  and 
came  out  to  us.     It  was  now  near  sun-set,  for  he  had  staid 
long  within  ;  when  coming  out  he  sat  down,  and  did  not 
speak  much  after.    Then  entered  an  officer,  and  approach- 
ing him,   said,    '  Socrates,  I   am  persuaded,    that  I   shall 
have  no  reason  to  blame  you,  for  what  I  have  been  accus- 
tomed to  blame  in  others,   who  have  been  angry  at  me,  and 
loaded  me  with  curses,   for  only  doing  what  the  magistrate 


190  SOCRATES. 

commands,  when  I  have  presented  the  poison  to  them. 
But  I  know  you  to  be  the  most  generous,  the  most  mild, 
the  best  of  all  men,  that  ever  entered  this  place  ;  and  am 
certain,  that,  if  you  entertain  any  resentment  upon  this  oc- 
casion, it  will  not  be  at  me,  but  at  the  real  authors  of  your 
misfortune.  You  know  the  message  I  bring  ;  farewell : 
and  endeavour  to  bear  with  patience  what  must  be  borne.' 

*  And,'  said  Socrates  to  the  officer,  who  went  out  weeping, 

*  fare  thee  well  :  I  will.    How  civil  is  this  man  !   I  have  found 
him  the  same  all  the  time  of  my  imprisonment  :   he  would 
often  visit  me,  sometimes  discourse  with   me,   always  used 
me  kindly  ;  and  now  see,  how  generously  he  weeps  for  me. 
But  come,  Crito  ;  let  us  do  as  he  bids  us  :  if  the  poison  be 
ready,   let  it  be  brought  in  ;  if  not,  let  somebody  prepare 
it.'     '  The  sun   is  yet  among  the  mountains,  and  not  set,1 
says  Crito  :   '  1  myself  have  seen  others  drink  it  later,  who 
have  even  eat  and  drunk  freely  with  their  friends  after  the 
sign  has  been  given  :  be  not  in  haste,  there  is  time  enough.' 

*  Why,  yes,'   says  Socrates,   'they  who  do  so  think  they 
gain  something  ;  but  what  shall  I  gain  by  drinking  it  late  ? 
Nothing,  but  to  be  laughed  at,  for  appearing  too  desirous 
of  life  :   pray,  let   it  be  as  I  say.'     Then   Crito  sent  one 
of  the  attendants,   who  immediately  returned,  and  with  him 
the  man,   who  was  to  administer  the  poison,  bringing  a  cup 
in  his  hand:  to  whom  Socrates  said,  'Prithee,   my   good 
friend,  for   thou   art  versed  in   these  things,   what  must  I 
dor'      'Nothing,'  said  the  man,   'but  walkabout   as  soon 
as  you  shall  have  drunk,  till  you  perceive  your  legs  to  fail  ; 
and  then   sit  down.'     Then  he  presented   the  cup,   which 
Socrates  took  without  the  least  change  of  countenance,  or 
any  emotion  whatever,  but  looking  with  his  usual  intrepi- 
dity upon  the  man.   He  then  demanded,  *  Whether  he  might 
spill  any  of  it  in  libation  ?'     The  man  answered,   '  he  had 
only  prepared  just  what  was  sufficient.'      '  Yes,'  says  So- 
crates,  '  I  may  pray  to  the  gods,  and  will,  that  my  passage 
hence  may  be  happy,   which  I  do  beseech  them  to  grant :' 
and   that    instant  swallowed  the  draught  with  the  greatest 
ease.     Many  of  us,  who  till  then  had  refrained  from  tears, 
when  we  saw  him  put  the  cup  to  his  mouth,  and  drink  oft 
the  poison,  were  not  able  to  refrain  longer,  but  gave  vent 
to  our  grief:  which  Socrates  observing,  '  Friends,'  said  he, 

*  what  mean  you  ?     I  sent  away  the  women   for  no   other 
reason,  but  that  they  might  not  disturb  us  with  this  :   for  1 
have  heard  that  we  should  die  with  gratulation  and  ap- 


SOCRATES.  191 

plause  :  be  quiet  then,  and  behave  yourselves  like  men.' 
These  words  made  us  wiih  shame  suppress  our  tears.  When 
he  had  walked  a  while,  and  perceived  his  legs  to  fail,  he 
lay  down  on  his  back,  as  the  executioner  directed  :  who,  in 
a  little  time,  looking  upon  his  feet,  and  pinching  them 
pretty  hard,  asked  him,  'If  he  perceived  it?'  Socrates 
said,  '  No.'  Then  he  did  the  same  by  his  legs  ;  and  shew- 
ing us,  how  everv  part  successively  grew  cold  and  stiff,  ob- 
served, that  when  that  dullness  reached  his  heart,  he  would 
die.  Not  long  after,  Socrates,  removing  the  garment 
with  which  he  was  covered,  said,  '  I  owe  a  cock  to  j^Escu- 
lapius;  pay  it,  neglect  it  not.'  'It  shall  be  done,'  says 
Crito  :  'would  you  have  any  thing  else  r'  He  made  no 
answer,  but,  after  lying  a  while,  stretched  himself  forth: 
when  the  executioner  uncovering  him  found  his  eyes 
fixed,  which  were  closed  by  Crito.  "This,"  says  Plato, 
"  was  the  end  of  the  best,  the  wisest,  and  the  justest  of 
men  :"  and  this  account  of  it  by  Plato,  Cicero  professes, 
that  lie  could  never  read  without  tears. 

He  died,  according  to  Plato,  when  he  was  more  than 
seventy,  396  B.  C.  He  was  buried  with  many  tears  and 
much  solemnity  by  his  friends,  among  whom  the  excessive 
grief  of  Plato  is  noticed  by  Plutarch  :  yet,  as  soon  as  they 
performed  that  last  service,  fearing  the  cruelty  of  the 
thirty  tyrants,  they  stole  out  of  the  city,  the  greater  part 
to  Euclid  at  Megara,  who  received  them  kindly  ;  the  rest 
to  other  places.  Soon  after,  however,  the  Athenians  were 
recalled  to  a  sense  of  the  injustice  they  had  committed 
against  Socrates  ;  and  became  so  exasperated,  as  to  insist 
that  the  authors  of  it  should  be  put  to  death.  Melitus  ac- 
cordingly suffered,  and  Anytus  was  banished.  In  farther 
testimony  of  their  penitence,  they  called  home  his  friends 
to  their  former  liberty  of  meeting  ;  they  forbade  public 
spectacles  of  games  and  wrestlings  for  a  time  ;  they  caused 
his  statue,  made  in  brass  by  Lysippus,  to  be  set  up  in  the 
Pompeium  ;  and  a  plague  ensuing,  which  they  imputed  to 
this  unjust  act,  they  made  an  order,  that  no  man  should 
mention  Socrates  publicly  and  on  the  theatre,  in  order  to 
forget  the  sooner  what  they  had  done. 

As  to  his  person,  he  was  very  homely ;  was  bald,  had  a 
dark  complexion,  a  flat  nose,  eyes  projecting,  and  a  severe 
down-cast  look.  His  countenance,  indeed,  was  such,  that 
Zopyrus,  a  physiognomist,  pronounced  him  incident  to  va- 
rious passions,  and  given  to  many  vices  :  which  when  Al- 


192  SOCRATES. 

cibiades  and  others  that  were  present  derided,  knowing 
him  to  be  free  from  every  thing  of  that  kind,  Socrates  jus- 
tified the  skill  of  Zopyrus  by  owning,  that  "  he  was  by  na- 
ture prone  to  those  vices,  but  had  suppressed  his  inclina- 
tion by  reason."  The  defects  of  his  person  were  amply 
compensated  by  the  virtues  and  accomplishments  of  his 
mind.  The  oracle  at  Delphi  declared  him  the  wisest  of  all 
men,  for  professing  only  to  know  that  he  knew  nothing: 
Apollo,  as  Cicero  says,  conceiving  the  only  wisdom  of 
mankind  to  consist  in  not  thinking  themselves  to  know  those 
things  of  which  they  are  ignorant.  He  was  a  man  of  all 
virtues,  and  so  remarkably  frugal,  that,  how  little  soever 
he  had,  it  was  always  enough  :  and,  when  he  was  amidst  a 
great  variety  of  rich  and  expensive  objects,  he  would  often 
say  to  himself,  "  How  many  things  are  here  which  I  do  not 
want!" 

He  had  two  wives,  one  of  which  was  the  noted  Xantippe, 
whom  Aulus  Gellius  describes  as  an  arrant  scold,  and  seve- 
ral instances  are  recorded  of  her  impatience  and  his  long- 
suffering.  One  day,  before  some  of  his  friends,  she  fell 
into  the  usual  extravagances  of  her  passion ;  when  he, 
without  answering  a  word,  went  abroad  with  them  :  but  was 
no  sooner  out  of  the  door,  than  she,  running  up  into  the 
chamber,  threw  water  down  upon  his  head  :  upon  which, 
turning  to  his  friends,  "  Did'  I  not  tell  you,"  says  he, 
"  that  after  so  much  thunder  we  should  have  rain."  She 
appears,  however,  to  have  had  a  great  affection  for  him, 
and  was  a  faithful  wife. 

Socrates  left  behind  him  nothing  in  writing  ;  but  his  il- 
lustrious pupils,  Xenophon  and  Plato,  have,  in  some  mea- 
sure, supplied  this  defect.  The  "  Memoirs  of  Socrates," 
however,  written  by  Xenophon,  afford  a  much  more  ac- 
curate idea  of  the  opinions  of  Socrates,  and  of  his  manner 
of  teaching,  than  the  Dialogues  of  Plato,  who  every  where 
mixes  his  own  conceptions  and  diction,  and  those  of  other 
philosophers,  with  the  ideas  and  language  of  his  master. 
It  is  related,  that  when  Socrates  heard  Plato  recite  his 
"  Lysis,"  he  said,  "  How  much  does  this  young  man  make 
me  say  which  I  never  conceived!"  Xenophon  denies  that 
Socrates  ever  taught  natural  philosophy,  or  any  mathema- 
tical science,  and  charges  with  misrepresentation  and  false- 
hood those  who  had  ascribed  to  him  dissertations  of  this  kind; 
probably  referring  to  Plato,  in  whose  works  Socrates  is 
introduced  as  discoursing  upon  these  subjects.  The  truth 


SOCRATES. 


193 


appears  to  be,  that  the  distinguishing  character  of  Socrates 
was,  that  of  a  moral  philosopher. 

The  doctrine  of  Socrates,  concerning  God  and  religion, 
was  rather  practical  than  speculative.  But  he  did  not 
neglect  to  build  the  structure  of  religious  faith  upon  the 
firm  foundation  of  an  appeal  to  natural  appearances.  He 
taught  that  the  Supreme  Being,  though  invisible,  is  clearly 
seen  in  his  works,  which  at  once  demonstrate  his  existence, 
and  his  wise  and  benevolent  providence.  Besides  the  one 
supreme  Deity,  Socrates  admitted  the  existence  of  beings 
who  possess  a  middle  station  between  God  and  man,  to 
whose  immediate  agency  he  ascribed  the  ordinary  phoeno- 
mena  of  nature,  and  whom  he  supposed  to  be  particularly 
concerned  in  the  management  of  human  affairs.  Hence, 
speaking  of  the  gods,  who  take  care  of  men,  he  says, 
"  Le  t  it  suffice  you,  whilst  you  observe  their  works,  to  re- 
vere and  honour  the  gods  :  and  be  persuaded,  that  this  is 
the  way  in  which  they  make  themselves  known ;  for, 
among  all  the  gods  who  bestow  blessings  upon  men,  there 
are  none  who,  in  the  distribution  of  their  favours,  make 
themselves  visible  to  mortals."  Hence  he  spoke  of  thun- 
der, wind,  and  other  agents  in  nature,  as  servants  of  God, 
and  encouraged  the  practice  of  divination,  under  the  no- 
tion, that  the  gods  sometimes  discover  future  events  to 
good  men. 

If  these  opinions  concerning  the  Supreme  Being,  and 
the  subordinate  divinities,  be  compared,  there  will  be  no 
difficulty  in  perceiving  the  grounds  upon  which  Socrates, 
though  an  advocate  for  the  existence  of  one  sovereign 
power,  admitted  the  worship  of  inferior  divinities.  Hence 
he  declared  it  to  be  the  duty  of  every  one,  in  the  perform- 
ance of  religious  rites,  to  follow  the  customs  of  his  country. 
At  the  same  time,  he  taught,  that  the  merit  of  all  religious 
offerings  depends  upon  the  character  of  the  worshipper, 
and  that  the  gods  take  pleasure  in  the  sacrifices  of  none 
but  the  truly  pious.  "  The  man,"  says  he,  "  who  honours 
the  gods  according  to  his  ability,  ought  to  be  cheerful, 
and  hope  for  the  greatest  blessings  :  for,  from  whom  may 
we  reasonably  entertain  higher  expectations,  than  from 
those  who  are  most  able  to  serve  us  ?  or  how  can  we  secure 
their  kindness,  but  by  pleasing  them  ?  or,  how  please  them 
better,  than  by  obedience  ?" 

Concerning  the  human  soul,  the  opinion  of  Socrates, 
according  to  Xenophon,  was,  tliat  it  is  allied  to  the  divine 

VOL.  XXVIII,  O 


194  SOCRATES. 

Bt-ing,  not  by  a  participation  of  essence,  but  by  a  similarity 
of  nature  ;  that  man  excels  all  other  animals  in  the  (acuity 
of  reason,  and  that  the  existence  of  good  men  will  be  con- 
tinued after  death,  in  a  state  in  which  they  will  receive  the 
reward  of  their  virtue.  Although  it  appears  that,  on  this 
latter  topic,  Socrates  was  not  wholly  free  from  uncertainty, 
the  consolation  which  he  professed  to  derive  from  this  source 
in  the  immediate  prospect  of  death,  leaves  little  room  to 
doubt,  that  he  entertained  a  real  belief  and  expectation  of 
immortality.  The  doctrine  which  Cicero  ascribes  to  Socra- 
tes on  this  head  is,  that  the  human  soul  is  a  divine  principle, 
which,  when  it  passes  out  of  the  body,  returns  to  heaven  ; 
and  that  this  passage  is  most  eas}'  to  those  who  have,  in 
this  life,  made  the  greatest  progress  in  virtue. 

The  system  of  morality  which  Socrates  made  it  the  busi- 
ness of  his  life  to  teach,  was  raised  upon  the  firm  basis  of 
religion.  The  first  principles  of  virtuous  conduct,  which 
are  common  to  all  mankind,  are,  according  to  this  excellent 
moralist,  the  laws  of  God  ;  and  the  conclusive  argument  by 
which  he  supports  this  opinion  is,  that  no  man  departs  from 
these  principles  with  impunity.  He  taught,  that  true  feli- 
city is  not  to  be  derived  from  external  possessions,  but 
from  wisdom,  which  consists  in  the  knowledge  and  practice 
of  virtue  j  that  the  cultivation  of  virtuous  manners  is  ne- 
cessarily attended  with  pleasure,  as  well  as  profit;  that  the 
honest  man  alone  is  happy;  and  that  it  is  absurd  to  attempt 
to  separate  things  which  are  in  nature  so  closely  united  as 
virtue  and  interest.' 

SOCRATES,  an  ecclesiastical  historian,  who  flourished 
about  the  middle  of  the  fifth  century,  was  born  at  Constan- 
tinople, in  the  reign  of  Theodosius.  He  studied  grammar 
under  Helladius  and  Ammonius,  who,  having  fled  from 
Alexandria  to  Constantinople,  had  opened  a  school  there ; 
and,  after  he  had  finished  his  studies,  for  some  time  pro- 
fessed the  law,  and  pleaded  at  the  bar,  whence  he  obtained 
the  name  of  SCHOLASTICUS.  In  the  decline  of  life  he  un- 
dertook to  write  the  history  of  the  church,  beginning  from 
309,  where  Eusebius  ends,  and  continued  it  down  to  440, 
in  seven  books.  This  history  is  written,  as  Valesins  his 
editor  observes,  with  much  judgment  and  exactness.  His 
veracity  may  be  presumed  from  his  industry  in  consulting 
the  original  records,  acts  of  council,  bishops'  letters,  and 

1  Diog.  Laert.-Bruck.cr. — Cicero. — Xenophon's  Memorabilia. 


SOCRATES.  195 

the  writings  of  his  contemporaries,  of  which  he  often  gives 
extracts.     He  is  also  careful  in  setting  clown  the  succession 
of  bishops,  and  the  years  in  which  every  thing  was   trans- 
acted ;  and  describes  them  by  consuls  and  olympiads.      His 
judgment  appears  in  his  reflections  and  observations,  which 
are  rational  and  impartial.      He  has  been  accused  of  being 
a  Novatian  ;  and  it  cannot  be  denied  that  he  speaks  well  of 
that  sect :  yet,  as  Valesius  has  proved,  he  was  not  one  of 
them,   but  adhered  to  the  church,  while  he  represents  them 
as  separated   from  it.     What  he  says  of  these  Novatians  is 
only  a  proof  of  his  candour  and  generous  peaceable  tem- 
per.     His  style  is  plain  and  easy;  and  has  nothing  in  it  of 
declamation,   which  he  treats  with  contempt.      His  history 
has  been  translated  into  Latin,  and  published  in  Greek  and 
Latin   by  Valesius,  together  with  Eusebius   and  the   other 
ecclesiastical  historians;  and  republished,   with  additional 
notes  by  Reading,  at  London,    1720,  3  vols.  folio.     There 
is  also  an  English  edition  printed  at  Cambridge,    1683,  fol.1 
SOLANDER  (DANIEL  CHARLES),  a  celebrated  natural- 
ist, the   pupil   of  Linnaeus,  and   the   friend    of  sir  Joseph 
Banks,   was  a  native  of  the  province  of  Nordland  in  Swe- 
den, where  his  father  was  minister.      He  was  born  Feb.  28, 
1736,  and  studied  at  Upsal,  where  he  appears  to  have  taken 
his   degree  of  doctor  in   inedicine.      Linnseus,  who  during 
his  residence  in  England,  had  formed  an  intimacy  with  Mr. 
Peter  Collinson,  advised   his   pupil   to  visit  England,  and 
probably  recommended  him  to  that  gentleman.     Dr.  Solan- 
der  arrived  in  England  in  1760,  and  in  October  1762,   was 
strongly  recommended  by  Mr.  Collinson  to  the  trustees  of 
the  British  Museum,  as  a  person  who  had  made  natural  his- 
tory the  study  of  his  life,   and  was  particularly  qualified  to 
draw  up  a  catalogue  of  that  part  of  their  collection.    Three 
years  after,   he  obtained  a  closer  connection  with  that  insti- 
tution, being  appointed  one  of  the  assistants  in  the  depart- 
ment of  natural   history.     In   1764  he  became  a  fellow  of 
the  Royal  Society.     In  1766,   he  drew  up  for  Mr.  Brander, 
the   scientific   descriptions  of  his  Hampshire  fossils,  then 
published  in  a  thin  volume,   4to,  entitled  "  Fossilia  Hanto- 
niensia,   collecta,  et  in  Musseo  Britanmco  deposita,  a  Gus- 
tavo Brander,  R.  S.  et   S.  A.  S.  Mus.  Brit.   Cur."     Of  his 
obligations  to  Dr.  Solander,   this  gentleman  thus  speaks  in 

i  Cave,  vol   T. — VaScsius's  edition. — Fabric.  Bibl.  Graec. — Elount's  Censura- 
— Saxii  Onoma.-t. 


196  S  O  L  A  N   D  E  IT. 

his  preface  :  <(  And  now  I  think  I  have  nothing  more  to  do, 
than  to  acknowledge  myself  indebted  for  Uie  scientific  de- 
scription of  them  to  the  learned  and  ingenious  Dr.  Solan- 
der,  one  of  the  officers  of  the  British  Museum,  who  is  at 
this  time  employe:!  by  the  trustees  to  compose  a  systemati- 
cal catalogue  of  the  natural  productions  of  that  entire  col- 
lection." It  does  not  appear  that  this  catalogue  was  ever 
completed. 

In  1768,  Dr.  Solander  was  prevailed  upon  by  his  friend 
Mr.  (afterwards  sir  Joseph)  Banks,  to  undertake  the  voyage 
round  the  world,  in  pursuit  of  discoveries  in  natural  history  : 
and  permission  was  obtained  for  him  from  the  trustees  of  the 
British  Museum,  still  to  hold  his  appointment  during  his 
absence.  The  circumstance  of  going  is  thus  mentioned,  in 
the  introduction  to  captain  Cook's  first  voyage,  in  speaking 
of  Mr.  Banks  :  "  As  he  was  determined  to  spare  no  expence 
in  the  execution  of  his  plan,  he  engaged  Dr.  Solander  to 
accompany  him  in  the  voyage.  This  gentleman,  by  bi  th  a 
Swede,  was  educated  under  the  celebrated  Linnaeus,  from 
whom  he  brought  letters  of  recommendation  into  England  ; 
and  his  merit  being  soon  known,  he  obtained  an  appointment 
in  the  British  Museum,  a  public  institution  which  was  then 
just  established*.  Such  a  companion  Mr. Banks  considered 
as  an  acquisition  of  no  small  importance,  and  to  his  great 
satisfaction,  the  event  abundantly  proved  that  he  was  not 
mistaken."  One  of  the  most  remarkable  circumstances 
which  attended  these  heroes  of  natural  history  in  this  expe- 
dition, was  the  difficulty  they  experienced  in  attempting  to 
ascend  a  mountain  in  Terra  del  Fuego,  in  search  of  Alpine 
plants.  In  the  danger  they  here  encountered,  Dr.  Solander 
undoubtedly  preserved  the  lives  of  the  party  by  the  advice 
he  gave  ;  and  what  is  more  remarkable,  was  himself  pre- 
served by  their  attention  to  his  directions.  The  matter  is 
thus  related  in  the  voyage. 

"  Dr.  Solander,  who  had  more  than  once  crossed  the 
mountains  which  divide  Sweden  from  Norway,  well  knevr 
that  extreme  cold,  especially  when  juined  with  fatigue, 
produces  a  torpor  and  sleepiness  that  are  almost  irresistible  : 
he  therefore  conjured  the  company  to  keep  moving,  what- 
ever pain  it  might  cost  them,  and  whatever  relief  they  might 
be  promised  by  an  inclination  to  rest.  Whoever  sits  down, 
says  he,  will  sleep  ;  and  whoever  bleeps  will  wake  no  more. 

*  Here  Dr.  Haukesworth,  the  writer  of  the  introduction,  is  evidently  ini--- 
taken  ;  the  institution   was  established  about  ten  years  before. 


S  O  L  A  N  D  E  R.  197 

Thus,  at  once  admonished  and  alarmed,  they  set  forward  ; 
but  while  they  were  still  upon  the  naked  rock,  and  before 
they  had  got  among  the  bushes,  the  cold  became  suddenly 
so  intense,  as  to  produce  the  effects  that  had  been  dreaded, 
Dr.  Solander  himself  was  the  first  who  found  the  inclina- 
tion, against  which  he  had  warned  others,  irresistible;  and 
insisted  upon  being  suffered  to  lie  down.  Mr.  Banks  in- 
treated  and  remonstrated  in  vain  ;  down  he  lay  upon  the 
ground,  though  it  was  covered  with  snow;  and  it  was  with 
great  difficulty  that  his  friend  prevented  him  from  sleeping. 
Richmond  also,  one  of  the  black  servants,  began  to  linger, 
having  suffered  from  the  cold  in  the  same  manner  as  the 
doctor.  Mr.  Banks,  therefore,  sent  five  of  the  company, 
among  whom  was  Mr.  Buchan,  forward  to  get  a  fire  read)', 
at  the  first  convenient  place  they  could  find  ;  and  himself, 
with  four  others,  remained  with  the  doctor  and  Richmond, 
whom,  partly  by  persuasion  and  intreaty,  and  partly  by 
force,  they  brought  on  ;  but  when  they  had  got  through  the 
greatest  part  of  the  birch  and  swamp,  they  both  declared 
they  could  go  no  farther.  Mr.  Banks  had  recourse  again  to 
entreaty  and  expostulation,  but  they  produced  no  effect; 
when  Richmond  was  told  that  if  he  did  not  go  on  he  would 
in  a  short  time  be  frozen  to  death;  he  answered,  that  he 
desired  nothing  but  to  lie  down  and  die.  The  doctor  did 
not  so  explicitly  renounce  his  life  ;  he  said,  he  was  willing 
to  go  on,  but  that  he  must  first  take  some  sleep,  though  he 
had  bet  >re  told  the  company  that  to  sleep  was  to  perish. 
Mr.  Banks  and  the  rest  found  it  impossible  to  carry  them, 
and  there  being  no  remedy,  they  were  both  suffered  to  sit 
down,  being  partly  supported  by  the  bushes,  and  in  a  few 
minutes  they  fell  into  a  profound  sleep  :  soon  after,  some 
of  the  people  who  had  been  sent  forward  returned,  with  the 
welcome  news  that  a  fire  was  kindled  about  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  further  on  the  way.  Mr.  Banks  then  endeavoured  to 
wake  Dr.  Solander,  and  happily  succeeded;  but,  though 
.he  had  not  slept  five  minutes,  he  had  almost  lost  the  use  of 
liis  limbs,  and  the  muscles  were  so  shrunk,  that  the  shoes 
fell  from  his  feet ;  he  consented  to  go  forward  with  such 
assistance  as  could  be  given  him  ;  but  no  attempts  to  relieve 
poor  Richmond  were  successful.  Mr.  Banks,  with  much 
difficulty,  at  length  got  the  doctor  to  the  fire."  Richmond 
and  a  seaman  finally  perished  from  the  cold  ;  the  remainder 
of  the  party,  to  the  number  of  ten,  happily  regained  the 
ship,  alter  the  utmost  difficulties  and  hazards. 


19S  S  O  L  A  N  D  E  R. 

The  "  Dictionnaire  Historique"  affirms,  that  Dr.  Solan. 
tier  had  a  salary  of  400/.  sterling  a  }ear,  during  this  voyage. 
"\Vhatever  he  had  must  have  heen  t'ri>tn  the  munificence  of 
Mr.  Banks,  as  he  had  no  public  appointment.  There  can 
be  no  doubt  that  the  zeal,and  generosity  of  that  friend  re- 
warded him  very  amply,  both  for  the  time  employed  in  the 
voyage,  and  for  that  which  he  afterwards  spent  in  arrang- 
ing and  describing  the  vast  collection  of  plants  \\hich  they 
had  made.  In  1773,  Dr.  Solander  was  advanced  from  the 
office  of  assistant  to  be  one  of  the  under-librarians  in  the 
British  Museum.  He  died  in  consequence  of  a  stroke  of 
apoplexy,  on  .May  Ui,  178 1.  Dr.  Pulteney,  in  his  "Sket> 
of  the  progress  of  Botany  in  England,"  regards  the  arrival 
of  Dr.  Solander  in  this  country  as  an  acra  of  importance  in 
that  history.  "  At  this  juncture,"  he  says,  "  it  is  material, 
among  those  circumstances  which  accelerated  the  progress 
of  the  new  system,  to  mention  the  arrival  of  the  late  much- 
lamented  Dr.  Solander,  who  came  into  England  on  the  1st 
of  July,  1760.  His  name,  and  the  connection  he  was  known 
to  bear,  as  the  favourite  pupil  of  his  great  master,  had  of 
themselves  some  share  in  exciting  a  curiosity  which  led  to 
information  ;  while  his  perfect  acquaintance  with  the  whole 
scheme  enabled  him  to  explain  its  minutest  parts,  and  elu- 
cidate all  those  obscurities  with  which,  on  a  superficial 
view,  it  was  thought  to  be  enveloped.  I  add  to  this  that 
the  urbanity  of  his  manners,  and  his  readiness  to  afford 
every  assistance  in  his  power,  joined  to  that  clearness  and 
energy  with  which  he  effected  it,  not  only  brought  convic- 
tion of  its  excellence  in  those  who  were  inclined  to  receive 
it,  but  conciliated  the  minds,  and  dispelled  the  prejudices, 
of  many  who  had  been  averse  to  it."  It  is  testified  of  him 
by  others,  who  knew  him  intimately,  that  to  a  very  exten- 
sive knowledge  he  added  a  mode  of  communication,  not 
only  remarkable  for  its  readiness,  but  for  so  peculiar  a  mo- 
desty, that  he  contrived  almost  to  appear  to  receive  instruc- 
tion when  he  was  bestowing  it  in  the  most  ample  manner. 
There  are  said  to  be  some  papers  by  him  scattered  in  the 
various  memoirs  of  philosophical  societies;  but  in  the 
transactions  of  the  Royal  Society  of  London,  there  is  only 
one  letter,  which  is  in  vol.  LI  I.  p.  654,  and  is  entitled, 
"  Account  of  the  Gardenia  (Jasminoides),  in  a  Letter  to 
Philip  Carteret  Webb,  esq.  F.  R.  S.  from  Daniel  C.  Solan- 
der, M.  D."  Nor,  though  his  time  was  always  usefully 
employed,  do  we  know  of  any  other  production  of  which 


S  O  L  A  N  D  E  R.  199 

he  was  the  author.  He  was  a  short,  fair  man,  rather  fat ; 
with  small  eyes,  and  a  good-humoured  expression  of  coun- 
tenance.1 

SOLE  (ANTONIO  MARIA  DAL),  a  landscape  painter,  was 
born  at  Bologna,  in  1597,  and  was  a  disciple  of  Albano  ; 
but  he  principally  applied  to  landscape-painting,  and  in 
that  branch  rendered  himself  deservedly  eminent.  His 
situations  were  always  beautifully  chosen,  his  distances  are 
pleasing,  the  perspective  receding  of  his  objects  is  con- 
ducted with  great  skill  and  judgment,  and  his  colouring  is 
bold  and  lively.  It  was  remarked  of  him  that  he  painted, 
and  also  constantly  wrote,  with  his  left  hand,  and  had  full 
as  much  command  of  it  as  others  have  of  their  right;  hence 
he  was  denominated  II  manchino  da  paesi.  He  died  in 
1677,  aged  eighty. 

His  son,  JOSEPH  DAL  SOLE,  was  born  in  1654,  and  was  for 
some  time  the  scholar  of  Lorenzo  Pasinelli,  and  to  emulate 
him  with  success  consulted  the  same  sources  in  repeated 
visits  to  Venice.  Without  reaching  the  general  brilliancy 
and  the  voluptuous  tone  of  his  master,  he  possessed  great 
elegance  in  accessories,  such  as  hair,  wings,  bracelets,  veils, 
crowns,  and  armour  ;  he  was  better  adapted  to  subjects  of 
energy,  more  attentive  to  costume,  more  regulated  in  com- 
position, and  more  learned  in  architecture  and  landscape. 
In  landscape  he  is  nearly  unrivalled  ;  his  Evening,  Night, 
and  Dawn,  at  Imola,  in  the  house  Zappi,  are  massed  and 
toned  by  pure  sentiment.  His  sacred  subjects  and  visions 
radiate  with  vivid  flashes  of  celestial  light.  He  was  correct 
and  slow  in  his  piocess  from  choice,  though  few  excelled  him 
in  readiness  of  execution  ;  of  a  Bacchus  and  Ariadne,  which 
he  had  finished  in  one  week  with  general  approbation,  he 
cancelled  the  greater  part,  and  repainted  it  at  leisure,  saying 
that  he  might  content  others  by  celerity,  but  must  satisfy 
himself  by  accuracy  ;  hence  his  prices  were  high.  He 
gained  the  appellation  of  the  modern  Guido,  and  there  is 
a  zest  of  Guido  in  many  of  his  works.  Among  his  nume- 
rous scholars,  Lucia  Casalini,  and  Teresa  Mnratori,  ought 
not  to  be  forgot.  The  former  signalized  herself  in  por- 
trait, the  second  acquired  no  inconsiderable  share  of  praise 
in  history.  Giuseppe  dal  Sole  died  in  the  year  1719,  aged 
sixty-five.2 

1  Preceding  edition  of  this  Dictionary. 

2  Pilkiogton  by  Fuseli. — Argenville,  vol.  II. 


'200  S  O  L  I  G  N  A  C. 

SOLIGNAC  (PETER  JOSEPH  DE  LA  PIMPIE,  Chevalier 
of),  was  born  at  Montpellier  in  16S7,  of  a  noble  family,  and 
v.ent  early  to  Paris,  where  he  was  noticed  at  court,  and 
soon  employed  in  an  honourable  station  in  Poland.  He 
there  became  acquainted  with  king  Stanislaus,  who  took 
him,  after  a  time,  not  only  as  his  secretary,  but  as  his 
friend.  He  followed  this  prince  into  France,  when  he  went 
to  take  possession  of  Lorraine,  and  became  secretary  of 
that  province,  and  perpetual  secretary  to  the  academy  of 
Nanci.  There  he  found  leisure  to  cultivate  literature  and 
philosophy,  and  employed  himself  in  writing.  His  learning 
was  extensive  and  his  manners  amiable.  He  died  in  1773, 
at  the  age  of  eighty.  His  principal  works  are,  1.  "  A  His- 
tory of  Poland,"  in  5  vols.  12mo.  2.  "  Eloge  Historique 
du  Roi  Stanislas,"  8vo,  written  with  feeling  and  with  ge- 
nius. 3.  Several  detached  pieces  in  the  Memoirs  of  the 
academy  of  Nanci.1 

SOLIMENE  (FRANCIS),  called  L'ABATE  Ciccio,  from 
his  mode  of  dressing  like  an  abbot,  an  illustrious  Italian 
painter,  was  descended  of  a  good  family,  and  born  at 
Nocera  de'  Pagani  near  Naples  in  1657.  His  father  An- 
gelo,  who  had  been  a  scholar  of  Massimo,  and  was  a  good 
painter  and  a  man  of  learning,  discerned  an  uncommon 
genius  in  bis  son  ;  who  is  said  to  have  spent  whole  nights 
in  the  studies  of  poetry  and  philosophy.  He  designed  also 
so  judiciously  in  chiaro  obscure,  tiiat  his  performances  sur- 
prised all  who  saw  them.  Angelo  intended  him  for  the 
Jaw,  and  did  not  alter  his  purpose,  though  he  was  informed 
of  his  other  extraordinary  talents,  till  cardinal  Orsini  ad- 
vised him.  This  cardinal,  afterwards  Benedict  XIJI.  at  a 
visit  happened  to  examine  the  youth  in  philosophy,  and, 
although  satisfied  with  his  answers,  observed,  that  he 
would  do  better,  if  he  did  not  waste  so  much  of  his  time  in 
drawing;  but  when  these  drawings  were  produced,  he  was 
so  surprised,  that  he  told  the  father  how  unjust  he  would 
be  both  to  his  son  and  to  the  art,  if  he  attempted  to  check 
a  genius  so  manifestly  displayed.  Ou  this,  Solimene  had 
full  liberty  given  him  to  follow  his  inclination.  Two  years 
passed  on,  while  he  studied  under  his  lather,  after  which, 
in  1674,  he  went  to  Naples,  and  put  himself  under  the 
direction  of  Francesco  di  Maria.  Thinking,  however,  that 
this  artist  laid  too  great  a  stress  on  design,  he  soon  left 

1  Necrologie. — Diet.  Hist, 


S  O  L  I  M  E  N  E.  4201 

him,  and  guided  himself  by  the  works  of  Lanfranc  and 
Calabrese  in  composition  and  chiaro  obscuro,  while  those 
of  Pietro  Cortona  and  Luca  Jordano  were  his  standards  for 
colouring,  and  Guido  and  Carlo  Maratti  for  drapery.  Bj 
an  accurate  and  well-managed  study  of  these  masters,  he 
formed  to  himself  an  excellent  style,  and  soon  distinguished 
himself  as  a  painter.  Hearing  that  the  Jesuits  intended  to 
paint  the  chapel  of  St.  Anne  in  the  church  Jesu  Nuovo,  he 
sent  them  a  sketch  by  an  architecture  painter;  not  daring 
to  carry  it  himself,  lest  a  prejudice  against  his  youth  might 
exclude  him.  His  design  was  nevertheless  accepted,  and, 
while  he  was  employed  on  this  chapel,  the  best  painters  of 
Naples  visited  him,  astonished  to  h'nd  themselves  surpassed 
by  a  mere  boy.  This  was  his  first  moment  of  distinction, 
and  his  reputation  increased  so  fast,  that  great  works  were 
offered  him  from  every  quarter.  His  fame  extending  to 
other  countries,  the  kings  of  France  and  Spain  made  him 
very  advantageous  proposals  to  engage  him  in  their  service, 
all  which  he  declined.  Philip  V.  arriving  at  Naples,  com- 
manded him  to  paint  his  portrait,  and  allowed  him  to  sit 
in  his  presence  :  and  the  emperor  Charles  VI.  knighted 
him  on  account  of  a  picture  he  sent  him.  In  1701,  he 
resided  at  Rome  during  the  holy  year :  when  the  pope  and 
cardinals  took  great  notice  of  him.  This  painter  is  also 
known  by  his  sonnets,  which  have  been  often  printed  in 
collections  of  poetry  ;  and,  at  eighty  years  of  age,  he  could 
repeat  from  memory  the  most  beautiful  passages  of  the 
poets,  in  the  application  of  which  he  was  very  happy.  He 
died  in  1747,  at  almost  ninety.  He  painted  entirely  after 
nature;  being  fearful,  as  he  said,  that  too  servile  an  at- 
.tachment  to  the  antique  might  damp  the  fire  of  his  imagi- 
nation. He  was  a  man  of  a  good  temper,  who  neither 
criticised  the  works  of  others  out  of  envy,  nor  was  blind  to 
his  own  defects.  He  told  the  Italian  author  of  his  life, 
that  he  had  advanced  many  falsities  in  extolling  the  cha- 
racter of  his  works:  which  had  procured  him  a  great  deal 
of  money,  but  yet  were  very  far  short  of  perfection.  The 
grand  duke  of  Tuscany  with  difficulty  prevailed  on  Soli- 
mene's  modesty  to  send  him  his  picture,  which  he  wanted 
to  place  in  his  gallery  among  other  painters.1 

SOLINUS  (CAius  JULIUS),  an  ancient  Latin  grammarian, 
and  (as  it  appears)  a  Roman,  whom  some  have  imagined 

1  Pilkington. — Argeuville,  vol.  II. 


202  S  O  L  I  N  U  S. 

to  have  lived  in  the  time  of  Augustus,  though  in  his  "  Po- 

O  O 

lyhistor"  he  has  made  large  extracts  from  the  elder  Pliny, 
probably  lived  about  the  middle  of  die  third  century.  We 
have  of  his  the  abovementioned  work,  which  Salmasius  has 
published  in  2  vols.  folio  :  illustrated  with  a  commentary  of 
his  own, — if  to  overwhelm  a  small  tract,  and  bury  it  under 
a  mass  of  learning,  can  be  called  illustrating.  There  are 
various  other  editions.  The  "  Polyhistor"  is  an  ill-digested 
compilation  of  historical  and  geographical  remarks  upon 
various  countries  :  and  the  extracts  in  it  from  Pliny  are  so 
large,  and  his  manner  withal  so  imitated,  that  the  author 
has  been  called,  "  The  Ape  of  Pliny."  1 

SOLIS  (ANTONIO  DE),  an  ingenious  Spanish  writer,  was 
of  an  ancient  and  illustrious  family,  and  born  at  Placenza 
in  Old  Castile,  July  18,  1610.  He  was  sent  to  Salamanca 
to  study  law;  but,  having  a  natural  turn  for  poetry,  gave 
it  the  preference,  and  cultivated  it  with  a  success  which 
did  him  great  honour.  He  was  but  seventeen,  when  he 
wrote  an  ingenious  comedy,  called  "  Amor  y  Obligacion  :" 
and  he  afterwards  composed  others,  which  were  received 
with  the  highest  applause.  Antonio  affirms  him  to  have 
been  the  best  comic  poet  Spain  has  ever  seen.  At  six  and 
twenty,  he  applied  himself  to  ethics  and  politics.  His 
great  merit  procured  him  a  patron  in  the  count  d'Oropesa, 
viceroy  then  of  Navarre,  and  afterwards  of  the  kingdom 
of  Valence,  who  appointed  him  his  secretary.  In  1642, 
when  he  wrote  his  comedy  of  "  Orpheus  and  Eurydice," 
for  representation  at  Pampeluna,  upon  the  birth  of  the 
count's  son,  Philip  IV.  of  Spain  made  him  one  of  his 
secretaries  ;  and,  after  Philip's  death,  the  queen  regent 
made  him  first  historiographer  of  the  Indies,  a  place  of 
great  profit  as  well  as  honour.  His  "  History  of  the  Con- 
quest of  Mexico"  was  thought  to  justify  this  honour,  and 
was  much  praised.  But  it  is  evident  that  his  object  was  to 
celebrate  the  glories  of  Ferdinand  Cortez,  his  hero,  to 
whom  he  has  imputed  many  strokes  of  policy,  many  re- 
flections, and  many  actions,  of  which  he  was  not  capable; 
and  he  has  very  wisely  closed  his  account  with  the  con- 
quest of  Mexico,  that  he  might  not  have  occasion  to  intro- 
duce the  cruelties  afterwards  committed.  Nevertheless, 
the  history  is  reckoned  upon  the  whole  very  interesting, 
and  has  been  translated  into  several  languages ;  and  he  is 

1  Vossius  de  Hist.  Lat. — Fabric.  Bib!.  Lat, 


S  O  L  I  S.  203 

better  known  for  it,  out  of  his  own  country,  than  for  his 
poetry  and  dramatic  writings,  although  they  are  said  to  be 
excellent.  After  living  many  years  in  the  busy  and  gay 
world,  he  resolved  to  dedicate  himself  to  the  service  of 
God,  by  embracing  the  ecclesiastical  state;  and  accord- 
ingly was  ordained  a  priest  at  fifty- seven.  He  now  re- 
nounced all  profane  compositions,  and  wrote  nothing  but 
some  dramatic  pieces  upon  subjects  of  devotion,  which  are 
represented  in  Spain  on  certain  festivals.  He  died  April 
19,  1686.  His  comedies  were  printed  at  Madrid  in  1681, 
4to;  his  sacred  and  profane  poems,  at  the  same  place, 
1716,  4to  ;  his  "History  of  Mexico"  often,  but  particu- 
larly at  Brussels  in  1704,  folio;  with  his  life  prefixed  by 
D.  Juan  de  Goyeneche.  There  is  also  a  collection  of  his 
"Letters"  published  at  Madrid  in  1737. ' 

SOLOMON  (ben  JOB  JAI.LA),  ben  Abraham,  ben  Ab- 
dulla  by  his  first  wile  Tanomata,  was  born  at  Bonda,  a 
town  founded  by  his  father  Ibrahim,  in  the  kingdom  of 
Futa  or  Sanaga,  which  lies  on  both  sides  the  river  Senegal 
or  Sanaga,  and  extends  as  far  as  the  Gambra.  Being  sent 
by  his  father,  in  Feb.  1731,  to  sell  some  slaves  to  captain 
Pyke,  commander  of  a  trading  vessel  belonging  to  Mr. 
Hunt,  and  not  agreeing  about  their  price,  he  set  out  with 
another  black  merchant  on  an  expedition  across  the  Gam- 
bra  ;  but  they  were  taken  prisoners  by  the  Mandingos,  a 
nation  at  enmity  with  his  own,  and  sold  for  slaves  to  cap- 
tain Pyke  aforesaid,  who  immediately  sent  proposals  to 
his  father  for  their  redemption.  The  ship  sailing  before 
the  return  of  an  answer,  Job  was  carried  to  Annapolis,  and 
delivered  to  Mr.  Denton,  factor  to  Mr.  Hunt.  He  sold 
him  to  Mr.  Tolsey  of  Maryland,  from  whom,  though  kindly 
treated,  he  escaped  ;  and,  being  committed  to  prison  as  a 
fugitive  slave,  discovered  himself  to  be  a  Mahometan. 
Being  at  length  conveyed  to  England,  a  letter  addressed 
to  him  by  his  father  fell  into  the  hands  of  general  Og!c- 
thorpe,  who  immediately  gave  bond  to  Mr.  Hunt  for  pay- 
ment of  a  certain  sum  on  his  delivery,  in  England.  Ac- 
cordingly, he  arrived  in  England  in  1733  ;  but  Mr.  Ogle- 
thorpe  was  gone  to  Georgia.  Mr.  Hunt  provided  him  a 
lodging  at  Limehouse  ;  and  Mr.  Bluet,  wiio  first  found  him 
out  in  Maryland,  took  him  down  to  his  house  at  Cheshunt. 
The  African  Company  undertook  for  his  redemption,  which 
was  soon  effected  by  Nathaniel  Brassey,  esq.  member  for 

1  Au'onio  Bib!.  Hisp. — Niceron,  vol.  IX, 


204-  SOLOMON 

Hertford,  for  40/.  and  20l.  bond  and  charges,  by  a  sub- 
scription amounting  to  60/.  Being  now  free,  he  trans- 
lated several  Arabic  MSS.  for  sir  Hans  Sloane,  who  got 
him  introduced  at  court,  and  after  fourteen  months  stay  in 
London,  he  returned  home  loaded  with  presents  to  the 
amount  of  500/.  He  found  his  father  dead,  and  his  native 
country  depopulated  by  war.  He  was  of  a  comely  person, 
near  six  feet  high,  pleasant  but  grave  countenance,  acute 
natural  parts,  great  personal  courage,  and  of  so  retentive 
a  memory,  that  he  could  repeat  the  Koran  bv  heart  at 
fifteen,  and  wrote  it  over  three  times  in  England  by  me- 
mory.1 

SOLON,  one  of  the  seven  wise  men  of  Greece,  as  they 
are  called,  was  born  at  .S;t!amis,  of  Athenian  parents,  who 
were  descended  from  Codrus,  in  the  sixth  century  B.  C. 
His  father  leaving  little  patrimony,  he  had  recourse  to 
merchandise  for  his  subsistence.  He  hat!,  however,  a 
greater  thirst  after  knowledge  and  fame,  than  after  riches, 
and  made  his  mercantile  voyages  subservient  to  the  in- 
crease of  his  intellectual  treasures.  He  very  early  culti- 
vated the  art  of  poetry,  and  applied  himself  to  the  study 
of  moral  and  civil  wisdom.  When  the  Athenians,  tired 
out  with  a  long  and  troublesome  war.  with  the  Megarensians, 
for  the  recovery  of  the  isle  of  Salamis,  prohibited  any  one, 
under  pain  of  death,  to  propose  the  renewal  of  their  claim 
to  that  island,  Solon,  thinking  the  prohibition  dishonour- 
able to  the  state,  and  finding  many  of  the  younger  citizens 
desirous  to  revive  the  war,  feigned  himself  mad,  and  took 
care  to  have  the  report  of  his  insanity  spread  through  the 
city.  In  the  mean  time,  he  composed  an  elegy,  adapted 
to  the  state  of  public  affairs,  which  he  committed  to  me- 
mory. Every  tiling  being  thus  prepared,  lie  sallied  forth 
into  the  market  place,  with  the  kind  of  cap  on  his  head 
which  was  commonly  worn  by  sick  persons,  and,  ascending 
the  herald's  stand,  he  delivered,  to  a  numerous  crowd,  his 
lamentation  for  the  desertion  of  Salamis.  The  verses  were 
heard  with  general  applause ;  and  Pisistratus  seconded  his 
advice,  and  urged  the  people  to  renew  the  war.  The  de- 
cree was  immediately  repealed,  and  the  conduct  of  the 
war  being  committed  to  Solon  and  Pisistratus,  they  defeated 
the  Megarensians,  and  recovered  Salamis.  He  afterwards 

i  Hist,  of  the  Gentlemen's  Society  at  Spalcling. — See  aho  Mr.  Bluet's  "  Me- 
moirs" of  him,  in  an  8vo  pamphlet  of  63  pages,  1734. — Moore's  "Travels." — • 
and  Ast'ey's  "  Voyages,"  II.  234—240. 


S  O  L  O  Nf.  205 

acquired  additional  fame  by  a  successful  alliance  which  he 
formed  among  the  states,  in  defence  of  the  temple  at  Del- 
phos,  against  the  Cirrhoeans. 

But  the  height  of  his  glory  was  when  the  dissert  dons  and 
civil  commotions  among  the  Athenians  rendered  it  neces- 
sary to  vest  the  supreme  powers  of  legislator  and  magistrate 
in  one  person,  and  when  in  594  B.  C.  lie  was  appointed  to 
this  high  office  under  the  title  of  Archon.  This  office  he 
appears  to  have  executed  with  such  wisdom  and  firmness  as 
to  give  universal  satisfaction,  and  spread  his  fame  through 
the  most  distant  parts  of  the  world.  In  the  exercise  of  his 
power,  he  made  a  new  distribution  of  the  people,  formed 
new  courts  of  judicature,  and  framed  a  judicious  code  of 
laws,  which  afterwards  became  the  basis  of  the  laws  of  the 
twelve  tables  in  Rome.  At  the  opening  of  this  new  plan 
of  government,  Solon  was  every  clay  visited  by  persons, 
who  were  desirous,  either  to  propose  questions  concerning 
the  meaning  and  application  of  his  laws,  or  to  suggest 
farther  corrections  and  improvements.  Finding  these  im- 
portunities troublesome,  he  determined  to  make  his  escape 
from  the  difficult  situation  in  which  he  was  placed,  and  to 
leave  his  laws  to  their  own  natural  operation.  For  this 
purpose  he  obtained  permission  from  the  state  to  travel. 
His  first  voyage  was  to  Egypt.  Here  he  became  acquainted 
with  several  of  the  more  eminent  priests  of  Heliopolis  and 
Sais,  by  whom  he  was  instructed  in  the  Egyptian  philoso- 
phy. One  of  his  preceptors,  boasting  of  the  antiquity  of 
the  Egyptian  wisdom,  said  to  him,  u  Solon,  Solon,  you 
Greeks  are  always  children ;  you  have  not  an  old  man 
among  you."  From  Egypt  he  sailed  to  Cyprus,  where  he 
formed  an  intimate  friendship  with  Philocyprus,  one  of  the 
princes  of  the  island,  and  assisted  him  in  founding  a  new 
city. 

It  is  also  related,  that  he  visited  Croesus,  king  of  Lydia, 
and  that,  during  the  interview,  the  following  interesting 
conversation  passed  between  them.  Croesus,  after  enter- 
taining his  guest  with  great  splendour,  and  making  an 
ostentatious  display  of  the  magnificence  of  his  palace,  de- 
sirous to  extort  from  Solon  expressions  of  admiration  which 
he  did  not  seem  inclined  to  bestow,  asked  him,  whom,  of 
all  mankind,  he  esteemed  most  happy  ?  Solon  answered, 
"  Tellus,  the  Athenian."  Crcesns,  surprized  that  Solon 
should  name  any  other  man  in  preference  to  himself,  re- 
quested to  be  informed  of  the  grounds  of  this  judgment. 


S06  SOLO  N. 

"  Tellns,"  replied  Solon,  "  was  descended  from  worthy 
parents,  was  the  father  of  virtuous  chi  dren,  \vhum  every 
one  respected,  and,  at  last,  fell  ,  n  tin  engagement  in 
which,  before  he  expired,  he  saw  his  country  victorious." 
Croesus,  Mattering  himself  that  he  should  at  least  obtain 
the  second  place,  in  Solon's  judgment,  among  the  fortu- 
nate, inquired,  whom,  next  to  Tellus,  he  thought  most 
happy  ?  Solon,  in  return,  said,  two  youths  of  Argos, 
Cleobis  and  Biton,  who  while  they  lived  were  universally 
admired  for  their  fraternal  affection  to  each  other,  and  for 
their  dutiful  behaviour  to  their  mother;  and  who,  after 
they  had  given  an  illustrious  example  of  filial  piety,  ex- 
pired without  sorrow  or  pain.  Crcesus,  mortified  to  find 
the  condition  of  a  private  citizen  of  Athens  or  Argos  pre- 
ferred to  his  own,  could  no  longer  refrain  from  asking 
Solon,  whether  he  meant  wholly  to  exclude  him  from  the 
number  of  the  happy  ?  Solon's  reply  is  a  memorable  proof 
of  his  wisdom  :  "  The  events  of  future  life  are  uncertain  ; 
he  who  has  hitherto  been  prosperous  may  be  unfortunate 
to-morrow:  let  no  man  therefore  be  pronounced  happy 
before  his  death."  This  observation  made  so  deep  an  im- 
pression upon  the  mind  of  Crcesus,  that  when  afterwards, 
experiencing  a  reverse  of  fortune,  he  became  a  prisoner 
to  Cyrus,  and  was  brought  forth  to  be  put  to  death,  he 
cried  out,  "  O  Solon  !  Solon  !"  Cyrus  inquiring  into  the 
meaning  of  the  exclamation,  Crcesus  informed  him  of  what 
had  formerly  passed  between  himself  and  Solon.  The 
consequence  was,  that  Cyrus,  struck  with  the  wisdom  of 
Solon's  remark,  set  Crcesus  at  liberty,  and  treated  him 
with  all  the  respect  due  to  his  former  greatness.  The 
story  is  attended  with  some  chronological  difficulties  ;  but 
it  is  so  consonant  to  the  character  of  Solon,  and  so  admir- 
able an  example  of  the  moral  wisdom  of  those  times,  that 
we  could  not  persuade  ourselves  to  reject  it. 

Solon  died  in  the  island  of  Cyprus,  about  the  eightieth 
year  of  his  age.  Statues  were  erected  to  his  memory,  both 
at  Athens  and  Salamis.  His  thirst  after  knowledge  con- 
tinued to  the  last:  "  I  grow  old,"  said  he,  "  learning  many 
things."  Among  the  apophthegms  recorded  of  him,  are, 
*'  Laws  are  like  cobwebs,  that  catch  the  weak  but  are 
broken  through  by  the  strong;"  "  He  who  has  learned  to 
obey,  will  know  how  to  command  ;"  "  In  every  thing  you 
do,  consider  the  end."  Laertius  has  mentioned  among  his 
writings,  his  orations,  poems,  laws,  and  an  Atlantic  history, 


SOLON.  207 

completed  afterwards  by  Plato  ;  and  has  preserved  som« 
epistles,  but  of  doubtful  authority.1 

SO  ME  US    (JoiiN  LORD),  an   eminent   English    lawyer, 
was  born  at  Worcester,  March  4,    1650,  but  no  register  of 
his  baptism  can   be  found.     A  house  called  White  Ladies 
is  shown  on  the  east  side  of  the  cathedral,  and  very  near 
St.  Michael's  church,   where  he  is  said  to  have  been  born. 
His  father,  John  Somers,   was  an   attorney  of  considerable 
eminence,  and  had  an  estate  of  about  300/.  per  ann.  at  Clif- 
ton.    During  the  rebellion  he  commanded  a  troop  of  horse, 
part  of  Cromwell's  army,  but  resigned  his  commission  after 
the  battle   of  Worcester,  and  returned  to  his  profession, 
and,  among  other  business,   had  the  superintendance  of  the 
finances  and  estates  of  the  Talbots,   earls  of  Shrewsbury, 
which  eventually  produced  a  lasting  friendship  and  cor- 
diality between  the  duke  of  Shrewsbury  and  his  son,  the 
subject  of  this  article.     Of  old  Mr.  Somers  the  following 
anecdote   has  been  recorded  :   "  He  used  to  frequent  the 
terms  in  London,  and  in  his  way  from  Worcester  was  wont 
to  leave  his  horse  at  the  George,  at  Acton,  where  he  often 
made  mention  of  the  hopeful  son  he  had  at  the  Temple. 
Cobbet,  who  kept  the  inn,  hearing  him  enlarge  so  much 
in   praise  of  his   son,   to  compliment  the  old   gentleman, 
cried,  *  Why  wont  you  let  us  see  him,  Sir?'     The  father, 
to  oblige  his  merry  landlord,  desired  the  young  gentleman 
to  accompany  him  so  far  on  his  way  home  ;  and  being  come 
to  the  George,  took  his  landlord  aside,   and  said,   '  I  have 
brought  him,  Cobbet,  but  you  must  not  talk  to  him  as  you 
do  to  me ;  he  will  not  sutler  such  fellows   as  you   in   his 
company'."     After  the  restoration  Mr.  Somers  obtained  a 
pardon  for  what  he  might  have  committed  while  in  the  re- 
publican army,   which  pardon   is  still   in  the  possession  of 
the  family.     He  died  Jan.  1681,  and  was  buried  at  Severn- 
stoke,  in    the    county   of   Worcester;    where   an    elegant 
Latin  inscription,  engraved  on  a  marble  monument,  and 
written  by  his  son,   is  still  to  be  seen. 

In  1675,  Mr.  (afterwards  lord)  Somers,  was  entered  as  a 
commoner  of  Trinity-college,  Oxford.  In  the  year  fol- 
lowing he  is  known  to  have  contributed  5/.  towards  the 
embellishment  of  the  chapel ;  and  some  years  afterwards, 
as  appears  by  the  bursar's  book,  100/.  more.  .It  is  said 
that  he  did  not  entirely  quit  the  university  until  1682,  and 

1  Oil  g.  Laertius. — c:tariiey'»  Philosophers. — Brucker. — Ftneloa. 


SOS  SOME  R  S. 

had  in  the  interim  become  a  student  of  law  in  the  Middle 
Temple,  and  returning  to  college  took  his  degree  of  M.  A, 
June  14,  1681.  While  studying-  law,  he  never  neglected 
the  belles  lettres,  and  it  was  by  his  amusements  in  that 
way,  his  translations,  and  poetical  performances,  that  he 
first  became  known  to  the  public  At  that  time  merit  of 
this  kind  was  a  passport  both  to  tame  and  riches,  and  Mr. 
Somers,  who  in  some  degree  owed  his  promotion  to  the 
muses,  showed  himself  not  ungrateful  when  he  endeavoured 
to  raise  into  notice  their  favourite  votary  Addison.  Sir 
Francis  Winnington,  then  solicitor,  was  one  of  his  earliest 
patrons.  By  such  assistance,  united  to  his  own  merit  and 
application,  he  became,  what  was  very  rarely  seen  in  those 
days,  when  a  deeper  legal  knowledge  was  supposed  essen- 
tial to  a  barrister,  an  eminent  counsel,  before  he  had  at- 
tained the  age  of  thirty.  It  is  imagined  by  some,  that  his 
early  acquaintance  vvth  the  duke  of  Shrewsbury,  might 
have  contributed  to  turn  his  attention  to  the  law,  and 
possibly  accelerated  his  rapid  progress  in  that  profession. 
His  abilities,  however,  and  powerful  oratory,  were  always 
exerted  in  favour  of  liberty,  and  in  the  support  of  that 
rational  freedom  which  is  equally  opposed  to  licentiousness 
and  slavery. 

Having  formed  an  acquaintance  with  lord  Russell,  Al- 
gernon Sidney,  and  other  supporters  of  liberty  at  that 
time,  he  frequently  employed  his  pen  against  the  arbitrary 
proceedings  of  the  reign  of  Charles  II.;  but  as  it  was  his 
practice  to  publish  such  pieces  without  his  name,  very 
few  of  them  are  now  known,  and  these  we  shall  notice  at 
the  conclusion  of  this  article.  In  1688,  when  in  his  thirty- 
sixth  year,  he  distinguished  himself  as  counsel  for  the 
seven  prelates  who  were  tried  for  opposing  the  dispensing 
power  of  James  II.  He  had  afterwards  a  considerable 
share  in  concerting  the  measures  for  bringing  about  the 
revolution.  He  was  chosen  representative  for  his  native  city 
of  Worcester,  in  the  convention-parliament ;  and  in  the 
conference  between  the  two  houses  about  the  word  abdi- 
cated, on  which  he  delivered  a  celebrated  speech,  he  was 
appointed  one  of  the  managers  for  the  House  of  Commons. 

On  the  accession  of  king  William,  Mr.  Somers  was  re- 
warded for  his  exertions,  by  being,  on  May  9,  1689,  made 
solicitor-general,  elected  recorder  of  Gloucester  in  1690, 
appointed  attorney-general,  on  May  2,  1692,  and  lord- 
keeper  in  1693.  We  may  judge  of  his  popularity,  his 


SOMERS.  20i> 

activity,  and  political  skill,  by  the  following  expression  of 
lord  Sunderland,  in  a  letter  to  king  William,  written  about 
this  period  :  "  Lord  Somers,"  says  he,  "  is  the  life,  the 
soul,  the  spirit  of  his  party;  and  can  answer  for  it"  A 
character  of  such  influence  was  not  to  be  neglected  by  a 
yet  unestablished  monarch,  and  accordingly  king  William, 
who  had  conferred  the  honour  of  knighthood  on  Mr. 
Somers  when  solicitor-general,  now  created  him  baron  of 
Evesham,  and  lord  chancellor  of  England.  For  the  sup- 
port of  these  dignities  and  honours,  his  majesty  made  him 
a  grant  of  the  manors  of  Ryegate  and  Howlegh,  in  Surrey, 
and  another  grant  of  2, 100/.  per  annum  out  of  the  fee-farm 
rents  of  the  crown.  Lord  Orford,  in  a  note  on  his  very 
flippant  character  of  lord  Somers,  thinks  these  grants 
formed  an  alloy,  but  has  not  told  us  how  lord  Somers's 
rank  was  to  be  kept  up  without  them.  "  One  might  as 
well,"  observes  lord  Hardwicke,  "  lay  a  heavy  charge  on  his 
father's  (sir  Robert  Walpole)  memory,  for  the  grants  of 
lucrative  offices  obtained  for  his  family,  and  taking  a  pen- 
sion when  he  resigned.  Lord  Somers  raised  no  more  from 
his  offices  and  grants  than  a  fortune  which  enabled  him  to 
live  with  decency  and  elegance." 

Before  the  king's  departure  for  Holland,  in  the  summer 
of  the  year  1697,  his  majesty  communicated  to  lord  Somers 
a  proposition  made  by  count  Tallard,  to  prevent  a  war 
about  the  succession  to  the  crown  of  Spain,  upon  the 
death  of  the  then  monarch  of  that  kingdom  ;  and  the  chan- 
cellor afterwards  received  a  letter  from  his  majesty,  then 
in  Holland,  informing  him,  that  fresh  offers  had  been 
made  to  the  same  purpose;  and  requiring  him  to  dispatch 
full  powers,  under  the  great  seal,  with  the  names  in  blank, 
to  empower  his  majesty  to  treat  with  the  before  mentioned 
Count.  This  order  he  accordingly  complied  with;  and  the 
negociations  being  immediately  entered  upon,  a  treaty  was 
concluded.  This  was  the  first  Partition-treaty;  and  in  the 
next  session  of  parliament,  which  began  Nov.  1 6,  1699,  great 
complaints  were  made  in  the  House  of  Commons  against  the 
chancellor;  and  the  House  being  resolved,  on  Dec.  6,  to 
push  the  resumption  of  the  grants  of  the  Irish  forfeited 
estates,  by  tacking  it  to  the  land-tax-bill,  an  address  was 
concerted  on  April  10,  1700,  praying,  that  "John  lord 
Somers,  lord  chancellor  of  England,  should  be  removed 
for  ever  from  his  majesty's  presence  and  councils  ;"  but  the 
majority  of  the  House  voted  against  any  such  address. 

VOL.  XXVIII.  P 


2  to  SOMERS. 

However,  the  parliament  being  prorogued  the  next  day, 
his  majesty  sent  for  the  lord  chancellor,  and  desired  him 
to  surrender  the  seals  voluntarily  ;  but  this  his  lordship 
declined,  thinking  that  it  would  imply  a  consciousness  of 
guilt,  He  told  the  king,  however,  that  whensoever  his 
majesty  should  send  a  warrant  under  his  hand,  command- 
ing him  to  deliver  them  up,  he  would  immediately  obey  it. 
Accordingly  an  order  was  brought  to  him  for  this  purpose 
by  lord  Jersey,  upon  which  the  seals  were  sent  to  the 
king.  Thus  was  lord  Somers  removed  from  the  post  of 
chancellor,  the  duties  of  which  he  had  discharged  with 
great  integrity  and  ability  ;  and  although  this  was  contrary 
to  the  king's  inclinations  to  make  such  a  sacrifice,  u  was 
not  sufficient  to  appease  the  tory  party,  who  now  formed  a 
design  to  impeach  him.  This  his  lordship  in  some  measure 
anticipated,  by  sending,  os>  April  14,  1701,  a  message  to 
the  House  of  Commons,  in  which,  "  having  heard  tiiat  the 
House  was  in  a  debate  concerning  him,  he  desired  that  he 
might  be  admitted  and  heard."  This  was  granted,  and  a 
chair  being  set  by  the  Serjeant,  a  little  wittiin  the  bar  on 
the  left  hand,  he  had  directions  to  acquaint  lord  Somersr 
that  he  might  come  in  ;  and  on  his  entrance  the  Speaker 
informed  him,  that  he  might  repose  himself  in  the  chair 
provided  for  him.  His  lordship  then  defended  himself 
with  respect  to  his  share  in  concluding  the  partition-treaty, 
which  was  the  principal  charge  against  him  in  that  House, 
and,  according  to  Burnet,  "spoke  so  fully  aud  clearly,, 
that,  upon  his  withdrawing,  it  was  believed,  if  tbe  ques- 
tion had  been  quickly  put,  the  whole  matter  had  b*>en  soon 
at  an  end,  aud  that  the  prosecution  would  have  been  let 
fall.  But  his  enemies  drew  out  the  debate  to  such  a  length, 
that  the  impression,  which  his  speech  had  made,  was 
much  worn  out ;  and  the  House  sitting  till  it  was  past  mid- 
night, they  at  last  carried  it  by  a  majority  of  seven  or  eight 
to  impeach  him." 

On  the  lyth  of  May  following,  the  articles  of  impeach- 
ment against  lord  Somers  were  carried  to  the  House  of 
Peers,  but  a  misunderstanding  arising  between  the  two 
Houses,  he  was  acquitted  by  the  Lords,  without  any  farther 
prosecution  of  the  Commons.  King  William  dying  not 
long  after,  lord  Somers,  not  being  a  favourite  at  the  new 
court,  withdrew  from  public  life,  and  spent  much  of  his 
time  at  his  seat  near  Cheshunt  in  Hertfordshire,  in  the 
study  of  history,  antiquities,  and  polite  literature.  From 
1698  to  170U  he  had  sat  as  president  of  the  Royal  Society, 


S  O  M  E  R  S.  2il 

of  which  he  had  been  elected  a  fellow  in  the  first  of  these 
years.  He  still  continued  his  attendance  in  the  House  of 
Peers,  where  he  opposed  the  bill  to  prevent  occasional 
nonconformity  ;  and  was  one  of  the  managers  for  the  Lords, 
in  the  conference  between  the  two  Houses  upon  that  bill 
in  1702.  In  1706  he  projected  the  plan  for  the  union  of 
England  and  Scotland,  and  was  appointed  by  queen  Anne 
one  of  the  managers.  The  same  year  he  introduced  a  bill 
for  preventing  delays  and  expences  in  proceedings  at  law  : 
and  also  some  regulations  with  regard  to  passing  private 
acts  of  parliament. 

Upon  a  change  of  measures  in  1708,  he  was  again  called 
into  office,  and  appointed  president  of  the  council.  But 
the  whig  interest,  of  which  he  was  the  chief  support,  began 
now  rapidly  to  decline.  The  same  engine  was  played  off 
against  it,  which  has  so  often  since  been  the  last  resource 
of  party  animosity.  The  empty  splendours  of  conquest 
were  derided  ;  and  the  people  warned  that,  while  they 
joined  in  the  huzza  of  victory,  they  were  impoverishing 
themselves  merely  to  enrich  a  few  creatures  of  the  minister. 
Swift  had  no  small  concern  in  this  revolution  of  the  public 
mind,  by  his  pamphlet  on  "  The  Conduct  of  the  Allies." 
Another  change  of  administration  was  effected  in  1710, 
and  lord  Somers  once  more  retired  from  public  life.  To- 
wards the  latter  end  of  queen  Anne's  reign  he  grew  very 
infirm,  and  survived  the  powers  of  his  understanding.  Mr. 
Cooksey,  one  of  his  biographers,  and  a  descendant,  attri- 
butes this  to  a  cause  which  every  admirer  of  lord  Somers 
must  regret,  and  perhaps  wish  suppressed  *.  His  lordship 
died  of  an  apoplexy,  April  26,  1716. 

*  Mr.  Cooksey,  an  enthusiastic  ad-  suffer  more  than  he  uiil  from  indulging 

rairer  of  lord  Somers,  aud  who  defends  tins  favourite  maxim,  in  which  he  was 

him  ably,  as  well  as  indignantly,  against  by  no  means  nice,  or  in  the  least  degree 

the  insinuations  of  Swift,  &c.  has  yet  delicate.     To    this  was  owing   his  fre- 

coucluded    his   Essay  on  the   life   and  q-.ient  illnesses  and  calls  lo  Tollbridge; 

character  of  his  lordship,  with  the  fol-  and,  what  was  worst  of  all,  that  wreicli- 

lowing  particulars,  more  seriously  af-  ed   state  to    which  the  brightest  parts 

fectiug  his  character  than  all  that  his  and    intellects  (jod   ever    bestowed   oa 

contemporary  enemies   had   advanced.  man,  were  reduced  before  his  final  di. - 

"  His  (lord  Somers's)  ideas,  astocmi-  solution." — We   know   not   how  to  re- 

nexion  with  women  (having  been  dis-  concile  this  with  Miss  M  ore's  introdui1- 

appuinted  in  his  first  attachment,  on  ing  his  lordship  in  her  "  Religion  of  lite 

which   he   renounced    ever    after    the  Fashionable  World."  as  one  who  "  was 

thought  of  marrying)  were  such  as  he  not  only  remarkable  for  a  strict  attend- 

professes   and   teaches  in  the  Tale  of  a  ance  on  the   public  duties  of  religion. 

Tubf  ,jacere  collection  kumorem  in  cor-  but  for  maintaining  them  with  equal 

fora  g'iceque.     Nor  did  any  ri:aii-ever  exactness  in  his  family." 

f  Mr.  Cooksey,  as    we    shall    soon    notice,   att;ib«tes  the  "  Tu!e  of  a  Tub"' 

P    2 


212  SOME  R  S. 

Many  are  the  encomiums  which  have  been  bestowed 
upon  this  noble  arid  illustrious  person.  Burnet  tells  us 
that  "  he  was  very  learned  in  his  own  profession,  with  a 
great  deal  more  learning  in  other  professions  ;  in  divinity, 
philosophy,  and  history.  He  had  a  great  capacity  for 
business,  with  an  extraordinary  temper  ;  for  he  was  fair 
and  gentle,  perhaps  to  a  fault,  considering  his  post :  so 
that  he  ru:d  all  the  patience  and  softness,  as  well  as  the 
justice  ami  equity,  becoming  a  great  magistrate."  Lord 
Orford  calls  him  "  one  of  those  divine  men,  who,  like  a 
chapel  in  a  palace,  remain  unprofaned,  while  all  the  rest  i» 
tyranny,  corruption,  and  folly.  All  the  traditional  ac- 
counts of  him,  the  historians  of  the  last  age,  and  its  best 
authors,  represent  him  as  the  most  incorrupt  lawyer,  and 
the  honestest  statesman,  as  a  master-orator,  a  genius  of  the 
finest  taste,  and  as  a  patriot  of  the  noblest  and  most  ex- 
tensive views;  as  a  man  who  dispensed  blessings  by  his 
life,  and  planned  them  for  posterity."  He  was  a  very  great 
patron  of  men  of  parts  and  learning,  and  particularly  of  Mr. 
Addison,  who  has  drawn  his  character  at  large  in  one  of 
his  "  Freeholders,"  in  that  of  May  4,  1716,  where  he  has 
chosen -his  lordship's  motto  for  that  of  his  paper,  "  Pro- 
desse  quam  conspici."  Lord  Somers  was  one  of  those 
who  first  redeemed  Milton's  "  Paradise  Lost"  from  that 
obscurity  in  which  party-prejudice  and  hatred  had  suf- 
fered it  long  to  lie  neglected,  and  \\lio  pointed  out  the 
merits  of  that  noble  poem.  The  most  unfavourable  cha- 
racter of  lord  Somers  is  that  drawn  by  Swift,  once  his 
friend,  as  appears  by  the  dedication  of  the  "Tale  of  a  Tub,'* 
if  that  be  Swift's  ;  and  here  we  may  notice  that  lord  So- 
mers's  biographer,  Mr.  Cooksey,  offers  some  arguments,  and 
combines  some  facts,  to  prove  that  this  satire  was  the  pro- 
duction of  his  lordship,  and  of  his  gay  young  friend  lord 
Shrewsbury.  The  characters  of  Peter,  Jack,  and  Martin, 
are  said  to  have  been  sketched  from  living  persons,  and 
these  sketches  of  character,  after  many  years  remaining  ii> 
MS.  and  passing  through  the  hands  of  lord  Shaftesbury 
and  sir  William  Temple,  are  said  to  have  been  published 
by  dean  Swift.  That  this  work  was  the  sportive  produc- 
tion of  Mr.  Somers,  "  I  have  no  doubt,"  says  Mr.  Cooksey, 
"  from  the  private  tradition  of  the  family,  and  drawn  by  him 
from  real  life,  and  originals  within  his  own  observation.'* 
Blurton,  the  uncle  of  Mr.  Somers,  a  good  and  pious  man, 
furnished,  it  is  said,  the  portrait  of  the  church  of  England 


SOMERS.  213 

man.  The  character  of  Jack,  the  Calvinist,  exhibited  that 
of  his  grandfather,  Somers,  who  was  so  devoted  an  ad- 
mirer of  Richard  Baxter,  of  presbyterian  memory,  as  to  be 
induced  to  spend  most  of  his  latter  days  with  him  at  Kid- 
derminster, and  to  direct  his  remains  to  be  deposited  under 
a  cross  in  the  church-yard  there,  as  he  supposed  the 
ground  hallowed  by  die  sanctity  of  Baxter.  Peter  had  his 
lineaments  from  father  Petre,  the  Jesuit.  Lord  Somers's 
later  biographer,  Mr.  Maddock,  after  examining  the  pro- 
bability of  this  story,  discredits  it,  and  leaves  the  "  Tale  of 
a  Tub"  the  property  of  its  generally  reputed  author,  dean 
Swift ;  and  most  readers,  we  apprehend,  will  be  more  in- 
clined to  acquiesce  in  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Maddock  than  in 
that  of  Mr.  Cooksey. 

The  other  works  attributed  to  lord  Somers,  with  more 
or  less  authority,  are,  1.  "  Dryden's  Satire  to  his  Muse  ;" 
but  this  has  been  disputed.  Mr.  Malone  says,  the  author  of 
this  severe  attack  on  Dryden  has  never  been  discovered. 
Pope  assures  us  that  lord  Somers  "  was  wholly  ignorant  of 
it;"  but,  says  Mr.  Maione,  "if  Somers  had  written  any 
part  of  this  libel  (we  cannot  suppose  him  to  have  written 
the  scandalous  part  of  it)  thirty  years  before  he  was  ac- 
quainted with  Pope,  is  it  probable  that  he  would  have  made 
a  young  author  of  four-and-twenty  the  depositary  of  his 
secret  ?  Two  years  before  this  satire  was  published,  he 
had  appeared  as  a  poet;  and  near  two  hundred  lines  of  it, 
that  is,  nearly  two  parts  out  of  three,  are  a  political  enco- 
mium and  vindication  of  the  whigs,  without  any  offensive 
personality,  couched  in  such  moderate  poetry  as  is  found 
in  Somers's  acknowledged  poetical  productions."  Lord 
Somers's  other  and  acknowledged  poems  were,  2.  "Trans- 
lation of  the  Epistle  of  Dido  to  ./Eneas."  3.  "  Translation 
of  Ariadne  to  Theseus."  Of  the  prose  kind  were,  4. 
"  Translation  of  Plutarch's  life  of  Alcibiades."  5.  "  A  just 
and  modest  Vindication  of  the  proceedings  of  the  two  last 
Parliaments,"  1681,  4to,  first  written  by  Algernon  Sid- 
ney, but  ncic-draivn  by  Somers,  published  in  Baldwin's 
collection  of  pamphlets  in  the  reign  of  Charles  II.  The 
two  following  are  doubtful  :  6.  "  The  Security  of  English- 
men's Lives,  or  the  trust,  power,  and  duty  of  the  Grand 
Juries  of  England  explained  according  to  the  fundamentals 
of  the  English  government,  &c."1682,  and  1700.  7.  "  Lord 
Somers's  Judgment  of  whole  kingdoms  in  the  power,  &c. 
of  Kings,"  1710,  8vo,  but  bearing  no  resemblance  to  his 


214  S  O  M  E  R  S. 

style  or  manner.  With  more  certainty  we  may  add,  8.  "  A 
Speech  at  the  conference  on  the  word  Abdicated,'"  in  the 
General  Dictionary,  and  probably  published  separately. 
9.  "Another  on  the  same  occasion."  10.  "  Speeches  at 
the  trial  of  lord  Preston."  11.  "  His  letter  to  king  Wil- 
liam on  the  Partition-treaty."  12.  "  His  answer  to  his  Im- 
peachment." 13.  "  Extracts  from  two  of  his  Letters  to  lord 
Wharton."  14.  "  Addresses  of  the  Lords  in  answer  to  Ad- 
dresses of  the  Commons."  15.  "  The  Argument  of  the  lord 
keeper  Somers  on  his  giving  judgment  in  the  Banker's  Case, 
delivered  in  the  exchequer  chamber,  July  23,  1696."  He 
is  supposed  likewise  to  have  written  "  The  preface  to  Dr. 
Tindal's  Rights  of  the  Christian  Church,"  a  "Brief  His- 
tory of  the  Succession,  collected  out  of  the  records,  writ- 
ten for  the  satisfaction  of  the  E.  of  H."  This  was  in 
favour  of  the  attempt  to  exclude  the  duke  of  York,  and 
was  re-printed  in  1714.  The  MSS.  of  this  able  statesman 
and  lawyer  filled  above  sixty  folio  volumes,  which  were 
destroyed  by  fire  in  Lincoln's  Inn,  in  1752.  Some  re- 
mains, which  the  fire  had  spared,  were  published  by  lord 
Hardwicke  in  1778,  4to,  entitled  "State  Papers,  from  1501 
to  1726."  This  noble  editor  informs  us  that  the  treatise  on 
Grand  Jurors,  the  Vindication  of  the  last  Parliament  of 
Charles  II.  above-mentioned,  and  the  famous  last  Speech 
of  king  William,  were  all  found  in  the  hand-writing  of 
lord  Somers.  The  "  Somers  Tracts,"  so  frequently  re- 
ferred to,  are  a  collection  of  scarce  pieces  in  four  sets  of 
four  volumes  each,  4to,  published  by  Cogan  from  pamph- 
lets chiefly  collected  by  lord  Somers.  His  lordship  left  a 
large  and  weii-chosen  library  of  books,  and  many  curious 
MSS.  Of  this  collection  Whiston,  the  bookseller,  gives 
the  following  account :  "  Sir  Joseph  Jekyll,  master  of  the 
rolls,  married  one  of  his  sisters  :  the  other  was  married  to 

Cocks,   esq.  I  think ;  she  left  two  daughters,  one  of 

which  married  sir  Philip  Yorke,  who  thereby  came  to  the 
right  of  the  fourth  share  of  that  collection,  and  purchased 
the  other  fourth.  They  consisted  of  about  6000  articles, 
and  were  valued  at  near  4000/.  by  Mr.  Gyles  and  Mr. 
Charles  Davies.  I  was  employed,  when  apprentice  to  Mr. 
Gyles,  in  dividing  them  between  sir  Joseph  Jekyll  and  sir 
Philip  Yorke,  previous  to  which  I  called  them  over,  to 
see  if  they  answered  the  catalogue.  Every  book  almost 
went  through  my  hands  four  or  five  times.  This  gave  me 
a.n  opportunity,  when  young,  of  attaining  the  knowledge. 


•S  O  M  E  R  S.  215 

of  many  scarce  books,  much  sooner  than  the  common 
course  of  business  would  have  clone.  The  catalogue  was 
excellently  well  ranged  in  sciences  and  their  subdivisions, 
*by  the  care,  I  heard,  of  the  rev.  Humphrey  Wanley.  It 
was  about  17X1  tbe  affair  was  finished.  A  fine  collection 
•of  Bibles  in  all  languages  made  a  part." 

Lord  Somers  never  married.  The  two  sisters  mentioned 
by  Mr.  Whiston,  were  Mary,  who  married  Charles  Cocks, 
esq.  grandfather  to  Charles  Cocks,  created  baron  Somers 
in  1784;  and  Catherine,  who  married  James  Harris,  esq. 
of  Salisbury,  tbe  ancestor  of  lord  Malmsbury.  The  eldest 
daughter  by  this  marriage,  Elizabeth,  married  sir  Joseph 
Jekyl,  master  of  the  rolls,  who  introduced  Mr.  Yorke  to 
Mr.  Cocks,  as  a  proper  match  for  his  eldest  daughter,  Mar- 
garet, then  the  young  widow  of  Mr.  William  Lygon  of 
Madersfield. l 

SOMERVILE  (WILLIAM),  an  English  poet,  was  de- 
scended from  a  very  ancient  family  in  the  county  of  War- 
wick. His  ancestors  had  large  possessions  at  Kingston,  in 
Worcestershire,  so  early  as  the  reign  of  Edward  I.  He 
was  the  son  of  Robert  Somervile,  of  Edston,  in  Warwick- 
shire, and,  as  he  says  himself,  was  born  near  Avon's  banks. 
He  was  born  at  Edston,  in  Warwickshire,  in  1692,  bred 
at  Winchester  school,  and  chosen  from  thence  fellow  of 
New  college,  Oxford,  as  was  his  brother  Dr.  Somervile, 
rector  of  Adderbury,  in  Oxfordshire.  Dr.  Johnson  says, 
he  "  never  heard  of  him  but  as  a  poet,  a  country  gentter 
man,  and  a  useful  justice  of  the  peace  ;"  and  indeed  very 
little  is  known  of  his  history. 

The  following  account,  copied  from  the  letters  of  his 
friend  Shenstor.e,  will  be  read  with  puin  by  those  whom 
his  poems  have  delighted.  "  Our  old  friend  Somervile  is 
deadi  I  did  not  imagine.  I  could  have  been  so  sorry  as  I 
find  myself  on  this  occasion,  '  Snblatum  quacrimus.'  1  can 
now  excuse  all  his  foibles,  impute  them  to  age  and  to  dis- 
tress of  circumstances  ;  ihe  last  of  these  considerations 
wrings  my  very  soul  to  think  on.  For  a  man  of  high  spirit, 
conscious  of  having  (at  least  in  one  production)  generally 
pleased  the  world,  to  be  plagued  and  threatened  by  wretches 
that  are  low  in  every  sense,  to  be  forced  to  drink  himself 

1  Gen.  Diet. — Biog.  Brit. — Nash's  Worcestershire. — Tindal's  History  of 
l'>«'sham. — Swift's  Works. — Malone's  Dryden. — Burnet's  Own  Times. — Birch's 
Tillotson. — Whiston's  MS  notes  in  the  first  edition  of  this  Dictionary. — Life,  bf 
•Cvoksey,  and  by  iMaddock,  4to.— Mark's  Royal  and  Noble  Authors,  fltc. 


216  S  O  M  E  R  V  I  L  E. 

into  pains  of  the  body  in  order  to  get  rid  of  the  pains  of 
the  mind,  is  a  misery."  He  died  July  14,  1743. 

From  lady  Luxborough's  Letters,  p.  2 1 1,  we  find  that  Mr. 
Somervile  translated  from  Voltaire  the  play  of  "Alzira," 
which  was  then  in  manuscript  in  her  hands. 

His  distresses,  says  Dr.  Johnson,  need  not  be  much 
pitied  :  his  estate  is  ?aid  to  have  been  fifteen  hundred  a 
year,  which  by  his  death  devolved  to  lord  Somervile,  of 
Scotland.  His  mother,  indeed,  who  lived  till  ninety,  had 
a  jointure  of  six  hundred.  Dr.  Johnson  regrets  his  not 
being  better  enabled  to  exhibit  memorials  of  a  writer,  who 
at  least  must  be  allowed  to  h»ve  set  a  good  example  to 
men  of  his  own  class,  by  v'evotiug  part  of  his  time  to  ele- 
gant knowledge  ;  and  vt  ho  has  shewn  by  the  subjects  which 
his  poetry  has  adorned,  thn  it  is  practicable  to  be  at  once 
a  skilful  sportsman  and  a  man  of  letters.  He  tried  many 
modes  of  poetry  ;  and  though  perhaps  he  has  not  in  any 
reached  such  excellence  as  to  raise  much  envy,  it  may 
commonly  be  said  at  least,  that  "  he  writes  very  well  fur  a 
gentleman."  His  serious  pieces  are  sometimes  elevated, 
and  his  trifles  are  sometimes  elegant.  His  subjects  are 
commonly  such  as  require  no  great  depth  of  thought  or 
energy  of  expression.  His  fables  are  generally  stale,  and 
therefore  excite  no  curiosity.  Of  his  favourite,  The  Two 
Springs,  the  fiction  is  unnatural,  and  the  moral  inconse- 
quential. In  his  Tales  there  is  too  much  coarseness,  with 
too  little  care  of  language,  and  not  sufficient  rapidity  of 
narration.  As  a  poet,  however,  he  is  chiefly  known  by  his 
"  Chace,"  which  is  entitled  to  great  praise  as  a  descriptive 
poem.  ' 

SOMNER  (WILLIAM),  an  eminent  English  antiquary, 
was  born  at  Canterbury,  March  30,  1606,  according  to  the 
account  given  by  his  wife  and  son  ;  but,  according  to  the 
register  of  the  parish  of  St.  Margaret's,  much  earlier,  for 
it  represents  him  to  have  been  baptized  Nov.  5,  1598.  It 
was  a  proper  birth-place  for  an  antiquary,  being  one  of  the 
most  ancient  cities  in  England  ;  and  Somner  was  so  well 
pleased  with  it,  that,  like  Claudian's  good  old  citizen  of 
Verona,  within  the  walls,  or  in  the  sight  of  them,  he  grew 
up,  lived,  and  died.  He  was  of  a  reputable  family  ;  and 
his  father  was  registrar  of  the  court  of  Canterbury  under  sir 

1  Johnson's  Lives. — Shenstone's  Works,  vol.  Ill,  p.  4S. — Lady  Luxborougk's 
Letters,  p.  175,  211.— Gent.  Maj.  vol. 


S  O  M  N  E  R.  217 

Nathaniel  Brent,  commissary.  At  a  proper  age  he  was 
sent  to  the  free-school  of  that  city,  where  he  seems  to  have 
acquired  a  competent  knowledge  of  the  Latin  language  at 
least.  Thence  he  was  removed,  and  placed  as  clerk  to  his 
father  in  the  ecclesiastical  courts  of  that  diocese;  and  was 
afterwards  preferred  to  a  creditable  office  in  those  courts 
by  archbishop  Laud.  His  natural  bent  in  the  mean  time 
lay  to  the  study  of  antiquities  ;  and  he  took  all  opportu- 
nities of  indulging  it.  He  was  led  early,  in  his  walks 
through  the  suburbs  and  the  fields  of  that  city,  to  survey 
the  British  bricks,  the  Roman  ways,  the  Danish  hills  and 
works,  the  Saxon  monasteries,  and  the  Norman  churches. 
This  was  his  amusement  abroad  ;  at  home  he  delighted  in 
old  manuscripts,  leger-books,  rolls-and  records;  his  know- 
ledge of  which  was  such,  that  upon  questions  concerning 
descent  of  families,  tenure  of  estates,  dedication  of  churches, 
right  of  tithes,  and  the  history  of  use  and  custom,  he  was 
consulted  by  all  his  neighbours. 

In  1640  he  published  "The  Antiquities  of  Canterbury," 
4to  ;  an  accurate  performance,  and  very  seasonably  exe- 
cuted, as  it  preserved  from  oblivion  many  monuments  of 
antiquity,  which  were  soon  after  buried  by  civil  discord  iti 
ruin.  This  work  obtained  a  high  character ;  and  Dr.  Meric 
Casaubon,  prebendary  of  Canterbury,  and  a  great  encou- 
rager  of  our  author  in  his  studies,  represents  it  as  "ex- 
ceedingly useful,  not  only  to -those  who  desire  to  know  the 
state  of  that  once  flourishing  city,  but  to  all  that  are  cu- 
rious in  the  ancient  English  history."  It  was  reprinted  in 
folio,  with  cuts,  and  revised  and  enlarged  by  the  editor, 
Nicholas  Batteley,  to  which  he  added  a  second  part,  of  his 
own  composition.  Thus  far  Somner  had  searched  only  into 
the  Latin  writers,  and  such  national  records  as  had  been 
penned  since  the  Norman  conquest  :  but  his  thirst  after 
antiquities  urged  him  to  proceed,  and  to  attain  the  British 
and  Saxon  tongues.  To  acquire  the  British,  there  were 
rules  of  grammar,  explications  of  words,  and  other  suf- 
ficient memoirs,  besides  the  living  dialect,  to  guide  a  man 
of  industry  and  resolution  ;  but  the  Saxon  was  extinct,  and 
the  monuments  of  it  so  few  and  so  latent,  that  it  required 
infinite  courage  as  well  as  patience.  Encouraged,  how- 
ever, by  his  friend  Casaubon,  and  being  of  an  active  spirit, 
he  did  not  despair  ;  but,  beginning  his  work,  he  succeeded 
so  wonderfully,  as  to  be  compared  with  the  most  knowing 
rn  that  way  :  and  he  has  always  been  ranked  by  the  best 


218  S  O  M  N  E  H. 

judges  among  the  few  complete  critics  in  the  Saxon  lan- 
guage. His  skill  in  this  obliged  him  to  inquire  into  most 
of  the  ancient  European  languages  ;  and  made  him  also  go 
through  the  Old  Gaelic,  Irish,  Scotch,  and  Danish  dialects, 
and  yet  more  particularly  the  Gothic,  Sclavonian,  and 
German.  Of  his  perfection  in  the  latter  he  gave  the  world 
a  public  specimen  on  the  following  occasion.  While  his 
friend  Casaubon  was  employed  in  an  essay  on  the  Saxon 
tongue,  he  met  with  an  epistle  of  Lipsius  to  Schottus,  which 
contained  a  large  catalogue  of  old  German  words,  in  use 
with  that  nation  eight  or  nine  hundred  years  before.  Ca- 
saubon thought  that  many  of  them  had  a  great  affinity  to 
the  Saxon  ;  and,  therefore,  being  then  in  London,  sent 
down  the  catalogue  to  Somner  at  Canterbury  ;  who  in  a  few 
days  returned  his  animadversions  upon  them,  and  shewed 
the  relation  of  the  German  with  the  Saxon  language. 
They  were  published  as  an  appendix  to  Casaubon's  essay 
in  1650,  8vo;  at  which  time  the  same  Casaubon  informs 
us,  il  that  Somner  would  have  printed  all  his  useful  labours, 
and  have  written  much  more,  if  that  fatal  catastrophe  had 
not  interposed,  which  brought  no  less  desolation  upon  let- 
ters than  upon  the  land." 

Somner' s  reputation  was  now  so  well  established  that  no 
monuments  of  antiquity  could  be  further  published  without 
his  advice  and  helping  hand.  In  1652,  when  a  collection  of 
historians  came  forth  under  this  title  "  Histories  Anglicanze 
Scriptores  X.  ex  vet.  MSS.  mine  primuin  in  lucem  editi," 
the  Appendix,  or  Glossarium,  (SeeyEu-Ric,)  was  the  labour 
of  Mr.  Somner:  whom  sir  Roger  Twisden,  who,  with  the 
assistance  of  archbishop  Usher  and  Mr.  Selden,  published 
these  historians,  represents  in  the  preface  as  "  a  man  of  pri- 
mitive probity  and  candour,  a  most  sagacious  searcher  into 
the  antiquities  of  his  country,  and  most  expert  in  the  Saxon 
tongue."  Hickes  afterwards  calls  this  glossary  of  Sotnner's 
"  incomparable,  a  truly  golden  work  ;  without  which  the 
ten  historians  luid  been  imperfect  and  little  useful."  Som- 
ner's friends  had  still  more  work  for  him  :  they  observed  it 
was  impossible  to  cultivate  any  language,  or  recommend  it 
to  learners,  without  the  help  of  a  dictionary  ;  and  this  was 
yet  wanting  to  the  Saxon.  On  him,  therefore,  they  laid 
the  mighty  task  of  compiling  one :  but,  as  this  work  re- 
quired much  time  and  great  expence,  it  became  an  object 
to  contrive  some  competent  reward  and  support,  besides 
affording  him  their  countenance  and  assistance.  Sir  Henry 


S  O  M  N  E  R.  219 

Spelman  had  founded  at  Cambridge  a  lecture  for  "  pro- 
moting the  Saxon  tongue,  either  by  reading  it  publicly,  or 
by  the  edition  of  Saxon  manuscripts,  and  other  books:" 
and,  this  lecture  being  vacant  in  1657,  archbishop  Usher 
recommended  Somner  to  the  patron,  Roger  Spelman,  esq. 
srrandson  of  the  founder,  that  "  he  would  confer  on  him 

O 

the  pecuniary  stipend,  to  enable  him  to  prosecute  a  Saxon 
dictionary,  which  would  more  improve  that  tongue,  than 
bare  academic  lectures."  Accordingly,  Somner  had  the 
salary,  and  now  pursued  the  work,  in  which  he  had  already 
made  considerable  progress ;  for  it  was  published  at  Ox- 
ford in  April  1659,  with  an  inscription  to  all  students  in 
the  Saxon  tongue,  a  dedication  to  his  patron  Roger  Spei- 
man,  esq.  and  a  preface. 

Just  before  the  Restoration,  he  was  imprisoned  in  the 
castle  of  Deal,  for  endeavouring  to  procure  hands  to  pe- 
tition for  a  free  parliament.  In  1660,  he  was  made  master 
of  St.  John's  hospital,  in  the  suburbs  of  Canterbury;  and 
about  the  same  time  auditor  of  Christ-church,  in  that  city. 
The  same  year  he  published,  in  quarto,  "  A  treatise  of 
Gnvel-kind,  both  name  and  thing,  shewing  the  true  ety- 
mology and  derivation  of  the  one  ;  the  nature,  antiquity, 
and  original,  of  the  other  ;  with  sundry  emergent  obser- 
vations, both  pleasant  and  profitable  to  be  known  of  Ken- 
tishtnen  and  others,  especially  such  as  are  studious  either 
of  the  ancient  custom,  or  the  common  law  of  this  king- 
dom." In  this  work  he  shewed  himself  an  absolute  civilian, 
and  a  complete  common  lawyer,  as  well  as  a  profound  an- 
tiquary. This  was  his  last  publication  :  he  left  behind  him 
many  observations  in  manuscript,  and  some  treatises,  one 
of  which,  "  of  the  Roman  ports  and  forts  in  Kent,"  was 
published  at  Oxford,  1693,  Svo,  by  James  Brome,  M.  A. 
rector  of  Cheriton,  and  chaplain  to  the  Cinque-ports  ;  and 
"  Julii  Caesaris  Portus  Iccius  illustratus  a  Somnero,  Du 
Fresne,  et  Gibson,"  was  printed  at  the  same  place,  1624, 
Svo.  To  the  former  is  prefixed  his  life  by  White  Kennet, 
afterwards  bishop  of  Peterborough.  These  works  were  parts 
of  an  intended  history  of  the  antiquities  of  Kent. 

Somner  died  March  30,  1669,  after  having  been  twice 
married,  and  was  buried  in  the  north  aile  of  St.  iMargaret's 
church,  Canterbury,  where  is  an  inscription  to  his  memory. 
Dr.  Kennet  tells  us,  that  "  he  was  courteous,  without  de- 
sign ;  wise,  without  a  trick  ;  faithful,  without  a  reward  ; 
humble  and  compassionate ;  moderate  and  equal;  never 


220  S  O  M  N  E  R. 

fretted  by  his  afflictions,  nor  elated  by  the  favours  of  hea- 
ven and  good  men."  Of  his  "  Saxon  Dictionary"  he  says, 
"  For  this,  indeed,  is  a  farther  honour  to  the  work,  and  the 
author  of  it,  that  it  was  done  in  the  days  of  anarchy  and 
confusion,  of  ignorance  and  tyranny, when  all  the  professors 
of  true  religion  and  good  literature  were  silenced  and  op- 
pressed. And  yet  Providence  so  ordered,  that  the  loyal 
suffering  party  did  all  that  was  done  for  the  improvement 
of  letters,  and  the  honour  of  the  nation.  Those  that  in- 
truded into  the  places  of  power  and  profit  did  nothing  but 
defile  the  press  with  lying  new  and  fast  sermons,  \\hile  the 
poor  ejected  churchmen  did  works  of  which  the  world  was 
not  worthy."  This  opinion,  which  is  not  strictly  just,  is 
yet  considerably  strengthened  by  an  appeal  which  Dr. 
Kennet  makes  to  the  "  Monasticon,  the  Decem  Scripto- 
res,  the  Polyglot  Bible,  the  London  Critics,  the  Council 
of  Florence,  and  the  Saxon  Dictionary."  Somner's  many 
well-selected  books  and  choice  manuscripts  were  pur- 
chased by  the  dean  and  chapter  of  Canterbury  for  the  li- 
brary of  that  church,  where  they  now  remain.  A  catalogue 
of  his  manuscripts  is  subjoined  to  the  life  abovementioned. 
He  was  a  man  "  antiquis  moribus,"  of  great  integrity  and 
simplicity  of  manners.  He  adhered  to  king  Charles,  in 
the  time  of  his  troubles  ;  and,  when  he  saw  him  brought 
to  the  block,  his  zeal  could  no  longer  contain  itself,  but 
broke  out  into  a  passionate  elegy,  entitled  "The  insecu- 
rity of  princes,  considered  in  an  occasional  meditation  upon 
the  king's  late  sufferings  and  death,"  1648,  4to.  Soon 
after,  he  published  another  affectionate  poem,  to  which 
is  prefixed  the  pourtraicture  of  Charles  I.  before  his 
EIKUV  ftavfoim,  and  this  title,  "  The  frontispiece  of  the  king's 
book  opened,  with  a  poem  annexed,  '  The  Insecurity  of 
Princes,'  &c."  4to. 

Among  his  friends  and  correspondents  were  the  arch- 
bishops Laud  and  Usher,  sir  Robert  Cotton,  sir  William 
Dugdale,  sir  Simonds  D'Ewes,  the  antiquary  Mr.  William 
Burton,  sir  John  Marsh a-m,  Elias  Ashmole,  esq.  and  others 
of  the  same  stamp  and  character.  A  print  of  him  is  placed 
over-against  the  titlepage  of  his  treatise  "  Of  the  Roman 
ports  and  forts  in  Kent."  l 

SOPHOCLES,  an  ancient  Greek  tragic  poet,  was  born 
at  Athens  in  the  71st  olympiad,  about  500  B.  C.  His 
• 

1  Life  by  Kennet.— Biog.  Brit.— Cough's  Topography, —  Peck's  Desiderata. 


SOPHOCLE.S, 

father  Sopbilus,  of  whose  condition  nothing  certain  can  be 
collected,  educated  him  in  all  the  politer  accomplishments: 
he  learned  music  and  dancing  of  Lamprus,  as  Athenaeus 
says  ;  and  had  jEschylus  for  his  master  in  poetry.  He  was 
about  sixteen  at  the  time  of  Xerxes's  expedition  into 
Greece  :  and  being  at  Salamis,  where  the  Grecians  were 
employed  in  fixing  the  monuments  of  the  victory,  after  the 
flight  of  that  prince,  and  the  entire  rout  of  ;«11  his  generals, 
he  is  reported  to  have  appeared  at  the  head  of  a  choir  of 
youths.;  and  while  they  sung  a  pa,>an,  to  have  guided  the 
measures  with  his  harp. 

He  was  five  and  twenty,  when  he  conquered  his  master 
./Escbylus  in  tragedy.  Cimon,  vhe  Athenian  general,  having 
found  Theseus's  bones,  and  bringing  the  noble  relics  with 
solemn  pomp  into  the  city,  a  contention  of  tragedians  was 
appointed  ;  as  was  usual  on  extraordinary  occasions,  JEs- 
chylus  and  Sophocles  were  the  two  great  rivals  ;  and  the 
prize  was  adjudged  to  Sophocles,  although  it  was  the  first 
play  he  ever  presented  in  public.  The  esteem  and  wonder 
that  all  Greece  expressed  at  his  wisdom,  made  him  con- 
ceived to  be  the  peculiar  favourite  of  the  gods.  Thus  they 
tell  us,  that  ^Esculapius  did  him  the  honour  to  visit  him  at 
his  house;  and,  from  a  story  related  by  Cicero,  it  should 
seem  that  Hercules  was  supposed  to  have  no  less  respect 
for  him.  Apollonius  Tyanensis,  in  his  oration  before 
Domitian,  tells  the  emperor,  that  Sophocles  the  Athenian. 
was  al)le  to  check  and  restrain  the  furious  winds,  when  they 
were  visiting  his  country  at  an  unseasonable  time. 

This  opinion  of  his  extraordinary  worth  opened  him  a  free 
passage  to  the  highest  offices  in  the  state.  We  find  him,  in 
Strabo,  going  in  joint  commission  with  Pericles,  to  reduce 
the  rebellious  Samians.  Cicero,  in  his  book  "  De  Senec- 
tute,"  produces  Sophocles  as  an  example,  to  shew,  that 
the  weakness  of  the  memory  and  parts  is  not  a  necessary 
attendant  of  old  age.  He  observes,  that  this  great  man 
continued  the  profession  of  his  art,  even  to  his  latest  years; 
but  his  sons  resented  this  severe  application  to  writing,  as  a 
neglect  of  his  family  and  estate.  On  this  account,  they  at 
last  brought  the  business  into  court  before  the  judges;  and 
petitioned  the  guardianship  of  their  father,  as  one  that  was 
grown  a  dotard,  and  therefore  incapable  of  managing  his 
concerns.  The  aged  poet,  being  acquainted  with  the  mo- 
tion, in  order  to  his  defence,  came  presently  into  court, 
and  recited  his  "CEdipusof  Colonoaj"  a  tragedy  he  had  just 


222  SOPHOCLES. 

before  finished ;  and  then  desired  to  know,  whether  that 
piece  looked  like  the  work  of  a  dotard  ?  There  needed  no 
other  plea  in  his  favour ;  for  the  judges,  admiring  and  ap- 
plauding his  wit,  not  only  acquitte'd  him  of  the  charge,  but, 
as  Lucian  adds,  voted  his  sons  madmen  for  accusing  him. 
The  general  story  of  his  death  is,  that,  having  exhibited 
his  last  play,  and  obtained  the  prize,  he  fell  into  such  a 
transport  of  joy,  as  carried  him  off;  though  Lucian  differs 
from  the  common  report,  and  affirms  him  to  have  been 
choaked  by  a  grape-stone,  like  Anacreon.  He  died  at 
Athens  in  his  90th  year,  as  some  say  ;  in  his  95th,  according 
toothers,  B.  C.  405. 

If  JEschylus  be  styled,  as  he  usually  has  been,  the  fa- 
ther, Sophocles  will  certainly  demand  the  title  of  the  mas- 
ter of  tragedy ;  since  what  the  former  brought  into  the 
world,  the  other  reduced  to  a  more  regular  form.  Dioge- 
nes Laertius,  when  he  would  give  tis  the  highest  idea  of 
the  advances  Plato  made  in  philosophy,  compares  them  to 
the  improvements  of  Sophocles  in  tragedy.  The  chief 
reason  of  Aristotle's  giving  him  the  preference  to  Euripides 
was,  his  allowing  the  chorus  an  interest  in  the  main  action, 
so  as  to  make  every  thing  to  conduce  regularly  to  the  main 
design;  whereas  we  often  meet  in  Euripides  with  a  rambling 
song  of  the  chorus,  entirely  independent  of  the  main  business 
of  the  play.  Aristotle,  indeed,  has  given  Euripides  the 
epithet  of  T^ayixuralog,  but  it  is  easy  to  discover,  that  he  can 
mean  only  the  most  pathetic  ;  whereas,  on  the  whole,  he 
gives  Sophocles  the  precedency,  at  least  in  the  most  noble 
perfections  of  ceconomy,  manners,  and  style.  Dionysius 
Halicarnassensis,  in  his  "  Art  of  Rhetoric,"  commends 
Sophocles  for  preserving  the  dignity  of  his  persons  and 
characters ;  whereas  Euripides,  says  he,  did  not  so  much 
consult  the  truth  of  his  manners,  as  their  conformity  to 
common  life.  He  gives  the  preference  to  Sophocles  on 
two  other  accounts  :  first,  because  Sophocles  chose  the  no- 
blest and  most  generous  affections  and  manners  to  re- 
present ;  while  Euripides  employed  himself  in  expressing 
the  more  dishonest,  abject,  and  effeminate  passions ;  and, 
secondly,  because  the  former  never  says  anything  but  what 
is  necessary,  whereas  the  latter  frequently  amuses  the  reader 
with  oratorical  deductions.  Cicero  had  so  high  an  opinion 
of  Sophocles,  that  he  called  him  the  divine  poet;  and, 
Virgil,  by  his  "  Sophocleo  cothurno,"  has  left  a  mark  of 
distinction,  which  seems  to  denote  a  preference  of  Sopho- 


SOPHOCLES.  223 

cles  to  all  other  writers  of  tragedy.  Sophocles  is  certainly 
the  most  masterly  of  the  three  Greek  tragedians,  the  most 
correct  in  the  conduct  of  his  subjects,  and  the  most  just 
and  sublime  in  his  sentiments  ;  and  is  eminent  for  his  de- 
scriptive talent. 

Out  of  above  an  hundred  tragedies,  which  Sophocles 
wrote,  only  seven  remain.  They  have  been  frequently 
published,  separately  and  together;  with  the  Greek  scho- 
lia and  Latin  versions,  and  without.  The  first  edition  was 
by  Aldus  at  Venice  in  1502  ;  after  which  followed  those  of 
Turnebus,  4to.  1553;  of  H.  Stephens,  4to.  1568;  of  John- 
son, 1705,  1746,  3  vols.  8vo;  of  Capperonius,  1781,  2  vols, 
4to;  of  Brunck,  1786,  2  vols.  4to,  and  1786 — 9,  3  vols.; 
of  Musgrave,  Oxon.  1800,  3  vols.;  and  of  Both,  in  1806, 
2  vols.  8vo.  They  have  been  all  translated  into  English 
by  Francklin,  and  by  Potter.1 

SORBAIT  (PAUL),  a  good  medical  writer,  a  native  of 
Hainaut,  was  physician  to  the  imperial  court,  and  profes- 
sor of  medicine  at  Vienna  for  twenty-four  years.  He  died 
in  1691,  at  an  advanced  age.  He  has  left,  1.  "  Commen- 
taries on  the  Aphorisms  of  Hippocrates,"  in  Latin,  1680, 
4to.  2.  "  Medicina  universalis,  theoretica  et  practica,'* 
1701,  fol.  Though  this  work  has  been  much  esteemed, 
as  solid  and  useful,  it  contains  some  things  which  at  pre- 
sent appear  rather  strange.  3.  "  Consilium  medicutn,  sive 
dialogus  loimicus,  de  peste  Viennensi,"  1679,  I2mo.  He 
says  here,  that  the  plague  of  that  year  carried  off  76,921 
persons.  4.  Several  discourses  in  a  periodical  paper  en- 
titled "  Ephemerides  of  the  Curious  in  Nature."8 

SORB1ERE  (SAMUEL),  a  French  writer,  was  born  of 
Protestant  parents  Sept.  7,  1615.  His  father  was  a  trades- 
man ;  his  mother  Louisa  was  the  sister  of  the  learned 
Samuel  Petit,  minister  of  Nisrhes.  These  dying  when  he 
was  young,  his  uncle  Petit  educated  hioi  as  his  own  child. 
Having  laid  a  proper  foundation  in  languages  and  polite 
literature,  he  went  to  Paris,  where  he  studied  divinity ; 
but,  being  presently  disgusted  with  this,  he  applied  him- 
self to  physic,  and  soon  made  such  a  progress,  as  to  form 
an  abridged  system  for  his  own  use,  which  was  afterwards 
printed  on  one  sheet  of  paper.  He  went  into  Holland  in 
1642,  back  to  France  in  1645,  and  then  again  to  Holland 

1  Vossius  de  Poft.  Graec. — Fabric.  B'.bl.  Gra;c. — Reiskii  Animad.  in  Sopha- 
clem. — Dibdtu's  Classics. — \Ydr;uu'b  Jtatsay  uti  i'ope.— Blair's  L».xt.>: 
"  JJ  y,  i/i.t.  Js  MeiK-cme. 


224  S  O  R  B  I  E  R  E. 

in  1616,  in  which  year  he  married.  He  now  intended  to 
practise,  and  with  that  view  went  to  Leyden,  but  again 
changing  his  mind,  was  scarcely  settled  at  Leyden,  when 
he  returned  to  France,  and  was  made  principal  of  the  col- 
lege of  Orange  in  1650. 

in  1653  he  embraced  the  Popish  religion;  and,  going 
to  Paris  in  1654,  published,  according  to  custom,  a  dis- 
course upon  the  motives  of  his  conversion,  which  he  dedi- 
cated to  cardinal  Mazarine.  He  went  afterwards  to  Rome, 
where  he  made  himself  known  to  Alexander  VII,  by  a 
Latin  letter  addressed  to  that  pope,  in  which  he  inveighed 
against  the  envious  Protestants,  as  he  called  them.  Upon 
his  return  from  Rome,  he  came  over  to  England  ;  and 
afterwards  published,  in  1664,  a  relation  of  his  voyage 
hither,  which  brought  him  into  trouble  and  disgrace  ;  for, 
having  taken  some  unwarrantable  liberties  with  the  charac- 
ter of  a  nation  with  which  France  at  that  time  thought  it 

O 

policy  to  be  on  good  terms,  he  was  stripped  of  his  title  of 
"  Historiographer  of  France,1'  which  had  been  given  him 
by  the  king,  and  sent  for  some  time  into  banishment.  His 
book  also  was  discountenanced  and  discredited,  by  a  tract 
published  against  it  in  the  city  of  Paris  ;  while  Sprat,  after- 
wards bishop  of  Rochester,  refuted  its  absurdities  in  "  Ob- 
servations on  M.  de  Sorbiere's  Voyage  into  England," 
J665,  12mo.  This  work  was  reprinted  with  an  English 
edition  of  Sorbiere's  voyage,  and  a  life  of  him  in  1709,  8vo. 
Voltaire  has  also  been  very  severe  upon  this  work :  "  I 
would  not,"  says  he,  "  imitate  the  late  Mr.  Sorbiere,  who, 
having  stayed  three  months  in  England,  without  knowing 
any  thing  either  of  its  manners  or  of  its  language,  thought 
fit  to  print  a  relation,  which  proved  but  a  dull  scurrilous 
satire  upon  a  nation  he  knew  nothing  of." 

Cardinal  Rospigliosi  being  likely  to  succeed  Alexander 
VII.  in  the  papal  chair,  Sorbiere  made  a  second  journey 
to  Rome.  He  was  known  to  the  cardinal  when  he  was  at 
Rome  before,  and  having  published  a  collection  of  poems 
in  his  praise,  fancied  that  promotion  must  follow.  Ro- 
spigliosi was  made  pope,  and  took  the  name  of  Clement 
IX.;  but  Sorbiere  was  disappointed  ;  for,  though  the  pope 
gave  him  good  words,  yet  he  gave  him  nothing  more,  ex- 
cept a  small  sum  to  defray  the  charges  of  his  journey. 
Sorbiere  is  said  to  have  been  one  of  those  who  could  not 
be  content,  and  was  therefore  never  happy.  He  was  con- 
tinually complaining  of  the  injustice  and  cruelty  of  fortune ; 


S  O  R  B  I  E  R  E. 

and  yet  his  finances  were  always  decent,  and  he  lived  in 
tolerable  plenty.  Louis  XIV,.  cardinal  Mazarine,  and  pope 
-Alexander  V 11.  had  been  benefactors  to  him;  and  many 
were  of  opinion,  that  he  had  as  much  as  he  deserved.  He 
could  not  help  bemoaning-  himself  even  to  Clement  IX. 
who  CvMtteming  himself,  as  we  have  observed,  with  doing 
him  some  little  honours,  without  paying  any  regard  to  his 
fortune,  is  said  to  have  received  this  complaint  from  him, 
"  Most  holv  father,  vou  orive  ruffles  to  a  man  who  is  with- 

•'  '     J  O 

out  a  shirt." 

In  the  mean  time,  it  is  supposed  that  Sorbiere's  connec- 
tions would  have  advanced  him  higher  in  the  church,  if  he 
had  been  sound  in  his  principles  ;  but  be  was  more  of  a 
philosopher  than  a  divine.  He  revered  the  memory  of 
such  writers  as  Rabelais,  whom  he  made  his  constant  study: 
Montaione  and  Charron  were  heroes  with  him,  nor  would 

O  * 

he  suffer  them  to  be  ill  spoken  of  in  his  presence  :  and  he 
had  a  known  attachment  to  the  principles  and  person  of 
Gassendi,  whose  life,  prefixed  to  his  works,  was  written 
by  Sorbiere.  These  connections  and  attachments  made 
him  suspected  of  scepticism,  and  this  suspicion  was  proba- 
bly some  check  to  his  promotion  :  for,  otherwise,  he  was  a 
man  of  learning,  and  not  destitute  of  good  qualities.  He 
was  very  well  skilled  in  languages  and  polite  literature,  and 
had  some  knowledge  in  many  sciences.  He  died  of  a 
dropsy,  the  9th  of  April,  1670. 

Though  his  name  is  so  well  known  in  the  literary  world, 
yet  it  is  not  owing  to  any  productions  of  his  own,  but  ra- 
ther to  the  connections  he  sought,  and  the  correspondences 
he  held  with  men  of  learning.  He  was  not  the  author  of 
any  considerable  work,  although  there  are  more  than  twenty 
publications  of  his  of  the  smaller  kind.  Some  have  been 
mentioned  in  the  course  of  this  memoir,  and  there  are 
others :  as,  "  Lettres  &  Discours  sur  diverses  matieres 
curieuses,"  Paris,  1660,  4to;  "  Discours  sur  la  Comete," 
written  upon  Gassendi's  principles  against  comets  being 
portents,  1665;  "  Discours  sur  la  transfusion  de  sang  d'un 
animal  clans  le  corps  d'un  homme,"  written  at  Rome; 
"  Discours  sceptiqne  sur  le  passage  dn  chyle,  &  sur  le 
mouvement  du  cceur,"  a  production  of  Gassendi,  but  pub- 
lished by  Sorbiere  in  his  own  name.  He  published  in 
1669  at  Paris,  "  Epistolueillustrintn  &  eruditorum  virorum;" 
among  which  are  some  of  Clement  IXth's  letters  to  him, 
while  that  pope  was  vet  cardinal.  This  publication  was 

VOL.  XXVIII.  Q 


226  S  O  R  B  I  E  R  E. 

thought  improper,  and  imputed  to  vanity.  He  translated 
some  of  our  English  authors  into  French  :  as  More's  Uto- 
pia, some  of  Hobbes's  works,  and  part  of  Camden's  Bri- 
tannia. He  corresponded  with  Hobbes ;  and  a  story  has 
been  circulated  of  his  management  in  this  correspondence, 
which  is  not  much  to  his  credit.  Hobbes  used  to  write  to 
Sorbiere  on  philosophical  subjects;  and,  those  letters 
being  sent  by  him  to  Gassendi,  seemed  so  worthy  of  notice 
to  that  great  man,  that  he  set  himself  to  write  proper  an- 
swers to  them.  Gassendi's  answers  were  sent  by  Sorbiere 
as  his  own  to  Hobbes,  who  thought  himself  happy  in  the 
correspondence  of  so  profound  a  philosopher  :  but  at  length 
the  artifice  being  discovered,  Sorbiere  was  disgraced. 
Other  minute  performances  of  Sorbiere  are  omitted  as 
being  of  no  consequence  at  all.  There  is  a  "  Sorberiana," 
which  is  as  good  as  many  other  of  the  "Ana;"'  that  is, 
good  for  very  little.1 

SORBONNE  (ROBERT  DE),  founder  of  the  celebrated 
college  called  after  him,  was  born  October  9,  1201,  at 
Sorbonne,  otherwise  Sorbon,  a  little  village  of  Rhetelois  in 
the  diocese  of  Rheinis,  whence  he  had  his  name.  His 
family  was  poor  and  obscure,  and  not  of  the  blood  royal 
as  Dupleix  imagined.  He  distinguished  himself  as  a  stu- 
dent at  Paris,  and  after  having  taken  a  doctor's  degree, 
devoted  his  whole  attention  to  preaching  and  religious  con- 
ferences, by  which  lie  soon  became  so  celebrated  that  St. 
Louis  wished  to  hear  him.  This  prince  immediately  con- 
ceived the  highest  esteem  for  Sorbonne,  invited  him  to 
his  own  table,  took  great  pleasure  in  his  conversation,  and 
in  order  to  have  him  more  constantly  about  his  person,  ap- 
pointed him  his  chaplain  and  confessor.  Robert,  being 
made  canon  of  Cambray  about  1251,  and  reflecting  on  the 
pains  it  had  cost  him  to  obtain  a  doctor's  degree,  deter- 
mined to  facilitate  the  acquisition  of  learning  to  poor  scho- 
lars. For  this  purpose  he  judged  that  the  most  convenient 
and  efficacious  plan  would  be  to  form  a  society  of  secular 
ecclesiastics,  who,  living  in  a  community,  and  having  the 
necessaries  of  life  provided  for  them,  should  be  wholly  em- 
ployed in  study,  and  teach  gratis.  All  his  friends  approved 
the  design,  and  offered  to  assist  him  both  with  their  for- 
tunes and  their  advice.  With  their  assistance,  Robert  de 
Sorbonne  founded,  in  1253,  the  celebrated  college  which 

1  T.ifu  by  CraTero),  prefixed  te  his  Voyage. — Niceron.  vols.  !V.  and  X. 


S  O  R  B  O  N  N  E.  227 

bears  his  name.  He  then  assembled  able  professors,  those 
most  distinguished  for  learning  and  piety,  and  lodged  his 
community  in  the  rue  cits  deux  pories,  oppo  ite  to  the 
palace  (Iff  Thermes.  Such  was  the  origin  »f  the  famous 
college  of  Sorbonne,  which  proved  the  model  of  all  others, 
there  having  been  no  society  in  Europe  before  that  time 
where  the  seculars  lived  and  taught  in  common,  'i  he 
founder  had  two  objects  in  view  wi  tins  establishment,  the- 
ology and  the  arts  ;  but  as  his  predilection  was  to  the 
former,  he  composed  his  society  principally  of  doctors  and 
bachelors  in  divinity.  Some  have  said  that  his  original 
foundation  was  only  for  sixteen  poor  scholars  (boursiers) 
or  fellows  ;  but  it  appears  by  his  statutes  that  from  the  first 
establishment,  it  consisted  of  doctors,  bachelor-fellows, 
bachelors  not  fellows,  and  poor  students  as  at  present,  or 
at  least  lately.  The  number  of  fellows  was  not  limited, 
but  depended  on  the  state  of  the  revenues.  The  number 
in  the  founder's  time  appears  to  have  been  about  thirty, 
and  he  ordered  that  there  should  be  no  other  members  of 
his  college  than  guests  and  associates  (Iwspites  et  socii), 
who  might  be  chosen  from  any  country  or  nation  whaieu-r. 
A  guest,  or  perhaps  as  we  should  call  him,  a  commoner, 
was  required  to  be  a  bachelor,  to  maintain  a  thesis,  tailed, 
from  the  founder's  name,  Robertine,  and  was  to  be  ad- 
mitted by  a  majority  of  votes  after  three  different  scruti- 
nies. These  hospiies  remained  part  of  the  establishment 
until  the  last,  were  maintained  and  lodged  in  the  house  like 
the  rest  of  the  doctors  and  bachelors,  h.ul  a  right  to  study 
in  the  library  (though  without  possessing  a  key),  and  en- 
joyed all  other  rights  and  privileges,  except  that  they  had 
no  vote  in  the  assemblies,  and  were  obliged  to  quit  the 
house  on  becoming  doctors.  For  an  associate,  Socius,  it 
was  necessary,  besides  the  Robertine  thesis,  to  read  a 
course  of  philosophical  lectures  gratis.  In  1764,  when 
the  small  colleges  were  united  with  that  of  Louis-le-grand, 
the  course  of  philosophy  was  discontinued,  and  a  thesis 
substituted  in  its  place,  called  the  second  Robertine. 

