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diff --git a/old/55379-0.txt b/old/55379-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 51ce467..0000000 --- a/old/55379-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,8159 +0,0 @@ -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.” - -[Illustration: [View of the Old Palace, Greenwich.]] - ------------------------------------------------------------------------- - - - - - TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES - - - 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}. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Gallery of Portraits: with -Memoirs. 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