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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #55379 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/55379)
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-The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Gallery of Portraits: with Memoirs. Vol
-6 (of 7), by Anonymous
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
-other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
-whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
-the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
-www.gutenberg.org.  If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
-to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
-
-Title: The Gallery of Portraits: with Memoirs. Vol 6 (of 7)
-
-Author: Anonymous
-
-Release Date: August 17, 2017 [EBook #55379]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: UTF-8
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GALLERY OF PORTRAITS, VOL 6 ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by Richard Tonsing, Chris Curnow and the Online
-Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
-file was produced from images generously made available
-by The Internet Archive)
-
-
-
-
-
-
- _UNDER THE SUPERINTENDENCE OF THE SOCIETY FOR THE DIFFUSION OF USEFUL
-                              KNOWLEDGE._
-
-
-
-
-                                  THE
-                         GALLERY OF PORTRAITS:
-                                  WITH
-                                MEMOIRS.
-
-                               VOLUME VI.
-
-
-                                LONDON:
-                  CHARLES KNIGHT, 22, LUDGATE-STREET.
-
-                                 1836.
-
-                  [PRICE ONE GUINEA, BOUND IN CLOTH.]
-
-
-
-
-                                LONDON:
-                  PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS,
-                         Duke-Street, Lambeth.
-
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-
-
-
-                       PORTRAITS AND BIOGRAPHIES
-                       CONTAINED IN THIS VOLUME.
-
-
-                                           Page.
-
-                        1. Raleigh             1
-
-                        2. Jenner             11
-
-                        3. Maskelyne          20
-
-                        4. Hobbes             25
-
-                        5. Raphael            30
-
-                        6. John Knox          40
-
-                        7. Adam Smith         49
-
-                        8. Calvin             55
-
-                        9. Lord Mansfield     62
-
-                       10. Bradley            69
-
-                       11. Melancthon         75
-
-                       12. William Pitt       84
-
-                       13. Wesley             93
-
-                       14. Dr. Cartwright    102
-
-                       15. Porson            108
-
-                       16. Wiclif            113
-
-                       17. Cortez            122
-
-                       18. Leibnitz          132
-
-                       19. Ximenes           137
-
-                       20. Addison           147
-
-                       21. Bramante          156
-
-                       22. Madame de Stael   161
-
-                       23. Palladio          172
-
-                       24. Queen Elizabeth   177
-
-[Illustration:
-
-  _Engraved by Posselwhite._
-
-  RALEIGH.
-
-  _From a Picture in the Collection of the Duchess of Dorset._
-
-  Under the Superintendance of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful
-    Knowledge.
-
-  _London, Published by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street._
-]
-
-
-
-
-[Illustration]
-
-                                RALEIGH.
-
-
-Very little is known concerning the youth of Sir Walter Raleigh. He was
-a younger son, descended of an ancient family, and was born at a farm
-called Hayes, near the mouth of the river Otter, in Devonshire, in the
-year 1552. He went to Oriel College, Oxford, at an early age, and gained
-high praise for the quickness and precocity of his talents. In 1569 he
-began his military career in the civil wars of France, as a volunteer in
-the Protestant cause. It is conjectured that he remained in France for
-more than six years, and returned to England in 1576. Soon after, he
-repaired to the Netherlands, and served as a volunteer against the
-Spaniards. In such schools, and under such leaders as Coligni and the
-Prince of Orange, Raleigh’s natural aptitude for political and military
-science received the best nurture: but he was soon drawn from the war in
-Holland by a pursuit which had captivated his imagination from an early
-age—the prosecution of discovery in the New World. In conjunction with
-his half-brother, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, a man of courage and ability,
-and a skilful sailor, he made an unsuccessful attempt to establish a
-colony in North America. Returning home in 1579, he immediately entered
-the Queen’s army in Ireland, and served with good esteem for personal
-courage and professional skill, until the suppression of the rebellion
-in that country. He owed his introduction to court, and the personal
-favour of Elizabeth, as is traditionally reported, to a fortunate and
-well-improved accident, which is too familiar to need repetition here.
-It is probable, however, that his name and talents were not unknown, for
-we find him employed almost immediately in certain matters of diplomacy.
-
-Among the cares and pleasures of a courtier’s life, Raleigh preserved
-his zeal for American discovery. He applied his own resources to the
-fitting out of another expedition in 1583, under command of Sir Humphrey
-Gilbert, which proved more unfortunate than the former one: two out of
-five vessels returned home in consequence of sickness, and two were
-wrecked, including that in which the admiral sailed; and the only result
-of the enterprise was the taking possession of Newfoundland in the name
-of England. Still Raleigh’s desire for American adventure was not
-damped. The Continent northward of the Gulf of Florida was at this time
-unknown. But Raleigh, upon careful study of the best authorities, had
-concluded that there was good reason for believing that a considerable
-tract of land did exist in that quarter; and with the assent of the
-Queen in council, from whom he obtained letters patent, granting to
-himself and his heirs, under certain reservations, property in such
-countries as he should discover, with a right to provide for their
-protection and administration, he fitted out two ships, which sailed in
-April, 1584. The first land which they made was an island named Okakoke,
-running parallel to the coast of North Carolina. They were well received
-by the natives, and returned to England in the following autumn highly
-pleased. Nor was less satisfaction felt by Raleigh, or even by the
-Queen, who conferred on him the honour of knighthood, a title which was
-then in high esteem, inasmuch as it was bestowed by that wise princess
-with a most frugal and just discrimination. She also gave him a very
-lucrative mark of favour, in the shape of a patent for licensing the
-selling of wine throughout the kingdom; and she directed that the new
-country, in allusion to herself, should be called Virginia. Raleigh did
-not think it politic, perhaps was not allowed, to quit the court to take
-charge in person of his undertaking; and those to whom he intrusted the
-difficult task of directing the infant colony appear to have been
-unequal to their office. It is not necessary to pursue the history of an
-enterprise which proved unsuccessful, and in which Sir Walter personally
-bore no share. He showed his earnestness by fitting out several
-expeditions, which must have been a heavy drain upon his fortune. But he
-is said to have derived immense wealth from prizes captured from the
-Spaniards; and we may here observe that the lavish magnificence in
-dress, especially in jewels, for which Raleigh was remarkable, even in
-the gorgeous court of Elizabeth (his state dress is said to have been
-enriched with jewels to the value of £60,000), may be considered less as
-an extravagance, than as a safe and portable investment of treasure. A
-mind less active might have found employment more than enough in the
-variety of occupations which pressed upon it at home. He possessed a
-large estate, granted out of forfeited lands, in Ireland; but this was
-always a source rather of expense than of profit, until, in 1601, he
-sold it to the Earl of Cork. He was Seneschal of the Duchies of Cornwall
-and Exeter, and held the wardenship of the Stannaries; and in 1586, as
-well as formerly in 1584, we find that he possessed a seat in
-parliament. In 1587, the formidable preparation of the Spanish Armada
-withdrew the mind of Raleigh, as of all Englishmen, from objects of
-minor importance, to the defence of their country. He was a member of
-the council of war directed to prepare a general scheme of defence, and
-held the office of Lieutenant-General of Cornwall, in addition to the
-charge of the Isle of Portland: but as on this occasion he possessed no
-naval command, he was not actively engaged in the destruction of that
-mighty armament. In 1589 he served as a volunteer in the expedition of
-Norris and Drake to Portugal, of which some account has been given in
-the life of the latter. Nor were his labours unrewarded even in that
-unfortunate enterprise; for he captured several prizes, and received the
-present of a gold chain from the Queen, in testimony of her approbation
-of his conduct.
-
-Soon after these events, Raleigh retired to his Irish property, being
-driven from court, according to some authorities, by the enmity of the
-Earl of Essex, then a young man just rising into favour. He there
-renewed a former intimacy with the poet Spenser, who, like himself, had
-been rewarded with a grant of land out of forfeited estates, and then
-resided at Kilcolman Castle. Spenser has celebrated the return of his
-friend in the beautiful pastoral, ‘Colin Clout’s come home again;’ and
-in that, and various passages of his works, has made honourable mention
-of the highly poetic spirit which enabled the ‘Shepherd of the Ocean,’
-as he is there denominated, to appreciate the merit of the ‘Fairy
-Queen,’ and led him to promote the publication of it by every means in
-his power. The loss of Raleigh’s court-favour, if such there were, could
-not have been of long duration on this occasion. But he incurred more
-serious displeasure in consequence of a private marriage contracted with
-Elizabeth Throgmorton, one of the Queen’s maids of honour, a lady of
-beauty and accomplishments, who proved her worth and fidelity in the
-long train of misfortunes which beset the latter years of Raleigh’s
-life. In consequence of this intrigue, he was committed to the Tower.
-One or two amusing anecdotes are related of the devices which he
-employed to obtain forgiveness, by working on that vanity which was the
-Queen’s chief foible. He succeeded in appeasing his indignant mistress
-so far as to procure his release; and about the same time, in 1594, she
-granted to him the valuable manor of Sherborne, in Dorsetshire: but
-though she requited his services, she still forbade his appearance at
-court, where he now held the office of Captain of the Yeomen of the
-Guard. Raleigh was peculiarly fitted to adorn a court by his imposing
-person, the graceful magnificence of his taste and habits, the elegance
-of his manners, and the interest of his conversation. These
-accomplishments were sure passports to the favour of Elizabeth; and he
-improved to the utmost the constant opportunities of intercourse with
-her which his post afforded, insomuch that, except the Earls of
-Leicester and Essex, no one ever seems to have stood higher in her
-graces. But Elizabeth’s jealousy on the subject of her favourites’
-marriages is well known, and her anger was lasting, in proportion to the
-value which she set on the incense of Raleigh’s flattery. He retired, on
-his disgrace, to his new estate, in the improvement and embellishment of
-which he felt great interest. But though deeply alive to the beauties of
-nature, he had been too long trained to a life of ambition and adventure
-to rest contented in the tranquil routine of a country life; and during
-this period of seclusion, he again turned his thoughts to his favourite
-subject of American adventure, and laid the scheme of his first
-expedition to Guiana, in search of the celebrated El Dorado, the fabled
-seat of inexhaustible wealth. Having fitted out, with the assistance of
-other private persons, a considerable fleet, Raleigh sailed from
-Plymouth, February 6, 1595. He left his ships in the mouth of the river
-Orinoco, and sailed 400 miles into the interior in boats. It is to be
-recorded to his honour, that he treated the Indians with great kindness;
-which, contrasted with the savage conduct of the Spaniards, raised so
-friendly a feeling towards him, that for years his return was eagerly
-expected, and at length was hailed with delight. The hardships of the
-undertaking, and the natural advantages of the country which he
-explored, are eloquently described in his own account of the ‘Discovery
-of Guiana.’ But the setting in of the rainy season rendered it necessary
-to return, without having reached the promised land of wealth; and
-Raleigh reaped no other fruit of his adventure than a certain quantity
-of geographical knowledge, and a full conviction of the importance of
-colonizing and taking possession of the newly-discovered region. This
-continued through life to be his favourite scheme; but neither Elizabeth
-nor her successor could be induced to view it in the same favourable
-light.
-
-On reaching England, he found the Queen still unappeased; nor was he
-suffered to appear at court: and he complains in pathetic terms of the
-cold return with which his perils and losses were requited. But he was
-invested with a high command in the expedition of 1596, by which the
-Spanish fleet was destroyed in the harbour of Cadiz; and to his judgment
-and temper in overruling the faulty schemes proposed by others the
-success of that enterprise was chiefly due. Indeed his services were
-perhaps too important, and too justly appreciated by the public, for his
-own interests: for the great and general praise bestowed on him on this
-occasion tended to confirm a jealousy of long standing on the part of
-the commander-in-chief, the Earl of Essex; and it was probably owing to
-that favourite’s influence, that Raleigh was still forbidden the Queen’s
-presence. Essex, and the Secretary of State, Sir Robert Cecil, regarded
-each other with mutual distrust and dislike. Cecil and Raleigh were
-connected by ties of common interest, and, as the latter supposed, of
-friendship. Still Raleigh found the interest of the minister too weak to
-serve his purpose, while the interest of the favourite was employed
-against him; and, as the only method of effecting his own restoration to
-the Queen’s favour, he undertook to work a reconciliation between these
-two powerful rivals. In this he succeeded, to the great admiration of
-all spectators; and the fruit of his policy was seen in his re-admission
-to the execution of his official duties at court, June 1, 1597. In the
-following August he was appointed Rear Admiral in the expedition called
-the Island Voyage, of which Essex held the chief command. The slight
-successes which were obtained were again due to the military talents of
-Raleigh; the main objects of the voyage were lost through the Earl’s
-inexperience.
-
-From this time to the death of the Queen, Raleigh enjoyed an
-uninterrupted course of favour. The ancient enmity between Essex and
-himself was indeed renewed, and that with increased rancour; but the
-indiscretions of the favourite had greatly weakened his influence.
-Raleigh and Cecil spared no pains to undermine him, and were in fact the
-chief workers of his ruin. This is perhaps the most unamiable passage in
-Raleigh’s life; and the only excuse to be pleaded for him is, the
-determined enmity of that unfortunate nobleman. This fault, however,
-brought a slow but severe punishment with it; for the death of Essex
-dissolved the tie which held together Cecil and himself. Neither could
-be content to act second to the other; and Raleigh’s high reputation,
-and versatile as well as profound abilities, might well alarm the
-secretary for his own supremacy. The latter took the surest way of
-establishing his power prospectively. Elizabeth was now old: Cecil took
-no steps to diminish the high esteem in which she held Sir Walter
-Raleigh, but he secretly laboured to prejudice her successor against
-him, and he succeeded to his wish. Very soon after the accession of
-James I., Raleigh’s post of captain of the guard was taken from him; and
-his patent of wines was revoked, though not without a nominal
-compensation being made. To complete his ruin, it was contrived to
-involve him in a charge of treason. Most writers have concurred in
-speaking of this passage of history as inexplicable: it is the opinion
-of the last historian of Raleigh, Mr. Tytler, that he has found
-sufficient evidence for regarding the whole plot as a device of Cecil,
-and he has supported this opinion by cogent arguments. Lord Cobham, a
-violent and ambitious but weak man, had engaged in private dealings with
-the Spanish ambassador, which brought him under the suspicion of the
-government. By a device of Cecil’s (we here follow the account of Mr.
-Tytler) he was induced, in a fit of anger, and in the belief that
-Raleigh had given information against him, to accuse Sir Walter himself
-of being privy to a conspiracy against the government. This charge
-Cobham retracted, confirmed, and retracted again, behaving in so
-equivocal a manner, that no reliance whatever can be placed on any of
-his assertions. But as the King was afraid of Raleigh as much as the
-secretary hated him, this vague charge, unsupported by other evidence,
-was made sufficient to commit him to the Tower; and, after being plied
-with private examinations, in which nothing criminal could be elicited,
-he was brought to trial, November 17, 1603. For an account of that
-memorable scene we shall refer to Mr. Jardine’s ‘Criminal Trials,’ vol.
-i. It is reported to have been said by one of the judges who presided
-over it, on his death-bed, that “the justice of England had never been
-so degraded and injured as by the condemnation of Sir Walter Raleigh.”
-The behaviour of the victim himself was the object of universal
-admiration, for the tempered mixture of patience and noble spirit with
-which he bore the oppressive measure dealt to him. He had before been
-unpopular; but it was recorded by an eye-witness that “he behaved
-himself so worthily, so wisely, and so temperately, that in half a day
-the mind of all the company was changed from the extremest hate to the
-extremest pity.”
-
-The sentence of death thus unfairly and disgracefully obtained was not
-immediately carried into execution. James was not satisfied with the
-evidence adduced on the trial; and believing at the same time that
-Raleigh had been plotting against him, he set his royal wit to dive into
-the mystery. Of the singular scene which our British Solomon devised it
-is not necessary to speak, since Raleigh was not an actor in it. But as
-no more evidence could be obtained against him even by the King’s
-sagacity, he was reprieved, and remanded to the Tower, where the next
-twelve years of his life were spent in confinement. Fortunately, he had
-never ceased to cultivate literature with a zeal not often found in the
-soldier and politician, and he now beguiled the tedium of his lot by an
-entire devotion to those studies which before had only served to
-diversify his more active and engrossing pursuits. Of his poetical
-talents we have already made short mention: to the end of life he
-continued the practice of pouring out his mind in verse, and there are
-several well-known and beautiful pieces expressive of his feelings in
-prison, and in the anticipation of immediate death, especially ‘The
-Lie,’ and the beautiful little poem called ‘The Pilgrimage.’ He also
-possessed a strong turn for mathematics, and studied them with much
-success in the society and under the guidance of his friend Thomas
-Hariot, one of the most accomplished mathematicians of the age.
-Chemistry was another favourite pursuit in which, according to the
-standard of his contemporaries, he made great progress. But the most
-important occupation of his imprisonment was the composition of his
-‘History of the World.’ Notwithstanding the quaintness of the style and
-the discursive manner in which the subject is treated, it is impossible
-to read this volume without admiring the wonderful extent of the
-author’s reading, not only in history, but in philosophy, theology, and
-even the ponderous and untempting stores of Rabbinical learning. Many of
-the chapters relate to subjects which few persons would expect to find
-in a history of the world; yet these will often be found among the most
-interesting and characteristic portions of the book; and its deep
-learning is relieved and set off by passages of genuine eloquence, which
-display to the best advantage the author’s rich imagination and grasp of
-mind. The work extends from the Creation to the end of the second
-Macedonian war. Raleigh meant to bring it down to modern times; but the
-untimely death of Henry Prince of Wales, for whose use it was composed,
-deprived him of the spirit to proceed with so laborious an undertaking.
-He enjoyed the confidence of that generous youth in a remarkable degree,
-and maintained a close correspondence with him on civil, military, and
-naval subjects. Several discourses on these topics, addressed to the
-Prince, will be found in the editions of Raleigh’s works. Henry repaid
-these services with sincere friendship and admiration; and we may
-presume that his adviser looked forward to that friendship, not only for
-a cessation of misfortune, but for a more brilliant period of favour and
-power than he had yet enjoyed. Fortunately, however, this calamity was
-preceded by the death of his arch-enemy, Cecil; and through the
-mediation of the Duke of Buckingham, employed in consideration of
-1500_l._ paid to his uncles, Sir William, Sir John, and Sir Edward
-Villiers, Raleigh was released from the Tower in March, 1615; and
-obtained permission to follow up his long-cherished scheme of
-establishing a colony in Guiana and working a gold mine, of which he had
-ascertained the existence and situation.
-
-The terms on which this licence was granted are remarkable. He was not
-pardoned, but merely let loose on the engagement of his friends, the
-Earls of Arundel and Pembroke, that he should return to England. Neither
-did James contribute to the expense of the undertaking, though it was
-stipulated that he was to receive a fifth part of the bullion imported.
-The necessary funds were provided out of the wreck of Raleigh’s fortune
-(his estate of Sherborne had been forfeited) and by those private
-adventurers who were willing to risk something in reliance on his
-experience and judgment. A fleet of fourteen sail was thus provided, and
-Raleigh, by letters under the privy seal, was appointed
-commander-in-chief and governor of the intended colony. He relied, it is
-said, on the full powers granted him by this commission as necessarily
-including a remission of all past offences, and therefore neglected to
-sue out a formal pardon, which at this period probably would hardly have
-been denied him. The results of this disastrous voyage must be shortly
-given. Raleigh sailed March 28, 1617, and reached the coast of Guiana in
-November following. Being himself disabled by sickness from proceeding
-farther, he dispatched a party to the mine under the command of Captain
-Keymis, an officer who had served in the former voyage to Guiana. But
-during the interval which had elapsed since Raleigh’s first discovery of
-that country, the Spaniards had extended their settlements into it, and
-in particular had built a town called Santa Thome, in the immediate
-neighbourhood of the mine in question. James, with his usual duplicity,
-while he authorised the expedition, revealed every particular connected
-with it to the Spanish ambassador. The English, therefore, were expected
-in the Orinoco, and preparation had been made for repelling them by
-force. Keymis and his men were unexpectedly attacked by the garrison of
-Santa Thome, and a sharp contest ensued, in which the English gained the
-advantage, and burnt the town. In this action Raleigh’s eldest son was
-killed. The Spaniards still occupied the passes to the mine, and after
-an unsuccessful attempt to dislodge them, Keymis abandoned the
-enterprize, and returned to the ships. Raleigh’s correspondence
-expresses in affecting terms his grief and indignation at this double
-misfortune; the loss of a brave and promising son, and the destruction
-of the hopes which he had founded on this long-cherished adventure. On
-his return to England, he found himself marked out for a victim to
-appease the resentment of the Spanish court, to which he had long been
-an object of fear and hatred. He quietly surrendered himself to Sir
-Lewis Stukeley, who was sent to Plymouth to arrest him, and commenced
-the journey to London under his charge. But his mind fluctuated between
-the desire to confront his enemies, and a sense of the hopelessness of
-obtaining justice, and he was at last entrapped by the artifices of the
-emissaries of government who surrounded him into an attempt to escape,
-in which he was arrested and committed to close custody in the Tower.
-Here his conversation and correspondence were narrowly watched, in the
-hopes that a treasonable understanding with the French government, from
-which he had received the offer of an asylum in France, might be
-established against him. His conduct abroad had already been closely
-scrutinized, in the hope of finding some act of piracy, or unauthorized
-aggression against Spain, for which he might be brought to trial. Both
-these hopes failing, and his death, in compliment to Spain, being
-resolved on, it was determined to carry into effect the sentence passed
-fifteen years before, from which he had never been legally released; and
-a warrant was accordingly issued to the judges, requiring them to order
-execution. The case was a novel one, and threw that learned body into
-some perplexity. They determined, however, that after so long an
-interval execution could not be granted without allowing the prisoner
-the opportunity of pleading against it; and Raleigh was therefore
-brought to the bar of the Court of King’s Bench, October 28, 1618. The
-record of his conviction having been read, he was asked whether he could
-urge any thing why the sentence should not be carried into effect. He
-insisted on the nature of his late commission, and on that plea being
-overruled, submitted with his usual calmness and dignity. The execution,
-with indecent haste, was ordered to take place on the following morning.
-In this last stage of life, his greatness of mind shone with even more
-than its usual lustre. Calm, and fearless without bravado, his behaviour
-and speech expressed the piety and resignation of a Christian with the
-habitual coolness of one who has braved death too often to shrink at its
-approach. The accounts of his deportment on the scaffold effectually
-refute the charges of irreligion and atheism which some writers have
-brought against him, unless we make up our minds to believe him an
-accomplished hypocrite. He spoke at considerable length, and his dying
-words have been faithfully reported. They contain a denial of all the
-serious offences laid to his charge, and express his forgiveness of
-those even who had betrayed him under the mask of friendship. After
-delivering this address and spending some time in prayer, he laid his
-head on the block, and breathing a short private prayer, gave the signal
-to the executioner. Not being immediately obeyed, he partially raised
-his head, and said, “What dost thou fear? Strike, man!” and underwent
-the fatal blow without shrinking or alteration of position. He died in
-his sixty-sixth year.
-
-Raleigh sat in several parliaments, and took an active part in the
-business of the house. His speeches, preserved in the Journals, are said
-by Mr. Tytler to be remarkable for an originality and freedom of thought
-far in advance of the time. His expression was varied and animated, and
-his powers of conversation remarkable. His person was dignified and
-handsome, and he excelled in bodily accomplishments and martial
-exercises. He was very fond of paintings, and of music; and, in
-literature as in art, he possessed a cultivated and correct taste. He
-was one of those rare men who seem qualified to excel in all pursuits
-alike; and his talents were set off by an extraordinary laboriousness,
-and capacity of application. As a navigator, soldier, statesman, and
-historian, his name is intimately and honourably linked with one of the
-most brilliant periods of British history.
-
-The works of Oldys, Birch, Cayley, Mrs. Thompson, and Mr. Tytler, may be
-consulted concerning this remarkable person. The life of the last-named
-gentleman, published in the ‘Edinburgh Cabinet Library,’ is the most
-recent; and the industry of the author has enabled him to gain a clue to
-some points which before had been imperfectly understood. A list of
-Raleigh’s numerous works is given in the ‘Biographia Britannica.’ They
-will be found collected in eight volumes, in the Oxford edition of 1829.
-Several of his MSS. are preserved in the British Museum.
-
-[Illustration: [Sir Walter Raleigh in the Tower.]]
-
-[Illustration:
-
-  _Engraved by E. Scriven._
-
-  JENNER.
-
-  _From a Print engraved and coloured by J. R. Smith in the possession
-    of the late John Ring Esq^r._
-
-  Under the Superintendance of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful
-    Knowledge.
-
-  _London, Published by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street._
-]
-
-
-
-
-[Illustration]
-
-                                JENNER.
-
-
-Edward, the third son of the Rev. Stephen Jenner, was born May 17, 1749,
-in the vicarage-house of Berkeley in Gloucestershire, of which parish
-his father, a man of independent fortune, and of a family long
-established and esteemed in that neighbourhood, was incumbent. At the
-death of that parent in 1754, the care of Edward Jenner’s education
-devolved upon his eldest brother, Stephen, who succeeded to the living
-of Berkeley, and faithfully and affectionately discharged the duties of
-a father towards him.
-
-He began at a very early age to give tokens of that fondness and
-aptitude for the study of natural history, which first directed the
-choice of his profession; and afterwards led him, by steps which may be
-easily traced, to the discovery of a method of securing the constitution
-against the small-pox, by a remedy so mild as to be scarcely an
-inconvenience, yet so effectual as almost to have extinguished that
-disease in some countries where it has been energetically used.
-
-Having finished his school education and fixed upon a profession, Jenner
-was apprenticed at the usual age to Mr. Ludlow, a surgeon practising at
-Sodbury near Bristol; and in 1770, when nearly twenty-one, he came to
-London, and put himself under the tuition of John Hunter, in whose house
-he lived for two years, as much in the capacity of a friend as in that
-of a pupil, with great advantage to his professional studies. The
-intimacy between these two eminent men was very close and cordial, and
-subsisted till Hunter’s sudden death in 1793. It is attested by many
-letters from Mr. Hunter, which Jenner carefully preserved; his own were
-probably destroyed with the rest of Hunter’s papers by the late Sir
-Everard Home. Their correspondence relates chiefly to facts and
-experiments in natural history.
-
-The success with which Jenner had already pursued his studies, and the
-respect entertained for his talents by his illustrious instructor at a
-period when their intercourse was yet in its infancy, may be gathered
-from his being selected in 1771, on the recommendation of Mr. Hunter, to
-arrange the collections in natural history which had been made by Sir
-Joseph Banks in his voyage round the world with Captain Cook, then just
-completed. Jenner acquitted himself so well of this charge, that he was
-offered, though little more than twenty-two years of age, the situation
-of naturalist to the second expedition under the command of Captain
-Cook, which sailed in 1772. This was a flattering proposal to so young a
-man, and consonant to Jenner’s ruling tastes; nevertheless he declined
-it. It is fortunate for mankind that he chose the laborious seclusion of
-a country practice in preference to aiming at distinction and wealth;
-for in no other sphere could he have found opportunities of pursuing his
-discovery of vaccination through all the perplexities in which his early
-researches into that subject involved him. Indeed, it is probable that
-considerations of this kind, independently of his fondness for a country
-life, had their weight with him in the choice; for the idea had already
-taken strong hold of his naturally sanguine feelings and quick
-apprehension, that he was furnished with a clue which might lead him to
-a result of the highest importance to mankind.
-
-It may be added here that a few years after this time he declined a very
-lucrative situation in India, as well as a much more tempting proposal
-from Mr. Hunter, in 1775, to join him in a project for establishing in
-London a school of natural history, including medicine, of which Jenner
-was to undertake the anatomical department.
-
-Having determined to settle in the country, and being amply provided
-with the requisite knowledge, Jenner established himself as a general
-practitioner at Berkeley. Here he speedily acquired a profitable and
-extensive practice; so much so, indeed, that finding his health giving
-way, he was obliged to limit himself to the practice of medicine alone;
-for which purpose he purchased, as it was then customary, the degree of
-doctor at St. Andrew’s in 1792.
-
-But he not only attained at an early age to a high degree of
-professional reputation, but won the affectionate esteem of all with
-whom he associated. It is related of him that his friends were in the
-habit of joining in his daily professional rides, often of considerable
-extent, for the sake of his agreeable and instructive conversation; and
-that when any of them were ill, he would sometimes make their houses the
-head-quarters of his practice for the time being, and remain in close
-attendance upon them till their recovery.
-
-Music, the lighter kinds of literature, both as a reader and
-occasionally as an author, and the innocent recreations of society,
-which no one enjoyed more keenly than himself, were the means by which
-Jenner lightened the burden of his professional labours; but his chief
-amusement was natural history, including geology, a science then in its
-infancy, for the study of which his position in the vale of Gloucester
-afforded ample opportunity, the neighbourhood abounding with fossil
-remains, and exhibiting a great variety of terrestrial structure.
-Towards subjects of this nature he was led, not only by his original
-bias, but by his correspondence with Hunter, Banks, and Parry.
-
-In 1778 he formed a medical society, which held its periodical meetings
-at Rodborough, for the purpose of communicating professional information
-and promoting a friendly feeling among the members. In furtherance of
-these objects, Jenner contributed several important and original papers,
-the substance of which is now embodied in medical science, without his
-property in them being generally known. Among these were essays on the
-nature and causes of Angina Pectoris, on a peculiar disease of the heart
-occurring in acute rheumatism, and on several of the more severe
-affections of the eye. He also belonged to another medical society,
-meeting at Alveston near Bristol, to the members of which, who were men
-of congenial dispositions with his own, he was personally much attached.
-Upon one topic, however, they did not agree; for it is said that he was
-in the habit of enlarging so frequently upon his favourite speculation
-of the cow-pox, that the subject was at length proscribed, and he was
-jestingly forbidden to renew it on pain of expulsion. This club was for
-many years a source of much enjoyment and advantage to him, and we may
-suppose that he was a very principal contributor to the diversion of the
-other members; for it ceased to exist in 1789, when other objects began
-to engross the time that he could spare from his practice. In March of
-the previous year, at the age of thirty-seven, he married Miss Catharine
-Kingscote, by whom he had several children. The choice appears to have
-been a very fortunate one for his domestic happiness.
-
-In 1786 he had communicated to Mr. Hunter, in the form of an essay, the
-result of several years’ careful observation of the singular habits of
-the cuckoo, till then a mystery to naturalists. It was presented by Mr.
-Hunter to the Royal Society, and was printed entire in their
-Transactions in 1789, having been returned to Jenner in the mean time,
-in order that he might record some additional facts which he had
-ascertained. This tract has been considered as a very masterly
-performance, and was the occasion of the author being elected to the
-fellowship of the Royal Society. It is not a little remarkable that Mr.
-Hunter, like Jenner’s friends at Alveston, thought so doubtfully of his
-views on the subject of vaccination, that he cautioned him against
-publishing them, lest they should interfere with the fame he had
-acquired in the learned world by his ‘Essay on the Cuckoo.’ But the
-event proved that the caution, though well meant, was unnecessary.
-Jenner was not more disposed than his gifted master to admit any
-conclusion on merely collateral grounds, that might be put to the test
-of experiment. This, however, was too new and important a matter to be
-lightly or prematurely hazarded; and Jenner waited long and patiently
-for an opportunity of thus testing his opinions, losing in the mean time
-no occasion of collecting additional information. The idea, thus
-watchfully and laboriously improved, was first excited in his mind while
-he was an apprentice at Sodbury, by a remark accidentally dropped by a
-young countrywoman in his master’s surgery, who, overhearing a
-conversation about the small-pox, observed that she had no fear of
-catching that disease as she had taken the _cow-pox_. Jenner, who was
-always alive to any subject connected with natural history, was induced
-to make more particular inquiries into this complaint, of which he had
-never heard before; and the answers he received were such as to suggest
-the probability of substituting it with advantage for the inoculated
-small-pox. Of this theory he never lost sight till he established it on
-the clearest evidence, and with it his unrivalled claim to the perpetual
-gratitude of mankind.
-
-The cow-pox is a disease of the eruptive kind, which is sometimes
-extensively prevalent among cattle in large dairy countries where they
-are herded together in numbers, but often disappears for a long time
-together. Though commonly mild, it is occasionally so severe as to
-terminate fatally; and it is believed, on strong grounds, to have been
-at different times even pestilential among them, and as such, to have
-been mentioned by various writers on rural economy, ancient and modern,
-as well as in medical and other histories. It is generally, however, a
-very mild disorder, appearing on the udder of the cow, at first in the
-form of vesicles much resembling those of small-pox; and it is
-sometimes, as in the instance which first attracted the attention of
-Jenner, communicated to the hands of milkers. In such cases, an eruption
-of similar vesicles takes place on the hands and arms, not without much
-swelling and inflammation, and occasionally with fever and disturbance
-of the health for some days. It has never been known to prove fatal when
-thus communicated, or to have left any unpleasant effects behind it,
-except a few indented marks in the situation occupied by the pustules.
-It is not communicable, like small-pox in the human subject, by the
-effluvia; but the matter, or lymph as it is called, contained in the
-vesicles, must be actually inserted under the skin, or applied to a raw
-or an absorbing surface. But the most important of its peculiarities is
-the security it affords against the infection of small-pox. This
-property was well known among the agricultural classes in the grazing
-districts before the time of Jenner, and it has been stated that
-individuals among them had turned their knowledge of it to account for
-the protection of their families, by inoculating them with the vaccine
-disease. But this circumstance, alleged on very scanty evidence by those
-who were opposed to Jenner’s claims, cannot lessen the merit of his
-independent discovery, of which each step was communicated in succession
-to a numerous circle of medical friends, and is recorded in the most
-authentic form. His reputation is, on the other hand, enhanced by the
-fact that, although the immunity conferred by the casual disease in
-milkers had frequently come under the notice of medical men from their
-failing in such persons to produce the small-pox by inoculation, yet the
-idea of introducing the disease of an animal into the human frame was so
-little in consonance with any former practice, that Jenner was the first
-among his brethren to conjecture that cow-pox, as the milder disease,
-might advantageously supersede the inoculated small-pox; and that, as
-the latter is rendered less virulent by inoculation, so the former
-introduced in the same way might be milder than the casual complaint,
-and yet retain its protecting power. He had even communicated this
-conjecture to Hunter, himself no mean innovator in medicine, so early as
-the year 1770; and Mr. Hunter was for many years in the habit of
-mentioning it in his public lectures coupled with Jenner’s name: but the
-proposed substitution was so distasteful, or appeared of such
-questionable propriety, that it obtained no favourable notice till it
-was forced by the inventor on the public attention, thirty years after
-it had first attracted his own.
-
-It would be interesting to enter into a detail of the progress of
-Jenner’s discovery and of its introduction into general use, as well as
-to show its inestimable value to society by a reference to statistical
-facts. This, however, can only be done here in a very cursory manner.
-
-The way in which the idea was first suggested to him has been already
-mentioned. After his return to Berkeley from London, he pursued the
-subject with great patience and sagacity for many years. In the course
-of these preliminary inquiries he found reason to believe that of
-several kinds of vesicular disease in the cow, but one had the property
-of securing from the small-pox, and that one exclusively, or at least
-with the greatest certainty, in its first stage. He also ascertained
-that the horse is subject to an eruption of similar vesicles, apparently
-arising without infection, and popularly known by the name of the
-_grease_. The matter issuing from these is sometimes conveyed to the cow
-by milkers engaged in farriery; and Jenner conceived it to be the
-original and only source of cow-pox among the herds. The opinion is not
-generally held at present to its full extent; but experiments by himself
-and others since the publication of his Inquiry have proved a fact much
-disputed at the time, that he was right in believing the diseases to be
-identical, whatever may be their origin.
-
-It may be mentioned as a curious circumstance, that the first lymph
-transmitted in an active state to British India in 1802 by Dr. De Carro
-of Vienna, long the only source of vaccination in that country, had been
-furnished to him by Dr. Sacco of Milan, from genuine vesicles produced
-by direct inoculation from the horse, without passing through the cow;
-an intervention which, till about that period, Jenner had continued to
-think essential to the production of the true disease in man.
-
-In addition to these and other curious results, laboriously collected
-during a period of twenty-six years, Dr. Jenner at length arrived at a
-rational conviction of the safety of the experiment he meditated, from
-observing the invariable harmlessness of the disease when casually
-taken: he determined therefore to put his long-cherished idea to the
-trial on the first opportunity.
-
-This offered on the 14th of May, 1796, the anniversary of which is still
-kept as a festival at Berlin. On that day he inoculated a boy of the
-name of Phipps in the arm, from a pustule on the hand of a young woman
-who was infected by her master’s cows. The boy went favourably through
-the disease. On the 1st of July he was inoculated for the small-pox,
-and, as Jenner had predicted, without effect.
-
-The feelings of the sanguine philanthropist may be conceived. They
-cannot be better described than they have been by himself in the
-following terms. “While the vaccine discovery was progressive, the joy I
-felt at the prospect before me of being the instrument destined to take
-away from the world one of its greatest calamities, blended with the
-fond hope of enjoying independence and domestic peace and happiness, was
-often so excessive, that in pursuing my favourite subject among the
-meadows, I have sometimes found myself in a reverie. It is pleasant to
-me to recollect that these reflections always ended in devout
-acknowledgments to that Being from whom this and all other mercies
-flow.”
-
-During the next two years many other equally successful trials were
-made; and at length the discovery was published to the world in June,
-1798, in a quarto pamphlet of seventy pages, which had been previously
-subjected to the most rigorous criticism and revision by a few chosen
-friends who met for that purpose at the house of Thomas Westfaling,
-Esq., at Rudhall, near Ross. It is entitled ‘An Inquiry into the Causes
-and Effects of the Variolæ Vaccinæ; a disease discovered in some of the
-Western Counties of England, particularly Gloucestershire, and known by
-the name of the Cow-pox.’ The pamphlet is enriched with the detail of
-sixteen cases of the casual, and seven of the inoculated disease, the
-latter including the case of one of the author’s sons; and with coloured
-drawings of the appearances in both.
-
-The style of this pamphlet, as well as of others which succeeded it from
-Jenner’s pen in the course of a few years, is remarkably modest, and
-admirable in all respects, which probably contributed much to the early
-favour it received. The facts were such as to defy contradiction, and
-the conclusions so just and mature, that the experience of nearly forty
-years has been able to add little more than its seal of confirmation to
-them. The few errors that have been detected relate chiefly to the
-degree of protection afforded by the cow-pox, which Jenner affirmed to
-be perfect: it is now however believed to be incomplete, perhaps in
-three instances out of every hundred; that small proportionate number
-passing, in general after the lapse of some years, through a very mild
-and modified small-pox, in which the per-centage of fatal cases is
-certainly not more, and probably much less, than five; being not more
-than three in 2000 of all vaccinated persons, while the rate of
-mortality even in inoculated small-pox is one in fifty, or forty in
-2000. It should be borne in mind that small-pox itself sometimes occurs
-a second time even in a severe and fatal form, as in the case of Louis
-XV. Some constitutional peculiarity is probably the occasion of both
-these anomalies; and this supposition will also account for the
-often-observed fact, that small-pox after vaccination commonly affects
-several members of the same family almost simultaneously, thus giving an
-appearance of failure in a proportion much greater than the truth.
-
-Another position advanced by Jenner in this pamphlet is too remarkable
-to be passed over. After stating his belief that the cow-pox originates
-from the horse in the way already mentioned, he proceeds to suggest that
-the small-pox may have been itself originally morbid matter of the same
-kind, aggravated into a malignant and contagious form by accidental
-circumstances. But this opinion, though plausible, is not considered by
-any means as established.
-
-Favourably as his work was received, the author, who had come to London
-partly to superintend the publication, was unable to obtain an
-opportunity of displaying the disease in that city, which had been the
-chief object of his visit; and returned, much disappointed, to
-Cheltenham, where he now frequently resided, in the middle of July. He
-left, however, some vaccine lymph with Mr. Cline, who was the first
-surgeon in London that ventured to make a trial of it. The complete
-success of the experiment, which was publicly performed, so strongly
-interested the profession, that the new practice became quickly popular,
-in spite of a warm though partial opposition, which was put down in the
-summer of 1799 by a manifesto expressive of confidence in its efficacy
-and safety, signed by seventy-three of the most eminent medical men in
-the metropolis. In the same year some unfortunate occurrences took place
-in consequence of Dr. Woodville, the physician of the Small-pox
-Hospital, having incautiously used and distributed matter from persons
-whom he had inoculated with small-pox a few days after vaccination,
-before it had taken a sufficient hold. The mongrel lymph thus produced
-sometimes occasioned one, sometimes the other disease; their effects
-were confounded; and some deaths which ensued, as well as a general
-eruption of the skin which took place in many instances, were attributed
-to the cow-pox. This and other mistakes would probably have much
-retarded the general adoption of vaccination, but for the promptitude of
-Jenner to discover and expose the source of the error.
-
-In 1802 a parliamentary inquiry into the value of the new method of
-preventing small-pox, including Jenner’s claim to the discovery of it,
-was instituted, and a grant was voted to him of 10,000_l._ In 1807 he
-received an additional vote of 20,000_l._, which, considering that he
-had been the instrument of saving in England alone at least 45,000 lives
-annually, will seem by no means an extravagant mark of national
-gratitude and respect.
-
-In 1803 the Royal Jennerian Society, for the encouragement of
-vaccination, was established in London under the superintendence of Dr.
-Jenner. In 1808 this society was merged by his advice in the National
-Vaccine Establishment, which still continues to dispense the blessings
-of the antidote at the public charge.
-
-The growing interest in the public mind in favour of vaccination was of
-course everywhere extended to its author, who, in spite of several
-unworthy cabals, and attempts to deprive him of the credit of a
-discovery peculiarly his own, was received among all ranks with the
-highest distinction at home, and also gratified with various continental
-honours. If he had thought fit to settle in London, he might undoubtedly
-have secured wealth in proportion to his reputation; but he preferred
-the quiet enjoyment of rural life and domestic happiness. His death took
-place at Berkeley, from a sudden attack of apoplexy, in February, 1823,
-in the seventy-fourth year of his age. The latter years of his life were
-spent between Berkeley and Cheltenham, and in occasional visits to
-London, in the zealous prosecution of his favourite subjects of
-research, and successful endeavours to diffuse the blessings of his
-discovery more widely in his own and other lands.
-
-In England, however, these have not been so extensively felt as in some
-other countries where the form of government has given facilities for
-the enforcement of vaccination. The small-pox consequently prevails to a
-considerable extent in this country, and especially in London. Yet the
-annual number of deaths from small-pox within the bills of mortality is
-at present under 700; the largest number in one year since the general
-practice of vaccination having been 1299, in 1825. A century ago, when
-the population certainly did not reach half its present amount, the
-yearly average was 2000, the maximum being in 1796, when the mortality
-swelled to 3549. That this decrease is wholly due to vaccination cannot
-be doubted; the advantage, however, is partly indirect, and has arisen
-from the discontinuance of the practice of inoculating for the
-small-pox, which afforded security to individuals, but increased the
-general mortality by keeping alive a constant source of infection. But
-the most striking examples of the advantage derived from vaccination are
-to be found on the continent. Thus at Berlin, where the average annual
-amount of deaths from small-pox was 472 for the twenty years previous to
-1802, and 1646 died in 1801, the mortality so speedily diminished after
-the enforcement of vaccination by law, that in 1821 and 1822 there was
-only one death in each year. These and similar instances which might be
-adduced from other countries, seem almost to warrant us in adopting the
-sanguine expectation of Jenner, that by means of his discovery this
-disgusting and dreadful malady, from which not four in a hundred of the
-human race wholly escaped, and which destroyed a tenth part of all that
-were born, and disfigured where it did not destroy, may yet be swept
-from the face of the earth.
-
-The best books of reference on the subjects of this memoir are ‘Baron’s
-Life of Jenner,’ ‘Moore’s History of the Cow-pox,’ Dr. Gregory’s
-admirable articles in the ‘Encyclopædia of Medicine,’ and the reports of
-various parliamentary committees, especially those of 1802 and 1833.
-
-
-
-
-[Illustration]
-
-                               MASKELYNE.
-
-
-Nevil Maskelyne was born in London, October 6, 1732. He was educated at
-Westminster, and in time proceeded to Catherine Hall, Cambridge, from
-whence he migrated to Trinity College. He took the degree of Bachelor of
-Arts, with honours, in the year 1754. In 1755, he was ordained to a
-curacy near London. He had previously turned his attention to astronomy,
-to which he was led by the solar eclipse of 1748; and he now formed an
-acquaintance with Bradley, an astronomer of unequalled merit, whether in
-discovery or practical excellence in observation, whom he assisted in
-calculating his table of refractions. It is no wonder that, under such
-instruction, Maskelyne should have distinguished himself afterwards as
-an observer. From this period (A.D. 1750) Delambre dates the
-commencement of really good observations.
-
-In 1758 Maskelyne was elected Fellow of his college; in 1759 he became
-Fellow of the Royal Society. In 1761 he went to St. Helena, to observe
-the transit of Venus, and also to collect such observations as might, if
-possible, enable him to detect the parallax of the fixed stars. He
-failed in both objects; in the first from cloudy weather, in the second
-from faulty instruments, as he supposed, though the quantity in question
-is so small that its existence has not yet been detected; but he was
-enabled to correct the principal errors of those instruments in a
-considerable degree, and also to make very good observations on various
-other points. In his voyage out and home he applied himself to perfect
-the method of observing lunar distances, and deducing the longitude from
-them. In 1764 he sailed to Barbadoes, to make a trial of Harrison’s
-time-keeper; and in 1765 he was appointed Astronomer Royal, on the
-decease of Mr. Bliss. He was then only thirty-three years of age, and
-had enjoyed a rapid career of celebrity. He had published enough in the
-‘British Mariner’s Guide,’ A.D. 1763, to require honourable mention of
-his name and methods in every work of navigation.
-
-[Illustration:
-
-  _Engraved by E. Scriven._
-
-  MASKELYNE.
-
-  _From the original Picture by Vanderburgh in the possession of the
-    Royal Society._
-
-  Under the Superintendance of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful
-    Knowledge.
-
-  _London, Published by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street._
-]
-
-As soon as he had obtained the post of Astronomer Royal, he began to
-call the attention of the Commissioners of Longitude to the
-practicability of the method of lunar distances, and proposed to them to
-establish a Nautical Almanac, which should contain such an ephemeris of
-the moon’s path as would make the object in view attainable. The
-memorial on this subject was presented February 9, 1765, and the
-evidence of various officers of the East India Company’s service was
-taken as to the success of the method. The lunar tables of Mayer
-furnished the proposed materials for the moon’s places; and upon the
-adoption of the scheme of Maskelyne, a parliamentary reward of 3000_l._
-was given to Mayer’s widow. To Maskelyne we are thus indebted for a work
-which has more than any other contributed to the advancement of
-navigation, in the removal of the great difficulty of finding the
-longitude. It is true that this first effort could hardly then be
-expected to give the longitude within a degree; but this was a great
-improvement, when it is considered that the reckoning of a ship might be
-out several degrees, and that chronometers had not yet been introduced.
-But the ‘Nautical Almanac’ must be considered as a work addressed to
-astronomers as well as seamen, from its earliest commencement. Maskelyne
-saw the importance of saving the observer the trouble and risk of error
-which would attend his reductions without such assistance, and
-contemplated the continual improvement of the lunar tables. It is not
-one of the least obligations which astronomical science owes to
-Maskelyne, that since his time a very slender portion of mathematical
-knowledge will enable a diligent observer to turn his means to good
-account in the promotion of sidereal and even of planetary astronomy.
-Without saying that the observer, as such, is employed about the highest
-department of the science, or in any way recommending the lover of
-observation to stop his career at that point, we may remind him that,
-with the assistance of an ephemeris, such as the ‘Nautical Almanac’ of
-Maskelyne did, still more as that of the present day, he can never want
-the means of turning his amusements to useful purpose.
-
-The first Nautical Almanac was published in 1767, and was continued by
-Maskelyne to the end of his life. The requisite tables, intended to
-accompany that work, were first published by him in 1781.
-
-With the exception of attending the meetings of the Royal Society,
-Maskelyne hardly ever quitted his observatory. His life is therefore
-difficult to describe, except by its results. But in 1772 he went to
-Scotland, to pursue his celebrated experiment for the discovery of the
-earth’s density. The Newtonian doctrine of attraction, in the general
-form, that all matter attracts all other matter, could hardly be said to
-be finally established, except as a point of strong probability. That a
-planet, considered as a whole, attracts a planet, might be thought to be
-demonstrated, but there was no proof of matter being the agent of
-attraction upon matter, _on the earth_, except in the case of magnetised
-or electrified bodies. The notion that the attraction of a mountain, if
-it existed, would cause a slight deviation of the plumb-line, which
-should be perceptible in its effect on the observed position of the
-stars, had been entertained, and the effect even suspected, but without
-being reduced to absolute proof. To give an idea of the minuteness of
-the angle of deviation which was to be looked for, we may state that a
-pendulum ten thousand inches long, vibrating through an angle of ten
-seconds, would only move through half an inch at the end farthest from
-the point of suspension, and that ten seconds was, as it turned out,
-nearly double of the angle in question. Maskelyne chose the mountain
-Schehallien, in Perthshire, as the scene of his operations. By observing
-well-known stars with an instrument depending on a plumb-line, both
-north and south of the mountain, he determined the difference of
-latitude of two stations, subject of course to an error if the
-plumb-line were affected in its position by the attraction of the
-mountain. He then measured the difference of latitude of his stations by
-a trigonometrical survey, which gave their relative position by a method
-independent of the plumb-line and its errors. He thus found that his
-north and south plumb-lines were inclined to each other at an angle of
-about eleven seconds and a half more than they should have been from
-their difference of position on the earth, and that the direction of
-their inclination was towards the mountain. He deduced his results from
-those among his observations which he considered as the best, being
-about one out of ten of the whole; but it is much to his credit as an
-observer, that Baron Zach afterwards found that all his observations,
-good and bad, gave the same average result as those he had selected.
-Zach also established the same fact by his observations in the
-neighbourhood of Marseilles, namely, that the vicinity of a mountain
-affects the level, which was the instrument he used, and not the
-plumb-line.
-
-The labour of deducing an approximation to the earth’s mean density was
-undertaken by Dr. Hutton. By getting the best possible estimate of the
-materials of which Schehallien is composed, and comparing what we must
-call the weight of the plumb-line _towards the mountain_ with its weight
-towards the earth, it appeared that the mean density of the latter is
-about five times that of water. This, considered as a numerical
-approximation, alone and unsupported, would have been worth little,
-owing to the doubt which must have existed as to the correctness of the
-estimation of the mountain’s density. It would prove that there was
-attraction in the mountain, but would give no very great probability to
-the value of the earth’s density, as deduced. But a few years afterwards
-Cavendish made an experiment, with the same object, and by an entirely
-different method. By producing oscillations in leaden balls by means of
-other leaden balls, and by a process of reasoning wholly free from
-astronomical data, he inferred that the mean density of the earth was
-five and a-half times that of water. The experiment of Cavendish was
-published in 1798. It is much to be wished that the experiments of
-Cavendish should be repeated on a larger scale: but the expense of the
-apparatus will probably deter individuals from the attempt.
-
-The Schehallien experiment was carried on under many difficulties and
-privations; and its successful result places its author in the list of
-those who first opened the road to the determination of a fundamental
-element of the solar system. But brilliant as it must appear, it is by
-no means the most useful of Maskelyne’s labours. Excepting Bradley, he
-may almost be called the first who systematically directed his efforts
-to the attainment of the minutest accuracy in astronomical
-observation. His celebrated catalogue, A.D. 1790, consisted only of
-thirty-six of the principal stars, but the places of these, especially
-in right ascension, were determined with a degree of precision which
-was then believed to be hardly attainable. The means by which he
-accomplished his objects, such as taking the nearest tenth of a second
-instead of the nearest second, or half second, of time in his transit
-observations, the practice of uniformly observing all the wires of the
-instrument, instead of one; the introduction of the movable eye-piece,
-by which the several wires could all be viewed directly, instead of
-obliquely, and many little things of the kind, are the indications of
-a man who was familiar above his contemporaries with the sources of
-error, and who had formed at once a bold estimate of the extent to
-which they might be avoided, and a correct view of the means of doing
-it. It is difficult to say what portion of the present improved spirit
-of observation in these points may be attributed to Maskelyne, but it
-certainly was not small. Delambre, who knew at least as well as any
-man of his time what had been done and was doing, and who was never
-profuse of praise, as his ‘History of Astronomy’ amply demonstrates,
-pays him the following compliment in the memoir which he contributed
-to the ‘Biographie Universelle:’—“Maskelyne était en correspondance
-avec tous les astronomes de l’Europe, qu’il considérait comme ses
-frères, et qui, de leur côté, le respectaient comme un doyen, dont les
-travaux leur avaient été éminemment utiles.”
-
-We have spoken, in the life of Harrison, of the controversy about the
-merits of the time-piece of the latter. As Astronomer Royal, Maskelyne
-was the official investigator of the rates of those instruments, and
-both in the case of Harrison, and in that of Mudge, his decisions
-underwent printed attacks, which he answered. Without entering into the
-merits of these questions, since all the grave accusations which were
-brought against him have fallen harmless, we shall only state, that
-Maskelyne’s answers are full of documents, and free from passion; both
-very favourable symptoms.
-
-Dr. Maskelyne held church preferment from his college, and was besides
-in possession of an easy fortune. He died Feb. 9, 1811, leaving behind
-him an unblemished personal reputation, and a character for scientific
-utility of the first order. He left behind him much evidence of his
-utility in the labours and character of the assistants whom he formed;
-all of whom, says Lalande, were useful astronomers. The late Dr.
-Brinkley, Bishop of Cloyne, who added the reputation of a distinguished
-mathematician to that of an eminent observer, was for sometime one of
-his pupils in the practical part of the science.
-
-[Illustration: [Schehallien.]]
-
-[Illustration:
-
-  _Engraved by J. Posselwhite._
-
-  HOBBES.
-
-  _From a Picture by Dobson in the possession of The Royal Society._
-
-  Under the Superintendance of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful
-    Knowledge.
-
-  _London, Published by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street._
-]
-
-
-
-
-[Illustration]
-
-                                HOBBES.
-
-
-When Thomas Hobbes was eighty-four years of age he composed an amusing
-account of his own fortunes in Latin hexameter and pentameter verses;
-and in these it is mentioned that his birth was premature, owing to the
-terror occasioned to his mother by a false report of the approach of the
-Spanish fleet. To this accident he humorously ascribes his patriotic
-zeal and the peacefulness of his disposition. We quote from a
-translation made by a contemporary hand, which in elegance of expression
-is on a par with the original.
-
-           “And hereupon it was, my mother dear
-           Did bring forth twins at once, both me, and Fear.
-           For this my country’s foes I e’er did hate,
-           With calm Peace and my Muse associate.”
-
-It was at Malmsbury, on the 5th of April, 1588, that this very singular
-man was thus called into an existence, which was continued, in perpetual
-activity, for ninety-one years.
-
-One of the earliest efforts of his talents was to translate the Medea of
-Euripides into Latin iambics. At the age of fourteen, he commenced his
-more serious labours at Magdalen College, Oxford; and employed five
-years there in the study of logic and Aristotle’s Physics. Immediately
-afterwards he entered into the family of William Cavendish, Baron
-Hardwick, subsequently Earl of Devonshire, and became tutor to his
-eldest son. The companion alike of his sports and his studies, Hobbes
-presently acquired the affection of his pupil and the confidence of the
-family; and the two young men (for they were of the same age) set out
-together to travel in France and Italy.
-
-A free intercourse with the learned men of other countries enlarged the
-mind of Hobbes, and opened new channels to his investigation. And it
-appears, in the first instance, that when he beheld the contempt in
-which the subjects of his academical industry were generally held, he
-turned from them to the more diligent study of Greek and Latin. Nor was
-it his object alone to become master of the languages, but also to
-meditate on the invaluable records of the history and the wisdom of the
-ancients. He employed his leisure hours in the translation of
-Thucydides; and he published it in the year 1628, to the end (says his
-contemporary biographer), that the absurdities of the democratical
-Athenians might become known to his own fellow-citizens. This was the
-first of his publications; and it may have been that perhaps to which,
-in later life, he attached the least importance. Yet has it so fallen
-out, that after a lapse of two long centuries of slowly progressive
-knowledge and wisdom, his other works are for the most part consigned to
-the shelves of the profound and curious student, while the “Translation
-of Thucydides” is familiar to the acquaintance and respect of every
-scholar.
-
-It is related that Hobbes, while yet a youth, was present at an assembly
-of several eminent men of letters, when one of them asked, in a
-contemptuous manner, _And what is sensation?_ No one attempted to make
-any reply; and the question was thus silently acknowledged to be
-inscrutable. This piqued his curiosity and his pride; for he was
-astonished that those, who through their pretensions to wisdom so
-despised others, should be ignorant of the nature of their own senses.
-Accordingly he directed his deepest attention to that inquiry. The first
-result of his meditation was this position: that if all things were at
-_rest_, they would part with all their qualities. Hence, in his mind, it
-followed, that all the principles of natural science, including the
-senses of all animated things and all bodily affections, depended on the
-varieties of _motion_; and to these, rather than to any inherent or
-occult qualities, he referred all the phenomena of physics.
-
-This his system of physics is amply developed in the first section (De
-Corpore) of his book of the ‘Elements of Philosophy;’ which failed not
-to gain him a celebrity more than proportionate to the number of his
-proselytes. For many admired his ingenuity who did not adopt his
-conclusions. In conjunction with these pursuits, Hobbes engaged with
-zeal in the study of mathematics. He flattered himself that he had
-discovered how to square the circle, and published several treatises in
-relation to that celebrated problem, which at the time gained for him
-considerable reputation. In 1647 he was appointed mathematical tutor to
-the Prince of Wales. He engaged in a long mathematical controversy with
-Dr. Wallis, of which an amusing account will be found in D’Israeli’s
-‘Quarrels of Authors,’ vol. 3. Wallis, however, was an adversary
-entirely above Hobbes’ strength in this department of science.
-
-If Hobbes had confined his exertions to the pursuits of classical
-literature and physical philosophy, he would have spent a more peaceful,
-and therefore to him a happier, existence. But in the tumultuous times
-in which he lived, with a mind habituated to deep investigations, it was
-scarcely possible that he should do otherwise than fix his attention on
-the political phenomena which were passing before him, and endeavour to
-trace their causes and solve their difficulties. After a residence of
-three years in England, he returned to Paris in 1640, and enjoyed the
-society of some of the distinguished men who were collected around
-Cardinal Richelieu. There he wrote his first political work, the book
-_De Cive_, which he published in 1646. He then proceeded to compose a
-much more elaborate treatise on the same subject, which he published in
-England in the year 1651; this was his _Leviathan_—a name associated
-with that of Hobbes in the mind of every reader, though the _peculiar_
-principles which are embodied under it are now known to few. Suffice it
-here to say, that the object of this work was to give a decided support
-to the monarchical institution: to show that there could be no safety
-without peace, no peace without a strong government; that arms and money
-were the elements which alone could give that strength; that even arms
-will scarcely avail to this end, unless placed in a single hand, or if
-opposed (as is the case in religious dissension), by motives and
-principles which do not terminate in this world.
-
-Political researches in that age necessarily involved theological, or at
-least ecclesiastical, principles; and Hobbes had not feared to denounce
-some of the antient usurpations of the clergy, and to pronounce
-religious concord to be absolutely essential to the civil happiness of a
-people: and while he broached some principles not well pleasing to the
-pretensions of the hierarchy of the day, he advanced others which were
-thought to end, by no violent interpretation, in absolute infidelity.
-Accordingly, the theologians assailed him from every quarter; and his
-work, while it divided learned laymen, some of whom thought it a marvel
-of political genius, others a dangerous and unseemly monster, was
-condemned by the unanimous indignation of the ecclesiastical body. The
-churchmen of Rome united in hostility with those of England against
-doctrines which were dangerous to the common prerogatives of the whole
-order, if not to the integrity of religion itself. The latter, being
-more closely attacked, were more violent in their enmity. They denounced
-the opinions as false and heretical; and the divines of Cambridge went
-so far as publicly to stigmatize the author as an atheist. Besides this,
-he did not even escape the charges of being ill disposed to royalty, and
-a disguised adversary to the party of the king. These calumnies (such at
-least he constantly asserted both to be,) deprived him of the patronage
-of the Court, and seemed at one time even to have endangered his
-personal safety; insomuch that, under the Commonwealth, he found it
-expedient to escape from his enemies at Paris, and take refuge among
-those, whose enmity he had rather deserved, the republicans of England.
-He escaped however the fate, so common to men of moderation in violent
-times, of being persecuted by both parties; and only sustained the
-animosity of that which he had intended to serve.
-
-Hobbes was a decided Episcopalian. He studied in all matters to conform
-both to the doctrines and the ceremonies of the church established; and
-avoided, even with a feeling of dislike, the conventicles of the
-Puritans. Still less did he incline, on the other hand, to the Roman
-Catholic faith. During a dangerous illness, which he suffered with great
-firmness at Paris, when he was supposed to be on the point of death, an
-intimate friend, named Mersenne, a learned Franciscan, approached him
-with spiritual consolation, and pressed him to depart in communion with
-the Roman church. Hobbes calmly replied, “Father, I have long ago
-considered all those matters well, and it would trouble me to reconsider
-them now. You can entertain me on some more agreeable subject. When did
-you see Gassendi?”
-
-Yet neither his unmoved adhesion to Protestantism, nor even his
-affection for episcopal government, could disarm the wrath of the
-theologians, who continued to wage an unsparing warfare against him, and
-to inflict on his reputation, and even on his fortunes, such mischief as
-they were able. On the other hand, his singular qualities and talents
-failed not to procure him many powerful protectors; and he stood so
-balanced (says his biographer) between his friends and his enemies, that
-the former were just strong enough to prevent his destruction, the
-latter to obstruct his advancement. So that he continued, with a mighty
-reputation and a slender fortune, to remain, even to the end of his
-days, under the same noble patronage, under which his first distinctions
-had been acquired.
-
-But in this comparative obscurity he was consoled by the society of the
-learned, the courtesy of the great, and the admiration of almost all
-men. Among his personal friends or acquaintances were numbered Francis
-Bacon of Verulam, Ben Jonson (who is said to have revised his
-Translation of Thucydides), the astronomer Galileo, the antiquarian
-Selden, Lord Herbert of Cherbury, Harvey, physician to Charles I., Des
-Cartes, Gassendi; and his praises were celebrated by the contemporary
-muse of Cowley. He was sought by distinguished foreigners who visited
-England, even nobles and ambassadors; especially by Cosmo de’ Medici,
-then Prince, afterwards Duke of Tuscany, who offered him ample proofs of
-his esteem; and there were many among his own compatriots who received
-his opinions with respect, if not with favour.
-
-During the long period of his declining life, Hobbes is related to have
-pursued with most assiduity his studies in natural philosophy; but the
-publications of his old age (if we except the Decameron Physiologicum,
-published in 1676) rather indicate a return to his earliest tastes,
-which inclined, we are told, to history and poetry. At the age of about
-80, he wrote, in English, the _Behemoth_, or History of the Civil Wars
-between Charles and the Parliament; besides a long Latin poem on the
-origin and increase of the pontifical power. At about 86, he translated
-the Odyssey into English verse, and the Iliad at 87: and he persevered
-for the four following years, which were his last, in the same peaceful
-course of literary recreation. A list of his works, forty-two in number,
-is given in Chalmers’ ‘Biographical Dictionary:’ the great majority of
-them are forgotten.
-
-He died towards the end of the year 1679, and was buried at
-Hault-Bucknall, close by the grave of his faithful patroness, the
-Countess of Devonshire. Respecting his personal character and
-conversation it is recorded, that he was agreeable and courteous in his
-familiar intercourse with all, those alone excepted who approached him
-for the mere purpose of disputation: and these he treated with more
-severity than was necessary. Above all things, he detested theological
-controversy, and always strove to turn his hearers away from it to the
-exercise of piety and the practice of Christian morality. His favourite
-authors were Homer, Virgil, Thucydides, and Euclid: but his reading was
-not extensive; as he thought the careful meditation on a few good works
-more profitable to the understanding than a more abundant draught of
-indiscriminate learning; and was fond of saying upon this subject, that
-if he read as much as others he should be as ignorant as they were. He
-persisted in a life of celibacy, that he might be able to pursue his
-studies with the less interruption. In his disposition he was generous
-and charitable; but his means were scanty: for even at the end of his
-life he had little else but two small pensions, the one from the family
-of Devon, the other from the king.
-
-
-
-
-[Illustration]
-
-                                RAPHAEL.
-
-
-Raffaello Sanzio, the greatest of painters, was born in 1483 at Urbino,
-where the house in which he passed the first years of his life is still
-preserved, consecrated by a suitable inscription. His first teacher was
-his father, Giovanni Sanzio, a painter who, allowing for the technical
-imperfections of the time, was perhaps entitled to more praise than
-Vasari has awarded him; the evidence of the remaining works of this
-master has indeed led his recent biographer, Pungileoni, to conclude
-that he was in many essential points equal to the best of his
-contemporaries, and that his feeling for expression may have had no
-unimportant influence on the genius he was destined to instruct. An
-interesting altar-piece by the elder Sanzio still exists at Urbino, in
-the church of S. Francesco, representing the Madonna with St. Francis
-and other saints: the members of the painter’s family are introduced,
-and among them the infant Raphael kneels by his mother’s side.
-
-[Illustration:
-
-  _Engraved by J. Thomson._
-
-  RAFFAELLE.
-
-  _From a Miniature copy of the original Picture in the Gallery at
-    Florence. In the Possession of the Rev^d. Horace Cholmondeley
-    Kingston House, Dorchester._
-
-  Under the Superintendance of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful
-    Knowledge.
-
-  _London, Published by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street._
-]
-
-The silence of the historians of art as to the claims of Giovanni Sanzio
-is less surprising than their omitting to notice the importance of his
-city and province at the period in question. The duchy of Urbino, at the
-close of the fifteenth century, could boast, as Sismondi justly remarks,
-a population as warlike, and a court as lettered and polished as any in
-Italy. The hereditary dukes of the ancient family of Montefeltro ranked
-high among the captains of the age, and among the distinguished patrons
-of science. Federigo da Montefeltro, who died a few months before the
-birth of Raphael, had employed the talents of some of the best painters
-of Italy, and of other countries, to adorn his capital. Among the native
-artists, Fra Carnevale was one of the earliest who attempted
-perspective; and to him, or at least to his works, Bramante, as well as
-Raphael, may have been indebted for a knowledge of the rudiments of
-architecture; Pietro della Francesca, whose compositions on mathematics
-and geometry enriched the ducal library, was domiciliated with Giovanni
-Sanzio; Lucian, a painter and architect of Dalmatia, superintended for a
-time the building of the castle; but the most remarkable guest was
-Justus van Ghent, called by the Italians Giusto da Guanto; a
-considerable work painted by him contained portraits of the Duke
-Federigo and his successor Guid’ Ubaldo, under whose auspices again the
-talents of the celebrated Luca Signorelli were put in requisition.
-Pictures by most of these artists probably still exist at Urbino, and
-undoubtedly were seen and studied by Raphael in his early youth. Among
-the first reputed works of the great artist himself, which are preserved
-in his native city, may be mentioned a Madonna, originally painted on
-the wall in his father’s house, and a holy family on wood in the church
-of S. Andrea.
-
-It is difficult to fix with precision the time when Raphael first
-studied under Perugino; but if, as Rumohr supposes, that painter only
-settled finally at Perugia about 1500, his distinguished scholar must
-have joined him at the age of sixteen or seventeen, and not some years
-earlier, as has been generally assumed. Even at this age it is
-sufficiently wonderful that the scholar should have been fitted to
-select the best qualities in his master’s style, and indeed very soon to
-improve upon them.
-
-Besides the works which his native city contained, Raphael doubtless had
-had opportunities of seeing the productions of Andrea Luigi di Assisi,
-called Ingegno, of Niccolò di Fuligno, and other painters of the school
-of Umbria. Their robust style of colour, which was somewhat modified by
-Perugino and Pinturicchio, is occasionally to be traced in Raphael’s
-early works. There was another quality which Perugino, in his best time,
-possessed in common with other painters of his province, and which may
-be said generally to characterize the school of Umbria. This was an
-intensity of expression in sacred subjects indicating a deep religious
-feeling; and it is so striking in the best productions of the artist
-last named, that it has been considered sufficient of itself to prove
-the orthodoxy of his creed, which Vasari had called in question. The
-impulse was probably derived from Assisi, where some of the earliest
-Italian masters had left specimens of their powers, and the source was
-the doctrine of St. Francis. The history and legends of this saint (who
-died in 1226), frequently exercised the pencil of the early Italians,
-even to the danger of causing Bible subjects to be neglected, from the
-time of Giotto to that of Angelico da Fiesole: but the chief influence
-on the school above-mentioned is apparent rather in the treatment than
-in the subject; it is to be recognised in a certain subdued earnestness
-of expression, allied to the severe tenets of the saint of Assisi, and
-exhibiting religion rather in its suffering than in its triumphant
-character. This tendency received an additional impulse from the works
-which Taddeo di Bartolo of Siena had left in Perugia and other parts of
-Umbria early in the fifteenth century. The painters most remarkable for
-the quality alluded to were Niccolò Alunno, called Niccolò di Fuligno,
-and Pietro Perugino; but the same feeling had extended itself to Francia
-in Bologna. The taste of the Florentine painters on the other hand, with
-the single exception of Angelico da Fiesole, had long taken another
-direction: their pictures of this time abound in portraits; the saints
-and Madonnas of the school, those for instance of Domenico Ghirlandajo,
-seem to have been taken from common nature, and are seldom inspired with
-that sanctity of expression so frequent and so remarkable in the
-painters above-named. In later times, the painters of the various
-Italian schools, who were supposed to copy nature with too little
-selection, were called _naturalisti_, and, at the period alluded to,
-Florence may be considered comparatively the seat of this kind of
-imitation; a tendency greatly owing, it appears, to the introduction of
-early Flemish pictures, in which portraits were frequent, and in which
-the back-ground and accessories were treated with an attention new to
-the Italian painters.
-
-Thus it cannot but be considered among the greatest of Raphael’s
-advantages, that he had opportunities of studying in both the schools
-alluded to; and in both, he of all men knew or felt what was fittest to
-be imitated. The depth and fervour of expression which he imbibed from
-the masters he first contemplated, and which he never relinquished, was
-improved and enlivened by the accurate study of the forms and varieties
-of nature to which the Florentines were devoted: again, before Raphael
-arrived in Florence, Lionardo da Vinci had laid the foundation of that
-profound anatomical knowledge, the only true means of representing
-action, which was afterwards carried to its greatest results in the
-works of Michael Angelo. The celebrated Cartoons of both these great
-designers were the object of study and admiration in Florence at the
-time Raphael resided there, although they were not completed quite so
-soon as might be inferred from a passage in Vasari. The importance of
-considering and accounting for the earliest tendency of Raphael’s
-feeling, will be apparent when we remember that it reappeared in his
-later, and even in his latest, works. The Dispute of the Sacrament, his
-altar-pieces, and even the Cartoons, are not Florentine in their taste,
-but are rather allied to the school from which he derived his first
-impressions.
-
-From 1500, or perhaps a little earlier, to 1504–5, Raphael was employed
-at Perugia, or at Città di Castello (a township midway between Perugia
-and Urbino); his works in the latter place must, however, have been
-executed after he became a pupil of Perugino, as they clearly evince an
-imitation of that painter’s manner. An altar-piece, originally in the
-church of S. Niccola di Tolentino, at Città di Castello, is now in the
-Vatican; a Crucifixion from the church of S. Domenico, in the same
-place, is in the Fesch collection at Rome; and the celebrated Marriage
-of the Virgin, from the church of S. Francesco, is at Milan. The last,
-which was copied almost without alteration from a painting of Perugino,
-has the date 1504, and immediately precedes Raphael’s first visit to
-Florence.
-
-The works done by Raphael in Perugia were much more numerous, to say
-nothing of his assistance in pictures which pass for Perugino’s. Among
-his own may be mentioned an Assumption of the Virgin, now in the
-Vatican, as well as another picture of the same subject begun by
-Raphael, but finished, not till after his death, by his scholars. The
-fresco, in the cloister of S. Severo, at Perugia, which resembles the
-upper part of the _Disputa_ (to be hereafter mentioned), has the date
-1505; the lower part was finished by Perugino when very old, after
-Raphael’s death. The style of this fresco bespeaks an acquaintance with
-higher examples of art than Perugia contained; it was probably done
-after a first visit to Florence. The interesting picture at Blenheim,
-mentioned by Vasari as having been painted for the chapel Degli Ansidei,
-in the church De’ Servi at Perugia, has the date 1505; it may be
-considered to be the last example of Raphael’s imitation of Perugino,
-and to mark the transition from that imitation to the Florentine manner.
-
-While Raphael was studying at Perugia, Pinturicchio, a native of that
-place, and an assistant of Perugino, was employed to paint some subjects
-relating to the Life of Pius II., in the library, now the sacristy, of
-the Duomo at Siena. Vasari relates, not without contradicting himself in
-the separate lives of Raphael and Pinturicchio, that the latter availed
-himself of his young friend’s skill in composition, in engaging him to
-design the whole series of subjects; he further adds, that Raphael
-accompanied Pinturicchio to Siena, but left him to proceed to Florence,
-in order to see the Cartoons of Michael Angelo and Lionardo da Vinci.
-The works in the sacristy at Siena appear to have been done before the
-death of Pius III., in 1503: at that time the Cartoons in question were
-not completed (M. Angelo’s was not finished and publicly shown before
-1506, Vinci’s not much earlier); and as we have before seen, Raphael was
-employed at Città di Castello in 1504, probably before he had seen
-Florence at all. It is however certain that Raphael made some designs
-for Pinturicchio, since two small compositions, almost identical with
-the frescoes at Siena, and other separate studies by his hand exist,
-although various reasons, too long to adduce here, render it extremely
-improbable that he was ever employed at Siena. The vast number of works
-which this great man executed in his very short life, make it
-sufficiently difficult to assign time enough for the production of those
-that are undoubted.
-
-The amiable character, as well as the extraordinary talents of Raphael,
-soon procured him the notice and admiration of the Florentine artists.
-Among his chief friends were Taddeo Gaddi (in return for whose
-hospitality he probably painted the Madonna del Gran Duca and the
-Madonna Tempi), Ridolfo Ghirlandajo, and Fra Bartolommeo. It would be
-impossible here to give a list of the works which he executed during his
-residence in Florence from 1504–5 to 1508, when we find him in Rome.
-Some pictures were left unfinished at the time of his departure for that
-city, and were completed by Ridolfo Ghirlandajo. A picture sent to
-Siena, by some supposed the Giardiniera, now at Paris, but more probably
-the Lanti Madonna, was among these, as well as the Madonna painted for
-the Dei family: an accurate critic, Rumohr, even supposes that the
-celebrated entombment done for Perugia, which is now in the Borghese
-palace in Rome, was completed from Raphael’s designs by Ridolfo
-Ghirlandajo. The number of Madonnas, portraits, and altar-pieces
-produced in the three or four years of Raphael’s residence in Florence,
-must of necessity lead to the conclusion that the _repetitions_ of these
-works, which all pretend to originality, must have been done by his
-imitators. Again Vasari states, not without some probability, that
-Raphael visited his native place, and painted several works there for
-the Duke Guid’ Ubaldo, during the short time above-mentioned: and
-Malvasia, in his account of the Bolognese school, enumerates various
-works which were unknown even to Vasari.
-
-Meanwhile Raphael reaped all the improvement which the sight of the
-excellent works of art in Florence was calculated to communicate. The
-inspection of the works of Michael Angelo and Lionardo da Vinci enlarged
-his knowledge of form and his execution, while the inventions of the
-earlier Florentine masters were diligently examined and remembered; yet
-it is here important to remark, that he never imitated even the highest
-examples alluded to, as he had imitated the first models from which he
-studied. This is naturally to be accounted for in some degree by the
-greater docility of earlier youth; but as so much has been said of the
-inspiration which Raphael caught from Michael Angelo, in Florence from a
-sight of the Cartoons, and in Rome from that of the ceiling of the
-Capella Sistina, it is necessary to remember that a direct imitation of
-Michael Angelo is no where to be traced in Raphael, and that he seemed
-desirous rather of exhibiting his own feeling as distinct from that of
-the great Florentine master, than of aiming at that master’s style.
-
-From 1508 to 1520, the year of his death, Raphael resided in Rome.
-Vasari relates that Bramante, the architect of Julius II., being from
-the same city with Raphael and distantly related to him, had recommended
-him to the Pope, as qualified to paint in fresco certain rooms of the
-Vatican; but it was more probably Raphael’s great reputation, now second
-to none, which was the real cause of the Pope’s notice, although
-Bramante may have been the medium of communication. To the honour of
-Julius it should be remembered, that he had discernment enough to fix in
-every instance on the best artists of his age, and he left no means
-unemployed, sometimes even to an indulgence at variance with the
-haughtiness of his character, to secure their best efforts in his
-service.
-
-At no period of Raphael’s laborious life were his exertions greater than
-during the reign of Julius II., that is, till 1513, the year of that
-pontiff’s death. The room called the Camera della Segnatura, where the
-great artist began to work, was evidently planned by him as one design,
-and its four walls were appropriated to four comprehensive
-subjects,—theology, philosophy, poetry, and jurisprudence. The ceiling
-is occupied with single figures and subjects forming part of the same
-scheme. The subject of Theology, commonly called the _Disputa_, was
-begun the first, and the right hand of the upper part was first painted.
-This is evident from a certain inexperience in the mechanical process of
-fresco painting, which is found to disappear even in the same work. Six
-of these vast subjects, besides other works, were executed between 1508
-and 1513, and the two last, the Miracle of Bolsena and the Heliodorus,
-are unsurpassed in colour, as well as in every other excellence fitted
-for the subject and dimensions. For richness and force of local colour
-these two works have often been compared to those of Titian; it should
-be added that they are earlier in date than the finest oil pictures of
-Titian, and that they are decidedly superior in colour to the frescoes
-by that master in Padua. The supposition of Rumohr, that Giorgione may
-have seen and profited by these specimens, is, however, not to be
-reconciled with the date of that painter’s death. The impatience of the
-character of Julius, who was bent on the speedy prosecution of this
-undertaking, makes it probable that some works attributed by Vasari to
-this period were executed later. The portrait of Julius, that of Bindo
-Altoviti, the musician in the Sciarra palace, the Madonna di Fuligno,
-the Madonna della Sedia, and the Vision of Ezekiel, belong however to
-this time. The St. Cecilia, begun in 1513, was not sent to Bologna till
-some years afterwards. In the last, the assistance of subordinate hands
-is evident; and the variety of works in which Raphael was employed under
-Leo X. made this practice of intrusting the execution of his designs to
-others more and more necessary. Unfortunately, his grand works, the
-frescoes of the Vatican, with the exception of two excellent specimens,
-the Attila and the Liberation of Peter (painted immediately after the
-accession of Leo), were completed very much in this way by his scholars.
-Even the Incendio del Borgo, so remarkable for its invention and
-composition, has but few traces of his own hand in the execution. The
-frescoes of the Vatican have often been described as exhibiting one
-comprehensive plan as to their meaning, but it is well known that the
-subjects of the Attila and the Liberation of Peter were suggested by
-incidents in the life of Leo, and consequently that they could not have
-been thought of before the accession of that pope. Of all these works
-the Attila is justly considered to be the most perfect example of fresco
-painting, and to exhibit the greatest command over the material; though
-produced after the death of Julius, it may be regarded as the noblest
-result of that impulse which the pontiff’s energy had communicated to
-Raphael. The character of Leo X., as a protector of art, has been
-perhaps sometimes too favourably represented. More educated than his
-predecessor, he loved the refinement which the arts and letters imparted
-to his court; but he had no deep interest, like Julius, in inciting such
-men as Raphael and Michael Angelo to do their utmost under his auspices.
-Whether from the indifference of Leo, or from his neglecting, as Vasari
-hints, to discharge his pecuniary debts to Raphael, we soon find the
-painter employed in various other works, and the remaining frescoes of
-the Vatican bear evidence of the frequent employment of other hands.
-Many works of minor importance in the same palace were entirely executed
-by his assistants.
-
-The celebrated Cartoons were designs for tapestries, of which more than
-twenty of various sizes are preserved in the Vatican. The Cartoons, it
-may be inferred, were equally numerous, but seven only, now fit Hampton
-Court, remain entire. A portion of another was bequeathed by the late
-Prince Hoare to the Foundling Hospital, where it is now to be seen.
-These works owed their existence to the Pope’s love of magnificence
-rather than to a true taste for art; but although destined for a merely
-ornamental purpose, some of the designs are among the very finest of
-Raphael’s inventions, and a few may have been, at least in part,
-executed by his hand. The Ananias, the Charge to Peter, the Paul and
-Barnabas at Lystra, and the Paul preaching at Athens, are generally
-considered to have the greatest pretensions to this additional interest.
-The fine portrait of Leo with the Cardinals de’ Medici and de’ Rossi
-completes the list of larger works undertaken for the Pope, but the many
-designs by Raphael from classical or mythological subjects may be
-supposed to have been also made at the suggestion of the pontiff. In
-obedience to his wishes, Raphael undertook the inspection of the ancient
-Roman monuments, and superintended the improvements of St. Peter’s.
-Among the numerous and extensive works done for other employers may be
-mentioned the Sybils in the Chiesa della Pace, the frescoes from
-Apuleius’s story of Cupid and Psyche in the palace of Agostino Chigi,
-called the Farnesina, where the so-called Galatea was the beginning of
-another Cyclus from the same fable, the Madonna del Pesce, the Madonna
-di S. Sisto, and the Spasimo di Sicilia. Many a palace in the
-neighbourhood of Rome still exhibits remains of frescoes for which
-Raphael at least furnished the designs; and his own Casino, near the
-more modern Villa Borghese, may retain traces of his hand, but it is now
-fast falling to decay. A long list of portraits might be added to the
-above works, together with many interesting designs in architecture, and
-even some productions in sculpture. In reviewing the amazing number of
-works attributed to Raphael, it must not however be forgotten that many
-are his only in the invention, and some pictures that bear his name may
-have been even designed as well as finished by his imitators. The
-Flemish copies of Raphael are frequent, and are to be detected, among
-other indications, by their extreme smoothness; the contemporary
-imitations, especially those of the earlier style of the master, by
-Domenico Alfani and Vincenzo di S. Geminiano, are much less easily
-distinguished. The question respecting the Urbino earthenware may be
-considered to have been set at rest by Passeri (Storia delle pitture in
-Maiolica di Pesaro e di altri luoghi della Provincia Metaurense). From
-this inquiry, it appears, first, that the art of painting this ware had
-not arrived at perfection till twenty years after Raphael’s death: and
-secondly, that about that time Guid’ Ubaldo II. (della Rovere) collected
-engravings after Raphael, and even original designs by him, and had them
-copied in the Urbino manufactory. Battista Franco at one time
-superintended the execution, and one of the artists was called Raffaello
-del Colle; his name may perhaps occasionally be inscribed on the Urbino
-ware, but the initials O. F. (Orazio Fontana) are the most frequent.
-
-The Transfiguration was the last oil picture of importance on which
-Raphael was employed; it was unfinished at his death, and was afterwards
-completed, together with various other works, by his scholars. The last
-and worst misstatement of Vasari cannot be passed over, for
-unfortunately, none of the biographer’s mistakes have been oftener
-repeated than that which ascribes the death of this great man to the
-indulgence of his passion for the Fornarina. Cardinal Antonelli was in
-possession of an original document, first published by Cancellieri,
-which assigns a different, and a much more probable, cause for Raphael’s
-death; it thus concludes,—“Life in him (Raphael) seemed to inform a most
-fragile bodily structure, for he was all mind; and moreover, his
-physical forces were much impaired by the extraordinary exertions he had
-gone through, and which it is wonderful to think he could have made in
-so short a life. Being then in a very delicate state of health, he
-received orders one day while at the Farnesina to repair to the court;
-not to lose time, he ran all the way to the Vatican, and arrived there
-heated and breathless; there the sudden chill of the vast rooms, where
-he was obliged to stand long consulting on the alterations of St.
-Peter’s, checked the perspiration, and he was presently seized with an
-indisposition. On his return home, he was attacked with a fever, which
-ended in his death.” Raphael was born and died on Good Friday. Some of
-his biographers have hence, through an oversight, asserted that he lived
-exactly thirty-seven years. He was born March 28, 1483, and died April
-6, 1520. He was buried in the Pantheon, now the church of Sta. Maria ad
-Martyres, in a niche or chapel which he had himself endowed. His remains
-have been lately found there.
-
-Quatremère de Quincy’s ‘Histoire de la Vie et des Ouvrages de Rafael,
-etc. Paris, 1824,’ has been improved and superseded by the notes to the
-Italian translation of Longhena, Milan, 1829. Pungileoni, the author of
-the ‘Elogio Storico di Giovanni Santi, Urbino, 1822,’ has been long
-employed in preparing a life of Raphael. The observations of Rumohr, in
-the third volume of his ‘Italienische Forschungen, Berlin, 1831,’ are
-original and valuable. A few interesting facts will be found in Fea’s
-‘Notizie intorno Raffaele Sanzio, Rome 1822.’ The author, however, fails
-to prove the regularity of Leo’s payments to Raphael, since the latest
-document concerning the frescoes in the _Stanze_ has the date 1514.
-
-The engraving is from a miniature after the portrait by Raphael himself,
-in his first manner, cut from the stucco of a wall at Urbino, which
-forms the chief attraction of the Camera di’ ritratti at Florence. The
-head engraved by Morghen, and so generally known, represents the
-features of Bindo Altoviti, which do not even resemble in a single point
-those of Raphael. The notion arose solely from a passage in Vasari’s
-Lives:—‘_E a Bindo Altoviti fece il ritratto suo_;’ for Bindo Altoviti
-he did his portrait (not _his own_): these words were distorted by the
-Editor Bottari in a marginal note; but the error has been decisively
-exposed by Missirini and others, whose account is every where received
-in Italy. Nor does it appear that the Tuscans in general fell into the
-mistake, for the portrait now given, and not, as Bottari asserts, the
-Altoviti portrait, is engraved in the _Museum Florentinum_.
-
-[Illustration: [Death of Ananias.]]
-
-
-
-
-[Illustration]
-
-                                 KNOX.
-
-
-John Knox was born in East Lothian, in 1505, probably at the village of
-Gifford, but, according to some accounts, at the small town of
-Haddington, in the grammar-school of which he received the rudiments of
-his education. His parents were of humble rank, but sufficiently removed
-from want to support their son at the University of St. Andrew’s, which
-Knox entered about the year 1524. He passed with credit through his
-academical course, and took orders at the age of twenty-five, if not
-sooner. In his theological reading, he was led by curiosity to examine
-the works of ancient authors quoted by the scholastic divines. These
-gave him new views of religion, and led him on to the perusal of the
-scriptures themselves. The change in his opinions appears to have
-commenced about 1535. It led him to recommend to others, as well as to
-practise, a more rational course of study than that prescribed by the
-ancient usage of the University. This innovation brought him under
-suspicion of being attached to the principles of the Reformation, which
-was making secret progress in Scotland: and, having ventured to censure
-the corruptions which prevailed in the Church, he found it expedient to
-quit St. Andrew’s in 1542, and return to the south of Scotland, where he
-openly avowed his adherence to the Reformed doctrines.
-
-[Illustration:
-
-  _Engraved by B. Holl._
-
-  JOHN KNOX.
-
-  _From a Picture in the possession of Lord Somerville._
-
-  Under the Superintendance of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful
-    Knowledge.
-
-  _London, Published by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street._
-]
-
-Having cut himself off from the emoluments of the Established Church,
-Knox engaged as tutor in the family of Douglas of Langniddrie, a
-gentleman of East Lothian. As a man of known ability, and as a priest,
-he was especially obnoxious to the hierarchy; and it is said that
-Archbishop Beatoun sought his life by private assassination, as well as
-openly under colour of the law. At Easter, 1547, Knox, with many other
-Protestants, took refuge in the castle of St. Andrew’s, which was seized
-and held, after the archbishop’s murder, by the band of conspirators who
-had done the deed. He here continued his usual course of instruction to
-his pupils, combined with public reading and explanation of the
-scriptures to those who sought his assistance. His talents pointed him
-out as a fitting person for the ministry; but he was very reluctant to
-devote himself to that important charge, and was only induced to do so,
-after a severe internal struggle, by a solemn call from the minister and
-the assembled congregation. He distinguished himself during his short
-abode at St. Andrew’s by zeal, boldness, and success in preaching. But
-in the following July the castle surrendered; and, by a scandalous
-violation of the articles of capitulation, the garrison were made
-prisoners of war, and subjected to great and unusual ill-treatment.
-Knox, with many others, was placed in a French galley, and compelled to
-labour like a slave at the oar. His health was greatly injured by the
-hardships which he underwent in that worst of prisons; but his spirit
-rose triumphant over suffering. During this period he committed to
-writing an abstract of the doctrines which he had preached, which he
-found means to convey to his friends in Scotland, with an earnest
-exhortation to persevere in the faith through persecution and trial. He
-obtained liberty in February, 1549, but by what means is not precisely
-known.
-
-At that time, under the direction of Cranmer, and with the zealous
-concurrence of the young King Edward VI., the Reformation in England was
-advancing with rapid pace. Knox repaired thither, as to the safest
-harbour; and in the dearth of able and earnest preachers which then
-existed, he found at once a welcome and active employment. The north was
-appointed to be the scene of his usefulness, and he continued to preach
-there, living chiefly at Berwick and Newcastle, till the end of 1552. He
-was then summoned to London, to appear before the Privy Council on a
-frivolous charge, of which he was honourably acquitted. The King was
-anxious to secure his services to the English Church, and caused the
-living of All Hallows, in London, and even a bishopric, to be offered
-him. But Knox had conscientious scruples to some points of the English
-establishment. He continued, however, to preach, itinerating through the
-country, until, after the accession of Mary, the exercise of the
-Protestant religion was forbidden by act of parliament, December 20,
-1553. Shortly afterwards he yielded to the importunity of his friends,
-and consulted his own safety by retiring to France. Previous to his
-departure, he solemnised his marriage with Miss Bowes, a Yorkshire lady
-of good family, to whom he had been some time engaged.
-
-Knox took up his abode in the first instance at Dieppe, but he soon went
-to Geneva, and there made acquaintance with Calvin, whom he loved and
-venerated, and followed more closely than any others of the fathers of
-the Reformation in his views both of doctrine and ecclesiastical
-discipline. Towards the close of 1554 he was invited by a congregation
-of English exiles resident at Frankfort to become one of their pastors.
-Internal discords, chiefly concerning the ritual and matters of
-ceremonial observance, in which, notwithstanding the severe and
-uncomplying temper usually ascribed to him, no blame seems justly due to
-Knox, soon forced him to quit this charge, and he returned to Geneva;
-where he spent more than a year in a learned leisure, peculiarly
-grateful to him after the troubled life which he had led so long. But in
-August, 1555, moved by the favourable aspect of the time, and by the
-entreaties of his family, from whom he had now been separated near two
-years, he returned to Scotland, and was surprised and rejoiced at the
-extraordinary avidity with which his preaching was attended. He visited
-various districts, both north and south, and won over two noblemen, who
-became eminent supporters of the Reformation, the heir-apparent of the
-earldom of Argyle, and Lord James Stuart, afterwards Earl of Murray. But
-in the middle of these successful labours he received a call from an
-English congregation at Geneva to become their pastor; and he appears to
-have felt it a duty to comply with their request. It would seem more
-consonant to his character to have remained in Scotland, to watch over
-the seed which he had sown, and that his own country had the most
-pressing claim upon his services. But the whole tenor of his life
-warrants the belief that he was actuated by no unworthy or selfish
-motives; and in the absence of definite information, some insight into
-the nature of his feelings may probably be gained from a letter
-addressed to some friends in Edinburgh, in March, 1557. “Assure of that,
-that whenever a greater number among you shall call upon me than now
-hath bound me to serve them, by His grace it shall not be the fear of
-punishment, neither yet of the death temporal, that shall impede my
-coming to you.” He quitted Scotland in July, 1556.
-
-During this absence Knox maintained a frequent correspondence with his
-brethren in Scotland, and both by exhortation and by his advice upon
-difficult questions submitted to his judgment, was still of material
-service in keeping alive their spirit. Two of his works composed during
-this period require mention; his share in the English translation of the
-Scriptures, commonly called the ‘Geneva Bible,’ and the ‘Blast of the
-Trumpet against the monstrous Regimen of Women,’ a treatise expressly
-directed against the government of Mary of England, but containing a
-bold and unqualified enunciation of the principle, that to admit a woman
-to sovereignty is contrary to nature, justice, and the revealed will of
-God. In January, 1559, at the invitation of the leading persons of the
-Protestant congregation, he again returned to Scotland. Matters at this
-time were drawing to a crisis. The Queen Regent, after temporising while
-the support of a large and powerful party was essential to her, had
-thrown off disguise, and openly avowed her determination to use force
-for the suppression of heresy: while the leading Protestants avowed as
-plainly their resolution of protecting their preachers; and becoming
-more and more sensible of their own increasing strength, resolved to
-abolish the Roman, and set up the Reformed method of worship in those
-places to which their influence or feudal power extended. St. Andrew’s
-was fixed on for the commencement of the experiment; and under the
-protection of the Earl of Argyle and Lord James Stuart, Prior of St.
-Andrew’s, Knox, who on his landing had been proclaimed a rebel and
-outlaw, undertook to preach publicly in the cathedral of that city. The
-archbishop sent word that he should be fired upon if he ventured to
-appear in the pulpit, and as that prelate was supported by a stronger
-force than the retinue of the Protestant noblemen, they thought it best
-that he should abstain at this time from thus exposing his life. Knox
-remained firm to his purpose. After reminding them that he had first
-preached the Gospel in that church, of the sufferings of his captivity,
-and of the confident hope which he had expressed to many that he should
-again perform his high mission in that same church, he besought them not
-to stand in the way when Providence had brought him to the spot. The
-archbishop’s proved to be an empty threat. Knox preached for four
-successive days without interruption, and with such effect, that the
-magistrates and the inhabitants agreed to set up the reformed worship in
-their town; the monasteries were destroyed, and the churches stripped of
-images and pictures. Both parties now rose in arms. During the contest
-which ensued, Knox was a chief agent in conducting the correspondence
-between Elizabeth and the Lords of the Congregation. The task suited
-neither his profession nor his character, and he rejoiced when he was
-relieved from it. In July, 1560, a treaty was concluded with the King
-and Queen of France, by which the administration of the Queen Regent was
-terminated; and in August a parliament was convoked, which abolished the
-papal jurisdiction, prohibited the celebration of mass, and rescinded
-the laws enacted against Protestant worship.
-
-From the persecuted and endangered teacher of a proscribed religion,
-Knox had now become, not indeed the head, but a leader and venerated
-father of an Established Church. He was at once appointed the Protestant
-minister of Edinburgh, and his influence ceased not to be felt from this
-time forward in all things connected with the Church, and in many
-particulars of civil policy. Still his anxieties were far from an end.
-Many things threatened and impeded the infant Church. Far from
-acquiescing in the recent acts of the parliament, the young King and
-Queen of France were bent on putting down the rebellion, as they termed
-it, in Scotland by force of arms. The death of Francis put an end to
-that danger; but another, no less serious, was opened by the arrival of
-Mary in August, 1561, to assume her paternal sovereignty, with a fixed
-determination of reviving the supremacy of the religion in which she had
-been brought up, and to which she was devotedly attached. There were
-also two subjects upon which Knox felt peculiarly anxious, and in which
-he was thwarted by the lukewarmness, as he considered it, of the
-legislature,—the establishment of a strict and efficacious system of
-church discipline, and the entire devotion of the wealth of the Catholic
-priesthood to the promotion of education, and the maintenance of the
-true religion. In both these points he was thwarted by the indifference
-or interestedness of the nobility, who had possessed themselves, to a
-large amount, of the lands and tithes formerly enjoyed by monasteries.
-
-It soon became evident that the Queen disliked and feared Knox. She
-regarded his ‘Blast against the Regimen of Women’ as an attack upon her
-own right to the throne; and this is not surprising, though Knox always
-declared that book to be levelled solely against the late Queen of
-England, and professed his perfect readiness to submit to Mary’s
-authority in all things lawful, and to wave all discussion or allusion
-to the obnoxious tenet. His freedom of speech in the pulpit was another
-constant source of offence; and it is not to be denied that, although
-the feelings of that age warranted a greater latitude than would now be
-tolerated in a teacher of religion, his energetic and severe temper led
-him to use violent and indiscreet language in speaking of public men and
-public things. For Mary herself he prayed in terms which, however
-fitting for a minister to employ towards one of his flock whom he
-regarded to be in deadly and pernicious error, a queen could hardly be
-expected to endure from a subject without anger. Accordingly, he was
-several times summoned to her presence, to apologise or answer for his
-conduct. The narrations of these interviews are very interesting: they
-show the ascendancy which he had gained over the haughty spirit of the
-Queen, and at the same time exonerate him from the charge urged by her
-apologists of having treated her with personal disrespect, and even
-brutality. He expressed uncourtly opinions in plain and severe language;
-farther than this he neither violated the courtesy due from man to
-woman, nor the respect due from a subject to a superior. In addition to
-the causes of offence already specified, he had remonstrated, from her
-first landing, against the toleration of the mass in her own chapel. And
-at a later time, he spoke so freely concerning the probable consequence
-to the Reformed Church from her marrying a Papist, that in reprimanding
-and remonstrating with him she burst into a passion of tears. He
-remained unmoved, protesting that he saw her Majesty’s tears with
-reluctance, but was constrained, since he had given her no just ground
-of offence, rather to sustain her tears than to hurt his conscience, and
-betray the commonwealth through his silence. This interview is one of
-the things upon which Mr. Hume has sought to raise a prejudice against
-the reformer in his partial account of this period.
-
-Many of the nobility who had aided in the establishment of the
-Reformation, gained over either by the fascination of Mary’s beauty and
-manners, or by the still more cogent appeal of personal interest, were
-far from seconding Knox’s efforts, or partaking in his apprehensions.
-The Earl of Murray was so far won over to adopt a temporising and
-conciliatory policy, that a quarrel ensued in 1563 between him and Knox,
-which lasted for two years, until quenched, as Knox expresses it, by the
-water of affliction. Maitland of Lethington, once an active Reformer, a
-man of powerful and versatile talents, who was now made Secretary of
-State, openly espoused the Queen’s wishes. In the summer of 1563, Knox
-was involved in a charge of high treason, for having addressed a
-circular to the chief Protestant gentlemen, requesting them to attend
-the trial of two persons accused of having created a riot at the Queen’s
-chapel. It appears that he held an especial commission from the General
-Assembly to summon such meetings, when occasion seemed to him to require
-them. Upon this charge of treasonably convoking the lieges, he was
-brought before the privy council. Murray and Maitland were earnest to
-persuade him into submission and acknowledgment of error. Knox, however,
-with his usual firmness and uprightness, refused positively to confess a
-fault when he was conscious of none, and defended himself with so much
-power, that by the voice of a majority of the council he was declared
-free of all blame.
