HGS , * < V4 -< - 'VI ' To WILLIAM ROSCOE, ESQ. DEAR SIB it a matter of consideration with me to whom I could with most propriety address a work proposing to afford a view of an interesting literary period, no name would sooner occur to my mind than that of the biographer of Lorenzo de Medici and Leo the Tenth : and were I to take a survey of those remaining friends for whom 1 feel the warmest affection, and in whose intimacy I should be most inclined to pride myself ; the beloved associate of my youth> and the object of my peculiar respect and a 2 esteem iv DEDICATION. esteem during a long course of years, would immediately present himself. Under both these titles, then, I request you to accept, with the cordiality with which it is offered, this public testimonial of my unalterable regard ; and to believe me, most sincerely, Yours, ^ J.AIKIN. Stoke Newington, Pel. 18, 1810. INTRO- ~f i'\ ' ' >" T . i* r J ' ' ' " f- INTRODUCTION .BF THE TRANSLATOR. BIOGRAPHICAL narratives of which the same person is both the writer and subject can scarcely fail of affording to the reader something both amusing and instructive. Men know much relative to themselves L. that is a secret to the rest of the world ; and they can take up their own history at an earlier period, and continue it more uninterruptedly, than it is possible for a biographer to do, who has probably en- gaged in his task only from acquaintance with its subject at a mature age, and who must content himself with vague and de- fective accounts of all that passed before he was produced on the public stage. As far, therefore, as a complete view of the origin VI INTRODUCTION. origin and formation of a human character is an object of curiosity and interest, self- biographies are particularly valuable. The political and philosophical life of a Franklin might be composed by a bystander ; but who besides himself could have communi- cated those incidents of his childhood and youth which are so precious to a student of human nature, and perhaps afford more important lessons to the moralist than all that he acted upon the open theatre of the world ? There are, indeed, peculiar sources of deception in this species of biography ; but for the most part they are such as cannot escape the notice of one endowed with an ordinary portion of sagacity, or knowledge of mankind. The motive by which a per- son is induced to acquaint the public with the particulars of his own life will com^ monly be a desire of appearing to advan- tage of bringing to light merits which he thinks not sufficiently divulged, or of re-* moving INTRODUCTION. VU moving prejudices against himself which he supposes to prevail. At least, if this be not his primary inducement, it is a bias that cannot fail to exert a constant influ- ence over his pen while relating his own story. Even they who appear the most frank and undisguised have their reserves o and glosses ; and it is a shrewd remark of Bayle's concerning Cardan, that, freely as he has exposed many of his vices and frail- ties, a well-informed observer of his cha- racter and conduct, who should have writ- ten his life, would have made public much to his discredit that he has suppressed. But, in counteraction to the designing spirit by which the self-biographer may be con- cluded in general to be actuated, there is a kind of blabbing loquacity incident to those who talk much of themselves, that will scarcely permit them to persevere in a consistent policy. Unguarded disclosures >will occasionally be made, by means of which disguised facts may be discerned in their viii INTRODUCTION. their true colours, and real motives of actions may be detected under the varnish of pretended ones. The experienced reader will readily discover vanity beneath the mask of modesty, and selfishness beneath that of public spirit. From uncalled-for apologies he will be able to infer concealed imputations : and from avowed foibles, unacknowledged vices. But although from almost every work of this class some addition to the knowledge of human nature may be derived, yet this knowledge is purchased at more than its worth, when time is consumed in perusing the gossiping narratives of persons neither eminent in their several walks in life, nor distinguished by remarkable characters or adventures. Of such performances there is a superabundance ; and the encourage- ment given to them under the name of anecdote is a token of a trifling age. To justify that demand upon the attention of the literary public which is made by the writer INTRODUCTION. IX writer of a book concerning himself, there should exist the consciousness of having something to communicate which the ordi- nary round of life does not furnish. This may consist either in what is external, or what is internal ; in the extraordinary events of which a man has been the subject or witness, or in the extraordinary opera- tions of his own mind. The former more commonly belong to persons conversant with the busy scenes of the world ; the latter may distinguish the most recluse, whose lives have been spent in the pursuits of learning and the labours of genius. It may be equally interesting to listen to a Frederic describing his actions, and a Rous- seau tracing his thoughts. The Bishop of Avranches, whose Me- moirs are here presented to the English reader, was a person greatly celebrated in his age for profound and extensive erudi- tion, and for the use he made of it as an author of various esteemed works. That he * INTRODUCTION, he raiks among men of the first order of intellect, I by no means intend to assert ; but he was one of those who fill a certain space in the literary history of their time, and whose name is too fumly associated with the durable monuments of lettered in- dustry to be in danger of perishing. The in- cidents of his life were not very different from those common to scholars and eccle- siastics ; yet the manner in which he was trained to each of these characters was marked by certain peculiarities which ren- dered him a distinct individual in those orders of men. Long his own master, and enabled to pursue what studies, and in what mode and company, he chose, he considerably varied his objects and his places of residence. An enquirer from youth on religious topics, and familiarly connected with protestants, as well as with the members of his own communion, he imbibed a degree of learned Catholicism which did not entirely quit him even when- become INTRODUCTION. XI become a prelate ; and which induced him to cultivate a freer and more promiscuous acquaintance among his lettered contem- poraries than could have been the lot of one brought up in the trammels of a reli- gious order, or originally destined to an exclusive priesthood. On these various accounts, added to a life protracted to nearly a century, the biography of few men affords so wide a basis for the super- structure of a literary history of the age in \vhich he flourished. I shall not proceed to anticipate the matter of the ensuing narrative, or to in- fuse any prepossessions concerning the person who is its subject into the breast of the reader. The Bishop shall be left to tell his own story, in his own manner, with no other interference than that of occasional moral and critical remark. I think, how- ever, that it may be useful to premise a summary view of the state of European literature anteriorly to the commencement of Xll INTRODUCTION. of this biographical history, or in the early part of the seventeenth century ; in order that the reader may be enabled to form an idea of the kind of education a scholar was likely to receive at the time when Huet entered upon his studies, and of the pro- gress that had already been made in those branches of science and literature which he and his contemporaries were engaged in cultivating. o The brilliant period of letters in Italy, which had restored a kind of classical age in that favoured country, was at an end ; but it had^ produced the effect of diffusing throughout Europe a correct knowledge of the ancient languages, and a taste for pure and elegant composition. Critical learning, in particular, was cultivated with great assiduity and success ; and the writings of antiquity were elucidated by all the aids afforded by profound erudition and exer- cised judgement. Some of the greatest names in the class of critics are to be met with .INTRODUCTION, s Xlll with among the scholars who flourished about the commencement of the seven- teenth century. Joseph Scaliger, Casau- bon, Grotius, Meursius, Gruter, Daniel Heinsius, Ritterhuysius, Barthius, Dousa, .Gerard-John Vossius, Salmasius, form a group which would confer lustre on any period of philology. The Italian literati of the preceding age had for the most part avoided theological controversy, to the subjects of which many of them were in their hearts totally indif- ferent, whilst its technical language was grating to their classical feelings. But the progress of the Reformation rendered it necessary for the partisans of papal Rome to contend pro arts et focis against the fierce attacks of its different enemies. The cardinals Baronius and Bellarmine, one as an ecclesiastical historian, the other as a polemic, stood in the first rank of catholic champions, and were supported by Alla- tius, Du Perron, Spondanus, and many others, INTRODUCTION. others, to whose zeal the inexhaustible wealth of the Romish see administered substantial aliment. On the other side, Sarpi stood by himself as a dauntless op- poser of papal usurpations, while he ac- quiesced in the general doctrine of the ca- tholic church. Grotius employed the stores of his extensive learning and powerful un- derstanding in commenting upon the Scrip- tures, without enlisting under the banners 7 O of any particular sect, and gave the fairest example of philological theology. The cause of reformed religion was strenuously pleaded by Duplessis Mornai, and Du- nioulin, in France, and by others in diffe- rent protestant countries ; while the con- troversies among the separatists themselves were carried on with no small vigour by Arminius and Gomarus and their respec- tive partisans, as well as by other leaders of subordinate sects. At the same time, the atheistical writings of Vannini, and the deism of lord Herbert of Cherbury and others, INTRODUCTION. XV others, had roused up defenders of religion and revelation upon general grounds ; and from all these causes men's minds were at this period earnestly engaged in specula- tions relative to theology, to which they brought the same resources of learning and argument that have since, though per- haps with improved skill and accuracy, been employed on those topics. In abstract philosophy various attacks had been made upon the authority of Aris- totle, which for so many ages had reigned paramount in the schools. The revival of Platonism had been attempted by some learned men ; others had shown an attach- ment to the system of the Stoics, espe- cially in morals ; and some daring geniuses, as Jordano Bruno and Cardan, had pro- posed new methods of philosophizing, though with little success : but upon the whole it was evident that the human in- tellect was no longer disposed to submit to the shackles which had been imposed upon i.Vl INTRODUCTION. upon it. Bacon had lately published those great works which were destined to effect a mighty change in the pursuit of know- ledge in general, but it does not appear that their influence was immediate. In the meantime, natural philosophy, in its several branches, had been greatly ad- vanced by the labours of some men of superior genius. In astronomy, Tycho Brahe, of whom much is said in these Memoirs, had- made many valuable disco- veries ; and though his scheme of the solar system deviated from the simplicity and truth of that before proposed by Coper- nicus, but which the world was not as yet prepared to receive, yet it contributed to subvert ancient errors. At length Ga- o lileo, one of the few names that make an era in the history of mental acquisitions, diffused a bright and unextinguishable light over physical science ; and, being fol- lowed by Torncelli and other eminent disciples, introduced that broad day of knowledge INTRODUCTION. XV11 knowledge which has since shone upon the world. The sublime geometry of Kepler, applied to investigate the laws which govern the motions of the heavenly bodies, powerfully aided the progress of astronomy, and afforded firm ground for Descartes, and afterwards for Newton, to stand on. The animal economy had also been much elucidated by the sagacious re- searches of many eminent anatomists ; and that fundamental law, the circulation of the blood, had been demonstrated by Harvey a short time before the birth of our author. Upon the whole, though the state of human knowledge was, in many particu- lars, only that of infancy, compared to the maturity it has attained in another century and a half, yet the impulse was given, the mind was put into a right track of pursuit, and industry and genius were no longer in danger of being wasted for want of a direction to proper objects. The art of writing was well understood ; and if VOL. I. b learning XVU1 INTRODUCTION. learning was still infected with pedantry, and taste had not attained its highest de- gree of refinement, there were not wanting respectable models in almost every specie* of composition. Of the countries to the productions of which a scholar's attention, at the period of Huet's entrance into literary life, would principally be attracted, Italy had ceased to hold the supremacy it once possessed. The learned and candid historian of Italian literature, Tiraboschi, in the preface to his eighth volume, observes, that whereas he had found it necessary to employ three volumes on the literature of the sixteenth century, that of the seventeenth would oc- cupy only one ; and he does not deny that this circumstance was in great part owing to the declension of letters in the latter period. Physical science, indeed, had its ardent votaries in Italy, for it possessed Galileo and his followers ; but the erudi- tion, of the country was chiefly employed in INTRODUCTION". XIX in supporting the claims of the Roman see ; and freedom of discussion was watched with the greatest jealousy. Accordingly, scarcely any Italians appear among Huet's acquaintance or correspondents. Holland, in consequence of the cara taken to fill the chairs in its universities with able professors invited from all parts^ and of the advantages of its free press, seems at that time to have been the ma- gazine whence the greatest number of va- luable publications issued, and the chief centre of learned communication through- out Europe. Germany maintained its well-earned reputation for solid erudition, and was abundant in learned men, many of whom, however, were driven to the neighbouring countries, especially to Holland, for want of encouragement at home, and through the widely-extended ravages of the thirty years' war. England XX INTRODUCTION. England had formed a flourishing school of literature of its own ; but all its pro- ductions in the vernacular tongue were lost to the continent, where its language was as little read as those of Denmark and Sweden may now be ; and what it contributed to the general stock by means of Latin currency was of small account. In England, too, at that period, civil com- motions either entirely diverted men's minds from learned pursuits, or in great measure limited them to political and thoe- logical controversy. Perhaps few British names except those of Bacon, Camden, Buchanan, Selden, and Usher were fa- miliar to the scholars of the rest of Eu- rope in the earlier part of the seventeenth century. In France itself Huet would find exam- ples of literary eminence in many who had decorated the age of Richelieu, which was introductory to that of Louis XIV. The university INTRODUCTION, XXI university of Paris was never without its illustrious members. In some of the other French universities civil law had been elu- cidated with great learning and ability; and many members of the legal profes- sion had distinguished themselves as writers in various branches. The Latin language had been cultivated with success both in verse and prose ; and while Huet was yet a young man, the celebrated " Provincial Letters " had given an example of a pure and elegant French style which has scarcely admitted any subsequent improvement. The masterpieces of Corneille were render- ing its theatre the rival of that of ancient Greece ; and France was beginning to take that lead in polite literature which she so long retained. Though the capital was undoubtedly the seat of the highest mental cultivation, yet Huet's birth and early in-/ struction in a provincial town were not un- favourable to the formation of his mental character. Caen, the seat of an university, and XXM INTRODUCTION. and long one of the head-quarters of Cal- vinism, had imbibed a learned tincture, and had not lost the regularity of manners which usually accompanies a reforming sect. The Jesuits, who had succeeded to the principal share in the institution of youth, presented, in their college, those incitements and aids to early study which have preeminently distinguished the semi- naries of their order. Thus, before he was endangered by the allurements and dis- sipation of a metropolis, he had acquired such an attachment to learning, and such habits of application, that his character was fixed, and the ruling passion was im- planted which governed his whole future life. The literary reputation early obtained by Huet introduced him to a large ac- quaintance with men of letters, both native and foreign. Among the former were many eminent individuals of the Society of Jesus, which in this century was pecu- liarly INTRODUCTION. XXUI liarly distinguished in France for the suc- cessful culture as well of profound as of elegant literature. Among the foreigners were several celebrated professors in pro- testant schools and universities, in which every branch of learning was liberally fos- tered. Few pages occur in his Memoirs which are not decorated with the names of eminent literary characters, pointed out more or less to the reader's attention by anecdotes and observations. All these have by the translator been made the subjects of biographical notes, in which it has been his aim not to enter into minute details of their lives and writings, but to present characteristic sketches, whence just ideas might be formed of their deserts both moral and literary, and of the rank they held among their contemporaries. It is hoped that these additions will render the work of Huet more interesting and in- structive ; and that they may collectively afford XXIV INTRODUCTION. afford a tolerably extensive view of the state of letters on the continent of Europe, during a period which must ever stand distinguished among those in which the human mind has made the most sensible progress. MEMOIRS MEMOIRS OP BOOK I. .//*>,'^'jgiv>:> vkl). ' a .f : AUGUSTINE, an author of the greatest weight both in doctrine and practice, and of the highest authority in the Christian church, when, on the approach of old age, he reviewed the trans- actions of his past life, if any thing occurred to his mind in which he had merited the praise of piety and virtue, he gratefully referred it to the beneficence of his Creator ; and whatever he recollected to have done contrary to the di- vine law he washed away by a wholesome pe- nitence, and even appeared as his own accuser for it before the world. " Have I not," says he, " O my God ! declared to thee, against myself, all my offences ? and thou hast done away the wickedness of my heart*." Although so illus- trious an example long since invited me to ex- * Augustini Confess, lib. i. c. 5. VQL. i. B punge 2 MEMOIRS OF HUET. punge the stains of my former life, yet a more urgent cause has given me the final impulse, a severe and nearly fatal disease, with which I struggled, for six whole months, and from which, after an interval of some years, I am still not entirely recovered. By this sharp yet salutary admonition I felt myself summoned by God to scrutinize the ingrained spots of my conscience, and most humbly and submissively lay them before his sight. I therefore thought I should perform an useful task in presenting an account of my past years to Him, the witness and judge of all my delinquencies, and the author of all grace, goodness, and beneficence, if I may hope to have acquired any merit for my actions in his eyes. To this motive was added the almost daily reproach of my friends, who, having heard me relate many anecdotes concerning the most learned men of this age, with whom I lived in close intimacy, urged me to undertake such a work, through the desire of obtaining some certain information respecting them, and the wish that the memory of what they had already heard should not be lost. Do thou, therefore, O great God, who wishest and commandest thyself to be regarded, as thou really BOOK THE FIRST. 3 really art, the parent of all mankind, cherish with thy favour this work undertaken at thy instigation ; that in writing and publishing it, my mind may be so disposed, and my affec- tions so directed, as to augment the love of thee in the hearts of my readers ; when they shall behold me deprived of both parents almost in my infancy, and scorned and rejected by all my kindred and relations, yet upheld by thy pater- nal kindness, and through the chances and dan- gers of a long life, to extreme old age, guided and protected by thy merciful right hand! A few years after the decline of the Calvinist faction in France through the loss of Rochelle*, I was born at Caen, of noble parents. My fa- ther, Daniel Huet, then advanced in years, had formerly been of that party : my mother, Isa- bella Pillon de Bertoville, of Rouen, a woman of excellent endowments, was in the prime of life. She had before borne two daughters, Maria and Susanna, and a son named Francis ; two more daughters were born after me, one of whom, as well as Francis, died soon after birth. I regard an especial favour of God that he was * This was in 1626, under the direction of cardinal Riche- lieu. The year of Huet's birth was 1(530. B g was 4 MEMOIRS OF ill LT. was pleased to make me the son of catholic pa- rents. For although my father was born and bred in the midst of the errors of Calvinism, yet, through the influence of divine grace, and the exhortations both in person and by letter (many of which are in my possession) of John Gontier, a pious and learned man of the order of Jesuits, he submitted to the authority of the church, and renounced the fatal doctrines which he had imbibed. Nor was he cold in the cause of the religion to which he was a convert ; for he had diligently studied the con- troversies relative to the defence of the catholic faith, and greatly interested himself in them for the purpose of extending the boundaries of the catholic church. And when his mother, from whom he had derived his erroneous opi- nions, was attacked by a severe disease that brought her life into imminent danger, the prayers of this excellent person for his parent's salvation, and his urgent exhortations, were so efficacious as to bring her to a sense of the truth ; and renouncing the doctrines of her nefarious sect with her dying voice, she calmly slept in Christ. When this event was made known to Gontier, overjoyed that the person whom he had BOOK THE FIRST. 5 had converted to the true religion was able to confer the same benefit on others, he thought it proper that the transaction should be made public and handed down to posterity. By his own efforts and those of his friends the con- version was celebrated in a collection of Greek, Latin and French verses, to which was sub- joined an elegant eulogy of the life and vir- tues of this respectable woman. These, as a perpetual memorial, my father caused to be engraved on a marble tablet placed over her tomb in the church of St. John at Caen. In the same temple he afterwards built a chapel for himself and his posterity, fenced in with an elegant screen, provided with a splendid service of sacred vestments, and endowed with an annual stipend, in which he directed his own body and that of his wife to be deposited after their decease. He likewise was induced by his piety and fondness for divine worship, to add to the simple and customary chants of the church, musical accompaniments and sym- phonies with instruments ; and he gave to the church and consecrated to pious uses the mu- sical instruments which he had purchased for his own amusement, music being an art of which 6 MEMOIRS OF HUET. which he was a great lover and a skilful prac- titioner. He was also an elegant dancer, and was considered as so well versed in this art, that once when a splendid ballet was in pre- paration at Caen, and he was confined to his bed with a slight illness, the dancers came to him, and constituted him the spectator and sole judge of their intended exhibition. He had likewise exercised himself in poetry, and found Apollo not unpropitious, both in his juvenile prolusions, and his more serious com- positions for the theatre. Nor, if the cour- teous reader will excuse a son perhaps too fondly dwelling upon the actions of his father, shall I omit to commemorate another office of Christian piety performed by him towards the father Carmelites of the house of Caen. When the whole cloister of their ruinous monastery had fallen to the ground through age, and the occupiers, obliged to poverty by their vow, were without funds for the repair, my father lent his timely aid, and took upon himself the care of the whole business, and in great part that of defraying the expense. Nor was this religious order unmindful of the benefit ; for they expressed their gratitude by engraving the BOOK THE FIRST. 7 the arms of our family in different parts of the wall of the cloister. These and various other examples of deserving well of the church, might have been suggested to me by my pious parent, had not the allurements of the world drawn my attention to other objects. I was held at the sacred font by a person of opulence and one of the first consequence in Caen. On the next new-year's day -he made me a splendid present a silken bonnet deco- rated with heron's plumes fastened by a circlet of o-old studded with diamonds. To this he O added a belt embroidered with gold, from which depended a little sword accommodated to my stature ; and a gold chain, so weighty, that when, at a more advanced age, I walked adorned with it, and swathed in its many coils, I was almost oppressed under the load. My excellent father did not long survive the birth of his children. He was attacked with a dropsy, under which, after trying in vain va- rious remedies, and especially the acid waters of Pouhon, he quietly sunk. The guardian- ship of our persons and properties upon this event was committed to my mother, who, during three years, administered her charge with MEMOIRS OF HUET. with great prudence. She often took me to the country-house of her sister, my aunt Ca- tharine Pillon ; near to which dwelt a poor woman who became very fond of me, and often invited me into her cottage by caresses and little presents. Once, on running to her house, I found her lying upon the ground by the fire, with her head wrapt up, so that I could scarcely reach her mouth to kiss her. She gently re- pelled my advances, and turning from me, de- sired me immediately to leave her; and not without good reason, for she was labouring under the plague, which carried her off the following night. I escaped the infection, and should be highly ungrateful were I to ascribe this signal preservation to any cause but the immediate protection of God, which I have never ceased to experience from my tender years. I had now passed my fifth year, and seemed capable of imbibing something of that first literature, which is, as it were, the infancy of grammar, and is termed by Varro " literatio." At this time we had for a neighbour Alain Aii^te^ a person in holy orders, distinguished for piety and abilities, not void of classical learning BOOK THE FIRST. 9 learning and a talent for poetry, and particu- larly versed in controversial divinity, as he proved by his publications. As my mother had destined him for my domestic tutor, she. committed to him the care of teaching me the elements of letters. I had already made some progress, when our hopes were interrupted by the premature death of my most affectionate mother, who had not reached her fortieth year. This misfortune threw our domestic affairs into such confusion, that there appeared a danger of our being stript of the whole of the family property. But the almighty father and guar- dian of orphans lent us his timely aid, and raised us from our fallen and deserted state ; so that I can truly say of myself with the Psalmist, " My father and mother have for- saken me, but the Lord has taken me up." Our whole kindred was reduced to few per- sons, and these were chiefly solicitous to avoid the trouble of a long guardianship. My pa- ternal aunt was then married to Gilles Mace, who was therefore the presumptive heir of our property in the event of the death of myself and my sisters. u But," says Justinian, " the agnates whom the law calls to the inheritance, it 1O MEMOIRS OF HUET. it also appoints to be guardians ; because, where is the emolument of succession, there ought also to be the burden of wardship." This Mace was in great fame for his mathe- matical knowledge, and especially for his skill in astronomy, which he displayed in a learned work on the motion of the comet of the year l6l 8, surveyed by him with the help of ac- curate instruments made for the purpose, which, with all his mathematical apparatus, came to me by favour of his son Daniel Mace. I shall not however conceal that Gilles appeared too much addicted to the vanity, or rather the fatuity, of casting nativities. Unmindful of our relationship, and regardless of his duty, thinking all the time lost which was withdrawn from his beloved studies, and dreading the burden of a guardianship which would involve him in other cares, he determined, if possible, to free himself from his office. He therefore repaired to his friends at Paris, where, while he was attempting by their influence to bring his purpose to effect, he fell a victim to disease before he had attained to old age. (1)* Whilst the nomination of a guardian in place * The figures refer to the notes at the end of each book. of BOOK THE FIRST. 11 of my mother was in agitation, I was taken to the house of Mace, and the care of educa- ting me was committed to my aunt. Near the house was the monastery of the fathers named Porte-Croix or Crucigers, to one of whom I was sent with other boys of family to be in- structed in juvenile learning. But although he was of a mild disposition, and used no se- verity in teaching, yet I well remember that, having hitherto been brought up in a tender mother's embraces, 1 shuddered at the aspect and voice of a stranger, and when several years older, could not help trembling all over at the sound of the bell by which we were called to school. In the meantime all our surviving relatives, who were in the degree of legal proximity to our family, assembled at Caen in order to con- sult about our education, and especially to choose a new guardian. To this office a kins- man was appointed, who resided in the district of Pontaudomere, two days' journey from Caen ; a worthy man, and acquainted with business, but whose nomination was a great detriment to our property, on account of the expenses incurred by his frequent journeys, and 12 MEMOIRS OF HUET. and long absences from his own concerns while detained at Caen. An untimely death, how- ever, did not permit him long to execute this office ; and Daniel Mace, the son of Gilles, was appointed in his stead. All our relations concurred in the plan of sending my sisters to Rouen to be educated in a nunnery of Domi- nicans, among whom two of our maiden aunts of distinguished piety had formerly taken the veil. Another aunt, that Catharine Pillon al- ready mentioned, was lately dead. She had been settled in marriage at Caen, and had for some time been a widow, with five sons who were now growing up, and all older than I. To these I was joined as a fellow-boarder and scho- lar. Some of them were attending the public schools ; others, nearer to my age, were taught at home by a worthy priest, well fitted to train young persons in the principles of Christianity, and to form their morals, but altogether illite- rate. For their parts, so averse were they to literary studies, that whenever the days and hours arrived of their attending school, they seemed as if condemned to grind in a mill. Six whole years did I pass in this society, chained down to the rudiments of language. Being HOOK THE FIRST. 13 Being then grown bigger, though still quite a boy, I was sent to the College of Mont Royal in Caen, and was put under the care of the father Jesuits, the rectors of that college, by whom I was five years instructed in polite lite- rature, and three in philosophy. And had not my preceptors, pleased perhaps with my dis- position to learning, stimulated me by their admonitions and exhortations, whatever there was good in me might have been extinguished by the perversity of domestic example. For when my love for letters had excited the envy of my companions, they did every thing in their power to interrupt me in my studies : my books were stolen, my papers torn, or wetted or greased so as not to bear ink, and my cham- ber door was barred, that whilst they were at play I might not be lurking in my room with a book, as I was frequently detected in doing. When we were in the country during the au- tumnal vacation, it was held as a crime to take a book, and they compelled me to pass whole days in playing, hunting, or walking. In order to indulge rny own taste, it was my cus- tom to rise with the sun while they were buried in sleep, and either hide myself in the wood, or 14 MEMOIRS OF HUET. or seek some thick shade which might conceal me from their sight whilst I was reading and studying in quiet. It was their practice, how- ever, to hunt for me among the bushes, and by throwing stones or wet clods, or squirting water through the branches, to drive me out from my hiding-place. But the more my ef- forts were impeded by the malignity of my fellow-scholars, the more they were urged on by that innate and boundless thirst for learning, which from my birth had so wholly taken pos- session of my soul, that readily conceding to others the glory of letters, if I might claim a superiority in warm and constant attachment to them, I feel that I have a right openly to challenge that degree of merit. And among the benefits which God has with so liberal a hand conferred upon me, I ought to regard this as one of the principal ; since by the in- cessant labours and nobler aims of study, I was without difficulty diverted from those in- temperate pursuits and juvenile excesses, to which a natural vivacity of disposition, and tlie ardour of a temper not easily submitting to controul, afterwards too frequently exposed me. From this unabating love of letters, and perpetual BOOK THE FIRST. 15 perpetual occupation in my studies, besides innumerable other advantages, I have derived this benefit, which alone 1 regard as of the highest value, that I have never felt that satiety of life, that weariness with all its objects, of which other persons are so often heard to com- plain ; and that the loss of time has of all losses ever appeared to me the greatest, which I have attempted to repair by incessant dili- gence and exertion. I recollect that while I was a mere child, as yet untaught my letters, when I heard any one read stories in a book, I felt a vast desire of acquiring this faculty, thinking that I should be perfectly happy if I were able to amuse myself in the same manner by my own powers, and without foreign aid. Afterwards, when I was able to read, but not to write, if I saw any one opening and reading a letter, I thought of the great pleasure I should enjoy if I could in like manner converse with an absent friend. By such desires my appetite for study was sharpened, so that I used to devise arguments for obliging me to enter upon new objects of instruction. This disposition did not escape my preceptors, who encouraged my puerile ardour l6 MEMOIRS OF HUET. ardour during the five years' course through the lower schools, either by little presents, or by prizes to be contended for. One of them contracted so tender an affection for me, that when I had accidentally received at play a se- vere wound of the head from a stone, he was so much alarmed at the news of my danger, as to be immediately attacked with an illness that brought his life into great hazard. With such encouragements I might easily disregard the envy and malice of my associates. This noble college of Caen, the theatre of my ju- venile exercises, has therefore always been dear to me; and whenever I have had an oppor- tunity of revisiting it, I have received great delight from the view, which seemed to make me young again, and recalled the memory of my past years. What Augustine (Confess, lib. 1. c. 13.) has recorded of himself relative to his aversion to Greek literature in his early studies, occurred also to me ; but becoming at length sensible of the utility of that language, I employed all my industry in repairing my deficiency. My great passion, however, at this time was for poetry, which agitated my mind like inspira- tion ; BOOK THE FIRST. 17 tion ; and the highest literary attainment ap- peared to me to be the faculty of pouring out verse at pleasure upon every topic, with less regard to elegance and correctness than to fa- cility and copiousness. And as I found all classical poetry interspersed and seasoned with the fables of antiquity, I set myself the task of learning them thoroughly ; nor could any one of my companions be readily found who was better furnished with this kind of know- ledge. Perhaps this happy disposition for poetry might have produced good fruits, had it not been depraved by the management of an injudicious preceptor under whose care I was then placed. Making me lay aside Virgil, Ovid, Horace, and the other best guides to Parnassus, to the imitation of whom I ought then especially to have been stimulated, he put into my hands certain light and ignoble poets of modern times, Italians and Belgians ; in- genious, indeed, and witty, but who sought commendation from points and unexpected turns of sentiment, in compliance with that false taste, which by degenerating from the majestic simplicity and chastity of ancient poetry, had extinguished the genuine grace VOL. I. c and 18 MEMOIRS OF HUET. and dignity of verse. My juvenile fancy, caught by these brilliancies, as with a new play- thing, was easily perverted from the right way, and did not recognize its error till taught by maturer age to distinguish these sophisticated and meretricious charms from natural beauty. (2) At eight years of age I received the sacra- ment of confirmation from John Peter Camus, bishop of Bellei, venerable for the sanctity of his life, his genius, eloquence, and the number of his writings, whom, a long time afterwards, I succeeded in the abbacy of Aulnay. (3) In the course of my ninth year I was attacked \\ith the puerile diseases termed small-pox and measles. I call them puerile, though ex- perience, especially of these late years, has proved them to belong to every age*. ***** * # * When I first began to study at the col- lege of Caen, 1 had for a fellow-scholar Ber- O J nardine Gigault de Bellefonds, who was after- wards 'a marshal of France. His domestic * Here follow in the original three or four pages, re- specting the Latin names and antiquity of these diseases : which, as being wholly digressive, and superficial, it has not been thought necessary to translate. tutor BOOK THE FIRST. 19 tutor at that time was Brebeuf, a poet of an elevated genius, who subsequently acquired a great name by his vernacular translation of Lucan ; and though I was yet a boy, in conr sequence of my passion for poetry I could rea- dily perceive that his mind was by no means of an ordinary rank. (4) I therefore fre- quently questioned him respecting the excel- lence of the ancient poets, and endeavoured to discover his opinions, that I might form my own upon them. I could not, however, acquiesce in the contempt he expressed for Virgil, and the preference he gave to Lucan above him and all the other poets of antiquity. We have since seen Peter Corneille, the $rst of French dra- matic writers, under the influence of the same delirium ; as we learn that Francis IVJaJherbe, second to none of our countrymen in lyric poe- try, was infatuated with the noise and rattle .of Statius ; so true it is, as J have elsewhere often experienced, that there .are fewer sound judges of poetry than estimable composers in it. (5) About the same time 1 had the fortune to see another man distinguished by the amenity of his genius, and the charms of his poetry : this wasoJohn Francis Sarasin, who came to c 2 attend 20 MEMOIRS OF HUfiT. attend the funeral of his father, one of the company of treasurers of France at Caen. I looked up to him with eager eyes, as one who was rising to distinguished celebrity. (6) My sisters Maria and Susanna, being now marriageable, were taken from the society of their Dominican aunts, and restored to their aunt at Caen. A few years afterwards they were very respectably matched, and Maria be- came the mother of several children, from whom proceeded a numerous progeny: Su- sanna had only one son, who died young. Havingat length completed my course of belles lettres, and appearing fit to commence that of philosophy, though as yet not past my thir- teenth year, I was freed from the mischievous society of my cousins, and to my great advan- tage removed to the board and tuition of An- tony Halle, regius professor, a man of pro- found learning, and of great fame for the po- etical talent which he displayed in some pro- ductions published towards the close of his life. He was likewise distinguished for his ac- curate knowledge of geography, on which he more than once lectured publicly in the uni- versity of Caen. With this science 1 was en- tirely BOOK THE FIRST. 