and died at the end of the fixth century. Sulpicius lived till about the year 420. He is faid, fome time before he died, to have been feduced by the Pelagians; but that, returning to his old principles, he impofed a filence upon himself for the rest of his days, as the beft atonement he could make for an error, into which he was led by the itch of difputation. He was a man of fine fenfe and great learning. The principal of his works was his Hiftoria facra, in two books; where he gives you a fuccinct account of all the remarkable things that paffed in the Jewish or Chriftian churches, from the creation of the world to the confulate of Stilicon and Aurelian; that is, to about the year 400. He wrote, alfo, the Life of St. Martin, as we have faid already; Three letters upon the death and virtues of this faint; and Three dialogues; the firft upon the miracles of the eastern monks, and the two last upon the extraordinary qualities and graces of St. Martin. Thefe, with feven other epiftles never before printed with his works, were all revised, corrected, and published with notes, in a very elegant edition, by mr. Le Clerc, at Leipfic, in the year 1709, 8vo. This author is extremely elegant; there is a purity and politeness in his style, far beyond the age in which he lived. He has joined a very concife manner of expreffing himself to a remarkable perfpicuity, and in this has equalled even Salluft himself, whom he always imitates, and sometimes quotes. He is not, indeed, exact throughout in his History of the church, and he is prodigiously credulous upon the point of miracles. He admits, alfo, feveral falfe and foolish opinions, which have no foundation at all in fcripture: as, for inftance, the doctrine of the Millenaries; that Nero was the Antichrift; that demons cohabited with women, &c.. In the mean time, there are several of his pieces not only useful, but highly entertaining, more especially his dialogues, which are drawn up with the greatest art and juftnefs. The firft of thefe, contains many interefting particulars: the manners and fingularities of the eastern monks are elegantly defcribed. An account too is given here, of the disturbances which the books of Origen had occafioned in Egypt and Palestine, where Sulpicius delivers himself like a very wife and very moderate man. He does not entirely excufe Origen, yet yet highly difapproves the rigour, with which the bishop of Alexandria had purfued his advocates and followers: and he deplores the misfortune of the church, whofe peace was fo disturbed by matters, in themselves, of very little confequence. He has preferved in this dialogue, in the perfon of Pofthumianus, a "bon mot," or good faying, of an African prefbyter, which deferves to be mentioned, as every reader, perhaps, may not think the worfe of either him, or the prefbyter for it. This speaker had been entertained by the prefbyter upon the coafts of Africa very generously and hofpitably, according to his abftemious and rigid way of living; and therefore offered him at parting a few pieces of gold, by way of return for the civilities he had received. But the prefbyter flarted back, with horror as it were; and rejecting his prefent, told him with great earneftness, that Sulpic. oper. gold might deftroy, but could never fupport the church." "Cum ego," fays Pofthumianus, "prefbytero illi decem P. 391. nummos aureos obtuliffem, refugit; altiore confilio pro"teftatus, ecclefiam auro non ftrui, fed potius deftrui." SUZE (HENRIETTE DE COLIGNI, comteffe de la) a French lady, and daughter of the marfhal de Coligni, and famous in her day for wit and poetry. She was married first to Thomas Hamilton, a Scotch nobleman, and then to the count de la Suze, who was alio of a very illuftrious family. This fecond marriage was the fource of infinite troubles to her, for the count grew jealous of her; and, in order to keep her out of the world, which the dearly loved, confined her in one of his country-houfes. The countess, frighted with this plot against her, thought to countermine and defeat the effects of it beft, by quitting the religion of her husband, who was an Huguenot; and fo became a catholic, which however produced nothing, except a more violent enmity. The countefs at length propofed a diffolution of their marriage, and offered the count 25,000, crowns to induce him to come into it. The count accepted the terms, and the parliament diffolved it: upon which it was faid, that the countefs had loft 50,000 crowns in the management of , this affair; for that if he would have been patient a little longer, instead of paying 25,000 crowns to her husband, fhe fhe would have received 25,000 from him; fo much did he want to be rid of her. Queen Chriftina of Sweden said upon this occafion, that "the countefs de la Suze had "turned catholic, and feparated from her husband, that fhe "might never fee him more, either in this world or the "next." Being happily free from all painful connexions, fhe gave herself up entirely to poetry; became the delight of all the wits of her time, and the fubject of their panegyric. She excelled particularly in the elegiac way, her fongs, madrigals, and odes, being reckoned much inferior to her elegies, which abound in wit, delicacy, and fine turn of fentiment. Her poems are collected and printed, with thofe of Peliffon and madame de Scudery, at Trevoux 1725, in four volumes 12mo. She died in 1673. Father Bouhours, under the name of P. de Fieubet, wrote the following ingenious lines in her praise; in which he gives her all the nobleness of Juno, the wit of Minerva, and the beauty of Venus. "Que Dea fublimi vehitur