-
-In March, 1564, more than three years after the death of his first wife,
-Knox was again married to a daughter of Lord Ochiltree, a zealous
-Protestant. Throughout that year and the following, he continued to
-preach as usual. Meanwhile, the Protestant establishment, though
-confirmed by the parliament, remained still unrecognised by the Queen,
-whose hasty marriage to Lord Henry Darnley in July, 1565, increased the
-alarm with which her conduct had already inspired the Reformers. But
-early in the following year, when Mary, in conjunction with her uncles
-of the House of Lorrain, had planned the formal re-establishment of
-Catholicism, her dissensions with her husband led to the assassination
-of Rizzio, and in rapid succession to the murder of Darnley, her
-marriage with Bothwell, and the train of events which ended in her
-formal deposition and the coronation of her infant son James VI. It is
-denied that Knox was privy to the assassination of Rizzio, and the tenor
-of his actions warrants us in disbelieving that he would have been an
-accomplice in any deed of blood; but after that event, he spoke of it in
-terms of satisfaction, indiscreet, liable to perversion, and unbecoming
-a Christian preacher. The Queen’s resentment for this and other reasons
-became so warm against him, that it was judged proper for him to retire
-from Edinburgh. He preached at the coronation of James VI. After Mary
-was made prisoner and confined at Lochleven, he, in common with most of
-the ministers and the great body of the people, insisted strongly on the
-duty of bringing her to trial for the crimes of murder and adultery, and
-of inflicting capital punishment if her guilt were proved.
-
-During the short regency of Murray, Knox had the satisfaction, not only
-of being freed from the personal disquietudes which had been his portion
-almost through life, but of seeing the interests of the Church, if not
-maintained to the full extent which he could wish, at least treated with
-respect, and advocated as far as the crooked course of state-policy
-would permit. The murder of that distinguished nobleman, January 23,
-1570, affected Knox doubly, as the premature decease of a loved and
-esteemed friend, and as a public calamity to church and state.
-
-In the following October he suffered a slight fit of apoplexy, from
-which however he soon recovered so far as to resume his Sunday
-preachings. But the troubled times which followed on the death of the
-Regent Murray denied to him in Edinburgh that repose which his
-infirmities demanded, and in May, 1571, he was reluctantly induced to
-retire from his ministry and again to seek a refuge in St. Andrew’s. Nor
-was his residence in that city one of peace or ease, for he was troubled
-by a party favourable to the Queen’s interests, especially by that
-Archibald Hamilton who afterwards apostatised to the Roman Catholic
-Church and became his bitter calumniator; and he was placed in
-opposition to the Regent Morton with respect to the filling up of vacant
-bishoprics and the disposal of church property, which, far from being
-applied to the maintenance of religion and the diffusion of education,
-was still in great measure monopolised by the nobility. In August, 1572,
-his health being rapidly declining, he returned to Edinburgh at the
-earnest request of his congregation, who longed to hear his voice in the
-pulpit once more. He felt death to be nigh at hand, and was above all
-things anxious to witness the appointment of a zealous and able
-successor to the important station in the ministry which he filled. This
-was done to his satisfaction. On Sunday, November 9, he preached and
-presided at the installation of his successor, James Lawson, and he
-never after quitted his own house. He sickened on the 11th, and expired
-November 24, 1572, after a fortnight’s illness, in which he displayed
-unmixed tranquillity, and assured trust in a happy futurity, through the
-promises of the Gospel which he had preached. It is the more necessary
-to state this, because his calumniators dared to assert that his death
-was accompanied by horrid prodigies, and visible marks of divine
-reprobation. The same tales have been related of Luther and Calvin.
-
-Knox’s moral character we may safely pronounce to have been unblemished,
-notwithstanding the outrageous charges of dissolute conversation which
-have been brought by some writers against him,—calumnies equally
-levelled against Beza, Calvin, and other fathers of the Reformation, and
-which bear their own refutation in their extravagance. As a preacher, he
-was energetic and effective, and uncommonly powerful in awakening the
-negligent or the hardened conscience. As a Reformer and leader of the
-Church, he was fitted for the stormy times and the turbulent and
-resolute people among whom his lot was cast, by the very qualities which
-have been made a reproach to him in a more polished age, and by a less
-zealous generation. He was possessed of strong natural talents, and a
-determined will which shunned neither danger nor labour. He was of
-middle age when he began the study of Greek, and it was still later in
-life when he acquired the Hebrew language,—tasks of no small difficulty
-when we consider the harassed and laborious tenor of his life. No
-considerations of temporising prudence could seduce him into the
-compromise of an important principle; no thought of personal danger
-could make him shrink when called to confront it. His deep sense and
-resolute discharge of duty, coupled with a natural fire and impetuosity
-of temper, sometimes led him into severity. But that his disposition was
-deeply affectionate is proved by his private correspondence; and that
-his severity proceeded from no acerbity of temper may be inferred from
-his having employed his powerful influence as a mediator for those who
-had borne arms against his party, and from his having never used it to
-avenge an injury. The best apology for his occasional harshness is that
-contained in the words of his own dying address to the elders of his
-church as quoted by Dr. M’Crie. “I know that many have frequently
-complained, and do still loudly complain, of my too great severity; but
-God knows that my mind was always void of hatred to the persons of those
-against whom I thundered the severest judgments. I cannot deny but that
-I felt the greatest abhorrence at the sins in which they indulged; but
-still I kept this one thing in view, that, if possible, I might gain
-them to the Lord. What influenced me to utter whatever the Lord put into
-my mouth so boldly, and without respect of persons, was a reverential
-fear of my God, who called and of His grace appointed me to be a steward
-of divine mysteries, and a belief that He will demand an account of the
-manner in which I have discharged the trust committed to me, when I
-shall at last stand before His tribunal.”
-
-A list of Knox’s printed works, nineteen in number, is given by Dr.
-M’Crie at the end of his notes. They consist chiefly of short religious
-pieces, exhortations, and sermons. In addition to those more important
-books which we have already noticed, his ‘History of the Church of
-Scotland’ requires mention. The best edition is that printed at
-Edinburgh in 1732, which contains a life of the author, the ‘Regimen of
-Women,’ and some other pieces. Dr. M’Crie’s admirable ‘Life of Knox’
-will direct the reader to the original sources of the history of this
-period.
-
-[Illustration: [Knox’s House in the Canongate, Edinburgh.]]
-
-[Illustration:
-
-  _Engraved by W. Holl._
-
-  ADAM SMITH.
-
-  _From a Medallion executed in the life time of A. Smith, by Tafsiel._
-
-  Under the Superintendance of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful
-    Knowledge.
-
-  _London, Published by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street._
-]
-
-
-
-
-[Illustration]
-
-                               A. SMITH.
-
-
-Adam Smith was born June 5, 1723, at Kirkaldy, in the county of Fife,
-where his father held the place of comptroller of the customs. Being a
-posthumous and only child, he became the sole object of his widowed
-mother’s tenderness and solicitude; and this was increased by the
-delicacy of his constitution. Upon her devolved the sole charge of his
-education; and the value of her care may be estimated from the
-uninterrupted harmony and deep mutual affection which united them,
-unchilled, to the end of life. He was remarkable for his love of reading
-and the excellence of his memory, even at the early age when she first
-placed him at the grammar-school of Kirkaldy, where he won the affection
-of his companions by his amiable disposition, though the weakness of his
-frame hindered him from joining in their sports.
-
-At the age of fourteen he was sent to the University of Glasgow, from
-which, at the end of three years, he was removed to Baliol College,
-Oxford, in order to qualify himself for taking orders in the English
-Church. Mathematics and natural philosophy seem to have been his
-favourite pursuits at Glasgow; but at Oxford he devoted all his leisure
-hours to belles-lettres, and the moral and political sciences. Among
-these political economy cannot be reckoned; for at that period it was
-unknown even in name: still, in such studies, and by the sedulous
-improvement of his understanding, he was laying the foundations of his
-immortal work. He remained seven years at Oxford, without conceiving, as
-may be inferred from some passages in the ‘Wealth of Nations,’ any high
-respect for the system of education then pursued in the University; and,
-having given up all thoughts of taking orders, he returned to his
-mother’s house at Kirkaldy, and devoted himself entirely to literature
-and science. In 1748 he removed to Edinburgh, where, under Lord Kames’s
-patronage, he delivered a course of lectures on rhetoric and
-belles-lettres. These were never published; and, with other papers, were
-destroyed by Smith a short time before his death. Dr. Blair, in the
-well-known course which he delivered ten years afterwards on the same
-subject, acknowledges how greatly he was indebted to his predecessor,
-and how largely he had borrowed from him.
-
-In 1751 Mr. Smith was elected Professor of Logic in the University of
-Glasgow, and in the following year he was transferred to the chair of
-Moral Philosophy, which he filled during thirteen years. The following
-account of his lectures is given by Professor Millar. “His course of
-lectures on this subject was divided into four parts. The first
-contained natural theology, in which he considered the proofs of the
-being and attributes of God, and those principles of the human mind upon
-which religion is founded. The second comprehended ethics, strictly so
-called, and consisted chiefly of the doctrines which he afterwards
-published in his ‘Theory of Moral Sentiments.’ In the third part he
-treated more at length of that branch of morality which relates to
-justice, and which, being susceptible of precise and accurate rules, is
-for that reason capable of a full and particular explanation.... In the
-last part of his lectures he examined those political regulations which
-are founded, not on the principle of justice, but on that of expediency,
-and which are calculated to increase the riches, the power, and the
-prosperity of a state. Under this view, he considered the political
-institutions relating to commerce, to finances, to ecclesiastical and
-military establishments. What he delivered on these subjects contained
-the substance of the work he afterwards published under the title of ‘An
-Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.’”
-
-“There was no situation in which the abilities of Dr. Smith appeared to
-greater advantage than as a professor. In delivering his lectures, he
-trusted almost entirely to extemporary elocution. His manner, though not
-graceful, was plain and unaffected; and as he seemed to be always
-interested in the subject, he never failed to interest his hearers. Each
-discourse consisted of several distinct propositions, which he
-successively endeavoured to prove and to illustrate. These propositions,
-when announced in general terms, had, from their extent, not
-unfrequently something of the air of a paradox. In his attempts to
-explain them, he often appeared at first not to be sufficiently
-possessed of the subject, and spoke with some hesitation. As he
-advanced, however, the matter seemed to crowd upon him, his manner
-became warm and animated, and his expression easy and fluent. In points
-susceptible of controversy, you could easily discern that he secretly
-conceived an opposition to his opinions, and that he was led upon this
-account to support them with greater energy and vehemence. By the
-fulness and variety of his illustrations, the subject gradually swelled
-in his hands, and acquired a dimension which, without a tedious
-repetition of the same views, was calculated to seize the attention of
-his audience, and to afford them pleasure as well as instruction in
-following the same object through all the diversity of shades and
-aspects in which it was presented, and afterwards in tracing it
-backwards to that original proposition or general truth from which this
-beautiful train of speculation had proceeded.”
-
-“His reputation as a professor was accordingly raised very high, and a
-multitude of students from a great distance resorted to the University
-merely upon his account. Those branches of science which he taught
-became fashionable at this place, and his opinions were the chief topics
-of discussion in clubs and literary societies. Even the small
-peculiarities in his pronunciation or manner of speaking became
-frequently the objects of imitation.”
-
-Smith published his ‘Theory of Moral Sentiments’ in 1759. The
-fundamental principle of this work, we use the summary of Mr.
-Macculloch, is that “_sympathy_ forms the real foundation of morals;
-that we do not immediately approve or disapprove of any given action,
-when we have become acquainted with the intention of the agent and the
-consequences of what he has done, but that we previously enter, by means
-of that sympathetic affection which is natural to us, into the feelings
-of the agent, and those to whom the action relates; that having
-considered all the motives and passions by which the agent was actuated,
-we pronounce, with respect to the _propriety_ or _impropriety_ of the
-action, according as we sympathise or not with him; while we pronounce,
-with respect to the _merit_ or _demerit_ of the action, according as we
-sympathise with the gratitude or resentment of those who were its
-objects; and that we necessarily judge of our own conduct by comparing
-it with such maxims and rules as we have deduced from observations
-previously made on the conduct of others.” This theory, ingenious as it
-is, is generally abandoned as untenable. Dr. Brown has argued, and the
-objection seems fatal, that though sympathy may diffuse, it cannot
-originate moral sentiments: at the same time he bears the strongest
-testimony to the literary merits and moral tendency of the work.
-
-In 1763 Smith received from the University of Glasgow the honorary
-degree of Doctor of Laws, and he was offered, and accepted, the
-situation of travelling tutor to the young Duke of Buccleugh. His long
-residence in the populous and manufacturing metropolis of western
-Scotland had enabled him to collect a rich hoard of materials for the
-great work he had in view; and this new appointment changed the method,
-rather than interrupted the course, of his studies. It afforded him the
-means of examining the habits, institutions, and condition of man under
-new forms, and in new countries, and he observed with his natural
-acuteness and sagacity the influence of locality, of climate, and of
-government. He no doubt derived considerable advantage from the society
-of the distinguished men with whom he associated at Paris; among these,
-Turgot, D’Alembert, Helvetius, Marmontel, Morellet, Rochefoucauld, and
-Quesnay, were his intimate friends. So highly did he appreciate the
-talents of the last-named person as an economist, that he had intended,
-had Quesnay lived, to have acknowledged the debt he owed him by
-dedicating to him his own great work on the ‘Wealth of Nations.’
-
-Having spent two years on the Continent, Dr. Smith returned to England
-with his pupil, and soon after joined his mother at Kirkaldy, where he
-resided for about ten years almost entirely in seclusion, occupied in
-the prosecution of his great work. It was published in 1776; and few
-books have ever been given to the world tending more directly to destroy
-the prejudices, develop the powers, and promote the happiness of
-mankind. But the world at that time was not clear-sighted enough to
-appreciate its merits. Dr. Smith however had the gratification to see
-that, during fifteen years which elapsed between its publication and his
-death, it had produced a considerable effect upon public opinion, and
-that the eyes of men were beginning to be opened upon an object of such
-importance to human happiness. In this country at least Dr. Smith was
-the creator of the science of political economy, for he had only a chaos
-of materials from which to form it. Some defects may be discovered in
-his arrangement, and some errors detected in the principles as laid down
-by him; for it is hardly given to human intellect, that the originator
-of a science should also carry it to perfection. But Smith established
-the foundation upon which all future superstructures must rest; and the
-labours of Ricardo, Malthus, and some now living, eminent as they are,
-instead of superseding their predecessor do but enhance his merit. With
-all the progress which liberty of every kind has made since his time, no
-one has maintained the freedom of industry in all its bearings more
-forcibly than himself. The theories of rent, and of population, seem to
-be the only important branches of the science, as it now stands, which
-had escaped his observation.
-
-In 1778 Dr. Smith was appointed Commissioner of the Customs for
-Scotland. The duties of his office obliged him to quit London, where he
-had resided for two years subsequent to the publication of the ‘Wealth
-of Nations,’ and where his society had been courted by the most
-distinguished characters; and he took up his abode in Edinburgh,
-accompanied by his aged mother. In 1787 he was elected Rector of the
-University of Glasgow; a compliment which gave him great pleasure, as he
-was much attached to that body, and grateful for the services it had
-rendered him in his youth, and the honours it had conferred on him at a
-more advanced age.
-
-His mother died in 1784, and his grief on this occasion is supposed to
-have injured his health, and his constitution, which had never been
-robust, began to give way. He suffered another severe privation in the
-death of his cousin, Miss Douglas, who had managed his household for
-many years, since the infirmities of his parent had disqualified her for
-that employment. He survived Miss Douglas only two years, and died in
-1790 of a tedious and painful illness, which he bore with patience and
-resignation.
-
-Adam Smith’s private character is thus summed up by his friend Mr.
-Dugald Stewart: “The more delicate and characteristical features of his
-mind it is perhaps impossible to trace. That there were many
-peculiarities both in his manners and in his intellectual habits was
-manifest to the most superficial observer; but, although to those who
-knew him, these peculiarities detracted nothing from the respect which
-his abilities commanded; and although, to his intimate friends, they
-added an inexpressible charm to his conversation, while they displayed
-in the most interesting light the artless simplicity of his heart, yet
-it would require a very skilful pencil to present them to the public
-eye. He was certainly not fitted for the general commerce of the world,
-or for the business of active life. The comprehensive speculations with
-which he had been occupied from his youth, and the variety of materials
-which his own inventions continually supplied to his thoughts, rendered
-him habitually inattentive to familiar objects and to common
-occurrences; and he frequently exhibited instances of absence which had
-scarcely been surpassed by the fancy of La Bruyère. Even in company he
-was apt to be engrossed with his studies, and appeared, at times, by the
-motion of his lips, as well as by his looks and gestures, to be in the
-fervour of composition. I have often however been struck, at the
-distance of years, with his accurate memory of the most trifling
-particulars; and am inclined to believe, from this and some other
-circumstances, that he possessed a power, not perhaps uncommon among
-absent men, of recollecting, in consequence of subsequent efforts of
-reflection, many occurrences which, at the time when they happened, did
-not seem to have sensibly attracted his notice.
-
-“To the defect now mentioned, it was probably owing, in part, that he
-did not fall in easily with the common dialogue of conversation, and
-that he was somewhat apt to convey his own ideas in the form of a
-lecture. When he did so however, it never proceeded from a wish to
-engross the discourse, or gratify his vanity. His own inclination
-disposed him so strongly to enjoy in silence the gaiety of those around
-him, that his friends were often led to concert little schemes, in order
-to engage him in the discussions most likely to interest him. Nor do I
-think I shall be accused of going too far, when I say that he was
-scarcely ever known to start a new topic himself, or to appear
-unprepared upon those topics that were introduced by others. Indeed, his
-conversation was never more amusing than when he gave a loose to his
-genius, upon the very few branches of knowledge of which he only
-possessed the outlines.
-
-“In his external form and appearance there was nothing uncommon. When
-perfectly at ease, and when warmed with conversation, his gestures were
-animated, and not ungraceful; and in the society of those he loved, his
-features were often brightened with a smile of inexpressible
-benignity.... He never sat for his picture, but the medallion by Tassie
-conveys an exact idea of his profile, and of the general expression of
-his countenance.” It is from this that our portrait of him is engraved.
-
-To those of Smith’s works of which we have already spoken, we have to
-add two articles in a short-lived periodical publication, called the
-‘Edinburgh Review,’ for 1755, containing a review of Johnson’s
-Dictionary, and a letter on the state of literature in the different
-countries of Europe; an ‘Essay on the Formation of Languages;’ and
-Essays, published after his death by his desire, with an account of his
-life and writings prefixed, by Dugald Stewart, on the Principles which
-lead and direct Philosophical Inquiries; on the nature of the Imitation
-practised in the Imitative Arts; on the affinity between certain English
-and Italian verses; and on the External Senses. To that account of his
-life we may refer for an able analysis of his most important writings,
-as well as to the memoir prefixed to Mr. Macculloch’s edition of the
-‘Wealth of Nations,’ from which this sketch is principally taken.
-
-[Illustration:
-
-  _Engraved by T. Woolnoth._
-
-  CALVIN.
-
-  _From a Print engraved by C. Dankertz._
-
-  Under the Superintendance of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful
-    Knowledge.
-
-  _London, Published by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street._
-]
-
-
-
-
-[Illustration]
-
-                                CALVIN.
-
-
-John Cauvin (afterwards called Calvin) was born of humble parents, his
-father following the trade of a cooper, at Noyon in Picardy, July 10,
-1509. He was intended in the first instance for the profession of the
-church, and two benefices were already set apart for him, when, at a
-very early age, from what motive is not exactly known, his destination
-was suddenly changed, and he was sent, first to Orleans and then to
-Bourges, to learn under distinguished teachers the science of
-jurisprudence. He is said to have made great proficiency in that study;
-but nevertheless, he found leisure to cultivate other talents, and made
-himself acquainted with Greek, Hebrew, and Syriac, during his residence
-at Bourges. His natural inclination seems ever to have bent him towards
-those pursuits to which his earliest attention was directed; and though
-he never attended the schools of theology, nor had at any time any
-public master in that science, yet his thoughts were never far away from
-it; and the time which he could spare from his professional labours was
-employed on subjects bearing more or less directly upon religion.
-
-Thus it was, that he failed not to take part in the discussions, which
-arose in France during his early years, respecting the principles of the
-Reformation; and it may be, that his happy escape from theological
-tuition made him more disposed to embrace them. It is certain that his
-opposition to the Church of Rome became very soon notorious, and made
-him, young as he was, an object of jealousy to some of its powerful
-adherents. Even the moderate Erasmus viewed his aspiring talents and
-determined character with some undefined apprehension; and he is related
-(after a conversation with Calvin at Strasbourg) to have remarked to
-Bucer, who had presented him,—“I see in that young man the seeds of a
-dangerous pest, which will some day throw great disorder into the
-Church.” The weak and wavering character of Erasmus renders it difficult
-for us to understand what sort of disorder it was that he anticipated,
-or what exactly was the _Church_ on which the apprehended mischief was
-to fall. In 1535 Calvin published his great work, the ‘Christian
-Institute,’ which was intended as a sort of confession of faith of the
-French reformers, in answer to the calumnies which confounded them with
-the frantic Anabaptists of Germany.
-
-In 1536, finding that his person was no longer secure in France, Calvin
-determined to retire into Germany, and was compelled by accident to pass
-through Geneva. He found this city in a state of extreme confusion. The
-civil government was popular, and in those days tumultuous: the
-ecclesiastical had been entirely dissolved by the departure of the
-bishops and clergy on the triumph of the Reformation, and only such laws
-existed as the individual influence of the pastors was able to impose
-upon their several flocks. It was a tempting field for spiritual
-ambition, and Calvin was readily persuaded to enter into it. He decided
-to remain at Geneva, and forthwith opened a theological school.
-
-In the very year following his arrival, he formed the design of
-introducing into his adopted country a regular system of ecclesiastical
-polity. He assembled the people; and, not without much opposition,
-prevailed on them at length to bind themselves by oath; _first_, that
-they would not again, on any consideration, ever submit to the dominion
-of Rome; _secondly_, that they would render obedience to a certain code
-of ecclesiastical laws, which he and his colleagues had drawn up for
-them. Some writers do not expressly mention that this second proposition
-was accepted by the people—if accepted, it was immediately violated: and
-as Calvin and his clerical coadjutors (who were only two in number)
-refused with firmness to administer the holy communion to such as
-rejected the condition, the people, not yet prepared to endure that
-bondage, banished the spiritual legislators from the city, in April,
-1538.
-
-Calvin retired to Strasbourg, where he renewed his intimacy with Bucer,
-and became more and more distinguished for his talents and learning. He
-was present at the Conferences of Worms and Ratisbon, where he gained
-additional reputation. He founded a French reformed church at
-Strasbourg, and obtained a theological chair in that city; at the same
-time, he continued in communication with Geneva, and in expressions of
-unabated affection for his former adherents. Meanwhile, the disorders
-which had prevailed in that city were in no manner alleviated by his
-exile, and a strong reaction gradually took place in his favour;
-insomuch, that, in the year 1541, there being a vacancy in the ministry,
-the senate and the assembly of the people proclaimed with equal
-vehemence their wish for the return of Calvin. “We will have Calvin,
-that good and learned man, Christ’s minister.” “This,” says Calvin,
-Epist. 24, “when I understood, I could not choose but praise God; nor
-was I able to judge otherwise, than that this was the Lord’s doing; and
-that it was marvellous in our eyes; and that the stone which the
-builders refused was now made the head of the corner.”
-
-It was on September 13th that he returned from his exile in the pride of
-spiritual triumph; and he began, without any loss of time, while the
-feelings of all classes were yet warm in his favour, to establish that
-rigid form of ecclesiastical discipline which he may formerly have
-meditated, but which he did not fully propound till now. He proposed to
-institute a standing court (the Consistory), consisting of all the
-ministers of religion, who were to be perpetual members, and also of
-twice the same number of laymen to be chosen annually. To these he
-committed the charge of public morality, with power to determine all
-kinds of ecclesiastical causes; with authority to convene, control, and
-punish, even with excommunication, whomsoever they might think
-deserving. It was in vain that many advanced objections to this scheme:
-that they urged the despotic character of this court; the certainty too,
-that the perpetual judges, though fewer in number, would in fact
-predominate over a majority annually elected; and that Calvin, through
-his power over the clergy, would be master of the decisions of the whole
-tribunal. He persisted inflexibly; and since there now remained with the
-people of Geneva only the choice of receiving his laws or sending him
-once more into exile, they acquiesced reluctantly in the former
-determination. On the 20th of November, in the same year (1541), the
-Presbytery was established at Geneva.
-
-Maimbourg, in his ‘History of Calvinism,’ has remarked that, from this
-time forward, Calvin became, not pontiff only, but also caliph, of
-Geneva; since the unbounded influence which he possessed in the
-Consistory extended to the council, and no important state-affair was
-transacted without his advice or approbation. At the same time, he
-enlarged the limits of his spiritual power, and made it felt in every
-quarter of Europe. In France most especially he was regarded personally
-as the head of the Reformed Church; he composed a liturgy for its use;
-and, secured from persecution by his residence and dignity, he gave
-laws, by his writings and his emissaries, to the scattered congregations
-of Reformers. The fruits of his unwearied industry were everywhere in
-their hands. His Institute, and his learned Expositions of Scripture,
-were substantial foundations of spiritual authority; and he became to
-his Church what the “Master of the Sentences,”—almost what Augustin
-himself—had been to the Church of Rome. And he did the Reformed Church
-an essential service by procuring the establishment of the academy, or
-university of Geneva; which was long the principal nursery of
-Presbyterian ministers, and which was the chief instrument of
-communicating to the citizens of its little state, that general mental
-culture and love of literature for which they have been remarkable.
-
-The peculiarities of his religious opinions are known to all our
-readers; nor indeed, at any rate, have we space, in this brief outline
-of the Life of the Reformer, so to detail his tenets as to avoid the
-chance of misconception, either by his followers or his adversaries. We
-shall, therefore, proceed to another subject, respecting which there
-will be little difference, either as to the facts themselves, or the
-judgment to be formed of them—we mean that darkest act of his life,
-which being, as far as we learn, unatoned and unrepented, throws so deep
-a shadow over all the rest, as almost to make us question his sincerity
-in any good principle, or his capability of any righteous purpose.
-
-A Spaniard, named Servetus, born at Villa Nueva, in Aragon, in the same
-year with Calvin, had been long engaged in a correspondence with the
-latter, which had finally degenerated into angry and abusive
-controversy. He had been educated as a physician, and had acquired great
-credit in his profession; when, in an evil hour, he entered the field of
-theological controversy, and professed without fear, and defended
-without modification, the Unitarian doctrine; adding to it some obscure
-and fanciful notions, peculiar, we believe, to his own imagination. He
-published very early in life ‘Seven Books concerning the Errors of the
-Trinity,’ and he continued in the same principles until the year 1553,
-when he put forth (at Vienne, in Dauphiné), a work entitled ‘The
-Restoration of Christianity, &c.,’ in further confirmation of his views.
-
-Now it is very true, that the propagation of these opinions by a
-professed Reformer was at that crisis a matter of great scandal, and
-perhaps even of some danger to the cause of the Reformation. It was felt
-as such by some of the leading Reformers. Zuinglius and Œcolampadius
-eagerly disclaimed the error of Servetus. “Our Church will be very ill
-spoken of,” said the latter in a letter to Bucer, “unless our divines
-make it their business to cry him down.” And had they been contented to
-proclaim their dissent from his doctrine, or to assail it by reasonable
-argument, they would have done no more than their duty to their own
-communion absolutely demanded of them.
-
-But Calvin was not a man who would argue where he could command, or
-persuade where he could overthrow. Full of vehemence and bitterness,
-inflexible and relentless, he was prepared to adopt and to justify
-extreme measures, wheresoever they answered his purpose best. He was
-animated by the pride, intolerance, and cruelty of the Church of Rome,
-and he planted and nourished those evil passions in his little
-Consistory at Geneva.
-
-Servetus, having escaped from confinement at Vienne, and flying for
-refuge to Naples, was driven by evil destiny, or his own infatuation, to
-Geneva. Here he strove to conceal himself, till he should be enabled to
-proceed on his journey; but he was quickly discovered by Calvin, and
-immediately cast into prison. This was in the summer of 1553. Presently
-followed the formality of his trial; and when we read the numerous
-articles of impeachment, and observe the language in which they are
-couched;—when we peruse the humble petitions which he addressed to the
-“Syndics and Council,” praying only that an advocate might be granted
-him, which prayer was haughtily refused;—when we perceive the
-misrepresentations of his doctrine, and the offensive terms of his
-condemnation, we appear to be carried back again to the Halls of
-Constance, and to be witnessing the fall of Huss and Jerome beneath
-their Roman Catholic oppressors. So true it is (as Grotius had
-sufficient reason to say), “that the Spirit of Antichrist did appear at
-Geneva as well as at Rome.”
-
-But the magistrates of this Republic did not venture completely to
-execute the will of Calvin, without first consulting the other
-Protestant cities of Switzerland; namely, Zurich, Berne, Bâsle, and
-Schaffhausen. The answers returned by these all indicated very great
-anxiety for the extinction of the heresy, without however expressly
-demanding the blood of the heretic. The people of Zurich were the most
-violent: and the answer of their “Pastors, Readers, and Ministers,”
-which is praised and preserved by Calvin, is worthy of the communion
-from which they had so lately seceded. As soon as these communications
-reached Geneva, Servetus was immediately condemned to death (on the 26th
-of October, 1553), and was executed on the day following.
-
-There is extant a letter written by Calvin to his friend and
-brother-minister, William Farel (dated the 26th), which announces that
-the fatal sentence had been passed, and would be executed on the morrow.
-It is only remarkable for the cold conciseness and heartless
-indifference of its expressions. Not a single word indicates any feeling
-of compassion or repugnance. And as the work of persecution was carried
-on without mercy, and completed without pity, so likewise was it
-recollected without remorse; and the Protestant Republican Minister of
-Christ continued for some years afterwards to insult with abusive
-epithets the memory of his victim.
-
-Soon after the death of Servetus, Calvin published a vindication of his
-proceedings, in which he defended, without any compromise, the principle
-on which he had acted. It is entitled, “A Faithful Exposition and short
-Refutation of the Errors of Servetus, wherein it is shown that heretics
-should be restrained by the power of the sword.” His friend and
-biographer Beza also put forth a work “On the propriety of punishing
-Heretics by the Civil authority.” Thus Calvin not only indulged his own
-malevolent humour, but also sought to establish among the avowed
-principles of his own Church the duty of exterminating all who might
-happen to differ from it.
-
-He lived eleven years longer; and expired at Geneva on the 27th of May,
-1564; having maintained his authority to the end of his life, without
-acquiring any of the affection of those about him. Neither of these
-circumstances need surprise us, for it was his character to awe, to
-command, and to repel. Fearless, inflexible, morose, and imperious; he
-neither courted any one, nor yielded to any one, nor conciliated any
-one. Yet he was sensible of, and seemingly contrite for, his defects of
-temper; for he writes to Bucer: “I have not had harder contests with my
-vices, which are great and many, than with my impatience. I have not yet
-been able to subdue that savage brute.” His talents were extremely
-powerful, both for literature and for business. His profound and various
-learning acquired for him the general respect which it deserved. He was
-active and indefatigable; he slept little, and was remarkable for his
-abstemious habits. With a heart inflated and embittered with spiritual
-pride, he affected a perfect simplicity of manner; and professed, and
-may indeed have felt, a consummate contempt for the ordinary objects of
-human ambition. Besides this, he was far removed from the besetting vice
-of common minds, by which even noble qualities are so frequently
-degraded—avarice. He neither loved money for itself, nor grasped at it
-for its uses; and at his death, the whole amount of his property,
-including his library, did not exceed, at the lowest statement, one
-hundred and twenty-five crowns, at the highest, three hundred.
-
-We may thus readily understand how it was that Calvin acquired, through
-the mere force of personal character thrown into favourable
-circumstances, power almost uncontrolled over a state of which he was
-not so much as a native, and considerable influence besides over the
-spiritual condition of Europe—power and influence, of which deep traces
-still exist both in the country which adopted him, and in others where
-he was only known by his writings and his doctrines. His doctrines still
-divide the Christian world; but that ecclesiastical principle, which
-called in the authority of the sword for their defence, has been long
-and indignantly disclaimed by all his followers.
-
-The best clue to the real character of Calvin will be found in his
-letters. Many accounts of his life, as well as of his doctrines and
-writings, exist; but they are mostly influenced by party feeling. The
-earliest is that of his friend Beza; it is said however not to be
-strictly accurate even as to the facts of Calvin’s life before 1549,
-when the author became acquainted with him, and it is of course a
-panegyric.
-
-
-
-
-[Illustration]
-
-                               MANSFIELD
-
-
-The first Earl of Mansfield was a younger son of a noble house in
-Scotland, which he raised to higher rank by his own brilliant talents
-and successful industry.
-
-William Murray was the eleventh child of David, Viscount Stormont, and
-was born at Perth, March 2, 1704. He received his education at
-Westminster School and Christchurch College, Oxford, where he gained
-distinction by the elegance of his scholarship. He took his degree of
-M.A. in June, 1730, and was called to the bar in the Michaelmas term
-following: the interval he employed in travelling in France and Italy.
-At an early age he gained the friendship of Pope, who in several
-passages has borne testimony to the grace, eloquence, rising fame, and
-attractive social accomplishments of the young lawyer. In 1737, in
-consequence of the sudden illness of his leader, who was seized with a
-fit in court, Mr. Murray had to undertake, at an hour’s notice, the duty
-of senior counsel, in the cause of Cibber _v._ Sloper. From his success
-on this occasion he was wont to date the origin of his fortune.
-“Business,” he said, “poured in upon me on all sides; and from a few
-hundred pounds a year I fortunately found myself, in every subsequent
-year, in possession of thousands.” In the same year he was retained by
-the corporation of Edinburgh in the memorable transactions which arose
-out of the Porteous riot; and his exertions to preserve their privileges
-were subsequently acknowledged by the gift of the freedom of the city in
-a gold box. November 20, 1738, Mr. Murray was married to Lady Elizabeth
-Finch, daughter of the Earl of Winchelsea, a lady who, in addition to
-rank and fortune, possessed those more valuable qualities which rendered
-their married life, through near half a century, one of harmony and
-domestic happiness.
-
-Mr. Murray was appointed Solicitor-General in 1742, and took his seat in
-parliament, for the first time, as member for Boroughbridge.
-
-[Illustration:
-
-  _Engraved by W. Holl._
-
-  LORD MANSFIELD.
-
-  _From the original Picture by Sir Joshua Reynolds in the Possession of
-    Lord Mansfield._
-
-  Under the Superintendance of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful
-    Knowledge.
-
-  _London, Published by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street._
-]
-
-For many years, during which he held office under the Pelham
-administration, he was recognized in the House of Commons as one of the
-ablest supporters of government; and he was frequently opposed in the
-outset of his career to Mr. Pitt, who, after the elevation of both to
-the upper house, bore this high testimony, among others, to Murray’s
-weight as a speaker. “No man is better acquainted with his abilities and
-learning, nor has a greater respect for them, than I have. I have had
-the pleasure of sitting with him in the other house, and always listened
-to him with attention. I have not lost a word of what he said, nor did I
-ever.” In his official station, he necessarily took a prominent part in
-the prosecution of the rebel lords, especially at the trial of Lord
-Lovat in 1747; and his eloquence was set off by his fairness towards the
-prisoner, whose concern in the rebellion was indeed too evident to admit
-of hesitation on the part of his judges. We may follow up the history of
-his legal advancement by briefly stating that, in 1754, he was appointed
-Attorney-General, and, in 1756, Chief Justice of the King’s Bench, and,
-at the same time, raised to the peerage, by the title of Baron
-Mansfield. It is said that the Duke of Newcastle was extremely unwilling
-to consent to the removal of his most powerful supporter from the
-Commons, but was forced to comply by the threat that, if he refused,
-Murray would no longer act as Attorney-General.
-
-Lord Mansfield’s private life appears for the most part to have been
-passed in tranquil prosperity, which afforded no incidents for the
-biographer to dwell on; at least the published records of him are nearly
-confined to his exertions as an advocate, his speeches in parliament,
-and reports on the important cases which he adjudicated. It will be
-sufficient here to mention those events by which Lord Mansfield is
-connected with the public history of England, and to make a few general
-observations on his character as a lawyer and a judge.
-
-In 1763, the legality of what were called general warrants, not directed
-against persons by name specifically, but generally against any person
-or persons supposed to be guilty of a certain act, was mooted, in
-consequence of a secretary of state’s warrant to apprehend the “authors,
-printers and publishers” of the celebrated No. 45 of the ‘North Briton.’
-Wilkes, being apprehended by virtue of this warrant, was discharged by
-Pratt, afterwards Lord Camden, Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, when
-brought up before that court by writ of _habeas corpus_. The question
-came before Lord Mansfield in a different form. An action of trespass
-was brought in the court of Common Pleas against the messengers who
-executed the warrant, and a verdict was given for the plaintiff. A bill
-of exceptions against Chief Justice Pratt’s directions to the jury was
-tendered, in pursuance of which the question was again argued before
-Lord Mansfield, who coincided with his brother chief in holding the
-instrument illegal under which the defendants had acted. Since this
-decision, general warrants have been disused.
-
-In 1768, Wilkes, then at the height of his popularity, returned to
-England, and applied for a reversal of his outlawry. The excitement of
-his partisans broke out both in riots and in indecent attempts to
-intimidate the judges before whom the point was to be argued. Lord
-Mansfield pronounced for the reversal upon the ground of a technical
-informality, which the Court held fatal to the process; but in his
-elaborate judgment he took care strongly to censure the seditious
-efforts which had been made to influence the court, and to impress on
-his auditors that the apparently trifling objection on which the
-judgment turned was fatal in law, and could not have been passed over in
-any other case. This speech has been much admired; nor is it easy to
-overrate its beauties as a composition: it lies open, however, to the
-objection of being too theatrical. After overruling the objections made
-by the defendant’s counsel, it rises into eloquent declamation against
-the attacks of the press, and the threats of the mob; and, at the moment
-when all seems ripe for a contrary decision, proceeds to grant the thing
-so loudly clamoured for. He may safely contemn danger who does not
-expose himself to it; and it would on this occasion have been more
-dignified to make less parade of independence.
-
-Lord Mansfield’s view of the law of libel exposed him to much obloquy.
-He was a resolute assertor of the doctrine that juries were to judge of
-the fact only, not of the law, or rather of the question, libel or no
-libel. A prerogative lawyer on the bench, he was a supporter of Tory
-principles in parliament. He strenuously maintained the right of the
-British legislature to tax America, and was the advocate, though he
-probably would not have been the adviser, of those measures which led to
-the American revolution; for the temper of his mind seems to have been
-cautious and somewhat timid, and his political conduct was swayed by an
-habitual moderation, which sometimes prevented his accession to the more
-violent measures of his party. His course was consistent with what we
-may suppose to have been his early prejudices, for he came of a Jacobite
-family; and it was made a matter of accusation against him, while
-Attorney-General (most unfairly revived by Junius), that, as a
-schoolboy, he had been known to drink Jacobite toasts. The charge, if
-true, was too trivial to merit further notice than George II. bestowed
-upon it: “Whatever they were while they were Westminster boys, they are
-now my very good friends.” At the same time he was a steady advocate of
-religious toleration, both on the bench and in the House of Lords. This
-he showed in 1768, on occasion of the prosecution of a Roman Catholic
-priest by a common informer, in his strict dealing with the penal laws
-enacted against that class of men; and in assigning his reasons for
-admitting a Quaker’s evidence on affirmation in certain cases. And the
-Dissenters in general, and especially of the city of London, were much
-indebted to his support in the House of Lords in 1767, for the abolition
-of that mean and oppressive custom by which they were fined for refusing
-to serve the office of sheriff, being at the same time subject to legal
-penalties if they accepted it. Lord Mansfield’s exposition of the
-iniquity of this practice was unsparing and conclusive.
-
-The unprecedentedly-long period during which Lord Mansfield presided in
-the King’s Bench is one of considerable importance in the history of
-British jurisprudence; indeed, the multiplicity of his decisions during
-a period of thirty-four years could not fail materially to affect the
-law relating both to commercial and other property, especially in a
-country so rapidly increasing in wealth, and in which new cases were
-continually arising out of the ever-changing state of society. By a
-large body of his admirers, a class including the majority of the
-nation, he was regarded with almost unlimited admiration; but several of
-his important judgments have since been overruled; and we probably shall
-not err in stating it as the general opinion of well-informed persons in
-the present day, that, indecent and virulent as is Junius’s attack on
-him as a judge, there is a solid foundation for the charge that he was
-more prone to enlarge the power of the crown than to protect the liberty
-of the subject, and more willingly referred to the Roman law and the law
-of nations than to Magna Charta and the Bill of Rights. But the charge
-of introducing equitable doctrines into the common law must be received
-with much more caution. He may have gone too far in his favourite scheme
-of introducing more enlarged and liberal views than had prevailed before
-his time; he may have neglected former authorities, and introduced too
-great laxity in the interpretation of the law; but, dangerous as such
-licence is, lest, in the uncertainty of law, a greater evil be incurred
-than by the occasional commission of an essential injustice, yet we must
-look with complacency on that alleged tendency to relax the strict
-rigour of law in favour of substantial justice, which seems to have
-consisted chiefly in a disposition to admit evidence when mere technical
-disqualification, and not essential unfitness, was urged against it; and
-rather to let right prevail than give the victory to wrong by rigid
-adherence to the technicalities of the law. His feelings may be
-illustrated by a playful saying of his own to Garrick. “A judge on the
-bench is now and then in your whimsical situation between Tragedy and
-Comedy; inclination drawing one way, and a long string of precedents the
-other.” It is certain that to him we owe all that our mercantile law has
-of system, and of consistency with the principles which govern the
-practice of other nations. It is no less true that the remedies
-generally afforded by our courts of law have become much more
-beneficial, since he enlarged and moulded actions originally of an
-equitable nature to suit cases to which proceedings in equity are very
-ill adapted. Nor is it too much to assert that under him the science of
-law assumed the form of a liberal study.
-
-It is hardly necessary to reply to the graver charges of moral guilt
-adduced by the able and unscrupulous author to whom we have referred.
-The spirit in which they are conceived may be estimated from the
-unmeasured vituperation of the Scotch in general, which forms the
-opening of the forty-first letter of Junius, addressed to Lord
-Mansfield. His lordship’s knowledge of English law has been impugned;
-his innovations upon its doctrines have been censured; his application
-and extension of its principles have been questioned; and his
-constitutional doctrines have been often and justly condemned; but we do
-not believe that his honesty has been seriously doubted, since the
-violence of party animosity has ceased to inflame men’s passions and
-pervert their judgment.
-
-Our knowledge of Lord Mansfield’s private history is very limited. His
-life however seems to have been spent in happiness and tranquillity,
-until the riots of 1780, in which his house, with its contents, was
-destroyed. Beside a valuable property in books, pictures, and furniture,
-he sustained that loss which, to a literary man, is irreparable,—the
-collected manuscripts of a laborious life. He bore this heavy calamity
-with honourable fortitude, and declined to accept of pecuniary
-compensation. To the application of government he returned this answer:
-“I think it does not become me to claim or expect reparation from the
-state. I have made up my mind to my misfortune as I ought, with this
-consolation, that it came from those whose object manifestly was general
-confusion and destruction at home, in addition to a dangerous and
-complicated war abroad. If I should lay before you any account or
-computation of the pecuniary damage I have sustained, it might seem a
-claim or expectation of being indemnified.” Shortly afterwards he
-appeared in the House of Lords, to justify the strong measures by which
-the riots had been quelled. “It was wonderful,” says Bishop Newton in
-his ‘Life and Anecdotes,’ “after such a shock as he had received, that
-he could so soon summon his faculties as to make one of the finest and
-ablest speeches that ever was heard in parliament, to justify the
-legality of the late proceedings on the part of government, to
-demonstrate that no royal prerogative had been exerted, no martial law
-had been exercised, nothing had been done but what every man, civil or
-military, had a right to do in the like cases. ‘I speak not from books,’
-he said, ‘for books I have none;’ having been all consumed in the fire.
-The effects of his speech were the admiration and conviction of all who
-heard him, and put an end to the debate without division. Lord Mansfield
-never appeared greater in any action of his life.” No particular cause
-connected with the frenzy of the time can be assigned for this attack on
-the Chief Justice; he had not been active in supporting the measures for
-the relief of the Catholics, which produced this remarkable ebullition
-of folly and wickedness. But when once riot is afoot, the causes which
-have first stirred up men’s minds are readily forgotten; and the
-violence of party abuse with which Lord Mansfield had been assailed, and
-the unpopularity of the government, in which he was supposed to exercise
-a principal though secret influence, are sufficient to account for this
-calamity.
-
-In 1776, Lord Mansfield, at his own request, was raised to the dignity
-of an earl. He had no children, and his object was to raise the rank of
-his paternal family in the person of his nephew Lord Stormont, to whom
-the succession was secured. In 1784, he was compelled to absent himself
-from his judicial duties for a season, and spent some time, with
-considerable benefit to his health, at Tunbridge Wells. He returned to
-his judicial employment and continued to exercise it with unclouded
-intellect, being only prevented by bodily infirmity from attending the
-court during the last year and a half that he held the office. In 1788
-he resigned it, at the advanced age of eighty-four, having presided in
-the court of King’s Bench for the unprecedented period of thirty-two
-years, and being still in possession of a share of health and power of
-enjoyment which seldom fall to the lot of so advanced an age. He
-retained the perfect possession of his faculties until within a week of
-his death, which took place March 18, 1794, in the ninetieth year of his
-age.
-
-In the case of this, as of many other eminent men, we may regret that so
-few particulars of their every-day manners have been preserved. In the
-relations of private life his conduct was exemplary; and the amenity of
-his manners, the playfulness of his wit, and his admirable
-qualifications as a companion, secured the affection of those who
-enjoyed his society. His talents as a speaker were set off by a graceful
-and attractive person, and a remarkably harmonious voice; qualifications
-greatly conducing to good delivery, which it is said he was in the habit
-of improving in youth, by sedulous cultivation under the direction of
-Pope.
-
-A gentleman (Mr. Baillie), who had been deeply indebted to Lord
-Mansfield’s professional abilities, bequeathed 1500_l._ to erect a
-monument to his memory. The commission was entrusted to worthy hands,
-for it was given to Flaxman. A sketch of his work forms the vignette to
-this memoir.
-
-The ‘Life of the Earl of Mansfield,’ by Mr. Halliday, is the only
-biographical account of this eminent lawyer which we know to exist. It
-is too manifestly panegyrical, and, as has been intimated, contains a
-very meagre account of the private history of its noble subject. It is
-mainly occupied by reports of Lord Mansfield’s speeches and judgments,
-and must therefore be chiefly acceptable to legal readers.
-
-[Illustration: [Monument of Lord Mansfield in Westminster Abbey.]]
-
-[Illustration:
-
-  _Engraved by E. Scriven._
-
-  BRADLEY.
-
-  _From the original Picture by Richardson in the possession of the
-    Royal Society._
-
-  Under the Superintendance of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful
-    Knowledge.
-
-  _London, Published by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street._
-]
-
-
-
-
-[Illustration]
-
-                                BRADLEY.
-
-
-Of all men who have combined both astronomical theory and practice,
-Bradley is one of the most remarkable. In this respect, we must assign
-to him the first place in English history; and if we were disposed to
-add, in that of the world, we are convinced that no country would
-pretend to offer more than one candidate to dispute his claim.
-
-James Bradley[1] was born in March 1692–3, at Sherbourn in
-Gloucestershire. He was educated at the Grammar School of Northleach,
-and admitted of Baliol College, Oxford, in March 1710–11, where he
-proceeded to the degrees of B.A. and M.A. in the years 1714 and 1717
-respectively. His mother’s brother was James Pound (deceased 1724),
-rector of Wanstead in Essex, and known as an observer, particularly by
-the observations which he furnished to Newton, as described in the
-Principia. With him Bradley spent much of his younger life, and was his
-assistant in his astronomical pursuits; and some observations of 1718–19
-on double stars are in good accordance with the relative motions which
-have been since established in the case of those bodies. His tables of
-Jupiter’s satellites, on which he was employed at the same time, show
-that he had detected the greater part of the inequalities in their
-motions which have since been observed.
-
-Footnote 1:
-
-  The facts here given are entirely taken from the searching account of
-  Bradley given by Professor Rigaud in his “Miscellaneous Works, &c., of
-  James Bradley, Oxford, 1832.”
-
-In 1718 he was elected fellow of the Royal Society; in 1719 he was
-ordained to the vicarage of Bridstow, in Monmouthshire; in the following
-year he received a sinecure preferment. But in 1721 he resigned these
-livings, on obtaining the Savilian professorship of Astronomy at Oxford,
-the holder of which, by the statutes, must not have any benefice. To
-finish what we may call the gazette of his life, he was engaged in
-observation (with what results we shall presently see) both at Kew and
-Wanstead till 1732, when he went to reside at Oxford, having since 1729
-given yearly courses of lectures on Experimental Philosophy. In 1742 he
-was appointed to succeed Halley as Astronomer Royal, and he held this
-appointment for the remainder of his life. In the same year he obtained
-the degree of D.D. In 1752, having refused the living of Greenwich,
-because he thought the duty of a pastor to be incompatible with his
-other studies and necessary engagements, he was presented with a pension
-of 250_l._ The last observation made by him in the observatory is dated
-Sept. 1, 1761; and he died July 13, 1762, at Chalford in
-Gloucestershire, having been afflicted by various diseases for several
-years, and particularly by a depression of spirits, arising from the
-fear lest he should survive his faculties. He married in 1744, and left
-one daughter, who died at Greenwich in 1812.
-
-There are now no lineal descendants of Bradley. Most of his writings,
-which were few in number, were published in the Philosophical
-Transactions. His personal merits are proved by the number of his
-friends, and the warmth with which they endeavoured to serve him when
-occasion arose, as well as by the strength of the testimonies which
-those who survived bore to his reputation as a man and a member of
-society.
-
-We have much abridged the preceding account, in order to make room for a
-popular exposition of his two great discoveries—the _aberration of
-light_, and the _nutation of the earth’s axis_. If we were to blot these
-discoveries out of his life, there would remain an ample stock of useful
-labours, fully sufficient to justify us in stating that Bradley was
-unequalled as an observer, and of no mean character as a philosopher.
-But for the latter we must refer the reader to the excellent account
-from which our facts have been taken, or to any history of astronomy.
-
-The _parallax_ of the fixed stars had been long a subject of inquiry. If
-a body describe a circle, and a spectator on that body be unconscious of
-his own motion, all other bodies will appear to describe circles
-parallel to that of the spectator’s motion, and, absolutely speaking,
-equal to it; consequently, the greater the distance of the body from the
-spectator, the smaller will its apparent annual motion be; and it will
-not be circular, because the projection of the circle upon the apparent
-sphere of the heavens will foreshorten, and cause it to appear oval. If
-we suppose a star to describe an oval in the course of a year, the
-consequence will be that it will pass the spectator’s meridian sometimes
-before a star in the centre of the oval, sometimes after it; sometimes
-nearer to the pole of the heavens, and sometimes more distant; and the
-nature of the motion of this kind which would arise from parallax can be
-mathematically deduced. If the star be so distant that the oval is too
-small to be detected by measurement (which is hitherto the case with the
-fixed stars), then no alteration of place will be perceived on this
-account; but if an oval large enough to be observed be described in the
-course of a year, then the test of the phenomenon arising from the
-earth’s motion in its orbit is as follows:—Imagine a plane always
-passing through the centre of the sun, the centre of the earth, and the
-centre of the oval described by the star, then the place of the star in
-its oval must be in that plane; or draw the shortest distance on the
-globe from the centre of the oval to the sun, and the star will be on
-the point of the oval which lies in that distance.
-
-In and before the time of Bradley, the refraction of light was not well
-determined, which would throw a doubt over any observations made to
-detect small quantities, unless the star which furnished them were
-situated in that part of the observer’s heaven in which there is no
-refraction, or next to none, that is, in or near his zenith. For the
-purpose of measuring annual parallax, therefore, stars had always been
-chosen which passed very nearly over the spot of observation, and
-instruments called zenith sectors (now almost out of use) were employed,
-which measured small angles of the meridian near the zenith, the latter
-point being ascertained by a plumb-line. Mr. Molyneux, a friend of
-Bradley, and a wealthy man, had caused the celebrated Graham to erect a
-large instrument of this kind at his house in Kew, afterwards the
-palace. Bradley and Molyneux observed with this instrument the star γ in
-the Dragon, which passed nearly through the zenith of that place, in
-December 1725. The star was found to pass the meridian more and more to
-the south of the zenith, until the following March, when it was about
-twenty seconds (about the sixty-five thousandth part of the whole
-circuit of the heavens) lower than at first. It was afterwards traced
-back again to its first position in the following December, allowing for
-the precession of the equinoxes. Other stars were examined in the same
-way, and the result was, that all stars were found to describe small[2]
-ovals in the course of the year. But on comparing the situations of the
-stars in their small orbits with the corresponding places of the sun, it
-was evident that the cause of the phenomenon could not be the change of
-place arising from the orbital motion of the earth. Various hypotheses
-proposed by Bradley were found insufficient. In 1727 he erected a zenith
-sector for himself at Wanstead; and by further observations, and using
-different stars, he came at length to this fact, that instead of the
-star being in the place which annual parallax would give it, it was
-always in the position which it should have had a quarter of a year
-later: or that if the observer could measure the oval with sufficient
-exactness, and were to find the time of the year from the star, on the
-supposition of annual parallax being the cause of the star’s orbit, he
-would suppose himself in March instead of December, and so on.
-
-Footnote 2:
-
-  The original memorandum of Bradley, on the first night on which a
-  decided result had been obtained, was accidentally found among his
-  papers. There is a fac-simile of it in Professor Rigaud’s work.
-
-That the phenomenon then had a regular connexion with the place of the
-earth was evident; but it was not that sort of connexion arising from
-the mere change of place of the earth. It is related[3] that he was led
-to the true explanation by observing that the vane at the top of a
-boat’s mast changed its direction a little whenever the boat was put
-about, and made to go in a contrary direction; and that on his remarking
-that it was curious the wind should shift every time the boat was put
-about, he was assured by the boatmen that the same thing always
-happened. Be this as it may, he proposed to the Royal Society, in 1728,
-his beautiful explanation of the annual motion which he had observed in
-the stars; namely, that it is caused by the alteration in the apparent
-direction of the rays of light, arising from the earth being in motion.
-Suppose a stream of bullets fired into a carriage in motion, in a line
-perpendicular to its side, and so directed as to hit the middle of the
-first window, but not with sufficient velocity to reach any part of the
-second window. It is plain that they will strike the hinder pannel,
-which the motion of the carriage brings forward, and that to passengers
-in the inside the direction of the stream will appear to be from the
-middle of the window at which it enters to the opposite hinder pannel:
-whereas, had the carriage been at rest, it would have appeared to pass
-through the centre of both windows. And to make the stream really pass
-through both windows it must, if the carriage be in motion, be directed
-through the nearer window towards the foremost pannel on the other side.
-A ray of light is in the same situation with regard to the spectator,
-both as to the diurnal and the annual motion of the earth. The former
-gives an insensible aberration only; the latter, one which though small
-is sensible. The smallness of the latter aberration arises from the
-velocity of light being more than ten thousand times that of the earth
-in its orbit. And it must be remembered that the motion of light was not
-an hypothesis, invented to form the basis of Bradley’s explanation, but
-was ascertained before his time, by Römer, from a phenomenon of an
-entirely different nature; namely, the retardation observed in the
-eclipses of Jupiter’s satellites, as the planet moved from the earth.
-The absolute deduction of the laws of aberration was completed by
-Bradley.
-
-Footnote 3:
-
-  Professor Rigaud gives this story on the authority of ‘Dr. Thomson’s
-  History of the Royal Society,’ in which work we find no authority
-  cited for it. We cannot find it in any other place, but are credibly
-  informed that it rests on good traditional evidence.
-
-The other great discovery of Bradley, namely, the _nutation_, or
-oscillatory motion of the earth’s axis, was completed in 1747. In his
-Wanstead observations he had observed some minute discrepancies, which
-at that time might be attributed to errors of observation; but after he
-was able to clear the apparent place of a star from the effects of
-aberration, the field became open to consider and assign the laws of
-smaller variations. By continual observation, he found a small
-irregularity in the places of the stars, depending upon the position of
-the moon’s node. Newton had already shown it to be a consequence of
-gravitation, that the sun must produce a small oscillation in the
-earth’s axis: Bradley showed that a larger oscillation must arise from
-the moon, and be completed in the course of a revolution, not of the
-moon, but of the point where her orbit cuts the ecliptic. This discovery
-is therefore not of so original a character as the last, since
-astronomers had for some time been in the habit of trying to reconcile
-every discrepancy which they observed by supposing a nutation; but to
-Bradley belongs the merit of discovering that small irregularity which
-really can be reconciled to such a supposition, and its physical causes.
-The easiest way of conceiving the effect of nutation is as follows:—The
-precession of the equinoxes, discovered by Hipparchus, has this effect,
-that the fixed stars, so called, appear to move round the pole of the
-ecliptic, at the rate of a revolution in about 26,000 years. Instead of
-a star, let a small oval describe the same course, and let the star in
-the mean while move round that oval in the course of nineteen years. The
-motion thus obtained will represent the combined effect of precession
-and nutation.
-
-To these discoveries of Bradley we owe, as Delambre observes, the
-accuracy of modern astronomy. It must be remarked, that no individual,
-whose previous labours have caused public opinion to point him out as
-most fit for the part of Astronomer Royal, has ever been passed over
-when occasion occurred, from the time of Flamsteed to that at which we
-write. It is the fair reward of such a course, that the reputation which
-each successive occupant brought to that position should be considered
-as appertaining to him in the public capacity which it gained for him;
-and this being granted, it may be truly said that there is no
-institution in the world which has, upon the whole, done so much towards
-the advancement of correct astronomy as the Observatory of Greenwich.
-
-[Illustration: [Observatory at Greenwich.]]
-
-[Illustration:
-
-  _Engraved by W. Holl._
-
-  MELANCTHON.
-
-  _From an Engraving by Albert Durer
-  1526._
-
-  Under the Superintendance of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful
-    Knowledge.
-
-  _London, Published by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street._
-]
-
-
-
-
-[Illustration]
-
-                              MELANCTHON.
-
-
-Philip was the son of a respectable engineer named Schwartzerde,
-that is, Black-earth, a name which he Grecised at a very early age,
-as soon as his literary tastes and talents began to display
-themselves,—assuming, in compliance with the suggestion of his
-distinguished kinsman Reuchlin or Capnio, and according to the
-fashion of the age, the classical synonyme of Melancthon. He was
-born at Bretten, a place near Wittemberg, February 16, 1497. He
-commenced his studies at Heidelberg in 1509; and after three years
-was removed to Tubingen, where he remained till 1518. These
-circumstances are in this instance not undeserving of notice,
-because Melancthon gave from his very boyhood abundant proofs of an
-active and brilliant genius, and acquired some juvenile distinctions
-which have been recorded by grave historians, and have acquired him
-a place among the ‘Enfans Célèbres’ of Baillet. During his residence
-at Tubingen he gave public lectures on Virgil, Terence, Cicero, and
-Livy, while he was pursuing with equal ardour his biblical studies;
-and he had leisure besides to furnish assistance to Reuchlin in his
-dangerous contests with the monks, and to direct the operations of a
-printing-press. The course of learning and genius, when neither
-darkened by early prejudice nor perverted by personal interests,
-ever points to liberality and virtue. In the case of Melancthon this
-tendency was doubtless confirmed by the near spectacle of monastic
-oppression and bigotry; and thus we cannot question that he had
-imbibed, even before his departure from Tubingen, the principles
-which enlightened his subsequent career, and which throw the
-brightest glory upon his memory.
-
-In 1518 (at the age of twenty-one) he was raised to the Professorship of
-Greek in the University of Wittemberg. The moment was critical. Luther,
-who occupied the theological chair in the same University, had just
-published his ‘Ninety-five Propositions against the Abuse of
-Indulgences,’ and was entering step by step into a contest with the
-Vatican. He was in possession of great personal authority; he was older
-by fourteen years, and was endowed with a far more commanding spirit,
-than his brother professor; and thus, in that intimacy which local
-circumstances and similarity of sentiments immediately cemented between
-these two eminent persons, the ascendancy was naturally assumed by
-Luther, and maintained to the end of his life. Melancthon was scarcely
-established at Wittemberg when he addressed to the Reformer some very
-flattering expressions of admiration, couched in indifferent Greek
-iambics; and in the year following he attended him to the public
-disputations which he held with Eckius on the supremacy of the Pope.
-Here he first beheld the strife into which he was destined presently to
-enter, and learned the distasteful rudiments of theological controversy.
-
-Two years afterwards, when certain of the opinions of Luther were
-violently attacked by the Faculty of Paris, Melancthon interposed to
-defend their author, to repel some vain charges which were brought
-against him, and to ridicule the pride and ignorance of the doctors of
-the Sorbonne. About the same time he engaged in the more delicate
-question respecting the celibacy of the clergy, and opposed the Popish
-practice with much zeal and learning. This was a subject which he had
-always nearest his heart, and, in the discussions to which it led, he
-surpassed even Luther in the earnestness of his argument; and he at
-least had no personal interest in the decision, as he never took orders.
-
-In 1528 it was determined to impose a uniform rule of doctrine and
-discipline upon the ministers of the Reformed churches; and the office
-of composing it was assigned to Melancthon. He published, in eighteen
-chapters, an ‘Instruction to the Pastors of the Electorate of Saxony,’
-in which he made the first formal exposition of the doctrinal system of
-the Reformers. The work was promulgated with the approbation of Luther;
-and the article concerning the bodily presence in the Eucharist conveyed
-the opinion of the master rather than that of the disciple. Yet were
-there other points so moderately treated and set forth in so mild and
-compromising a temper, as sufficiently to mark Melancthon as the author
-of the document; and so strong was the impression produced upon the
-Roman Catholics themselves by its character and spirit, that many
-considered it the composition of a disguised friend; and Faber even
-ventured to make personal overtures to the composer, and to hold forth
-the advantages that he might hope to attain by a seasonable return to
-the bosom of the Apostolic Church.
-
-The Diet of Augsburg was summoned soon afterwards, and it assembled in
-1530, for the reconciliation of all differences. This being at least the
-professed object of both parties, it was desirable that the conferences
-should be conducted by men of moderation, disposed to soften the
-subjects of dissension, and to mitigate by temper and manner the
-bitterness of controversy. For this delicate office Luther was entirely
-disqualified, whereas the reputation of Melancthon presented precisely
-the qualities that seemed to be required; the management of the
-negotiations was accordingly confided to him. But not without the near
-superintendence of Luther. The latter was resident close at hand, he was
-in perpetual communication with his disciple, and influenced most of his
-proceedings; and, at least during the earlier period of the conferences,
-he not only suggested the matter, but even authorised the form, of the
-official documents.
-
-It was thus that the ‘Confession of Augsbourg’ was composed; and we
-observe on its very surface thus much of the spirit of conciliation,
-that of its twenty-eight chapters twenty-one were devoted to the
-exposition of the opinions of the Reformers, while seven only were
-directed against the tenets of their adversaries. In the tedious and
-perplexing negotiations that followed, some concessions were privately
-proposed by Melancthon, which could scarcely have been sanctioned by
-Luther, as they were inconsistent with the principles of the Reformation
-and the independence of the Reformers. In some letters written towards
-the conclusion of the Diet, he acknowledged in the strongest terms the
-authority of the Roman Church, and all its hierarchy; he asserted that
-there was positively no doctrinal difference between the parties; that
-the whole dispute turned on matters of discipline and practice; and
-that, if the Pope would grant only a provisional toleration on the two
-points of the double communion and the marriage of the clergy, it would
-not be difficult to remove all other differences, not excepting that
-respecting the mass. “Concede,” he says to the Pope’s legate, “or
-pretend to concede those two points, and we will submit to the bishops;
-and if some slight differences shall still remain between the two
-parties, they will not occasion any breach of union, because there is no
-difference on any point of faith, and they will be governed by the same
-bishops; and these bishops, having once recovered their authority, will
-be able in process of time to correct defects which must now of
-necessity be tolerated.” On this occasion Melancthon took counsel of
-Erasmus rather than of Luther. It was his object at any rate to prevent
-the war with which the Protestants were threatened, and from which he
-may have expected their destruction. But the perfect and almost
-unconditional submission to the Roman hierarchy, which he proposed as
-the only alternative, would have accomplished the same purpose much more
-certainly; and Protestant writers have observed, that the bitterest
-enemy of the Reformation could have suggested no more effectual or
-insidious method of subverting it, than that which was so warmly pressed
-upon the Roman Catholics by Melancthon himself. Luther was indignant
-when he heard of these proceedings; he strongly urged Melancthon to
-break off the negotiations, and to abide by the Confession. Indeed, it
-appears that these degrading concessions to avowed enemies produced, as
-is ever the case, no other effect than to increase their pride and exalt
-their expectations, and so lead them to demand still more unworthy
-conditions, and a still more abject humiliation.
-
-Howbeit, the reputation of Melancthon was raised by the address which he
-displayed during these deliberations; and the variety of his talents and
-the extent of his erudition became more generally known and more
-candidly acknowledged. The modesty of his character, the moderation of
-his temper, the urbanity of his manners, his flexible and accommodating
-mind, recommended him to the regard of all, and especially to the
-patronage of the great. He was considered as the peace-maker of the age.
-All who had any hopes of composing the existing dissensions and
-preventing the necessity of absolute schism placed their trust in the
-mildness of his expedients. The service which he had endeavoured to
-render to the Emperor was sought by the two other powerful monarchs of
-that time. Francis I. invited him to France in 1535, to reconcile the
-growing differences of his subjects; and even Henry VIII. expressed a
-desire for his presence and his counsels; but the Elector could not be
-persuaded to consent to his departure from Saxony.
-
-In 1541 he held a public disputation with Eckius at Worms, which lasted
-three days. The conference was subsequently removed to Ratisbon, and
-continued, with pacific professions and polemic arguments, during the
-same year, with no other result than an expressed understanding that
-both parties should refer their claims to a general council, and abide
-by its decision.
-
-In the meantime, as the Popes showed great reluctance to summon any such
-Council, unless it should assemble in Italy and deliberate under their
-immediate superintendence, and as the Reformers constantly refused to
-submit to so manifest a compromise of their claims, it seemed likely
-that some time might elapse before the disputants should have any
-opportunity of making their appeal. Wherefore the emperor, not brooking
-this delay, and willing by some provisional measure to introduce
-immediate harmony between the parties, published in 1548 a formulary of
-temporary concord, under the name of the Interim. It proclaimed the
-conditions of peace, which were to be binding only till the decision of
-the general council. The conditions were extremely advantageous, as
-might well have been expected, to the Roman Catholic claims.
-Nevertheless, they gave complete satisfaction to neither party, and only
-animated to farther arrogance the spirit of those whom they favoured.
-
-The Interim was promulgated at the Diet held at Augsbourg, and it was
-followed by a long succession of conferences, which were carried on at
-Leipzig and in other places, under the Protestant auspices of Maurice of
-Saxony. Here was an excellent field for the talents and character of
-Melancthon. All the public documents of the Protestants were composed by
-him. All the acuteness of his reason, all the graces of his style, all
-the resources of his learning were brought into light and action; and
-much that he wrote in censure of the Interim was written with force and
-truth. But here, as on former occasions, the effects of his genius were
-marred by the very moderation of his principles, and the practical
-result of his labours was not beneficial to the cause which he intended
-to serve. For in this instance he not only did not conciliate the
-enemies to whom he made too large concessions, but he excited distrust
-and offence among his friends; and these feelings were presently
-exasperated into absolute schism.
-
-On the death of Luther, two years before these conferences, the foremost
-place among the reformers had unquestionably devolved upon Melancthon.
-He had deserved that eminence by his various endowments, and his
-uninterrupted exertions: yet was he not the character most fitted to
-occupy it at that crisis. His incurable thirst for universal esteem and
-regard; his perpetual anxiety to soothe his enemies and soften the
-bigotry of the hierarchy, frequently seduced him into unworthy
-compromises, which lowered his own cause, without obtaining either
-advantage or respect from his adversaries. It is not thus that the
-ferocity of intolerance can be disarmed. The lust of religious
-domination cannot be satisfied by soothing words, or appeased by any
-exercise of religious charity. It is too blind to imagine any motive for
-the moderation of an enemy, except the consciousness of weakness. It is
-too greedy to accept any partial concession, except as a pledge of still
-farther humiliation, to end in absolute submission. It can be
-successfully opposed only by the same unbending resolution which itself
-displays, tempered by a calmer judgment and animated by a more righteous
-purpose.
-
-The general principle by which the controversial writings of Melancthon
-at this time were guided was this—that there were certain essentials
-which admitted of no compromise; but that the Interim might be received
-as a rule, in respect to things which were _indifferent_. Hence arose
-the necessary inquiry, what could properly be termed indifferent. It was
-the object of Melancthon to extend their number, so as to include as
-many as possible of the points in dispute, and narrow the held of
-contention with the Roman Catholics. In the pursuance of this charitable
-design he did not foresee—first, that he would not advance thereby a
-single step towards the conciliation of their animosity—next, that he
-would sow amongst the Reformers themselves the seeds of intestine
-discord: but so, unhappily, it proved; and the feeble expedient which
-was intended to repel the danger from without, multiplied that danger by
-introducing schism and disorder within.
-
-Indeed, we can scarcely wonder that it was so: for we find that among
-the matters to be accounted indifferent, and under that name conceded,
-Melancthon ventured to place the doctrine of justification by faith
-alone; the necessity of good works to eternal salvation; the number of
-the sacraments; the jurisdiction claimed by the pope and the bishops;
-extreme unction; and the observance of certain religious festivals, and
-several superstitious rites and ceremonies. It was not possible that the
-more intimate associates of Luther—the men who had struggled by his
-side, who were devoted to his person and his memory, who inherited his
-opinions and his principles, and who were animated by some portion of
-his zeal—should stand by in silence, and permit some of the dearest
-objects of their own struggles and the vigils of their master to be
-offered up to the foe by the irresolute hand of Melancthon. Accordingly,
-a numerous party rose, who disclaimed his principles and rejected his
-authority. At their head was Illyricus Flacius, a fierce polemic, who
-possessed the intemperance without the genius of Luther. The contest
-commonly known as the Adiaphoristic Controversy broke out with great
-fury; it presently extended its character so as to embrace various
-collateral points; and the Roman Catholics were once more edified by the
-welcome spectacle of Protestant dissension.
-
-Melancthon held his last fruitless conference with the Roman Catholics
-at Worms in the year 1557; and he died three years afterwards, at the
-age of 63, the same age that had been attained by Luther. His ashes were
-deposited at Wittemberg, in the same church with those of his master; a
-circumstance which is thus simply commemorated in his epitaph:
-
-             Hic invicte tuus Collega, Luthere, Melancthon
-               Non procul a tumulo conditur ipse tuo.
-             Ut pin doctrinæ concordia junxerat ambos,
-               Sic sacer amborum jungit his ossa locus.
-
-Some days before his death, while it was manifest that his end was fast
-approaching, Melancthon wrote on a scrap of paper some of the reasons
-which reconciled him to the prospect of his departure. Among them were
-these—that he should see God and the Son of God; that he should
-comprehend some mysteries which he was unable to penetrate on earth,
-such as these:—why it is that we are created such as we are? what was
-the union of the two natures in Jesus Christ? that he should sin no
-more; that he should no longer be exposed to vexations; and that he
-should escape _from the rage of the theologians_. We need no better
-proof than this how his peaceable spirit had been tortured during the
-decline of life by those interminable quarrels, which were entirely
-repugnant to his temper, and yet were perpetually forced upon him, and
-which even his own lenity had seemingly tended to augment. And it is
-even probable that the theologians from whose rage it was his especial
-hope to be delivered were those who had risen up last against him, and
-with whom his differences were as nothing compared to the points on
-which they were agreed, his brother reformers. For being in this respect
-unfortunate, that his endeavours to conciliate the affections of all
-parties had been requited by the contempt and insults of all, he was yet
-more peculiarly unhappy, that the blackest contumely and the bitterest
-insults proceeded from the dissentients of his own. Thus situated, after
-forty years of incessant exertions to reform, and at the same time to
-unite, the Christian world, when he beheld discord multiplied, and its
-fruits ripening in the very bosom of the Reformation; when he compared
-his own principles and his own conscience with the taunts which were
-cast against him; when he discovered how vain had been his mission of
-conciliation, and how ungrateful a task it was to throw oil upon the
-waters of theological controversy; when he reflected how much time and
-forbearance he had wasted in this hopeless attempt,—he could scarcely
-avoid the unwelcome suspicion that his life had been, in some degree,
-spent in vain, and that in one of the dearest objects of his continual
-endeavours he had altogether failed.
-
-The reason was, that the extreme mildness of his own disposition blinded
-him to the very nature of religious contests, and inspired him with
-amiable hopes which could not possibly be realized. He may have been a
-better man than Luther; he may even have been a wiser; he had as great
-acuteness; he had more learning and a purer and more perspicuous style;
-he had a more charitable temper; he had a more candid mind; and his love
-for justice and truth forbade him to reject without due consideration
-even the argument of an adversary. He was qualified to preside as a
-judge in the forum of theological litigation; yet was he not well fitted
-for that which he was called upon to discharge, the office of an
-advocate. He saw too much, for he saw both sides of the question; his
-very knowledge, acting upon his natural modesty, made him diffident. He
-balanced, he reflected, he doubted; and he became, through that very
-virtue, a tame sectarian and a feeble partisan.
-
-But his literary talents were of the highest order, and were directed
-with great success to almost all the departments of learning. He
-composed abridgments of all the branches of philosophy, which continued
-long in use among the students of Germany, and purified the liberal arts
-from the dross which was mixed up with them. And it was thus that he
-would have purified religion; and as he had introduced the one
-reformation without violence, so he thought to accomplish the other
-without schism. But he comprehended not the character of the Roman
-Catholic priesthood, nor could he conceive the tenacity and the passion
-with which men, in other respects reasonable and respectable, will cling
-to the interests, the prejudices, the abuses, the very vices, which are
-associated with their profession. It was an easy matter to him to
-confound the superstitious rites and tenets of Rome by his profound
-learning and eloquent arguments; but it was another and a far different
-task to deal with the offended feelings of an implacable hierarchy. And
-thus it is, that while we admire his various acquirements and eminent
-literary talents, and praise the moderation of his charitable temper, we
-remark the wisdom of that Providence which entrusted the arduous
-commencement of the work of reformation to firmer and ruder hands than
-his.
-
-Melancthon’s printed works are very numerous. The most complete edition
-of them is that of Wittemberg, in 1680,3, in four volumes folio.
-
-[Illustration:
-
-  _Engraved by J. Posselwhite._
-
-  WILLIAM PITT.
-
-  _From a Picture by Hoppner in the possession of the Publisher._
-
-  Under the Superintendance of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful
-    Knowledge.
-
-  _London, Published by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street._
-]
-
-
-
-
-[Illustration]
-
-                                 PITT.
-
-
-The observations made at the beginning of our memoir of Mr. Burke (vol.
-iii. p. 33) apply with greater force to Mr. Pitt, on account both of the
-more recent date of his death, and of the more important influence which
-he exercised over our national welfare. We shall therefore lay before
-the reader a very succinct account of this celebrated statesman,
-endeavouring not to colour it by the introduction of our own opinions,
-and avoiding any statements that can reasonably be controverted. There
-can be no doubt as to Mr. Pitt’s title to a place in this work; but it
-is not here that those who have their opinion still to form as to his
-character and policy should seek for the materials to do so.
-
-William Pitt, the second son of the first Earl of Chatham, was born at
-Hayes in Kent, May 28, 1759. He suffered much and frequently from ill
-health until he had nearly reached the age of manhood; and his delicacy
-of constitution prevented his reading for honours at Pembroke College,
-Cambridge, of which he became a resident member at the age of fourteen.
-He therefore took the honorary degree of M.A., to which his birth
-entitled him, in 1776. His private tutor and biographer, the late Bishop
-of Winchester, has borne testimony to Mr. Pitt’s proficiency in
-scholarship at the time when he commenced his residence, and to his
-diligent study of the ancient languages, of mathematics, and of modern
-literature, during the long period of seven years which he spent at
-Cambridge. His illustrious father was not slow to perceive and
-appreciate this early promise; and the few letters which are extant,
-addressed by Lord Chatham to his son, contain a most pleasing picture of
-parental affection, confidence, and esteem.
-
-Mr. Pitt was called to the bar June 12, 1780, and went the western
-circuit in that year and the following. In January, 1781, he was brought
-into parliament by Sir James Lowther, for the borough of Appleby. He
-made his maiden speech in support of Mr. Burke’s bill for the reform of
-the civil list; and this being in great measure in reply to former
-speakers, and therefore evidently not premeditated, produced the greater
-effect, and amply satisfied public expectation, which had been highly
-raised by his hereditary fame and reputed talents. Young as he was, he
-took a leading part in denouncing the impolicy and injustice of the
-American war, then drawing to its close, and in effecting the downfall
-of Lord North’s administration, which occurred in March, 1782. In the
-Rockingham administration, which followed, he bore no office: not that
-his talents were held cheap, for he was offered several important
-places; but he had already determined, as he declared soon afterwards,
-never to accept any office without a seat in the cabinet. He gave his
-support, however, to the measures of government; and, with a
-determination which he manifested again at a later period, of securing
-his independence, he continued, notwithstanding his brilliant prospects
-in public life, his professional attendance at Westminster Hall. During
-this session he distinguished himself as an advocate of parliamentary
-reform by supporting three measures upon the subject: a motion, made by
-himself, for a committee to examine into the state of representation of
-the Commons; a bill for shortening the duration of parliaments; and a
-bill for the prevention of bribery, and the diminution of expense at
-elections. These, not being supported by government, were all thrown
-out.
-
-The death of the Marquis of Rockingham, July 1, 1782, led to the
-appointment of the Earl of Shelburne as prime-minister, and to Mr. Fox’s
-retirement from office. Mr. Pitt, at the age of twenty-three, was made
-Chancellor of the Exchequer. As a strong opposition was expected in the
-next session of parliament, it became desirable to effect a junction, if
-possible, with one of the adverse parties. Against acting in concert
-with Lord North, Mr. Pitt had formed an unchangeable determination; and
-the negotiation with Mr. Fox was stopped in the outset by that
-gentleman’s resolution not to act under Lord Shelburne. Thus two of the
-three principal parties into which the House of Commons was then divided
-were shut out of office during the continuance of the existing
-administration; and a strong motive was given them to unite, even
-against all probability, considering the virulent hostility which had
-long existed between their leaders. Mr. Fox and Lord North however did
-form their celebrated Coalition; and, in spite of its unpopularity, had
-strength enough to turn out the Shelburne ministry in the spring of
-1783. Mr. Pitt, while in office, introduced a bill for promoting
-economy, and removing many gross abuses in various departments of the
-public service. This, after passing the Commons, was thrown out by the
-Lords.
-
-The King, it is well known, was exceedingly averse to the re-admission
-of Mr. Fox into office. He pressed the task of forming an administration
-upon Mr. Pitt, who, being convinced that no effective support could be
-hoped for, at that time, either in parliament or from the expression of
-public opinion, steadily refused the offer. The coalition ministry
-therefore came into power. In the session of 1783 Mr. Pitt again
-introduced the question of parliamentary reform, in the shape of three
-resolutions, which provided that one hundred members should be added to
-those returned by the counties and the metropolis, and that all boroughs
-should be disfranchised where a majority of voters had been proved
-guilty of corruption. These resolutions were rejected.
-
-On the meeting of parliament in November, Mr. Fox brought forward his
-celebrated India Bill. It was quickly carried through the lower house,
-but was thrown out in the upper, partly through the personal influence
-exerted by the King; and on the next day, December 18, Mr. Fox and Lord
-North received their dismissal. Mr. Pitt did not now hesitate to take
-his place at the head of government. He felt himself in a much stronger
-position than at the close of the Shelburne administration. He foresaw
-that the India Bill would become unpopular, though as yet little outcry
-had been made against it, and he resolved, with a courage, ability, and
-penetration, which those who condemn his conduct most strongly cannot
-deny, to assume office in the teeth of a majority of the House of
-Commons, and to hold it in spite of the majorities continually arrayed
-against him. Nor, though strongly urged, would he resort to a
-dissolution; knowing that such a measure would be fatal unless the new
-parliament should prove much more favourable to him than the existing
-one, being aware that Mr. Fox’s popularity, though shaken by the
-coalition, was not overthrown, and trusting to the growing unpopularity
-of the India Bill to dispose the nation more favourably to his own
-administration. It was therefore resolved to continue the sitting
-parliament; and the house adjourned on the 26th of December to the 12th
-of January. During the recess Mr. Pitt gained the applause of all
-parties by his disinterestedness in giving the valuable sinecure of
-Clerk of the Pells to Colonel Barré, on condition of his resigning a
-pension of 3000_l._ a year; thus effecting a saving to the country of
-that amount.
-
-On the 12th the new ministry was twice left in a minority, once of
-thirty-nine, the second time of fifty-four. This not inducing them to
-resign, a series of motions was made to compel them to do so. It was
-never ventured however to stop the supplies. Between January 12 and
-March 8, fourteen motions, besides those which passed without a
-division, were carried against the ministers with various but on the
-whole decreasing majorities, the last only by a majority of one. This
-ended the struggle. The minister saw that the time was now come when a
-dissolution was likely to tell in his favour, and it took place
-accordingly, March 25.
-
-He was now returned for the University of Cambridge. In the ensuing
-session his attention was principally engaged by the Westminster
-scrutiny, the state of the revenue, and the affairs of India. In the
-first he took a part which widened the breach between Mr. Fox and
-himself; and he had the mortification of being exposed to the charge
-that he cherished personal animosity against his illustrious antagonist,
-and of being deserted by many of his usual adherents, and finally left
-in a minority, March 3, 1785, when the scrutiny was ended by a vote of
-the house. Lord Hood and Mr. Fox were then returned. In his financial
-measures Mr. Pitt had eminent success. By economy, by resolutely facing
-the difficulties of the question, and, no doubt, by the assistance of
-that general prosperity, agricultural as well as commercial, which was
-beginning to succeed the depression of the American war, the revenue,
-which at his accession to office was considerably below the expenditure,
-was improved so much as, by the spring of 1786, to afford the promise of
-a million surplus. This was devoted to the formation of an effective
-sinking-fund. Mr. Pitt prided himself on this more than any other of his
-measures, and resisted all temptation to encroach upon it even during
-the pressing difficulties of the latter years of his administration. The
-merit of having devised the scheme was claimed by Dr. Price: be this as
-it may, the principal merit, that of having rigidly carried it into
-execution, is Pitt’s. Later authorities have denied the advantage of the
-system altogether. The India Bill, the other leading measure of this
-session, differed from Mr. Fox’s chiefly in these important points, that
-the members of the Board of Control, like other members of
-administration, were removable at pleasure, and that nearly all the
-patronage of India was left in the hands of the Board of Directors. In
-1785, for the last time, Mr. Pitt again brought forward the subject of
-parliamentary reform. His plan was to transfer the members of thirty-six
-decayed boroughs to the metropolis and to various counties, and as other
-boroughs decayed, to give their franchises to populous and increasing
-towns. But the boroughs being regarded, in the words of his biographer,
-as “a species of valuable property and private inheritance, the
-voluntary surrender of their rights was not to be expected without an
-adequate consideration.” This was not treated as a government measure,
-and was rejected by a large majority.
-
-The other passages of most importance in Mr. Pitt’s political life,
-before the French Revolution, were his decided support of the
-impeachment of Warren Hastings, though without going the whole length of
-Mr. Burke and other opposition members, in 1786, and the conclusion of a
-commercial treaty with France on a more liberal footing than had yet
-been contemplated by the countries; the successful opposition which he
-made to the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts, in 1787,
-notwithstanding the support he had received from the Dissenters a few
-years before; his conduct on the Regency Bill, in opposition to the
-ill-advised assertion of Mr. Fox, that the Prince of Wales was entitled
-as a matter of right to the full possession of the powers of royalty, as
-sole Regent, in 1788–9; and his support of the abolition of the Slave
-Trade, for which he spoke and voted, but without making it a ministerial
-question. Indeed, in consequence of Mr. Wilberforce’s illness, Pitt was
-the first to bring that national disgrace and crime under the notice of
-the house, and he exerted his best eloquence in favour of its immediate
-abolition, and against the temporising course which was adopted.
-
-It does not appear that in the beginning of the French Revolution Mr.
-Pitt anticipated any bad consequences to Great Britain, or that he
-expected or wished to be led into that protracted war, which, though
-ultimately triumphant, involved us in imminent danger, enormous expense,
-and a debt still pressing us to the ground. At least, in opening his
-budget in 1792, he spoke with more than usual confidence of the
-favourable prospects of the revenue, and prognosticated many years of
-peace. At the same time he was already impressed with suspicion and fear
-of those in England who regarded with complacency the dawning of the
-Revolution; and in the same session he declared himself opposed to the
-introduction of Mr. Grey’s motion for reform in parliament, on the
-express ground that men’s minds were in a state of fermentation, which
-rendered any innovation inexpedient and dangerous. But the events of the
-summer and autumn changed Mr. Pitt’s views more widely. After the
-deposition of Louis XVI., on the 10th of August, the British minister at
-Paris was recalled; and as soon as the news of that unhappy sovereign’s
-death reached England, the French minister in London was ordered to quit
-the kingdom. War was declared by France, February 1, 1793. We do not
-attempt to compress the history of that eventful period into these
-pages. The policy of our government was to make the sea the scene of our
-chief exertions, and our fleets were victorious in every quarter of the
-globe. By land the conduct of the war was most unsuccessful. We were
-indeed cautious of risking our own troops on the continent; but the
-national wealth was profusely spent in subsidizing other nations, in
-combining alliances against France, which one after another proved
-utterly unable to withstand the energy of the French government and the
-talent of the republican generals, and in trifling expeditions,
-injurious if they failed, and useless if successful. Meanwhile the
-enormous expenditure of the day caused a corresponding increase of the
-public burdens, and, as was foreboded, a ruinous accession to the public
-debt. A large party, who were far from joining with those that would
-willingly have made England the subject of an experiment similar to the
-one going on in France, denied both the necessity and the expediency of
-the contest in which we were engaged; party spirit reached a frantic
-height; and these men, as sincere friends to their country as those who
-most strenuously supported the arbitrary measures of government, were
-denounced, and confounded with the small minority really hostile to
-domestic order. And no doubt the oppressive conduct of the
-administration drove many persons to extremes, which, in cooler moments
-and under a more equitable policy, they would not have countenanced.
-Then came the trials of Muir and Palmer in Scotland, in 1793, of Hardy
-and Horne Tooke in 1794, the Alien Bill, the suspension of the Habeas
-Corpus Act, and other measures calculated, in the language of the times,
-to prevent the spread of revolutionary principles, for which the
-minister was hailed by one party as the saviour of his country from
-anarchy, and denounced by another as a pillar of despotism, an enemy to
-the free constitution of his country, a deserter from the principles of
-his youth, and a persecutor of those associates who still adhered to
-them. Increased discontent was met by increased severity; and, after the
-insults offered to the King’s person as he proceeded to open the session
-of parliament in 1796, the famous bills, for the prevention of seditious
-meetings and for the better security of his Majesty’s person and
-government, commonly called the Pitt and Grenville Acts, were introduced
-and carried, not without the utmost indignation and the most determined
-opposition by all means short of forcible resistance, both within the
-walls of parliament and without.
-
-Mr. Fox and the other chief members of opposition, finding their utmost
-efforts unsuccessful, seceded openly from the House of Commons when the
-Seditious Meetings Bill went into committee. Meanwhile the country was
-beset by the most serious difficulties. The drain of specie produced by
-our subsidies to foreign powers, the large advances required from the
-Bank by government, and the disposition to hoard money produced by the
-fear of invasion and of domestic anarchy, gave reason to apprehend that
-the Bank would be unable to meet its engagements; and in 1797 it was
-relieved by the Restriction Act from the obligation of paying cash in
-exchange for its notes. In the same year the mutiny at the Nore broke
-out; and in 1798 the rebellion in Ireland made a most formidable
-addition to the dangers and distresses of the nation. Meanwhile our
-exertions had been powerless to check the victorious arms of France on
-the continent of Europe, and a strong desire for peace was felt by many
-who had been Mr. Pitt’s staunch supporters, and advocates of the
-revolutionary war. This led to his retirement from office in 1801,
-unless that event is rather to be ascribed to the King’s fixed
-determination not to grant the Irish Catholics that full relief, which
-had been held out as one inducement to procure the consent of Ireland to
-the Act of Union. It is to Mr. Pitt that the merit of carrying through
-that important measure is due; a measure which would probably have been
-attended with much more beneficial results if the policy of its author
-with respect to Catholic Emancipation had been adopted. But even the
-importance of the object is insufficient to justify, and can only
-palliate, the corrupt means which were used in gaining the assent of the
-Irish parliament to the Union, which was very unpopular with the Irish
-nation.
-
-Mr. Pitt resigned his office in February, 1801, and was succeeded by Mr.
-Addington, who concluded the peace of Amiens in 1802, the preliminaries
-having been signed the autumn before. Mr. Pitt defended the conditions
-of this treaty when attacked in parliament, therein taking a different
-part from several of his late colleagues. But his retirement in the
-first instance was regarded as not much more than nominal, and he was
-generally thought to be the adviser of the ministry after he ceased to
-belong to it. This state of affairs however was short-lived. His support
-gradually subsided, first into coldness, then into avowed
-disapprobation, and finally into hostility not less decided than that of
-the regular opposition. In the early part of 1804, after the lapse of
-twenty years of violent hostility, Pitt and Fox were again seen speaking
-and voting on the same side. A fruitless attempt was made by the
-ministry to procure the accession of the former; and as it became clear
-that the existing government could not stand, and as the lapse of time
-and change in affairs had removed many of the most irreconcileable
-grounds of party variance, a strong hope was felt that an
-administration, uniting the best talents and most powerful interests of
-the country, might be formed by the junction of the three parties
-represented by Mr. Pitt, Mr. Fox, and Lord Grenville. This hope appears
-to have been defeated by the King’s personal objections to admit Mr. Fox
-to office. It is asserted by Mr. Rose that Mr. Pitt used his utmost
-endeavours to overcome that prejudice, “conceiving a strong government
-as important to the public welfare, and as calculated to call forth the
-united talents as well as the utmost resources of the empire; in which
-endeavour he persisted till within a few months of his death.”
-Unfortunately for his own fame, and probably for the interests of the
-country, he did not think fit to make this union of parties a condition
-of his own return to office. Lord Grenville, his relation, friend, and
-coadjutor, refused to become a member of an exclusive ministry, and Mr.
-Pitt took his station at the head of a cabinet singularly deficient in
-men of commanding talent, and more than half composed of Mr. Addington’s
-colleagues. The disappointment of the nation was great; but the late
-period of the session (he was gazetted First Lord of the Treasury May
-12) was of material service in enabling him to face the difficulties of
-his position; and he employed the autumn in seeking to gain strength by
-forming an alliance with some other party. Lord Grenville however proved
-firm in his resolution not to accept office while Mr. Fox was excluded;
-and the minister, assuredly with deep mortification, was compelled to
-make overtures of reconciliation to Mr. Addington, who was created
-Viscount Sidmouth, and appointed President of the Council in January,
-1805. This alliance after all proved inefficient to strengthen the
-government, while it was fruitful in jealousies, which led to Lord
-Sidmouth’s speedy retirement from office in July; and in the same
-session the dismissal, and ultimately the impeachment, of his old and
-valued friend and ablest coadjutor, Mr. Dundas, now created Viscount
-Melville, added another and a still more distressing embarrassment to
-those by which the minister was already beset.
-
-On his return to office Mr. Pitt had again recourse to his former policy
-of raising up continental alliances against France; and he succeeded in
-uniting Austria and Russia in the confederacy which was crushed by the
-decisive battle of Austerlitz, December 2, 1805. At this time his
-constitution was rapidly giving way, exhausted by a life of excessive
-labour, which he sought to relieve by the immoderate use of wine, a
-habit first induced by the original defects in his constitution. In
-December he was ordered by his physicians to Bath, but he received no
-benefit from the change of place, and returned to his residence at
-Putney by slow stages. He expired January 23, 1805.
-
-In addition to his other offices, Mr. Pitt held the sinecure of Warden
-of the Cinque Ports, worth about 3000_l._ per annum, which, unsolicited,
-was bestowed on him by the King in 1792, as a mark of personal esteem.
-But the pressure of public business left no time for the regulation of
-his domestic affairs, and, notwithstanding his large income, he expended
-his small patrimonial estate, and died deeply involved in debt. The
-parliament was not slow to acknowledge his long services. His remains
-were interred at the public expense; a monument was erected to him in
-Westminster Abbey; 40,000_l._ were voted to discharge his debts; and, in
-conformity to his dying request, a pension of 1500_l._ was conferred on
-his nieces, daughters of the Earl of Stanhope.
-
-We abstain, for the reasons already assigned, from attempting to give a
-summary of Mr. Pitt’s qualifications and merits as a statesman, but it
-is a debt of justice to bear testimony to his unimpeached integrity in
-all pecuniary affairs. As a speaker he possessed extraordinary powers;
-clear, fluent, and singularly correct in his diction, unimpassioned, and
-seldom rising into flights of eloquence, he was always ready to profit
-by the indiscretions of an opponent, and his sarcasm was of the most
-cutting and effective kind. His argumentative powers were of a high
-order, and the clearness and precision of his mind fitted him admirably
-for those minute financial statements which formed an important part of
-his official duties. His voice, though wanting in variety, was sonorous
-and impressive in an extraordinary degree; his action, though awkward
-and ungainly at first sight, was not unpleasing, nor unsuited to his
-discourse. In the relations of private life his character was
-unexceptionable. “With a manner somewhat reserved and distant, in what
-might be termed his public deportment, no man was ever better qualified
-to gain, or more successful in fixing, the attachment of his friends,
-than Mr. Pitt. They saw all the powerful energies of his character
-softened into the most perfect complacency and sweetness of disposition
-in the circles of private life, the pleasures of which no one more
-enjoyed, or more agreeably promoted, where the paramount duties he
-conceived himself to owe to the public admitted of his mixing in them;
-that indignant severity with which he met and subdued what he considered
-unfounded opposition, that keenness of sarcasm with which he repelled
-and withered (as it might be said) the powers of most of his assailants
-in debate, were exchanged, in the society of his intimate friends, for a
-kindness of heart, a gentleness of demeanour, and a playfulness of good
-humour, which none ever witnessed without interest, or participated
-without delight.” Such is the testimony borne to Mr. Pitt’s social
-qualities by his intimate and attached friend, the Hon. George Rose, in
-his “Brief Examination into the Increase of the Revenue, &c. of Great
-Britain, during Mr. Pitt’s administration.”
-
-[Illustration: [Statue of Mr. Pitt, by Chantrey, in Hanover Square.]]
-
-[Illustration:
-
-  _Engraved by J. Posselwhite._
-
-  WESLEY.
-
-  _From a Print engraved by J. Fittler, after a Miniature Painted by J.
-    Barry._
-
-  Under the Superintendence of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful
-    Knowledge
-
-  _London, Published by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street._
-]
-
-
-
-
-[Illustration]
-
-                                WESLEY.
-
-
-Samuel Wesley, whose mother was a niece of Thomas Fuller, the church
-historian, was in his earliest years thrown by family circumstances
-among the party of the dissenters; but he abandoned them in disgust, and
-entered at Exeter College, Oxford, in 1684. He afterwards obtained the
-livings of Epworth and Wroote, in Lincolnshire; and at the former of
-those places, June 17, 1703, was born his second son John. Six years
-afterwards, the house was set on fire by some refractory parishioners,
-and the boy was forgotten in the first confusion. He was presently
-discovered at a window, and by great exertion rescued at the very moment
-which promised to be his last. John Wesley saw the hand of Providence in
-this preservation, and made it in after life a subject of reflection and
-gratitude.
-
-At the age of seventeen he was removed from the Charterhouse School,
-where he had made some proficiency, to Christchurch, Oxford; and the
-reputation by which he was then distinguished was that of a skilful
-logician and acute disputant. He was destined for the Church; and when
-the time for ordination arrived, after some faint scruples which he
-professed respecting the damnatory clauses of the Athanasian Creed and
-the supposed Calvinistic tendency discoverable in the Articles had been
-removed, he entered into orders; and, as the book which had especially
-excited him on the most serious meditation to undertake that office was
-Jeremy Taylor’s ‘Rules of Holy Living and Dying,’ so was it with the
-deepest earnestness that his resolution was taken, and with a fixed
-determination to dedicate his life and his death, his whole thoughts,
-feelings and energies, to the service of God. Accordingly, in the
-selection of his acquaintance, he avoided all who did not embrace his
-principles; and having now obtained a fellowship at Lincoln College, he
-had the means of assembling round him a little society of religious
-friends or disciples, over whom his superior talents and piety gave him
-a natural influence. These, through their strict and methodical manner
-of living, acquired from their fellow-students the appellation of
-Methodists,—a name derived from the schools of ancient science, and thus
-destined, through its capricious application by a few thoughtless boys,
-to designate a large and vital portion of the Christian world.
-
-About this time Wesley entered upon his parochial duties as his father’s
-curate at Epworth[4], and presently afterwards, on the approaching death
-of that respectable person, he was strongly urged by his family to
-obtain, as he probably might have done, the next presentation for
-himself. Had he yielded to their solicitations, he might have passed his
-days in humble and peaceful obscurity; but his mind was too large for
-the limits of a country parish, and he already felt that he was intended
-to serve his Maker in a larger field. So, evading the arguments and
-withstanding the entreaties of his friends, he went back to reside for a
-while upon his fellowship at Oxford.
-
-Footnote 4:
-
-  It was, strictly speaking, during this his absence from Oxford that
-  his little society then (of which the leading member was his younger
-  brother Charles) acquired the name of Methodist.
-
-In the year 1735 he engaged in the more public exercise of the ministry
-in the character of a missionary. He set sail for the new colony of
-Georgia in America; he had the countenance of the civil authorities, and
-the object which he principally professed was the conversion of the
-Indians. His habits at this period were deeply tinged with ascetism. In
-his extreme self-denial and mortification, in respect to diet, clothing,
-and the ordinary comforts of life, he affected a more than monastic
-austerity, and realized the tales of eremitical fanaticism. He even
-declaimed against the study of classical authors, and discouraged, as
-sinful, any application to profane literature. And the extravagance of
-his zeal took a direction, such indeed as might be expected from his
-birth and education, but ill adapted to recommend him to the affections
-of the colonists. He adhered, with the obstinacy of a bigot, to the
-rubric of the Church; he refused to administer baptism except by
-immersion; he withheld the communion from a pious dissenter, unless he
-should first consent to be rebaptized; he declined to perform the burial
-service over another; and while he was exciting much enmity by this
-excessive strictness, he formed an indiscreet, though innocent,
-connexion with a young woman named Sophia Causton, which led him into
-difficulty, and occasioned, after some ludicrous and some very serious
-scenes, his sudden and not very creditable departure from America.
