their province to defcribe; with this principal difference, that the former reprefents them as they appear in the public and more active fcenes of life, and as they affect the general courte of human affairs: whereas the latter, without omitting the public, leads us more into private and domeftic fituations; brings us acquainted with the whole circle of a man's friends, lays open his connections and correfpondence; the plan of his education; the method of his ftudies; his leading views in life; the manner in which he employed his time; and introduces us to the knowledge of a variety of circumftances, of the greateft importance to judging well of characters and manners; affording very ufeful hints for others to improve upon; and which could not with any propriety be introduced into a general Hiftory. Amongst the feveral fpecies of writing therefore, BIOGRAPHY will certainly be placed in a rank of fome importance, in point of real utility, as well as amufement.

There have been very few eminent and illuftrious perfons, either in antient or modern times, of whofe lives fome memoirs have not been collected, and handed down to us. The Lawgiver, the Philofopher, the Mathematician, the Poct, the Warriour, Phyfician, or Divine, if in any remarkable manner they have fupported their feveral characters, diftinguished themselves in their profeffions, and merited fame by the fervices they have done their country or mankind, have met with fome ingenious and grateful pen, to gratify the public curiofity, and tranfmit their memory to pofterity. The great inconvenience of fuch memoirs hath been that they have generally been drawn up by those who were friends to the man, or warm admirers of the life they wrote; and of whom it might often be truly faid, that they were Panegyrifis, rather than Hiftorians.

But the fingle lives of the moft remarkable and memorable perfons, though written with the greatest truth and exactness, unless collected together, could not be fuppofed in their difperfed ftate, to be of any general and extenfive ufe. To thofe Gentlemen therefore who have taken upon them the immenfe pains of fearching into the records of antiquity, and collecting and difpofing these materials; who without the partialities of friendship, or the influence of prejudice, and in the juft fpirit of criticifm, have fet themselves to give a faithful account of thofe illuftrious men, whofe lives and actions will be objects of attention to all ages and nations, the public in general, and the friends of literature in particular are furely very greatly obliged. Mr. BAYLE, the compilers of the GENERAL DICTIONARY, the Authors of the BIOGRAPHIA BRITANNICA, and others who have engaged in the fame laborious and important fervice, notwithstanding the particular imperfections of their feveral performances, deferve

to.

to be mentioned with refpect; they have done well. But valuable as their works may be, they are too voluminous, they are too expenfive to become the property of great numbers of people: A work of the fame kind, reduced within a narrower compafs, and of eafier purchase, was wanting; and bids much fairer to be generally useful. This is what the Proprietors of the prefent publication have attempted; and in what manner they have executed it, we fhall now reprefent with all the impartiality in

our power.

The Gentlemen of the Trade in this town, need not be informed by us, with what a fufpicious eye the Public in general look upon all their schemes to oblige the world: a Bookfeller's Jobb, is a popular term of reproach and odium, fufficient to prevent the acceptance of the most valuable production. But whatever foundation there may be for a jealoufy of this kind, there are inftances in which it is most unwarrantable and inju rious we think the prefent is one. The perfons concerned, as proprietors, in this work, we are well informed, have taken great pains; and have been at very confiderable expence to render it truly worthy the public attention it was their defire that it might be fuch; and upon the whole, we think it no hazarded Judgment, to fay, that it merits encouragement. That it is very unequally done, will foon appear to thofe who examine it with attention; and this may indeed be generally expected, where many hands are employed, of different principles, fentiments and abilities; and where the materials of the whole are fo various and diffimilar. Some of the first volumes are by much the worst in many refpects; as the work proceeds, it improves upon us greatly, and is evidently conducted with fuperior judgment and ability.

The prefent collection is a very numerous one, containing not less than two thoufand different lives: it extends to all ages and countries; but, which would naturally be expected, pays particular attention to thofe of our own countrymen, who have rendered themfelves remarkable: it gives us the history but of few Princes; in which omiffion we think there is a good deal of propriety; as the private lives and characters of fuch perfonages are little known; and are but of inferior confequence, when compared with their public character, which we may better expect from the general Hiftorian, whofe particular province it is. Of thofe who have distinguished themselves in the polite arts, or learned profeffions, the reader will find very few of any importance omitted: Scholars and learned men make up a large part of the collection; and, which will often be found extreamly ufeful to be confulted upon particular occafions, a catalogue of their writings, with the dates of their publication, is added in

the

the notes, or at the conclufion of the memoir. The narrative is in general short, clear, eafy and natural; nor will the attention of the Reader be frequently fatigued with uninterefting circumstances, minute criticifms, or tedious digreffions. It is only in fome of the more important lives, that the memoir is extended to any great length; the variety of the materials in fuch inftances would naturally lead to it; but the importance of them generally makes us ample amends. As to the fources from whence our compilers have derived their materials, they have themselves informed us in their preface; "In the execution "of this plan we have not had recourfe merely to dicționaries,

nor contented ourselves with fupplying the defects of one "dictionary from another, and cutting off the redundancies of "all, but we have collected from every performance in every "language that had any relation to our defign. For the lives "of authors we have had recourfe to their works; and for the "lives of others, to the best memoirs that are extant con"cerning them." The particular authorities on which any facts are fupported, and the writers from whom any quotations are made, are generally inferted in the margin.

Upon the whole, the public have now before them a very useful Biographical Dictionary, reduced within as small a compaís, and propofed at as eafy an expence, as, confidering the extent and univerfality of it, can reasonably be expected. It is well 'calculated to promote the progrefs of useful knowlege: the man of learning may read many articles of it with pleasure; to the young ftudent it may be very advantageous; and to those ufeful focieties, commonly known by the title of Book Clubs, or Circulating Libraries, we cannot help recommending it as a very proper and entertaining fet of books.