21 tirely unacquainted, not having as yet been taught its first elements ; but Halle would not suffer one whom he saw ardently desirous of acquiring other branches of knowledge to re- main shamefully ignorant of this, and under- took both by public and private instruction to initiate me in it. By means, therefore, of his daily and domestic conferences, I not only re- ceived a valuable accession of learning, but was freed from many errors imbibed in my childhood. To this favour he added a singular kindness, or rather parental love towards me, which he retained to the latest hour of his ex- istence. For while he was just breathing his last, calling to him William Pyron a learned man by whom Claudian has been illustrated with an excellent commentary, he said, " No one, my friend, is so well acquainted as yourself with the affection I have ever borne during life to Huet: I desire therefore you will signify to him that even in death I was mindful of our ancient friendship, and that I earnestly re- quested of him that he too would persist, as he has hitherto done, in cherishing and hold- ing it sacred." With these words he quietly expired. I have obeyed his injunction, and shall 24 MEMOIRS OF HUET. shall certainly continue so to do as long as life remains.- At the time that I was placed under the care of Halle, he was rector of the Sylvan col- lege (Du Bois) in the university of Caen ; in which rhetoric was then taught to a great con- flux- of auditors by Antony Gosselin, from Amiens, regius professor of eloquence, and pastor of 'the parish of the blessed Virgin at Caen. This person was well acquainted with Greek and Roman literature, and had been long and deeply engaged in the investigation t)f Roman antiquities, ; within the limits of which it would have been for his reputation if he had con-fined nfinself. For when he ex- tended his research to the relics of Gallic an- tiquity, and wrote a bbok -upon that topic, though to some ignoradt judges he appeared to have fulfilled his -object, he afforded scope for censure to the learned, and especially to that adept in rare and recondite literature, Bochart ; who, in a letter full of erudition ad- dressed to Moisant de Brieux, marked him with an indelible brand. (7) At that period I entered upon the study of philosophy under the direction of Peter Mam- brun, BOOK THE FIRST. 23 brun, of the society of Jesus, who, after having taught rhetoric with great applause during four years at Paris, came to occupy the philoso- phical chair at Caen, thus calmly reposing himself in the bosom of the noblest study. (8) On becoming his disciple I acquired his notice and affection, and he resolved to bestow pe- culiar pains in forming me. In consequence, he called me to him during the vacation of the schools, and privately acquainted me that he intended to treat me as Plato formerly did his */ disciples^ whom, by a law openly promulgated, and fixed upon the school doors, he excluded from his auditory, unless they had previously imbibed a tincture of geometry. When, under the eye of Mambrun, I had gone through the six first propositions of the first book of Euclid, I was obliged to leave him and go into the country. But even this slight taste of geometry had inspired me with such a longing after the acquisition of so admirable a science, that I spent days and nights in studying it, and almost looked with contempt upon the pursuits which hitherto had given me so much pleasure. Nor did I, indeed, pay so much attention to philosophy as its dignity and 24 MEMOIRS OF HUET. and importance demanded, whilst every thing appeared inconsiderable to me in comparison with geometry. Mambrun, the author of the mischief, vehemently disapproved this pre- judice, which he endeavoured to obviate by frequent admonitions, telling me that I acted ( preposterously in despising philosophy in com- parison with geometry, since the latter was to he studied only for the sake of the former, But his representations effected nothing more than to make me dissemble my passion tq him, and allot somewhat more time to philo- sophy, my course of which I completed in the customary two years. About that time there arrived at Caen a company of Dominicans devoted to a more austere rule, for the purpose of restoring to its pristine strictness the relaxed discipline of the order in that town. With the spirit of piety displayed^ in this new form, I was so much captivated, that I became ex- tremely desirous of being admitted into the society, and made an earnest request for that purpose to the superior, a man of primitive sanctity of manners. He did not discourage the design ; but the whole city was very in- dignant, BOOK THE FIRST. 25 dignant, suspecting that I had been fraudu- lently enticed by these friars ; and some per- sons waiting on the superior,- made use of se* rious menaces should they persist in inveig- ling an incautious youth by their artifices, - for this, though erroneously, they supposed to have been the case. My own relations, affec- tionately, yet pertinaciously, detained me a sort of prisoner in their houses; and thus was ob- viated a design undertaken, as I supposed, on the divine suggestion. And although it ap- peared to many to have been a movement of juvenile levity, and even to myself, after I had been persuaded by the unanimous solicitations of my friends to lay it aside, yet I might re- cognize in it the voice of the Almighty, gra- ciously calling me to himself from the vanities and pollutions of the world For even from early childhood I was conscious of no obscure wishes to enter into the service of Christ ; and J frequently felt the sparks of this pious de- sire bursting forth in my soul, which were re- pressed by a vivacious disposition, obnoxious to the light inclinations and futile blandish- merits of the world ; until at length conquer- jpg Grace threw the rein over my reluctant spirit, 26 MEMOIRS OF HUET. spirit, and entirely subjected it to its own do- minion. (9) I was then admitted to the pious fraternity instituted in the Jesuits' college of Caen for celebrating the praises of the blessed Virgin Mary ; as it was in the other houses of that society. For, as Mambrun was its president, I thought it right to follow the same guide in the paths of heaven, who had led me through the course of my studies. Being now become through advancing years more wary, and a more capable estimator of things, although 1 by no means repented the labour I had bestowed on geometry, yet I was rendered sensible of the injury I had sustained by the neglect of philosophy, concerning which it was said by the ancients, that no gift more excellent had been, nor would be, con- ferred by the Gods upon mankind. Revolving this sentence in my mind frequently, and not without compunction, I thought the best way of repairing the loss would be to return to the goal, and again run through the philosophical career. For I considered that I had not yet passed my sixteenth year ; whereas the greater part of the ancient philosophers, whose fame survives BOOK THE FIRST. 2/ survives to the present day, engaged in the science late in life, and almost in old age. I was further swayed by the authority of Mam- brun, whose affection for me daily increased. When i disclosed to him my purpose of renew- ing my philosophical studies, lie tenderly em- braced me, and assured me that he not only ap- proved of it, but had intended to recommend the. same thing to me ; " but," he added, " on the condition that you remove from your sight all books relating to mathematics." Although this seemed to me a hard stipulation, yet I acquiesced in it, and for a time laid aside all my geometrical and astronomical apparatus. I then began diligently to apply to philo- sophy ; nor did 1 derive a small advantage from my former studies, however slight, especially from the admirable method of in- vestigation practised by geometricians. But while I was eagerly following this track, Mam- brim himself, who had again brought me to it, induced me to forsake it and resume my mathematical studies. He represented to me that it was just I should reap some fruit from the great labour 1 had bestowed on these pur* suits; and that he thought it would be pro- per 28 MEMOIRS OF HUET. per to propose some splendid disputation in which I might publicly respond on all the parts of this noble science ; that he had satisfied himself with respect to my ability, and did not doubt that I should acquit myself with credit. I acceded to the opinion of one whom I thought better acquainted with me than I was with myself. The disputation was held before a great circle of the inhabitants of Caen, who were extraordinarily pleased with the novelty of an exhibition, nothing similar to which had yet been known in a place to which, however, learning was not a stranger. In the vast field of mathematics which I had opened to myself, Mambrun procured me a moderator and guide in Erad Bile, a Lorrainer of his own society, who was then professor of moral theology at Caen. This person possessed consummate knowledge in the abstruse sciences, which was concealed under a veil of singular modesty. He dili- gently exercised me in this course of study; and the excellent instructions of such a mas- ter would have enabled me to make great pro- gress, had not his pious ardour for the conver- sion of the American tribes, led him to em- bark BOOK THE FIRST. 2$ bark on a mission, in which he perished by shipwreck. (10) George Fournier of the same order, who manifested his skill in these sciences by an ex-- cellent work on hydrography in the vernacu- lar tongue, and by other writings, was also with us at that time, and I derived much advantage from his acquaintance, (ll) Nor was I less profited by the society of Peter Gautruche, the companion of Fournier, a man of extensive erudition, who enriched the republic of letters with various works, especially relative to po- lite literature. (12) At this period Descartes published the principles of his sect ; and as, during the three preceding years, I had given my attention to philosophy, and was abundantly furnished with the dogmas and precepts of this science, I felt an ardent desire to become acquainted with the opinions of this writer. I could not rest till I had procured and thoroughly perused his book ; and I cannot easily express the admiration which this new mode of philoso- phizing excited inmyyoung inind,when, from the simplest and plainest principles, I saw so jaiany dazzling wonders brought forth, and the SO MEMOIRS OF HUET. the whole fabric of the world and the nature of things, as it were, spontaneously springing to existence. In fact, I was for many years closely engaged in the study of Cartesianism, especially when I beheld so many grave and learned men in Holland and Germany at- tached to it as by a kind of fascination; and I long wandered in the mazes of this reasoning delirium, till mature years, and a full examina- tion of the system from its foundations, com- pelled me to renounce it, as I obtained demon- strative proof that it was a baseless structure, and tottered from the very ground. (13) Mambrun, having at length completed his philosophical course of lectures at Caen, went to repeat the same at Paris for four years more ; and was then sent to la Fleche, where he passed the remainder of his life, about nine years, in teaching theology, though worthy of a more illustrious auditory. He amused his leisure hours with poetical exercises, and pub- lished some excellent productions in this walk, which will never cease to be esteemed by the genuine votaries of the Muses. Our friendship was not in the least diminished by distance and absence, which we alleviated by a fre- BOOK THE FIRST. 31 a frequent epistolary correspondence. I could not forbear, however, to pay him occasional visits at la Fleche, as if 1 had foreseen that it would riot be long before a premature death would snatch him from me. But the memory of our delightful intercourse has ever remained fresh in my mind, and shall continue so while I live ; and I concur with the poet in wishing that the earth may lie light upon those, Qui praeceptorem sancti voluere parentis Esse loco j Juvenal. and who regard a preceptor as " a real parent, not, indeed, of the body, but of the mind." Quint il. I was now, according to the usual custom, called to the study of law, and I found that part of Roman wisdom which relates to the decisions of the learned, and the sanctions of laws, highly agreeable to me, But on the other hand I was invited to resume the pur- suits of general literature and antiquities, by the Sacred Geography of Samuel Bochart, which then began to be published at Caen. (14) By this rich store of Hebrew and Greek litera- ture, I was not only rendered sensible of my own 32 MEMOIRS OF HUET. own poverty, but was made ashamed of it; sol that I adopted the resolution to abstain froiri all other studies until I might be reckoned not altogether uninformed in these. I recol- lected to have read in the celebrated epistle of Joseph Scaliger to Dousa(l5) that being entirely ignorant of these languages at the age of nineteen, he learned them under no other master than himself. I certainly might say the same with respect to myself, having formed the grammar of the Hebrew tongue from the analogy I discovered in the Mosaic books, and afterwards applied it to the con- jugation of the verbs and extraction of their roots. And when, relying upon Scaliger's veracity, I hoped to conquer the Greek lan- guage at the first onset, and to learn all Homer in one-and-twenty days, and devour all the other Greek poets in four months, I found by my own experience that this was one of the vain boasts, of which many are scattered through- out the works of this highly learned and in- genious man, but who was too much addicted to self-praise. My plan was to begin with Homer, and then to apply diligently to the perusal of the other Greek poets, with the aid of BOOK THE FIRST. 33 of the ancient scholia, which are authentic sources of all fabulous history ; after which I undertook the historians, among whom, find- ing Thucydides somewhat crabbed, 1 laid him aside for a time, till I should be able, with the assistance and advice of Petau, to overcome his difficulties. After I conceived myself to have acquired a competent knowledge of the Greek lan- guage, 1 determined to make trial of my pro- ficiency, by translating from the Greek into' Latin some author of whom I was not possessed of any version. The pastoral tale of Longus was of this kind, which I rendered into Latin, little suspecting how much the impurity and licentiousness of that author, whom 1 had never before read, might contaminate the morals of youth. Of this Bochart was equally ignorant, whom I consulted about my design, which he did not disapprove. I was not, however, so much absorbed by my love of Greek literature as to neglect the Hebrew, to which I devoted some stated hours every day. At length I grew dissatisfied with this slack mode of proceeding in a study so important as that of the Holy Scriptures ; and VOL. i. D some 34 MEMOIRS OF HUET. some years afterwards (in l68l) repeated it with greater exertion. And from that period, during thirty years, no day has passed in which I have not spent two or three hours in this study, either perusing the sacred volumes, or turning over the writings of the Rabbins, di- verted by no obstacles either of travelling or business ; so that I have at this time read through, from the beginning to the end, all the Hebrew books of the divine law, four-and- tvventy times. Since I have begun to give an account of my studies, I shall here add, that I have reason to be highly grateful to God for his singular favour, in framing me so, that not only during the vigorous period of youth, but down to my present state of senile debility, no protraction, of study by day or night, no want of exercise in a sedentary life, has ever given me a sense of fatigue or languor ; but I have always, after six or seven hours without intermission spent over my books, arisen from them fresh and cheerful, sometimes even in high spirits, sing- ing to myself and the Muses, in contrast to so many others, who leave study sunk and ex- hausted. I cannot therefore concur with the medical BOOK THE FIRST. 35 medical tribe in their general maxims, that the corporeal powers are debilitated by rest and invigorated by motion. How many literary men have we known who have reached ex- treme old age with a sound constitution ? When I was a young man I frequently visited the most learned James Sirmond, who had then arrived nearly at a century, with a cumbrous indeed, and inactive, but healthy body ; and I usually found him sitting among his books, rarely going out of doors, and taking no other relaxation than that arising from conversation with such of his friends as came to him, if it can be termed relaxation to hold discourse upon serious and literary topics. (16) How many decrepit, yet sound, old men do we see attached to the courts of law, or passing their days in the uniform tenor and pious tranquil- lity of a cloister < how many sedentary arti- sans ? on the other hand, how many field-la- bourers, huntsmen, travellers, grooms, fencing- and dancing-masters, and others, whose whole occupation consists in motion, do we behold broken down before their time by perpetual toil and exercise, and dragging on to age a weak and powerless frame ? (17) p 2 Meanwhile 36 MEMOIRS OF HUET. Meanwhile my attention was engaged by that "Sacred Geography" of Bochart, which had for some time been passing through the press ; and while I compared this inexhaustible store of sacred and profane erudition with my scan- ty and inconsiderable stock, it was a real aX- y$ov oppotrwv, (pain to the eyes) and made me much dissatisfied with my penury. I then thought if I were to wait upon the author, and contract an intimacy with him, I might de- rive some fruit from his abundance, and ob- tain assistance from his advice or communica- tions. Nor was I deceived in my hopes : he received me with liberality and kindness, and a friendship was speedily commenced between us. But as at that time the controversies con- cerning Christian doctrine between the Ca- tholics and Calvinists, of the latter of whom Bochart was a minister, were carried on with peculiar warmth ; lest those of my persuasion should entertain suspicions of the soundness of my faith, it was agreed between us that I should pay my visits with caution, and for the most part by night, and without witnesses. (18) Although I can positively assert, that during a familiarity of so many years, not only no dis- putation, BOOK THE FIRST. 3'f> putation, but even no conference, concerning controverted points of doctrine ever took place between us, as we both studiously avoided it. Once only, when in Germany we were survey- ing the pictures hung up in the Lutheran churches, we touched upon the question of the worship of images, but slightly, amicably, and without any contention. Nor did he ever make any objection to my observations on Origen when I sent them for his examination, though there are many chapters in them con- nected with those controversies. It was not till long after, that our minds being exasperated by causes hereafter to be related, we disputed concerning Origen's opinion on the Eucharist and the invocation of angels, and, indeed, keenly and in earnest. But as this controversy is before the public, I shall here say nothing more of it. When Bochart saw me at a very early age ardent in the study of Greek literature, and frequently questioning him respecting the ancient Greek writers, or communicating to him my observations upon them, he spurred the willing steed, and strongly exhorted me to undertake the history of Grecian learning, and 38 MEMOIRS OF HUET. and form a series of the authors in this lan- guage; that what Gerard Vossius had laudably performed with respect to the historians, might be effected by me with respect to the other Greek writers : a vast work, of great time and labour, but useful and almost necessary ; which, however, I had rather see in the hands of another than in my own. I thus resigned myself to an entire inti- macy with Bochart, and the whole train of my studies depended upon his advice ; and as he had received an invitation from Christina, queen of Sweden, I resolved upon being the companion of his journey. But before I enter upon the narrative of this expedition, it is proper that I should commemorate some excel- lent persons, joined with me in friendship, and especially those who by their learning and merits enhanced the literary glory of Caen. Among these was Stephen Cahaignes, a re- lation of the other Cahaignes, who not inele- gantly composed the eulogies of the illustrious natives of Caen. Among the letters of Joseph Scaliger, I would particularly recommend to notice that which he wrote to this James Cahaignes, a physician of Caen, after he had receive^ BOOK THE FIRST. 3 received from him a very polite letter, together with a curiously embroidered purse, for which kind of work Caen was formerly much cele- brated. This little present James Cahaignes sent to Scaliger, by the hand of Stephen, when he went to Holland for the purpose of prose- cuting his studies. On his i-eturn to Caen, he also was incorporated into the college of physicians, and became my friend and medical adviser. I frequently heard him relate from memory entertaining anecdotes respecting Scaliger. He said, that as soon as the purse above mentioned was brought to him, and ex- posed on the table to the view of the by-stand- ers, the consort of the prince of Orange came to pay a visit to Scaliger, who presented her with the purse. As Cahaignes possessed some skill in painting, he requested permission of Scaliger to take his portrait in colours : this he readily granted, and I have seen the pic- ture he made, which is not unlike the com- mon ones of that learned man. In the fol- lowing year, when Scaliger died, Cahaignes was applied to, to assist in the funeral solemnity. For when the office of bearing the pall was to be committed to four persons of family, two noble 49 MEMOIRS OF HUET. noble Frenchmen were joined to two noble Dutchmen for that purpose, because Scaliger was French by birth and Dutch by residence. Cahaignes also purchased some books at the Scaligerian auction, marked in various places with marginal notes in Scaliger's own hand, of which he granted me the use, and they were afterwards presented to me by his worthy son. (19) My literary wealth was likewise augmented by some epistles written in French by Scaliger at different times to James Dalechamp of Caen, when the latter practised medicine at Lyons. (20) At his death his relations were heirs to his property, and whatever remained of it was brought to Caen. Through their kindness these letters of Scaliger came into my possession ; together with some of Cujas (21) written in Latin and Greek with great elegance, and, what may seem more extraor- dinary, with great facility, as by one in a care- less mood, and engaged in other things. I likewise received some valuable books, bearing manifest tokens of the hand and learning of O Scaliger, from the liberality of Stephen le Moine, which he had purchased at the auction P BOOK THE FIRST. 41 <*f Heinsius's library. Among these was the first edition of his work, " De Emendatione Temporum," containing an infinite number of corrections, notes, and additions, afterwards engrafted into the posterior editions. About this time there flourished at Caen two eminent Grecians, Louis Touroude, of Rouen, and James le Paulmier de Grente- mesnil de Vandeuvre. The latter had a hap- py talent for Greek verse, to which he gave the taste and flavour of antiquity, and ani- mated with the fire of youth even at an ad- vanced age. Of this kind is a piece " On Fowling for Woodcocks," which he addressed to Bochart on sending him a brace of those birds ; and another in which he celebrated the birthday of the Dauphin. He also composed readily in Greek prose. I recollect that at Vandeuvre, whither I had gone to visit him, he read me a pleasant narrative in Greek, in- terspersed with Attic salt, and not devoid of the elegance of ancient Greece, in which, now an old man, he commemorated his juvenile amours. At this time he was employed on his great work " Graeciae Veteris Descriptio," |p which his studies were chiefly confined. But 45 MEMOIRS OF HUET. But as it ran out to length, and he was advan- cing in years, I strongly advised him to lay aside a work which he was never likely to complete, aiid give to the world his numerous learned and acute observations on authors in both the ancient languages, whereby he would confer a great benefit on students, who were much interested in the preservation of the marginal emendations and explanations of obscure passages with which his books were filled. This advice, which he at first neg- lected, he afterwards in part adopted. I can- not here refrain from relating an unheard-of and almost incredible exploit of this person, who, when nearly in a state of decrepitude, passing his time chiefly in the country with the rustic noblesse, once thought himself in- sulted by a rude and petulant young man, and challenged him to single combat ; the result of which was, that by his courage and dexterity he compelled his antagonist to beg his life and deliver up his sword. There was at that time at Vandeuvre another James Paulmier, the son of the former James's brother. He was a youth of an elegant turn of mind, and possessed of a talent for extempore verse, which was so natural .BOOK THE FIRST. 4$ natural to him that his sportive effusions were scarcely equalled by the elaborate efforts of other poets. (22) At this very time, Touroude, whom I have mentioned, seeing that scarcely any hope re- mained of the completion of Paulmier's vast and arduous work, himself undertook the de- scription of ancient Greece. And conceiving that he should not be able to acquire an ac- curate knowledge of objects from the mereper-r usal of ancient monuments, without an ocular inspection of the shores, rivers, mountains, and ruins, he took a voyage to Greece, where he visited many celebrated spots, examined re- mains of antiquity, measured distances, and took notes of every thing that he thought likely to be of use to him. He returned laden with riches of this kind, and had already made a commencement of his work, and had shown me descriptions, prepared for the press, of Illyricum, Epirus, Peloponnesus, and Achaia, which I advised him, as if presaging the event, to publish singly, leaving the remainder to another time. For after his death, his heirs seized upon all his treasury of manuscripts, Jx>oks, and papers, and, rejecting the offers of booksellers 44 MEMOIRS OF HUET. booksellers to print his description "of Greece, rather chose that the fruit of so many labours and vigils should perish, and the memory of their kinsman should be defrauded of its me- rited glory. He was, indeed, a person tho- roughly skilled in Greek literature, and I con- fess to have greatly profited by my frequent and almost daily intercourse with him. But as he was an extremely fastidious estimator of the performances of others, if 1 ever made an attempt in Greek verse, and submitted it to his judgement, he bent his brows, .and plainly dissuaded me from aspiring to the imi- tation of the ancients till 1 had strengthened my powers by long and assiduous exercise. Out of patience with this contempt, and con- scious, perhaps too confident, of my skill, I composed two Greek epigrams, to which I added two of an early, and two of a middle age; and having written them out without any regard to order of date, I carried them thus mingled to Touroude, proposing to him the trial of distinguishing mine from the rest, in order to display his boasted perspicacity. He unwillingly undertook the task, in which he had the misfortune to fail ; for of my two epi- grams, BOOK THE FIRST. 45 grams, he judged one to be ancient, and the other of a middle age. Thus he was caught by me nearly in the same manner that Scaliger had formerly been deluded at Rome by Mu- vetus ; who presented to this dictator of the critical art an epigram written by himself, as if copied from an ancient manuscript ; when the great man was so convinced of its antiquity, that he could scarcely be made sensible of the fraud. (23) Another of my intimates was James Grain- dorge'de Fremont, at that time eminent atCaeii for the study of Roman antiquities and numis- matics ; a person of elegance, urbanity, and acuteness ; whose eulogy I have made public in another work inscribed to his brother An- drew, the rival of his virtues, and also my friend. The latter had practised physic during twenty years at Narbonne, when, upon the untimely death of his brother James, he was obliged to return to his native province and family. For many years we were very agreeably associated ; for he was extremely conversant in the philo- sophical studies, to which I was so much ad- dicted, and especially in physics ; and was also not alien from the study of antiquities, particularly 46 MEMOIRS OF HUET. particularly of old coins and medals, of which he had collected a great quantity in the Nar- bonnensian province, and brought to Caen. James had not entered upon Greek literature, and Touroude and I frequently admonished him of the loss he thereby sustained. But al- though by repeated exhortations we urged him to the study of this language, assuring him that he would find the pains bestowed upon it well repaid, yet he was so averse to labour that he chose rather to remain without the benefit, than to take upon himself a new task. At length our perpetual reproaches induced him to shake off his indolence and become ashamed of his ignorance ; and he set himself to redeem his past negligence with so much vigour, that he added this branch of learning to his former acquisitions. I recollect employ- ing his example to stimulate two great men to undertake the study of Greek literature : one of these was that consummate general of our times, Louis Bourbon prince of Conde, who to his various learning added a profound knowledge of Roman antiquities ; the other was the duke of Montausier, well exercised in the daily perusal of the Latin authors. Both of BOOK THE FIRST. 4 ? of them, however, were diverted from such an attempt by other cares, nor could they easily bring down their minds to the study of gram- mar rules. Fremont had relapsed into his constitutional indolence, when he was impor- tuned by the academy of Caen to investigate and transmit to posterity the antiquities of our native place ; a task which I myself did not undertake till he had absolutely declined it, alleging as a reason, that all the ancient re- cords of Caen were destroyed either by pil- lage in the English wars, or by fire, and that no memorials of antiquity had survived ; whereas, on the contrary, I asserted that this very ignorance of remote events, and destruc- tion of public records, was a part of the re- quired history; and that he who should fully ascertain it, would at least know that nothing * o more could be known, and that a further re* search would be mere lost labour. Of this, Fremont was indeed perfectly sensible, and he coincided with me in opinion ; but he wished to throw a false colour over his laziness, and was used jocularly to excuse himself by the Italian adage, " that i$ is a heavenly thing to do nothing." Hitherto 4S MfififOlRS OF HUET. Hitherto the love of letters had taken such hold of me, that although a disposition to piety, fostered by my preceptors, had struck tolerably deep root in my mirtd from child- hood, yet, trampled down by the constant course of profane studies, and deprived of the celestial dew afforded by a frequent recourse to the holy sacraments, they had nearly withered. The evil was increased by the ex- ample of my young companions, who, being carried away by the pleasures and amuse* ments of the world, and the pursuit of human praise, easily drew me in to be the associate of their manners and errors. I therefore fre- quented the circles of men, and especially of women, to be a favourite of whom I regarded as the surest proof of politeness. In this view I omitted nothing that I thought necessary to ingratiate myself with them ; such as care of my person, elegance of dress, officious and frequent attendance upon them, amatory verses, and gentle whispers, which feed the insanity of love : practices which I have with too little reserve displayed in a metrical epistle addressed to Menage, well known to the public. (24) On- BOOK THE FIRST. 4$ On the other side, my guardian, perceiving the fervour of my youth beginning to subside, and that it was time to inure me to bodily exercises, took me to the schools for fencing, dancing and riding, to which last art he was himself much addicted. As a dancer I was always awkward and unskilful ; but in fen- cing and riding I became so expert as to ex cite the envy of my companions, and even of the masters. For my agility was so great, that I could leap up to whatever place I could touch with my hand ; and in run- ning, left all at a distance behind me ; and such was my strength of limbs, that sitting on the ground with two very strong men, they holding a stick on one side, and I on the other, they were unable to wrench it from me or to stir me from the place. From childhood I had learnt the art of swimming, without a master and without corks, but accidentally. For being, like other boys, accustomed in the hot weather to bathe several times in the day for the sake of cool- ness, it once happened that I ventured into a stream without first trying its depth, and im- mediately sunk to the bottom ; when being VOL. i. E roused 80 MEMOIRS OF HUET. roused to the utmost esertio&i by the urgency of the darker, I smuggled so hard with my hands and feet as to raise /myself to the surface of the water ; and having thus discovered that I possessed a faculty with which 1 was before unacquainted, I swam across a deep river on that very day. From that time, by frequent practice I acquired such a proficiency in this art, that I was able to dive to the bottom of the deepest streams, and take up oysters from the ground, so that none of my companions were reckoned to surpass me in this respect. Having thus passed the early years of my life, on the entrance upon my twenty-first, according to the custom of Normandy, I was made my own master, and was at length released from the authority of a guardian by whom I had been rigorously treated, and even so illiberally with regard to money matters, that I was obliged to borrow of rny friends to defray my juvenile expences. This kind of parsimony, though apparently intended to augment the pupil's fortune, I can by no means approve ; as calculated to break the spirits of youth, and tempt them to sordid practices and unworthy arts for the supply BOOK THE FIRST. 51 scpply of their wants. Being now in easier circumstances, I began to entertain new de- signs ; and especially I felt a vehement inclina- tion to visit Paris, as well on account of the celebrity of the city, as through a curiosity to see those distinguished characters in the literary republic who were already known to me by their works and reputation ; but most of all for the purchase of books, without which my studies must have languished, or even have "been entirely suspended. I therefore flew thither with great alacrity ; and with greater, to the 'booksellers' shops, i found however all the fund I 'had destined to that purpose, presently exhausted ; a circumstance that often ^happened to me in the sequel ; for what- ever sums, by sparing from -my pleasures, 1 was able to scrape together*, were all sunk among the booksellers of St. Jacques ; so that my purse, during my youthful years, was usually in a very exhausted state. On the other liand, my library was so much augmented that 'no other in our district equalled it either in num'ber or choice of volumes. Jn selecting them, my principal object was to become pos- sessed of all the ancient writers, paying little E2 or 53 MEMOIRS CF HUET. or no regard to elegance of bindings, whether in parchment or Morocco leather, which nicety I left to the luxury of financiers and farmers of the revenue. Being also conscious that I had collected books not for idle ostentation, but for my own use, I cared little about keeping them unsoiled ; but if during the perusal any thing occurred to me worthy of noting, either by way of emendation of the text, or understanding of a passage, I marked it in the margin. One idea, however, greatly disturbed me, which was, that a library formed by so much labour and expence, .the dearest solace and food of my mind, would hereafter be dispersed, in alleys and upon booksellers' stalls, and come into the hands of the ignorant vulgar. As my feelings recoiled from such a prospect, I resolved to obviate the evil, as I afterwards did in the manner that will be mentioned. Nor were my frequent journeys and long residences at Paris useful to me only in the ac- quisition of books ; for upon my visits there I made it my business to introduce myself to those eminent and excellent men, whose singu- lar erudition had raised them to so high a de- gree BOOK THE FIRST. 53 gfee <*f reputation ; especially Sirmond, Petau, Labbe, Vavasseur, Rapin, Cossart, and Com- mire. Sirmond was now turned of ninety ; yet he remitted nothing of his ardour for study, and devoted this extremity of life to writing and commenting. He was besides possessed of uncommon courtesy and elegance of manners, as one whom you might recog- nize to have been long conversant both in the pontifical and royal courts. Although I had heard much of his urbanity, my reception from him surpassed my expectation ; for al- most immediately after our first interview he opened to me his soul and his cabinet, and favoured me with the soundest advice for the direction of my studies and the forming of my manners. He likewise wrote to me in my absence the most agreeable letters, and I should have derived great pleasure and emo- lument from our intercourse, had it not soon after been broken off by his unexpected and almost sudden death*. Dennis Petau was of a more reserved cha- racter, and bore an aspect of seriousness and * See Note 16, B. l. severity, 54 MEMOIRS OF UET. severity, which, however, softened upon ha- bitual acquaintance. By my assiduity and at- tentions I so well ingratiated myself with him, that although he was then closely engaged ia his immense work of "Dogmata theologica," in which he recalled theology from the frivo- lities and fetters of the schools to the open fields of the ancient church, trodden by the feet of the Fathers, yet he descended without reluctance to the lighter cares of my studies, and seemed in them almost to renew his for- mer years. And as I was then engaged upon Thucydides, who, in many parts of his work, and especially in his speeches, lias obscure passages, which, as Cicero formerly remarked, are scarcely intelligible, whenever any thing of this kind occurred to me, I immediately applied to Petau, as to the Pythian tripod ; and he seemed really to take pleasure in my bold in- trusion, and readily submitted to the loss of his valuable hours. (25) With the other persons above mentioned I formed a close intimacy, and especially with Kapin and Commire, both distinguished for their poetical talents. The literary merits of all these have been made known to the world by the 600K THE tflRSTV 55 the productions of each in his respective walk. For towhom is unknown thatvast ocean of learn- ing Philip Labbe, or what branch of literature has he left unexplored ? (26) His fame might have been equalled, or perhaps surpassed, by that of Gabriel Cossart, had not the latter, with a- happy genius, been impatient of labour and wasteful of his time, whence he lost in glory all that he remitted in study. He was particu- larly celebrated for an extemporaneous oration with which, in some academical dispute, he on the instant replied to the contumelious decla- mation of a certain famous professor, sharply and clearly confuting him amidst the applauses of a numerous audience of the leading mem- bers of the Parisian academy. (27) Francis Vavasseur, who chiefly confined himself to poetical composition, was distinguished as a lever of pure diction, and a searcher after the elegances of the Latin language, which he pur- sued with so much attention to correctness, that whilst he aimed at the praise of a skil- ful grammarian, he was stigmatized as a tame and- spiritless poet. I was, however, attached to the man, and possessed so much of his affec- tion, that he made me the principal partaker and 56 MEMOIRS OF HUET. and arbiter of the fruits of his lucubrations. (28) Neither did Rapin and Commire expatiate much further beyond the bounds of poetry. The French compositions of Rapin are slight, as he came to the task slenderly furnished with the learning requisite for such topics. But his verses are full of amenity and sweet- ness, and the product of a facile and favouring Muse ; though they are not marked with that poetic fire and enthusiasm without which Democritus denied that a poet could deserve the epithet of great. The recollection of this excellent person is a source of much pleasure to me; I received singular kindnesses from him, and, as long as he lived, paid him the most respectful attention. (29) The verse of JohnCommire possessed more vigour with equal facility ; for he was capable even of extempora- neous effusion ; and I have sometimes seen him, by way of amusement, and, according to the phrase, standing on one leg, pour out verses as it were from a spring-head. (30) J also received great pleasure from finding here Steplien Agard de Champs, a native of Bourges, likewise of the order of Jesuits, and conspicuous for having passed through all its dignities, BOOK THE FIRST. 