-
-He remained there a year and nine months without making, so far as we
-learn, a single attempt to introduce Christianity among the Indians. He
-alleged that the Indians had expressed no wish for conversion; and if
-his conscience was indeed thus easily satisfied, he was yet very far
-removed from Christian perfection. Thus much indeed he certainly appears
-to have learnt from this first experiment on his own powers, that he was
-not yet qualified for the office of missionary; for he felt that he, who
-would have converted others, was not yet converted himself.
-
-Wesley had sailed to America in the society of some Moravian
-missionaries, whose exalted piety had wrought deeply on his feelings,
-and given them some influence over his conduct. On his return to
-England, while he was already impressed with some sense of his own
-unworthiness, he became closely connected with Peter Boehler, a man of
-talents and authority, and a Moravian. Through his instructions Wesley
-became thoroughly convinced of his own unbelief, and began to pray, with
-all the ardour of his enthusiastic soul, for an instantaneous
-conversion. It was not long before he believed that this blessing was
-vouchsafed to him. On the evening of the 24th of May, 1738, as one of a
-society in Aldersgate Street was reading in his presence Luther’s
-‘Preface to the Epistle to the Romans,’—“About a quarter before nine,”
-says Wesley, “while he was describing the change which God works in the
-heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed; I felt
-I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was
-given me that He had taken away _my_ sins, even _mine_, and saved _me_
-from the law of sin and death.” Howbeit, when he returned home, he had
-still some more struggles with the evil one, and was again buffeted by
-temptations; but he was now triumphant through earnest prayer. “And
-herein,” he adds, “I found the difference between this and my former
-state chiefly to consist. I was striving, yea fighting, with all my
-might under the law, as well as under grace; but then I was sometimes,
-if not often, conquered; now I am always conqueror.” This is justly
-considered as a remarkable day in the history of methodism; and Wesley
-himself attached so much importance to the change that had been wrought
-in him, that he scrupled not to proclaim, to the great scandal of some
-of his unregenerate friends, that he had never been a Christian until
-then.
-
-His first act after his conversion was to set out on a visit to the
-celebrated Moravian colony, established under the patronage of Count
-Zinzendorf, at Herrnhut in Lusatia. There he employed a fortnight in
-examining the doctrines and discipline of that sect, and then returned,
-as he went, on foot. “I would gladly have spent my life here; but my
-Master calling me to labour in another part of the vineyard, I was
-constrained to take my leave of this happy place.” Yet he perceived
-clearly enough the imperfections in their method; and his intercourse
-with their noble patron was not such as to flatter the ambition, or even
-the independence, of his character. But he had acquired a knowledge of
-their system, and was thus qualified to apply to his own purposes any
-part of it which might hereafter serve them.
-
-Wesley returned from his visit to Germany burning with religious
-enthusiasm, and presently entered into the path which Whitefield, his
-friend and disciple, had opened for him. The latter, who was a few years
-younger than Wesley, and like him educated at Oxford, and in orders, had
-begun a short time before to address the people in the open air, at
-Kingswood near Bristol. Wesley, after some little hesitation, proceeding
-from his respect for ecclesiastical practice and discipline, followed
-his example, and commenced his field-preaching in the same place. Here
-was the first indication of any approach to a separation from the
-Church, and thus in fact were laid the foundations of the sect of
-Methodists; yet such was not the design, perhaps, of either of its
-founders,—certainly not of Wesley. His scheme, if indeed he had then
-proposed to himself any fixed scheme, was rather to awaken the spirit of
-religion slumbering within the Church,—to revive the dying embers of
-vital Christianity,—to infuse into the languid system new life and
-energy,—to place before the eyes of the people the essentials of their
-faith, and to rouse their religious instructors to a proper view of
-their profession and sense of their duty. It was rather an order than a
-sect that he designed to found; an order subsidiary to the Church, in
-rivalry indeed with the ancient branches of the Establishment, but
-filled with no hostile spirit, and having no final object but its
-regeneration. Such as were the Mendicants in respect to the Roman
-Church; severe in their reproaches against the indolence and degeneracy
-of the clergy, whether regular or secular; severe in their own
-professions, and for a season in their piety and practice too; making
-their earnest appeals to the lower classes, and turning their influence
-with them to their own aggrandizement; yet so far removed from schism,
-so far from harbouring any ill designs against the papacy, as to be the
-warmest zealots of the Vatican, and the most faithful ministers of all
-its projects:—such (so far as the change in civil and ecclesiastical
-principles would permit) the disciples of Wesley were probably designed
-to have become, in respect to the English Church, by the original
-intention of their master. At any rate, it was certain that the
-emulation, which he could not fail to rouse, would in the end be
-serviceable to the interests of true religion; and it is very possible
-that, in the depth of his enthusiasm, he held every other consideration
-to be entirely subordinate to this.
-
-The first effects of his public preaching have not been surpassed by any
-thing that we read in the history of fanaticism. On one occasion, as he
-was inculcating the doctrine of universal redemption, “immediately one,
-and another, and another, sank to the earth; they dropped down on every
-side as thunderstruck.” Sometimes, as he began to preach, numbers of his
-believers fell into violent fits and lay struggling in convulsions
-around him. At other times his voice was lost amidst the groans and
-cries of his distracted hearers. Wesley encouraged the storm which he
-had raised; he shared the fanaticism which he imparted; and in these
-deplorable spectacles of human imbecility he saw nothing but the hand of
-God confirming by miraculous interposition the holiness of his mission.
-
-But however elated the preacher might be by these spiritual triumphs,
-however confident in the immediate aid and favour of God, he did not
-neglect such human means as occurred to him for securing and advancing
-his conquests. At a very early period he divided his followers at
-Bristol into male and female _bands_, for purposes of mutual confession
-and prayer, in imitation of one part of the Moravian discipline. The
-establishment of love feasts was equally early. Presently Friday was set
-apart by him for prayer and fasting; and a house was erected (likewise
-at Bristol) for the meeting of his disciples. Things were already
-advancing towards schism. The directors of the church discouraged the
-extravagance of the teacher, and pitied the madness of the people. Many
-clergymen, with praiseworthy discretion, refused their pulpits to men
-who might turn them to such strange purposes. And this gave a pretext to
-Wesley for seeking means of instructing the people independent of the
-Church.
-
-In the mean time he discovered that there were differences between
-himself and those with whom he had hitherto been most closely
-connected—differences the more difficult to reconcile, because they
-concerned points of doctrine—the one with the Moravians, the other with
-Whitefield and his followers. For the arrangement of the former, Count
-Zinzendorf came in person to England, and had some conferences with
-Wesley—but he no longer found in him a timid disciple, or obsequious
-admirer. Wesley defended fearlessly the opinions which he professed,
-concerning Christian perfection and the means of grace; and as no
-concession was possible on the other side, the controversy ended in an
-entire and final breach between him and the Moravians. The dispute with
-Whitefield, occasioned by the predestinarian doctrines now nakedly
-advanced by him, was conducted with considerable bitterness, and came to
-a similar termination. Not that the separation was in this case so
-complete as to preclude a temporary reconciliation, which was effected
-some years afterwards; but the difference was clearly proved to be real
-and irreconcileable; and the permanent division of methodism may in fact
-be dated from the year 1740.
-
-From this time Wesley, having shaken off two connexions which had
-embarrassed more than they had strengthened him, became the sole head
-and mover of a considerable religious party: and he immediately applied
-his talents to give it organization and perpetuity. He divided his
-followers into _classes_, each under the direction of a leader. He
-caused pecuniary contributions to be collected from the individuals
-composing those classes, so as to establish a permanent fund for the
-support of his society, bearing an exact proportion to the number of its
-members. He appointed itinerant preachers, and instructed them to preach
-in the open air, under the plea that they were excluded from the pulpits
-of the Church. And lastly and reluctantly,—for he still retained much
-affection for that Church, and could not be blind to the consequences of
-the measure,—he committed the office of preaching to laymen. In the
-first instance, indeed, he conceded to them no more than the privilege
-of expounding the Gospel; but seeing how soon they deviated from
-exposition into preaching, he thought it wiser at once to acknowledge
-the latter as a part of his system, and thus acquire the power of
-preventing, as far as might be, its abuse. These men were, for the most
-part, humbly born and ill educated. But their zeal supplied, in popular
-estimation, the place of learning; and their habits of poverty enabled
-them to endure the privations incident to the missionary of a new sect.
-Thus were their labours attended with great success; and this was
-essentially promoted by a very sage provision of Wesley, that no
-confession of faith should be required on admission into his community.
-The door was thus open to all mankind. The new member was never called
-upon to secede from the body to which he had previously belonged. He
-might bear what denomination he chose among the visible members of
-Christ’s Church, so long as he renounced his vices and his pleasures,
-and engaged with a regenerate heart in the work of his salvation.
-
-At this time (about 1742) Wesley and his disciples attained that degree
-of importance, which qualified them to become objects of persecution. It
-was among the lower classes that they had thrown the torch of
-fanaticism, and it was from the same that the outrages which now
-assailed them proceeded. On two or three occasions the person of the
-master himself was in some danger from popular fury; and it may perhaps
-have been preserved by his singular presence of mind, and the awe which
-he knew how to inspire into his fellow creatures. But these violent
-eruptions of indignation, as they were founded on no semblance of
-reason, and opposed by the civil authorities, were partial and of short
-duration; and as the rumours of them were much exaggerated at the time,
-their influence, as far as they had any, was probably favorable to the
-progress of methodism. Some calumnies that were raised against Wesley
-from more respectable quarters, touching his tendency to papacy and his
-disaffection to the reigning dynasty, arising from entire
-misunderstanding or pure malevolence, were immediately repelled, and
-speedily silenced and forgotten.
-
-In the year 1744 Wesley invited his brother Charles, four other
-clergymen who co-operated with him, and four of his lay-preachers to a
-_Conference_: this was the origin of the assembly or council, which was
-afterwards held annually, and became the governing body, for the
-regulation of the general affairs of the society. Four years
-subsequently, a school was opened at Kingswood, for the education
-chiefly of the sons of the preachers. In the extreme severity of some of
-the rules which he imposed on this establishment, Wesley seems to have
-been guided by an ambitious design to set apart his own people from the
-rest of the community, rather than by the common principles of
-education, or the common feelings of nature. And so jealous was he of
-any other influence being exerted on his children, that they were not
-allowed to be absent from the school, not even for a day, from their
-first admission till their final removal from it. Notwithstanding
-however the peculiarity and, as he thought, the purity of his system, he
-met with many difficulties and reverses, in his first attempts to place
-it on a permanent foundation.
-
-We may pass over the circumstances of his unfortunate marriage, which
-ended, after a few months of discord and vexation, in a hasty but final
-separation. His wife, after proving herself his foulest slanderer and
-bitterest enemy, presently deserted him. “Non eam reliqui (says
-Wesley)—non dimisi—non revocabo.” “I have not left her—I have not put
-her away—I will not recall her.” The same calmness of temper and perfect
-self-possession, which so remarkably distinguished him in his public
-proceedings, seem not to have abandoned him even in the more pressing
-severity of his domestic trials.
-
-Neither have we space to notice the controversies which he carried on
-with two of the most eminent divines of his time, bishops Lavington and
-Warburton; since Wesley, though engaged in dispute with the prelates of
-the Church, and very frequent and bitter in the reproaches which he cast
-against its ministers, still adhered to its communion, and had yet
-committed no act declaratory of absolute independence. But later in life
-he advanced farther towards schism. First of all, as he did not assume
-for his lay-preachers the power of administering the sacrament, he
-caused several to be ordained by one Erasmus, a Greek Bishop of
-Arcadia—thus evading the spiritual authority, which he could not
-contest, and which he did not yet venture to dispense with. But this was
-a feeble resource, unworthy of his courage, and unavailing to his
-purposes. A stronger measure followed. His disciples were very numerous
-in America, and it was desirable to send out to them a head, invested
-with the highest spiritual authority. Dr. Coke, an “evangelical”
-clergyman, was selected for that office, and Wesley took upon himself to
-invest him with the requisite dignity. These letters of ordination are
-dated September 2, 1784, and announce in substance, that Wesley thought
-himself providentially called, at that time, to set apart some persons
-for the work of the ministry in America; and therefore, under the
-protection of Almighty God, and with a single eye to his glory, had that
-day set apart, as a superintendent, by the imposition of his hands and
-prayer, Thomas Coke, a doctor of civil law, and a presbyter of the
-Church of England.
-
-In this affair, it was weak in Wesley to plead (as he did) a seasonable
-conviction, that in the true primitive Church the order of bishop and
-presbyter were one and the same—for if Wesley exercised as presbyter
-episcopal authority, so, under the same plea, might Dr. Coke have
-exercised it, without any imposition of Wesley’s hands. This was a
-shallow pretence, which could scarcely have deceived himself. The fact
-was, that Wesley, now acting as the sole head of a separate religious
-party, assumed the prerogatives of the highest ecclesiastical dignity;
-and resolved that all the privileges of his ministers should emanate
-from himself. This is properly considered as a second important epoch in
-the history of methodism.
-
-Wesley was then eighty-one years old, and he lived for seven years
-longer, in the perfect enjoyment of his health and exercise of his
-faculties, almost to the very end. He died March 2, 1791: leaving no
-property, except the copyright and current editions of his works, which
-he bequeathed for the use of the connexion. The whole number of his
-followers, at the time of his decease, is stated at about 135,000, of
-whom more than 57,600 were Americans. In the United Kingdoms, his
-principal success had been in some of the large towns in England and in
-Ireland. But he complains of the coldness with which his preaching was,
-for the most part, received by the agricultural classes generally, and
-by the entire Scotch nation—facts which may however be accounted for,
-without supposing any religious obduracy either in the one or the other.
-
-Thus did Wesley live to fix and consolidate, by the calmer deliberation
-of his later years, the effects, which might otherwise have been
-transient, of his early enthusiasm. It required many talents, as well as
-many virtues, to accomplish this—and Wesley was abundantly endowed with
-both. The natural ardour and eagerness of his character was moderated by
-great sagacity and calm judgment, a conciliating and forgiving temper.
-If he loved power, he did not covet money; but bestowed all that he had
-upon the poor. Doubtless his original object was simply to awaken the
-dormant spirit of vital Christianity; and if spiritual ambition,
-fomented by the general discouragement which he received from the
-clergy, seduced him too readily—though reluctantly and in opposition to
-his own professions, and even to his own intentions—into what did in
-fact amount to schism; yet the breach is not even now irreparable, if
-only his better spirit shall preside in the councils of his disciples,
-and be met with a kindred feeling of religious moderation by the
-directors of the Established Church.
-
-[Illustration: [Monument to Wesley in the Chapel in the City Road.]]
-
-
-
-
-[Illustration]
-
-                            DR. CARTWRIGHT.
-
-
-The incident which immediately led to the invention of the power-loom is
-best related in the words of the inventor himself. “Happening to be at
-Matlock in the summer of 1784, I fell in company with some gentlemen of
-Manchester, when the conversation turned on Arkwright’s spinning
-machinery. One of the company observed, that as soon as Arkwright’s
-patent expired, so many mills would be erected, and so much cotton spun,
-that hands never could be found to weave it. To this observation I
-replied, that Arkwright must then set his wits to work to invent a
-weaving mill. This brought on a conversation on the subject, in which
-the Manchester gentlemen unanimously agreed that the thing was
-impracticable; and in defence of their opinion, they adduced arguments
-which I certainly was incompetent to answer, or even to comprehend,
-being totally ignorant of the subject, having never at that time seen a
-person weave. I controverted however the impracticability of the thing.”
-Looms driven by power had been constructed before, but they had not been
-made to answer; and it is probable, from the circumstances of Dr.
-Cartwright’s life, that he had never heard of them: at all events the
-idea thus suggested to him did not lie dormant. Before the following
-April, he had constructed his first power-loom; and he took out his last
-weaving patent Aug. 1, 1787. Mechanical spinning therefore was the
-parent of mechanical weaving. Without the former, the latter would have
-been needless; without the latter, the former would have been
-incomplete. Every stage of the cotton manufacture, from the cleaning of
-the raw wool to the formation of a perfect web, may be, and in many
-establishments is, now carried on under the same roof, and by the moving
-power of the same engine. The name of Dr. Cartwright should follow that
-of Sir Richard Arkwright in the list of our national benefactors; though
-at present it is far less known to the world at large. It was long
-indeed before Cartwright’s merits were appreciated, and they failed to
-obtain for him the wealth and distinction which the creation of the
-factory system secured to Arkwright. The utility of the power-loom is
-now acknowledged, and its sphere appears to be rapidly enlarging. But it
-is still limited even in the cotton, and much more in the silk and
-woollen manufactures; and it is not unreasonable to expect that, as
-prejudices give way, and fresh refinements render the machine
-susceptible of more general, not to say universal, application, the art
-of weaving by mechanism, as formerly of spinning, may give an impulse to
-our trade, of which we now see the beginning, but cannot conjecture the
-end.
-
-[Illustration:
-
-  _Engraved by J. Thomson._
-
-  D^R. CARTWRIGHT.
-
-  _From a Picture in the possession of Miss Cartwright._
-
-  Under the Superintendance of the Society of the Diffusion of Useful
-    Knowledge.
-
-  _London, Published by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street._
-]
-
-Edmund Cartwright was the fourth son of William Cartwright, Esq., of
-Marnham in Nottinghamshire, a gentleman whose family had been long
-established in the county, and had suffered considerably in its fortune
-by adherence to the cause of Charles I. in the civil war. He was born
-April 24, 1743; and at the school of Wakefield, and at University
-College, Oxford, received the education usually bestowed upon young men
-destined for the clerical profession. At an early age he manifested a
-taste for poetic composition; but though he had printed some short
-pieces anonymously, his name was not given to the public, until the
-appearance, in 1770, of ‘Armenia and Elvira,’ a legendary poem, which
-became so popular that it passed through seven editions in little more
-than a year. He also published, about the same period, the ‘Prince of
-Peace,’ and ‘Sonnets to Eminent Men.’ In 1774 he became a contributor to
-the Monthly Review, in which he continued to write for ten years.
-
-We have not ascertained the date of his taking orders, of his election
-to a fellowship at Magdalen College, or of his vacating that fellowship
-by marriage. The degree of D.D. he took in 1806. For some years after
-his marriage he resided, first on his living at Brampton in Derbyshire,
-and afterwards at Goadby-Marwood in Leicestershire; where the hours
-which were not devoted to the duties of his calling were chiefly
-employed in literary pursuits.
-
-Hitherto Mr. Cartwright’s private life had been that of a retired
-country clergyman, varied only by his correspondence with literary
-friends. From his family connexions, and the esteem in which he was held
-by some who had power to advance him, his prospects in the church were
-favourable; and he had good reason to believe, that if he had confined
-himself to the line of life in which he had been educated, and in which
-he was then advancing, he would have attained a more ample provision in
-his profession, than it was his lot to acquire by the exercise of his
-mechanical talent. The existence of such a talent in his own mind had
-been wholly unknown even to himself, until he was upwards of forty years
-of age, when the circumstance which has been above narrated called it
-into action, and caused a change in the whole tenor of his life. In his
-first attempts he had to contend with the difficulties which usually
-beset genius without experience. “As I had never before turned my
-thoughts to anything mechanical, either in theory or practice, nor had
-even seen a loom at work, or knew anything of its construction, you will
-readily believe that my first loom was a most rude piece of machinery.
-The warp was placed perpendicularly; the reed fell with the weight of at
-least half a hundred weight, and the springs which threw the shuttle
-were strong enough to have thrown a Congreve rocket. In short, it
-required the strength of two powerful men to work the machine at a slow
-rate, and only for a short time.” This, as we have seen, was in 1785: he
-also applied his talents to effecting the substitution of machinery for
-manual labour in combing wool, and took out his first patent on this
-subject in April 1790.
-
-The following anecdotes we quote from the ‘Pursuit of Knowledge,’ vol.
-ii.; we believe them to rest upon the best authority. “Dr. Cartwright’s
-children still remember often seeing their father about this time
-walking to and fro apparently in deep meditation, and occasionally
-throwing his arms from side to side; on which they used to be told that
-he was thinking of weaving and throwing the shuttle. From the moment
-indeed when his attention was first turned to the invention of the
-power-loom, mechanical contrivance became the grand occupying subject of
-his thoughts. With that sanguineness of disposition which seems to be
-almost a necessary part of the character of an inventor, he looked on
-difficulties, when he met with them in any of his attempts, as only
-affording his genius occasion for a more distinguished triumph: nor did
-he allow even repeated failures for a moment to dishearten him. Some
-time after he had brought his first loom to perfection, a manufacturer,
-who had called upon him to see it at work, after expressing his
-admiration of the ingenuity displayed in it, remarked, that wonderful as
-was Mr. Cartwright’s mechanical skill, there was one thing that would
-effectually baffle him, namely the weaving of patterns in checks, or in
-other words, the combining in the same web, of a pattern, or fancy
-figure, with the crossing colours which constitute the check. Mr.
-Cartwright made no reply to this observation at the time; but some weeks
-after, on receiving a second visit from the same person, he had the
-pleasure of showing him a piece of muslin of the description mentioned,
-beautifully executed by machinery. The man is said to have been so much
-astonished, that he roundly declared his conviction that some agency
-more than human must have been called in on the occasion.”
-
-The prejudices and opposition which Dr. Cartwright’s invention
-encountered from the manufacturers, stood greatly in the way of any
-general adoption of his loom during the period of his patent rights.
-Other causes, however, were concerned in this. A mill, containing five
-hundred of his looms, was burnt down almost immediately after its
-erection. He engaged in a concern for manufacturing with power-looms at
-Doncaster; but this proved unsuccessful. And it is not improbable,
-though we have not found it expressly stated, that the machine itself
-was not at this time able to compete, in respect of economy and beauty
-of workmanship, with hand labour: for during the period of his exclusive
-rights, two or three other persons took out patents for power-looms,
-without being able to make them answer. But about the year 1801, in
-which his patent expired, he had the pleasure of finding that his
-invention was coming into use to a very considerable extent; and the
-mortification of seeing others reap the fruit of his unrequited
-ingenuity. The increased demand during the war for English cotton goods,
-with the necessity for working up at home the cotton yarn which had
-hitherto been exported to the Continent, had given an impulse to the
-manufacture favourable to the introduction of machinery; and at the same
-time the power-loom was rendered much more economical by a very
-ingenious method, invented by Mr. Radcliffe of Stockport, about 1804, of
-dressing or sizing the warp, before it was placed in the loom. A cotton
-manufacturer of Stockport, named Horrocks, took out a patent for another
-power-loom in 1803. He failed; but his loom, with various modifications,
-is that which has now come into general use.
-
-The following estimate, taken from ‘Baines’s History of the Cotton
-Manufacture,’ of the number of power-looms in Britain at various
-periods, though literal exactness in such a matter is unattainable,
-affords probably a tolerably correct measure of the rapid multiplication
-of these engines.
-
-              In 1813.                In 1820. In 1829. In 1833.
-        Not exceeding 2,400. England    12,150   45,500   85,000
-                             Scotland    2,000   10,000   15,000
-                                       ———————  ———————  ———————
-                                        14,150   55,500  100,000
-
-At the present time, we are told by the same authority, the
-machinemakers of Lancashire are making power-looms with the greatest
-rapidity, and they cannot be made sufficiently fast to meet the demands
-of the manufacturers. This quick increase, notwithstanding the
-considerable expense of outfit, which by employing hand-weavers the
-manufacturer avoids entirely, may safely be taken as a test of the
-advantages and national importance of the power-loom. The following
-estimate is given of its productiveness as compared with hand-loom
-labour. A very good hand-weaver, twenty-five or thirty years of age,
-will weave _two_ pieces of cloth per week, of a certain description,
-each twenty-four yards long. In 1833, a steam-loom weaver, from fifteen
-to twenty years of age, assisted by a girl about twelve years of age,
-attending to four looms, can weave _eighteen_ similar pieces in a week;
-some can weave twenty pieces. It appears from the fuller statement given
-by Mr. Baines, that the comparative productiveness of steam-looms has
-rapidly increased up to the last-mentioned period, and therefore it may
-be conjectured not yet to have reached its maximum; and it is also
-stated, that in those descriptions of plain goods for which they have
-hitherto been chiefly used, “cloth made by these looms, when seen by
-those manufacturers who employ hand-weavers, at once, excites
-admiration, and a consciousness that their own weavers cannot equal it.”
-The set-off against these advantages is the interest on capital
-employed, and the expense of supplying power. It is not asserted by the
-more intelligent, either among masters or workmen, that the power-loom
-has been more than a secondary and minor cause of the lamentable
-depression and misery now existing among the hand-weavers; a depression
-which it is to be feared will never be removed but by the gradual
-relinquishment of that laborious and ill-paid trade.
-
-The hardships of Dr. Cartwright’s case, his merits, and the extent to
-which the country was then profiting by his discoveries, had become, by
-1807, so manifest to those who were best acquainted with the cotton
-trade, that a considerable number of the most respectable and
-influential gentlemen of Manchester presented a memorial to government,
-praying that some remuneration for his useful inventions might be taken
-into consideration. He petitioned the legislature himself to the same
-effect; and in 1809 obtained from parliament a grant of £10,000 for “the
-good service he had rendered the public by his invention of weaving.”
-The compensation thus awarded, though falling far short of the sums he
-had expended in perfecting his inventions, as well as in defending his
-patent-rights, contributed essentially to place him in comparatively
-easy circumstances; and being advanced in life, he was thankful to be
-enabled to pass the remainder of his days in tranquil retirement. The
-activity of his mind however was unabated. Engaged to the last in
-scientific pursuits, with an occasional revival of the poetic spirit of
-his youth, he closed his active, useful, and benevolent life at
-Hastings, October 30, 1823, in the eighty-first year of his age.
-
-Like many inventors, Dr. Cartwright was negligent of his pecuniary
-interests: he possessed another quality less common to that class of
-persons, entire freedom from jealousy, and great liberality in
-communicating his ideas and assistance to others engaged in pursuits
-similar to his own. And we may fairly conjecture that the temper of mind
-in which such conduct originated, promoted his happiness much more than
-any increase to his fortune, procured by a less frank and generous
-spirit, could have done. It is also stated, that whether from absorption
-in the pursuits of the moment, or carelessness of their value, he was
-remarkably apt to forget his own productions, even when offered to his
-notice. Among other instances of this disposition, it is related, that
-on examining the model of one of his own machines, he expressed great
-admiration, and said that he should have been proud to have been the
-inventor of it; nor could he readily be convinced that the merit was
-indeed his own.
-
-In this sketch of Dr. Cartwright’s life a limited notice only has been
-taken of his productions. He is chiefly known as the inventor of the
-power-loom; but the public are also reaping the advantage of several
-minor improvements in the arts of life, which emanated from his active
-and observing mind. It is sufficient here to state that he obtained ten
-patents, either for original inventions, or improvements upon his
-earlier mechanical attempts: and in addition to the kindred arts of
-weaving, spinning, wool-combing, and rope-making, he had successfully
-applied his talents to a variety of subjects unconnected with those
-manufactures.
-
-An account of his life, containing a more detailed description of his
-various inventions, as well as a relation of the struggles and
-difficulties which he encountered, is now, we are informed, in
-preparation for the press. The portrait from which our engraving is
-taken was copied from one painted by Robert Fulton, when studying the
-art under his countryman, Benjamin West.
-
-
-
-
-[Illustration]
-
-                                PORSON.
-
-
-It is perhaps not easy to invest the memoirs of a verbal critic with the
-interest which attaches itself to the lives of men distinguished in
-other departments of literature and science: the classical scholar has
-little sympathy, in respect of his peculiar vocation, with the world
-around him, and the world for the most part repays his indifference with
-interest. Nevertheless, it is due to the great reputation of the subject
-of this memoir to relate the principal events of his life.
-
-Richard Porson was born December 25, 1759. His father, Mr. Huggin
-Porson, was the parish-clerk of East Ruston, near North Walsham, in the
-county of Norfolk. Notwithstanding his poverty, Porson had the good
-fortune to obtain a first-rate education. Even in his childhood he was
-taught by a careful father more than is generally learned by the
-children of the rich; and after he had spent a short time at a village
-school, to which he was sent at the age of nine, his abilities attracted
-the notice of Mr. Hewitt, the vicar of his native place, who kindly
-undertook to teach the young prodigy the rudiments of Greek and Latin.
-In these elementary studies Porson passed his time till 1774, being also
-occasionally employed as a shepherd or a weaver. But his reputation had
-reached the ears of Mr. Norris, of Grosvenor Place, who in the summer of
-that year undertook the charge of maintaining him at Eton College. His
-name soon became favorably known beyond the circle of his admiring
-school-fellows. The interest which he excited was fortunate for him, for
-on the death of his kind patron Mr. Norris, he would have been unable to
-continue at Eton, had it not been for a subscription collected by Sir
-George Baker, then President of the Royal College of Physicians, from a
-number of gentlemen who had heard of Porson’s talents, and were desirous
-of giving him a fair opportunity to cultivate them to the uttermost.
-With this subscription, an annuity of 80_l._ for a few years was
-purchased for him; and thus he was enabled to finish his course at Eton,
-and to proceed thence to Trinity College, Cambridge.
-
-[Illustration:
-
-  _Engraved by B. Holl._
-
-  PORSON.
-
-  _From a Print engraved by W. Sharpe, after a Picture by Hoppner._
-
-  Under the Superintendance of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful
-    Knowledge.
-
-  _London, Published by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street._
-]
-
-In the second term of his third year (1781), Porson obtained one of the
-Craven University Scholarships, which, being open to the free
-competition of the whole body of undergraduates, have always been
-regarded among our most honourable academical distinctions. He took the
-degree of B. A. in 1782; and, on the mathematical tripos, obtained the
-respectable place of third senior optime: but he gained the first of the
-medals annually given by the Chancellor of the University to the two
-commencing bachelors of arts, under certain restrictions, who pass the
-best examination in classical learning. In the following September he
-was elected Fellow of Trinity College. He proceeded to the degree of
-M.A. in 1785; but being unwilling, from conscientious motives, to
-subscribe to the articles of the Established Church, he could not take
-orders, and, according to the rules of the College, vacated his
-Fellowship in 1791. He was thus for the second time dependant upon the
-liberality of his friends. Nor did they neglect him: a subscription was
-entered into by Mr. Cracherode and some others, from the proceeds of
-which a life annuity of 100_l._ was purchased for him.
-
-In 1792 he was elected Regius Professor of Greek: but, as the salary of
-this office is only 40_l._ per annum, he was still a poor man; and not
-being able to procure a suitable lecture room, he was prevented from
-making the usual addition to his income, by delivering lectures on the
-Greek authors. In 1795 he married Mrs. Lunan, the sister of Mr. Perry,
-the well-known Editor of the Morning Chronicle. From this union, short
-as it proved, Porson derived important benefits. He laid aside, while it
-lasted, most of the unseemly and intemperate habits which he had
-contracted at College: but unfortunately his wife died of consumption in
-1797, and he subsequently relapsed into his former course of life, and,
-as is too notorious, sacrificed friends, health and fortune, to his
-passion for drinking. After her death the kindness of his brother-in-law
-provided him with a home, gave him an opportunity of mixing in good
-society, and preserved him from many inconveniences, to which a man of
-Porson’s careless habits is always exposed.
-
-About the time of his wife’s death, in 1797, Porson published an edition
-of the Hecuba of Euripides; which he intended to form the first portion
-of a complete edition of that poet, and which, with very modest
-pretensions, was at once acknowledged to be a piece of first-rate
-criticism by the scholars not only of England but of all Europe.
-However, in 1800, Gottfried Hermann of Leipzig, who has since become
-very eminent as a verbal critic, published an edition of the same play,
-as a professed attack on Porson’s; and there was something in the tone,
-as well as in the matter of his strictures, which more than
-counterbalanced the compliment at the commencement of the preface. When,
-therefore, Porson republished the ‘Hecuba,’ in 1802, he added to the
-preface a long Supplement, in which Hermann was treated rather
-superciliously; indeed it appears from a letter which Porson wrote to
-Professor Dalzel, of Edinburgh, on the third of September, 1803, that he
-entertained a most sincere contempt for his German censor. The
-Supplement, however, obtained the applause of the learned in all
-countries, and, in its kind, it has rarely been surpassed in learning
-and ingenuity. Porson subsequently published the ‘Orestes,’ ‘Phœnissæ,’
-and ‘Medea,’ and the four plays, collected into one volume, have gone
-through numerous editions.
-
-When the London Institution was established, in 1805, Porson was
-appointed Librarian, with a salary of 200_l._ per annum. The situation
-however gave him no opportunity of useful exertion. He selected indeed
-an excellent classical library, and was tolerably diligent in his
-attendance; but he acquired in this monotonous employment a habit of
-selfish intemperance, which impaired his faculties and ruined his
-health. From the beginning of 1808 he was afflicted with asthma; and
-neglecting the usual modes of treating this disease, he endeavoured to
-cure it by abstinence. Under this regimen he grew weaker and weaker, and
-on Monday, September 19, 1808, he was attacked with apoplexy in the
-street. Being unknown, he was carried to a neighbouring workhouse; but
-on the following day he was discovered and taken home by his friends,
-whose attention had been called to an advertisement describing his
-person, and some scraps of Greek writing and algebra, which were found
-in his pockets. He recovered so far as to receive a visit from his
-friend Dr. Adam Clarke, at the Institution; but the hand of death was
-upon him, and he never regained the full use of his faculties. He died
-on the night of the following Sunday, just as the clock struck twelve.
-His body was conveyed to Cambridge, and buried, with the highest
-academical honours, in Trinity College Chapel, near the statue of
-Newton, where a monument, with a bust by Chantrey, is erected to his
-memory.
-
-A complete list of Porson’s works is given by Dr. Young in the
-‘Supplement to the Encyclopædia Britannica.’ The general reader will
-perhaps form the best notion of his style from his celebrated ‘Letters
-to Archdeacon Travis,’ in which the genuineness of the long-controverted
-text, 1 John v. 7, is, we may venture to say, finally refuted. This
-work, from its subject, is chiefly interesting to the theologian and
-scholar: but its wit, terseness and strength of style, and force of
-argument, will well repay even the general reader for perusing it. Of
-his posthumous works the Photius requires particular notice. It was
-printed in 1822, from Porson’s transcript of the Galean MS. of an
-imperfect Lexicon, which is generally attributed to the celebrated
-Patriarch of Constantinople. He had transcribed and corrected this
-Lexicon with the intention of printing it some years before his death,
-but a fire having broken out in Mr. Perry’s house at Merton, and having
-consumed, among other papers, this transcript, he began the task again,
-and completed another copy in his own handwriting. A collection of his
-miscellaneous notes, under the title of ‘Adversaria,’ was published
-several years after the author’s death.
-
-As Porson was the champion of English scholarship against the attacks of
-continental critics, and the head of a school of verbal criticism in
-this country, we must expect to find among his English contemporaries
-and successors a sort of reverence for him not altogether justified by
-his merits, and among the scholars of Germany, on the other hand, a
-corresponding feeling of dislike and desire to disparage him. Hermann
-wrote an article a few years since in the ‘Vienna Journal,’ on the
-characteristics of English scholarship, in which (vol. liv. p. 236,) the
-peculiar features of Porson’s criticism are said to be “great metrical
-accuracy in the kinds of verse with which he was acquainted; in others,
-sometimes an acquiescent acceptance of what he found, sometimes
-uncertain alterations: in his knowledge of the Greek language, great
-correctness; a sound judgment in the choice of readings, and considerate
-circumspection in conjecture, except where his own rules came in the
-way.” On the other hand, it is affirmed that “Porson’s notes are
-defective in acute and decisive proofs, and in that criticism which
-proceeds from a lively conception of the poetical: and that their
-contents are much more indicative of great industry and cool
-examination.” This is true enough as far as it goes; but had Hermann in
-his old age forgotten the rivalry which subsisted between Porson and
-himself in his earlier years, he would not have omitted to add that,
-with all these drawbacks, Porson was the greatest verbal critic of
-modern times.
-
-It has been stated that Porson could not make himself generally
-agreeable; but it is well known that he had a strong turn for the
-humorous, and was almost always successful in his strokes of wit, so
-that it cannot be doubted that his society was courted even by the
-superficial; and we have heard from several of his surviving friends
-that, though his coarseness was sometimes offensive, he was often a
-welcome guest at the tea-table. He was also very happy in connecting
-classical allusions with ludicrous associations; and Professor Dobree,
-in his inaugural Prælection, speaks rapturously of the delight which
-Porson’s broad vernacular translations from Aristophanes afforded to his
-intimates at college. Some of his jeux d’esprit have been printed in the
-Classical Journal; the poem called ‘The Devil’s Walk’ was till lately
-attributed to him: it is stated in the last edition of Coleridge’s works
-to be the joint production of that poet and of Southey.
-
-It may be necessary to say a few words in conclusion on those two
-peculiarities for which perhaps Porson is most talked about at the
-present day: his extraordinary memory, and his fondness for the manual
-labour of writing. The former he attributed in great measure to the
-latter. He told a friend, that he recollected nothing which he had not
-transcribed three times, or read at least six times; adding the
-assurance, that any one who would take the same trouble would acquire
-the same powers. We should incline to ascribe the tenacity of his
-recollection, so far as it depended on cultivation, in great measure to
-the early training of his father, who taught him the rules of arithmetic
-without the use of book or pencil; and his proficiency was such, that at
-nine years of age he is said to have been able to extract cube roots in
-his head. His memory was as indiscriminate as it was retentive and
-capacious. Proper names of no importance, foolish ballads, and prosing
-tales he could recall as easily, and repeat as accurately, as the
-passages of ancient authors which he required for the illustration or
-correction of a line of Euripides: he loved to recite, and was equally
-ready to repeat, ‘Jack the Giant Killer,’ or half a book of Milton, to
-his wearied company. As to his penmanship, it has been objected to him
-that he wasted many hours in an employment which would have better
-suited a country writing-master than a man of such talents. But it must
-be recollected that a reader of Greek MSS. must also be a scribe
-himself; and a great deal of the facility with which Porson performed
-his collations is to be attributed to his practice as a calligrapher.
-And if, as he used to say, his memory was principally formed by repeated
-copying, he certainly did not throw away his time; for all that he did
-in the way of illustrating Greek authors was mainly owing to his memory.
-And the world has at least derived one benefit from the perfection of
-Porson’s handwriting, in the adoption by the English University presses
-of a set of uniform types, formed after his models, of which even
-Hermann has said that they far exceed all attempts made in modern times
-to improve the beauty of Greek writing.
-
-[Illustration: [London Institution.]]
-
-[Illustration:
-
-  _Engraved by J. Posselwhite._
-
-  WICLIF.
-
-  _From a Print by G. White, after a Picture in the Collection of the
-    Duke of Dorset._
-
-  Under the Superintendance of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful
-    Knowledge.
-
-  _London, Published by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street._
-]
-
-
-
-
-[Illustration]
-
-                                WICLIF.
-
-
-The village of Wiclif, distant about six miles from Richmond in
-Yorkshire, had long been the residence of a family of the same name,
-when it gave birth, about the year 1324, to its most distinguished
-native. The family possessed wealth and consequence; and though the name
-of the Reformer is not to be found in the extant records of the
-household, it is probable that he belonged to it. Perhaps the spirit of
-the times, and zeal for the established hierarchy, may have led it to
-disclaim the only person who has saved its name from absolute obscurity.
-
-John Wiclif was first admitted at Queen’s College, Oxford, but speedily
-removed to Merton, a society more ancient and distinguished, and adorned
-by names of great ecclesiastical eminence. Here he engaged in the
-prescribed studies with diligence and success. In scholastic learning he
-made such great proficiency as to extort admiration from some who loved
-him not; and the direction in which his talents were turned is indicated
-by the honourable appellation, which he early acquired, of the Evangelic
-or Gospel Doctor. The terms, “profound,” “perspicuous,” “irrefragable,”
-were applied to mark the respective peculiarities of Bradwardine, of
-Burley, and of Hales; and so we may infer, that the peculiar bent of
-Wiclif’s youthful exertions was towards the book on which his subsequent
-principles were founded, and that he applied the ambiguous fruits of a
-scholastic education, not to enlarge the resources of sophistry, but to
-illustrate the treasures of truth. And on the other hand, in the
-illustration of those oracles, and in the accomplishment of his other
-holy purposes, it was of good and useful service to him that he had
-armed himself with the weapons of the age, and could contend with the
-most redoubtable adversaries on the only ground of argument which was at
-all accessible to them.
-
-In 1356 he put forth a tract on ‘The Last Age of the Church,’ which was
-the first of his publications, and is on other accounts worthy of
-mention. It would appear that his mind had been deeply affected by
-meditation on the various evils which at that period afflicted the
-world, especially the pestilence which had laid waste, a few years
-before, so large a portion of it. He was disposed to ascribe them to
-God’s indignation at the sinfulness of man; and he also believed them to
-be mysterious announcements of the approaching consummation of all
-things. Through too much study of the book of the Abbot Joachim, he was
-infected with the spirit of prophecy; and, not contented to lament past
-and present visitations, he ventured to predict others which were yet to
-come. All however were to be included in the fourteenth century, which
-was to be the last of the world. That Wiclif should have been thus
-carried away by the prevalent infatuation, so as to contribute his
-portion to the mass of vain and visionary absurdity, was human and
-pardonable: but in his manner of treating even this subject, we discover
-the spirit and the principles of the Reformer. Among the causes of those
-fearful calamities, among the vices which had awakened to so much
-fierceness the wrath of the Almighty, he feared not to give the foremost
-place to the vices of the clergy, the rapacity which _ate up the people
-as it were bread_, the sensuality which infected the earth with its
-savour, and “smelt to heaven.” Here was the leaven which perverted and
-corrupted the community; here the impure source whence future
-visitations should proceed. “Both vengeance of sword, and mischiefs
-unknown before, by which men in those days shall be punished, shall
-befal them, because of the sins of their priests.” Thus it was that in
-this singular work, of which the foundation may have been laid in
-superstition, Wiclif developed notwithstanding a free and unprejudiced
-mind, and one which dared to avow without compromise, what it felt with
-force and truth.
-
-The mendicant orders of friars were introduced into England in the year
-1221; and they presently supplanted the antient establishments in the
-veneration of the people, and usurped many of the prerogatives, honours,
-and profits of the sacerdotal office. As long as they retained their
-original character, and practised, to any great extent, the rigid
-morality and discipline which they professed, so long did their
-influence continue without diminution, and the clamours of the monks and
-the priests assailed them in vain: but prosperity soon relaxed their
-zeal and soiled their purity, and within a century from the time of
-their institution, they became liable to charges as serious as those
-which had reduced the authority of their rivals. Accordingly, towards
-the middle of the following century, the contest was conducted with
-greater success on the part of the original orders; and some of the
-leading prelates of the day took part in it against the Mendicants.
-Oxford was naturally the field for the closest struggle, and the rising
-talents of Wiclif were warmly engaged in it. About the year 1360 he is
-generally believed to have first proclaimed his hostility “against the
-orders of friars;” and he persisted, to the end of life, in pursuing
-them with the keenest argument and the bitterest invective, denouncing
-them as the authors of “perturbation in Christiandome, and of all the
-evils of this worlde; and these errors shallen never be amended till the
-friars be brought to freedom of the Gospel and clean religion of Jesu
-Christ.”
-
-In the year 1365 Urban V. renewed the papal claim of sovereignty over
-the realm of England, which was founded on the submission rendered by
-John to Innocent III. The claim was resisted by Edward III., and the
-decision of his parliament confirmed, in the strongest language, the
-resolution of the monarch. A zealous advocate of papacy ventured to
-vindicate the pretension of the Vatican, and challenged Wiclif to reply
-to his arguments. He did so; and his reply has survived the work which
-gave it birth. It is not however remarkable for any power of
-composition, still less can it be praised for grace or accuracy of
-style; but it stands as a rude monument of his principles, and proves
-that even then he was imbued with that anti-papal spirit which more
-splendidly distinguished his later years. Still, he was not yet
-committed as the adversary of Rome; and in a dispute, in which he was
-engaged with the Archbishop of Canterbury at this very time, he appealed
-from the decision of the Primate to the authority of the Pope.
-
-Seven years afterwards, at the age of forty-eight, Wiclif was raised to
-the Theological Chair at Oxford; and from this period we may date the
-most memorable of his spiritual achievements. For it is a question
-whether, had he died before that time, his name would have come down to
-us distinguished by any peculiar characteristic from those of the other
-divines and doctors of his age; but when he turned this eminence into a
-vantage-ground for assailing the corruptions of his church, and thus
-recommended the expressions of truth and justice by the authority of
-academical dignity, his language acquired a commanding weight, and his
-person a peculiar distinction, which the former would never have
-possessed had he remained in an inferior station, nor the latter, had he
-not employed his station for the noblest purposes: purposes which,
-though they were closely connected with the welfare and stability of the
-Roman Catholic communion, were seldom advocated from the pulpits of her
-hierarchy, or the chairs of her professors. Had Wiclif been no more than
-an eminent and dignified theologian, he would have been admired,
-perhaps, and forgotten, like so many others. Had he been only a humble
-pleader for the reformation of the church, his voice might never have
-been heard, or it might have been extinguished by the hand of
-persecution: but his rank removed him above the neglect of his
-contemporaries; and his principles, thus acquiring immediate efficacy,
-have secured for him the perpetual respect of a more enlightened and
-grateful posterity.
-
-At this time the various profitable devices, by which the Vatican turned
-into its own channels the wealth and patronage of the church, were come
-into full operation. By its provisions and reservations, and other
-expedients, it had filled many valuable benefices with foreign
-ecclesiastics; these, for the most part, were non-resident, and spent in
-other countries the rich revenues which they derived from England. This
-system had been vigorously opposed both by kings and people, but with
-little effectual success; for the Pope commonly contrived to repair the
-losses which he had sustained in the tempest during the interval which
-succeeded it. In 1374 Edward III. dispatched an embassy to Avignon to
-remonstrate on these subjects with Gregory XI., and procure the
-relinquishment of his pretensions. The Bishop of Bangor was at the head
-of this commission, and the name of Wiclif stood second on the list. The
-negociation was protracted, and ended in no important result; and the
-various arts of the Vatican triumphed over the zeal of the Reformer,
-and, as some believe, over the honesty of the Bishop. Howbeit, Wiclif
-obtained on that occasion a nearer insight into the pontifical
-machinery, and beheld with closer eyes the secret springs which moved
-it. And if he carried along with him into the presence of the vicar of
-Christ no very obsequious regard for his person, or reverence for his
-authority, he returned from that mission armed with more decided
-principles, and inflamed with a more determined animosity. At the same
-time his sovereign rewarded his services at the Papal Court by the
-prebend of Aust, in the Collegiate Church of Westbury, in the diocese of
-Worcester; and soon afterwards by the rectory of Lutterworth, in
-Leicestershire.
-
-After this period, his anti-papal opinions were more boldly declared,
-and he became more and more distinguished as an advocate for the
-Reformation of the Church. The suspicions of the hierarchy were aroused;
-and whatever reasons the Prelates might have had for sometimes siding
-with their sovereign against the usurpations of the Pope, they were
-ill-disposed to listen to the generous remonstrances of a private
-Reformer. Accordingly, at a Convocation held Feb. 3, 1377, they summoned
-him to appear at St. Paul’s, to clear himself from the fatal charge of
-holding erroneous doctrines. Had Wiclif trusted to no other support than
-the holiness of his cause—had he thrown himself, like Huss and Jerome of
-Prague, only on the mercy and justice of his ecclesiastical judges—it
-might have fared as ill with him as it did with his Bohemian disciples.
-But his principles, recommended as it would seem by some private
-intercourse, had secured him the patronage of the celebrated John of
-Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, under whose protection he presented himself on
-the appointed day before the assembled bishops. A tumultuous scene
-ensued: and after an undignified and indecent dispute between the Duke
-and the Bishop of London, the meeting dispersed without arriving at any
-conclusion, or even entering on any inquiry respecting the matter
-concerning which it was convened. The process against Wiclif was however
-suspended; and this good result was at least obtained, though by means
-more in accordance with the violent habits of the age, than with the
-holiness of his cause.
-
-In the course of the same year, while the Pope was endeavouring to
-re-establish and perpetuate his dominion in fiscal matters over the
-English, and the Parliament struggling to throw it off altogether,
-Wiclif was again called forth as the advocate of national independence;
-and he argued with great force and boldness against the legality of the
-papal exactions. In this Treatise, he entered more generally into the
-question, as to what were the real foundations, not only of papal but of
-spiritual pretensions; he pressed the Gospel of Christ as the last
-appeal in all reasonings respecting the Church of Christ; and he
-contrasted the worldliness and rapacity of his Vicar with the principles
-of the religion, and the character of its Divine founder. The name and
-example of Christ were never very pleasing objects of reflection to the
-hierarchy of that age; and the argument with which they loved to repel
-such ungrateful suggestions was, the personal oppression of those who
-ventured to advance them. Accordingly, the storm gathered; and four
-Bulls were issued forthwith against the doctrines and person of Wiclif.
-“His holiness had been informed that John Wiclif, rector of the church
-of Lutterworth, and Professor of the Sacred Page, had broken forth into
-a detestable insanity, and had dared to assert opinions utterly
-subversive of the Church, and savouring of the perversity and ignorance
-of Marsilius of Padua, and John of Ganduno, both of accursed memory.” It
-was then ordained that he should be apprehended and imprisoned; and in
-an address to Edward III., the arm of the flesh was invoked to
-co-operate with the spiritual authorities for the suppression of this
-monstrous evil. One of these Bulls was addressed to the University of
-Oxford; and what may seem singular, it found there a spirit so far in
-advance of the bigotry of the age, that a question was raised whether it
-should be received, or indignantly rejected. After long hesitation, it
-was received; but still no readiness was shown to comply with its
-requisitions, nor were any measures taken to punish or degrade the
-Reformer.
-
-Howbeit, in the beginning of the year following, Wiclif presented
-himself at Lambeth, before the Tribunal of the Papal Commissioners, to
-meet the various charges of heretical pravity. We have no room to doubt
-the wishes and intentions of his judges. But on this occasion he was
-rescued from them, for the second time, by extraneous circumstances. The
-populace of London, among whom his opinions may have made some progress,
-and by whom his name was certainly respected, interrupted the meeting
-with much clamour and violence, and showed a fierce determination to
-save him from oppression. And at the same time, while the delegates were
-confounded by this interference, a message was delivered to them from
-the Queen Mother, prohibiting any definitive sentence against Wiclif.
-Thus unexpectedly assailed, and from such different quarters, the
-Prelates immediately softened their expressions, and abandoned their
-design; and Wiclif returned once more in safety to the propagation of
-his former opinions, and to the expression of others which had not yet
-been broached by him.
-
-The sum of those opinions might be given with tolerable accuracy, though
-some of them were not perhaps propounded with perfect distinctness, and
-others have been made liable to consequences which were disclaimed by
-their author. In the first place, he rejected every sort of pretension,
-tenet, or authority, which did not rest on the foundation of Scripture:
-here he professed to fix the single basis of his whole system.
-Accordingly he denounced, with various degrees of severity, many of the
-popular observances of his church. He rejected auricular confession; and
-declared pardons and indulgences to be no better than antichristian
-devices for augmenting the power and wealth of the clergy, at the
-expense of the morality of the people. He paid no respect to
-excommunications and interdicts; he pronounced confirmation to be an
-unnecessary ceremony, invented for the aggrandizement of the episcopal
-dignity; he reprobated the celibacy of the clergy, and the imposition of
-monastic vows. And in his contempt for the outward ceremonies of the
-church, even to the use of Sacred music, he anticipated by more than two
-centuries the principles of the Puritans. In like manner, he maintained
-that bishops and priests, being one and the same order according to
-their original institution, were improperly distinguished; and that the
-property claimed by the clergy, being in its origin eleemosynary, was
-merely enjoyed by them in trust for the benefit of the people, and was
-disposable at the discretion of the secular government.
-
-So long as Wiclif confined himself to the expression of these opinions,
-though he ensured the hatred of the hierarchy, he might reckon on a
-powerful party both at the Court and among the people. The objects for
-which he contended were at least manifest, and his arguments generally
-intelligible. But he was not content with this limited field. In his
-solicitude to assail all the holds of papacy, and denounce all its
-pernicious errors, he entered, in the year 1381, into a controversy
-respecting the nature of the Eucharist. His opinion on this mysterious
-question seems to have approached very nearly to that of Luther. He
-admitted a real presence; but though he did not presume to determine the
-manner, he rejected the doctrine of Transubstantiation in the Roman
-Catholic sense. This was ground sufficient for a new clamour, louder and
-more dangerous than all that had preceded it: not that there was
-stronger argument on the side of his opponents, but because the subject,
-being more obscure, was more involved in prejudice; it was more closely
-connected with the religious feelings and deepest impressions of his
-hearers; it affected, not their respect for a sensual and avaricious
-hierarchy, but their faith in what they had been taught to consider a
-vital doctrine essential to salvation. And thus it proved, not perhaps
-that his enemies became more violent, but that his friends began to
-waver in their support of him. The lower classes, who had listened with
-delight to his anti-sacerdotal declamations, trembled when he began to
-tread the consecrated ground of their belief. His noble patrons, if they
-were not thus sensibly shocked, perceived at least the impolicy of
-contending in that field; and John of Lancaster especially commanded him
-to retire from it.
-
-With the sincerity of a zealot he persisted, and in the course of May,
-1382, a Synod was held by Courtney, who had been just promoted to the
-primacy, and the heresies of Wiclif became, for the third time, the
-subject of ecclesiastical consultation. We have no space to pursue the
-details of these proceedings. The result was, that he was summoned to
-answer, before the Convocation at Oxford, respecting certain erroneous
-doctrines, the most prominent of which was that regarding the Eucharist.
-He prepared to defend them. And it was then that the Duke of Lancaster,
-who had been his faithful protector throughout all his previous
-troubles—whether it was that he sincerely differed with Wiclif on that
-particular question, or whether he was unwilling to engage in a struggle
-with the whole hierarchy, supported by much popular prejudice, for the
-sake of an abstract opinion, which might appear to him entirely void of
-any practical advantage—withdrew his support, and abandoned the Reformer
-to his own resources. Yet not then was his resolution shaken. In two
-Confessions of Faith, which he then produced, he asserted his adherence
-to his expressed doctrines. And though one of them is so perplexed with
-scholastic sophistry, as to have led some to imagine that it was
-intended to convey a sort of retractation, yet it was not so interpreted
-by his adversaries, six of whom immediately entered the lists against
-it. Neither did it persuade his judges of his innocence. He was
-condemned—but not, as the annals of that age would have led us to
-expect, to death. And whether the praise of this moderation be due to
-the Prelates who forbore so far to press their enmity, or to the State,
-which might have refused to sanction the vengeance of the Prelates,
-Wiclif was merely condemned to banishment from the University of Oxford.
-He retired in peace to his rectory at Lutterworth, and there spent the
-two remaining years of his life in the pursuit of his theological
-studies and the discharge of his pastoral duties.
-
-The greater part of the opinions by which he was distinguished were so
-entirely at variance with the principles and prejudices of his age, that
-our wonder is not at their imperfect success, but at their escape from
-immediate extinction. Having thus escaped, however, and taken root in no
-inconsiderable portion of the community, they were such as to secure by
-their own strength and boldness their own progress and maturity. Neither
-was their author neglectful of the methods proper to ensure their
-dissemination. For in the first place, by his translation of the Sacred
-Book on which he supposed them to rest, he increased the means of
-ascertaining their truth, or at least the spuriousness of the system
-which they opposed. In the next, he sent forth numerous missionaries,
-whom he called his “Poor Priests,” for the express purpose of
-propagating his doctrines; and thus they acquired some footing even in
-his own generation. In succeeding years, the sect of Lollards, in a
-great measure composed of his disciples, professed and perpetuated his
-tenets; and by their undeviating hostility to the abuses of Rome,
-prepared the path for the Reformation.
-
-Nor were the fruits of his exertions confined to his native country. It
-is certain that his works found their way, at a very early period, into
-Bohemia, and kindled there the first sparks of resistance to the
-established despotism. The venerable Huss proclaimed his adherence to
-the principles, and his reverence for the person, of the English
-Reformer; and he was wont in his public discourses to pray, that “on his
-departure from this life, he might be received into those regions
-whither the soul of Wiclif had gone; since he doubted not that he was a
-good and holy man, and worthy of a heavenly habitation.” The memory of
-Huss is associated by another incident with that of his master. The same
-savage Council which consigned the former to the flames, offered to the
-other that empty insult, which we may receive as an expression of
-malignant regret that he had been permitted to die in peace. It
-published an edict, “That the bones and body of Wiclif should be taken
-from the ground, and thrown far away from the burial of any church.”
-After a long interval of hesitation, this edict was obeyed. Thirty years
-after his death, his grave was violated, and his ashes contemptuously
-cast into a neighbouring brook. On this indignity, Fuller makes the
-following memorable reflection:—“The brook did convey his ashes in Avon;
-Avon into Severn; Severn into the narrow seas; they into the main ocean.
-And thus the ashes of Wiclif are the emblems of his doctrine, which now
-is dispersed all the world over.”
-
-The date of Wiclif’s death renders the authenticity of his portraits in
-some degree uncertain, and we are not able to trace the history of any
-which exist. But that some memorials were preserved in his features, in
-illuminations or otherwise, we may conclude from the general resemblance
-which is to be traced in two different pictures of him—that from which
-our print is engraved, and that at King’s College, Cambridge, engraved
-in ‘Rolt’s Lives of the Reformers,’ and Verheiden, ‘Præstantium
-Theologorum Effigies, &c.,’ 1602.
-
-[Illustration: [Lutterworth Church.]]
-
-
-
-
-[Illustration]
-
-                                CORTEZ.
-
-
-Perhaps no great revolution has ever been effected by means apparently
-so inadequate to the end proposed, as in the first establishment of the
-Spanish monarchy on the continent of America. The immense importance of
-that revolution, and its intimate connexion with the history of
-geographical discovery, warrant us in assigning a place in our Gallery
-to a representative of the rude and daring men by whom the mighty
-conquest was effected. Of these, Fernando Cortez claims the first place.
-It is proper to mention, in explanation of what might seem a capital
-omission in our work, that no authentic likeness is known to exist of
-Columbus: a man raised above those who followed him across the Atlantic,
-no less by the purity of his motives, than by the originality of his
-daring career.
-
-Columbus, however, did not colonize the American continent: his
-settlement was in Hispaniola. But the Spaniards soon took possession of
-other islands in the group of the Antilles. In 1511 Diego Velasquez
-annexed the most important of them, Cuba, to the Spanish crown, and was
-rewarded with the appointment of Governor. Eager to gain fresh wealth
-and honour, he equipped a squadron of discovery, in 1518, which tracked
-the southern shores of the Gulf of Mexico, and brought home so inviting
-a report, that he determined to attempt the conquest of the country. But
-he was greatly embarrassed in the choice of a commanding officer. To
-conduct the enterprise himself was no part of his scheme: at the same
-time he was very desirous to appropriate to himself the advantages
-likely to accrue from its successful issue. It was no easy matter to
-find a person qualified by talent and courage to assume the command of
-such an enterprise; yet so humble in rank, or so devoid of ambition, as
-to give no umbrage to the governor’s jealousy. After much hesitation, he
-invested Cortez with the chief command as his lieutenant. The early
-history and character of this remarkable man are clearly and concisely
-told by Dr. Robertson.
-
-[Illustration:
-
-  _Engraved by W. Holl._
-
-  CORTEZ.
-
-  _From a Picture in the Florence Gallery._
-
-  Under the Superintendence of the Society for Diffusion of Useful
-    Knowledge.
-
-  _London, Published by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street._
-]
-
-“He was born at Medelin, a small town in Estremadura, in the year 1485,
-and descended from a family of noble blood, but of very moderate
-fortune. Being originally destined by his parents to the study of the
-law, as the most likely method of bettering his condition, he was sent
-early to the university of Salamanca, where he imbibed some tincture of
-learning. But he was soon disgusted with an academic life, which did not
-suit his ardent and restless genius, and retired to Medelin, where he
-gave himself up entirely to active sports and martial exercises. At this
-period of life he was so impetuous, so overbearing, and so dissipated,
-that his father was glad to comply with his inclination, and send him
-abroad as an adventurer in arms. There were in that age two conspicuous
-theatres on which such of the Spanish youth as courted military glory
-might display their valour: one in Italy, under the command of the Great
-Captain; the other in the New World. Cortez preferred the former, but
-was prevented by indisposition from embarking with a reinforcement of
-troops sent to Naples. Upon this disappointment he turned his views
-towards America, whither he was allured by the prospect of the
-advantages which he might derive from the patronage of Ovando, the
-Governor of Hispaniola, who was his kinsman. When he landed at St.
-Domingo, in 1504, his reception was such as equalled his most sanguine
-hopes, and he was employed by the Governor in several honourable and
-lucrative stations. These, however, did not satisfy his ambition; and in
-the year 1511 he obtained permission to accompany Diego Velasquez in his
-expedition to Cuba. In this service he distinguished himself so much,
-that, notwithstanding some violent contests with Velasquez, occasioned
-by some trivial events, unworthy of remembrance, he was at length taken
-into favour, and received an ample concession of lands and of Indians,
-the recompense usually bestowed upon adventurers in the New World.
-
-“Though Cortez had not hitherto acted in high command, he had displayed
-such qualities in several scenes of difficulty and danger, as raised
-universal expectation, and turned the eyes of his countrymen towards
-him, as one capable of performing great things. The turbulence of youth,
-as soon as he found objects and occupations suited to the ardour of his
-mind, gradually subsided, and settled into a habit of regular
-indefatigable activity. The impetuosity of his temper, when he came to
-act with his equals, insensibly abated, by being kept under restraint,
-and mellowed into a cordial soldierly frankness. These qualities were
-accompanied with calm prudence in concerting his schemes, with
-persevering vigour in executing them, and with what is peculiar to
-superior genius, the art of gaining the confidence and governing the
-minds of men. To all which were added the inferior accomplishments that
-strike the vulgar, and command their respect; a graceful person, a
-winning aspect, extraordinary address in martial exercises, and a
-constitution of such vigour as to be capable of enduring any fatigue.
-
-“As soon as Cortez was mentioned to Velasquez by his confidants, he
-flattered himself that he had at length found what he had hitherto
-sought in vain, a man with talents for command, but not an object for
-jealousy. Neither the rank, nor the fortune of Cortez, as he imagined,
-were such that he could aspire at independence. He had reason to believe
-that by his own readiness to bury ancient animosities in oblivion, as
-well as his liberality in conferring several recent favours, he had
-already gained the good-will of Cortez; and hoped, by this new and
-unexpected mark of confidence, that he might attach him for ever to his
-interest.”
-
-It is remarkable that Velasquez, actuated by these views, should have
-selected for his deputy such a man as is here described. He soon
-repented of his confidence, and sought to revoke the commission which he
-had bestowed. But Cortez, in addition to the funds provided by the
-governor, had spent the whole of his own available means in raising
-troops, and making preparations for the enterprise; he was already
-embarked at the head of a body of impatient adventurers; and he despised
-a mandate which there were no means of enforcing. And one of his first
-steps after landing on the Main was to throw off formally all
-subordination to Velasquez, and to assume the title of Chief Justice and
-Captain General of the intended colony, by virtue of a new commission,
-drawn in the king’s name, and purporting to continue in force until the
-royal pleasure should be known.
-
-The expedition sailed from Cuba, February 10, 1519, and following the
-track of the preceding one, coasted the western side of the peninsula of
-Yucatan. At St. Juan de Ulloa some natives came on board, and replied to
-the questions put to them through the medium of interpreters, that their
-country formed part of a great empire called Mexico, governed by a
-powerful monarch, Montezuma. Several interviews followed, in which
-Cortez, professing to come as ambassador from his own sovereign,
-perseveringly demanded to be led into the presence of Montezuma. This
-was peremptorily refused; but the denial, as if to make amends, was
-accompanied by presents rich enough to inflame, had that been necessary,
-the cupidity of the strangers. Instead of departing, they laid the
-foundations of a settlement, named Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz.
-Meanwhile, Montezuma acted indecisively and weakly: he neither admitted
-his formidable visitors to the friendly intercourse which they
-insidiously demanded, nor summoned the strength of his empire to crush
-them at once; but let them fortify themselves while he was making vain
-requisitions for their immediate departure, and gave time and
-opportunity to those who were discontented under his own heavy yoke, to
-rally round the standard of the invader. And it was not long before the
-Spaniards obtained that native assistance, without which their mere
-physical strength must have sunk under the vastness of their enterprise.
-
-The Cacique of Zempoalla, prompted by hatred of Montezuma, was the first
-to assist in the ruin of his native land. Supported by a small body of
-that chieftain’s troops, and attended by 200 Indians of an inferior
-class, who in that country, where the art of breaking animals to the use
-of man was unknown, performed the humiliating services of beasts of
-burden, Cortez marched from Zempoalla towards the heart of the country,
-August 16, with only 500 Europeans, and six cannon. Aware that on the
-first reverse of fortune his men might grow disgusted with an enterprise
-of such formidable appearance, or from mere inconstancy might be eager
-to return to their homes in Cuba, a temper which had been already
-manifested by some, he resolved, before quitting the coast, to destroy
-the shipping; and it is a remarkable instance of his ascendency over his
-followers’ minds, that he procured a general consent to this decisive,
-not to say desperate measure, which left small hope of safety but in
-success.
-
-His route lay through the country of the Tlascalans, a warlike people,
-who spurned his professions of friendship, and attacked the invaders in
-a series of battles. The imperfection of their weapons rendered their
-efforts fruitless; and having been severely taught the strength of their
-enemies, they sued for peace, and became faithful and active allies. The
-Spaniards, accompanied by a body of 6000 Tlascalans, then advanced
-without resistance to Mexico itself; after punishing an attempt to lead
-them into an ambuscade at Cholula by an indiscriminate massacre, in
-which 6000 persons are reported to have perished. Montezuma received
-them with the semblance of profound respect. He told them of an ancient
-tradition, that the ancestors of the Mexicans came originally from a
-remote region, and conquered the land: after which their leader went
-back to his own country, promising that at some future period his
-descendants should return to reform their constitution, and assume the
-government; and Montezuma expressed his belief that the Spaniards were
-the persons whom his countrymen were thus taught to expect. Another
-tradition, which helped to produce that weak and wavering conduct which
-gave the Spaniards such advantage, foretold that some great misfortune
-should accrue to the native inhabitants from a race of invaders from the
-regions of the rising sun. It is remarkable that, according to the
-earliest and best Spanish historians, this belief was very prevalent in
-the New World.
-
-The Spaniards, with their Indian allies, were quartered in the ample
-precincts of a royal palace. But Cortez was uneasy, notwithstanding
-these fair appearances. He had advanced with a handful of men into a
-populous city, where he might at any time be surrounded and attacked by
-multitudes. He was warned by the Tlascalans of Montezuma’s
-faithlessness; and the hostile spirit of the Mexicans was made plain, by
-intelligence that several Spaniards had been slain in repelling an
-attack on the garrison of Vera Cruz. Cortez felt that Montezuma’s
-forbearance proceeded only from timidity, and that his own best security
-lay in working upon that passion. He conceived the daring resolution to
-make the king a prisoner in his own capital; judging that, while
-Montezuma lived, the Mexicans would not throw off their allegiance, nor
-disobey his mandates, though issued under foreign control. He went,
-therefore, as usual, to the palace, attended only by a few picked men;
-and being admitted without suspicion to the emperor’s presence, he
-complained angrily of the attack on the garrison of Vera Cruz, and
-required Montezuma, as a pledge of his good faith, to take up his
-residence in the Spanish quarters. Betrayed by his own easiness into the
-power of a few strangers, Montezuma complied, under the imminent fear of
-personal violence. Cortez next required that the officer who commanded
-in the attack complained of should be given up. This was done; and he,
-his son, and five others, were publicly burnt on a pile of Mexican
-weapons, taken from the public armoury. While this atrocious act of
-cruelty and revenge was proceeding, the emperor, apparently to render it
-the more impressive, was placed in fetters.
-
-Haughty and tyrannical, but unstable and timid, the spirit of Montezuma
-was entirely broken by his misfortunes. He remained passively during six
-months in his captivity; and formally acknowledged himself a vassal to
-the crown of Castile. Religion was the only point on which he was firm.
-Cortez urged him with the blind zeal of a crusader to renounce his false
-gods, and embrace Christianity; and not content with these importunate
-solicitations, he attempted forcibly to remove the idols from the grand
-temple. The resolute interference of priests and people compelled him to
-desist from the rash project; but not until it had aroused a spirit of
-implacable hostility.
-
-Meanwhile Velasquez’s anger at Cortez’s faithlessness was increased by
-the brilliant accounts of his success; and having obtained from the
-court of Castile a patent constituting himself governor of New Spain, he
-prepared to remove or punish his disobedient officer by force of arms.
-He sent 900 men, commanded by Narvaez, a brave and experienced officer,
-who immediately opened a correspondence with Montezuma. This raised the
-hopes of the Mexicans, by showing that their invaders were not exempt
-from internal discord. Cortez perceived and met the dangers of his
-position with his usual ability and courage. Having tried in vain to
-arrange matters with Narvaez by negotiation, he left a garrison of 150
-men in Mexico, and marched with only 250 against an enemy who nearly
-quadrupled him in number. His skill, the patience of his soldiers,
-inured to the inclemency of a tropical climate, and the too great
-security of his adversary, won for him an almost bloodless victory; and
-the troops sent out for his destruction enlisted almost to a man under
-his standard. Placed against all expectation at the head of near a
-thousand men, he hastened back to Mexico, where by that time his
-presence was urgently required.
-
-He found the Spanish garrison hemmed in, and reduced to extremities, by
-a people who, stimulated by superstition and maddened by a fresh and
-atrocious outrage, seemed suddenly to have exchanged timidity for
-desperation. The return of Cortez with his formidable reinforcement did
-not abate their ferocity. Even the person of Montezuma, who was exposed
-on the Spanish rampart, ceased to command respect, and he received three
-wounds from stones and arrows, from the effects of which, aggravated by
-rage and a deep sense of his degradation, he expired. The Mexicans now
-sought to blockade their enemies and reduce them by hunger; and, as
-Cortez had not the command of the lake, he found it necessary
-immediately to evacuate the city. But he was taken at disadvantage in
-traversing by night (July 1, 1520) one of the long causeways which
-connect the city with the shores of the lake in which it stands; and on
-mustering those who reached the mainland, he found his small battalion
-of Europeans reduced by one-half, with the loss of all the horses,
-baggage, artillery, and most of the treasure which had been amassed by
-individual soldiers. The anniversary of this calamity was long, and may
-be still, distinguished in New Spain by the appellation of Noche Triste,
-the sad night.
-
-By a circuitous route, and not without cutting their way through an
-immense army assembled to intercept them, the Spaniards returned to the
-friendly Indians of Tlascala, among whom Cortez meant to recruit his
-exhausted companions, and to wait until fresh supplies of men and stores
-could be obtained from the West India islands. Some vessels which put
-into the harbour of Vera Cruz afforded an unexpected reinforcement of
-180 men; and on the 28th of December Cortez began to retrace his march
-towards Mexico. At Tezeuco, the second city of the empire, situated on
-the banks of the lake, about twenty miles from the capital, he
-established his head-quarters for four months, during which the timbers
-of twelve small vessels, cut out in the mountains of Tlascala, were put
-together. This force ensured the command of the lake, for the Mexicans
-had nothing larger than canoes; and just before their completion, a
-reinforcement of 200 men, with arms and stores, arrived from Hispaniola.
-At the beginning of May, 1521, with about 800 Europeans, Cortez
-commenced the siege of Mexico itself.
-
-Guatimozin, a nephew of Montezuma, who had succeeded to the throne, made
-a resolute defence; and Cortez, aware of the danger of entangling his
-troops in the streets, yet anxious to preserve the buildings as a trophy
-of his victory, urged the siege with unusual caution. Each day he pushed
-his way as far as possible into the city; but he returned to his
-quarters at night, during which the barricades of the causeways were
-repaired, and on the morrow a fresh battle was to be fought on the same
-ground. Thus matters went until the 3d of July, when Cortez, impatient
-of so protracted a resistance, made a desperate attempt to carry every
-thing before him in one great assault. Experience improved the Mexicans
-in the art of war. When the Spaniards, by the energy of their attack,
-had forced a way into the heart of the city, Guatimozin led them still
-onwards by a show of slackened resistance, while he detached troops, by
-land and water, to beset the breaches in the causeway by which it was
-necessary for the enemy to retire. At a given signal, the great drum of
-the god of war was struck, and the Mexicans returned to the attack,
-their hatred of the invaders stimulated by the ferocity of their
-superstition. The Spaniards were compelled to give way, and disorder was
-converted into absolute rout by the promiscuous onset of the natives,
-when they arrived at the breach. Above sixty Europeans perished, for
-those who were taken prisoners were offered as sacrifices on the Mexican
-altars. After this reverse Cortez took a surer way to success, and as
-fast as his troops made a lodgment, he caused the houses to be levelled
-with the ground. When three quarters of the city were thus destroyed,
-and those who defended the remainder were exhausted by famine and
-disease, Guatimozin yielded to the persuasion of those who urged him to
-preserve himself, to renew the war in the remote provinces of the
-empire. But he was intercepted and captured with his family, as he
-sought to escape across the lake; and on the loss of their sovereign,
-the Mexicans ceased to resist. The siege thus ended August 13, 1521.
-
-The victors were greatly disappointed in the amount of the precious
-metals which fell into their hands. What remained of the royal treasures
-Guatimozin had ordered to be thrown into the lake. Much spoil was
-carried off by the Indian auxiliaries, and much probably was lost or
-destroyed in the ruins of the city. The whole treasure collected was
-inferior in amount to that which the Spaniards had formerly received as
-a present from Montezuma; and the adventurers clamorously expressed
-their dissatisfaction. Pressed by this spirit of discontent, Cortez gave
-way to a passion, as alien to that undefined feeling which we call the
-spirit of chivalry, as to the natural laws of charity and justice; and
-tried, in vain, to extract by torture from the royal prisoner and one of
-his favourite followers a discovery of the treasures which were supposed
-to be hidden. Overcome by pain, the latter cast a look on his master,
-which seemed to ask permission to reveal what he knew. Guatimozin
-indignantly replied to the implied entreaty—“Am I reposing on a bed of
-flowers?” and the faithful subject kept silence, and died. The emperor,
-with his two principal officers, was afterwards hanged, on a groundless
-charge of having excited insurrection.
-
-The provinces were readily overrun after the fall of the capital, and
-made subject to Spain; though intolerable oppression often produced
-insurrections, which were put down with unrelenting severity. Having
-conquered an empire without commission from the monarch in whose name he
-made war, Cortez narrowly escaped having to answer as a criminal for the
-irregularity of his proceedings. But in 1522 he succeeded in procuring a
-royal commission, which constituted him captain-general and governor of
-New Spain. Still his actions were watched with an ungenerous though
-natural jealousy; and his situation became so critical, that he
-resolved, in 1528, to return to Castile, and answer, before no inferior
-tribunal, such charges as might be urged against him. He appeared with
-the splendour which became one who had unlocked the treasures of the New
-World; and his own ample fortune, contrasted with the smallness of the
-sum divided among his comrades, gave birth to a belief that he had not
-dealt fairly in the partition of the spoil. As his return to Spain put
-an end to all fears of his ambition, he was received with the favour
-which such brilliant services merited. He was invested with the order of
-St. Jago, the highest rank of Spanish knighthood; and the valley of
-Guaxaca, with an extensive domain, was erected into a marquisate in his
-behalf. But he could not obtain what he most desired, the supreme
-direction of affairs in Mexico. He returned thither in 1530 at the head
-of the military department, and with authority to prosecute new
-discoveries; but the direction of civil affairs was vested in a board,
-entitled the Audience of New Spain. Henceforward we may regard Cortez as
-a disappointed and unhappy man. Thwarted at home by the double authority
-established, he sought to reap new glory by exploring the Pacific Ocean;
-and in 1536 he discovered the peninsula of California, and surveyed part
-of the gulf which separates it from the American continent. But from
-that country neither profit nor honour, unless as a geographical
-discoverer, could be gained; and the result of the expedition neither
-satisfied the expectations of others, nor repaid the adventurers for the
-hardships which they underwent. In 1540, wearied and disgusted, Cortez
-returned to Spain, and found his services forgotten, or at least his
-person slighted. He served as a volunteer in 1541, in Charles V.’s
-expedition against Algiers, and had a horse killed under him. This was
-his last military action. After wearying his proud spirit in fruitless
-attempts to gain attention from Charles or his ministers to his real or
-supposed grievances, he retired into seclusion, and died at Seville,
-December 2, 1547, in the sixty-third year of his age.
-
-We have passed rapidly over the shocking cruelties which marked the
-progress of the Spanish arms. Some portion of the horror, with which we
-naturally regard the actors in such events, may be neutralized by the
-consideration, that men’s notions in all things, and perhaps most
-especially in matters of international justice, are greatly dependent on
-the spirit of the time in which they live; and that it is hardly fair to
-judge actions, which won the admiration of contemporaries, according to
-the standard of a subsequent age. But even in that age there were not
-wanting many to raise an indignant voice against the cruelties practised
-on an unoffending people; and after every just allowance has been made,
-it is not to be doubted that the treatment of the American aborigines
-forms a foul stain on the history of Spain, and loads all who were
-concerned in it with an awful responsibility; and we willingly
-acknowledge it to have been a just retribution, that of the original
-settlers few reaped prosperity, repose, or wealth, as the harvest of
-their arms. With their leaders it was eminently otherwise. Scarce one of
-those who led the conquerors of Peru escaped a violent death in civil
-strife; while Cortez (with whom no one divides the fame of conquering
-Mexico) lived to experience the proverbial ingratitude of courts, and
-died in that forced obscurity which is most galling to an ambitious
-mind.
-
-The noble inscription, composed by Southey for the birth-place of
-Cortez’s early companion in arms and rival in fame, needs but the change
-of name to render it equally applicable to Cortez himself.
-
-           “Pizarro here was born—a greater name
-           The list of Glory boasts not. Toil and Pain,
-           Famine, and hostile Elements, and Hosts
-           Embattled, failed to check him in his course,
-           Not to be wearied, not to be deterred,
-           Not to be overcome. A mighty realm
-           He overran, and with relentless arm
-           Slew or enslaved its unoffending sons,
-           And wealth, and power, and fame were his rewards.
-           There is another world beyond the grave,
-           According to their deeds where men are judged.
-           O reader! if thy daily bread be earned
-           By daily labour,—yea, however low,
-           However wretched be thy lot assigned,
-           Thank thou, with deepest gratitude, the God
-           Who made thee, that thou art not such as he.”
-
-
-
-
-[Illustration]
-
-                               LEIBNITZ.
-
-
-The materials for this life of Leibnitz are chiefly taken from the
-_éloge_ of his contemporary Fontenelle.
-
-Godfrey William Leibnitz was born at Leipzic, June 23, 1646. His father
-was Professor of Moral Philosophy in the University of that place: he
-died when his son was only six years old. Leibnitz’s education therefore
-was left to his mother; and the great variety of his studies is traced
-to his free access to a large collection of books which his father left.
-He thus became a poet, an orator, an historian, a lawyer, a
-metaphysician, a mathematician, and a theologian. In some of these
-capacities he would not have escaped oblivion; but every accession to
-such a mass of titles becomes interesting, when it is remembered how
-conspicuous he became in more than one of them.
-
-At the age of twenty he applied to the University of Leipzic for the
-degree of doctor of laws. This was refused, on the plea that he was too
-young; and he then went to Altdorf, where he maintained a public
-disputation, and was admitted to the degree which he desired, with
-unusual distinction. From Altdorf he repaired to Nuremberg, where he
-heard of a secret society of chemists, or, which was then the same
-thing, of searchers after the philosopher’s stone. Desiring to obtain
-some insight into their pursuits, he procured some books on chemistry, a
-subject which he had never studied, and picking out the phrases which
-seemed hardest, he wrote a letter altogether unintelligible to himself,
-which he addressed to them as his certificate of qualification. He was
-admitted with great honour, and was even offered the post of secretary,
-with a salary; and though he continued his intercourse with them for
-some time, he kept up his character as an adept to the last.
-
-[Illustration:
-
-  _Engraved by B. Holl._
-
-  LEIBNITZ.
-
-  _From a Picture in the Florence Gallery._
-
-  Under the Superintendance of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful
-    Knowledge
-
-  _London, Published by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street._
-]
-
-His first work, which appeared when he was twenty-two years old, was a
-treatise written under the name of George Vlicorius, recommending the
-choice of the Elector Palatine to be King of Poland. In 1670 he
-published his first philosophical work, an edition of ‘Marius Nizolius
-contra Pseudophilosophos;’ and in the following year two treatises on
-abstract and concrete motion, severally dedicated to the French Academy
-and the Royal Society.
-
-During his abode at Nuremberg, the Baron de Boinebourg, minister of the
-Elector of Mayence, procured a legal appointment for him in that state.
-While he held this post he travelled into France and England. After the
-death of the Elector, he accepted a similar appointment in the dominions
-of the Duke of Brunswick-Lunenberg. At the peace of Nimeguen in 1678 he
-wrote upon some disputed ceremonials, under the title of Cesarinus
-Furstnerius, and displayed a great extent of reading, and a little of
-that speculative spirit which afterwards produced the _pre-established
-harmony_. He is said, though a Lutheran, to have argued on the
-supposition that Europe was to be considered as a large federation, of
-which the Emperor was the temporal, and the Pope the spiritual, head. In
-1679 he was engaged by the reigning Duke to write the history of the
-House of Brunswick. On this service he went through Germany and Italy in
-search of authorities. It is related that, on one occasion, having left
-Venice in a small boat, a storm arose, and the boatmen began to discuss
-in Italian, which they supposed their passenger did not understand, the
-propriety of throwing the heretic overboard. Leibnitz, with great
-presence of mind, drew out a rosary, which he had about him _par
-précaution_, as Fontenelle supposes, who does not seem to guess that
-this anecdote, coupled with what has preceded, makes it at least an even
-chance that Leibnitz was really a Catholic. And this is negatively
-supported by the fact, that, Lutheran as he was considered, he very
-rarely attended the services of his church, in spite of the
-publicly-expressed disapprobation of the clergy. But on the other hand,
-he positively refused to profess Catholicism, when an advantageous
-settlement at Paris was offered on that condition. That he was both a
-religious man and a Christian is sufficiently attested by his writings.
-
-He returned from his tour in 1690, and in 1693 published his ‘Codex
-Juris Gentium Diplomaticus.’ He had published almost at the same time
-with his first work a treatise on the study of jurisprudence. The first
-volume of the ‘History of Brunswick’ appeared in 1707, and two others in
-1710 and 1711.
-
-In 1700 he induced the Elector of Brandenburg to found the Academy of
-Berlin, of which he was appointed perpetual president. He contributed
-many valuable papers to its memoirs. His patron, the Duke of
-Brunswick-Lunenberg, died in 1678, and was succeeded by Ernest-Augustus,
-first Elector of Hanover, on whose issue by the Electress Sophia the
-crown of England was settled. Leibnitz continued in the Elector’s
-service till his death. This took place from gout, November 14, 1716, at
-Hanover. The real life of such a man is in his character and writings.
-With regard to the first, the account of Fontenelle is as follows. He
-had a strong constitution, ate a good deal, drank little, and never
-undiluted liquors. When alone, he always took his meals as his studies
-permitted. His chair was frequently his only bed, and in this way he is
-said to have sometimes passed whole months. He made notes of all he
-read, not to preserve them, but to fix the contents on his memory; for
-when once written, they were finally laid aside. He communicated freely
-with all classes of men, and could entirely divest himself of his
-character of a philosopher. His correspondence was immense; he answered
-every one who wrote, however small the pretext for addressing him. He
-was of a gay humour, easily excited to anger, and easily appeased. He
-lived at great expense, but had preserved and hid two years’ amount of
-his salary. The securing of this treasure gave him great uneasiness; and
-upon this slight ground he has been charged with avarice. He was never
-married: it is said that he contemplated such a connexion at the age of
-fifty, but that the lady desired time to consider. “This,” says his
-biographer, “gave M. Leibnitz the same opportunity, and he continued
-unmarried.”
-
-The number and variety of characters in which Leibnitz is known will not
-permit us to say much upon each subject. His public life was that of a
-jurist. His ‘History of Brunswick’ was continued by M. Echard; who
-supplied Fontenelle with the necessary information for his _éloge_. In
-youth he was a poet; and he is said in one day to have made three
-hundred Latin verses without a single elision. But the Leibnitz of our
-day is either the mathematician or the metaphysician.
-
-In the first of these two characters he is coupled in the mind of the
-reader with Newton, as the co-inventor of what was called by himself the
-Differential Calculus, and by Newton the Method of Fluxions. Much might
-be instanced which was done by him for the pure sciences in other
-respects; but this one service, from its magnitude as a discovery, and
-its notoriety as the cause of a great controversy, has swallowed up all
-the rest.
-
-Leibnitz was in London in 1673, and from that time began to pay
-particular attention to mathematics. He was in correspondence with
-Newton, Oldenburg, and others, on questions connected with _infinite
-series_, and continued so more or less till 1684, when he published his
-first ideas on the Differential Calculus in the Leipzic Acts. But it is
-certain that Newton had been in possession of the same powers under a
-different name, from about 1665. The English philosopher drops various
-hints of his being in possession of a new method, but without explaining
-what it was, except in one letter of 1672, of which it was afterwards
-asserted that a copy had been forwarded to Leibnitz in 1676. Leibnitz
-published both on the Differential and Integral Calculus before the
-appearance of Newton’s Principia in 1687; and indeed before 1711, the
-era of the dispute, this new calculus had been so far extended by
-Leibnitz and the Bernoullis, that it began to assume a shape something
-like that in which it exists at the present day. In the first edition of
-the Principia, Newton expressly avows that he had, ten years before
-(namely, about 1677), informed Leibnitz that he had a method of drawing
-tangents, finding maxima and minima, &c.; and that Leibnitz had, in
-reply, actually communicated his own method, and that he (Newton) found
-it only differed from his own in symbols. This passage was, not very
-fairly, suppressed in the third edition of the Principia, which appeared
-in 1726, alter the dispute; and the space was filled up by an account of
-other matters. It was obvious that, on the supposition of plagiarism, it
-only gave Leibnitz a year to infer, from a hint or two, his method,
-notation, and results.
-
-Some discussion about priority of invention led Dr. Keill to maintain
-Newton’s title to be considered the sole inventor of the fluxional
-calculus. Leibnitz had asserted that he had been in possession of the
-method eight years before he communicated it to Newton. He appealed to
-the Royal Society, of which Newton was President, and that body gave
-judgment on the question in 1712. Their decision is now worth nothing;
-firstly, because it only determined that Newton was the _first_
-inventor, which was not the whole point, and left out the question
-whether Leibnitz had or had not stolen from Newton; secondly, because
-the charge of plagiarism is insinuated in the assertion that a copy of
-Newton’s letter, as above mentioned, had been sent to Leibnitz. Now they
-neither prove that he had received this letter in time sufficient to
-enable him to communicate with Newton as above described, or, if he had
-received it, that there was in it a sufficient hint of the method of
-fluxions. The decision of posterity is, that Leibnitz fairly invented
-his own method; and though English writers give no strong opinion as to
-the fairness with which the dispute was carried on, we imagine that
-there are few who would now defend the conduct of their predecessors.
-Whoever may have had priority of invention, it is clear that to Leibnitz
-and the Bernoullis belongs the principal part of the superstructure, by
-aid of which their immediate successors were enabled to extend the
-theory of Newton; and thus Leibnitz is placed in the highest rank of
-mathematical inventors.
-
-The metaphysics of Leibnitz have now become a by-word. He is
-pre-eminent, among modern philosophers, for his extraordinary fancies.
-His monads, his pre-established harmony, and his best of all possible
-worlds, are hardly caricatured in the well-known philosophical novel of
-Voltaire. If any thinking monad should find that the pre-established
-harmony between his soul and body would make the former desire to see
-more of Leibnitz as a metaphysician, and the latter able to second him,
-we can inform him that it was necessary, for the best of all possible
-universes, that Michael Hansch should in 1728 publish the whole system
-at Frankfort and Leipzic, under the title, ‘Leibnitzii Principia
-philosophica more geometrico demonstrata;’ and also that M. Tenneman
-should give an account of this system, and M. Victor Cousin translate
-the same. It is not easy to give any short description of the contents,
-nor would it be useful. A school of metaphysicians of the sect of
-Leibnitz continued to exist for some time in Germany, but it has long
-been extinct.
-
-The mathematical works of Leibnitz were collected and published at
-Geneva in 1768. His correspondence with John Bernoulli was also
-published in 1745, at Lausanne and Geneva. It is an interesting record,
-and exhibits him in an amiable light. He gives his friend a check for
-his manner of speaking of Newton, at the time when the partizans of the
-latter were attacking his own character, both as a man and a discoverer.
-He says (vol. ii. p. 234), “I thank you for the animadversions which you
-have sent me on Newton’s works; I wish you had time to examine the
-whole, which I know would not be unpleasant even to himself. But in so
-beautiful a structure, _non ego paucis offendar maculis_.” He also says
-that he has been informed by a friend in England, that hatred of the
-Hanoverian connexion had something to do with the bitterness with which
-he was assailed; “Non ab omni veri specie abest, eos qui parum Domui
-Hanoveranæ favent, etiam me lacerare voluisse; nam amicus Anglus ad me
-scribit, videri aliquibus non tam ut mathematicos et Societatis Regiæ
-Socios in socium, sed ut _Toryos in Whigium_ quosdam egisse.” (Vol. ii.
-p. 321.)
-
-[Illustration:
-
-  _Engraved by C. E. Wagstaff_
-
-  CARDINAL XIMENES.
-
-  _From a Picture in the Florence Gallery._
-
-  Under the Superintendence of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful
-    Knowledge.
-
-  _London, Published by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street._
-]
-
-
-
-
-[Illustration]
-
-                                XIMENES.
-
-
-Gonzales Ximenes de Cisneros, Primate and Regent of Spain, was born at
-Tordelaguna, in Castile, in 1437. He was descended of an ancient family,
-long settled at Cisneros in the kingdom of Leon, and was baptized
-Gonzales after an ancestor who was one of the most renowned knights of
-his day: the name of Francis, by which he is commonly known, he assumed
-in after-life, in honour of the saint whose monastic rule he embraced.
-But though he was of honourable descent, neither rank nor wealth were
-stepping-stones to his preferment. His father supported a large family
-upon the income of his humble office of collector of tenths, payable to
-the king by the clergy: but his own studious disposition, and the
-facilities then afforded by the universities to poor scholars, raised
-him out of the obscurity in which his lot appeared to be cast. At the
-schools of Alcala, and at the University of Salamanca, he studied
-philosophy, theology, canon and civil law; and his proficiency soon
-enabled him to support himself, by teaching others. Having completed his
-education he undertook a journey to Rome, hoping there to find a readier
-field for the exercise of his talents than at home. Poor and friendless,
-he maintained himself by pleading in the Spanish causes which came
-before the Court of the Consistory; and he was already rising into
-eminence, when, hearing of his father’s death, and the distress of his
-family, he abandoned his flattering prospects and returned to Spain.
-
-It appears that he had taken holy orders during his abode at Rome, for
-before his departure Sixtus IV. bestowed on him a reversionary grant of
-the first benefice which should fall vacant. This proved to be Uceda;
-and he immediately produced his letters and took possession. The
-Archbishop of Toledo, who had already promised the living, was highly
-offended at this exercise of what in truth was a most objectionable
-prerogative of the Holy See. He not only dispossessed, but imprisoned
-for six years, Ximenes, who remained firm in the assertion of his
-rights. At the end of that time the prelate yielded. Ximenes soon
-exchanged Uceda for a chaplaincy in the cathedral of Siguenza. Here he
-applied himself to the pursuit of theology, and laid the foundation of
-that Hebrew and Chaldaic learning which bore such noble fruit in
-after-life. He gained the warm friendship of his bishop, the Cardinal
-Mendoza, who, in 1483, appointed him grand vicar of the diocese. In that
-office he distinguished himself by integrity and talents for business,
-as he had before by piety and learning. And the fairest prospect of
-advancement was open to him, when all at once he resolved to quit the
-world, and to devote himself wholly to religious meditation.
-
-He embraced the strictest rule of the Franciscan order, with a zeal to
-which the general example of his brethren gave no countenance. He
-retired to the secluded monasteries of Castagnar and Salceda, and in the
-forests which surrounded them, devoted himself wholly to prayer, the
-study of the Scriptures, and the mortification of the flesh. He thus
-gained the reputation of uncommon sanctity, and there seems to be no
-reason to think that his asceticism was defiled by any trace of
-hypocrisy. But his friend the Cardinal saw that he was fitted for still
-better things, and regretting his departure from active life, expressed
-a belief that he would ultimately be raised to much higher dignity, to
-the great advantage of the Church. And, in truth, the Cardinal, who had
-been raised from the see of Siguenza to the primacy of Spain, the
-Archbishopric of Toledo, did much to fulfil his own prediction. He
-introduced Ximenes to the Queen Isabella, who was then in want of a
-confessor, and she readily listened to his recommendation, and appointed
-Ximenes to the vacant office. He would fain have declined it, urging
-that he had been called to the cloister from active life to attend to
-his own salvation; that what was demanded would withdraw him from his
-proper vocation; and that a sovereign above all persons needed a
-religious guide, not only of good intentions, but of experience and
-wisdom. The Queen smiled as she assured him, that if he had formerly
-been directed to solitude, he was now summoned to court, and that if he
-would take charge of her conscience, she would be answerable for having
-chosen him to do so. And he consented, on condition that he should be
-required to attend her only when called by the duties of his office.
-This was in 1492. The austerity of his life and the wildness of his
-aspect caused him, when he appeared, to be compared by the gay
-frequenters of the court to an old Egyptian hermit come out from the
-desert.
-
-Moved by the hope of advancing the temporal interests of their order,
-his monastic brethren now appointed him their provincial. They widely
-mistook his character. He accepted the proffered dignity, moved chiefly
-by the hope that it would furnish him with an excuse for more frequent
-absence from court; and he employed his power in striving to reform the
-corruptions which abundant wealth had introduced among them. His own
-life was in strict adherence to the self-denial which he recommended to
-others. In his visitations he travelled on foot from convent to convent,
-accompanied by one brother, Francis Ruyz, whom he had selected for his
-constant companion, as uniting the qualifications of a lively temper and
-sound health, with learning, modesty, and trustworthiness. For their
-sustenance they depended upon alms, and in the trade of begging Ximenes
-was very unsuccessful. Ruyz used to remonstrate on the misapplication of
-his talents. “Your Reverence will let us die of hunger; you were not
-meant for this profession. God gives each of us his talents: do you pray
-for me, and I will beg for you. Your Reverence may be made to give, but
-certainly not to ask.” Visiting Gibraltar in one of these tours, he was
-strongly possessed by the desire of going to preach the gospel in
-Africa. On this subject he consulted a female devotee, who had the
-reputation of enjoying divine revelations in visions, and was dissuaded
-by her from prosecuting the scheme.
-
-The Primate Mendoza died at the end of 1494. In their last interview, he
-urged his sovereign not to entrust the vast revenues of his see to any
-one connected with the highest nobility, esteeming its power to be even
-dangerous to the crown, when knit by family ties to great feudal
-influence. Isabella listened to his advice, and after much hesitation
-pitched on Ximenes to be his successor. Aware of his feelings, she kept
-her intentions secret until letters confirmatory of the appointment
-arrived from the Pope. These without preface she put into his hands.
-Reading the address, “To our venerable brother Ximenes, Archbishop elect
-of Toledo,” “Madam,” he said, “these letters are not for me;” and he
-rose abruptly and quitted the royal presence. Six months elapsed before
-he was induced to accept the proffered dignity, in virtue of a direct
-injunction from the Pope. He was consecrated October 11, 1495.
-
-Rank and wealth made no difference in the manners of the ascetic monk.
-He continued to live upon the coarsest fare, to wear the humble dress of
-his order, to sleep on the ground, or on a bed as hard, and to travel on
-an ass, or on foot. And Pope Alexander VI. thought it necessary to send
-a letter to him, with the very unusual exhortation to cultivate the
-pomps and vanities of the world a little more, for the sake of the
-church of which he was so exalted a member. Ximenes obeyed, and probably
-became convinced of the propriety of the counsel, as he became more
-engaged in civil government. He assumed even a more gorgeous state than
-his predecessors, but he still practised his usual self-denial in
-private; he slept and fared as hardly as before, and wore a haircloth
-under his episcopal robes. He was exemplary in the discharge of his
-public duties; liberal even to an extreme in relieving the daily
-necessities of the poor, and in contributing to charitable, useful, and
-religious undertakings; diligent in promoting the welfare of the people
-to the full extent of his almost regal power, by repressing extortion
-and peculation, whether in courts of law, or the collection of the
-revenue, by providing for the due administration of justice,
-ecclesiastical and civil, and by exercising a strict superintendence
-over the conduct of the parochial clergy. To the cry of the wretched his
-ears were always open; he hated oppression; and if an injured vassal
-complained against the highest noble in the land, he was ready to grant
-justice, if the matter lay within his jurisdiction, or, if not, to carry
-the complaint before the Queen. And his zeal and energy carried to a
-happy conclusion the arduous undertaking of reforming the Franciscan
-brotherhood, upon which he succeeded in enforcing a new system of
-regulations in 1499, after a most obstinate resistance.
-
-We may here mention with unmixed praise one of the Archbishop’s
-charitable undertakings. It was an institution for the education of the
-daughters of indigent nobles, on such principles, according to the words
-of our authority, as should train them to the fit discharge of their
-duties towards their families and towards society. A fund, afterwards
-increased by the Spanish monarchs, was set apart to provide them with
-marriage portions. We may here trace the original of the celebrated
-establishment of St. Cyr.
-
-His principal work was the establishment of a university at Alcala,
-where he himself received his early education. The foundation-stone was
-laid by himself in 1498; the buildings were completed, and the first
-course of lectures given, in 1508. For a model he took the university of
-Paris; he endowed it richly, and collected men distinguished for their
-learning from all parts of Europe, to fill the professorial chairs. Here
-he undertook the great work of publishing the first Polyglot Bible, the
-Complutensian, as it is called, from the Latin name of Alcala, where it
-was printed, which will exist for ages as a noble specimen of the
-Archbishop’s piety, munificence, and zeal for learning. The four first
-volumes contain the Old Testament in the Hebrew—the Septuagint version,
-with a Latin translation—the Vulgate, as corrected by St. Jerome—and the
-Chaldee Paraphrase, with a Latin translation. The fifth and sixth
-volumes contain the Greek Testament and the Vulgate. The printing of
-this great undertaking commenced in 1502, and was not completed till
-1517, shortly before the death of Ximenes, who, when the last volume was
-brought to him, is reported by his earliest biographer, after an
-ejaculation of pious thanksgiving, to have addressed the bystanders in
-these words:—“Many high and difficult undertakings I have carried on in
-the service of the State, yet, my friends, there is nothing for which I
-more deserve congratulation than for this edition of the Scriptures,
-which lays open, in a time of much need, the fountain-head of our holy
-religion, whence may be drawn a far purer strain of theology than from
-the streams which have been turned off from it.” But owing to a
-hesitation at the Court of Rome, how far the criticism of the Scriptures
-should be encouraged, the Bible was not given to the world till 1522.
