625 



SPARKS, JARED. 



SPARRMANN, ANDRKW. 



620 



Beger and Morel, on some numisinatical subjects, and some of the 

 Commentaries on ancient writers, which we shull mention hereafter. 



After the pence of Ryswick, in 1697, Spanheirn returned as ambas 

 sador to Paris, where he remained till the year 1701. After the 

 elector of Brandenburg had assumed the title of king, and was recog 

 nised as such by the other powers, Spanheim was raised to the rank 

 of a baron, and was sent, in 1702, as ambassador of the new king o 

 Prussia, Frederic I., to England. Here he remained until his death 

 on the 7th of November 1710. 



The principal works of Spanheim, besides those already mentioned 

 are 1, ' Dissertationcs de Praestantia et Usu Numismatum Anti 

 quorum,' which was first published in one volume, 4to, Rome, 1664 

 and reprinted at Paris in 1671. The last and best edition is that pub 

 lished in fol., London, 1706, to which Verburg, in 1717, added a 

 second volume from the papers of Spanheim. The whole work con 

 sists of thirteen dissertations, addressed to his friend Falconieri. II 

 contains a store of information, though very inconveniently arranged 

 2, ' De Nummo Smymseorum inscripto 2/j.vpvaluv irpvTdvfis, scilicet de 

 Vesta et Prytauibus Graecorum Diatriba,' Paris, 1672. This work is 

 reprinted in Graevius's ' Thesaurus,' v., p. 660. 3, ' Lettre sur 

 1'Histoire Critique du Vieux Testament,' par Richard Simon, Paris, 

 1678. 4, ' Orbis Romanus, seu ad Constitutionern Imperatoris An- 

 toniui, de qua Ulpianus leg. xvii. Dig. de Statu Hominum Eiercita- 

 tiones DUDS/ the best edition of which is that published in London, 

 1704. This work is still of great value; it is also contained in the 

 eleventh volume of Graevius's ' Thesaurus.' Besides these works 

 Spauheitn wrote a number of Commentaries upon ancient authors, 

 some of which may still be consulted with great advantage. Am^ 

 them we slmll mention his Commentaries on the Callimachus, in the 

 edition of Grsevius, and reprinted in that of Ernesti, Lugd. Bat., 1761 ; 

 on Strabo, Amsterdam, 1707; on the first three comedies of Aristo- 

 phanes, in Kiister's edition of 1707-9; or 'Ael. Aristides,' in Jebb's 

 edition, Oxford, 1722; on Josephus, Leydeu, 1726; on Thucydides, 

 in Duker's edition, Amsterd., 1731, and others. 



Compare the ' Acta Eruditor.' of the year 1711 ; and the Memoir 

 of Spanheim, by Verburg, prefixed to the second volume of his 

 'Dissert, de Prsest. et Usu Num. Ant.,' p. viii.-xix. 



* SPARKS, JARED, an eminent American biographer, was born in 

 Connecticut towards the close of the last century. Having graduated 

 at Harvard University in 1815, he acted for a time as tutor there 

 while pursuing his theological studies in the divinity school. On the 

 completion of these, he was in 1819 ordained minister in the First 

 Unitarian church in Baltimore, on which occasion Dr. Channiug 

 preached his celebrated sermon on ' Unitarian Christianity.' The 

 earlier publications of Mr. Sparks were theological, and chiefly oil 

 controversial matters. Among them, that which attracted most 

 attention appears to have been 'An Inquiry into the comparative 

 Moral tendency of Trinitarian and Unitarian Doctrines, in a series of 

 Letters to the Rev. Dr. Miller of Princeton,' Boston, U. S., 1823. A 

 work which he commenced about the same time formed a sort of con- 

 necting link between his theological and biographical studies. ' A 

 Collection of Tracts in Theology from Various Authors, with Bio- 

 graphical and Critical Notices,' 6 vols, 12mo, Boston, 1823-26. In 

 1823 he became editor of the ' North American Review,' a work which 

 he continued to conduct for about five years, and to which he has 

 been a frequent contributor since. 



His earliest biographical work, unconnected with theology, was the 

 'Life of John Ledyarri, the American traveller, comprising Selections 

 from his Journals and Correspondence,' 1 vol. 12mo, 1828, 2nd edition, 

 Cambridge, U. S.. 1829. This was followed by a work of considerable 

 historical importance, the ' Diplomatic Correspondence of the American 

 Revolution, published by order of Congress and Edited by J. S.,' 12 

 vols, ^Svo, Boston, 1829-30. His next work was a ' Life of Gouverneur 

 Mortis, with selection from his Correspondence,' 3 vols, 8vo, Boston, 

 1832. The intimate acquaintance with the documents relating to the 

 period of the American revolution, afforded by his researches, in con- 

 nection with the Diplomatic Correspondence, induced him to enter 

 upon a much more onerous task the collection and classification of 

 the letters and despatches of Washington. To render this work as 

 complete as possible, Mr. Sparks not only thoroughly examined the 

 official archives of the American government, and the private col- 

 lections of his countrymen, but visited Europe, and obtained access to 

 the state papers of England and France, which were liberally laiu 

 open to him. The full title of this great national work will best 

 explain its scope. ' The Writings of George Washington ; being his 

 Correspondence, Addresses, Messages, and other Papers, Official and 

 Private, selected and published from 200 folio volumes of Original 

 Manuscripts, purchased by Order of Congress ; with a Life of the 

 Author, Notes and Illustrations. By Jared Sparks. With Portraits, 

 Maps, Plans, Fac-Similes, 1 &c., 12 vols, 8vo, Boston, l33-42. 