5 J dignities, whom I had formerly known as teaching rhetoric in the college of Caen. Besides a majestic person, he was endowed with a fine understanding, cultivated by liberal studies, and a memory comprehensive and te- nacious almost beyond belief, which he had so much improved by art and exercise, that after a great number of words had once been recited to him, he was able to repeat them all exactly in the same order, to the astonishment of the hearers. He acquired particular consideration in his fraternity during the Jansenist contro- versies, by a work published under the name of Antoine Ricard, in which he undertook to prove that Jansenius had borrowed his doc- trines from Calvin. (31) In the society of learned men with which I was become ac- quainted, a distinguished place was occupied by John Gamier, who had made himself known by several writings, and was afterwards much more famed for his edition of Marius Mercator, a writer who in the age of Augustine vigorously attacked the heretical dogmas of Pelagius and Nestorius. It would be a culpa- ble omission were I to pass over in silence the sedulous aiid valuable assistance he afforded me when 5$ MEMOIRS O IIUET. when I was to draw up the history of Origen, and arrange according to exact chronological order all the circumstances relative to that writer. (32) Nor must I omit to notice those illustrious literary characters out of the limits of this so- ciety, with whom at this period I contracted a friendship. Among these the principal were the brothers Peter and James Du Puy, whose name, ennobled by the virtues of their ancestors, and especially by their own r is of itself an eulogy. In addition to the most agreeable man- ners, they were adorned with exquisite learn- ing, particularly Peter, the spirited vindicator of the dignity of the French empire, and the com- munities of the Gallican church. The rich trea- sures ofthe royal library being committed to their custody, they were daily visited by many eminent B3en,from whose learned conversations I received great delight, especially after the noble pair of brothers had introduced me with their kind recommendations ; so that without any efforts ef my own, and beyond my deserts, I found Myself admitted to the friendship of these di- stinguished persons, and saw my name inscri- bed in thtir listau. (33) Among' these, Francis Guyet BOOK THE FIRST. Guyet was highly esteemed for his poetical talents : he was a votary of sound antiquity, a rival of the ancient bards, nor indeed much inferior t,o them, even though the venerable rust of early Rome might be wanting ; so much, did he flatter the ear with his rotundity of phrase and harmony of numbers. He also cultivated and practised the critical art, but too licentiously, assuming so much authority in deciding on the writings of the ancientSj that he seems almost to commit an assault upon them. I have seen a Virgil which he used to read, with marginal emendations written by his own hand: in these, such immoderate liberties were taken, and the original was so foully disfigured, that if the poet had been published in this form you might have sought Virgil in Virgil. (34) I was also very intimate with Ismael Boulliau, who then lived with the Du Piiys ; nor when we were afterwards separated by my return to Caen and his continuance at Paris, did we intermit the offices of friendship ; for we frequently interchanged letters, in which I acquainted him with the progress of my studies, and he gave me information of all that was 66 MEMOIRS OF HUET. was going on among the learned. In commerce we were by no means upon equal terms; for what entertainment could be de- rived from a provincial by one who was placed in the very seat of learning, and was himself a stranger to no kind of erudition ? The rank, especially, that he held among the first astronomers of the age, may be estimated from his * f Astronomia philolaica," in which he so re- stored the sidereal science of the ancient Py- thagoreans, long become obsolete, that he may be regarded as its founder. His geometrical knowledge was sufficiently displayed by his commentary " De lineis spiralibus;" his phi- losophical, by his edition of Ptolemy's treatise Ilfp/ Kptryptov Ktxt yyspoviKov, with an interpre- tation and notes ; and he abundantly proved his proficiency in polite literature, as well by his familiar conversation, as by his letters to numerous correspondents. (35) On my arrival at Paris there was no one with whom I formed a closer connexion than Gabriel Naude, who had long been known to me by his reputation, and more by his writings. At this time he had the direction of the Mazarin library, which he had collected with BOOK THE FIRST. l with great labour in many journeys through- out Europe, and had brought to such an extent, that it was equalled by none in France, with the exception of the Royal library. Yet not long after, amidst the civil tumults, it was put up to auction and dissipated. In the mean time, whilst I was expending more in the purchase of books than my fortune allowed, Naude brought me to reason, favoured me with his advice and assistance, and in a friend- )y manner admonished me to be on my guard against the craft of booksellers. (36) Not long before, there had arrived at Paris a sister's son of Luke Holstein, Peter Lam- becius of Hamburg, who of late years has me~ ritoriously presided over the imperial li- brary at Vienna, of which he has published a very valuable catalogue. As soon as he reached Paris, he edited critical lucubrations to illustrate Aulus Gellius, and introduced him- self to Naude. As we were both in the habit of coming thither, I contracted an acquaint- ance with him, which ripened into a firm friendship through the mediation of Naude ; who was so much pleased with observing two young men attached to solid literature, that he 62 MEMOIRS OF HUET. he often invited us to his rural retreat, amd seemed to renew his youth in our company. When I passed through Hamburg ^ome years Afterwards, I would not leave it without sa- luting my friend Lambecius. by whom I was liberally entertained, and presented with his 'estimate work "De-onginibns Hamburgensi- fcas." <37) Durivrg tftie time I spent at Paris in aug- menting my library, on returning home in the evening and surveying my treasures, I was particularly attracted by the "Dogmata theo- log'ica" of Petati, lately published, and in high reputation with the learned. As I knew, loved, and greatly esteemed the author, the dignity of the subject, the clearness of the style, and the interspersed 'erudition, engaged my attention for whole ni girts. Bat while I examined by my own scales the arguments which he brought in proof of his doctrines, if any of them seemed to me to be deficient in weight, my faith in the doctrine itself was shaken, as I imagined that nothing more cer- tain could be adduced in its defence than what had been the result of the deliberate research of so great a man. This rash opinion, pro- ceeding BOOK THE FIRST. 63 ceeding from juvenile levity, impaired my for- mer convictions respecting some of the tenets of our holy religion, and the reverence with which I had hitherto regarded it ; nor did I recover from this morbid state, until, my mind being illuminated by brighter rays from Heaven, the clouds were dispelled, and my faith struck firmer and deeper roots. (38) NOTES 65 NOTES TO THE FIRST BOOK, NOTE (1), PAGE 10. VJILLES MACE, born at Caen in 1586, and the son of a man of learning, was an advocate, and obtained applause at the bar : his favour* ke study, however, was mathematics, which he taught publicly in the university of Caen. He wrote verses, which are said "not to have been contemptible." He died at Paris in l&Jf. NOTE (2), PAGE 18. This is a valuable observation. Modern La- tin poetry having little intrinsic value, the practice of it should be regarded chiefly as a lesson in the language, and as conducing to a true relish of the works of the Roman poets. It should therefore be founded upon imitation VOL. i. F of 66 MEMOIRS OF HUET. of the best models which antiquity has left us; for although such an imitation precludes originality and fetters genius, it attains the end properly aimed at by such compositions. The English scholars have been nicer in this respect than most of those on the continent ; whence, though less copious in their Latin effusions, they have been more distinguished for classical purity. NOTE (3), PAGE 18. JEAN-PIERRE CAMUS was one of the great- est ornaments of the Gallican church. Though -promoted to the see of Bellei by the favour of Henry IV. before the age of twenty-six, he engaged with all the seriousness of mature life in the duties of his function, and no one could surpass him in zeal and diligence. These qualities, with the strictness of his morals, rendered him a great enemy to the monks of his time, whom he attacked with so much severity in his sermons and writings, that they found it necessary to engage the interposition of cardinal Richelieu. One of his strokes in a sermon preached before the Cordeliers them- selves NOTES TO BOOK I. (>/ selves on St. Francis's day will suffice to show the freedom with which he treated them : " Fathers, admire the greatness of your saint ! his miracles surpass those of the Son of> God himself. Jesus Christ, with five loaves and three fishes, once in his life fed five thousand persons : St. Francis, with an ell of cloth, by a perpetual miracle, daily feeds forty thousand sluggards." In the following lively antithesis he sufficiently displayed his notion of monas- tic vows. " My friends, ( said he, as he was about to begin a sermon, ) a young gentle- woman is recommended to' your charity, who is not rich enough to take a vow of poverty." His taste in writing partook of the grossness of the age, which freely mixed the serious with the ludicrous ; but his piety was solid, and his intentions were pure. After refusing two more considerable bishoprics, and resigning that which he possessed, he retired from the world to an apartment in the hospital of Incurables at Paris, where he died in 1652 at the age of seventy. He is said to have written more than. 200 volumes, few of which long survived him. His " L'avoisinement des Protestans avec 1'Eglise Romaine " is asserted to have been re- F 3 vived 6'S MIMOIRS OF HUET. vived in a new dress in Bossuet's " Exposition of the Catholic Faith." One of his pious pro- jects was to gain over romance-readers, by writing for them a number of stories, the in- cidents of which were contrived to inspire a horror of the influence of the tender passion ; but the design appears to have been attended with little success. NOTE (4), PAGE 19. GEORGE DE BREBEUF, born in ]6l8 at Thorigny in Lower Normandy, was a French poet of considerable talents, though perhaps not of the purest taste. He is said to have laboured under a perpetual fever of twenty years, which may have contributed to that fer- vour and? inflation of style which marked his translation of the Pharsalia, but which was also in part doubtless inspired by the diction, of the original. This vyork was very popular soon after its appearance in 1608, but has lost credit since the taste in French poetry has be- come more correct and refined. It may be ad- ded, that Luran was not an author to be much favoured in the arbitrary reign of Louis XIV. Brebeuf, NOTES TO BOOK I, 69 Brebeuf, who died at the early age of forty- three, was of a mild and modest character, and seems naturally to have possessed a turn rather to ingenious than sublime writing. His first attempt upon Lucan was a parody of the first book, which he converted into a lively satire upon modern nobility. His Miscellaneous Works contain pieces of verse reckoned pretty, among which are a few of the 152 Epi- grams which he wrote against a woman who painted. NOTE (5} 9 PAGE 19. In such comparisons as those between Homer and Virgil, the latter poet and Lucan, and others of the like kind, it is generally rather the taste than the judgment that is concerned ; that is to say, individual taste formed by habit or association, which inspires likings and dislikings very different from the conclusions of criticism even in the same person. There might be a perfect agreement in opinion as to the different points of merit in two poets, such as style, ordonnance, inven- tion, &c., and yet the degree of pleasure de- rived from their productions might be ex- tremelv TO MEMOIRS OF HUET. tremely different to those who thus agreed, be- cause it arises from circumstances not taken into the comparison. Thus, the high moral and political sentiments of the Pharsalia may give greater delight to one of a congenial mind with the author, than any of the more poetical beauties of the Eneid, and he may therefore, for his own reading, give the preference to Lucan, without allotting him a higher seat on Parnassus than Virgil. This is a distinction to which it is important to attend in estimating different tastes, as it may serve to correct the disposition to dogmatical censure, and incul- cate the spirit of literary toleration. NOTE (6), PAGE 20. SARASIN, born near Caen in 1604, ranks among the French literati in the class of the lively and agreeable. He was pleasant in soci- ety, welcome to both sexes and to all charac- ters, and well calculated to make his way with the great. He was secretary and favourite of the prince of Conti. Accompanying that prince once upon a progress, as they were passing through a small town, the mayor and sheriffs NOTES TO BOOK I. 7* sheriffs came to pay their compliments to his highness, when the orator on the occa- sion had the misfortune to stop short at the end of the first period. Sarasin immediately jumped out of the coach, placed himself by the side of the orator, and went on with the harangue in a style so original and comic that the prince was extremely diverted. He felt, as other wits have done, the burden of being expected always to be witty; and was used to say, " I envy the lot of my attor- ney, who has made his fortune, and without fear of criticism begins all his letters with ' I have received the honour of yours.' " The works of Sarasin are miscellanies in prose and verse, of which the best known is a mock-heroic poem entitled "Defaite des bouts rimes," 'meant to ridicule the literary frivolity of rhymed endings, then much in vogue, NOTE (7), PAGE 22, ANTONY GQSSELIN, a Picard, was educated at Paris, and first obtained 1 a chair in the university of Poitiers, of which, at a very early age, he was made rector. It was on the recommen- 73 MEMOIRS OF HUET. recommendation of the learned Scevole de Sainte Marine that he was invited to Caen. He became principal of the college Du Bois in that university, and died in that charge in 1645, being then for the seventh time rector of the university. NOTE (8), PAGE 23. The Jesuit MAMBRUN ranks among the principal Latin poets produced among that order, which, especially in France, seems particularly to have aimed at reputation in that walk of literature. He was a close, and apparently a servile, imitator of Virgil, not only copying his diction, but, like that poet, dividing his compositions into Eclogues, Georgics, and an epic poem of 12 books, en- titled " Constantine ; or Idolatry destroyed." To the latter is prefixed a peripatetic disser- tation on the epic, in which he applies the rules of the Aristotelic philosophy as the pro- per laws of poetic composition, laying down this maxim, "Veritas sine Aristotelis philo- sophia ne in Poetica quidem locum habet." That no real poet would ever adhere to such rules, NOTES TO BOOK I. f3 rules, we may be well assured. The Georgics of this father are metaphorically so named, their subject being the culture of the mind and the understanding. Mambrun was born hi 1600 in the province of Auvergrie, and died at LaFleche in l6b*l. NOTE (9), PAGE 26. In all countries where there are orders of men devoted to a life of religious austerity, it is common for young persons, especially those who have leisure for study and reflection, once in their lives at least to be inspired with an inclination to enter into such societies; of which the most rigorous are usually preferred, as the most captivating to the imagination, and affording the greatest scope to the passion for doing something extraordinary, which is usually the true source of this propensity. Segrais happily denominated this fever of monachisrn, the small-pox of the mind ; and the abbe St. Pierre affirms that in his youth it was the disease of almost all boys on leaving college. Huet, in the preceding passage, saft. ficiently 74 MEMOIRS OF HUET. ficiently testifies his own opinion of this ima- ginary call, though he thinks it necessary to use a little pious cant in the conclusion. We shall hereafter have occasion to make some further remarks on his devotional character. NOTE (10), PAGE 29. ERAD BILE, a Jesuit of Lorrain, professor of cases of conscience, or casuistry, in the col- Jege Du Mont at Caen, encountered some se- rious attacks on account of certain propositions which he held concerning simony, and the jurisdiction of the pope, and which were marked with the relaxed and offensive prin- ciples for which his order have incurred so much censure. Among other opponents . were M. Cally, an eminent philosopher, and M. Du- pre of the congregation of the Oratory ; the Jatter of whom pronounced before the univer- sity of Caen in l644, an admired Latin ha- rangue in refutation of his doctrines on those subjects. Pascal, in his Provincial Letters, (Lett, xii.) alludes to the opinion advanced by father Bile respecting simony, which, by virtue NOTES TO BOOK I. 75 virtue of a distinction, affords such a subter- fuge for the practice of it, that Simon Magus himself might have sheltered himself under the exemption. This father was more unex- ceptionable in the character of a mathemati- cian, in which he acquired a merited reputa- tion. NOTE (11), PAGE 29. GEORGE son of Claude FOURNIER, professor of law in the university of Caen, notwithstanding the opposition of his father, entered among the Jesuits in 1619. His genius seems to have been turned exclusively to mathematics ; on which account, his order, finding him un- fit for the usual employments of its members, sent him as a spiritual assistant on board the French navy. In this situation he studied navigation with such good effect, that he wrote a work entitled " Hydrographie, con- tenant la theorie et la pratique de toutes les parties de la navigation," 1643, fol. He also composed a description of the maritime coasts of the world, under the title of "Geographica orbis notitia per littora maris et ripas fiu- vioruin ;" and a Description of Asia. NOTE 76 MEMOIRS OF IIUET. NOTE (12), PAGE 29, Of this Jesuit, Huet says, in another work, that he was so formed to literary exercises and college employments that he was fit for nothing else. He wrote some works for students which were useful in their time, but are now forgotten. NOTE (13), PAGE 3O. RENE DESCARTES, a genius of the first class, worthy to be placed in parallel with the sub- limest philosophers, though led astray from the sober and patient pursuit of truth by the impulse of that very genius which raised him to such distinction, was born in 1596' in Tou- raine, of an ancient family in the order of no- blesse. The history of his mental progress is curious and instructive. Educated in the Jesuits' college of La Fleche according to the usual routine of studies then pursued, he found, on ascending to scientific subjects, more matter for doubt and reflection, than for ac- quiescence. The elements of mathematics, which he imbibed with avidity, gave him ideas KOTES TO BOOK I. 77 ideas of reasoning very different from that which he saw applied in the dialectics of the schools, and he framed for his own use a logi- cal system, in which he adopted the strict me- thod of the geometricians. He reduced morals to a similar system ; but after much deep spe- culation, and an abode of eight years at La Fleche, he returned to his father's house with the conviction that he as yet had obtained certainty in none of his inquiries. Disgusted with a studious life, he resolved to mix with the world, and view mankind as they are in society. For this purpose he entered the army, and served first at the siege of Rochelle, and afterwards in the army of prince Maurice in Holland. Whilst in quarters at Breda, he answered the public challenge of a professor of Dort, who had fixed up a difficult mathema- tical problem; and brought the solution on the next morning, to the surprise of those who little expected such an effort from a young officer. During his service he joined philosophy with arms, and conversed with men of learning at all the places which he visited in a military capacity. At length he was wearied with a profession so adverse in its general habits and 7S MfeMQIRS OF HUfcT. and employments to that course of speculation", which, notwithstanding occasional disappoint- ments, was the decided bent of his mind ; and quitting the army at the age of twenty-six, he took up his residence for a time at Paris. He there chiefly pursued mathematical and ethical inquiries, and drew up his very acute and inge- nious dissertation " On the Passions." A tour in Italy for the purpose of improvement em- ployed nearly two years more; after which, his mind still remaining in a sceptical state, he resolved to bury himself for a time in ab- solute retirement, that he might brood in silence and secresy over his great design of framing an entirely new system of philosophy. To choose a free and a Protestant country for this purpose, was natural in one who had so completely shaken off the fetters of authority, and whose first principle in philosophizing was " that a man ought, once in his life, in spe- culation, to doubt of every thing." He went therefore to Holland, acquainting only his in- timate friend Mersenne with the place of his retreat, which was finally Egmond, a pleasant village near Franeker. He had accustomed himself to such a philosophical simplicity of living, NOTES T/0 BOOK 1. 79 living, that his few wants were supplied by the very moderate funds which he possessed, and during his whole life no man displayed a more honourable disregard of wealth. The fruit of his researches appeared in his treatise entitled " Meditationes philosophies de prima philosophia," the work, doubtless, here alluded to by Huet, and which captivated his inquiring mind with such a display of splendid novelties. It would seem as if the author, disappointed in the pursuit of that ma- thematical demonstration in science which was at first the object of his research, had sat down in the spirit of universal scepticism to the indulgence of his imagination in system- building, thinking that where all was guess, the most ingenious and plausible guesses de- served the preference. Such, however, was the pleasure felt by inquisitive and learned men at the substitution of a new philosophy, em- bracing so wide a field of inquiry, and illus- trated by so much real science, to the Aristo- telic doctrines, within the trammels of which the human mind had been so long confined, that Cartesianism soon became a sect in Europe, which numbered among its votaries many distin- guished 80 MLMOIKS OF guished names. Descartes was not insensible to the vanity of being the founder of a new sect, and occasionally displayed more ambition and jealousy than was suitable to a philosopher. He metwith numerous opponents, especiallyamong the theologians, who were alarmed at the in- troduction of a new mode of reasoning, and at the principle of doubting of all that could not be proved. Some of the more zealous among them represented his system as a kind of atheism, though the being of a God was one of its fundamental truths, which he derived from an innate idea implanted in the human mind. This system first took root in Hol- land, where it was taught in several public schools. In France it met with many fol- lowers, but encountered violent opposition, especially from his old masters, the Jesuits ; and though he paid some visits to his native country, during his residence in Holland, he found it was no longer a place of abode for him. Cardinal Richelieu, indeed, would have placed him in the circle of learned men who formed part of his court as a patron of letters, but Descartes was not made to be one of such a company. A brevet of a pension was given to &OlilS TO BOOK I; 81 to him, which proved only a dear piece of parchment, as he never received a livre. At length, Christina, who had read his work on the Passions, and had heard much of his phi- losophy, felt a great desire to see him, and re- ceive his Oral instructions. To the first over- tures, made through the French ambassador Chanut, he replied : " A man born in tha gardens of Touraine, and now retired to a country less abundant, indeed, in honey, but perhaps more so in milk, than the pro- mised land of the Israelites, cannot easily resolve to go and live in the country of bears, amid rocks and ice." He was, however, in fine prevailed upon to comply with the queen's invi- tation, probably flattering himself with being the legislator in philosophy of a whole king- dom, and he repaired to Stockholm in 1649. Christina received him with marks of distinc- tion, but put him to the hard service of giving her lectures in her library at five in the morn- ing in the midst of winter. This violent change in his habits, (for he was always fond of his bed,) with the rigour of the climate, brought on an inflammation of his lungs, VOL, I. c which 82 MEMOIRS OF HUET. which carried him off four months after his arrival in Sweden, in his fifty-fourth year. The system of Descartes, like all those founded upon hypothesis, has passed away ; but the service he did to philosophy by shak- ing to the ground old errors and prejudices has been permanent. His solid reputation as a first-rate geometrician also survives; and he fills a space in the history of philosophy that brings him in immediate contact with Newton. NOTE (14), PAGE 31. SAMUEL BOCHART, a French Calvinist mi- nister, and one of the most learned men of his time, was born of a good family at Rouen in 1599. He was particularly celebrated for Ori- ental literature, which he studied at Leyden under Erpenius and Ludolf. He first rose to distinction among his party by a public dis- putation held at Caen, where he was minister, on the controverted points between the ca- tholics and protestants, with one father Veron, in which he is said to have kept the field. That these polemical contests have no other result NOTES TO BOOK I. 83 result than that of displaying the powers of the seVeral antagonists, is well known ; but their being permitted by the party possessed of public authority is a proof of a degree of mo- deration, which, however, nothing but the political consequence of the dissidents can se- cure. In France, the reign of Louis XIV put an end to every vestige of equality between, the two religions. The " Sacred Geography" of Bochart was divided into two parts, entitled " Phaleg" and " Canaan," and contains a prodigious mass of erudition, with no small mixture of fanciful etymology and chimerical conjecture. He afterwards published " Hierozoicon," or An account of the animals mentioned in Scrip- ture; which would have been a better work had he been better acquainted with natural history. Of his visit to Sweden, the present work gives the best account. It may be added, that Christina seemed to take a pleasure in disconcerting his gravity ; and it is said in the " Menagiana," that she used to make him lay aside his clerical mantle, and play with her at battledore and shuttlecock. Several stories are told of the tricks played him by G 2 Bourdelot, MEMOIRS OF HUET. Bourdelot, the French physician ; among the rest, that he assured the queen that Bochart was an excellent performer on the flute, though modesty led him to conceal it ; and that Christina absolutely compelled him to make a trial on that instrument, with which he was utterly unacquainted. Bochart was a man of candour and moderation, and for the most part kept clear of the literary squabbles which dis- graced so many of the learned in his time. NOTE (15), PAGE 3 2. This epistle, entitled " De Splendore ac Ve- tustate Gentis Scaligeri," in which Joseph Sca- liger supports the imposture advanced by his fa- ther Julius Caesar, of a descent from the princes of Verona, and gives anecdotes of his father's life and his own, is a most curious monument of literary pride and vanity. That, however, he was chiefly indebted to his own assiduity for his knowledge of the learned languages, and the vast fund of erudition which he acquired, is highly probable, though he may have ex- aggerated in the particulars of his early studies. They are given in the following passage: " In the NOTES TO BOOK I. 85 the nineteenth year of my age, after the death of my father, I went to Paris for the purpose of acquiring a knowledge of Greek. After I had attended for two months upon Adrian Turne- bus, finding that for want of other aids I lost my labour in his learned auditory, I shut myself up in my closet, and became iny own master for what I could not learn elsewhere. Having therefore merely touched upon the Greek conjugations, I went through all Ho- mer with a translation within twenty-one days ; and upon the grounds of the poetic dialect I formed a grammar for myself; nor did I learn any other than that which I deduced from the analogy of the Homeric words. I devoured all the other Greek poets within four months ; nor did I look into any of the orators or his- torians till I had made myself master of the poets. I spent two whole years in Greek litera- ture, when I became bent upon the acquisi- tion of the Hebrew; and though I did not know a single letter of that language, I was in- debted to no other preceptor than myself in learning it." NOTB 86 MEMOIRS OF HUET. NOTE (16), PAGE 35. JAMES SIRMOND, a very learned Jesuit, was born at Rioni in 1559. He was many years secretary at Rome to.Aquaviva, general of the order, and employed his advantages in that capital to acquire a profound knowledge of the monuments of antiquity. He was in habits of intimacy with several eminent cardinals, among whom was Baronius, to whom he rendered considerable services in the composition of his Annals. On returning to France he was made confessor to Louis XIII, which post he occu- pied many years with the public esteem. He was the author of many works, chiefly relative to ecclesiastical antiquities, and of several con- troversial pieces, in which he displayed the usual warmth of a polemic, though mild and gentle in society an opposition by no means un- common. He is said, when writing upon a topic of this kind, always to have kept something in reserve for a reply, like the residuary force by which skilful generals often win a battle. His polemical works are not free from the Jesuitical art, of representing as the doctrine of KOTES TO BOOK I. 87 of the Gallican church what was never really so, but was that of his own -order ; and are there- fore to be perused with caution. This learned veteran lived to his ninety-second or ninety- third year. NOTE (17), PAGE 35. Huet might have enforced his argument by the greater longevity of women than men, upon the average, though originally of weaker stamina, and more liable to constitutional de- rangement. In advanced age, the necessity of exercise, to persons regular and temperate in their manner of living, is confined within narrow limits, and the human machine, like all others, goes longest with little friction. There are, indeed, certain disorders peculiar to a sedentary life, but for the most part such as do not materially abridge its duration. Many literary men have reached the period of ex- treme old age though much afflicted with that " crux literatorum," the stone and gravel. Against this tormenting malady the best pro- phylactics are moderate walking, copious di- lution, and proper attention to urinary evacu- ation. NOTE 88 MEMOIRS OF HUET. NOTE (18), PAGE 36. This is a curious picture of the jealousy of a predominant religious party. Two men of learning could not meet to confer on topics of literature, without exciting suspicions that the sectary was plotting to make a convert of the member of the establishment, or that the lat- ter had spontaneously meditated a change. Huet, indeed, might be the object of particular jealousy, as being descended from protestant ancestors, and having distinguished himself as a young man of large enquiry. Jt is not in catholic countries alone that this disjunctive, principle operates ; I have seen too many in- stances of it, whether through caution or aver- sion, among ourselves. The most truly candid person I ever knew, used bitterly to lament that in a small town the few men of letters could not meet to converse about Homer or Virgil, because they bore different religious denominations. NOTE (19), PAGE 40. JAMES CAHAIGNES, son of a physician of Caen, NOTES TO BOOK I. S$ Caen, followed his father's profession, and set- tled in his native city. He became rector of the university of Caen, and sheriff of the city; which employments he quitted in his advanced years, and devoted himself to literary com- position. His principal work was that men- tioned above, the^ " Eulogies of the Illustrious Persons of Caen," of which he published one century, written in Latin, and consisting solely of persons whom he had known. It displays candour and patriotism, but is diffuse, and frequently digresses into trite moralizing, Of STEPHEN CAHAIGNES, a near relation of the former, no more is recordect than what Huet here mentions. NOTE (20), PAGE 4O. , JAMES DALECHAMP, a learned physician, bom at Caen in 1513, distinguished himself as a botanist, and drew up a "General History pf Plants," published after his death in two volumes folio. He gave editions of the medical classics Paulus ./Eginetaand Ccelius Aurelianus, and also of Pliny the Elder, Athenaeus, and $eneca the philosopher ; and appears to have been gO MEMOIRS OF HUET. been a man of sound erudition and indefati- gable industry. NOTE (21), PAGE 40. JAMES CUJAS, a native of Toulouse, was the most celebrated jurist of the sixteenth cen- tury. He taught law at various universities, particularly that of Bourges, with great di- stinction, and elucidated the Roman jurispru- dence in learned writings, which collectively filled five volumes folio. Living at a period of religious contests carried on with great vio- lence and bigotry, he studiously avoided giving his opinion on theological topics ; which has caused him to be charged with indifference with respect to religion, though he seems only to have practised a prudent and justifiable cau- tion. His reply when pressed on these points, "Nihil hoc ad edictum praetoris," (This is nothing to the pretor's edict, ) might fairly be adopted by way of defence against an insidi- ous or impertinent querist, by one who should be questioned concerning matters not con- ne cted with his proper profession. Cujas was open and familiar with his own students, and liberally NOTES TO BOOK I. Ql liberally assisted them in pecuniary difficulties. He was a true patriot, and his life is thought by de Thou to have been shortened by the scenes of injustice and disorder which he witnessed. He left a remarkable testamentary direction about his library, ordering it to be sold piecemeal by auction, that it might not fall into the hands of a single purchaser, who, from his marginal notes, might send forth gome crude publication under his name, NOTE (22), PAGE 43. JAMES LE PAJJLMIER DE GRENTEMESNII,, a gentleman who united in a singular degree the talents of a man of the world, and the spirit of a soldier, with the love of letters, was de- scended from a noble family in Normandy of the reformed religion. He was born in 1587, and losing his father in jnfai)cy, was educated under the direction of his mother and relations, by whose care he was early instructed in clasr- sical literature. He was for some time in the Jiouse of Peter du Moulin at Paris, where, among other masters, he attended upon the learned Casaubon, who gave lectures upon Herodotus. He 92 MEMOIRS OF I1UET. He afterwards studied the law at Orleans ; and the whole of his youth passed in making ac- quisitions of knowledge from books and travel- ling. At the age of thirty-three he entered into the service of the Dutch in their war against Spain, under the princes Maurice and Henry of Nassau. After the peace he wasliving tranquilly at home; when, taking the part of a gentleman who was oppressed by another, he was attacked by the latter, and obliged to defend himself by force of arms, which he did with so much vigour, that the assailant was killed and his partisans were put to flight. This affair brought him into great trouble, from which he extri- cated himself with honour. He afterwards served his country in Lorrain, at the head of a troop of cavalry, under the duke of Longue- ville, where he signalized his courage in various actions. His journeys to Paris had connected him with many of the first literary characters ; and he spent his leisure time in learned pur- suits at his brother's seat at Vandeuvre. On his brother's death he retired to Caen, where, in advanced years, he married Margaret Samborn, an Englishwoman of fortune, also in the decline of life. He survived her, and died NOTES TO BOOK I. 3 died at the age of eighty-three, highly esteemed as well for his moral as his intellectual qualities. In a work of M. de Brieux was given an emblem " for M. de Grentemesnil, tormented with the stone, twice cut for it, and suffering other acute pains, in which he died :" it was Hercules on mount Oeta, with the motto " Sic itur ad astra." His " Exercitationes in optimos auc- tores Grsecos," published by the advice of Huet, was printed at Leyden in 1668, quarto. His Description of Greece appeared after his death at Leyden, 1678, edited by his relation, Stephen Morin. JAMES LE PAULMIER DE VANDEUVRE, his nephew, a soldier, poet, and man of wit, abjured the reformed religion in presence of Huet, and wrote an ode to the Virgin Mary on the occasion. NOTE (23), PAGE 45. Louis TOUROUDE, a native of Rouen, was originally designed for the medical profession : but after studying in it for some time, he renounced physic and attached himself solely to 94 MEMOIRS QF HUET. to literature. He resided much at Caen, near" which he possessed an estate. The disputes concerning grace, then at their height, engaged his attention so much, that, besides reading all the authors on the subject, he travelled into Holland and Brabant that he might investi- gate them at the source. His mind being thus fanaticised by unintelligible speculations, he entertained the idea of retiring from the world, and, according to the received phrase, giving himself entirely to God. After long search for a retreat to his mind, he fixed upon the chartreuse of Val-Dieu, not far from la Trappe: but finding the austerities of that house too much for his years, and probably feeling a diminution of his religious fervour, he returned to Caen, and resumed his literary studies. He then took the exploratory voyage mentioned by Huet, and on his return em- ployed himself assiduously on his Geography of Greece. By way of specimen he printed a few sheets elucidatory of Caesar's campaign against Pompey in Illyricum j but his death at the age of seventy-five prevented the public from reaping any other fruits of his enquiries. NOTE NOTES TO BOOK 1. NOTE (24), PAGE 48. Nothing costs less to self-love than a con- fession of this kind, in which the writer, under the pretence of acknowledging some youthful frailties, gives views of himself which he knows to be likely to enhance his character in the eyes of the majority of his -readers. The epistle to Menage is here obviously referred to, by way of further information on a topic which he could not decorously dwell upon. NOTE (25), PAGE 54. x This very learned Jesuit, known to scholars by his Latinized name of Petavius, was one of the great ornaments of his order, and in most respects was a model of the true charac- ter of a man of letters. He was born at Orleans in 1580, entered into the society of Jesus at the age of twenty-two, and was long professor of rhetoric and theology in their college of Cler- mont in Paris, where he died in his seventieth year. From childhood to the close of life his great passion was study, to which he sacrificed all $6 AlEiMOIftS OF HOW. all prospects of worldly ambition. He refused an invitation from Philip IV of Spain, well knowing that the ignorance and barbarism of Madrid would not suit one accustomed to the lettered politeness of Paris. He also declined a much more tempting invitation to Rome, from pope Urban VIII, who is said to have intended raising him to the cardinalate. His cell at the college of Clermont was the seat of those labours which have conferred celebrity on his name. He was an esteemed poet in Greek and Latin, a critical editor and elegant translator, a profound chronologist, and an ela- borate theologian. His chronological system is given in his great work " De Doctrina Tem- porum," 2 volumes folio, 1627; of which his " Rationarium Temporum" is an abridgment, with a summary of general history. His "Dog- mata Theologica,"in 3 volumes folio, the labour of his advanced years, is a body of dogmatical theology, in which different opinions are stated with fairness. It was, indeed, thought so fa- vourable to the Arians, that the Sorbonne obliged him to correct the mischief in an orthodox preface, which had only the effect of making him appear inconsistent with him- self. NOTES TO BOOK I. 97 self. His own society took offence at his re- presentation of the opinions of St. Augustine, and enjoined him to retract; with which he complied, being, he said, "too old to change his lodgings." His style in treating on these abstruse subjects is remarkably pure and per- spicuous. His sedentary habits made him so great a sufferer from the stone, that when his physician, Guy Patin, informed him that his end was approaching, he caused a copy of his Rationarium Temporum to he brought, and presented it to him for his good news. There is a good article in the "Huetiana" relative to the style of Petau and his brother Jesuits. "The Jesuits commonly write and speak Latin well ; but their Latinity almost always has the fault of being too oratorical. This proceeds from their being employed at an early age to act as regents in the colleges. By these regencies they are obliged to speak conti- nually in public ; whereby they accustom them- selves insensibly to the use of an uniform and artificial style, elevated above the middle kind. This may clearly be remarked in the letters of father Petau . He always curvets, and never walks ; advances by numerous periods, by studied voL k i. H figures; y8 MEMOIRS OF HUET. figures ; and never with the admirable sim- plicity of the Epistles of Cicero, who, great as he was in oratory, knew how to lay it aside on occasion The letters of Petau are in a rounded, measured style: they are a tissue of phrases, a series of periods ; they are shreds of declamations. All his didactic works, his Dogmata, his books on Chronology, his Critical Dissertations, are in this manner. Father Sirmond, though a Jesuit, was able to avoid this fault ; perhaps because he had early