-Only about 600 copies were printed. The price fixed on it was six and a
-half ducats. The epistle dedicatory to Leo X. is by Ximenes himself: the
-preface, according to Dr. Dibdin, is by another hand. The most learned
-Hebrew and Greek scholars who could be procured were employed in the
-collation of manuscripts; and it may be noted that for seven Hebrew MSS.
-the sum of 4000 golden crowns was paid. These with other treasures of
-learning, which were deposited with the University of Alcala, about the
-middle of the last century were sold to a firework-maker as lumber. The
-whole cost of the work, which was defrayed by Ximenes, is said to have
-exceeded 50,000 gold crowns.
-
-In 1498 the Archbishop was summoned to Granada by Ferdinand and
-Isabella, to deliberate on the means to be used for the conversion of
-the Moors. Inflamed by zeal, he had recourse to means which show the
-wisdom of the serpent more than the simplicity of the dove. He began
-with the priests and doctors of the law, and strove by kindness and
-attention, mixed with religious discussion, to dispose them to adopt the
-Christian faith. The priests led over the people in such flocks, that,
-in one day, the anniversary of which was observed as a festival,
-December 18, 1499, upwards of 3000 persons were baptized by aspersion in
-Granada. That the Archbishop should have believed in the sincerity of
-these wholesale conversions is not credible; he probably thought that a
-hypocritical worship of the true God was a less evil than sincere
-idolatry. The inquisition was charged with the superintendence of the
-souls of these nominal Christians, and the relapse from that faith which
-they never embraced was punished according to the mercy of that
-irresponsible tribunal. The dread and indignation produced by these
-measures led to a revolt, which was quelled, however, under the guidance
-of the Archbishop.
-
-The same desire of making Christians any how appears in the measures
-adopted on this occasion. The inhabitants of the quarter in which the
-tumult broke out were declared guilty of high treason, and offered their
-choice of death or conversion. They embraced the latter; and the other
-Granadans, to the number of 150,000, followed their example. But these
-severities drove the most resolute spirits to that last insurrection,
-related with so much interest in Washington Irving’s ‘Chronicles of
-Granada;’ which terminated in the expatriation of the remnant who abided
-in their national creed. But however unapostolic the Archbishop’s mode
-of conversion may have been, his zeal and ability in instructing and
-rendering truly Christian those who submitted to the outward forms of
-the religion is said to have been admirable.
-
-His conduct towards the unhappy natives of the West Indies was less
-exceptionable. He did his utmost not only for their conversion, but to
-protect them from the cruel exactions of the Spanish settlers.
-
-The excellent Isabella of Castile died November 26, 1504. According to
-the tenor of his beloved mistress’s will, Ximenes steadily maintained
-the claim of Ferdinand, her husband, to the regency of the kingdom
-during the minority of Charles V. After the death of the Archduke
-Philip, September 25, 1506, he renewed his exertions to determine the
-Castilians in favour of Ferdinand’s claim to the regency, in preference
-to the Emperor Maximilian, Charles V.’s paternal grandfather; being
-satisfied that, notwithstanding the ancient jealousy between Castile and
-Arragon, the former would be better governed by a prince intimately
-acquainted with its circumstances and interests than by a stranger.
-Ferdinand, who was then engaged at Naples, owed his success in this
-matter to Ximenes; and showed his gratitude by procuring for him the
-rank of Cardinal, with the title of Cardinal of Spain, together with the
-office of Grand Inquisitor.
-
-In his zeal for spreading the true faith, Ximenes had conceived a scheme
-for the conquest of the Holy Land, and indeed had nearly succeeded in
-effecting a league for that purpose between Ferdinand, Manuel of
-Portugal, and Henry VII. of England. But this hope being defeated, he
-was still anxious to employ the power of Spain against Mahometanism, and
-used his best endeavours to persuade Ferdinand to invade the coast of
-Barbary. The king’s parsimony was not to be overcome, until Ximenes
-offered a loan sufficient to equip the proposed armament, and defray its
-expenses for two months; and the capture of the town of Marsarquiver, in
-the autumn of 1505, was the immediate result. Here the Spanish arms
-remained stationary till 1509, when the Cardinal obtained permission to
-attempt the siege of Oran at his own expense, on the sole condition,
-that if he succeeded, either the patrimony of the church expended in
-this secular undertaking was to be repaid, or the domain conquered was
-to be annexed to the see of Toledo. He assumed himself the supreme
-direction of the expedition, entrusting the command of the army to Peter
-Navarre, an able, turbulent, and ambitious soldier. Everything was
-unfavourable to the Cardinal. The king was jealous of him; Navarre
-impatient of the subjection of the sword to the crozier; and other
-officers, corrupt or hostile, and encouraged by the example of their
-superiors, stirred the soldiers to mutiny. But the decision of Ximenes
-compelled obedience, and the wisdom of his measures ensured success; so
-that the surrender of Oran was the almost immediate result of his
-descent upon Africa. He would willingly have remained there to pursue
-his successes. But finding the disobedience of his lieutenant to be
-secretly encouraged by Ferdinand, he determined to return while he could
-do so with honour, leaving Navarre in the command of the troops. For
-himself or his see he reserved no part of the spoil. That which was not
-bestowed upon the soldiers, or consumed in the service, he set apart for
-the crown. Yet a fresh disagreement arose when the Cardinal, according
-to the compact, demanded payment of the advances made by the see; and
-when Ferdinand at last was compelled to acquiesce, it was in the most
-ungracious and unbecoming manner.
-
-Ferdinand died January 23, 1516. On his death-bed he appointed Ximenes
-Regent of Castile during the minority of Charles V., with expressions
-indicative of no personal regard, but bearing strong testimony to his
-unbending justice, disinterestedness, and zeal for the public welfare.
-The Cardinal’s conduct in this exalted station was consistent with the
-tenor of his past life; he was a just ruler, but his authority was
-feared and respected rather than loved. If he had one passion
-unmortified, it was ambition: he ruled with a single eye to his young
-sovereign’s interests; but he evaded that sovereign’s attempts to
-circumscribe his powers with as much success as he bore down the
-opposition of those turbulent nobles, who hoped, in the weakness of a
-minority, to find a fit opportunity for prosecuting their own
-aggrandizement, and committing with impunity acts of illegal violence.
-For when Charles V. sent some of his confidential Flemish ministers to
-be associates in the commission of regency, the Cardinal received them
-with respect, and granted them the external distinctions of office; for
-the rest they were mere puppets in his hands. Of his internal policy,
-the chief scope was to elevate the regal power, and to depress that of
-the nobles, even by throwing a greater weight into the hands of the
-unprivileged classes: the same policy as had been pursued by the wisest
-princes of the age, Ferdinand and Isabella, Henry VII. of England, and
-Louis XI. of France. The crown had been reduced to great poverty by
-lavish grants, extorted, in disturbed times, by the necessity of
-conciliating powerful noblemen, rather than granted by free-will, or out
-of real gratitude for services; and it was one of Ximenes’ first objects
-to remedy this evil, even by means which showed none of that regard to
-vested interests, which belongs to times in which the course of law is
-regular and supreme, and consequently the rights of property are rigidly
-respected. Such pensions as had been granted in Ferdinand’s reign he cut
-off at once, on the plea that the grantor could only have bestowed them
-for his own life. The crown lands alienated during the same period were
-resumed: even the Cardinal’s boldness did not venture to carry the
-inquiry farther back, from the apprehension of driving the whole body of
-the nobility into revolt.
-
-These changes, and other important measures, were not carried into
-effect without great discontent and considerable open resistance. But
-the Cardinal was strong, in the resources of his own powerful mind, in
-the general reverence of the people for the sanctity of his character,
-in his exalted rank as head of the Spanish church, and in the immense
-revenues of his see, which gave him a command of money not enjoyed by
-the crown, and enabled him to keep in his own pay a considerable body of
-troops. With these he maintained order, and repressed feuds, which the
-barons, trusting to the common weakness of a regency, hastened to decide
-by the sword; and set at defiance the enmity of the nobility at a later
-period, when more decided encroachments on the privileges of the order
-had produced a general spirit of discontent. On one occasion a
-deputation of the chief grandees of Castile required to be informed,
-under what title he presumed to exercise such high authority. The
-Cardinal showed the will of Ferdinand, and its confirmation by Charles
-V., and finding them still unsatisfied, led them to a window, from which
-he pointed out a strong military force under arms. “These,” he said,
-“are the powers which I have received from the king. With these I govern
-Castile; and with these I will govern it, until the king, your master
-and mine, takes possession of his kingdom.”
-
-One of his schemes for strengthening the crown was the erection of a
-species of militia, composed of burghers of cities; but that class was
-not sufficiently advanced in knowledge to appreciate the immense
-accession of importance which would accrue from this measure, which they
-regarded solely as a burden. It was therefore unpopular among them, as
-well as unpalatable to the barons; and was entirely dropped soon after
-the regent’s death.
-
-His foreign policy was nearly confined to the conduct of two wars: the
-one to maintain Navarre, which had been usurped by Ferdinand, against
-the legitimate monarch John d’Albret; the other, an expedition against
-the pirate Barbarossa, King of Algiers, who inflicted a signal and
-entire discomfiture on the invading army.
-
-In the administration of the kingdom Ximenes displayed the same
-inflexible love of justice, and the same economy, integrity, and order,
-as in the management of his own diocese of Toledo; and he brought the
-finances into so flourishing a state, that after discharging the crown
-debts, and placing the military establishment in a more than commonly
-efficient state, he was enabled to remit large sums of money to the
-young king in Flanders. And he had something of a title to Charles’s
-more immediate and personal gratitude, for having used with success his
-own overpowering influence to obtain the recognition of that prince as
-king of Castile during the lifetime of his insane mother, against the
-usage of the realm, although he had remonstrated with earnestness
-against pressing the indecorous and unfilial claim. All these services
-however were thrown into the shade by one thing. Ximenes hated the
-Flemish ministers whom Charles sent into Spain, and who disgraced their
-high station, and corrupted the country by open and abandoned venality.
-He never ceased to remonstrate against these abuses, and to importune
-Charles to visit his Spanish dominions; and the Flemish favourites saw
-that their own ruin was certain if the regent once gained an ascendance
-over the king’s mind. They retarded therefore the departure of the
-latter as much as possible, and succeeded in prejudicing him against his
-most sincere and judicious friend and servant. Convinced at last of the
-necessity for his presence, Charles set out for Spain, and landed in the
-province of Asturias, September 13, 1517. The Cardinal hastened towards
-the coast to meet him, but was stopped at Bos Equillos by a severe
-illness, which, as was very usual in past times, was imputed to poison.
-He wrote to the king, entreating him to dismiss the train of foreigners
-by whom he was attended, and earnestly soliciting a personal interview,
-which, from the pressure of illness, he was unable himself to seek. This
-favour was not granted, and he was vexed and harassed by a series of
-petty slights. At the point of death he received a letter of dismissal
-couched in civil but cold terms, permitting him to return to his
-diocese, and repose from his labours. Whether the Cardinal retained his
-faculties so as to be aware of this final mark of ingratitude is
-doubtful; but his end was assuredly hastened by mortification at the
-evil return made for his faithful service. He died a few hours after
-receiving the dismissal in question, November 8, 1517.
-
-Though austere in temper, Ximenes was not cruel, and in civil matters
-had great reluctance to the shedding of blood. Yet in eleven years, as
-Grand Inquisitor, he burnt at the stake 2500 persons, for the glory of
-God and the good of the sufferer’s souls. Such miserable self-delusion
-in so great and good a man ought to teach humility, as well as to
-inspire abhorrence.
-
-Our sketch has necessarily been personal rather than historical: a
-fuller account of the public life of Ximenes will be found in
-Robertson’s ‘Charles V.,’ as well as in the biographies of Flechier,
-Marsollier, and others. Barrett’s ‘Life of Ximenes’ appears to be a
-compressed translation from the Life by Flechier. We conclude with the
-short and comprehensive praise of Leibnitz, who said, that “If great men
-could be bought, Spain would have cheaply purchased such a minister by
-the sacrifice of one of her kingdoms.”
-
-[Illustration:
-
-  _Engraved by J. Thomson._
-
-  ADDISON.
-
-  _From a Picture copied by J. Thurston in the Possession of the
-    Publisher._
-
-  Under the Superintendence of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful
-    Knowledge
-
-  _London, Published by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street._
-]
-
-
-
-
-[Illustration]
-
-                                ADDISON.
-
-
-Joseph Addison, the second of the six children of Dr. Launcelot Addison
-and Jane Gulstone, was born May 1, 1672, at Milston in Wiltshire. The
-feebleness of his infancy seems to have impaired his spirit as a boy;
-for, in the General Dictionary, Dr. Birch relates, that when at school
-in the country, he was so afraid of punishment as to have absconded,
-lodging in a hollow tree in the fields, till a hue and cry restored him
-to his parents. At the Charter-House was formed that friendship between
-him and Sir Richard Steele, which led to their close alliance in a new
-kind of literary undertaking. Addison could not but feel his own
-superiority; and Spence intimates, that the one was too fond of
-displaying, and the other too servile in acknowledging it. Steele
-occasionally availed himself not only of his friend’s pen, but of his
-purse. Johnson has given currency to the story, that Addison enforced
-the repayment of 100_l._ by an execution, and the fact is said to have
-been related by Steele himself, with tears in his eyes. Hooke, the Roman
-historian, professed to have received it from Pope. The biographer
-sarcastically remarks, that the borrower probably had not much purpose
-of repayment; but the lender, who “seems to have had other notions of
-100_l._, grew impatient of delay.” Now no date is assigned to this
-anecdote; and Addison’s finances were so low during the greater part of
-his life, that he might have suffered greatly by the disappointment; nor
-does it detract from the character of a man in narrow circumstances,
-that he entertains serious notions of 100_l._
-
-In 1687 Addison was entered at Queen’s College, Oxford, where he took
-the degree of M.A., February 14, 1693. One of his early poetical
-attempts was ‘An Account of the greatest English Poets, inscribed to H.
-S.;’ initials which have been currently assigned to Dr. Henry
-Sacheverell, who is indebted, for no enviable place in history, to his
-trial and its consequences. But a college friend of Addison has left it
-on record, that the initials were the property of a gentleman bearing
-the same name, who died young, after having shown some promise in
-writing a history of the Isle of Man, and who bequeathed his papers to
-Addison, containing, among other things, the plan of a tragedy 011 the
-death of Socrates, which the legatee had some thoughts of working up
-himself. In this poem the writer tells his friend that Spenser can no
-longer charm an understanding age. Now the judgment of the present age
-disclaims this confident decision; nor would it be worth recording, but
-for Spence’s assertion, that the critic had never read the ‘Faery
-Queene,’ when he drew its character. In after life he spoke of his own
-poem as a “poor thing;” but his general level as a versifier was not
-high. The ‘Campaign’ is his masterpiece in rhyme.
-
-He was indebted to Congreve for his introduction to Montague, then
-Chancellor of the Exchequer. Johnson says, that “he was then learning
-the trade of a courtier, and subjoined Montague as a poetical name to
-those of Cowley and of Dryden.” In 1695 he wrote a poem to King William,
-with an introduction addressed to Lord Somers, who is said by Tickell to
-have sent a message to the author to desire his acquaintance.
-
-In 1699, he obtained an annual pension of 300_l._ to enable him to
-travel. He passed the first year in preparation at Blois, and then
-departed for Italy. That he was duly qualified to appreciate the
-attractions of “classic ground,”—his own phrase, sneered at for
-affectation by contemporary critics, but since sanctioned by general
-adoption,—appears by his ‘Travels,’ and by the letter from Italy to Lord
-Halifax. His ‘Dialogues on Medals’ were composed at this time. On the
-death of King William, in March, 1702, he became distressed for money by
-the stoppage of his pension. This compelled him to become tutor to a
-travelling squire. The engagement seems to have been for one year only,
-for he was at Rotterdam in June, 1703. In the ‘Gentleman’s Magazine’ for
-November, 1835, may be found three very curious, because characteristic,
-letters, from the Duke of Somerset, surnamed by his contemporaries the
-Proud, to old Jacob Tonson, forwarding a proposal to Addison to
-undertake the office of tutor to his son, then going abroad. We
-transcribe a passage from the second letter, as a sample of the proud
-Duke’s liberality. “I desire he may be more on the account of a
-companion in my son’s travels, than as a governor, and as such shall
-account him; my meaning is that neither lodging, travelling, nor diet,
-shall cost him sixpence, and over and above that, my son shall present
-him at the year’s end with a hundred guineas, as long as he is pleased
-to continue in that service to my son, by taking great care of him, by
-his personal attendance and advice, in what he finds necessary during
-his time of travelling.” It appears from the Duke’s quotation of the
-answer, in the third letter to Tonson, that Addison had “other notions”
-of this offer than the proposer entertained. “I will set down his own
-words, which are these:—‘As for the recompense that is proposed to me, I
-must confess I can by no means see my account in it,’ &c.” A hundred
-guineas and maintenance was, even in those days, a mean appointment from
-a Duke to a gentleman.
-
-Addison returned to England at the latter end of 1703. In 1704, at the
-request of Lord Godolphin, to whom he was introduced by the Earl of
-Halifax, he undertook to celebrate the victory of Blenheim, and composed
-the first portion of his poem called the ‘Campaign.’ This proved his
-introduction into office. After filling some inferior appointments, he
-became, in 1706, Under-Secretary of State. About the same time, he wrote
-the comic opera of ‘Rosamond,’ which was neglected by the public, has
-been overpraised by Johnson, and is now deservedly forgotten.
-
-Thomas Earl of Wharton was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland,
-December 4, 1708, and proceeded to his destination April 10, 1709,
-accompanied by Addison as his Secretary. Addison therefore left London
-two days before the commencement of the ‘Tatler,’ the first number of
-which came out April 12; and his own first contribution appeared May 26.
-His last was No. 267, and the work ended with No. 271, January 2,
-1710–11. In No. 93 is an article on a ‘Letter from Switzerland, with
-Remarks on Travelling,’ and a sly hint that ‘Fools ought not to be
-exported,’ in Addison’s happiest style of playful satire. The praise of
-original design clearly belongs to the projector of the ‘Tatler.’
-Tickell however was justified in saying, that Addison’s aid “did not a
-little contribute to advance its reputation;” and Steele candidly
-allows, that his coadjutor not only assisted but improved his original
-scheme. In his dedication of the comedy of the ‘Drummer,’ he says, “It
-was advanced indeed, for it was raised to a greater thing than I
-intended it; for the elegance, purity, and correctness, which appeared
-in his writings, were not so much to my purpose, as in any intelligible
-manner I could, to rally all those singularities of human life, through
-the different professions and characters in it, which obstruct any thing
-that was truly good and great.”
-
-The first No. of the ‘Spectator’ appeared March 1, 1710–11, and the
-paper was discontinued December 6, 1712; No. 555 concluded the seventh
-volume, as first collected by the publishers. The work was resumed June
-18, 1714, with No. 556, and the eighth volume closed with No. 635. Of
-the first forty-five papers of the revived ‘Spectator,’ Addison wrote
-twenty-three; more than half: he did not contribute to the last
-thirty-five. Notwithstanding the avowed purpose of exclusively treating
-general topics, Steele’s Whiggism once burst its bounds, by reprinting
-in the ‘Spectator’ a preface of Dr. Fleetwood to some sermons, for the
-purpose of attracting the Queen’s notice to it. Had the Number been
-published at the usual hour, the household might have devised means for
-its suppression, with some plausible excuse for its absence from the
-royal breakfast table; but the non-issue until twelve o’clock, the time
-fixed for that meal, left no opening for cabal, and her Majesty’s
-subjects were, for her sake, deprived of their morning’s speculation
-till that hour. In No. 10 Addison states the daily sale at three
-thousand: Johnson makes it sixteen hundred and eighty; apparently far
-below the real number. The latter number is given on calculation from
-the product of the tax; the assertion of the publisher was Addison’s
-authority; and he might, in the commencement of the work, have indulged
-in the puff oblique. No. 14, composed of Letters from the Lion—from an
-Under-Sexton—on the Masquerade—and Puppet Show, is selected by the
-annotators, as “meriting the attention of such as pretend to distinguish
-with wonderful facility between Addison’s and Steele’s papers.” It is
-wholly Steele’s. The ‘Guardian’ was published in the interval, between
-the ‘Spectator’s’ being laid down and taken up again. The first Number
-came out March 12, 1713; the last, October 1, 1713. Inattention to marks
-has sometimes subjected Addison to undeserved censure. Dr. Blair
-vindicates Tasso’s description of Sylvia against the ‘Guardian;’ but by
-a double inadvertence, he quotes No. 38 for a passage contained in 28,
-and ascribes to Addison what was written by Steele. The ‘Whig Examiner,’
-and the ‘Freeholder,’ both exclusively Addison’s, have been enabled by
-their wit to survive the usual fate of party-writings. The former is so
-much more pungent than usual with the author, and excited so much alarm
-and jealousy in Swift, that he triumphantly remarks, “it is now down
-among the dead men;” part of the burthen of a popular Tory song. The
-humour of the latter, Steele thought too gentle for such blustering
-times; and is reported to have said, that the ministry made use of a
-lute, when they should have called for a trumpet.
-
-On the demise of the other papers, Hughes formed a project of a society
-of learned men of various characters, who were to meet and carry on a
-conversation on all subjects, empowering their secretary to draw up any
-of their discourses, or publish any of their writings, under the title
-of Register. Addison, in answer, applauds the specimen, and approves the
-title; but adds, “To tell you truly, I have been so taken up with
-thoughts of that nature, for these two or three years last past, that I
-must now take some time _pour me délasser_, and lay in fuel for a future
-work. I am in a thousand troubles for poor Dick, and wish that his zeal
-for the public may not be ruinous to himself; but he has sent me word,
-that he is determined to go on, and that any advice I can give him, in
-this particular, will have no weight with him.”
-
-Tickell says respecting Cato, “He took up a design of writing a play
-upon this subject, when he was very young at the university, and even
-attempted something in it there, though not a line as it now stands. The
-work was performed by him in his travels, and retouched in England,
-without any formal design of bringing it on the stage, till his friends
-of the first quality and distinction prevailed with him to put the last
-finishing to it, at a time when they thought the doctrine of liberty
-very seasonable.” Cibber says, that in 1704 he had the pleasure of
-reading the first four acts privately with Steele, who told him they
-were written in Italy. Oldmixon in his ‘Art of Criticism,’ 1728, talks
-about Addison’s reluctance to resume the work, and his request to Hughes
-to write the fifth act. According to Pope, the first packed audience was
-made to support the ‘Distressed Mother;’ the scheme was tried again for
-Cato with triumphant effect. The love-scenes are the weakest in the
-play, and are by some supposed to have been foisted on the original
-plan, to humour the false taste of the modern stage. When the tragedy
-was shown to Pope, he advised the author to print it, without committing
-it to the theatre, as thinking it better suited to the closet than
-representation.
-
-When Lord Sunderland was sent as lord lieutenant to Ireland in 1714,
-Addison was appointed his secretary. This, as well as another step in
-his promotion, has been omitted by Johnson. In 1715 he was made a lord
-of trade. In 1716 he married the Countess Dowager of Warwick, to whom he
-had long paid his addresses. Johnson pleasantly suggests, that his
-behaviour might be not very unlike that of Sir Roger to his disdainful
-widow, and supposes that the lady might amuse herself by playing with
-his passion. Spence dates his first acquaintance with her from his
-appointment as tutor to the young earl; but as neither the time of that
-appointment is known, nor the footing on which he stood with the family,
-the first steps in this affair are left in obscurity. The result is
-better known. Mr. Tyers, in an unpublished essay on ‘Addison’s Life and
-Writings,’ says, “Holland House is a large mansion, but could not
-contain Mr. Addison, the Countess of Warwick, and one guest, peace.” He
-became possessed of this house by his marriage, and died in it. His last
-and great promotion was to the dignity of Secretary of State in 1717;
-but he was unfit for it, and gained no new laurels by it. He carried so
-much of the author into the office of the statesman, that he could not
-issue an order of mere routine without losing his time in hunting after
-unnecessary niceties of language. During his last illness he sent for
-Gay, and with a confession of having injured him, promised him a
-recompense if he recovered. He did not specify the nature of the injury;
-nor could Gay, either then or subsequently, guess at his meaning. Dr.
-Young furnished the received account of his interview with Lord Warwick
-on his death-bed; but there appears to be no ground for Johnson’s
-imputation on the young man’s morals or principles, or for supposing
-that it was a last effort on Addison’s part to reclaim him. Young
-mentions his lordship as a youth finely accomplished, without a hint of
-looseness either in opinions or conduct. Addison died June 17, 1719: his
-only child, a daughter, died at Bilton, in Warwickshire, at an advanced
-age, in 1797. Not many days before his death he commissioned Mr. Tickell
-to collect his writings; a gentleman of whom Swift said that Addison was
-a whig, but Tickell, _whigissimus_.
-
-To ascertain the claim of short periodical papers to originality of
-design, we must look to the state of newspapers at an earlier date. As
-vehicles of information they are often mentioned in plays in the time of
-James and Charles the First. Carew, in his ‘Survey of Cornwall,’ first
-published in 1602, quotes ‘Mercurius Gallo-Belgicus.’ Till the beginning
-of the eighteenth century, the periodical press had been exclusively
-political; no class of writers but divines and theoretical reasoners had
-administered to the moral wants of society: certain gentlemen,
-therefore, of liberal education, and men of the world, combined to
-furnish practical instruction in an amusing form, by fictions running
-parallel with the political newspaper. Addison announces the design “to
-bring philosophy out of closets and libraries, schools and colleges, to
-dwell in clubs and assemblies, at tea-tables and in coffee-houses.” In
-the character of his fictitious friend the clergyman, he speaks of “the
-great use this paper might be of to the public, by reprehending those
-vices which are too trivial for the chastisement of the law, and too
-fantastical for the cognizance of the pulpit.” Another object was to
-allay party-violence by promoting literary taste; in Steele’s figurative
-language, to substitute the lute for the trumpet. On this subject
-Addison says, “I am amazed that the press should be only made use of in
-this way by news-writers, and the zealots of parties; as if it were not
-more advantageous to mankind to be instructed in wisdom and virtue than
-in politics, and to be made good fathers, husbands, and sons, than
-counsellors and statesmen.”
-
-Dr. Beattie, who published an edition of Addison’s works in 1790, with a
-Life prefixed, says that he was once informed, but had forgotten on what
-authority, that Addison had collected three manuscript volumes of
-materials. He might have found this in Tickell’s Life. “It would have
-been impossible for Mr. Addison, who made little or no use of letters
-sent in by the numerous correspondents of the Spectator, to have
-executed his large share of this task in so exquisite a manner, if he
-had not ingrafted into it many pieces that had lain by him in little
-hints and minutes, which he from time to time collected, and ranged in
-order, and moulded into the form in which they now appear. Such are the
-essays upon wit, the pleasures of the imagination, the critique upon
-Milton, and some others.”
-
-The original delineation of Sir Roger de Coverley, for the management
-and keeping of which character Addison has been highly extolled, must
-unquestionably be ascribed to Steele. He drew the outlines; Addison
-principally worked up the portrait. Johnson not only takes a false view
-of the character, but in contradiction to every judgment but his own,
-represents the author as sinking under the weight of it. “The
-irregularities in Sir Roger’s conduct seem not so much the effects of a
-mind deviating from the beaten track of life, by the pressure of some
-overwhelming idea, as of habitual rusticity, and that negligence which
-solitary grandeur naturally generates. The variable weather of the mind,
-the flying vapours of incipient madness, which from time to time cloud
-reason, without eclipsing it, it requires so much nicety to exhibit,
-that Addison seems to have been deterred from prosecuting his own
-design.” This seems to be a mistake from beginning to end. Addison had
-no more design to impute incipient madness to Sir Roger, than to his
-contrast, Sir Andrew Freeport. Habitual rusticity is not the prevailing
-feature in a man who visited the metropolis every season: a main beauty
-of the picture is, that Sir Roger is always a gentleman, although an odd
-one. Hear Lord Orford on the subject. “Natural humour was the primary
-talent of Addison. His character of Sir Roger de Coverley, though
-inferior, is only inferior to Shakspeare’s Falstaff.” But however
-prejudiced or mistaken Johnson might be in this particular instance,
-when he deals in generalities, he traces the peculiar merits of
-Addison’s manner with the touch of a master. “He copies with so much
-fidelity, that he can be hardly said to invent; yet his exhibitions have
-an air so much original, that it is difficult to suppose them not merely
-the product of imagination.”
-
-An attempt has been made to compare the humour of Addison with that of
-Molière, of whom Lord Chesterfield said that no man ever had so much.
-But a parallel between an essayist and a dramatic writer will not run
-straight; the construction of the drama gives so much greater latitude
-to the display of humour, and allows of so much nearer an approach to
-extravagance, that there can be no drawn game between them, and the
-essayist will almost always be the loser.
-
-As a critic, Addison’s merit is impartially and ably set forth in the
-notes to his Life in Dr. Kippis’s edition of the ‘Biographia
-Britannica.’ On that subject Johnson is just and liberal. “Addison is
-now despised by some who perhaps would never have seen his defects, but
-by the lights which he afforded them.” By some of these arrogant
-despisers he has been blamed for deciding by taste rather than by
-principles. To this Dr. Warton, who thought him superior to Dryden as a
-critic, briefly answers, taste must decide. Addison’s style has been
-universally admired and thought a model. Lord Orford says of Addison,
-Swift, Bolingbroke, and Dr. Middleton, “Such authors fix a standard by
-their writings.” Johnson says he did not wish to be energetic; Dr.
-Warton affirms that he is so, and that often. Steele describes his
-habits of composition. “This was particular in this writer, that, when
-he had taken his resolution, or made his plan for what he designed to
-write, he would walk about a room, and dictate it into language with as
-much freedom and ease as any one could write it down, and attend to the
-coherence and grammar of what he dictated.” Pope says that he wrote with
-fluency; but if he had time to correct, did it slowly and cautiously;
-but that many of the ‘Spectators’ were written rapidly, and sent to the
-press in the instant; and he doubts whether much leisure for revisal
-would have led to improvement. “He would alter any thing to please his
-friends, before publication, but would not retouch his pieces
-afterwards; and I believe not one word in Cato, to which I made an
-objection, was suffered to stand.” The last line of Cato was Pope’s; a
-substitute for the original.
-
-We have neither room nor willingness to enter on the jealousy between
-these two eminent persons. Bowles vindicates Addison’s conduct, and
-relates the following fact to the credit of his disposition:—“Though
-attacked by Dennis as a critic, he never mentioned his name with
-asperity, and refused to give the least countenance to a pamphlet which
-Pope had written upon the occasion of Dennis’s stricture on Cato.” The
-piece here alluded to is the ‘Narrative of the Madness of John Dennis.’
-Pope strangely imputed Addison’s pious compositions to the selfish
-motive of an intention to take orders and obtain a bishopric on quitting
-administration. Johnson cites this as the only proof that Pope retained
-some malignity from their ancient rivalship: with this opinion we cannot
-quite agree.
-
-Addison’s defect of animal spirits condemned him to silence in general
-company; but his conversation, when set afloat by wine and the presence
-of confidential friends, was brilliant and delightful. Steele represents
-him as “having all the wit and nature of Terence and Catullus,
-heightened with humour more exquisite than any other man ever
-possessed.” This high flight is borne out by Pope’s less suspicious
-testimony. “Addison’s conversation had something in it more charming
-than I have found in any other man.” Tonson and Spence represent him as
-demanding to be the first name in modern wit; and with Steele as his
-echo, depreciating Dryden, whom Pope and Congreve defended against them.
-We close our account with the following summary of his character from
-Hutchinson’s ‘History of Cumberland’:—“Addison was modest and mild, a
-scholar, a gentleman, a poet, and a Christian.”
-
-
-
-
-[Illustration]
-
-                               BRAMANTE.
-
-
-The name of Bramante derives a marked distinction from its intimate
-connexion with the history of the famous church of St. Peter at Rome,
-and is further interesting in its association with the names of Michael
-Angelo, of Raphael, and of the pontiff Julius II. Bramante is justly
-noted among the _cinquecento_ architects, as a powerful co-operator in
-the great work of restoring, under certain modifications, the style of
-ancient Rome. The leader of this reformation is universally acknowledged
-to have been Brunelleschi; while Palladio is honoured as having effected
-its final and permanent establishment. Brunelleschi had evinced his
-daring and his taste in projecting the vast dome of Florence cathedral,
-the character of which, however, exhibited only a slight advance towards
-the regular architecture of antiquity; and it remained for a successor
-to emulate at once the majestic elevation of the Florentine cupola, and
-the more classic beauty of the Roman Pantheon.
-
-Brunelleschi died in 1444, a circumstance which we mention as giving
-additional interest to the fact, that, in 1444, Bramante was born. The
-family of the latter, his birth-place, and even his name, are matters of
-some obscurity; but there is reason to believe that his parentage was
-humble, and that he was born in the territory of Urbino. Whether at
-Urbino the capital of the Duchy, or at Castel Durante, at Fermignano, or
-at Monte Asdrubale, there are no means of deciding, unless we admit as
-evidence in favour of the latter place an existing medal in the Museo
-Mazzachelliano, whereon are inscribed the words “Bramantes
-Asdruvaldinus.” He is variously called Bramante Lazzari, Lazzaro
-Bramante, and is spoken of as “Donato di Urbino, cognominato Bramante.”
-
-[Illustration:
-
-  _Engraved by J. Posselwhite._
-
-  BRAMANTE.
-
-  _From a Portrait by Alessandro D’Este in the Collection of the
-    Capitol, at Rome._
-
-  Under the Superintendence of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful
-    Knowledge
-
-  _London, Published by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street._
-]
-
-He seems to have evinced, at an early age, a general feeling for poetry
-and art; and is said to have first studied painting assisted by the
-works of Fra. Bartolomeo Corradini. During a sojourn at Milan he
-obtained the friendship of the poet Gaspero Visconti, and in the
-capacity of a sonneteer and improvisatore exhibited an unusual facility
-of composition. Of his abilities as a painter in distemper and fresco,
-examples are to be seen in that city, and at other places in the
-Milanese territory. On his subsequent removal to Rome, he was employed
-to execute some paintings (which no longer exist) in the church of S.
-Giovanni Laterano.
-
-Architecture, however, soon claimed Bramante as more particularly her
-own, and he manifested a zealous ardour in the study of classic
-examples. It does not appear that he published any volumes on the
-subject, but we are credibly informed that he industriously measured the
-ancient remains of Rome, and of Adrian’s villa at Tivoli.
-
-The Cardinal Caraffa was among the first to form an estimate of his
-merits, and commissioned him to rebuild the cloisters of the Monastery
-della Pace at Rome. He also superintended the execution of the
-Trastevere Fountain for Pope Alexander VI., and erected great part of
-the palace della Cancellaria. The church of S. Lorenzo in Damaso, and
-the circular chapel in the cloister of S. Pietro in Montorio (where St.
-Peter is said to have been crucified) are also of Bramante’s
-architecture; nor should we omit to mention him as the designer of the
-palace in the Piazza di Scossacavalli, which for some time belonged to
-the English crown, and was presented by Henry VIII. to the Campeggi.
-Bramante’s designs for other palaces and churches were numerous. Several
-buildings in Milan are attributed to him, as well as an imperial palace
-for the Duke of Urbino (never finished), and the church dell’ Incoronata
-at Lodi.
-
-The established fame of Bramante now recommended him to Pope Julius II.,
-who had formed the idea of uniting the old Vatican palace with the
-Belvedere by means of a magnificent court, an engraving of which, as it
-was first executed by Bramante, is to be seen in the public library
-erected by the Corsini princes. The division of the court by the Vatican
-library, subsequently erected by Sixtus V., and other additions and
-alterations, have utterly destroyed the effect of Bramante’s design,
-though the principal architectural features still remain. Among these,
-in a lofty central pile of building, is a vast semicircular headed
-niche, the archivolt of which springs from the cornices of two lofty
-wing compartments, appearing, it must be confessed, more like the
-section of an interior, than an external elevation. It is as if the
-opposite walls in the length of a cathedral choir were taken away, the
-grand altar recess being alone suffered to remain; and it may be
-regarded as a very curious instance of a passion for the spherical
-vault, which thus prompted Bramante to turn it, as it were, inside out;
-and to take from the cellæ of the temples of Peace, and of Venus and
-Rome, the idea of the garden alcove.
-
-Bramante was now high in favour with Julius II.; and, having invented an
-ingenious machine for stamping the leaden seals attached to the papal
-bulls, was rewarded with the office “_del Piombo_.” He attended the Pope
-to Bologna, when that city was united to the states pontifical in 1504,
-and served his Holiness in the capacity of military engineer.
-
-Our account of Bramante now resolves itself into the history of St.
-Peter’s church, the antecedent progress of which may be thus briefly
-stated:—
-
-St. Peter being buried within the site of Nero’s Circus, Constantine
-erected (A.D. 324) a magnificent church over the apostle’s remains.
-During the lapse of eleven centuries, it fell into decay, and in the
-pontificate of Nicholas V. (1450) a new building was commenced from
-designs by Alberti. On the death of Nicholas, the works were
-discontinued till Paul II. caused them again to proceed: but it must be
-understood that the structure then in course of erection was in a great
-measure mixed up with Constantine’s church, many remaining parts of
-which were to be incorporated in the new building.
-
-The ascent of Julius II. to the papal throne was at that period, when
-the revived taste for classical architecture suddenly pervaded Italy,
-and left him assured of general support in his boldly formed resolution
-of demolishing the old building with all its subsequent amendments, and
-of erecting an entirely new structure, that should stand paramount in
-the modern world for vastness and splendour. It has been said, that the
-idea of the new church originated in a suggestion by San Gallo, that the
-gorgeous sepulchral monument which Julius, in honour of himself, had
-commissioned Michael Angelo to execute, should be placed in a church of
-corresponding grandeur, purposely built to receive it. Be this as it
-may, the new St. Peter’s was resolved on: designs were sent in by
-various architects, and several were submitted by Bramante, who proved,
-as might be expected, the successful competitor. His ideas were as
-colossal as the ambition of his patron:—“I will raise,” said the
-architect, “the Pantheon on the Temple of Peace!”
-
-Bramante’s plan was a Latin cross. The area of intersection was to be
-surrounded with massive piers, having columns between as in the
-Pantheon; and the noble dome of the latter edifice, in the august
-novelty of its exalted position, was to be freely imitated. A medal
-struck in honour of Bramante shows the façade of his design, having two
-_campaniles_, or towers, flanking a central compartment. In examining
-the practicability of his plans, he failed not to inspect the quarries
-of Tivoli, and was confirmed by the discovery that they would yield him
-blocks of nine feet in diameter. Into the pecuniary means of
-construction he did not however so closely examine. The contributions of
-a world would have been necessary to the full realization of his plans,
-which were considerably reduced by succeeding architects.
-
-The first stone of the new edifice was laid on the 18th of April, 1506;
-and the works proceeded with a rapidity more pleasing perhaps to the
-impatient spirit of Julius, than beneficial to the stability of so vast
-an edifice. Either to this haste on the part of the pontiff, or to a
-want of constructive care on his own part, must be attributed the
-failures which occurred to several of Bramante’s buildings; and it is
-said, that, in the fear of Michael Angelo’s superior scrutiny, he
-industriously sought to compass the removal of that great artist from
-Rome.
-
-His jealousy had been excited by the high admiration with which Julius
-regarded Michael Angelo’s talent; and he strove to arrest the progress
-of the intended monument, by stimulating in the pope a superstitious
-dread of constructing his own tomb. He was, perhaps, not more envious of
-Michael Angelo as a rival, than of the art of sculpture as compared with
-his own; and it may have been with the view of diverting the pope’s mind
-from the engrossing subject of the tomb, that he suggested that Michael
-Angelo should be employed in painting the vault of the Sistine Chapel.
-Julius, adopting the suggestion, ordered Bramante to construct a
-scaffold for the painter’s purpose; but it was no sooner done than
-Michael Angelo rejected it as totally unfit, and invented one himself.
-If the opposition of these celebrated men had been hitherto restrained
-within bounds, it now assumed a more decided character of hostility.
-Half the painting of the chapel being completed, Bramante was desirous
-that Raphael, then rising into eminence, should finish the half
-remaining; expecting, no doubt, that the latter, being more exclusively
-a painter, would exhibit a superiority over one who had chiefly
-practised as a sculptor. At this, the indignation of Michael Angelo was
-naturally fired, and he arraigned at once, in the presence of the Pope,
-not only the architectural defects of Bramante’s buildings, but likewise
-the moral faults of his character. At a former period, however, he had
-paid full tribute to his rival’s exalted taste, saying, in his letter to
-a friend, “It cannot be denied that Bramante is superior in architecture
-to all others since the time of the ancients.”
-
-Among the more pleasing passages of Bramante’s life, is that which
-relates to his friendship for the inimitable Raphael, who was his
-fellow-countryman, and, as it is reported, his relation. Certain it is
-that Raphael was his pupil in architecture, and that he entertained an
-affectionate regard for his master, whose portrait he introduced into
-his celebrated picture of the “School of Athens,” where Bramante is
-represented as describing with his compasses a geometrical figure to
-several youths who surround him.
-
-Bramante died in 1514, one year after his patron Julius II., and eight
-years after the commencement of the new St. Peter’s. At this period the
-great arches over the central piers were turned, and the principal
-chapel opposite the entrance erected. Subsequent additions, however, to
-his portion of the building, and material deviations from his original
-design, have left us to regard the church in its complete state as
-deriving little else than its general idea from the genius of its first
-architect. His remains were deposited in it with great pomp, being
-attended by the Papal court, and the leading professors of art. He is
-described as lively and agreeable in manner, and, notwithstanding his
-quarrels with Michael Angelo, of a liberal and generous disposition. He
-seems rather to have been distinguished by a bold and fertile fancy,
-than by any great attainments in the mechanical department of his
-profession; and to form a just estimate of his designs, they should be
-considered with reference to the progressive state of architectural
-taste, and cautiously adopted as examples for imitation.
-
-The best authorities to be consulted on this subject are Vasari,
-Tiraboschi, Milizia, and Condivi.
-
-[Illustration: [Great niche of the Belvedere.]]
-
-[Illustration:
-
-  _Engraved by E. Scriven._
-
-  MADAME DE STAEL.
-
-  _From the original Picture by F. Gerard in the possession of M. de
-    Broglie, at Paris._
-
-  Under the Superintendence of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful
-    Knowledge
-
-  _London, Published by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street._
-]
-
-
-
-
-[Illustration]
-
-                            MADAME DE STAEL.
-
-
-Anne Louise Germaine Necker, the celebrated daughter of a celebrated
-father, was born at Paris, April 22, 1766. In her earliest years she
-manifested uncommon vivacity of perception and depth of feeling; and at
-the age of eleven, her sprightliness, her self-possession, and the eager
-and intelligent interest which she took in all the subjects of
-conversation, rendered her the pet and the wonder of the brilliant
-circle which frequented her father’s house. Necker himself, though he
-delighted in promoting the developement of his daughter’s talents, was a
-watchful critic of her faults: “I owe,” she said, “to my father’s
-penetration, the frankness of my disposition, and the simplicity of my
-mind. He exposed every sort of affectation; and, in his company, I
-formed the habit of thinking that my heart lay open to view.” She repaid
-his care and tenderness by a passionate and devoted affection, such as
-scarcely seems to belong to the relationship which existed between them.
-Throughout his life, the desire to minister to his pleasure was her
-first object, and his death threw a permanent shade of melancholy over
-her spirit.
-
-Madlle. Necker paid the usual price of mental precocity, in its
-debilitating effects upon her bodily constitution. At the age of
-fourteen, serious apprehensions were entertained for her life; and she
-was sent to St. Ouen, in the neighbourhood of Paris, for the benefit of
-country air, with orders to abstain from every species of severe study.
-Thither her father repaired at every interval of leisure; and being
-withdrawn from the strict line of behaviour prescribed by her mother,
-who, having done much herself by dint of study, thought that no
-accomplishments graces could be worth possessing which were not the
-fruit of study, she passed her time in the unrestrained enjoyment of M.
-Necker’s society, in the indulgence of her brilliant imagination, and
-the spontaneous cultivation of her powerful mind. This course of life
-was more favourable to the developement of that poetical, ardent, and
-enthusiastic temper, which was the source of so much enjoyment, and so
-much distinction, than to the habits of self-control without which such
-a temper is almost too dangerous to be called a blessing. Her character
-at this period of life is thus described by her relation and biographer,
-Mad. Necker de Saussure: “We may figure to ourselves Mad. de Stael, in
-her early youth, entering with confidence upon a life, which to her
-promised nothing but happiness. Too benevolent to expect hatred from
-others, too fond of talent in others to anticipate the envy of her own,
-she loved to exalt genius, enthusiasm, and inspiration, and was herself
-an example of their power. The love of glory, and of liberty, the
-inherent beauty of virtue, the pleasures of affection, each in turn
-afforded subjects for her eloquence. Not that she was always in the
-clouds: she never lost presence of mind, nor was she run away with by
-enthusiasm.” In later life her good taste led her to abstain from this
-lofty vein of conversation, especially when it was forced upon her: “I
-tramp in the mire with wooden shoes, whenever they would force me to
-live always in the clouds.”
-
-Endowed with such qualities, the _effect_ which Madlle. Necker produced
-upon her introduction to society was as brilliant as her friends could
-desire, though the effervescence of imagination and youthful spirits
-sometimes led her to commit breaches of etiquette, which might have been
-fatal to the success of a less accomplished debutant. At the age of
-twenty, in 1786, she married the Baron de Stael Holstein, ambassador of
-Sweden at the court of France. He was much the elder, and the matter
-seems to have been arranged by her parents, with her acquiescence
-indeed, but without her heart being at all interested in the connexion.
-And we trace the effect of her ruling passion, love of her father, in
-the Baron de Stael’s engagement not to take her to reside in Sweden,
-without her free consent. During a large portion of their married life
-they were separated from each other by the baron’s absences from France;
-but when age and sickness weighed him down, she hastened to comfort him,
-and his last hours (in 1802) were soothed by her presence and watchful
-care. By this marriage Mad. de Stael had four children, of whom only a
-son and a daughter survived her: the latter became the wife of the Duc
-de Broglie; the former inherited his father’s title, and has won for
-himself a creditable place in the literature of the age.
-
-At the beginning of the revolution, Mad. de Stael watched the new
-prospects opening 011 her country with joyful anticipation: but she was
-shocked and disgusted by the ferocious excesses which ensued. Her love
-of liberty was too sincere to let her justify the policy, or join the
-party of the court, but, with an admirable courage, she used the
-powerful influence of her talents and her connexions to save as many as
-possible of the victims of that frenzied time. She arranged a plan for
-the escape of the royal family from the Tuileries; and after the death
-of Louis XVI., she had the boldness (for so it must be called) to
-publish her ‘Défense de la Reine.’ It needed all the author’s tact and
-ingenuity, as well as eloquence, so to plead the queen’s cause, as, on
-the one hand, not to compromise the dignity of her innocence, and, on
-the other, not to aggravate the rage of those who clamoured for her
-destruction.
-
-Having passed safely through the Reign of Terror, Mad. de Stael hailed
-the establishment of the Directory in 1795, as the commencement of a
-settled government. Through life she devoted a large portion of her
-attention to politics, which she designated as comprehending within
-their sphere, morality, religion, and literature; and at this period
-especially, while her fame in literature was not yet established, and
-the ardent enthusiasm of her temper was unchecked by misfortune, she not
-only took an eager interest in the course of affairs, but exerted her
-powers to gain some influence in the direction of them. Her brilliant
-conversation drew around her the ablest and most accomplished men of the
-French capital; and in Paris, where the public opinion of France is
-compressed into a narrow space, wit or beauty have always had an
-influence unknown to the more sedate nations of the north. To this
-period of her life belong the treatises,—more interesting as specimens
-of her genius, than important for the truth of her theories—‘De
-l’Influence des Passions sur le Bonheur des Individus et des Nations,’
-published in 1796, of which only the first part, relating to
-individuals, was completed; and ‘De la Littérature considerée dans ses
-Rapports avec les Institutions Sociales,’ published in 1800: subjects,
-it has been truly said, which demand the observation and study of a
-whole life. It is not on these, therefore, that her fame is based. But
-the latter has the great merit, according to the testimony of Sir James
-Mackintosh, of being the first attempt to treat the philosophy of
-literary history upon a bold and comprehensive scale.
-
-But she could not aspire to “direct the storm,” without running some
-danger of being caught in it; and it is probable, as indeed she herself
-admits, that if she had foreseen the troubles which political influence
-was to bring upon her, she would have been well pleased to resign all
-pretension to it. At the end of 1799, Bonaparte rose to power on the
-ruin of the Directory. That remarkable man inspired Mad. de Stael from
-the first with an indescribable fear and dislike, which she has
-expressed throughout her very interesting work, entitled ‘Dix Années
-d’Exil;’ and as she saw at once the danger to which the cause of
-rational liberty was exposed by his ambition, and feared not to express
-her sentiments, her house became the focus of discontent. Benjamin
-Constant, then one of her intimate associates, having prepared and
-communicated to her a speech to expose the dawning tyranny of the First
-Consul, warned her that, if spoken, it would necessarily be followed by
-the desertion of the brilliant society which she loved, and by which she
-was surrounded. She replied, “We must do as we think right.” It was
-accordingly pronounced on the following day, on the evening of which her
-favourite circle was to assemble at her own house. Before six o’clock
-she received ten notes of excuse. “The first and second I bore well
-enough, but as one note came after another, they began to disturb me. I
-appealed in vain to my conscience, which had bidden me resign the
-pleasures which depended on Bonaparte’s favour: so many good sort of
-persons blamed me, that I could not hold fast enough by my own view of
-the question.” And she says just before, with her usual candour, “If I
-had foreseen what I have suffered, dating from that day, I should not
-have been resolute enough to decline M. Constant’s offer to abstain from
-coming forward, for the sake of not compromising me.” The speech was
-followed by an intimation from Fouché, that Mad. de Stael’s retirement
-from Paris for a short time would be expedient.
-
-In the spring of 1800, Bonaparte’s absence upon the campaign of Marengo,
-and the publication of her work on literature, brought Mad. de Stael
-again into fashion. From that time until 1802, she remained undisturbed,
-and divided her time chiefly between Paris, and her father’s residence
-at Coppet, on the Lake of Geneva. In the latter year (in which she
-published ‘Delphine’) her intimacy with Bernadotte caused the First
-Consul to regard her with suspicion, though the dread of being banished
-from the delights of Parisian society had taught her prudence. “They
-pretend,” he said, “that she neither talks politics, nor mentions me;
-but I know not how it happens, that people seem to like me less after
-visiting her.” Prudence, or the warning of her friends, detained Mad. de
-Stael at Coppet during the winter of 1802–3: but when war broke out, and
-she thought that Bonaparte’s attention was fully occupied by the
-proposed descent upon England, she could not resist the thirst of
-conversation which always drew her to Paris. She did not venture to
-enter the city; but she had not been long in its neighbourhood, when she
-was terribly disconcerted by a peremptory order not to appear within
-forty leagues of the metropolis. She candidly avows that “la
-conversation Française n’existe qu’à Paris, et la conversation a été,
-depuis mon enfance mon plus grand plaisir.” The rest of France,
-therefore, had no attraction for her, and she determined to visit
-Germany. Weimar was her first place of abode, where she became
-acquainted with Goethe, Wieland, and Schiller, and, under their
-auspices, commenced her study of the German language and literature. In
-1804, she proceeded to Berlin; but she was suddenly recalled to
-Switzerland by the illness and death of M. Necker.
-
-To this most painful loss Mad. Necker de Saussure attributes a deep and
-beneficial influence on her friend’s character. It inspired a melancholy
-which perhaps never was entirely dissipated, it raised her thoughts to a
-more exalted strain of meditation, and gave vigour and consistency to
-those reverential feelings, which before were perhaps hardly definite
-enough to be termed religion. At this time she composed her account of
-the private life of M. Necker, of which B. Constant has said, that no
-other of her works conveys so good a notion of the author. Shortly after
-she visited Italy for the first time. The grand and solemn remains of
-antiquity harmonized with the melancholy of her mind; and in this
-journey was developed a love of art, and, in a less degree, a taste for
-scenery, of which up to this time she seems to have been strangely
-deficient. The fruit of her travels appeared in ‘Corinne,’ written after
-her return to Coppet in 1805, and published at Paris early in 1807,
-which raised her to the first class of living writers. Mad. Necker de
-Saussure says, in the strain of high panegyric, “Il n’eut qu’une voix,
-qu’un cri d’admiration dans l’Europe lettrée; et ce phénomène fut
-partout un événement;” and Sir James Mackintosh, who read it in India,
-in a translation, says, “I swallow Corinne slowly, that I may taste
-every drop. I prolong my enjoyment, and really dread the termination.”
-Dictated by the same leading idea as ‘Delphine,’ but far superior in
-depth and truth of sentiment, as well as eloquence, and genuine poetic
-ardour, it was also free from the moral objections to the former novel.
-Each heroine, according to the lively author first quoted, is a
-transcript from the author herself. “‘Corinne’ is the ideal of Mad. de
-Stael; ‘Delphine’ is her very self in youth.” A similar idea occurred to
-Mackintosh,—“In the character of ‘Corinne,’ Mad. de Stael draws an
-imaginary self—what she is, what she had the power of being, and what
-she can easily imagine that she might have become. Purity, which her
-sentiments and principles teach her to love; talents and
-accomplishments, which her energetic genius might easily have acquired;
-uncommon scenes, and incidents fitted for her extraordinary mind; and
-even beauty, which her fancy contemplates so constantly, that she can
-scarcely suppose it to be foreign to herself, and which, in the
-enthusiasm of invention, she bestows on this adorned as well as improved
-self,—these seem to be the materials out of which she has formed
-‘Corinne,’ and the mode in which she reconciled it to her knowledge of
-her own character.... The grand defect is the want of repose—too much,
-and too ingenious reflection—too uniform an ardour of feeling. The
-understanding is fatigued, the heart ceases to feel.”
-
-Before the publication of ‘Corinne.’ Mad. de Stael had ventured into the
-neighbourhood of Paris. The book contained nothing hostile to Napoleon;
-but the new wreath of fame which the author had woven for herself
-revived his spleen, and she soon received a peremptory order to quit
-France. This was a bitter mortification. We have mentioned her ruling
-love of conversation: and to her Paris was the world; beyond its limits
-life was vegetation. “Give me the Rue du Bac,” she said to those who
-extolled the Lake of Geneva; “I would prefer living in Paris on a fourth
-story, with a hundred louis a year.” The chief studies of her exile were
-German literature and metaphysics. In the autumn of 1807 she visited
-Vienna, where she spent a year in tranquil enjoyment, soothed by the
-respect and admiration, and gratified by the polished manners and
-conversation of the exalted circles in which she moved, and undisturbed
-by the petty tyranny which, in her stolen visits to France, always hung
-over her head. In 1808 she returned to Coppet, to arrange the materials
-for her great work on Germany. Having devoted nearly two years to this
-task, she went to France in the summer of 1810, the decree of exile
-being so far relaxed, that she was permitted, as before, to reside forty
-leagues from the capital. Her principal object was to superintend the
-printing of her work, which was to be published at Paris. After passing
-safely, though with many alterations, through the censorship, the last
-proof was corrected, September 23. Scarcely was this done, and 10,000
-copies struck off, when the whole impression was seized and destroyed.
-Mad. de Stael fortunately was enabled, by timely warning, to secrete the
-manuscript. This blow was accompanied by an order to quit France without
-delay. America, which she had expressed a desire to visit, and Coppet,
-were the only places offered to her choice: an attempt to reach England,
-which was her secret wish, would have been followed by immediate arrest.
-She chose to return to her paternal home. There the Emperor’s
-persecution, and her hatred of him, reached their height; and though not
-to be ranked with the graver offences of tyranny, his treatment of her
-was of a most irritating character, and unbecoming any but a low-minded
-despot. It was intimated that she had better confine her excursions to a
-circle of two leagues; her motions were watched, even within her own
-house; to be regarded as her friend was equivalent to a sentence of
-disgrace or dismissal, to any person dependent on the government; her
-sons were forbidden to enter their native country; M. Schlegel, their
-domestic tutor, was ordered to quit Coppet; and worst of all, her two
-dearest friends, M. de Montmorency and Mad. Recamier, were banished
-France for having presumed to visit her. These, and more trifling
-delinquencies are set forth with most stinging sarcasm, in her ‘Ten
-Years of Exile.’
-
-Harassed beyond endurance, she resolved to make an attempt to escape
-from these never-ending vexations. But whither to go? She could not
-obtain permission to reside elsewhere; and if Napoleon demanded her, no
-continental power, except Russia, could give her an asylum. To obtain a
-conveyance to England was impossible, except from some port to the north
-of Hamburg; and to reach that distant region, it was necessary to
-traverse the whole of Europe, in constant danger of being intercepted
-and detained. After eight months of irresolution, she found courage and
-opportunity to make the attempt; and quitting Coppet secretly, she
-reached Berne in safety, obtained a passport for Vienna, and hastily
-traversing Switzerland and the Tyrol, arrived at the Austrian capital,
-June 6, 1812. But this was neither a safe nor pleasant resting-place.
-The Emperor was in attendance on his son-in-law at Dresden; and the
-Austrian police thought fit to pay their court to Napoleon, by following
-up the example of annoyance which he had set. Mad. de Stael, therefore,
-hastened on her route to Russia, through Moravia and Gallicia, honoured
-all the way by the especial attention of the police, on whose happy
-combination of “French machiavelism and German clumsiness,” she has
-taken ample revenge in her ‘Ten Years of Exile.’ She crossed the Russian
-frontier, July 14, and in the joy of having escaped at last from the
-wide-spread power of Napoleon, she sees and describes every thing in
-Russia with an exuberance of admiration, which the position of the
-country at that moment, and the kindness which the writer experienced,
-may well excuse. The French armies had already crossed the Vistula, and
-the direct route to St. Petersburg being interrupted, she was obliged to
-make a circuit by Moscow. After a hasty survey of the wonders of that
-city, she continued her route to St. Petersburg, where she was received
-with distinction by the Emperor and his consort. But England was still
-the object of her desires, and towards the end of September, she quitted
-the metropolis of Russia for Stockholm. There, during a winter-residence
-of eight months, she composed the journal of her travels, to which we
-have so often referred; and in the following summer she arrived in
-London.
-
-She was received in the highest circles of our metropolis with an
-enthusiastic admiration, which no doubt was rendered in part to the
-avowed enemy of Napoleon, as well as to the woman of genius. Sir James
-Mackintosh, in his journal, gives a lively description of the manner in
-which she was _fêted_. “On my return I found the whole fashionable and
-literary world occupied with Mad. de Stael—the most celebrated woman of
-this, or perhaps of any age.... She treats me as the person whom she
-most delights to honour. I am generally ordered with her to dinner, as
-one orders beans and bacon: I have in consequence dined with her at the
-houses of almost all the cabinet ministers. She is one of the few
-persons who surpass expectation; she has every sort of talent, and would
-be universally popular, if in society she were to confine herself to her
-inferior talents—pleasantry, anecdote, and literature, which are so much
-more suited to conversation than her eloquence and genius.” A very
-characteristic observation was made by the late Lord Dudley—“Mad. de
-Stael was not a good neighbour; there could be no slumbering near her,
-she would instantly detect you.”
-
-The publication of her long-expected work on Germany maintained the
-interest which Mad. de Stael had excited, during the period of her
-residence in England. It is comprised in four parts,—on the aspect and
-manners of Germany,—on literature and the arts, as there existing,—on
-philosophy and morals,—and on religion and enthusiasm. For an analysis
-of it we may best refer to the elaborate criticism of Mackintosh, in the
-Edinburgh Review, No. XLIII, who gives it the high praise of “explaining
-the most abstruse metaphysical theories of Germany precisely, yet
-perspicuously and agreeably; and combining the eloquence which inspires
-exalted sentiments of virtue, with the enviable talent of gently
-indicating the defects of men and manners by the skilfully softened
-touches of a polite and merciful pleasantry:” and of being “unequalled
-for variety of knowledge, flexibility of power, elevation of view, and
-comprehension of mind, among the works of women, and in the union of the
-graces of society and literature with the genius of philosophy, not
-surpassed by many among men.”
-
-After the restoration of the Bourbons, Mad. de Stael returned to France.
-She stood high in Louis XVIII.’s favour, who was well qualified to enjoy
-and appreciate her powers of conversation; and he gave a substantial
-token of his regard by the repayment of two millions of francs, which
-the treasury was indebted to her father’s estate. At the return of
-Napoleon, she fled precipitately to Coppet. She was too generous to
-countenance the gross abuse lavished on the fallen idol; and some sharp
-repartees, at the expense of the time-servers of the day, seem to have
-inspired Napoleon with a hope that he might work on her vanity to enlist
-her in his service. He sent a message, that he had need of her to
-inspire the French with constitutional notions: she replied, “He has
-done for twelve years without either me or a constitution, and now he
-loves one about as little as the other.”
-
-Concerning the last three years of her life, our information is very
-scanty. She had contracted a second marriage, with M. Rocca, a young
-officer, who, after serving with distinction in the French army in
-Spain, had retired, grievously wounded, to Geneva, his native place. For
-an account and apology for this much-censured and injudicious connexion,
-the date of which we have not found specified, but which should seem to
-have been previous to her flight to Coppet, since Rocca accompanied her
-on the occasion, we must refer to Mad. Necker de Saussure. It appears by
-her statement (and this is a material consideration in estimating the
-extent of the lady’s weakness), that though she must have been more than
-forty, and the gentleman was twenty years younger, she had inspired
-Rocca with a devoted and romantic passion. “Je l’aimerai tellement,” he
-said to one of his friends, “qu’elle finira par m’épouser,” and he kept
-his word. A less distinguished woman might have contracted a marriage in
-which the disparity of years was greater, at a slight expense of
-wondering and ridicule; but probably Mad. de Stael felt that the eyes of
-the world were upon her, and that any weakness would be eagerly seized
-by her enemies; and, perhaps, had a natural dislike to resign a name
-which she had rendered illustrious. She judged ill: the secrecy was the
-worst part of the affair. The union, though generally believed to exist,
-was not avowed until the opening of her will, which authorised her
-children to make her marriage known, and acknowledged one son, who was
-the fruit of it. The decline of M. Rocca’s health, which never recovered
-the effect of his wounds, induced her to take a second journey to Italy
-in 1816. At that time, her own constitution was visibly giving way. She
-became seriously ill after her return to France, and died, July 14,
-1817, the anniversary of two remarkable days of her life. These were,
-the commencement of the French revolution, and the day on which, by
-entering Russia, she finally escaped from Napoleon. M. Rocca survived
-her only half a year. He died in Provence, January 29, 1818.
-
-Mad. de Stael’s last great work, which was published after her death, is
-entitled ‘Considérations sur les principaux Événements de la Révolution
-Française,’ a book, says Mackintosh, “possessing the highest interest as
-the last dying bequest of the most brilliant writer that has appeared in
-our days, the greatest writer, of a woman, that any age or country has
-produced.” That it was left unfinished is the less to be regretted,
-because it is not a regular history of the revolution, but rather a
-collection of penetrating observations and curious details, recorded in
-the true spirit of historic impartiality, and therefore a most valuable
-treasure to the future historian. The scope of the book, in accordance
-with her warm admiration through life of the English constitution, is to
-show that France requires a free government and a limited monarchy. The
-catalogue of her works is closed by the Œuvres Inédites published in
-1820, of which the principal is ‘Ten Years of Exile.’ They are collected
-in an edition of eighteen volumes 8vo., published at Paris, in 1819–20,
-to which the ‘Notice sur le Caractère et les Ecrits de Mad. de Stael,’
-by Mad. Necker de Saussure, is prefixed.
-
-The leading feature of Mad. de Stael’s private character was her
-inexhaustible kindness of temper; it cost her no trouble to forgive
-injuries. There seems not to have been a creature on earth whom she
-hated, except Napoleon. “Her friendships were ardent and remarkably
-constant; and yet she had a habit of analysing the characters, even of
-those to whom she was most attached, with the most unsparing sagacity,
-and of drawing out the detail and theory of their faults and
-peculiarities, with the most searching and unrelenting rigour; and this
-she did to their faces, and in spite of their most earnest
-remonstrances. ‘It is impossible for me to do otherwise,’ she would say;
-‘if I were on my way to the scaffold, I should be dissecting the
-characters of the friends who were to suffer with me upon it.’” Though
-the excitement of mixed society was necessary to her happiness, her
-conversation in a tête à tête with her intimate friends is said to have
-been more delightful than her most brilliant efforts in public. She was
-proud of her powers, and loved to display and talk of them: but her
-vanity was divested of offensiveness by her candour and ever-present
-consideration of others. Of her errors we would speak with forbearance;
-but it is due to truth to say that there were passages in her life which
-exposed her to serious and well-founded censure. As a daughter and
-mother she displayed sedulous devotion, and the warmest affection.
-Though never destitute of devotional feeling, her notions of religion in
-youth seem to have been very vague and inefficient. But misfortune drove
-her sensitive and affectionate temper to seek some stay, which she found
-nothing on earth could furnish; and in later years, her religion, if not
-deeply learned, was deeply felt. Of this, the latter portion of Mad.
-Necker de Saussure’s work will satisfy the candid reader. And though her
-testimony to the truth and value of religion was for the most part
-indirect, we may reasonably believe that it was not ineffective. “Placed
-in many respects in the highest situation to which humanity could
-aspire, possessed unquestionably of the highest powers of reasoning,
-emancipated in a singular degree from prejudices, and entering with the
-keenest relish into all the feelings that seemed to suffice for the
-happiness and occupation of philosophers, patriots, and lovers, she has
-still testified that without religion there is nothing stable, sublime
-or satisfying; and that it alone completes and consummates all to which
-reason and affection can aspire. A genius like hers, and so directed,
-is, as her biographer has well remarked, the only missionary that can
-work any permanent effect upon the upper classes of society in modern
-times—upon the vain, the learned, the scornful and argumentative, ‘who
-stone the Prophets, while they affect to offer incense to the Muses.’”
-(_Ed. Review, No. LXXI._)
-
-
-
-
-[Illustration]
-
-                               PALLADIO.
-
-
-Palladio is distinguished among the renowned professors of his age as
-the chief modifier of the revived style of Roman architecture. The
-celebrity however which attaches to his name, though just in regard to
-its extent, is not always correctly appreciated: inasmuch as a bigoted
-admiration for his precepts and designs, on the ground of their
-intrinsic excellence, has too frequently supplanted that more sober
-estimate, which results from a consideration of the circumstances under
-which those precepts and examples were given to the world. Neither have
-succeeding ages been sufficiently discriminating in respect to the
-predecessors and contemporaries of Palladio, several of whom either
-effected or assisted in effecting much, of which the credit has been
-given by the world at large too exclusively to him.
-
-Our less informed readers should therefore be apprised that, for more
-than a century before the time of Palladio, the ancient Roman style of
-architecture had been in progress of revival. Brunelleschi, who died in
-1444, was the first to exhibit, in the upper part of Florence cathedral,
-some departure from the Italian Gothic, and an approach towards the more
-classic models of old Rome. Alberti, his pupil, published a system of
-the Five Orders, and Bramante, Raphael, and San Gallo, successively
-advanced the restored style in the famous Basilica of St. Peter, then
-erecting. Sansovino, in several costly edifices at Venice, and San
-Micheli, in many at Verona, anticipated the best efforts of Palladio,
-and Vignola also distinguished himself as a practical architect and
-author. Serlio was the first to measure and describe the ancient
-examples of Rome; and in 1537, published the first part of his ‘Complete
-Treatise on Architecture.’
-
-[Illustration:
-
-  _Engraved by R. Woodman._
-
-  PALLADIO.
-
-  _From a Picture by L. Biglieschi in the Collection of the Capitol at
-    Rome._
-
-  Under the Superintendence of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful
-    Knowledge
-
-  _London, Published by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street._
-]
-
-Much therefore had been already done to facilitate the operations of a
-succeeding candidate for architectural distinction. Materials had been
-amassed, and it only remained for a comprehensive genius to analyse them
-more closely, to modify them in detail, and to enlarge, by the exercise
-of a chastened fancy, the range of their combinations. At this juncture
-the subject of our memoir commenced his professional career.
-
-Andrea Palladio was born at Vicenza, November 30, 1518. His parents are
-said to have been “in the middle rank of life;” in belief of which,
-Temanza discredits the traditionary account that he worked as a common
-mason at the Villa di Cricoli, and that the name ‘Palladio’ was bestowed
-upon him, as a kind of ennoblement, by his patron Trissino, who is said
-to have been his first architectural instructor. It is at least certain
-that, if Trissino taught him not, he assisted in stimulating his
-professional ardour. Vitruvius and Alberti appear to have been his early
-studies, and allusions are made to his proficiency in geometry and
-polite literature at the age of twenty-three. The knowledge which he
-derived from books, far from satisfying, prompted him to seek a deeper
-insight into the details and the principles of his art; and, during
-several visits to Rome, he employed himself in delineating from
-admeasurement the ancient remains of that city.
-
-Among the earliest testimonies to his growing fame, was the commission
-he received to make certain costly additions to the Basilica, or Hall of
-Justice, in his native town. The building, before alteration, seems to
-have been a dilapidated example of the Italian Gothic style. It was the
-opinion of Giulio Romano, who was also consulted on the subject, that
-whatever new work might be necessary to afford strength or supply
-convenience, the character of the old building should be strictly
-preserved; and the appropriate and unprejudiced idea of that architect
-merits quite as much praise as the realized design of his more fortunate
-competitor. But the romantic rage for the restored architecture of Pagan
-antiquity was too prevalent for the common sense of Giulio to find
-support; and the Græco-Roman arcades of Palladio were carried round the
-Gothic basilica, just as, under the same infatuation, the Corinthian
-portico of Inigo Jones was subsequently attached to the old Cathedral of
-St. Paul’s in London.
-
-Considering the particular arrangements and present mixed style of this
-noted Basilica to have been peremptorily insisted on by the public, we
-can then concede to Palladio the merit of an honourable conquest over
-difficulties. The adjoined wood-cut represents in simple outline one of
-the seven bays or compartments, which form the longitudinal elevation of
-the main building. The relative situations of the perpendiculars _a_ to
-_b_, as well as their height, were unalterable. The heights _a_ to _c_,
-and _c_ to _d_, were also fixed. If, therefore, simple arches had been
-adopted, affording the required superficies of aperture, their limited
-height must have borne a very disproportioned ratio to their extended
-breadth. If columns had been employed alone, the great width of the
-interspaces would have been offensively opposed to the laws which govern
-that department of architectural design. The application, therefore, of
-the smaller columns is here most admirable. By this measure, a central
-arch of good proportions is obtained, and a sufficient supply of light
-is secured to the interior by the lateral openings under the imposts,
-and by the circular apertures above them.
-
-[Illustration]
-
-In 1546 the building of St. Peter’s church was in active progress, when
-its third architect, San Gallo, died. Trissino, who was in Rome at the
-time, exerted himself to establish Palladio as San Gallo’s successor. It
-is well known however that Michael Angelo was appointed to that
-important post, and that he remains recorded on the scroll of fame as
-the most celebrated of the architects of St. Peter’s.
-
-In 1547 Palladio appears to have finally established himself as the
-leading architect of Northern Italy; nor was he less fortunate in
-opportunities for professional display, than competent to avail himself
-of them. Vicenza is literally a museum of Palladian design. Besides the
-Basilica, already noticed, and the Olympic Theatre, which was designed
-after ancient models, he constructed the great majority of the private
-palaces, the proprietors of which were content to impoverish their
-fortunes, that they might vie with each other in giving scope to the
-talents of their architect. The churches del Redentore and S. Giorgio,
-with other edifices public and private, evince the estimation in which
-Palladio was held at Venice; and most of the other cities in the north
-of Italy also contain examples of his genius. The country around
-exhibits a variety of his designs, among which is the Villa di Capri,
-called the Rotunda, which has been imitated by the Earl of Burlington,
-at Chiswick, and by other architects in several parts of England. It
-stands upon a hill, and commands a beautiful view on every side. This
-was the architect’s reason for adopting the four fronts and four
-porticoes.
-
-Oppressed (says Scamozzi) by the multiplicity and fatigue of his
-studies, and distressed by the loss of his sons (Leonida and Orazio), he
-sank under the influence of an epidemic, which terminated his life
-August 19, 1580, at the age of sixty-two. The Olympic Theatre had only
-been commenced on the 23rd of May preceding his death, and its
-completion was intrusted to his surviving son Silla, who, with Leonida,
-had studied architecture. The Olympic Academicians attended their
-deceased brother to the grave, and gave public testimony of their
-feelings by the recital of funeral odes, and by the observance of all
-the “pomp and circumstance” consistent with the sepulture of so eminent
-a man. He was interred in the church of the Dominicans at Vicenza.
-
-Palladio was no less remarkable for modesty than for professional
-eminence. The affability of his conduct won for him the perfect love of
-all workmen engaged in his buildings. He was small in stature, but of
-admirable presence; and united, to the most respectful bearing, a jocose
-and lively manner.
-
-Palladio’s Treatise on Architecture, in four books, published at Venice
-in 1570, has been several times reprinted. A magnificent edition in
-three volumes, folio, appeared in London in 1715; and another has been
-since issued from the Venetian press. He also composed a work on the
-Roman Antiquities generally, and left many manuscripts on the subject of
-military as well as civil architecture. He illustrated the Commentaries
-of Cæsar, by annexing to Badelli’s translation of that work, a preface
-on the military system of the Romans, and by supplying numerous copper
-plates, designed for the most part by his sons Leonida and Orazio. He
-also studied Polybius, and dedicated a (yet imprinted) work on the
-subject to the Grand Duke of Tuscany. His manuscripts, having been left
-to the senator Contarini, were subsequently dispersed, and the Earl of
-Burlington became possessed of many of them. The latter nobleman in 1732
-published the fruits of Palladio’s researches concerning the Roman
-baths; and, some time after, appeared a truly beautiful work, intitled
-‘Le Fabbriche ei Disegni di Andrea Palladio, raccolti ed illustrati da
-Ottavio Bertotti Scamozzi.’ The latter is by far the most interesting
-book connected with the name of Palladio. It enables us, at once,
-critically to examine his numerous designs, and to estimate them by a
-standard far superior to that which is merely founded on Vitruvian
-precept and Roman example. Our present acquaintance with all that
-Palladio had the means of knowing, and with very much more of which he
-was entirely ignorant, gives us a power and a right of censorship which
-the bigot alone will oppose and deny. Since the day of this celebrated
-architect, the Roman remains have been measured with more minute
-accuracy, and examined with a more philosophical regard to the
-principles which regulated the arrangement of their component parts. The
-volume of Greek art, compared with which that of Rome was but a debasing
-translation, has since that time been opened to the world; and, however
-we may continue to admire the industry by which Palladio obtained his
-then extended knowledge, the fancy and pictorial beauty which pervade
-many of his designs, and the worth of the architect himself as a man of
-genius, taste, and letters, it is yet our duty to direct the
-architectural student to look much farther than Vicenza for examples of
-pure design, and for principles of essential value.
-
-The authorities for the life of Palladio, in addition to those already
-referred to, are the works of Vasari, Tiraboschi, and Milizia.
-
-[Illustration: [Villa di Capri.]]
-
-[Illustration:
-
-  _Engraved by W. Holl._
-
-  ELIZABETH.
-
-  _From a Picture in His Majesty’s collection at St. James’s Palace._
-
-  Under the Superintendence of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful
-    Knowledge.
-
-  _London, Published by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street._
-]
-
-
-
-
-[Illustration]
-
-                               ELIZABETH.
-
-
-Elizabeth, queen of England, daughter of Henry VIII. by his second wife,
-Anne Boleyn, was born September 7, 1533. Her religious principles were
-early fixed on the side of the Reformation by Dr. Parker, her mother’s
-chaplain, afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury, to whose care Anne
-Boleyn, not long before her violent death, recommended this her only
-child, with the charge that she should not want his wise and pious
-counsel. She passed her early days happily, in the seclusion of private
-life, uninitiated in the dissipation of the court, and unmolested by its
-intrigues; but a few months after the accession of her sister Mary, she
-was arrested on suspicion of being concerned in Wyat’s insurrection, of
-which it was the object to oppose the marriage of Mary with the Archduke
-Philip, and to raise the princess Elizabeth to the throne. Her life was
-placed in imminent danger, by her removal from her abode at Ashridge in
-Buckinghamshire to London during a severe illness, in compliance with an
-order to bring her, “quick or dead.” She was committed to the Tower, and
-exposed to a capital charge of high treason. Two councils were held,
-before which she defended herself with entire presence of mind, and
-great boldness. Several councillors voted for her death, but it was
-ultimately decided that she could be convicted only of misprision of
-treason, which was no longer a capital offence. She owed her life,
-therefore, to the saving power of the law; not, as has often been
-stated, to the intercession of Philip: who did, however, stand forward
-afterwards in her behalf so as to obtain a mitigation of the severity of
-her imprisonment, which was continued after her acquittal on the capital
-charge. It may seem inconsistent in a bigot to the Catholic religion to
-interfere in behalf of a person on whom the hopes of the Protestants
-were known to depend: but Philip’s hatred against France was greater
-than his or even his wife’s zeal in the cause of popery; and the
-political motives of his conduct are obvious. In the event of Mary dying
-without issue, the Queen of Scotland, who was actually betrothed, and
-soon after married to the Dauphin, stood next in succession to
-Elizabeth. Supposing the intermediate link in the chain to be broken,
-the crown of England, united to that of France, would give a fatal
-preponderance to the already formidable rival of the Spanish monarchy.
-Philip, therefore, had a direct interest both in preserving the life and
-conciliating the good will of the princess: he foresaw that the demise
-of his queen must take place before long, and he had formed the scheme
-of espousing her sister and successor, for which a dispensation would
-readily have been obtained from the pope.
-
-The reign of Elizabeth began November 17, 1558, when she was twenty-five
-years of age. Her person was graceful, her stature majestic, and her
-mien noble. Her features were not regular; but her eyes were lively and
-sparkling, and her complexion fair. Her spirit was high; and her strong
-natural capacity had been improved by the most enlarged education
-attainable in those days. She wrote letters in Italian before she was
-fourteen; and at the age of seventeen she had acquired the Latin, Greek,
-and French languages. In addition to these studies she had ventured on
-the high and various departments of philosophy, rhetoric, history,
-divinity, poetry, and music. As soon as she was fixed on the throne, her
-interest and her principles engaged her in plans for the restoration of
-the Protestant religion. For although Pope Pius IV. promised, on her
-submission to the papal supremacy, “to establish and confirm her royal
-dignity by his authority,” yet she must have felt, that with the avowal
-of popery would be coupled the virtual admission that her father’s
-divorce from Catherine of Arragon was null and void; and, consequently,
-that Anne Boleyn was not a wife but a concubine, and her own pretensions
-to the crown downright usurpation. It was only by rejecting the Pope as
-her judge that she could maintain her mother’s fair fame and her own
-legitimate descent. Many writers, Bayle among others, have attempted to
-prove that she was at heart little more of a Protestant than her father;
-and her determination to retain episcopacy was sufficient to raise that
-suspicion in the minds of the adherents to the presbyterian system of
-church government.
-
-While she was princess she received a private proposal of marriage from
-Sweden; but she declared, “she could not change her condition.” On her
-becoming queen, her brother-in-law, Philip II. of Spain, addressed her;
-but this match also she declined. In the first parliament of her reign,
-the house of commons represented it as necessary to the welfare of the
-nation “to move her grace to marriage.” She answered, that by the
-ceremony of her inauguration she was married to her people, and her
-subjects were to her instead of children; that they would not want a
-successor when she died; adding, “And in the end, this shall be for me
-sufficient, that a marble stone shall declare, that a queen having
-reigned such a time, lived and died a virgin.” Several great personages
-proposed a matrimonial union with this illustrious princess; but she
-maintained her celibacy to the last. The Duke of Anjou seems to have
-been the most acceptable of her suitors. On his visit to England in
-1581, not only was he received with much public parade, but she
-vouchsafed him strong tokens of personal attachment, and even suffered
-the marriage articles to be drawn up. But the strong remonstrances of
-her ministers and favourites finally prevailed, and the intended
-marriage was broken off.
-
-The compilers of memoirs have racked their brains for some plausible
-explanation of Elizabeth’s repugnance to matrimony. When overtures were
-first made to her she was young, and had a good person, which she spared
-no art in setting off to advantage: she was notoriously fond of
-admiration, and was no less jealous of the personal beauty of Mary,
-Queen of Scots, than of her competition as a rival sovereign, or as a
-claimant of the crown of England. Neither prudery nor coldness could be
-imputed to her. Her gaiety extorted a sarcastic exclamation from an
-ambassador: “I have seen the head of the English church dancing!” She
-chose her favourites, Leicester, Essex, Raleigh, and others, from among
-the most comely, as well as the most valiant and accomplished of her
-subjects. Melvil, who had been sent by Mary of Scotland to the court of
-Elizabeth, relates in his Memoirs, that on creating Lord Robert Dudley
-Earl of Leicester and Baron of Denbigh, at Westminster, with much
-solemnity, the queen assisted at the ceremonial, and he knelt before her
-with great gravity: “but,” he says, “she could not refrain from putting
-her hand to his neck, smilingly tickling him, the French ambassador and
-I standing by.” In relating his diplomatic transactions, he furnishes
-other proofs of the queen’s partiality for the Earl of Leicester. He had
-occasion to name before her “my Lord of Bedford and my Lord Robert
-Dudley. She answered, it appeared I made but small account of my Lord
-Robert, seeing I named the Earl of Bedford before him; but that ere long
-she would make him a far greater Earl; and that I should see it done
-before my return home. For she esteemed him as her brother and best
-friend, whom she would have herself married, had she ever intended to
-have taken a husband. But being determined to end her life in virginity,
-she wished the queen her sister might marry him.” It is no wonder that
-her propensity to gallantry should have been stigmatized by popish
-writers, or that they should even have ventured to assail her character
-for chastity: even those of the reformed religion were somewhat
-scandalized by the levities of their ecclesiastical governess. Her
-foreign biographer, Gregorio Leti, in his ‘Histoire d’Elizabeth,’ says,
-“I do not know whether she was so chaste as is reported; for, after all,
-she was a queen, she was beautiful, young, full of wit, delighted in
-magnificent dress, loved entertainments, balls, pleasures, and to have
-the handsomest men in her kingdom for her favourites. This is all I can
-say of her to the reader.”
-
-The charge of personal depravity in so illustrious a sovereign deserves
-a fuller examination than is admissible within our limits. But it is in
-a great measure discredited by the circumstance that it originated with
-those Romish and political enemies, who perseveringly strove to destroy
-the queen, as the main prop of that fabric they were moving every engine
-to overthrow. Dr. Sanders and Cardinal Allen, the popes, the Spanish
-writers and their partisans, make statements, some of them manifestly
-untrue, others unsupported by respectable testimony. Among her own
-subjects, the popular scandal turned chiefly on Leicester, Hatton, and
-Essex; but without a single criminating fact as to either. Bacon states
-the case candidly, and probably puts it on its true ground: “She
-suffered herself to be honoured, and caressed, and celebrated, and
-extolled with the name of love, and wished it and continued it beyond
-the suitability of her age. If you take these things more softly, they
-may not even be without some admiration, because such things are
-commonly found in our fabulous narratives, of a queen in the islands of
-Bliss, with her hall and institutes, who receives the administration of
-love, but prohibits its licentiousness. If you judge them more severely,
-still they have this admirable circumstance, that the gratifications of
-this sort did not much hurt her reputation, and not at all her majesty,
-nor even relaxed her government, nor were any notable impediment to her
-state affairs.” Some writers of secret history have assigned the danger
-to which it was thought she would be exposed in bearing children as the
-real reason for her perseverance in celibacy.
-
-We do not propose to relate the events of the reign of Elizabeth,
-inasmuch as our object does not extend beyond a sketch of her personal
-character. It is perhaps the most brilliant period in English history;
-it called into action some of the most able statesmen and greatest
-warriors of whom this country could ever boast. Leti tells us that Pope
-Sixtus V. was her ardent admirer, and placed her among the only three
-persons who, in his estimation, deserved to reign: the other two members
-of this curious triumvirate were Henry IV. of France and himself. He
-once said to an Englishman, “Your queen is born fortunate: she governs
-her kingdom with great happiness; she wants only to be married to me, to
-give the world a second Alexander.” The same author, in his life of
-Sixtus, records a secret correspondence of that pope with Elizabeth;
-among other particulars of which he relates the following anecdote.
-Anthony Babington, a gentleman of Derbyshire, with other English
-papists, had engaged in a conspiracy against the queen. Their project
-was, after having assassinated her, to deliver Mary of Scotland from
-prison, and to place her on the throne. Babington and three of his
-accomplices armed themselves against the possible failure of their
-enterprise, by applying to the pope for prospective absolution, to take
-effect at the time of their last agonies. His Holiness complied with
-their demand; but is said instantly to have despatched due warning to
-the queen.
-
-This conspiracy was the preliminary to an event, which has been justly
-characterized as the stain of deepest dye on the fair fame of
-Elizabeth,—the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1586. It would be
-foreign to the subject, to relate the circumstances which led that
-princess to take refuge in England, trusting to Elizabeth’s promises of
-protection and kindness. Her reception at first was as favourable as was
-perhaps consistent with due attention to the public safety, considering
-that the Roman Catholic portion of British subjects held her to be the
-rightful sovereign, and Elizabeth an illegitimate and heretical usurper.
-But feelings of habitual enmity, enforced perhaps by the arguments of
-her political advisers, overpowered the sympathy of the first moments,
-and suggested the advantages to be taken of a defenceless competitor.
-Elizabeth, therefore, after having in the first instance ordered her to
-be treated like a queen, afterwards committed her to close prison. On
-the discovery of Babington’s plot, in which Mary was deeply implicated,
-the queen of Scots was arraigned of high treason before commissioners
-specially appointed by the crown. By that solemn tribunal, she was tried
-and found guilty, and by Elizabeth was delivered over to execution. Even
-Bohun, in his character of Elizabeth, though in general her panegyrist,
-says on this occasion, “By this action, she tainted her reign with the
-innocent blood of a princess, whom she had received into her dominions,
-and to whom she had given sanctuary.” If the sentence was executed, not
-in vindication of the offended laws, but as a sacrifice to personal
-revenge, Elizabeth’s guilt was greatly aggravated by her extreme
-dissimulation in the management of the affair. She no sooner received
-intelligence of Mary’s decapitation, than she abandoned herself to
-misery and almost despair: she put on deep mourning; her council were
-severely rebuked; her ministers, and even Burleigh, were driven from her
-presence with furious reproaches. Her secretary Davison was subjected to
-a process in the Star-Chamber for a twofold contempt, in having revealed
-her Majesty’s counsels to others of her ministers, and having given up
-to them the warrant which she had committed to him in special trust and
-secrecy, to be reserved for a case of sudden emergency. But Davison’s
-apology, an extract from which was inserted by Camden in his Annals, has
-since been found entire among the original papers of Sir Amias Paulet.
-From this authentic source it appears, that Davison was made her
-unconscious agent and instrument. Those who have endeavoured to
-extenuate the apparent treachery of Elizabeth, have alleged that the
-queen of Scots kept the queen of England in continual dread of
-dethronement; and that if the necessity existed to take the life of the
-queen of Scots, it was equally necessary that it should be done with a
-show of reluctance, and the least possible odium to the queen of
-England. Such has been the defence, both of the act itself, and of the
-subsequent dissimulation. But it would be difficult to apologize for her
-proceedings against Davison, an able and honest servant, whom she
-disgraced and ruined, for the purpose of impressing the belief that Mary
-was executed without her knowledge and contrary to her intentions. Right
-and wrong must be differently estimated in sovereigns and ordinary
-persons, if the sacrifice of such a victim to the shade of Mary or the
-indignation of her son can be justified.
-
-The reign of Elizabeth lasted forty-four years, four months, and six
-days. It was distinguished by great actions; it raised the British name
-to a high and glorious rank in the scale of nations: and we of the
-present times are indebted to it for some of our greatest advantages.
-But the sovereign herself closed her long and eventful life in a state
-of deep melancholy. Her kinsman, Sir Robert Cary, relates, with the
-quaintness of the time, the circumstances of his visit to her on her
-death-bed. “She took me by the hand, and wrung it hard, and said that
-her heart had been sad and heavy for ten or twelve days; and in her
-discourse she fetched not so few as forty or fifty great sighs. I was
-grieved at first to see her in this plight; for in all my lifetime I
-never knew her fetch a sigh, but when the Queen of Scots was beheaded.”
-She died March 24, 1603, in her seventieth year. Few as are the
-particulars of her life which we have been able to admit into our
-narrative, they have perhaps been sufficient to give an outline, however
-faint, of her character. It has been drawn out in form, and with
-fairness, by Lord Bolingbroke, in the following passage from his Idea of
-a Patriot King. “Our Elizabeth was queen in a limited monarchy, and
-reigned over a people at all times more easily led than driven; and at
-that time capable of being attached to their prince and their country by
-a more generous principle than any of those which prevail in our days,
-by affection. There was a strong prerogative then in being, and the
-crown was in possession of greater legal power. Popularity was however
-then, as it is now, and as it must always be in mixed government, the
-sole foundation of that sufficient authority and influence which other
-constitutions give the prince gratis and independently of the people,
-but which a king of this nation must acquire. The wise queen saw it; and
-she saw too how much popularity depends on those appearances that depend
-on the decorum, the decency, the grace, and the propriety of behaviour
-of which we are speaking. A warm concern for the interest and honour of
-the nation, a tenderness for her people and a confidence in their
-affections, were appearances that ran through her whole public conduct,
-and gave life and colour to it. She did great things; and she knew how
-to set them off according to their true value, by her manner of doing
-them. In her private behaviour she showed great affability, she
-descended even to familiarity; but her familiarity was such as could not
-be imputed to her weakness, and was therefore most justly ascribed to
-her goodness. Though a woman, she hid all that was womanish about her;
-and if a few equivocal marks of coquetry appeared on some occasions,
-they passed like flashes of lightning, vanished as soon as they were
-discovered, and imprinted no blot on her character. She had private
-friendships, she had favourites: but she never suffered her friends to
-forget that she was their queen; and when her favourites did, she made
-them feel that she was so.”
-
-Our delineation of Elizabeth has been rather that of a very great
-personage, than of a good woman; but it must be admitted on all hands,
-that the poison of calumny has been largely administered, in proportion
-to the invidiousness of her position. This general lot of greatness fell
-the heavier on her, in consequence of the severe laws which she was
-compelled to enact and execute against the papists. The libels against
-Elizabeth’s good fame were put forth mostly by persons of that
-proscribed sect, who have represented her, not as indulging the
-frailties from which her most strenuous advocates cannot exonerate her,
-but as a monster of cruelty, avarice, and lust. It is but justice to
-place in contrast with so hateful a picture the noble character ascribed
-to her even by a Jesuit, in a book published in the Catholic metropolis
-of France. Père d’Orleans, in his ‘Histoire des Revolutions
-d’Angleterre,’ speaks thus: “Elizabeth was a person whose name
-immediately imprints in our minds such a noble idea, that it is
-impossible well to express it by any description whatsoever. Never did a
-crowned head better understand the art of government, and commit fewer
-errors in it, during a long reign. The friends of Charles V. could
-reckon his faults: Elizabeth’s enemies have been reduced narrowly to
-search after hers; and they, whose greatest concern it was to cast an
-odium upon her conduct, have admired her. So that in her was fulfilled
-this sentence of the Gospel, that the children of this world are often
-wiser in their views and designs than the children of light. Elizabeth’s
-aim was to reign, to govern, to be mistress, to keep her people in
-submission, neither affecting to weaken her subjects, nor to make
-conquests in foreign countries; but yet not suffering any person to
-encroach in the least upon the sovereign power, which she knew perfectly
-well how to maintain, both by policy and by force. For no person in her
-time had more wit, more skill, more judgment than she had. She was not a
-warlike princess; but she knew so well how to train up warriors, that
-England had not for a long time seen a greater number of them, nor more
-experienced.”
-
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- 1. Changed “Majolica” to “Maiolica” on p. 37.
- 2. Changed “and same other” to “and some other” on p. 48.
- 3. The “Z” was reversed in “CORTEZ” on p. 122 and in “LEIBNITZ” on p.
-      132.
- 4. Changed “Evénemens” to “Événements” on p. 170.
- 5. Changed “ed i” to “ei” on p. 176.
- 6. Did not correct the variant spellings of “Raphael”.
- 7. Silently corrected typographical errors.
- 8. Retained anachronistic and non-standard spellings as printed.
- 9. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.
-10. Superscripts are denoted by a carat before a single superscript
-      character or a series of superscripted characters enclosed in
-      curly braces, e.g. M^r. or M^{ister}.
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-Memoirs. Vol 6 (of 7), by Anonymous
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-<pre>
-
-The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Gallery of Portraits: with Memoirs. Vol
-6 (of 7), by Anonymous
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most
-other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions
-whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of
-the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at
-www.gutenberg.org.  If you are not located in the United States, you'll have
-to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook.
-
-Title: The Gallery of Portraits: with Memoirs. Vol 6 (of 7)
-
-Author: Anonymous
-
-Release Date: August 17, 2017 [EBook #55379]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: UTF-8
-
-*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GALLERY OF PORTRAITS, VOL 6 ***
-
-
-
-
-Produced by Richard Tonsing, Chris Curnow and the Online
-Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This
-file was produced from images generously made available
-by The Internet Archive)
-
-
-
-
-
-
-</pre>
-
-
-<div class='tnotes covernote'>
-
-<p class='c000'><strong>Transcriber's Note:</strong></p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div class='nf-center-c1'>
-  <div class='nf-center'>
-    <div><em>UNDER THE SUPERINTENDENCE OF THE SOCIETY FOR THE DIFFUSION OF USEFUL KNOWLEDGE.</em></div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<div>
-  <h1 class='c001'><span class='small'>THE</span><br /> GALLERY OF PORTRAITS:<br /> <span class='xsmall'>WITH</span><br /> <span class='xlarge'>MEMOIRS.</span><br /> <br /> <span class='large'>VOLUME VI.</span></h1>
-</div>
-
-<div class='nf-center-c1'>
-<div class='nf-center c002'>
-    <div>LONDON:</div>
-    <div>CHARLES KNIGHT, 22, LUDGATE-STREET.</div>
-    <div class='c003'>1836.</div>
-    <div class='c003'><span class='xsmall'>[PRICE ONE GUINEA, BOUND IN CLOTH.]</span></div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<div class='nf-center-c1'>
-<div class='nf-center c004'>
-    <div>LONDON:</div>
-    <div>PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS,</div>
-    <div>Duke-Street, Lambeth.</div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<div class='pbb'>
- <hr class='pb c003' />
-</div>
-
-<div class='chapter'>
-  <h2 class='c005'>PORTRAITS AND BIOGRAPHIES<br /> <span class='large'>CONTAINED IN THIS VOLUME.</span></h2>
-</div>
-
-<table class='table0' summary='PORTRAITS AND BIOGRAPHIES CONTAINED IN THIS VOLUME.'>
-  <tr>
-    <th class='c006'></th>
-    <th class='c007'>&nbsp;</th>
-    <th class='c008'>Page.</th>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c006'>1.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>Raleigh</td>
-    <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_1'>1</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c006'>2.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>Jenner</td>
-    <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_11'>11</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c006'>3.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>Maskelyne</td>
-    <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_20'>20</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c006'>4.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>Hobbes</td>
-    <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_25'>25</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c006'>5.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>Raphael</td>
-    <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_30'>30</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c006'>6.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>John Knox</td>
-    <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_40'>40</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c006'>7.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>Adam Smith</td>
-    <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_49'>49</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c006'>8.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>Calvin</td>
-    <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_55'>55</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c006'>9.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>Lord Mansfield</td>
-    <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_62'>62</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c006'>10.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>Bradley</td>
-    <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_69'>69</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c006'>11.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>Melancthon</td>
-    <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_75'>75</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c006'>12.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>William Pitt</td>
-    <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_83'>84</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c006'>13.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>Wesley</td>
-    <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_93'>93</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c006'>14.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>Dr. Cartwright</td>
-    <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_102'>102</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c006'>15.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>Porson</td>
-    <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_108'>108</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c006'>16.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>Wiclif</td>
-    <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_113'>113</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c006'>17.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>Cortez</td>
-    <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_122'>122</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c006'>18.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>Leibnitz</td>
-    <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_132'>132</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c006'>19.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>Ximenes</td>
-    <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_137'>137</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c006'>20.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>Addison</td>
-    <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_147'>147</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c006'>21.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>Bramante</td>
-    <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_156'>156</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c006'>22.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>Madame de Stael</td>
-    <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_161'>161</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c006'>23.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>Palladio</td>
-    <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_172'>172</a></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c006'>24.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>Queen Elizabeth</td>
-    <td class='c009'><a href='#Page_177'>177</a></td>
-  </tr>
-</table>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_001fp.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p><em>Engraved by Posselwhite.</em><br /><br />RALEIGH.<br /><br /><em>From a Picture in the Collection of the Duchess of Dorset.</em><br /><br />Under the Superintendance of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.<br /><br /><em>London, Published by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street.</em></p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id002'>
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_1'>1</span>
-<img src='images/i_001.jpg' alt='RALEIGH.' class='ig001' />
-</div>
-
-<div class='chapter'>
-  <h2 class='c005'>RALEIGH.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c010'>Very little is known concerning the youth of Sir Walter Raleigh.
-He was a younger son, descended of an ancient family, and was born
-at a farm called Hayes, near the mouth of the river Otter, in Devonshire,
-in the year 1552. He went to Oriel College, Oxford, at an early
-age, and gained high praise for the quickness and precocity of his
-talents. In 1569 he began his military career in the civil wars of
-France, as a volunteer in the Protestant cause. It is conjectured that
-he remained in France for more than six years, and returned to England
-in 1576. Soon after, he repaired to the Netherlands, and served
-as a volunteer against the Spaniards. In such schools, and under such
-leaders as Coligni and the Prince of Orange, Raleigh’s natural aptitude
-for political and military science received the best nurture: but
-he was soon drawn from the war in Holland by a pursuit which had
-captivated his imagination from an early age—the prosecution of discovery
-in the New World. In conjunction with his half-brother, Sir
-Humphrey Gilbert, a man of courage and ability, and a skilful sailor,
-he made an unsuccessful attempt to establish a colony in North America.
-Returning home in 1579, he immediately entered the Queen’s
-army in Ireland, and served with good esteem for personal courage
-and professional skill, until the suppression of the rebellion in that
-country. He owed his introduction to court, and the personal favour
-of Elizabeth, as is traditionally reported, to a fortunate and well-improved
-accident, which is too familiar to need repetition here. It
-is probable, however, that his name and talents were not unknown,
-for we find him employed almost immediately in certain matters of
-diplomacy.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Among the cares and pleasures of a courtier’s life, Raleigh preserved
-his zeal for American discovery. He applied his own resources to
-the fitting out of another expedition in 1583, under command of
-Sir Humphrey Gilbert, which proved more unfortunate than the
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_2'>2</span>former one: two out of five vessels returned home in consequence of
-sickness, and two were wrecked, including that in which the admiral
-sailed; and the only result of the enterprise was the taking possession
-of Newfoundland in the name of England. Still Raleigh’s desire for
-American adventure was not damped. The Continent northward of
-the Gulf of Florida was at this time unknown. But Raleigh, upon
-careful study of the best authorities, had concluded that there was
-good reason for believing that a considerable tract of land did exist in
-that quarter; and with the assent of the Queen in council, from whom
-he obtained letters patent, granting to himself and his heirs, under
-certain reservations, property in such countries as he should discover,
-with a right to provide for their protection and administration, he fitted
-out two ships, which sailed in April, 1584. The first land which
-they made was an island named Okakoke, running parallel to the
-coast of North Carolina. They were well received by the natives,
-and returned to England in the following autumn highly pleased.