The importance of this great work was of course immediately 

 recognised by historical students in Europe as well as in America, and 

 a translation of the more important documents was published in 

 Paris under the direction of M. Guizot (who prefixed an essay on 

 Washington), in 6 vols, 8vo, and in German by Von Raumer. A 

 serious charge was however brought against the accuracy of Mr. 

 Sparks. Lord Mahon, in an appendix to the sixth volume of the first 

 edition of his History of England, printed side by side various 

 BIOG. DIV. VOL. v. 



paasages, as given by Mr. Sparks with the same as (avowedly) trans- 

 cribed from the original manuscripts for the ' Life and Correspondence 

 of Joseph Reed,' and upon these and other variations which he had 

 traced, inferred that Mr. Sparks had made " omissions, corrections, 

 and additions," in printing the Letters of Washington. Similar 

 charges were, about the same time, brought forward iu America, and 

 there the matter made a considerable noise. Mr. Sparks speedily 

 published a ' Reply to the Strictures of Lord Mahon and others on the 

 mode of editing the Writings of Washington,' to which Lord Mahon 

 issued a rejoinder. Mr. Reed then published a ' Reprint of the 

 original Letters from Washington to Joseph Reed during the American 

 Revolution, referred to in the Pamphlets of Lord Mahon and Mr. 

 Sparks;' in which all the variations were pointed out. It now 

 appeared that the 'additions' on which the more serious charges were 

 founded, were really no additions at all, Mr. Reed's transcriber having 

 by some accident omitted the passage printed by Mr. Sparks, while the 

 omissions were explained by Mr. Sparks, in a reply on the whole contro- 

 versy, entitled ' Remarks upon a Reprint of the original Letters from 

 Washington,' &c., to have been made because of their being parallel 

 passages to others printed in letters of about the same date ; and the 

 enormous quantity of materials rendered it necessary to omit such 

 parts as could be best spared, in order to comprise the work within 

 any reasonable limits. The correction of grammatical errors, verbal 

 inaccuracies, and the softening of a few vulgarisms and strong expres- 

 sions in the private letters, he acknowledged and justified. 



Lord Mahoa has since amply exonerated Mr. Sparks from the more 

 serious charges he originally preferred, but continues to " differ widely 

 from him on the privileges and duties appertaining to an editor," 

 whilst he adds, "that difference does not prevent me from recognising 

 and respecting your high attainments, your unwearied industry, and 

 the valuable service which, in many of your notes and illustrations, 

 you have rendered, to the cause of historic truth." We have noticed 

 this controversy thus fully because of the importance of the principle 

 at stake, and because the work to which it immediately refers is in 

 itself the most important collection of documents yet published 

 relating to the American Revolution. And whilst we cannot but feel 

 that an exact verbal reprint of such documents, with a careful indica- 

 tion where a passage was for any reason omitted, is what ought always 

 to be given, we are bound to say that we believe the alterations of 

 any kind have been very few, and we have no doubt that Mr. 

 Washington Irving is perfectly accurate in stating (Preface to his Life 

 of Washington), with reference to this controversy, " A careful colla- 

 tion of many of them [the documents in the ' Writings of Washington '] 

 with the originals has convinced me of the general correctness of the 

 collection, and of the safety with which it may be relied upon for 

 historical purposes ; and I am happy to bear this testimony to the 

 essential accuracy of one whom I consider among the greatest bene- 

 factors to our national literature." The ' Life of Washington,' which 

 formed the first volume of the Writings, &c., Mr. Sparks afterwards 

 published separately (Boston, 1839), and again in an abridged form, 

 2 vols. 12mo, 1843. 



The ' Writings of Washington ' were followed by the ' Works of Ben- 

 jamin Franklin,' 10 vols. 8vo, Boston, 1835-40, in which he published 

 for the first time a vast number of original letters, as well as several 

 political and historical tracts which had not been included in any 

 previous collection of Franklin's works, and he added a valuable body 

 of notes and illustrations. Franklin's autobiography was also given 

 for the first time correctly in this edition, the life being completed by 

 Mr. Sparks. The autobiography has since been published separately 

 under the editorship of Mr. Sparks, and likewise ' A Collection of 

 Letters and Papers by Benjamin Franklin.' 



In 1835 was commenced ' The Library of American Biography. 

 Edited by Jared Sparks, assisted by several of the most distinguished 

 American writers,' including Messrs. Everett, Prescott, &c., of which 

 the first series in 10 vols. 12mo, was completed in 1839; a second 

 series consisting of 15 vols. appeared in 1844-47. Of these lives a 

 large proportion was from the pen of Mr. Sparks himself. Another 

 important work which we owe to his industry is the ' Correspondence 

 of the American Revolution, being Letters of Eminent Men to 

 George Washington,' 4 vols. Boston, 1853, forming a sequel to his 

 ' Writings of Washington.' 



Mr. Sparks is deservedly regarded as one of the chief authorities on 

 all matters connected with the history of American Independence, 

 and the History of the American Revolution on which he has long 

 been understood to be engaged, is expected with much interest, 

 though in the works he has hitherto published he has shown rather 

 the qualities which belong to the diligent collector, than those which 

 are looked for in the historian. Mr. Sparks was in 1839 appointed 

 Professor of Ancient and Modern History in Harvard University, and 

 m 1849 he was elected president of that institution, an office he held 

 till 1853. 



SPARRMANN, ANDREW, the pupil and friend of the elder 

 Linnaeus, and the companion of the Forsters in their voyage round 

 world, was born in the province of Upland in Sweden, about the 

 rear 1747. He appears to have entertained from childhood a great 

 'ondness for the study of natural history, which was increased by a 

 oyage which he made to China in the year 1765, in a vessel com- 

 nanded by Captain JKkeberg, one of his kinsmen. 