quitted the business of the schools, and had passed a great part of his long life in the courts of Rome and France, where he had fashioned his language to the use of the world." NOTE (26), PAGE 55. PHILIP LABBE, a native of Bourges, was of the order of Jesuits, in the colleges of which he was a professor in various branches. His literary character was that of indefatigable ap- plication : this, with the help of a strong memory, enabled him to publish a great num- ber of books, chiefly compilations, which were useful in their time, though not distinguished for NOTES TO BOOK I. 99 for taste or accuracy. He is known to Latin scholars of the present day by his work on the quantities of words in that language, en- titled "Eruditas Pronuntiationis Catholici Indices," much used as a book of reference. His other works embrace the subjects of his- tory, antiquities, chronology, geography, gram- mar, genealogy, and bibliography. His most voluminous undertaking was " A General Col- lection of Councils," of which he lived to print 8 volumes folio ; and had prepared some more, which were completed by his friend Cossart. The whole appeared in 1 0*72, in 17 volumes folio, Labbe died in 1667, at the age of sixty. NOTE (27), PAGE 55. GABRIEL COSSART, a Jesuit, born of a good family at Pontoise, was much superior in genius, though inferior in industry, to his associate Labbe, and distinguished himself as one of the best poets and rhetoricians of his order. His " Orationes et Carmina" were published by his brother Jesuit, de la Rue, with a dedication, to the celebrated bishop of H 2 Paderborn, 100 MEMOIRS OF HUET. Paderborn, the baron of Furstenburg, who had been the patron of Cossart. The volumes of Labbe's History of Councils from the llth to the 17th were compiled by Cossart, who died at Paris in 1674. NOTE (28), PAGE 56. FRANCIS VAVASSEUR, a native of Parai in the county of Charolois, entered into the order of Jesuits in 162 1. He was professor of the- ology in their college at Paris for thirty-six years, and died in that capital in 1681 at the age of seventy- six. Huet's estimate of his po- etical character is confirmed by other writers, who represent him as more attentive to the purity of words than tbthe force and elevation of ideas. He wrote a treatise upon the Epigram, and three books of compositions of that class, many of which are insipid, as might be ex- pected when the topic is eulogy and not satire. It is certainly not easy to give praise that point which seems almost naturally to form a sting in the tail of a satirical piece. Vavasseur's most esteemed critical work is a treatise "De ludicra Dictione," in which he shews that the burlesque NOTES TO BOOK I. 101 burlesque style is not authorised by the ex- ample of any Greek or Latin writer. He was the author of several theological works, but of no great importance. One of these is a " Dissertation on the Beauty of Christ." That such a subject should betray him into puerilities, is not to be wondered at. Like many elegant writers in a dead language, he wrote in his mother tongue in a mean and disagreeable style. NOTE (29), PAGE 56\ RENE RAPIN, a native of Tours, who en- tered among the Jesuits in 1639, and taught, belles-lettres in their schools, acquired a high reputation by his literary productions, and especially by his Latin poetry. His didactic poem on gardens, entitled "Hortorum lib. iv." has been more read than modern Latin poems usually are, and was re-edited by the learned Brotier so lately as 1780. It is accounted truly Virgilian in its diction, and contains many pleasing passages ; but upon the whole is more distinguished for elegance than po- etical spirit, and scarcely raises the author above 102 MEMOIRS OF HUET. above the rank of skilful versifiers. His " Sa- cred Eclogues" are much praised by his bre-r thren ; as well as his heroic, lyric and elegiac poems. It is said that he himself set no high value upon poetry (at least that of others); for, being once appealed to by Santeul and du Pe- rier concerning the comparative merit of some Latin verses which they had written for a wager, and the stakes being placed in his hand, he read them a severe lecture on their vanity; and then, returning to the church which he had just left, he put the money into the poor's box. As a criticj Rapin made himself known by his "Reflexions sur 1'Eloquence, sur la Poesie, sur 1'Histoire, et sur la Philosophic ;'' and also by his " Comparisons " of Virgil and Homer, and other great writers of antiquity. In these works he is said to display taste and good sense, but sometimes to get out of his depth for want of solid erudition. A literary dispute which he had with his brother Jesuit Vavasseur is worth mentioning as a case of con- troversial ethics. He had published without his name some Reflections on the Poetics of Aristotle. Vavasseur, who was dissatisfied with \i\rn on a former account, published some very severe. NOTES TO BOOK. I. 103 severe remarks upon these Reflections ; and when Rapin complained of this treatment, he replied, that the fault was his own for writing anonymously ; and that if he had known the work to have been his, he would not have at- tacked it. Though this was probably a false pretence, it could not easily be answered. Ra- pin, however, by his interest with the presi- dent Lamoignon, procured the suppression of Vavasseur's Remarks. Certainly, a writer who publishes without his name has no right to expect those regards which his name might inspire. On the other hand, nothing can be more contrary to controversial propriety than, in a reply to an anonymous writer, to address him by his supposed real name, as we have seen sometimes done for purposes of party malignity. Any author has a right, if he chooses, to wear a disguise, provided he does not take the advantage of it to shoot persona- lities with impunity. In such a case it is perfectly fair to drag him to the light, and place him at the bar of the public. Father Rapin likewise wrote several works of piety in the manner, and upon the princi- ples, of his order. In private life he was greatly esteemed 104 MEMOIRS OF HUET. esteemed for probity and benevolence, joined to the politeness of one conversant with good company. He died in 1687, at the age of sixty-six. NOTE (30), PAGE 56. The Jesuit COMMIRE, a native of Amboise, was another considerable name in this poetical fraternity, and has received higher praises from his contemporaries than that of being able to pour out verses " stans pede in uno." He has been said in his Odes to have caught the true lyric strain of the age of Augustus ; and in his Fables, to display the purity and elegant simplicity of Phaedrus. It seems ad- mitted, however, that his manner is generally difiuse and paraphrastic, as might be expected in one whose distinguishing character \vas facility. To poetry he joined theology, of which he was long a professor in the schools of his order. He bore an estimable character for openness and integrity, and mixed little in the affairs of the world. He formed a de- sign of writing a historical work on the wars between France and England, in which he made NOTES TO BOOK I. 105 aiade some progress ; and the " Memoires de Trevoux" for June 17O4 contain a well- drawn portrait from his hand of the duke of Gloucester. Commire died in 1702, aged seventy-seven. NOTE (31), PAGE 5f. STEPHEN AOARD DE CHAMPS, born at Bourgesin l6l3 3 entered early into the society of Jesus. He first applied to belles-lettres, and wrote a Latin tragedy, which cardinal Richelieu caused to be represented in his palace. Becoming professor of theology at the Jesuits' college in Paris, he had for a disciple the prince of Conti, son to the prince of Conde, who was destined to the church. He entered deeply into the disputes concerning grace and free-will, and wrote a work " De Haeresi Jan- seniana," which he dedicated to pope In- nocent X. After having been three times provincial of his order, in which he obtained a high consideration, he retired to la Fleche, where he died at the advanced age of eighty- eight. NOTE 106 MEMOIRS OF HUET. NOTE (32), PAGE 58. JOHN GARNIER, a learned Jesuit, was bom at Paris in l6l2. He is said to have regarded his entrance into the society as so providential, that every year, to an advanced age, he went on foot, fasting, on the anniversary, to a church two leagues from Paris, to return thanks for the blessing. He was well versed in ecclesi- astical antiquity, and edited, besides the work mentioned in the text, (f Liberati Diaconi Breviarium ;" and " Liber diurnus Romano- rum Pontificum." He also published a very well arranged catalogue of the Jesuits' library in Paris, to the augmenting and methodising of which he had paid great attention. Gamier died in 1681. NOTE (33), PAGE 58. * . JI'J *;:.- 1-fi A ''./. .'J'..Vi. Few private families have deserved better of their country, and of the republic of letters, that than of Du PUY, known to scholars by their Latinised name ofPuteanus. The NOTES TO BOOK I. 10/ The first of the name recorded in biography was CLEMENT DU Puy, an advocate in the par- liament of Paris, celebrated for his eloquence and probity, and consulted in all the great law causes of his time. He died in 1548, CLAUDE DU PUY, his son, counsellor in the parliament of Paris, was at the same time one pf the most learned men and best critics, and one of the most upright and illustrious ma- gistrates, of his time. When the city of Paris revolted against the king in the time of the League, he quitted it, and joined that part of the parliament which was assembled at Tours. He died in 1594, not long after the reception of the king in his capital, and his own return to his house. Though he published nothing, he was in habits of friendship and correspon- dence with the most eminent authors of his age, many of whom printed eulogies of hin> in different languages. The illustrious de Thou, who was nearly related to his wife, and closely connected with him by congenial studies and virtues, has consecrated his me- mory in his History. CHRISTOPHER DU PUY, eldest son of Claude, ivent to Rome with the cardinal de Joyeuse as 108 MEMOIRS OF HUET. his prothonotary, where he was instrumental in preventing the first part of de Thou's History from being put in the list of prohibited books. He entered among the Chartreux, and died prior of the Chartreuse at Rome. He was pub- lisher of the collection entitled " Perroniana." PETER DU PUY, third son of Claude, and the most eminent of the family, received an excellent education under his father, and from his earliest years displayed a great attachment to literature. His particular studies were law and history ; and his reputation caused him to be employed in stating the rights of the crown of France to the bishoprics of Metz, Toul, and Verdun, possessed by the duke of Lorraine. He was appointed counsellor to the king in his council, and keeper of the royal library ; and in these situations he highly distinguished himself as a zealous patriot, and a friend to men of letters. He became the author of a number of valuable works, chiefly relating to French history, in which he proved himself the warm and able advocate of the rights of the crown and of the Gallican church. He was the particular intimate of his relation the pre- sident de Thou, of whose history he wrote a justification. NOTES TO BOOK I. 109 justification. He died in l651, at the age of sixty-nine. JAMES DU PUY, brother of the preceding, joint-keeper with him of the royal library, and prior of St. Sauveur, was his associate in the composition of his works, and was publisher of the greater part. He died in 1656. NOTE (34), PAGE 59. FRANCIS GUYET, prior of St. Andrade, was a native of Angers. After having formed con- nections with the literary circles in Paris, he went to Rome, where he acquired the Italian language so perfectly as to be capable of writ- ing elegant verses in it. Returning to Paris, he was domesticated with the duke of Epernon, where he assisted in the education of the car- dinal de la Valette. He undertook a work to prove the derivation of the Latin language from the Greek, but left it imperfect. He wrote marginal notes in many of his classical books, which afterwards came into the hands of Menage. Their value, from the represen- tation of his critical character by Huet, would be dubious ; yet his notes on Terence, Phoe- HO MEMOIRS OF MUET. (trus, and Lucan, have been printed in editions of those authors. He died in 1655, at the age of eighty. NOTE (35), PAGE 60. ISMAEL BOULLIAU was born in 16O5, at Loudun, of protestant parents. He abjured the reformed religion at the age of twenty- seven, and became a priest; but he seems still to have retained somewhat of the. free and en- quiring spirit of a separatist. On the dispute between the king of Portugal and the pope, who refused to grant his bulls to those whom the king had nominated to episcopal sees, Boulliau wrote two Latin treatises in favour of the Portuguese churches, which had the honour of being condemned by the Inquisition. IJe afterwards, by the direction of the minister of state Lyonne, wrote an excellent treatise, (C On the Reformation of the four Religious Orders of Mendicants, and the Reduction of their Convents to a determinate Number." Boulliau was a man of almost universal litera- ture, attended with singular modesty. He studiously shunned praise, and contented him- self NOTES TO BOOK I, Ill self with the simple approbation of those who were judges on the topics in which he exer- cised himself. Towards the close of life he retired to the abbey of St. Victor at Paris, where he died in his eighty-ninth year. NOTE (36), PAGE 61. GAKRIEL NAUDE was one of the remark- able characters of his time. He was born at Paris in l6oo, and received a literary educa- tion with the purpose of following the medical profession. He studied physic both at Paris and Padua, and took a doctor's degree at the latter university ; but he does not appear ever to have practised in the profession. His re- putation as a man of letters caused him to be engaged as librarian, first by the president de Mesmes ; then by cardinal Bagni, with whom he resided several years at Rome ; and finally by cardinal Mazarin. The latter conferred upon him two small benefices. Queen Chris- tina at length gave him an invitation to her court, which he could not refuse ; but, like most of the French who accepted her offers, he found the climate of Sweden so ill-suited to 112 MEMOIRS OF HUET. to his habits and constitution, that he soon left it, and died at Abbeville, on his return, in 1653. Naude was a man who had set himself free from various prejudices, and thought for him- self. Guy.Patin, in one of his letters, gives a striking picture of the philosophical liberty in which he .loved to indulge. He tells his correspondent, that M. Naude, cardinal Ma-* zarin's librarian, had invited Gassendi and himself to spend the night with him at Gen- tilli, on the condition that there should be no other company, and that they three should have a debauch together. " But," says he, " God knows what a debauch ! M. Naude never drank wine in his life; Gassendi is in such de- licate health that he has left it off; and I drink very little. It will, however, be a debauch, but a philosophical one ; since, being all three cured of the fear of bugbears, and liberated from the disease of scruples, that tyrant of con- sciences, we may possibly approach very near to the sanctuary." One of the most distinguished of Naudc'a numerous writings was meant to obviate a prejudice at that time far from being extin- guished : this was 'his " Apologie pour les grands NOTES TO BOOK I. t!3 grands Personnages faussement soup9onnes de Magie." In the records of biography there are many instances of the charge of magical practices brought against persons distinguished for talents and knowledge superior to those of the age in which they lived ; and this was a liberal attempt to refute such an absurd impu- tation. It is to be lamented that his bold way of thinking, and disregard of common opinion, Jed him, in a work entitled " Considerations politiques sur les Coups d'Etat," to be the apo- logist of the detestable massacre of St. Bar- tholomew's. This, however, he justified upon, the supposition that the hugonots were a state faction, which, under the direction of Coligni and other chiefs, was dangerous to the public peace ; and not upon the grounds of religious intolerance. Naude, though temperate in his way of liv- ing, and pure in his morals, was hot-headed and opinionated. He was long involved in a warm controversy with the Benedictines con- cerning the real author of the famous book on " The Imitation of Christ," which they were desirous of fathering upon John Gerson, a celebrated monk of their order. Cardinal VOL. i. i Richelieu, 114 MEMOIRS OF HUET. Richelieu wrote to Naude, then at Rome, to examine the manuscript copies on which Ger- son's claim was founded, and he returned a re- port unfavourable to it. The contest was carried on till it became ridiculous in the eyes of the public ; and in fine Thomas a Kempis was by process of law restored to the honour he had long possessed of appearing in the title- page of the book as its author. The other works of Naude seem to have fallen into ob- livion ; his reputation, however, has given rise to a " Naudaeana," which exists among the works of that class. NOTE (37), PAGE 62. PETER LAMBECIUS, born at Hamburgh in 1628, acquired at an early age a high reputa- tion for learning, and after passing a con- siderable time in France, and at Rome, was made professor of history at his native place, and rector of the university. In this situation he underwent much vexation from the attacks of his enemies, who criticised with severity his writings and mode of teaching, and charged him with heterodoxy, and even with atheism. To NOTES TO BOOK I. 115 To these charges he had probably exposed himself from the difficulty of acting an incon- sistent part ; for, whilst at the head of a pro- testant university, he was secretly a Roman catholic, having been converted many years before, when in France, by the Jesuit Sirmond. His life was not rendered more comfortable by marriage with a rich, but old and avaricious wife, whom he quitted within a fortnight ; and, on the persuasion of queen Christina, repaired to Rome, where he openly renounced Luther- anism. He was received by the papal court with the respect always shown to a convert of distinction ; and soon after went to Vienna, where the emperor made him his librarian, He died in that post in 1680, having published in eight volumes folio a most elaborate his- tory and description of the imperial library, upon a critical plan, which was regarded as a great improvement upon all preceding works of the kind. NOTE (38), PAGE 63. This is a curious and instructive account of the operation of insufficient reasoning upon an I 2 enquiring 116* MEMOIRS OF HUET. enquiring mind. It is acommon practice, (and, as I have heard, supported by high and recent authority,) in attempting to prove a point, to throw in arguments of all kinds, powerful and weak, sound and unsound, from the idea that a momentum is produced by the accumulated mass, which may force conviction where a less bulk, though of better materials, might fail ; or, perhaps, from the expectation that frivo* lous arguments will act upon some minds, the texture of which would elude the force of solid ones. And the method may be a good one in addressing a mixed or popular assembly, a small proportion only of which consists of good logicians or well-informed persons. But in works of learning, in which the appeal is made to the understandings of men conversant in similar studies, and practised in argumenta- tion, it is always dangerous to advance reasons of a kind that must bring into question either the judgment or the sincerity of the writer. The reader will be apt to regard him, in that case, either as the hired advocate of a cause to which he is really indifferent, or as a weak reasoner, whose own convictions carry no authority with them ; and, as in the instance of NOTES TO BOOK I. of Huet, he will be ready to doubt the truth of propositions which are thought to require such feeble support. That to many of the tenets of the catholic theology no better support can be applied from reasoning, will be admitted ; it is therefore safer to rest them upon the autho- rity of the church, and to wait for that divine illumination to dispel the mists of doubt, which our good bishop was so happy as to experience. MEMOIRS OF PETER DANIEL HUET. BOOK II. AFTER I had returned to Caen enriched with a great addition to my library, and was enjoying it at leisure, and quietly pursuing my studies, the name of Christina queen of Sweden became famous in the world ; among whose virtues was especially celebrated her love of learning, and her great liberality towards men of letters, whom she was reported to have invited from all parts, by the most splendid offers, (l) Among those at her court were Descartes, Saumaise, and Isaac Vossius, the latter of whom was her guide in the study of Greek, and explained to her the ancient authors in both languages ; ( 2) nor did she suffer a day to pass without devoting some of her best hours to reading with him, in which she engaged so eagerly as to neglect the usual time for repose. By 120 MEMOIRS OF HUET. By this course of life her constitution was gradually impaired, and she fell into a state of feverish languor, disregarding the remon- strances of her physicians, whom she frequent- ly derided. This queen, having heard from Vossius great commendations of the learning of Bochart, became so desirous of seeing and conversing with him, that she sent him an in- vitation in very honourable terms, and directed Vossius to stimulate him by frequent and ur- gent letters. In consequence of these allure- ments, though fettered by the public ministry of his religion, and the attractions of .a very affectionate family, and habituated to the pleasures of study and tranquil leisure, he post- poned every other consideration to the will of the queen, and was not deterred either by the length of the journey, the loss of time, or the inconvenience to his affairs. I had long en- tertained a desire of seeing Italy, and was just preparing to indulge it, when Bochart com- municated to me his intention of going to Sweden, and plainly intimated his wish for my company. At first I made objections, con- trasting the amenity and almost perpetual spring of Italy, and its numerous relics of venerable BOOK THE SECOND. 121 venerable antiquity, with the bare crags and barbarism of Sweden. He, on the other hand, represented to me the wonders of Holland, celebrated in elegant verse by Scaliger ; the illustrious literary characters in which at that time it abounded ; its many splendid cities ; and the vestiges of Gothic antiquity- existing among the rocks of Denmark. In fine, I at length gave way, overcome less by argument than by friendship, and promised Bochart that I would accompany him. But while we were both preparing for the journey, I was seized with a sudden illness which in- terrupted my plans. The day of departure arrived, and Bochart could no longer delay; for a Dutch ship bound to Holland was waiting for us in the port of Havre, at the mouth of the Seine. He therefore set out, to my great grief, which would have been greater, had not I trusted that our separation would not be long. He travelled by land to Havre, and went on board ; but through the prevalence of the north winds the vessel was so long kept on the shore, that, beginning to find myself better, 1 hoped I should be able to overtake and join him. With my health not yet con- firmed 122 MEMOIRS OF HUEf. firmed I left Caen on April 14th, l652, and proceeded in a litter to Havre. Arriving there about noon, I was extremely mortified to find that Bochart had sailed on that day at sun-rise. It was, however, some consolation that two other Dutch ships were lying off the shore, ready, as the captains said, to sail for their own country on the first south wind ; but in fact, waiting to protect some merchant vessels which were falling down the river from Rouen. Credulously believing their as- sertion, I wasted eleven whole days there in tedious idleness ; at length Heaven took pity on me, and I embarked and got to sea. As the war was impending between the Dutch and English, which soon after broke out with fury, we with difficulty escaped some English ships stationed near Dover to lie in wait for the Dutch vessels. Landing in Zealand, after I had viewed its capital, Middleburg, I pro- ceeded without delay on board a smaller ves- sel for Holland, and did not stop till I reached Leyden. Immediately on my arrival I waited upon Saumaise ; and as I foresaw a delay of some days in that city, I devoted them entirely to him, omitting no demonstration of respect- ful BOOK THE 8ECOtfI>. 123 ful regard, especially after I saw that he was pleased with my attentions. Being there inform- ed that Bochart had not yet left Amsterdam, I directly wrote him word of my ar-rival ; with which intelligence he was so much gratified, that he sent a young man of Caen, who was in his company, to congratulate me, and con- duct me to him ; an instance of kindness and affection that, from one whom I sincerely loved, gave me great pleasure, I therefore hastened to Bochart at Amsterdam, where I was speedily visited by Vossius, who very politely told me, that he hoped the long jour- ney we were about to enter upon would not only make us acquainted, but lay the founda- tion of a lasting friendship ; that a commo- dious carnage was prepared for himself and Bochart, in which a place was left for me if I would accept of it. I replied, that I would thankfully make use of the kind offer. On the fourth day we left Amsterdam, and reached Utrecht. I was there visited hy a return of that disorder which had detained me at Caen^ and was obliged to stop for some days, and call in the assistance of Henry Re- gius, a celebrated physician and much more celebrated 124 MEMOIRS OF HUET. celebrated philosopher. I knew that he had been first attached to the Cartesian system, and was an assiduous follower of Descartes himself, but that he had afterwards rejected it with some degree of disdain, not without of- fence to Descartes. Hence, after having had some discourse respecting my disease and the manner of treating it, we had much discussion on the Cartesian opinions, which he did not altogether disallow ; and he acknowledged he had profited much from that philosopher, of whom he spoke in high terms. (3) We then came to Hardenburg, a town of Overyssel. The reader will probably be amused with the manner of creating the burgo- master of this place, as we learned it from some of the townsmen ; and as I formerly gave a narrative of my journey in a copy of verses addressed to John Chapelain, which is published among my poems, I shall copy the lines in which this circumstance is described. Hinc Hardenbergam sera sub nocte venimus * &c. When * The editor of Huet's work thinks it necessary to say that such a practice never prevailed in this place, and that the lines were written either from some idle tradition, or BOOK THE SECOND. 125 When we had passed the famous city of Bremen, we came to a town, of moderate size which derives its name from its seven clois- ters (Closterseven). We there saw a former- ly splendid monastery of nuns, now converted to other uses by the Lutherans, except some dilapidated cells allotted for the habitation of a few virgins who adhere to the rites of the catholic church. Five of these only were remaining out of a great number ; one of whom we found lodged in the tottering ruins of a vast edifice, in great poverty, but clean, and supporting life by her wheel. It was gratifying to me, in this desolation of the ca- tholic religion, to discover the relics of a purer worship. When I made known to her this sentiment, she expressed great joy at seeing one catholic in the midst of so many com- panions alien to that faith ; and holding out her hand for me to kiss, as is the custom of the German women, she raised her eyes to or in mere sport I have therefore omitted them. The supposed mode, however, was, that all the candidates should sit with their beards placed upon a round table, in the midst of which a louse was to be turned out, and the owner of the beard to which it should repair was the per- son elected. heaven, 126 MEMOIRS OF I-IUET. heaven, invoking the divine blessing upon me, and devoutly marked my forehead with the sign of the cross. In truth, it was no small grief to me to behold so many splendid monuments of ancient piety laid in the dust, and the pure and holy worship of God abo- lished by profane novelty ; and to see that place made a sanctuary for error and impiety, in which divine verity had been honoured and patronized. After a long journey we arrived at Copen- hagen, the capital of Denmark, a city plea- santly situated, and elegant in its appearance, as far as a northern climate will permit. Hav- ing fully surveyed it, I ascended a tower near the royal college, built for an observatory by Christiern IV king of Denmark, after, by his harsh treatment, he had expelled from his dominions Tycho Brahe, the father of astro- nomy ; by this noble work supposing that he should alleviate the regret felt by the nation on the departure of that admirable person, and the conveyance into Germany of the cu- rious astronomical instruments which he had invented. The construction of this tower was committed by the king to Christian Longo- montanus, BOOK THE SECOND. 127" montanus, who had lived some years with Tycho. (4) It is built in a round form, and raised to a great height, the ascent to which is not by stairs, but by an easy slope permit- ting a carriage to drive to the top. It is con- tiguous to a church, part of which having fallen through age, was repairing while we were there ; and amidst the ruins we observed some great stones inscribed with Runic let- ters, such as are occasionally met with in Denmark and Sweden, and the neighbouring countries and islands, and have frequently fallen in our way. This is said to be the ancient writing of the Goths ; and it is the common opinion there, that their ancestors transmitted to posterity in these solid monuments the me- morial of their deeds and the glory of their great men. Become however almost illegible through the corrosion of time, they would en- tirely have perished, had not Glaus Wormius, by his perspicacity and unwearied labour, re- scued these literary remains from the injury of revolving years. He, also, with sagacious diligence collected every thing rare and sjngu- lar, both in nature and art, which chance pre- sented to him in those regions ; and no lover Of 128 MEMOIRS OF IIUET. of worth and -learning came to Copenhagen without paying his respects to Wormius, and desiring to see his literary treasures. This office was not omitted by the company of friends with which I was associated. Bochart (De Animal. S. Script.), and before him la Peyrere, (Relation de Groenl.) mention the tooth of a Greenland whale in the museum of Wormius, which was of the kind supposed by the vulgar to be an unicorn's horn. (5) We thence repaired to the college, in order to survey the brass globe formerly made by Tycho, exhibiting the heavens, and all the signs and stars. An attentive view of this ma- o chine, which was long before known to me by fame, struck me with astonishment at the elegance of the workmanship and the accuracy of the construction. But it would be lost la- bour to describe the wonders of this and Ty- cho's other instruments, since he has deline- ated and exposed them all to view in his Me- chanics. But that the reader may form some ^fctimate.of the magnificence of art displayed in this globe, he may be told that it was the labour of twenty-five years, and that Tycho expended upon it five thousand thalers, a sum equal BOOK THE SECOND 129 qual to about eighteen thousand of our livres tournois. Upon quitting Denmark, Tycho went to Prague, and carried with him all his astronomical apparatus ; and when, in the year 1619, at the sack of that city by the Palatines, the other articles were pillaged, they abstained from injuring this globe, and it was afterwards carried safe and entire to the Jesuit's college o at Neiss in Silesia. Ulric the son of Christi- ern IV. king of Denmark, having reduced that place, in l6'32, seized upon this globe as by paternal right, and caused it to be con- veyed to Denmark. The view of it excited in me a more ardent desire of visiting the isle of Huen, which Tycho made the seat of his astronomical studies for 21 years, and ennobled by his celestial observations and excellent writings. He was born in Scania, of the noble family of Brahe, which is rather Swedish than Danish ; for when I was in Sweden, among the five principal ministers of that kingdom, the first place, and immediately next to the queen, was possessed by Peter Brahe, a de- scendant of the same family. But it is not here necessary, nor is it my business, to write VOL i. K the 130 MEMOIRS OF HUET. the life of Tycho, which has been done by others with sufficient exactness. The pur- pose of my work requires me only to mention, that Frederic II. king of Denmark, by his kindness and liberality detained this astrono- mer in his kingdom, when he was preparing to remove and fix his residence at Basil. In the Danish strait called the Sound there is a small island named Huen, gently rising above the sea so as to afford a free prospect on all sides. This spot appeared to the king ex- tremely well accommodated to the studies and observations of Tycho ; and sending for him, he presented him for life with the usufruct of the island (it is royal property), and gave him it to inhabit. At the same time he set- tled upon him ample revenues, and further promised that he would never withhold his assistance either in erecting buildings on the island, or in providing astronomical instru- ments. Tycho gratefully and gladly accepted this gift, and laid the foundation of the castle of Uraniburg on the 8th of August, 1576, the first stone being at his desire placed by Charles Danzce, the French king's ambassador in Denmark. Having frequently, while a boy, looked BOOK THE SECOND. 131 looked at the figure of this building in Tycho's books at the house of my relation Gilles Mace, whom I often heard relating anecdotes of the founder, my mind was so much impressed by the circumstance, that in preference to every thing else, and to Copenhagen itself, I felt a violent longing to indulge myself with the real sight of the place. But although I was very importunate with my companions to take the voyage, I was unable to gain their com- pliance, so little were they inspired with the love of astronomy. One of them alone con- sented to accompany me ; and hiring a vessel, with a gentle south wind we reached Huen on May 24th, 1652. This island is by some called Venusia ; by others the Scarlet isle, of which last appellation I suppose the origin to have been the following incident related to me upon good authority, as having taken place in the reign of Frederic II. Some English at Copenhagen had offered to the king that if he would sell them this island they would pay him, as its price, as much English scarlet cloth as would go round its outmost margin, adding moreover a piece of gold for every fold in the cloth. The king inconsiderately accepted the K 2 offer* 132 MEMOIRS OF HUET. offer, not reflecting that if the English were to fortify the island, they might shut up the Sound with their fleets, and deprive the crown of its passage dues. Being therefore better advised, he determined to keep it in his pos- session, but at the same time he was very anxious not to appear to forfeit his word. In this emergence, his fool, whom he kept ac- cording to court custom, came to his relief. "Why (said he) is your majesty so much disquieted ? say you will stand to the bargain, and sell them Huen. provided the purchasers immediately convey it away to the English sea ; for that they must be mad if they suppose you will suffer them to stick in your very jaws." The wise counsel of the fool was fol- lowed, and the hopes of the English were frustrated ; and hence, as I conjecture, the island retained the name of Scarlet. * On landing, we walked to the little village which is the only one on the island. We were received by the Lutheran minister after the customary manner in Denmark and Swe- den, where the clergy are extremely hospitable, * It is scarcely necessary to observe that this story ha* ail the air of.a vulgar tale ! Transl. and BOOK THE SECOND. 133 and open their doors to strangers, expecting no gain, but merely the repayment of what they expend ; a liberality that appears to me highly suitable to Christian piety, and worthy to be imitated by the other nations who profess the name of Christ. Some refer this bene- ficence to the kings, asserting that they permit the country ministers to dwell in these man- sions upon the condition of their admitting strangers. It is certain that among all these northern nations the duties of hospitality are held in great honour and respect. Being therefore kindly received, after we had rested awhile, we began to make many enquiries of our host, and the other surrounding inhabi- tants of Huen, respecting Tycho, and the cas- tle of Uraniburg, the object of our visit ; and to my surprise, they all affirmed that these names were entirely unknown to them. But understanding that there was one very aged inhabitant on the island, I caused him to be sent for. When I asked him whether he had ever heard of Tycho Brahe, and of a castle built by him to which he gave the name of Ura- niburg, and in which he dwelt for twenty-one years, he replied that he not only knew them both, 134 MEMOIRS OF HUET. both, but had been for some time in the ser- vice of Tycho, and had assisted in building his castle. He informed me that Tycho was a violent and passionate man, often abusing his servants and tenants, and given to wine and women, that he had married a wife of the lowest extraction in his native village of o Knudstrup, by whom he had many children, the disgrace of which alliance had greatly offended the illustrious family of Brahe. The good man then added, that if I came to see Uranjburg I should lose my labour, since it had been levelled to the ground, and scarce- ly the traces of the walls were left. When I enquired of him, as I had before done of some learned men in Copenhagen, the cause of this destruction, I found much contrariety of opi- nion. The latter in general affirmed that Ty- cho himself, on quitting Denmark, had demo- lished his own work ; whereas it is certain that he left his affairs at Huen and Uraniburg to the management of a farmer and some ser- vants, as the produce of this estate had been conferred upon him for life by king Frederic. Some asserted that Swedish troops had landed on the island in time of war and committed these BOOK THE SECOND. 135 these ravages ; a circumstance which could not but have been known to the old inhabitant, who referred the cause to the raging seas and stormy winds of the Sound, by which a slight- ly timbered building was easily shaken ; es- pecially as the courtiers, who obtained a grant of the island from the king after Tycho, took little care of preserving an edifice dedicated to astronomical purposes. But from this incident we may learn how vain a thing is that glory which is sought with so much contention. For what couldTycho have in view as the reward of his long and earnest studies, except glory, his passion for which was not extinguished by the immediate pro- spect of death ; for as he was breathing his last, he consoled himself with the expected grate- ful remembrance of posterity, and closed his eyes in the frequent repetition of the words "May I bethought not to have lived in vain!" Can lie be considered as having reaped the fruit of his labour, who experienced the enmity of the king and nobles of the land ? who saw his toils held in contempt, their products abortive, and himself precluded even by a judicial decree from making astronomical observations? and 8 who 3 136 MEMOIRS OF HUET. who, in fine, an exile from his family, his pleasant habitation, and his country, in a foreign soil, and under the control of others, ended his life among a few friends, leaving the astronomical apparatus which he had provided with so much ingenious contrivance, and at so great an expence, exposed to the rapacity of ignorant foreigners to which rapacity it, in fact, became a prey some years after, when it was totally pillaged by the Palatine troops whilst his own children were left in obscurity, and almost in indigence ? Such is the termi- nation of human hopes ! such the result of that insane love of praise and unbounded thirst of glory, stimulated by which, generous souls abandon themselves to the pursuit of vulgar fame, which, as it rests often on the false, and always on the light and mutable opinions of men, fades with the lapse of years, and generally vanishes in the oblivion of poste- rity! (6) Of the cause which obliged Tycho to quit his country, Gassendi (Vit. Tychonis) has treated at large ; I have however learned at Copenhagen, from persons who revered his memory, some circumstances relative to it, omitted EOOK THE SECOND. omitted by that writer, and worthy of being recorded. Although Tyeho sometimes spoke of injuries sustained by him in Denmark, it was witho.ut any complaint of king Christiern, whom he rather openly excused ; yet, it is certain that he lost the favour of the court, and by his majesty's order was strjpt of the royal bounty, which, however, he bore in silence, knowing that kings have long hands. But the following story was told me as the origin x>f his disgrace. The English ambassador to Denmark had brought with him a mastiff of extraordinary size, which caught the eye of Tycho, who requested it of him, to take to Uraniburg as a faithful guard to his castle. But the same gift was also asked by the mas- ter of the court, Christopher Walchandorp; and as the ambassador did not chuse to offend .either, he refused them both ; promising that as soon as he should return to England he would send over a brace of mastiffs, one for each. This he performed; but as one of them appeared the superior in form and stature, Walchandorp claimed it for himself, and the king adjudged it to him, notwithstanding the remonstrances of Tycho. Greatly indignant at this 183 MEMOIRS OF HUET. this decision, he was led in his passion to use some unguarded expressions relative to the king, which were immediately carried to him by the master of the court, and hence pro- ceeded the royal displeasure. It was a particular object of our curiosity to see the king ; and the time now arrived when he was to attend divine service in the church with all his train ; we were therefore placed in the gallery, whence we could have a full view of the whole court. As I have the defect of being near-sighted, on which account I have been accustomed from a boy to use concave spectacles for looking at distant objects, I then put them on to survey the company, and espe- cially his majesty, and the queen who sat be- side him. This I did with so little caution and consideration, that I was not aware, while I was a spectator, of being myself an indeco- rous spectacle to all the bystanders, and espe- cially to the king himself, who, as I was in- formed, publicly complained at dinner that he had been treated with so little respect by the foreigners who had been admitted into the church, as to have had glasses pointed a.t \\irn by them. In consequence, though we should have BOOK THE SECOND. 