-Nor was less satisfaction felt by Raleigh, or even by the Queen, who
-conferred on him the honour of knighthood, a title which was then in
-high esteem, inasmuch as it was bestowed by that wise princess with
-a most frugal and just discrimination. She also gave him a very
-lucrative mark of favour, in the shape of a patent for licensing the
-selling of wine throughout the kingdom; and she directed that the
-new country, in allusion to herself, should be called Virginia. Raleigh
-did not think it politic, perhaps was not allowed, to quit the
-court to take charge in person of his undertaking; and those to whom
-he intrusted the difficult task of directing the infant colony appear
-to have been unequal to their office. It is not necessary to pursue the
-history of an enterprise which proved unsuccessful, and in which Sir
-Walter personally bore no share. He showed his earnestness by fitting
-out several expeditions, which must have been a heavy drain upon his
-fortune. But he is said to have derived immense wealth from prizes
-captured from the Spaniards; and we may here observe that the lavish
-magnificence in dress, especially in jewels, for which Raleigh was remarkable,
-even in the gorgeous court of Elizabeth (his state dress is
-said to have been enriched with jewels to the value of £60,000), may
-be considered less as an extravagance, than as a safe and portable
-investment of treasure. A mind less active might have found employment
-more than enough in the variety of occupations which pressed
-upon it at home. He possessed a large estate, granted out of forfeited
-lands, in Ireland; but this was always a source rather of expense than
-of profit, until, in 1601, he sold it to the Earl of Cork. He was
-Seneschal of the Duchies of Cornwall and Exeter, and held the wardenship
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_3'>3</span>of the Stannaries; and in 1586, as well as formerly in 1584,
-we find that he possessed a seat in parliament. In 1587, the formidable
-preparation of the Spanish Armada withdrew the mind of Raleigh,
-as of all Englishmen, from objects of minor importance, to the
-defence of their country. He was a member of the council of war
-directed to prepare a general scheme of defence, and held the office of
-Lieutenant-General of Cornwall, in addition to the charge of the Isle
-of Portland: but as on this occasion he possessed no naval command,
-he was not actively engaged in the destruction of that mighty armament.
-In 1589 he served as a volunteer in the expedition of Norris
-and Drake to Portugal, of which some account has been given in the
-life of the latter. Nor were his labours unrewarded even in that unfortunate
-enterprise; for he captured several prizes, and received the
-present of a gold chain from the Queen, in testimony of her approbation
-of his conduct.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Soon after these events, Raleigh retired to his Irish property, being
-driven from court, according to some authorities, by the enmity of the
-Earl of Essex, then a young man just rising into favour. He there
-renewed a former intimacy with the poet Spenser, who, like himself,
-had been rewarded with a grant of land out of forfeited estates, and
-then resided at Kilcolman Castle. Spenser has celebrated the return of
-his friend in the beautiful pastoral, ‘Colin Clout’s come home again;’
-and in that, and various passages of his works, has made honourable
-mention of the highly poetic spirit which enabled the ‘Shepherd of
-the Ocean,’ as he is there denominated, to appreciate the merit of the
-‘Fairy Queen,’ and led him to promote the publication of it by every
-means in his power. The loss of Raleigh’s court-favour, if such there
-were, could not have been of long duration on this occasion. But
-he incurred more serious displeasure in consequence of a private
-marriage contracted with Elizabeth Throgmorton, one of the Queen’s
-maids of honour, a lady of beauty and accomplishments, who proved
-her worth and fidelity in the long train of misfortunes which beset the
-latter years of Raleigh’s life. In consequence of this intrigue, he was
-committed to the Tower. One or two amusing anecdotes are related
-of the devices which he employed to obtain forgiveness, by working
-on that vanity which was the Queen’s chief foible. He succeeded in
-appeasing his indignant mistress so far as to procure his release; and
-about the same time, in 1594, she granted to him the valuable manor
-of Sherborne, in Dorsetshire: but though she requited his services,
-she still forbade his appearance at court, where he now held the
-office of Captain of the Yeomen of the Guard. Raleigh was peculiarly
-fitted to adorn a court by his imposing person, the graceful magnificence
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_4'>4</span>of his taste and habits, the elegance of his manners, and the interest
-of his conversation. These accomplishments were sure passports
-to the favour of Elizabeth; and he improved to the utmost the
-constant opportunities of intercourse with her which his post afforded,
-insomuch that, except the Earls of Leicester and Essex, no one ever
-seems to have stood higher in her graces. But Elizabeth’s jealousy on
-the subject of her favourites’ marriages is well known, and her anger
-was lasting, in proportion to the value which she set on the incense
-of Raleigh’s flattery. He retired, on his disgrace, to his new estate,
-in the improvement and embellishment of which he felt great interest.
-But though deeply alive to the beauties of nature, he had been too long
-trained to a life of ambition and adventure to rest contented in the
-tranquil routine of a country life; and during this period of seclusion,
-he again turned his thoughts to his favourite subject of American
-adventure, and laid the scheme of his first expedition to Guiana, in
-search of the celebrated El Dorado, the fabled seat of inexhaustible
-wealth. Having fitted out, with the assistance of other private persons,
-a considerable fleet, Raleigh sailed from Plymouth, February 6, 1595.
-He left his ships in the mouth of the river Orinoco, and sailed 400
-miles into the interior in boats. It is to be recorded to his honour,
-that he treated the Indians with great kindness; which, contrasted
-with the savage conduct of the Spaniards, raised so friendly a feeling
-towards him, that for years his return was eagerly expected, and at
-length was hailed with delight. The hardships of the undertaking,
-and the natural advantages of the country which he explored, are
-eloquently described in his own account of the ‘Discovery of Guiana.’
-But the setting in of the rainy season rendered it necessary to return,
-without having reached the promised land of wealth; and Raleigh
-reaped no other fruit of his adventure than a certain quantity of
-geographical knowledge, and a full conviction of the importance of
-colonizing and taking possession of the newly-discovered region.
-This continued through life to be his favourite scheme; but neither
-Elizabeth nor her successor could be induced to view it in the same
-favourable light.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>On reaching England, he found the Queen still unappeased; nor
-was he suffered to appear at court: and he complains in pathetic
-terms of the cold return with which his perils and losses were requited.
-But he was invested with a high command in the expedition
-of 1596, by which the Spanish fleet was destroyed in the harbour of
-Cadiz; and to his judgment and temper in overruling the faulty
-schemes proposed by others the success of that enterprise was chiefly
-due. Indeed his services were perhaps too important, and too justly
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_5'>5</span>appreciated by the public, for his own interests: for the great and
-general praise bestowed on him on this occasion tended to confirm
-a jealousy of long standing on the part of the commander-in-chief,
-the Earl of Essex; and it was probably owing to that favourite’s
-influence, that Raleigh was still forbidden the Queen’s presence.
-Essex, and the Secretary of State, Sir Robert Cecil, regarded each
-other with mutual distrust and dislike. Cecil and Raleigh were
-connected by ties of common interest, and, as the latter supposed, of
-friendship. Still Raleigh found the interest of the minister too weak
-to serve his purpose, while the interest of the favourite was employed
-against him; and, as the only method of effecting his own restoration
-to the Queen’s favour, he undertook to work a reconciliation between
-these two powerful rivals. In this he succeeded, to the great admiration
-of all spectators; and the fruit of his policy was seen in his
-re-admission to the execution of his official duties at court, June 1,
-1597. In the following August he was appointed Rear Admiral in
-the expedition called the Island Voyage, of which Essex held the
-chief command. The slight successes which were obtained were again
-due to the military talents of Raleigh; the main objects of the voyage
-were lost through the Earl’s inexperience.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>From this time to the death of the Queen, Raleigh enjoyed an uninterrupted
-course of favour. The ancient enmity between Essex and
-himself was indeed renewed, and that with increased rancour; but the
-indiscretions of the favourite had greatly weakened his influence.
-Raleigh and Cecil spared no pains to undermine him, and were in
-fact the chief workers of his ruin. This is perhaps the most unamiable
-passage in Raleigh’s life; and the only excuse to be pleaded
-for him is, the determined enmity of that unfortunate nobleman.
-This fault, however, brought a slow but severe punishment with it;
-for the death of Essex dissolved the tie which held together Cecil and
-himself. Neither could be content to act second to the other; and
-Raleigh’s high reputation, and versatile as well as profound abilities,
-might well alarm the secretary for his own supremacy. The latter
-took the surest way of establishing his power prospectively. Elizabeth
-was now old: Cecil took no steps to diminish the high esteem in
-which she held Sir Walter Raleigh, but he secretly laboured to prejudice
-her successor against him, and he succeeded to his wish.
-Very soon after the accession of James I., Raleigh’s post of captain
-of the guard was taken from him; and his patent of wines was
-revoked, though not without a nominal compensation being made.
-To complete his ruin, it was contrived to involve him in a charge of
-treason. Most writers have concurred in speaking of this passage of
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_6'>6</span>history as inexplicable: it is the opinion of the last historian of
-Raleigh, Mr. Tytler, that he has found sufficient evidence for regarding
-the whole plot as a device of Cecil, and he has supported this
-opinion by cogent arguments. Lord Cobham, a violent and ambitious
-but weak man, had engaged in private dealings with the
-Spanish ambassador, which brought him under the suspicion of the
-government. By a device of Cecil’s (we here follow the account of
-Mr. Tytler) he was induced, in a fit of anger, and in the belief that
-Raleigh had given information against him, to accuse Sir Walter
-himself of being privy to a conspiracy against the government. This
-charge Cobham retracted, confirmed, and retracted again, behaving
-in so equivocal a manner, that no reliance whatever can be placed
-on any of his assertions. But as the King was afraid of Raleigh
-as much as the secretary hated him, this vague charge, unsupported
-by other evidence, was made sufficient to commit him to the
-Tower; and, after being plied with private examinations, in which
-nothing criminal could be elicited, he was brought to trial, November
-17, 1603. For an account of that memorable scene we shall refer to
-Mr. Jardine’s ‘Criminal Trials,’ vol. i. It is reported to have been
-said by one of the judges who presided over it, on his death-bed, that
-“the justice of England had never been so degraded and injured as
-by the condemnation of Sir Walter Raleigh.” The behaviour of the
-victim himself was the object of universal admiration, for the tempered
-mixture of patience and noble spirit with which he bore the oppressive
-measure dealt to him. He had before been unpopular; but it was
-recorded by an eye-witness that “he behaved himself so worthily, so
-wisely, and so temperately, that in half a day the mind of all the company
-was changed from the extremest hate to the extremest pity.”</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The sentence of death thus unfairly and disgracefully obtained was
-not immediately carried into execution. James was not satisfied with
-the evidence adduced on the trial; and believing at the same time
-that Raleigh had been plotting against him, he set his royal wit to
-dive into the mystery. Of the singular scene which our British Solomon
-devised it is not necessary to speak, since Raleigh was not an
-actor in it. But as no more evidence could be obtained against him
-even by the King’s sagacity, he was reprieved, and remanded to the
-Tower, where the next twelve years of his life were spent in confinement.
-Fortunately, he had never ceased to cultivate literature with a
-zeal not often found in the soldier and politician, and he now beguiled
-the tedium of his lot by an entire devotion to those studies which
-before had only served to diversify his more active and engrossing pursuits.
-Of his poetical talents we have already made short mention:
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_7'>7</span>to the end of life he continued the practice of pouring out his mind in
-verse, and there are several well-known and beautiful pieces expressive
-of his feelings in prison, and in the anticipation of immediate death,
-especially ‘The Lie,’ and the beautiful little poem called ‘The Pilgrimage.’
-He also possessed a strong turn for mathematics, and
-studied them with much success in the society and under the guidance
-of his friend Thomas Hariot, one of the most accomplished mathematicians
-of the age. Chemistry was another favourite pursuit in which,
-according to the standard of his contemporaries, he made great progress.
-But the most important occupation of his imprisonment was
-the composition of his ‘History of the World.’ Notwithstanding
-the quaintness of the style and the discursive manner in which the
-subject is treated, it is impossible to read this volume without admiring
-the wonderful extent of the author’s reading, not only in history,
-but in philosophy, theology, and even the ponderous and untempting
-stores of Rabbinical learning. Many of the chapters relate to subjects
-which few persons would expect to find in a history of the world; yet
-these will often be found among the most interesting and characteristic
-portions of the book; and its deep learning is relieved and set off by
-passages of genuine eloquence, which display to the best advantage
-the author’s rich imagination and grasp of mind. The work extends
-from the Creation to the end of the second Macedonian war. Raleigh
-meant to bring it down to modern times; but the untimely death of
-Henry Prince of Wales, for whose use it was composed, deprived him
-of the spirit to proceed with so laborious an undertaking. He enjoyed
-the confidence of that generous youth in a remarkable degree, and
-maintained a close correspondence with him on civil, military, and
-naval subjects. Several discourses on these topics, addressed to the
-Prince, will be found in the editions of Raleigh’s works. Henry
-repaid these services with sincere friendship and admiration; and we
-may presume that his adviser looked forward to that friendship, not
-only for a cessation of misfortune, but for a more brilliant period of
-favour and power than he had yet enjoyed. Fortunately, however,
-this calamity was preceded by the death of his arch-enemy, Cecil; and
-through the mediation of the Duke of Buckingham, employed in consideration
-of 1500<i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">l.</span></i> paid to his uncles, Sir William, Sir John, and
-Sir Edward Villiers, Raleigh was released from the Tower in March,
-1615; and obtained permission to follow up his long-cherished scheme
-of establishing a colony in Guiana and working a gold mine, of which
-he had ascertained the existence and situation.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The terms on which this licence was granted are remarkable. He
-was not pardoned, but merely let loose on the engagement of his
-friends, the Earls of Arundel and Pembroke, that he should return
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_8'>8</span>to England. Neither did James contribute to the expense of the
-undertaking, though it was stipulated that he was to receive a fifth
-part of the bullion imported. The necessary funds were provided out
-of the wreck of Raleigh’s fortune (his estate of Sherborne had been
-forfeited) and by those private adventurers who were willing to risk
-something in reliance on his experience and judgment. A fleet of
-fourteen sail was thus provided, and Raleigh, by letters under the
-privy seal, was appointed commander-in-chief and governor of the
-intended colony. He relied, it is said, on the full powers granted
-him by this commission as necessarily including a remission of all
-past offences, and therefore neglected to sue out a formal pardon,
-which at this period probably would hardly have been denied him.
-The results of this disastrous voyage must be shortly given. Raleigh
-sailed March 28, 1617, and reached the coast of Guiana in November
-following. Being himself disabled by sickness from proceeding farther,
-he dispatched a party to the mine under the command of Captain
-Keymis, an officer who had served in the former voyage to Guiana.
-But during the interval which had elapsed since Raleigh’s first discovery
-of that country, the Spaniards had extended their settlements
-into it, and in particular had built a town called Santa Thome, in the
-immediate neighbourhood of the mine in question. James, with his
-usual duplicity, while he authorised the expedition, revealed every
-particular connected with it to the Spanish ambassador. The English,
-therefore, were expected in the Orinoco, and preparation had been
-made for repelling them by force. Keymis and his men were unexpectedly
-attacked by the garrison of Santa Thome, and a sharp contest
-ensued, in which the English gained the advantage, and burnt the
-town. In this action Raleigh’s eldest son was killed. The Spaniards
-still occupied the passes to the mine, and after an unsuccessful attempt
-to dislodge them, Keymis abandoned the enterprize, and returned to
-the ships. Raleigh’s correspondence expresses in affecting terms his
-grief and indignation at this double misfortune; the loss of a brave
-and promising son, and the destruction of the hopes which he had
-founded on this long-cherished adventure. On his return to England,
-he found himself marked out for a victim to appease the resentment
-of the Spanish court, to which he had long been an object of fear and
-hatred. He quietly surrendered himself to Sir Lewis Stukeley, who
-was sent to Plymouth to arrest him, and commenced the journey
-to London under his charge. But his mind fluctuated between the
-desire to confront his enemies, and a sense of the hopelessness of obtaining
-justice, and he was at last entrapped by the artifices of the
-emissaries of government who surrounded him into an attempt to
-escape, in which he was arrested and committed to close custody in
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_9'>9</span>the Tower. Here his conversation and correspondence were narrowly
-watched, in the hopes that a treasonable understanding with the
-French government, from which he had received the offer of an
-asylum in France, might be established against him. His conduct
-abroad had already been closely scrutinized, in the hope of finding
-some act of piracy, or unauthorized aggression against Spain, for
-which he might be brought to trial. Both these hopes failing, and
-his death, in compliment to Spain, being resolved on, it was determined
-to carry into effect the sentence passed fifteen years before,
-from which he had never been legally released; and a warrant was
-accordingly issued to the judges, requiring them to order execution.
-The case was a novel one, and threw that learned body into some perplexity.
-They determined, however, that after so long an interval
-execution could not be granted without allowing the prisoner the
-opportunity of pleading against it; and Raleigh was therefore brought
-to the bar of the Court of King’s Bench, October 28, 1618. The
-record of his conviction having been read, he was asked whether he
-could urge any thing why the sentence should not be carried into
-effect. He insisted on the nature of his late commission, and on that
-plea being overruled, submitted with his usual calmness and dignity.
-The execution, with indecent haste, was ordered to take place on the
-following morning. In this last stage of life, his greatness of mind
-shone with even more than its usual lustre. Calm, and fearless without
-bravado, his behaviour and speech expressed the piety and resignation
-of a Christian with the habitual coolness of one who has braved
-death too often to shrink at its approach. The accounts of his deportment
-on the scaffold effectually refute the charges of irreligion and
-atheism which some writers have brought against him, unless we make
-up our minds to believe him an accomplished hypocrite. He spoke
-at considerable length, and his dying words have been faithfully reported.
-They contain a denial of all the serious offences laid to his
-charge, and express his forgiveness of those even who had betrayed him
-under the mask of friendship. After delivering this address and spending
-some time in prayer, he laid his head on the block, and breathing
-a short private prayer, gave the signal to the executioner. Not being
-immediately obeyed, he partially raised his head, and said, “What
-dost thou fear? Strike, man!” and underwent the fatal blow without
-shrinking or alteration of position. He died in his sixty-sixth year.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Raleigh sat in several parliaments, and took an active part in the
-business of the house. His speeches, preserved in the Journals, are
-said by Mr. Tytler to be remarkable for an originality and freedom of
-thought far in advance of the time. His expression was varied and
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_10'>10</span>animated, and his powers of conversation remarkable. His person
-was dignified and handsome, and he excelled in bodily accomplishments
-and martial exercises. He was very fond of paintings, and of
-music; and, in literature as in art, he possessed a cultivated and correct
-taste. He was one of those rare men who seem qualified to excel
-in all pursuits alike; and his talents were set off by an extraordinary
-laboriousness, and capacity of application. As a navigator, soldier,
-statesman, and historian, his name is intimately and honourably linked
-with one of the most brilliant periods of British history.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The works of Oldys, Birch, Cayley, Mrs. Thompson, and Mr.
-Tytler, may be consulted concerning this remarkable person. The
-life of the last-named gentleman, published in the ‘Edinburgh Cabinet
-Library,’ is the most recent; and the industry of the author has
-enabled him to gain a clue to some points which before had been
-imperfectly understood. A list of Raleigh’s numerous works is given
-in the ‘Biographia Britannica.’ They will be found collected in eight
-volumes, in the Oxford edition of 1829. Several of his MSS. are
-preserved in the British Museum.</p>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_010.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>[Sir Walter Raleigh in the Tower.]</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_011fp.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p><em>Engraved by E. Scriven.</em><br /><br />JENNER.<br /><br /><em>From a Print engraved and coloured by J. R. Smith in the possession of the late John Ring Esq<sup>r</sup>.</em><br /><br />Under the Superintendance of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.<br /><br /><em>London, Published by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street.</em></p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id002'>
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_11'>11</span>
-<img src='images/i_011.jpg' alt='JENNER.' class='ig001' />
-</div>
-
-<div class='chapter'>
-  <h2 class='c005'>JENNER.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c010'>Edward, the third son of the Rev. Stephen Jenner, was born May
-17, 1749, in the vicarage-house of Berkeley in Gloucestershire, of
-which parish his father, a man of independent fortune, and of a
-family long established and esteemed in that neighbourhood, was
-incumbent. At the death of that parent in 1754, the care of Edward
-Jenner’s education devolved upon his eldest brother, Stephen, who
-succeeded to the living of Berkeley, and faithfully and affectionately
-discharged the duties of a father towards him.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>He began at a very early age to give tokens of that fondness and
-aptitude for the study of natural history, which first directed the choice
-of his profession; and afterwards led him, by steps which may be
-easily traced, to the discovery of a method of securing the constitution
-against the small-pox, by a remedy so mild as to be scarcely an inconvenience,
-yet so effectual as almost to have extinguished that disease
-in some countries where it has been energetically used.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Having finished his school education and fixed upon a profession,
-Jenner was apprenticed at the usual age to Mr. Ludlow, a surgeon
-practising at Sodbury near Bristol; and in 1770, when nearly twenty-one,
-he came to London, and put himself under the tuition of John
-Hunter, in whose house he lived for two years, as much in the capacity
-of a friend as in that of a pupil, with great advantage to his professional
-studies. The intimacy between these two eminent men was
-very close and cordial, and subsisted till Hunter’s sudden death in
-1793. It is attested by many letters from Mr. Hunter, which Jenner
-carefully preserved; his own were probably destroyed with the rest of
-Hunter’s papers by the late Sir Everard Home. Their correspondence
-relates chiefly to facts and experiments in natural history.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_12'>12</span>The success with which Jenner had already pursued his studies,
-and the respect entertained for his talents by his illustrious instructor
-at a period when their intercourse was yet in its infancy, may be
-gathered from his being selected in 1771, on the recommendation of
-Mr. Hunter, to arrange the collections in natural history which had
-been made by Sir Joseph Banks in his voyage round the world with
-Captain Cook, then just completed. Jenner acquitted himself so well
-of this charge, that he was offered, though little more than twenty-two
-years of age, the situation of naturalist to the second expedition under
-the command of Captain Cook, which sailed in 1772. This was a
-flattering proposal to so young a man, and consonant to Jenner’s
-ruling tastes; nevertheless he declined it. It is fortunate for mankind
-that he chose the laborious seclusion of a country practice in
-preference to aiming at distinction and wealth; for in no other sphere
-could he have found opportunities of pursuing his discovery of vaccination
-through all the perplexities in which his early researches into
-that subject involved him. Indeed, it is probable that considerations
-of this kind, independently of his fondness for a country life, had
-their weight with him in the choice; for the idea had already taken
-strong hold of his naturally sanguine feelings and quick apprehension,
-that he was furnished with a clue which might lead him to a result of
-the highest importance to mankind.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>It may be added here that a few years after this time he declined a
-very lucrative situation in India, as well as a much more tempting
-proposal from Mr. Hunter, in 1775, to join him in a project for establishing
-in London a school of natural history, including medicine, of
-which Jenner was to undertake the anatomical department.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Having determined to settle in the country, and being amply provided
-with the requisite knowledge, Jenner established himself as a
-general practitioner at Berkeley. Here he speedily acquired a profitable
-and extensive practice; so much so, indeed, that finding his
-health giving way, he was obliged to limit himself to the practice of
-medicine alone; for which purpose he purchased, as it was then customary,
-the degree of doctor at St. Andrew’s in 1792.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>But he not only attained at an early age to a high degree of professional
-reputation, but won the affectionate esteem of all with whom
-he associated. It is related of him that his friends were in the habit of
-joining in his daily professional rides, often of considerable extent,
-for the sake of his agreeable and instructive conversation; and that
-when any of them were ill, he would sometimes make their houses the
-head-quarters of his practice for the time being, and remain in close
-attendance upon them till their recovery.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_13'>13</span>Music, the lighter kinds of literature, both as a reader and occasionally
-as an author, and the innocent recreations of society, which no one
-enjoyed more keenly than himself, were the means by which Jenner
-lightened the burden of his professional labours; but his chief amusement
-was natural history, including geology, a science then in its infancy,
-for the study of which his position in the vale of Gloucester
-afforded ample opportunity, the neighbourhood abounding with fossil
-remains, and exhibiting a great variety of terrestrial structure. Towards
-subjects of this nature he was led, not only by his original bias,
-but by his correspondence with Hunter, Banks, and Parry.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>In 1778 he formed a medical society, which held its periodical
-meetings at Rodborough, for the purpose of communicating professional
-information and promoting a friendly feeling among the members.
-In furtherance of these objects, Jenner contributed several
-important and original papers, the substance of which is now embodied
-in medical science, without his property in them being generally
-known. Among these were essays on the nature and causes of
-Angina Pectoris, on a peculiar disease of the heart occurring in acute
-rheumatism, and on several of the more severe affections of the eye.
-He also belonged to another medical society, meeting at Alveston
-near Bristol, to the members of which, who were men of congenial
-dispositions with his own, he was personally much attached. Upon
-one topic, however, they did not agree; for it is said that he was in
-the habit of enlarging so frequently upon his favourite speculation of
-the cow-pox, that the subject was at length proscribed, and he was
-jestingly forbidden to renew it on pain of expulsion. This club was
-for many years a source of much enjoyment and advantage to him, and
-we may suppose that he was a very principal contributor to the diversion
-of the other members; for it ceased to exist in 1789, when other
-objects began to engross the time that he could spare from his practice.
-In March of the previous year, at the age of thirty-seven, he
-married Miss Catharine Kingscote, by whom he had several children.
-The choice appears to have been a very fortunate one for his domestic
-happiness.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>In 1786 he had communicated to Mr. Hunter, in the form of an
-essay, the result of several years’ careful observation of the singular
-habits of the cuckoo, till then a mystery to naturalists. It was presented
-by Mr. Hunter to the Royal Society, and was printed entire in
-their Transactions in 1789, having been returned to Jenner in the
-mean time, in order that he might record some additional facts which
-he had ascertained. This tract has been considered as a very masterly
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_14'>14</span>performance, and was the occasion of the author being elected to the
-fellowship of the Royal Society. It is not a little remarkable that
-Mr. Hunter, like Jenner’s friends at Alveston, thought so doubtfully
-of his views on the subject of vaccination, that he cautioned him against
-publishing them, lest they should interfere with the fame he had acquired
-in the learned world by his ‘Essay on the Cuckoo.’ But the
-event proved that the caution, though well meant, was unnecessary.
-Jenner was not more disposed than his gifted master to admit any
-conclusion on merely collateral grounds, that might be put to the test
-of experiment. This, however, was too new and important a matter
-to be lightly or prematurely hazarded; and Jenner waited long and
-patiently for an opportunity of thus testing his opinions, losing in the
-mean time no occasion of collecting additional information. The idea,
-thus watchfully and laboriously improved, was first excited in his
-mind while he was an apprentice at Sodbury, by a remark accidentally
-dropped by a young countrywoman in his master’s surgery, who,
-overhearing a conversation about the small-pox, observed that she had
-no fear of catching that disease as she had taken the <em>cow-pox</em>. Jenner,
-who was always alive to any subject connected with natural history,
-was induced to make more particular inquiries into this complaint,
-of which he had never heard before; and the answers he received
-were such as to suggest the probability of substituting it with advantage
-for the inoculated small-pox. Of this theory he never lost sight
-till he established it on the clearest evidence, and with it his unrivalled
-claim to the perpetual gratitude of mankind.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The cow-pox is a disease of the eruptive kind, which is sometimes
-extensively prevalent among cattle in large dairy countries where they
-are herded together in numbers, but often disappears for a long time
-together. Though commonly mild, it is occasionally so severe as to
-terminate fatally; and it is believed, on strong grounds, to have been at
-different times even pestilential among them, and as such, to have been
-mentioned by various writers on rural economy, ancient and modern,
-as well as in medical and other histories. It is generally, however, a very
-mild disorder, appearing on the udder of the cow, at first in the form
-of vesicles much resembling those of small-pox; and it is sometimes,
-as in the instance which first attracted the attention of Jenner, communicated
-to the hands of milkers. In such cases, an eruption of
-similar vesicles takes place on the hands and arms, not without much
-swelling and inflammation, and occasionally with fever and disturbance
-of the health for some days. It has never been known to prove fatal
-when thus communicated, or to have left any unpleasant effects behind
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_15'>15</span>it, except a few indented marks in the situation occupied by the pustules.
-It is not communicable, like small-pox in the human subject,
-by the effluvia; but the matter, or lymph as it is called, contained in
-the vesicles, must be actually inserted under the skin, or applied to a
-raw or an absorbing surface. But the most important of its peculiarities
-is the security it affords against the infection of small-pox.
-This property was well known among the agricultural classes in the
-grazing districts before the time of Jenner, and it has been stated that
-individuals among them had turned their knowledge of it to account
-for the protection of their families, by inoculating them with the vaccine
-disease. But this circumstance, alleged on very scanty evidence
-by those who were opposed to Jenner’s claims, cannot lessen the merit
-of his independent discovery, of which each step was communicated in
-succession to a numerous circle of medical friends, and is recorded in
-the most authentic form. His reputation is, on the other hand, enhanced
-by the fact that, although the immunity conferred by the casual
-disease in milkers had frequently come under the notice of medical
-men from their failing in such persons to produce the small-pox by
-inoculation, yet the idea of introducing the disease of an animal into
-the human frame was so little in consonance with any former practice,
-that Jenner was the first among his brethren to conjecture that cow-pox,
-as the milder disease, might advantageously supersede the inoculated
-small-pox; and that, as the latter is rendered less virulent by
-inoculation, so the former introduced in the same way might be milder
-than the casual complaint, and yet retain its protecting power. He
-had even communicated this conjecture to Hunter, himself no mean
-innovator in medicine, so early as the year 1770; and Mr. Hunter
-was for many years in the habit of mentioning it in his public lectures
-coupled with Jenner’s name: but the proposed substitution was so
-distasteful, or appeared of such questionable propriety, that it obtained
-no favourable notice till it was forced by the inventor on the public
-attention, thirty years after it had first attracted his own.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>It would be interesting to enter into a detail of the progress of
-Jenner’s discovery and of its introduction into general use, as well as
-to show its inestimable value to society by a reference to statistical
-facts. This, however, can only be done here in a very cursory manner.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The way in which the idea was first suggested to him has been
-already mentioned. After his return to Berkeley from London, he
-pursued the subject with great patience and sagacity for many years.
-In the course of these preliminary inquiries he found reason to believe
-that of several kinds of vesicular disease in the cow, but one had the
-property of securing from the small-pox, and that one exclusively, or
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_16'>16</span>at least with the greatest certainty, in its first stage. He also ascertained
-that the horse is subject to an eruption of similar vesicles, apparently
-arising without infection, and popularly known by the name of
-the <em>grease</em>. The matter issuing from these is sometimes conveyed to
-the cow by milkers engaged in farriery; and Jenner conceived it to
-be the original and only source of cow-pox among the herds. The
-opinion is not generally held at present to its full extent; but experiments
-by himself and others since the publication of his Inquiry have
-proved a fact much disputed at the time, that he was right in believing
-the diseases to be identical, whatever may be their origin.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>It may be mentioned as a curious circumstance, that the first lymph
-transmitted in an active state to British India in 1802 by Dr. De
-Carro of Vienna, long the only source of vaccination in that country,
-had been furnished to him by Dr. Sacco of Milan, from genuine vesicles
-produced by direct inoculation from the horse, without passing
-through the cow; an intervention which, till about that period, Jenner
-had continued to think essential to the production of the true disease
-in man.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>In addition to these and other curious results, laboriously collected
-during a period of twenty-six years, Dr. Jenner at length arrived at a
-rational conviction of the safety of the experiment he meditated, from
-observing the invariable harmlessness of the disease when casually
-taken: he determined therefore to put his long-cherished idea to the
-trial on the first opportunity.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>This offered on the 14th of May, 1796, the anniversary of which is
-still kept as a festival at Berlin. On that day he inoculated a boy of
-the name of Phipps in the arm, from a pustule on the hand of a young
-woman who was infected by her master’s cows. The boy went favourably
-through the disease. On the 1st of July he was inoculated for
-the small-pox, and, as Jenner had predicted, without effect.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The feelings of the sanguine philanthropist may be conceived.
-They cannot be better described than they have been by himself in
-the following terms. “While the vaccine discovery was progressive,
-the joy I felt at the prospect before me of being the instrument destined
-to take away from the world one of its greatest calamities,
-blended with the fond hope of enjoying independence and domestic
-peace and happiness, was often so excessive, that in pursuing my
-favourite subject among the meadows, I have sometimes found myself
-in a reverie. It is pleasant to me to recollect that these reflections
-always ended in devout acknowledgments to that Being from whom
-this and all other mercies flow.”</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>During the next two years many other equally successful trials were
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_17'>17</span>made; and at length the discovery was published to the world in June,
-1798, in a quarto pamphlet of seventy pages, which had been previously
-subjected to the most rigorous criticism and revision by a few
-chosen friends who met for that purpose at the house of Thomas Westfaling,
-Esq., at Rudhall, near Ross. It is entitled ‘An Inquiry into
-the Causes and Effects of the Variolæ Vaccinæ; a disease discovered
-in some of the Western Counties of England, particularly Gloucestershire,
-and known by the name of the Cow-pox.’ The pamphlet is
-enriched with the detail of sixteen cases of the casual, and seven of the
-inoculated disease, the latter including the case of one of the author’s
-sons; and with coloured drawings of the appearances in both.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The style of this pamphlet, as well as of others which succeeded it
-from Jenner’s pen in the course of a few years, is remarkably modest,
-and admirable in all respects, which probably contributed much to the
-early favour it received. The facts were such as to defy contradiction,
-and the conclusions so just and mature, that the experience of nearly
-forty years has been able to add little more than its seal of confirmation
-to them. The few errors that have been detected relate chiefly to the
-degree of protection afforded by the cow-pox, which Jenner affirmed
-to be perfect: it is now however believed to be incomplete, perhaps in
-three instances out of every hundred; that small proportionate number
-passing, in general after the lapse of some years, through a very mild
-and modified small-pox, in which the per-centage of fatal cases is certainly
-not more, and probably much less, than five; being not more than
-three in 2000 of all vaccinated persons, while the rate of mortality
-even in inoculated small-pox is one in fifty, or forty in 2000. It
-should be borne in mind that small-pox itself sometimes occurs a
-second time even in a severe and fatal form, as in the case of Louis
-XV. Some constitutional peculiarity is probably the occasion of both
-these anomalies; and this supposition will also account for the often-observed
-fact, that small-pox after vaccination commonly affects several
-members of the same family almost simultaneously, thus giving an
-appearance of failure in a proportion much greater than the truth.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Another position advanced by Jenner in this pamphlet is too remarkable
-to be passed over. After stating his belief that the cow-pox
-originates from the horse in the way already mentioned, he proceeds
-to suggest that the small-pox may have been itself originally morbid
-matter of the same kind, aggravated into a malignant and contagious
-form by accidental circumstances. But this opinion, though plausible,
-is not considered by any means as established.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Favourably as his work was received, the author, who had come to
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_18'>18</span>London partly to superintend the publication, was unable to obtain an
-opportunity of displaying the disease in that city, which had been the
-chief object of his visit; and returned, much disappointed, to Cheltenham,
-where he now frequently resided, in the middle of July. He
-left, however, some vaccine lymph with Mr. Cline, who was the first
-surgeon in London that ventured to make a trial of it. The complete
-success of the experiment, which was publicly performed, so strongly
-interested the profession, that the new practice became quickly popular,
-in spite of a warm though partial opposition, which was put down
-in the summer of 1799 by a manifesto expressive of confidence in its
-efficacy and safety, signed by seventy-three of the most eminent medical
-men in the metropolis. In the same year some unfortunate occurrences
-took place in consequence of Dr. Woodville, the physician of
-the Small-pox Hospital, having incautiously used and distributed
-matter from persons whom he had inoculated with small-pox a few
-days after vaccination, before it had taken a sufficient hold. The
-mongrel lymph thus produced sometimes occasioned one, sometimes
-the other disease; their effects were confounded; and some deaths
-which ensued, as well as a general eruption of the skin which took
-place in many instances, were attributed to the cow-pox. This and
-other mistakes would probably have much retarded the general adoption
-of vaccination, but for the promptitude of Jenner to discover and
-expose the source of the error.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>In 1802 a parliamentary inquiry into the value of the new method
-of preventing small-pox, including Jenner’s claim to the discovery of
-it, was instituted, and a grant was voted to him of 10,000<i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">l.</span></i> In 1807
-he received an additional vote of 20,000<i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">l.</span></i>, which, considering that he
-had been the instrument of saving in England alone at least 45,000
-lives annually, will seem by no means an extravagant mark of national
-gratitude and respect.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>In 1803 the Royal Jennerian Society, for the encouragement of
-vaccination, was established in London under the superintendence of
-Dr. Jenner. In 1808 this society was merged by his advice in the
-National Vaccine Establishment, which still continues to dispense
-the blessings of the antidote at the public charge.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The growing interest in the public mind in favour of vaccination
-was of course everywhere extended to its author, who, in spite of
-several unworthy cabals, and attempts to deprive him of the credit of
-a discovery peculiarly his own, was received among all ranks with
-the highest distinction at home, and also gratified with various continental
-honours. If he had thought fit to settle in London, he might
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_19'>19</span>undoubtedly have secured wealth in proportion to his reputation; but
-he preferred the quiet enjoyment of rural life and domestic happiness.
-His death took place at Berkeley, from a sudden attack of apoplexy, in
-February, 1823, in the seventy-fourth year of his age. The latter
-years of his life were spent between Berkeley and Cheltenham, and
-in occasional visits to London, in the zealous prosecution of his
-favourite subjects of research, and successful endeavours to diffuse the
-blessings of his discovery more widely in his own and other lands.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>In England, however, these have not been so extensively felt as
-in some other countries where the form of government has given
-facilities for the enforcement of vaccination. The small-pox consequently
-prevails to a considerable extent in this country, and especially
-in London. Yet the annual number of deaths from small-pox within
-the bills of mortality is at present under 700; the largest number in
-one year since the general practice of vaccination having been 1299, in
-1825. A century ago, when the population certainly did not reach
-half its present amount, the yearly average was 2000, the maximum
-being in 1796, when the mortality swelled to 3549. That this decrease
-is wholly due to vaccination cannot be doubted; the advantage,
-however, is partly indirect, and has arisen from the discontinuance of
-the practice of inoculating for the small-pox, which afforded security
-to individuals, but increased the general mortality by keeping alive a
-constant source of infection. But the most striking examples of the
-advantage derived from vaccination are to be found on the continent.
-Thus at Berlin, where the average annual amount of deaths from
-small-pox was 472 for the twenty years previous to 1802, and 1646
-died in 1801, the mortality so speedily diminished after the enforcement
-of vaccination by law, that in 1821 and 1822 there was only one
-death in each year. These and similar instances which might be adduced
-from other countries, seem almost to warrant us in adopting the
-sanguine expectation of Jenner, that by means of his discovery this
-disgusting and dreadful malady, from which not four in a hundred of
-the human race wholly escaped, and which destroyed a tenth part of
-all that were born, and disfigured where it did not destroy, may yet be
-swept from the face of the earth.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The best books of reference on the subjects of this memoir are
-‘Baron’s Life of Jenner,’ ‘Moore’s History of the Cow-pox,’ Dr.
-Gregory’s admirable articles in the ‘Encyclopædia of Medicine,’ and
-the reports of various parliamentary committees, especially those of
-1802 and 1833.</p>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id002'>
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_20'>20</span>
-<img src='images/i_020.jpg' alt='MASKELYNE.' class='ig001' />
-</div>
-
-<div class='chapter'>
-  <h2 class='c005'>MASKELYNE.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c010'>Nevil Maskelyne was born in London, October 6, 1732. He was
-educated at Westminster, and in time proceeded to Catherine Hall,
-Cambridge, from whence he migrated to Trinity College. He took
-the degree of Bachelor of Arts, with honours, in the year 1754. In
-1755, he was ordained to a curacy near London. He had previously
-turned his attention to astronomy, to which he was led by the solar
-eclipse of 1748; and he now formed an acquaintance with Bradley,
-an astronomer of unequalled merit, whether in discovery or practical
-excellence in observation, whom he assisted in calculating his table
-of refractions. It is no wonder that, under such instruction, Maskelyne
-should have distinguished himself afterwards as an observer.
-From this period (<span class='sc'><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">A.D.</span></span> 1750) Delambre dates the commencement
-of really good observations.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>In 1758 Maskelyne was elected Fellow of his college; in 1759 he
-became Fellow of the Royal Society. In 1761 he went to St. Helena,
-to observe the transit of Venus, and also to collect such observations
-as might, if possible, enable him to detect the parallax of the fixed
-stars. He failed in both objects; in the first from cloudy weather, in
-the second from faulty instruments, as he supposed, though the quantity
-in question is so small that its existence has not yet been detected;
-but he was enabled to correct the principal errors of those instruments
-in a considerable degree, and also to make very good observations on
-various other points. In his voyage out and home he applied himself
-to perfect the method of observing lunar distances, and deducing the
-longitude from them. In 1764 he sailed to Barbadoes, to make a trial
-of Harrison’s time-keeper; and in 1765 he was appointed Astronomer
-Royal, on the decease of Mr. Bliss. He was then only thirty-three
-years of age, and had enjoyed a rapid career of celebrity. He had
-published enough in the ‘British Mariner’s Guide,’ <span class='sc'><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">A.D.</span></span> 1763, to
-require honourable mention of his name and methods in every work of
-navigation.</p>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_020fp.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p><em>Engraved by E. Scriven.</em><br /><br />MASKELYNE.<br /><br /><em>From the original Picture by Vanderburgh in the possession of the Royal Society.</em><br /><br />Under the Superintendance of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.<br /><br /><em>London, Published by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street.</em></p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_21'>21</span>As soon as he had obtained the post of Astronomer Royal, he began
-to call the attention of the Commissioners of Longitude to the practicability
-of the method of lunar distances, and proposed to them to
-establish a Nautical Almanac, which should contain such an ephemeris
-of the moon’s path as would make the object in view attainable. The
-memorial on this subject was presented February 9, 1765, and the
-evidence of various officers of the East India Company’s service was
-taken as to the success of the method. The lunar tables of Mayer
-furnished the proposed materials for the moon’s places; and upon the
-adoption of the scheme of Maskelyne, a parliamentary reward of 3000<i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">l.</span></i>
-was given to Mayer’s widow. To Maskelyne we are thus indebted
-for a work which has more than any other contributed to the advancement
-of navigation, in the removal of the great difficulty of finding the
-longitude. It is true that this first effort could hardly then be expected
-to give the longitude within a degree; but this was a great improvement,
-when it is considered that the reckoning of a ship might
-be out several degrees, and that chronometers had not yet been introduced.
-But the ‘Nautical Almanac’ must be considered as a work
-addressed to astronomers as well as seamen, from its earliest commencement.
-Maskelyne saw the importance of saving the observer
-the trouble and risk of error which would attend his reductions without
-such assistance, and contemplated the continual improvement of
-the lunar tables. It is not one of the least obligations which astronomical
-science owes to Maskelyne, that since his time a very slender
-portion of mathematical knowledge will enable a diligent observer to
-turn his means to good account in the promotion of sidereal and even
-of planetary astronomy. Without saying that the observer, as such,
-is employed about the highest department of the science, or in any
-way recommending the lover of observation to stop his career at that
-point, we may remind him that, with the assistance of an ephemeris,
-such as the ‘Nautical Almanac’ of Maskelyne did, still more as that
-of the present day, he can never want the means of turning his amusements
-to useful purpose.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The first Nautical Almanac was published in 1767, and was continued
-by Maskelyne to the end of his life. The requisite tables,
-intended to accompany that work, were first published by him in
-1781.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_22'>22</span>With the exception of attending the meetings of the Royal Society,
-Maskelyne hardly ever quitted his observatory. His life is therefore
-difficult to describe, except by its results. But in 1772 he went to
-Scotland, to pursue his celebrated experiment for the discovery of the
-earth’s density. The Newtonian doctrine of attraction, in the general
-form, that all matter attracts all other matter, could hardly be said to
-be finally established, except as a point of strong probability. That
-a planet, considered as a whole, attracts a planet, might be thought
-to be demonstrated, but there was no proof of matter being the agent
-of attraction upon matter, <em>on the earth</em>, except in the case of magnetised
-or electrified bodies. The notion that the attraction of a mountain, if
-it existed, would cause a slight deviation of the plumb-line, which
-should be perceptible in its effect on the observed position of the stars,
-had been entertained, and the effect even suspected, but without being
-reduced to absolute proof. To give an idea of the minuteness of the
-angle of deviation which was to be looked for, we may state that a
-pendulum ten thousand inches long, vibrating through an angle of ten
-seconds, would only move through half an inch at the end farthest
-from the point of suspension, and that ten seconds was, as it turned
-out, nearly double of the angle in question. Maskelyne chose the
-mountain Schehallien, in Perthshire, as the scene of his operations.
-By observing well-known stars with an instrument depending on a
-plumb-line, both north and south of the mountain, he determined the
-difference of latitude of two stations, subject of course to an error if
-the plumb-line were affected in its position by the attraction of the
-mountain. He then measured the difference of latitude of his stations
-by a trigonometrical survey, which gave their relative position by a
-method independent of the plumb-line and its errors. He thus found
-that his north and south plumb-lines were inclined to each other at
-an angle of about eleven seconds and a half more than they should
-have been from their difference of position on the earth, and that the
-direction of their inclination was towards the mountain. He deduced
-his results from those among his observations which he considered as
-the best, being about one out of ten of the whole; but it is much to
-his credit as an observer, that Baron Zach afterwards found that all
-his observations, good and bad, gave the same average result as those
-he had selected. Zach also established the same fact by his observations
-in the neighbourhood of Marseilles, namely, that the vicinity of a
-mountain affects the level, which was the instrument he used, and not
-the plumb-line.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The labour of deducing an approximation to the earth’s mean density
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_23'>23</span>was undertaken by Dr. Hutton. By getting the best possible estimate
-of the materials of which Schehallien is composed, and comparing
-what we must call the weight of the plumb-line <em>towards the mountain</em>
-with its weight towards the earth, it appeared that the mean density
-of the latter is about five times that of water. This, considered as a
-numerical approximation, alone and unsupported, would have been
-worth little, owing to the doubt which must have existed as to the
-correctness of the estimation of the mountain’s density. It would
-prove that there was attraction in the mountain, but would give no
-very great probability to the value of the earth’s density, as deduced.
-But a few years afterwards Cavendish made an experiment, with the
-same object, and by an entirely different method. By producing oscillations
-in leaden balls by means of other leaden balls, and by a process
-of reasoning wholly free from astronomical data, he inferred that the
-mean density of the earth was five and a-half times that of water.
-The experiment of Cavendish was published in 1798. It is much to be
-wished that the experiments of Cavendish should be repeated on a
-larger scale: but the expense of the apparatus will probably deter individuals
-from the attempt.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The Schehallien experiment was carried on under many difficulties
-and privations; and its successful result places its author in the list
-of those who first opened the road to the determination of a fundamental
-element of the solar system. But brilliant as it must appear,
-it is by no means the most useful of Maskelyne’s labours. Excepting
-Bradley, he may almost be called the first who systematically directed
-his efforts to the attainment of the minutest accuracy in astronomical
-observation. His celebrated catalogue, <span class='sc'><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">A.D.</span></span> 1790, consisted only of
-thirty-six of the principal stars, but the places of these, especially in
-right ascension, were determined with a degree of precision which was
-then believed to be hardly attainable. The means by which he accomplished
-his objects, such as taking the nearest tenth of a second
-instead of the nearest second, or half second, of time in his transit
-observations, the practice of uniformly observing all the wires of the
-instrument, instead of one; the introduction of the movable eye-piece,
-by which the several wires could all be viewed directly, instead of
-obliquely, and many little things of the kind, are the indications of a
-man who was familiar above his contemporaries with the sources of
-error, and who had formed at once a bold estimate of the extent to
-which they might be avoided, and a correct view of the means of doing
-it. It is difficult to say what portion of the present improved spirit of
-observation in these points may be attributed to Maskelyne, but it
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_24'>24</span>certainly was not small. Delambre, who knew at least as well as any
-man of his time what had been done and was doing, and who was
-never profuse of praise, as his ‘History of Astronomy’ amply demonstrates,
-pays him the following compliment in the memoir which he
-contributed to the ‘<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Biographie Universelle</span>:’—“<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Maskelyne était en
-correspondance avec tous les astronomes de l’Europe, qu’il considérait
-comme ses frères, et qui, de leur côté, le respectaient comme un
-doyen, dont les travaux leur avaient été éminemment utiles.</span>”</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>We have spoken, in the life of Harrison, of the controversy about the
-merits of the time-piece of the latter. As Astronomer Royal, Maskelyne
-was the official investigator of the rates of those instruments,
-and both in the case of Harrison, and in that of Mudge, his decisions
-underwent printed attacks, which he answered. Without entering
-into the merits of these questions, since all the grave accusations
-which were brought against him have fallen harmless, we shall only
-state, that Maskelyne’s answers are full of documents, and free from
-passion; both very favourable symptoms.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Dr. Maskelyne held church preferment from his college, and was
-besides in possession of an easy fortune. He died Feb. 9, 1811,
-leaving behind him an unblemished personal reputation, and a character
-for scientific utility of the first order. He left behind him much
-evidence of his utility in the labours and character of the assistants
-whom he formed; all of whom, says Lalande, were useful astronomers.
-The late Dr. Brinkley, Bishop of Cloyne, who added the reputation of
-a distinguished mathematician to that of an eminent observer, was for
-sometime one of his pupils in the practical part of the science.</p>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id002'>
-<img src='images/i_024.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>[Schehallien.]</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_025fp.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p><em>Engraved by J. Posselwhite.</em><br /><br />HOBBES.<br /><br /><em>From a Picture by Dobson in the possession of The Royal Society.</em><br /><br />Under the Superintendance of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.<br /><br /><em>London, Published by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street.</em></p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id002'>
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_25'>25</span>
-<img src='images/i_025.jpg' alt='HOBBES.' class='ig001' />
-</div>
-
-<div class='chapter'>
-  <h2 class='c005'>HOBBES.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c010'>When Thomas Hobbes was eighty-four years of age he composed an
-amusing account of his own fortunes in Latin hexameter and pentameter
-verses; and in these it is mentioned that his birth was premature,
-owing to the terror occasioned to his mother by a false report
-of the approach of the Spanish fleet. To this accident he humorously
-ascribes his patriotic zeal and the peacefulness of his disposition.
-We quote from a translation made by a contemporary hand, which in
-elegance of expression is on a par with the original.</p>
-
-<div class='lg-container-b c011'>
-  <div class='linegroup'>
-    <div class='group'>
-      <div class='line'>“And hereupon it was, my mother dear</div>
-      <div class='line'>Did bring forth twins at once, both me, and Fear.</div>
-      <div class='line'>For this my country’s foes I e’er did hate,</div>
-      <div class='line'>With calm Peace and my Muse associate.”</div>
-    </div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'>It was at Malmsbury, on the 5th of April, 1588, that this very
-singular man was thus called into an existence, which was continued,
-in perpetual activity, for ninety-one years.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>One of the earliest efforts of his talents was to translate the Medea
-of Euripides into Latin iambics. At the age of fourteen, he commenced
-his more serious labours at Magdalen College, Oxford; and
-employed five years there in the study of logic and Aristotle’s Physics.
-Immediately afterwards he entered into the family of William Cavendish,
-Baron Hardwick, subsequently Earl of Devonshire, and became
-tutor to his eldest son. The companion alike of his sports and his
-studies, Hobbes presently acquired the affection of his pupil and the
-confidence of the family; and the two young men (for they were of
-the same age) set out together to travel in France and Italy.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>A free intercourse with the learned men of other countries enlarged
-the mind of Hobbes, and opened new channels to his investigation. And
-it appears, in the first instance, that when he beheld the contempt in
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_26'>26</span>which the subjects of his academical industry were generally held, he
-turned from them to the more diligent study of Greek and Latin.
-Nor was it his object alone to become master of the languages, but
-also to meditate on the invaluable records of the history and the
-wisdom of the ancients. He employed his leisure hours in the translation
-of Thucydides; and he published it in the year 1628, to the
-end (says his contemporary biographer), that the absurdities of the
-democratical Athenians might become known to his own fellow-citizens.
-This was the first of his publications; and it may have been
-that perhaps to which, in later life, he attached the least importance.
-Yet has it so fallen out, that after a lapse of two long centuries of
-slowly progressive knowledge and wisdom, his other works are for the
-most part consigned to the shelves of the profound and curious student,
-while the “Translation of Thucydides” is familiar to the acquaintance
-and respect of every scholar.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>It is related that Hobbes, while yet a youth, was present at an
-assembly of several eminent men of letters, when one of them asked,
-in a contemptuous manner, <em>And what is sensation?</em> No one attempted
-to make any reply; and the question was thus silently
-acknowledged to be inscrutable. This piqued his curiosity and his
-pride; for he was astonished that those, who through their pretensions
-to wisdom so despised others, should be ignorant of the nature of their
-own senses. Accordingly he directed his deepest attention to that
-inquiry. The first result of his meditation was this position: that if
-all things were at <em>rest</em>, they would part with all their qualities.
-Hence, in his mind, it followed, that all the principles of natural
-science, including the senses of all animated things and all bodily
-affections, depended on the varieties of <em>motion</em>; and to these, rather
-than to any inherent or occult qualities, he referred all the phenomena
-of physics.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>This his system of physics is amply developed in the first section
-(<span lang="la" xml:lang="la">De Corpore</span>) of his book of the ‘Elements of Philosophy;’ which
-failed not to gain him a celebrity more than proportionate to the
-number of his proselytes. For many admired his ingenuity who
-did not adopt his conclusions. In conjunction with these pursuits,
-Hobbes engaged with zeal in the study of mathematics. He flattered
-himself that he had discovered how to square the circle, and published
-several treatises in relation to that celebrated problem, which at the
-time gained for him considerable reputation. In 1647 he was appointed
-mathematical tutor to the Prince of Wales. He engaged in
-a long mathematical controversy with Dr. Wallis, of which an amusing
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_27'>27</span>account will be found in D’Israeli’s ‘Quarrels of Authors,’ vol. 3.
-Wallis, however, was an adversary entirely above Hobbes’ strength in
-this department of science.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>If Hobbes had confined his exertions to the pursuits of classical
-literature and physical philosophy, he would have spent a more peaceful,
-and therefore to him a happier, existence. But in the tumultuous
-times in which he lived, with a mind habituated to deep investigations,
-it was scarcely possible that he should do otherwise than fix his attention
-on the political phenomena which were passing before him, and
-endeavour to trace their causes and solve their difficulties. After a
-residence of three years in England, he returned to Paris in 1640,
-and enjoyed the society of some of the distinguished men who were
-collected around Cardinal Richelieu. There he wrote his first political
-work, the book <cite><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">De Cive</span></cite>, which he published in 1646. He then
-proceeded to compose a much more elaborate treatise on the same
-subject, which he published in England in the year 1651; this was
-his <em>Leviathan</em>—a name associated with that of Hobbes in the mind
-of every reader, though the <em>peculiar</em> principles which are embodied
-under it are now known to few. Suffice it here to say, that the object
-of this work was to give a decided support to the monarchical institution:
-to show that there could be no safety without peace,
-no peace without a strong government; that arms and money were
-the elements which alone could give that strength; that even arms
-will scarcely avail to this end, unless placed in a single hand, or if
-opposed (as is the case in religious dissension), by motives and principles
-which do not terminate in this world.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Political researches in that age necessarily involved theological, or
-at least ecclesiastical, principles; and Hobbes had not feared to denounce
-some of the antient usurpations of the clergy, and to pronounce
-religious concord to be absolutely essential to the civil happiness of a
-people: and while he broached some principles not well pleasing to
-the pretensions of the hierarchy of the day, he advanced others
-which were thought to end, by no violent interpretation, in absolute
-infidelity. Accordingly, the theologians assailed him from every
-quarter; and his work, while it divided learned laymen, some of
-whom thought it a marvel of political genius, others a dangerous and
-unseemly monster, was condemned by the unanimous indignation of
-the ecclesiastical body. The churchmen of Rome united in hostility
-with those of England against doctrines which were dangerous to the
-common prerogatives of the whole order, if not to the integrity of
-religion itself. The latter, being more closely attacked, were more
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_28'>28</span>violent in their enmity. They denounced the opinions as false and
-heretical; and the divines of Cambridge went so far as publicly to
-stigmatize the author as an atheist. Besides this, he did not even
-escape the charges of being ill disposed to royalty, and a disguised
-adversary to the party of the king. These calumnies (such at least
-he constantly asserted both to be,) deprived him of the patronage of
-the Court, and seemed at one time even to have endangered his
-personal safety; insomuch that, under the Commonwealth, he found
-it expedient to escape from his enemies at Paris, and take refuge
-among those, whose enmity he had rather deserved, the republicans
-of England. He escaped however the fate, so common to men of
-moderation in violent times, of being persecuted by both parties; and
-only sustained the animosity of that which he had intended to serve.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Hobbes was a decided Episcopalian. He studied in all matters
-to conform both to the doctrines and the ceremonies of the church
-established; and avoided, even with a feeling of dislike, the conventicles
-of the Puritans. Still less did he incline, on the other hand, to
-the Roman Catholic faith. During a dangerous illness, which he
-suffered with great firmness at Paris, when he was supposed to be on
-the point of death, an intimate friend, named Mersenne, a learned Franciscan,
-approached him with spiritual consolation, and pressed him to
-depart in communion with the Roman church. Hobbes calmly replied,
-“Father, I have long ago considered all those matters well, and it
-would trouble me to reconsider them now. You can entertain me on
-some more agreeable subject. When did you see Gassendi?”</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Yet neither his unmoved adhesion to Protestantism, nor even his
-affection for episcopal government, could disarm the wrath of the
-theologians, who continued to wage an unsparing warfare against
-him, and to inflict on his reputation, and even on his fortunes, such
-mischief as they were able. On the other hand, his singular qualities
-and talents failed not to procure him many powerful protectors;
-and he stood so balanced (says his biographer) between his friends
-and his enemies, that the former were just strong enough to prevent
-his destruction, the latter to obstruct his advancement. So that he
-continued, with a mighty reputation and a slender fortune, to remain,
-even to the end of his days, under the same noble patronage, under
-which his first distinctions had been acquired.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>But in this comparative obscurity he was consoled by the society of
-the learned, the courtesy of the great, and the admiration of almost all
-men. Among his personal friends or acquaintances were numbered
-Francis Bacon of Verulam, Ben Jonson (who is said to have revised
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_29'>29</span>his Translation of Thucydides), the astronomer Galileo, the antiquarian
-Selden, Lord Herbert of Cherbury, Harvey, physician to
-Charles I., Des Cartes, Gassendi; and his praises were celebrated by
-the contemporary muse of Cowley. He was sought by distinguished
-foreigners who visited England, even nobles and ambassadors; especially
-by Cosmo de’ Medici, then Prince, afterwards Duke of Tuscany,
-who offered him ample proofs of his esteem; and there were many
-among his own compatriots who received his opinions with respect,
-if not with favour.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>During the long period of his declining life, Hobbes is related to
-have pursued with most assiduity his studies in natural philosophy;
-but the publications of his old age (if we except the Decameron
-Physiologicum, published in 1676) rather indicate a return to his
-earliest tastes, which inclined, we are told, to history and poetry. At
-the age of about 80, he wrote, in English, the <em>Behemoth</em>, or History
-of the Civil Wars between Charles and the Parliament; besides a long
-Latin poem on the origin and increase of the pontifical power. At
-about 86, he translated the Odyssey into English verse, and the Iliad
-at 87: and he persevered for the four following years, which were his
-last, in the same peaceful course of literary recreation. A list of his
-works, forty-two in number, is given in Chalmers’ ‘Biographical
-Dictionary:’ the great majority of them are forgotten.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>He died towards the end of the year 1679, and was buried at
-Hault-Bucknall, close by the grave of his faithful patroness, the
-Countess of Devonshire. Respecting his personal character and conversation
-it is recorded, that he was agreeable and courteous in his
-familiar intercourse with all, those alone excepted who approached
-him for the mere purpose of disputation: and these he treated with
-more severity than was necessary. Above all things, he detested
-theological controversy, and always strove to turn his hearers away
-from it to the exercise of piety and the practice of Christian morality.
-His favourite authors were Homer, Virgil, Thucydides, and Euclid:
-but his reading was not extensive; as he thought the careful meditation
-on a few good works more profitable to the understanding than
-a more abundant draught of indiscriminate learning; and was fond
-of saying upon this subject, that if he read as much as others he should
-be as ignorant as they were. He persisted in a life of celibacy, that
-he might be able to pursue his studies with the less interruption. In
-his disposition he was generous and charitable; but his means were
-scanty: for even at the end of his life he had little else but two small
-pensions, the one from the family of Devon, the other from the king.</p>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id002'>
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_30'>30</span>
-<img src='images/i_030.jpg' alt='RAPHAEL.' class='ig001' />
-</div>
-
-<div class='chapter'>
-  <h2 class='c005'>RAPHAEL.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c010'>Raffaello Sanzio, the greatest of painters, was born in 1483 at
-Urbino, where the house in which he passed the first years of his life
-is still preserved, consecrated by a suitable inscription. His first
-teacher was his father, Giovanni Sanzio, a painter who, allowing for
-the technical imperfections of the time, was perhaps entitled to more
-praise than Vasari has awarded him; the evidence of the remaining
-works of this master has indeed led his recent biographer, Pungileoni,
-to conclude that he was in many essential points equal to the
-best of his contemporaries, and that his feeling for expression may
-have had no unimportant influence on the genius he was destined
-to instruct. An interesting altar-piece by the elder Sanzio still exists
-at Urbino, in the church of S. Francesco, representing the Madonna
-with St. Francis and other saints: the members of the painter’s
-family are introduced, and among them the infant Raphael kneels
-by his mother’s side.</p>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_030fp.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p><em>Engraved by J. Thomson.</em><br /><br />RAFFAELLE.<br /><br /><em>From a Miniature copy of the original Picture in the Gallery at Florence. In the Possession of the Rev<sup>d</sup>. Horace Cholmondeley Kingston House, Dorchester.</em><br /><br />Under the Superintendance of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.<br /><br /><em>London, Published by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street.</em></p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'>The silence of the historians of art as to the claims of Giovanni
-Sanzio is less surprising than their omitting to notice the importance
-of his city and province at the period in question. The duchy of
-Urbino, at the close of the fifteenth century, could boast, as Sismondi
-justly remarks, a population as warlike, and a court as lettered and
-polished as any in Italy. The hereditary dukes of the ancient family
-of Montefeltro ranked high among the captains of the age, and among
-the distinguished patrons of science. Federigo da Montefeltro, who
-died a few months before the birth of Raphael, had employed the
-talents of some of the best painters of Italy, and of other countries, to
-adorn his capital. Among the native artists, Fra Carnevale was one
-of the earliest who attempted perspective; and to him, or at least to
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_31'>31</span>his works, Bramante, as well as Raphael, may have been indebted for
-a knowledge of the rudiments of architecture; Pietro della Francesca,
-whose compositions on mathematics and geometry enriched the ducal
-library, was domiciliated with Giovanni Sanzio; Lucian, a painter and
-architect of Dalmatia, superintended for a time the building of the
-castle; but the most remarkable guest was Justus van Ghent, called
-by the Italians Giusto da Guanto; a considerable work painted by
-him contained portraits of the Duke Federigo and his successor Guid’
-Ubaldo, under whose auspices again the talents of the celebrated Luca
-Signorelli were put in requisition. Pictures by most of these artists
-probably still exist at Urbino, and undoubtedly were seen and studied
-by Raphael in his early youth. Among the first reputed works of the
-great artist himself, which are preserved in his native city, may be
-mentioned a Madonna, originally painted on the wall in his father’s
-house, and a holy family on wood in the church of S. Andrea.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>It is difficult to fix with precision the time when Raphael first
-studied under Perugino; but if, as Rumohr supposes, that painter only
-settled finally at Perugia about 1500, his distinguished scholar must
-have joined him at the age of sixteen or seventeen, and not some years
-earlier, as has been generally assumed. Even at this age it is sufficiently
-wonderful that the scholar should have been fitted to select the
-best qualities in his master’s style, and indeed very soon to improve
-upon them.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Besides the works which his native city contained, Raphael doubtless
-had had opportunities of seeing the productions of Andrea Luigi
-di Assisi, called Ingegno, of Niccolò di Fuligno, and other painters of
-the school of Umbria. Their robust style of colour, which was somewhat
-modified by Perugino and Pinturicchio, is occasionally to be
-traced in Raphael’s early works. There was another quality which
-Perugino, in his best time, possessed in common with other painters
-of his province, and which may be said generally to characterize the
-school of Umbria. This was an intensity of expression in sacred subjects
-indicating a deep religious feeling; and it is so striking in the
-best productions of the artist last named, that it has been considered
-sufficient of itself to prove the orthodoxy of his creed, which Vasari
-had called in question. The impulse was probably derived from
-Assisi, where some of the earliest Italian masters had left specimens
-of their powers, and the source was the doctrine of St. Francis. The
-history and legends of this saint (who died in 1226), frequently
-exercised the pencil of the early Italians, even to the danger of
-causing Bible subjects to be neglected, from the time of Giotto to
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_32'>32</span>that of Angelico da Fiesole: but the chief influence on the school
-above-mentioned is apparent rather in the treatment than in the
-subject; it is to be recognised in a certain subdued earnestness of
-expression, allied to the severe tenets of the saint of Assisi, and exhibiting
-religion rather in its suffering than in its triumphant character.
-This tendency received an additional impulse from the works
-which Taddeo di Bartolo of Siena had left in Perugia and other parts
-of Umbria early in the fifteenth century. The painters most remarkable
-for the quality alluded to were Niccolò Alunno, called Niccolò
-di Fuligno, and Pietro Perugino; but the same feeling had extended
-itself to Francia in Bologna. The taste of the Florentine painters
-on the other hand, with the single exception of Angelico da Fiesole,
-had long taken another direction: their pictures of this time abound
-in portraits; the saints and Madonnas of the school, those for instance
-of Domenico Ghirlandajo, seem to have been taken from
-common nature, and are seldom inspired with that sanctity of expression
-so frequent and so remarkable in the painters above-named. In
-later times, the painters of the various Italian schools, who were supposed
-to copy nature with too little selection, were called <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">naturalisti</span></i>,
-and, at the period alluded to, Florence may be considered comparatively
-the seat of this kind of imitation; a tendency greatly owing, it
-appears, to the introduction of early Flemish pictures, in which portraits
-were frequent, and in which the back-ground and accessories
-were treated with an attention new to the Italian painters.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Thus it cannot but be considered among the greatest of Raphael’s
-advantages, that he had opportunities of studying in both the schools
-alluded to; and in both, he of all men knew or felt what was fittest to
-be imitated. The depth and fervour of expression which he imbibed
-from the masters he first contemplated, and which he never relinquished,
-was improved and enlivened by the accurate study of the forms and
-varieties of nature to which the Florentines were devoted: again,
-before Raphael arrived in Florence, Lionardo da Vinci had laid the
-foundation of that profound anatomical knowledge, the only true means
-of representing action, which was afterwards carried to its greatest
-results in the works of Michael Angelo. The celebrated Cartoons
-of both these great designers were the object of study and admiration
-in Florence at the time Raphael resided there, although they were
-not completed quite so soon as might be inferred from a passage in
-Vasari. The importance of considering and accounting for the earliest
-tendency of Raphael’s feeling, will be apparent when we remember
-that it reappeared in his later, and even in his latest, works. The
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_33'>33</span>Dispute of the Sacrament, his altar-pieces, and even the Cartoons,
-are not Florentine in their taste, but are rather allied to the school
-from which he derived his first impressions.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>From 1500, or perhaps a little earlier, to 1504–5, Raphael was
-employed at Perugia, or at Città di Castello (a township midway
-between Perugia and Urbino); his works in the latter place must,
-however, have been executed after he became a pupil of Perugino, as
-they clearly evince an imitation of that painter’s manner. An altar-piece,
-originally in the church of S. Niccola di Tolentino, at Città
-di Castello, is now in the Vatican; a Crucifixion from the church of
-S. Domenico, in the same place, is in the Fesch collection at Rome;
-and the celebrated Marriage of the Virgin, from the church of S.
-Francesco, is at Milan. The last, which was copied almost without
-alteration from a painting of Perugino, has the date 1504, and immediately
-precedes Raphael’s first visit to Florence.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The works done by Raphael in Perugia were much more numerous,
-to say nothing of his assistance in pictures which pass for Perugino’s.
-Among his own may be mentioned an Assumption of the
-Virgin, now in the Vatican, as well as another picture of the same
-subject begun by Raphael, but finished, not till after his death, by his
-scholars. The fresco, in the cloister of S. Severo, at Perugia, which
-resembles the upper part of the <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Disputa</span></i> (to be hereafter mentioned),
-has the date 1505; the lower part was finished by Perugino when
-very old, after Raphael’s death. The style of this fresco bespeaks an
-acquaintance with higher examples of art than Perugia contained; it
-was probably done after a first visit to Florence. The interesting
-picture at Blenheim, mentioned by Vasari as having been painted for
-the chapel Degli Ansidei, in the church De’ Servi at Perugia, has the
-date 1505; it may be considered to be the last example of Raphael’s
-imitation of Perugino, and to mark the transition from that imitation
-to the Florentine manner.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>While Raphael was studying at Perugia, Pinturicchio, a native of
-that place, and an assistant of Perugino, was employed to paint some
-subjects relating to the Life of Pius II., in the library, now the sacristy,
-of the Duomo at Siena. Vasari relates, not without contradicting
-himself in the separate lives of Raphael and Pinturicchio, that the latter
-availed himself of his young friend’s skill in composition, in engaging
-him to design the whole series of subjects; he further adds, that
-Raphael accompanied Pinturicchio to Siena, but left him to proceed
-to Florence, in order to see the Cartoons of Michael Angelo and
-Lionardo da Vinci. The works in the sacristy at Siena appear to
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_34'>34</span>have been done before the death of Pius III., in 1503: at that time
-the Cartoons in question were not completed (M. Angelo’s was not
-finished and publicly shown before 1506, Vinci’s not much earlier);
-and as we have before seen, Raphael was employed at Città di
-Castello in 1504, probably before he had seen Florence at all.
-It is however certain that Raphael made some designs for Pinturicchio,
-since two small compositions, almost identical with the
-frescoes at Siena, and other separate studies by his hand exist, although
-various reasons, too long to adduce here, render it extremely improbable
-that he was ever employed at Siena. The vast number of
-works which this great man executed in his very short life, make it
-sufficiently difficult to assign time enough for the production of those
-that are undoubted.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The amiable character, as well as the extraordinary talents of
-Raphael, soon procured him the notice and admiration of the Florentine
-artists. Among his chief friends were Taddeo Gaddi (in return
-for whose hospitality he probably painted the Madonna del Gran
-Duca and the Madonna Tempi), Ridolfo Ghirlandajo, and Fra
-Bartolommeo. It would be impossible here to give a list of the works
-which he executed during his residence in Florence from 1504–5 to
-1508, when we find him in Rome. Some pictures were left unfinished
-at the time of his departure for that city, and were completed
-by Ridolfo Ghirlandajo. A picture sent to Siena, by some
-supposed the Giardiniera, now at Paris, but more probably the Lanti
-Madonna, was among these, as well as the Madonna painted for the
-Dei family: an accurate critic, Rumohr, even supposes that the
-celebrated entombment done for Perugia, which is now in the Borghese
-palace in Rome, was completed from Raphael’s designs by
-Ridolfo Ghirlandajo. The number of Madonnas, portraits, and altar-pieces
-produced in the three or four years of Raphael’s residence in
-Florence, must of necessity lead to the conclusion that the <em>repetitions</em>
-of these works, which all pretend to originality, must have been
-done by his imitators. Again Vasari states, not without some probability,
-that Raphael visited his native place, and painted several
-works there for the Duke Guid’ Ubaldo, during the short time above-mentioned:
-and Malvasia, in his account of the Bolognese school,
-enumerates various works which were unknown even to Vasari.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Meanwhile Raphael reaped all the improvement which the sight
-of the excellent works of art in Florence was calculated to communicate.
-The inspection of the works of Michael Angelo and Lionardo
-da Vinci enlarged his knowledge of form and his execution, while the
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_35'>35</span>inventions of the earlier Florentine masters were diligently examined
-and remembered; yet it is here important to remark, that he never
-imitated even the highest examples alluded to, as he had imitated the
-first models from which he studied. This is naturally to be accounted
-for in some degree by the greater docility of earlier youth; but as
-so much has been said of the inspiration which Raphael caught
-from Michael Angelo, in Florence from a sight of the Cartoons, and
-in Rome from that of the ceiling of the Capella Sistina, it is necessary
-to remember that a direct imitation of Michael Angelo is no
-where to be traced in Raphael, and that he seemed desirous rather of
-exhibiting his own feeling as distinct from that of the great Florentine
-master, than of aiming at that master’s style.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>From 1508 to 1520, the year of his death, Raphael resided in
-Rome. Vasari relates that Bramante, the architect of Julius II.,
-being from the same city with Raphael and distantly related to him,
-had recommended him to the Pope, as qualified to paint in fresco certain
-rooms of the Vatican; but it was more probably Raphael’s great
-reputation, now second to none, which was the real cause of the
-Pope’s notice, although Bramante may have been the medium of
-communication. To the honour of Julius it should be remembered,
-that he had discernment enough to fix in every instance on the best
-artists of his age, and he left no means unemployed, sometimes even
-to an indulgence at variance with the haughtiness of his character, to
-secure their best efforts in his service.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>At no period of Raphael’s laborious life were his exertions greater
-than during the reign of Julius II., that is, till 1513, the year of that
-pontiff’s death. The room called the <span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Camera della Segnatura</span>, where
-the great artist began to work, was evidently planned by him as one
-design, and its four walls were appropriated to four comprehensive
-subjects,—theology, philosophy, poetry, and jurisprudence. The
-ceiling is occupied with single figures and subjects forming part of
-the same scheme. The subject of Theology, commonly called the <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Disputa</span></i>,
-was begun the first, and the right hand of the upper part was
-first painted. This is evident from a certain inexperience in the mechanical
-process of fresco painting, which is found to disappear even
-in the same work. Six of these vast subjects, besides other works,
-were executed between 1508 and 1513, and the two last, the Miracle
-of Bolsena and the Heliodorus, are unsurpassed in colour, as well as
-in every other excellence fitted for the subject and dimensions. For
-richness and force of local colour these two works have often been
-compared to those of Titian; it should be added that they are
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_36'>36</span>earlier in date than the finest oil pictures of Titian, and that they are
-decidedly superior in colour to the frescoes by that master in Padua.
-The supposition of Rumohr, that Giorgione may have seen and profited
-by these specimens, is, however, not to be reconciled with the
-date of that painter’s death. The impatience of the character of Julius,
-who was bent on the speedy prosecution of this undertaking, makes it
-probable that some works attributed by Vasari to this period were
-executed later. The portrait of Julius, that of Bindo Altoviti, the
-musician in the Sciarra palace, the Madonna di Fuligno, the <span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Madonna
-della Sedia</span>, and the Vision of Ezekiel, belong however to this time.
-The St. Cecilia, begun in 1513, was not sent to Bologna till some
-years afterwards. In the last, the assistance of subordinate hands is
-evident; and the variety of works in which Raphael was employed
-under Leo X. made this practice of intrusting the execution of his
-designs to others more and more necessary. Unfortunately, his grand
-works, the frescoes of the Vatican, with the exception of two excellent
-specimens, the Attila and the Liberation of Peter (painted immediately
-after the accession of Leo), were completed very much in this way by
-his scholars. Even the <span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Incendio del Borgo</span>, so remarkable for its
-invention and composition, has but few traces of his own hand in
-the execution. The frescoes of the Vatican have often been described
-as exhibiting one comprehensive plan as to their meaning, but
-it is well known that the subjects of the Attila and the Liberation of
-Peter were suggested by incidents in the life of Leo, and consequently
-that they could not have been thought of before the accession of that
-pope. Of all these works the Attila is justly considered to be the
-most perfect example of fresco painting, and to exhibit the greatest
-command over the material; though produced after the death of
-Julius, it may be regarded as the noblest result of that impulse which
-the pontiff’s energy had communicated to Raphael. The character of
-Leo X., as a protector of art, has been perhaps sometimes too favourably
-represented. More educated than his predecessor, he loved the
-refinement which the arts and letters imparted to his court; but he
-had no deep interest, like Julius, in inciting such men as Raphael
-and Michael Angelo to do their utmost under his auspices. Whether
-from the indifference of Leo, or from his neglecting, as Vasari hints,
-to discharge his pecuniary debts to Raphael, we soon find the painter
-employed in various other works, and the remaining frescoes of the
-Vatican bear evidence of the frequent employment of other hands.
-Many works of minor importance in the same palace were entirely
-executed by his assistants.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_37'>37</span>The celebrated Cartoons were designs for tapestries, of which more
-than twenty of various sizes are preserved in the Vatican. The Cartoons,
-it may be inferred, were equally numerous, but seven only,
-now fit Hampton Court, remain entire. A portion of another was
-bequeathed by the late Prince Hoare to the Foundling Hospital,
-where it is now to be seen. These works owed their existence to
-the Pope’s love of magnificence rather than to a true taste for art; but
-although destined for a merely ornamental purpose, some of the designs
-are among the very finest of Raphael’s inventions, and a few
-may have been, at least in part, executed by his hand. The Ananias,
-the Charge to Peter, the Paul and Barnabas at Lystra, and the Paul
-preaching at Athens, are generally considered to have the greatest
-pretensions to this additional interest. The fine portrait of Leo with
-the Cardinals de’ Medici and de’ Rossi completes the list of larger
-works undertaken for the Pope, but the many designs by Raphael
-from classical or mythological subjects may be supposed to have been
-also made at the suggestion of the pontiff. In obedience to his wishes,
-Raphael undertook the inspection of the ancient Roman monuments,
-and superintended the improvements of St. Peter’s. Among the numerous
-and extensive works done for other employers may be mentioned
-the Sybils in the Chiesa della Pace, the frescoes from Apuleius’s
-story of Cupid and Psyche in the palace of Agostino Chigi, called the
-Farnesina, where the so-called Galatea was the beginning of another
-Cyclus from the same fable, the Madonna del Pesce, the Madonna di
-S. Sisto, and the Spasimo di Sicilia. Many a palace in the neighbourhood
-of Rome still exhibits remains of frescoes for which Raphael
-at least furnished the designs; and his own Casino, near the more
-modern Villa Borghese, may retain traces of his hand, but it is now
-fast falling to decay. A long list of portraits might be added to the
-above works, together with many interesting designs in architecture,
-and even some productions in sculpture. In reviewing the amazing
-number of works attributed to Raphael, it must not however be forgotten
-that many are his only in the invention, and some pictures that
-bear his name may have been even designed as well as finished by his
-imitators. The Flemish copies of Raphael are frequent, and are to
-be detected, among other indications, by their extreme smoothness;
-the contemporary imitations, especially those of the earlier style of the
-master, by Domenico Alfani and Vincenzo di S. Geminiano, are much
-less easily distinguished. The question respecting the Urbino earthenware
-may be considered to have been set at rest by Passeri (<span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Storia
-delle pitture in Maiolica<a id='t37'></a> di Pesaro e di altri luoghi della Provincia
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_38'>38</span>Metaurense</span>). From this inquiry, it appears, first, that the art of
-painting this ware had not arrived at perfection till twenty years after
-Raphael’s death: and secondly, that about that time Guid’ Ubaldo II.
-(<span lang="it" xml:lang="it">della Rovere</span>) collected engravings after Raphael, and even original
-designs by him, and had them copied in the Urbino manufactory.
-Battista Franco at one time superintended the execution, and one of
-the artists was called Raffaello del Colle; his name may perhaps
-occasionally be inscribed on the Urbino ware, but the initials O. F.
-(Orazio Fontana) are the most frequent.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The Transfiguration was the last oil picture of importance on which
-Raphael was employed; it was unfinished at his death, and was afterwards
-completed, together with various other works, by his scholars.
-The last and worst misstatement of Vasari cannot be passed over, for
-unfortunately, none of the biographer’s mistakes have been oftener
-repeated than that which ascribes the death of this great man to the
-indulgence of his passion for the Fornarina. Cardinal Antonelli was
-in possession of an original document, first published by Cancellieri,
-which assigns a different, and a much more probable, cause for
-Raphael’s death; it thus concludes,—“Life in him (Raphael) seemed
-to inform a most fragile bodily structure, for he was all mind; and
-moreover, his physical forces were much impaired by the extraordinary
-exertions he had gone through, and which it is wonderful to
-think he could have made in so short a life. Being then in a very
-delicate state of health, he received orders one day while at the Farnesina
-to repair to the court; not to lose time, he ran all the way to
-the Vatican, and arrived there heated and breathless; there the sudden
-chill of the vast rooms, where he was obliged to stand long consulting
-on the alterations of St. Peter’s, checked the perspiration, and he was
-presently seized with an indisposition. On his return home, he was
-attacked with a fever, which ended in his death.” Raphael was born
-and died on Good Friday. Some of his biographers have hence,
-through an oversight, asserted that he lived exactly thirty-seven years.
-He was born March 28, 1483, and died April 6, 1520. He was
-buried in the Pantheon, now the church of Sta. Maria ad Martyres,
-in a niche or chapel which he had himself endowed. His remains
-have been lately found there.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Quatremère de Quincy’s ‘Histoire de la Vie et des Ouvrages de
-Rafael, etc. Paris, 1824,’ has been improved and superseded by the
-notes to the Italian translation of Longhena, Milan, 1829. Pungileoni,
-the author of the ‘<span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Elogio Storico di Giovanni Santi, Urbino, 1822</span>,’
-has been long employed in preparing a life of Raphael. The observations
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_39'>39</span>of Rumohr, in the third volume of his ‘<span lang="de" xml:lang="de">Italienische Forschungen,
-Berlin, 1831</span>,’ are original and valuable. A few interesting facts will
-be found in Fea’s ‘<span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Notizie intorno Raffaele Sanzio, Rome 1822.</span>’
-The author, however, fails to prove the regularity of Leo’s payments
-to Raphael, since the latest document concerning the frescoes in the
-<i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Stanze</span></i> has the date 1514.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The engraving is from a miniature after the portrait by Raphael
-himself, in his first manner, cut from the stucco of a wall at Urbino,
-which forms the chief attraction of the <span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Camera di’ ritratti</span> at Florence.
-The head engraved by Morghen, and so generally known, represents
-the features of Bindo Altoviti, which do not even resemble in a single
-point those of Raphael. The notion arose solely from a passage in
-Vasari’s Lives:—‘<i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">E a Bindo Altoviti fece il ritratto suo</span></i>;’ for Bindo
-Altoviti he did his portrait (not <em>his own</em>): these words were distorted
-by the Editor Bottari in a marginal note; but the error has been
-decisively exposed by Missirini and others, whose account is every
-where received in Italy. Nor does it appear that the Tuscans in
-general fell into the mistake, for the portrait now given, and not,
-as Bottari asserts, the Altoviti portrait, is engraved in the <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Museum
-Florentinum</span></i>.</p>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id002'>
-<img src='images/i_039.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>[Death of Ananias.]</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id002'>
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_40'>40</span>
-<img src='images/i_040.jpg' alt='KNOX.' class='ig001' />
-</div>
-
-<div class='chapter'>
-  <h2 class='c005'>KNOX.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c010'>John Knox was born in East Lothian, in 1505, probably at the
-village of Gifford, but, according to some accounts, at the small town
-of Haddington, in the grammar-school of which he received the rudiments
-of his education. His parents were of humble rank, but sufficiently
-removed from want to support their son at the University of
-St. Andrew’s, which Knox entered about the year 1524. He passed
-with credit through his academical course, and took orders at the age
-of twenty-five, if not sooner. In his theological reading, he was led
-by curiosity to examine the works of ancient authors quoted by the
-scholastic divines. These gave him new views of religion, and led
-him on to the perusal of the scriptures themselves. The change in
-his opinions appears to have commenced about 1535. It led him to
-recommend to others, as well as to practise, a more rational course of
-study than that prescribed by the ancient usage of the University.
-This innovation brought him under suspicion of being attached to
-the principles of the Reformation, which was making secret progress
-in Scotland: and, having ventured to censure the corruptions which
-prevailed in the Church, he found it expedient to quit St. Andrew’s
-in 1542, and return to the south of Scotland, where he openly avowed
-his adherence to the Reformed doctrines.</p>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_040fp.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p><em>Engraved by B. Holl.</em><br /><br />JOHN KNOX.<br /><br /><em>From a Picture in the possession of Lord Somerville.</em><br /><br />Under the Superintendance of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.<br /><br /><em>London, Published by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street.</em></p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'>Having cut himself off from the emoluments of the Established
-Church, Knox engaged as tutor in the family of Douglas of Langniddrie,
-a gentleman of East Lothian. As a man of known ability,
-and as a priest, he was especially obnoxious to the hierarchy; and it is
-said that Archbishop Beatoun sought his life by private assassination,
-as well as openly under colour of the law. At Easter, 1547, Knox,
-with many other Protestants, took refuge in the castle of St. Andrew’s,
-which was seized and held, after the archbishop’s murder, by the band
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_41'>41</span>of conspirators who had done the deed. He here continued his usual
-course of instruction to his pupils, combined with public reading and
-explanation of the scriptures to those who sought his assistance. His
-talents pointed him out as a fitting person for the ministry; but he
-was very reluctant to devote himself to that important charge, and was
-only induced to do so, after a severe internal struggle, by a solemn call
-from the minister and the assembled congregation. He distinguished
-himself during his short abode at St. Andrew’s by zeal, boldness, and
-success in preaching. But in the following July the castle surrendered;
-and, by a scandalous violation of the articles of capitulation, the garrison
-were made prisoners of war, and subjected to great and unusual
-ill-treatment. Knox, with many others, was placed in a French
-galley, and compelled to labour like a slave at the oar. His health
-was greatly injured by the hardships which he underwent in that worst
-of prisons; but his spirit rose triumphant over suffering. During
-this period he committed to writing an abstract of the doctrines which
-he had preached, which he found means to convey to his friends in
-Scotland, with an earnest exhortation to persevere in the faith through
-persecution and trial. He obtained liberty in February, 1549, but
-by what means is not precisely known.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>At that time, under the direction of Cranmer, and with the zealous
-concurrence of the young King Edward VI., the Reformation in
-England was advancing with rapid pace. Knox repaired thither, as
-to the safest harbour; and in the dearth of able and earnest preachers
-which then existed, he found at once a welcome and active employment.
-The north was appointed to be the scene of his usefulness, and
-he continued to preach there, living chiefly at Berwick and Newcastle,
-till the end of 1552. He was then summoned to London, to appear
-before the Privy Council on a frivolous charge, of which he was
-honourably acquitted. The King was anxious to secure his services
-to the English Church, and caused the living of All Hallows, in
-London, and even a bishopric, to be offered him. But Knox had
-conscientious scruples to some points of the English establishment.
-He continued, however, to preach, itinerating through the country,
-until, after the accession of Mary, the exercise of the Protestant
-religion was forbidden by act of parliament, December 20, 1553.
-Shortly afterwards he yielded to the importunity of his friends, and
-consulted his own safety by retiring to France. Previous to his departure,
-he solemnised his marriage with Miss Bowes, a Yorkshire
-lady of good family, to whom he had been some time engaged.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Knox took up his abode in the first instance at Dieppe, but he soon
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_42'>42</span>went to Geneva, and there made acquaintance with Calvin, whom he
-loved and venerated, and followed more closely than any others of the
-fathers of the Reformation in his views both of doctrine and ecclesiastical
-discipline. Towards the close of 1554 he was invited by a congregation
-of English exiles resident at Frankfort to become one of
-their pastors. Internal discords, chiefly concerning the ritual and
-matters of ceremonial observance, in which, notwithstanding the
-severe and uncomplying temper usually ascribed to him, no blame
-seems justly due to Knox, soon forced him to quit this charge, and he
-returned to Geneva; where he spent more than a year in a learned
-leisure, peculiarly grateful to him after the troubled life which he
-had led so long. But in August, 1555, moved by the favourable
-aspect of the time, and by the entreaties of his family, from whom he
-had now been separated near two years, he returned to Scotland, and
-was surprised and rejoiced at the extraordinary avidity with which his
-preaching was attended. He visited various districts, both north and
-south, and won over two noblemen, who became eminent supporters
-of the Reformation, the heir-apparent of the earldom of Argyle, and
-Lord James Stuart, afterwards Earl of Murray. But in the middle
-of these successful labours he received a call from an English congregation
-at Geneva to become their pastor; and he appears to have felt
-it a duty to comply with their request. It would seem more consonant
-to his character to have remained in Scotland, to watch over the seed
-which he had sown, and that his own country had the most pressing
-claim upon his services. But the whole tenor of his life warrants the
-belief that he was actuated by no unworthy or selfish motives; and
-in the absence of definite information, some insight into the nature of
-his feelings may probably be gained from a letter addressed to some
-friends in Edinburgh, in March, 1557. “Assure of that, that whenever
-a greater number among you shall call upon me than now hath
-bound me to serve them, by His grace it shall not be the fear of
-punishment, neither yet of the death temporal, that shall impede
-my coming to you.” He quitted Scotland in July, 1556.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>During this absence Knox maintained a frequent correspondence
-with his brethren in Scotland, and both by exhortation and by his
-advice upon difficult questions submitted to his judgment, was still of
-material service in keeping alive their spirit. Two of his works composed
-during this period require mention; his share in the English
-translation of the Scriptures, commonly called the ‘Geneva Bible,’
-and the ‘Blast of the Trumpet against the monstrous Regimen of
-Women,’ a treatise expressly directed against the government of Mary
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_43'>43</span>of England, but containing a bold and unqualified enunciation of the
-principle, that to admit a woman to sovereignty is contrary to nature,
-justice, and the revealed will of God. In January, 1559, at the invitation
-of the leading persons of the Protestant congregation, he
-again returned to Scotland. Matters at this time were drawing to a
-crisis. The Queen Regent, after temporising while the support of a
-large and powerful party was essential to her, had thrown off disguise,
-and openly avowed her determination to use force for the suppression
-of heresy: while the leading Protestants avowed as plainly their resolution
-of protecting their preachers; and becoming more and more
-sensible of their own increasing strength, resolved to abolish the
-Roman, and set up the Reformed method of worship in those places
-to which their influence or feudal power extended. St. Andrew’s was
-fixed on for the commencement of the experiment; and under the
-protection of the Earl of Argyle and Lord James Stuart, Prior of
-St. Andrew’s, Knox, who on his landing had been proclaimed a rebel
-and outlaw, undertook to preach publicly in the cathedral of that city.
-The archbishop sent word that he should be fired upon if he ventured
-to appear in the pulpit, and as that prelate was supported by a stronger
-force than the retinue of the Protestant noblemen, they thought it best
-that he should abstain at this time from thus exposing his life. Knox
-remained firm to his purpose. After reminding them that he had first
-preached the Gospel in that church, of the sufferings of his captivity,
-and of the confident hope which he had expressed to many that he
-should again perform his high mission in that same church, he besought
-them not to stand in the way when Providence had brought
-him to the spot. The archbishop’s proved to be an empty threat.
-Knox preached for four successive days without interruption, and
-with such effect, that the magistrates and the inhabitants agreed to
-set up the reformed worship in their town; the monasteries were
-destroyed, and the churches stripped of images and pictures. Both
-parties now rose in arms. During the contest which ensued, Knox
-was a chief agent in conducting the correspondence between Elizabeth
-and the Lords of the Congregation. The task suited neither his profession
-nor his character, and he rejoiced when he was relieved from
-it. In July, 1560, a treaty was concluded with the King and Queen
-of France, by which the administration of the Queen Regent was terminated;
-and in August a parliament was convoked, which abolished
-the papal jurisdiction, prohibited the celebration of mass, and rescinded
-the laws enacted against Protestant worship.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>From the persecuted and endangered teacher of a proscribed religion,
-Knox had now become, not indeed the head, but a leader and
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_44'>44</span>venerated father of an Established Church. He was at once appointed
-the Protestant minister of Edinburgh, and his influence ceased not to
-be felt from this time forward in all things connected with the Church,
-and in many particulars of civil policy. Still his anxieties were far
-from an end. Many things threatened and impeded the infant Church.
-Far from acquiescing in the recent acts of the parliament, the young
-King and Queen of France were bent on putting down the rebellion,
-as they termed it, in Scotland by force of arms. The death of
-Francis put an end to that danger; but another, no less serious, was
-opened by the arrival of Mary in August, 1561, to assume her paternal
-sovereignty, with a fixed determination of reviving the supremacy
-of the religion in which she had been brought up, and to which
-she was devotedly attached. There were also two subjects upon
-which Knox felt peculiarly anxious, and in which he was thwarted
-by the lukewarmness, as he considered it, of the legislature,—the
-establishment of a strict and efficacious system of church discipline,
-and the entire devotion of the wealth of the Catholic priesthood to
-the promotion of education, and the maintenance of the true religion.
-In both these points he was thwarted by the indifference or interestedness
-of the nobility, who had possessed themselves, to a large amount,
-of the lands and tithes formerly enjoyed by monasteries.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>It soon became evident that the Queen disliked and feared Knox.
-She regarded his ‘Blast against the Regimen of Women’ as an attack
-upon her own right to the throne; and this is not surprising,
-though Knox always declared that book to be levelled solely against
-the late Queen of England, and professed his perfect readiness to submit
-to Mary’s authority in all things lawful, and to wave all discussion
-or allusion to the obnoxious tenet. His freedom of speech in the
-pulpit was another constant source of offence; and it is not to be
-denied that, although the feelings of that age warranted a greater latitude
-than would now be tolerated in a teacher of religion, his energetic
-and severe temper led him to use violent and indiscreet language
-in speaking of public men and public things. For Mary herself he
-prayed in terms which, however fitting for a minister to employ
-towards one of his flock whom he regarded to be in deadly and pernicious
-error, a queen could hardly be expected to endure from a subject
-without anger. Accordingly, he was several times summoned to
-her presence, to apologise or answer for his conduct. The narrations
-of these interviews are very interesting: they show the ascendancy
-which he had gained over the haughty spirit of the Queen, and at the
-same time exonerate him from the charge urged by her apologists of
-having treated her with personal disrespect, and even brutality. He
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_45'>45</span>expressed uncourtly opinions in plain and severe language; farther
-than this he neither violated the courtesy due from man to woman,
-nor the respect due from a subject to a superior. In addition to the
-causes of offence already specified, he had remonstrated, from her first
-landing, against the toleration of the mass in her own chapel. And
-at a later time, he spoke so freely concerning the probable consequence
-to the Reformed Church from her marrying a Papist, that in reprimanding
-and remonstrating with him she burst into a passion of tears.
-He remained unmoved, protesting that he saw her Majesty’s tears with
-reluctance, but was constrained, since he had given her no just ground
-of offence, rather to sustain her tears than to hurt his conscience, and
-betray the commonwealth through his silence. This interview is one
-of the things upon which Mr. Hume has sought to raise a prejudice
-against the reformer in his partial account of this period.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Many of the nobility who had aided in the establishment of the
-Reformation, gained over either by the fascination of Mary’s beauty
-and manners, or by the still more cogent appeal of personal interest,
-were far from seconding Knox’s efforts, or partaking in his apprehensions.
-The Earl of Murray was so far won over to adopt a temporising
-and conciliatory policy, that a quarrel ensued in 1563 between
-him and Knox, which lasted for two years, until quenched, as Knox
-expresses it, by the water of affliction. Maitland of Lethington, once
-an active Reformer, a man of powerful and versatile talents, who was
-now made Secretary of State, openly espoused the Queen’s wishes.
-In the summer of 1563, Knox was involved in a charge of high
-treason, for having addressed a circular to the chief Protestant gentlemen,
-requesting them to attend the trial of two persons accused of
-having created a riot at the Queen’s chapel. It appears that he held
-an especial commission from the General Assembly to summon such
-meetings, when occasion seemed to him to require them. Upon this
-charge of treasonably convoking the lieges, he was brought before the
-privy council. Murray and Maitland were earnest to persuade him
-into submission and acknowledgment of error. Knox, however, with
-his usual firmness and uprightness, refused positively to confess a
-fault when he was conscious of none, and defended himself with so
-much power, that by the voice of a majority of the council he was
-declared free of all blame.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>In March, 1564, more than three years after the death of his first
-wife, Knox was again married to a daughter of Lord Ochiltree, a
-zealous Protestant. Throughout that year and the following, he continued
-to preach as usual. Meanwhile, the Protestant establishment,
-though confirmed by the parliament, remained still unrecognised by
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_46'>46</span>the Queen, whose hasty marriage to Lord Henry Darnley in July,
-1565, increased the alarm with which her conduct had already inspired
-the Reformers. But early in the following year, when Mary,
-in conjunction with her uncles of the House of Lorrain, had planned
-the formal re-establishment of Catholicism, her dissensions with her
-husband led to the assassination of Rizzio, and in rapid succession to
-the murder of Darnley, her marriage with Bothwell, and the train of
-events which ended in her formal deposition and the coronation of her
-infant son James VI. It is denied that Knox was privy to the assassination
-of Rizzio, and the tenor of his actions warrants us in disbelieving
-that he would have been an accomplice in any deed of blood;
-but after that event, he spoke of it in terms of satisfaction, indiscreet,
-liable to perversion, and unbecoming a Christian preacher. The
-Queen’s resentment for this and other reasons became so warm against
-him, that it was judged proper for him to retire from Edinburgh.
-He preached at the coronation of James VI. After Mary was made
-prisoner and confined at Lochleven, he, in common with most of the
-ministers and the great body of the people, insisted strongly on the
-duty of bringing her to trial for the crimes of murder and adultery,
-and of inflicting capital punishment if her guilt were proved.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>During the short regency of Murray, Knox had the satisfaction, not
-only of being freed from the personal disquietudes which had been his
-portion almost through life, but of seeing the interests of the Church,
-if not maintained to the full extent which he could wish, at least treated
-with respect, and advocated as far as the crooked course of state-policy
-would permit. The murder of that distinguished nobleman, January
-23, 1570, affected Knox doubly, as the premature decease of a loved
-and esteemed friend, and as a public calamity to church and state.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>In the following October he suffered a slight fit of apoplexy, from
-which however he soon recovered so far as to resume his Sunday
-preachings. But the troubled times which followed on the death of
-the Regent Murray denied to him in Edinburgh that repose which his
-infirmities demanded, and in May, 1571, he was reluctantly induced
-to retire from his ministry and again to seek a refuge in St. Andrew’s.