As  to  the  fellowships,  they  were  granted  to  those  only 
among  the  Socii  who  had  not  forty  livres,  of  Paris  money, 
per  annum,  either  from  benefices  or  paternal  inheritance; 
and  when  they  became  possessed  of  that  income,  they 
ceased  to  be  fellows.  A  fellowship  was  worth  about  five 
sous  and  a  half  per  week,  and  was  held  ten  years.  At 
the  end  of  seven  years  all  who  held  them  were  strictly 

Q  2 


228  SORBONNE. 

examined,  and  if  any  one  appeared  incapable  of  teaching, 
preaching,   or  being   useful  to    the  public  in   some  oilier 
way,   he    was    deprived    of   his    t<-!!  /wship.       Yet,    as    the 
founder  was  far  from  wishing  to  exclude  the   rich  from  his 
college,   but,  on  the  contrary,   sought  to  inspire  them  with 
a  taste  for  learning,   and    to   revive  a   knowledge  of  the 
sciences  among  the    clergy,   he   admitted   associates,   who 
were  not  fellows,  "  Socii  uon  Bursales."     These  were  sub- 
ject to  the  same  examinations   and  exercises  as   the  Socii, 
with  this  only  difference,  that  they  paid  fn-e  sols  and  a  half 
weekly  to  the  honse,  a  sum  eqnal  to  that  which  the  fellows 
received.     All  the  Socii  bore   and   still    bear   the   title   of 
"  Doctors    or     Bachelors   of    the    House    and    Society    of 
Sorbonne,"   whereas   the   Hospites    have    only    the   appel- 
lation   of  "  Doctors  or   Bachelors   of  the    House  of   Sor- 
bonne."    Their  founder  ordered  that  every  thing   should 
be    managed   and   regulated  by  the  Socii,  and   that  there 
should   be    neither    superior    nor    principal    among    them. 
Accord'ngly  he  forbade  the  doctors  to  treat  the  bachelors 
as  pupils,  or  the  bachelors  to  treat  the  doctors  as  masters, 
whence  the  ancient  Sorbonists  used  to  say,   "  We  do  not 
live  together  as  doctors  and  bachelors,   nor  as  masters  and 
pupils;  but  we  live  as  associates  and  equals."     In  conse- 
quence of  this  equality,  no  monk  of  whatever  order,   has 
at  any  time  been  admitted  "  Socius  of  Sorbonne  ;"  and  from 
the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century,   whoever  is  re- 
ceived  into   the    society    takes    an    oath   on    the    gospels, 
'•  That   he  has    no  intention    of  entering   any   society   or 
secular  congregation,  tiie  members  of  which   live  in  com- 
mon under  the  direction  of  one  superior,  and  that  if  after 
being  admitted  into   the  society   of  Sorbonne,   he  should 
change  his  mind,  and  enter  any  such  other  community,   he 
will  acknowledge  himself  from  that  time,  and  by  this  single 
art,  to  have  forfeited  all  privileges  of  the  society,   as  well 
active  as  passive,  and   that   he  will  neither  do   nor  under- 
take any  thing  contrary  to   the  present  regulation."     Ro- 
bert de  Sorbonne   permitted  the   doctors  and  bachelors  to 
take   poor  scholars,    whom    he    wished   to  receive  benefit 
from  his  house;  and  great  numbers  of  these  poor  scholars 
proved  very  eminent  men.     The  first  professors  in  the  Sor- 
bonne were  William   de   Saint  Amour,  Odon   de   Douai, 
Gerard    de    Rheims,    Laurence    the    Englishman,    Gerard 
^'Abbeville,  &c.    They  taught  theology  gratis,  according  to 
the  founder's  intention;  and  from  1253,  to  the  revolution, 


S  O  R  B  O  N  N  E.  229 

there  have  been  always  six  professors  at  least,  who  gave 
lectures  on  the  different  branches  of  that  science  gratis, 
even  before  the  divinity  professorships  were  established. 
Fellowships  were  given  to  the  poor  professors,  that  is,   to 
those  whose  incomes  did  not  amount  to  forty  livres;  but  it 
appears  from  the  registers  of  the  Sorbonne,  that  the  first 
professors  above  mentioned,   were  very  rich,  consequently 
they  were  not  fellows.     Robert  de  Sorbonne  ordered  that 
there  should  always  be  some  doctors  in  his  college  who  ap- 
plied particularly  to  the  study  of  morality  and   casuistry; 
whence  the  Sorbonne  has  been   consulted  on  such  points 
ever  since   his  time  from   all  parts  of  the  kingdom.     He 
appointed  different  offices  for  the  government  of  his  col- 
lege.    The  first  is  that  of  the  Proviseur,  who  was  always 
chosen   from   among  the   most  eminent  persons.     Next  to 
him  is  the  Fn'ciu',   chosen  from  the  Socii  bachelors,  who 
presided  in  the  assemblies  of  the  society,  at  the  Robertine 
acts,   at  the  reading  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  at  meals,  and 
at  the  Sorboniques,  or  acts  of  the  licentiates,  for  which  he 
fixed  the  day ;  he  also  made  two  public  speeches,  one  at 
the  first,  the  other  at  the  last  of  these.     The  keys  of  the 
gate  were  delivered  up  to  him  every  night,   and  he  was  the 
first  person  to  sign  all  the  acts.     The  other  offices  are  those 
of  "  Senieur,  Conscripteur,  Procureurs,  Professors,  Libra- 
rian,  &c."     There  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  the  Sor- 
bonne, from  its  foundation,  contained  thirty-six  apartments, 
and  it  was  doubtless  in  conformity  to  this  first  plan  that  no 
more  were  added  when  cardinal  Richelieu  rebuilt  it  in  the 
present  magnificent  style.     One,   however,  was  afterwards 
added,   making    thirty-seven,  constantly    occupied    by    as 
many  doctors  and  bachelors.     After  Robert  de  Sorbonne 
had  founded  his  divinity  college,   he  obtained  a  confirma- 
tion of  it  from  the  pope,  and  it  was  authorized  by  letters 
patent  from  St.  Louis,   uho  had  before  given  him,  or  ex- 
changed with  him,   some  houses  necessary  for  that  esta- 
blishment in  1256,  and  1258.     He  then  devoted  himself  to 
the  promotion   of  learning  and   piety  in  his  college,  and 
with  success,  for  it  soon  produced   such  excellent  scholars 
as  spread   its  fame  throughout  Europe.      Legacies  and  do- 
nations now  flowed   in   from  every  quarter,  which  enabled 
the  Sorbonists  to  study   at  their  ease.     The  founder  had 
aLvays  a  particular  partiality  for  those  who  were  poor,  for 
although  his  society  contained  some  very  rich  doctors,  as 
appears  from  the  registers  and  other  monumeiHs  remaining 


230  S  O  R  B  O  N  N  E. 

in  the  archives  of  the  Sorbonne,  yet  his  establishment  had 
the  poor  principally  in  view,  the  greatest  part  of  its  reve- 
nues being  appropriated  to  their  studies  and  maintenance. 
He  would  even  have  his  college  called  "  the  House  of  the 

.Poor,"  which  gave  rise  to  the  form  used  by  the  Sorbonne 
bachelors,  when  they  appear  as  respondents,  or  maintain 
theses  in  quality  of  Antique ;  and  hence  also  we  read  on 
many  MSS.  that  they  belong  to  the  "  Pauvrcs  Matures  de 
Sorbonne."  The  founder,  not  satisfied  with  providing  suf- 
ficient revenues  for  his  college,  took  great  pains  to  esta- 
blish  a  library.  From  the  ancient  catalogue  of  the  Sor- 
bonne library  drawn  up  in  1289  and  1290,  it  appears  to 
have  consisted  at  that  time  of  above  a  thousand  volumes; 
but  the  collection  increased  so  fast,  that  a  new  catalogue 
became  necessary  two  years  after,  i.  e.  in  1292,  and  again 
in  1338,  at  which  time  the  Sorbonne  library  was  perhaps 
the  finest  in  France.  All  the  books  of  whatever  value  were 
chained  to  the  shelves,  and  accurately  ranged  according  to 
their  subjects,  beginning  with  grammar,  the  belles  lettres, 
&c.  The  catalogues  are  made  in  the  same  manner,  and 
the  price  of  each  book  is  marked  in  them.  These  MSS. 
are  still  in  the  house.  Robert  de  Sorbonne  (very  differ- 
ent from  other  founders,  who  begin  by  laying  down  rules, 
and  then  make  it  their  whole  care  to  enforce  the  observ- 

*  ance  of  them,)  did  not  attempt  to  settle  any  statutes  till 
he  had  governed  his  college  above  eighteen  years,  and 
then  prescribed  only  such  customs  as  he  had  before  esta- 
blished, and  of  which  the  utility  and  wisdom  were  confirmed 
to  him  by  long  experience.  Hence  it  is  that  no  attempt 
towards  reformation  or  change  has  ever  been  made  in  the 
Sorbonne  ;  ail  proceeds  according  to  the  ancient  methods 
and  rultjs,  and  the  experience  of  five  centuries  has  proved 
that  the  constitution  of  that  house  is  well  adapted  to  its 
purposes,  and  none  of  the  French  colleges  since  founded 
have  supported  themselves  in  so  much  regularity  and  splen- 
dour. Robert  de  Sorbonne  having  firmly  established  his 
society  for  theological  studies,  added  to  it  a  college  for 
polite  literature  and  philosophy.  For  this  purpose  he. 
bought  of  William  de  Cambrai,  canon  of  S.  Jean  de  Mau- 
rienne,  a  house  near  the  Sorbonne,  and  there  founded  the 
college  tie  Culvi,  in  1271.  This  college,  which  was  also 
called  "  the  little  Sorbonne,"  became  very  celebrated  by 
the  great  men  xvho  were  educated  there,  and  subsisted  till 
1636,  when  it  was  demolished  by  cardinal  Richelieu's  order, 


S  O  R  B  O  N  N  E.  231 

and  the  chapel  of  the  Sorbocne  huilt  upon  the  same  spot. 
The  cardinal  had,  however,  engaged  to  erect  another,  which 
should  belong  equally  to  the  house,  and  be  contiguous  to 
it ;  but  his  death  put  a  stop  to  this  plan  :  and  to  fulfil  his 
promise  in  some  degree,  the  family  of  Richelieu  united  the 
college  du  Plessis  to  the  Sorbonne  in  1648.  Robert  de 
Sorbonne  had  been  canon  of  Paris  from  1258,  and  be- 
came so  celebrated  as  to  be  frequently  consulted  even  by 
princes,  and  chosen  for  their  arbiter  on  some  important 
occasions.'  He  bequeathed  all  his  property,  which  was 
very  considerable,  to  the  society  of  Sorbonne,  and  died  at 
Paris,  August  15,  1274,  aged  seventy-three,  leaving  several 
works  in  Latin.  The  principal  are,  a  treatise  on  "  Con- 
science," another  on  "  Confession,"  and  "  The  Way  to 
Paradise,"  all  which  are  printed  in  the  "  Bibl.  Patrum." 
He  wrote  also  other  things,  which  remain  in  MS.  in  the 
library.  The  house  and  society  of  Sorbonne  is  one  of  the 
four  parts  of  the  faculty  of  theology  at  Paris,  but  has  its 
peculiar  revenues,  statutes,  assemblies,  and  prerogatives. ' 

SOSIGENES,  an  Egyptian  mathematician,  whose  prin- 
cipal studies  were  chronology  and  the  mathematics  in  ge- 
neral, and  who  flourished  in  the  time  of  Julius  Cxsar,  is  re- 
presented as  well  versed  in  the  mathematics  and  astronomy 
of  the  ancients;  particularly  of  those  celebrated  mathema- 
ticians, Thales,  Archimedes,  Hipparchus,  Calippus,  and 
many  others,  who  had  undertaken  to  determine  the  quan- 
tity of  the  solar  year ;  which  they  had  ascertained  much 
nearer  the  truth  than  one  can  well  imagine  they  could, 
with  instruments  so  very  imperfect;  as  may  appear  by  re- 
ference to  Ptolomy's  Almagest.  It  seems  Sosigenes  made 
great  improvements,  and  gave  proofs  of  his  being  able  to 
demonstrate  the  certainty  of  his  discoveries ;  by  which 
means  he  became  popular,  and  obtained  repute  with  those 
who  had  a  genius  to  understand  and  relish  such  inquiries. 
Hence  he  was  sent  for  by  Julius  Caesar,  who  being  con- 
vinced of  his  capacity,  employed  him  in  reforming  the 
calendar  ;  and  it  was  he  who  formed  the  Julian  year,  which 
begins  45  years  before  the  birth  of  Christ.  His  other  works 
are  lost  since  that  period.2 

SOTO  (DoMiNic),  a  learned  Dominican,  of  great  fame 
under  the  emperor  Charles  V.  was  born  at  Segovia  in  1494. 
His  father,  who  was  a  gardener,  would  have  bred  him  to 

1  Diet.  Hi*t.  de  L'Avocat.         a  Button's  Diet.— Plinii  Nat.  IJUt.— Brucker. 


232  S  O  T  O. 

his  own  profession,  but  having  learned  to  write  and  read, 
he  went  to  a  small  town  near  Segovia,  where  he  performed 
the  office  of  sacristan.  By  persevering  in  study,  he  fitted 
himself  for  the  university  of  Aicala,  and  proceeded  from 
thence  to  Paris.  It  was  after  his  return  into  Spain  that  he 
became  a  Dominican,  and  appeared  with  great  distinction 
in  the  university  of  Salamanca.  His  reputation  was  now  so 
high,  that  he  was  chosen  by  the  emperor  Charles  V.  as 
arbitrator  in  some  important  disputes,  and  appointed  in 
1545  his  first  theologian  at  the  council  of  Trent.  In  that 
assembly  he  was  one  of  the  most  active  and  esteemed  mem- 
bers. He  spoke  frequently,  and  took  the  charge  of  form- 
ing the  decrees  from  the  decisions  which  had  passed. 
Every  one  was  fond  of  consulting  him,  and  this  peculiar 
distinction  was  the  more  remarkable,  as  there  were  more 
than  fifty  bishops,  and  other  theologians,  of  the  same  order 
in  the  assembly.  He  refused  the  bishopric  of  Segovia,  and 
though  he  had  not  been  able  to  decline  the  appointment  of 
confessor  to  Charles  V.  he  resigned  it  as  soon  as  he  could 
with  propriety.  He  died  in  1560,  at  the  age  of  sixty-six. 
He  published,  1.  two  books  "on  Nature,  and  on  Grace," 
Paris,  1549,  4to,  and  dedicated  them  to  the-fathers  of  the 
council.  2.  "  Commentaries  on  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans," 
1550,  folio.  3.  "  Commentaries  on  the  Master  of  Sen- 
tences," folio.  4.  "  De  justitia  etjure,"  two  treatises,  in 
folio.  5.  "  De  legend  is  secretis,"  8vo.  6.  "  De  pauperum 
causa."  7."  De  cavendo  iurarjientorum  abusu."  8.  "Apo- 
logia contra  Ambrosium  Catharinum,"  &c. 1 

SOTO  (PETER),  a  contemporary  of  the  preceding,  but 
more  connected  with  this  country,  was  born  at  Cordova, 
and  educated  among  the  Dominicans  of  Salamanca.  Hav- 
ing distinguished  himself  in  the  duties  of  the  cloister,  and 
made  an  eqiujl  progress  in  learning,  especially  divinity  and 
the  sacred  languages,  he  was  called  to  court,  and  was  suc- 
cessively confessor  to  the  king  of  Spain,  and  to  Charles  V. 
of  Germany,  who  employed  him  to  write  against  the  Lu- 
therans. When  Philip  of  Spain  married  our  queen  Mary, 
Soto  was  one  of  :•  -.;nish  divines  who  attended  him  to 

England,  and  settled  at  Oxford,  where  he  was  professor  of 
divinity,  and  soriieiimes  read  a  Hebrew  lecture,  as  Wood 
suppose.-,  for  Dr.  Bruerne,  the  Hebrew  professor.  This 
occurred  in  1556  ;  and,  the  year  before,  Soto  had  been  iu- 

1  Antoni.)  Bibl.  Hisp. — Moreri. 


S   O  T  O.  235 

corpora;  ed  D.  D.  in  this  university.  After  the  death  of 
queen  Mary,  he  was  called  to  the  council  of  Trent,  where 
be  died  in  April  1563.  He  published  "Institutiones  Chris, 
tiana?,"  1  548,  ami  some  other  works  of  the  controversial 
kind  against  John  Brentius,  or  Brent.  Dodd  says  he  was 
a  zealous  assertor  of  church  discipline,  as  appears  by  a 
letter  which  he  wrote  to  pope  Pius  IV.  in  his  last  sickness, 
in  which  he  insists  that  the  residence  of  bishops  should  be 
declared  dejure  divino.  J 

SOTVVELL,  SOTWELLUS,  but  properly  SOUTH- 
WELL  (NATHANIEL),  was  an  English  Jesuit  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  and  is  entitled  to  some  notice,  as  one  of  the 
historians  of  his  order,  but  we  have  no  particulars  of  his 
own  life.  Being  employed  to  write  the  lives  of  eminent 
authors  among  the  Jesuits,  he  carried  on  the  plan  of  lli- 
badeneira  and  Alegambe  down  to  his  own  times,  that  is,  the 
latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  century.  His  improved  edi- 
tion was  published  under  the  title  of  "  Bibliotheca  scrip- 
torum  societatis  Jesu,  opus  inchoatum  a  R.  P.  Petro  Riba- 
deneira,  et  productum  ad  annum  1609  :  continuatum  a 
Philippo  Alegambe  ad  annum  1643  ;  recognitum,  et  pro- 
ductum ad  annum  1675,  a  Nathanaelo  Sotvvello,"  Rome, 
1676,  fol.  This  is,  of  course,  reckoned  the  best  edition  of 
this  collection  of  biography,  but  some  prefer  that  of  Ale- 
gambe, on  account  of  its  superior  correctness. 2 

SOUCHAI  (JEAN  BAPTISTE),  a  French  writer  who  died 
in  1746,  at  the  age  of  fifty-nine,  was  born  at  Saint-Amand, 
near  Vendome,  and  educated  by  an  uncle.  Removing  to 
Paris,  he  gained  the  applause  and  esteem  of  all  the  learned  ; 
and  in  1720  was  elected  into  the  academy  of  inscriptions, 
in  whose  memoirs  his  dissertations  make  a  distinguished 
figure.  He  was  not  without  preferment  also,  being  canon 
ofRodez,  counsellor  to  the  king,  and  reader  and  professor 
of  eloquence  in  the  college  royal.  The  abbe  Souchai  is 
said  to  have  formed  in  himself  the  rare  union  of  profound 
knowledge  and  elegant  manners.  He  wrote,  1.  a  French 
translation  of  Brown's  Vulgar  Errors,  entitled  "  Essais  sur 
les  Erreurs  Populaires,"  2  vols.  12mo.  2.  An  edition  of 
the  works  of  Peiisson,  3  vols.  I2mo.  3.  Remarks  on  d'Au- 
dilly's  Josephus,  in  the  edition  of  Paris,  1744.  4.  An  edi- 
tion of  Boileau's  works,  1740,  2  vols.  4 to.  5.  An  edition 

1  Antonio  Bibl.  Hisp. — Ath.  Ox.  vol.  I. — Wood's  Annals. — Moreri. 
-  Ant.  Bibl.   Hisp. — Moreri. — Bailiet  Jugemens   tie*   Saraus. — Dodd's  Ch. 
History. 


£31  S  O  U  C  H  A  I. 

of  the  "  Astrea"  of  Honore  d'Urfe,  in  which  the  language 
is  modernized,  and  the  conversations  abridged,  1733,  10 
vols.  12mo.  6.  An  edition  of  "  Ausonius,"  in  4to,  with 
copious  notes.  7.  The  dissertations  above-mentioned  in 
the  Memoirs  of  the  Academy. ' 

SOUFFLOT  (JAMES  GERMAIN),  an  architect  very  fa- 
mous in  France,  particularly  for  his  plan  of  the  beautiful 
church  of  St.  Genevieve  at  Paris,  was  born  in  1713,  at 
Trenci  near  Auxerre.  His  family  was  engaged  in  com- 
merce, but  he  very  early  shewed  a  strong  disposition  for 
the  arts,  and  particularly  for  architecture.  It  is  related  of 
him,  as  of  our  countryman  Smeaton,  that,  from  his  earliest 
childhood,  he  was  more  delighted  by  attending  to  work- 
men than  any  other  amusement ;  and,  like  him,  was  so 
strongly  directed  by  the  bent  of  his  genius  to  the  profes- 
sion in  which  he  afterwards  excelled,  as  to  frustrate  the 
wishes  of  his  father  to  place  him  in  his  own  business.  The 
father  of  Soufflot,  however,  did  not  yield  to  his  son's  in- 
clination, and  he  was  obliged  to  quit  his  home  in  order  to 
indulge  it.  He  immediately,  with  a  small  stock  of  money, 
set  out  for  Italy,  but  paused  at  Lyons,  where,  by  working 
under  the  artists  of  that  place,  he  improved  at  once  his 
knowledge  and  his  finances.  He  then  visited  Rome  and 
every  part  of  Italy.  Having  improved  himself  under  the 
best  artists,  and  by  modelling  from  the  finest  antiques,  he 
returned  to  France,  and  for  a  time  to  Lyons,  where  he 
had  made  himself  beloved  in  his  former  visit.  He  was  soon 
employed  by  the  magistrates  of  that  city  to  build  the  ex- 
change and  the  hospital,  the  latter  of  which  edifices  ex- 
tended his  reputation  throughout  France.  Madame  Pom- 
padour heard  of  him,  and  having  obtained  for  her  brother 
the  piace  of  director  of  the  royal  buildings,  &c.  engaged 
Sou/Hot  and  Cochin  to  attend  him  into  Italy.  Returning 
from  that  engagement,  he  quitted  Lyons,  and  established 
himself  at  Paris;  where  he  was  successively  comptroller  of 
the  buildings  of  Marli  and  the  Tuilleries,  member  of  the 
academies  of  architecture  and  painting,  knight  of  the  order 
of  St.  Michael,  and  lastly,  superintendant  of  the  royal 
buildings.  With  respect  to  the  dome  of  his  great  work,  the 
church  of  St.  Genevieve,  he  met  with  so  many  contradic- 
tions, and  so  much  opposition  excited  by  envy,  that  though 
be  had  demonstrated  the  possibility  of  executing  it,  they 

i  Diet.  Hist. 


S  O  U  F  F  L  O  T.  235 

threw  great  obstacles  in  his  way  ;  and  are  thought  to  have 
shortened  his  life  hy  the  severe  vexation  he  experienced 
from  them.  After  languishing  for  two  years,  in  a  very 
infirm  state,  he  died  August  29,  1780,  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
seven. 

Soufflot  was  much  beloved  by  his  relations  and  friends, 
who,  knowing  the  excellence  of  his  heart,  were  not  offended 
by  a  kind  of  warmth  and  roughness  of  character  which  was 
peculiar  to  him.  They  called  him  jocularly  "  Le  bourru 
bienfaisant,"  the  benevolent  humourist,  as  we  may  perhaps 
translate  it;  from  the  title  of  a  comedy  then  fashionable. 
He  did  not  live  to  finish  the  church  of  St.  Genevieve  ;  but, 
besides  the  buildings  here  mentioned,  he  was  concerned 
in  many  others,  particularly  the  beautiful  theatre  at  Lyons. ' 

SOUTH  (ROBERT),  an  English  divine  of  great  parts  and 
learning,  but  of  very  inconsistent  character,  was  the  son  of 
a  merchant  in  London,  and  born  at  Hackney,  in  Middle- 
sex, 1633.  He  was  educated  in  Westminster-school,  under 
Dr.  Busby,  where  he  acquired  an  uncommon  share  of  gram- 
matical and  philological  learning.  In  1648  he  made  him- 
self remarkable  by  reading  the  Latin  prayers  in  the  school, 
on  the  day  in  which  king  Charles  was  beheaded,  and  pray- 
ing for  that  prince  by  name.  He  continued  four  years  at 
Westminster,  and  in  1651  was  elected  thence  student  of 
Christchurch,  Oxford.  He  took  a  bachelor  of  arts  degree 
in  1654  ;  and  the  same  year  wrote  a  copy  of  Latin  verses, 
to  congratulate  the  protector  Cromwell  upon  the  peace 
concluded  with  the  Dutch.  They  were  published  in  a  col- 
lection of  poems  by  the  university.  The  year  after,  he 
published  another  Latin  poem,  entitled  "  Musica  Incan- 
tans  ;  sive  Poema  exprimens  Musicse  vires  juvenem  in  in- 
saniam  abigentis,  et  ?»lusici  hide  periculum."  This  was  at 
that  time  highly  appLuded  for  the  beauty  of  the  language, 
and  was  printed  at  the  request  of  Dr.  Fell ;  but  it  is  said 
that  Dr.  South,  to  his  dying  day,  regretted  the  publication 
of  it,  as  a  juvenile  and  trifling  performance.  He  com- 
menced M.  A.  in  June  1657,  alter  performing  all  the  pre- 
paratory exercises  for  it  with  the  highest  applause,  and 
such  wit  and  humour,  as  justly  entitled  him  to  represent  the 
Terra:  F'dius,  in  which  character  he  spoke  the  usual  speech 
at  the  celebration  of  the  act  the  same  year.  He  preached 
frequently,  and  (as  Wood  thinks)  without  any  orders.  He 

'  Diet.  Hisf. 


$36  S  O  U  T  H. 

appeared,  at  St.  Mary's,  the  great  champion  for  Calvinism 
against  Sociniuuism  and  Arminianisir  ;  and  his  behaviour 
was  such,  and  his  talents  esteemed  so  exceedingly  useful 
and  serviceable,  that  the  heads  of  that  party  were  consi- 
dering how  to  give  proper  encouragement  and  propor- 
tionable preferment  to  so  hopeful  a  convert.  In  the  mean 
time  the  protector  Cromwell  died  ;  and  then,  the  presby- 
terians  prevailing  over  the  independents,  .South  sided  with 
them.  He  began  to  contemn,  and  in  a  manner  to  defy, 
the  dean  of  his  college.  Dr.  Owen,  who  was  reckoned  the 
head  of  the  independent  party  ;  upon  which  the  doctor 
plainly  told  him,  that  he  was  one  who  "  sate  in  the  seat  of 
the  scornful."  The  author  of  the  memoirs  of  South's  life 
tells  us,  that  he  was  admitted  into  holy  orders  according  to 
the  rites  and  ceremonies  of  the  church  or  England,  in  1658. 
In  July  1659,  he  preached  the  assize-sermon  at  Oxford,  in 
which  he  inveighed  vehemently  against  the  independents ; 
and  by  this  greatly  pleased  the  presbyterians,  who  made 
him  their  acknowledgments.  The  same  year,  when  it  was 
visible  that  the  king  would  be  restored,  he  appeared  some- 
uhat  irresolute,  yet  was  still  reckoned  a  member  of  "the  fa- 
natic ordinary,"  as  Wood  expresses  it ;  but,  as  his  majesty's 
restoration  approached,  he  began  to  exercise  his  pulpit- 
talents,  which  were  very  great,  as  much  against  the  pres- 
byterians,  as  he  had  done  before  against  the  independents. 
Such  was  the  conduct  and  behaviour  of  this  celebrated  di- 
vine in  the  earlier  part  of  his  life,  as  it  is  described  by  his 
contemporary  in  the  university,  Mr.  Anthony  Wood  ;  and 
if  Wood  was  not  unreasonably  prejudiced  against  him,  he 
is,  doubtless,  to  be  classed  among  those  time-servers,  who 
know  no  better  use  of  the  great  abilities  God  has  given 
them,  than  to  obtain  the  favour  of  those  who  can  reward 
them  best  *. 

He  seems  to  have  proceeded  as  he  had  begun  ;  that  is, 
he  pushed  himself  on  by  an  extraordinary  zeal  for  the 
powers  that  were;  and  he  did  not  succeed  amiss.  On 
Aug.  10,  1660,  he  was  chosen  public  orator  of  the  univer- 

*  U'oo J's  dis'ike  of  South  is  fair!  to  that  "  if  he  could  net  mnke  tw 

have  been  ocva-ioneii  by   an   ill-timed  must  make  earth."       /.n'.hony   imnie- 

witticum  of  the  latter.    YVoud  one  day  (iiately  went   home,   and  wrote  South'a 

complained  to  Dr.  South  of  a  disorder  life,  in  which,  however,  .-il'r.oueli  the 

with  which  he  was  much  afflicted,  ;md  colouring  be  harsh,  the  principal  facts, 

which    terminated  iu   his  (iealii,  viz.  a  we   are   afraid,   hare    not   n 

of  urine.     South  told  him  misrepresented. 


SOUTH.  237 

sity  *,  and  at  the  same  time  "tugged  bird,"  says  Wood, 
"  such  was  the  high  conceit  of  his  worth,  to  be  canon  of 
Christcburch,  as  belonging  to  that  office;  but  was  kepi 
back  by  the  endeavours  of  the  dean.  This  was  a  great  dis- 
content to  him  ;  and  not  being  able  to  conceal  ir,  lie  cla- 
moured at  it,  and  shewed  much  passion  in  his  sermons  till 
he  could  get  preferment,  which  made  them  therefore  fre- 
quented by  the  generality,  though  shunned  by  some.  This 
person,  though  he  was  a  junior  master,  and  h;id  never  suf- 
fered for  the  royal  cause,  yet  so  great  was  his  conceit,  or 
so  blinded  he  was  with  ambition,  that  he  thought  he  could 
never  be  enough  loaded  with  preferment ;  while  others, 
who  had  suffered  much,  and  had  been  reduced  to  a  bit  of 
bread  for  his  majesty's  cause,  could  get  nothing."  South's 
talents,  however,  might  be  of  use,  and  were  not  to  be 
neglected  ;  and  these,  together  with  his  ardent  zeal,  which 
he  was  ever  ready  to  exert  on  all  occasions,  recommended 
him  effectually  to  notice  and  preferment.  In  1661  he  be- 
came domestic  chaplain  to  lord  Clarendon,  chancellor  of 
England,  and  of  the  university  of  Oxford;  and,  in  March 
1663,  was  installed  prebendary  of  Westminster.  On  Oc- 
tober the  1st  following,  he  was  admitted  to  the  degree  of 
D.  D. ;  but  this,  as  Wood  relates,  not  without  some  com- 
motion in  the  university.  "  Letters  were  sent  by  lord  Cla- 
rendon, in  behalf  of  his  chaplain  South,  who  was  therein 
recommended  to  the  doctorate  :  but  some  were  so  offended, 
on  account  of  certain  prejudices  against  South,  whom  they 
looked  upon  as  a  mere  time-server,  that  they  stiffly  denied 
the  passing  of  these  letters  in  convocation."  A  tumult 
arose,  and  they  proceeded  to  a  scrutiny  ;  after  which  the 
senior  proctor,  Nathaniel  Crew,  fellow  of  Lincoln-college, 
and  afterwards  bishop  of  Durham,  did  ("  according  to  his 
usual  perfidy,  which,"  says  Wood,  "  he  frequently  exercised 
in  his  office  ;  for  he  was  born  and  bred  a  presbyterian") 
pronounce  him  passed  by  the  major  part  of  the  house  ;  in 
consequence  of  which,  by  the  double  presentation  of  Dr. 
John  W'"allis,  Savilian  professor  of  geometry,  he  was  first 
admitted  bachelor,  then  doctor  of  divinity. 

Afterwards   he  had  a  sinecure  in  Wales  bestowed   upon 

*  While  public  orator,  it  fell  to  him  hunc  bdlicosissimum" — that  moment 

to  present  an  officer  of  nute  to  the  uni-  sonic   accident  obliged  the  great  war- 

versity  for   an   honorary   (k-^ree.      On  ii'i    t  >  turn  about  unexpectedly,  an  1 

this   occasion  he    bi'gan    in   the   usual  South  immediately  went  on,  "  qui  mm- 

ftyle  of  address  totlx-  \  ic< •-<-ii:inccilor,  ipiani  anN-a  ter^iver^atus  t*t.;> 

proctors,  &c.  "  I'lW^ato  rubis,  virnin  MJ.J.  LIII.  p.  46-i. 


233  SOU  T  H. 

him  by  bis  patron  the  earl  of  Clarendon  ;  and,  at  that  earl's 
retirement  into  France  in  1G67,  became  chaplain  to  James 
duke  of  York.  In  1670,  he  was  made  canon  of  Christ 
church,  Oxibrd.  In  1676,  he  attended  as  chaplain  Lau- 
rence Hyde,  esq.  ambassador  extraordinary  to  the  king  of 
Poland  ;  of  which  journey  he  gave  an  account,  in  a  letter 
to  Dr.  Edward  Pocock,  dated  from  Dantzick  the  16th  of 
Dec.  1677;  which  is  printed  in  the  "  Memoirs  of  his  Life." 
In  167S,  iie  was  nominated  by  the  dean  and  chapter  of 
Westminster  to  the  rectory  of  Islip  in  Oxfordshire  ;  and,  in 
16SO,  rebuilt  the  chancel  of  that  church,  as  he  did  after- 
wards the  rectory-house.  He  also  allowed  an  hundred 
pounds  per  annum  to  his  curate,  and  expended  the  rest  in 
educating  and  apprenticing  the  poorer  children  of  the  pa- 
rish. Jn  I6bl  he  exhibited  a  remarkable  example  of  ac- 
commodating his  principles  to  those  of  the  times.  Being 
now  one  of  the  king's  chaplains  in  ordinary,  lie  preached 
before  his  majesty  upon  these  words,  "The  lot  is  cast  into 
the  lap,  but  the  disposing  of  it  is  of  the  Lord."  In  this 
sermon  he  introduced  three  remarkable  instances  of  unex- 
pected advancements,  those  of  Agathocles,  Massaniello, 
and  Oliver  Cromwell.  Of  the  latter  he  says,  "  And  who 
that  had  beheld  such  a  bankrupt  beggarly  fellow  as  Crom- 
well, first  entering  the  parliament  house  with  a  threadbare 
torn  cloak,  greasy  hat  (perhaps  neither  of  them  paid  for), 
could  have  suspected  that  in  the  space  of  so  few  years,  he 
should,  by  the  murder  of  one  king,  and  the  banishment  of 
another,  ascend  the  throne  r"  At  this,  the  king  is  said  to 
have  fallen  into  a  violent  tit  of  laughter,  and  turning  to  Dr. 
South's  patron,  Mr.  Laurence  Hyde,  now  created  lord  Ro- 
chester, said,  "  Odds  fish,  Lory,  your  chaplain  must  be  a 
bishop,  therefore  put  me  in  mind  of  him  at  the  next 
death  !" 

Wood  observes,  that  Dr.  South,  notwithstanding  his  va- 
rious preferments,  lived  upon  none  of  them  ;  but  upon  nis 
temporal  estate  at  Caversbam  near  Reading,  and,  as  the 
people  of  Oxford  imagined,  in  a  discontented  and  clamo- 
rous condition  for  want  of  more.  They  were  mistaken, 
however,  if  the  author  of  the  Memoirs  of  his  Life  is  to  be 
depended  on,  who  tells  us,  that  he  refused  several  offers 
of  bishoprics,  as  likewise  that  of  an  archbishopric  in  Ire- 
land, which  was  made  him  in  James  the  Second's  reign,  by 
his  patron  the  earl  of  Rochester,  then  lord  lieutenant  of 
that  kingdom.  But  this  was  only  rumour;  and  there  is  lit- 


SOUTH.  239 

tie  reason  to  suppose  that  it  had  any  foundation.  South's 
nature  and  temper  were  violent,  domineering,  and  intrac- 
table to  the  last  degree  ;  and  it  is  more  than  probable,  that 
his  patrons  might  not  think  it  expedient  to  raise  him  higher, 
and  by  that  means  invest  him  with  more  power  than  he  was 
likely  to  use  with  discretion.  There  is  a  particular  record- 
ed, which  shews,  that  they  were  no  strangers  to  his  nature. 
The  earl  of  Rochester,  being  solicited  by  James  II.  to  change 
his  religion,  agreed  to  be  present  at  a  dispute  between  two 
divines  of  the  church  of  England,  and  two  of  the  church  of 
Rome;  and  to  abide  by  the  result  of  it.  The  king  nomi- 
nated two  for  the  Popish  side,  the  earl  two  for  the  Protest- 
ant, one  of  whom  was  South  ;  to  whom  the  king  objected, 
saying,  that  he  could  not  agree  to  the  choice  of  South,  who 
instead  of  arguments  would  bring  railing  accusations,  and 
had  not  temper  to  go  through  a  dispute  that  required  the 
greatest  attention  and  calmness  :  upon  which  Dr.  Patrick, 
then  dean  of  Peterborough,  and  minister  of  St.  Paul's,  Co- 
vent  garden,  was  chosen  in  his  stead. 

After  the  revolution,  South  took  the  oath  of  allegiance 
to  their  majesties  ;  though  he  is  said  to  have  excused  him- 
self from  accepting  a  great  dignity  in  the  church,  vacated 
by  a  refusal  of  those  oaths.  Bishop  Kennet  says,  that  at 
first  he  made  a  demur  about  submitting  to  the  revolution, 
and  thought  himself  deceived  by  Dr.  Sherlock,  "  which  was 
the  true  foundation  of  the  bitter  difference  in  writing:  about 

O 

the  Trinity."  Whatever  the  cause,  Dr.  South,  in  1693, 
published  "  Animadversions  on  Dr.  Sherlock's  book,  enti- 
tled, 'A  vindication  of  the  Holy  and  ever  Blessed  Trinity,' 
&c.  together  with  a  more  necessary  vindication  of  that  sa- 
cred and  prime  article  of  the  Christian  faith  from  his  new 
notions  and  false  explications  of  it :  humbly  offered  to  his 
admirers,  and  to  himself  the  chief  of  them,"  1693,  4to. 
Sherlock  having  published  in  1694  a  "Defence"  of  him- 
self against  these  Animadversions,  South  replied,  in  a  book 
entitled,  "  Tritheism  charged  upon  Dr.  Sherlock's  neur 
notion  of  the  Trinity,  and  the  charge  made  good  in  an 
answer  to  the  Defence,"  &c.  This  was  a  sharp  contest, 
and  men  of  great  note  espoused  the  cause  of  each;  though 
the  cause  of  each,  as  is  curious  to  observe,  was  not  the 
cause  of  orthodoxy,  which  lay  between  them  both:  for  if 
Sherlock  ran  into  Tritheism,  and  made  three  substances  as 
well  as  three  persons  of  the  Godhead,  South  on  the  other 
hand  leaned  to  the  heresy  of  Sabellius,  which,  destroying 


240  SOUTH. 

the  triple  personage,  supposed  only  one  substance  with 
something  like  three  modes.  The  victory,  nevertheless, 
was  adjudged  to  South  in  an  extraordinary  manner  at  Ox- 
ford, as  we  have  already  noticed  in  the  life  of  Sherlock  ; 
for  Mr.  Bingham  of  University  college,  having  fallen  in 
with  Sherlock's  notions,  and  asserted  in  a  sermon  be  to  re 
the  university,  that  "  there  were  three  infinite  distinct 
minds  and  substances  in  the  Trinity,  and  also  that  the  three 
persons  in  the  Trinity  are  three  distinct  minds  or  spirits 
and  three  individual  substances,  was  censured  by  a  solemn 
decree  there  in  convocation  :  wherein  they  judge,  declare, 
and  determine  the  aforesaid  words,  lately  delivered  i;i  the 
said  sermon,  to  be  "  false,  impious,  heretical,  and  con- 
trary to  the  doctrine  of  the  church  of  England."  But  this 
decree  rather  irritated,  than  composed  the  differences :  and 
at  length  the  king  interposed  his  authority,  by  directions  to 
the  archbishops  and  bishops,  that  no  preacher  whatsoever 
in  his  sermon  or  lecture,  should  presume  to  preach  any 
other  doctrine  concerning  the  blessed  Trinity,  than  what 
was  contained  in  the  Holy  Scriptures,  and  was  agreeable 
to  the  three  Creeds  and  thirty-nine  Articles  of  religion. 
This  put  an  end  to  the  controversy;  though  not  till  after 
both  the  disputants,  together  with  Dr.  Thomas  Burnet, 
master  of  the  Charter-house,  had  been  ridiculed  in  a  well- 
known  ballad,  called  "  The  Battle  Royal."  Burnet  about 
the  same  time  had  ridiculed,  in  his  "  Arclueologia  Philo- 
sophica,"  the  literal  account  of  the  creation  and  fall  of 
man,  as  it  stands  in  the  beginning  of  Genesis ;  and  this 
being  thought  heterodox  and  profane,  exposed  him  to  the 
lash  upon  the  present  occasion. 

During  the  greatest  part  of  queen  Annie's  reign,  South 
was  in  a  state  of  inactivity;  and,  the  infirmities  of  old  age 
growing  fast  upon  him,  he  performed  very  little  of  the  duty 
of  his  ministerial  function,  otherwise  than  by  attending 
divine  service  at  Westminster  abbey.  Yet  when  there  was 
any  alarm  about  the  church's  danger,  none  shewed  greater 
activity;  nor  had  Sacheverell  in  1710  a  more  strenuous 
advocate.  He  had  from  time  to  time  given  his  sermons  to 
the  public;  and,  in  1715,  he  published  a  fourth  volume, 
which  he  dedicated  to  the  right  hon.  William  Bromley,  esq. 
"  some  time  speaker  to  the  Hon.  House  of  Commons,  and 
after  that  principal  Secretary  of  State  to  her  Majesty  Queen 
Anne,  of  e-^er  blessed  memory."  He  died  aged  eighty- 
three,  July  8,  1716  ;  and  v\as  interred  with  great  solemnity, 


SOUTH.  241 

in  Westminster  abbey,  where  a  monument  is  erected  to 
him,  with  an  inscription  upon  it.  He  was  a  man  of  very 
uncommon  abilities  and  attainments;  of  judgment,  wit,  and 
learning  equally  great.  There  is  as  much  wit  in  his  ser- 
mons, as  there  is  good  sense  and  learning,  well  combined 

7  O  O7 

and  strongly  set  forth  :  and  there  is  yet  more  ill  humour, 
spleen,  and  batire.  His  wit  indeed  was  his  bane,  for  he 
never  could  repress  it  on  the  most  solemn  occasions,  and 
preaching  may  surely  be  reckoned  one  of  those.  Of  this 
he  seems  to  have  been  sensible  himself;  for  when  Sherlock 
accused  him  of  employing  wit  in  a  controversy  on  the  Tri- 
nity, South,  in  his  reply,  observed  that,  "  had  it  pleased 
God  to  have  made  him  (Dr.  Sherlock)  a  wit,  he  wished  to 
know  what  he  would  have  done*  ?  However  admirable, 
there  was  certainly  nothing  amiable  in  his  nature  :  for  it  is 
doing  him  no  injustice  to  say,  that  he  was  sour,  morose, 
peevish,  quarrelsome,  intolerant,  and  unforgiving ;  and, 
had  not  his  zeal  for  religion  served  for  the  time  to  cover  a 
multitude  of  moral  imperfections,  all  his  parts  and  learning 
could  not  have  screened  him  from  the  imputation  of  being 
but  an  indifferent  kind  of  man. 

His  sermons  have  been  often  printed  in  6  vols.  8vo.  In 
1717,  his  "  Opera  Posthuma  Latina,"  consisting  of  ora- 
tions and  poems  ;  and  his  "  Posthumous  Works"  in  English, 
containing  three  sermons,  an  account  of  his  travels  into 
Poland,  memoirs  of  his  life,  and  a  copy  of  his  will ;  were 
published  in  2  vols.  Svo.  By  this  will,  as  well  as  his  gene- 
ral conduct  in  life,  it  appears  that  covetousness  was  not  to 
be  enumerated  among  his  failings.  His  fortune  he  bestowed 
liberally  on  the  church,  the  clergy,  and  the  poor.1 

SOUTHERN  (THOMAS),  an  English  dramatic  writer, 
who  has  been  very  improperly  .admitted  by  Wood  into  the 
"  Athenae  Oxonienses,"  and  grossly  misrepresented  in 
every  particular,  was  born  at  Dublin  in  1659,  and  was  ad- 

*  On  one  occasion,  it  is  said,  that  I  must  beg  that  you  will  not  snore  quit* 
when  preaching  before  king  Charles  II.  so   loud,  lest  you  should  awaken    his 
ainl  his  courtiers,  be  perceived  in  the  majesty  ;"  and  then  calmly  continued 
middle  of  liis  sermon  that  sleep  had  his  discourse.     Of  his  general  preach- 
taken    possession    of    some   of   them,  iny,  bishop  Kenuet  savs,  "  He  labour- 
Stopping,  and  changing  the  tone  of  his  cd  very  much  to  compose  his  sermons, 
voice,  he    called   three  times   to    lord  and  in  the  pnlpit  worked  up  hia  body 
Lauderdale,  and  when  he  had  awaken-  when  he  came  ta  apiece  of  wit,  or  any 
ed  him,  "  My  lord,"  said  South,  "  I  notable  saying."     Kennett'a  MSS.   iu 
am  sorry  to  interrupt  your  repose,  but  Brit.  Museum. 

*  Life  prefixed  to  his  Posthumous  Works. — Biog.  Bdt,— Ath.  Ox.  vol.  IL— • 
Birch's  Tillotson. — Burnet's  Own  Tinie»,  Sec.  flee. 

VOL.  XXVIH.  R 


242  S  O  U  T  II  E  R  N. 

mitted  a  student  of  Trinity  college,  March  30,  1676,  where 
Dr.  Whitenhall  was  his  tutor.  In  his  eighteenth  year,  he 
quitted  Ireland,  and  removed  to  the  Middle-Temple,  Lon- 
don, where  he  devoted  himself  to  play-writing  and  poetry, 
instead  of  law.  His  "  Persian  Prince,  or  Loyal  Brother," 
in  1682,  was  introduced  at  a  time  when  the  Tory  interest 
was  triumphant  in  England  ;  and  the  character  of  the  Loyal 
Brother  was  no  doubt  intended  to  compliment  James  duke 
of  York,  who  afterwards  rewarded  him.  After  his  acces- 
sion to  the  throne,  Southern  went  into  the  army,  and  served 
as  ensign,  upon  the  duke  of  Monmouth's  landing,  in  earl 
Ferrers's  regiment,  before  the  duke  of  Berwick  had  it. 
This  affair  being  over,  he  retired  to  his  studies;  and  wrote 
several  plays,  from  which  he  is  supposed  to  have  drawn  a 
very  handsome  subsistence.  In  the  preface  to  his  tragedy 
called  "The  Spartan  Dame,"  he  acknowledges,  that  he 
received  from  the  booksellers  as  a  price  for  this  play  150/. 
which  was  thought  in  1721,  the  time  of  its  being  published, 
very  extraordinary.  He  was  the  first  who  raised  the  advan- 
tage of  play-writing  to  a  second  and  third  night;  which 
Pope  mentions  in  these  lines  : 


-Tom  whom  heav'n  sent  down  to  raise 


The  price  of  prologues  and  of  plays. 

Verses'to  Southern,  1/4*2. 

The  reputation  which  Dryden  gained  by  the  many  pro- 
logues lie  wrote,  made  the  players  always  solicitous  to  have 
one  of  his,  as  being  sure  to  be  well  received  by  the  public. 
Dryden's  price  for  a  prologue  had  usually  been  four  guineas, 
with  which  sum  Southern  once  presentee;  him  ;  when  Dry- 
den, returning  the  money,  said,  "Young  man,  this  is  too 
little,  I  must  have  six  guineas."  Southern  answered,  that 
four  had  been  his  usual  price  :  "  Yes,"  says  Dryden,  "  it 
has  been  so,  but  the  players  have  hitherto  had  my  labours 
too  cheap  ;  for  the  future  I  must  have  six  guineas."  South- 
ern also  was  industrious  to  draw  all  imaginable  profits  from 
his  poetical  labours.  Dryden  once  took  occasion  to  ask 
him,  how  ranch  he  got  by  one  of  his  plays  ?  Southern  said, 
after  owning  himself  ashamed  to  tell  him,  TOO/. ;  which  asto- 
nished Dryden,  as  it  was  more  by  GOO/,  than  he  himself  had 
ever  got  bv  his  most  successful  plays.  But  it  appears  that 
Southern  was  not  beneath  the  arts  of  solicitation,  and  often 
sold  his  tickets  at  a  very  high  price,  by  making  applications 
t.o  persons  of  quality  and  distinction  ;  a  degree  of  servility, 


SOUTHERN.  243 

which  Dryden  might  justly  think  below  the  dignity  of  a 
poet,  and  more  in  the  character  of  an  under-player.  Dry- 
den  entertained  a  high  opinion  of  Southern's  abilities;  and 
prefixed  a  copy  of  verses  to  a  comedy  of  his,  called  "The 
Wife's  Excuse,"  acted  in  1692.  The  night  that  South- 
ern's "  Innocent  Adultery"  was  first  acted,  which  has  been 
esteemed  by  some  the  most  adocting  play  in  any  language, 
a  gentlemnu  took  occasion  to  ask  Dryden,  "  what  was  his 
opinion  of  Southern's  genius}"  who  replied,  "that  he 
thought  him  such  another  poet  as  Otway."  Such  indeed 
was  Dry  den's  opinion  of  his  talents,  that  being  unable  to 
finish  his  "  Cieomenes,"  he  consigned  it  to  the  care  of 
Southern,  who  wrote  one  half  of  the  fifth  act  of  that  tra- 
gedy, and  was  with  reason  highly  flattered  by  this  mark  of 
the  author's  confidence  and  esteem.  Of  all  Southern's 
plays,  ten  in  number,  the  most  finished  is  "  Oroonoko,  or 
the  Royal  Slave  :"  which  is  built  upon  a  real  fact,  related 
by  Mrs.  Beha  in  a  novel.  Besides  the  tender  and  delicate 
strokes  of  passion  in  this  play,  there  are  many  shining  and 
manly  sentiments  ;  and  some  have  gone  so  far  beyond  the 
truth  as  to  say,  that  the  most  celebrated  even  of  Shakspeare's 
plays  cannot  furnish  so  many  striking  thoughts,  and  such  a 
glow  of  animated  poetry.  Southern  died  May  26,  1746, 
aged  eighty-five.  He  lived  the  last  ten  years  of  his  life  in 
Tothill  street,  Westminster,  and  attended  the  abbey  service 
very  constantly;  being  particularly  fond  of  church  music. 
He  is  said  to  have  died  the  oldest  and  the  richest  of  his 
dramatic  brethren.  Oldys,  in  his  MS  additions  to  Gil- 
don's  continuation  of  Langbaine,  says,  that  he  remembered 
Mr.  Southern  "  a  grave  and  venerable  old  gentleman.  He 
lived  near  Covent-garden,  and  used  often  to  frequent  the 
evening  prayers  there,  always  neat  and  decently  dressed, 
commonly  in  black,  with  his  silver  sword  and  silver  locks; 
but  latterly  it  seems  he  resided  at  Westminster."  The  late 
poet  Gray,  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Walpole,  dated  from  Burn- 
ham  in  Buckinghamshire,  in  Sept.  1737,  has  also  the  fol- 
lowing observation  concerning  this  author :  "  We  have  old 
Mr.  Southern  at  a  gentleman's  house  a  little  way  off,  who 
often  comes  to  see  us;  he  is  now  seventy-seven  years  old, 
and  has  almost  wholly  lost  his  memory;  but  is  as  agreeable 
an  old  man  as  can  be ;  at  least  I  persuade  myself  so  when  I 
look  at  him,  and  think  of  Isabella  and  Oroonoko."  Mr. 
Mason  adds  in  a  note  on  this  passage,  that "  Mr.  Gray  al- 
ways thought  highly  of  his  pathetic  powers,  at  the  same 


244  SOUTHERN. 

time  that  he  blamed  his  ill  taste  for  mixing  them  so  injudi- 
ciously with  farce,  in  order  to  produce  that  monstrous  spe- 
cies of  composition  called  Tragi-comedy."  Mr.  Southern, 
however,  in  the  latter  part  of  his  life,  was  sensible  of  the 
impropriety  of  blending  tragedy  and  comedy,  and  used  to 
declare  to  lord  Corke  his  regret  at  complying  with  the  li- 
centious taste  of  the  time.  His  dramatic  writings  were  for 
the  first  time  completely  published  by  T.  Evans,  in  3  vols. 

12H10.1 

SOUTHGATE  (RICHARD),  a  late  worthy  divine  and 
antiquary,  was  born  at  Alwalton,  in  Huntingdonshire, 
March  16,  1729.  He  was  the  son  of  William  Southgate, 
a  considerable  farmer  of  that  place,  and  of  Hannah,  the 
daughter  of  Robert  Wright,  of  Castor,  in  Northampton- 
shire, a  surveyor  and  civil  engineer.  He  was  the  eldest  of 
ten  children,  three  of  whom  died  in  infancy,  and  all  the 
rest  survived  him.  He  was  educated  for  some  time  at  a 
private  school  at  Uppingham,  but  chiefly  at  the  free  gram- 
mar-school at  Peterborough,  under  the  rev.  Thomas  Mar- 
shall, an  excellent  scholar,  who  became  afterwards  his  cor- 
dial friend.  The  rapidity  of  his  acquisitions  at  this  school 
gained  him  the  esteem  of  many,  particularly  of  Dr.  John 
Thomas,  bishop  of  Lincoln,  an  intimate  friend  of  his  father. 
Under  the  patronage  of  this  prelate,  and  with  an  exhibition 
from  Peterborough,  he  removed  to  Cambridge,  where  he 
was  entered  of  St.  John's  college  in  1745,  under  Mr.  (after- 
wards the  learned  Dr.)  Rutherforth,  to  whom  he  was  recom- 
mended with  great  warmth  by  his  friend  and  late  master, 
Mr.  Marshall. 

At  the  university  he  studied  hard,  and  lived  retired,  de- 
lighted with  the  opportunities  for  improvement  which  a 
college  life  affords,  and  in  Easter  term,  1749,  took  his 
degree  of  A.  B.  and  was  on  the  list  of  honours  on  the  first 
tripos.  Some  unpleasant  occurrences  in  his  family,  how- 
ever, obliged  him  to  leave  the  university,  after  a  residence 
of  little  'more  than  four  years  ;  and  he  now  retired  to  his 
father's  house  at  Alwalton,  where,  by  ihe  assistance  of 
books  from  the  library  of  Dr.  Neve,  who  was  rector  of  the 
parish,  he  was  enabled  to  continue  his  studies.  In  Sept. 
1752,  he  was  ordained  deacon,  and  in  the  same  mortth, 
1754,  priest,  by  his  friend  and  patron,  Dr.  Thomas,  bishop 

1  Cibber's  Lives. — Malone's  Life  of  Dryden,  vol.  I.  p.  175. — Harries  Ware. 
— Biog.  Diaru. 


S  O  U  T  H  G  A  T  E.  245 

of  Lincoln,  who  in  the  last  mentioned  year  gave  him  the 
rectory  of  Woolley,  in  Huntingdonshire,  worth  ahout  120/. 
a  year.  The  circumstances  attending  this  preferment  are 
too  highly  honourable  to  the  character  of  Mr.  Southgate  to 
be  omitted  in  even  a  short  sketch  of  his  life.  This  living 
became  vacant  during  the  minority  of  a  Mr.  Peacock,  who 
was  the  patron,  and  was  himself  intended  for  the  church. 
His  guardians,  not  being  able  to  agree  as  to  the  person  they 
should  present,  suffered  it  to  lapse  to  the  bishop ;  who 
mentioned  these  circumstances  to  Mr.  Southgate  when  he 
presented  htm  to  the  living;  and  although  the  bishop  left 
him  entirely  clear  of  any  promise  or  restraint  respecting 
it;  as  soon  as  Mr.  Peacock  had  taken  orders,  Mr.  Southgate 
went  to  his  lordship,  and  resigned  the  living.  During  the 
time  that  he  held  it,  he  had  to  rebuild  a  considerable  part 
of  the  premises,  and  to  make  such  repairs,  that  he  may  be 
said  rather  to  have  acted  like  a  faithful  steward  to  Mr.  Pea- 
cock than  the  real  rector  of  the  parish  ;  so  that  when  he 
resigned  it,  after  possession  for  more  than  five  years,  he 
had  not  saved  out  of  the  income  one  shilling.  The  bishop, 
on  his  resignation,  said,  "  You  have  done,  Richard,  what 
I  knew  you  would  do  ;  you  have  behaved  like  a  Christian 
and  a  good  man  ;  and  I  have  this  additional  motive  for 
thinking  myself  bound  to  provide  for  you." 

This  obligation,  however,  appears  to  have  been  forgot- 
ten, for  although  the  bishop  lived  till  1766,  and  had  various 
opportunities  of  fulfilling  his  promise,  Mr.  Southgate  re- 
ceived no  other  promotion  from  him,  and  never  shewed 
the  least  sign  of  disappointment,  but  on  the  contrary  en- 
deavoured to  apologize  for  the  bishop,  which  perhaps  few 
of  our  readers  will  be  inclined  to  do,  as  the  only  plea  was 
"  a  constitutional  weakness  which  too  easily  yielded  to  the 
incessant  requests  of  the  importunate,  or  the  powerful  soli- 
citations of  the  great." 

Before  Mr.  Southgate  settled  in  London,  he  successively 
served  several  curacies  in  the  country,  and  was  frequently 
in  the  habit  of  reading  prayers  and  preaching  at  three  dif- 
ferent churches  :  and  it  appears  from  his  journal  that  he 
IK :i  unfreqnently  served  four  different  churches  in  one  day. 
During  this  time  he  found  the  want  of  books,  and  of  per- 
sons of  literature  to  converse  with,  were  insurmountable 
obstacles  to  his  improvement  in  knowledge,  and  had  to 
lament  that  small  country  villages  could  not  supply  these  j 
on  which  account  he  formed  the  resolution  of  coming  to 


246  S  O  U  T  H  G  A  T  E. 

London.  Accordingly.  Jan.  2,  1763,  having  received  a  re- 
commendation  from  bishop  Thomas  to  Dr.  Nicolls,  rector  of 
St.  James's,  Westminster,  became  to  London,  and  was  im- 
mediately engaged  by  that  gentleman  as  one  of  the  sub- 
curates  of  St.  James's,  and  served  this  cure  till  1766.  la 
December  of  the  preceding  year  he  entered  upon  the  cu- 
racy of  St.  Giles's,  to  which  he  was  oppoiuted  by  Dr.  Gaily, 
on  the  recommendation  of  Dr.  Parker,  the  successor  of  Dr. 
Nicolls  in  St.  James's,  and  this  last  cure  he  rei .lined  till 
the  time  of  his  death.  In  serving  it,  he  is  universally  ac- 
knowledged to  have  exhibited  the  portraiture  of  a  learned, 
pious,  and  most  iudeiatigably  conscientious  parish  priest. 
The  duties  of  this  extensive  parish  were  not  more  urgent 
than  t!;e  wants  of  its  numerous  poor,  and  in  works  of  cha- 
rity Mr.  Soutligate  was  eminently  distinguished.  "  If," 
says  one  oi  his.  biographers,  "hi  any  parts  of  his  pastoral 
office,  more  than  in  others,  he  was  particularly  laborious, 
it  w;:s  in  visiting,  catechising,  and  exhorting  the  poor.  In 
the  parish  of  St.  Giles's,  the  baptisms  at  the  font  are  daily, 
and  very  numerous;  on  which  occasions,  he  constantly  ca- 
techised, or  lectured,  the  sponsors,  awfully  impressing  upon 
them  the  high  importance  of  an  attention,  not  only  to  the 
ge  ihere  undertaken,  but  to  the  various  obligations  and 
privileges  of  the  Christian  life:  and  the  good  seed  so  ju- 
diciously and  season. ;bly  sown,  at  those  times,  could  not 
but  be  eminently  fruitful.  In  visiting  the  sick,  and  parti- 
cularly the  sick  poor,  he  was  almost  every  day  engaged,  as 
his  iniimate  friends  well  know,  and  bis  journal  testifies  ; 
praying  with,  and  exhorting  the  afflicted  to  submit  patiently 
to  the  chastising  hand  of  God,  counselling  the  profane,  and 
inconsiderate,  to  reflect  upon,  and  amend  their  ways,  and 
admonbhing  ail  to  flee  from  the  wrath  to  come,  and  accept 
the  salvation  tendered  in  the  gospel,  on  the  terms  it  pre- 
scribes. When  he  became  able,  his  prayers  and  exhorta- 
tions were  frequently  accompanied  with  his  alms,  admi- 
nister.^ at  once  to  the  spiritual  and  bodily  wants  of  his 
poor  parishioners,"  &c.  &,c. 

From  the  time  of  Mr.  Sonthgatc's  coming  to  London  to 
1783,  though  he  hau  little  more  than  the  profits  of  his  en- 
racy  (fifty  guineas  a  year),  yet  so  great  was  his  oeconomy, 
that  he  had- made  a  very  considerable  collection  of  books, 
and  had  got  together  no  inconsiderable  number  of  coins 
and  medals.  But,  in  order  to  increase  his  income,  and  to 
iusist  him  in  this,  he  had  several  times  young  gentlemen 


SQUTHGATE.  247 

under  his  care,  with  whom  he  read  the  Greek  and  Roman 
classics.  Even  when  at  college  he  began  to  be  a  collector 
of  books  and  coins,  and  though  what  he  then  bought  of  the 
latter  were  of  little  value,  yet  so  nice  was  his  taste,  that  he 
never  purchased  any  which  were  not  in  the  highest  pre- 
servation and  perfection.  It  was  not  until  a  considerable 
time  after  he  had  been  in  London,  that  he  was  enabled  to 
increase  his  library  and  museum,  by  purchasing  articles  ot 
value  and  ornament. 

In  May  1783  he  received  his  first  preferment  since  coming 
to  London,  the  small  rectory  of  Little  Steeping  in  Lincoln- 
shire, from   the  duke  of  Ancaster ;  and  the  following  year 
he  was  appointed  assistant  librarian  of  the  British  Museum, 
on  the  death  of  Dr.  Giftbrtl.     In  1786  he  became,    by  the 
death  of  a  near  relation,  possessor  of  an   estate  of  100/.  a 
year  in  Whitechapel  ;  and  in  H'JO  his  income  was  farther 
increased  by  the  valuable  living  of  Warsop,  in  the  diocese 
of  York,   and  county  of  Nottingham,   to  which  he  was  pre- 
sented by  John  Gaily  Knight,  of  Langold,  esq.  son  of  his 
old  friend  Dr.  Gaily.     These  promotions  came  late,   but  in 
time  to  afford  him  for  a  few  years  the  only  enjoyments  he 
prized,   that  of  exerting  his   benevolence  among  his  poor 
parishioners,  and  that  of  adding  to  his  library  and  collec- 
tion of  coins.     In  the  same  year  he  became  a  member  of 
the  society  for  propagating  Christian  knowledge;  and  of  the 
society  for  the   support  of  the  widows  and  orphans  of  the 
clergy  within  the  bills  of  mortality  and  the  county  of  Mid- 
dlesex.    In  171H  he  was   elected  a  fellow  of  the  society  of 
Antiquaries,  and  was  afterwards   made  a  member  of  the 
Linneean   society.      He  died  Jan.  25,  1795,   in   the  sixty- 
sixth  year  of  his  age,  and  was  interred  in  St.  Giles's  church, 
where  a  marble  tablet  is  inscribed  to  his  memory. 

Mr.  Soutbgate  never  committed  any  of  his  writings  to 
the  press,  but  had  made  preparations  for  a  work  much 
wanted,  and  for  which  he  xvas  thoroughly  qualified  ;  a  new 
"  History  of  the  Saxons  and  Danes  in  this  country,"'  illus- 
trating and  illustrated  by  their  coins.  His  general  know- 
ledge was  very  great,  and  in  medal! ic  science  perhaps  few 
were  to  be  compared  to  him.  He  K  •  a  choice  and  valu- 
able collection  of  books,  coins,  medals,  shells,  and  other 
natural  curiosities,  which  in  April  and  May  1795,  were  sold 
by  auction,  by  Messrs.  Leigh  and  Sotheby,  the  sale  conti- 
nuing twenty-one  days.  Prefixed  to  the  catalogue  was  a 
life  of  Mr.  Southgate,  written  by  Dr.  Charles  Combe,  to 


248  S  O  U  T  H  G  A  T  E. 

which  we  must  refer  for  many  other  interesting  particulars 
and  also  to  a  biographical  preface  by  Dr.  Gaskin,  prefixed 
to  2  vols.  of  Mr.  Soutbgate's  "  Sermons,"  published  by  that 
tlivine  in  1793.' 

SOUTHWELL  (ROBERT),  an  English  Jesuit  and  poet, 
v.-as  bom  in  1560,  and  is  said  to  have  descended  from  an 
ancient  family,  either  in  Norfolk  or  Suffolk.  Being  sent 
abroad  for  education,  he  became  a  Jesuit  at  Rome,  Oct. 
1578.  In  1585,  he  was  appointed  prefect  of  studies  in  the 
English  college  there,  and  not  long  after  was  sent  as  a  mis- 
sionary into  England.  His  chief  residence  was  with  Anne 
countess  of  Arundel,  \vho  died  in  the  Tower  of  London. 
After  carrying  on  his  mission  for  some  time,  he  was,  in 
July  1592,  apprehended  and  examined  with  the  strictest 
rigour,  but  having  evaded  the  questions  put  to  him,  was 
imprisoned  for  three  years,  and  as  he  affirmed,  underwent 
the  torture  several  times.  He  owned  that  he  was  a  priest 
and  a  Jesuit,  that  he  came  into  England  to  preach  the 
truths  of  the  catholic  religion,  and  was  prepared  to  lay  down 
his  life  for  it.  In  Feb.  151' 5,  he  was  tried  at  the  bar  of  the 
King's  Bench,  Westminster,  and  executed  the  next  day  at 
Tyburn.  He  was  a  man  of  singular  parts,  says  Dodd,  and 
happy  in  a  peculiar  talent  of  expressing  himself  in  the 
English  language,  both  in  prose  and  verse.  Edmund  Bol- 
ton,  whom  Warton  calls  a  sensible  critic,  speaks  of  South- 
\velPs  works  in  the  same  strain  of  panegyric  :  "Never  must 
be  forgotten  St.  Peter's  complaint,  and  those  other  serious 
poems  said  to  be  father  Southwell's  :  the  English  whereof, 
as  it  is  most  proper,  so  the  sharpness  and  light  of  wit  is  very 
rare  in  them."  Mr.  Headley  seems  first  to  have  revived 
the  memory  of  Southwell,  as  a  poet,  by  some  curious  spe- 
cimens, in  which  he  has  been  followed  by  Mr.  Ellis. 
"  There  is  a  moral  charm,"  says  Headley,  "  in  the  little 
pieces  of  Southwell,  that  will  prejudice  most  readers  of 
feeling  in  their  favour."  Unless,  however,  there  were  en- 
couragement for  republication,  which  is  not  very  probable, 
Southwell's  fame  must  principally  rest  on  these  specimens, 
as  his  works  are  rarely  to  be  met  with  ;  yet  Mr.  Ellis  re- 
marks that  the  few  copies  known  to  exist,  are  the  remnant 
of  at  least  twenty-four  different  editions,  of  which  eleven 
were  printed  between  1593  and  1600. 

The  titles  of  his  principal  works,  are,  1.  "  A  consolation 

1  Lives  as  abore. — Nichols's  Bowyer. 


SOUTHWELL.  249 

for  Catholicks  imprisoned  on  account  of  religion."  2.  "  A 
supplication  to  queen  Elizabeth,"  Lond.  1593.  3.  "  St. 
Peter's  Complaint,  with  other  poems,"  Lond.  1593.  4. 
"  Maeoniae,  or  certain  excellent  Poems  and  spiritual 
Hymns,"  omitted  in  the  preceding  collection,  ibid.  1595. 
5.  "  The  Triumphs  over  death,"  ibid.  1595,  1596.  6. 
"  Rules  of  a  good  life,  with  a  letter  to  his  father."  7. 
"  Marie  Magdalen's  Funeral  Teares,"  ibid.  1609,  reprinted 
in  1772  by  the  rev.  W.  Tooke,  with  some  alterations  to 
make  it  read  easy.1 

SOUTHWELL.     See  SOTWELL. 

SOUZA,  orSOUSA.     See  FA RI A. 

SOZOMEN  (HERMIAS),  an  ecclesiastical  historian  of 
the  fifth  century,  was  of  a  good  family;  and  born  at  Be- 
thelia,  a  town  of  Palestine.  After  being  liberally  educated, 
he  studied  the  law  at  Berytus  in  Phoenicia ;  and  then  go- 
ing to  Constantinople,  became  a  pleader  at  the  bar.  Af- 
terwards he  applied  himself  to  the  writing  of  ecclesiastical 
history  ;  and  tirst  drew  up  a  compendium  of  it  in  two  books, 
from  the  ascension  of  Christ  to  the  year  323  ;  but  this  is 
lost.  Then  he  continued  his  history  in  a  more  circumstan- 
tial and  closer  manner  to  the  year  440  ;  and  this  part  is 
extant.  He  has  many  particulars  relating  to  him  in  com- 
mon with  the  ecclesiastical  historian  Socrates  :  he  lived  at 
the  same  time,  was  of  the  same  profession,  and  undertook 
a  work  of  the  same  nature,  and  comprised  it  within  the 
same  period  :  for  his  history  ends,  as  it  nearly  begins,  at 
the  same  point  with  that  of  Socrates.  His  style  is  more 
florid  and  elegant,  says  Jortin,  in  his  "  Ecclesiastical  Re- 
marks," vol.  III.  than  that  of  Socrates;  but  he  is  by  no 
means  so  judicious  an  author.  Being  of  a  family  which  had 
excessively  admired  the  monks,  and  himself  educated 
among  them,  he  contracted  a  superstitious  turn  of  mind, 
and  great  credulity  for  monkish  miracles  :  he  speaks  of  the 
benefit  which  himself  had  received  from  the  intercession  of 
Michael  the  archangel.  He  gives  an  high  commendation 
of  a  monastic  life,  and  enlarges  very  much  upon  the  actions 
and  manners  of  those  recluses  :  and  this  forms  the  greater 
part  of  what  he  has  added  to  the  "  History  of  Socrates," 
who,  it  is  universally  agreed,  wrote  first,  and  whom  he  every 
where  visibly  copies. 

I  Dodd's  Ch.  Hist. — Ath.  Ox.  vol.  T.  new  edit— Gent.  Mag.  vol.  LXVIFI.  by 
Mr.  Park. — Headl^y's  and  Ellis's  Specimens. — I'hillips's  Theatrum. — Warton's 
Hist,  of  Poetry. — Fuller's  Worthies.— Tanner. — Censura  Literaria,  vol.  VI. 


250  'S  O  Z  O  M  E  N. 

His  history  has  been  translated  and  published  by  Vale- 
sius,  with  Eusebius  and  the  other  ecclesiastical  historians; 
and  repnblished,  with  additional  notes  by  Reading,  at  Lon- 
don, 1720,  in  3  vols.  folio.1 

SPAGNOLETTO  (JOSEPH  ftibera),  so  named  in  Italy, 
and  usually  so  called,  was  born  in  1589,  at  Xativa,  a  city 
in  Spain,  about  ten  leagues  from  Valentia.  Though  his 
parents  were  not  in  circumstances  to  give  him  the  education 
in  painting  which  his  early  genius  deserved,  he  contrived 
to  travel  into  Italy,  ami  there  applied  to  his  art  under  the 
greatest  masters.  He  first  resided  at  Parma,  where  he  so 
completely  studied  the  works  of  Correggio,  as  to  be  able 
to  imitate  his  style  and  colouring  with  great  success.  He 
then  removed  to  Rome,  where  he  changed  his  manner 
altogether,  and  adopted  Caravaggio  as  his  model.  Like 
that  master,  he  painted  with  bold  and  broad  lights  and  sha- 
dows, and  gave  so  extraordinary  a  degree  of  force  to  his 
pictures,  that  the  works  of  most  other  artists,  when  placed 
near  them,  appear  comparatively  tame  and  feeble.  In  his 
colouring  he  is  esteemed  equal  to  Caravaggio,  and  supe- 
rior to  him  in  correctness  of  design  ;  yet  inferior  in  sweet- 
ness and  mellowness  of  touch.  It  is  said,  that  a  cardinal 
having  become  his  patron  at  Rome,  and  given  him  apart- 
ments in  his  own  palace,  he  became  indolent,  and  unable 
to  exert  his  talents;  in  order  to  do  justice  to  which,  he 
found  it  necessary  to  return  to  that  poverty  in  which  he  was 
bred,  and  therefore  voluntarily  renounced  this  asylum,  and 
fixed  himself  at  Naples.  Here  his  works  being  greatly  ad- 
mired, and  his  pencil  being,  after  a  time,  constantly  em- 
ployed by  the  viceroy  of  Naples,  and  other  potentates  of 
Europe,  he  gradually  rose  to  that  affluence,  the  sudden 
acquisition  of  which,  had  produced  so  bad  an  effect.  It 
was  not  so  now;  he  continued  to  paint  historical  pictures, 
and  sometimes  portraits,  which  are  dispersed  throughout 
Europe;  but  he  rarely  worked  for  the  churches  or  con- 
vents. His  principal  works  are  at  Naples,  and  in  the  Es- 
curial  in  Spain. 

The  genius  of  Spagnolelto  naturally  inclined  him  to  sub- 
jects of  horror,  which,  therefore,  he  selected  from  sacred 
and  profane  history;  such  as  the  martyrdoms  of  saints,  the 
torments  of  Ixion  and  Prometheus,  or  Cato  tearing  out  his 
own  bowels.  He  also  delighted  in  designing  old  men  ema- 

1   Cave. — Dupin. 


S  P  A  G  N  O  L  E  T  T  O.  251 

elated  by  mortification,  such  as  saints  and  hermits,  his  pic- 
tures on  which  subjects  were  much  admired  by  the  Spa- 
niards and  Neapolitans.  "  St.  Jerome  was  one  of  his  darl- 
ing subjects;  he  painted,  he  etched  him,  in  numerous  re- 
petitions, in  whole  lengths  and  bait  figures.  He  delighted 
in  the  representation  ot'hermits,  anchorets,  prophets,  apos- 
tles, perhaps  less  to  impress  the  mind  with  gravity  of cha- 
racter,  and  the  venerable  looks  of  age,  than  to  strike  the 
eye  with  the  incidental  deformities  attendant  on  decrepi- 
tude, and  the  picturesque  display  of  bone,  vein,  and  ten- 
dons, athwart  emaciated  muscle.  As  in  design  he  courted 
excrescence  or  meagreness,  so  in  the  choice  of  historic 
subjects  he  preferred  to  the  terrors  of  ebullient  passions, 
features  of  horror,  cool  assassination,  and  tortures  metho- 
dized, the  spasms  of  Ixion  ;  and  St.  Bartholomew  under 
the  butcher's  knife."  An  extraordinary  story  is  related  by 
Sandrart,  of  the  effect  of  one  of  his  pictures  on  the  ima- 
gination of  a  pregnant  woman,  and  on  her  child  ;  but  as 
the  possibility  of  such  effects  is  by  no  means  ascertained, 
we  shall  not  venture  to  relate  it.  The  force  of  his  colour- 
ing, the  extraordinary  relief  of  his  figures,  and  the  singular 
strength  of  his  expression,  certainly  make  his  pictures 
likely  to  affect  the  mind  as  powerfully  as  those  of  any  mas- 
ter who  can  be  mentioned.1 

SPAGNOLO.     See  MANTUAN. 

SPALLANZANI  (LAZARUS),  a  celebrated  modern  natu- 
ralist, was  born  at  Scandiano,  in  Italy,  Jan.  10,  1729,  and 
studied  polite  literature  under  the  Jesuits  at  Reggio  cle 
Modena,  whence  he  removed  to  Bologna,  where  his  rela- 
tion Laura  Bassi,  a  lady  deservedly  celebrated  for  her  ge- 
nius, eloquence,  and  knowledge  of  natural  philosophy  and 
mathematics,  was  at  that  time  one  of  the  most  illustrious 
professors  of  Italy.  Under  this  instructor,  he  improved  his 
taste  for  philosophy,  but  bestowed  at  the  same  time  much 
attention  in  the  cultivation  of  his  native  language,  and  be- 
came a  very  accomplished  Latin,  Greek,  and  French  scho- 
lar. His  father  had  destined  him  for  the  law  as  a  profes- 
sion, but  Vallisneri,  the  professor  of  natural  history  at  Pa- 
dua, was  the  means  of  diverting  him  from  this  pursuit,  and 
he  soon  acquired  such  reputation,  that  in  1754,  the  uni- 
versity of  Keggio  chose  him  professor  of  logic,  metaphy- 
sics, and  Greek.  This,  however,  was  not  his  final  desti- 

i  Argenville,  vol.  II. — Pilkingtou,  by  Fusdi. 


S  P  A  L  L  A  N  Z  A  N  I. 

nation,  for,  during  the  six  years  that  he  held  this  office,  he 
devoted  all  his  leisure  hours  to  those  physical  researches 
which  constituted  the  basis  of  his  fame.  Some  new  disco- 
veries excited  his  passion  for  natural  history,  which  was 
continually  augmented  by  the  success  of  his  early  efforts  ; 
and  his  observations  upon  the  animalculae  in  infusions  at- 
tracted the  attention  of  Haller  and  Bonnet,  and  various 
universities,  Coimbra,  Parma,  and  Cesena,  tempted  him 
with  flattering  offers,  but  he  preferred  an  invitation  to  be 
professor  at  Modena,  in  1760,  where  about  five  years  af- 
terwards he  published  a  pamphlet,  in  which  he  proved  by 
many  ingenious  experiments  the  anirnality  of  microscopical 
animalcuia  ;  and  in  the  same  year  a  truly  original  disserta- 
tion "  De  lapidibus  ab  aqua  resilientibus."  Here  he  de- 
monstrates, by  the  most  sLrking  experiments,  contrary  to 
the  received  opinion,  that  the  phenomenon  which  is  called 
by  children  "ducks  and  drakes,"  is  not  produced  by  the 
elasticity  of  the  water,  but  by  the  change  of  direction  which 
the  stone  undergoes  in  its  motion  after  having  struck  upon 
the  water  when  it  ascends  the  inflection  of  the  cavity  in- 
dented by  the  shock. 

In  1768  he  published  his  "  Prospectus  on  the  reproduc- 
tion of  animals,"  which  explains  the  method  that  ought  to 
be  followed  in  this  dark  research,  and  contains  many  unex- 
pected facts;  particularly  the  existence  of  tadpoles,  prior 
to  the  period  of  fecundation  in  many  species  of  toads  and 
frogs  :  the  regeneration  of  the  head  in  decapitated  bodies 
of  snails,  which  he  had  already  communicated  to  Bounet  in 
1766.  This  he  finally  demonstrated  some  time  afterwards 
in  a  work  entitled  "  Memorie  della  Societa  Italiana."  The 
physiology  of  Haller,  which  Spallanzani  studied,  fixed  his 
attention  upon  the  circulation  of  the  blood,  in  which  he 
discovered  many  remarkable  phenomena,  and  published 
some  tracts  on  the  subject  containing  a  series  of  curious 
observations  and  experiments. 

When  the  university  of  Padua  was  re-established  upon  a 
more  extensive  plan,  the  empress  Maria-Theresa,  invited 
Spallanzani  to  fill  the  chair  of  professor  of  natural  history; 
and  in  commencing  his  duties,  he  selected  Bonnet's  "Con- 
templation de  la  Nature"  as  his  text-book,  supplying  its 
deficiencies,  and  illustrating  Bonnet's  theory  by  his  own 
experiments.  He  likewise  published  an  Italian  translation 
of  it,  enriched  with  notes  and  a  preface,  1769  and  1770,  in 
2  vols.  His  study  and  admiration  of  Bonnet's  works  led 


SPALLANZANI.  251 

him  particularly  to  researches  on  the  generation  of  organic 
bodies,  a  subject  which  for  a  considerable  time  engrossed 
his  whole  attention.  In  1776  he  published  the  first  two 
volumes  of  his  "Opusculi  di  Fisica  Animale  e  Vegetable," 
which  consist  of  illustrations  of  a  part  of  the  microscopical 
observations  which  had  already  appeared.  In  the  mean 
time,  having  been  placed  at  the  head  of  the  university's 
cabinet  of  natural  history,  then  in  a  very  low  state,  he 
greatly  enriched  it,  in  the  course  of  his  repeated  travels  by 
land  and  sea,  in  Europe  and  Asia,  some  of  which  he  after- 
wards published.  In  1780  appeared  his  two  new  volumes 
of  a  "  Dissertation  on  the  physiology  of  animals  and  vege- 
tables." The  first  contains  some  experiments  made  by  him 
on  digestion,  the  result  of  which  is  a  confirmation  of  the 
agency  of  the  gastric  fluid  in  man  and  other  animals,  and 
the  second  treats  of  the  generation  of  animals  and  plants. 
In  1791,  he  published  a  letter  addressed  to  professor  For- 
tis,  upon  the  Pennet  hydroscope  ;  he  there  relates  the  ex- 
periments which  he  had  directed  to  be  made  for  ascertain- 
ing  the  degree  of  confidence  which  might  be  allowed  to 
the  singular  talents  of  this  man  ;  but  he  ingenuously  con- 
fesses, that  he  is  not  decided  upon  the  reality  of  the  phe- 
nomenon. Spallanzani,  however,  in  1792-3,  made  a  dis- 
covery of  this  kind,  by  which  we  learn  that  the  bats,  if 
blinded,  act  in  every  respect  with  the  same  precision  as 
those  which  have  their  eyes;  that  they  in  the  same  man- 
ner avoid  the  most  trifling  obstacles,  and  that  they  kno\r 
where  to  fix  themselves  on  ceasing  their  flight.  These 
extraordinary  experiments  were  confirmed  by  several  na- 
tural philosophers,  and  gave  occasion  to  suspect  a  nevr 
sense  in  these  birds,  because  Spallanzani  thought  he  had 
evinced  that  the  other  senses  could  not  supply  the  defi- 
ciency of  that  sight,  which  he  had  deprived  them  of. 

These  numerous  works- did  nJc,  however,  contain  all  the 
series  of  Spalianzani's  labours.  He  had  been  occupied  a 
considerable  time  upon  the  phenomena  of  respiration  ; 
their  resemblances  and  differences  i:i  a  great  number  of 
species  of  animals ;  and  he  was  busily  employed  in  re- 
ducing to  order  his  researches  upon  this  subject.  He  left 
a  large  collection  of  experiments,  and  new  observations 
upon  animal  reproductions,  upon  sponges,  the  nature  of 
which  he  determines,  and  upon  many  interesting  pheno- 
mena, which  he  knew  how  to  draw  out  of  obscurity.  He 
had  almost  finished  his  voyage  to  Constantinople,  and  had 
amassed  considerable  materials  for  a  history  of  the  sea, 


254  SPALLANZANI. 

France,  Germany,  and  England,  were  all  eager  to  avail 
themselves  of  his  works  by  means  of  translations,  tie  was 
admitted  into  the  academies  and  learned  societies  of  Lon- 
don, Stockholm,  Gottingen,  Holland,  Lyons,  Bologna,  Tu- 
rin, Padua,  Mantua,  and  Geneva.  He  was  a  correspon- 
dent of  the  academy  of  sciences  of  Paris  and  of  Montpe- 
lier:  and  received  from  the  great  Frederick  himself  the 
diploma  of  member  of  the  academy  of  Berlin,  holding  even 
often  a  direct  correspondence  with  him.  This  eminent 
philosopher  died  Feb.  17,  1798,  not  less  admired  for  his 
private  very  amiable  character,  than  for  the  extensive  re- 
putation which  his  lectures,  his  experiments,  and  his  pub- 
lications had  established.  Highly,  however,  as  his  experi- 
ments have  been  commended,  we  must  enter  our  protest 
against  the  cruelty  with  which  they  were  mostly  accom- 
panied, and  cannot  think  that  the  value  of  the  object  to  be 
attained,  or  indeed  any  object,  can  justify  the  destruction 
of  so  many  living  creatures  by  the  most  painful  and  linger- 
ing torments.1 

SPANHEIM  (FREDERIC),  professor  of  divinity  at  Ley- 
den,  was  born  at  Amberg  in  the  Upper  Palatinate,  Jan.  1, 
1600,  of  a  good  family.  His  father  Wigand  Spanheim, 
doctor  of  divinity,  was  a  very  learned  man,  and  ecclesias- 
tical counsellor  to  the  elector-palatine;  he  died  in  1620, 
holding  in  his  hand  a  letter  from  his  son,  which  had  made 
him  weep  for  joy.  Frederic  was  educated  with  great  care 
under  the  inspection  of  this  affectionate  parent;  and,  hav- 
ing studied  in  the  college  of  Amberg  till  1613,  was  sent 
the  next  year  to  the  university  of  Heidelberg,  which  was 
then  in  a  very  flourishing  condition.  He  there  made  such 
progress  both  in  languages  and  philosophy,  as  to  justify 
the  most  sanguine  hopes  of  his  future  success.  After  pay- 
ing a  visit  to  his  father  in  1619,  he  went  to  Geneva  to  study 
divinity.  In  1621,  after  his  father's  death,  he  went  into 
Dauphine,  and  lived  three  years  with  the  governor  of  Am- 
brun,  as  tutor  in  his  family.  He  then  returned  to  Geneva, 
and  went  afterwards  to  Paris,  where  he  met  with  a  kind 
relation,  Samuel  Durant,  who  was  minister  of  Charenton, 
and  dissuaded  Spanheim  from  accepting  the  professorship 
of  philosophy  at  Lausanne,  which  the  magistrates  of  Berne 
then  offered  him. 

1  Life  by  Tourdes,  prefixed  to  his  "  Experiments  on  the  Circulation  of  the 
Blood,"  translated  by  Dr.  Hall,  Lonch  J801,  8vo. — Eloge  by  Senebicr,  prefixed 
lo  Lis  "  Memoir  on  Respiration,"  1804,  Svo. 


S  P  A  N  H  E  I  M.  255 

In  April  1625,  he  paid  a  visit  of  four  months  to  Eng- 
land, and  was  at  Oxford  ;  but  the  plague  having  broke  out 
there,  he  returned  to  Paris,  and  was  present  at  the  death 
ot  his  relation  Durant,  who,  having  a  great  kindness  for 
him,  left  him  his  whole  library.  He  had  learned  Latin  and 
Greek  in  his  own  country,  French  at  Geneva,  English  at 
Oxford;  and  the  time  which  he  now  spent  at  Paris,  was 
employed  in  acquiring  the  oriental  tongues.  In  1627,  he 
disputed  at  Geneva  for  a  professorship  of  philosophy,  and 
was  successful  ;  and  about  the  same  time  married  a  lady, 
originally  of  Poitou,  who  reckoned  among  her  ancestors  the 
f;unous  Budtrus.  He  was  admitted  a  minister  some  time 
after;  and,  in  1631,  succeeded  to  the  chair  of  divinity, 
which  Turretin  had  left  vacant.  He  acquitted  himself  of 
liis  functions  with  such  ability,  as  to  receive  the  most  libe- 
ral offers  from  several  universities  :  but  that  of  Leyden  pre- 
vailed, after  the  utmost  endeavours  had  been  used  to  keep 
him  at  Geneva.  He  left  Geneva  in  1642;  and  taking  a 
doctor  of  divinity's  degree  at  Basil,  that  he  might  conform 
to  the  custom  of  the  country  to  which  he  was  going,  he  ar- 
rived at  Leyden  in  October  that  year.  He  not  only  sup- 
ported, but  even  increased  the  reputation  he  had  brought 
with  him  ;  but  he  lived  to  enjoy  it  only  a  short  time,  dying 
April  30,  1649.  His  great  labours  shortened  his  days*. 
His  academical  lectures  and  disputations,  !:is  preaching  (for 
he  was  minister  of  the  Walloon  church  at  Leyden),  the 
books  he  wrote,  and  many  domestic  cares,  did  not  hinder 
him  from  keeping  up  a  great  'literary  correspondence.  Be- 
sides this,  he  was  obliged  to  pay  many  visits  ;  he  visited 
the  queen  of  Bohemia,  and  the  prince  of  Orange ;  and  was 
in  great  esteem  at  those  two  courts.  Queen  Christina  did 
him  the  honour  to  write  to  him,  assuring  him  of  her  esteem, 
and  of  the  pleasure  she  took  in  reading  his  works.  It  was 
at  her  request  that  he  wrote  some  memoirs  of  Louisa  Ju- 
liana, electress  palatine.  He  was  also  the  author  of  some 
other  historical  as  well  as  theological  works  ;  the  principal 

*  Sorbiero  in  one  of  his  letters  says,  the   ?ame  titr.e  two  or  three  books  on 

that   Spanheitn  "  used  to  read  public  quite  different  *ubpcts  ;   he  was  every 

lectures*  on  divinity  four  times  a  week,  Wednesday  present  at   his   Highness's 

and  o'her  prvute  lectures  at  home  on  council,  which   obliged  him  to   go   to 

different   subjects  to    bis   scholar?;   he  the  Hague  ;   lie  was   rector  of  tin 

heard  the  sermons  of  the  probationers,  versify  ;    am!  among  all  these  occupa- 

he  preache'i   in  two  languages,  in  his  lions,   a  was   he  who  kept  the  account 

own   (German)  and  in  ours  (French);  of  nil   (!,•  money  that  was  received  or 

he  visit  -d  the  sicjc ;  he  wrote  an  infinite  spent  in    his  house,  which  was  fiiU  of 

number  ef  tetters ;    he  composed  at  boarders," 


256  S  P  A  N  H  E  I  M. 

of  which  are  his  "  Dubia  evangelica  discussa  et  vindicata," 
Genev.  1634,  4to,  but  afterwards  thrice  printed  in  2  vols. 
4to,  with  large  additions;  "  Exercitationes  de  Grafla  uni- 
versali,"  Leyden,  1646,  8vo.  This  involved  him  in  a  con- 
troversy with  Amyraut ;  and  "  Epistolae  ad  Davidem  Bu« 
chananum  super  controversies  quibusdam,  quse  in  ecclesiis 
Anglicanis  agitantur,"  ibid.  1645,  Svo.  Some  other  of  his 
works  were  published  with  those  of  his  son,  and  his  fune- 
ral oration  on  Henry  prince  of  Orange,  pronounced  at  Ley- 
den  in  1647  may  be  seen  in  Bates's  "  Vitas  selectorupi  ali- 
quot virorum."  He  was  a  correspondent  of,  and  highly 
esteemed  by  archbishop  Usher.1 

SPANHEIM  (EZEKIEL),  a  very  learned  writer,  as  well 
as  excellent  statesman,  the  eldest  son  of  the  preceding, 
•was  born  at  Geneva  in  1625).  He  distinguished  himself  so 
much  in  his  earliest  youth  by  his  progress  in  literature, 
that,  on  a  visit  to  Leyden  with  his  father  in  1642,  he  gained 
immediately  the  friendship  of  Daniel  Heinsius  and  Salma- 
sius,  and  preserved  it  with  both,  notwithstanding  the  mu- 
tual animosity  of  these  two  celebrated  scholars.  Like  his 
father  he  was  not  satisfied  with  making  himself  master  of 
Greek  and  Latin,  but  also  applied  himself  with  great  vigour 
to  the  oriental  languages.  Ludovicus  Capellus  had  pub- 
lished, at  Amsterdam,  in  1645,  a  dissertation  upon  the  an- 
cient Hebrew  letters  against  John  Buxtorf;  in  which  he 
maintains,  that  the  true  characters  of  the  ancient  Hebrews 
were  preserved  among  the  Samaritans,  and  lost  among  the 
Jews.  Spanheim  undertook  to  refute  Capellus  in,  certain 
theses,  which  he  maintained  and  published  at  sixteen  years 
of  age  ;  but  which  afterwards,  out  of  his  great  candour  and 
modesty,  he  called  "  unripe  fruit;"  and  frankly  owned, 
that  Bochart,  to  whom  he  had  sent  them,  had  declared  him- 
self for  Capellus  against  Buxtorf. 

In  1649,  he  lost  his  father;  and  soon  after  returned  to 
Geneva,  where  he  was  honoured  with  the  title  of  profes- 
sor of  eloquence,  but  never  performed  the  functions  of  that 
place.  "When  his  reputation  extended  into  foreign  coun- 
tries, Charles  Louis,  elector-palatine,  sent  for  him  to  his 
court,  to  be  tutor  to  his  only  son  :  which  employment  he 
not  only  discharged  with  great  success,  but  with  much  pru- 
dence and  address,  contrived  to  preserve  the  good  opinion 
of  the  elector  and  electress,  who  did  not  live  on  terms  of 

1  Niceron,  vol.  XXIX.—Gen.  Diet.— Ficheri  Theatrum. 


S  P  A  N  H  E  I  M.  257 

mutual  regard  and  affection.  While  here  he  employed  his 
leisure  hours  in  perfecting  his  knowledge  of  the  Greek  and 
Roman  learning  ;  and  also  studied  the  history  of  the  later 
ages,  and  examined  all  those  books  and  records  which  re- 
late to  the  constitution  of  the  empire,  and  contribute  to  ex- 
plain and  illustrate  the  public  law  of  Germany.  The  first 
produce  of  this  department  of  science  was  a  French  tract, 
published  in  1657;  in  which  he  asserted  the  right  of  the  elec- 
tor-palatine to  the  post  of  vicar  of  the  empire,  in  opposition, 
to  the  claims  of  the  duke  of  Bavaria.  Skill  and  acuteness  in 
disputes  of  this  kind  have  always  been  a  sure  foundation  for 
preferment  in  the  courts  of  Germany  ;  and  there  is  no 
doubt,  that  it  opened  Spanheim's  way  to  those  great  and 
various  employments  in  which  he  was  afterwards  engaged. 

In  1660,  he  published  at  Heidelberg  a  French  transla- 
tion of  the  emperor  Julian's  "  Caesars,"  with  notes  and  il- 
lustrations from  medals  and  other  monuments  of  antiquity. 
He  had  always  an  extraordinary  turn  for  antiquities  and 
medals  ;  but  had  not  yet  seen  Italy,  where  the  study  of 
them  was  much  cultivated,  and  therefore  was  highly  grati- 
fied in  receiving  a  commission  from  the  elector,  to  go  to 
Rome,  in  order  to  watch  the  intrigues  of  the  catholic  elec- 
tors at  that  court  On  his  arrival  he  gained  the  esteem  of 
that  general  patroness  queen  Christina,  at  whose  palace 
was  held  an  assembly  of  learned  men  every  week ;  and  in 
1664,  he  complimented  her  with  the  dedication  of  hi* 
"  Dissertationes  de  praestantia  &  usu  numismatum  antiquo- 
rum,"  printed  at  Rome,  in  4to.  The  same  year  he  took  a 
journey  to  Naples,  Sicily,  and  Malta,  and  then  returned  to 
Rome,  where  he  found  the  princess  Sophia,  mother  of 
George  I.  of  England.  That  princess,  being  highly  pleased 
to  meet  with  one  whom  she  had  already  known  as  a  man  of 
learning,  and  corresponded  with  upon  subjects  of  politics 
and  literature,  was  desirous  of  enjoying  his  conversation  at 
leisure,  and,  therefore,  wish  the  leave  of  the  elector  her 
brother,  carried  him  with  her  into  Germany. 

Upon  his  return  to  Heidelberg  in  April  1665,  he  was  re- 
ceived by  the  elector  his  master  with  every  proof  of  esteem; 
and  was  afterwards  employed  by  him  in  various  negocia- 
tions  at  foreign  courts.  The  same  year,  he  went  to  that  of 
Lorrain  ;  the  year  following,  to  that  of  the  elector  of  Mentz  ; 
then  to  France;  afterwards,  in  1668,  to  the  congress  of 
Breda;  and  then  to  France  again.  He  then  returned  to 
Heidelberg,  whence,  after  being  for  some  time  confined 

VOL,  XXVIII.  S 


258  S  P  A  N  H  E  I  M. 

by  a  dangerous  illness,  he  was  sent  by  his  master  first  to 
Holland,  and  then  to  England.  In  1679,  the  elector  of 
Brandenburg,  having  recalled  his  envoy  at  the  court  of 
England,  gave  his  employment  to  Spar.'neim,  wiih  the  con- 
sent of  the  elector-palatine  ;  and,  though  h:?  was  charged 
at  the  same  time  with  the  affairs  of  these  two  princes,  yet 
he  acquitted  himself  so  well,  that  the  elector  of  Branden- 
burg desired  to  have  his  exclusive  services,  to  which  the 
elector-palatine  at  last  consented.  In  16KO,  he  went  to 
France,  by  order  of  his  new  master,  with  the  title  of  envoy 
extraordinary  ;  and,  during  nine  years'  residence  at  Paris, 
never  left  that  city  but  twice.  In  1684,  he  went  to  Ber- 
lin, to  receive  the  post  of  minister  of  state  ;  and  the  year 
after  to  England,  to  compliment  James  II.  upon  his  ac- 
cession to  the  throne.  Upon  the  revocation  of  the  edict 
of  Nantes,  he  rendered  important  services  to  many  of  the 
reformed,  who  found  a  place  of  refuge  in  his  house,  when 
they  durst  not  appear  abroad,  for  fear  of  their  persecutors. 
Though  he  performed  his  master's  business  at  the  French 
court  with  the  greatest  ability  and  exactness,  yet  he  led  a 
life  of  much  study,  wrote  various  works,  and  maintained  a 
correspondence  with  the  learned  all  over  Europe,  with  the 
utmost  punctuality. 

After  this  long  embassy,  he  spent  some  years  at  Berlin, 
in  retirement  and  among  books  ;  but,  after  the  peace  of 
Ilyswick,  was  again  obliged  to  quit  his  study,  and  was  sent 
on  an  embassy  to  France,  where  he  continued  from  1697  to 
1702.  The  elector  of  Brandenburg,  having  during  that 
interval  assumed  the  title  of  king  of  Prussia,  conferred  on 
him  the  title  and  dignity  of  baron.  In  1702,  he  quitted 
France,  and  went  ambassador  to  England  ;  where  he  spent 
the  remainder  of  his  days,  dividing  his  time  between  busi- 
ness and  study.  He  died  Oct.  28,  17jO,  aged  eighty-one, 
and  was  buried  in  Westminster-abbey.  He  left  one  daugh- 
ter, \vho  married  in  England  the  marquis  de  Montandre. 
-It  is  surprising,  that  Spanheim,  who  seems  to  have  been 
moving  from  one  European  court  to  another  all  his  life,  and 
to  have  been  continually  engaged  in  negotiations  and 
state-affairs,  which  he  always  discharged  with  the  utmost 
exactness,  could  find  time  to  compose  so  many  works  of 
learning  and  labour,  which  could  only  be  written  in  his 
study  and  among  his  books.  It  was  said  of  him,  that  he 
negotiated  and  did  business  like  a  man  who  had  nothing 
else  in  his  thoughts,  and  that  he  wrote  like  a  man  who  had 
spent  his  whole  time  by  himself.  He  never  appeared  the 


SPANHEIM.  25.9 

man  of  letters  but  when  it  was  proper  to  do  so  ;  yet  be  con- 
versed no  more  frequently  with  the  unlearned  than  was  ne- 
cessary for  his  business. 

Some  of  his  writings  have  been  mentioned  already.  His 
Latin  work  k'  upon  the  use  and  excellence  of  ancient  Me- 
dals," is  his  capital  performance  ;  it  was  published  at  Rome 
in  1664,  as  has  been  observed;  at  Paris  in  1671,  much 
enlarged ;  and  after  that  with  so  many  additions,  as  ex- 
tended it  to  two  large  volumes  in  folio,  the  first  printed  at 
London  in  1706,  the  second  at  Amsterdam  in  1717.  This 
work  is  justly  esteemed  a  treasure  of  erudition.  Two  pieces 
of  Spanheim  are  inserted  in  Grsevius's  collection  of  Roman 
antiquities ;  one  in  the  fifth  volume,  "  De  nummo  Smyr- 
naeorum,  seu  de  Vesta  et  Prytanibus  Grsecorum,  diatriba;" 
the  other  in  the  eleventh  volume,  entitled,  "  Orbis  Roma- 
nus,  seu  ad  Constitutionem  Antonini  Imperatoris,  de  qua 
Ulpianus,  Leg.  xvii.  Dig.  de  Statu  Hominum,  Exercita- 
tiones  duse."  This  was  also  printed  at  London,  with  ad- 
ditions, in  1704,  4to.  At  Leipsic,  1696,  folio,  came  out 
"  Juliani  Imperatoris  Opera,  Greece  et  Latine,  cum  vario- 
rum nods  :  recensente  Ez.  Spanheim,  qui  observationes 
adjecit."  But  there  is  nothing  of  Spanheim  in  this  edi- 
tion, except  the  preface,  and  very  ample  remarks  upon  the 
first  oration  of  Julian ;  he  not  having  leisure  and  opportunity 
to  proceed  further.  Notes  of  his  upon  Callimachus  are  in- 
serted in  Graevius's  edition  of  that  author,  at  Utrecht,  1697; 
and  also  upon  the  three  first  comedies  of  Aristophanes  in. 
Raster's  edition,  1709. l 

SPANHEIM  (FREDERIC),  brother  of  Ezekiel  Spanheim, 
and  also  a  man  of  great  learning,  was  born  at  Geneva  in  1632, 
and,  at  ten  years  of  age,  carried  by  his  father  to  Leyden. 
He  studied  philosophy  under  Hereboord,  and  was  admitted 
doctor  July  12,  1651.  He  had  lost  his  father  two  years 
before ;  and,  as  he  had  been  designed  for  the  ministry,  he 
applied  himself  vigorously  to  the  study  of  divinity  and  the 
languages.  Boxhorn  was  his  master  in  Greek  and  Latin  ; 
and  Golius  in  Arabic.  He  was  a  candidate  for  the  ministry 
in  1652,  and  soon  after  preached  in  several  parts  of  Zea- 
land. He  discharged  the  functions  of  a  minister  at  Utrecht 
for  one  year  with  a  reputation  that  raised  some  jealousy  in 
the  mind  of  Alexander  Morus,  whose  name  was  then  famous 
in  the  United  Provinces.  He  received  soon  after  an  invi- 

1  Niceron,  vol.  If. — Biog.  Brit.  Supplement. — Gen.  Diet. 
S    2 


S60  S  P  A  N  H  El  M. 

tation  from  Charles  Louis  elector-palatine,  who  had  re- 
solved to  re-establish  his  university  at  Heidelberg,  and  gave 
him  the  professorship  of  divinity,  though  he  was  then  but 
twenty-three.  Before  he  went  to  take  possession  of  that 
post,  he  was  admitted  doctor  of  divinity  at  Leyden  in!655. 
He  gained  great  reputation  at  Heidelberg  ;  and  the  elector 
palatine  always  shewed  him  the  highest  marks  of  his  esteem 
and  confidence ;  but  these  favours  did  not  prevent  him 
from  opposing  the  elector  with  great  freedom,  when  heat- 
tempted  to  divorce  himself  from  the  princess  his  wife,  in 
order  to  marry  another.  His  merit  procured  him,  during 
the  time  he  lived  in  the  palatinate,  several  invitations  from 
other  universities;  but  he  only  accepted  that  from  Leyden, 
where  he  was  admitted  professor  of  divinity  and  sacred 
history,  with  general  applause,  in  1670.  Here  his  repu-» 
tation  was  raised  to  the  greatest  height.  He  was  four  times 
rector  of  the  university  of  Leyden,  and  had  also  the  post  of 
librarian.  Many  years  before  hisdeath,  he  was  excused  from 
reading  public  lectures,  that  he  might  have  the  more  leisure 
to  apply  himself  to  several  works  which  he  published.  In 
1695,  he  was  attacked  by  a  palsy,  which  affected  half  his 
body  :  of  which,  however,  he  afterwards  appeared  to  be 
tolerably  well  recovered.  He  did  not  indeed  enjoy  a  per- 
fect state  of  health  from  that  time  ;  and  not  being  able  to 
restrain  himself  from  his  studies  and  labours,  which  was  ab- 
solutely necessary,  he  relapsed,  and  died  May  18,  1701. 
He  was  thrice  married,  and  had  several  children ;  but  only 
one,  whose  name  was  Frederic,  survived  him. 

His  writings  are  extremely  numerous.  They  were  printed 
at  Leyden,  in  3  vols.  folio  ;  the  first  in  1701,  and  the  two 
last  in  1703.  They  are  chiefly,  if  not  altogether,  upon  sub- 
jects of  theology.  Among  them  is  a  treatise,  entitled  "  Ju~ 
dicium  expetitum  super  dissidio  Anglicano,  et  capitibus, 
quce  ad  unionem  seu  comprehensionem  faciunt."  This  he 
had  originally  sent  in  1690  to  queen  Mary,  who  submitted 
it  to  Dr.  Tillotson,  who  acknowledged  its  merit  in  a  polite 
letter  to  the  author,  stating  the  difficulties  that  prevented 
that  union  between  the  church  and  the  dissenters  which  the 
learned  professor  wished.  * 

SPARK  (THOMAS),  editor  of  Lactantius,  &c.  the  son 
of  Archibald  Spark,  minister  of  Northop  in  Flintshire,  was 
born  in  1655,  and  was  educated  at  Westminster-school, 

1  Niceron,  vol.  XXIX. — Gen.  Diet.—  Funeral  Oration  by  Tiiglandius,  io  bis 
Works. 


SPARK.  2€l 

whence  he  was  elected  to  Christ  Church,  Oxford,  in  1672. 
After  taking  his  degrees  in  arts,  and  being  ordained,  he  was 
appointed  chaplain  to  sir  George  Jeffries,  who  promoted 
him  when  he  became  chancellor,  to  what  benefices,  or  at 
what  times,  Wood  has  not  discovered  ;  but  at  his  death, 
which  took  place  at  Bath,  Sept.  7,  1692,  he  was  rector  of 
Ewehurst  in  Surrey,  to  which  he  had  been  instituted  in 
1687,  and  of  Norton,  or  Hogsnorton,  near  Bosworth,  in 
Leicestershire,  a  prebendary  of  Lichfield  and  of  Roches- 
ter ;  and  D.  D.  Wood  says,  he  "  left  behind  him  the  cha- 
racter of  a  learned  man,  but  confident  and  forward  without 
measure  ;  and  by  his  excesses,  and  too  much  agitation  in 
obtaining  spiritualities,  he  brought  himself  into  an  ill  dis- 
position of  body,  which,  contrary  to  his  expectation, 
brought  him,  in  the  prime  of  his  years,  to  his  grave."  He 
published  a  good  edition  of  "  Lactantii  Firmiani  opera  quae 
extant,  ad  fidem  MSS.  recognita,  et  commentariis  illus- 
trata,"  Oxon.  1684,  8vo;  and  "  Notae  in  libros  sex  novae 
historic  Zozini  comitis,"  ibid.  1679,  8vo  ;  dedicated  to  his 
old  master  Dr.  Busby,  and  translated  into  English  in  1684, 
by  another  hand. ' 

SPARKE  (THOMAS),  a  puritan  divine  of  considerable 
note,  was  born  at  South-Somercote  in  Lincolnshire  in  1548. 
Of  his  early  education  we  have  no  account  until  he  became 
a  fellow  of  Magdalen  college,  Oxford,  in  1570,  in  whicli 
year  he  was  admitted  bachelor  of  arts.  Soon  after  he  was 
presented,  by  Arthur  lord  Grey,  to  the  parsonage  of 
Bletchley  in  Buckinghamshire,  where  he  was  held  in  great 
esteem  for  his  piety.  He  was  also  chaplain  to  Cooper, 
bishop  of  Lincoln,  who,  in  1575,  bestowed  on  him  the 
archdeaconry  of  Stow.  In  1581  he  proceeded  in  his  divi- 
nity degrees,  being  then,  Wood  says,  in  great  esteem  for 
his  learning.  In  1582,  h'ncling  that  he  could  not  attend 
to  his  archdeaconry,  from  its  distance  from  his  cure,  he 
resigned  it,  and  retained  Bletchley  only  ;  but  in  Sept. 
1582  he  was  installed  into  the  prebend  of  Sutton  in  Ma- 
risco  in  the  church  of  Lincoln.  In  1603  he  was  called  to 
the  conference  at  Hampton-court,  as  one  of  the  represen- 
tatives of  the  puritans,  as  he  had  been  one  of  their  cham- 
pions in  1584  at  the  dispute  at  Lambeth  ;  but  the  issue  of 
the  Hampton-court  conference  was,  that  he  inclined  to 
conformity,  and  afterwards  expressed  his  sentiments  in 

»  Ath.  Ox.  vol.  II. 


262  S  P  A  R  K  E. 

'*  A  brotherly  persuasion  to  unity  and  uniformity  in  judg- 
ment and  practice,  touching  the  received  and  present  ec- 
clesiastical government,  and  the  authorized  rites  and  cere- 
monies of  the  church  of'  England,"  Lond.  1607,  4to.  This 
brought  on  a  controversy,  his  book  being  answered  by  two 
anonymous  writers.  During  quten  Elizabeth's  reign  he 
had  written  on  the  subject  of  the  succession  to  the  crown, 
the  title  of  which  we  are  not  told.  This  brought  him  into 
some  trouble,  but  in  a  conversation  with  king  James  he  so 
satisfied  him  that  his  majesty  ever  after  countenanced  him. 
He  died  at  Bletchley  Oct.  8,  1616,  and  was  buried  in  the 
chancel  of  that  church,  with  a  long  epitaph  on  a  plate  of 
brass. 

Wood  says,  he  "  was  a  learned  man,  a  solid  divine, 
well  read  in  the  fathers,  and  so  much  esteemed  for  his  pro- 
foundness, gravity,  and  exemplary  life  and  conversation, 
that  the  sages  'of  the  university  thought  it  fit,  after  his 
death,  to  have  his  picture  painted  on  the  wall  in  the  school- 
gallery  among  the  English  divines  of  note  there."  His 
works,  besides  what  we  have  mentioned,  were,  "  A  com- 
fortable treatise  for  a  troubled  conscience,"  Lond.  1680, 
Svo.  2.  "  Brief  Catechism,"  printed  with  the  former,  and 
a  treatise  on  catechising,  Oxon.  1588,  4to.  3. '"Answer 
to  Mr.  Job.  deAlbine's  notable  discourse  against  heresies," 
ibid.  1591,  4to,  4.  "The  Highway  to  Heaven,  &c. 
against  Bellarrnine  and  others,  in  a  treatise  on  the  37,  38, 
and  39  verses  of  the  7  John,"  Lond.  1597,  8vo;  also  a 
funeral  sermon  on  the  earl  of  Bedford,  and  another  on 
lord  Grey.  Dr.  Sparke  left  three  learned  sons,  THOMAS, 
fellow  of  New-college,  Oxford,  ANDREW  of  Peterhouse  in 
Caiiibridge,  and  WILLIAM  of  Magdalen-college,  Oxford, 
who  succeeded  his  father  in  the  living  of  Bletchley.  He 
wrote  "  Vis  naturae,  et  Virtus  Vitae  explicata,  ad  univer- 
sum  doctrine  ordinem  constituendum,"  Lond.  1612,  8vo  ; 
and  "  The  Mystery  of  Godliness,"  Oxon.  1628,  4to.  He 
was  living  at  Bletchlev  in  1630. ' 

O  J 

SPARROW  (ANTHONY),  a  learned  prelate,  successively 
bishop  of  Exeter  and  Norwich,  was  born  at  Depden  in 
Suffolk,  and  was  educated  in  Queen's  college,  Cambridge, 
of  which  he  became  scholar  and  fellow,  but  was  ejected  in 
1643,  with  the  rest  of  the  society,  for  their  loyalty  and 
refusing  the  Covenant.  Soon  afterwards  he  accepted  the 

1  Ath.  Ox.  vol.  I — Willis's  Cathedrals. — Neal's  Hist,  of  the  Puritans. 


SPARROW.  -463 

rectory  of  Haivkedon  in  Suffolk,  but  before  he  had  held  it 
above  five  weeks,  was  again  ejected  for  reading  the  Couj- 
mon  Prayer.  After  the  restoration  he  returned  to  his  liv- 
ing, was  elected  one  of  the  preachers  at  St.  Edmund's 
Bury,  and  was  made  archdeacon  of  Sudbury,  and  a  pre- 
bendary of  Ely.  About  1577  he  was  elected  master  of 
Queen's  college,  where  he  had  been  educated,  and  re- 
signed his  charge  at  St.  Edmund's  Bury,  and  the  rectory 
of  Hawkedon,  on  which  he  had  bestowed  in  repairs  200/. 
On  Nov.  3,  1667,  he  was  consecrated  bishop  of  Exeter, 
and  on  the  death  of  Dr.  Reynolds  in  1678  was  translated 
to  Norwich,  where  he  died  in  May  1685.  He  is  well 
known  by  a  very  useful  book,  and  if  we  mistake  not,  the 
first  of  its  kind,  entitled  the  "  Rationale  of  the  Book  of 
Common-prayer  of  the  Church  of  England,"  Lond.  1657, 
J2mo,  often  reprinted.  The  best  edition  is  that  of  1722, 
8vo,  with  Downes's  Lives  of  the  Compilers  of  the  Liturgy, 
and  bishop  Sparrow's  sermon  on  "  Confession  of  Sins  and 
Absolution."  Bishop  Sparrow  also  published  another  use- 
ful "  Collection  of  Articles,  Injunctions,  Canons,  Orders, 
Ordinances,  &c."  1671,  41O.1 

SPARTIANUS.     See  LAMPRIDIUri. 

SPEED  (JotiN),  a  well-known  English  historian,  was 
born  at  Farington  in  Cheshire,  about  1555,  and  brought 
up  to  the  business  of  a  taylor,  and  became  a  freeman  of 
the  company  of  Merchant-taylors  in  the  city  of  London. 
He  had  probably  shewn  some  taste  for  literature,  as  sir 
Fulk  G revile,  a  patron  of  learning,  took  him  from  his  shop- 
board,  and  supported  him  in  his  study  of  English  history 
and  antiquities.  By  such  encouragement  he  published,  in 
1606,  his  "Theatre  of  Great-Britain  ;"  which  was  after- 
wards reprinted,  particularly  in  1650,  under  this  title : 
"  The  Theatre  of  the  Empire  of  Great  Britaine,  presenting 
an  exact  geography  of  the  kingdomes  of  England,  Scot- 
land, Ireland,  and  the  isles  adjoyning.  With  the  shires, 
hundreds,  cities,  and  shire-towies  within  the  kingdome  of 
England,  divided  and  described  by  John  Speed,"  folio. 
Nicolson  observes,  that  these  maps  "  are  extremely  good  ; 
and  make  a  noble  apparatus,  as  they  were  designed,  to  his 
history  :  but  his  descriptions  of  the  several  counties  are 
mostly  short  abstracts  of  what  Camden  had  said  before 
him."  In  1614  he  published,  in  folio,  "The  History  of 

1  Ath.  Ox.  vol.  II.  art.  Edward  Reynolds. — Willis's  Cathedrals. 


264  SPEED. 

Great  Britain  under  the  conquests  of  the  Romans,  Saxons, 
Danes,  and  Normans ;  their  originals,  manners,  warres, 
coines,  and  scales,  with  the  successions,  lives,  actes,  and 
issnes  of  the  English  monarchs,  from  Julius  Caesar  to  our 
most  gracious  sovereigne  king  James ;"  dedicated  to 
James  I.  *  He  borrowed  many  of  his  materials  from  Cam- 
den  ;  and  was  supplied  with  many  by  sir  Robert  Cotton, 
sir  Henry  Spelman,,  and  other  antiquaries,  with  whom  he 
was  well  acquainted.  There  are  prefixed  to  it  commenda- 
tory poems  in  Latin,  French,  and  English,  by  sir  Henry 
Spelman  and  others  ;  and  many  writers  have  spoken  of  it 
in  terms  of  high  commendation.  Speed  was  not  only  an 
historian,  but  also  a  divine;  for,  in  1616,  he  published  a 
work  in  8vo,  called  "  The  Cloud  of  Witnesses,  or  the 
Qenealogies  of  Scripture,  confirming  the  truth  of  holy 
history  and  humanity  of  Christ."  This  was  prefixed  to  the 
new  translation  of  the  Bible  in  1611,  and  printed  for  many 
years  in  the  subsequent  editions,  particularly  of  the  folio 
and  quarto  sizes,  and  king  James  I.  gave  him  a  patent  for 
securing  the  property  of  it  to  him  and  his  heirs. 

He  died  July  23,  1629,  and  was  buried  in  the  church  of 
St  Giles,  Cripplegate,  London,  where  a  monument  was 
erected  to  his  memory.  By  his  wife  Susanna,  with  whom 
he  lived  fifty-seven  years,  and  who  died  almost  a  year  be- 
fore him,  he  had  twelve  sons,  and  six  daughters.  One  of 
his  sons,  named  JOHN,  was  an  eminent  physician ;  of 
whom  we  shall  give  some  account.  As  to  Speed  himself, 
"  he  must  be  acknowledged,"  says  Nicolson,  "  to  have  had 
a  head  the  best  disposed  towards  history  of  any  of  our  wri- 
ters ;  and  would  certainly  have  outdone  himself,  as  far  as 
he  has  gone  beyond  the  rest  of  his  profession,  if  the  ad- 
vantages of  his  education  had  been  answerable  to  those  of 
his  natural  genius.  But  what  could  be  expected  from  a 
taylor  ?  However,  we  may  boldly  say,  that  his  chronicle 

*  Extract  of  a  Letter  from  Rev.  Phil.  1 45,  and  being  divided  into  four  books; 

Worant  to  Dr.  Ducarel,  Dec.  25,  1754 :  for  the  historical  part  begins  with  book 

•'  I  have  seen  the  first  edition  of  Speed's  the  fifth,  and  fol.  155.     But  then  the 

ilist.  which  was   in  1614.     'Tis   much  chorographical   part  could   not   be  so 

preferable  to  all  the  subsequent  ones,  large  as  it  is  in  the  present  form  ;  the 

being   in  a   larger  folio,  and  on  atlas  late    editions     making    up   a    thicker 

paper,  and  the  cut*  are  sharper  and  volume  than  of  145  folios.     I  will  exa- 

clearer.     That  which  1  have  seen  was  mine. 

in  a  distinct  volume;  but  by  the  Con-  "  It  was  a  wonderful  work,  consider- 
tents  in  the  beginning,  it  appears,  that  ing  who  was  the  author  ;  but  he  had 
the  chorographical  part  was  designed  the  assistance  of  the  immortal  sir  Ro- 
to be  at  the  head,  comprehending  folio*  bert  Cotton,  Dr.  Barkham,  &.c." 


SPEED.  265 

is  the  largest  and  best  we  have  hitherto  extant."  In  ano- 
ther place,  "  John  Speed  was  a  person  of  extraordinary 
industry  and  attainments  in  the  study  of  antiquities;  and 
seems  not  altogether  unworthy  the  name  of  '  summus  & 
eruditus  antiquarius,'  given  him  by  Sheringham,  who  was 
certainly  so  himself1' 

His  son  JOHN  SPEED  was  born  at  London  in  1595,  and 
educated  at  Merchant-taylors'  school,  whence  he  was 
elected  a  scholar  of  St.  John's-college  in  Oxford,  in  1612, 
of  which  he  afterwards  became  a  fellow,  and  took  the  de- 
gree of  master  of  arts,  and  bachelor  and  doctor  of  physic. 
He  wrote  "  SJWAETOJ  utriusque  sexus  Toxtwsvrof,"  a  manuscript 
in  Latin,  dedicated  to  archbishop  Laud,  and  preserved  in 
the  library  of  St.  John-college.  This  piece  relates  to  two 
skeletons,  one  of  a  man,  another  of  a  woman,  made  by  D^. 
Speed,  and  given  by  him  to  that  library.  He  wrote  like- 
wise "  Stonehenge,  a  Pastoral,"  acted  before  Dr.  Rich. 
Baylie,  and  the  president  and  fellows  of  St.  John's-coliege 
in  1635.  It  is  extant  in  manuscript.  He  died  in  May 
1640,  and  was  buried  in  the  chapel  of  that  college.  He 
married  a  daughter  of  Bartholomew  Warner,  M.  D,  and  had 
by  her  two  sons.  One  of  them,  SAMUKL,  was  a  student  of 
Christ-church  in  Oxford,  and  was  installed  canon  of  that 
church  May  the  6th,  1674,  and  died  at  Godalmin  in  Sur- 
rey, of  which  he  was  vicar,  January  the  22d,  1681.  The 
other,  JOHN,  was  born  at  Oxford,  and  elected  scholar  of 
St.  John's-coliege  there  about  1643,  but  ejected  thence 
by  the  parliament-visitors  in  1648,  he  beinp;  then  bachelor 
of  arts  and  fellow.  At  the  restoration  he  was  restored  to 
his  fellowship,  and  in  1666  took  the  degree  of  physic,  and 
afterwards  quitting  his  fellowship,  he  practised  that  faculty 
at  Southampton,  where  he  was  living  in  1694.  He  wrote 
"  Batt  upon  Bait;  a  Poem  upon  the  parts,  patience,  and 
pains  of  Bartholomew  Kempster,  clerk,  poet,  and  cutler 
of  Holy-rood  parish  in  Southampton;"  and  also  "The 
Vision,  wherein  is  described  Batt's  person  and  ingenuity, 
with  an  account  of  the  ancient  and  present  state  and  glory 
of  Southampton."  Both  these  pieces  were  printed  at  Lon- 
don in  two  sheets  in  fol.  and  afterwards  in  4to.  The  coun- 
tess de  Viri,  wife  of  a  late  Sardinian  ambassador,  was 
lineally  descended  from  our  historian.  Such  was  the  friend- 
ship between  lord  Cobham  and  colonel  Speed,  her  father, 
that  upon  his  decease,  he  esteemed  her  as  his  own  child, 
brought  her  up  in  his  family,  and  treated  her  with  paternal 


266  SPEED. 

care  and  tenderness.  Her  extraordinary  merit  recom- 
mended her  to  the  viscountess  Cobham,  who  left  her  the 
bulk  of  her  fortune.  This  lady,  who  was  eminent  for  her 
wit  and  accomplishments,  is  celebrated  by  Gray  in  his 
*'  Long  Story,"  which  indeed  was  written  in  consequence 
of  a  visit  from  her.1 

SPELMAN  (Sm  HENRY),  an  eminent  English  antiquary, 
was  descended  from  an  ancient  family  of  his  name,  which 
flourished  in  the  time  of  Henry  III.  at  Bekington  in  Hamp- 
shire, and  in  the  fifteenth  century  was  settled  in  Norfolk, 
where  our  author's  great-grandfather  was  possessed  of  a 
considerable  estate.  This  great-grandfather  married  the 
heiress  of  the  Narborough  family,  by  whom  he  had  a  son 
who  became  sir  John  Spelman,  knt.  of  Narborough,  and 
our  author's  father,  Henry,  was  the  fourth  son  of  sir  John, 
and  lived  at  Conghata  near  Lynn-regis  in  Norfolk.  He 
married  Frances,  daughter  of  William  Sanders  of  Ewell  in 
Surrey,  by  whom  he  had  our  author,  his  eldest  son,  who 
was  born  in  1562,  and  educated  at  the  school  of  Walsing- 
hatn  in  the  neighbourhood.  In  his  fourteenth  year,  when 
according  to  his  own  modest  account  he  was  scarcely  ripe 
for  academical  studies,  he. was  entered  of  Trinity-college, 
Cambridge.  Here  he  applied  with  great  diligence  for  two 
years  ana  a  half,  but  upon  the  death  of  his  father,  he  was 
obliged  to  return  home,  and  assist  his  mother,  in  managing 
the  affairs  of  the  family. 

After  remaining  at  Congham  about  a  year,  he  was  ad- 
mitted of  Lincoln's-inn,  with  a  view  to  the  law  as  a  pro- 
fession. This,  however,  he  appears  to  have  studied  rather 
in  a  general  way,  as  far  as  respected  the  laws,  customs, 
and  constitution  of  his  country,  and  at  the  same  time  culti- 
vated polite  literature  and  antiquities.  When  almost  of 
age,  he  returned  to  Norfolk,  and  married  Eleanor,  the 
daughter  of  John  Le  Strange,  a  gentleman  of  an  ancient 
family  in  the  same  county.  He  now  employed  himself  in 
rural  and  domestic  affairs,  studying  also,  at  intervals,  the 
constitution  and  antiquities  of  his  country;  and  having 
some  property,  either  paternal  or  acquired  by  his  marriage, 
he  was  enabled  to  add  to  it  by  certain  purchases,  particu- 
larly of  the  lease  of  Blackburgh  and  Wrongey  abbies  in 
Norfolk.  Besides  a  family  of  his  own,  he  had  the  guar- 

1  Biog.  F.rit. — Atli.  Ox.  vols.  I.  and  II. — Granger. — Fuller's  Worthies. — 
Gough's  Topography. 


S  P  E  L  M  A  N.  267 

dianship  of  sir  Hamon  Le  Strange,  Kis  brother-in-law,  and 
during  his  minority,  resided  at  Hunstanton,  the  seat  of  sir 
r.ion.     The  first  fruit  oi  his  stiuli,  >.  .ve  been 

begun  when  very  you ug,  was  a  Latin  treu'  coats  of 

arms,  entitled  "  Aspilogia,"  in  which  he  displays  a  con- 
siderable fund  of  curious  information;  and  he  "frequently 
employed  himself  in  making  transcripts  of  several  founda- 
tion-charters of  the  monasteries  of  Norfolk  and  Suffolk. 
Having  been  admitted  a  member  of  the  original  society  of 
antiquaries,  he  became  acquainted  \utli  those  celebrated 
lovers  of  that  science,  Camden,  sir  Robert  Cotton,  and 
others,  whose  conversation  improved  his  knowledge,  and 
decided  his  taste  for  pursuits  similar  to  what  had  engaged 
their  attention.  In  1594  lie  is  thought  to  have  written  "A 
Discourse  concerning  the  Coin  of  this  kingdom,"  chiefly 
with  a  view  to  prove  the  immense  treasures  which  had  been 
drawn  from  England,  in  consequence  of  the  usurpations  of 
the  pope. 

In  1601  he  served  as  high  sheriff  of  Norfolk,  of  which 
county  he  furnished  Speed  with  a  description,  and  being 
now  distinguished  for  his  abilities,  he  was  sent  by  king 
James  three  several  times  into  Ireland  as  one  of  the  com- 
missioners for  determining  the  unsettled  titles  to  lands  and 
manors  in  that  country  ;  and  at  home  was  appointed  one 
of  the  commissioners  to  inquire  into  the  oppression  of  ex- 
acted fees  in  all  the  courts  and  offices  of  England,  as  well 
ecclesiastical  as  civil ;  which  bishop  Hacket  calls  "  a  noble 
examination  and  full  of  justice."  This  gave  rise  to  his 
learned  treatise  "  De  Sepultura,"  or  of  "  Burial  Fees,"  in 
which  he  proved  the  existence  of  very  exorbitant  exactions. 
These  employments,  however,  having  tended  to  the  injury 
of  his  fortune,  the  government  was  so  sensible  of  his  ser- 
vices, that  a  present  of  300/.  was  made  him,  not  as  a  full 
recompence"  (for  so  it  is  expressed  in  the  king's  writ), 
but  only  "  as  an  occasional  remembrance,"  till  something 
more  equal  to  his  merit  could  be  done  for  him.  He  was 
also  knighted  by  James  I.  who  had  a  particular  esteem  for 
him;  as  well  on  accountof  hisknown  capacity  for  business, 
as  his  extensive  learning,  especially  in  the  laws  and  anti- 
quities of  our  nation,  win'ch  were  the  constant  subjects  of 
his  researches.  With  a  view  to  pursue  those  researches 
with  more  advantage  than  was  possible  in  a  country  resi- 
dence, he  determined  to  remove  to  London.  Accordingly 
in  1612,  he  sold  his  stock  upon  the  farms,  let  out  his 


368  S  P  E  L  M  A  N. 

estate  to  tenants,  and  removed  with  his  family  to  the  me- 
tropolis,  where  he  had  a  house  in  Barbican. 