But before we conclude this article, we must take the liberty to throw out a hint or two, for the propriety of which we could not only refer to the publication now before us, but would fubmit them to the confideration of thofe, who may hereafter have the direction of a new edition of this, or any other work of the fame kind.

We cannot conceive how it hath happened, that in all the Biographical Dictionaries we have any knowlege of, the Alphabetical order fhould always be obferved in the arrangement of the Lives: a more unnatural one can hardly be imagined. It jumbles time and things, and perfons and events, together, in the strangest manner, with fcarce any one advantage whatsoever arising from it; as indeed what advantage can be expected from fuch confufion? For the first page or two we are entertained with the Rabbinical History of deren the Jewith high-prieft; from him REV. Jan. 1763.

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we make a long tranfition to Archbishop Abbot; and after parting with the grave Bishop, we are brought back a few centuries to the pretty ftory of Abelard and Heloifa; it fometimes creates fuch an odd ridiculous kind of confufion, that one can hardly avoid fimiling at it. The only advantage that can recommend the order of the Alphabet, is the eafy method it affords of turning to any particular life we want; which would be done with equal cafe and convenience by a fimple index referring to the page and volume; and even where this method is ufed, an index is generally thought neceffary to inform the reader whether the life he wants be in the collection or not.

The arrangement we would beg leave to recommend is a Chronological one; difpofing the lives according to the order of time in which they arofe after each other. This is a natural order, would be pleafing to every reader, and would be attended with many fingular advantages. A General Biographical Dictionary from the earlieft accounts of time, would then contain a moft agreeable and diftinct reprefentation of the progrefs of Knowlege; it would be, if we may be allowed the expreffion, the natural History of Knowlege and the Arts, not only in a particular country, but the great world in general. In the very early ages it might be fufficient to divide time into longer periods, as is done in our beft Chronological Tables, when the number of remarkable perfons is fewer, as well as the events worthy to be preferved. As we come lower down, as materials increase, and knowlege and the arts advance, the century then feems to be the proper divifion, and every remarkable perfon fhould appear in his proper century. Upon fuch a plan as this it would be easy to see what advance any art or fcience had made at a particular time: who were a man's predeceffors in the fame art or profeffion; and what advantage he enjoyed from them. It would likewife exhibit all a man's contemporaries at one view; and we should be at once entertained with the particular hiftory of each, the friendships that fubfifted, the schemes formed, and the common tranfactions which paffed among them.It is farther fubmitted whether it would not be an improvement upon this plan, not only to difpofe the lives in their proper centuries, but to collect together all who have excelled in the fame art or profeffion, and lived at the fame time, as Hiftorians, Phyficians, Philofophers, Divines, Poets, Painters, all in their proper claffes. Upon fuch an arrangement as this, how highly fhould we be delighted with a group of characters that would pass in review before us, in the period, for inftance, from fixteen to feventeen hundred? Amongst the Hiftorians, we hould have CLARENDON, BURNET, ROLLIN, RAPIN, VERTOT; amongst the Phyficians, SYDENHAM, BOERHAAVE,

FRIEND,

FRIEND, SLOANE, amongst the Philofophers, DES CARTES, BOYLE, CASSINI, NEWTON, FLAMSTEAD, HALLEY; at the head of the Divines, and Moralifts, LockE, SHAFTSBURY, WOLLASTON, LE CLERC, Dr. SAM. CLARKE, LEIBNITZ ; and in the clafs of Poets, MILTON, COWLEY, DRYDEN, CORNEILLE, MOLIERE, RACINE; with PRIOR, ADDISON, SWIFT, POPE, and many other celebrated names, who were the admiration and ornament of that illuftrious age.

It is much to be defired, and fhould always be an object of attention to thofe who are employed in writing the lives of eminent perfons, or in compiling materials from the works of others, to select fuch of their actions, as are most characteristical of their genius and difpofition. A trifling, and feemingly inconfiderable action; an expreffion; a word in a man's unguarded moments, undiiguiled, at home, or at ease amongst his intimate friends, perhaps fometimes conveys' a more perfect idea of his genius and character, than many of the greatest and most important actions of his life. The happy ufe which PLUTARCH, that Prince of Biographers, hath made of thefe circumstances, and how agreeably he hath worked them up into the body of his Lives, is known to every one; and could not but fuggeft this remark to us. And if thefe inferior indications of a man's temper and character ought not to be omitted; much lefs the greater and more important. It was therefore matter of wonder to us, that in fuch remarkable lives as thofe of CALVIN and Archbishop LAUD, two of the most notorious inftances of their conduct, and which above all others fhew us the true fpirit and temper of the men, are not fo much as mentioned. Had we written the life of JOHN CALVIN, we should most certainly have held up the horrid story of his burning SERVETUS, with all its cruel circumftances, before the whole world, as the true index of that Reformer's character *. Or had we drawn up the memoirs of WILLIAM LAUD, we fhould not have forgot his.. inhuman and execrable treatment of the learned Dr. ALEXANDER LEIGHTON; who for writing his Appeal to Parliament, against the oppreffions of the Prelates of that time, in the Spiritual Court and Star Chamber, was, at the inftigation of LAUD, committed to the Fleet Prifon for life; fentenced to pay a fine. of ten thousand pound; to be degraded from his miniftry; to be fet on the pillory at Weftminster, while the court was fitting, and whipped; after that to be fet upon the pillory again, and have one of his ears cut off, one fide of his nofe flit, and be

The Compilers have indeed mentioned this, under the article Serverus, but not with fuch expreffion of indignation, as fo violent an act of perfecution deferves."

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