-Nor was his residence in that city one of peace or ease, for he was
-troubled by a party favourable to the Queen’s interests, especially by
-that Archibald Hamilton who afterwards apostatised to the Roman
-Catholic Church and became his bitter calumniator; and he was placed
-in opposition to the Regent Morton with respect to the filling up of
-vacant bishoprics and the disposal of church property, which, far from
-being applied to the maintenance of religion and the diffusion of education,
-was still in great measure monopolised by the nobility. In
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_47'>47</span>August, 1572, his health being rapidly declining, he returned to
-Edinburgh at the earnest request of his congregation, who longed
-to hear his voice in the pulpit once more. He felt death to be nigh
-at hand, and was above all things anxious to witness the appointment
-of a zealous and able successor to the important station in the ministry
-which he filled. This was done to his satisfaction. On Sunday,
-November 9, he preached and presided at the installation of his successor,
-James Lawson, and he never after quitted his own house.
-He sickened on the 11th, and expired November 24, 1572, after a
-fortnight’s illness, in which he displayed unmixed tranquillity, and
-assured trust in a happy futurity, through the promises of the Gospel
-which he had preached. It is the more necessary to state this, because
-his calumniators dared to assert that his death was accompanied by
-horrid prodigies, and visible marks of divine reprobation. The same
-tales have been related of Luther and Calvin.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Knox’s moral character we may safely pronounce to have been unblemished,
-notwithstanding the outrageous charges of dissolute conversation
-which have been brought by some writers against him,—calumnies
-equally levelled against Beza, Calvin, and other fathers of
-the Reformation, and which bear their own refutation in their extravagance.
-As a preacher, he was energetic and effective, and uncommonly
-powerful in awakening the negligent or the hardened conscience.
-As a Reformer and leader of the Church, he was fitted for
-the stormy times and the turbulent and resolute people among whom
-his lot was cast, by the very qualities which have been made a reproach
-to him in a more polished age, and by a less zealous generation. He
-was possessed of strong natural talents, and a determined will which
-shunned neither danger nor labour. He was of middle age when he
-began the study of Greek, and it was still later in life when he acquired
-the Hebrew language,—tasks of no small difficulty when we consider
-the harassed and laborious tenor of his life. No considerations of temporising
-prudence could seduce him into the compromise of an important
-principle; no thought of personal danger could make him shrink
-when called to confront it. His deep sense and resolute discharge of
-duty, coupled with a natural fire and impetuosity of temper, sometimes
-led him into severity. But that his disposition was deeply affectionate
-is proved by his private correspondence; and that his severity proceeded
-from no acerbity of temper may be inferred from his having
-employed his powerful influence as a mediator for those who had borne
-arms against his party, and from his having never used it to avenge an
-injury. The best apology for his occasional harshness is that contained
-in the words of his own dying address to the elders of his church
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_48'>48</span>as quoted by Dr. M’Crie. “I know that many have frequently complained,
-and do still loudly complain, of my too great severity; but
-God knows that my mind was always void of hatred to the persons of
-those against whom I thundered the severest judgments. I cannot
-deny but that I felt the greatest abhorrence at the sins in which they
-indulged; but still I kept this one thing in view, that, if possible, I
-might gain them to the Lord. What influenced me to utter whatever
-the Lord put into my mouth so boldly, and without respect of persons,
-was a reverential fear of my God, who called and of His grace appointed
-me to be a steward of divine mysteries, and a belief that He will demand
-an account of the manner in which I have discharged the trust
-committed to me, when I shall at last stand before His tribunal.”</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>A list of Knox’s printed works, nineteen in number, is given by
-Dr. M’Crie at the end of his notes. They consist chiefly of short religious
-pieces, exhortations, and sermons. In addition to those more
-important books which we have already noticed, his ‘History of the
-Church of Scotland’ requires mention. The best edition is that
-printed at Edinburgh in 1732, which contains a life of the author,
-the ‘Regimen of Women,’ and some<a id='t48'></a> other pieces. Dr. M’Crie’s
-admirable ‘Life of Knox’ will direct the reader to the original
-sources of the history of this period.</p>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_048.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>[Knox’s House in the Canongate, Edinburgh.]</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_049fp.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p><em>Engraved by W. Holl.</em><br /><br />ADAM SMITH.<br /><br /><em>From a Medallion executed in the life time of A. Smith, by Tafsiel.</em><br /><br />Under the Superintendance of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.<br /><br /><em>London, Published by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street.</em></p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id002'>
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_49'>49</span>
-<img src='images/i_049.jpg' alt='A. SMITH.' class='ig001' />
-</div>
-
-<div class='chapter'>
-  <h2 class='c005'>A. SMITH.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c010'>Adam Smith was born June 5, 1723, at Kirkaldy, in the county of
-Fife, where his father held the place of comptroller of the customs.
-Being a posthumous and only child, he became the sole object of his
-widowed mother’s tenderness and solicitude; and this was increased
-by the delicacy of his constitution. Upon her devolved the sole charge
-of his education; and the value of her care may be estimated from the
-uninterrupted harmony and deep mutual affection which united them,
-unchilled, to the end of life. He was remarkable for his love of
-reading and the excellence of his memory, even at the early age when
-she first placed him at the grammar-school of Kirkaldy, where he
-won the affection of his companions by his amiable disposition, though
-the weakness of his frame hindered him from joining in their sports.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>At the age of fourteen he was sent to the University of Glasgow,
-from which, at the end of three years, he was removed to Baliol
-College, Oxford, in order to qualify himself for taking orders in the
-English Church. Mathematics and natural philosophy seem to have
-been his favourite pursuits at Glasgow; but at Oxford he devoted all
-his leisure hours to belles-lettres, and the moral and political sciences.
-Among these political economy cannot be reckoned; for at that period
-it was unknown even in name: still, in such studies, and by the
-sedulous improvement of his understanding, he was laying the foundations
-of his immortal work. He remained seven years at Oxford,
-without conceiving, as may be inferred from some passages in the
-‘Wealth of Nations,’ any high respect for the system of education
-then pursued in the University; and, having given up all thoughts
-of taking orders, he returned to his mother’s house at Kirkaldy, and
-devoted himself entirely to literature and science. In 1748 he removed
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_50'>50</span>to Edinburgh, where, under Lord Kames’s patronage, he delivered a
-course of lectures on rhetoric and belles-lettres. These were never
-published; and, with other papers, were destroyed by Smith a short
-time before his death. Dr. Blair, in the well-known course which
-he delivered ten years afterwards on the same subject, acknowledges
-how greatly he was indebted to his predecessor, and how largely he
-had borrowed from him.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>In 1751 Mr. Smith was elected Professor of Logic in the University
-of Glasgow, and in the following year he was transferred to
-the chair of Moral Philosophy, which he filled during thirteen years.
-The following account of his lectures is given by Professor Millar.
-“His course of lectures on this subject was divided into four parts.
-The first contained natural theology, in which he considered the
-proofs of the being and attributes of God, and those principles of the
-human mind upon which religion is founded. The second comprehended
-ethics, strictly so called, and consisted chiefly of the doctrines
-which he afterwards published in his ‘Theory of Moral Sentiments.’
-In the third part he treated more at length of that branch of morality
-which relates to justice, and which, being susceptible of precise and
-accurate rules, is for that reason capable of a full and particular
-explanation.... In the last part of his lectures he examined
-those political regulations which are founded, not on the principle of
-justice, but on that of expediency, and which are calculated to increase
-the riches, the power, and the prosperity of a state. Under this view,
-he considered the political institutions relating to commerce, to
-finances, to ecclesiastical and military establishments. What he
-delivered on these subjects contained the substance of the work he
-afterwards published under the title of ‘An Inquiry into the Nature
-and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.’”</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>“There was no situation in which the abilities of Dr. Smith appeared
-to greater advantage than as a professor. In delivering his lectures,
-he trusted almost entirely to extemporary elocution. His manner,
-though not graceful, was plain and unaffected; and as he seemed to
-be always interested in the subject, he never failed to interest his
-hearers. Each discourse consisted of several distinct propositions,
-which he successively endeavoured to prove and to illustrate. These
-propositions, when announced in general terms, had, from their extent,
-not unfrequently something of the air of a paradox. In his attempts
-to explain them, he often appeared at first not to be sufficiently possessed
-of the subject, and spoke with some hesitation. As he advanced,
-however, the matter seemed to crowd upon him, his manner became
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_51'>51</span>warm and animated, and his expression easy and fluent. In points
-susceptible of controversy, you could easily discern that he secretly
-conceived an opposition to his opinions, and that he was led upon this
-account to support them with greater energy and vehemence. By the
-fulness and variety of his illustrations, the subject gradually swelled
-in his hands, and acquired a dimension which, without a tedious repetition
-of the same views, was calculated to seize the attention of his
-audience, and to afford them pleasure as well as instruction in following
-the same object through all the diversity of shades and aspects in
-which it was presented, and afterwards in tracing it backwards to
-that original proposition or general truth from which this beautiful
-train of speculation had proceeded.”</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>“His reputation as a professor was accordingly raised very high,
-and a multitude of students from a great distance resorted to the
-University merely upon his account. Those branches of science which
-he taught became fashionable at this place, and his opinions were the
-chief topics of discussion in clubs and literary societies. Even the
-small peculiarities in his pronunciation or manner of speaking became
-frequently the objects of imitation.”</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Smith published his ‘Theory of Moral Sentiments’ in 1759. The
-fundamental principle of this work, we use the summary of Mr. Macculloch,
-is that “<em>sympathy</em> forms the real foundation of morals; that
-we do not immediately approve or disapprove of any given action,
-when we have become acquainted with the intention of the agent and
-the consequences of what he has done, but that we previously enter,
-by means of that sympathetic affection which is natural to us, into the
-feelings of the agent, and those to whom the action relates; that
-having considered all the motives and passions by which the agent
-was actuated, we pronounce, with respect to the <em>propriety</em> or <em>impropriety</em>
-of the action, according as we sympathise or not with him;
-while we pronounce, with respect to the <em>merit</em> or <em>demerit</em> of the action,
-according as we sympathise with the gratitude or resentment of those
-who were its objects; and that we necessarily judge of our own conduct
-by comparing it with such maxims and rules as we have deduced
-from observations previously made on the conduct of others.” This
-theory, ingenious as it is, is generally abandoned as untenable. Dr.
-Brown has argued, and the objection seems fatal, that though sympathy
-may diffuse, it cannot originate moral sentiments: at the same
-time he bears the strongest testimony to the literary merits and moral
-tendency of the work.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>In 1763 Smith received from the University of Glasgow the honorary
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_52'>52</span>degree of Doctor of Laws, and he was offered, and accepted, the
-situation of travelling tutor to the young Duke of Buccleugh. His
-long residence in the populous and manufacturing metropolis of western
-Scotland had enabled him to collect a rich hoard of materials for the
-great work he had in view; and this new appointment changed the
-method, rather than interrupted the course, of his studies. It afforded
-him the means of examining the habits, institutions, and condition of
-man under new forms, and in new countries, and he observed with
-his natural acuteness and sagacity the influence of locality, of climate,
-and of government. He no doubt derived considerable advantage
-from the society of the distinguished men with whom he associated
-at Paris; among these, Turgot, D’Alembert, Helvetius, Marmontel,
-Morellet, Rochefoucauld, and Quesnay, were his intimate friends.
-So highly did he appreciate the talents of the last-named person as
-an economist, that he had intended, had Quesnay lived, to have acknowledged
-the debt he owed him by dedicating to him his own great
-work on the ‘Wealth of Nations.’</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Having spent two years on the Continent, Dr. Smith returned to
-England with his pupil, and soon after joined his mother at Kirkaldy,
-where he resided for about ten years almost entirely in seclusion,
-occupied in the prosecution of his great work. It was published in
-1776; and few books have ever been given to the world tending
-more directly to destroy the prejudices, develop the powers, and promote
-the happiness of mankind. But the world at that time was not
-clear-sighted enough to appreciate its merits. Dr. Smith however
-had the gratification to see that, during fifteen years which elapsed
-between its publication and his death, it had produced a considerable
-effect upon public opinion, and that the eyes of men were beginning
-to be opened upon an object of such importance to human happiness.
-In this country at least Dr. Smith was the creator of the science of
-political economy, for he had only a chaos of materials from which
-to form it. Some defects may be discovered in his arrangement,
-and some errors detected in the principles as laid down by him; for
-it is hardly given to human intellect, that the originator of a science
-should also carry it to perfection. But Smith established the foundation
-upon which all future superstructures must rest; and the labours
-of Ricardo, Malthus, and some now living, eminent as they are,
-instead of superseding their predecessor do but enhance his merit.
-With all the progress which liberty of every kind has made since his
-time, no one has maintained the freedom of industry in all its bearings
-more forcibly than himself. The theories of rent, and of population,
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_53'>53</span>seem to be the only important branches of the science, as it now
-stands, which had escaped his observation.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>In 1778 Dr. Smith was appointed Commissioner of the Customs for
-Scotland. The duties of his office obliged him to quit London, where
-he had resided for two years subsequent to the publication of the
-‘Wealth of Nations,’ and where his society had been courted by the
-most distinguished characters; and he took up his abode in Edinburgh,
-accompanied by his aged mother. In 1787 he was elected Rector of
-the University of Glasgow; a compliment which gave him great
-pleasure, as he was much attached to that body, and grateful for the
-services it had rendered him in his youth, and the honours it had conferred
-on him at a more advanced age.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>His mother died in 1784, and his grief on this occasion is supposed
-to have injured his health, and his constitution, which had never been
-robust, began to give way. He suffered another severe privation in
-the death of his cousin, Miss Douglas, who had managed his household
-for many years, since the infirmities of his parent had disqualified
-her for that employment. He survived Miss Douglas only two years,
-and died in 1790 of a tedious and painful illness, which he bore with
-patience and resignation.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Adam Smith’s private character is thus summed up by his friend
-Mr. Dugald Stewart: “The more delicate and characteristical features
-of his mind it is perhaps impossible to trace. That there were many
-peculiarities both in his manners and in his intellectual habits was
-manifest to the most superficial observer; but, although to those who
-knew him, these peculiarities detracted nothing from the respect which
-his abilities commanded; and although, to his intimate friends, they
-added an inexpressible charm to his conversation, while they displayed
-in the most interesting light the artless simplicity of his heart, yet it
-would require a very skilful pencil to present them to the public eye.
-He was certainly not fitted for the general commerce of the world, or
-for the business of active life. The comprehensive speculations with
-which he had been occupied from his youth, and the variety of materials
-which his own inventions continually supplied to his thoughts,
-rendered him habitually inattentive to familiar objects and to common
-occurrences; and he frequently exhibited instances of absence which
-had scarcely been surpassed by the fancy of La Bruyère. Even in
-company he was apt to be engrossed with his studies, and appeared,
-at times, by the motion of his lips, as well as by his looks and gestures,
-to be in the fervour of composition. I have often however
-been struck, at the distance of years, with his accurate memory of the
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_54'>54</span>most trifling particulars; and am inclined to believe, from this and
-some other circumstances, that he possessed a power, not perhaps uncommon
-among absent men, of recollecting, in consequence of subsequent
-efforts of reflection, many occurrences which, at the time when
-they happened, did not seem to have sensibly attracted his notice.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>“To the defect now mentioned, it was probably owing, in part, that
-he did not fall in easily with the common dialogue of conversation,
-and that he was somewhat apt to convey his own ideas in the form of
-a lecture. When he did so however, it never proceeded from a wish
-to engross the discourse, or gratify his vanity. His own inclination
-disposed him so strongly to enjoy in silence the gaiety of those around
-him, that his friends were often led to concert little schemes, in order
-to engage him in the discussions most likely to interest him. Nor do
-I think I shall be accused of going too far, when I say that he was
-scarcely ever known to start a new topic himself, or to appear unprepared
-upon those topics that were introduced by others. Indeed, his
-conversation was never more amusing than when he gave a loose to
-his genius, upon the very few branches of knowledge of which he
-only possessed the outlines.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>“In his external form and appearance there was nothing uncommon.
-When perfectly at ease, and when warmed with conversation, his gestures
-were animated, and not ungraceful; and in the society of those
-he loved, his features were often brightened with a smile of inexpressible
-benignity.... He never sat for his picture, but the
-medallion by Tassie conveys an exact idea of his profile, and of the
-general expression of his countenance.” It is from this that our
-portrait of him is engraved.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>To those of Smith’s works of which we have already spoken, we
-have to add two articles in a short-lived periodical publication, called
-the ‘Edinburgh Review,’ for 1755, containing a review of Johnson’s
-Dictionary, and a letter on the state of literature in the different
-countries of Europe; an ‘Essay on the Formation of Languages;’ and
-Essays, published after his death by his desire, with an account of his
-life and writings prefixed, by Dugald Stewart, on the Principles which
-lead and direct Philosophical Inquiries; on the nature of the Imitation
-practised in the Imitative Arts; on the affinity between certain English
-and Italian verses; and on the External Senses. To that account of
-his life we may refer for an able analysis of his most important
-writings, as well as to the memoir prefixed to Mr. Macculloch’s
-edition of the ‘Wealth of Nations,’ from which this sketch is principally
-taken.</p>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_055fp.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p><em>Engraved by T. Woolnoth.</em><br /><br />CALVIN.<br /><br /><em>From a Print engraved by C. Dankertz.</em><br /><br />Under the Superintendance of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.<br /><br /><em>London, Published by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street.</em></p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id002'>
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_55'>55</span>
-<img src='images/i_055.jpg' alt='CALVIN.' class='ig001' />
-</div>
-
-<div class='chapter'>
-  <h2 class='c005'>CALVIN.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c010'>John Cauvin (afterwards called Calvin) was born of humble parents,
-his father following the trade of a cooper, at Noyon in Picardy, July 10,
-1509. He was intended in the first instance for the profession of the
-church, and two benefices were already set apart for him, when, at a
-very early age, from what motive is not exactly known, his destination
-was suddenly changed, and he was sent, first to Orleans and then to
-Bourges, to learn under distinguished teachers the science of jurisprudence.
-He is said to have made great proficiency in that study;
-but nevertheless, he found leisure to cultivate other talents, and made
-himself acquainted with Greek, Hebrew, and Syriac, during his residence
-at Bourges. His natural inclination seems ever to have bent
-him towards those pursuits to which his earliest attention was directed;
-and though he never attended the schools of theology, nor had at any
-time any public master in that science, yet his thoughts were never
-far away from it; and the time which he could spare from his professional
-labours was employed on subjects bearing more or less
-directly upon religion.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Thus it was, that he failed not to take part in the discussions, which
-arose in France during his early years, respecting the principles of the
-Reformation; and it may be, that his happy escape from theological
-tuition made him more disposed to embrace them. It is certain
-that his opposition to the Church of Rome became very soon notorious,
-and made him, young as he was, an object of jealousy to some of its
-powerful adherents. Even the moderate Erasmus viewed his aspiring
-talents and determined character with some undefined apprehension;
-and he is related (after a conversation with Calvin at Strasbourg) to
-have remarked to Bucer, who had presented him,—“I see in that
-young man the seeds of a dangerous pest, which will some day throw
-great disorder into the Church.” The weak and wavering character
-of Erasmus renders it difficult for us to understand what sort of disorder
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_56'>56</span>it was that he anticipated, or what exactly was the <em>Church</em> on
-which the apprehended mischief was to fall. In 1535 Calvin
-published his great work, the ‘Christian Institute,’ which was intended
-as a sort of confession of faith of the French reformers, in answer to
-the calumnies which confounded them with the frantic Anabaptists of
-Germany.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>In 1536, finding that his person was no longer secure in France,
-Calvin determined to retire into Germany, and was compelled by
-accident to pass through Geneva. He found this city in a state of
-extreme confusion. The civil government was popular, and in those
-days tumultuous: the ecclesiastical had been entirely dissolved by the
-departure of the bishops and clergy on the triumph of the Reformation,
-and only such laws existed as the individual influence of the pastors
-was able to impose upon their several flocks. It was a tempting field
-for spiritual ambition, and Calvin was readily persuaded to enter into
-it. He decided to remain at Geneva, and forthwith opened a theological
-school.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>In the very year following his arrival, he formed the design of
-introducing into his adopted country a regular system of ecclesiastical
-polity. He assembled the people; and, not without much opposition,
-prevailed on them at length to bind themselves by oath; <em>first</em>, that
-they would not again, on any consideration, ever submit to the dominion
-of Rome; <em>secondly</em>, that they would render obedience to a
-certain code of ecclesiastical laws, which he and his colleagues had
-drawn up for them. Some writers do not expressly mention that this
-second proposition was accepted by the people—if accepted, it was
-immediately violated: and as Calvin and his clerical coadjutors (who
-were only two in number) refused with firmness to administer the
-holy communion to such as rejected the condition, the people, not yet
-prepared to endure that bondage, banished the spiritual legislators
-from the city, in April, 1538.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Calvin retired to Strasbourg, where he renewed his intimacy with
-Bucer, and became more and more distinguished for his talents and
-learning. He was present at the Conferences of Worms and Ratisbon,
-where he gained additional reputation. He founded a French reformed
-church at Strasbourg, and obtained a theological chair in that city; at
-the same time, he continued in communication with Geneva, and in
-expressions of unabated affection for his former adherents. Meanwhile,
-the disorders which had prevailed in that city were in no manner alleviated
-by his exile, and a strong reaction gradually took place in his
-favour; insomuch, that, in the year 1541, there being a vacancy in
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_57'>57</span>the ministry, the senate and the assembly of the people proclaimed
-with equal vehemence their wish for the return of Calvin. “We will
-have Calvin, that good and learned man, Christ’s minister.” “This,”
-says Calvin, Epist. 24, “when I understood, I could not choose but
-praise God; nor was I able to judge otherwise, than that this was the
-Lord’s doing; and that it was marvellous in our eyes; and that the
-stone which the builders refused was now made the head of the
-corner.”</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>It was on September 13th that he returned from his exile in the pride
-of spiritual triumph; and he began, without any loss of time, while
-the feelings of all classes were yet warm in his favour, to establish
-that rigid form of ecclesiastical discipline which he may formerly have
-meditated, but which he did not fully propound till now. He proposed
-to institute a standing court (the Consistory), consisting of all
-the ministers of religion, who were to be perpetual members, and also
-of twice the same number of laymen to be chosen annually. To these
-he committed the charge of public morality, with power to determine
-all kinds of ecclesiastical causes; with authority to convene, control,
-and punish, even with excommunication, whomsoever they might think
-deserving. It was in vain that many advanced objections to this
-scheme: that they urged the despotic character of this court; the certainty
-too, that the perpetual judges, though fewer in number, would
-in fact predominate over a majority annually elected; and that Calvin,
-through his power over the clergy, would be master of the decisions
-of the whole tribunal. He persisted inflexibly; and since there now
-remained with the people of Geneva only the choice of receiving his
-laws or sending him once more into exile, they acquiesced reluctantly
-in the former determination. On the 20th of November, in the same
-year (1541), the Presbytery was established at Geneva.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Maimbourg, in his ‘History of Calvinism,’ has remarked that,
-from this time forward, Calvin became, not pontiff only, but also
-caliph, of Geneva; since the unbounded influence which he possessed
-in the Consistory extended to the council, and no important state-affair
-was transacted without his advice or approbation. At the same time,
-he enlarged the limits of his spiritual power, and made it felt in every
-quarter of Europe. In France most especially he was regarded personally
-as the head of the Reformed Church; he composed a liturgy
-for its use; and, secured from persecution by his residence and dignity,
-he gave laws, by his writings and his emissaries, to the scattered
-congregations of Reformers. The fruits of his unwearied industry
-were everywhere in their hands. His Institute, and his learned
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_58'>58</span>Expositions of Scripture, were substantial foundations of spiritual
-authority; and he became to his Church what the “Master of the
-Sentences,”—almost what Augustin himself—had been to the Church
-of Rome. And he did the Reformed Church an essential service
-by procuring the establishment of the academy, or university of
-Geneva; which was long the principal nursery of Presbyterian
-ministers, and which was the chief instrument of communicating to
-the citizens of its little state, that general mental culture and love
-of literature for which they have been remarkable.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The peculiarities of his religious opinions are known to all our
-readers; nor indeed, at any rate, have we space, in this brief outline
-of the Life of the Reformer, so to detail his tenets as to avoid the
-chance of misconception, either by his followers or his adversaries.
-We shall, therefore, proceed to another subject, respecting which
-there will be little difference, either as to the facts themselves, or the
-judgment to be formed of them—we mean that darkest act of his
-life, which being, as far as we learn, unatoned and unrepented, throws
-so deep a shadow over all the rest, as almost to make us question his
-sincerity in any good principle, or his capability of any righteous
-purpose.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>A Spaniard, named Servetus, born at Villa Nueva, in Aragon, in
-the same year with Calvin, had been long engaged in a correspondence
-with the latter, which had finally degenerated into angry and abusive
-controversy. He had been educated as a physician, and had acquired
-great credit in his profession; when, in an evil hour, he entered the
-field of theological controversy, and professed without fear, and defended
-without modification, the Unitarian doctrine; adding to it
-some obscure and fanciful notions, peculiar, we believe, to his own
-imagination. He published very early in life ‘Seven Books concerning
-the Errors of the Trinity,’ and he continued in the same principles
-until the year 1553, when he put forth (at Vienne, in Dauphiné), a
-work entitled ‘The Restoration of Christianity, &amp;c.,’ in further confirmation
-of his views.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Now it is very true, that the propagation of these opinions by a professed
-Reformer was at that crisis a matter of great scandal, and
-perhaps even of some danger to the cause of the Reformation. It
-was felt as such by some of the leading Reformers. Zuinglius and
-Œcolampadius eagerly disclaimed the error of Servetus. “Our
-Church will be very ill spoken of,” said the latter in a letter to Bucer,
-“unless our divines make it their business to cry him down.” And
-had they been contented to proclaim their dissent from his doctrine,
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_59'>59</span>or to assail it by reasonable argument, they would have done no more
-than their duty to their own communion absolutely demanded of them.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>But Calvin was not a man who would argue where he could command,
-or persuade where he could overthrow. Full of vehemence and
-bitterness, inflexible and relentless, he was prepared to adopt and to
-justify extreme measures, wheresoever they answered his purpose
-best. He was animated by the pride, intolerance, and cruelty of the
-Church of Rome, and he planted and nourished those evil passions in
-his little Consistory at Geneva.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Servetus, having escaped from confinement at Vienne, and flying
-for refuge to Naples, was driven by evil destiny, or his own infatuation,
-to Geneva. Here he strove to conceal himself, till he should be
-enabled to proceed on his journey; but he was quickly discovered by
-Calvin, and immediately cast into prison. This was in the summer
-of 1553. Presently followed the formality of his trial; and when we
-read the numerous articles of impeachment, and observe the language
-in which they are couched;—when we peruse the humble petitions
-which he addressed to the “Syndics and Council,” praying only that
-an advocate might be granted him, which prayer was haughtily refused;—when
-we perceive the misrepresentations of his doctrine, and
-the offensive terms of his condemnation, we appear to be carried back
-again to the Halls of Constance, and to be witnessing the fall of Huss
-and Jerome beneath their Roman Catholic oppressors. So true it is
-(as Grotius had sufficient reason to say), “that the Spirit of Antichrist
-did appear at Geneva as well as at Rome.”</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>But the magistrates of this Republic did not venture completely
-to execute the will of Calvin, without first consulting the other
-Protestant cities of Switzerland; namely, Zurich, Berne, Bâsle, and
-Schaffhausen. The answers returned by these all indicated very great
-anxiety for the extinction of the heresy, without however expressly
-demanding the blood of the heretic. The people of Zurich were the
-most violent: and the answer of their “Pastors, Readers, and Ministers,”
-which is praised and preserved by Calvin, is worthy of the
-communion from which they had so lately seceded. As soon as these
-communications reached Geneva, Servetus was immediately condemned
-to death (on the 26th of October, 1553), and was executed on
-the day following.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>There is extant a letter written by Calvin to his friend and brother-minister,
-William Farel (dated the 26th), which announces that the
-fatal sentence had been passed, and would be executed on the morrow.
-It is only remarkable for the cold conciseness and heartless indifference
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_60'>60</span>of its expressions. Not a single word indicates any feeling of
-compassion or repugnance. And as the work of persecution was carried
-on without mercy, and completed without pity, so likewise was it
-recollected without remorse; and the Protestant Republican Minister
-of Christ continued for some years afterwards to insult with abusive
-epithets the memory of his victim.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Soon after the death of Servetus, Calvin published a vindication of
-his proceedings, in which he defended, without any compromise, the
-principle on which he had acted. It is entitled, “A Faithful Exposition
-and short Refutation of the Errors of Servetus, wherein it is
-shown that heretics should be restrained by the power of the sword.”
-His friend and biographer Beza also put forth a work “On the propriety
-of punishing Heretics by the Civil authority.” Thus Calvin
-not only indulged his own malevolent humour, but also sought to
-establish among the avowed principles of his own Church the duty of
-exterminating all who might happen to differ from it.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>He lived eleven years longer; and expired at Geneva on the 27th
-of May, 1564; having maintained his authority to the end of his life,
-without acquiring any of the affection of those about him. Neither of
-these circumstances need surprise us, for it was his character to awe,
-to command, and to repel. Fearless, inflexible, morose, and imperious;
-he neither courted any one, nor yielded to any one, nor conciliated any
-one. Yet he was sensible of, and seemingly contrite for, his defects of
-temper; for he writes to Bucer: “I have not had harder contests
-with my vices, which are great and many, than with my impatience.
-I have not yet been able to subdue that savage brute.” His talents
-were extremely powerful, both for literature and for business. His
-profound and various learning acquired for him the general respect
-which it deserved. He was active and indefatigable; he slept little,
-and was remarkable for his abstemious habits. With a heart inflated
-and embittered with spiritual pride, he affected a perfect
-simplicity of manner; and professed, and may indeed have felt, a consummate
-contempt for the ordinary objects of human ambition. Besides
-this, he was far removed from the besetting vice of common minds, by
-which even noble qualities are so frequently degraded—avarice. He
-neither loved money for itself, nor grasped at it for its uses; and at
-his death, the whole amount of his property, including his library,
-did not exceed, at the lowest statement, one hundred and twenty-five
-crowns, at the highest, three hundred.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>We may thus readily understand how it was that Calvin acquired,
-through the mere force of personal character thrown into favourable
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_61'>61</span>circumstances, power almost uncontrolled over a state of which he
-was not so much as a native, and considerable influence besides over
-the spiritual condition of Europe—power and influence, of which deep
-traces still exist both in the country which adopted him, and in others
-where he was only known by his writings and his doctrines. His
-doctrines still divide the Christian world; but that ecclesiastical principle,
-which called in the authority of the sword for their defence, has
-been long and indignantly disclaimed by all his followers.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The best clue to the real character of Calvin will be found in his
-letters. Many accounts of his life, as well as of his doctrines and
-writings, exist; but they are mostly influenced by party feeling. The
-earliest is that of his friend Beza; it is said however not to be strictly
-accurate even as to the facts of Calvin’s life before 1549, when the
-author became acquainted with him, and it is of course a panegyric.</p>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id002'>
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_62'>62</span>
-<img src='images/i_062.jpg' alt='MANSFIELD' class='ig001' />
-</div>
-
-<div class='chapter'>
-  <h2 class='c005'>MANSFIELD</h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c010'>The first Earl of Mansfield was a younger son of a noble house in
-Scotland, which he raised to higher rank by his own brilliant talents
-and successful industry.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>William Murray was the eleventh child of David, Viscount Stormont,
-and was born at Perth, March 2, 1704. He received his
-education at Westminster School and Christchurch College, Oxford,
-where he gained distinction by the elegance of his scholarship. He
-took his degree of M.A. in June, 1730, and was called to the bar in
-the Michaelmas term following: the interval he employed in travelling
-in France and Italy. At an early age he gained the friendship of
-Pope, who in several passages has borne testimony to the grace,
-eloquence, rising fame, and attractive social accomplishments of the
-young lawyer. In 1737, in consequence of the sudden illness of his
-leader, who was seized with a fit in court, Mr. Murray had to undertake,
-at an hour’s notice, the duty of senior counsel, in the cause of
-Cibber <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">v.</span></i> Sloper. From his success on this occasion he was wont to
-date the origin of his fortune. “Business,” he said, “poured in
-upon me on all sides; and from a few hundred pounds a year I
-fortunately found myself, in every subsequent year, in possession of
-thousands.” In the same year he was retained by the corporation
-of Edinburgh in the memorable transactions which arose out of the
-Porteous riot; and his exertions to preserve their privileges were
-subsequently acknowledged by the gift of the freedom of the city
-in a gold box. November 20, 1738, Mr. Murray was married to
-Lady Elizabeth Finch, daughter of the Earl of Winchelsea, a lady
-who, in addition to rank and fortune, possessed those more valuable
-qualities which rendered their married life, through near half a century,
-one of harmony and domestic happiness.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Mr. Murray was appointed Solicitor-General in 1742, and took his
-seat in parliament, for the first time, as member for Boroughbridge.</p>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_062fp.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p><em>Engraved by W. Holl.</em><br /><br />LORD MANSFIELD.<br /><br /><em>From the original Picture by Sir Joshua Reynolds in the Possession of Lord Mansfield.</em><br /><br />Under the Superintendance of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.<br /><br /><em>London, Published by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street.</em></p>
-</div>
-</div>
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_63'>63</span>For many years, during which he held office under the Pelham
-administration, he was recognized in the House of Commons as one
-of the ablest supporters of government; and he was frequently opposed
-in the outset of his career to Mr. Pitt, who, after the elevation
-of both to the upper house, bore this high testimony, among others,
-to Murray’s weight as a speaker. “No man is better acquainted with
-his abilities and learning, nor has a greater respect for them, than I
-have. I have had the pleasure of sitting with him in the other house,
-and always listened to him with attention. I have not lost a word of
-what he said, nor did I ever.” In his official station, he necessarily
-took a prominent part in the prosecution of the rebel lords, especially
-at the trial of Lord Lovat in 1747; and his eloquence was set off
-by his fairness towards the prisoner, whose concern in the rebellion
-was indeed too evident to admit of hesitation on the part of his
-judges. We may follow up the history of his legal advancement by
-briefly stating that, in 1754, he was appointed Attorney-General, and,
-in 1756, Chief Justice of the King’s Bench, and, at the same time,
-raised to the peerage, by the title of Baron Mansfield. It is said that
-the Duke of Newcastle was extremely unwilling to consent to the
-removal of his most powerful supporter from the Commons, but was
-forced to comply by the threat that, if he refused, Murray would no
-longer act as Attorney-General.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Lord Mansfield’s private life appears for the most part to have been
-passed in tranquil prosperity, which afforded no incidents for the biographer
-to dwell on; at least the published records of him are nearly
-confined to his exertions as an advocate, his speeches in parliament,
-and reports on the important cases which he adjudicated. It will be
-sufficient here to mention those events by which Lord Mansfield is
-connected with the public history of England, and to make a few
-general observations on his character as a lawyer and a judge.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>In 1763, the legality of what were called general warrants, not
-directed against persons by name specifically, but generally against
-any person or persons supposed to be guilty of a certain act, was
-mooted, in consequence of a secretary of state’s warrant to apprehend
-the “authors, printers and publishers” of the celebrated No. 45 of
-the ‘North Briton.’ Wilkes, being apprehended by virtue of this
-warrant, was discharged by Pratt, afterwards Lord Camden, Chief
-Justice of the Common Pleas, when brought up before that court by
-writ of <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">habeas corpus</span></i>. The question came before Lord Mansfield in
-a different form. An action of trespass was brought in the court of
-Common Pleas against the messengers who executed the warrant,
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_64'>64</span>and a verdict was given for the plaintiff. A bill of exceptions against
-Chief Justice Pratt’s directions to the jury was tendered, in pursuance
-of which the question was again argued before Lord Mansfield, who
-coincided with his brother chief in holding the instrument illegal
-under which the defendants had acted. Since this decision, general
-warrants have been disused.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>In 1768, Wilkes, then at the height of his popularity, returned to
-England, and applied for a reversal of his outlawry. The excitement
-of his partisans broke out both in riots and in indecent attempts to
-intimidate the judges before whom the point was to be argued. Lord
-Mansfield pronounced for the reversal upon the ground of a technical
-informality, which the Court held fatal to the process; but in his
-elaborate judgment he took care strongly to censure the seditious
-efforts which had been made to influence the court, and to impress on
-his auditors that the apparently trifling objection on which the judgment
-turned was fatal in law, and could not have been passed over in
-any other case. This speech has been much admired; nor is it easy
-to overrate its beauties as a composition: it lies open, however, to the
-objection of being too theatrical. After overruling the objections
-made by the defendant’s counsel, it rises into eloquent declamation
-against the attacks of the press, and the threats of the mob; and, at
-the moment when all seems ripe for a contrary decision, proceeds to
-grant the thing so loudly clamoured for. He may safely contemn
-danger who does not expose himself to it; and it would on this occasion
-have been more dignified to make less parade of independence.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Lord Mansfield’s view of the law of libel exposed him to much
-obloquy. He was a resolute assertor of the doctrine that juries were
-to judge of the fact only, not of the law, or rather of the question,
-libel or no libel. A prerogative lawyer on the bench, he was a supporter
-of Tory principles in parliament. He strenuously maintained
-the right of the British legislature to tax America, and was the advocate,
-though he probably would not have been the adviser, of those
-measures which led to the American revolution; for the temper of
-his mind seems to have been cautious and somewhat timid, and his
-political conduct was swayed by an habitual moderation, which sometimes
-prevented his accession to the more violent measures of his
-party. His course was consistent with what we may suppose to have
-been his early prejudices, for he came of a Jacobite family; and it
-was made a matter of accusation against him, while Attorney-General
-(most unfairly revived by Junius), that, as a schoolboy, he had been
-known to drink Jacobite toasts. The charge, if true, was too trivial
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_65'>65</span>to merit further notice than George II. bestowed upon it: “Whatever
-they were while they were Westminster boys, they are now my
-very good friends.” At the same time he was a steady advocate of
-religious toleration, both on the bench and in the House of Lords.
-This he showed in 1768, on occasion of the prosecution of a Roman
-Catholic priest by a common informer, in his strict dealing with the
-penal laws enacted against that class of men; and in assigning his
-reasons for admitting a Quaker’s evidence on affirmation in certain
-cases. And the Dissenters in general, and especially of the city of
-London, were much indebted to his support in the House of Lords
-in 1767, for the abolition of that mean and oppressive custom by
-which they were fined for refusing to serve the office of sheriff, being
-at the same time subject to legal penalties if they accepted it. Lord
-Mansfield’s exposition of the iniquity of this practice was unsparing
-and conclusive.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The unprecedentedly-long period during which Lord Mansfield
-presided in the King’s Bench is one of considerable importance in the
-history of British jurisprudence; indeed, the multiplicity of his decisions
-during a period of thirty-four years could not fail materially to
-affect the law relating both to commercial and other property, especially
-in a country so rapidly increasing in wealth, and in which new cases
-were continually arising out of the ever-changing state of society.
-By a large body of his admirers, a class including the majority of
-the nation, he was regarded with almost unlimited admiration; but
-several of his important judgments have since been overruled; and
-we probably shall not err in stating it as the general opinion of well-informed
-persons in the present day, that, indecent and virulent as is
-Junius’s attack on him as a judge, there is a solid foundation for the
-charge that he was more prone to enlarge the power of the crown
-than to protect the liberty of the subject, and more willingly referred
-to the Roman law and the law of nations than to Magna Charta and
-the Bill of Rights. But the charge of introducing equitable doctrines
-into the common law must be received with much more caution. He
-may have gone too far in his favourite scheme of introducing more
-enlarged and liberal views than had prevailed before his time; he
-may have neglected former authorities, and introduced too great laxity
-in the interpretation of the law; but, dangerous as such licence is,
-lest, in the uncertainty of law, a greater evil be incurred than by the
-occasional commission of an essential injustice, yet we must look with
-complacency on that alleged tendency to relax the strict rigour of law
-in favour of substantial justice, which seems to have consisted chiefly
-in a disposition to admit evidence when mere technical disqualification,
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_66'>66</span>and not essential unfitness, was urged against it; and rather
-to let right prevail than give the victory to wrong by rigid adherence
-to the technicalities of the law. His feelings may be illustrated by a
-playful saying of his own to Garrick. “A judge on the bench is now
-and then in your whimsical situation between Tragedy and Comedy;
-inclination drawing one way, and a long string of precedents the
-other.” It is certain that to him we owe all that our mercantile law
-has of system, and of consistency with the principles which govern
-the practice of other nations. It is no less true that the remedies
-generally afforded by our courts of law have become much more
-beneficial, since he enlarged and moulded actions originally of an
-equitable nature to suit cases to which proceedings in equity are
-very ill adapted. Nor is it too much to assert that under him the
-science of law assumed the form of a liberal study.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>It is hardly necessary to reply to the graver charges of moral guilt
-adduced by the able and unscrupulous author to whom we have referred.
-The spirit in which they are conceived may be estimated
-from the unmeasured vituperation of the Scotch in general, which
-forms the opening of the forty-first letter of Junius, addressed to Lord
-Mansfield. His lordship’s knowledge of English law has been impugned;
-his innovations upon its doctrines have been censured; his
-application and extension of its principles have been questioned; and
-his constitutional doctrines have been often and justly condemned;
-but we do not believe that his honesty has been seriously doubted,
-since the violence of party animosity has ceased to inflame men’s
-passions and pervert their judgment.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Our knowledge of Lord Mansfield’s private history is very limited.
-His life however seems to have been spent in happiness and tranquillity,
-until the riots of 1780, in which his house, with its contents,
-was destroyed. Beside a valuable property in books, pictures, and
-furniture, he sustained that loss which, to a literary man, is irreparable,—the
-collected manuscripts of a laborious life. He bore this
-heavy calamity with honourable fortitude, and declined to accept of
-pecuniary compensation. To the application of government he returned
-this answer: “I think it does not become me to claim or
-expect reparation from the state. I have made up my mind to my
-misfortune as I ought, with this consolation, that it came from those
-whose object manifestly was general confusion and destruction at
-home, in addition to a dangerous and complicated war abroad. If I
-should lay before you any account or computation of the pecuniary
-damage I have sustained, it might seem a claim or expectation of
-being indemnified.” Shortly afterwards he appeared in the House
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_67'>67</span>of Lords, to justify the strong measures by which the riots had been
-quelled. “It was wonderful,” says Bishop Newton in his ‘Life and
-Anecdotes,’ “after such a shock as he had received, that he could so
-soon summon his faculties as to make one of the finest and ablest
-speeches that ever was heard in parliament, to justify the legality of
-the late proceedings on the part of government, to demonstrate that
-no royal prerogative had been exerted, no martial law had been exercised,
-nothing had been done but what every man, civil or military,
-had a right to do in the like cases. ‘I speak not from books,’ he
-said, ‘for books I have none;’ having been all consumed in the fire.
-The effects of his speech were the admiration and conviction of all
-who heard him, and put an end to the debate without division. Lord
-Mansfield never appeared greater in any action of his life.” No particular
-cause connected with the frenzy of the time can be assigned
-for this attack on the Chief Justice; he had not been active in supporting
-the measures for the relief of the Catholics, which produced
-this remarkable ebullition of folly and wickedness. But when once
-riot is afoot, the causes which have first stirred up men’s minds are
-readily forgotten; and the violence of party abuse with which Lord
-Mansfield had been assailed, and the unpopularity of the government,
-in which he was supposed to exercise a principal though secret influence,
-are sufficient to account for this calamity.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>In 1776, Lord Mansfield, at his own request, was raised to the
-dignity of an earl. He had no children, and his object was to raise
-the rank of his paternal family in the person of his nephew Lord
-Stormont, to whom the succession was secured. In 1784, he was
-compelled to absent himself from his judicial duties for a season, and
-spent some time, with considerable benefit to his health, at Tunbridge
-Wells. He returned to his judicial employment and continued to
-exercise it with unclouded intellect, being only prevented by bodily
-infirmity from attending the court during the last year and a half that
-he held the office. In 1788 he resigned it, at the advanced age of
-eighty-four, having presided in the court of King’s Bench for the
-unprecedented period of thirty-two years, and being still in possession
-of a share of health and power of enjoyment which seldom fall to
-the lot of so advanced an age. He retained the perfect possession
-of his faculties until within a week of his death, which took place
-March 18, 1794, in the ninetieth year of his age.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>In the case of this, as of many other eminent men, we may regret
-that so few particulars of their every-day manners have been preserved.
-In the relations of private life his conduct was exemplary; and the
-amenity of his manners, the playfulness of his wit, and his admirable
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_68'>68</span>qualifications as a companion, secured the affection of those who enjoyed
-his society. His talents as a speaker were set off by a graceful
-and attractive person, and a remarkably harmonious voice; qualifications
-greatly conducing to good delivery, which it is said he was
-in the habit of improving in youth, by sedulous cultivation under the
-direction of Pope.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>A gentleman (Mr. Baillie), who had been deeply indebted to Lord
-Mansfield’s professional abilities, bequeathed 1500<i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">l.</span></i> to erect a monument
-to his memory. The commission was entrusted to worthy hands,
-for it was given to Flaxman. A sketch of his work forms the vignette
-to this memoir.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The ‘Life of the Earl of Mansfield,’ by Mr. Halliday, is the only
-biographical account of this eminent lawyer which we know to exist.
-It is too manifestly panegyrical, and, as has been intimated, contains
-a very meagre account of the private history of its noble subject. It
-is mainly occupied by reports of Lord Mansfield’s speeches and judgments,
-and must therefore be chiefly acceptable to legal readers.</p>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_068.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>[Monument of Lord Mansfield in Westminster Abbey.]</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_069fp.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p><em>Engraved by E. Scriven.</em><br /><br />BRADLEY.<br /><br /><em>From the original Picture by Richardson in the possession of the Royal Society.</em><br /><br />Under the Superintendance of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.<br /><br /><em>London, Published by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street.</em></p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id002'>
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_69'>69</span>
-<img src='images/i_069.jpg' alt='BRADLEY.' class='ig001' />
-</div>
-
-<div class='chapter'>
-  <h2 class='c005'>BRADLEY.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c010'>Of all men who have combined both astronomical theory and practice,
-Bradley is one of the most remarkable. In this respect, we must
-assign to him the first place in English history; and if we were disposed
-to add, in that of the world, we are convinced that no country
-would pretend to offer more than one candidate to dispute his claim.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>James Bradley<a id='r1' /><a href='#f1' class='c012'><sup>[1]</sup></a> was born in March 1692–3, at Sherbourn in Gloucestershire.
-He was educated at the Grammar School of Northleach,
-and admitted of Baliol College, Oxford, in March 1710–11, where he
-proceeded to the degrees of B.A. and M.A. in the years 1714 and 1717
-respectively. His mother’s brother was James Pound (deceased 1724),
-rector of Wanstead in Essex, and known as an observer, particularly
-by the observations which he furnished to Newton, as described in the
-Principia. With him Bradley spent much of his younger life, and
-was his assistant in his astronomical pursuits; and some observations
-of 1718–19 on double stars are in good accordance with the relative
-motions which have been since established in the case of those bodies.
-His tables of Jupiter’s satellites, on which he was employed at the
-same time, show that he had detected the greater part of the inequalities
-in their motions which have since been observed.</p>
-
-<div class='footnote' id='f1'>
-<p class='c000'><span class='label'><a href='#r1'>1</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span>The facts here given are entirely taken from the searching account of Bradley
-given by Professor Rigaud in his “Miscellaneous Works, &amp;c., of James Bradley,
-Oxford, 1832.”</p>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'>In 1718 he was elected fellow of the Royal Society; in 1719 he
-was ordained to the vicarage of Bridstow, in Monmouthshire; in the
-following year he received a sinecure preferment. But in 1721 he
-resigned these livings, on obtaining the Savilian professorship of
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_70'>70</span>Astronomy at Oxford, the holder of which, by the statutes, must not
-have any benefice. To finish what we may call the gazette of his
-life, he was engaged in observation (with what results we shall presently
-see) both at Kew and Wanstead till 1732, when he went to
-reside at Oxford, having since 1729 given yearly courses of lectures
-on Experimental Philosophy. In 1742 he was appointed to succeed
-Halley as Astronomer Royal, and he held this appointment for the
-remainder of his life. In the same year he obtained the degree of
-D.D. In 1752, having refused the living of Greenwich, because he
-thought the duty of a pastor to be incompatible with his other studies
-and necessary engagements, he was presented with a pension of 250<i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">l.</span></i>
-The last observation made by him in the observatory is dated Sept. 1,
-1761; and he died July 13, 1762, at Chalford in Gloucestershire,
-having been afflicted by various diseases for several years, and particularly
-by a depression of spirits, arising from the fear lest he should
-survive his faculties. He married in 1744, and left one daughter,
-who died at Greenwich in 1812.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>There are now no lineal descendants of Bradley. Most of his
-writings, which were few in number, were published in the Philosophical
-Transactions. His personal merits are proved by the number
-of his friends, and the warmth with which they endeavoured to serve
-him when occasion arose, as well as by the strength of the testimonies
-which those who survived bore to his reputation as a man and a
-member of society.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>We have much abridged the preceding account, in order to make
-room for a popular exposition of his two great discoveries—the <em>aberration
-of light</em>, and the <em>nutation of the earth’s axis</em>. If we were to blot
-these discoveries out of his life, there would remain an ample stock of
-useful labours, fully sufficient to justify us in stating that Bradley was
-unequalled as an observer, and of no mean character as a philosopher.
-But for the latter we must refer the reader to the excellent account
-from which our facts have been taken, or to any history of astronomy.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The <em>parallax</em> of the fixed stars had been long a subject of inquiry.
-If a body describe a circle, and a spectator on that body be unconscious
-of his own motion, all other bodies will appear to describe
-circles parallel to that of the spectator’s motion, and, absolutely speaking,
-equal to it; consequently, the greater the distance of the body
-from the spectator, the smaller will its apparent annual motion be;
-and it will not be circular, because the projection of the circle upon
-the apparent sphere of the heavens will foreshorten, and cause it to
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_71'>71</span>appear oval. If we suppose a star to describe an oval in the course of
-a year, the consequence will be that it will pass the spectator’s meridian
-sometimes before a star in the centre of the oval, sometimes after
-it; sometimes nearer to the pole of the heavens, and sometimes more
-distant; and the nature of the motion of this kind which would arise
-from parallax can be mathematically deduced. If the star be so
-distant that the oval is too small to be detected by measurement (which
-is hitherto the case with the fixed stars), then no alteration of place
-will be perceived on this account; but if an oval large enough to be
-observed be described in the course of a year, then the test of the
-phenomenon arising from the earth’s motion in its orbit is as follows:—Imagine
-a plane always passing through the centre of the sun, the
-centre of the earth, and the centre of the oval described by the star, then
-the place of the star in its oval must be in that plane; or draw the shortest
-distance on the globe from the centre of the oval to the sun, and
-the star will be on the point of the oval which lies in that distance.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>In and before the time of Bradley, the refraction of light was not
-well determined, which would throw a doubt over any observations
-made to detect small quantities, unless the star which furnished them
-were situated in that part of the observer’s heaven in which there is no
-refraction, or next to none, that is, in or near his zenith. For the purpose
-of measuring annual parallax, therefore, stars had always been chosen
-which passed very nearly over the spot of observation, and instruments
-called zenith sectors (now almost out of use) were employed, which
-measured small angles of the meridian near the zenith, the latter
-point being ascertained by a plumb-line. Mr. Molyneux, a friend
-of Bradley, and a wealthy man, had caused the celebrated Graham
-to erect a large instrument of this kind at his house in Kew, afterwards
-the palace. Bradley and Molyneux observed with this instrument
-the star γ in the Dragon, which passed nearly through the
-zenith of that place, in December 1725. The star was found to
-pass the meridian more and more to the south of the zenith, until the
-following March, when it was about twenty seconds (about the sixty-five
-thousandth part of the whole circuit of the heavens) lower than
-at first. It was afterwards traced back again to its first position in
-the following December, allowing for the precession of the equinoxes.
-Other stars were examined in the same way, and the result was, that
-all stars were found to describe small<a id='r2' /><a href='#f2' class='c012'><sup>[2]</sup></a> ovals in the course of the year.
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_72'>72</span>But on comparing the situations of the stars in their small orbits
-with the corresponding places of the sun, it was evident that the cause
-of the phenomenon could not be the change of place arising from the
-orbital motion of the earth. Various hypotheses proposed by Bradley
-were found insufficient. In 1727 he erected a zenith sector for himself
-at Wanstead; and by further observations, and using different
-stars, he came at length to this fact, that instead of the star being in
-the place which annual parallax would give it, it was always in the
-position which it should have had a quarter of a year later: or that
-if the observer could measure the oval with sufficient exactness, and
-were to find the time of the year from the star, on the supposition of
-annual parallax being the cause of the star’s orbit, he would suppose
-himself in March instead of December, and so on.</p>
-
-<div class='footnote' id='f2'>
-<p class='c000'><span class='label'><a href='#r2'>2</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span>The original memorandum of Bradley, on the first night on which a decided result
-had been obtained, was accidentally found among his papers. There is a fac-simile
-of it in Professor Rigaud’s work.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'>That the phenomenon then had a regular connexion with the place
-of the earth was evident; but it was not that sort of connexion arising
-from the mere change of place of the earth. It is related<a id='r3' /><a href='#f3' class='c012'><sup>[3]</sup></a> that he
-was led to the true explanation by observing that the vane at the top of
-a boat’s mast changed its direction a little whenever the boat was put
-about, and made to go in a contrary direction; and that on his remarking
-that it was curious the wind should shift every time the boat
-was put about, he was assured by the boatmen that the same thing
-always happened. Be this as it may, he proposed to the Royal Society,
-in 1728, his beautiful explanation of the annual motion which
-he had observed in the stars; namely, that it is caused by the alteration
-in the apparent direction of the rays of light, arising from the
-earth being in motion. Suppose a stream of bullets fired into a
-carriage in motion, in a line perpendicular to its side, and so directed
-as to hit the middle of the first window, but not with sufficient velocity
-to reach any part of the second window. It is plain that they
-will strike the hinder pannel, which the motion of the carriage brings
-forward, and that to passengers in the inside the direction of the
-stream will appear to be from the middle of the window at which
-it enters to the opposite hinder pannel: whereas, had the carriage
-been at rest, it would have appeared to pass through the centre of
-both windows. And to make the stream really pass through both
-windows it must, if the carriage be in motion, be directed through the
-nearer window towards the foremost pannel on the other side. A ray
-of light is in the same situation with regard to the spectator, both as
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_73'>73</span>to the diurnal and the annual motion of the earth. The former gives
-an insensible aberration only; the latter, one which though small is
-sensible. The smallness of the latter aberration arises from the velocity
-of light being more than ten thousand times that of the earth in
-its orbit. And it must be remembered that the motion of light was
-not an hypothesis, invented to form the basis of Bradley’s explanation,
-but was ascertained before his time, by Römer, from a phenomenon of
-an entirely different nature; namely, the retardation observed in the
-eclipses of Jupiter’s satellites, as the planet moved from the earth.
-The absolute deduction of the laws of aberration was completed by
-Bradley.</p>
-
-<div class='footnote' id='f3'>
-<p class='c000'><span class='label'><a href='#r3'>3</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span>Professor Rigaud gives this story on the authority of ‘Dr. Thomson’s History of
-the Royal Society,’ in which work we find no authority cited for it. We cannot find it
-in any other place, but are credibly informed that it rests on good traditional evidence.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'>The other great discovery of Bradley, namely, the <em>nutation</em>, or
-oscillatory motion of the earth’s axis, was completed in 1747. In his
-Wanstead observations he had observed some minute discrepancies,
-which at that time might be attributed to errors of observation; but
-after he was able to clear the apparent place of a star from the effects
-of aberration, the field became open to consider and assign the laws of
-smaller variations. By continual observation, he found a small irregularity
-in the places of the stars, depending upon the position of the
-moon’s node. Newton had already shown it to be a consequence of
-gravitation, that the sun must produce a small oscillation in the earth’s
-axis: Bradley showed that a larger oscillation must arise from the
-moon, and be completed in the course of a revolution, not of the
-moon, but of the point where her orbit cuts the ecliptic. This discovery
-is therefore not of so original a character as the last, since
-astronomers had for some time been in the habit of trying to reconcile
-every discrepancy which they observed by supposing a nutation; but
-to Bradley belongs the merit of discovering that small irregularity
-which really can be reconciled to such a supposition, and its physical
-causes. The easiest way of conceiving the effect of nutation is
-as follows:—The precession of the equinoxes, discovered by Hipparchus,
-has this effect, that the fixed stars, so called, appear to
-move round the pole of the ecliptic, at the rate of a revolution in
-about 26,000 years. Instead of a star, let a small oval describe the
-same course, and let the star in the mean while move round that
-oval in the course of nineteen years. The motion thus obtained will
-represent the combined effect of precession and nutation.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>To these discoveries of Bradley we owe, as Delambre observes,
-the accuracy of modern astronomy. It must be remarked, that no individual,
-whose previous labours have caused public opinion to point
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_74'>74</span>him out as most fit for the part of Astronomer Royal, has ever been
-passed over when occasion occurred, from the time of Flamsteed to
-that at which we write. It is the fair reward of such a course, that
-the reputation which each successive occupant brought to that position
-should be considered as appertaining to him in the public capacity
-which it gained for him; and this being granted, it may be
-truly said that there is no institution in the world which has, upon
-the whole, done so much towards the advancement of correct astronomy
-as the Observatory of Greenwich.</p>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_074.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>[Observatory at Greenwich.]</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_075fp.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p><em>Engraved by W. Holl.</em><br /><br />MELANCTHON.<br /><br /><em>From an Engraving by Albert Durer<br />1526.</em><br /><br />Under the Superintendance of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.<br /><br /><em>London, Published by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street.</em></p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id002'>
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_75'>75</span>
-<img src='images/i_075.jpg' alt='MELANCTHON.' class='ig001' />
-</div>
-
-<div class='chapter'>
-  <h2 class='c005'>MELANCTHON.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c010'>Philip was the son of a respectable engineer named Schwartzerde,
-that is, Black-earth, a name which he Grecised at a very early age, as
-soon as his literary tastes and talents began to display themselves,—assuming,
-in compliance with the suggestion of his distinguished kinsman
-Reuchlin or Capnio, and according to the fashion of the age,
-the classical synonyme of Melancthon. He was born at Bretten,
-a place near Wittemberg, February 16, 1497. He commenced
-his studies at Heidelberg in 1509; and after three years was
-removed to Tubingen, where he remained till 1518. These circumstances
-are in this instance not undeserving of notice, because
-Melancthon gave from his very boyhood abundant proofs of an
-active and brilliant genius, and acquired some juvenile distinctions
-which have been recorded by grave historians, and have acquired him
-a place among the ‘<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Enfans Célèbres</span>’ of Baillet. During his residence
-at Tubingen he gave public lectures on Virgil, Terence,
-Cicero, and Livy, while he was pursuing with equal ardour his
-biblical studies; and he had leisure besides to furnish assistance to
-Reuchlin in his dangerous contests with the monks, and to direct the
-operations of a printing-press. The course of learning and genius,
-when neither darkened by early prejudice nor perverted by personal
-interests, ever points to liberality and virtue. In the case of Melancthon
-this tendency was doubtless confirmed by the near spectacle of
-monastic oppression and bigotry; and thus we cannot question that
-he had imbibed, even before his departure from Tubingen, the principles
-which enlightened his subsequent career, and which throw the
-brightest glory upon his memory.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>In 1518 (at the age of twenty-one) he was raised to the Professorship
-of Greek in the University of Wittemberg. The moment was
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_76'>76</span>critical. Luther, who occupied the theological chair in the same
-University, had just published his ‘Ninety-five Propositions against
-the Abuse of Indulgences,’ and was entering step by step into a contest
-with the Vatican. He was in possession of great personal authority;
-he was older by fourteen years, and was endowed with a far
-more commanding spirit, than his brother professor; and thus, in that
-intimacy which local circumstances and similarity of sentiments immediately
-cemented between these two eminent persons, the ascendancy
-was naturally assumed by Luther, and maintained to the end of his
-life. Melancthon was scarcely established at Wittemberg when he
-addressed to the Reformer some very flattering expressions of admiration,
-couched in indifferent Greek iambics; and in the year following
-he attended him to the public disputations which he held with
-Eckius on the supremacy of the Pope. Here he first beheld the
-strife into which he was destined presently to enter, and learned the
-distasteful rudiments of theological controversy.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Two years afterwards, when certain of the opinions of Luther were
-violently attacked by the Faculty of Paris, Melancthon interposed to
-defend their author, to repel some vain charges which were brought
-against him, and to ridicule the pride and ignorance of the doctors of
-the Sorbonne. About the same time he engaged in the more delicate
-question respecting the celibacy of the clergy, and opposed the Popish
-practice with much zeal and learning. This was a subject which he
-had always nearest his heart, and, in the discussions to which it led,
-he surpassed even Luther in the earnestness of his argument; and he
-at least had no personal interest in the decision, as he never took
-orders.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>In 1528 it was determined to impose a uniform rule of doctrine
-and discipline upon the ministers of the Reformed churches; and the
-office of composing it was assigned to Melancthon. He published,
-in eighteen chapters, an ‘Instruction to the Pastors of the Electorate
-of Saxony,’ in which he made the first formal exposition of the doctrinal
-system of the Reformers. The work was promulgated with
-the approbation of Luther; and the article concerning the bodily
-presence in the Eucharist conveyed the opinion of the master rather
-than that of the disciple. Yet were there other points so moderately
-treated and set forth in so mild and compromising a temper, as sufficiently
-to mark Melancthon as the author of the document; and
-so strong was the impression produced upon the Roman Catholics
-themselves by its character and spirit, that many considered it the
-composition of a disguised friend; and Faber even ventured to make
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_77'>77</span>personal overtures to the composer, and to hold forth the advantages
-that he might hope to attain by a seasonable return to the bosom of
-the Apostolic Church.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The Diet of Augsburg was summoned soon afterwards, and it
-assembled in 1530, for the reconciliation of all differences. This
-being at least the professed object of both parties, it was desirable that
-the conferences should be conducted by men of moderation, disposed
-to soften the subjects of dissension, and to mitigate by temper and
-manner the bitterness of controversy. For this delicate office Luther
-was entirely disqualified, whereas the reputation of Melancthon presented
-precisely the qualities that seemed to be required; the management
-of the negotiations was accordingly confided to him. But
-not without the near superintendence of Luther. The latter was
-resident close at hand, he was in perpetual communication with his
-disciple, and influenced most of his proceedings; and, at least during
-the earlier period of the conferences, he not only suggested the matter,
-but even authorised the form, of the official documents.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>It was thus that the ‘Confession of Augsbourg’ was composed;
-and we observe on its very surface thus much of the spirit of conciliation,
-that of its twenty-eight chapters twenty-one were devoted to
-the exposition of the opinions of the Reformers, while seven only
-were directed against the tenets of their adversaries. In the tedious
-and perplexing negotiations that followed, some concessions were privately
-proposed by Melancthon, which could scarcely have been
-sanctioned by Luther, as they were inconsistent with the principles
-of the Reformation and the independence of the Reformers. In some
-letters written towards the conclusion of the Diet, he acknowledged
-in the strongest terms the authority of the Roman Church, and all its
-hierarchy; he asserted that there was positively no doctrinal difference
-between the parties; that the whole dispute turned on matters of
-discipline and practice; and that, if the Pope would grant only a
-provisional toleration on the two points of the double communion and
-the marriage of the clergy, it would not be difficult to remove all other
-differences, not excepting that respecting the mass. “Concede,” he
-says to the Pope’s legate, “or pretend to concede those two points,
-and we will submit to the bishops; and if some slight differences shall
-still remain between the two parties, they will not occasion any breach
-of union, because there is no difference on any point of faith, and they
-will be governed by the same bishops; and these bishops, having
-once recovered their authority, will be able in process of time to
-correct defects which must now of necessity be tolerated.” On this
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_78'>78</span>occasion Melancthon took counsel of Erasmus rather than of Luther.
-It was his object at any rate to prevent the war with which the Protestants
-were threatened, and from which he may have expected their
-destruction. But the perfect and almost unconditional submission to
-the Roman hierarchy, which he proposed as the only alternative,
-would have accomplished the same purpose much more certainly;
-and Protestant writers have observed, that the bitterest enemy of the
-Reformation could have suggested no more effectual or insidious
-method of subverting it, than that which was so warmly pressed upon
-the Roman Catholics by Melancthon himself. Luther was indignant
-when he heard of these proceedings; he strongly urged Melancthon
-to break off the negotiations, and to abide by the Confession.
-Indeed, it appears that these degrading concessions to avowed enemies
-produced, as is ever the case, no other effect than to increase
-their pride and exalt their expectations, and so lead them to demand
-still more unworthy conditions, and a still more abject humiliation.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Howbeit, the reputation of Melancthon was raised by the address
-which he displayed during these deliberations; and the variety of
-his talents and the extent of his erudition became more generally
-known and more candidly acknowledged. The modesty of his character,
-the moderation of his temper, the urbanity of his manners, his
-flexible and accommodating mind, recommended him to the regard of
-all, and especially to the patronage of the great. He was considered
-as the peace-maker of the age. All who had any hopes of composing
-the existing dissensions and preventing the necessity of absolute schism
-placed their trust in the mildness of his expedients. The service
-which he had endeavoured to render to the Emperor was sought by
-the two other powerful monarchs of that time. Francis I. invited
-him to France in 1535, to reconcile the growing differences of his
-subjects; and even Henry VIII. expressed a desire for his presence
-and his counsels; but the Elector could not be persuaded to consent
-to his departure from Saxony.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>In 1541 he held a public disputation with Eckius at Worms, which
-lasted three days. The conference was subsequently removed to
-Ratisbon, and continued, with pacific professions and polemic arguments,
-during the same year, with no other result than an expressed
-understanding that both parties should refer their claims to a general
-council, and abide by its decision.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>In the meantime, as the Popes showed great reluctance to summon
-any such Council, unless it should assemble in Italy and deliberate
-under their immediate superintendence, and as the Reformers constantly
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_79'>79</span>refused to submit to so manifest a compromise of their claims,
-it seemed likely that some time might elapse before the disputants
-should have any opportunity of making their appeal. Wherefore the
-emperor, not brooking this delay, and willing by some provisional
-measure to introduce immediate harmony between the parties, published
-in 1548 a formulary of temporary concord, under the name
-of the Interim. It proclaimed the conditions of peace, which were
-to be binding only till the decision of the general council. The conditions
-were extremely advantageous, as might well have been expected,
-to the Roman Catholic claims. Nevertheless, they gave
-complete satisfaction to neither party, and only animated to farther
-arrogance the spirit of those whom they favoured.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The Interim was promulgated at the Diet held at Augsbourg, and
-it was followed by a long succession of conferences, which were
-carried on at Leipzig and in other places, under the Protestant
-auspices of Maurice of Saxony. Here was an excellent field for
-the talents and character of Melancthon. All the public documents
-of the Protestants were composed by him. All the acuteness of his
-reason, all the graces of his style, all the resources of his learning
-were brought into light and action; and much that he wrote in censure
-of the Interim was written with force and truth. But here, as
-on former occasions, the effects of his genius were marred by the very
-moderation of his principles, and the practical result of his labours was
-not beneficial to the cause which he intended to serve. For in this
-instance he not only did not conciliate the enemies to whom he made
-too large concessions, but he excited distrust and offence among his
-friends; and these feelings were presently exasperated into absolute
-schism.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>On the death of Luther, two years before these conferences, the
-foremost place among the reformers had unquestionably devolved
-upon Melancthon. He had deserved that eminence by his various
-endowments, and his uninterrupted exertions: yet was he not the
-character most fitted to occupy it at that crisis. His incurable thirst
-for universal esteem and regard; his perpetual anxiety to soothe his
-enemies and soften the bigotry of the hierarchy, frequently seduced
-him into unworthy compromises, which lowered his own cause,
-without obtaining either advantage or respect from his adversaries. It
-is not thus that the ferocity of intolerance can be disarmed. The lust
-of religious domination cannot be satisfied by soothing words, or
-appeased by any exercise of religious charity. It is too blind to
-imagine any motive for the moderation of an enemy, except the
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_80'>80</span>consciousness of weakness. It is too greedy to accept any partial
-concession, except as a pledge of still farther humiliation, to end in
-absolute submission. It can be successfully opposed only by the same
-unbending resolution which itself displays, tempered by a calmer
-judgment and animated by a more righteous purpose.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The general principle by which the controversial writings of
-Melancthon at this time were guided was this—that there were
-certain essentials which admitted of no compromise; but that the
-Interim might be received as a rule, in respect to things which were
-<em>indifferent</em>. Hence arose the necessary inquiry, what could properly
-be termed indifferent. It was the object of Melancthon to extend
-their number, so as to include as many as possible of the points in
-dispute, and narrow the held of contention with the Roman Catholics.
-In the pursuance of this charitable design he did not foresee—first,
-that he would not advance thereby a single step towards the conciliation
-of their animosity—next, that he would sow amongst the
-Reformers themselves the seeds of intestine discord: but so, unhappily,
-it proved; and the feeble expedient which was intended to
-repel the danger from without, multiplied that danger by introducing
-schism and disorder within.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Indeed, we can scarcely wonder that it was so: for we find that
-among the matters to be accounted indifferent, and under that name
-conceded, Melancthon ventured to place the doctrine of justification
-by faith alone; the necessity of good works to eternal salvation; the
-number of the sacraments; the jurisdiction claimed by the pope and
-the bishops; extreme unction; and the observance of certain religious
-festivals, and several superstitious rites and ceremonies. It was not
-possible that the more intimate associates of Luther—the men who
-had struggled by his side, who were devoted to his person and his
-memory, who inherited his opinions and his principles, and who
-were animated by some portion of his zeal—should stand by in silence,
-and permit some of the dearest objects of their own struggles and the
-vigils of their master to be offered up to the foe by the irresolute
-hand of Melancthon. Accordingly, a numerous party rose, who
-disclaimed his principles and rejected his authority. At their head was
-Illyricus Flacius, a fierce polemic, who possessed the intemperance
-without the genius of Luther. The contest commonly known as the
-Adiaphoristic Controversy broke out with great fury; it presently
-extended its character so as to embrace various collateral points; and
-the Roman Catholics were once more edified by the welcome spectacle
-of Protestant dissension.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_81'>81</span>Melancthon held his last fruitless conference with the Roman
-Catholics at Worms in the year 1557; and he died three years afterwards,
-at the age of 63, the same age that had been attained by
-Luther. His ashes were deposited at Wittemberg, in the same
-church with those of his master; a circumstance which is thus simply
-commemorated in his epitaph:</p>
-
-<div class='lg-container-b c011'>
-  <div class='linegroup'>
-    <div class='group'>
-      <div class='line'><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Hic invicte tuus Collega, Luthere, Melancthon</span></div>
-      <div class='line in2'><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Non procul a tumulo conditur ipse tuo.</span></div>
-      <div class='line'><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Ut pin doctrinæ concordia junxerat ambos,</span></div>
-      <div class='line in2'><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Sic sacer amborum jungit his ossa locus.</span></div>
-    </div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'>Some days before his death, while it was manifest that his end was
-fast approaching, Melancthon wrote on a scrap of paper some of the
-reasons which reconciled him to the prospect of his departure. Among
-them were these—that he should see God and the Son of God; that
-he should comprehend some mysteries which he was unable to
-penetrate on earth, such as these:—why it is that we are created such
-as we are? what was the union of the two natures in Jesus Christ?
-that he should sin no more; that he should no longer be exposed to
-vexations; and that he should escape <em>from the rage of the theologians</em>.
-We need no better proof than this how his peaceable spirit had been
-tortured during the decline of life by those interminable quarrels,
-which were entirely repugnant to his temper, and yet were perpetually
-forced upon him, and which even his own lenity had seemingly
-tended to augment. And it is even probable that the theologians
-from whose rage it was his especial hope to be delivered were those
-who had risen up last against him, and with whom his differences
-were as nothing compared to the points on which they were agreed,
-his brother reformers. For being in this respect unfortunate, that
-his endeavours to conciliate the affections of all parties had been
-requited by the contempt and insults of all, he was yet more peculiarly
-unhappy, that the blackest contumely and the bitterest insults proceeded
-from the dissentients of his own. Thus situated, after forty
-years of incessant exertions to reform, and at the same time to unite,
-the Christian world, when he beheld discord multiplied, and its fruits
-ripening in the very bosom of the Reformation; when he compared
-his own principles and his own conscience with the taunts which were
-cast against him; when he discovered how vain had been his mission
-of conciliation, and how ungrateful a task it was to throw oil upon the
-waters of theological controversy; when he reflected how much time
-and forbearance he had wasted in this hopeless attempt,—he could
-scarcely avoid the unwelcome suspicion that his life had been, in some
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_82'>82</span>degree, spent in vain, and that in one of the dearest objects of his
-continual endeavours he had altogether failed.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The reason was, that the extreme mildness of his own disposition
-blinded him to the very nature of religious contests, and inspired him
-with amiable hopes which could not possibly be realized. He may
-have been a better man than Luther; he may even have been a
-wiser; he had as great acuteness; he had more learning and a purer
-and more perspicuous style; he had a more charitable temper; he
-had a more candid mind; and his love for justice and truth forbade
-him to reject without due consideration even the argument of an
-adversary. He was qualified to preside as a judge in the forum
-of theological litigation; yet was he not well fitted for that which he
-was called upon to discharge, the office of an advocate. He saw too
-much, for he saw both sides of the question; his very knowledge,
-acting upon his natural modesty, made him diffident. He balanced,
-he reflected, he doubted; and he became, through that very virtue, a
-tame sectarian and a feeble partisan.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>But his literary talents were of the highest order, and were directed
-with great success to almost all the departments of learning. He
-composed abridgments of all the branches of philosophy, which
-continued long in use among the students of Germany, and purified
-the liberal arts from the dross which was mixed up with them. And
-it was thus that he would have purified religion; and as he had
-introduced the one reformation without violence, so he thought to
-accomplish the other without schism. But he comprehended not the
-character of the Roman Catholic priesthood, nor could he conceive the
-tenacity and the passion with which men, in other respects reasonable
-and respectable, will cling to the interests, the prejudices, the abuses,
-the very vices, which are associated with their profession. It was an
-easy matter to him to confound the superstitious rites and tenets
-of Rome by his profound learning and eloquent arguments; but it
-was another and a far different task to deal with the offended feelings
-of an implacable hierarchy. And thus it is, that while we admire his
-various acquirements and eminent literary talents, and praise the
-moderation of his charitable temper, we remark the wisdom of that
-Providence which entrusted the arduous commencement of the work of
-reformation to firmer and ruder hands than his.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Melancthon’s printed works are very numerous. The most complete
-edition of them is that of Wittemberg, in 1680,3, in four
-volumes folio.</p>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_083fp.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p><em>Engraved by J. Posselwhite.</em><br /><br />WILLIAM PITT.<br /><br /><em>From a Picture by Hoppner in the possession of the Publisher.</em><br /><br />Under the Superintendance of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.<br /><br /><em>London, Published by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street.</em></p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id002'>
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_83'>83</span>
-<img src='images/i_083.jpg' alt='PITT.' class='ig001' />
-</div>
-
-<div class='chapter'>
-  <h2 class='c005'>PITT.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c010'>The observations made at the beginning of our memoir of Mr. Burke
-(vol. iii. p. 33) apply with greater force to Mr. Pitt, on account both
-of the more recent date of his death, and of the more important influence
-which he exercised over our national welfare. We shall
-therefore lay before the reader a very succinct account of this celebrated
-statesman, endeavouring not to colour it by the introduction
-of our own opinions, and avoiding any statements that can reasonably
-be controverted. There can be no doubt as to Mr. Pitt’s title to a
-place in this work; but it is not here that those who have their opinion
-still to form as to his character and policy should seek for the materials
-to do so.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>William Pitt, the second son of the first Earl of Chatham, was born
-at Hayes in Kent, May 28, 1759. He suffered much and frequently
-from ill health until he had nearly reached the age of manhood; and
-his delicacy of constitution prevented his reading for honours at Pembroke
-College, Cambridge, of which he became a resident member at
-the age of fourteen. He therefore took the honorary degree of M.A.,
-to which his birth entitled him, in 1776. His private tutor and biographer,
-the late Bishop of Winchester, has borne testimony to Mr.
-Pitt’s proficiency in scholarship at the time when he commenced his
-residence, and to his diligent study of the ancient languages, of mathematics,
-and of modern literature, during the long period of seven
-years which he spent at Cambridge. His illustrious father was not
-slow to perceive and appreciate this early promise; and the few letters
-which are extant, addressed by Lord Chatham to his son, contain a
-most pleasing picture of parental affection, confidence, and esteem.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_84'>84</span>Mr. Pitt was called to the bar June 12, 1780, and went the western
-circuit in that year and the following. In January, 1781, he was
-brought into parliament by Sir James Lowther, for the borough of
-Appleby. He made his maiden speech in support of Mr. Burke’s
-bill for the reform of the civil list; and this being in great measure
-in reply to former speakers, and therefore evidently not premeditated,
-produced the greater effect, and amply satisfied public expectation,
-which had been highly raised by his hereditary fame and reputed talents.
-Young as he was, he took a leading part in denouncing the
-impolicy and injustice of the American war, then drawing to its close,
-and in effecting the downfall of Lord North’s administration, which
-occurred in March, 1782. In the Rockingham administration, which
-followed, he bore no office: not that his talents were held cheap, for
-he was offered several important places; but he had already determined,
-as he declared soon afterwards, never to accept any office
-without a seat in the cabinet. He gave his support, however, to the
-measures of government; and, with a determination which he manifested
-again at a later period, of securing his independence, he continued,
-notwithstanding his brilliant prospects in public life, his professional
-attendance at Westminster Hall. During this session he
-distinguished himself as an advocate of parliamentary reform by supporting
-three measures upon the subject: a motion, made by himself,
-for a committee to examine into the state of representation of the
-Commons; a bill for shortening the duration of parliaments; and a
-bill for the prevention of bribery, and the diminution of expense
-at elections. These, not being supported by government, were all
-thrown out.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The death of the Marquis of Rockingham, July 1, 1782, led to the
-appointment of the Earl of Shelburne as prime-minister, and to Mr.
-Fox’s retirement from office. Mr. Pitt, at the age of twenty-three,
-was made Chancellor of the Exchequer. As a strong opposition was
-expected in the next session of parliament, it became desirable to
-effect a junction, if possible, with one of the adverse parties. Against
-acting in concert with Lord North, Mr. Pitt had formed an unchangeable
-determination; and the negotiation with Mr. Fox was stopped in
-the outset by that gentleman’s resolution not to act under Lord Shelburne.
-Thus two of the three principal parties into which the House
-of Commons was then divided were shut out of office during the continuance
-of the existing administration; and a strong motive was given
-them to unite, even against all probability, considering the virulent
-hostility which had long existed between their leaders. Mr. Fox and
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_85'>85</span>Lord North however did form their celebrated Coalition; and, in spite
-of its unpopularity, had strength enough to turn out the Shelburne
-ministry in the spring of 1783. Mr. Pitt, while in office, introduced
-a bill for promoting economy, and removing many gross abuses in
-various departments of the public service. This, after passing the
-Commons, was thrown out by the Lords.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The King, it is well known, was exceedingly averse to the re-admission
-of Mr. Fox into office. He pressed the task of forming an
-administration upon Mr. Pitt, who, being convinced that no effective
-support could be hoped for, at that time, either in parliament or
-from the expression of public opinion, steadily refused the offer.
-The coalition ministry therefore came into power. In the session of
-1783 Mr. Pitt again introduced the question of parliamentary reform,
-in the shape of three resolutions, which provided that one hundred
-members should be added to those returned by the counties and the
-metropolis, and that all boroughs should be disfranchised where a
-majority of voters had been proved guilty of corruption. These resolutions
-were rejected.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>On the meeting of parliament in November, Mr. Fox brought forward
-his celebrated India Bill. It was quickly carried through the
-lower house, but was thrown out in the upper, partly through the
-personal influence exerted by the King; and on the next day, December
-18, Mr. Fox and Lord North received their dismissal. Mr.
-Pitt did not now hesitate to take his place at the head of government.
-He felt himself in a much stronger position than at the close of the
-Shelburne administration. He foresaw that the India Bill would
-become unpopular, though as yet little outcry had been made against
-it, and he resolved, with a courage, ability, and penetration, which
-those who condemn his conduct most strongly cannot deny, to
-assume office in the teeth of a majority of the House of Commons,
-and to hold it in spite of the majorities continually arrayed against
-him. Nor, though strongly urged, would he resort to a dissolution;
-knowing that such a measure would be fatal unless the new parliament
-should prove much more favourable to him than the existing one,
-being aware that Mr. Fox’s popularity, though shaken by the coalition,
-was not overthrown, and trusting to the growing unpopularity of the
-India Bill to dispose the nation more favourably to his own administration.
-It was therefore resolved to continue the sitting parliament;
-and the house adjourned on the 26th of December to the 12th of
-January. During the recess Mr. Pitt gained the applause of all parties
-by his disinterestedness in giving the valuable sinecure of Clerk of
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_86'>86</span>the Pells to Colonel Barré, on condition of his resigning a pension of
-3000<i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">l.</span></i> a year; thus effecting a saving to the country of that amount.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>On the 12th the new ministry was twice left in a minority, once of
-thirty-nine, the second time of fifty-four. This not inducing them to
-resign, a series of motions was made to compel them to do so. It
-was never ventured however to stop the supplies. Between January
-12 and March 8, fourteen motions, besides those which passed without
-a division, were carried against the ministers with various but on the
-whole decreasing majorities, the last only by a majority of one. This
-ended the struggle. The minister saw that the time was now come
-when a dissolution was likely to tell in his favour, and it took place
-accordingly, March 25.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>He was now returned for the University of Cambridge. In the
-ensuing session his attention was principally engaged by the Westminster
-scrutiny, the state of the revenue, and the affairs of India.
-In the first he took a part which widened the breach between Mr. Fox
-and himself; and he had the mortification of being exposed to the
-charge that he cherished personal animosity against his illustrious
-antagonist, and of being deserted by many of his usual adherents,
-and finally left in a minority, March 3, 1785, when the scrutiny was
-ended by a vote of the house. Lord Hood and Mr. Fox were then
-returned. In his financial measures Mr. Pitt had eminent success.
-By economy, by resolutely facing the difficulties of the question, and,
-no doubt, by the assistance of that general prosperity, agricultural as
-well as commercial, which was beginning to succeed the depression of
-the American war, the revenue, which at his accession to office was
-considerably below the expenditure, was improved so much as, by the
-spring of 1786, to afford the promise of a million surplus. This was
-devoted to the formation of an effective sinking-fund. Mr. Pitt prided
-himself on this more than any other of his measures, and resisted
-all temptation to encroach upon it even during the pressing difficulties
-of the latter years of his administration. The merit of having devised
-the scheme was claimed by Dr. Price: be this as it may, the principal
-merit, that of having rigidly carried it into execution, is Pitt’s. Later
-authorities have denied the advantage of the system altogether. The
-India Bill, the other leading measure of this session, differed from
-Mr. Fox’s chiefly in these important points, that the members of the
-Board of Control, like other members of administration, were removable
-at pleasure, and that nearly all the patronage of India was
-left in the hands of the Board of Directors. In 1785, for the last time,
-Mr. Pitt again brought forward the subject of parliamentary reform.
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_87'>87</span>His plan was to transfer the members of thirty-six decayed boroughs to
-the metropolis and to various counties, and as other boroughs decayed,
-to give their franchises to populous and increasing towns. But the
-boroughs being regarded, in the words of his biographer, as “a
-species of valuable property and private inheritance, the voluntary
-surrender of their rights was not to be expected without an adequate
-consideration.” This was not treated as a government measure, and
-was rejected by a large majority.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The other passages of most importance in Mr. Pitt’s political life,
-before the French Revolution, were his decided support of the impeachment
-of Warren Hastings, though without going the whole
-length of Mr. Burke and other opposition members, in 1786, and the
-conclusion of a commercial treaty with France on a more liberal
-footing than had yet been contemplated by the countries; the successful
-opposition which he made to the repeal of the Test and Corporation
-Acts, in 1787, notwithstanding the support he had received
-from the Dissenters a few years before; his conduct on the Regency
-Bill, in opposition to the ill-advised assertion of Mr. Fox, that the
-Prince of Wales was entitled as a matter of right to the full possession
-of the powers of royalty, as sole Regent, in 1788–9; and his support of
-the abolition of the Slave Trade, for which he spoke and voted, but
-without making it a ministerial question. Indeed, in consequence of
-Mr. Wilberforce’s illness, Pitt was the first to bring that national disgrace
-and crime under the notice of the house, and he exerted his
-best eloquence in favour of its immediate abolition, and against the
-temporising course which was adopted.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>It does not appear that in the beginning of the French Revolution
-Mr. Pitt anticipated any bad consequences to Great Britain, or that
-he expected or wished to be led into that protracted war, which, though
-ultimately triumphant, involved us in imminent danger, enormous
-expense, and a debt still pressing us to the ground. At least, in
-opening his budget in 1792, he spoke with more than usual confidence
-of the favourable prospects of the revenue, and prognosticated
-many years of peace. At the same time he was already impressed
-with suspicion and fear of those in England who regarded with
-complacency the dawning of the Revolution; and in the same session
-he declared himself opposed to the introduction of Mr. Grey’s motion
-for reform in parliament, on the express ground that men’s minds were
-in a state of fermentation, which rendered any innovation inexpedient
-and dangerous. But the events of the summer and autumn changed
-Mr. Pitt’s views more widely. After the deposition of Louis XVI., on
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_88'>88</span>the 10th of August, the British minister at Paris was recalled; and as
-soon as the news of that unhappy sovereign’s death reached England,
-the French minister in London was ordered to quit the kingdom. War
-was declared by France, February 1, 1793. We do not attempt to
-compress the history of that eventful period into these pages. The
-policy of our government was to make the sea the scene of our chief
-exertions, and our fleets were victorious in every quarter of the
-globe. By land the conduct of the war was most unsuccessful. We
-were indeed cautious of risking our own troops on the continent; but
-the national wealth was profusely spent in subsidizing other nations,
-in combining alliances against France, which one after another proved
-utterly unable to withstand the energy of the French government and
-the talent of the republican generals, and in trifling expeditions,
-injurious if they failed, and useless if successful. Meanwhile the
-enormous expenditure of the day caused a corresponding increase of
-the public burdens, and, as was foreboded, a ruinous accession to the
-public debt. A large party, who were far from joining with those
-that would willingly have made England the subject of an experiment
-similar to the one going on in France, denied both the necessity and
-the expediency of the contest in which we were engaged; party spirit
-reached a frantic height; and these men, as sincere friends to their
-country as those who most strenuously supported the arbitrary
-measures of government, were denounced, and confounded with the
-small minority really hostile to domestic order. And no doubt the
-oppressive conduct of the administration drove many persons to
-extremes, which, in cooler moments and under a more equitable
-policy, they would not have countenanced. Then came the trials of
-Muir and Palmer in Scotland, in 1793, of Hardy and Horne Tooke
-in 1794, the Alien Bill, the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act,
-and other measures calculated, in the language of the times, to prevent
-the spread of revolutionary principles, for which the minister was hailed
-by one party as the saviour of his country from anarchy, and denounced
-by another as a pillar of despotism, an enemy to the free constitution of
-his country, a deserter from the principles of his youth, and a persecutor
-of those associates who still adhered to them. Increased discontent
-was met by increased severity; and, after the insults offered to the
-King’s person as he proceeded to open the session of parliament in
-1796, the famous bills, for the prevention of seditious meetings and
-for the better security of his Majesty’s person and government, commonly
-called the Pitt and Grenville Acts, were introduced and carried,
-not without the utmost indignation and the most determined opposition
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_89'>89</span>by all means short of forcible resistance, both within the walls of
-parliament and without.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Mr. Fox and the other chief members of opposition, finding their
-utmost efforts unsuccessful, seceded openly from the House of Commons
-when the Seditious Meetings Bill went into committee. Meanwhile
-the country was beset by the most serious difficulties. The
-drain of specie produced by our subsidies to foreign powers, the large
-advances required from the Bank by government, and the disposition to
-hoard money produced by the fear of invasion and of domestic anarchy,
-gave reason to apprehend that the Bank would be unable to meet its
-engagements; and in 1797 it was relieved by the Restriction Act from
-the obligation of paying cash in exchange for its notes. In the same
-year the mutiny at the Nore broke out; and in 1798 the rebellion in
-Ireland made a most formidable addition to the dangers and distresses
-of the nation. Meanwhile our exertions had been powerless to check
-the victorious arms of France on the continent of Europe, and a strong
-desire for peace was felt by many who had been Mr. Pitt’s staunch
-supporters, and advocates of the revolutionary war. This led to his
-retirement from office in 1801, unless that event is rather to be ascribed
-to the King’s fixed determination not to grant the Irish Catholics that
-full relief, which had been held out as one inducement to procure
-the consent of Ireland to the Act of Union. It is to Mr. Pitt that
-the merit of carrying through that important measure is due; a measure
-which would probably have been attended with much more beneficial
-results if the policy of its author with respect to Catholic Emancipation
-had been adopted. But even the importance of the object
-is insufficient to justify, and can only palliate, the corrupt means which
-were used in gaining the assent of the Irish parliament to the Union,
-which was very unpopular with the Irish nation.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Mr. Pitt resigned his office in February, 1801, and was succeeded
-by Mr. Addington, who concluded the peace of Amiens in 1802, the
-preliminaries having been signed the autumn before. Mr. Pitt
-defended the conditions of this treaty when attacked in parliament,
-therein taking a different part from several of his late colleagues. But
-his retirement in the first instance was regarded as not much more
-than nominal, and he was generally thought to be the adviser of the
-ministry after he ceased to belong to it. This state of affairs however
-was short-lived. His support gradually subsided, first into coldness,
-then into avowed disapprobation, and finally into hostility not less
-decided than that of the regular opposition. In the early part of
-1804, after the lapse of twenty years of violent hostility, Pitt and
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_90'>90</span>Fox were again seen speaking and voting on the same side. A
-fruitless attempt was made by the ministry to procure the accession
-of the former; and as it became clear that the existing government
-could not stand, and as the lapse of time and change in affairs had
-removed many of the most irreconcileable grounds of party variance,
-a strong hope was felt that an administration, uniting the best talents
-and most powerful interests of the country, might be formed by
-the junction of the three parties represented by Mr. Pitt, Mr. Fox,
-and Lord Grenville. This hope appears to have been defeated by
-the King’s personal objections to admit Mr. Fox to office. It is
-asserted by Mr. Rose that Mr. Pitt used his utmost endeavours to
-overcome that prejudice, “conceiving a strong government as important
-to the public welfare, and as calculated to call forth the united
-talents as well as the utmost resources of the empire; in which endeavour
-he persisted till within a few months of his death.” Unfortunately
-for his own fame, and probably for the interests of the country, he did
-not think fit to make this union of parties a condition of his own return
-to office. Lord Grenville, his relation, friend, and coadjutor, refused
-to become a member of an exclusive ministry, and Mr. Pitt took his
-station at the head of a cabinet singularly deficient in men of commanding
-talent, and more than half composed of Mr. Addington’s
-colleagues. The disappointment of the nation was great; but the
-late period of the session (he was gazetted First Lord of the Treasury
-May 12) was of material service in enabling him to face the difficulties
-of his position; and he employed the autumn in seeking to
-gain strength by forming an alliance with some other party. Lord
-Grenville however proved firm in his resolution not to accept office
-while Mr. Fox was excluded; and the minister, assuredly with deep
-mortification, was compelled to make overtures of reconciliation to
-Mr. Addington, who was created Viscount Sidmouth, and appointed
-President of the Council in January, 1805. This alliance after all
-proved inefficient to strengthen the government, while it was fruitful
-in jealousies, which led to Lord Sidmouth’s speedy retirement from
-office in July; and in the same session the dismissal, and ultimately
-the impeachment, of his old and valued friend and ablest coadjutor,
-Mr. Dundas, now created Viscount Melville, added another and a still
-more distressing embarrassment to those by which the minister was
-already beset.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>On his return to office Mr. Pitt had again recourse to his former
-policy of raising up continental alliances against France; and he succeeded
-in uniting Austria and Russia in the confederacy which was
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_91'>91</span>crushed by the decisive battle of Austerlitz, December 2, 1805. At
-this time his constitution was rapidly giving way, exhausted by a life
-of excessive labour, which he sought to relieve by the immoderate use
-of wine, a habit first induced by the original defects in his constitution.
-In December he was ordered by his physicians to Bath, but
-he received no benefit from the change of place, and returned to his
-residence at Putney by slow stages. He expired January 23, 1805.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>In addition to his other offices, Mr. Pitt held the sinecure of Warden
-of the Cinque Ports, worth about 3000<i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">l.</span></i> per annum, which, unsolicited,
-was bestowed on him by the King in 1792, as a mark of
-personal esteem. But the pressure of public business left no time for
-the regulation of his domestic affairs, and, notwithstanding his large
-income, he expended his small patrimonial estate, and died deeply
-involved in debt. The parliament was not slow to acknowledge his
-long services. His remains were interred at the public expense; a
-monument was erected to him in Westminster Abbey; 40,000<i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">l.</span></i> were
-voted to discharge his debts; and, in conformity to his dying request,
-a pension of 1500<i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">l.</span></i> was conferred on his nieces, daughters of the
-Earl of Stanhope.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>We abstain, for the reasons already assigned, from attempting to
-give a summary of Mr. Pitt’s qualifications and merits as a statesman,
-but it is a debt of justice to bear testimony to his unimpeached
-integrity in all pecuniary affairs. As a speaker he possessed extraordinary
-powers; clear, fluent, and singularly correct in his diction,
-unimpassioned, and seldom rising into flights of eloquence, he was
-always ready to profit by the indiscretions of an opponent, and his
-sarcasm was of the most cutting and effective kind. His argumentative
-powers were of a high order, and the clearness and precision
-of his mind fitted him admirably for those minute financial statements
-which formed an important part of his official duties. His voice,
-though wanting in variety, was sonorous and impressive in an extraordinary
-degree; his action, though awkward and ungainly at first
-sight, was not unpleasing, nor unsuited to his discourse. In the
-relations of private life his character was unexceptionable. “With a
-manner somewhat reserved and distant, in what might be termed his
-public deportment, no man was ever better qualified to gain, or more
-successful in fixing, the attachment of his friends, than Mr. Pitt. They
-saw all the powerful energies of his character softened into the most
-perfect complacency and sweetness of disposition in the circles of private
-life, the pleasures of which no one more enjoyed, or more agreeably
-promoted, where the paramount duties he conceived himself to owe to
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_92'>92</span>the public admitted of his mixing in them; that indignant severity
-with which he met and subdued what he considered unfounded opposition,
-that keenness of sarcasm with which he repelled and withered
-(as it might be said) the powers of most of his assailants in debate,
-were exchanged, in the society of his intimate friends, for a kindness
-of heart, a gentleness of demeanour, and a playfulness of good humour,
-which none ever witnessed without interest, or participated without
-delight.” Such is the testimony borne to Mr. Pitt’s social qualities
-by his intimate and attached friend, the Hon. George Rose, in his
-“Brief Examination into the Increase of the Revenue, &amp;c. of Great
-Britain, during Mr. Pitt’s administration.”</p>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_092.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>[Statue of Mr. Pitt, by Chantrey, in Hanover Square.]</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_093fp.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p><em>Engraved by J. Posselwhite.</em><br /><br />WESLEY.<br /><br /><em>From a Print engraved by J. Fittler, after a Miniature Painted by J. Barry.</em><br /><br />Under the Superintendence of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge<br /><br /><em>London, Published by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street.</em></p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id002'>
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_93'>93</span>
-<img src='images/i_093.jpg' alt='WESLEY.' class='ig001' />
-</div>
-
-<div class='chapter'>
-  <h2 class='c005'>WESLEY.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c010'>Samuel Wesley, whose mother was a niece of Thomas Fuller, the
-church historian, was in his earliest years thrown by family circumstances
-among the party of the dissenters; but he abandoned them in
-disgust, and entered at Exeter College, Oxford, in 1684. He afterwards
-obtained the livings of Epworth and Wroote, in Lincolnshire;
-and at the former of those places, June 17, 1703, was born his second
-son John. Six years afterwards, the house was set on fire by some
-refractory parishioners, and the boy was forgotten in the first confusion.
-He was presently discovered at a window, and by great exertion rescued
-at the very moment which promised to be his last. John Wesley
-saw the hand of Providence in this preservation, and made it in after
-life a subject of reflection and gratitude.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>At the age of seventeen he was removed from the Charterhouse
-School, where he had made some proficiency, to Christchurch, Oxford;
-and the reputation by which he was then distinguished was that of a
-skilful logician and acute disputant. He was destined for the Church;
-and when the time for ordination arrived, after some faint scruples
-which he professed respecting the damnatory clauses of the Athanasian
-Creed and the supposed Calvinistic tendency discoverable in
-the Articles had been removed, he entered into orders; and, as the
-book which had especially excited him on the most serious meditation
-to undertake that office was Jeremy Taylor’s ‘Rules of Holy Living
-and Dying,’ so was it with the deepest earnestness that his resolution
-was taken, and with a fixed determination to dedicate his life and his
-death, his whole thoughts, feelings and energies, to the service of God.