While  here  employed  in  investigating  "  the  grounds  of 
the  law  from  original  records,"  which  engaged  him  in  a 
perusal  of  the  fathers,  councils,  and  ancient  historians,  he 
was  for  some  time  diverted  from  this  pursuit  by  a  conver- 
sation with  his  uncle,  Mr.  Francis  Sanders,  who  complained 
to  him  of  the  many  crosses  and  disappointments  he  had 
met  with  in  a  building  he  had  then  in  hand  upon  the  glebe 
of  his  appropriated  parsonage  at  Congham.  Sir  Henry, 
who  had  a  profound  veneration  for  church-property,  told 
his  uncle  that  this  was  a  judgment  upon  him  for  defrauding 
the  church,  and  that  it  was  utterly  unlawful  to  keep  appro- 
priated parsonages  in  lay  hands;  and  finding  him  some- 
what impressed  with  what  he  had  said,  he  expatiated  more 
fully  on  the  subject  in  a  written  paper,  which,  owing  to 
Mr.  Sanders's  death,  never  reached  him.  It  was,  however, 
published  under  the  title  "  De  non  temerandis  Ecclesiis," 
or,  "  Churches  not  to  be  violated."  He  reprinted  it  in 
1615,  8vo,  and  about  the  same  time  a  defence  of  it  against 
an  anonymous  writer,  with  a  Latin  epistle  to  Mr.  Richard 
Carew,  who  had  made  some  objections  to  his  treatise.  The 
effect  of  sir  Henry's  arguments  was  very  extraordinary  ; 
for  several  persons  actually  parted  with  their  impropria- 
tions.  That  he  was  sincere  himself  is  sufficiently  obvious, 
for  being  possessed  of  the  impropriation  of  Middleton  in 
Norfolk,  he  disposed  of  it  for  the  augmentation  of  the  vicar- 
age, and  also  some  additions  to  Congham  uhich  lies  near 
it.  It  is  said  likewise  that  during  the  whole  of  his  life, 
almost  at  every  law-term  in  London,  he  was  consulted  by 
various  lay  impropriators  as  to  the  mode  by  which  they 
might  restore  their  unlawful  possessions  of  this  kind  ;  and 
some  are  reported  to  have  thanked  him  for  his  book,  de- 
claring that  they  would  never  purchase  any  appropriate 
parsonages  to  augment  their  estates. 

The  meetings  of  the  society  of  antiquaries  which  had 
been  «liscontinued  for  twenty  years,  were  revived,  in  1614, 
by  sir  Henry  Spelman  and  others,  who  now  drew  up  his 
"  Discourse  concerning  the  original  of  the  four  Law  Terms 
of  the  year,"  in  which  the  laws  of  the  Jews,  Grecians, 
Romans,  Saxons,  and  Normans,  relating  to  this  subject  are 
fully  explained.  This  treatise  does  not  appear  to  have 
been  published  until  1684,  12mo,  and  then  from  a  very 
incorrect  copy,  yet  was  printed  from  the  same  in  Hearne's 


S  P  E  L  M  A  N;  269 

"  Curious  Discourses,"  along  with  others  on  the  same  sub- 
ject, by  Mr.  Joseph  Holland  and  Mr.  Thomas  Thynn.  In 
J621,  an  apology  for  archbishop  Abbot,  respecting  the 
death  of  a  park-keeper,  (see  ABBOT)  was  answered  by  sir 
Henry,  who  endeavours  to  prove,  not  only  that  the  arch- 
bishop was  guilty  of  an  irregularity  by  that  act,  but  also 
intimates  that  he  could  not  be  effectually  reinstated  without 
some  extraordinary  form  of  new  consecration.  He  even 
goes  so  far  as  to  assert  that  by  the  canons  hunting  is  un- 
lawful in  a  clergyman  ;  and  he  also  advances  many  other 
positions  to  which  no  very  cordial  assent  will  now  perhaps 
be  given. 

In  the  course  of  those  antiquarian  studies  which  respect 
the  on<iin  and  foundation  of  our  laws,   he  frequently  found 
himself  impeded  by   obsolete  words.     These  he  began  to 
collect  by  degrees,  with  references  to  the  places  where  they 
occur,  and  by  comparing  these  places  was  enabled  to  form, 
at  least  some  very  probable  conjectures  as  to  the  meaning 
of  them.     This  labour  he  soon  experienced  must  be  assist- 
ed  by  a  knowledge   of  the  Saxon,  which  at  that  time  was 
very  rare,  and  his  helps  consequently  were  few,  yet  by  dint 
of  industry  he  acquired  a  very  considerable  knowledge  of 
this   language,  and   before  1626    had,  in  a  great  measure, 
prepared  his  "  Glossary"   for   the   press,  and   because   he 
would  not  depend  upon  his  own  judgment,   he  printed  one 
or  two  sheets  by  way  of  specimen,   for  the  perusal  of  his 
friends.     These  were  so  satisfied,  that  he  received  ample 
encouragement  from  the  most  learned  persons  of  that  age: 
at  home,  from  Usher,  Williams,  then  lord  keeper,   Selden, 
and  sir  Robert  Cotton  ;  abroad,  from  Rigaltius,   Salmasius, 
Peiivsc,  and   others ;  as   also   from  Bignonius,    Meursius, 
and  Lindenbrokius,   whose  assistance  he  very  gratefully  ac- 
knowledges.    Upon   this,  he  published  it  as  far   as  to  the 
end  of  the  letter  L.     Why  he  went  no  farther,  is  varioasly 
explained.     Some  have  fancied,  that  he  stopped  at  the  let- 
ter M,  because  he  expressed  certain  sentiments,   under  the 
heads  "  Magna  charta,"  and  "  Maximum  consilium,"  which 
his  friends  were  afraid  might  give  offence;  "  that  not  being 
a  season,"  s*ys  bishop  Gibson,  "  to  speak  freely,  either  of 
the  prerogative  of  the  king,   or  the  liberty  of  the  subject, 
both  which  upon  many  occasions  would   have  fallen  in  his 
way*."     The  author  has  told  us,  in  an  advertisement  bc- 

*  Aubrey  saysthnt  archbishop  Land,      for  sir  Henry,  "  hindered  the  printing 
who  notwithstanding  bad  a  great  e^eem     of  the  second   part  of   his  Glouary, 


270  S  P  E  L  M  A  N. 

fore  the  book,  that  he  chose  to  entitle  his  work,  "  Archaco- 
logus,"  rather  than  "  Giossarium,"  as  we  commonly  call 
it:  tor  a  glossary,  strictly  speaking,  is  no  more  than  a  bare 
explication  of  words  ;  whereas  this  treats  more  especially  of 
things,  and  contains  entire  discourses  and  dissertations 
upon  several  heads.  For  this  reason,  it  was  thought  worthy 
not  only  to  be  consulted  upon  occasion,  like  common  lexi- 
cons or  dictionaries ;  but  it  ought  to  be  carefully  perused 
and  studied,  as  the  greatest  treasure  extant  of  the  ancient 
customs  and  constitutions  of  England. 

About  the  time  that  he  disposed  of  the  unsold  copies  of 
his  "  Glossary,"  sir  William  Dugdale  acquainted  sir  Henry 
Spelman,  that  many  learned  men  were  desirous  to  see  the 
second  part  published,  and  requested  of  him  to  gratify  the 
world  with  the  work  entire.  Upon  this,  he  shewed  sir  Wil- 
liam the  second  part,  and  also  the  improvements  which  he 
had  made  in  the  first;  but  told  him,  at  the  same  time,  the 
discouragement  he  had  met  with  in  publishing  the  first 
part.  Upon  his  death,  all  his  papers  came  into  the  hands 
of  sir  John  Spelman,  his  eldest  son  ;  a  gentleman,  who  had 
abilities  sufficient  to  complete  what  his  father  had  begun, 
if  death  had  not  prevented  him.  After  the  restoration  of 
Charles  II.  archbishop  Sheldon  and  chancellor  Hyde  in- 
quired of  sir  William  Dugdale,  what  became  of  the  second 
part,  and  whether  it  was  ever  finished;  and,  upon  his  an- 
swering in  the  affirmative,  expressed  a  desire  that  it  might 
be  printed.  Accordingly  it  was  published  by  sir  William 
in  1664;  but,  as  Gibson  says,  "the  latter  part  in  compa- 
rison of  the  other  is  jejune  and  scanty;  and  everyone  must 
see,  that  it  is  little  more  than  a  collection,  out  of  which  he 
intended  to  compose  such  discourses,  as  he  has  all  along 
given  us  in  the  first  part,  under  the  words  of  the  greatest 
import  and  usefulness."  It  was  surmised,  for  it  never  was 
proved,  that  because  sir  William  Dugdale  had  the  publish- 
ing of  the  second  part,  he  inserted  many  things  of  his  own, 

which  began  at  M,  where  there  were  refused  it,  and  this  first  part  was  there- 
three  M's  that  scandalized  the  archbi-  fore  printed  at  sir  Henry's  expence. 
shop — Magna  Charta :  Magnum  Con-  Bill,  however,  was  not  much  to  blame, 
cilium  Regis ;  and"  f  hiatus  in  MS.)  considering  the  matter  as  a  commercial 
This  seems  to  confirm  what  bishop  speculation,  for  at  the  end  of  eleven 
Gibson  says,  but  another  reason  for  years  the  greatest  part  of  the  impres- 
ducoutinuing  the  work  might  be  the  sion  remained  unsold;  but  at  that  time, 
want  of  public  taste.  fl<;  offered  the  in  1637,  two  booksellers,  Stephens  and 
work  to  Bill,  the  king's  printer,  for  the  Meredith,  ventured  to  bargain  with 
small  sum  of  five  pounds  for  copy- right,  him  for  the  unsold  copies, 
and  that  to  by  paid  in  books,  yet  Bill 


S  P  E  L  M  A  N.  27  L 

which  were  not  in  sir  Henry  Spelman's  copy;  and  particu- 
larly some  passages,  which  tend  to  the  enlargement  of  the 
prerogative,  in  opposition  to  the  liberties  of  ihc  subject. 
This- is  noticed  by  Mr.  Atwood,  in  his  "Jus  Anglorum  ab 
antique  ;"  and  the  authenticity  of  it  is  vindicated,  and  some 
curious  particulars  are  related  concerning  it,  by  Dr.  Brady, 
in  his  "Animadversions  on  Jani  Anglorum  f'acies  nova," 
Bishop  Gibson  also  assures  us,  that  the  very  copy  from  which 
it  was  printed,  is  in  the  Bodleian  library  in  sir  Henry's  own 
hand,  and  exactly  agrees  with  the  printed  book  ;  and  par- 
ticularly under  the  word  "  Parlamentum,"  and  those  other 
passages,  upon  which  the  controversy  was  raised.  So  far 
then  as  the  copy  goes,  for  it  ends  at  the  word  "  Riota,"  it 
is  a  certain  testimony,  that  sir  William  Dugdale  did  no 
more  than  mark  it  for  the  printer,  and  transcribe  here  and 
there  a  loose  paper;  and,  though  the  rest  of  the  copy  was 
lost  before  it  carne  to  the  Oxford  library,  on  which  account 
there  is  not  the  same  authority  for  the  Glossary's  being  ge- 
nuine of  the  letter  R  ;  yet  it  is  not  likely,  that  sir  William 
had  any  more  share  in  these  last  letters  of  the  alphabet, 
than  he  had  in  any  of  the  rest.  There  was  a  third  edition 
in  1637,  illustrated  with  commentaries,  and  much  enlarged. 
In  1627,  sir  Henry  compiled  a  history  of  the  civil  affairs 
of  the  kingdom,  from  the  conquest  to  Magna  Charta,  taken 
from  the  best  historians,  and  generally  in  their  own  words. 
This  was  printed  by  Wilkins  at  the  end  of  his  edition  of  the 
Saxon  laws.  His  next  great  work  was  his  "  Collection  of 
the  Councils,  Decrees,  Laws,  and  Constitutions  of  the  En- 
glish church  from  1066  to  1531."  In  this  he  was  particu- 
larly encouraged  by  the  archbishops  Abbot,  Laud,  and 
especially  Usher.  The  deceased  bishop  Andrews  had  sug- 
gested this  scheme  to  Dr.  Matthew  Wren,  who  had  made 
some  progress,  but  desisted  when  he  heard  that  sir  Henry 
Spelman  was  engaged  in  the  same  design.  Archbishop 
Abbot  lived  to  see  some  part  of  the  copy,  and  greatly  ap- 
proved of  it.  He  branched  his  undertaking  into  three 
parts,  assigning  an  entire  volume  to  each  division  :  I.  "From 
the  first  plantation  of  Christianity  to  the  coming  in  of  the 
Conqueror  in  1066."  2.  "  From  the  Norman  conquest  to 
the  casting  off  the  pope's  supremacy,  and  the  dissolution 
of  monasteries  by  Henry  VIII."  3.  "The  History  of  the 
Reformed  English  Church,  from  Henry  VIII.  to  his  own 
time."  The  volume,  which  contained  the  first  of  these 
heads,  was  published  in  1639,  about  two  years  befoiv 


272  S  P  E  L  M  A  N. 

• 

death,  with  his  own  annotations  upon  the  more  difficult 
places.  The  second  volume  of  the  "  Councils,"  was  put 
into  the  hands  of  sir  William  Dugdale,  by  the  direction  of 
Sheldon  and  Hyde.  Sir  William  made  considerable  addi- 
tions to  it  ont  of  the  archbishop's  registers  and  the  Cotto- 
nian  library;  and  it  was  published  in  1664,  but  with  abun- 
dance of  faults,  occasioned  by  the  negligence  of  either  the 
copier,  or  corrector,  or  both.  His  revival  of  Saxon  litera- 
ture was  of  great  importance  to  the  study  of  antiquities. 
He  had  found  the  excellent  use  oi"  that  language  in  the 
whole  course  of  his  studies,  and  much  lamented  the  neglect 
of  it  both  at  home  and  abroad ;  which  was  so  very  general, 
that  he  did  not  then  know  one  man  in  the  world,  who  per- 
fectly understood  it.  This  induced  him  to  found  a  Saxon 
lecture  in  the  university  of  Cambridge,  allowing  lOl.  per 
annum  to  Mr.  Abraham  \Vheelocke,  presenting  him  to  the 
vicarage  of  Middleton  in  the  county  of  Norfolk,  and  giving 
him  likewise  the  profits  of  the  impropriate  rectory  of  the 
same  church  ;  both  which  were  intended  by  him  to  be  set- 
tled in  perpetuity  as  an  endowment  of  that  lecture  :  but  sir 
Henry  and  his  eldest  son  dying  in  the  compass  of  two  years, 
the  civil  wars  breaking  forth,  and  their  estate  being  se- 
questered, the  family  became  incapable  of  accomplishing 
his  design. 

The  last  labour  of  sir  Henry  Spelman  was  his  treatise  on 
ft  The  original  growth,  propagation,  and  condition  of  Te- 
nures by  knight  service  in  England,"  a  remarkable  proof 
of  mental  vigour  at  his  very  advanced  age,  for  he  was  now 
approaching  to  eighty.  His  last  days  he  passed  with  his 
son-in-law,  sir  Ralph  Whitfield,  in  Barbican,  at  whose 
house  he  died  in  1641,  in  the  eighty-first  year  of  his  age. 
He  was  interred  with  great  solemnity,  by  order  of  the  king, 
in  Westminster  abbey,  in  the  south  isle,  near  the  door  of 
.St.  Nicholas  chapel,  at  the  foot  of  the  pillar,  opposite  to 
the  monument  of  his  friend  Camden. 

His  biographer,  Gibson,  characterizes  him  as  a  "  gen- 
tleman of  great  learning*,  and  a  hearty  promoter  and  en- 

*  The  following  memorandums  from  dull  boy  he  would  say,  'As  very  a 
Mr.  Aubiey's  MSS.  lately  published,  dunce  as  H.  Spelman.'  He  was  a  boy 
may  not  be  unacceptable  :  "  When  he  of  great  spirit,  and  would  not  learne 
(sir  H.  Spelman)  was  about  10  or  12  there.  He  was  (upon  his  importuning) 
he  went  to  schoole  to  a  curst  school-  sent  to  another  schoolmaster,  and  pro- 
Jo  whom  he  had  an  antipathic,  filed  very  well. — I  have  heard  his  grand- 
His  umitr  would  discountenance  him,  son  say,  that  the  Spelmans'  wins  open 
and  was  very  severe  to  him,  and  to  a  late.  He  was  naucb  perplexed  wiib 


S  P  E  L  M  A  N.  273 

courager  of  it :  in  his  temper  calm  and  sedate,  and  in  his 
writings,  grave  and  inoffensive;  a  true  lover  of  the  esta- 
blished church,  and  a  zealous  maintaii.er  of  h  r  rights  and 
privileges."  During  the  early  part  of  king  diaries' s  dif- 
ferences with  the  parliament,  he  allowed  that  the  latter  had 
some  ground  for  complaint,  and  that  abuses  prevailed  which 
he  wished  to  see  rectified  ;  but  it  is  too  much  to  infer  from 
this,  a^  some  have  done,  that  sir  Henry  Spelman  would 
have  been  less  loyal,  less  a  supporter  of  the  constitution  in 
church  and  state  than, he  had  aUays  profease.il  himself*  had 
he  lived  to  see  the  unhappy  consequences  of  civil  discord. 
As  an  encourager  of  learning,  and  above  all  a  contributor 
to  the  knowledge  of  the  antiquities  of  his  country,  he  is 
entitled  to  the  highest  veneration.  He  patronized  Speed 
and  Dodswortb,  and  he  brought  forward  Dugdale. 

On  the  death  of  sir  Henry,  his  papers  became  the  pro- 
perty of  his  eldest  son,  sir  John  Spelman,  whom  he  calls 
"  the  heir  of  his  studies."  Sir  John,  whom,  by  the  way, 
Wood  erroneously  calls  sir  Henry's  youngest  son,  received 
great  encouragement  and  assurance  of  favour  from  Charles 
I.  That  king  sent  for  sir  Henry  Spelman,  and  offered  him 
the  mastership  of  Sutton's  hospital,  with  some  other  advan- 
tages, in  consideration  of  his  good  services  both  to  church 
and  state;  but  sir  Henry,  thanking  his  majesty,  replied, 
"  that  he  was  very  old,  and  had  one  foot  in  the  grave,  but 
should  be  more  obliged,  if  he  would  consider  his  son  :"  on 
which,  the  king  sent  for  Mr.  Spelman,  and  conferred  that 
and  the  honour  of  knighthood  upon  him  at  Whitehall  in 
1611.  After  the  rebellion  commenced,  his  majesty,  by  a 
letter  under  his  own  hand,  commanded  him  from  his  house  in 
Norfolk,  to  attend  at  Oxford  ;  where  he  resided  in  Brazen- 

lawe-suups    and    worldly  troubles,  so  neighbours,  he  would  always  ask  her 

hi?  wa'   atnmt  40  before  lie  could  what  of  antiquity  she  had  heard  or  ob- 

sett'.e  himsclfe  to  nuke  aay  great  pro-  served,  and  if   she   brought  home  no 

gresse  in  learm«-:,  which  when  he  did,  such  accouiu,  he  would  chide  her  (je*t- 

we  find  what  great  monument^  of  anti-  ingly.) — Sir  William  Dugdale  knew  sir 

quarian  knowledge  hr  hath  left  to  the  Henry  Spelman,  and    saves  he  was  a* 

world. — He  was  a  bandeome  gentleman  tall  as  his  grandson,  Harry  Spelroan. 

(as  appears  by  his  picture   in  iJiblio-  He  has  been  told  that  sir  Henry  did  not 

thpca  Cutroniana)  strong  and  valiant,  understand  Lat  n  perfectly  till  he  was 

and  wore  always  his  sword,  til!  he  was  fonrty  years  old.     He.  said  to  sir  Wil- 

about  seventy  or   more,  when  finding  liam,  '  We  are  beholden  t>  Mr.  S 

his  legges  to  taalier  throagb  t'ei  blt-n«s  and  Stowe   for   stitching  up  for  us  oi.r 

as  he  was   walking,    '  Now,'  said   he,  English   history.'     Ii  stems  they  •- 

'  'lis   time  to  leave  off  my    sword.' —  both  taylors.."  Letters  by  on  n<rt  p«r- 

Wben  his  daughter-in-law,  (sir  John's  sons,  J8I3,  3  vols.  8v«. 
wife)  returned  home  from  visiting  her 

VOL.  XXVIII.  T 


274  S  P  E  L  M  A  N. 

nose  college,  and  was  often  called  to  private  conncii,  and 
employed  to  write  several  p.ipers  in  vindication  of  the  pro- 
ceeding ot  the  court.  He  w,i-  the  author  of  "  A  view  of  a 
pretende  book,  entitled,  '  Observations  upon  his  Majesty's 
late  Answers  ami  Epistles,"  Oxford,  1642,  4to.  His  name 
is  not  to  it;  but  Dr  Barlow,  who  ha  i  received  a  copy  from 
him,  informed  VVood  that  it  was  composed  bv  him.  Si: 
John  wi"'e  also  "The  case  of  our  affairs  in  law,  religion, 
and  other  circumstances,  briefly  ex  mined  and  presented 
to  the  cmisc  ence,"  1643,  4to.  While  he  vva^  thus  attend- 
ing the  aduirs  of  the  public,  and  his  own  private  studies, 
as  those  '  >uld  iiive  him  leave,  he  died  July  25,  1643.  His 
funeral  sermon,  by  his  majesty's  special  order,  \vas  preached 
by  archbishop  Usher.  He  published  the  Saxon  Psalter 
under  the  title  of  "  Phaltenum  Davidis  Latino-Saxonicum 
Vetus,"  1641,  4to,  from  an  old  manuscript  in  his  father's 
library,  collated  with  three  other  copies.  He  wrote  also 
the  "  Life  of  king  Alfred  the  Great"  in  English,  which  was 
published  by  Hearne  at  Oxford,  1709,  8vo.  It  had  been 
-translated  into  Latin  by  Mr.  Wise,  and  was  published  by 
Obadiah  Walker,  master  of  University  college  at  Oxford 
in  1678,  fol. 

After  sir  John's  death,  his  father's  papers  came  into  the 
hands  of  his  son-in-law,  sir  Ralph  Whitfield.  In  1647,  the 
rev.  Jeremiau  Stevens,  who  had  assisted  sir  Henry  in  pre- 
paring the  first  volume  of  the  "  Councils,"  printed  from  sir 
Henry's  MSS.  a  work  entitled  "  Sir  Henry  Spelman's  larger 
Treatise  concerning  Tithes,"  &c.  in  which  the  author  shews 
the  danger  of  changing  tythes  for  any  other  kind  of'  main- 
tenance, as  of  a  pecuniary  stipend,  which  the  alteration  in 
the  value  of  money  might  affect.  He  observes,  that  any 
change  of  the  laws,  which  have  existed  above  a  thousand 
years,  and  of  a  right  settled  by  common  law,  will  produce 
wany  mischiefs,  especially  to  the  crown,  in  the  payment 
of  tenths  and  first-fruits;  and  he  pro\es  the  propriety  of 
this  kind  of  support  above  all  others,  from  this  circumstance, 
that  it  puts  the  clergy  on  the  same  tooting  with  the  people, 
feeing  equally  gainers  or  losers  according  to  the  prices  iu 
times  of  plenty  and  scarcity. 

In  1656,  a  volume  was  published,  entitled  "  Villare  An- 
glicum;  or  a  view  of  the  towns  of  England,  collected  by 
the  appointment,  at  the  charge,  and  for  the  use,  of  that 
learned  antiquary  sir  Henry  Spelman."  Bishop  NicolsbH 
thinks  this  wasjointly  composed  by  sir  Henry  and  Mr.  Dods- 


S  P  E  L  M  A  N.  275 

worth.  In  1663,  Mr.  Stevens,  before  mentioned,  who  ap- 
pears to  have  been  particularly  entrusted  with  such  of  sir 
Henry's  MSS.  as  might  be  thought  fit  for  the  press,  began 
to  print  his  "  History  of  Sacrilege,"  a  very  singular  attempt 
under  the  existing  government,  for  as  sir  Hemy  makes  the 
alienation  of  church  property  by  our  former  monarchs  to 
be  sacrilege,  his  arguments  must  have  had  a  very  powerful 
effect  on  those  who  had  now  overturned  the  whole  property 
and  constitution  of  the  church.  Accordingly  we  are  told  that 
the  printing  was  interrupted  until  the  fire  of  London,  and 
then  the  whole  was  destroyed  in  that  calamity.  Gibson, 
however,  published  it  afterwards  from  the  manuscript  copy 
given  by  bishop  Barlow  to  the  Bodleian  library. 

Among  the  manuscripts  left  by  sir  Henry,  was  "  A 
Scheme  of  the  Abbreviations,  and  such  other  obsolete 
forms  of  writing  as  occur  in  our  ancient  MSS.  to  facilitate 
the  reading  of  ancient  books  and  records."  Of  this  we 
have  a  transcript,  purchased  at  Mr.  Cough's  sale,  entitled 
"Archaismus  Graphicus  ab  Henrico  Spelman,  in  usum  fi- 
liorum  conscriptus."  There  were  likewise  found  among 
his  MSS.  "  A  Discourse  on  the  ancient  Government  of 
England  in  general,"  "Of  Parliaments  in  particular  ;"  and 
"  A  Catalogue  of  the  places  and  dwellings  of  the  arch- 
bishops and  bishops  of  this  realm,  now  or  of  former  times, 
in  which  their  several  owners  have  ordinary  jurisdiction,  as 
of  a  parcel  of  their  diocese,  though  they  be  situate  within 
the  precinct  of  another  bishop's  diocese."  This  appears 
to  have  been  drawn  up  in  the  reign  of  James  I.  for  the  use 
of  the  archbishop  of  Canterbury.  Some  of  these,  and  his 
other  miscellaneous  tracts,  were  published  by  Mr.  Gibson, 
afterwards  bishop  of  London,  first  as  "  The  English  Works 
of  sir  Henry  Spelman,"  to  which,  in  1698,  he  added  "  The 
Posthumous  Works,"  and  both  collections  were  reprinted 
in  one  vol.  fol.  in  1723.  Some  correspondence  between 
Spelman  and  Wheelocke  is  among  the  Harleian  MSS.  No. 
7041. 

CLEMENT  SPELMAN,  youngest  son  of  sir  Henry,  was  a 
eounsellor-at-law,  and  made  puisne  baron  of  the  exche- 
quer upon  the  restoration  of  Charles  II.  He  published 
some  pieces  relating  to  the  government,  and  a  large  pre- 
face to  his  father's  book,  "  De  non  temerandis  ecclesiis.1' 
He  died  in  June  1679,  and  was  interred  in  St.  Duns(. 
church,  Fleet-street. 

' 


•J7a  S  P  E  L  M  A  N, 

EDWARD  SFELMAN,  esq.  the  translator  of,  Xenophon, 
and  of  Dionysius  Halicarnasscnsis,  and  author  of  a  Tract 
on  the  Greek  a«-iem«.,  wuo  died  March  12,  1767,  was  great- 
great-^L.ii  M>M  oi  sir  Henry  Spelman.  ' 

SPENCb.  (JustPH),  an  English  divine,  and  polite  scho- 
lar, was  b  rn  in  1698,  we  know  not  of  what  parents,  and 
educate  i  probably  at  Winchester  school,  whence  he  be- 
came a  u-llow  of  New  college,  Oxford,  where,  he  took  the 
degree  of  M.  A.  Nov.  2,  1727  •,  and  in  that  year  became 
^rst  known  to  th-  learned  world  by  "  An  Essay  on  Pope's 
Cdyssev  ;  m  which  some  particular  beauties  and  blemishes 
of  that  work  ;ire  considered,  in  two  parts,"  12nio.  "On 
the  En ..  ii.-ii  Odv^si'y,  says  Dr.  Johnson,  *' a  criticism  was 
pubh>he  ;  by  Spence,  a  man  whose  learning  was  not  very 
great,  and  wiiose  mind  was  not  very  powerful.  His  cri- 
ticism, i;:.".'.  ver,  was  commonly  just ;  what  he  thought,  he 
thought  rightiv  ;  and  his  remarks  were  recommended  by 
his  coolness  and  candour.  In  him  Pope  had  the  first  ex- 
perience of  a  critic  without  malevolence,  who  thought  it 
as  iiiuch  his  duty  to  display  beauties  as  expose  faults;  wbo 
censured  with  respect,  and  praised  with  alacrity.  With' 
this  criticism  Pope  was  so  little  offended,  that  he  sought 
the  acquaintance  of  the  writer,  who  lived  with  him  from 
that  time  in  great  familiarity,  attended  him  in  his  last  hours, 
and  compiled  memorials  of  his  conversation.  The  regard 
of  Pope  recommended  him  to  the  great  and  powerful,  and 
he  obtained  very  valuable  preferments  in  the  church."  Dr. 
Warton,  in  his  "  Essay  on  Pope,"  styles  Spence's  judi- 
cious Essay  on  the  Odyssey  "  a  work  of  the  truest  taste  ;" 
and  adds,  that  "  Pope  was  so  far  from  taking  it  amiss,  thut 
it  was  the  origin  of  a  lasting  friendship  betwixt  them.  I 
have  seen,"  says  Dr.  Warton,  "  a  copy  of  this  work,  with 
marginal  observations,  written  in  Pope's  own  hand,  and 
generally  acknowledging  the  justness  of  Spence's  observa- 
tions, and  in  a  few  instances  pleading,  humourously  enough, 
that  some  favourite  lines  might  be  spared.  1  am  indebted," 
he  adds,  "  to  this  learned  and  amiable  man,  on  whose 
friendship  I  set  the  greatest  value,  for  most  of  the  anec- 
dotes relating  to  Pope,  mentioned  in  this  work,  which  he 
gave  me,  when  I  was  making  him  a  visit  at  Byfleet,  in 
1754."  He  was  elected,  by  the  university,  professor  of 

1  Siog.  Brit. — Gibson's  Life,  prefixed  (o  his  miscellaneous  works. — 
m»rrs  Legjl  Bibliography. —  LtUtia  of  tmiwfiu  Per»ons,  &c.  5  n>U.  8vo, 
— Ushtr's  Life,  iind  Leitcts. 


S  P  E  N  C  E.  27  r 

poetry,  July  11,  1728,  succeeding  the  rev.  Thomas  War-, 
ton,  B.  D.  father  to  the  learned  brothers,  Dr.  Joseph,  and 
Mr.  Thomas  Warton  ;  each  of  these  professors  were  twice 
ejected  to  their  office,  and  held  it  for  ten  \  ears,  a  period 
as  long  as  the  statutes  will  allow.  Mr.  Speu-.-e  wrote  an 
account  of  Stephen  Duck,  which  was  first  published,  as 
a  pamphlet,  in  J  73 1,  and  said  to  he  written  hy  "Jo- 
seph Spenre,  esq.  poetry  professor."  From  this  circum- 
stance it  has  been  supposed  th:it  he  was  not  then  in  orders, 
but  this  is  a  mistake,  as  he  was  ordained  in  17  J4  ;  and  left 
this  pamphlet  in  the  hands  of  his  friend,  Mr  Lowth  *,  to 
be  published  as  soon  as  he  left  England,  with  a  Grub- 
street  title,  which  he  had  drawn  up  merely  for  a  disguise, 
not  choosing  to  have  it  thought  that  he  published  it  himself. 
It  was  afterwards  much  altered,  and  prefixed  io  Duck's 
poems.  He  travelled  with  the  duke  of  Newcastle  (then. 
earl  of  Lincoln)  into  Italy,  where  his  attention  to  his  noble 
pupil  did  him  the  highest  honour  f.  In  1736,  at  Mr. 
Pope's  desire,  he  republished  J  "  Gorboduc,"  wit  ha  pre- 
face containing  an  account  of  the  author,  the  earl  of  Dorset. 
He  never  took  a  doctor's  degree,  hut  quitteii  his  fellowship 
on  bein>j[  presented  by  the  society  of  New  college  to  the 
rectory  of  Great  Horwood,  in  Buckinghamshire,  in  1742. 
As  he  never  resided  upon  his  living,  but  in  a  pleasant  house 
and  gardens  lent  to  him  by  his  noble  pupil,  at  Byfieet,  m 
Surrey  (the  rectory  of  which  parish  he  had  obtained  for  1m 
friend  Stephen  Duck),  he  thought  it  his  duty  to  snake  an 
annual  visit  to  Horwood,  and  gave  away  several  sums  of 
money  to  the  distressed  poor,  and  placed  out  many  of  their 
children  as  apprentices.  In  June  174-2,  he  succeeded  Dr. 
Holmes  as  his  majesty's  professor  of  modern  history,  at 
Oxford.  His  "  Polymetis,  or  an  inquiry  concerning  the 
agreement  between  the  works  of  the  Roman  Poets,  andthef 
remains  of  the  ancient  Artists,  being  an  attempt:  to  illustrate 
them  mutually  from  each  other,"  was  publishe d  in  folio,  ,i» 

*   Afterwards     bishop    of     London  ;  +    fn  :»  nni;                             finm  Ciir'l 

who   honoured  Mr.  Nu'h'.U  with  mmrh  id    Pop**,    1737,    .Mr.    S:, ,•,,(•,.   js   jniro- 

usefnl   information   on  the   subject  of  ilm.-i-d   :ts  MM   «-:ir!y  p.-ii    u    >f  the    I'ife 

this  meinoii.  on*  K.   I)..   - 

t  The  mnrtifiration  which  Dr.  God-  '  >Tl>  km  '  verY  m"''e 

•lard,'  master  of  Clare-hall,  his  s^o-N 

Cambridge  tutor,  felt  by  this  appoint-  ™  ho   !  *   farce'  '"  a«»xm«-nt   bis 
nirnt,  -probably  occasioned   the  extra- 
ordinary dedication  «.   the  d»lret  pre-  Vbere   you   a,u!    Spence   au4    Giover. 
fixed  to  his  «•  Sermons,"    I78l,8ro.                  dnvf  the  nail, 

The  devil's  in  it  if  the  plot  should  t'aij." 


278  S  P  E  N   C  E. 

1747.  Of  this  work  of  acknowledged  taste  and  learning", 
Mr.  Gray  has  been  thought  to  speak  too  contemptuously 
in  his  Letters.  His  chief  objection  is,  that  the  author  has 
illustrated  his  subject  from  the  Roman,  and  not  from  the 
Greek  poets;  that  is,  that  he  has  not  performed  what  he 
never  undertook;  nay,  what  he  expressly  did  not  under- 
take. A  third  edition  appeared  in  folio  in  1774,  and  the 
abridgment  of  it  by  N.  Tindal  has  been  frequently  printed 
in  8vo.  There  is  a  pamphlet  \-.  ith  Spence's  name  to  it  in 
MS.  as  the  author,  called  "  Plain  Matter  of  Fact,  or,  a 
short  review  of  the  reigns  of  our  Popish  Princes  since  the 
Reformation  ;  in  order  to  shew  what  we  are  to  expect  if 
another  shouKl  happen  to  reign  over  us.  Part  I."  1748, 
12mo.  He  was  installed  prebendary  of  the  seventh  stall  at 
Durham,  May  24,  1754  ;  and  published  in  that  year  "An 
account  of  the  Life,  Character,  and  Poems  of  Mr.  Black- 
lock,  student  of  philosophy  at  Edinburgh,"  Svo,  which 
was  afterwards  prefixed  to  his  poems.  The  prose  pieces 
which  he  printed  in  "  The  Museum"  he  collected  and 
published,  with  some  others,  in  a  pamphlet  called  "  Mo- 
ralities, by  sir  Harry  Beaumont,"  1753.  Under  that  name 
he  published,  "  Crito,  or  a  Dialogue  on  Beauty,"  and  "A 
particular  account  of  the  emperor  of  China's  Gardens,  near 
Pekin,  in  a  letter  from  F.  Attiret,  a  French  missionary  now 
employed  by  that  emperor  to  paint  the  apartments  in  those 
gardens,  to  his  friend  at  Paris;"  both  in  1752,  Hvo,  and 
both  reprinted  in  Dodsley's  "  Fugitive  Pieces."  He  wrote 
"  An  Epistle  from  a  Swiss  officer  to  his  friend  at  Rome," 
first  printed  in  "  The  Museum,"  and  since  in  the  third 
volume  of  "  Dodsley's  Collection."  The  several  copies 
published  under  his  name  in  the  Oxford  Verses  are  pre- 
served by  iNichols,  in  the  "  Select  Collection,"  1781.  In 
175S  he  published  "  A  Parallel,  in  the  manner  of  Plutarch, 
between  a  most  celebrated  Man  of  Florence  (Magliabecchi), 
and  one  scarce  ever  heard  of  in  England  (Robert  Hill,  the 
Hebrew  Taylor),"  1 2mo,  printed  at  Strawberry  Hill.  In 
the  same  year  he  took  a  tour  into  Scotland,  which  is  vtell 
described  in  an  affectionate  letter  to  Mr.  Shenstone,  ih  a 
collection  of  several  letters  published  by  Mr.  Hull  in  1778. 
In  17c3  he  communicate  i  to  Dr.  Wartun  several  excellent 
remarks  on  Virgil,  which  he  had  made  when  he  was  .broad, 
and  some  few  of  Mr.  Pope's. — West  Finchale  Priory  (the 
scene  of  the  holy  Godric's  miracles  and  austerities,  who, 
from  an  itinerant  merchant,  turned  hermit,  and  wore  out 


8  P  E  N  C  E. 

three  suits  of  iron  cloaths),  was  now  become  Mr.  Spence's 
retreat,  being  part  of  his  prebendal  estate.  In  1764  he 
was  well  pourtrayed  by  Mr.  James  Ridley,  in  his  admirable 
"  Tales  of  the  G  nil,"  under  the  name  of  "  Pbesoi  Ecnep> 
(his  name  rrad  backwar  l>)  iervise  of  the  groves,"  and 
a  panegyrical  letter  from  nim  to  that  ingenious  moralist, 
under  the  same  signature,  is  inserted  i-i  4k  Lexers  of 
Emi'-eni  Persons,"  vol.  III.  p.  139.  In  1764  he  paid  the 
last  kind  office  to  the  remains  of  his  friend  Mr.  Dodsley, 
who  died  on  a  visit  to  him  at  Durham.  He  closed  his  li- 
terary labours  with  "  Remarks  and  Dissertations  on  Virgi! ; 
with  some  other  classical  observations;  by  ihe  late  Mr. 
Holdsworth.  Published,  with  several  notes  ami  additional 
remarks,  by  Mr.  Speutv,"  4to.  This  volume,  of  which 
the  greater  i.art  was  printed  off  in  1767,  was  published  in 
February  1768;  and  on  the  iiOth  of  August  following,  Mr. 
JSpence  was  unfortunately  drowned  in  a  caiidl  m  his  garden 
at  Byrieet  in  Surrey.  Being,  when  the  accident  inppened, 
quite  alone,  it  could  only  be  conjectured  in  v\has  manner 
it  happened  ;  but  it  was  generally  supposed  to  have  been 
occasioned  by  a  fit  while  he  was  standing  near  the  brink  of 
the  water.  He  was  found  flat  upon  his  face,  at  the  edge, 
where  the  water  was  too  shallow  to  cover  his  head,  or  any 
part  of  his  body.  He  was  interred  at  Byfleet  church,  where 
is  a  marble  tablet  inscribed  to  his  memory.  The  duke  of 
Newcastle  possesses  some  MS  volumes  of  anecdotes  of 
eminent  writers,  collected  by  Mr.  Spence,  who  in  his  life- 
time communicated  to  Dr.  Warton  as  many  of  them  as  re- 
lated to  Pope  ;  and,  by  permission  of  the  noble  owner,  Dr. 
Johnson  has  made  many  extracts  from  them  in  his  "  Lives 
of  th'j  English  Poets."  These  have  lately  been  announced 
for  publication.  Mr.  Spence's  Explanation  of  an  antique 
marble  at  Ciandon  place,  Surrey,  is  in  "  Gent.  Mag."  1772, 
p.  176  ''  Mr.  Spence's  character,"  says  a  gentleman  who 
bad  seen  this  memoir  before  it  was  transplanted  into  the 
present  work,  "  is  properly  delineated  ;  and  his  Polymetis 
is  justl ,  vindicated  from  the  petty  criticisms  of  the;  fastidious 
Gray  *.  In  Dr.  Johnson's  masterly  preface  to  Dry  den, 

*  M:ISOD   informs  nft  that  Gray's  n-  of  true  taste,  thai  tl>,-  tuppery  mod* 

dieule  is  applied  to  the  Plat  >ni<- «;iy  <>f  of  com  position    «rl    never  come   into 

Dialogue,  which  lie  ad'ls,  "  LoidSliHlts-  ta^hon    n<;;iiii;     rvpecia  iy    since    Dr. 

bury  was   the   first    who   bionsjhi   in  o  llmd  II.K.  point' <l  out,  by  example  as 

vognc,  and  Mr.  ^neiu-e,   (if  we  except  well  as  precept,  wherein  the  true  beati- 

*  few  Scotch  writers)  the  last  who  prac-  ty  of  dialogue- writing  consists."     Ma- 

tjsed  it.    As  it  has  now  been  laid  aside  son's  Life  of  Gray,  vol.  II.  p.  5-0,  oi1- 

somc  years,  we  may  hope,  for  the  sake  tavo  edition. 


280  S  P  E  N  C  E. 

he  observes,  that  'we  do  not  always  know  our  own  motives.* 
Shall  we  then  presume  to  attribute  the  frigid  mention  of 
the  truly  learned  and  ingenious  Mr.  Spenr.e,  in  the  pre- 
face to  Pope,  to  a  prejudice  conceived  against  him  on 
account  of  his  preference  of  blank  verse  to  rhyme  in  his 
'  Essay  on  Mr.  Pope's  Odyssey  ;'  a  work,  which  for  sound 
criticism,  and  candid  disquisition,  is  almost  v\  uhout  a  pa- 
rallel ?  The  judicious  Dr.  Warton's  seutiiue:  (•>  with  re- 
spect to  it  may  lie  seen  in  his  admirable  "  K-say  on  the 
Writings  and  Genius  of  Pope:"  and  bishop  Loath,  whose 
learning  and  genius  are  indisputable,  expresses  himself  in 
the  following  manner  in  a  note  on  his  twelfth  prelection 
on  Hebrew  poetry  :  "  Hasc  autem  vide  accurate  et  scienter 
explicata  a  viro  doctissimo  Josepho  Spence  in  Opere 
erudito  juxta  atque  eleganti  cui  titulus  Polymetis."  ' 

SPENCER  (JOHN),  a  learned  divine,  was  a  native  of 
Bocton   under  Biean,    in    Kent,     where   he    was  baptised, 
Oct.  31,  1G30.     While  an   infant  he   lost  his  father,  who, 
leaving   him  in  very   narrow  circumstances,  the  care  and 
expence  of  his  education  was  undertaken  by  an  uncle.     By 
bin)    he  was   sent  to  the   free  school  at  Canterbury,    where 
he  made   great  proficiency,  and  became  a  king's  scholar. 
At  the  age  of  fourteen  he  was  recommended  by  Mr.  Tho- 
mas Jackson,   then  the  onry  prebendary  of  that  church,  t» 
a  Parker  scholarship    in    Corpus   college,    Cambridge,    of 
which   he   was    admitted,    March   25,    1645.      Under   Mr. 
Richard    Kennet,   an  excellent  tutor,  an  ancestor   of  the 
bishop  of  Peterborough,  he  applied  with  great  assiduity  to 
his  studies,  and  having  taken  his  degrees  in  arts,  that  of  A.  B. 
in  164-8,  and  of  A.  JVJ.  in  1652,   he  was  chosen  fellow  of  his 
college  in    1655.     About   this  time  his    uncle,    who    had 
hitherto  supported  his  education,  died,  and  having  kept  an 
£xact  account  of  what  he  had  expended,  left  the  same  tin- 
cancelled,   and   his   executors  and   sons  immediately   sued 
Mr.  Spencer  for   the  debt,   which   he  was  totally  unable  to 
;niy.      In    this    perplexity  he  found  friends  i-    i«t  college, 
among    w.,om   was    Dr.  Tenison,  afterwards  a  c-.'u-.hop  of 
Canterbury,   who  raised   a  loin   among  the       suthcit-nt  to 
extricate   him    from    the    rigour  of  his  unworny  relations. 
He  now  also  became  a  tutor,  and  entering  int..  holy  orders 
was  appointed  one  of  the  university  preacher-,   -IK.  served 
the   cures,   first  of  St.  Gyles's,  and   then  of  St.  Benedict, 

'  NichoL's  Poems — and  Bowyer. — Bowles's  edition  of  Pope's  Works. 


SPENCER.  281 

iu  Cambridge.  In  1659  lie  proceeded  B.  D.  As  he  was 
not  ciisuJrhed  in  his  fellowship,  it  has  been  supposed  that 
lie  acquiesced  in  the  measures  taken  during  the  usurpation, 
without  approving  them.  He  was  soon,  however,  released 
from  this  painful  restraint  by  the  restoration,  on  which 
event  he  preached  a  sermon  before  the  university,  June 
2tf,  1660,  which  was  printed  the  same  year,  under  the 
title  of  "  The  Righteous  Ruler."  He  published  about 
three  years  after,  a  preservative  against  the  prophecies  in 
which  the  fanatics  of  that  day  dealt  very  largely.  This  he 
entitled  "  A  discourse  concerning  Prodigies,  wherein  the 
vanity  of  presages  by  them  is  reprehended,  and  their  true 
and  proper  ends  asserted  and  vindicated."  A  second  edi- 
tion of  this  seasonable  and  learned  work,  corrected  and 
enlarged,  was  published  at  London,  1665,  8vo;  when  was 
added  to  it,  "  A  discourse  concerning  vulgar  Prophecies  ; 
wherein  the  vanity  of  receiving  them,  as  the  certain  indi- 
cations of  any  future  event,  is  discovered  ;  and  some  cha- 
racters of  distinction  between  true  and  pretended  prophets 
are  laid  down."  In  this  last- mentioned  year  he  proceeded 
D.  D.  and  in  1667  was  presented  by  his  college  to  the 
rectory  of  Landbeach,  in  Cambridgeshire,  and  Aug.  3,  was 
elected  master  of  the  college.  In  this  office  he  shewed 
.himself  not  only  a  lover  of  learning,  but  a  great  encourager 
of  it  in  others,  as  the  many  salutary  regulations  made  in - 
bis  time  concerning  the  discipline  and  exercises  of  the 
college  amply  testily  ;  and  the  society  had  such  an  opinion 
of  liis  judgment  an  .1  integrity,  that  he  was  generally  made 
the  arbiter  of  their  differences. 

While  he  was  vice-chancellor,  the  duke  of  Monmouth 
was  chosen  chaucellor  of  the  university,  and  upon  his  in- 
stalment Dr.  Spencer  addressed  his  ^race  in  a  speech, 
published  by  Hi/arne  in  his  appendix  to  the  "  Vindiciac 

Tho.  Caii."     Mr.  Masters  mentions  it  as  somewhat  singular, 

o          * 

that  Dr.  Sp  ncer,  v\hile  holding  the  high  office  of  head  of 
a  hoiuse,  was  suspended  bv  Dr.  Borcle,  surrogate  to  the 
official,  lor  tun  appearing  at  the  archdeacon's  visitation, 
but  what  ttie  issue  wa.s  he  has  not  discovered.  Dr.  Spencer 
had  c  ntr.ieie.l  ;A:I  early  and  intimate  acquaintance  with  Mr. 
Thomas  Hill,  ah<>  was  admitted  of  Corpus  about  the  same 
time  vvuh  himself,  which,  notwithstanding  their  differing 
in  their  opinions,  Hill  being  a  non-conformist,  continued 
to  the  end  of  the  life  of  the  latter.  This  appears  by  a  cor- 
respondence, referred  to  by  Calamy,  in  which  the  doctor 


282  SPENCER. 

expresses  a  high  regard  and  affection  for  hirn,  and  made 
him  some  kind  and  generous  offers  whenever  he  should 
have  a  son  fit  to  send  to  the  university.  His  charity,  indeed, 
to  'non-conformist  ministers,  if  goo  !  and  pious  men,  seems 
to  have  bt-en  so  extensive,  that  he,  with  the  learned  Dr. 
Henry  More,  made  one  of  them,  Mr.  Robert  Wilson,  their 
almoner  in  this  branch  of  it.  And  so  greai  a  respect  had 
he  for  his  tutor,  Mr  Kennet,  who  was  a  sufferer  in  this 
cause,  that  he  not  only  frequently  visited  him  as  long  as 
he  lived,  but  was  kind  to  his  poor  widow  for  his  sake. 

About  a  month  after  being  elected  master  of  Corpus,  he 
was  preferred  by  the  king  to  the  archdeaconry  of  Sudbury, 
in  1672  to  a  prebend  of  Ely,  and  in  1677  to  the  deanery 
of  that  church.  In  1669  he  published  a  Latin  dissertation 
concerning  Urim  and  Thummim,  reprinted  in  1670,  In 
1683  iie  resigned  the  rectory  of  Landbeach  in  favour  of 
his  kinsman,  William  vSpencer,  A.  M.  fellow  of  the  col- 
lage ;  and  1685  published  at  Cambridge,  in  2  vols.  folio, 
his  celebrated  work,  "  De  legibus  Hebraeorum  ritualibus 
et  etiruiu  rationibus  libri  tres."  His  professe<i  view  in  ex- 
plaining the  reasons  of  the  Mosaic  ritual,  was  to  vindicate 
the  ways  of  God  to  men,  and  clear  the  Deity,  as  he  tells 
in  his  preface,  from  arbitrary  and  fantastic  humour ;  with 
which  some,  not  discerning  these  reasons,  had  been  ready 
to  charge  him,  and  thence  had  fallen  into  unbelief.  But 
this  attempt  very  much  displeased  all  those,  who  think  the 
divinity  of  any  doctrine  or  institution  weakened,  in  prOT- 
portion  as  it  is  proved  to  be  rational  ;  and  one  great  ob- 
jection to  it,  even  among  some  who  are  not  irrationalists, 
is,  the  learned  author's  having  advanced,  that  many  rites 
and  cen  monies  of  the  Jewish  nation  are  deduced  from  the 
practices  of  their  heathen  and  idolatrous  neighbours.  This 
position  uuve  no  small  offence,  as  greatly  derogatory  from 
the  aivine  institution  of  those  rites;  and  many  writers  at- 
tacked it  both  at  home  and  abroad,  particularly  Herman 
Wit>iiis  1:1  his  "  ^gyptiaca,"  sir  John  Marsham,  Caimet, 
and  Shi.ckford.  His  position  has  been,  since  their  time, 
shortU  and  ably  refuted  in  a  treatise  by  Dr.  \\  oodward,  en- 
titled "  A  Discourse  on  the  worship  of  the  ancient  Egyp- 
tians," communicated  to  the  Society  of  Antiquaries  by  Dr. 
Lort  in  1775,  and  more  recently  (1799)  by  the  late  Rev. 
William  Jones,  in  his"  Considerations  on  the  religious  wor- 
ship of  ttie  Heainens."  Mr.  Jones  says,  that  Dr.  Spencer, 
"  preposterously  deduced  the  rites  of  the  Hebrews  from 


S  P  E  N  C   E  R.  2S3 

the  .rites  ot  the  Heathens;  and  so  produced  a  work  of  learned 
appearance,  and  composed  in  elegant  Latin,  but  disgrace- 
ful to  Christian  divinity,  dishonourable  to  the  church  of 
England,  and  affording  a  very  bad  example  to  vain  scholars 
who  should  succeed  him."  Others,  however,  saw  no  ill  con- 
sequences from  admitting  it ;  and  the  work  upon  the  whole 
has  been  highly  valued,  for  extensive  erudition  and  research. 
The  author  afterwards  greatly  enlarged  it,  particularly  with 
the  addition  of  a  fourth  book  ;  and  his  papers,  being  com- 
mitted at  his  death  to  archbishop  Tenison,  were  bequeathed 
by  that  prelate  to  the  university  of  Cambridge,  together 
with  the  sum  of  50/.  to  forward  the  printing  of  them.  At 
length  Mr.  Leonard  Chappelow,  fellow  of  St.  John's-col- 
lege,  and  professor  of  Arabic,  being  deputed  by  the  uni- 
versity, and  offered  the  reward,  undertook  a  new  edition  of 
this  work,  with  the  author's  additions  and  improvements; 
and  published  it  at  Cambridge,  in  1727,  in  2  vols.  folio.  It 
was  also  previously  reprinted  at  the  Hague  in  1686,  4to  ; 
and  at  Leipsic  in  i705. 

Dr.  Spencer  died  May  27,  1695,  in  the  sixty-third  year 
of  his  age,  and  was  interred  in  the  chapel  of  Corpus-col- 
lege. To  this  college  such  was  his  liberality,  that  Mr. 
Masters  says  "he  far  exceeded  all  former  benefactors."  In 
1687,  he  purchased  an  estate  at  Elmington,  an  hamlet  be- 
longing to  Oundle  in  Northamptonshire,  which  cost  him 
3t300/.  and  settled  it  by  a  deed  of  gift  on  the  college,  for 
the  augmentation  of  the  mastership,  fellowships,  scholar- 
ships, &c.  ;  and,  in  his  will,  bequeathed  various  sums  to  the 
society,  to  the  church  and  deanery  of  Ely,  and  to  the  poor 
of  the  parishes  in  which  he  had  officiated.  He  married  Han- 
nah, the  daughter  of  Isaac  Pullen  of  Hertford,  by  whom  he 
had  a  son  and  daughter,  but  neither  survived  him. l 

SPENER  (PuiUP  JAMF.S),  a  celebrated  Lutheran  divine 
of  Frankfort  on  the  Maine,  but  born  in  Alsatia,  Jan.  1J, 
1635,  was  one  of  those  who  first  endeavoured  to  free  di- 
vinity from  scholastic  subtleties,  and  captious  questions, 
and  to  introduce  a  more  plain  and  popular  method  of  teach- 
ing theology.  He  succeeded,  in  a  great  measure,  though 
not  universally  ;  and,  about  1680,  became  the  founder  of  a 
new  sect,  style .1  Pietists  It  originated  in  certain  private 
societies  forme  >j  nim  at  Frankfort,  with  a  design  to  rouse 
the  lukewarm  from  their  indifference,  and  excite  a  spirit  of 

1  Biog.  Urit.— Mailer's  History  of  C.  C.  C.  C. 


284  S  P  E  N  E  R 

vigour  and  resolution  in  those  who  before  had  silently  la- 
mented the  progress  of  impiety.  The  effect  of  the$e  pious* 
meetings  was  greatly  increased  by  a  book  published  by  this 
able  am!  wt  it -meaning  man,  entitled  "  Pious  Desires,"  in 
which  he  exhibited  a  striking -view  of  the  disorders  of  the 
church,  and  proposed  the  suitable  remedies.  His  work 
was  approved  ;  but  the  remedies  he  proposed  fell  into  un- 
skiliul  hands,  and  were  administered  without  sugacity  and 
prudence. 

The  religious  meetings,  or  Colleges  of  Piety,  as  they  were 
called,  tended,  in  several  instances,  to  inflame  the  people 
with  a  blind  and  intemperate  zeal,  and  produced  tumults, 
and  various  complaints  ;  lill  at  length,  in  many  places,  se- 
vere laws  were  passed  against  the  Pietists.  Spener  settled 
for  a  time  at  Dresden,  and  afterwards  at  Berlin,  where  be 
held  important  offices  of  ecclesiastical  trust  under  the  elec- 
tor of  Brandenburg,  and  where  he  died  i.>  1705,  aged 
severity.  He  was  a  man  of  eloquence  and  piety  ;  and  cer- 
tainly far  from  intending  to  produce  dissentions  arid 
schisms.  His  pious  works  were  published  in  the  German 
language;  but  he  wrote  some  in  Latin  on  genealogy  and 
heraldry;  such  as  "  Opus  heraldicum  :"  "  Theatrum  no- 
bilitati.- :"  "  Sylloge  historico-gen^alogica,"  &c.  His  son, 
James  Charles  Spener,  wrote  a  "  Historia  Germanica  uni- 
versalis  et  pragmatica,"  2  vols.  8vo,  and  "  Notitia  Ger- 
mania- antiquce,"  1717,  4to,  both  works  of  authority.  He 
died  in  1730.  ' 

SPENSEK,  (EDMUND),  a  justly  celebrated  English-poet, 
descended  from  the  ancient  and  honourable  family  of  Spen- 
ser, was  born  in  London,  in  East  Smithfield  by  the  Tower, 
probably  about  1553  In  what  school  he  received  the  first 
part  of  his  education,  has  not  been  ascertained.  He  was 
admitted,  as  a  sizer,  of  Pembroke-hall  in  Cambridge, 
May  10,  1  569,  proceeded  to  the  degree  of  bachelor  of  arts, 
January  16,  1572-3,  and  to  that  of  master  of  arts  June  26, 
J576.  Of  nis  proficiency  during  this  time,  a  favourable 
opinion  may  be  drawn  from  the  many  classical  allusions  itv 
his  -\orks,  while  their  moral  tendency,  which,  if  not  uni- 
form, was  more  ^eneivd  than  that  of  the  writings  of  his  coif- 
temporaries,  incline  us  to  hope,  that  his  conduct  was  ir- 
reproachable. 

1  Moreri. — Diet.  Hist. — Mosheim. 


SPENSER.  285 

At  Cambridge  he  formed  an  intimacy  with  Gabriel  Har- 
vey, first  of  Christ's-college,  afterwards  of  Trinity-hall, 
who- became  doctor  of  laws  in  1585,  and  survived  his  friend 
more  than  thirty  years  Harvey  was  a  scnolar,  and  a  poet 
or' uo  mean  estimation  in  his  own  time.  He  appeurs  also 
as  a  critic,  10  whose  judgment  Spenser  firecjuerith  appeals, 
looking  up  to  him  with  a  reverence  for  which  it  is  not  easy 
to  account.  We  are,  however,  much  indebted  to  his  cor- 
respondence with  Spenser,  for  many  interesting  particulars; 
relating  to  the  life  and  studies  of  the  latter,  although  some 

O 

of  them  afford  little  more  than  probable  conjecture?.  It  is 
now  fully  disproved  that  Spenser  was  an  unsucct  ssful  can- 
didate for  a  fellowship  in  Pembroke-hall,  in  competition 
with  Andrews,  afterwards  successively  bishop  of  Chiches- 
ter,  Ely,  and  Winchester.  Hie  rival  of  Andrews  was  Tho- 
mas Dove,  afterwards  bishop  of  Peterborough.  But  from 
one  of  Harvey's  letters  to  Spenser  it  appr;,rs  that  some 
disagreement  had  taken  place  between  our  poet  and  the 
master  or  tutor  of  tne  society  to  which  he  belonged,  which 
terminated  his  prospects  of  farther  advancement  in  it,  with- 
out lessening  his  veneration  for  the  university  at  large,  of 
which  he  alv\ays  speaks  with  filial  regard. 

When  he  left  Cambridge  he  is  supposed  to  have  gone  to. 
reside  with  some  friends  in  the  Nortti  of  England,  ,/roba- 
bly  as  a  tutor.  At  what  time  he  began  to  display  his  poeti  • 
cal  powers  is  uncertain,  but  as  genius  cannot  l>  on-, 

cealed,  it  is  probable  that  lie  was  already  known  ;is  a  votary 
of  the  Muses  among  his  felloe-students.  There  are  several 
poems  in  the  "Theatre  for  Worldlings,"  a  collection  pub- 
lished in" the  year  in  which  he  became  a  member  of  tne  uni- 
versity, which  are  thought  to  have  come  from  his  pen.  The 
"Visions,"  in  this  work,  were  probably  the  first  sketch  of 
those  which  now  form  a  part  of  his  acknowledged  produc- 
tions. Absolute  certainty,  however,  cannot  be  obtained  in. 
fixing  the  chronology  of  his  early  poems  ;  but  it  may  be 
conjectured,  with  great  probability,  that  his  muse  would 
not  be  neglected  at  an  age  when  it  is  usual  to  court  her  fa- 
vours, and  at  which  he  had  much  leisure,  the  scenery  of 
nature  before  his  eyes,  and  no  serious  cares  to  disturb  his 
enthusiasm.  His  "  Shepheard"-  •'  alen  >er"  was  published 
in  1579.  The  tenderness  of  com  plaint  in  tins  elegant  poem, 
appears  to  have  been  inspired  by  a  mistress  whom  he  has 
recorded  under  the  name  of  Rosalind  ;  and  who,  after  tri- 
fling with  his  affection,  preferred  his  rival.  He  is  supposed 


286  S  P  K  N  S  E  R. 

also  to  allude  to  the  cruelty  of  this  same  lady  in  book  VI.  of 
the  "  Faerie  Queene,"   under  the  name  of  Mirabel  la. 

The  year  preceding  the  publication  of  this  poem,  he  had 
been  advised  by  his  friend  Harvey  to  remove  to  London, 
where  he  was  introduced  to  sir  Philip  Sidney,  and  by  him 
recommended  to  his  uncle  the  carl  of  Leicester.  There  i-- 
a  wide  difference  of  opinion,  however,  among  Spenser"1 
biographers,  as  to  the  time  and  mode  of  the  former  of  thest 
events.  Some  suppose  that  his  acquaintance,  with  si; 
Philip  Sidney  was  the  consequence  of  his  having  presentee: 
to  him  the  ninth  canto  of  the  "  1'aerie  Queene."  Others 
think  that  his  first  introduction  was  owing  to  the  dedication 
of  the  "Shepherd's  Calender,"  but  a  long  |»:tter  freru 
Spenser  to  Harvey,  which  Mr.  Todd  has  preserved,  proves 
that  he  was  known  to  Sidney  previous  to  the  publication  ol 
the  "  Shepheard's  Calender"  in  15?y. 

It  is  certain  that  in  consequence  of  this  introductipj  .  <  • , 
whatever  means  procured,  he  became  a  welcome  guest  in 
iir  Philip's  family,  and  was  invited  to  their  sea?  at  Pens- 
burst  in  Kent,  where  it  is  conjectured  that  he  wrote  at 
least  the  ninth  eclogue.  Under  such  patronage,  the  dedi- 
cation of  the  "Calender,"  when  finished,  to  "  Maister  Phi- 
lip Sidney,"  became  a  matter  of  course,  as  a  mark  of  re- 
spectful acknowledgment  for  the  kindness  he  had  received. 
The  praise,  however,  bestowed  on  this  poem  was  but  mo- 
derate, and  the  name  of  the  author  appears  to  have  been 
for  some  time  not  generally  known.  Dove-,  whose  trans- 
lation of  it.  into  Latin  is  extant  in  the  library  of  Cams 
','jJlege,  Cambridge,  speaks  of  it  not  only  as  an  "  u»- 
owned"  poem,  but  as  almost  buried  in  oblivion.  On  the 
wther  hand,  Abraham  1'Yaunce,  a  barrister  as  well  as  a  poet 
of  that  time,  selected  from  it.  examples  to  illustrate  his 
work  entitled  "The  Lawier's  Logike  ;"  but  Kraunce,  it 
may  be  said,  was  the  friend  of  sir  Philip  Sidney,  and 
would  naturally  be  math;  acquainted,  anil  perhaps  induced 
to  admire  tin-  productions  of  a  poet  whom  lit:  favoured. 

The  patronage  of  men  of  genius  in  Spender's  age  was 
frequently  exerted  in  procuring  for  them  public  em- 
ployments, and  Spenser,  we  find,  was  very  early  intro- 
duced into  the  business  of  active  life.  In  July  li-HO, 
when  Arthur  lord  Grey  of  Wilton  departed  from  England, 
us  lord  lieutenant  of  Ireland,  Spenser  was  appointed  his 
secretary,  probably  on  the  recommendation  ot  the  earl  of 
Leicester,  Although  the  office  of  secretary  was  not  at  t!  .it 


SPENSER.  2S7 

time  of  the  s-ame  importance  it.  is  now,  ami  much  might 
not  be  expected  in  oHicial  business  from  a  scholar  and  a 
poet,  yet  Spenser  appears  to  have  entered  with  /.eal  into 
political  affairs,  as  far  as  they  were  connected  v\iili  the 
character  of  the  lord  lieutenant.  In  Ins  "  View  ol  tiie  State 

of  Irelaml,"  winch  was  writtafiioflg  after,  he  tikes  frequent 

opportunities  to  vindicate  the  measure*  and  repui.ition  of 
that  nobleman,  and  has,  indeed,  evidently  studied  the  poli- 
ties of  Ireland  with  urcal  success. 

After  holding  this  sitn.il  ion  about  two  years,  lord  Grey 
returned  to  Kn«>land,  and  was  probably  accompanied  by  1m 
secretary.  rriieir  connection  'iaml\  not  uissolved, 

for  in  ijSh,  SpensiT  obtained,  by  Ins  lordship's  interest, 
and  that  of  Leicester  an!  Sidney,  a  -I..IK  of  three  thou- 
sand and  iwenty-ei^hi  acres  in  the  county  of  Cork,  out  of 
the  forfeited  lands  of  the  iarl  of  Desmond.  y\s  far  as  sir 
Philip  Sidney  was  concerned,  this  was  the  last  act  of  his 
kindness  to  our  poet,  for  he  died  in  October  of'  the  same 
year.  Such  were  the  terms  of  the  n>\al  patent,  that 
Spenser  was  now  obliged  to  return  to  Ireland,  in  order 
tO  cultivate  the  land  assigned  bun.  He  a<  cordin>dy  fixed 
his  residence  at  Kileolman,  in  the  county  "I  'Cork,  a  pla<  «• 
which  topographer*  have  represented  as  admirably  accom- 
modated to  the  taste  of  a  poet  by  Us  roinanlie  an  I  divrr- 
sitied  scenery.  Here  he  was  visited  by  MI  \Valtei  Kaleifj), 
with  whom  he  bad  formed  an  intimacy  on  Ins  lir-t  ai  rival  in 
Ireland,  who  proved  a  second  Sidney  to  Ins  p. ."Heal  ar- 
dour, and  appears  to  have  nr^ed  him  to  that  Composition 
which  constitutes  bis  highest  fame.  In  1  .nblished 

"The  l''aerie  Qneene  ;  disposed  into  Twelve  Li. nil. s,  fa- 
shioning XII  Moral!  Vertn. 

This  edition  contains  only  the  first  three  books.  To  the 
cod  of  the  third  wen-  annexed,  lx  sides  the  letter  to  Ha- 
leigh,  the  poetical  commendations  of  friends  to  whose  nidg- 
m en t  tbe  poem  bad  been  submit  led.  The  nanu  s  «l  K;d,  .  ;. 
and  Harvey  are  discernible,  but  the  others  are  C.MK  ealed 
under  initials.  These  are  followed  by  his  own  "  Sonnets'" 
to  various  persons  of  distinction,  ihe  number  of  \\hich  is 
augmented  in  the  edition  of  \!>\>ti.  AJ  i .  I'odd  remarks 
that  in  that  age  of  adulation,  it  was  the  custom  of  the  au- 
thor to  present,  with  a  copy  of  his  publication,  a  poetical 
address  to  his  superiors.  It  was  no  less  the  custom  also, 
to  print  them  afterwards,  and,  we  may  readily  supp 


233  SPENSER. 

with  the  full  consent  of  the  parties  to  whom  they  were 
addressed. 

It  appears  certain  that  these  three  books  of  the  "  Faerie 
Queene"  were  \\ritten  in  Ireland.      In  a  conversation,  ex- 
tracted  from    his   friend    Ludowick   Bryskett's  "  Discourse 
of'Civill  Life,"  a»d  which  is   said   to    have  passed  in   that 
country,  Spenser  is  made  to  say,  "  1  have  already  under- 
taken a  work  in  heroical  verse,  under  the  title  of  a  Faerie 
Queene,  tending  to  represent  all  the  moral  virtues,  assign- 
ing to  every  virtue  a  knight,   to  he  patron  and  defender 
the  same;  in   whose  actions  feats  of  armes  and   chi\.'. 
the  operations  of  that  virtue,   whereof  he  is  the  prottv 
are  to  be   expressed  ;  and  the  vices  and  unruly  appe;    . 
that  oppose  themselves    against  the    same,  to   be  bcc. 
downe  and  overcome." 

Such  was  his  original  design  in  this  undertaking,  ami 
having  prepared  three  books  for  the  press,  it  is  probabk 
that  he  accompanied  Raleigh  to  England,  with  a  vieu 
publish  it.  Raleigh  afterwards  introduced  him  to  queen 
Elizabeth,  whose  favour  is  supposed  by  some  to  have  ex- 
tended to  his  being  appointed  poet  laureate  ;  but  Elizabeth, 
as  Mr.  Malone  has  accurately  proved,  had  no  poet  laureate. 
Inileed,  in  February  15DO-1,  she  conferred  on  Spenser  a 
"pension  of  fifty  pounds  a  year,  the  grant  of  which  was  dis- 
covered some  years  ago,  in  the  chapel  of  the  Rolls,  and 
this  pension  he  enjoyed  till  his  death,  but  the  title  of 
laureate  was  not  given  in  his  patent,  nor  in  that  of  his  two 
immediate  successors. 

The  discovery  of  this  patent  by  Mr.  Malone,  is  of  farther  im- 
portance, as  tending  to  rescue  the  character  of  Lord  Burleigh 
from  the  imputation  of  being  hostile  to  our  poet.  The  oldest 
date  of  this  reproach  is  in  "Fuller's  Worthies,"  a  book  pub- 
lished at  the  distance  of  more  than  seventy  years;  and  on  this 
authority,  which  has  been  copied  by  almost  all  the  biogra- 
phers of  Spenser,  it  has  been  said  that  Burleigh  inter- 
cepted the  pension,  as  too  much  to  be  given  "  to  a  ballad 
maker,"  and  that  when  the  queen,  upon  Spenser's  pre- 
senting some  poems  to  her,  ordered  him  the  gratuity 
one  hundred  pounds,  Burleigh  asked,  "What !  all  this  for 
a  song  !"  on  which  the  queen  replied,  "  Then  give  him 
what  is  reason."  The  story  concludes,  that  Spenser  having 
long  waited  in  vain  for  the  fulfilment  of  the  royal  order, 
presented  to  her  the  following  ridiculous  memorial : 


SPENSER.  289 

"  I  was  promised  on  a  time, 
To  have  reason  for  my  rhime  : 
From  that  time  unto  this  season 
I  receiv'd  nor  rhime  nor  reason." 

On  which  he  was  immediately  paid  ;  but  for  the  whole  of 
this  representation,  there  appears  neither  foundation  nor 
authority. 

After  the  publication  of  the  "  Faerie  Queene,"  Spenser 
returned  to  Ireland.  During  his  absence  in  the  succeed- 
ing year,  the  fame  he  had  now  obtained,  induced  his 
bookseller  to  collect  and  print  his  smaller  pieces,  one  of 
which  only  is  said  to  have  been  a  republication.  The  title 
of  this  collection  is,  ';  Complaints,  containing  sundrie 
small  Poemes  of  the  World's  Vanitie,  viz.  1.  The  Ruines  of 
Time.  2.  The  Teares  of  the  Muses.  3.  Virgil's  Gnat. 
4.  Prosopopoia,  or  Mother  Hubberd's  Tale.  5.  The  Ruines 
of  Rome,  by  Bellay.  6.  Muiopotinos,  or  the  Tale  of  the 
Butterilie.  7.  Visions  of  the  World's  Vanitie.  8.  Bellaye's 
Visions,  y.  Petrarche's  Visions." 

Spenser  appears  to  have  returned  to  London  about  the 
end  of  1591,  as  his  next  publication,  the  beautiful  elegy 
on  Douglas  Howard,  daughter  of  Henry  lord  Howard,  en- 
titled "  Daphnaida,"  is  dated  Jan.  1,  1591-2.  From  this 
period  there  is  a  long  interval  in  the  history  of  our  poet, 
which  was  probably  passed  in  Ireland,  but  of  which  we 
have  no  account.  It  would  appear,  however,  that  he  did 
not  neglect  those  talents  of  which  he  hacl  already  given 
such  favourable  specimens.  In  1595,  he  published  the 
pastoral  of  "  Colin  Clout's  come  home  again,"  the  dedica- 
tion to  which  bears  date,  Dec.  27,  1591,  but  this  Mr. 
Todd  has  fully  proved  to  be  an  error.  The  pastoral  elegy 
of  "  Astrophel,"  devoted  entirely  to  the  memory  of  sir 
Philip  Sidney,  and  perhaps  written  on  the  immediate  oc- 
casion of  his  death,  was  published  along  with  this  last  men- 
tioned piece. 

Il  is  conjectured  that  in  the  same  year  appeared  his 
"  Amoretti,"  or  "  Sonnets,"  in  which  the  poet  gives  the 
progress  of  his  addresses  to  a  less  obdurate  lady  than  Rosa- 
lind, and  whom  he  afterwards  married,  if  the  "  Epithula- 
mion,"  published  along  with  the  "  Sonnets,"  is  allowed  to 
refer  to  that  event.  Mr.  Todd  deduces  from  various  pas- 
sages that  his  mistress's  name  was  Elizabeth,  and  that  ihe 
marriage  took  place  in  Ireland,  on  St.  Barnabas'  day,  1594. 
Other  biographers  seem  to  be  of  opinion  that  he  had  lost 

VOL.  XXVIII.  U 


290  SPENSER. 

a  first  wife,  and  that  the  courtship  of  a  second  inspired 
"  Amoretti."  Where  we  have  no  other  evidence  than  the 
expression  of  a  man's  feelings,  and  that  man  a  poet  of  ex- 
cursive imagination,  the  balance  of  probabilities  may  be 
equal.  Spenser  was  now  at  the  age  of  forty-one,  some- 
what too  late  for  the  ardour  of  youthful  passion,  so  feel- 
ingly given  in  his  sonnets;  but  on  the  other  hand,  if  he 
had  a  first  wife,  we  have  no  account  of  her,  and  the  chil- 
dren he  left  are  universally  acknowledged  to  have  been  by 
the  wife  he  now  married. 

The  "  Four  Hymns  on  Love  and  Beauty,"  which  the 
author  informs  us  were  written  in  his  youth,  as  a  warning 
to  thoughtless  lovers,  and  the  "  Prothalamion,"  in  honour 
of  the  double  marriages  of  the  ladies  Elizabeth  and  Cathe- 
rine Somerset  to  H.  Gilford  and  W.  Peter,  Esquires,  were 
published  in  1596.  In  the  same  year  the  second  part  of 
the  "  Faerie  Queene"  appeared,  with  a  new  edition  of  the 
former  part  accompanying  it.  This  contained  the  fourth, 
fifth,  and  sixth  books.  Of  the  remaining  six,  which  were 
to  complete  the  original  design,  two  imperfect  cantos  of 
"  Mutabilitie"  only  have  been  recovered,  and  were  first 
introduced  in  the  folio  edition  of  the  "  Faerie  Queene," 
printed  in  1609,  as  a  part  of  the  lost  book  entitled  "The 
Legend  of  Constancy." 

It  is  necessary,  however,  in  this  place,  to  notice  a  ques- 
tion which  has  been  started,  and  contested  with  much 
eagerness  by  Spenser's  biographers  and  critics,  namely, 
whether  any  part  of  the  "  Faerie  Queene"  has  been  lost,  or 
whether  the  author  did  not  leave  the  work  unfinished  as  we 
now  have  it.  Sir  James  Ware  informs  us  that  the  poet 
finished  the  latter  part  of  the  "  Faerie  Queene"  in  Ireland, 
"  which  was  soone  after  unfortunately  lost  by  the  disorder 
and  abuse  of  his  servants,  whom  he  had  sent  before  him 
into  England."  The  authority  of  sir  James  Ware,  who 
lived  so  near  Spenser's  time,  and  gave  this  account  in  1633, 
seems  entitled  to  credit,  but  it  has  been  opposed  by  Fen- 
ton,  who  thinks,  with  Dryden,  that  "  upon  sir  Philip  Sid- 
ney's death,  Spenser  was  deprived  both  of  the  means  and 
spirit  to  accomplish  his  design,"  and  treats  sir  James  Ware1:* 
account  as  a  hearsay  or  a  fiction.  Dr.  Birch,  on  the  other 
hand,  contends  that  the  event  of  sir  Philip  Sidney's  death 
was  not  sufficient  to  have  prevented  Spenser  from  finishing 
his  poem,  since  he  actually  gave  the  world  six  books  of  it 
after  his  patron's  death.  The  author  of  Spenser's  life  in 


SPENSER.  291 

the  "  Biogi-aphia  Britannica,"  after  gaining  some  advantage 
over  Dr.  Birch's  inferences  from  incorrect  dates,  argues 
against  the  probability  of  a  manuscript  of  the  last  six  books, 
principally  from  the  shortness  of  the  poet's  life  after  the 
year  1596.  The  late  Dr.  Farmer  is  of  the  same  opinion, 
but  appears  perhaps  somewhat  too  hasty  in  asserting  that 
the  question  may  be  effectually  answered  by  a  single  quo- 
tation. The  quotation  is  from  Brown's  "  Britannia's  Pas- 
torals," 1616,  and  merely  amounts  to  this — that  Spenser  died 

"  ere  he  had  ended  his  melodious  song." 

Mr.  Todd  has  advanced  a  similar  evidence  from  sir  As- 
ton Cokain,  in  1658,  intimating  that  Spenser  would  have 
exceeded  Virgil,  had  he  lived  so  long 

"  As  to  have  finished  his  Faery  Song." 

But  Mr.  Todd  produces  afterwards  a  document,  more  to 
the  purpose,  in  support  of  the  belief  that  some  of  Spenser's 
papers  were  destroyed  in  the  rebellion  of  1598.  This  is  an  epi- 
gram written  by  John  (afterwards  sir  John)  Stradling,and  pub- 
lished in  1607,  and  plainly  intimates  that  certain  MSS.  of 
Spenser  were  burnt  in  the  rebellion,  Twoyears  after  tbepub- 
lication  of  this  epigram,  part  of  the  "  Legend  of  Constancy," 
the  only  manuscript  that  had  escaped  the  fury  of  the  rebels, 
was  added  to  the  second  edition  of  the  "  Faerie  Queene." 
It  appears  therefore  highly  probable  that  among  the  manu- 
scripts destroyed  was  some  part  of  the  six  last  books  of  the 
"  Faerie  Queene,"  although  they  might  not  have  been 
transcribed  for  the  press,  nor  in  that  progress  towards 
completion  which  ran  in  Fenton's  mind  when  he  contra- 
dicted sir  James  Ware  with  so  little  courtesy. 

The  same  year,  1596,  appears  to  have  been  the  time 
when  Spenser  presented  his  political,  and  only  prose  work, 
"The  View  of  the  State  of  Ireland,"  to  the  queen.  Mr. 
Todd,  having  seen  four  copies  of  it  in  manuscript,  con- 
cludes that  he  had  presented  it  also  to  the  great  officers  of 
state,  and  perhaps  to  others.  Why  it  was  allowed  to  re- 
main in  manuscript  so  long  as  until  1633,  when  sir  James 
Ware  published  it  from  archbishop  Usher's  copy,  has  not 
been  explained.  If,  as  Mr.  Todd  conjectures,  it  was  writ- 
ten at  the  command  of  the  queen,  and  in  order  to  reconcile 
the  Irish  to  her  government,  why  did  it  not  receive  the 
publicity  which  so  important  an  object  required?  It  ap- 
pears more  probable  from  a  perusal  of  this  work  as  we  now 
have  it,  that  it  was  not  considered  by  the  court  as  of  a 

u  2 


292  SPENSER. 

healing  tendency;  and  the  extracts  from  some  of  the  ma- 
nuscript copies  which  Mr.  Todd  had  an  opportunity  of 
procuring,  seem  to  confirm  th  s  conjecture.  Viewed  in 
another  light,  it  displays  much  political  knowledge,  and 
traces  the  troubles  of  that  country,  in  many  instances,  to 
their  proper  causes.  It  is  valuable  also  on  account  of  the 
Author's  skill  in  delineating  the  actual  state  of  Ireland. 
"  Civilization,"  says  Mr  Ledwich,  the  learned  Irish  anti- 
quary, "having  almost  obliterated  every  vestige  of  our  an- 
cient manners,  the  remembrance  of  them  is  only  to  be 
found  in  Spenser,  so  that  he  may  be  considered,  at  this 
day,  as  an  Irish  antiquary."  It  oiii>'lit  not  to  be  omitted 
that  in  a  note  on  one  of  the  manuscript  copies  of  this 
work,  Spenser  is  styled,  "  Clerke  of  the  Counsell  of  the 
province  of  Mounster." 

In  1597,  he  is  said  to  have  returned  to  Ireland,  and  by 
a  letter  which  Mr.  Malone  has  discovered  from  queen  Eli- 
zabeth to  the  Irish  government,  dated  Sept.  30,  1598,  it 
appears  that  he  was  recommended  to  be  sheriff  of  Cork. 
The  rebellion  of  Tyrone,  however,  took  place  in  October, 
and  with  such  fury  as  to  compel  Spenser  and  his  family  to 
leave  Kilcolman.  In  the  confusion  of  flight  manuscripts 
would  be  forgotten,  for  even  one  of  his  children  was  left 
behind,  and  the  rebels,  after  carrying  off  the  goods,  burnt 
the  house  and  this  infant  in  it.  Spenser  arrived  in  Eng- 
land with  a  heart  broken  by  these  misfortunes,  and  died 
January7  following,  1598-9,  in  the  forty-sixth  year  of  his 
age. 

There  are  some  circumstances  respecting  Spenser's  death 
which  have  been  variously  represented.  Mr.  Todd,  from 
unquestionable  evidence,  has  fixed  the  day,  January  16, 
1598-9,  and  the  place,  an  inn  or  lodging-house  in  King- 
street,  Westminster ;  the  time  therefore  which  elapsed  from 
his  arrival  in  England  to  his  death,  was  very  short.  But  it 
has  been  asserted  that  he  died  in  extreme  poverty,  which, 
considering  how  recently  he  was  in  England,  and  how  highly 
favoured  by  the  queen  only  a  month  before  he  was  com- 
pelled to  leave  Ireland,  seems  wholly  incredible.  The  only 
foundation  for  the  report  appears  to  be  an  expression  of 
Camden  intimating  that  he  returned  to  England  poor,  which 
surely  might  be  true  without  affording  any  reason  to  sup- 
pose that  he  remained  poor.  His  pension  of  fifty  pounds, 
no  inconsiderable  sum  in  his  days,  continued  to  be  paid  ; 
and  why  he  should  have  lost  his  superior  friends  at  a  time 


SPENSER.  293 

when  he  was  a  sufferer  in  the  cause  of  government,  is  a 
question  which  may  be  asked  without  the  risk  of  a  satis., 
factory  answer.  The  whining  of  some  contemporary  poets* 
affords  no  proof  of  the  fact,  and  may  be  rejected  as  autho- 
rity ;  but  the  reception  Mr.  YVarton  has  given  to  the  report 
of  Spenser's  poverty  is  entitled  to  higher  regarJ.  It  might 
indeed  be  considered  as  decisive,  if  Mr.  Todd's  more  suc- 
cessful researches  did  not  prove  that  he  founds  all  his. ar- 
guments upon  the  mistaken  supposition  that  Spenser  died 
in  Ireland.  Nor  will  Mr.  Warton's  agree  with  the  lamen- 
tations of  the  poets,  for  they  represent  Spenser  as  poor  by 
the  neglect  of  his  friends  and  country  ;  and  Mr  Warton, 
as  dying  amidst  the  desolations  of  rebellion. 

Spenser's  remains  were  interred  in  Westminster  Abbey, 
near  those  of  Chaucer,  and  the  funeral  expenses  defrayed 
by  the  earl  of  Essex,  a  nobleman  very  erroneous  in  poli- 
tical life,  but  too  much  a  friend  to  literature  to  have  al- 
lowed Spenser  to  starve,  and  afterwards  insult  his  remains 
by  a  sumptuous  funeral.  His  monument,  however,  which 
has  been  attributed  to  the  munificence  of  Essex,  was 
erected  by  Anne,  countess  of  Dorset,  about  thirty  years 
after  Spenser's  death.  Stone  was  the  workman,  and  had 
forty  pounds  for  it.  That  at  present  in  Westminster  Abbey 
was  erected  or  restored  in  1778. 

It  does  not  appear  what  became  of  Spenser's  wife  and 
children.  Two  sons  are  said  to  have  survived  him,  Syl- 
vanus  and  Peregrine.  SYLVANUS  married  Ellen  Nangle,  or 
Nagle,  eldest  daughter  of  David  Nangle  of  Moneanymy 
in  the  county  of  Cork,  by  whom  he  had  two  sons,  Edmund 
and  William  Spenser.  His  other  son,  PEREGRINE,  also 
married  and  had  a  son,  HfjGOLiN,  who,  after  the  restora- 
tion of  Charles  II.  was  replaced  by  the  court  of  claims  in 
as  much  of  the  lands  as  could  be  found  to  have  been  his 
ancestor's.  Hugolin,  however,  attached  himself  to  the 
cause  of  James  II.  and  after  the  Revolution  was  outlawed 
for  treason  and  rebellion.  Some  time  after,  his  cousin 
William,  son  of  Svlvanus,  became  a  suitor  for  the  for- 
feited property,  and  recovered  it  by  the  interest  of  Mr. 
Montague,  afterwards  earl  of  Halifax,  who  was  then  at  the 
head  of  the  Treasury.  He  had  been  introduced  to.  Mr. 
Montague  by  Congreve,  who,  with  others,  was  desirous  of 

*  Phineas  Fletcher,  [fl  bis  "  Purple  Island,"  speaks  most  decisively  '<n  f -.,»•  • 
of  Spenser's  poverty  at  the  time  of  hie  death,  •  t 


294  S  P  E  N  S  E  R. 

honouring  the  descendant  of  so  great  a  poet.  Dr.  Birch 
describes  him  as  a  man  somewhat  advanced  in  years,  but 
unable  to  give  any  account  of  the  works  of  his  ancestor 
which  are  wanting.  The  family  has  been  since  very  imper- 
fectly traced. 

It  remains  to   be  observed,  almost   in   the  words  cf  Mr. 
Todd,  that  Spenser  is  the  author  of  four  Sonnets,  which 
are  admitted  into  the  late  editions  of  his  works,  of  which 
three  are  prefixed  to  separate  publications,   and  the  fourth 
occurs  in  letters  by  his  friend   Harvey.      He  is  conjectured 
to  be   the   author  of  a  sonnet  signed  E.  S.  addressed  to 
Master  Henry  Peacham,   and  entitled  "  A  Vision  upon  his 
Minerva,"  and  of  some  poor  verses  on   Phiilis,  in  a  publi- 
cation called  "  Chorus  Poetarum,"    1684.     The  verses  on 
queen    Elizabeth's  picture  at  Kensington  have  been  like- 
wise given  to  Spenser,   hut  lord  Or  ford  ascribes  them  to 
the  queen  herself.     As   "  Britain's   Ida"   iias   been  usually 
printed  with  the  works  of  Spc-n^er,  it  is  still  retained,  al- 
though the  critics  are  agreed  that  it  was  not  written  by  him. 
The  lost  pieces  of  Spenser  are  said  to  be,    1.   His  transla- 
tion of  Ecclesiasticus.     2.  Translation  of  Canticum  Canti- 
corum.     3.  The  Dying   Pelican.     4.     The    hours   of  our 
Lord.      5.    The    Sacrifice    of  a    Sinner.      6.    The    Seven 
Psalms.     7.   Dreams.      cS.  The  English  Poet.     9.  Legends. 
10.   The  Court  of  Cupid.      11.  The  Hell  of  Lovers.      12. 
His    Purgatory.       13     A    Se'nnight's    Slumber.       14.  Pa- 
geants.     15.   Nine   Comedies.      16.  Stemmata  Dudleiana. 
17.   Epithalamion  Thamesis.     If  his  pen  was  thus  prolific, 
there  is  very   little  reason   to  suppose  that  he   might  not 
have   had   leisure   and  industry  to   have   nearly  completed 
his  "  Faerie  Queene,"  before  the  fatal  rebellion  which  ter- 
minated all  his  labours. 

Of  the  personal  character  of  Spenser,  if  we  may  be  al- 
lowed to  form  an  opinion  from  his  writings,  it  will  be 
highly  favourable.  With  a  few  exceptions,  their  uniform 
tendency  is  in  favour  of  piety  and  virtue.  His  religious 
sentiments  assimilate  so  closely  with  those  of  the  early  re- 
formers, that  we  may  conjecture  he  had  not  only  studied 
the  controversies  of  his  age,  but  was  a  man  of  devotional 
temper  and  affections. 

Of  Spenser,  as  a  poet,  little  can  be  added  to  the  many 
criticisms  which  have  been  published  *  since  his  import - 

*  Jortin,  HurJ,  Church,  Upton,  but     his  Observations  on  the  Faerie  Queen. 
above    all,    Mr.    Thomas  Warton,  in    There    are  also'  some     ingenious   re- 


SPENSER  295 

ance  in  the  history  of  English  poetry  became  more  justly 
appreciated.  His  lesser  pieces  contain  many  beauties. 
Dryden  thought  the  "  Shepheard's  Calender  the  most 
compleat  work  of  the  kind  which  imagination  had  pro- 
duced since  the  time  of  Virgil."  It  has  not,  however, 
risen  in  estimation.  The  language  is  so  much  more  obso- 
lete than  that  of  the  "  Faerie  Queene,"  the  groundwork 
of  which  is  the  language  of  his  age,  that  it  required  a  glos- 
sary at  the  time  of  publication.  It  is,  however,  the 
"  Faerie  Queene1'  which  must  be  considered  as  constituting 
Spenser  one  of  the  chief  fathers  of  Engiisn  poetry.  Its 
predominant  excellencies  are,  imagery,  feeling,  taste,  and 
melody  of  versification.  Its  defects  are  partly  those  of 
his  model,  Ariosto,  and  partly  those  of  his  age.  His  own 
errors  ace  the  confusion  and  inconsistency  admitted  in  the 
stories  and  allegorical  personages  of  the  ancients,  and  the 
absurd  mixture  of  Christian  and  heathenish  allusions.  IV]  r. 
Spence  has  fully  exemplified  these  in  his  "  Polymeiis." 
It  is,  indeed,  impossible  to  criticise  "  The  Faerie  Queeue" 
by  any  rules  ;  but  we  find  in  it  the  noblest  examples  of  all 
the  graces  of  poetry,  the  sublime,  the  pathetic,  and  such 
powers  of  description  as  have  never  been  exceeded. 
Bishop  Hurd  has  therefore  judiciously  considered  it  under 
the  idea  of  a  gothic  rather  than  a  classical  poem.  It  cer- 
tainly strikes  with  all  the  grand  effect  of  that  species  of 
architecture,  and  perhaps  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that, 
like  that,  its  reputation  has  suffered  by  the  predominant 
taste  for  the  more  correct,  lighter,  and  more  easily  practi- 
cable forms  of  the  Grecian  school. 

Hume  was  among  the  first  who  endeavoured  to  depre- 
ciate the  value  of  the  "  Faerie  Queene,"  by  asserting  that 
the  perusal  of  it  was  rather  a  task  than  a  pleasure,  and 
challenging  any  individual  to  deny  this.  Pope  *  and  lord 
Somers  are  two  who  might  have  accepted  the  challenge 
with  hope  of  success.  But  in  fact  Spenser  will  not  lose 
much  if  we  admit  the  assertion.  That  the  perusal  of  the 
Faerie  Queene  must  be  at  first  a  task,  and  a  very  irksome 

maiks  in  Pope's  D;scoinr.-eor  P,ist'>r;il  about  twelve  with  a  vast  deal  of  delight ; 

Poetry,    and   indeed    in    ev(  ry   waiter  and  I  think  it  gave  me  as  much  when 

who  has  treated  I  he  subject  of  English  I  read  it  over  about  a  year  or  two  ago." 

poetry.  Spence's     Anecdotes    quoted    by    Dr. 

*  "  Tbere  it  something,"  said  Pope,  Wanou,    wh-j    very    justly    censures 

"in  Spenser  that  pleases  one  as  strongly  Pope's    Imitation    of    Spenser.        See 

in  one's  old  age  as  it  did  in  one's  youth.  Pope's  Works,  Bowles's  edit.  Tol.  II. 

1  read  the  Fairy  Queen  when  I  was  289. 


296  SPENSER. 

one,  will  be  confessed  by  all  who  are  unacquainted  with 
any  English  words  but  what  are  current.  If  that  difficulty 
be  surmounted,  the  reader  of  taste  cannot  fail  to  relish  the 
beauties  so  profusely  scattered  in  this  poem.  With  respect 
to  the  objections  that  have  been  made  to  the  allegorical 
plan,  it  is  sufficient  to  refer  to  its  antiquity  ;  it  was  one  of 
the  earliest  vehicles  of  pleasure  blended  with  instruction, 
and  although  modern  critics  object  to  a  continued  allegory, 
which  indeed  it  is  extremely  difficult  ro  accomplish  with- 
out falling  into  inconsistencies,  yet  specimens  of  it,  de- 
tached personifications,  aiming  at  the  sublimity  of  Spenser, 
still  continue  to  be  among  the  efforts  by  which  our  best 
writers  wish  to  establish  their  fame.  Perhaps  the  same  re- 
mark may  be  extended  to  the  stanza  of  Spenser,  which 
critics  have  censured,  and  poets,  praised  by  those  critics, 
have  imitated.  After  all  it  is  to  the  language  of  Spenser 
that  we  must  look  for  the  reason  why  his  popularity  is  less 
than  that  of  many  inferior  poets.  Spenser,  Chaucer,  and 
indeed  all  the  early  poets  can  be  relished,  nut  by  common 
readers,  but  by  students,  and  not  separately  but  as  con- 
nected with  times,  characters,  and  manners,  the  illustra- 
tion of  which  demands  the  skill  and  industry  of  the  anti- 
quary.1 

SPERONI  (SPERONE),  an  Italian  scholar  of  great  emi- 
nence in  the  sixteenth  century,  was  born  at  Padua  April 
12,  1500,  of  noble  parents.  After  finishing  his  studies  at 
Bologna,  under  the  celebrated  Pomponatius,  he  returned 
to  Padua,  and  took  a  doctor's  degree  in  philosophy  and 
medicine.  He  also  was  made  professor  of  logic,  and  after- 
wards of  philosophy  in  general;  but  soon  after  he  had  ob- 
tained the  chair  of  philosophy,  he  was  so  diffident  of  his 
acquirements  that  he  returned  to  Padua  for  farther  im- 
provement under  his  old  master,  and  did  not  return  to  hi% 
professorship  until  after  the  death  of  Pomponatius.  In 
152S,  however,  the  death  of  his  father  obliged  him  to 
resign  his  office,  and  employ  his  time  on  domestic  affairs. 
Yet  these,  a  marriage  which  he  now  contracted,  the  law- 
suits which  he  had  to  carry  on,  and  some  honourable  em- 
ployments he  was  engaged  in  by^the  government,  did  not 
prevent  him  from  cultivating  his  literary  talents  with  such 
success,  that  there  were  few  men  in  his  time  who  could  be 
compared  with  him  in  point  of  learning,  eloquence,  and 

1  Todci's  Life  of  Spenser. — English  Poets,   1810,  21  vols.  8vo. 


S  P  E  R  O  N  I.  297 

taste.  In  1560  he  was  deputed  to  go  to  Rome  by  the  duke 
of  Urbino,  under  the  pontificate  of  Pius  IV.  and  there  ob- 
tained the  esteem  of  the  learned  of  that  metropolis,  and 
received  marks  of  high  favour  from  the  pope  and  his  ne- 
phew Charles  Borromeo,  who  invited  him  to  those  literary 
assemblies  in  his  palace,  which  were  called  "  Vatican 
nights."  On  his  departure,  after  four  years  residence,  the 
pope  gave  him  the  title  and  decorations  of  a  knight. 
When  he  returned  home  he  was  equally  honoured  by  the 
dukes  of  Urbino  and  Ferrara,  but  certain  lawsuits,  arising 
from  his  family  affairs,  induced  him  to  remove  again  to 
Rome,  about  the  end  of  1573,  and  he  did  not  return 
until  five  years  after,  when  he  took  up  his  final  residence 
at  Padua.  He  had  flattering  invitations  to  quit  his  native 
city  from  various  princes,  but  a  private  life  had  now  more 
charms  for  him.  He  died  June  12,  1588,  having  com- 
pleted his  eighty- eighth  year.  His  funeral  was  performed 
with  every  circumstance  of  respect  and  magnificence.  His 
works  form  no  less  than  5  vols.  4to,  elegantly  printed  at 
Venice  in  1740;  but  there  had  been  editions  of  individual 
parts  printed  and  reprinted  often  in  his  life-time.  His 
range  of  study  was  extensive.  He  was  equally  conversant 
in  Greek  and  Latin,  sacred  and  profane  literature,  and 
displayed  on  every  subject  which  employed  his  pen,  great 
learning  and  judgment.  Among  his  works,  are  dialogues 
on  morals,  the  belles  lettres,  rhetoric,  poetry  and  history. 
He  wrote  also  both  serious  and  burlesque  poetry.  Hi? 
prose  style  is  among  the  best  of  his  age,  and  has  fewer 
faults  than  arc  to  be  found  among  the  Italian  writers  o! 
the  sixteenth  century.  He  wrote  a  tragedy,  "  Canace  e* 
Macareus,"  which  had  its  admirers  and  its  critics,  and 
occasioned  a  controversy  on  its  merits.1 

SPIGELIUS,  or  VANDEN  SPIEGHEL  (ADRIAN),  an 
eminent  medical  writer,  was  born  at  Brussels  in  1578,  and 
studied  at  Louvain  and  Padua.  He  was  afterwards  ap- 
pointed state-physician  in  Moravia,  which,  in  16  J  6,  he 
quitted  for  the  professorship  of  anatomy  and  surgery  at 
Padua.  There  he  acquired  a  hi'j;h  refutation,  was  made  a 
knight  of  St.  Mark,  and  decorated  with  a  collar  of  gold. 
He  died  April  7,  In25.  His  most  valuable  works  are  "  De 
formato  Fosiu,  liber  singularis ;"  and  "  De  Humani  Cor- 

1  Tiraboschi.— Ginguene  Hist.  Lit.  d'ltalie. — Niccron,  vol.  XXXIX.— Toma- 

sini  Elogia. 


298  S  P  I  G  E  L  I  U   S. 

poris  Fabrica,"  fol.  It  appears  from  the  collected  edition  of 
his  works  by  Vander  Linden,  1  645,  2  vols.  fol.  that  he  was 
well  acquainted  with  every  branch  of  the  medical  science.1 
SPINCKES  ("NATHANIEL),  an  eminent  nonjuving  divine, 
was  the  son  of  the  rev.  Edward,  or  Edmund  Spinckes,  rec- 
tor of  Castor,  Northamptonshire,  and  was  born  there  in 
1653  or  1654.  His  father  came  from  New  Kngland  with 
Dr.  Patrick,  afterwards  bishop  of  Ely,  and,  being  a  non- 
conformist, had  been  ejected  from  Castor  and  from  Over- 
ton  Longviil  in  Huntingdonshire.  His  mother,  Martha, 
was  daughter  of  Thomas  Elmes,  of  Lilford  in  Huntingdon- 
shire. After  being  initiated  in  classic;)!  learning  under  Mr. 
Samuel  Morton,  rector  of  Haddon,  he  was  admitted  of 
Trinity-college,  Cambridge,  under  Mr.  Bainbrigg,  March 
.22,  1670;  and  matriculated  on  July  9,  the  same  year.  In 
the  following  year,  by  the  death  of  his  father,  he  obtained 
a  plentiful  fortune,  and  a  valuable  library;  and,  on  the 
12th  of  October,  1672,  tempted  by  the  prospect  of  a  Rustat 
scholarship,  he  entered  himself  of  Jesus- college,  where, 
in  nine  days,  he  was  admitted  a  probationer,  and  May  20, 
1673,  sworn  a  scholar  on  the  Iiustat  foundation.  "  This," 
Mr.  T.  Baker  observes  in  the  registers,  "  was  for  his 
honour;  for  the  scholars  of  that  foundation  undergo  a  very 
strict  examination,  and  afterwards  are  probationers  tor  a 
year.  And  as  these  scholarships  are  the  best,  so  the  scho- 
lars are  commonly  the  best  in  college,  and  so  reputed." 
He  became  B.  A.  early  in  1674;  was  ordained  deacon  May 
21,  1676;  was  M.  A.  in  1677;  and  admitted  into  priest's 
orders  Dec.  22,  1678.  After  residing  some  time  in  Devon- 
shire, as  chaplain  to  sir  Richard  Edgcomb,  he  removed  to 
Petersham,  where,  in  1681,  he  was  associated  with  Dr. 
Hickes,  as  chaplain  to  the  duke  of  Lauderdale.  On  the 
duke's  death,  in  1683,  he  removed  to  St.  Stephen's  Wai- 
brook,  London,  where  lie  continued  two  years,  curate  and 
lecturer.  In  16S5  the  dean  and  chapter  of  Peterborough 
conferred  on  him  the  rectory  of  Peakirk  or  Peaking  cum 
Glynton,  in  Northamptonshire,  where  he  married  Dorothy, 
daughter  of  Thomas  Rutland,  citizen  of  London.  On 
July  21,  1687,  he  was  made  a  prebendary  of  Salisbury; 
in  the  same  year,  Sept.  24,  instituted  to  the  rectory  of  St. 
Mary,  in  that  town  ;  and  three  days  after,  was  licensed  to 
preach  at  Stratford  subter  Castrum,  or  Mid  en -castle,  in 

1  Mangeti  Bibliotheca. — Eloy.  Diet,  de  Medicine. — Foppcu's  B;bl.  Be!g. 


SPINCKES.  299 

Wilts,  for  which  he  had  an  annual  stipend  of  80/.     Being 
decided  in  his  attachment  to  the  Stuart  family,  he  was  de- 
prived of  ail   his  preferments  in  1690,  for  refusing  to  take 
the  oaths  to  William  and  Mary.     He  was,  after  this  period, 
in  low  circumstances,   but  was  supported  by  the  benefac- 
tions of  the  more  wealthy  ftonjurors;  and  on  the  third  of 
June,    1713,   he  was  consecrated  one  of  their  bishops,  re- 
ceiving that  title  from  the  hands  of  Dr.  Hickes*.     He  died 
July  28,    1727,  and   was   buried    in   the   cemetery   of  the 
parish  of  St.  Faith,  on  the  north  side  of  St.  Paul's,  London, 
where  an  inscription  is  engraven  on  a  white  marble  stone. 
By  his  wife,   who  lived  but  seven  days  after  him,  he  had 
many  children,   of  whom  two  survived  their  parents  :   Wil- 
liam Spinckes,  esq.  who,    by   industry   and    abilities,    ac- 
quired a  plentiful  fortune;  and  Anne,   married  to  Anthony 
Cope,  esq.      Mr.  Nelson  was  the   particular  friend   of  Mr. 
Spinckes,   who  was  a  proficient  in  the  Greek,    Saxon,  and 
French   languages,  and   had   made   some    progress   in    the 
oriental.     He  is  said  to  have  been   "  low  of  stature,  vener- 
able  of  aspect,  and    exalted    in    character.      He    had    no 
wealth,  few  enemies,  many  friends.     He  was  orthodox  in 
the  faith  :   his  enemies  being  judges.     He  had  uncommon 
learning  and   superior  judgment;  and   his  exemplary  life 
was   concluded   with   a  happy   death.      His    patience    was 
great;   his   self-denial   greater;   his    charity    still    greater; 
though  his  temper  seemed  his  cardinal  virtue  (a  happy  con- 
junction of  constitution  and  grace),  having  never  been  ob- 
served   to   fail  him  in   a  stage  of  thirty-nine  years.5'     He 
assisted   in   the  publication   of  Grabe's  Septuagint,  New- 
court's  Repertorium,   Howell's   Canons,  Potter's  Clemens 
Alexandrinus,  and  Walker's   "  Sufferings  of  the  Clergy." 
His  own  \\orks  were  chiefly  controversial,  as,  1.  An  answer 
to  "  The  Essay  towards   a  proposal  for  Catholic  Commu- 
nion, &c."    1705.     2.   "  The  new  Pretenders  to  Prophecy 
re-examined,  &c."  1710.     3.  Two  pamphlets  against  Hoad- 
Jy's  "  Measures  of  Submission,"    1711  and  1712.     4.  Two 
pamphlets  on    "  The  Case  stated   between   the  church  of 
Rome  and  the  church  of  England,"  as  to  supremacy,  1714 
and    1718.      5.  Two    pamphlets    against    "Restoring    the 
prayers  and  directions  of  Edward  Vlth's  Liturgy,"    1718, 

*  "In  Oct.  1716  he  was  taken  into  jiu'mg   <!ii;y,   and,    'tis  sairf,  he    has 

the  custody  of  a  messenger.    It  appears  lately  paid  Mr.  Howell  500/."  Evening 

from  liis  papers,  that,  a<  tn-asurer,  lie  General  Post,  Oct.  6,  1716. 
managed  the  remittances  to  the  non- 


300  S  P  I  N  C  K  E  S. 

&c.  &c.  His  most  popular  work  was  "  The  Sick  Man 
visited,  &c."  1712.  A  portrait  of  him,  by  Vertue,  from 
a  painting  by  Wcllastori,  i-  prefixed  to  this  work,  of  which 
a  sixth  i  i  n  as  pub.i  •>  775,  containing  a  short 

acco!>  his   lie,  ai.  '  of  his  publications.1 

SPINELLO  (AREiiNG),  an  Italian  painter  of  portrait 
and  history,  was  born  at  Arezzo  in  1328.  His  genius  for 
painting  was  early  developed,  and  he  studied  under  Jacopo 
di  Casentino,  whom,  at  the  age  of  twenty,  he  greatly  sur- 
passed. He  gave  a  singular  grace  to  his  figures,  and  to 
his  Madonnas  especially,  a  modesty  and  beauty  ihat  seemed 
almost  divine.  His  style  was  simple  and  elegant,  with  the 
utmost  neatness  in  finishing  The  greatness  of  his  abilities 
procured  him  an  early  fame,  and  a  constant  abundance  of 
employment.  He  was  particularly  successful  in  the  por- 
traits of  the  popes  Innocent  IV.  and  Gregory  IX,  and  in 
his  fresco  paintings  on  the  life  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  in  the 
chapel  of  S.  Maria  Maggiore,  at  Flore/cu:.  He  lived  to 
the  age  of  ninety-two,  ant!  died  in  1420. 

PARIS  SPINELLO,  his  son,  was  educated  under  him,  and 
was  also  famous  as  a  painter,  but  applying  too  closely  to 
his  art,  and  being  of  a  gloomy  disposition,  contracted  a 
disorder  which  shortened  his  life,  so  that  he  died  at  fifty- 
six,  having  survived  his  father  only  two  years.  To  him, 
not  to  hi;>  father,  must  belong  the  anecdote  which  is  re- 
lated in  some  books,  without  proper  distinction  of  the  per- 
son, that  having  painted  a  hideous  figure  of  the  devil,  in 
a  picture  representing  the  fallen  angels,  his  imagination 
was  so  haunted  by  it,  that  he  thought  lie  s<iw  him  in  his 
dreams,  demanding  in  a  threatening  manner,  on  what  au- 
thority he  had  represented  him  as  so  horrible,  and  where 
he  had  ever  seen  him  ?  This  is  no  more  than  might  easily 
happen  to  a  mind  already  tinctured  with  morbid  melan- 
choly, and  would  naturally  tend  to  confirm  the  malady. 
His  style  very  much  resembled  that  of  his  father,  but  was 
rather  more  extravagant. 3 

SPINOZA  (BENEDICT  DE),  an  atheistical  philosopher, 
was  the  son  of  a  merchant,  who  w .is  originally  a  Portu- 
guese ;  and  was  born  at  Amsterdam  about  1633.  He 
learned  Latin  of  a  physician,  who  taught  it  at  Amsterdam  ; 
and  who  is  supposed  to  have  been  but  loose  in  the  prmci- 

1  Gen.  Diet. — Calamy. — Historical  Register  for  1727.— Nichols's  Eo~yer. 

2  Pilkington. 


SPINOZA.  301 

pies  of  religion.  He  also  studied  divinity  for  many  years  ; 
and  afterwards  devoted  himself  entirely  to  philosophy. 
He  was  a  Jew  by  birth  ;  but  soon  began  to  dislike  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Rabbins;  and  discovered  this  dislike  to  the 
synagogue.  It  is  said  that  the  Jews  offered  to  tolerate 
him,  provided  he  would  comply  outwardly  with  their  cere- 
monies, and  even  promised  him  a  yearly  pension,  being 
unwilling  to  lose  a  man  who  was  capable  of  doing  such 
credit  to  their  profession  ;  but  he  could  not  comply,  and  by 
degrees  left  their  synagogue;  and  was  excommunicated. 
Afterwards  he  professed  to  be  a  Christian,  and  not  only 
went  himself  to  the  churches  of  the  Calvin i>t.,  or  Lutherans, 
but  likewise  frequently  exhorted  others  to  go,  and  greatly 
recommended  some  particular  preachers.  His  tirst  apos- 
tacy  was  to  Mennonism,  on  embracing  which,  he  exchanged 
his  original  name,  Baruch,  for  that  of  Benedict.  He  re- 
moved from  Amsterdam,  whither  he  had  gone  to  avoid  the 
Jews,  to  the  Hague,  where  he  subsisted  as  an  optical-in- 
strument-maker,  and  led  a  frugal  and  retired  life,  the  lei- 
sure of  which  he  devoted  to  study.  While  known  only  as 
a  deserter  from  Judaism,  he  was  invited  by  the  elector 
Palatine  to  fill  the  chair  of  philosophy  at  Heidelberg;  but 
from  an  apprehension  that  his  liberty  would,  in  that  situ- 
ation, be  abridged,  he  declined  the  proposal.  He  lived 
in  retirement,  with  great  sobriety  and  decency  of  manners, 
till  a  consumption  brought  him  to  an  early  end,  in  1677. 

Spinoza,  in  his  life-time,  published  "  Tractatus  theolo- 
gico-politicus,"  "  A  Treatise  theological  and  political," 
which  was  reckoned  his  great  work ;  and  after  his  death 
were  published  five  treatises:  1.  Ethics  demonstrated  geo- 
metrically. 2.  Politics.  3.  On  the  Improvement  of  the 
Understanding.  4.  Epistles  and  Answers.  5.  A  Hebrew 
Grammar.  The  impieties  contained  in  these  treatises  ex- 
cited general  indignation  ;  and  refutations  were  sent  forth 
from  various  quarters,  by  writers  of  all  religious  persua- 
sions, in  which  the  empty  sophisms,  the  equivocal  defini- 
tions, the  false  reasonings,  and  all  the  absurdities  of  the 
writings  of  Spinoza  are  fully  exposed.  The  sum  of  his 
doctrine,  according  to  Brucker,  is  this:  The  essence  of 
substance,  is  to  exist.  There  is  in  naaire  only  one  sub- 
stance, with  two  modifications,  thought  and  extension. 
This  substance  is  infinitely  diversified,  having  within  its 
own  essence  the  necessary  causes  of  the  changes  through 
which  it  passes.  No  substance  can  be  supposed'  td'  pro- 


302  SPINOZA. 

duce  or  create  another ;  therefore,  besides  the  substance 
of  the  universe  there  can  be  no  other,  but  ail  things  are 
comprehended  in  it,  and  are  modes  of  this  substance, 
either  thinking  or  extended.  This  one  universal  substance, 
Spinoza  calls  God,  and  ascribes  to  it  divine  attributes. 
He  expressly  asserts,  that  God  is  the  immanent,  not  the 
transitive,  cause  of  all  things.  His  doctrine  is,  therefore, 
not  to  be  confounded  with  that  of  those  ancient  philoso- 
phers, who  held  God  to  be  To  Trar,  "  The  Universal  Whole;" 
lor,  according  to  them,  the  visible  and  intellectual  worlds 
are  produced  by  emanation  from  the  eternal  fountain  of 
divinity  ;  that  is,  by  an  expanding,  or  unfolding,  of  the 
divine  nature,  which  was  the  effect  of  intelligence  and  de- 
sign ;  whereas,  in  the  system  of  Spinoza,  all  things  are 
immanent,  and  necessary  modifications  of  one  universal 
substance,  which,  to  conceal  his  atheism,  he  calls  God. 
Nor  can  Spinozism  be  with  any  propriety  derived,  as  some 
have  imagined,  from  the  Cartesian  philosophy ;  for,  in 
that  system,  two  distinct  substances  are  supposed  ;  and  the 
existence  of  Deity  is  a  fundamental  principle. 

It  may  seem  very  surprising,  that  a  man  who  certainly 
was  not  destitute  of  discernment,  abilities,  and  learning, 
should  have  fallen  into  such  impieties.  And  this  could  not 
have  happened,  had  he  not  confounded  his  conceptions 
with  subtle  and  futile  distinctions  concerning  the  nature  of 
substance,  essence,  and  existence,  and  neglected  to  attend 
to  the  obvious,  but  irrefragable,  argument  for  the  exist- 

*  O  '  O 

ence  of  God,  arising  from  the  appearances  of  intelligence 
and  design  in  all  the  productions  of  nature. 

The  impious  system  of  Spinoza  was  maintained  with  so 
much  ingenuity,  that  it  found  many  patrons  in  the  United 
Provinces,  among  whom  were  Lewis  Meyer,  who  repub- 
lished  Spinoza's  works,  and  himself  wrote  a  work  entitled, 
"  Philosophy  the  Interpreter  of  Scripture  ;"  and  Van 
Leenhof,  an  ecclesiastic  of  Zwoll,  who  wrote  a  piece  en- 
titled "  Heaven  in  Earth,"  of  the  doctrine  of  which  he  was 
obliged  to  make  a  public  recantation.  Others,  under  the 
pretence  of  refuting  Spinoza,  secretly  favoured  his  system. 
But,  against  the  poison  of  their  impious  tenets  sufficient 
antidotes  were  soon  provided  by  many  able  defenders  of 
religion,  whose  writings  are  well  known,  particularly  in 
Cudwortb's  "  Intellectual  System,"  the  professed  object  of 
which  is,  the  refutation  of  atheism. 


S  P  I  N  O  2      .  303 

In  this  country  Spinoza  does  not  appear  to  have  had 
many  followers.  Few  have  been  suspected  of  adhering  to 
his  doctrine  ;  and  among  those  who  have  been  suspected, 
few  have  studied  it:  to  which  we  may  add,  with  Bayle,  that 
of  those  who  have  studied  it  few  have  understood  it.  To- 
land  seems  to  have  approached  the  nearest  to  his  system  of 
any  modern  freethinker :  and  indeed  the  doctrines  incul- 
cated in  his  "  Pantheisticon,"  are  much  the  same  with 
those  of  Spinoza.  Abroad,  a  German  professor,  E.  G. 
Paulns,  of  Je ;ia,  lias  lately  attempted  to  revive  the  memory, 
at  le;':-.t,  of  Spinoza,  by  a  new  edition  of  his  works  pub- 
lished in  1302;  and  at  the  Hague,  was  edited,  about  the 
same  time,  by  C.  T.  de  Murr,  a  manuscript  of  Spinoza's, 
never  before  printed,  containing  annotations  on  his  "  Trac- 
tatum  theologico-politicum."  ' 

SPIZKLIUS  (THF.OPHILUS),  a  learned  Lutheran  divine, 
descended  from  a  grandfather  who  had  been  ennobled  by 
tiie  emperor  Ferdinand  II.  was  born  Sept.  11,  16.i9.  His 
father  dying  when  he  was  about  seven  years  of  age,  the 
care  of  him  devolved  on  a  mother  whose  affection  repaired 
that  loss.  In  1654  he  began  his  academical  studies  at 
Leipsic,  and  was  honoured  with  the  degree  of  M.  A.  in 
1658.  He  afterwards,  as  was  much  the  custom  in  those 
days  with  men  destined  for  literary  .life,  visited  other  emi- 
nent schools  or  colleges,  at  Wittemberg,  Leyden,  Cologne, 
Mentz,  &c.  and  lastly  Basil,  where  he  formed  a  friendship 
with  John  Buxtorf.  He  had  not  quite  completed  his  in- 
tended excursions,  when  in  1661  he  was  recalled  to  Augs- 
burgh,  to  be  deacon  of  the  church  of  St.  James.  This 
office  he  filled  until  1682,  when  he  was  made  pastor  of  the 
same  church,  and  iti  1690  was  appointed  elder.  This, 
however,  he  did  not  long  enjoy,  as  he  died  Jan.  7,  16SM, 
in  the  fifty-second  }*ear  of  his  age.  He  was  a  laborious 
student,  and  seems  particularly  to  have  studied  literary  his- 
tory and  biography,  and  his  works  on  these  subjects  are 
noticed  with  respect  by  Morhoff,  whose  opinion,  we  con- 
fess, we  are  inclined  to  prefer  to  that  of  either  Moreri  or 
Baillet.  He  wrote  some  few  books  against  infidelity,  and 
some  sermons  :  but  among  those  of  the  classes  we  have 
mentioned,  are,  1.  "  De  re  literaria  Sinensinm  commen- 
tarius,"  Leyden,  16*60,  12mo.  2.  "  Sacra  Bibliothecarum 
illustrium  arcana  retecta,  sive  MSS.  theologicorum,  in  pra> 

1  Gen.  Diet, — Niceron,  vol.  XIII. — Brucker. — Mosheim. 


304  S  P  I  Z   E   L  I   U  S. 

cipuis  Europie  bibliothecis  extantium  de^signatio  ;  cum  pre- 
liminari  dissertatione,  speciniine  UOVIB  Bibliotbecae  un'iver- 
salis,  et  coronide  philologica,"  Augsburgh,  1668,  8vo.  3. 
"  Templum  honoris  reseratum,  in  quo  quinquagVnta  illus- 
trium  hujus  at-vi  orthodoxorum  theologarum,  pbilologorum- 
que  imagines  exhibentur,"  ibid.  1673,  4to.  It  has  beeu 
objected  to  these  lives,  which  are  accompanied  with  welt- 
engraven  portraits,  that  the  author  deals  too  much  in  ge- 
neralities, and  too  little  in  facts;  but  this  was  a  common 
fault  with  the  early  biographers.  On  the  other  hand,  we 
have  found  him  very  correct  in  what  he  has  given,  and  par- 
ticularly in  the  lists  of  the  works  of  the  respective  authors. 
4.  "Felix  Litteratus,"  ibid.  1673,  "  Infelix  Litteratus," 
ibid.  1630,  and  "  Litteratus  felicissimus,"  are  three  works 
which  Spizelius  wrote  on  a  subject  that  has  lately  engaged 
theingeniouspen  of  Mr.  D'Israeli,  in  the  "  Calamities  of  Au- 
thors." Mr.  D'Israeli  blames  our  author's  ponderosity,  but 
allows  that  he  is  not  to  be  condemned  because  he  is  verbose 
and  heavy ;  and  he  has  reflected  more  deeply  than  Vale- 
rianus,  his  predecessor  on  the  subject,  by  opening  the 
moral  causes  of  those  calamities  which  he  describes.  Spi- 
zelius  wrote  a  life  of  himself  under  the  title  of  ;'  Ad  Litte- 
ratos  homines  autor  felicis,  infelicis,  felicissimique  litte- 
rati  de  seipso."  We  know  not  whether  this  was  printed 
separately,  but  it  was  inserted  in  Pipping's  collection,  en- 
titled "  .Sacer  decadum  Septenarius  memoriam  Theologo- 
rum  nostrae  setatis  renovatam  exhibens,"  Leipsic,  1705,  Svo, 
a  work  which  we  have  not  seen.1 

SPON  (CHARLES),  a  learned  Frenchman,  was  the  son  of 
a  merchant,  and  born  at  Lyons  Dec.  25,  1609.  He. was 
sent  early  to  learn  Latin,  at  Ulm  in  Germany,  whence- his 
grandfather  had  removed  for  the  sake  of  settling  in  com- 
merce, and  he  made  a  proficiency  suitable  to  his  uncom- 
mon parts.  He  gained  some  reputation  by  a  Latin  poem 
on  the  deluge  and  last  conflagration,  composed  by  him  at 
fourteen,  which  Bayle  says  would  have  done  honour  to  an 
adult.  At  his  return  from  Germany,  he  was  sent  to  Paris  ; 
and  studied  philosophy  under  Rodon,  and  mathematics  and 
astronomy  under  John  Baptist  Morin.  From  1627,  he  ap- 
plied himself  to  medicine  for  three  or  four  years ;  and  quit- 
ting Paris  in  1632,  went  to  Montpellier,  where  he  was 

1  Niceron,  vol.  XXXV. — Moreri. — D' Israeli's  Calamities,  preface,  p.  vii. — 
Baillet  Jugemens  des  Sarans. — Jlorhoff  Polyhist. 


S   P   O   N.  305 

received  a  doctor  in  that  faculty.  Two  years  after,  he  was 
admitted  a  member  of  the  college  of  physic  at  Lyons  :  at 
which  place  be  practised  with  great  success  in  his  profes- 
sion, till  the  time  of  his  death.  He  was  made,  in  1645,  a 
kind  of  honorary  physician  to  ihe  king.  He  maintained  a 
correspondence  with  all  the  learned  of  Europe,  and  espe- 
cially with  Guy  Patin,  professor  of  physic  at  Paris  :  above 
150  of  whose  letters  to  Spon  were  published  after  his  death. 
He  was  perfectly  skilled  in  the  Greek  language,  and  un- 
derstood the  German  as  well  as  his  own.  He  always  culti- 
vated his  talent  for  Latin  poetry,  and  even  versified  the 
aphorisms  of  Hippocrates,  but  did  not  publish  them.  He 
published,  however,  in  1661,  the  prognostics  of  Hippo- 
crates in  hexameter  verse,  which  he  entitled  "  Sibylla  Me- 
dica;"  and  dedicated  them  to  his  friend  Guy  Patin.  He 
was  a  benefactor  to  the  republic  of  letters,  by  occasioning 
many  productions  of  less  opulent  authors  to  be  published 
at  Lyons,  under  his  inspection  and  care.  He  died  Feb.  21, 
16S4,  after  an  illness  of  about  two  months.1 

SPON  (JAMES),  son  of  the  preceding,  was  born  at  Lyons 
in  1647.  After  an  education  of  great  care,  he  was  ad- 
mitted doctor  of  physic  at  Montpellier  in  1667,  and  a  mem- 
ber of  the  college  of  physicians  at  Lyons  in  1669.  These 
two  years  he  spent  at  Strasburg  with  Boeder;  and  there 
becoming  very  intimate  with  Charles  Patin,  he  contracted, 
probably  from  that  gentleman,  a  strong  passion  for  anti- 
quities. Some  time  after,  Vaillant,  the  king's  antiquary, 
passing  through  Lyons  to  Italy  in  quest  of  medals  and  other 
antiquities,  Spon  accompanied  him.  He  afterwards,  in 
1675  amj  1676,  made  a  voyage  to  Dalmatia,  Greece,  and 
the  Levant,  in  company  with  Mr.  (afterwards  sir)  George 
Wheler  (see  WHELER)  ;  of  all  which  places  he  has  given 
us  an  account,  which  was  published  in  English.  Whether 
he  was  weak  by  constitution,  or  injured  his  health  in  this 
voyage,  does  not  appear  ;  but  he  afterwards  became  a 
valetudinarian.  Being  of  the  reformed  religion,  he  was 
obliged  to  emigrate  in  1685,  when  the  edict  of  Nantes  was 
revoked.  He  intended  to  retire  to  Zurich,  the  freedom  of 
which  city  had  been  bestowed  in  an  honorary  manner  upon 
his  father,  and  was  upon  the  road  thither;  but  wintering 
at  Vevay,  a  town  upon  the  lake  Leman,  he  died  there  in 
1686.  He  was  a  member  of  the  academy  of  the  Ricovrati 

1  Niceron,  vol.  II. — Moreri. 

VOL.  XXVIII.  X 


S  P  O  N. 

at  Padua;    of  that   of   the   Beaux   Esprits,  esublishevi 
Nismes  by  letters  patent  in  1682  ;  and  he  would  have  b; 
an  ornament  to  any  society,   being  a  man  of  great  learnir, 
and  integrity. 