139 have thought it our duty, notwithstanding our great haste, not to leave Copenhagen without paying our obeisance to his majesty, yet the fear of encountering his displeasure induced us immediately to depart ; I, with one com- panion, to Huen ; and the rest to Elsinore, a town situated at the very mouth of the Sound. To that place I also went, after having ex- plored the relics of Tycho. Soon after, we visited the Sound itself, for the purpose of viewing the ships lying there in great numbers, either to exact, or to pay, the transit-duties, which are an ample source of revenue to the Danish king. We were there told that a very rich merchant, by name Lewis Geer, an in- habitant of Holland, originally from the Pala- tinate of the Rhine, having some years before contracted for the Swedish copper mines, carried on a very profitable trade, from which a great income accrued to the Danish treasury ; that the king's collectors were thereby tempt- ed greatly to* advance the duties upon his mer- chandize, and used force to compel payment from those who resisted the demand ; and that Geer resolved to oppose force to force, and bringing 14O MEMOIRS OF HUET. bringing twenty armed vessels to the mouth of the Sound, defended himself from injury and vexation. While we were travelling though Denmark, we often saw hanging from gibbets the bodies of robbers and wolves, and in the lower beam of the gibbet some handsome knives sticking. On asking the inhabitants the reason of this custom ; they told us that the knives were stuck into the wood by persons labouring un- der fever, or some other lingering disease; and that it was the common notion that if any one should take a knife out, the disease of its owner would immediately be transferred to him. This superstitious practice I have recorded in the following verses of my journey. Illic corporibus videas permista luporum Robore ferali pendentia corpora furum &c. On passing the Danish boundary, we ar- rived at Helmstadt, then the first town in the Swedish jurisdiction*. Thither, on the 28th of May, a messenger came to us from the queen, who in her name ordered Vossius im- mediately to return to Holland, and not to see * Scania at that time belonged to Denmark. Transl. her BOOK THE SECOND. 141 her again till he had made satisfaction to Saumaise for the injury of which he com- plained, of being contumeliously summoned by him on some trifling occasion to plead be- fore the rector of the university of Leyden, as if he had been one of the common professors. Vossius thus torn from us went back to Hol- land ; and the messenger, who had brought the queen's mandate, was directed to act as our guide. Proceeding to Ostrogothia, on the banks of the lake Wetter, we had great plea- sure in travelling over grassy meadows, lux- uriant in the plant called lily of the valley, whence a fragrance exhaled which we should not have expected in a northern climate. We also gathered strawberries in the woods, and about Stockholm the woods were red with" cherries. In the royal gardens, oranges in boxes and melons under frames were reared in the same manner as with us. While we were coasting the Wetter lake, and enjoying its pleasant prospects, the good Swede, our guide, showed us at a distance an island in the middle of it, in which he said was a cavern of wonderful depth ; that in this cavern, a magician named Gilbert had for many '.-I ages 142 MEMOIRS OF HUET. ages been confined in strong fetters by another magician, with whom he had dared to contend for the superiority ; and that several persons who had descended for the purpose of visiting or liberating Gilbert had paid the penalty of their temerity, being bound by some secret power; whence the vulgar abstained from the place. From the History of Olaus Magnus we may learn that this fable has for many years been disseminated in those regions, where it has been implicitly received by a credulous and superstitious race. This is a mental in- firmity common to those who, being born in a cold climate, and scantily partaking of the benignant influence of the sun, are tardy in their intellectual operations, and incompetent to the discovery of truth and the correction of error: such, authors inform us, are the Lap- landers bordering on Sweden, the Icelanders, and the Greenlanders. (?) The common peo- ple at Stockholm speak of a vast serpent, named Necker, which wanders about the circumjacent lakes, and devours boys who bathe in them ; on which account they seriously dissuaded me from swimming when I wished for that re- freshment in the hot weather. I was not, however, BOOK THE SECOND. 143 however, to be deterred by this bugbear ; and they were much surprised to see me return safe from the attempt. I, however, gave them the friendly advice of keeping their boys from the lakes, till they were well skilled in swim- ming ; since they might otherwise be carried to the bottom, not by the serpent, but by those very deep whirlpools which, opening among the irregular rocks, are unobserved by the in- cautious. Let not the reader be surprised that in so cold a climate there should be heats which require refrigeration. These are produced by the long continuance of the sun above the horizon during the summer days, and the reflections of its rays among the solid rocks ; nor do I remember ever to have endured so much from the heat as in Sweden. In con- sequence of this long delay of the sun, near the summer solstice I was able to write letters without a candle at midnight. In the winter, both there, and more especially in the more northerly parts, an extraordinary instinct is observed in the swallows, which, about the autumnal equinox, and at the first approach of cold weather, do not cross the sea, as is usual 144 MEMOIRS OF HUET. usual to them and to other birds which migrate from warmer climates ; but immerge them- selves in lakes, where they lie covered with ice, and as it were buried, during the whole winter, until, the ice being thawed by the warmth of spring, they rouse from their long sleep, ascend to the surface of the water, and take to wing. (8) What has been ob- served in our country is not less worthy of admiration that in the arched rocks which are adjacent to the banks of the Orne between Caen and the sea, swallows in vast numbers, collected and conglobated like bunches of grapes, hang from the roofs during the whole winter. Of this habit of swallows neither Aristotle was ignorant (De Animal. 1. 8. c. l6), nor Pedo Albinovanus, when he says, in his very elegant elegy on the death of Maecenas, Congiaciantur aquae, scopulis se condit hirundo . An6ther remarkable monument of Swedish superstition is seen in the great church at Stockholm, which is a picture representing the appearance of the sky on the day when Gustavus Adolphus left the city on his Ger- man expedition. Three suns were visible in 6 the BOOK THE SECOND. 145 the heavens, surrounded with certain lucid circles ; by which signs the people supposed that the great actions afterwards performed by that monarch were prefigured : not remember- ing that their own countryman, Olaus Mag- nus, remarks such parhelia to be frequent in the northern regions ; of which I suppose the cause to be, that the clouds composed of a denser humidity act as mirrors, and readily receive and retain the images of objects. The fabrication of the Swedish houses ap- peared to me worthy of notice. Trunks of pine and fir of the same length and thickness, accurately barked, and on the opposite sides hewn and planed, and notched near the heads, are laid in a square, and others of the same form are placed upon them on the smooth sides, and connected at the ends by the notches, till as many rows of beams have been fitted in this manner as are wanted for the height of the building. These, as they are easily put together, are also easily taken to pieces ; so that it is common to see disjointed houses and materials of houses brought to market, and carried away by the purchasers to be reared in some convenient spot. Windows are added VOL. i. L to 146 MEMOIRS OF HUET. to the roof, which itself is framed of wood and the incorruptible birch bark, and sods are placed over all, as we learn from Virgil to have been the custom in the rustic huts of Italy. The sods are sown with oats or other seeds, in order that the roots of plants may bind them the more firmly to the humble roof, which appears verdant and flowery, and serves, as we saw, for a pasture for sheep and swine. They assign as reasons for constructing the roofs in this manner, tbat the houses, made of resinous and inflammable matter, may not be set on fire by lightning, and that in time of war, if the town were besieged there might be a supply of fodder for the cattle. The Muscovites make use of the same contrivance in their houses; as do also the Icelanders, ac- cording to Arngrim Jonas. But the houses of the rich, especially the royal palaces, and the edifices for divine worship, are covered with sheets of copper, as Ovid relates the temple of Vesta at Rome to have been. These cover- ings contribute both to beauty and to dura- bility, on account of the strength and light- ness of the material, with which Sweden abounds; for its copper-mines are so produc- tive, BOOK THE SECOND. live, that money is coined of that metal, the pieces of which are bigger than tiles, and are kept by the opulent in great store-rooms built for the purpose. As the construction of our chimneys, so different from those of the ancients, was the invention of a later age, so the Swedes, taught by necessity, the mother of arts, and having severer cold to contend with, have altered the common form of chimneys to a more commodious one. They are not placed in the middle of a wall of the room, as with us, but at an angle, that no part may be void of heat and light ; nor is the cavity or funnel of the chimney square and extended in breadth, but of a round form, that the heat of the fire may be augmented by repercussion, and the smoke expelled by the force of the flame may not return. Further, the fire is not supplied by billets laid horizontally, in our manner, but set upright, as they rise out of the ground and receive those juices which, absorbed by the fibres, are dried by the sun's heat, and, as they are commonly resinous, readily inflame, and afford a proper fuel to the fire, which spontaneously follows the course L2 of 148 MEMOIRS OF HUET. of the fibres without interruption. After they are burnt to a white ash, the funnel is stopt by a brass plate inserted through an aperture, by which means the heat is long confined within the room. Such chimneys are said also to be used by the Persians. We were told that Arnold Spirinx, a Dutchman, em- bassador from the queen of Sweden to Holland, having become sensible of the advantages of these chimneys, and in vain employed the ablest workmen to make the like in his own country, had a whole Swedish chimney, form- med of thick plank, and firmly bound with iron, conveyed entire into Holland. After we had arrived at Stockholm it was our first care to pay our respects to the queen. Her favourite at that time was Bourdelot, a French physician, born at Sens, and son of the sister of that Bourdelot who acquired some literary reputation by the publication of learned commentaries upon some ancient writers. The person in question, in order to recommend himself, assumed his uncle's name, though that of his father was Michon. The queen was induced to commit to him the care of her delicate health, by the recommenda- tion BOOK THE SECOND. 149 tlon of Saumaise, who was of the same pro- vince. Michon was not unskilled in the art of medicine, but was much better versed in the arts of a courtier, which he had long practised, with those of physic, among ladies of quality. He was, however, totally ignorant of those parts of knowledge in which what is termed erudition consists. As the queen had thrown herself into a state of languor by her intense application to those studies, and was occasion- ally attacked by slight fevers, Bourdelot, in the first place, craftily attending to his own consequence and reputation, removed aH books from her sight, and denounced certain danger to her life should she persist in literary pursuits. He then, in private conversations, insinuated that a learned woman was regarded in a ridiculous light by the elegant ladies of the French court. And as he besides amused her with his pleasantry and jocularity, he gained so great an ascendancy over her youth- ful mind, that she began to lose all relish for serious learning. For the disposition of Christina was so flexible and Wavering, that she entirely depended upon the opinions of others, 15O MEMOIRS OF HLTET. others, especially of those who had acquired her esteem by any species of merit. Thus, when during her passion for letters she had resigned herself to the tutorage of Saumaise or Vossius, she conformed so implicitly to their judgments, that she immediately sent invitations to all whom she heard them com- mend, as was the case with Bochart, who had long been intimately connected with Vossius. And now, having by the advice of Bourdelot laid aside her studies, and indulged in leisure and relaxation, by which her health was some- what amended, she declared herself not only cured, but preserved from death by his means; and from this period she gave so much credit to this buffoon, that she almost repented of having learned any thing. This circumstance destroyed almost all the pleasure of our jour- ney ; and was the cause that Bochart, invited with so much earnestness as it were from an- other world, was not received according to his merits. Nor did we doubt that this was to be imputed to Bourdelot, who considered it as his interest to banish learned men from court, lest his own conscious ignorance should be rendered BOOK THE SECOND. 151 rendered apparent from the comparison. And this was probably the true cause of the un- polite dismission of Vossius. (9) The queen was a great enemy to matrimony, and earnestly dissuaded me from it ; and as she was jocose and free of speech, she told me that she had read in Pausanias (Roeotic.) that a certain Argive, my namesake, had caught his wife in adultery, and that the incident was ominous, and ought to warn me against such a misfortune. I replied that the example might be taken in a contrary sense, for the husband amply revenged himself by the death of his wife and the adulterer; and besides, that our names by no means agreed, for that his was YyrTog, but mine was much nobler, namely Tfr/oj, one of tlie appellations of Jove himself, (Pluvius). In this vacation of letters, however, the royal library increased both in the number and value of books, which flowed in upon it from all parts. For to those which Gustavus Adol- phus had brought into Sweden among his German spoils, were added many purchased at the sale of the Mazarinian library, as well as the library of John Gerard Vossius, bought for 152 MEMOIRS OF HUET. for a great sum from his son Isaac. Besides these were the Petavian library, consisting en- tirely of ancient manuscripts, Greek and Latin ; and the Gaulminian, composed of Hebrew, Arabic, and other exotic books of this class, which, however, soon afterwards returned to Gaulmin, who asked an immoderate price for it. (10) Isaac Vossius had also added many valuable manuscripts which he had collected in different parts of Europe with great dili- gence. Among these was a pretty large anci- ent Greek volume, in which were contained some tomes of Origen's Commentary on Mat- thew, together with his treatise on Prayer. When I had understood that this volume came from Vossius, and enquired of him whence he had it, and what became of it after my de- parture from Sweden, he informed me that it was part of the pillage of the library of Worms, and came into his hands after having been bought of the soldiers for a trifle. On the recommendation of Bochart I set about copy- ing it with the queen's permission ; and hence proceeded the edition of Origen's Commentaries published by me in some subsequent years. A few days before, there had arrived at Stockholm BOOK THE SECOND. 153 Stockholm Mark Meibom, who had presented to the queen the Seven Writers on Ancient Music, illustrated by his own interpretation and notes, and inscribed to her Majesty. By this work Meibom performed a meritorious service to literature, in recalling from obscu- rity, and almost from death, and restoring to its pristine dignity, the ancient music, so long neglected and uncultivated, and become obsolete through length of time. His attempt, however, failed of due applause from a fasti- dious and indolent age, the contemner of sound learning. Had not the prescribed course of my studies called me to other pursuits, I should gladly have accompanied him in the perusal of those admirable inventors of a noble art, and have learned his ideas of them from his own mouth. (11) When we were at Stockholm,- the post of chancellor was filled by Axel Oxenstiern, a man who has deserved highly of his country ; formerly prime minister of the kingdom under Gustavus Adolphus, distinguished by various important embassies, a lover of letters and well versed in them, and greatly celebrated for prudence, sagacity, and magnanimity. While I called J54 MEMOIRS OF HUET. I called to mind his great qualities and splen- did actions, I could not but admire that mo- desty and simplicity of manners which seemed to level him with the meanest, and the courtesy with which he received strangers like our* selves. (12) In -Sweden the memory of Descartes was still fresh, who, having two years before been invited to Stockholm by the queen, ended his days there. Beyond the northern suburb of the city is a cemetery for the interment of those who are not of the Lutheran religion. When I was informed that Descartes was buried there under a conspicuous tomb, I went to the spot, and found a moderately large struc- ture of fir planks, covered with pompous in- scriptions to his praise. The whole was the work of Peter Chanut, the French embassador to Sweden, in whose house Descartes died. (13) As this timber edifice was constructed and painted to resemble stone, and the inscription bore that the body of Descartes was deposited sub hoc lapide, an unknown hand had ingenU ously corrected the latter word by ligno. It may not be impertinent or uninteresting to the readers, here to relate a deed of singular atrocity, BOOK THE SECOND. 155 atrocity, which would be almost incredible were it not supported by the testimony of many from whom I heard it, and had it not been perpetrated in this very place not long before my arrival. A Swede, of sound mind and good niorals, well esteemed among his neighbours, at noon-day seized a boy four years old as he was playing in the street amidst his companions before his father's house, a'nd killed him by plunging a knife in his throat. On being apprehended and brought before the magistrate, he neither de- nied nor excused the fact, nor deprecated the punishment. " I know," said he " that I have deserved death, and I employed this artifice to obtain it from you, satisfied that there could scarcely be a safer way of securing eternal salvation, than to quit the world with the senses entire, with a body undebilitated by disease, the soul being lifted to God by the pious prayers of religious men, and aided by their counsels and exhortations. Apprised, there- fore, that such a kind of death was not here to be procured but through the commission of some capital crime, I thought that I perpe- 4rated the lightest in killing a child not yet infected 156 MEMOIRS OF HUET. infected with the contagion of this world, and taken from indigent parents, burthened with a numerous offspring." Having thus said, and received the sentence of condemnation, with a cheerful and smiling countenance, and chant- ing hymns aloud, he underwent the punish- ment. (14) It was at this time divulged that Gabriel Naude arid Raphael Trichet du Fresne had been invited by the queen from France ; the former to undertake the care of the library ; the latter, of the cabinet of curiosities; and that they had left Paris and would soon arrive. While the French rejoiced at this news, the Swedes expressed their discontent, complain, ing that the treasury was exhausted by en- ormous expenses, and that the wealth of the kingdom was lavished upon strangers, espe- cially the French ; whom, as coming from a distant country for the purpose of pillaging them, they beheld with great ill-will, resenting the preference over the natives, in the appoint- ment to offices, given by the queen to a hungry race, greedy of foreign emoluments. (15) Re- flecting upon these dissatisfactions, I began to repent of my unpropitious journey, and hastened BOOK THE SECOND, 157 hastened to quit a hostile people, especially as autumn was at hand, and I was to take car* that my return might not be precluded by the violent storms of approaching winter. I was likewise recalled to my country by my do- mestic affairs, which I had not, indeed, deserted, as I could not have done without a very serious loss, but had only intermitted my attention to them for a time. When I applied to the queen for permission to depart, she was pleased to suggest many motives to detain me, giving ine expectations of honourable and advanta- geous engagements ; and especially represent- ing that I might complete the edition of Ori- gen's Works, which I had even then announced, at my leisure, with her, and aided by the stores of her library. I, on the other hand, pleaded the magnitude of the work, the length of time and labour that it would require, and the ur- gency of my private concerns, which would not permit such a protracted delay. These arguments having been'discussedon both sides for some days, the matter was at last settled on the following conditions ; that I should be allowed to revisit my own country for the ensuing winter, on prom^diig to return to Sweden MEMOIRS OF HUEf. Sweden in the spring. This, in fact, I would have done, had not the rumours of Christina's approaching ahdication become more and more prevalent an event which I had before au- gured, as well from the queen's disposition, as from some sentiments which she had lightly and carelessly dropt concerning the pleasant tran- quillity of a private life, and the incommodities of regal grandeur. Wherefore, although I had pledged my faith to the queen for my return, yet, on leaving Stockholm, I felt no scruple, when I paid my vows to Mercury for a safe journey back to France, to signify that I meant never to revisit Sweden, in the following lines written in the style of Catullus. Eocharti comites, cohors inanis, Aptis sarcinulis et expeditis, &c. * In another copy of verses, composed in French, I had with some keenness satirized the manners of the Swedes. When I recited these to Bochart, he wrote them out, and carried r - ^ * I shall only refer by the first lines to the Latin poems when mentioned, without either transcribing the originals, or attempting a version, which last would be fruitless la- bour, since their merit chiefly consists in the happy adapta- tion of classical phraseology. Transl. them i BOOK THE SECOND. them to the queen, to whom he read them as a piece of amusing pleasantry. She was en- tertained by the verses, but observed that her countrymen would by no means approve of an attempt to ridicule them; and 7 therefore it would be proper to keep them secret. ( 16) As a compassion, on my return, I engaged Peter Cahaignes de Fierville, of Caen, nephew of Stephen Cahaignes, before mentioned. His parents had associated him with Bochart on his journey to Sweden, and directed him to be entirely governed by his determination. But being wearied with his long stay in a barba- rous and unpleasant country, and dreading the long nights and short days of impending winter, notwithstanding the strong remon- strances, and almost the commands, of Bo- chart, he resolved to leave Sweden with me, and offered himself as a trusty attendant and companion. Another reason induced me to think of re- turning in good time to Caen. I had for many years observed that my long and intimate con- nection and community of studies with Bochart, a man alien from the catholic party, and to whose authority and reputation I paid much deference, MEMOIRS OF HUET. deference, was disapproved by the generality, and regarded as scarcely consistent with my soundness in the faith. And this suspicion \vas greatly aggravated when it was known that I had gone in this dangerous company to coun- tries attached to the Lutheran sect ; and was making a long residence in a court openly adverse to the catholic doctrine, and with, a queen, who was eager in all her inclinations, and was supposed desirous of propagating her religious opinions ; especially as she had in- timated that my services would be useful to her in some embassies in Germany. 1 was conscious of the futility of these notions ; yet I thought some attention should be paid to the public opinion, however unfounded, and that these idle rumours should be silenced by my return. I moreover conceived that a regard, as well to the glory of God, as to my own sal- vation, enjoined me not only to preserve un- tainted the purity of religion which I had imbibed from my most holy mother the ca- tholic church, but to take due care that no occasion for judging otherwise of me should be afforded-by my negligence. NOTES 161 NOTES TO THE SECOND BOOK. NOTE (1), PAGE 119. FEW characters have produced more discus- sion in their time than that of CHRISTINA, qi^een of Sweden, daughter of the great Gustavus Adolphus. The circumstances of her being one of the class of learned females, of her keep- ing a court filled with men of letters invited from various parts of Europe, of her abdicating a crown for the sake of a life of literary free- dom, and of her change of religion after seem~ ing indifferent to all, rendered her an object of great curiosity, and caused abundance of spe- culation as to her principles and motives. At this cool distance of time, however, opinions probably do not much differ concerning this once celebrated person. As a woman and as a sovereign she can inspire little esteem, having M equally 162 MEMOIRS OF HUET. equally disregarded the decencies of the for- mer character and the duties of the latter. In her literary pursuits she was capricious and pedantic, aiming at what she could never attain, and directed by no solid views or regular plan. She took up studies because she found great importance attached to them in the learned world, and then deserted them through levity or disgust. In her change of religion she was manifestly actuated solely by considerations of convenience or interest. Yet her love for literature, ill-directed as it was, had elevated her mind in some respects beyond the usual level of sovereigns, and had given her some just notions of the true estimate of human beings, as detached from rank and fortune. When vanity and other passions did not in- terfere; she could think and act like a real philosopher ; and it is to her credit that her conversion to a persecuting religion did not prevent her from inculcating the principles of toleration. It is unnecessary here to enter into any details of her history, further than to mark some of its chronological periods. She was born in 1626, and succeeded to the throne on her father's death in lGo2. She wag crowned NOTES TO BOOK II. l6*3 crowned in 1650, and resigned her crown after wearing it four years, in 1 65 4, at which time she declared her change of religion. She visited France in l65G; and in 1658 fixed her resi- dence at Rome, where she died in 1689, the sixty-third year of her age. NOTE (2), PAGE 119. ISAAC Vossius, son of the very learned Gerard- John Vossius, was born in 1618 at Leyden, where his father was then a professor. Endowed with great quickness of parts and an excellent memory, he proved himself, in point of learning, a worthy son of such a fa- ther ; and at an early age made himself known by several publications on subjects of profound erudition. Ancient geography and chronology were especially objects of his research, and he distinguished himself as an advocate for the chronology of the Septuagint in preference to that of the Hebrew text. His literary charac- ter was a remarkable compound of scepticism and credulity. Under the stigma of very lax faith with respect to the Christian revelation, he was boundlessly credulous as to the mar- M 2 vellous 164 MEMOIRS OF HUITT. vellous relations of travellers ancient and mo>- dern ; so that king Charles II. said of him, " he would believe any thing but the Bible." In a work of " Various Observations," he assigned to ancient Rome fourteen millions of inhabitants, and to a town of modern China, twenty millions. In every thing, what was wonderful and extraordinary captivated his imagination ; and novelty seemed to be much more to his taste than truth. His reputation, however, caused him not only to be engaged by Christina in her literary service, but to be selected as one of the learned foreigners to whom Louis XIV. extended his bounty. He came into England in 167, and was presented with the degree of doctor of Jaws at Oxford. This country became thenceforth his place of residence, which was rendered comfortable to him by a canonry of Windsor and apartments in the castle there. When he lay on his death- bed in 1688, being urged by the dean of Windsor to receive the sacrament, either disregard of that solemnity, or the expectation of still surviving, induced him to decline the proposal, with the observation, that what he then wanted from the dean was to be put ia the NOTES TO BOOK II. l65 the way how to make the farmers pay him his dues ; and in this unedifying manner he left the world. His valuable library was pur- chased by the university of Leyden ; the love of letters being then, it seems, not strong enough in England to prevent a treasure of that kind from leaving the country. NOTE (3), PAGE 124. HENRY REGIUS, or DU ROY, was a native of Utrecht, and was educated for physic, which he practised in several parts of the United Provinces. In 16^38 he was made professor of medicine and botany in the university of Utrecht. He was an early convert to the Cartesian philosophy, which he promoted with so much zeal among his auditors, that the other professors took the alarm ; and, at the in- stigation of Gilbert Voet, the senatus acade- micus lodged a complaint against him before the magistrates, in consequence of which he was prohibited from lecturing publicly or pri- vately upon any other than medical subjects. He had deviated so much from the doctrines of his master, that when he showed him before publication 166 MEMOIRS OF HUET. publication his "Fundamenta Physices," Des- cartes advised him not to print it, at least not without much alteration. Regius, however, not only refused to comply, but in his second edition omitted all the praises of Descartes which he had inserted in the first, a conduct which necessarily made a breach in their friendship. He was the first who applied the Cartesian principles to medicine. He died at Utrecht in 1679. NOTE (4), PAGE 127. CHRISTIAN LOKGOMONTANUS, an eminent Danish astronomer, was a remarkable example of natural genius and industry struggling with the disadvantages of fortune. He was the son of a poor peasant in Jutland, who culti- vated, according to his slender means, the disposition for learning which he discovered in the boy. But losing this parent at an early age, Christian was able to obtain no other indulgence for his desire of instruction, than to be allowed to study during the winter, upon the condition of working hard in the fields all summer. At length he escaped from bin NOTES TO BOOK II. l6/ his family, and went to Wiborg, the college of which place he attended several years, sup- porting himself in the meantime by his ma- nual labour. Here, by his conduct and pro- ficiency in his studies, he ingratiated himself so much with the professors, that he was re- commended by them as an assistant to Tycho Brache than residing in his island of Huen. With him he continued eight years, rend- ering himself highly useful to that astronomer by his exactness in making observations; and he afterwards followed Tycho to his residence near Prague. Returning at length to his native country, he was first appointed rector of the college of Wiborg ; and finally, in l6o5_, obtained the completion of his wishes in the professorship of mathematics in the university of Copenhagen. The principal work of Lon- gomontanus is his "Astronomia Danica", which contains all the discoveriesof Tycho, with a proposed improvement upon his system. He expended much fruitless pains upon the problem of the quadrature of thecircle, concern- ing which he had a controversy with Dr. Pell, an English mathematician. He died in 1647, about the age of eighty-five. NOTE 168 MEMOIRS OF HUET. NOTE (5), PAGE 128. OLAUS WORMIUS (Worm) eminent as a physician, naturalist, and historian, was born at Aarhusen in Jutland in 1588. He studied in various schools of learning, and travelled through several countries of Europe, intent upon the acquisition of knowledge and the collection of curiosities. On returning to his own country he was appointed to the chair of Greek, and afterwards to that of Natural Philosophy, in the univeristy of Copenhagen ; and in l6'24 he succeeded Gasp. Bartholine in the professorship of medicine. He was nomi- nated physician to the king, and at his death in l654 was rector of the university of Copen- hagen. The most valuable works of Wormius are those on the history of his own country, in which he displayed much accurate research, and a profound knowledge of northern an- tiquities. He left a detailed description of his celebrated and copious museum, which was published after his death in a folio vo- lume with fine plates, under the title of "Mu- saeum Wormianum.*' This learned man was not NOTES TO BOOK II. 169 not without credulity. He wrote a history of the Leming rat in Norway, which animal he supposes at certain periods to fall from the clouds. He was a great believer in the medical virtues of the horn of the sea-unicorn ; and he asserts, as a serious fact, that a woman laid two eggs, furnished with white and yo*lk. It appears extraordinary that the writer could discover no other motive in the mind of man to great exertions in the cause of science, than the love of glory. Besides the desire of benefiting mankind, which, perhaps, is seldom more than a secondary consideration, the pure love of knowledge, and the natural propensity to advance in the pursuit of truth, will sufficiently account for all the labours sustained by an active and enquiring mind. These inducements I believe (in this country at least) to operate much more frequently and steadily in scientific researches, than the passion for fame, which they often afford little scope for gratifying. Can it be thought that amidst the sublime speculations which pro- duced MEMOIRS OF HUET. duced Newton's Principia, an idea of the glory he should acquire by a work which scarcely twenty persons in Europe were likely to understand, intruded into the great mind of that philosopher? Fame may be the lead- ing object of the warrior, the poet, the artist, but scarcely of the man of science, whose investigations must be patiently pursued in silence and solitude ; whilst their results, when most satisfactory, are to be judged of only by the few who are attached to similar studies. If, as here asserted, Tycho Brahe consoled himself on his death-bed with the hope of being thought not to have lived in vain, that hope was fulfilled, notwithstanding all the misfor- tunes of his life ; for he has left a name held in honour by the votaries of the sciences which he so much promoted : and those mis- fortunes were rather occasioned by his own intemperate passions, than by neglect of his real merits, which appear to have been fully recognized by his contemporaries. To the preceding anecdotes of this remark- able person I shall only add, that after quit- ting Denmark he was invited to Prague by the emperor Rodolph, a lover and patron of science, TO BOOK II. science, who gave him a magnificent house and a liberal pension; and that he died there in consequence of an accidental disease in l6oi, at the age of fifty-five: it is therefore by no means true that his latter days were un- honoured. NOTE (7), PAGE 142. To this attempt to associate superstition with the influence of climate, it is an obvious objec- tion, that superstition is the companion of ig- norance throughout the globe, and fills with fears and apprehensions not less the negro under the burning sun of Guinea, than the Greenlander in his subterraneous cavern. The gloom of a northern sky may indeed appear to favour it; but the terrific phaenomena of nature under the tropics are not less adapted to fill the minds of the inhabitants with the dread of "powers unseen and mightier far than they." In fact, superstition is so radical in human beings, that nothing but that culture .of the reasoning faculty which is termed phi- losophy is capable of extirpating it. With- out philosophy, there is no form of religion that MEMOIRS OF HUET. that does not turn to superstition ; and Huet himself must upon reflection have confessed, that the catholic vulgar of the south of Europe are not Jess subject to this mental infirmity than the prote^tants, or even the pagans, of the north. NOTE (8), PAGE 144. The submersion of swallows during winter, although credited not only by the vulgar, but even by naturalists, in the north of Europe, is a circumstance so contrary to the economy of nature and the laws of circulation in warm- blooded animals, that the most intelligent en- quirers seem to agree in considering it as a fiction. The point is discussed at length, and with much information, in Buffon's History of Birds. NOTE (9), PAGE 151. The ABBE BGURDELOT, as he was usually called, for he had been presented to two eccle- siastical benefices, was probably a protestant by parentage, since he was born at Geneva, and his NOTES TO BOOK II. his mother was a relation of the celebrated Beza. In manners he appears to have been a perfect specimen of an intriguing court physician. He had insinuated himself into the favour of the Prince of Conde before he went to Sweden ; and the caustic Guy Patin speaks of him as " a monstrous liar and a gam- bler." Though Huet represents him as un- learned, he held a kind of academy at his house in Paris, of which the memoirs, under the title of "Conferences," were published by the abbe Gallois. His death, in 1685, at the age of seventy-six, was the consequence of a dose of opium taken by mistake. It threw him into a stupor, for the recovery from which a warming pan was used, and a burn which he received in the application turned into a gangrene that proved fatal. NOTE (10), PAGE 152. GILBERT GAULMIN, a native of Moulins, was a master of requests, a counsellor of state, and intendant of Nivernois. He appears to have been a man of more parade than solidity of erudition ; though Costar affirmed of him that MEMOIRS OF HUET. that he knew all the languages that the con- fusion of Babel introduced on the earth. He was accustomed to harangue to an assembly of men of letters at the Luxemburg, who regaled him with abundance of incense. His writ- ings were chiefly translations of some obscure Greek authors, with annotations ; and pieces of poetry. Among the latter were some sting- ing epigrams against the parliament of Paris in its quarrel with cardinal Mazarin. The rector of Gaulrnin's parish having refused to marry him to a woman whom he brought to the altar, he declared in the rector's presence that he took her for his wife, and cohabited with her. The name of d la Gaulmine was after- wards given to such marriages, which were determined to be illegal. After his death, his valuable library was annexed to the king's. NOTE (11), PAGE 153. MARK MEIBOM, a man of learning, but a pedant, was a native of Tonningen in Schleswig. After he had presented the work here men- tioned to Christina, she had, or affected to' have, a desire to hear some of that Grecian music NOTES TO BOOK II. music in the praise of which he was so elo- quent, and a clay was appointed for an exhi- bition, vocal and instrumental, before the whole court. Meibom himself, who had neither voice nor practical knowledge, was vain enough to undertake the vocal part, and his perform- ance, and that of his auxiliaries, was so ridi- culous, that the whole audience broke out into laughter. Provoked with his disgrace, he ran up to Bourdelot, whom he imagined, perhaps justly, to have contributed to it, and gave him a blow in the royal presence, and then hastily quitted Stockholm, and went to Denmark. It is not improbable that this comic scene gave the hint for the humorous display of ancient music in Scriblerus. Meibom obtained a pro- fessorship in the college of Sora, and was after- wards made president of the board of customs at Elsinore. The quarrels in which his irri- table temper involved him having at length obliged him to quit Denmark, he went to Amsterdam, where the professorship of history was conferred upon him. Losing this place in consequence of a dispute with the burgo- master, he visited France and England for the purpose of selling a supposed discovery of the IJ'S