-Accordingly, in the selection of his acquaintance, he avoided all who
-did not embrace his principles; and having now obtained a fellowship
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_94'>94</span>at Lincoln College, he had the means of assembling round him a little
-society of religious friends or disciples, over whom his superior talents
-and piety gave him a natural influence. These, through their strict
-and methodical manner of living, acquired from their fellow-students
-the appellation of Methodists,—a name derived from the schools of
-ancient science, and thus destined, through its capricious application
-by a few thoughtless boys, to designate a large and vital portion of the
-Christian world.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>About this time Wesley entered upon his parochial duties as his
-father’s curate at Epworth<a id='r4' /><a href='#f4' class='c012'><sup>[4]</sup></a>, and presently afterwards, on the approaching
-death of that respectable person, he was strongly urged by
-his family to obtain, as he probably might have done, the next presentation
-for himself. Had he yielded to their solicitations, he might have
-passed his days in humble and peaceful obscurity; but his mind was
-too large for the limits of a country parish, and he already felt that he
-was intended to serve his Maker in a larger field. So, evading the
-arguments and withstanding the entreaties of his friends, he went back
-to reside for a while upon his fellowship at Oxford.</p>
-
-<div class='footnote' id='f4'>
-<p class='c000'><span class='label'><a href='#r4'>4</a>.&nbsp;&nbsp;</span>It was, strictly speaking, during this his absence from Oxford that his little society
-then (of which the leading member was his younger brother Charles) acquired the
-name of Methodist.</p>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'>In the year 1735 he engaged in the more public exercise of the
-ministry in the character of a missionary. He set sail for the new
-colony of Georgia in America; he had the countenance of the civil
-authorities, and the object which he principally professed was the
-conversion of the Indians. His habits at this period were deeply
-tinged with ascetism. In his extreme self-denial and mortification,
-in respect to diet, clothing, and the ordinary comforts of life, he
-affected a more than monastic austerity, and realized the tales of
-eremitical fanaticism. He even declaimed against the study of classical
-authors, and discouraged, as sinful, any application to profane
-literature. And the extravagance of his zeal took a direction, such
-indeed as might be expected from his birth and education, but ill
-adapted to recommend him to the affections of the colonists. He adhered,
-with the obstinacy of a bigot, to the rubric of the Church; he
-refused to administer baptism except by immersion; he withheld the
-communion from a pious dissenter, unless he should first consent to
-be rebaptized; he declined to perform the burial service over another;
-and while he was exciting much enmity by this excessive strictness,
-he formed an indiscreet, though innocent, connexion with a young woman
-named Sophia Causton, which led him into difficulty, and occasioned,
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_95'>95</span>after some ludicrous and some very serious scenes, his sudden
-and not very creditable departure from America.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>He remained there a year and nine months without making, so far
-as we learn, a single attempt to introduce Christianity among the
-Indians. He alleged that the Indians had expressed no wish for
-conversion; and if his conscience was indeed thus easily satisfied, he
-was yet very far removed from Christian perfection. Thus much
-indeed he certainly appears to have learnt from this first experiment
-on his own powers, that he was not yet qualified for the office of
-missionary; for he felt that he, who would have converted others,
-was not yet converted himself.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Wesley had sailed to America in the society of some Moravian
-missionaries, whose exalted piety had wrought deeply on his feelings,
-and given them some influence over his conduct. On his return to
-England, while he was already impressed with some sense of his own
-unworthiness, he became closely connected with Peter Boehler, a man
-of talents and authority, and a Moravian. Through his instructions
-Wesley became thoroughly convinced of his own unbelief, and began
-to pray, with all the ardour of his enthusiastic soul, for an instantaneous
-conversion. It was not long before he believed that this blessing was
-vouchsafed to him. On the evening of the 24th of May, 1738, as one
-of a society in Aldersgate Street was reading in his presence Luther’s
-‘Preface to the Epistle to the Romans,’—“About a quarter before
-nine,” says Wesley, “while he was describing the change which God
-works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely
-warmed; I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and
-an assurance was given me that He had taken away <em>my</em> sins, even
-<em>mine</em>, and saved <em>me</em> from the law of sin and death.” Howbeit, when
-he returned home, he had still some more struggles with the evil one,
-and was again buffeted by temptations; but he was now triumphant
-through earnest prayer. “And herein,” he adds, “I found the difference
-between this and my former state chiefly to consist. I was
-striving, yea fighting, with all my might under the law, as well as
-under grace; but then I was sometimes, if not often, conquered; now
-I am always conqueror.” This is justly considered as a remarkable
-day in the history of methodism; and Wesley himself attached so
-much importance to the change that had been wrought in him, that
-he scrupled not to proclaim, to the great scandal of some of his unregenerate
-friends, that he had never been a Christian until then.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>His first act after his conversion was to set out on a visit to the
-celebrated Moravian colony, established under the patronage of Count
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_96'>96</span>Zinzendorf, at Herrnhut in Lusatia. There he employed a fortnight
-in examining the doctrines and discipline of that sect, and
-then returned, as he went, on foot. “I would gladly have spent my
-life here; but my Master calling me to labour in another part of the
-vineyard, I was constrained to take my leave of this happy place.”
-Yet he perceived clearly enough the imperfections in their method;
-and his intercourse with their noble patron was not such as to flatter
-the ambition, or even the independence, of his character. But he had
-acquired a knowledge of their system, and was thus qualified to apply
-to his own purposes any part of it which might hereafter serve them.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Wesley returned from his visit to Germany burning with religious
-enthusiasm, and presently entered into the path which Whitefield, his
-friend and disciple, had opened for him. The latter, who was a few
-years younger than Wesley, and like him educated at Oxford, and in
-orders, had begun a short time before to address the people in the
-open air, at Kingswood near Bristol. Wesley, after some little hesitation,
-proceeding from his respect for ecclesiastical practice and discipline,
-followed his example, and commenced his field-preaching in
-the same place. Here was the first indication of any approach to a
-separation from the Church, and thus in fact were laid the foundations
-of the sect of Methodists; yet such was not the design, perhaps, of
-either of its founders,—certainly not of Wesley. His scheme, if
-indeed he had then proposed to himself any fixed scheme, was rather
-to awaken the spirit of religion slumbering within the Church,—to revive
-the dying embers of vital Christianity,—to infuse into the languid
-system new life and energy,—to place before the eyes of the people the
-essentials of their faith, and to rouse their religious instructors to a
-proper view of their profession and sense of their duty. It was rather
-an order than a sect that he designed to found; an order subsidiary to
-the Church, in rivalry indeed with the ancient branches of the Establishment,
-but filled with no hostile spirit, and having no final object
-but its regeneration. Such as were the Mendicants in respect to the
-Roman Church; severe in their reproaches against the indolence and
-degeneracy of the clergy, whether regular or secular; severe in their
-own professions, and for a season in their piety and practice too;
-making their earnest appeals to the lower classes, and turning their
-influence with them to their own aggrandizement; yet so far removed
-from schism, so far from harbouring any ill designs against the papacy,
-as to be the warmest zealots of the Vatican, and the most faithful
-ministers of all its projects:—such (so far as the change in civil and
-ecclesiastical principles would permit) the disciples of Wesley were
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_97'>97</span>probably designed to have become, in respect to the English Church,
-by the original intention of their master. At any rate, it was certain
-that the emulation, which he could not fail to rouse, would in the end
-be serviceable to the interests of true religion; and it is very possible
-that, in the depth of his enthusiasm, he held every other consideration
-to be entirely subordinate to this.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The first effects of his public preaching have not been surpassed by
-any thing that we read in the history of fanaticism. On one occasion,
-as he was inculcating the doctrine of universal redemption, “immediately
-one, and another, and another, sank to the earth; they dropped
-down on every side as thunderstruck.” Sometimes, as he began to
-preach, numbers of his believers fell into violent fits and lay struggling
-in convulsions around him. At other times his voice was lost amidst
-the groans and cries of his distracted hearers. Wesley encouraged
-the storm which he had raised; he shared the fanaticism which he
-imparted; and in these deplorable spectacles of human imbecility he
-saw nothing but the hand of God confirming by miraculous interposition
-the holiness of his mission.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>But however elated the preacher might be by these spiritual triumphs,
-however confident in the immediate aid and favour of God, he did not
-neglect such human means as occurred to him for securing and advancing
-his conquests. At a very early period he divided his followers at
-Bristol into male and female <em>bands</em>, for purposes of mutual confession
-and prayer, in imitation of one part of the Moravian discipline. The
-establishment of love feasts was equally early. Presently Friday was
-set apart by him for prayer and fasting; and a house was erected (likewise
-at Bristol) for the meeting of his disciples. Things were already
-advancing towards schism. The directors of the church discouraged
-the extravagance of the teacher, and pitied the madness of the people.
-Many clergymen, with praiseworthy discretion, refused their pulpits to
-men who might turn them to such strange purposes. And this gave
-a pretext to Wesley for seeking means of instructing the people independent
-of the Church.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>In the mean time he discovered that there were differences between
-himself and those with whom he had hitherto been most closely connected—differences
-the more difficult to reconcile, because they concerned
-points of doctrine—the one with the Moravians, the other with
-Whitefield and his followers. For the arrangement of the former,
-Count Zinzendorf came in person to England, and had some conferences
-with Wesley—but he no longer found in him a timid disciple, or obsequious
-admirer. Wesley defended fearlessly the opinions which he
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_98'>98</span>professed, concerning Christian perfection and the means of grace;
-and as no concession was possible on the other side, the controversy
-ended in an entire and final breach between him and the Moravians.
-The dispute with Whitefield, occasioned by the predestinarian doctrines
-now nakedly advanced by him, was conducted with considerable bitterness,
-and came to a similar termination. Not that the separation was
-in this case so complete as to preclude a temporary reconciliation, which
-was effected some years afterwards; but the difference was clearly
-proved to be real and irreconcileable; and the permanent division of
-methodism may in fact be dated from the year 1740.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>From this time Wesley, having shaken off two connexions which
-had embarrassed more than they had strengthened him, became the
-sole head and mover of a considerable religious party: and he immediately
-applied his talents to give it organization and perpetuity. He
-divided his followers into <em>classes</em>, each under the direction of a leader.
-He caused pecuniary contributions to be collected from the individuals
-composing those classes, so as to establish a permanent fund for the
-support of his society, bearing an exact proportion to the number of its
-members. He appointed itinerant preachers, and instructed them to
-preach in the open air, under the plea that they were excluded from
-the pulpits of the Church. And lastly and reluctantly,—for he still
-retained much affection for that Church, and could not be blind to the
-consequences of the measure,—he committed the office of preaching to
-laymen. In the first instance, indeed, he conceded to them no more
-than the privilege of expounding the Gospel; but seeing how soon they
-deviated from exposition into preaching, he thought it wiser at once to
-acknowledge the latter as a part of his system, and thus acquire the
-power of preventing, as far as might be, its abuse. These men were,
-for the most part, humbly born and ill educated. But their zeal supplied,
-in popular estimation, the place of learning; and their habits
-of poverty enabled them to endure the privations incident to the missionary
-of a new sect. Thus were their labours attended with great
-success; and this was essentially promoted by a very sage provision of
-Wesley, that no confession of faith should be required on admission
-into his community. The door was thus open to all mankind. The
-new member was never called upon to secede from the body to which
-he had previously belonged. He might bear what denomination he
-chose among the visible members of Christ’s Church, so long as he
-renounced his vices and his pleasures, and engaged with a regenerate
-heart in the work of his salvation.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>At this time (about 1742) Wesley and his disciples attained that
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_99'>99</span>degree of importance, which qualified them to become objects of persecution.
-It was among the lower classes that they had thrown the
-torch of fanaticism, and it was from the same that the outrages which
-now assailed them proceeded. On two or three occasions the person
-of the master himself was in some danger from popular fury; and
-it may perhaps have been preserved by his singular presence of mind,
-and the awe which he knew how to inspire into his fellow creatures.
-But these violent eruptions of indignation, as they were founded on no
-semblance of reason, and opposed by the civil authorities, were partial
-and of short duration; and as the rumours of them were much exaggerated
-at the time, their influence, as far as they had any, was probably
-favorable to the progress of methodism. Some calumnies that were
-raised against Wesley from more respectable quarters, touching his tendency
-to papacy and his disaffection to the reigning dynasty, arising
-from entire misunderstanding or pure malevolence, were immediately
-repelled, and speedily silenced and forgotten.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>In the year 1744 Wesley invited his brother Charles, four other
-clergymen who co-operated with him, and four of his lay-preachers to
-a <em>Conference</em>: this was the origin of the assembly or council, which
-was afterwards held annually, and became the governing body, for the
-regulation of the general affairs of the society. Four years subsequently,
-a school was opened at Kingswood, for the education chiefly of the sons
-of the preachers. In the extreme severity of some of the rules which he
-imposed on this establishment, Wesley seems to have been guided by an
-ambitious design to set apart his own people from the rest of the community,
-rather than by the common principles of education, or the common
-feelings of nature. And so jealous was he of any other influence
-being exerted on his children, that they were not allowed to be absent
-from the school, not even for a day, from their first admission till their
-final removal from it. Notwithstanding however the peculiarity and, as
-he thought, the purity of his system, he met with many difficulties and
-reverses, in his first attempts to place it on a permanent foundation.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>We may pass over the circumstances of his unfortunate marriage,
-which ended, after a few months of discord and vexation, in a hasty but
-final separation. His wife, after proving herself his foulest slanderer
-and bitterest enemy, presently deserted him. “<span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Non eam reliqui</span> (says
-Wesley)—<span lang="la" xml:lang="la">non dimisi</span>—<span lang="la" xml:lang="la">non revocabo</span>.” “I have not left her—I have
-not put her away—I will not recall her.” The same calmness of temper
-and perfect self-possession, which so remarkably distinguished him
-in his public proceedings, seem not to have abandoned him even in the
-more pressing severity of his domestic trials.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_100'>100</span>Neither have we space to notice the controversies which he carried
-on with two of the most eminent divines of his time, bishops Lavington
-and Warburton; since Wesley, though engaged in dispute with the prelates
-of the Church, and very frequent and bitter in the reproaches
-which he cast against its ministers, still adhered to its communion, and
-had yet committed no act declaratory of absolute independence. But
-later in life he advanced farther towards schism. First of all, as he
-did not assume for his lay-preachers the power of administering the
-sacrament, he caused several to be ordained by one Erasmus, a Greek
-Bishop of Arcadia—thus evading the spiritual authority, which he
-could not contest, and which he did not yet venture to dispense with.
-But this was a feeble resource, unworthy of his courage, and unavailing
-to his purposes. A stronger measure followed. His disciples were very
-numerous in America, and it was desirable to send out to them a head,
-invested with the highest spiritual authority. Dr. Coke, an “evangelical”
-clergyman, was selected for that office, and Wesley took upon
-himself to invest him with the requisite dignity. These letters of ordination
-are dated September 2, 1784, and announce in substance, that
-Wesley thought himself providentially called, at that time, to set apart
-some persons for the work of the ministry in America; and therefore,
-under the protection of Almighty God, and with a single eye to his
-glory, had that day set apart, as a superintendent, by the imposition
-of his hands and prayer, Thomas Coke, a doctor of civil law, and a
-presbyter of the Church of England.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>In this affair, it was weak in Wesley to plead (as he did) a seasonable
-conviction, that in the true primitive Church the order of bishop
-and presbyter were one and the same—for if Wesley exercised as presbyter
-episcopal authority, so, under the same plea, might Dr. Coke
-have exercised it, without any imposition of Wesley’s hands. This was
-a shallow pretence, which could scarcely have deceived himself. The
-fact was, that Wesley, now acting as the sole head of a separate religious
-party, assumed the prerogatives of the highest ecclesiastical
-dignity; and resolved that all the privileges of his ministers should
-emanate from himself. This is properly considered as a second important
-epoch in the history of methodism.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Wesley was then eighty-one years old, and he lived for seven years
-longer, in the perfect enjoyment of his health and exercise of his
-faculties, almost to the very end. He died March 2, 1791: leaving
-no property, except the copyright and current editions of his works,
-which he bequeathed for the use of the connexion. The whole number
-of his followers, at the time of his decease, is stated at about 135,000,
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_101'>101</span>of whom more than 57,600 were Americans. In the United Kingdoms,
-his principal success had been in some of the large towns in England
-and in Ireland. But he complains of the coldness with which his
-preaching was, for the most part, received by the agricultural classes
-generally, and by the entire Scotch nation—facts which may however
-be accounted for, without supposing any religious obduracy either in
-the one or the other.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Thus did Wesley live to fix and consolidate, by the calmer deliberation
-of his later years, the effects, which might otherwise have been
-transient, of his early enthusiasm. It required many talents, as well
-as many virtues, to accomplish this—and Wesley was abundantly endowed
-with both. The natural ardour and eagerness of his character
-was moderated by great sagacity and calm judgment, a conciliating
-and forgiving temper. If he loved power, he did not covet money;
-but bestowed all that he had upon the poor. Doubtless his original
-object was simply to awaken the dormant spirit of vital Christianity;
-and if spiritual ambition, fomented by the general discouragement
-which he received from the clergy, seduced him too readily—though
-reluctantly and in opposition to his own professions, and even to his own
-intentions—into what did in fact amount to schism; yet the breach is
-not even now irreparable, if only his better spirit shall preside in the
-councils of his disciples, and be met with a kindred feeling of religious
-moderation by the directors of the Established Church.</p>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_101.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>[Monument to Wesley in the Chapel in the City Road.]</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id002'>
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_102'>102</span>
-<img src='images/i_102.jpg' alt='Dr. CARTWRIGHT.' class='ig001' />
-</div>
-
-<div class='chapter'>
-  <h2 class='c005'><span class='sc'>Dr.</span> CARTWRIGHT.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c010'>The incident which immediately led to the invention of the power-loom
-is best related in the words of the inventor himself. “Happening
-to be at Matlock in the summer of 1784, I fell in company with
-some gentlemen of Manchester, when the conversation turned on
-Arkwright’s spinning machinery. One of the company observed, that
-as soon as Arkwright’s patent expired, so many mills would be
-erected, and so much cotton spun, that hands never could be found to
-weave it. To this observation I replied, that Arkwright must then
-set his wits to work to invent a weaving mill. This brought on a
-conversation on the subject, in which the Manchester gentlemen unanimously
-agreed that the thing was impracticable; and in defence of
-their opinion, they adduced arguments which I certainly was incompetent
-to answer, or even to comprehend, being totally ignorant of the
-subject, having never at that time seen a person weave. I controverted
-however the impracticability of the thing.” Looms driven by
-power had been constructed before, but they had not been made to
-answer; and it is probable, from the circumstances of Dr. Cartwright’s
-life, that he had never heard of them: at all events the idea thus
-suggested to him did not lie dormant. Before the following April, he
-had constructed his first power-loom; and he took out his last weaving
-patent Aug. 1, 1787. Mechanical spinning therefore was the parent
-of mechanical weaving. Without the former, the latter would have
-been needless; without the latter, the former would have been incomplete.
-Every stage of the cotton manufacture, from the cleaning of
-the raw wool to the formation of a perfect web, may be, and in many
-establishments is, now carried on under the same roof, and by the
-moving power of the same engine. The name of Dr. Cartwright
-should follow that of Sir Richard Arkwright in the list of our
-national benefactors; though at present it is far less known to the
-world at large. It was long indeed before Cartwright’s merits were
-appreciated, and they failed to obtain for him the wealth and distinction
-which the creation of the factory system secured to Arkwright.
-The utility of the power-loom is now acknowledged, and its sphere
-appears to be rapidly enlarging. But it is still limited even in the
-cotton, and much more in the silk and woollen manufactures; and
-it is not unreasonable to expect that, as prejudices give way, and fresh
-refinements render the machine susceptible of more general, not to
-say universal, application, the art of weaving by mechanism, as formerly
-of spinning, may give an impulse to our trade, of which we
-now see the beginning, but cannot conjecture the end.</p>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_102fp.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p><em>Engraved by J. Thomson.</em><br /><br />D<sup>R</sup>. CARTWRIGHT.<br /><br /><em>From a Picture in the possession of Miss Cartwright.</em><br /><br />Under the Superintendance of the Society of the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.<br /><br /><em>London, Published by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street.</em></p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_103'>103</span>Edmund Cartwright was the fourth son of William Cartwright,
-Esq., of Marnham in Nottinghamshire, a gentleman whose family had
-been long established in the county, and had suffered considerably in
-its fortune by adherence to the cause of Charles I. in the civil war.
-He was born April 24, 1743; and at the school of Wakefield, and at
-University College, Oxford, received the education usually bestowed
-upon young men destined for the clerical profession. At an early
-age he manifested a taste for poetic composition; but though he had
-printed some short pieces anonymously, his name was not given to the
-public, until the appearance, in 1770, of ‘Armenia and Elvira,’ a
-legendary poem, which became so popular that it passed through
-seven editions in little more than a year. He also published, about
-the same period, the ‘Prince of Peace,’ and ‘Sonnets to Eminent
-Men.’ In 1774 he became a contributor to the Monthly Review, in
-which he continued to write for ten years.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>We have not ascertained the date of his taking orders, of his election
-to a fellowship at Magdalen College, or of his vacating that fellowship
-by marriage. The degree of D.D. he took in 1806. For some years
-after his marriage he resided, first on his living at Brampton in Derbyshire,
-and afterwards at Goadby-Marwood in Leicestershire; where
-the hours which were not devoted to the duties of his calling were
-chiefly employed in literary pursuits.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Hitherto Mr. Cartwright’s private life had been that of a retired
-country clergyman, varied only by his correspondence with literary
-friends. From his family connexions, and the esteem in which he was
-held by some who had power to advance him, his prospects in the
-church were favourable; and he had good reason to believe, that if he
-had confined himself to the line of life in which he had been educated,
-and in which he was then advancing, he would have attained a more
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_104'>104</span>ample provision in his profession, than it was his lot to acquire by the
-exercise of his mechanical talent. The existence of such a talent in
-his own mind had been wholly unknown even to himself, until he was
-upwards of forty years of age, when the circumstance which has been
-above narrated called it into action, and caused a change in the whole
-tenor of his life. In his first attempts he had to contend with the difficulties
-which usually beset genius without experience. “As I had
-never before turned my thoughts to anything mechanical, either in
-theory or practice, nor had even seen a loom at work, or knew anything
-of its construction, you will readily believe that my first loom
-was a most rude piece of machinery. The warp was placed perpendicularly;
-the reed fell with the weight of at least half a hundred
-weight, and the springs which threw the shuttle were strong enough
-to have thrown a Congreve rocket. In short, it required the strength
-of two powerful men to work the machine at a slow rate, and only for
-a short time.” This, as we have seen, was in 1785: he also applied
-his talents to effecting the substitution of machinery for manual labour
-in combing wool, and took out his first patent on this subject in April
-1790.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The following anecdotes we quote from the ‘Pursuit of Knowledge,’
-vol. ii.; we believe them to rest upon the best authority. “Dr. Cartwright’s
-children still remember often seeing their father about this
-time walking to and fro apparently in deep meditation, and occasionally
-throwing his arms from side to side; on which they used to be told
-that he was thinking of weaving and throwing the shuttle. From the
-moment indeed when his attention was first turned to the invention of
-the power-loom, mechanical contrivance became the grand occupying
-subject of his thoughts. With that sanguineness of disposition which
-seems to be almost a necessary part of the character of an inventor, he
-looked on difficulties, when he met with them in any of his attempts,
-as only affording his genius occasion for a more distinguished triumph:
-nor did he allow even repeated failures for a moment to dishearten
-him. Some time after he had brought his first loom to perfection, a
-manufacturer, who had called upon him to see it at work, after expressing
-his admiration of the ingenuity displayed in it, remarked,
-that wonderful as was Mr. Cartwright’s mechanical skill, there was
-one thing that would effectually baffle him, namely the weaving of
-patterns in checks, or in other words, the combining in the same web,
-of a pattern, or fancy figure, with the crossing colours which constitute
-the check. Mr. Cartwright made no reply to this observation at
-the time; but some weeks after, on receiving a second visit from the
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_105'>105</span>same person, he had the pleasure of showing him a piece of muslin of
-the description mentioned, beautifully executed by machinery. The
-man is said to have been so much astonished, that he roundly declared
-his conviction that some agency more than human must have been
-called in on the occasion.”</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The prejudices and opposition which Dr. Cartwright’s invention
-encountered from the manufacturers, stood greatly in the way of any
-general adoption of his loom during the period of his patent rights.
-Other causes, however, were concerned in this. A mill, containing
-five hundred of his looms, was burnt down almost immediately after
-its erection. He engaged in a concern for manufacturing with power-looms
-at Doncaster; but this proved unsuccessful. And it is not
-improbable, though we have not found it expressly stated, that the
-machine itself was not at this time able to compete, in respect of
-economy and beauty of workmanship, with hand labour: for during
-the period of his exclusive rights, two or three other persons took out
-patents for power-looms, without being able to make them answer. But
-about the year 1801, in which his patent expired, he had the pleasure
-of finding that his invention was coming into use to a very considerable
-extent; and the mortification of seeing others reap the fruit of
-his unrequited ingenuity. The increased demand during the war for
-English cotton goods, with the necessity for working up at home the
-cotton yarn which had hitherto been exported to the Continent, had
-given an impulse to the manufacture favourable to the introduction of
-machinery; and at the same time the power-loom was rendered much
-more economical by a very ingenious method, invented by Mr. Radcliffe
-of Stockport, about 1804, of dressing or sizing the warp, before
-it was placed in the loom. A cotton manufacturer of Stockport,
-named Horrocks, took out a patent for another power-loom in 1803.
-He failed; but his loom, with various modifications, is that which has
-now come into general use.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The following estimate, taken from ‘Baines’s History of the Cotton
-Manufacture,’ of the number of power-looms in Britain at various
-periods, though literal exactness in such a matter is unattainable,
-affords probably a tolerably correct measure of the rapid multiplication
-of these engines.</p>
-
-<table class='table1' summary=''>
-  <tr>
-    <th class='c013'>In 1813.</th>
-    <th class='c007'>&nbsp;</th>
-    <th class='c013'>In 1820.</th>
-    <th class='c013'>In 1829.</th>
-    <th class='c008'>In 1833.</th>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c007'>Not exceeding 2,400.</td>
-    <td class='c007'>England</td>
-    <td class='c006'>12,150</td>
-    <td class='c006'>45,500</td>
-    <td class='c009'>85,000</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-    <td class='c007'>Scotland</td>
-    <td class='c006'>2,000</td>
-    <td class='c006'>10,000</td>
-    <td class='c009'>15,000</td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-    <td class='c006'><hr /></td>
-    <td class='c006'><hr /></td>
-    <td class='c009'><hr /></td>
-  </tr>
-  <tr>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-    <td class='c007'>&nbsp;</td>
-    <td class='c006'>14,150</td>
-    <td class='c006'>55,500</td>
-    <td class='c009'>100,000</td>
-  </tr>
-</table>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_106'>106</span>At the present time, we are told by the same authority, the machinemakers
-of Lancashire are making power-looms with the greatest rapidity,
-and they cannot be made sufficiently fast to meet the demands
-of the manufacturers. This quick increase, notwithstanding the considerable
-expense of outfit, which by employing hand-weavers the
-manufacturer avoids entirely, may safely be taken as a test of the advantages
-and national importance of the power-loom. The following
-estimate is given of its productiveness as compared with hand-loom
-labour. A very good hand-weaver, twenty-five or thirty years of
-age, will weave <em>two</em> pieces of cloth per week, of a certain description,
-each twenty-four yards long. In 1833, a steam-loom weaver, from
-fifteen to twenty years of age, assisted by a girl about twelve years of
-age, attending to four looms, can weave <em>eighteen</em> similar pieces in a
-week; some can weave twenty pieces. It appears from the fuller
-statement given by Mr. Baines, that the comparative productiveness
-of steam-looms has rapidly increased up to the last-mentioned period,
-and therefore it may be conjectured not yet to have reached its
-maximum; and it is also stated, that in those descriptions of plain
-goods for which they have hitherto been chiefly used, “cloth made
-by these looms, when seen by those manufacturers who employ hand-weavers,
-at once, excites admiration, and a consciousness that their
-own weavers cannot equal it.” The set-off against these advantages
-is the interest on capital employed, and the expense of supplying
-power. It is not asserted by the more intelligent, either among
-masters or workmen, that the power-loom has been more than a
-secondary and minor cause of the lamentable depression and misery
-now existing among the hand-weavers; a depression which it is to
-be feared will never be removed but by the gradual relinquishment
-of that laborious and ill-paid trade.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The hardships of Dr. Cartwright’s case, his merits, and the extent
-to which the country was then profiting by his discoveries, had become,
-by 1807, so manifest to those who were best acquainted with
-the cotton trade, that a considerable number of the most respectable and
-influential gentlemen of Manchester presented a memorial to government,
-praying that some remuneration for his useful inventions might
-be taken into consideration. He petitioned the legislature himself to
-the same effect; and in 1809 obtained from parliament a grant of
-£10,000 for “the good service he had rendered the public by his
-invention of weaving.” The compensation thus awarded, though
-falling far short of the sums he had expended in perfecting his inventions,
-as well as in defending his patent-rights, contributed essentially
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_107'>107</span>to place him in comparatively easy circumstances; and being advanced
-in life, he was thankful to be enabled to pass the remainder of his days
-in tranquil retirement. The activity of his mind however was unabated.
-Engaged to the last in scientific pursuits, with an occasional revival of
-the poetic spirit of his youth, he closed his active, useful, and benevolent
-life at Hastings, October 30, 1823, in the eighty-first year of his age.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Like many inventors, Dr. Cartwright was negligent of his pecuniary
-interests: he possessed another quality less common to that
-class of persons, entire freedom from jealousy, and great liberality in
-communicating his ideas and assistance to others engaged in pursuits
-similar to his own. And we may fairly conjecture that the temper
-of mind in which such conduct originated, promoted his happiness
-much more than any increase to his fortune, procured by a less frank
-and generous spirit, could have done. It is also stated, that whether
-from absorption in the pursuits of the moment, or carelessness of their
-value, he was remarkably apt to forget his own productions, even
-when offered to his notice. Among other instances of this disposition,
-it is related, that on examining the model of one of his own machines,
-he expressed great admiration, and said that he should have been
-proud to have been the inventor of it; nor could he readily be convinced
-that the merit was indeed his own.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>In this sketch of Dr. Cartwright’s life a limited notice only has
-been taken of his productions. He is chiefly known as the inventor of
-the power-loom; but the public are also reaping the advantage
-of several minor improvements in the arts of life, which emanated
-from his active and observing mind. It is sufficient here to state that
-he obtained ten patents, either for original inventions, or improvements
-upon his earlier mechanical attempts: and in addition to the
-kindred arts of weaving, spinning, wool-combing, and rope-making,
-he had successfully applied his talents to a variety of subjects unconnected
-with those manufactures.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>An account of his life, containing a more detailed description of his
-various inventions, as well as a relation of the struggles and difficulties
-which he encountered, is now, we are informed, in preparation for the
-press. The portrait from which our engraving is taken was copied
-from one painted by Robert Fulton, when studying the art under his
-countryman, Benjamin West.</p>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id002'>
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_108'>108</span>
-<img src='images/i_108.jpg' alt='PORSON.' class='ig001' />
-</div>
-
-<div class='chapter'>
-  <h2 class='c005'>PORSON.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c010'>It is perhaps not easy to invest the memoirs of a verbal critic with
-the interest which attaches itself to the lives of men distinguished in
-other departments of literature and science: the classical scholar has
-little sympathy, in respect of his peculiar vocation, with the world
-around him, and the world for the most part repays his indifference
-with interest. Nevertheless, it is due to the great reputation of the
-subject of this memoir to relate the principal events of his life.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Richard Porson was born December 25, 1759. His father, Mr.
-Huggin Porson, was the parish-clerk of East Ruston, near North
-Walsham, in the county of Norfolk. Notwithstanding his poverty,
-Porson had the good fortune to obtain a first-rate education. Even
-in his childhood he was taught by a careful father more than is generally
-learned by the children of the rich; and after he had spent
-a short time at a village school, to which he was sent at the age of
-nine, his abilities attracted the notice of Mr. Hewitt, the vicar of his
-native place, who kindly undertook to teach the young prodigy the
-rudiments of Greek and Latin. In these elementary studies Porson
-passed his time till 1774, being also occasionally employed as a shepherd
-or a weaver. But his reputation had reached the ears of Mr.
-Norris, of Grosvenor Place, who in the summer of that year undertook
-the charge of maintaining him at Eton College. His name soon
-became favorably known beyond the circle of his admiring school-fellows.
-The interest which he excited was fortunate for him, for on the
-death of his kind patron Mr. Norris, he would have been unable to
-continue at Eton, had it not been for a subscription collected by Sir
-George Baker, then President of the Royal College of Physicians, from
-a number of gentlemen who had heard of Porson’s talents, and were
-desirous of giving him a fair opportunity to cultivate them to the uttermost.
-With this subscription, an annuity of 80<i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">l.</span></i> for a few years was
-purchased for him; and thus he was enabled to finish his course at
-Eton, and to proceed thence to Trinity College, Cambridge.</p>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_108fp.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p><em>Engraved by B. Holl.</em><br /><br />PORSON.<br /><br /><em>From a Print engraved by W. Sharpe, after a Picture by Hoppner.</em><br /><br />Under the Superintendance of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.<br /><br /><em>London, Published by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street.</em></p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'>In the second term of his third year (1781), Porson obtained one of
-the Craven University Scholarships, which, being open to the free
-competition of the whole body of undergraduates, have always been
-regarded among our most honourable academical distinctions. He
-took the degree of B. A. in 1782; and, on the mathematical tripos,
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_109'>109</span>obtained the respectable place of third senior optime: but he gained
-the first of the medals annually given by the Chancellor of the University
-to the two commencing bachelors of arts, under certain restrictions,
-who pass the best examination in classical learning. In the
-following September he was elected Fellow of Trinity College. He
-proceeded to the degree of M.A. in 1785; but being unwilling, from
-conscientious motives, to subscribe to the articles of the Established
-Church, he could not take orders, and, according to the rules of the
-College, vacated his Fellowship in 1791. He was thus for the second
-time dependant upon the liberality of his friends. Nor did they neglect
-him: a subscription was entered into by Mr. Cracherode and
-some others, from the proceeds of which a life annuity of 100<i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">l.</span></i> was
-purchased for him.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>In 1792 he was elected Regius Professor of Greek: but, as the
-salary of this office is only 40<i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">l.</span></i> per annum, he was still a poor man;
-and not being able to procure a suitable lecture room, he was prevented
-from making the usual addition to his income, by delivering lectures
-on the Greek authors. In 1795 he married Mrs. Lunan, the sister of
-Mr. Perry, the well-known Editor of the Morning Chronicle. From
-this union, short as it proved, Porson derived important benefits. He
-laid aside, while it lasted, most of the unseemly and intemperate habits
-which he had contracted at College: but unfortunately his wife died
-of consumption in 1797, and he subsequently relapsed into his former
-course of life, and, as is too notorious, sacrificed friends, health and
-fortune, to his passion for drinking. After her death the kindness of
-his brother-in-law provided him with a home, gave him an opportunity
-of mixing in good society, and preserved him from many inconveniences,
-to which a man of Porson’s careless habits is always exposed.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>About the time of his wife’s death, in 1797, Porson published an
-edition of the Hecuba of Euripides; which he intended to form the
-first portion of a complete edition of that poet, and which, with very
-modest pretensions, was at once acknowledged to be a piece of first-rate
-criticism by the scholars not only of England but of all Europe.
-However, in 1800, Gottfried Hermann of Leipzig, who has since
-become very eminent as a verbal critic, published an edition of the
-same play, as a professed attack on Porson’s; and there was something
-in the tone, as well as in the matter of his strictures, which more than
-counterbalanced the compliment at the commencement of the preface.
-When, therefore, Porson republished the ‘Hecuba,’ in 1802, he added
-to the preface a long Supplement, in which Hermann was treated
-rather superciliously; indeed it appears from a letter which Porson
-wrote to Professor Dalzel, of Edinburgh, on the third of September,
-1803, that he entertained a most sincere contempt for his German
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_110'>110</span>censor. The Supplement, however, obtained the applause of the
-learned in all countries, and, in its kind, it has rarely been surpassed
-in learning and ingenuity. Porson subsequently published the
-‘Orestes,’ ‘Phœnissæ,’ and ‘Medea,’ and the four plays, collected
-into one volume, have gone through numerous editions.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>When the London Institution was established, in 1805, Porson
-was appointed Librarian, with a salary of 200<i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">l.</span></i> per annum. The
-situation however gave him no opportunity of useful exertion. He selected
-indeed an excellent classical library, and was tolerably diligent
-in his attendance; but he acquired in this monotonous employment a
-habit of selfish intemperance, which impaired his faculties and ruined
-his health. From the beginning of 1808 he was afflicted with asthma;
-and neglecting the usual modes of treating this disease, he endeavoured
-to cure it by abstinence. Under this regimen he grew weaker and
-weaker, and on Monday, September 19, 1808, he was attacked with
-apoplexy in the street. Being unknown, he was carried to a neighbouring
-workhouse; but on the following day he was discovered and
-taken home by his friends, whose attention had been called to an
-advertisement describing his person, and some scraps of Greek writing
-and algebra, which were found in his pockets. He recovered so far
-as to receive a visit from his friend Dr. Adam Clarke, at the Institution;
-but the hand of death was upon him, and he never regained the
-full use of his faculties. He died on the night of the following Sunday,
-just as the clock struck twelve. His body was conveyed to Cambridge,
-and buried, with the highest academical honours, in Trinity College
-Chapel, near the statue of Newton, where a monument, with a bust by
-Chantrey, is erected to his memory.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>A complete list of Porson’s works is given by Dr. Young in the
-‘Supplement to the Encyclopædia Britannica.’ The general reader
-will perhaps form the best notion of his style from his celebrated
-‘Letters to Archdeacon Travis,’ in which the genuineness of the
-long-controverted text, 1 John v. 7, is, we may venture to say, finally
-refuted. This work, from its subject, is chiefly interesting to the
-theologian and scholar: but its wit, terseness and strength of style,
-and force of argument, will well repay even the general reader for
-perusing it. Of his posthumous works the Photius requires particular
-notice. It was printed in 1822, from Porson’s transcript of the
-Galean MS. of an imperfect Lexicon, which is generally attributed to
-the celebrated Patriarch of Constantinople. He had transcribed and
-corrected this Lexicon with the intention of printing it some years
-before his death, but a fire having broken out in Mr. Perry’s house
-at Merton, and having consumed, among other papers, this transcript,
-he began the task again, and completed another copy in his own
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_111'>111</span>handwriting. A collection of his miscellaneous notes, under the title
-of ‘<span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Adversaria</span>,’ was published several years after the author’s death.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>As Porson was the champion of English scholarship against the
-attacks of continental critics, and the head of a school of verbal criticism
-in this country, we must expect to find among his English
-contemporaries and successors a sort of reverence for him not altogether
-justified by his merits, and among the scholars of Germany, on
-the other hand, a corresponding feeling of dislike and desire to disparage
-him. Hermann wrote an article a few years since in the
-‘Vienna Journal,’ on the characteristics of English scholarship, in
-which (vol. liv. p. 236,) the peculiar features of Porson’s criticism
-are said to be “great metrical accuracy in the kinds of verse with
-which he was acquainted; in others, sometimes an acquiescent acceptance
-of what he found, sometimes uncertain alterations: in his knowledge
-of the Greek language, great correctness; a sound judgment in
-the choice of readings, and considerate circumspection in conjecture,
-except where his own rules came in the way.” On the other hand,
-it is affirmed that “Porson’s notes are defective in acute and decisive
-proofs, and in that criticism which proceeds from a lively conception
-of the poetical: and that their contents are much more indicative of
-great industry and cool examination.” This is true enough as far as it
-goes; but had Hermann in his old age forgotten the rivalry which
-subsisted between Porson and himself in his earlier years, he would
-not have omitted to add that, with all these drawbacks, Porson was the
-greatest verbal critic of modern times.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>It has been stated that Porson could not make himself generally
-agreeable; but it is well known that he had a strong turn for the humorous,
-and was almost always successful in his strokes of wit, so that
-it cannot be doubted that his society was courted even by the superficial;
-and we have heard from several of his surviving friends that,
-though his coarseness was sometimes offensive, he was often a welcome
-guest at the tea-table. He was also very happy in connecting classical
-allusions with ludicrous associations; and Professor Dobree, in
-his inaugural Prælection, speaks rapturously of the delight which
-Porson’s broad vernacular translations from Aristophanes afforded to
-his intimates at college. Some of his <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">jeux d’esprit</span> have been printed
-in the Classical Journal; the poem called ‘The Devil’s Walk’ was
-till lately attributed to him: it is stated in the last edition of Coleridge’s
-works to be the joint production of that poet and of Southey.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>It may be necessary to say a few words in conclusion on those
-two peculiarities for which perhaps Porson is most talked about at the
-present day: his extraordinary memory, and his fondness for the
-manual labour of writing. The former he attributed in great measure
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_112'>112</span>to the latter. He told a friend, that he recollected nothing which
-he had not transcribed three times, or read at least six times;
-adding the assurance, that any one who would take the same trouble
-would acquire the same powers. We should incline to ascribe the
-tenacity of his recollection, so far as it depended on cultivation, in
-great measure to the early training of his father, who taught him the
-rules of arithmetic without the use of book or pencil; and his proficiency
-was such, that at nine years of age he is said to have been
-able to extract cube roots in his head. His memory was as indiscriminate
-as it was retentive and capacious. Proper names of no
-importance, foolish ballads, and prosing tales he could recall as easily,
-and repeat as accurately, as the passages of ancient authors which he
-required for the illustration or correction of a line of Euripides: he
-loved to recite, and was equally ready to repeat, ‘Jack the Giant
-Killer,’ or half a book of Milton, to his wearied company. As to his
-penmanship, it has been objected to him that he wasted many hours
-in an employment which would have better suited a country writing-master
-than a man of such talents. But it must be recollected that
-a reader of Greek MSS. must also be a scribe himself; and a great
-deal of the facility with which Porson performed his collations is to
-be attributed to his practice as a calligrapher. And if, as he used
-to say, his memory was principally formed by repeated copying, he
-certainly did not throw away his time; for all that he did in the way
-of illustrating Greek authors was mainly owing to his memory. And
-the world has at least derived one benefit from the perfection of
-Porson’s handwriting, in the adoption by the English University
-presses of a set of uniform types, formed after his models, of which
-even Hermann has said that they far exceed all attempts made in
-modern times to improve the beauty of Greek writing.</p>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id002'>
-<img src='images/i_112.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>[London Institution.]</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_113fp.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p><em>Engraved by J. Posselwhite.</em><br /><br />WICLIF.<br /><br /><em>From a Print by G. White, after a Picture in the Collection of the Duke of Dorset.</em><br /><br />Under the Superintendance of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.<br /><br /><em>London, Published by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street.</em></p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id002'>
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_113'>113</span>
-<img src='images/i_113.jpg' alt='WICLIF.' class='ig001' />
-</div>
-
-<div class='chapter'>
-  <h2 class='c005'>WICLIF.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c010'>The village of Wiclif, distant about six miles from Richmond in
-Yorkshire, had long been the residence of a family of the same name,
-when it gave birth, about the year 1324, to its most distinguished
-native. The family possessed wealth and consequence; and though
-the name of the Reformer is not to be found in the extant records of
-the household, it is probable that he belonged to it. Perhaps the
-spirit of the times, and zeal for the established hierarchy, may have
-led it to disclaim the only person who has saved its name from
-absolute obscurity.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>John Wiclif was first admitted at Queen’s College, Oxford, but
-speedily removed to Merton, a society more ancient and distinguished,
-and adorned by names of great ecclesiastical eminence. Here he
-engaged in the prescribed studies with diligence and success. In
-scholastic learning he made such great proficiency as to extort admiration
-from some who loved him not; and the direction in which his
-talents were turned is indicated by the honourable appellation, which
-he early acquired, of the Evangelic or Gospel Doctor. The terms,
-“profound,” “perspicuous,” “irrefragable,” were applied to mark
-the respective peculiarities of Bradwardine, of Burley, and of Hales;
-and so we may infer, that the peculiar bent of Wiclif’s youthful exertions
-was towards the book on which his subsequent principles were
-founded, and that he applied the ambiguous fruits of a scholastic education,
-not to enlarge the resources of sophistry, but to illustrate the
-treasures of truth. And on the other hand, in the illustration of those
-oracles, and in the accomplishment of his other holy purposes, it was
-of good and useful service to him that he had armed himself with the
-weapons of the age, and could contend with the most redoubtable
-adversaries on the only ground of argument which was at all accessible
-to them.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>In 1356 he put forth a tract on ‘The Last Age of the Church,’
-which was the first of his publications, and is on other accounts
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_114'>114</span>worthy of mention. It would appear that his mind had been deeply
-affected by meditation on the various evils which at that period
-afflicted the world, especially the pestilence which had laid waste, a
-few years before, so large a portion of it. He was disposed to ascribe
-them to God’s indignation at the sinfulness of man; and he also
-believed them to be mysterious announcements of the approaching
-consummation of all things. Through too much study of the book
-of the Abbot Joachim, he was infected with the spirit of prophecy;
-and, not contented to lament past and present visitations, he ventured
-to predict others which were yet to come. All however
-were to be included in the fourteenth century, which was to be the
-last of the world. That Wiclif should have been thus carried away
-by the prevalent infatuation, so as to contribute his portion to the
-mass of vain and visionary absurdity, was human and pardonable: but
-in his manner of treating even this subject, we discover the spirit and
-the principles of the Reformer. Among the causes of those fearful
-calamities, among the vices which had awakened to so much fierceness
-the wrath of the Almighty, he feared not to give the foremost
-place to the vices of the clergy, the rapacity which <em>ate up the people
-as it were bread</em>, the sensuality which infected the earth with its savour,
-and “smelt to heaven.” Here was the leaven which perverted and
-corrupted the community; here the impure source whence future visitations
-should proceed. “Both vengeance of sword, and mischiefs
-unknown before, by which men in those days shall be punished, shall
-befal them, because of the sins of their priests.” Thus it was that
-in this singular work, of which the foundation may have been laid
-in superstition, Wiclif developed notwithstanding a free and unprejudiced
-mind, and one which dared to avow without compromise,
-what it felt with force and truth.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The mendicant orders of friars were introduced into England in
-the year 1221; and they presently supplanted the antient establishments
-in the veneration of the people, and usurped many of the prerogatives,
-honours, and profits of the sacerdotal office. As long as
-they retained their original character, and practised, to any great extent,
-the rigid morality and discipline which they professed, so long
-did their influence continue without diminution, and the clamours of
-the monks and the priests assailed them in vain: but prosperity soon
-relaxed their zeal and soiled their purity, and within a century from
-the time of their institution, they became liable to charges as serious
-as those which had reduced the authority of their rivals. Accordingly,
-towards the middle of the following century, the contest was conducted
-with greater success on the part of the original orders; and some of
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_115'>115</span>the leading prelates of the day took part in it against the Mendicants.
-Oxford was naturally the field for the closest struggle, and the rising
-talents of Wiclif were warmly engaged in it. About the year 1360
-he is generally believed to have first proclaimed his hostility “against
-the orders of friars;” and he persisted, to the end of life, in pursuing
-them with the keenest argument and the bitterest invective, denouncing
-them as the authors of “perturbation in Christiandome, and
-of all the evils of this worlde; and these errors shallen never be amended
-till the friars be brought to freedom of the Gospel and clean religion
-of Jesu Christ.”</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>In the year 1365 Urban V. renewed the papal claim of sovereignty
-over the realm of England, which was founded on the submission
-rendered by John to Innocent III. The claim was resisted by
-Edward III., and the decision of his parliament confirmed, in the
-strongest language, the resolution of the monarch. A zealous advocate
-of papacy ventured to vindicate the pretension of the Vatican,
-and challenged Wiclif to reply to his arguments. He did so; and
-his reply has survived the work which gave it birth. It is not however
-remarkable for any power of composition, still less can it be
-praised for grace or accuracy of style; but it stands as a rude
-monument of his principles, and proves that even then he was imbued
-with that anti-papal spirit which more splendidly distinguished his
-later years. Still, he was not yet committed as the adversary of
-Rome; and in a dispute, in which he was engaged with the Archbishop
-of Canterbury at this very time, he appealed from the decision
-of the Primate to the authority of the Pope.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Seven years afterwards, at the age of forty-eight, Wiclif was raised
-to the Theological Chair at Oxford; and from this period we may
-date the most memorable of his spiritual achievements. For it is a
-question whether, had he died before that time, his name would have
-come down to us distinguished by any peculiar characteristic from
-those of the other divines and doctors of his age; but when he turned
-this eminence into a vantage-ground for assailing the corruptions
-of his church, and thus recommended the expressions of truth and
-justice by the authority of academical dignity, his language acquired
-a commanding weight, and his person a peculiar distinction, which
-the former would never have possessed had he remained in an inferior
-station, nor the latter, had he not employed his station for the noblest
-purposes: purposes which, though they were closely connected with
-the welfare and stability of the Roman Catholic communion, were
-seldom advocated from the pulpits of her hierarchy, or the chairs of
-her professors. Had Wiclif been no more than an eminent and dignified
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_116'>116</span>theologian, he would have been admired, perhaps, and forgotten,
-like so many others. Had he been only a humble pleader for the reformation
-of the church, his voice might never have been heard, or it
-might have been extinguished by the hand of persecution: but his
-rank removed him above the neglect of his contemporaries; and his
-principles, thus acquiring immediate efficacy, have secured for him the
-perpetual respect of a more enlightened and grateful posterity.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>At this time the various profitable devices, by which the Vatican
-turned into its own channels the wealth and patronage of the church,
-were come into full operation. By its provisions and reservations, and
-other expedients, it had filled many valuable benefices with foreign
-ecclesiastics; these, for the most part, were non-resident, and spent in
-other countries the rich revenues which they derived from England.
-This system had been vigorously opposed both by kings and people,
-but with little effectual success; for the Pope commonly contrived to
-repair the losses which he had sustained in the tempest during
-the interval which succeeded it. In 1374 Edward III. dispatched an
-embassy to Avignon to remonstrate on these subjects with Gregory XI.,
-and procure the relinquishment of his pretensions. The Bishop
-of Bangor was at the head of this commission, and the name of Wiclif
-stood second on the list. The negociation was protracted, and ended
-in no important result; and the various arts of the Vatican triumphed
-over the zeal of the Reformer, and, as some believe, over the honesty
-of the Bishop. Howbeit, Wiclif obtained on that occasion a nearer
-insight into the pontifical machinery, and beheld with closer eyes the
-secret springs which moved it. And if he carried along with him into
-the presence of the vicar of Christ no very obsequious regard for his
-person, or reverence for his authority, he returned from that mission
-armed with more decided principles, and inflamed with a more determined
-animosity. At the same time his sovereign rewarded his
-services at the Papal Court by the prebend of Aust, in the Collegiate
-Church of Westbury, in the diocese of Worcester; and soon afterwards
-by the rectory of Lutterworth, in Leicestershire.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>After this period, his anti-papal opinions were more boldly declared,
-and he became more and more distinguished as an advocate
-for the Reformation of the Church. The suspicions of the hierarchy
-were aroused; and whatever reasons the Prelates might have had
-for sometimes siding with their sovereign against the usurpations of
-the Pope, they were ill-disposed to listen to the generous remonstrances
-of a private Reformer. Accordingly, at a Convocation held Feb. 3,
-1377, they summoned him to appear at St. Paul’s, to clear himself
-from the fatal charge of holding erroneous doctrines. Had Wiclif
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_117'>117</span>trusted to no other support than the holiness of his cause—had he
-thrown himself, like Huss and Jerome of Prague, only on the mercy
-and justice of his ecclesiastical judges—it might have fared as ill
-with him as it did with his Bohemian disciples. But his principles,
-recommended as it would seem by some private intercourse, had
-secured him the patronage of the celebrated John of Gaunt, Duke
-of Lancaster, under whose protection he presented himself on the
-appointed day before the assembled bishops. A tumultuous scene
-ensued: and after an undignified and indecent dispute between the
-Duke and the Bishop of London, the meeting dispersed without
-arriving at any conclusion, or even entering on any inquiry respecting
-the matter concerning which it was convened. The process against
-Wiclif was however suspended; and this good result was at least
-obtained, though by means more in accordance with the violent habits
-of the age, than with the holiness of his cause.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>In the course of the same year, while the Pope was endeavouring
-to re-establish and perpetuate his dominion in fiscal matters over
-the English, and the Parliament struggling to throw it off altogether,
-Wiclif was again called forth as the advocate of national independence;
-and he argued with great force and boldness against the legality of the
-papal exactions. In this Treatise, he entered more generally into the
-question, as to what were the real foundations, not only of papal but
-of spiritual pretensions; he pressed the Gospel of Christ as the last
-appeal in all reasonings respecting the Church of Christ; and he contrasted
-the worldliness and rapacity of his Vicar with the principles of
-the religion, and the character of its Divine founder. The name and
-example of Christ were never very pleasing objects of reflection to the
-hierarchy of that age; and the argument with which they loved to repel
-such ungrateful suggestions was, the personal oppression of those
-who ventured to advance them. Accordingly, the storm gathered;
-and four Bulls were issued forthwith against the doctrines and person
-of Wiclif. “His holiness had been informed that John Wiclif, rector
-of the church of Lutterworth, and Professor of the Sacred Page, had
-broken forth into a detestable insanity, and had dared to assert opinions
-utterly subversive of the Church, and savouring of the perversity and
-ignorance of Marsilius of Padua, and John of Ganduno, both of accursed
-memory.” It was then ordained that he should be apprehended and
-imprisoned; and in an address to Edward III., the arm of the flesh was
-invoked to co-operate with the spiritual authorities for the suppression
-of this monstrous evil. One of these Bulls was addressed to the University
-of Oxford; and what may seem singular, it found there a
-spirit so far in advance of the bigotry of the age, that a question was
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_118'>118</span>raised whether it should be received, or indignantly rejected. After
-long hesitation, it was received; but still no readiness was shown to
-comply with its requisitions, nor were any measures taken to punish or
-degrade the Reformer.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Howbeit, in the beginning of the year following, Wiclif presented
-himself at Lambeth, before the Tribunal of the Papal Commissioners,
-to meet the various charges of heretical pravity. We have no room
-to doubt the wishes and intentions of his judges. But on this occasion
-he was rescued from them, for the second time, by extraneous
-circumstances. The populace of London, among whom his opinions
-may have made some progress, and by whom his name was
-certainly respected, interrupted the meeting with much clamour and
-violence, and showed a fierce determination to save him from oppression.
-And at the same time, while the delegates were confounded by
-this interference, a message was delivered to them from the Queen
-Mother, prohibiting any definitive sentence against Wiclif. Thus
-unexpectedly assailed, and from such different quarters, the Prelates
-immediately softened their expressions, and abandoned their design;
-and Wiclif returned once more in safety to the propagation of his
-former opinions, and to the expression of others which had not yet
-been broached by him.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The sum of those opinions might be given with tolerable accuracy,
-though some of them were not perhaps propounded with perfect distinctness,
-and others have been made liable to consequences which
-were disclaimed by their author. In the first place, he rejected every
-sort of pretension, tenet, or authority, which did not rest on the foundation
-of Scripture: here he professed to fix the single basis of his
-whole system. Accordingly he denounced, with various degrees of
-severity, many of the popular observances of his church. He rejected
-auricular confession; and declared pardons and indulgences to be no
-better than antichristian devices for augmenting the power and wealth
-of the clergy, at the expense of the morality of the people. He paid
-no respect to excommunications and interdicts; he pronounced confirmation
-to be an unnecessary ceremony, invented for the aggrandizement
-of the episcopal dignity; he reprobated the celibacy of
-the clergy, and the imposition of monastic vows. And in his contempt
-for the outward ceremonies of the church, even to the use
-of Sacred music, he anticipated by more than two centuries the
-principles of the Puritans. In like manner, he maintained that bishops
-and priests, being one and the same order according to their original
-institution, were improperly distinguished; and that the property
-claimed by the clergy, being in its origin eleemosynary, was merely
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_119'>119</span>enjoyed by them in trust for the benefit of the people, and was disposable
-at the discretion of the secular government.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>So long as Wiclif confined himself to the expression of these opinions,
-though he ensured the hatred of the hierarchy, he might reckon
-on a powerful party both at the Court and among the people. The
-objects for which he contended were at least manifest, and his arguments
-generally intelligible. But he was not content with this limited
-field. In his solicitude to assail all the holds of papacy, and denounce
-all its pernicious errors, he entered, in the year 1381, into a controversy
-respecting the nature of the Eucharist. His opinion on this mysterious
-question seems to have approached very nearly to that of Luther.
-He admitted a real presence; but though he did not presume to determine
-the manner, he rejected the doctrine of Transubstantiation in
-the Roman Catholic sense. This was ground sufficient for a new
-clamour, louder and more dangerous than all that had preceded it:
-not that there was stronger argument on the side of his opponents, but
-because the subject, being more obscure, was more involved in prejudice;
-it was more closely connected with the religious feelings and
-deepest impressions of his hearers; it affected, not their respect for a
-sensual and avaricious hierarchy, but their faith in what they had been
-taught to consider a vital doctrine essential to salvation. And thus
-it proved, not perhaps that his enemies became more violent, but that
-his friends began to waver in their support of him. The lower
-classes, who had listened with delight to his anti-sacerdotal declamations,
-trembled when he began to tread the consecrated ground of their
-belief. His noble patrons, if they were not thus sensibly shocked, perceived
-at least the impolicy of contending in that field; and John of
-Lancaster especially commanded him to retire from it.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>With the sincerity of a zealot he persisted, and in the course of May,
-1382, a Synod was held by Courtney, who had been just promoted to
-the primacy, and the heresies of Wiclif became, for the third time, the
-subject of ecclesiastical consultation. We have no space to pursue
-the details of these proceedings. The result was, that he was summoned
-to answer, before the Convocation at Oxford, respecting certain
-erroneous doctrines, the most prominent of which was that regarding
-the Eucharist. He prepared to defend them. And it was then that
-the Duke of Lancaster, who had been his faithful protector throughout
-all his previous troubles—whether it was that he sincerely differed
-with Wiclif on that particular question, or whether he was unwilling
-to engage in a struggle with the whole hierarchy, supported by
-much popular prejudice, for the sake of an abstract opinion, which
-might appear to him entirely void of any practical advantage—withdrew
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_120'>120</span>his support, and abandoned the Reformer to his own
-resources. Yet not then was his resolution shaken. In two Confessions
-of Faith, which he then produced, he asserted his adherence to
-his expressed doctrines. And though one of them is so perplexed
-with scholastic sophistry, as to have led some to imagine that it was
-intended to convey a sort of retractation, yet it was not so interpreted
-by his adversaries, six of whom immediately entered the lists against
-it. Neither did it persuade his judges of his innocence. He was
-condemned—but not, as the annals of that age would have led us to
-expect, to death. And whether the praise of this moderation be due
-to the Prelates who forbore so far to press their enmity, or to the
-State, which might have refused to sanction the vengeance of the Prelates,
-Wiclif was merely condemned to banishment from the University
-of Oxford. He retired in peace to his rectory at Lutterworth, and
-there spent the two remaining years of his life in the pursuit of his
-theological studies and the discharge of his pastoral duties.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The greater part of the opinions by which he was distinguished were
-so entirely at variance with the principles and prejudices of his age,
-that our wonder is not at their imperfect success, but at their escape
-from immediate extinction. Having thus escaped, however, and taken
-root in no inconsiderable portion of the community, they were such
-as to secure by their own strength and boldness their own progress and
-maturity. Neither was their author neglectful of the methods proper
-to ensure their dissemination. For in the first place, by his translation
-of the Sacred Book on which he supposed them to rest, he increased
-the means of ascertaining their truth, or at least the spuriousness
-of the system which they opposed. In the next, he sent forth
-numerous missionaries, whom he called his “Poor Priests,” for the
-express purpose of propagating his doctrines; and thus they acquired
-some footing even in his own generation. In succeeding years,
-the sect of Lollards, in a great measure composed of his disciples, professed
-and perpetuated his tenets; and by their undeviating hostility
-to the abuses of Rome, prepared the path for the Reformation.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Nor were the fruits of his exertions confined to his native country.
-It is certain that his works found their way, at a very early period,
-into Bohemia, and kindled there the first sparks of resistance to the
-established despotism. The venerable Huss proclaimed his adherence
-to the principles, and his reverence for the person, of the English
-Reformer; and he was wont in his public discourses to pray, that
-“on his departure from this life, he might be received into those
-regions whither the soul of Wiclif had gone; since he doubted not
-that he was a good and holy man, and worthy of a heavenly habitation.”
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_121'>121</span>The memory of Huss is associated by another incident with
-that of his master. The same savage Council which consigned the
-former to the flames, offered to the other that empty insult, which we
-may receive as an expression of malignant regret that he had been
-permitted to die in peace. It published an edict, “That the bones
-and body of Wiclif should be taken from the ground, and thrown far
-away from the burial of any church.” After a long interval of hesitation,
-this edict was obeyed. Thirty years after his death, his grave
-was violated, and his ashes contemptuously cast into a neighbouring
-brook. On this indignity, Fuller makes the following memorable
-reflection:—“The brook did convey his ashes in Avon; Avon into
-Severn; Severn into the narrow seas; they into the main ocean. And
-thus the ashes of Wiclif are the emblems of his doctrine, which now
-is dispersed all the world over.”</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The date of Wiclif’s death renders the authenticity of his portraits
-in some degree uncertain, and we are not able to trace the history of
-any which exist. But that some memorials were preserved in his
-features, in illuminations or otherwise, we may conclude from the
-general resemblance which is to be traced in two different pictures of
-him—that from which our print is engraved, and that at King’s College,
-Cambridge, engraved in ‘Rolt’s Lives of the Reformers,’ and
-Verheiden, ‘Præstantium Theologorum Effigies, &amp;c.,’ 1602.</p>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id002'>
-<img src='images/i_121.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>[Lutterworth Church.]</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<div id='t122'  class='figcenter id002'>
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_122'>122</span>
-<img src='images/i_122.jpg' alt='CORTEZ.' class='ig001' />
-</div>
-
-<div class='chapter'>
-  <h2 class='c005'>CORTEZ.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c010'>Perhaps no great revolution has ever been effected by means apparently
-so inadequate to the end proposed, as in the first establishment
-of the Spanish monarchy on the continent of America. The immense
-importance of that revolution, and its intimate connexion with the
-history of geographical discovery, warrant us in assigning a place in
-our Gallery to a representative of the rude and daring men by whom
-the mighty conquest was effected. Of these, Fernando Cortez claims
-the first place. It is proper to mention, in explanation of what might
-seem a capital omission in our work, that no authentic likeness is
-known to exist of Columbus: a man raised above those who followed
-him across the Atlantic, no less by the purity of his motives, than by
-the originality of his daring career.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Columbus, however, did not colonize the American continent: his
-settlement was in Hispaniola. But the Spaniards soon took possession
-of other islands in the group of the Antilles. In 1511 Diego
-Velasquez annexed the most important of them, Cuba, to the Spanish
-crown, and was rewarded with the appointment of Governor. Eager
-to gain fresh wealth and honour, he equipped a squadron of discovery,
-in 1518, which tracked the southern shores of the Gulf of Mexico,
-and brought home so inviting a report, that he determined to attempt
-the conquest of the country. But he was greatly embarrassed in the
-choice of a commanding officer. To conduct the enterprise himself
-was no part of his scheme: at the same time he was very desirous to
-appropriate to himself the advantages likely to accrue from its successful
-issue. It was no easy matter to find a person qualified by
-talent and courage to assume the command of such an enterprise;
-yet so humble in rank, or so devoid of ambition, as to give no umbrage
-to the governor’s jealousy. After much hesitation, he invested
-Cortez with the chief command as his lieutenant. The early history
-and character of this remarkable man are clearly and concisely told
-by Dr. Robertson.</p>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_122fp.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p><em>Engraved by W. Holl.</em><br /><br />CORTEZ.<br /><br /><em>From a Picture in the Florence Gallery.</em><br /><br />Under the Superintendence of the Society for Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.<br /><br /><em>London, Published by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street.</em></p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_123'>123</span>“He was born at Medelin, a small town in Estremadura, in the
-year 1485, and descended from a family of noble blood, but of very
-moderate fortune. Being originally destined by his parents to the
-study of the law, as the most likely method of bettering his condition,
-he was sent early to the university of Salamanca, where he imbibed
-some tincture of learning. But he was soon disgusted with an academic
-life, which did not suit his ardent and restless genius, and
-retired to Medelin, where he gave himself up entirely to active sports
-and martial exercises. At this period of life he was so impetuous,
-so overbearing, and so dissipated, that his father was glad to comply
-with his inclination, and send him abroad as an adventurer in arms.
-There were in that age two conspicuous theatres on which such of
-the Spanish youth as courted military glory might display their
-valour: one in Italy, under the command of the Great Captain; the
-other in the New World. Cortez preferred the former, but was prevented
-by indisposition from embarking with a reinforcement of troops
-sent to Naples. Upon this disappointment he turned his views towards
-America, whither he was allured by the prospect of the advantages
-which he might derive from the patronage of Ovando, the Governor
-of Hispaniola, who was his kinsman. When he landed at St.
-Domingo, in 1504, his reception was such as equalled his most sanguine
-hopes, and he was employed by the Governor in several honourable
-and lucrative stations. These, however, did not satisfy his
-ambition; and in the year 1511 he obtained permission to accompany
-Diego Velasquez in his expedition to Cuba. In this service he distinguished
-himself so much, that, notwithstanding some violent contests
-with Velasquez, occasioned by some trivial events, unworthy of
-remembrance, he was at length taken into favour, and received an
-ample concession of lands and of Indians, the recompense usually
-bestowed upon adventurers in the New World.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>“Though Cortez had not hitherto acted in high command, he had
-displayed such qualities in several scenes of difficulty and danger, as
-raised universal expectation, and turned the eyes of his countrymen
-towards him, as one capable of performing great things. The turbulence
-of youth, as soon as he found objects and occupations suited to
-the ardour of his mind, gradually subsided, and settled into a habit of
-regular indefatigable activity. The impetuosity of his temper, when
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_124'>124</span>he came to act with his equals, insensibly abated, by being kept under
-restraint, and mellowed into a cordial soldierly frankness. These
-qualities were accompanied with calm prudence in concerting his
-schemes, with persevering vigour in executing them, and with what
-is peculiar to superior genius, the art of gaining the confidence and
-governing the minds of men. To all which were added the inferior
-accomplishments that strike the vulgar, and command their respect;
-a graceful person, a winning aspect, extraordinary address in martial
-exercises, and a constitution of such vigour as to be capable of enduring
-any fatigue.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>“As soon as Cortez was mentioned to Velasquez by his confidants,
-he flattered himself that he had at length found what he had hitherto
-sought in vain, a man with talents for command, but not an object for
-jealousy. Neither the rank, nor the fortune of Cortez, as he imagined,
-were such that he could aspire at independence. He had reason
-to believe that by his own readiness to bury ancient animosities in
-oblivion, as well as his liberality in conferring several recent favours,
-he had already gained the good-will of Cortez; and hoped, by this
-new and unexpected mark of confidence, that he might attach him
-for ever to his interest.”</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>It is remarkable that Velasquez, actuated by these views, should
-have selected for his deputy such a man as is here described. He
-soon repented of his confidence, and sought to revoke the commission
-which he had bestowed. But Cortez, in addition to the funds
-provided by the governor, had spent the whole of his own available
-means in raising troops, and making preparations for the enterprise;
-he was already embarked at the head of a body of impatient adventurers;
-and he despised a mandate which there were no means of
-enforcing. And one of his first steps after landing on the Main was
-to throw off formally all subordination to Velasquez, and to assume
-the title of Chief Justice and Captain General of the intended colony,
-by virtue of a new commission, drawn in the king’s name, and purporting
-to continue in force until the royal pleasure should be known.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The expedition sailed from Cuba, February 10, 1519, and following
-the track of the preceding one, coasted the western side of the peninsula
-of Yucatan. At St. Juan de Ulloa some natives came on board,
-and replied to the questions put to them through the medium of
-interpreters, that their country formed part of a great empire called
-Mexico, governed by a powerful monarch, Montezuma. Several
-interviews followed, in which Cortez, professing to come as ambassador
-from his own sovereign, perseveringly demanded to be led into the
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_125'>125</span>presence of Montezuma. This was peremptorily refused; but the
-denial, as if to make amends, was accompanied by presents rich enough
-to inflame, had that been necessary, the cupidity of the strangers.
-Instead of departing, they laid the foundations of a settlement, named
-Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz. Meanwhile, Montezuma acted indecisively
-and weakly: he neither admitted his formidable visitors to
-the friendly intercourse which they insidiously demanded, nor summoned
-the strength of his empire to crush them at once; but let them
-fortify themselves while he was making vain requisitions for their
-immediate departure, and gave time and opportunity to those who
-were discontented under his own heavy yoke, to rally round the
-standard of the invader. And it was not long before the Spaniards
-obtained that native assistance, without which their mere physical
-strength must have sunk under the vastness of their enterprise.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The Cacique of Zempoalla, prompted by hatred of Montezuma, was
-the first to assist in the ruin of his native land. Supported by a small
-body of that chieftain’s troops, and attended by 200 Indians of an
-inferior class, who in that country, where the art of breaking animals
-to the use of man was unknown, performed the humiliating services of
-beasts of burden, Cortez marched from Zempoalla towards the heart
-of the country, August 16, with only 500 Europeans, and six cannon.
-Aware that on the first reverse of fortune his men might grow disgusted
-with an enterprise of such formidable appearance, or from
-mere inconstancy might be eager to return to their homes in Cuba,
-a temper which had been already manifested by some, he resolved,
-before quitting the coast, to destroy the shipping; and it is a remarkable
-instance of his ascendency over his followers’ minds, that he procured
-a general consent to this decisive, not to say desperate measure,
-which left small hope of safety but in success.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>His route lay through the country of the Tlascalans, a warlike
-people, who spurned his professions of friendship, and attacked the
-invaders in a series of battles. The imperfection of their weapons
-rendered their efforts fruitless; and having been severely taught the
-strength of their enemies, they sued for peace, and became faithful
-and active allies. The Spaniards, accompanied by a body of 6000
-Tlascalans, then advanced without resistance to Mexico itself; after
-punishing an attempt to lead them into an ambuscade at Cholula
-by an indiscriminate massacre, in which 6000 persons are reported
-to have perished. Montezuma received them with the semblance
-of profound respect. He told them of an ancient tradition, that the
-ancestors of the Mexicans came originally from a remote region, and
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_126'>126</span>conquered the land: after which their leader went back to his own
-country, promising that at some future period his descendants should
-return to reform their constitution, and assume the government; and
-Montezuma expressed his belief that the Spaniards were the persons
-whom his countrymen were thus taught to expect. Another tradition,
-which helped to produce that weak and wavering conduct which
-gave the Spaniards such advantage, foretold that some great misfortune
-should accrue to the native inhabitants from a race of invaders
-from the regions of the rising sun. It is remarkable that, according
-to the earliest and best Spanish historians, this belief was very prevalent
-in the New World.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The Spaniards, with their Indian allies, were quartered in the
-ample precincts of a royal palace. But Cortez was uneasy, notwithstanding
-these fair appearances. He had advanced with a handful
-of men into a populous city, where he might at any time be surrounded
-and attacked by multitudes. He was warned by the Tlascalans of
-Montezuma’s faithlessness; and the hostile spirit of the Mexicans was
-made plain, by intelligence that several Spaniards had been slain in
-repelling an attack on the garrison of Vera Cruz. Cortez felt that
-Montezuma’s forbearance proceeded only from timidity, and that his
-own best security lay in working upon that passion. He conceived
-the daring resolution to make the king a prisoner in his own capital;
-judging that, while Montezuma lived, the Mexicans would not throw
-off their allegiance, nor disobey his mandates, though issued under
-foreign control. He went, therefore, as usual, to the palace, attended
-only by a few picked men; and being admitted without suspicion to
-the emperor’s presence, he complained angrily of the attack on the
-garrison of Vera Cruz, and required Montezuma, as a pledge of his
-good faith, to take up his residence in the Spanish quarters. Betrayed
-by his own easiness into the power of a few strangers, Montezuma
-complied, under the imminent fear of personal violence. Cortez next
-required that the officer who commanded in the attack complained
-of should be given up. This was done; and he, his son, and five
-others, were publicly burnt on a pile of Mexican weapons, taken
-from the public armoury. While this atrocious act of cruelty and
-revenge was proceeding, the emperor, apparently to render it the
-more impressive, was placed in fetters.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Haughty and tyrannical, but unstable and timid, the spirit of
-Montezuma was entirely broken by his misfortunes. He remained
-passively during six months in his captivity; and formally acknowledged
-himself a vassal to the crown of Castile. Religion was the
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_127'>127</span>only point on which he was firm. Cortez urged him with the blind
-zeal of a crusader to renounce his false gods, and embrace Christianity;
-and not content with these importunate solicitations, he attempted
-forcibly to remove the idols from the grand temple. The
-resolute interference of priests and people compelled him to desist
-from the rash project; but not until it had aroused a spirit of implacable
-hostility.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Meanwhile Velasquez’s anger at Cortez’s faithlessness was increased
-by the brilliant accounts of his success; and having obtained from
-the court of Castile a patent constituting himself governor of New
-Spain, he prepared to remove or punish his disobedient officer by
-force of arms. He sent 900 men, commanded by Narvaez, a brave
-and experienced officer, who immediately opened a correspondence
-with Montezuma. This raised the hopes of the Mexicans, by showing
-that their invaders were not exempt from internal discord. Cortez
-perceived and met the dangers of his position with his usual ability
-and courage. Having tried in vain to arrange matters with Narvaez
-by negotiation, he left a garrison of 150 men in Mexico, and marched
-with only 250 against an enemy who nearly quadrupled him in number.
-His skill, the patience of his soldiers, inured to the inclemency
-of a tropical climate, and the too great security of his adversary, won
-for him an almost bloodless victory; and the troops sent out for his
-destruction enlisted almost to a man under his standard. Placed
-against all expectation at the head of near a thousand men, he hastened
-back to Mexico, where by that time his presence was urgently
-required.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>He found the Spanish garrison hemmed in, and reduced to extremities,
-by a people who, stimulated by superstition and maddened by
-a fresh and atrocious outrage, seemed suddenly to have exchanged
-timidity for desperation. The return of Cortez with his formidable
-reinforcement did not abate their ferocity. Even the person of Montezuma,
-who was exposed on the Spanish rampart, ceased to command
-respect, and he received three wounds from stones and arrows,
-from the effects of which, aggravated by rage and a deep sense of his
-degradation, he expired. The Mexicans now sought to blockade their
-enemies and reduce them by hunger; and, as Cortez had not the command
-of the lake, he found it necessary immediately to evacuate the
-city. But he was taken at disadvantage in traversing by night (July
-1, 1520) one of the long causeways which connect the city with the
-shores of the lake in which it stands; and on mustering those who
-reached the mainland, he found his small battalion of Europeans reduced
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_128'>128</span>by one-half, with the loss of all the horses, baggage, artillery,
-and most of the treasure which had been amassed by individual
-soldiers. The anniversary of this calamity was long, and may be still,
-distinguished in New Spain by the appellation of Noche Triste, the
-sad night.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>By a circuitous route, and not without cutting their way through
-an immense army assembled to intercept them, the Spaniards returned
-to the friendly Indians of Tlascala, among whom Cortez meant to
-recruit his exhausted companions, and to wait until fresh supplies of
-men and stores could be obtained from the West India islands. Some
-vessels which put into the harbour of Vera Cruz afforded an unexpected
-reinforcement of 180 men; and on the 28th of December
-Cortez began to retrace his march towards Mexico. At Tezeuco, the
-second city of the empire, situated on the banks of the lake, about
-twenty miles from the capital, he established his head-quarters for
-four months, during which the timbers of twelve small vessels, cut out
-in the mountains of Tlascala, were put together. This force ensured
-the command of the lake, for the Mexicans had nothing larger than
-canoes; and just before their completion, a reinforcement of 200
-men, with arms and stores, arrived from Hispaniola. At the beginning
-of May, 1521, with about 800 Europeans, Cortez commenced
-the siege of Mexico itself.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Guatimozin, a nephew of Montezuma, who had succeeded to the
-throne, made a resolute defence; and Cortez, aware of the danger of
-entangling his troops in the streets, yet anxious to preserve the buildings
-as a trophy of his victory, urged the siege with unusual caution.
-Each day he pushed his way as far as possible into the city; but he
-returned to his quarters at night, during which the barricades of the
-causeways were repaired, and on the morrow a fresh battle was to be
-fought on the same ground. Thus matters went until the 3d of July,
-when Cortez, impatient of so protracted a resistance, made a desperate
-attempt to carry every thing before him in one great assault. Experience
-improved the Mexicans in the art of war. When the Spaniards, by
-the energy of their attack, had forced a way into the heart of the city,
-Guatimozin led them still onwards by a show of slackened resistance,
-while he detached troops, by land and water, to beset the breaches in
-the causeway by which it was necessary for the enemy to retire. At
-a given signal, the great drum of the god of war was struck, and the
-Mexicans returned to the attack, their hatred of the invaders stimulated
-by the ferocity of their superstition. The Spaniards were compelled
-to give way, and disorder was converted into absolute rout by
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_129'>129</span>the promiscuous onset of the natives, when they arrived at the breach.
-Above sixty Europeans perished, for those who were taken prisoners
-were offered as sacrifices on the Mexican altars. After this reverse
-Cortez took a surer way to success, and as fast as his troops made
-a lodgment, he caused the houses to be levelled with the ground.
-When three quarters of the city were thus destroyed, and those who
-defended the remainder were exhausted by famine and disease, Guatimozin
-yielded to the persuasion of those who urged him to preserve
-himself, to renew the war in the remote provinces of the empire. But
-he was intercepted and captured with his family, as he sought to
-escape across the lake; and on the loss of their sovereign, the Mexicans
-ceased to resist. The siege thus ended August 13, 1521.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The victors were greatly disappointed in the amount of the precious
-metals which fell into their hands. What remained of the royal
-treasures Guatimozin had ordered to be thrown into the lake. Much
-spoil was carried off by the Indian auxiliaries, and much probably
-was lost or destroyed in the ruins of the city. The whole treasure
-collected was inferior in amount to that which the Spaniards had
-formerly received as a present from Montezuma; and the adventurers
-clamorously expressed their dissatisfaction. Pressed by this spirit of
-discontent, Cortez gave way to a passion, as alien to that undefined
-feeling which we call the spirit of chivalry, as to the natural laws of
-charity and justice; and tried, in vain, to extract by torture from the
-royal prisoner and one of his favourite followers a discovery of the
-treasures which were supposed to be hidden. Overcome by pain, the
-latter cast a look on his master, which seemed to ask permission to
-reveal what he knew. Guatimozin indignantly replied to the implied
-entreaty—“Am I reposing on a bed of flowers?” and the faithful
-subject kept silence, and died. The emperor, with his two principal
-officers, was afterwards hanged, on a groundless charge of having
-excited insurrection.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The provinces were readily overrun after the fall of the capital, and
-made subject to Spain; though intolerable oppression often produced
-insurrections, which were put down with unrelenting severity.
-Having conquered an empire without commission from the monarch
-in whose name he made war, Cortez narrowly escaped having to
-answer as a criminal for the irregularity of his proceedings. But in
-1522 he succeeded in procuring a royal commission, which constituted
-him captain-general and governor of New Spain. Still his actions
-were watched with an ungenerous though natural jealousy; and his
-situation became so critical, that he resolved, in 1528, to return to Castile,
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_130'>130</span>and answer, before no inferior tribunal, such charges as might
-be urged against him. He appeared with the splendour which became
-one who had unlocked the treasures of the New World; and
-his own ample fortune, contrasted with the smallness of the sum divided
-among his comrades, gave birth to a belief that he had not dealt
-fairly in the partition of the spoil. As his return to Spain put an end
-to all fears of his ambition, he was received with the favour which
-such brilliant services merited. He was invested with the order of
-St. Jago, the highest rank of Spanish knighthood; and the valley of
-Guaxaca, with an extensive domain, was erected into a marquisate in
-his behalf. But he could not obtain what he most desired, the supreme
-direction of affairs in Mexico. He returned thither in 1530 at
-the head of the military department, and with authority to prosecute
-new discoveries; but the direction of civil affairs was vested in a
-board, entitled the Audience of New Spain. Henceforward we may
-regard Cortez as a disappointed and unhappy man. Thwarted at
-home by the double authority established, he sought to reap new glory
-by exploring the Pacific Ocean; and in 1536 he discovered the peninsula
-of California, and surveyed part of the gulf which separates it
-from the American continent. But from that country neither profit
-nor honour, unless as a geographical discoverer, could be gained; and
-the result of the expedition neither satisfied the expectations of others,
-nor repaid the adventurers for the hardships which they underwent.
-In 1540, wearied and disgusted, Cortez returned to Spain, and found
-his services forgotten, or at least his person slighted. He served as a
-volunteer in 1541, in Charles V.’s expedition against Algiers, and had
-a horse killed under him. This was his last military action. After
-wearying his proud spirit in fruitless attempts to gain attention from
-Charles or his ministers to his real or supposed grievances, he retired
-into seclusion, and died at Seville, December 2, 1547, in the sixty-third
-year of his age.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>We have passed rapidly over the shocking cruelties which marked
-the progress of the Spanish arms. Some portion of the horror, with
-which we naturally regard the actors in such events, may be neutralized
-by the consideration, that men’s notions in all things, and perhaps
-most especially in matters of international justice, are greatly dependent
-on the spirit of the time in which they live; and that it is
-hardly fair to judge actions, which won the admiration of contemporaries,
-according to the standard of a subsequent age. But even in
-that age there were not wanting many to raise an indignant voice
-against the cruelties practised on an unoffending people; and after
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_131'>131</span>every just allowance has been made, it is not to be doubted that the
-treatment of the American aborigines forms a foul stain on the history
-of Spain, and loads all who were concerned in it with an awful responsibility;
-and we willingly acknowledge it to have been a just
-retribution, that of the original settlers few reaped prosperity, repose,
-or wealth, as the harvest of their arms. With their leaders it was
-eminently otherwise. Scarce one of those who led the conquerors of
-Peru escaped a violent death in civil strife; while Cortez (with whom
-no one divides the fame of conquering Mexico) lived to experience the
-proverbial ingratitude of courts, and died in that forced obscurity
-which is most galling to an ambitious mind.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The noble inscription, composed by Southey for the birth-place of
-Cortez’s early companion in arms and rival in fame, needs but the
-change of name to render it equally applicable to Cortez himself.</p>
-
-<div class='lg-container-b c011'>
-  <div class='linegroup'>
-    <div class='group'>
-      <div class='line'>“Pizarro here was born—a greater name</div>
-      <div class='line'>The list of Glory boasts not. Toil and Pain,</div>
-      <div class='line'>Famine, and hostile Elements, and Hosts</div>
-      <div class='line'>Embattled, failed to check him in his course,</div>
-      <div class='line'>Not to be wearied, not to be deterred,</div>
-      <div class='line'>Not to be overcome. A mighty realm</div>
-      <div class='line'>He overran, and with relentless arm</div>
-      <div class='line'>Slew or enslaved its unoffending sons,</div>
-      <div class='line'>And wealth, and power, and fame were his rewards.</div>
-      <div class='line'>There is another world beyond the grave,</div>
-      <div class='line'>According to their deeds where men are judged.</div>
-      <div class='line'>O reader! if thy daily bread be earned</div>
-      <div class='line'>By daily labour,—yea, however low,</div>
-      <div class='line'>However wretched be thy lot assigned,</div>
-      <div class='line'>Thank thou, with deepest gratitude, the God</div>
-      <div class='line'>Who made thee, that thou art not such as he.”</div>
-    </div>
-  </div>
-</div>
-
-<div id='t132'  class='figcenter id002'>
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_132'>132</span>
-<img src='images/i_132.jpg' alt='LEIBNITZ.' class='ig001' />
-</div>
-
-<div class='chapter'>
-  <h2 class='c005'>LEIBNITZ.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c010'>The materials for this life of Leibnitz are chiefly taken from the <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">éloge</span></i>
-of his contemporary Fontenelle.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Godfrey William Leibnitz was born at Leipzic, June 23, 1646.
-His father was Professor of Moral Philosophy in the University of
-that place: he died when his son was only six years old. Leibnitz’s
-education therefore was left to his mother; and the great variety of
-his studies is traced to his free access to a large collection of books
-which his father left. He thus became a poet, an orator, an historian,
-a lawyer, a metaphysician, a mathematician, and a theologian. In
-some of these capacities he would not have escaped oblivion; but
-every accession to such a mass of titles becomes interesting, when it
-is remembered how conspicuous he became in more than one of them.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>At the age of twenty he applied to the University of Leipzic for the
-degree of doctor of laws. This was refused, on the plea that he was
-too young; and he then went to Altdorf, where he maintained a
-public disputation, and was admitted to the degree which he desired,
-with unusual distinction. From Altdorf he repaired to Nuremberg,
-where he heard of a secret society of chemists, or, which was then the
-same thing, of searchers after the philosopher’s stone. Desiring to
-obtain some insight into their pursuits, he procured some books on
-chemistry, a subject which he had never studied, and picking out the
-phrases which seemed hardest, he wrote a letter altogether unintelligible
-to himself, which he addressed to them as his certificate of
-qualification. He was admitted with great honour, and was even
-offered the post of secretary, with a salary; and though he continued
-his intercourse with them for some time, he kept up his character as
-an adept to the last.</p>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_132fp.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p><em>Engraved by B. Holl.</em><br /><br />LEIBNITZ.<br /><br /><em>From a Picture in the Florence Gallery.</em><br /><br />Under the Superintendance of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge<br /><br /><em>London, Published by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street.</em></p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_133'>133</span>His first work, which appeared when he was twenty-two years old,
-was a treatise written under the name of George Vlicorius, recommending
-the choice of the Elector Palatine to be King of Poland.
-In 1670 he published his first philosophical work, an edition of
-‘Marius Nizolius contra Pseudophilosophos;’ and in the following
-year two treatises on abstract and concrete motion, severally dedicated
-to the French Academy and the Royal Society.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>During his abode at Nuremberg, the Baron de Boinebourg, minister
-of the Elector of Mayence, procured a legal appointment for him in that
-state. While he held this post he travelled into France and England.
-After the death of the Elector, he accepted a similar appointment in
-the dominions of the Duke of Brunswick-Lunenberg. At the peace
-of Nimeguen in 1678 he wrote upon some disputed ceremonials, under
-the title of Cesarinus Furstnerius, and displayed a great extent of
-reading, and a little of that speculative spirit which afterwards produced
-the <em>pre-established harmony</em>. He is said, though a Lutheran, to
-have argued on the supposition that Europe was to be considered as a
-large federation, of which the Emperor was the temporal, and the
-Pope the spiritual, head. In 1679 he was engaged by the reigning
-Duke to write the history of the House of Brunswick. On this service
-he went through Germany and Italy in search of authorities. It is
-related that, on one occasion, having left Venice in a small boat, a
-storm arose, and the boatmen began to discuss in Italian, which they
-supposed their passenger did not understand, the propriety of throwing
-the heretic overboard. Leibnitz, with great presence of mind, drew
-out a rosary, which he had about him <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">par précaution</span></i>, as Fontenelle
-supposes, who does not seem to guess that this anecdote, coupled with
-what has preceded, makes it at least an even chance that Leibnitz was
-really a Catholic. And this is negatively supported by the fact, that,
-Lutheran as he was considered, he very rarely attended the services
-of his church, in spite of the publicly-expressed disapprobation of
-the clergy. But on the other hand, he positively refused to profess
-Catholicism, when an advantageous settlement at Paris was offered on
-that condition. That he was both a religious man and a Christian is
-sufficiently attested by his writings.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>He returned from his tour in 1690, and in 1693 published his
-‘<span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Codex Juris Gentium Diplomaticus</span>.’ He had published almost at
-the same time with his first work a treatise on the study of jurisprudence.
-The first volume of the ‘History of Brunswick’ appeared
-in 1707, and two others in 1710 and 1711.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>In 1700 he induced the Elector of Brandenburg to found the Academy
-of Berlin, of which he was appointed perpetual president. He
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_134'>134</span>contributed many valuable papers to its memoirs. His patron, the
-Duke of Brunswick-Lunenberg, died in 1678, and was succeeded by
-Ernest-Augustus, first Elector of Hanover, on whose issue by the
-Electress Sophia the crown of England was settled. Leibnitz continued
-in the Elector’s service till his death. This took place from
-gout, November 14, 1716, at Hanover. The real life of such a man
-is in his character and writings. With regard to the first, the
-account of Fontenelle is as follows. He had a strong constitution,
-ate a good deal, drank little, and never undiluted liquors. When
-alone, he always took his meals as his studies permitted. His chair
-was frequently his only bed, and in this way he is said to have sometimes
-passed whole months. He made notes of all he read, not to
-preserve them, but to fix the contents on his memory; for when once
-written, they were finally laid aside. He communicated freely with
-all classes of men, and could entirely divest himself of his character of
-a philosopher. His correspondence was immense; he answered every
-one who wrote, however small the pretext for addressing him. He
-was of a gay humour, easily excited to anger, and easily appeased. He
-lived at great expense, but had preserved and hid two years’ amount of
-his salary. The securing of this treasure gave him great uneasiness;
-and upon this slight ground he has been charged with avarice. He
-was never married: it is said that he contemplated such a connexion
-at the age of fifty, but that the lady desired time to consider. “This,”
-says his biographer, “gave M. Leibnitz the same opportunity, and he
-continued unmarried.”</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The number and variety of characters in which Leibnitz is known
-will not permit us to say much upon each subject. His public life was
-that of a jurist. His ‘History of Brunswick’ was continued by M.
-Echard; who supplied Fontenelle with the necessary information for
-his <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">éloge</span></i>. In youth he was a poet; and he is said in one day to
-have made three hundred Latin verses without a single elision. But
-the Leibnitz of our day is either the mathematician or the metaphysician.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>In the first of these two characters he is coupled in the mind of the
-reader with Newton, as the co-inventor of what was called by himself
-the Differential Calculus, and by Newton the Method of Fluxions.
-Much might be instanced which was done by him for the pure sciences
-in other respects; but this one service, from its magnitude as a discovery,
-and its notoriety as the cause of a great controversy, has
-swallowed up all the rest.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Leibnitz was in London in 1673, and from that time began to pay
-particular attention to mathematics. He was in correspondence with
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_135'>135</span>Newton, Oldenburg, and others, on questions connected with <em>infinite
-series</em>, and continued so more or less till 1684, when he published his
-first ideas on the Differential Calculus in the Leipzic Acts. But it is
-certain that Newton had been in possession of the same powers under
-a different name, from about 1665. The English philosopher drops
-various hints of his being in possession of a new method, but without
-explaining what it was, except in one letter of 1672, of which it was
-afterwards asserted that a copy had been forwarded to Leibnitz in
-1676. Leibnitz published both on the Differential and Integral
-Calculus before the appearance of Newton’s Principia in 1687;
-and indeed before 1711, the era of the dispute, this new calculus had
-been so far extended by Leibnitz and the Bernoullis, that it began to
-assume a shape something like that in which it exists at the present
-day. In the first edition of the Principia, Newton expressly avows
-that he had, ten years before (namely, about 1677), informed Leibnitz
-that he had a method of drawing tangents, finding maxima and
-minima, &amp;c.; and that Leibnitz had, in reply, actually communicated
-his own method, and that he (Newton) found it only differed from his
-own in symbols. This passage was, not very fairly, suppressed in the
-third edition of the Principia, which appeared in 1726, alter the
-dispute; and the space was filled up by an account of other matters.
-It was obvious that, on the supposition of plagiarism, it only gave
-Leibnitz a year to infer, from a hint or two, his method, notation,
-and results.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Some discussion about priority of invention led Dr. Keill to
-maintain Newton’s title to be considered the sole inventor of the
-fluxional calculus. Leibnitz had asserted that he had been in
-possession of the method eight years before he communicated it to
-Newton. He appealed to the Royal Society, of which Newton was
-President, and that body gave judgment on the question in 1712.
-Their decision is now worth nothing; firstly, because it only determined
-that Newton was the <em>first</em> inventor, which was not the whole
-point, and left out the question whether Leibnitz had or had not
-stolen from Newton; secondly, because the charge of plagiarism is
-insinuated in the assertion that a copy of Newton’s letter, as above
-mentioned, had been sent to Leibnitz. Now they neither prove that
-he had received this letter in time sufficient to enable him to communicate
-with Newton as above described, or, if he had received it,
-that there was in it a sufficient hint of the method of fluxions. The
-decision of posterity is, that Leibnitz fairly invented his own method;
-and though English writers give no strong opinion as to the fairness
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_136'>136</span>with which the dispute was carried on, we imagine that there are
-few who would now defend the conduct of their predecessors. Whoever
-may have had priority of invention, it is clear that to Leibnitz
-and the Bernoullis belongs the principal part of the superstructure,
-by aid of which their immediate successors were enabled to extend the
-theory of Newton; and thus Leibnitz is placed in the highest rank
-of mathematical inventors.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The metaphysics of Leibnitz have now become a by-word. He
-is pre-eminent, among modern philosophers, for his extraordinary
-fancies. His monads, his pre-established harmony, and his best of all
-possible worlds, are hardly caricatured in the well-known philosophical
-novel of Voltaire. If any thinking monad should find that the pre-established
-harmony between his soul and body would make the
-former desire to see more of Leibnitz as a metaphysician, and the
-latter able to second him, we can inform him that it was necessary,
-for the best of all possible universes, that Michael Hansch should in
-1728 publish the whole system at Frankfort and Leipzic, under the
-title, ‘<span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Leibnitzii Principia philosophica more geometrico demonstrata</span>;’
-and also that M. Tenneman should give an account of this system,
-and M. Victor Cousin translate the same. It is not easy to give any
-short description of the contents, nor would it be useful. A school
-of metaphysicians of the sect of Leibnitz continued to exist for some
-time in Germany, but it has long been extinct.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The mathematical works of Leibnitz were collected and published
-at Geneva in 1768. His correspondence with John Bernoulli was
-also published in 1745, at Lausanne and Geneva. It is an interesting
-record, and exhibits him in an amiable light. He gives his friend a
-check for his manner of speaking of Newton, at the time when the
-partizans of the latter were attacking his own character, both as a man
-and a discoverer. He says (vol. ii. p. 234), “I thank you for the animadversions
-which you have sent me on Newton’s works; I wish you
-had time to examine the whole, which I know would not be unpleasant
-even to himself. But in so beautiful a structure, <i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">non ego paucis
-offendar maculis</span></i>.” He also says that he has been informed by a
-friend in England, that hatred of the Hanoverian connexion had something
-to do with the bitterness with which he was assailed; “<span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Non
-ab omni veri specie abest, eos qui parum Domui Hanoveranæ favent,
-etiam me lacerare voluisse; nam amicus Anglus ad me scribit, videri
-aliquibus non tam ut mathematicos et Societatis Regiæ Socios in
-socium, sed ut <em>Toryos in Whigium</em> quosdam egisse.</span>” (Vol. ii. p. 321.)</p>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_137fp.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p><em>Engraved by C. E. Wagstaff</em><br /><br />CARDINAL XIMENES.<br /><br /><em>From a Picture in the Florence Gallery.</em><br /><br />Under the Superintendence of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.<br /><br /><em>London, Published by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street.</em></p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id002'>
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_137'>137</span>
-<img src='images/i_137.jpg' alt='XIMENES.' class='ig001' />
-</div>
-
-<div class='chapter'>
-  <h2 class='c005'>XIMENES.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c010'>Gonzales Ximenes de Cisneros, Primate and Regent of Spain,
-was born at Tordelaguna, in Castile, in 1437. He was descended
-of an ancient family, long settled at Cisneros in the kingdom of
-Leon, and was baptized Gonzales after an ancestor who was one of
-the most renowned knights of his day: the name of Francis, by
-which he is commonly known, he assumed in after-life, in honour
-of the saint whose monastic rule he embraced. But though he
-was of honourable descent, neither rank nor wealth were stepping-stones
-to his preferment. His father supported a large family upon
-the income of his humble office of collector of tenths, payable to the
-king by the clergy: but his own studious disposition, and the facilities
-then afforded by the universities to poor scholars, raised him out
-of the obscurity in which his lot appeared to be cast. At the schools
-of Alcala, and at the University of Salamanca, he studied philosophy,
-theology, canon and civil law; and his proficiency soon enabled him to
-support himself, by teaching others. Having completed his education
-he undertook a journey to Rome, hoping there to find a readier field
-for the exercise of his talents than at home. Poor and friendless, he
-maintained himself by pleading in the Spanish causes which came
-before the Court of the Consistory; and he was already rising into
-eminence, when, hearing of his father’s death, and the distress of his
-family, he abandoned his flattering prospects and returned to Spain.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>It appears that he had taken holy orders during his abode at
-Rome, for before his departure Sixtus IV. bestowed on him a reversionary
-grant of the first benefice which should fall vacant. This
-proved to be Uceda; and he immediately produced his letters and
-took possession. The Archbishop of Toledo, who had already promised
-the living, was highly offended at this exercise of what in
-truth was a most objectionable prerogative of the Holy See. He not
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_138'>138</span>only dispossessed, but imprisoned for six years, Ximenes, who remained
-firm in the assertion of his rights. At the end of that time
-the prelate yielded. Ximenes soon exchanged Uceda for a chaplaincy
-in the cathedral of Siguenza. Here he applied himself to the
-pursuit of theology, and laid the foundation of that Hebrew and
-Chaldaic learning which bore such noble fruit in after-life. He
-gained the warm friendship of his bishop, the Cardinal Mendoza,
-who, in 1483, appointed him grand vicar of the diocese. In that
-office he distinguished himself by integrity and talents for business,
-as he had before by piety and learning. And the fairest prospect of
-advancement was open to him, when all at once he resolved to quit
-the world, and to devote himself wholly to religious meditation.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>He embraced the strictest rule of the Franciscan order, with a
-zeal to which the general example of his brethren gave no countenance.
-He retired to the secluded monasteries of Castagnar and
-Salceda, and in the forests which surrounded them, devoted himself
-wholly to prayer, the study of the Scriptures, and the mortification of
-the flesh. He thus gained the reputation of uncommon sanctity, and
-there seems to be no reason to think that his asceticism was defiled by
-any trace of hypocrisy. But his friend the Cardinal saw that he was
-fitted for still better things, and regretting his departure from active
-life, expressed a belief that he would ultimately be raised to much
-higher dignity, to the great advantage of the Church. And, in truth,
-the Cardinal, who had been raised from the see of Siguenza to the
-primacy of Spain, the Archbishopric of Toledo, did much to fulfil his
-own prediction. He introduced Ximenes to the Queen Isabella,
-who was then in want of a confessor, and she readily listened to
-his recommendation, and appointed Ximenes to the vacant office.
-He would fain have declined it, urging that he had been called
-to the cloister from active life to attend to his own salvation; that
-what was demanded would withdraw him from his proper vocation;
-and that a sovereign above all persons needed a religious guide,
-not only of good intentions, but of experience and wisdom. The
-Queen smiled as she assured him, that if he had formerly been
-directed to solitude, he was now summoned to court, and that if he
-would take charge of her conscience, she would be answerable for
-having chosen him to do so. And he consented, on condition that he
-should be required to attend her only when called by the duties of
-his office. This was in 1492. The austerity of his life and the
-wildness of his aspect caused him, when he appeared, to be compared
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_139'>139</span>by the gay frequenters of the court to an old Egyptian hermit come
-out from the desert.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Moved by the hope of advancing the temporal interests of their
-order, his monastic brethren now appointed him their provincial.
-They widely mistook his character. He accepted the proffered dignity,
-moved chiefly by the hope that it would furnish him with an
-excuse for more frequent absence from court; and he employed his
-power in striving to reform the corruptions which abundant wealth
-had introduced among them. His own life was in strict adherence
-to the self-denial which he recommended to others. In his visitations
-he travelled on foot from convent to convent, accompanied by one
-brother, Francis Ruyz, whom he had selected for his constant companion,
-as uniting the qualifications of a lively temper and sound health,
-with learning, modesty, and trustworthiness. For their sustenance
-they depended upon alms, and in the trade of begging Ximenes was
-very unsuccessful. Ruyz used to remonstrate on the misapplication of
-his talents. “Your Reverence will let us die of hunger; you were
-not meant for this profession. God gives each of us his talents: do
-you pray for me, and I will beg for you. Your Reverence may be
-made to give, but certainly not to ask.” Visiting Gibraltar in one of
-these tours, he was strongly possessed by the desire of going to preach
-the gospel in Africa. On this subject he consulted a female devotee,
-who had the reputation of enjoying divine revelations in visions, and
-was dissuaded by her from prosecuting the scheme.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The Primate Mendoza died at the end of 1494. In their last interview,
-he urged his sovereign not to entrust the vast revenues of his
-see to any one connected with the highest nobility, esteeming its
-power to be even dangerous to the crown, when knit by family ties
-to great feudal influence. Isabella listened to his advice, and after
-much hesitation pitched on Ximenes to be his successor. Aware of
-his feelings, she kept her intentions secret until letters confirmatory
-of the appointment arrived from the Pope. These without preface
-she put into his hands. Reading the address, “To our venerable
-brother Ximenes, Archbishop elect of Toledo,” “Madam,” he said,
-“these letters are not for me;” and he rose abruptly and quitted the
-royal presence. Six months elapsed before he was induced to accept
-the proffered dignity, in virtue of a direct injunction from the Pope.