He  was  the  author  of  many  valuable  and  curious  works, 
printed  at  Lyons,  the  principal  of  which  are  :  1.  "  Ilecher- 
ches  des  Antiquitez  de  Lyon,"  I  674,  Svo.  '2.  "  Ignotorum 
atque  obscurorum  Deorum  arae,"  1677,  8vo.  3.  "Voyage 
de  la  Grece  &  du  Levant,1'  1677,  in  3  vols.  12mo.  4. 
"  Histoire  de  la  Vilie  &  de  1'Etat  de  Geneva,"  1630,  in  2 
vols.  12mo.  5.  "  Lettre  an  P.  la  Chaise  sur  I'Antiquite  de 
la  Religion,"  in  li'tno;  answered  by  Mr.  Arnaud,  but  often 
reprinted.  6.  "  Recherches  curieuses  d'  Antiquite,"  16S3, 
4to.  7.  "  Miscellanea  erudite  Antiquitatis,"  1679,  and 
1683,  folio.  Besides  these,  he  published  several  works,  not 
now  in  much  repute,  upon  subjects  relating  to  his  own 
profession.1 

SPONDANUS,  or  DE  SPONDE  (JOHN),  a  man  of  un- 
common abilities  and  learning,  was  the  sun  of  a  counsellor 
and  secretary  to  Jane  d'  Albert,  queen  of  Navarre  ;  and 
born  at  Maulcon  de  Soule  in  the  country  of  Biscay  in  i 
He  made  a  considerable  progress  in  literature;  and,  when 
not  more  than  twenty,  began  a  commentary  upon  Homer's 
Iliad  and  Odyssey,  winch  was  printed  at  Basil  in  1583,  fblie, 
with  a  dedication  to  the  king  of  Navarre,  afterwards  Henry 
IV.  of  France.  In  this  work,  if  there  is  not  much  noveky 
of  critical  discovery,  there  is  more  display  of  reading  and 
learning  than  could  have  been  expected  in  one  so  young. 
The  same  year,  he  printed  an  edition  of  Aristotle's  "  Logic" 
at  Basil,  in  Greek  and  Latin,  with  marginal  notes.  He  ab- 
jured the  reformed  religion  in  1593,  and  immediately  pub- 
lished a  declaration  of  his  reasons,  but  does  not  appear  to 
have  enjoyed  much  comfort  in  his  new  communion.  He 
left  the  court  soon  after  his  abjuration,  and  went  to  con- 
ceal himself  in  the  mountains  of  Biscay  ;  where  he  died 
March  18,  1595,  and  was  buried  at  Bourdeaux.  He  is  it-- 
presented as  having  spent  this  short  life  in  much  fatigue 
and  misery.* 

SPONDANUS,  or  DE  SPONDE  (HENRY),  a  younger 
brother  of  John  de   Sponde,   was  born  Jan.  6,  1568, 
educated  at   Ortez  ;    where   the  reformed  had  a  college, 
and  where  he  distinguished  himself  early  by  his  facilit\ 

1  Moreri. — Eloy,  Diet.  Hist,  de  Medeciue.— Pulteney's  Botany,  ait.  Win  . 
s  Gen.  Diet. 


SPONDANUS.  307 

acquiring  the  Latin  and  Greek  languages.  Then  he  ap- 
plied himself  to  the  civil  and  canon  law,  and  afterwards 
went  to  Tours,  whither  the  parliament  of  Paris  was  trans- 
ferred :  and  here,  his  learning-  and  eloquence  at  the  bar 
bringing  him  under  the  n  Henry  IV.  then  prince  of 

Beam,  tie  was  made  by  him  master  of  the  requests  at  Na- 
varre. In  the  mean  time,  he  read  with  much  eagerness  the 
controversial  works  of  Beiiarmine  and  Perron  ;  and  these 
made  such  an  impression  on  him,  that,  after  the  example 
of  his  brother  John,  he  embraced  the  popish  religion,  at 
Paris  in  1505.  In  1600,  he  went  to  Rome,  where  he  took 
priest's  orders  in  1606,  and  tiiat  year  returned  to  Paris; 
but  some  time  after  went  again  to  Rome,  and  was  em- 
ployed in  an  official  capacity  by  pope  Paul  V.  who  had  a 
great  esteem  for  him.  The  general  respect  indeed  which 
he  met  with  in  Italy  would  have  determined  him  to  spend 
the  remainder  of  his  days  there;  but,  in  1626,  he  was  re- 
called into  France,  and  made  bishop  of  Pamiers  by  Louis 
XIII.  He  hesitated  at  first  about  accepting  this  bishopric; 
but  pope  Urban  VIU.  commanding  him,  he  went  and  en- 
tered upon  it  in  1626.  Soon  after  his  installation,  the  duke 
of  Rohan,  who  was  commander  of  the  protestants,  took  Pa- 
miers, when  Spondanus  escaped  by  a  breach  in  the  walls; 
and  the  year  after,  when  the  town  was  retaken  by  the 
prince  of  Conde,  received  letters  of  congratulation  upon 
his  safety  from  Urban  VIII.  He  quitted  Pamiers  in  1642, 
and  went  toToulonse;  where  he  died  May  16,  1643. 

The  knowledge  he  had  of  Baronius  when  he  was  in  Italy, 
and  the  great  friendship  that  always  subsisted  between 
them,  suggested  to  him  the'design  of  abridging  his  "  An- 
naltfs  Ecclesiastic!."  This  he  did  with  Baronius' s  consent; 
and  not  only  abridged,  but  continued  them  from  1197, 
where  Baronius  left  off,  to  1640.  Both  the  abridgment 
and  continuation  have  been  often  reprinted.  Spondanus 
published  also,  in  folio,  "  Annaies  Sacri  a  Mundi  Crea- 
tione  ad  ejusdem  Redemptionem  ;"  and  some  other  things 
of  a  small  kind.1 

SPOTS  WOOD,  or  SPOT1SWOOD  (JOHN),  archbishop 
of  St.  Andrew's  in  Scotland,  was  descended  from  an  ancient 
and  distinguished  family  in  that  country.  His  grandfather 
was  killed  in  the  battle  of  Floddon-field  with  his  king,  James 

1  Nieeron,  vo'.  XI. — Moreri. 
X  2 


30K  SPOTS  W  O  O  D. 

IV.*  He  was  born  in  1565;  and  the  writer  of  his  life  telU 
us,  as  something  very  important,  that  among  the  rest  r 
were  present  at  his  birth,  "  not  ordinary  gossipers,"  says 
he,  "  but  women  of  good  note,"  there  was  one  who,  in  a 
sober,  though  prophetic  fit,  taking  the  child  in  her  arms, 
called  aloud  to  the  rest  in  these  or  the  like  terms,  "You 
may  all  very  well  rejoice  at  the  birth  of  this  child-,  for  he 
will  become  the  prop  and  pillar  of  this  church,  and  the 
main  and  chief  instrument  in  defending  it."  He  shewed 
from  his  childhood  a  very  ready  wit,  great  spirit,  and  a 
good  memory;  and,  being  educated  in  the  university  of 
Glasgow,  arrived  so  early  to  perfection,  that  he  received 
his  degree  in  his  sixteenth  year.  Having  made  himself 
a  thorough  master  of  profane  learning,  he  applied  himself 
to  sacred  ;  and  became  so  distinguished  in  it,  that  at  eigh- 
teen he  was  thought  fit  to  succeed  his  father,  who  was  mi- 
nister of  Calder. 

In  1601,  he  attended  Lodowick  duke  of  Lenox  as  chap- 
lain, in  his  embassy  to  the  court  of  France,  for  confirm; 
the  ancient  amity  between  the  two  nations ;  and  retun, 
in  the  ambassador's  retinue  through  England.  In  1603, 
upon  the  accession  of  James  to  the  throne  of  England,  h,j 
was  appointed,  among  other  eminent  persons,  to  attend  hie 
majesty  into  that  kingdom;  and,  the  same  year,  was  ad- 
vanced to  the  archbishopric  of  Glasgow,  and  made  one  of 
the  privy  council  in  Scotland.  In  1610,  he  presided  ii» 
the  assembly  at  Glasgow ;  and  the  same  year,  upon  the 
king's  command,  repaired  to  London  about  ecclesiastical 
affairs.  He  was  so  active  in  matters  which  concerned  the 
recovery  of  the  church  of  Scotland  to  episcopacy,  that, 
during  the  course  of  his  ministry,  he  is  supposed  to  have 
made  no  less  than  fiftyjourneys  to  London,  chiefly  on  thar. 
account.  Having  filled  the  see  of  Glasgow  eleven  years, 
he  was  translated  in  1615  to  that  of  St.  Andrew's ;  and  thus 

*  His  father,  John  Spotswood,  one  ers  ;   was  one  of  the  compiler;!  of   ; 

of  the  reformers  in  Scotland,  was  born  first  "  Boo':;  of  Discipline"    and  <  i 

in  1509,  and  studied  at  Glasgow.   When  "  Confession  of  Faith  ;"  and  when  tl;j 

the  doctrines  of  the  reformation  were  pre&byteciao  religion  <as   introduced, 

promu'ga'ed,   they  made  considerable  UMS   i.idained  to  the  office   of  superir?- 

imprei:.ion  on  his  mind,  but  perceivii:^  ttndant,  a  kind  of  office  like  that  of  a 

how  dangerous  it  was   to  profess  them  bishop,  but  without  superiority  of  title, 

openly,  lie  went  to  England,  and  was  or  emolument.      He  died  Dec.  .5,  \5%^. 

introduced  to  archbishop  Cranmer,  who  — A  full  account,  of  his  life  is  give: 

cr,  uiume  el  him  in  his   new  principle;.  the  "  History  of  the  Lives  of  tl>5-  • 

About  \b--io,  he   returned  to  Scotland,  testant  Refortrars  w  Scotland,"  In 

and  fco-opcraU-il  with  the  other  reform-  rev.  James  !r.          ft      ,  gyo. 


S  P  O  T  S  W  O  O  D.  309 

became  primate  and  metropolitan  of  all  Scotland.  The 
year  following-,  he  presided  in  the  assembly  of  Aberdeen  : 
as  he  did  likewise  in  other  assemblies  for  restoring  the  an- 
cient discipline,  and  bringing  the  church  of  Scotland  to 
some  degree  of  uniformity  with  that  of  England.  He  con- 
tinued in  high  esteem  with  James  I.  during  his  whole  reign ; 
nor  was  he  less  valued  by  Charles  I.  who  in  1633  was  crown- 
ed by  him  in  the  abbey  church  of  Holyrood-house.  In 
1635,  he  was  made  chancellor  of  Scotland  ;  which  post  he 
had  not  held  full  four  years,  when  the  popular  confusions 
obliged  him  to  retire  into  England.  Being  broken  with  acre 

O  O  CJ  O 

and  grief,  and  sickness,  he  went  first  to  Newcastle;  and 
continued  there,  till,  by  rest  and  the  care  of  the  physicians, 
he  had  recovered  strength  enough  to  travel  to  London  ; 
where  he  no  sooner  arrived,  than  he  relapsed,  and  died  in 
1639.  He  was  interred  in  Westminster  abbey,  and  an  in- 
scription upon  brass  fixeu  over  him.  He  married  a  daugh- 
ter of  David  Lindsay,  bishop  of  Ross;  by  whom  he  had 
several  children.  Sir  ROBERT  Spotsvvood,  his  second  son, 
was  eminent  for  his  abilities  and  knowledge  in  the  laws; 
was  preferred  by  king  James,  and  afterwards  by  king 
Charles;  but  was  put  to  death  for  adhering  to  the  marquis 
of  Montrose.  Clarendon  calls  him  "  a  worthy,  honest,  loyal 
gentleman,  and  as  wise  a  man  as  the  Scottish  nation  had  at 
that  time." 

In  1G55,  was  published  at  London,  in  folio,  his  "  His- 
tory of  the  Church  of  Scotland,  beginning  the  year  of  our 
Lord  203,  and  continued  to  the  end  of  the  reign  of  king 
James  VI."  In  his  dedication  of  this  history  to  Charles  I. 
dated  Nov.  15,  1639,  only  eleven  days  before  his  death, 
he  observes,  that  "  there  is  not  among  men  a  greater  help 
for  the  attaining  unto  wisdom,  than  is  the  reading  of  his- 
tory. We  call  Experience  a  good  mistress,"  says  he,  "  and 
so  she  is;  but,  as  it  is  in  our  Scottish  proverb,  '  she  sel- 
dom quits  the  cost.'  History  is  not  so :  it  teacheth  us  at 
other  men's  cost,  and  carrieth  this  advantage  more,  that  in 
a  few  hours  reading  a  man  may  gather  more  instructions  out 
of  the  same,  than  twenty  men  living  successively  one  after 
another  can  possibly  learn  by  their  own  experience."  This 
history  was  begun  at.  the  influence  and  command  of  king 
James,  who,  as  already  observed,  had  a  high  opinion  of  the 
author's  abilities.  It  is  a  work  composed  from  scanty  ma- 
terials, but  with  great  impartiality.  There  is  throughout 
the  whole  an  air  of  probity  and  candour,  which  is  said  to 


310  S  P  O  T  S  W  O  O  D. 

have  been  the  peculiar  character  of  the  writer.  Upon  ex- 
pressing a  diffidence  to  king  James  about  that  part  of  it 
which  relates  to  his  mother,  and  which  had  been  the  stum- 
bling-block of  former  historians,  he  replied,  "  Speak  the 
truth,  man,  and  spare  not."  With  regard  to  the  arch- 
bishop's political  conduct  and  principles,  historians  have 
given  very  opposite  accounts.  We  shall  refer  to  two  of 
the  most  recent  and  most  candid.  l 

SPRANG  HER  (BARTHOLOMEW),  a  German  painter,  was 
the  son  of  a  merchant,  and  born  at  Antwerp  in  1546.  He 
was  brought  up  under  variety  of  masters,  and  then  went  to 
Rome,  where  cardinal  Farnese  took  him  into  his  service, 
and  afterwards  recommended  him  to  pope  Pius  V.  He  was 
employed  at  Belvidere,  and  spent  thirty-eight  months  in 
drawing  the  picture  of  "  The  Day  of  Judgment;"  which 
picture  is  said  to  be  still  ovtr  that  pope's  tomb.  While  he 
was  working  upon  it,  Vasari  told  his  holiness  that  "  what- 
ever Sprangher  did  was  so  much  time  lost;"  yet  the  pope 
commanded  him  to  go  on.  After  a  great  number  of  pic- 
tures done  in  several  parts  of  Rome,  he  returned  to  Ger- 
many, and  became  chief  painter  to  the  emperor  Maximilian 
II.  and  was  so  much  respected  by  his  successor  Rodolphus, 
that  he  presented  him  with  a  gold  chain  and  medal,  allowed 
him  a  pension,  honoured  him  and  his  posterity  with  the 
title  of  nobility,  lodged  him  in  his  own  palace,  and  would 
not  suffer  him  to  paint  for  any  body  but  himself.  After 
many  years  continuance  in  his  court,  he  obtained  leave  to 
visit  his  own  country  ;  and  accordingly  went  to  Antwerp, 
Amsterdam,  Haerlem,  and  several  other  places ;  and  hav- 
ing had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  his  own  works  highly  ad- 
mired, and  his  manner  almost  universally  followed  in  all 
those  parts,  as  well  as  in  Germany,  he  returned  to  Prague, 
and  died  at  a  good  old  age,  in  1623.  Fuseli  says  that 
Sprangher  may  be  considered  as  the  head  of  that  series  of 
artists  who,  disgusted  by  the  exility  and  minuteness  of  me- 
thod then  reigning  in  Germany,  imported  from  the  schools 
of  Florence,  Venice,  and  Lombardy,  that  mixed  style  which 
marks  all  the  performances  executed  for  the  courts  of 
Prague,  Vienna,  and  Munich,  bv  himself,  John  ab  Ach, 
Joseph  Heinz,  Christopher  Schwartz,  &c.  Colour  and 
breadth  excepted,  it  was  a  style  more  conspicuous  for  Ita- 

1  f.ife  prefixed  to  bis  history. — Laing's  Hist,  of  Scotland. —  C,  -A  the 

Church  of  Scotland. — BiKnet's  Own  Times. — Granspr. — Gen.  Diet. 


S  P  ft  A  N  G  H  E  R.  311 

iian  blemishes  than  beauties,  and  in  design,  expression, 
and  composition,  soon  deviated  to  the  most  outrageous 
manner. ] 

SPRAT  (THOMAS),  a  learned  English  prelate,  was  born 
in  1636,  at  Tallaton  in  Devonshire,  the  son  of  a  clergy- 
man ;  and  having  been  educated,  as  he  tells  of  himself,  not 
at  Westminster  or  Eton,  but  at  a  little  school  by  the 
church-yard  side,  became  a  commoner  of  Wadham  college, 
in  Oxford,  in  1651  ;  and,  being  chosen  scholar  next  year, 
proceeded  through  the  usual  academical  course,  and  in 
1657  became  M.  A.  He  obtained  a  fellowship,  and  com- 
menced poet.  In  1659,  his  poem  on  the  death  of  Oliver 
was  published,  with  those  of  Dryden  and  Waller.  In  his 
dedication  to  Dr.  Wilkins  he  appears  a  very  willing  and 
liberal  encomiast,  both  of  the  living  and  the  dead.  He 

'  fj 

implores  his  patron's  excuse  of  his  verses,  both  as  falling 
so  "infinitely  below  the  full  and  sublime  genius  of  that 
excellent  poet  who  made  this  way  of  writing  free  of  our 
nation,"  and  being  "  so  little  equal  and  proportioned  to 
the  renown  of  the  prince  on  whom  they  were  written;  such 
great  actions  and  lives  deserving  to  be  the  subject  of  the 
noblest  pens  and  most  divine  phansies."  He  proceeds  : 
"  Having  so  long  experienced  your  care  and  indulgence,  and 
been  formed,  as  it  were,  by  your  own  hands,  not  to  entitle 
you  to  any  thing  which  my  meanness  produces,  would  be  not 
only  injustice  but  sacrilege."  He  published  the  same  year  a 
poem  on  the  "  Plague  of  Athens ;"  a  subject  recommended 
to  him  doubtless  by  the  great  success  of  Lucretius  in  de- 
scribing the  same  event.  To  these  he  added  afterwards  a 
poem  on  Cowley's  death.  After  the  Restoration  he  took 
orders,  and  by  Cowley's  recommendation  was  made  chap- 
lain to  the  witty  and  profligate  duke  of  Buckingham,  whom 
he  is  said  to  have  helped  in  writing  "  The  Rehearsal," 
and  who  is  said  to  have  submitted  all  his  works  to  his  peru- 
sal *.  He  was  likewise  chaplain  to  the  king.  As  he  was 
the  favourite  of  Wilkins,  at  whose  house  began  those  phi- 
losophical conferences  and  inquiries  which  in  time  produced 
the  royal  society,  he  was  consequently  engaged  in  the 

*  A  witticism  H  said  to  have  pro-  placed  near  the  clergy.  "  I  cannot 
i-ured  him  the  favour  of  the  duke  of  tell  you  the  reason,"  said  Sprat,  "  hut 
Buckingham.  At  his  first  dinner  with  I  shall  never  see  a  goose  again  but  I 
his  grace,  ihe  htiter  ubseiving  a  goose  shall  think  of  your  grace."  This  con- 
near  Sprat,  said  he  wandered  why  it  vinced  Villiers  that  Sprat  was  the  maa 
genfrally  happened  that  geese  were  he  wanted. 

1  Argenville,  vol.JII.— Pilkingtou.— Strutt. 


312  SPRAT. 

same  studies,  and  became  one  of  the  fellows  ;  and  when, 
after  their  incorporation,  something  seemed  necessary  to 
reconcile  the  public  to  the  new  institution,  he  undertook  to 
write  its  history,  which  he  published  in  1667.  This  is  one 
of  the  few  books  which  selection  of  sentiment  and  elegance 

o 

of  diction  have  been  able  to  preserve,  though  written  upon 
a  subject  flux  and  transitory  *.  The  "  History  of  the  Royal 
Society"  is  now  read,  not  with  the  wish  to  know  what  they 
were  then  doing,  but  how  their  transactions  are  exhibited 
by  Sprat.  They  have  certainly  been  since  exhibited  far 
better  by  Dr.  Birch,  and  more  recently  by  Dr.  Thomson. 
In  the  next  year  he  published  "Observations  on  Sorbiere's 
Voyage  into  England,  in  a  letter  to  Mr.  Wren."  This  is  a 
work  not  ill  performed  ;  but  was  rewarded  with  at  least  its 
full  proportion  of  praise.  In  1668  he  published  Cowley's 
Latin  poems,  and  prefixed  in  Latin  the  life  of  the  author, 
which  he  afterwards  amplified,  and  placed  before  Cowley's 
English  works,  which  were  by  will  committed  to  his  care. 
Ecclesiastical  dignities  now  fell  fast  upon  him.  In  166S 
he  became  a  prebendary  of  Westminster,  and  had  after- 
words the  church  o*f  St.  Margaret,  adjoining  to  the  abbey. 
He  was  in  1680  made  canon  of  Windsor,  in  1683  dean  of 
Westminster,  and  in  1684  bishop  of  Rochester.  The  court 
having  thus  a  claim  to  his  diligence  and  gratitude,  he  was 
required  to  write  the  "  History  of  the  Rye-house  Plot;" 
and  in  1685  published  "  A  true  account  and  declaration  of 
the  horrid  Conspiracy  against  the  late  King,  his  present 
Majesty,  and  the  present  Government;"  a  performance 
which  he  thought  convenient,  after  the  revolution,  to  ex- 

*  This  work   was    attacked  by  Mr.  ing  betwixt    H.  ?.   and    Dr.  Merret;" 

Henry  Stubbe,   the  physician  of  War-  and  in  another  piece  printed  at  Oxfoul, 

wick,  in   a   piece  printed    at   London,  IfiT  1 ,  in  4to,  with  this  title,     "  A  Cen- 

1670,  in   4to,   under   this    title,    "  Le-  sure  upon   certain   passages  contained 

gends  no  histories:  or  a   specimen  of  in  the  History  of  the  Royal  Society,  as 

some  animadversion?  upon  the  History  being    destructive   to  the    Established 

of  the    Royal  Society;"    and    another  Religion  and  Churrh  of  England.    The 

printed  at  London  in  1670,  in  4to,  and  second  edition  corrected  and  enlarged, 

entitled   "  Cainpanella   revived,  or  an  Whereunto   is   acMed    the   letter   of  a 

enquiry  into  the  History  of  the  Koyal  virtuoso  in   opposition  to  the  Censure, 

Society,  whether  the  virtuosi  ; here  do  a  rt-ji!y  unto  the    IcUer  aforesaid,   and 

not  pursue  the  projects  of  Campanella  reply    'into  the  prefatory  Answer   of 

for  the  reducing  England  unto  Popery.  Ecebolius    Glanvill,    chaplain    to    Mr. 

Being  an  extract  of  a  letter  to  a  person  Rouse,  of  Eaton  (late  member  of  the 

of  honour  from  H.  S.  with  another  let-  Rump  parliament)  rector  of  Bath,  and 

ter  to  sir  N.  N.  relating   to   the  cause  ffil"-.v    nf  the,  royal  society.     Also  an 

of  the  quarrel  betwixt  H.  S.   and  the  Answer    to    '.!'f    !.vtt.>r   of    Dr.    Henry 

royal  society,  and  an  apology  against  More  relating  unto  Henry  Sttibbe,  phy- 

some   of  their  cavils.     With-  a   post-  sician  at  Warwick." 
script  concerning  the  quarrel  depend- 


SPRAT. 

tenuate  and  excuse.  The  same  year,  being  clerk  of  the 
closet  to  the  king,  he  was  made  dean  of  the  chapel-royal; 
and  the  year  afterwards  received  the  last  proof  of  his  mas- 
ter's confidence,  by  being  appointed  one  of  the  commis- 
sioners for  ecclesiastical  affairs.  On  the  critical  day,  when 
the  Declaration  distinguished  the  true  sons  of  the  church 
of  England,  he  stood  neuter,  and  permitted  it  to  be  read 
at  Westminster,  but  pressed  none  to  violate  his  conscience  ; 
and,  when  the  bishop  of  London  was  brought  before  them, 
gave  his  voice  in  his  favour.  Thus  far  he  suffered  interest 
or  obedience  to  carry  him  ;  but  farther  he  refused  to  go. 
When  he  found  that  the  powers  of  the  ecclesiastical  com- 
mission were  to  be  exercised  against  those  who  had  refused 
the  Declaration,  he  wrote  to  the  lords,  and  other  commis- 
sioners, a  formal  profession  of  his  unwillingness  to  exercise 
that  authority  any  longer,  and  withdrew  himself  from  them. 
After  they  had  read  his  letter,  they  adjourned  for  six 
months,  and  scarcely  ever  met  afterwards.  When  king 
James  was  frighted  away,  and  a  new  government  was  to 
be  settled,  Sprat  was  otxe  of  those  who  considered,  in  a 
conference,  the  great  question,  whether  the  crown  was 
vacant,  and  manfully  spoke  in  favour  of  his  old  master. 
He  complied,  however,  with  the  new  establishment,  and 
was  left  unmolested;  but,  in  1692,  a  strange  attack  was 
made  upon  him  by  one  Robert  Young  and  Stephen  Black- 
head, both  men  convicted  of  infamous  crimes,  and  both, 
when  the  scheme  was  laul,  prisoners  in  Newgate.  These 
men  drew  up  an  Association,  in  which  they  whose  names 
were  subscribed,  declared  their  resolution  to  restore  king 
James  ;  to  seize  the  princess  of  Orange,  dead  or  alive  ;  and 
to  be  ready  with  thirty  thousand  men  to  meet  kingJam.es 
when  he  should  land.  To  this  they  put  the  name  of  San- 
croft,  Sprat,  Marlborough,  Salisbury,  and  others.  The 
copy  of  Dr.  Sprat's  name  was  obtained  by  a  fictitious  re- 
quest, to  which  an  answer  "  in  his  own  hand"  was  desired. 
His  hand  was  copied  so  well,  that  he  confessed  it  might 
have  deceived  himself.  Blackhead,  who  had  carried  the 
letter,  being  sent  again  with  a  plausible  message,  was  very 
curious  to  see  the  house,  and  particularly  importunate  to 
be  let  into  the  study  ;  where,  as  is  supposed,  he  designed 
to  leave  the  Association.  This,  however,  was  denied  him, 
and  he  dropt  it  in  a  flower-pot  in  the  parlour.  Young 
now  laid  an  information  before  the  privy-council ;  an.d 
May  7,  16.92,  the  bishop  was  arrested,  and  kept  at  a  01  es- 


314  S  P  R  A  T. 

senger's,  under  a  strict  guard,  eleven  days.  His  house  was 
searched,  arid  directions  were  given  that  the  flower-pots 
should  he  inspected.  The  messengers,  however,  missed 
the  room  in  which  the  paper  was  left.  Blackhead  went 
therefore  a  third  time;  and,  rinding  his  paper  where  he 
had  left  it,  brought  it  away.  The  bishop,  having  been 
enlarged,  was,  on  June  the  10th  and  I  3th,  examined  again 
before  the  privy-council,  and  confronted  with  his  accusers. 
Young  persisted  with  the  most  obdurate  impudence,  against 
the  strongest  evidence  ;  but  the  resolution  of  Blackhead  by- 
degrees  gave  way.  There  remained  at  last  no  doubt  of 
the  bishop's  innocence,  who,  with  great  prudence  and 
diligence,  traced  the  progress,  and  detected  the  characters 
of  the  two  informers,  and  published  an  account  of  his  own 
examination  and  deliverance;  which  made  such  an  impres- 
sion upon  him,  that  he  commemorated  it  through  lii'e  by 
a  yearly  day  or  thanksgiving.  With  what  hope,  or  what 
interest,  the  villains  had  contrived  an  accusation  which  they 
must  know  themselves  utterly  unable  to  prove,  was  never 
discovered.  After  this,  the  bishop  passed  his  days  in  the 
quiet  exercise  of  his  function.  When  the  cause  of  Sache- 
verell  put  the  public  in  commotion,  he  honestly  appeared 
among  the  friends  of  the  church.  He  lived  to  his  seventy- 
ninth  year,  and  died  May  20,  1713.  Burnet  is  not  very 
favourable  to  his  memory;  but  he  and  Burnet  were  old 
rivals.  On  some  public  occasion  they  both  preached  before 
the  House  of  Commons.  There  prevailed  in  those  days  an 
indecent  custom:  when  the  preacher  touched  any  favourite 
topic  in  a  manner  that  delighted  his  audience,  their  appro- 
bation was  expressed  by  a  loud  hum,  continued  in  propor- 
tion to  their  zeal  or  pleasure.  When  Burnet  preached, 
part  of  his  congregation  hummed  so  loudly  and  so  long, 
that  he  sat  down  to  enjoy  it,  and  rubbed  his  face  with  his 
handkerchief.  When  Sprat  preached,  he  likewise  was  ho- 
noured with  the  like  animating  hum  ;  but  he  stretched  out 

O  J 

his  hand  to  the  congregation,  and  cried,  "  Peacf,  peace, 
I  pray  you,  pet;ci -."  "  This,"  says  Dr.  Johnson,  "  I  was 
told  in  my  youth  by  an  old  man,  who  had  been  no  careless 
observer  of  the  passages  of  those  times."  "Burnet's  ser- 
mon," says  Salmon,  "  was  remarkable  for  sedition,  and 
Sprat's  for  loyalty.  Burnet  had  the  thanks  of  the  house; 
Sprat  had  no  thanks,  but  a  good  living  from  the  King; 
which,"  he  said,  "  was  of  as  much  value  as  the  thanks  of 
the  Commons."  Sprat  was  much  admired  in  his  day  for 


S  P.  R  A  T.  315 

the  elegance  of  his  prose  style,  but  that  is  not  to  be  mea- 
sured by  the  standard  of  modern  times.  In  his  political 
sentiments  he  changed  so  often,  and  so  easily  accommo- 
dated himself  to  the  varied  circumstances  of  the  times  in 
which  he  lived,  that  the  praise  of  consistency  cannot  be 
given.  Yet  we  have  seen  that  on  some  occasions  he  stood 
almost  alone  in  vindication  of  conduct  which  did  him  ho- 
nour. The  works  of  Sprat,  besides  his  few  poems,  are, 
2.  "  The  History  of  the  Royal  Society."  3.  "  The  Life  of 
Cowley."  4..  "The  Answer  to  Sorbiere."  5.  "  The  His- 
tory of  the  Rye-house  Plot."  6.  "  The  relation  of  his  own 
Examination."  And,  7.  a  volume  of  "  Sermons."  Dr. 
Johnson  says,  "  I  have  heard  it  observed,  with  great  just- 
ness, that  every  book  is  of  a  different  kind,  and  that  each 
has  its  distinct  and  characteristical  excellence."  In  his 
poems  he  considered  Cowley  as  a  model ;  and  supposed 
that  as  he  was  imitated,  perfection  was  approached.  No- 
thing therefore  but  Pindaric  liberty  was  to  be  expected. 
There  is  in  his  few  productions  no  want  of  such  conceits  as 
he  thought  excellent  ;  and  of  those  our  judgment  may  be 
settled  by  the  first  that  appears  in  his  praise  of  Cromwell, 
where  he  says  that  Cromwell's  "  fame,  like  man,  will  grow 
white  as  it  grows  old."  According  to  Spence,  in  his  Anec- 
dotes, Pope  used  to  call  Sprat  "a  worse  Cowley."1 

SQUIRE  (SAMUEL),  a  learned  divine,  was  the  son  of  an 
apothecary,  and  was  born  at  War  minster,  in  Wiltshire,  in 
1714.  He  was  educated  at  St.  John's  college,  Cambridge, 
of  which  he  became  a  fellow,  and  took  his  degrees  of  B.  A. 
in  1733,  and  M.  A.  in  1737.  Soon  after,  Dr.  Wynn, 
bishop -of  Bath  and  Wells,  appointed  him  his  chaplain,  and 
in  1739  gave  him  the  chancellorship  and  a  canonry  of 
Weils,  and  afterwards  collated  him  to  the  archdeaconry 
of  Bath.  In  1748  he  was  presented  by  the  king  to  the 
rectory  of  Topsfield,  in  Essex;  and,  in  1749,  when  the 
duke  of  Newcastle  (to  whom  he  was  chaplain,  and  private 
secretary  *,  as  chancellor  of  the  university)  was  installed 
chancellor  of  Cambridge,  he  preached  one  of  the  com- 
mencement sermons,  and  took  the  degree  of  D.  D.  In 

*  In    this    character,  from    an   iin-  ter's  (or  the  o!<l  lady's)  steward."    His 

lucky  simiiitiule  of  names,   b  dark  complexion  procured  him    in  col- 

tliculed  by  Dr.  King  in   "  The   Kcv   to  It'g^  conversation,   and   in   the    squibs 

the  Fragment,"  by  the   appellation  of  oK  the  tim^,  the   nick  name  of  "  The 

"  Dr.  Squirt,  apothecary  toAhni  Ma-  man  of  Angola." 

1  Biog.  Brit. — Johnson's  Poets. — Gibber's  Lives. — Burnet's  Own  Time*. — 
Birch's  Tillotson. — Salmon's  Lives  of  the  Bishops. — Ath.  Ox.  vol.  II. 


316  SQUIRE. 

1750  he  was  presented  by  archbishop  Herring  to  the  rec- 
tory of  St.  Anne,  Westminster  (then  vacant  by  the  deatii 
of  Dr.  Felling),  being  his  grace's  option  on  the  see  of  Lon- 
don, and  for  which  he  resigned  his  living  of  Topsfield  in 
favour  of  a  relation  of  the  archbishop.  Soon  after,  Dr. 
Squire  was  presented  by  the  king  to  the  vicarage  of  Green- 
wich in  Kent ;  and,  on  the  establishment  of  the  household 
of  the  prince  of  Wales1  (his  present  majesty),  he  was  ap- 
pointed his  royal  highness's  clerk  of  the  closet.  In  1760 
he  was  presented  to  the  deanry  of  Bristol  ;  and  on  the  fast 
day  of  Feb.  13,  1761,  preached  a  sermon  before  the  House 
of  Commons ;  which  appeared  of  course  in  print.  In  that 
year  (on  the  death  of  Dr.  Ellis)  he  was  advanced  to  the 
bishopric  of  St.  David's,  the  revenues  of  which  were  con- 
siderably advanced  by  him.  He  died,  after  a  short  illness, 
occasioned  by  his  anxiety  concerning  the  health  of  one  of 
his  sons,  May  6,  1766.  As  a  parish  minister,  even  after 
his  advancement  to  the  mitre,  he  was  most  conscientiously 
diligent  in  the  duties  of  his  function  ;  and  as  a  prelate,  in 
his  frequent  visits  to  his  see  (though  he  held  it  but  five 
years),  he  sought  out  and  promoted  the  friendless  and  de- 
serving, in  preference,  frequently,  to  powerful  recommen- 
dations, and  exercised  the  hospitality  of  a  Christian  bishop. 
In  private  life,  as  a  parent,  husband,  friend,  and  master, 
no  man  was  more  beloved,  or  more  lamented.  He  was  a 
fellow  of  the  royal  and  antiquary  societies,  and  a  constant 
attendant  upon  both.  He  married  one  of  the  daughters  of 
Mrs.  Ardesoif,  a  widow  lady  of  fortune  (his  parishioner), 
in  Soho  Square.  Some  verses  to  tier  *'  on  making  a  pin- 
basket,"  by  Dr.  (afterwards  sir  James)  Marriott,  are  in  the 
fourth  volume  of  Dodsley's  collection.  By  her  the  bishop 
left  two  sons  and  a  daughter,  but  she  did  not  long  survive 
him.  A  sermon,  entitled  "  Mutual  Knowledge  in  a  future 
State,"  &c.  was  dedicated  to  her,  with  a  just  eulogium  on 
his  patron,  by  the  unfortunate  Dr.  Dodd  *,  in  1766.  Be- 
sides several  single  sermons  on  public  occasions,  bishop 

*  Chaplain  totbe  bishop,  from  whom  Dr.  Dodd  also  savs,   in  his  "  Thoughts 

he  received  a  prebend  of   Brecon.    In  in  Prison,"  Wetk  IV.  p.  73.  ed.  1781. 

Dodd's   Poems   is   "A    St.nnet,    ccca-          "  And  still  more  when  urg'd  ap- 

sioned  by  reading  the  T^utli   and    Im-  prov'd, 

portance  of  Natural  and  Revealed  Re-  And    bless'rl    by  thes,  St.  David's  ho- 
lier ion  ;"  "Gratitude    and    Ment,"   an  nonr'd  frieml  ; 

epigram  on  bishop   Squire  ;   and  "  An  Alike  in  Wisdom's    and   in  Learning's 
Ode   written    in  the    walks  of  Ereck-  school 

nock,"  expressive  of  gr  it  tudc-  *•.••>  hi;  Adv.mc'd  and  snr.e,"  fee. 
friendly    patron.     < >:           .   p    i'qiiiic, 


SQUIRE.  317 

Squire  published  the  following  pieces:  l.uAn  enquiry 
into  the  nature  of  the  English  Constitution  ;  or,  an  histo- 
rical essay  on  the  Anglo-Saxon  Government,  both  in  Ger- 
many and  England."  2.  "  The  ancient  History  of  the  He- 
brews vindicated  ;  or,  remarks  on  the  third  volume  of  the 
Moral  Philosopher,"  under  the  name  of  F'iu-opiia.ies  Can- 
tabrigiensis,  Cambridge,  1741.  This,  Leland  says,  con- 
tains many  solid  and  ingenious  remarks  3.  "  Two  Assays, 
I.  A  defence  of  the  ancient  Greek  Chronology  ;  II.  An 
enquiry  into  the  origin  of  the  Greek  Language,"  Cam- 
bridge, 1741.  4.  "  Plutarchi  de  Iside  et  Osirid,1  liber, 
Graece  et  Anglice  ;  Grseca  recensuit,  emendavit,  Com.Tien- 
i-ariis  auxit,  Versionem  novam  Anglicanam  adjecit  Samuel 
Squire,  A.M.  Archidiaconus  Bathoniensis ;  acces.serunt 
Xylandri,  Baxteri,  Bentleii,  Marklandi,  Conjecturae  et 
Emendationes,"  Cantab.  1744.  5.  "  An  Essay  on  the  Ba- 
lance of  Civil  Power  in  England,"  174  .  .,  8vo,  which  was 
added  to  the  second  edition  of  the  Enquiry,  &c.  in  1753. 
6.  "  Indifference  for  Religion  inexcusable,  or,  a  serious, 
impartial,  and  practical  review  of  the  certainty,  import- 
ance, and  harmony  of  natural  and  revealed  Religion,"  Lon- 
don, 1748,  again  in  1759,  12mo.  7.  "Remarks  upon  Mr. 
Carte's  specimen  of  the  General  History  of  England,  very 
proper  to  be  read  by  all  such  as  are  contributors  to  that 
great  work,"  1748,  8vo.  8.  "The  Principles  of  Religion 
made  easy  to  young  persons,  in  a  short  and  familiar  Ca- 
techism. Dedicated  to  the  late  Prince  Frederick,"  Lon- 
don, 1763.  9.  "  A  Letter  to  the  right  hon.  the  earl  of  Ha- 
lifax on  the  Peace,"  1763,  8vo,  by  Dr.  Dodd,  received 
great  assistance  from  bishop  Squire.  He  also  left  in  MS. 
a  Saxon  Grammar  compiled  by  himself.  A  just  and  well- 
drawn  character  of  archbishop  Herring,  one  of  his  early 
patrons,  was  prefixed  by  bishop  Squire  to  the  archbishop's 
"  Seven  Sermons." ' 

STAAL  (MADAME  DE),  known  first  by  the  name  of  ma- 
demoiselle de  Launai,  was  the  .daughter  of  a  painter  of 
Paris,  who  being  obliged  to  quit  the  kingdom,  left  her  ex- 
posed to  poverty  while  yet  a  child.  Chance  occasioned 
her  receiving  a  distinguished  education  in  the  priory  of  St. 
Louis,  at  Rouen  ;  but  on  the  death  of  the  superior  of  that 
monastery,  who  was  her  friend,  she  was  again  reduced  to 
extreme  indigence,  and  finding  no  other  resource,  engaged 

«  Gent.  Mag.  vol.  XXXVI.  and  XLII.— Nichols's  Bowycr. 


318  S  T  A  A  L. 

herself  as  a  waiting-woman  to  the  duchess  of  Maine.  Unfit, 
however,  for  the  duties  of  such  an  office,  she  lived  in  ob- 
scurity and  sorrow,  till  a  singular  event,  in  which  she 
seemed  totally  unconcerned,  made  her  known  much  to  her 
honour.  A  beautiful  young  lady  of  Paris.,  named  Tetard, 
was  persuaded  by  her  mother  to  counterfeit  being  pos- 
sessed. All  Pans  flocked  to  see  this  pretended  wonder, 
not  excepting  the.  court ;  and  this  becoming  the  univ.,, 
topic  of  conversation,  mademoiselle  de  Launai  wrote  a  very 
witty  letter  on  the-  occasion  to  M,  de  Fontenelle,  which  was 
universally  admired.  The  duchess  having  discovered  the 
writer  in  the  person  of  her  waiting-woman,  employed  he:- 
from  that  time  in  ail  the  entertainments  given  at  Sceaux, 
and  made  her  her  confidant.  M.  de  Launai  wrote  verses 
for  some  of  the  pieces  acted  at  Sceaux,  drew  up  the  plans 
of  others,  ami  was  consulted  in  all.  She  soon  also  acquired 
the  esteem  of  mess,  de  Fontenelie,  de  Tourreii,  de  Valin- 
court,  de  Chaulieu,  de  Malezieu,  and  other  persons  of 
merit,  who  frequented  the  court.  This  lady  was  involved 
in  the  duchess  of  Maine's  disgrace,  during  the  regency  &t 
the  duke  of  Orleans,  and  confined  in  the  Bastile  near  two 
years;  but  being  set  at  liberty,  the  duchess  married  her  to 
M.  de  Staal,  lieutenant  of  the  Swiss  guards,  afterwards 
captain  arid  marechal  de  camp.  It  is  said  she  had  refused  to 
marry  the  celebrated  M.  Dacier.  She  died  in  1750,  and 
some  "  Memoirs  of  her  Life,"  written  by  ;,  .ere 

soon  after  published  in  3  vols.  12mo.  They  contain  nothing 
very  important,  but  are  very  amusing,  and  very  well  writ- 
ten, their  style  being  pure  and  elegant.  A  fourth  volume 
ha»  since  appeared,  consisting  of  two  pleasing  plays,  one 
entitled  L'Engouement,  the  other  La  Mode,  which  were 
acted  at  Sceaux.  J 

STACKHOUSE  (THOM^s),  a  learned  and  laborious 
divine,  was  born  in  1680,  but  in  what  part  of  the  kingdom, 
or  where  educated,  is  not  knoun.  Somewhat  late  in  life 
he  added  the  degree  of  A.  M.  to  his  name,  but  he  does  not 
c  ccur  in  the  lists  of  the  Oxford  or  Cambridge  graduates, 
and  his  right  to  the  degree  must  have  proceeded  either 
from  Lambeth,  or  some  of  the  northern  universities.  He 
was  some  time  minister  of  the  English  church  at  Amster- 
dam, and  afterwards  successively  curate  at  Richmond,  Eal- 
mg,  and  Finchley,  in  all  which  places  he  was  much  re- 

1  Memoirs.— Diet.  Hist. 


S  T  A  C  K  H  O  U  S  E.  319 

spected.  In  1733  he  was  presented  to  the  vicarage  of  Bc-n- 
ham  Valence,  t.'//.:,v  Geenhaai,  in  Berkshire,  where  he  died 
Oct.  11,  1752,  aged  seventy-two,  and  was  buried  in  the 
parish  church.  A  neat  tablet  is  inscribed  to  his  memory, 
intimating  the  support  he  gave  to  the  cause  or  the  Christian 
faith,  and  referring  to  his  numerous  works  for  a  testimony 
of  his  merit. 

The  earliest  of  his  publications,  or  at  least  the  first  which 
Brought  him  into  notice  was,  l.  "The  miseries  and  great 
hardships  of  the  Inferior  Clergy  in  and  about  London  ;  and 
a  modest  plea  for  their  rights  and  better  usage  ;  in  a  letter 
to  a  right  rev.  prelate,"  1722,  8vo.  2.  "  Memoirs  of'  bishop 
Atterbury,  from  his  birth  to  his  banishment,"  1723,  Svo. 
3.  "  A  Funeral  Sermon  on  the  death  of  Dr.  Brady,"  172G, 
Svo.  4.  "  A  complete  body  of  Divinity,"  1729,  folio.  5. 
"  A  fair  state  of  the  Controversy  between  Mr.  Woolston  .: 
his  adversaries  :  containing  the  substance  of  what  he  as- 
serts in  his  discourses  against  the  literal  sense  of  our  blessed 
Saviour's  miracles  ;  and  what  Bp.  Gibson,  Bp.  Chandler, 
Bp.  Smalbroke,  Bp.  Sherlock,  Dr.  Pearce,  Mr.  Ray,  Mr. 
Lardner,  Mr.  Chandler,  &c.  have  advanced  against  him," 
1730,  8vo.  This,  which  Leland  calls  a  <•' clear  account," 
is  not  a  mere;  compilation,  but  shows  the  author  intimately 
acquainted  with  the  controversy,  and  fully  able  to  strengthen 
the  cause  for  which  Woolston  was  opposed.  As  this  work 
was  soon  out  of  print,  he  incorporated  its  principal  con- 
tents in  a  larger  volume,  entitled,  6.  "  A  Defence  of  the 
Christian  Religion  from  the  several  objections  or'  Anti- 
scripturists,"  &c.  1731,  Svo.  7.  "  Reflections  on  the  na- 
ture and  property  of  Languages,"  1731,  Svo.  8.  "The 
Book-binder,  Book-printer,  and  Book-seller  confuted,  or 
the  Author's  vindication  of  himself  from  the  calumnies  in 
a  paper  industriously  dispersed  by  o;>e  Edlin.  Together 
with  some  Observations  on  the  History  of  the  Bible,  as  it 
is  at  present  published  by  the  said  Ediin.  By  the  rev.  .Mr. 
Stackhouse,  curate  of  Finchley,"  17.'J2,  8vo.  This  v 
scarce  pamphlet,  of  which  but  one  copy  is  known  (now  in 
the  curious  collection  of  James  Bindley,  esq.)  relates  to  a 
squabble  Mr.  Stackhouse  had  with  Ediin  (who  appears  to 
have  been  a  mercenary  bookseller  of  the  lower  order,  and 
a  petty  tyrant  over  his  poor  authors),  respecting  Mr.  Stack- 
house's  "  History  of  the  Bible."  Stackhouse,  however, 
engaged  afterwards  with  more  reputable  men,  and  pro- 
duced, 9.  his  "  New  History  of  the  Bible,  from  the  begin- 


320  8  T  A  C  K  tt  O  U  S  E. 

ning  of  the  world  to  the  establishment  of  Christianity,' 
1732,  2  vols.  folio.  This  has  always  been  considered  as  < 
work  of  merit,  and  has  been  often  reprinted  ;  the  best  edi 
tion  is  said  to  be  that  of  1752,  of  which  the  engraving: 
are  of  a  very  superior  cast  to  what  are  usually  given  ii 
works  published  periodically.  10.  "A  Sermon  on  the  30tl 
of  January."  1736,  8vo.  11.  "  A  Sermon  on  the  Deca- 
logue," 1743,  8vo.  12.  "A  new  and  practical  Expositioi: 
oo  the  Creed,"  1747,  folio.  13.  "  Vana  doctrinae  emolu- 
menta,"  1752,  4to.  This  is  a  poem,  and  his  last  publica- 
tion, in  which  he  deplores  his  miserable  condition  in  the 
language  of  disappointment  and  despair.  Besides  these, 
he  had  been,  we  know  not  at  what  period,  the  author  of, 
14.  "  An  Abridgment  of  Burnet's  Own  Times,"  8vo.  15. 
"  The  art  of  Short- hand,"  4to.  16.  "A  System  of  Prac- 
tical Duties,"  8vo.  Long  after  his  death,  if  they  were  not 
re-publications,  appeared,  under  his  name,  a  "  Greek 
Grammar,"  and  "A  general  view  of  Ancient  History,  Chro- 
nology, and  Geography,  &c."  4to.  There  was  a  rev.  Tho- 
mas Stackbouse,  styled  minister  of  St.  Mary  Magdalen  at 
Blidgnorih  in  Shropshire,  who  communicated  to  the  Royal 
Society  som-e  extracts  from  a  topographical  account  ot 
Bridgnorth  (Phil.  Trans,  vol.  XLIV.)  but  whether  this  was 
our  author  does  not  appear.1 

STAHL  (GEORGE  ERNEST),  a  very  eminent  German  che- 
mist, was  born  in  Franconia  in  1660,  and  educated  in  the 
science  of  medicine,  of  which  he  was  made  professor  in 
1694,  when  the  university  of  Hall  was  founded.  His  re- 
putation, by  means  of  his  lectures,  his  publications,  and 
the  success  of  his  practice,  was  soon  very  highly  advanced  : 
and  in  1716  he  was  invited  to  Berlin,  where  he  became 
physician  to  the  king,  and  even  a  counsellor  of  state.  He 
lived  in  great  celebrity  to  the  age  of  seventy-five,  when  he 
died,  in  1734.  As  a  chemist,  Stahl  was  unrivalled  in  his 
day,  and  was  the  inventor  of  the  doctrine  of  phlogiston, 
which,  though  it  may  yield  to  the  newer  theory  of  Lavoi- 
sier and  the  French  chemists,  was  admitted  by  the  best 
philosophers  for  nearly  half  a  century.  As  a  physician  he 
bad  some  fancies,  and  was  particularly  remarkable  for  his 
doctrine  of  the  absolute  power  of  the  soul  over  the  body. 
He  maintained  that  every  muscular  action,  whether  at- 
tended with  consciousness  or  not,  proceeds  from  a  volun- 

1  Nichols's  Bowyer. 


S  T  A  H  L.  321 

tary  act  of  the  mind.  This  theory  he,  as  well  as  his  fol- 
Jowers,  carried  too  far  ;  but  from  it  he  derived  many  cau- 
tions of  real  importance  to  physicians,  for  attending  to  the 
state  of  the  mind  in  every  patient.  His  works  are  very 
numerous,  but  the  principal  of  them  are  these,  1.  "  Ex- 
perimenta  et  observationes  Chemicae  et  Physicoe,"  Berlin, 
1731,  8vo.  2.  "  Dissertationes  Medica,"  Hall,  2  vols.  4to. 
3.  «  Theoria  medica  vera,"  Hall,  1703,  4to.  4.  "  Opus- 
culum  chemico-physico-medicum,"  Hall,  1715,  8vo.  5. 
"Thoughts  on  Sulphur,"  Hall,  1718,  8vo,  written  in  Ger- 
man. 6.  "  Negotium  otiosum,  seu  skiamachia  adversus 
positiones  aliquas  fundamentales  Theorise  verae  Medicina?, 
a  viro  quodam  celeberrimo  intenta,  sed  enervata,"  Hall, 
1720,  4to.  Here  he  chiefly  defends  his  theory  of  the  soul's 
action  on  the  body.  7.  "  Fundamenta  chymiae,"  Norimb. 
1723,  4to.  8.  A  treatise  in  German,  "On  Salts,"  Hall, 
1723,  8vo.  He  was  also  deeply  skilled  in  metallurgy,  and 
wrote,  9.  "  Commentarium  in  Metallurgiam  Beccheri," 
1723,  and  10.  "  Instructions  on  Metallurgy,"  in  German, 
Leipsic,  1720,  Svo.1 

STAINER  (RICHARD),  a  brave  naval  officer  in  the  se- 
venteenth century,  was  commander  of  a  ship  of  war  during 
the  protectorate  of  Cromwell,  and  distinguished  himself  by- 
some  actions  of  singular  gallantry.  In  1G56,  having  three 
frigates  under  his  command,  he  fell  in  with  the  Spanish 
flota,  consisting  of  eight  sail ;  notwithstanding  the  dispro- 
portion of  numbers,  he  attacked  them,  and  with  such  suc- 
cess, that  in  the  space  of  a  few  hours  he  burnt  one,  sunk 
a  second,  captured  two,  and  drove  two  others  on  shore. 
The  treasure  on  board  of  his  prizes  amounted  to  6OO,000/. 
sterling.  The  next  year,  in  company  with  admiral  Blake, 
who  had  the  chief  command,  he  attacked  and  destroyed 
the  Spanish  flota  in  the  bay  of  Santa  Cruz  ;  "  an  act  so 
miraculous,"  says  Clarendon,  "  that  all  who  knew  the  place 
wondered  how  any  men,  with  what  courage  soever  endued, 
could  have  undertaken  it;  indeed,  they  could  hardly  per- 
suade themselves  to  believe  what  they  had  done ;  whilst 
the  Spaniards  comforted  themselves  with  the  belief  that 
they  were  devils,  and  not  men,  who  had  destroyed  their 
ships."  For  his  share  in  this  gallant  exploit,  captain 
Stainer  was  knighted  by  Cromwell  at  Whitehall,  June  11, 
1657;  and  soon  afterwards  made  a  vice-admiral.  Sir 

1  Eloy,  Diet.  Hist,  de  Medecine.—  Thomson's  Hist,  of  the  Royal  Society. 

VOL.  XXVIII.  Y 


322  S  T  A  I  N  E  R. 

Richard  Stainer  was  one  of  the  commanders  who  went  with 
admiral  Montague  to  bring  over  Charles  II.  He  was 
knighted  by  the  king,  and  made  rear-admiral  of  the  fleet, 
but  did  not  long  enjoy  his  honours,  as  his  death  took  place 
in  Nov.  1662.  He  was  buried  at  Greenwich,  where  his 
lady  died  the  preceding  year.  Leaving  no  issue,  he  be- 
queathed his  large  property  to  his  brother,  who,  by  involv- 
ing himself  in  a  law  suit  with  the  salt-company  at  Droit- 
wich,  lost  the  greater  part  of  his  fortune,  and  grew  dis- 
tressed. His  son,  the  nephew  and  representative  of  the 
gallant  sir  Richard  Stainer,  was  a  few  years  ago  in  a  work- 
house at  Birmingham.1 

STANBRIDGE  (JOHN),  an  eminent  schoolmaster,  was 
born  at  Heyford  in  Northamptonshire,  probably  about  the 
middle  of  the  fifteenth  century,  and  was  educated  at  Win- 
chester-school. From  this  he  was  sent  to  New  college, 
Oxford,  and  in  1481  admitted  perpetual  fellow.  About 
I486,  being  then  B.  A.  he  was  appointed  first  usher  of  the 
free-school  adjoining  Magdalen  college,  and  succeeded 
John  Anwykyll,  as  chief  master.  As  a  teacher  he  became 
very  eminent,  and  produced  some  scholars  afterwards  much 
celebrated  in  the  world.  He  was  yet  more  useful  to  fu- 
ture generations  by  the  elementary  books  which  he  pub- 
lished, and  which  were  soon  introduced  in  most  of  the  prin- 
cipal schools  of  that  time,  by  which,  says  Wood,  "  the 
Latin  tongue  was  much  refined  and  amended."  His  en- 
thusiasm for  the  interests  of  his  school  seems  to  have  got 
the  better  of  prudential  considerations,  as,  according  to 
Wood,  "  when  in  his  old  age  he  should  have  withdrawn 
himself  from  his  profession,  and  have  lived  upon  what  he 
had  gotten  in  his  younger  years,  he  refused  it,  lived  poor 
and  bare  to  the  last,  yet  with  a  juvenile  and  cheerful  spi- 
rit." His  life  extended  beyond  1522,  but  the  precise  time 
of  his  death  is  not  known. 

Among  his  elementary  treatises  are,  1.  "  Embryon  reli- 
matum,  sive  Vocabularium  Metricum,"  printed  first  in 
1500,  and  often  reprinted  as  far  as  1636.  2.  "  Parvulo- 
rum  institutiones,"  which  appears  to  have  been  a  collection 
of  grammatical  precepts  from  other  publications  of  Stan- 
bridge,  1521,  4to,  &c.  3.  "  De  ordine  constructionum." 
4.  "  Vulgaria  Stanbridgiana,"  4to,  without  date,  but  re- 
printed in  1536.  5.  "The  accidence  of  mayster  Stan- 

*  Lysons's  Environs,  from  Charnock's  Biog;  Navalis,  &c. 


S  T  A  N  B  R  I  D  G  E.  323 

brydge's  owne  makynge."  6.  "  Accidentia  Stanbridge," 
4to,  without  date,  reprinted  in  1534.  7.  "  Gradus  compa- 
rationum,  &c."  4to,  without  date,  reprinted  in  1526,  1527, 
1530.  8.  "  Sum,  es,  fui,  of  Stanbridge,"  4to.  9.  "  Hex- 
asticon,"  addressed  to  Whittington,  who  had  been  one  of 
his  scholars,  and  printed  in  the  "  Syntaxis"  of  the  latter, 
1521.  This  John  Stanbridge  had  a  kinsman  (Warton  says, 
a  brother),  Thomas  Stanbridge,  a  noted  schoolmaster  of 
Banbury  in  Oxfordshire,  and  the  tutor  of  sir  Thomas  Pope. 
He  died  in  1522.' 

STANHOPE  (GEORGE),  dean  of  Canterbury,  a  divine 
of  eminent  talents  and  personal  worth,  was  born  March  5, 
1660,  at  Hertishorn  in  the  county  of  Derby.  Of  this  pa- 
rish his  father,  the  rev.  Thomas  Stanhope,  was  rector,  as 
well  as  vicar  of  St.  Margaret  in  the  town  of  Leicester,  and 
chaplain  to  the  earls  of  Chesterfield  and  Clare.  His  mo- 
ther, whose  name  was  Allestree,  was  of  an  ancient  family 
in  Derbyshire.  His  grandfather,  Dr.  George  Stanhope, 
precentor  of  York,  and  rector  of  Wheldrake  in  that  coun- 
ty, was  one  of  those  persecuted  ecclesiastics  who,  for  their 
loyalty  to  Charles  I.  experienced  the  greatest  distress ;  he 
was  dispossessed  of  his  preferments,  and  (as  dean  Stanhope 
told  Mr.  Walker  himself)  was  driven  to  the  doors  with  ele- 
ven children,  and  died  in  1644. 

Mr.  Stanhope  received  the  first  rudiments  of  education 
at  the  school  of  Uppingham.  in  the  county  of  Rutland, 
whence  he  was  removed  to  that  of  Leicester,  and  again  to 
that  of  Eton,  from  which  he  was  elected  on  the  foundation 
at  King's  college  in  1677.  In  his  youth  he  had  displayed 
the  most  promising  abilities ;  and  at  the  university  he  en- 
riched his  mind  with  that  valuable  stock  of  learning,  which 
he  afterwards  so  judiciously  employed.  Of  the  French,  as 
well  as  of  the  Latin,  Greek,  and  Hebrew  languages,  he 
acquired  a  critical  knowledge.  He  took  the  degree  of  B.  A. 
in  1681,  and  that  of  M.  A.  in  1685.  He  entered  into  holy 
orders,  but  did  not  immediately  leave  the  university.  He 
officiated  first  at  the  church  of  Quoi  near  Cambridge,  and 
in  1688  was  vice-proctor  of  the  university.  In  the  same 
year  he  was  preferred  to  the  rectory  of  Tewing  in  the 
county  of  Hertford  ;  and  in  1689  to  the  vicarage  of  Lewis- 
ham  in  Kent.  The  latter  benefice  he  owed  to  the  kindness 
of  lord  Dartmouth,  to  whom  he  was  chaplain,  and  to  whose 

1  Ath.  Ox.  vol.  I.  new  edit. — Wartou's  Life  of  Pope,  p.  5. 
Y  2 


STANHOPE. 

son  he  had  been  tutor.  He  was  soon  after  appointed  chap- 
lain in  ordinary  to  king  William  and  queen  Mary  ;  and  he 
enjoyed  the  same  honour  under  queen  Anne. 

In  July  1697  he  took  the  degree  of  D.  D.  the  exercises 
for  which  he  performed  publicly,  and  with  great  applause. 
On  the  preceding  Sunday  he  preached  the  commencement 
sermon,  in  which  he  stated  the  perfection,  and  argued  the 
sufficiency,  of  Scripture,  and  gave  an  eminent  display  of 
his  eloquence  and  talents.  In  1701  he  was  appointed 
preacher  at  the  lecture  founded  by  the  hon.  Mr.  Boyle, 
when  he  acquitted  himself  as  an  admirable  defender  of  the 
cause  which  the  benefactor  intended  to  promote,  by  assert- 
ing, in  sixteen  sermons,  the  "  Truth  and  Excellency  of  the 
Christian  Religion  against  Jews,  Infidels,  and  Heretics." 
In  1703,  he  was  presented  to  the  vicarage  of  Deptford  in 
Kent,  on  which  he  relinquished  the  rectory  of  Tewing,  and 
held  Lewisham  and  Deptford  by  dispensation.  In  this  year 
also  he  was  promoted,  on  the  translation  of  bishop  Hooper 
to  the  see  of  Bath  and  Wells,  to  the  deanery  of  Canterbury ; 
in  which  he  was  installed  March  23,  1704.  He  was  now 
also  Tuesday  lecturer  at  the  church  of  St.  Lawrence  Jewry; 
in  which  appointment,  as  well  as  in  the  deanery,  he  was 
no  mean  successor  to  Tillotson  and  Sharp.  This  lecture, 
indeed,  had  long  been  supplied  by  eminent  divines ;  and 
was  considered  as  a  very  honourable  appointment.  He 
continued  to  maintain  its  reputation,  and  advance  his  own, 
till  1708,  when  he  resigned  the  office,  and  was  succeeded 
by  Dr,  Moss. 

At  the  convocation  of  the  clergy  in  October  1705,  he 
preached  the  Latin  sermon  in  St.  Paul's  cathedral,  and  was 
at  the  same  time  proposed,  with  Dr.  Binckes,  to  fill  the 
prolocutor's  chair ;  but  the  majority  declared  for  the  latter. 
In  Feb.  1713-14,  however,  he  was  elected  to  that  office, 
and  was  twice  afterwards  re-chosen.  In  1717,  when  the 
fierce  spirit  of  controversy  raged  in  the  convocation,  he 
checked  the  Bangorian  champion,  archdeacon  Edward 
Tenison,  in  his  observations,  by  reading  the  schedule  of 
prorogation.  The  archdeacon,  however,  not  content  only 
to  protest  against  the  proceedings  of  the  House,  entered 
into  a  controversy  with  the  prolocutor  himself.  In  the  fol- 
lowing year  a  correspondence  commenced  between  the 
dean  and  his  diocesan  bishop  Atterbury,  on  the  increasing 
neglect  of  public  baptisms ;  from  which  it  appears,  that 
Stanhope  had  "  long  discouraged  private  baptisms,"  and 


STANHOPE.  325 

that  the  prelate  expressed  himself  obliged  to  him  for  his 
attention  in  this  respect,  as  also  for  his  constant  choice  of 
worthy  curates.  After  having  lived  an  example,  even  from 
his  youth  upwards,  of  cheerful  and  unaffected  piety,  he 
died,  universally  lamented,  at  Bath,  March  18,  1728,  aged 
sixty-eight. 

The  mild  and  friendly  temper  of  dean  Stanhope  render- 
ed him  the  delight  of  all.  To  the  misfortunes  of  others  he 
was  remarkably  attentive,  and  that  concern  which  he  ex- 
pressed, conveyed  at  once  consolation  to  the  heart,  and 
improvement  to  the  understanding.  His  care  as  a  parish 
priest,  and  as  a  dean,  was  exemplary.  That  advice  which 
lie  gave  to  others,  was  the  rule  of  his  own  practice.  In  an 
excellent  letter  from  him  to  a  young  clergyman,  printed  in 
the  Gent.  Mag.  1792,  he  says,  "  You  will  do  well  to  de- 
mean yourself  in  all  the  offices  of  your  function,  that  peo- 
ple may  think  you  are  in  very  good  earnest,  and  so  to  order 
your  whole  conversation  *,  that  they  may  be  sure  you  are 
so."  While  he  benefited  mankind,  as  a  writer,  he  was  no 
less  edifying  as  a  preacher.  To  a  plain  and  clear  style  he 
added  the  most  becoming  action,  and  his  manner  was  pe- 
culiarly his  own.  In  his  will,  among  other  benevolent  le- 
gacies, he  left  the  sum  of  2501.  to  found  an  exhibition  for 
a  king's  scholar  of  Canterbury  school.  He  had  been  twice 
married,  first  to  Olivia,  daughter  of  Charles  Cotton  of  Be- 
resford  in  Staffordshire,  esq.  by  whom  he  had  one  sun  and 
five  daughters  ;  and  secondly  to  Miss  Parker,  half-sister  of 
sir  Charles  Wager,  who  survived  him,  dying  in  1730,  aged 
about  fifty-four.  He  was  buried  in  the  church  of  Lewis- 
ham,  where  is  a  memorial  on  a  grave-stone,  within  the  rails 
of  the  communion-table. 

Dean  Stanhope's  literary  labours  succeeded  each  other 
in  the  following  order:  1.  His  translation  of"  Thomas  a 
Kempis  De  Imitatione  Christi,"  1696,  8vo.  Dean  Stan- 
hope was  himself  somewhat  of  an  ascetic.  2.  A  translation 

*  Dr.  Stanhope  seems  not  to   have  tural  to  the  gentlemen   of  the   army, 

been   averse  to   the    serin  mixta  jocis  the  worthy  dean  took  occasion  to  tell 

when   in   company.     Colman,    in   the  a  story  in  turn  ;  in  which  he  frequently 

4<  Connoisseur,"  informs  us  that,  "  in  repeated  the  words  bottle  and  glass,  in- 

his  younger  days,  when  he  was  chap-  stead  of  the  usual  expletives  of  God, 

lain   to  a  regiment,   he  reclaimed  the  devil,  and  damn,  which  he  did  not  think 

officers,  who  were   much   addicted  to  quite  so  becoming:  for  one  of  his  cloth 

the  vulgar  practice  of  swearing  by  the  to  make  free  with."     This  story  may 

following    method    of    reproof.     One  be  true,  but  the  circumstances  of  Dr. 

evening,  as  they  were  all  in  company  Stanhope's  having  been  chaplain  to  a 

together,    after  they    had   been  very  regiment  has  escaped  all  his  biogra- 

in  this  kind  of  rhetoric  so  na-  phers. 


326  STANHOPE. 

of  "  Charron  on  Wisdom,"  1697,  3  vols.  Svo*.  3.  "  The 
Meditations  of  the  Emperor  M.  Aurelius  Antoninus,"  trans- 
lated, with  Dacier's  notes  and  Life  of  the  emperor,  1699, 
4to.  4.  "  Sermons  upon  several  occasions,"  fifteen  in 
number,  with  a  scheme,  in  the  preface,  of  the  author's  ge- 
neral design,  1700,  Svo.  5.  In  the  same  year,  a  translation 
of  "  Epictetus,"  with  the  commentary  of  Simplicius,  Svo. 
6.  "Paraphrase  on  the  Epistles  and  Gospels,"  1705,  4 
vols.  Svo.  This  is  the  work  by  which  his  memory  is-  still 
preserved.  7.  "  The  truth  and  excellence  of  the  Chris- 
tian Religion  asserted,  against  Jews,  infidels,  and  here- 
tics ;  in  sixteen  sermons  preached  at  Boyle's  Lectures," 
1706,  4to,  repnblished  in  1739,  folio.  8.  "Rochefoucault's 
Maxims,"  translated,  1706,  Svo.  9.  An  edition,  being  the 
fourth,  of  "  Parsons's  Christian  Directory,"  1716,  Svo,  put 
into  more  modern  language.  10.  "  St.  Augustin's  Medi- 
tations," a  free  version,  executed  with  spirit  and  success, 
1720,  Svo.  11.  "A  Funeral  Sermon  on  Mr.  Richard 
Sayer,  bookseller,"  1724,  4to.  This  was  so  highly  approved, 
that  it  went  through  two  editions  within  the  year.  12. 
"  Twelve  Sermons,  on  several  occasions,"  1727,  Svo.  13. 
"  The  grounds  and  principles  of  the  Christian  Religion," 
translated  by  Wanley  from  Ostervald,  and  revised  by  Dr. 
Stanhope.  14.  Several  Sermons  on  particular  occasions 
between  1692  and  1724.  15.  "A  posthumous  work,  be- 
ing a  translation  from  the  Greek  devotions  of  Dr,  Lancelot 
Andrews,"  1730,  athin  Svo.  Bishop  Andrews  was,  in  some 
degree,  the  model  which  he  chose  to  imitate.1 

STANHOPE  (JAMES  First  Earl),  was  descended  from 
an  ancient  and  honourable  family  of  that  name,  which 
flourished  for  many  ages  in  the  county  of  Nottingham, 
and  was  son  of  Alexander  Stanhope,  esq.  by  Catharine  his 
wife,  daughter  of  Arnold  Bnrghill,  of  Thinge-hill  Parva, 
Herefordshire,  esq.  He  was  born  in  1673.  His  father, 
who  was  very  instrumental  in  the  revolution  in  1688,  being 
in  the  beginning  of  king  William's  reign  sent  envoy  extra- 
ordinary to  the  court  of  Spain,  Mr.  Stanhope  accompanied 

*  The  dean,  however,  thought  it  upon  Pope's  Works,  "  that  so  orthodox 

necessary  to  obviate  the  tendency  of  a  divine  as  Stanhope  should  translate 

Charron's  tenets  on  instinct  and  reason,  two  books  that  are  supposed  to  favour 

by  a  long  appendix  to  the  34th  chapter  libertinism  and  scepticism — the  Wis- 

of  ihe  first  book.  "  It  appears  a  little  <Jom  of  Charron,  and  the  Maxims  of 

strange,"  says  Dr.  Warton  in  his  notes  Rocbefoucault." 

1  Nichols's  Bowyer. — Todd's  Deans  of  Canterbury.— Gent.  Mag.  vol.  LX1I. 
•ind  LXV  III.— Nichols's  Atterbury. 


STANHOPE.  327 

him  thither  ;  which  gave  him  an  opportunity  of  gaining  an 
accurate  knowledge  of  the  laws  and  customs  of  that  coun- 
try. He  continued  there  some  years,  and  thence  made  a 
tour  to  France,  Italy,  and  other  parts,  where  he  made  it 
his  study  to  become  acquainted  with  the  laws  and  the  con- 
stitutions, as  well  as  the  languages,  of  those  places.  He 
afterwards  went  into  the  confederate  army  in  Flanders, 
where  he  served  as  a  volunteer ;  and  at  the  famous  siege 
of  Namur  in  1695  distinguished  himself  to  such  advantage, 
that  king  William  gave  him  a  company  of  foot,  and  soon 
after  a  colonel's  commission.  Though  he  was  but  young, 
being  then  about  two  and  twenty  years  old,  he  had  free 
access  to  that  king,  for  whom  he  had  always  the  highest 
reverence.  In  the  first  parliament  of  queen  Anne  he  was 
chosen  representative  for  the  borough  of  Cockermouth  in 
Cumberland,  as  he  was  likewise  in  the  succeeding  parlia- 
ment, summoned  to  meet  at  Westminster  June  the  14th, 
1705;  in  the  beginning  of  which  year  he  was  promoted  to 
the  rank  of  brigadier- general,  and  gained  great  reputation 
in  Spain  under  the  earl  of  Peterborough  at  the  siege  of 
Barcelona,  which  surrendered  to  the  allies  October  the  9tb, 
1705.  Immediately  after  the  reduction  of  that  place,  the 
earl  dispatched  captain  Norris  express  to  England,  on  board 
the  Canterbury  man  of  war;  in  which  ship  brigadier  Stan- 
hope and  the  lord  Shannon  embarked  likewise,  and  on  the 
22d  of  November  1705  arrived  at  St.  Helen's.  Soon  after 
brigadier  Stanhope  waited  on  her  majesty,  and  delivered 
to  her  several  letters,  particularly  one  from  the  king  of 
Spain,  now  emperor  of  Germany,  which  has  this  passage  : 
"  I  owe  the  same  justice  to  your  brigadier-general  Stan- 
hope upon  account  of  his  great  zeal,  attention,  and  most 
prudent  conduct,  of  which  he  has  given  me  proofs  on  all 
manner  of  occasions."  Towards  the  close  of  the  first  ses- 
sion of  the  new  parliament  he  returned  to  Spain,  and  his 
presence  was  extremely  acceptable  to  his  catholic  majesty. 
In  the  beginning  of  1708,  when  a  French  invasion  in  fa- 
vour of  the  Pretender  was  expected,  brigadier  Stanhope 
moved  to  bring  in  a  bill  to  dissolve  the  clans  in  Scotland, 
and  was  seconded  by  sir  David  Dalrymple,  and  the  bill 
was  ordered  to  be  brought  in  accordingly  ;  but  the  enemy 
not  landing  at  that  time,  the  bill  was  laid  aside.  About 
this  time  he,  with  brigadier  Cadogan  and  others,  was  ad- 
vanced to  the  rank  of  major-general,  and  soon  after  ap- 
pointed by  her  majesty  envoy  extraordinary  and  plenipo- 


328  S  T  A  N  K  O  P  E. 

tentiary  to  king  Charles  III.  of  Spain,  and  commander  in 
chief  of  the  British  forces  in  that  kingdom.  He  arrived  at 
Barcelona  May  the  29th,  1708,  and  the  same  year  reduced 
Port  Mahon  and  the  whole  island  of  Minorca.  In  the  first 
British  parliament  which  met  after  the  union  of  the  king- 
doms of  England  and  Scotland,  he  was  re-chosen  member 
for  Cockermouth.  He  was  also  advanced  to  the  rank  of 
lieutenant-general;  and  in  1710  was  one  of  the  managers 
of  the  House  of  Commons  at  the  trial  of  Dr.  Sacheverell, 
against  whose  doctrines  he  made  an  able  speech.  In  the 
latter  end  of  May  that  year  he  went  to  Spain,  and  on  July 
27,  obtained  a  signal  victory  over  the  enemy  near  Alme- 
nara,  as  he  did  likewise  on  Aug.  20  near  Saragossa;  but 
Dec.  9  following  he  was  taken  prisoner  at  Brihuega. 

Upon  the  change  of  administration,  a  new  parliament 
being  called,  he  was  proposed  candidate  for  the  City  of 
Westminster,  together  with  sir  Henry  Dutton-Colt,  but 
being  unsuccessful,  was  chosen  again  for  Cockermouth. 
He  continued  prisoner  in  Spain  till  1712,  when  his  impe- 
rial majesty  made  an  exchange  for  the  duke  of  Escalone, 
formerly  viceroy  of  Naples  ;  and  in  July  the  general  set 
out  on  his  return  home  by  the  way  of  France,  and  on  the 
16th  of  August  arrived  in  England.  In  parliament  he  now 
opposed  vigorously  the  measures  of  the  court,  and  parti- 
cularly the  Bill  of  Commerce  between  Great  Britain  and 
France.  Upon  the  calling  a  new  parliament  in  1713,  he 
lost  his  election  at  Cockermouth  by  a  small  majority,  but 
was  soon  after  chosen  unanimously  for  Wendover  in  Bucks; 
and  opposed  the  Schism-bill  with  great  spirit.  Upon  the 
arrival  of  king  George  I.  in  England,  he  was  received  by 
his  majesty  with  particular  marks  of  favour;  and  on  the 
27th  of  September  1714,  appointed  one  of  the  principal 
secretaries  of  state,  and  October  the  1st  sworn  one  of  the 
privy- council.  On  the  20th  of  the  same  month,  the  day 
of  his  majesty's  coronation,  he,  with  the  lord  Cobham,  set 
out  with  a  private  commission  to  the  emperor's  court;  where 
having  succeeded  in  his  negotiations,  he  returned  to  Eng- 
land in  the  latter  end  of  December.  A  new  parliament 
being  summoned  to  meet  at  Westminster  on  the  17th  of 
March  1714-15,  he  was  unanimously  chosen  for  Cocker- 
mouth,  as  he  was  likewise  for  Aldborough  in  Yorkshire. 
In  July  1716  he  attended  his  majesty  to  Germany,  and 
was  principally  concerned  in  the  alliance  concluded  at  that 
time  with  France  and  the  States-general,  by  which  the 


STANHOPE,  329 

Pretender  was  removed  beyond  the  Alps,  and  Dunkirk  and 
Mardyke  demolished.  He  returned  with  his  majesty  in 
1716,  and  the  following  year  was  appointed  first  lord  of 
the  treasury,  and  chancellor  of  the  exchequer.  He  was 
afterwards  created  a  peer  of  Great  Britain,  by  the  title  of 
baron  Stanhope  of  Elvaston,  in  the  county  of  Derby,  and 
viscount  Stanhope  of  Mahon  in  the  island  of  Minorca.  In 
March  1718,  he  was  appointed  principal  secretary  of  state, 
in  the  room  of  the  earl  of  Sunderland,  who  succeeded  lord 
Stanhope  in  the  Treasury  :  and  soon  after  was  created  earl 
Stanhope.  The  Spanish  power  growing  more  formidable, 
an  alliance  was  set  on  foot  between  his  Britannic  majesty, 
the  emperor,  and  the  king  of  France,  for  which  purpose 
earl  Stanhope  set  out  in  June  for  Paris,  and  thence  to 
Madrid,  but  finding  nothing  could  be  done  with  that  court, 
lie  returned  to  England  in  September.  In  December  fol- 
lowing, he  introduced  a  bill  into  the  House  of  Lords  "  for 
strengthening  the  protestant  interest  in  these  kingdoms," 
in  which  he  proposed  a  repeal  of  the  occasional-conformity 
bill,  and  the  schism  bill,  and  it  passed  by  a  majority  of 
eighteen. 

In  May  1719  he  was  appointed  one  of  the  lords  justices, 
during  the  king's  absence,  and  attended  his  majesty  to 
Hanover;  and  upon  his  return  to  England  April  the  1st, 
1720,  he  had  the  honour  of  composing  some  domestic  dif- 
ferences in  the  royal  family.  On  the  llth  of  June  the 
same  year,  he  was  again  appointed  one  of  the  lords  justices 
during  the  absence  of  his  majesty  to  Hanover,  and  re- 
turned to  England  on  the  llth  of  November  following. 
On  the  4th  of  February  1720-1  his  lordship  was  suddenly 
seized  in  the  House  of  Lords  with  a  complaint  in  the  head, 
of  which  he  died  on  the  following  day  *.  The  news  of  his 
death  being  brought  to  his  majesty  in  the  evening,  he  was 
so  sensibly  touched  with  it,  that  he  left  the  supper-room, 
and  retired  for  two  hours  into  his  closet  to  lament  the  death 
of  a  person,  in  whom  he  reposed  so  high  a  confidence. 
His  lordship's  body  was  interred  on  the  17th  of  February 
at  his  seat  of  Chevening  in  Kent;  and  a  monument  was 
afterwards  erected  to  his  memory  in  Westminster-abbey. 
He  married  Lucy,  daughter  of  Thomas  Pitt,  esq.  some 

*  This  was  occasioned  by  a  sudden  Stanhope's   was  by  an  abusive  speech 

resentment,  such   as    a  military  man  of  the  profligate  duke  of  Whartou,    He 

maybe  expected  to  feel  when  his  honour  answered  it  with  so  much  warmth  as  to 

is  attacked ;  as  in  thjs  instance   lord  break  a  blood-vessel. 


330  STANHOPE. 

time  governor  of  Fort  St.  George  in  the  East-Indies,  by 
whom  he  had  several  children.  The  present  earl  is  his 
grandson. 

James,  earl  Stanhope,  was,  as  a  politician,  possessed  of 
great  abilities,  integrity,  and  disinterestedness;  as  a  mili- 
tary man,  he  was  thought  to  possess  the  duke  of  Maribo- 
rough's  talents,  without  his  weaknesses.  In  private  life 
he  was  very  ami-able.  He  is  said  to  have  been  learned,  and 
a  curious  inquirer  into  ancient  history.  About  1718  or 
1719,  he  sent  a  set  of  queries  to  the  abbe  Vertot,  respect- 
ing the  constitution  of  the  Roman  senate,  which  the  abbe 
answered,  and  both  the  letter  and  the  answer  were  published 
in  1721,  and  long  after  animadverted  upon  by  Mr,  Hooke 
in  the  collection  of  treatises  he  published  on  that  subject 
in  1758. l 

STANHOPE  (Pinup  DORMER),  fourth  earl  of  Chester- 
field, was  born  in  London,  on  the  22d  of  September  1694. 
He  was  the  son  of  Philip  third  earl  of  Chesterfield  by  his 
wife  lady  Elizabeth  Savile,  daughter  of  George  marquis 
of  Halifax.  He  received  his  first  instructions  from  private 
tutors,  under  the  care  of  his  grandmother,  lady  Halifax  ; 
and,  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  was  sent  to  Trinity- hall, 
Cambridge.  $ere  he  studied  assiduously,  and  became, 
according  to  his  own  account,  an  absolute  pedant.  "  When 
I  talked  my  best,"  he  says,  "  I  talked  Horace ;  when  I 
aimed  at  being  facetious,  I  quoted  Martial;  and  when  I  had 
a  mind  to  be  a  fine  gentleman,  I  talked  Ovid.  I  was  con- 
vinced that  none  but  the  ancients  had  common  sense;  that 
the  classics  contained  every  thing  that  was  either  necessary, 
or  useful,  or  ornamental  to  men  :  and  I  was  not  without 
thoughts  of  wearing  the  toga  virilis  of  the  Romans,  instead 
of  the  vulgar  and  illiberal  dress  of  the  moderns."  He  was, 
however,  only  two  years  exposed  to  this  danger,  for  in  the 
spring  of  1714,  lord  Stanhope  left  the  university  for  the 
tour  of  Europe,  but  without  a  governor.  He  passed  the 
summer  of  ihat  year  at  the  Hague,  among  friends  who 
quickly  laughed  him  out  of  his  scholastic  habits,  but  taught 
him  one  far  more  disgraceful  and  pernicious,  as  he  himself 
laments,  which  was  that  of  gaming.  Still  his  leading  ob- 
ject was  that  of  becoming  an  eminent  statesman,  and  of 
this,  among  all  his  dissipations,  he  never  lost  sight.  From 

1  Gen.  Diet.— Collins's  Peerage,  by  Sir  E.  Brydges.— Coxe's  Life  of  Walpole. 
— Rapin's  History. 


STANHOPE.  331 

the  Hague  he  went  to  Paris,  where,  he  informs  us,  he  re- 
ceived his  final  polish,  under  the  tuition  of  the  belles  of 
that  place. 

On  the  accession  of  George  I.  general  Stanhope,  (after- 
wards earl  Stanhope,)  his  great  uncle,  being  appointed  one 
of  the  principal  secretaries  of  state,  young  lord  Stanhope 
was  sent  for,  and  though  he  had  intended  passing  the  car- 
nival at  Venice,  returned  early  in  1715,  and  was  appointed 
one  of  the  gentlemen  of  the  bedchamber  to  the  prince  of 
Wales.  In  the  first  parliament  of  this  reign  he  was  elected 
for  the  borough  of  St.  Germain's  in  Cornwall  ;  and  soon 
became  distinguished  as  a  speaker.  His  ambition  would 
not  let  him  rest  till  he  obtained  this  object;  and  Re  tells 
his  son,  in  one  of  his  letters,  that  from  the  day  he  was 
elected,  to  the  day  that  he  spoke,  which  was  a  month  after, 
he  thought  and  dreamt  of  nothing  but  speaking.  He 
formed  about  this  time  a  friendship  with  lord  Lumley,  after- 
wards earl  of  Scarborough,  which  no  conflicts  of  parties 
ever  could  impair.  When  he  made  his  first  speech  in  par- 
liament, which  was  a  violent  one,  he  was  actually  under 
age,  and  receiving  a  hint  of  this  from  one  of  the  opposite 
party,  thought  proper  to  give  up  his  attendance  for  a  time, 
and  return  to  Paris.  His  biographer  surmises  that  he 
might  there  be  engaged  in  political  services,  as  well  as  in 
pleasure,  which  was  his  apparent  object.  Having  returned 
to  England  in  1716,  he  spoke  in  favour  of  the  septennial 
bill,  and  from  time  to  time  came  forward  on  other  occa- 
sions. The  division  between  the  court  and  the  prince  of 
Wales  soon  after  threw  lord  Stanhope,  who  was  attached 
to  the  latter,  into  opposition,  from  which  all  the  influence 
and  offers  of  the  general,  now  in  the  height  of  power  and 
favour,  could  not  recall  him.  The  second  borough  for 
which  he  sat,  was  Lestwithiel  in  Cornwall ;  but  in  January 
1726,  the  death  of  his  father  removed  him  into  the  House 
of  Lords. 

He  was  soon  distinguished  in  this  house,  as  he  had  been 
in  the  lower,  by  his  talent  for  speaking,  which  indeed  he 
exerted  with  more  success  as  a  peer  than  as  a  commoner. 
"Lord  Chesterfield's  eloquence,"  says  Dr.  Maty,  "  though 
the  fruit  of  study  and  imitation,  was  in  great  measure  his 
own.  Equal  to  most  of  his  contemporaries  in  elegance  and 
perspicuity,  perhaps  surpassed  by  some  in  extensiveness 
and  strength,  he  could  have  no  competitors  in  choice  of 
imagery,  taste,  urbanity,  and  graceful  irony.  This  turn 


STANHOPE. 

might  originally  have  arisen  from  the  delicacy  of  his  frame, 
which,  as  on  one  hand  it  deprived  him  of  the  power  of 
working  forcibly  upon  the  passions  of  his  hearers,  enabled 
him,  on  the  other,  to  affect  their  finer  sensations,  by  nice 
touches  of  raillery  and  humour.  His  strokes,  however 
poignant,  were  always  nnd  r  the  controui  of  decency  and 
good  sense.  He  reasoned  best  when  he  appeared  most 
witty  ;  and  while  he  gained  the  affections  of  his  hearers,  he 
turned  the  laugh  on  his  opposers,  and  often  forced  them 
to  join  in  it.  It  might,  in  some  degree,  be  owing  to  this 
particular  turn  that  he  was  not  heard  with  so  much  ap- 
plause in  the  lower,  as  in  the  upper  house."  Besides  being 
eminent  as  a  speaker  in  parliament,  lord  Chesterfield  had 
the  credit  of  bemg  intimate  with  all  the  wirs  of  his  time. 
The  friendship  of  Pope  in  particular,  with  whom  he  passed 
much  time  at  Twickenham,  led  to  the  very  best  society 
which  could  then  be  enjoyed.  He  was  known  also  to  Al- 
garotti,  Voltaire,  and  Montesquieu,  when  they  visited  Eng- 
land, and  with  the  latter  he  formed  a  friendship,  and  esta- 
blished a  correspondence. 

On  the  accession  of  George  II.  in  1727,  whom  he  had 
served  with  steadiness  for  thirteen  years,  lord  Chesterfield 
seemed  to  have  a  right  to  expect  particular  favour.  In 
this  he  was  disappointed,  owing  to  his  having  paid  his 
court  to  the  king's  mistress  lady  Suffolk,  instead  of  apply- 
ing to  the  queen,  which  her  majesty,  as  well  as  the  king, 
who  always  preserved  a  high  respect  for  the  queen,  re- 
sented ;  but  in  1728  he  was  appointed  ambassador  to  Hol- 
land, in  which  station  he  was  determined  to  distinguish 
himself,  and  his  efforts  were  perfectly  successful.  Mr. 
Slingeland,  then  the  grand  pensionary  of  Holland,  con- 
ceived a  friendship  for  him,  and  much  advanced  his  diplo- 
matic education.  Having  by  his  address  preserved  Han- 
over from  a  war,  he  received  high  marks  of  his  majesty's 
favour  in  being  made  high  steward  of  the  household,  and 
knight  of  the  garter.  He  came  over  in  the  summer  of 
1730,  to  be  installed  at  Windsor,  and  then  returned  to  his 
embassy.  He  was  recalled  in  1732,  on  the  plea  of  health  j 
and  when  he  recovered,  began  again  to  distinguish  him- 
self in  the  House  of  Lords ;  and  in  the  same  year,  on  the 
occasion  of  the  excise-bill,  went  into  strong  opposition 
against  sir  Robert  Walpole.  He  was  immediately  obliged 
to  resign  his  office  of  high  steward,  and  so  ill  received  at 
court  that  he  desisted  from  attending  it;  He  continued  in 


S  T  A  N  H  O  P  E.  333 

opposition,  not  only  to  the  end  of  sir  Robert's  ministry  in 
1742,  but  even  against  the  men  with  whom  lie  had  acted 
in  the  minority.  It  was  not  till  the  coalition  of  parties  in 
1744,  by  what  was  called  "  the  broad-bottomed  treaty," 
•that  he  was  admitted  into  the  cabinet,  and  then  very  much 
against  the  will  of  the  king,  who  now  had  long  considered 
him  as  a  personal  enemy.  In  the  course  of  this  long  op- 
position he  had  frequently  distinguished  himself  by  his 
speeches;  but  particularly  on  the  occasion  of  the  bill  for 
putting  the  theatres  under  the  authority  of  a  licenser, 
which  he  opposed  in  a  speech  of  great  animation,  still  ex- 
tant in  his  works.  During  the  same  period  we  find  him 
engaging  in  marriage  with  Melosina  de  Schulenburg,  coun- 
tess of  Walsingham,  to  whom  he  was  united  in  Septem- 
ber 1733;  but  still  constantly  attentive  to  the  education 
of  his  natural  son  by  a  former  connection  at  the  Hague. 
By  his  wife  he  had  no  children.  In  1741  and  1742  he  was 
obliged  to  pay  temporary  visits  to  the  continent  on  account 
of  his  health,  at  which  time  it  appears  that  he  wrote  regu- 
larly to  his  son,  then  only  ten  years  old. 

On  the  llth  of  January,  1745,  he  was  again  sent  am- 
bassador and  plenipotentiary  to  Holland,  and  succeeded  in 
the  purposes  of  his  embassy,  beyond  the  hopes  of  those 
who  had  employed  him.  He  took  his  leave  of  the  states- 
general  eight  days  after  the  battle  of  Fontenoy,  and  hast- 
ened to  his  office  of  lord-lieutenant  of  Ireland,  to  which 
he  had  been  nominated  before  he  went  to  Holland.  That 
he  filled  this  difficult  office  at  a  very  critical  time,  with 
the  greatest  dignity  and  ability,  is  well  known,  and  few 
viceroys  have  succeeded  so  completely  in  conciliating  the 
esteem  and  confidence  of  the  Irish  nation.  He  left  it, 
however,  in  April  1746.  His  services  there  and  in  Hol- 
land had  succeeded  in  removing  the  prejudices  of  the  king, 
at  whose  express  desire  he  accepted  the  place  of  principal 
secretary  of  state  in  November  the  same  year,  and  returned 
no  more  to  Ireland.  He  retired  from  this  office  on  the  6th. 
of  January  1748,  even  more  to  the  regret  of  the  king, 
whom  he  had  conciliated  by  his  manners  as  well  as  his  ser- 
vices, than  he  had  entered  at  first  into  administration.  He 
was,  however,  determined  to  the  step,  by  finding  that  he 
could  not  carry  measures  in  the  cabinet,  which  appeared 
to  him  of  the  highest  political  importance.  His  health  also 
had  greatly  declined,  he  was  troubled  by  frequent  attacks 
of  vertigo,  and  appears  from  this  time  to  have  determined 


334  STANHOPE. 

to  preserve  himself  free  from  the  fatigues  of  office.  His 
retirement  was  amused  and  dignified  by  literature  and 
other  elegant  pursuits  ;  and  the  chief  part  of  his  miscel- 
laneous works  bear  date  after  this  period.  Deafness  corn- 
ing upon  him,  in  addition  to  his  other  complaints,  he  did 
not  often  take  an  active  part  in  the  business  of  the  House 
of  Lords,  but  in  the  debates  concerning  the  alteration  of 
the  style,  which  took  place  in  February  1751,  he  distin- 
guished himself  by  an  eloquent  speech  in  favour  of  the 
measure.  Of  this  he  speaks  with  modesty  in  one  of  his 
letters  to  his  son.  Every  one  complimented  him,  and  said 
that  he  had  made  the  whole  very  clear  to  them,  "  when, 
God  knows,"  says  he,  "  I  had  not  even  attempted  it.  I 
could  as  soon  have  talked  Celtic  or  Sclavonian  to  them  as 
astronomy,  and  they  would  have  understood  me  full  as 
well.  Lord  Macclesfield,"  he  adds,  "  who  had  the  greatest 
share  in  forming  the  bill,  and  is  one  of  the  greatest  ma- 
thematicians and  astronomers  in  Europe,  spoke  afterwards 
with  infinite  knowledge,  and  all  the  clearness  that  so  intri- 
cate a  matter  would  admit  of;  but  as  his  words,  his 
periods,  and  his  utterance  were  not  near  so  good  as  mine, 
the  preference  was  most  unanimously,  though  most  un- 
justly, given  to  me." 

Anxious  to  support  a  literary  character,  lord  Chester- 
field wished  also  to  be  considered  as  a  patron  of  literature, 
but,  occupied  by  other  cares,  and  not  willing  to  make  any 
great  sacrifices  for  that  object,  he  managed  his  advances 
to  Dr.  Johnson  on  the  subject  of  his  Dictionary  so  ill,  that 
they  procured  for  him  only  a  rebuff,  accompanied  by  that 
letter  of  dignified  severity,  which,  though  he  affected  to 
despise,  he  could  not  but  feel  at  the  time.  It  must  be 
owned,  however,  that  the  two  papers  which  he  published 
on  the  occasion,  in  the  World  (No.  100  and  101),  gave  an 
honourable  and  useful  recommendation  to  the  work.  In 
November,  1768,  he  lost  that  son  whose  education  and 
advancement  had  been,  for  many  years,  the  principal  ob- 
jects of  his  care  ;  and,  his  own  infirmities  increasing  very 
fast  upon  him,  the  remainder  of  his  life  wore  a  cast  of  me- 
lancholy and  almost  of  despondency.  He  represents  him- 
self, in  some  letters  at  that  period,  as  "  totally  uncon- 
nected with  the  world,  detached  from  life,  bearing  the 
burthen  of  it  with  patience,  from  instinct  rather  than  rea- 
son, and,  from  that  principle  alone,  taking  all  proper  me- 
thods to  preserve  it.'*  This,  indeed,  was  not  uniform; 


STANHOPE.  335 

his  natural  vivacity  still  occasionally  displayed  itself;  but 
in  his  moments  of  seriousness  he  presents  a  melancholy 
picture,  of  a  mind  destitute  of  the  only  effectual  supports 
under  natural  decay  and  pain.  He  lived,  with  increasing 
infirmities,  to  the  24th  of  March  1773.  His  character  is 
thus  briefly  summed  up  by  Dr.  Maty.  "A  nobleman  un- 
equalled in  his  time  for  variety  of  talents,  brilliancy  of  wit, 
politeness,  and  elegance  of  conversation.  At  once  a  man 
of  pleasure  ancl  of  business  ;  yet  never  suffering  the  former 
to  encroach  upon  the  latter.  His  embassy  in  Holland 
marks  his  skill,  dexterity,  and  address  as  an  able  negotia- 
tor. His  administration  in  Ireland,  where  his  name  is  still 
revered  by  all  ranks  and  orders  of  men,  indicates  his  in- 
tegrity, vigilance,  and  sound  policy  as  a  statesman.  His 
speeches  in  parliament  fix  his  reputation  as  a  distinguished 
orator,  in  a  refined  and  uncommon  species  of  eloquence. 
His  conduct  in  public  life  was  upright,  conscientious,  and 
steady  :  in  private,  friendly  and  affectionate  ;  in  both,  plea- 
sant, amiable,  and  conciliating."  He  adds,  "  these  were 
his  excellencies;  let  those  who  surpass  him  speak  of  his 
defects."  This  friendly  artifice  to  close  the  mouths  of  ob- 
jectors, ought  not,  however,  to  prevent  an  impartial  bio- 
grapher from  saying,  for  the  benefit  of  mankind  at  large, 
that  the  picture  he  has  exhibited  of  himself  in  his««Letters 
to  his  Son,"  proves  him  to  have  been  a  man  in  whose 
mind  the  applause  of  the  world  was  the  great,  and  almost 
the  sole  governing  principle.  No  attack  of  an  enemy  could 
have  degraded  his  character  so  much  as  the  publication  of 
these  letters ;  which,  if  they  do  not  quite  deserve  the  se- 
vere reprehension  of  Johnson,  that  they  "  inculcate  the 
morals  of  a  strumpet,  with  the  manners  of  a  dancing-mas- 
ter," certainly  display  a  relaxation  of  principle,  for  which 
no  talents  can  make  amends. 

These  letters  appeared  in  two  vols.  4to.  in  1774.  His 
"  Miscellaneous  works,"  also  in  two  vols.  4to.  were  pub- 
lished in  1777.  They  consist  of  papers  supplied  to  Fog's 
Journal,  to  a  periodical  paper  entitled  "  Common  Sense," 
and  "  The  World;"  all  evincing  considerable  vivacity  and 
skill  in  writing.  Some  of  his  speeches,  and  other  state 
papers,  conclude  the  first  volume.  The  second  contains 
an  ample  collection  of  his  Letters,  digested  into  three 
books.  Many  of  these  are  written  in  French,  of  which  lan- 
guage he  was,  for  a  foreigner,  a  very  complete  master. 
In  1778  a  third  volume  of  "  Miscellaneous  works"  was 


336  STANHOPE. 

published,  but,  as  the  former  had  not  been  eminently  suc- 
cessful, this,  which  appeared  in  a  dubious  shape,  attracted 
very  little  attention,  and  few  copies  are  supposed  to  have 
got  abroad.  Lord  Chesterfield's  entrance  into  the  world, 
says  lord  Orford,  was  announced  by  his  bon-mots,  and  his 
closing  lips  dropped  repartees  that  sparkled  with  his  juve- 
nile fire.  Of  these  witticisms,  several  are  currently  re- 
peated in  conversation,  though  on  what  authority  is  now 
uncertain.  He  appears,  by  a  few  specimens,  to  have  pos- 
sessed considerable  talents  for  the  lighter  kinds  of  poetry  ; 
some  proofs  of  which  appear  in  the  first  volume  of  Dods- 
ley's  collection  ;  but  it  has  been  said  that  he  often  assumed 
to  himself  the  credit  of  verses  not  his  own.  As  a  patron 
he  was  distinguished  by  his  steady  protection  of  the  ele- 
gant, but  unfortunate,  Hammond  ;  whose  poems  he  pub- 
lished after  the  author's  death,  in  1743,  with  a  preface, 
but  without  an  avowal  of  himself  as  the  editor.  Encomiums 
upon  him,  as  the  friend  of  merit  and  letters,  may  be  found 
in  the  writings  of  this  poet,  of  Pope,  and  many  others ; 
but  seme  of  the  most  elegant  compliments  to  him  appear 
in  the  third  volume  of  Dodsley's  collection,  and  proceeded 
from  the  pen  of  Philip  Fletcher,  dean  of  Kildare.  Ap- 
plause was  his  favourite  object,  and  few  men  have  enjoyed 
it  in  a  greater  abundance. 1 

STANLEY  (THOMAS),  an  accomplished  scholar  and 
poet,  connected,  though  in  an  oblique  line,  with  the  illus- 
trious family  of  Derby,  was  the  descendant  of  a  natural 
son,  Thomas  Stanley,  of  Edward  earl  of  Derby.  His 
father  was  sir  Thomas  Stanley  of  Laytonstone,  in  Essex, 
and  Cumberlow,  in  Hertfordshire,  knight,  by  his  second 
wife,  Mary,  daughter  of  sir  William  Hammond,  of  St. 
Alban's-court  in  the  parish  of  Nonington  between  Canter- 
bury and  Deal.  He  was  born  in  1625,  and  was  educated 
in  his  father's  house,  under  the  tuition  of  William  Fairfax, 
son  of  Edward  Fairfax,  of  Newhall,  in  the  parish  of  Ottley, 
in  Yorkshire,  the  celebrated  translator  of  Tasso.  From 
thence  he  was  sent  in  1639  as  a  fellow-commoner  to  Pem- 
broke-hall, Cambridge,  where  he  distinguished  himself  by 
his  proficiency  in  polite  learning ;  having  still,  as  he  had 
in  more  advanced  years,  the  advantage  of  Mr.  Fairfax's 
society,  as  the  director  of  his  studies.  In  1641,  the  de- 

i  Life  by  Maty.— Lord  Orford's  Works,  vol.  I.  535,  V.  40,  84,  663.— Swift's 
Works,  see  Index. — Forbes's  Life  of  Beattie. — Boswell's  Life  of  Johnson. — 
Bowles's  edition  of  Pope's  Works.— Collins's  Peerage,  by  sir  E.  Brydges. 


STANLEY.  337 

gree  of  M.  A.  was  conferred  on  him  per  gratiam,  along 
with  prince  Charles,  George  duke  of  Buckingham,  and 
others  of  the  nobility. 

Having  spent  some  time  in  foreign  travel,  he  took  up 
his  residence,  during  the  usurpation,  in  the  Middle  Temple, 
where  he  formed  a  friendship  and  community  of  studies 
with  his  first  cousin,  E'iward  Sherburne,  afterwards  sir  Ed- 
ward, the  poet  and  translator,  who  dedicated  his  poems  to 
Stanley.  These  ingenious  men  arrived  at  the  Temple  about 
the  same  time,  from  the  unfortunate  surrender  of  Oxford 
to  the  parliament  forces.  Stanley,  as  Wood  says,  now 
"  became  much  deserving  of  the  commonwealth  of  learn- 
ing in  general,  aad  particularly  for  the  smooth  and  genteel 
spirit  in  poetry,  which  appears  not  only  in  his  genuine 
poems,  but  also  from  those  things  he  hath  translated  out 
of  the  ancient  Greek  and  Latin,  as  the  modern  Italian, 
Spanish,  and  French  poets." 

Mr.  Stanley  died  at  his  lodgings,  in  Suffolk-street,  in 
the  parish  of  St.  Martin's-in-the-Fields,  April  12,  167S, 
and  was  buried  in  the  church  there.  He  married  Dorothy 
daughter  and  co-heir  of  sir  James  Enyon,  of  Flower,  in 
Northamptonshire,  bart.  By  this  lady  he  had  a  son  of  both 
his  own  names,  who  was  educated  at  Pembroke-hall,  Cam- 
bridge, and,  when  very  young  (Aubrey  says  at  fourteen), 
translated  /Elian's  "  Various  Histories,"  which  he  dedi- 
cated to  his  aunt,  the  lady  Newton,  wife  of  sir  Henry  Puc- 
kering Newton,  knt.  and  bart.  to  whom  his  father  had  de- 
dicated his  j^Eschylus. 

Mr,  Stanley's  "  Poems"  and  "  Translations"  were  printed 
in  1649,  8vo,  and  reprinted  in  1651  with  additions;  and 
correct  editions  of  both  were  lately  published  in  1814  and 
1815,  under  the  fostering  hand  of  sir  E.  Brydges,  bart.  who 
has  prefixed  a  biographical  memoir  to  the  "  Poems,"  to 
which  we  are  greatly  indebted  in  this  sketch,  especially 
for  corrections  of  the  preceding  erroneous  accounts  of  Mr. 
Stanley. 

But  the  work  to  which  Mr.  Stanley  deservedly  owed  his 
high  reputation  as  a  scholar,  was  his  "  History  of  Philoso- 
phy, containing  the  Lives,  Opinions,  Actions,  and  Dis- 
courses of  the  Philosophers  of  every  Sect."  This  he  dedi- 
cated to  his  uncle  John  Marsham,  esq.  the  well-known 
author  of  the  "  Canon  Chronicus,"  who  first  suggested  the 
design  ;  and  in  the  dedication  Mr.  Stanley  mentions  the 
learned  Gassendus  as  his  precedent;  "whom,"  he  adds, 

VOL.  XXVIII.  '         Z 


338  STANLEY. 

"  nevertheless  I  have  not  followed  in  his  partiality.  For  h<?? 
though  limited  to  a  single  person,  yet  giveth  himself  liberty 
of  enlargement  ;  and  taketh  occasion,  from  this  subject, 
to  make  the  world  acquainted  with  many  excellent  disqui- 
sitions of  his  own.  Our  scope,  being  of  a  greater  latitude, 
affords  less  opportunity  to  favour  any  particular,  while 
there  is  due  to  every  one  the  commendation  of  their  own 
deserts."  This  very  elaborate  and  useful  work  has  gone 
through  four  editions  in  English,  the  first  in  parts,  1655 — 
1660,  the  second  in  1687,  the  last  and  best  in  1743,  4to. 
It  was  also  translated  into  Latin,  and  published  at  Leipsic 
in  1711,  by  Fritch,  in  quarto,  with  considerable  additions 
and  corrections.  The  account  of  the  Oriental  learning 
and  philosophy,  with  which  it  concludes,  appeared  so  va- 
luable to  Le  Clerc,  that  he  published  a  Latin  translation  of 
it  in  1690,  8vo,  with  a  dedication  to  bishop  Burnet,  and 
placed  it  at  the  end  of  the  second  volume  of  his  "  Opera 
Philosophic*." 

When  Stanley  had  finished  this  work,  which  was  when 
in  his  thirtieth  year,  lie  undertook  to  publish  "  jEschylus," 
the  most  obscure  and  intricate  of  all  the  Greek  poets  ;  ami 
after  employing  much  pains  in  restoring  his  text  and  illus- 
trating his  meaning,  produced  an  accurate  and  beautiful 
edition  of  that  author,  under  the  title  of  "  ^Eschyli  Tra- 
grediae  Septem,  &c.  Versione  et  Commentario  Thorn  ae 
JStanleii,"  1663  and  1664,  two  dates,  but  the  same  edition, 
folio.  Dedicated  to  sir  Henry  Puckering  Newton,  baronet. 
The  merits  of  this  celebrated  edition  are  sufficiently  known. 
Morhoff,  Fabricius,  and  Harles,  have  all  stated  its  excel- 
lencies ;  and  the  labours  of  every  preceding  commentator, 
the  fragments  of  the  lost  dramas,  with  the  entire  Greek 
scholia,  are  embodied  in  it.  De  Bure  observes,  that  when 
Pauw  gave  out  his  proposals  for  printing  an  edition  of 
./Eschylus,  the  work  of  Stanley  sunk  in  value  :  but  when 
Pauw's  edition  actually  appeared,  the  learned  were  dis- 
appointed, and  Stanley's  edition  rose  in  price  and  value. 
Good  copies  are  now  very  rare.  Besides  these  monuments 
of  his  learning,  which  are  published,  there  were  many 
other  proofs  of  his  unwearied  application,  remaining  in 
manuscript  after  his  death,  in  the  library  of  More,  bishop  of 
Ely,  and  now  in  the  public  library  at  Cambridge  ;  namely, 
his  large  "  Commentaries  on  JEschylus,"  in  8  vols.  folio  ; 
his  "  Adversaria,  or  Miscellaneous  Remarks,"  on  several 


STANLEY.  339 

passages  in  Sophocles,  Euripides,  Callimachus,  Hesychius, 
Juvenal,  Persius,  and  other  authors  of  antiquity  ;  '•  Copious 
Prelections  on  Theophrastus's  Characters;"  and  ."  A  Cri- 
tical Essay  on  the  First-fruits  and  Tenths  of  the  Spoil,", 
said  in  the  epistle  to  the  Hebrews  to  be  given  by  Abraham 
to  Melchisedeck.  ' 

STANYHURST  (RICHARD),  an  historian,  poet,  and  di- 
vine of  the  sixteenth  century,  was  born  in  Dublii^  proba- 
bly about  151-5  or  1546.  His  father  James  Stany hurst  was 
a  lawyer,  recorder  of  Dublin,  and  speaker  of  the  House  of 
Commons  in  several  parliaments.  He  published;  in  Latin, 
"  Piae  Orationes  ;"  "Ad  Corsagiensem  Decanum  Epistoke," 
and  three  speeches,  in  English,  which  he  delivered  as  spea- 
ker, at  the  beginning  of  the  parliaments  of  the  3d  and  4th 
Philip  and  Mary,  and  the  2d  and  llth  of  Elizabeth.  He 
died  Dec.  27,  1573,  leaving  two  sons,  Walter  and  Richard. 
Of  WALTER  our  only  information  is,  that  he  translated  "  In- 
nocentins  de  contemptu  Mundi." 

RICHARD  had  some  classical  education  at  Dublin,  under 
Peter  White,  a  celebrated  school-master,  whence  he  was 
-cut  to  Oxford  in  1563,  and  admitted  of  University-college. 
After  taking  one  degree  in  arts,  he  left  Oxford,  and  under- 
took the  study  of  the  law  with  diligence,  first  at  FurnivaPs- 
nn,  and  then  at  Lincoln's-inn,  where  he  resided  for  some 
time.  He  then  returned  to  Ireland,  married,  and  turned 
Roman  Catholic.  Removing  afterwards  to  the  continent, 
lie  is  said  by  A.  Wood  to  have  become  famous  for  his  learn- 
ing in  France,  and  the  Low  Countries.  Losing  his  wife, 
while  he  was  abroad,  he  entered  into  orders,  and  was  made 
chaplain,  at  Brussels,  to  Albert  archduke  of  Austria,  who 
was  then  governor  of  the  Spanish  Netherlands.  At  this 
place  he  died  in  1618,  being  universally  esteemed  as  an 
excellent  scholar  in  the  learned  languages,  a  good  divine, 
philosopher,  historian,  and  poet.  He  kept  up  a  constant 
correspondence  with  Usher,  afterwards  the  celebrated  arch- 
bishop, who  was  his  sister's  son.  They  were  allied,  says 
Dodd,  "  in  their  studies  as  well  as  blood  ;  being  both  very 
curious  in  searching  after  the  writings  of  the  primitive 

».  But  their  reading  had  not  the  same  effect.  The 
uncle  became  a  catholic,  and  took  no  small  pains  to  bring 
over  the  nephew."  Stanyhurst  published  several  works, 

1    Biog.  Prcfai •<•  viy. 

•  j!.  1. 


S40  STANYHURST. 

tke  first  of  which  was  written  when  he  had  been  only  two 
years  at  Oxford,  and  published  about  five  years  after.  Ic 
was  a  learned  commentary  on  Porphyry,  and  raised  the 
greatest  expectations  of  his  powers,  being  mentioned  with 
particular  praise,  as  the  work  of  so  young  a  man,  by  Ed- 
mund Campion,  the  Jesuit,  then  a  siudent  of  St.  John's- 
eollege.  It  is  entitled  "  Harmonia,  seu  catena  dialectics 
in  Porphyrium,"  Lond.  1570,  folio.  2.  "  De  rebus  in  Hi- 
bernia  gestis,  lib,  iv."  Antwerp,  1584,  4to.  According  t*v 
Keating,  this  work  abounds,  not  only  in  errors,  but  misre- 
presentations, which  Stanyhurst  afterwards  acknowledged. 
3.  "Descriptio  Hiberniac,"  inserted  in  Holinshed's  Chro- 
nicle. 4.  "  De  vita  S.  Patricii,  Hiberniae  Apostoli,  lib.  ii." 
Antw.  1587,  12mo.  5.  "  Hebdotnada  Mariana,"  Antw. 
1609,  8vo.  6.  "  Hebdomacla  Euclmristiea,"  Douay,  1614, 
8vo.  7.  "  Brevis  prsemonitio  pro  futura  concertatione  cum 
Jacobo  Usserio,"  Douay,  1615,  8vo.  8.  "The  Principles 
of  the  Catholic  Religion."  9.  "  The  four  first  books  of 
Virgil's  ^Eneis,  in  English  Hexameters,"  1583,  small  8vo, 
black  letter.  To  these  are  subjoined  the  four  first  Psalms  ; 
the  first  in  English  Iambics,  though  he  confesses,  that  "  the 
lambical  quantitie  relisheth  somwhat  unsavorly  in  our 
language,  being,  in  truth,  not  al  togeather  the  toothsomest 
in  the  Latine."  The  second  is  in  elegiac  verse,  or  English 
hexameter  or  pentameter.  The  third  is  a  short  specimen 
of  the  asclepiac  verse;  thus  :  "  Lord,  my  dirye  foes,  why 
do  they  multiply."  The  fourth  is  in  sapphics,  with  a  prayer 
to  the  Trinity  in  the  same  measure.  Then  follow,  "  cer- 
tayne  poetical  conceites,"  in  Latin  and  English  :  and  after 
these  some  epitaphs.  The  English  throughout  is  in  Roman 
measures.  The  preface,  in  which  he  assigns  his  reasons 
for  translating  after  Phaer,  is  a  curious  specimen  of  quaint- 
ness  and  pedantry.  Mr.  Warton,  in  his  History  of  Poetry, 
seems  not  to  have  attended  to  these  reasons,  such  as  they 
are  ;  but  thus  speaks  of  the  attempt  of  Stanyhurst :  "  After 
the  associated  labours  of  Phaier  end  Twyne,  it  is  hard  to 
say  what  could  induce  Robert  [Richard]  Stanyhurst,  a  na- 
tive of  Dublin,  to  translate  the  four  first  books  of  the  JEneid 
into  English  hexameters,  which  he  printed  at  London,  in 
15S3,  and  dedicated  to  his  brother  Peter  Plunket,  the 
learned  baron  of  Dusanay  [Dunsanye],  in  Ireland.  Stany- 
hurst was  at  that  time  living  at  Leyden,  having  left  Eng- 
land for  some  time,  on  account  of  the  [his]  change  of  re- 
ligion. In  the  choice  of  his  measure  he  is  more  unfortu- 


S  T  A  N  Y  H  U  R  S  T.  341 

nate  than  his  predecessors,  and  in  other  respects  succeeded 
worse.  Thomas  Naishe,  in  his  Apology  of  Pierce  Pen- 
nilesse,  printed  in  1593,  observes,  that  *  jltany hurst,  the 
otherwise  learned,  trod  a  foul,  lumbring,  boistrcus,  wal- 
lowing measure,  in  his  translation  of  Virgil.  He  hud  never 
been  praised  by  Gabriel  Harvey  for  his  labour,  it  therein 
he  had  not  been  so  famously  absurd.'  Harvey,  Spenser's 
friend,  was  one  of  the  chief  patrons,  if  not  the  inventor  of 
the  English  hexameter  here  used  by  Stanyhurst."  His  trans- 
lation, opens  thus : 

I  that  in  old  season  wyth  reed's  oten  harmonye  whistled 
My  rural  sonnet ;  from  forrest  flitted,  I  forced 
Thee  sulcking  swincker  thee  soile,  though  craggie  to  sunder, 
A  labor  and  a  travaile  too  plowswains  hartily  welcom.  , 

Now  manhod  and  garboils  I  chant,  and  martial  horror. 

It  is  observable,  that  he  lengthens  tht  into  thee,  and  to 
into  too,  for  the  sake  of  his  verse.  Mr.  Warton  cites  the 
beginning  of  the  second  book,  and  then  adds,  "with  all 
this  foolish  pedantry,  Stanyhnrst  was  certainly  a  scholar. 
But  in  this  translation  he  calls  Chorcebus,  one  of  the  Trojan 
chiefs,  a  Bedlamite ;  he  says,  that  old  Priatn  girded  on  his 
sword  Morglay,  the  name  of  a  sword  in  the  Gothic  ro- 
mances; that  Dido  would  have  been  glad  to  have  been, 
brought  to  bed,  even  of  a  cockney,  a  Dandiprat  hop  -  thumb ; 
and  that  Jupiter,  in  kissing  her  daughter,  bust  his  pretty 
prating  parrot."  Stanyhurst  is  styled  by  Camden,  "  Eru- 
ditissimus  iile  nobilis  Richardus  Stanihurstus." 

Stanyhurst  had  a  son  WILLIAM,  born  at  Brussels  in  1601. 
He  became  a  Jesuit,  and  a  writer  of  reputation  among 
persons  of  his  communion.  He  died  in  1663.  Sojwell 
has  given  a  list  of  his  works,  of  which  we  shall  mention 
only  "  Album  Marianum,  in  quo  prosa  et  carmine  Dei  in 
Austriacos  beneficia,  et  Austriacornm  erga  Deum  obsequia 
recensentur."  Louvaine,  1641,  folio,1 

STAPLEDON  (WALTER),  founder  of  Exeter  college, 
and  of  Hart-hall,  Oxford,  was  so  named  from  Stapledont: 
in  the  parish  of  Cookberry,  the  ancient  residence  of  the 
family.  Prince  thinks  he  was  born  at  Annery,  in  the  pa- 
rish of  Monklegh,  near  Great  Torrington,  in  Devonshire. 
All  we  have  of  his  history  begins  with  his  advancement  to 
the  bishopric  in  1307.  He  is  said  to  have  been  of  "great 

1  Warton's  Hist,  of  Poetry.— Philips's  Theatrum  by  sirE.  Bridges. — Censura 
Literaria,  vol.  II.  and  IV. — Ath.  Ox.  vol.  1.  — Dodd's  Ch.  Hist.— Harris's  Ware. 


342  S  T  A  P  L  E  D  O  N. 

parentage,"  and  his  installation  was  graced  by  ceremonies 
of  magnificent  solemnity.  On  his  arrival  at  Exeter,  he 
alighted  from  his  horse  at  Eastgate,  and  walked  on  foot, 
the  or  nnd  being  smoothed  and  covered  with  black  cloth, 

r~  O  * 

to  the  cathedral  ;  on  each  hand  he  was  accompanied  by  a 
person  of  distinction,  while  sir  Hugh  Courtney,  who  claimed 
the  honour  of  being  steward  on  this  occasion,  walked  be- 
fore him.  At  Broadgate  he  was  received  by  the  chapter 
and  choir.  After  the  accustomed  ceremonies,  a  grand 
feast  was  given,  of  such  expence  as  the  revenues  of  the 
bishopric,  according  to  Godwin's  estimation,  would  not 
have  been  sufficient  to  defray,  yet  in  Henry  IVth's  time  it 
was  valued  at  7000/.  per  annum,  a  sum  scarcely  credible, 
as  the  expence  of  an  entertainment. 

All  the  steps  of  his  political  life  were  marked  with  ho- 
nours. He  was  chosen  one  of  the  privy-council  to  Edward 
II.  appointed  lord  treasurer,  and  employed  in  embassies, 
and  other  weighty  affairs  of  state,  in  which  his  abilities  and 
integrity  would  have  been  acknowledged,  had  he  not  lived 
in  a  period  of  remarkable  turbulence  and  injustice.  In 
1325  he  accompanied  the  queen  to  France  in  order  to  ne- 
gociate  a  peace,  but  her  intentions  to  depose  her  husband 
were  no  longer  to  be  concealed,  and  the  bishop,  whose 
integrity  her  machinations  could  not  corrupt,  continued  to 
attach  himself  to  the  cause  of  his  unfortunate  sovereign, 
and  fell  an  early  sacrifice  to  popular  fury.  In  1326  he  was 
appointed  guardian  of  the  city  of  London  during  the  king's 
absence  in  the  west,  and  while  he  was  taking  measures  to 
preserve  the  loyalty  of  the  metropolis,  the  populace  at- 
tacked him,  Oct.  15,  as  he  was  walking  the  streets,  and 
beheaded  him  near  the  north  door  of  St.  Paul's,  together 
with  sir  Richard  Stapledon,  his  brother.  Godwin  informs 
us  that  they  buried  the  bishop  in  a  heap  of  sand  at  the  back 
of  his  house,  without  Temple-l>ar.  Walsingham  says  they 
threw  it  into  the  river ;  but  the  former  account  seems  most 
consistent  with  popular  malevolence  and  contempt.  Exeter 
house  was  founded  by  him  as  a  town  residence  for  the 
bishops  of  the  diocese,  and  is  said  to  have  been  very  mag- 
nificent. It  was  afterwards  alienated  from  the  see,  and  by 
a  change  of  owners,  became  first  Leicester,  and  then 
Essex  house,  a  name  which  the  scite  still  retains.  It  ap- 
pears that  the  queen  soon  after  ordered  the  body  of  the 
murdered  bishop  to  be  removed  and  interred,  with  that 
of  his  brother,  in  Exeter  cathedral.  In  the  3d  Edward  III. 


S  T  A  P  L  E  D  O  N.  343 

1330,  a  synod  was  held  at  London  before  Simon,  arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury,  to  make  inquiry  into  bishop  Sta- 
pledon's  death  ;  and  his  murderers,  and  all  who  were  any 
way  privy  or  consenting  to  the  crime,  were  executed.  His 
monument,  in  the  north  aile  of  Exeter  cathedral,  \vas 
erected  by  the  rector  and  fellows  of  Exeter  college. 
Among  the  mu,niments  of  the  dean  and  chapter  of  Exeter, 
there  is  an  account  of  the  administration  of  his  goods,  by 
Richard  Braylegh,  dean  of  Exeter,  and  one  of  his  exe- 
cutors; by  which  it  appears  that  he  left  a  great  many  le- 
gacies to  poor  scholars,  and  several  *nms  ot  money,  from 
twenty  to  sixty  shillings,  for  the  repairing  of  bridges  in  the 
county,  and  towards  building  Pilton  churc.i,  &c. 