MEMOIRS OF HUET. the construction of the ancient galleys amatter of as little utility as his revival of ancient music. On this subject he wrote a learned dissertation. He had a plan of correcting the Hebrew text of the bible by means of a metrical system which he imagined he had discovered in its compo- sition ; and he published a specimen of this scheme of emendation. He gave other proofs of deep erudition, though little under the con- troul of sound judgement; and died at Am- sterdam at a very advanced age about 1711. NOTE (12), PAGE 154. COUNT AXEL OXENSTIERNA, one of the great men of his age, descended from an ancient and honourable Swedish family, was born in 1583. His first introduction to public business was under Charles IX., who employed him in va- rious diplomatic affairs, which he conducted so as to establish a high reputation for political sagacity. Gustavus Adolphus on his accession promoted him to the post of chancellor, and during his whole reign reposed the utmost confidence in his fidelity and talents. He accompanied that hero into Germany, where he was NOtES TO BOOK II. Was employed both in a civil and a military capacity; and at the time of the battle of Lutzen he possessed the supreme command of the Swedish and allied forces upon the Rhine. After the death of Gustavus in that battle, the Swedish government delegated to Oxenstierna unlimited powers in negotiating with foreign states and conducting the war in Germany ; and it was chiefly by his wisdom and magnanimity that the declining interest of the Swedes was sustained, and their affairs were retrieved after the severe blow at Nord- lingen; On his return to Sweden after an ab- sence of ten years, he resumed his seat as chancellor, and acted as one of the guardians of the kingdom in the minority of Christina, whom he took great pains to instruct in the art of government. He used all his influence to oppose her intention of abdicating the throne ; which unadvised act, together with the derange- ment of the finances occasioned by her extrava- gance, gave him great concern, and made him wish to withdraw from public business. He con- tinued, however, to discharge his official duties till his death in l6'54. The character of this great statesman was extremely high through- VOL. i. N out MEMOIRS OF HUET. out Europe, and his worth and integrity were not less acknowledged than his abilities. He had received a literary education, and was well versed in the learned languages and the Sciences, particularly that of theology. NOTE (13), PAGE 154. CHANUT, a native of Riom, after having been long resident as the French king's ambas- sador at the court of Sweden, was employed in other diplomatic missions, and finally re- called to assist in the royal council. He wag much esteemed for fidelity and capacity in his different employments, and died in 1662, at the age of sixty-two. Some curious me- moirs extracted from his dispatches were pub- lished after his death by M. Linage de Vau- ciennes. He deserves the gratitude of men of science for his kind attentions to Descartes, who was probably considered at the French court as a deserter of his country. NOTE (14), PAGE 156. Of this horrid species of fanaticism there have NOTES TO BOOK II. 179 have been several instances in the northern countries of Europe, and it once prevailed to such a degree that magistrates were seriously occupied in finding means to prevent it. One of the most obvious was, not to indulge the criminal's desire of capital punishment, but to commute it into imprisonment for life with hard labour. The existence of such a crime cannot but suggest reflections on the principle from which it has originated ; and a few of these which have occurred to me, I beg leave to offer to the reader. Tha,t,the doctrine of a future state is of the highest moral importance to mankind, will Jbe denied by none who speculate upon the mqtives of human actions; but whether it will eventually be useful or prejudicial to society, must depend entirely upon the terms pro- posed for obtaining happiness or avoiding mi- sery in another life. The simple desire of being happy hereafter is ,a barely selfish emo- tion, in no respect different from the same desire relatively to this world ; whence I am much surprised that a late celebrated moralist should have giyen it admission into his defi- N 2 nition ISO MEMOIRS OF HUET. nition of virtue. Even the notion of eternity annexed to it only adds to its intensity, and does not alter its quality. It is a potent en- gine, but as liable to misdirection as any other powerful machine. Among the numerous re- ligions which have popularly prevailed in the world, it is to be lamented that scarcely any one has uniformly and, without exceptions in- culcated the doctrine that the future condition of man will be exactly proportioned to the good or evil he has done in this stage of his existence : almost all have pointed out some by-roads to heaven, unconnected with the direct path of moral duty. In particular, a great stress has usually been laid upon the manner in which the last moments of life have been spent, and the sentiments and ceremonials with which the world has been quitted. Thus the poor wretch in question founded his confidence upon an elevation of his soul to God, aided by the prayers and exhortations of the pious; and he thought that dying in such a happy frame of mind would expiate every previous crime, and secure him eternal felicity. This notion is too much encouraged by NOTES TO B.OOK II. 181 by the public devotional practices permitted in all Christian countries as preliminary to execu- tion, and which, under the administration of en- thusiasts and fanatics, are often accompanied with such assurances of the divine forgive- ness and favour, as almost sanctify the death which is intended to deter others from similar offences. In some Roman-catholic countries there are fraternities of charitable persons instituted for the express purpose of procuring to criminals these dying consolations, which are afforded in an abundanpe, and with a parade of solemnity, much beyond the power of an honest poor man to procure ; and must, doubtless, with the prevalent ideas of their efficacy, operate as a kind of premium for the commission of crimes. Such charity could not, however, be blamed, did its exertion really make to a fellow-creature all the difference between eternal happiness and eternal misery ; nor do I know upon what ground the reason- ing of the murderer above mentioned could be refuted, by one who should admit that the sentiments with which he immediately left this world would determine his doom in another. NOTE 182 MEMOIRS Orf riUET. NOTE (15), PAGE 156. It must be acknowledged that these com- plaints of the Swedes were not without foun- dation ; nor was the character here attributed to the French nation void of resemblance. It has been remarked of the French, that al- though they travel from motives of curiosity or improvement less than the natives of most civilized countries, yet that, in pursuit of emolument, they are to be found all over the globe ; and that they almost universally render themselves obnoxious by their intriguing spirit, and their avowed contempt for the manners and customs of other people. If in the latter respect the English are nearly as blameable, they make some amends by the easiness with which they submit to imposition, and the generous independence of their conduct. NOTE (16), PACE 159. The queen appears in this instance to have been more prudent than the two Frenchmen, who NOTES TO BOOK II. 183 who presumed not a little on her preference of foreigners when they expected to entertain her by a satire on her own countrymen. French petulance has seldom appeared in more striking colours. With respect to Huet's promise of returning to Sweden, when it is evident that he had no such intention, it will admit of some excuse from the apparent con- trol exercised over him by a sovereign of whom he was not the subject. MEMOIRS v MEMOIRS OF PETER DANIEL HUET. BOOK III. J.N my journey to Sweden, on looking over the shelves of the library at Gottorp, I ob- served some ancient Greek books which I thought might be of service to my literary pur- suits. On my return, therefore, ] determined not to quit the Danish province forming the Cimbric Chersonesus till I had examined these books at leisure, and, if 1 found any thing to my purpose, had made either an abstract or a transcript of it. In consequence, as soon as I reached Gottorp again, I waited upon Adam Olearius, the librarian, a person distinguished for good sense and learning, of both which qualities he had given an admirable proof in Jiis " Description of a Journey to Muscovy and Persia," which was undertaken by order pf Frederjc duke of Holstein. At this time, as 186 MEMOIRS OF HUET. as far as the severe attacks of a fever, under which he laboured, permitted him, he was compiling a dictionary with an explanation of all the words in the Persian language, (l) I requested him in the first place to give me an introduction to the prince, to whom it was my duty to pay my respects ; and then to allow me access to the library, that I might read and extract whatever should seem advantageous to my studies. On the following day he in- formed me that the prince would give me an audience as soon as he had transacted with some foreign ambassadors the business on ac- count of which they had come ; and that in the mean time the inmost recesses of the li- brary should be open to me. Of this liberal indulgence I was not negligent in availing my- self, as soon as I had waited upon the prince. Among the manuscripts which I employed myself in transcribing Was especially that con- taining the Anthology of Vettius Valens. He Was an ancient astronomer of Ahtioch, who delivered the precepts of the apotelesmatic art (influences of the stars) about the reigns of Adrian and Antoninus. He must not be con- founded with another astrologer of the same name, BOOK THE THIRD. name, known from the histories of George Cedrenus, Michael Glycas, and John Zonaras, who at the foundation of New Rome (Constan- tinople) constituted a scheme of the heavens, and predicted many falsities from the vanity of his art. I have heard of only two copies of this work besides that of Gottorp ; one at Leyden, written by the hand of Joseph Sca- liger ; the other at Oxford, formerly made by the care of Christopher Longolius, at the expense of twenty pieces of gold, and which was afterwards in the possession of John Sel- den. Gesner, however, in his Bibliotheca, speaks of another MS. of this work, extant at Rome, in the library of Lucas Gauric. Whe- ther it was this; or that of Gottorp, which Joachim Camerarius made use of when he in- serted a fragment from it in his Astrologica, and whence Scaliger made his copy, is un- known to me. Whilst I was earnestly em- ployed in this task, the prince himself entered at a back door and stood unexpectedly at my side. Presently, sitting down with great fa- miliarity, he asked me many questions con- cerning Sweden and France, and likewise rela- tive to my Own studies and his library, which he 188 MEMOIRS OF HUET. he wished me carefully to survey, and to give my advice for its augmentation. As he was unacquainted with French, and I with German and Danish, we employed the Latin as the me- dium of conversation, which language lie spoke with so much facility, that rotnvi, which was unintelligible, he was inclined to read TrotK-rrtK^. To me, at the first view, there appeared a general confusion in these lines, so that I despaired of making any sense of them ; and such was the sentiment of Bo- chart. But upon a more attentive examina- tion, I acquainted him that I had discovered them to have been copied from an ancient manuscript, in which, to save room, they were written so that each page consisted of two columns ; but arranged in such a man- ner, that in reading, the first line in one column was to be followed by the first of the next ; and the second by the second ; and BOOK THE THIRD. 213 and so on ; but that the careless copyist,, pay- ing no regard to the sense, had transcribed the whole first column, and then the whole se- cond, and had made the same mistake in the subsequent pages ; whence had arisen that con- fusion of verses and senses, which might be easily remedied if the original order were re- stored. I added, that no alteration was re- quired in the word TTITTOCKVI, for that it was the name of the Psittacene region, which was called Pittace, Sittace and Psittace. At this time too a letter arrived from Paul- mier desiring my opinion on the Isopsepha of Leonidas the Alexandrine, which are preserved in the Anthologia ; respecting which I could not but wonder that neither he himself, though learned and acute, nor John Brodeau, the very learned translator of the Anthologia, nor Henry Stephens, had well understood what these Isopsepha were, which, if no where else, might certainly have been learned from the Oneiro- critica of Artemidorus. I therefore replied to Paulmier, that the Greek grammarians, too much addicted to trifling, had spent much use- less labour in minute and idle observations ; on which account, as we find from A. Gellius, they were ridiculed by the succeeding age. Among 214 MEMOIRS OF HUET. Among these trifles is placed the disquisition those grammarians concerning Homer's Iso- psepha, that is, those verses the letters of which collectively stand for numbers of equal value : the Leonidas above mentioned sought reputa- tion from fabricating verses of this kind. He wrote four epigrams, in verses, the two first of which consisted of letters forming the same numbers as the two last. These are inserted in the Anthologia ; and the laborious and silly artifice may be detected by any one who chooses to throw away his tijne in making the calcula- tion. Among these epigrams, hpwever, one occurs consisting of two verses alone ; and this occasioned more trouble to Paulmier than all the rest ; though the sense is very clear that in these two isopsephic liries the first is to be opposed to the second, in order that their lo-oil/Yjfau may be discovered; for that the writer was tired of the prolixity of four verses, and wished to exhibit his industry in two alone, one opposed to the other. The art of the mo- dern Jews called Gematria. is conversant in such follies, which they seem to have borrowed from the degenerate Greeks, together with the. name Gematria, or Geometry. (24) About the same period, when I was at Parisj, as BOOK THE THIRD. 215 as if it had been by agreement, Emeric Bigot came to ask my opinion respecting an obscure passage in the same Anthology, controverted between him andGraevius. I had an acquaint- ance of old standing with Bigot, with whom I was connected as well by relationship as by community of studies. (25) We went up into my library for the purpose of taking down and consulting the book ; and when he observed many notes written in the margin, according to my custom while reading, he wrote to Grae- vius, who was then planning a new edition of the Anthologia enriched with numerous addi- tions, and especially with the elegant metrical version of Grotius, informing him that I had made many annotations by which it might be improved. Graevius was desirous that these should be immediately communicated to him ; and by frequent and earnest letters intreated that I would favour him with them. I did not refuse the request of a worthy man and a friend, and copied out the observations from the mar- gin of my book, and sent them to him. But the wars prevailing throughout Europe so damped the enterprise of booksellers, that my papers lay for ten whole years in the drawers of 2l6 MEMOIRS OF HUET. of Graevius, till he was pleased to annex them to the republication of my poems which he kindly undertook at Utrecht. (26) In the mean time the packages which I brought from Sweden and could not convey through Flanders, had been for nearly two years lying on the coast of Holland. And as, from the earliest period of my life, a secret but earnest desire of entering the ecclesiastical profession had been implanted in my mind, to which my commenced design of interpreting and illustrating Origen seemed not a little to conduce, I laboured under an anxious desire of recovering the materials which I had collected for that work, and of applying my mind to those pursuits which became one devoted to sacred things, and habituating it to divine to- pics. Peace was at length restored between the English and Dutch, and with the libera- tion of the sea, my boxes returned to me. With pleasure I tasted at leisure my collected fruits, and laid them up in my repository. Among these it was my principal care to re- peruse the commentaries of Origen which I had transcribed, to translate them into Latin, and subjoin my own observations, and stu- diously BOOK THE THIRD. diously to procure the other writings of this author, and as many more of the like kind as I was able. Bochart then came to me, and desired me to show him my transcript of the commentaries of Origen, that he might at- tentively read over that controverted passage on the Eucharist, which had been the subject of so many disputations. Whilst this occupies nearly a whole page, the meaning of a single verse alone appeared to me dubious and defec- tive, as if a few words had been dropt. But of this I was not certain, till from an ancient manuscript in the royal library at Paris I found that through my haste in transcribing, a few words of little or no moment had been omitted in my copy ; and that this had occurred from a repetition of the same verse, as frequently happens to copyists, which Jerom himself has remarked. By the aid, therefore, of the royal manuscript, I restored the integrity of the pas- sage, and supplied the words omitted. But Bochart, carried away by zeal for his party, and unmindful of our ancient friendship, and of the candour he had long recognised in me, wrote letters to his associates in various parts of Europe, in which he complained that I had 218 MEMOIRS OF HUET. had copied Origen unfaithfully. When in- formed of this, I was greatly concerned that the honour of my name should be violated by the calumny of a friend ; I therefore expostu- lated with him in the mildest terms, but with- out obtaining adequate satisfaction. On ac- count of this unjust and unkind behaviour, the friendship between us, cemented by the habits and good offices of so many years, to my great grief was dissolved. (27) From this time I bestowed all my care and labour upon Origen ; and if I was occasionally diverted to another pursuit, it was only an excursion, while Origen was my home. As, however, my supplies were to be sought from various quarters, and especially from the royal library, in which 1 knew that many remains of this author lay concealed, and I had frequent journeys to take thither, a delay of more than ten years ensued, which I have at large ex- plained in the Prolegomena to Origen's Com- mentaries. Another task also grew out of this, which I thought necessary to precede the edi- tion. For whilst 1 was closely employed in translating the original into Latin, in which I followed a concise and exact mode of version, not BOOK THE THIRD. 219 not thinking it allowable to depart a hair's breadth from my author, a scruple entered my mind whether that were the right and proper method of translating, and likely to be approved by the present age, which seems to prefer lax and paraphrastical interpretations. Aware that this controversy was not yet decided, or, indeed, sufficiently weighed in the-discussions of learn- ed men, I undertook to consider the matter thoroughly in a separate treatise (published in l66l), in which I attempted to restrain the immoderate license of translators, and espe- cially to keep within due and prescribed bounds those who engage in the task of rendering the holy scriptures into another language. If these limits had been respected by those torturers of the sacred books, who have thought all kinds of liberties allowable in their versions, the pure and primitive sense of passages would have been preserved inviolate. By this first off- spring of my studies I appealed to the judg- ment of men of learning, and made trial of the popular gale. It was welcomed in a splendid copy of verses, and with a lofty pane- gyric of my merits, by Antony Halle, former- ly my preceptor ; in which it might be supposed that 220 MEMOIRS OF HUET. that he was celebrating his own gifts, and that whatever faculty I possessed of writing Latin was due to himself. This friendly testimony of an excellent master was at that time highly agreeable to me ; and I still regard it as greatly to my honour. After the publication of my work " De Interpretatione," I was visited by John Baptist Cotelier, a man of profound eru- dition, thoroughly devoted to Greek and Latin literature, and to the correction of the works of thfe Fathers, (28) who in a friendly manner apprised me that I had somewhere committed a mistake, which might be rectified in the re- maining copies of my work. I thanked him for his kindness, and acknowledged my error, which, however, I showed him had been already detect- ed by me, and was amended in my own copy. In the mean time I occasionally threw out light and easy verses, incited and sometimes challenged by my fellow academics, whose industry was chiefly exhibited in poetical effusions. In this, too, I seemed to comply with the manners of my native place, and to fulfil my part in sup- porting the ancient fame of Caen ; which, for a long period, has borne away the palm of *ong from the other cities of France ; so that it BOOK THE THIRD. 221 it is pleasantly said, that in other towns verses are made in the chambers, but at Caen in the open shops. This circumstance I have noticed in my work on the Antiquities of Caen. At the period in which I began to hold a certain rank among the votaries of sound lite- rature, the art of criticism was particularly flourishing ; and all who aimed at the reputa- tion of learning engaged in it with so much ardour, that all their diligence was expended upon the emendation of ancient authors, the recovery of vanishing letters, the filling up of chasms, the restoration of faulty and dislocated sentences, and the discrimination of spurious .and interjected clauses. In these operations acute conjectures were applied, which flattered the understanding with an appearance of truth, and obtained credit, though often false and fal- lacious. It was especially an object, at great ex- pense and from remote parts, to collect ancient copies, by the collation of which, the errors of more modern ones, proceeding either from the ignorance and negligence of transcribers, or the wear and tear of time, might be amended. It was certainly proper to seek a remedy for these 222 MEMOIRS OF HUET. these evils, which was only to be found in the critical art, of which the invention is attributed to Aristotle. After him, many, both Greeks and Romans, laboured in the same field, whose names the gratitude of the friends of learning has not suffered to perish. Nor have the Hebrews been devoid of their criticism, exer- cised by those whom they called Masoreth ; for even the sacred volumes were affected with the same disorders, and their various readings have been collected and published. And, in- deed, after that horrible darkness which for so many years hung over Christianity and lite- rature, at the revival of learning criticism lent a favouring hand, by which the stains and blotches of antiquity were nearly expunged. But now, in this light of letters, after such long and assiduous toil in the emendation of ancient books, by which they have been restored to their jpristine splendour, to spend a whole life in the same exercise, as I saw done by Gruter, Le Fevre, and many others,, who sought no other result of their labours, appeared to me an ignoble employment of the intellect, worthy only of a little mind a task necessary, indeed, but BOOK THE THIRD. 223 but mean ; like that of the weeders whom I employ in freeing my garden from noxious plants, while I eat and store up the fruit. (29) Not much more worthy of praise did I es- teem that skill in languages which, likewise, was at that time an object of high commenda- tion among the learned, and was pursued to the verge of insanity. I am aware that this study has its use, and even necessity ; and that a correct knowledge of antiquity, which is the best part of polite literature, cannot be obtained without the aid of those tongues which were spoken by the nations who have transmitted to us the arts and sciences which they invented or cultivated : but let them be regarded as handmaids, who are to be courted only as leading the way to their mistresses, which are those branches of knowledge themselves. Thus, languages are the keys by which the doors of learning are to be opened ; and those who, content with the possession of them, stop at the threshold, and do not penetrate to the recesses, may be resembled to janitors, who, bearing the keys of many apartments, them- selves sleep out of doors. (30) Whilst I was studying to furnish myself with 224 MEMOIRS OF HUET. with an accurate knowledge of antiquity, and to arrive at the very fountains of erudition, whether 1 consulted the sacred scriptures or profane writers, no nation appeared to me to have done more towards the propagation of learning than the Egyptian ; which yet had not been examined and illustrated adequately to its merits by the researches of learned men ; although the sacred writers give their testimony to the consummate wisdom of the Egyptians, and ancient Greece acknowledges them as its masters. This part of literature, however, I saw either lightly touched "upon or neglected. Athanasius Kircher had not yet undertaken to explain it in his bulky volumes ; at least they had not yet reached me : nor indeed, when they came into my possession, did I find them so replete with learning and sagacity to elucidate and exhaust their subject, as with pomp and ostentation. (31) A much greater apparatus of erudition was brought to these disquisitions by John Marsham, who exhibited powers almost equal to the task ; but his work ap- peared later, nor did it satisfy my wishes. (32) I also long wrought in this mine, and had col- lected a great mass of Egyptian observations and BOOK THE THIRD. 225 and commentaries, not void of public utility, when, by the sudden fall of my house at Paris, my treasures were so much injured and dis- ordered, that scarcely a few inconsiderable and lacerated fragments escaped from the wreck. I shall now follow the order of time and inci- dents. During this period I was rusticating in the district of Caen, in company withSavary, whom ] have already mentioned. He frequently read to me, under the shade of trees, the verses with which he was used to cram his pockets. In these he not only detailed the laws of the chase, but treated on all kinds of topics ; and especially satirized the manners of our fellow-citizens, with such an abundant and flowing fertility, that he appeared to me to surpass all the poets I ever heard of, if not in elegance and amenity, at least in copiousness. Hitherto, however, he had not published a single line. I gently ex- horted him not to withhold his poetical wealth from the public, or defraud himself of due praise ; and he took my remonstrance so kindly, that shortly after, liberating his Muse from her prison, so great a profusion of verse broke forth that it inundated the booksellers' shops, and VOL. i. Q was 226 MEMOIRS OF HUET. was sufficient to weary the pressmen in print- ing, and me in reading. As from an early age I was singularly delighted with vernal scenery and country retirement, and then possessed no place of my own to which I could retreat, some of my friends, who had pleasant villas in the neighbourhood, gave me kind invitations. Among the rest I was peculiarly pleased with one situated to the south of Caen, and elegantly adorned with long avenues of green oaks planted about it ; and still more with the master of the seat, Francis Petit de Vacogne, a man of talents, and much attached to literature. In amenity even this was surpassed by another, situated on the sea shore amidst rocks, which, opposed to the waves, and excavated by them, were formed into caverns on their sides. Immersed in these, with no other companion than a book, I re- mained whole days with great delight, enjoying the prospect either of a tranquil sea, and ships gliding by with a favourable breeze, or a raging ocean, when I could behold their danger from the land. In these pleasant recesses I was well content, during the summer season, to be absent from the city and my own house, and felt un- willing to quit my solitude and commit myself to BOOK THE THIRD. to city crowds and turbulence. Origen, how- ever, the editing of whom I had publicly un- dertaken, impatient of my absence, laid his hands upon me and drew me back to my li- brary. For the purpose, therefore, of enlarging my work on Origen, I returned at this time to Paris, and more frequently afterwards; since it was necessary for me to attend the royal li- brary, either to copy out, with the help of amanuenses, ancient manuscripts, or to consult and compare them with my own. In these journeys, also, I employed myself as well in vi- siting my old friends as in acquiring new ones. Among the latter I gave a distinguished place to John Chapelain, whose high reputation as a literary character had been acquired by excel- lent works, especially of the poetical class, and by his successful studies, in which he had included philosophy and the mathematical sciences. Of this the celebrated philosopher Gassendi is a witness, who declared that the friendship of Chapelain was an honour to him. Nor do I pay any regard to the opinion of cer- tain minute and envious poets, accustomed to catch at praise by detraction and scurrilous ri- ft 2 dicule, 228 MEMOIRS OF HUET. dicule, and the inveterate enemies of Chape- lain, whose merits and glory they can never equal by their abuse. How empty and idle their judgments are, may be clearly inferred from this circumstance that whilst their ma- lignity was especially exercised in carping at , his epic poem on the " Maid of Orleans," they were passing sentence on a thing with which they were unacquainted. For they had seen only half the work, which alone the author had published ; whence it is evident that they could not understand the fable, the action, the form, or ordonnance of the piece, on which points the nature of epic poetry principally depends. It must, indeed, be confessed, that Chapelain had not sufficiently attended to the character of our age and nation, effeminate, fastidious, remiss, impatient of long attention, and there- fore with difficulty elevating itself to the ma- jesty and sublimity of the epic. You can scarcely see one of these men of fashion per- use an entire ode without yawning, at least without marks of languor. Their taste is all for songs, and pointed, sparkling, flashy epi- grams. From the women, who are omnipo- tent with us, first proceeded this frivolity, which BOOK THE THIRD. 229 which has unnerved pur men, and sapped the vigour of the whole nation. For my own part, having read Chapelain's whole work with at- tention, I can safely affirm that it would not have wanted its due honour and praise had it appeared in a happier period, or among more robust and equitable understandings. I cannot therefore acquiesce in the judgment of Mon- tausier and Conrart, whom the author consti- tuted by his will the arbiters of his poem. For, after he had experienced so adverse a gale, he nevertheless finished the other part of his un- dertaking, having fortified himself against the unjust censures of the vulgar by a very weighty preface ; and he left it to be published or sup- pressed according to the determination of per- sons who were his friends. By them it was condemned to perpetual darkness and utter oblivion. But from this condemnation, with due deference to such men, I widely dissent ; for if the work in its entire state, and complete in all its parts, were to come under one aspect before learned eyes not blinded by envy, it would assert its own dignity, and would prove that the opportunity of becoming fully ac- quainted 230 MEMOIRS OF HUET. quaintecl with it ought not to have been with- held from posterity. (33) Chapelain had ad- mitted me to an intimate familiarity, and greatly favoured my plans and attempts ; and lest our intercourse should languish in absence, a fre- quent epistolary correspondence was maintained between us, in which we communicated to each other our studies, writings, and sentiments. A testimony of my regard for him was given in the description of my Swedish journey ; for, when he requested of me that it might be in- scribed with his name, I interpreted his desire fcs implying that he wished some public me- morial might exist of our friendship. He had nlso another reason for desiring this tribute of my esteem. Some sparks had already broken out of that disgraceful difference which put an end to his long connection with Menage ; and es I had already addressed Menage in an epi- fctle, not ill-received by the public, which in- dicated my attachment to him, and my opi- nion of his worth, Chapelain, feeling a degree of jealousy on the occasion, as if I had mani- fested a preference of Menage to himself, did not scruple in plain terms to extort from me the BOOK THE THIRD. 231 the same civility. I employed it. to express publicly my judgment of his poetical powers, thus addressing him in a copy of verses pre- fixed to my work : Dulcia nobilibus dum dividis otia curls, &c. The recommendation of Chapelain procured me various splendid connections, as it was his wish that the friends of one of us should also be those of the other. Among these was Henry Louis Habert de Montmor, master of requests to the king, distinguished for his love of let- ters, as well of the sublime as the elegant class. (34) At his house, on a certain day and hour in every week, a numerous assembly of learned men was held, who commynicated to each other valuable disquisitions on subjects in na- tural philosophy. These I frequently attend- ed ; and I occasionally presented dissertations of my own for their judgment ; as was the case with one which I drew up about this time re- lative to the glass drops lately brought to us from Germany, which, on breaking off the ex- tremity of the shank, fly with great force into powder. This learned assembly unanimously requested that my treatise might be read before them, 232 MEMOIRS OF HUET. them, in which I had endeavoured by conjec- ture to ascertain the materials, composition, fabric, and formation of these drops, hitherto unknown in France ; and that my conjectures were fortunate, was proved when our glass- manufacturers acquired the knowledge of the secret. A great ornament to this society was the Peter Gassendi whom I have mentioned, and who may justly be placed among the first philosophers of the age. (35) Although he was domesticated with Montmor, who ap- peared to be one of his followers, and an ap- prover of the Epicurean doctrine, yet the lat- ter secretly favoured Descartes, to whom Gas- sendi was a declared opponent ; and it was thought that the sole object of Montmor in in- stituting this philosophical meeting was to ac- custom men's minds to the Cartesian princi- ples, and gradually bring them over to his sect. I sometimes also visited Claude Hardi, a counsellor of the Chatelet. He was then in great fame for his mathematical knowledge, of which specimens are published; yet he had greater wealth in reserve than he externally promised. (36) I then, too, became acquainted with Honorat de Bueil de Racan, the success- ful BOOK THE THIRD. 233 ful disciple in poetry of my fellow- townsman Francis Malherbe. (37) It was chance that in- troduced me to the'friendship of Gabriel Ma- delenet : for, as I was looking over the lists of publications in a bookseller's shop, and, having read the names of some modern poets, desired that they might be procured for me, Made- lenet came in, and began to examine the lists with me. After I had purchased some of the best and most select, " I see (said he) that you are fond of poetry and have a just taste for it : I have some that I can show you, which perhaps you will not disdain," At the same time he drew out some papers containing verses of no common flavour. I read them, and " Ex illo Corydon, Corydon est tempore nobis." J contracted a friendship with Madelenet, whom J regarded as a poet of no humble strain, but comparable to the ancients. (38) Not much below him would I rank Peyrarede, who fre- quented the society of the learned, and often discoursed with me upon poetical topics, which he himself treated with success : one of his most celebrated performances was the com- pletion of the lines which Virgil left imper- fect. (39) 1 was 234 MEMOIRS OF HUET. I was at that time an assiduous visitor of the royal library, both on account of my other stu- dies, and principally on account of Origen, the illustrating and editing of whom was the great object of my labours. I there frequently met with Antony Varillas, of Gueret, who was di- ligently consulting the royal manuscripts, and extracting from these sources a more accurate knowledge of French history. He persevered in this study for many years ; nor do I believe that any one ever brought to the illustration of French affairs so rich a provision of valuable observations, or so copious a store of domestic narrative. It is likewise wonderful that an ob- scure man, stained with scholastic rust, and polished by no habits of cultivated life and no experience of courtly elegance, should have possessed a style in writing defective neither in purity nor in grace ; and that being entirely unpractised in business, especially in public affairs, he should have discoursed upon them neither hesitatingly nor weakly. His excellent qualifications were, however, disparaged by his immoderate assurance, which led him to con- fide in his own conjectures and suspicions, and to relate with as bold asseveration things for BOOK THE THIRD. 235 for which he had no authority, and which were altogether fictitious, as if he had been an eye- witness of them. (4O) The ichnography of the city of Caen had been accurately drawn by Gombuste, a very skilful artist in works of this kind, who had been employed for the purpose by the magis- trates, and paid in advance ; and as, after his death, the work lay for some years neglected, I called upon his heirs, who had forgotten the agreement, and obliged them to fulfil the con- ditions. Hence proceeded that very elegant plan of Caen which was engraved by Binion, and published in 1672. About that time there came to Caen Michael Neure, an intimate associate of Gassendi, and a partaker in the controversy which he and Francis Bernier had with Jean-Baptiste Morin a mathematician, and which is recorded in their books. He came thither in the company of the young princes of Longueville, to whom he was preceptor, and he resided long in these parts. And as he was especially attached to astro- nomy, I often found him in the castle of Caen, which has a very extensive prospect on all sides, observing 236 MEMOIRS OF HUET. observing the positions and motions of the stars through a telescope only three or four feet long, with which, however, the falcated form of Venus was readily visihle. It is a ridiculous and scarcely credible circumstance that these names of Michael and Neure were not his na- tive ones, but assumed and fictitious ; for we learn from the miscellanies of Chevreau (Che- vraeana), who was his townsman and school- fellow, that he was born at Loudun in Poitou, that his true name was Laurent Mesme, that he took the vows among the Carthusians, in which order he passed thirty years at Bour- deaux, and that being at length wearied of this life and of his proper name, he put on a new character, and appeared at Paris as Michael Neure in a different habit. (41) After he had ceased to superintend the educa- tion of those princes, the tuition of them was in- trusted to Peter Fortin Hoghetta. This person had acquired a great reputation for wisdom and sagacity by the work which, at an advanced age, and after he had left the army, he drew up in his domestic retreat to inform his children's minds and excite them to virtue, and published under BOOK THE THIRD. 237 under the title of his "Testament." Those children were the issue of his marriage with the sister of Hardouin de Perefixe, who, after having occupied the post of preceptor to our king Louis XIV, was promoted to the arch- bishopric of Paris. (42) The same good sense, and knowledge of the world derived from long experience, which Fortin had displayed in his book, he employed to elevate the juvenile minds of the princes, and form them to the example of their father's virtues ; and whilst he was fully occupied in the cares of their educa- tion, I cultivated an intimacy with him, and endeavoured to become better from such a model of excellence. After he had happily fulfilled his engagement, recollecting the ap- plause which he had received from his former publication, he promised himself still greater from a work in which he undertook to deliver the elements of political science ; especially as he had acquired in his leisure a fuller know- ledge of antiquity, and a better acquaintance with good books, whence he could bring a greater fund of erudition to his performance. But the event did not answer his expectations; for, having forsaken the guidance of the excel- lent 238 MEMOIRS OF HUET. lent natural sense with which he was endowed* and which alone he had followed in his first attempt, and accommodated his own notions to those of others, he seemed to fall far be- neath his former self. This year afforded me a rich harvest of learned friends ; for, besides those whom 1 have lately commemorated, I was kindly invited to an intercourse of friendship by Peter Maridat, counsellor to the king in his great council, as well by the polite letters which he wrote to me, as by his liberal presents. Although he published no fruits of his studies, yet by his connections with men eminent for their learn- ing, and his splendid and copious library, of which he freely permitted the use to the stu- dious, he obtained a name in the annals of literature. Meanwhile I felt a great longing for the sight of my friend Mambrun, who, having some years before been called to preside over the theological school at La Fleche, appeared likely to make a still longer residence there in the same office. Since, therefore, he could not desert his post and come to me, 1 thought it due to our inti- mate friendship to go to him. A still more cogent BOOK THE THIRD. cogent motive urged me to the journey. It was now some time since I had duly explored the recesses of my conscience, and unfolded them in the divine presence ; for it commonly happens that the pursuit of vulgar objects abs- tracts the mind from the worship of God and the contemplation of the celestial life, and even from a rigorous correction of the manners. For these purposes, a retreat to La Fleche, and the assistance of Mambrun, appeared well calcu- lated. 