-He was consecrated October 11, 1495.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Rank and wealth made no difference in the manners of the ascetic
-monk. He continued to live upon the coarsest fare, to wear the
-humble dress of his order, to sleep on the ground, or on a bed as
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_140'>140</span>hard, and to travel on an ass, or on foot. And Pope Alexander VI.
-thought it necessary to send a letter to him, with the very unusual exhortation
-to cultivate the pomps and vanities of the world a little
-more, for the sake of the church of which he was so exalted a member.
-Ximenes obeyed, and probably became convinced of the propriety of
-the counsel, as he became more engaged in civil government. He
-assumed even a more gorgeous state than his predecessors, but he
-still practised his usual self-denial in private; he slept and fared as
-hardly as before, and wore a haircloth under his episcopal robes.
-He was exemplary in the discharge of his public duties; liberal even
-to an extreme in relieving the daily necessities of the poor, and in
-contributing to charitable, useful, and religious undertakings; diligent
-in promoting the welfare of the people to the full extent of his
-almost regal power, by repressing extortion and peculation, whether
-in courts of law, or the collection of the revenue, by providing for the
-due administration of justice, ecclesiastical and civil, and by exercising
-a strict superintendence over the conduct of the parochial
-clergy. To the cry of the wretched his ears were always open; he
-hated oppression; and if an injured vassal complained against the
-highest noble in the land, he was ready to grant justice, if the matter
-lay within his jurisdiction, or, if not, to carry the complaint before the
-Queen. And his zeal and energy carried to a happy conclusion the
-arduous undertaking of reforming the Franciscan brotherhood, upon
-which he succeeded in enforcing a new system of regulations in 1499,
-after a most obstinate resistance.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>We may here mention with unmixed praise one of the Archbishop’s
-charitable undertakings. It was an institution for the education
-of the daughters of indigent nobles, on such principles, according
-to the words of our authority, as should train them to the fit
-discharge of their duties towards their families and towards society.
-A fund, afterwards increased by the Spanish monarchs, was set
-apart to provide them with marriage portions. We may here trace
-the original of the celebrated establishment of St. Cyr.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>His principal work was the establishment of a university at Alcala,
-where he himself received his early education. The foundation-stone
-was laid by himself in 1498; the buildings were completed,
-and the first course of lectures given, in 1508. For a model he
-took the university of Paris; he endowed it richly, and collected men
-distinguished for their learning from all parts of Europe, to fill the
-professorial chairs. Here he undertook the great work of publishing
-the first Polyglot Bible, the Complutensian, as it is called, from the
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_141'>141</span>Latin name of Alcala, where it was printed, which will exist for ages
-as a noble specimen of the Archbishop’s piety, munificence, and zeal
-for learning. The four first volumes contain the Old Testament in
-the Hebrew—the Septuagint version, with a Latin translation—the
-Vulgate, as corrected by St. Jerome—and the Chaldee Paraphrase,
-with a Latin translation. The fifth and sixth volumes contain the
-Greek Testament and the Vulgate. The printing of this great undertaking
-commenced in 1502, and was not completed till 1517,
-shortly before the death of Ximenes, who, when the last volume
-was brought to him, is reported by his earliest biographer, after an
-ejaculation of pious thanksgiving, to have addressed the bystanders in
-these words:—“Many high and difficult undertakings I have carried
-on in the service of the State, yet, my friends, there is nothing for
-which I more deserve congratulation than for this edition of the
-Scriptures, which lays open, in a time of much need, the fountain-head
-of our holy religion, whence may be drawn a far purer strain of theology
-than from the streams which have been turned off from it.”
-But owing to a hesitation at the Court of Rome, how far the criticism
-of the Scriptures should be encouraged, the Bible was not
-given to the world till 1522. Only about 600 copies were printed.
-The price fixed on it was six and a half ducats. The epistle dedicatory
-to Leo X. is by Ximenes himself: the preface, according to Dr.
-Dibdin, is by another hand. The most learned Hebrew and Greek
-scholars who could be procured were employed in the collation of
-manuscripts; and it may be noted that for seven Hebrew MSS.
-the sum of 4000 golden crowns was paid. These with other treasures
-of learning, which were deposited with the University of Alcala,
-about the middle of the last century were sold to a firework-maker
-as lumber. The whole cost of the work, which was defrayed by
-Ximenes, is said to have exceeded 50,000 gold crowns.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>In 1498 the Archbishop was summoned to Granada by Ferdinand
-and Isabella, to deliberate on the means to be used for the conversion
-of the Moors. Inflamed by zeal, he had recourse to means which
-show the wisdom of the serpent more than the simplicity of the
-dove. He began with the priests and doctors of the law, and strove
-by kindness and attention, mixed with religious discussion, to dispose
-them to adopt the Christian faith. The priests led over the people
-in such flocks, that, in one day, the anniversary of which was observed
-as a festival, December 18, 1499, upwards of 3000 persons were
-baptized by aspersion in Granada. That the Archbishop should
-have believed in the sincerity of these wholesale conversions is not
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_142'>142</span>credible; he probably thought that a hypocritical worship of the true
-God was a less evil than sincere idolatry. The inquisition was
-charged with the superintendence of the souls of these nominal Christians,
-and the relapse from that faith which they never embraced was
-punished according to the mercy of that irresponsible tribunal. The
-dread and indignation produced by these measures led to a revolt,
-which was quelled, however, under the guidance of the Archbishop.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The same desire of making Christians any how appears in the
-measures adopted on this occasion. The inhabitants of the quarter in
-which the tumult broke out were declared guilty of high treason, and
-offered their choice of death or conversion. They embraced the latter;
-and the other Granadans, to the number of 150,000, followed their
-example. But these severities drove the most resolute spirits to that
-last insurrection, related with so much interest in Washington Irving’s
-‘Chronicles of Granada;’ which terminated in the expatriation of the
-remnant who abided in their national creed. But however unapostolic
-the Archbishop’s mode of conversion may have been, his zeal and ability
-in instructing and rendering truly Christian those who submitted to
-the outward forms of the religion is said to have been admirable.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>His conduct towards the unhappy natives of the West Indies was
-less exceptionable. He did his utmost not only for their conversion,
-but to protect them from the cruel exactions of the Spanish settlers.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The excellent Isabella of Castile died November 26, 1504. According
-to the tenor of his beloved mistress’s will, Ximenes steadily
-maintained the claim of Ferdinand, her husband, to the regency of the
-kingdom during the minority of Charles V. After the death of the
-Archduke Philip, September 25, 1506, he renewed his exertions to
-determine the Castilians in favour of Ferdinand’s claim to the regency,
-in preference to the Emperor Maximilian, Charles V.’s paternal
-grandfather; being satisfied that, notwithstanding the ancient jealousy
-between Castile and Arragon, the former would be better governed
-by a prince intimately acquainted with its circumstances and interests
-than by a stranger. Ferdinand, who was then engaged at Naples,
-owed his success in this matter to Ximenes; and showed his gratitude
-by procuring for him the rank of Cardinal, with the title of
-Cardinal of Spain, together with the office of Grand Inquisitor.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>In his zeal for spreading the true faith, Ximenes had conceived a
-scheme for the conquest of the Holy Land, and indeed had nearly
-succeeded in effecting a league for that purpose between Ferdinand,
-Manuel of Portugal, and Henry VII. of England. But this hope
-being defeated, he was still anxious to employ the power of Spain
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_143'>143</span>against Mahometanism, and used his best endeavours to persuade
-Ferdinand to invade the coast of Barbary. The king’s parsimony was
-not to be overcome, until Ximenes offered a loan sufficient to equip
-the proposed armament, and defray its expenses for two months; and
-the capture of the town of Marsarquiver, in the autumn of 1505, was
-the immediate result. Here the Spanish arms remained stationary till
-1509, when the Cardinal obtained permission to attempt the siege of
-Oran at his own expense, on the sole condition, that if he succeeded,
-either the patrimony of the church expended in this secular undertaking
-was to be repaid, or the domain conquered was to be annexed
-to the see of Toledo. He assumed himself the supreme direction of
-the expedition, entrusting the command of the army to Peter Navarre,
-an able, turbulent, and ambitious soldier. Everything was unfavourable
-to the Cardinal. The king was jealous of him; Navarre impatient
-of the subjection of the sword to the crozier; and other officers,
-corrupt or hostile, and encouraged by the example of their superiors,
-stirred the soldiers to mutiny. But the decision of Ximenes compelled
-obedience, and the wisdom of his measures ensured success; so that
-the surrender of Oran was the almost immediate result of his descent
-upon Africa. He would willingly have remained there to pursue his
-successes. But finding the disobedience of his lieutenant to be secretly
-encouraged by Ferdinand, he determined to return while he could do
-so with honour, leaving Navarre in the command of the troops. For
-himself or his see he reserved no part of the spoil. That which was
-not bestowed upon the soldiers, or consumed in the service, he set
-apart for the crown. Yet a fresh disagreement arose when the Cardinal,
-according to the compact, demanded payment of the advances
-made by the see; and when Ferdinand at last was compelled to
-acquiesce, it was in the most ungracious and unbecoming manner.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Ferdinand died January 23, 1516. On his death-bed he appointed
-Ximenes Regent of Castile during the minority of Charles V., with
-expressions indicative of no personal regard, but bearing strong
-testimony to his unbending justice, disinterestedness, and zeal for the
-public welfare. The Cardinal’s conduct in this exalted station was
-consistent with the tenor of his past life; he was a just ruler, but his
-authority was feared and respected rather than loved. If he had one
-passion unmortified, it was ambition: he ruled with a single eye to
-his young sovereign’s interests; but he evaded that sovereign’s attempts
-to circumscribe his powers with as much success as he bore down
-the opposition of those turbulent nobles, who hoped, in the weakness
-of a minority, to find a fit opportunity for prosecuting their own
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_144'>144</span>aggrandizement, and committing with impunity acts of illegal violence.
-For when Charles V. sent some of his confidential Flemish ministers
-to be associates in the commission of regency, the Cardinal received
-them with respect, and granted them the external distinctions of office;
-for the rest they were mere puppets in his hands. Of his internal
-policy, the chief scope was to elevate the regal power, and to depress
-that of the nobles, even by throwing a greater weight into the hands
-of the unprivileged classes: the same policy as had been pursued by
-the wisest princes of the age, Ferdinand and Isabella, Henry VII. of
-England, and Louis XI. of France. The crown had been reduced
-to great poverty by lavish grants, extorted, in disturbed times, by the
-necessity of conciliating powerful noblemen, rather than granted by
-free-will, or out of real gratitude for services; and it was one of
-Ximenes’ first objects to remedy this evil, even by means which
-showed none of that regard to vested interests, which belongs to times
-in which the course of law is regular and supreme, and consequently
-the rights of property are rigidly respected. Such pensions as had
-been granted in Ferdinand’s reign he cut off at once, on the plea
-that the grantor could only have bestowed them for his own life.
-The crown lands alienated during the same period were resumed:
-even the Cardinal’s boldness did not venture to carry the inquiry
-farther back, from the apprehension of driving the whole body of the
-nobility into revolt.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>These changes, and other important measures, were not carried into
-effect without great discontent and considerable open resistance. But
-the Cardinal was strong, in the resources of his own powerful mind, in
-the general reverence of the people for the sanctity of his character, in
-his exalted rank as head of the Spanish church, and in the immense
-revenues of his see, which gave him a command of money not enjoyed
-by the crown, and enabled him to keep in his own pay a considerable
-body of troops. With these he maintained order, and repressed
-feuds, which the barons, trusting to the common weakness of a
-regency, hastened to decide by the sword; and set at defiance the
-enmity of the nobility at a later period, when more decided encroachments
-on the privileges of the order had produced a general spirit of
-discontent. On one occasion a deputation of the chief grandees of
-Castile required to be informed, under what title he presumed
-to exercise such high authority. The Cardinal showed the will of
-Ferdinand, and its confirmation by Charles V., and finding them
-still unsatisfied, led them to a window, from which he pointed out a
-strong military force under arms. “These,” he said, “are the powers
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_145'>145</span>which I have received from the king. With these I govern Castile;
-and with these I will govern it, until the king, your master and mine,
-takes possession of his kingdom.”</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>One of his schemes for strengthening the crown was the erection
-of a species of militia, composed of burghers of cities; but that class
-was not sufficiently advanced in knowledge to appreciate the immense
-accession of importance which would accrue from this measure, which
-they regarded solely as a burden. It was therefore unpopular among
-them, as well as unpalatable to the barons; and was entirely dropped
-soon after the regent’s death.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>His foreign policy was nearly confined to the conduct of two wars:
-the one to maintain Navarre, which had been usurped by Ferdinand,
-against the legitimate monarch John d’Albret; the other, an expedition
-against the pirate Barbarossa, King of Algiers, who inflicted a signal
-and entire discomfiture on the invading army.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>In the administration of the kingdom Ximenes displayed the same
-inflexible love of justice, and the same economy, integrity, and order,
-as in the management of his own diocese of Toledo; and he brought
-the finances into so flourishing a state, that after discharging the
-crown debts, and placing the military establishment in a more than
-commonly efficient state, he was enabled to remit large sums of money
-to the young king in Flanders. And he had something of a title to
-Charles’s more immediate and personal gratitude, for having used with
-success his own overpowering influence to obtain the recognition of
-that prince as king of Castile during the lifetime of his insane mother,
-against the usage of the realm, although he had remonstrated with
-earnestness against pressing the indecorous and unfilial claim. All
-these services however were thrown into the shade by one thing.
-Ximenes hated the Flemish ministers whom Charles sent into Spain,
-and who disgraced their high station, and corrupted the country by
-open and abandoned venality. He never ceased to remonstrate against
-these abuses, and to importune Charles to visit his Spanish dominions;
-and the Flemish favourites saw that their own ruin was certain if the
-regent once gained an ascendance over the king’s mind. They retarded
-therefore the departure of the latter as much as possible, and
-succeeded in prejudicing him against his most sincere and judicious
-friend and servant. Convinced at last of the necessity for his presence,
-Charles set out for Spain, and landed in the province of Asturias,
-September 13, 1517. The Cardinal hastened towards the coast to
-meet him, but was stopped at Bos Equillos by a severe illness, which,
-as was very usual in past times, was imputed to poison. He wrote to
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_146'>146</span>the king, entreating him to dismiss the train of foreigners by whom
-he was attended, and earnestly soliciting a personal interview, which,
-from the pressure of illness, he was unable himself to seek. This
-favour was not granted, and he was vexed and harassed by a series of
-petty slights. At the point of death he received a letter of dismissal
-couched in civil but cold terms, permitting him to return to his diocese,
-and repose from his labours. Whether the Cardinal retained his
-faculties so as to be aware of this final mark of ingratitude is doubtful;
-but his end was assuredly hastened by mortification at the evil return
-made for his faithful service. He died a few hours after receiving the
-dismissal in question, November 8, 1517.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Though austere in temper, Ximenes was not cruel, and in civil
-matters had great reluctance to the shedding of blood. Yet in eleven
-years, as Grand Inquisitor, he burnt at the stake 2500 persons, for the
-glory of God and the good of the sufferer’s souls. Such miserable self-delusion
-in so great and good a man ought to teach humility, as well
-as to inspire abhorrence.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Our sketch has necessarily been personal rather than historical: a
-fuller account of the public life of Ximenes will be found in Robertson’s
-‘Charles V.,’ as well as in the biographies of Flechier, Marsollier, and
-others. Barrett’s ‘Life of Ximenes’ appears to be a compressed
-translation from the Life by Flechier. We conclude with the short
-and comprehensive praise of Leibnitz, who said, that “If great men
-could be bought, Spain would have cheaply purchased such a minister
-by the sacrifice of one of her kingdoms.”</p>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_147fp.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p><em>Engraved by J. Thomson.</em><br /><br />ADDISON.<br /><br /><em>From a Picture copied by J. Thurston in the Possession of the Publisher.</em><br /><br />Under the Superintendence of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge<br /><br /><em>London, Published by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street.</em></p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id002'>
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_147'>147</span>
-<img src='images/i_147.jpg' alt='ADDISON.' class='ig001' />
-</div>
-
-<div class='chapter'>
-  <h2 class='c005'>ADDISON.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c010'>Joseph Addison, the second of the six children of Dr. Launcelot
-Addison and Jane Gulstone, was born May 1, 1672, at Milston in
-Wiltshire. The feebleness of his infancy seems to have impaired his
-spirit as a boy; for, in the General Dictionary, Dr. Birch relates, that
-when at school in the country, he was so afraid of punishment as to
-have absconded, lodging in a hollow tree in the fields, till a hue and
-cry restored him to his parents. At the Charter-House was formed
-that friendship between him and Sir Richard Steele, which led to
-their close alliance in a new kind of literary undertaking. Addison
-could not but feel his own superiority; and Spence intimates, that the
-one was too fond of displaying, and the other too servile in acknowledging
-it. Steele occasionally availed himself not only of his friend’s
-pen, but of his purse. Johnson has given currency to the story, that
-Addison enforced the repayment of 100<i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">l.</span></i> by an execution, and the fact
-is said to have been related by Steele himself, with tears in his eyes.
-Hooke, the Roman historian, professed to have received it from Pope.
-The biographer sarcastically remarks, that the borrower probably had
-not much purpose of repayment; but the lender, who “seems to have
-had other notions of 100<i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">l.</span></i>, grew impatient of delay.” Now no date
-is assigned to this anecdote; and Addison’s finances were so low
-during the greater part of his life, that he might have suffered greatly
-by the disappointment; nor does it detract from the character of a
-man in narrow circumstances, that he entertains serious notions
-of 100<i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">l.</span></i></p>
-
-<p class='c000'>In 1687 Addison was entered at Queen’s College, Oxford, where
-he took the degree of M.A., February 14, 1693. One of his early
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_148'>148</span>poetical attempts was ‘An Account of the greatest English Poets,
-inscribed to H. S.;’ initials which have been currently assigned to
-Dr. Henry Sacheverell, who is indebted, for no enviable place in
-history, to his trial and its consequences. But a college friend of Addison
-has left it on record, that the initials were the property of a gentleman
-bearing the same name, who died young, after having shown some
-promise in writing a history of the Isle of Man, and who bequeathed
-his papers to Addison, containing, among other things, the plan of a
-tragedy 011 the death of Socrates, which the legatee had some thoughts
-of working up himself. In this poem the writer tells his friend that
-Spenser can no longer charm an understanding age. Now the judgment
-of the present age disclaims this confident decision; nor would it
-be worth recording, but for Spence’s assertion, that the critic had
-never read the ‘Faery Queene,’ when he drew its character. In after
-life he spoke of his own poem as a “poor thing;” but his general
-level as a versifier was not high. The ‘Campaign’ is his masterpiece
-in rhyme.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>He was indebted to Congreve for his introduction to Montague, then
-Chancellor of the Exchequer. Johnson says, that “he was then
-learning the trade of a courtier, and subjoined Montague as a poetical
-name to those of Cowley and of Dryden.” In 1695 he wrote a poem
-to King William, with an introduction addressed to Lord Somers,
-who is said by Tickell to have sent a message to the author to desire
-his acquaintance.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>In 1699, he obtained an annual pension of 300<i><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">l.</span></i> to enable him to
-travel. He passed the first year in preparation at Blois, and then
-departed for Italy. That he was duly qualified to appreciate the
-attractions of “classic ground,”—his own phrase, sneered at for affectation
-by contemporary critics, but since sanctioned by general adoption,—appears
-by his ‘Travels,’ and by the letter from Italy to Lord Halifax.
-His ‘Dialogues on Medals’ were composed at this time. On
-the death of King William, in March, 1702, he became distressed for
-money by the stoppage of his pension. This compelled him to become
-tutor to a travelling squire. The engagement seems to have been
-for one year only, for he was at Rotterdam in June, 1703. In the
-‘Gentleman’s Magazine’ for November, 1835, may be found three
-very curious, because characteristic, letters, from the Duke of Somerset,
-surnamed by his contemporaries the Proud, to old Jacob Tonson,
-forwarding a proposal to Addison to undertake the office of tutor to
-his son, then going abroad. We transcribe a passage from the second
-letter, as a sample of the proud Duke’s liberality. “I desire he may
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_149'>149</span>be more on the account of a companion in my son’s travels, than as a
-governor, and as such shall account him; my meaning is that neither
-lodging, travelling, nor diet, shall cost him sixpence, and over and
-above that, my son shall present him at the year’s end with a hundred
-guineas, as long as he is pleased to continue in that service to my son,
-by taking great care of him, by his personal attendance and advice,
-in what he finds necessary during his time of travelling.” It appears
-from the Duke’s quotation of the answer, in the third letter to Tonson,
-that Addison had “other notions” of this offer than the proposer
-entertained. “I will set down his own words, which are these:—‘As
-for the recompense that is proposed to me, I must confess I can by no
-means see my account in it,’ &amp;c.” A hundred guineas and maintenance
-was, even in those days, a mean appointment from a Duke to a
-gentleman.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Addison returned to England at the latter end of 1703. In 1704,
-at the request of Lord Godolphin, to whom he was introduced by the
-Earl of Halifax, he undertook to celebrate the victory of Blenheim,
-and composed the first portion of his poem called the ‘Campaign.’
-This proved his introduction into office. After filling some inferior
-appointments, he became, in 1706, Under-Secretary of State. About
-the same time, he wrote the comic opera of ‘Rosamond,’ which was
-neglected by the public, has been overpraised by Johnson, and is now
-deservedly forgotten.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Thomas Earl of Wharton was appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland,
-December 4, 1708, and proceeded to his destination April 10,
-1709, accompanied by Addison as his Secretary. Addison therefore
-left London two days before the commencement of the ‘Tatler,’ the
-first number of which came out April 12; and his own first contribution
-appeared May 26. His last was No. 267, and the work ended
-with No. 271, January 2, 1710–11. In No. 93 is an article on
-a ‘Letter from Switzerland, with Remarks on Travelling,’ and a sly
-hint that ‘Fools ought not to be exported,’ in Addison’s happiest style
-of playful satire. The praise of original design clearly belongs to the
-projector of the ‘Tatler.’ Tickell however was justified in saying,
-that Addison’s aid “did not a little contribute to advance its reputation;”
-and Steele candidly allows, that his coadjutor not only assisted
-but improved his original scheme. In his dedication of the comedy
-of the ‘Drummer,’ he says, “It was advanced indeed, for it was raised
-to a greater thing than I intended it; for the elegance, purity, and
-correctness, which appeared in his writings, were not so much to my
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_150'>150</span>purpose, as in any intelligible manner I could, to rally all those singularities
-of human life, through the different professions and characters
-in it, which obstruct any thing that was truly good and great.”</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The first No. of the ‘Spectator’ appeared March 1, 1710–11, and
-the paper was discontinued December 6, 1712; No. 555 concluded the
-seventh volume, as first collected by the publishers. The work was
-resumed June 18, 1714, with No. 556, and the eighth volume closed
-with No. 635. Of the first forty-five papers of the revived ‘Spectator,’
-Addison wrote twenty-three; more than half: he did not contribute to
-the last thirty-five. Notwithstanding the avowed purpose of exclusively
-treating general topics, Steele’s Whiggism once burst its bounds, by reprinting
-in the ‘Spectator’ a preface of Dr. Fleetwood to some sermons,
-for the purpose of attracting the Queen’s notice to it. Had the Number
-been published at the usual hour, the household might have devised
-means for its suppression, with some plausible excuse for its absence
-from the royal breakfast table; but the non-issue until twelve o’clock,
-the time fixed for that meal, left no opening for cabal, and her Majesty’s
-subjects were, for her sake, deprived of their morning’s speculation till
-that hour. In No. 10 Addison states the daily sale at three thousand:
-Johnson makes it sixteen hundred and eighty; apparently far below
-the real number. The latter number is given on calculation from the
-product of the tax; the assertion of the publisher was Addison’s
-authority; and he might, in the commencement of the work, have
-indulged in the puff oblique. No. 14, composed of Letters from the
-Lion—from an Under-Sexton—on the Masquerade—and Puppet
-Show, is selected by the annotators, as “meriting the attention of
-such as pretend to distinguish with wonderful facility between Addison’s
-and Steele’s papers.” It is wholly Steele’s. The ‘Guardian’
-was published in the interval, between the ‘Spectator’s’ being laid
-down and taken up again. The first Number came out March 12,
-1713; the last, October 1, 1713. Inattention to marks has sometimes
-subjected Addison to undeserved censure. Dr. Blair vindicates Tasso’s
-description of Sylvia against the ‘Guardian;’ but by a double inadvertence,
-he quotes No. 38 for a passage contained in 28, and ascribes
-to Addison what was written by Steele. The ‘Whig Examiner,’ and
-the ‘Freeholder,’ both exclusively Addison’s, have been enabled by
-their wit to survive the usual fate of party-writings. The former is so
-much more pungent than usual with the author, and excited so much
-alarm and jealousy in Swift, that he triumphantly remarks, “it is now
-down among the dead men;” part of the burthen of a popular Tory
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_151'>151</span>song. The humour of the latter, Steele thought too gentle for such
-blustering times; and is reported to have said, that the ministry made
-use of a lute, when they should have called for a trumpet.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>On the demise of the other papers, Hughes formed a project of a
-society of learned men of various characters, who were to meet and
-carry on a conversation on all subjects, empowering their secretary to
-draw up any of their discourses, or publish any of their writings, under
-the title of Register. Addison, in answer, applauds the specimen,
-and approves the title; but adds, “To tell you truly, I have been so
-taken up with thoughts of that nature, for these two or three years
-last past, that I must now take some time <i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">pour me délasser</span></i>, and lay
-in fuel for a future work. I am in a thousand troubles for poor
-Dick, and wish that his zeal for the public may not be ruinous to
-himself; but he has sent me word, that he is determined to go on,
-and that any advice I can give him, in this particular, will have no
-weight with him.”</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Tickell says respecting Cato, “He took up a design of writing a
-play upon this subject, when he was very young at the university, and
-even attempted something in it there, though not a line as it now stands.
-The work was performed by him in his travels, and retouched in
-England, without any formal design of bringing it on the stage, till
-his friends of the first quality and distinction prevailed with him to
-put the last finishing to it, at a time when they thought the doctrine
-of liberty very seasonable.” Cibber says, that in 1704 he had the
-pleasure of reading the first four acts privately with Steele, who told him
-they were written in Italy. Oldmixon in his ‘Art of Criticism,’ 1728,
-talks about Addison’s reluctance to resume the work, and his request
-to Hughes to write the fifth act. According to Pope, the first packed
-audience was made to support the ‘Distressed Mother;’ the scheme
-was tried again for Cato with triumphant effect. The love-scenes
-are the weakest in the play, and are by some supposed to have been
-foisted on the original plan, to humour the false taste of the modern
-stage. When the tragedy was shown to Pope, he advised the author
-to print it, without committing it to the theatre, as thinking it better
-suited to the closet than representation.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>When Lord Sunderland was sent as lord lieutenant to Ireland in
-1714, Addison was appointed his secretary. This, as well as another
-step in his promotion, has been omitted by Johnson. In 1715 he was
-made a lord of trade. In 1716 he married the Countess Dowager of
-Warwick, to whom he had long paid his addresses. Johnson pleasantly
-suggests, that his behaviour might be not very unlike that of
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_152'>152</span>Sir Roger to his disdainful widow, and supposes that the lady might
-amuse herself by playing with his passion. Spence dates his first
-acquaintance with her from his appointment as tutor to the young
-earl; but as neither the time of that appointment is known, nor the
-footing on which he stood with the family, the first steps in this affair
-are left in obscurity. The result is better known. Mr. Tyers, in an
-unpublished essay on ‘Addison’s Life and Writings,’ says, “Holland
-House is a large mansion, but could not contain Mr. Addison, the
-Countess of Warwick, and one guest, peace.” He became possessed
-of this house by his marriage, and died in it. His last and great promotion
-was to the dignity of Secretary of State in 1717; but he was
-unfit for it, and gained no new laurels by it. He carried so much of
-the author into the office of the statesman, that he could not issue an
-order of mere routine without losing his time in hunting after unnecessary
-niceties of language. During his last illness he sent for Gay,
-and with a confession of having injured him, promised him a recompense
-if he recovered. He did not specify the nature of the injury;
-nor could Gay, either then or subsequently, guess at his meaning.
-Dr. Young furnished the received account of his interview with
-Lord Warwick on his death-bed; but there appears to be no ground
-for Johnson’s imputation on the young man’s morals or principles,
-or for supposing that it was a last effort on Addison’s part to reclaim
-him. Young mentions his lordship as a youth finely accomplished,
-without a hint of looseness either in opinions or conduct.
-Addison died June 17, 1719: his only child, a daughter, died at
-Bilton, in Warwickshire, at an advanced age, in 1797. Not many
-days before his death he commissioned Mr. Tickell to collect his
-writings; a gentleman of whom Swift said that Addison was a whig,
-but Tickell, <em>whigissimus</em>.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>To ascertain the claim of short periodical papers to originality of
-design, we must look to the state of newspapers at an earlier date.
-As vehicles of information they are often mentioned in plays in the
-time of James and Charles the First. Carew, in his ‘Survey of
-Cornwall,’ first published in 1602, quotes ‘<span lang="la" xml:lang="la">Mercurius Gallo-Belgicus</span>.’
-Till the beginning of the eighteenth century, the periodical press had
-been exclusively political; no class of writers but divines and theoretical
-reasoners had administered to the moral wants of society: certain
-gentlemen, therefore, of liberal education, and men of the world,
-combined to furnish practical instruction in an amusing form, by fictions
-running parallel with the political newspaper. Addison announces
-the design “to bring philosophy out of closets and libraries,
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_153'>153</span>schools and colleges, to dwell in clubs and assemblies, at tea-tables
-and in coffee-houses.” In the character of his fictitious friend the
-clergyman, he speaks of “the great use this paper might be of to the
-public, by reprehending those vices which are too trivial for the chastisement
-of the law, and too fantastical for the cognizance of the
-pulpit.” Another object was to allay party-violence by promoting
-literary taste; in Steele’s figurative language, to substitute the lute
-for the trumpet. On this subject Addison says, “I am amazed that
-the press should be only made use of in this way by news-writers, and
-the zealots of parties; as if it were not more advantageous to mankind
-to be instructed in wisdom and virtue than in politics, and to be made
-good fathers, husbands, and sons, than counsellors and statesmen.”</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Dr. Beattie, who published an edition of Addison’s works in 1790,
-with a Life prefixed, says that he was once informed, but had forgotten
-on what authority, that Addison had collected three manuscript volumes
-of materials. He might have found this in Tickell’s Life. “It would
-have been impossible for Mr. Addison, who made little or no use of
-letters sent in by the numerous correspondents of the Spectator, to
-have executed his large share of this task in so exquisite a manner,
-if he had not ingrafted into it many pieces that had lain by him in
-little hints and minutes, which he from time to time collected, and
-ranged in order, and moulded into the form in which they now appear.
-Such are the essays upon wit, the pleasures of the imagination, the
-critique upon Milton, and some others.”</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The original delineation of Sir Roger de Coverley, for the management
-and keeping of which character Addison has been highly extolled,
-must unquestionably be ascribed to Steele. He drew the outlines;
-Addison principally worked up the portrait. Johnson not only takes
-a false view of the character, but in contradiction to every judgment
-but his own, represents the author as sinking under the weight of it.
-“The irregularities in Sir Roger’s conduct seem not so much the
-effects of a mind deviating from the beaten track of life, by the pressure
-of some overwhelming idea, as of habitual rusticity, and that negligence
-which solitary grandeur naturally generates. The variable
-weather of the mind, the flying vapours of incipient madness, which
-from time to time cloud reason, without eclipsing it, it requires so much
-nicety to exhibit, that Addison seems to have been deterred from prosecuting
-his own design.” This seems to be a mistake from beginning to
-end. Addison had no more design to impute incipient madness to Sir
-Roger, than to his contrast, Sir Andrew Freeport. Habitual rusticity
-is not the prevailing feature in a man who visited the metropolis every
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_154'>154</span>season: a main beauty of the picture is, that Sir Roger is always
-a gentleman, although an odd one. Hear Lord Orford on the subject.
-“Natural humour was the primary talent of Addison. His
-character of Sir Roger de Coverley, though inferior, is only inferior
-to Shakspeare’s Falstaff.” But however prejudiced or mistaken
-Johnson might be in this particular instance, when he deals in generalities,
-he traces the peculiar merits of Addison’s manner with the
-touch of a master. “He copies with so much fidelity, that he can
-be hardly said to invent; yet his exhibitions have an air so much
-original, that it is difficult to suppose them not merely the product of
-imagination.”</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>An attempt has been made to compare the humour of Addison with
-that of Molière, of whom Lord Chesterfield said that no man ever had
-so much. But a parallel between an essayist and a dramatic writer
-will not run straight; the construction of the drama gives so much
-greater latitude to the display of humour, and allows of so much
-nearer an approach to extravagance, that there can be no drawn game
-between them, and the essayist will almost always be the loser.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>As a critic, Addison’s merit is impartially and ably set forth in
-the notes to his Life in Dr. Kippis’s edition of the ‘Biographia Britannica.’
-On that subject Johnson is just and liberal. “Addison is
-now despised by some who perhaps would never have seen his defects,
-but by the lights which he afforded them.” By some of these arrogant
-despisers he has been blamed for deciding by taste rather than
-by principles. To this Dr. Warton, who thought him superior to
-Dryden as a critic, briefly answers, taste must decide. Addison’s
-style has been universally admired and thought a model. Lord
-Orford says of Addison, Swift, Bolingbroke, and Dr. Middleton,
-“Such authors fix a standard by their writings.” Johnson says he did
-not wish to be energetic; Dr. Warton affirms that he is so, and that
-often. Steele describes his habits of composition. “This was particular
-in this writer, that, when he had taken his resolution, or made
-his plan for what he designed to write, he would walk about a room,
-and dictate it into language with as much freedom and ease as any
-one could write it down, and attend to the coherence and grammar of
-what he dictated.” Pope says that he wrote with fluency; but if he
-had time to correct, did it slowly and cautiously; but that many of
-the ‘Spectators’ were written rapidly, and sent to the press in the
-instant; and he doubts whether much leisure for revisal would have
-led to improvement. “He would alter any thing to please his friends,
-before publication, but would not retouch his pieces afterwards; and
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_155'>155</span>I believe not one word in Cato, to which I made an objection, was
-suffered to stand.” The last line of Cato was Pope’s; a substitute
-for the original.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>We have neither room nor willingness to enter on the jealousy
-between these two eminent persons. Bowles vindicates Addison’s
-conduct, and relates the following fact to the credit of his disposition:—“Though
-attacked by Dennis as a critic, he never mentioned his
-name with asperity, and refused to give the least countenance to a
-pamphlet which Pope had written upon the occasion of Dennis’s
-stricture on Cato.” The piece here alluded to is the ‘Narrative of
-the Madness of John Dennis.’ Pope strangely imputed Addison’s
-pious compositions to the selfish motive of an intention to take orders
-and obtain a bishopric on quitting administration. Johnson cites
-this as the only proof that Pope retained some malignity from their
-ancient rivalship: with this opinion we cannot quite agree.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Addison’s defect of animal spirits condemned him to silence in
-general company; but his conversation, when set afloat by wine and
-the presence of confidential friends, was brilliant and delightful. Steele
-represents him as “having all the wit and nature of Terence and
-Catullus, heightened with humour more exquisite than any other man
-ever possessed.” This high flight is borne out by Pope’s less suspicious
-testimony. “Addison’s conversation had something in it more charming
-than I have found in any other man.” Tonson and Spence represent
-him as demanding to be the first name in modern wit; and
-with Steele as his echo, depreciating Dryden, whom Pope and Congreve
-defended against them. We close our account with the following
-summary of his character from Hutchinson’s ‘History of Cumberland’:—“Addison
-was modest and mild, a scholar, a gentleman, a poet, and
-a Christian.”</p>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id002'>
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_156'>156</span>
-<img src='images/i_156.jpg' alt='BRAMANTE.' class='ig001' />
-</div>
-
-<div class='chapter'>
-  <h2 class='c005'>BRAMANTE.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c010'>The name of Bramante derives a marked distinction from its
-intimate connexion with the history of the famous church of St. Peter
-at Rome, and is further interesting in its association with the names
-of Michael Angelo, of Raphael, and of the pontiff Julius II.
-Bramante is justly noted among the <i><span lang="it" xml:lang="it">cinquecento</span></i> architects, as a
-powerful co-operator in the great work of restoring, under certain
-modifications, the style of ancient Rome. The leader of this reformation
-is universally acknowledged to have been Brunelleschi; while
-Palladio is honoured as having effected its final and permanent establishment.
-Brunelleschi had evinced his daring and his taste in projecting
-the vast dome of Florence cathedral, the character of which,
-however, exhibited only a slight advance towards the regular architecture
-of antiquity; and it remained for a successor to emulate at
-once the majestic elevation of the Florentine cupola, and the more
-classic beauty of the Roman Pantheon.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Brunelleschi died in 1444, a circumstance which we mention
-as giving additional interest to the fact, that, in 1444, Bramante was
-born. The family of the latter, his birth-place, and even his name,
-are matters of some obscurity; but there is reason to believe that his
-parentage was humble, and that he was born in the territory of Urbino.
-Whether at Urbino the capital of the Duchy, or at Castel
-Durante, at Fermignano, or at Monte Asdrubale, there are no means
-of deciding, unless we admit as evidence in favour of the latter place
-an existing medal in the Museo Mazzachelliano, whereon are inscribed
-the words “Bramantes Asdruvaldinus.” He is variously called Bramante
-Lazzari, Lazzaro Bramante, and is spoken of as “<span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Donato di
-Urbino, cognominato Bramante</span>.”</p>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_156fp.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p><em>Engraved by J. Posselwhite.</em><br /><br />BRAMANTE.<br /><br /><em>From a Portrait by Alessandro D’Este in the Collection of the Capitol, at Rome.</em><br /><br />Under the Superintendence of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge<br /><br /><em>London, Published by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street.</em></p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'>He seems to have evinced, at an early age, a general feeling for
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_157'>157</span>poetry and art; and is said to have first studied painting assisted by
-the works of Fra. Bartolomeo Corradini. During a sojourn at Milan
-he obtained the friendship of the poet Gaspero Visconti, and in the
-capacity of a sonneteer and improvisatore exhibited an unusual
-facility of composition. Of his abilities as a painter in distemper and
-fresco, examples are to be seen in that city, and at other places in the
-Milanese territory. On his subsequent removal to Rome, he was
-employed to execute some paintings (which no longer exist) in the
-church of S. Giovanni Laterano.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Architecture, however, soon claimed Bramante as more particularly
-her own, and he manifested a zealous ardour in the study of classic
-examples. It does not appear that he published any volumes on the
-subject, but we are credibly informed that he industriously measured
-the ancient remains of Rome, and of Adrian’s villa at Tivoli.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The Cardinal Caraffa was among the first to form an estimate of his
-merits, and commissioned him to rebuild the cloisters of the Monastery
-della Pace at Rome. He also superintended the execution of the
-Trastevere Fountain for Pope Alexander VI., and erected great part
-of the palace della Cancellaria. The church of S. Lorenzo in
-Damaso, and the circular chapel in the cloister of S. Pietro in Montorio
-(where St. Peter is said to have been crucified) are also of
-Bramante’s architecture; nor should we omit to mention him as the
-designer of the palace in the Piazza di Scossacavalli, which for some
-time belonged to the English crown, and was presented by Henry
-VIII. to the Campeggi. Bramante’s designs for other palaces and
-churches were numerous. Several buildings in Milan are attributed
-to him, as well as an imperial palace for the Duke of Urbino (never
-finished), and the church dell’ Incoronata at Lodi.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The established fame of Bramante now recommended him to Pope
-Julius II., who had formed the idea of uniting the old Vatican palace
-with the Belvedere by means of a magnificent court, an engraving of
-which, as it was first executed by Bramante, is to be seen in the public
-library erected by the Corsini princes. The division of the court by
-the Vatican library, subsequently erected by Sixtus V., and other
-additions and alterations, have utterly destroyed the effect of Bramante’s
-design, though the principal architectural features still
-remain. Among these, in a lofty central pile of building, is a vast
-semicircular headed niche, the archivolt of which springs from the
-cornices of two lofty wing compartments, appearing, it must be confessed,
-more like the section of an interior, than an external elevation.
-It is as if the opposite walls in the length of a cathedral choir were taken
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_158'>158</span>away, the grand altar recess being alone suffered to remain; and it may
-be regarded as a very curious instance of a passion for the spherical
-vault, which thus prompted Bramante to turn it, as it were, inside out;
-and to take from the <span lang="la" xml:lang="la">cellæ</span> of the temples of Peace, and of Venus
-and Rome, the idea of the garden alcove.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Bramante was now high in favour with Julius II.; and, having
-invented an ingenious machine for stamping the leaden seals attached
-to the papal bulls, was rewarded with the office “<i><span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">del Piombo</span></i>.” He
-attended the Pope to Bologna, when that city was united to the states
-pontifical in 1504, and served his Holiness in the capacity of military
-engineer.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Our account of Bramante now resolves itself into the history of St.
-Peter’s church, the antecedent progress of which may be thus briefly
-stated:—</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>St. Peter being buried within the site of Nero’s Circus, Constantine
-erected (<span class='sc'><span lang="la" xml:lang="la">A.D.</span></span> 324) a magnificent church over the apostle’s remains.
-During the lapse of eleven centuries, it fell into decay, and in
-the pontificate of Nicholas V. (1450) a new building was commenced
-from designs by Alberti. On the death of Nicholas, the
-works were discontinued till Paul II. caused them again to proceed:
-but it must be understood that the structure then in course of erection
-was in a great measure mixed up with Constantine’s church, many
-remaining parts of which were to be incorporated in the new building.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The ascent of Julius II. to the papal throne was at that period,
-when the revived taste for classical architecture suddenly pervaded
-Italy, and left him assured of general support in his boldly formed
-resolution of demolishing the old building with all its subsequent
-amendments, and of erecting an entirely new structure, that
-should stand paramount in the modern world for vastness and splendour.
-It has been said, that the idea of the new church originated in
-a suggestion by San Gallo, that the gorgeous sepulchral monument
-which Julius, in honour of himself, had commissioned Michael Angelo
-to execute, should be placed in a church of corresponding grandeur,
-purposely built to receive it. Be this as it may, the new St. Peter’s
-was resolved on: designs were sent in by various architects, and
-several were submitted by Bramante, who proved, as might be expected,
-the successful competitor. His ideas were as colossal as the
-ambition of his patron:—“I will raise,” said the architect, “the Pantheon
-on the Temple of Peace!”</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Bramante’s plan was a Latin cross. The area of intersection was
-to be surrounded with massive piers, having columns between as in
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_159'>159</span>the Pantheon; and the noble dome of the latter edifice, in the august
-novelty of its exalted position, was to be freely imitated. A medal
-struck in honour of Bramante shows the façade of his design, having
-two <em>campaniles</em>, or towers, flanking a central compartment. In examining
-the practicability of his plans, he failed not to inspect the quarries
-of Tivoli, and was confirmed by the discovery that they would
-yield him blocks of nine feet in diameter. Into the pecuniary means
-of construction he did not however so closely examine. The contributions
-of a world would have been necessary to the full realization of
-his plans, which were considerably reduced by succeeding architects.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The first stone of the new edifice was laid on the 18th of April,
-1506; and the works proceeded with a rapidity more pleasing
-perhaps to the impatient spirit of Julius, than beneficial to the stability
-of so vast an edifice. Either to this haste on the part of the
-pontiff, or to a want of constructive care on his own part, must be
-attributed the failures which occurred to several of Bramante’s buildings;
-and it is said, that, in the fear of Michael Angelo’s superior
-scrutiny, he industriously sought to compass the removal of that great
-artist from Rome.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>His jealousy had been excited by the high admiration with which
-Julius regarded Michael Angelo’s talent; and he strove to arrest the
-progress of the intended monument, by stimulating in the pope a superstitious
-dread of constructing his own tomb. He was, perhaps, not
-more envious of Michael Angelo as a rival, than of the art of sculpture as
-compared with his own; and it may have been with the view of diverting
-the pope’s mind from the engrossing subject of the tomb, that he
-suggested that Michael Angelo should be employed in painting the
-vault of the Sistine Chapel. Julius, adopting the suggestion, ordered
-Bramante to construct a scaffold for the painter’s purpose; but it was
-no sooner done than Michael Angelo rejected it as totally unfit, and
-invented one himself. If the opposition of these celebrated men had
-been hitherto restrained within bounds, it now assumed a more decided
-character of hostility. Half the painting of the chapel being
-completed, Bramante was desirous that Raphael, then rising into eminence,
-should finish the half remaining; expecting, no doubt, that the
-latter, being more exclusively a painter, would exhibit a superiority
-over one who had chiefly practised as a sculptor. At this, the indignation
-of Michael Angelo was naturally fired, and he arraigned at
-once, in the presence of the Pope, not only the architectural defects of
-Bramante’s buildings, but likewise the moral faults of his character.
-At a former period, however, he had paid full tribute to his rival’s
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_160'>160</span>exalted taste, saying, in his letter to a friend, “It cannot be denied
-that Bramante is superior in architecture to all others since the time of
-the ancients.”</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Among the more pleasing passages of Bramante’s life, is that which
-relates to his friendship for the inimitable Raphael, who was his fellow-countryman,
-and, as it is reported, his relation. Certain it is that
-Raphael was his pupil in architecture, and that he entertained an
-affectionate regard for his master, whose portrait he introduced into
-his celebrated picture of the “School of Athens,” where Bramante is
-represented as describing with his compasses a geometrical figure to
-several youths who surround him.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Bramante died in 1514, one year after his patron Julius II., and
-eight years after the commencement of the new St. Peter’s. At this
-period the great arches over the central piers were turned, and the
-principal chapel opposite the entrance erected. Subsequent additions,
-however, to his portion of the building, and material deviations from
-his original design, have left us to regard the church in its complete
-state as deriving little else than its general idea from the genius of its
-first architect. His remains were deposited in it with great pomp,
-being attended by the Papal court, and the leading professors of art.
-He is described as lively and agreeable in manner, and, notwithstanding
-his quarrels with Michael Angelo, of a liberal and generous
-disposition. He seems rather to have been distinguished by a bold
-and fertile fancy, than by any great attainments in the mechanical
-department of his profession; and to form a just estimate of his
-designs, they should be considered with reference to the progressive
-state of architectural taste, and cautiously adopted as examples for
-imitation.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The best authorities to be consulted on this subject are Vasari,
-Tiraboschi, Milizia, and Condivi.</p>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id002'>
-<img src='images/i_160.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>[Great niche of the Belvedere.]</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_161fp.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p><em>Engraved by E. Scriven.</em><br /><br />MADAME DE STAEL.<br /><br /><em>From the original Picture by F. Gerard in the possession of M. de Broglie, at Paris.</em><br /><br />Under the Superintendence of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge<br /><br /><em>London, Published by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street.</em></p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id002'>
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_161'>161</span>
-<img src='images/i_161.jpg' alt='MADAME DE STAEL.' class='ig001' />
-</div>
-
-<div class='chapter'>
-  <h2 class='c005'>MADAME DE STAEL.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c010'>Anne Louise Germaine Necker, the celebrated daughter of a
-celebrated father, was born at Paris, April 22, 1766. In her earliest
-years she manifested uncommon vivacity of perception and depth of
-feeling; and at the age of eleven, her sprightliness, her self-possession,
-and the eager and intelligent interest which she took in all the
-subjects of conversation, rendered her the pet and the wonder of the
-brilliant circle which frequented her father’s house. Necker himself,
-though he delighted in promoting the developement of his daughter’s
-talents, was a watchful critic of her faults: “I owe,” she said, “to my
-father’s penetration, the frankness of my disposition, and the simplicity
-of my mind. He exposed every sort of affectation; and, in his
-company, I formed the habit of thinking that my heart lay open
-to view.” She repaid his care and tenderness by a passionate and
-devoted affection, such as scarcely seems to belong to the relationship
-which existed between them. Throughout his life, the desire to
-minister to his pleasure was her first object, and his death threw a
-permanent shade of melancholy over her spirit.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Madlle. Necker paid the usual price of mental precocity, in its debilitating
-effects upon her bodily constitution. At the age of fourteen,
-serious apprehensions were entertained for her life; and she was sent
-to St. Ouen, in the neighbourhood of Paris, for the benefit of country
-air, with orders to abstain from every species of severe study. Thither
-her father repaired at every interval of leisure; and being withdrawn
-from the strict line of behaviour prescribed by her mother, who, having
-done much herself by dint of study, thought that no accomplishments
-graces could be worth possessing which were not the fruit of study,
-she passed her time in the unrestrained enjoyment of M. Necker’s
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_162'>162</span>society, in the indulgence of her brilliant imagination, and the spontaneous
-cultivation of her powerful mind. This course of life was
-more favourable to the developement of that poetical, ardent, and
-enthusiastic temper, which was the source of so much enjoyment, and
-so much distinction, than to the habits of self-control without which
-such a temper is almost too dangerous to be called a blessing. Her
-character at this period of life is thus described by her relation and
-biographer, Mad. Necker de Saussure: “We may figure to ourselves
-Mad. de Stael, in her early youth, entering with confidence
-upon a life, which to her promised nothing but happiness. Too benevolent
-to expect hatred from others, too fond of talent in others to
-anticipate the envy of her own, she loved to exalt genius, enthusiasm,
-and inspiration, and was herself an example of their power. The love
-of glory, and of liberty, the inherent beauty of virtue, the pleasures of
-affection, each in turn afforded subjects for her eloquence. Not that
-she was always in the clouds: she never lost presence of mind, nor
-was she run away with by enthusiasm.” In later life her good taste
-led her to abstain from this lofty vein of conversation, especially when
-it was forced upon her: “I tramp in the mire with wooden shoes,
-whenever they would force me to live always in the clouds.”</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Endowed with such qualities, the <em>effect</em> which Madlle. Necker produced
-upon her introduction to society was as brilliant as her friends
-could desire, though the effervescence of imagination and youthful
-spirits sometimes led her to commit breaches of etiquette, which might
-have been fatal to the success of a less accomplished debutant. At
-the age of twenty, in 1786, she married the Baron de Stael Holstein,
-ambassador of Sweden at the court of France. He was much the
-elder, and the matter seems to have been arranged by her parents,
-with her acquiescence indeed, but without her heart being at all interested
-in the connexion. And we trace the effect of her ruling passion,
-love of her father, in the Baron de Stael’s engagement not to
-take her to reside in Sweden, without her free consent. During a
-large portion of their married life they were separated from each other
-by the baron’s absences from France; but when age and sickness
-weighed him down, she hastened to comfort him, and his last hours
-(in 1802) were soothed by her presence and watchful care. By this
-marriage Mad. de Stael had four children, of whom only a son and
-a daughter survived her: the latter became the wife of the Duc de
-Broglie; the former inherited his father’s title, and has won for himself
-a creditable place in the literature of the age.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_163'>163</span>At the beginning of the revolution, Mad. de Stael watched the new
-prospects opening 011 her country with joyful anticipation: but she
-was shocked and disgusted by the ferocious excesses which ensued.
-Her love of liberty was too sincere to let her justify the policy, or join
-the party of the court, but, with an admirable courage, she used the
-powerful influence of her talents and her connexions to save as many
-as possible of the victims of that frenzied time. She arranged a plan
-for the escape of the royal family from the Tuileries; and after the
-death of Louis XVI., she had the boldness (for so it must be called)
-to publish her ‘<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Défense de la Reine</span>.’ It needed all the author’s tact
-and ingenuity, as well as eloquence, so to plead the queen’s cause,
-as, on the one hand, not to compromise the dignity of her innocence,
-and, on the other, not to aggravate the rage of those who clamoured
-for her destruction.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Having passed safely through the Reign of Terror, Mad. de Stael
-hailed the establishment of the Directory in 1795, as the commencement
-of a settled government. Through life she devoted a large portion
-of her attention to politics, which she designated as comprehending
-within their sphere, morality, religion, and literature; and at this
-period especially, while her fame in literature was not yet established,
-and the ardent enthusiasm of her temper was unchecked by misfortune,
-she not only took an eager interest in the course of affairs, but
-exerted her powers to gain some influence in the direction of them.
-Her brilliant conversation drew around her the ablest and most accomplished
-men of the French capital; and in Paris, where the public
-opinion of France is compressed into a narrow space, wit or beauty
-have always had an influence unknown to the more sedate nations of
-the north. To this period of her life belong the treatises,—more interesting
-as specimens of her genius, than important for the truth of her
-theories—‘<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">De l’Influence des Passions sur le Bonheur des Individus
-et des Nations</span>,’ published in 1796, of which only the first part, relating
-to individuals, was completed; and ‘<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">De la Littérature considerée
-dans ses Rapports avec les Institutions Sociales</span>,’ published in 1800:
-subjects, it has been truly said, which demand the observation and
-study of a whole life. It is not on these, therefore, that her fame is
-based. But the latter has the great merit, according to the testimony
-of Sir James Mackintosh, of being the first attempt to treat the philosophy
-of literary history upon a bold and comprehensive scale.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>But she could not aspire to “direct the storm,” without running
-some danger of being caught in it; and it is probable, as indeed she
-herself admits, that if she had foreseen the troubles which political
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_164'>164</span>influence was to bring upon her, she would have been well pleased
-to resign all pretension to it. At the end of 1799, Bonaparte rose to
-power on the ruin of the Directory. That remarkable man inspired
-Mad. de Stael from the first with an indescribable fear and dislike,
-which she has expressed throughout her very interesting work, entitled
-‘<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Dix Années d’Exil</span>;’ and as she saw at once the danger to
-which the cause of rational liberty was exposed by his ambition, and
-feared not to express her sentiments, her house became the focus of
-discontent. Benjamin Constant, then one of her intimate associates,
-having prepared and communicated to her a speech to expose the
-dawning tyranny of the First Consul, warned her that, if spoken, it
-would necessarily be followed by the desertion of the brilliant society
-which she loved, and by which she was surrounded. She replied,
-“We must do as we think right.” It was accordingly pronounced
-on the following day, on the evening of which her favourite circle was
-to assemble at her own house. Before six o’clock she received ten
-notes of excuse. “The first and second I bore well enough, but as
-one note came after another, they began to disturb me. I appealed
-in vain to my conscience, which had bidden me resign the pleasures
-which depended on Bonaparte’s favour: so many good sort of persons
-blamed me, that I could not hold fast enough by my own view of the
-question.” And she says just before, with her usual candour, “If I
-had foreseen what I have suffered, dating from that day, I should not
-have been resolute enough to decline M. Constant’s offer to abstain
-from coming forward, for the sake of not compromising me.” The
-speech was followed by an intimation from Fouché, that Mad. de
-Stael’s retirement from Paris for a short time would be expedient.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>In the spring of 1800, Bonaparte’s absence upon the campaign of
-Marengo, and the publication of her work on literature, brought
-Mad. de Stael again into fashion. From that time until 1802, she
-remained undisturbed, and divided her time chiefly between Paris,
-and her father’s residence at Coppet, on the Lake of Geneva. In the
-latter year (in which she published ‘Delphine’) her intimacy with Bernadotte
-caused the First Consul to regard her with suspicion, though
-the dread of being banished from the delights of Parisian society had
-taught her prudence. “They pretend,” he said, “that she neither talks
-politics, nor mentions me; but I know not how it happens, that people
-seem to like me less after visiting her.” Prudence, or the warning of her
-friends, detained Mad. de Stael at Coppet during the winter of 1802–3:
-but when war broke out, and she thought that Bonaparte’s attention was
-fully occupied by the proposed descent upon England, she could not
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_165'>165</span>resist the thirst of conversation which always drew her to Paris. She
-did not venture to enter the city; but she had not been long in its
-neighbourhood, when she was terribly disconcerted by a peremptory
-order not to appear within forty leagues of the metropolis. She candidly
-avows that “<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">la conversation Française n’existe qu’à Paris, et
-la conversation a été, depuis mon enfance mon plus grand plaisir</span>.”
-The rest of France, therefore, had no attraction for her, and she determined
-to visit Germany. Weimar was her first place of abode,
-where she became acquainted with Goethe, Wieland, and Schiller,
-and, under their auspices, commenced her study of the German language
-and literature. In 1804, she proceeded to Berlin; but she
-was suddenly recalled to Switzerland by the illness and death of
-M. Necker.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>To this most painful loss Mad. Necker de Saussure attributes a
-deep and beneficial influence on her friend’s character. It inspired a
-melancholy which perhaps never was entirely dissipated, it raised her
-thoughts to a more exalted strain of meditation, and gave vigour and
-consistency to those reverential feelings, which before were perhaps
-hardly definite enough to be termed religion. At this time she composed
-her account of the private life of M. Necker, of which B. Constant
-has said, that no other of her works conveys so good a notion
-of the author. Shortly after she visited Italy for the first time. The
-grand and solemn remains of antiquity harmonized with the melancholy
-of her mind; and in this journey was developed a love of art,
-and, in a less degree, a taste for scenery, of which up to this time she
-seems to have been strangely deficient. The fruit of her travels
-appeared in ‘Corinne,’ written after her return to Coppet in 1805,
-and published at Paris early in 1807, which raised her to the first
-class of living writers. Mad. Necker de Saussure says, in the strain
-of high panegyric, “<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Il n’eut qu’une voix, qu’un cri d’admiration dans
-l’Europe lettrée; et ce phénomène fut partout un événement</span>;” and
-Sir James Mackintosh, who read it in India, in a translation, says,
-“I swallow Corinne slowly, that I may taste every drop. I prolong
-my enjoyment, and really dread the termination.” Dictated by the
-same leading idea as ‘Delphine,’ but far superior in depth and truth
-of sentiment, as well as eloquence, and genuine poetic ardour, it was
-also free from the moral objections to the former novel. Each heroine,
-according to the lively author first quoted, is a transcript from the
-author herself. “‘Corinne’ is the ideal of Mad. de Stael; ‘Delphine’
-is her very self in youth.” A similar idea occurred to Mackintosh,—“In
-the character of ‘Corinne,’ Mad. de Stael draws an imaginary
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_166'>166</span>self—what she is, what she had the power of being, and what she
-can easily imagine that she might have become. Purity, which her
-sentiments and principles teach her to love; talents and accomplishments,
-which her energetic genius might easily have acquired; uncommon
-scenes, and incidents fitted for her extraordinary mind; and
-even beauty, which her fancy contemplates so constantly, that she can
-scarcely suppose it to be foreign to herself, and which, in the enthusiasm
-of invention, she bestows on this adorned as well as improved
-self,—these seem to be the materials out of which she has formed
-‘Corinne,’ and the mode in which she reconciled it to her knowledge
-of her own character.... The grand defect is the want of repose—too
-much, and too ingenious reflection—too uniform an ardour
-of feeling. The understanding is fatigued, the heart ceases to feel.”</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Before the publication of ‘Corinne.’ Mad. de Stael had ventured
-into the neighbourhood of Paris. The book contained nothing hostile
-to Napoleon; but the new wreath of fame which the author had woven
-for herself revived his spleen, and she soon received a peremptory order
-to quit France. This was a bitter mortification. We have mentioned
-her ruling love of conversation: and to her Paris was the world;
-beyond its limits life was vegetation. “Give me the Rue du Bac,” she
-said to those who extolled the Lake of Geneva; “I would prefer living
-in Paris on a fourth story, with a hundred louis a year.” The chief
-studies of her exile were German literature and metaphysics. In the
-autumn of 1807 she visited Vienna, where she spent a year in tranquil
-enjoyment, soothed by the respect and admiration, and gratified by
-the polished manners and conversation of the exalted circles in which
-she moved, and undisturbed by the petty tyranny which, in her stolen
-visits to France, always hung over her head. In 1808 she returned
-to Coppet, to arrange the materials for her great work on Germany.
-Having devoted nearly two years to this task, she went to France in
-the summer of 1810, the decree of exile being so far relaxed, that she
-was permitted, as before, to reside forty leagues from the capital.
-Her principal object was to superintend the printing of her work,
-which was to be published at Paris. After passing safely, though
-with many alterations, through the censorship, the last proof was
-corrected, September 23. Scarcely was this done, and 10,000
-copies struck off, when the whole impression was seized and
-destroyed. Mad. de Stael fortunately was enabled, by timely warning,
-to secrete the manuscript. This blow was accompanied by an order
-to quit France without delay. America, which she had expressed a
-desire to visit, and Coppet, were the only places offered to her choice:
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_167'>167</span>an attempt to reach England, which was her secret wish, would
-have been followed by immediate arrest. She chose to return to her
-paternal home. There the Emperor’s persecution, and her hatred of
-him, reached their height; and though not to be ranked with the
-graver offences of tyranny, his treatment of her was of a most irritating
-character, and unbecoming any but a low-minded despot. It
-was intimated that she had better confine her excursions to a circle
-of two leagues; her motions were watched, even within her own
-house; to be regarded as her friend was equivalent to a sentence of
-disgrace or dismissal, to any person dependent on the government;
-her sons were forbidden to enter their native country; M. Schlegel,
-their domestic tutor, was ordered to quit Coppet; and worst of all,
-her two dearest friends, M. de Montmorency and Mad. Recamier, were
-banished France for having presumed to visit her. These, and more
-trifling delinquencies are set forth with most stinging sarcasm, in her
-‘Ten Years of Exile.’</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Harassed beyond endurance, she resolved to make an attempt to escape
-from these never-ending vexations. But whither to go? She could
-not obtain permission to reside elsewhere; and if Napoleon demanded
-her, no continental power, except Russia, could give her an asylum.
-To obtain a conveyance to England was impossible, except from some
-port to the north of Hamburg; and to reach that distant region, it
-was necessary to traverse the whole of Europe, in constant danger of
-being intercepted and detained. After eight months of irresolution,
-she found courage and opportunity to make the attempt; and quitting
-Coppet secretly, she reached Berne in safety, obtained a passport for
-Vienna, and hastily traversing Switzerland and the Tyrol, arrived at
-the Austrian capital, June 6, 1812. But this was neither a safe nor
-pleasant resting-place. The Emperor was in attendance on his son-in-law
-at Dresden; and the Austrian police thought fit to pay their
-court to Napoleon, by following up the example of annoyance which
-he had set. Mad. de Stael, therefore, hastened on her route to Russia,
-through Moravia and Gallicia, honoured all the way by the especial
-attention of the police, on whose happy combination of “French
-machiavelism and German clumsiness,” she has taken ample revenge
-in her ‘Ten Years of Exile.’ She crossed the Russian frontier, July
-14, and in the joy of having escaped at last from the wide-spread
-power of Napoleon, she sees and describes every thing in Russia
-with an exuberance of admiration, which the position of the country
-at that moment, and the kindness which the writer experienced,
-may well excuse. The French armies had already crossed the
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_168'>168</span>Vistula, and the direct route to St. Petersburg being interrupted,
-she was obliged to make a circuit by Moscow. After a hasty
-survey of the wonders of that city, she continued her route to St.
-Petersburg, where she was received with distinction by the Emperor
-and his consort. But England was still the object of her
-desires, and towards the end of September, she quitted the metropolis
-of Russia for Stockholm. There, during a winter-residence of
-eight months, she composed the journal of her travels, to which we
-have so often referred; and in the following summer she arrived in
-London.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>She was received in the highest circles of our metropolis with an
-enthusiastic admiration, which no doubt was rendered in part to the
-avowed enemy of Napoleon, as well as to the woman of genius. Sir
-James Mackintosh, in his journal, gives a lively description of the
-manner in which she was <em>fêted</em>. “On my return I found the whole
-fashionable and literary world occupied with Mad. de Stael—the most
-celebrated woman of this, or perhaps of any age.... She treats
-me as the person whom she most delights to honour. I am generally
-ordered with her to dinner, as one orders beans and bacon: I have in
-consequence dined with her at the houses of almost all the cabinet
-ministers. She is one of the few persons who surpass expectation;
-she has every sort of talent, and would be universally popular, if in
-society she were to confine herself to her inferior talents—pleasantry,
-anecdote, and literature, which are so much more suited to conversation
-than her eloquence and genius.” A very characteristic observation
-was made by the late Lord Dudley—“Mad. de Stael was not a
-good neighbour; there could be no slumbering near her, she would
-instantly detect you.”</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The publication of her long-expected work on Germany maintained
-the interest which Mad. de Stael had excited, during the period of her
-residence in England. It is comprised in four parts,—on the aspect and
-manners of Germany,—on literature and the arts, as there existing,—on
-philosophy and morals,—and on religion and enthusiasm. For
-an analysis of it we may best refer to the elaborate criticism of Mackintosh,
-in the Edinburgh Review, No. XLIII, who gives it the high
-praise of “explaining the most abstruse metaphysical theories of Germany
-precisely, yet perspicuously and agreeably; and combining the
-eloquence which inspires exalted sentiments of virtue, with the
-enviable talent of gently indicating the defects of men and manners by
-the skilfully softened touches of a polite and merciful pleasantry:” and
-of being “unequalled for variety of knowledge, flexibility of power,
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_169'>169</span>elevation of view, and comprehension of mind, among the works of
-women, and in the union of the graces of society and literature with
-the genius of philosophy, not surpassed by many among men.”</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>After the restoration of the Bourbons, Mad. de Stael returned to
-France. She stood high in Louis XVIII.’s favour, who was well
-qualified to enjoy and appreciate her powers of conversation; and he
-gave a substantial token of his regard by the repayment of two millions
-of francs, which the treasury was indebted to her father’s estate. At
-the return of Napoleon, she fled precipitately to Coppet. She
-was too generous to countenance the gross abuse lavished on the
-fallen idol; and some sharp repartees, at the expense of the time-servers
-of the day, seem to have inspired Napoleon with a hope
-that he might work on her vanity to enlist her in his service. He sent
-a message, that he had need of her to inspire the French with constitutional
-notions: she replied, “He has done for twelve years without
-either me or a constitution, and now he loves one about as little as the
-other.”</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Concerning the last three years of her life, our information is very
-scanty. She had contracted a second marriage, with M. Rocca, a
-young officer, who, after serving with distinction in the French army
-in Spain, had retired, grievously wounded, to Geneva, his native place.
-For an account and apology for this much-censured and injudicious
-connexion, the date of which we have not found specified, but which
-should seem to have been previous to her flight to Coppet, since Rocca
-accompanied her on the occasion, we must refer to Mad. Necker
-de Saussure. It appears by her statement (and this is a material
-consideration in estimating the extent of the lady’s weakness), that
-though she must have been more than forty, and the gentleman was
-twenty years younger, she had inspired Rocca with a devoted and romantic
-passion. “<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Je l’aimerai tellement</span>,” he said to one of his friends,
-“<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">qu’elle finira par m’épouser</span>,” and he kept his word. A less distinguished
-woman might have contracted a marriage in which the
-disparity of years was greater, at a slight expense of wondering and
-ridicule; but probably Mad. de Stael felt that the eyes of the world
-were upon her, and that any weakness would be eagerly seized by her
-enemies; and, perhaps, had a natural dislike to resign a name which
-she had rendered illustrious. She judged ill: the secrecy was the
-worst part of the affair. The union, though generally believed to exist,
-was not avowed until the opening of her will, which authorised her
-children to make her marriage known, and acknowledged one son,
-who was the fruit of it. The decline of M. Rocca’s health, which never
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_170'>170</span>recovered the effect of his wounds, induced her to take a second
-journey to Italy in 1816. At that time, her own constitution was
-visibly giving way. She became seriously ill after her return to
-France, and died, July 14, 1817, the anniversary of two remarkable
-days of her life. These were, the commencement of the French revolution,
-and the day on which, by entering Russia, she finally escaped
-from Napoleon. M. Rocca survived her only half a year. He died in
-Provence, January 29, 1818.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Mad. de Stael’s last great work, which was published after her
-death, is entitled ‘<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Considérations sur les principaux Événements<a id='t170'></a> de la
-Révolution Française</span>,’ a book, says Mackintosh, “possessing the
-highest interest as the last dying bequest of the most brilliant
-writer that has appeared in our days, the greatest writer, of a
-woman, that any age or country has produced.” That it was left
-unfinished is the less to be regretted, because it is not a regular
-history of the revolution, but rather a collection of penetrating observations
-and curious details, recorded in the true spirit of historic
-impartiality, and therefore a most valuable treasure to the future historian.
-The scope of the book, in accordance with her warm admiration
-through life of the English constitution, is to show that France
-requires a free government and a limited monarchy. The catalogue of
-her works is closed by the <span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Œuvres Inédites</span> published in 1820, of
-which the principal is ‘Ten Years of Exile.’ They are collected in
-an edition of eighteen volumes 8vo., published at Paris, in 1819–20,
-to which the ‘<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Notice sur le Caractère et les Ecrits de Mad. de Stael</span>,’
-by Mad. Necker de Saussure, is prefixed.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The leading feature of Mad. de Stael’s private character was
-her inexhaustible kindness of temper; it cost her no trouble to
-forgive injuries. There seems not to have been a creature on
-earth whom she hated, except Napoleon. “Her friendships were
-ardent and remarkably constant; and yet she had a habit of analysing
-the characters, even of those to whom she was most attached,
-with the most unsparing sagacity, and of drawing out the detail and
-theory of their faults and peculiarities, with the most searching and
-unrelenting rigour; and this she did to their faces, and in spite of
-their most earnest remonstrances. ‘It is impossible for me to do
-otherwise,’ she would say; ‘if I were on my way to the scaffold, I
-should be dissecting the characters of the friends who were to suffer
-with me upon it.’” Though the excitement of mixed society was
-necessary to her happiness, her conversation in a tête à tête with her
-intimate friends is said to have been more delightful than her most
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_171'>171</span>brilliant efforts in public. She was proud of her powers, and loved
-to display and talk of them: but her vanity was divested of offensiveness
-by her candour and ever-present consideration of others. Of her
-errors we would speak with forbearance; but it is due to truth to say
-that there were passages in her life which exposed her to serious and
-well-founded censure. As a daughter and mother she displayed sedulous
-devotion, and the warmest affection. Though never destitute of
-devotional feeling, her notions of religion in youth seem to have been
-very vague and inefficient. But misfortune drove her sensitive and
-affectionate temper to seek some stay, which she found nothing on earth
-could furnish; and in later years, her religion, if not deeply learned,
-was deeply felt. Of this, the latter portion of Mad. Necker de Saussure’s
-work will satisfy the candid reader. And though her testimony
-to the truth and value of religion was for the most part indirect,
-we may reasonably believe that it was not ineffective. “Placed in
-many respects in the highest situation to which humanity could aspire,
-possessed unquestionably of the highest powers of reasoning, emancipated
-in a singular degree from prejudices, and entering with the
-keenest relish into all the feelings that seemed to suffice for the happiness
-and occupation of philosophers, patriots, and lovers, she has still
-testified that without religion there is nothing stable, sublime or satisfying;
-and that it alone completes and consummates all to which
-reason and affection can aspire. A genius like hers, and so directed,
-is, as her biographer has well remarked, the only missionary that can
-work any permanent effect upon the upper classes of society in modern
-times—upon the vain, the learned, the scornful and argumentative,
-‘who stone the Prophets, while they affect to offer incense to the
-Muses.’” (<cite>Ed. Review, No. LXXI.</cite>)</p>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id002'>
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_172'>172</span>
-<img src='images/i_172.jpg' alt='PALLADIO.' class='ig001' />
-</div>
-
-<div class='chapter'>
-  <h2 class='c005'>PALLADIO.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c010'>Palladio is distinguished among the renowned professors of his age
-as the chief modifier of the revived style of Roman architecture. The
-celebrity however which attaches to his name, though just in regard
-to its extent, is not always correctly appreciated: inasmuch as a
-bigoted admiration for his precepts and designs, on the ground of their
-intrinsic excellence, has too frequently supplanted that more sober
-estimate, which results from a consideration of the circumstances
-under which those precepts and examples were given to the world.
-Neither have succeeding ages been sufficiently discriminating in
-respect to the predecessors and contemporaries of Palladio, several of
-whom either effected or assisted in effecting much, of which the credit
-has been given by the world at large too exclusively to him.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Our less informed readers should therefore be apprised that, for
-more than a century before the time of Palladio, the ancient Roman
-style of architecture had been in progress of revival. Brunelleschi,
-who died in 1444, was the first to exhibit, in the upper part of Florence
-cathedral, some departure from the Italian Gothic, and an
-approach towards the more classic models of old Rome. Alberti,
-his pupil, published a system of the Five Orders, and Bramante,
-Raphael, and San Gallo, successively advanced the restored style
-in the famous Basilica of St. Peter, then erecting. Sansovino, in
-several costly edifices at Venice, and San Micheli, in many at
-Verona, anticipated the best efforts of Palladio, and Vignola also distinguished
-himself as a practical architect and author. Serlio was the
-first to measure and describe the ancient examples of Rome; and in
-1537, published the first part of his ‘Complete Treatise on Architecture.’</p>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_172fp.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p><em>Engraved by R. Woodman.</em><br /><br />PALLADIO.<br /><br /><em>From a Picture by L. Biglieschi in the Collection of the Capitol at Rome.</em><br /><br />Under the Superintendence of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge<br /><br /><em>London, Published by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street.</em></p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'><span class='pageno' id='Page_173'>173</span>Much therefore had been already done to facilitate the operations
-of a succeeding candidate for architectural distinction. Materials had
-been amassed, and it only remained for a comprehensive genius to
-analyse them more closely, to modify them in detail, and to enlarge, by
-the exercise of a chastened fancy, the range of their combinations.
-At this juncture the subject of our memoir commenced his professional
-career.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Andrea Palladio was born at Vicenza, November 30, 1518. His
-parents are said to have been “in the middle rank of life;” in belief
-of which, Temanza discredits the traditionary account that he
-worked as a common mason at the Villa di Cricoli, and that the name
-‘Palladio’ was bestowed upon him, as a kind of ennoblement, by his
-patron Trissino, who is said to have been his first architectural instructor.
-It is at least certain that, if Trissino taught him not, he
-assisted in stimulating his professional ardour. Vitruvius and Alberti
-appear to have been his early studies, and allusions are made to his
-proficiency in geometry and polite literature at the age of twenty-three.
-The knowledge which he derived from books, far from satisfying,
-prompted him to seek a deeper insight into the details and the
-principles of his art; and, during several visits to Rome, he employed
-himself in delineating from admeasurement the ancient remains of that
-city.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Among the earliest testimonies to his growing fame, was the commission
-he received to make certain costly additions to the Basilica,
-or Hall of Justice, in his native town. The building, before alteration,
-seems to have been a dilapidated example of the Italian Gothic style.
-It was the opinion of Giulio Romano, who was also consulted on the
-subject, that whatever new work might be necessary to afford strength
-or supply convenience, the character of the old building should be
-strictly preserved; and the appropriate and unprejudiced idea of that
-architect merits quite as much praise as the realized design of his
-more fortunate competitor. But the romantic rage for the restored
-architecture of Pagan antiquity was too prevalent for the common
-sense of Giulio to find support; and the Græco-Roman arcades of
-Palladio were carried round the Gothic basilica, just as, under the
-same infatuation, the Corinthian portico of Inigo Jones was subsequently
-attached to the old Cathedral of St. Paul’s in London.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Considering the particular arrangements and present mixed style of
-this noted Basilica to have been peremptorily insisted on by the public,
-we can then concede to Palladio the merit of an honourable conquest
-over difficulties. The adjoined wood-cut represents in simple outline
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_174'>174</span>one of the seven bays or compartments, which form the longitudinal
-elevation of the main building. The relative situations of the perpendiculars
-<em>a</em> to <em>b</em>, as well as their height, were unalterable. The heights
-<em>a</em> to <em>c</em>, and <em>c</em> to <em>d</em>, were also fixed. If, therefore, simple arches had
-been adopted, affording the required superficies of aperture, their
-limited height must have borne a very disproportioned ratio to their
-extended breadth. If columns had been employed alone, the great
-width of the interspaces would have been offensively opposed to the
-laws which govern that department of architectural design. The
-application, therefore, of the smaller columns is here most admirable.
-By this measure, a central arch of good proportions is obtained, and a
-sufficient supply of light is secured to the interior by the lateral openings
-under the imposts, and by the circular apertures above them.</p>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id003'>
-<img src='images/i_174.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-</div>
-
-<p class='c000'>In 1546 the building of St. Peter’s church was in active progress,
-when its third architect, San Gallo, died. Trissino, who was in
-Rome at the time, exerted himself to establish Palladio as San Gallo’s
-successor. It is well known however that Michael Angelo was appointed
-to that important post, and that he remains recorded on the
-scroll of fame as the most celebrated of the architects of St. Peter’s.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>In 1547 Palladio appears to have finally established himself as the
-leading architect of Northern Italy; nor was he less fortunate in opportunities
-for professional display, than competent to avail himself of
-them. Vicenza is literally a museum of Palladian design. Besides
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_175'>175</span>the Basilica, already noticed, and the Olympic Theatre, which was
-designed after ancient models, he constructed the great majority of
-the private palaces, the proprietors of which were content to impoverish
-their fortunes, that they might vie with each other in giving
-scope to the talents of their architect. The churches del Redentore
-and S. Giorgio, with other edifices public and private, evince the
-estimation in which Palladio was held at Venice; and most of the
-other cities in the north of Italy also contain examples of his genius.
-The country around exhibits a variety of his designs, among which
-is the Villa di Capri, called the Rotunda, which has been imitated
-by the Earl of Burlington, at Chiswick, and by other architects in
-several parts of England. It stands upon a hill, and commands a
-beautiful view on every side. This was the architect’s reason for
-adopting the four fronts and four porticoes.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Oppressed (says Scamozzi) by the multiplicity and fatigue of his
-studies, and distressed by the loss of his sons (Leonida and Orazio),
-he sank under the influence of an epidemic, which terminated his life
-August 19, 1580, at the age of sixty-two. The Olympic Theatre had
-only been commenced on the 23rd of May preceding his death, and its
-completion was intrusted to his surviving son Silla, who, with Leonida,
-had studied architecture. The Olympic Academicians attended
-their deceased brother to the grave, and gave public testimony of their
-feelings by the recital of funeral odes, and by the observance of all
-the “pomp and circumstance” consistent with the sepulture of so
-eminent a man. He was interred in the church of the Dominicans at
-Vicenza.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Palladio was no less remarkable for modesty than for professional
-eminence. The affability of his conduct won for him the perfect love
-of all workmen engaged in his buildings. He was small in stature,
-but of admirable presence; and united, to the most respectful bearing,
-a jocose and lively manner.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Palladio’s Treatise on Architecture, in four books, published at
-Venice in 1570, has been several times reprinted. A magnificent
-edition in three volumes, folio, appeared in London in 1715; and
-another has been since issued from the Venetian press. He also composed
-a work on the Roman Antiquities generally, and left many manuscripts
-on the subject of military as well as civil architecture. He
-illustrated the Commentaries of Cæsar, by annexing to Badelli’s translation
-of that work, a preface on the military system of the Romans,
-and by supplying numerous copper plates, designed for the most part
-by his sons Leonida and Orazio. He also studied Polybius, and dedicated
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_176'>176</span>a (yet imprinted) work on the subject to the Grand Duke of
-Tuscany. His manuscripts, having been left to the senator Contarini,
-were subsequently dispersed, and the Earl of Burlington became
-possessed of many of them. The latter nobleman in 1732 published the
-fruits of Palladio’s researches concerning the Roman baths; and, some
-time after, appeared a truly beautiful work, intitled ‘<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Le Fabbriche ei<a id='t176'></a>
-Disegni di Andrea Palladio, raccolti ed illustrati da Ottavio Bertotti
-Scamozzi</span>.’ The latter is by far the most interesting book connected
-with the name of Palladio. It enables us, at once, critically to examine
-his numerous designs, and to estimate them by a standard far
-superior to that which is merely founded on Vitruvian precept and
-Roman example. Our present acquaintance with all that Palladio
-had the means of knowing, and with very much more of which he was
-entirely ignorant, gives us a power and a right of censorship which
-the bigot alone will oppose and deny. Since the day of this celebrated
-architect, the Roman remains have been measured with more
-minute accuracy, and examined with a more philosophical regard to the
-principles which regulated the arrangement of their component parts.
-The volume of Greek art, compared with which that of Rome was
-but a debasing translation, has since that time been opened to the
-world; and, however we may continue to admire the industry by
-which Palladio obtained his then extended knowledge, the fancy and
-pictorial beauty which pervade many of his designs, and the worth
-of the architect himself as a man of genius, taste, and letters, it is
-yet our duty to direct the architectural student to look much farther
-than Vicenza for examples of pure design, and for principles of
-essential value.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The authorities for the life of Palladio, in addition to those already
-referred to, are the works of Vasari, Tiraboschi, and Milizia.</p>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id002'>
-<img src='images/i_176.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>[Villa di Capri.]</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id001'>
-<img src='images/i_177fp.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p><em>Engraved by W. Holl.</em><br /><br />ELIZABETH.<br /><br /><em>From a Picture in His Majesty’s collection at St. James’s Palace.</em><br /><br />Under the Superintendence of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.<br /><br /><em>London, Published by Charles Knight, Ludgate Street.</em></p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id002'>
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_177'>177</span>
-<img src='images/i_177.jpg' alt='ELIZABETH.' class='ig001' />
-</div>
-
-<div class='chapter'>
-  <h2 class='c005'>ELIZABETH.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class='c010'>Elizabeth, queen of England, daughter of Henry VIII. by his
-second wife, Anne Boleyn, was born September 7, 1533. Her
-religious principles were early fixed on the side of the Reformation by
-Dr. Parker, her mother’s chaplain, afterwards Archbishop of Canterbury,
-to whose care Anne Boleyn, not long before her violent death,
-recommended this her only child, with the charge that she should not
-want his wise and pious counsel. She passed her early days happily,
-in the seclusion of private life, uninitiated in the dissipation of the court,
-and unmolested by its intrigues; but a few months after the accession
-of her sister Mary, she was arrested on suspicion of being concerned
-in Wyat’s insurrection, of which it was the object to oppose the
-marriage of Mary with the Archduke Philip, and to raise the princess
-Elizabeth to the throne. Her life was placed in imminent danger,
-by her removal from her abode at Ashridge in Buckinghamshire to
-London during a severe illness, in compliance with an order to bring
-her, “quick or dead.” She was committed to the Tower, and exposed
-to a capital charge of high treason. Two councils were held,
-before which she defended herself with entire presence of mind, and
-great boldness. Several councillors voted for her death, but it was
-ultimately decided that she could be convicted only of misprision of
-treason, which was no longer a capital offence. She owed her life,
-therefore, to the saving power of the law; not, as has often been
-stated, to the intercession of Philip: who did, however, stand forward
-afterwards in her behalf so as to obtain a mitigation of the severity
-of her imprisonment, which was continued after her acquittal on the
-capital charge. It may seem inconsistent in a bigot to the Catholic
-religion to interfere in behalf of a person on whom the hopes of the
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_178'>178</span>Protestants were known to depend: but Philip’s hatred against France
-was greater than his or even his wife’s zeal in the cause of popery; and
-the political motives of his conduct are obvious. In the event of Mary
-dying without issue, the Queen of Scotland, who was actually betrothed,
-and soon after married to the Dauphin, stood next in succession
-to Elizabeth. Supposing the intermediate link in the chain
-to be broken, the crown of England, united to that of France, would
-give a fatal preponderance to the already formidable rival of the Spanish
-monarchy. Philip, therefore, had a direct interest both in preserving
-the life and conciliating the good will of the princess: he foresaw
-that the demise of his queen must take place before long, and he had
-formed the scheme of espousing her sister and successor, for which a
-dispensation would readily have been obtained from the pope.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The reign of Elizabeth began November 17, 1558, when she was
-twenty-five years of age. Her person was graceful, her stature majestic,
-and her mien noble. Her features were not regular; but her
-eyes were lively and sparkling, and her complexion fair. Her spirit
-was high; and her strong natural capacity had been improved by the
-most enlarged education attainable in those days. She wrote letters
-in Italian before she was fourteen; and at the age of seventeen
-she had acquired the Latin, Greek, and French languages. In addition
-to these studies she had ventured on the high and various departments
-of philosophy, rhetoric, history, divinity, poetry, and music. As soon as
-she was fixed on the throne, her interest and her principles engaged her
-in plans for the restoration of the Protestant religion. For although
-Pope Pius IV. promised, on her submission to the papal supremacy, “to
-establish and confirm her royal dignity by his authority,” yet she
-must have felt, that with the avowal of popery would be coupled the
-virtual admission that her father’s divorce from Catherine of Arragon
-was null and void; and, consequently, that Anne Boleyn was not a
-wife but a concubine, and her own pretensions to the crown downright
-usurpation. It was only by rejecting the Pope as her judge
-that she could maintain her mother’s fair fame and her own legitimate
-descent. Many writers, Bayle among others, have attempted
-to prove that she was at heart little more of a Protestant than her
-father; and her determination to retain episcopacy was sufficient to
-raise that suspicion in the minds of the adherents to the presbyterian
-system of church government.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>While she was princess she received a private proposal of marriage
-from Sweden; but she declared, “she could not change her condition.”
-On her becoming queen, her brother-in-law, Philip II. of
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_179'>179</span>Spain, addressed her; but this match also she declined. In the
-first parliament of her reign, the house of commons represented it as
-necessary to the welfare of the nation “to move her grace to marriage.”
-She answered, that by the ceremony of her inauguration she
-was married to her people, and her subjects were to her instead of
-children; that they would not want a successor when she died;
-adding, “And in the end, this shall be for me sufficient, that a
-marble stone shall declare, that a queen having reigned such a time,
-lived and died a virgin.” Several great personages proposed a
-matrimonial union with this illustrious princess; but she maintained
-her celibacy to the last. The Duke of Anjou seems to have been the
-most acceptable of her suitors. On his visit to England in 1581,
-not only was he received with much public parade, but she vouchsafed
-him strong tokens of personal attachment, and even suffered the marriage
-articles to be drawn up. But the strong remonstrances of her
-ministers and favourites finally prevailed, and the intended marriage
-was broken off.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The compilers of memoirs have racked their brains for some plausible
-explanation of Elizabeth’s repugnance to matrimony. When
-overtures were first made to her she was young, and had a good
-person, which she spared no art in setting off to advantage: she
-was notoriously fond of admiration, and was no less jealous of the
-personal beauty of Mary, Queen of Scots, than of her competition as a
-rival sovereign, or as a claimant of the crown of England. Neither
-prudery nor coldness could be imputed to her. Her gaiety extorted
-a sarcastic exclamation from an ambassador: “I have seen the
-head of the English church dancing!” She chose her favourites,
-Leicester, Essex, Raleigh, and others, from among the most comely,
-as well as the most valiant and accomplished of her subjects. Melvil,
-who had been sent by Mary of Scotland to the court of Elizabeth,
-relates in his Memoirs, that on creating Lord Robert Dudley Earl
-of Leicester and Baron of Denbigh, at Westminster, with much
-solemnity, the queen assisted at the ceremonial, and he knelt before
-her with great gravity: “but,” he says, “she could not refrain from
-putting her hand to his neck, smilingly tickling him, the French
-ambassador and I standing by.” In relating his diplomatic transactions,
-he furnishes other proofs of the queen’s partiality for the Earl of
-Leicester. He had occasion to name before her “my Lord of Bedford
-and my Lord Robert Dudley. She answered, it appeared I
-made but small account of my Lord Robert, seeing I named the
-Earl of Bedford before him; but that ere long she would make him
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_180'>180</span>a far greater Earl; and that I should see it done before my return
-home. For she esteemed him as her brother and best friend, whom
-she would have herself married, had she ever intended to have taken
-a husband. But being determined to end her life in virginity, she
-wished the queen her sister might marry him.” It is no wonder that
-her propensity to gallantry should have been stigmatized by popish
-writers, or that they should even have ventured to assail her character
-for chastity: even those of the reformed religion were somewhat
-scandalized by the levities of their ecclesiastical governess. Her
-foreign biographer, Gregorio Leti, in his ‘Histoire d’Elizabeth,’
-says, “I do not know whether she was so chaste as is reported; for,
-after all, she was a queen, she was beautiful, young, full of wit, delighted
-in magnificent dress, loved entertainments, balls, pleasures,
-and to have the handsomest men in her kingdom for her favourites.
-This is all I can say of her to the reader.”</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The charge of personal depravity in so illustrious a sovereign deserves
-a fuller examination than is admissible within our limits. But
-it is in a great measure discredited by the circumstance that it
-originated with those Romish and political enemies, who perseveringly
-strove to destroy the queen, as the main prop of that fabric they were
-moving every engine to overthrow. Dr. Sanders and Cardinal Allen,
-the popes, the Spanish writers and their partisans, make statements,
-some of them manifestly untrue, others unsupported by respectable
-testimony. Among her own subjects, the popular scandal turned
-chiefly on Leicester, Hatton, and Essex; but without a single criminating
-fact as to either. Bacon states the case candidly, and probably
-puts it on its true ground: “She suffered herself to be honoured,
-and caressed, and celebrated, and extolled with the name of love, and
-wished it and continued it beyond the suitability of her age. If you
-take these things more softly, they may not even be without some admiration,
-because such things are commonly found in our fabulous
-narratives, of a queen in the islands of Bliss, with her hall and
-institutes, who receives the administration of love, but prohibits its
-licentiousness. If you judge them more severely, still they have this
-admirable circumstance, that the gratifications of this sort did not
-much hurt her reputation, and not at all her majesty, nor even relaxed
-her government, nor were any notable impediment to her state
-affairs.” Some writers of secret history have assigned the danger
-to which it was thought she would be exposed in bearing children as
-the real reason for her perseverance in celibacy.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>We do not propose to relate the events of the reign of Elizabeth,
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_181'>181</span>inasmuch as our object does not extend beyond a sketch of her personal
-character. It is perhaps the most brilliant period in English
-history; it called into action some of the most able statesmen and
-greatest warriors of whom this country could ever boast. Leti tells
-us that Pope Sixtus V. was her ardent admirer, and placed her
-among the only three persons who, in his estimation, deserved to
-reign: the other two members of this curious triumvirate were Henry
-IV. of France and himself. He once said to an Englishman, “Your
-queen is born fortunate: she governs her kingdom with great happiness;
-she wants only to be married to me, to give the world a second
-Alexander.” The same author, in his life of Sixtus, records a secret
-correspondence of that pope with Elizabeth; among other particulars
-of which he relates the following anecdote. Anthony Babington, a
-gentleman of Derbyshire, with other English papists, had engaged in
-a conspiracy against the queen. Their project was, after having
-assassinated her, to deliver Mary of Scotland from prison, and to
-place her on the throne. Babington and three of his accomplices
-armed themselves against the possible failure of their enterprise, by
-applying to the pope for prospective absolution, to take effect at the
-time of their last agonies. His Holiness complied with their demand;
-but is said instantly to have despatched due warning to the queen.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>This conspiracy was the preliminary to an event, which has been
-justly characterized as the stain of deepest dye on the fair fame of
-Elizabeth,—the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1586. It
-would be foreign to the subject, to relate the circumstances which
-led that princess to take refuge in England, trusting to Elizabeth’s
-promises of protection and kindness. Her reception at first was
-as favourable as was perhaps consistent with due attention to the
-public safety, considering that the Roman Catholic portion of British
-subjects held her to be the rightful sovereign, and Elizabeth an
-illegitimate and heretical usurper. But feelings of habitual enmity,
-enforced perhaps by the arguments of her political advisers, overpowered
-the sympathy of the first moments, and suggested the advantages
-to be taken of a defenceless competitor. Elizabeth, therefore,
-after having in the first instance ordered her to be treated like a
-queen, afterwards committed her to close prison. On the discovery
-of Babington’s plot, in which Mary was deeply implicated, the queen
-of Scots was arraigned of high treason before commissioners specially
-appointed by the crown. By that solemn tribunal, she was
-tried and found guilty, and by Elizabeth was delivered over to execution.
-Even Bohun, in his character of Elizabeth, though in
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_182'>182</span>general her panegyrist, says on this occasion, “By this action, she
-tainted her reign with the innocent blood of a princess, whom she had
-received into her dominions, and to whom she had given sanctuary.”
-If the sentence was executed, not in vindication of the offended laws,
-but as a sacrifice to personal revenge, Elizabeth’s guilt was greatly
-aggravated by her extreme dissimulation in the management of the
-affair. She no sooner received intelligence of Mary’s decapitation,
-than she abandoned herself to misery and almost despair: she put on
-deep mourning; her council were severely rebuked; her ministers, and
-even Burleigh, were driven from her presence with furious reproaches.
-Her secretary Davison was subjected to a process in the Star-Chamber
-for a twofold contempt, in having revealed her Majesty’s counsels
-to others of her ministers, and having given up to them the warrant
-which she had committed to him in special trust and secrecy, to be
-reserved for a case of sudden emergency. But Davison’s apology, an
-extract from which was inserted by Camden in his Annals, has since
-been found entire among the original papers of Sir Amias Paulet.
-From this authentic source it appears, that Davison was made her
-unconscious agent and instrument. Those who have endeavoured to extenuate
-the apparent treachery of Elizabeth, have alleged that the queen
-of Scots kept the queen of England in continual dread of dethronement;
-and that if the necessity existed to take the life of the queen
-of Scots, it was equally necessary that it should be done with a show
-of reluctance, and the least possible odium to the queen of England.
-Such has been the defence, both of the act itself, and of the subsequent
-dissimulation. But it would be difficult to apologize for her
-proceedings against Davison, an able and honest servant, whom she
-disgraced and ruined, for the purpose of impressing the belief that
-Mary was executed without her knowledge and contrary to her intentions.
-Right and wrong must be differently estimated in sovereigns
-and ordinary persons, if the sacrifice of such a victim to the shade of
-Mary or the indignation of her son can be justified.</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>The reign of Elizabeth lasted forty-four years, four months, and six
-days. It was distinguished by great actions; it raised the British name
-to a high and glorious rank in the scale of nations: and we of the present
-times are indebted to it for some of our greatest advantages. But
-the sovereign herself closed her long and eventful life in a state of deep
-melancholy. Her kinsman, Sir Robert Cary, relates, with the quaintness
-of the time, the circumstances of his visit to her on her death-bed.
-“She took me by the hand, and wrung it hard, and said that
-her heart had been sad and heavy for ten or twelve days; and in her
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_183'>183</span>discourse she fetched not so few as forty or fifty great sighs. I was
-grieved at first to see her in this plight; for in all my lifetime I never
-knew her fetch a sigh, but when the Queen of Scots was beheaded.”
-She died March 24, 1603, in her seventieth year. Few as are the
-particulars of her life which we have been able to admit into our narrative,
-they have perhaps been sufficient to give an outline, however
-faint, of her character. It has been drawn out in form, and with fairness,
-by Lord Bolingbroke, in the following passage from his Idea of
-a Patriot King. “Our Elizabeth was queen in a limited monarchy,
-and reigned over a people at all times more easily led than driven;
-and at that time capable of being attached to their prince and their
-country by a more generous principle than any of those which prevail
-in our days, by affection. There was a strong prerogative then in
-being, and the crown was in possession of greater legal power. Popularity
-was however then, as it is now, and as it must always be in
-mixed government, the sole foundation of that sufficient authority and
-influence which other constitutions give the prince gratis and independently
-of the people, but which a king of this nation must acquire.
-The wise queen saw it; and she saw too how much popularity
-depends on those appearances that depend on the decorum, the
-decency, the grace, and the propriety of behaviour of which we are
-speaking. A warm concern for the interest and honour of the nation,
-a tenderness for her people and a confidence in their affections, were
-appearances that ran through her whole public conduct, and gave life
-and colour to it. She did great things; and she knew how to set
-them off according to their true value, by her manner of doing them.
-In her private behaviour she showed great affability, she descended
-even to familiarity; but her familiarity was such as could not be imputed
-to her weakness, and was therefore most justly ascribed to her
-goodness. Though a woman, she hid all that was womanish about
-her; and if a few equivocal marks of coquetry appeared on some
-occasions, they passed like flashes of lightning, vanished as soon as
-they were discovered, and imprinted no blot on her character. She
-had private friendships, she had favourites: but she never suffered her
-friends to forget that she was their queen; and when her favourites
-did, she made them feel that she was so.”</p>
-
-<p class='c000'>Our delineation of Elizabeth has been rather that of a very great
-personage, than of a good woman; but it must be admitted on all
-hands, that the poison of calumny has been largely administered, in
-proportion to the invidiousness of her position. This general lot of
-greatness fell the heavier on her, in consequence of the severe laws
-<span class='pageno' id='Page_184'>184</span>which she was compelled to enact and execute against the papists.
-The libels against Elizabeth’s good fame were put forth mostly
-by persons of that proscribed sect, who have represented her, not as
-indulging the frailties from which her most strenuous advocates cannot
-exonerate her, but as a monster of cruelty, avarice, and lust. It
-is but justice to place in contrast with so hateful a picture the
-noble character ascribed to her even by a Jesuit, in a book published
-in the Catholic metropolis of France. Père d’Orleans, in his
-‘Histoire des Revolutions d’Angleterre,’ speaks thus: “Elizabeth
-was a person whose name immediately imprints in our minds such
-a noble idea, that it is impossible well to express it by any description
-whatsoever. Never did a crowned head better understand the
-art of government, and commit fewer errors in it, during a long reign.
-The friends of Charles V. could reckon his faults: Elizabeth’s enemies
-have been reduced narrowly to search after hers; and they,
-whose greatest concern it was to cast an odium upon her conduct,
-have admired her. So that in her was fulfilled this sentence of the
-Gospel, that the children of this world are often wiser in their views
-and designs than the children of light. Elizabeth’s aim was to reign,
-to govern, to be mistress, to keep her people in submission, neither
-affecting to weaken her subjects, nor to make conquests in foreign
-countries; but yet not suffering any person to encroach in the least
-upon the sovereign power, which she knew perfectly well how to
-maintain, both by policy and by force. For no person in her time had
-more wit, more skill, more judgment than she had. She was not a
-warlike princess; but she knew so well how to train up warriors, that
-England had not for a long time seen a greater number of them, nor
-more experienced.”</p>
-
-<div  class='figcenter id002'>
-<img src='images/i_184.jpg' alt='' class='ig001' />
-<div class='ic001'>
-<p>[View of the Old Palace, Greenwich.]</p>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<div class='pbb'>
- <hr class='pb c003' />
-</div>
-<div class='tnotes'>
-
-<div class='chapter'>
-  <h2 class='c005'>TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES</h2>
-</div>
- <ol class='ol_1 c002'>
-    <li>Changed “Majolica” to “<span lang="it" xml:lang="it">Maiolica</span>” on p. <a href='#t37'>37</a>.
-
-    </li>
-    <li>Changed “and same other” to “and some other” on p. <a href='#t48'>48</a>.
-
-    </li>
-    <li>The “Z” was reversed in “CORTEZ” on p. <a href='#t122'>122</a> and in “LEIBNITZ” on p. <a href='#t132'>132</a>.
-
-    </li>
-    <li>Changed “Evénemens” to “<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">Événements</span>” on p. <a href='#t170'>170</a>.
-
-    </li>
-    <li>Changed “ed i” to “<span lang="fr" xml:lang="fr">ei</span>” on p. <a href='#t176'>176</a>.
-
-    </li>
-    <li>Did not correct the variant spellings of “Raphael”.
-
-    </li>
-    <li>Silently corrected typographical errors.
-
-    </li>
-    <li>Retained anachronistic and non-standard spellings as printed.
-    </li>
-  </ol>
-
-</div>
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-<pre>
-
-
-
-
-
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