Walter  de  Stapledon  was  not  more  eminent  for  the  judg- 
ment and  firmness  which  he  displayed  as  a  statesman,  in. 
times  of  peculiar  difficulty,  than  for  his  love  of  learnia<r. 
After  he  had  engaged  Hart,  or  Hart-hall,  for  the  accom- 
modation of  his  scholars,  he  purchased  a  tenement  on  the 
scite  of  the  present  college,  called  St.  Stephen's  hall,  in 
1315,  and  having  purchased  also  some  additional  premises, 
known  then  by  the  names  of  Scot-hall,  Leding- Park-Hall, 
and  Baltaye-Hall,  he  removed  the  rector  and  scholars  of 
Stapledon,  or  Hart-hall  to  this  place,  in  pursuance  of  the 
same  foundation  charter  which  he  had  obtained  of  the  king 
for  founding  that  hall  in  the  preceding  year.  According 
to  the  statutes  which  he  gave  to  this  society,  the  number 
of  persons  to  be  maintained  appears  to  have  been  thirteen, 
one  to  be  instructed  in  theology  or  canon  law,  the  rest  in 
philosophy.  Eight  of  them  were  to  be  of  the  archdea- 
conries of  Exeter,  Totness,  and  Barnstaple,  four  of  the 
archdeaconry  of  Cornwall,  and  one,  a  priest,  might  be 
nominated  by  the  dean  and  chapter  of  Exeter  from  any 
other  part  of  the  kingdom.  In  1404,  Edmund  Stafford, 
bishop  of  Exeter,  a  great  benefactor,  changed  the  name 
from  Stapledon  to  Exeter  Hall,  but  it  did  not  rise  to  the 
consequence  of  a  corporate  body  until  the  time  of  sir  Wil- 
liam Petre,  who,  in  1565,  procured  a  new  body  of  statutes, 
and  a  regular  deed  of  incorporation,  increasing  also  the 
number  of  fellowships,  &c.  ' 

STAPLETON  (sir  ROBEUT),  a  dramatic  poet,   was  the 
third  son  of  Richard  Stapleton,  esq.  of  Carleton,  in  York- 

1  Wood's  Colleges  and  Halls. — Polwhele's  Hisi,  of  Devonshire.— 
Hi=t.  ot'Oxfoid. 


344  S  T  A  P  L  E  T  O  N. 

shire,  and  uncle  to  sir  Miles  Stapleton,  and  Dr.  Stapleton, 
a  Benedictine  monk.  As  his  family  were  zealous  Roman 
catholics,  he  was  educated  in  the  same  religion  in  the 
college  of  the  English  Benedictines  at  Douay  :  hut,  being 
born  with  a  poetical  turn,  and  too  volatile  to  be  confined 
within  the  walls  of  a  cloister,  he  threw  off  the  restraint  of 
his  education,  quitted  a  recluse  life,  came  over  to  England, 
and  turned  protestant.  Having  good  interest,  which  was 
perhaps  also  promoted  by  the  change  of  his  religion,  he 
was  made  gentleman-usher  of  the  privy-chamber  to  the 
prince  of  Wales,  afterwards  Charles  II.  We  find  him 
constantly  adhering  to,  the  interest  of  his  royal  master  ;  for 
when  his  majesty  was  driven  out  of  London  by  the  threaten- 
ings  and  tumults  of  the  discontented,  he  followed  him, 
and,  in  1642,  received  the  honour  of  knighthood.  After 
the  battle  of  Edgehill,  when  his  majesty  was  obliged  to 
retire  to  Oxford,  our  author  then  attended  hi.n,  and  was 
created  doctor  of  the  civil  laws.  When  the  royal  cause 
declined,  Stapleton  thought  proper  to  retire  and  apply 
himself  to  study  ;  and,  as  he  was  not  amongst  the  most 
conspicuous  of  the  royalists,  he  was  suffered  to  enjoy  his 
solitude  unmolested.  At  the  restoration  he  was  again  pro- 
moted in  the  service  of  Charles  II.  and  held  a  place  in  that 
monarch's  esteem  till  his  death,  July  1 1,  1C69.  He  was 
interred  near  the  vestry  door  in  Westminster-abbey.  Lang- 
baine  says  that  his  writings  have  "  made  him  not  only 
known,  but  admired,  throughout  all  England,  and  while 
MUSJEUS  and  Juvenal  are  in  esteem  with  the  learned,  sir  Ro- 
bert's fame  will  still  survive  ;  the  translation  of  these  two 
authors  having  placed  his  name  in  the  temple  of  immor- 
tality." "  The  Loves  of  Hero  and  Leander,  from  the  Greek 
of  Musaeus,  with  notes,"  was  published,  Lond.  1647,  8vo, 
and  such  was  Stapleton's  regard  for  Musseus,  that  he  af- 
terwards reduced  the  story  into  a  dramatic  poem.  His 
"Juvenal"  was  published  in  1647,  8vo,  and  was  thought 
to  be  preferable  to  Holiday's,  but  they  are  both  too  literal. 
In  1650  he  published  a  translation  of  Strada's  "  History  of 
the  Belgic  War,"  fol.  His  dramatic  pieces  are,  l."The 
Slighted  Maid",  1663.  2.  "  The  Step-mother,"  1664. 
3.  "  Hero  and  Leander,"  1669  ;  and,  according  to  the  books 
of  the  stationers'  company,  4.  "  The  Royal  Choice."  ' 

1  Ath.  Ox.  ro!.  II. — Biog.  Dram.— Gibber's  Lives.—  Dodd's  Ch.  Hist. 


S  T  A  P  L  E  T  O  N.  345 

STAPLETON  (THOMAS),  a  celebrated  controversialist 
on  the  side  of  the  papists,  was  born  at  Henfield,  in  Sussex, 
in  1535,  of  a  genteel  family  from  Yorkshire.  Having  been 
educated  at  Canterbury  and  Winchester,  he  was  removed 
to  New  college,  Oxford,  where  he  obtained  a  perpetual 
fellowship  in  1554.  In  the  same  reign,  which  was  that  of 
Mary,  he  was  made  prebendary  of  Chichcs.  :r  ;  but  on  the 
accession  of  Elizabeth,  left  the  kingdom,  »vith  his  father 
and  other  relations,  and  settled  at  Louvain,  where  he  dis- 
tinguished himself  by  his  controversial  writings  against 
Jewel,  Home,  Whitaker,  and  other  eminent  divines  of  the 
English  church.  He  also  visited  Paris  and  Rome,  but  re- 
turned to  Louvain,  where  he  translated  Bede's  Church  His- 
tory into  English.  He  then  became  regius  professor  of 
divinity  in  the  new  university  of  Donay,  and  canon  in  the 
church  of  St.  Amoiue.  He  became  a  Jesuit,  but  again 
relinquished  the  order,  and  returning  to  Louvain,  was 
appointed  regius  professor  in  divinity  there,  canon  of  St. 
Peter's,  and  dean  of  Hillerbeck.  He  died  in  1598,  and 
was  buried  in  the  church  of  St.  Peter  at  Louvain.  Clement 
VIII.  had  invited  him  to  Rome,  but  he  did  not  choose  to 
go.  This  pope,  it  is  said,  intended  to  bestow  upon  him  a 
cardinal's  hat,  and  that  this  honour  was  prevented  by  his 
death.  He  was,  however,  so  great  an  admirer  of  Staple- 
ton's  writings,  that  he  ordered  them  to  be  read  publicly  at 
his  table.  Cardinal  Perron,  who  was  an  eminent  author 
himself,  esteemed  him,  both  for  learning  and  acuteness, 
the  first  polemical  divine  of  his  age;  and  Whitaker  himself, 
seems  to  allow  no  less. 

His  chief  works  are,  1.  "  Tres  Thomac  ;  seu  res  gesta  S. 
Thomae  Apost.  S.  Thomae  archiep.  Cant,  et  Thomae  Mori." 
2.  "Orationes  funebres,"  Antw.  1577.  3.  "Orationes  Aca- 
demicae  miscellaneas,"  1602.  4.  "  Orationes  Catecheticae," 
Antw.  1598.  His  works  were  published  collectively  at 
Paris,  in  1620,  4  volumes,  folio.  To  which  is  prefixed  his 
life,  by  Hollendum.  His  epitaph  is  extant  in  Pits.2 

STATIUS  (PUBLICS  PAPINIUS),  an  ancient  Roman  poet 
who  flourished  in  the  first  century,  was  born  at  Naples, 
and  descended  of  a  good  family  by  his  father's  side.  His 
father  was  a  rhetorician,  a  man  of  probity  and  learning, 
and  also  a  poet,  although  none  of  his  works  are  now  ex- 
tant. Our  author  discovered  an  early  inclination  for  poetry, 

1  Tanner. — Pits. — Ath.  Ox.  vol.  I.  new  edit.— Dodd's  Church  Hist.— Fuller's 
Worthies. 


3K,  S  T  A  T  I  U  S. 

which  was  so  much  improved  by  his  father's  instructions, 
that  he  soon  was  introduced  to  the  first  geniuses  of  the  age, 
and  afterwards  to  the  emperor  himself,  by  his  friend  Paris, 
1  he  player,  at  that  time  one  of  the  chief  court-favourites. 
His  literary  merit  gained  him  so  large  a  share  of  the  em- 
peror's esteem,  that  he  was  permitted  to  sit  at  table  with 
him  among  his  ministers  and  courtiers  of  the  highest  qua- 
lity, and  was  often  crowned  for  his  verses,  which  were  pub- 
licly recited  in  the  theatre.  And,  although  he  once  lost 
the  prize  in  the  capitol,  the  frequent  determination  of  the 
judges  in  his  favour  created  him  the  envy  of  Martial  ;  who 
piqued  himself  much  on  his  extempore  productions,  a:,:l 
has  therefore  never  mentioned  Statius  in  his  account  of  the 
poets,  his  contemporaries.  The  "  Thebaid,"  finished  at 
Naples,  and  dedicated  to  Domitian,  was  received  at  Rome 
with  the  greatest  applause,  as  Juvenal  has  told  us  in  a  ce- 
lebrated passage,  which,  however,  is  thought  bv  some  to 
have  been  nothing  more  than  a  sneer.  In  this  passage, 
which  begins 

"  Curritur  ad  vocem  jucundatn  et  carmen  amicie,  £c." 
Dr.  Warton  thinks  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  Juvenal  meant 
to  be  satirical,  and  to  insinuate  obliquely  that  Statius  was 
the  favourite  poet  with  the  vulgar,  who  are  easily  capti- 
vated with  a  wild  and  inartificial  tale,  and  an  empty  mag- 
nificence of  numbers.  Statius  had,  however,  no  sooner 
finished  his  "  Thebaid,"  than  he  formed  the  plan  of  his 
"  Achilleid,"  a  work,  in  which  he  intended  to  take  in  the 
•whole  life  of  Achilles,  and  not  one  single  action,  as  Homer 
has  done  in  the  Iliad.  This  he  left  imperfect,  dying  at 
Naples,  about  A.D.  96,  before  he  had  well  finished  two 
books  of  it. 

When  he  was  young,  he  fell  in  love  with,  and  married  a 
widow,  daughter  of  Claudius  Apollinaris,  a  musician  of 
Naples.  He  describes  her  in  his  poems,  as  a  very  beauti- 
ful, learned,  ingenious,  and  virtuous  woman,  and  a  great 
proficient  in  his  own  favourite  study  of  poesy.  Her  society 
was  a  solace  to  him  in  his  heavy  hours,  and  her  judgment 
of  no  small  use  in  his  poem,  as  he  himself  has  confessed  to 
us  in  his  u  Sylvas."  He  inscribed  several  of  his  verses  to 
her,  and  as  a  mark  of  his  affection  behaved  with  singular 
tenderness  to  a  daughter  which  she  had  by  a  former  hus- 
band. During  his  absence  at  Naples  for  the  space  of 
twenty  years,  she  behaved  with  the  strictest  fidelity,  and  at 
length  followed  him,  and  died  there.  He  had  no  children 


S  T  A  T  I  U  S.  347 

by  her  ;  and  therefore  adopted  a  son,  whose  death  he  be- 
wails in  a  very  pathetic  manner.     It  appears  that  he  sold  a 
tragedy  called  "  A<;ave"  to   Paris,  already  mentioned,  and 
that  what  he  got  by  this  and  Domitian's  bounty  had  set  him 
above  want.      He   informs  us  that  h'e  had  a  small  country 
seat  in  Tuscanv,  where   Alba   formerly  stood.     With  re- 
gard  to  his  moral  character,   from  what  we  can  collect,  he 
appears  to  have  been  religious  almost   to  superstition,  an 
affectionate  husband,   a  loyal   subject,   and    good    citizen. 
Some  critics,  however,  have  not  scrupled  to  accuse  him  of 
'JTOSS  flattery  to  Domitian  :   and  that  he  paid  his  court  to 
him  with  a  view  to  interest,  cannot  be  denied,  yet  his  ad- 
vocates are  willing  to   believe  that  his  patron  had  not  ar- 
rived to  that  pitch  of  wickedness  and   impiety  at  the  time 
he  wrote  his  poem,  which   he  showed   afterwards.     Envx 
made  no  part  of  his  composition.     That  he  acknowledged 
merit,   wherever  he  found  it,   his  Genethliacon   of  Lucan, 
and  Encomia  on  Virgil,  bear  ample  testimony.      He  carried 
his  reverence  for  the  memory  of  the  latter  almost  to  adora- 
tion, constantly  visiting  his  tomb,  and  celebrating  his  birth- 
day with   great  solemnity.      His  tragedy  of  "  Agave"  ex- 
cepted,   we  have  all  his  works,  consisting  of  his  "  Sylvae," 
or  miscellaneous  pieces,  in   five  books,  his  "Tbebaid"in 
twelve,  and  his  "  Achilleid"  in  two. 

Statins,  by  the  general  verdict  of  modern  critics,  is 
ranked  among  those  authors,  who,  by  their  forced  con- 
ceits, violent  metaphors,  swelling  epithets,  and  want  of 
just  decorum,  have  a  strong  tendency  to  dazzle,  and  to 
mislead  inexperienced  minds,  and  tastes  unformed,  from 
the  true  relish  of  possibility,  propriety,  simplicity,  and  na- 
ture. Dr.  Warton,  in  his  "  Essay  on  Pope,"  who  trarislatec 
part  of  the  "  Thebaid,"  has  many  just  remarks  on  authors 
of  this  cast,  but  allows  that  Statius  lias  passages  of  true 
sublimity,  and  had  undoubtedly  invention,  ability,  and  spi- 
rit. We  must  not  confound  Publius  Papinius  Statius,  as 
some  have  done,  with  another  Statius,  whose  surname  was 
Surculus  ;  or,  as  Suetonius  calls  him,  LJrsulus.  This  latter 
was,  indeed,  a  poet,  as  '.veil  as  the  other;  but  he  lived  at 
Tolosa  in  Gaul,  and  taujnt  rhetoric  in  the  reign  of  Nero. 

The  best  editions  of  Statins  are  these  :  that  of  Gronovius, 
12mo,  1653;  of  Barthiu-.,  2  vol.  4to,  1664;  and  the  Vari- 
orum, L.  Bat.  1671,  8vo.  The  best  edition  of  the  "  Sylvac," 
is  that  "  cum  notis  &  emendationibus  Jeremiae  Markland, 


348  S  T  A  U  N  F  O  R  D. 

Lond.  1728,"  4to.  There  is  an  English  translation  of  the 
"  Thebaid"  by  Lewis.1 

STAUNFORD,or  STANFORD  (Sir  WILLIAM),  an  emi- 
nent lawyer  in  the  sixteenth  century,  was  the  son  of  Wil- 
liam Staunford,  of  London,  mercer,  and  the  grandson  of 
Richard  Staunford  of  Rowley  in  Staffordshire.  He  was 
born  in  1509,  at  Hadley  in  Middlesex,  where  his  father 
had  purchased  some  property,  and  had  married  a  London 
lady  of  the  name  of  Gedney.  After  studying  for  some  time 
at  Oxford,  he  applied  to  municipal  law  in  Gray's  Inn,  and 
soon  acquired  reputation  for  knowledge  of  his  profession. 
In  1545,  he  was  chosen  autumn-reader  to  this  society,  but 
did  not  read  until  Lent  following,  owing,  as  Wood  says,  to 
the  plague  :  the  year  after  he  was  appointed  attorney-gene- 
ral. In  1551  he  was  double  Lent  reader  at  Gray's-inn, 
made  serjeant  at  law  the  next  year,  and  qxieen's  serjeant  in 
1553,  when  Mary  came  to  the  throne,  as  he  was  a  zealous 
adherent  to  her  religion.  In  1554  he  became  a  judge  of 
the  common-pleas,  and  the  same  year  received  the  honour 
of  knighthood.  He  died  Aug.  28,  1553,  and  was  buried  in 
Hadley  church.  While  both  at  the  bar  and  on  the  bench, 
he  was  much  esteemed,  and  obtained  no  small  fame  by  his 
writings,  which  still  perpetuate  his  name.  They  are 
1.  "  Placita  coronac,"  in  French,  4to,  1557,  and  often  re- 
printed from  that  time  to  1607.  2.  "Exposition  of  the 
King's  prerogative,"  printed  with  the  former.  He  left  also 
many  MSS.  His  "Placita  corona;"  were  published  in  an 
epitomized  form,  by  Walter  Young,  Lond.  1660,  8vo.  and 
1663.2 

STAUNTON  (SiR  GEORGE  LEONARD),  secretary  and 
historian  of  an  embassy  to  China,  was  son  of  a  gentleman 
of  small  fortune  in  the  county  of  Galway,  in  Ireland  ;  and 
sent  early  to  study  physic  at  Montpelier,  where  he  pro- 
ceeded M.  D.  On  his  return  to  London,  he  translated  Dr. 
Stb'rck's  treatise  on  hemlock,  and  drew  up  for  the  "Journal 
Etranger"  in  France  a  comparison  between  the  literature 
of  England  and  France.  About  the  year  1762,  Dr.  Staun- 
ton  embarked  for  the  West  Indies,  as  we  find  from  a  fare- 
well letter  written  to  him  by  Dr.  Johnson,  given  by  Mr. 
Boswell  in  his  life  of  that  great  man.  This  epistle  is  replete 

1  Preface  by  Lewis. — Crusius's  Roman   Poets. — Vossius  de   Poet.  Lat. — Dib- 
din's  Classics. — Bowles's  edition  of  Pope's  Works. — Saxii  Ooomast. 

2  Ath.  Ox.  vol.  I. — Tanner. — Fuller's  Worthies. — Lloyd's  Worthies. — Dodd's 
Church  Hist. 


S  T  A  U  N  T  O  N.  349 

with  excellent  advice,  and  does  equal  credit  to  the  writer, 
and  the  person  to  whom  it  is  addressed.  Dr.  Staunton  re- 
sided, for  several  years,  in  the  West  Indies,  where  he  ac- 
quired some  addition  to  his  fortune  by  the  practice  of  phy- 
sic ;  purchased  an  estate  in  Grenada  which  he  cultivated; 
and  had  the  good  fortune  to  obtain  the  friendship  of  the 
late  lord  Macartney,  governor  of  that  island,  to  whom  he 
acted  as  secretary,  and  continued  in  that  capacity  until  the 
capture  of  it  by  the  French,  when  they  both  embarked  for 
Europe.  Having  studied  the  law,  while  in  Grenada,  Dr. 
Staunton  filled  the  office  of  attorney-general  of  the  island. 
Soon  after  lord  Macartney's  arrival  in  England,  he  was  ap- 
pointed governor  of  Madras,  and  took  Mr.  Staunton  with 
him  (for  he  seems  now  to  have  lost  the  appellation  of  doc- 
tor) as  his  secretary.  In  this  capacity,  Mr.  Staunton  had 
several  opportunities  of  displaying  his  abilities  and  intrepi- 
dity, particularly  as  one  of  the  commissioners  sent  to  treat 
of  peace  with  Tippoo  Sultaun,  and  in  the  seizure  of  general 
Stuart,  who  seemed  to  have  been  preparing  to  act  by  lord 
Macartney  as  had  been  before  done  by  the  unfortunate 
lord  Pigot.  The  secretary  was  sent  with  a  small  party  of 
seapoys  to  arrest  the  general,  which  he  effected  with  great 
spirit  and  prudence,  and  without  bloodshed.  On  his  re- 
turn to  England,  the  India  Company,  as  a  reward  for  his 
services,  settled  on  him  a  pension  of  500/.  per  annum  ;  the 
king  soon  after  created  him  a  baronet  of  Ireland,  and  the 
University  of  Oxford  conferred  on  him  the  degree  of 
LL.D.  It  having  been  resolved  to  send  an  embassy  to 
China,  lord  Macartney  was  selected  for  that  purpose,  and 
he  took  his  old  friend  and  countryman  along  with  him,  who 
was  not  only  appointed  secretary  of  legation,  but  had  also  the 
title  of  envoy-extraordinary  and  minister-plenipotentiary 
bestowed  on  him,  in  order  to  he  able  to  supply  the  place  of 
the  ambassador  in  case  of  auy  unfortunate  accident.  The 
events  of  this  embassy,  which,  on  the  whole,  proved  rather 
unpropitious,  are  well  known,  and  were  given  to  the  public 
in  two  quarto  volumes,  written  by  sir  George.  This  ac- 
count is  rather  to  be  considered  as  a  proof  of  learning  and 
observation  than  of  genius  and  reflection.  The  subject 
itself  was  highly  interesting,  but  it  is  certainly  not  ren- 
dered very  much  so  in  the  relation.  However,  it  is  on 
the  whole  a  valuable  work,  and  creditable  to  his  character 
for  knowledge  and  diligence.  And  when  we  consider  the 
short  time  he  took  to  compile  these  volumes^  added  to  the 


350  S  T  A  U  N  T  O  N. 

severe  illness  he  actually  laboured  under,  and  with  which 
he  was  attacked  soon  after  his  return,  we  cannot  withhold 
our  praise  and  approbation.  As  a  proof  of  tha  esteem  in 
which  the  India  Company  held  sir  George  Staunton,  they 
appointed  his  son,  who  accompanied  him  in  the  former 
voyage,  a  writer  to  China  ;  and  had  the  father's  health  per- 
mitted, he  would,  probably,  again  have  attended  lord  Ma- 
cartney in  some  honourable  and  confidential  station  to  his 
government  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  The  memoirs  of 
sir  George,  if  drawn  up  at  full  length,  would  exhibit  many 
instances  of  a  strong  and  ardent  mind,  labouring  occasion- 
ally under  difficulties,  and  surmounting  dangers  by  pa- 
tience, talents,  and  intrepidity.  His  conduct  in  the  seizure 
of  general  Stuart,  demonstrated  his  resolution  and  presence 
of  mind  ;  and  when  treating  with  Tippoo,  he  had  the  ad- 
dress to  induce  M.  Suffrein  to  suspend  hostilities,  even 
before  he  had  received  advice  from  his  court  of  the  treaty 
of  peace  being  signed  between  Great  Britain  and  France. 

Sir  George  died^t  his  house  in  Devonshire-street,  Port- 
land-place, Jan.  12,  1801,  and  was  succeeded  in  his  title 
by  his  only  son,  now  sir  Thomas  Staunton,  by  his  wife  Jane 
Collins,  one  of  the  daughters  of  Benjamin  Collins,  esq. 
banker  at  Salisbury,  whom  sir  George  married  in  1771.1 

STAVELEY,  (THOMAS,  esq.)  a  learned  gentleman,  of 
Cussington,  Leicestershire,  after  having  completed  his  aca- 
demical education  at  Peter- house,  Cambridge,  was  admitted 
of  the  Inner  Temple,  July  2,  1647,  and  called  to  the  bar 
June  12,  1654.  In  1656,  he  married  Mary  the  youngest 
daughter  of  John  Onebye,  esq.  of  Hinckley,  and  steward 
of  the  records  at  Leicester,  and  succeeded  his  father-in-law 
in  that  office  in  1672.  In  1674,  when  the  court  espoused 
the  cause  of  popery,  and  the  presumptive  heir  to  the  crown 
openly  professed  himself  a  Catholic,  Mr.  Staveley  displayed 
the  enormous  exactions  of  the  court  of  Rome,  by  publishing 
in  1674,  "The  Romish  Horseleech."  This  work  was  reprint- 
ed in  1769.  Some  years  before  his  death,  which  happened 
in  1683,  he  retired  to  Belgrave  near  Leicester,  and  passing 
the  latter  part  of  life  in  the  study  of  English  history,  ac- 
quired a  melancholy  habit,  but  was  esteemed  a  diligent,  ju- 
dicious, and  faithful  antiquary.  His  u  History  of  Churches 
in  England  :  wherein  is  shown,  the  time,  means,  and  man- 
ner of  founding,  building,  and  endowing  of  Churches,  both, 

'  Geut.  Mag.  vol.  LXXI.  &c. 


S  T  A  V  E  L  E  Y.  351 

u-dral  and  rural,  with  their  furniture  and  appendages," 
was  first    published  in    17  12,  and  reprinted  1.773.      It  is   a. 
work  of  considerable  research  and  learning,  the  result   of 
having  carefully  examined  many  books  and   records  ;   and 
contains  a   complete   account  of  the   sacred   furniture    of 
churches  from    the  earliest  origin.      In  one   respect,  how- 
ever, he  has  too  hastily  adopted  the  notion  that  the  Saxons 
had  no  stone  buildings  among  them,  while  he  is  forced  to 
acknowledge  that  Bede's  Candida  casa  was  one    of  them. 
Besides  this  work,  Mr.  Staveley  left  a  curious  historical  pe- 
digree of  his  own  family,  drawn  up  in  1682,  the  year  before 
he  died,   which   is   preserved  at  large   in   the   work    which 
furnishes  this  article  ;  and   also  -some  valuable  collections 
towards   the  "  History   and  Antiquities  of  Leicester,"    to 
which   he    had    more  particularly  applied   his   researches. 
These  papers,  which  Dr.  Farmer,  the  late  learned  master 
of  Emanuei-college,  Cambridge,  intended  once  to  publish, 
were,  by  that  gentleman's  permission,  put  into  the  hands 
of  Mr.  Nichols,  who  gave  them  to  the  world  in  the  "  Bib- 
liotheca  Topographia  Britannica,"  and  since  in  his  more  ela- 
borate "  History  of  Leicestershire."     The  younger  Mr.  S. 
Carte  (an  able  antiquary,  and  an   eminent  solicitor),  who 
had  a  copy  of  Mr.  Staveley's  papers,  says  of  them,  in  a  MS 
letter  to  Dr.  Ducarel,  March  7,  1751  :   "His   account   of 
the  earls  of  Leicester,  and  of  the  great  abbey,  appears  to 
have  been  taken  from  Dugdale's   "Baronage,"  and  "  Mo- 
nasticon  ;"   but  as   to  his  sentiments  in  respect  to  the  bo- 
rough, I  differ  with  him  in  some  instances.     By  the  charter 
for  erecting  and  establishing  the  court  of  records  at  Leices- 
ter, the  election  of  the  steward  is  granted  to  the  mayor  and 
court    of  aldermen,   who  likewise   have  thereby  a  similar 
power,  in  respect  to  a  bailiff"  for  executing  their  writs.     But 
afterwards,  viz.  Dec.  20,  7  Jac.  I.  the  great  earl  of  Hunting- 
don bavins:  been  a  considerable  benefactor  to  Leicester,  the 

o 

corporation  came  to  a  resolution  of  granting  to  him  and  his 
heirs  a  right  of  nominating  alternately  to  the  office  of  stew- 
ard and  bailiff,  and  executed  a  bond  under  their  common 
seal,  in  the  penalty  of  one  thamsand  pounds,  for  enforcing 
the  execution  of  their  grant.  And  as  John  Major,  esq.  was 
elected  by  the  court  of  aldermen  to  succeed  Mr.  Staveley, 
in  December,  1684,  I  infer  that  Staveley  was  nominated 
by  the  earl  of  Huntingdon,  and  confirmed  by  the  aldermen, 
in  pursuance  of  the  grant  above-mentioned.1 

1  Nichols's  Hist,  of  Leicestershire. 


352  STEEL    f 

STEARN.     See  STERNE. 

STEELE  (Sir  RICHARD),  the  first  of  a  class  of  writers 
called    the    British   Essayists,    which     is    peculiar   to    this 
country,    was  born   at    Dublin  in    1671.       Mis   family,  of 
English   extraction,  was   genteel.      His  father,  who  was   a 
counsellor  at  law,   and  private  secretary  to  James,    the  first 
duke  of  Ormond,  sent  his  son,  then  very  young,   to  Lon- 
don,  where  he   was  placed  in    the  Charter-house   by    the 
duke,  who  was    one  of  the   governors    of   that   seminar}-. 
From  thence  he  was  removed  to  Merton  college,   Oxford, 
and  admitted  a  postmaster  in  1691.      In  1695  he  wrote   a 
poem  on  the  funeral  of  queen  Mary,  entitled  the   "  Pro- 
cession."    His  inclination  leading  him  to  the  army,  he  rode 
for  some  time   privately    in   the  guards.     He   became  an- 
author  first,  as  he  tells  us  himself,  when  an  ensign  of  the 
guards,  a  way  of  life  exposed  to  much   irregularity  ;  and, 
emg  thoroughly  convinced  of  many  things,  of  which  he 
i.-ften   repented,    and    which   he  more  often   repeated,    he 
wrote  for  his  own   private  use  a  little  book  called   "  The 
Christian  Hero,"   with  a  design  principally  to  fix  upon  his 
own  mind  a  strong  impression  of  virtue  and  religion,  in 
opposition   to  a  stronger  propensity  towards  unwarrantable 
pleasures.     This   secret   admonition   was    too    weak ;    and 
therefore,   in  1701,   he  printed  the  book  with  his  name,   in 
hopes  that  a  standing  testimony  against  himself,  and  the 
eyes  of  the  world  upon  him  in  a  new  light,  might  curb  his 
desires,    and   make  him    ashamed   of    understanding   and 
seeming  to   feel   what  was  virtuous,  and  yet  of  living  so 
contrary  a  life.     This,  he  tells  us,  had  no  other  effect,  but 
that,  from  being  thought  a  good  companion,  he  was  soou 
reckoned  a  disagreeable  fellow.     One   or  two  of  his  ac- 
quaintance thought  fit  to  misuse  him,  and  try  their  valour 
upon  him  ;  and  every  body,  he  knew,  measured  the  least 
levity  in  his  words  or  actions  with  the  character  of  "  The 
Christian  Hero."     Thus  he  found  himself  slighted,  instead 
of  being  encouraged,   for  his  declarations  as  to  religion  ;  so 
that  he  thought  it  incumbent   upon  him  to  enliven  his  cha- 
racter.     For   this  purpose  he   wrote    the  comedy,  called 
u  The  Funeral,  or  Grief  a- la- Mode,"   which  was   acted  in 
1702;  and   as   nothing  at  that  time   made  a  man  more  a 
favourite  with  the  public  than  a  successful  play,   this,   with 
some  other  particulars   enlarged  upon   to  -advantage,   ob- 
tained the  notice  of  the  king  ;   and  his  name,  to  be   pro- 
Tided  for,  was,  he  says,  in  the  last  table-book  ever  worn 
by  the  glorious  and  immortal  William  the  Third. 


S  T  E  E  L  E.  353 

He  had  before  this  obtained  a  captain's  commission  in 
lord  Lucas's  regiment  of  fusileers,  by  the  interest  of  lord 
Cutts,  to  whom  he  had  dedicated  his  "  Christian  Hero," 
and  who  likewise  appointed  him  his  secretary.  His  next 
appearance  as  a  writer,  as  he  himself  informs  us,  was  in  the 
office  of  Gazetteer;  where  he  worked  faithfully,  according 
to  order,  without  ever  erring,  he  says,  against  the  rule 
observed  by  all  ministries,  to  keep  that  paper  very  inno- 
cent and  very  insipid.  He  received  this  appointment  in 
consequence  of  being  introduced  by  Addison  to  the  ac- 
quaintance of  the  earls  of  Halifax  and  Sunderland.  With 
Addison  he  had  become  acquainted  at  the  Charter-house. 
His  next  productions  were  comedies;  "  The  Tender  Hus- 
band" being  acted  in  1703,  and  "The  Lying  Lover" 
in  1704.  In  1709  he  began  "  The  Taller ;"  the  first 
number  of  which  was  published  April  12,  1709,  and  the 
last  Jan.  2,  1711.  This  paper  greatly  increased  his  repu- 
tation and  interest;  and  he  was  soon  after  made  one  of  the 
commissioners  of  the  Stamp-office.  Upon  laying  down 
"  The  Tatler,"  he  b'egan,  in  concert  with  Addison,  "The 
Spectator,"  which  began  to  be  published  March  1,  1711  ; 
after  that,  "  The  Guardian,"  the  first  paper  of  which 
came  out  March  12,  1713  ;  and  then,  "The  Englishman," 
the  first  number  of  which  appeared  Oct.  6,  the  same  year. 
Besides  these  works,  he  wrote  several  political  pieces, 
which  were  afterwards  collected,  and  published  under  the 
title  of  "  Political  Writings,"  1715,  12mo.  Oneofthes6 
will  require  to  be  mentioned  particularly,  because  it  was 
attended  with  remarkable  consequences  relating  to  himself. 

Having  a  design  to  serve  in  the  last  parliament  of  queen 
Anne,  he  resigned  his  place  of  commissioner  of  the  Stamp- 
office,  in  June  1713;  and  was  chosen  member  for  the 
borough  of  Stockbridge  in  Hampshire;  but  he  did  not  sit 
long  in  the  House  of  Commons,  before  he  was  expelled 
for  writing  "  The  Englishman,"  being  the  close  of  a  paper 
so  called,  and  "  The  Crisis."  This  last  is  one  of  his  po- 
litical writings,  and  the  title  at  full  length  runs  thus : 
"  The  Crisis,  or  a  Discourse  representing,  from  the  most 
authentic  records,  the  just  causes  of  the  late  happy  Revo- 
lution, and  the  several  settlements  of  the  crown  of  England 
and  Scotland  on  her  majesty;  and,  on  the  demise  of  her 
majesty  without  issue,  upon  the  most  illustrious  princess 
Sophia,  electress  and  duchess-dowager  of  Hanover,  and 
the  heirs  of  her  body  being  Protestants,  by  previous  acts 

VOL.  XXVIII.  A  A 


354  STEEL  E. 

of  both  parliaments  of  the  late  kingdoms  of  England  and 
Scotland,  and  confirmed  by  the  parliament  of  Great-Bri- 
tain. With  some  seasonable  remarks  on  the  danger  of  a 
popish  successor."  He  explains  in  his  "  Apology  for  him- 
self,'' the  occasion  of  his  writing  this  piece.  He  happened 
one  day  to  visit  Mr.  William  Moore  of  the  Inner-Temple  ; 
where  the  discourse  turning  upon  politics,  Moore  took  notice 
of  the  insinuations  daily  thrown  out,  of  the  danger  the  Pro- 
testant succession  was  in  ;  and  concluded  with  saying-,  that 
he  thought  Steele,  from  the  kind  reception  the  world  gave 
to  what  he  published,  might  be  more  instrumental  towards 
curing  that  evil,  than  any  private  man  in  England.  After 
much  solicitation,  Moore  observed,  that  the  evil  seemed 
only  to  flow  from  mere  inattention  to  the  real  obligations 
under  which  we  lie  towards  the  house  of  Hanover :  if, 
therefore,  continued  lie,  the  laws  to  that  purpose  were  re- 
printed, together  with  a  warm  preface,  and  a  well-urged 
peroration,  it  is  not  to  be  imagined  what  good  effects  it 
would  have.  Steele  was  much  struck  with  the  thought ; 
and  prevailing  with  Moore  to  put  the  law- part  of  it  toge- 
ther, he  executed  the  rest;  yet  did  not  venture  to  publish 
it,  till  it  had  been  corrected  by  Addison,  Hoadly,  after- 
wards bishop  of  Winchester,  and  others.  It  was  imme- 
diately attacked  with  great  severity  by  Swift,  in  a  pam- 
phlet published  in  1712,  under  the  title  of,  "The  Public 
Spirit  of  the  Whigs  set  forth  in  their  generous  encourage- 
ment of  the  author  of  the  Crisis :"  but  it  was  not  till  March 
12,  1715,  that  it  fell  under  the  cognizance  of  the  House 
of  Commons.  Then  Mr.  John  Hungerford  complained  to 
the  House  of  .divers  scandalous  papers,  published  under 
the  name  of  Mr.  Steele;  in  which  complaint  he  was  se- 
conded by  Mr.  Auditor  Foley,  cousin  to  the  earl  of  Ox- 
ford, and  Mr.  Auditor  Harley,  the  earl's  brother.  Sir 
William  Wyndham  also  added,  that  "  some  of  Mr.  Steele's 
writings  contained  insolent,  injurious  reflections  on  the 
queen  herself,  and  were  dictated  by  the  spirit  of  rebel- 
lion." The  next  clay  Mr.  Auditor  Harley  specified  some 
printed  pamphlets  published  by  Mr.  Steele,  "  containing 
several  paragraphs  tending  to  sedition,  highly  reflecting 
upon  her  majesty,  and  arraigning  her  administration  and 
government."  Some  proceedings  followed  between  this 
and  the  18th,  which  was  the  day  appointed  for  the  hear- 
ing of  Mr.  Steele;  and  this  being  come,  Mr.  Auditor 
Folejr  moved,  that  before  they  proceed  farther,  Mr.  Steele 


S  T  E  E  L  E.  355 

should  declare,  whether  he  acknowledged  the  writings  that 
bore  his  name?  Steele  declared,  that  he  "did  frankly 
and  ingenuously  own  those  papers  to  he  part  of  his  writ- 
ings ;  that  he  wrote  them  in  behalf  of  the  house  of  Ha- 
nover, and  owned  them  with  the  same  unreservedness  with 
which  he  abjured  the  Pretender."  Then  Mr.  Foley  pro- 
posed, that  Mr.  Steele  should  withdraw ;  but  it  was  car- 
ried, without  dividing,  that  he  should  stay  and  make  his 
defence.  He  desired,  that  he  might  be  allowed  to  answer 
what  was  urged  against  him  paragraph  by  paragraph ;  but 
his  accusers  insisted,  and  it  was  carried,  that  he  should 
proceed  to  make  his  defence  generally  upon  the  charge 
against  him.  Steele  proceeded  accordingly,  being  assisted 
by  his  friend  Addison,  member  for  Malmsbury,  who  sat 
near  him  to  prompt  him  upon  occasion  ;  and  spoke  for  near 
three  hours  on  the  several  heads  extracted  from  his  pam- 
phlets. After  he  had  withdrawn,  Mr.  Foley  said,  that, 
"  without  amusing  the  House  with  long  speeches,  it  is  evi- 
dent the  writings  complained  of  were  seditious  and  scan- 
dalous, injurious  to  her  majesty's  government,  the  church 
and  the  universities;"  and  then  called  for  the  question.  This 
occasioned  a  very  warm  debate,  which  lasted  till  eleven 
o'clock  at  night.  The  first  who  spoke  for  Steele,  was 
Robert  Walpole,  esq.  who  was  seconded  by  his  brother 
Horatio  Walpole,  lord  Finch,  lord  Lumley,  and  lord  Hin- 
chinbrook  :  it  was  resolved,  however,  by  a  majority  of  245 
against  152,  that  "  a  printed  pamphlet,  entitled  l  The 
Englishman,  being  the  close  of  a  paper  so  called,'  and 
one  other  pamphlet,  entitled  '  The  Crisis,'  written  by 
Richard  Steele,  esq.  a  member  of  this  House,  are  scan- 
dalous and  seditious  libels,  containing  many  expressions 
highly  reflecting  upon  her  majesty,  and  upon  the  nobility, 
gentry,  clergy,  and  universities  of  this  kingdom;  malici- 
ously insinuating,  that  the  Protestant  succession  in  the 
house  of  Hanover  is  in  danger  under  her  majesty's  admini- 
stration ;  and  tending  to  alienate  the  good  affections  of  her 
majesty's  good  subjects,  and  to  create  jealousies  and  divi- 
sions among  them  :"  it  was  resolved  likewise,  that  Mr. 
Steele,  "  for  his  offence  in  writing  and  publishing  the  said 
scandalous  and  seditious  libels,  be  expelled  this  House." 
He  afterwards  wrote  "  An  Apology  for  himself  and  his 
writings,  occasioned  by  his  expulsion,"  which  he  dedicated 
to  Robert  Walpole,  esq.  This  is  printed  among  his  "  Po- 
litical Writings/'  1715,  I2i". 

A  A  2 


356  S  T  E  E  L  E. 

He  had  no'v  nothing  to  do  till  the  death  of  the  queen, 
but  to  indulge  himself  svith  his  pen  ;  and  accordingly,  in 
1714,  he  published  a  treatise,  entitled  "  The  Romish  Ec- 
clesiastical History  of  late  years."  This  is  nothing  more 
than  a  description  of  some  monstrous  and  gross  popish  rites, 
designed  to  hurt  the  cause  of  the  Pretender,  which  was 
supposed  to  he  gaining  ground  in  England  :  and  there  is 
an  appendix  subjoined,  consisting  of  particulars  very  well 
calculated  for  this  purpose.  In  No.  I.  of  the  appendix,  \ve 
have  a  list  of  the  colleges,  monasteries,  and  convents  of 
men  and  women  of  several  orders  in  the  Low  Countries  ; 
with  the  revenues  which  they  draw  from  England.  No.  II. 
contains  an  extract  of  the  "  Taxa  Cameroe,"  or  "  Cancel- 
lariat  Apostolicse,"  the  fees  of  the  pope's  chancery ;  a  book, 
printed  by  the  pope's  authority,  and  setting  forth  a  list  of 
the  fees  paid  him  for  absolutions,  dispensations,  indulgen- 
cies,  faculties,  and  exemptions.  No.  111.  is  a  bull  of  the 
pope  in  1357,  given  to  the  then  king  of  France  ;  by  which 
the  princes  of  that  nation  received  an  hereditary  right  to 
cheat  the  rest  of  mankind.  No.  IV.  is  a  translation  of  the 
speech  of  pope  Sixtus  V.  as  it  was  uttered  in  the  consistory 
at  Rome,  Sept.  2,  1589  ;  setting  forth  the  execrable  fact 
of  James  Clement,  a  Jacohine  friar,  upon  the  person  of 
Henry  III.  of  France,  to  be  commendable,  admirable,  and 
meritorious.  No.  V.  is  a  collection  of  some  popish  tracts 
and  positions,  destructive  of  society  and  all  the  ends  of 
good  government.  The  same  year,  1714,  he  published  two 
papers  :  the  first  of  which,  called  "  The  Lover  ;"  appeared 
Feb.  25;  the  second,  "  The  Reader,"  April  22.  In  the 
sixth  number  for  May  3,  we  have  an  account  of  his  design 
to  write  the  history  of  the  duke  of  Marlborongh,  from  the 
date  of  the  duke's  commission  of  captain  general  and  pleni- 
potentiary, to  the  expiration  of  those  commissions  :  the 
materials,  as  he  tells  us,  were  in  his  custody,  but  the  work 
was  never  executed. 

Soon  after  the  accession  of  George  I.  he  was  appointed 
surveyor  of  the  royal  stables  at  Hampton-court,  and  go- 
vernor of  the  royal  company  of  comedians  ;  and  was  put 
into  the  commission  of  the  peace  for  Middlesex  ;  and,  April 
17  15,  was  knighted  upon  the  presenting  of  an  address  to 
Ins  majesty  by  the  lieutenancy*.  In  the  first  parliament, 

*  It  was  ou  this  occasion,  that  sir      birth-day,  who   then    entered  into   the 
Hi  hard,    in  oit'fr  to   di$t'n<gni>h  him-      56th  vvarofbi*  a  i  above  200 

self  by  tLe  celebration  of  his  majesty'*      gcnikuitH  and  ladies,  ai  his  licuse,  ap~ 


S  T  E  E  L  E.  357 

he  was  chosen  member  for  Boroughbrigg  in  Yorkshire; 
and,  after  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion  in  the  North, 
was  appointed  one  of  the  commissioners  of  the  forfeited 
estates  in  Scotland.  The  same  year,  1715,  he  published  in 
8vo,  "An  Account  of  the  state  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Re- 
ligion throughout  the  world.  Written  for  the  use  of  pope 
Innocent  XI.  and  now  translated  from  the  Italian.  To 
which  is  added,  a  Discourse  concerning  the  state  of  Reli- 
gion in  England:  written  in  French  in  the  time  of  king 
Charles  I.  and  now  first  translated.  With  a  large  dedica- 
tion to  the  present  pope,  giving  him  a  very  particular  ac- 
count of  the  state  of  religion  among  protestants,  and  of  se- 
veral other  matters  of  importance  relating  to  Great  Bri- 
tain," 12mo.  The  dedication  is  supposed  to  have  been 
written  by  Hoadly,  bishop  of  Winchester.  The  same  year 
still,  he  published  "  A  Letter  from  the  earl  of  Mar  to  the 
king  before  his  majesty's  arrival  in  England  ;"  and  the  year 
following,  a  second  volume  of  "The  Englishman."  In  1718, 
came  out  "  An  Account  of  his  Fish  pool  :"  he  had  obtained 
a  patent  for  bringing  fish  to  market  alive;  for,  Steele  was 
a  projector,  and  that  was  one  circumstance,  among  many, 
xvhich  kept  him  always  poor.  In  1719,  he  published  "The 
Spinster,"  a  pamphlet;  and  "  A  Letter  to  the  earl  of  Ox- 
ford, concerning  the  bill  of  peerage,"  which  bill  he  op- 
posed in  the  House  of  Commons.  In  1720,  he  wrote  two 
pieces  against  the  South  Sea  scheme ;  one  called  "  The 
Crisis  of  Property,"  the  other  "  A  Nation  a  Family." 

In  .Ian.  1720,  he  began  a  paper  under  the  name  of  sir 
John  Edgar,  called  "  The  Theatre  ;"  which  he  continued 
every  Tuesday  and  Saturday,  till  the  5th  of  April  following. 
During  the  course  of  this  paper,  viz.  on  the  23d  of  Ja- 
nuary, his  patent  of  governor  of  the  roynl  company  of  come- 
dians was  revoked  by  the  king  :  upon  which,  he  drew  up 
and  published,  "  A  State  of  the  Case  between  the  lord 

pointed  for  concerts,  speeches,  poems,  to  dance   country-dances,    which    was 

&c.     "  The  en'fitainment  consisted  of  done  wiih  all  the  decency  and  n-^ula- 

pyratnids  of  all  manner  of  sweetmeats,  rity   imaginable.     We  are  likewise  to 

is  witit-s,  as  burgundy,  acquaint  the  reader,  that    an   Ode   of 

champa  gn,  &u.  and  was  ushered  in  by  Horace  was  set  to  music  and  sung  upon 

a    prologue    written    by    Mr.    Tirkell,  this  ocea^on,  with  several   other  very 

under-secretary  to   Mr.  Addison ;   and  particular   songs    and      performances, 

concluded  by  an  epilogue  written   by  both  vocal  and  instrumental  j  and  that, 

himself,   which    was    very    merry    and  Mrs.  Younger  spoke  the  prologue,  and 

free    with     his    own   character :    after  Mr.  Wilks   the   epilogue,  which,  after 

which,  a  large  table,  that  was  in  the  sir  Richard's   way,  was  extremely   di- 

area  of  the  concert-house,  was  t-iken  verting."      Weekly-  Miscellany,    May 

away,  to  make  room  for  the  company  28,  17tJ. 


358  STEEL  E. 

chamberlain  of  his  majesty's  household  and  the  governor  of 
the  royal  company  of  comedians."  He  tells  us,  in  this 
pamphlet,  that  a  noble  lord,  without  any  cause  assigned, 
sends  a  message,  directed  to  sir  Richard  Steele,  Mr.  VV'ilks, 
and  Mr.  Booth,  to  dismiss  Mr.  Gibber,  who  for  some  time 
submitted  to  a  disability  of  appearing  on  the  stage,  during 
the  pleasure  of  one  who  had  nothing  to  do 'with  it;  and 
that,  when  this  lawless  will  and  pleasure  was  changed,  a 
very  frank  declaration  was  made,  that  all  the  mortification 
put  upon  Mr.  Gibber  was  intended  only  as  a  prelude  to  re- 
mote evils,  by  which  the  patentee  was  to  be  affected. 
Upon  this,  sir  Richard  wrote  to  two  of  the  ministers  of  state, 
and  likewise  delivered  a  petition  to  the  king,  in  the  pre- 
sence of  the  lord  chamberlain  :  but  these  had  no  effect, 
for  his  patent  was  revoked,  though  it  does  not  appear  tor 
what  reason  ;  and  the  loss  he  sustained  upon  this  occasion 
is  computed  by  himself  at  almost  10,000/.  In  1722,  his 
comedy,  called  "  The  Conscious  Lovers,"  was  acted  with 
great  success  ;  and  published  with  a  dedication  to  the  king, 
for  which  his  majesty  made  him  a  present  of  500/. 

Some  years  before  his  death,  he  retired  to  his  seat  at 
Llangunnor,  near  Caermarthen,  in  Wales,  with  a  view  to 
(economise  for  the  benefit  of  his  creditors.  Here  he  was 
seized  with  a  paralytic  disorder,  of  which  he  died  Sept.  I, 
1729,  and  was  privately  interred  according  to  his  own  de- 
sire. He  had  been  twice  married  :  his  first  wife  was  a  lady 
of  Barbadoes,  with  whom  he  had  a  valuable  plantation  upon 
the  death  of  her  brother  ;  his  second  was  the  daughter  of 
Jonathan  Scurlock,  of  Llangunnor,  esq.  by  whom  he  had 
one  daughter  and  two  sons  ;  the  latter  both  died  young, 
but  the  daughter,  Elizabeth,  was  in  1732  married  to  the 
hon.  John  Trevor,  afterwards  baron  Trevor  of  Bromham. 
Steele  was  a  man  of  quick  and  excellent  parts,  accomplish- 
ed in  all  branches  of  polite  literature ;  -and  would  have 
passed  for  a  better  writer  than  he  does,  though  he  is  allow- 
ed to  be  a  very  good  one,  if  he  had  not  been  so  connected 
in  literary  productions,  as  well  as  in  friendship,  with  Ad- 
dison.  He  speaks  himself  of  their  friendship  in  the  follow- 
ing terms  :  "  There  never  was  a  more  strict  friendship  than 
between  these  gentlemen  ;  nor  had  they  ever  any  differ- 
ence, but  what  proceeded  from  their  different  way  of  pur- 
suing the  same  thing.  The  one  with  patience,  foresight, 
and  temperate  address,  always  waited  and  stemmed  the  tor- 
rent f  while  the  other  often  plunged  himself  into  it,  and 


STEEL  K.  359 

was  as  often  taken  out  by  the  temper  of  him  who  stood 
weeping  on  the  bank  for  his  safety,  whom  he  could  not 
dissuade  from  leaping  into  it.  Thus  these  two  men  lived 
for  some  years  last  past,  shunning  each  other,  but  still  pre- 
serving the  most  passionate  concern  for  their  mutual  wel- 
fare. But  when  they  met,  they  were  as  unreserved  as  boys, 
and  talked  of  the  greatest  affairs  ;  upon  which  they  saw 
where  they  differed,  without  pressing  (what  they  knew  im- 
possible) to  convert  each  other."  J 

STEEN  (JA.N),  an  eminent  painter,  was  born  at  Leyden, 
in  1636,  and  was  successively  the  disciple  of  Knufter, 
Brower,  and  Van  Goyen,  who  had  such  a  high  opinion  of 
him,  that  he  thought  he  disposed  of  his  daughter  prudently 
when  he  gave  her  in  marriage  to  Jan  Steen.  Jan  Steen, 
however,  was  not  prudent,  for,  although  he  had  many  op- 
portunities of  enriching  himself,  by  other  occupations  as 
well  as  by  his  profession,  he  frequently  was  reduced,  by 
an  idle,  intemperate,  and  dissipated  course  of  life,  to  work 
for  the  subsistence  of  himself  and  his  family.  He  had  a 
strong  manly  style  of  painting,  which  might  become  even 
the  design  of  Raphael,  and  he  showed  the  greatest  skill  in 
composition,  and  management  of  light  and  shadow,  as  well 
as  great  truth  in  the  expression  and  character  of  his  figures. 
One  of  his  capital  pictures  is  a  mountebank  attended  by  a 
number  of  spectators,  in  which  the  countenances  are  won- 
derfully striking,  full  of  humour,  and  uncommon  variety. 
Houbraken  mentions  another  remarkable  picture  painted 
by  this  master,  representing  a  wedding,  consisting  of  the 
old  parents,  the  bride,  the  bridegroom,  and  a  lawyer  or 
notary.  The  notary  is  described  as  thoroughly  engaged 
in  attending  to  the  words  which  he  was  to  write  down  ;  the 
bridegroom  appears  in  a  violent  agitation,  as  if  dissatisfied 
with  the  match;  and  the  bride  seems  to  be  in  tears  ;  every 
character  evidencing  the  ready  and  humorous  invention 
of  the  artist.  Houbraken  also  mentions  a  third  picture, 
equally  excellent,  representing  the  funeral  of  a  quaker  ;  in 
which  each  face  is  distinguished  by  a  peculiarly  humorous 
cast  of  features,  and  the  whole  has  a  wonderful  air  of  na- 
ture and  probability.  In  designing  his  figures  he  preserved 
a  proper  distinction  of  the  ranks  and  conditions  of  the  per- 
sons introduced  in  his  subject,  by  their  forms,  tneir  atti- 

1  Biog.  Brit. — British  Essayists,  vol.  I. — Mr.  Nichols's  variorum  editions  of 
the  Taller,  Lover,  &,<.-. — And  Epistolary  Correspondence  of  Steele. — Tatler, 
Spectator,  and  Guardian,  with  notes,  1307,  8vo. 


360  S  T  E  E  N. 

tudes,  their  air  of  expression  ;  and  in  this  respect  appears 
worthy  of  being  studied  by  other  painters.  His  works  did 
not  bear  an  extraordinary  price  during  his  life,  as  he  paint- 
ed only  when  he  was  necessitous,  and  sold  his  pictures  to 
answer  his  immediate  demands.  But  after  his  death  they 
rose  amazingly  in  their  value,  and  are  rarely  to  be  pur- 
chased, few  paintings  bearing  a  higher  price,  as  well  on 
account  of  their  excellence  as  of  their  scarcity.  He  died 
in  1689,  aged  fifty-three,  but  Houbraken  fixes  his  death 
in  1678,  aged  forty-two,  eleven  years  earlier  than  other 
writers.1 

STEEVENS  (GEOKGE),  a  celebrated  commentator  on 
the  works  of  Shakspeare,  was  the  only  son  of  George  Stee- 
vens,  esq.  of  Stepney,  many  years  an  East  India  captain, 
and  afterwards  a  director  of  the  East  India  company,  who 
died  in  1768.  He  was  born  at  Stepney,  May  10,  1736, 
and  was  admitted  of  King's  college,  Cambridge,  about 
1751  or  1752.  He  seems  to  have  left  the  university  with- 
out taking  a  degree,  although  not  without  accumulating  a 
considerable  degree  of  classical  knowledge,  and  exhibit- 
ing that  general  acuteness  and  taste  which  he  afterwards 
more  fully  displayed,  particularly  on  subjects  of  ancient 
English  literature.  His  attention,  probably  very  early  in 
life,  was  by  some  means  attracted  to  the  works  of  our  great 
dramatic  bard  Shakspeare,  who  furnished  Mr.  Steevens 
throughout  the  whole  of  his  life  with  constant  employment. 
Shakspeare  was  the  property  which  he  thought  himself 
bound  to  cultivate,  improve,  protect,  and  display  to  the 
best  advantage  ;  and  it  must  be  allowed  that  in  illustrating 
this  author,  he  stands  unrivalled.  His  first  appearance  as 
an  editor  of  Shakspeare  was  in  1766,  when  he  was  about 
thirty  years  old.  At  this  time  he  published  twenty  of 
Shakspeare's  plays  in  4  vols.  8vo,  about  a  year  after  Dr. 
Johnson's  edition  of  the  whole  works  had  appeared.  In 
this  edition  Mr.  Steevens  performed  chiefly  the  office  of  a 
collator  of  these  twenty  plays  with  the  quarto  and  subse- 
quent editions ;  but  about  the  same  time  he  published,  in 
the  newspapers,  and  probably  otherwise,  a  circular  address, 
announcing  his  intention  of  an  edition  of  ail  the  plays  with 
notes  and  illustrations.  In  this  address,  which  we  believe 
is  not  now  generally  known,  he  requests  assistance  from 
tiie  public,  which  he  says  "  is  not  desired  with  a  lucrative 

i  Pilkington. — Reynolds'?  Works. 


S  T  E  E  V  E  N  S.  3G1 

view  to  the  editor,  but  to  engage  the  attention  of  the  lite- 
rary world.  He  will  no  more  trust  to  his  own  single  judg- 
ment in  the  choice  of  the  notes  he  shall  admit  or  reject, 
than  he  would  undertake  the  work  in  confidence  of  his  own 
abilities.  These  shall  in  their  turn  be  subjected  to  other 
eyes  and  other  opinions  ;  and  he  has  reason  to  hope,  from 
such  precautions,  that  he  shall  bici  fairer  for  success  than 
from  any  single  reliance.  He  is  happy  to  have  permission, 
to  enumerate  Mr.  Garrick  among  those  who  will  take  such 
a  trouble  on  themselves;  and  is  no  less  desirous  10  see 
him  attempt  to  transmit  some  part  of  that  knowledge  of 
Shakspeare  to  posterity,  without  which,  he  can  be  his  best 
commentator  no  longer  than  he  lives." 

He  then  proceeds  to  assure  those  who  may  think  proper 
to  assist  him,  that  their  contributions  shall  appear  with  or 
without  their  names,  as  they  shall  direct ;  and  that  he  will 
gladly  pay  those  whose  situation  in  life  will  not  admit  of 
their  making  presents  of  their  labours,  in  such  proportion 
as  Mr.  Tonson  (his  bookseller)  shall  think  to  be  adequate 
to  their  merits.  What  follows  is  the  language  of  a  man 
who  knew  not  himself,  or  who  concealed  his  real  character 
and  intent,  and  who  was  at  no  very  distant  period  to  prove 
himself,  unquestionably  a  most  acute,  yet  at  the  same 
time  a  most  arrogant,  supercilious,  and  malignant  critic  on 
his  fellow-labourers. 

"The  characters  of  living  or  dead  commentators,"  says 
Mr.  Steevens  in  his  present  real  or  assumed  humility,  "shall 
not  be  wantonly  traduced,  and  no  greater  freedom  of  lan- 
guage be  made  use  of,  than  is  necessary  to  convince,  with- 
out any  attempts  to  render  those  ridiculous,  whose  asser- 
tions may  seem  to  demand  a  confutation.  An  error  in  a 
quotation,  or  accidental  misrepresentation  of  a  fact,  shall 
not  be  treated  with  the  severity  due  to  a  moral  crime,  nor 
as  the  breach  of  any  other  laws  than  those  of  literature,  lest 
the  reputation  of  the  critic  should  be  obtained  at  the  ex- 
pence  of  humanity,  justice,  and  good  manners  ;  and  by 
multiplying  notes  on  notes  we  should  be  reduced  at  last, 
*  to  fight  for  a  spot  whereon  the  numbers  cannot  try  the 
cause.'  The  ostentation  of  bringing  in  the  commentaries 
of  others,  merely  to  declare  their  futility,  shall  be  avoided; 
and  none  be  introduced  here,  but  such  as  tend  to  the  illus- 
tration of  the  author." — He  concludes  with  signing  his 
name,  and  requesting  that  letters  may  be  addressed  to 
him  at  Mr.  Tonson's.  About  the  same  time  he  opened  a 


363  STEEVENS. 

kind  of  correspondence  in  the  St.  James's  Chronicle,  then 
the  principal  literary  newspaper,  the  object  of  which  was 
to  obtain  hints  and  remarks  on  any  passages  of  Shakspeare 
which  individuals  might  think  themselves  able  to  illustrate. 
What  returns  were  made  to  these  applications,  we  know 
not,  but  it  appears  that  he  became  acquainted  about  this 
time  with  Dr.  Johnson,  and  in  1770  they  were  both  em- 
ployed in  that  edition  of  the  whole  of  Shakspeare's  plays 
which  was  first  called  "  Johnson  and  Steevens's  edition," 
and  which  was  published  in  1773,  10  vols.  8vo.  In  1778  it 
was  again  reprinted,  with  the  same  names,  but  entirely 
under  the  care  and  with  the  improvements  of  Mr.  Steevens; 
and  again  in  1785,  when  he  availed  himself  of  the  assist- 
ance of  Mr.  Isaac  Reed,  although  merely  as  superintendant 
of  the  press.  It  was  a  work  of  which  Mr.  Steevens  would 
never  surrender  the  entire  care  to  any  one,  and  his  jea- 
lousy, as  an  editor  of  Shakspeare,  was  the  cause  of  those 
many  splenetic  effusions  for  which  he  has  been  so  justly 
blamed,  and  his  character  disgraced.  This  kind  of  hosti- 
lity, in  which  Mr.  Steevens  unfortunately  delighted,  was 
not  confined  to  the  commentators  on  Shakspeare.  He  had 
from  the  earliest  period  that  can  be  remembered  a  disposi- 
tion to  display  his  talents  for  ridicule  at  the  expence  of 
those  who  were,  or  whom  he  thought,  inferior  to  himself. 
He  was  never  more  gratified  than  when  he  could  irritate 
their  feelings  by  anonymous  attacks  in  tne  public  journals, 
which  he  would,  in  their  presence,  affect  to  lament  with 
all  the  ardour  of  friendship.  Nor  was  he  content  to  amuse 
himself  with  the  sufferings  of  those  who  were  candidates  for 
literary  fame,  a  species  of  inhumanity  in  which  he  had 
some  contemporaries,  and  has  had  many  successors,  but 
would  even  intrude  into  the  privacies  of  domestic  life,  and 
has  been  often,  we  fear  too  justly,  accused  of  disturbing 
the  happiness  of  families,  by  secret  written  insinuations, 
the  consequences  of  which  he  could  not  always  know,  and 
must  therefore  have  enjoyed  only  in  imagination.  But  as 
such  artifices  long  practised  could  not  escape  detection, 
his  character  for  mischievous  duplicity  became  known,  and 
not  long  after  the  publication  of  the  second  edition  of  his 
Shakspeare,  in  conjunction  with  Dr.  Johnson,  he  lived,  in 
the  language  of  that  great  man,  "the  life  of  an  outlaw." 
He  was  scarcely  respected  even  by  those  who  tasted  his 
bounty  (for  he  could  at  times  be  bountiful),  and  was  dread- 
ed as  a  man  of  great  talents  and  great  powers  both  of  pen 


S  T  E  E  V  E  N  S. 

and  tongue,  with  whom  nevertheless  it  was  more  dangerous 
to  live  in  friendship  than  in  hostility. 

Previous  to   the   publication   of  the  edition  of  1773,  he 
had  become  acquainted  with  Mr.  Malone,  a  gentleman  who 
had   either  formed  for  himself,   or   had   adopted   from  Mr. 
Steevens  that  system  of  criticism  and  illustration  by  which 
alone  the  text  of  Shakspeare  could  be  improved,  and  Mr. 
Steevens  very  soon  discovered  that  Mr.  Malone  might  be  a 
very  useful  coadjutor.     A  friendship  too-k  place  which  ap- 
peared so  sincere  on  the  part,  of  Mr.  Steevens,   that  having 
formed  a  design  of  quitting  the  office  of  editor,  he  most 
liberally  made  a  present  to  Mr.  Malone  of  his  valuable  col- 
lection of  old  plays;  and  probably  this  friendly  intercourse 
might  have  continued,  if  Mr.  Malone  conld  have  been  con- 
tent to  be  the   future  editor  of  "  Johnson  and  Steevens's 
Shakspeare,"  and  to  have  contributed  his  aid  as  the  junior 
partner  in  the  firm.     But  unfortunately  for  their  friend- 
ship,  Mr.  Malone  thought  himself  qualified  to  become  os- 
tensible editor,   and   his  first  offence   seems  to   have   been 
the  publication,  in  1780,   of  two  supplementary  volumes  to 
the  edition  of  1778  ;  and  having  entered  on  the  same  course 
of  reading  our  ancient  English  authors,  which  Mr.  Steevens 
had   pursued  with   so  much  benefit   in   the  illustration  of 
Shakspeare,  he  determined  to  appear  before  the  public  as 
an  editor  in  form.     To  this  design   Steevens  alludes  with 
characteristic  humour,   in   a  letter  to  Mr.  Warton,   dated 
April  16,  1783  :  "  Whatever  the  vegetable  spring  may  pro- 
duce, the  critical  one  will  be  prolific  enough.     No  less  than 
six  editions  of  Shakspeare  (including  CapelTs  notes,   with 
Collins's  prolegomena)  are  now  in  the  mash-tub.      I  have 
thrown  up  my  licence.     Reed  is  to  occupy  the  old  red  lat- 
tice, and  Malone  intends  to  froth  and  lime  at  a  little  snug 
booth  of  his  own  construction.      Ritson  will  advertise  sour 
ale  against  his  mild."      In  this  notice  of  Mr.  Malone  there  is 

O 

nothing  very  offensive  ;  but  the  final  breach  between  them 
was  occasioned  by  a  request  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Steevens 
which  cannot  easily  be  justified.  To  the  edition  of  Shak- 
speare, published  in  1785,  Mr.  Malone  had  contributed 
some  notes  in  which  Mr.  Steevens's  opinions  were  occa- 
sionally controverted.  These  Mr.  Steevens  now  desired  he 
would  retain  in  his  new  edition,  exactly  as  they  stood  be- 
fore, that  he  iniirht  answer  them  ;  and  Mr.  Malone  refusing 

*  O  O 

what  was  so  unreasonable  (see  MALONE),  the  other  declared 
that  all  communication  on  the  subject  of  Shakspeare  was  at 


364  S  T  E  E  V  E  N  S. 

an  end  between  them.  Malone's  edition  appeared  in  1790, 
and  Mr.  Steevens's  being  reprinted  in  1793,  15  vols.  8vo, 
he  at  once  availed  himself  of  Mr.  Malone's  labours,  and 
took  every  opportunity  to  treat  his  opinions  with  most  sar- 
castic contempt.  This  edition  of  1793,  however,  has  al- 
ways been  reckoned  the  most  complete  extant,  and  although 
it  has  been  twice  reprinted,  with  some  additions  which  Mr. 
Steevens  bequeathed  to  Mr.  Reed,  the  demand  for  the 
1793  is  still  eager  with  the  collectors,  partly,  we  presume, 
on  account  of  its  being  the  last  which  Mr.  Steevens  super- 
intended ;  partly  on  account  of  the  accuracy  of  the  print- 
ing, in  which  he  had  the  assistance  of  Mr.  Reed  and  Mr. 
Harris,  librarian  of  the  Royal  Institution  ;  and  partly  be- 
cause the  additions  to  the  subsequent  one  are  not  thought 
of  sufficient  value  to  induce  the  possessors  to  part  with  a 
monument  to  Mr.  Steevens's  merit  erected  by  his  own 
hands. 

In  preparing  this  edition,  it  is  said  "he  gave  an  instance 
of  editorial  activity  and  perseverance  which  is  without  ex- 
ample. To  this  work  he  devoted  solely,  and  exclusively 
of  all  other  attentions,  a  period  of  eighteen  months;  and 
during  that  time,  he  left  his  house  every  morning  at  one 
o'clock  with  the  Hampstead  patrole,  and  proceeding  with- 
out any  consideration  of  the  weather  or  the  season,  called 
up  the  compositor  and  woke  all  his  devils : 

"  Him  late  from  Hampstead  journeying  to  his  book 
Aurora  oft  for  Cephalus  mistook  : 
What  time  he  brush'd  the  dews  with  hasty  pace, 
To  meet  the  printer's  dev'let  face  to  face. 

"  At  the  chambers  of  Mr.  Reed,  where  he  was  allowed 
to  admit  himself,  with  a  sheet  of  the  Shakspeare  letter-press 
ready  for  correction,  and  found  a  room  prepared  to  receive 
him,  there  was  every  book  winch  he  might  wish  to  consult : 
and  oa  Mr.  Reed's  pillow  he  could  apply,  on  any  doubt  or 
sudden  suggestion,  to  a  knowledge  of  English  literature, 
perhaps  equal  to  his  own.  This  nocturnal  toil  greatly  ac- 
celerated the  printing  of  the  work,  as,  while  the  printers 
slept,  the  editor  was  awake;  and  thus,  in  less  than  twenty 
months,  he  completed  his  edition." 

The  latter  years  of  his  life  he  passed  chiefly  at  his  house 
at  Hampstead,  neither  visited  nor  visiting.  That  cynic 
temper  which  he  had  so  much  indulged  all  his  life  at  the 
espence  of  others,  became  his  own  tormentor  in  his  last 
days;  and  he  died  without  the  consolations  of  religion  or 


S  T  E  E  V  E  N  S.  365 

the  comforts  of  friendship,  Jan.  22,  1800.  He  was  buried 
in  the  chapel  at  Poplar,  where,  in  the  north  aile  there  is  a 
monument  to  his  memory  by  Flaxtnan,  and  some  enco- 
miastic verses  by  Mr.  Hayley,  the  truth  of  which  may  he 
questioned.  Let  us  hear,  however,  what  has  been  ad- 
vanced in  his  favour  : 

"  Though  Mr.  Steevens,"  says  an  eulogist,  "  is  known  ra- 
ther as  a  commentator,  than  as  an  original  writer,  yet,  when 
the  works  which  he  illustrated,  the  learning,  sagacity,  taste, 
and  general  knowledge  which  he  brought  to  the  task,  and 
the  success  which  crowned  his  labours,  are  considered,  it 
would  be  an  act  of  injustice  to  refuse  him  a  place  among 
the  first  literary  characters  of  the  age.  Mr.  Steevens  pos- 
sessed that  knowledge  which  qualified  him,  in  a  superior 
degree,  for  the  illustration  of  Shukspeare ;  and  without 
which  the  utmost  critical  acumen  would  have  proved  abor- 
tive. He  had,  in  short,  studied  the  age  of  Shakspeare,  and 
had  employed  his  persevering  industry  in  becoming  ac- 
quainted with  the  writings,  manners,  and  laws  of  that  pe- 
riod, as  well  as  the  provincial  peculiarities,  whether  of 
language  or  custom,  which  prevailed  in  different  parts  of 
the  kingdom,  but  more  particularly  in  those  where  Shak- 
speare passed  the  early  years  of  his  life.  This  store  of 
knowledge  he  was  continually  encreasing,  by  the  acquisi- 
tion of  the  rare  and  obsolete  publications  of  a  former  age, 
which  he  spared  no  expence  to  obtain;  while  his  critical 
sagacity  and  acute  observation  were  employed  incessantly 
in  calling  forth  the  hidden  meanings  of  the  great  dramatic 
bar, I,  from  their  covert;  and  consequently  enlarging  the 
display  of  his  beauti 

"  Mr.  Steevens  was  a  classical  scholar  of  the  first  order. 
He  was  equally  acquainted  with  the  belles  lettres  of 
Europe.  He  had  studied  history,  ancient  arid  modern,  but 
particularly  that  of  his  own  country.  He  possessed  a  strong 
original  genius,  and  an  abundant  wit;  his  imagination  wa» 
of  every  colour,  and  his  sentiments  were  enlivened  with  the 
most  brilliant  expressions.  His  colloquial  powers  surpassed 
those  of  other  men.  In  argument  he  was  uncommonly  elo- 
quent ;  and  bis  eloquence  was  equally  logical  and  animated. 
liis  descriptions  were  so  true  to  nature,  his  figures  were  so 
finely  sketched,  of  such  curious  selection  and  so  happily 
grouped,  that  he  might  be  considered  as  a  speaking  Ho- 
garth. He  would  frequently,  in  his  sportive  and  almost 
boyish  humoursj  condescend  to  a  degree  of  ribaldry  but 


366  S  T  E  E  V  E  N  S. 

little  above  O'Keefe — with  him,  however,  it  lost  all  its 
coarseness,  and  assumed  the  air  of  classical  vivacity.  He 
was  indeed  too  apt  to  catch  the  ridiculous,  both  in  cha- 
racters and  things,  and  indulge  an  indiscreet  animation 
wherever  he  found  it.  He  scattered  his  wit  and  his  hu- 
mour, his  .gibes  and  his  jeers,  too  freely  around  him,  and 
they  were  not  lost  for  want  of  gathering.  Mr.  Steevens 
possessed  a  very  handsome  fortune,  which  he  managed 
with  discretion,  and  was  enabled  by  it  to  gratify  his  wishes, 
which  he  did  without  any  regard  to  expence,  in  forming 
•his  distinguished  collections  of  classical  learning,  literary 
antiquity,  and  the  arts  connected  with  it.  His  generosity 
also  was  equal  to  his  fortune  ;  and  though  he  was  not  seen 
to  give  eleemosynary  sixpences  to  sturdy  beggars  or  sweep- 
ers of  the  crossings,  few  persons  distributed  bank-notes 
with  more  liberality  ;  and  some  of  his  acts  of  pecuniary 
kindness  might  be  named,  which  could  only  proceed  from 
a  mind  adorned  with  the  noblest  sentiments  ol  humanity. 
He  possessed  all  the  grace  of  exterior  accomplishment, 
acquired  at  a  period  when  civility  and  politeness  were  cha- 
racteristics of  a  gentleman." 

Some  other  particulars  of  Mr.  Steeveus's  character,  and 
respecting  the  sale  of  his  library,  &c.  may  be  seen  in  our 
authorities.  ' 

STEFFANI  (AGOSTINO),  an  eminent  musical  composer, 
was  born  in  1655,  as  the  German  authorities  say,  at  Leipsic, 
but  Handel  and  the  Italians  make  him  a  native  of  Castello 
Franco,  in  the  Venetian  state.  In  his  youth  he  was  a 
chorister  of  St.  Mark's,  where  his  voice  was  so  much  ad- 
mired by  a  German  nobleman,  that,  obtaining  his  dis- 
mission, he  took  him  to  Munich  in  Bavaria,  and  had  him 
educated,  not  only  in  music  under  the  celebrated  Eerna- 
bei,  but  in  literature  and  theology  sufficient,  as  was  there 
thought,  for  priest's  orders  ;  in  consequence  of  which,  after 
ordination,  he  was  distinguished  by  the  title  of  abate,  or 
abbot,  which  he  retained  until  late  in  life,  when  he  was 
elected  bishop  of  Spiga.  In  1671,  at  the  age  of  nineteen, 
he  published  his  "Psalms,"  in ei^ht  parts.  He  likewise  pub- 
lished "Sonate  a  quattroStromenti,"  but  his  chamber  duets 
are  the  most  celebrated  of  his  works,  and  indeed,  of  that  spe- 
cies of  writing.  In  his  little  tract,  "  Delia  certezza  Dei  prin- 
cipii  della  Musica,"  he  has  treated  the  subject  of  musical 

1  Nichols's  Bowyer. — Boswell's   Life  of  Johnson. — Dihdin's  Bibliomania. — 
Preface  to  vol.  VII.  of  Murphy's  Works.— Wool's  Life  of  Warlon,  p.  398,  &c. 


S  T  E  F  F  A  N  I.  367 

imitation  and  expression,  according  to  Martini,  like  a  phi- 
losopher, and  agreeable  to  mathematical  principles.  This 
work  was  so  admired  in  Germany,  that  it  was  translated 
into  the  language  of  that  country,  and  reprinted  eight 
times.  He  composed  several  operas  likewise  between  the 
years  1695  and  1699,  for  the  court  of  Hanover,  where  he 
resided  many  years  as  maestro  di  capella,  and  these  were 
afterwards  translated  into  German,  and  performed  to  his 
music  at  Hamburgh.  About  1724,  after  he  had  quitted 
the  court  of  Hanover,  where  he  is  s;dd  to  have  resigned  his 

'  O 

office  in  favour  of  Handel,  he  was  elected  president  of  the 
academy  of  ancient  music  at  London.  In  1729,  he  went 
into  Italy  to  see  his  native  country  and  relations,  but  re- 
turned next  year  to  Hanover;  and  soon  after  having  oc- 
casion to  go  to  Francfort,  he  was  seized  with  an  indispo- 
sition, of  which  he  died  there  in  a  few  days,  aged  near 
eighty.  There  are,  perhaps,  no  compositions  more  cor- 
rect, or  fugues  in  which  the  subjects  are  more  pleasing,  or 
answers  and  imitations  more  artful,  than  are  to  be  found  in, 
the  duets  of  StefFani,  which,  in  a  collection  made  for  queen 
Caroline,  and  now  in  the  possession  of  his  majesty,  amount 
to  near  one  hundred. l 

STELLA  (JAMES),  an  eminent  painter,  the  son  of  Francis 
Stella,  a  Fleming,  was  born  in  1596  at  Lyons,  where  his 
father  had  settled  on  his  return  from  Italy.  Although  he 
was  but  nine  years  old  at  his  father's  death,  the  latter  had 
successfully  initiated  him  in  the  principles  of  the  art,  which 
he  afterwards  improved  in  Italy.  At  the  age  of  twenty, 
being  at  Florenc.  aat  duke  Cosmo  de  Medicis,  per- 

ceiving him  to  be  a  man  of  genius,  assigned  him  lodgings 
and  a  pension  equal  to  that  of  Callot,  who  was  there  at  the 
same  time  ;  and  here,  during  a  residence  of  seven  years,  he 
exhibited  many  proofs  of  his  skill  in  painting,  designing, 
and  engraving.  Thence  he  went  to  Rome,  where  he  spent 
eleven  years,  chiefly  in  studying  the  antique  sculptures, 
and  Raphael's  paintings.  Having  acquired  a  good  taste, 
as  well  as  a  great  reputation,  in  Rome,  he  resolved  to  re- 
turn to  his  own  country  ;  intending,  however,  to  pass  thence 
into  the  service  of  the  king  of  Spain,  who  had  invited  him 
more  than  once.  He  took  Milan  in  his  w-\y  to  France;  and 
cardinal  Albornos  offered  him  the  direction  of  the  acad 
of  painting  in  that  city,  which  he  refused.  When  he  ar- 

1  Burney's  Hist,  of  Music;— but  more  fully  in  Hawkins'*. 


368  S  T  E  L  L  A. 

rived  in  Paris,  and  was  preparing  for  Spain,  cardinal  Riche- 
lieu detained  him,  and  presented  him  to  the  kin^,  who 
assigned  him  a  good  pension  and  lodgings  in  the  Louvre. 
He  gave  such  satisfaction  here,  that  he  was  honoured  with 
the  order  of  St  Michael,  and  painted  several  large  pictures 
for  the  king,  by  whose  command  the  greatest  part  of  them 
were  sent  to  Madrid.  Being  very  laborious,  he  spent  the 
winter- evenings  in  designing  the  histories  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures,  country  sports,  and  children's  plays,  which  were 
engraved,  and  make  a  large  volume.  He  also  drew  the  de- 
signs of  the  frontispieces  to  several  books  of  the  Louvre 
impression  ;  and  various  antique  ornaments,  together  with 
a  frieze  of  Julio  Romano,  which  he  brought  out  of  Italy. 
He  died  of  a  consumption  in  1647.  Tiiis  painter  had  a 
fine  genius,  and  all  his  productions  were  wonderfully  ea 
His  talent  was  rather  gay  than  terrible  :  his  invention,  how- 
ever, noble,  and  his  design  in  a  good  style.  His  models 
were  evidently  Raphael  and  Poussin.  He  was  upon  the 
whole  an  excellent  painter,  although  somewhat  of  a  man- 
nerist. Sir  Robert  Strange  has  a  fine  engraving  from  a 
"  Holy  Family"  by  this  artist.1 

STENO,  or  STENONIUS  (NICHOLAS),  a  Danish  ana- 
tomist, was  born  at  Copenhagen,  Jan.  10,  1C38.  His  fa- 
ther was  a  Lutheran,  and  goldsmith  to  Christian  IV.  He 
himself  studied  under  Bartholin,  who  considered  him  as 
one  of  the  best  of  his  pupils.  To  complete  his  knowledge 
he  travelled  in  Germany,  Holland,  France,  and  Italv,  and 
in  the  latter  place  obtained  a  pension  from  Ferdinand  II. 
grand  duke  of  Tuscany.  In  1669  he  abjured  the  protest- 
ant  persuasion,  having  been  nearly  converted  before  by 
Bossuet  at  Paris.  Christian  V.  who  wished  to  fix  him  at 
Copenhagen,  made  him  professor  of  anatomy,  and  gave  him 
permission  to  exercise  the  religion  he  had  adopted.  But 
his  change  produced  disagreeable  effects  in  his  own  conn- 
try,  and  he  returned  to  Italy:  where,  after  a  time,  he  be- 
came an  ecclesiastic,  and  was  named  by  the  pope  his  apos- 
tolical vicar  for  the  North,  with  the  title  of  bishop  of  Titi- 
opolis  in  Greece.  He  became  now  a  missionary  in  Ger- 
many, and  died  at  Swerin  in  1686.  He  made  several  dis- 
coveries in  anatomy,  and  his  works  that  are  extant  are 
chiefly  on  medical  subjects,  as  1.  "  EJementorum  Myolo- 
gist;  Specimen,"  Leyden,  1667,  12mo.  2.  "A  Treatise  on 

»  Argeuville,  vol.  IV.—Pi!kington.— Strutt. 


S  T  E  N  O.  369 

the  Anatomy  of  the  Brain,"  in  Latin,  Paris,  1669;  and 
Leyden,  1671.  He  also  wrote  a  part  of  the  Anatomical 
Exposition  of  Winslow,  to  whom  he  was  great  uncle.1 

STENVVYCK,or  STEENWYCK  (HENRY),  called  THE 
OLD,  was  born  at  Steeiuvyck,  in  1,550,  and  was  the  disciple 
of  John  de  Vries,  who  excelled  in  painting  architecture 
and  perspective.  In  imitation  of  the  style  of  his  master, 
Stenwyck  chose  the  same  subjects ;  but  surpassed  him  and 
all  his  contemporaries,  in  the  truth,  neatness,  transparence, 
and  delicacy,  of  his  pictures.  His  subjects  were  the  insides 
of  superb  churches  and  convents,  of  Gothic  architecture, 
and  generally  views  of  them  by  night,  when  they  were  illu- 
minated by  flambeaux,  tapers,  or  a  number  of  candles  fixed 
in  magnificent  lustres,  or  sconces.  He  was  a  thorough 
master  of  the  true  principles  of  the  chiaroscuro,  and  dis- 
tributed his  lights  and  shadows  with  such  judgment,  as  to 
produce  the  most  astonishing  effects;  but  as  he  was  not 
expert  at  designing  figures,  those  that  appear  in  any  of  his 
compositions  were  inserted  by  Brueghel,  Van  Tulden,  and 
other  eminent  artists.  The  genuine  pictures  of  this  mas- 
ter, who  died  in  1603,  aged  fifty -three,  are  extremely 
scarce,  and  very  highly  prized  in  ev  ry  part  of  Europe.8 

STENWYCK,  or  STEENWYCK  (HENRY),  the  YOUNG, 
son  of  the  preceding,  was  born  about  158!*,  and,  by  stu- 
dying- the  works  of  iiis  father  from  his  infancy,  and  also  re- 
ceiving excellent  directions  from  trim,  he  adopted  the  same 
manner  and  style;  and,  by  some  very  competent  judges, 
was  thought  to  have  often  equalled,  if  not  surpassed,  his 
father.  Vaudyck,  who  admired  his  works,  introduced  him. 
to  the  court  of  ki'ig  Charle^  I.  where  he  met  with  such  a 
degree  of  encouragement  as  was  due  to  his  extraordinary 
talents,  and  found  employment  in  England  for  several 
years.  His  usual  subjects  were  the  insides  ot  churches  and 
grand  edifices;  but  at  last  he  quitted  the  dark  manner, 
which  he  had  originally  acquired  by  imitating  the  manner 
of  his  father.  He  sometimes  painted  the  back  grounds  of 
Vandyck's  portraits,  as  often  as  they  required  ornamental 
architecture  ;  and  it  is  the  portrait  of  the  younger  Stemvyck 
which  was  painted  by  Vaudyck,  and  perpetuated  by  his 
hand  among  the  distinguished  artists  of  his  time.  He  died 
at  London,  but  when  is  not  known  ;  and  his  widow,  who 

1  Fabroni  Vit»  Italorum. — Life  by  Manni,  published  iu  1775.--.Eloy,  Diet. 
Hist,  de  Medp.cme. 
»  Argeuville,  vol.  III.-— Pilkington. 

VOL,  XXVIII.  B  B 


370  STENWYCK. 

practised  perspective  painting  during  the  life  of  her  hus- 
band, retired  after  his  death  to  Amsterdam,  where  she  fol- 
lowed that  profession,  and  painted  in  the  style  of  her  hus- 
band and  his  father  with  great  credit ;  and  as  her  works 
were  generally  esteemed,  she  was  enabled  to  live  in  afflu- 
ence and  honour. ' 

STEPHANUS  of  Byzantium,  an  able  grammarian, 
lived  at  Constantinople  towards  the  end  of  the  fifth,  or  the 
beginning  of  the  sixth  century.  He  composed  a  geogra- 
phical dictionary,  which  comprized,  not  only  the  names 
of  places,  and  those  of  their  inhabitants,  the  origin  of  ci- 
ties, population,  colonies,  £c.  but  also  historical,  mytho- 
logical, and  grammatical  illustrations.  There  remains 
only  of  this  work  a  very  indifferent  extract  or  abridgment, 
made  by  Hermolaus,  a  grammarian,  and  dedicated  by  him 
to  the  emperor  Justinian.  A  fragment,  indeed,  has  been 
recovered,  which  contains  the  article  Dodona  and  some 
others,  enough  to  make  us  regret  the  loss  of  the  entire 
work. 

Hermolaus's  Abridgment  was  first  printed  at  the  Aldine 
press  in  1502,  folio;  and  other  editions  followed  of  the 
Greek  only.  Pinedo,  a  Portuguese  Jew,  was  the  first  who 
published  a  Greek  and  Latin  edition,  Amst.  1678,  folio; 
but  some  copies  have  a  new  title-page  with  the  date  1725. 
In  tiie  mean  time,  Berkelius  had  begun  his  labours  on  this 
author,  and  had  published  at  Leyden  in  1674,  8vo,  the 
fragment  above  mentioned,  which  Ternulius  had  printed 
in  1669,  4tu  ;  and  to  this  Berkelius  added  a  Latin  transla- 
tion and  commentary,  the  Periplus  of  Hanno,  and  the 
monument  of  Adulis.  In  1681  James  Gronovius  published 
a  new  edition  of  this  fragment,  with  a  triple  Latin  version 
and  notes,  reprinted,  and  somewhat  more  correctly,  by 
Montfaucon  in  his  "  Bibliotheca  Cosliniana."  Ryckius  also 
published  the  posthumous  remarks  of  Lucas  Holsteniuson 
Stephanus  of  Byzantium,  at  Leyden,  1684,  folio.  At  length 
Berkelius  closed  his  labours  by  sending  to  the  press  at  Ley- 
den his  Greek  and  Latin  edition  in  1688,  folio.  In  this  he 
gave  a  new  translation,  an  amended  text,  and  a  very 
learned  commentary  ;  but  dying  before  the  work  was  printed, 
Gronovius  undertook  the  task,  and  made  some  valuable  ad- 
ditions. It  was  reprinted  in  1694. 2 

1  Argenville,  vol.  III. — Pilkington. — Walpole's  Auecdotei. 

2  Vossms  tie  Hist.  Grose1. — Fabric.  BibU  Grae.— Snxii  Ouoruast. — Biog.  Utfh 
rerselle,  art.  Eiieiiue. 


STEPHANUS.  371 

STEPHANUS  (HENRY),  or  familiarly  in  this  country 
STEPHENS,  and  in  France  ESTIENNE,  the  first  of  an  illus- 
trious family  of  printers,  was  born  at  Paris  in  1470;  and 
began  the  business  of  printing  about  1503,  in  which  year 
appeared  the  abridgment  of  the  Arithmetic  of  Boethius, 
which  is  the  first  work  known  to  have  issued  from  his  press. 
His  printing-house  was  in  the  rue  de  1'ecole  de  Droit,  and 
his  mark  the  old  arms  of  the  university,  with  the  device, 
plus  olei  quam  vini.  His  great  object  was  correctness,  and 
besides  reading  the  proofs  himself  with  the  greatest  care, 
he  submitted  them  to  the  learned  men  who  visited  him. 
If,  notwithstanding  these  pains,  any  mistakes  occurred,  he 
informed  the  reader,  by  an  "  errata,"  an  attention  which 
he  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  who  paid.  He  died  at  Pa- 
ris, according  to  his  biographers,  July  24,  1520  ;  but  this 
has  been  doubted,  as  not  agreeing  with  the  date  of  the  last 
work  he  printed.  He  left  three  sons,  all  printers,  Francis, 
Robert,  and  Charles.  His  widow  married  Simon  de  Colines, 
or  Colinseus,  his  partner.  Among  the  works  he  executed^ 
which  are  in  greatest  request,  are  the  "  Psalterium  quin- 
tuplex,"  1509  and  1513  ;  the  "  Itinerarium"  of  Antoninus, 
1512,  and  Mara  "  De  Tribus  fugiendis,"  &C.1 

STEPHANUS  (FRANCIS),  the  eldest  son  of  the  prece- 
ding, was  employed  in  printing  with  his  step-father  de  Co- 
lines.  The  '*  Vinetum"  of  Charles  Stephens,  1537,  is  the 
first  work  to  which  we  see  his  name ;  and  the  last  is  the 
"  Andria"  of  Terence,  in  1547.  He  sometimes  used  his 
father's  mark,  but  occasionally  one  of  his  own,  a  golden 
vase  placed  on  a  book,  and  surmounted  by  a  vine-branch 
with  fruit.  He  never  was  married,  and  Maittaire  is  mis- 
taken in  saying  he  had  a  son  of  the  same  names,  who  was  a 
printer  in  1570.  That  Francis  was  the  son  of  Robert,  and 
nephew  to  the  subject  of  this  short  article.2 

STEPHANUS  (ROBERT),  the  most  celebrated  printer 
of  this  family,  was  the  second  son  of  Henry,  and  born  at 
Paris  in  1503.  He  had  a  liberal  education,  and  made  very 
great  progress  in  learning,  particularly  in  the  classical 
languages,  and  in  the  Hebrew.  After  his  father's  death 
he  worked  for  some  years  in  partnership  with  De  Colines, 
who  entrusted  him  with  the  care  of  the  business.  It  was 
during  these  years  (in  1522)  that  he  published  an  edition 
of  the  New  Testament,  more  correct,  and  in  a  more  con- 
venient size,  than  any  which  had  preceded  it.  It  had  a 

1  Vite  Slephanoruoi  i  Maittaire.— Biog.  Univergellt.  ?  Ibid. 

B  B  2 


372  S  T  E  P  H  A  N  U  S. 

very  quick  sale,  which  alarmed  the  doctors  of  the  Sorbonne, 
who  could  not  be  reconciled  to  the  circulation  of  a  work 
from  which  the  reformers  drew  their  most  powerful  argu- 
ments ;  but  still  they  could  not  find  even  a  plausible 
pretext  for  requiring  that  it  should  be  suppressed,  and 
there-fore  concealed  their  indignation  until  a  more  favour- 
able opportunity  *. 

Robert  Stephens  married  Petronilla,  the  daughter  of  the 
celebrated  printer  Jodocus  Badius,  a  lady  of  learned  ac- 
complishments. She  herself  taught  Latin  to  her  children 
and  servants,  and  with  such  success  that  there  was  not  a 
person  in  Robert's  house  who  did  not  understand  and  speak 
that  language.  In  1526,  Robert  dissolved  partnership 
with  de  Colines,  and  set  up  a  printing- establishment  of 
his  own  in  the  same  part  of  the  city  where  his  father  had 
lived.  The  first  work  which  issued  from  his  press  was  Ci- 
cero "  De  Partitionibus  Oratoriis,"  in  1527;  and  from 
that  year  to  his  death,  there  seldom  passed  a  year  in  which 
he  did  not  produce  some  new  editions  of  the  classics,  su- 
perior to  all  that  had  preceded,  and  for  the  most  part  en- 
riched with  notes  and  valuable  prefaces.  So  attentive  was 
he  to  the  business  of  correction,  that  he  used  to  fix  up  his 
proof  sheets  in  some  conspicuous  place,  with  offers  of  re- 
ward to  those  who  could  detect  a  blunder.  For  some  time 
he  used  the  same  types  with  his  father  and  his  late  partner, 
bi«r  in  1532  he  had  a  new  and  elegant  fount  cast,  which 
he  first  used  for  his  edition  of  the  Latin  Bible,  dated  that 
year.  He,  indeed,  neglected  nothing  that  could  make 
this  a  chef-d'oeuvre  of  the  art ;  and  not  only  collated  the 
text  most  carefully  with  two  manuscripts,  one  at  St.  Ger- 
main -des-Prt:s,  and  the  other  at  St.  Denis,  but  consulted 
the  ablest  divines,  sought  their  advice,  and  obtained  their 
approbation.  But  this  edition  gave  his  old  enemies,  the 
doctors  of  the  Sorbonne,  an  opportunity  to  renew  their 
bigoted  opposition  to  the  circulation  of  the  Scriptures;  and 
if  me  kiiiL',  Francis  I.  who  had  a  great  value  for  Robert, 
had  not  protected  him  against  their  violence,  he  would 
probably  at  this  time  have  been  obliged  to  quit  his  native 
country.  Still  the  love  of  peace,  and  of  a  quiet  life,  to 
execute  his  undertakings,  induced  him  to  submit  so  far  to 
these  gentlemen,  that  he  promised  to  print  no  work  in 
future  without  the  consent  of  the  Sorbonne.  He  soon  after 
published  the  first  edition  of  his  "  Thesaurus  Linguae  La- 

*  Maittaire  does  not  mention  any  edition  of  the  New  Testament  by  R.  Ste- 
phens, before  that  of  3  J41 . 


S  T  E  P  H  A  N  U  S.  373 

tinae,"  on  which  he  had  been  employed  many  years,  aided 
by  various  learned  men  ;  but  although  he  had  great  success, 
he  never  ceased  to  improve  each  edition  until  he  made  it 
the  first  and  most  correct  work  of  the  kind.  In  1539  he 
was  appointed  king's  printer  of  Latin  and  Hebrew  ;  and 
it  was  at  his  suggestion  that  Francis  I.  caused  those  beauti- 
ful types  to  be  cast  by  Garamond,  which  are  still  in  the 
royal  printing-office  of  Paris. 

These  favours,  however  honourable  to  the  king's  taste 
and  discernment,  were  ultimately  of  disadvantage  to  Ro- 
bert, by  exciting  the  jealousy  of  the  Sorbonnists,  who  could 
not  endure  that  his  majesty  should  bestow  his  confidence 
on  a  man  whom  they  suspected  of  being  unsound  in  the 
faith,  and  therefore  sought  occasion  to  convict  him  of 
heresy.  Grounds  for  this  they  thought  were  to  be  found 
in  the  new  edition  of  the  Bible  which  Robert  published  in 
1545,  and  which  had  a  double  Latin  version,  and  the  notes 
of  Vatablus.  Leo  Juda,  well  known  to  be  a  Zuinglian, 
was  the  translator  of  one  of  these  versions;  and  they  far- 
ther alleged  that  Robert  had  corrupted  the  notes  of  Vata- 
blus. This  was,  in  those  days,  a  serious  accusation,  and 
the  king  had  again  to  interpose  between  him  and  his  ene- 
mies. His  majesty  died  about  this  time,  and  Robert,  as  a 
mark  of  gratitude,  printed  with  particular  care,  Ducha- 
tel's  funeral  oration  on  Francis  I.  in  which  that  orator  hap- 
pened to  say  that  the  king  was  "  translated  from  the  pre- 
sent life  to  eternal  glory."  This  expression,  although 
common  in  every  eulogium  of  the  kind,  was  now  made  the 
subject  of  an  accusation  by  the  Sorbonnists,  who  asserted 
that  it  was  contrary  to  the  doctrine  of  the  church  respect- 
ing purgatory.  Robert,  therefore,  soon  perceived  that  he 
could  no  longer  depend  on  the  protection  he  had  hitherto 
received,  and  after  some  years  struggling  against  the  ma- 
chinations of  his  enemies,  determined  to  remove  to  Ge- 
neva with  his  family.  He  accordingly  took  his  leave  of 
Paris,  and  arrived  at  Geneva  in  the  beginning  of  1552. 
There  he  printed  the  same  year,  in  partnership  with'  his 
brother-in-law  Conrad  Badius,  the  New  Testament  in 
French.  He  afterwards  set  up  a  printing-house  of  his  own, 
from  which  some  valuable  works  issued.  He  was  chosen  a 
burgher  of  Geneva  in  1556,  and  died  there  Sept.  7,  1559. 
Robert  is  said  to  have  been  a  man  of  a  firm  and  decided 
character ;  but  it  has  been  objected  by  his  popish  biogra- 
phers, that  he  did  not  allow  that  liberty  to  other*  which  he 


374  S  T  E  P  H  A  N  U  S. 

had  taken   himself,  and  that   he  disinherited   one  of  his 
children  for  not  embracing  the  reformed  religion.     Beza, 
Dorat,  and  St.  Marthe,  have  given  him  the  highest  charac- 
ter.    Thuanus  places  him  above  Aldus  Manutius,  and  Fro- 
ben,  and  asserts  that  the  Christian  world  was  more  indebted 
to  him  than  to  all  the  great  conquerors  it  had   produced, 
and  that  he  contributed  more  to  immortalize  the  reign  of 
Francis  I.   than  all  the  renowned  actions  of  that  prince. 
His  mark  was  an  olive  with  branches,  and  the  device,  Noli 
altum  sapere,  to  which  sometimes  were  added  the  words  sed 
time.      The    works   he   executed   as    King's   printer,    are 
marked  with  a  lance,  round  which  a  serpent  is  entwined, 
and  a  branch  of  olive,  and  underneath  a  verse  of  Homer, 
"  B«<nX£i  raya&ia  xgaltfjca  r'ai%/*>iV' — "  to  the  good  king  and  the 
valiant  soldier."     All  the   printers  who  afterwards    were 
permitted  to  use  the  royal  Greek  types  adopted  the  same 
emblems.     The  works  which  he   printed  at  Geneva  are 
marked  only  with  the  olive,  and  these  words,  Oliva  Roberti 
Stephani.     It  was  not  Robert,  however,  as  has  been  com- 
monly said,   who  first  divided  the  Bible  into  verses,  which 
he  is  said  to  have  done  inter  equitandum,  while  riding  from 
Paris  to  Lyons.     That  mode  of  division  had  been  used  in 
the  Latin  Bible  of  Pagninus  in  1527,  4to,  in  the  "  Psalte- 
rium  quintuples,"   1509,  and   in    other  works.     Another 
report   concerning   him  is  untrue,  namely,  that  when  he 
left  Paris,  he  carried  with  him  the  Greek  types  belonging 
to  the  royal  printing-house.     The  fact  seems  to  have  been 
that  the  matrices  employed  in   casting  those  types  were 
already  at  Geneva,  and  were  the  property  of  the  family  of 
Robert,  and  probably  given  to  him  by  Francis  I.;   for  when 
the  French  clergy  in  1619  were  about  to  reprint  the  Greek 
fathers,  they  requested  that  the  king  would  demand  of  the 
state  of  Geneva  the  matrices  used  in  casting  the   Greek 
types  for  Francis  I.     The  answer  was,  that  they  might  be 
bought  for  the  sum  of  3000  livres,  to  be  paid  either  to  the 
state  of  Geneva,  or  to  the  heirs  of  Robert  Stephens. 

Among  the  finest  editions  from  the  press  of  Robert  are, 
1.  His  Hebrew  Bibles,  4  vols.  4to,  and  8  vols.  16mo.  2. 
The  Latin  Bible,  1538 — 40,  fol.  of  which  the  large  paper 
copies  are  principally  valued.  3.  The  Greek  New  Testa- 
ment, 1530,  fol.  one  of  the  most  beautiful  books  ever 
printed  ;  to  which  may  be  added  the  small  editions  of  1546 
and  1549,  usually  called  the  O  mirifcam,  the  first  two 
words  of  the  preface.  That  of  1 549  is  the  most  correct. 


S  T  E  P  H  A  N  U  S.  375 

4.  "  Historiae  ecclesiastics  scriptores,   Eusebii  preparatio 
et  demonstratio  evangelica,"   Gr.  1544,   2  vols.  fol :  this  is 
the  first  work  published  with  Garamond's  new  Greek  types. 

5.  The  works  of  Cicero,  Terence,  Plautus,  &c.  &,c. 
Besides  the  prefaces  and  notes  with  which  Robert  intro- 
duced or  illustrated  various  works,  he  is  deemed  the  author 
of  the  following  :    1.  "Thesaurus  Linguae  Latinae,"  before 
mentioned,  which  has  been  often  reprinted.     One  of  the 
best  of  the  modern  editions  is  that  of  London,  1734 — 5,  4 
vols.  fol.  and  the  last  is  Gessner's,   Leipsic,    1749,   4  vols. 
fol.     2.   "  Dictionarium  Latino-Gallicum,"  Paris,  1543,  2 
vols.  fol.     He  published  an  abridgment  of  this  for  young 
people.     3.  "  Ad  censuras  Theologorum  Parisiensium  qui- 
bus  Biblia  a  Roberto  Stephano  excusa  calumniose  notarunr, 
responsio,"  Geneva,  1552,  8vo.     The  same  year  a  French 
edition  of  this  was  published  ;  it  forms  a  very  able  answer 
to  the  calumnies  of  his  enemies  the  Sorbonnists.     4.  "  Gal- 
licae  grammatices  libellus,"  ibid.  1558,  8vo,  and  a  "  Gram- 
maire  Frangaise,"    1558,  8vo.     He  intended  to  have  pub- 
lished a  commentary  on  the  Bible,  and  had  engaged  the 
assistance  of  the  celebrated  divine  Marlorat ;  he  also  had 
projected  a  Greek  Thesaurus,  but  the  honour  of  that  work 
was  reserved  for  his  son  Henry,  to  whom  he  gave  what 
materials  he  had  collected.     Robert  had  several  sons,  of 
whom  Henry,  Robert,  and  Francis,  will  be   noticed  here- 
after, and  a  daughter,  Catherine,  who  was  married  to  Jac- 
quelin,  a  royal  notary  of  Paris. l 

STEPHANUS  (CHARLES),  brother  to  the  preceding, 
and  third  son  of  Henry,  the  founder  of  the  family,  re- 
ceived also  a  liberal  education,  and  afterwards  studied  me- 
dicine, and  was  received  as  a  doctor  of  the  faculty  of  Paris. 
Lazarus  Baif  engaged  him  to  be  tutor  to  his  son.  >nrJ  like- 
wise to  accompany  him  in  his  embassies  to  G^u  /and 
Italy,  that  he  might  continue  to  instruct  his  pupil  Dur- 
ing his  being  at  Venice,  he  formed  a  friendship  wit  a  Pnul 
Manutius,  who  speaks  of  him  in  some  of  his  letters,  in 
very  honourable  terms.  It  was  not  un:il  1551  that  he  be- 
gan the  business  of  printing,  and  his  rirst  w>rk  was  an  edi- 
dition  of  "  Appian"  from  manuscripts  in  the  royal  iibrary, 
and  executed  with  Garamond's  types.  He  appears  also  to 
have  been  honoured  with  the  'itle  of  king's  printer  John 
Maumont,  in  a  letter  to  Scaliger,  represents  Charles  Ste- 

1  Maittaire.— Biog.  Univ. — Chaufepie. 


376  S  T  E  P  H  A  N  U  S. 

phens  as  an  avaricious  man,  jealous  of  his  brethren  and 
even  of  his  nephews,  whom  he  endeavoured  to  injure  on 
every  occasion.  He  was,  however,  unsuccessful  in  busi- 
ness, and  was  imprisoned  for  debt  in  the  Chatelet  in  1561, 
and  died  there  in  1564.  Maittaire  says  that  the  fine  edi- 
tions of  Charlt-s  Stephens  have  never  been  surpassed,  that 
in  point  of  erudition  he  was  not  inferior  to  the  most  learned 
printers,  and  that  in  his  short  space  few  of  them  printed 
more  books.  Among  the  most  valuable  are,  1.  "  De  re 
vesiiaria,  de  vasculis  ex  Bayfio  excerpt."  Paris,  1535,  8vo. 
2.  "  Abrege  de  1'Histoire  des  vicomtes  et  dues  de  Milan,'* 
1552,  4to,  with  portraits.  3.  "  Paradoxes  ou  propos  con- 
tre  la  commune  opinion,  debattus  en  forme  de  declama- 
tions forenses,  pour  exciter  les  jeunes  esprits  en  causes 
difficiles,"  Paris,  155 4-,  8vo,  a  very  rare  work  and  an  imi- 
tation of  the  "  Paradossi"  ot  Ortensio  Lando.  4.  **  Dic- 
tionarium  Latino-Graecum,"  ibid.  1554,  4to,  compiled,  as 
the  author  allows,  for  the  most  part,  from  the  notes  of  G. 
Buddseus.  5.  "Dictionarium  Latino-Galhcum,"  ibid.  1570, 
fol.  the  best  and  most  complete  edition,  but  not  a  work  in 
much  demand.  6.  "  Preedium  rusticum,  &c."  ibid.  1554, 
8vo.  Of  this  he  published  a  French  translation  under  the 
title  of  "  Agriculture  et  Maison  rusti^ue,  de  M.  Charles 
Estienne,"  and  it  has  been  since  translated  into  Italian, 
German,  English,  &c.  7.  "  Thesaurus  Ciceronis,"  ibid. 
1556,  fol.  This  work,  whatever  its  merit,  was  a  most  un- 
fortunate speculation,  as  the  expences  attending  it  obliged 
him  to  borrow  large  sums,  for  which  he  was  at  last  arrested. 
8.  "  Dictionarium  Historico-geographico-poeticum,"  Ge- 
neva, 1566,  4to.  This  did  not  appear  until  after  his  death. 
It  was  much  improved  by  subsequent  editors  to  a  large 
folio,  whence  it  was  translated  into  English  by  Lloyd, 
and  twice  published  at  Oxford  in  1670,  and  at  London  in 
1686. 

Charles  Stephens  was  the  author  also  of  some  profes* 
sional  treatises,  and  had  the  credit  of  making  some  disco- 
veries in  anatomy.  He  had  a  learned  daughter,  who  was 
married  to  John  Liebaut,  who  published  an  improved  edi- 
tion of  the  "  Pnedium  Rusticum."  She  spoke  and  wrote 
well  in  several  languages,  and  was  celebrated  for  her  poe- 
tical talents,  but  none  of  her  productions  have  been  pub- 
lished. * 

1  Maittaire.— Niceron,  vol.  XXXVI.— Biog.  Univ — Eloy  Diet.  Hist,  de  Mede- 


oine. 


S  T  E  P  H  A  N  U  S.  377 

STEPHANUS  (HENRY),  the  second  of  the  name,  and 
the  eldest  son  of  Robert,  was  born  at  Paris  in  1528,  and 
froiii  his  inf-mcy  gave  every  promise  of  perpetuating  the  ho- 
nours of  the  family.  His  tatuer,  uoi  having  it  in  his  power 
to  superintend  his  education  as  he  wished,  entrusted  that 
care  to  an  able  tutor,  who  was  to  instruct  him  in  the  ele- 
ments of  grammar.  At  this  time  his  tutor,  in  his  ordinary 
course,  was  teaching  his  other  pupils  the  Medea  of  Euri- 
pides, and  Henry  was  bo  captivated  with  the  sweetness  and 
harmony  of  the  Greek  language,  that  he  resolved  imme- 
diately to  learn  it.  His  tutor,  however,  objected  to  this, 
as  he  thought  that  the  Latin  should  alv\ays  precede  the 
Greek,  in  a  course  of  education;  but  Henry's  father  being 
of  a  different  opinion,  he  was  allowed  to  foilow  his  inclina- 
tion, and  his  progress  corresponded  to  the  enthusiasm  with 
which  he  entire  <  on  this  language.  A  few  da\s  were  suf- 
ficient lor  the  Greek  grammar,  and  Euripides  being  then 
put  into  ins  hanti-,  he  read  it  with  avidity,  and  could  repeat 
most  of  the  plays,  even  before  he  had  become  a  thorough 
master  of  the  language.  He  afterwards  perfected  himself 
in  Greek  under  Turnebus  and  other  eminent  scholars,  and  at 
the  same  time  did  not  neglect  to  make  himself  acquainted 
with  the  Latin,  as  may  appear  by  the  notes  he  published 
on  Horace,  when  he  was  only  twenty  years  of  age.  He 
also  studied  arithmetic,  geometry,  and  even  judicial  astro- 
logy, then  very  fashionable,  but  he  is  said  to  have  very 
soon  discovered  its  absurdity. 

In  1547  he  went  to  Italy  for  the  purpose  of  visiting  the 
libraries  and  collating  the  MS  copies  of  ancient  authors, 
whose  works  he  intended  to  publish.  He  probably  passed 
several  years  in  this  pursuit,  as  he  himself  informs  us  that 
he  remained  three  years  at  Florence,  Rome,  Naples,  and 
Venice.  Among  the  treasures  he  thus  amassed,  were  the 
"  Hypotyposes"  of  Sextus  Empiricus,  some  parts  ofAp- 
pian's  history,  the  odes  of  Anacreon,  &c.  Before  his  re- 
turn home,  he  visited  England  and  the  Netherlands.  He 
learnt  Spanish  in  Flanders,  as  he  had  before  learnt  Italian 
at  Florence,  and  arrived  at  Paris  in  1551,  which  he  found 
his  father  ready  to  quit  for  Geneva,  in  order  to  avoid  the 
persecution  of  the  doctors  of  the  Sorbonne.  It  appears 
that  Henry  accompanied  his  father  in  his  exile,  but  was 
on  his  return  to  Paris  in  1554.  He  presented  a  petition  to 
the  Sorbonne  that  he  might  be  allowed  to  establish  a  print- 
ing-office, and  added  to  his  request  the  privilege  which 


S7S  S  T  E  P  H  A  N  U  S. 

Francis  I.  had  granted  to  his  father,  and  soon  after  pub- 
lished his  edition  of  Anacreon  ;  at  least  this  bears  his  name, 
but  some  suppose  it  was  printed  in  the  house  of  Charles 
Stephens,  and  that  Henry  had  not  an  establishment  of  his 
own  before  1557.  Towards  the  end  of  1554  he  was  at 
Rome,  and  went  thence  to  Naples  to  endeavour  to  obtain 
those  passports  which  the  French  ambassador,  Odet  de 
Selves,  demanded  of  him,  and  it  is  said  that  he  escaped  an 
ignominious  death  by  his  facility  in  speaking  Italian.  He 
then  went  to  Venice,  to  collate  some  valuable  MSS.  of 
Xenophon  and  Diogenes  Laertius.  It  was  therefore  about 
the  beginning  of  1557  that  he  published  some  of  those 
works  which  he  had  obtained  with  so  much  pains  and  risk. 
The  great  expences  he  had  incurred,  would  at  this  time 
have  ruined  him,  if  Ulrick  Fugger,  an  opulent  patron  of 
literature,  had  not  advanced  him  the  money  necessary  to 
carry  on  the  business.  Henry,  out  of  gratitude,  took  the 
title  of  printer  to  this  benefactor,  "  Illustris  viri  Huldnci 
Fuggeri  typographic,"  which  he  continued  as  long  as  the 
latter  lived. 

In  1559  his  father  died,  which  appears  to  have  thrown 
him  into  melancholy,  which  his  friends  did  every  thing  in 
their  power  to  dissipate,  and  among  other  schemes  recom- 
mended him  to  marry.  He  accordingly  married  a  lady  of 
the  family  of  Schrimger,  whom  he  often  praises  for  the 
sweetness  of  her  disposition.  His  health  and  tranquillity 
being  now  restored,  he  applied  himself  to  business  with 
his  usual  activity.  His  father  had  appointed  him  his  exe- 
cutor, and  recommended  the  care  of  his  brothers,  which 
appears  to  have  been  attended  with  some  trouble  and  vex- 
ation. Another  source  of  trouble  arose  from  his  having 
made  a  public  profession  of  his  adherence  to  the  reformed 
religion.  This  made  him  in  continual  fear  of  being  obliged 
to  quit  his  business  at  Paris,  and  for  such  fear  he  had  an 
additional  reason,  having  written  a  French  translation  of 
Herodotus,  to  which  he  added  a  collection  of  anecdotes, 
satirical  remarks,  and  epigrams  against  priests  and  monks, 
and  he  well  knew  his  danger,  if  he  should  be  known  as  the 
author. 

In  our  account  of  Robert  Stephens,  we  mentioned  his 
intention  of  publishing  a  Greek  Thesaurus  :  this  was  now 
accomplished  by  his  son,  after  twelve  years  incessant  la- 
bour, and  is  alone  a  sufficient  monument  of  his  erudition. 
The  learned  bestowed  the  highest  commendation,  but  the 


S  T  E  P  H  A  N  U  S.  37.9 

great  price  which  he  was  obliged  to  fix  upon  it  to  indemnify 
himself  is  said  to  have  retarded  the  sale,  and  he  was  still  a 
more  serious  sufferer  by  the  plagiarism  of  Scapula  (See 
SCAPULA),  which  indeed  completed  his  ruin.  He  was  not, 
however,  without  friends  or  resources.  He  went  after  this 
affair  into  Germany,  and  although  he  had  been  neglected 
by  his  countrymen,  did  not  cease  by  his  writings  to  do 
honour  to  France  in  foreign  countries.  This  conduct  re- 
commended him  to  the  favour  of  Henry  III.  who  gave  him 
a  present  of  3000  livres  for  his  work  on  the  excellence  of 
the  French  language,  and  a  pension  of  300  livres  to  assist 
him  in  collating  manuscripts.  He  also  invited  him  to  re- 
side at  his  court,  often  admitted  him  into  his  councils,  and 
gave  him  grants  for  considerable  sums ;  but  these  sums 
were  either  ill-paid,  or  not  sufficient  to  extricate  our  au- 
thor from  his  difficulties,  and  he  resolved  therefore  to  leave 
the  court.  He  now  commenced  a  kind  of  wandering  life, 
residing  for  short  spaces  of  time  at  Orleans,  Paris,  Franc- 
fort,  Geneva,  and  Lyons,  and  exhausting  his  poor  finances. 
During  the  last  journey  he  made  to  Lyons,  he  was  seized 
with  sickness,  and  carried  to  the  hospital,  where  he  died 
in  the  month  of  March,  1598,  after  having  been  for  some 
time  in  a  state  of  derangement. 

Such  was  the  melancholy  end  of  one  of  the  most  learned 
men  of  his  time,  and  one  of  the  greatest  benefactors  to  li- 
terature. The  unfortunate  circumstances  of  his  life  pre- 
vented him  from  bestowing  the  same  attention  which  his 
father  had  to  the  typographical  beauty  of  the  works  which 
issued  from  his  press;  but  he  published  a  great  many  which 
do  not  yield  to  Robert's  in  point  of  correctness.  To  all  his 
editions  he  prefixed  learned  prefaces,  illustrated  them 
by  short  and  judicious  notes,  and  they  have  generally 
formed  the  basis  of  all  future  reprints.  Some  modern  cri- 
tics, of  Germany  chiefly,  have  attacked  his  fidelity  as  an 
editor,  and  accused  him  of  having  introduced  readings  not 
justified  by  the  authority  of  manuscripts;  but  he  has  been 
very  ably  defended  against  this  charge  by  Wyttembach,  in 
the  preface  to  his  edition  of  Plutarch's  morals.  Henry  had 
great  facility  in  writing  Latin  poetry,  which  he  often  com- 
posed almost  extempore,  while  walking,  riding,  or  con- 
versing with  his  friends.  He  had  a  correspondence  with 
all  the  learned  of  Europe;  but  had  seme  little  alloy  in  his 
character.  He  was  rather  impatient  of  contradiction,  and 
too  frequently  indulged  his  epigrammatic  turn  at  the  ex- 
pence  of  those  who  could  not  accede  to  his  opinions. 


380  S  T  E  P  H  A  N  U  S. 

Among  the  ancient  authors  which  he  published,  with 
notes,  we  may  mention  the  "  Poet.  Gracci,  principes  he- 
roici  carminis,"  1566,  fol.  a  magnificent  collection,  which 
is  every  day  rising  in  price;  "  Pindari  et  casterorum  octo 
Grfficorum  carmina,"  1560,  1566,  1586,  24mo  :  to  these 
we  may  add  Maximus  Tyrius,  Diodorus,  Xenophon,  Thu- 
cydides,  Hefodotus,  Sophocles,  ^schylus,  Diogenes  La- 
ertius,  Plutarch,  Apollonius  Rhotlius,  Callimachus,  Plato, 
Herodian,  and  Appian  ;  Horace,  Virgil,  the  younger  Pliny, 
Aulus  Gellius,  Macrobius,  and  a  collection  of  the  Latin 
historians;  but  his  taste  most  inclined  to  Greek  literature, 
and  from  that  language  he  has  furnished  us  with  Latin 
translations  of  Anacreon,  Theocritus,  Bion  and  Moschus, 
Pindar,  Sextus  Empiricus;  ^Eschylus,  Sophocles,  &c.  &e. : 
and  all  his  translations,  extensive  as  they  are,  are  allowed 
to  be  excellent. 

The  most  valued  of  his  own  works,  original  or  compiled, 
are,  1.  "  Ciceronianum  Lexicon  Graeco-Latinum,"  Paris, 
1557,  8vo.  2.  "  In  Ciceronis  quamplurimos  locos  casti- 
gationes,"  ibid.  1557,  8vo  ;  this  is  usually  printed  with  th« 
former.  3.  "  Admonitio  de  abusu  linguae  Graecae  in  qui- 
busdam  vocibus  quas  Latina  usurpat,"  1563,  8vo  ;  of  this 
there  was  a  new  edition  by  Koloff  and  Kromayer,  Berlin, 
1736,  8vo.  4.  "  Fragmenta  poetarum  veterum  Latinorum, 
quorum  opera  non  extant,"  1564,  8vo.  5.  "  Dictionarium 
medicum,"  1564,  8vo.  6.  "  Introduction  au  traite  de  la 
conformite  des  merveilles  anciennes  avec  les  modernes,  ou 
Traite  preparatif  a  1'apologie  pour  Herodote,"  1566,  Svo, 
of  great  rarity  and  value,  and  the  only  edition  in  which  the 
text  was  not  altered,  as  was  the  case  in  the  subsequent  ones, 
of  which  there  were  about  twelve  before  1607.  Duchet 
published  a  new  edition  at  the  Hague  in  1733,  3  vols  Svo. 
We  have  mentioned  the  author's  fears  respecting  his  being 
known  to  have  written  it,  but  in  fact  he  never  was  dis- 
covered, nor  is  there  any  truth  in  the  story  of  his  having 
been  obliged  to  fly  from  the  city,  and  take  refuge  in  the 
mountains  of  Auvergne.  7.  "Traite  de  la  conformite  du 
langage  Francois  avec  le  Grec,"  Svo,  without  date.  The 
second  edition,  of  Paris,  1569,  was  cancelled  in  some 
places,  which  makes  the  other  the  more  valuable.  8.  "  Ar- 
tis  typographicae  querimonia  de  illiteratis  quibusdam  typo- 
graphis,"  1569,  4to.  This  little  poem,  for  such  it  is,  has 
been  added  to  those  published  by  Almeloveen  and  Maittaire, 
and  there  is  a  recent  edition  by  Lottin,  printed  at  Paris  in 


STEPHANUS.  381 

1785,  4to,  with  a  French  translation,  and  the  genealogy 
of  the  Stephani,  from  1500.  9.  "  Epistola  qua  ad  multas 
multorum  amicorum  respondet  de  suas  typographic  statu, 
nominatimque  de  suo  Thesauro  linguae  Graecoe,"  1569,  8vo, 
reprinted  also  by  Almeloveen  and  Maittaire.  10.  "  Comi- 
coruin  Graecorum  sententiae,"  1569,  12mo.  11.  "  Epi- 
grammata  Graeca  selectaex  Anthologia  interpretata  ad  ver- 
bum  et  carmina,"  1570,  8vo.  12.  "Thesaurus  Grsecae 
linguae,"  1572,  4  vols.  fol.  with  which  is  connected  the 
"Glossariaduo,"  &C.1573,  fol.  Of  this  celebrated  work  it  is 
unnecessary  to  say  much, as  it  is  so  well  known  to  the  learned 
in  Europe,  and  to  others  information  vvoxild  be  unneces- 
sary. Maittaire  was  of  opinion  that  Henry  published  a 
second  edition,  but  has  not  discovered  the  date.  Niceron 
thinks  he  only  printed  a  new  title  for  the  unsold  copies, 
with  an  epigram  on  Scapula.  But  Brunet,  after  examining 
a  great  many  copies,  both  with  the  first  and  second  titles, 
inclines  to  the  existence  of  a  second  edition.  Of  late  a 
spirited  invitation  has  been  held  out  to  public  taste  and 
liberality  by  Messrs.  Valpy,  who  have  undertaken  a  nevr 
edition,  with  improvements  ;  and  every  lover  of  literature, 
every  scholar  anxious  for  the  honour  of  his  country ,  must 
wish  them  success.  13.  "  Virtutum  encomia,  sive  gnomas 
de  virtutibus,"  1575,  12mo.  14.  "  Francofordiense  empo- 
rium, sive  Francofordienses  nundinse,"  1574,  Svo.  This 
collection  of  prose  and  verse  pieces,  which  he  calls  "  mer- 
chandize," is  but  little  known.  1  5.  "  Discours  merveil- 
leux  de  la  vie  et  deportments  de  la  reine  Catherine  de  Me- 
decis,"  1575,  8vo.  This  satire,  translated  in  1575,  by  a 
protestant  writer,  into  Latin,  with  the  title  of  "  Legenda 
sanctae  Catharinae  JMediceas,"  is  attributed  to  Henry  Ste- 
phens, and  has  been  often  reprinted.  16.  "  De  Latinitate 
falso  suspecta  expostulatio,  necnon  de  Plauti  Latinitate 
dissertatio,"  1576,  Svo.  This  is  a  hit  at  the  Ciceronians, 
or  those  who  undervalue  all  Latin  that  is  not  borrowed  from 
Cicero.  17.  "  Pseudo-Cicero,  dialogus  in  quo  de  multis 
ad  Ciceronis  sermonem  pertinentibus,  de  delectu  editio- 
num  ejus,  et  cautione  in  eo  legendo,"  1577,  Svo.  18. 
"  Schediasmatum  variorum,  id  est,  observationum,  &c.  li- 
bri  tres,"  1578,  Svo.  These  three  books  of  critical  re- 
marks bear  the  names  of  the  first  three  mouths  of  the  year, 
and  three  others  were  added  in  1589,  but  this  second  part 
is  very  rare.  Gruter,  however,  has  inserted  it  in  the  sup- 
plement to  vol.  V.  of  his  "Thesaurus  criticus."  19.  "  Ni- 


382  S  T  E  P  H  A  N  U  S. 

zolio-Didascalus,  sive  monitor  Ciceronianorum-Nizoliand- 
rum  dialogus,"  1578,  8vo.  (See  NIZOLIUS).  20.  "  Deux 
dialogues  du  nouveau  Frangois  Italianize"  et  autrement  de- 
guise  entre  les  courtesans  de  ce  temps,"  3vo,  no  date,  but 
printed,  as  Brunet  thinks,  in  1579,  by  Patisson,  and  re- 
printed at  Antwerp  the  same  year  in  12mo.  21.  "  Projet 
de  livre  intitule  de  la  precellence  du  langage  Frangois," 
1579,  Svo,  a  curious  and  very  rare  work,  for  which,  as 
we  have  noticed,  the  king  rewarded  him.  22.  "  Paralipo- 
jnena  grammaticarum  GrEecae  linguae  institutionum,"  1581, 
Svo.  23.  "  Hypomneses  de  Gallica  lingua,"  1582,  Svo, 
and  inserted  also  in  his  father's  French  grammar.  24.  "  De 
criticis  veteribus  Grsecis  et  Latinis,  eorumque  variis  apud 
poetas  potissimurn  reprehensionibus  dissertatio,"  1587,  4to. 
25.  "  Les  premices,  ou  le  premier  livre  des  proverbes  epi- 
grammatises,  ou  des  epigrammes  proverbiales  rangees  ea 
lieux  communs,"  1593,  Svo.  26.  "  De  Lipsii  Latinitate 
palestra,"  Francfort,  1595,  Svo. 

Henry  Stephens  was  twice  married,  and  had  three 
children  by  his  first  wife,  a  son,  Paul,  a  printer,  at  Geneva, 
and  two  daughters,  one  of  whom,  Fiorentia,  was  married 
to  Isaac  Casaubon.1 

STEPHANUS  (ROBERT),  the  second  of  that  name,  and 
brother  to  the  preceding,  was  born  at  Paris  in  1530.  Re- 
maining attached  to  the  Roman  catholic  religion,  he  re- 
fused to  accompany  his  father  when  he  went  to  Geneva,  on 
which  account  his  father  disinherited  him  ;  but  by  his  talents 
and  labours  he  was  soon  enabled  to  provide  for  himself. 
From  1556  he  had  a  printing-office  with  many  founts  of 
beautiful  types,  as  we  may  see  from  his  edition  of  Des- 
pauter's  "Rudimenta,"  the  first  book  he  printed.  William 
Morel  was  his  partner  in  the  publication  of  some  works, 
and  among  the  rest  an  Anacreon,  prepared  for  the  press 
by  his  brother  Henry.  It  is  thought  that  he  obtained  the 
brevet  of  king's  printer  after  the  death  of  his  father,  but 
we  do  not  find  that  he  assumed  the  title  before  1561.  He 
died  in  Feb.  1571,  and  in  the  month  of  March  following, 
his  nephew,  Frederic  Morel,  was  made  king's  printer.  He 
married  Denisa  Barbe,  and  had  three  sons,  Robert,  Fran- 
cis, who  died  young,  and  Henry.  His  widow  married 
Mauiert  Patisson. 

1   Maittaire.— Nicevon,  vol.  XXXVI. — Bio£.  Universel'.e. 


STEPHANUS.  33S 

FRANCIS  STEPHENS,  the  third  son  of  Robert,  and  younger 
brother  to  the  two  preceding,  renounced  popery  with  his 
father,  and  accompanied  him  to  Geneva,  where  he  carried 
on  the  printing- business  in  partnership  with  Francis  Perrin, 
from  1561  to  1582.  He  was  married  and  had  children,  but 
we  find  no  mention  of  them.  The  following  works  have 
been  attributed  to  him:  1.  "  Traite  des  Danses,  auquel  il 
est  demontre  qu'elles  sont  accessoires  et  dependances  de 
paillardise,"  1564,  8 vo.  "2.  "  De  la  puissance  legitime 
dti  prince  sur  le  peupie,  et  du  people  sur  le  prince,"  writ- 
ten in  Latin  by  Stephanus  Junius  Brutus  (Hubert  Languet) 
and  translated  into  French,  Geneva,  1581,  8vo.  This  trans- 
lation is  so  much  esteemed  as  to  bear  a  higher  value  than 
the  original.  3.  "  Remonstrance  charitable  aux  dames  et 
demoiselles  de  France  sur  leurs  ornamens  dissolus,"  Paris, 
1577,  12tno.  and  a  rare  book,  although  twice  reprinted  in 
1581  and  15S5,  Svo. ' 

STEPHANUS  (ROBERT),  the  third  of  that  name,  was 
the  son  of  the  preceding  Robert  the  second,  and  was  edu- 
cated by  the  celebrated  Desportes,  who  inspired  him  with 
a  taste  for  poetry.  He  began  printing  in  1572,  and  in 
1574  was  honoured  with  the  title  of  king's  printer.  He 
translated  from  Greek  into  French  the  first  two  books  of 
Aristotle's  Rhetoric,  and  printed  them  himself  in  1629,  Svo. 
In  the  title-page  he  calls  himself  poet  and  interpreter  to 
the  king  for  the  Greek  and  Latin  languages.  He  was  a 
man  of  spirit  and  wit,  and  was  much  celebrated  for  his 
choice  of  devices  and  mottoes  for  eminent  personages.  He 
died  in  1629,  but  left  no  family.  Besides  his  translation 
of  Aristotle  and  some  Greek  poets,  he  was  the  author  of, 

1.  "  Vers  Chretiens  au  comte  du  Bouchage,"    1587,  4to. 