1 therefore with great alacrity repaired thither ; and after a delightful conversation be- tween us on the state of our concerns, I re- solved to set apart an entire week, according to the institution of the blessed Loyola, for the attentive recollection of all the errors of my past life, and the more careful regulation of my future days, pursuant to the injunctions of the divine law. And O that I had in earnest adhered to my engagements! but 1 too readily suffered myself to be borne away by the fire of youth, the allurements of the world, and the pleasures of study, which by their variety so filled my breast, and closed up all its inlets with an infinite number of thoughts, that it gave no admission to those intimate and charm- ing 24O MEMOIRS OF HUET. ing conferences with the Supreme Being. Un- der this imbecility of soul with respect to di- vine things I have laboured during the whole course of my life ; and even now, the frequent and almost perpetual wanderings of a volatile mind blunt my aspirations to God, and inter- cept all the benefit of my prayers. When from time to time God has benignantly invited me to pious exercises for the purpose of con- firming in my soul the sense of religion, and washing away the stains contracted from hu- man contagion, I have retired to places suitable to those intentions; either the Jesuits' college at Caen, or the abbey of Ardennes of the Prae- monstratensian order, one mile distant from Caen, or to our own Aulnai after I was placed at the head of it. But I frequently experienced a contrary current in the breeze of divine grace; as if the Deity by this indifference meant to punish my immoderate attachment to letters, and my sluggish movements towards divine things. (43) Let me now, however, return to my retreat at La Fleche. Whilst my thoughts were chiefly bent upon exploring the counsel and will of God relative to the state of my concerns and of my whole future BOOK THE THIRD. 241 future life, nearly the same thing happened to me that formerly did to the very pious Anne- Francis de Beauvau, marquis of Novian, of the noble family of Beauvau of Lorraine. This person, when engaged in religious re- tirement among the fathers $f the society of Jesus, was so much affected by the examples of sanctity placed before his eyes, that he im- bibed a thorough contempt of the world and human affairs ; and preferring the poverty and humility of Christ, to the allurements and advantages of fortune, was induced to relin- quish a beloved wife and a numerous offspring, and become a Jesuit. It appeared to me that I was impelled to act a similar part by im- portant motives, which I did not doubt that Mambrun would highly approve ; but the fact was far different. For having carefully con- sidered the matter on both sides, as one well ac- quainted both with my disposition and manners, and with the discipline and rules of his order, he frankly declared that my design by no means pleased him ; for that a mode of life absolutely dependent upon the will of another, was totally alien from the freedom of my spirit, (44) I submitted to the decision of so VOL. i. a. wise tiEMOIRS OF HUET. wise a man, and flew back to my nest at Caen : nor would I listen to the admonitions, or rather the intreaties, of my friends, who by frequent letters summoned me to Paris, and endeavoured to persuade me to disdain muni- cipal tranquillity, and fix my abode in the seat of urbanity and the Muses. In reality, my own inclination persuaded me to this, more than the arguments of my friends; but the state of my fortune would not permit those expenses, which, in a splendid capital, and in the view and society of men of rank and po- liteness, would be requisite for my own con- venience, and for a decent appearance. Whilst I was living familiarly in the college of la Fleche with Mambrun,he was often visited by Louis Meyrat of the same society, then very old. I took pleasure in conversing with this good man, who was possessed of remarkable acuteness of understanding, and had been long exercised in teaching theology, his skill in which science he made known by a large and luminous series of disputations on the whole " Summa" of Thomas Aquinas. After my return to Caen I first became ac- quainted with Peter Patris, a native of that town, BOOK THE THIRD. 243 town, but for many years past attached to the court, whom domestic affairs brought for a few days to Caen. It gave me great satisfaction to be introduced to a person so much distinguish- ed for the amenity of his genius, usually num- bered among the ornaments of our native place, and a favourite at the court of Gaston duke of Orleans, uncle to the king. Our friendship was durable, and lasted till his death, which took place at an advanced age. (45) About the same time Marquard Gudius, a German, of literary celebrity, came to Caen, and paid me a respectful visit. (46) The mayoralty of Caen was then occupied by John Blois de Quesnay, less distinguished by his dignity and wealth, than by his love to letters; the connexion with whom, begun by my parents, I was glad to continue and assidu- ously improve. We studied very much in, common, and our intimacy was favoured by neighbourhood, which, according to the comic poet, is an approach to friendship. Our SO- ciety was joined by Nicholas Monstier le Mot- teux, a person by nature admirably qualified for literary eminence ; but his excellent part?, and the bright promises he gave, were rendered R 2 fruitless 244 MEMOIRS OF HUET. fruitless by his diligent attention to the duties of magistracy (in which he succeeded Blois de Quesnay), and his cares to provide for a large family of children. So great, however, was his attachment to me, which continued unabated till his death, that he often expressed a wish to abdicate his magistracy, and spend the rest of his days in literary retirement with me. Whilst at this period Caen stood high in re- putation for liberal studies, and the illustrious examples of learned men before my eyes was strongly stimulating me to the same pursuits, I received a further impulse from the return of Stephen le Moine, Stephen Morin, and John Ballachee from Holland, enriched with the spoils of the east, and largely furnished with Attic trea- sures. The excellent qualities of le Moine, my long friendship with him cemented by mutual good offices, and our community of studies and birth-place, will not permit a mere cur- sory mention of him. He possessed a great fund of literature, and not only of the ordinary kind, but drawn from the recondite stores of Rome and Athens and the east. Doubtless a , greater purity and elegance of Latin style might have been desired in him; but the impurities and BOOK THE THIRD. 245 and involutions of his diction were compensated by the exquisite abundance of rare and cu- rious matter. Although he was a zealous pro- moter of my studies, and omitted no occasion of doing honour to my name, yet he did not hesitate, in a long and learned dissertation, to oppugn my opinion on the origin of those marks, which we use at the present day to express numbers, and which are vulgarly termed cyphers. These, from no authority, but from indubitable arguments, I referred to the Greek letters in my " Demonstratio Evan- gelica," (Pro/), iv. c. 1.); since if they are compared with our common commercial cha- racters, they will appear to be altogether the same, though somewhat disguised by frequent use. I had strengthened this opinion, by a description of the Pythagorean Abacus, which Graevius had sent to me, copied from the an- cient manuscripts of JBoethius's Geometry ; and from the characters of Seneca and Tiro, whence the antiquity of the common cyphers is discovered to have been much greater than is usually supposed. For their invention is attributed to the Arabians, who received them from the Greeks ; and the Greeks themselves, ignorant 246 MEMOIRS OF HUET. ignorant of their true origin, referred them to the Indians. Le Moine, however, would not suffer this honour to be snatched from the Arabians, to whom he was very partial, and confuted me with all his might, yet without infringing the rights of our ancient friendship, which remained entire till his death. (47) Not inferior was the ardour of Stephen Morin in this course of study. He seems even to have taken more pains in exploring the Hebrew deserts and the Rabbinical thickets, though less, perhaps, in ranging over the open and flowery meadows of Greece and Rome. Neither with him did 1 agree in opinion re* specting the commencements of the Hebrew language, which he, in common with the ma- jority of learned men, referred to Adam him- self, and the cradle of mankind. On the con- trary, I held this to have been the Canaanitish language; which was used in Canaan and the neighbouring regions, before Abraham migrated thither. On this topic we skirmished in cer- tain writings, in which we adduced our oppo- sing arguments, but with civility and modera- tion ; and left the decision to our readers. (48) But John Ballachee having hastily run over the BOOK THE THIRD. 24? the oriental fields, preferred expatiating in the pleasant walks of Greece. He promised co- pious commentaries on the Periegesis of Di- onysius, which he frequently mentioned to Saumaise, and proposed to dedicate to him. But it was his fortune to be banished to a rustic and ignoble retirement, for the purpose of instructing the inhabitants in religion, where he grew old without fulfilling any of the expectations which he had excited. The province of Normandy was then go- verned under the king by the most illustrious prince Henry of Orleans, duke of Longueville. When he made his circuit through the prin- cipal towns of the province, and arrived at Caen, the capital of Lower Normandy, the whole body of citizens waited on him to pay their duty; and I, among the rest, gave him every manifestation of respect. He received me at the first with politeness, and at a second visit even with kindness. I remember that once in a great circle of .nobility who stood round him in the court of the castle of Caen, he took me very familiarly by the hand, and lead- ing me aside, held a private conference with me for a considerable time, as if for the pur- pose 248 MEMOIRS OF HUET. pose of miking a trial of my capacity, and judging from my discourse whether I were worthy of his favour. On another day, when I was attending his morning levee, he asked me in a whisper whether I had any particular engagement for the afternoon ; I replied that I had not, but waited his commands. " Go back then," said he, " to your house, and I will come to you immediately after dinner, that we may have a tete-a-tete 'in your closet till night ;" which was accordingly done. He sometimes challenged me at chess, and we spent entire days in this game; and as he could not well bear being beaten, I dissembled my skill, and sometimes resigned a certain victory, that my superiority might not impair my favour. On these accounts he patronized me with so much kindness, that I never failed to obtain his protection and assistance in my difficulties : as long, therefore, as life endures, I shall cherish the remembrance of my ex- cellent and liberal patron. (49) While these incidents were passing at Caen, my sister ./Egidia, a nun of the Dominican order, died at Pont 1'Evesque. At this town two pious maidens, my aunts, of the family of BOOK THE THIRD. 249 of Pilon Bertoville, who had taken the habit in the Dominican convent at Rouen, preferring a more austere mode of life, and more strictly conformable to the rule of Dominic, founded a religious house of the order, and endowed it o with certain rents, affixing to it the venerable title of the Cross of Christ. This retreat was peopled by a great conflux of pious virgins, who afforded examples of every kind of virtue. Here ./Egidia was educated from her early years, with her other sisters ; and so formed to piety, that she was desirous of adopting the same rule, and was admitted into the society. As she excelled others in acuteneSs of under- standing, and in extraordinary powers of me- mory,soshe greatly surpassed all her companions in the fortitude with which she endured her bo- dily afflictions ; and her frame at length giving way to continued attacks of disease, she made a blessed exit, having scarcely terminated her 25th year. I could relate more concerning her sanctity of life, but that, and her other virtues, together with the piety of both my aunts, have been celebrated in the book en- titled "Annus Dominicanus." Nor have I failed to pay due honour to the memory of my excellent 25O MEMOIRS OF HUET. excellent sister in my work on the antiquities of Caen. About this time (1656) occurred the death of James du Puy, who, with his brother Peter who died some years before him, had been keeper of the royal library. I had been in- formed that the king's treasurers had fixed a price upon this post, which was indeed high, and weighty in proportion to my means, but light in regard to my desires; so great an augmenta- tion of my literary wealth did I expect from the administration of these ample stores. The affair was negotiated by my friends; and I thought it nearly settled, when the authority of Colbert interposed, whose interest with the king caused the office to be conferred upon his brother, afterwards bishop of Auxerre. I was now enjoying my leisure in literary occupations when an important and unfore- seen circumstance greatly disturbed me. False titles of nobility were at this time very common, nor was it easy to distinguish the spurious from the genuine. As it was expe- dient to put a stop to this growing evil, the farmers of the revenue purchased of the trea- sury for a great sum the management of the business BOOK THE THIRD. 251 business upon certain conditions ; of which the principal, and an extremely mischievous one was, that they should have the fines, which, of themselves likely to be very considerable, could be increased at pleasure by their rapa- city. In their eagerness to augment their profits, they so insolently abused the powers granted them, that they degraded from their rank and reduced to commonalty, some fa- milies of undoubted nobility, because they would not pay them for a confirmation of their titles; and on the other hand, raised some mean and obscure families to nobility. Nor was I free from this vexation: for as from my infancy I had been under the power of guardians, who had not yet rendered an ac- count of their administration, or restored the papers or old parchments by which it was to be justified, not only these accounts, but the patents and genealogy of my family, were wanting to me when required for my defence. Moreover, I neither well knew what was de- manded of me, nor, if I had known, should I have been able easily to satisfy the demand, on account of the absence of these instruments, and the fraudulent cavils of the revenue offi- cers. 252 MEMOIRS OF HUET. cers. The habitation of the person who had been my first guardian was two days journey from Caen ; and his sons, who inherited his property after his death, were at a distance from home about business. Under these diffi- culties, and urged by the officers, it was neces- sary for me to have recourse, at great trouble and no small expense, to registers and the public re- cords of courts, and frequently to go to Rouen, where disputes of this kind were finally deter- mined in the supreme court of aids. The judges having at length maturely weighed the matter, and carefully examined the ancient re- gisters which I produced, affirmed by a positive decree the honour of our family, and repressed the infinite avidity and audacity of the farmers of the revenue. Some years afterwards, how- ever, the great gains which accrued to the trea- sury from these enquiries caused the same mo- lestation a second and a third time to be given to me and others ; but the power of truth before equitable j udges finally liberated me from this teazing persecution. (50) The nunnery of the Holy Trinity at Caen, was then presided over by Maria Eleonora de Rohan, on whom, in addition to a splendid birth, nature BOOK THE THIRD. 253 nature had bestowed a strong understanding, and singular facility in writing and speak- ing. I occasionally paid my respects to her, when we had much discourse concerning reli- o gious topics, and the dignity of the sacred books. Among these she said she was particularly edi- fied by the Psalms of David, and the Proverbs of Solomon, which, for the ease of her convent and the unlearned maidens who inhabited it, she wished to have translated into clear and vernacular language, with a paraphrase of the sense. "Why," (said I,) "do you not. yourself perform the desired task, since you possess a knowledge of these things, in which you have been conversant from childhood, together with facility of expression and a copious style ?" " I am sensible" (she replied) " that I am but slenderly furnished for the work ; yet I. will undertake it, provided I may have the aid of your advice and correction." This I promised, and she bent her mind to the performance, the result of which was that pious and very elegant work comprising the moral precepts of Solomon. (5l) In the same sisterhood was Jacoba Boette de Blemur, a relation of mine, distinguished for * * O piety, 254 MEMOIRS OF HUET. piety, and so modest in her disposition, that although she had written much concerning the institutes of her house, and the history of the Benedictine order, yet she buried it in pro- found silence, as if she felt ashamed of her boldness, and had undertaken a thing beyond her power. But having been apprised of the matter by her companions (as it is a loquacious sex) I wished that whatever it were, it should be communicated to me ; complaining much of her taciturnity, which had led her to conceal from me, a relation and friend, what she ought in preference to have communicated to me. She replied that this serious reproach gave her hopes that I should not be displeased if she were to submit to my judgment whatever she had written, or might hereafter write. And when I assured her I should with pleasure com- ply with her wish, she sent me a bulky and ex- cellent work, in which were contained the lives of the saints of the Benedictine order, which afterwards was given to the public under the title of the " Benedictine Year," and received with great applause, as I had predicted from the perusal of the book, in consequence of which I strongly advised its immediate publi- cation. BOOK THE THIRD. 255 cation. It was edited by her brother, Eustache Boette deBlemur,a regular canon of the convent of St. Victor at Paris, procurator of that cele- brated house, and keeper of its library, which was not a little enriched by his care and diligence. I made frequent excursions to Rouen, the capital of Normandy, at which the more im- portant affairs of the province are chiefly trans- acted. Whilst I was there on account of some troublesome law proceedings, there came to the waters of Forges, one day's journey eastward from Rouen, the royal princess Anna-Maria Louisa of Orleans, daughter of Gaston the king's uncle, whom my friend Charles dii Perier, a poet of sublime genius, (52) formerly panegyrized in these lines ; Haec est ilia atavis edita regibus Formae mille opibus dives et ingeni, Necnon et patrios baud muliebriter Audax stringere acinaces. As the other points of this eulogy, so espe- cially that respecting her intellectual attain- ments, were founded on truth. In the train of her noble attendants was Segrais, whom I have often commemorated, my countryman, and at this time my intimate friend. As he frequently invited 256* MEMOIRS OF HUET. invited me by letter to visit his mistress and himself, I at length repaired to Forges, where I was not wanting in the due offices of respect to her Serene Highness. She took delight in the reading of history, and especially of the fables termed Romances ; and while she was under the hands of her women, she desired me to perform the task of reader, during which she put many questions to me, suggested by the subject. I was hence able to discern her singular acuteness, and a degree of .learning un- common in her sex ; and still more from the view of two romances which she had composed, full of sprightliness and elegance, one of which was entitled a " Description of the Invisible Island," in which she wittily ridiculed a certain honorary chevalier of the parliament of Dombes; the other, the " History of the Queen of the Paphlagonians," which is a continued keen but concealed ridicule of a young lady of high nobility, but disagreeable and ill-man- nered. The princess ordered these pieces to be printed, but had only a few copies struck off, all of which she kept to herself, taking great care that they should not get abroad. One, however, she obligingly presented to me, BOOK THE THIRD. in the margin of which she caused the real names to be written of the persons disguised in the work by fictitious appellations. On these books I set the highest value, when two la- dies of rank, with whom I was familiarly ac- quainted, and of whose fidelity in keeping their promises I had no doubt, requested the loan of them for a few days ; but I found myself mistaken in rny opinion of their veracity, for they took away my books and never returned them. (53) A few years after, a custom prevailed, both at court and in the city, among the ingenious of both sexes, of making descriptions of their features, persons, manners and tastes, and as it were painting them in a tablet ; whence these draughts were commonly called portraits. (54) This illustrious lady amused herself greatly with these descriptions ; and after she had drawn up several herself, and had selected those by others, she employed me in getting them privately printed. In other compositions^ both serious, jocose, and pious, she displayed the same happy talent.for writing; but her modesty permitted only a , very few to witness her ex- ertions. VOL. i. s From 258 MEMOIRS OF HUET. From early youtli it had been a principal object with me to become personally acquainted with all whom I heard mentioned as eminent for genius or learning; whence I spared no pains to obtain an introduction to Faucon Cbarleval, which chance at length offered me. For seeing me once vigorously dancing like a young man at a public ball, and having learnt my name from the bye-standers, he asked if I was the son of that Huet of whose learning he had heard some commendation ; and when he understood that I was that very person, he immediately engaged in discourse with me, and openly requested my friendship. I was highly delighted that for- tune should thus throw in my way what I had so earnestly wished to acquire ; and I left no- thing undone to anticipate in respectful atten- tions a man whom I knew to have attached the whole court by the polish and amenity of his genius, and the suavity of his manners. (55) About the same time another similar circum- stance happened to me. A person of noble rank, advanced in years and of a cultivated understanding, travelling in Lower Normandy, arrived at Caen, and came to my house for the purpose of paying me a visit. I received him with BOOK THE THIRD. 259 tvith civility, and waited to hear his business ; when he said, "It was your father whom I wished to see, and I shall be obliged to you to introduce me to him." " My father (I re- turned) died when I was an infant, and you will find here no other Huet than myself." " I should not have imagined (said he) that all I have heard of you could be true of so young a man." But, the good man was doubly mistaken; for I was much less learned than he thought me, and older than I seemed to be. Shortly afterwards my library received a great accession ;' for my relation and former guardian, the son of Gilles Mace, the great mathematician whom I have already mentioned* liberally sent me for a present all the books re^ lative to mathematical subjects which had be- longed to his father. In turning over these, I felt the long dormant sparks of my early ar~ dour for those noble sciences revived and ready to break out ; which I did not entirely suppress, .but gently cherished, while from time to time I revisited in short excursions this choice col- lection of volumes. Several English and Irish, expatriated in the tumults of their country, often at that time s 2 came 260 MEMOIRS OF HUET. came to the opposite coast of Normandy, and took up their abode at Caen. Among these, whilst I was a young man, was Stanihurst, a subtle dialectician, who professed philosophy in the university of Caen, attended by a nu- merous auditory. I frequently skirmished with his disciples keenly and in good earnest, which gave great pleasure to this doctor, who strongly urged rne to this kind of combat. He was also skilled in chemical operations, which, how- ever, he found prejudicial to himself, his throat being burnt and contracted by the inconsiderate draught of a noxious potion. (56) Another Stanihurst, his relation, at the same time prac- tised medicine with success in the same uni- versity. A long time afterwards there came to Caen from the same country Francis bishop of *, a man amiable for the suavity of his manners, and venerable for the sanctity of his life; withal, in low circumstances, and ap- parently distressed. On this account I made a proposal to the illustrious abbess, Maria Eleonora Rohan, to whose merit I have already borne testimony, that she should receive this pious bishop into her house, and supply him * In the Latin " Episcopus Aladensis" with BOOK THE THIRD. 261 with the necessaries of life. She readily com- plied, and desired me to give him an invitation in her name. But as if he were attached to his poverty, in which Christ was his teacher and example, he chose to continue within the secresy of his hut. Not long after, he went to Rennes to his countrymen who had resorted to Britany in great numbers. I fear lest I may seem to some readers weakly credulous, if I relate a circumstance which I have heard from some religious, discreet, and by no means supersti- tious persons, very similar to what we read in the Acts of the Apostles that a boy who had fallen from the roof of a house, and was apparently killed by the accident, being taken by this holy prelate into his arms, was restored to life by his earnest prayers to God. Subsequently, there arrived upon the Norman coast Patrick bishop of Ardfert, of the noble Irish family of Plunket ; whom we have since seen, with a great reputa- tion for piety, performing the functions of the bishop of Seez. NOTES 2G3 f : f : '- :f 'NOTES TO THE THIRD BOOK, NOTE (1), PAGE 186. ADAM OLEARIUS, whose proper name was Oelsch/ager, was a native of Ascherleben in Lower Saxony. Though of a mean origin, he was brought up to letters, and distinguished himself so much by his proficiency, that he became one of the professors at the university of Leipzig. He was an able mathematician, and was versed in the oriental languages, on which account, probably, he was taken into the service of Frederic, duke of Holstein Gottorp, who had formed extensive projects for the advancement of commerce in his terri- tories, particularly by obtaining a share in the Levant trade. For this purpose, in the year 1633, he sent a splendid embassy to the czar of Muscovy and the king of Persia, of which Olearius MEMOIRS OF IIUET. Olearius was appointed the secretary. After their return in l6'39, Olearius published in the German language a relation of the whole jour- ney, in a folio volume, illustrated by figures designed by himself: and the work maintains a respectable rank among similar performances. It has been translated into English and French. He thenceforth took up his residence atGottorp, where he occupied the posts of librarian, an- tiquary, and mathematician to the duke, till his death in 1671, at the age of sixty-eight. Olea- rius published other works, among which was a German translation of the Tales, Maxims, &c. of the celebrated Persian poet Saadt. . NOTE (2), PAGE 188. The free use of the Latin language in mo- dern times as a medium of conversation, how- ever. advantageous in the intercourse of the learned of different countries, is scarcely com- patible with a delicate sense of classical purity, which cannot tail to be violated in unpremedi- tated discourse, and upon topics unknown to antiquity. It has therefore been found that the nations and individuals most attached to . purity NOTES TO BOOK III. 26*5 purity of diction, have been most reserved in the familiar application of the Latin tongue both in speech and writing. The Ciceronian Italians of the l6th century scarcely ever ven- tured to trust themselves in conversation with the scholars from Germany and the Low-coun- tries ; and Erasmus, who had scarcely any other mother tongue than the Latin, somewhere com- plains of a dumb interview between himself and some eminent Italian literary character. The French likewise have seldom been fond of con- versing in Latin ; and the English have almost entirely disused it, except in academical dispu- tations. Indeed, besides the nice classical taste cultivated by our scholars, the great difference of pronunciation almost incapacitates them from holding a Latin conference with any foreigner. That a prince of the North should be able to speak Latin with fluency is not surprising, since it seems to have been a regular part of the education of sovereigns in that part of Europe to render them familiar with that tongue. Thus even Charles XII. of Sweden, though very far from a literary character, could converse in Latin, which language he was in- duced to acquire, notwithstanding his aversion to 266 MEMOIRS OF HUET. to study, by being told that the kings of Po- land and Denmark were masters of it. NOTE (3), PAGE 191. ANNA MARIA SCHURMAN, one of the most remarkable literary females upon record, was born at Cologne of noble parentage in 1607. She seems to have possessed that superiority of talent which attains excellence in every pursuit to which it is directed ; for she had scarcely passed the age of infancy before she began to be distinguished for dexterity and elegance in a variety of ornamental arts, whilst at the same time she was acquiring with surprising facility a knowledge of the learned languages, and the elements of science. The list of her mature-at- tainments almost surpasses belief: in the article of languages alone it comprehends, besides La- tin, Greek and Hebrew, several of the oriental dialects, and the principal modern tongues. With all these titles to admiration, her modesty was not less conspicuous than her excellencies, and it was with difficulty that Vossius, Span- heim, and some other learned men who became acquainted with her attainments, were able to draw NOTES TO BOOK III. 26? draw her out into public view. She was of the protestant persuasion, and had accompanied her family first to Franeker and then to Utrecht. Her reputation brought her a number of cor- respondents among the learned and the great, one of the latter of whom was the illustrious Elizabeth princess Palatine. Some of her let- ters on subjects of erudition were made public in the works of learned men; and in 1641 a Latin dissertation was printed which she wrote upon the question " Whether literary studies were becoming to a woman ?" a question which few females have had a better right to maintain in the affirmative. One of her fa- vourite studies was theology ; and the habit of inquiring for herself had detached her from the ministers of the established religion, and O ' caused her to intermit her attendance on their services. While she was in this temper of mind, confined to the pious exercises of her own closet, and nourishing in secret a spirit of sentimental devotion, the celebrated mystic and enthusiast Labadie obtained an introduction to her, and by his insinuating eloquence gained such an ascendancy over her, that he thence- forth became her spiritual director. She ac- companied 268 MEMOIRS OF HUET. companied him in his various migrations, and k was in her arms that ht breathed his last at Altona in 167 4 : it is. however, a mistaken as- sertion of Huet's that they were married ; and there is no reason to believe that their con- nexion was any other than pure religious friend- ship. Mademoiselle Schurman was afterwards at the head of an association of persons in- spired with similar devotional sentiments, which she established, in 11 village near Leuwarden, where she died in 1678. NOTE (4), PAGE 191. JOHN ANTONIDES VANDER LINDEN, a phy- sician well known by his writings, was a native of Enkhuysen in Noi:th Holland, where his father was a practitioner in medicine. He gra- duated at Franeker, rn the university of which place he obtained a medical chair. He was afterwards professor of medicine at Leyden, where he died in 1664. Though at first a staunch follower of Hippocrates, he became addicted to the chemical sect, and Guy Patin, its bitter enemy v asserts, as a sort of judgment upon him, tha't he lost his life by taking anti- mony NOTES TO BOOK III. mony and refusing to be blooded, in a pleurisy. He wrote a work upon medical authors entitled " De Scriptis Medicis," which, though little more than a bare catalogue, has been very ser- viceable to those engaged in similar inquiries. He prepared an edition of Hippocrates, which was published after his death by his son. NOTE (5), PAGE 192. > JAMES GOLIUS was one of the most eminent orientalists of the Leyden school, so long ce- lebrated for that species of literature. He was born at the Hague in 15<)6, and studied at Leyden, where he particularly attached him- self to the Arabic professor, Erpenius. For the purpose of improvement he accompanied an ambassador from the United Provinces to the emperor of Morocco, and excited much admi- ration at that court by a petition written in Arabic. On his return he succeeded Erpenios in his professorship ; but was permitted by the curators of the university to absent himself on a tour to the Levant, which occupied three or four years. During his absence the mathema- tical chair was atso conferred upon him ; and he spent MEMOIRS OF HUET. spent near forty years in the labours of his double professorship and the performance of his other academical duties. His ardour for the knowledge of languages led him late in life to study the Chinese, in which he had made some proficiency at his death in 1667. This learned man published several Arabic works, and an Arabic and a Persian dictionary. NOTE (6), PAGE 192. ALEXANDER MORE was the son of a Scotch divine who migrated, into France, and was prin- cipal of a protestant college at Castres in Lan- guedoc. Alexander was born there in 1616. To the advantage of a good education he joined quick natural parts, ready elocution, and suffi- cient confidence, so that at an early age he rose to distinction in his party. He studied theo- logy at Geneva, where he became a candidate for the vacant Greek professorship against seve- ral competitors much older than himself, and on a public examination of their qualifications obtained the prize. He also was elected a mi- nister of the Genevan church, and acquired great fame by his eloquence as a preacher. The warmth NOTES TO BOOK III. 271 warmth of his temper, however, his arrogance and propensity to take offence, and his impru- dent attentions to the fair-sex, raised him ma- ny enemies, and as he had also zealous sup- porters, Geneva was divided into parties on his account. Saumaise having procured him an invitation to the professorship of divinity at Middleburgh, he removed thither in 16*49, provided with ample testimonies of orthodoxy, on which point he had undergone some calum- ny, as it was reported that he denied the im- putation of Adam's transgression to his poste- rity, and the divinity of the Holy Ghost. Bayle has a valuable remark on a testimonial afterwards given to More by the Genevan pro- fessor of theology Diodati, who, acknowledging that he was highly irritable and vindictive, seems to think these failings no considerable o deductions from his merits as a minister of the gospel. " I see every day (says Bayle, and we may repeat the assertion) persons who are thus blinded with respect to some favourite mi- nister on account of his great gifts, and who speak of his Ishmaelism almost with approba- tion. Mr. Such-an-One (they say) is a dan- gerous enemy, he has a beak and claws wou to 272 MEMOIRS OF HUET. to those who make free with him as if they were speaking of a colonel of dragoons, or a knight of the thistle with his motto "Nemo me impune lacessit." " Go through (he pro- ceeds) the catalogue of all the detects to which human nature is liable, and you will find none more opposite to the spirit of Chris- tianity than the violence displayed in the quar- rels of some of these gentlemen." More af- terwards removed to Amsterdam, where the pro- fessorship of history in the sckola illustris was conferred upon him. He discharged the duties of this office with great applause ; and having in consequence of a leave of absence visited Italy, he was honoured with the notice of the grand duke of Tuscany, and was presented with a gold chain by the republic of Venice for a Latin poem on the defeat of the Turkish fleet by the Venetians. In 1609 he quitted Holland to become a minister of the protestant church at Paris ; an appointment which he did not ob- tain without a violent opposition, for his tem- per was always dreaded, and his morals were suspected. He was there engaged in various disputes, and narrowly escaped condemnation from the synods. Great offers were made him to NOTES TO BOOK III. 273 to become a convert to the catholic religion, but without effect; and he died in an edifying manner at the house of the duchess of Rohan in. 1670. The king sent marshal Grammont to visit him in his last illness, who on his re- turn said to his Majesty, " Sire, I saw him die ; he went out of the world like a good hugonot, but what I most pity him for is that he died in a religion which is as much out of fashion as a cocked hat." Menage asserts that More confessed before his death that no one had so strongly tempted him to change his re- ligion as he. The temptation was an offer on the part of the duchess of Aiguillon of a pen- sion of 4000 livres. More is known to the English reader by his quarrel with Milton. In l6a2 he published at the Hague a book written by Peter Dumoulin, entitled " Regii Sanguinis Clamor adversus Pa- ricidas Anglicanos." In this work Milton's " Defensio" was very severely treated. Highly exasperated, Milton made a personal attack upon More, whom he thought or affected to think the author, in which he raked together all the stories that had been told of him by his ene- mies, charging him with heresy, gross immo- VOL. I. T rality, 27 4 MEMOIRS OF HUET. ralily, and other crimes. He alto put into the Londbh newspapers af quibbling Latin epigram alluding to the affeh 4 witrh'Saumaise's maid-ser- vant hereafter mentioned by Huet. Justly a* we revere the memory or* our great poet, par- tiality alone can excuse him for this and otfher instances of controversial acrimony. .I-.M! NOTE (7), PAGE 193. DANIEL HEINSTUS, whom Huet saw onfy in his decay, for he died in l(?55, was born in 158O, at Ghent, of an eminent family in that crty. life father was a fugitive for his religion, and settled in Holland. Daniel was early ini- tiated in letters, and began to write Latin verses at ten years of age, when he produced an elegy on the death of a female playfellows He pursued his career with great reputation at Fhffieker and Leyden, at the latter of which Universities he enjoyed the advantage of a fa- miliar intercourse with Joseph Scaliger. At tHfe a^e of twenty he rertd public lectures on the Greek and Latiri classics at Leaden, a*nd was afterwards promoted to the professorship of jiolitics and histbty, arid ttiade secretary and librarian NOTES TO BOOK III. 2/5 librarian to that university. In 1619 he acted as secretary to the states of Holland at the synod of Dort. By his learned publications, consisting chiefly of comments and annotations upon various authors, and qf Latin and Greek poems and orations, his reputation was spread through Europe, and he received marks of distinction from Gustavus Adolphus, pope Ur- ban VJ 1 1, and the republic of Venice. He had the infirmity of loving his bottle somewhat too well, of which his pupils were not igno- rant; for on.ce, having excused himself from giving a lecture, there was placed over the door of the lecture-room a paper with the following notice : " Daniel Heinsius non leget hodie propter hesternam crapulam." Returning once at night from a convivial party, with his head more steady than his legs, he made this distich : Sta pes, sta bone pes, sta pes, ne labere mi pes, Sta pes, aut lapides hi mihi lectus erunt. Which may be rendered in English hexame- ters, Stand leg, pray stand, I beg, stand leg, and don't slide about so 5 Good leg, pr'ythee trip not, stand fast, or these stones must my bed be. T 2 NOTE 2/6 MEMOIRS OF NOTE (8), PAGE 194. BOXHORN, here mentioned with some dis- paragement, was a philologist of considera- ble distinction, and left monuments of his learning and industry, extraordinary in one who died in the prime of life. He was the son of James Zuerius, a minister at Ber- gen-op-Zoom, where he was born in l6l2. He took his name from his maternal grandfather, who was of a noble family in Brabant. At the university of Leyden, where he was edu- cated, he distinguished himself by his profi- ciency, and began to publish works of erudi- tion at twenty ; though, as might be supposed, in his maturer years he found occasion to cor- rect his opinions on various points. He ob- tained the chair of eloquence at Leyden in l632,and on the resignation of Daniel Heinsius succeeded him in that of politics and history. His writings were philological, historical and political : among the latter were a defence of the freedom of Dutch navigation ; an account of the constitution of the United States, for the use of his students ; and a piece in favour of - - the NOTES TO BOOK III. 277 the rights of Charles II, then a fugitive The last work appears to have given some umbrage to the republicans in Holland. He was one of those who maintained the claim of the in-r vention of printing for Haerlem in opposition to that of Mentz. Huet's unfavourable de- scription of his countenance is confirmed by a story of his being taken for a Spaniard,, in consequence of his dark complexion, by a Dutch soldier at the capitulation of Breda. He was at this time in the camp of the prince of Orange, and drew up in good Latin a nar- rative of the siege of that place. He is said to have injured his health by the excessive use of tobacco, to which he was so much enslaved, that he cut a hole in his hat to support his pipe whilst he was studying and composing. After a lingering illness he died at the age pf forty-one. NOTE (9), PAGE 196. CLAUDE DE SAUMAISE, one of the most di- stinguished names among the erudite of his time, was born in 1583 at Semur-en-Auxois, of a family eminent in the law. He studied at Paris 2/8 ftfEM&fRS &F HU him, his religion proved an 'insuperable bar- rier to such a settlement. -Having declined sorrie flattering offers from Italian 'universities, he accepted in l63l an 'invitation from the university of Leyden to occupy the honorary professorship which had been filled by Joseph Scaliger; probably regarding himself as the successor in literary reputation to that cele- brated man. Of his high opinion of himself, the following anecdote, related by Vigneuil Marville, will afford a specimen. Meeting once with Gaulmin and Maussac at the royal library in Paris, Gaulmin said, " : I 'think -vre three KO7ES TQ BOOK IH. three might make head against all the learned in Europe." ".Join yourself (replied Saumaise) and Maussac:to all the men of learning in the world, and ,1 will singly stand against you all." Corresponding to this arrogant estimate of his merits was his treatment of all with whom he had any controversy, freely bestowing upon -them every vituperative epithet with which the iLatin language furnished him, and showing the greatest contempt for their opinions; so that it. was said of him, that he placed himself upon a heap of stones with which he pelted all who game within his reach. By constant study, with the , aid of a retentive memory, ;he had laid, up. a greater mass of master rela- tive to the topics of erudition than perhaps any other man of the age, and .this he could pour , forth at pleasure when any learned subject was started ; but his knowledge was crude ,and in- digested, and his decisions were often erroneous and contradictory. He was looked up to with great respect and reverence by most of his con- temporaries, though his haughtiness and prone- ness to abuse raised him many enemies who dijd not, spare him. Among* these was Milton, who was, employed by the parliament to .write an 28O MEMOIRS OF HUET. an answer to Saumaise's work in favour of Charles I, entitled " Defensio Regia." The work itself, for which he was paid by the ex- iled Charles II, was a piece of turgid and tasteless' declamation ; and Milton's spirited and contemptuous reply was so much more popular, that Saumaise was deeply mortified. To divert his chagrin, in the following year, 1650, he accepted an invitation from queen Christina, who, in forming her literary esta- blishment, could not fail of being attracted by the name of the great Salmasius. Like all the other southern visitors of Sweden, however, he found the climate too rude for him, and in the next year returned to Holland. Falling into a bad state of health, he went to Spa, where he died in 1(>53. Of his works, his Exercita- tions on Pliny and Solinus, and his treatises on Usury among the ancients, are most esteem- ed, as affording the widest scope to his multi- farious learning. NOTE (10), PAGE 196. FRANCIS BEROALDE lord of Verville, son of Matthew Beroalde, a protestant professor and minister, NOTES TO BOOK III. 281 minister, conformed to the catholic religion, and became a canon at Tours. He was a poet, metaphysician, mathematician, and alchemist, but superficial and romantic in all. His "Moy- en de Parvenir" is a kind of ridicule of the human race in general, and is characterised as a compound of frivolities, puerilities, and in- decencies, mixed with some pleasant stories, and strokes of naivete. It was first published in 1584, and was reprinted in 1698 with the double title of " Salmagondis," Liege, and " Le Coupe-cu de la Melancholic," Parme; both the same impression. Becoming, like many other idle productions, a rare book, it was thought worth re-editing in 1/32 and 1754, with notes and elucidations. A parti- cular dissertation on it is given in the Menagi- ana. The author, an extravagant character, died about l6l2. NOTE (tl), PAGE 199. This advice affords, at least, a clue to More's own conduct, who seems always to have had in view the appearing more orthodox than he really was a policy in which he has had nu- merous predecessors and successors ! NOTE 282 MEMOIRS OF HUET. NOTE (12), PAGE 202. M A-NASSEH BEN ISRAEL was born about 1604 in Spain, from which country his father, after being tortured in the Inquisition and deprived of his property, made his escape to Holland with hisi family. Manasseh was educated with care, and made o iinuch proficiency in the study of the ; Hebrew scriptures and divinity, ithat he was appointed, at the age of eighteen, successor to his tutor as preacher and expounder in 'the synagogue at Amsterdam. He publish- ed in his twenty-eighth year a work in Spanish i entitled^Conciliador" &c. soon afterwards trans- lated into Latin under the title of " Conciliator, sive de Convenientia Locorum S.Scripturaequae pugnare inter sevidentur," by which he obtain- ed great- reputation, as well .among Christians as Jews, as a learned and judicious critic upon the Old Testament. The excellent Grotius engaged in a correspondence with him on the occasion, and highly commended his work. Finding himself unable to maintain his family upon his salary, he was obliged to engage in trade, and set up a printing press in his house, from TO -BOOK 1*1. 