per inania curru, worth's Life of Swift, prefixed to his edition of his works. SWIFT (dr. JONATHAN) an illuftrious English wit, Hawkefand justly celebrated alfo for his political knowledge, was defcended from a very ancient family, and born on the 30th of November 1667. His grandfather mr. Thomas Swift, was vicar of Goodrich in Herefordfhire, and married mrs. Elizabeth Dryden, aunt of Dryden the poet; by whom he had fix fons, Godwin, Thomas, Dryden, William, Jonathan, and Adam. Thomas was bred at Oxford, but died young; Godwin was a barrifter of Gray's-Inn; and William, Dryden, Jonathan, and Adam, were attornies. Godwin having married a relation of the old marchionefs of Ormond, the old duke of Ormond made him his attorneygeneral in the palatinate of Tipperary in Ireland. Ireland was at this time almoft without lawyers, the rebellion having converted men of all conditions into foldiers. Godwin therefore determined to attempt the acquifition of a fortune in that kingdom, and the fame motive induced his four bro thers thers to go with him. Jonathan, at the age of about twenty-three, and before he went into Ireland, married mrs. Abigail Erick, a gentlewoman of Leicestershire; and about two years after left her a widow with one child, a daughter, and pregnant with another, having no means of fubfiftence but an annuity of 201. which her husband had purchased for her in England, immediately after his marriage. In this diftrefs he was taken into the family of Godwin, her hufband's eldest brother; and there, about feven months after his death, delivered of a fon, whom fhe called Jonathan, in remembrance of his father, and who was afterwards the celebrated dean of St. Patrick. It happened, by whatever accident, that Jonathan was not fuckled by his mother, but by a nurse, who was a native of Whitehaven; and when he was about a year old, her affection for him was become fo ftrong, that finding it neceflary to vifit a fick relation there, fhe carried him with her, without the knowledge of his mother or uncle. At this place he continued about three years; for, when the matter was discovered, his mother fent orders not to hazard a fecond voyage, till he fhould be better able to bear it. Mrs. Swift, about two years after her husband's death, quitted the family of mr. Godwin Swift in Ireland, and retired to Leicester, the place of her nativity; but her fon was again carried to Ireland by his nurse, and replaced under the protection of his uncle Godwin. It has been generally believed, that Swift was born in England; and, when the people of Ireland difpleafed him, he has been heard to say, “I am not of this vile country, I am an Englishman:" but this account of his birth, is taken from that which he left behind him in his own hand-writing. Some have alfo thought, that he was a natural fon of fir William Temple, because fir William exprefled a particular regard for him; but that was impoffible; for fir William was refident abroad in a public character from the year 1665, to 1670; and his mother, who was never out of the British dominions, brought him into the world in 1667. At about fix years of age he was fent to the school of Kilkenny, and having continued there eight years, he was ad mitted a ftudent of Trinity-college in Dublin. Here ap plying himself to books of history and poetry, to the neglect of academic learning, he was, at the end of four years, refused his degree of bachelor of arts for infufficiency; and was at last admitted fpeciali gratia, which is there confidered as the highest degree of reproach and dishonour. Stung with the disgrace, he ftudied eight hours a day, for seven years following. He commenced thefe ftudies at the univerfity of Dublin, where he continued them three years: and during this time, he drew up the first sketch of his Tale of a tub; for Waffendon Warren, efq; a gentleman of fortune near Belfast in Ireland, who was chamber-fellow with Swift, declared that he then faw a copy of it in Swift's own hand-writing. In 1688, his uncle Godwin was feized with a lethargy, and foon deprived both of his fpeech and memory: by which accident Swift being left without fupport, took a journey to Leicester, that he might confult with his mother what course of life to pursue. At this time fir William Temple was in high reputation, and honoured with the confidence and familiarity of king William. His father, fir John Temple, had been mafter of the Rolls in Ireland, and contracted an intimate friendship with Godwin Swift, which continued till his death; and fir William, who inherited his title and estate, had married a lady to whom mrs. Swift was related: fhe therefore advised her fon to communicate his fituation to fir William, and folicit his direction what to do. Sir William received him with great kindness, and Swift's first visit continued two years. Sir William had been ambassador and mediator of a general peace at Nimeguen before the revolution; in which character he became known to the prince of Orange, who frequently vifited him at Sheen, after his arrival in England, and took his advice in affairs of the utmost importance. Sir William being then lame with the gout, Swift used to attend his majesty in the walks about the garden, who admitted him to such familiarity, that he shewed him how to cut asparagus after the Dutch manner, and once offered to make him a captain of horfe; but Swift had fixed his mind upon an ecclefiaftical life. About this time a bill was brought into the house for triennial parliaments, to which the king was very averse, but VOL. XI. D fent Dean Swift's Effay on the life, &c. of Swift, p. 31, |