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Retrofpeif of Domeji'ic Literature. — Biography. 



enrlleft Ages to the prefent Tim" hy J. 

 Stark. 



Scottiffi biography has been Co much 

 negleftcd, that we peruCe the title of the 

 prtfent perfoi mance with conlidcrable 

 pFeaiurs. Tt.t moft promintut circum- 

 Itanct* attending a work or tiiis kind are 

 leleilioti, cofnpafs, and arrangcineiit ; 

 the firit ol which is not onlv the itiott im- 

 portant point, but, a; the lime time, by 

 far the moft difficult to adjuft. In tlie 

 work before us wc conf'els we have ften 

 feme names, whole dil(in6t!on in the 

 walks of life have been of too temporary 

 a ki .d to eniitlc them to general roticc j 

 thi.iigh, in the uiual way, fuch charac- 

 ters are barely mentioned, wliil; thole 

 wlu'i'e lives and aiiions have contiibuted 

 to enlarge our knowledge ef mankind, or 

 who ctuim the rrmcmbrance of policiity 

 on account of di(!initi;.n in fcience, art, 

 cr Hitrafure, receive a mere extended ac- 

 knowledgment of their merits. In a fcvr 

 cafes we have ohferved men of high im- 

 poriance, the ctmpaiative extent of ivhofe 

 chai;.£lus is very trifling; and we have 

 noiiccd one or two om^lfions, whici) a fu- 

 ture editi n will probably fupply. The' 

 iiyle i,- good, but uUially vnies *i:h that 

 of the author from whole book the blo- 

 giapi'.ica! Iketch has been derivvd. The 

 fife ot NaiUir, the invenor of logaiithms, 

 is one cf the beih 



The fecond edition o^Dr. Watkins's 

 "Biographical, Hijhrical, and Chronolo- 

 gical Diclionary" has appeaad, with con- 

 fidersble coriection and improvements. A 

 lefetence to tiie authority for e..ch article 

 js no A' annexed ; an addition the value of 

 w.iiich will be felt by every man oi Ittters, 

 as vi-tll M, by I he puMic at large. Every 

 fiirccflive publicaiion on this fubieil, it 

 will be reintnihered, has a('vant3ges be- 

 yoiid thole w;.,ch went irnnitdiately before 

 it, by hoivcver fhort an interval. Mif- 

 takes in chionology, faiis, char^flers, 

 and n,imes, will of courfe be reiUfied, 

 omiffions fiipplicd, additions madt, and a 

 feries of nuw biography introJuttd, as 

 xecent mortality may give occaficn, dili- 

 gence I'upply, or external communicafl n 

 chance to provide. '< The autho; h-s en- 

 deavoured io render his work compkie, by 

 jnferting every interefting name ai d event 

 likely to be fought for in a colleiii^n of 

 this kind ; and sl'hcugh lie carnot pie- 

 I'ume that th:re tre not many dtlcfls and 

 omilTions, yet it will be obvious on conv 

 p^rilon, that thiswo'k now ccnt.iins ir- m 

 iwo to three thoufand articles more than 

 air to befjiind in any fimil.u work in the 

 E.nghfli, orptrhaps in any otheV language. 



Obferving, with regret, the gre^t nflml'er 

 Ot diftiiiguiflied names which have been 

 paflcd over by precedir.g biographers, he 

 has diligently employed himf'tlf in relcu- 

 ing a coiifiierable number of thofe names 

 from ncgltdl and oblivion. He has not 

 contented himfelf with barely gleaning 

 from all other diftionaries, but has iljught 

 in every refpeftable quarter for memoirs 

 of depsitcd excellence. Many iingle me- 

 moirs and fugitive pieces, and many fcarce 

 trafts and voluminous periodical publica* 

 lions, have, in the preparation of thtneW 

 edition, been fednloufly examined.'" 



The life eih^r of a lovereign or a ftatef- 

 man, from the very nature of its mate- 

 rials, approaches fo nearly to public hif- 

 tory, that it ii almoft doubtful vi>here it 

 fhoiiIJ bt placed. That of " Leo the 

 Tenth'" can hardly be clafled among indi- 

 vidual biography. Mr. RoscoE was the 

 firIt who took the le;id in direfting the 

 public tafte to enquiries into the lives of 

 thofe eminent fchoiars to whom the refto- 

 ration of learning in Europe was fo much 

 indebted j and the Life of Lorenzo de Me- 

 dici was periifed with pleafurenot only by 

 common but literary readers. A due con- 

 lideration of the work, however, which 

 is now before us, requires a minuterels of 

 detail which the limits of our prefent re- 

 trofpeft will fcarce allow. We ftiall 

 therefore, in the prefent inft ance, give qur 

 readers but a rapid Iketch of Leo's life, 

 refcrving a full confuleralion of it for the 

 clafs of Hiftory, in another Sup'plement. 

 — Leo the T^nth will ever be remembered 

 by Proteftants, fince from his Pontificate 

 the oiigin of the Ktformation may be de- 

 duced. W^ was the Ion of Lorenzo de 

 Medici, " the father ot the T.lules," and 

 was born in the Intter part of the fifteenth 

 century. His education was directed by 

 the bcft of the Greek and Latin fchoiars 

 which Itniy had produced j and Angelus 

 Politianus was his principal tutor. At 

 the age of ek'veii he was made an Arch, 

 bifliop, and zifourteeil a Caidinal. His 

 chara;!er was moft lingulr.rly mixed ; 

 adorned by many virtues, and diiHnguifh- 

 ed by extranrdinary vices. The indul- 

 gences of the Roniidi church were reduc- 

 ed under his Pontificate to the molt fordid 

 traffic j and the luftre of his virtues was 

 111 died .by extreme lewdnefs, impiety, and 

 athtifm: yet under his immediate p'Otec- 

 lion tlie reltoration of learning was en- 

 couraged, and even the language of an- 

 cient Rome revived with elegance : under 

 him the belt of thofe writers flourifhed to 

 whom even England is Hill indebted, and 

 the brighttft cmamcnt of hij court was 

 ^riolto* 



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