2.  "  Discours  en  vers  au  connetable  de    Montmorency," 
1 595,  4to.   3,  "  Epitre  de  Gregoire  de  Nysse  touchant  ceux 
qui  vont  a  Jerusalem,"  with  a  preface  on  the  superstitious 
abuse  of  pilgrimages,  which  gave  rise  to  the  opinion  that 
he  was  not  far  from  embracing  the  protestant  religion.8 

STEPHANUS  (PAUi),  son  of  the  second  Henry,  was 
born  in  1566,  and  educated  with  great  care.  After  he  had 
finished  1m  studies,  his  father,  who  wished  him  to  succeed 
to  his  own  business,  sent  him  on  his  travels  that  he  might 
form  connections  with  men  of  learning.  He  accordingly 
visited  the  principal  cities  of  Germany,  Holland,  Leydtn, 

1  Maittatie, — Biog.  Univ.  8  Biog.  Univ. — Maittaire. 


384  S  T  E  P  H  A  N  U  S. 

where  he  lived  some  time  with  Lipsius,  and  came  also 
into  England,  where  lie  is  said  to  have  formed  an  intimacy 
with  John  Castohus,  a  young  man  well  versed  in  the  ancient 
languages,  but  of  whom  we  find  no  other  mention.  In 
1599  he  established  a  printing-office  at  Geneva,  and  pro- 
duced some  very  correct  editions  of  the  Greek  and  Latin 
classics  with  notes,  but  not  such  beautiful  specimens  of 
typography  as  those  of  his  father  and  grandfather.  He 
died  at  Geneva  in  1627,  leaving  two  sons,  Anthony  and 
Joseph  ;  the  latter  was  king's  printer  at  Rochelle,  and  died 
in  1629.  Of  Anthony  we  shall  take  some  notice  presently. 
Paul  published,  1.  "  Epigrammata  Graecse  anthoiogiae,  La- 
tinis  versibus  reddita,"  Geneva,  1575,  8vo.  2.  "Juveni- 
lia," ibid.  1595,  8vo,  consisting  of  some  small  pieces  he 
wrote  in  his  youth.  Among  the  editions  of  the  classics 
which  came  from  his  press,  there  are  few,  if  any,  that 
used  to  be  more  valued  than  his  "Euripides,"  1602,  4to. 
It  occurs  very  rarely. 

We  shall  now  briefly  mention  the  remaining  branches  of 
this  justly  celebrated  family.  HENRY  STEPHENS,  the  third 
of  that  name,  and  son  to  Robert,  the  second,  was  treasu- 
rer of  the  royal  palaces.  Prosper  March  and  thinks  he  was 
a  printer  in  1615,  but  no  work  is  known  to  have  issued 
from  his  press.  He  had  two  sons,  Henry  and  Robert,  and 
a  daughter  married  to  Fougerole,  a  notary.  His  son 
HENRY,  sieur  des  Fosses,  was  the  author  of  "  L'  Art  de 
faire  les  devices,  avec  un  Traite  des  rencontres  ou  mots 
plaisants,"  Paris,  1645,  8vo.  His  "  Art  of  making  devi- 
ces" was  translated  into  English  by  our  countryman  Tho- 
mas Blount  (See  vol.  V.  p.  430)  and  published  in  1646, 
4to.  Henry  assumed  the  title  of  interpreter  of  the  Greek 
and  Latin  languages,  and  was  reckoned  a  good  poet.  We 
also  are  indebted  to  him  for  a  character  of  Louis  XIII.  and 
eloges  of  the  princes  and  generals  who  served  under  that 
monarch,  which  he  published  in  a  work  entitled  "  Les  Tri- 
omphes  de  Louis-le-Juste,"  Paris,  1649,  fol.  ROBERT, 
his  brother,  uas  an  advocate  of  parliament,  and  completed 
the  translation  of  Aristotle's  Rhetoric  begun  by  his  uncle, 
Robert  the  third  of  the  name,  and  published  at  Paris  in 
1630,  8vo.  He  left  off  printing  about  1640,  and  was  bailli 
of  St.  Marcel. 

ANTHONY  STEPHENS,  the  son  of  Paul,  was  born  at  Ge- 
neva in  1594,  studied  at  Lyons,  and  came  to  Paris  at  the 
age  of  eighteen.  He  abjured  the  protestant  religion,  and 


STEPHENS.  385 

]  614  obtained  the  title  of  printer  to  the  king  and  to  the 
clergy.  The  cardinal  Duperron  became  his  patron,  and 
gave  him  a  pension  of  500  livres,  which  he  enjoyed  as  long 
as  that  prelate  lived.  He  reprinted  for  the  booksellers  of 
Paris,  the  Greek  fathers,  and  published  other  important 
works,  as  Ivljrm's  Bible,  Daval's  Aristotle,  Strabo,  Xeno- 
phon,  Plutarch,  &c.  He  had  by  his  wife  Jean  Leclerc 
several  children,  ami  a  son  Henry,  who  would  have  suc- 
ree  led  him,  but  he  died  in  1661.  Anthony  himself  be- 
came unfortunate,  and  when  infirm  and  blind,  was  obliged 
to  solicit  n  place  in  the  Hotel-Dieu,  where  he  died  in 
7  671,  in  the  eightieth  year  of  his  age. 

An.hony  is  said  to  have  been  the  last  branch  of  the  illus- 
trious family  of  the  Stephani,  who  were  at  once  the  orna- 
ment and  the  reproach  of  the  age  in  which  they  lived.  They 
were  all  men  of  great  learning,  all  extensive  benefactors  to 
literature,  and  all  persecuted  or  unfortunate.1 

STEPHENS  (JEREMY),  a  learned  English  divine,  the 
son  of  Walter  Stephens,  vector  of  Bishops  Castle  in  Shrop- 
shire, was  born  therein  1592,  and  was  entered  of  Brasenose 
college,  Oxford,  in  1609.  Having  completed  his  degrees 
in  arts  in  161  i,  he  was  ordained  deacon,  and  was  appointed 
chaplain  of  All  Souls  college.  In  May  1616,  he  was  ad- 
mitted to  priest's  orders,  and  in  1621  was  presented  to  the 
rectory  of  Quinton  in  Northamptonshire,  and  in  J626  to 
that  of  Wotton  adjoining,  both  by  Charles  I.  In  1641  he 
was  made  prebendary  of  Biggleswade  in  the  church  of  Lin- 
coln, by  the  interest  of  archbishop  Laud,  as  a  reward  for 
the  assi>tance  he  gave  sir  Henry  Spelman  in  the  first  volume 
of  his  edition  of  the  "  Councils  ;"  but  in  1644  he  was  de- 
prived of  all  his  preferments,  and  imprisoned  by  the  usurp- 
ing powers.  At  the  restoration  he  was  replaced  in  his  for- 
mer livings,  and  had  also  a  prebend  in  the  church  of  Salis- 
bury. He  died  Jan.  9,  1665,  at  Wotton,  and  was  buried  in 
the  chancel  of  that  church. 

He  published,  1.  "  Notae  in  D.  Cyprian,  de  imitate  Ec- 
clesiae,"  London,  1632,  8vo.  2.  "  Notre  in  D.  Cyprian,  de 
bono  patiemise,"  ibid.  1633,  8vo,  both,  as  Wood  says,  col- 
lated with  ancient  manuscripts  by  some  of  the  Oxford  di- 
vines. 3.  "  Apology  fur  the  ancient  right  and  power  of  the 
Bishops  to  sit  and  vote  in  parliaments,"  ibid.  1660.  4. 

1  Much  information  respecting  this  family  may  be  fount)  in  "  Jansonii  &\> 
Alrnelovreii  dis.se,  tatio  cpistolica  de  vitis  Stephanoruni,"  in  Maittaire,  ami  in 
Prosper  Marchaml. 

VOL.  XXVIII.  Cc 


386  STEPHEN  S. 

"  B.  Gregorii  magni,  episcopi  Romani,  de  cura  pastovali 
liber  vere  aureus,  accurate  emendatus  et  restitutus  e  vet. 
MSS  cum  Romana  editione  collatis,"  ibid.  1621',  8vo.  He 
was  also  the  editor  of  Spelman's  work  on  "  Tithes,"  and  his 
apology  lor  the  treatise  "  De  non  temerandis  ecclesiis ;" 
and  had  prepared  some  small  pieces  on  the  controversies 
arising  from  the  usurpation,  the  publication  of  which  was 
rendered  unnecessary  by  the  return  of  Charles  II.  1 

STEPHENS  (ROBERT,  esq.),  an  eminent  antiquary,  was 
the  fourth  sou  of  Richard  Stephens,  esq.  of  the  elder  house 
of  that  name  atEastington  in  Gloucestershire,  by  Anne  the 
eldest  daughter  of  sir   Hugh   Cholmeley,  of  Whitby,   in 
Yorkshire,   baronet.      His  first  education    was   at  Wotton 
school,   whence  he  removed  to  Lincoln-college,  Oxford, 
May  19,     681.     He  was  entered  very  young  in  the  Middle 
Temple,  applied  himself  to  the  study  of  the  common  law, 
and  was  called  to  the  bar.     As   he  was  master  of  a  suffi- 
cient fortune,  it  may  be  presumed  that  the  temper  of  his 
mind,  which  was  naturally  modest,  detained  him  from  the 
public  exercise  of  his  profession,  and  led  him  to  the  po- 
liter studies,  and  an  acquaintance  with  the  best  authors, 
ancient  and  modern  :  yet  he  was  thought  by  all  who  knew 
him  to  have  made  a  great  proficience  in  the  law,  though 
history  and  antiquities  seem   to   have  been   his  favourite 
study.      When  he  was  about  twenty  years  old,  being  at  a 
relation's  house,  he  accidentally  met   with  some  original 
letters  of  the  lord  chancellor  Bacon  ;  and  finding  that  they 
would  greatly  contribute  to  our  knowledge  of  matters  re- 
lating to   king  James's  reign,   he  immediately  set  himself 
to  search  for  whatever  might  elucidate  the  obscure  pas- 
sages, and  published  a  complete  edition  of  them  in  1702, 
with  useful  notes,  and  an  excellent  historical  introduction. 
He  intended  to  have  presented  his  work  to  king  William ; 
but  that  monarch  dyiru*  before  it  was  published,  the  dedi- 
cation was  omitted.     In  the  preface,  he  requested  the  com- 
munication of  unpublished  pieces  of  his  noble  author,  to 
make  his  collection  more  complete  ;  and  obtained   in  con- 
sequence as  many  letters  as  formed  the  second  collection, 
published  in  1734,  two  years  after  his  death.     Being  a  re- 
lation of  Robert  Harley  earl  of  Oxford  (whose  mother  Abi- 
gail, was  daughter  of  Nathaniel   Stephens  of  Eastington), 
he  was  preferred  by  him  to  be  chief  solicitor  of  the  cus- 

1  Ath.  Ox,  vol.  II. 


STEPHENS.  387 

toms,  in  which  employment  he  continued  with  unblemished 
reputation  till  172C,  when  he  declined  that  troublesome 
office,  and  was  appointed  to  succeed  Mr.  Madox  in  the 
place  of  historiographer  royal.  He  then  formed  a  design, 
of  writing  a  history  of  king  James  the  first,  a  reign  which 
he  thought  to  be  more  misrepresented  than  almost  any 
other  since  the  conquest:  and,  if  we  may  judge  by  the 
good  impression  which  he  seems  to  have  had  of  these 
times,  his  exactness  and  care  never  to  advance  any  thing 
but  from  unquestionable  authorities,  besides  his  great  can- 
dour and  integrity,  it  could  not  but  have  proved  a  judicious 
and  valuable  performance.  He  married  Mary  the  daugh- 
ter of  sir  Hugh  Cholmeley,  a  lady  of  great  worth,  and  died 
at  Gravesend,  near  Thornbury,  in  Gloucestershire,  Nov. 
12,  1732;  and  was  buried  at  Eastington,  the  seat  of  his 
ancestors,  where  is  an  inscription  to  his  memory.  * 

STEPNEY  (GEORGE),  an  English  poet  and  statesman, 
was  descended  from  a  family  at  Pendigrast  in  Pembroke- 
shire, but  born  at  London  in  1663.  It  has  been  conjec- 
tured that  he  was  either  son  or  grandson  of  Charles  third 
son  of  sir  John  Stepney,  the  first  baronet  of  that  family  : 
Mr.  Cole  says  his  father  was  a  grocer.  He  received  his 
education  at  Westminster-school,  and  was  removed  thence 
to  Trinity-college,  Cambridge,  in  1682;  where  he  took 
his  degree  of  A.B.  in  1685,  and  that  of  M.A.  in  1689. 
Being  of  the  same  standing  with  Charles  Montague,  esq. 
afterwards  earl  of  Halifax,  a  strict  friendship  grew  up  be- 
tween them,  and  they  came  to  London  together,  and  are  said 
to  have  been  introduced  into  public  life  by  the  duke  of  Dor- 
set. To  this  fortunate  incident  was  owing  all  the  preferment 
Stepney  afterwards  enjoyed,  who  is  supposed  not  to  have 
had  parts  sufficient  to  have  risen  to  any  distinction,  with- 
out such  patronage.  When  Stepney  first  set  out  in  life, 
he  seems  to  have  been  attached  to  the  tory  interest;  for 
one  of  the  first  poems  he  wrote  was  an  address  to  James  II. 
upon  his  accession  to  the  throne.  Soon  after,  when  Mon- 
mouth's  rebellion  broke  out,  the  Cambridge  men,  to  shew 
their  zeal  for  the  king,  thought  proper  to  burn  the  picture 
of  that  prince,  who  had  formerly  been  chancellor  of  the 
university,  and  on  this  occasion  Stepney  wrote  some  good 
verses  in  his  praise. 

*  Nichols's  Bowyen. 
C   C   2 


388  STEPHENS. 

Upon  the  Revolution,  he  embraced  another  interest, 
and  procured  himself  •  to  be  nominated  to  several  foreign 
embassies.  In  1692  he  went  to  the  elector  ot  Branden- 
.  burg's  court,  in  quality  of  envoy  ;  in  1693,  to  the  Impe- 
rial court,  in  the  saiiie  character ;  in  1694,  to  the  elector 
of  Saxony  ,  and,  two  years  after,  to  the  electors  of  Mentz, 
Cologn,  and  the  congress  at  Francfort;  in  1698,  a  second 
time  to  Brandenburg  ;  in  1699,  to  the  king  of  Poland  ;  in 
1701,  again  to  the  emperor;  and  in  1706,  to  the  States 
General  ;  and  in  all  his  negotiations,  is  said  to  have  been 
successful.  In  1697  he  was  made  one  of  the  commission- 
ers of  trade.  He  died  at  Chelsea  in  1707,  and  was  buried 
in  Westminster-abbey  ;  where  a  fine  monument  was  erected 
over  him,  with  a  pompous  inscription.  At  his  leisure 
hours  he  composed  poetical  pieces,  which  are  republished 
in  the  general  collection  of  English  poets.  He  likewise 
wrote  some  political  pieces  in  prose,  particularly,  "  An 
Essay  on  the  present  interest  of  England,  in  1701  :  to 
which  are  added,  the  proceedings  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons in  1677,  upon  the  French  king's  progress  in  Flan- 
ders." This  is  reprinted  in  the  collection  of  tracts,  called 
"  Lord  Somers's  collection." 

"  It  is  reported,"  says  Dr.  Johnson,  "  that  the  juvenile 
compositions  of  Stepney  '  made  grey  authors  blush.'  I 
know  not  whether  his  poems  will  appear  such  wonders  to 
the  present  age.  One  cannot  always  easily  find  the  rea- 
son for  which  the  world  has  sometimes  conspired  to  squan- 
der praise.  It  is  not  very  unlikely  that  he  wrote  very  early 
as  well  as  he  ever  wrote  ;  and  the  performances  of  youth 
have  many  favourers,  because  the  authors  yet  lay  no  claim 
to  public  honours,  and  are  therefore  not  considered  as 
rivals  by  the  distributors  of  fame." 

"  He  apparently  professed  himself  a  poet,  and  added  his 
name  to  those  of  the  other  wits  in  the  version  of  Juvenal  : 
but  he  is  a  very  licentious  translator,  and  does  uot  recom- 
pense his  neglect  of  the  author  by  beauties  of  "his  own.  lu 
his  original  poems,  now  and  then,  a  happy  line  may  per- 
haps be  found,  and  now  and  then  a  short  composition  nun 
give  pleasure.  But  there  is  in  the  whole  little  either  ot 
the  grace  of  wit,  or  the  vigour  of  nature."  J 

STERNE,  or  STEARNE  (JOHN),  a.  learned  physician. 
•:.:'  Ireland,  was  born  at  Ardbraccan  in  the  county  of  Meath. 

>  fibber's  Lives.— Jshnzon's  Poets.— ICichols's  Poems. — Colt's  MS  Athena?  i* 


8  T  E  11  N  E.  389 

in  1622,  in  tfie  house  of  his  uncle,  the  celebrated  arch- 
bishop Usher,  but  then  bishop  of  Meath.  He  was  edu- 
cated in  the  college  of  Dublin,  of  which  he  became  a  fel- 
low, but  was  ejected  by  the  usurping  powers  ibr  his  loyalty. 
At  the  restoration  lie  was  reinstated,  and  advanced  to  the 
place  of  senior  fellow  by  nomination,  together  with  Joshua 
Cowley,  llichard  Lingard,  William  Vincent,  and  Patrick 
:'ulan,  masters  of  arts,  in  order  to  give  a  legal  form  to 
the  college,  all  the  senior  fellows  being  dead,  and  it  being 
requisite  by  the  statutes,  that  all  elections  should  be  made 
by  the  provost  and  four  senior  fellows  at  least.  He  was 
M.  D.  and  LL.  D.  and  public  professor  of  the  university. 
He  was  a  very  learned  man,  but  more  fond  of  the  study 
of  divinity,  than  that  of  his  own  profession,  in  which, 
however,  he  had  great  knowledge.'  He  died  in  1669,  aged 
forty-six,  and  was  buried  in  the  college  chapel,  where  a 
monument  was  erected  to  his  memory.  His  writings  are, 
J.  "  Aphorismi  de  frclicitate,"  Dublin,  1654,  8vo,  twice 
reprinted.  2.  "  De  morte  dissertatio,"  ibid.  1656  and  1659, 
8vo.  3.  *'  Animi  medela,  seu  de  bearitudine  et  miseria," 
ibid.  1658,  4to.  4.  "  Adriani  Heerboordii  disputation um 
de  concwrsu  examen,"  ibid.  1658,  4to.  5.  "  De  electione 
et  reprobatione,"  ibid.  1662,  4to.  To  this  is  added, 
"  Manuductio  ad  vitam  probam."  6.  "  De  Obstinatione, 
opus  posthumum,  pietatem  Chrintiano-Sto'cam  Scholastico 
more  suadens."  This  was  published  in  1672  by  the  cele- 
brated Mr.  Dodwell,  as  we  have  noticed  in  his  life.  Dod- 
well  had  been  pupil  to  Dr.  Sterne. 

Dr.  Sterne's  son,  JOHN,  was  educated  by  him  in  Trinity- 
college,  Dublin,  and  became  successively  vicar  of  Trim, 
chancellor  and  dean  of  St.  Patrick's,  bishop  of  Dromore  in 
1713,  and  of  Clogher  in  1717,  and  vice-chancellor  of  the 
university  of  Dublin.  Being  a  single  man,  he  laid  out  im- 
mense sums  on  his  episcopal  palaces,  and  on  the  college  of 
Dublin,  where  he  built  the  printing-house,  and  founded 
exhibitions.  Most  of  these  were  gifts  in  his  life-time,  and 
at  his  death  (June  1745)  he  bequeathed  the  bulk  of  his 
fortune,  about  30,000/.  to  public  institutions,  principally 
of  the  charilabie  kind.  His  only  publications  were,  a 
"  Concio  ad  clerum,"  and  "  Tractates  de  visitatione  in- 
firmorum,"  for  the  use  of  the  junior  clergy,  printed  at 
Dublin  in  1697,  I2uio.  Dean  Swift  appears  to  have  cor- 
responded with  bishop  Sterne  for  many  years  on  tne  most 
intimate  and  friendly  terms,  but  at  length,  in  1733,  the 


390  STERN  E. 

dean  sent  him  a  letter  full  of  bitter  sarcasm  and  reproach, 
to  which  the  bishop  returned  an  answer  that  marks  a  supe- 
rior command  of  temper;  but  it  appears  from  the  life  of 
the  rev.  Philip  Skelton,  that  his  lordship  deserved  much  of 
what  S.vift  had  imputed  to  him.1 

STERNE  (RICHARD),  archbishop  of  York,  the  son  of 
Simon  Sterne,  was  descended  from  a  family  in  Suffolk, 
but  was  born  at  Mansfield  in  Nottinghamshire  in  1596. 
He  was  admitted  of  Trinity-college,  Cambridge,  in  1611, 
whence,  having  taken  his  degrees  of  A.  B.  in  1614,  and 
A.  M.  in  1618,  he  removed  to  Bene't-college  in  1620, 
and  was  elected  fellow  July  10,  1623.  He  then  took 
pupils  with  great  credit  to  himself  and  to  the  college,  and 
proceeded  B.  D.  the  following  year,  and  was  incorporated 
in  the  same  degree  at  Oxford  in  1627.  He  had  been  ap- 
pointed one  of  the  university  preachers  the  year  before, 
and  was  in  such  high  reputation,  that  he  was  made  choice 
of  for  one  of  Dr.  Love's  opponents  in  the  philosophical  act, 
kept  for  the  entertainment  of  the  Spanish  and  Austrian 
ambassadors,  and  fully  answered  their  expectations.  In 
1632  he  was  made  president  of  the  college;  and  upon  Dr. 
Beale's  translation  from  the  mastership  of  Jesus  to  that  of 
St.  John's  college  soon  alter,  was  put  in  his  room  in  March 
1633.  His  promotion  is  thus  noticed  in  a  private  letter : 
"  One  Stearne,  a  solid  scholar  (who  first  summed  up  the 
3600  faults  that  were  in  our  printed  Bibles  of  London)  is 
by  his  majesty's  direction  to  the  bishop  of  Ely  (who  elects 
there)  made  master  of  Jesus."  This  occasioned  him  to 
take  the  degree  of  D.D.  in  1635,  and  he  then  assumed  the 
,  government  of  the  college,  to  which  he  proved  a  liberal 
benefactor,  and  it  was  by  his  means  that  the  north  side  of 
the  outer  court  was  built.  In  1641  he  was  nominated  by 
a  majority  of  the  fellows  to  the  rectory  of  Harletpn  in 
Cambridgeshire ;  but  some  contest  arising,  he  did  not  get 
possession  of  it  till  the  summer  following.  He  had,  how- 
ever, from  March  1634  enjoyed  that  of  Yeovilton  in  the 
county  of  Somerset,  through  the  favour  of  archbishop 
Laud,  one  of  whose  chaplains  he  was,  and  so  highly 
esteemed,  that  he  chose  him  to  do  the  last  good  offices  for 
him  on  the  scaffold.  On  the  breaking  out  of  the  rebellion, 
he  incurred  the  fiercest  anger  of  the  usurper  for  having 

1   Harris's  edition  of  sir  J.  Ware. — Nichols's  edition  of  Swift's  works  ;  see  In- 
dex.— Skeiton's  Life. 


STERNE.  391 

conveyed  to  the  king  both  the  college  plate  and  money, 
tor  which  he  was  seized  by  Cromweiiy  and  carried  up  to 
London.  Here,  after  su  lie  ring  the  severest  hardships  in 
various  prisons,  he  was  ejected  from  all  his  preferments. 
Few  men  indeed  suffered  more  cruel  treatment ;  and  it  was 
some  years  before  he  was  finally  released,  and  permitted 
to  retire  to  Stevenage  in  Hertfordshire,  where  he  kept  a 
private  school  for  the  support  of  his  family  till  the  restora- 
tion. Soon  after  that  event,  while  he  was  carrying  on  the 
repairs  of  the  college,  he  was  appointed  bishop  of  Carlisle, 
and  was  concerned  in  the  Savoy  conference,  and  in  the 
revisal  of  the  hook  of  Common-prayer.  On  the  decease 
of  Dr.  Frevveii,  he  was  translated  to  the  archiepiscopal  see 
of  York,  over  which  he  presided  with  becoming  dignity, 
till  the  time  of  his  death,  Jan.  18,  1683,  in  tne  eighty- 
seventh  year  of  his  age.  He  was  buried  in  the  chapel  of 
St.  Stephen  in  his  own  cathedral,  where  an  elegant  monu- 
ment uas  afterwards  erected  to  his  memory  by  his  grand- 
son Richard  Sterne,  of  Eivington,  esq. 

His  character  has  been  variously  represented,  as  we  have 
repeatedly  had  occasion  to  notice  in  the  case  of  persons  of 
eminence  who  lived  in  his  disastrous  period.  Bishop  Ken- 
net  informs  us,  "  He  was  promoted  to  the  bishopric  of 
Carlisle,  on  accotmt  of  his  piety,  great  learning,  and  pru- 
dence, as  being  indeed  not  less  exemplary  in  his  notions  and 
conversations,  than  if  he  himself  had  expected  martyrdom, 
from  the  hour  of  his  attendance  upon  his  patron  archbishop 
Laud."  Baxter  says,  "  Among  ail  the  bishops  there  was 
none  who  had  so  promising  a  face.  He  looked  so  ho- 
nestly, and  gravely  and  soberly,  that  he  thought  such  a 
face  could  not  have  deceived  him ;"  but  then  he  adds, 
"that  he  found  he  had  not  half  the  charity  which  became 
so  grave  a  bishop,  nor  so  mortified  an  aspect."  Notwith- 
standing this  charge,  he  was  one  of  those  bishops  who 
shewed  great  lenity,  charity,  and  respect,  in  their  treat- 
ment of  the  nonconformist  clergy.  The  only  substantial 
charge  against  him  is  that  advanced  by  bishop  Burnet,  who 
censures  him  for  being  too  eager  to  enrich  his  family.  For 
this  there  seems  some  foundation,  and  Bro\vne  Willis  al- 
lows that  he  ivould  have  deserved  a  larger  encomium  than 
most  of  his  predecessors,  if  lie  nad  not  demised  the  park 
of  Hexgrave  from  the  see  to  his  son  and  t'amiK  His  m.my 
benefactions  to  Bene't  and  Jesus  colleges,  to  the  rebuild- 

O          * 

in  ;  of  St.  Paul's,  and  other  public  and  charitable  purposes, 
show  that  if  he  was  rich,  fee  was  also  liberal. 


S  T  ERNE. 

As  an  author,  besides  some  Latin  verses,  in  the  "  Ge- 
nethliacon  Caroli  et  Marioe,  1631,"  at  the  end  o'  Winter- 
ton's  translation  of  the  Aphorisms  of  Hippocrates  in  lb'33, 
on  the  birth  of  a  prince  in  1640,  anil  others  in  "  Iivnodia 
Cantab,  ob  paciferum  Catoli  e  Scotia  remtum,  164.1,"  he 
ivas  one  of  the  assistants  in  the  publication  of  tlie  Polvglot; 
published  a  "  Comment  on  Psalms  ciii."  Lond.  1641*.  8vo; 
and  wrote  an  accurate  treatise  on  logic,  which  was  pub- 
lished after  his  death,  in  16St5,  8vo,  under  the  title  of 
*•'  Sinn  ma.  Logicae,  &c."  ] 

STERNE  (LAURENCE),  said  to  be  great-grandson  of  the 
preceding,  was  the  son  of  Roger  Sterne,  u  lieutenant  of 
the  army.  He  was  born  at  Clonmel  in  the  South  of  Ire- 
land, Nov.  24,  1713.  It  has  been  thought  that  his  affect- 

•  O 

ing  story  of  Le  Fevre  was  founded  on  the  circumstances  of 
his  father's  family,  which  had  long  to  struggle  with  po- 
verty and  hardships  on  the  slender  pay  of  a  lieutenant.  As 
soon  as  Lawrence  was  able  to  travel,  his  father  and  family 
left  Ireland  and  went  to  Elvington  near  York,  where  his  fa- 
ther's mother  resided,  but  in  less  than  a  year,  they  returned 
to  Ireland,  and  afterwards  moved  from  place  to  place  with 
the  regiment,  until  Lawrence  was  placed  at  a  school  near 
Halifax  in  Yorkshire.  In  1731  his  father  died. 

Lawrence  remained  at  Halifax  till  about  the  latter  end 
of  the  above  year,  and  in  the  following,  was  admitted  of 
Jesus-college,  Cambridge,  where  he  took  his  bachelor's 
degree,  January  1736,  and  that  of  master  in  1740.  Dur- 
ing this  time  he  was  ordained,  and  his  uncle  .Jaqnes 
Sierne,  LL.  D.  prebendary  of  Durham,  &c.  procure.;  him 
the  living  of  Sutton,  and  afterwards  a  prebend  of  York, 
and  by  his  wife's  means  (whom  he  married  in  1741),  he 
got  the  living  of  Stillington.  He 'resided,  houever,  prin- 
cipally, and  for  above  twenty  years,  at  Sutton,  where,  as 
he  informs  us,  his  chief  amusements  were  painting,  fid- 
dling, and  shooting.  Here,  however,  he  must  have  em- 
ployed a  considerable  part  of  his  time  in  reading,  as  some 
of  the  works  which  he  afterwards  published  plainly  evince 
the  study  of  many  voluminous  and  neglected  authors.  He 
had  also  before  he  quitted  Sutton,  published  in  1747,  a 
charity  sermon  for  the  support  of  the  charity-school  at 
York,  and  in  1756  an  assize  sermon,  preached  at  the  ca- 
thedral, York. 

«  Masters'*  Hist,  of  C.  C.  C.  C.— Le  Neve,  vol.  II.— Walker's  Sufferings  of 
the  Clergy. — Tlarwk-k's  Life. — Burnet's  Own  Time!-. — Kennel's  Register  and 
*'bronicle. — Willis's  Cathedrals. 


STERNE.  393 

in  1759  he  published  at  York  the  first  two  volumes  of 
his  "  Tristram  Shandy,"  anci  in  1760  took  a  house  at 
York.  Tin:  same  year  he  went  up  to  London  to  republish 
the  above  volumes,  and  to  print  two  volumes  of'  his  "  Ser- 
mons ;"  and  this  year  also  lord  Falconbridge  presented  him 
to  the  ciftacy  of  Coxwold.  In  1762  he  went  to  France, 
and  two  years  after  to  Italy.  In  1767  he  left  York,  and 
came  to  London  to  publish  the  "  Sentimental  Journey ;" 
but  his  health  was  now  fast  declining,  and,  aftt-r  a  short 

O  ' 

but  severe  struggle  with  his  disorder,  he  died  at  his  lodg- 
ings in  Bond-street,  March  18,  1768,  and  was  buried  in 
the  new  bury  ing-ground  belonging  to  the  parish  of  St. 
George  Hanover-square. 

His  principal  works  consist  of  the  "  Tristram  Shandy," 
the  '•'  Sentimental  Journey,"  and  some  volumes  of  "  Ser- 
mons." Several  letters  have  been  published  since  i:is  death, 
.which  partake  much  of  the  style  and  manner  of  his  other 
works.  Were  a  judgment  to  be  formed  of  his  character 
from  thes;j,  it  would  appear  that,  with  more  laxity  of  mo- 
rals than  becomes  the  clerical  character,  he  was  a  man 
abounding  in  the  tenderness  and  delicacy  of  humanity  ;  but 
there  were  many  well-known  circumstances  in  his  life 
which  proved,  that  he  was  more  an  adept  in  the  language 
than  the  practice  of  these  virtues. 

The  works  of  few  men,  however,  attracted  more  notice 
than  those  of  Sterne  during  their  publication  from  1759 
to  the  time  of  his  death.  He  appeared  an  humourist  of 
great  originality,  and  became  the  founder  of  a  school  of 
sentimental  writers  which  may  be  said  still  to  rlouiish. 
Certainly  no  man  ever  delineated  the  feelings  of  a  tender 
heart,  the  sweetness  of  compassion,  and  the  duties  of  hu- 
manity, in  more  elegant  or  striking  colours,  although  he 
was  grossly  deficient  in  that  practice  which  is  above  all  lan- 
guage and  all  expression. 

As  an  original  writer,  Sterne's  merit  has  been  lately 
disputed  in  an  article  which  originally  appeared  in  the 
Manchester  memoirs,  and  has  since  b^en  published  in  a 
separate  form  by  Dr.  Ferriar.  This  ingenious  writer  has 
incontestabiy  traced  many  very  striking  sentiments  and 
passages  from  our  author's  works,  to  Burton's  "  /in atomy 
qf  Melancholy,"  bishop  Hall's  works,  and  other  books  not 
generally  read.  Yet  with  these  exceptions,  for  exceptions 
they  certainly  are,  enough  will  remain  the  exclusive  pro- 
perty of  Sterne,  to  prove  that  both  in  the  language  of 


394  STERN  E. 

sentiment  and  the  delineation  of  character,  he  was  in  a  very 
high  degree  original,  and  altogether  so  in  those  indecencies 
which  displace  his  most  popular  writings. l 

STERN  HOLD  (THOMAS),  an  English  poet  and  psalmo- 
dist,  was  born,  according  to  Wood's  conjecture,  in  Hamp- 
shire, and,  as  Hoi  imbed  says,  at  Southampton ;  but 
Atkins,  in  his  History  of  Gloucestershire,  expressly  af- 
firms, that  he  was  born  at  Awre,  a  parish  about  twelve 
miles  from  Gloucester;  and  adds,  that  his  posterity  turned 
papists,  and  left  the  place.  He  studied  for  some  time  at 
Oxford,  but  not  long  enough  to  take  any  degree.  By  some 
interest  that  he  had  at  court,  he  was  preferred  to  the  office 
of  groom  of  the  robes  to  Henry  VIII.  which  he  discharged 
so  well  that  he  became  a  personal  favourite  of  the  king, 
who  by  his  will  left  him  a  legacy  of  an  hundred  marks. 
Upon  the  decease  of  king  Henry,  he  was  continued  in  the 
same  employment  by  Edward  VI.  and  having  leisure  to 
pursue  his  studies,  he  acquired  some  degree  of  esteem 
about  the  court  for  his  poetical  talents.  He  wa>  a  man  of 
great  piety,  in  his  morals  consequently  irreproachable,  and 
was  a  stedfast  adherent  to  the  principles  of  the  Reforma- 
tion. Being  offended  with  the  immodest  SOUL'S,  which  were 
then  the  usual  entertainment  of  persons  about  the  court, 
he  undertook  to  translate  the  Psalms  into  English  metre, 
hoping  the  ccurtiers  might  find  in  them  a  proper  antidote 
and  substitute  for  their  licentious  songs  :  but  he  died  in 
1549,  without  completing  the  work.  His  will  was  proved 
Sept.  12th  of  that  year,  and  in  it  he  is  styled  groom  of  his 
majesty's  robes;  and  it  appears  that  he  died  seized  of  lands 
to  a  considerable  value  in  Hampshire  and  Cornwall. 

He  lived  to  versify  only  fifty-one  of  the  Psalms,  which 
were  first  printed  by  Edward  White  hare  u  in  154-9,  with 
the  title  "All  such  Psalms  of  David  as  Thomas  Sterneholde 
late  grome  of  the  kinges  majestyes  robes,  did  in  his  lyre- 
tyme  drawe  into  Englyshe  metre."  This  book  is  cle  Seated 
to  Edward  VI.  by  the  author,  and  seems  therefore  to  have 
been  prepared  by  him  for  the  press ;  but  Wood,  and  his 
followers,  are  mistaken,  in  saying,  that  Sternhold  car. 
musical  notes  to  be  set  to  his  Psalms,  for  they  were  pub- 
lished, boih  in  154-9  and  1552,  without  notes;  the  first 
edition  with  notes  did  not  appear  until  1562  *.  Sir  John 

*  Ames  takes  notice  of  another  work  by  Sternhold,  "  Certayne  chapters  of  the 
Prouerbs  of  Solomon  draweu  into  metre,"  printed  in  1551. 

1  Life  prefixed  to  his  Works. 


STERNHOLD.  395 

Hawkins  thinks  it  worthy  of  remark,  that  both  in  France 
and  England  the  Psalms  were  first  translated  into  vulgar 
metre  by  laymen  ;  and,  which  is  very  singular,  by  coiuv 
tiers.  Marot  was  of  the  bedchamber  to  Francis  I.  and 
Sternhold  groom  of  the  robes  to  Henry  VIII.  and  Edward 
VI.  Their  respective  translations  were  not  completed  by 
themselves,  and  yet  they  translated  nearly  an  equal  num- 
ber of  Psalms,  Marot  fifty,  and  Sternhold  fifty-one. 

Sternhold's  principal  successor  in  carrying  on   the  trans- 
lation of  the  Psalms  was  John  Hopkins,  who  was  admitted 
A.  B.  at  Oxford    in  1544,  and   is  supposed   to  have  been 
afterwards  a  clergyman  of  Suffolk.     He  was  living  in  1556. 
Warton   pronounces  him  a  raiher  better  poet  than  Stern- 
hold.      He   versified  fifty-eight  of  the   Psaims,   which   are 
distinguished   by    his  initials.     Bishop  Tanner  styles  him 
"  poeta,    ut  ea   ferebant   tempora,    eximius ;"    ajid    Bale, 
"  Britanuicorum    poetarum    sui    temporis    non    infimus;" 
and,   at  the  end  of  the  Latin  commendatory  verses  prefixed 
ix's  "  Acts  and  Monuments,"  are  some  stanzas  of  his 
•h  seem  to  justify  this  character.     Five  other  Psalms 
were  translated  by  William  Whitting-ham,  the  puritan  dean 
of  Durham,  and  he  also  versified  the  decalogue,  the  prayer 
immediately  after  it,  and  very  probably  the  Lord's  prayer, 
the  creed,  and   the  hymn   "  Veni  Creator;"  all  which  fol- 
low the   singing-psalms    in   our   version.     Thomas  Norton 
(See  NORTON)  translated  twenty-seven  more  of  the  psalms; 
Robert  Wisdome  the  twenty-fifth,  and  also  wrote  that  once 
very  popular  prayer  at  the   end  of  the  version,  "  Preserve 
us,  Lord,  by  thy  dear  word,"   &.c.  which  is  a  literal  trans- 
lation of   Luther's  hymn  upon  the  same  occasion.      Eight 
psalms,  which  complete  the  whole  series,   have  the  initials 
W.  K.  and  T.  C.  but  we  have  no  account  of  either  of  these 
authors. 

The  complete  version  was  first  printed  in  1562,  by  John 
Day,  entitled  "  The  whole  book  of  Psalms,  Collected  into 
English  metre  by  T.  Sternhold,  J.  Hopkins,  and  others, 
conferred  with  the  Ebrue;  with  apt  notes  to  sing  them 
withall:"  Heylin,  who  seems  to  have  a  singular  aversion  to 
psalmody,  says  that  "  this  was  a  device  first  taken  up  in  France 
by  one  Clement  Marot,"  but  this  is  a  mistake.  Luther, 
and  before  his  time,  John  Huss,  ajid  the  Bohemian  bre- 
thren, had  metrical  psalms  and  hymns  in  the  German  lan- 
guage, which  they  sung  to  what  Dr.  Burncy  calls  unison- 
ous and  syllabic  tunes,  that  were  either  adopted  or  imitated 


396  S  T  E  R  N  H  O  L  D. 

by  all  posterior  reformers.  In  ibe  edition  of  1562  the 
tunes  are  chiefly  German,  and  still  usCvi  on  the  continent 
by  Lutherans  and  Calvinists,  as  appears  by  c-iiaiion,  par- 
ticularly the  melodies  set  to  the  Uth,  14th,  113th,  121-th, 
U7th,  and  l.vuii  Psalms. 

The  original  motive  to  the  undertaking  of  Sternhold  and 
his  coadjutors  was  not  solely  the  introduction  of  Psai in- 
singing  into  the  English  protestant  churches  ;  it  had  also 
for  its  object  the  correction  of  public  morals,  as  appears 
1'rom  the  declaration  contained  in  the  title-page  of  our 
common  version,  and  which  has  been  continued  in  all  the 
printed  copies  from  the  time  of  its  first  publication  to  this 
day,  "  Set  forth  and  allowed  to  be  sung  in  churches  of  the 
people  together,  before  and  after  evening  prayer,  as  also 
before  and  after  sermon  ;  and,  moreover,  in  private  houses, 
for  their  godly  solace  and  comfort,  laying  apart  all  ungodly 
songs  and  ballads,  .which  tend  only  to  the  nourishment  of 
vice,  and  the  corrupting  of  youth."  About  the  beginning 
of  the  reign  of  queen  Elizabeth  these  Psalms  were  printed 
along  with  the  book  of  Common  Prayer,  so  that  Heylm's 
nice  distinctions  between  an  allowance,  which  he  calls  a 
connivance,  and  an  -approbation,  seem  to  be  unnecessary, 
and  certainly  are  inconclusive.  Sternhold  and  Hopkins's 
version,  be  its  merit  what  it  may,  had  all  the  sanction  it 
co-aid  have,  that  of  undisturbed  use,  in  all  churches  and 
chapels,  for  above  a  century  and  a  half,  and  it  has  not  yet 
entirely  ;.o  that  of  Tate  and  Brady.  On  its  poeti- 

cal merits  it  would  be  unnecessary  to  enter.  It  is  valuable 
chiefly  as  a  monument  of  literary  antiquity,  and  as  fixing 
the  sera  of  an  important  addition  to  public  worship,  a  sub- 
ject which  we  regret  to  observe,  both  Mr.  War  ton  and  Dr. 
Burney  have  treated  \viih  unbecoming  levity.  • 

STESIC  HORUS,  an   ancient  Greek   poet,   was  born  at 
Himera,  a   city   of    Sicily,  in  the   seventh  century  B.  C. 
His  name  was  originally  Tysias,  but  changed  to  Stesichorns, 
on  account  of  his  being  the  first  who  taught  the  chorus  to 
dance  to  the  lyre.      He  appears  to  have  been  a  man  of 
first  rank   for  wisdom   and  authority  among  his  fellow  citi- 
zens ;  and   to  have   had  a  great  hand  in  the  transact; 
between   that  state  and   the   tyrant  Phalaris.     He   died  at 
Catana  in  Sicily  at  above  eighty,    in  the  year  556  B.  C.  ^ 

1  Hawkins  ana  Burr.fy's    Hifct.   of  Mnsio. — Waiion'-i  Hi??,  of  Po -v 
OT.  vol.  J.  nc'.v  er!^, — Hey!in'#  Ilrt  of  ihA  RefonTniion, 


S  T  E  S  I  C  H  O  R  U  S.  397 

the  people  were  so  sensible  of  the  honour  his  relics  did  the 
city,  that  they  resolved  to  keep  them  against  the  claims  of 
the  Himerians.  Much  of  this  poet's  history  depends  upoit 
the  authority  of  Phalaris's  epistles;  and  if  the  genuineness 
of  these  should  be  given  up,  which  is  now  the  general 
opinion,  yet  we  may  perhaps  collect  from  them  the  esteem 
and  character  Stesichorus  bore  with  antiquity.  We  have 
no  character  of  ins  works  on  record  :  Suidas  only  tells  us, 
in  general,  that  he  composed  a  hook  of  lyrics  in  the  Do- 
rian dialect ;  of  which  a  few  scraps,  not  amounting  to 
threescore  lines,  are  inserted  in  the  collection  of  Fnlvius 
Ursinus,  at  Antwerp,  1568,  Svo.  Majesty  and  greatness 
make  the  common  character  of  his  style :  and  Horace 
speaks  of  his  "  Graves  Camoenae."  Hence  Alexander,  in 
Dion  Chrysostom,  reckons  him  among  the  poets  whom  a 
prince  ought  to  read  :  and  Synesius  puts  him  and  Homer 
together,  as  the  noble  celebrators  of  the  heroic  race.  Quin- 
tilian's  judgment  on  his  works  will  justify  all  this:  "  the 
force  of  Stesichorus's  wit  appears,"  says  he,  "  from  the 
subjects  he  has  treated  of;  while  he  sings  the  greatest  wars 
and  the  greatest  commanders,  and  sustains  with  his  lyre  all 
the  weight  and  grandeur  of  an  epic  poem.  For  he  makes 
his  heroes  speak  and  act  agreeably  to  their  characters:  and 
had  he  but  observed  moderation,  he  would  have  appeared 
the  fairest  rival  of  Homer.  But  he  is  too  exuberant,  and 
does  not  know  how  to  contain  himself:  which,  though  really 
a  fault;,  yet  is  one  of  those  faults  which  arises  from  an 
abundance  and  excess  of  genius."  l 

STEVENS  (WILLIAM),  a  very  worthy,  benevolent,  and 
learned  citizen  of  London,  was  born  in  the  pariah  of  St. 
Saviour's,  Southwark,  March  2,  1732.  His  father  was  a 
tradesman,  residing  in  that  parish,  and  his  mother  was 
sister  of  the  rev.  Samuel  Home,  rector  of  Otham,  near 
Maidstone,  in  Kent,  and  aunt  of  the  late  excellent  Dr. 
Home,  bishop  of  Norwich.  His  father  died  when  he  was 
in  his  infancy,  and  being  educated  with  his  cousin,  George 
Home,  an  attachment,  from  similarity  of  disposition,  com- 
menced between  them,  which  led  to  the  same  studies  in 
their  future  lives,  although  their  destinations  were  so  dif- 
ferent. When  little  more  than  fifteen,  Mr.  Home  was  sent 
to  Oxford,  and  Mr.  Stevens,  at  the  same  period,  being  only 

1  Quiatilian  Inst.  lib.  X.  cap.  L— Voss.  de  Pott.  Grxc. — Fabric.  Bibl.  Grzc. 
— JBurney't  Hist,  of  Musk-,  vol.  I, 


ft. 

398  S  T  E  V  ENS. 

fourteen,  in  August  1746,  was  placed  as  an  apprentice 
with  Mr.  Hookham,  No.  68,  Old  Broad-street,  au  eminent 
wholesale  hosier,  and  in  this  house  he  lived  and  died.  The 
cousins  now  communicated  by  correspondence,  in  which 
Mr.  Home  informed  his  friend  of  the  studies  in  which  he 
was  engaged,  wi.ile  Mr.  Stevens  spent  all  his  leisure  time 
in  acquiring,  by  his  own  labour  and  industry,  that  know- 
ledge which  the  young  academician  was  amassing  under 
belter  auspices.  By  such  means  Mr.  Stevens  acquired, 
not  only  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  French  lan- 
guage, but  also  a  considerable  knowledge  of  Latin,  Greek, 

O  O       '  O  •*  * 

and  Hebrew  literature,  and  became  also  an  excellent  theo- 
logian. All  this  was  performed  amidst  the  strictest  atten- 
tion to  the  duties  of  his  apprenticeship,  and  when  that  term 
expired  in  1753,  his  master  employed  him  for  a  year  as 
his  assistant,  and  then  rewarded  his  fidelity  and  upright 
conduct,  by  taking  him  into  partnership.  Mr.  Stevens, 
after  this,  continued  to  pursue  his  business  with  his  usual 
activity  for  many  years  with  little  alteration  as  to  the  cir- 
cumstances of  it.  When  Mr.  Hookham  died,  his  nephew 
Mr.  Paterson  succeeded,  with  whom,  and  Mr.  Watlington, 
Mr.  Stevens  conducted  the  business,  as  chief  partner,  un- 
til 1801,  when  he  relinquished  a  great  part  of  the  profits, 
in  order  to  be  relieved  from  the  drudgery  of  business,  and 
to  dedicate  more  of  his  time  to  the  society  of  the  friends 
that  he  loved,  and  to  those  studies  in  which  he  delighted. 
About  two  years  before  his  death,  he  gave  up  the  whole 
concern  to  Mr.  Paterson,  with  whom,  however,  he  conti- 
nued to  board  till  his  death. 

His  leisure  time,  during  the  whole  of  his  life,  he  dedi- 
cated to  study,  to  intercourse  with  learned  men,  and  to 
the  duties  of  benevolence  and  devotion.  His  reading  was 
extensive,  and  his  taste  may  be  understood  from  the  plan 
of  his  studies.  He  was  well  versed  in  the  writings  of  the 
fathers  of  the  church  of  the  first  three  centuries,  generally 
called  the  Apostolic  fathers;  he  had  twice  read  through 
Dr.  Thomas  Jackson's  Body  of  Divinity,  in  three  large  fo- 
lios ;  a  divine  for  whose  writings  bishop  Home  always  ex- 
pressed the  highest  respect.  The  works  of  bishops  An- 
drews, Jeremy  Taylor,  and  dean  Hickes,  were  quite  fami- 
liar to  Mr.  Stevens;  and  there  was  hardiy  a  writer  of  mo- 
dern days,  at  all  celebrated  for  orthodox  opinions,  who  was 
unknown  to  him.  Such  was  the  esteem  in  which  he  was 
held,  as  a  theologian,  that  Dr.  Douglas,  bishop  of  Salisbury, 


STEVENS.  399 

once  said  of  him,  "  Here  is  a  man,  who,  though  not  a  bishop, 
yet  would  have  been  thought  worthy  of  that  character  in 
the  first  and  purest  ages  of  the  Christian  church  ;"  and  the 
late  bishop  Horsley,  who  was  not  given  to  flattery,  when  on 
one  occasion  Mr.  Stevens  paid  him  a  compliment  on  ac- 
count of  his  sermon,  said,  "  Mr.  Stevens,  a  compliment 
from  you  upon  such  a  subject  is  of  no  inconsiderable  va- 
lue." Mr.  Stevens  was  also,  like  bishop  Home,  a  great 
admirer  of  the  works  of  Mr.  John  Hutchinson. 

In   1773  Mr.  Stevens  first  appeared  as  an  author,  if  we 
may   say  so  of  one  who  never  put  his  name  to  his  writ- 
ings, by  publishing  "An  Essay  on  the  nature  and  consti- 
tution of  the  Christian  church,  wherein  are  set  forth  the 
form    of  its  government,    the   extent   of  its  powers,   and 
the  limits  of  our  obedience,  by  a  layman."     This  was  pub- 
lished   at    a    time    (the   preface   says)    "  when    the   press 
teemed  with  the  most  scurrilous  invectives  against  the  fun- 
damental doctrines  of  cur  religion  :   and   even   the  news- 
papers  were  converted   into  trumpets  of  sedition  by  the 
enemies  of  the  church."     Thirty  years  after  the  appear- 
ance of  this  tract  the  society  for  promoting  Christian  know- 
ledge placed  it  on  the  Catalogue  of  their  publications  with 
the  name  of  the  author,  one  of  whose  primary  motives  for 
writing  it  was  the  effort  making  in  1773  to  get  rid  of  sub- 
scription to  the  Thirty-nine  articles.    With  the  same  view, 
and  about  the  same  time,  Mr.  Woliaston,  rector  of  Chisle- 
hurstin  Kent,  having  published  "An  address  to  the  Clergy 
of  the  church  ol    Lv  Hand  in  particular,  and  to  all  Chris- 
tians in    general,"  Mr.  Stevens   printed   "Cursory  Obser- 
vations" on  this  pamphlet,    with  a  mixture  of  playfulness 
and  argument,    censuring   him  for   being   friendly  to  the 
scheme  then  in  view.     In  1776  he  published  "A  discourse 
on  the  English  Constitution,  extracted  from  a  late  eminent 
writer,  and  applicable  to  the  present  times,"  which  were, 
it  may  be  remembered,  times  of  great  political  turbulence. 
In  the  following  year  he  published  two  distinct  works  :  the 
one,   "  Strictures  on  a  sermon  entitled,  The  Principles  of 
the  Revolution  vindicated — -preached  before  the  university 
of  Cambridge,  on  Wednesday,  May  29,  1776,  by  Richard 
Watson,   D.I).  F  II.  S.  Regius  professor  of  divinity  in  that 
university  ;"   an<1,  the  other,   "  The  Revolution  vindicated, 
and  constitutional  liberty  asserted  ;  in  answer  to  the  Rev. 
Dr.  Watson's  Accession  Sermon,  preached  before  the  uni- 
versity of  Cambridge  on  Oct.  25,  1776."     In  both  these 


400'  STEVENS. 

works,  lie  contends  that  the  preacher  and  his  friends 
deavouf  to  support  doctrines  which,  if  followed,  would  de- 
stroy, and  not  preserve  the  constitution,  grounding  all  au- 
thority in  the  power  of  the  people  :  that  the  revolution  (in 
1688)  intended  to  preserve,  and  did  preserve,  the  constitu- 
tion, in  its  pristine  state  and  vigour:  and  that  this  is  mani- 
fest from  the  convention,  founding  the  revolution  entirely 
on  the  abdication  and  vacancy  oi  the  throne. 

Prior  in  point  of  time  to  these  works  on  political  sub- 
jects, he  had  proved  his  critical  knowledge  of  the  Hebrew 
language,  by  a  work  entitled  "  A  new  and  faithful  transla- 
tion of  Letters  from  M.  L'Abbe  de Hebrew  professor 

in  the  university  of to  the  rev.  BtM)j.  Kennicott,  &c." 

Whether  these  letters  were  translated  from  the  French,  as 
the  title-page  imports,  or  were  the  xvork  of  Mr.  Stevens 
himself,  "  it  is  not,"  says  his  learned  biographer,  "  material 
to  inquire.  The  object  of  this  publication  was  to  offer 
some  observations  on  the  doctor's  proposals,  and  to  point 
out  the  supposed  evil  tendency  of  the  plan."  In  this,  as  we 
have  noticed  in  our  account  of  Dr.  Kennicott,  Mr.  Stevens 
was  not  singular,  and  if  he  erred,  he  did  not  err  alone  in 
his  judgment  upon  the  points  at  issue. — Although  Mr.  Ste- 
vens would  never  announce  himself  as  the  author  of  any  of 
the  preceding  works,  he  collected  them  at  the  earnest 
solicitation  of  his  friends,  into  a  volume,  which,  with  his 
characteristic  humility,  he  entitled  "  OvSevo;  efya," — "The 
Works  of  NOBODY,"  and  gave  copies  in  presents  to  his 
friends. 

In  1800,  he  was  again  induced  to  enter  the  fields  of  con- 
troversy, in  defence  of  the  opinions  partly  of  his  relation 
bishop  Home,  and  partly  of  his  friend  Mr.  Jones.  Mr, 
.Tones,  in  his  life  of  bishop  Home,  had  adverted  to  that  pre- 
late's acquaintance  with  the  writings  of  Htitchinson  ;  but 
before  a  second  edition  was  wanted,  some  writers  had  at- 
tacked the  character  of  Dr.  Home,  as  an  Hutthinsonian  • 
and  Mr.  Jones  therefore,  in  the  new  edition  of  the  life,  pub- 
lished in  1799,  introduced  a  long  preface^  vindicating  the 
bishop,  and  shewing  that  the  Hutchinsonian  plan  was  con- 
sistent with  the  Holy  Scriptures.  This  preface  being  re- 
viewed in  the  British  Critic  in  a  manner  by  no  means  satis- 
factory to  the  supporters  of  Hutchinsonian  opinions,  or  the 
friends  of  Mr.  Jones  (who  died  about  this  time),  Mr.  Ste- 
vens, with  all  the  ardour  of  friendship,  and  with  all  the 
ability  and  spirit  which  had  distinguished  him  in  his  earlier 


STEVENS.  401 

years,  published  under  the  name  of  AIN,  the  Hebrew  word 
for  Nobody,  "  A  Review  of  the  Review  of  a  new  Preface 
to  the  second  edition  of  Mr.  Jones's  Life  of  bishop  Home." 

The  last  literary  work  in  which  Mr.  Stevens  was  en- 
gaged, was  an  uniform  edition  of  the  works  of  Mr.  Jones, 
in  12  vols  8vo,  to  which  he  prefixed  a  life  of  that  excellent 
man,  composed  in  a  style  of  artless  and  pathetic  religious 
eloquence,  which  his  biographer  has  very  aptly  compared  to 
that  of  Isaac  Walton,  between  whom  and  Mr.  Stevens  he 
states  otner  similarities.  "  Both  were  tradesmen  ;  they 
were  both  men  ot  reading,  and  personally  acquired  learn- 
ing; of  considerable  theological  knowledge — well  versed 
in  that  book  which  is  the  only  legitimate  source  of  all  theo- 
logy, the  Bible.  Both  were  companions  and  friends  of 
the  most  eminent  prelates  and  divines  that  adorned  the 
church  of  England  ;  both  were  profound  masters  in  the  art 
of  k(>ly  living,  ami  of  the  same  cheerfulness  of  disposition, 
&c.  &c."  But  though  Mr.  Stevens  never  published  any  other 
work  that  can  be  called  his  own,  yet  he  was  always  con- 
sidering how  the  world  might  be  benefited  by  the  labours 
of  others,  and  therefore  he  was  a  great  encourager  of  his 
learned  friend  Mr.  Jones,  in  the  publication  of  his  various 
works;  and  alter  the  death  of  bishop  Home,  the  most  se- 
vere loss  he  ever  met  with,  he  superintended  the  publica- 
tion of  some  of  the  volumes  of  his  sermons.  It  was  he  also 
who  suggested  to  the  bishop  the  "  Letters  on  Infidelity," 
in  answer  to  Ur.  Adam  Smith's  exaggerated  character  of 
Hume  ;  and  to  him  the  bishop  addressed  them  under  the 
initials  of  W.  S.  esq. 

Mr.  Stevens  died  Feb.  6,  1807,  at  his  house  in  Broad- 
street,  ;;nd  was  interred  in  Oiharn  church-yard  in  the 
county  ot  Kent.  Otham  wa*  not  the  place  of  his  nativity, 
yet,  from  being  the  parish  of  his  maternal  relations,  he  had 
always  regarded  it  as  his  home  ;  and  in  that  church-yard 
he  expressed  his  desire  to  be  buried.  Indeed  to  the 
church  of  Otham  he  had,  during  his  life-time,  been  a 
great  benefactor,  having  laid  out  about  600/.  in  repairing 
and  adorning  it.  An  epitaph  has  since  been  placed  on  a 
marble  tablet,  containing  a  just  summary  of  his  excellent 
character.  For  a  more  minute  detail  of  it,  and  particularly 
of  his  extensive  -charities,  both  as  ari  individual,  and  as 
treasurer  of  queen  Anne's  bounty,  which  office  he  held 
many  years,  and  it  afforded  to  him  a  wide  scope  for  bene- 
volent exertion  ;  for  many  admirable  traits  of  temper  and 
VOL.XXVII1.  Do 


402  STEVENS. 

proofs  of  talent,  and  for  an  example  of  integrity,  private 
virtues,  and  public  usefulness,  rarely  to  be  met  with,  we 
must  refer  to  the  "  Memoirs  of  William  Stevens,  esq." 
printed  for  private  distribution  in  1812,  8vo,  and  in  1815 
for  sale.  7'his  very  interesting  and  instructive  work  is  the 
well-known,  although  not  avowed,  production  of  a  learned 
judge,  who  bus  ably  proved  "  how  much  every  man  has 
it  in  his  power,  even  under  very  discouraging  circum- 
stances, by  diligence,  fidelity,  and  attention,  to  advance 
himself,  not  only  in  worldly  prosperity,  but  in  learning  and 
wisdom,  in  purity  of  life,  and  in  moral  and  religious  know- 
ledge," and  that  "  a  life  of  the  strictest  piety  and  devotion 
to  God,  and  of  the  warmest  and  most  extensive  benevo- 
lence to  our  fellow  men,  is  strictly  compatible  with  the 
utmost  cheerfulness  of  disposition,  with  all  rational  plea- 
sures, and  with  all  the  gaiety,  which  young  persons  natu- 
rally feel."1 

STEVIN,  STEVINUS  (SiMON),  a  Flemish  mathematician 
of  Bruges,  who  died  in  1633,  was  master  of  mathematics 
to  prince  Maurice  of  Nassau,  and  inspector  of  the  dykes  in 
Holland.  It  is  said  he  was  the  inventor  ot  the  sailing  cha- 
riots, sometimes  made  use  of  in  Holland.  He  was  a  good 
practical  mathematician  and  mechanist,  and  was  author  of 
several  useful  works  :  as,  treatises  on  arithmetic,  algebra, 
geometry,  statics,  optics,  trigonometry,  geography,  astro- 
nomy, fortification,  and  many  others,  in  the  Dutch  lan- 
guage, which  were  translated  into  Latin,  by  Snellius,  and 
printed  in  two  volumes  folio.  There  are  also  two  editions 
in  the  French  language,  in  folio,  both  printed  at  Leyden, 
the  one  in  1608,  and  the  other  in  1634,  with  curious  notes 
and  additions,  by  Albert  Girard.  In  Dr.  Hutton's  Dic- 
tionary, art.  ALGEBRA,  there  is  a  particular  account  of 
Stevin's  inventions  and  improvements,  which  were  many  and 
ingenious.2 

STEWART-DEN  HAM  (SiR  JAMKS),  an  eminent  poli- 
tical writer,  was  born  at  Edinburgh,  Oct.  10,  1713.  His 
father  was  sir  James  Stewart  of  Goostrees,  bart.  solicitor- 
general  for  Scotland,  and  his  mother  was  Anne,  daughter 
of  sir  Hugh  Dalrymple  of  North  Berwick,  bart.  president 
of  the  college  of  justice  in  Scotland.  After  some  classical 
education  at  the  school  of  North  Berwick,  in  East  Lo- 
thian, he  was  removed  to  the  university  of  Edinburgh, 

1  Memoirs  as  above.  *  Merer!. — Gen.  Diet. — Hutton's  Diet. 


STE  W  A  RT-D  EN  H  AM.  403 

where,  in  addition  to  the  other  sciences  usually  taught 
there,  he  made  himself  well  acquainted  with  the  Roman 
law  and  history,  and  the  municipal  law  of  Scotland.  He 
then  went  to  the  bar  as  an  advocate,  and  published  an 
acute  and  ingenious  thesis  on  that  occasion,  having  before 
submitted  himself,  as  is  usual,  to  a  public  examination  by 
the  fac'ilty  ot  advocates. 

A  few  months  after  this  introduction  to  the  practice  of 
his  profession,  he  set  out  upon  his  travels,  and  made  the 
tour  of  Holland,  Germany,  France,  Spain,  and  Italy, 
which  employed  him  for  nearly  five  years ;  after  which,  in 
1740,  lie  returned  to  Scotland,  and  two  years  after  mar- 
ried lady  Frances  Wemyss,  eldest  daughter  of  the  earl  of 
Wemyss.  One  of  his  biographers  observes,  that  his  return 
to  the  bar  was  anxiously  expected  by  his  friends  and  coun- 
trymen, and  his  absence  from  it  was  imputed  to  the  influ- 
ence of  certain  connections  of  a  political  nature,  which  he 
had  formed  abroad,  and  particularly  at  Rome. 

A  few  months  after  his  marriage  a  vacancy  took  place  in 
the  representation  in  parliament  fur  the  county  of  Edin- 
burgh, when  sir  James  took  an  active  part  in  opposition  to 
the  interest  of  Robert  Dunclas,  esq.  of  Arniston,  one  of 
the  senators  of  the  college  of  justice,  who  happened  to  pre- 
side at  the  meeting  of  the  electors  for  the  county  of 
Edinburgh,  and  omitted  to  call  over  sir  James's  name,  on 
the  roll  of  the  electors,  on  account  of  an  alleged  insuffi- 
ciency of  right  to  vote  on  that  occasion.  On  ibis  account 
Mr.  Dunclas  became  the  object  of  a  legal  prosecution  by 
sir  James,  as  having  disobeyed  the  act  of  parliament  re- 
lating to  the  rolls  of  electors  of  members  of  parliament  for 
counties  in  Scotland.  When,  in  the  course  of  litigation, 
tliis  cause  came  to  be  heard  before  the  college  of  justice, 
sir  J..mes  pleaded  his  own  cause  with  so  much  eloquence, 
and  in  so  masterly  a  manner,  that  Mr.  Dunclas  (commonly 
called  lord  Arniston),  though  a  judge,  came  down  from 
the  bench  and  defended  himself  at  the  bar  ;  an  appear- 
ance very  uncommon,  and  demonstrative  of  the  high  sense 
he  had  of  the  abilities  of  his  opponent.  This  extraordinary 
appearance  of  our  author  gave  the  greatest  hopes  of  his 
professional  abilities,  and  inspired  all  his  friends  with  fresh 
zeal  for  his  continuance  at  the  bar ;  but  the  sentiments  and 
engagements  formerly  mentioned  in  all  probability  pre- 
vented sir  James  from  availing  himself  of  so  brilliant  an 
introduction. 

D  D  2 


404  S  T  E  W  A  R  T- D  E  N  H  A  M. 

After  this  struggle  he  passed   near  two  years  at  his  seat 
in  the  country,  surrounded  at  all  times  by  the  most  learned 
and  accomplished   of  his  countrymen,  and  rendering  him- 
self continually  the  delight  of  all   his  guests  and  compa- 
nions,  by  the  charms  and  variety  of  his  conversation,   and 
the  polite  animation  of  his  manners  and  address.     Amoncr 
those  were  many  of  the  illustrious  persons  who  afterwards 
engaged  in   the   attempt  to   piace   the   Pretender  on   the 
throne  in  1745.     As  he  was  by  far  the  ablest   man  of  that 
party,  the  Jacobites  engaged  him  to  write  prince  Charles- 
Edward's  manifesto,  and  to  assist  in   his  councils.     Infor- 
mation having  been  given  of  his  share  in  these  affairs,   he 
thought  it  prudent,  on  the  failure  of  the  attempt,   to  leave 
Britain,  and  was  excepted  afterwards  from  the    bill  of  in- 
demnity, and  thus  rendered  an  exile  from  his  country.    He 
chose  France  for  his  residence  during  the  first  ten  years  of 
his  banishment,  and  was  chiefly  at  Angoule^me,  where  he 
applied  himself  to  the  study  of  those  subjects  which  are 
treated  in   his  works,   particularly    finance,  and  collected 
that  vast  magazine  of  facts  relating  to  the  revenue  which 
laid  the  foundation  for  some  of  the  most  curious  and  in- 
teresting chapters  of  his  "  Principles  of  Political  CEcono- 
my."     From  the  information  on  these  subjects  which  he 
obtained  in  France,   he  was  enabled  to  compare  the  state 
of  the  two  nations,   as  well  as   to  give  that  very  clear  and 
succinct  account  of  the  then  state  of  the  French  finances 
which  composes  the  sixth  chapter  of    the  fourth  part  of 
the  fourth  book  of  his   great  work.     In    1757,  sir  James 
published   at  Frankfort  on   the   Maine,  his  "Apologiedu 
sentiment  de  Monsieur  de  chevalier  Newton,  sur  Pancienne 
chronologie  des  Grecs,  contenant  des  reponses  a  toutes  les 
objections   qui  y   ont  ete   faites  jusqu'a  present."       This 
apology   was  written  in   the  beginning  of   1755;  but  the 
printing  of  it  was  at  that  time  prevented  by  his  other  en- 
gagements.    It  is  said  to  be  a  work  of  great  merit. 

While  sir  James  resided  abroad,  during  the  war  between 
France  and  Great  Britain,  which  terminated  in  1763,  he 
had  the  misfortune  to  have  some  letters  addressed  to  him 
proceeding  on  the  mistake  of  his  person  and  character, 
by  which  he  became  innocently  the  object  of  suspicion, 
as  furnishing  intelligence  to  the  enemy,  which  occasioned 
the  imprisonment  of  his  person  until  the  mistake  was  dis- 
covered. Some  time  after  the  peace  of  Paris,  he  was  per- 
mitted to  come  incognito  to  London,  where  a  noli  proseqm 


S  T  E  W  A  II  T  -  D  E  N  H  A  M.  40i 

aucl  pardon  was  solicited  for  him,  through  different  chan- 
nels, and  particularly  through  that  of  lord  Chatham,  by  the 
interposition  of  sir  James's  nephew,  the  present  earl  of 
Buchan,  then  lord  Cardross;  and  although  this  was  not  then 
successful,  yet  in  1767  sir  James  was  fully  restored  to  his 
native  country,  and  to  his  citizenship,  with  the  gracious 
approbation  of  his  discerning  sovereign.  He  then  retired 
to  his  paternal  inheritance,  and  continued  to  exert  his 
faculties  for  the  benefit  of  his  country.  He  repaired  the 
mansion  of  his  ancestors,  improved  his  neglected  acres, 
set  forward  the  improvements  of  the  province  in  which  he 
resided,  by  promoting  high-roads,  bridges,  agriculture, 
and  manufactures;  publishing  at  this  time,  for  the  use  of 
the  public,  an  anonymous  plan  for  the  construction  of  an 
act  of  parliament  to  regulate  the  application  of  the  statute 
labour  of  the  peasants  and  others  upon  the  public  roads ; 
the  greatest  part  of  which  treatise  has  been  since  adopted 
in  the  framing  of  acts  for  the  different  counties  in  Scot- 
land. 

In  1771,  he  was  employed,  on  the  generous  offer  of  his 
gratuitous  services,  by  the  East  India  Company  of  Great 
Britain,  to  consider  the  most  likely  methods  of  regulating 
the  coin  in  their  settlements;  and  in  the  year  1772,  at 
their  request,  he  published  the  results  of  his  labours  on 
that  subject;  in  a  treatise  entitled  "  The  principles  of 
money  applied  to  the  present  state  of  the  coin  of  Bengal." 
In  a  letter  to  lord  Buchan,  he  conveyed  a  plan  tor  a  ge- 
neral uniformity  of  weights  and  measures,  a  work  of  great 
ingenuity  and  learning,  which  was  intended  to  have  been 
laid  before  the  congress,  previous  to  the  peace  of  1763.  It 
was  written  at  Tubingen  in  Suabia,  and  finally  corrected 
and  enlarged  at  Coltness,  his  seat  in  Clydesdale  in  Scot- 
land, in  March  1778,  and  published  at  London  in  1790. 
In  the  summer  of  1779,  he  set  himself  to  inquire  minutely 
into  the  state  of  the  distillery  and  brewery,  and  the  revenue 
arising  from  it,  which  was  suggested  by  the  complaint  which. 
had  proceeded  from  an  act  of  parliament,  enlarging  the 
lawful  size  of  vessels  for  the  distillation  of  malt  spirits,  and 
the  imposition  of  a  tax  in  Scotland,  equal  to  that  in  England, 
on  malt  spirits;  the  general  result  of  this  inquiry  he  ano- 
nymously published  in  the  Edinburgh  Evening  Courant  of 
October  2,  1779  ;  and  the  particular  discussion,  with  the 
materials  he  had  used,  he  transmitted  to  a  friend  in  par- 
liament. This  publication  had  the  effect  to  prevent  the 


406  STE  W  ART-D  EN  H  AM, 

counties  in  Scotland  from  entering  into  crude  resolutions 
on  a  subject  of  so  much  importance.  In  1780,  in  the  be- 
ginning of  October,  sir  James  was  attacked  by  an  inflam- 
mation in  his  toe,  in  consequence  of  the  too  near  cutting 
of  a  nail,  which,  from  the  ill  habit  of  his  body  at  that  time, 
terminated,  towards  the  beginning  of  November,  in  a  mor- 
tification. The  progress  of  this  disorder  was  arrested  by 
the  copious  use  of  the  Jesuits  bark;  but  on  the  19th  of 
that  month,  he  was  seized  with  a  fever,  which  put  an  end 
to  his  useful  and  valuable  life  on  the  26th.  His  biogra- 
pher adds,  "  It  is  with  uncommon  satisfaction  that  we  find 
it  in  our  power  to  adorn  the  account  of  this  celebrated 
author,  by  adding  the  just  encomium  of  his  domestic  vir- 
tues, an  accompaniment  too  often  wanting,  at  least  with 
truth,  in  the  biography  of  illustrious  characters.  As  a  hus- 
band, father,  master,  companion,  and  friend,  sir  James's 
life  was  distinguished  ;  and  to  all  these  excellent  qualities, 
that  rare  one  of  public  spirit,  and  unwearied  attention  to 
the  interest  of  the  state,  were  eminently  conjoined." 

Sir  James  had,  by  the  lady  Frances  Steuart,  a  daughter, 
who  died  soon  after  her  birth  ;  and  the  present  sir  James 
Steuart  Denham,  baronet. 

His  "  Inquiry  into  the  principles  of  Political  CEconorny  " 
was  published  in  1767,  2  vols.  4to.  On  this  work  there 
have  been  considerable  differences  of  opinion,  and  the  au- 
thor certainly  has  never  attracted  so  much  attention  as  his 
great  rival  on  the  same  subject,  Dr.  Adam  Smith,  who  has 
been  heard  to  observe  that  he  understood  sir  James's  sys- 
tem better  from  his  conversation  than  from  his  volumes. 
The  work  was  republished  in  1805,  along  with  other  pieces 
from  his  pen,  in  6  vols.  Svo.1 

STEWART  (MATTHEW),  an  eminent  mathematician, 
and  professor  of  mathematics  in  the  university  of  Edin- 
burgh, was  the  son  of  the  reverend  Mr.  Dugald  Stewart, 
minister  of  Rothsay  in  the  Isle  of  Bute,  and  was  born  at 
that  place  in  1717.  After  having  finished  his  course  at  the 
grammar  school,  being  intended  by  his  father  for  the 
church,  he  was  sent  to  the  university  of  Glasgow,  and  was 
entered  there  as  a  student  in  1734.  His  academical  studies 
were  prosecuted  with  diligence  and  success  ;  and  he  uas 
particularly  distinguished  by  the  friendship  of  Dr.  Hutche- 

1   Life  by  lord  Buchan  in  vol.  I.  of  the  Transactions  of  the  So'-kty  of  An- 
iiqnaries  of  Scotland  ; — and  another  prefixed  to  his  works. 


STEWART.  407 

son,  and   Dr.  Simson  the  celebrated  geometrician,  under 
whom  he  made  great  progress  in  that  science. 

Mr.  Stewart's  views  made  it  necessary  for  him  to  attend 
the  lectures  in  the  university  of  Edinburgh  in  1741  ;  and 
that  his  mathematical  studies  might  suffer  no  interruption, 
he  was  introduced  by  Dr.  Simson  to  Mr.  Maclaurin,  who 
was  then  teaching  with  so  much  success  both  the  geometry 
and  the  philosophy  of  Newton,  and  under  whom  Mr.  Stew- 
art made  that  proficiency  which  was  to  be  expected  from 
the  abilities  of  such  a  pupil,  directed  by  those  of  so  great 
a  master.  Eut  the  modern  analysis,  even  when  thus  power- 
fully recommended,  was  not  able  to  withdraw  his  attention, 
from  the  relish  of  the  ancient  geometry,  which  he  had  im- 
bibed under  Dr.  Simson.  He  still  kept  up  a  regular  cor- 
respondence with  this  gentleman,  giving  him  an  account 
of  his  progress,  and  of  his  discoveries  in  geometry,  which 
were  now  both  numerous  and  important,  and  receiving  in 
return  many  curious  communications  with  respect  to  the 
Loci  Plani,  and  the  Porisms  of  Euclid.  Mr.  Stewart  pur- 
sued this  latter  subject  in  a  different,  and  new  direction, 
and  was  led  to  the  discovery  of  those  curious  and  interest- 
ing propositions,  which  were  published,  under  the  title  of 
"  General  Theorems,"  in  1746,  which,  although  given  with- 
out the  demonstrations,  placed  their  discoverer  at  once 
among  the  geometricians  of  the  first  rank.  They  are,  for 
the  most  part,  Porisms,  though  Mr.  Stewart,  careful  not  to 
anticipate  the  discoveries  of  his  friend,  gave  tbem  only  the 
name  ot  Theorems.  While  engaged  in  them,  Mr.  Stewart 
had  entered  into  the  church,  and  become  minister  of  Rose- 
neath.  It  was  in  that  retired  and  romantic  situation,  that 
he  discovered  the  greater  part  of  those  theorems.  In  the 
summer  of  1746,  the  mathematical  chair  in  the  university 
of  Edinburgh  became  vacant,  by  the  death  of  Mr.  Maclau- 
rin. The  "  General  Theorems"  had  not  yet  appeared  ; 
Mr.  Stewart  was  known  only  to  his  friends;  and  the  eyes  of 
the  public  were  naturally  turned  on  Mr.  Stirling,  who  then 
resided  at  Leadhills,  and  who  was  well  known  in  the  mathe- 
matical world.  He  however  declined  appearing  as  a  can- 
didate for  the  vacant  chair;  and  several  others  were  named, 
among  whom  was  Mr.  Stewart.  Upon  this  occasion  he 
printed  his  "Theorems,"  which  gave  him  a  decided  supe- 
riority above  all  the  other  candidates.  He  was  accordingly 
elected  professor  of  mathematics  in  the  university  of  Edin- 
burgh, in  September  1747. 


408  8  T  E  W  A.  R  T. 

The  duties  of  this  office  gave  a  turn  somewhat  different 
to  his  mathematical  pursuits,  and  led  him  to  think  of  the 
most  simple  and  elegant  means  of  explaining  those  difficult 
propositions,  which  were  bit  erto  only  accessible  to  men 
deeply  versed  in  the  modern  analysis.  In  doing  this,  he 
was  pursuing  the  object  which,  of  all  others,  he  most  ar- 
dently wished  to  obtain,  viz.  the  application  of  geometry 
to  such  problems  as  the  algebraic  calculus  alone  had  been 
thought  able  to  resolve.  His  solution  of  Kepler's  problem 
was  the  first  specimen  of  this  kind  which  he  gave  to  the 
world,  and  which,  unlike  all  former  attempts,  was  at  once 
direct  in  its  method  and  simple  in  its  principles.  This  ap- 
peared in  vol.  II.  of  the  "  Essays  of  the  Philosophical  So- 
ciety of  Edinburgh,"  for  1756  ;  and  in  the  first  volume  of 
the  same  collection  are  some  other  propositions  by  him, 
which  are  an  extension  of  a  curious  theorem  in  the  fourth 
book  of  Pappus. 

In  the  course  of  prosecuting  his  plan  of  introducing  into 
the  higher  parts  of  mixed  mathematics,  the  strict  and  sim- 
ple form  of  ancient  demonstration,  he  produced  the 
"  Tracts  Physical  and  Mathematical,"  which  were  pub- 
lished in  1761.  In  the  first  of  these,  Mr.  Stewart  lays 
down  the  doctrine  of  centripetal  forces  in  a  series  of  pro- 
positions demonstrated,  the  quadrature  of  curves  being- 
admitted,  with  the  utmost  rigour,  and  requiring  no  pre- 
vious knowledge  of  mathematics,  except  the  elements  of 
plane  geometry  and  of  conic  sections.  The  good  order  of 
these  propositions,  added  to  the  clearness  and  simplicity 
of  the  demonstrations,  renders  this  tract  the  best  elemen- 
tary treatise  of  physical  astronomy  that  is  any  where  to  he 
found.  In  the  three  following  tracts,  his  object  was  to  de- 
termine, by  the  same  method,  the  effect  of  those  forces 
which  disturb  the  motions  of  a  secondary  planet :  and  from 
these  he  proposed  to  deduce,  not  only  the  theory  of  the 
rnoon,  but  a  determination  of  the  sun's  distance  from  the 
earth.  The  former,  it  is  well  known,  is  the  most  difficult 
subject  to  which  mathematics  have  been  applied.  It  must 
be  regretted,  therefore,  that  the  decline  of  Dr.  Stewart's 
health,  which  began  soon  after  the  publication  of  the 
"  Tracts"  did  not  permit  him  to  pursue  this  investigation. 
In  regard  to  the  distance  of  the  sun,  the  transit  of  Venus, 
which  was  to  happen  in  1761,  had  turned  the  attention  of 
mathematicians  to  the  solution  of  this  curious  problem  ; 
but  when  it  was  considered  of  how  delicate  a  nature  the 


STEWART. 

observations  were  from  which  that  solution  was  to  be  de- 
duced, and  to  how  many  accidents  they  were  exposed,  it 
was  natural  that  some  attempts  should  be  made  to  ascer- 
tain the  dimensions  of  our  system  by  some  method  less 
subject  to  disappointment.  Such  accordingly  was  the  de- 
sign of  Dr.  Stewart,  and  his  inquiries  into  the  lunar  irre- 
gularities had  furnished  him  with  the  means  of  accom- 
plishing it. 

The  transit  of  Venus  took  place;  the  astronomers  re- 
turned, who  had  viewed  the  curious  phenomenon,  from  the 
most  distant  stations  :  and  no  very  satisfactory  result  was 
obtained  from  a  comparison  of  their  observations.  Dr. 
Stewart  then  resolved  to  apply  the  principles  he  had  al- 
ready laid  down  ;  and  in  1763  pnblisned  his  essay  on  the 
"  Sun's  Distance,"  where  the  computation  being  actually 
made,  the  parallax  of  the  sun  was  found  to  be  no  more 
than  6"  9,  and  consequently  his  distance  almost  29875 
semidiameters  of  the  earth,  or  nearly  119  millions  of  miles. 
A  determination  of  the  sun's  distance,  that  so  far  ex- 
ceeded all  former  estimations  of  it,  was  received  with  sur- 
prise, and  the  reasoning  on  which  it  was  founded  was  likely 
to  undergo  a  severe  examination.  But,  even  among  astro- 
nomers, it  was  not  every  one  who  could  judge  in  a  matter 
of  such  difficult  discussion.  Accordingly,  it  was  not  till 
about  five  years  after  the  publication  of  the  sun's  distance, 
that  there  appeared  a  pamphlet,  under  the  title  of  "  Four 
Propositions,"  intended  to  point  out  certain  errors  in  Dr. 
Stewart's  investigation,  which  had  given  a  result  much 
greater  than  the  truth.  From  his  desire  of  simplifying, 
and  of  employing  only  the  geometrical  method  of  reasoning, 
he  was  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  rejecting  quantities, 
which  were  considerable  enough  to  have  a  great  effect  on 
the  last  result.  An  error  was  thus  introduced,  which,  had 
it  not  been  for  certain  compensations,  would  have  become 
immediately  obvious,  by  giving  the  sun's  distance  near 
three  times  as  great  as  that  which  has  been  mentioned. 

The  author  of  the  pamphlet,  referred  to  above,  was  the 
first  who  remarked  the  dangerous  nature  of  these  simplifi- 
cations, and  who  attempted  to  estimate  the  error  to  which 
they  had  given  rise.  This  author  remarked  what  produced 
the  compensation  above  mentioned,  viz.  the  immense  vari- 
ation of  the  sun's  distance,  which  corresponds  to  a  very 
small  variation  of  the  motion  of  the  moon's  apogee.  And 
it  is  but  justice  to  acknowledge  that,  besides  being  just  in. 


410  STEWART. 

the  points  already  mentioned,  they  are  very  ingenious, 
and  written  with  much  modesty  and  good  temper.  The 
author,  who  at  first  concealed  his  name,  but  afterwards 
consented  to  its  being  made  public,  was  Mr.  Dawson,  a 
surgeon  at  Suclbury  in  Yorkshire,  and  one  of  the  most  in- 
genious mathematicians  and  philosophers  which  this  country 
at  that  time  possessed. 

A  second  attack  was  soon  after  this  made  on  the  sun's 
distance,  by  Mr.  Landen  ;  but  by  no  means  with  the  same 
good  temper  which  has  been  remarked  in  the  former.  He 
fancied  to  himself  errors  in  Dr.  Stewart's  investigation, 
which  have  no  existence ;  he  exaggerated  those  that  were 
real,  and  seemed  to  triumph  in  the  discovery  of  them  with 
unbecoming  exultation.  The  error  into  which  Dr.  Stewart 
had  fallen,  though  first  taken  notice  of  by  Mr.  Dawson, 
whose  pamphlet  was  sent  by  Dr.  Hutton  to  Mr.  Landen  as 
soon  as  it  was  printed  (for  Dr.  Hutton  had  the  care  of  the 
edition  of  it)  yet  this  gentleman  extended  his  remarks  upon 
it  to  greater  exactness.  But  Mr.  Landen,  in  the  zeal  of 
correction,  brings  many  other  charges  against  Dr.  Stewart, 
the  greater  part  of  which  seem  to  have  no  good  foundation. 
Such  are  his  objections  to  the  second  part  of  the  investiga- 
tion, where  Dr.  Stewart  finds  the  relation  between  the  dis- 
turbing force  of  the  sun,  and  the  motion  of  the  apses  of 
the  lunar  orbit.  For  tiiis  part,  instead  of  being  liable  to 
objection,  is  deserving  of  the  greatest  praise,  since  it  re- 
solves, by  geometry  alone,  a  problem  which  had  eluded 
the  efforts  of  some  of  the  ablest  mathematicians,  even 
when  they  availed  themselves  of  the  utmost  resources  of  the 
integral  calculus.  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  though  he  assumed 
the  disturbing  force  very  near  the  truth,  computec  the 
motion  of  the  apses  from  thence  only  at  one  half  of  what  it 
really  amounts  to  ;  so  that,  had  he  been  required,  like  Dr. 
Stewart,  to  invert  the  problem,  he  would  have  committed 
an  error,  not  merely  of  a  few  thousandth  parts,  as  the 
latter  is  alleged  to  have  done,  but  would  have  brought  out 
a  result  double  of  the  truth.  (Princip.  Math.  lib.  3,  prop.  3.) 
Machin  and  Callendrini,  when  commenting  on  this  part  of 
the  "  Principia,"  found  a  like  inconsistency  between  their 
theory  and  observation.  Three  other  celebrated  mathe- 
maticians, Clairaut,  D'Alembert,  and  Euler,  severally  ex- 
perienced the  same  difficulties,  and  were  led  into  an  error 
of  the  same  magnitude.  It  is  true,  that,  on  resuming  their 
computations,  they  found  that  they  had  not  carried  their 


STEWART.  411 

approximations  to  a  sufficient  length,  which  when  they  had 
at  last  accomplished,  their  results  agreed  exactly  with  ob- 
servation. Mr.  Walmsley  and  Dr.  Stewart  were  the  first 
mathematicians  who,  employing  in  the  solution  of  this 
difficult  problem,  the  one  the  algebraic  calculus,  and  the 
other  the  geometrical  method,  were  led  immediately  to 
the  truth ;  a  circumstance  so  much  for  the  honour  of  both, 
that  it  ought  not  to  be  forgotten.  It  was  the  business  of 
an  impartial  critic,  while  he  examined  our  author's  reason- 
ings, to  have  remarked  and  to  have  weighed  these  con- 
siderations. 

The  "  Sun's  Distance"  was  the  last  work  which  Dr. 
Stewart  published  ;  and  though  he  lived  to  see  the  animad- 
versions made  on  it,  just  mentioned,  he  declined  entering 
into  any  controversy.  His  disposition  was  far  from  pole- 
mical ;  and  he  knew  the  value  of  that  quiet,  which  a  lite- 
rary man  should  rarely  suffer  his  antagonists  to  interrupt. 
He  used  to  say,  that  the  decision  of  the  point  in  question 
was  now  before  the  public ;  that  if  his  investigation  was 
right,  it  would  never  be  overturned,  and  that  if  it  was 
wrong,  it  ought  not  to  be  defended. 

A  few  months  before  he  published  the  Essay  just  men- 
tioned, he  gave  to  the  world  another  work,  entitled  "  Pro- 
positiones  more  Veterum  demonstratae."  It  consists  of  a 
series  of  geometrical  theorems,  mostly  new ;  investigated, 
first  by  an  analysis,  and  afterwards  synthetically  demon- 
strated by  the  inversion  of  the  same  analysis.  This  me- 
thod made  an  important  part  in  the  analysis  of  the  ancient 
geometricians ;  but  few  examples  of  it  have  been  preserved 
in  their  writings,  and  those  in  the  "  Propositiones  Geome- 
tricse"  are  therefore  the  more  valuable.  His  constant  use 
of  the  geometrical  analysis  had  put  him  in  possession  of 
many  valuable  propositions,  which  did  not  enter  into  the 
plan  of  any  of  the  works  that  have  been  enumerated.  Of 
these,  not  a  few  have  found  a  place  in  the  writings  of  Dr. 
Simson,  where  they  will  for  ever  remain,  to  mark  the 
friendship  of  these  two  mathematicians,  and  to  evince  the 
esteem  which  Dr.  Simson  entertained  for  the  abilities  of 
his  pupil. 

Soon  after  the  publication  of  the  "  Sun's  Distance,"  Dr. 
Stewart's  health  began  to  decline,  and  the  duties  of  his 
office  became  burdensome  to  him.  In  1772  he  retired  to 
the  country,  where  he  afterwards  spent  the  greater  part  of 
his  life,  and  never  resumed  his  labours  in  the  university. 


412  STEWART. 

He  was,  however,  so  fortunate  as  to  have  a  son  to  whom, 
though  very  young,  he  could  commit  the  care  of  them 
with  the  greatest  confidence.  Mr.  Dugald  Stewart,  hav- 
ing begun  to  give  lectures  for  his  father  from  the  period 
above  mentioned,  was  elected  joint  professor  with  him  in 
1775,  and  gave  an  early  specimen  of  those  abilities  which 
are  now  so  universally  known. 

After  mathematical  studies  (on  account  of  the  bad  state 
of  health  into  which  Dr.  Stewart  was  falling)  had  ceased  to 
be  his  business,  they  continued  to  be  his  amusement. 
The  analogy  between  the  circle  and  hyperbola  had  been 
an  early  object  of  his  admiration.  The  extensive  views 
which  that  analogy  is  continually  opening ;  the  alternate 
appearance  and  disappearance  of  resemblance  in  the  midst 
of  so  much  dissimilitude,  make  it  an  object  that  astonishes 
the  experienced,  as  well  as  the  young  geometrician.  To 
the  consideration  of  this  analogy  therefore  the  mind  of  Dr. 
Stewart  very  naturally  returned,  when  disengaged  from 
other  speculations.  His  usual  success  still  attended  his 
investigations;  and  he  has  left  among  his  papers  some 
curious  approximations  to  the  areas,  both  of  the  circle  and 
hyperbola.  For  some  years  toward  the  end  of  his  life,  his 
health  scarcely  allowed  him  to  prosecute  study  even  as  an 
amusement.  He  died  the  23d  of  January  1735,  at  the  age 
of  sixty-eight. 

The  habits  of  study,  in  a  man  of  original  genius,  are 
objects  of  curiosity,  and  deserve  to  he  remembered.  Con- 
cerning those  of  Dr.  Stewart,  his  writings  have  made  it 
unnecessary  to  remark,  that  from  his  youth  he  had  been 
accustomed  to  the  most  intense  and  continued  application. 
In  consequence  of  this  application,  added  to  the  natural 
Vigour  of  his  mind,  he  retained  the  memory  of  his  disco- 
veries in  a  manner  that  will  hardly  be  believed.  He  sel- 
dom wrote  down  any  of  his  investigations,  till  it  became 
necessary  to  do  so  for  the  purpose  of  publication.  When 
he  discovered  any  proposition,  he  would  set  down  the 
enunciation  with  great  accuracy,  and  on  the  same  piece  of 
paper  would  construct  very  neatly  the  figure  to  which  it 
referred.  To  these  he  trusted  for  recalling  to  his  mind,  at 
any  future  period,  the  demonstration,  or  the  analysis,  how- 
ever complicated  it  might  be.  Experience  had  taught  him 
that  he  might  place  this  confidence  in  himself  without  any 
danger  of  disappointment ;  and  for  this  singular  power  he 
was  probably  more  indebted  to  the  activity  of  his  invention, 
than  to  the  mere  tenaciousness  of  his  memory. 


STEWART.  413 

Though  Dr.  Stewart  was  extremely  studious,  he  read  but 
few  hooks,  and  thus  verified  the  observation  of  D'Alembert, 
that,  of  all  the  men  of  letters,  mathematicians  read  least  of 
the  writings  of  one  another.  Our  author's  own  investiga- 
tions occupied  him  sufficiently;  and  indeed  the  world 
would  have  had  reason  to  regret  the  misapplication  of  his 
talents,  had  he  employed,  in  the  mere  acquisition  of  know- 
ledge, that  time  which  he  could  dedicate  to  works  of  in- 
vention. 

It  was  Dr.  Stewart's  custom  to  spend  the  summer  at  a 
delightful  retreat  in  Ayrshire,  where,  after  the  academical 
labours  of  the  winter  were  ended,  he  found  the  leisure  ne- 
crssary  for  the  prosecution  of  his  researches.  In  his  way 
thither  he  often  made  a  visit  to  Dr.  Simson  of  Glasgow, 
with  whom  he  had  lived  from  his  youth  in  the  most  cordial 
and  uninterrupted  friendship.  Jt  was  pleasing  to  observe, 
in  these  two  excellent  mathematicians,  the  most  perfect 
esteem  and  affection  for  each  other,  and  the  most  entire 
absence  of  jealousy,  though  no  two  men  ever  trod  more 
nearly  in  the  same  path.  The  similitude  of  their  pursuits 
served  only  to  endear  them  to  e^ch  other,  as  it  will  ever  do 
with  men  superior  to  envy.  Their  sentiments  and  views 
of  the  science  they  cultivated,  were  nearly  the  same  ;  they 
were  both  profound  geometricians  ;  they  equally  admired 
the  ancient  mathematicians,  and  were  equally  versed  in 
their  methods  of  investigation  ;  and  they  were  both  appre- 
hensive that  the  beauty  of  their  favourite  science  would  be 
forgotten,  for  the  less  elegant  methods  of  algebraic  com- 
putation. This  innovation  they  endeavoured  to  oppose; 
the  one,  by  reviving  those  books  of  the  ancient  geometry 
which  were  lost;  the  other,  by  extending  that  geometry 
to  the  most  difficult  inquiries  of  the  moderns.  Dr.  Stewart, 
in  particular,  had  remarked  the  intricacies,  in  which  many 
of  the  greatest  of  the  modern  mathematicians  had  involved 
themselves  in  the  application  of  the  calculus,  which  a  little 
attention  to  the  ancient  geometry  would  certainly  have  en- 
abled thfim  to  avoid.  He  had  observed  too  the  elegant 
synthetical  demonstrations  that,  on  many  occasions,  may 
be  given  of  the  most  difficult  propositions,  investigated  by 
the  inverse  method  of  fluxions.  Tiiese  circumstances  had 
perhaps  made  a  stronger  impression  than  they  ought,  on  a 
mind  already  filled  with  admiration  of  the  ancient  geo- 
metry, and  produced  too  unfavourable  an  opinion  of  the 
modern  analysis.  But  if  it  be  confessed  that  Dr.  Stewart 


414  STEWART. 

rated  in  any  respect  too  high,  the  merit  of  the  former  of 
these  sciences,  this  may  well  be  excused  in  the  ir.an  whom 
it  had  conducted  to  the  discovery  of  the  General  Theorems, 
to  the  solution  of  Kepler's  Problem,  and  to  an  accurate  de- 
termination of  the  Sun's  disturbing  force.  His  great  mo- 
desty made  him  ascribe  to  the  nut  hod  he  used  that  success 
which  he  owed  to  his  own  abilities.  ' 

STIFELS,  or  STIFE LIU S  (MICHAEL),  a  protestant  mi- 
nister, and  very  skilful  mathematician,  was  born  at  Eslin- 
gen,  a  town  in  Germany  ;  and  died  at  Jena  in  Thuringia, 
in  I  567,  at  fifty-eight  years  of  age,  according  to  Vossius, 
but  some  others  say  eighty.  Stitels  was  one  of  the  best 
mathematicians  ol  his  time.  He  published,  in  the  German 
language,  a  treatise  on  algebra,  and  another  on  the  Calen- 
dar or  ecclesiastical  computation.  But  his  chief  work  is 
the  "  Arithmetica  Integra,"  a  complete  and  exct  llent  trea- 
tise, in  Latin,  on  Arithmetic  and  Algebra,  printed  in  4to, 
at  Norimberg,  1544.  In  this  work  there  are  a  number  of 
ingenious  inventions,  both  in  common  arithmetic,  and  in 
algebra,  and  many  curious  things,  some  of  which  have 
been  ascribed  to  a  much  later  date,  such  as  the  triangular 
table  for  constructing  progressional  and  figurate  numbers, 
logarithms,  &c.  Stifels  was  a  zealous,  but  weak  uisciple 
of  Luther,  and  took  it  into  his  head  to  become  a  prophet. 
He  predicted  that  the  end  of  the  world  would  happen  on  a 
certain  day  in  1553,  by  which  he  terrified  many  people, 
but  lived  to  see  its  fallacy,  and  to  experience  the  resent- 
ment of  those  whom  he  had  deluded. 2 

STILL  (JOHN),  bishop  of  Bath  and  Wells,  was  born  in 
1543,  and  was  the  son  of  William  Still,  of  Grantham  in 
Lincolnshire.  He  was  admitted  at  Christ's  college,  Cam- 
bridge, where  he  took  the  degree  of  M.  A.  In  1570  he 
was  Margaret  professor  at  Cambridge  ;  in  1571  became  rec- 
tor of  Hadleigh,  in  the  county  of  Suffolk,  and  archdeacon 
of  Sudbury,  and  in  1573  was  collated  to  the  vicarage  of 
Eastmarham,  in  Yorkshire.  He  was  also  elected  master  of 
St.  John's  in  1574,  and  of  Trinity  college  in  1577.  In 
1588  he  was  chosen  prolocutor  of  the  convocation,  by  the 
recommendation  of  dean  Nowell,  and  preached  the  Latin 
sermon.  Two  years  after  the  death  of  bishop  Godwin,  he 
was  appointed  to  the  vacant  see  of  Bath  and  Wells,  in 

1  By  Mr.  Piayfair,  in  vol.  I.  of  the  Edinburgh  Philosophical  Transactions. — 
Button's  Dictionary.  *  Gen.  Diet.— Mutton's  Diet. — Moreri. 


STILL.  415 

> 

which  he  continued  till  his  decease,  which  happened  Feb. 
26,  1607.  Sir  John  Harrington  describes  him  as  a  man 
"  to  whom  he  never  came,  but  he  grew  more  religious  ; 
from  whom  he  never  went,  but  he  parted  better  instructed.'* 
Archbishop  Parker  had  a  hi^h  opinion  of  him,  and  not  only 
gave  him  a  prebend  of  Westminster,  but  recommended 
him  very  strongly  to  be  appointed  dean  of  Norwich,  in 
which,  however,  he  did  not  succeed.  He  had  been  one 
of  his  grace's  chaplains.  The  bishopric  of  Bath  and  Wells 
having  been  in  his  time  enriched  by  some  lead  mines  in 
Mendip  hills,  he  is  said  to  have  left  a  considerable  fortune 
to  his  family,  and  endowed  an  alms-house  in  the  city  of 
Wells. 

The  historians  of  the  drama  are  of  opinion,  that  in  his 
younger  days  he  was  the  author  of  an  old  play  called 
"  Gammer  Gurtun's  Needle,"  1575,  4to.  From  the  books  of 
the  stationers'  company,  it  mi^ht  seem  as  though  it  had 
been  composed  some  years  before  publication.  It  was  re- 
published  among  Dodsley's  Old  Plays,  and  is  frequently 
referred  to  by  the  commentators  on  Shakspeare.  l 

STILL1NGFLEET  (EDWARD),  one  of  the  most  learned 
prelates  of  the  seventeenth  century,  was  the  seventh  son 
of  Samuel  Stillingfleet,  gent,  descended  from  the  ancient 
family  of  the  StillingBeets  of  Stillingfleet,  about  four  miles 
from  York.  His  mother  was  Susanna,  the  daughter  of 
Edward  Norris,  of  Petworth,  in  Sussex,  .gent.  He  was 
born  at  Cranbourne  in  Dorsetshire,  April  17,  1635,  and 
educated  at  the  grammar-school  of  that  place  by  Mr.  Tho- 
mas Garden,  a  man  of  eminence  in  his  profession.  He 
continued  at  this  school  until,  being  intended  for  the  uni- 
versity, he  was  removed  to  Ririgwood  in  Hampshire,  that 
he  might  have  a  chance  for  one  of  Lynne's  exhibitions,  who 
was  the  founder  of  that  school. 

Having  succeeded  in  this,  he  was  entered  in  Michaelmas 
1648,  of  St.  John's  college,  Cambridge,  and  in  the  be- 
ginning of  November  was  admitted  a  scholar  of  the  house, 
on  the  nomination  of  the  earl  of  Salisbury.  It  may  readily 
be  believed  that  his  application  and  progress  in  his  studies 
were  of  no  common  kind,  as  he  was  so  soon  to  give  public 
proofs  of  both.  He  took  his  bachelor's  degree  in  1652, 
and  was  now  so  much  esteemed  by  his  society,  that  at  the 

1  Ath.  Ox.  vol.  I. — Hairinsrton's  Brief  View. — Fuller's  Worthies. — Strype'i 
Parker,  p.  432  [451]  510.— S  rype's  Wliitgift,  p.  70,  76,  282,  399.— Peck's 
Desiderata. — ChurUm'i  Life  of  Nowell. 


416  STfLLINGFLEET. 

very  next  election  he  was  chosen  into  a  fellowship,  and 
admitted  March  31,  lf-53.  While  bachelor,  he  was  ap- 
pointed tripos,  and  was  much  applauded  for  his  speech  on 
that  occasion,  which  was  "  witty  and  inoffensive,"  a  cha- 
racter not  often  given  to  those  compositions. 

About  16  "4  he  left  the  university  to  accept  the  invita- 
tion of  sir  Ro^er  Burgoyne,  who  wished  him  to  reside  with 
him  at  his  seat  at  Wroxhall,  in  Warwickshire  He  had 
been  recommended  by  Dr.  Hainan,  one  of  the  fellows  01  his 
college,  but  in  wtiat  capacity,  whether  as  chaplain  or  com- 
panion, dues  not  appear.  >ir  K<  ger  was  a  man  of  piety 
and  learning,  and  became  afterwards  a  very  kind  friend 
and  patron  to  Mr.  Stillingfleet,  yet  parted  with  him  very 
readily  next  year,  when  he  was  invited  to  Nottingham  to 
be  tutor  to  the  hon.  Francis  Pierrepoint,  e->q.  brother  to  the 
marquis  of  Dorche->ter.  In  1656  he  completed  his  master's 
degree,  and  the  following  year  left  Nottingham,  and  went 
again  to  Wroxfoail,  v\here  his  patron,  sir  Roger  Burgoyne, 
presented  him  to  the  living  of  Simon,  in  Bedfordshire. 
Before  institution  he  received  orders  at  the  hands  of  Dr. 
Brownrig,  the  ejected  bishop  of  Exeter. 

While  at  Nottingham,  as  tutor  to  Mr.  Pierrepoint,  he 
composed  his  first  publication,  and  printed  it  in  1659,  un- 
der the  title  of  "  Irenicum,  a  weapon-salve  for  the  church's 
wounds,  or  the  divine  right  of  particular  forms  of  church- 
government  discussed  and  examined  according  to  the  prin- 
ciples of  the  law  of  nature  ;  the  positive  laws  of  God  ;  the 
practice  of  the  apostles;  and  the  primitive  church  ;  and  the 
judgment  of  reformed  divines,  whereby  a  foundation  is 
laid  for  the  church's  peace,  and  the  accommodation  of  our 
present  differences."  As  this  was  an  attempt  to  promote 
the  return  of  the  non-conformists  to  the  church,  and  con- 
sequently implied  some  concessions  which  were  irrecon- 
cilable with  the  divine  right  of  episcopacy,  for  which  the 
adherents  of  the  church  contended,  and  yet  not  enough  to 
please  either  presbyterians  or  independents,  the  author 
had  not  the  satisfaction  of  meeting  with  full  credit  even  for 
his  intentions ;  and  upon  more  mature  consideration,  he 
himself  thought  his  labour  in  vain,  and  did  not  scruple 
afterwards  to  say  of  his  work,  that  "  there  are  many  things 
in  it,  which,  if  he  were  to  write  again,  he  would  not  say ; 
some,  which  shew  his  youth,  and  want  of  due  considera- 
tion ;  others,  which  he  yielded  too  far,  in  hopes  of  gain- 
ing the  dissenting  parties  to  the  church  of  England."  In 


STiLLINGFLEET.  417 

1662  he  reprinted  this  work;  with  the  addition  of  a  dis- 
course "  concerning  the  power  of  Excommunication  in  a 
Christian  Church  :"  in  which  he  attempts  to  prove,  that 
"  the  church  is  a  distinct  society  from  the  state,  and  has 
divers  rights  and  privileges  of  its  own,  particularly  that  it 
has  a  power  of  censuring  offenders,  resulting  from  its  con- 
stitution as  a  Christian  society  ;  and  that  these  rights  of 
the  church  cannot  be  alienated  to  the  state,  after  their 
being  united,  in  a  Christian  country." 

Whatever  difference  of  opinion  there  was  respecting 
some  of  the  positions  laid  down  in  this  work,  there  was 
one  point  in  which  all  agreed,  that  it  exhibited  a  fund  of 
learning,  and  an  extent  of  reading  and  research  far  beyond 
what  could  have  been  expected  in  a  young  man  of  twenty- 
four  years  of  age,  and  was,  as  we  shall  soon  find,  mistaken 
for  the  production  of  a  man  of  full  years  and  established 
fame. 

At  Sutton,  while  he  performed  all  the  duties  of  a  diligent 
and  faithful  pastor,  he  adhered  closely  to  his  studies,  and 
in  1662,  produced  his  "  Origines  Sacrse ;  or  a  rational  ac- 
count of  the  Christian  Faith,  as  to  the  truth  and  divine  au- 
thority of  the  Scriptures,  and  the  matters  therein  contained,'* 
4to.  The  highest  compliment  paid  him  in  consequence  of 
this  very  learned  work,  was  at  a  visitation,  when  bishop 
Sanderson,  his  diocesan,  hearing  his  name  called  over, 
asked  him  if  he  was  any  relation  to  the  great  Stillingfleet, 
author  of  the  Origines  Sacra)  ?  When  modestly  informed 
that  he  was  the  very  man,  the  bishop  welcomed  him  with 
great  cordiality,  and  said,  that  "  he  expected  rather  to 
have  seen  one  as  considerable  for  his  years  as  he  had  al- 
ready shewn  himself  for  his  learning."  This  work  has 
indeed  been  always  justly  esteemed  one  of  the  ablest  de- 
fences of  revealed  religion  that  had  then  appeared  in  any 
language.  It  was  republished  by  Dr.  Bentley  in  1709, 
with  "  Part  of  another  book  upon  the  same  subject,  writ- 
ten in  1697,  from  the  author's  own  manuscript,"  folio. 
Bishop  Sanderson,  as  a  special  mark  of  his  respect,  granted 
the  author  a  licence  to  preach  throughout  his  diocese ;  and 
Henchman,  bishop  of  London,  conceived  so  high  an  opi- 
nion of  his  talents,  that  he  employed  him  to  write  a  vindi- 
cation of  archbishop  Laud's  conference  with  Fisher,  the 
Jesuit.  Laud's  conference  had  been  attacked  in  a  publi- 
cation entitled  "  Labyrinthus  Cantuariensis,  or,  Dr.  Laud's 
Labyrinth,  by  T.  C."  said  to  have  been  printed  at  Paris, 

VOL.  XXVIII.  E  E 


STILLINGFLEET. 

in  1658,  but  which  did  not  appear  till  1663.  Stillingfleet's 
answer  was  entitled  "  A  rational  account  of  the  grounds  of 
the  Protestant  Religion ;  being  a  vindication  of  the  lord 
archbishop  of  Canterbury's  relation  of  a  conference,"  &c. 
Lond.  1664,  fol.  Such  was  his  readiness  in  composition, 
that  he  is  reported  to  have  sent  to  the  press  six  or  seven 
sheets  a  week  of  this  volume,  which  Dr.  Tillotson  said  he 
"  found  in  every  part  answerable  to  its  title,  a  rational  ac- 
count." 

The  country  was  now  no  longer  thought  a  proper  field 
for  the  exertions  of  one  who  had  already  shown  himself  so 
able  a  champion  for  his  church  and  nation.  His  first  ad- 
vance to  London  was  in  consequence  of  his  being  appointed 
preacher  to  the  Rolls  chapel,  by  sir  Harbottle  Grimston  ; 
and  in  Jan.  1665  he  was  presented  by  Thomas,  earl  of 
Southampton,  to  the  living  of  St.  Andrew's,  Holborn. 
With  this  he  kept  his  preachership  at  the  Rolls,  and  was 
at  the  same  time  afternoon  lecturer  at  the  Temple  church, 
which  procured  him  the  esteem  and  friendship  of  many 
eminent  men  in  the  law,  particularly  sir  Matthew  Hale, 
and  lord  chief  justice  Vaughan.  Nor  were  his  discourses 
less  adapted  to  the  common  understanding.  The  eminent 
non-conformist,  Matthew  Henry,  was  often  his  auditor  and 
admirer. 

In  February  1667,  he  was  collated  by  bishop  Henchman 
to  the  prebend  of  Islington,  in  the  church  of  St.  Paul's. 
Having  in  1663  taken  his  degree  of  B.  D.  he  commenced 
D.  D.  in  1668,  at  which  time  he  kept  the  public  act  with 
great  applause.  He  was  also  king's  chaplain  *,  and  in 
1670  his  majesty  bestowed  on  him  the  place  of  canon  re- 
sidentiary of  St.  Paul's.  In  Oct.  1672  he  exchanged  his 
prebend  of  Islington  for  that  of  Newington,  in  the  same 
church.  These  preferments  were  succeeded,  in  1677,  by 

#  While  chaplain  to  the  king,  Charles  heightened  in  the  relation,  the  king  was 

II.  his  majesty  asked  him,  "  How  it  very   well   contented.      "  But  pray," 

came  about,  that  he  always  read  his  says  StiHingfieet,  "  will  your  majesty 

sermons  before  him,  when,  he  was  in-  give  me  leave  to  ask  you  a  question 

formed,  he    always  preached    without  too  ?     Why  you  read  your  speeches, 

book  elsewhere  ?"     He  told  the  king,  when  you  can  have  none  of  the  same 

that  "  the  awe  of  so  noble  an  audience,  reasons?"    "  Why  truly,  doctor,"  says 

where  he  saw  nothing  that  was   not  the  king,  "your  question  is  a  very 

greatly  superior  to  him ;  but  chiefly,  pertinent  one,  and  so  will  be  my  an- 

the  seeing  before  him  so  great  and  wise  swer.     I  have  asked  them  so  often  and 

a  prince,  made   him   afraid   to   trust  for  so  much  money,  that  I  am  ashamed 

himself."    With  this   answer,    which,  to  look  them  in  the  face."     Richard- 

bowever,  became  the   courtier  rather  soniana,  p.  89. 
than  the  divine,  and  we  trust  has  been 


STILLINGFLEET.  419 

the  archdeaconry  of  London,  and  in  Jan.  1678,  by  the 
deanry  of  St.  Paul's. 

To  all  these  he  had  recommended  himself  by  the  ability 
with  which  he  carried  on  controversies  with  various  enemies 
to  the  established  religion.  In  1669  he  had  published 
some  sermons,  one  of  which,  "  on  the  reason  of  Christ's 
suffering  for  us,"  involved  him  in  a  controversy  with  the 
Socinians,  and  he  was  engaged  soon  after  in  other  contro- 
versies with  the  popish  writers,  with  the  deists,  and  with 
the  separatists.  It  would  be  unnecessary  to  give  the  titles 
of  the  pamphlets  he  wrote  against  all  these  parties,  as  they 
are  no\v  to  be  found  in  the  edition  of  his  collected  works. 
Successful  as  he  was  against  these  opponents,  and  few 
writers  in  his  time  were  more  so,  he  was  not  a  lover  of  con- 
troversy, and  seldom  could  be  prevailed  upon  to  engage 
in  it,  but  in  consequence  of  such  provocation  as  he  thought 
it  would  have  been  a  desertion  of  his  post,  if  he  had  ne- 
glected to  notice. 

About  1679  Dr.  Stillingfleet  turned  his  thoughts  to  a 
subject  apparently  foreign  to  his  usual  pursuits,  but  in 
which  he  displayed  equal  ability.  This  was  the  question 
as  to  the  right  of  bishops  to  vote  in  capital  cases,  and  was 
occasioned  by  the  prosecution  of  Thomas  Osborne,  earl  of 
Danby.  Among  others  who  contested  that  right,  was  Den- 
zil  lord  Holies,  who  published  "  A  Letter  shewing  that 
bishops  are  not  to  be  judges  in  parliament  in  cases  ca- 
pital," 1679,  4to.  In  answer  to  this,  Dr.  Stillingfleet  pub- 
lished "The  grand  question  concerning  the  bishop's  right 
to  vote  in  parliament  in  cases  capital,  stated  and  argued 
from  the  parliament  rolls  and  the  history  of  former  times, 
with  an  inquiry  into  their  peerage,  and  the  three  estates 
in  parliament."  Bishop  Burnet  observes  that  in  this  Stil- 
lingfleet gave  a  proof  of  his  being  able  to  make  himself 
master  of  any  argument  which  he  undertook,  and  disco-i 
vered  more  skill  and  exactness  in  judging  this  matter  than 
all  who  had  gone  before  him.  Burnet  adds  that  in  the 
opinion  of  all  impartial  men  he  put  an  end  to  the  con- 
troversy. 

In  1685,  he  published  his  "  Origines  Britannicse,"  or 
the  antiquities  of  British  Churches,  a  work  of  great  learn- 
ing, and  in  which  he  displayed  a  knowledge  of  antiquities, 
both  civil  and  ecclesiastical,  which  would  almost  induce 
the  reader  to  think  they  had  been  the  study  of  his  whole 
life.  Just  before  the  revolution,  he  was  summoned  to  ap- 

E  E   2 


420  STILLINGFLEET. 

pear  before  king  James's  ecclesiastical  commission,  but  had 
the  courage,  in  that  critical  time,  to  draw  up  a  discourse 
on  the  illegality  of  that  commission,  which  was  published 
in  1689. 

Besides  his  other  preferments,  Dr.  Stillingfleet  was  ca- 
non of  the  twelfth  stall  in  the  church  of  Canterbury,  and 
prolocutor  of  the  lower  house  of  convocation  for  many  y  ears, 
in  the  reigns  of  Charles  II.  and  James  11.  At  the  revolu- 
tion he  was  advanced  to  the  bishopric  of  Worcester,  and 
consecrated  Oct. -13,  1689,  and  in  this  station  conducted 
himself  in  a  very  exemplary  manner,  and  delivered  some 
excellent  charges  to  his  clergy,  which  were  afterwards 
published  among  his  "Ecclesiastical  Cases."  In  the  House 
of  Lords  he  is  said  to  have  appeared  to  much  advantage  ;  but 
two  only  of  his  speeches  are  upon  record,  one  on  the  case 
of  visitation  of  colleges,  occasioned  by  a  dispute  between 
Dr.  Trelawney,  bishop  of  Exeter,  as  visitor  of  Exeter  col- 
lege, and  Dr.  Bury,  the  rector  of  that  college;  and  the 
other  on  the  case  of  cornmendams. 

Soon  after  his  promotion  to  the  see  of  Worcester,  he  was 
appointed  one  of  the  commissioners  for  reviewing  the 
liturgy,  and  his  opinion  was  highly  valued  by  his  brethren. 
The  last  controversy  in  which  he  had  any  concern,  was 
with  the  celebrated  Locke,  who,  having  laid  down  some 
principles  in  his  "  Essay  on  Human  Understanding,"  which 
seemed  to  the  bishop  to  strike  at  the  mysteries  of  revealed 
religion,  fell  on  that  account  under  his  lordship's  cognizance. 
Although  Dr.  Stillingfleet  had  always  had  the  reputation  of 
coming  off  with  triumph  in  all  his  controversies,  in  this  he 
was  supposed  to  be  not  successful ;  and  some  have  gone 
so  far  as  to  conjecture,  that  being  pressed  with  clearer  and 
closer  reasoning  by  Locke,  than  he  had  been  accustomed 
to  from  his  other  adversaries,  it  created  in  him  a  chagrin 
which  shortened  his  life.  There  is,  however,  no  occasion 
for  a  supposition  so  extravagant.  He  had  been  subject  to 
the  gout  near  twenty  years,  and  it  having  fixed  in  his 
stomach,  proved  fatal  to  him.  He  died  at  his  house  in 
Park-street,  Westminster,  March  27,  1699.  His  biogra- 
pher describes  his  person  as  tall,  graceful,  and  well-pro- 
portioned ;  his  countenance  comely,  fresh,  and  awful. 
"  His  apprehension  was  quick  and  sagacious,  his  judgment 
exact  and  profound,  and  his  memory  very  tenacious  :  so 
that,  considering  how  intensely  he  studied,  and  how  he 
read  every  thing,  it  is  easy  to  imagine  him,  what  he  really 


STILLINGFLEET.  421 

was,  one  of  the  most  universal  scholars  that  ever  lived." 
His  body  was  carried  for  interment  to  Worcester  cathedral, 
after  which  an  elegant  monument  was  erected  over  him, 
with  an  inscription  written  by  Dr.  Bentley,  who  had  been 
his  chaplain.  This  gives  a  noble  and  yet  just  idea  of  the 
man,  and  affords  good  authority  for  many  particulars  re- 
corded of  his  life. 

His  writings  were  all  collected,  and  reprinted  in  1710, 
in  6  vols.  folio.  The  first  contains,  1.  "Fifty  Sermons, 
preached  on  several  occasions,"  with  the  author's  life.  The 
second,  2.  "  Origines  Sacrte "  3  "Letter  to  a  Deist," 
written,  as  he  tells  us  in  the  preface,  for  the  satisfaction 
of  a  particular  person,  who  owned  the  Being  and  Provi- 
dence of  God,  but  expressed  a  mean  esteem  of  the  scrip- 
tures and  the  Christian  religion.  4.  "  Irenicum  :  the  Un- 
reasonableness of  Separation,  or  an  impartial  account  of 
the  history,  nature,  and  pleas  of  the  present  Separation 
from  the  Communion  of  the  Church  of  England."  The 
third  volume  contains,  5.  "  Origines  Britannicoe,  or  the 
Antiquities  of  the  British  Churches  ;"  6.  "  Two  Discourses 
concerning  the  Doctrine  of  Christ's  Satisfaction,  against 
the  Socinians."  7.  "  Vindication  of  the  Doctrine  of  the 
Trinity,"  in  which  he  animadverts  upon  some  passages  in 
Mr.  Locke's  Essay.  8.  "  Answers  to  two  Letters,"  pub- 
lished by  Mr.  Locke.  9.  "  Ecclesiastical  cases  relating  to 
the  duties  and  rights  of  the  Parochial  Clergy,"  a  charge. 
10.  "  Concerning  Bonds  of  resignation  of  Benefices."  11. 
"  The  Foundation  of  Ecclesiastical  jurisdiction,  and  as  it 
regards  the  legal  supremacy."  12.  "  The  grand  question 
concerning  the  Bishops'  right  to  vote  in  Parliament  in 
cases  capital."  13.  "  Two  speeches  in  Parliament."  14. 
"  Of  the  true  Antiquity  of  London."  15.  "  Concerning 
the  Unreasonableness  of  a  new  Separation,  on  account  of 
the  oaths  to  King  William  and  Queen  Mary."  16.  "A 
Vindication  of  their  Majesties  authorities  to  fill  the  sees  of 
deprived  Bishops."  17.  "  An  Answer  to  the  Paper  de- 
livered by  Mr.  Ashton,  at  his  execution,  to  sir  Francis 
Child,  Sheriff  of  London,  with  the  Paper  itself."  The 
fourth,  fifth,  and  sixth  volumes  contain,  18.  Pieces  writ- 
ten against  the  Church  of  Rome,  in  controversy  with 
Cressy,  Sargeant,  and  other  Popish  advocates. 

'*  When  1  was  a  young  man,"  says  the  present  venera- 
ble bishop  of  Llandaff,  "  I  had  formed  a  mean  opinion  of 
the  reasoniog  faculties  of  bishop  Stillingfleet,  from  read- 


422  S  T  I  L  L  I  N  G  F  L  E  E  T. 

ing  Mr.  Locke's  Letter  and  two  replies  to  him  ;  but  a  bet- 
ter acquaintance  with  the  bishop's  works  has  convinced  me 
that  my  opinion  was  ill-founded.  Though  no  match  for  Mr. 
Locke  in  strength  and  acuteness  of  argument,  yet  his 
'  Origines  Sacrae,'  and  other  works,  show  him  to  have  been 
not  merely  a  searcher  into  ecclesiastical  antiquities,  but  a 
sound  divine  and  a  good  reasoner."  This  confession  from 
one,  perhaps  a  little  more  latitudinarian  than  our  author 
in  some  important  points,  has  probably  contributed  to  re- 
vive an  attention  to  Stillingfleet's  works,  which  have  ac- 
cordingly risen  very  highly  in  value.  Indeed  if  we  con- 
sider the  variety  of  subjects  on  which  he  wrote,  and  wrote 
with  acknowledged  skill  and  with  elegance  of  style,  and 
the  early  fame  he  acquired  and  uniformly  preserved,  it  will 
not  be  thought  too  much  to  rank  him  in  the  first  class  of 
learned  men  of  the  seventeenth  century.  While  he  was 
rector  of  Sutton,  he  married  a  daughter  of  William  Do- 
byns,  a  Gloucestershire  gentleman,  who  lived  not  long 
with  him  ;  yet  had  two  daughters  who  died  in  their  infancy, 
and  one  son,  Dr.  Edward  Stillingfleet,  afterwards  rector 
of  Wood-Norton  in  Norfolk.  Then  he  married  a  daughter 
of  sir  Nicholas  Pedley  of  Huntingdon,  Serjeant  at  law, 
who  lived  with  him  almost  all  his  life,  and  brought  him 
seven  children,  of  whom  two  only  survived  him;  James 
rector  of  Hartlebury  and  canon  of  Windsor,  and  Anne, 
married  afterwards  to  Humphrey  Ty she,  of  Gray's- Inn, 
esq.  His  grandson  is  the  subject  of  the  next  article.1 

STILLINGFLEET  (BENJAMIN),  grandson  to  the  pre- 
ceding, and  an  eminent  naturalist  and  poet,  was  the  son  of 
Edward  Stillingfleet,  who  was  first  a  physician,  but  after- 
wards entered  'into  holy  orders.  He  died  in  1708.  Hia 
only  son,  Benjamin,  was  born  in  1702,  and  educated  at 
Norwich  school,  where  he  made  a  considerable  proficiency 
in  classical  literature.  In  1720  he  entered  as  a  subsizar  at 
Trinity-college,  Cambridge,  where,  while  he  improved  his 
classical  knowledge,  he  attached  himself  with  success  to 
mathematical  studies.  On  May  3,  1723,  he  was  admitted 
a  scholar,  and  the  same  year  took  the  degree  of  B.  A. 
Soon  after  this  he  left  the  university,  and  in  1724  lived  in 
the  family  of  Ashe  Windham,  esq.  of  Felbrig,  as  preceptor 
to  William,  his  only  son,  then  about  seven  years  old.  In 

*  Life  by  Dr.  Timothy  Goodwin,  1710,  8vo. —  Biog.  Brit,  written  by  Mr. 
Morant. — Luruet'z  Own  Times.— -Birch's  Tillotsou.— Leland's  Deistical  writers. 