283 from which issued several editions of the Bible and the works of the rabbins. When the Jews of Amsterdam determined to send a de- putation to Cromwell, then Protector, Manas- seh was chosen as their delegate. -0n 'his ar- rival-he presented an address 'to Cromwell so* liciting his protection, and the repeal df such rigorous laws against their nation as might 'have been made under ; the former kingly go- vernment. 'He also dispersed a printed de- claration to the commonwealth, and a treatise 1 containing various arguments :for toleration, and tending to remove the prejudices of the multitude against 'the- Jews. 'Cromwell sum- moned an assembly of laymen and divines to consult on ; this = matter, from whose opinions he found that so much intolerance and preju- dice were prevalent, that it would * not 'be ad- visable to introduce any public proposal relative to placing the Jews on an equal footing- with 1 the different sects of Christians ; -and he dismissed Manasseh with a polite but -evasive answer. The rabbi's pamphlet is preserved in a collec- tion IIKM 'i NOTE (42), PAGE 237. HARDOUIN DE BEAUMONT DE PEKEFIXE, son of the maitre-d'hotel of cardinal Richelieu, was educated under the care of that minister, and became a doctor of the Sorbonne. He was chosen preceptor to Louis XIV, and no- minated to the bishopric of Rhodez, which he resigned, finding its duties incompatible with those of his office at court. For his pupil's use, he composed an abridgment of French hi story j from which he detached the history of 332 MEMOIRS OF HUET. of Henry IV, and published it separately. Though written in a negligent style, it is ac- counted a faithful picture of that monarch, and a valuable performance. Its chief object was to afford useful lessons in the -art of reigning. lie had previously manifested his attention to the important duties of his station, by a short work entitled " Institutio Principis." The French Academy admitted him among its members; and in 1664 he was promoted to the archbishopric of Paris. The influence ob- tained over him by the Jesuits caused him to interfere in the quarrels of Jansenism, in a manner that has done some injury to his memory ; particularly in the instance of his requisition of a subscription of the formulary of pope Alexander VII from the nuns of Port- royal. Yet his private character was mild and amiable. He died at an advanced age in 1676. Of his brother-in-law, FORTIN HOGHETTA, I find no other account than that in the text. He is not the only instance of native good sense overwhelmed by ill-digested learning. NOTE (43), PAGE 240. These misgivings and self-reproaches are unavoidable NOTES TO BOOK III. 333 unavoidable to an ingenuous mind, which has from system adopted an opinion of the ne- cessity of certain feelings towards the Supreme Being, that can exist only in warm and im- pressible constitutions, and are not to be ex- cited at pleasure. It is in vain, by the me- chanical means of temporary retirement and ritual exercises, to attempt to force the mind into a temper to which it is naturally in- disposed : an opus operalum may be performed, but effusions of real sentiment cannot be commanded. Piety may, indeed, be rendered a habitual feeling ; but it must be of a sedate and rational kind in cool and reasoning cha- .racters, and rather a permanent affection than an occasional passion. NOTE (44), PAGE 241. If Htiet ever really entertained the design of becoming a Jesuit, nothing could be wiser or more friendly than the advice of Mambrun, who probably spoke from his own feelings when adverting to the servitude imposed by the laws of a religious order. This mental slavery has, indeed, been a more grievous yoke to some 334 MEMOIRS OF HUET. some of the liberal members of these institu- tions, than any of their bodily austerities ; and the obligation to support certain tenets and principles has rendered such associations justly odious and suspicious ; not only to the friends of reason, but to civil governors. The Jesuits, in particular, who joined to their other vows, one of unlimited obedience to the papal see, of which they became the most devoted satel- lites, were frequently in opposition to their re- spective sovereigns, and brought upon them- selves a load of hatred and enmity, which at length overwhelmed the order. NOTE (45), PAGE 243. PETER PATRIS or PATRIX, a poet and a man of wit, was the son of a counsellor in the bailiwick of Caen, and was brought up to the profession of law, but applied little to the practice of it. He lived to the age of forty at Caen, writing poems, and rendering himself acceptable to the best society by his pleasantry. He then entered into the service of Gaston duke of Orleans, who gave him the govern- ment of Limours. He continued to maintain his NOTES TO BOOK III. 335 his place in cultivated society ; and Scarron, who met with him at the waters of Bourbon, speaks of him among the company as Patrix, Quoique Normand, homme de prix. He followed Gaston in all his fortunes, and after that prince's death attached himself tohis widow, Margaret of Lorrain. In advanced years Patris became devout ; and, repenting the licentious- ness of his youth, suppressed as much as possi- ble his freer pieces, and employed himself in the composition of religious poems. Of these he published a collection with the title " La Misericorde de Dieu sur la Conduite d'un Pe- cheur penitent." Not long before his death he wrote the well known and striking piece, beginning Je pensois cette nuit que de mal consume C6te-a-cote d'un pauvre on m'avoit inhume. He died at Paris in 1671, at the age of eighty, eight. NOTE (46), PAGE 243. MARGLUARD GUDIUS was a native of Rends- burg 336 MEMOIRS or HUT. burg in Holstein. He studied at Wittem- berg and Frankfort on the Oder, and in 1659 was offered a professorship at Amsterdam, and a considerable gratification, if he would under- take to put in order the remarks on Baronius's Annals left in manuscript by Blondel. He however preferred accompanying a young Hollander on his travels as his governor ; and after their tour, the pupil was so much attach- ed to him, that he went back with him to Holstein, and, dying there, left him his fortune. Gudius employed his bequest in collecting a numerous library and a cabinet of antiquities. He was made librarian at Gottorp, and ob- tained the title of counsellor of state to the king of Denmark. He died in 1689. Gudius published little ; but he meditated a new edi- tion of Gruter's inscriptions, augmented with a large number that he had himself collected. These after his death were sent to Graevius, who published two volumes folio of them, and gave the rest to Burman, by whom they were printed. Burman likewise published the letters between Gudius and his learned correspon- dents. NOTE KOTES TO BOOK III. 33/ NOTE (47), PAGE 246. STEPHEN LE MOINE, a very learned protest- ant divine, was born at Caen in 1624. He studied theology at Sedan under Dumoulin, and the oriental languages at Ley den ; and returning to his own province was called to the ministry. He exercised his function many years at Rouen, distinguishing himself hy zeal for his sect, accompanied, however, with candour and other moral qualities, which have obtained the praise of the catholics. Ac- cused of favouring the escape to England of the daughter of a counsellor, who declined following her father's example of conforming to the church of Rome, he was for a time put into prison, but was at length liberated. This specimen of intolerance was probably a motive with him to quit his country two years after- wards, in Ib'/G, upon an invitation from the states of Holland. He was presented with a- doctor's degree at Oxford, and then occupied the theological chair at the university of Ley- den, where he died in 1689. The peculiar studies of this learned man were in ecclesias- VOL. i. z tical 338 MEMOIRS OF HUET. tical antiquities ; and he obtained great repu- tation by a work entitled " Varia Sacra, seu Sylloge variorum Opusculorum Graecorum ad Rem ecclesiasticam spectantium," 3 vols. 4to. He also published some separate dissertations, and gave a Latin version of a fragment attri- buted to Joseph us, which is inserted in the Oxford edition of that author. NOTE (48), PAGE 246. . STEPHEN MORIN, also a protestant minister and native of Caen, studied at Sedan and Ley- den, and was afterwards appointed to the pastoral office at two towns near Caen, and at length at Caen itself. His erudition connected him with all the learned in that place, and he was made a member of its academy of polite literature, notwithstanding an illiberal law excluding those of the reformed religion. He continued there till the revocation of the edict of Nantes in 1685 obliged him to retire to Holland, where he became a professor of the oriental languages at Amsterdam, and a minister of the French church. He died in 1700. Morin was the author of some treatises and NOTES TO BOOK III. 339 and dissertations on subjects of sacred and profane antiquity, and of a Life of James le Paulmier de Grentemesnil, (whose niece he married,) and one of Samuel Bochart. Some letters of his on the Samaritan Pentateuch are printed in Van Dale " De Origine et Progressu Idololatriae." On quitting France he was obliged to leave his children behind him, where they received an education that laid the foundation of their conformity to the esta- blished church. This was the case with Henry Morin his son, author of several learned dis- sertations in the " Memoires de TAcad. des Belles Lettres." It may here be remarked, that whenever an establishment, either by com- pulsive means, or the allurement of particular advantages, has got into its hands the educa- tion of separatists, it has made a most import- ant step towards their conversion ; for, the parental authority being the only power able to contend with the example of the majority, and worldly interest, in swaying the mind of a young person, when that is balanced by the authority of preceptors, the scale will naturally incline to the side of the establishment. After all the institutions for the education of protest- z 2 ants 340 MEMOIRS OF HUET. ants in France were destroyed by the arbi- trary measures of Louis XIV, the sect rapidly declined in numbers and consequence. This was, it is true, a cruel and unjustifiable per- secution; but the policy of laying open na- tional seminaries to sectaries by indulgences, rather than excluding them by restrictions and impositions, would be equally wise and liberal. NOTE (49), PAGE 248. HENRY OF ORLEANS, second of the name, duke of Longueville and Estouteville, sove- reign of Neufchatel, lineally descended from the celebrated bastard of Orleans, count of Dunois, was born in 1596. He was governor first of Picardy, then of Normandy, and died in l66'3. i NOTE (50), PAGE 252. When nobility, as then in France and most other countries of Europe, conveys exemptions from taxation, it is a matter of consequence to the revenue that the order should not be too much multiplied, or assumed upon false pretences. NOTES TO BOOK III. 341 pretences. The great minister Colbert, among other abuses in the state which diminished the public receipts, and aggravated the burdens of the people, turned his eye upon that of usurped nobility, and instituted rigorous en- quiries into the titles by which it was claimed. This, however, was made too much a measure of present finance ; for all who could trace the privilege of noblesse to the year l6'OO were al- lowed to retain it on paying an impost. It also produced, as Huet complains, a swarm of petty inquisitors, who made their own ad- vantage by the vexations they excited against all whose proofs of nobility were not ready to be produced ; and, whilst they cavilled against well-founded claims, gave a sanction, for money, to the most equivocal. The whole business ex- hibited a striking exemplification of the mischief arising from the existence of an order of subjects having pecuniary privileges, which might be made a matter of bargain and sale, at the ex- pense of the rest of the community ; and it is no wonder that such an order was one of the first objects of reform at the French Revolu- tion. NOTE 342 MEMOIRS OF HUET. NOTE (51), PAGE 253. MARIA ELEONORA DE ROHAN, celebrated in the list of pious and literary ladies, was the daughter of Hercules de Rohan Guemene, duke of Montbazon, and a peer of France. Educated in a convent, she imbibed the spirit of religious retirement to such a degree, that the opposition of her father was ineffectual to prevent her from taking the veil. She made her profession at Montargis, a convent of Be- nedictines, in 1646 ; and at the age of twenty- two she was nominated abbess of the nunnery of the Trinity near Caen. She governed this house with high reputation for several years ; when the insalubrity of the air to her consti- tution, and the vexation of frequent contests with the bishop of Bayeux, caused her to make an exchange for the convent of Malnoue near Paris. The sanctity of her morals and her other merits were so distinguished, that, upon a report made of them to the pope, he said there was matter enough for canonization. She took under her protection a new establish- ment; NOTES TO BOOK III. 343 ment of nuns of the same rule at Chassemidi, for which she drew up a set of constitutions, which were printed, and are considered as an excellent commentary on the rule of St. Be- nedict. Besides the work mentioned in the text, she wrote exhortations to her nuns on taking the veil, and some other pieces, which have been printed. She died in l6Sl, in her fifty-third year. NOTE (52), PAGE 355. CHARLES DU PERIER, a native of Aix in Provence, raised himself a great name in Latin poetry, and was reckoned among the seven who composed the Parisian Pleiad. He excelled in lyric poetry, in which he boasted to have formed the celebrated Santeul. They were friends, but occasionally had disputes through poetic jealousy. One day their rivalry occa- sioned a wager of ten pistoles who should write the best ode, to be decided by Menage, who held the stakes. He awarded the prize to Du Perier, and composed a very agreeable piece on 344 MEMOIRS OF HUET. on the circumstance. Du Perier at length quitted Latin for French poetry, in which he did not obtain great applause, though he pro- posed Malherbe for his model. He was an unmerciful reciter of his own verses to all he met, and was very troublesome on that ac- count. Accompanying Boileau once to church, he talked to him during the whole mass about an ode which he had presented to the French Academy, complaining of their injustice in not crowning it with the prize. Just at the elevation of the host, he whispered in Boi- leau's ear, " They say my verses are too Mal- herbian." The satirist had him in view in the following lines of his "Art Poetique:" Gardez vous d'imiter ce Rimeur furieux, Qui de ses vains ecrits lecteur harmonieux, Aborde en recitant quiconque le salue, Et poursuit de ses vers les passans dans la rue. II n'est temple si saint, des anges respecte, Qui soit contre sa Muse un lieu de surete. Chant iv. Some of Du Perier's Latin poems are print-r- ed in the " Deliciae Poetarum Latinorum," and in other miscellanies. He died in 1692. NOTE NOTES TO BOOK III. 345 NOTE (53), PAGE 257. ANNA-MARIA-LOUISA D'ORLEANS, usually called Mademoiselle de Montpensier, was, if not one of the greatest p.rnaments, at least one of the principal objects of interest, in the court of Louis XIV. First cousin to the king, as being daughter of Gaston duke of Orleans, brother to Louis XIII ; heiress to her father, and to the house of Bourbon-Montpensier ; she united more high titles and great estates than any other female of her time. She in- herited some of her father's turbulent and in- triguing spirit ; and in the war of the Fronde, taking the part of the prince of Conde, she had the audacity to cause the cannon of the Bastille to be fired upon the king's troops. "Those cannon (said Mazarin) have killed her husband ;" and it appeared thenceforth to be the determination of ministers to thwart all projects for settling her suitably and agreeably; one reason for which, however, might be, that it was not thought proper to let such a rich in- heritance go out of the kingdom. Doomed to pass 346 MEMOIRS OF HUET. I pass her best days in celibacy, she kept her own little court, in which there were always some men of letters ; and she amused herself with reading and composing, though both in a slight and cursory way. Some abatement must be made in the account here given by Huet, flattered by the notice of a princess, of her talents and attainments; and it will not be unjust to attribute to the assistance of Se- grais a considerable share of the polish and vi- vacity discoverable in her literary attempts. Her own Memoirs display little elevation of mind; they rather, says Voltaire, indicate a woman occupied with herself, than a witness of the great events that passed before her view. Her lot was, upon the whole, worthy of pity. When beyond the age of forty, she became strongly attached to the count of Lauzun, a Gascon younger brother, who, rather by his confidence than his merit, had pushed himself into notice ; and by her importunity she ob- tained the king's permission to marry him and settle upon him all her vast property. A fatal delay, owing, it is said, to his vanity in insist- ing that the ceremony should be performed at the NOTES TO BOOK III. 347 the king's chapel, gave time for an interposi- tion, .by which Louis was persuaded to with- draw his consent ; and the tears and remon- strances of Mademoiselle could not procure a renewal of it. They then, as it is supposed, married privately, the discovery of which, and Lauzun's violent reproaches of Mad. de Mon- tespan for her ill offices on the occasion, caused him to be tyrannically confined for ten years in the castle of Pignerol. He was at length liberated, in consequence of her agree- ing to resign to the duke of Maine, the king's natural son by Mad. de Montespan, her sove- reignty of Dombes and county of Eu. The ill-sorted pair then lived together, and she soon experienced all the chagrin consequent on an union with a man who regarded her fondness with disgust, and had not gratitude or generosity enough to consider her in the light of a benefactor. He treated her with neglect and insolence, and abused his power over her so wantonly, that once, on returning from the chase, he called out to her, " Louisa, of Orleans, come and pull off my boots." At Jength she exerted a proper spirit, and forbade him 348 MEMOIRS OF HUET. him to come into her presence. She passed her latter days in devotion and obscurity, and died, little regretted and almost forgotten, in l6f)3, at the age of sixty-six. NOTE (54), PAGE 257. The French peculiarly value themselves on their nice observations on the human mind, and their skill in delineating characters. The fashion of writing portraits became for a time extremely prevalent : it flattered the vain with the gratification of talking of themselves, and the satirical with that of caricaturing their ac- quaintance. In portraits made by the subjects themselves there was commonly a great affec- tation of sincerity, displayed in the avowal of petty failings and defects, but compensated by as free an assumption of excellencies. As the practice was an exercise of the understanding, it deserved more indulgence than some other fashionable follies, though it would doubtless produce a plentiful crop of impertinence. NOTE NOTES TO BOOK III. 349 NOTE (55), PAGE 258. CHARLES FAUCON DE RY, LORD or CHARLE- VAL, was in his day in great vogue as a polite writer in verse and prose, and a man of agree- able manners and conversation. He was of a delicate constitution of body, corresponding to the character of his genius, "which was turn- ed to elegance and refinement, rather than force or elevation. Scarron said of him, that " the muses fed him with nothing but blanc- manger and chicken-water." His poems were slight compositions, sprightly and pleasing, but feeble in style and invention. The following lines on Mad. Scarron (afterwards Mad. de Maintenon) may serve as a specimen. Bien souvent ramitie-s'enflamme, Et je sens qu'il est mal-aise due 1'ami d'une belle dame Ne soit un amant deguise. In the conduct of life he professes to have acted according to the following estimate : La vertu, puis la sante, La gloire, pui la richesse. He 35O MEMOIRS OF HUET. He had a right to place virtue first, for he possessed solid goodness of heart. When M. and Mad. Dacier were about to quit Paris in order to live more cheaply in the country, he went and offered them ten thousand livres in gold, and warmly pressed them to accept the sum. By care and temperance he reached his eightieth year, and might probably have lived longer if the Parisian faculty had suffered him. They attacked a slight fever under which he laboured, by their usual mode of repeated bleedings, and with such success, that they said to one another, " The fever is going." " No P said Thevenot, who stood by, " the patient is going ;" and in fact he expired within an hour or two. He died in 1693. A small collection, of his poems has been published : he was also the author of the greatest part of the lively " Conversation between the Marshal d'Hoc- quincourt and Father Canaye," printed in St. Evremond's Works. NOTE (56), PAGE 260. There was a RICHARD STANIHURST, a native of Dublin, who, after practising for some years as NOTES TO BOOK III. 351 as a counsellor in Ireland, left his country on account of his religion, and settled in the Low- countries, where he died in l6l8, having en- tered into holy orders after the death of his wife. He had a son, WILLIAM, born at Brus- sels, who became a Jesuit, and occupied seve- ral posts in the society. He wrote some moral and theological works, and was perhaps person here mentioned. He died in 1 663. *#* I find from Sir James Ware's et Praesules Hibern." that the Episcopus Alladensis is the Bishop of Killalla the prefix Kill, in Irish signifying Church, being dropped in latinizing. As to Huet's Episcopus Ardensis, it may be either the Bishop of Ardfert or of Ardach. END OF THE FIRST VOLUME. Printed ly Richard Taylor and Co., Sliue-Lane. INDEX. ACADEMY, French, ii. 181, 260 iEgidia, sister of Huet, i. 249 Agard de Champs, i. 57, 105 Anatomical school of London, ii. 113 Andreas, Valerius, i. 205, 288 Angennes, family of, ii. 13, 92 Angouleme, Ch., duke of, ii. 387, 45S Augustine, his sentiments, i, 1 Aulnai, town and abbey, ii. 199 Avranches, ii. 330 Auzout, Adrian, ii. 194, 298 Ballachee, John, i. 24-6 Bassompierre, Fr. de, ii. 387 451 Baudot, Anselm, ii. 227 Bautru, William, ii. 15, 87, 96 Beauvau, marquis of, ii. 387, 459 Beauvillier duks of St. Aignan, ii. 191, 293 Bellay du, William, Martin, and John, ii. 387> 431 Benoit, Elias, ii. 214, 313 Benserade, Isaac, ii. 184, 272 Bernard, Edw., ii. 188, 281 Bernier, John, ii. 1 1 , Jordana, ii. 12 TOL. i. 2 A Beroulde 354 INDEX. Beroalde de Verville, i. 196, 280 Bertaut, John, ii. 50, 142 Bethune duke of Sully, ii. 387, 442 Bigot, Emeric, i. 2^5, 302 Bile, Erad, i. 28, 74 Blemur, Jacoba de, i. 2.53 Blondel, David, i. 202, 284 . r, Fr., ii. 195, 300 Bochart, Sam., i. 31, 82, ii. 4O Boileau Despreaux, ii. 221, 319 Bossuet, James Benign., ii. 63, 146, 353 Bouillon, Henry duke of, ii. 337, 446 Fred. Maurice duke of, ii. 387, Boulluu, Ismael, i. 59, 110 Bourbon, baths of, ii. 345, 300 Bourchenu de Valbonnais, ii. 369, 403 Bourdaloue, Louis, ii. 368, 401 Bourdelot, i. 148, 172 ;.? t il .1] Boxhorn, Mark, i. 193, 276 Brahe, Tycho, i. 128, 129, 134,;&seq. 17 Brebeuf, George de, i, JS, 68 Brieux, Moisant de, i. 207, 295 Brulart de Sillery, Fabio, ii, 228, 32$ Brun le, Charles, ii. 39, 126 Buchanan, George, ii. 386, 424 Bussi-Rabutin, Roger, ii. 184, 270 Caen, academy of, i, 207 Cahaignes, Stephen, i. 38 i , . . .-, James, i, 38, 88 Callieres, James de, i. 209, 301 INDEX. 35$ Cally, Peter, ii. 27, 116, 351 Camus, John Peter, i. 18, 66 Cange, C. du Fresne du, ii. 47, 1S4< Cardan, Jerom, ii. 385, 417 Castelnau, Mich, de, ii. 387, 439 Chaise, Fr. de la, ii. 232, 331 Chalvet, Hyacinth de, ii. 12, 91 Chanut, Peter, i. 154, 178 Chapelain, John, i. 227, 313 Charleval, Faucon de, i. 258, 349 Charpentier, Francis, ii. 37, 123 Chavagnac, Marq. de, ii. 307, 459 Chifflet, John James, i. 287 Choiseul, duke of, ii. 387, 457 Christina, queen of Sweden, i. 119, 161: her muta- bility, 149: jocularity, 151 : indelicacy, 196; remark on her, ii. 90 Clerc, John le, ii. 379, 414 Clerselier, Claude, ii. 353, 394 Closterseven, i. 125 Coculin, count, ii. 214 Cointe, Charles le, ii. 8, 89 Colbert, John Bapt., ii. 28, 117 Coligni, Gasp, de, ii. 387, 435 Combefis, Fr., ii. 218, 317 Commines, Philip de, ii. 387, 430 Commire, John, i. 56, 104 Comparisons between poets, i. 69 Conde, Louis, prince of, ii. 153, 237 Conrart, Valentine, ii, 2, 72 Copenhagen, i. 126 2 A 2 Cordemoi, 356 INDEX. Cerdemoi, Gerald de, ii. 174, 257 Cormis, President, ii. 29 Corneille, Peter, ii. 184, 186, 264 Cossart, Gabriel, i. 55, 99 Cotelier, John-Baptist, i. 220, 307 Critical editorship, remark on, ii. 244 Cromar deLasson, his speettlmn and spectacle glasses,?!. 2T Cujas, James, i. 4O, 90 Cuper, GisbeK, ii. 370, 405 Cyphers, origin of, i. 245 Dacier, Andrew, ii. 171, 256 . . , Madame, ii. 171 253 Dalechamp, James, i, 40, 89 Dauphin, his education, ii. 60, 145 Delphin Classics, their plan and execution, ii. 165, 251 Descartes, Rene, i. 29, 7$ , Diodati, i. 192 Dogmata Theologiea of Petau, i. 62 Doujat, John, ii. 58,.144 Duplessis Mornai, ii. 159, 24-5 Dupre, Mary, ii. 7, 86 Dutch inns, custom at, K 189 Edelinek, Gerard, ii. 362, 399 Erasmus, ii. 385, 420 Estrees, cardinal d j , ii. 379, 416 Eudes, John, ii. 215 Evremond, Chas. de 8t., ii. 230, 527 Fanaticism, horrid instance of, i. 155 : remarks on it, 178 Fare, marquis de la, ii. 372, 406 Fayette, INDEX. 357 Fayette, madame, ii. 6, 83 Fermat, Peter de, ii. 16, 101 Ferrand, Louis, ii. 162, 24-7 Fevre, Anne le, ii. 171, 253 , Tannegui le, ii. 46, 132 Flechier, Esprit, ii. 32, 119 Fontaine, J. de k, ii. 189, 286 Fournier, George, i. 29, 75 Francius, Peter, ii. 362, 400 Frassen, Claude, ii. 160, 246 Gale, Thomas, ii. 188, 83 Gallois, John, ii. 184, 278 Garabi, Antony de, i. 208, 297 Gamier, John, i. 57, 106 Gassendi, Peter, i- 232, 319 Gaulmin, -Gilbert, i. 152, 173 Gautruche, Peter, i. 29, 76 Gigault de Bellefonds, Laurentia, ii. 35 Glory, love of, how far a motive to science, i. 169 Golius, James, i. 192, 269 Gombuste, i. 235 Gonzague, duke of Nevers, ii. 387, 445 Gosselin, Antony, i. 22, 71 Gnevius, John George, i. 215, Sot, ii. 177 Graindorge, Andrew, ii. 175 , James, ii. 43 - , de Premont, i. 45, ii. 10 Gronovius, J. Frederic, i. 203, 288 Gudius, Marquard, i. 243, 33 Gu.ervUle, James, ii. 174 358 INDEX. Guise, Hen. duke of, ii. 387, 453 Guyet, Francis, i. 5D, 109 Halle", Antony, i. 20 , Peter, ii. 58, 145 Hamcl du, John Baptist, ii. 15, 98 Hardenburg, custom at, i. 124 Hardi, Claude, i. 232, 322 Harlai, Fr. de, ii. 156, 242 Hauton, ii. 23, 26 Heinsius, Dan., i. 193, 274 > , Nicholas, ii. 201, 303 Herbelot, Barthol. d', ii. 193, 295 Hogers, Theoph., ii. 371 Hogerts, Goswin, ii. 36 Hoghetta, Fortin, i. 236 Holstein, duke of, i. 187 Huen, isle of, i. 130, & seq. Pluet, Peter Daniel, his motives for writing this work, i. 2 : birth, 3 ; father of, 4 : baptism, 7 : danger from th plague, 8 : first instruction, 8 : orphanship, 9 : taught at a monastery, 11 : a boarder, 12 : at the college of Mont Royal, 13 : early love of letters, 14 : passion for poetry, 16 : begins his philosophical course, 22 : his attachment; to geometry, 23 : inclination to become a Dominican, 24 : holds a public disputation, 23 : studies Roman law, 31 : applies to the study of Greek ami Hebrew, 32, 33 : hu> powers of studying, 34 : intro- duced to Bochart, 36 : frequents polite society, 48 : his skill in exercises, 49 : becomes major, 50 : visits Pa- lis, 51 : agrees to accompany Bochart to Sweden, 121 : sails INDEX. 35$ sails to Holland, 122 : his journey thence to Copenha- gen, 124 & seq. : stay at that capital, 126 Sc seq. : visits the isle of Huen, 132: journey from the Sound to Stockholm, 140: introduced to Christina, 148: his rea- sons for quitting Sweden, 156, 159: writes satirical verses on the Swedes, 159: visits the library at Gottrrp, 185 : returns to Holland, 188 : falls ill at Ley den, lid: proceeds through Brabant to Paris, 204: elected into the Academy of Caen, 210: his difference with Bochart, 217 : publishes his work on translation, 219 : his pious retreat to la Fleche, 239 : has a design of becoming a Jesuit, 241 : disquieted about his title to nobility, 250: declines an offer from Christina, ii. 9: joins in forming a new academy at Caen, 20: studies anatomy, 21 : makes observations on a comet, and experiments in chemistry, 23 : refuses a counsellor's place in the parliament of Rouen, 30: introduced to Montausier, 33 : resides at Rouen for the printing of his Origen, 33 : its publication and dedication, 42 : writes his work on romances, 51 : appointed sub-pre ceptor to the Dauphin, 64: declines completing the edition of Origen, and engages in his Demonstratio Evangelica, 156 : undertakes the, management of the Delphin classics at the suggestion of Montausier, 165: writes notes on Manilius, 169 i performance in minia- ture writing, 176: gradually changes his dress, 178: adopts the use of tea, 181 : enters the French Academy, 183: takes holy orders, 196 : his devotion to St. Gcne- vieve, 197 : converts a Jew, 198 : made abbot of Aul- nai, 200 : composes his Quasstiones Alnetanse, and Gensura Philos. Cartesianae, 202, 203: other works* 205; 360 fNDEX. 205 : antiquities of Caen, 206 : makes astronomical ob- servations, and invents instruments, 209 : his study of Hebrew, 217 : procures an addition to the Jesuits' gar- den at Caen, 220 : his dispute with Boileau concerning Longinus, 222, 324 : nominated to the see of Soissons, 224 : exchanges it for Avranches, 228 : draws up syno- dal statutes, 229 : abdicates his bishopric and is made abbot of Fontenai, 231 : hopes given him of the 'cardi- nalate, 341 : goes to the baths of Bourbon, 345 : op- poses the Cartesian philosophy, 351, 354: makes a do- nation of his library to the Jesuits, 358: engaged in enquiries concerning sorcery, 359 : his portrait engraved, 362 : death and character of his sisters, 365, 866 : writes French verse, 373: has a severe illness, 377:. reason* for writing his own memoirs, 380 : his death and cha- racter, 460. Hurault de Chiverni, ii. 387, 43T Huygens, Christ., ii. 3, 77 Isopsepha, on, i. 213 Jesuits, their Latin style, i. 97 Julia's Garland, ii. 172 Justell, Henry, ii. 3, 78 Kircher, Athanasius, i. 224, 311 Labbfc, Philip, i. 55> 98 Lambecius, Peter, i. 61, 114 Lamoignon, William de, it 45, ISO Languages, study of, remarks on,_i. 223, 310 Lantin, John-Baptist, ii. 155, 241 tad* INDEX. 36l Latin, speaking and writing, i. 264 Latin language, its preference for inscriptions, H. 12S i , advantage of writing in, ii. 316 Latin Poetry, modern, on, i. 65 Linden, A. Vander, !. 191, 268 Lipsius, Justus, i. 205, 289 Longevity of sedentary persons, i. 87 Longinus, hi opinion on a passage in Genesis, a. 222, 323 Longomontanus, Christ., L 126, 166 Longueville, Henry duke of, 5. 24-7, 340. Louis XIV, observation on his patronage of mea of let- ters, ii. 118 Ludolf, Job, ii. 194, 299 Mabillon, John, ii. 234, 383 Mace Gilles, i. 9, 65 Madelenet, Gabriel, t. 233, 325 Mambrun, Peter, i. 22, 30, 72 Manasseh Ben Israel, i. 201, 282 Marche, Olivier de la, ii. 386, 429 Mare, Philib. de la, ii. 155, 241 Marets de St. Sorlin, ii. 1, 65, 18S Margaret de Valois, ii. 387, 438 Maridat, Peter, i. 238 Marolles, Michael de, ii. 459 Marsham, Sir John, i. 224, 31* Mayer, John-Frederic, ii. 363, 401 Meibom, Mark, i. 153, 17* Menage, Gilles, i. 206, 290, ii, S61 Meyrat, Louis, i. 242 Mezerai, Fr. Eude d, ii. 184, 262 Moine, 362 INDEX. Moine, Stephen le, ?. 244, 337 Monachism, ferer of, i. 73 Montagne, Mich, de, ii. 387, 4-40 Montausier, Charles duke of, ii. 14, 94 Montluc, Blatse de, ii. 387, 434 Montmor, Hubert de, i. 231, 318 More, Alexander, i. 192, 197, 200, 270 Morin, Stephen, i. 216, 338 Mornay du Plessis, ii. 159, 245 Motteux, Monatier le, i. 243 Motteville, Madame, ii. 50, 140 Naude, Gabr., i. 60, 111 Navailes, duke of, ii. 387, 458 Neure, Mathurin, i. 235, 330 Nobility, French, titles to, examined, i. 251 ' c,& * Oldenburg, Henry, ii. 19, 112 Olearius,, Adam, i. 185 263 Orleans, Anna-Maria Louisa de, i. 255, 34S Oxenstierna, Axel, i. 153, 176 Parties, religious, jealousy of, i. 88 Parvilliers, Adrian, ii. 38, 126 Patris, Peter, i. 242, 334 Paul the Silentiary, his poem on the Pythian Therm, i. 212 Paulmier, de Grentemesntl, i. 41, 91 -i , James, 5. 42, 93' Pearson, John, bishop; ii. 218, 314 Pellisson-Fontanier, Paul, ii. 2, 68 Perrault, Charles, ii. 2, 67, 13 Perefi, INDEX. 363 Perefiie, Hardouin de, i. 237, 331 Perier, Charles du, i. 255, 343, -ii. Perin, Picart, ii.^60 Petau, Dennis, i. 53, 95 Petit, Peter, ii. 4, 79 Peyarede, John de, i. 233, 326 Plessis-Praslin, duke of Choiseul, H. 387, 4-57 Pontis, Louis de, ii. 387 r 454 Portraits, custom of writing, i. 257 Poussines, Peter, ii. 211, 309 Public property, remark on encroachments upon, ii, $18 PuffendorfF, Sam., ii. 163, 250 Puy, du, Clement, i. 107 Claude,!. 107 Christopher, i. 107 Peter, i. 58, 108 James, i. 58, 109 Pyron, William, ii. 32, 122 Quesnay, Blois de, i. 243 Quinault, Philip, ii. 184, 275 Racan, Honorat de, i. 232, 323 Racine, Johnj ii. 184,' 266. i H Rambouillet, House of, ii. 13, 92 Rapin Rene, i. 56, 101 Reasoning, insufficient, effects of, i. 115 Redi, Francesco, ii. 154,240 ,t-I V* < i .fffc) Regale, disputes concerning, between the courts of France and Rome, ii. 225i 325 Regis, Peter Sylvain, ii. 203, 305 . 'i- Regius, 564 INDEX. Regius, Hen.,'i. 123, 165 Regnier Desmarais, ii. 185, 279 Religions, popular, remarks on, ii. 305 Rhenferd, James, ii. 370, 406 Richelieu, cardinal, ii. 387, 450 Riviere, abbe de la, ii. 48, 138 Roberval, Gilles Personne de, ii. 44, 129 Rochechouart, Marie Eliz. de, ii. 346, 391 , Marie Magd. de, abbess of Fontevraud, ii. 348, 391 Rochefoucault, Fr. duke of, ii. 189, 290 Rohan, Hen. duke of, ii. 387, 448 , Mary Eleonora de, 5. 252, 342 Rohault, James, ii. 353, 393 Romances, effects of, ii. 142 Roque, Gille Andre de la,, i. 209, 300 Rue, Charles de la, ii. 214, 311 Sanchez d'Aguirre, cardinal, ii. 341, 389 Santeul, John-Bapt., ii. 5, 80, 398 Sarasin, John Fr., i. 19, 70 Sarrau, Claude, i. 286 Savary, James, i. 208, 225, 296 Saumaise, Claude, i. 191, 194, 277 , Jos., his epistle De Spleudore Gentis Scaligei i, i. 84. Scaligers, ii. 385, 422 Scarron, Paul, ii. 17, 104 Schotanus, John, ii. 351 Schurman, Anna-Maria, L 190, 266 Schweling, Eberhard, ii. 352 Scuderi, INDEX. 565 Scuderi, Mag. de, ii. 18, 107 , George de, ii. 19, 111 $egrais, J. R. de, i. 208, 297, ii. 55 Sickius, Henry, ii. 369 Simon, Richard, ii. 162, 24-8 Sirmond, James, i. 35, 53, 86 Spanheim, Ezechiel, ii. 235, 337 Stanihurst, i. 260 , Richard, i. 350 , William, i. 351 Staveren, story relative to, i. 1 90 Stockholm, royal library of, i. 151 Sully, duke of, ii. 387, 442 Superstition in Denmark, i. 140 , in Sweden, i. 140, 144, &c. remarks on, 171 Swallows, submersion of, i. 143, 172 Sweden, great summer heat of, i. 143: fabrication of houses in, 145 : of chimneys, 147 Tallemant des Reaux, Fr., ii. 16, 102 , Paul, ii. 17, 103 Tavanes, Gaspard, William, and James, ii. 387, 4-55 Tavernier, John-Bapt., ii. 47, 137 Thevenot, N. Melchisedec, ii. 191, 294- -, John, ii. 295 Thomassin, Louis, ii. 7 86 Thou, James Aug. de, ii. 386, 427 , , , J un . }|. 355, 394 Tillac, Judith,Barbara, ii. 234? Tilladet, abbe de, ii. 375, 413 ToUnd, John, ii. 374,- 408 Touroude, 366 INDEX. Touronde, Louis, i. 43, 93 Transmutation of metals, story concerning, ii. 25, H* Valois, Henry, il. 3, 74 , Adrian, ii. 3, 76 Varillas, Antony, i. 231-, 327 Vavasseur, Francis, i. .55, 100 Verbal criticism, remarks on, i. 221, 30& Vettius Valens, manuscripts of, i. 186 Vigne, Anne de la, ii. 7, 84 Vignier, Jerome, 55. 8, 88 Villeroi, Neufville dc, ii. 387, 44* Vion d'Herouval, ii. 193, 297 Vossfes, Isaac, 5. 119, 163 } ,_ : Witchcraft, remarks on, ii. 89