STILLINGFLEET.  423 

the  beginning  of  1726,  he  returned  to  Cambridge,  in 
hopes  of  succeeding  to  a  fellowship,  there  being  then  four 
vacancies.  But  in  this  he  was  disappointed,  "  by  the  in- 
fluence, it  is  said,  of  Dr.  Bentley,  who  has  been  accused 
of  repaying  with  this  instance  of  ingratitude  the  obligations 
he  had  received  from  the  father  of  the  unprotected  candi- 
date." Although  we  are  unwilling  to  credit  so  serious  a 
charge,  it  appears  that  Mr.  Stillingfleet  considered  it  as 
just,  and  "  seldom  afterwards  omitted  an  opportunity  of 
testifying  his  resentment  against  Bentley,"  a  circumstance 
which  we  are  sorry  to  hear,  even  if  the  charge  had  been 
proved. 

After  this  failure,  he  attached  himself  wholly  to  his  pa- 
tron Mr.  Wind  ham,  and  at  the  mansion  of  Felbrig  passed 
the  next  fourteen  years  of  his  life,  "beloved  and  respected 
by  all  who  visited  or  were  connected  with  the  family." 
While  he  was  "  employed  in  the  grateful  task  of  instruct- 
ing a  youth  of  superior  talents  and  amiable  disposition," 
he  was  insensibly  Jed  into  a  tender  attachment,  in  which  he 
was  not  successful.  The  lady  was  a  Miss  Anne  B;  nes : 
who,  with  the  inexperience  of  youth,  and  the  thoughtless 
gaiety  of  a  volatile  temper,  encouraged  his  addresses ;  and 
he  passed  several  years  in  her  society,  in  the  ardent  hope 
that  a  favourable  change  in  his  circumstances  at  no  distant 
period  would  unite  him  with  the  object  of  his  first  and  last- 
ing passion.  But  after  ten  years,  the  prudence  or  the  lady 
outweighed  her  affection.  As  she  was  herself  without  for- 
tune, and  Mr.  Stillingfleet  without  any  means  of  establish- 
ing himself  in  life,  she  listened  to  an  advantageous  offer, 
and  soon  afterwards  espoused  a  richer  and  more  fortunate 
rival. 

It  appears  that  this  disappointment  made  a  deep  im- 
pression ;  and  his  biographer  has  given  us  some  lines 
against  woman,  which,  as  he  justly  observes,  shew  how 
anguish  and  disappointment  could  change  the  sentiments 
of  a  man  so  mild  and  amiable,  so  fond  of  domestic  life,  and 
so  respectfully  attached  to  the  fair  sex.  The  lines  (for 
which  we  refer  the  reader  to  the  edition  of  his  works  lately 
published)  are  certainly  severe ;  but  allowance  must  be 
made  for  the  immediate  provocation. 

Soon  after  this  disappointment,,  in  1737,  he  accom- 
panied his  pupil,  Mr.  \Vitulham,  to  the  Continent.  The 
events  of  this  tour,  and  the  connexions  to  which  it  gave 
rise,  fixed  the  future  course,  and  formed  the  happiness  of 


424  STILLINGFLEET. 

his  life.  Mr.  Coxe's  account  of  it  is  highly  amusing,  and 
introduces  us  to  the  acquaintance  of  many  persons,  now, 
or  lately,  distinguished  in  the  political  or  literary  world. 
One  of  the  results  of  this  tour  was,  "  A  Letter  from  an 
English  Gentleman  to  Mr.  Arlaud,  a  celebrated  painter  at 
Geneva,  giving  an  account  of  the  Glacieres,  or  Ice  Alps 
of  Savoy,  \\ritten  in  the  year  1741."  This  was  written 
chiefly  by  Mr.  Windham  and  Mr.  Price  (of  Foxley  in 
Herefordshire),  with  the  assistance  of  Mr.  Siillingfieet,  and 
illustrated  with  the  drawings  of  Mr.  Price.  They  are  said 
to  have  been  the  first  travellers  who  penetrated  into  these 
Alpine  recesses.  In  1743  Mr.  Stillingfleet  returned  with 
his  pupil  to  England.  His  pupil's  father  gave  Mr.  Stilling- 
fleet an  annuity  of  100/.  which  for  some  time  was  his  prin- 
cipal support.  He  now  resided  partly  in  London  and 
partly  with  some  friends  in  the  country;  and  his  leisure 
hours  were  dedicated  to  literary  pursuits,  some  of  which 
Mr.  Coxe  has  specified,  particularly  an  edition  of  Milton, 
illustrated  by  notes,  in  which  he  had  made  considerable 
progress  when  the  appearance  of  Dr.  Newton's  proposals 
induced  him  to  relinquish  his  design.  His  M8S.  however, 
which  were  in  the  possession  of  the  late  bishop  Dampier, 
were  obligingly  lent  to  Mr.  Todd,  for  his  excellent  edition 
of  our  great  epic  poet.  About  this  time  Mr.  Stillingfleet 
composed  some  of  his  poems,  particularly  those  on  "  Con- 
versation," and  "  Earthquakes." 

In  1746  Mr.  Stillingfleet  took  up  his  residence  at  Foxley, 
the  seat  of  the  above-mentioned  Mr.  Price,  or  rather  in  a 
neighbouring  cottage,  where  he  was  master  of  his  time  and 
pursuits;  and  passed  his  leisure  hours  with  the  family. 
An  indifferent  state  of  health  first  led  him  to  the  pursuit  of 
Natural  History,  which  forms  his  principal  distinction  as 
an  author ;  and  he  soon  became  one  of  the  first  defenders 
and  earliest  propagators  of  the  Linnsean  system  in  England. 
This  zeal  produced,  in  1759,  his  "  Miscellaneous  Tracts 
in  Natural  History,"  with  a  Preface,  which  contains  a 
spirited  eulogium  of  the  study  of  nature,  and  a  just  tribute 
of  applause  to  the  talents  and  discoveries  of  the  great 
Swede.  The  publication  of  this  miscellany  may  be  con- 
sidered as  the  sera  of  the  establishment  of  Linnaean  Botany 
in  England.  His  biographer  has  also  published  the  Jour- 
nal of  Mr.  Stillirigfleet's  excursion  into  part  of  North  Wales, 
which  is  illustrative  of  his  character  and  observations,  and 
is  curious  as  one  of  the  first  of  those  local  tours  which  are 
since  become  so  fashionable. 


S  T  I  L  L  I  N  G  F  L  E  E  T.  425 

In  1760,  Mr.  Stillingfleet  received  an  addition  to  his  in- 
come by  obtaining  the  place  of  barrack -master  at  Kensing- 
ton, through  the  interest  of  his  friend  Mr.  Price,  brother- 
in-law  to  lord  Harrington,  then  secretary  at  war.  But  in 
1761  he  had  the  misfortune  to  lose,  by  death,  his  friend 
Mr.  Price,  and  also  his  pupil  Mr.  Windham.  The  latter 
left  him  guardian  to  his  only  son,  the  late  much  lamented 
statesman  William  Windham,  esq.  His  feelings  were  not 
u  little  tried  also,  about  this  time,  by  the  death  of  his 
sisters  and  their  husbands,  whose  history,  as  well  as  that 
of  Messrs.  Price,  Windham,  and  Williamson,  form  a  very 
interesting  part  of  Mr.  Coxe's  memoirs.  That  of  his  ne- 
phew, capt.  Locker,  is  particularly  so,  as  he  was  one  of 
those  who  contributed  to  form  the  wonderful  mind  of  our 
gallant  hero,  lord  Nelson. 

After  the  publication  of  the  second  edition  of  his  "  Mis- 
cellaneous Tracts,"  in  1762,  Mr.  Stillingfleet  embarked  on 
a  scheme  which  was  likely  to  employ  the  remainder  of  his 
life.  This  was  a  "  General  History  of  Husbandry,"  from 
the  earliest  ages  of  the  world  to  his  own  times.  Of  this 
work  he  left  six  volumes  of  MS  collections,  of  which  Mr. 
Coxe  has  given  such  an  analysis  as  displays  the  author's 
plan,  and  excites  regret  that  a  man  of  so  much  research 
and  powers  of  thinking  did  not  complete  his  intended 
work. 

Among  other  pursuits  Mr.  Stillingfleet  cultivated  and 
understood  music,  both  practically  and  theoretically  ;  and 
this  produced  his  "  Treatise  on  the  Principles  and  Power 
of  Harmony,"  on  which,  says  his  biographer,  he  seems  to 
have  bestowed  unusual  labour.  It  is,  in  fact,  an  analysis 
or  abridgment  of  Tartini's  "  Trattato  di  Musica,"  with 
such  an  addition  of  new  matter,  that  it  may  justly  be 
deemed  the  joint  production  of  Tartini  and  Stillingfleet; 
and,  in  executing  this,  Mr.  Stillingfleet  seems  to  have  ac- 
complished the  wish  of  D'Alembert,  namely,  "  that  Tar- 
tini would  engage  some  man  of  letters  equally  practised  in 
music  and  skilled  in  writing,  to  develope  those  ideas  which 
he  himself  has  not  unfolded  with  sufficient  perspicuity." 

This  was  the  last  of  Mr.  Stillingfleet' s  publications;  for 
he  died,  at  his  lodgings  in  Piccadilly  opposite  Burlington- 
house,  Dec.  15,  1771  (the  year  this  last-me.itioned  work 
was  published),  aged  sixty-nine.  He  was  interred  in  St. 
James's  church,  where  his  great  nephew  Edward  Hawke 
Locker,  esq.  third  son  of  captain  Locker,  has  recently 
erected  a  monument  to  his  memory. 


426  STILLINGFLEET. 

The  merit  most  generally  attributed  to  Mr.  Stillingfleet 
is  the  service  which  he  has  rendered  to  our  Natural  History 
and  Agriculture.     In  the  present  age  it  may  not  be  deemed 
a  merit  in  a  gentleman,  who  is  at  the  same  time  a  man  of 
letters,  to  encourage  such  pursuits  by  precept  and  exam- 
ple;  as  we  have  numerous  instances  of  men   of  the  first 
rank  and  abilities,  who  have  dedicated  their  time  and  la- 
bours to  the  promotion  of  this  branch  of  useful  knowledge. 
But,  in  the  time  of  Mr.  Stillingfleet,  the  case  was  far  dif- 
ferent; for  few  men  of  respectable  rank  in  society  were 
farmers  ;  and  still  fewer,  if  any,  gave  the  result  of  their 
experience  and  observations  to  the  public.     On  the  con- 
trary, there  seems  to  have  existed  among  the  higher  classes 
a   strong   prejudice    against   agricultural   pursuits;   which 
Mr.  Stillingfleet  took   some  pains  to  combat,  and  which, 
indeed,  his  example,  as  well  as  his  precepts,  greatly  con- 
tributed to  overcome.     As  a  poet,  Mr.  Stillingfleet  is  less 
known,  because  few  of  his  compositions  were  ever  given  to 
the  public,  and  those  were  short,  and  confined  to  local  or 
temporary  subjects.     The  "  Essay  on  Conversation  ;"  the 
"  Poem  on  Earthquakes ;"  the   dramas  and   sonnets;  will 
certainly  entitle  him  to  a  place  on  the  British  Parnassus  ; 
but,  when  we  consider  his  refined  and  classical  taste,  his 
command  of  language,  his  rich  and  varied  knowledge,  and 
the  flights  of  imagination  which  frequently  escape  from  his 
rapid  pen,  we  can  have  no  hesitation  in  asserting,  that  if, 
instead  of  the  haste  in  which  he  apparently  prided  himself, 
he  had  employed  more  patience  and  more  assiduous  cor- 
rection, he  would  have  attained   no  inconsiderable  rank 
among  our  native  poets.     Independently  of  his  merits  as  a 
naturalist  and   a  poet,  he   possessed    great   versatility   of 
genius  and  multifarious  knowledge.     His  intimate  acquaint- 
ance with  the  higher  branches  of  the  mathematics,  and  his 
skill  in  applying  them  to  practice,  are  evident  from  his 
treatise  on  the  principles  and  powers  of  harmony  :  and  all 
his  works,  both  printed   and  manuscript,  display  various 
and  undoubted  proofs  of  an  extensive  knowledge  of  modern 
languages,  both  ancient  and  modern,  and  a  just  and  refined 
taste,  formed  on  the  best  models  of  classic  literature.1 

STILPO,  a  celebrated  Greek  philosopher  of  Megara, 
who  flourished  about  306  B.  C.  was  so  eloquent,  and  in- 

1  "  Literary  Life  and  Select  Works  of  Benjamin  Stillingfleet."    By  the  rev. 
William  Coxe,  rector  of  Bemerton,  &c,  1811,  3  vgls.  8vo. 


S  T  I  L  P  O.  427 

sinuated  himself  so  easily  into  the  favour  of  his  auditors, 
that  all  the  young  philosophers  quitted  their  masters  to  hear 
him.  It  is  said,  that  Stilpo,  having  reproached  the  cour- 
tezan Glycera  with  corrupting  youth,  she  replied,  "  What 
does  it  signify  whether  they  are  corrupted  by  a  courtezan 
or  by  a  sophist  !"  which  answer  induced  Stilpo  to  reform 
the  school  of  Megara,  banishing  from  it  all  sophisms,  use- 
less subtilties,  general  propositions,  captious  arguments, 
and  that  parade  of  senseless  words,  which  had  so  long  de- 
based the  schools.  When  Demetrius,  son  of  Antigonus, 
took  Megara,  he  forbade  any  one  to  touch  our  philosopher's 
house,  and  if  any  thing  was  taken  from  him  in  the  hurry 
of  plunder,  to  restore  it,  When  Demetrius  asked  him  if 
he  lost  any  thing  by  the  capture  of  the  city,  "  No,"  re- 
plied Stilpo,  "  for  war  can  neither  rob  us  of  virtue,  learn- 
ing, nor  eloqaence."  He  at  the  same  time  gave  that  prince 
some  instructions  in  writing,  calculated  to  inspire  him  with 
humanity,  and  a  noble  zeal  for  doing  good  to  mankind, 
with  which  Demetrius  was  so  affected  that  he  ever  after 
followed  his  advice.  Stilpo  is  said  to  have  entertained 
very  equivocal  notions  respecting  the  deity;  but  he  was 
nevertheless  considered  as  one  of  the  chiefs  of  the  Stoic 
sect.  Several  Grecian  republics  had  recourse  to  his  wis- 
dom, and  submitted  to  his  decisions.  Cicero  observes, 
that  this  philosopher  was  naturally  inclined  to  drunkenness 
and  debauchery,  but  had  so  entirely  conquered  those  pro- 
pensities by  reason  and  philosophy,  that  no  one  ever  saw 
him  intoxicated,  nor  perceived  in  him  the  least  vestige  of 
intemperance. } 

STOB^EUS  (JOHN),  an  ancient  Greek  writer,  lived  in 
the  fifth  century,  as  is  generally  supposed.  What  remains 
of  him  is  a  collection  of  extracts  from  ancient  poets  and 
philosophers,  which  has  not  come  down  to  us  entire;  and 
even  what  we  have  of  it  appears  to  be  intermixed  with  the 
additions  of  those  who  lived  after  him.  These  extracts, 
though  they  give  us  no  greater  idea  of  Stobaeus  than  that 
of  a  common-place  transcriber,  present  us  with  many  things 
which  are  to  be  found  no  where  else ;  and  therefore  have 
always  been  highly  valued  by  the  learned.  It  appears  be- 
yond dispute,  in  Fabricius's  opinion,  that  Stobaeus  was 
not  a  Christian,  because  he  never  meddled  with  Christian 
writers,  nor  made  the  least  use  of  them  in  any  of  his  col- 

1  Diogenes  Laertius.— G«n.  Dict.»-Biucker. 


42S  S  T  O  fc  JE  U  S. 

lections.  The  "  Excerpta  of  Stobseus,"  were  first  pub- 
lished in  Greek  at  Venice  in  1536,  4to,  and  dedicated  to 
Bembus,  who  was  the  curator  of  St.  Mark's  library  there, 
and  furnished  the  manuscript.  They  were  republished 
since  by  Canter,  1609,  folio,  under  the  title  of  "  Senten- 
tiae,"  under  that  of  "  Eclogae,"  by  Heern,  1792,  4  vols. 
8vo.  Grotius  published  an  excellent  edition  of  the  "  Dicta 
Poetarum,"  at  Paris  in  1623,  4to.v 

STOCK  (CHRISTIAN),  a  celebrated  scholar  and  Orien- 
talist, was  born  at  Camburg,  in  1672,  became  a  professor 
at  Jena  in  1717,  and  died  in  1733,  with  a  rery  high  repu- 
tation, particularly  for  Oriental  literature.  The  chief  of 
bis  works  are,  1.  "  Disputationes  de  poenis  Hebrosorum  ca- 
pitalibus."  2.  "  Clavis  Linguae  Sanctae  Veteris  Testamen- 
tis."  3.  "  Clavis  Linguce  Sanctee  Novi  Testament!."  These 
two  last,  which  are  a  Hebrew  and  a  Greek  lexicon,  for  the 
words  contained  in  the  sacred  writings,  have  been  much  ap- 
proved, have  gone  through  several  editions,  and  received 
improvements  and  additions. a 

STOCK  (RICHARD),  an  eminent  puritan  divine,  was 
born  in  the  city  of  York,  and  educated  in  St.  John's- col- 
lege, Cambridge,  where,  on  account  of  his  great  progress 
in  learning,  he  acquired  the  friendship  of  the  celebrated 
Dr.  Whitaker.  He  took  his  degrees  in  arts  here,  and  in 
1595  was  incorporated  M.  A.  at  Oxford.  Leaving  the  uni- 
versity, he  became  domestic  chaplain  first  to  sir  Anthony 
Cope  of  Ashby  in  Northamptonshire,  and  then  to  lady 
Lane  of  Bourton-on-the-water  in  Gloucestershire.  Soon 
after  he  came  to  London,  he  officiated  as  assistant  to  the 
vicar  of  All-hallows,  Breadstreet,  for  sixteen  years,  and  in 
1610  succeeded  him  in  that  living.  His  preaching  was 
much  admired,  and  his  conduct  answering  to  his  profession 
procured  him  an  extraordinary  degree  of  esteem  and  re- 
verence. He  died  April  20,  1626,  and  was  buried  in  All- 
hallows-church,  where  a  monument  was  erected  to  his  me- 
mory, but  was  destroyed  at  the  great  fire  in  1666.  His 
works  are,  1.  "Doctrine  and  use  of  Repentance,"  Lond. 
1610,  8vo.  2.  "  Sermon  at  the  funeral  of  John  lord  Har- 
rington," &c.  1614,  8vo.  3.  "Stock  of  Divine  Know- 
ledge," ibid.  1641,  4to.  4.  "Truth's  Champion,"  &c. 
5.  "  Commentary  on  the  prophecy  of  Malachi,"  edited  by 
Torshell,  folio,  164 1.3 

1  Fabric.  Bibl.  Grace. — Moreri. — Burigny's  Life  of  Grotius. 

*  Diet.  Hist. — Saxii  Onomast. 

»  Clark'i  Lives,— Fuller'*  Worthiei.— Ath.  Ox.  Tol.  I. 


S  T  O  C  K  D  A  L  E.  429 

STOCKDALE  (PERCIVAL),  a  miscellaneous  writer  of 
some  learning,  was  born  Oct.  26,  1736,  in  the  village  of 
Branxton,  of  which  parish  his  father,  the  Rev.  Thomas 
Stockdale,  was  vicar,  and  also  perpetual  curate  of  Cornhill 
near  the  Tweed.  He  was  educated  for  six  years  at  the 
grammar-school  of  Alnwick,  and  afterwards  at  that  of 
Berwick,  where  he  studied  the  Greek  and  Latin  classics, 
and  acquired  some  taste,  which  it  was  his  misfortune  after- 
wards to  consider  as  equivalent  to  a  great  genius  for  poetry. 
The  world  and  he  however  were  never  agreed  as  to  the 
merit  of  his  poetical  efforts;  and  this  proved  a  constant 
subject  for  chagrin.  He  left  school  in  his  eighteenth  year, 
and  resided  for  some  time  with  his  father  at  Cornhill.  He 
was  then  sent  to  the  university  of  St.  Andrews,  but  the 
year  after,  1755,  was  recalled  home,  in  consequence  of  the 
death  of  his  father.  Returning  to  St.  Andrews,  he  pursued 
his  studies  for  some  time,  until  a  friend  procured  him  a  se- 
cond-lieutenancy in  the  army,  in  which  he  served  at  Gib- 
raltar, and  in  the  memorable  expedition  commanded  by 
admirals  Byng  and  West,  for  the  relief  of  the  besieged  gar- 
rison of  St.  Philip,  in  the  island  of  Minorca.  In  1756,  he 
returned  to  England,  and  about  a  year  after  quitted  the 
army  altogether,  which  produced  what  he  calls  "  many 
rude  interruptions,  many  wide  and  unideal  intervals"  in 
his  literary  pursuits. 

In  his  way  to  Berwick,  where  he  meant  to  pay  his  duty 
to  his  mother,  and  determine  on  some  future  plan  of  life, 
he  visited  Dr.  Thomas  Sharp,  archdeacon  of  Northumber- 
land, then  at  Durham,  who  invited  him  to  a  residence  in 
his  house,  and  encouraged  him  to  enter  into  holy  orders. 
Accordingly  he  was  ordained  deacon,  at  Michaelmas  1759, 
by  Dr.  Trevor,  bishop  of  Durham,  and  went  immediately 
to  London,  where  he  was  to  be  one  of  Dr.  Sharp's  assis- 
tants in  the  curacy  of  Duke's-place,  Aldgate.  After  this, 
he  seems  to  have  fallen  into  a  rambling  life,  and  in  1767, 
being  without  any  church-employment,  went  to  Italy,  and 
resided  for  two  years  in  the  town  of  Villa  Franca,  where 
he  says  he  read  and  wrote  assiduously.  In  1769,  after  his 
return  to  London,  he  published  a  translation  of  Tasso's 
Aminta  ;  had  afterwards  some  concern  in  the  "  Critical 
Review,"  and  wrote  a  life  of  Waller  the  poet,  which  was 
prefixed  to  a  new  edition  of  his  works.  He  also  translated 
Bos's  "  Antiquities  of  Greece  ;"  in  1771  was  editor  of  the 
"  Universal  Magazine ;"  and  in  1775  published  three  ser- 
mons, two  against  luxury  and  dissipation,  and  one  on 


430  S  T  O  C  K  D  A  L  E. 

universal  benevolence.  In  the  same  year,  appeared  his 
poem  entitled  "  The  Poet,"  which  had  some  temporary 
reputation  ;  and  soon  after  the  publication  of  it,  he  ob- 
tained the  office  of  chaplain  to  his  majesty's  ship  the  Reso- 
lution of  74  guns.  This  he  retained  for  three  years,  and 
published  "  Six  Sermons  to  Seamen  ;"  translated  Sabba- 
tier's  "  Institutions  of  the  Ancient  Nations,"  and  wrote  an 
"  Essay  on  the  writings  and  genius  of  Pope,"  in  answer  to 
Dr.  Warton's  work  on  the  same  subject. 

In  the  summer  of  1779,  he  wrote  several  political  letters, 
with  the  signature  of  Agricola,  in  the  "  Public  Advertiser." 
At  this  period,  when  the  principal  booksellers  of  London 
determined  to  publish  a  new  edition  of  the  English  Poets, 
with  a  previous  account  of  the  life  of  each  poet,  we  are 
told  that  "  Mr.  Stockdale's  Life  of  Waller  had  given  them 
so  high  an  idea  of  his  ability  to  execute  their  plan,  that 
they  resolved,  in  this  meeting,  to  apply  to  him  to  be  its 
biographer  and  editor.  The  agreement  was  accordingly 
made ;  but,  by  some  strange  misunderstanding,  Mr.  Stock- 
dale  was  deprived  of  this  employment,  and  Dr.  Johnson 
wrote  the  Lives  of  the  Poets  !  Owing  to  this  circumstance, 
a  feud  arose  between  our  injured  author  and  some  of  these 
booksellers^  which  has  never  subsided,  and  from  which  he 
may  date  not  a  few  of  the  misfortunes  and  vexations  of  his 
life."  We  copy  this  story  merely  to  contradict  it,  for  no 
such  agreement  was  ever  entered  into,  and  whatever  re- 
sentment "our  injured  author"  might  have  entertained 
against  the  booksellers,  they  could  not  have  hesitated  a 
moment  had  their  choice  been  between  Mr.  Stockdale  and 
Dr.  Johnson.  He  now  left  his  ship ;  and,  being  without 
any  regular  employment,  was  advised  by  his  friends  to  ac- 
cept a  situation  which  now  presented  itself,  that  of  tutor  to 
the  late  lord  Craven's  eldest  son,  but  this,  it  is  said,  he 
found  a  state  of  vassalage,  "totally  incompatible  with  his 
independent  sentiments,"  and  therefore  quitted  it  the  fol- 
lowing spring. 

In  the  summer  of  1780,  sir  Adam  Gordon,  who  had  the 
living  of  Hincworth  in  Hertfordshire,  offered  Mr.  Stockdale 
the  curacy  of  that  place.  He  accepted  it  with  gratitude, 
and  there  wrote  fifteen  sermons.  At  this  period  at  the 
distance  of  twenty-three  years  from  his  first  ordination,  he 
took  priest's  orders.  In  1782,  he  wrote  his  "  Treatise  on 
Education  ;"  and  in  the  autumn  of  the  succeeding  year, 
lord  Thurlow  (the  then  lord  Chancellor),  in  consequence, 


S  T  O  C  K  D  A  L  E.  451 

as  we  are  gravely  told,  "  of  having  read  a  volume  of  Mr. 
Stockdale's  sermons,  and  without  any  other  recommen- 
dation," presented  him  with  the  living  of  Lesbury,  in  Nor- 
thumberland.  To  this  the  duke  of  Northumberland  added 
that  of  Long-Houghton,  in  the  same  county.  Here  he 
wrote  a  tragedy  called  "  Ximenes,"  which  was  never  acted 
or  printed;  but  still,  in  a  restless  pursuit  of  some  imaginary 
happu.ess,  he  fancied  that  the  bleakness  of  the  climate  in- 
jured his  health ;  and  accepted  an  invitation  in  1787,  from 
his  friend  Mr.  Matra,  British  Consul  at  Tangier,  to  pass 
some  time  with  him,  under  its  more  genial  sky. 

In  1790,  he  returned  from  the  Mediterranean;  and, 
from  the  researches  he  had  made  in  Spain,  and  on  the 
coast  of  Barbary,  wrote  a  large  account  of  Gibraltar,  com- 
prehending its  natural  and  political  history.  It  was  com- 
posed we  are  informed  with  great  attention  and  diligence, 
but,  "when  he  had  arrived  within  a  day's  work  of  its  com- 
pletion, in  consequence  of  some  recent  and  mortifying 
events,  his  literary  adversity,  and  all  his  other  misfortunes, 
took  fast  hold  of  his  mind,  oppressed  it  extremely,  and  re- 
duced it  to  a  stage  of  the  deepest  despondency."  In  this 
state,  "  he  made  a  sudden  resolution — never  more  to  pro- 
secute the  profession  of  an  author !  to  retire  from  the 
world  ;  and  read  only  for  consolation  and  amusement. 
That  he  might  have  the  less  temptation  to  break  his  vow, 
in  a  desperate  moment,  he  threw  his  History  of  Gibraltar 
into  the  flames  !"  He  did  not  adhere  much  longer,  how- 
ever, to  this,  than  to  any  former  resolution ;  and  after  his 
chagrin  had  a  little  abated,  resolved  to  write  a  course  of 
11  Lectures"  upon  the  respective  merits  of  the  most  emi- 
nent English  poets,  and  about  the  same  time  composed  two 
poems:  "  The  Banks  of  the  Wear,"  and  "The  Invincible 
Island."  His  "Lectures  on  the  Poets"  were  completed, 
and  published  in  the  year  1807,  and  present  a  strange 
combination  of  good  and  bad  sense,  just  and  petulant  cri- 
ticism. His  next  publication  was  his  own  "  Memoirs," 
and  in  1808,  when  he  paid  his  last  visit  to  London,  he 
published  a  selection  of  his  "  Poems,"  in  one  volume  8vo. 
From  this  period  his  health  rapidly  declined  :  and  in  the 
autumn  of  1810,  he  returned  to  his  vicarage  in  Northum- 
berland, where  he  died  Sept.  11,  1811.  Mr.  Stockdale  was 
a  man  of  very  considerable  talents,  but  his  "  Memoirs,"  in 
which  he  is  uniformly  his  own  panegyrist,  are  unfortu- 
nately calculated  to  give  us  a  very  unfavourable  opinion 


432  S  T  O  C  K  D  A  L  E. 

of  his  temper  and  disposition.  Having  early  accustomed 
himself  to  a  ver^  exalted  idea  of  his  own  merit  and  im- 
portance, he  was  perpetually  encountering  disappointment 
for  want  of  steadiness  even  in  his  most  laudable  pursuits. 
Although  mixing  much  with  the  world,  he  never  seems  to 
have  understood  the  terms  on  which  it  dispenses  its  favours, 
nor  profited  by  the  experience  which  the  constant  failure 
of  his  crude,  romantic  notions  of  his  own  genius  and  fame, 
might  have  contributed.  His  narrative  atfords  a  melan- 
choly picture  of  a  mind  perpetually  irritated  by  disap- 
pointed vanity,  and  never  seeking  solace  where  his  pro- 
fession might  have  pointed.1 

STOEFLEli,  or  STOFLER  (JOHN),  a  German  mathe- 
matician, was  born  at  Justingen  in  Suabia,  in  1452,  and 
died  in  1531.  He  taught  mathematics  at  Tubingen,  wnere 
he  acquired  a  great  reputation,  which  however  he  lost 
again  in  a  great  measure,  by  intermeddling  with  the  pre- 
diction of  future  events.  He  announced  a  great  deluge, 
which  he  said  would  happen  in  the  year  1524,  a  predic- 
tion with  which  he  terrified  all  Germany,  where  many  per- 
sons prepared  vessels  proper  to  escape  with  from  the  floods. 
But  the  prediction  failing,  served  to  convince  him  of  the 
absurdity  of  his  prognostications.  He  was  author  of  several 
works  in  mathematics  and  astrology,  full  of  foolish  and 
chimerical  ideas;  such  as,  1.  "  Elucidatio  Fabric.  Usus- 
que  Astrolabii,"  1513,  fol.  2.  "  Procli  sphaeram  com- 
ment." 1541,  fol.  3.  "  Cosmographies  aliquot  Descrip- 
tiones,"  1537,  4to.2 

STONE  (EDMUND),  an  eminent,  though  self-taught  ma- 
thematician, was  a  native  of  Scotland,  and  son  of  a  gar- 
dener in  the  service  of  the  duke  of  Argyle.  Neither  the 
time  nor  place  of  his  birth  is  exactly  "known,  but  from  a 
MS  memorandum  in  our  possession  it  appears  that  he  died 
in  March  or  April  1768.  The  chief  account  of  him  that 
is  extant  is  contained  in  a  letter  written  by  the  celebrated 
chevalier  Ramsay  to  father  Castel,  a  Jesuit  at  Paris,  and 
published  in  the  Journal  de  Trevoux,  p.  109.  From  this 
it  appears,  that  when  he  was  about  eighteen  years  of  age, 
his  singular  talents  were  discovered  accidentally  by  the 
duke  of  Argyle,  who  found  that  he  had  been  reading  New- 
ton's Principia.  The  duke  was  surprised,  entered  into 

1  Memoirs,  2  vol.  8vo. — Gent.  Mag.  vol.  LXXXI. — See  some  admirable  re. 
marks  on  this  deluded  author  in  Mr.  D'lsraeli's  Calamities,  rol.  II.  p.  312,  &c. 
s  Melchior  Adam.— Moreri. — Hutton's  Diet. 


STONE.  433 

conversation  with  him,  and  was  astonished  at  the  force, 
accuracy,  and  candour  of  his  answers.  The  instructions 
he  had  received  amounted  to  no  more  than  having  been 
taught  to  read  by  a  servant  of  the  duke's,  about  ten  years 
before.  "I  first  learned  to  read,"  said  Stone;  "the  ma- 
sons were  then  at  work  upon  your  house  :  I  went  near 
them  one  day,  and  I  saw  that  the  architect  used  a  rule 
and  compasses,  and  that  he  made  calculations.  I  inquired 
what  might  be  the  use  of  these  things  ;  and  I  was  informed, 
that  there  was  a  science  called  arithmetic  :  I  purchased 
a  book  of  arithmetic,  and  I  learned  it.  I  was  told  there 
was  another  science  called  geometry  :  I  bought  the  books, 
and  I  learned  geometry.  By  reading  I  found  that  there 
were  good  books  in  these  two  sciences  in  Latin  :  I  bought 
a  dictionary,  and  1  learnt  Latin.  I  understood  that  there 
were  good  books  of  the  same  kind  in  French  :  I  bought  a 
dictionary,  and  I  learned  French.  And  this,  my  lord,  is 
what  I  have  done.  It  seems  to  me  that  we  may  learn  every 
thing,  when  we  know  the  twenty-four  letters  of  the  aipiui- 
bet."  Delighted  with  this  account,  the  duke  drew  him 
from  obscurity,  and  placed  him  in  a  situation  which  en- 
abled him  to  pursue  his  favourite  objects.  Stone  was  au- 
thor and  translator  of  several  useful  works  :  1 .  "  A  new 
Mathematical  Dictionary,  1726,  8vo.  2.  "Fluxions,"  1730, 
8vo.  The  direct  method  is  a  translation  of  L' Hospital's 
Analyse  des  infiniment  petits,  from  the  French  ;  and  the 
inverse  method  was  supplied  by  Stone  himself.  3.  "The 
Elements  of  Euclid,"  1731,  2  vols.  8vo.  This  is  a  neat 
and  useful  edition  of  the  Elements  of  Euclid,  with  an  ac- 
count of  the  life  and  writings  of  that  mathematician,  and  a 
defence  of  his  elements  against  modern  objectors.  4.  ••'  A 
paper  in  the  Philosophical  Transactions,  vol.  xli.  p.  218, 
containing  an  account  of  two  species  of  lines  of  the 
third  order,  not  mentioned  by  sir  Isaac  Newton,  or  Mr. 
Sterling;  and  some  other  small  productions. 

He  is  described  by  Ramsay  as  a  man  of  the  utmost  mo- 
desty and  simplicity,  animated  by  a  pure  and  disinterested 
love  of  science.  He  discovered  sometimes,  by  method- 
his  own,  truths  which  others  had  discovered  before  him. 
On  these  occasions  he  was  charmed  to  find  that  he  wa« 
not  the  first  inventor,  but  -that  others  had  made  a  «reater 
progress  than  he  supposed. 

To  this  account,  as   given  in  the  last  edition  of  this 
work,  we  may  add  that  when  Stone  had  ebtained  the  duke 

VOL.  XXVIIL  F  F 


434  STONE. 

of  Argyle's  patronage,  he  probably  was  enabled  to  come 
to  London,  as  we  find  he  was  chosen  a  fellow  of  the  Royal 
Society  in  1725,  a  year  before  the  publication  of  his  "  Ma- 
thematical Dictionary,"  and  his  subsequent  works  were  all 
published  in  London  :  but  in  what  capacity  he  lived  or 
how  supported,  we  know  not.  Io  1742  or  1743  his  name 
was  withdrawn  from  the  list  of  the  Royal  Society.  In 
1758  he  published  "  The  Construction  and  Principal 
Uses  of  Mathematical  Instruments,  translated  from  the 
French  of  M.  Bion,  chief  instrument -maker  to  the 
French  king.  To  which  are  added,  the  construction  and 
uses  of  such  instruments  as  are  omitted  by  M.  Bion,  par- 
ticularly of  those  invented  or  improved  by  the  English. 
By  Edmund  Stone,"  folio.  Here  he  omits  the  title  of 
F.  R  S.  which  appeared  to  his  former  publications.  From 
the  introductory  part  of  an  account  of  this  work  in  the 
Critical  Review,  it  would  appear  that  he  was  known  to  the 
writer  of  that  article,  and  that  he  was  now  old  and  neg- 
lected. "Since  the  commencement  of  our  periodical  la- 
bours," says  the  critic,  "  none  of  Mr.  Stone's  works  have 
passed  through  our  hands.  It  is  with  pleasure  we  now  be- 
hold this  ingenious  gentleman  breaking  a  silence,  for  the 
service  of  the  pnblick,  which  we  were  ready  to  attribute 
to  his  sense  of  its  ingratitude.  There  is  hardly  a  person 
the  least  tinctured  with  letters  in  the  British  dominions, 
who  is  unacquainted  with  the  extraordinary  merit  of  our 
author.  Untutored,  and  self-taught,  he  ascended  from 
the  grossest  ignorance,  by  mere  dint  of  genius,  to  the  sub- 
limest  paths  of  geometry.  His  abilities  are  universally 
acknowledged,  his  reputation  unblemished,  his  services  to 
the  public  uncontested,  and  yet  he  lives  to  an  advanced 
age  unrewarded,  except  by  a  mean  employment  that  re- 
flects dishonour  on  the  donors."  What  this  employment 
was,  we  know  not,  but  the  work  itself  is  said  to  be  a  se- 
cond edition,  and  that  the  first  had  a  rapid  sale.  In  1767, 
was  published  a  pamphlet  entitled  "Some  reflections  on  the 
the  uncertainty  of  many  astronomical  and  geographical  po- 
sitions, with  regard  to  the  figure  and  magnitude  of  the  earth, 
&c.  &c.  By  Edmund  Stone,"  Svo.  We  have  not  seen  this 
production,  but  from  the  account  given  of  it  in  the  Monthly 
Review,  it  must  have  been  written  either  by  a  Mr.  Ed- 
mund Stone  of  far  inferior  abilities  and  good  sense  to  our 
author,  or  by  our  author  in  his  dotage.1 

i   IluiOn's  Uict.— Ciit.  R-V.  vol.  IX  —Monthly  Rev.  vol.  XXXV 11. 


S  T  O  N  H  O  U  S  E.  435 

STONHOUSE  (Sir  JAMES),  a  pious  and  worthy  baronet, 
originally  a  physician  and  afterwards  a  divine,  was  the  son 
of  Richard  and  Caroline  Stonhouse,  of  Tubney,  near  Ab- 
ingdon,  in  Berkshire,  and  was  born  July  20,  1716.  His 
father,  who  died  when  his  son  was  ten  years  old,  was,  as 
sir  James  informs  us,  "  a  country  squire,  kept  a  pack  of 
hounds,  and  was  a  violent  Jacobite."  Our  author  suc- 
ceeded to  the  title  of  baronet  late  in  life,  by  the  death  of 
his  collateral  relation  sir  James  Stonhouse  cf  Radley. 

He  was  educated  at  Winchester-school,  and  was  after- 
wards of  St.  John's  college,  Oxford,  where  he  took  his 
master's  degree  in  1739,  and  his  degrees  in  medicine, 
M.  B.  in  1742,  and  M.  D.  in  1745.  He  had  his  medical 
education  under  Dr.  Frank  Nichols  (See  F.  NICHOLS),  whom 
he  represents  as  a  professed  deist,  and  fond  of  instilling 
pernicious  principles  into  the  minds  of  his  pupils.  Mr. 
Stonhouse  resided  with  him  in  his  house  in  Lincoln's. inn- 
fields  for  two  years,  and  dissected  with  him,  which,  he  says, 
was  a  great  and  an  expensive  privilege.  He  also  attended 
St.  Thomas's  hospital  for  two  years  under  those  eminent 
physicians  sir  Edward  Wilmot,  Dr.  Hall,  and  Dr.  Lether- 
land.  Two  years  more  he  devoted  to  medical  study  and 
observation  at  Paris,  Lyons,  Montpellier,  and  Marseilles. 
On  his  return,  he  settled  one  year  at  Coventry,  where  he 
married  Miss  Anne  Neale,  the  eldest  of  the  two  daughters 
of  John  Neaie,  esq.  of  Allesley,  near  Coventry,  and  mem- 
ber of  parliament  for  that  city.  This  lady,  who  died  in 
1747,  soon  after  their  marriage,  in  the  twenty-fifth  year  of 
her  age,  is  introduced  as  one  of  the  examples  of  frail  mor- 
tality in  Hervey's  "  Meditations,"  and  is  farther  comme- 
morated there  in  a  note. 

From  Coventry,  Dr.  Stonhouse  removed,  in  1743.  to 
Northampton,  where  and  through  the  neighbourhood  for 
many  miles,  his  practice  became  most  extensive;  and  his 
benevolence  keeping  pace  with  his  profits,  he  was  acknow- 
ledged in  all  respects  a  great  benefactor  to  the  poor. 
Among  other  schemes  for  their  relief,  he  (bunded  the 
county-infirmary  at  Northampton,  but  amidst  much  oppo- 
sition. During  his  residence  here  the  celebrated  Dr. 
Akenside  endeavoured  to  obtain  a  settlement  as  a  prac- 
titioner, but  found  it  in  vain  to  interfere  with  Dr.  Ston- 
house, who  then,  as  Dr.  Johnson  observes  in  his  life  of 
Akenside,  "  practised  with  such  reputation  and  success, 
that  a  stranger  was  not  likely  to  gain  ground  upon  him." 

F    F    L' 


436  S  T  O  N  H  O   U  S  E. 

After  practising  at  Northampton  for  twenty  years,  he 
quitted  his  profession,  assigning  for  a  reason  that  his  prac- 
tice was  become  too  extensive  for  his  time  and  health,  and 
that  all  hi-  attempts  to  bring  it  into  narrower  limits,  with- 
out giving  offence,  and  occasioning  very  painful  reflections, 
had  failed.  But  neither  the  natural  activity  of  his  mind, 
nor  his  unceasing  wish  to  be  doing  good,  would  permit 
him  to  remain  unemployed,  and  as  his  turn  of  mind  was 
peculiarly  bent  on  subirets  of  divinity,  lie  determined  to 
go  into  the  church,  and  was  accordingly  ordained  deacon 
by  the  special  favour  of  the  bishop  of  Hereford,  in  Here- 
ford cathedral,  and  priest  next  week  by  letters  dimissory 
to  the  bishop  of  Bristol,  in  Bristol  cathedral,  no  one,  he 
informs  us,  being  ordained  at  either  of  those  times  but 
himself.  In  May  1764  lord  Radnor  found  him  very  ill  at 
Bristol-wells,  and  gave  him  the  living  of  Little-Cheverel  ; 
and  in  December  1779  his  lordship's  successor  gave  him 
that  of  Great  Cheverel. 

About  ten  years  before  this,  he  married  his  second  wife 
Sarah,  an  heiress,  the  only  child  of  Thomas  Ekins,  esq. 
of  Cb,<ester-on-the-water,  in  Northamptonshire.  She  was 
left  by  her  father  under  the  guardianship  of  Dr.  Doddridge, 
who  died  before  she  came  of  age,  at  which  last  period  Dr. 
Stonhouse  married  her.  Dr.  Stonhouse's  piety,  for  which 
he  was  most  admired,  had  not  always  been  uniform.  He 
tells  us,  that  he  imbibed  erroneous  notions  from  Dr.  Ni- 
chols, and  that  he  was  for  seven  years  a  confirmed  infidel, 
and  did  all  he  could  to  subvert  Christianity.  He  went  so 
far  as  to  write  a  keen  pamphlet  against  it ;  the  third  edition 
of  which  he  burnt.  He  adds,  "  for  writing  and  spreading 
of  which,  I  humbly  hope,  as  I  have  deeply  repented  of  it, 
God  has  forgiven  me:  though  I  never  can  forgive  myself." 
His  conversion  to  Christianity,  which  he  attribute.-,  to  some 
of  Dr.  Doddridge's  writings,  and  the  various  circumstances 
attending  it,  were  such,  that  he  was  advised  to  write  the 
history  of  his  life,  which  he  accordingly  did,  and  intended 
it  to  have  been  published  after  his  death  :  but  in  conse- 
quence of  the  suggestion  of  a  friend,  and  his  own  sus- 
picions lest  a  bad  use  might  have  been  made  of  it,  he  was 
induced  to  destroy  the  manuscript. 

After  being  settled  at  Cheverel,  he  applied  himself  to 
the  duties  of  his  station  with  fervour  and  assiduity,  and  be- 
came very  popular  as  a  preacher.  Much  of  his  general 
character  and  conduct,  his  sentiments  and  the  vicissitudes 


S  T  O  N  H  O  U  S  E.  437 

of  his  professional  employment,  may  be  learned  from  his 
correspondence  lately  published.  He  died  at  Bristol- Wells 
Dec.  8,  1795,  in  the  eightieth  year  of  his  age,  and  was 
buried  in  the  WHls  chapel,  in  ihe  same  grave  with  his 
second  wife,  who  died  seven  years  before,  over  which,  on 
an  elegant  monument,  is  an  epitaph,  in  verse,  by  Miss 
Hannah  More. 

Among  other  ways  of  doing  good,  sir  James  Stonhouse 
was  convinced  that  the  dispersion  of  plain  and  familiar 
tracts  on  important  subjects,  was  one  of  the  most  import- 
ant, and  accordingly  wrote  several  of  these,  the  greater 
part  of  which  have  been  adopted  by  the  Society  for  pro- 
moting Christian  knowledge.  The  others  are,  1.  "Con- 
siderations on  some  particular  sins,  and  on  the  means  of 
doing  good  bodily  and  spiritually."  2.  "  St.  Paul's  Ex- 
hortation and  motive  to  support  the  weak  or  sick  poor,  a 
sermon."  3.  "  A  short  explanation  of  the  Sacrament  of 
the  Lord's  Supper,  &c."  4.  "  Hints  to  a  curate  foi-  tue 
management  of  a  parish."  5.  "A  serious  address  to  the 
parishioners  of  Great  Cheverel,"  &c.' 

STOREIl  (THOMAS),  a  poet  of  the  Eli/abet  nan  period, 
was  the  son  of  John  Storer,  a  native  of  London,  and  was 
elected  student  of  Christ-clmrcn,  Oxford,  about  1587. 
He  took  his  degree  of  master  of  aits,  and  had  the  fame 
of  excellent  poetical  talents,  which  were  exhibited,  not 
only  in  verses  before  the  books  of  many  members  of  the 
university,  but  in  his  poem  entitled  u  The  Life  and  De^th 
of  Thomas  Wolsey,  cardinal:  divided  into  three  pans: 
his  aspiring;  triumph;  and  death,"  Lond.  15y9,4to.  He 
obtained  also  great  credit  for  some  pastoral  airs  and  ma- 
drigals, which  were  published  iu  the  collection  ca  i.  d 
"  England's  Helicon."  He  died  in  the  parish  of  St.  Mi- 
chael Bassishaw,  London,  in  Nov.  1604,  and  had  his  me- 
mory celebrated  by  many  copies  of  verses.  His  poem  on 
Wolsey  is  far  from  despicable,  and  contains  many  curious 
historical  particulars.  It  is  of  the  greatest  rarity  ;  but 
there  is  a  copy  in  the  Bodleian,  and  another  in  the  British 
Museum.2 

STORK  (ABRAHAM),  a  Dutch  painter  of  sea-pieces,  and 
sea-ports,  died  in  1708,  but  the  time  of  his  birth,  and  the 

1  Letters  from  the  Rev.  Job  Orton,  and  the  Rev.  Sir  James  Stonhouse,  &c. 
1805,  '2  vols.  12mo.— Gent.  AJag.  LXV.  LXVI.  and  LXXXI. 

*  Ath.  Ox.  vol.  I.  m:w  i'<iit. — Philips'*  Theatrurn  by  Sir  E.  Brydges. — Letters 
by  Eminent  Persons,  I8l3,  3vcl-.  8vo. 


438  STORK. 

master  under  whom  lie  studied,  have  not  been  recorded. 
He  was  a  native  of  Amsterdam,  where  he  might  naturally 
imbibe  a  taste  for  that  kind  of  scenery  which  he  usually 
represented;  consisting  of  boats,  barges,  and  ships,  with 
many  persons  engaged  in  different  employments,  lading  or 
unlading  the  vessels.  He  studied  assiduously  after  nature, 
and  usually  sketched  from  the  real  objects,  so  that  a  strong 
character  of  truth  is  the  great  recommendation  of  his  seas, 
rocks,  and  harbours.  His  figures  are  small,  but  usually  de- 
signed with  great  exactness,  and  so  numerous  in  most  of 
his  pieces,  as  to  afford  a  great  fund  of  entertainment.  He 
had  a  brother  who  was  a  painter  of  landscapes,  and  chiefly 
represented  views  of  the  Rhine,  but  was  not  equal  to  him. 
A  capital  picture  of  Abraham  Stork  is,  the  reception  of  the 
duke  of  Marlborougb,  in  the  river  Amstel.1 

STOW  (.JOHN),  a  valuable  historian  and  antiquary,  was 
born  in  London,  and  as  is  usually  supposed,  in  St.  Michael's 
Cornhill,  where  his  father  and  grandfather  lived,  and  were 
reputed  men  of  good  credit.  The  time  of  his  birth  was 
about  1525,  but  we  know  little  of  the  circumstances  of 
his  youth,  unless  that  he  was  bred  up  to  his  father's  bu- 
siness, that  of  a  taylor.  It  has  been  often  remarked  as  a 
singular,  but  alter  all  a  trifling  circumstance,  that  two  of 
the  most  celebrated  antiquaries  of  the  sixteenth  century, 
Stow  and  Speed,  were  both  bred  to  that  occupation. 

At  what  time,  or  on  what  occasion  he  removed  from 
Cornhill,  is  uncertain,  but  in  1549,  we  find  him  dwelling 
within  Aldgate,  where  the  pump  now  stands,  between  Lea- 
denhall-street  and  Fenchurch-street.  While  he  lived  here, 
he  was  the  spectator  of  an  execution  which  affected  him 
not  a  little.  The  bailiff  of  Rumford,  coming  up  to  town 
during  an  insurrection  which  prevailed  in  Norfolk  and  Suf- 
folk, and  spread  to  some  parts  of  Essex,  happened  to  fall 
in  company  with  the  curate  of  Cree  church,  who  asking 
him  what  news,  tne  bailiff  said  that  many  were  up  in  Essex, 
but  that,  "  thanks  be  to  God,  things  were  in  good  quiet 
about  them."  The  curate,  from  some  misconception  of 
these  words,  immediately  informed  against  the  poor  bailiff, 
as  one  of  the  rebels,  or  a  favourer  of  their  cause.  On  this 
he  was  next  morning  brought  before  a  court-martial,  and 
sentenced  to  be  hanged  in  the  parish  where  he  uttered  the 
aforesaid  words,  upon  a  gibbet  erected  before  Mr.  Stow's 

1  Pilkington. 


S  T  O  W. 

door.  Stow  was  of  course  a  witness,  and  heard  the  poor 
man's  dying  declaration,  respecting  the  above  words  which 
he  made  use  of,  and  which  were  the  only  pretence  tor  this 
unjust  execution.  Some  time  after,  Stow  removed  into 
Lime-street  ward,  in  the  parish  of  St.  Andrew  Unclershaft, 
where  he  continued  until  his  death*. 

He  began  early  to  apply  himself  to  the  study  of  the 
history  ami  antiquities  of  England  \\ith  >o  much  enthu- 
siasm, that  he  bestowed  little  attention  on  business,  or  the 
concerns  of  domestic  life  ;  and  this  improvidence  greatly 
impaired  his  circumstances,  and  at  length  reduced  him  to 
considerable  difficulties.  His  first  appearance,  as  an  an- 
tiquarv,  was  in  the  service  of  the  ward  of  which  he  was 
now  become  an  inhabitant.  That  of  Bishopsgate  had  en- 
croached on  the  bounds  of  it,  and  had  taken  in  three  houses, 
and  a  piece  of  land  near  London-wall,  which  belonged  to  it. 
These  Mr.  Stow  plainly  proved  to  be  the  property  of  his 
ward,  by  certain  old  leases  and  grants,  and  other  authen- 
tic registers ;  an  1  they  were  accordingly  at  that  time  yielded 
to  it ;  though,  afterwards,  when  sir  Richard  Pype,  al-'er- 
man  of  Bisbopsgate  ward,  became  loru  mayor  of  London, 
and  reclaimed  them,  it  receded  from  its  un.l  >ubted  right, 
and  tamely  surrendered  them  to  hisjuri  iiction. 

Mr.  Stow's  success,  however,   in  tlr-  Affair  probably  ani- 

*  This  curate,  called  Sir  Stephen,  one  c<>mii>-  n  I  e/\p  bumr  them.  Mr. 
became  so  contemptible  by  his  furious  Slow  heat <J  'his  sermon,  an  I  saw  the 
zeal,  that  he  was  forced  to  leave  the  effec's  of  it.  Another  rmrk  of  the 
city,  and  retire  to  .some  unknown  place  curate's  imprudent  zeal  w.<  his  tak- 
in  the  country.  "  Mr.  Stow  has  re-  ing;  /ccasion  from  that  church's  name 
corded  some  things  of  him,  which  Un  ;^rshaft.,  as  superstitions^  ^iv»>n  it, 
though  not  attended  with  such  fata!  to  i!<-r  are  his  judgment  that  thr  titles 
consequences  as  that  already  men-  of  cnurches  should  be  altered,  and  that 
tioned,  were  evidences  of  his  exclusive  even  the  names  of  the  days  of  the  week 
big'  try.  In  a  sermon,  which  he  ought  to  be  changed  from  those  ht;a- 
preached  before  a  areat  auditory  at  St.  then  ones  which  had  been  given  th'-m  ; 
Paul's  Cross,  he  inveighed  bitterly  nud  ihat  Fridays  and  Saturdays  should 
against  a  long  may-pole,  called  -haft,  be  no  more  fish-days,  but  others  sub- 
in  the  next  parish  to  his  own,  which  stituted  for  such  in  thei>-  place 
from  thence  was  named  *r.  Andrew  that  Lent  should  he  kept  ai  ;>nv  • 
Undershaft.  This  he  insisted  upon  time  than  between  Shrove-ti  e  and 
being  an  idol;  and  so  warmly  did  he  Raster.  Another  t.'id  ).ia<-tice  of  this 
declare  against  it,  that  the  zeal  of  many  cut  ate  was,  to  go  out  of  the  pulpi>  into 
of  his  hearers  being  excited  thereby,  the  church- yard,  and  II.OUM'  nu  h;gh 
they  wt-nt  in  the  afternoon  of  the  same  elm  that  grew  there  and  p  ea;  h  from 
day,  and  pulled  the  may-pole  do  MI  tbttnce  to  his  audience,  and  then  return 
from  the  place  where  it  hung  upon  to  the  church,  and  say  or  .-ire  tne 
hooks,  and  then  sawed  it  ii.to  divers  English  si-rvice,  not  at  th,-  a^tar.  as 
pieces,  each  housekeeper  taking  as  w. is  usual,  but  upon  a  tomb,  whit 
much  of  it  as  hung  over  his  door  or  placed  northward  of  it." — Strype's  Life 
stall,  and  then  casting  the  pieces  into  of  Stow. 


440  S  T  O  W. 

mated  him  in  his  antiquarian  researches,  as  he  had  now 
demonstrated  the  practical  benefit  arising  from  them.  It 
was  about  1560,  that  he  turned  his  thoughts  to  the  com- 
piling an  English  chronicle,  and  he  spent  the  greater  part 
of  his  future  life  in  collecting  such  materials  relating  to 
the  kingdom  at  large,  as  he  esteemed  worthy  to  be  handed 
down  to  posterity.  But  after  he  had  been  eagerly  employ- 
ed for  a  while  in  these  studies,  perceiving  how  little  profit 
he  was  likely  to  reap  from  them,  he  was  on  the  point  of 
diverting  his  industry  into  the  channel  of  the  occupation  he 
had  been  bred  to  ;  and  the  expensiveness  of  purchasing 
manuscripts  was  an  additional  motive  to  this  resolution. 
Archbishop  Parker,  however,  himself  an  excellent  anti- 
quary, and  a  bountiful  patron  of  all  who  had  the  same 
turn,  persuaded  him  to  goon,  and  liberally  contributed  to 
lessen  his  expences,  while  his  grace  lived. 

In  order  to  qualify  himself  effectually  for  what  he  had  in 
view,  he  procured  as  many  of  the  ancient  English  writers, 
both  printed  and  in  manuscript,  as  he  could  obtain  by 
money  or  favour.  These  he  studied  so  attentively  as  to 
gain  an  exact  and  critical  knowledge  of  them,  and  he  at 
the  same  time  embraced  every  opportunity  of  cultivating 
the  intimacy  of  those  persons  who  were  most  capable  of 
assisting  him  ;  such  as  archbishop  Parker,  already  men- 
tioned; Lambard,  author  of  the  Perambulation  of  Kent, 
and  other  works ;  Bowyer,  keeper  of  the  records  of  the 
Tower,  and  the  first  methodizer  of  them  ;  with  the  cele- 
brated Camden,  and  others  of  lesser  note.  For  more  par- 
ticular information  respecting  the  antiquities  of  London,  he 
collected  all  the  old  books,  parchments,  instruments, -char- 
ters, and  journals  relating  to  it,  that  he  could  meet  with  ; 
and  he  had,  besides,  procured  access  to  the  archives  in  the 
chamber  of  the  city,  where  he  perused,  and  transcribed 
such  original  papers  as  were  of  service  to  him  in  the  prose- 
cution of  his  grand  design  of  writing  the  "  Survey"  of  it. 

The  first  work  which  he  published,  was  his  "  Summary 
of  the  Chronicles  of  England,  from  the  coming  in  of  Brute 
unto  his  own  time,"  which  he  undertook  at  the  instance  of 
lord  R"bert  Dudley.  The  reason  of  his  proposing  it  to 
him  was  this  :  In  1562,  Mr.  Stow  having  in  his  search  after 
curious  and  uncommon  tracts,  met  with  an  ingenious  one 
of  Edmund  Dudley,  his  lordship's  grandfather's  writing, 
during  his  imprisonment  in  the  Tower,  entitled  "The  Tree 
of  the  Commonwealth;"  (which  he  dedicated  to  Henry VIII. 


STOW.  44i 

but  it  never  came  to  his  hand)  ;  he  kept  the  original  him- 
self, hut  transcribed  a  fair  copy  of  it,  and  took  an  oppor- 
tunity of  presenting  it  to  this  nobleman,  who  earnestly  re- 
quested our  author  to  attempt  something  of  the  same  na- 
ture. To  gratify  so  illustrious  a  suitor,  he  collected  his 
"  Summary,"  and  dedicated  it  to  him  when  it  was  finished. 
The  acquisition  of  such  a  patron  was  undoubtedly  impor- 
tant to  him  at  this  period,  but  more  in  point  of  fame  tiian 
emolument. 

Not  long  after,  in  1573,  the  "  Summary"  was  reprinted 
with  large  additions,  in  a  thick  octavo  in  the  black  letter. 
It  begins  with  a  general  description  of  the  kingdom,  and 
then  treats  of  the  several  kings  and  queens  that  governed 
this  island  ;  naming  the  mayors  and  sheriffs  every  year; 
and  under  each  reign  it  gives  the  several  remarkable  occur- 
rences that  happened,  especially  those  concerning  the  city 
of  London. 

In  this  year  came  out  the  laborious  and  voluminous  col- 
lections of  Reiner  Wolfe,  printer  to  the  queen,  and  of 
others,  being  a  chronicle  of  Britain,  printed  and  reprinted 
by  Raphael  Holinshed,  and  commonly  going  under  his 
name.  In  the  last  and  largest  edition  of  that  work,  there 
are  inserted  many  considerable  additions  communicated  by- 
Stow,  and  which  form  the  main  part  of  it  from  1573  to 
1583,  and  afford  eminent  proofs  of  his  pains  and  diligene. 

In  1600,  he  published  his  "  Flores  Historiarum,"  or  An- 
nals of  this  kingdom  from  the  time  of  the  ancient  Britons 
to  his  own."  This  work  was  nothing  else  but  his  "  Sum- 
mary" greatly  enlarged,  which  he  dedicated  to  archbishop 
Whitgift.  It  was  reprinted  five  years  after  with  additions; 
but  even  in  this  improved  state  it  was  no  more  than  an 
abridgment  of  a  much  larger  history  of  this  nation,  which 
he  had  been  above  forty  years  collecting  out  of  a  multitude 
of  ancient  authors,  registers,  chronicles,  lives,  and  records 
of  cities  and  towns  ;  and  which  he  intended  now  to  have 
published,  if  the  printer,  probably  fearing  the  success  of 
it,  after  the  late  appearance  of  so  large  a  chronicle  as  that 
of  Holinshed,  had  not  chosen  rather  to  undertake  this 
lesser  abstract  of  it. 

In  1598  appeared  the  first  edition  in  4to,  of  that  valu- 
able work  which  he  entitled  "A  Survey  of  London."  What 
induced  him  hrst  to  compile  this  work,  was  a  passage  he 
met  with  in  William  Lambard's  "  Perambulation,"  in  which 
he  calls  upon  all  who  had  ability  and  opportunity,  to  do 


442  STOW. 

the  like  service  tor  the  shires  and  counties  wherein  they 
were  born  or  dwelt,  as  he  had  clone  for  that  of  Kent.  Such 
an  invitation  \vas  not  lost  upon  a  writer  of  Stow's  zeal  and 
disposition,  and  he  immediately  resolved  upon  the  descrip- 
tion of  the  metropolis,  the  place  both  of  his  habitation  and 
birth.  It  was  dedicated  by  him  to  the  lord  mayor,  com- 
monalty, and  citizens;  and  at  the  end  of  it  were  the  names 
of  the  mayors  and  sheriffs,  as  far  as  1598.  He  was  sensi- 
ble something  ought  to  have  been  added  concerning  the 
political  government  of  the  city  ;  but  he  declined  touching 
upon  it,  as  he  at  first  intended,  because  he  was  informed 
that  Mr.  James  Dalton,  a  learned  gentleman  and  citizen, 
purposed  to  treat  of  it. 

In  1603,  five  years  after  the  first,  a  second  edition  of 
this  useful  work  was  published,  with  considerable  improve- 
ments made  by  the  author,  out  of  his  old  stores  of  "  many 
rare  notes  of  antiquity"  as  he  styles  them.  Part  of  these 
related  to  the  city  government,  which  he  now  had  no  scru- 
ple to  introduce,  as  Mr.  Dalton's  death  had  put  an  end  to 
all  expectation  from  that  gentleman's  pen.  Stow  therefore 
endeavoured  to  supply  the  defect,  and  would  have  done  it 
more  copiously,  had  he  not  been  interrupted  by  a  fit  of 
sickness.  The  notes  which  he  added  related  to  the  alder- 
men and  sheriffs  of  London  ;  the  names  of  the  officers  be- 
longing to  the  mayor's  house,  and  to  the  sheriffs  :  of  the 
liveries  of  the  mayors  and  sheriffs,  and  various  other  par- 
ticulars which  are  very  curious  when  contrasted  with  the 
manners  and  modes  of  our  times*.  He  must  have  very- 
little  curiosity  who  is  not  amused  by  comparisons  of  this 
kind,  and  must  have  very  little  reflection,  if  he  does  not 
draw  useful  conclusions  from  observing  the  pertinacity  with 
which  every  age  supports  its  own  fashions.  These  addi- 
tions, Stow  confessed,  were  far  short  of  what  he  desired  or 
purposed  to  do :  but  as  they  were  all  he  could  accomplish 
at  present,  he  promised  hereafter  to  augment  them,  a  pro- 
mise which  his  increasing  weakness  and  death  prevented 
him  from  fulfilling. 

*  "I confess,''  says  Fuller  in  his  hu-  tory,   but  that  the/*;-  of  his  gown  will 

morons   way,   "  I  have  heard    him  of-  be  fe't  therein.     Sure  I  am,  our  mcst 

ten  accused  that  he  reporfeih  res  in  se  elegant  historians  who  have  wrote  since 

minuius,  toys  and  trifles,  being  such  a  his    time    (sir   Francis    liacon,  master 

smell-fea:,t,  ihat    lie    cannot    pass    by  Catnrlen,   8tc.)  though   throwing   away 

Guildhall,   but  his   pen   must  taste  of  th    ba-Ue',  have  taken  the  fruit,  though 

the  good  cheer  therein.    However,  this  not  mentioning  his  name,  making  us^ 

must  bp  indulged  to  his  education  ;  so  of  his  endeavours." — Fuller's  Worthies. 
hard  is  it  for  a  citizen  to  write  an  his- 


STOW.  4*3. 

In  1618,  after  his  decease,  a  third  edition,  still  in  quarto, 
was  published  by  A.  M.  or  Anthony  Muuday  (See  MUNDAY), 
a  citizen  also,  and  a  man  of  some  fame.  He  had  been  the 
pope's  scholar  in  the  seminary  at  Rome;  afterward,  re- 
turning home,  and  renouncing  the  pope  and  popery,  he 
wr.  to  two  books  relative  to  the  English  priests  aud  papists 
abroad.  This  editor  made  several  additions,  as  he  pre- 
tended, to  the  Survey;  much  of  which,  he  hinted,  he  had 
formerly  from  Stow  himself,  who,  in  his  lite-time,  de- 
livered into  his  han.ls  some  of  his  best  collections,  and  im- 
portunately persuaded  him  to  correct  what  he  found  amiss, 
and  to  proceed  in  perfecting  so  worthy  a  design.  He  talks  of 
being  employed  about  twelve  years  revising  and  enlarging 
it ;  and  that  he  had  the  encouragement  of  the  court  of  alder- 
men in  the  council-chamber,  being  brought  before  them 
by  sir  Henry  Montague,  the  recorder,  afterward  lord  chief 
justice  of  the  King's-bench.  But  after  all,  the  additions 
he  made  were  chiefly  some  inscriptions  and  epitaphs  from 
the  monuments  in  the  parish  churches  ;  a  continuation  of 
the  names  of  the  mayors  and  sheriffs;  and  little  more,  ex- 
cept some  transcripts  out  of  Stow's  Summary  and  Annals, 
and  here  and  there  venturing  to  correct  some  errors,  as  he 
calls  them,  in  the  original,  in  place  of  which  he  has  rather 
substituted  his  own  ;  for  Mr.  Stow  was  too  exact  and  pre- 
cise to  be  corrected  by  one  so  much  inferior  to  him  in 
literature,  and  in  antiquities,  as  Munday  appears  to  be. 

In  1633,  there  appeared  an  edition  of  it  in  folio,  by  the 
same  A.  M.  together  with  H.  D.  C.  J.  and  some  others.  It 
was  dedicated,  as  all  the  preceding  editions  had  been,  to 
the  lord-mayor,  aldermen,  and  recorder  for  the  time  being, 
with  the  citizens.  In  this  was  a  continuation  of  the  names 
of  the  mayors  and  sheriffs  to  that  year,  with  the  coats  of 
arms  of  all  the  mayors,  the  companies  of  London,  mer- 
chants and  others;  and  a  brief  imperfect  account  of  the 
incorporation  of  the  said  companies',  and  the  dates  of  their 
several  charters;  with  some  other  articles.  But  by  this 
time  the  book  began  to  abound  with  verbal  errors  and  de- 
viations from  the  author's  edition  and  sense,  which  called 
for  "some  abler  and  more  judicious  hand  than  had  been 
hitherto  employed  to  correct  and  rectify. 

This  was  happily  effected  in  1720,  when  it  arrived  at  a 
fifth  impression,  under  the  care  and  management  of  John 
Strype,  M.  A.  a  citizen  by  birth  (as  all  the  former  editors 
were)  and  the  son  of  a  freeman  of  London.  This  edition 


444  S  T   O   W. 

is  enlarged  into  two  volumes  folio  ;  great  numbers  of  errors 
are  corrected,  and  Stow  restored  to  himself;  the  remains 
are  inserted  every  where  in  their  proper  places  ;  the  history 
of  the  city  brought  down  to  the  period  of  publication,  and 
the  customs,  laws,  and  acts  of  common-council,  which  are 
of  such  importance  for  understanding  the  civil  polity  of  it, 
very  fully  explained.  In  1754,  the  sixth  and  last  edition 
was  published,  with  continuations  of  all  the  useful  lists, 
and  considerable  additions  of  various  matters,  and  particu- 
larly of  many  plates  from  very  accurate  designs. 

Having  thus  gone  through  the  history  of  the  work,  from 
its  first  appearance  in  a  small  quarto,  to  its  enlargement 
into  two  folio  volumes  of  near  800  pages  eacl),  we  shall 
resume  our  memoirs  of  the  author.  \  seen,  \>y  the 

fruits  of  it,  his  strong  propensity  to  the  study  of  history 
and  antiquities ;  and  have  observed  that  so  much  or  his 
time  was  consumed  by  employments  of  this  kind,  as  was 
inconsistent  with  his  attention  to  his  trade.  Accordingly, 
what  by  this  neglect,  and  the  expence  of  purchasing  books 
and  manuscripts,  he  greatly  impaired  and  diminished  his 
fortune;  and  instead  of  enjoying  that  affluence  and  ease, 
which  his  labours  for  the  honour  of  his  country,  and  the 
service  of  posterity,  justly  merited  :  he  was  not  even  re- 
funded what  he  expended  in  the  advancement  of  them, 
but  left  in  the  decline  of  life  to  encounter  with  poverty 
and  distress. 

After  twenty-five  years  labour  in  this  way,  and  publish- 
ing his  large  "  Summary,"  as  a  specimen  of  his  capacity, 
he  addressed  the  lord-mayor  and  aldermen  to  grant  him 
two  freedoms,  which  perhaps  he  received,  although  we 
find  no  record  of  the  fact.  Some  years  after,  he  again 
petitioned  the  lord-mayor  and  aldermen,  stating,  "  That 
he  was  of  the  age  of  threescore  and  four,  and  that  he  had 
for  the  space  of  almost  thirty  years  last  past,  besides  his 
Chronicles  dedicated  to  the  earl  of  Leicester,  set  forth 
divers  "  Summaries"  dedicated  to  them,  &c.  He  there- 
fore prayeth  them  to  bestow  on  him  some  yearly  pension, 
or  otherwise,  whereby  he  might  reap  somewhat  toward  his 
great  charges."  Whether  this  application  had  any  suc- 
cess, is  not  known.  There  is  no  instance  of  his  reaping 
any  reward  from  the  city,  adequate  to  the  extraordinary 
pains  he  underwent  in  the  establishment  of  the  reputation 
of  it,  unless  his  being  promoted  to  the  office  of  its  Fee'd 
Chronicler;  a  post  of  no  great  consequence,  and  to  which 


S  T  O  W.  445 

probably  a  very  small  salary  was  annexed.  Whatever  it 
might  he,  it  was  so  far  from  retrieving  his  ruined  circum- 
stances, that  it  did  not  even  afford  him  the  means  of  sub- 
sistence ;  so  that  he  was  forced  to  beg  a  brief  from  king 
James  I.  to  collect  the  charitable  benevolence  of  well-dis- 
posed people.  To  the  liberal  feelings  of  the  present  age, 
it  must  appear  very  strange  that  such  a  man  should  have 
been  reduced  to  such  a  situation  ;  that  neither  the  opulent 
city  of  London,  whose  service  and  credit  he  had  so  greatly 
advanced,  by  writing  such  an  elaborate  and  accurate  sur- 
vey of  it ;  nor  the  wealthy  company  of  Merchant  Taylors, 
of  which  ho  was  a  member;  nor  the  state  itself;  should 
have  thought  it  their  duty  to  save  a  person  from  want,  to 
whom  they  were  all  so  highly  indebted.  The  licence  or 
brief  which  his  majesty  granted  him  to  beg,  was  a  libel 
upon  his  own  bounty  ;  and  the  produce  of  it,  so  far  as  we 
know,  fixes  an  indelible  reproach  on  the  charity  of  the 
Londoners  of  that  day.  We  may  judge  of  the  sum  total 
collected  on  this  occasion  by  what  was  gathered  from  the 
parishioners  of  St.  Mary  Wolnoth,  which  amounted  to  no 
more  than  seven  shillings  and  sixpence. 

In  this  state  of  poverty,  he  died  April  5,  1605,  in  his 
eightieth  year,  and  was  buried  towards  the  upper  end  of 
the  north-isle  of  the  church  of  St.  Andrew  Undershaft,  in 
Leadenhall-street,  where  a  monument  was  erected  by  his 
widow,  of  a  composition  resembling  alabaster,  and  alto- 
gether a  very  animated  work.  How  she  could  afford  this, 
when  her  husband  died  in  such  poor  circumstances,  does 
not  appear.  Probably  she  was  assisted  by  some  persons 
who  were  ashamed  of  their  neglect  of  our  author  in  his 
life-time.  We  are  sorry  to  add  a  very  disgraceful  circum- 
stance to  this  account,  which  was  not  known  to  the  editors 
of  the  edition  of  17  54,  and  which  we  have  upon  the  au- 
thority of  Maitland.  After  noticing  this  monument,  and 
paying  a  just  compliment  to  the  deceased's  character, 
Maitland  adds,  "  that  neither  that,  nor  any  other  consider- 
ation was  sufficient  to  protect  his  repository  from  being 
spoiled  of  his  injured  remains  by  certain  men  in  the  year 
1732,  who  removed  his  corpse  to  make  way  for  another.'' 

For  the  character  of  Stow,  we  must  necessarily  be  in- 
debted to  his  contemporaries,  and  it  would  be  injustice 
not  to  give  it  in  their  simple  style.  His  person  and  temper 
are  thus  described  by  Edmund  Hows,  who  well  knew  him  ; 
"  He  was  tall  of  stature,  lean  of  body  and  face  ;  his  eyes 


446  S  T  O  W. 

small  and  chrystalline;  of  a  pleasant  and  cheerful  counte- 
nance y  his  sight  and  memory  very  good,  and  IJG  recained 
the  use  of  all  his  senses  unto  the  day  of  his  Ueath.  }je  had 
an  excellent  memory  ;  was  very  sober,  mild,  and  courteous 
to  any  that  required  his  instructions.  He  always  protected 
never  to  have  written  any  thing  either  for  envy,  fear,  or 
favour,  nor  to  seek  his  own  private  gain  or  vain  glory,  and 
that  his  only  pains  and  care  was,  to  write  truth." 

But  in  order  to  form  a  judgment  of  him,  it  is  necessary 
to  consider  the  disposition  of  his  mind,  as  well  as  lus  visi- 
ble works  and  actions.  The  first  thing  that  naturally  oc- 
curs to  our  view  is,  that  he  was  an  earnest  student  and 
lover  of  the  antiquities  of  his  own  country,  and  this  to  such 
a  degree  as  to  sacrifice  the  trade  to  which  he  was  brought 
up.  He  was  an  unwearied  reader  of  all  English  history, 
whether  printed  or  in  manuscript;  and  a  searcher  into  re- 
cords, registers,  journals,  charters,  &c.  Nor  was  he  con- 
tent with  barely  perusing  these  things,  but  desirous  also 
of  possessing  himself  of  them,  as  of  a  great  treasure.  By 
the  time  he  was  forty  years  of  age,  he  h?id  furnished  a  con- 
siderable library  of  such,  as  appears  from  the  report  of  Mr. 
Watts,  archdeacon  of  London,  who  was  sent  to  search  it, 
viz.  'That  he  had  a  great  collection  of  old  books  anJ  MSS. 
of  all  sorts,  but  especially  relating  to  chronicles  and  history, 
both  in  parchment  and  paper,  &c.'  And  his  library  con- 
tained not  only  ancient  authors,  but  original  charters,  re- 
gisters', and  chronicles  of  particular  places,  which  he  had 
the  greater  opportunity  of  procuring,  as  he  lived  shortly- 
after  the  dissolution  of  the  monasteries,  when  such  things 
were  dispersed  and  scattered  abroad  among  various  hands. 

It  was  his  custom  to  transcribe  all  such  old  and  useful 
books,  as  he  could  not  obtain  or  buy,  and  were  of  service 
to  his  purpose.  Thus,  as  we  are  assured  by  Ralph  Brooks- 
mouth,  he  copied  Le'and's  six  volumes  of  collections  tor 
his  own  use,  which  he  sold  afterward  to  the  celebrated 
Cainden,  who  gave  him  for  them  an  annuity  of  H/.  during 
his  life.  As  he  was  thus  well  provided  with  books,  he  ac- 
quired a  critical  and  nice  taste  in  judging  of  them,  and 
was  enabled  to  detect  many  frauds  and  vulgar  errors  in  our 
history,  which  had  long  passed  unquestioned.  One  whim- 
sical instance  we  shall  mention  from  Strype.  Grafion  re- 
lates in  his  chronicle,  that  in  1502,  one  Bartholomew 
Read,  a  goldsmith  and  mayor,  entertained  in  Goldsmiths' - 
hall  more  than  a  hundred  persons  of  great  estate  ;  messes 


STOW.  447 

and  dishes  served  in  a  vast  number;  nay,  that  there  was  a 
park  paled  in  the  same  hall,  furnished  with  fruitful  trees 
and  beasts  of  venery  (hunting)  and  other  like  circum- 
stances. Stow  had  litltle  difficulty  in  refuting  this  story, 
by  measuring  the  hail,  and  it  would  appear  to  require  very 
little  ability  to  refute  it,  yet  in  these  days  of  credulity  it 
ion '4  passed  current. 

By  his  skill,  also,  in  antiquity,  he  was  enabled  to  settle 
the  true  bounds  and  limits  of  many  contested  properties, 
and  to  throw  gceat  light  upon  some  obsolete  authors,  toward 
the  useful  editions  of  which  he  contributed  largely.  We 
are  likewise  indebted  to  him  for  some  of  the  additions  and 
enlargements  of  our  most  ancient  poet,  Chaucer;  whose 
works  were  first  collected  and  published  by  Caxton  ;  and 
again  published  with  additions  by  William  Thinne,  esq. 
in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.  after  which  they  were  "  cor- 
rected ami  twice  increased  (to  use  his  own  words)  through 
Mr.  Stow's  painful  labours  in  the  reign  of  queen  Elizabeth, 
to  wit,  in  the  year  1561  ;  and  again  beautified  with  notes  by 
him  collected  out  of  divers  records  and  monuments  :  which 
he  delivered  to  his  loving  friend  Thomas  Speight." 

He  was  a  true  antiquary,  one  who  was  not  satisfied  with 
reports,  nor  yet  with  the  credit  of  what  he  found  in  print, 
but  always  had  recourse  to  originals.  He  made  use  of  his 
own  Lgs  (for  he  could  never  ride),  travelling  on  foot  to 
many  cathedral  churches,  and  other  places,  where  ancient 
records  and  charters  were,  to  read  them,  and  made  large 
transcripts  into  his  collections.  There  is  a  volume  of  these 
notes,  which  first  came  into  the  possession  of  sir  Simonds 
D'Ewes,  and  was  afterward  procured  by  the  first  earl  of 
Oxford.  Ii  is  now  part  of  the  Harleian  collection. 

Much  has  been  said  of  his  religion.  He  was  first,  in  all 
probability,  a  favourer  of  popery:  this  appears  from  the 
jealousy  the  state  had  of  him  in  1568,  which  occasioned  an 
order  of  council  to  Grindal,  bishop  of  London,  to  have  his 
library  searched  f;>r  superstitious  books';  of  which  sort  se- 
veral were  found  there.  And  it  is  very  likely  that  his  no- 
torious bias  this  way,  might  be  the  ground  of  the  troubles 
he  underwent  either  in  the  ecclesiastical  commission  court, 
or  star-chamber;  for  it  is  certain  that  about  1570,  he  was 
accused  before  the  ecclesiastical  commissioners  of  no  less 
than  a  hundred  and  forty  articles,  preferred  against  him  by 
one  that  had  been  his  servant.  This  miscreant  had  before 
defrauded  him  of  his  goods,  and  now  sought  to  deprive 


448  STOW. 

him  of  his  life  also.  A  far  less  number  would  hate  been 
sufficient  to  despatch  a  man  out  of  the  world  in  those  mis- 
trustful times,  hut  the  witnesses  against  him  weie  of  such 
exceptionable  characters,  that  his  judges  were  too  upright 
to  condemn  him  upon  their  testimony.  Some  of  them  had 
been  detected  of  perjury,  and  others  burnt  in  the  hand  for 
felony.  The  perfidious  servant,  who  was  at  the  head  of 
them  as  the  informer,  was  no  other  than  his  younger  bro- 
ther Thomas,  a  man  of  great  profligacy,  as  was  evident 
both  by  this  unprincipled  prosecution  of  his  nearest  rela- 
tion, and  by  his  subsequent  behaviour  to  him.  For  instead 
of  manifesting  any  shame  or  repentance  for  his  crime,  he 
swore  that  he  never  committed  it,  and  persisted  in  defam- 
ing his  reputation,  and  threatening  his  life. 

Whether  Mr.  Stow  was  a  hearty  protestant  is  rather  du- 
bious;  there  is  one  expression  of  his  somewhere  in  the 
reign  of  queen  Elizabeth,  which  is  an  indication  of  the  af- 
firmative, viz.  "  That  doctrine  is  more  pure  now  than  it 
was  in  the  monkish  world."  But  it  is  not  certain  whether 
he  wrote  this  in  earnest  or  ironically,  nor  is  it  matter  of 
much  consequence.  Although  he  was  not  able  to  surmount 
the  religious  prejudices  of  his  time,  his  moral  practice  was 
unblamable.  He  hated  vice  in  all  orders,  and  exposed  it 
no  less  in  the  elergy  than  in  laymen.  He  abhorred  injus- 
tice, and  spared  not  to  rebuke  all  who  were  guilty  of  it. 
He  was  a  lover  of  hospiiality,  and  a  great  friend  to  public 
benefactions,  while  he  had  any  thing  to  bestow.  He  was 
of  an  honest  and  generous  disposition,  and  unspotted  in 
his  life.1 

STRABO,  a  celebrated  Greek  geographer,  philosopher, 
and  historian,  was  born  at  Amasia,  and  was  descended 
from  a  family  settled  at  Gnossus  in  Crete.  He  was  the  dis- 
ciple of  Xenarchus,  a  Peripatetic  philosopher,  was  well  read 
in  the  history  and  tenets  of  the  Grecian  sects,  but  at  length 
attached  himself  to  the  Stoics,  and  followed  their  dogmas. 
He  contracted  a  strict  friendship  with  Cornelius  Gallus, 
governor  of  Egypt;  and  travelled  into  several  countries, 
to  observe  the  situation  of  places,  and  the  customs  of 
nations. 

Strabo  flourished  under  Augustus ;  and  died  under  Ti- 
berius, about  the  year  25,  in  a  very  advanced  age.  He 

1  Life  by  Strype  prefixed  to  the  London  edition  of  1754. — Biog.  Brit — 
Fuller's  Worthies. — Gough'*  Topography. — Strype's  Grindal,  p.  124. — Strype's 
Whitgift,  p.  542. 


S  T  R  A  B  O.  449 

composed  several  works ;  all  of  which  are  lost,  except  his 
"  Geography,"  in  seventeen  books,  vv'hich  are  justly 
esteemed  very  precious  remains  of  antiquity.  The  first 
two  books  are  employed  in  showing,  that  the  study  of 
geography  is  not  only  worthy  of  a  philosopher,  but  even 
necessary  to  him  ;  the  third  describes  Spain  ;  the  fourth, 
Gaui  and  the  Britannic  isles;  the  fifth  and  sixth,  Italy  and 
the  adjacent  isles  ;  the  seventh,  which  is  imperfect  at  the 
»nd,  Germany,  the  countries  of  the  Getac  and  Illyrii,  Tau- 
rica,  Chersonesus,  and  Epirus ;  the  eighth,  ninth,  and 
tenth,  Greece  with  the  neighbouring  isles ;  the  four  fol- 
lowing, Asia  within  Mount  Taurus;  the  fifteenth  and  six- 
teenth, Asia  without  Taurus,  India,  Persia,  Syria,  Arabia; 
and  the  seventeenth,  Egypt,  Ethiopia,  Carthage,  and  other 
parts  of  Africa. 

Strabo's  work  was  published  with  a  Latin  version  by 
Xy lander,  and  notes  by  Isaac  Casaubon,  at  Paris,  1620,  in 
folio;  and  again  at  Amsterdam  in  L707,  in  two  volumes 
folio,  by  the  learned  Theodore  Janson  of  Almelooveen,  with, 
the  entire  notes  of  Xylander,  Casaubon,  Meursius,  Clu- 
ver,  Holsten,  Salmasius,  Bochart,  Ez.  Spanheim,  Cellar, 
and  others.  To  this  edition  is  subjoined  the  "  Chrestoma- 
thise ;"  or  Epitome  of  Strabo ;  which,  according  to  Mr. 
Dodwell,  who  has  written  a  very  elaborate  and  learned 
dissertation  about  it,  was  made  hy  some  unknown  person, 
between  the  years  of  Christ  676  and  996.  It  has  been  found 
of  some  use,  not  only  in  helping  to  correct  the  original, 
but  in  supplying  in  some  measure  the  defect  in  the  seventh 
book.  Mr.  Dodwell's  dissertation  is  prefixed  to  this  edi- 
tion. The  last  and  most  valuable  edition  of  Strabo,  is  that 
by  Falconer,  (See  FALCONER.)  splendidly  printed  at  Ox- 
ford in  two  volumes  folio. ' 

STRACK  (CHARLES),  a  very  skilful  German  physician 
and  writer,  was  born  at  Mentz,  Feb.  14,  1722,  and  edu- 
cated in  his  native  city.  He  then  having  chosen  physic  as 
a  profession,  came  to  Paris,  and  after  employing  six  years 
in  medical  studies,  took  his  degree  of  doctor  at  Erfurth,  in 
September  1747.  Returning  to  Mentz,  he  practised  with 
great  reputation,  and  in  1754  was  appointed  professor  of 
surgery,  in  1763  professor  of  physiology  and  pathology, 
and  in  1782  professor  of  chemistry.  About  this  time,  when 
vhe  university  of  Mentz  had  sufficient  funds  for  the  pur- 

1  Vossius,  Hist.  Graec< — Fabric.  Bibl.  Graec.— Saxii  Onomast. 

VOL.  XXVIII.  G  G 


430  S  T  R  A  C  K. 

pose,  Strack  was  appointed  to  renovate  the  medical  de- 
partment, in  performing  which  he  acquitted  himself  with 
such  credit  as  to  be  honoured  with  the  title  of  counsellor  of 
the  electorate  court.  His  writings  likewise  were  so  much 
admired  by  the  faculty  throughout  Europe,  that  he  was 
chosen  a  member  of  the  learned  societies  of  Paris,  Madrid, 
Erfurth,  and  Giessen,  and  carried  off  several  prizes,  the 
rewards  of  the  treatises  he  communicated.  He  died  Oct. 
18,  1806,  in  the  eighty-fourth  year  of  his  age.  His  prin- 
cipal writings  are,  1.  "  De  dysenteria  tentamen  medicum," 
1760.  2.  "  De  coiica  pictonum,"  1772.  3.  "  De  tussi 
convuUiva  infantum,"  1777.  4.  "  De  crusta  lactea  infan- 
tum,"  and  other  treatises  on  the  diseases  of  children  and 
lying-in  women,  to  both  which  he  appears  to  have  devoted 
much  of  his  attention.  5.  "  Observationes  rnedicinales  de 
febribus  intermittentibus,"  1785.  6.  "Nova  theoria  pleu- 
ritidis,"  1786.  7.  "  De  diversa.  febris  continuce  remittentis 
causa,"  1789.  8.  "  De  ratione  novandi,  et  pururn  red- 
dendi  aerem  intra  nosocornia  carceresque,"  1 770.  9. 
"  De  custodia  aegrorum,"  I  779.  10.  "  De  fraudibus  con- 
ductorum  nutricum,"  1779.  1 1.  "Oratio  qua  matres  hor- 
tatur  ut  proles  suas  ipsa?  lactent,"  1801.  ' 

STRADA  (FAMIAMJS),  an  ingenious  and  learned  Jesuit, 
was  born  at  Rome  in  1572,  and  entered  the  society  of 
Jesuits  in  1591.  His  ordinary  residence  was  in  the  Roman 
college,  where  he  taught  rhetoric,  and  it  was  while  thus  em- 

O       '  C3 

ployed  that  he  drew  up  for  the  use  of  his  scholars  his  "  Pro- 
lusiones  Academical,"  on  different  subjects  of  classical 
literature,  a  work  elegantly  written,  and  containing  many 
ingenious  remarks  and  just  precepts.  That  prolusion  in 
which  he  imitates  the  manner  of  some  of  the  most  eminent 
Latin  poets,  has  been  celebrated  by  Addison  in  Nos.  115, 
1 19,  and  122  of  the  "  Guardian,"  as  "  one  of  the  most  en- 
tertaining, as  well  as  the  most  just  pieces  of  criticism"  that 
he  ever  read.  The  "  Prolusiones"  were  published  at  Co- 
logne, 1617,  8vo,  -and  reprinted  at  Oxford  in  1631,  but 
there  are  other  editions.  Strada  died  in  the  Roman  col- 
lege in  1649,  in  the  seventieth  year  of  his  age. 

Although  his  "  Prolusiones1'  is  by  far  his  besMvork,  he  is 
yet  perhaps  better  known  as  a  historian.  His  "  Historia 
c'e  Bello  Belgico"  was  published  at  Rome  in  two  parts 
or  decades,  16  iO — 1647,  2  vols.  fol.  It  is  written  in 

»  Diet.  Hist. 


S  T  R  A  D  A.  451 

?ome  have  termed  elegant  Latin,  and  which  character,  "in  a 
certain  degree,  it  deserves  ;  but  the  style  is  florid  and 
fuse,  and  too  obviously  an  affected  imitation  of  that  of 
Livy.  His  partiality  to  the  Spanish  cause  is  another  ob- 
jection, of  which  his  readers  must  be  warned.  This  his- 
tory appeared  at  the  same  time  wit!)  that  o('  Beniivoglio, 
who  says  that  Strada's  work  is  fitter  for  a  college  than  a 
court,  and  that  he  did  not  understand  war  and  politics.  It 
was  also  attacked  by  Scioppius  in  a  very  rude  manner,  in  a 
book  entitled  "  Infamia  Faimani."  ' 

STRADA,  orSTRADANUS  (JOHN),  a  Flemish  painter, 
born  at  Bruges  in  1536,  was  famous  in  several  branches  of 
his  art.  He  painted  history,  battles,  chaces,  and  animals, 
all  with  great  success.  His  family  was  illustrious,  but  his 
inclinations  led  him  to  the  study  of  painting;  and  to  com- 
plete his  knowledge  of  the  art  he  went  to  Italy.  The  ex- 
quisite remains  of  antiquity,  with  the  works  of  Raphael, 
and  other  great  painters,  were  the  models  which  enabled 
him  to  attain  considerable  eminence  in  his  profession. 
Florence  was  the  place  where  he  chose  to  fix  his  residence, 
though  invited  to  several  others;  and  there  the  best  of  his 
works  remain.  He  died  there,  in  1604,  at  the  age  of  sixty- 
eight.  His  taste  is  esteemed  good,  though  not  entirely 
divested  of  the  Flemish  style,  after  all  his  diligent  study 
in  Italy.  The  tone  of  his  colouring,  however,  is  pleasing, 
and  his  works  maintain  an  honourable  place  with  those  of 
Salviati,  Volterra,  and  others. 2 

STRAHAN  (WILLIAM),  an  eminent  printer,  and  many 
years  printer  to  his  majesty,  was  born  at  Edinburgh  in 
1715.  His  father,  who  had  a  small  appointment  in  the 
customs,  gave  his  son  the  education  which  every  boy  of 
decent  rank  then  received  in  a  country  where  the  avenues 
to  learning  were  easy,  and  open  to  men  of  the  most  mo- 
derate circumstances.  After  having  passed  through  the 
tuition  of  a  grammar-school,  he  was  put  apprentice  to  a 
printer;  and,  when  a  very  young  man,  went  to  follow  his 
trade  in  London.  Sober,  diligent,  and  attentive,  while 
his  emoluments  were  for  some  time  very  scanty,  he  con- 
trived to  live  rather  within  than  beyond  his  income  ;  and 
though  he  married  early,  and  without  such  a  provision  as 
prudence  might  have  looked  for  in  the  establishment  of  a 

1  Tiraboschi. — Landi  Hist.  Lit.  rl'Italie. — Diet   Hist. 
3  Pilkinjftgn. — Argenville,  vul.  III. 

G  G    2 


452  S  T  R  A  H  A  N. 

family,  he  continued  to  thrive,  and  to  better  his  circum- 
stances. His  abilities  in  his  profession,  accompanied  with 
perfect  integrity,  and  unabating  diligence,  enabled  him, 
after  the  first  difficulties  were  overcome,  to  proceed  with 
rapid  success.  He  was  one  of  the  most  flourishing  men  in 
the  trade,  when,  in  1770,  he  purchased  a  share  of  the 
patent  for  king's  printer,  of  Mr.  Eyre,  with  whom  he  main- 
tained the  most  cordial  intimacy  during  all  the  rest  of  his 
life.  Besides  the  emoluments  arising  from  this  appoint- 
ment, as  well  as  from  a  very  extensive  private  business,  he 
xvas  eminently  successful  in  the  purchase  of  the  copy-rights 
of  some  of  the  most  celebrated  authors  of  the  time.  In 
this  his  liberality  kept  equal  pace  with  his  prudence,  and  in 
some  cases  went  perhaps  rather  beyond  it.  Never  had  such 
rewards  been  given  to  the  labours  of  literary  men,  as  were 
now  received  from  him  and  his  associates  (See  CADELL)  in 
those  purchases  of  copy-rights  from  authors. 

Having  now  attained  the  first  great  object  of  business, 
wealth,  Mr.  Strahan  looked  with  a  very  allowable  ambition 
en  the  stations  of  political  rank  and  eminence.  Politics 
had  long  occupied  his  active  mind,  which  he  had  for  many 
years  pursued  as  his  favourite  amusement,  by  correspond- 
ing on  that  subject  with  some  of  the  first  characters  of  the 
age.  His  queries  to  Dr.  Franklin  in  the  year  1769,  respect- 
ing the  discontents  of  the  Americans,  published  in  the  Lon- 
don Chronicle  of  July  28,  1778,  shew  the  just  conception 
he  entertained  of  the  important  consequences  of  that  dis- 
pute, and  his  anxiety  as  a  good  subject  to  investigate,  at 
that  early  period,  the  proper  means  by  which  their  griev- 
ances might  be  removed,  and  a  permanent  harmony  restored 
between  the  two  countries.  In  1775  he  was  elected  a 
member  of  parliament  for  the  borough  of  Ma'msbury,  in 
Wiltshire,  with  a  very  illustrious  colleague,  the  hon.  Charles 
James  Fox  ;  and  in  the  succeeding  parliament,  for  Wotton 
Bassett,  in  the  same  county.  In  this  station,  applying  himself 
with  that  industry  which  was  natural  to  him,  he  attended 
the  House  with  a  scrupulous  punctuality,  and  was  a  useful 
member.  His  talents  for  business  acquired  the  considera- 
tion to  which  they  were  entitled,  and  were  not  unnoticed 
by  the  minister.  In  his  political  connexions  he  was  con- 
stant to  the  friends  to  whom  he  had  been  first  attached.  He 
was  a  steady  supporter  of  that  party  who  were  turned  out 
of  administration  in  the  spring  of  1781,  and  lost  his  seat 
in  the  House  of  Commons  by  the  dissolution  of  parliament 


S  T  R  A  H  A  N.  453 

with  which  that  change  was  followed  :  a  situation  which  he 
did  not  shew  any  desire  to  resume  on  the  return  of  the 
new  parliament.  One  motive  for  his  not  wishing  a  seat  in 
the  next  parliament,  was  a  sense  of  some  decline  in  his 
health,  which  had  rather  suffered  from  the  long  sittings 
and  late  hours  with  which  the  political  warfare  in  the  last 
had  heen  attended.  Though  without  any  fixed  disease, 
his  strength  was  visibly  declining;  and  though  hi*  spirits 
survived  his  strength,  yet  the  vigour  and  activity  of  hi* 
mind  were  considerably  impaired.  Both  continued  gradu- 
ally to  decline  till  his  death,  which  happened  on  July  yth, 
1785,  in  the  seventy-first  year  of  his  age. 

Endued  with  much  natural  sagacity,  and  an  attentive 
observation  of  life,  he  owed  his  rise  to  that  station  of  opu- 
lence, and  respect  which  he  attained,  rather  to  his  own 
talents  and  exertion,  than  to  any  concurrence  of  favoura- 
ble circumstances.  His  mind,  though  not  deeply  tinctured 
with  learning,  was  not  uninformed  by  letters.  From  a 
habit  of  attention  to  style,  he  had  acquired  a  considerable 
portion  of  critical  acuteness  in  the  discernment  of  its  beau- 
ties and  defects.  In  the  epistolary  branch  of  writing,  he 
not  only  shewed  a  precision  and  clearness  of  business,  but 
possessed  a  neatness,  as  well  as  fluency  of  expression, 
which  fe'.v  letter-writers  have  surpassed.  Letter-writing 
was  one  of  his  favourite  amusements;  and  among  his  cor- 
respondents were  men  of  such  eminence  and  talents  as  well 
repaid  his  endeavours  to  entertain  them.  To  Dr.  Franklin, 
already  mentioned,  may  be  added  the  names  of  most  of  the 
great  authors  who  had  adorned  the  republic  of  letters  for  al- 
most forty  years  before  Mr.  Strahan's  death  ;  and  many  speci- 
mens of  his  letters  have  been  given  in  their  posthumous 
works,  or  lives.  We  may  add,  among  his  anonymous 
essays,  a  paper  in  "  The  Mirror,"  No.  94. 

His  ample  property  Mr.  Struhan  bestowed  with  the  ut- 
most good  sense  and  propriety.  After  providing  munifi- 
cently for  his  widow  and  children,  his  principal  study 
seems  to  have  been  to  mitigate  the  affliction  of  those  who 
were  more  immediately  dependant  on  his  bounty ;  and  to 
not  a  few  who  were  under  this  description,  and  would 
otherwise  have  severely  felt  his  loss,  he  gave  liberal  annui- 
ties for  their  lives  ;  and,  among  other  instances  of  benevo- 
lence, bequeathed  \000l.  to  the  company  of  Stationers 
(of  which  he  had  been  master  in  1774)  for  charitable  pur- 
poses. 


454  S  T  II  A  H  A  N. 

Of  his  family,  there  remain  now,  only,  his  second 
the  rev.  GEORGE  Strahan,  D.  D.  prebendary  of  Rochester, 
rector  of  Cranham  in  Essex,  and  vicar  of  St.  Mary's  Isling- 
ton ;  and  ANDREW  Strahan,  his  third  son,  M.  P.  for  Catiier- 
Jogh,  one  of  the  joint  patentees  as  printer  to  his  majesty; 
and  law  printer;  a  gentleman  who  has  inherited  his  father's 
spirit  as  well  as  property,  and  has  for  many  years  been  at 
the  head  of  his  profession.1 

STRANGE  (Sin  JOHN),  an  able  laayer,  was  born  in 
London  in  1696,  accoi cling  to  the  English  inscription  in 
Leyton  church,  where  he  was  buried  ;  but  the  Latin  one 
says  that  he  was  only  forty-nine  years  old  at  his  death  in 
1754,  and  consequently  must  have  been  born  in  1705. 

e  are  rather  inclined  to  think  the  first  date  the  correct 
one.  Having  chosen  the  lav/  as  a  profession,  he  arrived,  by 
great  natural  abilities,  and  unwearied  application,  at  such 
eminence,  that,  in  1735,  he  was  appointed  one  of  his  ma- 
jesty's counsel  learned  in  the  law  ;  and  in  the  following 
year,  solicitor-general.  While  in  this  office,  he  was  so 
.iy  esteemed  by  the  citizens  of  London,  that,  in  173.9, 
they  chose  him  their  recorder.  In  1742  he  resigned  these 
offices,  and  his  majesty,  as  a  peculiar  mark  of  his  regard, 
honoured  him  with  a  patent,  to  take  place  for  life  next  to 
the  attorney-general ;  and  on  Jan.  11,  1749,  advanced  him 
to  the  office  of  master  of  the  Rolls;  the  revenue  of  which, 
soon  after  his  promotion,  received  from  parliament,  un- 
sought by  him,  a  very  considerable  and  honourable  aug- 
mentation. He  die:i  May  IS,  17'54,  leaving  behind  him 
the  character  of  an  able  and  upright  lawyer,  and  a  man  of 
great  personal  virtues  in  private  life. 

The  "Reports"  of  sir  John  Strange,  "of  Cases  ad- 
judged in  the  courts  of  Chancery,  King's-bench,  Com- 
mon-pleas, and  Exchequer,  from  Trinity  Term  2  Geo.  I. 
to  Trinity  Term  21  Geo.  II."  were  first  published  by  his 
son  John  Strange,  CMJ.  1755,  2  vols.  fol. ;  again  in  1782, 
2  vois.  Svo  ;  and  thirdly,  with  notes  and  additional  refer- 
ences to  contemporary  reporters  and  later  cases,  1795,  2 
vols.  8vo,  by  i;;n,  esq.  of  Lincoln's-Inn. 

Sir  John  Strange  married  Susan,  eldest  daughter,  and 
coheir  of  Edward  Sis  oreemvich,  in  the  county  of 

Kent,  esq.     She  died  in  1747,   and  was  buried  in  the  same 
vault  with  her  husband  in  Leyton  church-yard. 

1  Linger,  No.  29  — Nichols's  Bcwyer.—  Ties  well's  Life  of  Johnson. 


STRANGE.  451 

Two  sons  survived  him,  of  whom  MATTHEW,  the  eldest, 
•died  in  1759,  and  JOHN,  who  died  March  19,  1799,  aged 
sixty-seven.  He  was  educated  at  Clare  hall,  Cambridge, 
and  was  British  resident  at  Venice  for  some  years,  and 
in  his  own  country  LL.  D.  F.  R.  S.  and  F.  S.  A.  He  was 
also  a  member  of  the  academies  of  Bologna,  Florence,  and 
Montpelier,  and  the  Leopolcline  academy  of  the  Curiosorum 
Naturae.  He  was  a  very  able  antiquary  and  naturalist,  and 
contributed  various  papers  both  to  the  Archacologia,  and 
to  the  Philosophical  Transactions.  He  accumulated  an 
«xcellent  library,  a  very  extensive  museum,  and  a  fine 
collection  of  pictures,  all  which  were  sold  after  his  death, 
as  directed  by  his  will.1 

STRANGE  (Sir  ROBERT),  an  English  engraver  of  the 
/irst  eminence,  was  born  in  the  Island  of  Pomona  in  Ork- 
ney, July  14,  1721.  He  was  lineally  descended  from  sir 
David  Strange,  or  Strang,  a  younger  son  of  the  family 
of  Stranges,  or  Strangs,  of  Balcasky  in  the  county  of 
Fife,  who  settled  in  Orkney  at  the  time  of  the  Reformation. 
He  received  his  classical  education  at  Kirkaall  in  Orkney, 
under  the  care  of  a  learned,  worthy,  and  much-respected 
gentleman,  Mr.  Murdoch  M'Kenzie,  who  rendered  great 
service  to  his  country  by  the  accurate  surveys  and  charts 
he  gave  of  the  island  of  Orkney,  and  of  the  British  and 
Irish  coasts. 

Mr.  Strange  was  originally  intended  for  the  law,  but 
that  profession  ill  according  with  his  peculiar  turn  of  mind, 
he  quitted  it  in  a  short  time,  and  while  yet  uncertain  whi- 
ther his  genius  really  pointed,  went  aboard  a  man  of  war 
bound  for  the  Mediterranean.  From  this  voyage  he  re- 
turned so  much  disgusted  with  a  sea-life,  that  he  again 
betook  himself  to  pursuits  of  law,  and  might  have  conti- 
nued to  prosecute  them  through  life,  and  his  talents  as  an 
artist  been  for  ever  lost  to  the  world,  if  his  brother  had  not 
accidentally  discovered  in  his  bureau  a  variety  of  drawings 
and  unfinished  sketches,  with  which  he  appears  to  have 
amused  those  hours  that  his  friends  supposed  devoted  to 
severer  labours.  These  first  essays  of  genius  struggling  to 
display  its  peculiar  powers,  were  shewn  to  the  late  Mr. 
llichard  Cooper,  at  Edinburgh,  the  only  person  there  who, 
at  that  time,  had  taste  in  such  performances ;  they  were 
by  him  very  highly  approved,  and  he  immediately  pro- 

1  Lysons's  Environs,  vol.  IV. — Bridgnaam's  Legal  Bibliograpto.— Nichok't 
Bowyir.  ' 


456  STRANGE. 

posed  that  the  young  man  should  be  regularly  placed 
under  his  tuition.  This  measure,  coinciding  perfectly  with 
his  own  inclinations,  was  accordingly  adopted.  The  rapid 
progress  which  he  made  under  this  master's  instructions 
soon  satisfied  his  friends  that  in  making  the  arts  his  study 
and  profession,  he  had  yielded  at  last  to  the  bent  of  nature, 
and  was  following  the  course  which  genius  prompted  him 
to  pursue. 

.  While  he  was  thus  assiduously  engaged  in  laying  the 
foundation  of  his  future  fame,  a  fatal  interruption  to  the 
arts  of  peace  took  place  in  Scotland,  by  the  arrival  of  the 
young  chevalier ;  and  Strange,  urged  by  many  motives, 
and  particularly  by  the  desire  of  gaining  a  hand  which 
was  already  become  necessary  to  his  happiness,  joined  the 
rebel  army.  He  continued  to  act  with  it  as  one  of  the 
troops  styled  the  Life-Guards,  a  post  of  danger  as  well  as 
honour,  till  the  total  defeat  of  the  Pretender's  few  remain- 
ing troops  on  the  field  of  Culloden,  obliged  him  and  all 
those  who  escaped  the  issue  of  the  day,  to  fly  for  shelter 
to  the  Highland  hills.  There  young  Strange,  among  the 
rest,  continued  concealed  for  many  months,  enduring  hard- 
ships, the  detail  of  which  would  seem  to  make  dear  the 
purchase  even  of  life  itself.  Before  the  period  of  this  over- 
throw, and  soon  after  the  battle  of  Falkirk,  he  so  narrowly 
escaped  the  severest  fate  of  war,  that  the  accident  deserves 
to  be  recorded.  Having  received  command  to  execute 
some  military  order,  in  the  absence  of  an  aid-de-camp,  he 
was  riding  for  that  purpose  along  the  shore,  when  the 
svrord  which  he  carried  was  bent  in  his  hand  by  a  ball 
from  one  of  the  king's  vessels  stationed  off  the  coast. 

When  the  vigilance  of  pursuit  was  somewhat  abated, 
Strange  left  the  Highlands,  and  returned  to  Edinburgh, 
where,  for  the  first  time,  he  began  to  turn  his  talents  to 
account,  and  contrived  to  maintain  himself,  in  conceal- 
ment, by  the  sale  of  small  drawings  of  the  rival  leaders  in 
the  rebellion,  many  of  which  must  still  be  extant.  They 
were  purchased,  at  the  time,  in  great  numbers,  at  a  guinea 
each.  A  fan  also,  the  primary  destination  of  which  gave 
it  in  his  eyes  an  additional  value,  and  where  he  had,  on 
that  account,  bestowed  more  than  usual  pains,  was  sold  at 
this  period,  with  a  sad  heart,  "non  hos  quacsitum  munus 
in  usus,"  to  the  earl  of  Wemyss;  who  was  too  sensible  of 
its  value  to  suffer  it  to  be  re-purchased,  when  that  was  pro- 
posed a  short  time  afterwards. 


STRANGE.  451 

Tired  of  a  life  of  alarm  and  privacy,  ?»lr.  Strange,  at 
length,  after  much  difficulty,  procured  a  safe  conduct  to 
London,  intending  to  embark  for  France;  but  not  till  he 
had  received  the  reward  peculiarly  due  to  the  brave;  and 
made  that  hand  his  own,  tor  the  sake  of  which  he  had 
risked  his  life  in  the  field.  The  name  of  the  lady  to 
whom  he  was  thus  united  in  1747,  and  in  whose  steady  af- 
fection, through  the  whole  of  a  long  life,  all  those  dangers 
were  forgotten,  was  Isabella  Lumisden,  the  daughter  of 
an  ancient  and  respectable  family,  and  sister  to  a  gentle- 
man well  known  in  the  literary  world  for  his  instructive 
work  on  the  antiquities  of  Rome. 

Having  safely  reached  London,  Mr.  Strange  completed 
his  intention  of  visiting  France  ;  and  after  remaining  a 
considerable  time  at  Rouen,  respected  and  beloved  by  all 
the  companions  in  exile  whom  he  found  there,  and  ob- 
taining an  honorary  prize  given  by  the  academy  of  that 
place,  where  his  competitors  were  very  numerous,  pro- 
ceeded to  Paris,  and  prosecuted  his  studies  with  infinite 
assiduity,  chiefly  under  the  direction  of  the  celebrated  Le 
Bas.  It  was  from  this  master  that  he  had  the  first  hint  of 
the  use  of  the  instrument  commonly  called  the  dry  needle^ 
which  he  afterwards  greatly  improved  by  his  own  genius, 
and  by  which  he  added  such  superior  beauties  to  his  en- 
gravings. 

In  the  year  1751,  he  finally  removed  his  family  to  Lon- 
don ;  and  at  this  period,  when  historical  engraving  had 
made  but  little  progress  in  Britain,  he  began  to  devote 
himself  to  this  higher  and  more  difficult  species  of  his 
art;  of  which,  therefore,  in  this  country,  he  is  justly  en- 
titled to  be  considered  as  the  father.  It  was  about  this 
time  that  by  refusing  to  engrave  a  portrait  of  his  present 
majesty,  he  incurred  the  strong  displeasure  of  lord  Bute; 
whose  conduct  towards  him  is  detailed,  with  many  other 
interesting  circumstances,  in  a  letter  to  that  nobleman, 
which  Mr.  Strange  published  in  1775.  It  is  not  easy, 
or  perhaps  possible,  in  this  country,  for  power  to  de- 
press merit;  and  so  it  proved  in  the  case  of  this  artist,  who 
rose  in  spite  of  all  opposition.  With  respect  to  the  paint- 
ing which  he  thus  refused  to  engrave,  it  is  said  that  a  per- 
sonage, apparently  more  concerned  in  the  question  than 
lord  Bute,  has  since  commended  the  spirit  of  the  artist, 
who  scorned  to  perpetuate  so  wretched  a  performance. 
In  1760  Mr.  Strange  set  out  for  Italy,  which,  as  the  seat 


458  STRANGE. 

of  the  fine  arts,  he  had  long  been  anxious  to  visit.  The 
drawings  made  by  him  in  the  course  of  this  tour,  several  of 
which  he  afterwards  engraved,  are  now  in  the  possession  of 
lord  Dundas.  Every  where  throughout  Italy  singular  marks 
of  attention  and  respect  accompanied  him,  not  only  from 
illustrious  personages,  but  from  the  principal  academies  of 
the  fine  arts  which  he  visited  in  his  route.  He  was  made 
a  member  of  the  academies  of  Rome,  Florence,  and  Bo- 
logna, and  professor  of  the  royal  academy  at  Parma.  No- 
thing indeed  shews  more  strongly  the  high  estimation  in 
which  his  talents  were  held  at  Rome,  than  the  compliment 
which  was  paid  him  by  signer  Roifanelli,  in  painting  the 
ceiling  of  that  room  in  the  Vatican  library,  where  the  col- 
lection of  engravings  is  preserved.  The  painting  repre- 
sents the  progress  of  the  art  of  engraving,  and,  among  the 
portraits  of  those  who  were  most  eminent  in  it,  that  of 
Strange  is  introduced.  He  is  represented  holding  under 
his  arm  a  volume  on  which  his  name  is  inscribed  ;  an  ho- 
nour paid  to  no  British  artist  but  himself.  Similar  marks 
of  high  respect  were  also  bestowed  on  his  talents  in  France. 
In  particular,  he  was  made  a  member  of  the  royal  academy 
of  painting  at  Paris,  the  highest  honour  ever  conferred  on 
any  foreigner. 

With  respect  to  the  works  of  this  artist,  he  left  fifty 
capital  plates,  still  in  good  condition,  which  were  engraved 
from  pictures  of  the  most  celebrated  painters  of  the  Ro- 
man, Florentine,  Lombard,  Venetian,  and  other  schools. 
Their  subjects  are  historical,  both  sacred  and  profane, 
poetical,  and  allegorical*.  From  his  earliest  establishment 

*  The  f  Ilowing  are  among;  his  prin-  culcs,  by  Nicolas  Poussin — Venus  at- 

«ipal  engravings  : — Two  heads  of  the  tired  by  the  Giacrs,    by  Gui>!i>. — Jns- 

author — one  an    etching,  (he   othnr  a  tice  and  Meekness,  by  Raphael — The 

finisher]  proof,  from  a  drawin.  Offspring  of  Love,  by  Guido— Cupid 

!  tGreuse — The  Rt  tun;  sleeping,  by  the  samp — Abraham 
ket,  by  Wouvermnns — CupiJ,  by  Van-  ing  up  the  Handmaid  Kagar,  by  finer- 
loo —  Mary  Magdalen,  by  Ouido —  cii)'> — Esther  a  Suppliant  before  Aha- 
Cleopatra,  by  the  same — The  Mad  on-  suerus,  by  the  same — Joseph  and  Po- 
na,  by  the  same — The  Angel  Gabriel,  tiphar's  Wife.by  Qaido — Venus  Blind- 
by  the  same. — The  Virgin  with  the  ing  Cupid,  by  Titian — Venus,  by  the 
Ch;ld  asleep,  by  the  saruo. — l.i'uer.ili-  saint — Dnnae,  by  the  same — Portrait 
ty  an  1  Modesty,  by  the  same. — Apollo  of  King  Charles  I,  by  Vandyke — The 
rewarding  Mer.t  and  punishing  Arro-  Madonna,  by  Correggio — St.  Cecilia, 
.  by  Andrea  Sai-chi — Tl>e  find-  by  Raphael — Mary  M  tini- 
ing  of  Ronnilos  and  Remus,  by  Pieiro  do — Our  Saviour  appi-.  -  Mo- 
da  Cortoua — C«\sur  repudiating  Pom-  ther  after  his  1 

jK-ia,   by  the  same — Three  Children  of  cino — A  Mother  and  Child,  by  Pannr- 

King  Charles  I,  by  Vandyke — Belisa-  giano — Cupid  tneditat'm<;,  by  Soiiidoni 

rius,  by  Salvador  Eosa — St.  Agnes,  by  — Laomedon  Krng  of  Troy  detected  by 

JJuminicbino— Tire  Judgment  «f  Her-  Neptune  and  Apoilo,  by  S.  llosa,  &c. 


STRANGE.  459 

in  life,  Mr.  Strange  selected  carefully  about  eighty  copies  of 
ihe  finest  and  must  choice  impressions  of  each  plate  which 
he  engraved,  intending  to  present  them  to  the  public  when 
age  should  disable  him  from  adding  to  their  number. 
Tiie.se  he  collected  into  as  many  volumes,  arranged  in  the 
order  of  their  publication.  To  each  volume  he  prefixed 
two  portraits  of  himself,  on  the  same  plate,  the  one  an 
etching,  the  other  a  finished  proof,  from  a  drawing  by 
John  Bapiiste  Greuse.  This  is  the  last  plate  he  engraved, 
and  is  a  proof  that  neither  his  eyes  nor  hand  were  im- 
paired by  years.  It  shews  likewise  the  use  he  made  both, 
of  aqua  fortis  and  of  the  graver.  Each  volume,  besides  a 
dedication  to  the  king,  contains  an  introduction,  on  the 
progress  of  engraving;  and  critical  remarks  on  the  pic- 
tures from  which  his  plates  were  taken. 

Among  these  engravings,  it  will  be  observed,  there  is 
only  one  from  the  painting  of  any  native  artist  of  this  coun- 
try ;  and  that  is  from  Mr.  West's  apotheosis  of  the  king's 
children.  This  painting  he  solicited  his  majesty's  permis- 
sion to  engrave,  which  was  granted  with  the  utmost  readi- 
ness; and  every  accommodation  which  the  palace  could 
give  was  liberally  furnished  to  him,  while  engaged  in  the 
undertaking  ;  in  the  progress  of  which  he  was  often  visited 
both  by  the  king  and  the  royal  family.  Before  the  work 
could  be  completed  his  avocations  called  him  to  Paris,  and 
he  expected  to  have  been  forced  to  leave  the  engraving 
unfinished  till  his  return  ;  but  his  majesty,  in  a  manner 
peculiarly  flattering,  consented  to  let  him  take  it  with  him. 
In  return  for  so  much  condescension,  when  a  few  copies  of 
this  engraving  had  been  struck  off,  the  plate  itself  was  de- 
stroyed, by  cutting  out  the  principal  figure,  which,  after 
being  gilt,  was  presented  to  his  majesty. 

On  the  5th  of  Jan.  1787,  Mr.  Strange  received  the  ho- 
nour of  knighthood,  a  distinction  which  flattered  him  the 

O  ' 

more,  as  it  appeared  to  mark  a  peculiar  eminence  in  his 
profession  ;  and  proved  that  his  royal  patron  was  fully  sen- 
sible of  the  merit  which  his  minister  had  once  vainly  at- 
tempted to  crush. 

Sir  Robert  enjoyed  bis  honours  but  for  a  short  period. 
On  the  5th  of  July,  1792,  he  fell  a  victim  to  a  complaint 
of  an  asthmatic  nature,  with  which  he  had  been  long  se- 
verely afflicted.  It  is  for  those  who  were  best  acquainted 
with  his  character  while  living,  to  conceive  with  what 
sentiments  of  regret  this  melancholy  event,  though  neither 


460  STRANGE. 

untimely  nor  unexpected,  was  felt  by  his  family  and  friends. 
Of  aM  UK-;-!  whom  ihe  writer  of  this  narrative  ever  knew, 
sir  Hubert  ossessed  the  mildest  and  most  inge- 

nuous manne! s,  i.uned  to  dispositions  of  mind  the  most 
liberal  and  benign.  There  was  in  his  temper  an  endear- 
ing gentleness  which  invited  affection  ;  and  in  his  heart  a 
warm  sincerity,  immediately  perceptible,  which  infallibly 
secured  it.  To  know  him  and  be  his  enemy  was  impossi- 
ble. Unassuming  even  to  a  fault,  and  with  a  diffidence 
which  anxiously  shunned  pretension,  his  opinions  both  of 
thinking  and  of  expressing  himself,  even  on  the  most  un- 
important occasions,  laid  an  irresistible,  though  uncon- 
scious claim,  to  taste,  to  sentiment,  and  to  genius.  These, 
indeed,  a  skilful  physiognomist,  if  such  a  person  exists, 
might  have  read  distinctly  in  the  features  of  his  counte- 
nance;  though  Lavater,  to  support  a  theory,  or  misled  by 
an  imperfect  likeness,  has  asserted  the  contrary.  The 
head  engraved  from  Greuse,  and  prefixed  to  sir  Robert's 
posthumous  volume,  bears  a  strong,  though  scarcely  a 
striking  resemblance,  to  the  original,  and  will  probably  be 
thought  to  justify  what  is  here  advanced.  It  may  certainly 
with  equal  truth  be  added,  that  in  the  whole  of  his  deport- 
ment and  general  demeanour,  there  was  a  remarkable  de- 
gree of  grace  and  modest  dignity. 

To  these  qualities,  for  which  engaging  is  a  phrase  too 
tame,  sir  Robert  added  a  liberality  of  sentiment  upon  all 
subjects,  which  bespoke  such  a  strength  and  soundness  of 
understanding  as  would  probably  have  secured  him  consi- 
derable eminence,  even  if  his  peculiar  talents  had  been 
mistaken,  and  law  had  continued  the  object  of  his  profes- 
sional pursuit.  Though  engaged,  from  the  motives  which 
have  been  suggested,  in  the  support  of  a  cause  more  allied 
to  prejudice  than  connected  with  sound  reason,  reflection 
made  him  early  sensible  of  his  error  (the  romantic  occa- 
sion of  which  points  out,  in  some  degree,  the  generous  ar- 
dour of  his  genius),  and  his  riper  years  paid  the  tribute  of 
sincere  attachment  to  that  establishment  of  the  state,  which 
his  arm  had  once  been  raised  to  overthrow.  With  a  just 
and  enlarged  sense  of  political  relations,  religious  princi- 
ples the  most  zealous  were  conjoined ;  but  his  religion, 
though  warm,  was  tolerant ;  and  his  devotion,  like  his 
other  virtues,  altogether  devoid  of  ostentation. 

He  left  behind   him,  besides  his  lady,  a  daughter  and 
three  sons  ;  all  of  whom  his  honourable  exertions  ivcmlfl 


STRANGE. 

have  sufficed  to  place  in  a  state  of  independence,  even 
though  honest  ambition  had  not  impelled  the  whole  of 
them  to  increase,  by  their  own  efforts,  the  inheritance  de- 
scending from  their  father.  The  extreme  assiduity  with, 
which  he  laboured  for  this  purpose  is  the  only  circum- 
stance in  sir  Robert's  history  which  yet  remains  unnoticed. 
In  the  coldest  seasons,  when  health  permitted  him,  he  went 
to  work  with  the  dawn,  and  the  longest  day  was  too  short 
to  fatigue  his  hand.  Even  the  most  mechanical  parts  of 
his  labours  he  would  generally  perform  himself;  choosing 
rather  to  undergo  a  drudgery  so  unsuitable  to  his  talent* 
than  trust  to  others,  or  be  the  means  of  engaging  them  in 
a  profession,  which,  notwithstanding  his  own  deserved  suc- 
cess, he  never  thought  deserving  of  recommendation.  In 
this  conviction,  he  was  always  extremely  solicitous  to  keep 
the  pencil  out  of  his  children's  hands,  lest  taste  should  have 
influenced  any  of  them  to  prosecute  the  same  pursuits,  to 
which  he  had  devoted  a  life  of  unwearied  diligence  and 
application. 

His  remains  were  interred,  in  compliance  with  what  had 
long  been  known  to  be  his  own  modest  desire,  in  the  most 
private  manner,  in  Covent-garden  churchyard  ;  his  ashes 
being  placed  immediately  adjoining  to  those  of  a  daughter 
once  tenderly  beloved.  A  simple  tablet,  with  his  name  in- 
scribed, is  ail  that  distinguishes  the  spot.  The  works  in- 
deed of  such  an  artist  form  his  truest  and  most  appropriate 
monument.  These  no  time  has  power  to  destroy,  and,  as 
long  as  the  labours  of  taste  shall  be  objects  of  admiration 
among  mankind,  these  assuredly  will  perpetuate  his  repu- 
tation ;  and  with  it  a  name  not  more  to  be  remembered  for 
the  genius  which  gave  it  lustre,  than  the  virtues  by  which 
it  was  adorned.1 

STRATFORD  (NICHOLAS),  a  pious  and  learned  bishop 
of  Chester,  was  born  at  Hemel-Hempstead  in  Hertford- 
shire, in  1633,  and  admitted  scholar  of  Trinity  college, 
Oxford,  in  June  1652,  where  in  1656  he  became  fellow 
and  master  of  arts.  After  taking  orders,  he  married  a  re- 
lation of  Dr.  Dolben,  bishop  of  Rochester,  and  by  his  inte- 
rest was  made  warden  of  Manchester  college  in  Lancashire. 
He  was  aiso  in  1670  made  prebendary  of  Leicester  St. 
Margaret  in  the  church  of  Lincoln;  in  1673,  dean  of  St. 
Asaph,  at  which  time  he  took  his  degree  of  D.  D.  and  was 

g  e<lit.  oft!  >nt.  Mag.  LXIV.  fcc. 


462  S  T  R  A  T  F  O  R  D. 

appointed  chaplain  in  ordinary  to  his  majesty.  In  I683y- 
he  was  presented  to  the  rectory  of  St.  Mary  Aldermanbury, 
London,  and  the  following  year  resigned  the  wardenship 
of  Manchester  college.  In  1689,  he  was  consecrated 
bishop  of  Chester,  over  which  he  presided,  in  constant  re- 
sidence, and  with  the  most  anxious  cave  for  its  interests, 
both  spiritual  and  temporal,  for  eighteen  years.  He  died 
Feb.  12,  1707,  and  was  interred  in  his  cathedral,  where  a 
long  Latin  inscription  records  his  character,  without  exag- 
geration. Besides  some  occasional  sermons,  and  a  charge 
to  his  clergy,  his  works  were  chiefly  levelled  at  the  doc- 
trines of  popery,  in  which  controversy,  he  published,  1. 
"  Discourse  concerning  the  necessity  of  Reformation,  \ 
respect  to  the  errors  and  corruptions  of  the  church  of 
Rome,"  Lond.  1685,  parti.  4to  ;  a  second  part  followed. 
2.  "  Discourse  on  the  Pope's  Supremacy,"  in  answer  to 
Dr.  Godden,  ibid.  1.688,  4to.  3.  "The  people's  right  to 
read  the  Holy  Scriptures  asserted,"  ibid.  1688,  4to.  4. 
"The  lay-Christian's  obligation  to  read  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures," ibid.  1688,  1689,  4to.  5.  "  Examination  "of  Bel- 
larmin'.s  fourteenth  note  concerning  the  unhappy  end  of 
the  church's  enemies,"  &c.  &c. 

Bishop  Stratford  was  one  of  the  first  and  most  zealous 
promoters  of  the  Societies,  established  in  the  beginning 
of  the  last  century  for  the  "  Reformation  of  manners."  In 
the  "  Memoirs  of  Matthew  Henry,"  we  read  that  "  this 
good  work  was  first  set  on  foot  in  that  city  by  those  of 
the  established  church:  they  were  happy  in  a  bishop  and 
dean,  that  had  the  interests  of  practical  religion  very  much 
at  heart,  Dr.  Stratford  and  Dr.  Fog,  men  of  great  learning 
and  true  piety,  both  excellent  preachers,  and  greatly 
grieved  at  the  open  and  scandalous  wickedness  that 
abounded  in  that  city,  and  every  where  throughout  the 
nation."  It  appears  that  a  monthly  lecture  was  established 
at  the  cathedral  for  this  purpose,  and  the  bishop  preached 
the  first  sermon.1 

STRATO,  of  Lampsacus,  the  successor  of  Theophrastus 
in  the  charge  of  the  Peripatetic  school,  flourished  in  the 
third  century  B.  C.  and  presided  eighteen  years  over  that 
school  with  a  hi;;h  degree  of  reputation  for  learning  and 
eloquence.  Ptolemy  Philadelphus  made  him  his  precep- 
tor, and  repaid  his  services  with  a  royal  present  of  eighty 

1  Aih.  Ox.  Tol.  II.— Tong's   Life  of  Matthew  Henry,  p.  243,   24f  1.— Nice!  • 
»'.»n's  Leuers,  vol.  1.  p.  170. 


S  T  R  A  T  O.  463 

talents.  He  died  about  the  end  of  the  127th  Olympiad. 
His  opinions  have  been  suspected  of  atheism.  Brucker 
collects  from  them  that  "  there  is  inherent  in  nature  a  prin- 
ciple of  motion,  or  force,  without  intelligence,  which  is 
the  only  cause  of  the  production  and  dissolution  of  bodies  : 
that  the  world  has  neither  been  formed  by  the  agency  of  a 
deity,  distinct  from  matter,  nor  by  an  intelligent  animat- 
ing principle,  but  has  arisen  from  a  force  innate  to  matter, 
originally  excited  by  accident,  and  since  continuing  to 
act,  according  to  the  peculiar  qualities  of  natural  bodies." 
It  does  not  appear,  adds  Brucker,  that  Strato  expressly 
either  denied  or  asserted  the  existence  of  a  divine  nature; 
but,  in  excluding  all  idea  of  deity  from  the  formation  of  the 
world,  it  cannot  be  doubted,  that  he  indirectly  excluded 
from  his  system  the  doctrine  of  the  existence  of  the  Su- 
preme Being.  Strato  also  taught,  that  the  seat  of  the 
soul  is  in  the  middle  of  the  brain  ;  and  that  it  only  acts  by 
means  of  the  senses.  Brucker  has  a  more  laboured  de- 
fence of  Strato  in  a  dissertation  inserted  in  Schelhorn's 
"  Amputates  Litterarije."  * 

STRAUCHIUS  (^EGIDIUS),  a  German  Luthe-an  divine 
and  mathematician,  but  in  this  country  known  only  as  a 
chronologist,  was  born  in  1632,  at  Wittemberg.     He  studied 
at   Leipsic,    and   was  afterwards  professor  of  theology  at 
Wittembcrg,  and  at  Dantzick.      He  was  frequently  involved 
in  theological  disputes,  both  with  the  Roman  catholics  and 
the  Calvinists,  from  his  intemperate  zeal  in  favour  of  Lu- 
theranism.     He  died  at  Wittemberg  in  1682.    He  published 
some   mathematical   works;   but  was  chiefly  distinguished 
for  his  chronological  and   historical  disquisitions,  of  which 
he  published  a  considerable  number  from    1652   to  1680. 
One  of  the  best  and   most  useful,  his  "Breviarium  Chro- 
nologicum,"   was  long  known  in  this  country  by  three  edi- 
tions (with  improvements  in  each)  of  an  English  transla- 
tion, by   Richard  Sault,  called  in   the  title  F.  R.  S.  but  his 
name  does  not  occur  in  Dr.  Thomson's  list  of  the  members 
of  the  Royal  Society.     Locke's  high  commendation  of  this 
work  probably  introduced  it  as  a  useful  manual  of  chrono- 
logy.    The   edition  of  1745,   which,   we   believe,   was  the 
last,  received  many  improvements  and  corrections,  but  it 
has  since  given  way  to  lesser  chronological  systems.8 

1  Diog.  LaiTt. — Urwker.  2  Diet.    Hist. — Saxii  Ononmt. — Twe  of 

the  family  of  the  Straucliii  arc  rcorjcd  in  Freheri  Tbeatriira. 


464-  S  T  II  E  A  T  E  R. 

STREATER  (ROBERT),  an  English  painter,  was  born  in 
1624,  and,  being  a  person  of  great  industry  as  well  as  ca- 
pacity, arrived  to  an  eminent  degree  of  perfection  in  his 
art.  He  excelled  particularly  in  history,  architecture,  and 
perspective  ;  and  shewed  himself  a  great  master  by  the 
truth  of  his  outlines,  and  skill  in  foreshortening  his  figures. 

*  o  o 

He  was  also  excellent  in  landscape  and  still-life;  and  there 
is  some  fruit  of  his  painting  yet  to  be  seen,  which  is  of  the 
highest  Italian  style,  for  penciling,  judgment,  and  com- 
position. Upon  the  restoration  of  Charles  II.  he  was  made 
his  majesty's  serjeant-painter.  He  became  violently  afflicted 
with  the  stone,  and  resolved  to  be  cut ;  which  the  king 
hearing,  and  having  a  great  kindness  for  him,  sent  on  pur- 
pose to  France  for  a  surgeon,  who  came  and  performed 
the  operation  ;  which,  however,  Streater  did  not  survive. 
He  died  in  1680,  having  spent  his  life  in  great  esteem  and 
reputation.  His  principal  works  were,  the  theatre  at  Ox- 
ford ;  the  chapel  at  AH  Souls  college;  some  ceilings  at 
Whitehall,  now  burnt ;  the  battle  of  the  giants  with  the 
gods,  at  sir  Robert'Clayton's ;  the  pictures  of  Moses  and 
Aaron,  at  St.  Michael's  church  in  Cornhill,  &c.  &c. l 

STREIN,  or  STRINIUS  (RICHARD),  baron  de  Schwar- 
renaw.  a  native  of  Austria,  and  learned  Protestant  writer, 
counsellor  to  the  emperor,  superintendant  of  finances,  and 
his  librarian,  was  born  in  1538.  He  was  much  esteemed 
by  the  literati  of  his  time,  and  died  in  1601,  leaving  a 
treatise  "  De  Gentibus  et  Familiis  Romanorum,"  Paris, 
1559,  fol.  in  which  he  has  thrown  considerable  light  on  the 
Roman  antiquities.  He  wrote  also  some  pieces  against 
Bellarmin,  and  some  discourses  in  favour  of  the  freedom 
of  the  Netherlands,  which  he  published  anonymously  lest 
they  should  offend  the  house  of  Austria,  whose  subject  he 
was.2 

STRIGELIUS  (VICTORINUS),  a  learned  divine  and  pro- 
moter of  the  reformation,  was  born  at  Kaufbeir,  Dec.  26th 
1524.  He  lost  his  father  in  the  year  1527,  and  was  sent  to 
Fribourg  in  Brisgaw  in  1538  ;  where  he  went  through  a 
course  of  philosophy  under  John  Zinckius,  and  removed 
from  thence  in  1  542  to  the  university  of  Wittemberg,  and 
attended  the  lectures  of  Luther  and  Melancthon.  Having 
taken  the  degree  of  master  of  philosophy  in  1544,  he 

1  Walpoie's  Anecdotes.  *  Diet.  Hist. — Baillel  Jugemens. 


S  T  R  I  G  E  L  I  U  S.  465 

applied  himself  to  the  reading  of  private  lectures,  which 
gained  him  great  reputation,  and  he  continued  them  un- 
til the  war  obliged  him  to  leave  Witteuoberg,  and  go  to 
Magdeburg,  and  afterwards  to  Erfurt.  The  war  being 
concluded,  he  went  to  Jena  in  1548.  In  1556,  he  was 
present  at  the  conference  of  Eisenach,  and  disputed  ami- 
cably with  Menius  upon  a  question  relating  to  the  necessity 
of  good  works.  He  reduced  this  controversy  to  seven  pro- 
positions, on  which  the  whole  dispute  turned,  and  which 
Menius  owned  to  be  agreeable  to  the  word  of  God.  Stri- 
gelius  afterwards  drew  up,  by  order  of  the  elector  of 
Saxony,  a  form  of  confession,  to  which  all  the  divines  sub- 
scribed. The  year  following  he  was  attacked  by  Flacciusllly- 
ricus,  and  disputed  with  him  viva  voce  at  Weimar.  The  acts 
of  that  conference  were  published,  but  not  faithfully,  and 
he  complained  that  something  was  retrenched.  In  1559, 
he  was  imprisoned  with  two  others,  owing  to  certain  theolo- 
gical disputes  with  the  divines  of  Weimar,  but  by  the  in- 
fluence of  the  emperor  Maximilian  recovered  his  liberty  at 
the  end  of  three  years,  and  resumed  the  usual  course  of  his 
lectures.  As,  however,  he  found  that  he  was  not  in  a  safe 
situation,  he  retired  from  Jena,  and  paid  no  regard  to  the 
remonstrances  that  university  wrote  to  him  to  engage  him 
to  return.  Removing  to  Leipsic,  he  published  there  notes 
on  the  psalter.  He  obtained  of  the  elector  the  liberty  of 
teaching,  either  in  the  university  of  Wittemberg,  or  in 
that  of  Leipsic,  which  last  he  preferred,  and  beginning  his 
lectures  there  in  March  1563,  explained  not  only  divinity, 
but  likewise  logic  and  ethics.  He  had  carried  his  common- 
places as  far  as  the  article  of  the  eucharist,  and  was  to  en- 
ter upon  that  in  February  1567;  but  a  fresh  opposition  being 
raised  against  him,  in  which  the  elector  would  not  interfere, 
he  retired  into  the  Palatinate,  and  soon  after  was  invited  to 
Heidelberg  to  be  professor  of  ethics,  which  office  he  dis- 
charged with  great  reputation  till  his  death,  June  26th,  1569. 
He  had  the  reputation  of  an  able  philosopher  and  divine,  and 
had  an  incomparable  talent  in  instructing  youth.  His  prin- 
cipal works  are,  1  "  Epitome  doctrinse  de  primo  motu," 
Wittem.  1565,  8vo.  2.  "  Argumenta  et  scholia  in  Nov. 
Test."  3  "  Tres  partes  locorum  communium."  4.  "  En- 
chiridion locorum  Theologicorum."  5.  Scholie  Historic*, 
a  condito  mundo  ad  natum  Christum,  &c."  * 

1  Melchior  Adam,— Thuanus. — Mo»heim. 

VOL.  XXVIII.  H  H 


466  S  T  II  O  Z  Z  I. 

STROZZT  (TiTus  and  HERCULES),  father  and  son,  were 
two  poets  of  Ferrara,  who  both  wrote  in  Latin.  Their 
poems  were  printed  together  at  Venice,  1513,  8vo,  and 
consist  of  elegies  and  other  compositions,  in  a  pure  and 
pleasing  style.  Titus  died  about  1502,  at  the  age  of  eighty. 
Hercules,  his  son,  was  killed  by  a  rival  in  1508.  Strozzi 
was  also  an  illustrious  name  at  Florence,  which  migrated 
withtbe  Medici's  into  France,  and  there  rose  to  the  highest 
military  honours,  as  they  had  in  their  own  country  attained 
the  greatest  commercial  rank.  There  have  been  several 
other  writers  of  the  name,  of  whom  we  shall  notice  only 
one,  as  most  remarkable,  CYRIAC  Strozzi,  who  was  a  pro- 
found student  in  the  works  of  Aristotle,  and  therefore  con- 
sidered as  a  peripatetic  philosopher.  He  was  born  at  Flo- 
rence in  1504.  He  travelled  over  a  great  part  of  the 
world,  arid  pursued  his  studies  wherever  he  went.  He  was 
a  professor  of  Greek  and  of  philosophy  at  Florence,  Bo- 
logna, and  Pisa,  in  all  which  places  he  was  highly  esteemed. 
He  died  in  1565,  at  the  age  of  sixty-one.  He  added  a 
ninth  and  a  tenth  book  to  the  eight  books  of  Aristotle's 
politics,  and  wrote  them  both  in  Greek  and  Latin.  He 
had  so  completely  made  himself  master  of  the  style  and 
sentiments  of  his  great  model,  that  he  has  been  thought, 
in  some  instances,  to  rival  him.  He  had  a  sister,  Laurentia, 
who  wrote  Latin  poems.  Considerable  information  may 
be  found  respecting  the  Strozzi  in  our  authorities. 1 

STRUTT  (JOSEPH),  an  ingenious  artist,  and  the  author 
of  some  valuable  works  on  subjects  of  antiquity,  was  bora 
at  Springfield,  in  Essex,  Oct.  27,  1749,  where  his  father, 
a  man  of  some  property,  was  a  miller,  but  died  when  this 
son  was  only  a  year  and  a  half  old.  His  mother,  however, 
took  a  tender  care  of  his  education,  and  placed  him  at 
Chelmsford  school.  At  the  age  of  fourteen  he  was  ap- 
prenticed to  the  unfortunate  William  Wynne  Ryland  (See 
RYLAND),  and  in  1770  became  a  student  at  the  royal  aca- 
demy, where  he  had  the  gold  and  silver  medals  adjudged 
to  him,  the  former  for  a  painting  in  oil,  his  first  effort, 
and  the  latter  for  the  best  academy-figure.  The  subject 
of  his  oil-painting  was  from  the  ^Eneid  ;  and  it  was  no  small 
triumph  that  his  competitor  was  the  celebrated  Hamilton. 
After  his  apprenticeship  had  expired,  he  took  up  his  resi- 
dence in  the  family  of  his  friend  Mr.  Thane;  and  in  1771 

-  Tiraboschi. — Gin juene  Hist,  Lit.  d'ltalie. — Roscoe's  Leo  X. 


S  T  R  U  T  T.  467 

was  first  introduced  to  the  British  Museum,  where  he  was 
employed  to  make  some  drawings.  The  rich  stores  of 
science  and  of  art  in  that  valuable  repository,  gave  a  new 
bias  to  his  pursuits,  and  he  now  conceived  some  of  those 
literary  labours  connected  with  his  profession,  which  he 
afterwards  executed  ;  and  such  was  his  industry,  that  two 
years  afterwards  (1773)  he  published  his  first  work,  "The 
regal  and  ecclesiastical  Antiquities  of  England,"  4to,  and 
in  June  1774,  the  first  volume  of  what  he  then  called 
"  Jjopba  TCngel-Cynnan  -}  or,  complete  views  of  the  manners, 
customs,  arms,  habits,  &.c.  of  the  inhabitants  of  Eng- 
land, from  the  arrival  of  the  Saxons  to  the  time  of  Henry 
VIII."  A  second  volume  appeared  in  1775,  and  both  were 
reprinted  in  1797.  This  was  a  work  of  great  research  and 
labour,  both  in  the  preparation  of  the  letter- press,  and  of 
the  engravings,  and  he  justly  derived  considerable  reputa- 
tion, on  the  score  of  accuracy  and  judgment.  In  1777 
and  1778  he  published  his  "  Chronicle  of  England,"  in  2 
vols.  4to,  which  he  meant  to  have  extended  to  six,  but 
want  of  encouragement  compelled  him  to  relinquish  his 
design.  The  work,  however,  is  complete  as  far  as  it  goes, 
and  contains  much  valuable  information,  but  is  rather 
heavy,  and  not  what  is  called  a  very  readable  book.  In 
1785  Mr.  Strutt  published  the  first  volume  of  his  "  Dic- 
tionary of  Engravers,"  and  the  second  in  1786.  In  this 
he  received  considerable  assistance  from  the  late  eminent 
sculptor,  John  Bacon,  esq.  As  the  first  work  of  the  kind 
executed  in  this  country,  it  is  deserving  of  high  praise,  and 
although  far  from  being  free  of  defects,  still  remains  the 
only  work  of  the  kind  on  which  reliance  can  be  placed. 
The  introductory  history  of  engraving  is  particularly  cre- 
ditable to  his  judgment  and  industry. 

In  1790,  a  severe  asthmatic  complaint  rendered  a  coun- 
try residence  necessary,  and  he  therefore  settled  for  five 
years  at  Bacon's-farm  in  Hertfordshire,  where  he  employed 
some  part  of  his  time  in  engraving  a  series  of  plates  for  the 
"  Pilgrim's  Progress,"  which  are  said  to  be  as  fair  a  specimen 
of  his  talents  as  an  artist,  as  any  that  can  be  produced  ;  but 
.it  is  not  mentioned  for  what  e  lition  they  were  engraved,  or 
whether  sold  separately.  Here  likewise  his  benevolent  re- 
gard for  the  welfare  of  the  young  induced  him,  at  his  own 
expence,  to  establish  a  Sunday  school  at  Tevvin,  not  far, 
from  his  residence,  which  he  superintended  with  great  care, 
and  had  the  satisfaction  to  find  it  attended  with  the  most 

H  H  2 


468  S  T  11  U   T  T. 

beneficial  consequences  to  the  morals  of  the  villagers.     In 
1795,  he  returned  to  London,  and  began  to  collect  mate- 
rials for  his  work  entitled  "A  complete  view  of  the  Dresses 
and  Habits  of  the  People  of  England,  from  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Saxons  in  Britain  to  the  present  time."     The 
first  volume  of  this  appeared  in  1796,  and  the  second  in 
1799,  4to,  illustrated  by  143  plates.    It  was  about  the  same 
time  published  in  French.     In  1801,  he  published  the  last 
work  he  lived  to  complete,  namely,  EligEamena  XnjelTpeob; 
or,  The  Sports  and  Pastimes  of  the  People  of  England," 
a  performance  which,  from  the  novelty  of  the  subject,  at- 
tracted the  notice  and  admiration  of  readers  of  almost  every 
class.     In  the  beginning  of  October  1802,  Mr.  Strutt,  then 
residing  in  Charles-street,  Hatton-garden,  was  confined  to 
his  chamber  with  his  last  illness,  of  which  he  died  on  the 
16th  of  that  month,  in  the  fifty-third  year  of  his  age.     His 
biographer  sums  up  his  character  in  these  words  :  "  The 
calamities  incident  to  man  were  indeed  his  portion  on  this 
earth ;    and    these    greatly    augmented    by    unkindnesses 
where  he  least  deserved  to  have  met  with  them.     He  was 
charitable   without  ostentation  ;  a   sincere  friend,   without 
intentional  guile;  a  dutiful  son  ;  a  faithful  and  affectionate 
husband  ;  a  good  father:  a  worthy  man  ;  and,  above  all, 
it  is  humbly  hoped,   a  sincere  Christian.      His  natural  ta- 
lents were  great,  but  little  cultivated  by  early  education. 
The  numerous  works  which  he  gave  to  the  world  as  an  au- 
thor, and  as  an  artist,  prove  that  he  employed  his  time  to 
the  best  advantage."     Mr.  Strutt  engraved  many  plates,  in 
dots,  in  imitation   of  chalk,  a  manner  which    he  learned 
from  his  master  Ryland,  and  in  which  softness  and  harmony 
are  blended.       He   also  left  some  MSS.  in  the  possession 
of  his  son,  from    which  have    since    been   published,  1. 
"  Queen  Hoo  Hall,  a  Romance :   and  Ancient  Times,  a 
Drama,"  4  vols.  12mo.  both  which  have  many  characteristics 
of  a  lively  and  well-regulated  imagination;  and,  2.  "  The 
Test  of  Guilt ;  or  Traits  of  Ancient  Superstition,  a  drama- 
tic tale,  &c."  in  poetry,  but  not  much  calculated  to  raise  our 
ideas  of  his  merit  in  that  branch.1 

STRUVIUS  (GEORGE  ADAM),  a  German  scholar,  was 
born  at  Magdebourg,  Sept.  27,  1619.  He  became  pro- 
fessor of  jurisprudence  at  Jena,  and  was  called  to  the  coun- 
cil of  the  dukes  of  Saxony.  He  gave  to  the  public  some 

1  Nichols'*  Cowyer. 


S  T  R  U  V  I  U  S. 

strong  proofs  of  his  learning  at  Helmstadt,  before  the  year 
1653  ;  but  in  that  year  he  published  a  greater  work,  en- 
titled "  Syntagma  Juris  Feudulis;'1  and,  ten  years  after,  a 
similar  compilation  of  civil  law,  under  the  title  of  "  Syn- 
tagma Juris  Civilis."  He  was  twice  married,  and  had  in 
all  twenty-six  children.  He  lived  to  the  age  of  seventy- 
three,  and  died  on  the  15th  of  December,  1(692.  He  had  a 
frankness  of  manners  that  gained  universal  attachment.  His 
form  was  robust,  and  his  diligence  so  indefatigable,  that 
he  applied  to  every  magistrate  the  expression  of  a  Roman 
emperor,  "Oportet  stantem  mori ;"  and  so  completely  acted 
up  to  his  own  principle,  that  he  made  the  report  of  a  law- 
suit a  very  short  time  before  his  death.1 

STRUVIUS  (BuRCARD  GOTTHELF),  one  of  the  many  sons 
of  the  preceding,  was  born  at  Weimar,  May  26,  1671.  His 
father,  who  soon  perceived  his  turn  for  study,  sent  him  to 
ZeitZj  to  profit  by  the  instructions  of  the  learned  Cellarius, 
who  then  lived  in  that  place,  and  he  afterwards  pursued 
his  studies  under  the  ablest  masters  at  Jena,  Helmstadt, 
Francfort,  and  Halle.  In  the  latter  city  he  went  to  the 
bar,  but  did  not  follow  that  profession  long,  devoting  his 
attention  chiefly  to  history  and  public  law,  which  were  his 
favourite  pursuits.  He  paid  some  visits  to  Holland  and 
Sweden,  whence  he  returned  to  Wetzlar,  accompanied  by 
his  brother,  who  had  dissipated  his  fortune  in  search  of  the 
philosopher's  stone.  This  misfortune  affected  our  author, 
who,  after  the  death  of  his  brother,  spent  almost  his  whole 
property  in  paying  his  debts,  and  he  fell  into  a  melancholy 
state,  which  lasted  for  two  years ;  but  having  then  reco- 
vered his  health  and  spirits,  he  was  appointed  librarian  at 
Jena  in  1697,  and  took  his  degree  of  doctor  of  philosophy 
and  law  at  Halle.  In  1704,  he  was  made  professor  of  his- 
tory in  that  university,  and  in  1712  professor  extraordinary 
of  law,  counsellor  and  historiographer  to  the  dukes  of  Sax- 
ony ;  and  at  length  in  1730,  counsellor  of  the  court,  and 
ordinary  professor  of  public  and  feudal  law.  He  died  at 
Jena,  March  25,  1738,  leaving  many  distinguished  proofs 
of  learned  research,  particularly  in  law  and  literary  history. 
One  of  his  first  publications  was  his  "  Bibliotheca  numismatum 
antiquiorum,"  12mo,  which  appeared  at  Jena  in  1693.  2. 
"Epistolaad  Cellarium,  de  Bibliothecis,"  Jena,  1696,  I2mo. 
3.  "  Atuiquitatum  Romanorum  Syntagma,"  Jena,  1701, 4to, 

1  l»loreri. — Life  by  his  son. 


470  S  T  R  U  V  I  U  S. 

This  is  the  first  part  of  a  larger  work,  and  chiefly  respects 
the  religion  of  the  Romans,  but  is  valuable.  4.  "  Tracta- 
tus  Juridicus  de  Balneis  et  Balneatoribus  "  4to,  the  same 
year,  at  Jena  ;  all  his  works  indeed  appear  to  have  been 
published  there.  5.  "  Acta  Literaria,"  vol.1.  1703,  8vo  ; 
vol.11.  1720.  6.  "Bibliotheca  Philosophica,"  1704,  8vo, 
and  again,  1728.  7.  "Bibliotheca  Historica,"  1705,  8vo. 
This,  like  several  other  works  of  this  author,  has  undergone 
several  editions,  and  been  much  augmented  b)  other  edi- 
tors. The  title  to  the  latest  edition  of  this  book  is  "  Biblio- 
theca Historica,  instructa  a  Burcardo  Gotthelf  Siruvio, 
aucta  a  Christi.  Gottlieb  Budero,  nunc  vero  a  Joanne 
Georgio  Meuselio  ita  digesta,  amplificata,  et  emendata,  ut 
pcene  novum  opus  videri  possit."  This  account  of  it  is 
literally  true,  for,  from  a  single  volume,  it  is  now  extended 
to  twenty-two  vols.  8vo,  usually  bound  in  eleven,  1782 — 
1804.  It  forms  a  complete  index  to  the  histories  of  all 
nations.  8.  "  Bibliotheca  Librorum  rariorum,"  1719,  4to. 
9.  "Introductio  ad  Notitiam  Rei  Literariee,  et  usum  Biblio- 
thecarum."  The  fifth  edition  of  this  work,  a  very  thick 
volume,  small  8vo,  with  the  supplements  of  Christopher 
Coler,  and  the  notes  of  Michael  Lilienthal,  was  printed  at 
Leipsic  in  1729  ;  but  the  best  is  that  of  1754  by  John  Chris- 
tian Fischer,  2  vols.  8vo.  10.  A  life  of  his  father,  entitled, 
"  De  Vita  et  Scriptis  Geo.  Adam  Struvii,"  1705,  8vo.  He 
published  also  several  works  in  German,  and  some  others 
in  Latin,  all  of  which  are  mentioned  in  H-  insius's  Biicher 
Lexicon,  published  at  Leipsic  in  1793,  which  is  indeed  a 
very  excellent  index  to  the  works  of  German  authors  in 
particular.1 

STRYPE  (JOHN),  the  most  valuable  contributor  to  ec- 
clesiastical history  and  biography  that  ever  appeared  in 
this  country,  is  said  to  have  been  of  German  extraction. 
His  father  John  Strype,  or  Van  Stryp,  was  a  native  of 
Brabant,  and  fled  to  England  for  the  sake  of  religion.  He 
was  a  merchant  and  silk-throwster.  His  son  is  said  to  have 
been  born  at  Stepney,  Nov.  1,  1643,  but  he  calls  himself 
a  native  of  London,  and  his  baptism  does  not  occur  in  the 
register  of  Stepney,  though  the  names  of  some  of  his 
brothers  and  sisters  are  there  entered,  and  his  father  lies 
buried  in  the  church-yard.  The  reason  why  he  calls  him- 
self a  Londoner  probably  was,  that  he  was  born  in  Strype's 

'  Moreri. — Diet.  Hist. — Bibl.  Germanique. 


S  T  R  Y  P  E.  471 

yard,  formerly  in  Stepney,  but  afterwards  in  the  parish  of 
Christ-church,  Spitalfields.  After  being  educated  in  St. 
Paul's  school  for  six  years,  he  was  matriculated  of  Jesus- 
college,  Cambridge,  July  5,  1662,  whence  he  removed  to 
Catherine-hall,  where  he  took  his  degree  of  A.  B.  in  1665, 
and  that  of  M.  A.  in  1669,  His  first  preferment  was  the 
donative,  or  perpetual  curacy  of  Theydon-Boys  in  the 
county  of  Essex,  conferred  upon  him  July  14,  1669;  but 
he  quitted  it  a  few  months  after,  on  being  appointed  mini- 
ster of  Low-Leyton  in  the  same  county,  which  he  retained 
all  his  life.  The  circumstances  attending  this  preferment 
were  rather  singular,  Although  he  enjoyed  it  above  sixty- 
eight  years,  and  administered  the  sacrament  on  Christmas- 
day,  for  sixty-six  years  successively,  yet  he  was  never 
instituted  nor  inducted.  The  reason  assigned  for  this  irre- 
gularity is,  that  the  living  being  small,  the  patrons  allowed 
the  parish  to  choose  a  minister.  Accordingly  Mr.  Strype 
having,  on  the  vacancy  which  occurred  in  1669,  preached 
before  them,  he  was  duly  elected  to  be  their  curate  and 
lecturer,  arid  they  entered  into  a  subscription-bond  for  his 
maintenance,  promising  to  pay  the  sums  annexed  to  their 
names,  "  provided  he  continues  the  usual  custom  of  his 
predecessor  in  preaching  twice  every  Sunday."  The  sub- 
scriptions in  all  amounted  to  69l.  Many  years  after  this, 
viz  in  1674,  he  was  licensed  by  Dr.  Henchman,  then 
bishop  of  London,  to  preach  and  expound  the  word  of 
God  in  the  parish  church  of  Low-Leyton,  and  to  perform 
the  full  office  of  priest  and  curate  there,  during  the  va- 
cancy of  the  vicarage,  which  license,  and  no  other  instru- 
ment, he  used  to  exhibit  at  the  visitations,  as  late  as  1720. 
In  1677,  as  he  seemed  secure  of  his  possession,  he  re- 
built the  vicarage,  with  140/.  of  his  own  money,  aided  by 
contributions  from  his  parishioners,  and  expended  con- 
siderable sums  also  in  the  repairs  of  the  chancel.  After  his 
death,  his  executors  derived  some  advantage  from  the 
manner  in  which  he  held  this  living;  for,  being  sued  by  his 
successor  for  dilapidations,  only  40/.  could  be  recovered, 
as  the  plea  was,  that  he  had  never  been  instituted  nor  in- 
ducted, and  that  the  parsonage- house  was  built  and  ought 
to  be  repaired  by  the  parish.  It  is  probable  that  the  quiet 
possession  he  so  long  enjoyed  was  owing  to  the  high  esteem 
in  which  he  was  held  by  the  heads  of  the  church,  for  his 
eminent  services  as  a  historian. 


S  T  R  Y  P  E. 

Soon  after  he  came  to  reside  at  Low-Leyton,  he  got 
access  to  the  valuable  manuscripts  of  sir  Michael  Hickes, 
knt.  once  of  Ruckholt's  in  this  parish,  and  secretary  to 
William  lord  Burleigh,  and  began  from  them  some  of 
those  collections  which  he  afterwards  published.  It  ap- 
pears, however,  that  he  extended  his  inquiries  much  far- 
ther, and  procured  access  to  every  repository  where  records 
of  any  kind  were  kept;  made  numerous  and  indeed  volu- 
minous transcripts,  and  employed  many  years  in  compa- 
ring, collating,  and  verifying  facts,  before  he  published 
any  thing.  At  the  same  time  he  carried  on  an  extensive 
correspondence  with  archbishop  Wake,  and  the  bishops  At- 
terbury,  Burnet,  Nicolson,  and  other  eminent  clergymen  or 
laymen,  who  had  a  taste  for  the  same  researches  as  himself. 
Towards  his  latter  days,  he  had  the  sinecure  of  Terring,  in 
Sussex,  given  him  by  archbishop  Tenison,  and  was  lec- 
turer of  Hackney  till  1724,  when  he  resigned  that  lecture. 
When  he  became  old  and  infirm,  he  resided  at  Hackney 
with  Mr.  Harris  an  apothecary,  who  had  married  his  grand- 
daughter, and  there  he  died  Dec.  11,  1737,  at  the  very 
advanced  age  of  ninety-four  *,  one  instance  at  least,  that 
the  most  indefatigable  literary  labour  is  not  inconsistent 
with  health. 

His  publications  were,  1.  "The  second  volume  of  Dr. 
John  Lightfoot's  works,"  1684,  fol.  2.  "  Life  of  Arch- 
bishop Cranmer,"  1694,  fol.  5.  "The  Life  of  Sir  Thomas 
Smith,"  1698,  8vo.  4.  "  Lessons  for  Youth  and  Old  Age," 
1699,  12mo.  5.  "  The  Life  of  Dr.  John  Elmer,  bishop  of 
London,"  1701,  8vo.  6.  "  The  Life  of  Sir  John  Cheke," 
1705, .  8vo.  7.  "  Annals  of  the  Reformation,"  4  vols  ;  vol. 
I.  1709,  (reprinted  1725);  vol.11.  1725;  vol.111.  1728; 
vol.  IV.  1731.  8.  "Life  of  Archbishop  Grindal,"  17 10,  fol. 

9.  "Life  and   Letters  of  Archbishop  Parker,"    1711,  fol. 

10.  "Life   of   Archbishop    Whitgift,"    1718,  folio.      11. 

*  "  I  made  a  visit  to  old  father  in  Brit.  Mus.  Mr.  Carte,  in  the  pre- 
Strype  when  in  town  lastj  he  is  turned  face  to  the  third  volume  of  his  "  His- 
ofrrntty,  yet  very  brisk  and  well,  only  tory  of  England,"  says,  "  When  the 
a  decay  of  sighi  and  memory.  Mr.  present  eail  of  Exeter's  grandfather  set 
Strype  told  me  that  he  had  great  ma-  out  on  his  travels  to  Italy,  his  chap- 
terials  towards  the  life  of  the  old  lord  lain  undertaking  to  write  the  treasurer 
Burghley,  and  Mr.  Fox  the  martyra-  Burleigh's  life,  removed  all  the  State- 
logi«t,  which  he  wished  he  couid  have  papers  to  his  OWN  house  at  Low- Ley- 
finished  ;  bu;  most  of  his  papers  are  ton.  These  were  never  returned  to 
in  clia.acters  ;  his  grandson  is  learning  Burleigh  house,  but  falling  into  the 
to  decypher  them."  Letter  from  Dr.  hands  of  Mr.  Strype,  he  published  therm 
Samuel  Knight,  among  Cole's  MSS.  with  other  memorials  in  8  vols.  fol." 


S  T  R  Y   P  E.  473 

*'  An  accurate  edition  of  Stow's  Survey  of  London," 
17 JO,  '2  \ols.  folio,  for  which  he  was  eighteen  years  col- 
lecting materials.  12.  "  F,cclesiastical  Memorials,"  1721, 
3  vols.  fol.  He  also  published  a  sermon  at  the  assizes  at 
Hertford,  July  8,  I68y;  and  some  ot>>er  single  sermons, 
in  1695,  161*9,  1707,  1711,  1724.  He  kept  an  exact  diary 
of  his  own  life,  vvhu.li  was  once  in  the  possession  of  Mr. 
Harris;  and  six  volumes  of  his  literary  correspondence 
were  latt-ly  in  the  possession  of  the  rev.  Mr.  Knight,  of 
Milton,  in  Cambridgeshire.  The  materials  for  many  of 
his  works,  part  of  the  Lansdowne  library,  are  now  ID  the 
British  Museum.  Dr.  Birch  observes,  that  "  his  fidelity 
and  industry  will  always  give  a  value  to  his  numerous  writ- 
ings, however  destitute  of  the  graces,  and  even  uniformity 
of  style,  and  the  art  of  connecting  facts."  We  should  be 
sorry,  however,  to  see  the  simple  and  artless  style  of 
honest  Strype  exchanged  for  any  modernizing  improve- 
ments. There  is  a.  charai  in  his  manner  which  seems  to 
bring  us  close  to  the  periods  of  which  he  is  writing,  and 
renders  his  irregular  and  sometimes  digressive  anecdotes 
extremely  interesting.  We  can  remember  the  time  when 
Strype's  works  were  much  neglected,  and  sold  for  little 
more  than  waste-paper  ;  but  it  is  much  to  the  credit  of  the 
present  age,  that  they  have  now  risen  vt  ry  high  in  value, 
and  are  yet  purchased  with  eagerness.  A  new  edition  of 
his  life  of  Cranmer,  with  some  important  additions,  ha* 
lately  issued  from  the  Clarendon  press,  and  is  to  be  fol- 
lowed by  the  lives  of  the  other  archbishops,  and  his  "  An- 
nals." ' 

STUART,  ARABELLA.  See  ARABELLA. 

STUART  (GILBERT),  a  Scottish  historian,  was  born  at 
Edinburgh,  in  17-±2.  His  father,  Mr.  George  Stuart,  who 
died  in  17£>3,  was  professor  of  humanity  in  that  university, 
and  a  man  of  considerable  eminence  fur  classical  taste  and 
literature.  Gilbert  Stuart,  having  made  the  usual  prepa' 
rations  in  the  grammar-school  and  the  university,  applied 
himself  to  the  study  of  jurisprudence.  For  thr-.t  profession, 
however,  he  is  said  to  have  been  disqualified  by  indolence  : 
and  he  early  began  to  indulge  his  passion  for  general  litera- 
ture, and  boundless  dissipation.  Yt  t  his  youth  was  not 
wasted  altogether  in  idleness,  for  before  he  had  completed 

1  Biog.  Brit. — Lysons's  EnTirons. — C«;!e's  MS  Athena;  in  Brit.  Mos. — Gent. 
Mag.  LIV.  and  LXI. 


474  STUART. 

his  twenty-second  year,  he  published  "An  Historical  Dis- 
sertation concerning  the  Antiquity  of  the  British  Constitu- 
tion," which  had  so  much  merit  as  to  obtain  for  him  the 
degree  of  doctor  of  laws,  from  the  university  of  Edinburgh. 
After  an  interval  of  some  years,  in  which  he  could  not  have 
neglected  his  studies,  he  produced,  2.  "  A  View  of  Society 
in  Europe,  in  its  progress  from  rudeness  to  refinement ;  or 
inquiries  concerning  the  history  of  laws,  government,  and 
manners."  This  is  a  valuable  work,  and  proves  that  he 
had  meditated  with  much  attention  on  the  most  important 
monuments  of  the  middle  ages.  About  the  time  when  the 
first  edition  of  this  book  appeared,  Dr.  Stuart  applied  for 
the  professorship  of  public  law  in  the  university  of  Edin- 
burgh ;  but  being  disappointed,  removed  soon  after  to 
London.  He  there  became  from  1768  to  1773,  one  of  the 
writers  of  the  Monthly  Review.  He  then  returned  to 
Edinburgh,  where  he  began  a  magazine  and  review,  called 
from  the  name  of  that  city,  the  first  number  of  which  ap- 
peared in  October  1773.  In  this  he  was  assisted  by  Wil- 
liam Smellie  (See  SMELLIE)  ;  but  owing  to  the  virulent 
spirit  displayed  by  the  writers,  it  was  obliged  to  be  discon- 
tinued in  1776.  In  1778  his  View  of  Society' was  repub- 
lished.  In  1782  he  again  visited  London,  and  engaged  in 
the  Political  Herald,  and  the  English  Review  ;  but  being 
attacked  by  two  formidable  disorders,  the  jaundice  and  the 
dropsy,  he  returned  by  sea  to  his  native  country,  where 
he  died,  in  his  father's  house,  August  13,  1786. 

The  other  works  of  Dr.  Gilbert  Stuart  were,  3.  An  ano- 
nymous pamphlet  against  Dr.  Adam,  who  had  published  a 
Latin  grammar,  1772.  4.  "  Observations  concerning  the 
public  Law  and  Constitutional  History  of  Scotland,"  Edin- 
burgh, 1779,  8vo.  In  this  work  he  critically  examined  the 
preliminary  book  to  Dr.  Robertson's  History  of  Scotland. 
5.  "  The  History  of  the  Establishment  of  the  Reformation 
of  Religion  in  Scotland,"  London,  1780,  4to,  a  work  com- 
mended for  the  easy  dignity  of  the  narrative,  and  for  the 
more  extraordinary  virtue  of  strict  impartiality.  6.  "  The 
History  of  Scotland,"  from  the  establishment  of  the  refor- 
mation to  the  death  of  queen  Mary,  London,  1782,  2  vols. 
His  chief  purpose  in  this  book  was  to  vindicate  the  charac- 
ter of  that  queen  ;  but  the  whole  is  well  written,  and  has 
been  very  generally  read  and  admired.  7.  He  also  revised 
and  published  "Sullivan's  Lectures  on  the  Constitution  of 
England,"  This  was  about  1 774.  Dr.  Stuart  was  about  the 


STUART.  474 

iRnicldle  size  and  justly  proportioned.  His  countenance  was 
modest  and  expressive,  sometimes  announcing  sentiments 
of  glowing  friendship,  of  which  he  is  said  to  have  been 
truly  susceptible  ;  at  others,  displaying  strong  indignation, 
against  folly  and  vice,  which  he  had  also  shewn  in  his  wri- 
tings. With  all  his  ardour  for  study,  he  yielded  to  the  love 
of  intemperance,  to  which,  notwithstanding  a  strong  con- 
stitution, he  fell  an  early  sacrifice.  His  talents  were  great, 
and  his  writings  useful  j  yet  in  his  character  altogether 
there  appears  to  have  been  little  that  is  worthy  of  imitation. 
He  is  painted  in  the  most  unfavourable  colours  by  Mr. 
Chalmers,  in  his  Life  of  Ruddiman,  who  says,  "  Such  was 
Gilbert  Stuart's  laxity  of  principle  as  a  man,  that  he  con- 
sidered ingratitude  as  one  of  the  most  venial  of  sins.  Such 
was  his  conceit  as  a  writer,  that  he  regarded  no  one's  me- 
rits but  his  own.  Such  were  his  disappointments,  both 
as  a  writer  and  a  man,  that  he  allowed  his  peevishness 
to  sour  into  malice  ;  and  indulged  his  malevolence  till  it 
settled  in  corruption."  If  this  character  be  not  too  harshly 
drawn,  it  is  impossible  that  much  should  be  alleged  in  its 
defence.1 

STUART  (JAMES),  a  celebrated  architect  and  lover  of 
classical  antiquity,  was  born  in  London,  in  1713.  His  pa- 
rents resided  in  Creed-lane,  Ludgate-street.  His  father, 
who  was  a  mariner,  was  a  native  of  Scotland,  and  his  mo- 
ther of  Wales.  Their  circumstances  were  very  narrow; 
but  they  were  honest  and  worthy  people,  and  gave  their 
son  the  best  education  in  their  power.  Mr.  Stuart,  who 
was  the  eldest  of  four  children,  was  left  utterly  unprovided 
for  when  his  father  died.  He  exhibited,  however,  at  a 
very  early  period  of  life,  the  dawnings  of  a  strong  imagi- 
nation, splendid  talents,  and  an  ardent  thirst  for  know- 
ledge. By  whom  he  was  educated  we  have  no  account; 
but  drawing  and  painting  were  his  earliest  occupations; 
and  these  he  pursued  with  such  industry  and  perseverance, 
that,  while  yet  a  boy,  he  contributed  very  essentially  to 
the  support  of  his  widowed  mother  and  her  little  family,  by 
designing  and  painting  fans  for  a  person  in  the  Strand.  He 
placed  one  of  his  sisters  under  the  care  of  this  person  as 
his  shop-woman  ;  and  he  continued,  for  many  years,  to 
pursue  the  same  mode  of  maintaining  the  rest  of  his  family. 

i  Chalmers's  Life  of  Ruddiman,  p.  239  —  Kerr'a  Life  of  Smellie,  vol.  I.  p.  393, 
and  4S9. — D'Israelt's  Calamities  of  Author*. 


476  STUART. 

Notwithstanding  the  great  pressure  of  such  a  charge, 
and  the  many  temptations  to  dissipation,  which  are  too  apt 
to  attract  a  young  man  of  lively  genius  and  extensive  ta- 
lents, Mr.  Stuart  employed  the  greatest  part  of  his  time  in 
such  studies  as  tended  to  perfect  himself  in  the  art  he 
loved.  He  acquired  a  very  accurate  knowledge  of  ana- 
tomy ;  he  became  a  correct  draughtsman,  and  rendered 
himself  master  of  geometry,  and  all  the  branches  of  the 
mathematics,  so  necessary  to  form  the  mind  of  a  good 
painter  :  and  it  is  no  less  extraordinary  th^n  true,  that  ne- 
cessity and  application  were  his  only  instructors.  He  has 
often  confessed,  that  he  was  first  led  into  the  obligation  of 
studying  the  Latin  language,  by  a  desire  to  understand 
what  was  written  under  prints,  published  after  pictures  of 
the  ancient  masters. 

As  his  years  increased,  knowledge  attended  their  pro- 
gress :  he  acquired  a  great  proficiency  in  the  Greek  lan- 
guage j  and  his  unparalleled  strength  of  mind  carried  him 
into  a  familiar  association  with  most  of  the  sciences,  and 
principally  that  of  architecture.  His  stature  was  of  the 
middle  size,  but  athletic.  He  possessed  a  robust  consti- 
tution, invincible  courage,  and  inflexible  perseverance. 
Of  this  the  following  fact  is  a  proof:  a  wen,  in  his  fore- 
head, had  grown  to  an  inconvenient  size  ;  and,  one  day, 
being  in  conversation  with  a  surgeon,  he  asked  him  how  it 
could  be  removed.  The  surgeon  acquainted  him  with  the 
length  of  the  process ;  to  which  Mr.  Stuart  objected,  on 
account  of  the  interruption  of  his  pursuits,  and  asked 
whether  he  could  not  cut  it  out,  and  then  it  would  be  only 
necessary  to  heal  the  part.  The  surgeon  replied  in  the 
affirmative,  but  mentioned  the  very  excruciating  pain  and 
danger  of  such  an  operation.  Mr.  Stuart,  after  a  minute's 
reflection,  threw  himself  back  in  his  chair,  and  said,  "  I 
will  sit  stil! ;  do  it  now."  The  operation  was  performed 
with  success. — With  such  qualifications,  although  yet 
almost  in  penury,  he  conceived  the  design  of  visiting  Rome 
and  Athens ;  but  the  ties  of  filial  and  fraternal  affection 
induced  him  to  postpone  his  journey,  till  he  could  insure 
a  certain  provision  for  his  mother,  and  his  brother  and  se- 
cond sister.  His  mother  died  :  he  was  soon  after  enabled 
to  place  his  brother  and  sister  in  a  situation  that  was  likely 
to  produce  them  a  comfortable  support;  and  then,  with  a 
very  scanty  pittance  in  his  pocket,  he  set  out  on  foot  for 
Rome  ;  and  thus  he  performed  the  greatest  part  of  his 


STUART.  477 

journey ;    travelling  through   Holland,    France,    &c.   and 
stopping  through  necessity  at   Paris,    and    several  other 
places  in  his  way,  where,  by  his  ingenuity  as  an  artist,  he 
procured  some  moderate  supplies,  towards  prosecuting  the 
rest  of  his  journey.      When   arrived   at   Rome,    he  soon 
formed  an  intimate  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Nicholas  Revett, 
an  eminent  painter  and  architect.     From  this  gentleman 
Mr.  Stuart  first  caught  his  ideas  of  that  science,  in  which 
(quitting  the  profession   of  a  painter)   he  afterward  made 
such  a  conspicuous  figure.    During  his  residence  at  Rome, 
he  studied  architecture  and  fortification  ;  and  in  1748  they 
jointly  circulated  "Proposals  for  publishing  an  authentic 
description  of  Athens,  &c."  For  that  purpose,  they  quitted 
Rome  in  March  1750,  but  did  not  reach  Athens  till  March 
1751,  where,  in  about  two  months,  they  were  met  by  Mr. 
Wood  and  Mr.  Dawkins,    whose  admiration   of  his  great 
qualities  and  wonderful  perseverance  secured  to  him  their 
patronage.      Dawkins  was  glad  to  encourage  a  brother  in 
scientific  investigation,  who  possessed   equal  ardour  with 
himself,  but  very  unequal  resources  for  prosecuting  those 
inquiries  in  which  they  were  both  engaged  ;  having  at  the 
same  time  so  much  similarity  of  disposition,  and  ardour  of 
pursuit.     During  his  residence  at  Athens  Mr.  Stuart  be- 
came a  master  of  architecture  and  fortification  ;  and  having 
no  limits  to  which  his  mind  would  be  restricted,  he  engaged 
in  the  army  of  the  queen  of  Hungary,  where  he  served  a 
campaign  voluntarily,  as  chief  engineer.     On  his  return  to 
Athens,  he  applied  himself  more  closely  to  make  drawings, 
and  take  the  exact  measurements  of  the  Athenian  architec- 
ture.    He  left  Athens  in  1755,  still  accompanied  by  his 
friend   Revett  ;    and  after  visiting  Thessalonica,  Smyrna, 
and  the  islands  of  the  Archipelago,  arrived  in  England  in 
the  beginning  of  1755.     The   result  of  their  classical  la- 
bours was  the  appearance,  in  1762,  of  the  first  volume  in 
folio  of  "  The  Antiquities  of  Athens  measured  and  deli- 
neated, by  James  Stuart,  F.  R.  S.  and   S.A.   and  Nicholas 
Revett,   painters  and  architects."     This  work  is  a  very  va- 
luable acquisition  to  the  lovers  of  antiquities  and  the  fine 
arts,  and  is  a  proper  companion  to   the  noble  descriptions 
of  Palmyra  and   Balhec,  by  Mr.  Dawkins  and  Mr.  Wood, 
by  whom  the  two  artists  were  early  encouraged  in  the  pro- 
secution of  a  design  so  worthy  of  the  most  distinguished 
patronage.     To  this  work,   and   the   long  walk  which   the 
author  performed  to  compose  it,  he  has  been  indebted  for 


47S  S  T  tr  A  H  T. 

the  name  of  the  Athenian  Stuart,  universally  decreed -to 
him  by  the  learned  of  this  country. 

Upon  his  return  to  England,  Mr.  Stuart  was  received 
into  the  late  Mr.  Davvkins's  family;  and,  among  the  many 
patrons  which  the  report  of  his  extraordinary  qualifications 
acquired  him,  the  first  lord  Anson  led  him  forward  to  the 
reward  most  judiciously  calculated  to  suit  his  talents  and 
pursuits.  It  was  by  his  lordship's  appointment  that  Mr. 
Stuart  became  surveyor  to  Greenwich  hospital,  which  he 
held  till  the  day  of  his  death  with  universal  approbation. 
He  likewise  constantly  received  the  notice  and  esteem  of 
the  marquis  of  Rockingham,  and  of  the  principal  nobility 
and  gentry  of  taste  and  power.  Besides  his  appointment 
at  Greenwich  hospital,  all  the  additions  and  rebuilding  of 
that  part  which  was  destroyed  by  the  fire  there,  were  con- 
ducted under  his  direction.  He  likewise  built  several 
houses  in  London;  Mr.  Anson's  in  St. James's-square,  Mrs. 
Montague's  in  Portman-square,  &c. 

In  whatever  new  project  he  engaged,  he  pursued  it  with 
such  avidity,  that  he  seldom  quitted  it  while  there  was  any 
thing  further  to  be  learned  or  understood  from  it.  Thus  he 
rendered  himself  skilful  in  the  art  of  engraving,  and  of 
sculpture  ;  and  his  enthusiastic  love  for  antique  elegance 
made  him  also  an  adept  in  all  the  remote  researches  of  an 
antiquary.  But  in  this  display  of  his  talents,  a  just  tribute 
to  his  memory  as  a  man  must  not  be  forgotten.  Those 
who  knew  him  intimately,  and  had  opportunities  of  re- 
marking the  nobleness  of  his  soul,  will  join  in  claiming  for 
him  the  title  of  Citizen  of  the  World  ;  and,  if  he  could  be 
charged  with  possessing  any  partiality,  it  was  to  merit,  in, 
whomsoever  he  found  it. 

Mr.  Stuart  was  twice  married  ;  first  in  1760,  to  his  house- 
keeper, a  very  worthy  woman,  by  whom  he  had  a  son,  who 
died  an  infant ;  his  second  wife,  who  survived  him,  was  the 
daughter  of  Mr.  Blackstone,  a  farmer  in  Kent ;  and  to  this 
lady,  who  was  very  young,  he  was  united  at  the  age  of 
sixty- seven.  By  her  he  had  four  children  ;  one  of  whom 
a  boy  was  the  very  image  and  transcript  of  himself,  both  in 
body  and  mind.  He  exhibited  an  astonishing  genius  for 
drawing,  even  before  he  was  three  years  old,  and  would 
imitate  with  pen,  or  pencil,  any  thing  that  he  saw  lying  on 
his  father's  table.  This  child  (the  darling  of  his  father) 
died  of  the  small-pox  toward  the  end  of  1787.  Mr.  Stuart's 
health  was  observed  to  decline  very  rapidly  from  that  time. 


STUART.  479 

He  expired,  at  his  house,  in  Leicester-square,  on  the  2d  of 
February,  1788,  in  the  seventy-sixth  year  of  his  age,  and 
and  was  buried  in  a  vault  of  the  church  of  St.  Martin's  in 
the  Fields.  Two  volumes  of  his  great  work,  "  The  Anti- 
quities of  Athens,"  have  been  published  since  his  death ; 
the  2d  in  1790,  the  3d  in  1794  :  the  former  by  Mr.  New- 
ton, the  latter  by  Mr.  Revely.  A  fourth  volume,  containing 
a  great  many  plates,  has  just  been  published  under  the 
superintendance  of  Mr. Taylor,  of  the  architectural  library, 
Holborn.1 

STUBBE   (HENRY),  an   English   writer   of  uncommon 
parts  and  learning,   and  very  celebrated  in  his  day,  was 
born  at  Partney,   near  Spilsbye  in  Lincolnshire,  Feb.  28, 
1631.     His  father  was  a  minister,  and  lived  at  Spilsbye; 
but  being  inclined  to  be  an  anabaptist,  and  forced  to  leave 
that  place,  he  went  with  his  wife  and  children  into  Ire- 
land.    Upon  the  breaking  out  of  the  rebellion  there  in 
1641,  the  mother  fled  with  her  son   Henry  into  England; 
and,  landing  at  Liverpool,    went  on  foot  from  thence  to 
London,  where  she  gained  a  comfortable  subsistence  by 
her  needle,  and  sent  her  son  Henry,  being  then  ten  years 
of  age,   to  Westminster- school.     There   Dr.  Busby,  the 
master,  was  so  struck  with  the  surprising  parts  of  the  boy, 
that  he  shewed  him  more  than  ordinary  favour;  and  re- 
commended him  to  the  notice  of  sir  Henry  Vane,  junior, 
who  one  day  came  accidentally  into  the  school.    Sir  Henry 
took  a  fancy  to  him,  and  frequently  relieved  him  with  mo- 
ney,  and  gave  him  the  liberty  of  resorting  to  his  house, 
*'  to  fill  that  belly,"  says  Stubbe,  "  which  otherwise  had 
no  sustenance  but  what  one  penny  could  purchase  for  his 
dinner,  and  which  had  no  breakfast  except  he  got  it  by 
making  somebody's  exercise."     He  says  this  in  the  pre- 
face to  his  "  Epistolary  Discourse  concerning  Phleboto- 
my ;"  where  many  other  particulars  of  his  life,  mentioned 
by  Mr.  Wood,  and  here  recorded,  are  also  to  be  found. 
Soon  after   he  was  admitted  on  the  foundation,  and  his 
master,  in  consideration  of  his  great  progress  in  learning, 
gave  him  additional  assistance  in  books  and  other  neces- 
saries. 

In  1649,  he  was  elected  student  of  Christ-church  in  Ox- 
ford ;  where,  shewing  himself  too  forward,  saucy,  and  con- 
ceited, he  was,  as  Mr.  Wood  relates,  often  kicked  and 

1  Nichols's  Bowyer.— Life  prefixed  to  vol.  IV. 


480  S  T  U-B.  B  :£. 

beaten.  However,  through  the  interest  of  his  patron,  he 
was  certainly  of  no  small  consequence  ;  for  the  oath,  called 
the  Engagement,  being  framed  by  the  parliament  that 
same  year,  was  some  time  after  sent  down  to  the  university 
by  him  ;  and  he  procured  some  to  be  turned  out,  and 
others  to  be  spared,  according  as  he  was  influenced  by  af- 
fection or  dislike.  While  he  continued  an  under-graduate, 
it  was  usual  with  him  to  discourse  in  the  public  schools 
very  fluently  in  Greek,  which  conveys  no  small  idea  of  his 
learning.  After  he  had  taken  a  bachelor  of  arts  degree,  he 
went  into  Scotland,  and  served  in  the  parliament  army  there 
from  1653  to  1655  :  then  he  returned  to  Oxford,  and  took 
a  master's  degree  in  1656;  and,  at  the  motion  of  Dr. 
Owen,  was  in  1657  made  second-keeper  of  the  Bodleian 
library,  under  Dr.  Barlow.  He  made  great  use  and  ad- 
vantage of  this  post  for  the  assistance  of  his  studies,  and 
held  it  till  1659  ;  when  he  was  removed  from  it,  as  well  as 
from  his  place  of  student  of  Christ  church  ;  for  he  pub- 
lished the  same  year,  "A  Vindication"  of  his  patron  sir 
Henry  Vane;  "  An  Essay  on  the  good  Old  Cause;"  and  a 
piece,  entitled  "  Light  shining  out  of  Darkness,  with  an 
Apology  for  the  Quakers,"  in  which  he  reflected  upon  the 
clergy  and  the  universities. 

After  his  ejection,  he  retired  to  Stratford  upon  Avon  in 
Warwickshire,  in  order  to  practise  physic,  which  he  had 
studied  some  years ;  and  upon  the  Restoration  applied  to 
Dr.  Morley,  soon  after  bishop  of  Winchester,  for  protection 
in  his  retirement.  He  assured  him  of  an  inviolable  passive 
obedience,  which  was  all  he  could  or  would  pay,  till  the 
covenant  was  renounced  ;  and,  upon  the  re-establishment 
of  episcopacy,  received  confirmation  from  the  hands  of  his 
diocesan.  In  1661,  he  went  to  Jamaica,  being  honoured 
with  the  title  of  his  majesty's  physician  for  that  island ; 
but  the  climate  not  agreeing  with  him,  he  returned  and 
settled  at  Stratford.  Afterwards  he  removed  to  Warwick, 
where  he  gained  very  considerable  practice,  as  likewise  at 
Bath,  which  he  frequented  in  the  summer  season.  He  did 
not,  however,  apply  so  closely  to  the  business  of  his  pro- 
fession, as  to  neglect  every  thing  else:  on  the  contrary,  he 
was  ever  attentive  to  the  transactions  of  the  literary  world, 
and  was  often  a  principal  party  concerned.  Before  the 
Restoration,  he  had  joined  Mr.  Hobbes,  with  whom  he  was 
intimately  acquainted,  against  Dr.  Wallis,  and  other  ma- 
thematicians ;  and  had  published  a  very  smart  tract  or  two 


S  T  U  B  B  E.  431 

ill  that  controversy,  in  which  he  was  regarded  as  second  to 
Hobbes.  After  the.  Restoration,  he  was  engaged  in  a  con- 
troversy with  some  members  of  the  Royal  Society,  or  rather 
with  the  Royal  Society  itself;  in  which,  far  from  being  a 
second,  he  was  now  a  principal,  and  indeed  alone. 

The  Royal  Society  hau  from  its  first  institution  alarmed 
the  zealous  admirers  of  the  ok!  philosophy,  who  affected  to 
represent  the  views  of  many  of  its  members  to  be  the  de- 
struction, not  only  of  true  learning,  but  even  of  religion 
itself.  This  gave  occasion  to  Dr.  Sprat's  "  History  of  the 
Royal  Society"  in  1667,  and  to  a  discourse  by  Mr.  Glan- 
vill  in  1668,  under  the  title  of  "  Plus  ultra,  or,  the  progress 
and  advancement  of  Knowledge  since  the  days  of  Aristotle, 
in  an  account  of  some  of  the  most  remarkable  late  im- 
provements of  practical  useful  learning,  to  encourage  phi- 
losophical endeavours."  Mr.  Stubbe  attacked  both  these 
works  with  great  warmth  and  severity,  yet  with  prodigious 
acuteness  and  learning,  in  a  4tu  volume,  entitled,  "  Le- 
gends no  history,  or  a  specimen  of  some  animadversions 
upon  the  History  of  the  Royal  Society;  together  with  the 
Plus  ultra  of  Mr.  Glanvill,  reduced  to  a  Non  plus,  1670." 
In  this  book  he  charges  the  members  of  the  Royal  Society 
with  intentions  to  bring  contempt  upon  ancient  and  solid 
learning,  especially  the  Aristotelian  philosophy,  to  under- 
mine the  universities,  to  destroy  the  established  religion, 
and  even  to  introduce  popery.  This  laid  the  foundation 
of  a  controversy,  which  was  carried  on  with  asperity  for 
some  time;  and  Stubbe  wrote  several  pieces  to  support  his 
allegations.  He  w;is  encouraged  in  this  affair  by  Dr.  Fell, 
who  was  no  admirer  of  the  Royal  Society  ;  and  he  made 
himself  so  obnoxious  to  that  body,  that,  as  he  himself  in- 
forms us,  "  they  threatened  to  write  his  life." 

The  writings  of  Mr.  Stubbe,  though  his  life  was  no  long 
one,  were  extremely  numerous,  and  upon  various  subjects. 
Those  which  he  published  before  the  Restoration  were 
against  monarchy,  ministers,  universities,  churches,  and 
every  thing  which  was  dear  to  the  royalists  ;  yet  he  did 
this  more  to  please  and  serve  his  friend  and  patron  sir 
Henry  Vane,  than  out  of  principle,  or  attachment  to  a. 
party  :  and  when  his  antagonists  insulted  him  for  changing 
his  tone  afterwards,  he  made  no  scruple  at  all  to  confess 
it:  "  My  youth,"  says  he,  "and  other  circumstances,  in- 
capacitated me  from  rendering  him  any  great  services  ;  but 
all  that  I  did,  and  all  that  I  wrote,  had  no  other  aim  :  nor 

VOL.  XXVIII.  I  i 


482  STUBS  E. 

do  I  care  how  much  any  man  can  inodiate  my  former  writ- 
ings, so  long-  as  they  were  suhservient  to  him."  "The 
truth  is,  and  all,"  says  Wood,  "who  knew  him  in  Oxford, 
knew  this  of  him  for  certain,  that  he  was  no  frequenter  of 
conventicles,  no  taker  of  the  covenant  or  engagement,  no 
contractor  of  acquaintance  with  notorious  sectaries;  that 
he  neither  enriched  nor  otherwise  advanced  himself  during 
the  late  troubles,  nor  shared  the  common  odium,  and  dan- 
gers, or  prosperity  of  his  benefactor."  On  this  account  he 
easily  made  his  peace  with  the  royalists,  after  the  Restora- 
tion :  yet  not,  as  it  should  seem,  without  some  overt  acts 
on  his  part,  for,  besides  conforming  entirely  to  the  church 
of  England,  he  wrote  a  small  piece  against  Harrington's 
"  Oceana,"  in  1660  ;  which,  in  the  preface  to  "The  good 
old  Cause,"  printed  in  1659,  he  had  extolled,  "as  if," 
says  Wood,  "it  were  the  pattern  in  the  mount."  By  these 
means  he  made  amends  for  all  the  offence  he  had  given  : 
"I  have  at  length,"  says  he,  "  removed  all  the  umbrages 
I  ever  lay  under;  I  have  joined  myself  to  the  church  of 
England,  not  only  on  account  of  its  being  publicly  im- 
posed (which  in  things  indifferent  is  no  small  considera- 
tion, as  I  learned  from  the  Scottish  transactions  at  Perth  ;) 
but  because  it  is  the  least  defining,  and  consequently  the 
most  comprehensive  and  fitting  to  be  national." 

After  a  life  of  almost  perpetual  war  and  conflict  in  va- 
rious ways,  this  extraordinary  man  came  to  an  untimely 
end  :  yet  not  from  any  contrivance  or  designs  of  his  ene- 
mies, although  his  impetuous  and  furious  zeal  hurried  him 
to  say  that  they  often  put  him  in  fear  of  his  life.  Being  at 
Bath  in  the  summer  season,  he  had  a  call  from  thence  to  a 
patient  at  Bristol;  and  whether  because  it  was  desired,  or 
from  the  excessive  heat  of  the  weather,  he  set  out  in  the 
evening,  and  went  a  by-way.  Mr.  Wood  says  that  "  his 
head  was  then  intoxicated  with  bibbing,  but  more  with 
talking  and  snuffing  of  powder  :"  be  that  as  it  may,  he  was 
drowned  in  passing  a  river  about  two  miles  from  Bath,  on 
the  12th  of  July,  1676.  His  body  was  taken  up  the  next 
morning,  and  the  day  after  buried  in  the  great  church  at 
Bath ;  when  his  old  antagonist  Glanvill,  who  was  the  rec- 
tor, preached  his  funeral  sermon  ;  but,  as  it  is  natural  to 
imagine,  without  saying  much  in  his  favour.  Soon  after,  a 
physician  of  that  place  made  the  following  epitaph,  which, 
though  never  put  over  him,  deserves  to  be  recorded  : 
u  Memorise  sacrum.  Post  varies  casus,  et  magna  rerum 


S  T  U  B  B  E.  483 

discrimina,  tandem  hie  quiescunt  mortalitatis  exuviae  Hen- 
rici  Stubbe,  medici  Wanvicensis,  quondam  ex  cede  Christi 
Oxoniensis,  rei  medicae,  historicse,  ac  mathematics  peritis- 
simi,  judkii  vivi,  &  librorum  heliuonis  :  qui,  quum  multa 
scripserat,  &  plures  sanaverat,  aliorum  saluti  sedulo  pro- 
spiciens,  propriam  neglexit.  Obiit  aquis  frigidissuffocatus, 
12  die  Julii,  A.D.  1679." 

Wood  was  contemporary  with  Stubbe  at  Oxford,  and 
has  given  him  this  character  :  that,  "  he  was  a  person  of 
most  admirable  parts,  and  had  a  most  prodigious  memory  ; 
was  the  most  noted  Latinist  and  Grecian  of  his  age  ;  was 
a  singular  mathematician,  and  thoroughly  read  in  all  poli- 
tical matters,  councils,  ecclesiastical  and  profane  histories; 
had  a  voluble  tongue,  and  seldom  hesitated  either  in  pub- 
lic disputes  or  common  discourse;  had  a  voice  big  and  ma- 
gisterial, and  a  mind  equal  to  it ;  was  of  an  high  generous 
nature,  scorned  money  and  riches,  and  the  adorers  of  them  ; 
was  accounted  a  very  good  physician,  and  excellent  in  the 
things  belonging  to  that  profession,  as  botany,  anatomy, 
and  chemistry.  Yet,  with  all  these  noble  accomplishments, 
he  was  extremely  rash  and  imprudent,  and  even  wanted 
common  discretion.  He  was  a  very  bold  man,  uttered 
any  thing  that  came  into  his  mind,  not  only  among  his 
companions,  but  in  public  coffee-houses,  of  which  he  was 
a  great  frequenter  :  and  would  often  speak  freely  of  per- 
sons then  present,  for  which  he  used  to  be  threatened  with 
kicking  and  beating.  He  had  a  hot  and  restless  head,  his 
hair  being  carrot-coloured,  and  was  ever  ready  to  un- 
dergo any  enterprise,  which  was  the  chief  reason  that 
macerated  his  body  almost  to  a  skeleton.  He  was  also  a 
person  of  no  fixed  principles  ;  and  whether  he  believed 
those  things  which  every  good  Christian  doth,  is  not  for  me 
to  resolve.  Had  he  been  endowed  with  common  sobriety 
and  discretion,  and  not  have  made  himself  and  his  learning: 

O 

mercenary  and  cheap  to  every  ordinary  and  ignorant  fellow, 
he  would  have  been  admired  by  all,  and  might  have  picked 
and  chused  his  preferment ;  but  all  these  things  being  want- 
ing, he  became  a  ridicule,  and  undervalued  by  sober  and 
knowing  scholars,  and  others  too."  ' 

STUBBS  (GEOKGE),  a  celebrated  anatomist  and  painter 
of  animals,  was  born  at  Liverpool  in  1724-,  and  at  the  age 
of  thirty  went  to  Rome  for  improvement  in  his  studies,  but 

i  Ath.  Ox.  vol.  II.— Biog.  Brit.  Supplement. 
II   2 


484  S  T  U  B  B  S. 

why  is  not  easily  accounted  for ;  London  was  the  best 
theatre  to  exercise  his  talents  for  the  dissection  and  the 
portraiture  of  animals,  of  horses  (which  he  chiefly  excelled 
in)  especially,  and  in  London  he  fixed  his  residence.  That 
his  skill  in  comparative  anatomy  never  suggested  to  him 
the  propriety  of  style  in  forms,  if  it  were  not  eminently 
proved  by  his  Phaeton  with  the  Horses  of  the  Sun,  would 
be  evident  from  all  his  other  figures,  which,  when  human, 
are  seldom  more  than  the  attendants  of  some  animal,  whilst 
the  style  of  the  animals  themselves  depended  entirely  on 
the  individual  before  him  :  his  tiger  for  grandeur  has  never 
been  equalled  ;  his  lions  are  to  those  of  Rubens  what  jack- 
als are  to  lions;  but  none  ever  did  greater  justice  to  the 
peculiar  structure  of  that  artificial  animal,  the  race  courser, 
and  to  all  the  mysteries  of  turf- tactics,  though,  unfortu- 
nately for  the  artist,  they  depend  more  on  the  fac-similist's 
precision  than  the  painter's  spirit.  Stubbs  was  perhaps 
the  first  who  painted  in  enamel  on  a  large  scale.  He  was 
an  associate  of  the  Royal  Academy,  and  died  in  1806.  He 
published  a  work,  completed  in  1766,  under  the  title  of 
"  The  Anatomy  of  the  Horse  ;  including  a  particular  de- 
scription of  the  bones,  cartilages,  muscles,  fascias,  liga- 
ments, nerves,  arteries,  veins,  and  glands ;  in  eighteen 
tables  from  nature  :"  and  before  his  death  three  numbers 
of  another  work,  which  was  to  have  consisted  of  six,  en- 
titled "A  Comparative  Anatomical  Exposition  of  the  struc- 
ture of  the  Human  Body  with  that  of  a  Tiger  and  a  common 
Fowl,  in  thirty  tables."  ! 

STUBBS,  or  STUBBE  (JOHN),  a  learned  lawyer  in 
queen  Elizabeth's  reign,  was  born  about  1541,  and  is  said 
by  Mr.  Strype  to  have  been  a  member  of  Corpus  Christi 
college,  Cambridge.  He  removed  thence  to  Lincoln's-inn 
for  the  study  of  the  law,  and  contracted  an  acquaintance 
with  the  most  learned  and  ingenious  men  of  that  society. 
He  became  a  puritan  in  consequence,  as  some  suppose,  of 
his  connection  with  the  celebrated  Thomas  Cartu right, 
who  had  married  his  sister.  About  1579,  when  the  report 
of  the  queen's  intended  marriage  with  the  duke  of  Anjou, 
brother  to  the  king  of  France,  had  created  an  extraordinary 
alarm,  lest  such  a  match  should  eventually  be  injurious  to 
the  Protestant  establishment,  Mr.  Stubbs  published  a  sati- 
rical work  against  it,  entitled  "  The  Discovery  of  a  gaping 
gulph  wherein  England  is  like  to  be  swallowed  up  by 

'  Pilkington  by  FusHi. 


S  T   U   B   B   S.  485 

another  French  marriage,"  &c.  This  highly  incensed  the 
queen,  whose  passions  ha  -I  always  much  -way  over  her 
actions,  and  too  much  over  htr  ministers,  and  she  imme- 
diately issued  out  a  proclamation  against  it;  and  the  autuor 
and  printer,  or  hookseller,  being  discovered,  they  were 
soon  apprehended,  and  sentence  given  against  them,  that 
their  right  hands  should  be  cut  off,  according  to  an  act  of 
Philip  and  Mary,  "against  the  authors  and  publishers  of 
seditious  writings."  When  Stubbs  caine  to  receive  his 

O 

punishment,  which  was  inflicted  with  great  barbarity, 
with  a  butcher's  knife  and  mallet,  he  immediately  took  off 
his  hat  with  his  left  hand,  and  cried  "  God  save  the 
queen  !" 

In  this  suffering  Stubbs  had  the  sympathy  of  the  people, 
and  did  not  lose  the  regard  of  thuse  <vho  had  previously 
known  his  learning  ami  talents,  and  who  probably  thought 
little  of  an  offence  that  proceeded  from  his  zeul  f  r  the  re- 
formation, and  evidently  from  no  principle  <;t  disloyalty. 
A  very  few  years  afterwards  he  was  employee!  by  tne  lord 
treasurer,  to  answer  cardinal  Allan's  "  Defence  ot  the 
English  Catholics;"  a  task  which  he  exe  iu-d 'with  ac- 
knowledged ability.  Several  letters  HI  S>j  b-,  addressed 
to  the  lord  treasurer  and  his  secretary  Hu-k?-?,  are  pre- 
served in  the  Burghley -papers,  now  in  the  Bnti^h  Museum; 
and  most  of  them  having  been  written  with  his  lefr-hand,  he 
usually,  in  allusion  to  the  loss  of  hi-  rignt,  signed  him  if 
Scteva.  Whether  his  answer  to  Allen  was  ever  published 
is  uncertain  ;  but  he  translated  Beza's  meditations  on  the 
first  Psalm,  and  the  seven  penitential  Psalrns,  from  t.ie 
French,  which  he  dedicated  to  lady  Anne  Bacon,  wife  of 
sir  Nicholas  Bacon.  The  dedi»  ation  is  dated  fromvThel- 
veton  in  Norfolk,  where  he  appears  to  have  taken  up  his 
residence,  May  31,  1582,  and  it  is  signed  "  John  Stubbe, 
Sceva."  It  is  said  that  Stubbs  was  afterwards  a  commander 
in  the  army  in  Ireland,  but  we  have  no  farther  accouu-  of 
him,  or  any  notice  of  his  death.  Wood  is  of  opinion,  that 
he  was  either  father  or  brother  to  Philip  Stubbs,  author  uf 
"  The  Anatomy  of  Abuses,"  and  other  works  against  the 
vices  and  abuses  of  his  time.  This  man,  who  was  not  m 
orders,  although  all  his  publications  are  such  as  might  have 
been  expected  from  a  divine,  lived  about  the  same  time 
with  John  Stubbs;  but  Wood's  account  of  him  is  im- 
perfect. * 

1  Master's  Hist,  of  C.  C.  C.  C.— Churton's  Life  of  Nowell.— Strype's  Life  of 
<3rindal,  &c.  &c.— Ath.  Ox.  vol.  I. 


486  S  T  U  C  K  I  U  S. 

STUCKIUS  (JOHN-WILLIAM),  a  celebrated  writer  to- 
wards the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century,  was  born  at  Zurich. 
He  acquired  great  honour  by  his  works,  particularly 
by  his  treatise  "  On  the  Feasts  of  the  Ancients," 
which  is  very  curious,  and  may  be  found  with  his  works 
on  antiquity,  Leyden,  1695,  2  vols.  folio.  He  died  in 
1607.  Stuckius  also  wrote  some  good  Commentaries  on 
Arrian  ;  and  a  parallel  between  Charlemagne  and  Henry  IV. 
entitled  "  Carol  us  Magnus  redivivus,"  4to. ' 

STUKELEY  (WJLLIAM),  an  antiquary  of  much  celebrity, 
descended  from  an  antient  family*  in  Lincolnshire,  was  born 
at  Holbech  in  that  county,  November  7,  1687.     After  hav- 
ing had  the  first  part  of  his  education  at  the  free-school  of 
that  place,  under  the  care  of  Mr.  Edward  Kelsal,  he  was 
admitted  into  Bene't-college  in  Cambridge,  Nov.  7,  1703, 
under  the  tuition  of  Mr.  Thomas  Favvcett,  and  chosen    a 
scholar  there  in  April  following.    While  an  under-graduate, 
he  often  indulged  a  strong  propensity  for  drawing  and  de- 
signing ;  and  began    to  form    a  collection  of  antiquarian 
books.     He  made  physic,  however,  his  principal  study,  and 
with   that  yie.v  took  frequent  perambulations   through  the 
neighbouring  country,  with  the  famous  Dr.  Hales,  Dr.  John 
Gray  of  Canterbury,  and  others,  in  search  of  plants;  and 
made  great  additions  to  Ray's  "  Catalogus  Plantarum  circa 
Cantabrigiam  ;"  which,  with  a  map  of»  the  county,  he  was 
solicited  to  print;  but  his  father's  death,  and  various   do- 
mestic avoc  ations,  prevented  it.    He  studied  anatomy  under 
Mr.  Rolfe  the  surgeon  ;  attended  the  chemical  lectures  of 
signer  Vigani  ;  and  taking  the  degree   of  M.  B.  in  1709, 
made  himself  acquainted  with  the  practical  part  of  medicine 
"under  the  great  Dr.  Mead   at  St.  Thomas's  hospital.      He 
first  began  to  practise  at  Boston  in  his  native  county,  where 
Le  strongly  recommended  the  chalybeate  waters  of  Stanfield 
Folkingham.     In  1717  he  removed  to  London,  where, 
l;e  recommendation  of  his  friend  Dr.  Mead,  he  was  soon 
.ted  F.  R.  S.  and  was  one  of  the  first  who  revived 
ntiquaries  in  17  IS,  to  which  last  he  was  secre- 
tiiuny  years  during  his  residence  in  town.     He  was 
earliest  members  of  the  Spalding  society. 

p. — Freheri  Theatrum. — Moreri. 

-.),  of  Weston,  Lincolnshire,  de- 
:t:at     ser  ruled  from  the  same  ancestors  with 
His  mo-      Anne  Bullcn. 
f    Robert 


S  T  U  K  E  L  E  Y.  487 

He  took  the  degree  of  M.  D.  at  Cambridge  in  1719,  and 
was  admitted  a  fellow  of  the  College  of  Physicians  in  the 
year  following,  about  which  time  (1720)  he  published  an 
account  of  "  Arthur's  Oon"  in  Scotland,  and  of  "Graham's 
dyke,"  with  plates,  4to.  In  the  year  1722,  he  was  appointed 
to  read  the  Gulstonian  Lecture,  in  which  he  gave  a  de- 
scription and  history  of  the  spleen,  and  printed  it  in  folio, 
1723,  together  with  some  anatomical  observations  on  the  dis- 
section of  an  elephant,  and  many  plates  coloured  in  imitation 
of  nature.  Conceiving  that  there  were  some  remains  of  the 
Eleusinian  mysteries  in  free-masonry,  he  gratified  his  cu- 
riosity, and  was  constituted  master  of  a  lodge  (1723),  to 
which  he  presented  an  account  of  a  Roman  amphitheatre 
at  Dorchester,  in  4to.  Afti  r  having  been  one  of  the  cen- 
sors of  the  College  of  Physicians,  of  the  council  of  the 
Royal  Society,  and  of  the  committee  to  examine  into  the 
condition  of  the  astronomical  instruments  of  the  Royal  Ob- 
servatory of  Greenwich,  he  left  London  in  1726,  and  re- 
tired to  Grantham  in  Lincolnshire,  where  he  soon  came 
into  great  request.  The  dukes  of  Ancaster  and  Rutland, 
the  families  of  Tyrconnel,  Gust,  &c.  &c.  and  most  of  the 
principal  families  in  the  country,  were  glad  to  take  his  ad- 
vice. During  his  residence  here,  he  declined  an  invitation 
from  Algernon  earl  of  Hertford,  to  settle  as  a  physician  at 
Marlborough,  and  another  to  succeed  Dr.  Hunter  at  New- 
ark. In  1728  he  married  Frances  daughter  of  Robert  Wil- 
liamson, esq.  of  Allington,  near  Grantham,  a  lady  of  good 
family  and  fortune.  He  was  greatly  afflicted  with  the  gout, 
which  used  generally  to  confine  him  during  the  winter 
months.  On  this  account,  for  the  recovery  of  his  health, 
it  was  customary  with  him  to  take  several  journeys  in  the 
spring,  in  which  he  indulged  his  innate  love  of  antiqui- 
ties, by  tracing  out  the  footsteps  of  Caesar's  expedition  in 
this  island,  his  camps,  stations,  &c.  The  fruit  of  his  more 
distant  travels  was  his  "  Itinerarium  Curiosum  ;  or,  an  Ac- 
count of  the  Antiquities  and  Curiosities  in  his  Travels 
through  Great  Britain,  Centuria  I."  adorned  with  one  hun- 
dred copper-plates,  and  published  in  folio,  London,  1724. 
This  was  reprinted  after  his  death,  in  1776,  with  two  ad- 
ditional plates;  as  was  also  published  the  second  volume, 
(consisting  of  his  description  of  the  Brill,  or  Caesar's  camp 
atPancras*,"IterBoreale,"  1725,  and  his  edition  of  Richard 

*  Tliis  is  more  a  work  of  imagina-      tion  than    any  thing   that   ever  came 
tion,  conjecture,  and  unfounded  asser-     from  Dr.  Stukeley's  pen,  but  Mr.  Ly- 


488  S  T  U  K  E  L  E  Y. 

of  Cirencester  *,  with  his  own  notes,  and  those  of  Mr.  Ber- 
tram of  Copenhagen,   with  whom  lie  corresponded,  illus- 
trated with  103  copper-plates  engraved  in  the  doctor's  life- 
time.    Overpowered  with  the  fatigue  of  his  profession,  and 
repeated  attacks  of  the  gout,  he  turned  his  thoughts  to  the 
church;  and,  being  encouraged   in  that  pursuit   hy  arch- 
bishop Wake,   was  ordained   at   Croydon,  July  20,   1720; 
and  in  October  following  was  presented  by  lord-chancellor 
King  to  the  living  of  All-Saints  in  Stamford  f.   At  the  time 
of  his  entering  on  his  parochial  cure  (1730),  Dr.  Rogers  of 
that  place  had  just  invented  his  Oleum  Artbriticum  ;  which 
Dr.  Stukeley  seeing  oihers  use  with  admirable  success,  he 
was  induced  to  do  the  like,  and  with  equal  advantage :  for 
it  not  only  saved  his  joints,  but,  vvith  the  addition  of  a  pro- 
per regimen,  and  leaving  off  the  use  of  fermented  liquors, 
he  recovered  his  health  and   limbs  to  a  surprising  degree, 
ind  ever  after  enjoyed  a   firm  and  active    state  of  body, 
beyond  any  example  in  the  like  circumstances,  to  a  good 
old  age.     This  occasioned  him  to  publish  an  account  of  the 
success  of  the  external  application  of  this  oil  in  innumer- 
able instances,  in  a  letter  to  sir  Hans  Sloane,    1733;  and 
the  year  after  he  published  also,  "  A  Treatise  on  the  Cause 
and  Cure  of  the  Gout,  from  a  new  Rationale  ;"   which,  with 
an   abstract  of  it,  has  passed  through  several  editions.    He 
collected  some  remarkable  particulars  at  Stamford  in  relation 
to  his  predecessor  bishop  Cumberland;  and,  in  17  36,  printed 

sons  thinks  that  as  lie  withheld  it  from  a  visit ;  was  cheerful  as  usual,  and  as 

the  public  in    his  life-time,  it  is  pro-  full  of  literary  projects.     Bui  his   bu- 

bable  be  was  conrinced  that  bis  ima-  siness  was  (as  he  heard  Geekie  was  not 

gination  had  carried  him  too  far.     He  likely   to  continue    long)    to   desire    I 

was  an  old  and   early  acquaintance  of  would  give  him  the  earliest  notice  of 

bishop  Warbmton,  whose  character  of  his  death,  for  that  he  intended  to  soli- 

him,  heightened,   perhaps,   a  lutle  by  cit  fjr  his  prebend  of  Canterbury,  by 

that  piehite.'s  peculiarity   of  manner,  lord   chancellor    and    lord    Cardigan, 

is  not  far  from  the  literal  truth.  "There  'For,'  added  he,  '  one  never  dies  the 

was  u.  him,"  says  Warburton,  "such  sooner,  you  know,  for  seeking  prefer- 

a  mixture  of  simplicity,  drollery,  ab-  merit." — Warburton's  Letters  to  Kurd, 

suraity,  ingenuity,    superstition,    and  letter  CLX1X. 

antiquarianism,  that  he  hns  often  af-  *  Published  in  '757,  under  this  title: 
fordtd  me  that  kind  of  well-seasoned  "  An  Account  of  Richard  of  Cirences- 
repast  which  the  French  call  au  ambigu,  ter,  monk  of  Westminster,  and  of  his 
from  a  compound  of  things  never  Works:  with  his  antient  Map  of  Ro- 
ineant  to  meet  together.  1  have  often  man  Britain,  and  the  Itinerary  there- 
heard  him  laughed  at  by  foois,  who  of." 

had  neither  his    sense,  his  knowledge,          f   He  had  the  offer  of  that  of  Hoi- 

nor  his  honesty  ;     though  it  must   be  bech,  the   place  of  his  nativity,  from 

confessed  that    in  him    they   were   all  Dr.  Reynolds,  bishop  of  Lincoln  ;  ami 

strangely  travestied.     Not  a  week  be-  of  another  from   the  earl  of  Winchel- 

fore  his  death  he  walked  from  Blooms-  sea  ;  but  he  declined  them  both, 
bury  to  Grosvenor-sq«aj-e,  t«  pay  me 


S  T  U  K  E  L  E  Y. 

an  explanation,  with  an  engraving,  of  a  curious  silver  plate 
of  Roma;.  >voikina:>ship  in  basso  relievo,  found  underground 
at  Risk-y  Park  in  Derbyshire  ;   win-rein  he  traces  its  jour- 
ney thither,   troin  the  church  of  Bourges,  to  which  it  had 
been   given   by   Exsuperius,  called    St.  Switiiin,  bishop  of 
Toulouse,  about  tne  year   205.  '   He    published   also  the 
same  yea.-  his   "  Palasographia  Sacra,  No.  I.  or,  Discourses 
on  the  MiHiunifius  of  Antiquity  that  re'aie  to  Sacred  His- 
tory," in  4to,   which  he  dedicated  to  sir  Richard  Kllys,  bart. 
"  from   whom   he   had   received   many    favours."      In    this 
work    (uhich   was  to  have  been   continued  in  succeeding 
numbers)  he  undertakes  to  shew,  how  Heathen  Mythology 
is  derived  from  Sacred  History,  and  that  the  Bacchus  in  the 
Poets  is  no  other  than   the  Jehovah  in   the  Scripture,  the 
conductor  of  the  Israelites  through  the  wilderness.      In  his 
country  retirement  he  disposed  his  collection  of  Greek  and 
Roman  coins  according  to  the  order  of  the   Scripture  His- 
tory ;  and   cut  out  a  machine  in  wood  (on  the  plan  of  an 
Orrery),   which  shews  the  motion  of  the  heavenly  bodies, 
the  course  of  the  tide,  &c.     In  1737  he  lost  his  wife  ;  and 
in  1738,  married  Elizabeth,  the  only  daughter  of  Dr.  Gale, 
dean   of  York,    and   sister  to  his  intimate  friends   Roger 
and    Samuel  Gale,  esquires ;  and  from  this  time  he  often 
spent  his  winters  in  London.     In  1740,  he  published  an 
account  of  Stonehenge,  dedicated  to  the  duke  of  Ancaster, 
who  had  made  him  one  of  his  chaplains,  and  given  him  the 
living  of   Somerby   near   Grantham   the  year  before.     In 
1741,  he  preached  the  Thirtieth  of  January  Sermon  before 
the  House  of  Commons ;  and  in  that  year  became  one  of 
the  founders  of  the  Egyptian  society,  composed  of  gentle- 
men who  had  visited  Egypt.  In  1743  he  printed  an  account 
of  lady  Roisia's  sepulchral  cell,  lately  discovered  at  Roy- 
ston,  in  a  tract,  entitled  "  Palseographia  Britannica,  No.  I." 
to  which  an  answer  was  published  by  Mr.  Charles  Parkin, 
in  1744.   The  doctor  replied  in  "Palasographia  Britannica, 
No.  II."  1746,  giving  an  account  of  the  origin  of  the  uni- 
versities of  Cambridge  and  Stamford,  both  from  Croyland- 
abbey ;  of  the  Roman   city  Granta,  on  the  north-side  of 
the  river,  of  the  beginning  of  Cardike  near  Waterbeach, 
&c.     To   this  Mr.    Parkin   again   replied  in  1748;  but  it 
does  not  appear  that  the  doctor  took  any  further  notice  of 
him.     In    1747,   the  benevolent    duke    of  Montagu    (with 
whom  he  had  become  acquainted  at  the  Egyptian  society) 
prevailed  on  him  to  vacate  his  preferments  in  the  country, 


4£>0  S  T  U  K  E  L  E  Y. 

by  giving  him  the  rectory  of  St.  George,  Queen-square, 
whence  he  frequently  retired  to  Kentish-town,  where  the 
following  inscription  was  placed  over  his  door  : 

"  Me  dulcts  saturet  quics  ; 
Obscuro  positus  loco 
Leni  permiar  otio 
C'hyndonax  Druida*. 

"  O  may  this  rural  solitude  receive, 

And  contemplation  all  its  pleasures  give, 
The  Druid  priest '." 

He  had  the  misfortune  to  lose  his  patron  in  1749  ;  on 
whose  death  he  published  some  verses,   with  others  on  his 
entertainment  at  Boughton,   and  a  "  Philosophic  Hymn  on 
Christmas-day."     Two  papers    by   the   doctor,    upon    the 
earthquakes  in  1750,  read  at  the  Royal  Society,  and  a  ser- 
mon preached  at  his  own  parish-church  on  that  alarming 
occasion,  were  published  in  1750,  8vo,  under  the   title  of 
"  The  Philosophy  of  Earthquakes,  natural  and  religious;" 
of  which  a  second   part  was  printed  with  a  second  edition 
of  his  sermon  on  "  the  Healing  of  Diseases  as  a  Character 
of  the  Messiah,   preached  before  the  College  of  Physicians 
Sept.  20,  1750."     In  1751  (in  "  Palaeographia  Britannica, 
No.  III.")  he  gave  an  account  of  Oriuna  the  wife  of  Carau- 
sius  ;  in  Phil.  Trans,  vol.  XLVIII.  art.  33,  an  account  of  the 
Eclipse  predicted  by  Thales  ;  and  in  the  Gentleman's  Ma- 
gazine, 1754,  p.  407,  is   the  substance  of  a  paper  read  at 
the  Royal  Society  in  1752,  to  prove  that  the  coral-tree  is 
a  sea-vegetable.     On  Wednesday  the  27th  of  February, 
1765,  Dr.  Stukeley  was  seized  with  a  stroke  of  the  palsy, 
which  was  brought  on  by  attending  a  full  vestry,  at  which 
he  was  accompanied  by  serjeant  Eyre,  on  a  contested  elec- 
tion for  a  lecturer.     The  room  being  hot,  on  their  return 
through   Dr.  Stukeley's   garden,    they  both   caught   their 
deaths ;  for  the  serjeant  never  was  abroad  again,  and  the 
doctor's  illness  came  on  that  night.  Soon  after  this  accident 
his  faculties  failed  him  ;  but  he  continued  quiet  and  com- 
posed until  Sunday  following,  March  3,  1765,  when  he  de- 
parted in  his  seventy  eighth  year,  which  he  attained  by  re- 
markable temperance  and  regularity.  By  his  own  particular 

*  Alluding  to  an  urn  of  glass  so  in-  tiquaries  in  general  considered  it  as  a 

scribed,    found    in    Srance,    which   he  forgery  ;    but    Mr.    Tutet  has   a  MS 

•was   firmly    jierM-iuUnl  (/outlined    the  vindication    of   it,    by    some    learned 

ashes  of  an  an  h-<lruid  of  that  name  French   antiquary,  43  pages   in   small 

(whosfi  portrait  forms  the  frontispiece  4to,  now  in  Mr.  Bindley's  possession, 
to  Stonehmge),  though  the  French  an- 


S  T  U  K  E  L  E  Y.  491 

directions,  his  corpse  was  conveyed  in  a  private  manner  to 
East- Ham  in  Essex,  and  was  buried  in  the  church-yard, 
just   beyond  the  east  end  of  the  church,  the  turf  being  laid 
smoothly  over  it,  without  any  monument.     This  spot   he 
particularly  fixed  on,  in  a  visit  he  paid  some  time  before 
to  the  vicar  of  that  parish,  when  walking  with  him  one  day 
in  the   church-yard.      Thus  ended  a  valuable  life,   daily 
spent  in   throwing  light  on  the  dark  remains  of  antiquity. 
His  great  learning  and  profound  skill  in  those  researches 
enabled  him  to  publish  many  elaborate  and  curious  works, 
and   to   leave   many  ready  for  the  press.     In  his  medical 
capacity,  his  "  Dissertation  on   the   Spleen"  was  well   re- 
ceived.    His  "  Itinerariutn   Curiosum,"   the  first-fruits  of 
his  juvenile  excursions,  presaged  what  might  be  expected 
from  his  riper  age,  when  he  had  acquired  more  experience. 
The  curious  in  these  studies  were  not  disappointed  ;  for, 
with  a  sagacity  peculiar  to  his  great  genius,  with  unwearied 
pains  and  industry,  and  some  years  spent  in  actual  surveys, 
he  investigated  and  published  an  account  of  those  stupen- 
dous works  of  the  remotest  antiquity,  Stonehenge  and  Abury, 
in  1743,  and  has  given  the  most  probable  and  rational  ac- 
count of  their  origin   and  use,  ascertaining  also  their  di- 
mensions  with  the  greatest  accuracy.     So  great  was  his 
proficiency   in  Druidical  history,   that  his  familiar  friends 
used  to  call  him  ''the  arch-druid  of  this  age."      His  works 
abound  with  particulars  that  shew  his  knowledge  of  this  ce- 
lebrated  British    priesthood  ;  and  in  his  Itinerary  he  an- 
nounced a  "  History  of  the  Ancient  Celts,  particularly  the 
first  inhabitants  of  Great  Britain,"  for  the  most  part  finished, 
to   have   consisted  of  four  vplumes,  folio,  with  above  300 
copper-plates,  many  of  which  were  engraved.      Great  part 
of   this    work   was  incorporated   into   his  Stonehenge    and 
Abury.     In  his  "  History  of  Carausius,"  1757,  1751),  in  two 
vols.   4to,   he  has  shewn   much  learning  and  ingenuity  in 
settling  the  principal  events  of  that  emperor's  government 
in  Britain.     To  his  interest  and  application  we  are  indebted 
for  recovering  from  obscurity  Richard  of  Cirencester's  Iti- 
nerary   of   Roman    Britain,    which   has    been     mentioned 
before.       His  discourses,  or  sermons,    under   the  title  of 
"  Palaeographia  Sacra,   1763,   on  the  vegetable  creation," 
bespeak  him  a  botanist,  philosopher,  and   divine,   replete 
with   antient    learning,    and  excellent  observations ;   but  a 
little  too  much  transported  by  a  lively  fancy  and  invention. 
He  closed  the  last  scenes  of  his  life  with  completing  a  long 


492  STUKELEY. 

and  laborious  work  on  ancient  British  coins,   in  particular 
of  Cunobelin ;    and    felicitated    himself   on    having    from 
them  discovered  many  remarkable,  curious,  and  new  anec- 
dotes, relating  to  the  reigns  of  that  and  other  British  kings. 
The  twenty-three  plates  of  this  work  were  published  after 
his  decease;  but  the  MS.    (left  ready  for  publishing)  re- 
mained in  the  hands  of  his  daughter  Mrs.  Fleming,  relict 
of  Richard   Fleming,    esq.  an  eminent  solicitor,   who  was 
the  doctor's  executor,  and  died  in  1774.     By  his  fii^t  wife 
Dr.  Stukeley  had  three  daughters;  of  whom  one  died  young; 
the  other  two  survived  him;  the  one,  Mrs. Fleming  already 
mentioned  ;   the  other,  wife  to  the  Rev.  Thomas  Fairchild, 
rector  of  Pitsey,  in  Essex.     They  both  died  in  1782.     By 
his  second  wife,  Dr.  Stukeley  had  no  child.     To  the  great 
names  already  mentioned  among  his  friends  and   patrons, 
may  be  added  those  of  Mr.  Folkes,  Dr.  Berkeley,  bishop  of 
Cloyne  (with  whom  he  corresponded  on  the  subject  ot  Tar- 
water),   Dr.  Pocock   bishop   of  Meath,  and  many  others  of 
the  first  rank  of  literature  at  home:   and  amou.  the  emi- 
nent  foreigners    with    whom    he    corresponded    wete    Dr. 
Heigertahl,    Mr.  Keysler,    and   the    learned   father  Mont- 
faucon,   who   inserted   some  of  his  designs   (sent  him   by 
archbishop  Wake)  in  his  "  Antiquity  explained."     A  good 
account  of  Dr.  Stukeley   was,   with   his   own    permission, 
printed  in  1725,  by  Mr.  Masters,  in  the  second  part  of  his 
History  of  Corpus  Christi  college;  and  very  soon  after  his 
death  a  short  but  just  character  of  him   was  given  in  the 
Gentleman's  Magazine  for  1765,  by  his  friend  Peter  Col- 
linson.     Of  both  these,  Mr.  Nichols  availed  himself;  and 
was     favoured    with    several  additional    particulars     from 
Dr.  Ducarel  and   Mr.  Gough.     After  his  decease,  a  medal 
of  him   was  cast  and  repaired  by  Gaub  ;  on  one  side,   the 
head  adorned  with  oak  leaves,  inscribed  REV.  GVL.  STVKE- 
LEY,  M.D.S.  R.  &  A.  s.  Exergue,  act.  54.     Reverse,  a  view  of 
Stonehenge,  OB.  MAR.  4,  1765,  ^ET.  84;   [but  this  is  a  mis- 
take, for  he  was  in  fact  but  78].     There  is  a  portrait  of  him, 
after  Kneller,  in  mezzotino,  by;J".  Smith  in  172  i,  before  he 
took  orders,   with   his  arms,    viz.   Argent,   a  spread-eagle 
double-headed  Sable.     Mrs.  Fleming  had  another  portrait 
of  him  in  his  robes,  by  Wills;  and   Mrs.  Parsons  (relict  of 
Dr.  James  Parsons)  had  a  fine  miniature,  which  was  esteemed 
a  good  likeness. ' 

1  Nichols's  Bowyer.— Lysons's  Environs,  &c. 


S  T  U  R  M  I  U  S.  493 

STLJRMIUS  (JAMES),  a  German  of  great  learning,  was 
of  a  noble  family  of  Strasburg,  and  was  born  there  in  1489 
or  1490.  He  made  himself  illustrious  by  the  services  he 
did  his  country;  and  discharged  the  most  considerable 
offices  of  state  with  the  greatest  ability  and  probity,  par- 
ticularly in  several  deputations  to  the  diets  of  the  empire, 
the  imperial  court,  and  that  of  England.  He  contributed 
very  much  to  the  reformation  of  religion  at  Strasburg, 
to  the  erecting  of  a  college  which  was  opened  there  ten 
years  after,  and  to  the  compilation  of  the  history  of  the  re- 
formation in  Germany  by  Sleidan,  which  that  author  ac- 
knowledges in  his  preface.  "  I  received  the  assistance  of 
that  noble  and  excellent  person,  James  Sturmius,  who,  hav- 
ing been  above  thirty  years  engaged  in  public  and  import- 
ant affairs  with  the  highest  reputation,  and  having  gene- 
rously honoured  me  with  his  friendship,  frequently  cleared 
up  my  doubts,  and  put  me  into  the  right  way  ;  and,  at  my 
request  before  his  last  illness,  read  over  the  greatest  part 
of  the  work,  and  made  the  necessary  remarks  upon  it." 
He  died  at  Strasburg  Oct.  20,  1555,  after  languishing  of 
a  fever  for  two  months.  Sleidan  says  that  "he  was  a  man 
of  great  prudence  and  integrity,  and  the  glory  of  the  Ger- 
man nobility,  on  account  of  the  excellent  qualities  of  his 
mind,  and  his  distinguished  learning."  * 

STURMIUS  (JoiiN),  the  Cicero  of  Germany,  if  we  may 
use  the  terms  of  Melchior  Adam,  was  born  at  Sleida  in 
E  .Fel,  near  Cologne,  Oct.  1,  1507.  He  was  initiated  in 
It  M-TS  in  his  native  country,  with  the  sons  of  count  de 
Manderscheid,  whose  receiver  his  father  was,  and  after- 
wards studied  at  Liege  in  the  college  of  St.  Jerome.  In 
1524,  he  went  to  Louvain,  where  ne  sp.-Mit  five  years,  three 
in  learning,  and  two  in  teaching;  an  1  had  for  his  fellow- 
students,  .Sleidan,  Vesalius,  and  some  others,  who  after- 
wards became  men  of  eminence,  a:vi  had  a  great  esteem 
for  him.  He  set  up  a  printing-press  with  Rudger  Rescins, 
profero-ir  ot  Greek,  and  printed  several  Greek  authors.  He 
begai)  with  Homer,  and  soon  after  carried  those  editions  to 
Pans,  in  1529,  where  he  made  himself  highly  esteemed, 
and  read  public  lectures  upon  the  Greek  and  Latin  wri- 
ters, and  upon  logic.  He  married  also  there,  and  kept  a 
great  number  of  boarders,  who  came  from  England,  Ger- 
many, and  Italy,  and  were  the  sous  of  considerable  families ; 

1  Melohior  Adam.— -Gen.  Diet. — Bezsp  Icoiiey, 


494  S  T  U  R  M  I  U  S. 

but  as  he  had  imbibed  the  principles  of  the  reformation,  he 
was  more  than  once  in  danger;  which,  undoubtedly,  was 
the  reason  why  he  removed  to  Strasburg  in  1537.  in  order 
to  take  possession  of  the  place  offered  him  by  the  magis- 
trates. The  year  following  he  opened  a  school,  which  be- 
came famous,  and  by  his  means  obtained  from  the  emperor 
Maximilian  II.  the  title  of  an  university  in  1566.  He  was 
very  well  skilled  in  polite  literature,  wrote  Latin  with  great 
purity,  and  understood  the  method  of  teaching  ;  and  it  was 
owing  to  him,  that  the  college  of  Strasburg,  of  which  he 
was  perpetual  rector,  became  the  most  flourishing  in  all 
Germany.  His  talents  were  not  confined  to  the  schools ; 
he  was  frequently  entrusted  with  several  deputations  in 
Germany  and  foreign  countries,  and  discharged  those  em- 
ployments with  great  honour  and  diligence.  He  shewed 
extreme  charity  to  the  refugees  who  fled  on  account  of  re- 
ligion :  he  was  not  satisfied  with  labouring  to  assist  them  by 
his  advice  and  recommendations,  but  even  impoverished 
himself  by  his  great  hospitality  towards  them.  His  life, 
however,  was  exposed  to  many  troubles,  which  he  owed 
chiefly  to  the  intolerance  of  the  Lutheran  ministers.  At 
Strasburg  he  formed  a  moderate  Lutheranism,  to  which  he 
submitted  without  reluctance,  though  he  was  of  Zuinglius's 
opinion,  and  afterwards  declared  himself  for  Calvinism,  and 
was  in  consequence,  in  1583,  deprived  of  the  rectorship  of 
the  university.  He  died  March  3,  1589,  aged  above  eighty. 
He  had  been  thrice  married,  but  left  no  children.  Though 
he  lost  his  sight  some  time  before  his  death,  yet  he  did  not 
discontinue  his  labours  for  the  public  good.  He  published 
a  great  number  of  books,  chiefly  on  subjects  of  philosophy. 
Having  when  at  Paris  studied  medicine,  he  published  in 
1531,  an  edition  of  Galen's  works,  fol.  Among  his  other 
works,  are,  1.  "  De  Literarum  ludis  recte  aperiendis  li- 
ber," 1538,  4to,  twice  reprinted,  and  inserted  in  Crenius's 
collection  "  Variorum  auctorum  consilia,  &c."  Morhoff 
praises  this  work  very  highly.  2.  "  In  partitiones  Oratorias 
Ciceronis  libri  duo,"  Argent.  1539  and  1565,  Svo.  He 
published  some  other  parts  of  Cicero  for  the  use  of  stu- 
dents. 3.  "Beati  Rhenani  vita,"  prefixed  to  that  author's 
"  Rerum  Germanicarum  libri  tres,"  Basil,  1551,  fol.  4. 
"  Ciceronis  Opera  omnia,"  Strasb.  1557,  &.c.  9  vols.  Svo. 
5.  "  Aristotelis  Rheticorum  libri  tres,"  Gr.  and  Lat.  with 
scholia,  &c.  1570,  Svo.  6.  "  Anti-Pappi  tres  contra  Joannis 
Pappi  charitatem  et  condemnationem  Christianam."  1579, 


S  T  U  R  M  T  U  S.  495 

4  to.  This  is  the  first  of  his  controversial  tracts  against  Pap- 
pus,  who  had  been  the  cause  of  his  losing  his  rectorship. 
There  are  many  letters  between  Stimnius  and  Roger  As- 
cham  in  that  collection  published  at  Oxford  in  1703. J 

STURM  I  US  (JoHN  CHRISTOPHER),  a  noted  German  ma- 
thematician and  philosopher,  was  born  at  Hippo! stein  in 
1635.  He  was  a  professor  of  philosophy  and  mathematics 
at  Altdorf,  and  died  there  Dec.  26,  1703.  In  1670,  he 
published,  1.  A  German  translation  of  the  works  of  Archi- 
medes ;  and  afterwards  produced  many  other  books  of  his 
own.  2.  "  Collegium  experimental  curiosum,"  Nurem- 
berg, 1676,  4to  ;  reprinted  in  1701,  4to,  a  very  curious 
work,  containing  a  multitude  of  interesting  experiments, 
neatly  illustrated  by  copper-plate  figures  printed  upon 
almost  every  page,  by  the  side  of  the  letter-press.  Of 
these,  the  10th  experiment  is  an  improvement  on  father 
Lana's  project  for  navigating  a  small  vessel  suspended  in 
the  atmosphere  by  several  globes  exhausted  of  air.  '6. 
"  Physica  electiva,  et  Hypothetica,"  Nuremberg,  1675, 
2  vols.  4to;  reprinted  at  Altdorf,  1730.  4."  Scientia  Cos- 
mica,"  Altdorf,  1670,  folio.  5.  "  Architecture  militaris 
Tyrocinia,"  at  the  same  place,  1682,  folio.  6.  "  Epistola 
de  veritate  proposiiionum  Borellide  motu  animalium,"  4to, 
Nuremb.  1684.  7.  "  Physicae  conciliatricis  Conamina," 
Altdorf,  1684,  8vo.  8.  "  Mathesis  enucleata,"  Nuremb. 
1695,  8vo.  9.  "  Mathesis  Juvenilis,"  Nureiwb.  1699,  2 
vols.  8vo,  10.  "Physicae  modernae  compendium,"  Nuremb. 
1704,  8vo.  11.  "Tyrocinia  mathematica,"  Leipsic,  1707, 
folio.  12.  "  Praelectiones  Academics,"  1722,  4to.  13. 
"  Praelectiones  Academics,"  Strasburg,  12mo.  The  works 
of  this  author  are  still  more  numerous,  but  the  most  im- 
portant of  them  are  here  enumerated. 2 

STURMIUS  (LEONARD  CHRISTOPHER),  son  of  the  pre- 
ceding, and  a  very  eminent  writer  on  the  subject  of  archi- 
tecture, was  born  Nov.  5,  1669,  at  Altorff,  and  began  his 
studies  in  1683,  at  Heilbrunn.  Returning  home  in  1688, 
he  was  created  master  of  arts,  his  father  being  at  that  time 
dean  of  the  university.  In  1690  he  went  to  Leipsic,  and 
studied  divinity,  but  soon  quitted  that  for  mathematics. 
About  1693,  George  Bose,  a  senator  of  Leipsic,  a  man  of 
fortune  and  an  amateur,  put  into  his  hands  Nicolas  Gold- 

1  Melchior  Adam. — Foppea  Bibl.  Belg. — Gen.  Diet. — Niceron  vol.  XXIX. 
3  Diet.  Hist. — Moreri.—- Button's  Dictionary. 


496  S  T  U  R  M  I  U  S. 

mann's  manuscript  work  on  architecture,  which  he  wished 
to  publish,  but  which  had  been  lelt  imperfect  in  some 
parts.  Sturmius  accordingly  undertook  the  ofhce  of  editor, 
and  it  appeared  in  1708,  in  2  vols.  fol.  in  the  German  lan- 
guage. In  1714-  he  published  also  "  Prodromus  Architec- 
ture Goldmanniaoae,"  and  with  it  the  prospectus  of  a  new 
edition  of  Goldrnann,  which  he  produced  in  separate 
treatises  from  1715  to  1721,  the  whole  forming  a  "  Com- 
plete course  of  Civil  Architecture,"  in  16  vols.  fol.  printed 
at  Augsburgh.  This  was  thought  the  most  comprehensive 
and  perfect  work  of  the  kind  that  had  ever  appeared.  Un- 
til that  time  no  one  bad  treated  on  tlu-  doctrine  ot  me  five 
orders  of  architecture  with  so  much  skill  as  Goldmann  ;  his 
proportions  were  reckoned  preferable  to  those  ot  Scamozzi ; 
more  beautiful  and  elegant  than  those  of  I'atladio,  and  more 
in  conformity  with  the  antique  than  those  ot  Vignola. 

In  the  meantime,  while  this  work  was  going  on,  Sturmius 
filled  the  office  of  professor  of  mathematics  at  Wolrenbut- 
tel,  and  it  was  there  he  published  his  "  Sciagraphia  Templi 
Hierosolymitani,"  in  fol.  In  1697  he  obtained  permission 
of  the  duke  of  Wolfenbuttel  to  travel,  and  went  into  the 
Netherlands  and  into  France  :  the  result  of  his  observations, 
chiefly  on  subjects  of  architecture,  he  published  in  1719, 
folio,  with  numerous  plates,  from  his  own  designs.  This 
work  shows  great  skill  in  architecture,  but,  as  his  eulogist 
is  disposed  to  allow,  a  taste  somewhat  fastidious,  and  a 
wish  to  estimate  all  merit  in  the  art  by  certain  precon- 
ceived opinions  of  his  own.  In  1702  he  was  appointed 
professor  of  mathematics  in  the  university  of  Francfort  on 
the  Oder.  The  king  of  France  having  promised  a  reward 
to  the  inventor  of  a  sixth  order  of  architecture,  Sturmius, 
among  others,  made  an  attempt,  which  he  called  the  Ger- 
man order,  and  which  he  intended  to  hold  a  middle  rank 
between  the  Ionic  and  the  Corinthian.  It  is  unnecessary 
to  add  that  no  attempt  of  this  kind  has  succeeded. 

In  the  science  of  fortification,  Sturmius  acquired  great 
fame.  The  celebrated  general  Coehorn  was  of  opinion 
that  no  man  understood  the  subject  better,  and  that  he 
only  wanted  to  have  the  conduct  of  some  siege  in  order  to 
prove  himself  one  of  the  ablest  engineers  of  the  age.  In 
1711  he  left  Francfort,  for  the  honourable  offices  of  coun- 
sellor of  the  chamber  of  finances,  and  director  of  the  build- 
ings at  the  court  of  Frederick  William  duke  of  Mecklen- 
burgh.  There  he  built  the  palace  of  Neustadt  on  the  Elde, 


S  T  U  R  M  I  U  S.  -497 

which  is  acknowledged  to  be  in  a  good  taste,  but  it  excited 
envy,  and  the  duke  having  too  easily  listened  to  the  pre- 
judiced reports  of  some  about  him,  Sturmius  left  his  situa- 
tion in  1713,  and  went  to  Hamburgh,  where  he  employed 
some  time  in  writing.  While  there  he  accepted  the  office 
of  the  duke  of  Brunswick  to  enter  his  service  as  first  archi- 
tect at  Blanckenburgh,  but  did  not  enjoy  that  situation  long. 
He  died  June  6,  1719,  in  the  fiftieth  year  of  his  age.  His 
mathematical  and  architectural  works,  not  mentioned,  were 
very  numerous,  but  being  mostly  in  the  Germa-n  language, 
are  but  little  known.  He  also  acquired  reputation  as  a 
theologian,  and  had  a  controversy  with  certain  Lutheran 
divines,  in  which  persuasion  he  was  originally  bred  up,  on 
their  peculiar  notions  respecting  the  Lord's  supper.1 

STLJRT  (JOHN),  an  engraver  of  some  note,  was  born  in 
London  in  1658.  At  the  age  of  seventeen  he  became  the 
pupil  of  Robert  White.  His  prints  are  exceedingly  nu- 
merous, and  prove  him  to  have  been  a  very  industrious 
man,  but  of  no  great  genius.  Indeed,  the  chief  of  his 
excellence  lay  in  the  engraving  of  letters,  and  the  minute- 
ness with  which  they  were  executed.  His  best  work  is  the 
"  Book  of  Common  Prayer,"  which  he  engraved  on  silver 
plates.  The  top  of  every  page  is  ornamented  with  a  small 
historical  vignette.  Prefixed  is  the  bust  of  George  1.  in  a 
circle,  and  facing  it  the  prince  and  princess  of  Wales. 
The  peculiarity  of  this  work  is,  that  the  lines  of  the  king's 
face  are  expressed  by  writing,  so  small  that  few  persons 
can  read  it  without  a  magnifying  glass,  and  that  this  writ- 
ing consists  of  the  Lord's  prayer,  the  Ten  Commandments, 
prayers  for  the  royal  family,  and  the  21st  Psalm.  Tins 
Common  Prayer  Book  was  published  by  subscription  in 
London  in  1717,  8vo,  and  was  followed  by  a  "  Companion 
to  the  Altar"  of  the  same  size,  and  executed  in  the  same 
manner.  Sturt  also  engraved  the  Lord's  Prayer  within 
the  area  of  a  circle  of  the  dimensions  of  a  silver  penny, 
and  an  elegy  on  queen  Mary  on  so  small  a  size  that  it 
might  be  set  in  a  ring  or  locket.  This  last  wonderful  feat, 
which  was  announced  in  the  Gazette,  was  performed  m 
16^4.  He  was,  however,  a  faithful  copyist,  as  may  be 
seen  by  the  English  translation  of  Pozzo's  Perspective, 
published  by  James,  in  folio.  When  old  and  poor,  for  it 
does  not  appear  that  he  had  great  success,  he  had  a  placa 

'  Bibl.  Germanique,  vol.  XXVII.  and  XXXIV. 

VOL.  XX VII I.  KK 


498  S  T  U  R  T. 

offered  him  in  the  Charter-house,  which  he  refused.  He 
died  in  1730,  aged  seventy-two.  Lord  Orford  says,  he  re- 
ceived near  500/.  of  Mr.  Anderson  of  Edinburgh,  to  en- 
grave plates  for  his  "  Diplomata,"  but  did  not  live  to  com- 
plete them.1 

STYLE  (WILLIAM),  a  law-writer,  was  an  esquire's  son, 
as  Wood  says,  but  probably  the  son  of  sir  Humphrey  Style, 
knt.  and  bart.  whose  family  are  buried  in  Beckenham  in 
Kent.  He  was  born  in  1603,  and  became  a  gentleman- 
commoner  of  Brasenose  college,  Oxford,  in  1618  ;  but,  as 
usual  with  gentlemen  destined  for  the  law,  left  the  univer- 
sity without  a  degree,  and  went  to  the  Inner  Temple.  He 
was  afterwards  called  to  the  bar,  but,  according  to  Wood, 
*'  pleased  himself  with  a  retired  and  studious  condition." 
He  died  in  1679,  if  he  be  the  William  Style  buried  that 
year  at  Beckenham,  as  Mr.  Lysons  conjectures  with  great 
probability.  The  most  valued  of  his  writings  are  his 
"  Reports,"  published  in  1658,  folio,  from  the  circum- 
stance of  being  the  only  cases  extant  of  the  common  law 
courts  for  several  years  in  the  time  of  the  usurpation,  dur- 
ing which  sir  Henry  Rolle,  and  afterwards  John  Glynn,  sat 
as  chief  justices  of  the  upper  bench.  His  other  works  are, 
"  The  Practical  Register,  or  the  Accomplished  Attorney," 
1657,  8vo,  and  "The  Common  Law  epitomized,  with  di- 
rections how  to  prosecute  and  defend  personal  actions," 
8vo.  Wood  also  mentions  a  non-professional  work,  trans- 
lated from  the  Latin  of  John  Michael  Delher,  a  name  we 
are  unacquainted  with,  under  the  title  of  "  Contempla- 
tions, Sighs,  and  Groans  of  a  Christian,"  Lond.  1640,  8vo, 
with  a  singular  engraved  title.1 

*  Strutt's  Diet. — Walpole's  Anecdotes. 

2  Atb.  OK.  vol.  II. — Bndgraan's  Legal  Bibliography. — Lysons's  Environs. 


INDEX 


TO    THE 


TWENTY-EIGHTH    VOLUME. 


Those  marked  thus  *  are  new. 
Those  marked  f  are  re-written,  with  additions. 


Page 

-J.SIMEON  of  Durham 1 

* Metaphrastes ib. 

"*Simler,  Josias 2 

*Simmons,  S.  Foart 3 

•j-Simon,  Richard 6 

-j-Simonides 10 

Simplicius 12 

*Simpson,  Edward ib. 

Thomas 13 

*Simson,  Robert 21 

*Sinclare,  George 27 

*Siri,  Victor 29 

Sirmond,  James 30 

*Sixtus  IV 32 

V 33 

fSkelton,  John 43 

* Philip 49 

Skinner,  Stephen 60 

*Slater,  or  Slatyer,  Will ib. 

Sleidan,  John 61 

Slingeland,  John  Peter  Van  63 

fSloane,  sir  Hans ib. 

*Sluse,  Rene"  F.  W 69 

*Smalbroke,  Richard 7O 


fSmalridge,  George ib- 

-j-Smart,  Christopher 75 

Smeaton,  John 86 

Smellie,  Wm.  accoucheur  . .  91 

* William,  naturalist  94 

*Smeton,  Thomas 97 

*Smiglecius,  Martin 98 

Smith,  Adam ib, 

* Charles 103 

* •  Charlotte 104 

Edmund 107 

* Edward 113 

George 114 

* Henry ib, 

* John$  ambassador   1 1 6 

* John,  traveller  ....  ib, 

* John,  divine,  of  Cla- 

vering 117 


John,  editor  of  Bede  1 1 

-  son,  George 12O 

-  brother,  Jos. provost  1 2 1 

-  J.  of  Q.  col.  Cam. .  126 

-  John,  engraver  .  . .  127 

-  Miles,  bp.  of  Glouc.  ib. 


500 


INDEX. 


J'age 
*Smith,  Rich,  popish  divine  128 

* Ri.bn.ofChalcedon  13O 

* Rich,  book-collector  ib. 

* Robert 131 

* Samuel 132 

-f sir  Thomas 133 

Thomas,  orientalist  143 

* Wm.  bp.  of  Lincoln  146 

* Will,  antiquary  ...  151 

* Will,  divine 152 

fSmollett,  Tobias ib. 

*Snape,  Andrew 171 

*Snell,  Rodolph 173 

* Willebrod ib. 

Snorro,  Sturlesonius 174 

Snyders,  Francis ib. 

*Soanen,  John 175 

Socinus,  Lselhis 176 

Faustus 1/8 

Socrates 181 

historian 194 

Solander,  D.  Charles 195 

*Sole,  Ant.  M.  dal 199 

Solignac,  Peter  Jos.  de  la 

Pimpie 200 

Solimene,  Francis  .  . , ib. 

Solinus,  Caius  Julius  ....  201 

Solis,  Ant.  de 202 

Solomon,  Ben  Job  Alia  . . .  203 

-J-Solon 204 

fSomers,  John  lord 207 

Somerville,  William 215 

Somner,  William 216 

Sophocles 220 

Sorbait,  Paul 223 

Sorbiere,  Sam ib. 

fSorbonne,  Robert  de 226 

*Sosigenes 23 1 

Soto,  Dominic ib. 

* Peter 232 

*Sot\vell,  Nath 233 

Souchai,  J.  B ib. 

Soufflot,  J.  G 234 

South,  Robert 235 

Southern,  Thomas 241 

*Southgate,  Richard 244 

*Southweli;  Robert 248 

Sozomen,  Hermias 249 

Spagnoletto,  Jos.  Ribera  . .  259 
*l$pallanzani,  Lazarus 251 


Spanheim,  Fred 254 

• Ezekiel 256 

Frederick 259 

*Spark,  Thomas 260 

*8parke,  Thomas 261 

*Sparrovv,  Anth 262 

Speed,  John 263 

f John,  son 265 

fSpelman,  sir  Henry 266 

S pence,  Joseph ,  276 

•f  Spencer,  John 28O 

Spener,  Philip  James  ....  283 

fSpenser,  Edmund 284 

fSperoni,  Sperone 296 

*Spigelius,  Adrian 297 

Spinckes,  Nath 298 

Spinel lo,  Aretino 300 

son,  Paris ib. 

fSpinoza,  Benedict  de ib. 

*Spizelius,  Theophilus 303 

fSpon,  Charles 304 

• James 305 

Spondanus.  John 306 

Henry ib. 

Spotswood,  John 307 

Sprangher,  Bartholomew. .  31O 

Sprat,  Thomas 311 

Squire,  Sam 315 

Staal,  Madame  de 317 

•j-Stackhouse,  Thomas 318 

Stahl,  George  Ernest 320 

*Staines,  Richard 321 

*Stanbridge,  John 322 

fStanhope,  George 323 

* James,  earl 326 

Philip  Dormer. .  33O 

fStanley,  Thomas 336 

Stanyhurst,  Richard 339 

*Stapledon,  Walter 341 

*Stapleton,  Robert 343 

Thomas 345 

fStatius,  Pub.  Papinius ib. 

*Staunford,  sir  Will 348 

*Staunton,  sir  Geo.  Leonard   ib. 

Staveley,  Thomas 35O 

Steele,  "sir  Richard 352 

*Steen,  Jan 359 

*Steevens,  George 36O 

*Sleftani,  Agostino 366 

Stella,  James 367 


INDEX. 


501 


Steno,  Nich 368 

Stanwyck,  the  old 369 

the  young ib. 

tStephanus,  of  Byzantium. .  3/0 

t Henry  1 371 

* Francis ib. 

Robert  I.  .        . .  ib. 


Charles 375 

Henry  II 377 

Robert  II 382 

Francis 383 

Robert  III ib. 

Paul ib. 

Anthony 384 


*Stephens,  Jeremy 385 

Robert 386 

Stepney,  George 387 

*Sterne,  John.' 388 

* Richard 390 

f Lawrence 392 

fSternhold,  Thomas 394 

Stesichorus 396 

*Stevens,  Will 397 

*Stevin,  Simon 402 

*Stewart-Denham,  James  .  . .  ib. 

* Matthew 406 

*Stifels,  Michael 414 

*Still,  John ib. 

fStillingfleet,  Edward 415 

t Benjamin  ....  422 

*Stilpo 426 

Stobaeus 427 

Stock,  Christopher  ......  428 

* Richard ib. 

*Stockdale,  Percival 429 

*Stoefler,  John 432 


Pairs 

Stone,  Edmund 432 

*Stonhouse,  sir  James 435 

*Storer,  Thomas 437 

Stork,  Abraham ib, 

fStow,  John 438 

Strabo 448 

*Strack,  Charles 449 

fStrada,  Famianus 45O 

— John 451 

*Strahan,  William ib. 

*Strange,  sir  John 454 

sir  Robert 455 

*Stratford,  Nich 461 

*Strato 462 

*5!trauchius,  ^Egidius 463 

Streater,  Robert 464 

*Strein,  Richard ib. 

*Strigelius,  Victor ib. 

Strozzi,  Titus,  &c 466 

*Strutt,  Joseph ib. 

Struvius,  George  Adam  . . .  468 

f Burcard  Gotthelf  469 

fStrype,  John 47O 

Stuart,  Gilbert 473 

James 475 

Stubbe,  Henry 479 

*Stubbs,  George 483 

* John 4S4 

*Stuckius,  J.  W, 486 

Stukeley,  William ib. 

Sturniius,  James 493 

•  John ib. 

John  Christ 495 

* •  Leonard  Christ. . .  ib. 

*Sturt,  John 497 

*Style,  William 498 


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